Noranda Inc. was a mining and metallurgy company originally from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, Canada. It was listed on the TSX under the symbol NRD.LV. After eventually acquiring a large interest in rival mining company Falconbridge, it merged with that company in 2005. The combined company continued under the name Falconbridge Limited, ending the Noranda name. Only one year later in 2006 Falconbridge was acquired by the Swiss-based mining company Xstrata. On 2 May 2013 ownership of Xstrata was fully acquired by mining behemoth Glencore.

History and operations

Noranda was incorporated in 1922 as Noranda Mines under the leadership of James Y. Murdoch to exploit the Horne deposit, discovered by Edmond Henry Horne on mineral claims he staked in 1920. Extraction of copper began on 17 December 1927. Although extraction was originally predicted to last for only three years, additional reserves (the gigantic "Giant H Orebody") were quickly discovered; the mine would form the backbone of Noranda's operations until reserves were exhausted in 1976.

Beginning in 1930, Noranda diversified by acquiring holdings in the forestry, oil, manufacturing, and automotive industries. In 1931, the company opened the CCR refinery in Montréal-Est, which processes all the copper produced by the Horne smelter. Noranda gained its first international property in 1938 with the purchase of the Empresa Minera de Nicaragua gold mine in Nicaragua. The company gained a large interest in Kerr Addison Gold Mines in 1945. In 1955 it opened the Gaspé Copper Mines, and in 1963 Canadian Electrolytic Zinc (CEZ), in which Noranda held a large stake, began production.  In 1967, Noranda divested itself at $80 per share of its holdings in Denison Mines, which it had purchased in 1964 for $12 to $18 per share.  A sum of $80mn was devoted to Potash mines in Saskatchewan, while $50mn purchased a 51% stake in the Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation earlier that year, as well as an investment in Pacific Coast Company, an aluminum products manufacturer based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Following the 1973 Chilean coup d'état, Noranda reclaimed its 49% share in its subsidiary Chile Canadian Mines. The company then invested $600,000 of new capital in its Chilean mines, the first major mining investment after the coup, securing the right to the Andacollo copper reserves in northern Chile in 1976. 1973 also saw the company expand into aluminum with the opening of an aluminum smelter in New Madrid, Missouri, and the oil business with the formation of Canadian Hunter. Asset management companies Brascan and Caisse de Dépôt gained effective control of Noranda with a $1 billion CAD investment in 1981. In 1984 Noranda Mines changed its name to Noranda Inc., as a reflection of its wide diversification. Also in 1984, the company became a large player in the electronics scrap and recycling business by purchasing Micro Metallics Corp. In 1995 Noranda gained full control of Brunswick Mining and Smelting, a zinc mine and smelting company in New Brunswick; they opened a battery recycling facility one year later. Also in 1995 Noranda entered Latin America with the purchase of a 25% stake in the Refimet smelter outside of Antofagasta, Chile. Noranda obtained 100% control in 1998 and ownership of that site aided later expansion into Latin America.

Noranda announced that it would divest itself from all industries unrelated to mining and metals in 1997, and completed the transition the following year, removing itself from the forestry and oil and gas industries. In August 2000, Noranda was the top miner in Canada. The company gained a 34% stake in the huge Antamina copper-zinc mine in Peru, which opened in 2001. In 2002 Noranda opened a large aluminum foil plant in Tennessee, and expanded its recycling business with the opening of an electronic hardware recycling facility in Brampton, Ontario in 2003. Noranda expanded its aluminum business in 2004 by gaining a 50% interest in the Gramercy alumina refinery in Louisiana and associated Jamaican bauxite deposits. By 2005, the company had operations in 18 countries.

Merger
Noranda had bought 19.9% of rival mining company Falconbridge in 1988, which was raised to a 58.4% stake in 2002. In 2005 China Minmetals was rumoured to be interested in buying Noranda, which caused the Canadian federal government to review its foreign investment policy. In June 2005 Noranda completed a merger with Falconbridge, essentially purchasing Falconbridge outright. However, the combined company continued under the name Falconbridge Limited, ending the Noranda name as a large mining company. Brascan reduced its stake in the new company to 20%. Less than a year after completing its merger with Falconbridge, the new company was acquired by Xstrata. The Noranda name continues for companies with Noranda Aluminum, which was the spun off by Xstrata, and the Noranda Income Fund which is a large zinc refinery in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec.

Scotland and Wales
Noranda Mines also operated in the UK in the early 70's with active exploration programs in Scotland and north Wales. The exploration program consisted of soil and stream sampling and limited Induced Polarisation and fluxgate magnetometer surveys. These programs were sufficiently advanced to give rise to drilling programs in Snowdonia (Hafod y llan) either side of the Watkin path, and also in Wester Ross just outside Locharron. Copper mineralisation was encountered in the Welsh drilling program but essentially nothing in Wester Ross.
Drilling in Snowdonia was with a hand portable x-ray rig capable of reaching approximately 100 ft and in Wester Ross with a Boyles Bros. rotary rig drilling to approximately 1000 ft.

See also
Alumysa, a suspended aluminium smelter project by Noranda in Patagonia
Noranda Caldera
Edper Investments, which controlled Noranda from 1981 through its ownership of Brascan.

References

External links
Former website (April 15, 2005 snapshot from the Internet Archive)
Flash presentation See "About us", "History and Milestones" Retrieved 26 June 2008.

Companies formerly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange
Defunct mining companies of Canada
Copper mining companies of Canada
Zinc mining companies
Companies based in Toronto
Defunct companies of Ontario
Non-renewable resource companies established in 1922
Non-renewable resource companies disestablished in 2005
Canadian companies established in 1922
Apollo Global Management companies
Rouyn-Noranda
Xstrata
Private equity portfolio companies
Canadian companies disestablished in 2005
1922 establishments in Quebec
2005 disestablishments in Ontario

Noranda (mining company)


The Aristocrats is a 2005 American documentary comedy film about the famous eponymous dirty joke. The film was conceived and produced by comedians Penn Jillette, Paul Provenza and Peter Adam Golden, and it was edited by Emery Emery. Distributed by THINKFilm, it is dedicated to Johnny Carson, as "The Aristocrats" was said to be his favorite joke.

The joke

"The Aristocrats" is a longstanding transgressive joke amongst comedians, in which the setup and punchline are almost always the same (or similar).  It is the joke's midsection – which may be as long as the one telling it prefers and is often completely improvised – that makes or breaks a particular rendition.

The joke involves a person pitching an act to a talent agent. Typically the first line is, "A man walks into a talent agent's office." The man then describes the act. From this point, up to (but not including) the punchline, the teller of the joke is expected to ad-lib the most shocking act they can possibly imagine. This often involves elements of incest, group sex, graphic violence, defecation, coprophilia, necrophilia, bestiality, rape, child sexual abuse, and various other taboo behaviors.

The joke, as first delivered in the film, contains the set-up line "What the heck do you call an act like that?" followed by the punchline "I call it 'The Aristocrats'." In subsequent renditions of the joke, the agent asks, "What do you call your act?", which is the traditional set-up line.

The film itself consists of interviews with various comedians and actors, usually in candid settings. The interviewees engage both in telling their own versions of the joke, and in reminiscing about their experiences with it, the joke's place in comedy history, and even dissecting the logic behind the joke's appeal. A key aspect of the Aristocrats joke is that it was never told to audiences as part of the comedian's stand-up routine. Instead, it was an inside joke among comedians themselves, who used it as a tool to challenge each other as to who could tell the funniest and most outrageous rendition.

While most of the filmed versions of the joke follow the standard format of a raunchy description followed by the punchline of "the Aristocrats", some versions do vary the joke.  Two tellings of it, including that of comedian Wendy Liebman, invert the joke by describing an elegant and beautiful performance act which has been given a lewd and transgressive name. Actor Taylor Negron told his joke as a mixture of salacious sex acts and calmly delivered observations on life. Actor Steven Banks, as Billy the Mime, performs the joke on the street as a mime performance. Most infamously, Sarah Silverman's rendition, where she tells the joke in an anecdotal manner from the perspective of the daughter in the family, went on to garner controversy for its punchline involving radio and TV personality Joe Franklin.

Featured celebrities
The following celebrities are featured in the film, telling the joke themselves and/or providing substantial commentary on its history:

 Chris Albrecht
 Jason Alexander
 Hank Azaria
 Shelley Berman
 Billy the Mime
 Lewis Black
 David Brenner
 Jimmy Buffett
 Mario Cantone
 Drew Carey
 George Carlin
 Margaret Cho
 Mark Cohen
 Carrot Top
 Billy Connolly
 Tim Conway
 Pat Cooper
 Wayne Cotter
 Andy Dick
 Phyllis Diller
 Susie Essman
 Carrie Fisher
 Joe Franklin
 Todd Glass
 Judy Gold
 Whoopi Goldberg
 Eddie Gorodetsky
 Gilbert Gottfried
 Dana Gould
 Allan Havey
 Eric Idle
 Dom Irrera
 Eddie Izzard
 Richard Jeni
 Jake Johannsen
 The Amazing Johnathan
 Alan Kirschenbaum
 Jay Kogen
 Paul Krassner
 Cathy Ladman
 Lisa Lampanelli
 Richard Lewis
 Wendy Liebman
 Bill Maher
 Howie Mandel
 Merrill Markoe
 Jay Marshall
 Jackie Martling
 Chuck McCann
 Michael McKean
 Larry Miller
 Martin Mull
 Kevin Nealon
 Taylor Negron
 The Onion editorial staff
 Otto and George
 Rick Overton
 Gary Owens
 The Passing Zone
 Penn & Teller
 Emo Philips
 Kevin Pollak
 Paul Reiser
 Andy Richter
 Don Rickles
 Chris Rock
 Gregg Rogell
 Jeffrey Ross
 Jon Ross
 Rita Rudner
 Bob Saget
 T. Sean Shannon
 Harry Shearer
 Sarah Silverman
 Bobby Slayton
 The Smothers Brothers
 Carrie Snow
 Doug Stanhope
 David Steinberg
 Jon Stewart
 Larry Storch
 Rip Taylor
 Dave Thomas
 Johnny Thompson
 Bruce Vilanch
 Fred Willard
 Robin Williams
 Steven Wright

Many other comedians were filmed but not included due to time constraints. According to a letter from Penn Jillette to critic Roger Ebert, Buddy Hackett and Rodney Dangerfield were intended to be included, but they died before they could be filmed. Jillette also indicated that, this being Johnny Carson's favorite joke, Carson was also invited to appear, but he declined.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone animated a segment of the film where Eric Cartman tells a version of the joke.

