Taronga Zoo is a zoo located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, in the suburb of Mosman, on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The opening hours are between 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Taronga is an Aboriginal word meaning "beautiful view".

It was officially opened on 7 October 1916. Taronga Zoo Sydney is managed by the Zoological Parks Board of New South Wales, under the trading name Taronga Conservation Society, along with its sister zoo, the Taronga Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo.

Divided into various zoogeographic regions, the  Taronga Zoo Sydney is home to more than 2,600 animals of approximately 150 different species. It has a zoo shop, a cafe, and an information centre.

History

The Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales opened the first public zoo in New South Wales in 1884 at Billy Goat Swamp in Moore Park, on a site now occupied by Sydney Boys High School and Sydney Girls High School. Inspired by a 1908 visit to the Hamburg Zoo, the secretary of the zoo, Albert Sherbourne Le Souef, envisioned a new zoo based on the bar-less concept. After realising that the Moore Park site was too small, the NSW Government granted  of land north of Sydney Harbour. A further  were later granted in 1916, and the zoo at its current site opened to the public on the 7th October 1916.

Rustic Bridge
The "Rustic Bridge" was opened in 1915 and was one of Taronga Zoo's earliest landscape features. It was the main way in which visitors could cross the natural gully that it spans. Early photographs show it as a romantic pathway secluded by plantings. The rustic effect was created by embedding stones in the wall and like the aquarium, its design was reminiscent of Italian grottoes.

Late 20th century
A critical review in 1967 led to a new emphasis on scientific conservation, education and preservation. New exhibits were built starting with the Platypus and Nocturnal houses, waterfowl ponds and walkthrough Rainforest Aviary. A Veterinary Quarantine Centre was built as was an Education Centre (funded by the Department of Education). Previous attractions such as elephant rides, miniature trains, monkey circus and merry-go-round gave way to educational facilities such as Friendship Farm and Seal Theatre (these latter two exhibits completed in the late 1970s).

A gondola lift was installed in 1987 and updated in 2000, running from the bottom of the park close to the ferry wharf, and transported passengers to the top end of the zoo. The gondola closed on 31 January 2023 and, if approved, will re-open in 2025.

2000 master plan
In 2000, TCSA commenced a 12-year $250 million master plan, the majority of which is being spent at Taronga Zoo. The first major master plan item was the Backyard to Bush precinct which opened in April 2003. Under the plan, the zoo received five Asian elephants from the Thailand Zoological Park Organisation for breeding purposes, education, long-term research and involvement of conservation programs. The plan has met opposition from environmental activists in Thailand, who blockaded the trucks hauling the elephants to Bangkok International Airport for their flight on 5 June 2006. The elephants along with other Asian rain forest specimens are housed in the Wild Asia precinct which opened in July 2005 (the elephants arriving from quarantine in November 2006) and aims to immerse visitors in an Asian rain forest environment (though later renamed Rainforest Trail as included species from tropical Africa).

A marine section, Great Southern Oceans, opened in April 2008. Recently, the redevelopment and restoration of the historic entrance opened, further adding to the masterplan. The chimpanzee exhibit also underwent expansion work and re-opened as Chimpanzee Sanctuary allowing its residents more space and also to assist making it easier for the introduction of new individuals by splitting the areas of the exhibit when necessary.

The Tiger Trek precinct opened in August 2017 allowing for multiple exhibits of critically endangered Sumatran tigers.

The zoo's African Savannah precinct, which opened in June 2020, was constructed as a major renovation and spatial expansion of the zoos' previous giraffe and zebra yards.

Zoo Friends
Zoo Friends offers support in form of volunteers and fund raising for both Taronga and Western Plains Zoo. Members are offered behind-the-scenes experiences at the zoo and unlimited zoo entry. Members are also eligible to volunteer to help at the zoo.

Notable events

Platypus birth
In February 2003, it became the second zoo in Australia to breed the platypus.

Australia's first elephant births
At 3.04 am on 4 July 2009, Thong Dee, an Asian elephant, gave birth to a male calf named Luk Chai. He is the first calf born in Australia. Thong Dee, and his father Gung, were two of the eight elephants imported into Australia to participate in the Australasian Conservation Breeding Program.

The baby elephant was a major tourist attraction, with thousands of visitors attending the zoo just to see him.

A second baby Asian elephant was thought to have died during labour on 8 March 2010. The calf's 18-year-old mother Porntip was in and out of labour over the week beforehand, after a pregnancy lasting almost two years.

Zoo keepers and veterinarians were concerned about the progress of the labour, with Porntip showing unusual movements and behaviour. An ultrasound revealed that the calf was unconscious in the birth canal, and the zoo announced on 8 March 2010 that the calf was believed to be dead. On 10 March 2010 at 3:27 am, the live male calf was born. He was subsequently named Pathi Harn, a Thai expression meaning "miracle". Pathi Harn's father is Bong Su, of the Melbourne Zoo, and was artificially conceived.

In October 2012, Pathi Harn critically injured his keeper by crushing her against a pole; the keeper survived.

Royal tour
On 20 April 2014, Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (as they were), along with their 8-month-old son, Prince George, visited Taronga Zoo Sydney to participate in an unveiling ceremony at the bilby exhibit. The bilby was eventually renamed "Bilby George" in honour of the little prince who performed his first official duty. Later, William and Kate visited the zoo again without George meeting the other animals for Easter.

Birth of Sumatran tiger cubs
On 17 January 2019, Kartika, one of the zoo's four Sumatran tigers, gave birth to three cubs. Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with fewer than 350 individuals alive in the wild. In total, 21 tiger cubs have been born at Taronga since 1980.

Ongoing conservation work news
Taronga has been involved in numerous conservation captive breeding programs for endangered and vulnerable species for more than fifty years when the zoos management changed Taronga's trajectory away from general visitor entertainment to focus on assisting species that are threatened in their wild habitats.

For example, in November 2021 Taronga released 58 captive bred critically endangered regent honeyeaters into the wild.

The zoo's female pygmy hippopotamus Kambiri gave birth to a female calf named Amara on 22 November 2021, who died suddenly on 24 December.

World's only leopard seals in a zoo
Taronga Zoo was once home to the world's only leopard seals living in a zoo. Leopard seals are native to Antarctica but on rare occasions, will come up to Australia's coastlines during the late winter months. From 1999 - 2014 Taronga housed three different leopard seals, Brooke, Sabine (females) and Casey (male). All three were found separately washed up on beaches sick, malnourished or injured. As leopard seals are from the Antarctic, it was recommended that these seals not be returned to the wild once rehabilitated as they could potentially transfer unknown diseases to the fragile wild population and cause damage to the Antarctic ecosystem.

These three contributed to important research conducted by the Australian Marine Mammal Research Centre (AMMRC), bettering the understanding of this typically remote and lesser understood species. AMMRC conducted important scientific studies using these three as subjects, including leopard seal whisker growth rate, echolocation inaudible to the human ear and the suction and filter feeding that leopard seals use to hunt krill in the Antarctic.

An entire new enclosure was built to house the leopard seals, located in the new Great Southern Ocean Exhibit which opened to the public in 2008. This exhibit now houses Australian sea lions, Californian sea lions and New Zealand fur seals.

Brooke was the first to be rescued. In 1999 Brooke was found on Garie Beach in the Royal National Park. She was underweight, dehydrated and suffering from shark attack injuries. She was taken to Taronga Zoo for rehabilitation, keepers and veterinarians at Taronga were able to nurse Brooke back to health. She was unable to be released after this due to concerns that she harboured unknown diseases. Brooke was very popular with staff and visitors, being the first of her kind on display in the world. In 2008 Brooke suddenly became less active and started refusing food and it was believed that she was succumbing to an unknown infection; on 23 May 2008 she succumbed to her illness and died. It is not known exactly how old Brooke was as she was not born at the zoo, but she was believed to be around 10 years old at her death.

Sabine was the second leopard seal to come into Taronga's care, being found on Clontarf Beach in 2007, malnourished and on the brink of death with cookiecutter shark injuries. Sabine was nursed back to health by Taronga's keepers. The exact date of Sabine's death is unknown.

Taronga's final leopard seal Casey was found in 2007 a week after Sabine was found. Casey was found washed ashore at Wattamolla, south of Sydney in poor health with a recent cookiecutter shark wound on his abdomen. Like the other two leopard seals, Casey was also unable to be released back to the Antarctic and was kept at Taronga as a permanent resident. Casey was nursed back to health; once the Great Southern Ocean exhibit opened in 2008 he and Sabine were moved there together, with Brooke dying months before it opened. Taronga Zoo hoped to encourage Casey and Sabine to mate, having the first leopard seal pup born in a zoo, but Casey was so young when he was found stranded that he never learnt his mating call. Taronga played the mating calls of mature male leopard seals for Casey in hopes that he would learn them, but Sabine died before he could learn them. In 2014 Casey's health and condition began to decline. Despite Taronga marine mammal and veterinary teams' efforts to help him Casey showed no signs of recovery. On 20 February 2014 the decision was made to euthanize him.

