title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: The camp was also a site of large-scale trials for vaccines against epidemic typhus in 1942 and 1943. In all 729 inmates were used as test subjects, of whom 154 died. Other "experimentation" occurred at Buchenwald on a smaller scale. One such experiment aimed at determining the precise fatal dose of a poison of the alkaloid group; according to the testimony of one doctor, four Soviet POWs were administered the poison, and when it proved not to be fatal they were "strangled in the crematorium" and subsequently "dissected". Among various other experiments was one which, in order to test the effectiveness of a balm for wounds from incendiary bombs, involved inflicting "very severe" white phosphorus burns on inmates. When challenged at trial over the nature of this testing, and particularly over the fact that the testing was designed in some cases to cause death and only to measure the time which elapsed until death was caused, one Nazi doctor's defence was that, although a doctor, he was a "legally appointed executioner".


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: The SS left behind accounts of the number of prisoners and people coming to and leaving the camp, categorizing those leaving them by release, transfer, or death. These accounts are one of the sources of estimates for the number of deaths in Buchenwald. According to SS documents, 33,462 died. These documents were not, however, necessarily accurate: Among those executed before 1944, many were listed as "transferred to the Gestapo". Furthermore, from 1941, Soviet POWs were executed in mass killings. Arriving prisoners selected for execution were not entered into the camp register and therefore were not among the 33,462 dead listed.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: One former Buchenwald prisoner, Armin Walter, calculated the number of executions by the number of shootings in the spine at the base of the head. His job at Buchenwald was to set up and care for a radio installation at the facility where people were executed; he counted the numbers, which arrived by telex, and hid the information. He says that 8,483 Soviet prisoners of war were shot in this manner.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: According to the same source, the total number of deaths at Buchenwald is estimated at 56,545. This number is the sum of:


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: This total (56,545) corresponds to a death rate of 24 percent, assuming that the number of persons passing through the camp according to documents left by the SS, 240,000 prisoners, is accurate.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Buchenwald was partially evacuated by the Germans from 6 to 11 April 1945. In the days before the arrival of the American army, thousands of the prisoners were forced to join the evacuation marches.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Thanks in large part to the efforts of Polish engineer (and short-wave radio-amateur, his pre-war callsign was SP2BD) Gwidon Damazyn, an inmate since March 1941, a secret short-wave transmitter and small generator were built and hidden in the prisoners' movie room. On April 8 at noon, Damazyn and Russian prisoner Konstantin Ivanovich Leonov sent the Morse code message prepared by leaders of the prisoners' underground resistance (supposedly Walter Bartel and Harry Kuhn):


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: The text was repeated several times in English, German, and Russian. Damazyn sent the English and German transmissions, while Leonov sent the Russian version. Three minutes after the last transmission sent by Damazyn, the headquarters of the U.S. Third Army responded:


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: According to Teofil Witek, a fellow Polish prisoner who witnessed the transmissions, Damazyn fainted after receiving the message.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: As American forces closed in, Gestapo headquarters at Weimar telephoned the camp administration to announce that it was sending explosives to blow up any evidence of the camp, including its inmates. The Gestapo did not know that the administrators had already fled. A prisoner answered the phone and informed headquarters that explosives would not be needed, as the camp had already been blown up, which was not true.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: A detachment of troops of the U.S. 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, from the 6th Armored Division, part of the U.S. Third Army, and under the command of Captain Frederic Keffer, arrived at Buchenwald on 11 April 1945 at 3:15 p.m. (now the permanent time of the clock at the entrance gate). The soldiers were given a hero's welcome, with the emaciated survivors finding the strength to toss some liberators into the air in celebration.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Later in the day, elements of the U.S. 83rd Infantry Division overran Langenstein, one of a number of smaller camps comprising the Buchenwald complex. There, the division liberated over 21,000 prisoners, ordered the mayor of Langenstein to send food and water to the camp, and hurried medical supplies forward from the 20th Field Hospital.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Third Army Headquarters sent elements of the 80th Infantry Division to take control of the camp on the morning of Thursday 12 April 1945. Several journalists arrived on the same day, perhaps with the 80th, including Edward R. Murrow, whose radio report of his arrival and reception was broadcast on CBS and became one of his most famous:


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: After Patton toured the camp, he ordered the mayor of Weimar to bring 1,000 citizens to Buchenwald; these were to be predominantly men of military age from the middle and upper classes. The Germans had to walk roundtrip under armed American guard and were shown the crematorium and other evidence of Nazi atrocities. The Americans wanted to ensure that the German people would take responsibility for Nazi crimes, instead of dismissing them as atrocity propaganda. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower also invited two groups of Americans to tour the camp in mid-April 1945; journalists and editors from some of the principal U.S. publications, and then a dozen members of the Congress from both the House and the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: War correspondent Osmar White reported that above the crematorium door was a verse beginning ‘Worms shall not devour me, but flames consume this body. I always loved the heat and light…’.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Thirty SS perpetrators at Buchenwald were tried before a US military tribunal in 1947, including Higher SS and Police Leader Josias Erbprinz zu Waldeck und Pyrmont, who oversaw the SS district that Buchenwald was located in, and many of the doctors responsible for Nazi human experimentation. Almost all of the defendants were convicted, and 22 were sentenced to death. However, only nine death sentences were carried out, and by the mid-1950s, all perpetrators had been freed except for Ilse Koch, who was tried by a West German court and given a life sentence. Additional perpetrators were tried before German courts during the 1960s.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Between August 1945 and 1 March 1950, Buchenwald was the site of NKVD special camp Nr. 2, where the Soviet secret police imprisoned former Nazis and anti-communist dissidents. According to Soviet records, 28,455 people were detained, 7,113 of whom died. After the NKVD camp closed, much of the camp was razed, while signs were erected to provide a Soviet interpretation of the camp's legacy. The first monument to victims was erected by Buchenwald inmates days after the initial liberation. It was made of wood and only intended to be temporary. A second monument to commemorate the dead was erected in 1958 by the German Democratic Republic (GDR) government near the mass graves. It was inaugurated on 14 September 1958 by GDR Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl. Inside the camp, there is a stainless steel monument on the spot where the first, temporary monument stood. Its surface is maintained at , the temperature of human skin, all year round.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: The three National Memorials of the GDR, built next to or on the sites of the former concentration camps Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, and Ravensbrück, played a central role in the GDR's remembrance policy under Erich Honecker. They were controlled by the Ministry of Culture and thus by the government. According to their statute, these memorials served as places of identification and legitimisation of the GDR. The political instrumentalisation of these memorials, especially for the current needs of the GDR, became particularly clear during the major celebrations of the liberation of the concentration camps, as historian Anne-Kathleen Tillack-Graf analysis in her thesis about the official party newspaper Neues Deutschland.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Today the Buchenwald camp site serves as a Holocaust memorial. It has a museum with permanent exhibitions about the history of the camp. It is managed by Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation, which also looks after the camp memorial at Mittelbau-Dora.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: Survivors who have written about their camp experiences include Jorge Semprún, who in "Quel beau dimanche!" describes conversations involving Goethe and Léon Blum, and Ernst Wiechert, whose "Der Totenwald" was written in 1939 but not published until 1945, and which likewise involved Goethe. Scholars have investigated how camp inmates used art to help deal with their circumstances, and according to Theodor Ziolkowski writers often did so by turning to Goethe. Artist Léon Delarbre sketched, besides other scenes of camp life, the Goethe Oak, under which he used to sit and write. One of the few prisoners who escaped from the camp, the Belgian Edmond Vandievoet, recounted his experiences in a book whose English title is "I escaped from a Nazi Death Camp" [Editions Jourdan, 2015]. In his work "Night", Elie Wiesel talks about his stay in Buchenwald, including his father's death. Jacques Lusseyran, a leader in the underground resistance to the German occupation of France, was eventually sent to Buchenwald after being arrested, and described his time there in his autobiography.


title: Buchenwald concentration camp

text: On 5 June 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Buchenwald after a tour of Dresden Castle and Church of Our Lady. During the visit they were accompanied by Elie Wiesel and Bertrand Herz, both survivors of the camp. , the director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation and honorary professor of University of Jena, guided the four guests through the remainder of the site of the camp. During the visit Wiesel, who together with Herz were sent to the Little camp as 16-year-old boys, said, "if these trees could talk." His statement marked the irony about the beauty of the landscape and the horrors that took place within the camp. President Obama mentioned during his visit that he had heard stories as a child from his great uncle, who was part of the 89th Infantry Division, the first Americans to reach the camp at Ohrdruf, one of Buchenwald's satellites. Obama was the first sitting US President to visit the Buchenwald concentration camp.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Timothy John Bevan, (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era, having produced several critically and commercially successful films including "Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994), "Elizabeth" (1998), "Notting Hill" (1999), "Billy Elliot" (2000), "Bridget Jones's Diary" (2001), "Atonement" (2007), "Frost/Nixon" (2008), "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (2011), "The Theory of Everything" (2014), and "Darkest Hour" (2017). They are also notable for their long-time collaboration with American filmmakers the Coen brothers, having produced "Barton Fink" (1991), "Fargo" (1996), "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994), "The Big Lebowski" (1998), and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" among others. As of 2017, films by Working Title Films have won 12 Academy Awards and 39 British Academy Film Awards.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Bevan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2005 Birthday Honours for services to the British film industry.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Bevan was born in 1957 in Queenstown, New Zealand. From 1969—1974, he was educated at Sidcot School, a Quaker boarding independent school in the Mendip Hills, near the village of Winscombe in North Somerset, in South West England. He then attended Cheltenham College, a boarding independent school in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, in the West of England.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Bevan co-founded Working Title Films in London with Sarah Radclyffe and Graham Bradstreet in the 1980s. (Eric Fellner now partners Tim Bevan at Working Title Films). Among Bevan's more than 40 films as producer or executive producer are "Moonlight and Valentino", "Fargo", "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "The Guru", "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", "Love Actually", "Notting Hill", "Elizabeth", "Bridget Jones's Diary", "Atonement", and "Frost/Nixon". Through 2017, the films he has co-produced have grossed a total of almost $7 billion worldwide.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Working Title Films signed a deal with Universal Studios in 1999 for a reported US$600 million, which gave Bevan and Fellner the power to commission projects with a budget of up to $35 million without having to consult their paymasters.


