Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including nation-states, and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state with stateless societies and voluntary free associations. As a historically left-wing movement, this reading of anarchism is placed on the farthest left of the political spectrum, usually described as the libertarian wing of the socialist movement (libertarian socialism).

Humans have lived in societies without formal hierarchies long before the establishment of states, realms, or empires. With the rise of organised hierarchical bodies, scepticism toward authority also rose. Although traces of anarchist ideas are found all throughout history, modern anarchism emerged from the Enlightenment. During the latter half of the 19th and the first decades of the 20th century, the anarchist movement flourished in most parts of the world and had a significant role in workers' struggles for emancipation. Various anarchist schools of thought formed during this period. Anarchists have taken part in several revolutions, most notably in the Paris Commune, the Russian Civil War and the Spanish Civil War, whose end marked the end of the classical era of anarchism. In the last decades of the 20th and into the 21st century, the anarchist movement has been resurgent once more, growing in popularity and influence within anti-capitalist, anti-war and anti-globalisation movements.

Anarchists employ diverse approaches, which may be generally divided into revolutionary and evolutionary strategies; there is significant overlap between the two. Evolutionary methods try to simulate what an anarchist society might be like, but revolutionary tactics, which have historically taken a violent turn, aim to overthrow authority and the state. Many facets of human civilization have been influenced by anarchist theory, critique, and praxis.

Etymology, terminology, and definition 

The etymological origin of anarchism is from the Ancient Greek anarkhia, meaning "without a ruler", composed of the prefix an- ("without") and the word arkhos ("leader" or "ruler"). The suffix -ism denotes the ideological current that favours anarchy. Anarchism appears in English from 1642 as anarchisme and anarchy from 1539; early English usages emphasised a sense of disorder. Various factions within the French Revolution labelled their opponents as anarchists, although few such accused shared many views with later anarchists. Many revolutionaries of the 19th century such as William Godwin (1756–1836) and Wilhelm Weitling (1808–1871) would contribute to the anarchist doctrines of the next generation but did not use anarchist or anarchism in describing themselves or their beliefs.

The first political philosopher to call himself an anarchist () was Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–1865), marking the formal birth of anarchism in the mid-19th century. Since the 1890s and beginning in France, libertarianism has often been used as a synonym for anarchism and its use as a synonym is still common outside the United States. Some usages of libertarianism refer to individualistic free-market philosophy only, and free-market anarchism in particular is termed libertarian anarchism.

While the term libertarian has been largely synonymous with anarchism, its meaning has more recently been diluted by wider adoption from ideologically disparate groups, including both the New Left and libertarian Marxists, who do not associate themselves with authoritarian socialists or a vanguard party, and extreme cultural liberals, who are primarily concerned with civil liberties. Additionally, some anarchists use libertarian socialist to avoid anarchism's negative connotations and emphasise its connections with socialism. Anarchism is broadly used to describe the anti-authoritarian wing of the socialist movement. Anarchism is contrasted to socialist forms which are state-oriented or from above. Scholars of anarchism generally highlight anarchism's socialist credentials and criticise attempts at creating dichotomies between the two. Some scholars describe anarchism as having many influences from liberalism, and being both liberal and socialist but more so. Many scholars reject anarcho-capitalism as a misunderstanding of anarchist principles.

While opposition to the state is central to anarchist thought, defining anarchism is not an easy task for scholars, as there is a lot of discussion among scholars and anarchists on the matter, and various currents perceive anarchism slightly differently. Major definitional elements include the will for a non-coercive society, the rejection of the state apparatus, the belief that human nature allows humans to exist in or progress toward such a non-coercive society, and a suggestion on how to act to pursue the ideal of anarchy.

History

Pre-modern era 

Before the creation of towns and cities, established authority did not exist. It was after the institution of authority that anarchistic ideas were espoused as a reaction. The most notable precursors to anarchism in the ancient world were in China and Greece. In China, philosophical anarchism (the discussion on the legitimacy of the state) was delineated by Taoist philosophers Zhuang Zhou and Laozi. Alongside Stoicism, Taoism has been said to have had "significant anticipations" of anarchism.

Anarchic attitudes were also articulated by tragedians and philosophers in Greece. Aeschylus and Sophocles used the myth of Antigone to illustrate the conflict between laws imposed by the state and personal autonomy. Socrates questioned Athenian authorities constantly and insisted on the right of individual freedom of conscience. Cynics dismissed human law (nomos) and associated authorities while trying to live according to nature (physis). Stoics were supportive of a society based on unofficial and friendly relations among its citizens without the presence of a state.

In medieval Europe, there was no anarchistic activity except some ascetic religious movements. These, and other Muslim movements, later gave birth to religious anarchism. In the Sasanian Empire, Mazdak called for an egalitarian society and the abolition of monarchy, only to be soon executed by Emperor Kavad I.

In Basra, religious sects preached against the state. In Europe, various sects developed anti-state and libertarian tendencies. Renewed interest in antiquity during the Renaissance and in private judgment during the Reformation restored elements of anti-authoritarian secularism, particularly in France. Enlightenment challenges to intellectual authority (secular and religious) and the revolutions of the 1790s and 1848 all spurred the ideological development of what became the era of classical anarchism.

Modern era 
During the French Revolution, partisan groups such as the Enragés and the  saw a turning point in the fermentation of anti-state and federalist sentiments. The first anarchist currents developed throughout the 18th century as William Godwin espoused philosophical anarchism in England, morally delegitimising the state, Max Stirner's thinking paved the way to individualism and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's theory of mutualism found fertile soil in France. By the late 1870s, various anarchist schools of thought had become well-defined and a wave of then unprecedented globalisation occurred from 1880 to 1914. This era of classical anarchism lasted until the end of the Spanish Civil War and is considered the golden age of anarchism.

Drawing from mutualism, Mikhail Bakunin founded collectivist anarchism and entered the International Workingmen's Association, a class worker union later known as the First International that formed in 1864 to unite diverse revolutionary currents. The International became a significant political force, with Karl Marx being a leading figure and a member of its General Council. Bakunin's faction (the Jura Federation) and Proudhon's followers (the mutualists) opposed state socialism, advocating political abstentionism and small property holdings. After bitter disputes, the Bakuninists were expelled from the International by the Marxists at the 1872 Hague Congress. Anarchists were treated similarly in the Second International, being ultimately expelled in 1896. Bakunin famously predicted that if revolutionaries gained power by Marx's terms, they would end up the new tyrants of workers. In response to their expulsion from the First International, anarchists formed the St. Imier International. Under the influence of Peter Kropotkin, a Russian philosopher and scientist, anarcho-communism overlapped with collectivism. Anarcho-communists, who drew inspiration from the 1871 Paris Commune, advocated for free federation and for the distribution of goods according to one's needs.

By the turn of the 20th century, anarchism had spread all over the world. It was a notable feature of the international syndicalist movement. In China, small groups of students imported the humanistic pro-science version of anarcho-communism. Tokyo was a hotspot for rebellious youth from East Asian countries, who moved to the Japanese capital to study. In Latin America, Argentina was a stronghold for anarcho-syndicalism, where it became the most prominent left-wing ideology. During this time, a minority of anarchists adopted tactics of revolutionary political violence, known as propaganda of the deed. The dismemberment of the French socialist movement into many groups and the execution and exile of many Communards to penal colonies following the suppression of the Paris Commune favoured individualist political expression and acts. Even though many anarchists distanced themselves from these terrorist acts, infamy came upon the movement and attempts were made to prevent anarchists immigrating to the US, including the Immigration Act of 1903, also called the Anarchist Exclusion Act. Illegalism was another strategy which some anarchists adopted during this period.

Despite concerns, anarchists enthusiastically participated in the Russian Revolution in opposition to the White movement, especially in the Makhnovshchina; however, they met harsh suppression after the Bolshevik government had stabilised, including during the Kronstadt rebellion. Several anarchists from Petrograd and Moscow fled to Ukraine, before the Bolsheviks crushed the anarchist movement there too. With the anarchists being repressed in Russia, two new antithetical currents emerged, namely platformism and synthesis anarchism. The former sought to create a coherent group that would push for revolution while the latter were against anything that would resemble a political party. Seeing the victories of the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution and the resulting Russian Civil War, many workers and activists turned to communist parties which grew at the expense of anarchism and other socialist movements. In France and the United States, members of major syndicalist movements such as the General Confederation of Labour and the Industrial Workers of the World left their organisations and joined the Communist International.

In the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39, anarchists and syndicalists (CNT and FAI) once again allied themselves with various currents of leftists. A long tradition of Spanish anarchism led to anarchists playing a pivotal role in the war, and particularly in the Spanish Revolution of 1936. In response to the army rebellion, an anarchist-inspired movement of peasants and workers, supported by armed militias, took control of Barcelona and of large areas of rural Spain, where they collectivised the land. The Soviet Union provided some limited assistance at the beginning of the war, but the result was a bitter fight between communists and other leftists in a series of events known as the May Days, as Joseph Stalin asserted Soviet control of the Republican government, ending in another defeat of anarchists at the hands of the communists.

Post-WWII 

By the end of World War II, the anarchist movement had been severely weakened. The 1960s witnessed a revival of anarchism, likely caused by a perceived failure of Marxism–Leninism and tensions built by the Cold War. During this time, anarchism found a presence in other movements critical towards both capitalism and the state such as the anti-nuclear, environmental, and peace movements, the counterculture of the 1960s, and the New Left. It also saw a transition from its previous revolutionary nature to provocative anti-capitalist reformism. Anarchism became associated with punk subculture as exemplified by bands such as Crass and the Sex Pistols. The established feminist tendencies of anarcha-feminism returned with vigour during the second wave of feminism. Black anarchism began to take form at this time and influenced anarchism's move from a Eurocentric demographic. This coincided with its failure to gain traction in Northern Europe and its unprecedented height in Latin America.

Around the turn of the 21st century, anarchism grew in popularity and influence within anti-capitalist, anti-war and anti-globalisation movements. Anarchists became known for their involvement in protests against the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Group of Eight and the World Economic Forum. During the protests, ad hoc leaderless anonymous cadres known as black blocs engaged in rioting, property destruction and violent confrontations with the police. Other organisational tactics pioneered at this time include affinity groups, security culture and the use of decentralised technologies such as the Internet. A significant event of this period was the confrontations at the 1999 Seattle WTO conference. Anarchist ideas have been influential in the development of the Zapatistas in Mexico and the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, more commonly known as Rojava, a de facto autonomous region in northern Syria.

While having revolutionary aspirations, many forms of anarchism are not confrontational nowadays. Instead, they are trying to build an alternative way of social organization, based on mutual interdependence and voluntary cooperation. Scholar Carissa Honeywell takes the example of Food not Bombs group of collectives, to highlight some features of how anarchist groups work: direct action, working together and in solidarity with those left behind. While doing so, they inform about the rising rates of world hunger suggest a policy to tackle hunger, ranging from de-funding the arms industry to addressing Monsanto seed-saving policies and patents, helping farmers and commodification of food and housing. Honeywell also emphasizes that contemporary anarchists are interested in the flourishing not only of humans, but non-humans and the environment as well. Honeywell argues that escalation of problems such as continuous wars and world poverty show that the current framework not only cannot solve those pressing problems for humanity, but are causal factors as well, resulting in the rejection of representative democracy and the state as a whole.

Thought 
Anarchist schools of thought have been generally grouped into two main historical traditions, social anarchism and individualist anarchism, owing to their different origins, values and evolution. The individualist current emphasises negative liberty in opposing restraints upon the free individual, while the social current emphasises positive liberty in aiming to achieve the free potential of society through equality and social ownership. In a chronological sense, anarchism can be segmented by the classical currents of the late 19th century and the post-classical currents (anarcha-feminism, green anarchism, and post-anarchism) developed thereafter.

Beyond the specific factions of anarchist movements which constitute political anarchism lies philosophical anarchism which holds that the state lacks moral legitimacy, without necessarily accepting the imperative of revolution to eliminate it. A component especially of individualist anarchism, philosophical anarchism may tolerate the existence of a minimal state but claims that citizens have no moral obligation to obey government when it conflicts with individual autonomy. Anarchism pays significant attention to moral arguments since ethics have a central role in anarchist philosophy. Anarchism's emphasis on anti-capitalism, egalitarianism, and for the extension of community and individuality sets it apart from anarcho-capitalism and other types of economic libertarianism.

Anarchism is usually placed on the far-left of the political spectrum. Much of its economics and legal philosophy reflect anti-authoritarian, anti-statist, libertarian, and radical interpretations of left-wing and socialist politics such as collectivism, communism, individualism, mutualism, and syndicalism, among other libertarian socialist economic theories. As anarchism does not offer a fixed body of doctrine from a single particular worldview, many anarchist types and traditions exist and varieties of anarchy diverge widely. One reaction against sectarianism within the anarchist milieu was anarchism without adjectives, a call for toleration and unity among anarchists first adopted by Fernando Tarrida del Mármol in 1889 in response to the bitter debates of anarchist theory at the time. Belief in political nihilism has been espoused by anarchists. Despite separation, the various anarchist schools of thought are not seen as distinct entities but rather as tendencies that intermingle and are connected through a set of uniform principles such as individual and local autonomy, mutual aid, network organisation, communal democracy, justified authority and decentralisation.

Classical 

Inceptive currents among classical anarchist currents were mutualism and individualism. They were followed by the major currents of social anarchism (collectivist, communist and syndicalist). They differ on organisational and economic aspects of their ideal society.

Mutualism is an 18th-century economic theory that was developed into anarchist theory by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. Its aims include "abolishing the state", reciprocity, free association, voluntary contract, federation and monetary reform of both credit and currency that would be regulated by a bank of the people. Mutualism has been retrospectively characterised as ideologically situated between individualist and collectivist forms of anarchism. In What Is Property? (1840), Proudhon first characterised his goal as a "third form of society, the synthesis of communism and property." Collectivist anarchism is a revolutionary socialist form of anarchism commonly associated with Mikhail Bakunin. Collectivist anarchists advocate collective ownership of the means of production which is theorised to be achieved through violent revolution and that workers be paid according to time worked, rather than goods being distributed according to need as in communism. Collectivist anarchism arose alongside Marxism but rejected the dictatorship of the proletariat despite the stated Marxist goal of a collectivist stateless society.

Anarcho-communism is a theory of anarchism that advocates a communist society with common ownership of the means of production, held by a federal network of voluntary associations, with production and consumption based on the guiding principle "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Anarcho-communism developed from radical socialist currents after the French Revolution but was first formulated as such in the Italian section of the First International. It was later expanded upon in the theoretical work of Peter Kropotkin, whose specific style would go onto become the dominating view of anarchists by the late 19th century. Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism that views labour syndicates as a potential force for revolutionary social change, replacing capitalism and the state with a new society democratically self-managed by workers. The basic principles of anarcho-syndicalism are direct action, workers' solidarity and workers' self-management.

Individualist anarchism is a set of several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasise the individual and their will over any kinds of external determinants. Early influences on individualist forms of anarchism include William Godwin, Max Stirner, and Henry David Thoreau. Through many countries, individualist anarchism attracted a small yet diverse following of Bohemian artists and intellectuals as well as young anarchist outlaws in what became known as illegalism and individual reclamation.

Post-classical and contemporary 

Anarchist principles undergird contemporary radical social movements of the left. Interest in the anarchist movement developed alongside momentum in the anti-globalisation movement, whose leading activist networks were anarchist in orientation. As the movement shaped 21st century radicalism, wider embrace of anarchist principles signaled a revival of interest. Anarchism has continued to generate many philosophies and movements, at times eclectic, drawing upon various sources and combining disparate concepts to create new philosophical approaches. The anti-capitalist tradition of classical anarchism has remained prominent within contemporary currents.

Contemporary news coverage which emphasizes black bloc demonstrations has reinforced anarchism's historical association with chaos and violence. Its publicity has also led more scholars in fields such as anthropology and history to engage with the anarchist movement, although contemporary anarchism favours actions over academic theory. Various anarchist groups, tendencies, and schools of thought exist today, making it difficult to describe the contemporary anarchist movement. While theorists and activists have established "relatively stable constellations of anarchist principles", there is no consensus on which principles are core and commentators describe multiple anarchisms, rather than a singular anarchism, in which common principles are shared between schools of anarchism while each group prioritizes those principles differently. Gender equality can be a common principle, although it ranks as a higher priority to anarcha-feminists than anarcho-communists.

Anarchists are generally committed against coercive authority in all forms, namely "all centralized and hierarchical forms of government (e.g., monarchy, representative democracy, state socialism, etc.), economic class systems (e.g., capitalism, Bolshevism, feudalism, slavery, etc.), autocratic religions (e.g., fundamentalist Islam, Roman Catholicism, etc.), patriarchy, heterosexism, white supremacy, and imperialism." Anarchist schools disagree on the methods by which these forms should be opposed. The principle of equal liberty is closer to anarchist political ethics in that it transcends both the liberal and socialist traditions. This entails that liberty and equality cannot be implemented within the state, resulting in the questioning of all forms of domination and hierarchy.

Tactics 
Anarchists' tactics take various forms but in general serve two major goals, namely, to first oppose the Establishment and secondly to promote anarchist ethics and reflect an anarchist vision of society, illustrating the unity of means and ends. A broad categorisation can be made between aims to destroy oppressive states and institutions by revolutionary means on one hand and aims to change society through evolutionary means on the other. Evolutionary tactics embrace nonviolence, reject violence and take a gradual approach to anarchist aims, although there is significant overlap between the two.

Anarchist tactics have shifted during the course of the last century. Anarchists during the early 20th century focused more on strikes and militancy while contemporary anarchists use a broader array of approaches.

Classical era 

During the classical era, anarchists had a militant tendency. Not only did they confront state armed forces, as in Spain and Ukraine, but some of them also employed terrorism as propaganda of the deed. Assassination attempts were carried out against heads of state, some of which were successful. Anarchists also took part in revolutions. Many anarchists, especially the Galleanists, believed that these attempts would be the impetus for a revolution against capitalism and the state. Many of these attacks were done by individual assailants and the majority took place in the late 1870s, the early 1880s and the 1890s, with some still occurring in the early 1900s. Their decrease in prevalence was the result of further judicial power and targeting and cataloging by state institutions.

Anarchist perspectives towards violence have always been controversial. Anarcho-pacifists advocate for non-violence means to achieve their stateless, nonviolent ends. Other anarchist groups advocate direct action, a tactic which can include acts of sabotage or terrorism. This attitude was quite prominent a century ago when seeing the state as a tyrant and some anarchists believing that they had every right to oppose its oppression by any means possible. Emma Goldman and Errico Malatesta, who were proponents of limited use of violence, stated that violence is merely a reaction to state violence as a necessary evil.

Anarchists took an active role in strike actions, although they tended to be antipathetic to formal syndicalism, seeing it as reformist. They saw it as a part of the movement which sought to overthrow the state and capitalism. Anarchists also reinforced their propaganda within the arts, some of whom practiced naturism and nudism. Those anarchists also built communities which were based on friendship and were involved in the news media.

Revolutionary 

In the current era, Italian anarchist Alfredo Bonanno, a proponent of insurrectionary anarchism, has reinstated the debate on violence by rejecting the nonviolence tactic adopted since the late 19th century by Kropotkin and other prominent anarchists afterwards. Both Bonanno and the French group The Invisible Committee advocate for small, informal affiliation groups, where each member is responsible for their own actions but works together to bring down oppression utilizing sabotage and other violent means against state, capitalism, and other enemies. Members of The Invisible Committee were arrested in 2008 on various charges, terrorism included.

Overall, contemporary anarchists are much less violent and militant than their ideological ancestors. They mostly engage in confronting the police during demonstrations and riots, especially in countries such as Canada, Greece, and Mexico. Militant black bloc protest groups are known for clashing with the police; however, anarchists not only clash with state operators, they also engage in the struggle against fascists and racists, taking anti-fascist action and mobilizing to prevent hate rallies from happening.

Evolutionary 
Anarchists commonly employ direct action. This can take the form of disrupting and protesting against unjust hierarchy, or the form of self-managing their lives through the creation of counter-institutions such as communes and non-hierarchical collectives. Decision-making is often handled in an anti-authoritarian way, with everyone having equal say in each decision, an approach known as horizontalism. Contemporary-era anarchists have been engaging with various grassroots movements that are more or less based on horizontalism, although not explicitly anarchist, respecting personal autonomy and participating in mass activism such as strikes and demonstrations. In contrast with the big-A anarchism of the classical era, the newly coined term small-a anarchism signals their tendency not to base their thoughts and actions on classical-era anarchism or to refer to classical anarchists such as Peter Kropotkin and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon to justify their opinions. Those anarchists would rather base their thought and praxis on their own experience which they will later theorize.

The decision-making process of small anarchist affinity groups plays a significant tactical role. Anarchists have employed various methods in order to build a rough consensus among members of their group without the need of a leader or a leading group. One way is for an individual from the group to play the role of facilitator to help achieve a consensus without taking part in the discussion themselves or promoting a specific point. Minorities usually accept rough consensus, except when they feel the proposal contradicts anarchist ethics, goals and values. Anarchists usually form small groups (5–20 individuals) to enhance autonomy and friendships among their members. These kinds of groups more often than not interconnect with each other, forming larger networks. Anarchists still support and participate in strikes, especially wildcat strikes as these are leaderless strikes not organised centrally by a syndicate.

As in the past, newspapers and journals are used, and anarchists have gone online in the World Wide Web to spread their message. Anarchists have found it easier to create websites because of distributional and other difficulties, hosting electronic libraries and other portals. Anarchists were also involved in developing various software that are available for free. The way these hacktivists work to develop and distribute resembles the anarchist ideals, especially when it comes to preserving users' privacy from state surveillance.

Anarchists organize themselves to squat and reclaim public spaces. During important events such as protests and when spaces are being occupied, they are often called Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ), spaces where art, poetry, and surrealism are blended to display the anarchist ideal. As seen by anarchists, squatting is a way to regain urban space from the capitalist market, serving pragmatical needs and also being an exemplary direct action. Acquiring space enables anarchists to experiment with their ideas and build social bonds. Adding up these tactics while having in mind that not all anarchists share the same attitudes towards them, along with various forms of protesting at highly symbolic events, make up a carnivalesque atmosphere that is part of contemporary anarchist vividity.

Key issues 

As anarchism is a philosophy that embodies many diverse attitudes, tendencies, and schools of thought; disagreement over questions of values, ideology, and tactics is common. Its diversity has led to widely different uses of identical terms among different anarchist traditions which has created a number of definitional concerns in anarchist theory. The compatibility of capitalism, nationalism, and religion with anarchism is widely disputed, and anarchism enjoys complex relationships with ideologies such as communism, collectivism, Marxism, and trade unionism. Anarchists may be motivated by humanism, divine authority, enlightened self-interest, veganism, or any number of alternative ethical doctrines. Phenomena such as civilisation, technology (e.g. within anarcho-primitivism), and the democratic process may be sharply criticised within some anarchist tendencies and simultaneously lauded in others.

The state 

Objection to the state and its institutions is a sine qua non of anarchism. Anarchists consider the state as a tool of domination and believe it to be illegitimate regardless of its political tendencies. Instead of people being able to control the aspects of their life, major decisions are taken by a small elite. Authority ultimately rests solely on power, regardless of whether that power is open or transparent, as it still has the ability to coerce people. Another anarchist argument against states is that the people constituting a government, even the most altruistic among officials, will unavoidably seek to gain more power, leading to corruption. Anarchists consider the idea that the state is the collective will of the people to be an unachievable fiction due to the fact that the ruling class is distinct from the rest of society.

Specific anarchist attitudes towards the state vary. Robert Paul Wolff believed that the tension between authority and autonomy would mean the state could never be legitimate. Bakunin saw the state as meaning "coercion, domination by means of coercion, camouflaged if possible but unceremonious and overt if need be." A. John Simmons and Leslie Green, who leaned toward philosophical anarchism, believed that the state could be legitimate if it is governed by consensus, although they saw this as highly unlikely. Beliefs on how to abolish the state also differ.

Gender, sexuality, and free love 

As gender and sexuality carry along them dynamics of hierarchy, many anarchists address, analyse, and oppose the suppression of one's autonomy imposed by gender roles.

Sexuality was not often discussed by classical anarchists but the few that did felt that an anarchist society would lead to sexuality naturally developing. Sexual violence was a concern for anarchists such as Benjamin Tucker, who opposed age of consent laws, believing they would benefit predatory men. A historical current that arose and flourished during 1890 and 1920 within anarchism was free love. In contemporary anarchism, this current survives as a tendency to support polyamory, relationship anarchy, and queer anarchism. Free love advocates were against marriage, which they saw as a way of men imposing authority over women, largely because marriage law greatly favoured the power of men. The notion of free love was much broader and included a critique of the established order that limited women's sexual freedom and pleasure. Those free love movements contributed to the establishment of communal houses, where large groups of travelers, anarchists and other activists slept in beds together. Free love had roots both in Europe and the United States; however, some anarchists struggled with the jealousy that arose from free love. Anarchist feminists were advocates of free love, against marriage, and pro-choice (utilising a contemporary term), and had a similar agenda. Anarchist and non-anarchist feminists differed on suffrage but were supportive of one another.

During the second half of the 20th century, anarchism intermingled with the second wave of feminism, radicalising some currents of the feminist movement and being influenced as well. By the latest decades of the 20th century, anarchists and feminists were advocating for the rights and autonomy of women, gays, queers and other marginalised groups, with some feminist thinkers suggesting a fusion of the two currents. With the third wave of feminism, sexual identity and compulsory heterosexuality became a subject of study for anarchists, yielding a post-structuralist critique of sexual normality. Some anarchists distanced themselves from this line of thinking, suggesting that it leaned towards an individualism that was dropping the cause of social liberation.

Education 

The interest of anarchists in education stretches back to the first emergence of classical anarchism. Anarchists consider proper education, one which sets the foundations of the future autonomy of the individual and the society, to be an act of mutual aid. Anarchist writers such as William Godwin (Political Justice) and Max Stirner ("The False Principle of Our Education") attacked both state education and private education as another means by which the ruling class replicate their privileges.

In 1901, Catalan anarchist and free thinker Francisco Ferrer established the Escuela Moderna in Barcelona as an opposition to the established education system which was dictated largely by the Catholic Church. Ferrer's approach was secular, rejecting both state and church involvement in the educational process whilst giving pupils large amounts of autonomy in planning their work and attendance. Ferrer aimed to educate the working class and explicitly sought to foster class consciousness among students. The school closed after constant harassment by the state and Ferrer was later arrested. Nonetheless, his ideas formed the inspiration for a series of modern schools around the world. Christian anarchist Leo Tolstoy, who published the essay Education and Culture, also established a similar school with its founding principle being that "for education to be effective it had to be free." In a similar token, A. S. Neill founded what became the Summerhill School in 1921, also declaring being free from coercion.

Anarchist education is based largely on the idea that a child's right to develop freely and without manipulation ought to be respected and that rationality would lead children to morally good conclusions; however, there has been little consensus among anarchist figures as to what constitutes manipulation. Ferrer believed that moral indoctrination was necessary and explicitly taught pupils that equality, liberty and social justice were not possible under capitalism, along with other critiques of government and nationalism.

Late 20th century and contemporary anarchist writers (Paul Goodman, Herbert Read, and Colin Ward) intensified and expanded the anarchist critique of state education, largely focusing on the need for a system that focuses on children's creativity rather than on their ability to attain a career or participate in consumerism as part of a consumer society. Contemporary anarchists such as Ward claim that state education serves to perpetuate socioeconomic inequality.

While few anarchist education institutions have survived to the modern-day, major tenets of anarchist schools, among them respect for child autonomy and relying on reasoning rather than indoctrination as a teaching method, have spread among mainstream educational institutions. Judith Suissa names three schools as explicitly anarchists' schools, namely the Free Skool Santa Cruz in the United States which is part of a wider American-Canadian network of schools, the Self-Managed Learning College in Brighton, England, and the Paideia School in Spain.

The arts 

The connection between anarchism and art was quite profound during the classical era of anarchism, especially among artistic currents that were developing during that era such as futurists, surrealists and others. In literature, anarchism was mostly associated with the New Apocalyptics and the neo-romanticism movement. In music, anarchism has been associated with music scenes such as punk. Anarchists such as Leo Tolstoy and Herbert Read stated that the border between the artist and the non-artist, what separates art from a daily act, is a construct produced by the alienation caused by capitalism and it prevents humans from living a joyful life.

Other anarchists advocated for or used art as a means to achieve anarchist ends. In his book Breaking the Spell: A History of Anarchist Filmmakers, Videotape Guerrillas, and Digital Ninjas, Chris Robé claims that "anarchist-inflected practices have increasingly structured movement-based video activism." Throughout the 20th century, many prominent anarchists (Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Gustav Landauer and Camillo Berneri) and publications such as Anarchy wrote about matters pertaining to the arts.

Three overlapping properties made art useful to anarchists. It could depict a critique of existing society and hierarchies, serve as a prefigurative tool to reflect the anarchist ideal society and even turn into a means of direct action such as in protests. As it appeals to both emotion and reason, art could appeal to the whole human and have a powerful effect. The 19th-century neo-impressionist movement had an ecological aesthetic and offered an example of an anarchist perception of the road towards socialism. In Les chataigniers a Osny by anarchist painter Camille Pissarro, the blending of aesthetic and social harmony is prefiguring an ideal anarchistic agrarian community.

Criticism 
The most common critique of anarchism is the assertion that humans cannot self-govern and so a state is necessary for human survival. Philosopher Bertrand Russell supported this critique, stating that "[p]eace and war, tariffs, regulations of sanitary conditions and the sale of noxious drugs, the preservation of a just system of distribution: these, among others, are functions which could hardly be performed in a community in which there was no central government." Another common criticism of anarchism is that it fits a world of isolation in which only the small enough entities can be self-governing; a response would be that major anarchist thinkers advocated anarchist federalism.

Another criticism of anarchism is the belief that it is inherently unstable: that an anarchist society would inevitably evolve back into a state. Thomas Hobbes and other early social contract theorists argued that the state emerges in response to natural anarchy in order to protect the people's interests and keep order. Philosopher Robert Nozick argued that a "night-watchman state", or minarchy, would emerge from anarchy through the process of an invisible hand, in which people would exercise their liberty and buy protection from protection agencies, evolving into a minimal state. Anarchists reject these criticisms by arguing that humans in a state of nature would not just be in a state of war. Anarcho-primitivists in particular argue that humans were better off in a state of nature in small tribes living close to the land, while anarchists in general argue that the negatives of state organization, such as hierarchies, monopolies and inequality, outweigh the benefits.

Philosophy lecturer Andrew G. Fiala composed a list of common arguments against anarchism which includes critiques such as that anarchism is innately related to violence and destruction, not only in the pragmatic world, such as at protests, but in the world of ethics as well. Secondly, anarchism is evaluated as unfeasible or utopian since the state cannot be defeated practically. This line of arguments most often calls for political action within the system to reform it. The third argument is that anarchism is self-contradictory as a ruling theory that has no ruling theory. Anarchism also calls for collective action whilst endorsing the autonomy of the individual, hence no collective action can be taken. Lastly, Fiala mentions a critique towards philosophical anarchism of being ineffective (all talk and thoughts) and in the meantime capitalism and bourgeois class remains strong.

Philosophical anarchism has met the criticism of members of academia following the release of pro-anarchist books such as A. John Simmons' Moral Principles and Political Obligations. Law professor William A. Edmundson authored an essay to argue against three major philosophical anarchist principles which he finds fallacious. Edmundson says that while the individual does not owe the state a duty of obedience, this does not imply that anarchism is the inevitable conclusion and the state is still morally legitimate. In The Problem of Political Authority, Michael Huemer defends philosophical anarchism, claiming that "political authority is a moral illusion."

One of the earliest criticisms is that anarchism defies and fails to understand the biological inclination to authority. Joseph Raz states that the acceptance of authority implies the belief that following their instructions will afford more success. Raz believes that this argument is true in following both authorities' successful and mistaken instruction. Anarchists reject this criticism because challenging or disobeying authority does not entail the disappearance of its advantages by acknowledging authority such as doctors or lawyers as reliable, nor does it involve a complete surrender of independent judgment. Anarchist perception of human nature, rejection of the state, and commitment to social revolution has been criticised by academics as naive, overly simplistic, and unrealistic, respectively. Classical anarchism has been criticised for relying too heavily on the belief that the abolition of the state will lead to human cooperation prospering.

Friedrich Engels, considered to be one of the principal founders of Marxism, criticised anarchism's anti-authoritarianism as inherently counter-revolutionary because in his view a revolution is by itself authoritarian. Academic John Molyneux writes in his book Anarchism: A Marxist Criticism that "anarchism cannot win", believing that it lacks the ability to properly implement its ideas. The Marxist criticism of anarchism is that it has a utopian character because all individuals should have anarchist views and values. According to the Marxist view, that a social idea would follow directly from this human ideal and out of the free will of every individual formed its essence. Marxists state that this contradiction was responsible for their inability to act. In the anarchist vision, the conflict between liberty and equality was resolved through coexistence and intertwining.

See also 

 Anarchism by country
 Governance without government
 List of anarchist political ideologies
 List of books about anarchism

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Tertiary sources

Further reading 
 
  
  Criticism of philosophical anarchism.
 
  A defence of philosophical anarchism, stating that "both kinds of 'anarchism' [i.e. philosophical and political anarchism] are philosophical and political claims." (p. 137)
  Anarchistic popular fiction novel.
 
 
 
  An argument for philosophical anarchism.

External links 

 
 Anarchy Archives – an online research center on the history and theory of anarchism.

 
Anti-capitalism
Anti-fascism
Economic ideologies
Far-left politics
Left-wing politics
Libertarian socialism
Libertarianism
Political culture
Political ideologies
Political movements
Social theories
Socialism

Albedo (; ) is the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation).

Surface albedo is defined as the ratio of radiosity Je to the irradiance Ee (flux per unit area) received by a surface. The proportion reflected is not only determined by properties of the surface itself, but also by the spectral and angular distribution of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. These factors vary with atmospheric composition, geographic location, and time (see position of the Sun). While bi-hemispherical reflectance is calculated for a single angle of incidence (i.e., for a given position of the Sun), albedo is the directional integration of reflectance over all solar angles in a given period. The temporal resolution may range from seconds (as obtained from flux measurements) to daily, monthly, or annual averages.

Unless given for a specific wavelength (spectral albedo), albedo refers to the entire spectrum of solar radiation. Due to measurement constraints, it is often given for the spectrum in which most solar energy reaches the surface (between 0.3 and 3 μm). This spectrum includes visible light (0.4–0.7 μm), which explains why surfaces with a low albedo appear dark (e.g., trees absorb most radiation), whereas surfaces with a high albedo appear bright (e.g., snow reflects most radiation).

Ice–albedo feedback is a positive feedback climate process where a change in the area of ice caps, glaciers, and sea ice alters the albedo and surface temperature of a planet. Ice is very reflective, therefore it reflects far more solar energy back to space than the other types of land area or open water. Ice–albedo feedback plays an important role in global climate change.

Albedo is an important concept in climatology, astronomy, and environmental management. The average albedo of the Earth from the upper atmosphere, its planetary albedo, is 30–35% because of cloud cover, but widely varies locally across the surface because of different geological and environmental features.

Terrestrial albedo

Any albedo in visible light falls within a range of about 0.9 for fresh snow to about 0.04 for charcoal, one of the darkest substances. Deeply shadowed cavities can achieve an effective albedo approaching the zero of a black body. When seen from a distance, the ocean surface has a low albedo, as do most forests, whereas desert areas have some of the highest albedos among landforms. Most land areas are in an albedo range of 0.1 to 0.4. The average albedo of Earth is about 0.3. This is far higher than for the ocean primarily because of the contribution of clouds.

Earth's surface albedo is regularly estimated via Earth observation satellite sensors such as NASA's MODIS instruments on board the Terra and Aqua satellites, and the CERES instrument on the Suomi NPP and JPSS. As the amount of reflected radiation is only measured for a single direction by satellite, not all directions, a mathematical model is used to translate a sample set of satellite reflectance measurements into estimates of directional-hemispherical reflectance and bi-hemispherical reflectance (e.g.,). These calculations are based on the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), which describes how the reflectance of a given surface depends on the view angle of the observer and the solar angle. BDRF can facilitate translations of observations of reflectance into albedo.

Earth's average surface temperature due to its albedo and the greenhouse effect is currently about . If Earth were frozen entirely (and hence be more reflective), the average temperature of the planet would drop below . If only the continental land masses became covered by glaciers, the mean temperature of the planet would drop to about . In contrast, if the entire Earth was covered by water – a so-called ocean planet – the average temperature on the planet would rise to almost .

In 2021, scientists reported that Earth dimmed by ~0.5% over two decades (1998–2017) as measured by earthshine using modern photometric techniques. This may have both been co-caused by climate change as well as a substantial increase in global warming. However, the link to climate change has not been explored to date and it is unclear whether or not this represents an ongoing trend.

White-sky, black-sky, and blue-sky albedo
For land surfaces, it has been shown that the albedo at a particular solar zenith angle θi can be approximated by the proportionate sum of two terms:
 the directional-hemispherical reflectance at that solar zenith angle, , sometimes referred to as black-sky albedo, and
 the bi-hemispherical reflectance, , sometimes referred to as white-sky albedo.
with  being the proportion of direct radiation from a given solar angle, and  being the proportion of diffuse illumination, the actual albedo  (also called blue-sky albedo) can then be given as:

This formula is important because it allows the albedo to be calculated for any given illumination conditions from a knowledge of the intrinsic properties of the surface.

Human activities

Human activities (e.g., deforestation, farming, and urbanization) change the albedo of various areas around the globe. As per Campra et al., human impacts to "the physical properties of the land surface can perturb the climate by altering the Earth’s radiative energy balance" even on a small scale or when undetected by satellites.

The tens of thousands of hectares of greenhouses in Almería, Spain form a large expanse of whitened plastic roofs. A 2008 study found that this anthropogenic change lowered the local surface area temperature of the high-albedo area, although changes were localized. A follow-up study found that "CO2-eq. emissions associated to changes in surface albedo are a consequence of land transformation" and can reduce surface temperature increases associated with climate change.

It has been found that urbanization generally decreases albedo (commonly being 0.01–0.02 lower than adjacent croplands), which contributes to global warming. Deliberately increasing albedo in urban areas can mitigate urban heat island. Ouyang et al. estimated that, on a global scale, "an albedo increase of 0.1 in worldwide urban areas would result in a cooling effect that is equivalent to absorbing ~44 Gt of CO2 emissions."

Intentionally enhancing the albedo of the Earth's surface, along with its daytime thermal emittance, has been proposed as a solar radiation management strategy to mitigate energy crises and global warming known as passive daytime radiative cooling (PDRC). Efforts toward widespread implementation of PDRCs may focus on maximizing the albedo of surfaces from very low to high values, so long as a thermal emittance of at least 90% can be achieved.

Examples of terrestrial albedo effects

Illumination 
Albedo is not directly dependent on illumination because changing the amount of incoming light proportionally changes the amount of reflected light, except in circumstances where a change in illumination induces a change in the Earth's surface at that location (e.g. through melting of reflective ice). That said, albedo and illumination both vary by latitude. Albedo is highest near the poles and lowest in the subtropics, with a local maximum in the tropics.

Insolation effects
The intensity of albedo temperature effects depends on the amount of albedo and the level of local insolation (solar irradiance); high albedo areas in the Arctic and Antarctic regions are cold due to low insolation, whereas areas such as the Sahara Desert, which also have a relatively high albedo, will be hotter due to high insolation. Tropical and sub-tropical rainforest areas have low albedo, and are much hotter than their temperate forest counterparts, which have lower insolation. Because insolation plays such a big role in the heating and cooling effects of albedo, high insolation areas like the tropics will tend to show a more pronounced fluctuation in local temperature when local albedo changes.

Arctic regions notably release more heat back into space than what they absorb, effectively cooling the Earth. This has been a concern since arctic ice and snow has been melting at higher rates due to higher temperatures, creating regions in the arctic that are notably darker (being water or ground which is darker color) and reflects less heat back into space. This feedback loop results in a reduced albedo effect.

Climate and weather

Albedo affects climate by determining how much radiation a planet absorbs. The uneven heating of Earth from albedo variations between land, ice, or ocean surfaces can drive weather.

The response of the climate system to an initial forcing is modified by feedbacks: increased by "self-reinforcing" or "positive" feedbacks and reduced by "balancing" or "negative" feedbacks. The main reinforcing feedbacks are the water-vapour feedback, the ice–albedo feedback, and the net effect of clouds.

Albedo–temperature feedback

When an area's albedo changes due to snowfall, a snow–temperature feedback results. A layer of snowfall increases local albedo, reflecting away sunlight, leading to local cooling. In principle, if no outside temperature change affects this area (e.g., a warm air mass), the raised albedo and lower temperature would maintain the current snow and invite further snowfall, deepening the snow–temperature feedback. However, because local weather is dynamic due to the change of seasons, eventually warm air masses and a more direct angle of sunlight (higher insolation) cause melting. When the melted area reveals surfaces with lower albedo, such as grass, soil, or ocean, the effect is reversed: the darkening surface lowers albedo, increasing local temperatures, which induces more melting and thus reducing the albedo further, resulting in still more heating.

Snow
Snow albedo is highly variable, ranging from as high as 0.9 for freshly fallen snow, to about 0.4 for melting snow, and as low as 0.2 for dirty snow. Over Antarctica snow albedo averages a little more than 0.8. If a marginally snow-covered area warms, snow tends to melt, lowering the albedo, and hence leading to more snowmelt because more radiation is being absorbed by the snowpack (the ice–albedo positive feedback).

Just as fresh snow has a higher albedo than does dirty snow, the albedo of snow-covered sea ice is far higher than that of sea water. Sea water absorbs more solar radiation than would the same surface covered with reflective snow. When sea ice melts, either due to a rise in sea temperature or in response to increased solar radiation from above, the snow-covered surface is reduced, and more surface of sea water is exposed, so the rate of energy absorption increases. The extra absorbed energy heats the sea water, which in turn increases the rate at which sea ice melts. As with the preceding example of snowmelt, the process of melting of sea ice is thus another example of a positive feedback. Both positive feedback loops have long been recognized as important for global warming.

Cryoconite, powdery windblown dust containing soot, sometimes reduces albedo on glaciers and ice sheets.

The dynamical nature of albedo in response to positive feedback, together with the effects of small errors in the measurement of albedo, can lead to large errors in energy estimates. Because of this, in order to reduce the error of energy estimates, it is important to measure the albedo of snow-covered areas through remote sensing techniques rather than applying a single value for albedo over broad regions.

Small-scale effects
Albedo works on a smaller scale, too. In sunlight, dark clothes absorb more heat and light-coloured clothes reflect it better, thus allowing some control over body temperature by exploiting the albedo effect of the colour of external clothing.

Solar photovoltaic effects 
Albedo can affect the electrical energy output of solar photovoltaic devices. For example, the effects of a spectrally responsive albedo are illustrated by the differences between the spectrally weighted albedo of solar photovoltaic technology based on hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) and crystalline silicon (c-Si)-based compared to traditional spectral-integrated albedo predictions. Research showed impacts of over 10% for vertically (90°) mounted systems, but such effects were substantially lower for systems with lower surface tilts. Spectral albedo strongly affects the performance of bifacial solar cells where rear surface performance gains of over 20% have been observed for c-Si cells installed above healthy vegetation. An analysis on the bias due to the specular reflectivity of 22 commonly occurring surface materials (both human-made and natural) provided effective albedo values for simulating the performance of seven photovoltaic materials mounted on three common photovoltaic system topologies: industrial (solar farms), commercial flat rooftops and residential pitched-roof applications.

Trees

Forests generally have a low albedo because the majority of the ultraviolet and visible spectrum is absorbed through photosynthesis. For this reason, the greater heat absorption by trees could offset some of the carbon benefits of afforestation (or offset the negative climate impacts of deforestation). In other words: The climate change mitigation effect of carbon sequestration by forests is partially counterbalanced in that reforestation can decrease the reflection of sunlight (albedo).

In the case of evergreen forests with seasonal snow cover albedo reduction may be great enough for deforestation to cause a net cooling effect. Trees also impact climate in extremely complicated ways through evapotranspiration. The water vapor causes cooling on the land surface, causes heating where it condenses, acts a strong greenhouse gas, and can increase albedo when it condenses into clouds. Scientists generally treat evapotranspiration as a net cooling impact, and the net climate impact of albedo and evapotranspiration changes from deforestation depends greatly on local climate.

Mid-to-high-latitude forests have a much lower albedo during snow seasons than flat ground, thus contributing to warming. Modeling that compares the effects of albedo differences between forests and grasslands suggests that expanding the land area of forests in temperate zones offers only a temporary mitigation benefit.

In seasonally snow-covered zones, winter albedos of treeless areas are 10% to 50% higher than nearby forested areas because snow does not cover the trees as readily. Deciduous trees have an albedo value of about 0.15 to 0.18 whereas coniferous trees have a value of about 0.09 to 0.15. Variation in summer albedo across both forest types is associated with maximum rates of photosynthesis because plants with high growth capacity display a greater fraction of their foliage for direct interception of incoming radiation in the upper canopy. The result is that wavelengths of light not used in photosynthesis are more likely to be reflected back to space rather than being absorbed by other surfaces lower in the canopy.

Studies by the Hadley Centre have investigated the relative (generally warming) effect of albedo change and (cooling) effect of carbon sequestration on planting forests. They found that new forests in tropical and midlatitude areas tended to cool; new forests in high latitudes (e.g., Siberia) were neutral or perhaps warming.

Water

Water reflects light very differently from typical terrestrial materials. The reflectivity of a water surface is calculated using the Fresnel equations.

At the scale of the wavelength of light even wavy water is always smooth so the light is reflected in a locally specular manner (not diffusely). The glint of light off water is a commonplace effect of this. At small angles of incident light, waviness results in reduced reflectivity because of the steepness of the reflectivity-vs.-incident-angle curve and a locally increased average incident angle.

Although the reflectivity of water is very low at low and medium angles of incident light, it becomes very high at high angles of incident light such as those that occur on the illuminated side of Earth near the terminator (early morning, late afternoon, and near the poles). However, as mentioned above, waviness causes an appreciable reduction. Because light specularly reflected from water does not usually reach the viewer, water is usually considered to have a very low albedo in spite of its high reflectivity at high angles of incident light.

Note that white caps on waves look white (and have high albedo) because the water is foamed up, so there are many superimposed bubble surfaces which reflect, adding up their reflectivities. Fresh 'black' ice exhibits Fresnel reflection.
Snow on top of this sea ice increases the albedo to 0.9.

Clouds
Cloud albedo has substantial influence over atmospheric temperatures. Different types of clouds exhibit different reflectivity, theoretically ranging in albedo from a minimum of near 0 to a maximum approaching 0.8. "On any given day, about half of Earth is covered by clouds, which reflect more sunlight than land and water. Clouds keep Earth cool by reflecting sunlight, but they can also serve as blankets to trap warmth."

Albedo and climate in some areas are affected by artificial clouds, such as those created by the contrails of heavy commercial airliner traffic. A study following the burning of the Kuwaiti oil fields during Iraqi occupation showed that temperatures under the burning oil fires were as much as  colder than temperatures several miles away under clear skies.

Aerosol effects
Aerosols (very fine particles/droplets in the atmosphere) have both direct and indirect effects on Earth's radiative balance. The direct (albedo) effect is generally to cool the planet; the indirect effect (the particles act as cloud condensation nuclei and thereby change cloud properties) is less certain. As per Spracklen et al. the effects are:
 Aerosol direct effect. Aerosols directly scatter and absorb radiation. The scattering of radiation causes atmospheric cooling, whereas absorption can cause atmospheric warming.
 Aerosol indirect effect. Aerosols modify the properties of clouds through a subset of the aerosol population called cloud condensation nuclei. Increased nuclei concentrations lead to increased cloud droplet number concentrations, which in turn leads to increased cloud albedo, increased light scattering and radiative cooling (first indirect effect), but also leads to reduced precipitation efficiency and increased lifetime of the cloud (second indirect effect).

In extremely polluted cities like Delhi, aerosol pollutants influence local weather and induce an urban cool island effect during the day.

Black carbon
Another albedo-related effect on the climate is from black carbon particles. The size of this effect is difficult to quantify: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that the global mean radiative forcing for black carbon aerosols from fossil fuels is +0.2 W m−2, with a range +0.1 to +0.4 W m−2. Black carbon is a bigger cause of the melting of the polar ice cap in the Arctic than carbon dioxide due to its effect on the albedo.

Astronomical albedo 
In astronomy, the term albedo can be defined in several different ways, depending upon the application and the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation involved.

Optical or visual albedo
The albedos of planets, satellites and minor planets such as asteroids can be used to infer much about their properties. The study of albedos, their dependence on wavelength, lighting angle ("phase angle"), and variation in time composes a major part of the astronomical field of photometry. For small and far objects that cannot be resolved by telescopes, much of what we know comes from the study of their albedos. For example, the absolute albedo can indicate the surface ice content of outer Solar System objects, the variation of albedo with phase angle gives information about regolith properties, whereas unusually high radar albedo is indicative of high metal content in asteroids.

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, has one of the highest known optical albedos of any body in the Solar System, with an albedo of 0.99. Another notable high-albedo body is Eris, with an albedo of 0.96. Many small objects in the outer Solar System and asteroid belt have low albedos down to about 0.05. A typical comet nucleus has an albedo of 0.04. Such a dark surface is thought to be indicative of a primitive and heavily space weathered surface containing some organic compounds.

The overall albedo of the Moon is measured to be around 0.14, but it is strongly directional and non-Lambertian, displaying also a strong opposition effect. Although such reflectance properties are different from those of any terrestrial terrains, they are typical of the regolith surfaces of airless Solar System bodies.

Two common optical albedos that are used in astronomy are the (V-band) geometric albedo (measuring brightness when illumination comes from directly behind the observer) and the Bond albedo (measuring total proportion of electromagnetic energy reflected). Their values can differ significantly, which is a common source of confusion.

In detailed studies, the directional reflectance properties of astronomical bodies are often expressed in terms of the five Hapke parameters which semi-empirically describe the variation of albedo with phase angle, including a characterization of the opposition effect of regolith surfaces. One of these five parameters is yet another type of albedo called the single-scattering albedo. It is used to define scattering of electromagnetic waves on small particles. It depends on properties of the material (refractive index), the size of the particle, and the wavelength of the incoming radiation.

An important relationship between an object's astronomical (geometric) albedo, absolute magnitude and diameter is given by:

where  is the astronomical albedo,  is the diameter in kilometers, and  is the absolute magnitude.

Radar albedo
In planetary radar astronomy, a microwave (or radar) pulse is transmitted toward a planetary target (e.g. Moon, asteroid, etc.) and the echo from the target is measured. In most instances, the transmitted pulse is circularly polarized and the received pulse is measured in the same sense of polarization as the transmitted pulse (SC) and the opposite sense (OC). The echo power is measured in terms of radar cross-section, , , or  (total power, SC + OC) and is equal to the cross-sectional area of a metallic sphere (perfect reflector) at the same distance as the target that would return the same echo power.

Those components of the received echo that return from first-surface reflections (as from a smooth or mirror-like surface) are dominated by the OC component as there is a reversal in polarization upon reflection. If the surface is rough at the wavelength scale or there is significant penetration into the regolith, there will be a significant SC component in the echo caused by multiple scattering.

For most objects in the solar system, the OC echo dominates and the most commonly reported radar albedo parameter is the (normalized) OC radar albedo (often shortened to radar albedo):

where the denominator is the effective cross-sectional area of the target object with mean radius, . A smooth metallic sphere would have .

Radar albedos of Solar System objects

The values reported for the Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, and Comet P/2005 JQ5 are derived from the total (OC+SC) radar albedo reported in those references.

Relationship to surface bulk density
In the event that most of the echo is from first surface reflections ( or so), the OC radar albedo is a first-order approximation of the Fresnel reflection coefficient (aka reflectivity) and can be used to estimate the bulk density of a planetary surface to a depth of a meter or so (a few wavelengths of the radar wavelength which is typically at the decimeter scale) using the following empirical relationships:

.

History 
The term albedo was introduced into optics by Johann Heinrich Lambert in his 1760 work Photometria.

See also

 Cool roof
 Daisyworld
 Emissivity
 Exitance
 Global dimming
 Ice–albedo feedback
 Irradiance
 Kirchhoff's law of thermal radiation
 Opposition surge
 Polar see-saw
 Radar astronomy
 Solar radiation management

References

External links

 Albedo Project 
 Albedo – Encyclopedia of Earth
 NASA MODIS BRDF/albedo product site
 Ocean surface albedo look-up-table
 Surface albedo derived from Meteosat observations
 A discussion of Lunar albedos
 reflectivity of metals (chart) 

Land surface effects on climate
Climate change feedbacks
Climate forcing
Climatology
Electromagnetic radiation
Meteorological quantities
Radiometry
Scattering, absorption and radiative transfer (optics)
Radiation
1760s neologisms

A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is a (pronounced ), plural aes. It is similar in shape to the Ancient Greek letter Alpha, from which it derives. The uppercase version consists of the two slanting sides of a triangle, crossed in the middle by a horizontal bar. The lowercase version can be written in two forms: the double-storey a and single-storey ɑ. The latter is commonly used in handwriting and fonts based on it, especially fonts intended to be read by children, and is also found in italic type.

In English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", are indefinite articles.

History 

The earliest known certain ancestor of "A" is aleph (also written 'aleph), the first letter of the Phoenician alphabet, which consisted entirely of consonants (for that reason, it is also called an abjad to distinguish it from a true alphabet). In turn, the ancestor of aleph may have been a pictogram of an ox head in proto-Sinaitic script influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs, styled as a triangular head with two horns extended.

When the ancient Greeks adopted the alphabet, they had no use for a letter to represent the glottal stop—the consonant sound that the letter denoted in Phoenician and other Semitic languages, and that was the first phoneme of the Phoenician pronunciation of the letter—so they used their version of the sign to represent the vowel , and called it by the similar name of alpha. In the earliest Greek inscriptions after the Greek Dark Ages, dating to the eighth century BC, the letter rests upon its side, but in the Greek alphabet of later times it generally resembles the modern capital letter, although many local varieties can be distinguished by the shortening of one leg, or by the angle at which the cross line is set.

The Etruscans brought the Greek alphabet to their civilization in the Italian Peninsula and left the letter unchanged. The Romans later adopted the Etruscan alphabet to write the Latin language, and the resulting letter was preserved in the Latin alphabet that would come to be used to write many languages, including English.

Typographic variants 

During Roman times, there were many variant forms of the letter "A". First was the monumental or lapidary style, which was used when inscribing on stone or other "permanent" media. There was also a cursive style used for everyday or utilitarian writing, which was done on more perishable surfaces. Due to the "perishable" nature of these surfaces, there are not as many examples of this style as there are of the monumental, but there are still many surviving examples of different types of cursive, such as majuscule cursive, minuscule cursive, and semicursive minuscule. Variants also existed that were intermediate between the monumental and cursive styles. The known variants include the early semi-uncial, the uncial, and the later semi-uncial.

At the end of the Roman Empire (5th century AD), several variants of the cursive minuscule developed through Western Europe. Among these were the semicursive minuscule of Italy, the Merovingian script in France, the Visigothic script in Spain, and the Insular or Anglo-Irish semi-uncial or Anglo-Saxon majuscule of Great Britain. By the ninth century, the Caroline script, which was very similar to the present-day form, was the principal form used in book-making, before the advent of the printing press. This form was derived through a combining of prior forms.

15th-century Italy saw the formation of the two main variants that are known today. These variants, the Italic and Roman forms, were derived from the Caroline Script version. The Italic form, also called script a, is used in most current handwriting; it consists of a circle and vertical stroke on the right ("ɑ"). This slowly developed from the fifth-century form resembling the Greek letter tau in the hands of medieval Irish and English writers. The Roman form is used in most printed material; it consists of a small loop with an arc over it ("a"). Both derive from the majuscule (capital) form. In Greek handwriting, it was common to join the left leg and horizontal stroke into a single loop, as demonstrated by the uncial version shown. Many fonts then made the right leg vertical. In some of these, the serif that began the right leg stroke developed into an arc, resulting in the printed form, while in others it was dropped, resulting in the modern handwritten form. Graphic designers refer to the Italic and Roman forms as "single decker a" and "double decker a" respectively.

Italic type is commonly used to mark emphasis or more generally to distinguish one part of a text from the rest (set in Roman type). There are some other cases aside from italic type where script a ("ɑ"), also called Latin alpha, is used in contrast with Latin "a" (such as in the International Phonetic Alphabet).

Use in writing systems

English 

In modern English orthography, the letter  represents at least seven different vowel sounds:
the near-open front unrounded vowel  as in pad;
the open back unrounded vowel  as in father, which is closer to its original Latin and Greek sound;
the diphthong  as in ace and major (usually when  is followed by one, or occasionally two, consonants and then another vowel letter) – this results from Middle English lengthening followed by the Great Vowel Shift;
the modified form of the above sound that occurs before , as in square and Mary;
the rounded vowel of water;
the shorter rounded vowel (not present in General American) in was and what;
a schwa, in many unstressed syllables, as in about, comma, solar.

The double  sequence does not occur in native English words, but is found in some words derived from foreign languages such as Aaron and aardvark. However,  occurs in many common digraphs, all with their own sound or sounds, particularly , , , ,  and .

 is the third-most-commonly used letter in English (after  and ) and French, the second most common in Spanish, and the most common in Portuguese. About 8.167% of letters used in English texts tend to be ; the number is around 7.636% in French, 11.525% in Spanish, and 14.634% for Portuguese.

Other languages 
In most languages that use the Latin alphabet,  denotes an open unrounded vowel, such as , , or . An exception is Saanich, in which  (and the glyph Á) stands for a close-mid front unrounded vowel .

Other systems 

In phonetic and phonemic notation:
in the International Phonetic Alphabet,  is used for the open front unrounded vowel,  is used for the open central unrounded vowel, and  is used for the open back unrounded vowel.
in X-SAMPA,  is used for the open front unrounded vowel and  is used for the open back unrounded vowel.

Other uses 

In algebra, the letter a along with various other letters of the alphabet is often used to denote a variable, with various conventional meanings in different areas of mathematics. Moreover, in 1637, René Descartes "invented the convention of representing unknowns in equations by x, y, and z, and knowns by a, b, and c", and this convention is still often followed, especially in elementary algebra.

In geometry, capital A, B, C etc. are used to denote segments, lines, rays, etc. A capital A is also typically used as one of the letters to represent an angle in a triangle, the lowercase a representing the side opposite angle A.

"A" is often used to denote something or someone of a better or more prestigious quality or status: A−, A or A+, the best grade that can be assigned by teachers for students' schoolwork; "A grade" for clean restaurants; A-list celebrities, etc. Such associations can have a motivating effect, as exposure to the letter A has been found to improve performance, when compared with other letters.

"A" is used as a prefix on some words, such as asymmetry, to mean "not" or "without" (from Greek).

In English grammar, "a", and its variant "an", is an indefinite article, used to introduce noun phrases.

Finally, the letter A is used to denote size, as in a narrow size shoe, or a small cup size in a brassiere.

Related characters

Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet 
Æ æ : Latin AE ligature
A with diacritics: Å å Ǻ ǻ Ḁ ḁ ẚ Ă ă Ặ ặ Ắ ắ Ằ ằ Ẳ ẳ Ẵ ẵ Ȃ ȃ Â â Ậ ậ Ấ ấ Ầ ầ Ẫ ẫ Ẩ ẩ Ả ả Ǎ ǎ Ⱥ ⱥ Ȧ ȧ Ǡ ǡ Ạ ạ Ä ä Ǟ ǟ À à Ȁ ȁ Á á Ā ā Ā̀ ā̀ Ã ã Ą ą Ą́ ą́ Ą̃ ą̃ A̲ a̲ ᶏ
Phonetic alphabet symbols related to A (the International Phonetic Alphabet only uses lowercase, but uppercase forms are used in some other writing systems): 
Ɑ ɑ : Latin letter alpha / script A, which represents an open back unrounded vowel in the IPA
ᶐ : Latin small letter alpha with retroflex hook
Ɐ ɐ : Turned A, which represents a near-open central vowel in the IPA
Λ ʌ : Turned V (also called a wedge, a caret, or a hat), which represents an open-mid back unrounded vowel in the IPA
Ɒ ɒ : Turned alpha / script A, which represents an open back rounded vowel in the IPA
ᶛ : Modifier letter small turned alpha
ᴀ : Small capital A, an obsolete or non-standard symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet used to represent various sounds (mainly open vowels)
A a ᵄ : Modifier letters are used in the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA) (sometimes encoded with Unicode subscripts and superscripts)
a : Subscript small a is used in Indo-European studies
ꬱ : Small letter a reversed-schwa is used in the Teuthonista phonetic transcription system
Ꞻ ꞻ : Glottal A, used in the transliteration of Ugaritic

Derived signs, symbols and abbreviations 
ª : an ordinal indicator
Å : Ångström sign
∀ : a turned capital letter A, used in predicate logic to specify universal quantification ("for all")
@ : At sign
₳ : Argentine austral
Ⓐ : anarchy symbol

Ancestors and siblings in other alphabets 

𐤀 : Semitic letter Aleph, from which the following symbols originally derive
Α α : Greek letter Alpha, from which the following letters derive
А а : Cyrillic letter A
 : Coptic letter Alpha
𐌀 : Old Italic A, which is the ancestor of modern Latin A
 : Runic letter ansuz, which probably derives from old Italic A
 : Gothic letter aza/asks
Ա ա : Armenian letter Ayb

Code points  
These are the code points for the forms of the letter in various systems

 1

Other representations

Use as a number 
In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, A is a number that corresponds to the number 10 in decimal (base 10) counting.

Notes

Footnotes

References

External links 

 History of the Alphabet
 

ISO basic Latin letters
Vowel letters

Alabama () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered by Tennessee to the north; Georgia to the east; Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south; and Mississippi to the west. Alabama is the 30th largest by area and the 24th-most populous of the U.S. states.

Alabama is nicknamed the Yellowhammer State, after the state bird. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie" and the "Cotton State". The state tree is the longleaf pine, and the state flower is the camellia. Alabama's capital is Montgomery, and its largest city by population and area is Huntsville. Its oldest city is Mobile, founded by French colonists (Alabama Creoles) in 1702 as the capital of French Louisiana. Greater Birmingham is Alabama's largest metropolitan area and its economic center.

Originally home to many native tribes, present-day Alabama was a Spanish territory beginning in the sixteenth century until the French acquired it in the early eighteenth century. The British won the territory in 1763 until losing it in the American Revolutionary War. Spain held Mobile as part of Spanish West Florida until 1813. In December 1819, Alabama was recognized as a state. During the antebellum period, Alabama was a major producer of cotton, and widely used African American slave labor. In 1861, the state seceded from the United States to become part of the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery acting as its first capital, and rejoined the Union in 1868. Following the American Civil War, Alabama would suffer decades of economic hardship, in part due to agriculture and a few cash crops being the main driver of the state's economy. Similar to other former slave states, Alabamian legislators employed Jim Crow laws from the late 19th century up until the 1960s.  High-profile events such as the Selma to Montgomery march made the state a major focal point of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

During and after World War II, Alabama grew as the state's economy diversified with new industries. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville would help Alabama's economic growth in the mid-to-late 20th century, by developing an aerospace industry. Alabama's economy in the 21st century is based on automotive, finance, tourism, manufacturing, aerospace, mineral extraction, healthcare, education, retail, and technology.

The state's geography is diverse, with the north dominated by the mountainous Tennessee Valley and the south by Mobile Bay, a historically significant port. Politically, as part of the Deep South, Alabama is predominantly a conservative state, and is known for its Southern culture. Within Alabama, American football, particularly at the college level, plays a major part of the state's culture.

Etymology 
The European-American naming of the Alabama River and state was derived from the Alabama people, a Muskogean-speaking tribe whose members lived just below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers on the upper reaches of the river. In the Alabama language, the word for a person of Alabama lineage is  (or variously  or  in different dialects; the plural form is ). The word's spelling varies significantly among historical sources. The first usage appears in three accounts of the Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540: Garcilaso de la Vega used , while the Knight of Elvas and Rodrigo Ranjel wrote Alibamu and Limamu, respectively, in transliterations of the term. As early as 1702, the French called the tribe the , with French maps identifying the river as . Other spellings of the name have included Alibamu, Alabamo, Albama, Alebamon, Alibama, Alibamou, Alabamu, and Allibamou. The use of state names derived from Native American languages is common in the U.S.; an estimated 26 states have names of Native American origin.

Sources disagree on the word's meaning. Some scholars suggest the word comes from the Choctaw  (meaning 'plants' or 'weeds') and  (meaning 'to cut', 'to trim', or 'to gather'). The meaning may have been 'clearers of the thicket' or 'herb gatherers', referring to clearing land for cultivation or collecting medicinal plants. The state has numerous place names of Native American origin.

An 1842 article in the Jacksonville Republican proposed it meant 'Here We Rest'. This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of Alexander Beaufort Meek. Experts in the Muskogean languages have not found any evidence to support such a translation.

History

Pre-European settlement 

Indigenous peoples of varying cultures lived in the area for thousands of years before the advent of European colonization. Trade with the northeastern tribes by the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period (1000BCE700CE) and continued until European contact.

The agrarian Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 CE, with one of its major centers built at what is now the Moundville Archaeological Site in Moundville, Alabama. This is the second-largest complex of the classic Middle Mississippian era, after Cahokia in present-day Illinois, which was the center of the culture. Analysis of artifacts from archaeological excavations at Moundville were the basis of scholars' formulating the characteristics of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). Contrary to popular belief, the SECC appears to have no direct links to Mesoamerican culture but developed independently. The Ceremonial Complex represents a major component of the religion of the Mississippian peoples; it is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood.

Among the historical tribes of Native American people living in present-day Alabama at the time of European contact were the Cherokee, an Iroquoian language people; and the Muskogean-speaking Alabama (Alibamu), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Koasati. While part of the same large language family, the Muskogee tribes developed distinct cultures and languages.

European settlement 

The Spanish were the first Europeans to reach Alabama during their exploration of North America in the 16th century. The expedition of Hernando de Soto passed through Mabila and other parts of the state in 1540. More than 160 years later, the French founded the region's first European settlement at Old Mobile in 1702. The city was moved to the current site of Mobile in 1711. This area was claimed by the French from 1702 to 1763 as part of La Louisiane.

After the French lost to the British in the Seven Years' War, it became part of British West Florida from 1763 to 1783. After the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War, the territory was divided between the United States and Spain. The latter retained control of this western territory from 1783 until the surrender of the Spanish garrison at Mobile to U.S. forces on April 13, 1813.

Thomas Bassett, a loyalist to the British monarchy during the Revolutionary era, was one of the earliest white settlers in the state outside Mobile. He settled in the Tombigbee District during the early 1770s. The district's boundaries were roughly limited to the area within a few miles of the Tombigbee River and included portions of what is today southern Clarke County, northernmost Mobile County, and most of Washington County.

What is now the counties of Baldwin and Mobile became part of Spanish West Florida in 1783, part of the independent Republic of West Florida in 1810, and was finally added to the Mississippi Territory in 1812. Most of what is now the northern two-thirds of Alabama was known as the Yazoo lands beginning during the British colonial period. It was claimed by the Province of Georgia from 1767 onwards. Following the Revolutionary War, it remained a part of Georgia, although heavily disputed.

With the exception of the area around Mobile and the Yazoo lands, what is now the lower one-third of Alabama was made part of the Mississippi Territory when it was organized in 1798. The Yazoo lands were added to the territory in 1804, following the Yazoo land scandal. Spain kept a claim on its former Spanish West Florida territory in what would become the coastal counties until the Adams–Onís Treaty officially ceded it to the United States in 1819.

19th century 

Before Mississippi's admission to statehood on December 10, 1817, the more sparsely settled eastern half of the territory was separated and named the Alabama Territory. The United States Congress created the Alabama Territory on March 3, 1817. St. Stephens, now abandoned, served as the territorial capital from 1817 to 1819.

Alabama was admitted as the 22nd state on December 14, 1819, with Congress selecting Huntsville as the site for the first Constitutional Convention. From July5 to August 2, 1819, delegates met to prepare the new state constitution. Huntsville served as temporary capital from 1819 to 1820, when the seat of government moved to Cahaba in Dallas County.

Cahaba, now a ghost town, was the first permanent state capital from 1820 to 1825. The Alabama Fever land rush was underway when the state was admitted to the Union, with settlers and land speculators pouring into the state to take advantage of fertile land suitable for cotton cultivation. Part of the frontier in the 1820s and 1830s, its constitution provided for universal suffrage for white men.

Southeastern planters and traders from the Upper South brought slaves with them as the cotton plantations in Alabama expanded. The economy of the central Black Belt (named for its dark, productive soil) was built around large cotton plantations whose owners' wealth grew mainly from slave labor. The area also drew many poor, disenfranchised people who became subsistence farmers. Alabama had an estimated population of under 10,000 people in 1810, but it increased to more than 300,000 people by 1830. Most Native American tribes were completely removed from the state within a few years of the passage of the Indian Removal Act by Congress in 1830.

From 1826 to 1846, Tuscaloosa served as Alabama's capital. On January 30, 1846, the Alabama legislature announced it had voted to move the capital city from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery. The first legislative session in the new capital met in December 1847. A new capitol building was erected under the direction of Stephen Decatur Button of Philadelphia. The first structure burned down in 1849, but was rebuilt on the same site in 1851. This second capitol building in Montgomery remains to the present day. It was designed by Barachias Holt of Exeter, Maine.

Civil War and Reconstruction 

By 1860, the population had increased to 964,201 people, of which nearly half, 435,080, were enslaved African Americans, and 2,690 were free people of color. On January 11, 1861, Alabama declared its secession from the Union. After remaining an independent republic for a few days, it joined the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy's capital was initially at Montgomery. Alabama was heavily involved in the American Civil War. Although comparatively few battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the war effort.

A company of cavalry soldiers from Huntsville, Alabama, joined Nathan Bedford Forrest's battalion in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The company wore new uniforms with yellow trim on the sleeves, collar and coattails. This led to them being greeted with "Yellowhammer", and the name later was applied to all Alabama troops in the Confederate Army.

Alabama's slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment in 1865. Alabama was under military rule from the end of the war in May 1865 until its official restoration to the Union in 1868. From 1867 to 1874, with most white citizens barred temporarily from voting and freedmen enfranchised, many African Americans emerged as political leaders in the state. Alabama was represented in Congress during this period by three African-American congressmen: Jeremiah Haralson, Benjamin S. Turner, and James T. Rapier.

Following the war, the state remained chiefly agricultural, with an economy tied to cotton. During Reconstruction, state legislators ratified a new state constitution in 1868 which created the state's first public school system and expanded women's rights. Legislators funded numerous public road and railroad projects, although these were plagued with allegations of fraud and misappropriation. Organized insurgent, resistance groups tried to suppress the freedmen and Republicans. Besides the short-lived original Ku Klux Klan, these included the Pale Faces, Knights of the White Camellia, Red Shirts, and the White League.

Reconstruction in Alabama ended in 1874, when the Democrats regained control of the legislature and governor's office through an election dominated by fraud and violence. They wrote another constitution in 1875, and the legislature passed the Blaine Amendment, prohibiting public money from being used to finance religious-affiliated schools. The same year, legislation was approved that called for racially segregated schools. Railroad passenger cars were segregated in 1891.

20th century 

The new 1901 Constitution of Alabama included provisions for voter registration that effectively disenfranchised large portions of the population, including nearly all African Americans and Native Americans, and tens of thousands of poor European Americans, through making voter registration difficult, requiring a poll tax and literacy test. The 1901 constitution required racial segregation of public schools. By 1903 only 2,980 African Americans were registered in Alabama, although at least 74,000 were literate. This compared to more than 181,000 African Americans eligible to vote in 1900. The numbers dropped even more in later decades. The state legislature passed additional racial segregation laws related to public facilities into the 1950s: jails were segregated in 1911; hospitals in 1915; toilets, hotels, and restaurants in 1928; and bus stop waiting rooms in 1945.

While the planter class had persuaded poor whites to vote for this legislative effort to suppress black voting, the new restrictions resulted in their disenfranchisement as well, due mostly to the imposition of a cumulative poll tax. By 1941, whites constituted a slight majority of those disenfranchised by these laws: 600,000 whites vs. 520,000 African Americans. Nearly all Blacks had lost the ability to vote. Despite numerous legal challenges which succeeded in overturning certain provisions, the state legislature would create new ones to maintain disenfranchisement. The exclusion of blacks from the political system persisted until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in 1965 to enforce their constitutional rights as citizens.

The rural-dominated Alabama legislature consistently underfunded schools and services for the disenfranchised African Americans, but it did not relieve them of paying taxes. Partially as a response to chronic underfunding of education for African Americans in the South, the Rosenwald Fund began funding the construction of what came to be known as Rosenwald Schools. In Alabama, these schools were designed, and the construction partially financed with Rosenwald funds, which paid one-third of the construction costs. The fund required the local community and state to raise matching funds to pay the rest. Black residents effectively taxed themselves twice, by raising additional monies to supply matching funds for such schools, which were built in many rural areas. They often donated land and labor as well.

Beginning in 1913, the first 80 Rosenwald Schools were built in Alabama for African American children. A total of 387 schools, seven teachers' houses, and several vocational buildings were completed by 1937 in the state. Several of the surviving school buildings in the state are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Continued racial discrimination and lynchings, agricultural depression, and the failure of the cotton crops due to boll weevil infestation led tens of thousands of African Americans from rural Alabama and other states to seek opportunities in northern and midwestern cities during the early decades of the 20th century as part of the Great Migration out of the South. Reflecting this emigration, the population growth rate in Alabama (see "historical populations" table below) dropped by nearly half from 1910 to 1920.

At the same time, many rural people migrated to the city of Birmingham to work in new industrial jobs. Birmingham experienced such rapid growth it was called the "Magic City". By 1920, Birmingham was the 36th-largest city in the United States. Heavy industry and mining were the basis of its economy. Its residents were under-represented for decades in the state legislature, which refused to redistrict after each decennial census according to population changes, as it was required by the state constitution. This did not change until the late 1960s following a lawsuit and court order.

Industrial development related to the demands of World War II brought a level of prosperity to the state not seen since before the civil war. Rural workers poured into the largest cities in the state for better jobs and a higher standard of living. One example of this massive influx of workers occurred in Mobile. Between 1940 and 1943, more than 89,000 people moved into the city to work for war-related industries. Cotton and other cash crops faded in importance as the state developed a manufacturing and service base.

Despite massive population changes in the state from 1901 to 1961, the rural-dominated legislature refused to reapportion House and Senate seats based on population, as required by the state constitution to follow the results of decennial censuses. They held on to old representation to maintain political and economic power in agricultural areas. One result was that Jefferson County, containing Birmingham's industrial and economic powerhouse, contributed more than one-third of all tax revenue to the state, but did not receive a proportional amount in services. Urban interests were consistently underrepresented in the legislature. A 1960 study noted that because of rural domination, "a minority of about 25% of the total state population is in majority control of the Alabama legislature."

In the United States Supreme Court cases of Baker v. Carr (1962) and Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the court ruled that the principle of "one man, one vote" needed to be the basis of both houses of state legislatures, and that their districts had to be based on population rather than geographic counties.

African Americans continued to press in the 1950s and 1960s to end disenfranchisement and segregation in the state through the civil rights movement, including legal challenges. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that public schools had to be desegregated, but Alabama was slow to comply. During the 1960s, under Governor George Wallace, Alabama resisted compliance with federal demands for desegregation. The civil rights movement had notable events in Alabama, including the Montgomery bus boycott (1955–1956), Freedom Rides in 1961, and 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. These contributed to Congressional passage and enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 by the U.S. Congress.

Legal segregation ended in the states in 1964, but Jim Crow customs often continued until specifically challenged in court. According to The New York Times, by 2017, many of Alabama's African Americans were living in Alabama's cities such as Birmingham and Montgomery. Also, the Black Belt region across central Alabama "is home to largely poor counties that are predominantly African-American. These counties include Dallas, Lowndes, Marengo and Perry."

In 1972, for the first time since 1901, the legislature completed the congressional redistricting based on the decennial census. This benefited the urban areas that had developed, as well as all in the population who had been underrepresented for more than sixty years. Other changes were made to implement representative state house and senate districts.

Alabama has made some changes since the late 20th century and has used new types of voting to increase representation. In the 1980s, an omnibus redistricting case, Dillard v. Crenshaw County, challenged the at-large voting for representative seats of 180 Alabama jurisdictions, including counties and school boards. At-large voting had diluted the votes of any minority in a county, as the majority tended to take all seats. Despite African Americans making up a significant minority in the state, they had been unable to elect any representatives in most of the at-large jurisdictions.

As part of settlement of this case, five Alabama cities and counties, including Chilton County, adopted a system of cumulative voting for election of representatives in multi-seat jurisdictions. This has resulted in more proportional representation for voters. In another form of proportional representation, 23 jurisdictions use limited voting, as in Conecuh County. In 1982, limited voting was first tested in Conecuh County. Together use of these systems has increased the number of African Americans and women being elected to local offices, resulting in governments that are more representative of their citizens.

Beginning in the 1960s, the state's economy shifted away from its traditional lumber, steel, and textile industries because of increased foreign competition. Steel jobs, for instance, declined from 46,314 in 1950 to 14,185 in 2011. However, the state, particularly Huntsville, benefited from the opening of the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in 1960, a major facility in the development of the Saturn rocket program and the space shuttle. Technology and manufacturing industries, such as automobile assembly, replaced some the state's older industries in the late twentieth century, but the state's economy and growth lagged behind other states in the area, such as Georgia and Florida.

21st century 
In 2001, Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore installed a statue of the Ten Commandments in the capitol in Montgomery. In 2002, the 11th US Circuit Court ordered the statue removed, but Moore refused to follow the court order, which led to protests around the capitol in favor of keeping the monument. The monument was removed in August 2003.

A few natural disasters have occurred in the state in the twenty-first century. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan, a category 3 storm upon landfall, struck the state and caused over $18 billion of damage. It was among the most destructive storms to strike the state in its modern history. A super outbreak of 62 tornadoes hit the state in April 2011 and killed 238 people, devastating many communities.

Geography 

Alabama is the thirtieth-largest state in the United States with  of total area: 3.2% of the area is water, making Alabama 23rd in the amount of surface water, also giving it the second-largest inland waterway system in the United States. About three-fifths of the land area is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain, a gentle plain with a general descent towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The North Alabama region is mostly mountainous, with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley and creating numerous creeks, streams, rivers, mountains, and lakes.

Alabama is bordered by the states of Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama has coastline at the Gulf of Mexico, in the extreme southern edge of the state. The state ranges in elevation from sea level at Mobile Bay to more than  in the northeast, to Mount Cheaha at .

Alabama's land consists of  of forest or 67% of the state's total land area. Suburban Baldwin County, along the Gulf Coast, is the largest county in the state in both land area and water area.

Areas in Alabama administered by the National Park Service include Horseshoe Bend National Military Park near Alexander City; Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne; Russell Cave National Monument in Bridgeport; Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee; and Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near Tuskegee. Additionally, Alabama has four National Forests: Conecuh, Talladega, Tuskegee, and William B. Bankhead. Alabama also contains the Natchez Trace Parkway, the Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail, and the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail.

Notable natural wonders include: the "Natural Bridge" rock, the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies, located just south of Haleyville; Cathedral Caverns in Marshall County, named for its cathedral-like appearance, features one of the largest cave entrances and stalagmites in the world; Ecor Rouge in Fairhope, the highest coastline point between Maine and Mexico; DeSoto Caverns in Childersburg, the first officially recorded cave in the United States; Noccalula Falls in Gadsden features a 90-foot waterfall; Dismals Canyon near Phil Campbell, home to two waterfalls, six natural bridges and allegedly served as a hideout for legendary outlaw Jesse James; Stephens Gap Cave in Jackson County boasts a 143-foot pit, two waterfalls and is one of the most photographed wild cave scenes in America; Little River Canyon near Fort Payne, one of the nation's longest mountaintop rivers; Rickwood Caverns near Warrior features an underground pool, blind cave fish and 260-million-year-old limestone formations; and the Walls of Jericho canyon on the Alabama-Tennessee state line.

