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Car Ferry

Car ferry

can be seen at the bottom of the photograph.]] A train ferry is a ship designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the ship has a door at the front or rear to give access to the wharves. The wharf (called a "slip") has a ramp which connects the railway proper to the ship, allowing for the water level to rise and fall with the tides. For an example of a specialized slip to receive railcars see ferry slip. While railway vehicles can and are shipped on the decks or in the holds of ordinary ships, purpose-built train ferries are much quicker to load and unload, especially as several vehicles can be loaded or unloaded at once.

Examples

Australia

- Grafton, New South Wales over Clarence River pending construction of bridge, 1920s to 1930s
- The Port Lincoln division is isolated from the main system by desert and is very roundabout, and rolling stock is transferred as required by ship or by road low loaders.

Canada

- Newfoundland - Canada
- Prince Edward Island - Canada
- Vancouver Island - Canada

China

- Zhanjiang, Guangdong and Haikou, Hainan

Denmark

- Copenhagen, Denmark to Rodby with train ferry over the Fehmarn Belt to Puttgarten, Germany and then continuing to Hamburg. Route opened 1960, and runs 6 trains/day from Copenhagen.

Georgia

- Russia to Georgia bypasses Abkhazia

Italy

- Mainland to Sicily

Japan

Japan Railways would have had train ferries to link up the main islands before these were replaced by bridges and tunnels.

New Zealand

- North Island to South Island - 2 ferries - proposal to build new South Island terminal to reduce ferry distance and time.

Norway

- Some fjords are bridged by train ferries, including the siding to the Hydro-Norsk deuterium factory, as seen in the movie The Heroes of Telemark, starring Kirk Douglas. See Today's Railways #113.

Sweden

- Malmö, Sweden and Berlin, Germany 1 train/day

Turkey

- Lake Van - will be replaced by railway along lake shore when traffic increases enough.
- Bosphorus - bids called in 2005 to replace with tunnel.
- Black Sea - Ilyichevsk, Ukraine to Derince, Turkey by passes a break of gauge

Ukraine

- Black Sea - see above

United Kingdom

- Dover to Dunquerque, France - replaced by the Channel Tunnel

United States

- New York Cross Harbor Railroad, transferring freight cars between Jersey City, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, New York, run as needed. This ferry is operated, as rail cars with flammable and hazardous materials are not permitted in the former Pennsylvania Railroad tunnels under Manhattan and the Hudson River.
- The Alaska Railroad is only connected to the rest of the North American rail system via train ferries. The Alaska Railroad runs its own ferries from Whittier, Alaska to Seattle, Washington, and the Canadian National Railway operates its AquaTrain between Whittier and Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
- Frankfurt, Lake Michigan - defunct
- The S. S. Badger, which was originally built as a year-round train ferry across Lake Michigan for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in 1953 is now used as a car ferry between Manitowoc, Wisconsin, and Ludington, Michigan.
- The S.S. City of Milwaukee, built in 1931 for the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. [http://www.carferry.com]
- Mackinac Ferry the Chief Wawatam ([http://www.carferries.com/chief/ carferries.com]) at the Straits of Mackinac connecting Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Lower Peninsula.
- Chesapeake Bay - Eastern Shore Railroad from Norfolk, VA to Cape Charles, VA

Portage railways

The opposite of a train ferry is a portage railway.
- A train ferry overcomes a lack of a land link.
- A portage railway overcomes a lack of a navigatable stretch of a river. For example, before the Panama canal, the Panama Railway provided a link between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Hazards of train ferries

While no train ferries (as far as it is known) have met with disaster at sea, car ferries such as the Herald of Free Enterprise, which share some of the weaknesses of train ferries, have met with disaster. These weaknesses include:
- Trains are loaded at a rather high level, making the ship top heavy.
- The train deck is difficult to compartmentalise, so that sloshing flood water can destabilise the ship.
- The sea doors where the trains go in and out are a weakness, even if placed at the rear of the ship.
- The train carriages need to be strongly secured lest they break away and roll around. A number of railroad carferries have been lost on the Great Lakes. These losses, though causes remain unconfirmed, were attributed to seas boarding the unprotected stern of the ship and swamping it in a severe storm. As a result, seagates were required on all new ships and required to be retrofitted on older vessels. In addition, two wooden crosslake railroad ferries burned.

Ship

vessel Amerigo Vespucci in New York Harbor, 1976]] A ship is a large, sea-going watercraft, sometimes with multiple decks. A ship usually has sufficient size to carry its own boats, such as lifeboats, dinghies, or runabouts. A rule of thumb saying (though it doesn't always apply) goes: "a boat can fit on a ship, but a ship can't fit on a boat". Often local law and regulation will define the exact size (or the number of masts) which a boat requires to become a ship. (Note that one refers to submarines as "boats"). Compare vessel. During the age of sail, ship signified a ship-rigged vessel, that is, one with three or more masts, usually three, all square-rigged. Such a vessel would normally have one fore and aft sail on her aftermost mast which was usually the mizzen. Almost invariably she would also have a bowsprit but this was not part of the definition. The same economic pressures which increased sizes to the point of carrying four or five masts, also introduced the fore and aft rig to larger vessels, so few ship-rigged vessels were built with more than three masts. The five-masted Preussen was the outstanding example but the big German ships and barques were built partly for prestige reasons. Nautical means related to sailors, particularly customs and practices at sea. Naval is the adjective pertaining to ships though in common usage, it has come to be more particularly associated with the noun 'navy'.

Measuring ships

One can measure ships in terms of overall length, length of the waterline, beam (breadth), depth (distance between the crown of the weather deck and the top of the keelson), draft (distance between the highest waterline and the bottom of the ship) and tonnage. A number of different tonnage definitions exist; most measure volume rather than weight and are used when describing merchant ships.
- Gross tonnage is a measure of the total internal volume of the ship.
- Net tonnage is expresses a merchant vessel's earning capacity and gives the internal capacity of that part of the ship available for cargo or passengers.
- Thames measurement tonnage was used for smaller vessels and worked to a formula: (length - beam) x beam x ½beam / 94
- Displacement tonnage is normally applied to warships and equals the actual weight of a ship complete with crew, fuel, stores and water.
- Light ship tonnage measures the actual weight of the ship with no fuel, no persons, no cargo, no water on board is not usually quoted.
- Deadweight tonnage is the weight of cargo, stores, passengers etc. which when added to the weight of the ship's structure and equipment, will bring the vessel down to her designed waterline. The word "displacement" arises from the basic physical law, discovered by Archimedes, that the weight of a floating object equates exactly to that of the water which would otherwise occupy the "hole in the water" displaced by the ship. In Britain until the Merchant Shipping Act of 1876, ship-owners could load their vessels until their decks were almost awash, resulting in a dangerously unstable condition. Additionally, anyone who signed onto such a ship for a voyage and, upon realizing the danger, chose to leave the ship, could end up in jail. Samuel Plimsoll, a member of Parliament, realised the problem and engaged some engineers to derive a fairly simple formula to determine the position of a line on the side of any specific ship's hull which, when it reached the surface of the water during loading of cargo, meant the ship had reached its maximum safe loading level. To this day, that mark, called the "Plimsoll Mark", exists on ships' sides, and consists of a circle with a horizontal line through the center. Because different types of water, (summer, fresh, tropical fresh, winter north Atlantic) have different densities, subsequent regulations required painting a group of lines forward of the Plimsoll mark to indicate the safe depth (or freeboard above the surface) to which a specific ship could load in water of various densities. Hence the "ladder" of lines seen forward of the Plimsoll mark to this day.