title: Tim Bevan

text: Bevan is divorced from English actress Joely Richardson; the two have a daughter, Daisy, born in 1992. Bevan is now married to Amy Gadney, and they have a daughter Nell, born 2001, and a son Jago, born 2003.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Potassium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with the formula KOH, and is commonly called caustic potash.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Along with sodium hydroxide (NaOH), KOH is a prototypical strong base. It has many industrial and niche applications, most of which exploit its caustic nature and its reactivity toward acids. An estimated 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes were produced in 2005. KOH is noteworthy as the precursor to most soft and liquid soaps, as well as numerous potassium-containing chemicals. It is a white solid that is dangerously corrosive.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: KOH exhibits high thermal stability. Because of this high stability and relatively low melting point, it is often melt-cast as pellets or rods, forms that have low surface area and convenient handling properties. These pellets become tacky in air because KOH is hygroscopic. Most commercial samples are ca. 90% pure, the remainder being water and carbonates. Its dissolution in water is strongly exothermic. Concentrated aqueous solutions are sometimes called potassium lyes. Even at high temperatures, solid KOH does not dehydrate readily.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: At higher temperatures, solid KOH crystallizes in the NaCl crystal structure. The OH group is either rapidly or randomly disordered so that the group is effectively a spherical anion of radius 1.53 Å (between and in size). At room temperature, the groups are ordered and the environment about the centers is distorted, with distances ranging from 2.69 to 3.15 Å, depending on the orientation of the OH group. KOH forms a series of crystalline hydrates, namely the monohydrate , the dihydrate and the tetrahydrate .


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: About 121 g of KOH dissolve in 100 mL water at room temperature, which contrasts with 100 g/100 mL for NaOH. Thus on a molar basis, NaOH is slightly more soluble than KOH. Lower molecular-weight alcohols such as methanol, ethanol, and propanols are also excellent solvents. They participate in an acid-base equilibrium. In the case of methanol the potassium methoxide (methylate) forms:


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Because of its high affinity for water, KOH serves as a desiccant in the laboratory. It is often used to dry basic solvents, especially amines and pyridines.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: KOH, like NaOH, serves as a source of , a highly nucleophilic anion that attacks polar bonds in both inorganic and organic materials. Aqueous KOH saponifies esters:


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: When R is a long chain, the product is called a potassium soap. This reaction is manifested by the "greasy" feel that KOH gives when touched — fats on the skin are rapidly converted to soap and glycerol.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Molten KOH is used to displace halides and other leaving groups. The reaction is especially useful for aromatic reagents to give the corresponding phenols.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Complementary to its reactivity toward acids, KOH attacks oxides. Thus, SiO is attacked by KOH to give soluble potassium silicates. KOH reacts with carbon dioxide to give potassium bicarbonate:


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Historically, KOH was made by adding potassium carbonate to a strong solution of calcium hydroxide (slaked lime). The salt metathesis reaction results in precipitation of solid calcium carbonate, leaving potassium hydroxide in solution:


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Filtering off the precipitated calcium carbonate and boiling down the solution gives potassium hydroxide ("calcinated or caustic potash"). This method of producing potassium hydroxide remained dominant until the late 19th century, when it was largely replaced by the current method of electrolysis of potassium chloride solutions. The method is analogous to the manufacture of sodium hydroxide (see chloralkali process):


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Hydrogen gas forms as a byproduct on the cathode; concurrently, an anodic oxidation of the chloride ion takes place, forming chlorine gas as a byproduct. Separation of the anodic and cathodic spaces in the electrolysis cell is essential for this process.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: KOH and NaOH can be used interchangeably for a number of applications, although in industry, NaOH is preferred because of its lower cost.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: In industry, KOH is a good catalyst for hydrothermal gasification process. In this process, it is used to improve the yield of gas and amount of hydrogen in process. For example, production of coke (fuel) from coal often produce much of coking wastewater. In order to degrade it, supercritical water is used to convert it to the syngas containing carbon monoxide; carbon dioxide; hydrogen and methane. Using the pressure swing adsorption, we could separate various gas and then, power-to-gas is used to convert it to fuel. On the other hand, the hydrothermal gasification process could degrade other waste such as sewage sludge and waste from food factory.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Many potassium salts are prepared by neutralization reactions involving KOH. The potassium salts of carbonate, cyanide, permanganate, phosphate, and various silicates are prepared by treating either the oxides or the acids with KOH. The high solubility of potassium phosphate is desirable in fertilizers.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: The saponification of fats with KOH is used to prepare the corresponding "potassium soaps", which are softer than the more common sodium hydroxide-derived soaps. Because of their softness and greater solubility, potassium soaps require less water to liquefy, and can thus contain more cleaning agent than liquefied sodium soaps.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Aqueous potassium hydroxide is employed as the electrolyte in alkaline batteries based on nickel-cadmium, nickel-hydrogen, and manganese dioxide-zinc. Potassium hydroxide is preferred over sodium hydroxide because its solutions are more conductive. The nickel–metal hydride batteries in the Toyota Prius use a mixture of potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide. Nickel–iron batteries also use potassium hydroxide electrolyte.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: In food products, potassium hydroxide acts as a food thickener, pH control agent and food stabilizer. The FDA considers it generally safe as a direct food ingredient when used in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices. It is known in the E number system as E525.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Like sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide attracts numerous specialized applications, virtually all of which rely on its properties as a strong chemical base with its consequent ability to degrade many materials. For example, in a process commonly referred to as "chemical cremation" or "resomation", potassium hydroxide hastens the decomposition of soft tissues, both animal and human, to leave behind only the bones and other hard tissues. Entomologists wishing to study the fine structure of insect anatomy may use a 10% aqueous solution of KOH to apply this process.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: In chemical synthesis, the choice between the use of KOH and the use of NaOH is guided by the solubility or keeping quality of the resulting salt.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: The corrosive properties of potassium hydroxide make it a useful ingredient in agents and preparations that clean and disinfect surfaces and materials that can themselves resist corrosion by KOH.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Potassium hydroxide is often the main active ingredient in chemical "cuticle removers" used in manicure treatments.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Because aggressive bases like KOH damage the cuticle of the hair shaft, potassium hydroxide is used to chemically assist the removal of hair from animal hides. The hides are soaked for several hours in a solution of KOH and water to prepare them for the unhairing stage of the tanning process. This same effect is also used to weaken human hair in preparation for shaving. Preshave products and some shave creams contain potassium hydroxide to force open the hair cuticle and to act as a hygroscopic agent to attract and force water into the hair shaft, causing further damage to the hair. In this weakened state, the hair is more easily cut by a razor blade.


title: Potassium hydroxide

text: Potassium hydroxide is used to identify some species of fungi. A 3–5% aqueous solution of KOH is applied to the flesh of a mushroom and the researcher notes whether or not the color of the flesh changes. Certain species of gilled mushrooms, boletes, polypores, and lichens are identifiable based on this color-change reaction.


title: Confederation

text: A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issues, such as defense, foreign relations, internal trade or currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all its members. Confederalism represents a main form of intergovernmentalism, which is defined as any form of interaction around states which takes place on the basis of sovereign independence or government.


title: Confederation

text: The nature of the relationship among the member states constituting a confederation varies considerably. Likewise, the relationship between the member states and the general government and the distribution of powers among them varies. Some looser confederations are similar to international organisations. Other confederations with stricter rules may resemble federal systems.


title: Confederation

text: Since the member states of a confederation retain their sovereignty, they have an implicit right of secession. The political philosopher Emmerich de Vattel said: "Several sovereign and independent states may unite themselves together by a perpetual confederacy without each in particular ceasing to be a perfect state... The deliberations in common will offer no violence to the sovereignty of each member".


title: Confederation

text: Under a confederation, compared to a federal state, the central authority is relatively weak. Decisions made by the general government in a unicameral legislature, a council of the member states, require subsequent implementation by the member states to take effect; they are not laws acting directly upon the individual but have more the character of interstate agreements. Also, decision-making in the general government usually proceeds by consensus (unanimity), not by majority. Historically, those features limit the effectiveness of the union and so political pressure tends to build over time for the transition to a federal system of government, as happened in the American, Swiss and German cases of regional integration.


title: Confederation

text: In terms of internal structure, every confederal state is composed of two or more constituent states, that are referred to as "confederated states". In regard to their political systems, confederated states can have republican or monarchical forms of government. Those that have republican form (confederated republics) are usually called "states" (like states of the American Confederacy, 1861-1865) or "republics" (like republics of Serbia and Montenegro within the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, 2003-2006). Those that have monarchical form of government (confederated monarchies) are defined by various hierarchical ranks (like kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan within the Hashemite Arab Union in 1958).


title: Confederation

text: Many scholars have claimed that the Kingdom of Belgium, a country with a complicated federal structure, has adopted some characteristics of a confederation under the pressure of separatist movements, especially in Flanders. For example, C. E. Lagasse declared that Belgium was "near the political system of a Confederation" regarding the constitutional reform agreements between Belgian "Regions" and between "Communities", and the director of the "Centre de recherche et d'information socio-politiques" (CRISP) Vincent de Coorebyter called Belgium "undoubtedly a federation...[with] some aspects of a confederation" in "Le Soir". Also in "Le Soir", Professor Michel Quévit of the Catholic University of Leuven wrote that the "Belgian political system is already in dynamics of a Confederation".