Controversies

Joe Franklin
In the film, Sarah Silverman tells a version of the joke as if it were autobiographical and she had been one of the "Aristocrats" performers as a child. Silverman builds the story to include her family being booked on veteran talk show host Joe Franklin's show, and ends with her punch line: a deadpan allegation that Franklin had raped her during a phony rehearsal for the show. The New Yorker reported that Silverman's telling of the joke led Franklin, who is also featured in the film, to consider filing a defamation lawsuit against the comedian.

On the April 20, 2011, episode of the WFMU show Seven Second Delay, Franklin jokes that he had been so successful lately because he sued Silverman.

AMC ban
The theatre chain AMC refused to show The Aristocrats on any of its 3,500+ screens. Although AMC claimed the decision was due to the film's limited appeal, co-producer Penn Jillette commented to MSNBC: "It's the kind of thing that makes you go 'Come on, play fair.' It's not like we're trying to slide this by anybody by calling it Love Bug 2: Herbie Takes It Up the Ass."

Friars Club roast footage

The film includes footage of Gottfried's telling of the joke at a Comedy Central/New York Friars' Club roast of Hugh Hefner which had been almost entirely censored when aired on television. Taped not long after the September 11 attacks, the incident occurred at a time when, according to one of the commentators in the Aristocrats film, entertainers were uncertain how much comedy was allowed in the aftermath of the attacks. Gottfried followed Rob Schneider, who had received mixed results with his stand-up comedy performance in Hefner's honor. Gottfried began his performance with a joke in which he claimed to have to catch a late flight out of town but was worried because his flight "had a connection at the Empire State Building."  The joke, a reference to 9/11, was poorly received by the audience, who showered Gottfried with boos and cries of "too soon."  In response, Gottfried told an obscenity-filled rendition of the Aristocrats joke. According to the film, the telling was as much a cathartic experience for the audience as it was a shocking one, regardless of whether viewers were familiar with the joke or not. During his performance, Gottfried told the audience "They might have to clean this up for TV."

Reception
The Aristocrats received a generally positive reception from film critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports the film as holding a "Certified Fresh" rating, with an overall 79% approval rating based on 150 reviews, and an average rating of 7.1 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that the film is  hilarious and revealing of the way comedy works. "Can a joke stand up to repeated tellings? The Aristocrats demonstrates that it's possible." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 39 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Todd McCarthy of Variety gave a positive review, describing it a "raucous insider documentary that invites the viewer to share a secret held exclusively by comics for untold generations." Ken Tucker of New York magazine called it a "gloriously filthy, ramshackle, endearing documentary."

Accolades

References

External links

 New York Times article about the film
 Interview with the editor of the film

2005 films
2005 comedy films
2005 documentary films
American comedy films
American documentary films
2000s English-language films
Documentary films about comedy and comedians
Documentary films about words and language
Films about freedom of expression
Obscenity controversies in film
2005 directorial debut films
2000s American films

The Aristocrats (film)


Triyuginarayan Temple () is a Hindu temple located in the Triyuginarayan village in Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, India. The ancient temple is dedicated to god Vishnu. Its fame is credited to the legend of god Shiva's marriage to goddess Parvati witnessed by Vishnu at this venue and is thus a popular Hindu pilgrimage sites. A special feature of this temple is a perpetual fire, that burns in front of the temple known as dhananjay agni. The flame is believed to burn from the times of the divine marriage. Thus, the temple is also known as Akhand Dhuni temple.

The temple courtyard is also the source of a water stream, which fills three sacred bathing ponds (kunds) nearby.

Etymology
The word "Triyugi Narayan" is formed of three words "tri" means three, "yugi" denotes the period of time – Yuga and "Narayan" is another name of Vishnu. Pilgrims have been offering wood to the fire in the havana-kund (fireplace) since the three Yugas – hence the place is given the name "Triyugi Narayan". Yuga in Hindu philosophy is the name of an epoch or era within a cycle of four ages. The four Yugas are Satya Yuga (1,728,000 human years), Treta Yuga (1,296,000 years), the Dvapara Yuga (864,000 years) and finally Kali Yuga (432,000 years), which is the present Yuga.

The name "Akhand Dhuni temple" also originates from the eternal flame legend, "Akhand" means perpetual and "Dhuni" means flame.

Legend

According to Hindu dharma, goddess Parvati was daughter of Himavat or Himavan – the personification of the Himalayas. She was the rebirth of Sati, the first wife of Shiva – who sacrificed her life when her father insulted Shiva. Parvati initially tried to allure Shiva by her beauty, but failed. Finally, she won Shiva by practising rigorous penance at Gauri Kund, which is  away from Triyuginarayan. Pilgrims visiting Triyuginaryan temple also visit the Gauri Kund temple, dedicated to Parvati, which is the base camp for trek to Kedarnath Temple. Mythology states that Shiva proposed to Parvati at Guptakashi, before they got married in the small Triyuginarayan village at the confluence of Mandakini and Sone-Ganga rivers.

Triyuginarayan is believed to be the capital of Himavat. It was the venue of the celestial marriage of Shiva and Parvati, during the Satya Yuga, witnessed in the presence of the holy fire that still burns eternally in front of the temple in a Havana-kund or Agni-kund, a four-cornered fireplace on the ground. Vishnu formalised the wedding and acted as Parvati's brother in the ceremonies, while the creator-god Brahma acted as the priest of the wedding, that was witnessed by all the sages of the times. The exact location of the wedding is marked by a stone called Brahma Shila, in front of the temple. The greatness of this place is also recorded in a sthala-purana (a scripture specific to a pilgrimage centre). According to the scripture, pilgrims who visit this temple consider the ashes from the burning fire as holy and carry it with them. It is also believed that ashes from this fire are supposed to promote conjugal bliss. Before the marriage ceremony, there were no people who witnessed the incident, the gods are believed to have taken bath in four kunds or small ponds namely, Rudra-kund, Vishnu-kund and Brahma-kund. The inflow into the three kunds is from the Saraswati-kund, which – according to legend – originated from Vishnu's navel. Hence, the water of these kunds is considered to cure infertility. The ashes from Havana-kund are supposed to promote conjugal bliss.

Structure

The Triyuginarayan temple resembles the temple of Kedarnath in architectural style and hence attracts a lot of devotees. The present shrine is also called as Akhand Dhuni temple. It is believed to have been built by Adi Shankaracharya. Adi Shankaracharya is credited with building many temples in the Uttarakhand region. The shrine houses a silver, 2-foot image of god Vishnu (Narayana), accompanied with consort – goddess of wealth Lakshmi and the goddess of music and learning – Saraswati.

In front of the temple, the havana-kund with the eternal flame - the witness of the wedding of Shiva and Parvati - is situated. Devotees add samidha (sacrificial offerings of wood) to the flame and collect the ashes as blessings. A stone called the Brahma Shila – in front of temple – is regarded as the exact spot of the divine marriage. A water stream called Saraswati Ganga originates in the courtyard of the temple. It fills all the holy ponds in the vicinity. The ponds of Rudra Kund, Vishnu Kund, Brahma Kund and Saraswati Kund are holy spots situated near the temple. Rudra Kund is for bathing, Vishnu for cleansing, Brahma for sipping and Saraswati for offering libations.

Geography
The Triyuginarayan Temple is located at an altitude of  about  away from Sonprayag, the confluence of Mandakini and Songanga rivers. The geographical belt is  away from Sonprayag that extends to  between Triyugninarayan and Toshi villages with an average altitude of  that has favourable agro-climatic conditions for growing horticultural crops such as apple and stone fruits. During the three winter months, the area is covered by snow.

Access
Access to the Triyuginarayan village where the temple is located is about  from Sonprayag on motorable road till the temple. There exist a few trek routes too, like a short trek of  via Sonprayag on the Ghuttur –Kedarnath bridle path that passes through thick forest area is involved to reach the temple precincts. From Kedarnath, which is to the north of this temple the total trekking distance is about . Ghuttur is around  from Sonprayag, which is connected by road with Haridwar and other important hill stations of the Garhwal and Kumaon Hills. The nearest airport is Dehra Dun,  from Triyuginarayan, but it is better to start the journey from Delhi. Rishikesh is the nearest railway station,  from the site.

The Triyuninarayan temple is also accessed by trekking. A popular trekking or excursion route followed is from Mussoorie. The trek route followed from Mussorie, which involves 17 days of trekking, passes through Tehri, Mala (road point), Belak, Budakedar-Ghuttu-Panwali Kanta, Triyuginarayan and Kedarnath in that order. Apart from this trekking route, the Department of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand, to encourage tourism has identified and developed six major circuits, which includes the Rudraprayag–Kedarnath circuit, covering temples at Rudraprayag, Tungnath, Okhimath, Madhyamaheshwar, Guptkashi, Triyuginarayan and Kedarnath, along the Mandakini River valley. This circuit involves a total trekking of , in addition to road journey.

References

Hindu pilgrimage sites in India
Hindu temples in Uttarakhand
Vishnu temples
Rudraprayag district
Abhimana temples of Vishnu

External links
 Triyuginarayan Temple – The Magical Wedding Destination of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati

Triyuginarayan Temple


Cassandra "Cassie" Ainsworth is a fictional character on the British television series Skins. She is played by Hannah Murray.

Personality
Cassie is a very complicated character. She suffers from anorexia nervosa, self harm, and low self esteem. Her entire self worth is dependent on her weight, in one episode saying "I didn't eat for three days... so I could be lovely." She also drinks alcohol and takes drugs. In the episode "Tony" she is seen sorting food, a common occurrence shown by people with anorexia. Despite Cassie's many "problems", she is a very gentle, caring,kind, and loving person. Written on her "about me" section of the Skins website, she talks about how much she loves her baby brother, Reuben. Cassie will even act positive to bad news so that she will not offend.

Character history

Series 1

Cassie is released from a clinic, where she received treatment for her eating disorder. In the first episode, called "Tony", she stays with Sid and offers to have sex so he can lose his virginity, but she passes out before anything happens. In the second episode "Cassie", it is shown that she is not better and is still sick. She has also developed a crush on Sid. In "Sid", the fifth episode of the season, Cassie tries to kill herself after Sid cancels a date they planned, so that he could be with Michelle Richardson. In "Michelle", Michelle takes Sid to see Cassie, but Cassie is dating someone called Simon, a patient in the hospital she is currently in. In the last episode of the season, Cassie says she is moving to Scotland with her family, away from Bristol. Cassie writes Sid a letter and leaves it at his house after sneaking out the hospital. She is also given a letter Sid wrote to her from Tony Stonem. In the last moment of the season, Sid finds Cassie and they sit together and hold hands.