Exhibits and wildlife collection
Taronga Zoo Sydney cares for approximately 2,000 animals from over 150 different species, many of which are threatened. They are housed in a large variety of exhibits, including:

Wild Australia

Nura Diya Australia
 Dingo
 Emu
 Kangaroo Island kangaroo
 Koala
 Red kangaroo
 Red-necked pademelon
 Red-necked wallaby
 Swamp wallaby
 Tammar wallaby

Platypus Pool
 Platypus
 Short-necked turtle

Koala Walkabout
 Koala

Tasmanian Devil Conservation Centre
 Tasmanian devil

Nguwing Nura (Nocturnal Country)

 Bilby
 Chuditch
 Fat-tailed dunnart

 Ghost bat
 Long-nosed potoroo
 Platypus

 Spinifex hopping-mouse
 Yellow-bellied glider

Frogs
 Northern corroboree frog
 Southern corroboree frog

Backyard to Bush

(House)
 Atherton Tableland bicoloured snail
 Black house spider
 Children's python
 Golden silk orb-weaver spider
 Goliath stick insect
 Huntsman spider
 Redback spider
 Spiny leaf insect
(Backyard)
 Budgerigar
 Domestic rabbit
 Guinea pig
 King quail
 Red-bellied black snake
(Farmyard)
 Alpaca
 Australian plague locust
 Bredl's carpet python
 Chicken
 Communal huntsman spider
 Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink
 European honey bee
 Goat
 House mouse
 Western shingleback lizard
(Bush)
 Flinders Range scorpion
 Giant burrowing cockroach
 Queensland whistling tarantula
 Quokka
 Red kangaroo
 Short-beaked echidna
 Southern hairy-nosed wombat
 Spinifex hopping-mouse
 Sydney funnel-web spider

Blue Mountains Bushwalk

 Australian zebra finch
 Brown cuckoo dove
 Brush bronzewing
 Brush-tailed rock wallaby
 Budgerigar
 Bush stone-curlew
 Chestnut-breasted mannikin
 Common bronzewing
 Crested pigeon
 Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink
 Diamond firetail
 Dollarbird
 Eastern whipbird
 Freckled duck
 Gang-gang cockatoo
 Glossy black cockatoo
 Little lorikeet
 Masked lapwing
 Masked woodswallow
 Noisy pitta
 Pacific emerald dove
 Peaceful dove
 Platypus
 Plumed whistling duck
 Rainbow bee-eater
 Red-rumped parrot
 Regent bowerbird
 Regent honeyeater
 Rose-crowned fruit dove
 Sacred kingfisher
 Scaly-breasted lorikeet
 Southern leaf-tailed gecko
 Striped honeyeater
 Superb lyrebird
 Superb parrot
 Swift parrot
 Welcome swallow
 White-browed woodswallow
 Wonga pigeon

Australian Rainforest Aviary

 Australian king parrot
 Black-faced monarch
 Blue-faced parrot-finch
 Brown cuckoo dove
 Double-eyed fig-parrot
 Eastern whipbird
 Eclectus parrot
 Forest kingfisher
 Golden whistler
 Metallic starling
 Musk lorikeet
 Noisy pitta
 Pacific emerald dove
 Regent bowerbird
 Rose-crowned fruit dove
 Superb fruit dove
 Topknot pigeon
 White-headed pigeon

Semi-Arid Aviary
 Diamond firetail
 Double-barred finch
 Eastern yellow robin
 Little lorikeet
 Star finch
 Turquoise parrot
 Variegated fairywren

Other Australian Birds

 Australian reed-warbler
 Barking owl ('Free Flight' bird show)
 Black-breasted buzzard ('Free Flight' bird show)
 Crimson finch
 Gouldian finch
 Green pygmy-goose
 Lesser sooty owl ('Aussie Animals Alive' show)
 Masked finch
 Red-tailed black cockatoo ('Free Flight' bird show)
 Rufous whistler
 Southern cassowary
 Spinifex pigeon
 Sulphur-crested cockatoo ('Free Flight' bird show)

Great Southern Oceans
 Australian pelican
 Australian sea lion
 Fiordland penguin
 Little penguin
 Long-nosed fur seal

Moore Park Aviary
 Australian brush turkey
 Nicobar pigeon

Reptile World

 Australian scrub python
 Bellinger River turtle
 Black-headed python
 Boa constrictor
 Booroolong frog
 Boyd's forest dragon
 Bredl's carpet python
 Broad-headed snake
 Central netted dragon
 Coastal taipan
 Common death adder
 Corn snake
 Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink
 Eastern blue-tongued lizard
 Eastern diamondback rattlesnake
 Eastern dwarf tree frog
 Eastern long-neck turtle
 Eastern Pilbara spiny-tailed skink
 Elongated tortoise
 European glass lizard
 Eyelash viper
 Fijian crested iguana
 Freshwater crocodile
 Frilled lizard
 Giant cave gecko
 Golden-tailed gecko
 Goldfield's crevice-skink
 Green basilisk
 Green tree python
 Hosmer's spiny-tailed skink
 Indian star tortoise
 Inland taipan
 Merten's water monitor
 Monocled cobra
 Olive python
 Pygmy python
 Red-barred dragon
 Red-bellied black snake
 Red-eyed tree frog
 Reticulated python
 Rhinoceros iguana
 River cooter
 Rusty desert monitor
 Short-necked turtle
 Stimson's python
 Tuatara
 Western shingleback lizard
 White-lipped tree frog
 Yellow spotted bell frog

African Savannah

 African lion
 Fennec fox
 Giraffe
 Helmeted guineafowl (free roaming)
 Meerkat
 Ostrich
 Plains zebra

Chimpanzee Sanctuary
 Chimpanzee

Rainforest Trail

 Asian elephant
 Asian small-clawed otter
 Binturong
 Bolivian squirrel monkey
 Eastern bongo
 Egyptian goose
 Fishing cat
 François' langur
 Pygmy hippopotamus
 Red junglefowl
 Ruddy shelduck
(Palm Aviary)
 Chestnut munia
 Double-eyed fig parrot
 Forest kingfisher
 Golden pheasant
 King quail
 Luzon bleeding-heart
 Metallic starling
 Nicobar pigeon
 Noisy pitta
 Pied imperial pigeon
 Red-whiskered bulbul
 Regent bowerbird
 White-breasted ground dove
 White-rumped shama
 Wompoo fruit-dove
(Wetland Aviary)
 Australian figbird
 Eastern whipbird
 Glossy ibis
 Java sparrow
 Koi
 Lady Amherst's pheasant
 Little pied cormorant
 Pied heron
 Pied imperial pigeon
 Red lory
 Red-lored amazon
 Royal spoonbill
 Saw-shelled turtle
 Superb fruit dove
 Wandering whistling duck

Tiger Trek

 Red junglefowl (free roaming)
 Sumatran tiger
 Sun bear

Gorilla Forest
 Western lowland gorilla

Primate Islands
 Bolivian squirrel monkey
 Cotton-top tamarin

Other species

 Aldabra giant tortoise
 Andean condor
 Arabian camel
 Blue peafowl (free roaming)
 California sea lion ('Seals For The Wild' show)
 Capybara
 Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo
 Red panda
 Ring-tailed lemur

Upcoming

 New reptile and amphibian building
 New wildlife hospital
 Congo rainforest precinct

Chimpanzee community

Taronga Zoo is currently home to a multi-male, multi-female troop of 21 chimpanzees of various ages.

Males

Samaki was born in November 2001 to Shiba. Samaki and his brother Shabani were known for years by keepers as the "S boys" when Samaki acted as a supporter for older brother Shabani during various alpha challenges against previous alpha Lubutu. Samaki has now successfully taken the alpha role for himself with support in particular from Sule. Samaki is the father of Cebele.

Shabani was born in September 1994 to Shiba. Shabani is not very tolerant of the infants in the group and will occasionally redirect aggression towards the females of the group.  Shabani had attempted many times to oust previous alpha male Lubutu from his position, but his lack of popularity meant the females supported Lubutu during any conflicts, now his younger brother Samaki has taken the alpha male role.

Furahi was born in February 2003 to Kuma.  He is one of two adolescent males in the troop and has a close relationship with his mother, Kuma.  Furahi had offered support to his mother, particularly when his baby brother Fumo was born in 2013. Furahi enjoys displaying, like the adult males in the troop and will occasionally harass the females.

Shikamoo was born in July 2003 to Sasha.  Shikamoo has a close friendship with Furahi and is often seen bonding with him.  Shikamoo is protective of his brother, Sule, and is popular amongst the females of the troop, particularly Kuma and Kamili.  Shikamoo is the father of Fumo.

Sule was born in April 2008 to Sasha.  Sule was the youngest member of the troop for five years until the birth of Fumo. Sule had often babysitting Fumo when he was smaller. He has likely learnt this behaviour from his elder brother, Shikamoo, who used to interact with Sule in a similar way. Sule has shown advanced social skills from a young age and often acts as a peacemaker during altercations.  He is popular amongst the troop and enjoys showing off to the visitors. He occasionally has tantrums and flicks his hands in the air. Sule is currently the alpha male of the troop.

Fumo was born in October 2013 to Kuma. He is the oldest of the four infants in the community.  Kuma has encouraged Fumo's development from an early age and he is advanced in his climbing skills. Fumo had recently begun using the artificial termite mound at a very early age. Fumo has created a good relationship with the youngest infant, Cebele.

Sudi was born in August 2014 to Shiba. Sudi has been kept under close protection from his mother, and has not been allowed the freedom to explore, Kuma has allowed Fumo.

Liwali was born in September 2014 to Lisa.  Liwali was the youngest chimpanzee in the group for three years until Cebele was born in 2017. Liwali has developed a close bond with the other two infants, Fumo and Sudi, as they have grown up together.

Niambi was born in October 2020 to Naomi.

Females

Lisa was born at Taronga Zoo in August 1979 to Lulu and is the highest ranking female, and the most senior Chimpanzee in the community. Lisa has had five offspring including a son Lobo who was born in June 1989 and died in November 1996, a son Lubutu who was born in June 1993, a daughter Lani who was born in May 2002 and a son Liwali who was born in September 2014. Lani has since moved zoos.

Sasha was born at Taronga Zoo in June 1980 to Spitter. Sacha has had six offspring including a son Sokwe who was born in August 1989 and died in October 1989, a daughter Kike who was born in April 1991, a son Sandali who was born in February 1996, an unnamed daughter who was born and died in September 2002, a son Shikamoo was born in July 2003 and a son Sule who was born in April 2008.  Kike was exported to Perth Zoo in June 1998 and Sandali was exported to Adelaide Zoo in December 2008.