A -wide meteorite impact crater is located in Elmore County, just north of Montgomery. This is the Wetumpka crater, the site of "Alabama's greatest natural disaster". A -wide meteorite hit the area about 80 million years ago. The hills just east of downtown Wetumpka showcase the eroded remains of the impact crater that was blasted into the bedrock, with the area labeled the Wetumpka crater or astrobleme ("star-wound") because of the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered rock that can be found beneath the surface. In 2002, Christian Koeberl with the Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna published evidence and established the site as the 157th recognized impact crater on Earth.

Climate 

The state is classified as humid subtropical (Cfa) under the Koppen Climate Classification. The average annual temperature is 64°F (18°C). Temperatures tend to be warmer in the southern part of the state with its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, while the northern parts of the state, especially in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, tend to be slightly cooler. Generally, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year. Alabama receives an average of  of rainfall annually and enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state.

Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the U.S., with high temperatures averaging over  throughout the summer in some parts of the state. Alabama is also prone to tropical storms and hurricanes. Areas of the state far away from the Gulf are not immune to the effects of the storms, which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken.

South Alabama reports many thunderstorms. The Gulf Coast, around Mobile Bay, averages between 70 and 80 days per year with thunder reported. This activity decreases somewhat further north in the state, but even the far north of the state reports thunder on about 60 days per year. Occasionally, thunderstorms are severe with frequent lightning and large hail; the central and northern parts of the state are most vulnerable to this type of storm. Alabama ranks ninth in the number of deaths from lightning and tenth in the number of deaths from lightning strikes per capita.

Alabama, along with Oklahoma and Iowa, has the most confirmed F5 and EF5 tornadoes of any state, according to statistics from the National Climatic Data Center for the period January 1, 1950, to June 2013. Several long-tracked F5/EF5 tornadoes have contributed to Alabama reporting more tornado fatalities since 1950 than any other state. The state was affected by the 1974 Super Outbreak and was devastated tremendously by the 2011 Super Outbreak. The 2011 Super Outbreak produced a record amount of tornadoes in the state. The tally reached 62.

The peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state. Alabama is one of the few places in the world that has a secondary tornado season in November and December besides the typically severe spring. The northern part—along the Tennessee River Valley—is most vulnerable. The area of Alabama and Mississippi most affected by tornadoes is sometimes referred to as Dixie Alley, as distinct from the Tornado Alley of the Southern Plains.

Winters are generally mild in Alabama, as they are throughout most of the Southeastern United States, with average January low temperatures around  in Mobile and around  in Birmingham. Although snow is a rare event in much of Alabama, areas of the state north of Montgomery may receive a dusting of snow a few times every winter, with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years. Historic snowfall events include New Year's Eve 1963 snowstorm and the 1993 Storm of the Century. The annual average snowfall for the Birmingham area is  per year. In the southern Gulf coast, snowfall is less frequent, sometimes going several years without any snowfall.

Alabama's highest temperature of  was recorded on September 5, 1925, in the unincorporated community of Centerville. The record low of  occurred on January 30, 1966, in New Market.

Flora and fauna 

Alabama is home to a diverse array of flora and fauna in habitats that range from the Tennessee Valley, Appalachian Plateau, and Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians of the north to the Piedmont, Canebrake, and Black Belt of the central region to the Gulf Coastal Plain and beaches along the Gulf of Mexico in the south. The state is usually ranked among the top in nation for its range of overall biodiversity.

Alabama is in the subtropical coniferous forest biome and once boasted huge expanses of pine forest, which still form the largest proportion of forests in the state. It currently ranks fifth in the nation for the diversity of its flora. It is home to nearly 4,000 pteridophyte and spermatophyte plant species.

Indigenous animal species in the state include 62 mammal species, 93 reptile species, 73 amphibian species, roughly 307 native freshwater fish species, and 420 bird species that spend at least part of their year within the state. Invertebrates include 97 crayfish species and 383 mollusk species. 113 of these mollusk species have never been collected outside the state.

Census-designated and metropolitan areas

Cities

Demographics 

According to the 2020 United States census the population of Alabama was 5,024,279 on April 1, 2020, which represents an increase of 244,543 or 5.12%, since the 2010 census. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 121,054 (502,457 births minus 381,403 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 104,991 into the state.

Immigration from outside the U.S. resulted in a net increase of 31,180 people, and migration within the country produced a net gain of 73,811 people. The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were undocumented (24,000). Alabama has the 5th highest African American population among US states at 25.8% as of 2020.

The center of population of Alabama is located in Chilton County, outside the town of Jemison.

According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 3,752 homeless people in Alabama.

Ancestry 

Those citing "American" ancestry in Alabama are of overwhelmingly English extraction, however most English Americans identify simply as having American ancestry because their roots have been in North America for so long, in many cases since the early 1600s.  Demographers estimate that a minimum of 20–23% of people in Alabama are of predominantly English ancestry and state that the figure is probably much higher. In the 1980 census 1,139,976 people in Alabama cited that they were of English ancestry out of a total state population of 2,824,719 making them 41% of the state at the time and the largest ethnic group.

In 2011, 46.6% of Alabama's population younger than age1 were minorities. The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama are American (13.4%), Irish (10.5%), English (10.2%), German (7.9%), and Scots-Irish (2.5%) based on 2006-2008 Census data.

The Scots-Irish were the largest non-English immigrant group from the British Isles before the American Revolution, and many settled in the South, later moving into the Deep South as it was developed.

In 1984, under the Davis–Strong Act, the state legislature established the Alabama Indian Affairs Commission. Native American groups within the state had increasingly been demanding recognition as ethnic groups and seeking an end to discrimination. Given the long history of slavery and associated racial segregation, the Native American peoples, who have sometimes been of mixed race, have insisted on having their cultural identification respected. In the past, their self-identification was often overlooked as the state tried to impose a binary breakdown of society into white and black. The state has officially recognized nine American Indian tribes in the state, descended mostly from the Five Civilized Tribes of the American Southeast. These are the following.
 Poarch Band of Creek Indians (who also have federal recognition)
 MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians
 Star Clan of Muscogee Creeks
 Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama
 Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama
 Cher-O-Creek Intra Tribal Indians
 Ma-Chis Lower Creek Indian Tribe
 Piqua Shawnee Tribe
 Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation

The state government has promoted recognition of Native American contributions to the state, including the designation in 2000 for Columbus Day to be jointly celebrated as American Indian Heritage Day.

Language 
Most Alabama residents (95.1% of those five and older) spoke only English at home in 2010, a minor decrease from 96.1% in 2000. Alabama English is predominantly Southern, and is related to South Midland speech which was taken across the border from Tennessee. In the major Southern speech region, there is the decreasing loss of the final r, for example the "boyd" pronunciation of "bird". In the northern third of the state, there is a South Midland "arm" and "barb" rhyming with "form" and "orb", respectively. Unique words in Alabama English include: redworm (earthworm), peckerwood (woodpecker), snake doctor and snake feeder (dragonfly), tow sack (burlap bag), plum peach (clingstone), French harp (harmonica), and dog irons (andirons).

Religion 

In the 2008 American Religious Identification Survey, 86% of Alabama respondents reported their religion as Christian, including 6% Catholic, with 11% as having no religion. The composition of other traditions is 0.5% Mormon, 0.5% Jewish, 0.5% Muslim, 0.5% Buddhist, and 0.5% Hindu.

Alabama is located in the middle of the Bible Belt, a region of numerous Protestant Christians. Alabama has been identified as one of the most religious states in the United States, with about 58% of the population attending church regularly. A majority of people in the state identify as Evangelical Protestant. , the three largest denominational groups in Alabama are the Southern Baptist Convention, The United Methodist Church, and non-denominational Evangelical Protestant.

In Alabama, the Southern Baptist Convention has the highest number of adherents with 1,380,121; this is followed by the United Methodist Church with 327,734 adherents, non-denominational Evangelical Protestant with 220,938 adherents, and the Catholic Church with 150,647 adherents. Many Baptist and Methodist congregations became established in the Great Awakening of the early 19th century, when preachers proselytized across the South. The Assemblies of God had almost 60,000 members, the Churches of Christ had nearly 120,000 members. The Presbyterian churches, strongly associated with Scots-Irish immigrants of the 18th century and their descendants, had a combined membership around 75,000 (PCA—28,009 members in 108 congregations, PC(USA)—26,247 members in 147 congregations, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church—6,000 members in 59 congregations, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America—5,000 members and fifty congregations plus the EPC and Associate Reformed Presbyterians with 230 members and nine congregations).

In a 2007 survey, nearly 70% of respondents could name all four of the Christian Gospels. Of those who indicated a religious preference, 59% said they possessed a "full understanding" of their faith and needed no further learning. In a 2007 poll, 92% of Alabamians reported having at least some confidence in churches in the state.

Although in much smaller numbers, many other religious faiths are represented in the state as well, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and Unitarian Universalism.

Jews have been present in what is now Alabama since 1763, during the colonial era of Mobile, when Sephardic Jews immigrated from London. The oldest Jewish congregation in the state is Congregation Sha'arai Shomayim in Mobile. It was formally recognized by the state legislature on January 25, 1844. Later immigrants in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries tended to be Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Europe. Jewish denominations in the state include two Orthodox, four Conservative, ten Reform, and one Humanistic synagogue.

Muslims have been increasing in Alabama, with 31 mosques built by 2011, many by African-American converts.

Several Hindu temples and cultural centers in the state have been founded by Indian immigrants and their descendants, the best-known being the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Birmingham, the Hindu Temple and Cultural Center of Birmingham in Pelham, the Hindu Cultural Center of North Alabama in Capshaw, and the Hindu Mandir and Cultural Center in Tuscaloosa.

There are six Dharma centers and organizations for Theravada Buddhists. Most monastic Buddhist temples are concentrated in southern Mobile County, near Bayou La Batre. This area has attracted an influx of refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam during the 1970s and thereafter. The four temples within a ten-mile radius of Bayou La Batre, include Chua Chanh Giac, Wat Buddharaksa, and Wat Lao Phoutthavihan.

The first community of adherents of the Baháʼí Faith in Alabama was founded in 1896 by Paul K. Dealy, who moved from Chicago to Fairhope. Baháʼí centers in Alabama exist in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Florence.

Health 
In 2018, life expectancy in Alabama was 75.1 years, below the national average of 78.7 years and is the third lowest life expectancy in the country. Factors that can cause lower life expectancy are maternal mortality, suicide, and gun crimes.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study in 2008 showed that obesity in Alabama is a problem, with most counties having more than 29% of adults obese, except for ten which had a rate between 26% and 29%. Residents of the state, along with those in five other states, were least likely in the nation to be physically active during leisure time. Alabama, and the southeastern U.S. in general, has one of the highest incidences of adult onset diabetes in the country, exceeding 10% of adults.

Economy 

The state has invested in aerospace, education, health care, banking, and various heavy industries, including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication. By 2006, crop and animal production in Alabama was valued at $1.5billion. In contrast to the primarily agricultural economy of the previous century, this was only about one percent of the state's gross domestic product. The number of private farms has declined at a steady rate since the 1960s, as land has been sold to developers, timber companies, and large farming conglomerates.

Non-agricultural employment in 2008 was 121,800 in management occupations; 71,750 in business and financial operations; 36,790 in computer-related and mathematical occupation; 44,200 in architecture and engineering; 12,410 in life, physical, and social sciences; 32,260 in community and social services; 12,770 in legal occupations; 116,250 in education, training, and library services; 27,840 in art, design and media occupations; 121,110 in healthcare; 44,750 in fire fighting, law enforcement, and security; 154,040 in food preparation and serving; 76,650 in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; 53,230 in personal care and services; 244,510 in sales; 338,760 in office and administration support; 20,510 in farming, fishing, and forestry; 120,155 in construction and mining, gas, and oil extraction; 106,280 in installation, maintenance, and repair; 224,110 in production; and 167,160 in transportation and material moving.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 2008 total gross state product was $170billion, or $29,411 per capita. Alabama's 2012 GDP increased 1.2% from the previous year. The single largest increase came in the area of information. In 2010, per capita income for the state was $22,984.

The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.8% in April 2015. This compared to a nationwide seasonally adjusted rate of 5.4%.

Alabama has no minimum wage and in February 2016 passed legislation preventing municipalities from setting one. (A Birmingham city ordinance would have raised theirs to $10.10.)

, Alabama has the sixth highest poverty rate among states in the U.S. In 2017, United Nations Special Rapporteur Philip Alston toured parts of rural Alabama and observed environmental conditions he said were poorer than anywhere he had seen in the developed world.

Largest employers 

The five employers that employed the most employees in Alabama in April 2011 were:

The next twenty largest employers, , included:

Agriculture 
Alabama's agricultural outputs include poultry and eggs, cattle, fish, plant nursery items, peanuts, cotton, grains such as corn and sorghum, vegetables, milk, soybeans, and peaches. Although known as "The Cotton State", Alabama ranks between eighth and tenth in national cotton production, according to various reports, with Texas, Georgia and Mississippi comprising the top three.

Aquaculture 

Aquaculture is a large part of the economy of Alabama. Alabamians began to practice aquaculture in the early 1960s. U.S. farm-raised catfish is the 8th most popular seafood product in America. By 2008, approximately 4,000 people in Alabama were employed by the catfish industry and Alabama produced 132 million pounds of catfish. In 2020, Alabama produced  of the United States' farm-raised catfish. The total 2020 sales of catfish raised in Alabama equaled $307 million but by 2020 the total employment of Alabamians fell to 2,442.

From the early 2000s to 2020, the Alabamian catfish industry has declined from 250 farms and 4 processors to 66 farms and 2 processors. Reasons for this decline include increased feed prices, catfish alternatives, COVID-19's impact on restaurant sales, disease, and fish size.

Industry 
Alabama's industrial outputs include iron and steel products (including cast-iron and steel pipe); paper, lumber, and wood products; mining (mostly coal); plastic products; cars and trucks; and apparel. In addition, Alabama produces aerospace and electronic products, mostly in the Huntsville area, the location of NASA's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Materiel Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal.

A great deal of Alabama's economic growth since the 1990s has been due to the state's expanding automotive manufacturing industry. Located in the state are Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, as well as their various suppliers. Since 1993, the automobile industry has generated more than 67,800 new jobs in the state. Alabama currently ranks 4th in the nation for vehicle exports.

Automakers accounted for approximately a third of the industrial expansion in the state in 2012. The eight models produced at the state's auto factories totaled combined sales of 74,335 vehicles for 2012. The strongest model sales during this period were the Hyundai Elantra compact car, the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class sport utility vehicle and the Honda Ridgeline sport utility truck.

Steel producers Outokumpu, Nucor, SSAB, ThyssenKrupp, and U.S. Steel have facilities in Alabama and employ more than 10,000 people. In May 2007, German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp selected Calvert in Mobile County for a 4.65billion combined stainless and carbon steel processing facility. ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless portion of the Calvert plant, was sold to Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012. The remaining portion of the ThyssenKrupp plant had final bids submitted by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel for $1.6billion in March 2013. Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional submitted a combined bid for the mill at Calvert, plus a majority stake in the ThyssenKrupp mill in Brazil, for $3.8billion. In July 2013, the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.

The Hunt Refining Company, a subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., is based in Tuscaloosa and operates a refinery there. The company also operates terminals in Mobile, Melvin, and Moundville. JVC America, Inc. operates an optical disc replication and packaging plant in Tuscaloosa.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company operates a large plant in Gadsden which employs about 1,400 people. It has been in operation since 1929.

Construction of an Airbus A320 family aircraft assembly plant in Mobile was formally announced by Airbus CEO Fabrice Brégier from the Mobile Convention Center on July 2, 2012. The plans include a $600million factory at the Brookley Aeroplex for the assembly of the A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. Construction began in 2013, with plans for it to become operable by 2015 and produce up to 50 aircraft per year by 2017.b The assembly plant is the company's first factory to be built within the United States. It was announced on February 1, 2013, that Airbus had hired Alabama-based Hoar Construction to oversee construction of the facility. The factory officially opened on September 14, 2015, covering one million square feet on 53 acres of flat grassland.

Tourism and entertainment 

According to Business Insider, Alabama ranked 14th in most popular states to visit in 2014. An estimated 26 million tourists visited the state in 2017 and spent $14.3 billion, providing directly or indirectly 186,900 jobs in the state, which includes 362,000 International tourists spending $589 million.

The state is home to various attractions, natural features, parks and events that attract visitors from around the globe, notably the annual Hangout Music Festival, held on the public beaches of Gulf Shores; the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, one of the ten largest Shakespeare festivals in the world; the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, a collection of championship caliber golf courses distributed across the state; casinos such as Victoryland; amusement parks such as Alabama Splash Adventure; the Riverchase Galleria, one of the largest shopping centers in the southeast; Guntersville Lake, voted the best lake in Alabama by Southern Living Magazine readers; and the Alabama Museum of Natural History, the oldest museum in the state.

Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, beginning in 1703. It was also host to the first formally organized Mardi Gras parade in the United States in 1830, a tradition that continues to this day. Mardi Gras is an official state holiday in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

In 2018, Mobile's Mardi Gras parade was the state's top event, producing the most tourists with an attendance of 892,811. The top attraction was the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville with an attendance of 849,981, followed by the Birmingham Zoo with 543,090. Of the parks and natural destinations, Alabama's Gulf Coast topped the list with 6,700,000 visitors.

Alabama has historically been a popular region for film shoots due to its diverse landscapes and contrast of environments. Movies filmed in Alabama include: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Get Out, 42, Selma, Big Fish, The Final Destination, Due Date, Need For Speed and many more.

Healthcare 
UAB Hospital, USA Health University Hospital, Huntsville Hospital, and Children's Hospital of Alabama are the only LevelI trauma centers in Alabama. UAB is the largest state government employer in Alabama, with a workforce of about 18,000. A 2017 study found that Alabama had the least competitive health insurance market in the country, with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama having a market share of 84% followed by UnitedHealth Group at 7%.

Banking 

Regions Financial Corporation is the largest bank headquartered in or operating in Alabama. PNC Financial Services and Wells Fargo also have a major presence in Alabama.

Wells Fargo has a regional headquarters, an operations center campus, and a $400million data center in Birmingham. Many smaller banks are also headquartered in the Birmingham area, including ServisFirst and New South Federal Savings Bank. Birmingham also serves as the headquarters for several large investment management companies, including Harbert Management Corporation.

Electronics and communications 
Telecommunications provider AT&T, formerly BellSouth, has a major presence in Alabama with several large offices in Birmingham.

Many technology companies are headquartered in Huntsville, such as ADTRAN, a network access company; Intergraph, a computer graphics company; and Avocent, an IT infrastructure company.

Construction 
Brasfield & Gorrie, BE&K, Hoar Construction, and B.L. Harbert International, based in Alabama and subsidiaries of URS Corporation, are all routinely are included in the Engineering News-Record lists of top design, international construction, and engineering firms.

Law and government

State government 

The foundational document for Alabama's government is the Alabama Constitution, which was ratified in 1901. With over 850 amendments and almost 87,000 words, it is by some accounts the world's longest constitution and is roughly forty times the length of the United States Constitution.

There has been a significant movement to rewrite and modernize Alabama's constitution. Critics argue that Alabama's constitution maintains highly centralized power with the state legislature, leaving practically no power in local hands. Most counties do not have home rule. Any policy changes proposed in different areas of the state must be approved by the entire Alabama legislature and, frequently, by state referendum. One criticism of the current constitution claims that its complexity and length intentionally codify segregation and racism.

Alabama's government is divided into three coequal branches. The legislative branch is the Alabama Legislature, a bicameral assembly composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama Senate, with 35 members. The Legislature is responsible for writing, debating, passing, or defeating state legislation. The Republican Party currently holds a majority in both houses of the Legislature. The Legislature has the power to override a gubernatorial veto by a simple majority (most state Legislatures require a two-thirds majority to override a veto).

Until 1964, the state elected state senators on a geographic basis by county, with one per county. It had not redistricted congressional districts since passage of its constitution in 1901; as a result, urbanized areas were grossly underrepresented. It had not changed legislative districts to reflect the decennial censuses, either. In Reynolds v. Sims (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court implemented the principle of "one man, one vote", ruling that congressional districts had to be reapportioned based on censuses (as the state already included in its constitution but had not implemented.) Further, the court ruled that both houses of bicameral state legislatures had to be apportioned by population, as there was no constitutional basis for states to have geographically based systems.

At that time, Alabama and many other states had to change their legislative districting, as many across the country had systems that underrepresented urban areas and districts. This had caused decades of underinvestment in such areas. For instance, Birmingham and Jefferson County taxes had supplied one-third of the state budget, but Jefferson County received only 1/67th of state services in funding. Through the legislative delegations, the Alabama legislature kept control of county governments.

The executive branch is responsible for the execution and oversight of laws. It is headed by the governor of Alabama. Other members of the executive branch include the cabinet, the lieutenant governor of Alabama, the Attorney General of Alabama, the Alabama Secretary of State, the Alabama State Treasurer, and the State Auditor of Alabama. The current governor is Republican Kay Ivey.

The members of the Legislature take office immediately after the November elections. Statewide officials, such as the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and other constitutional officers, take office the following January.

The judiciary is responsible for interpreting the Constitution of Alabama and applying the law in state criminal and civil cases. The state's highest court is the Supreme Court of Alabama. Alabama uses partisan elections to select judges. Since the 1980s judicial campaigns have become increasingly politicized. The current chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court is Republican Tom Parker. All sitting justices on the Alabama Supreme Court are members of the Republican Party. There are two intermediate appellate courts, the Court of Civil Appeals and the Court of Criminal Appeals, and four trial courts: the circuit court (trial court of general jurisdiction), and the district, probate, and municipal courts.

Alabama has the death penalty with authorized methods of execution that include the electric chair and the gas chamber. Some critics believe the election of judges has contributed to an exceedingly high rate of executions. Alabama has the highest per capita death penalty rate in the country. In some years, it imposes more death sentences than does Texas, a state which has a population five times larger. However, executions per capita are significantly higher in Texas. Some of its cases have been highly controversial; the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned 24 convictions in death penalty cases. It was the only state to allow judges to override jury decisions in whether or not to use a death sentence; in 10 cases judges overturned sentences of life imprisonment without parole that were voted unanimously by juries. This judicial authority was removed in April 2017.

On May 14, 2019, Alabama passed the Human Life Protection Act, banning abortion at any stage of pregnancy unless there is a "serious health risk", with no exceptions for rape and incest. The law subjects doctors who perform abortions with 10 to 99 years imprisonment. The law was originally supposed to take effect the following November, but on October 29, 2019, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson blocked the law from taking effect due to it being in conflict with the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade. On June 24, 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Judge Thompson lifted the injunction, allowing the law to go into effect.

Alabama is one of the very few states that does not allow the creation of state lotteries.

Taxes 
Taxes are collected by the Alabama Department of Revenue. Alabama levies a 2%, 4%, or5% personal income tax, depending on the amount earned and filing status. Taxpayers are allowed to deduct their federal income tax from their Alabama state tax, even if taking the standard deduction; those who itemize can also deduct FICA (the Social Security and Medicare tax).

The state's general sales tax rate is 4%. Sales tax rates for cities and counties are also added to purchases. For example, the total sales tax rate in Mobile County, Alabama is 10% and there is an additional restaurant tax of 1%, which means a diner in Mobile County, Alabama would pay an 11% tax on a meal.

In 2020, sales and excise taxes in Alabama accounted for 38% of all state and local revenue.

Only Alabama, Mississippi, and South Dakota tax groceries at the full state sales tax rate.

The corporate income tax rate in Alabama is 6.5%. The overall federal, state, and local tax burden in Alabama ranks the state as the second least tax-burdened state in the country.

Property taxes of .40% of assessed value per year, are the second-lowest in the U.S., after Hawaii. The current state constitution requires a voter referendum to raise property taxes.

County and local governments 

Alabama has 67 counties. Each county has its own elected legislative branch, usually called the county commission. It also has limited executive authority in the county. Because of the constraints of the Alabama Constitution, which centralizes power in the state legislature, only seven counties (Jefferson, Lee, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Shelby, and Tuscaloosa) in the state have limited home rule. Instead, most counties in the state must lobby the Local Legislation Committee of the state legislature to get simple local policies approved, ranging from waste disposal to land use zoning.

The state legislature has retained power over local governments by refusing to pass a constitutional amendment establishing home rule for counties, as recommended by the 1973 Alabama Constitutional Commission. Legislative delegations retain certain powers over each county. United States Supreme Court decisions in Baker v. Carr (1964) required that both houses have districts established on the basis of population, and redistricted after each census, to implement the principle of "one man, one vote". Before that, each county was represented by one state senator, leading to under-representation in the state senate for more urbanized, populous counties. The rural bias of the state legislature, which had also failed to redistrict seats in the state house, affected politics well into the 20th century, failing to recognize the rise of industrial cities and urbanized areas.

"The lack of home rule for counties in Alabama has resulted in the proliferation of local legislation permitting counties to do things not authorized by the state constitution. Alabama's constitution has been amended more than 700 times, and almost one-third of the amendments are local in nature, applying to only one county or city. A significant part of each legislative session is spent on local legislation, taking away time and attention of legislators from issues of statewide importance."

Alabama is an alcoholic beverage control state, meaning the state government holds a monopoly on the sale of alcohol. The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board controls the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages in the state. A total of 25 of the 67 counties are "dry counties" which ban the sale of alcohol, and there are many dry municipalities in counties which permit alcohol sales.

Politics 
During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Alabama was occupied by federal troops of the Third Military District under General John Pope. In 1874, the political coalition of white Democrats known as the Redeemers took control of the state government from the Republicans, in part by suppressing the black vote through violence, fraud, and intimidation. After 1890, a coalition of White Democratic politicians passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise African American residents, a process completed in provisions of the 1901 constitution. Provisions which disenfranchised blacks resulted in excluding many poor Whites. By 1941 more Whites than Blacks had been disenfranchised: 600,000 to 520,000. The total effects were greater on the black community, as almost all its citizens were disfranchised and relegated to separate and unequal treatment under the law.

From 1901 through the 1960s, the state did not redraw election districts as population grew and shifted within the state during urbanization and industrialization of certain areas. As counties were the basis of election districts, the result was a rural minority that dominated state politics through nearly three-quarters of the century, until a series of federal court cases required redistricting in 1972 to meet equal representation. Alabama state politics gained nationwide and international attention in the 1950s and 1960s during the civil rights movement, when whites bureaucratically, and at times violently, resisted protests for electoral and social reform. Governor George Wallace, the state's only four-term governor, was a controversial figure who vowed to maintain segregation. Only after passage of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 did African Americans regain the ability to exercise suffrage, among other civil rights. In many jurisdictions, they continued to be excluded from representation by at-large electoral systems, which allowed the majority of the population to dominate elections. Some changes at the county level have occurred following court challenges to establish single-member districts that enable a more diverse representation among county boards.

In 2007, the Alabama Legislature passed, and Republican governor Bob Riley signed a resolution expressing "profound regret" over slavery and its lingering impact. In a symbolic ceremony, the bill was signed in the Alabama State Capitol, which housed Congress of the Confederate States of America. In 2010, Republicans won control of both houses of the legislature for the first time in 136 years.

, there are a total of 3,707,233 registered voters, with 3,318,679 active, and the others inactive in the state.

The 2023 American Values Atlas by Public Religion Research Institute found that a majority of Alabama residents support same-sex marriage.

Elections

State elections 
With the disfranchisement of Blacks in 1901, the state became part of the "Solid South", a system in which the Democratic Party operated as effectively the only viable political party in every Southern state. For nearly a hundred years local and state elections in Alabama were decided in the Democratic Party primary, with generally only token Republican challengers running in the general election. Since the mid- to late 20th century, however, white conservatives started shifting to the Republican Party. In Alabama, majority-white districts are now expected to regularly elect Republican candidates to federal, state and local office.

Members of the nine seats on the Supreme Court of Alabama and all ten seats on the state appellate courts are elected to office. Until 1994, no Republicans held any of the court seats. In that general election, the then-incumbent chief justice, Ernest C. Hornsby, refused to leave office after losing the election by approximately 3,000 votes to Republican Perry O. Hooper Sr. Hornsby sued Alabama and defiantly remained in office for nearly a year before finally giving up the seat after losing in court. The Democrats lost the last of the nineteen court seats in August 2011 with the resignation of the last Democrat on the bench.

In the early 21st century, Republicans hold all seven of the statewide elected executive branch offices. Republicans hold six of the eight elected seats on the Alabama State Board of Education. In 2010, Republicans took large majorities of both chambers of the state legislature, giving them control of that body for the first time in 136 years. The last remaining statewide Democrat, who served on the Alabama Public Service Commission, was defeated in 2012.

Only three Republican lieutenant governors have been elected since the end of Reconstruction, when Republicans generally represented Reconstruction government, including the newly emancipated freedmen who had gained the franchise. The three GOP lieutenant governors are Steve Windom (1999–2003), Kay Ivey (2011–2017), and Will Ainsworth (2019–present).

Local elections 
Many local offices (county commissioners, boards of education, tax assessors, mayors, etc.) in the state are still held by Democrats. Many metropolitan and suburban counties have voters who are majority Democrats, resulting in local elections being decided in the Democratic primary. Similarly most rural counties are majority-Republican and elections are effectively decided in the Republican Primary. However, since local governments in Alabama are weaker than in other parts of the country, Republicans have the upper hand in government.

Alabama's 67 county sheriffs are elected in partisan, at-large races, and Republicans retain the vast majority of those posts. The current split is 18 Democrats, and 49 Republicans as of 2023. However, most of the Democratic sheriffs preside over urban and more populated counties. The majority of Republican sheriffs have been elected in the more rural counties with lower population. The state of Alabama has  and 11 African-American sheriffs.

Federal elections 
The state's two U.S. senators are Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville, both of whom are Republican. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the state is represented by seven members, six of whom are Republicans: (Jerry Carl, Mike Rogers, Robert Aderholt, Dale Strong, Barry Moore, and Gary Palmer) and one Democrat: Terri Sewell, who represents the Black Belt as well as most of the predominantly black portions of Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montgomery.

Education

Primary and secondary education 

Public primary and secondary education in Alabama is under the purview of the Alabama State Board of Education as well as local oversight by 67 county school boards and 60 city boards of education. Together, 1,496 individual schools provide education for 744,637 elementary and secondary students.

Public school funding is appropriated through the Alabama Legislature through the Education Trust Fund. In FY 2006–2007, Alabama appropriated $3,775,163,578 for primary and secondary education. That represented an increase of $444,736,387 over the previous fiscal year. In 2007, more than 82 percent of schools made adequate yearly progress (AYP) toward student proficiency under the National No Child Left Behind law, using measures determined by the state of Alabama.

While Alabama's public education system has improved in recent decades, it lags behind in achievement compared to other states. According to U.S. Census data (2000), Alabama's high school graduation rate (75%) is the fourth lowest in the U.S. (after Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi). The largest educational gains were among people with some college education but without degrees. According to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP), Alabama ranks 39 in reading and 40 in math among fourth-grade students in the rankings from 2022.

Generally prohibited in the West at large, school corporal punishment is not unusual in Alabama, with 27,260 public school students paddled at least one time, according to government data for the 2011–2012 school year. The rate of school corporal punishment in Alabama is surpassed by only Mississippi and Arkansas.

Colleges and universities 

Alabama's programs of higher education include 14 four-year public universities, two-year community colleges, and 17 private, undergraduate and graduate universities. In the state are four medical schools (as of fall 2015) (University of Alabama School of Medicine, University of South Alabama and Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine and The Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine—Auburn Campus), two veterinary colleges (Auburn University and Tuskegee University), a dental school (University of Alabama School of Dentistry), an optometry college (University of Alabama at Birmingham), two pharmacy schools (Auburn University and Samford University), and five law schools (University of Alabama School of Law, Birmingham School of Law, Cumberland School of Law, Miles Law School, and the Thomas Goode Jones School of Law). Public, post-secondary education in Alabama is overseen by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education. Colleges and universities in Alabama offer degree programs from two-year associate degrees to a multitude of doctoral level programs.

The largest single campus is the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, with 37,665 enrolled for fall 2016. Troy University was the largest institution in the state in 2010, with an enrollment of 29,689 students across four Alabama campuses (Troy, Dothan, Montgomery, and Phenix City), as well as sixty learning sites in seventeen other states and eleven other countries. The oldest institutions are the public University of North Alabama in Florence and the Catholic Church-affiliated Spring Hill College in Mobile, both founded in 1830.

Accreditation of academic programs is through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) as well as other subject-focused national and international accreditation agencies such as the Association for Biblical Higher Education (ABHE), the Council on Occupational Education (COE), and the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS).

According to the 2011 U.S. News & World Report, Alabama had three universities ranked in the top 100 Public Schools in America (University of Alabama at 31, Auburn University at 36, and University of Alabama at Birmingham at 73).

According to the 2012 U.S. News & World Report, Alabama had four tier one universities (University of Alabama, Auburn University, University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Alabama in Huntsville).

Media 

Major newspapers include Birmingham News, Mobile Press-Register, and Montgomery Advertiser.

Major television network affiliates in Alabama include:

 ABC
 WGWW 40.2 ABC, Anniston
 WBMA 58/WABM 68.2 ABC, Birmingham
 WDHN 18 ABC, Dothan
 WAAY 31 ABC, Huntsville
 WEAR 3 ABC Pensacola, Florida/Mobile
 WNCF 32 ABC, Montgomery
 WDBB 17.2 ABC, Tuscaloosa
 CBS
 WIAT 42 CBS, Birmingham
 WTVY 4 CBS, Dothan
 WHNT 19 CBS, Huntsville
 WKRG 5 CBS, Mobile
 WAKA 8 CBS, Selma/Montgomery
 Fox
 WBRC 6 FOX, Birmingham
 WZDX 54 FOX, Huntsville
 WALA 10 FOX, Mobile
 WCOV 20 FOX, Montgomery
 WDFX 34 FOX, Ozark/Dothan
 NBC
 WVTM 13 NBC, Birmingham
 WRGX 23 NBC, Dothan
 WAFF 48 NBC, Huntsville
 WPMI 15 NBC, Mobile
 WSFA 12 NBC, Montgomery
 PBS/Alabama Public Television
 WBIQ 10 PBS, Birmingham
 WIIQ 41 PBS, Demopolis
 WDIQ 2 PBS, Dozier
 WFIQ 36 PBS, Florence
 WHIQ 25 PBS, Huntsville
 WGIQ 43 PBS, Louisville
 WEIQ 42 PBS, Mobile
 WAIQ 26 PBS, Montgomery
 WCIQ 7 PBS, Mount Cheaha
 The CW
 WTTO 21, Homewood/Birmingham
 WTVY 4.3, Dothan
 WHDF 15, Florence/Huntsville
 WFNA 55, Gulf Shores/Mobile/Pensacola, FL
 WDBB 17, Tuscaloosa
 WBMM 22, Tuskegee/Montgomery

Culture

Literature 

Alabama literature is characterized by themes of race and issues of gender and war, and is influenced by events such as the American Civil War, the Reconstruction era, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War. Some notable examples of Alabama literature include Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, Winston Groom's Forrest Gump, Fannie Flagg's Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, and the biographies of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.

Sports

Professional sports 

Alabama has several professional and semi-professional sports teams, including three minor league baseball teams.

The Talladega Superspeedway motorsports complex hosts a series of NASCAR events. It has a seating capacity of 143,000 and is the thirteenth largest stadium in the world and sixth largest stadium in America. Also, the Barber Motorsports Park has hosted IndyCar Series and Rolex Sports Car Series races.

The ATP Birmingham was a World Championship Tennis tournament held from 1973 to 1980.

Alabama has hosted several professional golf tournaments, such as the 1984 and 1990 PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, the Barbasol Championship (PGA Tour), the Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions, Airbus LPGA Classic, and Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic (LPGA Tour), and The Tradition (Champions Tour).

College sports 
College football is extremely popular in Alabama, particularly the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn University Tigers, rivals in the Southeastern Conference. Alabama averages over 100,000 fans per game and Auburn averages over 80,000—both numbers among the top twenty in the nation. Bryant–Denny Stadium is the home of the Alabama football team, and has a seating capacity of 101,821, and is the fifth largest stadium in America. Jordan-Hare Stadium is the home field of the Auburn football team and seats up to 87,451.

Protective Stadium is home of the UAB Blazers football program and the Birmingham Bowl. It seats 45,000. Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile is the home of the University of South Alabama football team, and serves as the home of the NCAA Senior Bowl, LendingTree Bowl, and Alabama-Mississippi All Star Classic; the stadium seats 40,646. In 2009, Bryant–Denny Stadium and Jordan-Hare Stadium became the homes of the Alabama High School Athletic Association state football championship games, after previously being held at Legion Field in Birmingham.

Transportation

Aviation 

Major airports with sustained operations in Alabama include Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM), Huntsville International Airport (HSV), Dothan Regional Airport (DHN), Mobile Regional Airport (MOB), Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM), Northwest Alabama Regional Airport (MSL) and Northeast Alabama Regional Airport (GAD).

Rail 

For rail transport, Amtrak schedules the Crescent, a daily passenger train, running from New York to New Orleans with station stops at Anniston, Birmingham, and Tuscaloosa.

Roads 
Alabama has six major interstate routes: Interstate 65 (I-65) travels north–south roughly through the middle of the state; I-20/I-59 travel from the central west Mississippi state line to Birmingham, where I-59 continues to the north-east corner of the state and I-20 continues east towards Atlanta; I-85 originates in Montgomery and travels east-northeast to the Georgia state line, providing a main thoroughfare to Atlanta; and I-10 traverses the southernmost portion of the state, traveling from west to east through Mobile. I-22 enters the state from Mississippi and connects Birmingham with Memphis, Tennessee. In addition, there are currently five auxiliary interstate routes in the state: I-165 in Mobile, I-359 in Tuscaloosa, I-459 around Birmingham, I-565 in Decatur and Huntsville, and I-759 in Gadsden. A sixth route, I-685, will be formed when I-85 is rerouted along a new southern bypass of Montgomery. A proposed northern bypass of Birmingham will be designated as I-422. Since a direct connection from I-22 to I-422 will not be possible, I-222 has been proposed, as well.

Several U.S. Highways also pass through the state, such as U.S. Route 11 (US-11), US-29, US-31, US-43, US-45, US-72, US-78, US-80, US-82, US-84, US-90, US-98, US-231, US-278, US-280, US-331, US-411, and US-431.

There are four toll roads in the state: Montgomery Expressway in Montgomery; Northport/Tuscaloosa Western Bypass in Tuscaloosa and Northport; Emerald Mountain Expressway in Wetumpka; and Beach Express in Orange Beach.

Ports 
The Port of Mobile, Alabama's only saltwater port, is a large seaport on the Gulf of Mexico with inland waterway access to the Midwest by way of the Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway. The Port of Mobile was ranked 12th by tons of traffic in the United States during 2009. The newly expanded container terminal at the Port of Mobile was ranked as the 25th busiest for container traffic in the nation during 2011. The state's other ports are on rivers with access to the Gulf of Mexico.

Water ports of Alabama, listed from north to south:

See also 

 Index of Alabama-related articles
 Outline of Alabama — organized list of topics about Alabama
 USS Alabama, 7 ships

Notes

Subnotes

Other notes

References

Further reading 

 Atkins, Leah Rawls, Wayne Flynt, William Warren Rogers, and David Ward. Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (1994).
 Flynt, Wayne. Alabama in the Twentieth Century (2004).
 Owen Thomas M. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (4 vols, 1921).
 Jackson, Harvey H. Inside Alabama: A Personal History of My State (2004).
 Mohl, Raymond A. "Latinization in the Heart of Dixie: Hispanics in Late-twentieth-century Alabama" Alabama Review (2002, 55(4): 243–274). 
 Peirce, Neal R. The Deep South States of America: People, Politics, and Power in the Seven Deep South States (1974).
 Williams, Benjamin Buford. A Literary History of Alabama: The Nineteenth Century (1979).
 WPA Guide to Alabama (1939).

External links 

 
 
 Alabama State Guide, from the Library of Congress
 Your Not So Ordinary Alabama Tourist Guide 
 All About Alabama , at the Alabama Department of Archives and History
 Code of Alabama 1975
 USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Alabama 
 Alabama QuickFacts from the U.S. Census Bureau
 Alabama State Fact Sheet
 

 
1819 establishments in the United States
Southern United States
States and territories established in 1819
States of the Confederate States of America
States of the Gulf Coast of the United States
States of the United States
Contiguous United States
List of place names of Choctaw origin in the United States

In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus () was a hero of the Trojan War who was known as being the greatest of all the Greek warriors. A central character in Homer's Iliad, he was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Peleus, king of Phthia and famous Argonaut. Achilles was raised in Phthia along his childhood companion Patroclus and received his education by the centaur Chiron. In the Iliad, he is presented as the commander of the mythical tribe of the Myrmidons. 

Achilles' most notable feat during the Trojan War was the slaying of the Trojan prince Hector outside the gates of Troy. Although the death of Achilles is not presented in the Iliad, other sources concur that he was killed near the end of the Trojan War by Paris, who shot him with an arrow. Later legends (beginning with Statius' unfinished epic Achilleid, written in the 1st century AD) state that Achilles was invulnerable in all of his body except for one heel. According to that myth, when his mother Thetis dipped him in the river Styx as an infant, she held him by one of his heels leaving it untouched by the waters and thus his only vulnerable body part. 

Alluding to these legends, the term "Achilles' heel" has come to mean a point of weakness which can lead to downfall, especially in someone or something with an otherwise strong constitution. The Achilles tendon is named after him following the same legend.

Etymology 

Linear B tablets attest to the personal name Achilleus in the forms a-ki-re-u and a-ki-re-we, the latter being the dative of the former. The name grew more popular, becoming common soon after the seventh century BC and was also turned into the female form  (Achilleía), attested in Attica in the fourth century BC (IG II² 1617) and, in the form Achillia, on a stele in Halicarnassus as the name of a female gladiator fighting an "Amazon".

Achilles' name can be analyzed as a combination of  () "distress, pain, sorrow, grief" and  () "people, soldiers, nation", resulting in a proto-form *Akhí-lāu̯os "he who has the people distressed" or "he whose people have distress". The grief or distress of the people is a theme raised numerous times in the Iliad (and frequently by Achilles himself). Achilles' role as the hero of grief or distress forms an ironic juxtaposition with the conventional view of him as the hero of   ("glory", usually in war). Furthermore, laós has been construed by Gregory Nagy, following Leonard Palmer, to mean "a corps of soldiers", a muster. With this derivation, the name obtains a double meaning in the poem: when the hero is functioning rightly, his men bring distress to the enemy, but when wrongly, his men get the grief of war. The poem is in part about the misdirection of anger on the part of leadership.

Some researchers deem the name a loan word, possibly from a Pre-Greek language. Achilles' descent from the Nereid Thetis and a similarity of his name with those of river deities such as Acheron and Achelous have led to speculations about his being an old water divinity . Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin of the name, based among other things on the coexistence of -λλ- and -λ- in epic language, which may account for a palatalized phoneme /ly/ in the original language.

Birth and early years 

Achilles was the son of Thetisa Nereid and daughter of the Old Man of the Seaand Peleus, the king of the Myrmidons. Zeus and Poseidon had been rivals for Thetis's hand in marriage until Prometheus, the fore-thinker, warned Zeus of a prophecy (originally uttered by Themis, goddess of divine law) that Thetis would bear a son greater than his father. For this reason, the two gods withdrew their pursuit, and had her wed Peleus.

There is a tale which offers an alternative version of these events: In the Argonautica (4.760) Zeus' sister and wife Hera alludes to Thetis' chaste resistance to the advances of Zeus, pointing out that Thetis was so loyal to Hera's marriage bond that she coolly rejected the father of gods. Thetis, although a daughter of the sea-god Nereus, was also brought up by Hera, further explaining her resistance to the advances of Zeus. Zeus was furious and decreed that she would never marry an immortal.

According to the Achilleid, written by Statius in the 1st century AD, and to non-surviving previous sources, when Achilles was born Thetis tried to make him immortal by dipping him in the river Styx; however, he was left vulnerable at the part of the body by which she held him: his left heel . It is not clear if this version of events was known earlier. In another version of this story, Thetis anointed the boy in ambrosia and put him on top of a fire in order to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and abandoned both father and son in a rage.

None of the sources before Statius make any reference to this general invulnerability. To the contrary, in the Iliad, Homer mentions Achilles being wounded: in Book 21 the Paeonian hero Asteropaios, son of Pelagon, challenged Achilles by the river Scamander. He was ambidextrous, and cast a spear from each hand; one grazed Achilles' elbow, "drawing a spurt of blood". In the few fragmentary poems of the Epic Cycle which describe the hero's death (i.e. the Cypria, the Little Iliad by Lesches of Pyrrha, the Aethiopis and Iliupersis by Arctinus of Miletus), there is no trace of any reference to his general invulnerability or his famous weakness at the heel. In the later vase paintings presenting the death of Achilles, the arrow (or in many cases, arrows) hit his torso.

Peleus entrusted Achilles to Chiron, who lived on Mount Pelion and was known as the most righteous of the Centaurs, to be reared. In some accounts, Achilles' original name was "Ligyron" and he was later named Achilles by his tutor Chiron. According to Homer, Achilles grew up in Phthia with his childhood companion Patroclus. Homer further writes that Achilles taught Patroclus what he himself had been taught by Chiron, including the medical arts. Thetis foretold that her son's fate was either to gain glory and die young, or to live a long but uneventful life in obscurity. Achilles chose the former, and decided to take part in the Trojan War. 

According to Photius, the sixth book of the New History by Ptolemy Hephaestion reported that Thetis burned in a secret place the children she had by Peleus. When she had Achilles, Peleus noticed, tore him from the flames with only a burnt foot, and confided him to the centaur Chiron. Later Chiron exhumed the body of the Damysus, who was the fastest of all the giants, removed the ankle, and incorporated it into Achilles' burnt foot.

Physical description 
In the account of Dares the Phrygian, Achilles was described having "... a large chest, a fine mouth, and powerfully formed arms and legs. His head was covered with long wavy chestnut-colored hair. Though mild in manner, he was very fierce in battle. His face showed the joy of a man richly endowed." Homer described Achilles, along with numerous other characters, as being blond.

Other names 
Among the appellations under which Achilles is generally known are the following:
 Pyrisous, "saved from the fire", his first name, which seems to favour the tradition in which his mortal parts were burned by his mother Thetis
 Aeacides, from his grandfather Aeacus
 Aemonius, from Aemonia, a country which afterwards acquired the name of Thessaly
 Aspetos, "inimitable" or "vast", his name at Epirus
 Larissaeus, from Larissa (also called Cremaste), a town of Achaia Phthiotis in Thessaly
 Ligyron, his original name
 Nereius, from his mother Thetis, one of the Nereids
 Pelides, from his father, Peleus
 Phthius, from his birthplace, Phthia
 Podarkes, "swift-footed" (literally, "defending with the foot," from the verb ἀρκέω, "to defend, ward off"); Ptolemy Hephaestion, alternatively, says that it was due to the wings of Arke being attached to his feet.

Hidden on Skyros 

Some post-Homeric sources claim that in order to keep Achilles safe from the war, Thetis (or, in some versions, Peleus) hid the young man dressed as a princess or at least a girl at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros.

There, Achilles, properly disguised, lived among Lycomedes' daughters, perhaps under the name "Pyrrha" (the red-haired girl), Cercysera or Aissa ("swift"). With Lycomedes' daughter Deidamia, with whom he had begun a relationship, Achilles there fathered two sons, Neoptolemus (also called Pyrrhus, after his father's possible alias) and Oneiros. According to this story, Odysseus learned from the prophet Calchas that the Achaeans would be unable to capture Troy without Achilles' aid. Odysseus went to Skyros in the guise of a peddler selling women's clothes and jewellery and placed a shield and spear among his goods. When Achilles instantly took up the spear, Odysseus saw through his disguise and convinced him to join the Greek campaign. In another version of the story, Odysseus arranged for a trumpet alarm to be sounded while he was with Lycomedes' women. While the women fled in panic, Achilles prepared to defend the court, thus giving his identity away.

In the Trojan War 

According to the Iliad, Achilles arrived at Troy with 50 ships, each carrying 50 Myrmidons. He appointed five leaders (each leader commanding 500 Myrmidons): Menesthius, Eudorus, Peisander, Phoenix and Alcimedon.

Telephus 
When the Greeks left for the Trojan War, they accidentally stopped in Mysia, ruled by King Telephus. In the resulting battle, Achilles gave Telephus a wound that would not heal; Telephus consulted an oracle, who stated that "he that wounded shall heal". Guided by the oracle, he arrived at Argos, where Achilles healed him in order that he might become their guide for the voyage to Troy.

According to other reports in Euripides' lost play about Telephus, he went to Aulis pretending to be a beggar and asked Achilles to heal his wound. Achilles refused, claiming to have no medical knowledge. Alternatively, Telephus held Orestes for ransom, the ransom being Achilles' aid in healing the wound. Odysseus reasoned that the spear had inflicted the wound; therefore, the spear must be able to heal it. Pieces of the spear were scraped off onto the wound and Telephus was healed.

Troilus 

According to the Cypria (the part of the Epic Cycle that tells the events of the Trojan War before Achilles' wrath), when the Achaeans desired to return home, they were restrained by Achilles, who afterwards attacked the cattle of Aeneas, sacked neighbouring cities (like Pedasus and Lyrnessus, where the Greeks capture the queen Briseis) and killed Tenes, a son of Apollo, as well as Priam's son Troilus in the sanctuary of Apollo Thymbraios; however, the romance between Troilus and Chryseis described in Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and in William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida is a medieval invention.

In Dares Phrygius' Account of the Destruction of Troy, the Latin summary through which the story of Achilles was transmitted to medieval Europe, as well as in older accounts, Troilus was a young Trojan prince, the youngest of King Priam's and Hecuba's five legitimate sons (or according other sources, another son of Apollo). Despite his youth, he was one of the main Trojan war leaders, a "horse fighter" or "chariot fighter" according to Homer. Prophecies linked Troilus' fate to that of Troy and so he was ambushed in an attempt to capture him. Yet Achilles, struck by the beauty of both Troilus and his sister Polyxena, and overcome with lust, directed his sexual attentions on the youth – who, refusing to yield, instead found himself decapitated upon an altar-omphalos of Apollo Thymbraios. Later versions of the story suggested Troilus was accidentally killed by Achilles in an over-ardent lovers' embrace. In this version of the myth, Achilles' death therefore came in retribution for this sacrilege. Ancient writers treated Troilus as the epitome of a dead child mourned by his parents. Had Troilus lived to adulthood, the First Vatican Mythographer claimed, Troy would have been invincible; however, the motif is older and found already in Plautus' Bacchides.

In the Iliad 

Homer's Iliad is the most famous narrative of Achilles' deeds in the Trojan War. Achilles' wrath (μῆνις Ἀχιλλέως, mênis Achilléōs) is the central theme of the poem. The first two lines of the Iliad read:

The Homeric epic only covers a few weeks of the decade-long war, and does not narrate Achilles' death. It begins with Achilles' withdrawal from battle after being dishonoured by Agamemnon, the commander of the Achaean forces. Agamemnon has taken a woman named Chryseis as his slave. Her father Chryses, a priest of Apollo, begs Agamemnon to return her to him. Agamemnon refuses, and Apollo sends a plague amongst the Greeks. The prophet Calchas correctly determines the source of the troubles but will not speak unless Achilles vows to protect him. Achilles does so, and Calchas declares that Chryseis must be returned to her father. Agamemnon consents, but then commands that Achilles' battle prize Briseis, the daughter of Briseus, be brought to him to replace Chryseis. Angry at the dishonour of having his plunder and glory taken away (and, as he says later, because he loves Briseis), with the urging of his mother Thetis, Achilles refuses to fight or lead his troops alongside the other Greek forces. At the same time, burning with rage over Agamemnon's theft, Achilles prays to Thetis to convince Zeus to help the Trojans gain ground in the war, so that he may regain his honour.

As the battle turns against the Greeks, thanks to the influence of Zeus, Nestor declares that the Trojans are winning because Agamemnon has angered Achilles, and urges the king to appease the warrior. Agamemnon agrees and sends Odysseus and two other chieftains, Ajax and Phoenix. They promise that, if Achilles returns to battle, Agamemnon will return the captive Briseis and other gifts. Achilles rejects all Agamemnon offers him and simply urges the Greeks to sail home as he was planning to do.

The Trojans, led by Hector, subsequently push the Greek army back toward the beaches and assault the Greek ships. With the Greek forces on the verge of absolute destruction, Patroclus leads the Myrmidons into battle, wearing Achilles' armour, though Achilles remains at his camp. Patroclus succeeds in pushing the Trojans back from the beaches, but is killed by Hector before he can lead a proper assault on the city of Troy.

After receiving the news of the death of Patroclus from Antilochus, the son of Nestor, Achilles grieves over his beloved companion's death. His mother Thetis comes to comfort the distraught Achilles. She persuades Hephaestus to make new armour for him, in place of the armour that Patroclus had been wearing, which was taken by Hector. The new armour includes the Shield of Achilles, described in great detail in the poem.

Enraged over the death of Patroclus, Achilles ends his refusal to fight and takes the field, killing many men in his rage but always seeking out Hector. Achilles even engages in battle with the river god Scamander, who has become angry that Achilles is choking his waters with all the men he has killed. The god tries to drown Achilles but is stopped by Hera and Hephaestus. Zeus himself takes note of Achilles' rage and sends the gods to restrain him so that he will not go on to sack Troy itself before the time allotted for its destruction, seeming to show that the unhindered rage of Achilles can defy fate itself. Finally, Achilles finds his prey. Achilles chases Hector around the wall of Troy three times before Athena, in the form of Hector's favorite and dearest brother, Deiphobus, persuades Hector to stop running and fight Achilles face to face. After Hector realizes the trick, he knows the battle is inevitable. Wanting to go down fighting, he charges at Achilles with his only weapon, his sword, but misses. Accepting his fate, Hector begs Achilles not to spare his life, but to treat his body with respect after killing him. Achilles tells Hector it is hopeless to expect that of him, declaring that "my rage, my fury would drive me now to hack your flesh away and eat you raw – such agonies you have caused me". Achilles then kills Hector and drags his corpse by its heels behind his chariot. After having a dream where Patroclus begs Achilles to hold his funeral, Achilles hosts a series of funeral games in honour of his companion.

At the onset of his duel with Hector, Achilles is referred to as the brightest star in the sky, which comes on in the autumn, Orion's dog (Sirius); a sign of evil. During the cremation of Patroclus, he is compared to Hesperus, the evening/western star (Venus), while the burning of the funeral pyre lasts until Phosphorus, the morning/eastern star (also Venus) has set (descended).

With the assistance of the god Hermes (Argeiphontes), Hector's father Priam goes to Achilles' tent to plead with Achilles for the return of Hector's body so that he can be buried. Achilles relents and promises a truce for the duration of the funeral, lasting 9 days with a burial on the 10th (in the tradition of Niobe's offspring). The poem ends with a description of Hector's funeral, with the doom of Troy and Achilles himself still to come.

Later epic accounts: fighting Penthesilea and Memnon 

The Aethiopis (7th century BC) and a work named Posthomerica, composed by Quintus of Smyrna in the fourth century CE, relate further events from the Trojan War. When Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons and daughter of Ares, arrives in Troy, Priam hopes that she will defeat Achilles. After his temporary truce with Priam, Achilles fights and kills the warrior queen, only to grieve over her death later. Initially taken aback, he did not fight as intensely as usual. Once he realized that his distraction was endangering his life, he refocused and killed her.

Following the death of Patroclus, Nestor's son Antilochus becomes Achilles' closest companion. When Memnon, son of the Dawn Goddess Eos and king of Ethiopia, slays Antilochus, Achilles once more obtains revenge on the battlefield, killing Memnon. Consequently, Eos will not let the sun rise until Zeus persuades her. The fight between Achilles and Memnon over Antilochus echoes that of Achilles and Hector over Patroclus, except that Memnon (unlike Hector) was also the son of a goddess.

Many Homeric scholars argued that episode inspired many details in the Iliads description of the death of Patroclus and Achilles' reaction to it. The episode then formed the basis of the cyclic epic Aethiopis, which was composed after the Iliad, possibly in the 7th century BC. The Aethiopis is now lost, except for scattered fragments quoted by later authors.

Achilles and Patroclus 

The exact nature of Achilles' relationship with Patroclus has been a subject of dispute in both the classical period and modern times. In the Iliad, it appears to be the model of a deep and loyal friendship. Homer does not suggest that Achilles and his close friend Patroclus had sexual relations. Although there is no direct evidence in the text of the Iliad that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers, this theory was expressed by some later authors. Commentators from classical antiquity to the present have often interpreted the relationship through the lens of their own cultures. In 5th-century BC Athens, the intense bond was often viewed in light of the Greek custom of paiderasteia, which is the relationship between an older male and a younger one, usually a teenager. In Patroclus and Achilles' case, Achilles would have been the younger as Patroclus is usually seen as his elder. In Plato's Symposium, the participants in a dialogue about love assume that Achilles and Patroclus were a couple; Phaedrus argues that Achilles was the younger and more beautiful one so he was the beloved and Patroclus was the lover. However, ancient Greek had no words to distinguish heterosexual and homosexual, and it was assumed that a man could both desire handsome young men and have sex with women. Many pairs of men throughout history have been compared to Achilles and Patroclus to imply a homosexual relationship.

Death 

The death of Achilles, even if considered solely as it occurred in the oldest sources, is a complex one, with many different versions. Starting with the oldest account, In the Iliad Book XXII, Hector predicts with his last dying breath that Paris and Apollo will slay him at the Scaean Gates leading to Troy (with an arrow to the heel according to Statius). In Book XXIII, the sad spirit of dead Patroclus visits Achilles just as he drifts off into slumber, requesting that his bones be placed with those of Achilles in his golden vase, a gift of his mother.

In the Odyssey Book XI, Odysseus sails to the underworld and converses with the shades. One of these is Achilles, who when greeted as "blessed in life, blessed in death", responds that he would rather be a slave to the worst of masters than be king of all the dead. But Achilles then asks Odysseus of his son's exploits in the Trojan war, and Odysseus tells him of Neoptolemus' actions.

In the Odyssey Book XXIV we read dead King Agamemnon's ghostly account of his death: Achilles' funeral pyre bleached bones had been mixed with those of Patroclus and put into his mother's golden vase. Also, the bones of Antilocus, who had become closer to Achilles than any other following Patroclus' death, were separately enclosed. And, the customary funeral games of a hero were performed, and a massive tomb or mound was built on the Hellespont for approaching seagoers to celebrate.

Achilles was represented in the Aethiopis as living after his death in the island of Leuke at the mouth of the river Danube. Another version of Achilles' death is that he fell deeply in love with one of the Trojan princesses, Polyxena. Achilles asks Priam for Polyxena's hand in marriage. Priam is willing because it would mean the end of the war and an alliance with the world's greatest warrior. But while Priam is overseeing the private marriage of Polyxena and Achilles, Paris, who would have to give up Helen if Achilles married his sister, hides in the bushes and shoots Achilles with a divine arrow, killing him. According to some accounts, he had married Medea in life, so that after both their deaths they were united in the Elysian Fields of Hades – as Hera promised Thetis in Apollonius' Argonautica (3rd century BC).

Fate of Achilles' armour 

Achilles' armour was the object of a feud between Odysseus and Telamonian Ajax (Ajax the greater). They competed for it by giving speeches on why they were the bravest after Achilles to their Trojan prisoners, who, after considering both men's presentations, decided Odysseus was more deserving of the armour. Furious, Ajax cursed Odysseus, which earned him the ire of Athena, who temporarily made Ajax so mad with grief and anguish that he began killing sheep, thinking them his comrades. After a while, when Athena lifted his madness and Ajax realized that he had actually been killing sheep, he was so ashamed that he committed suicide. Odysseus eventually gave the armour to Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. When Odysseus encounters the shade of Ajax much later in the House of Hades (Odyssey 11.543–566), Ajax is still so angry about the outcome of the competition that he refuses to speak to Odysseus.

The armour they fought for was made by Hephaestus and thus much stronger and more beautiful than any armour a mortal could craft. Thetis had the gear made for Achilles because his first set was worn by Patroclus when he went to battle and taken by Hector when he killed Patroclus. The Shield of Achilles was also made by the fire god. His legendary spear was given to him by his mentor Chiron before he participated in the Trojan War. It was called the Pelian Spear, which allegedly no other man could wield.

A relic claimed to be Achilles' bronze-headed spear was preserved for centuries in the temple of Athena on the acropolis of Phaselis, Lycia, a port on the Pamphylian Gulf. The city was visited in 333 BC by Alexander the Great, who envisioned himself as the new Achilles and carried the Iliad with him, but his court biographers do not mention the spear; however, it was shown in the time of Pausanias in the 2nd century CE.

Achilles, Ajax and a game of petteia 

Numerous paintings on pottery have suggested a tale not mentioned in the literary traditions. At some point in the war, Achilles and Ajax were playing a board game (petteia). They were absorbed in the game and oblivious to the surrounding battle. The Trojans attacked and reached the heroes, who were saved only by an intervention of Athena.

Worship and heroic cult 

The tomb of Achilles, extant throughout antiquity in Troad, was venerated by Thessalians, but also by Persian expeditionary forces, as well as by Alexander the Great and the Roman emperor Caracalla. Achilles' cult was also to be found at other places, e. g. on the island of Astypalaea in the Sporades, in Sparta which had a sanctuary, in Elis and in Achilles' homeland Thessaly, as well as in the Magna Graecia cities of Tarentum, Locri and Croton, accounting for an almost Panhellenic cult to the hero.

The cult of Achilles is illustrated in the 500 BC Polyxena sarcophagus, which depicts the sacrifice of Polyxena near the tumulus of Achilles. Strabo (13.1.32) also suggested that such a cult of Achilles existed in Troad:

The spread and intensity of the hero's veneration among the Greeks that had settled on the northern coast of the Pontus Euxinus, today's Black Sea, appears to have been remarkable. An archaic cult is attested for the Milesian colony of Olbia as well as for an island in the middle of the Black Sea, today identified with Snake Island (Ukrainian Зміїний, Zmiinyi, near Kiliya, Ukraine). Early dedicatory inscriptions from the Greek colonies on the Black Sea (graffiti and inscribed clay disks, these possibly being votive offerings, from Olbia, the area of Berezan Island and the Tauric Chersonese) attest the existence of a heroic cult of Achilles from the sixth century BC onwards. The cult was still thriving in the third century CE, when dedicatory stelae from Olbia refer to an Achilles Pontárchēs (Ποντάρχης, roughly "lord of the Sea," or "of the Pontus Euxinus"), who was invoked as a protector of the city of Olbia, venerated on par with Olympian gods such as the local Apollo Prostates, Hermes Agoraeus, or Poseidon.

Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) in his Natural History mentions a "port of the Achæi" and an "island of Achilles", famous for the tomb of that "man" (), situated somewhat nearby Olbia and the Dnieper-Bug Estuary; furthermore, at 125 Roman miles from this island, he places a peninsula "which stretches forth in the shape of a sword" obliquely, called Dromos Achilleos (Ἀχιλλέως δρόμος, Achilléōs drómos "the Race-course of Achilles") and considered the place of the hero's exercise or of games instituted by him. This last feature of Pliny's account is considered to be the iconic spit, called today Tendra (or Kosa Tendra and Kosa Djarilgatch), situated between the mouth of the Dnieper and Karkinit Bay, but which is hardly 125 Roman miles ( km) away from the Dnieper-Bug estuary, as Pliny states. (To the "Race-course" he gives a length of 80 miles,  km, whereas the spit measures  km today.)

In the following chapter of his book, Pliny refers to the same island as Achillea and introduces two further names for it: Leuce or Macaron (from Greek [νῆσος] μακαρῶν "island of the blest"). The "present day" measures, he gives at this point, seem to account for an identification of Achillea or Leuce with today's Snake Island. Pliny's contemporary Pomponius Mela () tells that Achilles was buried on an island named Achillea, situated between the Borysthenes and the Ister, adding to the geographical confusion. Ruins of a square temple, measuring 30 meters to a side, possibly that dedicated to Achilles, were discovered by Captain Kritzikly () in 1823 on Snake Island. A second exploration in 1840 showed that the construction of a lighthouse had destroyed all traces of this temple. A fifth century BC black-glazed lekythos inscription, found on the island in 1840, reads: "Glaukos, son of Poseidon, dedicated me to Achilles, lord of Leuke." In another inscription from the fifth or fourth century BC, a statue is dedicated to Achilles, lord of Leuke, by a citizen of Olbia, while in a further dedication, the city of Olbia confirms its continuous maintenance of the island's cult, again suggesting its quality as a place of a supra-regional hero veneration.

The heroic cult dedicated to Achilles on Leuce seems to go back to an account from the lost epic Aethiopis according to which, after his untimely death, Thetis had snatched her son from the funeral pyre and removed him to a mythical  (Leúkē Nêsos "White Island"). Already in the fifth century BC, Pindar had mentioned a cult of Achilles on a "bright island" (φαεννά νᾶσος, phaenná nâsos) of the Black Sea, while in another of his works, Pindar would retell the story of the immortalized Achilles living on a geographically indefinite Island of the Blest together with other heroes such as his father Peleus and Cadmus. Well known is the connection of these mythological Fortunate Isles (μακαρῶν νῆσοι, makárôn nêsoi) or the Homeric Elysium with the stream Oceanus which according to Greek mythology surrounds the inhabited world, which should have accounted for the identification of the northern strands of the Euxine with it. Guy Hedreen has found further evidence for this connection of Achilles with the northern margin of the inhabited world in a poem by Alcaeus, speaking of "Achilles lord of Scythia" and the opposition of North and South, as evoked by Achilles' fight against the Aethiopian prince Memnon, who in his turn would be removed to his homeland by his mother Eos after his death.

The Periplus of the Euxine Sea () gives the following details:

The Greek geographer Dionysius Periegetes, who likely lived during the first century CE, wrote that the island was called Leuce "because the wild animals which live there are white. It is said that there, in Leuce island, reside the souls of Achilles and other heroes, and that they wander through the uninhabited valleys of this island; this is how Jove rewarded the men who had distinguished themselves through their virtues, because through virtue they had acquired everlasting honour". Similarly, others relate the island's name to its white cliffs, snakes or birds dwelling there. Pausanias has been told that the island is "covered with forests and full of animals, some wild, some tame. In this island there is also Achilles' temple and his statue". Leuce had also a reputation as a place of healing. Pausanias reports that the Delphic Pythia sent a lord of Croton to be cured of a chest wound. Ammianus Marcellinus attributes the healing to waters (aquae) on the island.

Strabo mentioned that the cape of the Racecourse of Achilles was sacred to Achilles and although it was treeless, was called Alsos (ἄλσος). Alsos in Greek means "grove".

A number of important commercial port cities of the Greek waters were dedicated to Achilles. Herodotus, Pliny the Elder and Strabo reported on the existence of a town Achílleion (Ἀχίλλειον), built by settlers from Mytilene in the sixth century BC, close to the hero's presumed burial mound in the Troad. Later attestations point to an Achílleion in Messenia (according to Stephanus Byzantinus) and an Achílleios (Ἀχίλλειος) in Laconia. Nicolae Densuşianu recognized a connection to Achilles in the names of Aquileia and of the northern arm of the Danube delta, called Chilia (presumably from an older Achileii), though his conclusion, that Leuce had sovereign rights over the Black Sea, evokes modern rather than archaic sea-law.

The kings of Epirus claimed to be descended from Achilles through his son, Neoptolemus. Alexander the Great, son of the Epirote princess Olympias, could therefore also claim this descent, and in many ways strove to be like his great ancestor. He is said to have visited the tomb of Achilles at Achilleion while passing Troy. In AD 216 the Roman Emperor Caracalla, while on his way to war against Parthia, emulated Alexander by holding games around Achilles' tumulus.

Reception during antiquity

In Greek tragedy 

The Greek tragedian Aeschylus wrote a trilogy of plays about Achilles, given the title Achilleis by modern scholars. The tragedies relate the deeds of Achilles during the Trojan War, including his defeat of Hector and eventual death when an arrow shot by Paris and guided by Apollo punctures his heel. Extant fragments of the Achilleis and other Aeschylean fragments have been assembled to produce a workable modern play. The first part of the Achilleis trilogy, The Myrmidons, focused on the relationship between Achilles and chorus, who represent the Achaean army and try to convince Achilles to give up his quarrel with Agamemnon; only a few lines survive today. In Plato's Symposium, Phaedrus points out that Aeschylus portrayed Achilles as the lover and Patroclus as the beloved; Phaedrus argues that this is incorrect because Achilles, being the younger and more beautiful of the two, was the beloved, who loved his lover so much that he chose to die to avenge him.

The tragedian Sophocles also wrote The Lovers of Achilles, a play with Achilles as the main character. Only a few fragments survive.

Towards the end of the 5th century BC, a more negative view of Achilles emerges in Greek drama; Euripides refers to Achilles in a bitter or ironic tone in Hecuba, Electra, and Iphigenia in Aulis.

In Greek philosophy

Zeno
The philosopher Zeno of Elea centred one of his paradoxes on an imaginary footrace between "swift-footed" Achilles and a tortoise, by which he attempted to show that Achilles could not catch up to a tortoise with a head start, and therefore that motion and change were impossible. As a student of the monist Parmenides and a member of the Eleatic school, Zeno believed time and motion to be illusions.

Plato
In Hippias Minor, a Socratic dialogue attributed to Plato, an arrogant man named Hippias argues with Socrates. The two get into a discussion about lying. They decide that a person who is intentionally false must be "better" than a person who is unintentionally false, on the basis that someone who lies intentionally must understand the subject about which they are lying. Socrates uses various analogies, discussing athletics and the sciences to prove his point. The two also reference Homer extensively. Socrates and Hippias agree that Odysseus, who concocted a number of lies throughout the Odyssey and other stories in the Trojan War Cycle, was false intentionally. Achilles, like Odysseus, told numerous falsehoods. Hippias believes that Achilles was a generally honest man, while Socrates believes that Achilles lied for his own benefit. The two argue over whether it is better to lie on purpose or by accident. Socrates eventually abandons Homeric arguments and makes sports analogies to drive home the point: someone who does wrong on purpose is a better person than someone who does wrong unintentionally.

In Roman and medieval literature 
The Romans, who traditionally traced their lineage to Troy, took a highly negative view of Achilles. Virgil refers to Achilles as a savage and a merciless butcher of men, while Horace portrays Achilles ruthlessly slaying women and children. Other writers, such as Catullus, Propertius, and Ovid, represent a second strand of disparagement, with an emphasis on Achilles' erotic career. This strand continues in Latin accounts of the Trojan War by writers such as Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius and in Benoît de Sainte-Maure's  and Guido delle Colonne's Historia destructionis Troiae, which remained the most widely read and retold versions of the Matter of Troy until the 17th century.

Achilles was described by the Byzantine chronicler Leo the Deacon, not as Hellene, but as Scythian, while according to the Byzantine author John Malalas, his army was made up of a tribe previously known as Myrmidons and later as Bulgars.

In modern literature and arts

Literature
 Achilles appears in Dante's Inferno (composed 1308–1320). He is seen in Hell's second circle, that of lust.
 Achilles is portrayed as a former hero who has become lazy and devoted to the love of Patroclus, in William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida (1602). Despicably, he has his Myrmidons murder the unarmed Hector, and then gets them to announce that Achilles himself has slain Hector, as if it had been in a fair fight (Act 5.9.5-14).
 The French dramatist Thomas Corneille wrote a tragedy La Mort d'Achille (1673).
 Achilles is the subject of the poem Achilleis (1799), a fragment by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
 In 1899, the Polish playwright, painter and poet Stanisław Wyspiański published a national drama, based on Polish history, named Achilles.
 In 1921, Edward Shanks published The Island of Youth and Other Poems, concerned among others with Achilles.
 The 1983 novel Kassandra by Christa Wolf also treats the death of Achilles.
 H.D.'s 1961 long poem Helen in Egypt features Achilles prominently as a figure whose irrational hatred of Helen traumatizes her, the bulk of the poem's plot being about her recovery.
 Akhilles is killed by a poisoned Kentaur arrow shot by Kassandra in Marion Zimmer Bradley's novel The Firebrand (1987).
 Achilles is one of various 'narrators' in Colleen McCullough's novel The Song of Troy (1998).
 The Death of Achilles (Смерть Ахиллеса, 1998) is an historical detective novel by Russian writer Boris Akunin that alludes to various figures and motifs from the Iliad.
 The character Achilles in Ender's Shadow (1999), by Orson Scott Card, shares his namesake's cunning mind and ruthless attitude.
 Achilles is one of the main characters in Dan Simmons's novels Ilium (2003) and Olympos (2005).
 Achilles is a major supporting character in David Gemmell's Troy series of books (2005–2007).
 Achilles is the main character in David Malouf's novel Ransom (2009).
 The ghost of Achilles appears in Rick Riordan's The Last Olympian (2009). He warns Percy Jackson about the Curse of Achilles and its side effects.
 Achilles is a main character in Terence Hawkins' 2009 novel The Rage of Achilles.
 Achilles is a major character in Madeline Miller's debut novel, The Song of Achilles (2011), which won the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction. The novel explores the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles from boyhood to the fateful events of the Iliad.
 Achilles appears in the light novel series Fate/Apocrypha (2012–2014) as the Rider of Red.
 Achilles is a main character in Pat Barker's 2018 novel The Silence of the Girls, much of which is narrated by his slave Briseis.
Achilles is the main character of Wrath Goddess Sing, a 2022 novel by Maya Deane, depicted as a transgender woman and daughter of Athena.

Visual arts 
 Achilles with the Daughters of Lycomedes is a subject treated in paintings by Anthony van Dyck (before 1618; Museo del Prado, Madrid) and Nicolas Poussin (; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) among others.
 Peter Paul Rubens has authored a series of works on the life of Achilles, comprising the titles: Thetis dipping the infant Achilles into the river Styx, Achilles educated by the centaur Chiron, Achilles recognized among the daughters of Lycomedes, The wrath of Achilles, The death of Hector, Thetis receiving the arms of Achilles from Vulcanus, The death of Achilles (Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam), and Briseis restored to Achilles (Detroit Institute of Arts; all –1635)
 Pieter van Lint, "Achilles Discovered among the Daughters of Lycomedes", 1645, at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem
 Dying Achilles is a sculpture created by Christophe Veyrier (; Victoria and Albert Museum, London).
 The Rage of Achilles is a fresco by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1757, Villa Valmarana Ai Nani, Vicenza).
 Eugène Delacroix painted a version of The Education of Achilles for the ceiling of the Paris Palais Bourbon (1833–1847), one of the seats of the French Parliament.
  created a statue group Achilles and Penthesilea (1895; Vienna).
 Achilleus (1908) is a lithography by Max Slevogt.

Music 
Achilles has been frequently the subject of operas, ballets and related genres.
 Operas titled Deidamia were composed by Francesco Cavalli (1644) and George Frideric Handel (1739).
 Achille et Polyxène (Paris 1687) is an opera begun by Jean-Baptiste Lully and finished by Pascal Collasse.
 Achille et Déidamie (Paris 1735) is an opera composed by André Campra.
 Achilles (London 1733) is a ballad opera, written by John Gay, parodied by Thomas Arne as Achilles in petticoats in 1773.
 Achille in Sciro is a libretto by Metastasio, composed by Domenico Sarro for the inauguration of the Teatro di San Carlo (Naples, 4 November 1737). An even earlier composition is from Antonio Caldara (Vienna 1736). Later operas on the same libretto were composed by Leonardo Leo (Turin 1739), Niccolò Jommelli (Vienna 1749 and Rome 1772), Giuseppe Sarti (Copenhagen 1759 and Florence 1779), Johann Adolph Hasse (Naples 1759), Giovanni Paisiello (St. Petersburg 1772), Giuseppe Gazzaniga (Palermo 1781) and many others. It has also been set to music as Il Trionfo della gloria.
 Achille (Vienna 1801) is an opera by Ferdinando Paër on a libretto by Giovanni de Gamerra.
 Achille à Scyros (Paris 1804) is a ballet by Pierre Gardel, composed by Luigi Cherubini.
 Achilles, oder Das zerstörte Troja ("Achilles, or Troy Destroyed", Bonn 1885) is an oratorio by the German composer Max Bruch.
 Achilles auf Skyros (Stuttgart 1926) is a ballet by the Austrian-British composer and musicologist Egon Wellesz.
 Achilles' Wrath is a concert piece by Sean O'Loughlin.
 Temporary Like Achilles is a track on the 1966 double-album Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan
 Achilles Last Stand is a track on the 1976 Led Zeppelin album Presence.
 Achilles, Agony and Ecstasy in Eight Parts is the first song on the 1992 Manowar album The Triumph of Steel.
 Achilles Come Down is a song on the 2017 Gang of Youths album Go Farther in Lightness.

Film and television
In films Achilles has been portrayed in the following films and television series:
 The 1924 film Helena by Carlo Aldini
 The 1954 film Ulysses by Piero Lulli
 The 1956 film Helen of Troy by Stanley Baker
 The 1961 film The Trojan Horse by Arturo Dominici
 The 1962 film The Fury of Achilles by Gordon Mitchell
 The 1997 television miniseries The Odyssey by Richard Trewett
 The 2003 television miniseries Helen of Troy by Joe Montana
 The 2004 film Troy by Brad Pitt
 The 2018 TV series Troy: Fall of a City by David Gyasi

Architecture

 In 1890, Elisabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Austria, had a summer palace built in Corfu. The building is named the Achilleion, after Achilles. Its paintings and statuary depict scenes from the Trojan War, with particular focus on Achilles.
 The Wellington Monument is a statue representing Achilles erected in 1822 as a memorial to Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington, and his victories in the Peninsular War and the latter stages of the Napoleonic Wars.

Namesakes 
 The name of Achilles has been used for at least nine Royal Navy warships since 1744 – both as  and with the French spelling . A 60-gun ship of that name served at the Battle of Belleisle in 1761 while a 74-gun ship served at the Battle of Trafalgar. Other battle honours include Walcheren 1809. An armored cruiser of that name served in the Royal Navy during the First World War.
  was a  which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. It became famous for its part in the Battle of the River Plate, alongside  and . In addition to earning the battle honour 'River Plate', HMNZS Achilles also served at Guadalcanal 1942–1943 and Okinawa in 1945. After returning to the Royal Navy, the ship was sold to the Indian Navy in 1948, but when she was scrapped parts of the ship were saved and preserved in New Zealand.
 A species of lizard, Anolis achilles, which has widened heel plates, is named for Achilles.

Gallery

References

Further reading 
 Ileana Chirassi Colombo (1977), "Heroes Achilleus – Theos Apollon." In Il Mito Greco, edd. Bruno Gentili and Giuseppe Paione. Rome: Edizione dell'Ateneo e Bizzarri.
 Anthony Edwards (1985a), "Achilles in the Underworld: Iliad, Odyssey, and Æthiopis". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 26: pp. 215–227.
 Anthony Edwards (1985b), "Achilles in the Odyssey: Ideologies of Heroism in the Homeric Epic". Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie. 171.
 
 Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths, Harmondsworth, London, England, Penguin Books, 1960. 
Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition. Penguin Books Limited. 2017. 

 

 
 Hélène Monsacré (1984), Les larmes d'Achille. Le héros, la femme et la souffrance dans la poésie d'Homère, Paris: Albin Michel.
 Gregory Nagy (1984), The Name of Achilles: Questions of Etymology and 'Folk Etymology, Illinois Classical Studies. 19.
 Gregory Nagy (1999), The Best of The Acheans: Concepts of the Hero in Archaic Greek Poetry. Johns Hopkins University Press (revised edition, online ).
 
 Dale S. Sinos (1991), The Entry of Achilles into Greek Epic, PhD thesis, Johns Hopkins University. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms International.
 Jonathan S. Burgess (2009), The Death and Afterlife of Achilles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
 Abrantes, M.C. (2016), Themes of the Trojan Cycle: Contribution to the study of the greek mythological tradition (Coimbra).