Series 2
Cassie and Sid are in a serious romantic long distance relationship. In "Sid", the third episode, Sid thinks Cassie is cheating on him and becomes angry at her. Cassie is also angry, but because Sid does not trust her. At the end of the episode Cassie takes a train from where she lives in Scotland to Bristol, to visit Sid. She waits in his bedroom for him, but when Sid enters the bedroom he is kissing Michelle (not noticing that Cassie is also there). In "Chris", the fifth episode, Cassie bitterly tells her friends that Sid is together with Michelle. She copes with her feelings by having sex with almost anyone, doing drugs, and partying. In "Effy" Sid finally confronts Cassie and her bad behavior. The two get back together, but in "Cassie", it is clear that Cassie is still angry towards Michelle. After Cassie's roommate and friend Chris Miles dies, she runs away to New York City, where she is taken care of by a boy called Adam. In the finale "Everyone", in the last moment of the episode, Sid looks for Cassie in New York, and stops in front of the diner she works in.

References

Fictional British people
Mental disorders in fiction
Television characters

Cassie (Skins character)


Tefnut was the ancient Egyptian goddess of water and fertility. She and her brother and husband, Shu, were created by Atum, Ra or Amun. Tefnut was the mother of Nut and Geb also she is associated with the lion. In art she is represent as a woman with head of the lion with Sun disc.

God's plan

Tefnut, along with Shu, were the first deities created by Ra. She had other names, such as Tefenet and Tefnet. She was mainly in charge of moisture, but was also responsible for Order, Time, Justice, Heaven and Hell. She was very closely related to both the sun and the moon. She was known as both the left (moon), and right (sun): 'Eyes of Ra.'

Physical description

Once Tefnut fled from Ra as a lioness, causing a great drought. Only Thoth could persuade her to return, so he went to Nubia and got her back. When she got back, there was great rejoice in all the temples.  After that incident, Tefnut, normally wearing her fathers' sun disk, was seen as a lioness, or a woman with a lions' head. Very rarely ever again was she seen portrayed as a full woman. When Tefnut was in the royal court, she wore a crown made of sprouting plants. Sometimes she was seen lying horizontally between the ground and the sky. She was sometimes pictured with her husband, Shu, helping to hold up Nut. She cried with the pain, and when she cried, that made the ground fertilized.

Power & magic

Tefnut sat in judgment of the dead in the underworld. Tefnut wears her fathers' sun disk, a symbol of power. She carries a scepter and wears an ankh, the symbol of life. As she was the goddess of moisture, she was also related to other deities of moisture and wetness. She was seen holding up the sky with her brother/husband Shu. As she was in charge of moisture, she held other roles as well. Some of them were: Order, justice, time, the weather,Heaven, and Hell. Above all, her main role was to bring moisture down on the ancient Egyptians.

Worship

Tefnut was worshipped in lion form in Leontopolis (May-ta-hut). Part of the city of Denderah (Iunet), was known as 'The House of Tefnut.' Some of Tefnut's festival dates were the 20th of August, the day of satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead. Another festival date was the 29th of October, which was the day of Going Forth of Het-Hert and the Ennead. The last festival date was the 15th of November, the Ennead Feast in the House of Kay Heru and Wasir. Tefnut does not have any main centers of Worship, or any known temples dedicated to her.

Other websites
 touregypt.net
 pantheon.org
 ancientegypt.co.uk

Egyptian gods and goddesses

Tefnut


In music a Tierce de Picardie (meaning Picardy third) is a major chord at the end of a piece of music in a  minor key.

In the 16th to 17th centuries this was a very common way to end a piece in a minor key. This is because music in the minor sounds melancholy or disturbed in comparison to the major because the third note of the scale is flattened (lowered by a semitone). In the harmonic series this minor third is the 7th harmonic which sounds dissonant against the fundamental (first note of the scale).  This means that ending in the major gives a sense of relief after the tension of the minor.  In a piece in A minor, for example, where the third note of the scale is C natural, in a Tierce de Picardie the final chord will include a C sharp, changing the chord from A minor to A major.

Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" is in C minor but the last movement is in the major.  This is not a Tierce de Picardie in this case, as the term applies only when just the last chord alters.  The term was introduced in 1767 by Rousseau in his "Dictionnaire de musique" (Dictionary of Music).  "Tierce" means "third", but no one knows why he called it "Picardie" (Picardy is an area in the north of France).

Johann Sebastian Bach used it fairly often in his music.  The first movement of the "Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra" is a good example.  In his "Fantasia and Fugue in G minor BWV542" the fugue ends with a Tierce de Picardie and, in some editions, the Fantasie as well.  It is possible that Bach would have finished the Fantasie with a major chord only if he was playing it on its own (without the fugue), but we cannot be sure of this.  Another good example of the Tierce de Picardie is the end of Cantata No. 82 "Ich Habe Genug", which is extremely effective. Another famous piece that ends in a Tierce de Picardie is Greensleeves.

Musical terminology

Tierce de Picardie


The Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand was an 1838 unfinished oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Eugène Delacroix.

He made sketches for it before 1838, a more detailed one of Chopin alone and another, more coarse one of the two. Later he painted it originally as a double portrait, which was later cut in two and sold off as separate pieces. It showed composer Frédéric Chopin (1810–49) playing the piano while writer George Sand (1804–76) sits to his right, listening and sewing (a favorite activity of hers). The sitters were lovers at the time, and both were close friends of the artist.

The portrait remained in Delacroix's studio until his death. Shortly afterward, it was cut into two separate works, both of which are tightly focused. Chopin's portrait comprises only a head shot, while Sand's shows her upper body but is narrowly cut. This led to the loss of large areas of the original canvas. The reason for the divide is likely the then-owner's belief that two paintings would sell for a higher price than one. Today Chopin's portrait is housed at the Louvre in Paris, while Sand's hangs at Copenhagen's Ordrupgaard Museum.

George Sand was a French Romantic novelist, one of the first female French writers to establish an international reputation. She became known for behavior unusual for a woman at the time, including openly conducting affairs, smoking a pipe and wearing men's clothing. Sand had been a friend of Delacroix for a number of years, though the painter did not hold her work in high regard. She met Chopin in 1836 and from 1838 conducted a relationship with him for ten years, until two years before he died. Much of the composer's best work was done during those ten years. Though their relationship began as physical, Chopin's failing health (described in Sand's autobiographical "Winter in
Mallorca") in time changed her role to that of caregiver.

Sand introduced Delacroix to Chopin in 1838, and the two men remained close friends until the composer's death.
The double portrait showed Chopin playing the piano while Sand sat and listened. Little is known of the painting's origin or the circumstances of its execution. It is not known whether it was a commission or intended as a gift to the composer. It is known that Delacroix borrowed a piano so that the work could be painted in his studio. The double portrait was not finished, and one of the elements that was not painted was the piano.

The Sand canvas is generally seen as the more interesting because, in its original form, it was intended as a counterpoint to the Chopin portrait, not as a stand-alone work. As such, it contravenes many conventions of portraiture. It was usual in 19th-century bust-sized paintings for the subject to be largely static, but here Sand is shown reacting to the music Chopin is playing, and highly animated and energetic in her emotional response.

Notes

References
 Halina Goldberg, The Age of Chopin: Interdisciplinary Inquiries, Indiana University Press, 2004,
 Gilles Néret, Delacroix, Berlin, Taschen, 2000,

Further reading

1838 paintings
Paintings by Eugène Delacroix
Unfinished paintings
Chopin
Musical instruments in art
Portrait paintings in the Louvre
Paintings in the Ordrupgaard
Paintings in the Louvre by French artists
Cultural depictions of Frédéric Chopin
Cultural depictions of George Sand


The Packard 180 wis introduced in 1940 bi the Packard Motor Car Company tae replace the discontinued V-12 as their top-o-the-line luxury model.

The "180" or "One-Eighty" featured an in-line aicht cylinder, 356-cubic-inch (5,830 cc) ingine that developt 160 horsepouer. It wis advertised as the maist pouerful aicht cylinder ingine affered bi ony automobile manufacturer in 1940. (Bi contrast, the Cadillac 346 cubic inch V-8  developt 150 hp) Packard an aa uised this new ingine in their mid-range "160" models.

Packards o aw series (110, 120, 160, 180) shared similar body stylin in 1940 (which some later said led tae a "cheapenin" o the ance-exclusive luxury marque.) Housomeivver, the 180's featured finer interior detailin, fabrics an carpetin. There wur minor stylin changes in the 1941 an 1942 models.

The final 180s rolled aff the Packard assembly line in Februar, 1942, as Warld War II brocht a halt tae civilian automobile production. There hae been rumors that machinery wis transferred tae the Soviet Union, an production continued till 1959 as the ZIS-110.  Housomeivver, accordin in James Ward's The Fall of Packard, page 46, he foond nae supportin evidence in the Packard archives o such a transfer. An aa it must be notit that the ZIS-110 shares nae sheet metal wi ony Packard, despite its external decor elements wur intentionally designed tae hivily resemble pre-war Packards, favoured bi Joseph Stalin.

They wur an aa the first caur tae hae pouer windaes.

References

Ward, James A. The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, Copywright 1995, Page 46

180
Vehicles introduced in 1940
1940s automobiles

Packard 180


Sake (Japanese:酒; pronounced 'sa.kɛ' ) is a Japanese word for "alcoholic drink". In English, "sake" means one kind of alcoholic drink made from rice. In Japan, people call this drink nihonshu ( "Japanese alcohol") or sake. This article uses the word "sake" as it is used in English.

Ingredients
Sake is a fermented drink. Most sake is made from rice, water, kōji, and yeast. Sometimes a small amount of lactic acid is used in brewing. Water or small amounts of pure alcohol can be added at the end of production. Sake can have from 12 to 22% alcohol, but is usually around 15 or 16%. Lower quality mass-produced sake can have added sugar or flavorings.

Serving sake
Sake is usually sold in bottles that are either 720ml or 1.8L. Drinkers or servers in a restaurant may pour small cups called chokko directly from the bottle. Sake is also served in smaller bottles called tokkuri. A typical serving in a bar or restaurant is 180ml. People may share that amount. When drinking together, people often pour drinks for each other rather than for themselves.

