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Destroyers

Destroyers

:This article is about the warship. For other meaning, see destroyer (disambiguation). destroyer (disambiguation) destroyer]] In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and aircraft). At the beginning of the 21st century, destroyers are the heaviest surface combatants in general use, with only two nations (the United States and Russia) operating cruisers and none operating battleships or battlecruisers.

Genesis of the destroyer

The destroyer originated in Britain and Japan in the last years of the 1880s, and became firmly established after the Chilean Civil War of 1891 and in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). In those conflicts, a new type of ship proved to be devastatingly effective—the swift, small torpedo-boat invented by John Ericsson. These small boats had speed greater than that of the larger ships, and could dash in close to them, loose their torpedoes, and dash away. While normally a small, short-range boat of this sort would be easily destroyed long before getting into range, they could be operated within a fleet with larger ships as long as the fleet was close to base. In this case the defending force had to choose which set of targets to attack: the larger ships which they were built to counter, or the smaller torpedo boats which were charging in to attack. Yet this one-two punch cost almost nothing to the attacker, as the small torpedo boats were very inexpensive. The world's navies recognized the need for a counter weapon and developed the torpedo-boat destroyer. The basic idea was to have a screen of ships that were as fast as the torpedo boats, but armed with guns instead of torpedoes. They would operate at a distance from the main fleet of capital ships to keep the torpedo-boats from ever getting into torpedo firing range. However it was clear even at the time that this concept had problems of its own. The ship would indeed be capable of holding off an attack by torpedo boats (which typically have no guns of their own), but while operating away from the fleet they would be easy targets for any other capital ship. Thus they were often given torpedoes of their own. Another problem was that the torpedo-boats were short ranged and thus easy and cheap to produce. However the destroyers had the problem of needing to operate as a screen for the fleet. This required them to have the speed and range of the battleships, so destroyers were often much larger than the boats they were designed to counter.

First designs

battleships (1887)]] The first effective design of a torpedo-boat destroyer emerged in 1885 with the Japanese Kotaka, a Japanese-designed, but British-built, torpedo-boat with expanded capabilities and performances, which "was the forerunner of torpedo-boat destroyers that appeared a decade later" (Kaigun, David C. Evans). Designed and ordered in 1885, she was transported in parts to Japan, where she was assembled and launched in 1887. She was armed with four 1-pounder (37 mm) quick-firing guns and four torpedo tubes, reached 19 knots, and at 203 tons, was the largest torpedo boat yet designed. In her trials in 1889, Kotaka demonstrated that she could go beyond a role of coastal defense, and was capable of following larger ships on the high seas. The Yarrow shipyards, builder of the parts for the Kotaka, "considered Japan to have effectively invented the destroyer" (Howe). Yarrow shipyards Almost immediately after the order of the Kotaka was placed, Fernando Villaamil of the Spanish Navy also placed an order for a torpedo-boat destroyer in November 1885, with the British builder James and George Thompson, of Clydebank, also nearby the Yarrow shipyards. The ship, named Destructor, was laid down at the end of the year, launched in 1886, and commissioned in 1887, thereby becoming the first torpedo-boat destroyer to be completed. Her displacement was 380 tons, and she was equipped with triple expansion engines generating 3,800 HP, for a maximum speed of 22.6 knots. She was armed with one 90 mm Hontoria cannon, four 57 mm Nordenfeldt cannon, two 37 mm Hotchkiss guns and 3 Schwartzkopff torpedo tubes. Her complement was 60 men. Hotchkiss).]] The next effective design of torpedo boat destroyer, with the range and speed to keep up with battleships, was the Havock class of two ships of the Royal Navy, developed in 1892 under the newly appointed Third Sea Lord Rear Admiral "Jackie" Fisher, and launched in 1893. The Havock had a 240 tons displacement, a speed of 27 knots, and was armed with a single 12-pounder (76 mm) gun, three 6-pounders (57 mm), and three 46 cm torpedo tubes. The torpedo boat destroyer later on took over the role of the smaller torpedo boats, performing torpedo attacks on fleets, such as the devastating Japanese attack on the Russian fleet in Port Arthur at the opening of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, and attacks in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

World War I

Torpedo Boat destroyers grew in size and effectiveness in the early part of the 20th century. Innovations such as turbine propulsion, oil-fired rather than coal-fired boilers, and longer ranged "heater" torpedoes led to effective ships being designed by Britain and Germany. The threat evolved by World War I with the perfection of the submarine. In general, the submarine, or U-boat, of the era was nothing more than a submersible torpedo boat. This change allowed the submarine to hide from the guns of the destroyers and close to firing while underwater. This led to an equally rapid destroyer evolution during the war, which was quickly equipped with depth charges and sonar for countering this new threat. At the end of the war the state of the art was represented by the British V and W class destroyer.

Inter War

V and W class destroyer Destroyer construction continued during the inter war period initially with designs evolved from the British V & W Class. A major innovation came with the Japanese Fubuki class destroyers or special type of 1928, which introduced enclosed turrets capable of anti-aircraft fire and the 24-inch (60cm) oxygen fuelled Type 93 torpedo. Most other nations replied with similar larger type ships examples include the US Porter-class destroyer leader and the British Afridi-class destroyer (commonly called "Tribals") The submarine threat had been insufficiently realized, however; while sonar (or ASDIC)was fitted, training in its use was indifferent. Weapons to attack submarines changed little, and ahead-throwing weapons, a need recognized in WW1, had made no progress.

World War II

By World War II the threat had evolved once again. Submarines were more effective, and aircraft had become important weapons of naval warfare; once again the fleet destroyers were unequipped for combatting these new targets. They were re-equipped with new anti-aircraft guns, radar, and ahead-throwing ASW weapons, in addition to their existing light guns, depth charges, and torpedoes. By this time the destroyers had become large multi-purpose vessels, expensive targets in their own right rather than expendable vessels for the protection of others. This led to the introduction of smaller and cheaper specialized anti-submarine warships by the Royal Navy: corvettes and later frigates, while the US introduced destroyer escorts.

Post War

Some conventional destroyers were completed in the late 1940's and 1950's which built on wartime experience. These vessels were significantly larger than wartime ships and had fully automatic main guns, unit Machinery, radar, sonar, and antisubmarine weapons such as the Squid mortar. Examples include the British Daring-class, US Forrest Sherman-class, and the Soviet Kotlin-class destroyers. Some World War II-vintage ships were modernised for anti-submarine warfrare, and to extend their service lives, to avoid having to build (expensive) brand-new ships. Examples include the US FRAM I programme and the British Type 15 frigate.