External links 

 Trojan War Resources
 Gallery of the Ancient Art: Achilles
  Poem by Florence Earle Coates

Greek mythological heroes
Kings of the Myrmidons
Achaean Leaders
Thessalians in the Trojan War
Metamorphoses characters
Mythological rapists
Demigods in classical mythology
LGBT themes in Greek mythology
 
Deeds of Apollo
Medea
Fictional LGBT characters in literature
Princes in Greek mythology

Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the Union through the American Civil War to defend the nation as a constitutional union and succeeded in defeating the insurgent Confederacy, abolishing slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

Lincoln was born into poverty in a log cabin in Kentucky and was raised on the frontier, primarily in Indiana. He was self-educated and became a lawyer, Whig Party leader, Illinois state legislator, and U.S. congressman from Illinois. In 1849, he returned to his successful law practice in Springfield, Illinois. In 1854, he was angered by the Kansas–Nebraska Act, which opened the territories to slavery, causing him to re-enter politics. He soon became a leader of the new Republican Party. He reached a national audience in the 1858 Senate campaign debates against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln ran for president in 1860, sweeping the North to gain victory. Pro-slavery elements in the South viewed his election as a threat to slavery, and Southern states began seceding from the nation. During this time, the newly formed Confederate States of America began seizing federal military bases in the South. A little over one month after Lincoln assumed the presidency, Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, a U.S. fort in South Carolina. Following the bombardment, Lincoln mobilized forces to suppress the rebellion and restore the union.

Lincoln, a moderate Republican, had to navigate a contentious array of factions with friends and opponents from both the Democratic and Republican parties. His allies, the War Democrats and the Radical Republicans, demanded harsh treatment of the Southern Confederates. He managed the factions by exploiting their mutual enmity, carefully distributing political patronage, and by appealing to the American people. Anti-war Democrats (called "Copperheads") despised Lincoln, and some irreconcilable pro-Confederate elements went so far as to plot his assassination. His Gettysburg Address came to be seen as one of the greatest and most influential statements of American national purpose. Lincoln closely supervised the strategy and tactics in the war effort, including the selection of generals, and implemented a naval blockade of the South's trade. He suspended habeas corpus in Maryland and elsewhere, and averted British intervention by defusing the Trent Affair. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared the slaves in the states "in rebellion" to be free. It also directed the Army and Navy to "recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons", and to receive them "into the armed service of the United States." Lincoln pressured border states to outlaw slavery, and he promoted the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which abolished slavery, except as punishment for a crime.

Lincoln managed his own successful re-election campaign. He sought to heal the war-torn nation through reconciliation. On April 14, 1865, just five days after the war's end at Appomattox, he was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Mary, when he was fatally shot by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln is remembered as a martyr and a national hero for his wartime leadership and for his efforts to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. Lincoln is often ranked in both popular and scholarly polls as the greatest president in American history.

Family and childhood

Early life

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, the second child of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks Lincoln, in a log cabin on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. He was a descendant of Samuel Lincoln, an Englishman who migrated from Hingham, Norfolk, to its namesake, Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1638. The family then migrated west, passing through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Lincoln was also a descendant of the Harrison family of Virginia; his paternal grandfather and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln and wife Bathsheba (née Herring) moved the family from Virginia to Jefferson County, Kentucky. The captain was killed in an Indian raid in 1786. His children, including eight-year-old Thomas, Abraham's father, witnessed the attack. Thomas then worked at odd jobs in Kentucky and Tennessee before the family settled in Hardin County, Kentucky, in the early 1800s.

Lincoln's mother Nancy Lincoln is widely assumed to be the daughter of Lucy Hanks. Thomas and Nancy married on June 12, 1806, in Washington County, and moved to Elizabethtown, Kentucky. They had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas, who died as an infant.

Thomas Lincoln bought or leased farms in Kentucky before losing all but  of his land in court disputes over property titles. In 1816, the family moved to Indiana where the land surveys and titles were more reliable. Indiana was a "free" (non-slaveholding) territory, and they settled in an "unbroken forest" in Hurricane Township, Perry County, Indiana. In 1860, Lincoln noted that the family's move to Indiana was "partly on account of slavery", but mainly due to land title difficulties.

In Kentucky and Indiana, Thomas worked as a farmer, cabinetmaker, and carpenter. At various times, he owned farms, livestock, and town lots, paid taxes, sat on juries, appraised estates, and served on county patrols. Thomas and Nancy were members of a Separate Baptists church, which forbade alcohol, dancing, and slavery.

Overcoming financial challenges, Thomas in 1827 obtained clear title to  in Indiana, an area which became the Little Pigeon Creek Community.

Mother's death
On October 5, 1818, Nancy Lincoln died from milk sickness, leaving 11-year-old Sarah in charge of a household including her father, 9-year-old Abraham, and Nancy's 19-year-old orphan cousin, Dennis Hanks. Ten years later, on January 20, 1828, Sarah died while giving birth to a stillborn son, devastating Lincoln.

On December 2, 1819, Thomas married Sarah Bush Johnston, a widow from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, with three children of her own. Abraham became close to his stepmother and called her "Mother". Lincoln disliked the hard labor associated with farm life. His family even said he was lazy, for all his "reading, scribbling, writing, ciphering, writing Poetry, etc.". His stepmother acknowledged he did not enjoy "physical labor", but loved to read.

Education and move to Illinois
Lincoln was largely self-educated. His formal schooling was from itinerant teachers. It included two short stints in Kentucky, where he learned to read but probably not to write, at age seven, and in Indiana, where he went to school sporadically due to farm chores, for a total of fewer than 12 months in aggregate by the age of 15. He persisted as an avid reader and retained a lifelong interest in learning. Family, neighbors, and schoolmates recalled that his reading included the King James Bible, Aesop's Fables, John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Despite being self-educated, Lincoln was the recipient of honorary degrees later in life, including an honorary Doctor of Laws from Columbia University in June 1861.

As a teen, Lincoln took responsibility for chores and customarily gave his father all earnings from work outside the home until he was 21. Lincoln was tall, strong, and athletic, and became adept at using an ax. He was an active wrestler during his youth and trained in the rough catch-as-catch-can style (also known as catch wrestling). He became county wrestling champion at the age of 21. He gained a reputation for strength and audacity after winning a wrestling match with the renowned leader of ruffians known as "the Clary's Grove Boys".

In March 1830, fearing another milk sickness outbreak, several members of the extended Lincoln family, including Abraham, moved west to Illinois, a free state, and settled in Macon County. Abraham then became increasingly distant from Thomas, in part due to his father's lack of education. In 1831, as Thomas and other family members prepared to move to a new homestead in Coles County, Illinois, Abraham struck out on his own. He made his home in New Salem, Illinois, for six years. Lincoln and some friends took goods, including live hogs, by flatboat to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he first witnessed slavery.

Marriage and children

Speculation persists that Lincoln's first romantic interest was Ann Rutledge, whom he met when he moved to New Salem. Witness testimony, given decades afterward, showed a lack of any specific recollection of a romance between the two. Rutledge died on August 25, 1835, most likely of typhoid fever; saying that he could not bear the idea of rain falling on Ann's grave, Lincoln sunk into a serious episode of depression, and this gave rise to speculation that he had been in love with her.

In the early 1830s, he met Mary Owens from Kentucky. Late in 1836, Lincoln agreed to a match with Owens if she returned to New Salem. Owens arrived that November and he courted her for a time; however, they both had second thoughts. On August 16, 1837, he wrote Owens a letter saying he would not blame her if she ended the relationship, and she never replied.

In 1839, Lincoln met Mary Todd in Springfield, Illinois, and the following year they became engaged. She was the daughter of Robert Smith Todd, a wealthy lawyer and businessman in Lexington, Kentucky. A wedding set for January 1, 1841, was canceled at Lincoln's request, but they reconciled and married on November 4, 1842, in the Springfield mansion of Mary's sister. While anxiously preparing for the nuptials, he was asked where he was going and replied, "To hell, I suppose." In 1844, the couple bought a house in Springfield near his law office. Mary kept house with the help of a hired servant and a relative.

Lincoln was an affectionate husband and father of four sons, though his work regularly kept him away from home. The oldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, was born in 1843 and was the only child to live to maturity. Edward Baker Lincoln (Eddie), born in 1846, died February 1, 1850, probably of tuberculosis. Lincoln's third son, "Willie" Lincoln was born on December 21, 1850, and died of a fever at the White House on February 20, 1862. The youngest, Thomas "Tad" Lincoln, was born on April 4, 1853, and survived his father but died of heart failure at age 18 on July 16, 1871. Lincoln "was remarkably fond of children" and the Lincolns were not considered to be strict with their own. In fact, Lincoln's law partner William H. Herndon would grow irritated when Lincoln brought his children to the law office. Their father, it seemed, was often too absorbed in his work to notice his children's behavior. Herndon recounted, "I have felt many and many a time that I wanted to wring their little necks, and yet out of respect for Lincoln I kept my mouth shut. Lincoln did not note what his children were doing or had done."

The deaths of their sons, Eddie and Willie, had profound effects on both parents. Lincoln suffered from "melancholy", a condition now thought to be clinical depression. Later in life, Mary struggled with the stresses of losing her husband and sons, and Robert committed her for a time to an asylum in 1875.

Early career and militia service

During 1831 and 1832, Lincoln worked at a general store in New Salem, Illinois. In 1832, he declared his candidacy for the Illinois House of Representatives, but interrupted his campaign to serve as a captain in the Illinois Militia during the Black Hawk War. When Lincoln returned home from the Black Hawk War, he planned to become a blacksmith, but instead formed a partnership with 21-year-old William Berry, with whom he purchased a New Salem general store on credit. Because a license was required to sell customers single beverages, Berry obtained bartending licenses for $7 each for Lincoln and himself, and in 1833 the Lincoln-Berry General Store became a tavern as well. As licensed bartenders, Lincoln and Berry were able to sell spirits, including liquor, for 12 cents a pint. They offered a wide range of alcoholic beverages as well as food, including takeout dinners. But Berry became an alcoholic, was often too drunk to work, and Lincoln ended up running the store by himself. Although the economy was booming, the business struggled and went into debt, causing Lincoln to sell his share.

In his first campaign speech after returning from his military service, Lincoln observed a supporter in the crowd under attack, grabbed the assailant by his "neck and the seat of his trousers", and tossed him. In the campaign, Lincoln advocated for navigational improvements on the Sangamon River. He could draw crowds as a raconteur, but lacked the requisite formal education, powerful friends, and money, and lost the election. Lincoln finished eighth out of 13 candidates (the top four were elected), though he received 277 of the 300 votes cast in the New Salem precinct.

Lincoln served as New Salem's postmaster and later as county surveyor, but continued his voracious reading and decided to become a lawyer. Rather than studying in the office of an established attorney, as was the custom, Lincoln borrowed legal texts from attorneys John Todd Stuart and Thomas Drummond, purchased books including Blackstone's Commentaries and Chitty's Pleadings, and read law on his own. He later said of his legal education that "I studied with nobody."

Illinois state legislature (1834–1842) 

Lincoln's second state house campaign in 1834, this time as a Whig, was a success over a powerful Whig opponent. Then followed his four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives for Sangamon County. He championed construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and later was a Canal Commissioner. He voted to expand suffrage beyond white landowners to all white males, but adopted a "free soil" stance opposing both slavery and abolition. In 1837, he declared, "[The] Institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy, but the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils." He echoed Henry Clay's support for the American Colonization Society which advocated a program of abolition in conjunction with settling freed slaves in Liberia.

He was admitted to the Illinois bar on September 9, 1836, and moved to Springfield and began to practice law under John T. Stuart, Mary Todd's cousin. Lincoln emerged as a formidable trial combatant during cross-examinations and closing arguments. He partnered several years with Stephen T. Logan, and in 1844 began his practice with William Herndon, "a studious young man".

On January 27, 1838, Abraham Lincoln, then twenty-eight years old, delivered his first major speech at the Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois, after the murder of newspaper editor Elijah Parish Lovejoy in Alton. Lincoln warned that no trans-Atlantic military giant could ever crush us as a nation. "It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher", said Lincoln. Prior to that, on April 28, 1836, an innocent black man, Francis McIntosh, was burned alive in St. Louis, Missouri. Zann Gill describes how these two murders set off a chain reaction that ultimately prompted Abraham Lincoln to run for President.

U.S. House of Representatives (1847–1849)

True to his record, Lincoln professed to friends in 1861 to be "an old line Whig, a disciple of Henry Clay". Their party favored economic modernization in banking, tariffs to fund internal improvements including railroads, and urbanization.

In 1843, Lincoln sought the Whig nomination for Illinois' 7th district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives; he was defeated by John J. Hardin though he prevailed with the party in limiting Hardin to one term. Lincoln not only pulled off his strategy of gaining the nomination in 1846 but also won the election. He was the only Whig in the Illinois delegation, but as dutiful as any participated in almost all votes and made speeches that toed the party line. He was assigned to the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads and the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department. Lincoln teamed with Joshua R. Giddings on a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for the owners, enforcement to capture fugitive slaves, and a popular vote on the matter. He dropped the bill when it eluded Whig support.

Political views 
On foreign and military policy, Lincoln spoke against the Mexican–American War, which he imputed to President James K. Polk's desire for "military glory—that attractive rainbow, that rises in showers of blood". He supported the Wilmot Proviso, a failed proposal to ban slavery in any U.S. territory won from Mexico.

Lincoln emphasized his opposition to Polk by drafting and introducing his Spot Resolutions. The war had begun with a killing of American soldiers by Mexican cavalry patrol in disputed territory, and Polk insisted that Mexican soldiers had "invaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil." Lincoln demanded that Polk show Congress the exact spot on which blood had been shed and prove that the spot was on American soil. The resolution was ignored in both Congress and the national papers, and it cost Lincoln political support in his district. One Illinois newspaper derisively nicknamed him "spotty Lincoln". Lincoln later regretted some of his statements, especially his attack on presidential war-making powers.

Lincoln had pledged in 1846 to serve only one term in the House. Realizing Clay was unlikely to win the presidency, he supported General Zachary Taylor for the Whig nomination in the 1848 presidential election. Taylor won and Lincoln hoped in vain to be appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office. The administration offered to appoint him secretary or governor of the Oregon Territory as consolation. This distant territory was a Democratic stronghold, and acceptance of the post would have disrupted his legal and political career in Illinois, so he declined and resumed his law practice.

Prairie lawyer

In his Springfield practice, Lincoln handled "every kind of business that could come before a prairie lawyer". Twice a year he appeared for 10 consecutive weeks in county seats in the Midstate county courts; this continued for 16 years. Lincoln handled transportation cases in the midst of the nation's western expansion, particularly river barge conflicts under the many new railroad bridges. As a riverboat man, Lincoln initially favored those interests, but ultimately represented whoever hired him. He later represented a bridge company against a riverboat company in Hurd v. Rock Island Bridge Company, a landmark case involving a canal boat that sank after hitting a bridge. In 1849, he received a patent for a flotation device for the movement of boats in shallow water. The idea was never commercialized, but it made Lincoln the only president to hold a patent.

Lincoln appeared before the Illinois Supreme Court in 175 cases; he was sole counsel in 51 cases, of which 31 were decided in his favor. From 1853 to 1860, one of his largest clients was the Illinois Central Railroad. His legal reputation gave rise to the nickname "Honest Abe".

Lincoln argued in an 1858 criminal trial, defending William "Duff" Armstrong, who was on trial for the murder of James Preston Metzker. The case is famous for Lincoln's use of a fact established by judicial notice to challenge the credibility of an eyewitness. After an opposing witness testified to seeing the crime in the moonlight, Lincoln produced a Farmers' Almanac showing the Moon was at a low angle, drastically reducing visibility. Armstrong was acquitted.

Leading up to his presidential campaign, Lincoln elevated his profile in an 1859 murder case, with his defense of Simeon Quinn "Peachy" Harrison who was a third cousin; Harrison was also the grandson of Lincoln's political opponent, Rev. Peter Cartwright. Harrison was charged with the murder of Greek Crafton who, as he lay dying of his wounds, confessed to Cartwright that he had provoked Harrison. Lincoln angrily protested the judge's initial decision to exclude Cartwright's testimony about the confession as inadmissible hearsay. Lincoln argued that the testimony involved a dying declaration and was not subject to the hearsay rule. Instead of holding Lincoln in contempt of court as expected, the judge, a Democrat, reversed his ruling and admitted the testimony into evidence, resulting in Harrison's acquittal.

Republican politics (1854–1860)

Emergence as Republican leader

The debate over the status of slavery in the territories failed to alleviate tensions between the slave-holding South and the free North, with the failure of the Compromise of 1850, a legislative package designed to address the issue. In his 1852 eulogy for Clay, Lincoln highlighted the latter's support for gradual emancipation and opposition to "both extremes" on the slavery issue. As the slavery debate in the Nebraska and Kansas territories became particularly acrimonious, Illinois Senator Stephen A. Douglas proposed popular sovereignty as a compromise; the measure would allow the electorate of each territory to decide the status of slavery. The legislation alarmed many Northerners, who sought to prevent the spread of slavery that could result, but Douglas's Kansas–Nebraska Act narrowly passed Congress in May 1854.

Lincoln did not comment on the act until months later in his "Peoria Speech" of October 1854. Lincoln then declared his opposition to slavery, which he repeated en route to the presidency. He said the Kansas Act had a "declared indifference, but as I must think, a covert real zeal for the spread of slavery. I cannot but hate it. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself. I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world...." Lincoln's attacks on the Kansas–Nebraska Act marked his return to political life.

Nationally, the Whigs were irreparably split by the Kansas–Nebraska Act and other efforts to compromise on the slavery issue. Reflecting on the demise of his party, Lincoln wrote in 1855, "I think I am a Whig, but others say there are no Whigs, and that I am an abolitionist.... I do no more than oppose the extension of slavery." The new Republican Party was formed as a northern party dedicated to antislavery, drawing from the antislavery wing of the Whig Party and combining Free Soil, Liberty, and antislavery Democratic Party members, Lincoln resisted early Republican entreaties, fearing that the new party would become a platform for extreme abolitionists. Lincoln held out hope for rejuvenating the Whigs, though he lamented his party's growing closeness with the nativist Know Nothing movement.

In 1854, Lincoln was elected to the Illinois legislature but declined to take his seat. The year's elections showed the strong opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, and in the aftermath, Lincoln sought election to the United States Senate. At that time, senators were elected by the state legislature. After leading in the first six rounds of voting, he was unable to obtain a majority. Lincoln instructed his backers to vote for Lyman Trumbull. Trumbull was an antislavery Democrat, and had received few votes in the earlier ballots; his supporters, also antislavery Democrats, had vowed not to support any Whig. Lincoln's decision to withdraw enabled his Whig supporters and Trumbull's antislavery Democrats to combine and defeat the mainstream Democratic candidate, Joel Aldrich Matteson.

1856 campaign 
Violent political confrontations in Kansas continued, and opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act remained strong throughout the North. As the 1856 elections approached, Lincoln joined the Republicans and attended the Bloomington Convention, which formally established the Illinois Republican Party. The convention platform endorsed Congress's right to regulate slavery in the territories and backed the admission of Kansas as a free state. Lincoln gave the final speech of the convention supporting the party platform and called for the preservation of the Union. At the June 1856 Republican National Convention, though Lincoln received support to run as vice president, John C. Frémont and William Dayton comprised the ticket, which Lincoln supported throughout Illinois. The Democrats nominated former Secretary of State James Buchanan and the Know-Nothings nominated former Whig President Millard Fillmore. Buchanan prevailed, while Republican William Henry Bissell won election as Governor of Illinois, and Lincoln became a leading Republican in Illinois.

Dred Scott v. Sandford 
Dred Scott was a slave whose master took him from a slave state to a territory that was free as a result of the Missouri Compromise. After Scott was returned to the slave state, he petitioned a federal court for his freedom. His petition was denied in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857). In his opinion, Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney wrote that black people were not citizens and derived no rights from the Constitution, and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional for infringing upon slave owners' "property" rights. While many Democrats hoped that Dred Scott would end the dispute over slavery in the territories, the decision sparked further outrage in the North. Lincoln denounced it as the product of a conspiracy of Democrats to support the Slave Power. He argued the decision was at variance with the Declaration of Independence; he said that while the founding fathers did not believe all men equal in every respect, they believed all men were equal "in certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

Lincoln–Douglas debates and Cooper Union speech

In 1858, Douglas was up for re-election in the U.S. Senate, and Lincoln hoped to defeat him. Many in the party felt that a former Whig should be nominated in 1858, and Lincoln's 1856 campaigning and support of Trumbull had earned him a favor. Some eastern Republicans supported Douglas for his opposition to the Lecompton Constitution and admission of Kansas as a slave state. Many Illinois Republicans resented this eastern interference. For the first time, Illinois Republicans held a convention to agree upon a Senate candidate, and Lincoln won the nomination with little opposition.

Lincoln accepted the nomination with great enthusiasm and zeal. After his nomination he delivered his House Divided Speech, with the biblical reference Mark 3:25, "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved—I do not expect the house to fall—but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other." The speech created a stark image of the danger of disunion. The stage was then set for the election of the Illinois legislature which would, in turn, select Lincoln or Douglas. When informed of Lincoln's nomination, Douglas stated, "[Lincoln] is the strong man of the party ... and if I beat him, my victory will be hardly won."

The Senate campaign featured seven debates between Lincoln and Douglas. These were the most famous political debates in American history; they had an atmosphere akin to a prizefight and drew crowds in the thousands. The principals stood in stark contrast both physically and politically. Lincoln warned that Douglas' "Slave Power" was threatening the values of republicanism, and accused Douglas of distorting the Founding Fathers' premise that all men are created equal. Douglas emphasized his Freeport Doctrine, in which he said local settlers were free to choose whether to allow slavery within their territory, and accused Lincoln of having joined the abolitionists. Lincoln's argument assumed a moral tone, as he claimed Douglas represented a conspiracy to promote slavery. Douglas's argument was more legal in nature, claiming that Lincoln was defying the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court as exercised in the Dred Scott decision.

Though the Republican legislative candidates won more popular votes, the Democrats won more seats, and the legislature re-elected Douglas. However, Lincoln's articulation of the issues had given him a national political presence. In May 1859, Lincoln purchased the Illinois Staats-Anzeiger, a German-language newspaper that was consistently supportive; most of the state's 130,000 German Americans voted for Democrats, but the German-language paper mobilized Republican support. In the aftermath of the 1858 election, newspapers frequently mentioned Lincoln as a potential Republican presidential candidate, rivaled by William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Simon Cameron. While Lincoln was popular in the Midwest, he lacked support in the Northeast and was unsure whether to seek the office. In January 1860, Lincoln told a group of political allies that he would accept the presidential nomination if offered and, in the following months, several local papers endorsed his candidacy.

Over the coming months, Lincoln was tireless, making nearly fifty speeches along the campaign trail. By the quality and simplicity of his rhetoric, he quickly became the champion of the Republican party. However, despite his overwhelming support in the Midwestern United States, he was less appreciated in the east. Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, at that time wrote up an unflattering account of Lincoln's compromising position on slavery and his reluctance to challenge the court's Dred Scott ruling, which was promptly used against him by his political rivals.

On February 27, 1860, powerful New York Republicans invited Lincoln to give a speech at Cooper Union, in which he argued that the Founding Fathers of the United States had little use for popular sovereignty and had repeatedly sought to restrict slavery. He insisted that morality required opposition to slavery and rejected any "groping for some middle ground between the right and the wrong". Many in the audience thought he appeared awkward and even ugly. But Lincoln demonstrated intellectual leadership, which brought him into contention. Journalist Noah Brooks reported, "No man ever before made such an impression on his first appeal to a New York audience".

Historian David Herbert Donald described the speech as "a superb political move for an unannounced presidential aspirant. Appearing in Seward's home state, sponsored by a group largely loyal to Chase, Lincoln shrewdly made no reference to either of these Republican rivals for the nomination." In response to an inquiry about his ambitions, Lincoln said, "The taste is in my mouth a little".

1860 presidential election

On May 9–10, 1860, the Illinois Republican State Convention was held in Decatur. Lincoln's followers organized a campaign team led by David Davis, Norman Judd, Leonard Swett, and Jesse DuBois, and Lincoln received his first endorsement. Exploiting his embellished frontier legend (clearing land and splitting fence rails), Lincoln's supporters adopted the label of "The Rail Candidate". In 1860, Lincoln described himself: "I am in height, six feet, four inches, nearly; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and gray eyes." Michael Martinez wrote about the effective imaging of Lincoln by his campaign. At times he was presented as the plain-talking "Rail Splitter" and at other times he was "Honest Abe", unpolished but trustworthy.

On May 18, at the Republican National Convention in Chicago, Lincoln won the nomination on the third ballot, beating candidates such as Seward and Chase. A former Democrat, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine, was nominated for vice president to balance the ticket. Lincoln's success depended on his campaign team, his reputation as a moderate on the slavery issue, and his strong support for internal improvements and the tariff. Pennsylvania put him over the top, led by the state's iron interests who were reassured by his tariff support. Lincoln's managers had focused on this delegation while honoring Lincoln's dictate to "Make no contracts that will bind me".

As the Slave Power tightened its grip on the national government, most Republicans agreed with Lincoln that the North was the aggrieved party. Throughout the 1850s, Lincoln had doubted the prospects of civil war, and his supporters rejected claims that his election would incite secession. When Douglas was selected as the candidate of the Northern Democrats, delegates from eleven slave states walked out of the Democratic convention; they opposed Douglas's position on popular sovereignty, and selected incumbent Vice President John C. Breckinridge as their candidate. A group of former Whigs and Know Nothings formed the Constitutional Union Party and nominated John Bell of Tennessee. Lincoln and Douglas competed for votes in the North, while Bell and Breckinridge primarily found support in the South.

Prior to the Republican convention, the Lincoln campaign began cultivating a nationwide youth organization, the Wide Awakes, which it used to generate popular support throughout the country to spearhead voter registration drives, thinking that new voters and young voters tended to embrace new parties. People of the Northern states knew the Southern states would vote against Lincoln and rallied supporters for Lincoln.

As Douglas and the other candidates campaigned, Lincoln gave no speeches, relying on the enthusiasm of the Republican Party. The party did the leg work that produced majorities across the North and produced an abundance of campaign posters, leaflets, and newspaper editorials. Republican speakers focused first on the party platform, and second on Lincoln's life story, emphasizing his childhood poverty. The goal was to demonstrate the power of "free labor", which allowed a common farm boy to work his way to the top by his own efforts. The Republican Party's production of campaign literature dwarfed the combined opposition; a Chicago Tribune writer produced a pamphlet that detailed Lincoln's life and sold 100,000–200,000 copies. Though he did not give public appearances, many sought to visit him and write him. In the runup to the election, he took an office in the Illinois state capitol to deal with the influx of attention. He also hired John George Nicolay as his personal secretary, who would remain in that role during the presidency.

On November 6, 1860, Lincoln was elected the 16th president. He was the first Republican president and his victory was entirely due to his support in the North and West. No ballots were cast for him in 10 of the 15 Southern slave states, and he won only two of 996 counties in all the Southern states, an omen of the impending Civil War. Lincoln received 1,866,452 votes, or 39.8% of the total in a four-way race, carrying the free Northern states, as well as California and Oregon. His victory in the Electoral College was decisive: Lincoln had 180 votes to 123 for his opponents.

Presidency (1861–1865)

Secession and inauguration

The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861. On December 20, 1860, South Carolina took the lead by adopting an ordinance of secession; by February 1, 1861, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed. Six of these states declared themselves to be a sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America, and adopted a constitution. The upper South and border states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal. President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy, declaring secession illegal. The Confederacy selected Jefferson Davis as its provisional president on February 9, 1861.

Attempts at compromise followed but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise as contrary to the Party's platform of free-soil in the territories. Lincoln said, "I will suffer death before I consent ... to any concession or compromise which looks like buying the privilege to take possession of this government to which we have a constitutional right".

Lincoln supported the Corwin Amendment to the Constitution, which passed Congress and was awaiting ratification by the states when Lincoln took office. That doomed amendment would have protected slavery in states where it already existed. On March 4, 1861, in his first inaugural address, Lincoln said that, because he holds "such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable". A few weeks before the war, Lincoln sent a letter to every governor informing them Congress had passed a joint resolution to amend the Constitution.

On February 11, 1861, Lincoln gave a particularly emotional farewell address upon leaving Springfield; he would never again return to Springfield alive. Lincoln traveled east in a special train. Due to secessionist plots, a then-unprecedented attention to security was given to him and his train. En route to his inauguration, Lincoln addressed crowds and legislatures across the North. The president-elect evaded suspected assassins in Baltimore. On February 23, 1861, he arrived in disguise in Washington, D.C., which was placed under substantial military guard. Lincoln directed his inaugural address to the South, proclaiming once again that he had no inclination to abolish slavery in the Southern states:
 Lincoln cited his plans for banning the expansion of slavery as the key source of conflict between North and South, stating "One section of our country believes slavery is right and ought to be extended, while the other believes it is wrong and ought not to be extended. This is the only substantial dispute." The president ended his address with an appeal to the people of the South: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.... The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." The failure of the Peace Conference of 1861 signaled that legislative compromise was impossible. By March 1861, no leaders of the insurrection had proposed rejoining the Union on any terms. Meanwhile, Lincoln and the Republican leadership agreed that the dismantling of the Union could not be tolerated. In his second inaugural address, Lincoln looked back on the situation at the time and said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the Nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came."

Civil War

Major Robert Anderson, commander of the Union's Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, sent a request for provisions to Washington, and Lincoln's order to meet that request was seen by the secessionists as an act of war. On April 12, 1861, Confederate forces fired on Union troops at Fort Sumter and began the fight. Historian Allan Nevins argued that the newly inaugurated Lincoln made three miscalculations: underestimating the gravity of the crisis, exaggerating the strength of Unionist sentiment in the South, and overlooking Southern Unionist opposition to an invasion.

William Tecumseh Sherman talked to Lincoln during inauguration week and was "sadly disappointed" at his failure to realize that "the country was sleeping on a volcano" and that the South was preparing for war. Donald concludes that, "His repeated efforts to avoid collision in the months between inauguration and the firing on Ft. Sumter showed he adhered to his vow not to be the first to shed fraternal blood. But he also vowed not to surrender the forts. The only resolution of these contradictory positions was for the confederates to fire the first shot; they did just that."

On April 15, Lincoln called on the states to send a total of 75,000 volunteer troops to recapture forts, protect Washington, and "preserve the Union", which, in his view, remained intact despite the seceding states. This call forced states to choose sides. Virginia seceded and was rewarded with the designation of Richmond as the Confederate capital, despite its exposure to Union lines. North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas followed over the following two months. Secession sentiment was strong in Missouri and Maryland, but did not prevail; Kentucky remained neutral. The Fort Sumter attack rallied Americans north of the Mason-Dixon line to defend the nation.

As States sent Union regiments south, on April 19, Baltimore mobs in control of the rail links attacked Union troops who were changing trains. Local leaders' groups later burned critical rail bridges to the capital and the Army responded by arresting local Maryland officials. Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in an effort to protect the troops trying to reach Washington. John Merryman, one Maryland official hindering the U.S. troop movements, petitioned Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney to issue a writ of habeas corpus. In June, in Ex parte Merryman, Taney, not ruling on behalf of the Supreme Court, issued the writ, believing that Article I, section 9 of the Constitution authorized only Congress and not the president to suspend it. But Lincoln persisted with the policy of suspension in select areas.

Union military strategy
Lincoln took executive control of the war and shaped the Union military strategy. He responded to the unprecedented political and military crisis as commander-in-chief by exercising unprecedented authority. He expanded his war powers, imposed a blockade on Confederate ports, disbursed funds before appropriation by Congress, suspended habeas corpus, and arrested and imprisoned thousands of suspected Confederate sympathizers. Lincoln gained the support of Congress and the northern public for these actions. Lincoln also had to reinforce Union sympathies in the border slave states and keep the war from becoming an international conflict.

It was clear from the outset that bipartisan support was essential to success, and that any compromise alienated factions on both sides of the aisle, such as the appointment of Republicans and Democrats to command positions. Copperheads criticized Lincoln for refusing to compromise on slavery. The Radical Republicans criticized him for moving too slowly in abolishing slavery. On August 6, 1861, Lincoln signed the Confiscation Act that authorized judicial proceedings to confiscate and free slaves who were used to support the Confederates. The law had little practical effect, but it signaled political support for abolishing slavery.

In August 1861, General John C. Frémont, the 1856 Republican presidential nominee, without consulting Washington, issued a martial edict freeing slaves of the rebels. Lincoln canceled the illegal proclamation as politically motivated and lacking military necessity. As a result, Union enlistments from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri increased by over 40,000.

Internationally, Lincoln wanted to forestall foreign military aid to the Confederacy. He relied on his combative Secretary of State William Seward while working closely with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Charles Sumner. In the 1861 Trent Affair, which threatened war with Great Britain, the U.S. Navy illegally intercepted a British mail ship, the Trent, on the high seas and seized two Confederate envoys; Britain protested vehemently while the U.S. cheered. Lincoln ended the crisis by releasing the two diplomats. Biographer James G. Randall dissected Lincoln's successful techniques:

Lincoln painstakingly monitored the telegraph reports coming into the War Department. He tracked all phases of the effort, consulting with governors, and selecting generals based on their success, their state, and their party. In January 1862, after complaints of inefficiency and profiteering in the War Department, Lincoln replaced War Secretary Simon Cameron with Edwin Stanton. Stanton centralized the War Department's activities, auditing and canceling contracts, saving the federal government $17,000,000. Stanton was a staunch Unionist, pro-business, conservative Democrat who gravitated toward the Radical Republican faction. He worked more often and more closely with Lincoln than any other senior official. "Stanton and Lincoln virtually conducted the war together", say Thomas and Hyman.

Lincoln's war strategy embraced two priorities: ensuring that Washington was well-defended and conducting an aggressive war effort for a prompt, decisive victory. Twice a week, Lincoln met with his cabinet in the afternoon. Occasionally Mary prevailed on him to take a carriage ride, concerned that he was working too hard. For his edification Lincoln relied upon a book by his chief of staff General Henry Halleck entitled Elements of Military Art and Science; Halleck was a disciple of the European strategist Antoine-Henri Jomini. Lincoln began to appreciate the critical need to control strategic points, such as the Mississippi River. Lincoln saw the importance of Vicksburg and understood the necessity of defeating the enemy's army, rather than merely capturing territory.

In directing the Union's war strategy, Lincoln valued the advice of Gen. Winfield Scott, even after his retirement as Commanding General of the United States Army. On June 23–24, 1862, President Lincoln made an unannounced visit to West Point, where he spent five hours consulting with Scott regarding the handling of the Civil War and the staffing of the War Department.

General McClellan
After the Union rout at Bull Run and Winfield Scott's retirement, Lincoln appointed Major General George B. McClellan general-in-chief. McClellan then took months to plan his Virginia Peninsula Campaign. McClellan's slow progress frustrated Lincoln, as did his position that no troops were needed to defend Washington. McClellan, in turn, blamed the failure of the campaign on Lincoln's reservation of troops for the capital.

In 1862, Lincoln removed McClellan for the general's continued inaction. He elevated Henry Halleck in July and appointed John Pope as head of the new Army of Virginia. Pope satisfied Lincoln's desire to advance on Richmond from the north, thus protecting Washington from counterattack. But Pope was then soundly defeated at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the summer of 1862, forcing the Army of the Potomac back to defend Washington.

Despite his dissatisfaction with McClellan's failure to reinforce Pope, Lincoln restored him to command of all forces around Washington. Two days after McClellan's return to command, General Robert E. Lee's forces crossed the Potomac River into Maryland, leading to the Battle of Antietam. That battle, a Union victory, was among the bloodiest in American history; it facilitated Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation in January.

McClellan then resisted the president's demand that he pursue Lee's withdrawing army, while General Don Carlos Buell likewise refused orders to move the Army of the Ohio against rebel forces in eastern Tennessee. Lincoln replaced Buell with William Rosecrans; and after the 1862 midterm elections he replaced McClellan with Ambrose Burnside. The appointments were both politically neutral and adroit on Lincoln's part.

Burnside, against presidential advice, launched an offensive across the Rappahannock River and was defeated by Lee at Fredericksburg in December. Desertions during 1863 came in the thousands and only increased after Fredericksburg, so Lincoln replaced Burnside with Joseph Hooker.

In the 1862 midterm elections the Republicans suffered severe losses due to rising inflation, high taxes, rumors of corruption, suspension of habeas corpus, military draft law, and fears that freed slaves would come North and undermine the labor market. The Emancipation Proclamation gained votes for Republicans in rural New England and the upper Midwest, but cost votes in the Irish and German strongholds and in the lower Midwest, where many Southerners had lived for generations.

In the spring of 1863 Lincoln was sufficiently optimistic about upcoming military campaigns to think the end of the war could be near; the plans included attacks by Hooker on Lee north of Richmond, Rosecrans on Chattanooga, Grant on Vicksburg, and a naval assault on Charleston.

Hooker was routed by Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, then resigned and was replaced by George Meade. Meade followed Lee north into Pennsylvania and beat him in the Gettysburg Campaign, but then failed to follow up despite Lincoln's demands. At the same time, Grant captured Vicksburg and gained control of the Mississippi River, splitting the far western rebel states.

Emancipation Proclamation

The Federal government's power to end slavery was limited by the Constitution, which before 1865 was understood to reserve the issue to the individual states. Lincoln believed that slavery would be rendered obsolete if its expansion into new territories were prevented, because these territories would be admitted to the Union as free states, and free states would come to outnumber slave states. He sought to persuade the states to agree to compensation for emancipating their slaves. Lincoln rejected Major General John C. Frémont's August 1861 emancipation attempt, as well as one by Major General David Hunter in May 1862, on the grounds that it was not within their power and might upset loyal border states enough for them to secede.

In June 1862, Congress passed an act banning slavery on all federal territory, which Lincoln signed. In July, the Confiscation Act of 1862 was enacted, providing court procedures to free the slaves of those convicted of aiding the rebellion; Lincoln approved the bill despite his belief that it was unconstitutional. He felt such action could be taken only within the war powers of the commander-in-chief, which he planned to exercise. On July 22, 1862, Lincoln reviewed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet.

Peace Democrats (Copperheads) argued that emancipation was a stumbling block to peace and reunification, but Republican editor Horace Greeley of the New-York Tribune, in his public letter, "The Prayer of Twenty Millions", implored Lincoln to embrace emancipation. In a public letter of August 22, 1862, Lincoln replied to Greeley, writing that while he personally wished all men could be free, his first obligation as president was to preserve the Union:

On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which announced that, in states still in rebellion on January 1, 1863, the slaves would be freed. He spent the next 100 days, between September 22 and January 1, preparing the army and the nation for emancipation, while Democrats rallied their voters by warning of the threat that freed slaves posed to northern whites. At the same time, during those 100 days, Lincoln made efforts to end the war with slavery intact. But, on January 1, 1863, keeping his word, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in 10 states not then under Union control, with exemptions specified for areas under such control. Lincoln's comment on signing the Proclamation was: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper."

With the abolition of slavery in the rebel states now a military objective, Union armies advancing south "enable[d] thousands of slaves to escape to freedom". The Emancipation Proclamation having stated that freedmen would be "received into the armed service of the United States," enlisting these freedmen became official policy. By the spring of 1863, Lincoln was ready to recruit black troops in more than token numbers. In a letter to Tennessee military governor Andrew Johnson encouraging him to lead the way in raising black troops, Lincoln wrote, "The bare sight of fifty thousand armed, and drilled black soldiers on the banks of the Mississippi would end the rebellion at once". By the end of 1863, at Lincoln's direction, General Lorenzo Thomas "had enrolled twenty regiments of African Americans" from the Mississippi Valley.

Gettysburg Address (1863)

Lincoln spoke at the dedication of the Gettysburg battlefield cemetery on November 19, 1863. In 272 words, and three minutes, Lincoln asserted that the nation was born not in 1789, but in 1776, "conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal". He defined the war as dedicated to the principles of liberty and equality for all. He declared that the deaths of so many brave soldiers would not be in vain, that slavery would end, and the future of democracy would be assured, that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth".

Defying his prediction that "the world will little note, nor long remember what we say here", the Address became the most quoted speech in American history.

Promoting General Grant

General Ulysses Grant's victories at the Battle of Shiloh and in the Vicksburg campaign impressed Lincoln. Responding to criticism of Grant after Shiloh, Lincoln had said, "I can't spare this man. He fights." With Grant in command, Lincoln felt the Union Army could advance in multiple theaters, while also including black troops. Meade's failure to capture Lee's army after Gettysburg and the continued passivity of the Army of the Potomac persuaded Lincoln to promote Grant to supreme commander. Grant then assumed command of Meade's army.

Lincoln was concerned that Grant might be considering a presidential candidacy in 1864. He arranged for an intermediary to inquire into Grant's political intentions, and once assured that he had none, Lincoln promoted Grant to the newly revived rank of Lieutenant General, a rank which had been unoccupied since George Washington. Authorization for such a promotion "with the advice and consent of the Senate" was provided by a new bill which Lincoln signed the same day he submitted Grant's name to the Senate. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on March 2, 1864.

Grant in 1864 waged the bloody Overland Campaign, which exacted heavy losses on both sides. When Lincoln asked what Grant's plans were, the persistent general replied, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." Grant's army moved steadily south. Lincoln traveled to Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia, to confer with Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman. Lincoln reacted to Union losses by mobilizing support throughout the North. Lincoln authorized Grant to target infrastructure—plantations, railroads, and bridges—hoping to weaken the South's morale and fighting ability. He emphasized defeat of the Confederate armies over destruction (which was considerable) for its own sake. Lincoln's engagement became distinctly personal on one occasion in 1864 when Confederate general Jubal Early raided Washington, D.C. Legend has it that while Lincoln watched from an exposed position, Union Captain (and future Supreme Court Justice) Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. shouted at him, "Get down, you damn fool, before you get shot!" But this story is commonly regarded as apocryphal.

As Grant continued to weaken Lee's forces, efforts to discuss peace began. Confederate Vice President Stephens led a group meeting with Lincoln, Seward, and others at Hampton Roads. Lincoln refused to negotiate with the Confederacy as a coequal; his objective to end the fighting was not realized. On April 1, 1865, Grant nearly encircled Petersburg in a siege. The Confederate government evacuated Richmond and Lincoln visited the conquered capital. On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, officially ending the war.

Reelection

Lincoln ran for reelection in 1864, while uniting the main Republican factions, along with War Democrats Edwin M. Stanton and Andrew Johnson. Lincoln used conversation and his patronage powers—greatly expanded from peacetime—to build support and fend off the Radicals' efforts to replace him. At its convention, the Republicans selected Johnson as his running mate. To broaden his coalition to include War Democrats as well as Republicans, Lincoln ran under the label of the new Union Party.

Grant's bloody stalemates damaged Lincoln's re-election prospects, and many Republicans feared defeat. Lincoln confidentially pledged in writing that if he should lose the election, he would still defeat the Confederacy before turning over the White House; Lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet, but asked them to sign the sealed envelope. The pledge read as follows:

The Democratic platform followed the "Peace wing" of the party and called the war a "failure"; but their candidate, McClellan, supported the war and repudiated the platform. Meanwhile, Lincoln emboldened Grant with more troops and Republican party support. Sherman's capture of Atlanta in September and David Farragut's capture of Mobile ended defeatism. The Democratic Party was deeply split, with some leaders and most soldiers openly for Lincoln. The National Union Party was united by Lincoln's support for emancipation. State Republican parties stressed the perfidy of the Copperheads. On November 8, Lincoln carried all but three states, including 78 percent of Union soldiers.

On March 4, 1865, Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address. In it, he deemed the war casualties to be God's will. Historian Mark Noll places the speech "among the small handful of semi-sacred texts by which Americans conceive their place in the world;" it is inscribed in the Lincoln Memorial. Lincoln said:

Reconstruction

Reconstruction preceded the war's end, as Lincoln and his associates considered the reintegration of the nation, and the fates of Confederate leaders and freed slaves. When a general asked Lincoln how the defeated Confederates were to be treated, Lincoln replied, "Let 'em up easy." Lincoln was determined to find meaning in the war in its aftermath, and did not want to continue to outcast the southern states. His main goal was to keep the union together, so he proceeded by focusing not on whom to blame, but on how to rebuild the nation as one. Lincoln led the moderates in Reconstruction policy and was opposed by the Radicals, under Rep. Thaddeus Stevens, Sen. Charles Sumner and Sen. Benjamin Wade, who otherwise remained Lincoln's allies. Determined to reunite the nation and not alienate the South, Lincoln urged that speedy elections under generous terms be held. His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office and had not mistreated Union prisoners, if they were willing to sign an oath of allegiance.

As Southern states fell, they needed leaders while their administrations were restored. In Tennessee and Arkansas, Lincoln respectively appointed Johnson and Frederick Steele as military governors. In Louisiana, Lincoln ordered General Nathaniel P. Banks to promote a plan that would reestablish statehood when 10 percent of the voters agreed, and only if the reconstructed states abolished slavery. Democratic opponents accused Lincoln of using the military to ensure his and the Republicans' political aspirations. The Radicals denounced his policy as too lenient, and passed their own plan, the 1864 Wade–Davis Bill, which Lincoln vetoed. The Radicals retaliated by refusing to seat elected representatives from Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Lincoln's appointments were designed to harness both moderates and Radicals. To fill Chief Justice Taney's seat on the Supreme Court, he named the Radicals' choice, Salmon P. Chase, who Lincoln believed would uphold his emancipation and paper money policies.

After implementing the Emancipation Proclamation, Lincoln increased pressure on Congress to outlaw slavery throughout the nation with a constitutional amendment. He declared that such an amendment would "clinch the whole matter" and by December 1863 an amendment was brought to Congress. The Senate passed it on April 8, 1864, but the first vote in the House of Representatives fell short of the required two-thirds majority. Passage became part of Lincoln's reelection platform, and after his successful reelection, the second attempt in the House passed on January 31, 1865. With ratification, it became the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution on December 6, 1865.

Lincoln believed the federal government had limited responsibility to the millions of freedmen. He signed Senator Charles Sumner's Freedmen's Bureau bill that set up a temporary federal agency designed to meet the immediate needs of former slaves. The law opened land for a lease of three years with the ability to purchase title for the freedmen. Lincoln announced a Reconstruction plan that involved short-term military control, pending readmission under the control of southern Unionists.

Historians agree that it is impossible to predict how Reconstruction would have proceeded had Lincoln lived. Biographers James G. Randall and Richard Current, according to David Lincove, argue that:

Eric Foner argues that:

Native Americans

Lincoln's experience with Native Americans started early with their killing of his grandfather in front of the family. Later he served as a captain in the state militia during the Black Hawk War but saw no combat. During his presidency, his policy toward Indians was based on politics. He used appointments to the Indian Bureau as a reward to supporters from Minnesota and Wisconsin. While in office his administration faced difficulties guarding Western settlers, railroads, and telegraphs, from Indian attacks.

On August 17, 1862, the Sioux or Dakota uprising broke out in Minnesota. Hundreds of settlers were killed, 30,000 were displaced from their homes, and Washington was deeply alarmed. Some feared incorrectly that it might represent a Confederate conspiracy to start a war on the Northwestern frontier. Lincoln ordered thousands of Confederate prisoners of war sent by railroad to put down the uprising. When the Confederates protested forcing Confederate prisoners to fight Indians, Lincoln revoked the policy and none set foot in Minnesota. Lincoln sent General John Pope to Minnesota as commander of the new Department of the Northwest a couple of weeks into the hostilities. Before he arrived, the Fond Du Lac band of Chippewa sent Lincoln a letter begging to go to war for the United States against the Sioux, so Lincoln could send Minnesota's troops to fight the South. Shortly after, a Mille Lacs Band Chief offered the same at St. Cloud, Minnesota. In it the Chippewa specified that they wanted to use the indigenous rules of warfare. That meant there would be no prisoners of war, no surrender, no peace agreement. Lincoln did not accept the Chippewa offer, as he had no means to control the outcome and women and children were considered legitimate casualties in native American warfare. One of the Chippewa signing the letter, Chief Naw-Gaw-Nub, had received a Presidential medal from Lincoln earlier in the year.

Serving under Gen. Pope was Minnesota Congressman Henry H. Sibley. Minnesota's Governor had made Sibley a Colonel United States Volunteers to command the US force tasked with fighting the war and that eventually defeated Little Crow's forces at the Battle of Wood Lake. 
The day the Mdewakanton force surrendered at Camp Release, a Chippewa war council met at Minnesota's capitol with another Chippewa offer to Lincoln, to fight the Sioux. Sibley ordered a military commission to review that actions of the captured to try those that had committed war crimes. The legitimacy of military commissions trying opposing combatants had been established during the Mexican War. Sibley thought he had 16 to 20 of men he wanted for trial while Gen. Pope ordered that all detained warriors be tried. When it was done, 303 had been given death sentences that were subject to Presidential review. Lincoln ordered Gen Pope send all of the trial transcripts to Washington where he and two of his staff pored over the trials. The lawyer in Lincoln saw issues. He slowly realized that the trials could be divided into two groups: combat between combatants and combat against civilians. The groups could be identified by their transcripts, the first group were all just three pages in length while the second group had more pages, some up to twelve. He placed 263 cases into the first group and commuted their sentences for the largest mass commutation in history. Into the second group went forty. One he commuted for turning state's witness. Sibley dismissed another when overwhelming proof surfaced exonerating the man. The remaining 38 were executed in the largest mass hanging in U.S. history. Very quickly questions arose concerning three of the executions that have not been answered. Less than four months after the executions, Lincoln issued General Order 100 that relates more to the Minnesota War than the Civil War. Now a congressman, Alexander Ramsey told Lincoln, in 1864, that he would have gotten more re-election support in Minnesota had he executed all 303 of the Mdewakanton. Lincoln responded, "I could not afford to hang men for votes." The men whose sentences he commuted were sent to a military prison at Davenport, Iowa. A few of those he had released due to the efforts of Bishop Henry Whipple.

Whig theory of a presidency
Lincoln adhered to the Whig theory of a presidency focused on executing laws while deferring to Congress' responsibility for legislating. Lincoln vetoed only four bills, including the Wade-Davis Bill with its harsh Reconstruction program. The 1862 Homestead Act made millions of acres of Western government-held land available for purchase at low cost. The 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act provided government grants for agricultural colleges in each state. The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 and 1864 granted federal support for the construction of the United States' first transcontinental railroad, which was completed in 1869. The passage of the Homestead Act and the Pacific Railway Acts was enabled by the absence of Southern congressmen and senators who had opposed the measures in the 1850s.

In the selection and use of his cabinet, Lincoln employed the strengths of his opponents in a manner that emboldened his presidency. Lincoln commented on his thought process, "We need the strongest men of the party in the Cabinet. We needed to hold our own people together. I had looked the party over and concluded that these were the very strongest men. Then I had no right to deprive the country of their services." Goodwin described the group in her biography as a Team of Rivals.

There were two measures passed to raise revenues for the Federal government: tariffs (a policy with long precedent), and a Federal income tax. In 1861, Lincoln signed the second and third Morrill Tariffs, following the first enacted by Buchanan. He also signed the Revenue Act of 1861, creating the first U.S. income tax—a flat tax of 3 percent on incomes above $800 (). The Revenue Act of 1862 adopted rates that increased with income.

The Lincoln Administration presided over the expansion of the federal government's economic influence in other areas. The National Banking Act created the system of national banks. The US issued paper currency for the first time, known as greenbacks—printed in green on the reverse side. In 1862, Congress created the Department of Agriculture.

In response to rumors of a renewed draft, the editors of the New York World and the Journal of Commerce published a false draft proclamation that created an opportunity for the editors and others to corner the gold market. Lincoln attacked the media for such behavior, and ordered a military seizure of the two papers which lasted for two days.

Lincoln is largely responsible for the Thanksgiving holiday. Thanksgiving had become a regional holiday in New England in the 17th century. It had been sporadically proclaimed by the federal government on irregular dates. The prior proclamation had been during James Madison's presidency 50 years earlier. In 1863, Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November of that year to be a day of Thanksgiving.

In June 1864, Lincoln approved the Yosemite Grant enacted by Congress, which provided unprecedented federal protection for the area now known as Yosemite National Park.

Supreme Court appointments

Lincoln's philosophy on court nominations was that "we cannot ask a man what he will do, and if we should, and he should answer us, we should despise him for it. Therefore we must take a man whose opinions are known." Lincoln made five appointments to the Supreme Court. Noah Haynes Swayne was an anti-slavery lawyer who was committed to the Union. Samuel Freeman Miller supported Lincoln in the 1860 election and was an avowed abolitionist. David Davis was Lincoln's campaign manager in 1860 and had served as a judge in the Illinois court circuit where Lincoln practiced. Democrat Stephen Johnson Field, a previous California Supreme Court justice, provided geographic and political balance. Finally, Lincoln's Treasury Secretary, Salmon P. Chase, became Chief Justice. Lincoln believed Chase was an able jurist, would support Reconstruction legislation, and that his appointment united the Republican Party.

Foreign policy

Lincoln named his main political rival, William H. Seward, as Secretary of State and left most diplomatic issues in his portfolio. However, Lincoln did select some top diplomats as part of his patronage policy. He also closely watched the handling of the Trent Affair in late 1861 to make sure there was no escalation into a war with Britain. Seward's main role was to keep Britain and France from supporting the Confederacy. He was successful after indicating to Britain and France that the Union would declare war on them if they supported the South.

Assassination

John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland; though he never joined the Confederate army, he had contacts with the Confederate secret service. After attending Lincoln's last public address, on April 11, 1865, in which Lincoln stated his preference that the franchise be conferred on some black men, specifically "on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers", Booth hatched a plot to assassinate the President. When Booth learned of the Lincolns' intent to attend a play with General Grant, he planned to assassinate Lincoln and Grant at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln and his wife attended the play Our American Cousin on the evening of April 14, just five days after the Union victory at the Battle of Appomattox Courthouse. At the last minute, Grant decided to go to New Jersey to visit his children instead of attending the play.

On April 14, 1865, hours before he was assassinated, Lincoln signed legislation establishing the United States Secret Service, and, at 10:15 in the evening, Booth entered the back of Lincoln's theater box, crept up from behind, and fired at the back of Lincoln's head, mortally wounding him. Lincoln's guest, Major Henry Rathbone, momentarily grappled with Booth, but Booth stabbed him and escaped. After being attended by Doctor Charles Leale and two other doctors, Lincoln was taken across the street to Petersen House. After remaining in a coma for eight hours, Lincoln died at 7:22 in the morning on April 15. Stanton saluted and said, "Now he belongs to the ages." Lincoln's body was placed in a flag-wrapped coffin, which was loaded into a hearse and escorted to the White House by Union soldiers. President Johnson was sworn in later that same day.

Two weeks later, Booth, refusing to surrender, was tracked to a farm in Virginia, and was mortally shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett and died on April 26. Secretary of War Stanton had issued orders that Booth be taken alive, so Corbett was initially arrested to be court martialed. After a brief interview, Stanton declared him a patriot and dismissed the charge.

Funeral and burial 

The late President lay in state, first in the East Room of the White House, and then in the Capitol Rotunda from April 19 to 21. The caskets containing Lincoln's body and the body of his son Willie traveled for three weeks on the Lincoln Special funeral train. The train followed a circuitous route from Washington D.C. to Springfield, Illinois, stopping at many cities for memorials attended by hundreds of thousands. Many others gathered along the tracks as the train passed with bands, bonfires, and hymn singing or in silent grief. Poet Walt Whitman composed "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" to eulogize him, one of four poems he wrote about Lincoln. African Americans were especially moved; they had lost their "Moses". In a larger sense, the reaction was in response to the deaths of so many men in the war. Historians emphasized the widespread shock and sorrow, but noted that some Lincoln haters celebrated his death. Lincoln's body was buried at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield and now lies within the Lincoln Tomb.

Religious and philosophical beliefs

As a young man, Lincoln was a religious skeptic. He was deeply familiar with the Bible, quoting and praising it. He was private about his position on organized religion and respected the beliefs of others. He never made a clear profession of Christian beliefs. Throughout his public career, Lincoln often quoted Scripture. His three most famous speeches—the House Divided Speech, the Gettysburg Address, and his second inaugural—each contain direct allusions to Providence and quotes from Scripture.

In the 1840s, Lincoln subscribed to the Doctrine of Necessity, a belief that the human mind was controlled by a higher power. With the death of his son Edward in 1850 he more frequently expressed a dependence on God. He never joined a church, although he frequently attended First Presbyterian Church with his wife beginning in 1852.

In the 1850s, Lincoln asserted his belief in "providence" in a general way, and rarely used the language or imagery of the evangelicals; he regarded the republicanism of the Founding Fathers with an almost religious reverence. The death of his son Willie in February 1862 may have caused him to look toward religion for solace. After Willie's death, he questioned the divine necessity of the war's severity. He wrote at this time that God "could have either saved or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the contest began. And having begun, He could give the final victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds."

Lincoln did believe in an all-powerful God that shaped events and by 1865 was expressing that belief in major speeches. By the end of the war, he increasingly appealed to the Almighty for solace and to explain events, writing on April 4, 1864, to a newspaper editor in Kentucky: This spirituality can best be seen in his second inaugural address, considered by some scholars as the greatest such address in American history, and by Lincoln himself as his own greatest speech, or one of them at the very least. Lincoln explains therein that the cause, purpose, and result of the war was God's will. Lincoln's frequent use of religious imagery and language toward the end of his life may have reflected his own personal beliefs or might have been a device to reach his audiences, who were mostly evangelical Protestants. On the day Lincoln was assassinated, he reportedly told his wife he desired to visit the Holy Land.

Health

Lincoln is believed to have had depression, smallpox, and malaria. He took blue mass pills, which contained mercury, to treat constipation. It is unknown to what extent this may have resulted in mercury poisoning.

Several claims have been made that Lincoln's health was declining before the assassination. These are often based on photographs of Lincoln appearing to show weight loss and muscle wasting. It is also suspected that he might have had a rare genetic disease such as Marfan syndrome or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2B.

Legacy

Republican values 
Lincoln's redefinition of republican values has been stressed by historians such as John Patrick Diggins, Harry V. Jaffa, Vernon Burton, Eric Foner, and Herman J. Belz. Lincoln called the Declaration of Independence—which emphasized freedom and equality for all—the "sheet anchor" of republicanism beginning in the 1850s. He did this at a time when the Constitution, which "tolerated slavery", was the focus of most political discourse. Diggins notes, "Lincoln presented Americans a theory of history that offers a profound contribution to the theory and destiny of republicanism itself" in the 1860 Cooper Union speech. Instead of focusing on the legality of an argument, he focused on the moral basis of republicanism.

His position on war was founded on a legal argument regarding the Constitution as essentially a contract among the states, and all parties must agree to pull out of the contract. Furthermore, it was a national duty to ensure the republic stands in every state. Many soldiers and religious leaders from the north, though, felt the fight for liberty and freedom of slaves was ordained by their moral and religious beliefs.

As a Whig activist, Lincoln was a spokesman for business interests, favoring high tariffs, banks, infrastructure improvements, and railroads, in opposition to Jacksonian democrats. Lincoln shared the sympathies that the Jacksonians professed for the common man, but he disagreed with the Jacksonian view that the government should be divorced from economic enterprise. Nevertheless, Lincoln admired Andrew Jackson's steeliness as well as his patriotism. According to historian Sean Wilentz:

William C. Harris found that Lincoln's "reverence for the Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the laws under it, and the preservation of the Republic and its institutions strengthened his conservatism." James G. Randall emphasizes his tolerance and moderation "in his preference for orderly progress, his distrust of dangerous agitation, and his reluctance toward ill digested schemes of reform." Randall concludes that "he was conservative in his complete avoidance of that type of so-called 'radicalism' which involved abuse of the South, hatred for the slaveholder, thirst for vengeance, partisan plotting, and ungenerous demands that Southern institutions be transformed overnight by outsiders."

Reunification of the states

In Lincoln's first inaugural address, he explored the nature of democracy. He denounced secession as anarchy, and explained that majority rule had to be balanced by constitutional restraints. He said "A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people."

The successful reunification of the states had consequences for how people viewed the country. The term "the United States" has historically been used sometimes in the plural ("these United States") and other times in the singular. The Civil War was a significant force in the eventual dominance of the singular usage by the end of the 19th century.

Historical reputation 

In surveys of U.S. scholars ranking presidents conducted since 1948, the top three presidents are Lincoln, Washington, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, although the order varies. Between 1999 and 2011, Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan were the top-ranked presidents in eight public opinion surveys, according to Gallup. A 2004 study found that scholars in the fields of history and politics ranked Lincoln number one, while legal scholars placed him second after George Washington.

Lincoln's assassination left him a national martyr. He was viewed by abolitionists as a champion of human liberty. Republicans linked Lincoln's name to their party. Many, though not all, in the South considered Lincoln as a man of outstanding ability. Historians have said he was "a classical liberal" in the 19th-century sense. Allen C. Guelzo states that Lincoln was a "classical liberal democrat—an enemy of artificial hierarchy, a friend to trade and business as ennobling and enabling, and an American counterpart to Mill, Cobden, and Bright", whose portrait Lincoln hung in his White House office.

Sociologist Barry Schwartz argues that Lincoln's American reputation grew slowly from the late 19th century until the Progressive Era (1900–1920s), when he emerged as one of America's most venerated heroes, even among white Southerners. The high point came in 1922 with the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Union nationalism, as envisioned by Lincoln, "helped lead America to the nationalism of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt." In the New Deal era, liberals honored Lincoln not so much as the self-made man or the great war president, but as the advocate of the common man who they claimed would have supported the welfare state.

Schwartz argues that in the 1930s and 1940s the memory of Abraham Lincoln was practically sacred and provided the nation with "a moral symbol inspiring and guiding American life." During the Great Depression, he argues, Lincoln served "as a means for seeing the world's disappointments, for making its sufferings not so much explicable as meaningful." Franklin D. Roosevelt, preparing America for war, used the words of the Civil War president to clarify the threat posed by Germany and Japan. Americans asked, "What would Lincoln do?" However, Schwartz also finds that since World War II Lincoln's symbolic power has lost relevance, and this "fading hero is symptomatic of fading confidence in national greatness." He suggested that postmodernism and multiculturalism have diluted greatness as a concept.

In the Cold War years, Lincoln's image shifted to a symbol of freedom who brought hope to those oppressed by Communist regimes. He had long been known as the Great Emancipator, but, by the late 1960s, some African American intellectuals, led by Lerone Bennett Jr., denied that Lincoln deserved that title. Bennett won wide attention when he called Lincoln a white supremacist in 1968. He noted that Lincoln used ethnic slurs and told jokes that ridiculed blacks. Bennett argued that Lincoln opposed social equality and proposed that freed slaves voluntarily move to another country. The emphasis shifted away from Lincoln the emancipator to an argument that blacks had freed themselves from slavery, or at least were responsible for pressuring the government to emancipate them. Defenders of Lincoln, such as authors Dirck and Cashin, retorted that he was not as bad as most politicians of his day and that he was a "moral visionary" who deftly advanced the abolitionist cause, as fast as politically possible. Dirck stated that few Civil War scholars take Bennett seriously, pointing to his "narrow political agenda and faulty research".

By the 1970s, Lincoln had become a hero to political conservatives—apart from neo-Confederates such as Mel Bradford, who denounced his treatment of the white South—for his intense nationalism, his support for business, his insistence on stopping the spread of slavery, his acting on Lockean and Burkean principles on behalf of both liberty and tradition, and his devotion to the principles of the Founding Fathers. Lincoln became a favorite of liberal intellectuals across the world.

Barry Schwartz wrote in 2009 that Lincoln's image suffered "erosion, fading prestige, benign ridicule" in the late 20th century. On the other hand, Donald opined in his 1996 biography that Lincoln was distinctly endowed with the personality trait of negative capability, defined by the poet John Keats and attributed to extraordinary leaders who were "content in the midst of uncertainties and doubts, and not compelled toward fact or reason".

In the 21st century, President Barack Obama named Lincoln his favorite president and insisted on using the Lincoln Bible for his inaugural ceremonies.

Lincoln has often been portrayed by Hollywood, almost always in a flattering light.

Lincoln has been also admired by political figures outside the U.S., including German political theorist Karl Marx, Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and Libyan revolutionary Muammar Gaddafi.

Memory and memorials

Lincoln's portrait appears on two denominations of United States currency, the penny and the $5 bill. His likeness also appears on many postage stamps. While he is usually portrayed bearded, he did not grow a beard until 1860 at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell. He was the first of five presidents to do so.

He has been memorialized in many town, city, and county names, including the capital of Nebraska. The United States Navy   is named after Lincoln, the second Navy ship to bear his name. The Lincoln Memorial is one of the most visited monuments in the nation's capital and is one of the top five most visited National Park Service sites in the country. Ford's Theatre, among the most visited sites in Washington, D.C., is across the street from Petersen House, where Lincoln died. Memorials in Springfield, Illinois, include the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln's home, and his tomb. A portrait carving of Lincoln appears with those of three other presidents on Mount Rushmore, which receives about 3 million visitors a year. An influential statue of Lincoln stands in Lincoln Park, Chicago, with recastings given as diplomatic gifts standing in Parliament Square, London, and Parque Lincoln, Mexico City.

In 2019, Congress officially dedicated room H-226 in the United States Capitol to Abraham Lincoln. The room is located off National Statuary Hall and served as the post office of the House while then-Representative Abraham Lincoln served in Congress from 1847 to 1849.

See also

 Outline of Abraham Lincoln
 Grace Bedell
 Lincoln Tower
 List of civil rights leaders
 List of photographs of Abraham Lincoln
 Lincoln (film): 2012 film by Steven Spielberg
 Linconia, a proposed colony in Central America named for Lincoln

Notes

References

Bibliography

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (2 vols.)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Ellenberg's essay is adapted from his 2021 book, Shape: The Hidden Geometry of Information, Biology, Strategy, Democracy, and Everything Else, Penguin Press. ISBN 9781984879059
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . Second edition, 2022. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.

External links

Official
 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
 The Lincoln Presidential Library's ongoing digitization of all documents written by or to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime
 Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln – complete collected works as edited by Basler et al. (1958) – an online edition available through University of Michigan Library Digital Collections

Organizations
 Abraham Lincoln Association 
 Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation

Media coverage

Other

 Abraham Lincoln: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
 "Life Portrait of Abraham Lincoln", from C-SPAN's American presidents: Life Portraits, June 28, 1999
 "Writings of Abraham Lincoln" from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
 Abraham Lincoln: Original Letters and Manuscripts – Shapell Manuscript Foundation
 Lincoln/Net: Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project – Northern Illinois University Libraries
 Teaching Abraham Lincoln  – National Endowment for the Humanities
 
 
 
 In Popular Song: Our Noble Chief Has Passed Away by Cooper/Thomas
 Abraham Lincoln Recollections and Newspaper Articles Collection , McLean County Museum of History
 Digitized items in the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division in the Library of Congress

 
1809 births
1865 deaths
1865 murders in the United States
1860s assassinated politicians
19th-century American politicians
19th-century presidents of the United States
American abolitionists
American colonization movement
American lawyers admitted to the practice of law by reading law
American military personnel of the Indian Wars
American militia officers
American nationalists
American political party founders
Illinois postmasters
American surveyors
Assassinated presidents of the United States
Burials at Oak Ridge Cemetery
Candidates in the 1860 United States presidential election
Candidates in the 1864 United States presidential election
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
Illinois Central Railroad people
Illinois Republicans
Illinois lawyers
Abraham
Male murder victims
Members of the Illinois House of Representatives
People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
People from Coles County, Illinois
People from LaRue County, Kentucky
People from Macon County, Illinois
People from Spencer County, Indiana
People murdered in Washington, D.C.
People of Illinois in the American Civil War
People with mood disorders
Politicians from Springfield, Illinois
Presidents of the United States
Republican Party (United States) presidential nominees
Republican Party presidents of the United States
Union (American Civil War) political leaders
Whig Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Illinois
19th-century assassinated national presidents
Assassinated former subnational legislators

Aristotle (;  Aristotélēs, ; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology and the arts. As the founder of the Peripatetic school of philosophy in the Lyceum in Athens, he began the wider Aristotelian tradition that followed, which set the groundwork for the development of modern science.

Little is known about Aristotle's life. He was born in the city of Stagira in northern Greece during the Classical period. His father, Nicomachus, died when Aristotle was a child, and he was brought up by a guardian. At 17 or 18 he joined Plato's Academy in Athens and remained there till the age of 37 (). Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left Athens and, at the request of Philip II of Macedon, tutored his son Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC. He established a library in the Lyceum which helped him to produce many of his hundreds of books on papyrus scrolls.

Though Aristotle wrote many elegant treatises and dialogues for publication, only around a third of his original output has survived, none of it intended for publication. Aristotle provided a complex synthesis of the various philosophies existing prior to him. His teachings and methods of inquiry have had a significant global impact, and as a result, his philosophy has exerted an influence across the world and it continues to be a subject of contemporary philosophical discussion.

Aristotle's views profoundly shaped medieval scholarship. The influence of his physical science extended from late antiquity and the Early Middle Ages into the Renaissance, and was not replaced systematically until the Enlightenment and theories such as classical mechanics were developed. Some of Aristotle's zoological observations found in his biology, such as on the hectocotyl (reproductive) arm of the octopus, were disbelieved until the 19th century. He influenced Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, especially the Neoplatonism of the Early Church and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church. Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as "The First Teacher", and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply "The Philosopher", while the poet Dante called him "the master of those who know". His works contain the earliest known formal study of logic, and were studied by medieval scholars such as Peter Abelard and Jean Buridan. Aristotle's influence on logic continued well into the 19th century. In addition, his ethics, though always influential, gained renewed interest with the modern advent of virtue ethics.

Life 
In general, the details of Aristotle's life are not well-established. The biographies written in ancient times are often speculative and historians only agree on a few salient points.

Aristotle was born in 384 BC in Stagira, Chalcidice, about 55 km (34 miles) east of modern-day Thessaloniki. His father, Nicomachus, was the personal physician to King Amyntas of Macedon. While he was young, Aristotle learned about biology and medical information, which was taught by his father. Both of Aristotle's parents died when he was about thirteen, and Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian. Although little information about Aristotle's childhood has survived, he probably spent some time within the Macedonian palace, making his first connections with the Macedonian monarchy.

At the age of seventeen or eighteen, Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his education at Plato's Academy. He probably experienced the Eleusinian Mysteries as he wrote when describing the sights one viewed at the Eleusinian Mysteries, "to experience is to learn" [παθείν μαθεĩν]. Aristotle remained in Athens for nearly twenty years before leaving in 348/47 BC. The traditional story about his departure records that he was disappointed with the Academy's direction after control passed to Plato's nephew Speusippus, although it is possible that he feared the anti-Macedonian sentiments in Athens at that time and left before Plato died. Aristotle then accompanied Xenocrates to the court of his friend Hermias of Atarneus in Asia Minor. After the death of Hermias, Aristotle travelled with his pupil Theophrastus to the island of Lesbos, where together they researched the botany and zoology of the island and its sheltered lagoon. While in Lesbos, Aristotle married Pythias, either Hermias's adoptive daughter or niece. They had a daughter, whom they also named Pythias. In 343 BC, Aristotle was invited by Philip II of Macedon to become the tutor to his son Alexander.

Aristotle was appointed as the head of the royal Academy of Macedon. During Aristotle's time in the Macedonian court, he gave lessons not only to Alexander but also to two other future kings: Ptolemy and Cassander. Aristotle encouraged Alexander toward eastern conquest, and Aristotle's own attitude towards Persia was unabashedly ethnocentric. In one famous example, he counsels Alexander to be "a leader to the Greeks and a despot to the barbarians, to look after the former as after friends and relatives, and to deal with the latter as with beasts or plants". By 335 BC, Aristotle had returned to Athens, establishing his own school there known as the Lyceum. Aristotle conducted courses at the school for the next twelve years. While in Athens, his wife Pythias died and Aristotle became involved with Herpyllis of Stagira. They had a son whom Aristotle named after his father, Nicomachus. If the Suda  an uncritical compilation from the Middle Ages  is accurate, he may also have had an erômenos, Palaephatus of Abydus.

This period in Athens, between 335 and 323 BC, is when Aristotle is believed to have composed many of his works. He wrote many dialogues, of which only fragments have survived. Those works that have survived are in treatise form and were not, for the most part, intended for widespread publication; they are generally thought to be lecture aids for his students. His most important treatises include Physics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, Politics, On the Soul and Poetics. Aristotle studied and made significant contributions to "logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance, and theatre."

Near the end of his life, Alexander and Aristotle became estranged over Alexander's relationship with Persia and Persians. A widespread tradition in antiquity suspected Aristotle of playing a role in Alexander's death, but the only evidence of this is an unlikely claim made some six years after the death. Following Alexander's death, anti-Macedonian sentiment in Athens was rekindled. In 322 BC, Demophilus and Eurymedon the Hierophant reportedly denounced Aristotle for impiety, prompting him to flee to his mother's family estate in Chalcis, on Euboea, at which occasion he was said to have stated: "I will not allow the Athenians to sin twice against philosophy" – a reference to Athens's trial and execution of Socrates. He died in Chalcis, Euboea of natural causes later that same year, having named his student Antipater as his chief executor and leaving a will in which he asked to be buried next to his wife.

Theoretical philosophy

Logic 

With the Prior Analytics, Aristotle is credited with the earliest study of formal logic, and his conception of it was the dominant form of Western logic until 19th-century advances in mathematical logic. Kant stated in the Critique of Pure Reason that with Aristotle logic reached its completion.

Organon 

What is today called Aristotelian logic with its types of syllogism (methods of logical argument), Aristotle himself would have labelled "analytics". The term "logic" he reserved to mean dialectics. Most of Aristotle's work is probably not in its original form, because it was most likely edited by students and later lecturers. The logical works of Aristotle were compiled into a set of six books called the Organon around 40 BC by Andronicus of Rhodes or others among his followers. The books are:
 Categories
 On Interpretation
 Prior Analytics
 Posterior Analytics
 Topics
 On Sophistical Refutations

The order of the books (or the teachings from which they are composed) is not certain, but this list was derived from analysis of Aristotle's writings. It goes from the basics, the analysis of simple terms in the Categories, the analysis of propositions and their elementary relations in On Interpretation, to the study of more complex forms, namely, syllogisms (in the Analytics) and dialectics (in the Topics and Sophistical Refutations). The first three treatises form the core of the logical theory stricto sensu: the grammar of the language of logic and the correct rules of reasoning. The Rhetoric is not conventionally included, but it states that it relies on the Topics.

Metaphysics 

The word "metaphysics" appears to have been coined by the first century AD editor who assembled various small selections of Aristotle's works to the treatise we know by the name Metaphysics. Aristotle called it "first philosophy", and distinguished it from mathematics and natural science (physics) as the contemplative (theoretikē) philosophy which is "theological" and studies the divine. He wrote in his Metaphysics (1026a16):

Substance 

Aristotle examines the concepts of substance (ousia) and essence (to ti ên einai, "the what it was to be") in his Metaphysics (Book VII), and he concludes that a particular substance is a combination of both matter and form, a philosophical theory called hylomorphism. In Book VIII, he distinguishes the matter of the substance as the substratum, or the stuff of which it is composed. For example, the matter of a house is the bricks, stones, timbers, etc., or whatever constitutes the potential house, while the form of the substance is the actual house, namely 'covering for bodies and chattels' or any other differentia that let us define something as a house. The formula that gives the components is the account of the matter, and the formula that gives the differentia is the account of the form.

Immanent realism 

Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle's philosophy aims at the universal. Aristotle's ontology places the universal (katholou) in particulars (kath' hekaston), things in the world, whereas for Plato the universal is a separately existing form which actual things imitate. For Aristotle, "form" is still what phenomena are based on, but is "instantiated" in a particular substance.

Plato argued that all things have a universal form, which could be either a property or a relation to other things. When one looks at an apple, for example, one sees an apple, and one can also analyse a form of an apple. In this distinction, there is a particular apple and a universal form of an apple. Moreover, one can place an apple next to a book, so that one can speak of both the book and apple as being next to each other. Plato argued that there are some universal forms that are not a part of particular things. For example, it is possible that there is no particular good in existence, but "good" is still a proper universal form. Aristotle disagreed with Plato on this point, arguing that all universals are instantiated at some period of time, and that there are no universals that are unattached to existing things. In addition, Aristotle disagreed with Plato about the location of universals. Where Plato spoke of the forms as existing separately from the things that participate in them, Aristotle maintained that universals exist within each thing on which each universal is predicated. So, according to Aristotle, the form of apple exists within each apple, rather than in the world of the forms.

Potentiality and actuality 
Concerning the nature of change (kinesis) and its causes, as he outlines in his Physics and On Generation and Corruption (319b–320a), he distinguishes coming-to-be (genesis, also translated as 'generation') from:

 growth and diminution, which is change in quantity;
 locomotion, which is change in space; and
 alteration, which is change in quality.

Coming-to-be is a change where the substrate of the thing that has undergone the change has itself changed. In that particular change he introduces the concept of potentiality (dynamis) and actuality (entelecheia) in association with the matter and the form. Referring to potentiality, this is what a thing is capable of doing or being acted upon if the conditions are right and it is not prevented by something else. For example, the seed of a plant in the soil is potentially (dynamei) a plant, and if it is not prevented by something, it will become a plant. Potentially beings can either 'act' (poiein) or 'be acted upon' (paschein), which can be either innate or learned. For example, the eyes possess the potentiality of sight (innate – being acted upon), while the capability of playing the flute can be possessed by learning (exercise – acting). Actuality is the fulfilment of the end of the potentiality. Because the end (telos) is the principle of every change, and potentiality exists for the sake of the end, actuality, accordingly, is the end. Referring then to the previous example, it can be said that an actuality is when a plant does one of the activities that plants do.

In summary, the matter used to make a house has potentiality to be a house and both the activity of building and the form of the final house are actualities, which is also a final cause or end. Then Aristotle proceeds and concludes that the actuality is prior to potentiality in formula, in time and in substantiality. With this definition of the particular substance (i.e., matter and form), Aristotle tries to solve the problem of the unity of the beings, for example, "what is it that makes a man one"? Since, according to Plato there are two Ideas: animal and biped, how then is man a unity? However, according to Aristotle, the potential being (matter) and the actual one (form) are one and the same.

Epistemology 
Aristotle's immanent realism means his epistemology is based on the study of things that exist or happen in the world, and rises to knowledge of the universal, whereas for Plato epistemology begins with knowledge of universal Forms (or ideas) and descends to knowledge of particular imitations of these. Aristotle uses induction from examples alongside deduction, whereas Plato relies on deduction from a priori principles.

Natural philosophy 
Aristotle's "natural philosophy" spans a wide range of natural phenomena including those now covered by physics, biology and other natural sciences. In Aristotle's terminology, "natural philosophy" is a branch of philosophy examining the phenomena of the natural world, and includes fields that would be regarded today as physics, biology and other natural sciences. Aristotle's work encompassed virtually all facets of intellectual inquiry. Aristotle makes philosophy in the broad sense coextensive with reasoning, which he also would describe as "science". However, his use of the term science carries a different meaning than that covered by the term "scientific method". For Aristotle, "all science (dianoia) is either practical, poetical or theoretical" (Metaphysics 1025b25). His practical science includes ethics and politics; his poetical science means the study of fine arts including poetry; his theoretical science covers physics, mathematics and metaphysics.

Physics

Five elements 

In his On Generation and Corruption, Aristotle related each of the four elements proposed earlier by Empedocles, earth, water, air, and fire, to two of the four sensible qualities, hot, cold, wet, and dry. In the Empedoclean scheme, all matter was made of the four elements, in differing proportions. Aristotle's scheme added the heavenly aether, the divine substance of the heavenly spheres, stars and planets.

Motion 

Aristotle describes two kinds of motion: "violent" or "unnatural motion", such as that of a thrown stone, in the Physics (254b10), and "natural motion", such as of a falling object, in On the Heavens (300a20). In violent motion, as soon as the agent stops causing it, the motion stops also: in other words, the natural state of an object is to be at rest, since Aristotle does not address friction. With this understanding, it can be observed that, as Aristotle stated, heavy objects (on the ground, say) require more force to make them move; and objects pushed with greater force move faster. This would imply the equation

 ,

incorrect in modern physics.

Natural motion depends on the element concerned: the aether naturally moves in a circle around the heavens, while the 4 Empedoclean elements move vertically up (like fire, as is observed) or down (like earth) towards their natural resting places.