Amazake
Amazake is sweet, low or non-alcoholic sake.

Related pages
Awamori
Doburoku
rice wine
Shōchū

Fermented drinks
Japanese food

Sake


The 'Memorial Cup is the trophy for the winners of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL). Every year, winning teams from the three CHL  leagues, the Western Hockey League (WHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), and the hosting team, compete in a tournament. The Spokane Chiefs are the most recent winners.

Ice hockey trophies and awards
Memorial Cup

Memorial Cup


Federation (1994) is a science fiction novel written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. It is a tie-together chronicle that brings the original Enterprise adventures of James T. Kirk close to an encounter with the Enterprise-D adventures of Jean-Luc Picard.

Plot summary
The first half of the novel involves three parallel arcs. In one arc, Zefram Cochrane has just completed the first warp speed voyage, a solo journey to Alpha Centauri and back. His is the first successful crewed flight beyond the Sol system. His benefactor and backer, Micah Brack, exploits the warp drive to help humanity burst into the stars and safeguard the future of the race, which he foresees disaster for because of the "Optimum Movement", perfectionists who are trying to perfect Khan Noonien Singh's failed attempt to unify and improve humanity.

A second arc covers James Kirk and his crew, just after the successful conference on admitting Coridan into the Federation. Kirk is hauled onto the carpet by a Starfleet admiral demanding that he explain a subspace message showing "dead" Commissioner Nancy Hedford. Kirk discovers that Cochrane was kidnapped from his and Nancy's home at Gamma Canaris.

A third arc covers Jean-Luc Picard and his crew, just after dropping off Sarek of Vulcan to another ship for his voyage home from the Legaran home world. A Ferengi ship leads them to a Romulan ship, whose commander is giving Picard what appears to be a section of a Borg ship, but with a Preserver artifact incorporated into it.

The Cochrane arc jumps ahead 17 years, from 2061 to 2078, just before a devastating war on Earth and long after Micah Brack's mysterious disappearance. Cochrane risked visiting his home planet, and narrowly escaped the forces of the Optimum Movement whose leader, Adrik Thorsen, wants Cochrane's knowledge about warp fields to create a bomb. The Cochrane arc then jumps further to 2111, when he must flee Alpha Centauri, and begins his voyage into the future when the Companion finds him and takes him to a sanctuary, her home.

Kirk and the Enterprise find the hijacked passenger ship that has Cochrane aboard, and cleverly rescue all aboard. However, they are in a battle with Klingon warships under the command of the robotic remnants of Thorsen, and the Enterprise is damaged. Cochrane and the Companion board a shuttlecraft that will take "shelter" inside the event horizon of a black hole, on a course calculated to bring them out again using a short burst of warp drive. However, one Klingon ship follows the shuttlecraft, and Kirk takes the Enterprise in, dispatching the Klingon ship with one torpedo. They cannot, however, now escape and the shuttlecraft is also doomed.

Picard's crew study the Preserver artifact, and when Data tries to interface with it, Thorsen's essence emerges from the artifact and takes over Data. Data takes the Enterprise into the black hole where Thorsen saw Cochrane enter it a century before. The two Enterprises, once Data's body is shut off, coordinate to take advantage of gravity waves to save both ships and tractor the shuttlecraft out. By necessity, to emerge in their own times, Kirk's Enterprise must yield the shuttlecraft's mass to Picard's, and so when Picard and the Enterprise-D emerge, they find the shuttlecraft holds Zefram Cochrane and Nancy Hedford/Companion. Both of them die, even as the ship arrives at Gamma Canaris to find the planetoid has long ago disintegrated.

Before the ships got too far apart, Picard sent a short signal identifying his ship by name. Kirk writes a letter on paper to the captain of that future Enterprise, to be released after certain events have occurred. Picard is given the letter not long after the Enterprise-D is lost on Veridian III.

One of the common ties is Christopher's Landing, the location on the moon Titan where Sean Jeffrey Christopher made humanity's first landing on the moon of Saturn. Cochrane returned there after his successful warp flight; Kirk writes his letter there and Picard is given that letter. Over the course of 300 years... 2061 to 2265 to 2366... the environment of Titan is progressively terraformed to one where Picard is able to stroll outdoors.

The events of the story were  non-canonical, and conflict with what was established about Zefram Cochrane, his first warp flight, and first contact with the Vulcans, in the 1996 film Star Trek: First Contact.

Reception
In 2015, John Bardinelli of Barnesandnoble.com highlighted this as among of the best Star Trek novels, he praised it for tying together the crews from both the original series and The Next Generation and said "Federation is one of the best-written, most entertaining books in the shared universe.".

The book appeared on the New York Times best seller list.

References

External links

1994 Canadian novels
Alpha Centauri in fiction
Novels based on Star Trek: The Original Series
Novels based on Star Trek: The Next Generation
Novels by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Fiction set on Titan (moon)

Federation (novel)


Prasat Phum Prasat is a Hindu temple in Prasat, Santuk District, in Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia. It is located 27-km from the provincial capital of Kampong Thom. The site was a former royal palace which was used as a depositary were royal valuables were kept. During the French colonization of Cambodia the valuables were removed.

Architecture

The  complex  consists of  4  ancient  structures - 3 brick  and  1  laterite and masonry and sandstone. They are situated in a north and south manner.

The temple was built in the 8th century possibly in the year 706 and is dedicated to Shiva. In the upper corner the temple contained the segments of Linga and Yoni. The Somasutra, a funnel which transports holy water from the statue in the main chamber, can still be found in the main edifice.

In the Early Middle Ages the wooden door displayed sculptures of male and female deities. The door facing south was inscribed with five lines of Khmer text.

A hill named Toul Samrong or Toul Nak Ta Samrong was situated south of the main temple. To east of this hill, there was a Pou tree in which the local Khmer people call Toul Nak Ta Deum Pou. This translates in English as "The Hill of the Body Tree Spirit".

Buried into the ground near the Prasat Phum Prasat, there was an inscription containing six lines of Sanskrit scripts.

References

External links
Tourism Cambodia

706
8th-century Hindu temples
Buildings and structures in Kampong Thom province
Hindu temples in Cambodia

Prasat Phum Prasat


The history of the Americas is the history of North and South America, including Central America and the Caribbean. It begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia and possibly Oceania during the height of an Ice age. These groups are generally believed to have been isolated from peoples of the "Old World" until the coming of Europeans in the 10th and 15th centuries.

The ancestors of today's Native Americans were hunter-gatherers who migrated into North America. The most popular theory says that migrants came to the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge, Beringia, the land mass covered by the cold ocean waters in the Bering Strait. Small Paleo-Indian groups probably followed the mammoth and other prey animals. It is possible that groups of people may also have traveled into North America on shelf or sheet ice along the northern Pacific coast.

Cultural traits brought by the first immigrants later evolved and spawned such cultures as Iroquois on North America and Quechuas of South America. These cultures later developed into civilizations. In many cases, these cultures expanded at a later date than their Old World counterparts. Cultures that may be considered advanced or civilized include: Zapotec, Toltecs, Olmec, Maya, Aztecs, and the Inca.

North America

Pueblo people
The Puebloan peoples of what is now the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, living conditions were that of large stone apartment like adobe structures. They live in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and possibly surrounding areas.

Chichimeca
Chichimeca was the name that the Mexica (Aztecs) applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico, and had the same sense as the European term "barbarian". The name was adopted with a negative tone by the Spaniards when they spoke of the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples of northern Mexico.

Zapotec
The Zapotec emerged around 1500 years BCE. Their writing system influenced the later Olmec. They left behind the great city Monte Alban.

Olmec
The Olmec civilization emerged around 1200 BCE in Mesoamerica and ended around 400 BCE. Olmec art and concepts influenced surrounding cultures after their downfall. This civilization was thought to be the first in America to develop a writing system. After the Olmecs abandoned their cities for unknown reasons, the Maya, Zapotec and Teotihuacan arose.

Maya
Maya history spans 3,000 years. The Maya may have collapsed due to changing climate in the end of the 10th century.

Toltec
The Toltec were a nomadic people, dating from the 10th - 12th century, whose language was also spoken by the Aztecs.

Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan (4th century BCE - 7/8th century CE) was both a city, and an empire of the same name, which, at its zenith between 150 and the 5th century, covered most of Mesoamerica.

Aztec
The Aztec having started to build their empire around 14th century found their civilization abruptly ended by the Spanish conquistadors. They lived in Mesoamerica, and surrounding lands. Their capital city Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities of all time.

South America

Norte Chico
The oldest known civilization of the Americas was established in the Norte Chico region of modern Peru. Complex society emerged in the group of coastal valleys, between 3000 and 1800 BCE. The Quipu, a distinctive recording device among Andean civilizations, apparently dates from the era of Norte Chico.

Chavín
The Chavín established a trade network and developed agriculture by as early as (or late compared to the Old World) 900 BCE according to some estimates and archaeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned from 900 BCE to 300 BCE.

Inca
Holding their capital at the great city of Cusco, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533.
Known as , or "the land of the four regions," in Quechua, the Inca culture was highly distinct and developed.  Cities were built with precisely matched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture. There is evidence of excellent metalwork and even successful brain surgery in Inca civilization.

Present situation
The number of Native Americans is increasing now in the U.S. by actual population growth, changing enrollment laws, and from the immigration from Spanish America, especially from Mexico, though the definition being applied to them is Hispanic.

Effects of slavery

Slavery has had a significant role in the economic development the New World after the colonization of the Americas by the Europeans. Slaves helped build the roads upon which they were transported. The cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane harvested by slaves became important exports for the United States and the Caribbean countries.

Related pages
 European colonization of the Americas
 History of North America
 Inca Empire
 New World

References
 Kane, Katie Nits Make Lice: Drogheda, Sand Creek, and the Poetics of Colonial Extermination Cultural Critique, No. 42 (Spring, 1999), pp. 81–103 doi:10.2307/1354592
 Churchill, Ward A Little Matter of Genocide 1997 City Lights Books

History of North America
History of South America

History of the Americas


Modern paper is a thin material of (mostly) wood fibres pressed together. People write on paper with a pencil or pen, and books are made of paper. Paper can absorb liquids such as water, so people can clean things with paper. There are many types of paper.

The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, board and other cellulose-based products.