Shiba was born in May 1981 to Susie and has produced five offspring.  A son, Shabani in 1994, an unnamed male who died at birth in 1999, a son, Samaki in 2001, a daughter Sembe, in 2008 and a son, Sudi in 2014.  Shiba is a high ranking female in the troop and is independent and tough.  Her mother, Susie, died in 1995, leaving Shiba without the maternal support Lisa and Sasha had from their mothers.  Today, Shiba has support in conflicts from her two adult sons, Shabani and Samaki.  She did not initially accept Lubutu's take over as alpha male in 2001 as he was only eight years old, and she likely realised his threat to her son Shabani's chances of becoming the alpha male.  Shiba is fiercely protective of her offspring and access to her newborn son, Sudi, by the troop was very restricted while he was small.

Shona was born in October 1987 and is the lowest ranking adult. Shona was sterilised during the 1990s and has never produced any offspring.  Shona has a good relationship with the alpha male, Lubutu, but receive little support from the other chimpanzee, including her aunt, Shiba.  Shona is a small chimpanzee and is often harassed by the males. Shona has a good relationship with Kamili.

Kuma was born in December 1991 to Ficha and has given birth to three offspring, a son Furahi who was born in February 2003, an unnamed daughter who was born and died in October 2012 and a son Fumo who was born in October 2013.  Kuma, then an adolescent, had a difficult time raising her first son, Furahi, due to a lack of family support.  Furahi, now fully grown, and supported Kuma in raising her second son, Fumo.  Kuma has made significant advances in the hierarchy. This success is due to her large size, the support of an adult son, and her ferocity.  It is not uncommon to see Kuma take on the alpha or beta male and win, especially if she is defending Furahi in conflicts.

Kamili was born in September 1995 to Koko, and has had three offspring.  Her first offspring, was an unnamed daughter, born in 2005, who died in 2005. Kamili gave birth again in 2013, to an unnamed son, which died after birth. Kamili gave birth to her third offspring in 2014, which died shortly after birth due to mismothering. Kamili had been separated, along with her pregnant mother, Koko, to allow the two low ranked females to raise their young in safety during the critical first weeks, but this was unsuccessful.  Koko, and Kamili are often involved with conflicts within the group and receive little support from the others. In 2004, Koko and Kamili attacked Shiba's juvenile son, Samaki, who probably would have been killed, had Shiba not intervened. Kamili is close to Shona and the pair often spend time grooming each other.

Sembe was born in February 2008 to Shiba.  Sembe has always been very close to her mother, Shiba, and had struggled to adjust to the birth of her new sibling, Sudi.  Sembe was still riding on her mother's back at the age of six but as Shiba's pregnancy advanced, she grew less tolerant of this.  Sembe often walked, one arm draped over her mother.  Sembe is a feisty young female who had struggled to adjust to life within the community when her mother was fully absorbed with Sudi.  Sembe lacks the social skills displayed by Sule and will have to work hard if she is to make any connections outside of her family.  She remains close to her adult brothers, Shabani and Samaki and often interacts with Sule, who is two months younger.  For many years, Sembe was dominant to Sule, but as they entered adolescence, the roles quickly began to reverse.

Naomi was born at Givskud zoo in Denmark. She adjusted well to her move, however is often involved in fights with members within her group.

Ceres was born at Givskud zoo in Denmark. She has had two offspring, including a daughter on 14 November 2017 named Cebele. During the time of birth, Ceres was very protective of Cebele and always made sure that she knew of her whereabouts. Cebele couldn't get very far from her mother, who was very selective about who she played with. Cebele was often seen clinging to her mother's stomach and cuddling with her mother and Fumo. Sadly Cebele died in July 2023 from an illness just a few weeks before Ceres would give birth again.

Safiri was born in May 2019 to Shiba.

Lemba was born to Lisa in May 2023.

Cekiri was born to Ceres in July 2023. She is currently the youngest Chimpanzee in the community.

Notable Past Chimpanzees In The Community

Lubutu was born in June 1993 to Lisa and was the long term alpha male of the chimpanzee troop at Taronga Zoo up until his sudden death from lung failure. Lubutu took on the role of alpha male at the age of nine years after the previous alpha male, Snowy (his father) died suddenly. Lubutu was tolerant of the infants in the group and was often seen playing with them. Through his fair leadership and support from the females in the troop, Lubutu attributed to his success and lengthy tenure as a leader. At one point during Lubutu's leadership, Samaki and Shabani stood an excellent chance of taking over the alpha role. Lubutu was the father of Samaki, Furahi, Shikamoo, Sembe and Sule. He was vasectomised in 2009, as his genetics were well represented in the region. Lubutu died in December 2019.

Spitter was born at Taronga Zoo Sydney in June 1960 to Biddy.  Spitter had seven offspring including an unnamed son who was born and died in January 1972, an unnamed son who was born and died in July 1973, a daughter Speedy who was born in May 1975 and died in July 1975, a daughter Sheba who was born in June 1978 and died in September 1978, a daughter Sacha who was born in June 1980, a daughter Sally who was born in January 1985 and a son Gombe who was born in December 1988 and died in May 2001. Sally was transferred to Wellington Zoo in April 1992. Spitter died in March 2022.

Koko was born in January 1972 in the wild, and came to Taronga Zoo Sydney in February 1993.  She had five offspring including an unnamed daughter who was born and died in August 1994, a daughter Kamili who was born in September 1995, an unnamed daughter who was born and died in June 1999, an unnamed daughter who was born and died in February 2003 and an unnamed son who was born and died in September 2014. Koko died in May 2019.

Transport

The Taronga Zoo ferry services are, for many tourists, the preferred mode of travel to the zoo, providing a 12-minute ride from the city to the zoo. Passengers disembarking at the ferry wharf, located on Bradleys Head Road, can enter the zoo via a gondola lift or connect with local Keolis Downer Northern Beaches bus services. Sydney Ferries offers combined "ZooLink" tickets covering ferry fares, park entry, and gondola ride.

Taronga Zoo Sydney also works heavily with various other Sydney Harbour transport operators, such as Captain Cook Cruises and Yellow Water Taxis. Both of these operators offer combined tickets/packages which include tickets covering transport fares, park entry, and gondola ride.

Conservation
Taronga Zoo engages in a number of conservation efforts aimed at minimising human impact and ensuring ecological sustainability, working both in Australia and internationally. In 2016, the legacy commitment was launched, focused on the conservation of ten critical species. These species included five native to Australia, namely the regent honeyeater, southern corroboree frog, sea turtles, platypus, and greater bilby, as well as five from Sumatra; the Sumatran rhinoceros, Sumatran tiger, Asian elephant, sun bear, and Sunda pangolin.

The zoo also focuses on minimising waste, diverting 84% of waste away from landfill and towards 20 different recycling streams. One main focus is on single use plastics, encouraging reusable bags, water bottles, and coffee cups on site, and distributing biodegradable bags and food packaging. As part of the Seal talk and demonstration, the zoo encourages sustainable seafood choice through the MSC label.

Incidents

2022 lion escape
On the morning of 2 November 2022 at 6.40am, five African lions escaped their enclosure. Police officers were called to the zoo at around 7.00am, and no injuries were reported. The lions were returned to their enclosure with one cub tranquilized. On 1 December 2022, the ABC published CCTV footage, obtained in a Government Information Public Access request, that shows the lions escaping through a hole in a fence.

Gallery

See also

 Taronga Conservation Society
 Taronga Western Plains Zoo
 Taronga by Victor Kelleher, a work of fiction using Taronga Zoo as its setting

References

External links

1916 establishments in Australia
Zoos established in 1916
Zoos in New South Wales
Buildings and structures in Sydney
Parks in Sydney
Tourist attractions in Sydney
Mosman, New South Wales

Taronga Zoo


William Craven, 3rd Baron Craven (1700 – 10 August 1739) was an English nobleman.

He inherited his father's title and estates at age eleven and made his home at Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire. He was educated in 1716 at St. John's College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. His great palace burnt down in 1718 and his dreams of rebuilding it came to nothing. He subsequently lived at Coombe Abbey, Coventry in Warwickshire. Lord Craven was involved in the formation of England's first charitable institution dedicated to the care of unwanted children, the Foundling Hospital. Although Craven never witnessed its formal beginnings, the charity was created through royal charter granted two months and one week after Craven's death, Craven is still listed on the charter as a founding Governor.

References

1700 births
1739 deaths
People from Hamstead Marshall
People from Coventry
William
Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge
3

William Craven, 3rd Baron Craven


In Qatar, the Constitution, as well as certain laws, provide for freedom of association, public assembly, and worship in accordance with the requirements of public order and morality. Notwithstanding this, the law prohibits proselytizing by non-Muslims and places some restrictions on public worship. Islam is the state religion.

Religious demography

In 2022, the population is estimated to be 2.5 million people.  Citizens make up approximately 11% of the population, while noncitizens (mainly foreign workers) account for approximately 89%.  Most citizens are Sunni Muslims.

The U.S. government estimates that as of 2020, Muslims make up 62.5% of the total population, Christians 13.7%, Hindus 15.9%, and Buddhists 3.8%.  Boston University's 2020 World Religions Database states Muslims are 78.5% of the population, Christians 13.1%, Hindus 3%, atheists and agnostics 2.2%, and Buddhists 1.8%. There is also a Baha'i community in Qatar.

While the Government does not release demographic figures regarding religious affiliation, some membership figures are available from Christian community groups. Accordingly, the Christian community includes Catholics (80,000), Eastern and Greek Orthodox, Anglicans (10,000), Copts (3,000), and other Protestants. The Hindu community is almost exclusively Indian, while Buddhists include South, Southeast, and East Asians. Most Bahá'ís come from Iran.

No foreign missionary groups operate openly in the country.

Status of religious freedom

Legal and policy framework
In 2007 it was noted that the Constitution, as well as certain laws, provide for freedom of association, public assembly, and worship in accordance with the requirements of public order and morality. However, the law prohibits proselytizing by non-Muslims and places some restrictions on public worship. The state religion is Islam. While most Qataris are Sunni, Shi'a Muslims freely practice their faith, the nationality law does not impose any restrictions on religious identity.