title: Confederation

text: Nevertheless, the Belgian regions and the linguistic communities do not have the necessary autonomy to leave the Belgian state. As such, federal aspects still dominate. Also, for fiscal policy and public finances, the federal state dominates the other levels of government.


title: Confederation

text: The increasingly-confederal aspects of the Belgian Federal State appear to be a political reflection of the profound cultural, sociological and economic differences between the "Flemish" (Belgians who speak Dutch or Dutch dialects) and the "Walloons" (Belgians who speak French or French dialects). For example, in the last several decades, over 95% of Belgians have voted for political parties that represent voters from only one community, the separatist N-VA being the party with the most voter support among the Flemish population. Parties that strongly advocate Belgian unity and appeal to voters of both communities play usually only a marginal role in nationwide general elections. The system in Belgium is known as consociationalism.


title: Confederation

text: That makes Belgium fundamentally different from federal countries like Switzerland, Canada, Germany and Australia. In those countries, national parties regularly receive over 90% of voter support. The only geographical areas comparable with Belgium within Europe are Catalonia, the Basque Country (both part of Spain), Northern Ireland and Scotland (both part of the United Kingdom) and parts of Italy, where a massive voter turnout for regional (and often separatist) political parties has become the rule in the last decades, and nationwide parties advocating national unity draw around half or sometimes less of the votes.


title: Confederation

text: The Benelux is a politico-economic union of the states of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg bound through treaties and based on consensus between the representatives of the member states.


title: Confederation

text: They partially share a common foreign policy, especially in regards to their navies through the BeNeSam. The Dutch defence minister (2010-2012) Hans Hillen even said on Belgian radio that it is not impossible that the three armed forces of the member-states could be integrated into "Benelux Armed Forces" one day.


title: Confederation

text: Because of this the Benelux is sometimes labeled as a "kind of confederation" by, for example; Belgian Minister of State Mark Eyskens.


title: Confederation

text: In Canada, the word "confederation" has an additional unrelated meaning. "Confederation" refers to the process of (or the event of) establishing or joining the Canadian federal state.


title: Confederation

text: In modern terminology, Canada is a federation, not a confederation. However, to contemporaries of the "Constitution Act, 1867", "confederation" did not have the same connotation of a weakly-centralized federation. Canadian Confederation generally refers to the "Constitution Act, 1867", which formed the Dominion of Canada from three of the colonies of British North America, and to the subsequent incorporation of other colonies and territories. Beginning on 1 July 1867, it was initially a self-governing dominion of the British Empire with a federal structure, whose government was led by Sir John A. Macdonald. The initial colonies involved were the Province of Canada (becoming Quebec from Canada East, formerly the colony of Lower Canada; and Ontario from Canada West, formerly the colony of Upper Canada), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Later participants were Manitoba, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Saskatchewan (the latter two created in 1905 as federated provinces from parts of the directly federally administered Northwest Territories, first transferred to the Dominion in 1869 and now possessing devolved governments as itself, Yukon and Nunavut), and finally Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) in 1949. Canada is an unusually decentralized federal state, not a confederate association of sovereign states, the usual meaning of "confederation" in modern terms. A Canadian judicial constitutional interpretation, "Reference Re Secession of Quebec", and a subsequent federal law, set forth negotiating conditions for a Canadian province (though not a territory) to leave the Canadian federal state (addressed also by a related Quebec law). Importantly, negotiation would first need triggering by referendum and executing by constitutional amendment using a current amending mechanism of Canada’s constitution—meaning that, while not legal under the current constitution, it is democratically feasible without resorting to extralegal means or international involvement.


title: Confederation

text: Its unique nature and the political sensitivities surrounding it cause there to be no common or legal classification for the European Union (EU). However, it bears some resemblance to both a confederation (or a "new" type of confederation) and a federation. The term supranational union has also been applied. The EU operates common economic policies with hundreds of common laws, which enable a single economic market, a common customs territory, (mainly) open internal borders, and a common currency among most member-states. However, unlike a federation, the EU does not have exclusive powers over foreign affairs, defence, and taxation. Furthermore, most EU laws, which have been developed by consensus between relevant national government ministers and then scrutinised and approved or rejected by the European Parliament, must be transposed into national law by national parliaments. Most collective decisions by member states are taken by weighted majorities and blocking minorities typical of upper houses in federations. On the other hand, the absolute unanimity typical of intergovernmentalism is required only in respect to the Common Foreign and Security Policy, as well as in situations when ratification of a treaty or of a treaty amendment is required. Such a form may thus be described as a semi-intergovernmental confederation.


title: Confederation

text: However, some academic observers more usually discuss the EU in the terms of it being a federation. As the international law professor Joseph H. H. Weiler (of the Hague Academy and New York University) wrote, "Europe has charted its own brand of constitutional federalism". Jean-Michel Josselin and Alain Marciano see the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg City as being a primary force behind the building of a federal legal order for the EU, with Josselin stating that a "complete shift from a confederation to a federation would have required to straight-forwardly replace the principality of the member states vis-à-vis the Union by that of the European citizens. As a consequence, both confederate and federate features coexist in the judicial landscape". Rutgers political science professor R. Daniel Kelemen said: "Those uncomfortable using the 'F' word in the EU context should feel free to refer to it as a quasi-federal or federal-like system. Nevertheless, the EU has the necessary attributes of a federal system. It is striking that while many scholars of the EU continue to resist analyzing it as a federation, most contemporary students of federalism view the EU as a federal system". Thomas Risse and Tanja A. Börzel claim that the "EU only lacks two significant features of a federation. First, the Member States remain the 'masters' of the treaties, i.e., they have the exclusive power to amend or change the constitutive treaties of the EU. Second, the EU lacks a real 'tax and spend' capacity, in other words, there is no fiscal federalism".


title: Confederation

text: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the chairman of the body of experts commissioned to elaborate a constitutional charter for the European Union, was confronted with strong opposition from the United Kingdom towards including the words 'federal' or 'federation' in the unratified European Constitution and the word was replaced with either 'Community' or 'Union'.


title: Confederation

text: A majority of the Political Groups in the European Parliament, including the EPP, the S&D Group and Renew Europe, support a federal model for the European Union. The ECR Group argues for a reformed European Union along confederal lines. The Brothers of Italy party, led by Giorgia Meloni, campaigns for a confederal Europe. On her election as President of the ECR Party in September 2020 Meloni said, "Let us continue to fight together for a confederate Europe of free and sovereign states".


title: Confederation

text: In the context of the history of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, a confederacy may refer to a semi-permanent political and military alliance consisting of multiple nations (or "tribes", "bands", or "villages"), which maintained their separate leadership. One of the most well-known is the Haudenosaunee (or Iroquois), but there were many others during different eras and locations across North America, such as the Wabanaki Confederacy, Western Confederacy, Powhatan, Seven Nations of Canada, Pontiac's Confederacy, Illinois Confederation, Tecumseh's Confederacy, Great Sioux Nation, Blackfoot Confederacy, Iron Confederacy and Council of Three Fires.


title: Confederation

text: The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, historically known as the Iroquois League or the League of Five (later Six) Nations, is the country of Native Americans (in what is now the United States) and First Nations (in what is now Canada) that consists of six nations: the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, the Seneca and the Tuscarora. The Six Nations have a representative government known as the Grand Council which is the oldest governmental institution still maintaining its original form in North America. Each clan from the five nations sends chiefs to act as representatives and make decisions for the whole confederation. It has been operating since its foundation in 1142 despite limited international recognition today.


title: Confederation

text: In 2003, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was transformed into the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, a confederation of the Republic of Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia. The state was constituted as a loose political union, but formally functioned as a sovereign subject of international law, and member of the United Nations. As a confederation, the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro had very few shared functions, such as defense, foreign affairs and a weak common president, ministerial council and parliament.


title: Confederation

text: The two constituent republics functioned separately throughout the period of its short existence, and they continued to operate under separate economic policies and to use separate currencies (the euro was and still is the only legal tender in Montenegro, and the dinar was and still is the legal tender in Serbia). On 21 May 2006, the Montenegrin independence referendum was held. The final official results indicated on 31 May that 55.5% of voters voted in favor of independence. The confederation effectively came to an end after Montenegro's formal declaration of independence on 3 June 2006 and Serbia's formal declaration of independence on 5 June.


title: Confederation

text: Switzerland, officially known as the "Swiss Confederation", is an example of a modern country that traditionally refers to itself as a confederation because the official (and traditional) name of Switzerland in German (the majority language of the Swiss) is ' (literally "Swiss Comradeship by Oath"), an expression which was translated into the Latin ' (Helvetic Confederation). It had been a confederacy since its inception in 1291 as the Old Swiss Confederacy, which was originally created as an alliance among the valley communities of the central Alps, until it became a federation in 1848 but it retains the name of Confederacy for reasons of historical tradition. The confederacy facilitated management of common interests (such as freedom from external domination especially from the Habsburg Empire, the development of republican institutions in a Europe dominated by monarchies and free trade), and it ensured peace between the different cultural entities of the area.


title: Confederation

text: After the Sonderbund War of 1847, when some of the Catholic cantons of Switzerland attempted to set up a separate union ("" in German) against the Protestant majority, a vote was held and the majority of the cantons approved the new Federal Constitution which changed the political system to one of a federation.


title: Confederation

text: In 1999, Russia and Belarus signed a treaty to form a confederation, which came into force on 26 January 2000. Although it was given the name "Union State", and has some characteristics of a federation, it remains a confederation of two sovereign states. Its existence has been seen as an indication of Russia’s political and economic support for the Belarusian government. The confederation was created with the objective of co-ordinating common action on economic integration and foreign affairs. However, many of the treaty’s provisions have not yet been implemented. Consequently, "The Times", in 2020, described it as “a mostly unimplemented confederation”.


title: Confederation

text: Historical confederations (especially those predating the 20th century) may not fit the current definition of a confederation, may be proclaimed as a federation but be confederal (or the reverse), and may not show any qualities that 21st-century political scientists might classify as those of a confederation.


title: Confederation

text: Some have more the characteristics of a personal union, but appear here because of their self-styling as a "confederation":


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: Landscapers is a true crime black comedy-drama drama miniseries created and written by Ed Sinclair, and directed by Will Sharpe. The series is based on the true story of the 1998 murders of William and Patricia Wycherley and stars Olivia Colman and David Thewlis as Susan and Christopher Edwards, the couple behind the murders, as their decade-old crimes are uncovered in 2012.