In the Physics (215a25), Aristotle effectively states a quantitative law, that the speed, v, of a falling body is proportional (say, with constant c) to its weight, W, and inversely proportional to the density, ρ, of the fluid in which it is falling:;

 

Aristotle implies that in a vacuum the speed of fall would become infinite, and concludes from this apparent absurdity that a vacuum is not possible. Opinions have varied on whether Aristotle intended to state quantitative laws. Henri Carteron held the "extreme view" that Aristotle's concept of force was basically qualitative, but other authors reject this.

Archimedes corrected Aristotle's theory that bodies move towards their natural resting places; metal boats can float if they displace enough water; floating depends in Archimedes' scheme on the mass and volume of the object, not, as Aristotle thought, its elementary composition.

Aristotle's writings on motion remained influential until the Early Modern period. John Philoponus (in Late antiquity) and Galileo (in Early modern period) are said to have shown by experiment that Aristotle's claim that a heavier object falls faster than a lighter object is incorrect. A contrary opinion is given by Carlo Rovelli, who argues that Aristotle's physics of motion is correct within its domain of validity, that of objects in the Earth's gravitational field immersed in a fluid such as air. In this system, heavy bodies in steady fall indeed travel faster than light ones (whether friction is ignored, or not), and they do fall more slowly in a denser medium.

Newton's "forced" motion corresponds to Aristotle's "violent" motion with its external agent, but Aristotle's assumption that the agent's effect stops immediately it stops acting (e.g., the ball leaves the thrower's hand) has awkward consequences: he has to suppose that surrounding fluid helps to push the ball along to make it continue to rise even though the hand is no longer acting on it, resulting in the Medieval theory of impetus.

Four causes 

Aristotle suggested that the reason for anything coming about can be attributed to four different types of simultaneously active factors. His term aitia is traditionally translated as "cause", but it does not always refer to temporal sequence; it might be better translated as "explanation", but the traditional rendering will be employed here.
 Material cause describes the material out of which something is composed. Thus the material cause of a table is wood. It is not about action. It does not mean that one domino knocks over another domino.
 The formal cause is its form, i.e., the arrangement of that matter. It tells one what a thing is, that a thing is determined by the definition, form, pattern, essence, whole, synthesis or archetype. It embraces the account of causes in terms of fundamental principles or general laws, as the whole (i.e., macrostructure) is the cause of its parts, a relationship known as the whole-part causation. Plainly put, the formal cause is the idea in the mind of the sculptor that brings the sculpture into being. A simple example of the formal cause is the mental image or idea that allows an artist, architect, or engineer to create a drawing.
 The efficient cause is "the primary source", or that from which the change under consideration proceeds. It identifies 'what makes of what is made and what causes change of what is changed' and so suggests all sorts of agents, non-living or living, acting as the sources of change or movement or rest. Representing the current understanding of causality as the relation of cause and effect, this covers the modern definitions of "cause" as either the agent or agency or particular events or states of affairs. In the case of two dominoes, when the first is knocked over it causes the second also to fall over. In the case of animals, this agency is a combination of how it develops from the egg, and how its body functions.
 The final cause (telos) is its purpose, the reason why a thing exists or is done, including both purposeful and instrumental actions and activities. The final cause is the purpose or function that something is supposed to serve. This covers modern ideas of motivating causes, such as volition. In the case of living things, it implies adaptation to a particular way of life.

Optics 

Aristotle describes experiments in optics using a camera obscura in Problems, book 15. The apparatus consisted of a dark chamber with a small aperture that let light in. With it, he saw that whatever shape he made the hole, the sun's image always remained circular. He also noted that increasing the distance between the aperture and the image surface magnified the image.

Chance and spontaneity 

According to Aristotle, spontaneity and chance are causes of some things, distinguishable from other types of cause such as simple necessity. Chance as an incidental cause lies in the realm of accidental things, "from what is spontaneous". There is also more a specific kind of chance, which Aristotle names "luck", that only applies to people's moral choices.

Astronomy 

In astronomy, Aristotle refuted Democritus's claim that the Milky Way was made up of "those stars which are shaded by the earth from the sun's rays," pointing out partly correctly that if "the size of the sun is greater than that of the earth and the distance of the stars from the earth many times greater than that of the sun, then... the sun shines on all the stars and the earth screens none of them." He also wrote descriptions of comets, including the Great Comet of 371 BC.

Geology and natural sciences 

Aristotle was one of the first people to record any geological observations. He stated that geological change was too slow to be observed in one person's lifetime.
The geologist Charles Lyell noted that Aristotle described such change, including "lakes that had dried up" and "deserts that had become watered by rivers", giving as examples the growth of the Nile delta since the time of Homer, and "the upheaving of one of the Aeolian islands, previous to a volcanic eruption."'
Aristotle also made many observations about the hydrologic cycle and meteorology (including his major writings "Meteorologica"). For example, he made some of the earliest observations about desalination: he observed early – and correctly – that when seawater is heated, freshwater evaporates and that the oceans are then replenished by the cycle of rainfall and river runoff ("I have proved by experiment that salt water evaporated forms fresh and the vapor does not when it condenses condense into sea water again.")

Biology

Empirical research 
Aristotle was the first person to study biology systematically, and biology forms a large part of his writings. He spent two years observing and describing the zoology of Lesbos and the surrounding seas, including in particular the Pyrrha lagoon in the centre of Lesbos. His data in History of Animals, Generation of Animals, Movement of Animals, and Parts of Animals are assembled from his own observations, statements given by people with specialized knowledge such as beekeepers and fishermen, and less accurate accounts provided by travellers from overseas. His apparent emphasis on animals rather than plants is a historical accident: his works on botany have been lost, but two books on plants by his pupil Theophrastus have survived.

Aristotle reports on the sea-life visible from observation on Lesbos and the catches of fishermen. He describes the catfish, electric ray, and frogfish in detail, as well as cephalopods such as the octopus and paper nautilus. His description of the hectocotyl arm of cephalopods, used in sexual reproduction, was widely disbelieved until the 19th century. He gives accurate descriptions of the four-chambered fore-stomachs of ruminants, and of the ovoviviparous embryological development of the hound shark.

He notes that an animal's structure is well matched to function so birds like the heron (which live in marshes with soft mud and live by catching fish) have a long neck, long legs, and a sharp spear-like beak, whereas ducks that swim have short legs and webbed feet. Darwin, too, noted these sorts of differences between similar kinds of animal, but unlike Aristotle used the data to come to the theory of evolution. Aristotle's writings can seem to modern readers close to implying evolution, but while Aristotle was aware that new mutations or hybridizations could occur, he saw these as rare accidents. For Aristotle, accidents, like heat waves in winter, must be considered distinct from natural causes. He was thus critical of Empedocles's materialist theory of a "survival of the fittest" origin of living things and their organs, and ridiculed the idea that accidents could lead to orderly results. To put his views into modern terms, he nowhere says that different species can have a common ancestor, or that one kind can change into another, or that kinds can become extinct.

Scientific style 

Aristotle did not do experiments in the modern sense. He used the ancient Greek term pepeiramenoi to mean observations, or at most investigative procedures like dissection. In Generation of Animals, he finds a fertilized hen's egg of a suitable stage and opens it to see the embryo's heart beating inside.

Instead, he practiced a different style of science: systematically gathering data, discovering patterns common to whole groups of animals, and inferring possible causal explanations from these. This style is common in modern biology when large amounts of data become available in a new field, such as genomics. It does not result in the same certainty as experimental science, but it sets out testable hypotheses and constructs a narrative explanation of what is observed. In this sense, Aristotle's biology is scientific.

From the data he collected and documented, Aristotle inferred quite a number of rules relating the life-history features of the live-bearing tetrapods (terrestrial placental mammals) that he studied. Among these correct predictions are the following. Brood size decreases with (adult) body mass, so that an elephant has fewer young (usually just one) per brood than a mouse. Lifespan increases with gestation period, and also with body mass, so that elephants live longer than mice, have a longer period of gestation, and are heavier. As a final example, fecundity decreases with lifespan, so long-lived kinds like elephants have fewer young in total than short-lived kinds like mice.

Classification of living things 

Aristotle distinguished about 500 species of animals, arranging these in the History of Animals in a graded scale of perfection, a nonreligious version of the scala naturae, with man at the top. His system had eleven grades of animal, from highest potential to lowest, expressed in their form at birth: the highest gave live birth to hot and wet creatures, the lowest laid cold, dry mineral-like eggs. Animals came above plants, and these in turn were above minerals. He grouped what the modern zoologist would call vertebrates as the hotter "animals with blood", and below them the colder invertebrates as "animals without blood". Those with blood were divided into the live-bearing (mammals), and the egg-laying (birds, reptiles, fish). Those without blood were insects, crustacea (non-shelled – cephalopods, and shelled) and the hard-shelled molluscs (bivalves and gastropods). He recognised that animals did not exactly fit into a linear scale, and noted various exceptions, such as that sharks had a placenta like the tetrapods. To a modern biologist, the explanation, not available to Aristotle, is convergent evolution. Philosophers of science have generally concluded that Aristotle was not interested in taxonomy, but zoologists who studied this question in the early 21st century think otherwise. He believed that purposive final causes guided all natural processes; this teleological view justified his observed data as an expression of formal design.

Psychology

Soul 

Aristotle's psychology, given in his treatise On the Soul (peri psychēs), posits three kinds of soul ("psyches"): the vegetative soul, the sensitive soul, and the rational soul. Humans have a rational soul. The human soul incorporates the powers of the other kinds: Like the vegetative soul it can grow and nourish itself; like the sensitive soul it can experience sensations and move locally. The unique part of the human, rational soul is its ability to receive forms of other things and to compare them using the nous (intellect) and logos (reason).

For Aristotle, the soul is the form of a living being. Because all beings are composites of form and matter, the form of living beings is that which endows them with what is specific to living beings, e.g. the ability to initiate movement (or in the case of plants, growth and chemical transformations, which Aristotle considers types of movement). In contrast to earlier philosophers, but in accordance with the Egyptians, he placed the rational soul in the heart, rather than the brain. Notable is Aristotle's division of sensation and thought, which generally differed from the concepts of previous philosophers, with the exception of Alcmaeon.

In On the Soul, Aristotle famously criticizes Plato's theory of the soul and develops his own in response to Plato's. The first criticism is against Plato's view of the soul in the Timaeus that the soul takes up space and is able to come into physical contact with bodies. 20th-century scholarship overwhelmingly opposed Aristotle's interpretation of Plato and maintained that he had misunderstood Plato. Today's scholars have tended to re-assess Aristotle's interpretation and have warmed up to it. Aristotle's other criticism is that Plato's view of reincarnation entails that it is possible for a soul and its body to be mis-matched; in principle, Aristotle alleges, any soul can go with any body, according to Plato's theory. Aristotle's claim that the soul is the form of a living being is meant to eliminate that possibility and thus rule out reincarnation.

Memory 
According to Aristotle in On the Soul, memory is the ability to hold a perceived experience in the mind and to distinguish between the internal "appearance" and an occurrence in the past. In other words, a memory is a mental picture (phantasm) that can be recovered. Aristotle believed an impression is left on a semi-fluid bodily organ that undergoes several changes in order to make a memory. A memory occurs when stimuli such as sights or sounds are so complex that the nervous system cannot receive all the impressions at once. These changes are the same as those involved in the operations of sensation, Aristotelian , and thinking.

Aristotle uses the term 'memory' for the actual retaining of an experience in the impression that can develop from sensation, and for the intellectual anxiety that comes with the impression because it is formed at a particular time and processing specific contents. Memory is of the past, prediction is of the future, and sensation is of the present. Retrieval of impressions cannot be performed suddenly. A transitional channel is needed and located in past experiences, both for previous experience and present experience.

Because Aristotle believes people receive all kinds of sense perceptions and perceive them as impressions, people are continually weaving together new impressions of experiences. To search for these impressions, people search the memory itself. Within the memory, if one experience is offered instead of a specific memory, that person will reject this experience until they find what they are looking for. Recollection occurs when one retrieved experience naturally follows another. If the chain of "images" is needed, one memory will stimulate the next. When people recall experiences, they stimulate certain previous experiences until they reach the one that is needed. Recollection is thus the self-directed activity of retrieving the information stored in a memory impression. Only humans can remember impressions of intellectual activity, such as numbers and words. Animals that have perception of time can retrieve memories of their past observations. Remembering involves only perception of the things remembered and of the time passed.

Aristotle believed the chain of thought, which ends in recollection of certain impressions, was connected systematically in relationships such as similarity, contrast, and contiguity, described in his laws of association. Aristotle believed that past experiences are hidden within the mind. A force operates to awaken the hidden material to bring up the actual experience. According to Aristotle, association is the power innate in a mental state, which operates upon the unexpressed remains of former experiences, allowing them to rise and be recalled.

Dreams 

Aristotle describes sleep in On Sleep and Wakefulness. Sleep takes place as a result of overuse of the senses or of digestion, so it is vital to the body. While a person is asleep, the critical activities, which include thinking, sensing, recalling and remembering, do not function as they do during wakefulness. Since a person cannot sense during sleep they cannot have desire, which is the result of sensation. However, the senses are able to work during sleep, albeit differently, unless they are weary.

Dreams do not involve actually sensing a stimulus. In dreams, sensation is still involved, but in an altered manner. Aristotle explains that when a person stares at a moving stimulus such as the waves in a body of water, and then looks away, the next thing they look at appears to have a wavelike motion. When a person perceives a stimulus and the stimulus is no longer the focus of their attention, it leaves an impression. When the body is awake and the senses are functioning properly, a person constantly encounters new stimuli to sense and so the impressions of previously perceived stimuli are ignored. However, during sleep the impressions made throughout the day are noticed as there are no new distracting sensory experiences. So, dreams result from these lasting impressions. Since impressions are all that are left and not the exact stimuli, dreams do not resemble the actual waking experience. During sleep, a person is in an altered state of mind. Aristotle compares a sleeping person to a person who is overtaken by strong feelings toward a stimulus. For example, a person who has a strong infatuation with someone may begin to think they see that person everywhere because they are so overtaken by their feelings. Since a person sleeping is in a suggestible state and unable to make judgements, they become easily deceived by what appears in their dreams, like the infatuated person. This leads the person to believe the dream is real, even when the dreams are absurd in nature. In De Anima iii 3, Aristotle ascribes the ability to create, to store, and to recall images in the absence of perception to the faculty of imagination, phantasia.

One component of Aristotle's theory of dreams disagrees with previously held beliefs. He claimed that dreams are not foretelling and not sent by a divine being. Aristotle reasoned naturalistically that instances in which dreams do resemble future events are simply coincidences. Aristotle claimed that a dream is first established by the fact that the person is asleep when they experience it. If a person had an image appear for a moment after waking up or if they see something in the dark it is not considered a dream because they were awake when it occurred. Secondly, any sensory experience that is perceived while a person is asleep does not qualify as part of a dream. For example, if, while a person is sleeping, a door shuts and in their dream they hear a door is shut, this sensory experience is not part of the dream. Lastly, the images of dreams must be a result of lasting impressions of waking sensory experiences.

Practical philosophy 
Aristotle's practical philosophy covers areas such as ethics, politics, economics, and rhetoric.

Ethics 

Aristotle considered ethics to be a practical rather than theoretical study, i.e., one aimed at becoming good and doing good rather than knowing for its own sake. He wrote several treatises on ethics, most notably including the Nicomachean Ethics.

Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function (ergon) of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see, because the proper function of an eye is sight. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an activity of the psuchē (soul) in accordance with reason (logos). Aristotle identified such an optimum activity (the virtuous mean, between the accompanying vices of excess or deficiency) of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action, eudaimonia, generally translated as "happiness" or sometimes "well-being". To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character (ēthikē aretē), often translated as moral or ethical virtue or excellence.

Aristotle taught that to achieve a virtuous and potentially happy character requires a first stage of having the fortune to be habituated not deliberately, but by teachers, and experience, leading to a later stage in which one consciously chooses to do the best things. When the best people come to live life this way their practical wisdom (phronesis) and their intellect (nous) can develop with each other towards the highest possible human virtue, the wisdom of an accomplished theoretical or speculative thinker, or in other words, a philosopher.

Politics 

In addition to his works on ethics, which address the individual, Aristotle addressed the city in his work titled Politics. Aristotle considered the city to be a natural community. Moreover, he considered the city to be prior in importance to the family, which in turn is prior to the individual, "for the whole must of necessity be prior to the part". He famously stated that "man is by nature a political animal" and argued that humanity's defining factor among others in the animal kingdom is its rationality. Aristotle conceived of politics as being like an organism rather than like a machine, and as a collection of parts none of which can exist without the others. Aristotle's conception of the city is organic, and he is considered one of the first to conceive of the city in this manner.

The common modern understanding of a political community as a modern state is quite different from Aristotle's understanding. Although he was aware of the existence and potential of larger empires, the natural community according to Aristotle was the city (polis) which functions as a political "community" or "partnership" (koinōnia). The aim of the city is not just to avoid injustice or for economic stability, but rather to allow at least some citizens the possibility to live a good life, and to perform beautiful acts: "The political partnership must be regarded, therefore, as being for the sake of noble actions, not for the sake of living together." This is distinguished from modern approaches, beginning with social contract theory, according to which individuals leave the state of nature because of "fear of violent death" or its "inconveniences".

In Protrepticus, the character 'Aristotle' states:

As Plato's disciple Aristotle was rather critical concerning democracy and, following the outline of certain ideas from Plato's Statesman, he developed a coherent theory of integrating various forms of power into a so-called mixed state:

To illustrate this approach, Aristotle proposed a first-of-its-kind mathematical model of voting, albeit textually described, where the democratic principle of "one voter–one vote" is combined with the oligarchic "merit-weighted voting"; for relevant quotes and their translation into mathematical formulas see.

Aristotle's views on women influenced later Western philosophers, who quoted him as an authority until the end of the Middle Ages, but these views have been controversial in modern times. Aristotle's analysis of procreation describes an active, ensouling masculine element bringing life to an inert, passive female element. The biological differences are a result of the fact that the female body is well-suited for reproduction, which changes her body temperature, which in turn makes her, in Aristotle's view, incapable of participating in political life. On this ground, proponents of feminist metaphysics have accused Aristotle of misogyny and sexism. However, Aristotle gave equal weight to women's happiness as he did to men's, and commented in his Rhetoric that the things that lead to happiness need to be in women as well as men.

Economics 

Aristotle made substantial contributions to economic thought, especially to thought in the Middle Ages. In Politics, Aristotle addresses the city, property, and trade. His response to criticisms of private property, in Lionel Robbins's view, anticipated later proponents of private property among philosophers and economists, as it related to the overall utility of social arrangements. Aristotle believed that although communal arrangements may seem beneficial to society, and that although private property is often blamed for social strife, such evils in fact come from human nature. In Politics, Aristotle offers one of the earliest accounts of the origin of money. Money came into use because people became dependent on one another, importing what they needed and exporting the surplus. For the sake of convenience, people then agreed to deal in something that is intrinsically useful and easily applicable, such as iron or silver.

Aristotle's discussions on retail and interest was a major influence on economic thought in the Middle Ages. He had a low opinion of retail, believing that contrary to using money to procure things one needs in managing the household, retail trade seeks to make a profit. It thus uses goods as a means to an end, rather than as an end unto itself. He believed that retail trade was in this way unnatural. Similarly, Aristotle considered making a profit through interest unnatural, as it makes a gain out of the money itself, and not from its use.

Aristotle gave a summary of the function of money that was perhaps remarkably precocious for his time. He wrote that because it is impossible to determine the value of every good through a count of the number of other goods it is worth, the necessity arises of a single universal standard of measurement. Money thus allows for the association of different goods and makes them "commensurable". He goes on to state that money is also useful for future exchange, making it a sort of security. That is, "if we do not want a thing now, we shall be able to get it when we do want it".

Rhetoric 

Aristotle's Rhetoric proposes that a speaker can use three basic kinds of appeals to persuade his audience: ethos (an appeal to the speaker's character), pathos (an appeal to the audience's emotion), and logos (an appeal to logical reasoning). He also categorizes rhetoric into three genres: epideictic (ceremonial speeches dealing with praise or blame), forensic (judicial speeches over guilt or innocence), and deliberative (speeches calling on an audience to make a decision on an issue). Aristotle also outlines two kinds of rhetorical proofs: enthymeme (proof by syllogism) and paradeigma (proof by example).

Poetics 

Aristotle writes in his Poetics that epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, dithyrambic poetry, painting, sculpture, music, and dance are all fundamentally acts of mimesis ("imitation"), each varying in imitation by medium, object, and manner. He applies the term mimesis both as a property of a work of art and also as the product of the artist's intention and contends that the audience's realisation of the mimesis is vital to understanding the work itself. Aristotle states that mimesis is a natural instinct of humanity that separates humans from animals and that all human artistry "follows the pattern of nature". Because of this, Aristotle believed that each of the mimetic arts possesses what Stephen Halliwell calls "highly structured procedures for the achievement of their purposes." For example, music imitates with the media of rhythm and harmony, whereas dance imitates with rhythm alone, and poetry with language. The forms also differ in their object of imitation. Comedy, for instance, is a dramatic imitation of men worse than average; whereas tragedy imitates men slightly better than average. Lastly, the forms differ in their manner of imitation – through narrative or character, through change or no change, and through drama or no drama.

While it is believed that Aristotle's Poetics originally comprised two books – one on comedy and one on tragedy – only the portion that focuses on tragedy has survived. Aristotle taught that tragedy is composed of six elements: plot-structure, character, style, thought, spectacle, and lyric poetry. The characters in a tragedy are merely a means of driving the story; and the plot, not the characters, is the chief focus of tragedy. Tragedy is the imitation of action arousing pity and fear, and is meant to effect the catharsis of those same emotions. Aristotle concludes Poetics with a discussion on which, if either, is superior: epic or tragic mimesis. He suggests that because tragedy possesses all the attributes of an epic, possibly possesses additional attributes such as spectacle and music, is more unified, and achieves the aim of its mimesis in shorter scope, it can be considered superior to epic. Aristotle was a keen systematic collector of riddles, folklore, and proverbs; he and his school had a special interest in the riddles of the Delphic Oracle and studied the fables of Aesop.

Transmission 

More than 2300 years after his death, Aristotle remains one of the most influential people who ever lived. He contributed to almost every field of human knowledge then in existence, and he was the founder of many new fields. According to the philosopher Bryan Magee, "it is doubtful whether any human being has ever known as much as he did".

Among countless other achievements, Aristotle was the founder of formal logic, pioneered the study of zoology, and left every future scientist and philosopher in his debt through his contributions to the scientific method. Taneli Kukkonen, observes that his achievement in founding two sciences is unmatched, and his reach in influencing "every branch of intellectual enterprise" including Western ethical and political theory, theology, rhetoric, and literary analysis is equally long. As a result, Kukkonen argues, any analysis of reality today "will almost certainly carry Aristotelian overtones ... evidence of an exceptionally forceful mind." Jonathan Barnes wrote that "an account of Aristotle's intellectual afterlife would be little less than a history of European thought".

Aristotle has been called the father of logic, biology, political science, zoology, embryology, natural law, scientific method, rhetoric, psychology, realism, criticism, individualism, teleology, and meteorology.

What follows is an overview of the transmission and influence of his texts and ideas into the modern era.

His successor, Theophrastus 

Aristotle's pupil and successor, Theophrastus, wrote the History of Plants, a pioneering work in botany. Some of his technical terms remain in use, such as carpel from carpos, fruit, and pericarp, from pericarpion, seed chamber.
Theophrastus was much less concerned with formal causes than Aristotle was, instead pragmatically describing how plants functioned.

Later Greek philosophy 

The immediate influence of Aristotle's work was felt as the Lyceum grew into the Peripatetic school. Aristotle's students included Aristoxenus, Dicaearchus, Demetrius of Phalerum, Eudemos of Rhodes, Harpalus, Hephaestion, Mnason of Phocis, Nicomachus, and Theophrastus. Aristotle's influence over Alexander the Great is seen in the latter's bringing with him on his expedition a host of zoologists, botanists, and researchers. He had also learned a great deal about Persian customs and traditions from his teacher. Although his respect for Aristotle was diminished as his travels made it clear that much of Aristotle's geography was clearly wrong, when the old philosopher released his works to the public, Alexander complained "Thou hast not done well to publish thy acroamatic doctrines; for in what shall I surpass other men if those doctrines wherein I have been trained are to be all men's common property?"

Hellenistic science 

After Theophrastus, the Lyceum failed to produce any original work. Though interest in Aristotle's ideas survived, they were generally taken unquestioningly. It is not until the age of Alexandria under the Ptolemies that advances in biology can be again found.

The first medical teacher at Alexandria, Herophilus of Chalcedon, corrected Aristotle, placing intelligence in the brain, and connected the nervous system to motion and sensation. Herophilus also distinguished between veins and arteries, noting that the latter pulse while the former do not. Though a few ancient atomists such as Lucretius challenged the teleological viewpoint of Aristotelian ideas about life, teleology (and after the rise of Christianity, natural theology) would remain central to biological thought essentially until the 18th and 19th centuries. Ernst Mayr states that there was "nothing of any real consequence in biology after Lucretius and Galen until the Renaissance."

Byzantine scholars 

Greek Christian scribes played a crucial role in the preservation of Aristotle by copying all the extant Greek language manuscripts of the corpus. The first Greek Christians to comment extensively on Aristotle were Philoponus, Elias, and David in the sixth century, and Stephen of Alexandria in the early seventh century. John Philoponus stands out for having attempted a fundamental critique of Aristotle's views on the eternity of the world, movement, and other elements of Aristotelian thought. Philoponus questioned Aristotle's teaching of physics, noting its flaws and introducing the theory of impetus to explain his observations.

After a hiatus of several centuries, formal commentary by Eustratius and Michael of Ephesus reappeared in the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, apparently sponsored by Anna Comnena.

Medieval Islamic world 

Aristotle was one of the most revered Western thinkers in early Islamic theology. Most of the still extant works of Aristotle, as well as a number of the original Greek commentaries, were translated into Arabic and studied by Muslim philosophers, scientists and scholars. Averroes, Avicenna and Alpharabius, who wrote on Aristotle in great depth, also influenced Thomas Aquinas and other Western Christian scholastic philosophers. Alkindus greatly admired Aristotle's philosophy, and Averroes spoke of Aristotle as the "exemplar" for all future philosophers. Medieval Muslim scholars regularly described Aristotle as the "First Teacher". The title was later used by Western philosophers (as in the famous poem of Dante) who were influenced by the tradition of Islamic philosophy.

Medieval Europe 

With the loss of the study of ancient Greek in the early medieval Latin West, Aristotle was practically unknown there from  to  except through the Latin translation of the Organon made by Boethius. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, interest in Aristotle revived and Latin Christians had translations made, both from Arabic translations, such as those by Gerard of Cremona, and from the original Greek, such as those by James of Venice and William of Moerbeke.

After the Scholastic Thomas Aquinas wrote his Summa Theologica, working from Moerbeke's translations and calling Aristotle "The Philosopher", the demand for Aristotle's writings grew, and the Greek manuscripts returned to the West, stimulating a revival of Aristotelianism in Europe that continued into the Renaissance. These thinkers blended Aristotelian philosophy with Christianity, bringing the thought of Ancient Greece into the Middle Ages. Scholars such as Boethius, Peter Abelard, and John Buridan worked on Aristotelian logic.

According to scholar Roger Theodore Lafferty, Dante built up the philosophy of the Comedy with the works of Aristotle as a foundation, just as the scholastics used Aristotle as the basis for their thinking. Dante knew Aristotle directly from Latin translations of his works and indirectly through quotations in the works of Albert Magnus. Dante even acknowledges Aristotle's influence explicitly in the poem, specifically when Virgil justifies the Inferno's structure by citing the Nicomachean Ethics.

Medieval Judaism 
Moses Maimonides (considered to be the foremost intellectual figure of medieval Judaism) adopted Aristotelianism from the Islamic scholars and based his Guide for the Perplexed on it and that became the basis of Jewish scholastic philosophy. Maimonides also considered Aristotle to be the greatest philosopher that ever lived, and styled him as the "chief of the philosophers". Also, in his letter to Samuel ibn Tibbon, Maimonides observes that there is no need for Samuel to study the writings of philosophers who preceded Aristotle because the works of the latter are "sufficient by themselves and [superior] to all that were written before them. His intellect, Aristotle's is the extreme limit of human intellect, apart from him upon whom the divine emanation has flowed forth to such an extent that they reach the level of prophecy, there being no level higher".

Early Modern scientists 

In the Early Modern period, scientists such as William Harvey in England and Galileo Galilei in Italy reacted against the theories of Aristotle and other classical era thinkers like Galen, establishing new theories based to some degree on observation and experiment. Harvey demonstrated the circulation of the blood, establishing that the heart functioned as a pump rather than being the seat of the soul and the controller of the body's heat, as Aristotle thought. Galileo used more doubtful arguments to displace Aristotle's physics, proposing that bodies all fall at the same speed whatever their weight.

18th and 19th-century science 
The English mathematician George Boole fully accepted Aristotle's logic, but decided "to go under, over, and beyond" it with his system of algebraic logic in his 1854 book The Laws of Thought. This gives logic a mathematical foundation with equations, enables it to solve equations as well as check validity, and allows it to handle a wider class of problems by expanding propositions of any number of terms, not just two.

Charles Darwin regarded Aristotle as the most important contributor to the subject of biology. In an 1882 letter he wrote that "Linnaeus and Cuvier have been my two gods, though in very different ways, but they were mere schoolboys to old Aristotle". Also, in later editions of the book "On the Origin of Species', Darwin traced evolutionary ideas as far back as Aristotle; the text he cites is a summary by Aristotle of the ideas of the earlier Greek philosopher Empedocles.

Surviving works

Corpus Aristotelicum 

The works of Aristotle that have survived from antiquity through medieval manuscript transmission are collected in the Corpus Aristotelicum. These texts, as opposed to Aristotle's lost works, are technical philosophical treatises from within Aristotle's school. Reference to them is made according to the organization of Immanuel Bekker's Royal Prussian Academy edition (Aristotelis Opera edidit Academia Regia Borussica, Berlin, 1831–1870), which in turn is based on ancient classifications of these works.

Loss and preservation 

Aristotle wrote his works on papyrus scrolls, the common writing medium of that era. His writings are divisible into two groups: the "exoteric", intended for the public, and the "esoteric", for use within the Lyceum school. Aristotle's "lost" works stray considerably in characterization from the surviving Aristotelian corpus. Whereas the lost works appear to have been originally written with a view to subsequent publication, the surviving works mostly resemble lecture notes not intended for publication. Cicero's description of Aristotle's literary style as "a river of gold" must have applied to the published works, not the surviving notes. A major question in the history of Aristotle's works is how the exoteric writings were all lost, and how the ones now possessed came to be found. The consensus is that Andronicus of Rhodes collected the esoteric works of Aristotle's school which existed in the form of smaller, separate works, distinguished them from those of Theophrastus and other Peripatetics, edited them, and finally compiled them into the more cohesive, larger works as they are known today.

According to Strabo and Plutarch, after Aristotle's death, his library and writings went to Theophrastus (Aristotle's successor as head of the Lycaeum and the Peripatetic school). After the death of Theophrastus, the peripatetic library went to Neleus of Scepsis.

Some time later, the Kingdom of Pergamon began conscripting books for a royal library, and the heirs of Neleus hid their collection in a cellar to prevent it from being seized for that purpose. The library was stored there for about a century and a half, in conditions that were not ideal for document preservation. On the death of Attalus III, which also ended the royal library ambitions, the existence of Aristotelian library was disclosed, and it was purchased by Apellicon and returned to Athens in about .

Apellicon sought to recover the texts, many of which were seriously degraded at this point due to the conditions in which they were stored. He had them copied out into new manuscripts, and used his best guesswork to fill in the gaps where the originals were unreadable.

When Sulla seized Athens in , he seized the library and transferred it to Rome. There, Andronicus of Rhodes organized the texts into the first complete edition of Aristotle's works (and works attributed to him). The Aristotelian texts we have to day are based on these.

Legacy

Depictions 
Paintings

Aristotle has been depicted by major artists including Lucas Cranach the Elder, Justus van Gent, Raphael, Paolo Veronese, Jusepe de Ribera, Rembrandt, and Francesco Hayez over the centuries. Among the best-known depictions is Raphael's fresco The School of Athens, in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, where the figures of Plato and Aristotle are central to the image, at the architectural vanishing point, reflecting their importance. Rembrandt's Aristotle with a Bust of Homer, too, is a celebrated work, showing the knowing philosopher and the blind Homer from an earlier age: as the art critic Jonathan Jones writes, "this painting will remain one of the greatest and most mysterious in the world, ensnaring us in its musty, glowing, pitch-black, terrible knowledge of time."

Sculptures

Eponyms 
The Aristotle Mountains in Antarctica are named after Aristotle. He was the first person known to conjecture, in his book Meteorology, the existence of a landmass in the southern high-latitude region, which he called Antarctica. Aristoteles is a crater on the Moon bearing the classical form of Aristotle's name.

See also 
 Aristotelian Society
 Conimbricenses
 Perfectionism

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

Further reading 
The secondary literature on Aristotle is vast. The following is only a small selection.

 Ackrill, J. L. (1997). Essays on Plato and Aristotle, Oxford University Press.
 
 
 
  These translations are available in several places online; see External links.
 Bakalis, Nikolaos. (2005). Handbook of Greek Philosophy: From Thales to the Stoics Analysis and Fragments, Trafford Publishing, .
 
 Bolotin, David (1998). An Approach to Aristotle's Physics: With Particular Attention to the Role of His Manner of Writing. Albany: SUNY Press. A contribution to our understanding of how to read Aristotle's scientific works.
 Burnyeat, Myles F. et al. (1979). Notes on Book Zeta of Aristotle's Metaphysics. Oxford: Sub-faculty of Philosophy.
 
 
 Code, Alan (1995). Potentiality in Aristotle's Science and Metaphysics, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 76.
 
 
 De Groot, Jean (2014). Aristotle's Empiricism: Experience and Mechanics in the 4th century BC, Parmenides Publishing, .
 Frede, Michael (1987). Essays in Ancient Philosophy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
 
 Gendlin, Eugene T. (2012). Line by Line Commentary on Aristotle's De Anima , Volume 1: Books I & II; Volume 2: Book III. The Focusing Institute.
 Gill, Mary Louise (1989). Aristotle on Substance: The Paradox of Unity. Princeton University Press.
 
 
 
 
 
 Jori, Alberto (2003). Aristotele, Bruno Mondadori (Prize 2003 of the "International Academy of the History of Science"), .
 
 Knight, Kelvin (2007). Aristotelian Philosophy: Ethics and Politics from Aristotle to MacIntyre, Polity Press.
 Lewis, Frank A. (1991). Substance and Predication in Aristotle. Cambridge University Press.
 Lord, Carnes (1984). Introduction to The Politics, by Aristotle. Chicago University Press.
 Loux, Michael J. (1991). Primary Ousia: An Essay on Aristotle's Metaphysics Ζ and Η. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
 Maso, Stefano (Ed.), Natali, Carlo (Ed.), Seel, Gerhard (Ed.) (2012) Reading Aristotle: Physics VII. 3: What is Alteration? Proceedings of the International ESAP-HYELE Conference, Parmenides Publishing. .
 
  [Reprinted in J. Barnes, M. Schofield, and R.R.K. Sorabji, eds.(1975). Articles on Aristotle Vol 1. Science. London: Duckworth 14–34.]
 
 
 Reeve, C. D. C. (2000). Substantial Knowledge: Aristotle's Metaphysics. Hackett.
 
 
 Scaltsas, T. (1994). Substances and Universals in Aristotle's Metaphysics. Cornell University Press.
 Strauss, Leo (1964). "On Aristotle's Politics", in The City and Man, Rand McNally.

External links 

 
 
 At the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
 
 At the Internet Classics Archive
 From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
 
 
 

Collections of works
 
 At Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
 
 
 
  Perseus Project at Tufts University
 At the University of Adelaide 
  P. Remacle
 The 11-volume 1837 Bekker edition of Aristotle's Works in Greek (PDFDJVU)
Works of Aristóteles at the National Library of Portugal

 

384 BC births
322 BC deaths
4th-century BC mathematicians
4th-century BC philosophers
4th-century BC Greek writers
Acting theorists
Ancient Greek biologists
Ancient Greek epistemologists
Ancient Greek ethicists
Ancient Greek logicians
Ancient Greek mathematicians
Ancient Greek metaphysicians
Ancient Greek philosophers of language
Ancient Greek philosophers of mind
Ancient Greek physicists
Ancient Greek political philosophers
Ancient Greek political refugees
Ancient Greek philosophers of art
Ancient literary critics
Ancient Stagirites
Aphorists
Aristotelian philosophers
Attic Greek writers
Ancient Greek cosmologists
Greek male writers
Greek geologists
Greek meteorologists
Humor researchers
Irony theorists
Metic philosophers in Classical Athens
Natural law ethicists
Natural philosophers
Ontologists
Peripatetic philosophers
Philosophers and tutors of Alexander the Great
Philosophers of ancient Chalcidice
Philosophers of culture
Philosophers of education
Philosophers of history
Philosophers of law
Philosophers of literature
Philosophers of logic
Philosophers of love
Philosophers of psychology
Philosophers of science
Philosophers of time
Philosophers of sexuality
Philosophers of technology
Philosophical logic
Philosophical theists
Philosophy academics
Philosophy writers
Rhetoric theorists
Social philosophers
Students of Plato
Trope theorists
Virtue ethicists
Zoologists

An American in Paris is a jazz-influenced symphonic poem (or tone poem) for orchestra by American composer George Gershwin first performed in 1928. It was inspired by the time that Gershwin had spent in Paris and evokes the sights and energy of the French capital during the .

Gershwin scored the piece for the standard instruments of the symphony orchestra plus celesta, saxophones, and automobile horns. He brought back four Parisian taxi horns for the New York premiere of the composition, which took place on December 13, 1928, in Carnegie Hall, with Walter Damrosch conducting the New York Philharmonic. It was Damrosch who had commissioned Gershwin to write his Concerto in F following the earlier success of Rhapsody in Blue (1924). He completed the orchestration on November 18, less than four weeks before the work's premiere. He collaborated on the original program notes with critic and composer Deems Taylor.

Background
Although the story is likely apocryphal, Gershwin is said to have been attracted by Maurice Ravel's unusual chords, and Gershwin went on his first trip to Paris in 1926 ready to study with Ravel. After his initial student audition with Ravel turned into a sharing of musical theories, Ravel said he could not teach him, saying, "Why be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?"

Gershwin strongly encouraged Ravel to come to the United States for a tour. To this end, upon his return to New York, Gershwin joined the efforts of Ravel's friend Robert Schmitz, a pianist Ravel had met during the war, to urge Ravel to tour the U.S. Schmitz was the head of Pro Musica, promoting Franco-American musical relations, and was able to offer Ravel a $10,000 fee for the tour, an enticement Gershwin knew would be important to Ravel.

Gershwin greeted Ravel in New York in March 1928 during a party held for Ravel's birthday by Éva Gauthier. Ravel's tour reignited Gershwin's desire to return to Paris, which he and his brother Ira did after meeting Ravel. Ravel's high praise of Gershwin in an introductory letter to Nadia Boulanger caused Gershwin to seriously consider taking much more time to study abroad in Paris. Yet after he played for her, she told him she could not teach him. Boulanger gave Gershwin basically the same advice she gave all her accomplished master students: "What could I give you that you haven't already got?" This did not set Gershwin back, as his real intent abroad was to complete a new work based on Paris and perhaps a second rhapsody for piano and orchestra to follow his Rhapsody in Blue. Paris at this time hosted many expatriate writers, among them Ezra Pound, W. B. Yeats, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and artist Pablo Picasso.

Composition

Gershwin based An American in Paris on a melodic fragment called "Very Parisienne", written in 1926 on his first visit to Paris as a gift to his hosts, Robert and Mabel Schirmer. Gershwin called it "a rhapsodic ballet"; it is written freely and in a much more modern idiom than his prior works.

Gershwin explained in Musical America, "My purpose here is to portray the impressions of an American visitor in Paris as he strolls about the city, listens to the various street noises, and absorbs the French atmosphere."

The piece is structured into five sections, which culminate in a loose A–B–A format. Gershwin's first A episode introduces the two main "walking" themes in the "Allegretto grazioso" and develops a third theme in the "Subito con brio". The style of this A section is written in the typical French style of composers Claude Debussy and Les Six. This A section featured duple meter, singsong rhythms, and diatonic melodies with the sounds of oboe, English horn, and taxi horns. The B section's "Andante ma con ritmo deciso" introduces the American Blues and spasms of homesickness. The "Allegro" that follows continues to express homesickness in a faster twelve-bar blues. In the B section, Gershwin uses common time, syncopated rhythms, and bluesy melodies with the sounds of trumpet, saxophone, and snare drum. "Moderato con grazia" is the last A section that returns to the themes set in A. After recapitulating the "walking" themes, Gershwin overlays the slow blues theme from section B in the final "Grandioso".

Response

Gershwin did not particularly like Walter Damrosch's interpretation at the world premiere of An American in Paris. He stated that Damrosch's sluggish, dragging tempo caused him to walk out of the hall during a matinee performance of this work. The audience, according to Edward Cushing, responded with "a demonstration of enthusiasm impressively genuine in contrast to the conventional applause which new music, good and bad, ordinarily arouses."

Critics believed that An American in Paris was better crafted than Gershwin's Concerto in F. Some did not think it belonged in a program with classical composers César Franck, Richard Wagner, or Guillaume Lekeu on its premiere. Gershwin responded to the critics:

Instrumentation
An American in Paris was originally scored for 3 flutes (3rd doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in B-flat, bass clarinet in B-flat, 2 bassoons, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, triangle, wood block, ratchet, cymbals, low and high tom-toms, xylophone, glockenspiel, celesta, 4 taxi horns labeled as A, B, C, and D with circles around them, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone (all doubling soprano and alto saxophones), and strings. Although most modern audiences have heard the taxi horns using the notes A, B, C, and D, it had been Gershwin's intention to use the notes A4, B4, D5, and A3. It is likely that in labeling the taxi horns as A, B, C, and D with circles, he was referring to the four horns, and not the notes that they played.

A major revision of the work by composer and arranger F. Campbell-Watson simplified the instrumentation by reducing the saxophones to only three instruments: alto, tenor and baritone; the soprano and alto saxophone doublings were eliminated to avoid changing instruments. This became the standard performing edition until 2000, when Gershwin specialist Jack Gibbons made his own restoration of the original orchestration of An American in Paris, working directly from Gershwin's original manuscript, including the restoration of Gershwin's soprano saxophone parts removed in Campbell-Watson's revision. Gibbons' restored orchestration of An American in Paris was performed at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall on July 9, 2000, by the City of Oxford Orchestra conducted by Levon Parikian.

William Daly arranged the score for piano solo; this was published by New World Music in 1929.

Preservation status
On September 22, 2013, it was announced that a musicological critical edition of the full orchestral score would be eventually released. The Gershwin family, working in conjunction with the Library of Congress and the University of Michigan, were working to make scores available to the public that represent Gershwin's true intent. It was unknown whether the critical score would include the four minutes of material Gershwin later deleted from the work (such as the restatement of the blues theme after the faster 12 bar blues section), or if the score would document changes in the orchestration during Gershwin's composition process.

The score to An American in Paris was scheduled to be issued first in a series of scores to be released. The entire project was expected to take 30 to 40 years to complete, but An American in Paris was planned to be an early volume in the series.

Two urtext editions of the work were published by the German publisher B-Note Music in 2015. The changes made by Campbell-Watson were withdrawn in both editions. In the extended urtext, 120 bars of music were re-integrated. Conductor Walter Damrosch had cut them shortly before the first performance.

On September 9, 2017, The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of the long-awaited critical edition of the piece prepared by Mark Clague, director of the Gershwin initiative at the University of Michigan. This performance was of the original 1928 orchestration.

Recordings
An American in Paris has been frequently recorded. The first recording was made for the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929 with Nathaniel Shilkret conducting the Victor Symphony Orchestra, drawn from members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Gershwin was on hand to "supervise" the recording; however, Shilkret was reported to be in charge and eventually asked the composer to leave the recording studio. Then, a little later, Shilkret discovered there was no one to play the brief celesta solo during the slow section, so he hastily asked Gershwin if he might play the solo; Gershwin said he could and so he briefly participated in the actual recording. This recording is believed to use the taxi horns in the way that Gershwin had intended using the notes A-flat, B-flat, a higher D, and a lower A.

The radio broadcast of the September 8, 1937, Hollywood Bowl George Gershwin Memorial Concert, in which An American in Paris, also conducted by Shilkret, was second on the program, was recorded and was released in 1998 in a two-CD set.

Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra recorded the work for RCA Victor, including one of the first stereo recordings of the music.

In 1945, Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra recorded the piece for RCA Victor, one of the few commercial recordings Toscanini made of music by an American composer.

The Seattle Symphony also recorded a version in 1990 of Gershwin's original score, before numerous edits were made resulting in the score as we hear it today.

The blues section of An American in Paris has been recorded separately by a number of artists; Ralph Flanagan & His Orchestra released it as a single in 1951 which reached No. 15 on the Billboard chart. Harry James released a version of the blues section on his 1953 album One Night Stand, recorded live at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago (Columbia GL 522 and CL 522).

Use in film
In 1951, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released the musical film An American in Paris, featuring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron and directed by Vincente Minnelli. Winning the 1951 Best Picture Oscar and numerous other awards, the film featured many tunes of Gershwin and concluded with an extensive, elaborate dance sequence built around the symphonic poem An American in Paris (arranged for the film by Johnny Green), which cost $500,000.

Notes and references

Further reading

External links 

 
 Scores, marked by Leonard Bernstein, Andre Kostelanetz, Erich Leinsdorf; New York Philharmonic archives
 1944 recording by the New York Philharmonic conducted by Artur Rodziński
 , New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, 1959. 

1928 compositions
Compositions by George Gershwin
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Music about Paris
Music commissioned by the New York Philharmonic
Symphonic poems

The Academy Award for Best Production Design recognizes achievement for art direction in film. The category's original name was Best Art Direction, but was changed to its current name in 2012 for the 85th Academy Awards. This change resulted from the Art Directors' branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) being renamed the Designers' branch. Since 1947, the award is shared with the set decorators. It is awarded to the best interior design in a film.

The films below are listed with their production year (for example, the 2000 Academy Award for Best Art Direction is given to a film from 1999). In the lists below, the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees in alphabetical order.

Superlatives

Winners and nominees

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also
 BAFTA Award for Best Production Design
 Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Production Design

Individuals with multiple wins

11 wins
 Cedric Gibbons

8 wins
 Edwin B. Willis

7 wins
 Richard Day

6 wins
 Thomas Little
 Walter M. Scott

5 wins
 Lyle R. Wheeler

4 wins
 John Box
 Samuel M. Comer
 F. Keogh Gleason
 George James Hopkins

3 wins
 Edward Carfagno
 Stuart Craig
 William S. Darling
 John DeCuir
 Vernon Dixon
 Hans Dreier
 Dante Ferretti
 Paul S. Fox
 Alexander Golitzen
 Paul Groesse
 John Meehan
 Ray Moyer
 Francesca Lo Schiavo
 Jack Martin Smith

2 wins
 Ken Adam
 E. Preston Ames
 Herman A. Blumenthal
 Henry Bumstead
 Donald Graham Burt
 Gene Callahan
 Rick Carter
 George Davis
 Leslie Dilley
 Michael D. Ford
 George Gaines
 Russell A. Gausman
 Nancy Haigh
 Harry Horner
 William A. Horning
 Hugh Hunt
 Wiard Ihnen
 Emile Kuri
 Terence Marsh
 Catherine Martin
 William Cameron Menzies
 Urie McCleary
 John Myhre
 Gil Parrondo
 Robert Priestley
 Stuart A. Reiss
 Norman Reynolds
 Dario Simoni
 Robert Stromberg
 Richard Sylbert
 Joseph C. Wright
 Peter Young

Notes

References

Best Production Design

Awards for best art direction

The Academy Awards, mainly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences located in Beverly Hills, California, United States, in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The Academy Awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry in the United States and worldwide. The Oscar statuette depicts a knight rendered in the Art Deco style.

The major award categories are presented during a live televised Hollywood ceremony that is typically held in February or March. It is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony. The 1st Academy Awards were held in 1929, the second ceremony in 1930 was the first one broadcast by radio, and the 1953 ceremony was the first one televised. It is also the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment awards; its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music – are modeled after the Academy Awards.

History 
The first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16, 1929, at a private dinner function at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people.

The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night's ceremony was $5 ($ at 2020 prices). Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the film-making industry of the time, for their works during the 1927–28 period. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes.

For this first ceremony, winners were announced to the media three months earlier. For the second ceremony in 1930, and the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11:00 pm on the night of the awards. In 1940, the Los Angeles Times announced the winners before the ceremony began; as a result, the following year the Academy started using a sealed envelope to reveal the names of the winners.

The term "Oscar" is a registered trademark of the AMPAS; however, in the Italian language, it is used generically to refer to any award or award ceremony, regardless of which field.

Milestones 
The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier; this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. At that time, winners were recognized for the entirety of their work done in a certain category during the qualifying period; for example, Jannings received the award for two movies in which he starred during that period, and Janet Gaynor later won a single Oscar for performances in three films. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, and professionals were honored for a specific performance in a single film. For the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years.

At the 29th ceremony, held in 1957, the Best Foreign Language Film category, now known as Best International Feature Film, was introduced. Until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award.

Perhaps the most widely seen streaker in history was 34-year-old Robert Opel, who streaked across the stage of The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles flashing a peace sign on national US television at the 46th Academy Awards in 1974. Bemused host David Niven quipped, "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?" Later, evidence arose suggesting that Opel's appearance was facilitated as a publicity stunt by the show's producer Jack Haley Jr.

Robert Metzler, the show's business manager, believed that the incident had been planned in some way; during the dress rehearsal Niven had asked Metzler's wife to borrow a pen so he could write down the famous line, which was thus not the ad-lib it appeared to be.

The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

From 1973 to 2020 and since 2022, all Academy Awards ceremonies have ended with the Academy Award for Best Picture. For 2021, this tradition was broken as the ceremony ended with the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Traditionally, the previous year's winner for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor present the awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, while the previous year's winner for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress presents the awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

On February 9, 2020, Parasite became the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture at the award ceremony of 92nd Academy Awards.

Tom Hanks announced, at the 2020 Oscar Ceremony, the opening of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 14, 2020. The museum development started in 2017 under Kerry Brougher, but is now led by Bill Kramer. The industry-curated exhibits are geared toward the history of motion pictures and the art & science of film making, exhibiting trailblazing directors, actors, film-makers, sound editors and more, and the museum houses famous artifacts from acclaimed movies such as Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2020 and early 2021, was held on April 25, 2021, after it was postponed from its original February 28, 2021, schedule due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema. As with the two previous ceremonies, there was no host. The ceremony was broadcast on ABC. It took place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California for the 19th consecutive year, along with satellite location taking place at the Union Station also in Los Angeles. Because of the virus impact on films and TV industries, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson announced that for the 2021 Oscar Ceremony, streaming movies with a previously planned theatrical release were eligible. The theatrical requirement was reinstated starting with the 95th Academy Awards.

Oscar statuette

Academy Award of Merit 

The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. Made of gold-plated bronze on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34.3 cm) tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.856 kg), and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style holding a sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five spokes represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.

Sculptor George Stanley (who also did the Muse Fountain at the Hollywood Bowl) sculpted Cedric Gibbons' design. The statuettes presented at the initial ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze. Within a few years, the bronze was abandoned in favor of Britannia metal, a pewter-like alloy which is then plated in copper, nickel silver, and finally, 24-karat gold. Due to a metal shortage during World War II, Oscars were made of painted plaster for three years. Following the war, the Academy invited recipients to redeem the plaster figures for gold-plated metal ones. The only addition to the Oscar since it was created is a minor streamlining of the base. The original Oscar mold was cast in 1928 at the C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois, which also contributed to casting the molds for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Emmy Award statuettes. From 1983 to 2015, approximately 50 Oscars in a tin alloy with gold plating were made each year in Chicago by Illinois manufacturer R.S. Owens & Company. It would take between three and four weeks to manufacture 50 statuettes. In 2016, the Academy returned to bronze as the core metal of the statuettes, handing manufacturing duties to Walden, New York–based Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry, now owned and operated by UAP Urban Art Projects. While based on a digital scan of an original 1929 Oscar, the statuettes retain their modern-era dimensions and black pedestal. Cast in liquid bronze from 3D-printed ceramic molds and polished, they are then electroplated in 24-karat gold by Brooklyn, New York–based Epner Technology. The time required to produce 50 such statuettes is roughly three months. R.S. Owens is expected to continue producing other awards for the Academy and service existing Oscars that need replating.

Naming 
The origin of the nickname of the trophy has been disputed as multiple people have taken credit for naming the trophy "Oscar".

Bette Davis, in her 1962 autobiography, claimed she named it in 1936 after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson, of whom the statue's rear end reminded her. But the term had been in use at least two years before, and in a 1974 biography written by Whitney Stine with commentary from Davis, Davis wrote "I relinquish once and for all any claim that I was the one — so, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the honor is all yours."

Margaret Herrick, librarian and president of the Academy, may have said she named it after her supposed uncle Oscar in 1921. The only corroboration was a 1938 clipping from the Los Angeles Examiner, in which Herrick told a story of her and her husband joking with each other using the phrase, "How's your uncle Oscar".

Columnist Sidney Skolsky wrote in his 1970 memoir that he came up with the term in 1934 under pressure for a deadline, mocking Vaudeville comedians who asked "Will you have a cigar, Oscar?" The Academy credits Skolsky with "the first confirmed newspaper reference" to Oscar in his column on March 16, 1934, which was written about that year's 6th Academy Awards. But in the newspaper clipping that Skolsky referred to, he wrote that "these statues are called 'Oscars'", meaning that the name was already in use.

Bruce Davis, a former executive director of the Academy, credits Eleanore Lilleberg, a secretary at the Academy when the award was first introduced, for the nickname, as she had been in charge of pre-ceremony handling of the awards. Davis credits Lilleberg because he found in an autobiography of Einar Lilleberg, Eleanore's brother, that Einar had referenced a Norwegian army veteran named Oscar that the two knew in Chicago, whom Einar described as having always "stood straight and tall." He asserts credit "should almost certainly belong to" Lilleberg.

Engraving 
To prevent information identifying the Oscar winners from leaking ahead of the ceremony, Oscar statuettes presented at the ceremony have blank baseplates. Until 2010, winners returned their statuettes to the Academy and had to wait several weeks to have their names inscribed on their respective Oscars. Since 2010, winners have had the option of having engraved nameplates applied to their statuettes at an inscription-processing station at the Governor's Ball, a party held immediately after the Oscar ceremony. The R.S. Owens company has engraved nameplates made before the ceremony, bearing the name of every potential winner. The nameplates for the non-winning nominees are later recycled.

Ownership of Oscar statuettes 
Prior to 1950, Oscar statuettes were (and remain) the property of the recipient. Since then the statuettes have been legally encumbered by the requirement that the statuette be first offered for sale back to the Academy for US$1. If a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy keeps the statuette. Academy Awards predating this agreement have been sold in public auctions and private deals for six-figure sums.

In 1989, Michael Todd's grandson tried to sell Todd's Best Picture Oscar for his 1956 production of Around the World in 80 Days to a movie prop collector. The Academy earned enforcement of its statuette contract by gaining a permanent injunction against the sale.

In 1992, Harold Russell consigned his 1946 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for The Best Years of Our Lives to auction to raise money for his wife's medical expenses. Though his decision caused controversy, the first Oscar ever to be sold passed to a private collector on August 6, 1992 for $60,500 ($ today). Russell defended his action, saying, "I don't know why anybody would be critical. My wife's health is much more important than sentimental reasons. The movie will be here, even if Oscar isn't."

In December 2011, Orson Welles' 1941 Oscar for Citizen Kane (Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay) was put up for auction, after his heirs won a 2004 court decision contending that Welles did not sign any agreement to return the statue to the Academy. On December 20, 2011, it sold in an online auction for US$861,542 ($ today).

Some buyers have subsequently returned the statuettes to the Academy, which keeps them in its treasury.

Other awards presented by the Academy 

In addition to the Academy Award of Merit (Oscar award), there are nine honorary (non-competitive) awards presented by the Academy from time to time (except for the Academy Honorary Award, the Technical Achievement Award, and the Student Academy Awards, which are presented annually):
 Governors Awards:
 The Academy Honorary Award (annual) (which may or may not be in the form of an Oscar statuette); 
 The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (since 1938) (in the form of a bust of Thalberg);
 The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (since 1957) (in the form of an Oscar statuette); 
 The Academy Scientific and Technical Awards:
 Academy Award of Merit (non-competitive) (in the form of an Oscar statuette);
 Scientific and Engineering Award (in the form of a bronze tablet);
 Technical Achievement Award (annual) (in the form of a certificate);
 The John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation (since 1978) (in the form of a medal);
 The Gordon E. Sawyer Award (since 1982); and
 The Academy Student Academy Awards (annual).

The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.

Nomination 
From 2004 to 2020, the Academy Award nomination results were announced to the public in mid-January. Prior to that, the results were announced in early February. In 2021, the nominees were announced in March. In 2022, the nominees were announced in early February for the first time since 2003.

Voters 
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of over 7,000 .

Academy membership is divided into different branches, with each representing a different discipline in film production. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) since the 7th Academy Awards in 1935. The firm mails the ballots of eligible nominees to members of the Academy in December to reflect the previous eligible year with a due date sometime in January of the next year, then tabulates the votes in a process that takes thousands of hours.

All AMPAS members must be invited to join by the Board of Governors, on behalf of Academy Branch Executive Committees. Membership eligibility may be achieved by a competitive nomination or a member may submit a name based on other significant contributions to the field of motion pictures.

New membership proposals are considered annually. The Academy does not publicly disclose its membership, although as recently as 2007 press releases have announced the names of those who have been invited to join. The 2007 release also stated that it has just under 6,000 voting members. While the membership had been growing, stricter policies have kept its size steady since then.

In 2012, the results of a study conducted by the Los Angeles Times were published describing the demographic breakdown of approximately 88% of AMPAS' voting membership. Of the 5,100+ active voters confirmed, 94% were Caucasian, 77% were male, and 54% were found to be over the age of 60. 33% of voting members are former nominees (14%) and winners (19%).

In May 2011, the Academy sent a letter advising its 6,000 or so voting members that an online system for Oscar voting would be implemented in 2013.

Rules 
According to Rules 2 and 3 of the official Academy Awards Rules, a film must open in the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of January 1 to midnight at the end of December 31, in Los Angeles County, California, and play for seven consecutive days, to qualify (except for the Best International Feature Film, Best Documentary Feature, and awards in short film categories). Additionally, the film must be shown at least three times on each day of its qualifying run, with at least one of the daily showings starting between 6 pm and 10 pm local time.

For example, the 2009 Best Picture winner, The Hurt Locker, was originally first released in 2008, but did not qualify for the 2008 awards, as it did not play its Oscar-qualifying run in Los Angeles until mid-2009, thus qualifying for the 2009 awards. Foreign films must include English subtitles, and each country can submit only one film for consideration in the International Feature Film category per year.

Rule 2 states that a film must be feature-length, defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short-subject awards, and it must exist either on a 35 mm or 70 mm film print or in 24 frame/s or 48 frame/s progressive scan digital cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels. Since the 90th Academy Awards, presented in 2018, multi-part and limited series have been ineligible for the Best Documentary Feature award. This followed the win of O.J.: Made in America, an eight-hour presentation that was screened in a limited release before being broadcast in five parts on ABC and ESPN, in that category in 2017. The Academy's announcement of the new rule made no direct mention of that film.

The Best International Feature Film award does not require a U.S. release. It requires the film to be submitted as its country's official selection.

The Best Documentary Feature award requires either week-long releases in both Los Angeles County and any of the five boroughs of New York City during the previous calendar year, or a qualifying award at a competitive film festival from the Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival list (regardless of any public exhibition or distribution), or submission in the International Feature Film category as its country's official selection. The qualifying theatrical runs must meet the same requirements as those for non-documentary films regarding numbers and times of screenings. Additionally, a film must have been reviewed by a critic from The New York Times, Time Out New York, the Los Angeles Times, or LA Weekly.

Producers must submit an Official Screen Credits online form before the deadline; in case it is not submitted by the defined deadline, the film will be ineligible for Academy Awards in any year. The form includes the production credits for all related categories. Then, each form is checked and put in a Reminder List of Eligible Releases.

Awards in short film categories (Best Documentary Short Subject, Best Animated Short Film, and Best Live Action Short Film) have noticeably different eligibility rules from most other competitive awards. First, the qualifying period for release does not coincide with a calendar year, instead covering one year starting on October 1, and ending on September 30 of the calendar year before the ceremony. Second, there are multiple methods of qualification. The main method is a week-long theatrical release in either New York City or Los Angeles County during the eligibility period. Films also can qualify by winning specified awards at one of several competitive film festivals designated by the Academy, also without regard to prior public distribution. Finally, a film that is selected as a gold, silver, or bronze medal winner in an appropriate category of the immediately previous Student Academy Awards is also eligible (Documentary category for that award, and Animation, Narrative, Alternative, or International for the other awards). The requirements for the qualifying theatrical run are also different from those for other awards. Only one screening per day is required. For the Documentary award, the screening must start between noon and 10 pm local time; for other awards, no specific start time is required, but the film must appear in regular theater listings with dates and screening times.
In late December, ballots, and copies of the Reminder List of Eligible Releases are mailed to around 6,000 active members. For most categories, members from each of the branches vote to determine the nominees only in their respective categories (i.e. only directors vote for directors, writers for writers, actors for actors, etc.). In the special case of Best Picture, all voting members are eligible to select the nominees. In all major categories, a variant of the single transferable vote is used, with each member casting a ballot with up to five nominees (ten for Best Picture) ranked preferentially. In certain categories, including International Feature Film, Documentary and Animated Feature, nominees are selected by special screening committees made up of members from all branches.

In most categories, the winner is selected from among the nominees by plurality voting of all members. Since 2009, the Best Picture winner has been chosen by instant runoff voting. Since 2013, re-weighted range voting has been used to select the nominees for the Best Visual Effects.

Film companies will spend as much as several million dollars on marketing to awards voters for a movie in the running for Best Picture, in attempts to improve chances of receiving Oscars and other movie awards conferred in Oscar season. The Academy enforces rules to limit overt campaigning by its members to try to eliminate excesses and prevent the process from becoming undignified. It has an awards czar on staff who advises members on allowed practices and levies penalties on offenders. For example, a producer of the 2009 Best Picture nominee The Hurt Locker was disqualified as a producer in the category when he contacted associates urging them to vote for his film and not another that was seen as the front-runner (The Hurt Locker eventually won).

Academy Screening Room 
The Academy Screening Room or Academy Digital Screening Room is a secure streaming platform which allows voting members of the Academy to view all eligible films (except, initially, those in the International category) in one place. It was introduced in 2019, for the 2020 Oscars, though DVD screeners and Academy in-person screenings were still provided. For films to be included on the platform, the North American distributor must pay $12,500, including a watermarking fee, and a digital copy of the film to be prepared for streaming by the Academy. The platform can be accessed via Apple TV and Roku players. The watermarking process involved several video security firms, creating a forensic watermark and restricting the ability to take screenshots or screen recordings.

In 2021, for the 2022 Oscars, the Academy banned all physical screeners and in-person screenings, restricting official membership viewing to the Academy Screening Room. Films eligible in the Documentary and International categories were made available in different sections of the platform. Distributors can also pay an extra fee to add video featurettes to promote their films on the platform. The in-person screenings were said to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible films do not have to be added to the platform, but the Academy advertises them to voting members when they are.

Awards ceremonies

Telecast 

The major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony, commonly in late February or early March following the relevant calendar year, and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees. It is the culmination of the film awards season, which usually begins during November or December of the previous year. This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion designers of the day. Black tie dress is the most common outfit for men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bow-tie, and musical performers sometimes do not adhere to this (the artists who recorded the nominees for Best Original Song quite often perform those songs live at the awards ceremony, and the fact that they are performing is often used to promote the television broadcast).

The Academy Awards is the world's longest-running awards show televised live from the U.S. to all time zones in North America and worldwide, and gathers billions of viewers elsewhere throughout the world. The Oscars were first televised in 1953 by NBC, which continued to broadcast the event until 1960, when ABC took over, televising the festivities (including the first color broadcast of the event in 1966) through 1970. NBC regained the rights for five years  then ABC resumed broadcast duties in 1976 and its current contract with the Academy runs through 2028. The Academy has also produced condensed versions of the ceremony for broadcast in international markets (especially those outside of the Americas) in more desirable local timeslots. The ceremony was broadcast live internationally for the first time via satellite since 1970, but only two South American countries, Chile and Brazil, purchased the rights to air the broadcast. By that time, the television rights to the Academy Awards had been sold in 50 countries. A decade later, the rights were already being sold to 60 countries, and by 1984, the TV rights to the Awards were licensed in 76 countries.

The ceremonies were moved up from late March/early April to late February, since 2004, to help disrupt and shorten the intense lobbying and ad campaigns associated with Oscar season in the film industry. Another reason was because of the growing TV ratings success coinciding with the NCAA basketball tournament, which would cut into the Academy Awards audience. (In 1976 and 1977, ABC's regained Oscars were moved from Tuesday to Monday and went directly opposite NBC's NCAA title game.) The earlier date is also to the advantage of ABC, as it now usually occurs during the highly profitable and important February sweeps period. Some years, the ceremony is moved into the first Sunday of March to avoid a clash with the Winter Olympic Games. Another reason for the move to late February and early March is also to avoid the awards ceremony occurring so close to the religious holidays of Passover and Easter, which for decades had been a grievance from members and the general public. Advertising is somewhat restricted, however, as traditionally no movie studios or competitors of official Academy Award sponsors may advertise during the telecast. The production of the Academy Awards telecast currently holds the distinction of winning the most Emmys in history, with 47 wins and 195 nominations overall since that award's own launch in 1949.

After many years of being held on Mondays at 9:00 pm Eastern/6:00 p.m Pacific, since the 1999 ceremonies, it was moved to Sundays at 8:30 pm ET/5:30 pm PT. The reasons given for the move were that more viewers would tune in on Sundays, that Los Angeles rush-hour traffic jams could be avoided, and an earlier start time would allow viewers on the East Coast to go to bed earlier. For many years the film industry opposed a Sunday broadcast because it would cut into the weekend box office. In 2010, the Academy contemplated moving the ceremony even further back into January, citing TV viewers' fatigue with the film industry's long awards season. However, such an accelerated schedule would dramatically decrease the voting period for its members, to the point where some voters would only have time to view the contending films streamed on their computers (as opposed to traditionally receiving the films and ballots in the mail). Furthermore, a January ceremony on Sunday would clash with National Football League playoff games. In 2018, the Academy announced that the ceremony would be moved from late February to mid February beginning with the 92nd Academy Awards in 2020.

Originally scheduled for April 8, 1968, the 40th Academy Awards ceremony was postponed for two days, because of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. On March 30, 1981, the 53rd Academy Awards was postponed for one day, after the shooting of President Ronald Reagan and others in Washington, D.C.

In 1993, an In Memoriam segment was introduced, honoring those who had made a significant contribution to cinema who had died in the preceding 12 months, a selection compiled by a small committee of Academy members. This segment has drawn criticism over the years for the omission of some names. Criticism was also levied for many years regarding another aspect, with the segment having a "popularity contest" feel as the audience varied their applause to those who had died by the subject's cultural impact; the applause has since been muted during the telecast, and the audience is discouraged from clapping during the segment and giving silent reflection instead. This segment was later followed by a commercial break.

In terms of broadcast length, the ceremony generally averages three and a half hours. The first Oscars, in 1929, lasted 15 minutes. At the other end of the spectrum, the 2002 ceremony lasted four hours and twenty-three minutes. In 2010, the organizers of the Academy Awards announced winners' acceptance speeches must not run past 45 seconds. This, according to organizer Bill Mechanic, was to ensure the elimination of what he termed "the single most hated thing on the show" – overly long and embarrassing displays of emotion. In 2016, in a further effort to streamline speeches, winners' dedications were displayed on an on-screen ticker. During the 2018 ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged how long the ceremony had become, by announcing that he would give a brand-new jet ski to whoever gave the shortest speech of the night (a reward won by Mark Bridges when accepting his Best Costume Design award for Phantom Thread. The Wall Street Journal analyzed the average minutes spent across the 2014–2018 telecasts as follows: 14 on song performances; 25 on the hosts' speeches; 38 on prerecorded clips; and 78 on the awards themselves, broken into 24 on the introduction and announcement, 24 on winners walking to the stage, and 30 on their acceptance speeches.

Although still dominant in ratings, the viewership of the Academy Awards has steadily dropped; the 88th Academy Awards were the lowest-rated in the past eight years (although with increases in male and 18–49 viewership), while the show itself also faced mixed reception. Following the show, Variety reported that ABC was, in negotiating an extension to its contract to broadcast the Oscars, seeking to have more creative control over the broadcast itself. Currently and nominally, AMPAS is responsible for most aspects of the telecast, including the choice of production staff and hosting, although ABC is allowed to have some input on their decisions. In August 2016, AMPAS extended its contract with ABC through 2028: the contract neither contains any notable changes nor gives ABC any further creative control over the telecast.

TV ratings 
Historically, the telecast's viewership is higher when box-office hits are favored to win the Best Picture award. More than 57.25 million viewers tuned to the telecast for the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, the year of Titanic, which generated a box office haul during its initial 1997–98 run of US$600.8 million in the US, a box office record that would remain unsurpassed for years. The 76th Academy Awards ceremony, in which The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (pre-telecast box office earnings of US$368 million) received 11 Awards including Best Picture, drew 43.56 million viewers. The most watched ceremony based on Nielsen ratings to date, however, was the 42nd Academy Awards (Best Picture Midnight Cowboy) which drew a 43.4% household rating on April 7, 1970. Hoping to reinvigorate the pre-show and ratings, the 2023 Oscars organizers hired members of the Met Gala creative team

By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings, despite how much critical acclaim those films have received. The 78th Academy Awards which awarded low-budget independent film Crash (with a pre-Oscar gross of US$53.4 million) generated an audience of 38.64 million with a household rating of 22.91%. In 2008, the 80th Academy Awards telecast was watched by 31.76 million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating, the lowest-rated and least-watched ceremony at the time, in spite of celebrating 80 years of the Academy Awards. The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another independent film (No Country for Old Men).

Whereas the 92nd Academy Awards drew an average of 23.6 million viewers, the 93rd Academy Awards drew an even lower viewership of 10.4 million, the lowest viewership recorded by Nielsen since it started recording audience totals in 1974. The 94th and 95th editions drew 16.6 and 18.7 million viewers, still below the audience of the 92nd edition.

Archive 
The Academy Film Archive holds copies of every Academy Awards ceremony since the 1949 Oscars and material on many prior ceremonies, along with ancillary material related to more recent shows. Copies are held in a variety of film, video and digital formats.

Broadcasters

Venues 
In 1929, the first Academy Awards were presented at a banquet dinner at The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. From 1930 to 1943, the ceremony alternated between two venues: the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard and the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood then hosted the awards from 1944 to 1946, followed by the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles from 1947 to 1948. The 21st Academy Awards in 1949 were held at the Academy Award Theatre at what had been the Academy's headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

From 1950 to 1960, the awards were presented at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre. With the advent of television, the awards from 1953 to 1957 took place simultaneously in Hollywood and New York, first at the NBC International Theatre (1953) and then at the NBC Century Theatre, after which the ceremony took place solely in Los Angeles. The Oscars moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, in 1961. By 1969, the Academy decided to move the ceremonies back to Downtown Los Angeles, this time to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Los Angeles County Music Center. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the ceremony returned to the Shrine Auditorium.

In 2002, Hollywood's Dolby Theatre (previously known as the Kodak Theatre) became the presentation's current venue.

Awards of Merit categories

Current categories 

In the first year of the awards, the Best Directing award was split into two categories (Drama and Comedy). At times, the Best Original Score award has also been split into separate categories (Drama and Comedy/Musical). From the 1930s through the 1960s, the Art Direction (now Production Design), Cinematography, and Costume Design awards were likewise split into two categories (black-and-white films and color films). Prior to 2012, the Production Design award was called Art Direction, while the Makeup and Hairstyling award was called Makeup.

In August 2018, the Academy announced that several categories would not be televised live, but rather be recorded during commercial breaks and aired later in the ceremony.
Following dissent from Academy members, they announced that they would indeed air all 24 categories live. This followed several proposals (among them, the introduction of a Popular Film category) that the Academy had announced but did not implement.

Discontinued categories

Proposed categories 
The Board of Governors meets each year and considers new award categories. To date, the following categories have been proposed:
 Best Casting: rejected in 1999
 Best Popular Film: proposed in 2018 for presentation at the 2019 ceremony; postponed until the 2020 ceremony at the earliest (yet to be implemented)
 Best Stunt Coordination: rejected every year from 1991 to 2012
 Best Title Design: rejected in 1999

Special categories 
The Special Academy Awards are voted on by special committees, rather than by the Academy membership as a whole. They are not always presented on an annual basis.

Current special categories 
 Academy Honorary Award: since 1929
 Academy Scientific and Technical Award (three different awards): since 1931
 Gordon E. Sawyer Award: since 1981
 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: since 1957 
 Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: since 1938 
 Academy Special Achievement Award: from 1972 to 1995, and again for 2017

Discontinued special categories 
 Academy Juvenile Award: 1934 to 1960

Criticism and controversies

Accusations of commercialism 
Due to the positive exposure and prestige of the Academy Awards, many studios spend millions of dollars and hire publicists specifically to promote their films during what is typically called the "Oscar season." This has generated accusations of the Academy Awards being influenced more by marketing than by quality. William Friedkin, an Academy Award-winning film director and former producer of the ceremony, expressed this sentiment at a conference in New York in 2009, describing it as "the greatest promotion scheme that any industry ever devised for itself."

Tim Dirks, editor of AMC's filmsite.org, has written of the Academy Awards:

A recent technique that has been claimed to be used during the Oscar season is the whisper campaign. These campaigns are intended to spread negative perceptions of other movies nominated and are believed to be perpetrated by those that were involved in creating the movie. Examples of whisper campaigns include the allegations against Zero Dark Thirty suggesting that it justifies torture and the claim that Lincoln distorts history.

Accusations of bias 

Typical criticism of the Academy Awards for Best Picture is that among the winners and nominees there is an over-representation of romantic historical epics, biographical dramas, romantic dramedies and family melodramas, most of which are released in the U.S. in the last three months of the calendar year. The Oscars have been infamously known for selecting specific genres of movies to be awarded. The term "Oscar bait" was coined to describe such movies. This has led, at times, to more specific criticisms that the Academy is disconnected from the audience, e.g., by favoring "Oscar bait" over audience favorites or favoring historical melodramas over critically acclaimed movies that depict current life issues.

Allegations of a lack of diversity 
The Academy Awards have long received criticism over its lack of diversity among the nominees. This criticism is based on the statistics from every Academy Awards since 1929, which show that only 6.4% of academy award nominees have been non-white and since 1991, 11.2% of nominees have been non-white, with the rate of winners being even more polarizing. Due to a variety of reasons, including marketability and historical bans on interracial couples, a number of high-profile Oscars have been given to yellowface portrayals, as well as performances of Asian characters rewritten for white characters. It took until 2023 for an Asian woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, when Michelle Yeoh received the award for her performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The 88th awards ceremony became the target of a boycott, popularized on social media with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, based on activists' perception that its all-white acting nominee list reflected bias. In response, the Academy initiated "historic" changes in membership by 2020. Some media critics claim the Academy's efforts to address its purported racial, gender and national biases are merely distractions. By contrast, the Golden Globe Awards already have multiple winners of Asian descent in leading actress categories. Some question whether the Academy's definition of "merit" is just or empowering for non-Americans.

Miscategorization of actors 

The Academy doesn't have any rules for how to categorize whether a performance is leading or supporting, and it is up to the discretion of the studios whether a given performance is submitted for either Best Actor/Actress or Best Supporting Actor/Actress. This has led situations where a film has two or more co-leads, and one of these is submitted in a supporting category to avoid the two leads competing against each other, and to increase the film's chances of winning. This practice has been derisively called "category fraud". For example, Rooney Mara was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Carol (2015), despite her having a comparable amount of screentime to Cate Blanchett, who was nominated for Best Actress. Another example is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), where Brad Pitt was nominated for and won Best Supporting Actor, even though he played an equally important role to Best Actor nominee Leonardo DiCaprio. In both these cases, critics argued that The Weinstein Company, the studio behind the former film, had placed someone who was actually a leading actor or actress into the supporting categories to avoid them competing against their co-lead.

Symbolism or sentimentalization 
Acting prizes in certain years have been criticized for not recognizing superior performances so much as being awarded for personal popularity, to make up for a "snub" for a work that proved in time to be more popular or renowned than the one awarded, or presented as a "career honor" to recognize a distinguished nominee's entire body of work.

Recognition of streaming media film 
Following the 91st Academy Awards in February 2019 in which the Netflix-broadcast film Roma had been nominated for ten awards including the Best Picture category, Steven Spielberg and other members of the Academy discussed changing the requirements through the Board of Governors for films as to exclude those from Netflix and other media streaming services. Spielberg had been concerned that Netflix as a movie production and distribution studio could spend much more than typical Oscar-winning films and have much wider and earlier distribution than other Best Picture-nominated films, while still being able to meet the minimal theatrical-run status to qualify for an Oscar.

The United States Department of Justice, having heard of this potential rule change, wrote a letter to the Academy in March 2019, cautioning them that placing additional restrictions on films that originate from streaming media services without proper justification could raise anti-trust concerns against the Academy. Following its April 2019 board meeting, the Academy Board of Governors agreed to retain the current rules that allow for streaming media films to be eligible for Oscars as long as they enjoy limited theatrical runs.

2022 Chris Rock and Will Smith Rock slapping incident 

During the 94th Academy Awards on March 27, 2022, Chris Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith's shaved head with a G.I. Jane reference. Will Smith walked onstage and slapped Rock across the face, then returned to his seat and told Rock, twice, to "Keep my wife's name out [of] your fucking mouth!" While later accepting the Best Actor award for King Richard, Smith apologized to the Academy and the other nominees, but not to Rock. Rock decided not to press charges against Smith.

On April 8, 2022, the Academy made an announcement via a letter sent by president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson informing the public that Will Smith had received a ten-year ban from attending the Oscars as a result of the incident.

Refusals of the award 
Some winners critical of the Academy Awards have boycotted the ceremonies and refused to accept their Oscars. The first to do so was screenwriter Dudley Nichols (Best Writing in 1935 for The Informer). Nichols boycotted the 8th Academy Awards ceremony because of conflicts between the Academy and the Writers' Guild. Nichols eventually accepted the 1935 award three years later, at the 1938 ceremony. Nichols was nominated for three further Academy Awards during his career.

George C. Scott became the second person to refuse his award (Best Actor in 1970 for Patton) at the 43rd Academy Awards ceremony. Scott described it as a "meat parade", saying, "I don't want any part of it."

The third person to refuse the award was Marlon Brando, who refused his award (Best Actor for 1972's The Godfather), citing the film industry's discrimination and mistreatment of Native Americans. At the 45th Academy Awards ceremony, Brando asked actress and civil rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather to read a 15-page speech in his place, detailing his criticisms, for which there was booing and cheering by the audience. Littlefeather was much later discovered to have falsely misrepresented her ancestry as Native American, that is, she was found to be a pretendian.