The Government and ruling family are linked inextricably to Islam. Non-Muslims, however, serve in government posts. The  Ministry of Islamic Affairs controls the construction of mosques, clerical affairs, and Islamic education for adults and new converts. The emir participates in public prayers during both Eid holiday periods and personally finances the Hajj for citizens and noncitizens pilgrims who cannot afford to travel to Mecca.

Religious groups must register with the Government for legal recognition. The Government has granted legal status to Sunni and Shia Muslims, Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Maronite, evangelical Protestants, and the Interdenominational Christian Churches.

The government maintains an official register of approved religious groups. To be recognized, each group must have at least 1,500 members in the country. While evangelical congregations are not legally recognized because they individually lack the required membership, they worship freely and are provided physical security for their celebrations by the Ministry of Interior when required.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims are tried under the unified court system, incorporating both secular law and Shari'a (Islamic law). Convicted Muslims may earn a sentence reduction of a few months by memorizing the Qur'an. Litigants in civil cases may request the Shari'a courts to assume jurisdiction. In 2005 a panel was established in the courts for the Shi'a. The panel decides cases regarding marriage, divorce, inheritance, and other domestic matters. In matters involving religious issues, the new Family Law applies, which is not restricted to one branch of Islam.

Islamic instruction is compulsory for Muslims in state-sponsored schools. While there were no restrictions on non-Muslims providing private religious instruction for children, most foreign children attended secular private schools. Muslim children were allowed to go to secular and coeducational private schools.

The Government regulates the publication, importation, and distribution of all religious books and materials. However, in practice, individuals and religious institutions were not prevented from importing holy books and other religious items for personal or congregational use.

The Islamic holy days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha are national holidays.

Qatar does not require non-Muslims to fast during Ramadan, but all restaurants are closed during daylight hours and no-one can drink, smoke, or chew gum in public.

Restrictions on religious freedom
Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion, although there were some restrictions.

Converting to another religion from Islam is considered apostasy and is technically a capital offense; however, since the country gained independence in 1971, there has been no recorded execution or other punishment for such an act.

The Government regulates the publication, importation, and distribution of non-Islamic religious literature. Individuals and religious institutions are allowed to import Bibles and other religious items for personal or congregational use. Christian religious literature, with the exception of Bibles, is readily available in English in local bookstores. In addition, religious materials for use at Christmas and Easter are readily available in local shops.

Religious services were held without prior authorization from the Government; however, congregations have been asked not to advertise them in advance or use visible religious symbols such as outdoor crosses. Christian services are regularly held and open to the public. Some services, particularly those on Easter and Christmas, drew more than 1,000 worshippers.

Christian clergy reported no problems wearing traditional religious clothing in public. While disclosure of religious affiliation is required when applying for a passport or other identity documents, affiliation is not reflected in the issued documents.

Hindus, Buddhists, Bahá'ís and members of other religious groups do not operate as freely as Christian congregations.

According to the Criminal Code, individuals caught proselytizing on behalf of an organization, society, or foundation, for any religion other than Islam, may be sentenced to a prison term of up to 10 years. Proselytizing on behalf of an individual for any religion other than Islam can result in a sentence of up to 5 years. Individuals who possess written or recorded materials or items that support or promote missionary activity can be imprisoned for up to two years.

While discrimination against expatriates in the areas of employment, education, housing, and health services occurred, nationality was usually the determinant rather than religion.

There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees in the country, although in 2021, a member of the Baha'i community was sentenced in absentia to one month in prison and a fine of 10,000 riyals (US$2,700) for collecting and wiring donations without authorization in violation of laws regulating charitable activities. Qatar has been accused of using the law for the 'ethnic cleansing' of Baha'is.

Changes and developments in religious freedom

The Amir and other top government officials strongly supported the construction and establishment of churches. The Government assigned a coordinator in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to speed up and facilitate the process, although some restrictions have been imposed on the use of certain religious symbols on buildings.

In May 2005, representatives of Christian churches in the country signed an agreement with the Government for a 50-year lease on land near Doha, where they intend to erect 6 churches. The leases will be nominal. Our Lady of the Rosary, the first Catholic church in Qatar and the first in an Arab Muslim emirate, was dedicated on March 14, 2008.

The Government granted each church permission to apply for visas for visiting clerics to preside over, and assist in, church services. There were no restrictions on religious ceremonies. Plans for large events were reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which in turn requested the Ministry of Interior to provide appropriate physical security measures.

Inter-faith dialogue

The Fifth Conference of Inter-Faith Dialogue took place in Doha on May 7-9, 2007. Christian, Muslim and Jewish representatives were invited. Invitations were extended to the Catholic, Anglican, Coptic and other Orthodox denominations, as well as the Middle East Churches Council and Jewish rabbis, among others. Rabbis from the United States and other countries participated. During the conference, the Government announced the establishment of the "Doha International Center for Inter-Faith Dialogue". The center will be financed by the Government but will function as an independent entity. Its purpose will be to follow up on conference resolutions, papers, and studies, and engage local and international research centers and universities. The Center was established in 2010.

World rankings
In 2023, Qatar was ranked as the 34th most dangerous country to be a Christian.

Qatar was also given a score of 2 out of 4 in the area of freedom of religious worship.

See also
 Human rights in Qatar
 Religion in Qatar
 Islam in Qatar
 Christianity in Qatar
 Catholic Church in Qatar
 Protestantism in Qatar
 History of the Jews in Qatar

References

References
 United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Qatar: International Religious Freedom Report 2007. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Qatar
Human rights in Qatar
Religion in Qatar

Freedom of religion in Qatar


Akon Lighting Africa is a project started in 2014 by music artist Akon with Samba Bathily and Thione Niang which aims to provide electricity by solar energy in Africa. Their initial technique is to install solar street lights and small energy systems.

History
According to Akon (Aliaune Thiam, born in Missouri), he and Thione Niang grew up in Kaolack Region, Senegal, in a town without electricity. In 2013 both decided to help drive Africa's transformation. Samba Bathily joined them and provided targeted solutions through his company, Solektra INT, which supplies solar-powered equipment. By combining their networks, they launched the project in February 2014. Their initial technique is to install Solar street lights and small energy systems.

The projects provided electricity in 14 African countries as of 2015 and employed over 5000 people, and Akon said they have reached 1 million households in African nations with their projects. The employees, newly trained, were mainly young people who install and maintain solar equipment. This initiative has taken advantage of the tariffs imposed by the US on Chinese solar panels, leaving the Chinese manufacturers with stock to sell, by lining up credit with China Jiangsu International Economic And Technical Cooperation Group to finance purchase of solar equipment, which allows the nations participating in the project to bypass World Bank loans to get a project started in their own nation.

In an interview, Akon estimated that they have reached 100,000 households and installed 13,000 streetlights. Their approach is to speak with officials at the national level as to villages that are likely for pilot projects in that nation. Once a pilot project is successful, other villages will want the same amount of street lighting and household electricity.

Countries
Since launching in 2014, Akon's group has operations in 14 nations, including Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin and Sierra Leone.

Solektra Solar Academy

The group announced the launch of the solar academy in Bamako, Mali, at the second United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum, in New York City. Solar Academy will teach students about using solar panels by which they can light Africa. Samba Bathily told in an interview: "We have the sun and innovative technologies to bring electricity to homes and communities. We now need to consolidate African expertise and that is our objective." New cooperations are being built with international researchers to boost energy transition in Africa.

See also
 Solar power in Africa

References

External links

Akon
Solar energy
Solar energy companies of the United States
2014 establishments in the United States
Projects in Africa
Solar energy in Africa

Akon Lighting Africa


The Kingdom of Pinya (, ), also known as the Vijaia State (၀ိဇယတိုင်း), was the kingdom that ruled Central Myanmar (Burma) from 1313 to 1365. It was the successor state of Myinsaing, the polity that controlled much of Upper Burma between 1297 and 1313. Founded as the de jure successor state of the Pagan Empire by Thihathu, Pinya faced internal divisions from the start. The northern province of Sagaing led by Thihathu's eldest son Saw Yun successfully fought for autonomy in 1315−17, and formally seceded in 1325 after Thihathu's death.

The rump Pinya Kingdom was left embroiled in an intense rivalry between Thihathu's other sons Uzana I and Kyawswa I until 1344. Pinya had little control over its vassals; its southernmost vassals Toungoo (Taungoo) and Prome (Pyay) were practically independent. Central authority briefly returned during Kyawswa I's reign (1344−50) but broke down right after his death. In the 1350s, Kyawswa II repaired Pinya's long-strained relationship with Sagaing, in order to face off against the northern Shan state of Maw. Two Maw raids in 1358–59 and 1362–63 thoroughly devastated Pinya's countryside during which Toungoo successfully broke away. Narathu switched sides and aided the Maw attack on Sagaing in 1363–64. But after the Maw troops sacked both Sagaing and Pinya in succession in 1364, Thihathu's great grandson Thado Minbya of Sagaing seized both devastated capitals in 1364, and founded the Ava Kingdom in 1365.

Pinya was a microcosm of the small kingdoms period (1287–1555) of Burmese history. Weakened by internal divisions, Pinya despite controlling two of the three main granaries never reached its potential. Although its successor Ava would prove more successful in reassembling major parts of the erstwhile empire, it too would be hampered by fierce regional rivalries, and Myanmar would remain divided into the mid-16th century.

History

Early period

Myinsaing regency

Pinya was the successor state of Myinsaing, the polity that succeeded the Pagan Empire in Upper Burma. After the Mongol invasions (1277–87), the Mongols seized northern Burma to Tagaung, and the rest of the empire broke up into several petty states. Pagan was left holding only a small region around the capital. In 1297, the three former Pagan commanders— Athinkhaya, Yazathingyan and Thihathu—overthrew King Kyawswa of Pagan (r. 1289–97), who had become a Mongol vassal nine months earlier. The brothers placed a puppet king, and ruled from their base in Kyaukse. The Mongols invaded once again in 1300–01 but could not break through. They withdrew altogether from northern Burma in 1303.