Propulsion

Until the application of the steam engine to ships in the early 19th century, oars propelled galleys or the wind propelled sailing ships. Before mechanisation, merchant ships always used sail, but as long as naval warfare depended on ships closing to ram or to fight hand-to-hand, galleys dominated in marine conflicts because of their maneuverability and speed. The Greek navies that fought in the Peloponnesian War used triremes, as did the Romans contesting the Battle of Actium. The use of large numbers of cannon from the 16th century meant that maneuverability took second place to broadside weight; this led to the dominance of the sail-powered warship. The development of the steamship became a complex process, the first commercial success accruing to Robert Fulton's North River Steamboat (often called Clermont) in the USA in 1807, followed in Europe by the 45-foot PS Comet of 1812. Steam propulsion progressed considerably over the rest of the 19th century. Notable developments included the condenser, which reduced the requirement for fresh water, and the multiple expansion engine, which improved efficiency. As the means of transmitting the engine's power, the paddle wheel gave way to the more efficient screw propeller. The marine steam turbine developed by Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, brought the power to weight ratio down. He had achieved publicity by demonstrating it unofficially in the 100-foot Turbinia at the Spithead Naval Review in 1897. This facilitated a generation of high-speed liners in the first half of the 20th century and rendered the reciprocating steam engine out of date, in warships. The marine diesel engine first came into use around 1912: either the Vulcanus or the Selandia (depending upon who you talk to) first deployed it. It soon offered even greater efficiency than the steam turbine but for many years had an inferior power-to-space ratio. About this period too, heavy fuel oil came into more general use and began to replace coal as the fuel of choice in steamships. Its great advantages were the convenience and the reduction in manning owing to the removal of the need for trimmers and of stokers in the old-fashioned numbers. Most ships built since around 1960 have used diesel power or motors; one exception, Queen Elizabeth 2 of 1968, started with steam turbines but subsequently converted to diesel as a cost-saving measure. A few ships have used nuclear reactors, but this is not a separate form of propulsion. It merely makes steam to drive the turbines. Nonetheless, it has caused concerns about safety and waste disposal. It has become usual only in large aircraft carriers and in submarines, where the ability to run submerged for long periods holds obvious advantage. In such long-endurance vessels, the saving in bunkerage too, is an important consideration.

General terminology

Ships may occur collectively as fleets, flotillas or squadrons. Convoys of ships commonly occur. A collection of ships for military purposes may compose a navy or a task force. In the past, people counting or grouping disparate types of ship may refer to the individual vessels as bottoms. Groups of sailing ships could constitute, say, a fleet of 40 sail. Groups of submarines (particularly German U-boats in the 1940s) may hunt in packs (often erroneously called wolf packs).

Shipboard terminology

See also: Glossary of nautical terms. The complexity of ships, particularly of sailing ships, led to the development of a rich and various vocabulary. Many of the following terms link to more detailed discussions of nautical terminology.
- Amidships - toward the middle of the vessel.
- Bow - strictly, one of the two curved structures where the hull broadens out from the stem (the pointed end). The bows is a term for the head of the vessel or front of the ship. Compare prow, a more poetical term for the ship's head.
- Stern - the after end of the ship.
- Aft - towards the stern when the relationship is within the ship.
- Astern beyond the stern where the relationship is outside the vessel.
- Starboard - the side of the ship which lies to the right when an observer within the ship faces forward.
- Port - the side of the ship which lies to the left when an observer within the ship faces forward. (A mnemonic to distinguish port and starboard notes that left and port both have four letters. Another incorporates the navigation light: Is there any red port left?)
- (Navigation) Bridge - A structure above the weather deck, extending the full width of the vessel, which houses a command centre, itself called by association, the bridge. A bridge usually extends a little beyond the ship's side to enable observation of boats alongside, or the proximity of a dock or lock gate; these projections are called bridge wings. In big vessels, a docking bridge used to be found aft. (See Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember (1976) p.96). It enabled an officer to observe docking manoeuvres before giving orders. RMS Titanic had one but they have been superseded by closed circuit television cameras.
- Bulkheads - internal "walls" in a ship. Bulkheads are the vertical equivalent of decks. They have a structural function as well as dividing spaces. They serve to prevent collapse of the hull under stress, to maintain stability, in the event of flooding, and to contain fire. Many bulkheads feature watertight doors which, in the case of certain types of ships, the crew may close remotely. An internal "wall" that is not load-bearing is usually referred to as a "partition". It is to a bulkhead as a flat is to a deck.
- Cabin - an enclosed room on a deck or flat.
- Capstan - a winch with a vertical axis.
- Coaming - Raised edges of hatches in decks for keeping water and articles free on the deck from falling into the hold.
- Decks - the structures forming the approximately horizontal surfaces in the ship's general structure. Unlike flats, they are a structural part of the ship.
- Deck Head - The under-side of the deck above. Sometimes panelled over to hide the pipe work. This panelling, like that lining the bottom and sides of the holds, is the ceiling.
- Draft - The vertical distance from the current waterline to the lowest point of the ship or in the part of the ship under consideration.
- Figurehead - symbolic image at the head of a traditional sailing ship or early steamer.
- Forecastle - a partial deck, above the upper deck and at the head of the vessel; traditionally the sailors' living quarters.
- Freeboard - The vertical distance from the current waterline to the highest continuous watertight deck. This usually varies from one part to another.
- Galley - the kitchen of the ship
- Gunwale - Formerly a fabricated band placed for strengthening around the ship at the main or upper deck level to accommodate the stresses imposed by the use of artillery. In later use it is the angle between the ship’s side and upper deck. It remained as a structural member, in wooden boats where it was mounted inboard of the sheer strake regardless of the need for gunnery.
- Bulwark - the extension of the ship's side above the level of the weather deck.
- Hold - In earlier use, below the orlop deck, the lower part of the interior of a ship's hull, especially when considered as storage space, as for cargo. In later merchant vessels it extended up through the decks to the underside of the weather deck.
- Hull - the shell and framework of the basic flotation-oriented part of a ship
- Keel - the central structural basis of the hull
- Kelson - the timber immediately above the keel of a wooden ship.
- Mast - a spar (in a ship, a very heavy one stepped in the keelson) formerly designed for the support of one or more sails. In modern ships, it is a steel or aluminium fabrication which carries navigation lights, radar antennae etc.
- Prow - a poetical alternative term for bows.
- Scupper - a drainage waterway at the edge of a deck, is drained by a pipe or, on the weather deck, a small opening in the bulwarks, leading overboard. It is called a scupper which is distinct from larger openings with hinged covers on the bulwarks, designed for relieving the ship of large quantities of water in a seaway. These are called freeing ports or wash ports..
- Windlass - A winch mechanism, usually with a horizontal axis. used where mechanical advantage greater than that obtainable by block and tackle was needed.
- Weather deck - whichever deck is that exposed to the weather – usually either the main deck or, in larger vessels, the upper deck.