Paper making
Modern paper is normally made from wood pulp. Wood is ground up and mixed with water and other chemicals to make a thin liquid called "paper pulp". Paper pulp can be bleached to make paper more white, and dyes can be added to make colored paper. This pulp is pressed into sheets of paper. Printing is often done on paper before the paper is cut into sheets. Newsprint paper (newspaper) comes in a huge roll, and goes through the printing process as one continuous sheet. It is cut by a machine-driven guillotine blade later. Folding comes last, then packing for distribution.

Sometimes paper is made heavier and more glossy (shiny) by adding clay, and by 'milling' it. Milling is done by squeezing the paper through a series of rollers. Sometimes paper is made from used or waste paper: this is recycling.

Not all paper is made from wood. Other kinds of fiber can be used. People still make paper from cotton, linen and hemp for special purposes.

History of paper
Writing started long before the invention of paper. People wrote on many kinds of material. They wrote on cloth, on the stone walls and on wood. In Mesopotamia the Sumerians wrote on clay tablets, many of which have survived today. In Europe, people wrote on vellum.

First paper
Many centuries ago – as early as the 3rd millennium BC (that's over 2000 BC) – people in Egypt made a kind of paper from the papyrus plant. This is where the word 'paper' comes from. The people of Greece and Rome learned to do this too. The Romans wrote on parchment (made from animal skin), on waxed tablets and on wood (see Vindolanda).

In China 105 AD, the eunuch Cai Lun told his Emperor he had made paper. They had previously used bamboo and silk. The material used in this ancient paper included cotton rags, hemp, various plant fibres and old fish nets. The oldest existing paper with writing on it was found in the ruins of a watchtower in the Great Wall of China. It dates to about 150 AD.p5 Even earlier paper (but with no writing on it) has been claimed: "The oldest surviving piece of paper in the world is made of hemp fibers, discovered in 1957 in a tomb near Xian, China, and dates from between the years 140 and 87 BC". Paper-making was regarded by the Chinese as so valuable that they kept it secret as long as they could.

Spread of paper
People in Japan learned how to make paper with fibres of the mulberry tree, around 610 AD. This is called Japanese paper or Washi. The Chinese invention spread to India, and then to the Middle East, and then to Italy.

An opportunity occurred after The Battle of Talas in 751. Then an Arab army captured soldiers of the Chinese. There were some paper makers among the captured soldiers. From them, paper-making spread throughout the Middle East.  In 757, a paper mill was built at Samarkand. People learned to use linen as paper raw material and to use starch made from flour as an additive.

The Italians used hemp and linen rags. In 1276 the first Italian paper mill was built at Fabriano and, until the 14 century, Italy was a paper supplier in Europe. In 1282 the first watermark was introduced in Bologna.

Machine-made paper
Paper was hard to make. It was cheaper than the old writing materials, but still expensive. A mechanical paper maker was conceived in France 1798, but invented in England. At least one paper mill was using them by 1812. Now the process was cheaper but the raw material was still expensive.

In 1840 Friedrich Gottlob Keller Invented a machine that could make pulp for paper out of wood fibres (instead of the expensive rag paper). Paper became cheap enough for everyone to buy. Around the same time, other inventions were made, like the pencil, the fountain pen, and a printing press that used steam power. With this new information technology, people wrote more letters, made more books and newspapers, and kept more records of what they did.

Today, some of the largest paper-producing countries are China, USA, Canada, Finland, Sweden and Russia. Paper is produced in large factories called paper mills. They produce hundreds of thousands of tons of paper each year.

Uses of paper

Paper is used for writing and printing. Books, magazines and newspapers are printed on paper.

Paper is often used for money. Paper used for money is made in special ways. It does not use wood fiber. It is mostly cotton with additives to make it hard for people to print their own money. A piece of paper money is called a banknote, a bill or a note.

Paper can be used for cleaning. Special forms of paper are used, such as paper towels, facial tissues or toilet paper.

Pretty paper can be used as decoration. It can be pasted onto the walls of a room; this is called wallpaper. Paper can be used to wrap gifts. This is called wrapping paper or gift wrap.

Some kinds of paper are strong and can be used in boxes and other packaging material. Sometimes several layers of paper are held together with glue, to make cardboard.

Related pages
 Paper size
 Cardboard

References

Basic English 850 words

Writing tools

Paper


Negros Occidental (; ), officially the Province of Negros Occidental (; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Bacolod, of which it is geographically situated and grouped under by the Philippine Statistics Authority, but remains politically independent from the provincial government. It occupies the northwestern half of the large island of Negros, and borders Negros Oriental, which comprises the southeastern half. Known as the "Sugarbowl of the Philippines", Negros Occidental produces more than half the nation's sugar output.

Negros Occidental faces the island-province of Guimaras and the province of Iloilo on Panay Island to the northwest across Panay Gulf and the Guimaras Strait. The primary spoken language is Hiligaynon and the predominant religious denomination is Roman Catholicism. Bacolod is the capital, seat of government and the most populous city of the province, but is governed independently as a highly urbanized city. With a population of 2,623,172 inhabitants, it is the most populated province in Western Visayas, the second most-populous province in the Visayas after Cebu and the 8th most-populous province of the Philippines. The province also has the most chartered cities among all the provinces in the Philippines with a total of 12, excluding Bacolod.

History

Spanish colonial era

Negros was originally known to the natives as "Buglas", meaning "cut off" in old Hiligaynon. When the Spaniards arrived in April 1565, they named it "Negros" because of the dark-skinned natives they found. Two of the earliest native settlements were Binalbagan and Ilog which later became towns in 1572 and 1584, respectively. Other settlements were Hinigaran, Bago, Marayo (now Pontevedra), Mamalan (now Himamaylan) and Candaguit (now a sitio of San Enrique).

Ilog was made the first capital of the province in 1743. This was later transferred to Himamaylan. Bacolod finally became the capital in 1849. The island was divided into Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental in 1890. The two provinces were briefly unified as the independent Cantonal Republic of Negros, with Bacolod as the capital on November 27, 1898.

America invasion era
The  Cantonal Republic of Negros became a protectorate of the United States until 1901, when the republic was dissolved, with the two provinces annexed back to the Philippines.

During the succeeding decades between 1901 and the 1930s, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental were both under Insular Government of the United States of America as with the rest of the nation and later under the Government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Economic growth continued especially with Philippine sugar having a part of the US market. The socio-economic lives of the island of Negros, from the 1950s up to the late 1980s, depended as before, mainly on the sugar industry.

From 1914 to 1927, parts of Western Negros hosted several newly established settlements which became cities connected by railroads constructed to flow towards several "sugar centrals" which were processing the extremely sweet raw sugar canes grown in Negros' volcanic soil and farmed by several "Haciendas". These haciendas littered the countryside as the central sugar mills eventually grew to become full pledged towns and cities: chief among which were Ilog, Hinigaran, La Carlota, Silay, Pulupandan, Bacolod, San Carlos and Bais Western Negros also saw massive immigration from Panay as the Spanish, Chinese, and French mestizos who administered the Haciendas imported laborers from Panay island to foster the farming of Negros' sugar plantations and thereby displacing the Cebuano speaking natives.

Japanese occupation era
During World War II, both Negros provinces were invaded by Imperial Japanese forces, resorting many residents to flee to the inland mountains. Negros Island was liberated by combined Philippine & American troops with the local Negrense guerillas attacking the Japanese on August 6, 1945. The 7th, 73rd, 74th and 75th Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Commonwealth Army were established from January 3, 1942, to June 30, 1946, and the 7th Constabulary Regiment of the Philippine Constabulary was active from October 28, 1944, to June 30, 1946, at the Military General Headquarters in Negros Occidental. They started the engagements of the Anti-Japanese Imperial Military Operations in Negros from 1942 to 1945 against the Japanese Imperial forces.

Philippine independence

The Negros Famine

By the time Ferdinand Marcos' second term began, sugar had become a critical Philippine export, responsible for 27% of the county's total dollar earnings. With international sugar prices rising rapidly through the early 1970s, Marcos decided to put domestic and international sugar trading under government control, first through the Philippine Exchange Co. (Philex), and later through the Philippine Sugar Commission (Philsucom) and its trading arm, the National Sugar Trading Corporation (NASUTRA), which were both controlled by Marcos crony Roberto Benedicto.

However, the international price of sugar eventually crashed. Quality of life and sugar production were intertwined, so lower production meant lower quality of life for thousands that relied on the industry for sustenance and financial stability. The NASUTRA monopoly forced many sugar planters into bankruptcy or deep in debt. In 1984, over 190,000 sugar workers lost their livelihood, and about a million sacadas and their families in Negros suffered in what would later become known as the "Negros Famine." The percentage of malnourished infants eventually went up to as high as 78%. Negros Occidental's problem on malnourished infants gained global prominence among the press in 1985, as they ran covers on both, local and international newspapers.

Maricalum mining disaster
The Province has a history of problems with mine pollution, one of the worst episodes being the tailings dam failure and spill of 28 million tonnes of copper mine tailings from a mine of the Maricalum company on November 8, 1982

The Escalante Massacre

During the 1970s and 1980s, atrocities against peasants were committed, with one such harrowing example being the Escalante Massacre.

Creation and abolition of Negros del Norte
Negros del Norte was created from Negros Occidental on January 3, 1986, but its creation was declared unconstitutional on July 11, 1986, and was immediately abolished on August 18, 1986.

Post EDSA Revolution

Towards the end of 1987, after the successful overthrow of the Marcos regime, the overall economic situation started to show a positive upturn. The campaign for agricultural diversification had been gaining momentum, paving the way for more landowners to invest in prawn and fish farming, seafood catching, raising of livestock and high-value organic produce such as fruits and vegetables, as well as other cash crops. Investments' upswing became apparent by 1988. The participation of the industrial sector accelerated the consumer-led economic growth and development manifested with the increase in sales of consumer goods and by-products. Today, Negros Occidental remains one of the most progressive and largely developed Philippine provinces, in large due to the profits from the sugar industry, but also due to economic diversification in other fields. Due to the vast population of Negros Occidental, it became the province with the most number of cities outside of the National Capital Region.

