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17] In 1983, a major crackdown was launched on the leadership of the Shiite community with 90 members of the al-Hakim family (an influential family of Shia clerics whose leading members were the migr s Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim and Abdul Aziz Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery

al-Hakim) being arrested and six being hanged.[117] Even more extensive was the crackdown on the Kurds that saw 8,000 members of the Barzani clan, whose leader Massoud Barzani was also the leader of the KDP summarilySony VAIO VGN-FW21L Battery
executed.[55] From 1983 onwards, a campaign of increasingly brutal repression was started against the Iraqi Kurds that the Israeli historian Efraim Karsh wrote "assumed genocidal proportions" by 1988.[55] The Al-Anfal Campaign was intended to "pacify" Iraqi Kurdistan permanently.[55] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z Battery

Iran
The outbreak of the war was seen by the Iranian government as a heaven-sent chance to strengthen its position and consolidate the Islamic revolution.[55] The war was presented to the Iranian people asSony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery

a glorious jihad and a test of Iranian national character.[123] Right from the beginning, the Iranian regime followed a policy of total war, and attempted to mobilize the entire nation for the struggle.[124] The waSony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery

r furthered the decline of the Iranian economy that began with the Islamic revolution in 1978-79.[125] Between 1979 and 1981, foreign exchange reserves fell from $14.6 billion US to $1 billion.[126] As a result of the war, living standards dropped quite dramatically in Iran in the 1980s.[126] The BritishSony VAIO VGN-FW31J Battery
journalists John Bulloch and Harvey Morris described 1980s Iran as "...a dour and joyless place" ruled by a harsh regime that "...seemed to have nothing to offer, but endless war".[127] As part of the total war effort, the Sony VAIO VGN-FW11ZRU Battery
regime established a group known as the Reconstruction Campaign, who enjoyed exemption from conscription and sent into the countryside to work on the farms and replace the men serving at the front.[128] Iranian workersSony VAIO VGN-FW11ZU Battery
had a day's pay deducted from their pay cheques every month to help finance the war, and mass campaigns were launched to encourage the public to donate food, money and blood for the soldiers.[126] To help paySony VAIO VGN-FW21ER Battery
for the war, the Iranian government banned the import of all non-essential items, and started a major effort to rebuild the damaged oil plants.[12Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J Battery
8] Iranian oil technicians, "masters of invention and innovation", did much to keep their nation's oil industry going in the face of much difficulty, and thus ensured that Iran could pay for the war.[128]

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In 1981, a condition of near-civil war took place on the streets of Iranian cities as the left-wing Mujaheddin e-Khalq (MEK) attempted to seize power.[129] In June 1981, street battles between the MEK and the RevolutionarySony VAIO VGN-FW21ZR
Guard raged for several days with hundreds killed on both sides.[130] The MEK started an assassination campaign that killed hundreds of regime officials by the fall of 1981.[131] On June 28, 1981 the MEK assassinated secretary-general of the Islamic Republican Party, Mohammad Beheshti and August 30, killed the President, Mohammad-Ali Rajai.[131] In September 1981, street battles again raged betweenSony VAIO VGN-FW3ZJ Battery
the MEK and the Revolutionary Guard.[131] Thousands of left-wing Iranians (many of whom were not associated with the MEK) were shot and hanged by the government in the aftermath.[131] Even after their Sony VAIO VGN-FW46M Battery
defeat, the MEK waged a campaign of bombings and assassinations which was met with a policy of mass executions of suspected MEK members that lasted until 1985.[129] Other than the MEK, the Iranian government was faced withSony VAIO VGN-FW4ZTJ/H
a rebellion in Iranian Kurdistan supported by Iraq, which was gradually put down through a campaign of systematic repression.[128] Besides for the MEK and the Kurds, anti-war student demonstrations took place in 1985, which were crushed by government activists.[126] Sony VAIO VGN-FW51 Battery

One of the few exceptions to the repressive policies of the government was the tolerance shown to the anti-war Islamic Liberation Movement led by a former prime minister Mehdi Bazargan.[128] In January 1985, Bazargan criticized the Sony VAIO VGN-FW51MF/H Battery
war after 1982 in a telegram to the United Nations as un-Islamic and illegitimate, arguing that Khomeini should have accepted Saddam's truce offer of 1982 instead of attempting to overthrow the Ba'ath.[128] Khomeini was annoyedSony VAIO VGN-FW51ZF/H Battery by Bazargan's telegram, and issued a lengthy public rebuttal in which he defended the war as both Islamic and just.[128] By 1987, there were increasing signs that Iranian morale was breaking as reflected in the failure of several government campaigns to recruit "martyrs" for the front.[12Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery
6] The Israeli historian Efraim Karsh wrote that it was signs of declining morale in 1987-88 that played a major role in Iran's decision to accept the ceasefire of 1988.[126] The British journalist Patrick Brogan wrote that by 1988: Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery

"The economy was collapsing. War and revolution had taken their toll. Only war industries survived, and the standard of living was dropping precipitously. There were no longer enough recruits for the Revolutionary Guards; the Iranian war machine was no longer capable of supplying the huge armies Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery
that had marched singing to war in the early days...The country was sliding steadily into bankruptcy. Strict Islamic law forbids usury, and Khomeini interpreted that to mean Iran could not borrow against future oilSony VGP-BPS21A/B Battery
revenues to meet the expenses of war. Iran paid cash, and when the reserves were exhausted, Iran had to rely on income from its oil exports. Oil revenue dropped from $20 billion in 1982 to $5 billion in 1988. At an OPEC meeting Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery

Sony VGN-CS11S/Q Batteryin June 1988, Saudi Arabia, who had broken diplomatic relations with Iran two months earlier, vetoed a last, desperate Iranian initiative to cut production and thus raise prices again"[132] Sony VGN-CS21S/P Battery

In a public letter to Khomeini sent in May 1988, Bazargan wrote:
"Since 1986, you have not stopped proclaiming victory, and now you are calling upon population to resist until victory. Is that not an admission of failure on your part?"[132]
Bazargan went to criticize Khomeini for the war, which Bazargan stated was bankrupting Iran, and slaughtering its youth for no good purpose.[13Sony VGN-CS21S/R Battery
2]
Comparison of Iraqi and Iranian military strength

Main article: Order of battle during the Iran-Iraq War
At the commencement ofSony VGN-CS21S/T Battery
hostilities, Iraq held a clear advantage in armour, while both nations were roughly at parity with artillery. The gap only widened as the war went on. Iran started with a stronger air force, but over time, the balance of powerSony VGN-CS21S/V Battery
flipped towards favoring Iraq. The United States and the United Kingdom sold arms and weaponry to Iraq throughout the eight year war. [133][134] estimates for 1980 and 1987 were:[135] Sony VGN-CS21S/W Battery

Donald Rumsfeld as US special envoy to the Middle East, meets Saddam in December 1983 (video). Rumsfeld would later become US Defense Secretary during the 2003 Iraq War which saw Saddam ousted from power, Sony VGN-CS21Z/Q Battery
Sony VGN-CS11S/P Battery and ultimately executed.
During the war, Iraq was regarded by the West (specifically the United States) and Soviet Union as a counterbalance to post-revolutionary Iran.[136] The Soviet Union, which was Iraq's main arms supplier for the entire duration of the war did Sony VGN-CS31S/R Battery
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Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S not wish for the end of its alliance with Iraq, and was alarmed at Saddam's threats if the Kremlin did not provide him with the weapons he wanted, then Iraq would find new arms suppliers in the West and in China.[137] The British journalists John Bulloch and Harvey Morris wrote: Sony VGN-CS31S/V Battery

"Throughout the war the Soviet Union remained Iraq's main supplier, as it had always been - the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed by Moscow and Baghdad in 1972 was a formalisation of the special Sony VGN-CS31S/W Battery
relationship between the two countries which had existed from the time of the overthrow of the monarchy, and survived the rift between the Ba'ath and the Communist Party of Iraq, with all the bloodshed that entailed".[138] Sony VGN-CS31Z/Q Battery

the advent of the Gorbachev era forced a reappraisal, was outlined by Henry Kissingner in 1982:

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"The focus of Iranian pressure at this moment is Iraq. There are few governments in the world less deserving of our support and less capable of using it. Had Iraq won the war, the fear in the Gulf and the threat to Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF/S Battery
our interest would be scarcely less than it is today. Still, given the importance of the balance of power in the area, it is in our interests to promote a ceasefire in that conflict; through not a cost that will preclude an eventual Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery
rapprochement with Iran either if a more moderate regime replaces Khomenini's or if the present rulers wake up to Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Battery
geopolitical reality that the historic threat to Iran's independence has always come from the country with which it shares a border of 1,500 miles (2,400 km): the Soviet Union. A raprochement with Iran, of course, must await at a minimum Iran's abandonment of hegemonic aspirations in the Gulf".Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery

Iran, in other words, should be befriended if possible, but must above, be contained."[140]
The support of Iraq took the form of technological aid, intelligence, the sale of dual-use and military equipment and satellite intelligence to Iraq. While there was direct combat between Iran and the United States, Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery
it is not universally agreed that the fighting between the U.S. and Iran was specifically to benefit Iraq, or for separate, although occurring at the same time, issues between the U.S. and Iran. American ambiguity towards which side to support was summed up by Henry Kissinger when the American statesman remarkedSony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S Battery

that "it's a pity they [Iran and Iraq] both can't lose."[141] Richard Murphy, the Assistant Secretary of State testified to Congress in 1984 that the Reagan administration believed that a victory for either Iran or Iraq was "neither militarily feasible nor strategically desirable".[142] France, which from theSony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S Battery
1970s onwards had been one of Iraq's closest allies was a major supplier of military hardware to Iraq.[143] The French sold weapons equal to the sum of $5 billion US, which comprised well over a quarter of Iraq's total armory.[ Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T Battery
143] China, which had no direct stake in the victory of either side, and whose interests in the war were entirely commercial freely sold arms to both sides.[144]
More than 30 countriesSony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T Battery
provided support to Iraq, Iran, or both. Iraq, in particular, had a complex clandestine procurement network to obtain munitions and critical materials, which, in some transactions, involved 10-12 countries. Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S Battery
Also, a number of Arab mercenaries and volunteers from Egypt[145] and Jordan (called the Yarmouk Brigade[146]) participated in the war alongside Iraqis.
Country Foreign policySony VAIO VGN-NW31JF/S Battery
Support to Iraq Support to Iran
On 17 May 1987, an Iraqi Mirage F1 attack aircraft launched two Exocet missiles at the USS Stark, a Perry class frigate. The first struck the port side of the ship and failed to explode, though it left burning propellant in its wake; Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery
the second struck moments later in approximately the same place and penetrated through to crew quarters, where it exploded. The detonation killed 37 crewmembers and left 21 injured. The question of whether or not Iraqi leadership authorized the attack is still unanswered. Initial claims by the Iraqi governmentSony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Battery
(that Stark was inside the Iran-Iraq War zone) were shown to be false, so the motives and orders of the pilot remain unanswered. Though American officials claimed he had been executed, an ex-Iraqi Air Force commander sinceSony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery
stated that the pilot who attacked Stark was not punished, and was still alive at the time.[147] The attack remains the only successful anti-ship missile strike on an American warship.[148][149]
U.S. military actions toward IranSony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery

However, U.S. attention was focused on isolating Iran as well as maintaining freedom of navigation, criticizing Iran's mining of international waters, and sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 598, which passed unanimously Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/P Battery
on 20 July, under which it skirmished with Iranian forces during Operation Earnest Will. During the Operation Nimble Archer in October 1987, the U.S. attacked Iranian oil platforms in retaliation for an Iranian attack on the U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti tanker Sea Isle City.[91] Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/w Battery

On 14 April 1988, the frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts was badly damaged by an Iranian mine, wounding 10 sailors. U.S. forces responded with Operation Praying Mantis on 18 April, the United States Navy's largest engagement of Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/S Battery
urface warships since World War II. Two Iranian oil platforms, two Iranian ships and six Iranian gunboats were destroyed. An American helicopter also crashed.[91] (see also Oil Platforms (Iran v. United States)) Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF Batterys
U.S. shoots down civilian airliner
Main article: Iran Air Flight 655

A missile departs the forward launcher of Vincennes during a 1987 exercise. This ship later shot down civilian airliner Iran Air 655. Sony VAIO VGN-NS10E/S Battery

In the course of these escorts by the U.S. Navy, the cruiser USS Vincennes shot down Iran Air Flight 655 with the loss of all 290 passengers and crew on 3 July 1988. The American government claimed that the airliner had beenSony VAIO VGN-NS10J/S Battery
mistaken for an Iranian F-14 Tomcat, and that the Vincennes was operating in international waters at the time and feared that it was under attack, which later appeared to be untrue.[148][150] The Iranians, however, maintain that the Vincennes was in fact in Iranian territorial waters, and that the Iranian passenger Sony VAIO VGN-NS10L/S Battery
jet was turning away and increasing altitude after take-off. U.S. Admiral William J. Crowe also admitted on Nightline that the Vincennes was inside Iranian territorial waters when it launched the missiles. At the time, the Sony VAIO VGN-NS11E/S Battery
captain of the Vincennes claimed that the Iranian plane did not identify itself and sent no response to warning signals from the Vincennes. Apart from Iran, other independent sources, for example the airport of Dubai, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11ER/S Battery
have confirmed that the plane did indeed identify itself to the American naval ship and also confirmed that "the civilian aircraft was ascending and therefore could not have posed a threat," agreeing with Iranian officials.[18] Sony VAIO VGN-NS11J/S Battery

According to an investigation conducted by ABC News' Nightline, decoys were set during the war by the U.S. Navy inside the Persian Gulf to lure out the Iranian gunboats and destroy them, and at the time USS Vincennes shot downSony VAIO VGN-NS11L/S Battery
the Iranian airliner, it was performing such an operation.
In 1996 the U.S. expressed regret only for the loss of innocent life, and did not make a specific apology to the Iranian government.[1Sony VAIO VGN-NS11S/S Battery
48][151]
The shooting down of a civilian Iranian passenger plane Iran Air Flight 655 by the American cruiser USS Vincennes, was Sony VAIO VGN-NS11SR/S Battery
cited by an Iranian scholar[who?] as apparently giving Ruhollah Khomeini reason to withdraw from the conflict:[152] Sony VAIO VGN-NS11Z/S Battery

An Iranian scholar present at the conference said a turning point in Iran's thinking came with the shooting down of an Iranian passenger plane in July 1988 by the American cruiser USS Vincennes. That incident apparently Sony VAIO VGN-NS11ZR/S Battery
led Ayatollah Khomeini to conclude that Iran could not risk the possibility of U.S. open combat operations against Iran and he decided it was time to end the conflict.
Iraq

Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/W Battery
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this section if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (February 2011) Sony VAIO VGN-NS12M/S Battery
Among major powers, the United States' policy was to "tilt" toward Iraq by reopening diplomatic channels, lifting restrictions on the export of dual-use technology, overseeing the transfer of third party military hardware, anSony VAIO VGN-NS12M/W Battery

d providing operational intelligence on the battlefield.
As will be seen in some of the country-specific sub-articles of this page, Iraq made extensive use of front companies, middlemen, Sony VAIO VGN-NS12S/S Battery
secret ownership of all or part of companies all over the world, forged end user certificates and other methods to hide what it was acquiring. At this time, the country-level sub-articles emphasize the country in whichSony VAIO VGN-NS21M/P Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS21M/W Battery
the procurement started, but also illustrate how procurement infrastructure was established in different countries. Some transactions may have involved people, shipping, and manufacturing in as many as 10 countries.[153] Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/S Battery

In their documentary Saddam-The Trial You Will Never See, made for European audience, Barry Lando and Michel Despratx claim that United States secretary of state Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. wrote in a secret memo to Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/W Battery
President Ronald Reagan, about United States previous president Jimmy Carter's green light to Saddam[unreliable source?] for launching a war against Iran using Saudi Arabia delivering the go ahead message to Iraqis.[154][155] Sony VAIO VGN-NS21Z/S Battery
British support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war especially illustrated the ways by which Iraq would circumvent export controls. Iraq bought at least one British company with operations in the U.K. and the U.S. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/P Battery

Iraq had a complex relationship with France and the Soviet Union, its major suppliers of actual weapons, to some extent having the two nations compete for its business. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/S Battery

Singapore support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war discusses land mines assembled there, as well as chemical warfare precursors shipped from Singapore, possibly by an Iraqi front company[citation needed]. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/W Battery

Another country that had an important role in arming Iraq was Italy, whose greatest impact was financial, through the U.S. branch of the state-owned largest bank in Italy. The Italian article is one example of howSony VAIO VGN-NS31S/S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/P Battery Iraq circumvented a national embargo, by, as one example, moving land and sea mine production to Singapore.
Although the United Nations Security Council called for a cease-fire after a week of fighting and renewed the call on later occasions, the initial call was made while Iraq occupied Iranian territory. Moreover, the UN refused to come to Iran's aid to Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery
Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery
repel the Iraqi invasion. The Iranians thus interpreted the UN as subtly biased in favor of Iraq.[156]
Iran
While the United States directly fought Iran, citing freedom of navigation as a major casus belli, as part of a complex and partially illegal program (see Iran-Contra Affair), it also indirectly supplied weapons to Iran. Sony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery

North Korea was a major arms supplier to Iran, often acting as a third party in arms deals between Iran and the Communist bloc.[citation needed]. DPRK support included domestically manufactured arms and Eastern-Bloc weapons for which the major powers wanted deniability.[citation needed]. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery Libya and China were arms suppliers and supporters of Iran as well.
Both countries
Besides the US and the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia also sold weapons to both countries for the entire duration of the conflict. Likewise, Portugal helped both countries: it was not unusual seeing Iranian and Iraqi flagged shipsSony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery
moored side-by-side at the port of Sines.[citation needed]
From 1980 to 1987 Spain sold 458 million in weapons to Iran and 172 million in weapons to Iraq. Spain sold to Iraq 4x4 vehicles, Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery
BO-105 Helicopters, explosives and ammunition. A research party discovered that an unexploded chemical Iraqi warhead in Iran was manufactured in Spain.[157]
Although neither side did acquire any weapons from Turkey, both sides enjoyed Turkish civilian help during conflict. HavingSony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery
managed to remain neutral and refused to support trade embargo imposed by US, Ankara turned out to be the one upon whom both warring sides developed high degree of economic dependancy, since Turkey was one of their few outlets to the west and source of local goods. Turkey's export jumped Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery
from $220 million in 1981 to $2 billion in 1985, making up 25% of Turkey's overall exports. Additionally, Turkish construction projects in Iraq totaled $2.5 billion between 1974 and 1990. These benefits helped Turkey to Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN Battery
offset the ongoing Turkish economic crisis, though they decreased with the end of the war and vanished with the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq and Turkish response to it.[158]
Financial supportSony VAIO VGN-SR31M Battery

Iraq's main financial backers were the oil-rich Persian Gulf states, most notably Saudi Arabia ($30.9 billion), Kuwait ($8.2 billion) and the United Arab Emirates ($8 billion).[159]
The Iraqgate scandal revealed that an Atlanta branch of Italy's largest bank, Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, relying partially on U.S. taxpayer-guaranteedSony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13/Q Battery
loans, funneled $5 billion to Iraq from 1985 to 1989. In August 1989, when FBI agents finally raided the Atlanta branch of BNL, the branch manager, Christopher Drogoul, was charged with making unauthorized, clandestine, Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S Battery
and illegal loans to Iraq - some of which, according to his indictment, were used to purchase arms and weapons technology.
The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and ABC's Ted Koppel, covered the Iraq-gate story, and the investigation by the U.S. Congress.[1Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/P Battery
60] This scandal is covered in Alan Friedman's book The Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq.[clarification needed]
Beginning in September 1989, the Financial Times laid out the first charges that BNL, relying heavily on U.S. government-guaranteed loans, was funding Iraqi chemical and nuclear weapons work. For the next two and a half years, the Financial Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MR Battery
Times provided the only continuous newspaper reportage (over 300 articles) on the subject. Among the companies shipping militarily useful technology to Iraq under the eye of the U.S. government, according to the Financial Times, were Hewlett-Packard, Tektronix, and Matrix Churchill, through its Ohio branch.[clarification needed] Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery

In all, Iraq received $35 billion in loans from the West and between $30 and $40 billion from the Persian Gulf states during the 1980s.[161]
Use of chemical weapons by IraqSony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

See also: Halabja poison gas attack

Chemical weapons, used by Iraq, killed and injured numerous Iranians and Kurds.
In a declassified report, the CIA estimated in 1991 that Iran had suffered more than 50,000 casualties from Iraq's use of several chemical weapons,[ Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery
162] but today the actual number of victims is estimated to more than 100,000, since the long term effects still cause casualties to this day.[163][164] Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery
The official estimate does not include the civilian population contaminated in bordering towns or the children and relatives of veterans, many of whom have developed blood, lung and skin complications, according to theSony VGP-BPS13 Batterty
Organization for Veterans of Iran. According to a 2002 article in the Star-Ledger:
"Nerve gas killed about 20,000 Iranian soldiers immediately, according to official reports. Of the 90,000 survivors, some 5,000 seek medical treatment regularly and about 1,000 are still hospitalized with severe, chronic conditions."[165] Dell Studio 17 Battery
Dell Studio 1735 Battery
Iraq also used chemical weapons on Iranian civilians, killing many in villages and hospitals. Many civilians suffered severe burns and health problems, and still suffer from them.[166]
On 21 March 1986, theDell Studio 1737 Battery

United Nations Security Council made a declaration stating that "members are profoundly concerned by the unanimous conclusion of the specialists that chemical weapons on many occasions have been used byDell Studio 15 Battery
Iraqi forces against Iranian troops and the members of the Council strongly condemn this continued use of chemical weapons in clear violation of the Geneva Protocol of 1925 which prohibits the use in war of Dell Studio 1537 Battery
chemical weapons." The United States was the only member who voted against the issuance of this statement.[167] A mission to the region in 1988 found evidence of the use of chemical weapons, and was condemnedDell Studio 1536 Battery

Dell Inspiron 1545 Battery in Security Council Resolution 612.
According to retired Colonel Walter Lang, senior defense intelligence officer for the United States Defense Intelligence Agency at the time, "the use of gas on the battlefield by the Iraqis was not a matter of deep strategicDell Studio 1555 Battery
concern" to Reagan and his aides, because they "were desperate to make sure that Iraq did not lose." He claimed that the Defense Intelligence Agency "would have never accepted the use of chemical weapons against civilians, but the use against military objectives was seen as inevitable in the Iraqi struggle for suDell Studio 1557 Battery
rvival",[168] The Reagan administration did not stop aiding Iraq after receiving reports of the use of poison gas on Kurdish civilians.[169][170] There is great resentment in Iran[citation needed] that the international community Dell LATITUDE D600 Battery
helped Iraq develop its chemical weapons arsenal and armed forces, and also that the world did nothing to punish Saddam's Ba'athist regime for its use of chemical weapons against Iran throughout the war -Dell Latitude D610 Battery
particularly since the US and other western powers soon felt obliged to oppose the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and eventually invade Iraq itself to remove Saddam.
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Aftermath of Halabja poison gas attack by the Iraqi Air Force
The U.S. also accused Iran of using chemical weapons.[171] These allegations however, have been disputed. Joost Hiltermann, who was the principal researcher for Human Rights Watch between 1992-1994, Dell Latitude D630 Battery
conducted a two year study, including a field investigation in Iraq, capturing Iraqi government documents in the process. According to Hiltermann, the literature on the Iran-Iraq War reflects a number of allegations of chemical weapons use by Iran, but these are "marred by a lack of specificity as to time andDell LATITUDE D800 Battery
place, and the failure to provide any sort of evidence".[172]
Gary Sick and Lawrence Potter call the allegations against Iran "mere assertions" and state: "no persuasive evidence of the claim that Iran was the primary culprit [of using chemical weapons] was ever presented".[173Dell Latitude D820 Battery
] Policy consultant and author Joseph Tragert also states: "Iran did not retaliate with chemical weapons, probably because it did not possess any at the time".[174]
At his trial in December 2006Dell Latitude D830 Battery
, Saddam said he would take responsibility "with honour" for any attacks on Iran using conventional or chemical weapons during the 1980-1988 war but he took issue with charges he ordered attacks on Iraqis.[17Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
5] A medical analysis of the effects of Iraqi mustard gas is described a U.S. military textbook, and contrasted with slightly different effects in the First World War.[176]
Distinctions and peculiarityDell Latitude E6400 Battery

Iran attacked and partially damaged the Osirak nuclear reactor on 30 September 1980 with two F-4 Phantoms, shortly after the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War. This was the first attack on a nuclear reactor and Dell Latitude E6500 Battery
only the third on a nuclear facility in the history of the world. It was also the first instance of a pre-emptive attack on a nuclear reactor to forestall the development of a nuclear weapon, though it did not achieve its Dell INSPIRON 9200 Battery
objective as France repaired the reactor after the Iranian attack.[177] It took a second pre-emptive strike by the Israeli Air Force to disable the reactor, in the process killing a French engineer and causing FranceDell INSPIRON 9300 Battery
to pull out of Osirak. The decommissioning of Osirak has been cited as causing a substantial delay to Iraqi acquisition of nuclear weapons, which Saddam announced an intention to develop in response to the Iranian revolution. Dell Inspiron 9400 Battery

The Iran-Iraq War was also the first and only conflict in the history of warfare in which both forces used Ballistic Missiles against each other.[179] Dell Inspiron E1505 Battery

This war also saw the only confirmed air-to-air helicopter battles in history of warfare with the Iraqi Mi-25s flying against Iranian AH-1 SuperCobra on numerous occasions. The first instance of these helicopter "dogfights" happened when on the starting day of the war (22 September 1980), two Iranian SuperCobras crept up on twoDell Inspiron E1705 Battery
Mi-25s and hit them with TOW wire-guided antitank missiles. One Mi-25 went down immediately, the other was badly damaged and crashed before reaching base. The Iranians won another similar air battle on 24 April 1981, destroyingDell inspiron 1525 Battery two Mi-25s without incurring losses to themselves. According to some unclassified documents, Iranian pilots achieved a 10 to 1 kill ratio over the Iraqi helicopter pilots during these engagements and even engaged Iraqi fixed wing aircraft.[184][185] Dell Inspiron XPS M170 Battery

As has been the case in many wars,[186] this war had an impact on medical sciences. A new surgical intervention for comatosed patients with penetrating brain injuries which was created by Iranian physicians treating IranianDell Inspiron XPS M1710 Battery

Dell Latitude E5410 Battery wounded soldiers during the war later on helped make new neurosurgical treatment guidelines for use of civilians who have suffered blunt or penetrating skull injuries, thereby greatly improving Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
survival rates. The previously used surgical technique and its resultant guidelines developed by US army during World War II and Vietnam War has been replaced by this new treatment module and it has been reported that US congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords benefited from the new guidelines after she was shot in head. Dell Latitude E6400 Battery

Human wave
Iran's Islamic government is said to have "become famous" for its use of human waves to clear minefields or draw enemy fire during the war. While very costly in human lives, the tactic sometimes worked. Basij Dell Latitude E6500 Battery
volunteers which were used were swept up in the atmosphere of patriotism of the war mobilization and Shi'i love of martyrdom encouraged by the revolution. The young were encouraged through visits to the schools and an intensive media campaign.[190] Dell Latitude E6400 Battery

According to journalist Robin Wright
"During the Fateh offensive [in February 1987], I toured the southwest front on the Iranian side and saw scores of boys, aged anywhereDell Precision M4400 Battery
from nine to sixteen, who said with staggering and seemingly genuine enthusiasm that they had volunteered to become martyrs. Regular army troops, the paramilitary Revolutionary Guards and mullahs all lauded these youthsDell Precision M6400 Battery
, known as baseeji, for having played the most dangerous role in breaking through Iraqi lines. They had led the way, running over fields of mines to clear the ground for the Iranian ground assault. Wearing white headbands Dell Latitude E5400 Battery
to signify the embracing of death, and shouting `Shaheed, shaheed` (`Martyr, martyr`, they literally blew their way into heaven. Their numbers were never disclosed. But a walk through the residential suburbs of Iranian cities provided a clue. Window after window, block after block, displayed black-bordered photographs of teenage or preteen youths." [191] Dell Latitude E5500 Battery
"War of the Cities"

Queue body of Iranian student victims by Iraqi Bombers Attack to a school in Borujerd at 10 January 1987. HP Pavilion G62-140ET Battery

Toward the end of the war, the land conflict regressed into stalemate largely because neither side had enough self-propelled artillery or air power to support ground advances. HP Pavilion G62-140SF Battery
ional Iraqi armed forces could not make headway against the far more numerous Iranian infantry. The Iranians were outmatched in both towed and self-propelled artillery, which left their tanks and troops vulnerable. HP Pavilion G62-140SS Battery

The relatively profess This led the Iranians to substitute infantry power for artillery.
Iraq's air force soon began strategic bombing against Iranian cities, chiefly Tehran, in 1985. To minimize losses from the superiorHP Pavilion G62-140US Battery
Iranian Air Force, Iraq rapidly switched to Scud and Al-Hussein improved Scud launches. In retaliation, Iran fired Scud missiles acquired from Libya and Syria against Baghdad. In all, Iraq launched 520 Scuds and Al-HusseinsHP Pavilion G62-143CL Battery
against Iran and received only 177 in exchange. In October 1986, Iraqi aircraft began to attack civilian passenger trains and aircrafts on Iranian soil, including an Iran Air Boeing 737 unloading passengers at Shiraz International Airport.[166] HP Pavilion G62-144DX Battery

In retaliation for the Iranian Operation Karbala-5, an early 1987 attempt to capture Basra, Iraq attacked 65 cities in 226 sorties over 42 days, bombing civilian neighborhoods. Eight Iranian cities came under attack from Iraqi missiles. The bombings killed 65 children inHP Pavilion G62-145NR Battery
an elementary school in Borujerd alone. The Iranians also responded with Scud missile attacks on Baghdad and struck a primary school there. These events became known as "the War of the Cities".[151]
Aftermath

Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr.