Some types of ships and boats

- Aircraft carrier
- Auto carrier
- Bulk carrier
- Cable Layer
- Capital ship
- Cargo ship
- Catamaran
- Coaster
- Commerce raider
- Container ship
- Corvette
- Cruise ship
- Cruiser
- Cutter
- Destroyer
- Diving support vessel
- Ferry
- Frigate
- Guided missile cruiser
- Icebreaker
- Junk
- Laker
- Lugger
- Minesweeper
- Minehunter
- Ocean liner
- Panamax
- Reefer (refrigerated ship)
- Research vessel
- RO-RO ship (roll on, roll off)
- Sailing ship
- Sloop
- Submarine
- Supertanker
- Tanker
- Tender
- Train ferry
- Tugboat
- Shipyard
- Yacht

Some historical types of ships and boats

Yacht
- Barque A sailing vessel with three or more masts, fore-and-aft rigged on only the aftermost.
- Barquentine A sailing vessel with three or more masts, square-rigged only on the foremast.
- Battle cruiser A light battleship.
- Battleship a large, heavily-armoured and heavily-gunned warship. A term which generally post-dates sailing warships.
- Bilander
- Bireme An ancient vessel, propelled by two banks of oars.
- Birlinn
- Blockade runner A ship whose current business is to slip past a blockade.
- Brig A two-masted, square-rigged vessel.
- Brigantine A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the main.
- Caravel
- Carrack
- Clipper
- Cog
- Collier A vessel designed for the coal trade.
- Dreadnought An early twentieth century class of battleship.
- Dromons are the precursors to galleys.
- East Indiaman An armed merchantman belonging to one of the East India companies (Dutch, British etc.)
- Fire ship A vessel of any sort, set on fire and sent into an anchorage with the aim of causing consternation and destruction. The idea is generally that of forcing an enemy fleet to put to sea in a confused, therefore vulnerable state.
- Galleass A sailing and rowing warship, equally well suited to sailing and rowing.
- Galleon A sixteenth century sailing warship.
- Galley A warship propelled by oars with a sail for use in a favourable wind.
- Galliot
- Ironclad A wooden warship with external iron plating.
- Knarr A type of Viking trade ship
- Liberty ship An American merchant ship of the late Second World War period, designed for rapid building in large numbers. (The earliest class of welded ships.)
- Longship A Viking raiding ship
- Man of war A sailing warship.
- Monitor A small, very heavily gunned warship with shallow draft. Designed for land bombardment.
- Paddle steamer A steam-propelled, paddle-driven vessel, a name commonly applied to nineteenth century excursion steamers.
- Pantserschip A Dutch ironclad. By the end of the nineteenth century, the name was applied to a heavy gunboat designed for colonial service.
- Penteconter An ancient warship propelled by 50 oars, 25 on each side.
- Pram A small dinghy, originally of a clinker construction and called in English, as in Danish, a praam. The Danish orthography has changed so that it would now be a pråm in its original language. It has a transom at both ends, the forward one usually small and steeply raked in the traditional design.
- Q-ship A commerce raider camouflaged as a merchant vessel.
- Quinquereme An ancient warship propelled by three banks of oars. On the upper row three rowers hold one oar, on the middle row - two rowers, and on the lower row - one man to an oar.
- Schooner A fore and aft-rigged vessel with two or more masts of which the foremast is shorter than the main.
- Shallop A large, heavily built, sixteenth century boat. Fore and aft rigged. More recently it has been a poetically frail open boat.
- Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) A modern ship design used for Research Vessels and other purposes needing a steady ship in rough seas.
- Steamship A ship propelled by a steam engine.
- Ship of the line A sailing warship of first, second or third rate. That is, with 64 or more guns. Before the late eighteenth century, fourth rates (50-60 guns) also served in the line of battle.
- Torpedo boat A small, fast surface vessel designed for launching torpedoes.
- Tramp steamer A steamer which takes on cargo when and where it can find it.
- Trireme An ancient warship propelled by three banks of oars.
- Xebec
- Victory ship

Quotations

:I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky, :And all I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by... :-John Masefield

External links

- [http://www.shipsystems.net.tf - Reference page]
- [http://www.shipspotting.com/ ShipSpotting.com - shipping image archive]
- Category:Water transport Category:Transportation ja:船舶 ms:Kapal

Grafton, New South Wales

(Highway 1)]] Grafton, (population 17,110), is a small cathedral city on the northern east coast of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Clarence River, Grafton is located approximately 640 kilometres north of the state capital, Sydney. In 1851, Governor Fitzroy officially named the town "Grafton", after his grandfather, the Duke of Grafton. Grafton was proclaimed a city in 1885. Local industy is chiefly agricultural in nature, with sugar and farming predominating. Grafton is also known as the Jacaranda City, in reference to its tree-lined streets. The Jacaranda Festival is held here in October and November. The festival runs for about 2 weeks. Most of the local people get into the spirit of the festival with the main street being closed on the city's public holiday, falling on the first thursday of october, aptly named - "Jacaranda Thursday" to make way for street entertainment. Each year, a Jacaranda Queen is announced. This tradition dates back to the beginning of the festival. The Queen is chosen from about 6 female contestants, and is judged by the jacaranda queen commitee. The judging of the contest is based largely on community involvment. Also, the contestent who raises the most money for charity is crowned the "holiday princess". Each year, the central 'market square' is a buzz of activity for the crowning ceremony. Although some believe this tradition is dated, most locals still enjoy and look forward to the festival every year. Christ Church Cathedral, designed by John Horbury Hunt was opened in 1884 and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Grafton. Schaeffer House is a historic 1900 Federation house and contains the collection of the Clarence River Historical Society which was formed in 1931.