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: Inspired by real events, "Landscapers" tells the story of mild-mannered Susan and her husband, and how they came to kill Susan's parents and bury them in the back garden of their Mansfield home, in a crime that remained undiscovered for over a decade.


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: In December 2019, HBO and Sky announced they had given a series order to "Landscapers", a true-crime miniseries written by Ed Sinclair and originally intended to be directed and executive produced by Alexander Payne, with Olivia Colman attached to star; Sinclair had created and wrote the series with Colman in mind for the part of Susan Edwards.


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: In October 2020, Alexander Payne exited the project due to scheduling conflicts and was replaced by Will Sharpe. David Thewlis was cast as Christopher Edwards in March 2021. Principal photography for the series began in March 2021 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: The series features a flashback scene; although both Colman and Thewlis are intended to be much younger in the scene, no visual effects or specific makeup were used, with Thewlis commenting "We just put wigs on."


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: Both Colman and Thewlis stated that they did not doubt the culpability of the Edwards in the murder, but that series was intended to create empathy and an understanding for the couple, with Thewlis stating "what we’re asking the audience to decide is not whether they're guilty, because they clearly are, but whether they deserve sympathy" and Colman stating "you do find yourself going, 'God, I wonder, had I had that set of circumstances, what would I do? They’re gentle, meek people. What on earth made them do it?"


title: Landscapers (TV series)

text: The series received positive reviews upon its release, particularly for the two leads performances. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an overall approval rating of 98% with an average score of 8.10/10 based on 46 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: ""Landscapers" layers enigmatic style onto an already unbelievable true story with varying results, but Olivia Colman and David Thewlis ground the absurdity with outstanding performances". On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the series has a score of 79 based on 22 reviews indicating 'Generally favourable reviews'.


title: Tilia

text: Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain and Ireland they are commonly called lime trees, although they are not related to the citrus lime. The genus occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but the greatest species diversity is found in Asia. Under the Cronquist classification system, this genus was placed in the family Tiliaceae, but genetic research summarised by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group has resulted in the incorporation of this genus, and of most of the previous family, into the Malvaceae.


title: Tilia

text: "Tilia" species are mostly large, deciduous trees, reaching typically tall, with oblique-cordate (heart-shaped) leaves across. As with elms, the exact number of species is uncertain, as many of the species can hybridise readily, both in the wild and in cultivation. They are hermaphroditic, having perfect flowers with both male and female parts, pollinated by insects.


title: Tilia

text: "Tilia" is the only known ectomycorrhizal genus in the family Malvaceae. Studies of ectomycorrhizal relations of "Tilia" species indicate a wide range of fungal symbionts and a preference toward Ascomycota fungal partners.


title: Tilia

text: The genus is generally called "lime" or "linden" in Britain and "linden", "lime", or "basswood" in North America.


title: Tilia

text: "Lime" is an altered form of Middle English "lind", in the 16th century also "line", from Old English feminine "lind" or "linde", Proto-Germanic "*lindō", cognate to Latin "lentus" "flexible" and Sanskrit "latā" "liana". Within Germanic languages, English "lithe", German "lind" "lenient, yielding" are from the same root.


title: Tilia

text: "Linden" was originally the adjective, "made from linwood or lime-wood" (equivalent to "wooden" or "oaken"); from the late 16th century, "linden" was also used as a noun, probably influenced by translations of German romance, as an adoption of "Linden", the plural of German "Linde".


title: Tilia

text: Neither the name nor the tree is related to the citrus fruit called "lime" ("Citrus aurantifolia", family Rutaceae). Another common name used in North America is basswood, derived from "bast", the name for the inner bark (see Uses, below). Teil is an old name for the lime tree.


title: Tilia

text: Latin "tilia" is cognate to Greek πτελέᾱ, "ptelea", "elm tree", τιλίαι, "tiliai", "black poplar" (Hes.), ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European word "*ptel-ei̯ā" with a meaning of "broad" (feminine); perhaps "broad-leaved" or similar.


title: Tilia

text: The "Tilia" sturdy trunk stands like a pillar and the branches divide and subdivide into numerous ramifications on which the twigs are fine and thick. In summer, these are profusely clothed with large leaves and the result is a dense head of abundant foliage.


title: Tilia

text: The leaves of all the "Tilia" species are heart-shaped, and most are asymmetrical. The tiny, pea-like fruit hangs attached to a ribbon-like, greenish-yellow bract whose apparent purpose is to launch the ripened seed clusters just a little beyond the parent tree. The flowers of the European and American "Tilia" species are similar, except the American ones bear a petal-like scale among their stamens and the European varieties are devoid of these appendages. All of the "Tilia" species may be propagated by cuttings and grafting, as well as by seed. They grow rapidly in rich soil, but are subject to the attack of many insects. "Tilia" is notoriously difficult to propagate from seed unless collected fresh in fall. If allowed to dry, the seeds go into a deep dormancy and take 18 months to germinate.


title: Tilia

text: In particular, aphids are attracted by the rich supply of sap, and are in turn often "farmed" by ants for the production of the sap, which the ants collect for their own use, and the result can often be a dripping of excess sap onto the lower branches and leaves, and anything else below. Cars left under the trees can quickly become coated with a film of the syrup ("honeydew") thus dropped from higher up. The ant/aphid "farming" process does not appear to cause any serious damage to the trees.


title: Tilia

text: In Europe, some linden trees reached considerable ages. A coppice of "T. cordata" in Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire is estimated to be 2,000 years old. In the courtyard of the Imperial Castle at Nuremberg is a "Tilia", which by tradition recounted in 1900, was planted by the Empress Cunigunde, the wife of Henry II of Germany "circa" 1000. The "Tilia" of Neuenstadt am Kocher in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was estimated at 1000 years old when it fell. The Alte Linde tree of Naters, Switzerland, is mentioned in a document in 1357 and described by the writer at that time as already "magnam" (large). A plaque at its foot mentions that in 1155, a linden tree was already on this spot. The Najevnik linden tree (), a 700-year-old "T. cordata", is the thickest tree in Slovenia.


title: Tilia

text: The linden is recommended as an ornamental tree when a mass of foliage or a deep shade is desired. It produces fragrant and nectar-producing flowers and is an important honey plant for beekeepers, giving rise to a pale but richly flavoured monofloral honey. In European and North American herbal medicine, the flowers are also used for herbal teas and tinctures. The flowers are used for herbal tea in the winter in Greece and Turkey.


title: Tilia

text: In English landscape gardens, avenues of linden trees were fashionable, especially during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Many country houses have a surviving "lime avenue" or "lime walk", the example at Hatfield House was planted between 1700 and 1730. The fashion was derived from the earlier practice of planting lindens in lines as shade trees in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and northern France. Most of the trees used in British gardens were cultivars propagated by layering in the Netherlands.


title: Tilia

text: Linden trees produce soft and easily worked timber, which has very little grain and a density of 560 kg/m. It was often used by Germanic tribes for constructing shields. It is a popular wood for model building and for intricate carving. Especially in Germany, it was the classic wood for sculpture from the Middle Ages onwards and is the material for the elaborate altarpieces of Veit Stoss, Tilman Riemenschneider, and many others. In England, it was the favoured medium of the sculptor Grinling Gibbons (1648–1721). The wood is used in marionette- and puppet-making and -carving. Having a fine, light grain and being comparatively light in weight, it has been used for centuries for this purpose; despite the availability of modern alternatives, it remains one of the main materials used .


title: Tilia

text: Ease of working and good acoustic properties also make limewood popular for electric and bass guitar bodies and for wind instruments such as recorders. Percussion manufacturers sometimes use "Tilia" as a material for drum shells, both to enhance their sound and for their aesthetics.


title: Tilia

text: Linden wood is also the material of choice for window blinds and shutters. Real-wood blinds are often made from this lightweight but strong and stable wood, which is well suited to natural and stained finishes.


title: Tilia

text: Known in the trade as basswood, particularly in North America, its name originates from the inner fibrous bark of the tree, known as bast. A strong fibre is obtained from the tree by peeling off the bark and soaking it in water for a month, after which the inner fibres can be easily separated. Bast obtained from the inside of the bark of the "Tilia japonica" tree has been used by the Ainu people of Japan to weave their traditional clothing, the "attus". Excavations in Britain have shown that lime tree fibre was preferred for clothing there during the Bronze Age. Similar fibres obtained from other plants are also called bast: see Bast fibre.


title: Tilia

text: The dried flowers are mildly sweet and sticky, and the fruit is somewhat sweet and mucilaginous. Linden flower tea has a pleasing taste, due to the aromatic volatile oil found in the flowers. Phytochemicals in the "Tilia" flowers include flavonoids and tannins with astringent properties. In traditional medicine, "Tilia" flowers have been used as tea for treatment of respiratory diseases.


title: Tilia

text: In his compendium "Food for Free", Richard Mabey includes a recipe for tilleul tea, popular in France, made with the flowers of the Lime tree, described as "one of the very best teas of all wild flowers" and notes that the tree's leaves can be eaten in salad or as a sandwich filling.


title: Tilia

text: The nectar contains a major secondary metabolite with the trivial name tiliaside (1-[4-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)-1,3-cyclohexadiene-1-carboxylate]-6-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-glucopyranose) which is transformed in the gut of bumble bees to the aglycone (i.e., the gentiobiose group is cleaved) which is bioactive against a common and debilitating gut parasite of bumble bees, "Crithidia bombi". This naturally occurring compound may support bees to manage the burden of disease - one of the major contributors to pollinator decline.


title: Tilia

text: Usually, the double-flowered species are used to make perfumes. The leaf buds and young leaves are also edible raw.


title: Tilia

text: "Tilia" species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera; see List of Lepidoptera that feed on "Tilia".