The Missile Age

The advent of surface-to-air (SAM) missiles and surface-to-surface (SSM) missiles, such as the Exocet, in the early 1960's changed naval warfare. Guided missile destroyes (DDG in the US Navy) were developed to carry these weapons and protect the fleet from air, submarine and surface threats. Examples include the Soviet Kashin-class, the British County-class, and the American Charles F. Adams-class.

Modern destroyers

Charles F. Adams-class The United States commissioned its first destroyer, USS Bainbridge, Destroyer No. 1, in 1902. In the US Navy, destroyers operate in support of carrier battle groups, surface action groups, amphibious groups and replenishment groups. Destroyers (with a DD hull classification symbol) primarily perform anti-submarine warfare duty while guided missile destroyers (DDGs) are multi-mission (anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, and anti-surface warfare) surface combatants. The relatively-recent addition of cruise missile launchers has greatly expanded the role of the destroyer in strike and land-attack warfare. As the expense of heavier surface combatants has generally removed them from the fleet, destroyer tonnage has grown (a modern Arleigh Burke-class destroyer has the same tonnage as a World War II light cruiser). Arleigh Burke is billed by her builders, the Bath Iron Works, as ton-for-ton the most powerful warship in history. Bath Iron Works destroyer]] One class of destroyers is currently in use by the US Navy: the Arleigh Burke class. The last Spruance class destroyer in service, USS Cushing (DD-985), was decommissioned on September 21, 2005. The Zumwalt class were planned to replace them; on November 1, 2001, the US Navy announced the issuance of a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Future Surface Combatant Program. Formerly known as DD 21, the program will now be called DD(X) to more accurately reflect the program purpose, which is to produce a family of advanced technology surface combatants, not a single ship class. DD(X) is no longer called Zumwalt class, and is much larger than traditional destroyers, being nearly three thousand tons heavier than a Ticonderoga-class cruiser. It will potentially employ advanced weaponry and an all-electric Integrated Power System. Integrated Power System The Royal Navy's first destroyers were the Havock-class destroyers of 1893. The Royal Navy currently operates 8 ships of the Type 42 class. The destroyers (as well as frigates) are, as always, the workhorses of the fleet, the former optimised for air defence and the latter for surface and subsurface warfare. They are equally at home in large task groups or on independent operations which may include sanctions enforcement, humanitarian relief or anti-drug patrols. British destroyers (of recent times) have an average displacement of around 5,000 tonnes, and are armed with a mixture of guns and missiles including 114 mm (4.5 inch) Mk 8 guns, Sea Dart Missiles, 20 mm Close range guns, Vulcan Phalanx close in weapons system (CIWS), anti submarine torpedo tubes. The current Royal Navy destroyers are to be replaced by the new Type 45 Daring Class from 2006 onwards. A class of 12 ships is envisaged, with an entire programme budget of £6 billion. Displacing around 7,200 tons, they will be equipped with the UK variant of the Principal Anti-Air Missile System (PAAMS). Design and construction of the first ships is to be split between BAE Systems and Vosper Thornycroft under the overall project management of BAE systems. Two of the ships will be assembled at Scotstoun, by BAE Systems and the other by Vosper Thornycroft at a new shipbuilding facility at Portsmouth Naval Yard.

See also


- List of destroyer classes
- United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification

References


- "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941", David C. Evans, Mark R.Peattie, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland ISBN 0870211927
- "The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy: Development and Technology in Asia from 1540 to the Pacific War", Christopher Howe, The University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0226354857
- "The Atlantic Campaign", Dan van der Vat.
- "DD-963 Spruance-class" http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/dd-963.htm

External links


- [http://homepage2.nifty.com/nishidah/stc0644.htm The Japanese 1887 Kotaka (Japanese)]
- [http://www.historialago.com/av_0110_d_destructor_tribal.htm The Spanish 1886 Destructor (Spanish)] Category:Ship types ko:구축함 ms:Kapal pembinasa ja:駆逐艦

Destroyer (disambiguation)

Destroyer may mean:
- Destroyer, a type of warship.
- Douglas B-66 Destroyer, a bomber and reconnaissance aircraft.
- Bomber destroyer or Zerstörer, a bomber-escort fighter.
- Destroyer, a Kiss album released in 1976.
- Destroyer, the artist name of musician Daniel Bejar (recognizably a member of The New Pornographers).
- Destroyer (Golden Age) is a superhero from Marvel Comics predecessor Timely Comics
- The Destroyer is a Marvel Comics antagonist of Thor.
- Drax the Destroyer is a Marvel Comics cosmic character.
- The Destroyer, novel series created by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir.
- Star Destroyer, a fictional type of starship.
- Destroyer, an album by Ryan Adams.
- Shiva, the Hindu god commonly known as "the destroyer."
- Destroyer, a monster truck on the USHRA circuit.

Warship

.]] A naval ship is a ship (or sometimes boat, depending on classification) used for military purposes, commonly by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally naval ships are damage resilient and armed with various weapon systems, though armament on troop transports is light or non-existent. The term "warship" is often used to identify the subclass of naval ships designed primarily as combatants, as opposed to support or yard operations.

Naval ship classification

Naval ship classification is a field that has changed over time, and is not an area of wide international agreement, so this article currently uses the system as currently used by the United States Navy.
- Aircraft carrier - ships that serve as mobile seaborne airfield, designed primarily for the purpose of conducting combat operations by aircraft which engage in attacks against airborne, surface, sub-surface and shore targets.
- Surface Combatant - large, heavily armed, surface ships which are designed primarily to engage enemy forces on the high seas, including various types of battleship, battlecruiser, cruiser, destroyer, and frigate.
- Submarine - self-propelled submersible types regardless of whether employed as combatant, auxiliary, or research and development vehicles which have at least a residual combat capability.
- Patrol Combatant - combatants whose mission may extend beyond coastal duties and whose characteristics include adequate endurance and sea keeping providing a capability for operations exceeding 48 hours on the high seas without support.
- Amphibious Warfare - ships having organic capability for amphibious assault and which have characteristics enabling long duration operations on the high seas.
- Combat Logistics - ships that have the capability to provide underway replenishment to fleet units.
- Mine Warfare - ships whose primary function is mine warfare on the high seas.
- Coastal Defense - ships whose primary function is coastal patrol and interdiction.
- Mobile Logistics - ships that have the capability to provide direct material support to other deployed units operating far from home base.
- Support - ships designed to operate in the open ocean in a variety of sea states to provide general support to either combatant forces or shore based establishments. (Includes smaller auxiliaries which by the nature of their duties, leave inshore waters).
- Service Type Craft - navy-subordinated craft (including non-self-propelled) designed to provide general support to either combatant forces or shore-based establishments. See also Hull classification symbol ---- Warship was also the name of a British television drama series screened during the 1970s, based on board the (fictitious) naval ship HMS Hero. The series starred Donald Burton, David Savile, John Lee and Norman Eshley. Category:Ship types ko:군함 ja:軍艦