Disqualifications 
Seven films have had nominations revoked before the official award ceremony:
 The Circus (1928) – The film was voluntarily removed by the Academy from competitive categories, to award Charlie Chaplin a special award.
 Hondo (1953) – Removed from the Best Story ballot after letters from the producer and nominee questioned its inclusion in the category.
 High Society (1955) – Withdrawn from screenwriting ballot after being mistaken for the 1956 movie of the same title.
 The Godfather (1972) – Initially nominated for eleven awards, its nomination for Best Original Score was revoked after it was discovered that its main theme was very similar to music that the score's composer had written for an earlier film. None of its other nominations were revoked, and it received three Oscars, including Best Picture.
 A Place in the World (1992) – Removed from the Best Foreign Language Film ballot after it was discovered that the country which submitted the film exercised insufficient artistic control.
 Alone Yet Not Alone (2014) – The film's title song, "Alone Yet Not Alone", was removed from the Best Original Song ballot after Bruce Broughton was found to have improperly contacted other members of the academy's musical branch; this was the first time that a film was removed from a ballot for ethical reasons.
 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2017) – Sound mixer Greg P. Russell's nomination was rescinded one day before the Awards when it was discovered he had improperly contacted voters by telephone. In this case, the nominations for the other three nominated sound mixers, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth, were allowed to stand.

One film was disqualified after winning the award, and had the winner return the Oscar:
 Young Americans (1969) – Initially won the award for Best Documentary Feature, but was later revoked after it was revealed that it had opened theatrically prior to the eligibility period.

One film had its nomination revoked after the award ceremony when it had not won the Oscar:
 Tuba Atlantic (2011) – Its nomination for Best Live Action Short Film was revoked when it was discovered that the film had aired on television in 2010, before its theatrical release.

Associated events 

The following events are closely associated with the annual Academy Awards:

 BAFTA Awards
 César Awards
 David di Donatello Awards
 Goya Awards
 Nominees luncheon
 Governors Awards
 The 25th Independent Spirit Awards (2010), usually held in Santa Monica, California the Saturday before the Oscars, marked the first time it was moved to a Friday and a change of venue to L.A. Live
 The annual "Night Before", traditionally held at the Beverly Hills Hotel, begun in 2002 and generally known as the party of the season, benefits the Motion Picture & Television Fund, which operates a retirement home for SAG actors in the San Fernando Valley
 Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Party airs the awards live at the nearby Pacific Design Center
 The Governors Ball is the Academy's official after-party, including dinner (until 2011), and is adjacent to the awards-presentation venue
 The Vanity Fair after-party, historically at the former Morton's restaurant, has been at the Sunset Tower since 2009
 Ariel Award in Mexico

Presenter and performer gifts 
It has become a tradition to give out gift bags to the presenters and performers at the Oscars. In recent years, these gifts have also been extended to award nominees and winners. The value of each of these gift bags can reach into the tens of thousands of dollars. In 2014, the value was reported to be as high as US$80,000. The value has risen to the point where the U.S. Internal Revenue Service issued a statement regarding the gifts and their taxable status.
Oscar gift bags have included vacation packages to Hawaii and Mexico and Japan, a private dinner party for the recipient and friends at a restaurant, videophones, a four-night stay at a hotel, watches, bracelets, spa treatments, bottles of vodka, maple salad dressing, weight-loss gummie candy and up to $25,000 worth of cosmetic treatments and rejuvenation procedures such as lip fillers and chemical peels from New York City facial plastic surgeon Konstantin Vasyukevich. Some of the gifts have even had a "risque" element to them; in 2014, the adult products retailer Adam & Eve had a "Secret Room Gifting Suite." Celebrities visiting the gifting suite included Judith Hoag, Carolyn Hennesy, Kate Linder, Chris Mulkey, Jim O'Heir and John Salley.

Television ratings and advertisement prices 

From 2006 onwards, results are Live+SD; all previous years are live viewing.

Notable highest wins and nominees

By films 

The following nominees received at least 10 nominations:

The following winners received at least 5 awards (including non-competitive):

By franchises 

The following nominees received at least 5 nominations:

The following winners received at least 2 awards:

By people 

The following nominees received at least 5 nominations:

The following winners received at least 3 awards (including non-competitive):

See also 
 List of film awards
 List of actors with Academy Award nominations
 List of superlative Academy Award winners and nominees

Footnotes

References

Further reading 
 Brokaw, Lauren (2010). "Wanna see an Academy Awards invite? We got it along with all the major annual events surrounding the Oscars". Los Angeles: The Daily Truffle.
 
  
 
 
 Wright, Jon (2007). The Lunacy of Oscar: The Problems with Hollywood's Biggest Night. Thomas Publishing, Inc.

External links 

 
 
 
 
 Official Academy Awards Database (searchable)

 
1929 establishments in California
1953 American television series debuts
Performing arts trophies
American annual television specials
American film awards
Annual events in Los Angeles County, California
Awards established in 1929
Cinema of Southern California
Events in Los Angeles
Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles
American live television shows

Actresses (Catalan: Actrius) is a 1997 Catalan language Spanish drama film produced and directed by Ventura Pons and based on the award-winning stage play E.R. by Josep Maria Benet i Jornet. The film has no male actors, with all roles played by females. The film was produced in 1996.

Synopsis 
In order to prepare herself to play a role commemorating the life of legendary actress Empar Ribera, young actress (Mercè Pons) interviews three established actresses who had been the Ribera's pupils: the international diva Glòria Marc (Núria Espert), the television star Assumpta Roca (Rosa Maria Sardà), and dubbing director Maria Caminal (Anna Lizaran).

Cast 
 Núria Espert as Glòria Marc
 Rosa Maria Sardà as Assumpta Roca
 Anna Lizaran as Maria Caminal
 Mercè Pons as Estudiant

Recognition

Screenings 
Actrius screened in 2001 at the Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in an American Cinematheque retrospective of the works of its director. The film had first screened at the same location in 1998. It was also shown at the 1997 Stockholm International Film Festival.

Reception 
In Movie - Film - Review, Christopher Tookey wrote that though the actresses were "competent in roles that may have some reference to their own careers", the film "is visually unimaginative, never escapes its stage origins, and is almost totally lacking in revelation or surprising incident". Noting that there were "occasional, refreshing moments of intergenerational bitchiness", they did not "justify comparisons to All About Eve", and were "insufficiently different to deserve critical parallels with Rashomon". He also wrote that The Guardian called the film a "slow, stuffy chamber-piece", and that The Evening Standard stated the film's "best moments exhibit the bitchy tantrums seething beneath the threesome's composed veneers". MRQE wrote "This cinematic adaptation of a theatrical work is true to the original, but does not stray far from a theatrical rendering of the story."

Awards and nominations 
 1997, won 'Best Catalan Film' at Butaca Awards for Ventura Pons
 1997, won 'Best Catalan Film Actress' at Butaca Awards, shared by Núria Espert, Rosa Maria Sardà, Anna Lizaran, and Mercè Pons
 1998, nominated for 'Best Screenplay' at Goya Awards, shared by Josep Maria Benet i Jornet and Ventura Pons

References

External links 
 
  as archived 17 February 2009 (Spanish)

1997 films
1997 drama films
Catalan-language films
Films set in Barcelona
Films directed by Ventura Pons
Spanish drama films
1990s Spanish films

Animalia is an illustrated children's book by Graeme Base. It was originally published in 1986, followed by a tenth anniversary edition in 1996, and a 25th anniversary edition in 2012. Over four million copies have been sold worldwide. A special numbered and signed anniversary edition was also published in 1996, with an embossed gold jacket.

Synopsis
Animalia is an alliterative alphabet book and contains twenty-six illustrations, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each illustration features an animal from the animal kingdom (A is for alligator and armadillo, B is for butterfly, etc.) along with a short poem utilizing the letter of the page for many of the words. The illustrations contain many other objects beginning with that letter that the reader can try to identify (however, there are not necessarily "a thousand things, or maybe more", as the author states). As an additional challenge, the author has hidden a picture of himself as a child in every picture.

Related products
Julia MacRae Books published an Animalia colouring book in 2008. H. N. Abrams also published a wall calendar colouring book version for children the same year.

H. N. Abrams published The Animalia Wall Frieze, a fold-out over 26 feet in length, in which the author created new riddles for each letter.

The Great American Puzzle Factory created a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle based on the book's cover.

Adaptations
A television series was also created, based on the book, which airs in Canada. The Australian Children's Television Foundation released a teaching resource DVD-ROM in 2011 to accompany the TV series with teaching aids for classroom use.

In 2010, The Base Factory and AppBooks released Animalia as an application for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch.

Awards
Animalia won the Young Australian's Best Book Award in 1987 for Best Picture Story Book.

The Children's Book Council of Australia designated Animalia a 1987 Picture Book of the Year: Honour Book.

Kid's Own Australian Literature Awards named Animalia the 1988 Picture Book Winner.

References

External links

 Graeme Base's official website
 A Learning Time activity guide for Animalia created by The Little Big Book Club

1986 children's books
Alphabet books
Australian children's books
Children's books about animals
Picture books by Graeme Base
Puffin Books books
Puzzle books

International Atomic Time (abbreviated TAI, from its French name ) is a high-precision atomic coordinate time standard based on the notional passage of proper time on Earth's geoid. TAI is a weighted average of the time kept by over 450 atomic clocks in over 80 national laboratories worldwide. It is a continuous scale of time, without leap seconds, and it is the principal realisation of Terrestrial Time (with a fixed offset of epoch). It is the basis for Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is used for civil timekeeping all over the Earth's surface and which has leap seconds.

UTC deviates from TAI by a number of whole seconds. , when another leap second was put into effect, UTC is currently exactly 37 seconds behind TAI. The 37 seconds result from the initial difference of 10 seconds at the start of 1972, plus 27 leap seconds in UTC since 1972.

TAI may be reported using traditional means of specifying days, carried over from non-uniform time standards based on the rotation of the Earth. Specifically, both Julian days and the Gregorian calendar are used. TAI in this form was synchronised with Universal Time at the beginning of 1958, and the two have drifted apart ever since, due primarily to the slowing rotation of the Earth.

Operation 
TAI is a weighted average of the time kept by over 450 atomic clocks in over 80 national laboratories worldwide. The majority of the clocks involved are caesium clocks; the International System of Units (SI) definition of the second is based on caesium. The clocks are compared using GPS signals and two-way satellite time and frequency transfer.  Due to the signal averaging TAI is an order of magnitude more stable than its best constituent clock.

The participating institutions each broadcast, in real time, a frequency signal with timecodes, which is their estimate of TAI.  Time codes are usually published in the form of UTC, which differs from TAI by a well-known integer number of seconds.  These time scales are denoted in the form UTC(NPL) in the UTC form, where NPL here identifies the National Physical Laboratory, UK. The TAI form may be denoted TAI(NPL).  The latter is not to be confused with TA(NPL), which denotes an independent atomic time scale, not synchronised to TAI or to anything else.

The clocks at different institutions are regularly compared against each other.  The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM, France), combines these measurements to retrospectively calculate the weighted average that forms the most stable time scale possible.  This combined time scale is published monthly in "Circular T", and is the canonical TAI.  This time scale is expressed in the form of tables of differences UTC − UTC(k) (equal to TAI − TAI(k)) for each participating institution k.  The same circular also gives tables of TAI − TA(k), for the various unsynchronised atomic time scales.

Errors in publication may be corrected by issuing a revision of the faulty Circular T or by errata in a subsequent Circular T.  Aside from this, once published in Circular T, the TAI scale is not revised.  In hindsight, it is possible to discover errors in TAI and to make better estimates of the true proper time scale.  Since the published circulars are definitive, better estimates do not create another version of TAI; it is instead considered to be creating a better realisation of Terrestrial Time (TT).

History 
Early atomic time scales consisted of quartz clocks with frequencies calibrated by a single atomic clock; the atomic clocks were not operated continuously. Atomic timekeeping services started experimentally in 1955, using the first caesium atomic clock at the National Physical Laboratory, UK (NPL). It was used as a basis for calibrating the quartz clocks at the Royal Greenwich Observatory and to establish a time scale, called Greenwich Atomic (GA). The United States Naval Observatory began the A.1 scale on 13 September 1956, using an Atomichron commercial atomic clock, followed by the NBS-A scale at the National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colorado on 9 October 1957.

The International Time Bureau (BIH) began a time scale, Tm or AM, in July 1955, using both local caesium clocks and comparisons to distant clocks using the phase of VLF radio signals. The BIH scale, A.1, and NBS-A were defined by an epoch at the beginning of 1958 The procedures used by the BIH evolved, and the name for the time scale changed: A3 in 1964 and TA(BIH) in 1969.

The SI second was defined in terms of the caesium atom in 1967. From 1971 to 1975 the General Conference on Weights and Measures and the International Committee for Weights and Measures made a series of decisions that designated the BIPM time scale International Atomic Time (TAI).

In the 1970s, it became clear that the clocks participating in TAI were ticking at different rates due to gravitational time dilation, and the combined TAI scale, therefore, corresponded to an average of the altitudes of the various clocks. Starting from the Julian Date 2443144.5 (1 January 1977 00:00:00), corrections were applied to the output of all participating clocks, so that TAI would correspond to proper time at the geoid (mean sea level).  Because the clocks were, on average, well above sea level, this meant that TAI slowed by about one part in a trillion. The former uncorrected time scale continues to be published under the name EAL (Échelle Atomique Libre, meaning Free Atomic Scale).

The instant that the gravitational correction started to be applied serves as the epoch for Barycentric Coordinate Time (TCB), Geocentric Coordinate Time (TCG), and Terrestrial Time (TT), which represent three fundamental time scales in the solar system.  All three of these time scales were defined to read JD 2443144.5003725 (1 January 1977 00:00:32.184) exactly at that instant. TAI was henceforth a realisation of TT, with the equation TT(TAI) = TAI + 32.184 s.

The continued existence of TAI was questioned in a 2007 letter from the BIPM to the ITU-R which stated, "In the case of a redefinition of UTC without leap seconds, the CCTF would consider discussing the possibility of suppressing TAI, as it would remain parallel to the continuous UTC."

Relation to UTC 
Contrary to TAI, UTC is a discontinuous time scale. It is occasionally adjusted by leap seconds. Between these adjustments, it is composed of segments that are mapped to atomic time by a constant offset. From its beginning in 1961 through December 1971, the adjustments were made regularly in fractional leap seconds so that UTC approximated UT2.  Afterward, these adjustments were made only in whole seconds to approximate UT1. This was a compromise arrangement in order to enable a publicly broadcast time scale. The less frequent whole-second adjustments meant that the time scale would be more stable and easier to synchronize internationally. The fact that it continues to approximate UT1 means that tasks such as navigation which require a source of Universal Time continue to be well served by the public broadcast of UTC.

See also 
 Clock synchronization
 Time and frequency transfer

Notes

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links 
 BIPM technical services: Time Metrology
 Time and Frequency Section - National Physical Laboratory, UK
 IERS website
  NIST Web Clock FAQs
 History of time scales
 NIST-F1 Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock
 
 Japan Standard Time Project, NICT, Japan
 
 Standard of time definition: UTC, GPS, LORAN and TAI

Time scales

Altruism is the principle and practice of concern for the well-being and/or happiness of other humans or animals. While objects of altruistic concern vary, it is an important moral value in many cultures and religions. It may be considered a synonym of selflessness, the opposite of selfishness.

The word altruism was popularized (and possibly coined) by the French philosopher Auguste Comte in French, as , for an antonym of egoism. He derived it from the Italian , which in turn was derived from Latin , meaning "other people" or "somebody else".

Altruism, as observed in populations of organisms, is when an individual performs an action at a cost to themselves (in terms of e.g. pleasure and quality of life, time, probability of survival or reproduction) that benefits, directly or indirectly, another individual, without the expectation of reciprocity or compensation for that action.

Altruism can be distinguished from feelings of loyalty or concern for the common good. The latter are predicated upon social relationships, whilst altruism does not consider relationships. Whether "true" altruism is possible in human psychology is a subject of debate. The theory of psychological egoism suggests that no act of sharing, helping, or sacrificing can be truly altruistic, as the actor may receive an intrinsic reward in the form of personal gratification. The validity of this argument depends on whether such intrinsic rewards qualify as "benefits".

The term altruism may also refer to an ethical doctrine that claims that individuals are morally obliged to benefit others. Used in this sense, it is usually contrasted with egoism, which claims individuals are morally obligated to serve themselves first.

Effective altruism is the use of evidence and reason to determine the most effective ways to benefit others.

The notion of altruism
The concept of altruism has a history in philosophical and ethical thought. The term was coined in the 19th century by the founding sociologist and philosopher of science Auguste Comte, and has become a major topic for psychologists (especially evolutionary psychology researchers), evolutionary biologists, and ethologists. Whilst ideas about altruism from one field can affect the other fields, the different methods and focuses of these fields always lead to different perspectives on altruism. In simple terms, altruism is caring about the welfare of other people and acting to help them.

Scientific viewpoints

Anthropology

Marcel Mauss's essay The Gift contains a passage called "Note on alms". This note describes the evolution of the notion of alms (and by extension of altruism) from the notion of sacrifice. In it, he writes:

Evolutionary explanations

In the Science of ethology (the study of animal behaviour), and more generally in the study of social evolution, altruism refers to behavior by an individual that increases the fitness of another individual while decreasing the fitness of the actor. In evolutionary psychology this term may be applied to a wide range of human behaviors such as charity, emergency aid, help to coalition partners, tipping, courtship gifts, production of public goods, and environmentalism.

Theories of apparently altruistic behavior were  by the need to produce ideas compatible with evolutionary origins. Two related strands of research on altruism have emerged from traditional evolutionary analyses and evolutionary game theory: a mathematical model and analysis of behavioral strategies.

Some of the proposed mechanisms are: 
 Kin selection. That animals and humans are more altruistic towards close kin than to distant kin and non-kin has been confirmed in numerous studies across many different cultures. Even subtle cues indicating kinship may unconsciously increase altruistic behavior. One kinship cue is facial resemblance. One study found that slightly altering photographs to resemble the faces of study participants more closely increased the trust the participants expressed regarding depicted persons. Another cue is having the same family name, especially if rare, which has been found to increase helpful behavior. Another study found more cooperative behavior, the greater the number of perceived kin in a group. Using kinship terms in political speeches increased audience agreement with the speaker in one study. This effect was powerful for firstborns, who are typically close to their families.
 Vested interests. People are likely to suffer if their friends, allies and those from similar social ingroups suffer or disappear. Helping such group members may, therefore, also benefit the altruist. Making ingroup membership more noticeable increases cooperativeness. Extreme self-sacrifice towards the ingroup may be adaptive if a hostile outgroup threatens the entire ingroup.
 Reciprocal altruism. See also Reciprocity (evolution).
 Direct reciprocity. Research shows that it can be beneficial to help others if there is a chance that they will reciprocate the help. The effective tit for tat strategy is one game theoretic example. Many people seem to be following a similar strategy by cooperating if and only if others cooperate in return.
One consequence is that people are more cooperative with one another if they are more likely to interact again in the future. People tend to be less cooperative if they perceive that the frequency of helpers in the population is lower. They tend to help less if they see non-cooperativeness by others, and this effect tends to be stronger than the opposite effect of seeing cooperative behaviors. Simply changing the cooperative framing of a proposal may increase cooperativeness, such as calling it a "Community Game" instead of a "Wall Street Game".
A tendency towards reciprocity implies that people feel obligated to respond if someone helps them. This has been used by charities that give small gifts to potential donors hoping to induce reciprocity. Another method is to announce publicly that someone has given a large donation. The tendency to reciprocate can even generalize, so people become more helpful toward others after being helped. On the other hand, people will avoid or even retaliate against those perceived not to be cooperating. People sometimes mistakenly fail to help when they intended to, or their helping may not be noticed, which may cause unintended conflicts. As such, it may be an optimal strategy to be slightly forgiving of and have a slightly generous interpretation of non-cooperation.
People are more likely to cooperate on a task if they can communicate with one another first. This may be due to better cooperativeness assessments or promises exchange. They are more cooperative if they can gradually build trust instead of being asked to give extensive help immediately. Direct reciprocity and cooperation in a group can be increased by changing the focus and incentives from intra-group competition to larger-scale competitions, such as between groups or against the general population. Thus, giving grades and promotions based only on an individual's performance relative to a small local group, as is common, may reduce cooperative behaviors in the group.
 Indirect reciprocity. Because people avoid poor reciprocators and cheaters, a person's reputation is important. A person esteemed for their reciprocity is more likely to receive assistance, even from individuals they haven't directly interacted with before.
 Strong reciprocity. This form of reciprocity is expressed by people who invest more resources in cooperation and punishment than what is deemed optimal based on established theories of altruism.
 Pseudo-reciprocity. An organism behaves altruistically and the recipient does not reciprocate but has an increased chance of acting in a way that is selfish but also as a byproduct benefits the altruist.
 Costly signaling and the handicap principle. Altruism, by diverting resources from the altruist, can act as an "honest signal" of available resources and the skills to acquire them. This may signal to others that the altruist is a valuable potential partner. It may also signal interactive and cooperative intentions, since someone who does not expect to interact further in the future gains nothing from such costly signaling. While it's uncertain if costly signaling can predict long-term cooperative traits, people tend to trust helpers more. Costly signaling loses its value when everyone shares identical traits, resources, and cooperative intentions, but it gains significance as population variability in these aspects increases.

Hunters who share meat display a costly signal of ability. The research found that good hunters have higher reproductive success and more adulterous relations even if they receive no more of the hunted meat than anyone else. Similarly, holding large feasts and giving large donations are ways of demonstrating one's resources. Heroic risk-taking has also been interpreted as a costly signal of ability.

Both indirect reciprocity and costly signaling depend on reputation value and tend to make similar predictions. One is that people will be more helpful when they know that their helping behavior will be communicated to people they will interact with later, publicly announced, discussed, or observed by someone else. This has been documented in many studies. The effect is sensitive to subtle cues, such as people being more helpful when there were stylized eyespots instead of a logo on a computer screen.  Weak reputational cues such as eyespots may become unimportant if there are stronger cues present and may lose their effect with continued exposure unless reinforced with real reputational effects. Public displays such as public weeping for dead celebrities and participation in demonstrations may be influenced by a desire to be seen as generous. People who know that they are publicly monitored sometimes even wastefully donate the money they know is not needed by the recipient because of reputational concerns.

Women find altruistic men to be attractive partners. When women look for a long-term partner, altruism may be a trait they prefer as it may indicate that the prospective partner is also willing to share resources with her and her children. Men perform charitable acts in the early stages of a romantic relationship or simply when in the presence of an attractive woman. While both sexes state that kindness is the most preferable trait in a partner, there is some evidence that men place less value on this than women and that women may not be more altruistic in the presence of an attractive man. Men may even avoid altruistic women in short-term relationships, which may be because they expect less success.

People may compete for the social benefit of a burnished reputation, which may cause competitive altruism. On the other hand, in some experiments, a proportion of people do not seem to care about reputation and do not help more, even if this is conspicuous. This may be due to reasons such as psychopathy or that they are so attractive that they need not be seen as altruistic. The reputational benefits of altruism occur in the future compared to the immediate costs of altruism. While humans and other organisms generally place less value on future costs/benefits as compared to those in the present, some have shorter time horizons than others, and these people tend to be less cooperative.

Explicit extrinsic rewards and punishments have sometimes been found to have a counterintuitively inverse effect on behaviors when compared to intrinsic rewards. This may be because such extrinsic incentives may replace (partially or in whole) intrinsic and reputational incentives, motivating the person to focus on obtaining the extrinsic rewards, which may make the thus-incentivized behaviors less desirable. People prefer altruism in others when it appears to be due to a personality characteristic rather than overt reputational concerns; simply pointing out that there are reputational benefits of action may reduce them. This may be used as a derogatory tactic against altruists ("you're just virtue signalling"), especially by those who are non-cooperators. A counterargument is that doing good due to reputational concerns is better than doing no good.
 Group selection. It has controversially been argued by some evolutionary scientists such as David Sloan Wilson that natural selection can act at the level of non-kin groups to produce adaptations that benefit a non-kin group, even if these adaptations are detrimental at the individual level. Thus, while altruistic persons may under some circumstances be outcompeted by less altruistic persons at the individual level, according to group selection theory, the opposite may occur at the group level where groups consisting of the more altruistic persons may outcompete groups consisting of the less altruistic persons. Such altruism may only extend to ingroup members while directing prejudice and antagonism against outgroup members (see also in-group favoritism). Many other evolutionary scientists have criticized group selection theory.

Such explanations do not imply that humans consciously calculate how to increase their inclusive fitness when doing altruistic acts. Instead, evolution has shaped psychological mechanisms, such as emotions, that promote certain altruistic behaviors.

The benefits for the altruist may be increased, and the costs reduced by being more altruistic towards certain groups. Research has found that people are more altruistic to kin than to no-kin, to friends than strangers, to those attractive than to those unattractive, to non-competitors than competitors, and to members in-groups than to members of out-groups.

The study of altruism was the initial impetus behind George R. Price's development of the Price equation, a mathematical equation used to study genetic evolution. An interesting example of altruism is found in the cellular slime moulds, such as Dictyostelium mucoroides. These protists live as individual amoebae until starved, at which point they aggregate and form a multicellular fruiting body in which some cells sacrifice themselves to promote the survival of other cells in the fruiting body.

Selective investment theory proposes that close social bonds, and associated emotional, cognitive, and neurohormonal mechanisms, evolved to facilitate long-term, high-cost altruism between those closely depending on one another for survival and reproductive success.

Such cooperative behaviors have sometimes been seen as arguments for left-wing politics, for example, by the Russian zoologist and anarchist Peter Kropotkin in his 1902 book Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution and Moral Philosopher Peter Singer in his book A Darwinian Left.

Neurobiology
Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman, neuroscientists at the National Institutes of Health and LABS-D'Or Hospital Network, provided the first evidence for the neural bases of altruistic giving in normal healthy volunteers, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. In their research, they showed that both pure monetary rewards and charitable donations activated the mesolimbic reward pathway, a primitive part of the brain that usually responds to food and sex. However, when volunteers generously placed the interests of others before their own by making charitable donations, another brain circuit was selectively activated: the subgenual cortex/septal region. These structures  social attachment and bonding in other species. The experiment indicated that altruism isn't a higher moral faculty overpowering innate selfish desires, but a fundamental, ingrained, and enjoyable trait in the brain. One brain region, the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex/basal forebrain, contributes to learning altruistic behavior, especially in people with  empathy. The same study identified  giving to charity and  of social bonding.

Bill Harbaugh, a University of Oregon economist, in an fMRI scanner test conducted with his psychologist colleague Dr. Ulrich Mayr, reached the same conclusions as Jorge Moll and Jordan Grafman about giving to charity, although they were able to divide the study group into two groups: "egoists" and "altruists". One of their discoveries was that, though rarely, even some of the considered "egoists" sometimes gave more than expected because that would help others, leading to the conclusion that there are other factors in charity, such as a person's environment and values.

Psychology
The International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences defines psychological altruism as "a motivational state to increase another's welfare". Psychological altruism is contrasted with psychological egoism, which refers to the motivation to increase one's welfare.

There has been some debate on whether humans are capable of psychological altruism. Some definitions specify a self-sacrificial nature to altruism and a lack of external rewards for altruistic behaviors. However, because altruism ultimately benefits the self in many cases, the selflessness of altruistic acts is difficult to prove. The social exchange theory postulates that altruism only exists when the benefits outweigh the costs to the self.

Daniel Batson, a psychologist, examined this question and argued against the social exchange theory. He identified four significant motives: to ultimately benefit the self (egoism), to ultimately benefit the other person (altruism), to benefit a group (collectivism), or to uphold a moral principle (principlism). Altruism that ultimately serves selfish gains is thus differentiated from selfless altruism, but the general conclusion has been that empathy-induced altruism can be genuinely selfless.

The empathy-altruism hypothesis states that psychological altruism exists and is evoked by the empathic desire to help someone suffering. Feelings of empathic concern are contrasted with personal distress, which compels people to reduce their unpleasant emotions and increase their positive ones by helping someone in need. Empathy is thus not selfless since altruism works either as a way to avoid those negative, unpleasant feelings and have positive, pleasant feelings when triggered by others' need for help or as a way to gain social reward or avoid social punishment by helping. People with empathic concern help others in distress even when exposure to the situation could be easily avoided, whereas those lacking in empathic concern avoid allowing it unless it is difficult or impossible to avoid exposure to another's suffering.

Helping behavior is seen in humans from about two years old when a toddler can understand subtle emotional cues.

In psychological research on altruism, studies often observe altruism as demonstrated through prosocial behaviors such as helping, comforting, sharing, cooperation, philanthropy, and community service. People are most likely to help if they recognize that a person is in need and feel personal responsibility for reducing the person's distress. The number of bystanders witnessing pain or suffering affects the likelihood of helping (the Bystander effect). More significant numbers of bystanders decrease individual feelings of responsibility. However, a witness with a high level of empathic concern is likely to assume personal responsibility entirely regardless of the number of bystanders.

Many studies have observed the effects of volunteerism (as a form of altruism) on happiness and health and have consistently found that those who exhibit volunteerism also have better current and future health and well-being. In a study of older adults, those who volunteered had higher life satisfaction and will to live, and less depression, anxiety, and somatization. Volunteerism and helping behavior have not only been shown to improve mental health but physical health and longevity as well, attributable to the activity and social integration it encourages. One study examined the physical health of mothers who volunteered over 30 years and found that 52% of those who did not belong to a volunteer organization experienced a major illness while only 36% of those who did volunteer experienced one. A study on adults aged 55 and older found that during the four-year study period, people who volunteered for two or more organizations had a 63% lower likelihood of dying. After controlling for prior health status, it was determined that volunteerism accounted for a 44% reduction in mortality. Merely being aware of kindness in oneself and others is also associated with greater well-being. A study that asked participants to count each act of kindness they performed for one week significantly enhanced their subjective happiness.

While research supports the idea that altruistic acts bring about happiness, it has also been found to work in the opposite direction—that happier people are also kinder. The relationship between altruistic behavior and happiness is bidirectional. Studies found that generosity increases linearly from sad to happy affective states.

Feeling over-taxed by the needs of others has negative effects on health and happiness. For example, one study on volunteerism found that feeling overwhelmed by others' demands had an even stronger negative effect on mental health than helping had a positive one (although positive effects were still significant).

Pathological altruism
Pathological altruism is altruism taken to an unhealthy extreme, such that it either harms the altruistic person or the person's well-intentioned actions cause more harm than good.

The term "pathological altruism" was popularised by the book Pathological Altruism.

Examples include depression and burnout seen in healthcare professionals, an unhealthy focus on others to the detriment of one's own needs, hoarding of animals, and ineffective philanthropic and social programs that ultimately worsen the situations they are meant to aid.

Sociology

"Sociologists have long been concerned with how to build the good society". The structure of our societies and how individuals come to exhibit charitable, philanthropic, and other pro-social, altruistic actions for the common good is a commonly researched topic within the field. The American Sociology Association (ASA) acknowledges public sociology saying, "The intrinsic scientific, policy, and public relevance of this field of investigation in helping to construct 'good societies' is unquestionable". This type of sociology seeks contributions that aid popular and theoretical understandings of what motivates altruism and how it is organized, and promotes an altruistic focus in order to benefit the world and people it studies.

How altruism is framed, organized, carried out, and what motivates it at the group level is an area of focus that sociologists investigate in order to contribute back to the groups it studies and "build the good society". The motivation of altruism is also the focus of study; for example, one study links the occurrence of moral outrage to altruistic compensation of victims. Studies show that generosity in laboratory and in online experiments is contagious – people imitate the generosity they observe in others.

Religious viewpoints

Most, if not all, of the world's religions promote altruism as a very important moral value. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, and Sikhism, etc., place particular emphasis on altruistic morality.

Buddhism

Altruism figures prominently in Buddhism. Love and compassion are components of all forms of Buddhism, and are focused on all beings equally: love is the wish that all beings be happy, and compassion is the wish that all beings be free from suffering. "Many illnesses can be cured by the one medicine of love and compassion. These qualities are the ultimate source of human happiness, and the need for them lies at the very core of our being" (Dalai Lama).

The notion of altruism is modified in such a world-view, since the belief is that such a practice promotes the practitioner's own happiness: "The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes" (Dalai Lama).

In the context of larger ethical discussions on moral action and judgment, Buddhism is characterized by the belief that negative (unhappy) consequences of our actions derive not from punishment or correction based on moral judgment, but from the law of karma, which functions like a natural law of cause and effect. A simple illustration of such cause and effect is the case of experiencing the effects of what one causes: if one causes suffering, then as a natural consequence one would experience suffering; if one causes happiness, then as a natural consequence one would experience happiness.

Jainism

The fundamental principles of Jainism revolve around altruism, not only for humans but for all sentient beings. Jainism preaches  – to live and let live, not harming sentient beings, i.e. uncompromising reverence for all life. It also considers all living things to be equal. The first , Rishabhdev, introduced the concept of altruism for all living beings, from extending knowledge and experience to others to donation, giving oneself up for others, non-violence, and compassion for all living things.

The principle of nonviolence seeks to minimize karmas which limit the capabilities of the soul. Jainism views every soul as worthy of respect because it has the potential to become  (God in Jainism). Because all living beings possess a soul, great care and awareness is essential in one's actions. Jainism emphasizes the equality of all life, advocating harmlessness towards all, whether the creatures are great or small. This policy extends even to microscopic organisms. Jainism acknowledges that every person has different capabilities and capacities to practice and therefore accepts different levels of compliance for ascetics and householders.

Christianity

Thomas Aquinas interprets "You should love your neighbour as yourself" as meaning that love for ourselves is the exemplar of love for others. Considering that "the love with which a man loves himself is the form and root of friendship" he quotes Aristotle that "the origin of friendly relations with others lies in our relations to ourselves",. Aquinas concluded that though we are not bound to love others more than ourselves, we naturally seek the common good, the good of the whole, more than any private good, the good of a part. However, he thought we should love God more than ourselves and our neighbours, and more than our bodily life—since the ultimate purpose of loving our neighbour is to share in eternal beatitude: a more desirable thing than bodily well-being. In coining the word "altruism", as stated above, Comte was probably opposing this Thomistic doctrine, which is present in some theological schools within Catholicism. The aim and focus of Christian life is a life that glorifies God, with obeying christ's command to treat others equally, caring for them and understanding eternity in heaven is what Jesus Resurrection at calvary was all about.

Many biblical authors draw a strong connection between love of others and love of God.  states that for one to love God one must love his fellowman, and that hatred of one's fellowman is the same as hatred of God. Thomas Jay Oord has argued in several books that altruism is but one possible form of love. An altruistic action is not always a loving action. Oord defines altruism as acting for the other's good, and he agrees with feminists who note that sometimes love requires acting for one's own good when the other's demands undermine overall well-being.

German philosopher Max Scheler distinguishes two ways in which the strong can help the weak. One way is a sincere expression of Christian love, "motivated by a powerful feeling of security, strength, and inner salvation, of the invincible fullness of one's own life and existence". Another way is merely "one of the many modern substitutes for love,... nothing but the urge to turn away from oneself and to lose oneself in other people's business". At its worst, Scheler says, "love for the small, the poor, the weak, and the oppressed is really disguised hatred, repressed envy, an impulse to detract, etc., directed against the opposite phenomena: wealth, strength, power, largesse."

Islam
In Islam, "" () (altruism) means "preferring others to oneself". For Sufis, this means devotion to others through complete forgetfulness of one's own concerns, where concern for others is deemed as a demand made by Allah (i.e. God) on the human body, considered to be property of Allah alone. The importance of  lies in sacrifice for the sake of the greater good; Islam considers those practicing  as abiding by the highest degree of nobility.
This is similar to the notion of chivalry, but unlike that European concept, in  . A constant concern for Allah results in a careful attitude towards people, animals, and other things in this world.

Judaism
Judaism defines altruism as the desired goal of creation. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook stated that love is the most important attribute in humanity. Love is defined as bestowal, or giving, which is the intention of altruism. This can be altruism towards humanity that leads to altruism towards the creator or God. Kabbalah defines God as the force of giving in existence. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto focused on the "purpose of creation" and how the will of God was to bring creation into perfection and adhesion with this force of giving.

Modern Kabbalah developed by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, in his writings about the future generation, focuses on how society could achieve an altruistic social framework. Ashlag proposed that such a framework is the purpose of creation, and everything that happens is to raise humanity to the level of altruism, love for one another. Ashlag focused on society and its relation to divinity.

Sikhism
Altruism is essential to the Sikh religion. The central faith in Sikhism is that the greatest deed anyone can do is to imbibe and live the godly qualities like love, affection, sacrifice, patience, harmony, and truthfulness. , or selfless service to the community for its own sake, is an important concept in Sikhism.

The fifth Guru, Arjun Dev, sacrificed his life to uphold "22 carats of pure truth, the greatest gift to humanity", the Guru Granth. The ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, sacrificed his head to protect weak and defenseless people against atrocity.

In the late seventeenth century, Guru Gobind Singh (the tenth Guru in Sikhism), was at war with the Mughal rulers to protect the people of different faiths when a fellow Sikh, Bhai Kanhaiya, attended the troops of the enemy. He gave water to both friends and foes who were wounded on the battlefield. Some of the enemy began to fight again and some Sikh warriors were annoyed by Bhai Kanhaiya as he was helping their enemy. Sikh soldiers brought Bhai Kanhaiya before Guru Gobind Singh, and complained of his action that they considered counterproductive to their struggle on the battlefield. "What were you doing, and why?" asked the Guru. "I was giving water to the wounded because I saw your face in all of them", replied Bhai Kanhaiya. The Guru responded, "Then you should also give them ointment to heal their wounds. You were practicing what you were coached in the house of the Guru."

Under the tutelage of the Guru, Bhai Kanhaiya subsequently founded a volunteer corps for altruism, which is still engaged today in doing good to others and in training new recruits for this service.

Hinduism
In Hinduism Selflessness (), Love (), Kindness (), and Forgiveness () are considered as the highest acts of humanity or "". Giving alms to the beggars or poor people is considered as a divine act or "" and Hindus believe it will free their souls from guilt or "" and will led them to heaven or "" in afterlife. Altruism is also the central act of various Hindu mythology and religious poems and songs. Mass donation of clothes to poor people (), or blood donation camp or mass food donation () for poor people is common in various Hindu religious ceremonies.

The Bhagavad Gita supports the doctrine of karma yoga (achieving oneness with God through action) & "Nishkam Karma" or action without expectation / desire for personal gain which can be said to encompass altruism. Altruistic acts are generally celebrated and very well received in Hindu literature and are central to Hindu morality.

Philosophy

There is a wide range of philosophical views on humans' obligations or motivations to act altruistically. Proponents of ethical altruism maintain that individuals are morally obligated to act altruistically. The opposing view is ethical egoism, which maintains that moral agents should always act in their own self-interest. Both ethical altruism and ethical egoism contrast with utilitarianism, which maintains that each agent should act in order to maximise the efficacy of their function and the benefit to both themselves and their co-inhabitants.

A related concept in descriptive ethics is psychological egoism, the thesis that humans always act in their own self-interest and that true altruism is impossible. Rational egoism is the view that rationality consists in acting in one's self-interest (without specifying how this affects one's moral obligations).

Effective altruism

Effective altruism is a philosophy and social movement that uses evidence and reasoning to determine the most effective ways to benefit others. Effective altruism encourages individuals to consider all causes and actions and to act in the way that brings about the greatest positive impact, based upon their values. It is the broad, evidence-based, and cause-neutral approach that distinguishes effective altruism from traditional altruism or charity. Effective altruism is part of the larger movement towards evidence-based practices.

While a substantial proportion of effective altruists have focused on the nonprofit sector, the philosophy of effective altruism applies more broadly to prioritizing the scientific projects, companies, and policy initiatives which can be estimated to save lives, help people, or otherwise have the biggest benefit. People associated with the movement include philosopher Peter Singer, Facebook co founder Dustin Moskovitz, Cari Tuna, Oxford-based researchers William MacAskill and Toby Ord, and professional poker player Liv Boeree.

Genetics
OXTR, CD38, COMT, DRD4, DRD5, IGF2, and GABRB2 are candidate genes for influencing altruistic behavior.

Digital altruism
Digital altruism is the notion that some are willing to freely share information based on the principle of reciprocity and in the belief that in the end, everyone benefits from sharing information via the Internet.

There are three types of digital altruism: (1) "everyday digital altruism", involving expedience, ease, moral engagement, and conformity; (2) "creative digital altruism", involving creativity, heightened moral engagement, and cooperation; and (3) "co-creative digital altruism" involving creativity, moral engagement, and meta cooperative efforts.

See also

Notes

References

External links

 
 

 
Auguste Comte
Defence mechanisms
Morality
Moral psychology
Philanthropy
Social philosophy
Interpersonal relationships
Virtue

Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum; , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and public philosopher. She is known for her fiction and for developing a philosophical system she named Objectivism. Born and educated in Russia, she moved to the United States in 1926. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful and two Broadway plays, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, The Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-selling work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, until her death in 1982, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays.

Rand advocated reason and rejected faith and religion. She supported rational and ethical egoism as opposed to altruism. In politics, she condemned the initiation of force as immoral and supported laissez-faire capitalism, which she defined as the system based on recognizing individual rights, including private property rights. Although Rand opposed libertarianism, which she viewed as anarchism, she is often associated with the modern libertarian movement in the United States. In art, Rand promoted romantic realism. She was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her, with a few exceptions.

Rand's books have sold over 37 million copies. Her fiction received mixed reviews from literary critics, with reviews becoming more negative for her later work. Although academic interest in her ideas has grown since her death, academic philosophers have generally ignored or rejected her philosophy, arguing that she has a polemical approach and that her work lacks methodological rigor. Her writings have politically influenced some right-libertarians and conservatives. The Objectivist movement circulates her ideas, both to the public and in academic settings.

Life

Early life
Rand was born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum on February 2, 1905, into a Russian-Jewish bourgeois family living in Saint Petersburg. She was the eldest of three daughters of Zinovy Zakharovich Rosenbaum, a pharmacist, and Anna Borisovna (). She was 12 when the October Revolution and the rule of the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin disrupted her family's lives. Her father's pharmacy was nationalized, and the family fled to the city of Yevpatoria in Crimea, which was initially under the control of the White Army during the Russian Civil War. After graduating high school there in June 1921, she returned with her family to Petrograd (as Saint Petersburg was then named), where they faced desperate conditions, occasionally nearly starving.

When Russian universities were opened to women after the revolution, Rand was among the first to enroll at Petrograd State University. At 16, she began her studies in the department of social pedagogy, majoring in history. She was one of many bourgeois students purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, many purged students, including Rand, were reinstated. She completed her studies at the renamed Leningrad State University in October 1924. She then studied for a year at the State Technicum for Screen Arts in Leningrad. For an assignment, Rand wrote an essay about the Polish actress Pola Negri; it became her first published work. By this time, she had decided her professional surname for writing would be Rand, and she adopted the first name Ayn (pronounced ).

In late 1925, Rand was granted a visa to visit relatives in Chicago. She arrived in New York City on February 19, 1926. Intent on staying in the United States to become a screenwriter, she lived for a few months with her relatives learning English before leaving for Hollywood, California.

In Hollywood, a chance meeting with director Cecil B. DeMille led to work as an extra in his film The King of Kings and a subsequent job as a junior screenwriter. While working on The King of Kings, she met the aspiring actor Frank O'Connor; they married on April 15, 1929. She became a permanent American resident in July 1929 and an American citizen on March 3, 1931. She tried to bring her parents and sisters to the United States, but they could not obtain permission to emigrate.

Early fiction

Rand's first literary success was the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, although it was never produced. Her courtroom drama Night of January 16th, first staged in Hollywood in 1934, reopened successfully on Broadway in 1935. Each night, a jury was selected from members of the audience; based on its vote, one of two different endings would be performed. Rand and O'Connor moved to New York City in December 1934 so she could handle revisions for the Broadway production.

Her first novel, the semi-autobiographical We the Living, was published in 1936. Set in Soviet Russia, it focuses on the struggle between the individual and the state. Initial sales were slow, and the American publisher let it go out of print, although European editions continued to sell. She adapted the story as a stage play, but the Broadway production closed in less than a week. After the success of her later novels, Rand was able to release a revised version in 1959 that has since sold over three million copies.

Rand started her next major novel, The Fountainhead, in December 1935, but took a break from it in 1937 to write her novella Anthem. The novella presents a dystopian future world in which totalitarian collectivism has triumphed to such an extent that the word I has been forgotten and replaced with we. It was published in England in 1938, but Rand could not find an American publisher at that time. As with We the Living, Rand's later success allowed her to get a revised version published in 1946, and this sold over 3.5 million copies.

The Fountainhead and political activism

During the 1940s, Rand became politically active. She and her husband were full-time volunteers for Republican Wendell Willkie's 1940 presidential campaign. This work put her in contact with other intellectuals sympathetic to free-market capitalism. She became friends with journalist Henry Hazlitt, who introduced her to the Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises. Despite philosophical differences with them, Rand strongly endorsed the writings of both men throughout her career, and they expressed admiration for her. Mises once called her "the most courageous man in America", a compliment that particularly pleased her because he said "man" instead of "woman". Rand became friends with libertarian writer Isabel Paterson. Rand questioned her about American history and politics during their many meetings, and gave Paterson ideas for her only non-fiction book, The God of the Machine.

Rand's first major success as a writer came in 1943 with The Fountainhead, a novel about an uncompromising architect named Howard Roark and his struggle against what Rand described as "second-handers" who attempt to live through others, placing others above themselves. Twelve publishers rejected it before Bobbs-Merrill Company accepted it at the insistence of editor Archibald Ogden, who threatened to quit if his employer did not publish it. While completing the novel, Rand was prescribed the amphetamine Benzedrine to fight fatigue. The drug helped her to work long hours to meet her deadline for delivering the novel, but afterwards she was so exhausted that her doctor ordered two weeks' rest. Her use of the drug for approximately three decades may have contributed to mood swings and outbursts described by some of her later associates.

The success of The Fountainhead brought Rand fame and financial security. In 1943, she sold the film rights to Warner Bros. and returned to Hollywood to write the screenplay. Producer Hal B. Wallis then hired her as a screenwriter and script-doctor for screenplays including Love Letters and You Came Along. Rand became involved with the anti-Communist Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and American Writers Association. In 1947, during the Second Red Scare, she testified as a "friendly witness" before the United States House Un-American Activities Committee that the 1944 film Song of Russia grossly misrepresented conditions in the Soviet Union, portraying life there as much better and happier than it was. She also wanted to criticize the lauded 1946 film The Best Years of Our Lives for what she interpreted as its negative presentation of the business world but was not allowed to do so. When asked after the hearings about her feelings on the investigations' effectiveness, Rand described the process as "futile".

After several delays, the film version of The Fountainhead was released in 1949. Although it used Rand's screenplay with minimal alterations, she "disliked the movie from beginning to end" and complained about its editing, the acting and other elements.

Atlas Shrugged and Objectivism

Following the publication of The Fountainhead, Rand received many letters from readers, some of whom the book had influenced profoundly. In 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City, where she gathered a group of these admirers who met at Rand's apartment on weekends to discuss philosophy. The group included future chair of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, a young psychology student named Nathan Blumenthal (later Nathaniel Branden) and his wife Barbara, and Barbara's cousin Leonard Peikoff. Later, Rand began allowing them to read the manuscript drafts of her new novel, Atlas Shrugged. In 1954, her close relationship with Nathaniel Branden turned into a romantic affair, with the knowledge of their spouses.

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged is considered Rand's magnum opus. She described the novel's theme as "the role of the mind in man's existence—and, as a corollary, the demonstration of a new moral philosophy: the morality of rational self-interest". It advocates the core tenets of Rand's philosophy of Objectivism and expresses her concept of human achievement. The plot involves a dystopian United States in which the most creative industrialists, scientists, and artists respond to a welfare state government by going on strike and retreating to a hidden valley where they build an independent free economy. The novel's hero and leader of the strike, John Galt, describes it as stopping "the motor of the world" by withdrawing the minds of individuals contributing most to the nation's wealth and achievements. The novel contains an exposition of Objectivism in a lengthy monologue delivered by Galt.

Despite many negative reviews, Atlas Shrugged became an international bestseller, but the reaction of intellectuals to the novel discouraged and depressed Rand. Atlas Shrugged was her last completed work of fiction, marking the end of her career as a novelist and the beginning of her role as a popular philosopher.

In 1958, Nathaniel Branden established the Nathaniel Branden Lectures, later incorporated as the Nathaniel Branden Institute (NBI), to promote Rand's philosophy through public lectures. He and Rand co-founded The Objectivist Newsletter (later renamed The Objectivist) in 1962 to circulate articles about her ideas; she later republished some of these articles in book form. Rand was unimpressed by many of the NBI students and held them to strict standards, sometimes reacting coldly or angrily to those who disagreed with her. Critics, including some former NBI students and Branden himself, later described the culture of the NBI as one of intellectual conformity and excessive reverence for Rand. Some described the NBI or the Objectivist movement as a cult or religion. Rand expressed opinions on a wide range of topics, from literature and music to sexuality and facial hair. Some of her followers mimicked her preferences, wearing clothes to match characters from her novels and buying furniture like hers. Some former NBI students believed the extent of these behaviors was exaggerated, and the problem was concentrated among Rand's closest followers in New York.

Later years
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Rand developed and promoted her Objectivist philosophy through nonfiction works and speeches at colleges and universities. She began delivering annual lectures at the Ford Hall Forum and responded to audience questions, often taking controversial stances on the political and social issues of the day. These included: supporting abortion rights, opposing the Vietnam War and the military draft (but condemning many draft dodgers as "bums"), supporting Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 against a coalition of Arab nations as "civilized men fighting savages", claiming European colonists had the right to invade and take land inhabited by American Indians, and calling homosexuality "immoral" and "disgusting", despite advocating the repeal of all laws concerning it. She endorsed several Republican candidates for president of the United States, most strongly Barry Goldwater in 1964.

In 1964, Nathaniel Branden began an affair with the young actress Patrecia Scott, whom he later married. Nathaniel and Barbara Branden kept the affair hidden from Rand. When she learned of it in 1968, though her romantic involvement with Branden was already over, Rand ended her relationship with both Brandens, and the NBI was closed. She published an article in The Objectivist repudiating Nathaniel Branden for dishonesty and "irrational behavior in his private life". In subsequent years, Rand and several more of her closest associates parted company.

Rand had surgery for lung cancer in 1974 after decades of heavy smoking. In 1976, she retired from her newsletter and, after her initial objections, allowed a social worker employed by her attorney to enroll her in Social Security and Medicare. Her activities in the Objectivist movement declined, especially after her husband's death on November 9, 1979. One of her final projects was work on a never-completed television adaptation of Atlas Shrugged.

On March 6, 1982, Rand died of heart failure at her home in New York City. Her funeral included a  floral arrangement in the shape of a dollar sign. In her will, Rand named Peikoff as her heir.

Literary approach, influences and reception
Rand described her approach to literature as "romantic realism". She wanted her fiction to present the world "as it could be and should be", rather than as it was. This approach led her to create highly stylized situations and characters. Her fiction typically has protagonists who are heroic individualists, depicted as fit and attractive. Her villains support duty and collectivist moral ideals. Rand often describes them as unattractive, and some have names that suggest negative traits, such as Wesley Mouch in Atlas Shrugged.

Rand considered plot a critical element of literature, and her stories typically have what biographer Anne Heller described as "tight, elaborate, fast-paced plotting". Romantic triangles are a common plot element in Rand's fiction; in most of her novels and plays, the main female character is romantically involved with at least two men.

Influences

In school Rand read works by Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Edmond Rostand, and Friedrich Schiller, who became her favorites. She considered them to be among the "top rank" of Romantic writers because of their focus on moral themes and their skill at constructing plots. Hugo was an important influence on her writing, especially her approach to plotting. In the introduction she wrote for an English-language edition of his novel Ninety-Three, Rand called him "the greatest novelist in world literature".

Although Rand disliked most Russian literature, her depictions of her heroes show the influence of the Russian Symbolists and other nineteenth-century Russian writing, most notably the 1863 novel What Is to Be Done? by Nikolay Chernyshevsky. Scholars of Russian literature see in Chernyshevsky's character Rakhmetov, an "ascetic revolutionist", the template for Rand's literary heroes and heroines.

Rand's experience of the Russian Revolution and early Communist Russia influenced the portrayal of her villains. Beyond We the Living, which is set in Russia, this influence can be seen in the ideas and rhetoric of Ellsworth Toohey in The Fountainhead, and in the destruction of the economy in Atlas Shrugged.

Rand's descriptive style echoes her early career writing scenarios and scripts for movies; her novels have many narrative descriptions that resemble early Hollywood movie scenarios. They often follow common film editing conventions, such as having a broad establishing shot description of a scene followed by close-up details, and her descriptions of women characters often take a "male gaze" perspective.

Contemporary reviews

The first reviews Rand received were for Night of January 16th. Reviews of the Broadway production were largely positive, but Rand considered even positive reviews to be embarrassing because of significant changes made to her script by the producer. Although Rand believed that We the Living was not widely reviewed, over 200 publications published approximately 125 different reviews. Overall, they were more positive than those she received for her later work. Anthem received little review attention, both for its first publication in England and for subsequent re-issues.

Rand's first bestseller, The Fountainhead, received far fewer reviews than We the Living, and reviewers' opinions were mixed. Lorine Pruette's positive review in The New York Times, which called the author "a writer of great power" who wrote "brilliantly, beautifully and bitterly", was one that Rand greatly appreciated. There were other positive reviews, but Rand dismissed most of them for either misunderstanding her message or for being in unimportant publications. Some negative reviews said the novel was too long; others called the characters unsympathetic and Rand's style "offensively pedestrian".

Atlas Shrugged was widely reviewed, and many of the reviews were strongly negative. Atlas Shrugged received positive reviews from a few publications, but Rand scholar Mimi Reisel Gladstein later wrote that "reviewers seemed to vie with each other in a contest to devise the cleverest put-downs", with reviews including comments that it was "written out of hate" and showed "remorseless hectoring and prolixity". Whittaker Chambers wrote what was later called the novel's most "notorious" review for the conservative magazine National Review. He accused Rand of supporting a godless system (which he related to that of the Soviets), claiming, "From almost any page of Atlas Shrugged, a voice can be heard ... commanding: 'To a gas chamber—go!.

Rand's nonfiction received far fewer reviews than her novels. The tenor of the criticism for her first nonfiction book, For the New Intellectual, was similar to that for Atlas Shrugged. Philosopher Sidney Hook likened her certainty to "the way philosophy is written in the Soviet Union", and author Gore Vidal called her viewpoint "nearly perfect in its immorality". These reviews set the pattern for reaction to her ideas among liberal critics. Her subsequent books got progressively less review attention.

Academic assessments of Rand's fiction
Academic consideration of Rand as a literary figure during her life was limited. Mimi Reisel Gladstein could not find any scholarly articles about Rand's novels when she began researching her in 1973, and only three such articles appeared during the rest of the 1970s. Since her death, scholars of English and American literature have continued largely to ignore her work, although attention to her literary work has increased since the 1990s. Several academic book series about important authors cover Rand and her works, as do popular study guides like CliffsNotes and SparkNotes. In The Literary Encyclopedia entry for Rand written in 2001, John David Lewis declared that "Rand wrote the most intellectually challenging fiction of her generation." In 2019, Lisa Duggan described Rand's fiction as popular and influential on many readers, despite being easy to criticize for "her cartoonish characters and melodramatic plots, her rigid moralizing, her middle- to lowbrow aesthetic preferences ... and philosophical strivings".

Philosophy

Rand called her philosophy "Objectivism", describing its essence as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute". She considered Objectivism a systematic philosophy and laid out positions on metaphysics, aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, and political philosophy.

Metaphysics and epistemology
In metaphysics, Rand supported philosophical realism and opposed anything she regarded as mysticism or supernaturalism, including all forms of religion. Rand believed in free will as a form of agent causation and rejected determinism.

In aesthetics, Rand defined art as a "selective re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments". According to her, art allows philosophical concepts to be presented in a concrete form that can be grasped easily, thereby fulfilling a need of human consciousness. As a writer, the art form Rand focused on most closely was literature. She considered romanticism the approach that most accurately reflects the existence of human free will.

In epistemology, Rand considered all knowledge to be based on sense perception, the validity of which she considered axiomatic, and reason, which she described as "the faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's senses". Rand rejected all claims of non-perceptual knowledge, including instinct,' 'intuition,' 'revelation,' or any form of 'just knowing. In her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, Rand presented a theory of concept formation and rejected the analytic–synthetic dichotomy. She believed epistemology was a foundational branch of philosophy and considered the advocacy of reason to be the single most significant aspect of her philosophy.

Commentators, including Hazel Barnes, Nathaniel Branden, and Albert Ellis, have criticized Rand's focus on the importance of reason. Barnes and Ellis said Rand was too dismissive of emotion and failed to recognize its importance in human life. Branden said Rand's emphasis on reason led her to denigrate emotions and create unrealistic expectations of how consistently rational human beings should be.

Ethics and politics
In ethics, Rand argued for rational and ethical egoism (rational self-interest), as the guiding moral principle. She said the individual should "exist for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor sacrificing others to himself". Rand referred to egoism as "the virtue of selfishness" in her book of that title. In it, she presented her solution to the is–ought problem by describing a meta-ethical theory that based morality in the needs of "man's survival qua man". She condemned ethical altruism as incompatible with the requirements of human life and happiness, and held the initiation of force was evil and irrational, writing in Atlas Shrugged that "Force and mind are opposites".

Rand's ethics and politics are the most criticized areas of her philosophy. Several authors, including Robert Nozick and William F. O'Neill in two of the earliest academic critiques of her ideas, said she failed in her attempt to solve the is–ought problem. Critics have called her definitions of egoism and altruism biased and inconsistent with normal usage. Critics from religious traditions oppose her atheism and her rejection of altruism.

Rand's political philosophy emphasized individual rights, including property rights. She considered laissez-faire capitalism the only moral social system because in her view it was the only system based on protecting those rights. Rand opposed collectivism and statism, which she considered to include many specific forms of government, such as communism, fascism, socialism, theocracy, and the welfare state. Her preferred form of government was a constitutional republic that is limited to the protection of individual rights. Although her political views are often classified as conservative or libertarian, Rand preferred the term "radical for capitalism". She worked with conservatives on political projects but disagreed with them over issues such as religion and ethics. Rand denounced libertarianism, which she associated with anarchism. She rejected anarchism as a naive theory based in subjectivism that would lead to collectivism in practice.

Several critics, including Nozick, have said her attempt to justify individual rights based on egoism fails. Others, like libertarian philosopher Michael Huemer, have gone further, saying that her support of egoism and her support of individual rights are inconsistent positions. Some critics, like Roy Childs, have said that her opposition to the initiation of force should lead to support of anarchism, rather than limited government.

Relationship to other philosophers

Except for Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas and classical liberals, Rand was sharply critical of most philosophers and philosophical traditions known to her. Acknowledging Aristotle as her greatest influence, Rand remarked that in the history of philosophy she could only recommend "three A's"—Aristotle, Aquinas, and Ayn Rand. In a 1959 interview with Mike Wallace, when asked where her philosophy came from, she responded: "Out of my own mind, with the sole acknowledgement of a debt to Aristotle, the only philosopher who ever influenced me."

In an article for the Claremont Review of Books, political scientist Charles Murray criticized Rand's claim that her only "philosophical debt" was to Aristotle. He asserted her ideas were derivative of previous thinkers such as John Locke and Friedrich Nietzsche. Rand took early inspiration from Nietzsche, and scholars have found indications of this in Rand's private journals. In 1928, she alluded to his idea of the "superman" in notes for an unwritten novel whose protagonist was inspired by the murderer William Edward Hickman. There are other indications of Nietzsche's influence in passages from the first edition of We the Living (which Rand later revised), and in her overall writing style. By the time she wrote The Fountainhead, Rand had turned against Nietzsche's ideas, and the extent of his influence on her even during her early years is disputed. Rand's views also may have been influenced by the promotion of egoism among the Russian nihilists, including Chernyshevsky and Dmitry Pisarev, although there is no direct evidence that she read them.

Rand considered Immanuel Kant her philosophical opposite and "the most evil man in mankind's history"; she believed his epistemology undermined reason and his ethics opposed self-interest. Philosophers George Walsh and Fred Seddon have argued she misinterpreted Kant and exaggerated their differences. She was also critical of Plato and viewed his differences with Aristotle on questions of metaphysics and epistemology as the primary conflict in the history of philosophy.

Rand's relationship with contemporary philosophers was mostly antagonistic. She was not an academic and did not participate in academic discourse. She was dismissive of critics and wrote about ideas she disagreed with in a polemical manner without in-depth analysis. She was in turn viewed very negatively by many academic philosophers, who dismissed her as an unimportant figure who should not be considered a philosopher or given any serious response.

Early academic reaction
During Rand's lifetime, her work received little attention from academic scholars. In 1967, John Hospers discussed Rand's ethical ideas in the second edition of his textbook, An Introduction to Philosophical Analysis. That same year, Hazel Barnes included a chapter critiquing Objectivism in her book An Existentialist Ethics. When the first full-length academic book about Rand's philosophy appeared in 1971, its author declared writing about Rand "a treacherous undertaking" that could lead to "guilt by association" for taking her seriously. A few articles about Rand's ideas appeared in academic journals before her death in 1982, many of them in The Personalist. One of these was "On the Randian Argument" by libertarian philosopher Robert Nozick, who criticized her meta-ethical arguments. In the same journal, other philosophers argued that Nozick misstated Rand's case. In an article responding to Nozick, Douglas Den Uyl and Douglas B. Rasmussen defended her positions, but described her style as "literary, hyperbolic and emotional".

After her death, interest in Rand's ideas increased gradually. The Philosophic Thought of Ayn Rand, a 1984 collection of essays about Objectivism edited by Den Uyl and Rasmussen, was the first academic book about Rand's ideas published after her death. In one essay, political writer Jack Wheeler wrote that despite "the incessant bombast and continuous venting of Randian rage", Rand's ethics are "a most immense achievement, the study of which is vastly more fruitful than any other in contemporary thought". In 1987, the Ayn Rand Society was founded as an affiliate of the American Philosophical Association.

In a 1995 entry about Rand in Contemporary Women Philosophers, Jenny A. Heyl described a divergence in how different academic specialties viewed Rand. She said that Rand's philosophy "is regularly omitted from academic philosophy. Yet, throughout literary academia, Ayn Rand is considered a philosopher." Writing in the 1998 edition of the Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, political theorist Chandran Kukathas summarized the mainstream philosophical reception of her work in two parts. He said most commentators view her ethical argument as an unconvincing variant of Aristotle's ethics, and her political theory "is of little interest" because it is marred by an "ill-thought out and unsystematic" effort to reconcile her hostility to the state with her rejection of anarchism. The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the study of Rand and her ideas, was established in 1999.

21st-century academic reaction
In 2009, historian Jennifer Burns identified "an explosion of scholarship" since 2000, although as of that year, few universities included Rand or Objectivism as a philosophical specialty or research area. From 2002 to 2012, over 60 colleges and universities accepted grants from the charitable foundation of BB&T Corporation that required teaching Rand's ideas or works; in some cases, the grants were controversial or even rejected because of the requirement to teach about Rand.

In a 2010 essay for the Cato Institute, Huemer argued very few people find Rand's ideas convincing, especially her ethics. He attributed the attention she receives to her being a "compelling writer", especially as a novelist. In 2012, the Pennsylvania State University Press agreed to take over publication of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies, and the University of Pittsburgh Press launched an "Ayn Rand Society Philosophical Studies" series based on the Society's proceedings. The Fall 2012 update to the entry about Rand in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy said that "only a few professional philosophers have taken her work seriously". That same year, political scientist Alan Wolfe dismissed Rand as a "nonperson" among academics, an attitude that writer Ben Murnane later described as "the traditional academic view" of Rand. In a 2018 article for Aeon, philosopher Skye C. Cleary wrote: "Philosophers love to hate Ayn Rand. It's trendy to scoff at any mention of her." However, Cleary said that because many people take Rand's ideas seriously, philosophers "need to treat the Ayn Rand phenomenon seriously" and provide refutations rather than ignoring her.

In 2020, media critic Eric Burns said, "Rand is surely the most engaging philosopher of my lifetime", but "nobody in the academe pays any attention to her, neither as an author nor a philosopher". That same year, the editor of a collection of critical essays about Rand said academics who disapproved of her ideas had long held "a stubborn resolve to ignore or ridicule" her work, but he believed more were engaging with her work in recent years.

Legacy

Popular interest

With over 37 million copies sold , Rand's books continue to be read widely. A survey conducted for the Library of Congress and the Book-of-the-Month Club in 1991 asked club members to name the most influential book in their lives. Rand's Atlas Shrugged was the second most popular choice, after the Bible. Although Rand's influence has been greatest in the United States, there has been international interest in her work.

Rand's contemporary admirers included fellow novelists, like Ira Levin, Kay Nolte Smith and L. Neil Smith; she has influenced later writers like Erika Holzer, Terry Goodkind, and comic book artist Steve Ditko. Rand provided a positive view of business and subsequently many business executives and entrepreneurs have admired and promoted her work. Businessmen such as John Allison of BB&T and Ed Snider of Comcast Spectacor have funded the promotion of Rand's ideas.

Television shows, movies, songs, and video games have referred to Rand and her works. Throughout her life she was the subject of many articles in popular magazines, as well as book-length critiques by authors such as the psychologist Albert Ellis and Trinity Foundation president John W. Robbins. Rand or characters based on her figure prominently in novels by American authors, including Kay Nolte Smith, Mary Gaitskill, Matt Ruff, and Tobias Wolff. Nick Gillespie, former editor-in-chief of Reason, remarked: "Rand's is a tortured immortality, one in which she's as likely to be a punch line as a protagonist. Jibes at Rand as cold and inhuman run through the popular culture." Two movies have been made about Rand's life. A 1997 documentary film, Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The Passion of Ayn Rand, a 1999 television adaptation of the book of the same name, won several awards. Rand's image also appears on a 1999 U.S. postage stamp illustrated by artist Nick Gaetano.

Rand's works, most commonly Anthem or The Fountainhead, are sometimes assigned as secondary school reading. Since 2002, the Ayn Rand Institute has provided free copies of Rand's novels to teachers who promise to include the books in their curriculum. The Institute had distributed 4.5 million copies in the U.S. and Canada by the end of 2020. In 2017, Rand was added to the required reading list for the A Level Politics exam in the United Kingdom.

Political influence

Although she rejected the labels "conservative" and "libertarian", Rand has had a continuing influence on right-wing politics and libertarianism. Rand is often considered one of the three most important women (along with Rose Wilder Lane and Isabel Paterson) in the early development of modern American libertarianism. David Nolan, one founder of the Libertarian Party, said that "without Ayn Rand, the libertarian movement would not exist". In his history of that movement, journalist Brian Doherty described her as "the most influential libertarian of the twentieth century to the public at large". Political scientist Andrew Koppelman called her "the most widely read libertarian". Historian Jennifer Burns referred to her as "the ultimate gateway drug to life on the right".

The political figures who cite Rand as an influence are usually conservatives (often members of the Republican Party), despite Rand taking some atypical positions for a conservative, like being pro-choice and an atheist. She faced intense opposition from William F. Buckley Jr. and other contributors to the conservative National Review magazine, which published numerous criticisms of her writings and ideas. Nevertheless, a 1987 article in The New York Times called her the Reagan administration's "novelist laureate". Republican congressmen and conservative pundits have acknowledged her influence on their lives and have recommended her novels. She has influenced some conservative politicians outside the U.S., such as Sajid Javid in the United Kingdom, Siv Jensen in Norway, and Ayelet Shaked in Israel.

The financial crisis of 2007–2008 renewed interest in her works, especially Atlas Shrugged, which some saw as foreshadowing the crisis. Opinion articles compared real-world events with the novel's plot. Signs mentioning Rand and her fictional hero John Galt appeared at Tea Party protests. There was increased criticism of her ideas, especially from the political left. Critics blamed the economic crisis on her support of selfishness and free markets, particularly through her influence on Alan Greenspan. In 2015, Adam Weiner said that through Greenspan, "Rand had effectively chucked a ticking time bomb into the boiler room of the US economy". Lisa Duggan said that Rand's novels had "incalculable impact" in encouraging the spread of neoliberal political ideas. In 2021, Cass Sunstein said Rand's ideas could be seen in the tax and regulatory policies of the Trump administration, which he attributed to the "enduring influence" of Rand's fiction.

Objectivist movement

After the closure of the Nathaniel Branden Institute, the Objectivist movement continued in other forms. In the 1970s, Peikoff began delivering courses on Objectivism. In 1979, Peter Schwartz started a newsletter called The Intellectual Activist, which Rand endorsed. She also endorsed The Objectivist Forum, a bimonthly magazine founded by Objectivist philosopher Harry Binswanger, which ran from 1980 to 1987.

In 1985, Peikoff worked with businessman Ed Snider to establish the Ayn Rand Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas and works. In 1990, after an ideological disagreement with Peikoff, David Kelley founded the Institute for Objectivist Studies, now known as The Atlas Society. In 2001, historian John McCaskey organized the Anthem Foundation for Objectivist Scholarship, which provides grants for scholarly work on Objectivism in academia.

Selected works

Fiction and drama:
 Night of January 16th (performed 1934, published 1968)
 We the Living (1936, revised 1959)
 Anthem (1938, revised 1946)
 The Unconquered (performed 1940, published 2014)
 The Fountainhead (1943)
 Atlas Shrugged (1957)
 The Early Ayn Rand (1984)
 Ideal (2015)

Non-fiction:
 Pola Negri (1925)
 For the New Intellectual (1961)
 The Virtue of Selfishness (1964)
 Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (1966, expanded 1967)
 The Romantic Manifesto (1969, expanded 1975)
 The New Left (1971, expanded 1975)
 Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (1979, expanded 1990)
 Philosophy: Who Needs It (1982)
 Letters of Ayn Rand (1995)
 Journals of Ayn Rand (1997)

Notes

References

Works cited

 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Reprinted from Esquire, July 1961.

External links

 
 
 
 
 Rand's papers at The Library of Congress
 Ayn Rand Lexicon – searchable database
 Frequently Asked Questions About Ayn Rand from the Ayn Rand Institute
 "Writings of Ayn Rand" – from C-SPAN's American Writers: A Journey Through History
 
 

 
1905 births
1982 deaths
20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American philosophers
20th-century American screenwriters
20th-century American women writers
20th-century atheists
20th-century American essayists
20th-century pseudonymous writers
20th-century Russian philosophers
Activists from New York (state)
American abortion-rights activists
American anti-communists
American anti-fascists
American atheist writers
American ethicists
American political activists
American political philosophers
American science fiction writers
American secularists
American women dramatists and playwrights
American women essayists
American women novelists
American women philosophers
American women screenwriters
American writers of Russian descent
Aristotelian philosophers
Atheist philosophers
Atheists from the Russian Empire
Burials at Kensico Cemetery
American critics of Christianity
Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire
Epistemologists
Exophonic writers
Female critics of feminism
Jewish American atheists
Jewish anti-communists
Jewish women writers
Metaphysicians
Novelists from New York (state)
Objectivists
People with acquired American citizenship
Philosophers from New York (state)
Political philosophers
Pseudonymous women writers
Saint Petersburg State University alumni
Screenwriters from New York (state)
Soviet emigrants to the United States
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
Writers from New York City
Writers from Saint Petersburg

Alain Connes (; born 1 April 1947 in Draguignan) is a French mathematician, known for his contributions to the study of operator algebras and noncommutative geometry. He is a professor at the , , Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982.

Career
Alain Connes attended high school at  in Marseille, and was then a student of the classes préparatoires in . Between 1966 and 1970 he studed at École normale supérieure in Paris, and in 1973 he obtained a PhD from Pierre and Marie Curie University, under the supervision of Jacques Dixmier.

From 1970 to 1974 he was research fellow at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and during 1975 he held a visiting position at Queen's University at Kingston in Canada.

In 1976 he returned to France and worked as professor at Pierre and Marie Curie University until 1980 and at CNRS between 1981 and 1984. Moreover, since 1979 he holds the Léon Motchane Chair at IHES. From 1984 until his retirement in 2017 he held the chair of Analysis and Geometry at Collège de France.

In parallel, he was awarded a distinguished professorship at Vanderbilt University between 2003 and 2012, and at Ohio State University between 2012 and 2021.

In 2000 he was an invited professor at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers.

Research 
Connes' main research interests revolved around operator algebras. Besides noncommutative geometry, he has applied his works in various areas of mathematics and theoretical physics, including number theory, differential geometry and particle physics.

In his early work on von Neumann algebras in the 1970s, he succeeded in obtaining the almost complete classification of injective factors. He also formulated the Connes embedding problem.

Following this, he made contributions in operator K-theory and index theory, which culminated in the Baum–Connes conjecture. He also introduced cyclic cohomology in the early 1980s as a first step in the study of noncommutative differential geometry.

He was a member of Nicolas Bourbaki.

Awards and honours

Connes was awarded the Peccot-Vimont Prize in 1976, the Ampère Prize in 1980, the Fields Medal in 1982, the Clay Research Award in 2000 and the Crafoord Prize in 2001. The French National Centre for Scientific Research granted him the silver medal in 1977 and the gold medal in 2004.

He was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1974 at Vancouver and in 1986 at Berkeley, and a plenary speaker at the ICM in 1978 at Helsinki.

He was awarded honorary degrees from Queen's University at Kingston in 1979, University of Rome Tor Vergata in 1997, University of Oslo in 1999, University of Southern Denmark in 2009, Université Libre de Bruxelles in 2010 and Shanghai Fudan University in 2017.

Since 1982 he is a member of the French Academy of Sciences. He was elected member of several foreign academies and societies, including the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters in 1980, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in 1983, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1989, the London Mathematical Society in 1994, the Canadian Academy of Sciences in 1995 (incorporated since 2002 in the Royal Society of Canada), the US National Academy of Sciences in 1997, the Russian Academy of Science in 2003 and the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium in 2016.

In 2001 he received (together with his co-authors André Lichnerowicz and Marco Schutzenberger) the Peano Prize for his work Triangle of Thoughts.

Books
 Alain Connes and Matilde Marcolli, Noncommutative Geometry, Quantum Fields and Motives, Colloquium Publications, American Mathematical Society, 2007,  
 Alain Connes, André Lichnerowicz, and Marcel-Paul Schutzenberger, Triangle of Thought, translated by Jennifer Gage, American Mathematical Society, 2001, 
 Jean-Pierre Changeux and Alain Connes, Conversations on Mind, Matter, and Mathematics, translated by M. B. DeBevoise, Princeton University Press, 1998, 
 Alain Connes, Noncommutative Geometry, Academic Press, 1994,

See also
 Bost–Connes system
 Cyclic category
 Cyclic homology
 Factor (functional analysis)
 Higgs boson
 C*-algebra
 Noncommutative quantum field theory
 M-theory
 Groupoid
 Spectral triple
Criticism of non-standard analysis
 Riemann hypothesis

References

External links
 Alain Connes Official Web Site containing downloadable papers, and his book Non-commutative geometry, .
 
 Alain Connes' Standard Model
 An interview with Alain Connes and a discussion about it
 
 

1947 births
Living people
People from Draguignan
20th-century French mathematicians
21st-century French mathematicians
Mathematical analysts
Differential geometers
Fields Medalists
Clay Research Award recipients
École Normale Supérieure alumni
Academic staff of the Collège de France
Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars
Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences
Vanderbilt University faculty
Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Members of the French Academy of Sciences
Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
London Mathematical Society

Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.

Early life
Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan was the younger son of commercial traveler of woolen clothing Joseph Michael Dwan (1857–1917) and his wife Mary Jane Dwan (née Hunt). The family moved to the United States when he was seven years old on December 4, 1892, by ferry from Windsor to Detroit, according to his naturalization petition of August 1939. His elder brother, Leo Garnet Dwan (1883–1964), became a physician.

Allan Dwan studied engineering at the University of Notre Dame and then worked for a lighting company in Chicago. He had a strong interest in the fledgling motion picture industry, and when Essanay Studios offered him the opportunity to become a scriptwriter, he took the job. At that time, some of the East Coast movie makers began to spend winters in California where the climate allowed them to continue productions requiring warm weather. Soon, a number of movie companies worked there year-round, and in 1911, Dwan began working part-time in Hollywood. While still in New York, in 1917 he was the founding president of the East Coast chapter of the Motion Picture Directors Association.

Career
Dwan started his directing career by accident in 1911, when he was sent by his employers to California, in order to locate a company that had vanished. Dwan managed to track the company down, and learned that they were waiting for the film's director (who was an alcoholic) to return from a binge (and allowing them to return to work). Dwan wired back to his employers in Chicago, informing them of the situation, and suggested that they disband the company. They wired back, instructing Dwan to direct the film. When Dwan informed the company of the situation, and that their jobs were on the line, they responded: "You're the best damn director we ever saw".

Dwan operated Flying A Studios in La Mesa, California, from August 1911 to July 1912. Flying A was one of the first motion pictures studios in California history. On August 12, 2011, a plaque was unveiled on the Wolff building at Third Avenue and La Mesa Boulevard commemorating Dwan and the Flying A Studios origins in La Mesa, California.

After making a series of westerns and comedies, Dwan directed fellow Canadian-American Mary Pickford in several very successful movies as well as her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, notably in the acclaimed 1922 Robin Hood. Dwan directed Gloria Swanson in eight feature films, and one short film made in the short-lived sound-on-film process Phonofilm. This short, also featuring Thomas Meighan and Henri de la Falaise, was produced as a joke, for the April 26, 1925 "Lambs' Gambol" for The Lambs, with the film showing Swanson crashing the all-male club.

Following the introduction of the talkies, Dwan directed child-star Shirley Temple in Heidi (1937) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938).

Dwan helped launch the career of two other successful Hollywood directors, Victor Fleming, who went on to direct The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind, and Marshall Neilan, who became an actor, director, writer and producer. Over a long career spanning almost 50 years, Dwan directed 125 motion pictures, some of which were highly acclaimed, such as the 1949 box office hit, Sands of Iwo Jima. He directed his last movie in 1961.

Being one of the last surviving pioneers of the cinema, he was interviewed at length for the 1980 documentary series Hollywood.

He died in Los Angeles at the age of 96, and is interred in the San Fernando Mission Cemetery, Mission Hills, California.

Dwan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6263 Hollywood Boulevard.

Daniel Eagan of Film Journal International described Dwan as one of the early pioneers of cinema, stating that his style "is so basic as to seem invisible, but he treats his characters with uncommon sympathy and compassion."