Iranian Martyr Cemetery in Yazd.
The Iran-Iraq War was extremely costly in lives and material, one of the deadliest wars since World War II[citation needed]. Both countries were devastated by the effect of the war. It cost Iran an estimated 1 million casualties, HP Pavilion G62-149WM Battery
killed or wounded, and Iranians continue to suffer and die as a consequence of Iraq's use of chemical weapons[citation needed]. Iraqi casualties are estimated at 250,000-500,000 killed or wounded. Thousands of civilians died on both sides in air raids and ballistic missile attacks.[151]
The financial loss was also enormous, at the timeHP Pavilion G62-150EF Battery
exceeding US$600 billion for each country ($1.2 trillion in total). But shortly after the war it turned out that the economic cost of war is more profound and long-lasting than the estimates right after the war suggested.[6] Economic development was stalled and oil exports disrupted. These economic woes were of a more seriousHP Pavilion G62-150EQ Battery
nature for Iraq that had to incur huge debts during the war as compared to the very small debt of Iran, as Iranians had used bloodier but economically cheaper tactics during the war, in effect substituting soldiers' lives for lack of financialHP Pavilion G62-150EV Battery
funding during their defense. This put Saddam in a difficult position, particularly with his war-time allies, as by then Iraq was under more than $130 billion of international debt, excluding the interest in an after war economy with a slowed GDP growth. A large portion of this debt was loaned by Paris Club amounting to $21 billion, 85%HP Pavilion G62-150SE Battery
of which had originated from seven countries of Japan, Russia, France, Germany, United States, Italy and United Kingdom. But the largest HP Pavilion G62-150SF Battery
portion of $130 billion debt was to Iraq's former Arab backers of the war including the $67 billion loaned by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Jordan.[citation needed]
After the war, Kuwait started to over-produce oil in order to keep Iraq's economy down[citation needed]. Iraq also accused Kuwait of HP Pavilion G62-150SL Battery
slant drilling and stealing oil which lead to the invasion of Kuwait, which in turn worsened Iraq's financial situation as the United Nations Compensation Commission awarded reparations amounting more than $200 billion to victims of theHP Pavilion G62-153CA Battery
invasion including Kuwait, United States, individuals and companies among others, to be paid by Iraq in oil commodity[citation needed]. To enforce payment of these reparations Iraq was put under a complete international embargo. This put further HP Pavilion G62-154CA Batterystrain on the Iraqi economy, pushing its external debt and international liabilities to private and public sectors including interest to more than $500 billion by the end of Saddam's rule. Combined with negative economic growth of Iraq after the prolonged international HP Pavilion G62-120EG Battery
sanctions, this produced a Debt-to-GDP ratio of more than 1,000%, making Iraq the most indebted poor country in the world. This unsustainable economic situation compelled the new Iraqi government formed after the fall of Saddam to request the writing off of a considerable portion of loansHP Pavilion G62-120EK Battery
incurred during the Iran-Iraq war.[192][193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200][201]
The war and its outcome, also had a marked effect on the scientific and technological advancement of the countries involved. In case of Iraq, after the war, its scientific and technological productivity HP Pavilion G62-120EL Battery
collapsed and has not yet recovered.[citation needed] Kuwait's scientific output on the other hand was slowed initially due to the funding it extended to Saddam and later on became stagnant.[citation needed] Iran on the otherHP Pavilion G62-120EP Battery
hand experienced a scientific revival due to the war and has the fastest scientific growth rate in the world today.[202]

HP Pavilion G62-134CA Battery
Much of the oil industry in both countries was damaged in air raids. Iran's production capacity has yet to fully recover from the damages of the war. 10 million shells had landed in Iraq's oil fields at Basra, seriously damaging Iraq's oil production.[citation needed] HP Pavilion G62-120ES Battery

Prisoners taken by both sides were not released until more than 10 years after the end of the conflict.[citation needed] Cities on both sides had also been considerably damaged. Not all saw the war in negative terms. The IslamicHP Pavilion G62-120SE Battery
Revolution of Iran was strengthened and radicalized.[203] The Iranian government-owned Etelaat newspaper wrote: HP Pavilion G62-120SL Battery

"There is not a single school or town that is excluded from the happiness of "holy defence" of the nation, from drinking the exquisite elixir of martyrdom, or from the sweet death of the martyr, who dies in order to live forever in paradise."[204] HP Pavilion G62-120SS Battery

The Iraqi government commemorated the war with various monuments, including the Hands of Victory and the Al-Shaheed Monument, both in Baghdad.[citation needed] HP Pavilion G62-120SW Battery

The war left the borders unchanged.[citation needed] Two years later, as war with the western powers loomed, Saddam recognized Iranian rights over the eastern half of the Arvand rud, a reversion to the status quo ante bellum that he had repudiated a decade earlier.[citation needed]
Declassified US intelligence available has explored bothHP Pavilion G62-121EE Battery
the domestic and foreign implications of Iran's apparent (in 1982) victory over Iraq in their then two-year old war.[205] HP Pavilion G62-125EK Battery

On 9 December 1991, the UN Secretary-General reported the following to the UN Security Council: HP Pavilion G62-125EV Battery

"That Iraq's explanations do not appear sufficient or acceptable to the international community is a fact. Accordingly, the outstanding event under the violations referred to is the attack of 22 September 1980, against Iran, which cannot be justified under the charter of the United Nations, any recognized rules and principles of internationalHP Pavilion G62-130EK Battery
aw or any principles of international morality and entails the responsibility for conflict." "Even if before the outbreak of the conflict there had been some encroachment by Iran on Iraqi territory, such encroachment did not justify Iraq's aggression HP Pavilion G62-130SL Batteryl against Iran which was followed by Iraq's continuous occupation of Iranian territory during the conflict in violation of the prohibition of the use of force, which is regarded as one of the rules of jus cogens." "On one occasion I had to note with deep

regret the experts' conclusion that "chemical weapons had been used against Iranian civilians in an area adjacent to an urban center lacking any protection against that kind of attack" (s/20134, annex). The Council expressed its dismay on the matter and its condemnation in Resolution 620 (1988), adopted on 26 August 1988."[206]
In 2005, the new government of Iraq apologized to Iran for starting the war.[207]

The Iran-Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century.[12][13][14] It was initially referred to in English as the "Persian Gulf War" prior to the "Gulf War" of 1990.[citation needed] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11E Battery
The war began when Iraq invaded Iran, launching a simultaneous invasion by air and land into Iranian territory on 22 September 1980 following a long history of border disputes, and fears of Shia Islam insurgency among Iraq'sSony VAIO VGN-FZ11L Battery

long-suppressed Shia majority influenced by the Iranian Revolution. Iraq was also aiming to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state. Although Iraq hoped to take advantage of the revolutionary chaos in Iran andSony VAIO VGN-FZ11M Battery
attacked without formal warning, they made only limited progress into Iran and within several months were repelled by the Iranians who regained virtually all lost territory by June 1982. For the next six years, Iran was on the offensive.[1Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery
5] Despite calls for a ceasefire by the United Nations Security Council, hostilities continued until 20 August 1988. The war finally ended with a United Nations brokered ceasefire in the form of United Nations Security Council Resolution 598, which was accepted by both sides. It took several weeks for the Iranian armed forces toSony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E Battery
evacuate Iraqi territory to honor pre-war international borders between the two nations (see 1975 Algiers Agreement). The last prisoners of war were exchanged in 2003.[15][16]
The war came at a great cost in lives and economic damage half a million Iraqi and Iranian soldiers as well as civilians are believed to have died in Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J Battery
the war with many more injured but it brought neither reparations nor change in borders. The conflict is often compared to World War I,[17] in that the tactics used closely mirrored those of that conflict, including large scale trench warfare, Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M Battery
manned machine-gun posts, bayonet charges, use of barbed wire across trenches, human wave attacks across no-man's land, and extensive use of chemical weapons such as mustard gas by the Iraqi government against Iranian troopsSony VAIO VGN-FZ21S Battery
and civilians as well as Iraqi Kurds. At the time, the UN Security Council issued statements that "chemical weapons had been used in the war." However, in these UN statements it was never made clear that it was only Iraq that was Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z Battery
using chemical weapons, so it has been said that "the international community remained silent as Iraq used weapons of mass destruction against Iranian as well as Iraqi Kurds" and it is believed[18][19][20] that the "United States prevented the UN from condemning Iraq".[18]

Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31ER Battery
The war was commonly referred to as the Gulf War or Persian Gulf War until the Iraq-Kuwait conflict (Jan-Feb 1991), and for a while thereafter as the First Persian Gulf War. The Iraq-Kuwait conflict, while originally Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E Battery
known as the Second Persian Gulf War, later became known simply as the "Gulf War". The United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the following occupation of the country from 2003-2011 has since been called the "Second Persian Gulf War".[citation needed] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J Battery

The war of 1980-1988 is also known in Iran as the Imposed War ( , Jang-e-tahm l ) and the Holy Defense ( , Def '-e-moqqaddas). In Iraq, the president, Saddam Hussein initially dubbed the conflict the "Whirlwind War".[21Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M Battery
] It was also referred in Iraq as Sadd m's Q disiyyah ( , Q disiyyat add m), in reference to the ancient Battle of al-Q disiyyah.
OriginsSony Vaio VGN-FZ19VN Battery

Post-colonial era
One of the factors contributing to hostility between the two powers was a dispute over full control of the Arvand Rud waterway (known as Shatt al-Arab in Iraq) at the head of the Persian Gulf, an important channel for theSony Vaio VGN-FZ39VN Battery
oil exports of both countries. In 1937, Iran and Iraq signed a treaty that settled the long-standing dispute, which dated back to the Ottoman-Persian wars of the 16th and 17th centuries over the control of the Arvand Rud.[2Sony Vaio VGN-FZ39VN Battery
2] In the same year, Iran and Iraq both joined the Saadabad Pact, and relations between the two nations remained good for decades afterwards.[22] In 1955, both nations joined the Baghdad Pact.[22] The 1937 treaty recognized theSony Vaio VGN-FZ31ZR Battery
Iranian-Iraqi border as along the low-water mark on the eastern side of the Arvand Rud except at Abadan and Khorramshahr where theSony Vaio VGN-FZ31SR Battery frontier ran along the thalweg (the deep water line) which gave Iraq control of almost the entire waterway; provided that all ships using the Arvand Rud fly the Iraqi flag and have an Iraqi pilot, and required Iran to pay tolls to Iraq whenever its ships used the Arvand Rud.[23] Sony VAIO VGN-AR31S Battery
The overthrow of the Hashemites in Iraq in 1958 brought to power a new regime that was more stridently nationalist, and which promptly left the Baghdad Pact. On 18 December 1959, the new leader of Iraq General Abdul Karim Qassim, Sony VAIO VGN-AR31M Battery
declared: "We do not wish to refer to the history of Arab tribes residing in Al-Ahwaz and Mohammareh [Khorramshahr]. The Ottomans handed over Mohammareh, which was part of Iraqi territory, to Iran." Sony VAIO VGN-AR31E Battery
The Iraqi regime's dissatisfaction with Iran's possession of the oil-rich Kh zest n province (which Iraqis called Arabistan) that had a large Arabic-speaking population was not limited to rhetorical statements; Iraq began supporting secessionist movements in Khuzestan, and even raised the issue of its territorial claims Sony VAIO VGN-AR41E Battery
at the next meeting of the Arab League, without success. Iraq showed reluctance in fulfilling existing agreements with Iran especially after the death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970 and the rise of the Ba'ath Party which took power in a 1968 coup, led Iraq to take on the self-appointed role Sony VAIO VGN-AR41L Battery
of the "leader of the Arab world". At the same time, by the late 1960s, the build-up of Iranian power under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who had gone on a gargantuan military spending spree, led Iran to Sony VAIO VGN-AR41M Battery
take a more assertive stance in the Near East.[22] In April 1969, Iran abrogated the 1937 treaty over the Arvand Rud, and as such, Iran ceased paying tolls to Iraq when its ships used the Arvand Rud.[24] The Shah justified hisSony VAIO VGN-AR41S Battery
move by arguing that almost all river borders all over the world ran along the thalweg, and by claiming that because most of the ships that used the Arvand Rud were Iranian, the 1937 treaty was unfair to Iran.[25] Sony VAIO VGN-AR51E Battery
Iraq threatened war over the Iranian move, but when on 24 April 1969 an Iranian tanker escorted by Iranian warships sailed down the Arvand Rud, Iraq being the militarily weaker state did nothing.[23] The IranianSony VAIO VGN-AR51S Battery
abrogation of the 1937 treaty marked the beginning of a period of acute Iraqi-Iranian tension that was to last until the Algiers Accords of 1975.[23] In 1969, the deputy prime minister of Iraq stated: "Iraq's dispute with Iran is in connection with Khuzestan which is part of Iraq's soil and was annexed to Iran during foreignSony VAIO VGN-AR51M Battery
rule." Soon Iraqi radio stations began exclusively[citation needed] broadcasting into "Arabistan", encouraging Arabs living in Iran and even Bal ch s to revolt against the Shah of Iran's government. Basra TV stations even beganSony VAIO VGN-AR61M Battery
showing Iran's Khuzestan province as part of Iraq's new province called Nasiriyyah, renaming all its cities with Arabic names. Sony VAIO VGN-AR61S Battery

In 1971, Iraq broke diplomatic relations with Iran after claiming sovereignty rights over the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb in the Persian Gulf, following the withdrawal of the British.[26] Iraq thenSony VAIO VGN-AR11S Battery
expropriated the properties of 70,000 people it said were Iraqis of Iranian origin and expelled them from its territory, after complaining to the Arab League and the UN without success. Many, if not most of those expelled Sony VAIO VGN-AR61E Battery
were in fact Iraqi Shias who had little to no family ties with Iran, and the vast majority of whom spoke Arabic, rather than Persian.[27] In retaliation for Iraq's claims to Khuzestan, Iran became the main patron of Iraq's Kurdish rebels in the early 1970s, giving the Iraqi Kurds bases in Iran and providing the Kurdish groups with weapons.[23Sony VAIO VGN-NR21E/S Battery
] In addition to Iraq's fomenting of separatism in Iran's Khuzestan and Iranian Balochistan provinces, both countries encouraged separatist activities by Kurdish nationalists in the other country. In the winter of 1974-75, Sony VAIO VGN-NR21J/S Battery
Iran and Iraq almost went to war over Iran's support of the Kurds in Iraq.[23] However, given Iran's greater military strength and population, the Iraqis decided against war, and chose to make concessions to Tehran to end the Kurdish rebellion. Sony VAIO VGN-NR21S/S Battery
[23] In the 1975 Algiers Agreement Iraq made territorial concessions - including the waterway - in exchange for normalized relations.[ Sony VAIO VGN-NR21S/T Battery
23] In return for Iraqi recognition that the frontier on the Arvand Rud run along the entire thalweg, Iran ended its support of the Iraqi Kurdish guerrillas.[23] The Algiers Agreement was widely seen as a national humiliation in Iraq.[23][2
Sony VAIO VGN-CR21Z/N Battery
8] However, the Algiers Agreement meant the end of Iranian and US support for the Peshmerga, who were defeated by the Iraqi government in a short campaign that claimed 20,000 lives.[29] The British journalist Patrick Brogan
Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/W Battery
wrote that "...the Iraqis celebrated their victory in the usual manner, by executing as many of the rebels as they could lay their hands on".[29]
Sony VAIO VGN-NR11Z/T Battery

The relationship between the Iranian and Iraqi governments briefly improved in 1978, when Iranian agents in Iraq discovered a pro-Soviet coup d' tat against the Iraqi government. When informed of this plot, Saddam, who wasSony VAIO VGN-NR11Z/S Battery
vice president at the time, ordered the execution of dozens of his army officers, and to return the favor, expelled Ruhollah Khomeini, an exiled leader of clerical opposition to the Shah, from Iraq.
Iran's Pan-Islamism and revolutionarySony VAIO VGN-NR11S/S Battery
Shia Islamism and Iraq's Arab nationalism were central to the conflict. Initially, the Iraqi government welcomed the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1978-79, having had a common enemy with them in the deposed Shah.[30Sony VAIO VGN-NR11M/S Battery

] The call, first made by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in June 1979 for Iraqi Shias to overthrow the Ba'ath regime was therefore received with considerable shock in Baghdad.[30] On 17 July 1979, despite Khomeini's call, the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein gave a speech praising the Iranian revolution, and called for Iraqi-IranianSony VAIO VGN-CR21E/L Battery
friendship based upon non-interference in each other's internal affairs.[30] When Khomenini ignored Hussein's overture, and continued with his call for a Shia revolution in Iraq, the Iraqi regime was seriously alarmed.[ Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/P Battery
31] The new Islamic regime in Iran was regarded in Baghdad as an irrational, existential threat to the Ba'ath regime.[32] This was especially the case as the Ba'ath regime, despite its secular nature, was dominated by Arab Sunnis, Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/W Battery
with the Arab Shia majority together with the Kurdish minority being assigned the status of an underclass.[33] Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/L Battery
Above all, Hussein was keenly interested in elevating Iraq to a strong regional power[citation needed] . A successful invasion of Iran would enlarge Iraq's petroleum reserves and make Iraq the dominant power in the Persian Gulf region[citation needed]. With Iran engulfed in chaos, the chance for Iraq to annex the Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/P Battery
oil-rich Kh zest n Province seemed too good for Hussein to pass up.[34] In addition, Khuzestan's large ethnic Arab population would allow Hussein to pose as the liberator of the Arabs from Persian rule.[28] In 1979-80, Iraq was theSony VAIO VGN-CR21Z/R Battery
beneficiary of an oil boom that saw it take in $33 billion US, which allowed the Iraqi government to go on a lavish spending spree on both Sony VAIO VGN-CR11H/B Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-CR31S/L Batterycivilian and military projects.[32] On several occasions Hussein alluded to the Islamic conquest of Iran in propagating his position against Iran. For example, on 2 April 1980, half a year before the outbreak of the warSony VAIO VGN-CR11S/L Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-CR31S/P Battery, in a visit by Hussein to al-Mustansiriyyah University in Baghdad, drawing parallels with the 7th century defeat of Persia in the Battle of al-Q disiyyah, he announced:
In your name, brothers, and on behalf of the Iraqis and Arabs everywhere we tell those Persian cowards and dwarfs who try to avenge Sony VAIO VGN-CR11S/P Battery
Al-Qadisiyah that the spirit of Al-Qadisiyah as well as the blood and honor of the people of Al-Qadisiyah who carried the message on their spearheads are greater than their attempts."[35]
In turn the Ayatollah Khomeini believed Muslims, particularly the Shias in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, whom he saw as oppressed, Sony VAIO VGN-CR11S/W Battery
could and should follow the Iranian example, rise up against their governments to join a united Islamic republic.[36] Khomeini and Iran's Islamic revolutionaries despised Hussein's secularist, Arab nationalist Ba'athist regime inSony VAIO VGN-CR11Z/R Battery
particular as un-Islamic and "a puppet of Satan,"[37] and called on Iraqis to overthrow it. In 1979-1980, there were anti-Ba'ath riots in the Shia areas of Iraq, and the Iranian government extended its support to Iraqi Shia militants
working for an Islamic revolution in their country.[38] In April 1980 alone, 20 Ba'ath officials were assassinated by Shia militants with Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz being almost killed in an assassination attempt on 1 April 1980.[3
0] Later in April, the Information Minister Latif Nusseif al-Jasim barely survived an assassination attempt by Shia militants.[30] The repeated calls for the overthrow of the Ba'ath regime and the support extented to
Sony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/N Battery

Iraqi Shia groups by the new regime in Iran led Hussein to increasingly perceive the Iranian regime as a mortal threat that if ignored, might one day overthrow him.[32] In April 1980, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Sadr Sony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/R Battery
and his sister Amina Haydar (better known as Bint al-Huda) were hanged as part of the crack-down on Iraqi Shia activists.[39] The hanging of Iraq's senior most Ayatollah caused outrage throughout the Shia world. Starting inSony Vaio VGN-CR42S/W Battery
May 1980, skirmishes on the Iranian-Iraqi border became a daily event.[32] At the same time in Iran, severe officer purges (including several executions ordered by Sadegh Khalkhali, the post-revolution sharia ruler), Sony Vaio VGN-CR42S/L Battery
and spare parts shortages for Iran's US-made equipment, had crippled Iran's once mighty military. Between February-September 1979, the Iranian government shot 85 senior generals while forcing all major-generals and mostSony Vaio VGN-CR42S/B Battery
brigadier-generals into early retirement.[40] By September 1980, the Iranian government had purged 12,000 army officers.[40] The effects of this purge was a drastic decline in the operational capacities of the Iranian military.[4Sony Vaio VGN-CR41Z/R Battery
0] The bulk of the Iranian military was made up of poorly armed, though committed, militias. Iran had minimal defenses at the Arvand river. Sony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/N Battery
The UN Secretary General report dated 9 December 1991 (S/23273)[clarification needed] explicitly cites "Iraq's aggression against Iran" in starting the war and breaching international security and peace.[41] Sony VGN-CR41SR/W Battery
War

Iraqi pretext for war and Iraqi war aims
Iraq's pretext was an alleged assassination attempt on Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz in southern Iraq, which Saddam blamed on "Iranian agents", in one of his speeches[citation needed].
Sony Vaio VGN-CR31S/W Battery

The Arvand river waterway on the Iran-Iraq border
Relations deteriorated rapidly until in March 1980, Iran unilaterally downgraded its diplomatic ties to the charge d'affaires level, withdrew its ambassador, and demanded that Iraq do the same. The tension increased in April following the Sony Vaio VGN-CR41SR/P Battery

attempted assassination of Aziz and, three days later, the bombing of a funeral procession being held to bury students who had died in an earlier attack. Iraq blamed Iran, and in September, attacked.[42]
Sony Vaio VGN-CR41SR/L Battery

An armed Iranian militia woman in front of a mosque during the Iraqi invasion of Khorramshahr, September-October 1980Sony Vaio VGN-CR41S/W Battery
On 17 September, in a statement addressed to the Iraqi parliament, Saddam stated that "The frequent and blatant Iranian violations of Iraqi sovereignty...have rendered the 1975 Algiers Agreement null and void... Sony Vaio VGN-CR41S/R Battery

This river...must have its Iraqi-Arab identity restored as it was throughout history in name and in reality with all the disposal rights emanating from full sovereignty over the river.",[43]
The objectives of Iraq's invasion of Iran were[citation needed]: Sony Vaio VGN-CR41S/L Battery
Control of the Arvand river waterway by Iraqis
Acquisition of the three islands of Abu Musa and the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, on behalf of the UAE
Annexation of Khuzestan to IraqSony Vaio VGN-CR31ZR/R Battery
Prevent the spread of the Islamic Revolution in the region
1980: Iraqi invasion

Executing Iraqi POWs by Iranian Troops

Kh zest n Province of Iran, native name,
Iraq launched a full-scale invasion of Iran on 22 September 1980. The Iraqi Air Force launched surprise airstrikes on ten Iranian airfields Sony Vaio VGN-CR31ZR/N Battery
with the objective of destroying the Iranian Air Force on the ground.[44] The attack demolished some of Iran's airbase infrastructure, but failed to destroy a significant number of aircraft. The Iraqi Air Force was only able toSony Vaio VGN-CR31Z/R Battery

strike in depth with a few MiG-23BN, Tu-22 and Su-20 aircraft, largely ineffective due to Iran's sheer size. Three MiG-23s managed to attack Tehran, striking its airport but damaging only a few aircraft.[45] The next day, Iraq launched aSony Vaio VGN-CR31Z/N Battery
ground invasion of Iran along a front measuring 644 kilometres, in three simultaneous thrusts.[44] The purpose of the invasion, according to Saddam, was to blunt the edge of Khomeini's movement and to thwart his attempt to exportSony Vaio VGN-CR31SR/P Battery
his Islamic revolution to Iraq and the Persian Gulf states."[42] Saddam hoped that by annexing the oil-rich province of Khuzestan that he Sony Vaio VGN-CR31SR/L Batterywould send such a blow to the prestige of the Islamic Republic, that it would lead to the downfall of the new government, or at very least put an end to Iranian calls for his overthrow.[46] Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery

Of the six Iraqi divisions that were invading, four were sent against the Iranian province of Khuzestan, which was located near the southern end of the border, to cut off the Arvand river from the rest of Iran, and to establish a territorial security zone.[44] The other two divisions invaded through the northern andSony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery
central part of the border, to prevent an Iranian counter-attack into Iraq.[47] Two of the four Iraqi divisions operating near the southern end, one mechanized and one armored, began a siege of the strategically important towns of Abadan and Khorramshahr.[44] Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

The other two divisions, both armoured, secured the territory bounded by the line Khorramshahr-Ahvaz-Susangerd-Musian, due to an enveloping movement.[44] On the central front, the Iraqis occupied Mehran, Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery
advanced towards the foothills of the Zagros Mountains; and were able to block the traditional Tehran-Baghdad invasion route by securing some territory forward of Qasr-e Shirin.[47] On the northern front, the Iraqis attempted toSony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery establish a strong defensive position opposite Suleimaniya to protect the Iraqi Kirkuk oil complex.[47] Iraqi hopes of an uprising by the ethnic Arabs of Khuzestan failed to occur, and most the ethnic Arabs, who were Shiite remained loyal to Iran.[46] The Iraqi troops advancing into Iran Sony Vaio VGN-CS11S/P Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CS11S/W Battery

in 1980 were described by the British journalist Patrick Brogan as "badly led and lacking in offensive spirit..."[34]
The Iranian regular military and the Pasdaran resisted, but conducted their operations separately. As a result, the Iraqi invading forces did not face co-ordinated resistance.[47] The Pasdaran fought against the Iraqi invasion withSony Vaio VGN-CS11Z/R Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CS11Z/T Battery
"great fervour and tenacity",[48] and bore the brunt of the invasion.[49] By the second day of the invasion, dozens of Iranian F-4s attacked Iraqi targets, and in a few days the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force Sony Vaio VGN-CS21S/P Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CS21S/R Battery
gained air superiority over the Iraqis, allowing them to conduct ground attack missions with fighter-bombers and helicopters against Iraqi forces. The Iraqi Army was also subjected to attacks by entrenched Sony Vaio VGN-CS21Z/Q Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-BZ21VN BatteryIranian artillery.[50] On 24 September, though, the Iranian Navy attacked Basra and, on the way, had destroyed two oil terminals near the Iraqi port of Fao, which reduced Iraq's ability to export oil.[51] The Iranian Air Force also began air strikes in September against strategically importantSony Vaio VGN-CS31S/R Battery
Iraqi targets, including oil facilities, dams, petrochemical plants, and a nuclear reactor near Baghdad.[51]
On 28 September, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution urging Iran and Iraq to stop the fighting and accept mediation. The Iraqi invasion encountered unexpectedly fierce resistance, however, and by DecemberSony Vaio VGN-AW21M/H Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-BZ12EN Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-BZ12XN Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-BZ12XN Battery 1980 it stalled. Also, rather than turning against the Islamic Republic as some experts had predicted, the people of Iran rallied around their country and resisted. An estimated 200,000 additional troops arrived at the front by November, many of them "ideologically committed"Sony Vaio VGN-AW21S/B Battery
volunteers.[3]
Baghdad was subjected to eight air attacks by 1 October.[51] In response to these air attacks, Iraq launched a number of aerial strikes against Iranian targets.[51] In October 1980, a prolonged urban battleSony Vaio VGN-AW21Z/B Battery
took place for Khorramshahr with both sides losing about 7,000 dead.[46] Reflecting the bloody nature of the struggle, both sides came to call Khorramshar "Khunistan" (City of Blood).[46] On 24 October, Sony Vaio VGN-AW31ZS/B Battery
Khorramshahr was finally captured[48] and by November, Saddam ordered his forces to advance towards Dezful and Ahvaz,[51] but their thrusts were repulsed.[51] On 7 December 1980 Saddam announced that Iraq was going on the defensive.[52] For the next eight months, both sides were with the exception Sony Vaio VGN-AW31ZJ/B Battery
of the Battle of Dezful to be on the defensive as the Iranians needed more time to reorganize their forces to undo the damage inflicted by the purge of 1979-80.[23] During this period, the war consisted mainly Sony Vaio VGN-CS31S/W Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-BZ11XN Batteryof artillery duels and raids.[52] Iraq had mobilized 21 divisions for the invasion, while Iran countered with only 13 regular army divisions and one brigade. Of these divisions, only seven were deployed to the border.
1981: StalemateSony Vaio VGN-CS31S/T Battery

On 5 January 1981 the Iranians launched an armoured offensive at Susangerd that saw the Iranians break through the Iraqi lines.[53] However, the Iranian tanks raced through the Iraqi lines with their flanks outprotected, and as a result, the Iranian armoured division was cut off by Iraqi tanks.[54] In theSony Vaio VGN-CS31S/P Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-BZ11EN Battery ensuring battle, the Iranian division was almost totally destroyed in one of the biggest tank battles of the entire war.[54] The Iraqis lost 50 T-62 tanks while the Iranians lost 100 Chieftain and M-60 tanks.[54] The Battle of Dezful had been ordered by President Abulhassan BanisadrSony Vaio VGN-CS31S/V Battery
who was hoping that a victory might shore up his deteriorating political position; instead the failure of the offensive helped to hasten his fall.[55] A major distraction for Iran was the internal fighting between the regime and theSony Vaio VGN-CS31Z/Q Battery
leftish Mujaheddin e-Khalq group on the streets of Iran's major cities in June 1981 and again in September.[56]
In May 1981, the Iranians retook the high ground above Susangerd, and in September 1981, the Iranians put an end to the Iraqi Siege of Abadan, which had commenced in November 1980.[57] By the fall of 1981, serious Sony Vaio VGN-CS21S/W Battery
morale problems had developed in the Iraqi Army with many Iraqi soldiers seeing no point to the invasion of Iran.[58] On 29 November 1981 Iran began Operation Tariq al-Qods (Operation Jerusalem Way) with three Army brigades and seven Revolutionary Guard brigades retaking the town of Bostan from the Iraqi division Sony Vaio VGN-CS21S/T Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-NS36E Batterythat was holding it by 7 December.[58] Operation Jerusalem Way saw the first use of the Iranian "human wave" tactics with the Revolutionary Guard charging the Iraqi positions time after time without the support of artillery or air power until victory.[59] The fall of Bostan massively increased Sony Vaio VGN-NW21MF Battery
the Iraqi logistical problems as to supply their troops, Iraq was forced to use the roundabout route from Ahvaz far to the south.[59] Sony Vaio VGN-NW21EF Battery

1982: Iraqi retreat, Iranian offensive
Iran victorious

Demoralized Iraqi soldiers taken PoW at Khorramshahr
For about a year after the Iraqi offensive stalled in March 1981 there was little change in the front, but in mid-March 1982 Iran took the offensive and the Iraqi military was forced to retreat. By June 1982, an Iranian counter-offensive had recovered all the areas lost to Iraq earlier in the war. In Operation Jerusalem launched Sony Vaio VGN-NW21JF Battery
on 24 April 1982, 70,000 Revolutionary Guardsmen using infiltration tactics at night and human wave attacks by day had by 12 May driven all Iraqi forces out of the Susangerd area.[60] On 20 May 1982 the Iranians began the drive towards Khorramsahr.[60] An especially significant battle of this counter-offensive in theSony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF Battery
Khuzestan province was the Liberation of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis on 24 May 1982. A total of 7,000 Iraqis were killed or wounded in Khorramshahr[61] and 19,000 taken prisoner, while the Iranians had suffered 10,000 casualties. Sony Vaio VGN-NW31EF Battery