Contemporary
On May 29, 2015, the Negros Island Region was formed when Negros Occidental and its capital was separated from Western Visayas and transferred to the new region along with Negros Oriental, when President Benigno Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 183, s. 2015. But it was abolished on August 9, 2017, when President Rodrigo Duterte revoked Executive Order No. 183, s. 2015 through the signage of Executive Order No. 38, citing the reason of the lack of funds to fully establish the NIR according to Benjamin Diokno, the Secretary of Budget and Management, reverting Negros Occidental and its capital back into Western Visayas. However, with the Philippines' current presidential administration promoting federalism, the idea of the twin provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental reunified into one federal state/region is already in the talks of local provincial politicians, with additional support from the native Negrenses.  There is also a suggestion, jointly approved by the provincial governors, that Negros Occidental along with Negros Oriental, be renamed with their pre-colonial names as "Buglas Nakatundan" and "Buglas Sidlakan" respectively, with Negros, as a federal state, be named as "Negrosanon Federated Region", due to the negative racial connotation associated with the name "Negros".

Geography

Negros Occidental is located in the western side of Negros Island, the fourth largest island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . If Bacolod is included for geographical purposes, the province has an area of . The province is approximately  long from north to south. It is bounded by the Visayan Sea in the north, Panay Gulf on the west, Negros Oriental province and Tañon Strait on the east and Sulu Sea on the south. Negros is basically volcanic, making its soil ideal for agriculture. Eighty percent of all arable land in the island region is cultivated.

The north and western parts of the province are largely composed of plains and gentle slopes. A mountain range lines the eastern part of the province, forming the basis of the border with Negros Oriental. Kanlaon Volcano, which is partially located in Negros Oriental, rises to a height of  and is the highest peak in the Visayas.

Administrative divisions
Negros Occidental comprises 19 municipalities and 13 cities, further subdivided into 662 barangays. It has the most chartered cities among all the provinces in the Philippines excepting the Capital. Although Bacolod serves as the capital, it is governed independently from the province as a highly urbanized city.

Demographics

The population of Negros Occidental in the 2020 census was 2,623,172 people, with a density of . If Bacolod is included for geographical and statistical purposes, the total population is 3,223,955 people, with a density of .

Residents of Negros are called "Negrenses" (and less often "Negrosanons") and many are of either pure or mixed Austronesian heritage, with foreign ancestry (i.e. Chinese and/or Spanish) as minorities. Negros Occidental is predominantly a Hiligaynon-speaking province with 84% of residents speaking it as a first language, because of its linguistic ties with Iloilo. Cebuano is spoken by the remaining 16%, especially in the cities and towns facing the Tañon Strait, due to their proximity to the island-province of Cebu. A mixture of Hiligaynon and Cebuano is spoken in Sagay and surrounding places, which both face Iloilo and Cebu. Filipino and English are widely spoken and used on both sides of the island for educational, literary and official purposes.

Negros Occidental is the second most-populous province in the Visayas after Cebu, having the second largest number of congressional districts and the 7th most-populous (4th if highly urbanized cities and independent component cities are included in the population of corresponding provinces) in the Philippines based on the 2015 Census. As of 2010, the population of registered voters are 1,478,260.

Religion
Catholicism is the predominant religion, with over 2 million adherents. Negros Occidental falls under the jurisdictions of the Roman Catholic Dioceses of Bacolod, San Carlos & Kabankalan. Other major Christian denominations include Baptist churches, Aglipayan Church, Iglesia ni Cristo, Seventh-day Adventist Church, and Evangelicalism. Islam is practised by a minority, with 1,842 claiming it as their religion.

Economy

Known as the "Sugarbowl of the Philippines", the sugar industry is the lifeblood of the economy of Negros Occidental, producing more than half of the country's sugar. There are 15 sugar centrals located throughout the lowland areas the north and west of the island, stretching from northwest along the coasts of the Visayan Sea and Guimaras Strait. Among the larger mills are in San Carlos, La Carlota, Bago, Binalbagan, Kabankalan, Sagay, Silay, Murcia and Victorias. Victorias Mill in Victorias City is the largest sugar mill in the country, and the world's largest integrated sugar mill and refinery. Sugar is transported from plantations to refineries by large trucks that use the national highway.

A fishing industry is found in Cadiz, and other fishponds that dot the province. One of the country's largest copper mines is located in Sipalay City. There also exists a cottage industry which produced handicrafts made from indigenous materials.

The province is rich in mineral deposits. Minerals that abound in the province are primary copper with estimated reserve of 591 million metric tons and gold ore with estimated reserve of 25 million tons. Silver and molybdenum deposits are also abundant, as well as non-metallic minerals suitable for agricultural and industrial uses. Notwithstanding its great potential, the mining industry in Negros Occidental has remained virtually dormant since the biggest copper mine in Sipalay suspended its operation in 2000.

Bacolod is the center of commerce and finance in Negros Occidental. It has oil companies, factories, bottling plants, allied industrial businesses, steel fabrication, power generation, agri-businesses, prawn culture and other aqua-culture ventures.

It is also the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) hub of the Negros Island Region of the Philippines. Bacolod has an estimated 35,000 workforce in the IT-BPO industry working in 20 major companies. Among the notable BPO companies operating in the city are Convergys, Teleperformance, TTEC, Focus Direct International, Inc. – Bacolod, Panasiatic Solutions, Ubiquity Global Services, Transcom Asia and iQor. As of 2019, Negros Occidental has a total of 13 operating PEZA-registered IT Parks and Centers.

In 2012, a two-hectare portion of the four-hectare Paglaum Sports Complex was partitioned for the construction of the provincial government-owned Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) as an IT-BPO Outsourcing Hub with a budget of P674-million. It is located at Lacson corner Hernaez Streets in Bacolod and offers up to 22,000 square meters of mixed IT-BPO and commercial spaces. Its facilities are divided into three sections — Information Technology, Commercial Support Facilities, and Common IT Facilities. It was inaugurated in April 2015 in rites led by President Benigno S. Aquino III. The area was initially a residential zone and has been reclassified as a commercial zone as approved by the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance.

By 2014, Negros Occidental is the province with the highest income in all of the Philippines, earning an average of P3.332 billion.

Food and agriculture
Negros Occidental's output of more than 1 million metric tons for crop year 2002–2003 accounts for nearly half of the country's sugar production in an industry that generates an estimated annual revenue of more than . There are 12 sugar mills in the province, of which only 10 are presently operational. Victorias Milling Company has the highest rated capacity with 15,000 tonnes cane per day.

However, the volatility of the sugar industry forced the province to shift, albeit slowly, to other high-value crops and alternative industries. The diversification has proven to be highly successful. Production of rice, the basic commodity for food security, has been increasing. By 2003, annual output of 437 thousand metric tons of palay was 33% better than two years ago. This allowed the province to significantly raise its sufficiency level from 65% to more than 84%. The improvement could be attributed to the introduction and promotion of hybrid rice, which increased rice yields to 3.8 metric tons per hectare. Because of the success of the program, area planted to hybrid rice has increased nearly fivefold. The highest hybrid yield was recorded at 10.3 tons per hectare.

Corn also registered increasing gains. Production for 2003 of 42 thousand metric tons outperformed 2001 output by 18%. Average yield per hectare has also grown by 18%. Other fruit and vegetable crops, except for banana and cassava, likewise improved their harvest. Harvested coconut was placed at 139 million nuts, while production of banana; fruit and vegetable crops totaled 110 million kilograms. Livestock and poultry are industries where Negros Occidental has strongly diversified.

With the province successfully quarantined from the foot and mouth disease and bird flu, as well as with other endemic diseases under control, total production of livestock and poultry in 2003 of 49 thousand metric tons exceeded estimated local demand by 18%. Fishing is likewise an industry where the province has remained focused. After all, 9 of its cities and 16 of its municipalities are located along the coastline and a great portion of the population depends on fishing for their livelihood.

The area for exploitation by this industry is huge, covering most of the coastal areas and the rich fishing grounds of the Visayan Sea on the north, Sulu Sea on the south, Tañon Strait on the east and Guimaras Strait and Panay Gulf at the west. These rich coastal areas and fishing grounds continue to be generous to the people of Negros Occidental. In 2003, products from deep-sea fishing, municipal marine and inland waters, and aquaculture reached 87 thousand metric tons, 30% better than 2001 production.

Government

Congressional districts:

1st District:
 City: Escalante, San Carlos
 Municipality: Calatrava, Don Salvador Benedicto, Toboso
 Congressman: Gerardo Valmayor Jr.

2nd District:
 City: Cadiz, Sagay
 Municipality: Manapla
 Congressman: Alfredo Marañon III

3rd District:
 City: Silay, Talisay, Victorias
 Municipality: Enrique B. Magalona, Murcia
 Congressman: Kiko Benitez

4th District:
 City: Bago, La Carlota
 Municipality: Pontevedra, Pulupandan, San Enrique, Valladolid
 Congressman: Juliet Marie Ferrer

5th District:
 City: Himamaylan
 Municipality: Binalbagan, Hinigaran, Isabela, La Castellana, Moises Padilla
 Congressman: Dino Yulo

6th District:
 City: Kabankalan, Sipalay
 Municipality: Candoni, Cauayan, Hinoba-an, Ilog
 Congressman: Mercedes Alvarez

Lone District of Bacolod:
Congressman: Greg Gasataya

Culture and arts

Negros Occidental has long been a center of culture and arts; the wealth brought about by the sugar industry made sure that the Negrense principalía enjoyed an above-average standard of living.

Silay City, to the north of the capital of Bacolod, nicknamed the "Paris of Negros", is the cultural and artistic center of Negros Island Region. It has 30 heritage houses declared by the national historical institute, most notable of which is Balay Negrense; it is also the hometown of National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture Leandro Locsin and international mezzo-soprano Conchita Gaston.

This blossoming in art was due to the economical importance of the area during the Spanish era, Negros became probably the most hispanized and pro-Spanish area, due to the enormous investments of Spain in the sugar business.

Another famous treasure of Negrense art heritage can be found in Victorias City, within the confines of the Victorias Milling Company in its chapel is the world-famous mural of the Angry Christ, painted by artist Alfonso Ossorio, a scion of the Ossorio family who owned the mill.

The Negrenses' joie de vivre is manifest in the various festivals all over the province, foremost being the famous MassKara Festival of Bacolod, Pasalamat Festival of La Carlota, Bailes de Luces of La Castellana and Pintaflores Festival of San Carlos. These and other local festivals are featured during the Pana-ad sa Negros Festival staged every April at the  tree-lined Panaad Stadium in Bacolod. Dubbed as the "Festival of Festivals", Pana-ad brings together the 13 cities and 19 towns in a showcase of history, arts and culture, tourism, trade, commerce and industry, beauty and talent as well as games and sports.