Partial filmography as director

The Restless Spirit (1913)
Back to Life (1913)
Bloodhounds of the North (1913)
The Lie (1914)
The Honor of the Mounted (1914)
 The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch (1914)
Remember Mary Magdalen (1914)
Discord and Harmony (1914)
The Embezzler (1914)
The Lamb, the Woman, the Wolf (1914)
The End of the Feud (1914)
The Test (1914) (*writer)
The Tragedy of Whispering Creek (1914)
The Unlawful Trade (1914)
The Forbidden Room (1914)
The Hopes of Blind Alley (1914)
Richelieu (1914)
 Wildflower (1914)
A Small Town Girl (1915)
David Harum (1915)
A Girl of Yesterday (1915)
The Pretty Sister of Jose (1915)
 Jordan Is a Hard Road (1915)
The Habit of Happiness (1916)
The Good Bad Man (1916)
An Innocent Magdalene (1916)
The Half-Breed (1916)
Manhattan Madness (1916)
Accusing Evidence (1916)
Panthea (1917)
A Modern Musketeer (1917)
Bound in Morocco (1918)
Headin' South (1918)
Mr. Fix-It (1918)
He Comes Up Smiling (1918)
Cheating Cheaters (1919)
The Dark Star (1919)
Getting Mary Married (1919)
Soldiers of Fortune (1919)
In The Heart of a Fool (1920) also producer
The Forbidden Thing (1920) also producer
A Splendid Hazard (1920)
A Perfect Crime (1921)
 The Sin of Martha Queed (1921)
 A Broken Doll (1921)
Robin Hood (1922)
Zaza (1923)
Big Brother (1923)
Manhandled (1924)
Argentine Love (1924)
The Coast of Folly (1925)
Night Life of New York (1925)
Stage Struck (1925)
Padlocked (1926)
Sea Horses (1926)
Summer Bachelors (1926)
Tin Gods (1926)
French Dressing (1927)
The Joy Girl (1927)
East Side, West Side (1927)
The Big Noise (1928)
Frozen Justice (1929)
The Iron Mask (1929)
Tide of Empire (1929)
The Far Call (1929)
What a Widow! (1930)
Man to Man (1930)
Wicked (1931)
While Paris Sleeps (1932)
Counsel's Opinion (1933)
Black Sheep (1935)
Navy Wife (1935)
High Tension (1936)
15 Maiden Lane (1936)
One Mile from Heaven (1937)
Heidi (1937)
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938)
Suez (1938)
 Josette (1938)
The Three Musketeers (1939)
The Gorilla (1939)
Frontier Marshal (1939)
Sailor's Lady (1940)
Young People (1940)
Trail of the Vigilantes (1940)
Look Who's Laughing (1941) also producer
Rise and Shine (1941)
Friendly Enemies (1942)
Around the World (1943) also producer
Up in Mabel's Room (1944)
Abroad with Two Yanks (1944)
Getting Gertie's Garter (1945) also screenwriter
Brewster's Millions (1945)
Rendezvous with Annie (1946)
Driftwood (1947)
Calendar Girl (1947)
Northwest Outpost (1947) also associate producer
The Inside Story (1948)
Angel in Exile (1948) (with Philip Ford)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Surrender (1950)
Belle Le Grand (1951)
Wild Blue Yonder (1951)
I Dream of Jeanie (1952)
Montana Belle (1952)
Woman They Almost Lynched (1953)
 Sweethearts on Parade (1953)
Silver Lode (1954)
Passion (1954)
Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)
Tennessee's Partner (1955)
Pearl of the South Pacific (1955)
Escape to Burma (1955)
Slightly Scarlet (1956)
Hold Back the Night (1956)
The Restless Breed (1957)
The River's Edge (1957)
Enchanted Island (1958)
Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961)

See also
Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood

References

Further reading
Brownlow, Kevin, The Parade's Gone By... (1968)  
Bogdanovich, Peter, Allan Dwan: The Last Pioneer (1971)   
Foster, Charles, Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood (2000) 
Lombardi, Frederic, Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios (2013)
Print  E-book

External links

Allan Dwan profile, virtual-history.com; accessed June 16, 2014

1885 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American screenwriters
American film directors
American film producers
American male screenwriters
Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery
Canadian emigrants to the United States
Film directors from Toronto
Western (genre) film directors
Screenwriters from Toronto

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa. Algeria is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. It is considered part of the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has a semi-arid geography, with most of the population living in the fertile north and the Sahara dominating the geography of the south. Algeria covers an area of , making it the world's tenth largest nation by area, and the largest nation in Africa, more than 200 times as large as the continent's smallest country, The Gambia. With a population of 44 million, Algeria is the tenth-most populous country in Africa, and the 32nd-most populous country in the world. The capital and largest city is Algiers, located in the far north on the Mediterranean coast.

Algeria produced and is linked to many civilizations, empires and dynasties, including Numidians, Mauretanians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Mauro-Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Ifranids, Abbasids, Rustamids, Idrisids, Sulaymanids, Aghlabids, Fatimids, Zirids, Hammadids, Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids, Hafsids and the Zayyanids.

Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope in Algeria. The Spanish expansionism led to the establishment of the Regency of Algiers in 1516, a state that attracted people from all over the Mediterranean, making its capital Algiers one of the largest, wealthiest, and most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Its decline in the 19th century resulted in its invasion by the French in 1830. The conquest and pacification of the country that ensued lasted until 1903 and led to Algeria becoming an integral part of France in 1848 and home to over a million European settlers. The Sétif and Guelma massacre in 1945 marked a turning point in Franco-Algerian relations and sparked the Algerian War which concluded with Algeria gaining its independence on 5 July 1962 and the proclamation of the People's Democratic Republic on 25 September of that year.

The official languages of Algeria are Arabic and Berber. The majority of Algeria's population is Arab, practicing Islam. The native Algerian Arabic is the main spoken language. French also serves as an administrative and educational language in some contexts, but it has no official status.

Algeria is a semi-presidential republic, with local constituencies consisting of 58 provinces and 1,541 communes. Algeria is a regional power in North Africa, and a middle power in global affairs. It has the highest Human Development Index of all continental African countries and one of the largest economies on the continent, based largely on energy exports. Algeria has the world's sixteenth-largest oil reserves and the ninth-largest reserves of natural gas. Sonatrach, the national oil company, is the largest company in Africa, supplying large amounts of natural gas to Europe. Algeria's military is one of the largest in Africa, and has the largest defence budget on the continent. It is a member of the African Union, the Arab League, the OIC, OPEC, the United Nations, and the Arab Maghreb Union, of which it is a founding member.

Name 
Other forms of the name are: , ; Berber languages: , , ; . It is officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria (; , abbreviated as RADP).

Etymology
Algeria's name derives from the city of Algiers which in turn derives from the Arabic  (, "the islands") in reference to four small islands off its coast, a truncated form of the older  (, "islands of Bani Mazghanna"). The name was given by Buluggin ibn Ziri after he established the city on the ruins of the Phoenician city of Icosium in 950. It was employed by medieval geographers such as Muhammad al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi. The Ottoman Empire extended the name of al-Jazā'ir over the entire country, deriving it from the name of the capital city.

Thus, it shares its etymology with numerous other places, such as Alzira in Valencia, Algeciras in Andalusia, Lezíria in Portugal, Cizre in Turkey, Gżira in Malta, the Nile island of Gezira in Egypt, and the state of Gezira in Sudan.

History

Prehistory and ancient history

Around ~1.8-million-year-old stone artifacts from Ain Hanech (Algeria) were considered to represent the oldest archaeological materials in North Africa. Stone artifacts and cut-marked bones that were excavated from two nearby deposits at Ain Boucherit are estimated to be ~1.9 million years old, and even older stone artifacts to be as old as ~2.4 million years. Hence, the Ain Boucherit evidence shows that ancestral hominins inhabited the Mediterranean fringe in northern Africa much earlier than previously thought. The evidence strongly argues for early dispersal of stone tool manufacture and use from East Africa, or a possible multiple-origin scenario of stone technology in both East and North Africa.

Neanderthal tool makers produced hand axes in the Levalloisian and Mousterian styles (43,000 BC) similar to those in the Levant. Algeria was the site of the highest state of development of Middle Paleolithic Flake tool techniques. Tools of this era, starting about 30,000 BC, are called Aterian (after the archaeological site of Bir el Ater, south of Tebessa).

The earliest blade industries in North Africa are called Iberomaurusian (located mainly in the Oran region). This industry appears to have spread throughout the coastal regions of the Maghreb between 15,000 and 10,000 BC. Neolithic civilization (animal domestication and agriculture) developed in the Saharan and Mediterranean Maghreb perhaps as early as 11,000 BC or as late as between 6000 and 2000 BC. This life, richly depicted in the Tassili n'Ajjer paintings, predominated in Algeria until the classical period. The mixture of peoples of North Africa coalesced eventually into a distinct native population that came to be called Berbers, who are the indigenous peoples of northern Africa.

From their principal center of power at Carthage, the Carthaginians expanded and established small settlements along the North African coast; by 600 BC, a Phoenician presence existed at Tipasa, east of Cherchell, Hippo Regius (modern Annaba) and Rusicade (modern Skikda). These settlements served as market towns as well as anchorages.

As Carthaginian power grew, its impact on the indigenous population increased dramatically. Berber civilisation was already at a stage in which agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and political organisation supported several states. Trade links between Carthage and the Berbers in the interior grew, but territorial expansion also resulted in the enslavement or military recruitment of some Berbers and in the extraction of tribute from others.

By the early 4th century BC, Berbers formed the single largest element of the Carthaginian army. In the Revolt of the Mercenaries, Berber soldiers rebelled from 241 to 238 BC after being unpaid following the defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War. They succeeded in obtaining control of much of Carthage's North African territory, and they minted coins bearing the name Libyan, used in Greek to describe natives of North Africa. The Carthaginian state declined because of successive defeats by the Romans in the Punic Wars.

In 146 BC the city of Carthage was destroyed. As Carthaginian power waned, the influence of Berber leaders in the hinterland grew. By the 2nd century BC, several large but loosely administered Berber kingdoms had emerged. Two of them were established in Numidia, behind the coastal areas controlled by Carthage. West of Numidia lay Mauretania, which extended across the Moulouya River in modern-day Morocco to the Atlantic Ocean. The high point of Berber civilisation, unequalled until the coming of the Almohads and Almoravids more than a millennium later, was reached during the reign of Masinissa in the 2nd century BC.

After Masinissa's death in 148 BC, the Berber kingdoms were divided and reunited several times. Masinissa's line survived until 24 AD, when the remaining Berber territory was annexed to the Roman Empire.

For several centuries Algeria was ruled by the Romans, who founded many colonies in the region, Algeria is the second country in the world after Italy, home to the largest number of Roman sites and remains among the most alive and well preserved. Rome, after getting rid of its powerful rival Carthage in the year 146 BC, decided a century later to include Numidia to become the new master of North Africa. They built more than 500 cities. Like the rest of North Africa, Algeria was one of the breadbaskets of the empire, exporting cereals and other agricultural products. Saint Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern-day Annaba, Algeria), located in the Roman province of Africa. The Germanic Vandals of Geiseric moved into North Africa in 429, and by 435 controlled coastal Numidia. They did not make any significant settlement on the land, as they were harassed by local tribes. In fact, by the time the Byzantines arrived Leptis Magna was abandoned and the Msellata region was occupied by the indigenous Laguatan who had been busy facilitating an Amazigh political, military and cultural revival. Furthermore, during the rule of the Romans, Byzantines, Vandals, Carthaginians, and Ottomans the Berber people were the only or one of the few in North Africa who remained independent. The Berber people were so resistant that even during the Muslim conquest of North Africa they still had control and possession over their mountains.

The collapse of the Western Roman Empire led to the establishment of a native Kingdom based in Altava (modern day Algeria) known as the Mauro-Roman Kingdom. It was succeeded by another Kingdom based in Altava, the Kingdom of Altava. During the reign of Kusaila its territory extended from the region of modern-day Fez in the west to the western Aurès and later Kairaouan and the interior of Ifriqiya in the east.

Middle Ages

After negligible resistance from the locals, Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate conquered Algeria in the early 8th century.

Large numbers of the indigenous Berber people converted to Islam. Christians, Berber and Latin speakers remained in the great majority in Tunisia until the end of the 9th century and Muslims only became a vast majority some time in the 10th. After the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate, numerous local dynasties emerged, including the Rustamids, Aghlabids, Fatimids, Zirids, Hammadids, Almoravids, Almohads and the Zayyanids. The Christians left in three waves: after the initial conquest, in the 10th century and the 11th. The last were evacuated to Sicily by the Normans and the few remaining died out in the 14th century.

During the Middle Ages, North Africa was home to many great scholars, saints and sovereigns including Judah Ibn Quraysh, the first grammarian to mention Semitic and Berber languages, the great Sufi masters Sidi Boumediene (Abu Madyan) and Sidi El Houari, and the Emirs Abd Al Mu'min and Yāghmūrasen. It was during this time that the Fatimids or children of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, came to the Maghreb. These "Fatimids" went on to found a long lasting dynasty stretching across the Maghreb, Hejaz and the Levant, boasting a secular inner government, as well as a powerful army and navy, made up primarily of Arabs and Levantines extending from Algeria to their capital state of Cairo. The Fatimid Caliphate began to collapse when its governors the Zirids seceded. In order to punish them the Fatimids sent the Arab Banu Hilal and Banu Sulaym against them. The resultant war is recounted in the epic Tāghribāt. In Al-Tāghrībāt the Amazigh Zirid Hero Khālīfā Al-Zānatī asks daily, for duels, to defeat the Hilalan hero Ābu Zayd al-Hilalī and many other Arab knights in a string of victories. The Zirids, however, were ultimately defeated ushering in an adoption of Arab customs and culture. The indigenous Amazigh tribes, however, remained largely independent, and depending on tribe, location and time controlled varying parts of the Maghreb, at times unifying it (as under the Fatimids). The Fatimid Islamic state, also known as Fatimid Caliphate made an Islamic empire that included North Africa, Sicily, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, the Red Sea coast of Africa, Tihamah, Hejaz and Yemen. Caliphates from Northern Africa traded with the other empires of their time, as well as forming part of a confederated support and trade network with other Islamic states during the Islamic Era.

The Berber people historically consisted of several tribes. The two main branches were the Botr and Barnès tribes, who were divided into tribes, and again into sub-tribes. Each region of the Maghreb contained several tribes (for example, Sanhadja, Houara, Zenata, Masmouda, Kutama, Awarba, and Berghwata). All these tribes made independent territorial decisions.

Several Amazigh dynasties emerged during the Middle Ages in the Maghreb and other nearby lands. Ibn Khaldun provides a table summarising the Amazigh dynasties of the Maghreb region, the Zirid, Ifranid, Maghrawa, Almoravid, Hammadid, Almohad, Merinid, Abdalwadid, Wattasid, Meknassa and Hafsid dynasties. Both of the Hammadid and Zirid empires as well as the Fatimids established their rule in all of the Maghreb countries. The Zirids ruled land in what is now Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Spain, Malta and Italy. The Hammadids captured and held important regions such as Ouargla, Constantine, Sfax, Susa, Algiers, Tripoli and Fez establishing their rule in every country in the Maghreb region. The Fatimids which was created and established by the Kutama Berbers  conquered all of North Africa as well as Sicily and parts of the Middle East.

Following the Berber revolt numerous independent states emerged across the Maghreb. In Algeria the Rustamid Kingdom was established. The Rustamid realm stretched from Tafilalt in Morocco to the Nafusa mountains in Libya including south, central and western Tunisia therefore including territory in all of the modern day Maghreb countries, in the south the Rustamid realm expanded to the modern borders of Mali and included territory in Mauritania.

Once extending their control over all of the Maghreb, part of Spain and briefly over Sicily, originating from modern Algeria, the Zirids only controlled modern Ifriqiya by the 11th century. The Zirids recognized nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid caliphs of Cairo. El Mu'izz the Zirid ruler decided to end this recognition and declared his independence. The Zirids also fought against other Zenata Kingdoms, for example the Maghrawa, a Berber dynasty originating from Algeria and which at one point was a dominant power in the Maghreb ruling over much of Morocco and western Algeria including Fez, Sijilmasa, Aghmat, Oujda, most of the Sous and Draa and reaching as far as M'sila and the Zab in Algeria.

As the Fatimid state was at the time too weak to attempt a direct invasion, they found another means of revenge. Between the Nile and the Red Sea were living Bedouin nomad tribes expelled from Arabia for their disruption and turbulency. The Banu Hilal and the Banu Sulaym for example, who regularly disrupted farmers in the Nile Valley since the nomads would often loot their farms. The then Fatimid vizier decided to destroy what he could not control, and broke a deal with the chiefs of these Beduouin tribes. The Fatimids even gave them money to leave.

Whole tribes set off with women, children, elders, animals and camping equipment. Some stopped on the way, especially in Cyrenaica, where they are still one of the essential elements of the settlement but most arrived in Ifriqiya by the Gabes region, arriving 1051. The Zirid ruler tried to stop this rising tide, but with each encounter, the last under the walls of Kairouan, his troops were defeated and the Arabs remained masters of the battlefield. The Arabs usually did not take control over the cities, instead looting them and destroying them.

The invasion kept going, and in 1057 the Arabs spread on the high plains of Constantine where they encircled the Qalaa of Banu Hammad (capital of the Hammadid Emirate), as they had done in Kairouan a few decades ago. From there they gradually gained the upper Algiers and Oran plains. Some of these territories were forcibly taken back by the Almohads in the second half of the 12th century. The influx of Bedouin tribes was a major factor in the linguistic, cultural Arabization of the Maghreb and in the spread of nomadism in areas where agriculture had previously been dominant. Ibn Khaldun noted that the lands ravaged by Banu Hilal tribes had become completely arid desert.

The Almohads originating from modern day Morocco, although founded by a man originating from Algeria known as Abd al-Mu'min would soon take control over the Maghreb. During the time of the Almohad Dynasty Abd al-Mu'min's tribe, the Koumïa, were the main supporters of the throne and the most important body of the empire. Defeating the weakening Almoravid Empire and taking control over Morocco in 1147, they pushed into Algeria in 1152, taking control over Tlemcen, Oran, and Algiers, wrestling control from the Hilian Arabs, and by the same year they defeated Hammadids who controlled Eastern Algeria.

Following their decisive defeat in the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 the Almohads began collapsing, and in 1235 the governor of modern-day Western Algeria, Yaghmurasen Ibn Zyan declared his independence and established the Kingdom of Tlemcen and the Zayyanid dynasty. Warring with the Almohad forces attempting to restore control over Algeria for 13 years, they defeated the Almohads in 1248 after killing their Caliph in a successful ambush near Oujda.

The Zayyanids retained their control over Algeria for 3 centuries. Much of the eastern territories of Algeria were under the authority of the Hafsid dynasty, although the Emirate of Bejaia encompassing the Algerian territories of the Hafsids would occasionally be independent from central Tunisian control. At their peak the Zayyanid kingdom included all of Morocco as its vassal to the west and in the east reached as far as Tunis which they captured during the reign of Abu Tashfin.

After several conflicts with local Barbary pirates sponsored by the Zayyanid sultans, Spain decided to invade Algeria and defeat the native Kingdom of Tlemcen. In 1505, they invaded and captured Mers el Kébir, and in 1509 after a bloody siege, they conquered Oran. Following their decisive victories over the Algerians in the western-coastal areas of Algeria, the Spanish decided to get bolder, and invaded more Algerian cities. In 1510, they led a series of sieges and attacks, taking over Bejaia in a large siege, and leading a semi-successful siege against Algiers. They also besieged Tlemcen. In 1511, they took control over Cherchell and Jijel, and attacked Mostaganem where although they were not able to conquer the city, they were able to force a tribute on them.

Early modern era 

In 1516, the Turkish privateer brothers Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa, who operated successfully under the Hafsids, moved their base of operations to Algiers. They succeeded in conquering Jijel and Algiers from the Spaniards with help from the locals who saw them as liberators from the Christians, but the brothers eventually assassinated the local noble Salim al-Tumi and took control over the city and the surrounding regions. Their state is known as the Regency of Algiers. When Aruj was killed in 1518 during his invasion of Tlemcen, Hayreddin succeeded him as military commander of Algiers. The Ottoman sultan gave him the title of beylerbey and a contingent of some 2,000 janissaries. With the aid of this force and native Algerians, Hayreddin conquered the whole area between Constantine and Oran (although the city of Oran remained in Spanish hands until 1792).

The next beylerbey was Hayreddin's son Hasan, who assumed the position in 1544. He was a Kouloughli or of mixed origins, as his mother was an Algerian Mooresse. Until 1587 Beylerbeylik of Algiers was governed by Beylerbeys who served terms with no fixed limits. Subsequently, with the institution of a regular administration, governors with the title of pasha ruled for three-year terms. The pasha was assisted by an autonomous janissary unit, known in Algeria as the Ojaq who were led by an agha. Discontent among the ojaq rose in the mid-1600s because they were not paid regularly, and they repeatedly revolted against the pasha. As a result, the agha charged the pasha with corruption and incompetence and seized power in 1659.

Plague had repeatedly struck the cities of North Africa. Algiers lost between 30,000 and 50,000 inhabitants to the plague in 1620–21, and had high fatalities in 1654–57, 1665, 1691 and 1740–42.
The Barbary pirates preyed on Christian and other non-Islamic shipping in the western Mediterranean Sea. The pirates often took the passengers and crew on the ships and sold them or used them as slaves. They also did a brisk business in ransoming some of the captives. According to Robert Davis, from the 16th to 19th century, pirates captured 1 million to 1.25 million Europeans as slaves. They often made raids on European coastal towns to capture Christian slaves to sell at slave markets in North Africa and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. In 1544, for example, Hayreddin Barbarossa captured the island of Ischia, taking 4,000 prisoners, and enslaved some 9,000 inhabitants of Lipari, almost the entire population. In 1551, the Ottoman governor of Algiers, Turgut Reis, enslaved the entire population of the Maltese island of Gozo. Barbary pirates often attacked the Balearic Islands. The threat was so severe that residents abandoned the island of Formentera. The introduction of broad-sail ships from the beginning of the 17th century allowed them to branch out into the Atlantic.

In July 1627 two pirate ships from Algiers under the command of Dutch pirate Jan Janszoon sailed as far as Iceland, raiding and capturing slaves. Two weeks earlier another pirate ship from Salé in Morocco had also raided in Iceland. Some of the slaves brought to Algiers were later ransomed back to Iceland, but some chose to stay in Algeria. In 1629, pirate ships from Algeria raided the Faroe Islands.

In 1659, the Janissaries stationned in Algiers, also known commonly as the Odjak of Algiers; and the Reis or the company of corsair captains rebelled, they removed the Ottoman viceroy from power, and placed one of its own in power. The new leader received the title of "Agha" then "Dey" in 1671, and the right to select passed to the divan, a council of some sixty military senior officers. Thus Algiers became a sovereign military republic. It was at first dominated by the odjak; but by the 18th century, it had become the dey's instrument. Although Algiers remained nominally part of the Ottoman Empire, in reality they acted independently from the rest of the Empire, and often had wars with other Ottoman subjects and territories such as the Beylik of Tunis.

The dey was in effect a constitutional autocrat. The dey was elected for a life term, but in the 159 years (1671–1830) that the system was in place, fourteen of the twenty-nine deys were assassinated. Despite usurpation, military coups and occasional mob rule, the day-to-day operation of the Deylikal government was remarkably orderly. Although the regency patronised the tribal chieftains, it never had the unanimous allegiance of the countryside, where heavy taxation frequently provoked unrest. Autonomous tribal states were tolerated, and the regency's authority was seldom applied in the Kabylia, although in 1730 the Regency was able to take control over the Kingdom of Kuku in western Kabylia. Many cities in the northern parts of the Algerian desert paid taxes to Algiers or one of its Beys. 

Barbary raids in the Mediterranean continued to attack Spanish merchant shipping, and as a result, the Spanish Empire launched an invasion in 1775, then the Spanish Navy bombarded Algiers in 1783 and 1784. For the attack in 1784, the Spanish fleet was to be joined by ships from such traditional enemies of Algiers as Naples, Portugal and the Knights of Malta. Over 20,000 cannonballs were fired, but all these military campaigns were doomed and Spain had to ask for peace in 1786 and paid 1 million pesos to the Dey.

In 1792, Algiers took back Oran and Mers el Kébir, the two last Spanish strongholds in Algeria. In the same year, they conquered the Moroccan Rif and Oujda, which they then abandoned in 1795.

In the 19th century, Algerian pirates forged affiliations with Caribbean powers, paying a "license tax" in exchange for safe harbor of their vessels.

Attacks by Algerian pirates on American merchantmen resulted in the First and Second Barbary Wars, which ended the attacks on U.S. ships in 1815. A year later, a combined Anglo-Dutch fleet, under the command of Lord Exmouth bombarded Algiers to stop similar attacks on European fishermen. These efforts proved successful, although Algerian piracy would continue until the French conquest in 1830.

French colonization (1830–1962) 

Under the pretext of a slight to their consul, the French invaded and captured Algiers in 1830. Historian Ben Kiernan wrote on the French conquest of Algeria: "By 1875, the French conquest was complete. The war had killed approximately 825,000 indigenous Algerians since 1830." French losses from 1831 to 1851 were 92,329 dead in the hospital and only 3,336 killed in action. The population of Algeria, which stood at about 2.9 million in 1872, reached nearly 11 million in 1960. French policy was predicated on "civilising" the country. The slave trade and piracy in Algeria ceased following the French conquest. The conquest of Algeria by the French took some time and resulted in considerable bloodshed. A combination of violence and disease epidemics caused the indigenous Algerian population to decline by nearly one-third from 1830 to 1872. On 17 September 1860, Napoleon III declared "Our first duty is to take care of the happiness of the three million Arabs, whom the fate of arms has brought under our domination." During this time, only Kabylia resisted, the Kabylians were not colonized until after the Mokrani Revolt in 1871.

Alexis de Tocqueville wrote and never completed an unpublished essay outlining his ideas for how to transform Algeria from an occupied tributary state to a colonial regime, wherein he advocated for a mixed system of "total domination and total colonization" whereby French military would wage total war against civilian populations while a colonial administration would provide rule of law and property rights to settlers within French occupied cities.

From 1848 until independence, France administered the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria as an integral part and département of the nation. One of France's longest-held overseas territories, Algeria became a destination for hundreds of thousands of European immigrants, who became known as colons and later, as Pied-Noirs. Between 1825 and 1847, 50,000 French people emigrated to Algeria. These settlers benefited from the French government's confiscation of communal land from tribal peoples, and the application of modern agricultural techniques that increased the amount of arable land. Many Europeans settled in Oran and Algiers, and by the early 20th century they formed a majority of the population in both cities.

During the late 19th and early 20th century, the European share was almost a fifth of the population. The French government aimed at making Algeria an assimilated part of France, and this included substantial educational investments especially after 1900. The indigenous cultural and religious resistance heavily opposed this tendency, but in contrast to the other colonized countries' path in central Asia and Caucasus, Algeria kept its individual skills and a relatively human-capital intensive agriculture.

During the Second World War, Algeria came under Vichy control before being liberated by the Allies in Operation Torch, which saw the first large-scale deployment of American troops in the North African campaign.

Gradually, dissatisfaction among the Muslim population, which lacked political and economic status under the colonial system, gave rise to demands for greater political autonomy and eventually independence from France. In May 1945, the uprising against the occupying French forces was suppressed through what is now known as the Sétif and Guelma massacre. Tensions between the two population groups came to a head in 1954, when the first violent events of what was later called the Algerian War began after the publication of the Declaration of 1 November 1954. Historians have estimated that between 30,000 and 150,000 Harkis and their dependents were killed by the National Liberation Front (FLN) or by lynch mobs in Algeria. The FLN used hit and run attacks in Algeria and France as part of its war, and the French conducted severe reprisals. In addition, the French destroyed over 8,000 villages and relocated over 2 million Algerians to concentration camps.

The war led to the death of hundreds of thousands of Algerians and hundreds of thousands of injuries. Historians, like Alistair Horne and Raymond Aron, state that the actual number of Algerian Muslim war dead was far greater than the original FLN and official French estimates but was less than the 1 million deaths claimed by the Algerian government after independence. Horne estimated Algerian casualties during the span of eight years to be around 700,000. The war uprooted more than 2 million Algerians.

The war against French rule concluded in 1962, when Algeria gained complete independence following the March 1962 Evian agreements and the July 1962 self-determination referendum.

The first three decades of independence (1962–1991)

The number of European Pied-Noirs who fled Algeria totaled more than 900,000 between 1962 and 1964. The exodus to mainland France accelerated after the Oran massacre of 1962, in which hundreds of militants entered European sections of the city, and began attacking civilians.

Algeria's first president was the Front de Libération Nationale (FLN) leader Ahmed Ben Bella. Morocco's claim to portions of western Algeria led to the Sand War in 1963. Ben Bella was overthrown in 1965 by Houari Boumédiène, his former ally and defence minister. Under Ben Bella, the government had become increasingly socialist and authoritarian; Boumédienne continued this trend. However, he relied much more on the army for his support, and reduced the sole legal party to a symbolic role. He collectivised agriculture and launched a massive industrialisation drive. Oil extraction facilities were nationalised. This was especially beneficial to the leadership after the international 1973 oil crisis.

Boumédienne's successor, Chadli Bendjedid, introduced some liberal economic reforms. He promoted a policy of Arabisation in Algerian society and public life. Teachers of Arabic, brought in from other Muslim countries, spread conventional Islamic thought in schools and sowed the seeds of a return to Orthodox Islam.

The Algerian economy became increasingly dependent on oil, leading to hardship when the price collapsed during the 1980s oil glut. Economic recession caused by the crash in world oil prices resulted in Algerian social unrest during the 1980s; by the end of the decade, Bendjedid introduced a multi-party system. Political parties developed, such as the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a broad coalition of Muslim groups.

Civil War (1991–2002) and aftermath

In December 1991 the Islamic Salvation Front dominated the first of two rounds of legislative elections. Fearing the election of an Islamist government, the authorities intervened on 11 January 1992, cancelling the elections. Bendjedid resigned and a High Council of State was installed to act as the Presidency. It banned the FIS, triggering a civil insurgency between the Front's armed wing, the Armed Islamic Group, and the national armed forces, in which more than 100,000 people are thought to have died. The Islamist militants conducted a violent campaign of civilian massacres. At several points in the conflict, the situation in Algeria became a point of international concern, most notably during the crisis surrounding Air France Flight 8969, a hijacking perpetrated by the Armed Islamic Group. The Armed Islamic Group declared a ceasefire in October 1997.

Algeria held elections in 1999, considered biased by international observers and most opposition groups which were won by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. He worked to restore political stability to the country and announced a "Civil Concord" initiative, approved in a referendum, under which many political prisoners were pardoned, and several thousand members of armed groups were granted exemption from prosecution under a limited amnesty, in force until 13 January 2000. The AIS disbanded and levels of insurgent violence fell rapidly. The Groupe Salafiste pour la Prédication et le Combat (GSPC), a splinter group of the Armed Islamic Group, continued a terrorist campaign against the Government.

Bouteflika was re-elected in the April 2004 presidential election after campaigning on a programme of national reconciliation. The programme comprised economic, institutional, political and social reform to modernise the country, raise living standards, and tackle the causes of alienation. It also included a second amnesty initiative, the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, which was approved in a referendum in September 2005. It offered amnesty to most guerrillas and Government security forces.

In November 2008, the Algerian Constitution was amended following a vote in Parliament, removing the two-term limit on Presidential incumbents. This change enabled Bouteflika to stand for re-election in the 2009 presidential elections, and he was re-elected in April 2009. During his election campaign and following his re-election, Bouteflika promised to extend the programme of national reconciliation and a $150-billion spending programme to create three million new jobs, the construction of one million new housing units, and to continue public sector and infrastructure modernisation programmes.

A continuing series of protests throughout the country started on 28 December 2010, inspired by similar protests across the Middle East and North Africa. On 24 February 2011, the government lifted Algeria's 19-year-old state of emergency. The government enacted legislation dealing with political parties, the electoral code, and the representation of women in elected bodies. In April 2011, Bouteflika promised further constitutional and political reform. However, elections are routinely criticised by opposition groups as unfair and international human rights groups say that media censorship and harassment of political opponents continue.

On 2 April 2019, Bouteflika resigned from the presidency after mass protests against his candidacy for a fifth term in office.

In December 2019, Abdelmadjid Tebboune became Algeria's president, after winning the first round of the presidential election with a record abstention rate – the highest of all presidential elections since Algeria's democracy in 1989. Tebboune is accused to be close to the military and being loyal to the deposed president. Tebboune rejects these accusations, claiming to be the victim of a witch hunt. He also reminds his detractors that he was expelled from the Government in August 2017 at the instigation of oligarchs languishing in prison.

Geography 

Since the 2011 breakup of Sudan, and the creation of South Sudan, Algeria has been the largest country in Africa, and the Mediterranean Basin. Its southern part includes a significant portion of the Sahara. To the north, the Tell Atlas form with the Saharan Atlas, further south, two parallel sets of reliefs in approaching eastbound, and between which are inserted vast plains and highlands. Both Atlas tend to merge in eastern Algeria. The vast mountain ranges of Aures and Nememcha occupy the entire northeastern Algeria and are delineated by the Tunisian border. The highest point is Mount Tahat ().

Algeria lies mostly between latitudes 19° and 37°N (a small area is north of 37°N and south of 19°N), and longitudes 9°W and 12°E. Most of the coastal area is hilly, sometimes even mountainous, and there are a few natural harbours. The area from the coast to the Tell Atlas is fertile. South of the Tell Atlas is a steppe landscape ending with the Saharan Atlas; farther south, there is the Sahara desert.

The Hoggar Mountains (), also known as the Hoggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, southern Algeria. They are located about  south of the capital, Algiers, and just east of Tamanghasset. Algiers, Oran, Constantine, and Annaba are Algeria's main cities.

Climate and hydrology 

In this region, midday desert temperatures can be hot year round. After sunset, however, the clear, dry air permits rapid loss of heat, and the nights are cool to chilly. Enormous daily ranges in temperature are recorded.

Rainfall is fairly plentiful along the coastal part of the Tell Atlas, ranging from  annually, the amount of precipitation increasing from west to east. Precipitation is heaviest in the northern part of eastern Algeria, where it reaches as much as  in some years.

Farther inland, the rainfall is less plentiful. Algeria also has ergs, or sand dunes, between mountains. Among these, in the summer time when winds are heavy and gusty, temperatures can go up to .

Fauna and flora 

The varied vegetation of Algeria includes coastal, mountainous and grassy desert-like regions which all support a wide range of wildlife. Many of the creatures comprising the Algerian wildlife live in close proximity to civilisation. The most commonly seen animals include the wild boars, jackals, and gazelles, although it is not uncommon to spot fennecs (foxes), and jerboas. Algeria also has a small African leopard and Saharan cheetah population, but these are seldom seen. A species of deer, the Barbary stag, inhabits the dense humid forests in the north-eastern areas. The fennec fox is the national animal of Algeria.

A variety of bird species makes the country an attraction for bird watchers. The forests are inhabited by boars and jackals. Barbary macaques are the sole native monkey. Snakes, monitor lizards, and numerous other reptiles can be found living among an array of rodents throughout the semi arid regions of Algeria. Many animals are now extinct, including the Barbary lions, Atlas bears and crocodiles.

In the north, some of the native flora includes Macchia scrub, olive trees, oaks, cedars and other conifers. The mountain regions contain large forests of evergreens (Aleppo pine, juniper, and evergreen oak) and some deciduous trees. Fig, eucalyptus, agave, and various palm trees grow in the warmer areas. The grape vine is indigenous to the coast. In the Sahara region, some oases have palm trees. Acacias with wild olives are the predominant flora in the remainder of the Sahara. Algeria had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 5.22/10, ranking it 106th globally out of 172 countries.

Camels are used extensively; the desert also abounds with venomous and nonvenomous snakes, scorpions, and numerous insects.

Government and politics 

Elected politicians have relatively little sway over Algeria. Instead, a group of unelected civilian and military "décideurs" ("deciders"), known as "le pouvoir" ("the power"), actually rule the country, even deciding who should be president. The most powerful man might have been Mohamed Mediène, the head of military intelligence, before he was brought down during the 2019 protests. In recent years, many of these generals have died, retired, or been imprisoned. After the death of General Larbi Belkheir, previous president Bouteflika put loyalists in key posts, notably at Sonatrach, and secured constitutional amendments that made him re-electable indefinitely, until he was brought down in 2019 during protests.

The head of state is the President of Algeria, who is elected for a five-year term. The president is limited to two five-year terms. The most recent presidential election was planned to be in April 2019, but widespread protests erupted on 22 February against the president's decision to participate in the election, which resulted in President Bouteflika announcing his resignation on 3 April. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, an independent candidate, was elected as president after the election eventually took place on 12 December 2019. Protestors refused to recognise Tebboune as president, citing demands for comprehensive reform of the political system. Algeria has universal suffrage at 18 years of age. The President is the head of the army, the Council of Ministers and the High Security Council. He appoints the Prime Minister who is also the head of government.

The Algerian parliament is bicameral; the lower house, the People's National Assembly, has 462 members who are directly elected for five-year terms, while the upper house, the Council of the Nation, has 144 members serving six-year terms, of which 96 members are chosen by local assemblies and 48 are appointed by the president. According to the constitution, no political association may be formed if it is "based on differences in religion, language, race, gender, profession, or region". In addition, political campaigns must be exempt from the aforementioned subjects.

Parliamentary elections were last held in May 2017. In the elections, the FLN lost 44 of its seats, but remained the largest party with 164 seats, the military-backed National Rally for Democracy won 100, and the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Movement of the Society for Peace won 33.

Foreign relations

Algeria is included in the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) which aims at bringing the EU and its neighbours closer.
Giving incentives and rewarding best performers, as well as offering funds in a faster and more flexible manner, are the two main principles underlying the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) that came into force in 2014. It has a budget of €15.4 billion and provides the bulk of funding through a number of programmes.

In 2009, the French government agreed to compensate victims of nuclear tests in Algeria. Defence Minister Herve Morin stated that "It's time for our country to be at peace with itself, at peace thanks to a system of compensation and reparations," when presenting the draft law on the payouts. Algerian officials and activists believe that this is a good first step and hope that this move would encourage broader reparation.

Tensions between Algeria and Morocco in relation to the Western Sahara have been an obstacle to tightening the Arab Maghreb Union, nominally established in 1989, but which has carried little practical weight. On 24 August 2021, Algeria announced the break of diplomatic relations with Morocco.

Military

The military of Algeria consists of the People's National Army (ANP), the Algerian National Navy (MRA), and the Algerian Air Force (QJJ), plus the Territorial Air Defence Forces. It is the direct successor of the National Liberation Army (Armée de Libération Nationale or ALN), the armed wing of the nationalist National Liberation Front which fought French colonial occupation during the Algerian War of Independence (1954–62).

Total military personnel include 147,000 active, 150,000 reserve, and 187,000 paramilitary staff (2008 estimate). Service in the military is compulsory for men aged 19–30, for a total of 12 months. The military expenditure was 4.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2012. Algeria has the second largest military in North Africa with the largest defence budget in Africa ($10 billion). Most of Algeria's weapons are imported from Russia, with whom they are a close ally.

In 2007, the Algerian Air Force signed a deal with Russia to purchase 49 MiG-29SMT and 6 MiG-29UBT at an estimated cost of $1.9 billion. Russia is also building two 636-type diesel submarines for Algeria.

Human rights

Algeria has been categorised by the US government funded Freedom House as "not free" since it began publishing such ratings in 1972, with the exception of 1989, 1990, and 1991, when the country was labelled "partly free." In December 2016, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor issued a report regarding violation of media freedom in Algeria. It clarified that the Algerian government imposed restrictions on freedom of the press; expression; and right to peaceful demonstration, protest and assembly as well as intensified censorship of the media and websites. Due to the fact that the journalists and activists criticise the ruling government, some media organisations' licenses are cancelled.

Independent and autonomous trade unions face routine harassment from the government, with many leaders imprisoned and protests suppressed. In 2016, a number of unions, many of which were involved in the 2010–2012 Algerian Protests, have been deregistered by the government.

Homosexuality is illegal in Algeria. Public homosexual behavior is punishable by up to two years in prison. Despite this, about 26% of Algerians think that homosexuality should be accepted, according to the survey conducted by the BBC News Arabic-Arab Barometer in 2019. Algeria showed largest LGBT acceptance compared to other Arab countries where the survey was conducted.

Human Rights Watch has accused the Algerian authorities of using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to prevent pro-democracy movements and protests in the country, leading to the arrest of youths as part of social distancing.

Administrative divisions

Algeria is divided into 58 provinces (wilayas), 553 districts (daïras) and 1,541 municipalities (baladiyahs). Each province, district, and municipality is named after its seat, which is usually the largest city.

The administrative divisions have changed several times since independence. When introducing new provinces, the numbers of old provinces are kept, hence the non-alphabetical order. With their official numbers, currently (since 1983) they are:

Economy

Algeria's currency is the dinar (DZD). The economy remains dominated by the state, a legacy of the country's socialist post-independence development model. In recent years, the Algerian government has halted the privatization of state-owned industries and imposed restrictions on imports and foreign involvement in its economy. These restrictions are just starting to be lifted off recently although questions about Algeria's slowly-diversifying economy remain.

Algeria has struggled to develop industries outside hydrocarbons in part because of high costs and an inert state bureaucracy. The government's efforts to diversify the economy by attracting foreign and domestic investment outside the energy sector have done little to reduce high youth unemployment rates or to address housing shortages. The country is facing a number of short-term and medium-term problems, including the need to diversify the economy, strengthen political, economic and financial reforms, improve the business climate and reduce inequalities amongst regions.

A wave of economic protests in February and March 2011 prompted the Algerian government to offer more than $23 billion in public grants and retroactive salary and benefit increases. Public spending has increased by 27% annually during the past 5 years. The 2010–14 public-investment programme will cost US$286 billion, 40% of which will go to human development.

Thanks to strong hydrocarbon revenues, Algeria has a cushion of $173 billion in foreign currency reserves and a large hydrocarbon stabilisation fund. In addition, Algeria's external debt is extremely low at about 2% of GDP. The economy remains very dependent on hydrocarbon wealth, and, despite high foreign exchange reserves (US$178 billion, equivalent to three years of imports), current expenditure growth makes Algeria's budget more vulnerable to the risk of prolonged lower hydrocarbon revenues.

Algeria has not joined the WTO, despite several years of negotiations but is a member of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area and the African Continental Free Trade Area, and has an association agreement with the European Union

Turkish direct investments have accelerated in Algeria, with total value reaching $5 billion. As of 2022, the number of Turkish companies present in Algeria has reached 1,400. In 2020, despite the pandemic, more than 130 Turkish companies were created in Algeria.

Oil and natural resources

Algeria, whose economy is reliant on petroleum, has been an OPEC member since 1969. Its crude oil production stands at around 1.1 million barrels/day, but it is also a major gas producer and exporter, with important links to Europe. Hydrocarbons have long been the backbone of the economy, accounting for roughly 60% of budget revenues, 30% of GDP, and 87.7% of export earnings. Algeria has the 10th-largest reserves of natural gas in the world and is the sixth-largest gas exporter. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that in 2005, Algeria had  of proven natural-gas reserves. It also ranks 16th in oil reserves.

Non-hydrocarbon growth for 2011 was projected at 5%. To cope with social demands, the authorities raised expenditure, especially on basic food support, employment creation, support for SMEs, and higher salaries. High hydrocarbon prices have improved the current account and the already large international reserves position.

Income from oil and gas rose in 2011 as a result of continuing high oil prices, though the trend in production volume is downwards. Production from the oil and gas sector in terms of volume, continues to decline, dropping from 43.2 million tonnes to 32 million tonnes between 2007 and 2011. Nevertheless, the sector accounted for 98% of the total volume of exports in 2011, against 48% in 1962, and 70% of budgetary receipts, or US$71.4 billion.

The Algerian national oil company is Sonatrach, which plays a key role in all aspects of the oil and natural gas sectors in Algeria. All foreign operators must work in partnership with Sonatrach, which usually has majority ownership in production-sharing agreements.

Access to biocapacity in Algeria is lower than world average. In 2016, Algeria had 0.53 global hectares of biocapacity per person within its territory, much less than the world average of 1.6 global hectares per person. In 2016, Algeria used 2.4 global hectares of biocapacity per person – their ecological footprint of consumption. This means they use just under 4.5 times as much biocapacity as Algeria contains. As a result, Algeria is running a biocapacity deficit. In April 2022, diplomats from Italy and Spain held talks after Rome's move to secure large volume of Algerian gas stoked concerns in Madrid. Under the deal between Algeria's Sonatrach and Italy's Eni, Algeria will send an additional 9 billion cubic metres of gas to Italy by next year and in 2024.

Research and alternative energy sources
Algeria has invested an estimated 100 billion dinars towards developing research facilities and paying researchers. This development program is meant to advance alternative energy production, especially solar and wind power. Algeria is estimated to have the largest solar energy potential in the Mediterranean, so the government has funded the creation of a solar science park in Hassi R'Mel. Currently, Algeria has 20,000 research professors at various universities and over 780 research labs, with state-set goals to expand to 1,000. Besides solar energy, areas of research in Algeria include space and satellite telecommunications, nuclear power and medical research.

Labour market
The overall rate of unemployment was 10% in 2011, but remained higher among young people, with a rate of 21.5% for those aged between 15 and 24. The government strengthened in 2011 the job programs introduced in 1988, in particular in the framework of the program to aid those seeking work (Dispositif d'Aide à l'Insertion Professionnelle).

Despite a decline in total unemployment, youth and women unemployment is high.

Tourism

The development of the tourism sector in Algeria had previously been hampered by a lack of facilities, but since 2004 a broad tourism development strategy has been implemented resulting in many hotels of a high modern standard being built.

There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Algeria including Al Qal'a of Beni Hammad, the first capital of the Hammadid empire; Tipasa, a Phoenician and later Roman town; and Djémila and Timgad, both Roman ruins; M'Zab Valley, a limestone valley containing a large urbanized oasis; and the Casbah of Algiers, an important citadel. The only natural World Heritage Site is the Tassili n'Ajjer, a mountain range.

Transport

The Algerian road network is the densest in Africa; its length is estimated at  of highways, with more than 3,756 structures and a paving rate of 85%. This network will be complemented by the East-West Highway, a major infrastructure project currently under construction. It is a 3-way,  highway, linking Annaba in the extreme east to the Tlemcen in the far west. Algeria is also crossed by the Trans-Sahara Highway, which is now completely paved. This road is supported by the Algerian government to increase trade between the six countries crossed: Algeria, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Tunisia.

Demographics

Algeria has a population of an estimated 44 million, of which the majority, 75% to 85% are ethnically Arab. At the outset of the 20th century, its population was approximately four million. About 90% of Algerians live in the northern, coastal area; the inhabitants of the Sahara desert are mainly concentrated in oases, although some 1.5 million remain nomadic or partly nomadic. 28.1% of Algerians are under the age of 15.

Between 90,000 and 165,000 Sahrawis from Western Sahara live in the Sahrawi refugee camps, in the western Algerian Sahara desert. There are also more than 4,000 Palestinian refugees, who are well integrated and have not asked for assistance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 2009, 35,000 Chinese migrant workers lived in Algeria.

The largest concentration of Algerian migrants outside Algeria is in France, which has reportedly over 1.7 million Algerians of up to the second generation.

Ethnic groups

Arabs and indigenous Berbers as well as Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals, Byzantine Greeks, Turks, various Sub-Saharan Africans, and French have contributed to the history and culture of Algeria. Descendants of Andalusi refugees are also present in the population of Algiers and other cities. Moreover, Spanish was spoken by these Aragonese and Castillian Morisco descendants deep into the 18th century, and even Catalan was spoken at the same time by Catalan Morisco descendants in the small town of Grish El-Oued.

Centuries of Arab migration to the Maghreb since the 7th century shifted the demographic scope in Algeria. The majority of the population of Algeria are Arabs (75% to 85% of the population). Berbers who make up 15% to 20% of the population are divided into many groups with varying languages. The largest of these are the Kabyles, who live in the Kabylie region east of Algiers, the Chaoui of Northeast Algeria, the Tuaregs in the southern desert and the Shenwa people of North Algeria.

During the colonial period, there was a large (10% in 1960) European population who became known as Pied-Noirs. They were primarily of French, Spanish and Italian origin. Almost all of this population left during the war of independence or immediately after its end.

Languages

Modern Standard Arabic and Berber are the official languages. Algerian Arabic (Darja) is the language used by the majority of the population. Colloquial Algerian Arabic has some Berber loanwords which represent 8% to 9% of its vocabulary.

Berber has been recognised as a "national language" by the constitutional amendment of 8 May 2002. Kabyle, the predominant Berber language, is taught and is partially co-official (with a few restrictions) in parts of Kabylie. Kabyle has a significant Arabic, French, Latin, Greek, Phoenician and Punic substratum, and Arabic loanwords represent 35% of the total Kabyle vocabulary. In February 2016, the Algerian constitution passed a resolution that made Berber an official language alongside Arabic.

Although French has no official status in Algeria, it has one of the largest Francophone populations in the world, and French is widely used in government, media (newspapers, radio, local television), and both the education system (from primary school onwards) and academia due to Algeria's colonial history. It can be regarded as a lingua franca of Algeria. In 2008, 11.2 million Algerians could read and write in French. An Abassa Institute study in April 2000 found that 60% of households could speak and understand French, or 18 million people out of a total of 30 million at the time. Following a period during which the Algerian government tried to phase out French, in recent decades the government has changed course and reinforced the study of French, and some television programs are broadcast in the language.

Algeria emerged as a bilingual state after 1962. Colloquial Algerian Arabic is spoken by about 83% of the population and Berber by 27%.

Religion

Islam is the predominant religion in Algeria, with its adherents, mostly Sunnis, accounting for 99% of the population according to a 2021 CIA World Factbook estimate, and 97.9% according to Pew Research in 2020. There are about 290,000 Ibadis in the M'zab Valley in the region of Ghardaia.

Prior to independence, Algeria was home to more than 1.3 million Christians (mostly of French ancestry). Many Christian settlers left to France after the independence from France. Today, estimates of the Christian population range from 20,000 to 200,000. Algerian citizens who are Christians predominantly belong to Protestant groups, which have seen increased pressure from the government in recent years including many forced closures.

According to the Arab Barometer in 2018–2019, the vast majority of Algerians (99.1%) continue to identify as Muslim. The June 2019 Arab Barometer-BBC News report found that the percentage of Algerians identifying as non-religious has grown from around 8% in 2013 to around 15% in 2018. The Arab Barometer December 2019, found that the growth in the percentage of Algerians identifying as non-religious is largely driven by young Algerians, with roughly 25% describing themselves as non-religious. However, the 2021 Arab Barometer report found that those who said they were not religious among Algerians has decreased, with just 2.6% identifying as non-religious. In that same report, 69.5% of Algerians identified as religious and another 27.8% identifying as somewhat religious.

Algeria has given the Muslim world a number of prominent thinkers, including Emir Abdelkader, Abdelhamid Ben Badis, Mouloud Kacem Naît Belkacem, Malek Bennabi and Mohamed Arkoun.

Health

In 2018, Algeria had the highest numbers of physicians in the Maghreb region (1.72 per 1,000 people), nurses (2.23 per 1,000 people), and dentists (0.31 per 1,000 people). Access to "improved water sources" was around 97.4% of the population in urban areas and 98.7% of the population in the rural areas. Some 99% of Algerians living in urban areas, and around 93.4% of those living in rural areas, had access to "improved sanitation". According to the World Bank, Algeria is making progress toward its goal of "reducing by half the number of people without sustainable access to improved drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015". Given Algeria's young population, policy favours preventive health care and clinics over hospitals. In keeping with this policy, the government maintains an immunisation program. However, poor sanitation and unclean water still cause tuberculosis, hepatitis, measles, typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery. The poor generally receive health care free of charge.

Health records have been maintained in Algeria since 1882 and began adding Muslims living in the south to their vital record database in 1905 during French rule.

Education

Since the 1970s, in a centralised system that was designed to significantly reduce the rate of illiteracy, the Algerian government introduced a decree by which school attendance became compulsory for all children aged between 6 and 15 years who have the ability to track their learning through the 20 facilities built since independence, now the literacy rate is around 92.6%. Since 1972, Arabic is used as the language of instruction during the first nine years of schooling. From the third year, French is taught and it is also the language of instruction for science classes. The students can also learn English, Italian, Spanish and German. In 2008, new programs at the elementary appeared, therefore the compulsory schooling does not start at the age of six anymore, but at the age of five. Apart from the 122 private schools, the Universities of the State are free of charge. After nine years of primary school, students can go to the high school or to an educational institution. The school offers two programs: general or technical. At the end of the third year of secondary school, students pass the exam of the baccalaureate, which allows once it is successful to pursue graduate studies in universities and institutes.

Education is officially compulsory for children between the ages of six and 15. In 2008, the illiteracy rate for people over 10 was 22.3%, 15.6% for men and 29.0% for women. The province with the lowest rate of illiteracy was Algiers Province at 11.6%, while the province with the highest rate was Djelfa Province at 35.5%.

Algeria has 26 universities and 67 institutions of higher education, which must accommodate a million Algerians and 80,000 foreign students in 2008. The University of Algiers, founded in 1879, is the oldest, it offers education in various disciplines (law, medicine, science and letters). Twenty-five of these universities and almost all of the institutions of higher education were founded after the independence of the country.

Even if some of them offer instruction in Arabic like areas of law and the economy, most of the other sectors as science and medicine continue to be provided in French and English. Among the most important universities, there are the University of Sciences and Technology Houari Boumediene, the University of Mentouri Constantine, and University of Oran Es-Senia. The University of Abou Bekr Belkaïd in Tlemcen and University of Batna Hadj Lakhdar occupy the 26th and 45th row in Africa. Algeria was ranked 119th in the Global Innovation Index in 2023.

Largest cities

Culture

Modern Algerian literature, split between Arabic, Tamazight and French, has been strongly influenced by the country's recent history. Famous novelists of the 20th century include Mohammed Dib, Albert Camus, Kateb Yacine and Ahlam Mosteghanemi while Assia Djebar is widely translated. Among the important novelists of the 1980s were Rachid Mimouni, later vice-president of Amnesty International, and Tahar Djaout, murdered by an Islamist group in 1993 for his secularist views.

Malek Bennabi and Frantz Fanon are noted for their thoughts on decolonization; Augustine of Hippo was born in Tagaste (modern-day Souk Ahras); and Ibn Khaldun, though born in Tunis, wrote the Muqaddima while staying in Algeria. The works of the Sanusi family in pre-colonial times, and of Emir Abdelkader and Sheikh Ben Badis in colonial times, are widely noted. The Latin author Apuleius was born in Madaurus (Mdaourouch), in what later became Algeria.

Contemporary Algerian cinema is various in terms of genre, exploring a wider range of themes and issues. There has been a transition from cinema which focused on the war of independence to films more concerned with the everyday lives of Algerians.

Media

Art

Algerian painters, like Mohammed Racim and Baya, attempted to revive the prestigious Algerian past prior to French colonisation, at the same time that they have contributed to the preservation of the authentic values of Algeria. In this line, Mohamed Temam, Abdelkhader Houamel have also returned through this art, scenes from the history of the country, the habits and customs of the past and the country life. Other new artistic currents including the one of M'hamed Issiakhem, Mohammed Khadda and Bachir Yelles, appeared on the scene of Algerian painting, abandoning figurative classical painting to find new pictorial ways, in order to adapt Algerian paintings to the new realities of the country through its struggle and its aspirations. Mohammed Khadda and M'hamed Issiakhem have been notable in recent years.

Literature 

The historic roots of Algerian literature go back to the Numidian and Roman African era, when Apuleius wrote The Golden Ass, the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety. This period had also known Augustine of Hippo, Nonius Marcellus and Martianus Capella, among many others. The Middle Ages have known many Arabic writers who revolutionised the Arab world literature, with authors like Ahmad al-Buni, Ibn Manzur and Ibn Khaldoun, who wrote the Muqaddimah while staying in Algeria, and many others.

Albert Camus was an Algerian-born French Pied-Noir author. In 1957, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature.

Today Algeria contains, in its literary landscape, big names having not only marked the Algerian literature, but also the universal literary heritage in Arabic and French.

As a first step, Algerian literature was marked by works whose main concern was the assertion of the Algerian national entity, there is the publication of novels as the Algerian trilogy of Mohammed Dib, or even Nedjma of Kateb Yacine novel which is often regarded as a monumental and major work. Other known writers will contribute to the emergence of Algerian literature whom include Mouloud Feraoun, Malek Bennabi, Malek Haddad, Moufdi Zakaria, Abdelhamid Ben Badis, Mohamed Laïd Al-Khalifa, Mouloud Mammeri, Frantz Fanon, and Assia Djebar.

In the aftermath of the independence, several new authors emerged on the Algerian literary scene, they will attempt through their works to expose a number of social problems, among them there are Rachid Boudjedra, Rachid Mimouni, Leila Sebbar, Tahar Djaout and Tahir Wattar.

Currently, a part of Algerian writers tends to be defined in a literature of shocking expression, due to the terrorism that occurred during the 1990s, the other party is defined in a different style of literature who staged an individualistic conception of the human adventure. Among the most noted recent works, there is the writer, the swallows of Kabul and the attack of Yasmina Khadra, the oath of barbarians of Boualem Sansal, memory of the flesh of Ahlam Mosteghanemi and the last novel by Assia Djebar nowhere in my father's House.

Music

Chaâbi music is a typically Algerian musical genre characterized by specific rhythms and of Qacidate (popular poems) in Arabic dialect. El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka is considered the greatest master of the art in modern times. He wrote over 350 songs and produced some 130 records before his death in 1978. Many of his pupils went on to be renowned musicians. The Constantinois Malouf style is saved by musician from whom Mohamed Tahar Fergani is a performer.

Folk music styles include Bedouin music, characterized by the poetic songs based on long kacida (poems); Kabyle music, based on a rich repertoire that is poetry and old tales passed through generations; Shawiya music, a folklore from diverse areas of the Aurès Mountains. Rahaba music style is unique to the Aures. Souad Massi is a rising Algerian folk singer. Other Algerian singers of the diaspora include Manel Filali in Germany and Kenza Farah in France. Tergui music is sung in Tuareg languages generally, Tinariwen had a worldwide success. Finally, the staïfi music is born in Sétif and remains a unique style of its kind.

Modern music is available in several facets, Raï music is a style typical of western Algeria. Rap, a relatively recent style in Algeria, is experiencing significant growth.

Cinema

The Algerian state's interest in film-industry activities can be seen in the annual budget of DZD 200 million (EUR 1.3 million) allocated to production, specific measures and an ambitious programme plan implemented by the Ministry of Culture in order to promote national production, renovate the cinema stock and remedy the weak links in distribution and exploitation.

The financial support provided by the state, through the Fund for the Development of the Arts, Techniques and the Film Industry (FDATIC) and the Algerian Agency for Cultural Influence (AARC), plays a key role in the promotion of national production. Between 2007 and 2013, FDATIC subsidised 98 films (feature films, documentaries and short films). In mid-2013, AARC had already supported a total of 78 films, including 42 feature films, 6 short films and 30 documentaries.

According to the European Audiovisual Observatory's LUMIERE database, 41 Algerian films were distributed in Europe between 1996 and 2013; 21 films in this repertoire were Algerian-French co-productions. Days of Glory (2006) and Outside the Law (2010) recorded the highest number of admissions in the European Union, 3,172,612 and 474,722, respectively.

Algeria won the  for Chronicle of the Years of Fire (1975), two Oscars for Z (1969), and other awards for the Italian-Algerian movie The Battle of Algiers.

Cuisine

Algerian cuisine is rich and diverse. The country was considered as the "granary of Rome". It offers a component of dishes and varied dishes, depending on the region and according to the seasons. The cuisine uses cereals as the main products, since they are always produced with abundance in the country. There is not a dish where cereals are not present.

Algerian cuisine varies from one region to another, according to seasonal vegetables. It can be prepared using meat, fish and vegetables. Among the dishes known, couscous, chorba, rechta, chakhchoukha, berkoukes, shakshouka, mthewem, chtitha, mderbel, dolma, brik or bourek, garantita, lham'hlou, etc. Merguez sausage is widely used in Algeria, but it differs, depending on the region and on the added spices.

Cakes are marketed and can be found in cities either in Algeria, in Europe or North America. However, traditional cakes are also made at home, following the habits and customs of each family. Among these cakes, there are Tamina, Baklawa, Chrik, Garn logzelles, Griouech, Kalb el-louz, Makroud, Mbardja, Mchewek, Samsa, Tcharak, Baghrir, Khfaf, Zlabia, Aarayech, Ghroubiya and Mghergchette. Algerian pastry also contains Tunisian or French cakes. Marketed and home-made bread products include varieties such as Kessra or Khmira or Harchaya, chopsticks and so-called washers Khoubz dar or Matloue. Other traditional meals sold often as street food include mhadjeb or mahjouba, karantika, doubara, chakhchoukha, hassouna, and t'chicha.

Sports

Various games have existed in Algeria since antiquity. In the Aures, people played several games such as El Kherba or El khergueba (chess variant). Playing cards, checkers and chess games are part of Algerian culture. Racing (fantasia) and rifle shooting are part of cultural recreation of the Algerians.

The first Algerian and African gold medalist is Boughera El Ouafi in 1928 Olympics of Amsterdam in the Marathon. The second Algerian Medalist was Alain Mimoun in 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Several men and women were champions in athletics in the 1990s including Noureddine Morceli, Hassiba Boulmerka, Nouria Merah-Benida, and Taoufik Makhloufi, all specialized in middle-distance running.

Football is the most popular sport in Algeria. Several names are engraved in the history of the sport, including Lakhdar Belloumi, Rachid Mekhloufi, Hassen Lalmas, Rabah Madjer, Riyad Mahrez, Salah Assad and Djamel Zidane. The Algeria national football team qualified for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, 1986 FIFA World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup and 2014 FIFA World Cup. In addition, several football clubs have won continental and international trophies as the club ES Sétif or JS Kabylia. The Algerian Football Federation is an association of Algeria football clubs organizing national competitions and international matches of the selection of Algeria national football team.

See also

 Index of Algeria-related articles
 Outline of Algeria

Explanatory notes

Citations

General bibliography 

 Ageron, Charles-Robert (1991). Modern Algeria – A History from 1830 to the Present. Translated from French and edited by Michael Brett. London: Hurst. .
 Aghrout, Ahmed; Bougherira, Redha M. (2004). Algeria in Transition – Reforms and Development Prospects. Routledge. .
 Bennoune, Mahfoud (1988). The Making of Contemporary Algeria – Colonial Upheavals and Post-Independence Development, 1830–1987. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
 Fanon, Frantz (1966; 2005 paperback). The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press. ASIN B0007FW4AW, .
 
 Horne, Alistair (1977). A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954–1962. Viking Adult. ,  (2006 reprint)
 Laouisset, Djamel (2009). A Retrospective Study of the Algerian Iron and Steel Industry. New York City: Nova Publishers. .
 Roberts, Hugh (2003). The Battlefield – Algeria, 1988–2002. Studies in a Broken Polity. London: Verso Books. .
 Ruedy, John (1992). Modern Algeria – The Origins and Development of a Nation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .
 Stora, Benjamin (2001). Algeria, 1830–2000 – A Short History. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. .
 Sidaoui, Riadh (2009). "Islamic Politics and the Military – Algeria 1962–2008". Religion and Politics – Islam and Muslim Civilisation. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. .

External links

 People's Democratic Republic of Algeria Official government website 
 Portal of the First Ministry Portal of the First Ministry
 Algeria. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency.
 
 
 Algeria profile from the BBC News
 
 
 Key Development Forecasts for Algeria from International Futures
 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre: Algeria

 
North African countries
Maghrebi countries
Saharan countries
Arab republics
Republics
Countries and territories where Arabic is an official language
G15 nations
Member states of OPEC
Member states of the African Union
Member states of the Arab League
Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean
Member states of the United Nations
States and territories established in 1962
1962 establishments in Algeria
1962 establishments in Africa
Countries in Africa

This is a list of characters in Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged.

Major characters
The following are major characters from the novel.

Protagonists

Dagny Taggart
Dagny Taggart is the protagonist of the novel. She is vice-president in Charge of Operations for Taggart Transcontinental, under her brother, James Taggart. Given James' incompetence, Dagny is responsible for all the workings of the railroad.

Francisco d'Anconia
Francisco d'Anconia is one of the central characters in Atlas Shrugged, an owner by inheritance of the world's largest copper mining operation. He is a childhood friend, and the first love, of Dagny Taggart. A child prodigy of exceptional talents, Francisco was dubbed the "climax" of the d'Anconia line, an already prestigious Argentine family of skilled industrialists. He was a classmate of John Galt and Ragnar Danneskjöld and student of both Hugh Akston and Robert Stadler. He began working while still in school to show that he could have been successful without the aid of his family's wealth. Later, Francisco bankrupts the d'Anconia business to put it out of others' reach. His full name is given as "Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastián d'Anconia".

John Galt

John Galt is the primary male hero of Atlas Shrugged. He initially appears as an unnamed menial worker for Taggart Transcontinental, who often dines with Eddie Willers in the employees' cafeteria, and leads Eddie to reveal important information about Dagny Taggart and Taggart Transcontinental. Only Eddie's side of their conversations is given in the novel. Later in the novel, the reader discovers this worker's true identity.

Before working for Taggart Transcontinental, Galt worked as an engineer for the Twentieth Century Motor Company, where he secretly invented a generator of usable electric energy from ambient static electricity, but abandoned his prototype, and his employment, when dissatisfied by an easily corrupted novel system of payment. This prototype was found by Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden. Galt himself remains concealed throughout much of the novel, working a job and living by himself, where he unites the most skillful inventors and business leaders under his leadership. He delivers a lengthy broadcast speech that presents the author's philosophy of Objectivism.

Henry "Hank" Rearden
Henry (known as "Hank") Rearden is one of the central characters in Atlas Shrugged. He owns the most important steel company in the United States, and invents Rearden Metal, an alloy stronger, lighter, cheaper and tougher than steel. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Lillian, his brother Philip, and his elderly mother. Rearden represents a type of self-made man and eventually divorces Lillian, abandons his steel mills following a bloody assault by government-planted workers, and joins John Galt's strike.

Eddie Willers
Edwin "Eddie" Willers is the Special Assistant to the Vice-President in Charge of Operations at Taggart Transcontinental. His father and grandfather worked for the Taggarts, and himself likewise. He is completely loyal to Dagny and to Taggart Transcontinental. Willers does not possess the creative ability of Galt's associates, but matches them in moral courage and is capable of appreciating and making use of their creations. After Dagny shifts her attention and loyalty to saving the captive Galt, Willers maintains the railroad until its collapse.

Ragnar Danneskjöld
One of Galt's first followers, and world-famous as a pirate, who seizes relief ships sent from the United States to the People's States of Europe. He works to ensure that once those espousing Galt's philosophy are restored to their rightful place in society, they have enough capital to rebuild the world. Kept in the background for much of the book, Danneskjöld makes a personal appearance to encourage Rearden to persevere in his increasingly difficult situation, and gives him a bar of gold as compensation for the income taxes he has paid over the last several years. Danneskjöld is married to the actress Kay Ludlow; their relationship is kept hidden from the outside world, which only knows of Ludlow as a retired film star. Considered a misfit by Galt's other adherents, he views his actions as a means to speed the world along in understanding Galt's perspective.

According to Barbara Branden, who was closely associated with Rand at the time the book was written, there were sections written describing Danneskjöld's adventures at sea, cut from the final published text. In a 1974 comment at a lecture, Rand said that Danneskjöld's name was a tribute to Victor Hugo's novel, , wherein the hero becomes the first of the Counts of Danneskjöld. In the published book, Danneskjöld is always seen through the eyes of others (Dagny Taggart or Hank Rearden), except for a brief paragraph in the very last chapter.

Antagonists

James Taggart
The President of Taggart Transcontinental and the book's most important antagonist. Taggart is an expert influence peddler but incapable of making operational decisions on his own. He relies on his sister, Dagny Taggart, to actually run the railroad, but nonetheless opposes her in almost every endeavor because of his various anti-capitalist moral and political beliefs. In a sense, he is the antithesis of Dagny. This contradiction leads to the recurring absurdity of his life: the desire to overcome those on whom his life depends, and the horror that he will succeed at this. In the final chapters of the novel, he suffers a complete mental breakdown upon realizing that he can no longer deceive himself in this respect.

Lillian Rearden
The unsupportive wife of Hank Rearden, who dislikes his habits and (secretly at first) seeks to ruin Rearden to prove her own value. Lillian achieves this, when she passes information to James Taggart about her husband's affair with his sister. This information is used to blackmail Rearden to sign a Gift Certificate which delivers all the property rights of Rearden Metal to others. Lillian thereafter uses James Taggart for sexual satisfaction, until Hank abandons her.

Dr. Floyd Ferris
Ferris is a biologist who works as "co-ordinator" at the State Science Institute. He uses his position there to deride reason and productive achievement, and publishes a book entitled Why Do You Think You Think? He clashes on several occasions with Hank Rearden, and twice attempts to blackmail Rearden into giving up Rearden Metal. He is also one of the group of looters who tries to get Rearden to agree to the Steel Unification Plan. Ferris hosts the demonstration of the Project X weapon, and is the creator of the Ferris Persuader, a torture machine. When John Galt is captured by the looters, Ferris uses the device on Galt, but it breaks down before extracting the information Ferris wants from Galt. Ferris represents the group which uses brute force on the heroes to achieve the ends of the looters.

Dr. Robert Stadler
A former professor at Patrick Henry University, and along with colleague Hugh Akston, mentor to Francisco d'Anconia, John Galt and Ragnar Danneskjöld. He has since become a sell-out, one who had great promise but squandered it for social approval, to the detriment of the free. He works at the State Science Institute where all his inventions are perverted for use by the military, including a sound-based weapon known as Project X (Xylophone). He is killed when Cuffy Meigs (see below) drunkenly overloads the circuits of Project X, causing it to destroy itself and every structure and living thing in a 100-mile radius. The character was, in part, modeled on J. Robert Oppenheimer, whom Rand had interviewed for an earlier project, and his part in the creation of nuclear weapons. To his former student Galt, Stadler represents the epitome of human evil, as the "man who knew better" but chose not to act for the good.

Wesley Mouch
The incompetent and treacherous lobbyist whom Hank Rearden reluctantly employs in Washington, who rises to prominence and authority throughout the novel through trading favours and disloyalty. In return for betraying Hank by helping broker the Equalization of Opportunity Bill (which, by restricting the number of businesses each person may own to one, forces Hank to divest most of his companies), he is given a senior position at the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. Later in the novel he becomes its Top Co-ordinator, a position that eventually becomes Economic Dictator of the country. Mouch's mantra, whenever a problem arises from his prior policy, is to say, "I can't help it. I need wider powers."

Secondary characters
The following secondary characters also appear in the novel.

Hugh Akston is identified as "One of the last great advocates of reason." He was a renowned philosopher and the head of the Department of Philosophy at Patrick Henry University, where he taught Francisco d'Anconia, John Galt, and Ragnar Danneskjöld. He was, along with Robert Stadler, a father figure to these three. Akston's name is so hallowed that a young lady, on hearing that Francisco had studied under him, is shocked. She thought he must have been one of those great names from an earlier century. He now works as a cook in a roadside diner, and proves extremely skillful at the job. When Dagny tracks him down, and before she discovers his true identity, he rejects her enthusiastic offer to manage the dining car services for Taggart Transcontinental. He is based on Aristotle.
Jeff Allen is a tramp who stows away on a Taggart train during one of Dagny's cross-country trips. Instead of throwing him out, she allows him to ride as her guest. It is from Allen that she learns the full story behind the collapse of the Twentieth Century Motor Company (Rand's extensive metaphor for the inherent flaws of communism), as well as a hint of John Galt's true background.
Calvin Atwood is owner of Atwood Light and Power Company and joins Galt's strike.
Mayor Bascom is the mayor of Rome, Wisconsin, who reveals part of the history of the Twentieth Century Motor Company.
Dr. Blodgett is the scientist who pulls the lever to demonstrate Project X.
Orren Boyle is the head of Associated Steel, antithesis of Hank Rearden and a friend of James Taggart. He is an investor in the San Sebastián Mines. He disappears from the story after having a nervous breakdown following the failed 'unification' of the steel industry.
Laura Bradford is an actress and Kip Chalmers' mistress. She is one of the passengers on his train, and dies in the Taggart Tunnel disaster.
Bill Brent is the chief dispatcher for the Colorado Division of Taggart Transcontinental, who tries to prevent the Taggart Tunnel disaster.
Cherryl Brooks is a dime store shopgirl who marries James Taggart after a chance encounter in her store the night the John Galt Line was falsely deemed his greatest success. She marries him thinking he is the heroic person behind Taggart Transcontinental. Cherryl is at first harsh towards Dagny, having believed Jim Taggart's descriptions of his sister, until she questions employees of the railroad. Upon learning that her scorn had been misdirected, Cherryl puts off apologizing to Dagny out of shame, but eventually admits to Dagny that when she married Jim, she thought he had the heroic qualities that she had looked up to - she thought she was marrying someone like Dagny. Shortly after making this admission, she commits suicide by jumping over a stone parapet and into the river, unable to live with her evil husband and seeing no way to escape him.
Emma Chalmers, Kip Chalmers' mother, gains some influence after his death. Known as "Kip's Ma," she starts a soybean-growing project in Louisiana and commandeers thousands of railroad freight cars to move the harvest. As a result, the year's wheat crop from Minnesota never reaches the rest of the country, but instead rots in storage; also, the soybean crop is lost, having been reaped too early.
Kip Chalmers is a Washington man who has decided to run for election as Legislator from California. On the way to a campaign rally, the Taggart Transcontinental train that is carrying him encounters a split rail, resulting in the destruction of its diesel engine. His demands lead to a coal-burning steam engine being attached to his train in its stead and used to pull it through an eight-mile tunnel. The result is the suffocation of all passengers and the destruction of the Taggart Tunnel.
Tom Colby is the head of the Rearden Steel Workers Union.
Dan Conway is the middle-aged president of the Phoenix-Durango railroad. Running a railroad is just about the only thing he knows. When the Anti-dog-eat-dog Rule is used to drive his business out of Colorado, he loses the will to fight, and resigns himself to a quiet life of books and fishing. He is not one of those who joined John Galt's strike, his resignation being a personal choice of his own.
Ken Danagger owns Danagger Coal in Pennsylvania. He helps Hank Rearden illegally make Rearden Metal, then later decides to quit and join Galt's strike moments before Dagny arrives to try to persuade him otherwise.
Quentin Daniels is an enterprising engineer hired by Dagny Taggart to reconstruct John Galt's motor. Partway through this process, Quentin withdraws his effort for the same reasons John Galt himself had. Dagny's pursuit of Quentin leads her to Galt's Gulch. Galt recognizes in him a younger version of himself, having emulated both Galt's achievements in physics and Galt's social reasoning.
Balph Eubank is called "the literary leader of the age", despite the fact that no book he has written has sold more than 3,000 copies. He complains that it is disgraceful that artists are treated as peddlers, and that there should be a law limiting the sales of books to 10,000 copies. He is a misogynist who thinks it disgusting that Dagny Taggart is a railroad vice-president.
The Fishwife is one of the strikers, who earns her living by providing the fish for Hammond's grocery market; she is described as having "dark, disheveled hair and large eyes", and is a writer. Galt says she "wouldn't be published outside. She believes that when one deals with words, one deals with the mind." This character represents Rand herself; it is her cameo appearance in her own novel.
Richard Halley is Dagny Taggart's favorite composer, who mysteriously disappeared after the evening of his greatest triumph. Halley spent years as a struggling and unappreciated composer. At age 24, his opera Phaethon was performed for the first time, to an audience who booed and heckled it. After 19 years, Phaethon was performed again, but this time it was received to the greatest ovation the opera house had ever heard. The following day, Halley retired, sold the rights to his music, and disappeared. It is later revealed that he has joined the strike and settled in Galt's Gulch.
Lawrence Hammond runs Hammond Cars in Colorado, one of the few companies in existence that still produces top-quality vehicles. He eventually quits and joins the strike.
Mrs. William Hastings is the widow of the chief engineer at the Twentieth Century Motor Company. Her husband quit shortly after Galt did and joined the strike some years later. Her lead allows Dagny to find Hugh Akston.
Dr. Thomas Hendricks is a famous brain surgeon who developed a new method of preventing strokes. He joined Galt's strike when the American medical system was put under government control.
Tinky Holloway is one of the "looters" and is frequently referred to and quoted by other characters in the story, but he has only one major appearance: during the Washington meeting with Hank Rearden.
Lee Hunsacker is in charge of a company called Amalgamated Service that takes over the Twentieth Century Motor Company. He files a lawsuit that eventually leads to Midas Mulligan and Judge Narragansett joining the strike. A failed businessman, he laments constantly that no-one ever gave him a chance.
Gwen Ives is Hank Rearden's secretary, described as being in her late twenties and remaining calm and professional despite the chaos that threatens his business. When Rearden abandons his mills and joins Galt's strike, she and many other employees do the same.
Gilbert Keith-Worthing is a British novelist of erstwhile fame, now neglected but still considered a "walking classic," and a proponent of the idea that freedom is an illusion. Kip Chalmers brings him along on the train to California, "for no reason that either of them could discover"; he dies in the Taggart Tunnel disaster.
Owen Kellogg is Assistant to the Manager of the Taggart Terminal in New York. He catches Dagny Taggart's eye as one of the few competent men on staff. After seeing the sorry state of the Ohio Division, she decides to make him its new Superintendent. However, as soon as she returns to New York, Kellogg informs her that he is quitting his job. Owen Kellogg eventually reaches, and settles in, Galt's Gulch.
Fred Kinnan is a labor leader and member of the looter cabal. Unlike the others, however, Kinnan is straightforward and honest about his purpose. Kinnan is the only one to openly state the true motivations of himself and his fellow conspirators. At the end of Galt's three-hour speech, he expresses admiration for the man, as he says what he means. Despite this, Kinnan admits that he is one of the people Galt is out to destroy.
Paul Larkin is an unsuccessful, middle-aged businessman, a friend of the Rearden family. He meets with the other Looters to work out a plan to bring Rearden down. James Taggart knows he is friends with Hank Rearden and challenges his loyalty, and Larkin assures Taggart that he will go along with them.
Eugene Lawson heads the Community Bank of Madison, then gets a job with the government when his bank goes bankrupt due to new government policies. One of the looter's cabal, he is a collectivist who abhors production and money-making.
Mort Liddy is a hack composer who writes trite scores for movies and modern symphonies to which no one listens. He believes melody is a primitive vulgarity. He is one of Lillian Rearden's friends and a member of the cultural elite.
Clifton Locey is a friend of Jim Taggart who takes the position of vice-president of operation when Dagny Taggart quits.
Pat Logan is the engineer on the first run of the John Galt Line. He later strikes.
Kay Ludlow is a beautiful actress who quit Holywood because of the roles she was given and married secretly the pirate Ragnar Danneskjöld.
Roger Marsh is a producer of electrical equipment who joins the strike. Dagny finds him growing cabbage in Galt's Gulch.
Dick McNamara is a contractor who finished the San Sebastian Line. Dagny Taggart plans to hire him to lay the new Rearden Metal track for the Rio Norte Line, but before she does so, he mysteriously disappears. She later discovers that he has joined the strike and settled in Galt's Gulch.
Cuffy Meigs is the Director of Unification for the railroad business. He carries a pistol and a lucky rabbit's foot, and he dresses in a military uniform, and has been described as "impervious to thought". Meigs seizes control of Project X and accidentally destroys it, demolishing the country's last railroad bridge across the Mississippi River and killing himself, his men, and Dr. Stadler.
Dave Mitchum is a state-hired superintendent of the Colorado Division of Taggart Transcontinental. He is partially responsible for the Taggart Tunnel disaster.
Chick Morrison holds the position of "Morale Conditioner" in the government. He quits when society begins to collapse and flees to a stronghold in Tennessee. His fellow looters consider it unlikely that he will survive.
Horace Bussby Mowen is the president of the Amalgamated Switch and Signal Company, Inc. of Connecticut. He is a businessman who sees nothing wrong with the moral code that is destroying society and would never dream of saying he is in business for any reason other than the good of society. Dagny Taggart hires Mowen to produce switches made of Rearden Metal. He is reluctant to build anything with this unproven technology, and has to be cajoled into accepting the contract. When pressured by public opinion, he discontinues production of the switches, forcing Dagny to find an alternative source.
Midas Mulligan is a wealthy banker who mysteriously disappeared in protest after he was given a court order to lend money to an incompetent applicant. When the order came down, he liquidated his entire business, paid off his depositors, and joined Galt's strike. He is the legal owner of the land where Galt's Gulch is located. Mulligan's birth name was Michael, but he had it legally changed after a news article called him "Midas" in a derogatory fashion, which Mulligan took as a compliment.
Judge Narragansett is an American jurist who ruled in favor of Midas Mulligan during the case brought against him by the incompetent loan applicant. When Narragansett's ruling was reversed on appeal, he retired and joined the strike. At the end of the novel, he is seen editing the United States Constitution, crossing out the contradicting amendments of it and adding an amendment to prohibit Congress from passing laws that restrain freedom of trade.
Ben Nealy is a railroad contractor whom Dagny Taggart hires to replace the track on the Rio Norte Line with Rearden Metal. Nealy is incompetent, but Dagny can find no one better in all the country. Nealy believes that anything can get done with enough muscle power. He sees no role for intelligence in human achievement. He relies on Dagny and Ellis Wyatt to run things, and resents them for doing it, because it appears to him like they are just bossing people around.
Ted Nielsen is the head of Nielsen Motors. He eventually goes on strike, along with most of the other industrialist "producer" types, by closing his motor factory. Dagny later finds him when she visits Galt's Gulch for the first time.
Betty Pope is a wealthy socialite who is having a meaningless sexual affair with James Taggart. She is deliberately crude in a way that casts ridicule on her high social position.
Dr. Potter holds some undefined position with the State Science Institute. He is sent to try to obtain the rights to Rearden Metal.
Dr. Simon Pritchett is the prestigious head of the Department of Philosophy at Patrick Henry University and is considered the leading philosopher of the age. He believes that man is nothing but a collection of chemicals, reason is a superstition, it is futile to seek meaning in life, and the duty of a philosopher is to show that nothing can be understood.
Rearden's mother, whose name is not mentioned, lives with Rearden at his home in Philadelphia. She is involved in charity work, and berates Rearden whenever she can. She dotes on her weak son Philip Rearden.
Philip Rearden is the younger brother of Hank Rearden. He lives in his brother's home in Philadelphia and is completely dependent on him. He is resentful of his brother's charity.
Dwight Sanders owns Sanders Aircraft, a producer of high-quality airplanes, and joins the strike.
Bertram Scudder is an editorial writer for the magazine The Future. He typically bashes business and businessmen, but he never says anything specific in his articles, relying on innuendo, sneers, and denunciation. He wrote a hatchet job on Hank Rearden called The Octopus. He is also vocal in support of the Equalization of Opportunity Bill. Scudder claims that the most important thing in life is "brother love" but seems to have nothing but hatred for those around him. He loses his job after Dagny Taggart reveals her affair with Hank Rearden over air on his radio show.
Claude Slagenhop is president of political organization Friends of Global Progress and one of Lillian Rearden's friends. He believes that ideas are just air, that this is no time for talk, but for action. Global Progress is a sponsor of the Equalization of Opportunity Bill.
Gerald and Ivy Starnes are the two surviving children of Jed Starnes, the founder of the Twentieth Century Motor Company. Together with their since-deceased brother Eric, they instituted a communistic payment-and-benefits program that drove the company into bankruptcy. Gerald, a dying alcoholic, and Ivy, a pseudo-Buddhist ascetic, continue to insist that the plan was perfect and that the failure of their father's company was entirely due to the workers. Eric was a weak, attention-seeking man with a pathological desire to be loved. He committed suicide after the woman he loved married another man. Gerald claims that he always acted for the good of the employees, but he was vain and incompetent and often threw lavish parties using company funds. Ivy, on the other hand, is described as a sadist who relishes seeing others in poverty, but who has no desire for wealth of her own.
Andrew Stockton runs the Stockton Foundry in Stockton, Colorado. When he joins the strike, he opens a foundry in Galt's Gulch. 
Mr. Thompson is the "Head of the State" for the United States. He is not particularly intelligent and has a very undistinguished look. He knows politics, however, and is a master of public relations and back-room deals. Rand's notes indicate that she modeled him on President Harry S. Truman, and that she deliberately decided not to call him "President of the United States" as this title has "honorable connotations" which the character does not deserve.
Lester Tuck is the campaign manager for Kip Chalmers and one of his guests on the train trip to California. He dies in the Taggart Tunnel disaster.
Clem Weatherby is a government representative on the board of directors of Taggart Transcontinental. Dagny considers him the least bad of the government representatives, since he does have some real knowledge on the running of trains. She notices, however, that he is the least appreciated by his own bosses.
The Wet Nurse (Tony) is a young bureaucrat sent by the government to watch over Rearden's mills. Though he starts out as a cynical follower of the looters' code, his experience at the mills transforms him, and he comes to respect and admire the producers. He is shot attempting to inform Hank Rearden about a government plot, but does succeed in warning Rearden just before he dies.
Ellis Wyatt is the head of Wyatt Oil. He has almost single-handedly revived the economy of Colorado by discovering a new process for extracting more oil from what were thought to be exhausted oil wells. When first introduced, he is aggressive towards Dagny, whom he does not yet know and whom he blames for what are, in fact, her brother's policies which directly threaten his business. When the government passes laws and decrees which make it impossible for him to continue, he sets all his oil wells on fire, leaving a single note: "I am leaving it as I found it. Take over. It's yours." One particular burning well that resists all efforts to extinguish it becomes known as "Wyatt's Torch". Later Dagny meets him in Galt's Gulch.