Saddam decided to withdraw his armed forces completely from Iran, and that they should be deployed along the international border between Iraq and Iran.[47] Efraim Karsh states that Saddam made this choice becauseSony Vaio VGN-CS11S/T Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CS11S/Q Battery
the Iraqi leader believed that his army was now too demoralised and damaged to hold onto any territory in Iran, and that Iran could be successfully resisted through a line of defence on Iraqi land near the border.[47] Equally important, Sony Vaio VGN-NS38E/S Battery
in April 1982 the rival Ba'athist regime in Syria at the request of Iran closed the Kirkuk-Banias pipeline that allowed Iraqi oil to reach tankers on the Mediterranean, which reduced the Iraqi budget by $5 billion US/month.[62Sony Vaio VGN-NS12M/S Battery
The effects of the Syrian move was to place Iraq under dire financial pressure.[62] The British journalist Patrick Brogan wrote: Sony Vaio VGN-NS12M/W Battery]
"From the time the southern front stabilized at the end of 1980, Iran was able to prevent all Iraqi oil exports through the Shatt. In April 1982, as the tide of war turned against Iraq, Syria closed Iraq's pipeline to the Mediterranean, and it appeared Sony Vaio VGN-NS38E/S Battery

Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery
for a while that Iraq would be strangled economically before it was defeated militarily".[63]
After Syria closed the pipeline, Iraq's only means of exporting oil was the pipeline to Turkey that had a capacity of only 500,000 barrelsSony Vaio VGN-NS38M/W Battery

Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery per day (79,000 m3/d) that was quite insufficient to pay for the war.[64] Only generous financial support from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the other Gulf states, who feared the consequences of an Iranian victory saved Iraq from bankruptcy.[65] It was estimated that theSony Vaio VGN-AW11S/B Battery
Gulf states provided Iraq with an average of $60 billion US in subsides/per year.[63] Brogan wrote in 1989: Sony Vaio VGN-AW11XY/Q Battery

"The other Arab states came to the rescue. Iraq has one of the most unpleasant governments in the region and had shown constant hostility to the monarchies in Jordan, the Gulf and Saudi Arabia. However, the threat of Persian fundamentalism was far more to be feared, and thus the conservative Arab Sony Vaio VGN-AW21XY/Q Battery

Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13/Q Batterystates could not afford to let Iraq be defeated."[63]
The Gulf states were especially inclined to fear an Iranian victory after Khomeini announced that monarchy was an illegitimate and un-Islamic form of government.[65] Khomeini's statement was widely understood as a call for the Sony Vaio VGN-AW31XY/Q Battery

Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13B/S Batteryoverthrow of the Gulf monarchies.[65] Both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had less than friendly relations with Iraq before 1982, and the reluctant decision to support Iraq was taken only because the consequences of an Iranian victory were considered worse than the continued existence of Saddam's regime.[66] The British journalists John Bulloch and Harvey Morris wrote: Sony Vaio VGN-NS10E/S Battery

"The virulent Iranian campaign, which at its peak seemed to be making the overthrow of the Saudi regime a war aim on a par with the defeat of Iraq, did have an effect on the Kingdom, but not the oneSony Vaio VGN-NS10L/S Battery
the Iranians wanted: instead of becoming more conciliatory, the Saudis became tougher, more self-confident, and less prone to seek compromise".[67]
Saudi Arabia was said to provide Iraq with $1 billion US/month starting in mid-1982.[64]
Ceasefire proposalSony Vaio VGN-NS11J/S Battery

On 20 June 1982 Saddam announced that he was prepared to accept a ceasefire on the basis of the pre-war status quo.[60] Khomeini rejected the Iraqi peace offer, and announced that only the overthrow of the Ba'athSony Vaio VGN-NS20E/P Battery
regime and its replacement with an Shia Islamic republic were the only peace terms he would accept.[60] Given that Saddam's offer of 1982 served as the basis of the 1988 ceasefire, Khomeini's decision to reject Saddam's offer, and instead invade Iraq extended the war for the next six years.[68] Bulloch and Morris wrote: Sony Vaio VGN-NS20J/P Battery

"If the leaders in Tehran had accepted [the Iraqi ceasefire offer], they might have gained at the conference table what over six years they failed to achieve at a huge cost in men and material; but true to the bitterness and intransigenceSony Vaio VGN-NS20M/S Battery
shown by both sides, Ayatollah Khomeini rejected the ceasefire offer and the Iranian troops fought on. Iran would remain at war until all of its demands were met, the Ayatollah said - and one of those demands was the removal Sony Vaio VGN-NS30E/S Battery
of Saddam Hussein, the one condition which the Iraqi President could never accept"[69]
On 21 June 1982 Khomenini proclaimed in a speech that Iran would invade Iraq and would not stop until an Islamic Shia republic was set upSony Vaio VGN-NS30Z/S Battery
in that country.[60] The decision to invade Iraq was taken after much debate within the Iranian government.[70] One fraction comprising Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, President Sony Vaio VGN-NS20EF/P Battery
Ali Khamenei and the Army Chief of Staff General Ali Sayad Shirazi urged that now that all of Iranian soil had been liberated to accept the Iraqi ceasefire offer rather embark upon an invasion that was likely to take a heavy toll on Iran'sSony Vaio VGN-NS20EF/S Battery
youth and with uncertain prospects for victory.[70] In particular, General Shirazi was opposed to the invasion of Iraq on logistical grounds and said he was considering resignation if "unqualified people continued to meddle with the conduct of the war".[70] On the other side, there was a hardline fraction led by clerics on theSony Vaio VGN-NS20EF/W Battery
Supreme Defence Council, whose leader was the politically powerful Speaker of the Majlis Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who favored continuing the war until the Ba'ath were overthrown.[70] Khomeini sided with the hardliners.[70] In Baghdad, Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery
at a cabinet meeting, the minister of health Dr. Riyadh Ibrahim Hussein suggested that Hussein step down temporarily as a way of Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13A/B Battery
easing Iran towards a ceasefire.[69] An annoyed Saddam asked if anyone else in the Cabinet agreed with the Health Minister's idea. None raised their hands in support, and Dr. Hussein was shot later that day for treason.[69] Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

Under the slogans "War, War until Victory" and "The Road to Jerusalem Goes through Karbala",[71] Iran advanced. A tactic used in this advance noted throughout the world was the encouragement of heroism among Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13/S Battery
young Iranian basij volunteers who launched human wave attacks on Iraqi positions. The volunteers were inspiredSony VAIO VGP-BPS13A/S Battery before battle by tales of Ashura, the Battle of Karbala, and the supreme glory of martyrdom, and sometimes by an actor (usually a more mature soldier), playing the part of Imam Hossein himself riding a white horse, galloping along the lines, providing the inexperienced Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery
soldiers a vision of "the hero who would lead them into their fateful battle before they met their God."[72] The "martyrs" signed "Passports to Paradise" as admission forms to the Basij were called, given Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery
a week of basic military training by the Pasdaran, and then were sent to the front.[70] These attacks cost Iran massive casualties, as they were met with fierce resistance from defensive positions, Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery

along with artillery and rocket fire.[50] A great advantage that the Iraqis were to enjoy in the defense of their country was logistical.[73] The front was close to all of the main Iraqi bases and arms depots, and Iraq'sSony VGP-BPS21A/b Battery
Battery
excellent roads allowed the Iraqi Army to be efficiently supplied.[28] By contrast, the front in Iraq was a considerable distance from the main Iranian bases and arms depots, and as such, Iranian troops and supplies hadSony Vaio VGN-NW21MF Battery
to travel through difficult roads across several mountain ranges before arriving at the front.[28]
On 13 July, the Iranian units crossed the border in force, aiming towards the city of Basra, the second most important city in Iraq. However, the enemy they encountered had entrenched itself in formidable defenses.[74Sony Vaio VGN-NW21EF Battery
] Unlike the hastily improvised defenses that the Iraqis had manned in Iran during the 1980-1981 occupation of the conquered territories, the border defenses were, by necessity, well developed even before the war, and theSony Vaio VGN-NW21JF Battery
Iraqis were able to utilize a highly-developed network of bunkers and artillery fire-bases.[74] Unlike the fighting in Iran, Iraqi morale improved in 1982 when the Iraqis were fighting in the defense of their nation.[65] Sony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF Battery
Saddam had also more than doubled the size of the Iraqi army from 200,000 soldiers (12 divisions and 3 independent brigades) to 500,000 (23 divisions and nine brigades).[74]

Sony Vaio VGN-NW31EF Battery
Saddam's efforts bore fruit. Iran had been using combined-arms operations to great effect when it was attacking the Iraqi troops in its country, and had launched the iconic human-wave attacks with great support from artillery, Sony Vaio VGN-NW31ZF/S Battery
aircraft, and tanks. However, lack of ammunition meant that the Iranians were now launching human-wave assaults with no support from other branches of the military. The superior defenses of the Iraqis meant that tens of thousands of Iranian soldiers were lost in most operations after 1982, and the Iraqi defenses Sony Vaio VGN-NW31JF Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-NW31EF Battery
would continue to hold in most sectors. During the advance on Basra, the Basij were used to clear the Iraqi minefields with their feet in order to allow the Pasdaran to advance.[74]
In the Basra offensive, Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/P Battery
or Operation Ramadan, five human-wave attacks were met with withering fire from the Iraqis. The boy-soldiers of Iran were particularly hard-hit, especially since they volunteered to run into minefields, in order to clear the way for the Iranian soldiers behind them. Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S Battery
The Iranians were also hard-hit by the employment of chemical weapons and mustard gas by the Iraqis. Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/W Battery

In 1982, with Iranian success on the battlefield, the U.S. made its backing of Iraq more pronounced, supplying it with intelligence, economic aid, normalizing relations with the government (broken during the Sony Vaio VGN-NW11Z/T Battery
1967 Six-Day War), and also supplying "dual-use" equipment and vehicles. Dual use items are civilian items such as heavy trucks, armored ambulances and communications gear as well as industrial technology that can have a military Sony Vaio VGN-NW11Z/S Battery
application.[75] President Ronald Reagan decided that the United States "could not afford to allow Iraq to lose the war to Iran", and that the United States "would do whatever was necessary to prevent Iraq from losing the war withSony Vaio VGN-NW11S/T Battery
Iran."[76] President Reagan formalized this policy by issuing a National Security Decision Directive ("NSDD") to this effect in June, 1982. The Security Council passed Resolution 552 condemning attacks on commercial ships in the region. Sony Vaio VGN-NW11S/S Battery
1983-84: Strategic stalemate

Furthest ground gains.

Ali Khamenei, with Iranian soldiers on the front-line. Khamenei opposed Khomeini's decision to extend the war into Iraq.[77] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery

In January 1983, an Iraqi-Soviet arms deal was signed in Moscow, which led to the Soviet Union supplying Iraq with T-62 and T-72 tanks; Mig-23 and Mig-25 jets; and SS-21 and Scud-B missiles.[78] By 1987, the Soviet Union Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery
had provided Iraq with 800 T-72 tanks, and dozens upon dozens of modern fighters and bombers.[78] Between 1980-82, France had supplied Iraq with $5.6 billion US worth of weapons such as fighters, tanks, self-propelled guns and helicopters.[78] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L Battery
After the failure of their 1982 summer offensives, Iran believed that a major effort along the entire breadth of the front would yield theSony VAIO VGN-FW21Z Battery

victory that they desired. Iranian numerical superiority might have achieved a break-through if they had attacked across all parts of the front at the same time, but they still lacked the organization for that type of assault. Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery

• Iran was getting supplies from countries such as North Korea, Libya, and China. The Iraqis had more suppliers such as the USSR, the NATO nations, France, United Kingdom, Brazil, Yugoslavia, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the United States. Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery

• During the course of 1983, the Iranians launched five major assaults along the front.[79] None met with substantial successSony VAIO VGN-FW11J Battery
• as the Iranians staged massive "human wave" attacks on well-dug Iraqi positions without artillery, air or armored support.[79] Khomeini's position on a truce remained unchanged. Sony VAIO VGN-FW51MF/H Battery
• On 7 February 1984, Saddam ordered aerial and missile attacks against the eleven cities that he had designated.[80] The bombardment ceased on 22 February 1984. Iran soon retaliated against Iraqi urban centers, and these exchanges becomeSony VAIO VGN-FW11Z Battery

of the cities". There would be five such exchanges throughout the course of the war.

• The attacks on the Iranian cities did not destroy the Iranian government's resolve to fight. On 15 February, 1984 the IraniansSony VAIO VGN-FW11ZRU Battery
•  
• known as the first "war launched a major attack against the central section of the front where the Second Iraqi Army Corps was deployed with 250,000 Iranians faced 250,000 Iraqis.[80] The Iranian "final blow" offensives entitled Operation Dawn 5 (5-22 February 1984) and Dawn 6 (22-24 February 1984) Sony VAIO VGN-FW11ZU Battery
• saw the Iranians attempting to take Kut al-Amara and sever the highway connecting Baghdad to Basra. Capture of this road would have made it extremely difficult for the Iraqis to supply and co-ordinate the defenses, but the Iranian forcesSony VAIO VGN-FW21J Battery
• only came within 15 miles (24 km) of the highway. After advancing to within 15 miles (24 km) of the highway after much heavy fighting, on 24 February, the Iranians began Operation Kheibar, the offensive intended to take Basra, whichSony VAIO VGN-FW21ZR Battery

ended in failure as the Iraqi trenches proved to be too tough of a nut for the Iranians to crack.[81]

• However, Operation Kheibar met Sony VAIO VGN-FW3ZJ Battery
• with much greater success. The Iranians fought their way through the marshes of southern Iraq to take Majnun Island, 40 miles (64 km) to north of Basra.[81] Involving a number of thrusts towards the key Iraqi city of Basra, Sony VAIO VGN-FW41E/H Battery
• the operation started on the 24 February and lasted until 19 March. The Iraqi defenses, under continuous strain since 15 February, seemed close to breaking conclusively. The Iraqis were saved by use of a defense-in-depthSony VAIO VGN-FW41J/H Battery
• with one defensive line after another; even if the Iranians stormed through the first line, they were usually so exhausted and had taken such heavy losses that attempts to storm through the second line resulted in failure.[82] The Iraqis successfully stabilized the front but not before the Iranians captured part of the MajnunSony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H Battery
• Islands. Despite a heavy Iraqi counterattack coupled with the use of mustard gas and sarin nerve gas, the Iranians held their gains and would continue to hold them almost until the end of the war.[3] The Iranian offensive endedSony VAIO VGN-FW41ZJ/H Battery
• on 19 March 1984 after much desperate fighting in the marsh land with the Iraqis making heavy use of chemical weapons to halt the Iranian advance on Basra, through the Iraqis failed in their attempts to re-take Majnun.[81] Sony VAIO VGN-FW46M Battery

At least 3,000 Iranians were killed in the fighting in the marshes with Iraqi helicopter gunships being deployed to "hunt" the Iranian troops in the marshes.[81]

• 1984: 'Tanker War' in Persian GulfSony VAIO VGN-FW4ZTJ/H Battery

An Iranian frigate during the tanker war

• The Tanker War started when Iraq attacked Iranian tankers and the oil terminal at Kharg Island in early 1984.[83] Iran struck back by Sony VAIO VGN-FW51 Battery

attacking tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait and then any tanker of the Persian Gulf states supporting Iraq. Both nations attacked oil tankers and merchant ships, including those of neutral nations, in an effort to deprive theSony VAIO VGN-FW51ZF/H Battery opponent of trade. Iraq declared that all ships going to or from Iranian ports in the northern zone of the Persian Gulf were subject to attack.[83] Saddam's hope in beginning the "tanker war" was that in response to Iraqi attacks against its shipping, the Iranians might do somethingSony Vaio VPCEB4Z1E/BQ Battery

extreme in retaliation such as closing the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping.[83] The United States had threatened several times to go to war if the Strait of Hormuz was closed.[83] For this reason, the Iranians refused to rise to the bait, Sony Vaio VPCEB4Z1E/BQ Battery

and so limited their attacks in retaliation to Iraqi shipping.[84] Iran attacked tankers carrying Iraqi oil from Kuwait and then any tanker of the Persian Gulf states supporting Iraq. The air and small boat attacks did verySony Vaio VPCEB4Z0E/BQ Battery
little damage to Persian Gulf state economies and Iran just moved its shipping port to Larak Island in the strait of Hormuz.[85] Sony Vaio VPCEB4X1E/BQ Battery

Sony Vaio VPCEB2S1E/PI Battery
Iraq used its air power to enforce its threats, primarily helicopters, F-1 Mirage and MiG-23 fighters armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles. After repeated Iraqi attacks on Iran's main exporting facility on Khark Island, Iran attacked a Kuwaiti tanker near Bahrain on 13 May 1984, and a Saudi tanker in Saudi waterSony Vaio VPCEB4S1E/WI Battery

Sony Vaio VPCEB2S1E/WI Batterys on 16 May. Attacks on ships of noncombatant nations in the Persian Gulf sharply increased thereafter, and this phase of the Iraq-Iran war was dubbed the "Tanker War." The Iranian attacks against Saudi shipping led to Saudi F-15s shooting down an Iranian aircraft on 5 June 1984.[84] Sony Vaio VPCEB4M1E/BQ Battery

Cargo Ship under attack
The Iranian Navy imposed a naval blockade of Iraq, using its British-built frigates to stop and inspect any ships thought to be trading with Iraq. They operated with virtual impunity, as Iraqi pilots had little training Sony Vaio VPCEB4M1E/WI Battery
in hitting naval targets. Some Iranian warships attacked tankers with ship-to-ship missiles, while others used their radars to guide land-based anti-ship missiles to their targets.[86]
Though the "tanker war" alarmed the United States, it was not followed up with any significant American action until 1987.[8Sony Vaio VPCEB4M1E/T Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB4L9E/BQ Battery
4] After several Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti shipping, the United States Navy started in March 1987 to escort Kuwaiti tankers provided that they flew the American flag.[84] In April 1987, the Soviet Navy also started escortingSony Vaio VPCEB4L1E/BQ Battery
Kuwaiti tankers.[84] A US Navy ship, the USS Stark was struck on 17 May 1987, by two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi F-1 Mirage[87][88] plane. The Iraqi fighter fired the Exocet missiles at about the time theSony Vaio VPCEB4L1E/WI Battery
fighter was given a routine radio warning by the Stark.[89] The frigate did not detect the missiles with radar and warning was given by the lookout only moments before the missiles struck.[90] The missiles hit the ship and one exploded in crew quarters, killing 37 sailors and wounding 21.[90] Sony Vaio VPCEB4L1E/BQ Battery

Attacks on shipping
Lloyd's of London, a British insurance market, estimated that the Tanker War damaged 546 commercial vessels and killed about 430 civilian sailors. The largest portion of the attacks were directed by Iran against Sony Vaio VPCEB4J1E/WI Battery
Kuwaiti vessels, and on 1 November 1986, Kuwait formally petitioned foreign powers to protect its shipping. The Soviet Union agreed to charter tankers starting in 1987, and the United States offered to provide protection forSony Vaio VPCEB4J1E/PI Battery
tankers flying the U.S. flag on 7 March 1987 (Operation Earnest Will and Operation Prime Chance).[91] During the course of the war Iran attacked two Soviet Navy ships which were protecting Kuwaiti tankers.[9Sony Vaio VPCEB4E9E/BQ Battery
2] One of the ships which was damaged as a result of an attack during the war was the Seawise Giant carrying Iranian crude which was struck by Iraqi Exocet missiles, resulting in the damage of the largest ship ever built in history.[93] Sony Vaio VPCEB4E1E/WI Battery

1985 - 86: Offensives and retreats
With his armed forces now benefiting from financial support from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Persian Gulf states, and substantial arms purchases from the Soviet Union, China and France (among others), Saddam wentSony Vaio VPCEB3Z1E/BQ Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB2Z1E/BQ Battery on the offensive on 28 January 1985, for the first time since early 1980. This offensive, however, did not produce any significant gains, and the Iranians responded in kind with their own offensive Sony Vaio VPCEB3S1E/BQ Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB3M1E/WI Battery

directed against Basra, codenamed Operation Badr, on 11 March 1985.[94] The Imam Khomeini urged Iranians on saying, "It is our belief that Saddam wishes to return Islam to blasphemy and polytheism. ... if America becomes victorious ... and grants victory to Saddam, Islam will receive such a blow that it will Sony Vaio VPCEB3M1E/BQ Battery
not be able to raise its head for a long time ... The issue is one of Islam versus blasphemy, and not of Iran versus Iraq."[95] Sony Vaio VPCEB3L9E/BQ Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB3L1E/WI Battery

By this time, the failure of the unsupported human wave attacks during 1984 meant that Iran was trying to develop a better working relationship between the army and the Pasdaran.[94] The Iranian government also worked on molding the Revolutionary Guard units into a much more conventional fighting Sony Vaio VPCEB3L1E/T Battery
force. The attack did succeed in capturing a part of the Baghdad-Basra highway that had proven elusive during Operation Dawn 5 and Operation Dawn 6. Reflecting the improved Iranian tactics, Iraq suffered 10,000-12,000Sony Vaio VPCEB3L1E/PI Battery
casualties in Badr while the Iranians took 15,000 casualites.[94] Saddam responded to this strategic emergency by launching chemical attacks against the Iranian positions along the highway and by initiatingSony Vaio VPCEB3J1E/WI Battery
the second 'war of the cities' with a massive air and missile campaign against twenty Iranian towns, including Tehran.[94]
On 9 February 1986, the Iranians launched Operation Dawn 8, which saw 100,000 troops comprising 5 Army divisions and 50,000 men from the Pasdaran and the Basji advance in a two-pronged offensive inSony Vaio VPCEB3J1E/T Battery
southern Iraq.[96] Unlike the earlier offensives, Dawn 8 was planned entirely by professional Army officers, all of whom had began their careers under the Shah.[96] The Iranians launched a feint attack against Basra, Sony Vaio VPCEB3J1E/BQ Battery
which was stopped by the Iraqis.[96] At the same time with the Iraqis distracted by the offensive against Basra, the main Iranian blow fell on the strategically important Fao peninsula, which fell after only 24 hours of fighting.[9Sony Vaio VPCEB3E9E/BQ Battery
6] The Iranians launched their assault on the Fao at night with their men arriving via rubber boats.[97] After taking the Fao, the Iranians built a pontoon bridge and began to dig in.[97] On 12 February 1986 the Iraqis began Sony Vaio VPCEB3E8E/WI Battery
a counter-offensive to re-take the Fao, which failed after a week of intense fighting.[96] Saddam sent one of his best commanders, General Maher Abd-Rashid and the Republican Guard to begin an new offensive toSony Vaio VPCEB3E4E/WI Battery
re-capture the Fao on 24 February 1986.[96] A new round of intensive fighting took place with the Iraqis losing 10,000 men and the Iranians 30,000 over the next four days.[96] The Iraqi offensives were supported Sony Vaio VPCEB3E1E/WI Battery
by helicopter gunships, hundreds of tanks and a huge bombing offensive by the Iraqi Air Force.[98] Despite having an advantage in firepower and the extensive use of chemical warfare, the Iraqi attempt to re-takeSony Vaio VPCEB3E1E/PI Battery the Fao again ended in failure.[96] The fall of the Fao and the failure of the Iraqi counter-offensives were huge blows to the prestige of the Ba'ath regime, and led to fears all over the Gulf that Iran might win the war.[96] In particular, Kuwait felt menaced with Iranian troops

Sony Vaio VGP-BPS22A Battery
only ten miles away, and increased its support of Iraq accordingly.[99] In March 1986, the Iranians tried to follow up their success by attempting to take Umm Qasr, which would had the effect of severing Iraq from the Gulf and placing Iranian troops on the border with Kuwait.[96] The Iranian offensive failed.[96] In May 1986, Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/G Battery
the Iraqis took the Iranian border town of Mehran, and made a proposal for swapping Mehran for Fao.[100] The Iraqi offer was rejected and in July 1986 the Iranians re-took Mehran.[100]
1987 - 88: Towards a ceasefireSony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/B Battery

People's Mujahedin of Iran supported by Saddam started their ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualties ranged from 2,000 to 10,000. Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/W Battery

1987 saw a renewed wave of Iranian offensives against targets in both the north and south of Iraq. Iranian forces launched Operation Karbala-5 in an attempt to capture Basra, but repulsed after more than two monthsSony Vaio VPCEA1S1E/P Battery

of fighting which saw 20,000 Iraqi and 65,000 Iranian casualties. Among those killed was Iranian commander Hossein Kharrazi. The Iranians came close to breaking through the Iraqi lines and taking Basra, but in the end, Sony Vaio VPCEA1S1E/L Battery
the strength of the Iraqi lines halted the Iranian offensive.[63] However, the Iranians came close enough to Basra to bring up their artillery, and in the ensuring bombardments, Basra was largely destroyed.[63] The IraniansSony Vaio VPCEA1S1E/G Battery
were met with more success later in the year in the north as Operations Nasr 4 and Karbala-10, threatening to capture the oil-rich Iraqi city of Kirkuk and other northern oilfields. However, the Iranian forces were unableSony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/B Battery
to consolidate their gains and continue their advance, and so 1987 saw little land change hands. On 20 July, the Security Council of the United Nations passed the US-sponsored Resolution 598, which called for an end tSony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/L Battery
o fighting and a return to pre-war boundaries.[101]
In February 1988, Saddam began the fifth and most deadly of the "war of the cities".[102] Over the next two months, Iraq was to fireSony Vaio VPCEA181 Battery
over 200 missiles at Iranian cities.[102] In March 1988, the Iranians began an offensive in Iraqi Kurdistan with the aim of capturing the Darbandi Khan reservoir and the power plant at Dukan, which supplied Iraq with much ofSony Vaio VGP-BPS22 Battery its electricity.[103] Through the Iranians advanced to within sight of Dukan, and captured 400 square miles (1,000 km2) and 4,000 Iraqi troops, the offensive failed to the Iraqi use of chemical warfare.[103] On 17 April 1988, an Iraqi offensive was started which saw theSony Vaio VGN-Z11MN/B Battery
Fao peninsula recaptured after three days of fighting.[102] After retaking the Fao, the Iraqis began a sustained drive to clear the Iranians out of all of southern Iraq.[103] In May 1988, the Iraqis expelled the IraniansSony Vaio VGN-Z11VN/X Battery
from Salamchech and took Majnun Island.[102] During the fighting in the spring of 1988, the Iranians showed all the signs of collapsing morale.[73] The British journalist Patrick Brogan reported: Sony Vaio VGN-Z11WN/B Battery

"Reports from the front, both at Faw [Fao] and outside Basra, indicated that the Iranian resistance was surprisingly weak. The army that had shown such courage and lan early in the war now broke in a rout, and fled before the Arabs."[73]
During the 1988 battles, the IraniansSony Vaio VGN-Z11XN/B Battery
seemed tired and worn out by the nearly eight years of the war, and "put up very little resistance" to the Iraqi offensives.[104] At the same time that Iraq was in the process of expelling the Iranians from its territory, aSony Vaio VGN-Z21MN/B Battery
series of American-Iranian naval clashes in the Gulf led Iran to fear American intervention.[105] At this point, led by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, elements of the Iranian leadership had decided to sue for peace.[106] Sony Vaio VGN-Z21VN/X Battery
On 20 July 1988, Iran announced its willingness to accept a ceasefire by accepting Resolution 598.[107] In a radio address, an announcer read out a statement by Khomeini, in which he expressed his deep Sony Vaio VGN-Z21XN/B Battery
displeasure and reluctance about accepting the ceasefire by saying:
"Happy are those who have departed through martyrdom. Happy are those who have lost their lives in this convoy of light. Unhappy am I that I still survive and have drunk the poisoned chalice...".[108] Sony Vaio VGN-Z31XN/B Battery

Iraq for its turn announced it was not willing to accept Resolution 598 until Khomeini explicitly disavowed his call for the overthrow of Saddam .[109] Over the next few weeks, Iraq launched several limited offensivesSony Vaio VGN-Z31WN/B Battery
into Iran to seize border territory as a way of pressuring Khomeini to disallow his calls for regime change in Iraq.[110] At the same time, Saddam came under heavy pressure from the Gulf states, who were his largest creditors to accept the Iranian offer and finally end the war.[111]
In July 1988 Iraqi Sony Vaio VGN-Z31VN/X Battery
airplanes dropped chemical cyanide bombs on the Iranian Kurdish village of Zardan (as they had done four months earlier at their own Kurdish village of Halabja). Hundreds were killed at once, and the survivors are still suffering from a variety of physical and mental disorders.[citation needed] Following Sony Vaio VGN-Z31ZN/X Battery
these major setbacks, Iran accepted the terms of U.N. Security Council Resolution 598 and on 20 August 1988 peace was restored.[112] The news of the end of the war was greeted with scenes of wild celebration in Sony Vaio VGN-Z41MD/B Battery
Baghdad with people dancing in the streets while in Tehran, the end of the war was greeted with a glum, sad silence as Iran settled for the same terms it had rejected in 1982, thus meaning that the last six years of the war had been in vain.[113] Sony Vaio VGN-Z41WD/B Battery

Home front

Iraq

their country's war effort against Iran.[121] The British journalist Patrick Brogan reported:
"Even the Shiites of Iraq preferred the vicious tyranny of Saddam Hussein, Sunni though he was, to the Ayatollah's Shiite paradise: Hussein Sony VAIO VGN-Z11VN/X Battery was an Arab, Khomeini a Persian, and 13 centuries of hostility are not to be dispersed by a Friday sermon".[104]
During the first years of the war in the early 1980s, the Iraqi government tried to accommodate the Kurds in order to focus on the war against Iran. In 1983, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan agreed to cooperate with Baghdad, but the Kurdish Democratic Party remained opposed.[1Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery
22] In 1983, Saddam signed an autonomy agreement with Jalal Talabani of the PUK, through subsequently Saddam reneged on his promise of Kurdish autonomy.[55] By 1985, the PUK and KDP had joined forces, Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery
and Iraqi Kurdistan become the scene of widespread guerrilla warfare right up to the end of the war in 1988.[55] Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery
As a counterpart to the new policy of the "carrot", there was a policy of the "stick". A campaign of terror was begun in the summer of 1982 with more than 300 Iraqi Army officers being shot for their failures on the battlefield.[1Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery

15 July 2011"': Hundreds of thousands continue to protest in Tahrir Square.
23 July 2011: Thousands of protesters try to march to the Defense Ministry. They are met with thugs that have sticks, stones, cocktails and other things. The protests are set off by a speech commemorating the 1952 coup led by Mohammed Tantawi. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

1 August 2011: Egyptian soldiers clash with protesters, tearing down tents. Over 66 people were arrested. Most Egyptians supported the military's action. Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery
Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery
6 August 2011 Hundreds of protesters gathered and prayed in Tahrir Square. After they were done, they were attacked by the military.
9 September 2011: The"Friday of Correcting the Path"; Tens of thousands of people protested Suez, Alexandria, Cairo, and other cites. Islamist protesters were absent.
Cities and regions : Mass civil disobedienceSony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this section if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (April 2011) Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

Protesters in Alexandria

Protesters remove portraits of Ex-president Mubarak in Sohag City in upper Egypt
Cairo
Cairo has been at the epicentre of much of the crisis. The largest protests were held in downtown Tahrir Square, which was considered the "protest movement's beating heart and most effective symbol."[129] On the first three daysSony VAIO VGN-SR29VN Battery
of the protests, there were clashes between the central security police and protesters and on 28 January, police forces withdrew from all of Cairo. Citizens formed neighbourhood watch groups to keep the order as widespread looting was reported. Traffic police were reintroduced to Cairo on

Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Batterythe morning of 31 January.[130] An estimated 2 million people protested at Tahrir square.[13]
Alexandria
Alexandria, the home of Khaled Saeed, had major protests and clashes with the police. A demonstration on 3 February was reported to include 750,000 people.[citation needed] There were few confrontations as not many Mubarak supporters were around, except in occasional motorised convoys escorted by police. Sony VAIO VGN-SR31M Battery
The breakdown of law and order, including the general absence of police on the streets, continued through to at least the evening of 3 February, including the looting and burning of one the country's largest shopping centres, Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P Battery
Carrefour[citation needed] Alexandria protests were notable for the presence of Christians and Muslims jointly taking part in the events following the church bombing on 1 January, which saw street protests denouncing Mubarak's regime following the attack. Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S Battery
Mansoura
In the northern city of Mansoura there were protests against the Mubarak regime every day from 25 January onwards.
On 27 January, Mansoura was dubbed a "War Zone". On 28 January, 13 were reported dead in violent clashes. On 9 February, 18 more protesters had died. Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/P Battery

One protest on 1 February was estimated at one million people, The remote city of Siwa had been relatively calm.[131] Local sheikhs, who were reportedly in control of the community, put the community under lockdown after a nearby town was "torched."[132] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13/Q Battery
Suez
The city of Suez has seen violent protests. Eyewitness reports have suggested that the death toll there may be high, although confirmation has been difficult due to a ban on media coverage in the area.[133] Some online activists referred to Suez as Egypt's Sidi Bouzid, the Tunisian city where protests started.[13Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MR Battery
4] A labour strike was held on 8 February.[135] Large protests took place on 11 February.[136]
On 3 February, 4,000 protesters went to the streets to call for Mubarak's departure.[137]
TantaSony VGP-BPS13/B Battery

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets from the first day (25 January) and most of the days after until 11 February. Crowds exceeded a hundred thousand many times. Some hospitals reported casualties during the clashes of 28 January.[citation needed] Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

Beni Suef
Beni Suef had repeated protests in front of the City Hall on el Kourneish, in front of the Omar abd el Aziz Mosque, and in El Zerayeen Square, on most days during the revolutionary period. Twelve protesters were killed when police opened fire at mass Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery
groups protesting in front of the Police Station in Beba, South Beni suef. Many others got injured. Thugs and outlaws have robbed governmental garages and burned down several Government buildings.[citation needed] Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery
Sally Zahran, a female protester who was a victim during demonstrations. NASA announced plans to write her name on a rocket, as part of a tradition of the American space organization's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to engrave the names of Sony VGP-BPS13 Batterty
notable people on spacecraft at the request of NASA staff members or US citizens. "This is the least we could do for Egypt's youth and the revolutionaries. This step represents the transfer of the dreams of Egyptian young people from a small stretch of earth to the enormous expanse of space" said NASA researcher Essam Mohamed Haji.[143] Sony VAIO FW Battery

Leading up to the protests, at least six cases of self-immolation were reported, including a man arrested while trying to set himself on fire in downtown Cairo.[144] These cases were inspired by, and began exactly one month after, the acts of self-immolation in Tunisia triggering the 2010-2011 Tunisian uprising. Six instances have beenSony VAIO VGN-FW11 Battery
reported, including acts by Abdou Abdel-Moneim Jaafar,[145] Mohammed Farouk Hassan,[146] Mohammed Ashour Sorour,[147] and Ahmed Hashim al-Sayyed who later died from his injuries.[148] Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M Battery

This template is outdated. Please update this template to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (September 2011)
Location of deaths The mostly confirmed
death tollSony VAIO VGN-FW11S Battery

By 29 January, 2,000 people were known to be injured.[166] The same day, an employee of the Azerbaijani embassy in Egypt was killed while returning home from work in Cairo;[167] the next day Azerbaijan sent a plane to evacuate citizens[168] and opened a criminal investigation into the death.[169] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery

Funerals for the dead on the "Friday of Anger" were held on 30 January. Hundreds of mourners gathered for the funerals calling for Mubarak's removal.[170] By 1 February, the protests had left at least 125 people dead,[171] although Human Rights Watch said that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay claimedSony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery
that as many as 300 people may have died in the unrest. This unconfirmed tally included 80 Human Rights Watch-verified deaths at two Cairo hospitals, 36 in Alexandria, and 13 in the port city of Suez, among others;[151][172][17Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L Battery
Sony VGP-BPS13B/S Battery3] over 3,000 people were also reported as injured.[151][172][173]
An Egyptian Governmental Fact-Finding mission Known as " Fact-Finding National commission About 25 Jan Revolution" announced on 19 April that at least 846 Egyptians died in the nearly three week long popular uprising.[161][162][163] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z Battery

International reactions

Main article: International reactions to the 2011 Egyptian revolution
International reactions have varied with most Western states saying peaceful protests should continue but also expressing concern for the stability of the country and the region. The European Union's Foreign Affairs Chief issuedSony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery

a statement saying "I also reiterate my call upon the Egyptian authorities to urgently establish a constructive and peaceful way to respond to the legitimate aspirations of Egyptian citizens for democratic and socioeconomic reforms."[1Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery
74] The United States, Britain, France, Germany and others issued similar statements calling for reforms and an end to violence against peaceful protesters. Many states in the region expressed concern and supported Mubarak, in particular Saudi Arabia, which issued a statement saying it "strongly condemned" the protests,[17Sony VGN-FW31ZJ battery
5] while others, like Tunisia and Iran, supported the protests. Israel was most cautious for a change, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking his government ministers to maintain silence, and urging Israel's USSony VGN-FW32J battery
and European allies to curb their criticism of President Mubarak;[176][177] however, an Arab-Israeli parliamentarian supported the protests. There were also numerous solidarity protests for the anti-government protesters around the world. Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery

NGOs also expressed concern about the protests and the ensuing heavy-handed state response. Amnesty International described attempts to discourage protests as "unacceptable".[178] Many countries also issued travel warnings or began evacuating their citizens, including the US, Israel, Great Britain, and Japan. Even multinational Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery
corporations began evacuating their expatriate workers.[179] Many university students were also evacuated.
Post-ousting
Many nations, leaders, and organizations hailed the end of the Mubarak regime. There were celebrations in Tunisia, and Lebanon. World leaders including Angela Merkel, David Cameron joined in praising the Revolution.[18Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery
0] United States President Barack Obama praised the achievement of the Egyptian people and encouraged other activists by saying "let's look at Egypt's example"[181] Amid the growing concerns for the country, on 21 February, David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, became the first world leader toSony VGP-BPS13/S Battery
Sony VGP-BPS13A/S Battery
visit Egypt since Mubarak was ousted as the president 10 days previously. A news blackout was lifted as the prime minister landed in Cairo for a brief five-hour stopover hastily added at the start of a planned tour of the Middle East.[18Sony VGP-BPS13/Q Battery
2] On 15 March United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Egypt, she was the highest ranking US official to visit Egypt after the handover of power from Mubarak to the military. Clinton urged the military Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery
leaders to begin the process of a democratic transition and offer support to those who had been protesting, as well as reaffirming ties between the two nations.[183]
ResultsSony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery

Main article: Domestic responses to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011

"Nero burned Rome; Mubarak is burning Egypt"
On 29 January, Mubarak indicated he would be changing the government because despite a "point of no return" being crossed, national stability and law and order must prevail, that he had requested the government, Sony VGP-BPS13B/G Battery
formed only months ago, to step down, and that a new government would be formed.[184][Full citation needed][185] He then appointed Omar Suleiman, head of Egyptian Intelligence, as vice president and Ahmed Shafik as prime minister.[186]
Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S Battery
On 1 February, he spoke again saying he would stay in office until the next election in September 2011 and then leave without standing as a candidate. He also promised to make political reforms. He made no offer to step down. Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T Battery

On 31 January, Mubarak swore in his new cabinet in the hope that the unrest would fade. The protesters did not leave and continued to demonstrate in Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the downfall of Mubarak. The vice-president and the prime minister were already appointed.[187] He told the new government to preserveSony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T Battery
subsidies, control inflation and provide more jobs.[188]
On 1 February, Mubarak said he never intended to run for reelection[189] in the upcoming September presidential election, though his candidacy had previously been announced by high-ranking members of his National Democratic Party[190] Sony VAIO VGN-NW31ZF/S Battery

In his speech, he asked parliament for reforms:
According to my constitutional powers, I call on parliament in both its houses to discuss amending article 76 and 77 of the constitution concerning the conditions on running for presidency of the republic and it sets specific Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Battery
a period for the presidential term. In order for the current parliament in both houses to be able to discuss these constitutional amendments and the legislative amendments linked to it for laws that complement the constitution and to ensure the participation of all the political forces in these discussions, I demand parliament to adhereSony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery
to the word of the judiciary and its verdicts concerning the latest cases which have been legally challenged.
Hosni Mubarak, 1 February 2011[191]
Various opposition groups,[clarification needed] including the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), reiterated demands for Mubarak's resignation. The Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S Battery
MB also said, after protests turned violent, that it was time for the military to intervene.[192] Mohammed ElBaradei, who said he was ready to lead a transitional government,[193] was also the consensus candidate by a unified opposition including: the 6 April Youth Movement, We Are All Khaled Said Movement, National Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S Battery
Association for Change, 25 January Movement, Kefaya and the Muslim Brotherhood.[194] ElBaradei formed a "steering committee".[195] On 5 February, a "national dialogue" was started between the government and opposition Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/P Battery
groups to work out a transitional period before democratic elections.
Many of Al-Azhar Imams joined the protesters on 30 January all over the country.[196] Christian leaders asked their congregations to stay away from protests, though a number of young Christian activists joined the protests led by Wafd Party member Raymond Lakah.[197] Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/S Battery
The Muslim Brotherhood joined the revolution on 30 January, calling on all opposition groups to unite against Mubarak, and for the military to intervene. They joined other opposition groups in electing Mohammed el Baradei to lead a National Salvation Government in the interim period.[198] Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/W Battery

The Egyptian state cracked down on the media, and shut down internet access,[199] a primary means of communication for the opposition. Journalists were also harassed by the regime's supporters, eliciting condemnation Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/S Battery
from the Committee to Protect Journalists, European countries and the United States.
Reform process
See also: Egyptian constitutional review committee of 2011
The protests initiated a process of social and political reform by articulating a series of demands. Reform began with President Mubarak's announcements that concessions would be made towards reform and was highlighted by his resignationSony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery
18 days after the protests started. The list of demands for broader changes in Egyptian society and governance, articulated by protesters and activists, includes the following: Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery

The voters' line in Mokattam, Cairo, during the constitutional referendum on 19 March 2011. The queue was so long it extended well outside the built-up area of Mokattam and into the desert. The referendum witnessed an unprecedented turnout of voters, with over 18 million Egyptians casting their votes. Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery
On 17 February, an Egyptian prosecutor ordered the detention of three ex-ministers, former Interior Minister Habib el-Adli, former Tourism Minister Zuhair Garana and former Housing Minister Ahmed el-Maghrabi, and a prominent businessman, steel magnate Ahmed Ezz, pending trial on suspicion of wasting public Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN Battery

funds. The public prosecutor also froze the accounts of Adli and his family members on accusations that over 4 million Egyptian pounds ($680,000) were transferred to his personal account by a head of a contractor company, while calling on the Foreign Minister to contact European countries and ask them to freeze the accounts of the defendants.[205] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/P Battery

Meanwhile, the United States announced on the same day that it was giving Egypt $150 million in crucial economic assistance to help it transition towards democracy following the overthrow of long time president Mubarak. US Secretary of State Hillary ClintonSony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery
said that William Burns, the Under-secretary of State for political affairs, and David Lipton, a senior White House adviser on international economics, would travel to Egypt the following week.[205] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MR Battery

On 19 February, a moderate Islamic party, named (Arabic: ) Al-Wasat Al-Jadid, or the New Center Party, which was outlawed for 15 years was granted official recognition by an Egyptian court. The party was founded in Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery
1996 by activists who split off from the Muslim Brotherhood and sought to create a tolerant Islamic movement with liberal tendencies, but its attempts to register as an official party were rejected four times since then. On theSony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery
same day, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq said 222 political prisoners would be released. He said only a few were detained during the popular uprising and put the number of remaining political prisoners at 487, but did not say when they would be released.[206] Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

On 20 February, Dr. Yehia El Gamal a well known activist and law professor, announced (on TV channels) accepting a Vice Prime Minister position within the new government that will be announced on 21-22 February. He also announced the removal of many of the previous government members to alleviate the situation. Sony VAIO VGN-SR31M/S Battery

On 21 February, the Muslim Brotherhood announced it would form a political party for the upcoming parliamentary election, called the Freedom and Justice Party, which was to be led by Dr. Saad Ketatni.[207][208][209] Its spokesperson noted Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P Battery
that "when we talk about the slogans of the revolution - freedom, social justice, equality - all of these are in the Sharia (Islamic law)."[210] Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S Battery
On 3 March, Prime Minister Shafik submitted his resignation to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The Council appointed Essam Sharaf, a former Minister of Transport who began vocal criticism of the regime following his resignation, Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/W Battery
particularly after the Qalyoub rail accident in 2006, to replace Shafik and form a new government. Sharaf's appointment is seen as a significant concession to protesters, as he had been actively involved during the action at Tahrir Square.[211][212][213] Sharaf appointed former International Court of Justice judge Nabil Elaraby asDell Studio 17 Battery
Dell Latitude E5410 Battery
Foreign Minister and General Mansour El Essawi as Interior Minister.[214][215]
On 16 April, the Higher Administrative Court dissolved the former ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and ordered its funds and property Dell Studio 1735 Battery
Dell Studio 1737 Battery

to be handed over to the government.[216] On 24 May 2011, it was announced that Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons Gamal and Alaa are to be tried over the deaths of anti-government protesters in the revolution that began on 25 January.[217] Dell Studio 15 Battery

Court trials of state officials accused of corruption
Main article: Trials and judicial hearings following the 2011 Egyptian revolution
The ousting of Mubarak was followed by a series of arrests of, and / or imposed travel bans on high profile figures on charges of causing the death of 300-500 demonstrators, and the injury of 5,000 more, as well as charges of embezzlement, profiteering, Dell Studio 1537 Battery
Dell Studio 1536 Battery
money laundry, and abuse of human rights. Among these figures are Mubarak himself, his wife Suzanne Mubarak, his son Gamal, his son Alaa, the former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, the former Housing Minister Ahmed El-Maghrabi, the former Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana and the former Secretary of the National Democratic Party Dell Studio 1555 Battery
for Organisational Affairs Ahmed Ezz.[218] Mubarak's ousting was also followed by widespread allegations of corruption against numerous other government officials and senior politicians[219][220] On 28 February 2011, Egypt's top prosecutor ordered an asset freeze for Mubarak and his family.[221] This was followed by Dell Studio 1557 Battery
arrest warrants, travel bans and judicial orders to freeze the assets of other known public figures, including the former Speaker of the Egyptian Parliament, Fathi Sorour, and the former Speaker of the Higher Legislative Body (Shura Council), Safwat El Sherif.[222][ Dell LATITUDE D600 Battery
223] Arrest warrants were also issued against some public figures who left the country with the outbreak of the revolution. These warrants were issued on allegations of financial misappropriations, rather than human rights abuses. Dell Latitude D610 Battery
Among these public figures are Rachid Mohamed Rachid, the former Minister of Trade and Industry and Hussein Salem, a business tycoon. Salem is believed to have left for Dubai[224]
Trials of the accused officials started on 5 March 2011 when the former Interior Minster of Egypt, Habib el-Adli, appeared before the Giza Criminal Court in Cairo.[ Dell Latitude D620 Battery
225] The trials of el-Adli and other public figures are expected to run a lengthy course.
In March 2011, following the revolution, Abbud al-Zumar, one of Egypt's most famous political prisoners, was freed after 30 years. He was founder and first emir of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and implicated in the assassination of President Anwar Sadat on 6 October 1981.[226] Dell Latitude D630 Battery

On 24 May, former Egyptian President Mubarak was ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors during the 2011 Egyptian revolution and, if convicted, could face the death penalty. The full list of charges released by the public prosecutor was "intentional murder, attempted killing of someDell LATITUDE D800 Battery
demonstrators...misuse of influence and deliberately wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains and profits."[12]
Analysis
Dell Latitude D820 Battery

Regional instability
Main article: Arab Spring
The Egyptian Revolution, along with the events in Tunisia, have sparked a wave of major uprisings. Demonstrations and protests have spread across the Middle East and North Africa. To date Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Dell Latitude D830 Battery

Dell Latitude E5500 BatteryMorocco,Yemen, and Syria have all witnessed major protests. In addition, minor incidents have occurred in Iraq, Kuwait, Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Sudan.
Religion and politics
Further information: Islam and democracy and Secularism in Egypt
See also: Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Gama'at Islamiya, and Egyptian Islamic Jihad
Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
A Muslim wearing the cross in solidarity with Christian; and a Copt Christian (left) and a Salafi Muslim (right) debate in Tahrir Square on politics and the revolutionDell Latitude E6400 Battery

The protests in Egypt were not centred around religion-based politics, but nationalism and a broad-based social consciousness.[227] Before the uprising, the most organised and prominent opposition movements throughout the Arab world usuallyDell Latitude E6500 Battery
Dell INSPIRON 9200 Battery
came from Islamist organisations that relied on a conviction of their faith, where members were motivated and ready to sacrifice. However, secular forces emerged from the revolution touting principles that religious groups shared with them: freedom, Dell INSPIRON 9300 Battery

social justice, and dignity. Islamist organisations also emerged with greater freedom to operate. Although the cooperative, inter-faith revolution itself was no guarantee that partisan politics would not re-emerge in its wake, its success nonethelessDell Inspiron 9400 Battery

represented a change from the intellectual stagnation created by decades of repression which simply pitted modernity and Islam against one another as conflicting and incompatible. Islamists and secularists both have been faced with new opportunities for Dell Inspiron E1505 Battery
dialogue and discourse, on matters such as the role of Islam and Sharia in society and freedom of speech, as well as the impact of secularism on a predominantly Muslim population.[228]
Despite the optimism surrounding the revolution, several commentators have expressed concerns about the risk of increased power and influence for Islamist forces in the country and the region at large, as well as the difficulties of integrating the Dell Inspiron E1705 Battery
different groups, ideologies, and visions for the country among the population. Journalist Caroline Glick argued that the Egyptian revolution portends a rise in religious radicalism and support for terrorism, citing a 2010 Pew Opinion poll which found that Egyptians support Islamists over modernizers by a ratio of over 2 to 1.[229] JournalistDell inspiron 1525 Battery
Shlomo Ben-Ami argued that Egypt's most formidable task is to refute the old paradigm of the Arab World that sees the only choices for regimes as between either repressive, secular dictatorships or repressive theocracies. He noted, however that with Islam such a central

Dell Latitude E5400 Batterypart of the society, any emergent regime is bound to be attuned to religion. In his view a democracy that excluded all religion from public life, as in France, could succeed in Egypt and no Arab democracy could disallow the participation of political Islam if it were to be genuine.[230] Dell Inspiron 1545 Battery

Since the revolution Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood have shown unprecedented strength in the new more democratic landscape, taking leading roles in constitutional changes, voter mobilization, and protests.[231][232] This was a noted concern among the secular and youth movements, who wanted any elections Dell Inspiron XPS M170 Battery

Dell Precision M6400 Batteryto be held later rather than sooner, so that they might catch up with the already well-organized groups. Elections are to be held in September 2011 and it is unclear which group or approach will prevail.
Women's roleDell Inspiron XPS M1710 Battery

A female protester wearing a niq b
Egyptian women were active throughout the revolution. Some took part in the protests themselves, were present in news clips and on Facebook forums, and were part of the leadership during the Egyptian revolution. In Tahrir Square, female protesters, some with their children, worked to support the protests. The diversity Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
of the protesters in Tahrir Square was visible in the women who participated; many wore head scarves and other signs of religious conservatism, while others revelled in the freedom to kiss a friend or smoke a cigarette in public. Egyptian women also organised protests, and reported on the events; female bloggers such as Leil ZahraDell Latitude E6400 Battery
Mortada risked abuse or imprisonment by keeping the world informed of the daily scene in Tahrir Square and elsewhere.[233] Among those who died was Sally Zahran, who was beaten to death during one of the demonstrations. NASA reportedly plans to name one of its Mars exploration spacecraft in Zahran's honour.[234] Dell Latitude E6500 Battery

The wide participation and the significant contributions by Egyptian women to the protests have been attributed to the fact that many, especially younger women, are better educated than previous generations, representing more than half of Egyptian university students. This has been an empowering factor for women, who haveDell Latitude E6400 Battery
become more present and active publicly in recent years. The advent of social media has also helped provide tools for women to become protest leaders.[233]
The military's roleDell Precision M4400 Battery
Further information: Egyptian Armed Forces

From left to right: One of the 2 army vehicles that were burned during the army attacks on 9 April 2011 and one of the protestors holding some of the army bullets, standing in front of a burning army vehicle that was burned during the army attack on 9 April 2011 in Tahrir Square, at least 2 protestors were killed by the army and tens wounded. HP Pavilion G62-120EL Battery

The Egyptian Armed Forces enjoy a better reputation with the public than the police does, the former perceived as a professional body protecting the country, the latter accused of systemic corruption and illegitimate violence. All four Egyptian presidents since the 1950s have come from the military into power. Key Egyptian military personnel include the Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and General Sami Hafez Enan, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.[235][236] The Egyptian military totals around 468,500 well-armed active personnel, plus a reserve of 479,000.[237] HP Pavilion G62-120EP Battery

As Head of Egypt's Armed Forces, Tantawi has been described as "aged and change-resistant" and is attached to the old regime. He has used his position as Defense Minister to oppose reforms, economic and political, which he saw HP Pavilion G62-120ES Battery
as weakening central government authority. Other key figures, Sami Enan chief among them, are younger and have closer connections to both the US and groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. An important aspect of the relationship between the Egyptian and American military establishments is the 1.3 billion HP Pavilion G62-120SE Battery
dollars in military aid provided to Egypt annually, which in turn pays for American-made military equipment, and allows Egyptian officers to receive training in the US. Guaranteed this aid package, the governing military council is forHP Pavilion G62-120SL Battery
the most reform-resistant.[238][239] One analyst however, while conceding that the military is change-resistant, states it has no option but to facilitate the process of democratisation. Furthermore, the military will have to keep itsHP Pavilion G62-120SS Battery
role in politics limited to continue good relations with the West, and must not restrict the participation of political Islam if there is to be a genuine democracy.[230] HP Pavilion G62-120SW Battery
HP Pavilion G62-140SF Battery Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Egypt
Foreign governments in the West including the US have regarded Mubarak as an important ally and supporter in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.[47] After wars with Israel in 1948, '56, '67 and '73, Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979, provoking controversy in the Arab world. As provisioned in the 1978 Camp David Accords, which led toHP Pavilion G62-121EE Battery

the peace treaty, both Israel and Egypt receive billions of dollars in aid annually from the United States, with Egypt receiving over US$1.3 billion of military aid each year in addition to economic and development assistance.[240] According to Juan Cole, many HP Pavilion G62-125EK Battery

HP Pavilion G62-140ET BatteryEgyptian youth feel ignored by Mubarak on the grounds that he is not looking out for their best interests and that he rather serves the interests of the West.[241] The cooperation of the Egyptian regime in enforcing the bl

HP Pavilion G62-140ES Batteryockade of the Gaza Strip was also deeply unpopular among the general Egyptian public.[242]
Online activism and the role of social media

Coverage by the news network Al Jazeera English provided information about the revolution outside Egypt. HP Pavilion G62-125EV Battery

The April 6 Youth Movement (Arabic: 6 ) is an Egyptian Facebook group started in Spring 2008 to support the workers in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, an industrial town, who were planning to strike on April 6. Activists called on participants to wear black and stay home on the day of the strike. Bloggers and citizen journalists used Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, blogs and other new media tools to report on the strike, alert their networks HP Pavilion G62-130EK Battery
about police activity, organize legal protection and draw attention to their efforts. The New York Times has identified the movement as the political Facebook group in Egypt with the most dynamic debates. As of January 2009[update], it had 70,000 predominantly young and educated members, most of whom had not been politically HP Pavilion G62-130SL Battery
active before; their core concerns include free speech, nepotism in government and the country's stagnant economy. Their discussion forum on Facebook features intense and heated discussions, and is constantly updated with new postings. HP Pavilion G62-134CA Battery
the founders of the movement
Ahmed Maher was a prominent participant in the anti-Mubarak demonstrations in Egypt in 2011.
Asmaa Mahfouz posted a video blog that went viral. She urged the Egyptian people to join her in a protest on January 25, in Tahrir Square to bring down Mubarak's regime and urged people not to be afraid. HP Pavilion G62-140EL Battery

Waleed Rashed (Arabic ) born November 15, 1983 in El Sharkia, Egypt), is one of the co-founders of the April 6 Youth Movement and a prominent participant in the anti-Mubarak demonstrations in Egypt in 2011.
We Are All Khaled Saeed is a Facebook group which formed in the aftermath of Saeed's beating and death. The group attracted hundreds of thousands of members worldwide and played a prominent role in spreading and bringing attention toHP Pavilion G62-140SS Battery

the growing discontent. As the protests began, Google executive Wael Ghonim revealed that he was the person behind the account.[243] Later after the revolution, in an TV interview in the presence of member of the ruling military council, HP Pavilion G62-140US Battery
it was revealed that AbdulRahman Mansour, a young underground activist and media expert shared the account with Wael Ghonim.[244] Another potent viral online contribution was made by Asmaa Mahfouz, a female activist who posted aHP Pavilion G62-143CL Battery
video in which she challenged people to publicly protest.[245] Previously, Facebook had suspended the group because some of its administrators were using pseudonyms, a violation of the company's 'Terms of Service.'[246] HP Pavilion G62-144DX Battery
The usage of social media has been extensive.[247][248] [249] [250] As one Egyptian activist succinctly tweeted during the protests there, "We use Facebook to schedule the protests, Twitter to coordinate, and YouTube to tell the world."[2HP Pavilion G62-145NR Battery
51] Internet censorship has also been extensive, and in some cases comprehensive to the extent of taking entire nation-states practically off-line.[252] HP Pavilion G62-149WM Battery

It is readily believed that a handful of people through Facebook, Twitter, and blogging sparked this uprising. One of which is Wael Ghonim . Many believe Ghonim was the first contributor to spark the Egypt revolution when he created a Facebook page dedicated to Khaled Saeed entitled We Are All Khaled Saeed . Saeed, an Egyptian business man HP Pavilion G62-150EF Battery
was beaten to death by police in June 2010. It is believed that this was in retaliation to a video he posted showing Egyptian police sharing the spoils of a drug bust. The Facebook page blew up to over 400,000 followers, creating an online arena where protestors and those discontent with the government could gather, vent, and organise. HP Pavilion G62-150EQ Battery
The page called for protests on 25 January, Known as the day of wrath. Hundreds of thousands of protestors flooded the streets to show their discontent with the murder and the corruption within their country. Ghonim was jailed the HP Pavilion G62-150EV Battery
28th and released 12 days later. Ghonim has also gained quite a large following through his Twitter account where he has been creating a narrative of the events happening day to day in Egypt. Ghonim is the Middle East and North African marketing manager at Google. He is currently on leave. HP Pavilion G62-150SE Battery

Another major contributor is Egyptian activist and member of the 6 April movement
Though these two are credited with being the first social media faces of this revolution, since the 25th people have posted videos, tweeted, and wrote Facebook comments to keep the world abreast of the turmoil in Egypt. Including videosHP Pavilion G62-150SF Battery
posted of a badly beaten Khaled Said, disproving the first claims by the police that he had choked to death. Ali documents the various ways in which social media was used by Egyptian activists, some of the most prominent Egyptian celebrities, and as well by major political figures abroad to invigorate the protests.[253] HP Pavilion G62-150SL Battery

Sharif Abdel Kouddous, a journalist with Democracy Now! had provided live coverage and tweets from Tahrir Square during the protests and has also been credited with using new media to raise awareness regarding the protests.[254][255] HP Pavilion G62-153CA Battery

The role of social media in the Egyptian uprising has since been widely written and debated about, including in the first edition of the Dubai Debates on the question "Mark Zuckerberg - the new hero of the Arab people?" [256] Many have argued, based in part on the Egyptian revolution, that social media may be an effective tool in developing nations more generally.[257] HP Pavilion G62-154CA Battery
Critics that claim social networking didn't instigate the Arab Spring, argue on five major points[258]: that people in the Middle East generally don't use social networking sites,[259][260] that social networking sites aren't private enough to evade authorities,[261] that many people don't trust social networking as aHP Pavilion G62-165SL Battery
source for news,[262] that social networking sites were promoted by the media,[263] and finally that social networking sites make non-activists feel involved in the revolutions.[264] HP EliteBook 8440P Battery
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than boys. This disproportion is reflected in the rate of literacy, which exceeds 85 percent among males and is about 70 percent among females.[217] Classes are segregated by gender. Higher education has expanded rapidly, Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/L Battery
with large numbers of Universities and colleges being founded particularly since 2000. Institutions of higher education include the country's first University, King Saud University founded in 1957, the Islamic University at Medina founded in 1961, and the King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah founded in Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/G Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/B Battery1967. Other colleges and universities emphasize curricula in sciences and technology, military studies, religion, and medicine. Institutes devoted to Islamic studies, in particular, abound. Women typically receive college instruction in segregated institutions.[52] Sony Vaio VGN-Z11MN/B Battery
The study of Islam dominates the Saudi educational system. In particular, the memorization by rote of large parts of the Qu'ran, its interpretation and understanding (Tafsir) and the application of Islamic tradition to everyday life is at the core of the curriculum. Religion taught in this manner is also a compulsory subject forSony Vaio VGN-Z11VN/X Battery
all University students.[218] As a consequence, Saudi youth "generally lacks the education and technical skills the private sector needs" according to the CIA.[205] Similarly, The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote in 2010Sony Vaio VGN-Z11WN/B Battery
that "the country needs educated young Saudis with marketable skills and a capacity for innovation and entrepreneurship. That's not generally what Saudi Arabia's educational system delivers, steeped as it is in rote learning and religious instruction."[219] Sony Vaio VGN-Z11XN/B Battery
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A further criticism of the religious focus of the Saudi education system is the nature of the Wahhabi-controlled curriculum. The Islamic aspect of the Saudi national curriculum was examined in a 2006 report by Freedom House which concluded that "the Saudi public school religious curriculum continues Sony Vaio VGN-Z21VN/X Battery
to propagate an ideology of hate toward the "unbeliever," that is, Christians, Jews, Shiites, Sufis, Sunni Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine, Hindus, atheists and others"[220][221] The Saudi religious studies curriculum is taught outside the Kingdom in madrasah throughout the world. Critics have described theSony Vaio VGN-Z21XN/B Battery

education system as 'medieval' and that its primary goal 'is to maintain the rule of absolute monarchy by casting it as the ordained protector of the faith, and that Islam is at war with other faiths and cultures'.[222Sony Vaio VGN-Z31XN/B Battery
The approach taken in the Saudi education system has been accused of encouraging Islamic terrorism, leading to reform efforts.[223] To tackle the twin problems of encouraging extremism and the inadequacy of the country's university education for a modern economy, the government is aiming to slowlySony Vaio VGN-Z31WN/B Battery
modernise the education system through the 'Tatweer' reform program.[223] The Tatweer program is reported to have a budget of approximately US$2 billion and focuses on moving teaching away from the Sony Vaio VGN-Z31VN/X Battery
traditional Saudi methods of memorization and rote learning towards encouraging students to analyze and problem-solve. It also aims to create an education system which will provide a more secular and vocationally-based training.[219][224]
CultureSony Vaio VGN-Z31ZN/X Battery
Main article: Culture of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a very conservative country with centuries-old attitudes and traditions, often derived from Arab tribal culture. This conservative tendency has been bolstered by the austerely puritanical Wahhabi form of Islam, Sony Vaio VGN-Z41MD/B Batterywhich arose in the eighteenth century and now predominates in the country. The many limitations on behaviour and dress are strictly enforced both legally and socially. Alcoholic beverages are prohibited, for example, and there is no theatre or public exhibition of films. Public expression of Sony VAIO VGN-Z41WD/B Battery
opinion about domestic political or social matters is discouraged. There are no organizations such as political parties or labour unions to provide public forums. Sony VAIO VGN-Z41MD/B Battery