Battle group

The carrier battle group (CVBG or CARBATGRU) or carrier strike group (CVSG) is a fleet of ships in support of an aircraft carrier. They are primarily used by the United States Navy which has 12 carrier battle groups scattered across the world. Their existence is an important part of the power projection capability of the United States in that they provide the ability to strike quickly almost anywhere in the world. The large number of CVBGs used by the United States reflects in part a division of labor during the Cold War, in which the United States assumed primary responsibility for blue water operations and for safeguarding supply lines between the United States and Europe, while the NATO allies assumed responsibility for brown and green water operations. The need for a battle group is due to the fact that while the aircraft carrier has the ability to project a large amount of air power, it is vulnerable to attack from other surface ships and submarines. One way of looking at the CVBG is that the carrier performs the mission assigned to it while the primary role of the other ships is to protect the carrier. CVBGs have no definitive specification and are formed and dissolved on an as-needed basis, and one may be different from another. However, they all comprise similar types of ships, and a typical carrier battle group might have:
- a carrier, usually Nimitz-class — The carrier provides a wide range of options to the U.S. government, ranging from simply showing the flag, to attacks on airborne, afloat and ashore targets. Because carriers operate in international waters, their aircraft do not need to secure landing rights on foreign soil. These ships also engage in sustained operations in support of other forces. The carrier is the flagship of the battle group, with the commanding rear admiral on board, making use of the advanced combat information center and communications suite.
- two guided missile cruisers, usually Ticonderoga class — multi-mission surface combatants, equipped with Tomahawk missiles for long-range strike capability.
- two to three guided missile destroyers, usually Arleigh Burke-class — multi-mission surface combatant, used primarily for anti-air warfare (AAW) and anti-submarine warefare (ASW)
- a frigate, usually Oliver Hazard Perry-class — primarily for anti-submarine warfare (ASW)
- two attack submarines, usually Los Angeles-class — in a direct support role seeking out and destroying hostile surface ships and submarines
- a combined ammunition, oiler, and supply ship, usually Sacramento or Supply class — provides logistic support enabling the Navy's forward presence: on station, ready to respond The Carrier Battle Group (CVBG) could be employed in a variety of roles, most of which would involve the gaining and maintenance of sea control:
- Protection of economic and/or military shipping.
- Protection of a Marine amphibious force while en route to, and upon arrival in, an amphibious objective area.
- Establishing air superiority or supremacy in an area in combination with land-based aircraft.
- Establishing a naval presence in support of national interests. The CVBG was first used in World War II, primarily in conflicts between the United States and Japan in the Pacific. CVBGs at the time consisted of a far larger number of ships than current CVBGs, and this marked the only time CVBGs have fought each other, notably at the Battle of Midway. During the Cold War, the main role of the CVBG in case of conflict with the Soviet Union would have been to protect Atlantic supply routes between the United States and Europe. Because the Soviet Union had no large carriers of its own, a situation of duelling aircraft carriers would have been unlikely. The main scenario of interest would have been an attack against a CVBG using large number of anti-ship cruise missiles. The attempted use of anti-ship missiles against a carrier group was part of Argentina's efforts against Britain in the Falklands War. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, most of the uses of CVBGs by United States have been in situations in which their use has been uncontested. The main scenario involving carriers coming under fire which is of interest to naval strategists has been a conflict between the United States and the People's Republic of China over Taiwan. There is a consensus among observers that most of the military effort expended by the People's Liberation Army since the 1990s has been to at least complicate the deployment of a CVBG in a Taiwan straits conflict. There is debate in naval warfare circles as to the viability of carrier battle groups in 21st century naval warfare. Proponents of the CVBG argue that it provides unmatched fire power and force projection capabilities. Opponents argue that CVBGs are increasingly vulnerable to cruise missiles and arsenal ships, were designed for Cold War scenarios, and are less useful in establishing control of areas close to shore. See also Modern naval tactics Category:Aircraft carriers