Transportation

In the 1920s, Grafton had a train ferry to connect the railways north and south of the river, pending construction of a combined road and rail bridge.

External links

- http://www.tropicalnsw.com.au/aaa_site/places/towns/grafton.html
- http://www.nor.com.au/community/museums
- http://www.geocities.com/tim_fisherturville/grafton.htm Category:Cities in New South Wales

Clarence River

At least three rivers called the Clarence River:

Australia

The Clarence River flows through Grafton, New South Wales, Australia. Its source is Rivertree and its mouth is at Yamba.

Canada/USA

The Clarence River rises in the Yukon Territory of Canada and crosses back and forth across the border several times into the U.S. state of Alaska.

New Zealand

The Clarence River is located in Marlborough, in the South Island of New Zealand.

1920s

Sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or primarily in North America and in Australia as the "Roaring Twenties" . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. See 1920s Berlin. ----

Events and trends

Since the closing of the 20th Century, the 1920s has drawn close associations with the 1990s, especially in the United States. This due to the fact both decades were considered very economically prosperous times, and a prosperity which lasted throughout almost the entire decade following a tremendous event at the closing of the previous decade (World War I and Spanish flu in the late 1910s, and the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s). In Australia, this decade was known as the Roaring Twenties. Despite the comparisons, however, there were a number of differences. First of all, Germany, like many other European countries, had to face a severe economic downturn in the opening years of the decade, due to the enormous debt caused by the war as well as the one-sided Treaty of Versailles. Such a crisis would culminate with a devaluation of the Mark in 1923, eventually leading to economic prosperity during the remainder of the period. Second, the decade was characterized by the rise of radical political movements, especially in regions that were once part of empires. Communism began attracting large numbers of followers following the success of the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks' determination to win the subsequent Russian Civil War. The Bolsheviks would eventually adopt semi-capitalist policies-- New Economic Policy-- from 1921 to 1928. The 1920s also experienced the rise of the far-right in Europe and elsewhere, starting with Italy, and were perceived by some in the Western world as an antidote to Communism. The Stock Market collapsed during October 1929 (see Black Tuesday) and drew a line under prosperous 1920s.

Technology

- John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as "Tommy gun"
- John Logie Baird invents the first working mechanical television system (1925)
- Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean (20 May-21 May 1927)
- Penicillin is discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming (1928)
- Philo T. Farnsworth invents the modern electronic CRT television
- Insulin is discovered by Frederick Banting during the winter of 1921-1922

Science

- Great advances in quantum mechanics
- Wave mechanics and the Schrödinger equation
- Werner Heisenberg formulates the uncertainty principle
- Paul Dirac's unification of quantum mechanics with special relativity
- Prediction and discovery of the expanding universe

War, peace and politics

- Rise of communism after World War I
- The Red Scare in the United States (1920-1921)
- In the United States, peak of the Ku Klux Klan (about five million members)
- In the United States, KKK auxiliaries established.
- Irish Civil War
- The Irish Free State gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1922
- Marie C. Brehm becomes temperance movement leader.
- Turkish War of Independence
- Moderation League of New York worked for repeal of prohibition.
- Polish-Soviet war
- First Labour Government of Ramsay MacDonald formed in the United Kingdom
- Kellogg-Briand Pact to end war
- Prohibition leaders were at the height of their power.

Economics

- Economic boom ended by "Black Tuesday" (October 29, 1929); the stock market crashes, leading to the Great Depression

Culture, religion

- Prohibition — legal attempt to end consumption of alcohol in Canada, the USA, and Finland
- Youth culture of The Lost Generation; flappers, the Charleston, and bobbed hair
- "The Jazz Age" — jazz and jazz-influenced dance music widely popular
- Women's suffrage movement continues to make gains as women obtain full voting rights in the United States in 1920, in Denmark in 1921, and in England in 1928; and women begin to enter the workplace in larger numbers
- In the US, gangsters and the rise of organized crime, often associated with bootleg liquor, in defiance of Prohibition.
- Rum rows are established to import bootleg alcoholic beverages into U.S.
- First commercial radio station in the U.S. goes onair in Pittsburgh, in 1920, and radio quickly becomes a popular entertainment medium
- Methodist Board of Temperance, Prohibition, and Public Morals defends alcohol prohibition in U.S.
- Start of motion pictures with sound tracks in 1927
- Beginning of surrealist movement
- Beginning of the Art Deco movement
- Fads such as dance marathons, mah-jongg, crossword puzzles and pole-sitting are popular
- The height of the clip joint
- The Harlem Renaissance
- The Scopes Monkey Trial (1925) which questioned evolution, creationism, and the right to teach
- Bishop James Cannon, Jr. becomes a U.S. temperance movement leader.
- The Group of Seven (artists)
- Repeal organizations organized to fight national prohibition in U.S.
- Minister Daisy Douglas Barr heads Women's Ku Klux Klan (WKKK).

People

World leaders

- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- President Sun Yat-sen (Republic of China)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State)
- President Mustafa Kemal(Attaturk) (Turkey)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope Pius XI
- Vladimir Lenin (Soviet Union)
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- King George V (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister David Lloyd George (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald (United Kingdom)
- President Woodrow Wilson (United States)
- President Warren G. Harding (United States)
- President Calvin Coolidge (United States)
- President Herbert Hoover (United States)
- Prime Minister Jason Bailey (Canada)
- Peebodie Mike Hawk (Guatamala)

Entertainers

- Charlie Chaplin
- George Gershwin
- Duke Ellington
- Fletcher Henderson
- Al Jolson
- Jelly Roll Morton
- Cole Porter
- Bessie Smith
- Rudy Vallee
- Paul Whiteman
- Louis Armstrong
- Eddie Cantor
- Helen Kane
- Buster Keaton

Sports figures

- Alex James (Arsenal & Scotland footballer)
- Babe Ruth (American baseball player)
- Bill Tilden (American tennis player)
- Bobby Jones (American golfer)
- Gordon Coventry (Australian Rules Football player)
- Herbert Sutcliffe (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Jack Dempsey (American boxer)
- Jack Hobbs (Surrey & England cricketer)
- Red Grange (American football player)
- Warwick Armstrong (Australian cricket captain)
- Wilfred Rhodes (Yorkshire & England cricketer)
- Helen Wills Moody (American tennis player)

External links

- [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/games/game_0_1920s/ Quiz: Life in the Roaring Twenties] Category:1920s ko:1920년대 ja:1920年代 simple:1920s

1930s

----

Events and trends

The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. In Australia, this decade was known as the Dirty Thirties. In both Central Europe and Eastern Europe, Fascism, Nazism, Stalinism, and dominated as the solution, the first two adopting war-oriented economic policies and the latter emphasizing heavy industrial development, all of them described as totalitarian regimes. In East Asia, the rise of Militarism occurred. In Western Europe, Australia and the United States, more progressive reforms occurred as opposed to the extreme measures sought elsewhere. Roosevelt's New Deal attempted to use government spending to combat large-scale unemployment and severely negative growth. Ultimately, it would be the beginning of World War II in 1939 that would end the depression.