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: Born in Munich in 1929, Gudrun Himmler was the daughter of Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer-SS, Chief of Police and Security forces, and Reich Minister of the Interior in Nazi Germany. She was the only biological child of Himmler and his wife Margarete Siegroth, "née" Boden, though her parents later adopted a son. (Himmler also had two out-of-wedlock children with his secretary, Hedwig Potthast.)


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: Heinrich Himmler adored his daughter and had her regularly flown to his offices in Berlin from Munich where she lived with her mother. When she was at home, he telephoned her most days and wrote to her every week. Heinrich always called her by her childhood nickname "Püppi". She accompanied her father on some official duties.


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: She disputed that Heinrich Himmler, who died in British captivity on 23 May 1945, died by suicide when he broke a concealed cyanide capsule, and instead maintained that he was murdered.


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: After the Second World War, she and her mother were arrested by the Americans and held in various camps in Italy, France and Germany. They were brought to Nuremberg to testify at the trials, and were released in November 1946. Gudrun later bitterly referred to this time as the most difficult of her life, and said that she and her mother were treated as though they had to atone for the sins of her father.


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: She never renounced the Nazi ideology and repeatedly sought to justify the actions of her father, relative to the context of his time. People who knew her say that Gudrun created a "golden image" of her father, to atone for the father she "wished" she had; Himmler had a history of cheating on his wife.


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: She married the far-right propagandist and author Wulf Dieter Burwitz, who later became a party official in the Bavarian section of the far-right NPD, and had two children. She was affiliated with "Stille Hilfe" ("Silent Aid"), an organization formed to aid former SS members, which assisted Klaus Barbie ("the Butcher of Lyon") of the Lyon Gestapo and Martin Sommer, otherwise known as the "Hangman of Buchenwald", and she reportedly continued to support a Protestant old people's home in Pullach, near Munich.


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: From 1961 to 1963, she worked, under an assumed name, as a secretary for West Germany's intelligence agency, the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), at its headquarters in Pullach. At the time the agency was headed by Reinhard Gehlen, an American-recruited general who hired, among others, ex-Nazis to work for BND based on their connections and experience with Eastern Europe and anti-communist activities; she retired in 1968, one year after the normal age of retirement for civil servants in West Germany.


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: For decades Gudrun Burwitz was a prominent public figure in "Stille Hilfe". At various meetings, for instance the annual Ulrichsberg gathering in Austria, she received the status of both a star and an authority. Oliver Schröm, author of a book about the organisation, described her as a "flamboyant Nazi princess" ("schillernde Nazi-Prinzessin").


title: Gudrun Burwitz

text: Peter Finkelgrun, a German-Jewish investigative journalist, discovered that Burwitz provided financial support for SS-Scharführer Anton Malloth, a former Nazi prison guard and a fugitive war criminal. In 2001, Malloth was convicted of beating at least 100 prisoners to death at the Theresienstadt concentration camp, including Finkelgrun's grandfather in 1943.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , , ), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico's history. It is a port of call for shipping and cruise lines running between Panama and San Francisco, California, United States. The city of Acapulco is the largest in the state, far larger than the state capital Chilpancingo. Acapulco is also Mexico's largest beach and balneario resort city. Acapulco de Juárez is the municipal seat of the municipality of Acapulco.


title: Acapulco

text: The city is one of Mexico's oldest beach resorts, coming into prominence in the 1940s through the 1960s as a getaway for Hollywood stars and millionaires. Acapulco was once a popular tourist resort, but due to a massive upsurge in gang violence and homicide numbers since 2014, Acapulco no longer attracts many foreign tourists, and most now only come from Mexico itself. It is both the sixth deadliest city in Mexico and the seventh-deadliest city in the world; the US government has warned its citizens not to travel there. In 2016 there were 918 murders, and the homicide rate was one of the highest in the world: 103 in every 100,000. In September 2018 the city's entire police force was disarmed by the military, due to suspicions that it has been infiltrated by drug gangs.


title: Acapulco

text: The resort area is divided into three parts: the north end of the bay and beyond is the "traditional" area, which encompasses the area from "Parque Papagayo" through the and onto the beaches of "Caleta" and "Caletilla", the main part of the bay known as "" ('golden zone' in Spanish), where the famous in the mid-20th century vacationed, and the south end, "" ('diamond' in Spanish), which is dominated by newer luxury high-rise hotels and condominiums.


title: Acapulco

text: The name "Acapulco" comes from Nahuatl language "Aca-pōl-co", and means "where the reeds were destroyed or washed away" or "at the big reeds", which inspired the city's seal, which is an Aztec-type glyph showing two hands breaking reeds.


title: Acapulco

text: The "de Juárez" was added to the official name in 1885 to honor Benito Juárez, former president of Mexico (1806–1872). The island and municipality of Capul, in the Philippines, derives its name from Acapulco. Acapulco was the eastern end of the trans-Pacific sailing route from Acapulco to Manila, in what was then a Spanish colony.


title: Acapulco

text: By the 8th century around the Acapulco Bay area, there was a small culture which would first be dominated by the Olmecs, then by a number of others during the pre-Hispanic period before it ended in the 1520s. At Acapulco Bay itself, there were two Olmec sites, one by Playa Larga and the other on a hill known as "El Guitarrón". Olmec influence caused the small spread-out villages here to coalesce into larger entities and build ceremonial centers.


title: Acapulco

text: Later, Teotihuacan influence came to the area via Cuernavaca and Chilpancingo. Then Mayan influence arrived from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and through what is now Oaxaca. This history is known through the archaeological artifacts that have been found here, especially at "Playa Hornos, Pie de la Cuesta", and "Tambuco".


title: Acapulco

text: In the 11th century, new waves of migration of Nahuas and "Coixas" came through here. These people were the antecedents of the Aztecs. In the later 15th century, after four years of military struggle, Acapulco became part of the Aztec Empire during the reign of Ahuizotl (1486–1502). It was annexed to a tributary province named "Tepecuacuilco". However, this was only transitory, as the Aztecs could only establish an unorganized military post at the city's outskirts. The city was in territory under control of the "Yopes", who continued defending it and living there until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1520s.


title: Acapulco

text: There are two stories about how Acapulco bay was discovered by Europeans. The first states that two years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Hernán Cortés sent explorers west to find gold. The explorers had subdued this area after 1523, and Captain Saavedra Cerón was authorized by Cortés to found a settlement here. The other states that the bay was discovered on December 13, 1526, by a small ship named the El Tepache Santiago captained by Santiago Guevara.


title: Acapulco

text: The first encomendero was established in 1525 at "Cacahuatepec", which is part of the modern Acapulco municipality. In 1531, a number of Spaniards, most notably Juan Rodriguez de Villafuerte, left the Oaxaca coast and founded the village of Villafuerte where the city of Acapulco now stands. Villafuerte was unable to subdue the local native peoples, and this eventually resulted in the Yopa Rebellion in the region of "Cuautepec". Hernán Cortés was obligated to send Vasco Porcayo to negotiate with the indigenous people giving concessions. The province of Acapulco became the encomendero of Rodriguez de Villafuerte who received taxes in the form of cocoa, cotton and corn.


title: Acapulco

text: Cortés established Acapulco as a major port by the early 1530s, with the first major road between Mexico City and the port constructed by 1531. The wharf, named Marqués, was constructed by 1533 between Bruja Point and Diamond Point. Soon after, the area was made an "alcadia" (major province or town).


title: Acapulco

text: Spanish trade in the Far East would give Acapulco a prominent position in the economy of New Spain. In 1550 thirty Spanish families were sent to live here from Mexico City to have a permanent base of European residents. Galleons started arriving in Acapulco from Asia by 1565. Acapulco would become the second most important port, after Veracruz, due to its direct trade with the Philippines. This trade would focus on the yearly Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade, which was the nexus of all kinds of communications between New Spain, Europe and Asia. In 1573, the port was granted the monopoly of the Manila trade.


title: Acapulco

text: On January 25, 1614, a delegation led by samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga, which included over one hundred Japanese Christians as well as twenty-two samurai under the shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu, arrived from Japan to Acapulco as part of a mission to form closer relations with Catholic Europe. A fight soon broke out in which a Japanese samurai stabbed a Spanish colonial soldier in Acapulco. This was witnessed and recorded by historian Chimalpahin, who was the grandson of an Aztec nobleman. Some of Tsunenaga's delegation would stay and marry with the locals.


title: Acapulco

text: The galleon trade made its yearly run from the mid-16th century until the early 19th. The luxury items it brought to New Spain attracted the attention of English and Dutch pirates, such as Francis Drake, Henry Morgan and Thomas Cavendish, who called it "The Black Ship". A Dutch fleet invaded Acapulco in 1615, destroying much of the town before being driven off. The Fort of San Diego was built the following year to protect the port and the cargo of arriving ships. The fort was destroyed by an earthquake in 1776 and was rebuilt between 1778 and 1783.