Torpedo boat

A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to launch torpedoes at larger surface ships. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and heavily armed ship by speed and agility. During the late 1800s, the development of metal-hulled ships of large size, and the use of gyroscopes to even out the motion of waves, allowed for the rapid development of the very large gunship, which soon became known as battleships, later dreadnoughts. These were fiendishly expensive, so only the largest and richest nations could afford to continue in the race to build such ships. But at the same time, the new weight of armor slowed them, and the huge guns needed to penetrate that armor fired at very slow rates. This allowed for the possibility of a small and fast ship that could attack the battleships en-mass, at a much lower cost. The introduction of the torpedo provided a weapon that could cripple, and sink, any battleship. torpedo] In the late 19th century, many Navies started to build torpedo boats - relatively small ships, about 30 to 50 m in length, armed with up to three torpedo launchers and small guns. They were powered with steam engines and developed speed of 20 to 30 knots (37 to 56 km/h). They were relatively inexpensive and could be purchased in quantity, allowing for mass attacks on larger fleets. While some of them would undoubtedly be lost to the guns of the larger ships while they ran into firing range, their cost was so low that sinking even one battleship in return would be a victory. It is commonly acknowledged today that the very first torpedo boat was the Royal Norwegian Navy's HNoMS Rap—the name meaning 'fast'—ordered from Cheswick, England in 1873. The first recorded launch of torpedoes from a torpedo boat (which itself was launched from a tender) in an actual battle was by Russian admiral Stepan Makarov on January 16, 1877, who used self-propelled Whitehead's torpedoes against a Turkish armed ship "Intibah" during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78. The introduction of the torpedo boat resulted in a flurry of activity in the fleets around the world, as smaller and faster guns were added to existing ships to ward off the new threat. Eventually an entirely new class of ships, the torpedo boat destroyer, was invented to counter them. These ships, today known simply as destroyers, were just enlarged torpedo boats, with speed equal to the torpedo boats, but including heavier guns that could attack them before they were able to close on the main fleet. Destroyers were also armed with torpedoes. Considerable effort was put into designing fleet actions that would allow the destroyers to operate far enough from the main "van" to keep the torpedo boats away, while still remaining close enough that they couldn't be "picked off" by an opposing fleet. Destroyers appeared so useful and universal ships, having better seaworthiness, than torpedo boats, that they eventually replaced most torpedo boats. Until World War II, classic torpedo boats remained only in a small number in some navies, e.g. German and French. By that time, they were ships 70 to 100 m long, armed with a 2 to 3 guns typically 100 mm (4 in) and torpedo launchers. After the war they eventually disappeared. Before the World War I, as torpedo boats were growing larger, armed with heavier guns, there appeared different class of torpedo boats, going back to their roots, being small and fast ships again. The introduction of the internal combustion engine resulted in a power source that could offer much higher output from a small source. The result was a small torpedo boat, perhaps 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 m) in length with high speed 30 to 50 knots (56 to 93 km/h), carrying 2 to 4 torpedoes, fired from simple fixed launchers, and several machine guns. Such torpedo boats remained useful until World War II, in particular the Royal Navy (RN) Motor torpedo boats (MTBs), Kriegsmarine 'S-Boote' (Schnellboot or fast-boat: British termed them E-boats) and US PT boats (standing for Patrol Torpedo) served their users well. A classic fast torpedo boat action was the Channel Dash in February 1942 when German E-boats and destroyer defended the flotilla of Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Prinz Eugen and several smaller ships against RN MTBs. By World War II torpedo boats were seriously hampered by the higher fleet speeds, although they still had a speed advantage, they could only catch the larger ships by running at very high speeds over very short distances as demonstrated in the Channel Dash. An even greater change was the widespread arrival of patrol aircraft, which could hunt them down long before they could even see their targets. The class has not entirely disappeared, due to the arrival of the guided missile. Today a number of navies operate boats of the same general size and concept as the older torpedo boats, but armed with long-range anti-shipping missiles that can be used at ranges between 30 and 70 km. This reduces the need for high speed chases to a degree, and gives them much more room to operate in while approaching their targets. Aircraft remain a major threat, and any fleet combining air elements makes their use almost suicidal. They are still used by many navies and coast guards to police their territorial waters against smugglers, particularly those smuggling narcotics and weapons to insurgents. The interdiction and boarding of potentially armed hostile fast boats, which often are indistinguishable from legitimate coastal craft, is something which has to be done from a heavily armed fast boat, often with the assistance of maritime patrol aircraft.

See


- Drazki

See also


- Destroyer
- Offshore Patrol
- Submarine
- Fast Attack Craft
- Missile boat Category:Ship types ja:水雷艇

21st century

The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. Frequently common usage regards the 21st century as spanning 2000 to 2099, though this method of counting ignores the fact that there was no year 0. In 2000 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) implicitly backed the common usage by defining a calendar that places the origin of the counting in a year zero.

Overview

The 21st century has had an influence on culture since well before it began. Speculation about future, social, cultural, and technological trends frequently centered on the year 2000, starting with late-19th century essays and novels (often of a utopian nature) such as Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. It's been said that the event horizon of Western culture was steadily shrinking in this period, since as late as the 1990s people were still often focusing on the year 2000 in their discussions of the future. Religious beliefs in a "millennial apocalypse" were supplemented by genuine concerns about the Y2k computer "bug" and about possible terrorist attacks centered on the year-2000 celebrations, but the actual turn of the millennium (both the popularly-celebrated one in 2000 and the "purist" one in 2001) went by in a fairly anticlimactic manner. However, the years since have continued in the tumultuous manner people of the 20th century were accustomed to expect, with wars, terrorism, and other conflicts, as well as continued advances in science and technology including the continuing expansion of the use of computers and the Internet (despite the "tech bubble burst" where the overexuberance of early Internet companies was deflated). So far in the 21st century, the main historical trends have been the violent conflict between Western Civilization and extremist Muslim Fundamentalism, the search for solutions to global warming, the continued growth of the European Community and the rapid emergence of China and India as global industrial powers. More Y2k-style computer date failures are due before the end of the 21st century; the Unix datestamps, consisting of a count of the number of seconds since 1970, may overflow in 2038, while the family of operating systems descended from MS-DOS (including the various versions of Microsoft Windows) can't handle dates beyond 2099.

Important developments, events, achievements

Politics


- 2003 International Criminal Court opens
- 2004 EU Enlargement: 10 countries join
- 2005 UN Security Council decides war criminals in Darfur will be tried by the International Criminal Court (Resolution 1593) [http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/unsc_resolutions05.htm]
- 2003 - 2005 A series of non-violent revolutions known as the color revolutions overthrew authoritarian regimes in Georgia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon.

Science and technology


- 2002 Mars Odyssey arrives in orbit around Mars.
- 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster February 1
- 2003 Dolly the sheep dies prematurely February 14
- 2003 Chinese space program launches its first manned space flight, Shenzhou 5 on October 15.
- 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spreads around the globe.
- 2004 Mars rovers discover evidence of likely flowing water on Mars. Both are still in service as of 2005.
- 2004 Cassini-Huygens probe arrives at Saturn.
- 2004 SpaceShipOne makes first privately-funded human spaceflight, June 21
- 2005 Huygens probe lands on Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, January 14
- 2005 Deep Impact probe impacts Comet Tempel 1 July 4.

Conflicts and civil unrest


- September 11, 2001 attacks
- 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan
- 12 October 2002 Bali bombing
- 2003 Invasion of Iraq
- 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
- September 2004 Beslan hostage crisis
- 7 July 2005 London bombings
- 2005 civil unrest in France

Worldwide deaths from war and terror attacks


- Second Congo War, approximately 1.8 million deaths (3.8 million since 1998)
- Darfur conflict, approximately 200,000 deaths
- U.S. Invasion in Iraq, most estimates claim 30,000 – 50,000 Iraqi and 2,300 coalition deaths. The Lancet recently estimated 100,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the invasion. [http://www.countthecasualties.org.uk/docs/robertsetal.pdf]
- Civil War in Côte d'Ivoire, 3,000 deaths
- September 11, 2001 attacks, 2,993 deaths Furthermore, there are several wars and dictatorships continuing from the 20th century. In most cases, the death toll is unclear. See also [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/wars21c.htm].