The brothers went on to reassemble the core regions of the fallen empire. In the north, they regained up to Tagaung but no further. Various Shan states, nominal Mongol vassals, now dominated the entire northwestern-to-southeastern arc surrounding the Irrawaddy valley. In the south, the brothers established suzerainty down to Prome (Pyay), and Toungoo (Taungoo). They did not try to regain Ramanya farther south, or Arakan in the west.

The regency of the triumvirate was short-lived. Thihathu, the youngest and most ambitious brother, was never satisfied with a mere regent status, and declared himself king in 1309. The proclamation ended the charade of Saw Hnit's nominal status as king. The old power structure at Pagan led by the dowager queen Pwa Saw was not happy but there was little she or Saw Hnit could do. It is not clear what the two elder brothers made of their brother's announcement. At any rate, the elder brothers died in 1310 and 1312/13, and Thihathu became the undisputed ruler.

Early Pinya
To commemorate his reign, Thihathu founded a new capital at Pinya, also in the Kyaukse valley but closer to the Irrawaddy. He decided to keep his capital in the premier granary instead of returning to Pagan (Bagan) because Pinya was closer to the Mu valley granary in the north. On 7 February 1313, Thihathu, of non-royal birth, was crowned king as the rightful heir of the Pagan kings by Queen Pwa Saw herself.

For the first time since the 1280s, the entire Irrawaddy valley between Prome in the south and Tagaung in the north was under a single ruler. However, Pinya's authority over the frontier regions such as Prome and Toungoo was nominal. The Myinsaing-Pinya rulers had inherited the longstanding problem that had existed since the late Pagan period: between one and two-thirds of Upper Burma's cultivated land had been donated to religion, and the crown had lost resources needed to retain the loyalty of courtiers and military servicemen. Furthermore, "markedly drier weather during the late 13th and much of the 14th centuries" in Upper Burma forced large migrations from the established granaries (Kyaukse, Minbu, and Mu valley) "to better watered districts farther south".

To compound the problem, Pinya was hit with a dynastic feud from the start. So eager was Thihathu to be seen as a legitimate king of Pagan, he made his adopted stepson Uzana, biological son of King Kyawswa of Pagan and Queen Mi Saw U, his heir-apparent. He also appointed Kyawswa I, his biological son by Mi Saw U, governor of Pinle, the second most coveted position. On the other hand, the king did not appoint Saw Yun, his eldest biological son by a commoner queen, Yadanabon, or Tarabya his stepson by Yadanabon, to any meaningful positions. He appointed Saw Yun governor of Sagaing in 1314 only after the eldest son's repeated protestations. Saw Yun remained deeply unhappy for he still did not command an army as did Uzana and Kyawswa.

Sagaing secession

The simmering resentment led to Saw Yun's insurrection. The young prince upgraded Sagaing's timber walls to brick without his father's permission in 1315–16. Thihathu seemed conflicted about punishing his teenage son. The king, who had never liked to share power — even with his own brothers — never sent a full force to reclaim Sagaing. He did order two small expeditions, the first led by Crown Prince Uzana and the second led by Prince Kyawswa. But by the end of 1316–17 dry season, both expeditions had failed to dislodge Saw Yun.

Sagaing got a breather in 1317 when Toungoo and Taungdwin revolted. Thihathu bought peace with Taungdwin but Toungoo required an expedition. In the end, Pinya agreed to a deal that allowed the rebel leader Thawun Nge to remain in office in exchange for his nominal submission to Pinya. The deal with Toungoo proved to be the model for Sagaing as well. The king allowed Saw Yun to remain in office at Sagaing in exchange for his son's nominal submission. He was resigned to the fact that his kingdom would break apart once he died.

Middle period

Age of disunity
The kingdom formally split into two right after Thihathu's death in 1325. Saw Yun (r. 1315–27) now controlled the northern country to Tagaung while Uzana I (r. 1325–40) became king of the southern country to Prome and Toungoo. But the control of the southern kingdom was further split between Uzana and Kyawswa. The half-brothers continued to maintain their own military units throughout Central Burma. Kyawswa openly conducted his own policy, for example ordering an attempt on Saw Yun's life.

The rivalry greatly sapped Pinya's ability to control its own vassals or defend them. Pinya did nothing when Gov. Saw Hnit of Toungoo was assassinated in 1325; Ramanya attacked Prome in 1330; Arakan raided Thayet in 1333–34; or Sagaing raided Mindon in 1339. The rivalry came to a head in 1340. The brothers came close to war but Uzana ultimately backed down. He abdicated the throne to Gov. Sithu of Myinsaing, who was also Kyawswa's father-in-law. Sithu the regent never wielded any power; chronicles do not mention him at all. Though Sithu made an alliance with King Kyaswa of Sagaing (r. 1339–49), Kyawswa never seemed concerned about his father-in-law. According to a contemporary inscription, he had already declared himself king at least since 1342, and became the undisputed ruler in 1344.

Brief return to normalcy

Kyawswa I (r. 1344–50) brought a brief period of unity, at least in the core region. He successfully reunified Pinya's military corps in Central Burma, and formed elite cavalry and shielded infantry units. However, Pinya's hold on more remote places, Toungoo in particular, remained weak. Two Toungoo governors were assassinated in the first three years of his reign. Kyawswa had to be satisfied with the nominal submission by the usurpers. Similarly, his attempt to check the power of the Buddhist clergy was not successful, not least because the court did not fully cooperate. On balance, Kyawswa I brought a much needed period of stability to the country. But he suddenly died in 1350. He is said to have become a nat (spirit) with the name Nga-zi Shin Nat.

Decline

Rapprochement with Sagaing
Pinya struggled to remain relevant after Kyawswa I's death. King Kyawswa II (r. 1350–59) never had much control over the vassals. As a result, he like his father before him tried to regain resources in the core region from the clergy. (His 1359 decree to check on tax-free glebe lands was the earliest extant land survey (sittan) in Myanmar.)

One notable change was his Sagaing policy. He agreed to a truce with the northern rival in 1351. Prior to the truce, the relations between them had been worsening with Sagaing having accepted high-level Pinya defections in 1349–51. A key driver for the truce may have been the emergence of the Shan state of Maw (Mong Mao), which had fought a successful war against its Mongol overlords (1342–48). After Maw reached a deal with the Mongols in 1355, they turned their attention to their south, launching their first raid into Sagaing territory in 1356. Recognizing the eventual threat to his own realm farther south, Kyawswa II in 1357/58 agreed to an alliance with Sagaing.

Maw raids and Toungoo secession
However, the Pinya king could not fulfill his commitment. His vassals by and large ignored his decree to provide conscripts. Gov. Theingaba of Toungoo outright revolted during the Maw Shan raid of 1358–59, and raided up to Yamethin, 200 km north of Toungoo. Kyawswa II had no response as the Maw forces broke through the Sagaing lines and breached Pinya territory in early 1359. The king died during the raid which ransacked much of his country.

Pinya was now on its last legs. Most of its vassals were practically independent. King Narathu (r. 1359–64) reversed his brother's policy, and broke the alliance with Sagaing. It won no reprieve: Maw forces raided deep into Pinya territory in 1362–63. In desperation, Narathu sought an alliance with the Maw ruler Tho Kho Bwa (r. 1340–71). In 1363, the two rulers agreed to a joint attack on Sagaing, with Pinya as the junior partner. In 1364, they laid siege to the city of Sagaing, with Pinya responsible for a naval blockade. The Maw forces sacked Sagaing in April 1364. But the Maw ruler was unhappy with Pinya's porous blockade, and ordered his forces to attack Pinya across the river. The Maw forces sacked the city in May. The raiders brought the loot and Narathu back to their country.

Fall
The latest Maw invasion left Upper Burma in tatters. Narathu's eldest brother, Uzana II (r. 1364) succeeded the Pinya throne. At Sagaing, a young prince named Thado Minbya (r. 1364–67), a great grandson of Thihathu, seized the throne. Unlike Uzana II, Thado Minbya proved an able and ambitious ruler. He quickly consolidated his hold on the Sagaing vassals, and looked to reunify all of Upper Burma. He took Pinya in September 1364. Over the next six months, he feverishly built a new citadel at a more strategic location at the confluence of the Irrawaddy and the Myitnge in order to defend against the Maw raids. On 26 February 1365, the king proclaimed the foundation of the city of Ava (Inwa), as the capital of the successor state of Pinya and Sagaing kingdoms.

Government
Pinya kings continued to employ Pagan's administrative model of solar polities in which the high king ruled the core while semi-independent tributaries, autonomous viceroys, and governors actually controlled day-to-day administration and manpower.

Administrative regions

The court, Hluttaw, was the center of administration, representing at once executive, legislative and judiciary branches of the government. The court administered the kingdom at three general levels: taing (, province), myo (, town), and ywa (, village). Unlike the Pagan government, the Pinya court's reach was limited mainly to the Kyaukse region and its vicinity. The majority of the vassal states reported in the chronicles lay within a 250 km radius from Pinya. Indeed, during the rivalry between Uzana I and Kyawswa I, Pinya did not even control all of the core region. Judging by where Uzana I's battalions were stationed, Pinya's effective power extended no more than 150 km from Pinya.

The following table is a list of key vassal states mentioned in the chronicles. Other vassal states listed in the chronicles were Pindale, Pyinsi, Yindaw, Hlaingdet, Kyaukpadaung, Pahtanago, Mindon, Taingda, Mindat, Kanyin, Myaung, Myede, Salin, Paunglaung, Legaing, Salay, Kugan Gyi, Kugan Nge, Ywatha, Talok, Ten tracts of Bangyi, Yaw, Htilin, Laungshay, and Tharrawaddy.

Size
At its founding, Pinya under Thihathu controlled much of Upper Burma from Tagaung to Tharrawaddy. The approximate area would be at least 140,000 km². The kingdom's nominal claim became about 100,000 km² after the Sagaing secession in 1325, and about 80,000 km² after the Toungoo secession in 1358.