Notes

References

Works cited

External links
Website with comprehensive list of individuals mentioned in Atlas Shrugged

 
Fictional socialites
Lists of literary characters
Literary characters introduced in 1957

Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavior, while cultural anthropology studies cultural meaning, including norms and values. A portmanteau term sociocultural anthropology is commonly used today. Linguistic anthropology studies how language influences social life. Biological or physical anthropology studies the biological development of humans.

Archaeological anthropology, often termed as "anthropology of the past," studies human activity through investigation of physical evidence. It is considered a branch of anthropology in North America and Asia, while in Europe, archaeology is viewed as a discipline in its own right or grouped under other related disciplines, such as history and palaeontology.

Etymology
The abstract noun anthropology is first attested in reference to history. Its present use first appeared in Renaissance Germany in the works of Magnus Hundt and Otto Casmann. Their Neo-Latin  derived from the combining forms of the Greek words ánthrōpos (, "human") and lógos (, "study"). Its adjectival form appeared in the works of Aristotle. It began to be used in English, possibly via French , by the early 18th century.

Origin and development of the term

Through the 19th century
In 1647, the Bartholins, early scholars of the University of Copenhagen, defined  as follows:

Sporadic use of the term for some of the subject matter occurred subsequently, such as the use by Étienne Serres in 1839 to describe the natural history, or paleontology, of man, based on comparative anatomy, and the creation of a chair in anthropology and ethnography in 1850 at the French National Museum of Natural History by Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefages de Bréau. Various short-lived organizations of anthropologists had already been formed. The Société Ethnologique de Paris, the first to use the term ethnology, was formed in 1839 and focused on methodically studying human races. After the death of its founder, William Frédéric Edwards, in 1842, it gradually declined in activity until it eventually dissolved in 1862.

Meanwhile, the Ethnological Society of New York, currently the American Ethnological Society, was founded on its model in 1842, as well as the Ethnological Society of London in 1843, a break-away group of the Aborigines' Protection Society. These anthropologists of the times were liberal, anti-slavery, and pro-human-rights activists. They maintained international connections.

Anthropology and many other current fields are the intellectual results of the comparative methods developed in the earlier 19th century. Theorists in such diverse fields as anatomy, linguistics, and ethnology, making feature-by-feature comparisons of their subject matters, were beginning to suspect that similarities between animals, languages, and folkways were the result of processes or laws unknown to them then. For them, the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was the epiphany of everything they had begun to suspect. Darwin himself arrived at his conclusions through comparison of species he had seen in agronomy and in the wild.

Darwin and Wallace unveiled evolution in the late 1850s. There was an immediate rush to bring it into the social sciences. Paul Broca in Paris was in the process of breaking away from the Société de biologie to form the first of the explicitly anthropological societies, the Société d'Anthropologie de Paris, meeting for the first time in Paris in 1859. When he read Darwin, he became an immediate convert to Transformisme, as the French called evolutionism. His definition now became "the study of the human group, considered as a whole, in its details, and in relation to the rest of nature".

Broca, being what today would be called a neurosurgeon, had taken an interest in the pathology of speech. He wanted to localize the difference between man and the other animals, which appeared to reside in speech. He discovered the speech center of the human brain, today called Broca's area after him. His interest was mainly in Biological anthropology, but a German philosopher specializing in psychology, Theodor Waitz, took up the theme of general and social anthropology in his six-volume work, entitled Die Anthropologie der Naturvölker, 1859–1864. The title was soon translated as "The Anthropology of Primitive Peoples". The last two volumes were published posthumously.

Waitz defined anthropology as "the science of the nature of man". Following Broca's lead, Waitz points out that anthropology is a new field, which would gather material from other fields, but would differ from them in the use of comparative anatomy, physiology, and psychology to differentiate man from "the animals nearest to him". He stresses that the data of comparison must be empirical, gathered by experimentation. The history of civilization, as well as ethnology, are to be brought into the comparison. It is to be presumed fundamentally that the species, man, is a unity, and that "the same laws of thought are applicable to all men".

Waitz was influential among British ethnologists. In 1863, the explorer Richard Francis Burton and the speech therapist James Hunt broke away from the Ethnological Society of London to form the Anthropological Society of London, which henceforward would follow the path of the new anthropology rather than just ethnology. It was the 2nd society dedicated to general anthropology in existence. Representatives from the French Société were present, though not Broca. In his keynote address, printed in the first volume of its new publication, The Anthropological Review, Hunt stressed the work of Waitz, adopting his definitions as a standard. Among the first associates were the young Edward Burnett Tylor, inventor of cultural anthropology, and his brother Alfred Tylor, a geologist. Previously Edward had referred to himself as an ethnologist; subsequently, an anthropologist.

Similar organizations in other countries followed: The Anthropological Society of Madrid (1865), the American Anthropological Association in 1902, the Anthropological Society of Vienna (1870), the Italian Society of Anthropology and Ethnology (1871), and many others subsequently. The majority of these were evolutionists. One notable exception was the Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology, and Prehistory (1869) founded by Rudolph Virchow, known for his vituperative attacks on the evolutionists. Not religious himself, he insisted that Darwin's conclusions lacked empirical foundation.

During the last three decades of the 19th century, a proliferation of anthropological societies and associations occurred, most independent, most publishing their own journals, and all international in membership and association. The major theorists belonged to these organizations. They supported the gradual osmosis of anthropology curricula into the major institutions of higher learning. By 1898, 48 educational institutions in 13 countries had some curriculum in anthropology. None of the 75 faculty members were under a department named anthropology.

20th and 21st centuries
Anthropology studies as a specialized field of academic study, however much developed through the end of the 19th century, then rapidly expanded beginning in the early 20th century to the point where many of the world's higher educational institutions typically included anthropology departments, with many thousands having come into existence. Anthropology has diversified from a few major subdivisions to dozens more. Practical anthropology, the use of anthropological knowledge and technique to solve specific problems, has arrived; for example, the presence of buried victims might stimulate the use of a forensic archaeologist to recreate the final scene. The organization has reached a global level. For example, the World Council of Anthropological Associations (WCAA), "a network of national, regional and international associations that aims to promote worldwide communication and cooperation in anthropology", currently contains members from about three dozen nations.

Since the work of Franz Boas and Bronisław Malinowski in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, social anthropology in Great Britain and cultural anthropology in the US have been distinguished from other social sciences by their emphasis on cross-cultural comparisons, long-term in-depth examination of context, and the importance they place on participant-observation or experiential immersion in the area of research. Cultural anthropology, in particular, has emphasized cultural relativism, holism, and the use of findings to frame cultural critiques. This has been particularly prominent in the United States, from Boas' arguments against 19th-century racial ideology, through Margaret Mead's advocacy for gender equality and sexual liberation, to current criticisms of post-colonial oppression and promotion of multiculturalism. Ethnography is one of its primary research designs as well as the text that is generated from anthropological fieldwork.

In Great Britain and the Commonwealth countries, the British tradition of social anthropology tends to dominate. In the United States, anthropology has traditionally been divided into the four field approach developed by Franz Boas in the early 20th century: biological or physical anthropology; social, cultural, or sociocultural anthropology; and archaeological anthropology; plus linguistic anthropology. These fields frequently overlap but tend to use different methodologies and techniques.

European countries with overseas colonies tended to practice more ethnology (a term coined and defined by Adam F. Kollár in 1783). It is sometimes referred to as sociocultural anthropology in the parts of the world that were influenced by the European tradition.

Fields

Anthropology is a global discipline involving humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Anthropology builds upon knowledge from natural sciences, including the discoveries about the origin and evolution of Homo sapiens, human physical traits, human behavior, the variations among different groups of humans, how the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens has influenced its social organization and culture, and from social sciences, including the organization of human social and cultural relations, institutions, social conflicts, etc. Early anthropology originated in Classical Greece and Persia and studied and tried to understand observable cultural diversity, such as by Al-Biruni of the Islamic Golden Age. As such, anthropology has been central in the development of several new (late 20th century) interdisciplinary fields such as cognitive science, global studies, and various ethnic studies.

According to Clifford Geertz,

Sociocultural anthropology has been heavily influenced by structuralist and postmodern theories, as well as a shift toward the analysis of modern societies. During the 1970s and 1990s, there was an epistemological shift away from the positivist traditions that had largely informed the discipline. During this shift, enduring questions about the nature and production of knowledge came to occupy a central place in cultural and social anthropology. In contrast, archaeology and biological anthropology remained largely positivist. Due to this difference in epistemology, the four sub-fields of anthropology have lacked cohesion over the last several decades.

Sociocultural

Sociocultural anthropology draws together the principal axes of cultural anthropology and social anthropology. Cultural anthropology is the comparative study of the manifold ways in which people make sense of the world around them, while social anthropology is the study of the relationships among individuals and groups. Cultural anthropology is more related to philosophy, literature and the arts (how one's culture affects the experience for self and group, contributing to a more complete understanding of the people's knowledge, customs, and institutions), while social anthropology is more related to sociology and history. In that, it helps develop an understanding of social structures, typically of others and other populations (such as minorities, subgroups, dissidents, etc.). There is no hard-and-fast distinction between them, and these categories overlap to a considerable degree.

Inquiry in sociocultural anthropology is guided in part by cultural relativism, the attempt to understand other societies in terms of their own cultural symbols and values. Accepting other cultures in their own terms moderates reductionism in cross-cultural comparison. This project is often accommodated in the field of ethnography. Ethnography can refer to both a methodology and the product of ethnographic research, i.e. an ethnographic monograph. As a methodology, ethnography is based upon long-term fieldwork within a community or other research site. Participant observation is one of the foundational methods of social and cultural anthropology. Ethnology involves the systematic comparison of different cultures. The process of participant-observation can be especially helpful to understanding a culture from an emic (conceptual, vs. etic, or technical) point of view.

The study of kinship and social organization is a central focus of sociocultural anthropology, as kinship is a human universal. Sociocultural anthropology also covers economic and political organization, law and conflict resolution, patterns of consumption and exchange, material culture, technology, infrastructure, gender relations, ethnicity, childrearing and socialization, religion, myth, symbols, values, etiquette, worldview, sports, music, nutrition, recreation, games, food, festivals, and language (which is also the object of study in linguistic anthropology).

Comparison across cultures is a key element of method in sociocultural anthropology, including the industrialized (and de-industrialized) West. The Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (SCCS) includes 186 such cultures.

Biological

Biological anthropology and physical anthropology are synonymous terms to describe anthropological research focused on the study of humans and non-human primates in their biological, evolutionary, and demographic dimensions. It examines the biological and social factors that have affected the evolution of humans and other primates, and that generate, maintain or change contemporary genetic and physiological variation.

Archaeological

Archaeology is the study of the human past through its material remains. Artifacts, faunal remains, and human altered landscapes are evidence of the cultural and material lives of past societies. Archaeologists examine material remains in order to deduce patterns of past human behavior and cultural practices. Ethnoarchaeology is a type of archaeology that studies the practices and material remains of living human groups in order to gain a better understanding of the evidence left behind by past human groups, who are presumed to have lived in similar ways.

Linguistic

Linguistic anthropology (not to be confused with anthropological linguistics) seeks to understand the processes of human communications, verbal and non-verbal, variation in language across time and space, the social uses of language, and the relationship between language and culture. It is the branch of anthropology that brings linguistic methods to bear on anthropological problems, linking the analysis of linguistic forms and processes to the interpretation of sociocultural processes. Linguistic anthropologists often draw on related fields including sociolinguistics, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, semiotics, discourse analysis, and narrative analysis.

Ethnography 
Ethnography is a method of analysing social or cultural interaction. It often involves participant observation though an ethnographer may also draw from texts written by participants of in social interactions. Ethnography views first-hand experience and social context as important.

Tim Ingold distinguishes ethnography from anthropology arguing that anthropology tries to construct general theories of human experience, applicable in general and novel settings, while ethnography concerns itself with fidelity. He argues that the anthropologist must make his writing consistent with their understanding of literature and other theory, but notes that ethnography may be of use to the anthropologists and the fields inform one another.

Key topics by field: sociocultural

Art, media, music, dance and film

Art 

One of the central problems in the anthropology of art concerns the universality of 'art' as a cultural phenomenon. Several anthropologists have noted that the Western categories of 'painting', 'sculpture', or 'literature', conceived as independent artistic activities, do not exist, or exist in a significantly different form, in most non-Western contexts. To surmount this difficulty, anthropologists of art have focused on formal features in objects which, without exclusively being 'artistic', have certain evident 'aesthetic' qualities. Boas' Primitive Art, Claude Lévi-Strauss' The Way of the Masks (1982) or Geertz's 'Art as Cultural System' (1983) are some examples in this trend to transform the anthropology of 'art' into an anthropology of culturally specific 'aesthetics'.

Media 

Media anthropology (also known as the anthropology of media or mass media) emphasizes ethnographic studies as a means of understanding producers, audiences, and other cultural and social aspects of mass media. The types of ethnographic contexts explored range from contexts of media production (e.g., ethnographies of newsrooms in newspapers, journalists in the field, film production) to contexts of media reception, following audiences in their everyday responses to media. Other types include cyber anthropology, a relatively new area of internet research, as well as ethnographies of other areas of research which happen to involve media, such as development work, social movements, or health education. This is in addition to many classic ethnographic contexts, where media such as radio, the press, new media, and television have started to make their presences felt since the early 1990s.

Music 

Ethnomusicology is an academic field encompassing various approaches to the study of music (broadly defined), that emphasize its cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dimensions or contexts instead of or in addition to its isolated sound component or any particular repertoire.

Ethnomusicology can be used in a wide variety of fields, such as teaching, politics, cultural anthropology etc. While the origins of ethnomusicology date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, it was formally termed "ethnomusicology" by Dutch scholar Jaap Kunst . Later, the influence of study in this area spawned the creation of the periodical Ethnomusicology and the Society of Ethnomusicology.

Visual 

Visual anthropology is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media. While the term is sometimes used interchangeably with ethnographic film, visual anthropology also encompasses the anthropological study of visual representation, including areas such as performance, museums, art, and the production and reception of mass media. Visual representations from all cultures, such as sandpaintings, tattoos, sculptures and reliefs, cave paintings, scrimshaw, jewelry, hieroglyphs, paintings, and photographs are included in the focus of visual anthropology.

Economic, political economic, applied and development

Economic 

Economic anthropology attempts to explain human economic behavior in its widest historic, geographic and cultural scope. It has a complex relationship with the discipline of economics, of which it is highly critical. Its origins as a sub-field of anthropology begin with the Polish-British founder of anthropology, Bronisław Malinowski, and his French compatriot, Marcel Mauss, on the nature of gift-giving exchange (or reciprocity) as an alternative to market exchange. Economic Anthropology remains, for the most part, focused upon exchange. The school of thought derived from Marx and known as Political Economy focuses on production, in contrast. Economic anthropologists have abandoned the primitivist niche they were relegated to by economists, and have now turned to examine corporations, banks, and the global financial system from an anthropological perspective.

Political economy

Political economy in anthropology is the application of the theories and methods of historical materialism to the traditional concerns of anthropology, including, but not limited to, non-capitalist societies. Political economy introduced questions of history and colonialism to ahistorical anthropological theories of social structure and culture. Three main areas of interest rapidly developed. The first of these areas was concerned with the "pre-capitalist" societies that were subject to evolutionary "tribal" stereotypes. Sahlin's work on hunter-gatherers as the "original affluent society" did much to dissipate that image. The second area was concerned with the vast majority of the world's population at the time, the peasantry, many of whom were involved in complex revolutionary wars such as in Vietnam. The third area was on colonialism, imperialism, and the creation of the capitalist world-system. More recently, these political economists have more directly addressed issues of industrial (and post-industrial) capitalism around the world.

Applied 

Applied anthropology refers to the application of the method and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems. It is a "complex of related, research-based, instrumental methods which produce change or stability in specific cultural systems through the provision of data, initiation of direct action, and/or the formulation of policy". Applied anthropology is the practical side of anthropological research; it includes researcher involvement and activism within the participating community. It is closely related to development anthropology (distinct from the more critical anthropology of development).

Development

Anthropology of development tends to view development from a critical perspective. The kind of issues addressed and implications for the approach involve pondering why, if a key development goal is to alleviate poverty, is poverty increasing? Why is there such a gap between plans and outcomes? Why are those working in development so willing to disregard history and the lessons it might offer? Why is development so externally driven rather than having an internal basis? In short, why does so much planned development fail?

Kinship, feminism, gender and sexuality

Kinship 

Kinship can refer both to the study of the patterns of social relationships in one or more human cultures, or it can refer to the patterns of social relationships themselves. Over its history, anthropology has developed a number of related concepts and terms, such as "descent", "descent groups", "lineages", "affines", "cognates", and even "fictive kinship". Broadly, kinship patterns may be considered to include people related both by descent (one's social relations during development), and also relatives by marriage. Within kinship you have two different families. People have their biological families and it is the people they share DNA with. This is called consanguineal relations or "blood ties". People can also have a chosen family in which they chose who they want to be a part of their family. In some cases people are closer with their chosen family more than with their biological families.

Feminist 

Feminist anthropology is a four field approach to anthropology (archeological, biological, cultural, linguistic) that seeks to reduce male bias in research findings, anthropological hiring practices, and the scholarly production of knowledge. Anthropology engages often with feminists from non-Western traditions, whose perspectives and experiences can differ from those of white feminists of Europe, America, and elsewhere. From the perspective of the Western world, historically such 'peripheral' perspectives have been ignored, observed only from an outsider perspective, and regarded as less-valid or less-important than knowledge from the Western world. Exploring and addressing that double bias against women from marginalized racial or ethnic groups is of particular interest in intersectional feminist anthropology.

Feminist anthropologists have stated that their publications have contributed to anthropology, along the way correcting against the systemic biases beginning with the "patriarchal origins of anthropology (and (academia)" and note that from 1891 to 1930 doctorates in anthropology went to males more than 85%, more than 81% were under 35, and only 7.2% to anyone over 40 years old, thus reflecting an age gap in the pursuit of anthropology by first-wave feminists until later in life. This correction of systemic bias may include mainstream feminist theory, history, linguistics, archaeology, and anthropology. Feminist anthropologists are often concerned with the construction of gender across societies. Gender constructs are of particular interest when studying sexism.

According to St. Clair Drake, Vera Mae Green was, until "[w]ell into the 1960s", the only African-American female anthropologist who was also a Caribbeanist. She studied ethnic and family relations in the Caribbean as well as the United States, and thereby tried to improve the way black life, experiences, and culture were studied. However, Zora Neale Hurston, although often primarily considered to be a literary author, was trained in anthropology by Franz Boas, and published Tell my Horse about her "anthropological observations" of voodoo in the Caribbean (1938).

Feminist anthropology is inclusive of the anthropology of birth as a specialization, which is the anthropological study of pregnancy and childbirth within cultures and societies.

Medical, nutritional, psychological, cognitive and transpersonal

Medical 

Medical anthropology is an interdisciplinary field which studies "human health and disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation". It is believed that William Caudell was the first to discover the field of medical anthropology. Currently, research in medical anthropology is one of the main growth areas in the field of anthropology as a whole. It focuses on the following six basic fields:

Other subjects that have become central to medical anthropology worldwide are violence and social suffering (Farmer, 1999, 2003; Beneduce, 2010) as well as other issues that involve physical and psychological harm and suffering that are not a result of illness. On the other hand, there are fields that intersect with medical anthropology in terms of research methodology and theoretical production, such as cultural psychiatry and transcultural psychiatry or ethnopsychiatry.

Nutritional 

Nutritional anthropology is a synthetic concept that deals with the interplay between economic systems, nutritional status and food security, and how changes in the former affect the latter. If economic and environmental changes in a community affect access to food, food security, and dietary health, then this interplay between culture and biology is in turn connected to broader historical and economic trends associated with globalization. Nutritional status affects overall health status, work performance potential, and the overall potential for economic development (either in terms of human development or traditional western models) for any given group of people.

Psychological 

Psychological anthropology is an interdisciplinary subfield of anthropology that studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes. This subfield tends to focus on ways in which humans' development and enculturation within a particular cultural group – with its own history, language, practices, and conceptual categories – shape processes of human cognition, emotion, perception, motivation, and mental health. It also examines how the understanding of cognition, emotion, motivation, and similar psychological processes inform or constrain our models of cultural and social processes.

Cognitive 

Cognitive anthropology seeks to explain patterns of shared knowledge, cultural innovation, and transmission over time and space using the methods and theories of the cognitive sciences (especially experimental psychology and evolutionary biology) often through close collaboration with historians, ethnographers, archaeologists, linguists, musicologists and other specialists engaged in the description and interpretation of cultural forms. Cognitive anthropology is concerned with what people from different groups know and how that implicit knowledge changes the way people perceive and relate to the world around them.

Transpersonal 

Transpersonal anthropology studies the relationship between altered states of consciousness and culture. As with transpersonal psychology, the field is much concerned with altered states of consciousness (ASC) and transpersonal experience. However, the field differs from mainstream transpersonal psychology in taking more cognizance of cross-cultural issues – for instance, the roles of myth, ritual, diet, and text in evoking and interpreting extraordinary experiences.

Political and legal

Political 

Political anthropology concerns the structure of political systems, looked at from the basis of the structure of societies. Political anthropology developed as a discipline concerned primarily with politics in stateless societies, a new development started from the 1960s, and is still unfolding: anthropologists started increasingly to study more "complex" social settings in which the presence of states, bureaucracies and markets entered both ethnographic accounts and analysis of local phenomena. The turn towards complex societies meant that political themes were taken up at two main levels. Firstly, anthropologists continued to study political organization and political phenomena that lay outside the state-regulated sphere (as in patron-client relations or tribal political organization). Secondly, anthropologists slowly started to develop a disciplinary concern with states and their institutions (and on the relationship between formal and informal political institutions). An anthropology of the state developed, and it is a most thriving field today. Geertz's comparative work on "Negara", the Balinese state, is an early, famous example.

Legal

Legal anthropology or anthropology of law specializes in "the cross-cultural study of social ordering". Earlier legal anthropological research often focused more narrowly on conflict management, crime, sanctions, or formal regulation. More recent applications include issues such as human rights, legal pluralism, and political uprisings.

Public

Public anthropology was created by Robert Borofsky, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University, to "demonstrate the ability of anthropology and anthropologists to effectively address problems beyond the discipline – illuminating larger social issues of our times as well as encouraging broad, public conversations about them with the explicit goal of fostering social change".

Nature, science, and technology

Cyborg

Cyborg anthropology originated as a sub-focus group within the American Anthropological Association's annual meeting in 1993. The sub-group was very closely related to STS and the Society for the Social Studies of Science. Donna Haraway's 1985 Cyborg Manifesto could be considered the founding document of cyborg anthropology by first exploring the philosophical and sociological ramifications of the term. Cyborg anthropology studies humankind and its relations with the technological systems it has built, specifically modern technological systems that have reflexively shaped notions of what it means to be human beings.

Digital 

Digital anthropology is the study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology, and extends to various areas where anthropology and technology intersect. It is sometimes grouped with sociocultural anthropology, and sometimes considered part of material culture. The field is new, and thus has a variety of names with a variety of emphases. These include techno-anthropology, digital ethnography, cyberanthropology, and virtual anthropology.

Ecological 

Ecological anthropology is defined as the "study of cultural adaptations to environments". The sub-field is also defined as, "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical environment". The focus of its research concerns "how cultural beliefs and practices helped human populations adapt to their environments, and how their environments change across space and time. The contemporary perspective of environmental anthropology, and arguably at least the backdrop, if not the focus of most of the ethnographies and cultural fieldworks of today, is political ecology. Many characterize this new perspective as more informed with culture, politics and power, globalization, localized issues, century anthropology and more. The focus and data interpretation is often used for arguments for/against or creation of policy, and to prevent corporate exploitation and damage of land. Often, the observer has become an active part of the struggle either directly (organizing, participation) or indirectly (articles, documentaries, books, ethnographies). Such is the case with environmental justice advocate Melissa Checker and her relationship with the people of Hyde Park.

Environment 
Social sciences, like anthropology, can provide interdisciplinary approaches to the environment. Professor Kay Milton, Director of the Anthropology research network in the School of History and Anthropology, describes anthropology as distinctive, with its most distinguishing feature being its interest in non-industrial indigenous and traditional societies. Anthropological theory is distinct because of the consistent presence of the concept of culture; not an exclusive topic but a central position in the study and a deep concern with the human condition. Milton describes three trends that are causing a fundamental shift in what characterizes anthropology: dissatisfaction with the cultural relativist perspective, reaction against cartesian dualisms which obstructs progress in theory (nature culture divide), and finally an increased attention to globalization (transcending the barriers or time/space).

Environmental discourse appears to be characterized by a high degree of globalization. (The troubling problem is borrowing non-indigenous practices and creating standards, concepts, philosophies and practices in western countries.) Anthropology and environmental discourse now have become a distinct position in anthropology as a discipline. Knowledge about diversities in human culture can be important in addressing environmental problems - anthropology is now a study of human ecology. Human activity is the most important agent in creating environmental change, a study commonly found in human ecology which can claim a central place in how environmental problems are examined and addressed. Other ways anthropology contributes to environmental discourse is by being theorists and analysts, or by refinement of definitions to become more neutral/universal, etc. In exploring environmentalism - the term typically refers to a concern that the environment should be protected, particularly from the harmful effects of human activities. Environmentalism itself can be expressed in many ways. Anthropologists can open the doors of environmentalism by looking beyond industrial society, understanding the opposition between industrial and non industrial relationships, knowing what ecosystem people and biosphere people are and are affected by, dependent and independent variables, "primitive" ecological wisdom, diverse environments, resource management, diverse cultural traditions, and knowing that environmentalism is a part of culture.

Historical
 
Ethnohistory is the study of ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not exist today. Ethnohistory uses both historical and ethnographic data as its foundation. Its historical methods and materials go beyond the standard use of documents and manuscripts. Practitioners recognize the utility of such source material as maps, music, paintings, photography, folklore, oral tradition, site exploration, archaeological materials, museum collections, enduring customs, language, and place names.

Religion 

The anthropology of religion involves the study of religious institutions in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. Modern anthropology assumes that there is complete continuity between magical thinking and religion, and that every religion is a cultural product, created by the human community that worships it.

Urban 

Urban anthropology is concerned with issues of urbanization, poverty, and neoliberalism. Ulf Hannerz quotes a 1960s remark that traditional anthropologists were "a notoriously agoraphobic lot, anti-urban by definition". Various social processes in the Western World as well as in the "Third World" (the latter being the habitual focus of attention of anthropologists) brought the attention of "specialists in 'other cultures'" closer to their homes. There are two main approaches to urban anthropology: examining the types of cities or examining the social issues within the cities. These two methods are overlapping and dependent of each other. By defining different types of cities, one would use social factors as well as economic and political factors to categorize the cities. By directly looking at the different social issues, one would also be studying how they affect the dynamic of the city.

Key topics by field: archaeological and biological

Anthrozoology 

Anthrozoology (also known as "human–animal studies") is the study of interaction between living things. It is an interdisciplinary field that overlaps with a number of other disciplines, including anthropology, ethology, medicine, psychology, veterinary medicine and zoology. A major focus of anthrozoologic research is the quantifying of the positive effects of human-animal relationships on either party and the study of their interactions. It includes scholars from a diverse range of fields, including anthropology, sociology, biology, and philosophy.

Biocultural 

Biocultural anthropology is the scientific exploration of the relationships between human biology and culture. Physical anthropologists throughout the first half of the 20th century viewed this relationship from a racial perspective; that is, from the assumption that typological human biological differences lead to cultural differences. After World War II the emphasis began to shift toward an effort to explore the role culture plays in shaping human biology.

Evolutionary 

Evolutionary anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of the evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and the relation between hominins and non-hominin primates. Evolutionary anthropology is based in natural science and social science, combining the human development with socioeconomic factors. Evolutionary anthropology is concerned with both biological and cultural evolution of humans, past and present. It is based on a scientific approach, and brings together fields such as archaeology, behavioral ecology, psychology, primatology, and genetics. It is a dynamic and interdisciplinary field, drawing on many lines of evidence to understand the human experience, past and present.

Forensic 

Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical anthropology and human osteology in a legal setting, most often in criminal cases where the victim's remains are in the advanced stages of decomposition. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable. The adjective "forensic" refers to the application of this subfield of science to a court of law.

Palaeoanthropology 

Paleoanthropology combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology. It is the study of ancient humans, as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints. Genetics and morphology of specimens are crucially important to this field. Markers on specimens, such as enamel fractures and dental decay on teeth, can also give insight into the behaviour and diet of past populations.

Organizations 
Contemporary anthropology is an established science with academic departments at most universities and colleges. The single largest organization of anthropologists is the American Anthropological Association (AAA), which was founded in 1903. Its members are anthropologists from around the globe.

In 1989, a group of European and American scholars in the field of anthropology established the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) which serves as a major professional organization for anthropologists working in Europe. The EASA seeks to advance the status of anthropology in Europe and to increase visibility of marginalized anthropological traditions and thereby contribute to the project of a global anthropology or world anthropology.

Hundreds of other organizations exist in the various sub-fields of anthropology, sometimes divided up by nation or region, and many anthropologists work with collaborators in other disciplines, such as geology, physics, zoology, paleontology, anatomy, music theory, art history, sociology and so on, belonging to professional societies in those disciplines as well.

List of major organizations

 American Anthropological Association
 American Ethnological Society
 Asociación de Antropólogos Iberoamericanos en Red, AIBR
 Anthropological Society of London
 Center for World Indigenous Studies
 Ethnological Society of London
 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
 Network of Concerned Anthropologists
 N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
 Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
 Society for Anthropological Sciences
 Society for Applied Anthropology
 USC Center for Visual Anthropology

Ethics
As the field has matured it has debated and arrived at ethical principles aimed at protecting both the subjects of anthropological research as well as the researchers themselves, and professional societies have generated codes of ethics.

Anthropologists, like other researchers (especially historians and scientists engaged in field research), have over time assisted state policies and projects, especially colonialism.

Some commentators have contended:
 That the discipline grew out of colonialism, perhaps was in league with it, and derives some of its key notions from it, consciously or not. (See, for example, Gough, Pels and Salemink, but cf. Lewis 2004).
 That ethnographic work is often ahistorical, writing about people as if they were "out of time" in an "ethnographic present" (Johannes Fabian, Time and Its Other).
 In his article "The Misrepresentation of Anthropology and Its Consequence", Herbert S. Lewis critiqued older anthropological works that presented other cultures as if they were strange and unusual. While the findings of those researchers should not be discarded, the field should learn from its mistakes.

Cultural relativism 
As part of their quest for scientific objectivity, present-day anthropologists typically urge cultural relativism, which has an influence on all the sub-fields of anthropology. This is the notion that cultures should not be judged by another's values or viewpoints, but be examined dispassionately on their own terms. There should be no notions, in good anthropology, of one culture being better or worse than another culture.

Ethical commitments in anthropology include noticing and documenting genocide, infanticide, racism, sexism, mutilation (including circumcision and subincision), and torture. Topics like racism, slavery, and human sacrifice attract anthropological attention and theories ranging from nutritional deficiencies, to genes, to acculturation, to colonialism, have been proposed to explain their origins and continued recurrences.

To illustrate the depth of an anthropological approach, one can take just one of these topics, such as "racism" and find thousands of anthropological references, stretching across all the major and minor sub-fields.

Military involvement
Anthropologists' involvement with the U.S. government, in particular, has caused bitter controversy within the discipline. Franz Boas publicly objected to US participation in World War I, and after the war he published a brief exposé and condemnation of the participation of several American archaeologists in espionage in Mexico under their cover as scientists.

But by the 1940s, many of Boas' anthropologist contemporaries were active in the allied war effort against the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan). Many served in the armed forces, while others worked in intelligence (for example, Office of Strategic Services and the Office of War Information). At the same time, David H. Price's work on American anthropology during the Cold War provides detailed accounts of the pursuit and dismissal of several anthropologists from their jobs for communist sympathies.

Attempts to accuse anthropologists of complicity with the CIA and government intelligence activities during the Vietnam War years have turned up little. Many anthropologists (students and teachers) were active in the antiwar movement. Numerous resolutions condemning the war in all its aspects were passed overwhelmingly at the annual meetings of the American Anthropological Association (AAA).

Professional anthropological bodies often object to the use of anthropology for the benefit of the state. Their codes of ethics or statements may proscribe anthropologists from giving secret briefings. The Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth (ASA) has called certain scholarship ethically dangerous. The "Principles of Professional Responsibility" issued by the American Anthropological Association and amended through November 1986 stated that "in relation with their own government and with host governments ... no secret research, no secret reports or debriefings of any kind should be agreed to or given." The current "Principles of Professional Responsibility" does not make explicit mention of ethics surrounding state interactions.

Anthropologists, along with other social scientists, are working with the US military as part of the US Army's strategy in Afghanistan. The Christian Science Monitor reports that "Counterinsurgency efforts focus on better grasping and meeting local needs" in Afghanistan, under the Human Terrain System (HTS) program; in addition, HTS teams are working with the US military in Iraq. In 2009, the American Anthropological Association's Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities (CEAUSSIC) released its final report concluding, in part, that,

Post-World War II developments
Before WWII British 'social anthropology' and American 'cultural anthropology' were still distinct traditions. After the war, enough British and American anthropologists borrowed ideas and methodological approaches from one another that some began to speak of them collectively as 'sociocultural' anthropology.

Basic trends
There are several characteristics that tend to unite anthropological work. One of the central characteristics is that anthropology tends to provide a comparatively more holistic account of phenomena and tends to be highly empirical. The quest for holism leads most anthropologists to study a particular place, problem or phenomenon in detail, using a variety of methods, over a more extensive period than normal in many parts of academia.

In the 1990s and 2000s, calls for clarification of what constitutes a culture, of how an observer knows where his or her own culture ends and another begins, and other crucial topics in writing anthropology were heard. These dynamic relationships, between what can be observed on the ground, as opposed to what can be observed by compiling many local observations remain fundamental in any kind of anthropology, whether cultural, biological, linguistic or archaeological.

Biological anthropologists are interested in both human variation and in the possibility of human universals (behaviors, ideas or concepts shared by virtually all human cultures). They use many different methods of study, but modern population genetics, participant observation and other techniques often take anthropologists "into the field," which means traveling to a community in its own setting, to do something called "fieldwork." On the biological or physical side, human measurements, genetic samples, nutritional data may be gathered and published as articles or monographs.

Along with dividing up their project by theoretical emphasis, anthropologists typically divide the world up into relevant time periods and geographic regions. Human time on Earth is divided up into relevant cultural traditions based on material, such as the Paleolithic and the Neolithic, of particular use in archaeology. Further cultural subdivisions according to tool types, such as Olduwan or Mousterian or Levalloisian help archaeologists and other anthropologists in understanding major trends in the human past. Anthropologists and geographers share approaches to culture regions as well, since mapping cultures is central to both sciences. By making comparisons across cultural traditions (time-based) and cultural regions (space-based), anthropologists have developed various kinds of comparative method, a central part of their science.

Commonalities between fields
Because anthropology developed from so many different enterprises (see History of anthropology), including but not limited to fossil-hunting, exploring, documentary film-making, paleontology, primatology, antiquity dealings and curatorship, philology, etymology, genetics, regional analysis, ethnology, history, philosophy, and religious studies, it is difficult to characterize the entire field in a brief article, although attempts to write histories of the entire field have been made.

Some authors argue that anthropology originated and developed as the study of "other cultures", both in terms of time (past societies) and space (non-European/non-Western societies). For example, the classic of urban anthropology, Ulf Hannerz in the introduction to his seminal Exploring the City: Inquiries Toward an Urban Anthropology mentions that the "Third World" had habitually received most of attention; anthropologists who traditionally specialized in "other cultures" looked for them far away and started to look "across the tracks" only in late 1960s.

Now there exist many works focusing on peoples and topics very close to the author's "home". It is also argued that other fields of study, like History and Sociology, on the contrary focus disproportionately on the West.

In France, the study of Western societies has been traditionally left to sociologists, but this is increasingly changing, starting in the 1970s from scholars like Isac Chiva and journals like Terrain ("fieldwork"), and developing with the center founded by Marc Augé (Le Centre d'anthropologie des mondes contemporains, the Anthropological Research Center of Contemporary Societies).

Since the 1980s it has become common for social and cultural anthropologists to set ethnographic research in the North Atlantic region, frequently examining the connections between locations rather than limiting research to a single locale. There has also been a related shift toward broadening the focus beyond the daily life of ordinary people; increasingly, research is set in settings such as scientific laboratories, social movements, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and businesses.

See also

 
 Christian anthropology, a sub-field of theology
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Philosophical anthropology, a sub-field of philosophy

Lists

Notes

References

Works cited

Further reading

Dictionaries and encyclopedias

Fieldnotes and memoirs

Histories

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .

Textbooks and key theoretical works

External links

 Open Encyclopedia of Anthropology.

Organisations 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  (AIO)

 
Behavioural sciences
Humans

Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professionals of the agricultural science are called agricultural scientists or agriculturists.

History

In the 18th century, Johann Friedrich Mayer conducted experiments on the use of gypsum (hydrated calcium sulphate) as a fertilizer.

In 1843, John Bennet Lawes and Joseph Henry Gilbert began a set of long-term field experiments at Rothamsted Research in England, some of which are still running as of 2018.

In the United States, a scientific revolution in agriculture began with the Hatch Act of 1887, which used the term "agricultural science". The Hatch Act was driven by farmers' interest in knowing the constituents of early artificial fertilizer. The Smith–Hughes Act of 1917 shifted agricultural education back to its vocational roots, but the scientific foundation had been built. For the next 44 years after 1906, federal expenditures on agricultural research in the United States outpaced private expenditures.

Prominent agricultural scientists

 Wilbur Olin Atwater
 Robert Bakewell
 Norman Borlaug
 Luther Burbank
 George Washington Carver
 Carl Henry Clerk
 George C. Clerk
 René Dumont
 Sir Albert Howard
 Kailas Nath Kaul
Thomas Lecky
 Justus von Liebig
 Jay Laurence Lush
 Gregor Mendel
 Louis Pasteur
 M. S. Swaminathan
 Jethro Tull
 Artturi Ilmari Virtanen
 Sewall Wright

Fields or related disciplines

Scope
Agriculture, agricultural science, and agronomy are often confused. However, they cover different concepts:
Agriculture is the set of activities that transform the environment for the production of animals and plants for human use. Agriculture concerns techniques, including the application of agronomic research.
Agronomy is research and development related to studying and improving plant-based crops.

Soil forming factors and soil degradation
Agricultural sciences include research and development on:
 Improving agricultural productivity in terms of quantity and quality (e.g., selection of drought-resistant crops and animals, development of new pesticides, yield-sensing technologies, simulation models of crop growth, in-vitro cell culture techniques)
 Minimizing the effects of pests (weeds, insects, pathogens, mollusks, nematodes) on crop or animal production systems.
 Transformation of primary products into end-consumer products (e.g., production, preservation, and packaging of dairy products)
 Prevention and correction of adverse environmental effects (e.g., soil degradation, waste management, bioremediation)
 Theoretical production ecology, relating to crop production modeling
 Traditional agricultural systems, sometimes termed subsistence agriculture, which feed most of the poorest people in the world.  These systems are of interest as they sometimes retain a level of integration with natural ecological systems greater than that of industrial agriculture, which may be more sustainable than some modern agricultural systems.
 Food production and demand on a global basis, with special attention paid to the major producers, such as China, India, Brazil, the US and the EU.
 Various sciences relating to agricultural resources and the environment (e.g. soil science, agroclimatology); biology of agricultural crops and animals (e.g. crop science, animal science and their included sciences, e.g. ruminant nutrition, farm animal welfare); such fields as agricultural economics and rural sociology; various disciplines encompassed in agricultural engineering.

See also
 Agricultural Research Council
 Agricultural sciences basic topics
 Agriculture ministry
 Agroecology
 American Society of Agronomy
 Genomics of domestication
 History of agricultural science
 Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
 International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development
 International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI
 List of agriculture topics
 National FFA Organization
 Research Institute of Crop Production (RICP) (in the Czech Republic)
 University of Agricultural Sciences

References

Further reading
Agricultural Research, Livelihoods, and Poverty: Studies of Economic and Social Impacts in Six Countries Edited by Michelle Adato and Ruth Meinzen-Dick (2007), Johns Hopkins University Press Food Policy Report
Claude Bourguignon, Regenerating the Soil: From Agronomy to Agrology, Other India Press, 2005
Pimentel David, Pimentel Marcia, Computer les kilocalories, Cérès, n. 59, sept-oct. 1977
Russell E. Walter, Soil conditions and plant growth, Longman group, London, New York 1973
 
Saltini Antonio, Storia delle scienze agrarie, 4 vols, Bologna 1984–89, , , , 
Vavilov Nicolai I. (Starr Chester K. editor), The Origin, Variation, Immunity and Breeding of Cultivated Plants. Selected Writings, in Chronica botanica, 13: 1–6, Waltham, Mass., 1949–50
Vavilov Nicolai I., World Resources of Cereals, Leguminous Seed Crops and Flax, Academy of Sciences of Urss, National Science Foundation, Washington, Israel Program for Scientific Translations, Jerusalem 1960
Winogradsky Serge, Microbiologie du sol. Problèmes et methodes. Cinquante ans de recherches, Masson & c.ie, Paris 1949

External links

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
Agricultural Research Service
Indian Council of Agricultural Research
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
International Livestock Research Institute
The National Agricultural Library (NAL) - The most comprehensive agricultural library in the world.
Crop Science Society of America
American Society of Agronomy
Soil Science Society of America
Agricultural Science Researchers, Jobs and Discussions
Information System for Agriculture and Food Research
NMSU Department of Entomology Plant Pathology and Weed Science

Alchemy (from Arabic: al-kīmiyā; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, khumeía) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD.

Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease. The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to result from the alchemical magnum opus ("Great Work"). The concept of creating the philosophers' stone was variously connected with all of these projects.

Islamic and European alchemists developed a basic set of laboratory techniques, theories, and terms, some of which are still in use today. They did not abandon the Ancient Greek philosophical idea that everything is composed of four elements, and they tended to guard their work in secrecy, often making use of cyphers and cryptic symbolism. In Europe, the 12th-century translations of medieval Islamic works on science and the rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy gave birth to a flourishing tradition of Latin alchemy. This late medieval tradition of alchemy would go on to play a significant role in the development of early modern science (particularly chemistry and medicine).

Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its exoteric practical applications and its esoteric spiritual aspects, despite criticisms by scholars such as Eric J. Holmyard and Marie-Louise von Franz that they should be understood as complementary. The former is pursued by historians of the physical sciences, who examine the subject in terms of early chemistry, medicine, and charlatanism, and the philosophical and religious contexts in which these events occurred. The latter interests historians of esotericism, psychologists, and some philosophers and spiritualists. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts.

Etymology 

The word alchemy comes from old French alquemie, alkimie, used in Medieval Latin as . This name was itself adopted from the Arabic word  (). The Arabic  in turn was a borrowing of the Late Greek term khēmeía (), also spelled khumeia () and khēmía (), with al- being the Arabic definite article 'the'. Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of transmutation by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. Several etymologies have been proposed for the Greek term. The first was proposed by Zosimos of Panopolis (3rd–4th centuries), who derived it from the name of a book, the Khemeu. Hermann Diels argued in 1914 that it rather derived from χύμα, used to describe metallic objects formed by casting.

Others trace its roots to the Egyptian name  (hieroglyphic 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖  ), meaning 'black earth', which refers to the fertile and auriferous soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand. According to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge, the Arabic word ʾ actually means "the Egyptian [science]", borrowing from the Coptic word for "Egypt",  (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval Bohairic dialect of Coptic, ). This Coptic word derives from Demotic , itself from ancient Egyptian . The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "black Land", by contrast with the "red Land", the surrounding desert).

History 
Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships. One can distinguish at least three major strands, which appear to be mostly independent, at least in their earlier stages: Chinese alchemy, centered in China; Indian alchemy, centered on the Indian subcontinent; and Western alchemy, which occurred around the Mediterranean and whose center shifted over the millennia from Greco-Roman Egypt to the Islamic world, and finally medieval Europe. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoism and Indian alchemy with the Dharmic faiths. In contrast, Western alchemy developed its philosophical system mostly independent of but influenced by various Western religions. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.

Hellenistic Egypt 

The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to ancient and Hellenistic Egypt, where the city of Alexandria was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods. Following the work of André-Jean Festugière, modern scholars see alchemical practice in the Roman Empire as originating from the Egyptian goldsmith's art, Greek philosophy and different religious traditions. Tracing the origins of the alchemical art in Egypt is complicated by the pseudepigraphic nature of texts from the Greek alchemical corpus. The treatises of Zosimos of Panopolis, the earliest historically attested author (fl. c. 300 AD), can help in situating the other authors. Zosimus based his work on that of older alchemical authors, such as Mary the Jewess, Pseudo-Democritus, and Agathodaimon, but very little is known about any of these authors. The most complete of their works, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, were probably written in the first century AD.

Recent scholarship tends to emphasize the testimony of Zosimus, who traced the alchemical arts back to Egyptian metallurgical and ceremonial practices. It has also been argued that early alchemical writers borrowed the vocabulary of Greek philosophical schools but did not implement any of its doctrines in a systematic way. Zosimos of Panopolis wrote in the Final Abstinence (also known as the "Final Count"). Zosimos explains that the ancient practice of "tinctures" (the technical Greek name for the alchemical arts) had been taken over by certain "demons" who taught the art only to those who offered them sacrifices. Since Zosimos also called the demons "the guardians of places" (, ) and those who offered them sacrifices "priests" (, ), it is fairly clear that he was referring to the gods of Egypt and their priests. While critical of the kind of alchemy he associated with the Egyptian priests and their followers, Zosimos nonetheless saw the tradition's recent past as rooted in the rites of the Egyptian temples.

Mythology – Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to Pharaonic Egypt where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion. Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation. These included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason, and many others.

The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegistus (or Thrice-Great Hermes). His name is derived from the god Thoth and his Greek counterpart Hermes. Hermes and his caduceus or serpent-staff, were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to Clement of Alexandria, he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes", covering all fields of knowledge. The Hermetica of Thrice-Great Hermes is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice, called the hermetic philosophy by its early practitioners. These writings were collected in the first centuries of the common era.

Technology – The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of metallurgy, extending back to 3500 BC. Many writings were lost when the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (AD 292). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived, most notable among them the Stockholm papyrus and the Leyden papyrus X. Dating from AD 250–300, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver. These writings lack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, but do contain the works of Bolus of Mendes (or Pseudo-Democritus), which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the classical elements. Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.

Philosophy – Alexandria acted as a melting pot for philosophies of Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Stoicism and Gnosticism which formed the origin of alchemy's character. An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by Empedocles and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed. The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are; "...True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form." Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.

Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging Christianity. Lactantius believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesied its birth. St Augustine later affirmed this in the 4th & 5th centuries, but also condemned Trismegistus for idolatry. Examples of Pagan, Christian, and Jewish alchemists can be found during this period.

Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosimos are known only by pseudonyms, such as Moses, Isis, Cleopatra, Democritus, and Ostanes. Others authors such as Komarios, and Chymes, we only know through fragments of text. After AD 400, Greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors. By the middle of the 7th century alchemy was almost an entirely mystical discipline. It was at that time that Khalid Ibn Yazid sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world, facilitating the translation and preservation of Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.

Byzantium 
Greek alchemy was preserved in medieval Byzantine manuscripts after the fall of Egypt, and yet historians have only relatively recently begun to pay attention to the study and development of Greek alchemy in the Byzantine period.

India 

The 2nd millennium BC text Vedas describe a connection between eternal life and gold. A considerable knowledge of metallurgy has been exhibited in a third-century AD text called Arthashastra which provides ingredients of explosives (Agniyoga) and salts extracted from fertile soils and plant remains (Yavakshara) such as saltpetre/nitre, perfume making (different qualities of perfumes are mentioned), granulated (refined) Sugar. Buddhist texts from the 2nd to 5th centuries mention the transmutation of base metals to gold. According to some scholars Greek alchemy may have influenced Indian alchemy but there are no hard evidences to back this claim.

The 11th-century Persian chemist and physician Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī, who visited Gujarat as part of the court of Mahmud of Ghazni, reported that they

The goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body (Sanskrit divya-deham) and immortality while still embodied (Sanskrit jīvan-mukti). Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god Śiva and the menstrual blood of the goddess Devī.

Some early alchemical writings seem to have their origins in the Kaula tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of Matsyendranath. Other early writings are found in the Jaina medical treatise Kalyāṇakārakam of Ugrāditya, written in South India in the early 9th century.

Two famous early Indian alchemical authors were Nāgārjuna Siddha and Nityanātha Siddha. Nāgārjuna Siddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, Rasendramangalam, is an example of Indian alchemy and medicine. Nityanātha Siddha wrote Rasaratnākara, also a highly influential work. In Sanskrit, rasa translates to "mercury", and Nāgārjuna Siddha was said to have developed a method of converting mercury into gold.

Scholarship on Indian alchemy is in the publication of The Alchemical Body by David Gordon White. 
A modern bibliography on Indian alchemical studies has been written by White.

The contents of 39 Sanskrit alchemical treatises have been analysed in detail in G. Jan Meulenbeld's History of Indian Medical Literature. The discussion of these works in HIML gives a summary of the contents of each work, their special features, and where possible the evidence concerning their dating. Chapter 13 of HIML, Various works on rasaśāstra and ratnaśāstra (or Various works on alchemy and gems) gives brief details of a further 655 (six hundred and fifty-five) treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on the contents and authorship of these works; in other cases references are made only to the unpublished manuscripts of these titles.

A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian alchemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemical corpus has not yet (2014) been adequately integrated into the wider general history of alchemy.

Islamic world 

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about Islamic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations. The word alchemy itself was derived from the Arabic word al-kīmiyā (الكيمياء). The early Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. Platonic and Aristotelian thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries through Syriac translations and scholarship.

In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, the Arabic works attributed to Jābir ibn Hayyān (Latinized as "Geber" or "Geberus") introduced a new approach to alchemy. Paul Kraus, who wrote the standard reference work on Jabir, put it as follows:

Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably Jabir. Jabir's ultimate goal was Takwin, the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to, and including, human life. He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. According to Jabir, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result. By this reasoning, the search for the philosopher's stone was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate numerology whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties.

The elemental system used in medieval alchemy also originated with Jabir. His original system consisted of seven elements, which included the five classical elements (aether, air, earth, fire, and water) in addition to two chemical elements representing the metals: sulphur, "the stone which burns", which characterized the principle of combustibility, and mercury, which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties. Shortly thereafter, this evolved into eight elements, with the Arabic concept of the three metallic principles: sulphur giving flammability or combustion, mercury giving volatility and stability, and salt giving solidity. The atomic theory of corpuscularianism, where all physical bodies possess an inner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles, also has its origins in the work of Jabir.

From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theories faced criticism from a variety of practical Muslim chemists, including Alkindus, Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, Avicenna and Ibn Khaldun. In particular, they wrote refutations against the idea of the transmutation of metals.

From the 14th century onwards, many materials and practices originally belonging to Indian alchemy (Rasayana) were assimilated in the Persian texts written by Muslim scholars.

East Asia 

Researchers have found evidence that Chinese alchemists and philosophers discovered complex mathematical phenomena that were shared with Arab alchemists during the medieval period. Discovered in BC China, the "magic square of three" was propagated to followers of Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān at some point over the proceeding several hundred years. Other commonalities shared between the two alchemical schools of thought include discrete naming for ingredients and heavy influence from the natural elements. The silk road provided a clear path for the exchange of goods, ideas, ingredients, religion, and many other aspects of life with which alchemy is intertwined.

Whereas European alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the Grand Elixir of Immortality sought by Chinese alchemists. In the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the universal panacea; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears.

As early as 317 AD, Ge Hong documented the use of metals, minerals, and elixirs in early Chinese medicine. Hong identified three ancient Chinese documents, titled Scripture of Great Clarity, Scripture of the Nine Elixirs, and Scripture of the Golden Liquor, as texts containing fundamental alchemical information. He also described alchemy, along with meditation, as the sole spiritual practices that could allow one to gain immortality or to transcend. In his work Inner Chapters of the Book of the Master Who Embraces Spontaneous Nature (317 AD), Hong argued that alchemical solutions such as elixirs were preferable to traditional medicinal treatment due to the spiritual protection they could provide. In the centuries following Ge Hong's death, the emphasis placed on alchemy as a spiritual practice among Chinese Daoists was reduced. In 499 AD, Tao Hongjing refuted Hong's statement that alchemy is as important a spiritual practice as Shangqing meditation. While Hongjing did not deny the power of alchemical elixirs to grant immortality or provide divine protection, he ultimately found the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs to be ambiguous and spiritually unfulfilling, aiming to implement more accessible practicing techniques.

In the early 700s, Neidan (also known as internal alchemy) was adopted by Daoists as a new form of alchemy. Neidan emphasized appeasing the inner gods that inhabit the human body by practicing alchemy with compounds found in the body, rather than the mixing of natural resources that was emphasized in early Dao alchemy. For example, saliva was often considered nourishment for the inner gods and did not require any conscious alchemical reaction to produce. The inner gods were not thought of as physical presences occupying each person, but rather a collection of deities that are each said to represent and protect a specific body part or region. Although those who practiced Neidan prioritized meditation over external alchemical strategies, many of the same elixirs and constituents from previous Daoist alchemical schools of thought continued to be utilized in tandem with meditation. Eternal life remained a consideration for Neidan alchemists, as it was believed that one would become immortal if an inner god were to be immortalized within them through spiritual fulfillment.

Black powder may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. It is said that the Chinese invented gunpowder while trying to find a potion for eternal life. Described in 9th-century texts and used in fireworks in China by the 10th century, it was used in cannons by 1290. From China, the use of gunpowder spread to Japan, the Mongols, the Muslim world, and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century.

Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoist forms of traditional Chinese medicine, such as Acupuncture and Moxibustion. In the early Song dynasty, followers of this Taoist idea (chiefly the elite and upper class) would ingest mercuric sulfide, which, though tolerable in low levels, led many to suicide. Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favor of external sources (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan, mastering of the qi, etc.) Chinese alchemy was introduced to the West by Obed Simon Johnson.

Medieval Europe 

The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144, with the completion of Robert of Chester's translation of the  ("Book on the Composition of Alchemy") from an Arabic work attributed to Khalid ibn Yazid. Although European craftsmen and technicians pre-existed, Robert notes in his preface that alchemy (here still referring to the elixir rather than to the art itself) was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century Toledo, Spain, through contributors like Gerard of Cremona and Adelard of Bath. Translations of the time included the Turba Philosophorum, and the works of Avicenna and Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, carboy, elixir, and athanor are examples.

Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century St Anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century, Peter Abelard followed Anselm's work, laying down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle had reached the West. In the early 13th century, Robert Grosseteste used Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observation, experimentation, and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.

Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms. Albertus Magnus, a Dominican friar, is known to have written works such as the Book of Minerals where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like Hermes and Democritus and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist. Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student Thomas Aquinas.

Roger Bacon, a Franciscan friar who wrote on a wide variety of topics including optics, comparative linguistics, and medicine, composed his Great Work () for  as part of a project towards rebuilding the medieval university curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic, he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to soteriology and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this, noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy. Like the Greeks before him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the natural philosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The practical confirmed the theoretical, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine. In later European legend, he became an archmage. In particular, along with Albertus Magnus, he was credited with the forging of a brazen head capable of answering its owner's questions.

Soon after Bacon, the influential work of Pseudo-Geber (sometimes identified as Paul of Taranto) appeared. His Summa Perfectionis remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory, and the unusual clarity with which they were described. By the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the human soul). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded jargon set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practiced their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made observations and theories about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God.

In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves. Dante, Piers Plowman, and Chaucer all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. Pope John XXII's 1317 edict, Spondent quas non-exhibent forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists. Roman Catholic Inquisitor General Nicholas Eymerich's Directorium Inquisitorum, written in 1376, associated alchemy with the performance of demonic rituals, which Eymerich differentiated from magic performed in accordance with scripture. This did not, however, lead to any change in the Inquisition's monitoring or prosecution of alchemists. In 1403, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals (although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically, and a number were granted by Henry VI and Edward IV). These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of Petrus Bonus, John of Rupescissa, and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.

Nicolas Flamel is a well-known alchemist to the point where he had many pseudepigraphic imitators. Although the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612. Flamel was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the philosopher's stone. His work spends a great deal of time describing the processes and reactions, but never actually gives the formula for carrying out the transmutations. Most of 'his' work was aimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had existed before him, especially as regarded the philosopher's stone. Through the 14th and 15th centuries, alchemists were much like Flamel: they concentrated on looking for the philosophers' stone. Bernard Trevisan and George Ripley made similar contributions. Their cryptic allusions and symbolism led to wide variations in interpretation of the art.

A common idea in European alchemy in the medieval era was a metaphysical "Homeric chain of wise men that link[ed] heaven and earth" that included ancient pagan philosophers and other important historical figures.

Renaissance and early modern Europe 

During the Renaissance, Hermetic and Platonic foundations were restored to European alchemy. The dawn of medical, pharmaceutical, occult, and entrepreneurial branches of alchemy followed.

In the late 15th century, Marsilio Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum and the works of Plato into Latin. These were previously unavailable to Europeans who for the first time had a full picture of the alchemical theory that Bacon had declared absent. Renaissance Humanism and Renaissance Neoplatonism guided alchemists away from physics to refocus on mankind as the alchemical vessel.

Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala. A key figure in this development was German Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), who received his Hermetic education in Italy in the schools of the humanists. In his De Occulta Philosophia, he attempted to merge Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spreading this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders of Italy.

Paracelsus (Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of Agrippa's occultism and moving away from chrysopoeia. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote, "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines."

His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. Iatrochemistry refers to the pharmaceutical applications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus.

John Dee (13 July 1527 – December, 1608) followed Agrippa's occult tradition. Although better known for angel summoning, divination, and his role as astrologer, cryptographer, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I, Dee's alchemical Monas Hieroglyphica, written in 1564 was his most popular and influential work. His writing portrayed alchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line with the Hermetic axiom As above so below. During the 17th century, a short-lived "supernatural" interpretation of alchemy became popular, including support by fellows of the Royal Society: Robert Boyle and Elias Ashmole. Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemy believed that the philosopher's stone might be used to summon and communicate with angels.

Entrepreneurial opportunities were common for the alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists were contracted by the elite for practical purposes related to mining, medical services, and the production of chemicals, medicines, metals, and gemstones. Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the late 16th century, famously received and sponsored various alchemists at his court in Prague, including Dee and his associate Edward Kelley. King James IV of Scotland, Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Augustus, Elector of Saxony, Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, and Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel all contracted alchemists. John's son Arthur Dee worked as a court physician to Michael I of Russia and Charles I of England but also compiled the alchemical book Fasciculus Chemicus.

Although most of these appointments were legitimate, the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued through the Renaissance. Betrüger would use sleight of hand, or claims of secret knowledge to make money or secure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical alchemists such as Michael Maier and Heinrich Khunrath wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguishing themselves from the con artists. False alchemists were sometimes prosecuted for fraud.

The terms "chemia" and "alchemia" were used as synonyms in the early modern period, and the differences between alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners, and trying to classify them into alchemists, chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic. For example, Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), an alchemist better known for his astronomical and astrological investigations, had a laboratory built at his Uraniborg observatory/research institute. Michael Sendivogius (Michał Sędziwój, 1566–1636), a Polish alchemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited with distilling oxygen in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendivogious taught his technique to Cornelius Drebbel who, in 1621, applied this in a submarine. Isaac Newton devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see Isaac Newton's occult studies) than he did to either optics or physics. Other early modern alchemists who were eminent in their other studies include Robert Boyle, and Jan Baptist van Helmont. Their Hermeticism complemented rather than precluded their practical achievements in medicine and science.

Later modern period 

The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its peak in the 18th century. As late as 1781 James Price claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold. Early modern European alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity of theories, practices, and purposes: "Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian, Paracelsian and anti-Paracelsian, Hermetic, Neoplatonic, mechanistic, vitalistic, and more—plus virtually every combination and compromise thereof."

Robert Boyle (1627–1691) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data. Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant. This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries and ideas of Lavoisier and John Dalton.

Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction began to be drawn for the first time between "alchemy" and "chemistry". By the 1740s, "alchemy" was now restricted to the realm of gold making, leading to the popular belief that alchemists were charlatans, and the tradition itself nothing more than a fraud. In order to protect the developing science of modern chemistry from the negative censure to which alchemy was being subjected, academic writers during the 18th-century scientific Enlightenment attempted, for the sake of survival, to divorce and separate the "new" chemistry from the "old" practices of alchemy. This move was mostly successful, and the consequences of this continued into the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

During the occult revival of the early 19th century, alchemy received new attention as an occult science. The esoteric or occultist school, which arose during the 19th century, held (and continues to hold) the view that the substances and operations mentioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in a spiritual sense, and it downplays the role of the alchemy as a practical tradition or protoscience. This interpretation further forwarded the view that alchemy is an art primarily concerned with spiritual enlightenment or illumination, as opposed to the physical manipulation of apparatus and chemicals, and claims that the obscure language of the alchemical texts were an allegorical guise for spiritual, moral or mystical processes.

In the 19th-century revival of alchemy, the two most seminal figures were Mary Anne Atwood and Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who independently published similar works regarding spiritual alchemy. Both forwarded a completely esoteric view of alchemy, as Atwood claimed: "No modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims, has any thing in common with Alchemy." Atwood's work influenced subsequent authors of the occult revival including Eliphas Levi, Arthur Edward Waite, and Rudolf Steiner. Hitchcock, in his Remarks Upon Alchymists (1855) attempted to make a case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim that the alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under a materialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blasphemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron Carl Reichenbach, published his studies on Odic force, a concept with some similarities to alchemy, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.

In 1946, Louis Cattiaux published the Message Retrouvé, a work that was at once philosophical, mystical and highly influenced by alchemy. In his lineage, many researchers, including Emmanuel and Charles d'Hooghvorst, are updating alchemical studies in France and Belgium.

Women 
Several women appear in the earliest history of alchemy. Michael Maier names four women who were able to make the philosophers' stone: Mary the Jewess, Cleopatra the Alchemist, Medera, and Taphnutia. Zosimos' sister Theosebia (later known as Euthica the Arab) and Isis the Prophetess also played roles in early alchemical texts.

The first alchemist whose name we know was Mary the Jewess (). Early sources claim that Mary (or Maria) devised a number of improvements to alchemical equipment and tools as well as novel techniques in chemistry. Her best known advances were in heating and distillation processes. The laboratory water-bath, known eponymously (especially in France) as the bain-marie, is said to have been invented or at least improved by her. Essentially a double-boiler, it was (and is) used in chemistry for processes that required gentle heating. The tribikos (a modified distillation apparatus) and the kerotakis (a more intricate apparatus used especially for sublimations) are two other advancements in the process of distillation that are credited to her. Although we have no writing from Mary herself, she is known from the early-fourth-century writings of Zosimos of Panopolis. After the Greco-Roman period, women's names appear less frequently in alchemical literature.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and beginning of the Renaissance, due to the emergence of print, women were able to access the alchemical knowledge from texts of the preceding centuries. Caterina Sforza, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, is one of the few confirmed female alchemists after Mary the Jewess. As she owned an apothecary, she would practice science and conduct experiments in her botanic gardens and laboratories. Being knowledgeable in alchemy and pharmacology, she recorded all of her alchemical ventures in a manuscript named  ('Experiments'). The manuscript contained more than four hundred recipes covering alchemy as well as cosmetics and medicine. One of these recipes was for the water of talc. Talc, which makes up talcum powder, is a mineral which, when combined with water and distilled, was said to produce a solution which yielded many benefits. These supposed benefits included turning silver to gold and rejuvenation. When combined with white wine, its powder form could be ingested to counteract poison. Furthermore, if that powder was mixed and drunk with white wine, it was said to be a source of protection from any poison, sickness, or plague. Other recipes were for making hair dyes, lotions, lip colors. There was also information on how to treat a variety of ailments from fevers and coughs to epilepsy and cancer. In addition, there were instructions on producing the quintessence (or aether), an elixir which was believed to be able to heal all sicknesses, defend against diseases, and perpetuate youthfulness. She also wrote about creating the illustrious philosophers' stone.

Due to the proliferation in alchemical literature of pseudepigrapha and anonymous works, it is difficult to know which of the alchemists were actually women. As the sixteenth century went on, scientific culture flourished and people began collecting "secrets". During this period "secrets" referred to experiments, and the most coveted ones were not those which were bizarre, but the ones which had been proven to yield the desired outcome. Some women known for their interest in alchemy were Catherine de' Medici, the Queen of France, and Marie de' Medici, the following Queen of France, who carried out experiments in her personal laboratory. Also, Isabella d'Este, the Marchioness of Mantua, made perfumes herself to serve as gifts. In this period, the only book of secrets ascribed to a woman was  ('The Secrets of Signora Isabella Cortese'). This book contained information on how to turn base metals into gold, medicine, and cosmetics. However, it is rumored that a man, Girolamo Ruscelli, was the real author and only used a female voice to attract female readers. This contributed to a bigger problem in which male authors would credit prominent noblewomen for beauty products with the purpose of appealing to a female audience. For example, in  ("Gallant Recipe-Book"), the distillation of lemons and roses was attributed to Elisabetta Gonzaga, the duchess of Urbino. In the same book, Isabella d'Aragona, the daughter of Alfonso II of Naples, is accredited for recipes involving alum and mercury. Ippolita Maria Sforza is even referred to in an anonymous manuscript about a hand lotion created with rose powder and crushed bones.

Mary Anne Atwood's A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery (1850) marks the return of women during the nineteenth-century occult revival.

Modern historical research 
The history of alchemy has become a significant and recognized subject of academic study. As the language of the alchemists is analyzed, historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the evolution of science and philosophy, the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, kabbalism, spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, and other mystic movements. Institutions involved in this research include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project at Indiana University, the University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO), the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE), and the University of Amsterdam's Sub-department for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam.

Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy include 'Ambix', published by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, and 'Isis', published by The History of Science Society.

Core concepts 

Western alchemical theory corresponds to the worldview of late antiquity in which it was born. Concepts were imported from Neoplatonism and earlier Greek cosmology. As such, the classical elements appear in alchemical writings, as do the seven classical planets and the corresponding seven metals of antiquity. Similarly, the gods of the Roman pantheon who are associated with these luminaries are discussed in alchemical literature. The concepts of prima materia and anima mundi are central to the theory of the philosopher's stone.

Magnum opus 

The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages represented by colors.
nigredo, a blackening or melanosis
albedo, a whitening or leucosis
citrinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis
rubedo, a reddening, purpling, or iosis

Modernity 
Due to the complexity and obscurity of alchemical literature, and the 18th-century disappearance of remaining alchemical practitioners into the area of chemistry, the general understanding of alchemy has been strongly influenced by several distinct and radically different interpretations. Those focusing on the exoteric, such as historians of science Lawrence M. Principe and William R. Newman, have interpreted the 'decknamen' (or code words) of alchemy as physical substances. These scholars have reconstructed physicochemical experiments that they say are described in medieval and early modern texts. At the opposite end of the spectrum, focusing on the esoteric, scholars, such as Florin George Călian and Anna Marie Roos, who question the reading of Principe and Newman, interpret these same decknamen as spiritual, religious, or psychological concepts.

New interpretations of alchemy are still perpetuated, sometimes merging in concepts from New Age or radical environmentalism movements. Groups like the Rosicrucians and Freemasons have a continued interest in alchemy and its symbolism. Since the Victorian revival of alchemy, "occultists reinterpreted alchemy as a spiritual practice, involving the self-transformation of the practitioner and only incidentally or not at all the transformation of laboratory substances", which has contributed to a merger of magic and alchemy in popular thought.

Esoteric interpretations of historical texts
In the eyes of a variety of modern esoteric and Neo-Hermeticist practitioners, alchemy is fundamentally spiritual. In this interpretation, transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection.

According to this view, early alchemists such as Zosimos of Panopolis () highlighted the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul. This approach is held to have continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes are supposed to have been used as metaphors for spiritual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation. In this sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formulas' were like a veil, hiding their true spiritual philosophy. In the Neo-Hermeticist interpretation, both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea are held to symbolize evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible, and ephemeral state toward a perfect, healthy, incorruptible, and everlasting state, so the philosopher's stone then represented a mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist, the twin goal symbolized their evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented a hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are held to have been written according to this view, the cryptic alchemical symbols, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works are supposed to contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; which must be laboriously decoded to discover their true meaning.

In his 1766 Alchemical Catechism, Théodore Henri de Tschudi denotes that the usage of the metals was merely symbolic:

Psychology 
Alchemical symbolism has been important in analytical psychology and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Jung was initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images but after being given a copy of The Secret of the Golden Flower, a Chinese alchemical text translated by his friend Richard Wilhelm, he discovered a direct correlation or parallel between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the inner, symbolic images coming up in his patients' dreams, visions, or fantasies. He observed these alchemical images occurring during the psychic process of transformation, a process that Jung called "individuation." Specifically, he regarded the conjuring up of images of gold or Lapis as symbolic expressions of the origin and goal of this "process of individuation." Together with his alchemical mystica soror (mystical sister) Jungian Swiss analyst Marie-Louise von Franz, Jung began collecting old alchemical texts, compiled a lexicon of key phrases with cross-references, and pored over them. The volumes of work he wrote shed new light onto understanding the art of transubstantiation and renewed alchemy's popularity as a symbolic process of coming into wholeness as a human being where opposites are brought into contact and inner and outer, spirit and matter are reunited in the hieros gamos, or divine marriage. His writings are influential in general psychology, but especially to those who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams, symbols, and the unconscious archetypal forces (archetypes) that comprise all psychic life.

Both von Franz and Jung have contributed significantly to the subject and work of alchemy and its continued presence in psychology as well as contemporary culture. Among the volumes Jung wrote on alchemy, his magnum opus is Volume 14 of his Collected Works, Mysterium Coniunctionis.

Literature 

Alchemy has had a long-standing relationship with art, seen both in alchemical texts and in mainstream entertainment. Literary alchemy appears throughout the history of English literature from Shakespeare to J. K. Rowling, and also the popular Japanese manga Fullmetal Alchemist. Here, characters or plot structure follow an alchemical magnum opus. In the 14th century, Chaucer began a trend of alchemical satire that can still be seen in recent fantasy works like those of the late Sir Terry Pratchett.

Visual artists had a similar relationship with alchemy. While some of them used alchemy as a source of satire, others worked with the alchemists themselves or integrated alchemical thought or symbols in their work. Music was also present in the works of alchemists and continues to influence popular performers. In the last hundred years, alchemists have been portrayed in a magical and spagyric role in fantasy fiction, film, television, novels, comics and video games.

Science 

One goal of alchemy, the transmutation of base substances into gold, is now known to be impossible by chemical means but possible by physical means. Although not financially worthwhile, gold was synthesized in particle accelerators as early as 1941.

See also 

Alchemical symbol
Corentin Louis Kervran § Biological transmutation
Cupellation
Historicism
History of chemistry
List of alchemists
List of alchemical substances
Chemistry
Nuclear transmutation
Outline of alchemy
Porta Alchemica
Renaissance magic
Spagyric
Superseded theories in science
Synthesis of precious metals
Western esotericism

Notes

References

Citations

Sources used

Bibliography

Introductions and textbooks 
  (focus on technical aspects)
  (focus on technical aspects)
 
  (general overview)
  (Greek and Byzantine alchemy)
  (focus on technical aspects)
 
  (Greek and Byzantine alchemy)
  (the second part of volume 1 was never published; the other volumes deal with the modern period and are not relevant for alchemy)
  (general overview, focus on esoteric aspects)
  (general overview, written in a highly accessible style)

Greco-Egyptian alchemy

Texts 
 Marcellin Berthelot and Charles-Émile Ruelle (eds.), Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs (CAAG), 3 vols., 1887–1888, Vol 1: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96492923, Vol 2: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9680734p, Vol. 3: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9634942s.
 André-Jean Festugière, La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014 (, OCLC 897235256).
 Robert Halleux and Henri-Dominique Saffrey (eds.), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 1 : Papyrus de Leyde – Papyrus de Stockholm – Recettes, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1981.
 Otto Lagercrantz (ed), Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis, Uppsala, A.B. Akademiska Bokhandeln, 1913, Papyrus graecus holmiensis (P. holm.); Recepte für Silber, Steine und Purpur, bearb. von Otto Lagercrantz. Hrsg. mit Unterstützung des Vilh. Ekman'schen Universitätsfonds.
 Michèle Mertens and Henri-Dominique Saffrey (ed.), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 4.1 : Zosime de Panopolis. Mémoires authentiques, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1995.
 Andrée Collinet and Henri-Dominique Saffrey (ed.), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 10 : L'Anonyme de Zuretti ou l'Art sacré and divin de la chrysopée par un anonyme, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000.
 Andrée Collinet (ed), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 11 : Recettes alchimiques (Par. Gr. 2419; Holkhamicus 109) – Cosmas le Hiéromoine – Chrysopée, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000.
 Matteo Martelli (ed), The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, Maney Publishing, 2014.

Studies 
 Dylan M. Burns, " μίξεώς τινι τέχνῃ κρείττονι : Alchemical Metaphor in the Paraphrase of Shem (NHC VII,1) ", Aries 15 (2015), p. 79–106.
 Alberto Camplani, " Procedimenti magico-alchemici e discorso filosofico ermetico " in Giuliana Lanata (ed.), Il Tardoantico alle soglie del Duemila, ETS, 2000, p. 73–98.
 Alberto Camplani and Marco Zambon, " Il sacrificio come problema in alcune correnti filosofice di età imperiale ", Annali di storia dell'esegesi 19 (2002), p. 59–99.
 Régine Charron and Louis Painchaud, " 'God is a Dyer,' The Background and Significance of a Puzzling Motif in the Coptic Gospel According to Philip (CG II, 3), Le Muséon 114 (2001), p. 41-50.
 Régine Charron, " The Apocryphon of John (NHC II,1) and the Greco-Egyptian Alchemical Literature ", Vigiliae Christinae 59 (2005), p. 438-456.
 Philippe Derchain, "L'Atelier des Orfèvres à Dendara et les origines de l'alchimie," Chronique d'Égypte, vol. 65, no 130, 1990, p. 219–242.
 Korshi Dosoo, " A History of the Theban Magical Library ", Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 53 (2016), p. 251–274.
 Olivier Dufault, Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity, California Classical Studies, 2019, Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity.
 Sergio Knipe, " Sacrifice and self-transformation in the alchemical writings of Zosimus of Panopolis ", in Christopher Kelly, Richard Flower, Michael Stuart Williams (eds.), Unclassical Traditions. Volume II: Perspectives from East and West in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 59–69.
 André-Jean Festugière, La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014 , .
 Kyle A. Fraser, " Zosimos of Panopolis and the Book of Enoch: Alchemy as Forbidden Knowledge ", Aries 4.2 (2004), p. 125–147.
 Kyle A. Fraser, " Baptized in Gnosis: The Spiritual Alchemy of Zosimos of Panopolis ", Dionysius 25 (2007), p. 33–54.
 Kyle A. Fraser, " Distilling Nature's Secrets: The Sacred Art of Alchemy ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 721–742. 2018. .
 Shannon Grimes, Becoming Gold: Zosimos of Panopolis and the Alchemical Arts in Roman Egypt, Auckland, Rubedo Press, 2018, 
 Paul T. Keyser, " Greco-Roman Alchemy and Coins of Imitation Silver ", American Journal of Numismatics 7–8 (1995–1996), p. 209–234.
 Paul Keyser, " The Longue Durée of Alchemy ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 409–430.
 Jean Letrouit, "Chronologie des alchimistes grecs," in Didier Kahn and Sylvain Matton, Alchimie: art, histoire et mythes, SEHA-Archè, 1995, p. 11–93.
 Lindsay, Jack. The Origins of Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt. Barnes & Noble, 1970.
 Paul Magdalino and Maria Mavroudi (eds.), The Occult Sciences in Byzantium, La Pomme d'or, 2006.
 Matteo Martelli, " The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition " in Sven Dupré (ed.), Laboratories of Art, Springer, 2014, .
 Matteo Martelli, " Alchemy, Medicine and Religion: Zosimus of Panopolis and the Egyptian Priests ", Religion in the Roman Empire 3.2 (2017), p. 202–220.
 Gerasimos Merianos, " Alchemy ", In A. Kaldellis & N. Siniossoglou (eds.), The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium (pp. 234–251). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017, .
 Efthymios Nikolaïdis (ed.), Greek Alchemy from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity, Brepols, 2019, .
 Daniel Stolzenberg, " Unpropitious Tinctures: Alchemy, Astrology & Gnosis According to Zosimos of Panopolis ", Archives internationales d'histoire des sciences 49 (1999), p. 3–31.
 Cristina Viano, " Byzantine Alchemy, or the Era of Systematization ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 943–964.
 C. Vlachou and al., " Experimental investigation of silvering in late Roman coinage ", Material Research Society Symposium Proceedings 712 (2002), p. II9.2.1-II9.2.9, .