Negros Occidental is rich in structures and buildings that are remnants of a once affluent lifestyle. The Palacio Episcopal (1930), San Sebastian Cathedral (1876), and the Capitol Building (1931) are popular landmarks. In most towns, steam locomotives that used to cart sugarcane from the fields to refineries attract steam-engine enthusiasts from all over the world. There are also impressive churches all over the province, both built recently and during the Spanish era.

Festivals

Panaad sa Negros Festival

The Panaad sa Negros Festival, also called simply as the Panaad Festival (sometimes spelled as Pana-ad), is a festival held annually during the month of April in Bacolod, the capital of Negros Occidental province in the Philippines. Panaad is the Hiligaynon word for "vow" or "promise"; the festival is a form of thanksgiving to Divine Providence and commemoration of a vow in exchange for a good life. The celebration is held at the Panaad Park, which also houses the Panaad Stadium, and is participated in by the 13 cities and 19 towns of the province. For this reason, the province dubs it the "mother" of all its festivals.

The first Panaad sa Negros Festival was held at Capitol Park and Lagoon in a three-day affair in 1993 that started April 30. The festival was held at the lagoon fronting the Provincial Capitol for the first four years. As the festival grew each year, it became necessary to locate a more spacious venue. In 1997, the festival was held at the reclaimed area near where the Bredco Port is located today. The construction of the Panaad Stadium and sports complex paved the way for the establishment of the Panaad Park as the permanent home of the festival.

Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival
Negros Island is considered as the Organic Capital of the Philippines since it hosts the longest running organic festival in the Philippines. On August 4, 2005, the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental signed a Memorandum of Agreement to promote Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in the Island. Starting 2006, a Negros Island Organic Farmers Festival is held to showcase products of Negros Island and to promote organic agriculture.

Sports
Negros Occidental has produced a large number of athletes that have achieved success in both national and international circuits. The province is also well known for hosting national and international athletic events, which has given it a reputation as the sports capital of the Philippines.

Football
Negros Occidental has a long, entrenched history when it comes to football. The first ever Filipino to play in the European football circuit was Bacolod-born Manuel Amechazurra, who joined FC Barcelona from 1905 to 1915.

The Panaad Stadium in Bacolod has been a venue for national and international athletic events; such as the 23rd Southeast Asian Games men's football and the 2006 ASEAN football qualifiers. On February 9, 2011, the stadium hosted a match between the Philippines national football team and Mongolia in the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification with an attendance of 20,000 people.

Bacolod has been christened as a Philippine "football city" for its patronage of the sport in the country. A few members of the Philippine football team are from Negros: most notable is goalkeeper Eduard Sacapaño, a native of Bago; Tating Pasilan and Jinggoy Valmayor of San Carlos City; and ace striker Joshua Beloya of Bacolod.

Negros Occidental has its own football association: Negros Occidental F.A. It works under the Philippine Football Federation as provincial football association for the Negros Occidental area. The Negros Occidental FA sends a team to represent the region in the yearly PFF National Men's Open Championship and PFF National Women's Open Championship. In the 2011 season of the PFF Suzuki Cup U-23 National Championship, the Negros team were crowned as champions where they defeated their fierce football rival Iloilo (IFA) in the finals.

Negros Occidental is also home of the 2013 PFF National Men's Club Champions, 2017 Philippines Football League Champions, Ceres-Negros, who represented the province in the said tournament. They battled UFL Cup Champions Stallion in the Round of 16 and won 1–0. They battled 2012 UFL Champions Global in the quarterfinals and also won 1–0. In the semifinals, Ceres FC topped Kaya with 3–1 scoreline to enter finals of 2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship. Ceres FC eventually won the 2013 PFF National Men's Club Championship trophy after they beat the other finalist PSG with 1–0 score.

Ceres-Negros FC is the Philippines Football League Champions in 2017 and 2018.

Boxing
Aside from hosting sporting events Negros Occidental has produced many of the nation's finest athletes, particularly in boxing. The likes of 1923 World Flyweight boxing champion, Francisco Guilledo a.k.a. Pancho Villa, current WBO minimum weight champion Donnie Nietes, 1970's WBA world junior lightweight champion Ben Villaflor, all hail from Negros Occidental.

It is also notable for producing Olympiads, Silver Medalist Mansueto Velasco in the 1996 Summer Olympics, his brother Roel Velasco who in turn won a bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Golf
Bacolod has two major golf courses. These are the Bacolod Golf and Country Club and the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club. The city hosted the 61st Philippine Airlines Inter-club Golf Tournament and the 2008 Philippine Amateur Golf Championship.

Karatedo
Bacolod hosted two major karatedo championships, the 1996 Philippine Karatedo Federation National Championship and the 2007 20th PKF National Open. Both tournaments were held at the La Salle Coliseum of USLS. The tournaments were contested by hundreds of karatedo practitioners all over the country.

Basketball
The province is home to two professional basketball teams: the Bacolod City of Smiles and Negros Muscovados, both playing in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League. It was also the home of the Negros Slashers of the Metropolitan Basketball Association

Bacolod hosted the 2008 PBA All-Star Weekend and has since become a regular venue for the Philippine Basketball Association's out-of-town games.

Mixed Martial Arts
Bacolod and its neighboring cities and towns are home to many mixed martial arts competitions including quarterly fights hosted by the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC).

Ceres-Negros F.C.

Ceres–Negros F.C., commonly referred to as Ceres–Negros or just Ceres, is a Filipino football club based in the city of Bacolod, Negros Occidental that plays in the Philippines Football League. The club is a member of the Negros Occidental Football Association. It was previously known as the Ceres–La Salle Football Club.

2018 - PFL Champion;
2017 - PFL Champion;
2017 - AFC Cup ASEAN Zone Champion;
2015 - UFL Division 1 Champion;
2014 - UFL FA League Cup Champion;
2014 - UFL Division 2 Champion;
2014 - PFF National Men's Club Champion;
2013 - PFF National Men's Club Champion;
2012 - Negros Men's Open Football Champion;

Infrastructure
Through its capital, Bacolod, Negros Occidental is only 50 minutes from Manila and 30 minutes from Cebu by air. By sea, it is an 18-hour cruise from Manila and an hour by fast ferries from Iloilo. It is also accessible by sea and land trip from Cebu via Escalante, San Carlos City and Dumaguete in Negros Oriental. Travel from Bacolod to Dumaguete is only 5 to 6 hours by land. Seven airline companies, including Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Philippines, serve the province. Four inter-island shipping lines call on nine seaports of Negros Occidental.

Bacolod–Silay Airport

On January 18, 2008, the new airport was inaugurated in Silay City, 16 kilometers north of Bacolod. The new airport replaced the old Bacolod City Domestic Airport. The new airport runway is of international standards and was constructed to facilitate future landings of international flights to serve the growing number of tourists visiting Negros Occidental each year.

Kabankalan City Domestic Airport

A new airport designed to serve the general area of Kabankalan City. The airport would be the second airport in Negros Occidental, after the Bacolod-Silay International Airport and the third airport on Negros Island Region. It is located four kilometers northeast of Kabankalan City proper on a  site in Barangay Hilamonan. Completion of the airport is still undergoing.

Sipalay Airport

On August 3, 2017, Air Juan started to open flights to Sipalay City from Cebu and Iloilo. Flights from Cebu to Sipalay will be every Wednesday while Sipalay to Cebu on Sundays; Iloilo to Sipalay on Mondays and return on Thursdays. Sipalay Mayor Oscar C. Montilla, Jr. had been looking forward to having an airline company operate in the city to boost tourism. The small Sipalay airport with a 1,400-meter runway is located in a  property of the local government. Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo G. Marañon, Jr. has committed to support the planned concreting of the runway.

Road network and accommodations
All cities and municipalities are linked by an extensive road and bridge network stretching more than 1,500 kilometers crisscrossing the province with seven alternative scenic routes to the nearby province of Negros Oriental. Within the province, travel is also easy, comfortable and even enjoyable with air-conditioned and non-aircon buses or metered taxis. Car rental services are also available. However, the jeepney is still the most common means of transport among the towns and cities. For accommodations, visitors may choose from a wide range of about 67 hotels, pension and lodging houses and tourist inns. The better known hotels are L' Fisher, Bacolod Convention Plaza (Luxur Place), Pagcor Hotel, Business Inn, Metro Inn, Planta Centro Bacolod Hotel and Residences, and Sugarland Hotel, all in Bacolod.

Energy and water
The province has adequate power and water supplies. It is currently interconnected to the Visayas Power Grid whose main sources of power are geothermal. Aside from its existing 170 megawatts capacity, Negros Island by 2006 has an additional 105 megawatts of locally produced power from geothermal plants in Bago and in barangay Palinpinon, Valencia, Negros Oriental, and from bagasse co-generation facility of First Farmers Sugar Mill. Ample water supply for household, commercial, industrial and agricultural uses is assured by 73 thousand hectares of proclaimed and protected major watersheds, regular rainfall and six major river systems.

San Carlos City is going to play a major role in renewable energy as it will be the site of San Carlos Solar Energy INC. It is a solar farm with an initial capacity of 13 MW in Phase 1, and a provision for an addition of 7 MW in Phase 2. It is intended to provide power to the grid throughout the year, at pre-determined Feed-In-Tariff rates set by the ERC. It is a DOE approved stand-alone solar power plant consisting of approximately 52,000 modules.

Communications and medical facilities

International direct dialing, fiber optic data lines and internet services are accessible in most areas of the province. Also, GSM, digital and analog cellular networks provide good coverage in Bacolod and other areas, including international roaming. The medical and health care needs of the people of Negros Occidental and its guests are presently being met by 20 government hospitals (which include the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod and the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay) and 10 private hospitals, as well as several city and municipal health centers, barangay health stations and day-care centers.

Banking, finance and accessibility
Banking and finance is likewise a thriving industry in Negros Occidental. According to the latest count, there are 389 financial institutions competing for businesses in the province. 149 of these are banks. Negros Occidental offers several advantages for those who are doing business in the province. It is strategically located near Metro Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao, all major international gateways with maximum travel time of only about 4 hours between the Philippines and its neighbors in Southeast Asia. It is equipped with major infrastructure facilities for easy travel and shipment of goods within and outside of Negros.

It has information and communication facilities with connection capabilities necessary for, among others, call center operations for business communication and transmission of data. The province has abundant water supply and dependable power supply. Modern health care facilities with medical services are available, as well as academic institutions.