Natural disasters


- Earthquake in Bam, Iran on December 27, 2003 killed more than 26,000 people.
- 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. On December 26 an undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean created a large tsunami, which impacted land across the region and caused approximately 310,000 deaths in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and other countries in the region.
- 2005 U.S Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina - The Category 4 hurricane impacts the Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans in Louisiana, most of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama. The current number of fatalities stands at 1,277. This hurricane surpassed Hurricane Andrew in cost of damage, becoming the costliest natural disaster in U.S history.
- Earthquake in Kashmir on October 8, 2005. An earthquake in Kashmir has so far claimed over 80,000 lives in India and Pakistan.

Sport


- 2000- 2000 Summer Olympics held in Sydney, Australia.
- 2001- NASCAR (American stock car) driver Dale Earnhardt dies after hitting the wall on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Earnhard's son- Dale Earnhardt Jr. claimed a tearful victory in the next race held at Daytona, less than four months later.
- 2001- In baseball, Barry Bonds breaks Mark McGwire's single-season home run record with 73.
- 2002- In soccer, Brazil win the Football World Cup becoming the first team to win the trophy 5 times.
- 2002- 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah
- 2003- Vancouver, Canada elected host city for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games
- 2003- In baseball. Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman interferes with a foul ball during Game 6 of the National League Championship Series. Rather than the Cubs recording the out- and probably the win- the Florida Marlins won Game 6 and Game 7 en route to their second-ever World Series win.
- 2004- In American football, the Pittsburgh Steelers go 15-1 in the regular season, the first American Football Conference ("AFC") team to do so (The Steelers fell short of the Super Bowl with a loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC title game). This is also the first time a rookie National Football League quarterback (Ben Roethlisberger) has gone undefeated in his first season. Roethlisberger won Rookie of the Year.
- 2004- American Lance Armstrong wins his 6th consecutive Tour de France, becoming the first cyclist to win it six times.
- 2004- Greece wins the European Football (soccer) Championship for the first time.
- 2004- The Boston Red Sox baseball team win their first World Series in 86 years, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 0.
- 2004- 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece.
- 2005- England's Liverpool F.C. overcome a 3-0 halftime deficit to Italy's A.C. Milan to win soccer's 2004/2005 UEFA Champions League. Liverpool win 4-3 on penalties. It was Liverpool's fifth Champions League victory.
- 2005- American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his 7th consecutive Tour de France and retires.
- 2005- the 100 meters sprint record is broken by Jamaican Asafa Powell with a time of 9.77 seconds.
- 2005- The Chicago White Sox baseball team win their first World Series in 88 years, defeating the Houston Astros 4 games to 0.
- 2005- The Sydney Swans win Australian (rules) Football League premiership after a 72-year "drought".
- 2005- London elected host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics
- 2006- 2006 Winter Olympics to be held in Torino, Italy

Issues and concerns

Some of the things that have dominated discussion and debate in this century include:
- Globalization. Advances in telecommunications and transportation, the expansion of capitalism and democracy, and free trade agreements have resulted in unprecedented global economic and cultural integration. This has caused (and is continuing to cause) huge economic and cultural shifts which have been the subject of considerable controversy.
- Overpopulation. The United Nations [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/24/un.population/ estimates] that world population will reach 9.1 billion by mid-century. Such growth raises questions of ecological sustainability and creates many economic and political disruptions. In response, many countries have adopted policies which either force or encourage their citizens to have fewer children, and others have limited immigration. Considerable debate exists over what the ultimate carrying capacity of the planet may be; whether or not population growth containment policies are necessary; to what degree growth can safely occur thanks to increased economic and ecological efficiency; and how markets should accommodate demographic shifts. Evidence forms that developed countries (such as Japan) suffer population implosion, and the population debate is strongly tied with poverty.
- Poverty. Poverty remains the root cause of many of the world's other ills, including famine, disease, and insufficient education. Poverty contains many self-reinforcing elements (for instance, poverty can make education an unaffordable luxury, which tends to result in continuing poverty) that various aid groups hope to rectify in this century.
- Disease. AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria each kill over a million people annually. HIV remains without a cure or vaccine, and is growing rapidly in India and much of the African continent. Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern for organisms such as tuberculosis. Other diseases, such as SARS, ebola and flu variations, are also causes for concern. The World Health Organization has [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3524824.stm warned] of a possible coming flu pandemic resulting from bird flu mutations.
- War and Terrorism. Active conflicts continue around the world, including civil wars in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Chechnya, Côte d'Ivoire, Somalia, Nepal, Senegal, Colombia, and what some called a genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The 9/11 terrorist attacks triggered invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The War on Terrorism has seen controversies over civil liberties, accusations of torture, continued terrorist attacks and ongoing instability, violence and military occupation. Violence continues in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Considerable concern remains about nuclear proliferation, especially in Iran and North Korea, and the availability of weapons of mass destruction to rogue groups.
- Climate change. Some scientists expect that significant anthropogenic climate change will occur during the 21st century, resulting in unprecedented economic and ecological costs. Others dispute the severity of the problem. Trends such as global warming, pollution, biodiversity loss and resource depletion all are growing factors that will contribute to significant issues in this century. Resources in immediate danger of depletion include water, oil, and natural gas.
- Global power. Issues surrounding the cultural, economic, and military dominance of the United States and its role in the world community have become even more pointed given its recent military activities, problematic relations with the United Nations, disagreement over several international treaties, and its economic policies with regard to globalization. Integration of the European Union and the African Union have proceeded.
- Intellectual property. The increasing popularity of digital formats for entertainment media such as movies and music, and the ease of copying and distributing it via the Internet and peer-to-peer networks, has raised concerns in the media industry about copyright infringement. Much debate is proceeding about the proper bounds between protection of copyright, trademark and patent rights versus fair use and the public domain, where some argue that such laws have shifted greatly towards intellectual property owners and away from the interests of the general public in recent years, while others say that such legal change is needed to deal with the threat of new technologies against the rights of authors and artists (or, as others put it, against the outmoded business models of the current entertainment industry). Domain name "cybersquatting" and access to patented drugs to combat epidemics in third-world countries are other IP concerns.
- Technology developments show no sign of ending. Communications and control technology continues to augment the intelligence of individual humans, collections of humans, and machines. Cultures are forced into the position of sharply defining humanity and determining boundaries on desire, thought, communication, behavior, and manufacturing. It is predicted that by the middle of this century there will be a Technological Singularity when artificial intelligences are created that are smarter than humans. As these then create even smarter AI's technological change will accelerate in ways that are impossible for us to foresee.
- Energy is becoming scarce and more expensive, due to the esclating demand for petroleum ("oil") and oil-based products such as gasoline and kerosene, unmatched by production. Discovery of new oil fields has not been sufficient to sustain current levels of production, and some fear that the earth may be running out of economically viable oil. While complete depletion will not happen in the near future, some fear that a peak in production will cause an end to the trend of economic expansion in modern society, perhaps resulting in a collapse of modern civilization itself. Others believe that alternative sources of energy will prevent this disaster.
- Civilization is subject to increasing pressures due to overpopulation and culture clash. Samuel Huntington has spoken of a crash that may lead to extended wars and global instability. At the same time, there is increasing concern of decadence in Western arts and sciences among the leading intelects of the time, from Jacques Barzun to John Horgan´s "End of Science" to the columnist Spengler of Asia Times (who took his pseudonym from Oswald Spengler). The United Nations lists global issues on its agenda [http://www.un.org/issues/ here] and lists a set of [http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ Millennium Goals] to attempt to address some of these issues.