title: Acapulco

text: At the beginning of the 19th century, King Charles IV declared Acapulco a Ciudad Official and it became an essential part of the Spanish Crown. However, not long after, the Mexican War of Independence began. In 1810, José María Morelos y Pavón attacked and burnt down the city, after he defeated royalist commander Francisco Parés at the Battle of Tres Palos. The independence of Mexico in 1821 ended the run of the Manila Galleon.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco's importance as a port recovered during the California Gold Rush in the mid-19th-century, with ships going to and coming from Panama stopping here. This city was besieged on 19 April 1854 by Antonio López de Santa Anna after Guerrero's leadership had rebelled by issuing the Plan de Ayutla. After an unsuccessful week of fighting, Santa Anna retreated.


title: Acapulco

text: In 1920, the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII) visited the area. Impressed by what he saw, he recommended the place to his compatriots in Europe, making it popular with the elite there. Much of the original hotel and trading infrastructure was built by a businessman named Albert B. Pullen from Corrigan, Texas, in the area now known as Old Acapulco. In 1933 Carlos Barnard started the first section of "Hotel El Mirador", with 12 rooms on the cliffs of La Quebrada. Wolf Schoenborn purchased large amounts of undeveloped land and Albert Pullen built the "Las Americas Hotel".


title: Acapulco

text: In the mid-1940s, the first commercial wharf and warehouses were built. In the early 1950s, President Miguel Alemán Valdés upgraded the port's infrastructure, installing electrical lines, drainage systems, roads and the first highway to connect the port with Mexico City.


title: Acapulco

text: The economy grew and foreign investment increased with it. During the 1950s, Acapulco became the fashionable place for millionaire Hollywood stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Eddie Fisher and Brigitte Bardot. The 1963 Hollywood movie "Fun in Acapulco", starring Elvis Presley, is set in Acapulco although the filming took place in the United States. Former swing musician Teddy Stauffer, the so-called "Mister Acapulco", was a hotel manager ("Villa Vera", "Casablanca"), who attracted many celebrities to Acapulco.


title: Acapulco

text: From a population of only 4,000 or 5,000 in the 1940s, by the early 1960s, Acapulco had a population of about 50,000. In 1958, the Diocese of Acapulco was created by Pope Pius XII. It became an archdiocese in 1983.


title: Acapulco

text: During the 1960s and 1970s, new hotel resorts were built, and accommodation and transport were made cheaper. It was no longer necessary to be a millionaire to spend a holiday in Acapulco; the foreign and Mexican middle class could now afford to travel here. However, as more hotels were built in the south part of the bay, the old hotels of the 1950s lost their grandeur. For the 1968 Summer Olympics in neighboring Mexico City, Acapulco hosted the sailing (then yachting) events.


title: Acapulco

text: The Miss Universe 1978 pageant took place in the city. In 1983, singer-songwriter Juan Gabriel wrote the song "Amor eterno", which pays homage to Acapulco. The song was first and most famously recorded by Rocío Dúrcal. Additionally, Acapulco is the hometown of actress, singer, and comedian Aída Pierce, who found fame during the 1980s, 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century.


title: Acapulco

text: The tollway known as the "Ruta del Sol" was built during the 1990s, crossing the mountains between Mexico City and Acapulco. The journey takes only about three-and-a-half hours, making Acapulco a favorite weekend destination for Mexico City inhabitants. It was in that time period that the economic impact of Acapulco as a tourist destination increased positively, and as a result new types of services emerged, such as the Colegio Nautilus. This educational project, backed by the state government, was created for the families of local and foreign investors and businessmen living in Acapulco who were in need of a bilingual and international education for their children.


title: Acapulco

text: The port continued to grow and in 1996, a new private company, API Acapulco, was created to manage operations. This consolidated operations and now Acapulco is the major port for car exports to the Pacific.


title: Acapulco

text: The city was devastated by Hurricane Pauline in 1997. The storm stranded tourists and left more than 100 dead in the city. Most of the victims were from the shantytowns built on steep hillsides that surround the city. Other victims were swept away by thirty-foot (9 m) waves and winds. The main road, Avenida Costera, became a fast-moving river of sludge three feet (1 m) in depth.


title: Acapulco

text: In the 21st century, the Mexican Drug War has had a negative effect on tourism in Acapulco as rival drug traffickers fight each other for the Guerrero coast route that brings drugs from South America as well as soldiers that have been fighting the cartels since 2006.


title: Acapulco

text: A major gun battle between 18 gunmen and soldiers took place in the summer of 2009 in the Old Acapulco seaside area, lasting hours and killing 16 of the gunmen and two soldiers. This came after the 2009 swine flu pandemic outbreak earlier in the year nearly paralyzed the Mexican economy, forcing hotels to give discounts to bring tourists back. However, hotel occupancy for 2009 was down five percent from the year before. The death of Arturo Beltrán Leyva in December 2009 resulted in infighting among different groups within the Beltrán Leyva cartel.


title: Acapulco

text: Gang violence continued to plague Acapulco through 2010 and into 2011, most notably with at least 15 dying in drug-related violence on March 13, 2010, and another 15 deaths on January 8, 2011. Among the first incident's dead were six members of the city police and the brother of an ex-mayor. In the second incident, the headless bodies of 15 young men were found dumped near the Plaza Sendero shopping center. On August 20, 2011, Mexican authorities reported that five headless bodies were found in Acapulco, three of which were placed in the city's main tourist area and two of which were cut into multiple pieces.


title: Acapulco

text: On February 4, 2013, six Spanish men were tied up and robbed and the six Spanish women with them were gang-raped by five masked gunmen who stormed a beach house on the outskirts of Acapulco, though after these accusations, none of the victims decided to press charges. On September 28, 2014, Mexican politician Braulio Zaragoza was gunned down at the "El Mirador" hotel in the city. He was the leader of the conservative opposition National Action Party (PAN) in southern Guerrero state. Several politicians have been targeted by drug cartels operating in the area. Investigations are under way, but no arrests have yet been made. The insecurity due to individuals involved with drug cartels has cost the city of Acapulco its popularity among national and international tourists. It was stated by the "Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil" that the number of international flyers coming to Acapulco decreased from 355,760 flyers registered in 2006 to 52,684 flyers in the year 2015, the number of international tourists flying to Acapulco dropped 85% in the interval of nine years. In 2018, the Mexican Armed Forces entered the city, placing it under occupation. The police department was disarmed after allegations of the latter being linked to the cartels.


title: Acapulco

text: The city, located on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the state of Guerrero, is classified as one of the state's seven regions, dividing the rest of the Guerrero coast into the Costa Grande and the Costa Chica. Forty percent of the municipality is mountainous terrain; another forty percent is semi-flat; and the other twenty percent is flat. Altitude varies from sea level to . The highest peaks are "Potrero, San Nicolas", and "Alto Camarón". One major river runs through the municipality, the "Papagayo", along with a number of "arroyos" (streams). There are also two small lagoons, Tres Palos and Coyuca, along with a number of thermal springs.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco features a tropical wet and dry climate (Köppen: Aw): hot with distinct wet and dry seasons, with more even temperatures between seasons than resorts farther north in Mexico, but this varies depending on altitude. The warmest areas are next to the sea where the city is. Tropical storms and hurricanes are threats from May through November. The forested area tends to lose leaves during the winter dry season, with evergreen pines in the highest elevations. Fauna consists mostly of deer, small mammals, a wide variety of both land and seabirds, and marine animals such as turtles. Oddly enough, January, its coolest month, also features its all-time record high.


title: Acapulco

text: The temperature of the sea is quite stable, with lows of between January – March, and a high of in August.


title: Acapulco

text: As the seat of a municipality, the city of Acapulco is the government authority for over 700 other communities, which together have a territory of 1,880.60 km. This municipality borders the municipalities of Chilpancingo, Juan R Escudero (Tierra Colorada), San Marcos, Coyuca de Benítez with the Pacific Ocean to the south.


title: Acapulco

text: The metropolitan area is made up of the municipalities of Acapulco de Juárez and Coyuca de Benitez. The area has a population () of 786,830.


title: Acapulco

text: For the names and terms of some Acapulco mayors, you can check a List of municipal presidents of Acapulco.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco is the most populated city in the state of Guerrero, according to the results of the II Population and Housing Census 2010 carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) with a census date of June 12, 2010, The city had until then a total population of 673 479 inhabitants, of that amount, 324 746 were men and 348 733 women. It is considered the twenty-second most populous city in Mexico and the tenth most populous metropolitan area in Mexico. It is also the city with the highest concentration of population of the homonymous municipality, representing 85.25 percent of the 789.971 inhabitants.


title: Acapulco

text: The metropolitan area of Acapulco is made up of six towns in the municipality of Acapulco de Juárez and four in the municipality of Coyuca de Benítez. In agreement with the last count and official delimitation realized in 2010 altogether by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, the National Council of Population and the Secretariat of Social Development, the metropolitan area of Acapulco grouped a total of 863 431 inhabitants in a surface of 3 538.5 km, which placed it as the tenth most populated district in Mexico. It is estimated according to a study by the National Autonomous University of Mexico on climate and geography, carried out in 2002, that between 2015 and 2020 the city of Acapulco will exceed one million inhabitants.


title: Acapulco

text: Tourism is the main economic activity of the municipality and most of this is centered on Acapulco Bay. About seventy-three percent of the municipality's population is involved in commerce, most of it related to tourism and the port. Mining and manufacturing employ less than twenty percent and only about five percent is dedicated to agriculture. Industrial production is limited mostly to bottling, milk products, cement products, and ice and energy production. Agricultural products include tomatoes, corn, watermelon, beans, green chili peppers, and melons.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco is one of Mexico's oldest coastal tourist destinations, reaching prominence in the 1950s as the place where Hollywood stars and millionaires vacationed on the beach in an exotic locale. In modern times, tourists in Acapulco have been facing problems with corrupt local police who steal money by extortion and intimidate visitors with threats of jail.