Technology

- Jet engine invented
- Disney adopts a three-color Technicolor process for cartoons
- The photocopier is invented
- Air mail service across the Atlantic

Science

- Nuclear fission discovered by Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner and Fritz Strassmann
- Pluto, the ninth planet from the Sun, is discovered by Clyde Tombaugh
- British biologist Arthur Tansley coins term "ecosystem"
- New and safer method for blood transfusions.

War, peace and politics

- Socialists proclaim The death of Capitalism
- Rise to power of Adolf Hitler in Germany
- Under Joseph Stalin, millions die in famines. The Great Purges eliminate all Old Bolsheviks from the Soviet government, except for Molotov and Stalin himself.
- Almost all of Continental Europe moves to Authoritarianism or Totalitarianism
- Starts or continue the Estado Novo in Brazil and Portugal.
- Advent of the modern welfare state in New Zealand and Sweden.
- The Empire of Japan invades China as a precursor to Japanese invasions in Southeast Asia
- The Spanish Civil War
- Start of World War II in Asia and Europe

Economics

- Worldwide Great Depression

Culture, religion

- Radio becomes dominant mass media in industrial nations
- "Golden Age" of radio begins in U.S.
- First intercontinental commercial airline flights
- Height of the Art Deco movement in Europe and the US
- The Wizard of Oz
- "Big band" or "swing" music becomes popular (from 1935 onward)
- Superman debuts in 1938.
- Triumph of the Will

Others

- U.S. presidential candidate Huey Long assassinated
- Board of Temperance Strategy established in U.S. to fight repeal of prohibition.

People

World leaders

- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (Canada)
- President Chiang Kai-shek (Republic of China)
- President Lin Sen (Republic of China)
- President Paul von Hindenburg (Germany)
- Adolf Hitler (Germany)
- King Victor Emmanuel III (Italy)
- Prime Minister Benito Mussolini (Italy)
- President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Turkey)
- Emperor Hirohito (Japan)
- Pope Pius XI
- Joseph Stalin (Soviet Union)
- King George V (United Kingdom)
- King Edward VIII (United Kingdom)
- King George VI (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin (United Kingdom)
- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (United Kingdom)
- President Herbert Hoover (United States)
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt (United States)
- President W.T. Cosgrave (Irish Free State)
- President Eamon de Valera (Irish Free State)
- Taoiseach Eamon de Valera (Éire)
- Prime Minister James Scullin (Australia)
- Prime Minister Joseph Lyons (Australia)
- Prime Minister Sir Earle Page (Australia)
- Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage (New Zealand)
- President Getúlio Vargas (Brazil)
- Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar (Portugal)

Entertainers

- Alice Brady
- Bela Lugosi
- Benny Goodman
- Bing Crosby
- Boris Karloff
- Charlie Chaplin
- Duke Ellington
- Django Reinhardt
- Edward G. Robinson
- Fats Waller
- Fred Astaire
- Ginger Rogers
- Glenn Miller and his orchestra
- Judy Garland
- Katharine Hepburn
- Louis Armstrong
- The Marx Brothers
- Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
- Carl Stuart Hamblen

Sports figures

- Cliff Bastin (English footballer)
- Donald Bradman (Australian cricketer)
- Bill "Dixie" Dean (English footballer)
- Jack Dyer (Australian Rules Football player)
- Walter Hammond (Gloucestershire & England cricketer)
- Eddie Hapgood (English footballer)
- George Headley (West Indies cricketer)
- Alex James (Scottish footballer)
- Douglas Jardine (England cricket captain)
- Harold Larwood (Nottinghamshire & England cricketer)
- Jack Lovelock (New Zealand runner)
- Jesse Owens (American track and field athlete)
- Fred Perry (English tennis player)

External links

- [http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/front.html America in the 1930s]— An overview of the decade in the United States
- [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/keys/webtours/GE_P4_1_EN.html The Dirty Thirties] — Images of the Great Depression in Canada Category:1930s ko:1930년대 ja:1930年代 simple:1930s

Newfoundland Railway

The Newfoundland Railway was a historic railway that operated on the island of Newfoundland and was the longest narrow gauge railway system in North America.

Early construction

In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland legislature recommended that a narrow gauge railway be built from the colonial capital in St. John's to Halls Bay, 340 miles (547 km) to the west. Construction was started on the Avalon Peninsula in August, 1881 by a group of investors and by 1884, the Newfoundland Railway Company had built 57 miles (92 km) west to Whitbourne before the company went into receivership. The same investors continued to build a 27-mile (43 km) branchline from Whitbourne to Harbour Grace which was called the Harbour Grace Railway, which was completed by October of that same year. The colonial government undertook to build a branch from the junction at Whitbourne to the ports of Placentia and Argentia, which was done between 1886 and 1888.