Military
Pinya was a military weakling. Thihathu claimed to have controlled at least 20,000 troops. But after Thihathu, the Pinya military was divided between Uzana I and Kyawswa I, who maintained their own militias. Uzana I's special military units totaled just 640 shielded knights, 1040 cavalry, and 300 archers. Kyawswa I reunified the army but later Pinya kings never controlled a large enough force to make a difference. Local militias thrived especially after the collapse of Pinya such as in Sagu, Taungdwin and Toungoo.

Historiography
Most royal chronicles treat Myinsaing-Pinya as a single period, and Sagaing as a junior branch of the Myinsaing dynasty.

See also
List of Pinya kings
Kings family tree

Notes

References

Bibliography

Former countries in Burmese history
Former kingdoms
Burmese monarchy
14th century in Burma
States and territories established in 1313
States and territories disestablished in 1365
1313 establishments in Asia
1365 disestablishments in Asia

Pinya Kingdom


The Carey Mission was established by Baptist missionary Isaac McCoy among the Potawatomi tribe of American Indians on the St. Joseph River near Niles, Michigan, United States in December, 1822. It was named for William Carey, a noted English Baptist missionary.  The Carey Mission's official nature and reputation made it a headquarters for settlers and a point from which the American frontier was extended.

History
Lewis Cass, the second governor of the Michigan Territory, signed the 1821 Treaty of Chicago on August 29, 1821, with the chiefs of the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi nations.  The Potawatomi agreed to cede to the United States all the territory lying west and north of the St. Joseph River, and the United States agreed to provide funds for a blacksmith and a teacher, to reside on "one mile square on the south side of the St. Joseph" within a tract that the Potawatomis had reserved for their villages.  McCoy, who had previously traveled to Detroit and petitioned Cass to provide funds for Indian missions in the 1821 Treaty, secured the position of teacher.

In December 1822, McCoy and his family, and a group of Indians who had elected to accompany them (32 persons in all), set out for southwestern Michigan. They emigrated from the vicinity of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to a point about a mile west of the present city of Niles, and by the following year they had built six mission houses.

The first school at Carey was opened on January 27, 1823, and originally had 30 Indian pupils. An expedition that visited the mission in June 1823 reported, "The school consists of from forty to sixty children, of which fifteen are females. They are either children of Indians, or half-breed descendants of French and Indian parents; there being about an equal number of each. It is contemplated that the school will soon be increased to one hundred."

In 1824 an agent for Cass reported that the Carey Mission was "a colony firmly settled, numerous, civilized and happy". Fifty densely wooded acres had been cleared and fenced, and workers had raised large amounts of corn, oats, and potatoes. By 1826 over  of land had been cleared, and  had been planted.

The mission became a way station for white settlers of the Michigan Territory. McCoy realized that they would soon supplant the native Indians. He wrote: "Our location was so remote from the settlements of white people when we first made it, and the inconveniences of reaching and residing at it so great, that we hoped, at that time, to be able to push forward the work of civilization to a state not much liable to injury by the proximity of white population, before we should be crowded by it."

During the period from 1827 to 1829, southwestern Michigan began to be actively settled, and the Carey Mission declined, as a result of the U.S. policy of Indian removal. In 1827, in the Treaty of St. Joseph, the Potawatomi tribe ceded some of their reserved lands in southwestern Michigan.  The treaty stated that its purpose was "to consolidate some of the dispersed bands of the Potawatamie Tribe in the Territory of Michigan at a point removed from the road leading from Detroit to Chicago, and as far as practicable from the settlements of the Whites".  In 1829 McCoy removed to the Thomas station, another mission he had established near the Grand River.  The only missionary who remained at Carey was Robert Simerwell.  With passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the school at Carey Mission was discontinued, and in 1831 McCoy led a number of the Potawatomi to a new mission in Kansas.

Significance
The founding of the Carey Mission was, according to Michigan jurist Nathaniel Bacon, "the pioneer step in the way of settlement." Bacon remarked that in 1822, when the mission was established, the region was considered by European settlers to be dangerous and hostile. Within recent memory were the Battle of Tippecanoe in Indiana and the Battle of Fort Dearborn in Illinois. "Emigration had in a great measure stopped. Very few dared to venture beyond the older settlements, until McCoy boldly entered into the heart of the Indian country, and began his mission school among the Pottawottomies who dwelt on the river St. Joseph. The fact was soon made known throughout Indiana and Ohio, and at once adventurers began to prepare to follow the example of the missionary, who had led the way." Several notable former students, including John Tecumseh Jones, became leaders in the American West.

References

External links
 Isaac McCoy Papers, 1808-1874

Pre-statehood history of Michigan
Berrien County, Michigan
Potawatomi
1822 establishments in Michigan Territory

Carey Mission


Nick Arnold (born 4 August 1961) is a British writer of science books for children. He is best known for the long series Horrible Science, illustrated by Tony De Saulles, and the short series Wild Lives, illustrated by Jane Cope. His other works include some published under the name Robert Roland.

Arnold was born in Cambridge, England. His first published works appeared as a result of a project he was working on at the University of North London, when he was trying to teach young children. A positive review was written about him and he started to write the Horrible Science books.

Arnold left school with many history qualifications but decided to become a writer. He found it hard to get published however. He became an editor in London hoping that "working as an editor might help him get his own books published". In London, he struggled to find work, eventually taking a job editing science books. Nick began to write articles with a friend named Vip Patel. Some of these ended up in The Guardian newspaper. Eventually he was out of work and decided to write books so wrote to every publisher in Britain requesting work. Scholastic pitched to him the concept of a series named "Horrible Science" and Arnold soon wrote Ugly Bugs. An illustrator for Scholastic named Tony De Saulles was hired as the illustrator for the series. This book was released alongside Blood, Bones and Body Bits, and the high sales solidified the series. In 1998, he broke his arm whilst performing a Horrible Science show. He finished the show and signed books before being rushed to the hospital. In 2004, Arnold became the first British author to tour China. He and Tony De Saulles filmed a TV show there and promoted the Chinese edition of the Horrible Science series.

In 2006, Arnold founded the Appledore Book Festival after leading a campaign to save the Appledore village library from closure. Two years later, Arnold achieved publicity for his claim to have located the site of the Battle of Cynuit, fought between Saxons and Danes in 878.

See also

Horrible Science
List of children's non-fiction writers

References

External links

 Robert Roland at LC Authorities (no records; see Roland at WorldCat)

Children's non-fiction writers
British science writers
British male writers
Living people
1964 births

Nick Arnold (writer)


Princess Birgitta of Sweden  (Birgitta Ingeborg Alice; born 19 January 1937) is an elder sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Family
She was born at Haga Palace in Stockholm. She is the second child of Prince Gustaf Adolf, Duke of Västerbotten, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and a granddaughter of King Gustaf VI Adolf. Her sisters are Princess Margaretha, Mrs. Ambler, Princess Désirée, Baroness Silfverschiöld, and Princess Christina, Mrs. Magnuson. She is a first cousin of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.

Marriage

In 1959, Birgitta met Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern at a cocktail party in Germany. On 15 December 1960, their engagement was announced.

The couple married in a civil ceremony in the Hall of State of the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 25 May 1961. The bridesmaids were the bride's sister Princess Christina and cousin Princess Benedikte of Denmark; the groomsmen were the bride's brother Crown Prince Carl Gustaf and her cousin Count Michael Bernadotte of Wisborg (son of Sigvard Bernadotte). A Roman Catholic ceremony was held at Sankt Johann Church at the groom's family seat of Sigmaringen, Germany, on 30 May 1961.

Princess Birgitta and Prince Johann Georg had three children:
 Prince Carl Christian of Hohenzollern (b. 5 April 1962 in Munich)
 Princess Désirée of Hohenzollern (born 27 November 1963, Munich)
 Prince Hubertus of Hohenzollern (born 10 June 1966 in Munich)

Prince Johann Georg and Princess Birgitta separated in 1990, although they stayed legally married (they did not divorce). She lived on the island of Majorca in Spain, while her husband lived in Munich. He died in 2016.

Titles, styles, honours and arms

Titles and styles
 19 January 1937 – 25 May 1961: Her Royal Highness Princess Birgitta Ingeborg Alice of Sweden
 25 May 1961 – Present: Her Royal Highness Princess Birgitta Ingeborg Alice of Sweden, Princess of Hohenzollern
 Honours
 Sweden: Member of the Royal Order of the Seraphim

Ancestry

References

Other websites

1937 births
Living people
House of Bernadotte
Swedish princesses

Princess Birgitta of Sweden


Francis Renaud (1887–1973), was a Breton sculptor mainly noted for his monumental granite public memorials in Brittany.

Born in Saint-Brieuc, Côtes d'Armor, Brittany, Renaud was associated with the revival of Breton nationalist ideals in art in the early 20th century. His earlier works are in a style close to Art Nouveau, influenced by the work of his tutor Jean Boucher. He later moved towards more simplified and stylised forms influenced by Breton traditions, joining the nationalist art movement Seiz Breur.

Retaining a studio in Paris, he also lived for part of the year in his native Brittany, where he used local Kersanton granite for his most notable works, especially the Pleureuse de Tréguier (1922), the town of Tréguier's memorial to the dead of World War I. It depicts a local woman, Marie-Louise Le Put, who had lost her husband in the war and had also lost their three young children. She is shown seated, wrapped in a mourning gown. The memorial is notable for its stylised grandeur and solidity, symbolising the stoicism and resilience of local people. The art historian Malvina Hoffman writes that its "massive design commands reverence and respect".

In addition to the famous Pleureuse de Tréguier, he also created memorials in Ploufragan, Trévé and Saint-Brieuc, where Renaud also made another emblematic sculpture representing a Breton woman in traditional dress as an icon of local identity.

Renaud was also notable for memorial sculptures to Breton intellectuals such as the poet Anatole Le Braz, the composer Guy Ropartz and the novelist Pierre Loti. His memorial to Le Braz comprises a granite pillar in the College A. Braz, Saint-Brieuc, elaborately carved with symbolic figures representing Breton identity. After World War II Renaud created another sculpture for the college, a statue of a naked youth entitled l'Ephebe, representing pupils of the College who had been deported and killed by the Nazis.