Significant people

Influential people in politics as of 2005

(in alphabetical order)
- Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian President
- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
- Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations
- Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission
- Silvio Berlusconi, Italian Prime Minister
- Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
- Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
- Jacques Chirac, President of France
- Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela
- Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada
- Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of Italy
- Luigi R. Einaudi, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister
- Vicente Fox, President of Mexico
- Lawrence Gonzi, Maltese Prime Minister
- John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia
- Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China
- Abdul Kalam, President of India
- Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan
- Mohammad Khatami, President of Iran
- Kim Jong-il, General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party and chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea
- Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
- Aleksander Kwaśniewski, President of Poland
- Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada
- Thabo Mbeki, South African president and current leader of the African Union
- Angela Merkel, German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
- Pervez Musharraf Pakistani President
- Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaeda leader
- Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, President of the Russian Federation
- Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
- Condoleezza Rice, United States Secretary of State
- Karl Rove, President Bush's senior advisor, chief political strategist, and deputy chief of staff in charge of policy.
- Saddam Hussein, deposed President of Iraq, currently held by US forces
- Gerhard Schröder, former German Bundeskanzler (chancellor)
- Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel
- Luis Inácio da Silva, President of Brazil
- Dr. Manmohan Singh, Indian Prime Minister
- Javier Solana, Foreign policy chief of the European Union
- Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of Latvia
- Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General of ASEAN
- Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine
- José María Aznar, Former President of Spain
- José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, President of Spain

Influential people in religion as of 2005


- Pope John Paul II (now deceased)
- Pope Benedict XVI
- The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso
- Founder of Falun Gong, Li Hongzhi
- Ayatollah Khamenei
- Stanley Hauerwas, proclaimed in 2001 "America's Best Theologian"
- Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Transcendental Meditation movement.

Influential people in technology as of 2005


- Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation
- Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation
- Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation
- Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin, founders of the Google search engine
- Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel

Influential people in science as of 2005


- Stephen Hawking
- Richard Dawkins
- Brian Greene

Influential people in mathematics as of 2005


- Laurent Lafforgue
- Grigori Perelman

Astronomical events and predictions


- Tuesday, June 8, 2004: Transit of Venus occurs after 122 years
- Full eclipse of moon during World Series, 2004
- November 8, 2006: Transit of Mercury
- 2009: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- 2010/2011: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- Wednesday, June 6, 2012: Transit of Venus to occur a second time this century
- May 9, 2016: Transit of Mercury
- Monday, August 21, 2017: First total solar eclipse of the 21st century for the United States, and the first visible in the continental US since February 26, 1979.
- November 11: Transit of Mercury
- 2024 (plus or minus 5 years): Next predicted return of Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks.
- 2025/2026: Triple conjunction Saturn-Neptune
- Friday, April 13, 2029: The asteroid 99942 Apophis (previously better known by its provisional designation 2004 MN4) will pass within 30,000 km (18,600 mi) of the Earth.
- November 13, 2032: Transit of Mercury
- 2037/2038: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- November 7, 2039: Transit of Mercury
- 2041/2042: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
- October 1, 2044: Occultation of Regulus by Venus. The last was on July 7, 1959. After 2044 the next occultation of Regulus by Venus will occur on October 21, 3187, although some sources claim it will occur again on October 6, 2271.
- 2047/2048: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- May 7, 2049: Transit of Mercury
- November 9, 2052: Transit of Mercury
- 2061: Next return of Comet Halley.
- 2063: Triple conjunction Mars-Uranus
- November 11, 2065: Transit of Mercury
- November 22, 2065: At 12:45 UTC, Venus will occult Jupiter. This event will be the first occultation of a planet by another since January 3, 1818. Unfortunately this event will be very difficult to observe, because the elongation of Venus and Jupiter from the Sun on that date will be only 7 degrees.
- 2066: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- July 15, 2067: At 11:56 UTC, Mercury will occult Neptune. Unfortunately this rare event will be very difficult to observe.
- 2071/2072: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune
- November 14, 2078: Transit of Mercury
- 2079: Triple conjunction Saturn-Uranus
- August 11, 2079: At 01:30 UTC, Mercury will occult Mars
- Friday, November 10, 2084: Transit of Earth as seen from Mars
- November 7, 2085: Transit of Mercury
- 2085/2086: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Neptune
- October 27, 2088: At 13:43 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter
- 2088/2089: Triple conjunction Mars-Neptune
- 2093: Triple conjunction Jupiter-Uranus
- April 7, 2094: At 10:48 UTC, Mercury will occult Jupiter
- May 8, 2095: Transit of Mercury
- November 10, 2098: Transit of Mercury

Scientific Predictions


- Human Genetic Engineering becomes possible.
- Development of Artificial Intelligence.
- Technological Singularity
- Every human body part capable of being either cloned or replaced with an artificial replacement, or both.
- Global Warming accelerates
- Development of anti-matter propulsion rockets and travel close to the speed of light, leading to the colonization of the Tau Ceti system using space habitats fabricated by nanites from asteroidal and comet material.