title: Acapulco

text: Traditional Acapulco is the old part of the port, where hotels like Hotel Los Flamingos, owned by personalities Johnny Weissmuller and John Wayne are located, is on the northern end of the bay. Anchored by attractions such as the beaches of Caleta and Caletilla, the cliff divers of La Quebrada, and the city square, known as "El Zocalo". The heyday of this part of Acapulco ran from the late 1930s until the 1960s, with development continuing through the 1980s. This older section of town now caters to a mostly middle-class, almost exclusively Mexican clientele, while the glitzier newer section caters to the Mexican upper classes, many of whom never venture into the older, traditional part of town.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco Dorado had its development between the 1950s and the 1970s, and is about 25 minutes from the Acapulco International Airport. It is the area that presents the most tourist influx in the port, runs through much of the Acapulco bay, from Icacos, passing through Costera Miguel Aleman Avenue, which is the main one, to Papagayo Park. It has several hotels,


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco Diamante, also known as Punta Diamante, is the newest and most developed part of the port, with investment having created one of the greatest concentrations of luxury facilities in Mexico, including exclusive hotels and resorts of international chains, residential complexes, luxury condominiums and private villas, spas, restaurants, shopping areas and a golf course. Starting at the Scenic Highway in Las Brisas, it includes Puerto Marqués and Punta Diamante and extends to Barra Vieja Beach. It is 10 minutes from the Acapulco International Airport. In this area, all along "Boulevard de las Naciones", almost all transportation is by car, limousine or golf cart.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco's reputation of a high-energy party town and the nightlife have long been draws of the city for tourists. From November to April, luxury liners stop here daily and include ships such as the , the , "Crystal Harmony", and all the Princess line ships. Despite Acapulco's international fame, most of its visitors are from central Mexico, especially the affluent from Mexico City. Acapulco is one of the embarkation ports for the Mexican cruise line Ocean Star Cruises.


title: Acapulco

text: For the Christmas season of 2009, Acapulco received 470,000 visitors, most of whom are Mexican nationals, adding 785 million pesos to the economy. Eighty percent arrive by land and eighteen percent by air. The area has over 25,000 condominiums, most of which function as second homes for their Mexican owners. Acapulco is still popular with Mexican celebrities and the wealthy, such as Luis Miguel and Plácido Domingo, who maintain homes there.


title: Acapulco

text: From the latter 20th century on, the city has also taken on other less-positive reputations. Some consider it a "passé" resort, eclipsed by the newer Cancún and Cabo San Lucas. Over the years, a number of problems have developed here, especially in the bay and the older sections of the city. The large number of wandering vendors on the beaches, who offer everything from newspapers to massages, are a recognized problem. It is a bother to tourists who simply want to relax on the beach, but the government says it is difficult to eradicate, as there is a lot of unemployment and poverty in the city. Around the city are many small shantytowns that cling to the mountainsides, populated by migrants who have come to the city looking for work. In the last decade, drug-related violence has caused massive problems for the local tourism trade.


title: Acapulco

text: Another problem is the garbage that has accumulated in the bay. Although 60.65 tons have recently been extracted from the bays of Acapulco and nearby Zihuatanejo, more needs to be done. Most of trash removal during the off seasons is done on the beaches and in the waters closest to them. However, the center of the bay is not touched. The reason trash winds up in the bay is that it is common in the city to throw it in streets, rivers and the bay itself. The most common items cleaned out of the bay are beer bottles and car tires. Acapulco has seen some success in this area, having several beaches receiving the high "blue flag" certifications for cleanliness and water quality.


title: Acapulco

text: Relleno is baked pork with a variety of vegetables and fruits such as potatoes, raisins, carrots and chiles. It is eaten with bread called "bolillo".


title: Acapulco

text: Pozole is a soup with a salsa base (it can be white, red or green), hominy, meat that can be either pork or chicken and it is accompanied with "antojitos" (snacks) like tostadas, tacos and tamales. This dish is served as part of a weekly Thursday event in the city and the state, with many restaurants offering the meal with special entertainment, from bands to dancers to celebrity impersonators.


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco's main attraction is its nightlife, as it has been for many decades. Nightclubs change names and owners frequently.


title: Acapulco

text: For example, Baby 'O has been open to the national and international public since 1976 and different celebrities have visited their installations such as Mexican singer Luis Miguel, Bono from U2 and Sylvester Stallone. Another nightclub is Palladium, located in the Escénica Avenue, the location gives the nightclub a beautiful view of the Santa Lucia Bay at night. Various DJs have had performances in Palladium among them DVBBS, Tom Swoon, Nervo and Junkie KID.


title: Acapulco

text: Informal lobby or poolside cocktail bars often offer free live entertainment. In addition, there is the beach bar zone, where younger crowds go. These are located along the Costera road, face the ocean and feature techno or alternative rock. Most are concentrated between the Fiesta Americana and Continental Plaza hotels. These places tend to open earlier and have more informal dress. There is a bungee jump in this area as well.


title: Acapulco

text: Another attraction at Acapulco is the La Quebrada Cliff Divers. The tradition started in the 1930s when young men casually competed against each other to see who could dive from the highest point into the sea below. Eventually, locals began to ask for tips for those coming to see the men dive. Today the divers are professionals, diving from heights of into an inlet that is only wide and deep, after praying first at a shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe. On the evening before December 12, the feast day of this Virgin, freestyle cliff divers jump into the sea to honor her. Dives range from the simple to the complicated and end with the "Ocean of Fire" when the sea is lit with gasoline, making a circle of flames which the diver aims for. The spectacle can be seen from a public area which charges a small fee or from the Hotel Plaza Las Glorias/El Mirador from its bar or restaurant terrace.


title: Acapulco

text: There are a number of beaches in the Acapulco Bay and the immediate coastline. In the bay proper there are the La Angosta (in the Quebrada), Caleta, Caletilla, Dominguillo, Tlacopanocha, Hornos, Hornitos, Honda, Tamarindo, Condesa, Guitarrón, Icacos, Playuela, Playuelilla and Playa del Secreto. In the adjoining, smaller Bay of Puerto Marqués there is Pichilingue, Las Brisas, and Playa Roqueta. Facing open ocean just northwest of the bays is Pie de la Cuesta and southeast are Playa Revolcadero, Playa Aeromar, Playa Encantada and Barra Vieja. Two lagoons are in the area, Coyuca to the northwest of Acapulco Bay and Tres Palos to the southeast. Both lagoons have mangroves and offer boat tours. Tres Palos also has sea turtle nesting areas which are protected.


title: Acapulco

text: In addition to sunbathing, the beaches around the bay offer a number of services, such as boat rentals, boat tours, horseback riding, scuba diving and other aquatic sports. One popular cruise is from Caletilla Beach to Roqueta Island, which has places to snorkel, have lunch, and a lighthouse. There is also an underwater statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe here, created in 1958 by Armando Quesado in memory of a group of divers who died here. Many of the scuba-diving tours come to this area as well, where there are sunken ships, sea mountains, and cave rock formations. Another popular activity is deep-sea fishing. The major attraction is sail fishing. Fish caught here have weighed between 89 and 200 pounds. Sailfish are so plentiful that boat captains have been known to bet with a potential customer that if he does not catch anything, the trip is free.


title: Acapulco

text: In the old part of the city, there is a traditional main square called the Zócalo, lined with shade trees, cafés and shops. At the north end of the square is "Nuestra Señora de la Soledad" cathedral, with blue onion-shaped domes and Byzantine towers. The building was originally constructed as a movie set, but was later adapted into a church. Acapulco's most historic building is the Fort of San Diego, located east of the main square and originally built in 1616 to protect the city from pirate attacks. The fort was partially destroyed by the Dutch in the mid-17th century, rebuilt, then destroyed again in 1776 by an earthquake. It was rebuilt again by 1783 and this is the building that can be seen today, unchanged except for renovations done to it in 2000. Parts of the moats remain as well as the five bulwarks and the battlements. Today the fort serves as the Museo Histórico de Acapulco (Acapulco Historical Museum), which shows the port's history from the pre-Hispanic period until independence. There are temporary exhibits as well. For many years tourists could ride around the city in colorful horse-drawn carriages known as "calandrias", but the practice ended in February 2020 due to concerns about mistreatment of the animals.


title: Acapulco

text: The El Rollo Acapulco is a sea-life and aquatic park located on Costera Miguel Aleman. It offers wave pools, water slides and water toboggans. There are also dolphin shows daily and a swim with dolphins program. The center mostly caters to children. Another place that is popular with children is the "Parque Papagayo": a large family park which has a life-sized replica of a Spanish galleon, three artificial lakes, an aviary, a skating rink, rides, go-karts and more.


title: Acapulco

text: The Dolores Olmedo House is located in the traditional downtown of Acapulco and is noted for the murals by Diego Rivera that adorn it. Olmedo and Rivera had been friend since Olmedo was a child and Rivera spent the last two years of his life here. During that time, he painted nearly nonstop and created the outside walls with tile mosaics, featuring Aztec deities such as Quetzalcoatl. The interior of the home is covered in murals. The home is not a museum, so only the outside murals can be seen by the public.


title: Acapulco

text: There is a small museum called "Casa de la Máscara" (House of Masks) which is dedicated to masks, most of them from Mexico, but there are examples from many parts of the world. The collection contains about one thousand examples and is divided into seven rooms called Masks of the World, Mexico across History, The Huichols and the Jaguar, Alebrijes, Dances of Guerrero, Devils and Death, Identity and Fantasy, and Afro-Indian masks.