Landmarks

Panaad Park and Sports Complex

The Panaad Park and Sports Complex houses the Panaad Stadium which is a multi-purpose stadium in the province. It is currently used mostly for football matches, and was used for the 2005 South East Asian Games. It was the venue of the pre-qualifiers of the 2007 ASEAN Football Championship or ASEAN Cup, in which the Philippines, Cambodia, Timor Leste, Brunei and Laos participated. The stadium has a seating capacity of 15,500, but holds around 20,000 people with standing areas. It is unofficially designated as the home stadium of the Philippines national football team. Aside from the association football field, it also has a rubberized track oval, an Olympic-size swimming pool and other sports facilities.

The stadium is also the home of Panaad sa Negros Festival, a week-long celebration participated in by all cities and municipalities in the province held annually every summer. The festival is highlighted by merry-making and field demonstrations at the stadium. The stadium itself features replicas of the landmarks of the 13 cities and municipalities of Negros Occidental.

Capitol Park and Lagoon

The Capitol Park and Lagoon is a provincial park located right in the heart of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines. One of the landmarks of the park is the statue of a carabao (water buffalo) being pulled by a woman. This statue is located at the northern end of the lagoon. On the other end, there is also another carabao sculpture but the figure is being pulled by a man.

Local everyday activities in the park include jogging, aerobics, school dance rehearsals, promenaders, arnisadors, and martial arts practitioners.

Fountain of Justice

The Fountain of Justice is a historic landmark in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, Philippines. It marks the location where the house of Jose Ruiz de Luzurriaga used to stand. It was in this house that the surrender of Bacolod by Spanish authorities to the Filipino forces of General Aniceto Lacson took place on November 6, 1898, during the Negros Revolution.

Bacolod Public Plaza

The Bacolod Public Plaza is one of the notable landmarks of Bacolod, the capital of Negros Occidental, Philippines. It is located in the heart of the downtown area, near the city hall and across from the San Sebastian Cathedral. The plaza is a trapezoidal park with a belt of trees around the periphery and a gazebo at the center. Scattered within the trees are four circular fountains.

The plaza was constructed in 1927 as a place for recreation, political, spiritual and cultural activities. It is quite a popular site for outdoor picnics and concerts. The gazebo is often used to house a bandstand.

Balay Negrense

The Balay Negrense was originally the ancestral house of Victor F. Gaston, a son of Yves Leopold Germain Gaston and Prudencia Fernandez. The elder Gaston is credited as one of the pioneers of sugarcane cultivation in this portion of the Philippine archipelago. A native of Normandy in France, he married a Filipina from Batangas where he initially began experimenting with sugar production before relocating to Negros.

Built in 1897, the structure housed Victor Gaston and his twelve children from 1901 until his death in 1927. Left unused by the family, the structure was abandoned in the mid-1970s and fell into disrepair until a group of concerned Negrenses formed what would later become the Negros Cultural Foundation and managed to acquire the house from the heirs of Gaston through a donation. With donations from prominent individuals and later the Department of Tourism, the structure was repaired and furnished with period furniture and fixtures. The museum was officially inaugurated on October 6, 1990.

Mariano Ramos Ancestral House

The Mariano Ramos Ancestral House is the home of the late Don Mariano V. Ramos, the son of Agaton Ramos and Dolores Varela, was the first appointed Presidente Municipal of Bacolod, Philippines. It was built in the 1930s and its architecture is a combination of Castilian and Tuscan and has three storeys, including the tower room, known as the torre.

During World War II, Don Mariano's Ancestral house was the most prominent structure with a view over the whole city. The commanding Japanese general was disguised as a family gardener. As the war broke, the Japanese seized the Mariano Ramos Ancestral house in order to use it as a watchtower and as a headquarters.

San Diego Pro-cathedral

The San Diego Pro-cathedral, formerly known as the San Diego Parish Church or the St. Didacus Parish Church before its declaration as a pro-cathedral in 1994, is an early 20th-century church in Silay City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. It is the only pro-cathedral outside of the national capital of Manila, and is unique in Negros Occidental for being the only church in the province featuring a cupola or dome.

The Ruins

The mansion dates back to the 1900s when it was built by sugar baron Don Mariano Ledesma Lacson for his first wife, Maria Braga, a Portuguese from Macau whom he met in his vacations in Hong Kong. The mansion's structure is of Italianate architecture enhanced by a belvedere complete with renaissance-type balustrading typical of the homes of English ship captains. It was burned down in World War II to prevent the Japanese from using it. It was opened to the public by descendants of the original owner and is listed as among the World's 12 most fascinating ruins.

Paglaum Sports Complex

The Paglaum Sports Complex is a provincial-owned sports venue adjacent to the Negros Occidental High School established during the 1970s that hosted various football events, such as the 1991 Philippines International Cup and the football event of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. It also hosted three editions of the Palarong Pambansa (1971, 1974, 1979). However, the stadium became unfit to host football matches following the erection of business establishments around the area. In 2012, a two-hectare portion of the four-hectare complex was partitioned for the construction of the Capitol-owned Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) as an IT-BPO Outsourcing Hub. As of 2013, the provincial government has been proposing for a renovation of the stadium to serve as alternative venue to Panaad Park and Sports Complex, particularly for football competition. Recently, the Paglaum Sports Complex also serves as an alternative venue to the Bacolod Public Plaza for the MassKara Festival celebration.

Negros Occidental Multi-Purpose Activity Center

The Negros Occidental Multi-Purpose Activity Center (NOMPAC) is a provincial-owned multi-use gym located in Bacolod, adjacent to the Capitol Park and Lagoon. It is currently used mostly for basketball, karatedo and boxing matches. Aside from the gym, it also serves as evacuation site of the city and province during disasters and likewise also serves as cultural facilities in many events and celebrations.

Education

There are 1,318 schools in the province; 53 are registered technical schools including the Technological University of the Philippines – Visayas and Carlos Hilado Memorial State University both in Talisay City. Of these, 158 are private schools, including University of Saint La Salle, STI West Negros University, Colegio San Agustin - Bacolod, La Consolacion College Bacolod, VMA Global College, University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos, Central Philippines State University, Philippine Normal University Visayas, Southland College and Central Philippine Adventist College.

Universities and colleges

 ABE International Business College – Bacolod Campus
 AMA Computer College – Bacolod Campus
 Aeronavigation Academy International Philippines, Inc.
 Asian College of Aeronautics – Main Campus (Bacolod)
 Bacolod Christian College of Negros
 Bacolod City College
 Bago City College
 Binalbagan Catholic College
 Cabarrus Catholic College
 Carlos Hilado Memorial State University – Main Campus, Talisay City
 Carlos Hilado Memorial State University – Alijis Campus, Bacolod
 Carlos Hilado Memorial State University – Fortune Towne Campus, Bacolod
 Carlos Hilado Memorial State University – College of Fisheries, Binalbagan
 Central Negros College
 Central Philippine Adventist College
 Central Philippines State University – Main Campus (Kabankalan)
 Candoni Campus
 Cauayan Campus
 Sipalay Campus
 Hinigaran Campus
 San Carlos Campus
 Victorias Campus
 Ilog Campus
 Hinoba-an Campus
 Moises Padilla Campus
 Colegio de Santa Ana de Victorias
 Colegio de Santa Rita de San Carlos, Inc.
 Colegio de Santo Tomas – Recoletos
 Colegio San Agustin – Bacolod
 College of Arts & Sciences of Asia & the Pacific – Bacolod Campus
 Convention Baptist Bible College
 FAST Aviation Academy, Inc. – Bacolod
 Fellowship Baptist College
 Fortress College
 John B. Lacson Colleges Foundation – Bacolod
 Kabankalan Catholic College
 La Carlota City College
 La Consolacion College Bacolod
La Consolacion College Isabela
La Consolacion College Murcia
 LaSalTech, Inc.
 LaSalTech - Bacolod
 LaSalTech - Cadiz
 LaSalTech - Kabankalan
 LaSalTech - La Carlota
 Mapúa Malayan Digital College – Learning Hub Bacolod
 Mount Carmel College of Escalante, Inc.
 Negros Occidental Language and Information Technology Center (NOLITC)
 Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology – Main Campus (Sagay City)
 Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology – School of Nursing Campus (Cadiz)
 Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology – Calatrava Campus
 Northern Negros State College of Science and Technology – Escalante Campus
 Our Lady of Mercy College – Bacolod
 Philippine Normal University Visayas (Cadiz)
 Riverside College, Inc.
 Sacred Heart Seminary and Shrine - Bacolod
 St. Scholastica's Academy - Bacolod
 STI West Negros University
 Southland College
 Tañon College
 Technological University of the Philippines Visayas, Talisay City Campus
 Technological University of the Philippines Visayas, Sagay City Extension Campus
 Technological University of the Philippines Visayas, Cadiz Extension Campus
 University of Saint La Salle
 University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos
 VMA Global College
 West Visayas State University – Himamaylan City Campus

Media

Modern communication facilities, as well as radio, television and newspapers, are available in the province. Most are provided by dominant national players in the industry like PLDT, Globe Telecom and their subsidiaries. For television and radio, the major providers are network giants ABS-CBN, GMA Network, The 5 Network, CNN Philippines and IBC. Cable TV provides access to BBC, ESPN and other international programs. National and international newspapers are available on the same day of issue in Manila.

Bacolod is noted for being the home of the Negros Summer Workshops, founded by multi-award-winning filmmaker and Negrense Peque Gallaga. Founded in 1991, Workshops has long been training students from different parts of the country who wish to learn courses in film-making, acting, writing, and more. Some of its alumni include actors in mainstream Philippine show business.

Negros Occidental has also been used as a setting and location shoot for various films and television shows, most notable of which is the 1981 epic Oro, Plata, Mata where Hacienda Rosalia is the setting. Recent films that were set and filmed in Negros are Ligaw Liham (2007), Namets! (2008), and Everyday I Love You (2015).

There are two regional newscast programs in Bacolod: TV Patrol Negros (ABS-CBN Bacolod) and One Western Visayas (GMA Bacolod, simulcasting from GMA Iloilo).

Notable personalities

See also
 Capitol Park and Lagoon
 Diocese of Bacolod
 Diocese of Kabankalan
 Diocese of San Carlos (Philippines)
 Northern Negros Natural Park

References

External links

 Official Website of the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental
 Local Governance Performance Management System
 ExperienceNegros Travel & Lifestyle

Provinces of the Philippines
Provinces of Western Visayas
States and territories established in 1890
1890 establishments in the Philippines

Negros Occidental