Socio-Political Predictions


- A woman once told Winston Churchill: "By the year 2100, women will rule the world." Churchill asked: "Still?"
- Several leaders in politics, religion, etc., have set goals for the elimination of anti-Semitism, dictatorship, disease, homosexuality, hunger, illiteracy, lack of drinkable water, over-population, poverty, racism, tyranny and war in the 21st century.
- Near the end of the 21st century, people will still be arguing whether 2100 is the last year of the 21st century or the first of the 22nd.

Science Fiction set in the remaining years of the 21st Century

Television and film


- The events of Stargate SG-1 continue into the early 21st century.
- Stargate Atlantis is set in the early 21st century.
- Transformers: The Movie: is set in the year 2005. The subsequent Generation 2 Transformers series takes place after the events of the movie.
- The Japanese anime show The Super Dimension Fortress Macross spans the years 1999 to 2012 (its final episode takes place in January of 2012, and a direct to video epilogue featurette takes place in September 2012). Its prequel and sequels take place in 2008 (Macross Zero), 2040 (Macross Plus) and 2045 (Macross 7). A dramatized historical fiction movie about the First Space War, The Super Dimension Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, premieres in 2031.
- The American cartoon show Robotech, composed from the footage of three unrelated anime series (including Macross, above) spans the years 1999 to 2015, 2030-2031 and 2044-2045.
- Part of Back to the Future Part II is set in 2015.
- The Japanese anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion is also set in 2015.
- The modern classic film Blade Runner takes place in November, 2019.
- Both parts of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Past Tense" take place in 2024.
- The anime universe of Ghost in the Shell, its sequel Ghost in the Shell: Innocence, and anime television series based on the same premise (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GiG), are centered somewhere around 2029.
- The Terminator is set up during the early years of the 21st century in terms of the wars between humans & Skynet. Some of the interveing years are dealt with by the, at the moment 2, sequels, Terminator 2: Judgment Day & Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines with the whole franchise building to a conclusion of the War in 2029.
- Demolition Man is set in 2032.
- I, Robot was set in 2035.
- Minority Report was set in 2054.
- The 1998 remake of Lost in Space was set in 2058.
- Most of Star Trek: First Contact takes place in 2063. In Star Trek canon, the human Zefram Cochrane develops faster-than-light travel and makes first contact with an alien race during this year.
- Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Is set in 2068.
- The Japanese anime show Cowboy Bebop is set in 2071.
- The Nickelodeon cartoon My Life as a Teenage Robot is set in 2072.
- Equilibrium is set in 2072.
- Total Recall is set in 2084.
- In Star Trek: Insurrection, it is discovered that the Ba'ku moved to the Briar Patch at some point in this century.
- The Jetsons is supposed to take place in the late 21st century.
- Due to the time-travel nature of its stories, Doctor Who has taken place at various points during the 21st century.

Computer and video games


- Uplink is set on the internet of the year 2010.
- Perfect Dark is set in 2023.
- The races in San Francisco Rush 2049 take place in 2049.
- The events of Deus Ex take place in 2052.
- The levels "Breaking and Entering" and "You Genius, U-Genix" in TimeSplitters: Future Perfect take place in 2052.
- System Shock is set in 2072.
- Future Cop: LAPD takes place in the year 2098.
- The discovery of the Zohar in Xenosaga takes place in 20XX.
- The Great War of the Fallout universe starts on October 23, 2077; nuclear bombs are launched, nobody knows who the aggressor was.
- The Classic Mega Man franchise supposedly begins in 200X (circa 2008?). Megaman 3 introduces the 20XX numbering scheme (circa 2010?)
- The events of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne occur in 20XX.
- In Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, the 2nd Korean War starts early in this century

Novels


- Tad Williams' Otherland series is set at some undefined point in the 21st century
- Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is also set in the 21st century, after some disaster befell the centralized telephone network. This led people to build a decentralized network, which they used to transfer money, thus destroying normal methods of taxation and bringing down most large governments.
- Red Mars of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy begins in 2027.
- Some books by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky are set in 21st century

Decades and years

External links


- [http://www.longbets.org/ Long Bets] Foundation to promote long-term thinking
- [http://www.longnow.org/ Long Now] Long-term cultural institution Category:Centuries Category:Postmodernism als:21. Jahrhundert ko:21세기 ja:21世紀 nb:21. århundre simple:21st century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 21

United States

:For alternative meanings, see the disambiguation page for US, USA, United States, or American. The United States of America is a federal democratic republic situated primarily in central North America. It comprises 50 states and one federal district, and has several territories. It is also referred to, with varying formality, as the United States, the U.S., the U.S.A., the States, or simply and most commonly, America. The official founding date of the United States is July 4, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress—representing thirteen British colonies—adopted the Declaration of Independence. However, the structure of the government was profoundly changed in 1788, when the states replaced the Articles of Confederation with the United States Constitution. The date on which each of the fifty states adopted the Constitution is typically regarded as the date that state "entered the Union" (became part of the United States). Since the mid-20th century, following World War II, the United States has emerged as a dominant global influence in economic, political, military, scientific, technological, and cultural affairs.