Robert G. Reid

1888 The colonial government sought new investors to continue the stalled project to Halls Bay and in June, 1890, Scottish-born Montreal resident and railway engineer/contractor Robert Gillespie Reid agreed to build and operate the line. By 1892, Reid's workers were approaching the halfway point at the Exploits River when the government changed the terminus from Halls Bay approximately 250 miles (400 km) further west, first to St. George's Bay and finally to Port aux Basques. The route itself was diverted inland up the Exploits valley and over the Gaff Topsails (some of the highest elevation terrain on the island) and away from the coast once on the north bank of the Exploits River. This extension to the system was initially operated as the Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway and for it, Reid was granted land totalling 5,000 acres per mile (13 km²/km). The new line west to Port aux Basques was completed between 1894 and 1898. At the same time, Reid also proposed to operate a ferry service across the Cabot Strait from Port aux Basques to North Sydney, Nova Scotia and contracted for a steamship to be built in England. The Bruce arrived in the fall of 1897, before the line was completed to Port aux Basques, so her initial runs to Cape Breton Island were made from Little Placentia. On June 29, 1898 the first passenger train arrived at Port aux Basques and the Bruce set sail with passengers for North Sydney. Later that same year, the colonial government persuaded Reid's company to take over operation of the bankrupt Newfoundland Railway Company and its sister Harbour Grace Railway, as well as the government-owned Placentia branch, in order to unify the system across the entire island (known as the Railway Contract of '98). The Reid company agreed to operate the lines for 50 years, in exchange for outright ownership and land grants. They also purchased the government drydock in St. John's and the telegraph system. The Reid company purchased eight new steamships to operate as coastal ferries around the island and into Labrador. Controversy followed the awarding of so many assets to Reid and in 1901 the contracts were modified to place everything under a limited liability corporation named the Reid Newfoundland Company. Reid's railway development in the colony began to attract attention to the potential of the island's natural resources. In 1903, the Reids partnered with a St. John's businessman, Harry J. Crowe, to purchase timber rights in Botwood, Norris Arm, Gambo, Gander Bay, and Point Leamington. In 1904, British investors named Harmsworth declared their intention to build a pulp and paper mill in Grand Falls and on January 7, 1905, the Anglo Newfoundland Development Company (AND) was formed, based on a partnership between the Harmsworths, Reid and the colonial government. Botwood was expanded through the construction of deepwater wharves and warehouses for shipping the finished pulp. To link the two, AND built the narrow gauge Botwood Railway (built to the same gauge as the Reid Newfoundland Company trackage) beginning in 1908 and completing it in 1909. It would later be renamed the Grand Falls Central Railway. Reid died in 1908 but his company set the pace for development in Newfoundland's interior mining and forestry industries, although the entire operation continued to suffer losses. In 1909 and into the 1910s, the colonial government contracted for additional branch lines to be built. SOme of the major works included:
- a line to Bonavista
- a line to Trepassey
- extend the Harbour Grace line through Carbonear to Bay de Verde
- several smaller branches, some of which were graded but rails were never installed Bay de Verde

Nationalization

By the early 1920s, the Reid Newfoundland Company's losses were mounting and in 1923 the colonial government passed the Railway Settlement Act which cancelled the operating contract for the entire system, passing the railway into government control (a form of nationalization). Some of the lands that had belonged to the Reid Newfoundland Company were used by the government as part of a deal to develop a pulp and paper mill in Corner Brook. The railway was initially called the Newfoundland Government Railway but was soon shortened to the Newfoundland Railway in 1926. It would remain the property of the colonial government until Confederation on March 31, 1949 when it was transferred to the federal government. In 1925, the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) perfected a method for recovering individual metals in ore and entered into partnership with AND to develop a mine at Buchans, which was connected to the Newfoundland Railway by the Millertown Railway, also narrow gauge.

Wartime

Although the railway saw an increase in traffic during the First World War, it was the construction of the air force base adjacent to the mainline in Gander as well as the construction of major American military bases in Stephenville (Ernest Harmon AFB), Argentia (Naval Station Argentia) and St. John's (Pepperell AFB) as well as Canadian and British defence facilities in St. John's which saw the Newfoundland Railway prove its worth as a strategic asset. Given the lack of roads and all-weather highways in Newfoundland during the 1940s, and the U-boat threat in the waters off-shore, the Newfoundland Railway became a vital, yet very obscure, supply link in the defence of the North Atlantic and the allied convoy system. It was also during the war that the Newfoundland Railway would experience its most tragic loss when the ferry Caribou was torpedoed and sunk 25 miles off Port aux Basques by German submarine U-69 on October 14, 1942. 137 passengers lost their lives and only 104 people survived the sinking; 2 having died after being rescued. In honour of the passengers and crew who were lost, the Newfoundland Railway Employees Association had the entire workforce forego a day's wages as a donation to a public campaign which saw a memorial built near the Port aux Basques railway terminal.

Canadian National

On March 31, 1949 Newfoundland became the 10th province of Canada and the Newfoundland Railway's assets were transferred to the control of the federal Crown corporation Canadian National Railways (CNR). CNR became a major presence in Newfoundland's early years as a province with the control of the railway, dry dock, many ferries and coastal boats, as well as the telegraph system resting with the company. CNR made major capital improvements to the former Newfoundland Railway with upgrades to the mainline, bridges, rolling stock, and replacement of all steam locomotives with diesel units. Additional improvements were made to the ferry service with new vessels and an expanded terminal at Port aux Basques. An additional indirect service improvement to the Newfoundland railway operations was made in 1955 with the opening of the Canso Causeway linking Cape Breton Island with mainland North America and removing the need to ferry railcars destined for Newfoundland across the Strait of Canso. CN's (name/acronym change post-1960) Newfoundland operations continued to see significant traffic increases with its improved ferry and rail connections but soon faced increased truck and bus competition after the Trans-Canada Highway was completed across the island in 1965. New railcar capable ferries were introduced and mainland standard-gauge railcars started to show up in Newfoundland, only after their standard gauge wheels had been replaced with narrow gauge wheels in Port aux Basques, however even interchange traffic could not reverse the traffic declines. The first casualty was the passenger rail service which was abandoned in 1968 in favour of buses. CN even began to demarket its own Newfoundland rail operations through the 1970s as it began to rely on trucks for hauling cargo. In 1977, CN reorganized its narrow gauge system into Terra Transport, as a means to separate the subsidy-dependent Newfoundland rail operations from its mainland North America core freight rail system. Containerization didn't change the continuing traffic declines and the closure of all branch lines by 1984 was a prelude to what would come. In 1987, Canada deregulated its railway industry, allowing abandonments to proceed with less red tape. The former CN subsidiary CN Marine was reorganized into Marine Atlantic in 1986 and the railcar ferries were sold off, leaving the narrow gauge system with no interchange ability at Port aux Basques. In December, 1987 the provincial and federal governments signed a deal worth $800 million (CAD) for highway improvements, removing the provincial government's opposition to the pending abandonment of the railway. On June 20, 1988 it was made official that the railway in Newfoundland would be officially abandoned on September 1, 1988. Following abandonment, trains continued to operate until the snow fell, working with salvage crews to remove the rails from remote locations, particularly in the Gaff Topsails between the Exploits River and Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador. The last train operated in Newfoundland in November, 1988.