See also
 List of works by Francis Renaud, with appropriate notes.

Notes

External links
 Mairie de Saint Brieuc

Artists from Saint-Brieuc
1887 births
1973 deaths
Art Nouveau sculptors
20th-century French sculptors
French male sculptors
Breton artists
Breton nationalists

Francis Renaud (sculptor)


Web design is a profession where a person designs a web page or a web site. The web page can have graphics, music, animations, and many other things on it. Some web design is done for businesses, and some is done for individual people. Some web designs are used a lot and have standard templates that are free for people to use.

The creation of websites and pages for an original product, data, and user-friendliness is referred to as web design. If you're creating a website, a mobile app, or updating material on a web page, appearance and design are essential components. You can apply for jobs where your creativity can assist a company better its brand, message, and bottom line by improving your web design skills.

The two most popular web design methods are adaptable and responsive. With responsive design, the layout of the website is designed around standard screen sizes.

According to the size of the screen, content is dynamically shifted in responsive design. Based on the needs and objectives of their customer or company, web designers utilize different parts of the overall web design process to implement these design strategies.

People who design web pages are called web designers. Web designers use HTML or Dynamic HTML (DHTML), Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), JavaScript, and many other technologies to make their pages. Web designers can make their pages on the Internet using website building software, or offline on their computer. Web designers in the United States of America can earn between $31,650 and $69,510 a year, with a median salary of $46,327.

Web design and web development includes layouts, colors, graphics, fonts, and content.

The design of your website can either make or break the business you're trying to deliver. It really makes a difference how your target audience sees your business or organization and potentially turns them into your customers. When a company has a well-designed website, it's easier to get more customer conversions. This is because a well-designed website uses its features to lead consumers directly to what they need without distraction. So its very important to have a well-designed website in this Digital era.

There are several types of web designs, including:

 Responsive Design: A design approach that allows a website to adjust to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring a consistent user experience across all platforms.
 Flat Design: A minimalist design style that emphasizes simplicity, typography, and bright colors.
 Material Design: A design language created by Google that combines flat design with the use of depth, shadows, and responsive animations.
 Minimalist Design: A design style that emphasizes simplicity and minimalism, with a focus on whitespace, typography, and high-quality imagery.
 Typography-Driven Design: A design approach that emphasizes typography as the main visual element, with minimal use of other design elements.
 Single-Page Design: A design style that features all content on a single page, with navigation that allows users to jump to different sections of the page.
 Parallax Design: A design approach that creates a 3D effect by using different layers of images that move at different speeds as the user scrolls.
 Grid Layout Design: A design approach that uses a grid-based layout to organize content, with a focus on alignment, symmetry, and hierarchy.
 Static Web Design: This type of web design involves creating web pages with fixed content that does not change unless modified manually. It's suitable for simple websites that don't require frequent updates.
 Dynamic Web Design: Dynamic Design involves creating web pages that display content that can be updated or customized based on user interactions or data input. It typically involves the use of scripting languages like JavaScript and server-side technologies.
 Material Design: Developed by Google, material design combines principles of flat design and skeuomorphic design. It uses realistic shadows, depth, and responsive animations to create a visually pleasing and intuitive user interface.

Here are the key elements to consider when designing a website, both UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) play vital roles in creating an effective and engaging user experience.

User Experience (UX):

 Usability: The website should be easy to navigate and use. Clear and intuitive navigation, logical information hierarchy, and well-organized content are essential for a positive user experience.
 User Research: Conduct research to understand the target audience, their needs, and preferences. This helps in designing a website that caters to their expectations and provides relevant and valuable content.
 Information Architecture: Organize the content in a logical and coherent manner, making it easy for users to find what they're looking for. Use categories, menus, and search functionality effectively.
 Responsive Design: Ensure the website is optimized for various devices and screen sizes. It should adapt and provide a seamless experience across desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices.
 Page Loading Speed: Optimize the website for fast loading times. Users have little patience for slow-loading pages, so minimize file sizes, optimize images, and leverage caching techniques.
 Accessibility: Design the website to be accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Follow accessibility guidelines and provide options for users to adjust text size, contrast, and use assistive technologies.

User Interface (UI):

 Visual Hierarchy: Arrange elements on the page to guide users' attention and highlight important information. Use size, color, contrast, and positioning to establish a clear visual hierarchy.
 Consistency: Maintain consistency throughout the website in terms of layout, color scheme, typography, and interactive elements. This helps users develop familiarity and navigate the site more easily.
 Typography: Choose appropriate fonts that are legible and aligned with the website's purpose and target audience. Use font sizes, styles, and spacing to enhance readability and hierarchy.
 Color Scheme: Select a cohesive color palette that reflects the brand identity and evokes the desired emotions. Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background colors for readability.
 Visuals and Imagery: Use high-quality images, icons, and graphics that support the content and enhance the visual appeal of the website. Visual elements should be relevant and add value to the user experience.
 Interactive Elements: Design interactive elements such as buttons, forms, and menus to be visually appealing and easily identifiable. Use consistent styling for interactive elements to provide clear affordances.
 Feedback and Response: Provide visual feedback to user interactions, such as button states or form validation messages. Responsive design elements make users feel in control and informed about their actions.

Micro interactions: Consider small, subtle animations or micro interactions that provide feedback or add delight to user interactions. They can improve the overall user experience and make it more engaging.

These different types of web designs can be combined or adapted to create unique and effective websites that meet the needs of the target audience.

A website is nothing but a bunch of web pages, which are made up of web pages with the help of a web designing process. Designing a web page is of great importance, as it forms the base for a website. It serves as a foundation on which the other pages of a website rest.

It is carried out by web designers and developers. which is based on a set of coding languages and concepts. These coding languages and concepts are known as the languages of web designing and the terminologies are known as the web designing terminologies.

References

Programming languages

Web design


Carlo Eduardo Acton (25 August 1829 – 2 February 1909) was an Italian composer and concert pianist. He is particularly remembered for his opera Una cena in convitto and for his sacred music compositions of which his Tantum ergo is the most well-known.

His father, Francis Charles Acton (1796-1865), was the youngest son of General Joseph Acton, younger brother of Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet. His mother Esther was a daughter of the Irish painter Robert Fagan.

References

1829 births
1909 deaths
Italian classical composers
Italian male classical composers
Italian opera composers
Male opera composers
19th-century Italian musicians
19th-century Italian male musicians

Carlo Acton


The  or tsuzumi is a hand drum of Japanese origin. It consists of a wooden body shaped like an hourglass, and it is taut, with two drum heads with cords that can be squeezed or released to increase or decrease the tension of the heads respectively. This mechanism allows the player to raise or lower the pitch of the drum while playing, not unlike the African talking drum and the Indian dhadd.

History
The predecessor to the tsuzumi, the , was brought to Japan from southern China in the 7th century as part of the gigaku ensemble. There were four types of yōko, of which only the  and the  survive. Like the modern tsuzumi, the yōko's membrane was fastened to a hemp cord called the . Unlike the contemporary instrument, the yōko was suspended from the performer's neck. The drumhead was hit with a mallet held in the right hand and the palm of the left hand.

In the twelfth century, the performance of the ikko, the smallest of the yōko varieties, changed, where players would strike one face with the right hand and manipulate the pitch with the left hand. It was around this time that the name of the ikko changed to the .

The tsuzumi was first used by the Shirabyōshi, eventually becoming the primary instrument of the hayashi section in Noh and later in kabuki.

Performance
There are two basic techniques when playing a tsuzumi; holding the cords slack and hitting the drumhead on the very center, or squeezing the cords and hitting the drumhead closer to where it meets the wooden body. The former produces softer pon and pu sounds, whereas the latter produces higher-pitched ta and chi sounds. Because the practice of hitting a drumhead on the very center may result in hindering the sound by causing vibration radiating on two opposite sides of the drumhead to cancel out with each other, the tsuzumi is tuned with tiny leather patches applied on the inside of the heads, much like the larger shime-daiko that accompany the tsuzumi in Noh and Kabuki theaters. It is also notable that the tsuzumi, being a more delicate instrument compared to the shime-daiko, is further fine-tuned on-site depending on ambient temperature and humidity using pieces of washi paper moistened with the player's own saliva.

Care for this instrument is peculiar in that the drum heads must be exposed to a certain level of moisture to produce a desirable sound. Before playing the tsuzumi, the player will breathe directly onto both heads. Sometimes he will even take some saliva and apply it to the head of the drum. The quality of sound of the drum will depend on how much moisture is in the atmosphere where it is being played. To make sure the drum heads are moist, the player will breathe into the drum head at intervals when not playing. However, if the heads become excessively moist, they may become too slack to be played properly, and may develop noticeable ripples on the surface, further compromising the sound quality.

Construction
Each drumhead is crafted with a piece of foal skin sewn onto an iron ring. Then a thick layer of reinforcement is added on the back, and finished with urushi lacquer and gold leaves. The sew marks are also covered up with urushi lacquer, which provides both decoration and further reinforcement to the drumhead. In contrast, the drumheads used for the ōtsuzumi are made of thick horsehide, and are never decorated, as they are meant to be consumables. The wooden body is carved out from a single block of cherry wood, and is decorated with urushi lacquer and gold leaves in the maki-e style. The bodies are 25 centimeters in length. The hemp cords were dyed previously in vermillion, although other dyes are used today due to its toxicity.

Thanks to the meticulous measures gone through to craft them, a set of drumheads combined with the wooden body, when properly cared for, is said to last for centuries; it is not uncommon for professional players to use instruments made in the Edo period or Muromachi period. New instruments on the other hand might require years, or even decades, of use to be broken in. Only the cords holding the instrument need to be regularly replaced as they fray over time.

The tsuzumi plays roles in both Noh and kabuki theater music, but it is also used in , or Japanese folk music. It is often played with its bigger counterpart, the , also called .