Daily life is dominated by Islamic observance. Five times each day, Muslims are called to prayer from the minarets of mosques scattered throughout the country. Because Friday is the holiest day for Muslims, the weekend begins on Thursday.[52][225Sony VAIO VGN-Z11WN/B Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-Z21WN/B Battery
] In accordance with Wahhabi doctrine, only two religious holidays are publicly recognized, d al-Fi r and d al-A . Celebration of other Islamic holidays, such as the Prophet's birthday and sh r (an important holiday for Sh ites), are tolerated only when celebrated locally and on a small scale. Public observance of non-IslamicSony VAIO VGN-Z51WG/B Battery
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religious holidays is prohibited, with the exception of September 23, which commemorates the unification of the kingdom.[52]
Islamic heritage sites
See also: Mecca, Medina, and Destruction of early Islamic heritage sites
Saudi Arabia, and specifically the Hejaz, as the cradle of Islam, has many of the most significant historic Muslim sites including the two holiest sites ofSony VAIO VGN-Z21MN/B Battery
Mecca and Medina.[226] One of the King's titles is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, the two mosques being Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, which contains Islam's most sacred place, the Kaaba, and Al-Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina which contains Muhammad's tomb.[227][228] Sony VAIO VGN-Z11XN/B Battery

However, Saudi Wahhabism is hostile to any reverence given to historical or religious places of significance for fear that it may give rise to 'shirk' (that is, idolatry). As a consequence, under Saudi rule, the Hejaz cities have suffered fromSony VAIO VGN-Z31VN/X Battery
considerable destruction of their physical heritage and, for example, it has been estimated that about 95% of Mecca's historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished.[229] These include the mosque originally built by Muhammad's daughter Fatima, and other mosques founded by AbuSony VAIO VGN-Z21XN Battery
Bakr (Muhammad's father-in-law and the first Caliph), Umar (the second Caliph), Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law and the fourth Caliph), and Salman al-Farsi (another of Muhammad's companions).[230] Other historic Sony VAIO VGN-Z31MN/B Battery
buildings that have been destroyed include the house of Khadijah, the wife of the Prophet, the house of Abu Bakr, now the site of the local Hilton hotel; the house of Ali-Oraid, the grandson of the Prophet, and the Mosque of abu-Qubais, now the location of the King's palace in Mecca.[231] Sony VAIO VGN-Z11VN/X Battery
Critics have described this as "Saudi vandalism" and claim that over the last 50 years 300 historic sites linked to Muhammad, his family or companions have been lost.[232] It has been reported that there now are fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad.[231] Sony Vaio VGN-Z11MN/B Battery
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Dress
Saudi Arabian dress strictly follows the principles of hijab (the Islamic principle of modesty, especially in dress). The predominantly loose and flowing, but covering, garments are suited to Saudi Arabia's desert climate. Traditionally, men usually wear an ankle length shirt woven from wool or cotton (known as a thawb) Sony Vaio VGN-Z11WN/B Battery

, with a keffiyeh (a large checkered square of cotton held in place by a cord coil) or a ghutra (a plain white square made of finer cotton, also held in place by a cord coil) worn on the head. For rare chilly days, Saudi men wear a camel-hair Sony Vaio VGN-Z11XN/B Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-Z21MN/B Battery
cloak (bisht) over the top. Women's clothes are decorated with tribal motifs, coins, sequins, metallic thread, and appliques. Women are required to wear an abaya or modest clothing when in public.
Ghutrah (Arabic: ) is a traditional hSony Vaio VGN-Z21VN/X Battery
eaddress typically worn by Arab men. It is made of a square of cloth ("scarf"), usually cotton, folded and wrapped in various styles around the head. It is commonly worn in areas with an arid climate, to provide protection from direct sun exposure, and also protection of the mouth and eyes from blown dust and sand. Sony Vaio VGN-Z21XN/B Battery

Agal (Arabic: ) is an Arab headdress constructed of cord which is fastened around the Ghutrah to hold it in place. The agal is usually black in colour.
Thawb (Arabic: ) is the standard Arabic word for garment. It is ankle length, usually with long sleeves similar to a robe. Sony Vaio VGN-Z31XN/B Battery

Bisht (Arabic: ) is a traditional Arabic men's cloak usually only worn for prestige on special occasions such as weddings.
Abaya (Arabic: ) is a women's garment. It is a black cloak which loosely covers the entire body except the head. Usually, the sleeves are decorated with stitched embroidery and different bright colors or even crystals, and the restSony Vaio VGN-Z31WN/B Battery
of the cloak is plain. Some women choose to cover their faces with a niq b and some do not. Recently, there's a move towards Abaya colors other than black especially in the Makkah Province in the west of the Kingdom. Sony Vaio VGN-Z31VN/X Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-Z31ZN/X Battery

Kameez/Kurta Shalwar is a men's and women's garment. It is worn by Pakistani people in Saudi Arabia.
Entertainment, the arts, sport and cuisine
Main articles: Cinema of Saudi Arabia and Music of Saudi Arabia
During the 1970s, cinemas were numerous in the Kingdom and were not considered un-Islamic, although they were seen as contrary to Arab tribal norms.[2Sony Vaio VGN-Z41MD/B Battery
3] During the Islamic revival movement in the 1980s, and as a political response to an increase in Islamist activism including the 1979 seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the government closed all cinemas and theaters. However, with King Abdullah's reforms from 2005, some cinemas have re-opened.[234] Sony Vaio VGN-Z41WD/B Battery3
From the 18th century onward, Wahhabi fundamentalism discouraged artistic development inconsistent with its teaching. In addition, Sunni Islamic prohibition of creating representations of people have limited the visual arts, which tend to be dominatedSony VAIO VGN-FZ31E Battery

by geometric, floral, and abstract designs and by calligraphy. With the advent of oil-wealth in the 20th century came exposure to outside influences, Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J Battery
such as Western housing styles, furnishings, and clothes. Music and dance have always been part of Saudi life. Traditional music is generally associated with poetry and is sung collectively. Instruments include the rab bah, an instrument not unlike a three-string fiddle, and various types of percussion instruments, such as the abl (drum) Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M Battery
and the r (tambourine). Of the native dances, the most popular is a martial line dance known as the ar ah, which includes lines of men, frequently armed with swords or rifles, dancing to the beat of drums and tambourines. Bedouin poetry, known as naba , is still very popular.[52] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11E Battery

Censorship has limited the development of Saudi literature, although several Saudi novelists and poets have achieved critical and popular acclaim in the Arab world - albeit generating official hostility in their home country. These include Ghazi Algosaibi, Abdelrahman Munif, Turki al-Hamad and Rajaa al-Sanea.[235][236][237] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L Battery
Football (soccer) is extremely popular, as is scuba diving, windsurfing, and sailing. Basketball is popular[238][239] with both men and women, with the national team winning bronze at the 1999 Asian Championship.[240] More traditionalSony VAIO VGN-FZ11M Battery
sports such as camel racing became more popular in the 1970s. A stadium in Riyadh holds races in the winter. The annual King's Camel Race, begun in 1974, is one of the sport's most important contests and attracts animals and riders from throughout the region. Falconry, another traditional pursuit, is still practiced.[52] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery

Cuisine in Saudi Arabia is similar to that of the surrounding Arab countries in the Persian Gulf, and has been heavily influenced by Turkish, Persian, and African food. Islamic dietary laws are enforced: pork is not consumed and other animals are slaughtered in accordance with halal. A dish consisting of a stuffed Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z Battery

lamb, known as kh z , is the traditional national dish. Kebabs are popular, as is sh warm (shawarma), a marinated grilled meat dish of lamb, mutton, or chicken. As in the countries of the Gulf, machb s (kabsa), a rice dish with fish or shrimp, is popular. Flat, unleavened bread is a staple of virtually every meal, as are dates and fresh fruit. Coffee, served in the Turkish style, is the traditional beverage.[52] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E Battery

The 2011 Egyptian revolution (Arabic: 25 thawret 25 yan yir, Revolution of 25 January) took place following a popular uprising that began on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 and is still continuing as of November 2011. Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J Battery
The uprising was mainly a campaign of non-violent civil resistance, which featured a series of demonstrations, marches, acts of civil disobedience, and labour strikes. Millions of protesters from a variety of socio-economic and religious backgrounds demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M Battery
Mubarak. Despite being predominantly peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 people killed and 6,000 injured.[23][24] The uprising took place in Cairo, Alexandria, and in other cities in Egypt, following the Tunisian revolution thatSony VAIO VGN-FZ21S Battery
resulted in the overthrow of the long-time Tunisian president. On 11 February, following weeks of determined popular protest and pressure, Mubarak resigned from office.
Grievances of Egyptian protesters were focused on legal and political issues[25] including police brutality,[1] state of emergency laws,[1] lack of free elections and freedom Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z Battery
of speech,[2] uncontrollable corruption,[2] and economic issues including high unemployment,[3] food price inflation,[3] and low minimum wages.[1][3] The primary demands from protest organizers were the end of theSony VAIO VGN-FZ Battery
Hosni Mubarak regime and the end of emergency law; freedom, justice, a responsive non-military government, and a say in the management of Egypt's resources.[26] Strikes by labour unions added to the pressure on government officials.[27] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M Battery
During the uprising the capital city of Cairo was described as "a war zone,"[28] and the port city of Suez was the scene of frequent violent clashes. The government imposed a curfew that protesters defied and that the police and military did not enforce. TheSony VGN-NR11M/S Battery
presence of Egypt's Central Security Forces police, loyal to Mubarak, was gradually replaced by largely restrained military troops. In the absence of police, there was looting by gangs that opposition sources said were instigated by plainclothes police officers. In response, watch groups were organised by civilians to protect neighbourhoods.[29][30][31][32][ Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery
33]
International response to the protests was initially mixed,[34] though most called for peaceful actions on both sides and moves toward reform. Most Western governments expressed concern about the situation. Many governments issued travel advisories and made attempts to evacuate their citizens from the country.[35Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery
] The Egyptian Revolution, along with Tunisian events, has influenced demonstrations in other Arab countries including Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria and Libya.
Mubarak dissolved his Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery
government and appointed military figure and former head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate Omar Suleiman as Vice-President in an attempt to quell dissent. Mubarak asked aviation minister and former chief of Egypt's Air Sony VGN-CR11SR Battery
Sony VGN-CR11Z BatteryForce, Ahmed Shafik, to form a new government. Mohamed ElBaradei became a major figure of the opposition, with all major opposition groups supporting his role as a negotiator for some form of transitional unity government.[36] In response to mounting pressure, Mubarak announced he would not seek re-election in September.[37] Sony VAIO PCG-5G3L Battery

On 11 February Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that Mubarak would be stepping down as president and turning power over to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.[38] On 24 May, Mubarak was ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protestors and, if convicted, could face the death penalty.[12] Sony VAIO PCG-5J1L Battery

The military junta, headed by effective head of state Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, announced on 13 February that the constitution would be suspended, both houses of parliament dissolved, and that the military would rule for six months untilSony VAIO PCG-5J2L Battery
elections could be held. The prior cabinet, including Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik, would continue to serve as a caretaker government until a new one is formed.[39] Shafik resigned on 3 March, a day before major protests to get him to step down were planned; he was replaced by Essam Sharaf, the former transport minister.[40Sony VAIO PCG-5K2L Battery
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] Although Mubarak resigned, the protests have continued amid concerns about how long the military junta will last in Egypt; some are afraid that the military will rule the country indefinitely.[41] Sony VAIO PCG-6S1L Battery
Hosni Mubarak became head of Egypt's semi-presidential republic government following the 1981 assassination of President Anwar El Sadat, and continued to serve until 2011. Mubarak's 30-year reign made him the longest serving President in Egypt's history,[46] with his National Democratic Party (NDS) Sony VAIO PCG-6S2L Battery
government maintaining one-party rule under a continuous state of emergency.[47] Mubarak's government earned the support of the West and a continuation of annual aid from the United States by maintaining policies of suppression towards Islamic militants and peace with Israel.[47] Hosni Mubarak was often compared to an Egyptian pharaoh by the media and by some of his critics due to his authoritarian rule.[48] Sony VAIO PCG-6W1L Battery
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f Power

Gamal Mubarak in 2006
Main article: Gamal Mubarak
Gamal Mubarak, the younger of Mubarak's two sons, began being groomed to be his father's successor as the next president of Egypt around the year 2000.[49] Gamal started receiving considerable attention in the Sony VAIO PCG-6W3L Battery

Egyptian media, as there were no other apparent heirs to the presidency.[50] Bashar al-Assad's rise to power in Syria in June 2000, just hours after Hafez al-Assad's death sparked a heated debate in the Egyptian press regarding the Sony VAIO PCG-7111L Battery
prospects for a similar scenario occurring in Cairo.[51]
In the years after Mubarak's 2005 reelection several political groups (most in Egypt are unofficial) on both the left and the right, announced their sharp opposition to the inheritance of power. They demanded political change andSony VAIO PCG-7112L Battery
asked for a fair election with more than one candidate. In 2006, with opposition rising, The Daily News Egypt reported on an online campaign initiative called the National Initiative against Power Inheritance which demanded Gamal Sony VAIO PCG-7113L Battery

Sony VAIO PCG-8Z1L Batteryreduce his power. The campaign stated, "President Mubarak and his son constantly denied even the possibility of [succession]. However, in reality they did the opposite, including amending the constitution to make sure that Gamal will be the only unchallenged candidate."[52] Sony VAIO PCG-7131L Battery

Over the course of the decade perception grew that Gamal would succeed his father. He wielded increasing power as NDP deputy secretary general, in addition to a post he held heading the party's policy committee. Analysts went so far as describing Mubarak's last decade in power as "the age of Gamal Mubarak." Sony VAIO PCG-7132L Battery
With Mubarak's health declining and the leader refusing to appoint a vice-president, Gamal was considered by some to be Egypt's de-facto president.[53] Sony VAIO PCG-7133L Battery

Both Gamal and Hosni Mubarak continued to deny that an inheritance would take place. There was talk, however, of Gamal being elected; with Hosni Mubarak's presidential term set to expire in 2010 there was speculation Gamal would run as the NDP party's candidate in 2011.[54] Sony VAIO PCG-7z1L Battery

After the January-February 2011 protest, Gamal Mubarak stated that he would not be running for the presidency in the 2011 elections.[55]
Emergency lawSony VAIO PCG-7z1L Battery

Main article: Emergency law in Egypt
An emergency law (Law No. 162 of 1958) was enacted after the 1967 Six-Day War. It was suspended for 18 months in the early 1980s[56] and has otherwise continuously been in effect since President Sadat's 1981 assassination. Sony VAIO PCG-8Y1L Battery
[57] Under the law, police powers are extended, constitutional rights suspended, censorship is legalised,[58] and the government may imprison individuals indefinitely and without reason. The law sharply limits any non-governmentalSony VAIO PCG-8Y2L Battery political activity, including street demonstrations, non-approved political organizations, and unregistered financial donations.[56] The Mubarak government has cited the threat of terrorism in order to extend the emergency law,[57] claiming that opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood could come into power in Egypt if the current government did not forgo parliamentarySony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery
elections and suppress the group through actions allowed under emergency law.[59] This has led to the imprisonment of activists without trials,[60] illegal undocumented hidden detention facilities,[61] and rejecting university, Sony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery
mosque, and newspaper staff members based on their political inclination.[62] A parliamentary election in December 2010 was preceded by a media crackdown, arrests, candidate bans (particularly of the Muslim Brotherhood), Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L Battery
and allegations of fraud involving the near-unanimous victory by the ruling party in parliament.[56] Human rights organizations estimate that in 2010 between 5,000 and 10,000 people were in long-term detention without charge or trial.[63][64] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z Battery

Further information: Law enforcement in Egypt
According to a report from the U.S. Embassy in Egypt, police brutality has been common and widespread in Egypt.[65] In the last five years, the Mubarak regime has denied the existence of torture or abuse carried out by the police. Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery

Police brutality
However, many claims by domestic and international groups provide evidence through cellphone videos or first-hand accounts of hundreds of cases of police abuse.[66] Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery

According to the 2009 Human Rights Report by the U.S. State Department, "Domestic and international human rights groups reported that the Ministry of Interior (MOI) State Security Investigative Service (SSIS), police, and other government entities continued to employ torture to extract information or force confessions. Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J Battery
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The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights documented 30 cases of torture during the year 2009. In numerous trials defendants alleged that police tortured them during questioning. During the year activists and observers circulated some amateur cellphone videos documenting the alleged abuse of citizens by security Sony VAIO VGN-FW11ZU Battery
officials. For example, on 8 February, a blogger posted a video of two police officers, identified by their first names and last initials, sodomizing a bound naked man named Ahmed Abdel Fattah Ali with a bottle. On 12 August, the same blogger postedSony VAIO VGN-FW21ER Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J Battery
two videos of alleged police torture of a man in a Port Said police station by the head of investigations, Mohammed Abu Ghazala. There was no indication that the government investigated either case."[67] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21ZR

The deployment of plainclothes forces paid by Mubarak's ruling party, Baltageya,[68] (Arabic: ), has been a hallmark of the Mubarak government.[68] The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights has documented 567 cases of torture, including 167 deaths, by police that occurred between 1993 and 2007.[ Sony VAIO VGN-FW3ZJ Battery
69] Excessive force was often used by law enforcement agencies. The police forces constantly squelched democratic uprisings with brutal force and corrupt tactics.[70] On 6 June 2010 Khaled Mohamed Saeed died under disputed Sony VAIO VGN-FW46M Battery
circumstances in the Sidi Gaber area of Alexandria. Multiple witnesses testified that Saeed was beaten to death by the police.[71][72] A Facebook page called "We are all Khaled Said" helped bring nationwide attention to the case.[73] Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, led a rally in 2010Sony VAIO VGN-FW4ZTJ/H
in Alexandria against alleged abuses by the police and visited Saeed's family to offer condolences.[74]
During the January February 2011 protests, police brutality was high in response to the protests. Jack Shenker, a reporter for The Guardian, was arrested during the mass protests in Cairo on 26 January 2011. He Sony VAIO VGN-FW51 Battery
witnessed fellow Egyptian protesters being tortured, assaulted, and taken to undisclosed locations by police officers. Shenker and other detainees were released after one of his fellow detainees' well-known father, Ayman Nour, covertly intervened.[75][76][77] Sony VAIO VGN-FW51MF/H Battery

Corruption in government elections
Accusations of corruption, coercion to not vote, and manipulation of the election results have occurred during many of the electionsSony VAIO VGN-FW51ZF/H Battery
over the past 30 years.[78] Until 2005, Mubarak was the only candidate to run for the presidency, on a yes/no vote.[79] Mubarak has won five consecutive presidential elections with a sweeping majority. Opposition groups and international Sony VAIO VGN-FW54M Battery election monitoring agencies have accused the elections of being rigged. These agencies have not been allowed to monitor the elections. The only opposing presidential candidate in recent Egyptian history, Ayman Nour, was imprisoned before the 2005 elections.[80] According to a UN survey, voter turnout is extremely low (around 25%) because of the lack of trust in the corrupt representational system.[81] Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery
Restrictions on free speech and press
Even though the Egyptian constitution provides for the universal freedom of speech (Egypt Constitution, Article 47 - 49),[82] the government has frequently sanctioned home raids, torture, arrests, and fining of bloggers and reporters thatSony VGP-BPS21A Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery

criticize the government in any way. Under the current state of emergency laws, the government can censor anything if it is considered a threat to "public safety and national security". If any reporter or blogger violates this law by criticizing the government, they could be legally penalized with a fine of 20,000 pounds Sony VGP-BPS21A/B Battery

($3,650) and up to five years in prison. The Moltaqa Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue reported that between January and March 2009, 57 journalists from 13 newspapers faced legal penalties for their governmental critiques. The Egyptian government owns stock in the three largest daily newspapers. The government controls the licensing and distribution of all papers in Egypt.[83] The Egyptian government shut down the Internet to most of Egypt during the recent protests in order to limit communication between protest groups.[84]
Demographic and economic challenges
Unemployment and reliance on subsidized goods
Further information: Demographics of Egypt, Demographic trap, and Youth bulge

Sony VGN-CS21S/P Battery
Population pyramid in 2005. Many of those 30 and younger are educated citizens who are experiencing difficulty finding work. Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery
The population of Egypt grew from 30,083,419 in 1966[85] to roughly 79,000,000 by 2008.[86] The vast majority of Egyptians live in the limited spaces near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15, Sony VGN-CS21S/R Battery

000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. In late 2010 around 40% of Egypt's population of just under 80 million lived on the fiscal income equivalent of roughly US$2 per day, with a large part of the population relying on subsidized goods.[1] Sony VGN-CS21S/T Battery

According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics and other proponents of demographic structural approach (cliodynamics), a basic problem in Egypt is unemployment driven by a demographic youth bulge: with the number of new people entering the job force at about 4% a year, unemployment in Egypt isSony VGN-CS21S/V Battery
Sony VGN-CS21S/W Battery
almost 10 times as high for college graduates as it is for people who have gone through elementary school, particularly educated urban youth the same people who were out in the streets during the revolution.[87][88]
Poor living conditions and economic conditionsSony VGN-CS21Z/Q Battery

Further information: Economy of Egypt

A poor neighbourhood in Cairo
Egypt's economy was highly centralised during the tenure of President Gamal Abdel Nasser but opened up considerably under President Anwar Sadat and Mubarak. From 2004 to 2008 the Mubarak-led government aggressivelySony VGN-CS11S/P Battery
Sony VGN-CS11S/Q Battery

pursued economic reforms to attract foreign investment and facilitate GDP growth, but postponed further economic reforms because of global economic turmoil. The international economic downturn slowed Egypt's GDP growth to 4.5% in 2009. In 2010 analysts said the government of Prime Minister Ahmed NazifSony VGN-CS11S/W Battery
would need to restart economic reforms to attract foreign investment, boost growth, and improve economic conditions. Despite high levels of national economic growth over the past few years, living conditions for the average Egyptian remained poor,[89] though better than many other countries in Africa.[87] Sony VGN-CS11Z/R Battery
Corruption among government officials
Further information: Crime in Egypt
Political corruption in Mubarak administration's Ministry of Interior rose dramatically due to the increased level of control over the institutional system necessary to prolong the presidency.[90] The rise to power of powerful businessmen in Sony VGN-CS11Z/T Battery
the NDP, in the government, and in the People's Assembly led to massive waves of anger during the years of Prime Ministers Ahmed Nazif's government. An example is Ahmed Ezz's monopolising the steel industry in Egypt Sony VGN-CS31S/P Battery

by holding more than 60% of the market share.[91] Aladdin Elaasar, an Egyptian biographer and an American professor, estimates that the Mubarak family is worth from $50 to $70 billion.[92][93] Sony VGN-CS31S/R Battery

The wealth of Ahmed Ezz, the former NDP Organisation Secretary, is estimated to be 18 billion Egyptian pounds;[94] the wealth of former Housing Minister Ahmed al-Maghraby is estimated to be more than 11 billion Egyptian pounds;[94] the wealth of former Minister of Tourism Zuhair Garrana is estimated to be 13Sony VGN-CS31S/T Battery
billion Egyptian pounds;[94] the wealth of former Minister of Trade and Industry, Rashid Mohamed Rashid, is estimated to be 12 billion Egyptian pounds;[94] and the wealth of former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly is estimated to be 8 billion Egyptian pounds.[94] Sony VGN-CS31S/V Battery

The perception among Egyptians was that the only people to benefit from the nation's wealth were businessmen with ties to the National Democratic Party; "wealth fuels political power and political power buys wealth."[95] Sony VGN-CS31S/W Battery

During the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2010, opposition groups complained of harassment and fraud perpetrated by the government. Opposition and civil society activists have called for changes to a number of legal and constitutional provisions which affect elections.[citation needed] Sony VGN-CS31Z/Q Battery

In 2010 Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report assessed Egypt with a CPI score of 3.1, based on perceptions of the degree of corruption from business people and country analysts (with 10 being clean and 0 being totally corrupt).[96] SONY VGN-FW41E/H BATTERY

Lead-up to the protests

To prepare for a possible overthrow of Mubarak, opposition groups studied the work of Gene Sharp on non-violent revolution and worked with leaders of Otpor!, the student-led Serbian uprising of 2000. Copies of Sharp's list of 198 non-violent "weapons", translated into Arabic and not always attributed to himSONY VGN-FW41J/H BATTERY
, were circulated in Tahrir Square during its occupation.[97][98]
Tunisian Revolution
Main article: Tunisian Revolution
Further information: 2010-2011 Middle East and North Africa protests
After the ousting of Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali due to mass protests, many analysts, including formerSONY VGN-FW41M/H BATTERY
European Commission President Romano Prodi, saw Egypt as the next country where such a revolution might occur.[99] The Washington Post commented, "The Jasmine Revolution [...] should serve as a stark warning SONY VGN-FW41ZJ/H BATTERSony VAIO VGN-NW31JF/S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Batteryto Arab leaders - beginning with Egypt's 83-year-old Hosni Mubarak - that their refusal to allow more economic and political opportunity is dangerous and untenable."[100] Others held the opinion that Egypt was not ready forSony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery

revolution, citing little aspiration of the Egyptian people, low educational levels, and a strong government with the support of the military.[101] The BBC said, "The simple fact is that most Egyptians do not see any way that they can change their country or their lives through political action, be it voting, activism, or going out on the streets to demonstrate."[102]

Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S 
Self-immolation

A protester holds an Egyptian flag during the protests that started on 25 January 2011 in Egypt
Following the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi in Tunisia on 17 December, a man set himself ablaze on 17 January in front of the Tunisian parliament;[103] about five more attempts of self-immolation followed.[101] Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery

National Police Day protests
Opposition groups planned a day of revolt for 25 January, coinciding with the National Police Day. The purpose was to protest against abuses by the police in front of the Ministry of Interior.[104] These demands expanded to includSony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S Battery
e the resignation of the Minister of Interior, an end to State corruption, the end of Egyptian emergency law, and term limits for the president. Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S Battery

Many political movements, opposition parties, and public figures supported the day of revolt, including Youth for Justice and Freedom, Coalition of the Youth of the Revolution, the Popular Democratic Movement for Change and the National Association for Change. The 6 April Youth Movement was a major supporterSony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T Battery
of the protest and distributed 20,000 leaflets saying "I will protest on 25 January to get my rights". The Ghad, Karama, Wafd and Democratic Front supported the protests. The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group,[105] Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T Battery
confirmed on 23 January that it would participate.[105][106] Public figures including novelist Alaa Al Aswany, writer Belal Fadl, and actors Amr Waked and Khaled Aboul Naga announced they would participate. However, the leftist National Progressive Unionist Party (the Tagammu) stated it would not participate. The Coptic Church urged Christians not to participate in the protests.[105] Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S Battery

Twenty-six-year-old Asmaa Mahfouz was instrumental[107] in sparking the protests.[108] In a video blog posted two weeks before National Police Day,[109] she urged the Egyptian people to join her on 25 January in Tahrir SquareSony VAIO VGN-NW31JF/S Battery
to bring down Mubarak's regime.[110] Mahfouz's use of video blogging and social media went viral[111] and urged people not to be afraid.[112] The Facebook group set up for the event attracted 80,000 attendees. Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery

25 January 2011: The "Day of Revolt": Protests erupted throughout Egypt, with tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo and thousands more in cities throughout Egypt. The protests targeted President Hosni Mubarak's government, and mostly adhered to non-violence. There were some reports of civilian and police casualties. Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Battery

26 January 2011: "Shutting down The Internet and Mobile Services": After several Facebook groups were created and tweets (from Twitter) called for mass demonstrations, the Egyptian government shut down internet access for mostSony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery
of the country.[113] This was done to cripple one of the protesters' main organizational tools and to impede the flow of news and people.
28 January 2011: The "Friday of Anger" protests began. Hundreds of thousands demonstrated in Cairo and other Egyptian cities after Friday Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery
prayers. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in Cairo. There were reports of looting. Prisons were opened and burned down, allegedly on orders from then-Minister of the Interior Habib El Adly. Prison inmates escapedSony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/P Battery
en masse, in what was believed to be an attempt to terrorise protesters. Police forces were withdrawn from the streets, and the military was deployed. International fears of violence grew, but no major casualties were reportedSony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/w Battery
. President Hosni Mubarak made his first address to the nation and pledged to form a new government. Later that night clashes broke out in Tahrir Square between revolutionaries and pro-Mubarak demonstrators, leading to the injury of several and the death of some. Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/S Battery

29 January 2011: The military presence in Cairo increased. A curfew was declared, but was widely ignored as the flow of defiant protesters to Tahrir Square continued throughout the night. The military reportedly refused to follow orders to fire live ammunition, and exercised restraint overall. There were no reports of major casualties. Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF Battery
1 February 2011: Mubarak made another televised address and offered several concessions. He pledged to not run for another term in the elections planned for September, and pledged political reforms. He stated he would stay in office to overseeSony VAIO VGN-NW31ZF/S Battery
a peaceful transition. Small but violent clashes began that night between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak groups.
2 February 2011: "Battle of the Camel". Violence escalated as waves of Mubarak supporters met anti-government protesters, and some Mubarak supporters rode on camels and horses into Tahrir Square, reportedly wielding swordsSony VAIO VGN-NS10E/S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS10J/S Battery
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and sticks. President Mubarak reiterated his refusal to step down in interviews with several news agencies. Incidents of violence toward journalists and reporters escalated amid speculation that the violence was being encouraged by Sony VAIO VGN-NS11E/S Battery
Mubarak as a way to bring the protests to an end.
6 February 2011: A multifaith Sunday Mass is held with Egyptian Christians and Egyptian Muslims in Tahrir Square. Negotiations involving Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman and representatives of the opposition commencedSony VAIO VGN-NS11ER/S Battery
amid continuing protests throughout the nation. The Egyptian army assumed greater security responsibilities, maintaining order and guarding The Egyptian Museum of Antiquity. Suleiman offered reforms, while others of Mubarak's regime accused foreign nations, including the US, of interfering in Egypt's affairs. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11J/S Battery