Legacy

- The Newfoundland Railway station in St. John's today hosts the Railway Coastal Museum.
- Numerous towns across the island have preserved railway equipment on display.
- The entire mainline and many branchlines are maintained as recreational trails - in fact they comprise the T'Railway Provincial Park.
- Some of the rolling stock (but not engines) was sold to the White Pass and Yukon Route railway, which coincidentally reopened for service in 1988; it was converted to a narrower gauge (36 inches); gravel cars used by WP&YR are still painted the CN orange; unconfirmed information indicates that some Newfoundland passenger cars were converted into passenger cars of vintage appearance for WP&YR
- The Trinity Loop Amusement Park operates a miniature train for tourists on Trinity Loop, one of the few remaining places on Newfoundland to still have tracks.
- Technically, the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador still has a railway, though it does not operate on the island portion. The Quebec, North Shore, and Labrador Railway operates between Sept-Iles, QC and the mining town of Schefferville, QC, just across the provincial boundary, passing through Labrador. A QNSL spur line serves Labrador West and also connects with Newfoundland and Labrador's other remaining railway, the Wabush Lake Railway.

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is located off Canada's Pacific coast and is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. At 32,134 square kilometers (12,407 square miles), it is the largest island on the western side of the Americas. The island has been inhabited by humans for some eight thousand years. By the late 1700s, the primary First Nations on the island were the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) on the west coast, the Salish on the south and east coasts, and the Kwakiutl in the centre of the island and the north. Europeans began to encroach on the island in 1774, when rumours of Russian fur traders caused the Spanish to send a ship, the Santiago north under the command of Juan José Pérez Hernández. In 1775 a second Spanish expedition, under Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, was sent. Neither actually landed. After these first peeks, Vancouver Island came to the attention of the wider world after the third voyage of Captain James Cook, who landed at Nootka Sound of the Island's western shore on March 31, 1778 and claimed it for the United Kingdom. The island's rich fur trading potential led the British East India Company to set up a single-building trading post in the native village of Yuquot on Nootka Island, a small island in the Sound. The island was further explored by Spain in 1789 by Esteban José Martínez, who built Fort San Miguel on one of Vancouver Island's small offshore islets in the Sound near Yuquot. This was to be the only Spanish settlement in what would later be Canada. The Spanish began seizing British ships and the two nations came close to war, but the issues were resolved peacefully in favour of the British with the Nootka Convention in 1792. Coordinating the handover was Captain George Vancouver from King's Lynn in England, who had sailed as a midshipman with Cook, and from whom the island gained its name. England The first British settlement on the island was a Hudson's Bay Company post, Fort Camosun, founded in 1843. This became the centre of an important base during the Fraser Gold Rush, and the burgeoning town was incorporated as Victoria in 1862. Victoria became the capital of the colony of Vancouver Island, then retained that status when the island was amalgamated with the mainland nearby. Victoria remains the capital of British Columbia, although long since surpassed in population by the city of Vancouver. Note that Vancouver is not on Vancouver Island (a matter of some confusion), and Victoria is on Vancouver Island, not Victoria Island (a much larger island in the Canadian Arctic). Vancouver Island is an exception to the Oregon Treaty as the portion of the island south of the 49th parallel remains under Canadian control. A British naval base was established at Esquimalt, British Columbia in 1865, and eventually taken over by the Canadian military. It is the second largest Canadian naval base after Halifax, Nova Scotia. As of 2002, Vancouver Island had an estimated population of 750,000. Slightly less than half of these - 326,000 as of 2002 - live in Victoria, British Columbia. Other major cities on Vancouver Island include Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Parksville, Courtenay, and Campbell River. Vancouver Island's economy outside Victoria is largely dominated by the forestry industry, with tourism and fishing also playing a large role. Many of the logging operations are for paper pulp, in "2nd growth" tree farms that are harvested approximately every 30 years. In recent years the government of British Columbia has engaged in an advertising program to draw more tourists to beach resorts such as Tofino. Logging operations involving old-growth forests such as those found on Clayoquot Sound are controversial, and have gained international attention through the efforts of activists and environmental organizations. Between Vancouver Island and the Canadian mainland there are several AC and DC high voltage power cables (HVDC Vancouver-Island).

External links

- [http://www.terragalleria.com/north-america/canada/vancouver-island Photos of Vancouver Island - Terra Galleria]
- [http://www.sooke.org/tourism-photo-file/ Photos of Vancouver Island community of Sooke] Category:Islands of British Columbia ja:バンクーバー島

Zhanjiang

Zhanjiang (湛江) is a city in Guangdong province, in southeast China. Its most recent census had the population at 1,048,720.

Geography

Zhanjiang is located to the southwest of the city of Guangzhou on an inlet of the South China Sea. It is located on the eastern coast of the Leizhou Peninsula. The dialect of Leizhou is different from Cantonese.

History

Zhanjiang was a small fishing port when it was occupied by the French in 1898. The next year, the French forced the Chinese to lease Zhanjiang to them for 99 years. The French wanted to develop the port, which they called Fort Bayard, to serve southern China, in parts of which France had exclusive rights to railway and mineral development. Their efforts, however, were hindered by the poverty of the surrounding land. The French retained control of the region until 1943, when the Japanese occupied the area during World War II. The Japanese relinquished control to the Chinese in 1945.

Economy

It is a seaport and trade center having many varied industries, including shipyards, textile plants, and sugar refining. The port is the headquarters of the South Sea Fleet of the Chinese Navy.

Guangdong

Guangdong (; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1; Vietnamese: Quảng Đông), is a province on the south coast of the People's Republic of China. Sometimes, "Canton Province" (based on an obsolete French-derived transliteration of "Guangdong") is used to mean Guangdong. This is as opposed to "Canton (City)", which refers to the city of Guangzhou, the provincial capital. "Guang" itself means "expanse" or "vast", and was associated with the region from the Western Jin Dynasty onwards. "Guangdong" and neighbouring Guangxi literally mean "expanse east" and "expanse west". Together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called the "Two Guangs" (兩廣 liăng guăng). The modern abbreviation 粵/粤 (Yue) is related to the Hundred Yuet (百越), a collective name for various peoples that lived in Guangdong and other areas in ancient times.