The East entrance gate at JR Kanazawa Station was built to look like the tsuzumi.

References

Further reading
 Yokoyama, A (2010). "Glass gives new sheen to traditional Japanese music", Reuters, Retrieved on 2010-01-26

External links
 Japanese Traditional Music
 Tsuzumi Video

Japanese musical instruments
Drums

Tsuzumi


Sugar plantations in the Caribbean were a major part of the economy of the islands in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most Caribbean islands were covered with sugar cane fields and mills for refining the crop. The main source of labor, until the abolition of chattel slavery, was enslaved Africans. After the abolition of slavery, indentured laborers from India, China, Portugal and other places were brought to the Caribbean to work in the sugar industry.  These plantations produced 80 to 90 percent of the sugar consumed in Western Europe, later supplanted by European-grown sugar beet.

The sugar trade

Sugar cane development in the Americas
The Portuguese introduced sugar plantations in the 1550s off the coast of their Brazilian settlement colony, located on the island Sao Vincente. As the Portuguese and Spanish maintained a strong colonial presence in the Caribbean, the Iberian Peninsula amassed tremendous wealth from the cultivation of this cash crop. Other imperial states observed the economic boom catalyzed by the plantation system and began colonizing the remaining American territories, hoping to capitalize on the lucrative cultivation and trade of natural resources.

Sugar was the most important crop throughout the Caribbean, although other crops such as coffee, indigo, and rice were also grown. Sugar cane was best grown on relatively flat land near coastal waters, where the soil was naturally yellow and fertile; mountainous parts of the islands were less likely to be used for cane cultivation. The coastal placement of commercial ports gave imperial states a geographic advantage to ship the crop throughout the transatlantic world.

Sugar created a unique political ecology, the relationship between labor, profits, and ecological consequences, in the Caribbean. Imperial powers forcefully displaced west African peoples to cultivate sugar using slave labor. By exploiting labor and the natural world, imperial conflicts arose in the Caribbean vying for political and economic control. For example, conflicts among the English, Spanish, French, Dutch, and various indigenous peoples manifested for territorial gain; regarding the region's political ecology, these European states exploited the environment's resources to such an extent that sugar production began to stagnate. Due to the loss of trees, needed for timber in the sugar refinement process, European imperial powers began competing and fighting over the Caribbean during the middle 17th century. This process would not have been possible without the invention of windmills to produce sugar more efficiently.

Following European settlers' entry into the Caribbean world, massive demographic changes occurred. Indigenous populations began dying at unprecedented rates due to the influx of old world diseases brought by colonists. Estimates of these population losses vary from 8.4 million to 112.5 million. This extreme diminishment of native populations cleared room for plantation construction and lessened the conflicts between Europeans and indigenous peoples.

Move from South America to the Caribbean
Although the sugar trade in the Americas was initially dominated by the Portuguese Empire, the Dutch–Portuguese War would cause a shift which would have knock-on effects for the further growth of the sugar trade in the Caribbean and particularly the production of rum (made from sugar cane juice). In 1630, the Dutch seized Recife near Pernambuco in what is today Brazil (the Dutch called this New Holland after they took over) and this territory included some sugar plantations worked by African slaves who had been brought to the territory earlier. Some of the slave plantation owners were Cristão-Novo, i.e. "New Christian" Sephardic Jews who had been forced to convert to the Catholic Church. As the Portuguese Inquisition was in operation and the Dutch Calvinists were generally more tolerant of Jews, they were happy to side with them over the Catholic Portuguese and remained in the area operating their substantial sugar-orientated slave plantations, now under Dutch sovereignty. They even founded the first public synagogue in the Americas there in 1636; the Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue.

Further north in the Caribbean, the Protestant Kingdom of England was beginning to challenge the interest of the Catholic powers in the region such as the Spanish Empire and the Kingdom of France, taking control of a number of islands, including Jamaica and Barbados. One of these men, Colonel James Drax who had interests in Barbados, visited Dutch Brazil in 1640 and purchased a triple-roller sugar mill and a set of copper cauldrons (used for turning sugar cane into molasses, i.e. sugar cane juice used in rum production). This technology, although originating in Sicily had spread to the New World and had been improved t aided the sugar plantations in other ways, bringing their expert knowledge of technologies in cultivating rum from the sugar cane and working as merchants, supplying them with African slaves to work the plantations, helping to make Barbados the sugar capital of the Caribbean and the rum capital of the world. By 1706, the laws against Jews owning sugar plantations in Barbados has been dropped.

During the colonial period, the arrival of sugar culture deeply impacted the society and economy in the Caribbean. It not only dramatically increased the ratio of slaves to free men, but it increased the average size of slave plantations. Early sugar plantations made extensive use of slaves because sugar was considered a cash crop that exhibited economies of scale in cultivation; it was most efficiently grown on large plantations with many workers. People from Africa were imported and made to work on the plantations. For example, prior to 1650 more than three-quarters of the islands' population were of European descent. In 1680, the median size of a plantation in Barbados had increased to about 60 slaves. Over the decades, the sugar plantations began expanding as the transatlantic trade continued to prosper. In 1832, the median-size plantation in Jamaica had about 150 slaves, and nearly one of every four bondsmen lived on units that had at least 250 slaves. For about 100 years, Barbados remained the richest of all the European colonies in the Caribbean region.  The colony's prosperity remained regionally unmatched until sugar cane production expanded in larger colonies, such as Saint-Domingue and Jamaica. As part of the mass sugar industry, sugar cane processing gave rise to related commodities such as rum, molasses, and falernum.

The West India Interest was formed in the 1740s, when the British merchants joined with the West Indian sugar planters. The British and West Indies shared profits and needs. This organization was the first sugar-trading organization which had a large voice in Parliament.

In the 1740s, Jamaica and Saint Domingue (Haiti) became the world's main sugar producers. They increased production in Saint Domingue by using an irrigation system that French engineers built. The engineers also built reservoirs, diversion dams, levees, aqueducts, and canals. In addition, they improved their mills and used varieties of cane and grasses.

19th century
According to a 2021 study, "historical property rights institutions [in Haiti] created high transaction costs for converting land to cane production", relative to the other Caribbean countries. As a result, Haiti lost its place as the leading sugar producer in the world.

After the end of slavery in Saint Domingue at the turn of the 19th century, with the Haitian Revolution, Cuba became the most substantial sugar plantation colony in the Caribbean, outperforming the British islands.

In the 19th century, sugar dominated Martinique, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Croix, Barbados, the Leeward Islands, Saint Domingue, Cuba, as well as many other islands that had been run by French, British, or Spanish owners. During the late 19th and 20th centuries, the sugar cane industry came to dominate Puerto Rico's economy, both under the colonial rule of Spain and under the United States.

After slavery, sugar plantations used a variety of forms of labour including workers imported from colonial India and Southern China working as indentured servants on European owned plantations (coolie). In the 20th century, large-scale sugar production using wage labour continued in many parts of the region.

Slavery on Caribbean sugar plantations
The Europeans forced the indigenous peoples of various Caribbean islands to provide the physical labor necessary for the production of sugarcane. The indigenous populations of the Caribbean were decimated by illness after initial colonization and were left with few numbers. In order to continue production for the crop, Europeans introduced African slaves to the island through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. The time at which this happened varies from island to island.

Sugarcane harvesting during the time of colonization in the Caribbean was a labor-intensive process. Firstly, it was harvested by hand, and the sucrose inside needed to be harvested quickly to not be spoiled. To extract the juice, it must be chopped, ground, pressed, pounded, or soaked in liquid before it is heated. Once heated, the liquids evaporate until only the crystals remain. Each step is labor-intensive and requires technical knowledge and skill. These tasks were performed by enslaved individuals until emancipation.

In 1807, Parliament passed the Slave Trade Act, prohibiting the trade of slaves in the British Empire. This act extended to the Caribbean plantations under British control. Without the labor influx of slaves through the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the system became harder to maintain. Years later, in 1838, more than half a million people in the Caribbean were emancipated from slavery as a result of the 1833 Emancipation Bill.

Environmental impact
The sugar cane industry had an adverse impact on the environment as this industry grew in Caribbean countries. These included the destruction of forests, water pollution, and loss of fertility and erosion of soils. These problems were seen on various different scales in the Dominican Republic in the 16th century; the Lesser Antilles in the 17th century; Jamaica and Haiti in the 18th century; and Cuba and Puerto Rico in the 19th century.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived on the northern coast of Hispaniola and Spanish colonization began to establish itself. By the late 16th century, demand and production for sugar, one of the central exports of the island, had increased. Much of the indigenous population suffered from disease and famine, and many pre-colonial smaller-scale farms were replaced by larger-scale farms. These farms required more land and moist soil close to water sources, resulting in deforestation and water pollution.

During the 17th century in the Lesser Antilles, many of the islands in the Lesser Antilles suffered ecological losses after the introduction of monoculture for sugar plantations. On the Caribbean island Nevis in particular, the island was nearly deforested during the mid-1600s and much of the topsoil quality deteriorated as a result of a large influx of plantations.

Although these nations have taken measures to mitigate the impacts of the sugar revolution, in some there are still traces of what the environmental historian of the Caribbean and Latin America, Reinaldo Funes Monzote, describes as a "serious deterioration" of the natural environment, with  socio-economic consequences.

The impacts concerning irrigation and pollution of water runoff are seen as the most profound issues in sugar cane cultivation.

See also
Trapiche, a mill used for sugar cane
Colonial molasses trade
Casa-grande in Brazil
Sugar production in the Danish West Indies
Slavery in the British and French Caribbean
Valle de los Ingenios - Valley of the Sugar Mills, Cuba
Amazon rubber boom
Coffee production in Brazil
West India Interest
London Society of West India Planters and Merchants
Centre for the Study of the Legacies of British Slave-ownership

References

Bibliography

Agriculture in the Caribbean
Economic history of the Caribbean
 Caribbean
West Indies

Sugar plantations in the Caribbean