10 February 2011: Mubarak formally addressed Egypt amid speculation of a military coup, but rather than resigning (as was widely expected), he simply stated he would delegate some of his powers to Vice President Suleiman, while continuing as Egypt's head of state. Reactions to Mubarak's statement were marked by Sony VAIO VGN-NS11L/S Battery
anger, frustration and disappointment, and throughout various cities there was an escalation of the number and intensity of demonstrations.
11 February 2011: The "Friday of Departure": Massive protests continued in many cities as Egyptians refused the concessions announced Sony VAIO VGN-NS11S/S Battery
by Mubarak. Finally, at 6:00 pm local time, Suleiman announced Mubarak's resignation, entrusting the Supreme Council of Egyptian Armed Forces with the leadership of the country. Nationwide celebrations immediately followed. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11SR/S Battery

13 February 2011: The Supreme Council dissolved Egypt's parliament and suspended the Constitution in response to demands by demonstrators. The council declared that it would hold power for six months, or until elections Sony VAIO VGN-NS11Z/S Battery
could be held. Calls were made for the council to provide more details and specific timetables and deadlines. Major protests subsided but did not end. In a gesture to a new beginning, protesters cleaned up and renovated Sony VAIO VGN-NS11ZR/S Battery
Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the demonstrations, although many pledged they would continue protests until all the demands had been met. Sony VAIO VGN-NS12M/S Battery

17 February 2011: The army stated it would not field a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections.[114] Four important figures of the former regime were detained on that day: former interior minister Habib el-Adly, former minister of housing Ahmed Maghrabi former tourism minister Zuheir Garana, and steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz.[115] Sony VAIO VGN-NS12M/W Battery

2 March 2011: The constitutional referendum was tentatively scheduled for 19 March 2011.[116]
3 March 2011: A day before large protests against him were planned, Ahmed Shafik stepped down as Prime Minister and was replaced by Essam Sharaf.[117] Sony VAIO VGN-NS12S/S Battery

5 March 2011: Several State Security Intelligence (SSI) buildings were raided across Egypt by protesters, including the headquarters for Alexandria Governorate and the main national headquarters in Nasr City, Cairo. Sony VAIO VGN-NS21M/P Battery
Protesters stated they raided the buildings to secure documents they believed to show various crimes committed by the SSI against the people of Egypt during Mubarak's rule.[118][119]
6 March 2011: From the Nasr City headquarters, protesters acquired evidence of mass surveillance and vote rigging, and noted rooms full of videotapes, piles of shredded and burned Sony VAIO VGN-NS21M/W Battery
documents, and cells where activists recounted their experiences of detention and torture.[120]
19 March 2011: The constitutional referendum was held and passed by 77.27%.[121]
22 March 2011: Parts of the Interior Ministry building catch fire during police demonstrations outside.[122] Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/S Battery

23 March 2011: The Egyptian Cabinet orders a law criminalising protests and strikes that hampers work at private or public establishments. Under the new law, anyone organising or calling for such protests will be sentenced to jail and/or a fine of LE500,000 (~100,000 USD).[123]
1 April 2011: The "Save the Revolution" Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/W Battery
day: Approximately four thousand demonstrators filled Tahrir Square for the largest protest in weeks, demanding that the ruling military council move faster to dismantle lingering aspects of the old regime.[124] Protestors demanded trial for Hosni Mubarak, Gamal Mubarak, Ahmad Fathi Sorour, Safwat El-Sherif and Zakaria Azmi as well. Sony VAIO VGN-NS21Z/S Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/W Battery
8 April 2011: The "Friday of Cleaning": Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators again filled Tahrir Square, criticizing the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for not following through on revolutionary demands. Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/P Battery
They demanded the resignation of remaining regime figures and the removal of Egypt's public prosecutor due to the slow pace of investigations of corrupt former officials.[125]
27 May 2011: The "Second Friday of Anger" (a.k.a "Second Revolution of Anger" or "The Second Revolution"): Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Tahrir Square in Egypt's capital Cairo,[126] Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/S Battery
besides[citation needed] perhaps demonstrators in each of Alexandria, Suez, Ismailia, Gharbeya and other areas; in the largest demonstrations since ousting Mubarak's Regime. Protestors demanded No Military TrialsSony VAIO VGN-NS31M/W Battery
for Civilians, the Egyptian Constitution to be made before the Parliament Elections and for all the old regime gang and those who killed protestors in January and February to be put on fair Trial.
1 July 2011: The "Friday of Retribution"; Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Suez,
Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/P BatteryAlexandria and Tahrir Square in Cairo, to voice frustration with the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces for what they called the slow pace of change five months after the revolution, some also feared that the military is to rule Egypt indefinitely.[127] Sony VAIO VGN-NS31S/S Battery
8 July 2011: The "Friday of Determination"; Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Suez, Alexandria and Tahrir Square in Cairo. They demanded immediate reforms and swifter prosecution of former officials from the ousted government.[128] Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery

The 2011 Saudi Arabia and Egyptian revolution
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World. It is bordered by Jordan, and Iraq on the north and northeast, Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11E Battery

Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. It is also connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. The Red Sea lies to its west, and the Persian Gulf liesSony VAIO VGN-FZ11L Battery
to the northeast. Saudi Arabia has an area of approximately 2,149,690 km2 (830,000 sq mi), and it has an estimated population of 27 million, of which 8.8 million are registered foreign expatriates and an estimated 1.5Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31ER Battery million are illegal immigrants. Saudi nationals comprise an estimated 16 million people.[5]
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded by Abdul-Aziz bin Saud (known for most of his career as Ibn Saud) in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery
Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud, referred to in Arabic as the Al Saud. The Saudi Arabian government, which has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, refers to its system of government as being Islamic, though Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z Battery
this is contested by many due to its strong basis in Salafism, a minority school of thought in Islam. The kingdom is sometimes called "The Land of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram (in Mecca), and Al-Masjid al-Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E Battery
Nabawi (in Medina), the two holiest places in Islam.
Saudi Arabia has the world's second largest oil reserves and is the world's second largest oil exporter.[6] Oil accounts for more than 90% of exports and nearly 75% of government revenues, facilitating the creation of a welfare stateSony VAIO VGN-FZ21J Battery
.[7][dubious - discuss] However, human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly expressed concern about the state of human rights in Saudi Arabia.
Following the unification of the KingdomsSony VAIO VGN-FZ21M Battery
of Hejaz and Nejd, the new state was named al-Mamlaka al- Arabiyya as-Sa diyya (a transliteration of in Arabic) by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, King Abdul Aziz Al Saud. This is normallySony VAIO VGN-FZ21S Battery
translated as "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" in English,[8] although it literally means "the Saudi Arab Kingdom".[9] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z Battery

The word "Saudi" is derived from the element as-Sa diyya in the Arabic name of the country, which is a type of adjective known as a nisba, formed from the dynastic name of Al Saud ( ). Its inclusion indicated that theSony VAIO VGN-FZ31E Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J Battery
country's ruler viewed it as the personal possession of the royal family.[10][11] Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning "family of" or "House of",[12] to the personal name of an ancestor. In the case Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M Battery
of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynasty's 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud (Muhammad, son of Saud).[13] For the etymology of Arabia, see Arabian Peninsula and Arab (etymology). Sony Vaio VGN-FZ19VN Battery

In Pre-Islamic Arabia, apart from a small number of urban trading settlements, such as Mecca and Medina, located in the Hejaz in the west of the Arabian Peninsula, most of what was to become Saudi Arabia was populated by nomadicSony Vaio VGN-FZ39VN Battery
tribal societies or uninhabitable desert.[14] The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was born in Mecca in about 571. In the early 7th century, Muhammad united the various tribes of the peninsula and created a single Islamic Sony Vaio VGN-FZ39VN Battery
religious polity. Following his death in 632, his followers rapidly expanded the territory under Muslim rule beyond Arabia, conquering huge swathes of territory (from the Iberian Peninsula to India) in a matter of decades. In Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31ZR Battery
so doing, Arabia soon became a politically peripheral region of the Muslim world as the focus shifted to the more developed conquered lands.[15] From the 10th century to the early 20th century Mecca and Medina were under Sony Vaio VGN-FZ31SR Batterythe control of a local Arab ruler known as the Sharif of Mecca, but at most times the Sharif owed allegiance to the ruler of one of the major Islamic empires based in Baghdad, Cairo or Istanbul. Most of the remainder of what became Saudi Arabia reverted to traditional tribal rule.[16][17] Sony VAIO VGN-AR21S Battery

In the 16th century, the Ottomans added the Red Sea and Persian Gulf coast (the Hejaz, Asir and Al-Hasa) to their Empire and claimed suzerainty over the interior. The degree of control over these lands varied over the next four centuries with the fluctuating strength or weakness of the Empire's central authority.[18][1Sony VAIO VGN-AR31S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/P Battery
9] The emergence of what was to become the Saudi royal family, known as the Al Saud, began in Nejd in central Arabia in 1744, when Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the dynasty, joined forces with the religious leader Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab,[20] movement a strict puritanical form of Sunni Islam.[21] This alliance formed in theSony VAIO VGN-AR31M Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-AR31E Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-AR41E Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-AR41L Battery
18th century provided the ideological impetus to Saudi expansion and remains the basis of Saudi Arabian dynastic rule today.[22] The first 'Saudi State' established in 1744 in the area around Riyadh, rapidly expanded and briefly controlled Sony VAIO VGN-AR41M Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-AR41S Battery
most of the present-day territory of Saudi Arabia, but was destroyed by 1818 by the Ottoman viceroy of Egypt, Mohammed Ali Pasha. A much smaller second 'Saudi state', located mainly in Nejd, was established in 1824. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, the Al Saud contested control of the interior of what was to become Sony VAIO VGN-AR51E Battery
Saudi Arabia with another Arabian ruling family, the Al Rashid. By 1891, the Al Rashid were victorious and the Al Saud were driven into exile.[23]
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Ottoman Empire continued to control or have suzerainty (albeit nominal) over most of the peninsula. Sony VAIO VGN-AR51S Battery
Subject to this suzerainty, Arabia was ruled by a patchwork of tribal rulers[24][25](including the House of Saud who had returned from exile in 1902[23]) with the Sharif of Mecca having pre-eminence and ruling the Hejaz.[2Sony VAIO VGN-AR51M Battery
6] In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain (which was fighting the Ottomans in World War I), the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, led a pan-Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire to create a united Arab state.[27Sony VAIO VGN-AR61M Battery
] Although the Arab Revolt of 1916 to 1918 failed in its objective, Arabia was freed from Ottoman suzerainty and control by the latter's defeat in World War I.[28]

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Arabia about 1923. Expandable map: Abdul Aziz's domain is in blue with dates of conquest. The Kingdom of the Hejaz, conquered in 1925, is in light green. (The other Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Transjordan are also in shades of green) Sony VAIO VGN-AR61S Battery
In 1902, Abdul-Aziz bin Saud, leader of the House of Saud, had seized Riyadh in Nejd from the Al Rashid - the first of a series of conquests ultimately leading to the creation of the modern state of Saudi Arabia in 1932.[23] The main weapon Sony VAIO VGN-AR11S Battery
for achieving these conquests was the Ikhwan, the Wahhabist-Bedouin tribal army led by Sultan ibn Bijad and Faisal Al-Dawish.[29] From the Saudi core in Nejd, and aided by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the Ikhwan Sony VAIO VGN-AR61E Battery
had completed the conquest of the territory that was to become Saudi Arabia by the end of 1925.[30] On 10 January 1926 Abdul-Aziz declared himself King of the Hejaz and, then, on 27 January 1927 he took the title of King of NejdSony VAIO VGN-NR21E/S Battery
(his previous title having been 'Sultan').[23] After the conquest of the Hejaz, the Ikhwan leaders wanted to continue the expansion of the Wahhabist realm into the British protectorates of Transjordan, Iraq and Kuwait, and began raidingSony VAIO VGN-NR21J/S Battery
those territories. Abdul-Aziz, however, refused to agree to this, recognizing the danger of a direct conflict with the British. The Ikhwan therefore revolted but were defeated in the Battle of Sabilla in 1930, where the Ikhwan leadership were massacred.[31] Sony VAIO VGN-NR21S/S Battery

In 1932, the two kingdoms of the Hejaz and Nejd were united as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.[23]
From the foundation of the State to the present
The new kingdom was one of the poorest countries in the world, reliant on limited agriculture and pilgrimage revenues.[32] However, in 1938 Sony VAIO VGN-NR21S/T Battery
vast reserves of oil were discovered in the Al-Hasa region along the coast of the Persian Gulf and full-scale development of the oil fields began in 1941. Oil provided Saudi Arabia with economic prosperity and substantial political leverage internationally. Cultural life rapidly developed, primarily in the Hejaz, which was the centre
for newspapers and radio. But the large influx of foreigners to work in the oil industry increased the pre-existing propensity for xenophobia. At the same time, the government became increasingly wasteful and extravagant.
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By the 1950s this had led to large governmental deficits and excessive foreign borrowing.[23]

Abdul Aziz bin Saud first king of Saudi Arabia
King Saud succeeded to the throne on his father's death in 1953. However, an intense rivalry between the King and his half-brother, Prince Faisal emerged, fueled by doubts in the royal family over Saud's competence. As a consequenceSony VAIO VGN-NR11Z/S Battery
, Saud was deposed in favor of Faisal in 1964. The major event of King Faisal's reign was the 1973 oil crisis, when Saudi Arabia, and the other Arab oil producers, tried to put pressure on the US to withdraw support from Israel through an Sony VAIO VGN-NR11S/S Battery
oil embargo.[23] Faisal was assassinated in 1975 by his nephew, Prince Faisal bin Musaid.[33]
Faisal was succeeded by his half-brother King Khalid during whose reign economic and social development progressed at an extremelySony VAIO VGN-NR11M/S Battery
rapid rate, transforming the infrastructure and educational system of the country;[23] in foreign policy, close ties with the US were developed.[33] In 1979, two events occurred which profoundly threatened the Al Saud regime,[34] and had a long-term Sony VAIO VGN-CR21E/W Battery

influence on Saudi foreign and domestic policy. The first was the Iranian Islamic Revolution. It was feared that the country's Shi'ite minority in the Eastern Province (which is also the location of the oil fields) might rebel under the influence Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/L Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/P Battery
of their Iranian co-religionists. In fact, there were several anti-government uprisings in the region in 1979 and 1980. The second event, was the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca by Islamist extremists. The militants involved were in part angered by what they considered to be the corruption and un-Islamic nature of the Saudi regime.[35Sony VAIO VGN-CR21S/W Battery
] Part of the response of the royal family was to enforce a much stricter observance of traditional religious and social norms in the country (for example, the closure of cinemas) and to give the Ulema a greater role in government.[36] Sony VAIO VGN-CR21Z/N Battery
Neither entirely succeeded as Islamism continued to grow in strength.[37]

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after unification in 1932
Khalid was succeeded by his brother King Fahd in 1982 who continued the close relationship with the United States and increased the purchaseSony VAIO VGN-CR21Z/R Battery
of American and British military equipment.[23] From 1976 Saudi Arabia had become the largest oil producer in the world.[38] The vast wealth generated by oil revenues and channeled through the government had a profound impact on Saudi society. It led to urbanization, mass public education, and the creation of new media. Sony VAIO VGN-CR11H/B Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CR31Z/R BatteryThis and the presence of large numbers of foreign workers greatly affected traditional Saudi norms and values. Although there was dramatic change in the social and economic life of the country, political power continued to be monopolized by the royal family[23] leading to discontent among many Saudis who began to look for wider participation in government.[39]
Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 Saudi Arabia joined the anti-Iraq Coalition and King Fahd, fearing an attack from Iraq, invited American and Coalition soldiers to be stationed in Saudi Arabia.[23] This action was one of the issues that has led to an increase in Islamic terrorism in Saudi Arabia, as well as Islamic terrorist attacks in Western countries by Saudi nationals - the 9/11 attacks in New York being the most prominent example.[40] But also many Saudis who did not necessarily support Sony VAIO VGN-CR11S/L Battery

the Islamist terrorists were deeply unhappy with the government stance.[41]
Islamism was not the only source of hostility to the regime. Although now extremely wealthy, the country's economy was near stagnant, which, combined with a growth in unemployment, contributed to disquiet in the country, and wasSony VAIO VGN-CR11S/P Battery
reflected in a subsequent rise in civil unrest, and discontent with the royal family. In response, a number of limited 'reforms' were initiated (such as the Basic Law). However, the royal family's dilemma was to respond to dissent while making as few actual changes in the status quo as possible. Fahd made it clear that he did notSony VAIO VGN-CR11S/W Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CR31E/L Battery have democracy in mind: "A system based on elections is not consistent with our Islamic creed, which [approves of] government by consultation [sh r ]."[23]

Oil and gas pipelines in the Middle East.
In 1995, Fahd suffered a debilitating stroke and the Crown Prince, Prince Abdullah assumed the role of acting King, albeit his authority was hindered by conflict with Fahd's full brothers (known, with Fahd, as the "Sudairi Seven").[42Sony VAIO VGN-CR11Z/R Battery
] Abdullah continued the policy of mild reform and greater openness,[43] but in addition, adopted a foreign policy distancing the kingdom from the US. In 2003, Saudi Arabia refused to support the US and its allies in the invasion of Iraq.[23] However, terrorist activity increased dramatically in 2003, with the Riyadh

Sony Vaio VGN-CR31E/P Battery
compound bombings and other attacks, which prompted the government to take much more stringent action against terrorism.[44]
In 2005, King Fahd died and his half-brother, Abdullah ascended to the throne. The king subsequently introduced a new program of moderate reform which included a number of economic reforms aimed at reducing the
Sony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/N Battery
country's reliance on oil revenue: limited deregulation, encouragement of foreign investment, and privatization. He has taken much more vigorous action to deal with the origins of Islamic terrorism, and has ordered the use of force for the first time by the security services against some extremists. In February 2009, Sony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/R Battery
Abdullah announced a series of governmental changes to the judiciary, armed forces, and various ministries to modernize these institutions including the replacement of senior appointees in the judiciary and the Mutaween (religious police) with more moderate indiviuals and the appointment of the country's first female deputy minister.[23] Sony Vaio VGN-CR42S/W Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CR42S/L Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CR42S/B Battery
In early 2011, King Abdullah indicated his opposition to the protests and revolutions affecting the Arab world by giving asylum to deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and by telephoningSony Vaio VGN-CR41Z/R Battery

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (prior to his deposition) to offer his support.[45] Saudi Arabia has also been affected by its own protests.[46] In response, King Abdullah announced a series of benefits for citizens amounting toSony Vaio VGN-CR42Z/N Battery
$10.7 billion. These included funding to offset high inflation and to aid young unemployed people and Saudi citizens studying abroad, as well as the writing off of some loans. State employees will see their incomes increase by 15 per cent, Sony VGN-CR41SR/W Battery
and additional cash has also been made available for housing loans. No political reforms were announced as part of the package, though some prisoners indicted for financial crimes were pardoned.[47] Sony Vaio VGN-CR41SR/P Battery
Politics

Main article: Politics of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy,[48] although, according to the Basic Law of Saudi Arabia adopted by royal decree in 1992, the king must comply with Sharia (that is, Islamic law) and the Quran. The Quran and the Sunna Sony Vaio VGN-CR41SR/L Battery

(the traditions of Muhammad) are declared to be the country's constitution, but no written modern constitution has ever been written for Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia remains the only Arab Nation where no national elections have ever taken place, since its creation.[49] No political parties or national electionsSony Vaio VGN-CR41S/W Battery
are permitted[48] and according to The Economist's 2010 Democracy Index, the Saudi government is the seventh most authoritarian regime from among the 167 countries rated.[50]
On 25 September 2011, Saudi Arabia's KingSony Vaio VGN-CR41S/R Battery
Abdullah has announced that women will have the right to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura council as full member and be able to run as candidates in the municipal election.[51] Sony Vaio VGN-CR41S/L Battery

Monarchy and royal family
The king combines legislative, executive, and judicial functions[52] and royal decrees to form the basis of the country's legislation.[53] The king is also the prime minister, and presides over the Council of Ministers (Majlis al-Wuzar ),Sony Vaio VGN-CR31ZR/R Battery
which comprises the first and second deputy prime.
The royal family dominates the political system. The family's vast numbers allow it to control most of the kingdom's important posts and to have an involvement and presence at all levels of government.[54] The number of princes Sony Vaio VGN-CR31ZR/N Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-CR31E/W Batteryis estimated to be anything from 7,000 upwards, with most power and influence being wielded by the 200 or so male descendants of King Abdul Aziz.[55] The key ministries are generally reserved for the royal family,[48] as are the thirteen regional governorships.[56] Long term political and government appointments, such as those of King Abdullah, who had been CommanderSony Vaio VGN-CR31Z/R Battery
of the National Guard since 1963 (until 2010, when he appointed his son to replace him[57]), Crown Prince Sultan, Minister of Defence & Aviation since 1962, Prince Nayef who has been the Minister of Interior since 1975, Prince Sony Vaio VGN-CR31Z/N Battery
Saud who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs since 1975[58] and Prince Salman, who has been Governor of the Riyadh Region since 1962,[59] have resulted in the creation of "power fiefdoms" for senior princes.[60] Sony Vaio VGN-CR31SR/P Battery

The Saudi government and the royal family have often, over many years, been accused of corruption.[61] In a country that is said to "belong" to the royal family and is named for them,[11] the lines between state assetsSony Vaio VGN-CR31SR/L Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CR31S/W Battery
and the personal wealth of senior princes are blurred.[55] The extent of corruption has been described as systemic[62] and endemic,[63] and its existence was acknowledged[64] and defended[65] by Prince Bandar Sony Vaio VGN-CR31S/P Battery
bin Sultan (a senior member of the royal family[66]) in an interview in 2001.[67] Although corruption allegations have often been limited to broad undocumented accusations,[68] specific allegations were made in 2007, when Sony Vaio VGN-CR31S/L Batteryit was claimed that the British defence contractor BAE Systems had paid Prince Bandar US$2 billion in bribes relating to the Al-Yamamah arms deal.[69] Prince Bandar denied the allegations.[7Sony VAIO VGN-SR11M Battery
0] Investigations by both US and UK authorities resulted, in 2010, in plea bargain agreements with the company, by which it paid $447 million in fines but did not admit to bribery.[71] Transparency International in Sony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery
its annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010 gave Saudi Arabia a score of 4.7 (on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is "highly corrupt" and 10 is "highly clean").[72]
Since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, there has been mounting pressure to reform and modernize the royal family's rule, an agenda championed by King Abdullah bothSony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery
before and after his accession in 2005. The creation of the Consultative Council in the early 1990s did not satisfy demands for political participation, and, in 2003, an annual National Dialogue Forum was announced thatSony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery
would allow selected professionals and intellectuals to publicly debate current national issues, within certain prescribed parameters. In 2005, the first municipal elections were held. In 2007, the Allegiance Council was created toSony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

regulate the succession.[73] In 2009, the king made significant personnel changes to the government by appointing reformers to key positions and the first woman to a ministerial post.[74] However, the changes have been Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery
criticized as being too slow or merely cosmetic,[75] and the royal family is reportedly divided on the speed and direction of reform.[76]
The Al ash-Sheikh and the political role of the ulema
Saudi Arabia is almost unique in giving the ulema (the body of Islamic religious leaders and jurists) a direct role in government,[77] the only other Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN Battery
example being Iran.[78] The ulema have also been a key influence in major government decisions, for example the imposition of the oil embargo in 1973 and the invitation to foreign troops to Saudi Arabia in 1990.[79] In addition, theySony VAIO VGN-SR31M Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-CS21Z/Q Battery have had a major role in the judicial and education systems[80] and a monopoly of authority in the sphere of religious and social morals.[81]

Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh, Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, the country's most senior religious authority.[82] Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P Battery
By the 1970s, as a result of oil wealth and the modernization of the country initiated by King Faisal, important changes to Saudi society were under way and the power of the ulema was in decline.[83] However, this changed following the seizure of the Grand Mosque in Mecca in 1979 by Islamist radicals.[8Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S Battery

4] The government's response to the crisis included strengthening the ulema's powers and increasing their financial support:[36] in particular, they were given greater control over the education system[84] and allowed to enforce stricter observance of Wahhabi rules of moral and social behaviour.[3Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/W Battery
6] Since his accession to the throne in 2005, King Abdullah has taken steps to rein back the powers of the ulema, for instance transferring their control over girls' education to the Ministry of Education.[85] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/P Battery

The ulema have historically been led by the Al ash-Sheikh,[86] the country's leading religious family.[81] The Al ash-Sheikh are the descendants of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the 18th century founder of the Wahhabi form of Sunni Islam which is today dominant in Saudi Arabia.[87] The family is second in prestigeSony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery

only to the Al Saud (the royal family)[88] with whom they formed a "mutual support pact"[89] and power-sharing arrangement nearly 300 years ago.[79] The pact, which persists to this day,[89] is based on the Al Saud maintaining Sony Vaio VGN-CS11S/P Battery
the Al ash-Sheikh's authority in religious matters and upholding and propagating Wahhabi doctrine. In return, the Al ash-Sheikh support the Al Saud's political authority [90] thereby using its religious-moral authority to legitimize the royal family's rule.[91] Although the Al ash-Sheikh's domination of the ulema has diminished in Sony Vaio VGN-CS11S/W Battery
recent decades,[92] they still hold the most important religious posts and are closely linked to the Al Saud by a high degree of intermarriage.[81]
Political process and oppositionSony Vaio VGN-CS11Z/R Battery

See also: Terrorism in Saudi Arabia and List of militant incidents in Saudi Arabia
In the absence of national elections and political parties,[48] politics in Saudi Arabia takes place in two distinct arenas: within the royal family, the Al Saud, and between the royal family and the rest of Saudi society.[93] The royal family Sony Vaio VGN-CS11Z/T Battery
is politically divided by factions based on clan loyalties, personal ambitions and ideological differences.[93] The most powerful clan faction is known as the 'Sudairi Seven', comprising the late King Fahd and his full brothers and their descendants.[94] Ideological divisions include issues over the speed and direction ofSony Vaio VGN-CS21S/P Battery
reform,[76] and whether the role of the ulema should be increased or reduced. There are also divisions within the family over who should succeed to the throne after the accession or earlier death of Prince Sultan (the current Crown Prince) has occurred.[94][95] Sony Vaio VGN-CS21S/R Battery
Outside of the Al Saud, participation in the political process is limited to a relatively small segment of the population and takes the form of the royal family consulting with the ulema, tribal sheikhs and members of important commercial families on major decisions.[52] This process is not reported by the Saudi media.[96] Sony Vaio VGN-CS31S/R Battery

In theory, all males of full age have a right to petition the king directly through the traditional tribal meeting known as the majlis.[97] In many ways the approach to government differs little from the traditional system of tribal rule. Tribal identity remains strong and, outside of the royal family, political influence is frequentlySony Vaio VGN-AW21M/H Battery
determined by tribal affiliation, with tribal sheikhs maintaining a considerable degree of influence over local and national events.[52] As mentioned earlier, in recent years there have been limited steps to widen political participation such as theSony Vaio VGN-AW21S/B Battery
establishment of the Consultative Council in the early 1990s and the National Dialogue Forum in 2003.[73]
The rule of the Al Saud faces political opposition from four sources: Sunni Islamist activism; liberal critics; the underground Green Party of Saudi Arabia; the Shi'ite minority - particularly in the Eastern Province; and long-standing Sony Vaio VGN-AW21Z/B Battery
tribal and regional particularistic opponents (for example in the Hejaz).[98] Of these, the Islamic activists have been the most prominent threat to the regime and have in recent years perpetrated a number of violent Sony Vaio VGN-AW31ZS/B Battery
or terrorist acts in the country.[44] However, open protest against the government, even if peaceful, is not tolerated. On 29 January 2011, hundreds of protesters gathered in the city of Jeddah in a rare display of criticismSony Vaio VGN-AW31ZJ/B Battery
against the city's poor infrastructure after deadly floods swept through the city, killing eleven people.[99] Police stopped the demonstration after about 15 minutes and arrested 30 to 50 people.[100] As part of the wave of protestsSony Vaio VGN-CS31S/W Battery
and revolutions affecting the Middle East and North Africa in early 2011, a number of incidents and protests occurred in Saudi Arabia. See 2011 Saudi Arabian protests for further details. Sony Vaio VGN-CS31S/T Battery

Law and human rights
Main article: Legal system of Saudi Arabia
See also: Human rights in Saudi Arabia

Verses from the Quran. The Quran is the official constitution of the country and a primary source of law. Arabia is unique in enshrining a religious text as a political document[101] Sony Vaio VGN-CS31S/P Battery

The primary source of law is the Islamic Sharia derived from the teachings of the Qu'ran and the Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet).[53] Sharia is not codified and there is no system of judicial precedent. Saudi judges tend to follow the principles of the Hanbali school of jurisprudence (or fiqh) found Sony Vaio VGN-CS31S/V Battery
in pre-modern texts[102] and noted for its literalist interpretation of the Qu'ran and hadith.[103] Nevertheless, because the judge is empowered to disregard previous judgments (either his own or of other judges) and will apply his personal interpretation of Sharia to any particular case, divergent judgements arise evenSony Vaio VGN-CS31Z/Q Battery
in apparently identical cases.[104] Royal decrees are the other main source of law but are referred to as regulations rather than laws because they are subordinate to the Sharia.[53] Royal decrees supplement Sharia in areas such as labor, Sony Vaio VGN-CS21S/W Battery
commercial and corporate law. Additionally, traditional tribal law and custom remain significant.[105]
The Sharia court system constitutes the basic judiciary of Saudi Arabia and its judges and lawyers form part of the ulema, the country's religious leadership. However, there are also extra-Sharia government tribunals which handleSony Vaio VGN-CS21S/T Battery
disputes relating to specific royal decrees.[106] Final appeal from both Sharia courts and government tribunals is to the King and all courts and tribunals follow Sharia rules of evidence and procedure.[107] The Saudi Sony Vaio VGN-NW21MF Battery
system of justice has been criticized for being slow, arcane,[108] lacking in some of the safeguards of justice and unable to deal with the modern world.[109] In 2007, King Abdullah issued royal decrees reforming the Sony Vaio VGN-NW21EF Battery
judiciary and creating a new court system, although the reforms have yet to be implemented.[104] The capabilities and reactionary nature of the judges have, in particular, been criticized[110] and, in 2009, the King made a numberSony Vaio VGN-NW21JF Battery
of significant changes to the judiciary's personnel at the most senior level by bringing in a younger generation.[108]
Saudi Arabia has long been criticized for its human rights record, with Western-based organisations such as Amnesty Sony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF Battery
nternational and Human Rights Watch condemning both the criminal justice system and its severe punishments. However, most Saudis reportedly support the system and say that it maintains a low crime rate.[111] There are no jury trials in Saudi Arabia and courts observe few formalities.[112] Human Rights Watch, Sony Vaio VGN-NW31EF BatteryI in a 2008 report, noted that a criminal procedure code had been introduced for the first time in 2002, but it lacked some basic protections and, in any case, had been routinely ignored by judges. Those arrested are often not informed of the crime of which they are accused or givenSony Vaio VGN-BZ31XT Battery
access to a lawyer and are subject to abusive treatment and torture if they do not confess. At trial, there is a presumption of guilt and the accused is often unable to examine witnesses and evidence or present a legal defense. Most trials are held in secret.[113] Sony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E/B Battery