History

Guangdong was far removed from the center of ancient Chinese civilization in the north China plain. It was populated by peoples collectively known as the Hundred Yuet (百越), who may have been Tai-Kadai and related to the Zhuang people in modern Guangxi. Chinese administration in the region began with the Qin Dynasty, which, after establishing the first unified Chinese empire, expanded southwards and set up Nanhai Commandery (南海郡) at Panyu (番禺), near what is now Guangzhou. The Han Dynasty administered Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam as Jiao Province (交州). Under the Wu Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms, Guangdong was made its own province, the Guang Province (廣州), in 226. As time passed, the demographics of what is now Guangdong slowly shifted to Han Chinese-dominance, especially during several periods of massive migration from the north during periods of political turmoil and/or nomadic incursions from the fall of the Han Dynasty onwards. For example, internal strife in northern China following the rebellion of An Lushan resulted in a 75% increase in the population of Guangzhou prefecture between 740s-750s and 800s-810s[http://www.nhyz.org/yxx/jxzy/zy/zy48.htm]. As more migrants arrived, the local population was gradually assimilated to Han Chinese culture [http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11836649], or displaced. Together with Guangxi, Guangdong was made part of Lingnan Circuit (嶺南道), or Mountain-South Circuit, in 627 during the Tang Dynasty. The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was renamed Guangnan East Circuit(廣南東路 guǎng nán dōng lù) in 971 during the Song Dynasty. "Guangnan East" is the source of "Guangdong". As Mongols from the north engaged in their conquest of China in the 13th century, the Southern Song Dynasty retreated southwards, eventually ending up in today's Guangdong. The Battle of Yamen (1279) in Guangdong marked the end of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Guangdong was a part of Jiangxi. Its present name, "Guangdong Province" was given in early Ming Dynasty. Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European merchants coming northwards via the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, particularly the British, traded extensively through Guangzhou. Macau, on the coast of Guangdong, was the first European settlement in China (since 1557). It was the opium trade through Guangzhou that triggered the Opium Wars, opening an era of foreign incursion and intervention in China. In addition to Macau, Hong Kong was ceded to the British, and Kwang-Chou-Wan to the French. In the 19th century, Guangdong was also the major port of exit for laborers in southeast Asia and the Western United States. Until the late 20th century, residents in Chinatowns tended to be overwhelmingly from Guangdong, so much so that Cantonese, spoken by less than 10% of Chinese people in China, remains the lingua franca of the Chinese diaspora in many places abroad. During the 1850s, the first revolt of the Taiping Rebellion took place in Guangdong. Because of direct contact with the West, Guangdong was a center of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist activity. The generally acknowledged founder of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen, was from Guangdong. During the early 1920s of the Republic of China, Guangdong was the staging area for KMT to prepare for the Northern Expedition, an effort to bring the various warlords of China back under the central government. Whampoa Military Academy was built near Guangzhou to train military commanders. In recent years, the province has seen extremely rapid economic growth, aided in part by its close trading links with Hong Kong, which borders it. It is now the province with the highest gross domestic product in China. Hainan island was originally part of Guangdong but it was separated as its own province in 1988. Guangdong is believed to be the source of SARS in 2003.

Administrative divisions

The current immediate administrative divisions of Guangdong consist of 21 prefecture-level cities:
- Chaozhou (潮州)
- Dongguan (东莞)
- Foshan (佛山)
- Guangzhou (广州)
- Heyuan (河源)
- Huizhou (惠州)
- Jiangmen (江门)
- Jieyang (揭阳)
- Maoming (茂名)
- Meizhou (梅州)
- Qingyuan (清远)
- Shantou (汕头)
- Shanwei (汕尾)
- Shaoguan (韶关)
- Shenzhen sub-provincial city (深圳)
- Yangjiang (阳江)
- Yunfu (云浮)
- Zhanjiang (湛江)
- Zhaoqing (肇庆)
- Zhongshan (中山)
- Zhuhai (珠海) The above division govern, in total, 49 districts, 30 county-level cities, 42 counties, and 3 autonomous counties. See the list of administrative divisions of Guangdong for county-level divisions.

Geography

Guangdong faces the South China Sea to the south and has a total of 4,300 km of coastline. Leizhou Peninsula is on the southwestern end of the province. There are a few inactive volcanoes on Leizhou Peninsula. The Pearl River Delta is the convergent point of three upstream rivers: the East River, North River, and West River. The river delta is filled with hundreds of small islands. The province is geographically separated from the north by a few mountain ranges collectively called the Southern Mountain Range (南岭). The highest point in the province is about 1,600 meters above sea level. Guangdong borders Fujian province to the northeast, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces to the north, Guangxi autonomous region to the west, and Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions to the south. Hainan province is offshore across from the Leizhou Peninsula. Cities around the Pearl River Delta include Dongguan, Foshan, Guangzhou, Huizhou, Jiangmen, Shenzhen, Shunde, Taishan, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. Other cities in the province include Chaozhou, Chenghai, Kaiping, Nanhai, Panyu, Shantou, Shaoguan, Xinhui, Zhanjiang and Zhaoqing.

Economy

After the communist takeover and until the start of the Deng Xiaoping reforms in 1978, Guangdong was an economic backwater. Economic development policies encouraged industrial development in the interior provinces which were weakly linked to Guangdong via transportation links. The government policy of economic autarky made Guangdong's access to the ocean irrelevant. Deng Xiaoping's open door policy radically changed the economy of the province as it was able to take advantage of its access to the ocean, its closeness to Hong Kong, and historical links to overseas Chinese. In addition, until the 1990s when the Chinese taxation system was reformed, the province benefited from the relatively low rate of taxation placed on it by the central government due to its historical status of being economically backward. The province is now one of the richest in the nation, with the highest GDP among all provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2003 was 165 billion USD (the same size as Hong Kong's) and it contributes approximately 12% of national economic output. It has three of the four Special Economic Zones: Shenzhen, Shantou and Zhuhai. The affluence of Guangdong, however, remains very much concentrated near the Pearl River Delta.

Demographics

Even though official statistics show Guangdong as the 4th most populous province of China with about 80 million people, recently released information [http://media.163.com/05/0201/11/1BGKCSFN0014183O.html] suggests that there are an additional 30 million immigrants who reside in Guangdong for at least six months every year, making Guangdong the most populous province of China with a population of more than 110 million. The massive influx of migrants from other provinces, dubbed the "floating population", is due to Guangdong's booming economy and high demand for labour. Owing to the closeness of Guangdong to the ocean, Guangdong is also the ancestral home to large numbers of overseas Chinese. Most of the railroad laborers in the Western United States in the 19th century came from the province. Emigration in recent years has slowed due to the relatively good economy in the province. The majority of the province's population is Han Chinese. There is a small Yao population in the northern part of the province. Other smaller minority groups include Miao, Li, and Zhuang. Because of the high population density and the close proximity in which humans and animals live, Guangdong has often been the source of respiratory diseases such as influenza. In late 2002, Guangdong was the initial source of SARS.

Politics

During the 1980s, the Guangdong provincial government had a reputation of resisting central government directives,