title: Acapulco

text: The Botanical Garden of Acapulco is a tropical garden located on lands owned by the Universidad Loyola del Pacífico. Most of the plants here are native to the region, and many, such as the Peltogyne mexicana or purple stick tree, are in danger of extinction.


title: Acapulco

text: One cultural event that is held yearly in Acapulco is the "Festival Internacional de la Nao", which takes place in the Fort of San Diego, located near the Zócalo in downtown of the city. The Festival honors the remembrance of the city's interaction and trades with Oriental territories which started back in the Sixteenth Century. The Nao Festival consists of cultural activities with the support of organizations and embassies from India, China, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and South Korea. The variety of events go from film projections, musical interpretations and theatre to gastronomical classes, some of the events are specifically for kids.


title: Acapulco

text: The annual French Festival takes place throughout Acapulco city and offers a multitude of events that cement cultural links between Mexico and France. The main features are a fashion show and a gourmet food fair. The Cinépolis Galerías Diana and the Teatro Juan Ruíz de Alarcón present French and French literary figures who give talks on their specialised subjects. Even some of the local nightclubs feature French DJs. Other festivals celebrated here include Carnival, the feast of San Isidro Labrador on 15 May, and in November, a crafts and livestock fair called the Nao de China.


title: Acapulco

text: There are a number of golf courses in Acapulco including the Acapulco Princess and the Pierre Marqués course, the latter designed by Robert Trent Jones in 1972 for the World Cup Golf Tournament. The Mayan Palace course was designed by Pedro Guericia and an economical course called the Club de Golf Acapulco is near the convention center. The most exclusive course is that of the Tres Vidas Golf Club, designed by Robert von Hagge. It is located next to the ocean and is home to flocks of ducks and other birds.


title: Acapulco

text: Another famous sport tournament that has been held in Acapulco since 1993 is the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tennis tournament, an ATP 500 event that takes place in the tennis courts of the Princess Mundo Imperial, a resort located in the Diamante zone of Acapulco. Initially it was played in clay courts but it changed to hard court. The event has gained popularity within the passing of the years, attracting some of the top tennis players in the world including Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic. The total prize money is US$250,000.00 for WTA (women) and US$1,200,000.00 for ATP (men).


title: Acapulco

text: Acapulco also has a bullring, called the Plaza de Toros, near Caletilla Beach. The season runs during the winter and is called the Fiesta Brava.


title: Acapulco

text: Before 2010, over 100,000 American teenagers and young adults traveled to resort areas and balnearios throughout Mexico during spring break each year. The main reason students head to Mexico is the drinking age of 18 years (versus 21 for the United States), something that has been marketed by tour operators along with the sun and ocean. This has become attractive since the 1990s, especially since more traditional spring break places such as Daytona Beach, Florida, have enacted restrictions on drinking and other behaviors. This legislation has pushed spring break tourism to various parts of Mexico, with Acapulco as one of the top destinations.


title: Acapulco

text: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Cancún had been favored as the spring break destination of choice. However, Cancún has taken some steps to control the reckless behavior associated with the event, and students have been looking for someplace new. This led many more to choose Acapulco, in spite of the fact that for many travelers, the flight is longer and more expensive than to Cancún. Many were attracted by the glitzy hotels on the south side and Acapulco's famous nightlife. In 2008, 22,500 students came to Acapulco for spring break. Hotels did not get that many in 2009, due mostly to the economic situation in the United States, and partially because of scares of drug-related violence.


title: Acapulco

text: In February 2009, the US State Department issued a travel alert directed at college students planning spring break trips to Acapulco. The warning—a result of violent activity springing from Mexico's drug cartel débâcle—took college campuses by storm, with some schools going so far as to warn their students about the risks of travel to Mexico over spring break. Bill O'Reilly devoted a segment of his show, "The O'Reilly Factor", to urge students to stay away from Acapulco. In June 2009, a number of incidents occurred between the drug cartel and the government. These included coordinated attacks on police headquarters and open battles in the streets, involving large-caliber weapons and grenades. However, no incidents of violence against travelers on spring break were reported.


title: Acapulco

text: Ten passenger airlines, including four international ones, fly to Acapulco International Airport. In the city, there are many buses and taxi services one can take to get from place to place, but most of the locals choose to walk to their destinations. However, an important mode of transportation is the government-subsidized 'Colectivo' cab system. These cabs cost 13 pesos per person to ride, but they are not private. The driver will pick up more passengers as long as seats are available, and will transport them to their destination based on first-come, first-served rules. The colectivos each travel a designated area of the city, the three main ones being Costera, Colosio, Coloso, or a mixture of the three. Coloso cabs travel mainly to old Acapulco. Colosio cabs travel through most of the tourist area of Acapulco. Costera cabs drive up and down the coast of Acapulco, where most of the hotels for visitors are located, but which includes some of old Acapulco. Where a driver will take you is partly his choice. Some are willing to travel to the other designated areas, especially during slow periods of the day.


title: Acapulco

text: The bus system is highly complex and can be rather confusing to an outsider. As far as transportation goes, it is the cheapest form, other than walking, in Acapulco. The most expensive buses have air conditioning, while the cheaper buses do not. For tourists, the Acapulco city government has established a system of yellow buses with Acapulco painted on the side of them. These buses are not for tourists only, but are certainly the nicest and most uniform of the bus systems. These buses travel the tourist section of Acapulco, driving up and down the coast. There are buses with specific routes and destinations, generally written on their windshields or shouted out by a barker riding in the front seat. Perhaps the most unusual thing about the privately operated buses is the fact that they are all highly decorated and personalized, with decals and home-made interior designs that range from comic book scenes, to pornography, and even to "Hello Kitty" themes.


title: Acapulco

text: The conflictive public transportation would be upgraded on 25 June 2016 with the implementation of the . The Acabús infrastructure has a length of , with 16 stations spread throughout the city of Acapulco and has five routes. This project will help organize traffic because the buses now have a specific line on the roads and there would be more control over transportation and passengers.


title: Acapulco

text: In 2014, the idea to nominate the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade Route was initiated by the Mexican ambassador to UNESCO with the Filipino ambassador to UNESCO.


title: Acapulco

text: An Experts' Roundtable Meeting was held at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on April 23, 2015, as part of the preparation of the Philippines for the possible transnational nomination of the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade Route to the World Heritage List. The nomination will be made jointly with Mexico.


title: Acapulco

text: The following are the experts and the topics they discussed during the roundtable meeting: Dr. Celestina Boncan on the Tornaviaje; Dr. Mary Jane A. Bolunia on Shipyards in the Bicol Region; Mr. Sheldon Clyde Jago-on, Bobby Orillaneda, and Ligaya Lacsina on Underwater Archaeology; Dr. Leovino Garcia on Maps and Cartography; Fr. Rene Javellana, S.J. on Fortifications in the Philippines; Felice Sta. Maria on Food; Dr. Fernando Zialcita on Textile; and Regalado Trota Jose on Historical Dimension. The papers presented and discussed during the roundtable meeting will be synthesized into a working document to establish the route's Outstanding Universal Value.


title: Acapulco

text: The Mexican side reiterated that they will also follow suit with the preparations for the route's nomination.


title: Acapulco

text: Spain has also backed the nomination of the Manila-Acapulco Trade Route Route in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list and has also suggested the Archives of the Manila-Acapulco Galleons to be nominated as part of a separate UNESCO list, the UNESCO Memory of the World Register.


title: Carel Struycken

text: Carel Struycken (; born 30 July 1948) is a Dutch actor. He is known for playing the Giant/Fireman in the television series "Twin Peaks" (1990–1991, 2017), the occasional guest role of in "" (1987–1992), and the household butler Lurch in the three 1990s "Addams Family" films. He also appeared in the films "Gerald's Game" (2017) and "Doctor Sleep" (2019).


title: Carel Struycken

text: Struycken was born on 30 July 1948 in The Hague, Netherlands. When he was 4 years old, his family moved to Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles. There, at age 15, he composed several Caribbean waltzes. At 16, he returned to his home country, where he finished secondary school. He graduated from the directing program at the film school in Amsterdam. After that, he spent a year at the American Film Institute, in Los Angeles.


title: Carel Struycken

text: In 1978, Struycken was discovered as an actor at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Los Angeles by a woman who had abandoned her car in the middle of the street, calling after him: "We need you for a movie!". The film was "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".


title: Carel Struycken

text: Struycken appeared as Fidel, Jack Nicholson's manservant, in the 1987 film "The Witches of Eastwick". That same year, he appeared as Mr. Homn in "", an episode of the television series "", a role he would reprise in four more episodes until 1992.


title: Carel Struycken

text: In 1991, he starred as butler Lurch in the feature film "The Addams Family". He reprised the role in the 1993 sequel, "Addams Family Values", and the TV film "Addams Family Reunion". Director Barry Sonnenfeld also picked Struycken for a small role in "Men in Black".


title: Carel Struycken

text: He portrayed the mystical guide-character "The Giant" in David Lynch and Mark Frost's hit 1990–91 ABC television series "Twin Peaks". He also appears in the 2017 sequel series, "". He appears as the "Moonlight Man" in the 2017 film "Gerald's Game".


title: Carel Struycken

text: Struycken collaborated on several projects with writer and director Rene Daalder, including the 1986 punk rock musical "", which featured Tomata du Plenty, of The Screamers, and which was released on DVD in October 2008.


title: Carel Struycken

text: Struycken is a vegetarian and likes gardening. His distinctive facial features and height—he is tall—are due to acromegaly.


title: Carel Struycken

text: He and his American wife have two children. They reside in the Los Angeles area. His brother Peter Struycken won the 2012 Heineken Prize for Arts of the Royal Netherlands Academy for Sciences.


title: Carel Struycken

text: Struycken is an avid photographer. He maintains a website devoted to his spherical panoramas and shares a photography blog with Josh Korwin.