Deera Square, central Riyadh. Known locally as "Chop-chop square", it is the location of public beheadings.[114]
The physical punishments imposed by Saudi courts, such as beheading, stoning, amputation and lashing, and the number of executions have been strongly criticized.[115] The death penalty can be imposed for a wide rangeSony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E/L Battery
of offences including murder, rape, armed robbery, repeated drug use, apostasy, adultery, witchcraft and sorcery and can be carried out by beheading with a sword, stoning or firing squad, followed by crucifixion.[116][11Sony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E/R Battery
7] The 345 reported executions between 2007 and 2010 were all carried out by public beheading. The last reported execution for sorcery took place in 2011[118] and three subsequent convictions for witchcraft did not result inSony Vaio VPC-CW1S1E/W Battery
execution. Although repeated theft can be punishable by amputation of the right hand, only one instance of judicial amputation was reported between 2007 and 2010. Homosexual acts are punishable by flogging or death.[1Sony Vaio VGN-NS38E/S Battery
16][119] Lashings are a common form of punishment[120] and are often imposed for offences against religion and public morality such as drinking alcohol and neglect of prayer and fasting obligations.[116] Retaliatory punishments, Sony Vaio VGN-NS38M/W Battery
or Qisas, are practised: for instance, an eye can be surgically removed at the insistence of a victim who lost his own eye.[110] Families of someone unlawfully killed can choose between demanding the death penalty or granting clemency in return for a payment of diyya, or blood money, by the perpetrator.[121] Sony Vaio VGN-AW11S/B Battery

Other human rights issues that have attracted strong criticism include the extremely disadvantaged position of women (see Women in Saudi society below), religious discrimination, the lack of religious freedom and the activities of the religious police (see Religion below).[115] Between 1996 and 2000, SaudiSony Vaio VGN-AW11XY/Q Battery
Arabia acceded to four UN human rights conventions and, in 2004, the government approved the establishment of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR), staffed by government employees, to monitor their implementation. Sony Vaio VGN-AW21XY/Q Battery
To date, the activities of the NSHR have been limited and doubts remain over its neutrality and independence.[122] Saudi Arabia remains one of the very few countries in the world not to accept the UN's Universal DeclarationSony Vaio VGN-AW31XY/Q Battery
of Human Rights. In response to the continuing criticism of its human rights record, the Saudi government points to the special Islamic character of the country, and asserts that this justifies a different social and political order.[123] Sony Vaio VGN-NS10E/S Battery

Foreign relations
Main article: Foreign relations of Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia joined the UN in 1945[124][8] and is a founder member of the Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, Muslim World League, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation).[12Sony Vaio VGN-NS10L/S Battery
5] It plays a prominent role in the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and in 2005 joined the World Trade Organization.[8] Saudi Arabia supports the intended formation of the Arab Customs Union in 2015 and an ArabSony Vaio VGN-NS11J/S Battery
common market[126] by 2020, as announced at the 2009 Arab League summit.[127] As a founding member of OPEC, its oil pricing policy has been generally to stabilize the world oil market and try to moderate sharp price movements so as to not jeopardise the Western economies.[8] Sony Vaio VGN-NS20E/P Battery

King Abdullah with US President George W. Bush.
Between the mid-1970s and 2002 Saudi Arabia expended over $70 billion in "overseas development aid".[128] However, there is evidence that the vast majority was, in fact, spent on propagating and extending Sony Vaio VGN-NS20J/P Battery
the influence of Wahhabism at the expense of other forms of Islam.[129] There has been an intense debate over whether Saudi aid and Wahhabism has fomented extremism in recipient countries.[130] The two main allegations are that, Sony Vaio VGN-NS20M/S Battery
by its nature, Wahhabism encourages intolerance and promotes terrorism.[131] Former CIA director James Woolsey described it as "the soil in which Al-Qaeda and its sister terrorist organizations are flourishing."[132] However, theSony Vaio VGN-NS30E/S Battery
Saudi government strenuously denies these claims or that it exports religious or cultural extremism.[133]
In the Arab and Muslim worlds, Saudi Arabia is considered to be pro-Western and pro-American,[134] and it is certainly a long-term ally of the United States.[135] However, this[136] and Saudi Arabia's role in the Sony Vaio VGN-NS30Z/S Battery
1991 Gulf War, particularly the stationing of U.S. troops on Saudi soil from 1991, prompted the development of a hostile Islamist response internally.[137] As a result, Saudi Arabia has, to some extent, distanced itself from the U.S. and, Sony Vaio VGN-NS20EF/P Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-NS20EF/S Battery
for example, refused to support or to participate in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.[52] Relations with the United States became strained following 9/11.[138] American politicians and media accused the Saudi Sony Vaio VGN-NS20EF/W Battery
government of supporting terrorism and tolerating a jihadist culture.[139] Indeed, Osama bin Laden and fifteen out of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia.[140] According to the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery
"Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qaida, the Taliban, LeT and other terrorist groups. . . . Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide."[141] Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13A/B Battery

Saudi Arabia's increasing alarm at the rise of Iran is reflected in the reported private comments of King Abdullah[142] urging the US to attack Iran and "cut off the head of the snake".[143] Saudi Arabia has been seen as a moderating Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13B/B Battery
influence in the Arab-Israeli conflict, periodically putting forward a peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians and condemning Hezbollah.[144] Following the wave of protests and revolutions affecting the Arab world in early 2011 Saudi Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13/S Battery
Arabia offered asylum to deposed President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and King Abdullah telephoned President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (prior to his deposition) to offer his support.[45]
MilitarySony VAIO VGP-BPS13A/S Battery

Main article: Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia
Further information: Al-Yamamah arms deal
The Saudi military consists of the Saudi Army, the Royal Saudi Air Force, the Royal Saudi Navy, the Royal Saudi Air Defense, the SaudiSony VAIO VGP-BPS13B/S Battery
Arabian National Guard - the 'SANG' (an independent military force), and paramilitary forces, totaling nearly 200,000 active-duty personnel. In 2005 the armed forces had the following personnel: the army, 75,000; Royal SaudiSony VAIO VGP-BPS13/Q Battery
Air Force, 18,000; air defense, 16,000; Royal Saudi Navy, 15,500 (including 3,000 marines); and the SANG had 75,000 active soldiers and 25,000 tribal levies.[145] In addition, there is a military intelligence service. Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery

HMS Makkah, an Al Riyadh class frigate.
The SANG is not a reserve but a fully operational front-line force, and originated out of Abdul Aziz's tribal military-religious force, the Ikhwan. Its modern existence, however, is attributable to it being effectively Abdullah's private army since the 1960s and, unlike the rest of the armed forces, is independent of the Sony VAIO VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery
Ministry of Defense and Aviation. The SANG has been a counter-balance to the Sudairi faction in the royal family: Prince Sultan, the Minister of Defense and Aviation, is one of the so-called 'Sudairi Seven' and controls the remainder of the armed forces.[146] Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery

Spending on defense and security has increased significantly since the mid-'90s and was about US$25.4 billion in 2005. Saudi Arabia ranks among the top 10 in the world in government spending for its military, Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery

representing about 7 percent of gross domestic product in 2005. Its modern high-technology arsenal makes Saudi Arabia among the world's most densely armed nations, with its military equipment being supplied primarily by the US, France and Britain.[145] The United States sold more than $80 billion in military Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery
Sony VGP-BPS21A/b Battery
Battery
hardware between 1951 and 2006 to the Saudi military.[147] On 20 October 2010, U.S. State Department notified Congress of its intention to make the biggest arms sale in American history - an estimated $60.5 billion purchase by
Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The package represents a considerable improvement in the offensive capability of the Saudi armed forces.[148] The UK has also been a major supplier of military equipmentSony Vaio VGN-NW21MF Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery
to Saudi Arabia since 1965.[149] Since 1985, the UK has supplied military aircraft - notably the Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft - and other equipment as part of the long-term Al-Yamamah arms deal estimated to have been worth 43 billion by 2006 and thought to be worth a further 40 billion.[150] Sony Vaio VGN-NW21EF Battery

Geography

Ecoregions as delineated by the WWF. The yellow line encloses the ecoregions Arabian Desert, East Sahero-Arabian xeric shrublands and two other smaller desert areas[151]
Main article: Geography of Saudi ArabiaSony Vaio VGN-NW21JF Battery

Saudi Arabia occupies about 80 percent of the Arabian peninsula,[152] lying between latitudes 16 and 33 N, and longitudes 34 and 56 E. Because the country's southern borders with the United Arab Emirates and Oman are not precisely defined or marked, the exact size of the country remains unknown.[152] Sony Vaio VGN-NW21ZF Battery
The CIA World Factbook's estimate is 2,149,690 km2 (830,000 sq mi) and lists Saudi Arabia as the world's 13th largest state.[153] Sony Vaio VGN-NW31ZF/S Battery

Saudi Arabia's geography is dominated by the Arabian Desert and associated semi-desert and shrubland (see satellite image to right).[52] It is, in fact, a number of linked deserts and includes the 647,500 km2 (250,001 sq mi) Rub' al Khali ("Empty Quarter") in the southern part of the country, the world's largest sand desert.[5Sony Vaio VGN-NW31JF Battery
2] There are virtually no permanent rivers or lakes in the country, but wadis are numerous.[52] The few fertile areas are to be found in the alluvial deposits in wadis, basins, and oases.[52] The main topographical feature is the central plateau which rises abruptly from the Red Sea and gradually descends into the NejdSony Vaio VGN-NW31EF Battery
and toward the Persian Gulf.[52] On the Red Sea coast, there is a narrow coastal plain, known as the Tihamah parallel to which runs an imposing escarpment.[52] The southwest province of Asir is mountainous, and containsSony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/P Battery
Mount Sawda, which is generally considered the highest point in the country.[52] Estimates of its elevation range from 3,133 to 3,207 m (10,279 to 10,522 ft).[52]

The Nejd landscape: desert and the Tuwaiq Escarpment near Riyadh
Except for the south western province of Asir, Saudi Arabia has a desert climate with extremely high day-time temperatures Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/S Battery
and a sharp temperature drop at night.[154] Average summer temperatures are around 45 C, but can be as high as 54 C.[154] In the winter the temperature rarely drops below 0 C.[154] In the spring and autumn the heat is temperate, temperatures average around 29 C.[154] Annual rainfall is extremely low.[154] Sony Vaio VGN-NW20EF/W Battery
The Asir region differs in that it is influenced by the Indian Ocean monsoons, usually occurring between October and March.[154] An average of 300 mm of rainfall occurs during this period, that is about 60% of the annual precipitation.[154] Sony Vaio VGN-NW11Z/T Battery

Animal life includes wolves, hyenas, mongooses, baboons, hares, sand rats, and jerboas.[52] Larger animals such as gazelles, oryx, and leopards were relatively numerous until the 1950s, when hunting from motor vehicles reduced these animals almost to extinction.[52] Birds include falcons (which are caught andSony Vaio VGN-NW11Z/S Battery
trained for hunting), eagles, hawks, vultures, sand grouse and bulbuls.[52] There are several species of snakes, many of which are venomous, and numerous types of lizards. There is a wide variety of marine life in the Persian Gulf.[52Sony Vaio VGN-NW11S/T Battery
Sony Vaio VGN-NW11S/S Battery
de camels, sheep, goats, donkeys, and chickens.[52] Reflecting the country's desert conditions, Saudi Arabia's plant life mostly consists of small herbs and shrubs requiring little water.[52] There are a few small areas of grass and trees in southern Asir. The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is widespread.[52]
Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z Battery
] Domesticated animals inclu
Saudi Arabia's command economy is petroleum-based; roughly 75% of budget revenues and 90% of export earnings come from the oil industry. The oil industry comprises about 45% of Saudi Arabia's gross domestic product, compared Sony Vaio VGN-NW31EF Battery

with 40% from the private sector (see below). Saudi Arabia officially has about 260 billion barrels (4.1 1010 m3) of oil reserves, comprising about one-fifth of the world's proven total petroleum reserves.[156] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery

The government is attempting to promote growth in the private sector by privatizing industries such as power and telecommunications. Saudi Arabia announced plans to begin privatizing the electricity companies in 1999, which followed the ongoing privatization of the telecommunications companySony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L Battery. Shortages of water and rapid population growth may constrain government efforts to increase self-sufficiency in agricultural products.
In the 1990s, Saudi Arabia experienced a significant contraction of oil revenues combined with a high rate of population growth. Per capita income fell from a high of $11,700 at the height of the oil boom in 1981 to $6,300 in 1998.[15Sony VAIO VGN-FW11J Battery
7] Increases in oil prices since 2000 have helped boost per capita GDP to $17,000 in 2007 dollars, or about $7,400 adjusted for inflation.[158] Sony VAIO VGN-FW11Z Battery
2008-2009 have triggered a second oil boom, pushing Saudi Arabia's budget surplus to $28 billion (110SR billion) in 2005. Tadawul (the Saudi stock market index) finished 2004 with a massive 76.23% to close at 4437.58 points. Market capitalization was up 110.14% from a year earlier to stand at $157.3 billion (589.93SR billion), which makes it the biggest stock market in the Middle East. Sony VAIO VGN-FW11ZRU Battery

Oil price increases of
OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) limits its members' oil production based on their "proven reserves." The higher their reserves, the more OPEC allows them to produce.[citation needed] Saudi Arabia's published reserves have shown little change since 1980, with the main exception being an increaseSony VAIO VGN-FW11ZU Battery
of about 100 billion barrels (1.6 1010 m3) between 1987 and 1988.[159] Matthew Simmons has suggested that Saudi Arabia is greatly exaggerating its reserves and may soon show production declines (see peak oil).[160] Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J Battery

Saudi Arabia is one of only a few fast-growing countries in the world with a relatively high per capita income of $24,200 (2010). Saudi Arabia will be launching six "economic cities" (e.g. King Abdullah Economic City)[161] which are planned to be completed by 2020. These six new industrialized cities are intended to diversify Sony VAIO VGN-FW21ZR Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW3ZJ Battery
the economy of Saudi Arabia, and are expected to increase the per capita income. The King of Saudi Arabia has announced that the per capita income is forecast to rise from $15,000 in 2006 to $33,500 in 2020.[162] The cities will be spread around Saudi Arabia to promote diversification for each region and their economy, Sony VAIO VGN-FW41E/H Battery
and the cities are projected to contribute $150 billion to the GDP.
However the urban areas of Riyadh and Jeddah are expected to contribute $287 billion dollars by the year 2020.[163] Sony VAIO VGN-FW41J/H Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H Battery

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Saudi Arabia
Further information: Bedouin and Tribes of Arabia
Population and language

Saudi Arabia population density (person per km2)
Saudi Arabia is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Its population as of July 2010 is estimated to be 25,731,776 including 5,576,076 non-nationals[164] Until the 1960s, a majority of the population wasSony VAIO VGN-FW41ZJ/H Battery
nomadic; but presently more than 95% of the population is settled, due to rapid economic and urban growth. As recently as the early 1960s, the Saudi Arabia's slave population was estimated at 300,000.[165] Slavery was officially abolished in 1962.[166][167] The official language of Saudi Arabia is Arabic. The three mainSony VAIO VGN-FW46M Battery
regional variants spoken by Saudis are Hejazi Arabic (about 6 million speakers), Nejdi Arabic (about 8 million speakers) and Gulf Arabic (about 1.5 million speakers). The large expatriate communities also speak their own languages, the most numerous being Tagalog (700,000), Urdu (380,000), and Egyptian Arabic (300,000).[168] Sony VAIO VGN-FW4ZTJ/H Battery

About 31% of the population is made up of foreign nationals living in Saudi Arabia.[169] Indian: 1.1 million, Pakistani: 1 million Bangladeshi: 500,000, Filipino: 500,000, Egyptian: 800,000, Yemeni: 800,000, Indonesian: 250,000, Sony VAIO VGN-FW51 Battery
Sri Lankan: 350,000, Sudanese: 250,000, Syrian: 100,000 and Turkish: 100,000.[170] There are around 100,000 Westerners in Saudi Arabia, most of whom live in compounds or gated communities. Sony VAIO VGN-FW51ZF/H Battery
Saudi Arabia expelled 800,000 Yemenis in 1990 and 1991.[171] An estimated 240,000 Palestinians are living in Saudi Arabia. They are not allowed to hold or even apply for Saudi citizenship, because of Arab League instructions barring the Arab states from granting them citizenship. Palestinians are the sole Sony VAIO VGN-FW51MF/H Battery
foreign group that cannot benefit from a 2004 law passed by Saudi Arabia's Council of Ministers, which entitles expatriates of all nationalities who have resided in the kingdom for ten years to apply for citizenship with priority being given to Sony Vaio VPCEB4Z1E/BQ Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB4Z0E/BQ Battery
holders of degrees in various scientific fields.[172] The Articles 12.4 and 14.1 of the Executive Regulation of Saudi Citizenship System can be interpreted as requiring applicants to be Muslim.[173] Sony Vaio VPCEB4X1E/BQ Battery

In a 2011 news story, Arab News reported, "Nearly three million expatriate workers will have to leave the Kingdom in the next few years as the Labor Ministry has put a 20 percent ceiling on the country's guest workers."[174] Sony Vaio VPCEB4S1E/WI Battery
Social issues
Saudi society has a number of issues and tensions. A rare independent opinion poll published in 2010 indicated that Saudis' main social concerns were unemployment (at 10% in 2010[175]), corruption and religious extremism.[176][ Sony Vaio VPCEB4M1E/BQ Battery

177] Crime is not a significant problem.[145] However, Saudi Arabia's objective of being both a modern and Islamic country, coupled with economic difficulties, has created deep social tensions, including the following. ConnectionsSony Vaio VPCEB4M1E/WI Battery
to the West have caused some Saudis to desire the overthrow of the Al Saud. Others want a reformed and more open government and to have more influence in the political process. On the other hand, juvenile delinquency, drug-use and use of alcohol are getting worse. High unemployment and a generation Sony Vaio VPCEB4M1E/T Battery
of young males filled with contempt toward the Royal Family is a significant threat to Saudi social stability. Some Saudis feel they are entitled to well-paid government jobs, and the failure of the government to satisfy this sense of entitlement has led to considerable dissatisfaction.[178][179][180] Sony Vaio VPCEB4L9E/BQ Battery
Additionally, the Shiite minority, located primarily in the Eastern Province, and who often complain of institutionalized inequality and repression, have created civil disturbances in the past. Terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia have made it clear that Saudi Arabia does harbor indigenous terrorists.[179] Sony Vaio VPCEB4L1E/BQ Battery

According to a 2009 U.S. State Department communication by Hillary Clinton, United States Secretary of State, (disclosed as part of the Wikileaks U.S. 'cables leaks' controversy in 2010) "donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide".[181] Part of this funding Sony Vaio VPCEB4L1E/WI Battery
arises through the zakat (or religious tax) required to be paid by all Saudis to charities, and amounting to at least 2.5 percent of their income. Although many charities are genuine, others, it is alleged, serve as fronts for money laundering Sony Vaio VPCEB4L1E/BQ Battery
and terrorist financing operations. While many Saudis contribute to those charities in good faith believing their money goes toward good causes, it has been alleged that others know full well the terrorist purposes to which their money will be applied.[132] Sony Vaio VPCEB4J1E/WI Battery

According to a study conducted by Dr. Nura Al-Suwaiyan, director of the family safety program at the National Guard Hospital, one in four children are abused in Saudi Arabia.[182] The National Society for Human Rights Sony Vaio VPCEB4J1E/PI Battery
reports that almost 45% of the country's children are facing some sort of abuse and domestic violence.[183] It has also been claimed that trafficking of women is a particular problem in Saudi Arabia as the country's large Sony Vaio VPCEB4E9E/BQ Battery
number of female foreign domestic workers and loopholes in the system cause many to fall victim to abuse and torture.[184] Sony Vaio VPCEB4E1E/WI Battery
Widespread inbreeding in Saudi Arabia, resulting from the traditional practice of encouraging marriage between close relatives, has produced high levels of several genetic disorders including thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, spinal muscular atrophy, deafness and muteness.[185][186]
ReligionSony Vaio VPCEB3Z1E/BQ Battery

See also: Religion in Saudi Arabia and Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia, Wahhabism, and Salafism

The tomb of Muhammad in Medina
There are about 25 million people who are Muslim, or 97% of the total population.[187] Data for Saudi Arabia comes primarily from general population surveys, which are less reliable than censuses or large-scale Sony Vaio VPCEB3S1E/BQ Battery
demographic and health surveys for estimating minority-majority ratios.[187] About 85-90% of Saudis are Sunni, while Shias represent around 10-15% of the Muslim population.[188] The official and dominant formSony Vaio VPCEB3M1E/WI Battery
of Sunni Islam in Saudi Arabia is commonly known as Wahhabism (a name which some of its proponents consider derogatory, preferring the term Salafism[189]), founded in the Arabian peninsular by Muhammad ibnSony Vaio VPCEB3M1E/BQ Battery
Abd al-Wahhab in the eighteenth century, is often described as 'puritanical', 'intolerant' or 'ultra-conservative'. However, proponents consider that its teachings seek to purify the practise of Islam of any innovations or practices thatSony Vaio VPCEB3L9E/BQ Battery
deviate from the seventh-century teachings of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and his companions[190]
As noted earlier (see Politics) Saudi Arabia is a source of Sunni Islamist activity, including violent or terrorist Islamist activity[44] and "donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide".[181] Sony Vaio VPCEB3L1E/WI Battery

In 2010, the U.S. State Department stated that in Saudi Arabia "freedom of religion is neither recognized nor protected under the law and is severely restricted in practice" and that "government policies continued to place severe restrictions on religious freedom".[191] No faith other than Islam is permitted to be practised, Sony Vaio VPCEB3L1E/T Battery
although there are nearly a million Christians - nearly all foreign workers - in Saudi Arabia.[192] There are no churches or other non-Muslim houses of worship permitted in the country.[191] Even private prayer services are forbidden in practice and the Saudi religious police reportedly regularly search the homes of Christians.[1Sony Vaio VPCEB3L1E/PI Battery
92] Foreign workers have to observe Ramadan but are not allowed to celebrate Christmas or Easter.[192] Conversion by Muslims to another religion (apostasy) carries the death penalty, although there have been no confirmed Sony Vaio VPCEB3J1E/WI Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB3J1E/T Batteryreports of executions for apostasy in recent years.[191] Proselytizing by non-Muslims is illegal,[191] and the last Christian priest was expelled from Saudi Arabia in 1985.[192] Compensation in court cases discriminates against non-Muslims: once fault is determined, a Muslim receives all of the amount of compensation determined, a Jew or Christian half, and all others a sixteenth.[192] Sony Vaio VPCEB3J1E/BQ Battery

According to Human Rights Watch, the Shia minority face systematic discrimination from the Saudi government in education, the justice system and especially religious freedom.[193] Restrictions are imposed on the public celebration of Shia festivals such as Ashura and on the Shia taking part in communal public worship.[194] Sony Vaio VPCEB3E9E/BQ Battery

Women in Saudi society
See also: Women's rights in Saudi Arabia

Preserved in niq b
The U.S. State department considers that "discrimination against women is a significant problem" in Saudi Arabia and that women have few political or social rights.[195] After her 2008 visit, the UN special rapporteur on violenceSony Vaio VPCEB3E8E/WI Battery
against women noted the lack of women's autonomy and the absence of a law criminalizing violence against women.[195] The World Economic Forum 2010 Global Gender Gap Report ranked Saudi Arabia 129th out of 134 countries for gender parity.[196] Sony Vaio VPCEB3E4E/WI Battery

Every adult woman has to have a close male relative as her "guardian".[195] As a result, Human Rights Watch has described the position of Saudi women as no different to being a minor, with little authority over their own lives.[197] The guardian is entitled to make a number of critical decisions on a woman's behalf.[19Sony Vaio VPCEB3E1E/WI Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB3E1E/PI Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB2Z1E/BQ Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB2S1E/WI Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB2S1E/PI Battery
7] These include giving approval for the woman to travel, to hold some types of business licenses, to study at a university or college and to work if the type of business is not "deemed appropriate for a woman."[195] Even where a guardian's approval is not legally required, some officials will still ask for it.[198] Sony Vaio VPCEB2S1E/BQ Battery

Women also face discrimination in the courts, where the testimony of one man equals that of two women, and in family and inheritance law.[195] Polygamy is permitted for men,[199] and men have a unlilateral right to divorce their wives (talaq) without needing any legal justification.[ Sony Vaio VPCEB2M1E Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB2H4E Battery

Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/L Battery200] A woman can only obtain a divorce with the consent of her husband or judicially if her husband has harmed her.[201] In practice, it is very difficult for a Saudi woman to obtain a judicial divorce.[201] With regard to the law of inheritance, the Quran specifies that fixed portionsSony Vaio VPCEB2E9E/BQ Battery

Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/P Battery of the deceased's estate must be left to the so-called Qu'ranic heirs.[202] Generally, female heirs receive half the portion of male heirs.[202] A Sunni Muslim can bequeath a maximum of a third of his property to non-Qu'ranic heirs. The residue is divided between agnatic heirs.[202] Sony Vaio VPCEB2E1E/BQ Battery

Cultural norms impose restrictions on women when in public,[195] and these are enforced by the religious police, the mutawa.[203] They include requiring women to sit in separate specially designated family sections in restaurants, to wear an abaya (a loose-fitting, full-length black cloak covering the entire body) Sony Vaio VPCEB1Z1E/B Battery

Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/P Batteryand to conceal their hair.[195] There is also effectively a ban on women driving.[204]
Female literacy is estimated to be around 70% compared to male literacy of around 85%.[205] Men can marry girls as young as ten in Saudi Arabia[206] and, quite apart from the other considerable damage to the children involved,[20Sony Vaio VPCEB1S1E/WI Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEB1S1E/BJ Battery
7] child marriage is believed to hinder the cause of women's education. The drop-out rate of girls increases around puberty, as they exchange education for marriage. Roughly 25% of college-aged young women do not attend college, and in 2005-2006, women had a 60% dropout rate.[208]
Leading Saudi feminist and journalist, Sony Vaio VPCEB1M1E/WI Battery
Wajeha al-Huwaider, has said "Saudi women are weak, no matter how high their status, even the 'pampered' ones among them, because they have no law to protect them from attack by anyone. The oppression of women and the effacement of their selfhood is a flaw affecting most homes in Saudi Arabia."[209] Sony Vaio VPCEB1M1E/T Battery

Although many Saudis would like more freedom in Saudi Arabia, there is evidence that many women do not want radical change.[210] Even many advocates of reform reject foreign critics, for "failing to understand the uniqueness of Saudi society."[211][21Sony Vaio VPCEB1J1E/WI Battery

Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/W Battery] A number of Saudi women have risen to the top of some professions or otherwise achieved prominence, for example Dr. Ghada Al-Mutairi, heads a medical research center in California[213] and Dr. Salwa Al-Hazzaa, head of the ophthalmology department at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh and was the late King Fahad's personal ophthalmologist.[214] On 25 September 2011, Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/W Battery
King Abdullah announced that Saudi women would gain the right to vote (and to be candidates) in municipal elections, following the next round of these elections. However, a male guardian's permission is required in order to vote.[215][216] Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/V Battery

Education
Main article: Education in Saudi Arabia
Education is free at all levels. The school system is composed of elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools. A large part of the curriculum at all levels is devoted to Islam, and, at the secondary level, students are able to follow either a religious or a technical track. Girls are able to attend school, but fewer girls attendSony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/P Battery

The Gospel of Matthew also describes a Sony Vaio VPCEB1S1E/WI Battery
visit by several Magi, or astrologers, who bring gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the infant Jesus. The visitors were said to be following a mysterious star, commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem, believing it to announce the birth Sony Vaio VPCEB1S1E/BJ Battery
of a king of the Jews.[33] The commemoration of this visit, the Feast of Epiphany celebrated on January 6, is the formal end of the Christmas season in some churches.