Geography and climate

The United States shares land borders with Canada (to the north) and Mexico (to the south), and territorial water boundaries with Canada, Russia, the Bahamas, and numerous smaller nations. It is otherwise bounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, in the west; the Arctic Ocean, in the northernmost areas; and the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, in the eastern and southeastern areas. Forty-eight of the states are in the single region between Canada and Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or contiguous United States, sometimes abbreviated CONUS, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada. The archipelago of Hawaii is in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District of Columbia is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also has overseas territories with varying levels of independence and organization. When inland water is included in the total area, only Russia and Canada are larger than the United States; if inland water is excluded, China ranks third and the U.S. ranks fourth. The United States' total area is 3,718,711 square miles (9,631,418 km²), of which land makes up 3,537,438 square miles (9,161,923 km²) and water makes up 181,273 square miles (469,495 km²). The United States' landscape is one of the most varied among those of the world's nations: among its many features are temperate forestland and rolling hills, on the east coast; mangrove, in Florida; the Great Plains, in the center of the country; the Mississippi–Missouri river system; the Great Lakes, four of the five of which are shared with Canada; the Rocky Mountains, west of the Great Plains; deserts and temperate coastal zones, west of the Rocky Mountains; and temperate rain forests, in the Pacific northwest. Alaska's tundra, and the volcanic, tropical islands of Hawaii add to the geographic diversity. Hawaii The climate varies along with the landscape, from tropical in Hawaii and southern Florida to tundra in Alaska and atop some of the highest mountains. Most of the North and East experience a temperate continental climate, with warm summers and cold winters. Most of the South experiences a subtropical humid climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. Rainfall decreases markedly from the humid forests of the Eastern Great Plains to the semi-arid shortgrass prairies on the high plains abutting the Rocky Mountains. Arid deserts, including the Mojave, extend through the lowlands and valleys of the southwest, from westernmost Texas to California and northward throughout much of Nevada. Some parts of California have a Mediterranean climate. Rainforests line the windward mountains of the Pacific Northwest from Oregon to Alaska.

History

American history started with the migration of people from Asia across the Bering land bridge approximately 12,000 years ago following large animals that they hunted into the Americas. These Native Americans left evidence of their presence in petroglyphs, burial mounds, and other artifacts. It is estimated that 2-9 million people lived in the territory now occupied by the U.S. before European contact, and the subsequent introduction of foreign diseases such as small pox that greatly diminished the native populations. Some advanced societies were the Anasazi of the southwest, who inhabited Chaco Canyon, and the Woodland Indians, who built Cahokia, located near present-day St Louis, a city with a population of 40,000 at its peak in AD 1200. Vikings first visited North America around 1000, but did not settle permanently. Following the discovery voyages of Christopher Columbus around 1492, other Europeans began to explore and settle there. During the 1500s and 1600s, the Spanish settled parts of the present-day Southwest and Florida, founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565 and Santa Fe (in what is now New Mexico) in 1607. The first successful English settlement was at Jamestown, Virginia, also in 1607. Within the next two decades, several Dutch settlements, including New Amsterdam (the predecessor to New York City), were established in what are now the states of New York and New Jersey. In 1637, Sweden established a colony at Fort Christina (in what is now Delaware), but lost the settlement to the Dutch in 1655. This was followed by extensive British settlement of the east coast. The British colonists remained relatively undisturbed by their home country until after the French and Indian War, when France ceded Canada and the Great Lakes region to Britain. Britain then imposed taxes on the 13 colonies, widely regarded by the colonists as unfair because they were denied representation in the British Parliament. Tensions between Britain and the colonists increased, and the thirteen colonies eventually rebelled against British rule. British Parliament, George Washington (1789-1797).]] In 1776, the 13 colonies split from Great Britain and formed the United States, the world's first constitutional and democratic federal republic, after their Declaration of Independence of that year, and the Revolutionary War (1775 to 1783). The original political structure was a confederation in 1777, ratified in 1781 as the Articles of Confederation. After long debate, this was supplanted by the Constitution in 1789, forming a more centralized federal government. Prior to all these was the Albany Congress in 1754, in which a union was first seriously proposed. From early colonial times, there was a shortage of labor, which encouraged unfree labor, particularly indentured servitude and slavery. In the mid-19th century, a major division occurred in the United States over the issue of states' rights and the expansion of slavery. The northern states had become opposed to slavery, while the southern states saw it as necessary for the continued success of southern agriculture and wanted it expanded to the territories. Several federal laws were passed in an attempt to settle the dispute, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. The dispute reached a crisis in 1861, when seven southern states seceded1 from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America, leading to the Civil War. Soon after the war began, four more southern states seceded. During the war, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, mandating the freedom of all slaves in states in rebellion, though full emancipation did not take place until after the end of the war in 1865, the dissolution of the Confederacy, and the Thirteenth Amendment took effect. The Civil War effectively ended the question of a state's right to secede, and is widely accepted as a major turning point after which the federal government became more powerful than state governments. Thirteenth Amendment). The title of the painting, from a 1726 poem by Bishop Berkeley, was a phrase often quoted in the era of Manifest Destiny, expressing a widely held belief that civilization had steadily moved westward throughout history. [http://americanart.si.edu/t2go/1lw/1931.6.1.html (more)] ]] During the 19th century, many new states were added to the original 13 as the nation expanded across the continent. Manifest Destiny was a philosophy that encouraged westward expansion in the United States. As the population of the Eastern states grew and as a steady increase of immigrants entered the country, settlers moved steadily westward across North America. In the process, the U.S. displaced most American Indian nations. This displacement of American Indians continues to be a matter of contention in the U.S. with many tribes attempting to assert their original claims to various lands. In some areas American Indian populations were reduced by foreign diseases contracted through contact with European settlers, and US settlers acquired those emptied lands. In other instances American Indians were removed from their traditional lands by force. Though some would say the U.S. was not a colonial power until the Spanish-American War when it acquired Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines, the dominion exercised over land in North America the United States claimed is essentially colonial. The Philippines became independent in 1946. During this period, the nation also became an industrial power. This continued into the 20th century, which has been termed "the American Century" because of the nation's overriding influence on the world. The US became a center for innovation and technological development; major technologies that America either developed or was greatly involved in improving include the telephone, television, computer, the Internet, nuclear weapons, nuclear power, aviation, and aeronautics. In addition to the Civil War, another major traumatic experience for the nation was the Great Depression (1929 to 1939). The nation has also taken part in several major foreign wars, including World War I and World War II (in both of which the US later joined the Allies). During the Cold War, the US was a major player in the Korean War and Vietnam War, and, along with the Soviet Union, was considered one of the world's two "superpowers". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US emerged as the world's leading economic and military power. Beginning in the 1990s, the United States became very involved in police actions and peacekeeping, including actions in Kosovo, Haiti, Somalia and Liberia, and the first Persian Gulf War driving Iraq out of Kuwait. After attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, the United States and other allied nations found themselves involved in what has come to be called the "War on Terrorism," which has primarily encompassed military actions in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

Government

Iraq of the United States.]]

Republic and suffrage

The United States is an example of a constitutional republic, with a government composed of and operating through a set of limited powers imposed by its design and enumerated in the United States Constitution. Specifically, the nation operates as a presidential democracy. There are three levels of government: federal, state, and local. Officials of each of these levels are either elected by eligible voters via