Sony Vaio VPCEB1M1E/WI Battery

Anbetung der Hirten (Adoration of the Shepherds) (c. 1500-10), by Italian painter Giorgio da Castelfranco
Christians celebrate Christmas in various ways. In addition to this day being one of the most important and popular for the attendance of church services, there are other devotions and popular traditions. In some ChristianSony Vaio VPCEB1M1E/T Battery
denominations, children re-enact the events of the Nativity with animals to portray the event with more realism or sing carols that reference the event. Some Christians also display a small re-creation of the Nativity, known as a Sony Vaio VPCEB1J1E/WI Battery
Nativity scene or cr che, in their homes, using figurines to portray the key characters of the event. Prior to Christmas Day, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the 40-day Nativity Fast in anticipation of the birth of Jesus, while muchSony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/W Battery
of Western Christianity celebrates four weeks of Advent. The final preparations for Christmas are made on Christmas Eve.
A long artistic tradition has grown of producing painted depictions of the nativity in art. Nativity scenes are traditionally set in a barn orSony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/P Battery
stable and include Mary, Joseph, the child Jesus, angels, shepherds and the Three Wise Men: Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, who are said to have followed a star, known as the Star of Bethlehem, and arrived after his birth.[34] Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/L Battery
Decorations
Main article: Christmas decoration
See also: Christmas tree, Christmas lights, Christmas stocking, and Christmas ornament
Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/V Battery

Clifton Mill in Clifton, Ohio is the site of this Christmas display with over 3.5 million lights.
The practice of putting up special decorations at Christmas has a long history. From pre-Christian times, people in the Roman Empire brought branches from evergreen plants indoors in the winter. Decorating with greenery was also Sony Vaio VPCEA3S1E/B Battery
Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/W Battery

part of Jewish tradition : "Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. " (Leviticus 23:40)
Christians incorporated such customs in their developing practices. In the 15th century, it was recorded that in London it was the custom at Christmas for every house and all the parish churches to be "decked with holm, ivy, bays, and whatsoever the season of the year afforded to be green".[35] The heart-shaped leaves of ivy were said to symbolize the coming to earth of Jesus, while holly was seen as protection against pagans and witches, its thorns and red berries held to represent the Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus at the crucifixion and the blood he shed.[36][37]

A Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, New York City
Nativity scenes are known from 10th-century Rome. They were popularised by Saint Francis of Asissi from 1223, quickly spreading across Europe.[38] Different types of decorations developed across the Christian world, dependent on local tradition and available resources. The first commercially produced decorations appeared in Germany in the 1860s, inspired by paper chains made by children.[39] In countries where a representation of the Nativity Scene is very popular, people are encouraged to compete Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/P Battery
and create the most original or realistic ones. Within some families, the pieces used to make the representation are considered a valuable family heirloom. Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/P Battery

The traditional colors of Christmas are green and red.[40] White, silver and gold are also popular. Red symbolizes the blood of Jesus, which was shed in his crucifixion, while green symbolizes eternal life, and in particular the evergreen tree, which does not lose its leaves in the winter.[37][40] Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/L Battery

The Christmas tree is considered by some as Christianisation of pagan tradition and ritual surrounding the Winter Solstice, which included the use of evergreen boughs, and an adaptation of pagan tree worship.[41] The EnglishSony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/G Battery
language phrase "Christmas tree" is first recorded in 1835[42] and represents an importation from the German language. The modern Christmas tree tradition is believed to have begun in Germany in the 18th century[41Sony Vaio VPCEA3L1E/B Battery
] though many argue that Martin Luther began the tradition in the 16th century.[43][44]
From Germany the custom was introduced to Britain, first via Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, and then more successfully by Prince Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/W Battery
Albert during the reign of Queen Victoria. By 1841 the Christmas tree had become even more widespread throughout Britain.[45] By the 1870s, people in the United States had adopted the custom of putting up a Christmas tree.[46] Christmas trees may be decorated with lights and ornaments. Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/P Battery

Saint Anselm College decorates with traditional candles in each window and a large Christmas wreathSony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/L Battery

Since the 19th century, the poinsettia, a native plant from Mexico, has been associated with Christmas. Other popular holiday plants include holly, mistletoe, red amaryllis, and Christmas cactus. Along with a Christmas tree, the interior of a home may be decorated with these plants, along with garlands and evergreen foliage. Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/G Battery
The display of Christmas villages has also become a tradition in many homes during this season. The outside of houses may be decorated with lights and sometimes with illuminated sleighs, snowmen, and other Christmas figures. Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/B Battery

Other traditional decorations include bells, candles, candy canes, stockings, wreaths, and angels. Both the displaying of wreaths and candles in each window are a more traditional Christmas display. The concentric assortment of leaves, Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/W Battery
usually from an evergreen, make up Christmas wreaths and are designed to prepare Christians for the Advent season. Candles in each window are meant to demonstrate the fact that Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate light of the world.[4Sony Vaio VPCEA1S1E/P Battery
7] Both of these antiquated, more subdued, Christmas displays are seen in the image to the right of Saint Anselm College. Sony Vaio VPCEA1S1E/L Battery

Christmas lights and banners may be hung along streets, music played from speakers, and Christmas trees placed in prominent places.[48] It is common in many parts of the world for town squares and consumer shopping areas to Sony Vaio VPCEA1S1E/G Battery
sponsor and display decorations. Rolls of brightly colored paper with secular or religious Christmas motifs are manufactured for the purpose of wrapping gifts.
In some countries, Christmas decorations are traditionally taken down on Twelfth Night, the evening of January 5. Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/B Battery

Music and carols
Main article: Christmas music

Christmas carolers in New Jersey.
The first specifically Christmas hymns that we know of appear in 4th century Rome. Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium, Sony Vaio VPCEA2S1E/L Battery
written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father's love begotten) by the Spanish poet Prudentius (d. 413) is still sung in some churches today.[49] Sony Vaio VPCEA181 Battery

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas "Sequence" or "Prose" was introduced in North European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam
Sony Vaio VGP-BPS22A Battery of St. Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol. Sony Vaio VGP-BPS22 Battery

although the words may have originated in the 13th century.

Child singers in Bucharest, 1841.

Sandys' Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833) contained the first appearance in print of many now-classic English carols, and contributed to the mid-Victorian revival of the festival.[53]

produced in the 20th century, including jazz and blues variations. In addition, there was a revival of interest in early music, from groups singing folk music, such as The Revels, to performers of early medieval and classical music. Sony VAIO VGN-Z31MN/B Battery
Food
Further information: Christmas dinner

Christmas pudding
A special Christmas family meal is traditionally an important part of the holiday's celebration, and the food that is served varies greatly from country to country. Some regions, such as Sicily, have special meals for Christmas Eve, whenSony Vaio VGN-Z11MN/B Battery
12 kinds of fish are served. In England and countries influenced by its traditions, a standard Christmas meal includes turkey or goose, meat, gravy, potatoes, vegetables, sometimes bread and cider. Special desserts are also prepared, such as Christmas pudding, mince pies and fruit cake.[54][55] Sony Vaio VGN-Z11VN/X Battery
oland and other parts of eastern Europe and Scandinavia, fish often is used for the traditional main course, but richer meat such as lamb is increasingly served. In Germany, France and Austria, goose and pork are favored. Sony Vaio VGN-Z11WN/B Battery
In P Beef, ham and chicken in various recipes are popular throughout the world. The Maltese traditionally serve Imbuljuta tal-Qastan,[56] a chocolate and chestnuts beverage, after Midnight Mass and throughout the Christmas season. Sony Vaio VGN-Z11XN/B Battery
Slovaks prepare the traditional Christmas bread potica, b che de No l in France, panettone in Italy, and elaborate tarts and cakes. The eating of sweets and chocolates has become popular worldwide, and sweeter Christmas Sony Vaio VGN-Z21MN/B Battery
delicacies include the German stollen, marzipan cake or candy, and Jamaican rum fruit cake. As one of the few fruits traditionally available to northern countries in winter, oranges have been long associated with special Christmas foods. Sony Vaio VGN-Z21VN/X Battery

Cards
Main article: Christmas card
Christmas cards are illustrated messages of greeting exchanged between friends and family members during the weeks preceding Christmas Day. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year",Sony Vaio VGN-Z21XN/B Battery
much like that of the first commercial Christmas card, produced by Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843.[57] The custom of sending them has become popular among a wide cross-section of people with the emergence of the modern trend towards exchanging E-cards. Sony Vaio VGN-Z31XN/B Battery

Christmas cards are purchased in considerable quantities, and feature artwork, commercially designed and relevant to the season. The content of the design might relate directly to the Christmas narrative with depictions of the Nativity Sony Vaio VGN-Z31WN/B Battery

Sony Vaio VGN-Z41WD/B Batteryof Jesus, or Christian symbols such as the Star of Bethlehem, or a white dove which can represent both the Holy Spirit and Peace on Earth. Other Christmas cards are more secular and can depict ChristmasSony Vaio VGN-Z31VN/X Battery
traditions, mythical figures such as Santa Claus, objects directly associated with Christmas such as candles, holly and baubles, or a variety of images associated with the season, such as Christmastime activities, snow scenes andSony Vaio VGN-Z31ZN/X Battery
the wildlife of the northern winter. There are even humorous cards and genres depicting nostalgic scenes of the past such as crinolined shoppers in idealized 19th century streetscapes.
Some prefer cards with a poem, prayer or Biblical verse; while others distance themselves from religion with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings".Sony Vaio VGN-Z41MD/B Battery
Stamps
Main article: Christmas stamp
A number of nations have issued commemorative stamps at Christmastime. Postal customers will often use these stamps to mail Christmas cards, and they are popular with philatelists. These stamps are regular postage stamps, unlike Christmas Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery

seals, and are valid for postage year-round. They usually go on sale some time between early October and early December, and are printed in considerable quantities. Sony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery
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In 1898 a Canadian stamp was issued to mark the inauguration of the Imperial Penny Postage rate. The stamp features a map of the globe and bears an inscription "XMAS 1898" at the bottom. In 1937, Austria issued twoSony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery

"Christmas greeting stamps" featuring a rose and the signs of the zodiac. In 1939, Brazil issued four semi-postal stamps with designs featuring the three kings and a star of Bethlehem, an angel and child, the Southern Cross and a child, and a mother and child. Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery

Both the US Postal Service and the Royal Mail regularly issue Christmas-themed stamps each year. Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J Battery

Gift giving
See also: Gift economy
The exchanging of gifts is one of the core aspects of the modern Christmas celebration, making the Christmas season the most profitable time of year for retailers and businesses throughout the world. Gift giving was common in the RomanSony VAIO VGN-FW11ZRU Battery
celebration of Saturnalia, an ancient festival which took place in late December and may have influenced Christmas customs.[58] Christmas gift giving was banned by the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages due to its suspected pagan origins.[5Sony VAIO VGN-FW11ZU Battery
8] It was later rationalized by the Church on the basis that it associated St. Nicholas with Christmas, and that gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh were given to the infant Jesus by the Biblical Magi. Sony VAIO VGN-FW21ER Battery

Legendary gift-bringing figures
Main articles: Santa Claus and Father Christmas
See also: Saint Nicholas and Basil of Caesarea

Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas, considered by many to be the original Santa Claus.
A number of figures of both Christian and mythical origin have been associated with Christmas and the seasonal giving of gifts. AmongSony VAIO VGN-FW21J Battery
these are Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, P re No l, and the Weihnachtsmann; Saint Nicholas or Sinterklaas; the Christkind; Kris Kringle; Joulupukki; Babbo Natale; Saint Basil; and Father Frost. Sony VAIO VGN-FW21ZR

The most famous and pervasive of these figures in modern celebration worldwide is Santa Claus, a mythical gift bringer, dressed in red, whose origins have diverse sources. The name Santa Claus can be traced back to the Dutch SinterklaasSony VAIO VGN-FW3ZJ Battery
, which means simply Saint Nicholas. Nicholas was Bishop of Myra, in modern day Turkey, during the 4th century. Among other saintly attributes, he was noted for the care of Children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. His feast on December 6 came to be celebrated in many countries with the giving of gifts.[59] Sony VAIO VGN-FW46M Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW4ZTJ/H

Saint Nicholas traditionally appeared in bishop's attire, accompanied by helpers, inquiring about the behaviour of children during the past year before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not. By the 13th century, Saint Sony VAIO VGN-FW51 Battery
Nicholas was well known in the Netherlands, and the practice of gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe. At the Reformation in 16th-17th century Europe, many Protestants changed the gift Sony VAIO VGN-FW51MF/H Battery
bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, corrupted in English to Kris Kringle, and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.[59] Sony VAIO VGN-FW51ZF/H Battery

The modern popular image of Santa Claus, however, was created in the United States, and in particular in New York. The transformation was accomplished with the aid of notable contributors including Washington Irving and the Sony VAIO VGN-FW54M BatteryGerman-American cartoonist Thomas Nast (1840-1902). Following the American Revolutionary War, some of the inhabitants of New York City sought out symbols of the city's non-English past. New York had originally been established as the Dutch colonial town of New AmsterdamSony VGN-CS21S/W Battery
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and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition was reinvented as Saint Nicholas.[60]
In 1809, the New-York Historical Society convened and retroactively named Sancte Claus the patron saint of Nieuw Amsterdam, the Dutch name for New York City.[61] At his first American appearance in 1810, Santa ClausSony VGN-CS11S/P Battery
was drawn in bishops' robes. However as new artists took over, Santa Claus developed more secular attire.[62] Nast drew a new image of "Santa Claus" annually, beginning in 1863. By the 1880s, Nast's Santa had evolved into the Sony VGN-CS11S/Q Battery
Sony VGN-CS11S/W Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T Batteryrobed, fur clad, form we now recognize, perhaps based on the English figure of Father Christmas. The image was standardized by advertisers in the 1920s.[63]

Sony VGN-CS11Z/R Battery
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Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T Battery

Santa Claus is famous around the world for giving gifts to good children.
Father Christmas, a jolly, well nourished, bearded man who typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas, predates the Santa Claus character. He is first recorded in early 17th century England, but was associated with holiday merrymaking Sony VGN-CS31S/V Battery
and drunkenness rather than the bringing of gifts.[42] In Victorian Britain, his image was remade to match that of Santa. The French P re No l evolved along similar lines, eventually adopting the Santa image. In Italy, Babbo Natale acts as Santa Claus, while La Befana is the bringer of gifts and arrives on the eve of the Epiphany. It is saidSony VGN-CS31S/W Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S Battery that La Befana set out to bring the baby Jesus gifts, but got lost along the way. Now, she brings gifts to all children. In some cultures Santa Claus is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, or Black Peter. In other versions, elves make the toys. His wife is referred to as Mrs. Claus.

Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S Battery
There has been some opposition to the narrative of the American evolution of Saint Nicholas into the modern Santa. It has been claimed that the Saint Nicholas Society was not founded until 1835, almost half a century after the end of the American War of Independence.[64] Moreover, a study of the "children's books, Sony VGN-CS31Z/Q Battery

In South Tyrol (Italy), Austria, Czech Republic, Southern Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Slovakia and Switzerland, the Christkind (Je ek in Czech, J zuska in Hungarian and Je i ko in Slovak) brings the presents. The German St. Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF/S Battery
Nikolaus is not identical with the Weihnachtsmann (who is the German version of Santa Claus/Father Christmas). St. Nikolaus wears a bishop's dress and still brings small gifts (usually candies, nuts and fruits) on December 6 and is Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery
accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht. Although many parents around the world routinely teach their children about Santa Claus and other gift bringers, some have come to reject this practice, considering it deceptive.[68] Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Battery

Mosaic of Jesus as Christo Sole (Christ the Sun) in Mausoleum M in the pre-fourth-century necropolis under St Peter's Basilica in Rome.[69] Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery
History

Modern scholars have argued that the festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be "unconquered".[citation needed] Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery
Some early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus.[9] "O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born...Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote.[9] John Chrysostom Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S Battery

also commented on the connection: "They call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?"[9] Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF/S Battery

Although Dies Natalis Solis Invicti has been the subject of a great deal of scholarly speculation,.[citation needed] the only ancient source for it is a single mention in the Chronography of 354, and modern Sol scholar Steven Hijmans argues that there is no evidence that the celebration precedes that of Christmas: Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/T Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF/S 23] "[W]hile the winter solstice on or around December 25 was well established in the Roman imperial calendar, there is no evidence that a religious celebration of Sol on that day antedated the celebration of Christmas, and none that indicates that Aurelian had a hand in its institution."[23] Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF/S Battery

Winter festivals
Main article: List of winter festivals
A winter festival was the most popular festival of the year in many cultures. Reasons included the fact that less agricultural work needs to be done during the winter, as well as an expectation of better weather as spring approached.[7Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-NW31ZF/S Battery0] Modern Christmas customs include: gift-giving and merrymaking from Roman Saturnalia; greenery, lights, and charity from the Roman New Year; and Yule logs and various foods from Germanic feasts.[71] Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/P Battery

Pagan Scandinavia celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period.[citation needed] As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas, especially Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/P Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/w Battery
Koleda,[72] which was incorporated into the Christmas carol. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas,[73] a usage first recorded in 900.
Christian feast
The New Testament does not give a date for the birth of Jesus.[9][74] Around AD 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote that a group in Egypt celebrated the nativity on 25 Pashons.[9] This corresponds to May 20.[75] Tertullian (d. 220) does Sony VAIO VGN-NW20EF/S Battery
not mention Christmas as a major feast day in the Church of Roman Africa.[9] However, in Chronographai, a reference work published in 221, Sextus Julius Africanus suggested that Jesus was conceived on the spring equinox, Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF Batterypopularizing the idea that Christ was born on December 25.[76][77] The equinox was March 25 on the Roman calendar, so this implied a birth in December.[78]
In 245, the theologian Origen of Alexandria stated that, "only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod)" celebrated their birthdays.[79] In 303, ChristianSony VAIO VGN-NS10J/S Battery
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writer Arnobius ridiculed the idea of celebrating the birthdays of gods. However, since Christmas does not celebrate Christ's birth "as God" but "as man", this is not evidence against Christmas being a feast at this time.[9] MoreoverSony VAIO VGN-NS11ER/S Battery
, the fact that the innovation rejecting Donatist Church of North Africa celebrated Christmas suggests that the feast had been established before the living memory of those who began that Church in 311. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11J/S Battery

Feast established
The earliest known reference to the date of the nativity as December 25 is found in the Chronography of 354, an illuminated manuscript compiled in Rome.[80] In the East, early Christians celebrated the birth of Christ as part of Epiphany (January 6), although this festival emphasized celebration of the baptism of Jesus.[81] Sony VAIO VGN-NS11L/S Battery

Christmas was promoted in the Christian East as part of the revival of Catholicism following the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced to Constantinople in 379, Sony VAIO VGN-NS11S/S Battery
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and to Antioch in about 380. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop in 381, although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom in about 400.[9]

The Examination and Trial of Father Christmas, (1686), published shortly after Christmas was reinstated as a holy day in England. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11Z/S Battery
Middle Ages
In the Early Middle Ages, Christmas Day was overshadowed by Epiphany, which in the west focused on the visit of the magi. But the Medieval calendar was dominated by Christmas-related holidays. The forty days before Christmas became the "forty days of St. Martin" (which began on November 11, the feast of St. Sony VAIO VGN-NS11ZR/S Battery

Martin of Tours), now known as Advent.[82] In Italy, former Saturnalian traditions were attached to Advent.[82] Around the 12th century, these traditions transferred again to the Twelve Days of Christmas (December 25 - January 5); Sony VAIO VGN-NS12M/S Battery
a time that appears in the liturgical calendars as Christmastide or Twelve Holy Days.[82]
The prominence of Christmas Day increased gradually after Charlemagne was crowned Emperor on Christmas Day in 800. King Edmund the Martyr was anointed on Christmas in 855 and King William I of England was crowned on Christmas Day 1066. Sony VAIO VGN-NS12M/W Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS12S/S Battery

By the High Middle Ages, the holiday had become so prominent that chroniclers routinely noted where various magnates celebrated Christmas. King Richard II of England hosted a Christmas feast in 1377 at which twenty-eight oxen and three hundred sheep were eaten.[82] The Yule boar was a common feature of medieval Sony VAIO VGN-NS21M/P Battery
Christmas feasts. Caroling also became popular, and was originally a group of dancers who sang. The group was composed of a lead singer and a ring of dancers that provided the chorus. Various writers of the time condemned Sony VAIO VGN-NS21M/W Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/S Battery
caroling as lewd, indicating that the unruly traditions of Saturnalia and Yule may have continued in this form.[82] "Misrule" drunkenness, promiscuity, gambling was also an important aspect of the festival. In England, gifts were exchanged on New Year's Day, and there was special Christmas ale.[82] Sony VAIO VGN-NS21S/W Battery

Christmas during the Middle Ages was a public festival that incorporated ivy, holly, and other evergreens.[83] Christmas gift-giving during the Middle Ages was usually between people with legal relationships, such as tenantSony VAIO VGN-NS21Z/S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/P Battery
and landlord.[83] The annual indulgence in eating, dancing, singing, sporting, and card playing escalated in England, and by the 17th century the Christmas season featured lavish dinners, elaborate masques and pageants. In 1607, King James I insisted that a play be acted on Christmas night and that the court indulge in Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/S Battery
games.[84] It was during the Reformation in 16th-17th century Europe that many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve.[59] Sony VAIO VGN-NS31M/W Battery

Reformation into the 19th century

Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present. From Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, 1843.
Following the Protestant Reformation, groups such as the Puritans strongly condemned the celebration of Christmas, considering it a Catholic invention and the "trappings of popery" or the "rags of the Beast."[85] The Catholic Church Sony VAIO VGN-NS31S/S Battery
responded by promoting the festival in a more religiously oriented form. King Charles I of England directed his noblemen and gentry to return to their landed estates in midwinter to keep up their old style Christmas generosity.[84] Following the ParliamentarianSony VAIO VGN-NS38M/P Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-NS38M/W Battery victory over Charles I during the English Civil War, England's Puritan rulers banned Christmas in 1647.[85]
Protests followed as pro-Christmas rioting broke out in several cities and for weeks Canterbury was controlled by the rioters, who decorated doorways with holly and shouted royalist slogans.[85] The book, The Vindication of Christmas (London, 1652), Sony VAIO VGN-SR11MR Battery

argued against the Puritans, and makes note of Old English Christmas traditions, dinner, roast apples on the fire, card playing, dances with "plow-boys" and "maidservants", and carol singing.[86] The Restoration of King Charles II inSony VAIO VGN-SR19VN Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery 1660 ended the ban, but many clergymen still disapproved of Christmas celebration. In Scotland, the Presbyterian Church of Scotland also discouraged observance of Christmas. James VI commanded its celebration in 1618, however attendance at church was scant.[87] Sony VAIO VGN-SR19XN Battery

In Colonial America, the Puritans of New England shared radical Protestant disapproval of Christmas. Celebration was outlawed in Boston from 1659 to 1681. Sony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery
The ban by the Pilgrims was revoked in 1681 by English governor Sir Edmund Andros, however it was not until the mid-19th century that celebrating Christmas became fashionable in the Boston region.[88] Sony VAIO VGN-SR21RM/H Battery
At the same time, Christian residents of Virginia and New York observed the holiday freely. Pennsylvania German Settlers, pre-eminently the Moravian settlers of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Lititz in Pennsylvania and the WachoviaSony VAIO VGN-SR21M/S Battery

Settlements in North Carolina, were enthusiastic celebrators of Christmas. The Moravians in Bethlehem had the first Christmas trees in America as well as the first Nativity Scenes.[89] Christmas fell out of favor Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN Battery
in the United States after the American Revolution, when it was considered an English custom.[90] George Washington attacked Hessian (German) mercenaries on Christmas during the Battle of Trenton in 1777, Christmas being much more popular in Germany than in America at this time. Sony VAIO VGN-SR31M Battery

By the 1820s, sectarian tension had eased in Britain and writers, including William Winstanly, began to worry that Christmas was dying out. These writers imagined Tudor Christmas as a time of heartfelt celebration, and efforts were made to revive the holiday. In 1843, Charles Dickens wrote the novel A Christmas Carol, thatSony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P Battery
helped revive the 'spirit' of Christmas and seasonal merriment.[91][92] Its instant popularity played a major role in portraying Christmas as a holiday emphasizing family, goodwill, and compassion.[93] Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S Battery

The Queen's Christmas tree at Windsor Castle published in the Illustrated London News, 1848, and republished in Godey's Lady's Book, Philadelphia, December 1850.
Dickens sought to construct Christmas as a family-centered festival of generosity, in contrast to the community-based and church-centered observations, Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/P Battery
the observance of which had dwindled during the late 18th century and early 19th century.[94] Superimposing his secular vision of the holiday, Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MF/W Battery

Dickens influenced many aspects of Christmas that are celebrated today in Western culture, such as family gatherings, seasonal food and drink, dancing, games, and a festive generosity of spirit.[95] A prominent phrase from the tale, 'Merry Christmas', was popularized following the appearance of the story.[96] Sony VAIO VGN-SR51MR Battery

The term Scrooge became a synonym for miser, with 'Bah! Humbug!' dismissive of the festive spirit.[97] In 1843, the first commercial Christmas card was produced by Sir Henry Cole.[98] The revival of the Christmas Carol began with William BSony VGP-BPS13/B Battery
. Sandys Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern (1833), with the first appearance in print of 'The First Noel', 'I Saw Three Ships', 'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' and 'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen', popularized in Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

In Britain, the Christmas tree was introduced in the early 19th century following the personal union with the Kingdom of Hanover, by Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen to King George III. In 1832 a young Queen Victoria wroteSony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery
about her delight at having a Christmas tree, hung with lights, ornaments, and presents placed round it.[99] After her marriage to her German cousin Prince Albert, by 1841 the custom became more widespread throughout Britain.[45] Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery

An image of the British royal family with their Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, created a sensation when it was published in the Illustrated London News in 1848. A modified version of this image was published in the United States in 1850.[46][100] By the 1870s, putting up a Christmas tree had become common in America.[46] Sony VGP-BPS13 Batterty

A Norwegian Christmas, 1846 painting by Adolph Tidemand.
In America, interest in Christmas had been revived in the 1820s by several short stories by Washington Irving which appear in his The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon and "Old Christmas". Irving's stories depicted harmonious warm-heartedSony VGP-BPS13/Q Battery
English Christmas festivities he experienced while staying in Aston Hall, Birmingham, England, that had largely been abandoned,[10Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q Battery1] and he used the tract Vindication of Christmas (1652) of Old English Christmas traditions, that he had transcribed into his journal as a format for his stories.[84] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E Battery

In 1822, Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (popularly known by its first line: Twas the Night Before Christmas).[102] The poem helped popularize the tradition of exchanging gifts, and seasonal Christmas shopping began to assume economic importance.[103] This also started the cultural conflictSony VAIO VGN-FZ31J Battery
of the holiday's spiritualism and its commercialism that some see as corrupting the holiday. In her 1850 book "The First Christmas in New England", Harriet Beecher Stowe includes a character who complains that the true meaning of Christmas was lost in a shopping spree.[104] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M Battery

While the celebration of Christmas was not yet customary in some regions in the U.S., Henry Wadsworth Longfellow detected "a transition state about Christmas here in New England" in 1856. "The old puritan feeling prevents Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11E Battery
it from being a cheerful, hearty holiday; though every year makes it more so".[105] In Reading, Pennsylvania, a newspaper remarked in 1861, "Even our presbyterian friends who have hitherto steadfastly ignored Christmas threw open theirSony VAIO VGN-FZ11L Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M Battery church doors and assembled in force to celebrate the anniversary of the Savior's birth".[105]
The First Congregational Church of Rockford, Illinois, 'although of genuine Puritan stock', was 'preparing for a grand Christmas jubilee', Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M Battery
a news correspondent reported in 1864.[105] By 1860, fourteen states including several from New England had adopted Christmas as a legal holiday.[106] In 1870, Christmas was formally declared a United States Federal holiday, Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S Battery
signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant.[106] Subsequently, in 1875, Louis Prang introduced the Christmas card to Americans. He has been called the "father of the American Christmas card".[107] Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z Battery

Controversy and criticism

Main article: Christmas controversy
Throughout the holiday's history, Christmas has been the subject of both controversy and criticism from a wide variety of different sources. The first documented Christmas controversy was Christian-led, and beganSony VAIO VGN-FZ21E Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FZ Battery during the English Interregnum, when England was ruled by a Puritan Parliament.[108] Puritans (including those who fled to America) sought to remove the remaining pagan elements of Christmas. During this brief period, the English Parliament banned the celebration of Christmas entirely, Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J Battery
considering it "a popish festival with no biblical justification", and a time of wasteful and immoral behavior.[109]
Controversy and criticism continues in the present-day, where some Christian and non-Christians have claimed that an affront to Christmas (dubbed a "war on Christmas" by some) is ongoing.[110][111] In the United States there has been a tendency to replace the greeting Merry Christmas with Happy Holidays.[1Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M Battery
12] Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union have initiated court cases to bar the display of images and other material referring to Christmas from public property, including schools.[113] Such groups argue that government-funded displays of Christmas imagery and traditions violate the First Amendment to the United States Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z BatteryConstitution, which prohibits the establishment by Congress of a national religion.[114] In 1984, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lynch vs. Donnelly that a Christmas display (which included a Nativity scene) owned and displayed by the city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island did not violate the First Amendment.[115] In November 2009, Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery
the Federal appeals court in Philadelphia endorsed a school district's ban on the singing of Christmas carols.[116] Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery

In the private sphere also, it has been alleged that any specific mention of the term "Christmas" or its religious aspects was being increasingly censored, avoided, or discouraged by a number of advertisers and retailers. Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery
In response, the American Family Association and other groups have organized boycotts of individual retailers.[117] In the United Kingdom there have been some minor controversies, one of the most famous beingSony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery the temporary promotion of the Christmas period as Winterval by Birmingham City Council in 1998. There were also protests in November 2009 when the city of Dundee promoted its celebrations as the Winter Night Light festival, initially with no specific Christmas references.[118] Sony VAIO VGN-NR11M/S Battery
Economics

See also: Christmas by medium, Christmas tree production, Christmas tree cultivation, and Christmas Price IndexSony VAIO VGN-NR11S/S Battery

Christmas market in Metz, France.
Christmas is typically the largest annual economic stimulus for many nations around the world. Sales increase dramatically in almost all retail areas and shops introduce new products as people purchase gifts, decorations, and suppliesSony VAIO VGN-NR11Z/S Battery
. In the U.S., the "Christmas shopping season" starts as early as October.[119][120] In Canada, merchants begin advertising campaigns just before Halloween (October 31), and step up their marketing following Remembrance Day Sony VAIO VGN-NR11Z/T Battery

• on November 11. In the UK and Ireland, the Christmas shopping season starts from mid November, around the time when high street Christmas lights are turned on.[121][122] In the United States, it has been calculated thatSony VAIO VGN-NR21E/S Battery
• a quarter of all personal spending takes place during the Christmas/holiday shopping season.[123] Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that expenditure in department stores nationwide rose from $20.8 billion in November 2004 toSony VAIO VGN-NR21J/S Battery
• $31.9 billion in December 2004, an increase of 54 percent. In other sectors, the pre-Christmas increase in spending was even greater, there being a November - December buying surge of 100 percent in bookstores and 170 percent inSony VAIO VGN-NR21S/S Battery

jewelry stores. In the same year employment in American retail stores rose from 1.6 million to 1.8 million in the two months leading up to Christmas.[124] Industries completely dependent on Christmas include Christmas cards, ofSony VAIO VGN-NR21S/T Battery which 1.9 billion are sent in the United States each year, and live Christmas Trees, of which 20.8 million were cut in the USA in 2002.[125] In the UK in 2010, up to 8 billion was expected to be spent online at Christmas, approximately a quarter of total retail festive sales.[122] Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M Battery

In most Western nations, Christmas Day is the least active day of the year for business and commerce; almost all retail, commercial and institutional businesses are closed, and almost all industries cease activity (more than any Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S Battery
Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E Battery
other day of the year), whether laws require such or not. In England and Wales, the Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004 prevents all large shops from trading on Christmas Day. Scotland is currently planning similar legislation. Film studios release many high-budget movies during the holiday season, including Christmas Sony VAIO VGN-FW21I Battery
films, fantasy movies or high-tone dramas with high production values.
One economist's analysis calculates that, despite increased overall spending, Christmas is a deadweight loss under Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L Battery
orthodox microeconomic theory, because of the effect of gift-giving. This loss is calculated as the difference between what the gift giver spent on the item and what the gift receiver would have paid for the item. ItSony VAIO VGN-FW21Z Battery
is estimated that in 2001, Christmas resulted in a $4 billion deadweight loss in the U.S. alone.[126][127] Because of complicating factors, this analysis is sometimes used to discuss possible flaws in current microeconomicSony VAIO VGN-FW21M Battery
theory. Other deadweight losses include the effects of Christmas on the environment and the fact that material gifts are often perceived as white elephants, imposing cost for upkeep and storage and contributing to clutter.[128] Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M Battery
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