Early modern 
 Principe, Lawrence and William Newman. Alchemy Tried in the Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

External links 

 SHAC: Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
 ESSWE: European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism
 Association for the Study of Esotericism

 
Esotericism
Hermeticism
Natural philosophy
History of science

Alien primarily refers to:
 Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country
 Enemy alien, the above in times of war
 Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth
 Specifically, a lifeform with extraterrestrial intelligence
 For fictional extraterrestrial life, see Extraterrestrials in fiction
 Introduced species, a species not native to its environment

Alien(s), or The Alien(s) may also refer to:

Science and technology 
 AliEn (ALICE Environment), a grid framework
 Alien (file converter), a Linux program
 Alien Technology, a manufacturer of RFID technology

Arts and entertainment 
 Alien (franchise), a media franchise
 Xenomorph, the titular alien in the franchise

Films
 Alien (film), a 1979 film by Ridley Scott
 Aliens (film), second film in the franchise from 1986 by James Cameron
 Alien 3, third film in the franchise from 1992 by David Fincher
 Alien Resurrection, fourth film in the franchise from 1997 by Jean-Pierre Jeunet
 Alien vs. Predator (film), fifth film in the franchise from 2004 by Paul W. S. Anderson
 Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, sixth film in the franchise from 2007 by the Brothers Strause
 Prometheus (2012 film), seventh film in the franchise from 2012 by Ridley Scott
 Alien: Covenant, eighth film in the franchise from 2017 by Ridley Scott
 Alien 2: On Earth, a 1980 unofficial sequel of the 1979 Alien film
Alien Visitor (also titled Epsilon) (1995 film) AustralianItalian science fiction film by Rolf de Heer
 The Alien (2016 film), a 2016 Mexican film
 The Alien (unproduced film), an incomplete 1960s IndianAmerican film
 Alienoid, a 2022 South Korean film

Literature 
 Alien novels, an extension of the Alien franchise
 Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual, a 1995 book by Lee Brimmicombe-Wood, a guide to the fictional United States Colonial Marines
 Aliens (Tappan Wright novel), a 1902 novel by Mary Tappan Wright
 Aliens! (anthology) a 1980 anthology of science fiction edited by Gardner Dozois and Jack Dann
 The Alien (novel), the eighth book in the Animorphs series by Katherine Applegate
 The Aliens (play), a 2010 play by Annie Baker

Music

Performers 
 Alien (band), a 1980s Swedish rock group
 The Aliens (Australian band), a 1970s new wave group
 The Aliens (Scottish band), a 2005–2008 rock group
 The Aliens, the backing band for the American musician Jared Louche on his 1999 solo debut album Covergirl

Albums 
 Alien (soundtrack), 1979
 Alien (Beam album), 2022
 Alien (Northlane album), 2019
 Alien (Strapping Young Lad album), 2005
 Alien, a 1989 EP by Tankard
 Aliens (soundtrack), 1987

Songs 
 "Alien" (Britney Spears song), 2013
 "Alien" (Jonas Blue and Sabrina Carpenter song), 2018
 "Alien", a song by Atlanta Rhythm from the album Quinella, 1981
 "Alien", a song by Bush from the album Sixteen Stone, 1994
 "Alien", a song by Erasure from the album Loveboat, 2000
 "Alien", a song by Japan from the album Quiet Life, 1979
 "Alien", a song by Lamb from the album Fear of Fours, 1999
 "Alien", a song by Nerina Pallot from the album Dear Frustrated Superstar, 2001
 "Alien", a song by P-Model from the album Landsale, 1980
 "Alien", a song by Pennywise from the album Straight Ahead, 1999
 "Alien", a song by Stray Kids from the album SKZ-Replay, 2022
 "Alien", a song by Structures from the album Life Through a Window, 2014
 "Alien", a song by the National from the album First Two Pages of Frankenstein, 2023
 "Alien", a song by Third Day from the album Conspiracy No. 5, 1997
 "Alien", a song by Thriving Ivory from the album Thriving Ivory, 2003
 "Alien", a song by Tokio Hotel from the album Humanoid, 2009
 "Alien", a 2020 song by Lee Su-hyun
 "Alien", a 2020 song by Dennis Lloyd
 "Aliens" (song), a 2017 song by Coldplay
 "Aliens", a 1984 song by Warlord
 "The Alien", a song by Dream Theater from the album A View from the Top of the World, 2021

Video games 
 Alien (1984 video game), based on the film
 Alien (Atari 2600), a 1982 maze game based on the 1979 film
 Alien: Isolation, a 2014 video game based on the Alien science fiction horror film series
 Aliens (1982 video game), a text-only clone of Space Invaders written for the CP/M operating system on the Kaypro computer
 Aliens (1990 video game), a game by Konami, based on the sequel of the film

Other media 
 Alien (Armenian TV series), a 2017 melodrama series
 Alien (sculpture), a 2012 work by David Breuer-Weil, in Mottisfont, Hampshire, England
 Aliens (Dark Horse Comics line)
 The Aliens (TV series), 2016 British sci-fi television series
 "Aliens" (Roseanne), a 1992 television episode

Other uses 
 Alien (shipping company), a Russian company
 Alien Sun (born 1974), Singaporean actress
 Alien, a perfume by Thierry Mugler
 Alian District (Alien), in Taiwan

See also 
 Alians, an Islamic order
 Alien Project (disambiguation)
 Alien vs. Predator (disambiguation)
 Astrobiology, the study of hypothetical alien life
 ATLiens, a 1996 album by OutKast
 Predator (disambiguation)
 UFO (disambiguation)
 Unidentified flying object (disambiguation)

An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either observational (by analyzing the data) or theoretical astronomy. Examples of topics or fields astronomers study include planetary science, solar astronomy, the origin or evolution of stars, or the formation of galaxies. A related but distinct subject is physical cosmology, which studies the Universe as a whole.

Types
Astronomers usually fall under either of two main types: observational and theoretical. Observational astronomers make direct observations of celestial objects and analyze the data. In contrast, theoretical astronomers create and investigate models of things that cannot be observed. Because it takes millions to billions of years for a system of stars or a galaxy to complete a life cycle, astronomers must observe snapshots of different systems at unique points in their evolution to determine how they form, evolve, and die. They use this data to create models or simulations to theorize how different celestial objects work.

Further subcategories under these two main branches of astronomy include planetary astronomy, galactic astronomy, or physical cosmology.

Academic 

Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using physical laws. Today, that distinction has mostly disappeared and the terms "astronomer" and "astrophysicist" are interchangeable. Professional astronomers are highly educated individuals who typically have a PhD in physics or astronomy and are employed by research institutions or universities. They spend the majority of their time working on research, although they quite often have other duties such as teaching, building instruments, or aiding in the operation of an observatory.

The American Astronomical Society, which is the major organization of professional astronomers in North America, has approximately 7,000 members. This number includes scientists from other fields such as physics, geology, and engineering, whose research interests are closely related to astronomy. The International Astronomical Union comprises almost 10,145 members from 70 countries who are involved in astronomical research at the PhD level and beyond.

Contrary to the classical image of an old astronomer peering through a telescope through the dark hours of the night, it is far more common to use a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to record a long, deep exposure, allowing a more sensitive image to be created because the light is added over time. Before CCDs, photographic plates were a common method of observation. Modern astronomers spend relatively little time at telescopes usually just a few weeks per year. Analysis of observed phenomena, along with making predictions as to the causes of what they observe, takes the majority of observational astronomers' time.

Astronomers who serve as faculty spend much of their time teaching undergraduate and graduate classes. Most universities also have outreach programs including public telescope time and sometimes planetariums as a public service to encourage interest in the field.

Those who become astronomers usually have a broad background in maths, sciences and computing in high school. Taking courses that teach how to research, write, and present papers are also invaluable. In college/university most astronomers get a PhD in astronomy or physics.

Amateur astronomers 

While there is a relatively low number of professional astronomers, the field is popular among amateurs. Most cities have amateur astronomy clubs that meet on a regular basis and often host star parties. The Astronomical Society of the Pacific is the largest general astronomical society in the world, comprising both professional and amateur astronomers as well as educators from 70 different nations. Like any hobby, most people who think of themselves as amateur astronomers may devote a few hours a month to stargazing and reading the latest developments in research. However, amateurs span the range from so-called "armchair astronomers" to the very ambitious, who own science-grade telescopes and instruments with which they are able to make their own discoveries and assist professional astronomers in research.

See also 
 List of astronomers
 List of women astronomers
 List of Muslim astronomers
 List of French astronomers
 List of Hungarian astronomers
 List of Russian astronomers and astrophysicists
 List of Slovenian astronomers

References

Sources

External links 
 American Astronomical Society
 European Astronomical Society
 International Astronomical Union
 Astronomical Society of the Pacific
 Space's astronomy news

Astronomy
 
Science occupations

ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of technical limitations of computer systems at the time it was invented, ASCII has just 128 code points, of which only 95 are , which severely limited its scope. Modern computer systems have evolved to use Unicode, which has millions of code points, but the first 128 of these are the same as the ASCII set.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) prefers the name US-ASCII for this character encoding. 

ASCII is one of the IEEE milestones.

Overview
ASCII was developed from telegraph code. Its first commercial use was in the Teletype Model 33 and the Teletype Model 35 as a seven-bit teleprinter code promoted by Bell data services. Work on the ASCII standard began in May 1961, with the first meeting of the American Standards Association's (ASA) (now the American National Standards Institute or ANSI) X3.2 subcommittee. The first edition of the standard was published in 1963, underwent a major revision during 1967, and experienced its most recent update during 1986. Compared to earlier telegraph codes, the proposed Bell code and ASCII were both ordered for more convenient sorting (i.e., alphabetization) of lists and added features for devices other than teleprinters.

The use of ASCII format for Network Interchange was described in 1969. That document was formally elevated to an Internet Standard in 2015.

Originally based on the (modern) English alphabet, ASCII encodes 128 specified characters into seven-bit integers as shown by the ASCII chart in this article. Ninety-five of the encoded characters are printable: these include the digits 0 to 9, lowercase letters a to z, uppercase letters A to Z, and punctuation symbols. In addition, the original ASCII specification included 33 non-printing control codes which originated with s; most of these are now obsolete, although a few are still commonly used, such as the carriage return, line feed, and tab codes.

For example, lowercase i would be represented in the ASCII encoding by binary 1101001 = hexadecimal 69 (i is the ninth letter) = decimal 105.

Despite being an American standard, ASCII does not have a code point for the cent (¢). It also does not support English terms with diacritical marks such as résumé and jalapeño, or proper nouns with diacritical marks such as Beyoncé.

History

The American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) was developed under the auspices of a committee of the American Standards Association (ASA), called the X3 committee, by its X3.2 (later X3L2) subcommittee, and later by that subcommittee's X3.2.4 working group (now INCITS). The ASA later became the United States of America Standards Institute (USASI) and ultimately became the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

With the other special characters and control codes filled in, ASCII was published as ASA X3.4-1963, leaving 28 code positions without any assigned meaning, reserved for future standardization, and one unassigned control code. There was some debate at the time whether there should be more control characters rather than the lowercase alphabet. The indecision did not last long: during May 1963 the CCITT Working Party on the New Telegraph Alphabet proposed to assign lowercase characters to sticks 6 and 7, and International Organization for Standardization TC 97 SC 2 voted during October to incorporate the change into its draft standard. The X3.2.4 task group voted its approval for the change to ASCII at its May 1963 meeting. Locating the lowercase letters in sticks 6 and 7 caused the characters to differ in bit pattern from the upper case by a single bit, which simplified case-insensitive character matching and the construction of keyboards and printers.

The X3 committee made other changes, including other new characters (the brace and vertical bar characters), renaming some control characters (SOM became start of header (SOH)) and moving or removing others (RU was removed). ASCII was subsequently updated as USAS X3.4-1967, then USAS X3.4-1968, ANSI X3.4-1977, and finally, ANSI X3.4-1986.

Revisions of the ASCII standard:

 ASA X3.4-1963
 ASA X3.4-1965 (approved, but not published, nevertheless used by IBM 2260 & 2265 Display Stations and IBM 2848 Display Control)
 USAS X3.4-1967
 USAS X3.4-1968
 ANSI X3.4-1977
 ANSI X3.4-1986
 ANSI X3.4-1986 (R1992)
 ANSI X3.4-1986 (R1997)
 ANSI INCITS 4-1986 (R2002)
 ANSI INCITS 4-1986 (R2007)
 (ANSI) INCITS 4-1986[R2012]
 (ANSI) INCITS 4-1986[R2017]

In the X3.15 standard, the X3 committee also addressed how ASCII should be transmitted (least significant bit first) and recorded on perforated tape. They proposed a 9-track standard for magnetic tape and attempted to deal with some punched card formats.

Design considerations

Bit width
The X3.2 subcommittee designed ASCII based on the earlier teleprinter encoding systems. Like other character encodings, ASCII specifies a correspondence between digital bit patterns and character symbols (i.e. graphemes and control characters). This allows digital devices to communicate with each other and to process, store, and communicate character-oriented information such as written language. Before ASCII was developed, the encodings in use included 26 alphabetic characters, 10 numerical digits, and from 11 to 25 special graphic symbols. To include all these, and control characters compatible with the Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique (CCITT) International Telegraph Alphabet No. 2 (ITA2) standard of 1924, FIELDATA (1956), and early EBCDIC (1963), more than 64 codes were required for ASCII.

ITA2 was in turn based on the 5-bit telegraph code that Émile Baudot invented in 1870 and patented in 1874.

The committee debated the possibility of a shift function (like in ITA2), which would allow more than 64 codes to be represented by a six-bit code. In a shifted code, some character codes determine choices between options for the following character codes. It allows compact encoding, but is less reliable for data transmission, as an error in transmitting the shift code typically makes a long part of the transmission unreadable. The standards committee decided against shifting, and so ASCII required at least a seven-bit code.

The committee considered an eight-bit code, since eight bits (octets) would allow two four-bit patterns to efficiently encode two digits with binary-coded decimal. However, it would require all data transmission to send eight bits when seven could suffice. The committee voted to use a seven-bit code to minimize costs associated with data transmission. Since perforated tape at the time could record eight bits in one position, it also allowed for a parity bit for error checking if desired. Eight-bit machines (with octets as the native data type) that did not use parity checking typically set the eighth bit to 0.

Internal organization
The code itself was patterned so that most control codes were together and all graphic codes were together, for ease of identification. The first two so-called ASCII sticks (32 positions) were reserved for control characters. The "space" character had to come before graphics to make sorting easier, so it became position 20hex; for the same reason, many special signs commonly used as separators were placed before digits. The committee decided it was important to support uppercase 64-character alphabets, and chose to pattern ASCII so it could be reduced easily to a usable 64-character set of graphic codes, as was done in the DEC SIXBIT code (1963). Lowercase letters were therefore not interleaved with uppercase. To keep options available for lowercase letters and other graphics, the special and numeric codes were arranged before the letters, and the letter A was placed in position 41hex to match the draft of the corresponding British standard. The digits 0–9 are prefixed with 011, but the remaining 4 bits correspond to their respective values in binary, making conversion with binary-coded decimal straightforward (for example, 5 in encoded to 0110101, where 5 is 0101 in binary).

Many of the non-alphanumeric characters were positioned to correspond to their shifted position on typewriters; an important subtlety is that these were based on mechanical typewriters, not electric typewriters. Mechanical typewriters followed the de facto standard set by the Remington No. 2 (1878), the first typewriter with a shift key, and the shifted values of 23456789- were "#$%_&'() early typewriters omitted 0 and 1, using O (capital letter o) and l (lowercase letter L) instead, but 1! and 0) pairs became standard once 0 and 1 became common. Thus, in ASCII !"#$% were placed in the second stick, positions 1–5, corresponding to the digits 1–5 in the adjacent stick. The parentheses could not correspond to 9 and 0, however, because the place corresponding to 0 was taken by the space character. This was accommodated by removing _ (underscore) from 6 and shifting the remaining characters, which corresponded to many European typewriters that placed the parentheses with 8 and 9. This discrepancy from typewriters led to bit-paired keyboards, notably the Teletype Model 33, which used the left-shifted layout corresponding to ASCII, differently from traditional mechanical typewriters. 

Electric typewriters, notably the IBM Selectric (1961), used a somewhat different layout that has become de facto standard on computers following the IBM PC (1981), especially Model M (1984) and thus shift values for symbols on modern keyboards do not correspond as closely to the ASCII table as earlier keyboards did. The /? pair also dates to the No. 2, and the ,< .> pairs were used on some keyboards (others, including the No. 2, did not shift , (comma) or . (full stop) so they could be used in uppercase without unshifting). However, ASCII split the ;: pair (dating to No. 2), and rearranged mathematical symbols (varied conventions, commonly -* =+) to :* ;+ -=.

Some then-common typewriter characters were not included, notably ½ ¼ ¢, while ^ ` ~  were included as diacritics for international use, and < > for mathematical use, together with the simple line characters \ | (in addition to common /). The @ symbol was not used in continental Europe and the committee expected it would be replaced by an accented À in the French variation, so the @ was placed in position 40hex, right before the letter A.

The control codes felt essential for data transmission were the start of message (SOM), end of address (EOA), end of message (EOM), end of transmission (EOT), "who are you?" (WRU), "are you?" (RU), a reserved device control (DC0), synchronous idle (SYNC), and acknowledge (ACK). These were positioned to maximize the Hamming distance between their bit patterns.

Character order
ASCII-code order is also called ASCIIbetical order. Collation of data is sometimes done in this order rather than "standard" alphabetical order (collating sequence). The main deviations in ASCII order are:
 All uppercase come before lowercase letters; for example, "Z" precedes "a"
 Digits and many punctuation marks come before letters

An intermediate order converts uppercase letters to lowercase before comparing ASCII values.

Character set

Character groups

Control characters

ASCII reserves the first 32 code points (numbers 0–31 decimal) and the last one (number 127 decimal) for control characters. These are codes intended  to control peripheral devices (such as printers), or to provide meta-information about data streams, such as those stored on magnetic tape. Despite their name, these code points do not represent printable characters although for debugging purposes, "placeholder" symbols (such as those given in ISO 2047 and its predecessors) are assigned.

For example, character 0x0A represents the "line feed" function (which causes a printer to advance its paper), and character 8 represents "backspace".  refers to control characters that do not include carriage return, line feed or white space as non-whitespace control characters. Except for the control characters that prescribe elementary line-oriented formatting, ASCII does not define any mechanism for describing the structure or appearance of text within a document. Other schemes, such as markup languages, address page and document layout and formatting.

The original ASCII standard used only short descriptive phrases for each control character. The ambiguity this caused was sometimes intentional, for example where a character would be used slightly differently on a terminal link than on a data stream, and sometimes accidental, for example with the meaning of "delete".

Probably the most influential single device affecting the interpretation of these characters was the Teletype Model 33 ASR, which was a printing terminal with an available paper tape reader/punch option. Paper tape was a very popular medium for long-term program storage until the 1980s, less costly and in some ways less fragile than magnetic tape. In particular, the Teletype Model 33 machine assignments for codes 17 (control-Q, DC1, also known as XON), 19 (control-S, DC3, also known as XOFF), and 127 (delete) became de facto standards. The Model 33 was also notable for taking the description of control-G (code 7, BEL, meaning audibly alert the operator) literally, as the unit contained an actual bell which it rang when it received a BEL character.  Because the keytop for the O key also showed a left-arrow symbol (from ASCII-1963, which had this character instead of underscore), a noncompliant use of code 15 (control-O, shift in) interpreted as "delete previous character" was also adopted by many early timesharing systems but eventually became neglected.

When a Teletype 33 ASR equipped with the automatic paper tape reader received a control-S (XOFF, an abbreviation for transmit off), it caused the tape reader to stop; receiving control-Q (XON, transmit on) caused the tape reader to resume.  This so-called flow control technique became adopted by several early computer operating systems as a "handshaking" signal warning a sender to stop transmission because of impending buffer overflow; it persists to this day in many systems as a manual output control technique. On some systems, control-S retains its meaning, but control-Q is replaced by a second control-S to resume output.  

The 33 ASR also could be configured to employ control-R (DC2) and control-T (DC4) to start and stop the tape punch; on some units equipped with this function, the corresponding control character lettering on the keycap above the letter was TAPE and TAPE respectively.

Delete vs backspace
The Teletype could not move its typehead backwards, so it did not have a key on its keyboard to send a BS (backspace). Instead, there was a key marked  that sent code 127 (DEL). The purpose of this key was to erase mistakes in a manually-input paper tape: the operator had to push a button on the tape punch to back it up, then type the rubout, which punched all holes and replaced the mistake with a character that was intended to be ignored. Teletypes were commonly used with the less-expensive computers from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC); these systems had to use what keys were available, and thus the DEL character was assigned to erase the previous character. Because of this, DEC video terminals (by default) sent the DEL character for the key marked "Backspace" while the separate key marked "Delete" sent an escape sequence; many other competing terminals sent a BS character for the backspace key. 

The Unix terminal driver could only use one character to erase the previous character; this could be set to BS or DEL, but not both, resulting in recurring situations of ambiguity where users had to decide depending on what terminal they were using (shells that allow line editing, such as ksh, bash, and zsh, understand both). The assumption that no key sent a BS character allowed control+H to be used for other purposes, such as the "help" prefix command in GNU Emacs.

Escape
Many more of the control characters have been assigned meanings quite different from their original ones. The "escape" character (ESC, code 27), for example, was intended originally to allow sending of other control characters as literals instead of invoking their meaning, an "escape sequence". This is the same meaning of "escape" encountered in URL encodings, C language strings, and other systems where certain characters have a reserved meaning. Over time this interpretation has been co-opted and has eventually been changed. 

In modern usage, an ESC sent to the terminal usually indicates the start of a command sequence usually in the form of a so-called "ANSI escape code" (or, more properly, a "Control Sequence Introducer") from ECMA-48 (1972) and its successors, beginning with ESC followed by a "[" (left-bracket) character. In contrast, an ESC sent from the terminal is most often used as an out-of-band character used to terminate an operation or special mode, as in the TECO and vi text editors. In graphical user interface (GUI) and windowing systems, ESC generally causes an application to abort its current operation or to exit (terminate) altogether.

End of line
The inherent ambiguity of many control characters, combined with their historical usage, created problems when transferring "plain text" files between systems. The best example of this is the newline problem on various operating systems. Teletype machines required that a line of text be terminated with both "carriage return" (which moves the printhead to the beginning of the line) and "line feed" (which advances the paper one line without moving the printhead). The name "carriage return" comes from the fact that on a manual typewriter the carriage holding the paper moves while the typebars that strike the ribbon remain stationary.  The entire carriage had to be pushed (returned) to the right in order to position the paper for the next line.

DEC operating systems (OS/8, RT-11, RSX-11, RSTS, TOPS-10, etc.) used both characters to mark the end of a line so that the console device (originally Teletype machines) would work. By the time so-called "glass TTYs" (later called CRTs or "dumb terminals") came along, the convention was so well established that backward compatibility necessitated continuing to follow it. When Gary Kildall created CP/M, he was inspired by some of the command line interface conventions used in DEC's RT-11 operating system. 

Until the introduction of PC DOS in 1981, IBM had no influence in this because their 1970s operating systems used EBCDIC encoding instead of ASCII, and they were oriented toward punch-card input and line printer output on which the concept of "carriage return" was meaningless. IBM's PC DOS (also marketed as MS-DOS by Microsoft) inherited the convention by virtue of being loosely based on CP/M, and Windows in turn inherited it from MS-DOS.

Requiring two characters to mark the end of a line introduces unnecessary complexity and ambiguity as to how to interpret each character when encountered by itself. To simplify matters, plain text data streams, including files, on Multics used line feed (LF) alone as a line terminator.  Unix and Unix-like systems, and Amiga systems, adopted this convention from Multics. On the other hand, the original Macintosh OS, Apple DOS, and ProDOS used carriage return (CR) alone as a line terminator; however, since Apple has now replaced these obsolete operating systems with the Unix-based macOS operating system, they now use line feed (LF) as well. The Radio Shack TRS-80 also used a lone CR to terminate lines.

Computers attached to the ARPANET included machines running operating systems such as TOPS-10 and TENEX using CR-LF line endings; machines running operating systems such as Multics using LF line endings; and machines running operating systems such as OS/360 that represented lines as a character count followed by the characters of the line and which used EBCDIC rather than ASCII encoding.  The Telnet protocol defined an ASCII "Network Virtual Terminal" (NVT), so that connections between hosts with different line-ending conventions and character sets could be supported by transmitting a standard text format over the network. Telnet used ASCII along with CR-LF line endings, and software using other conventions would translate between the local conventions and the NVT. The File Transfer Protocol adopted the Telnet protocol, including use of the Network Virtual Terminal, for use when transmitting commands and transferring data in the default ASCII mode. This adds complexity to implementations of those protocols, and to other network protocols, such as those used for E-mail and the World Wide Web, on systems not using the NVT's CR-LF line-ending convention.

End of file/stream
The PDP-6 monitor, and its PDP-10 successor TOPS-10, used control-Z (SUB) as an end-of-file indication for input from a terminal.  Some operating systems such as CP/M tracked file length only in units of disk blocks, and used control-Z to mark the end of the actual text in the file. For these reasons, EOF, or end-of-file, was used colloquially and conventionally as a three-letter acronym for control-Z instead of SUBstitute.  The end-of-text character (ETX), also known as control-C, was inappropriate for a variety of reasons, while using control-Z as the control character to end a file is analogous to the letter Z's position at the end of the alphabet, and serves as a very convenient mnemonic aid. A historically common and still prevalent convention uses the ETX character convention to interrupt and halt a program via an input data stream, usually from a keyboard.

The Unix terminal driver uses the end-of-transmission character (EOT), also known as control-D, to indicate the end of a data stream.

In the C programming language, and in Unix conventions, the null character is used to terminate text strings; such null-terminated strings can be known in abbreviation as ASCIZ or ASCIIZ, where here Z stands for "zero".

Control code chart

Other representations might be used by specialist equipment, for example ISO 2047 graphics or hexadecimal numbers.

Printable characters

Codes 20hex to 7Ehex, known as the printable characters, represent letters, digits, punctuation marks, and a few miscellaneous symbols. There are 95 printable characters in total.

Code 20hex, the "space" character, denotes the space between words, as produced by the space bar of a keyboard. Since the space character is considered an invisible graphic (rather than a control character) it is listed in the table below instead of in the previous section.

Code 7Fhex corresponds to the non-printable "delete" (DEL) control character and is therefore omitted from this chart; it is covered in the previous section's chart.  Earlier versions of ASCII used the up arrow instead of the caret (5Ehex) and the left arrow instead of the underscore (5Fhex).

Usage
ASCII was first used commercially during 1963 as a seven-bit teleprinter code for American Telephone & Telegraph's TWX (TeletypeWriter eXchange) network. TWX originally used the earlier five-bit ITA2, which was also used by the competing Telex teleprinter system. Bob Bemer introduced features such as the escape sequence. His British colleague Hugh McGregor Ross helped to popularize this work according to Bemer, "so much so that the code that was to become ASCII was first called the Bemer–Ross Code in Europe". Because of his extensive work on ASCII, Bemer has been called "the father of ASCII".

On March 11, 1968, US President Lyndon B. Johnson mandated that all computers purchased by the United States Federal Government support ASCII, stating:
I have also approved recommendations of the Secretary of Commerce [Luther H. Hodges] regarding standards for recording the Standard Code for Information Interchange on magnetic tapes and paper tapes when they are used in computer operations.
All computers and related equipment configurations brought into the Federal Government inventory on and after July 1, 1969, must have the capability to use the Standard Code for Information Interchange and the formats prescribed by the magnetic tape and paper tape standards when these media are used.

ASCII was the most common character encoding on the World Wide Web until December 2007, when UTF-8 encoding surpassed it; UTF-8 is backward compatible with ASCII.

Variants and derivations
As computer technology spread throughout the world, different standards bodies and corporations developed many variations of ASCII to facilitate the expression of non-English languages that used Roman-based alphabets. One could class some of these variations as "ASCII extensions", although some misuse that term to represent all variants, including those that do not preserve ASCII's character-map in the 7-bit range. Furthermore, the ASCII extensions have also been mislabelled as ASCII.

7-bit codes

From early in its development, ASCII was intended to be just one of several national variants of an international character code standard.

Other international standards bodies have ratified character encodings such as ISO 646 (1967) that are identical or nearly identical to ASCII, with extensions for characters outside the English alphabet and symbols used outside the United States, such as the symbol for the United Kingdom's pound sterling (£); e.g. with code page 1104. Almost every country needed an adapted version of ASCII, since ASCII suited the needs of only the US and a few other countries. For example, Canada had its own version that supported French characters.

Many other countries developed variants of ASCII to include non-English letters (e.g. é, ñ, ß, Ł), currency symbols (e.g. £, ¥), etc. See also YUSCII (Yugoslavia).

It would share most characters in common, but assign other locally useful characters to several code points reserved for "national use". However, the four years that elapsed between the publication of ASCII-1963 and ISO's first acceptance of an international recommendation during 1967 caused ASCII's choices for the national use characters to seem to be de facto standards for the world, causing confusion and incompatibility once other countries did begin to make their own assignments to these code points.

ISO/IEC 646, like ASCII, is a 7-bit character set. It does not make any additional codes available, so the same code points encoded different characters in different countries. Escape codes were defined to indicate which national variant applied to a piece of text, but they were rarely used, so it was often impossible to know what variant to work with and, therefore, which character a code represented, and in general, text-processing systems could cope with only one variant anyway.

Because the bracket and brace characters of ASCII were assigned to "national use" code points that were used for accented letters in other national variants of ISO/IEC 646, a German, French, or Swedish, etc. programmer using their national variant of ISO/IEC 646, rather than ASCII, had to write, and thus read, something such as

ä aÄiÜ = 'Ön'; ü

instead of

{ a[i] = '\n'; }

C trigraphs were created to solve this problem for ANSI C, although their late introduction and inconsistent implementation in compilers limited their use. Many programmers kept their computers on US-ASCII, so plain-text in Swedish, German etc. (for example, in e-mail or Usenet) contained "{, }" and similar variants in the middle of words, something those programmers got used to. For example, a Swedish programmer mailing another programmer asking if they should go for lunch, could get "N{ jag har sm|rg}sar" as the answer, which should be "Nä jag har smörgåsar" meaning "No I've got sandwiches".

In Japan and Korea, still  a variation of ASCII is used, in which the backslash (5C hex) is rendered as ¥ (a Yen sign, in Japan) or ₩ (a Won sign, in Korea). This means that, for example, the file path C:\Users\Smith is shown as C:¥Users¥Smith (in Japan) or C:₩Users₩Smith (in Korea).

In Europe, teletext character sets, which are variants of ASCII, are used for broadcast TV subtitles, defined by World System Teletext and broadcast using the DVB-TXT standard for embedding teletext into DVB transmissions. In the case that the subtitles were initially authored for teletext and converted, the derived subtitle formats are constrained to the same character sets.

8-bit codes

Eventually, as 8-, 16-, and 32-bit (and later 64-bit) computers began to replace 12-, 18-, and 36-bit computers as the norm, it became common to use an 8-bit byte to store each character in memory, providing an opportunity for extended, 8-bit relatives of ASCII. In most cases these developed as true extensions of ASCII, leaving the original character-mapping intact, but adding additional character definitions after the first 128 (i.e., 7-bit) characters.

Encodings include ISCII (India), VISCII (Vietnam). Although these encodings are sometimes referred to as ASCII, true ASCII is defined strictly only by the ANSI standard.

Most early home computer systems developed their own 8-bit character sets containing line-drawing and game glyphs, and often filled in some or all of the control characters from 0 to 31 with more graphics. Kaypro CP/M computers used the "upper" 128 characters for the Greek alphabet.

The PETSCII code Commodore International used for their 8-bit systems is probably unique among post-1970 codes in being based on ASCII-1963, instead of the more common ASCII-1967, such as found on the ZX Spectrum computer. Atari 8-bit computers and Galaksija computers also used ASCII variants.

The IBM PC defined code page 437, which replaced the control characters with graphic symbols such as smiley faces, and mapped additional graphic characters to the upper 128 positions. Operating systems such as DOS supported these code pages, and manufacturers of IBM PCs supported them in hardware. Digital Equipment Corporation developed the Multinational Character Set (DEC-MCS) for use in the popular VT220 terminal as one of the first extensions designed more for international languages than for block graphics. The Macintosh defined Mac OS Roman and Postscript defined another character set: both sets contained "international" letters, typographic symbols and punctuation marks instead of graphics, more like modern character sets.

The ISO/IEC 8859 standard (derived from the DEC-MCS) finally provided a standard that most systems copied (at least as accurately as they copied ASCII, but with many substitutions). A popular further extension designed by Microsoft, Windows-1252 (often mislabeled as ISO-8859-1), added the typographic punctuation marks needed for traditional text printing.  ISO-8859-1, Windows-1252, and the original 7-bit ASCII were the most common character encodings until 2008 when UTF-8 became more common.

ISO/IEC 4873 introduced 32 additional control codes defined in the 80–9F hexadecimal range, as part of extending the 7-bit ASCII encoding to become an 8-bit system.

Unicode

Unicode and the ISO/IEC 10646 Universal Character Set (UCS) have a much wider array of characters and their various encoding forms have begun to supplant ISO/IEC 8859 and ASCII rapidly in many environments. While ASCII is limited to 128 characters, Unicode and the UCS support more characters by separating the concepts of unique identification (using natural numbers called code points) and encoding (to 8-, 16-, or 32-bit binary formats, called UTF-8, UTF-16, and UTF-32, respectively).

ASCII was incorporated into the Unicode (1991) character set as the first 128 symbols, so the 7-bit ASCII characters have the same numeric codes in both sets. This allows UTF-8 to be backward compatible with 7-bit ASCII, as a UTF-8 file containing only ASCII characters is identical to an ASCII file containing the same sequence of characters.  Even more importantly, forward compatibility is ensured as software that recognizes only 7-bit ASCII characters as special and does not alter bytes with the highest bit set (as is often done to support 8-bit ASCII extensions such as ISO-8859-1) will preserve UTF-8 data unchanged.

See also

 3568 ASCII, an asteroid named after the character encoding
 
 
 
 
 Basic Latin (Unicode block) (ASCII as a subset of Unicode)
 
 HTML decimal character rendering
 Jargon File, a glossary of computer programmer slang which includes a list of common slang names for ASCII characters
 List of computer character sets
 List of Unicode characters

Notes

References

Further reading
 
  from:
 
 
   (facsimile, not machine readable)

External links

 

 
Computer-related introductions in 1963
Character sets
Character encoding
Latin-script representations
Presentation layer protocols
American National Standards Institute standards

Austin is the capital of Texas in the United States.

Austin may also refer to:

Geographical locations

Australia
 Austin, Western Australia

Canada
 Austin, Manitoba
 Austin, Ontario
 Austin, Quebec
 Austin Island, Nunavut

France
 Saint-Austin, hamlet at la Neuville-Chant-d'Oisel, Normandy

United States
 Austin, Arkansas
 Austin, Colorado
 Austin Township, Macon County, Illinois
 Austin, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
 Austin, Indiana
 Austin, Kentucky
 Austin, Minnesota
 Austin, Missouri
 Austin, Nevada
 Austin, Ohio
 Austin, Oregon
 Austin, Pennsylvania
 Austin, Texas
 Austin County, Texas (the city of Austin, Texas is located in Travis County)

Schools
 Austin College, Sherman, Texas
 University of Texas at Austin, flagship institution of the University of Texas System
 Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee

Religion
 Augustine of Hippo
 An adjective for the Augustinians

Business
 American Austin Car Company, short-lived American automobile maker
 Austin Automobile Company, short-lived American automobile company
 Austin Motor Company, British car manufacturer
 Austin magazine, produced for the Austin Motor Company by in-house Nuffield Press
 Austin cookies and crackers, Keebler Company brand

Entertainment
 "Austin" (song), a single by Blake Shelton
 Austin (album), a 2023 studio album by Post Malone
 Austin, a kangaroo Beanie Baby produced by Ty, Inc.
 Austin the kangaroo from the children's television series The Backyardigans

Other uses
 Austin (building), a building designed by artist Ellsworth Kelly in Austin, Texas
 Austin (given name), a short form of Augustin, or Augustine, including fictional characters
 Austin (surname)
 USS Austin, three ships

See also
 All pages beginning with Austin
 August (disambiguation)
 Augustin (disambiguation)
 Augustine (disambiguation)
 Austin station (disambiguation)
 Austins (disambiguation)
 Austen (disambiguation)
 Justice Austin (disambiguation)
 Austinburg (disambiguation)

Animation is the method that encompasses myriad filmmaking techniques, by which still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets (cels) to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms. 

Animation is contrasted with live-action film, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many moviemakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can easily composite 3D animations into their film rather than using practical effects for showy visual effects (VFX).

General overview 

Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D computer animation (which may have the look of traditional animation) can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth, or faster real-time renderings. Other common animation methods apply a stop motion technique to two- and three-dimensional objects like paper cutouts, puppets, or clay figures.

A cartoon is an animated film, usually a short film, featuring an exaggerated visual style. The style takes inspiration from comic strips, often featuring anthropomorphic animals, superheroes, or the adventures of human protagonists. Especially with animals that form a natural predator/prey relationship (e.g. cats and mice, coyotes and birds), the action often centers on violent pratfalls such as falls, collisions, and explosions that would be lethal in real life.

The illusion of animation—as in motion pictures in general—has traditionally been attributed to the persistence of vision and later to the phi phenomenon and beta movement, but the exact neurological causes are still uncertain. The illusion of motion caused by a rapid succession of images that minimally differ from each other, with unnoticeable interruptions, is a stroboscopic effect. While animators traditionally used to draw each part of the movements and changes of figures on transparent cels that could be moved over a separate background, computer animation is usually based on programming paths between key frames to maneuver digitally created figures throughout a digitally created environment.

Analog mechanical animation media that rely on the rapid display of sequential images include the phénakisticope, zoetrope, flip book, praxinoscope, and film. Television and video are popular electronic animation media that originally were analog and now operate digitally. For display on computers, technology such as the animated GIF and Flash animation were developed.

In addition to short films, feature films, television series, animated GIFs, and other media dedicated to the display of moving images, animation is also prevalent in video games, motion graphics, user interfaces, and visual effects.

The physical movement of image parts through simple mechanics—for instance, moving images in magic lantern shows—can also be considered animation. The mechanical manipulation of three-dimensional puppets and objects to emulate living beings has a very long history in automata. Electronic automata were popularized by Disney as animatronics.

Etymology
The word "animation" stems from the Latin "animātiōn", stem of "animātiō", meaning "a bestowing of life". The earlier meaning of the English word is "liveliness" and has been in use much longer than the meaning of "moving image medium".

History

Before cinematography

Hundreds of years before the introduction of true animation, people all over the world enjoyed shows with moving figures that were physically manipulated (manually, or sometimes mechanically) in puppetry, automata, shadow play, and the magic lantern (especially in phantasmagoria shows).

In 1833, the stroboscopic disc (better known as the phénakisticope) introduced the principle of modern animation, which would also be applied in the zoetrope (introduced in 1866), the flip book (1868), the praxinoscope (1877) and film.

Silent era

When cinematography eventually broke through in the 1890s, the wonder of the realistic details in the new medium was seen as its biggest accomplishment. It took years before animation found its way to the cinemas. The successful short The Haunted Hotel (1907) by J. Stuart Blackton popularized stop-motion and reportedly inspired Émile Cohl to create Fantasmagorie (1908), regarded as the oldest known example of a complete traditional (hand-drawn) animation on standard cinematographic film. Other great artistic and very influential short films were created by Ladislas Starevich with his puppet animations since 1910 and by Winsor McCay with detailed hand-drawn animation in films such as Little Nemo (1911) and Gertie the Dinosaur (1914).

During the 1910s, the production of animated "cartoons" became an industry in the US. Successful producer John Randolph Bray and animator Earl Hurd, patented the cel animation process that dominated the animation industry for the rest of the century. Felix the Cat, who debuted in 1919, became the first fully realized animal character in the history of American animation.

American golden age

In 1928, Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, popularized film with synchronized sound and put Walt Disney's studio at the forefront of the animation industry. Although Disney Animation's actual output relative to total global animation output has always been very small, the studio has overwhelmingly dominated the "aesthetic norms" of animation ever since. 

The enormous success of Mickey Mouse is seen as the start of the golden age of American animation that would last until the 1960s. The United States dominated the world market of animation with a plethora of cel-animated theatrical shorts. Several studios would introduce characters that would become very popular and would have long-lasting careers, including Walt Disney Productions' Goofy (1932) and Donald Duck (1934), Fleischer Studios/Paramount Cartoon Studios' Out of the Inkwell' Koko the Clown (1918), Bimbo and Betty Boop (1930), Popeye (1933) and Casper (1945), Warner Bros. Cartoons' Looney Tunes' Porky Pig (1935), Daffy Duck (1937), Elmer Fudd (1937–1940), Bugs Bunny (1938–1940), Tweety (1942), Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner (1949), MGM cartoon studio's Tom and Jerry (1940) and Droopy, Walter Lantz Productions/Universal Studio Cartoons' Woody Woodpecker (1940), Terrytoons/20th Century Fox's Mighty Mouse (1942), and United Artists' Pink Panther (1963).

Features before CGI

In 1917, Italian-Argentine director Quirino Cristiani made the first feature-length film El Apóstol (now lost), which became a critical and commercial success. It was followed by Cristiani's Sin dejar rastros in 1918, but one day after its premiere, the film was confiscated by the government.

After working on it for three years, Lotte Reiniger released the German feature-length silhouette animation Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed in 1926, the oldest extant animated feature.

In 1937, Walt Disney Studios premiered their first animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, still one of the highest-grossing traditional animation features . The Fleischer studios followed this example in 1939 with Gulliver's Travels with some success. Partly due to foreign markets being cut off by the Second World War, Disney's next features Pinocchio, Fantasia (both 1940), Fleischer Studios' second animated feature Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941–1942) and Disney's feature films Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Lady and the Tramp (1955) failed at the box office. For decades afterward, Disney would be the only American studio to regularly produce animated features, until Ralph Bakshi became the first to also release more than a handful features. Sullivan-Bluth Studios began to regularly produce animated features starting with An American Tail in 1986.

Although relatively few titles became as successful as Disney's features, other countries developed their own animation industries that produced both short and feature theatrical animations in a wide variety of styles, relatively often including stop motion and cutout animation techniques. Russia's Soyuzmultfilm animation studio, founded in 1936, produced 20 films (including shorts) per year on average and reached 1,582 titles in 2018. China, Czechoslovakia / Czech Republic, Italy, France, and Belgium were other countries that more than occasionally released feature films, while Japan became a true powerhouse of animation production, with its own recognizable and influential anime style of effective limited animation.

Television
Animation became very popular on television since the 1950s, when television sets started to become common in most developed countries. Cartoons were mainly programmed for children, on convenient time slots, and especially US youth spent many hours watching Saturday-morning cartoons. Many classic cartoons found a new life on the small screen and by the end of the 1950s, the production of new animated cartoons started to shift from theatrical releases to TV series. Hanna-Barbera Productions was especially prolific and had huge hit series, such as The Flintstones (1960–1966) (the first prime time animated series), Scooby-Doo (since 1969) and Belgian co-production The Smurfs (1981–1989). The constraints of American television programming and the demand for an enormous quantity resulted in cheaper and quicker limited animation methods and much more formulaic scripts. Quality dwindled until more daring animation surfaced in the late 1980s and in the early 1990s with hit series, the first cartoon of The Simpsons (1987), the animated television series such as The Simpsons (since 1989) and SpongeBob SquarePants (since 1999) as part of a "renaissance" of American animation.

While US animated series also spawned successes internationally, many other countries produced their own child-oriented programming, relatively often preferring stop motion and puppetry over cel animation. Japanese anime TV series became very successful internationally since the 1960s, and European producers looking for affordable cel animators relatively often started co-productions with Japanese studios, resulting in hit series such as Barbapapa (The Netherlands/Japan/France 1973–1977), Wickie und die starken Männer/小さなバイキング ビッケ (Vicky the Viking) (Austria/Germany/Japan 1974), Maya the Bee (Japan/Germany 1975) and The Jungle Book (Italy/Japan 1989).

Switch from cels to computers

Computer animation was gradually developed since the 1940s. 3D wireframe animation started popping up in the mainstream in the 1970s, with an early (short) appearance in the sci-fi thriller Futureworld (1976).

The Rescuers Down Under was the first feature film to be completely created digitally without a camera. It was produced in a style that's very similar to traditional cel animation on the Computer Animation Production System (CAPS), developed by The Walt Disney Company in collaboration with Pixar in the late 1980s.

The so-called 3D style, more often associated with computer animation, became the dominant technique following the success of Pixar's Toy Story (1995), the first computer-animated feature in this style.

Most of the cel animation studios switched to producing mostly computer-animated films around the 1990s, as it proved cheaper and more profitable. Not only the very popular 3D animation style was generated with computers, but also most of the films and series with a more traditional hand-crafted appearance, in which the charming characteristics of cel animation could be emulated with software, while new digital tools helped developing new styles and effects.

Economic status
In 2010, the animation market was estimated to be worth circa US$80 billion. By 2020, the value had increased to an estimated US$270 billion. Animated feature-length films returned the highest gross margins (around 52%) of all film genres between 2004 and 2013. Animation as an art and industry continues to thrive as of the early 2020s.

Education, propaganda and commercials
The clarity of animation makes it a powerful tool for instruction, while its total malleability also allows exaggeration that can be employed to convey strong emotions and to thwart reality. It has therefore been widely used for other purposes than mere entertainment.

During World War II, animation was widely exploited for propaganda. Many American studios, including Warner Bros. and Disney, lent their talents and their cartoon characters to convey to the public certain war values. Some countries, including China, Japan and the United Kingdom, produced their first feature-length animation for their war efforts.

Animation has been very popular in television commercials, both due to its graphic appeal, and the humour it can provide. Some animated characters in commercials have survived for decades, such as Snap, Crackle and Pop in advertisements for Kellogg's cereals. Tex Avery was the producer of the first Raid "Kills Bugs Dead" commercials in 1966, which were very successful for the company.

Other media, merchandise and theme parks
Apart from their success in movie theaters and television series, many cartoon characters would also prove lucrative when licensed for all kinds of merchandise and for other media.

Animation has traditionally been very closely related to comic books. While many comic book characters found their way to the screen (which is often the case in Japan, where many manga are adapted into anime), original animated characters also commonly appear in comic books and magazines. Somewhat similarly, characters and plots for video games (an interactive form of animation that became its own medium) have been derived from films and vice versa.

Some of the original content produced for the screen can be used and marketed in other media. Stories and images can easily be adapted into children's books and other printed media. Songs and music have appeared on records and as streaming media.

While very many animation companies commercially exploit their creations outside moving image media, The Walt Disney Company is the best known and most extreme example. Since first being licensed for a children's writing tablet in 1929, their Mickey Mouse mascot has been depicted on an enormous amount of products, as have many other Disney characters. This may have influenced some pejorative use of Mickey's name, but licensed Disney products sell well, and the so-called Disneyana has many avid collectors, and even a dedicated Disneyana Fan Club (since 1984).

Disneyland opened in 1955 and features many attractions that were based on Disney's cartoon characters. Its enormous success spawned several other Disney theme parks and resorts. Disney's earnings from the theme parks have relatively often been higher than those from their movies.

Criticism
Criticism of animation has been common in media and cinema since its inception. With its popularity, a large amount of criticism has arisen, especially animated feature-length films. Criticisms regarding cultural representation and psychological effects on children have been raised around the animation industry, which some claim has remained politically unchanged and stagnant since its inception into mainstream culture.

Awards

As with any other form of media, animation has instituted awards for excellence in the field. Many are part of general or regional film award programs, like the China's Golden Rooster Award for Best Animation (since 1981). Awards programs dedicated to animation, with many categories, include ASIFA-Hollywood's Annie Awards, the Emile Awards in Europe and the Anima Mundi awards in Brazil.

Academy Awards

Apart from Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film (since 1932) and Best Animated Feature (since 2002), animated movies have been nominated and rewarded in other categories, relatively often for Best Original Song and Best Original Score.

Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for Best Picture, in 1991. Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) also received Best Picture nominations, after the academy expanded the number of nominees from five to ten.

Production

The creation of non-trivial animation works (i.e., longer than a few seconds) has developed as a form of filmmaking, with certain unique aspects. Traits common to both live-action and animated feature-length films are labor intensity and high production costs.

The most important difference is that once a film is in the production phase, the marginal cost of one more shot is higher for animated films than live-action films. It is relatively easy for a director to ask for one more take during principal photography of a live-action film, but every take on an animated film must be manually rendered by animators (although the task of rendering slightly different takes has been made less tedious by modern computer animation). It is pointless for a studio to pay the salaries of dozens of animators to spend weeks creating a visually dazzling five-minute scene if that scene fails to effectively advance the plot of the film. Thus, animation studios starting with Disney began the practice in the 1930s of maintaining story departments where storyboard artists develop every single scene through storyboards, then handing the film over to the animators only after the production team is satisfied that all the scenes make sense as a whole. While live-action films are now also storyboarded, they enjoy more latitude to depart from storyboards (i.e., real-time improvisation).

Another problem unique to animation is the requirement to maintain a film's consistency from start to finish, even as films have grown longer and teams have grown larger. Animators, like all artists, necessarily have individual styles, but must subordinate their individuality in a consistent way to whatever style is employed on a particular film. Since the early 1980s, teams of about 500 to 600 people, of whom 50 to 70 are animators, typically have created feature-length animated films. It is relatively easy for two or three artists to match their styles; synchronizing those of dozens of artists is more difficult.

This problem is usually solved by having a separate group of visual development artists develop an overall look and palette for each film before the animation begins. Character designers on the visual development team draw model sheets to show how each character should look like with different facial expressions, posed in different positions, and viewed from different angles. On traditionally animated projects, maquettes were often sculpted to further help the animators see how characters would look from different angles.

Unlike live-action films, animated films were traditionally developed beyond the synopsis stage through the storyboard format; the storyboard artists would then receive credit for writing the film. In the early 1960s, animation studios began hiring professional screenwriters to write screenplays (while also continuing to use story departments) and screenplays had become commonplace for animated films by the late 1980s.

Techniques

Traditional

Traditional animation (also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation) was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, first drawn on paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it. The animators' drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate sheets called cels, which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto motion picture film.

The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the 21st century. Today, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated piece is output to one of several delivery media, including traditional 35 mm film and newer media with digital video. The "look" of traditional cel animation is still preserved, and the character animators' work has remained essentially the same over the past 90 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" (a play on the words "traditional" and "digital") to describe cel animation that uses significant computer technology.

Examples of traditionally animated feature films include Pinocchio (United States, 1940), Animal Farm (United Kingdom, 1954), Lucky and Zorba (Italy, 1998), and The Illusionist (British-French, 2010). Traditionally animated films produced with the aid of computer technology include The Lion King (US, 1994), The Prince of Egypt (US, 1998), Akira (Japan, 1988), Spirited Away (Japan, 2001), The Triplets of Belleville (France, 2003), and The Secret of Kells (Irish-French-Belgian, 2009).

Full
Full animation is the process of producing high-quality traditionally animated films that regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement, having a smooth animation. Fully animated films can be made in a variety of styles, from more realistically animated works like those produced by the Walt Disney studio (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King) to the more 'cartoon' styles of the Warner Bros. animation studio. Many of the Disney animated features are examples of full animation, as are non-Disney works, The Secret of NIMH (US, 1982), The Iron Giant (US, 1999), and Nocturna (Spain, 2007). Fully animated films are often animated on "twos", sometimes on "ones", which means that 12 to 24 drawings are required for a single second of film.

Limited

Limited animation involves the use of less detailed or more stylized drawings and methods of movement usually a choppy or "skippy" movement animation. Limited animation uses fewer drawings per second, thereby limiting the fluidity of the animation. This is a more economic technique. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United Productions of America, limited animation can be used as a method of stylized artistic expression, as in Gerald McBoing-Boing (US, 1951), Yellow Submarine (UK, 1968), and certain anime produced in Japan. Its primary use, however, has been in producing cost-effective animated content for media for television (the work of Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and other TV animation studios) and later the Internet (web cartoons).

Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is a technique patented by Max Fleischer in 1917 where animators trace live-action movement, frame by frame. The source film can be directly copied from actors' outlines into animated drawings, as in The Lord of the Rings (US, 1978), or used in a stylized and expressive manner, as in Waking Life (US, 2001) and A Scanner Darkly (US, 2006). Some other examples are Fire and Ice (US, 1983), Heavy Metal (1981), and Aku no Hana (Japan, 2013).

Live-action blending

Live-action/animation is a technique combining hand-drawn characters into live action shots or live-action actors into animated shots. One of the earlier uses was in Koko the Clown when Koko was drawn over live-action footage. Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks created a series of Alice Comedies (1923–1927), in which a live-action girl enters an animated world. Other examples include Allegro Non Troppo (Italy, 1976), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (US, 1988), Volere volare (Italy 1991), Space Jam (US, 1996) and Osmosis Jones (US, 2001).

Stop motion

Stop-motion animation is used to describe animation created by physically manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of film at a time to create the illusion of movement. There are many different types of stop-motion animation, usually named after the materials used to create the animation. Computer software is widely available to create this type of animation; traditional stop-motion animation is usually less expensive but more time-consuming to produce than current computer animation.
 Puppet animation  Typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting in a constructed environment, in contrast to real-world interaction in model animation. The puppets generally have an armature inside of them to keep them still and steady to constrain their motion to particular joints. Examples include The Tale of the Fox (France, 1937), The Nightmare Before Christmas (US, 1993), Corpse Bride (US, 2005), Coraline (US, 2009), the films of Jiří Trnka and the adult animated sketch-comedy television series Robot Chicken (US, 2005–present).
 Puppetoon  Created using techniques developed by George Pal, are puppet-animated films that typically use a different version of a puppet for different frames, rather than manipulating one existing puppet.

 Clay animation or Plasticine animation  (Often called claymation, which, however, is a trademarked name). It uses figures made of clay or a similar malleable material to create stop-motion animation. The figures may have an armature or wire frame inside, similar to the related puppet animation (below), that can be manipulated to pose the figures. Alternatively, the figures may be made entirely of clay, in the films of Bruce Bickford, where clay creatures morph into a variety of different shapes. Examples of clay-animated works include The Gumby Show (US, 1957–1967), Mio Mao (Italy, 1974–2005), Morph shorts (UK, 1977–2000), Wallace and Gromit shorts (UK, as of 1989), Jan Švankmajer's Dimensions of Dialogue (Czechoslovakia, 1982), The Trap Door (UK, 1984). Films include Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Chicken Run and The Adventures of Mark Twain.
 Strata-cut animation  Most commonly a form of clay animation in which a long bread-like "loaf" of clay, internally packed tight and loaded with varying imagery, is sliced into thin sheets, with the animation camera taking a frame of the end of the loaf for each cut, eventually revealing the movement of the internal images within.
 Cutout animation  A type of stop-motion animation produced by moving two-dimensional pieces of material paper or cloth. Examples include Terry Gilliam's animated sequences from Monty Python's Flying Circus (UK, 1969–1974); Fantastic Planet (France/Czechoslovakia, 1973); Tale of Tales (Russia, 1979), Matt Stone and Trey Parker the first cutout animation South Park (1992), the pilot episode of the adult television sitcom series (and sometimes in episodes) of South Park (US, 1997) and the music video Live for the moment, from Verona Riots band (produced by Alberto Serrano and Nívola Uyá, Spain 2014).
 Silhouette animation  A variant of cutout animation in which the characters are backlit and only visible as silhouettes. Examples include The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Weimar Republic, 1926) and Princes et Princesses (France, 2000).
 Model animation  Stop-motion animation created to interact with and exist as a part of a live-action world. Intercutting, matte effects and split screens are often employed to blend stop-motion characters or objects with live actors and settings. Examples include the work of Ray Harryhausen, as seen in films, Jason and the Argonauts (1963), and the work of Willis H. O'Brien on films, King Kong (1933).
Go motion  A variant of model animation that uses various techniques to create motion blur between frames of film, which is not present in traditional stop motion. The technique was invented by Industrial Light & Magic and Phil Tippett to create special effect scenes for the film Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980). Another example is the dragon named "Vermithrax" from the 1981 film Dragonslayer.
 Object animation  The use of regular inanimate objects in stop-motion animation, as opposed to specially created items.
 Graphic animation  Uses non-drawn flat visual graphic material (photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, etc.), which are sometimes manipulated frame by frame to create movement. At other times, the graphics remain stationary, while the stop-motion camera is moved to create on-screen action.
 Brickfilm  A subgenre of object animation involving using Lego or other similar brick toys to make an animation. These have had a recent boost in popularity with the advent of video sharing sites, YouTube and the availability of cheap cameras and animation software.
 Pixilation  Involves the use of live humans as stop-motion characters. This allows for a number of surreal effects, including disappearances and reappearances, allowing people to appear to slide across the ground, and other effects. Examples of pixilation include The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb and Angry Kid shorts, and the Academy Award-winning Neighbours by Norman McLaren.

Computer

Computer animation encompasses a variety of techniques, the unifying factor being that the animation is created digitally on a computer. 2D animation techniques tend to focus on image manipulation while 3D techniques usually build virtual worlds in which characters and objects move and interact. 3D animation can create images that seem real to the viewer.

2D

2D animation figures are created or edited on the computer using 2D bitmap graphics and 2D vector graphics. This includes automated computerized versions of traditional animation techniques, interpolated morphing, onion skinning and interpolated rotoscoping.
2D animation has many applications, including After Effects Animation, analog computer animation, Flash animation, and PowerPoint animation. Cinemagraphs are still photographs in the form of an animated GIF file of which part is animated.

Final line advection animation is a technique used in 2D animation, to give artists and animators more influence and control over the final product as everything is done within the same department. Speaking about using this approach in Paperman, John Kahrs said that "Our animators can change things, actually erase away the CG underlayer if they want, and change the profile of the arm."

3D

3D animation is digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator. The 3D model maker usually starts by creating a 3D polygon mesh for the animator to manipulate. A mesh typically includes many vertices that are connected by edges and faces, which give the visual appearance of form to a 3D object or 3D environment. Sometimes, the mesh is given an internal digital skeletal structure called an armature that can be used to control the mesh by weighting the vertices. This process is called rigging and can be used in conjunction with key frames to create movement.

Other techniques can be applied, mathematical functions (e.g., gravity, particle simulations), simulated fur or hair, and effects, fire and water simulations. These techniques fall under the category of 3D dynamics.

Terms
 Cel-shaded animation is used to mimic traditional animation using computer software. The shading looks stark, with less blending of colors. Examples include Skyland (2007, France), The Iron Giant (1999, United States), Futurama (1999, United States) Appleseed Ex Machina (2007, Japan), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002, Japan), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017, Japan)
 Machinima – Films created by screen capturing in video games and virtual worlds. The term originated from the software introduction in the 1980s demoscene, as well as the 1990s recordings of the first-person shooter video game Quake.
 Motion capture is used when live-action actors wear special suits that allow computers to copy their movements into CG characters. Examples include Polar Express (2004, US), Beowulf (2007, US), A Christmas Carol (2009, US), The Adventures of Tintin (2011, US) kochadiiyan (2014, India)
 Computer animation is used primarily for animation that attempts to resemble real life, using advanced rendering that mimics in detail skin, plants, water, fire, clouds, etc. Examples include Up (2009, US), How to Train Your Dragon (2010, US)
 Physically based animation is animation using computer simulations.
 Analog animation is used nearly similar to analog horror genre, allowing to animate erupting signals in computers through real-life audio sources, cryptic messages, and minimal visuals. Examples include Calls (2021).

Mechanical
 Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines that seem animate rather than robotic.
 Audio-Animatronics and Autonomatronics is a form of robotics animation, combined with 3-D animation, created by Walt Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks move and make noise (generally a recorded speech or song). They are fixed to whatever supports them. They can sit and stand, and they cannot walk. An Audio-Animatron is different from an android-type robot in that it uses prerecorded movements and sounds, rather than responding to external stimuli. In 2009, Disney created an interactive version of the technology called Autonomatronics.
 Linear Animation Generator is a form of animation by using static picture frames installed in a tunnel or a shaft. The animation illusion is created by putting the viewer in a linear motion, parallel to the installed picture frames. The concept and the technical solution were invented in 2007 by Mihai Girlovan in Romania.
 Chuckimation is a type of animation created by the makers of the television series Action League Now! in which characters/props are thrown, or chucked from off camera or wiggled around to simulate talking by unseen hands.
 The magic lantern used mechanical slides to project moving images, probably since Christiaan Huygens invented this early image projector in 1659.

Other 

 Hydrotechnics: a technique that includes lights, water, fire, fog, and lasers, with high-definition projections on mist screens.
 Drawn on film animation: a technique where footage is produced by creating the images directly on film stock; for example, by Norman McLaren, Len Lye and Stan Brakhage.
 Paint-on-glass animation: a technique for making animated films by manipulating slow drying oil paints on sheets of glass, for example by Aleksandr Petrov.
 Erasure animation: a technique using traditional 2D media, photographed over time as the artist manipulates the image. For example, William Kentridge is famous for his charcoal erasure films, and Piotr Dumała for his auteur technique of animating scratches on plaster.
 Pinscreen animation: makes use of a screen filled with movable pins that can be moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the side so that the pins cast shadows. The technique has been used to create animated films with a range of textural effects difficult to achieve with traditional cel animation.
 Sand animation: sand is moved around on a back- or front-lighted piece of glass to create each frame for an animated film. This creates an interesting effect when animated because of the light contrast.
 Flip book: a flip book (sometimes, especially in British English, called a flick book) is a book with a series of pictures that vary gradually from one page to the next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by simulating motion or some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books for children, they also are geared towards adults and employ a series of photographs rather than drawings. Flip books are not always separate books, they appear as an added feature in ordinary books or magazines, often in the page corners. Software packages and websites are also available that convert digital video files into custom-made flip books.
 Character animation
 Multi-sketching
 Special effects animation

See also

 Animated war film
 Animation department
 Animated series
 Anime
 Architectural animation
 Avar
 Independent animation
 International Animation Day
 International Animated Film Association
 International Tournée of Animation
 List of film-related topics
 Motion graphic design
 Society for Animation Studies
 Twelve basic principles of animation
 Wire-frame model

References

Citations

Sources

Journal articles

Books

Online sources

External links

 The making of an 8-minute cartoon short
 "Animando", a 12-minute film demonstrating 10 different animation techniques (and teaching how to use them) (archived 1 October 2009).

 

 
Cartooning
Articles containing video clips
Film and video technology

Apollo or Apollon is one of the  Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. He is considered to be the most beautiful god and is represented as the ideal of the kouros (ephebe, or a beardless, athletic youth). Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu.

As the patron deity of Delphi (Apollo Pythios), Apollo is an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle and also the deity of ritual purification. His oracles were often consulted for guidance in various matters. He was in general seen as the god who affords help and wards off evil, and is referred to as , the "averter of evil".

Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius. Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is usually described as carrying a silver or golden bow and a quiver of silver or golden arrows.

As the god of mousike, Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance and poetry. He is the inventor of string-music and the frequent companion of the Muses, functioning as their chorus leader in celebrations. The lyre is a common attribute of Apollo. Protection of the young is one of the best attested facets of his panhellenic cult persona. As a , Apollo is concerned with the health and education of children, and he presided over their passage into adulthood. Long hair, which was the prerogative of boys, was cut at the coming of age () and dedicated to Apollo. The god himself is depicted with long, uncut hair to symbolise his eternal youth.

Apollo is an important pastoral deity, and was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary rustic duties. On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged the founding of new towns and the establishment of civil constitutions, is associated with dominion over colonists, and was the giver of laws. His oracles were often consulted before setting laws in a city. Apollo Agyieus was the protector of the streets, public places and home entrances.

In Hellenistic times, especially during the 5th century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios, the personification of the Sun. In Latin texts, however, there was no conflation of Apollo with Sol among the classical Latin poets until 1st century CE. Apollo and Helios/Sol remained separate beings in literary and mythological texts until the 5th century CE.

Etymology

Apollo (Attic, Ionic, and Homeric Greek: ,  ( ); Doric: , ; Arcadocypriot: , ; Aeolic: , ; )

The name Apollo—unlike the related older name Paean—is generally not found in the Linear B (Mycenean Greek) texts, although there is a possible attestation in the lacunose form ]pe-rjo-[ (Linear B: ]-[) on the KN E 842 tablet, though it has also been suggested that the name might actually read "Hyperion" ([u]-pe-rjo-[ne]).

The etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling  ( in Classical Attic) had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of the common era, but the Doric form,  (), is more archaic, as it is derived from an earlier . It probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios (), and the offerings  () at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival  (). According to some scholars, the words are derived from the Doric word  (), which originally meant "wall," "fence for animals" and later "assembly within the limits of the square." Apella () is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the  (). R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun  and suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form *Apalyun.

Several instances of popular etymology are attested by ancient authors. Thus, the Greeks most often associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb  (), "to destroy". Plato in Cratylus connects the name with  (), "redemption", with  (apolousis), "purification", and with  (), "simple", in particular in reference to the Thessalian form of the name, , and finally with  (), "ever-shooting". Hesychius connects the name Apollo with the Doric  (), which means "assembly", so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation  (), "fold", in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds. In the ancient Macedonian language  () means "stone," and some toponyms may be derived from this word:  (Pella, the capital of ancient Macedonia) and  (Pellēnē/Pellene).

The Hittite form Apaliunas (d) is attested in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter. The Hittite testimony reflects an early form , which may also be surmised from the comparison of Cypriot  with Doric . The name of the Lydian god Qλdãns /kʷʎðãns/ may reflect an earlier /kʷalyán-/ before palatalization, syncope, and the pre-Lydian sound change *y > d. Note the labiovelar in place of the labial /p/ found in pre-Doric Ἀπέλjων and Hittite Apaliunas.

A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo "The One of Entrapment", perhaps in the sense of "Hunter".

Greco-Roman epithets
Apollo's chief epithet was Phoebus ( ; , Phoibos ), literally "bright". It was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollo's role as the god of light. Like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a great number of appellations in Greek myth, only a few occur in Latin literature.

Sun
Aegletes ( ; Αἰγλήτης, Aiglētēs), from , "light of the Sun" 
Helius ( ; , Helios), literally "Sun" 
Lyceus ( ; , Lykeios, from Proto-Greek *), "light". The meaning of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated with Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia () and who was identified with the wolf ().
Phanaeus ( ; , Phanaios), literally "giving or bringing light"
Phoebus ( ; , Phoibos), literally "bright", his most commonly used epithet by both the Greeks and Romans
Sol (Roman) (), "Sun" in Latin

Wolf
Lycegenes ( ; , Lukēgenēs), literally "born of a wolf" or "born of Lycia"
Lycoctonus ( ; , Lykoktonos), from , "wolf", and , "to kill"

Origin and birth
Apollo's birthplace was Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos.

Cynthius ( ; , Kunthios), literally "Cynthian"
Cynthogenes ( ; , Kynthogenēs), literally "born of Cynthus"
Delius ( ; Δήλιος, Delios), literally "Delian"
Didymaeus ( ; , Didymaios) from δίδυμος, "twin", as the twin of Artemis

Place of worship
Delphi and Actium were his primary places of worship.

Acraephius ( ; , Akraiphios, literally "Acraephian") or Acraephiaeus ( ; , Akraiphiaios), "Acraephian", from the Boeotian town of Acraephia (), reputedly founded by his son Acraepheus.
Actiacus ( ; , Aktiakos), literally "Actian", after Actium ()
Delphinius ( ; , Delphinios), literally "Delphic", after Delphi (Δελφοί). An etiology in the Homeric Hymns associated this with dolphins.
Epactaeus, meaning "god worshipped on the coast", in Samos.
Pythius ( ; , Puthios, from Πυθώ, Pythō), from the region around Delphi
Smintheus ( ; , Smintheus), "Sminthian"—that is, "of the town of Sminthos or Sminthe" near the Troad town of Hamaxitus
Napaian Apollo (Ἀπόλλων Ναπαῖος), from the city of Nape at the island of Lesbos
Eutresites, from the city of Eutresis.

Healing and disease
Acesius ( ; , Akesios), from , "healing". Acesius was the epithet of Apollo worshipped in Elis, where he had a temple in the agora.
Acestor ( ; , Akestōr), literally "healer"
Culicarius (Roman) ( ), from Latin culicārius, "of midges"
Iatrus ( ; , Iātros), literally "physician"
Medicus (Roman) ( ), "physician" in Latin. A temple was dedicated to Apollo Medicus in Rome, probably next to the temple of Bellona.
Paean ( ; , Paiān), physician, healer
Parnopius ( ; , Parnopios), from , "locust"

Founder and protector
Agyieus ( ; , Aguīeus), from , "street", for his role in protecting roads and homes
Alexicacus ( ; , Alexikakos), literally "warding off evil"
Apotropaeus ( ; , Apotropaios), from , "to avert"
Archegetes ( ; , Arkhēgetēs), literally "founder"
Averruncus (Roman) ( ; from Latin āverruncare), "to avert"
Clarius ( ; , Klārios), from Doric , "allotted lot"
Epicurius ( ; , Epikourios), from , "to aid"
Genetor ( ; , Genetōr), literally "ancestor"
Nomius ( ; , Nomios), literally "pastoral"
Nymphegetes ( ; , Numphēgetēs), from , "Nymph", and , "leader", for his role as a protector of shepherds and pastoral life
Patroos  from  , "related to one's father," for his role as father of Ion and founder of the Ionians, as worshipped at the Temple of Apollo Patroos in Athens
Sauroctunos, "lizard killer", possibly a reference to his killing of Python

Prophecy and truth
Coelispex (Roman) ( ), from Latin coelum, "sky", and specere "to look at"
Iatromantis ( ; , Iātromantis,) from , "physician", and , "prophet", referring to his role as a god both of healing and of prophecy
Leschenorius ( ; , Leskhēnorios), from , "converser"
Loxias ( ; , Loxias), from , "to say", historically associated with , "ambiguous"
Manticus ( ; , Mantikos), literally "prophetic"
Proopsios (), meaning "foreseer" or "first seen"

Music and arts
Musagetes ( ; Doric , Mousāgetās), from , "Muse", and  "leader" 
Musegetes ( ; , Mousēgetēs), as the preceding

Archery
Aphetor ( ; , Aphētōr), from , "to let loose"
Aphetorus ( ; , Aphētoros), as the preceding
Arcitenens (Roman) ( ), literally "bow-carrying"
Argyrotoxus ( ; , Argyrotoxos), literally "with silver bow"
Clytotoxus ( ; , Klytótoxos), "he who is famous for his bow", the renowned archer.
Hecaërgus ( ; , Hekaergos), literally "far-shooting"
Hecebolus ( ; , Hekēbolos), "far-shooting"
Ismenius ( ; , Ismēnios), literally "of Ismenus", after Ismenus, the son of Amphion and Niobe, whom he struck with an arrow

Appearance 
 Acersecomes (, Akersekómēs), "he who has unshorn hair", the eternal ephebe.
 Chrysocomes ( ; , Khrusokómēs), literally "he who has golden hair."

Amazons
Amazonius (), Pausanias at the Description of Greece writes that near Pyrrhichus there was a sanctuary of Apollo, called Amazonius () with an image of the god said to have been dedicated by the Amazons.

Celtic epithets and cult titles
Apollo was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire. In the traditionally Celtic lands, he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character.
 Apollo Atepomarus ("the great horseman" or "possessing a great horse"). Apollo was worshipped at Mauvières (Indre). Horses were, in the Celtic world, closely linked to the Sun.
 Apollo Belenus ("bright" or "brilliant"). This epithet was given to Apollo in parts of Gaul, Northern Italy and Noricum (part of modern Austria). Apollo Belenus was a healing and sun god.
 Apollo Cunomaglus ("hound lord"). A title given to Apollo at a shrine at Nettleton Shrub, Wiltshire. May have been a god of healing. Cunomaglus himself may originally have been an independent healing god.
 Apollo Grannus. Grannus was a healing spring god, later equated with Apollo.
 Apollo Maponus. A god known from inscriptions in Britain. This may be a local fusion of Apollo and Maponus.
 Apollo Moritasgus ("masses of sea water"). An epithet for Apollo at Alesia, where he was worshipped as the god of healing and, possibly, of physicians.
 Apollo Vindonnus ("clear light"). Apollo Vindonnus had a temple at Essarois, near Châtillon-sur-Seine in present-day Burgundy. He was a god of healing, especially of the eyes.
 Apollo Virotutis ("benefactor of mankind"). Apollo Virotutis was worshipped, among other places, at Fins d'Annecy (Haute-Savoie) and at Jublains (Maine-et-Loire).

Origins

Apollo is considered the most Hellenic (Greek) of the Olympian gods.

The cult centers of Apollo in Greece, Delphi and Delos, date from the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to Artemis, Apollo's twin sister. At Delphi, Apollo was venerated as the slayer of the monstrous serpent Python. For the Greeks, Apollo was the most Greek of all the gods, and through the centuries he acquired different functions. In Archaic Greece he was the prophet, the oracular god who in older times was connected with "healing". In Classical Greece he was the god of light and of music, but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil. Walter Burkert discerned three components in the prehistory of Apollo worship, which he termed "a Dorian-northwest Greek component, a Cretan-Minoan component, and a Syro-Hittite component."

Healer and god-protector from evil

In classical times, his major function in popular religion was to keep away evil, and he was therefore called "apotropaios" (, "averting evil") and "alexikakos" ( "keeping off ill"; from v.  + n. ). Apollo also had many epithets relating to his function as a healer. Some commonly-used examples are "paion" ( literally "healer" or "helper") "epikourios" (, "succouring"), "oulios" (, "healer, baleful") and "loimios" (, "of the plague"). In later writers, the word, "paion", usually spelled "Paean", becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing.

Apollo in his aspect of "healer" has a connection to the primitive god Paean (), who did not have a cult of his own. Paean serves as the healer of the gods in the Iliad, and seems to have originated in a pre-Greek religion. It is suggested, though unconfirmed, that he is connected to the Mycenaean figure pa-ja-wo-ne (Linear B: ). Paean was the personification of holy songs sung by "seer-doctors" (), which were supposed to cure disease.

Homer illustrated Paeon the god and the song both of apotropaic thanksgiving or triumph. Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus, to Apollo Helios, to Apollo's son Asclepius the healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It was in this way that Apollo had become recognized as the god of music. Apollo's role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory; hence it became the Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won.

In the Iliad, Apollo is the healer under the gods, but he is also the bringer of disease and death with his arrows, similar to the function of the Vedic god of disease Rudra. He sends a plague () to the Achaeans. Knowing that Apollo can prevent a recurrence of the plague he sent, they purify themselves in a ritual and offer him a large sacrifice of cows, called a hecatomb.

Dorian origin
The Homeric Hymn to Apollo depicts Apollo as an intruder from the north. The connection with the northern-dwelling Dorians and their initiation festival apellai is reinforced by the month Apellaios in northwest Greek calendars. The family-festival was dedicated to Apollo (Doric: ). Apellaios is the month of these rites, and Apellon is the "megistos kouros" (the great Kouros). However it can explain only the Doric type of the name, which is connected with the Ancient Macedonian word "pella" (Pella), stone. Stones played an important part in the cult of the god, especially in the oracular shrine of Delphi (Omphalos).

Minoan origin

George Huxley regarded the identification of Apollo with the Minoan deity Paiawon, worshipped in Crete, to have originated at Delphi. In the Homeric Hymn, Apollo appeared as a dolphin and carried Cretan priests to Delphi, where they evidently transferred their religious practices. Apollo Delphinios or Delphidios was a sea-god especially worshipped in Crete and in the islands. Apollo's sister Artemis, who was the Greek goddess of hunting, is identified with Britomartis (Diktynna), the Minoan "Mistress of the animals". In her earliest depictions she was accompanied by the "Master of the animals", a bow-wielding god of hunting whose name has been lost; aspects of this figure may have been absorbed into the more popular Apollo.

Anatolian origin

A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been assumed in scholarship. The name of Apollo's mother Leto has Lydian origin, and she was worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor. The inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced into Greece from Anatolia, which is the origin of Sibyl, and where some of the oldest oracular shrines originated. Omens, symbols, purifications, and exorcisms appear in old Assyro-Babylonian texts. These rituals were spread into the empire of the Hittites, and from there into Greece.

Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans, fighting against the Achaeans, during the Trojan War. He is pictured as a terrible god, less trusted by the Greeks than other gods. The god seems to be related to Appaliunas, a tutelary god of Wilusa (Troy) in Asia Minor, but the word is not complete. The stones found in front of the gates of Homeric Troy were the symbols of Apollo. A western Anatolian origin may also be bolstered by references to the parallel worship of Artimus (Artemis) and Qλdãns, whose name may be cognate with the Hittite and Doric forms, in surviving Lydian texts. However, recent scholars have cast doubt on the identification of Qλdãns with Apollo.

The Greeks gave to him the name  agyieus as the protector god of public places and houses who wards off evil and his symbol was a tapered stone or column. However, while usually Greek festivals were celebrated at the full moon, all the feasts of Apollo were celebrated on the seventh day of the month, and the emphasis given to that day (sibutu) indicates a Babylonian origin.

The Late Bronze Age (from 1700 to 1200 BCE) Hittite and Hurrian Aplu was a god of plague, invoked during plague years. Here we have an apotropaic situation, where a god originally bringing the plague was invoked to end it. Aplu, meaning the son of, was a title given to the god Nergal, who was linked to the Babylonian god of the sun Shamash. Homer interprets Apollo as a terrible god () who brings death and disease with his arrows, but who can also heal, possessing a magic art that separates him from the other Greek gods. In Iliad, his priest prays to Apollo Smintheus, the mouse god who retains an older agricultural function as the protector from field rats. All these functions, including the function of the healer-god Paean, who seems to have Mycenean origin, are fused in the cult of Apollo.

Proto-Indo-European 

The Vedic Rudra has some similar functions to Apollo. The terrible god is called "the archer" and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva. Rudra could bring diseases with his arrows, but he was able to free people of them and his alternative Shiva is a healer physician god. However the Indo-European component of Apollo does not explain his strong relation with omens, exorcisms, and with the oracular cult.

Oracular cult

 
Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence: Delos and Delphi. In cult practice, Delian Apollo and Pythian Apollo (the Apollo of Delphi) were so distinct that they might both have shrines in the same locality. Lycia was sacred to the god, for this Apollo was also called Lycian. Apollo's cult was already fully established when written sources commenced, about 650 BCE. Apollo became extremely important to the Greek world as an oracular deity in the archaic period, and the frequency of theophoric names such as Apollodorus or Apollonios and cities named Apollonia testify to his popularity. Oracular sanctuaries to Apollo were established in other sites. In the 2nd and 3rd century CE, those at Didyma and Claros pronounced the so-called "theological oracles", in which Apollo confirms that all deities are aspects or servants of an all-encompassing, highest deity. "In the 3rd century, Apollo fell silent. Julian the Apostate (359–361) tried to revive the Delphic oracle, but failed."

Oracular shrines

Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and other notable ones in Claros and Didyma. His oracular shrine in Abae in Phocis, where he bore the toponymic epithet Abaeus (, Apollon Abaios), was important enough to be consulted by Croesus.
His oracular shrines include:

 Abae in Phocis.
 Bassae in the Peloponnese.
 At Clarus, on the west coast of Asia Minor; as at Delphi a holy spring which gave off a pneuma, from which the priests drank.
 In Corinth, the Oracle of Corinth came from the town of Tenea, from prisoners supposedly taken in the Trojan War.
 At Khyrse, in Troad, the temple was built for Apollo Smintheus.
 In Delos, there was an oracle to the Delian Apollo, during summer. The Hieron (Sanctuary) of Apollo adjacent to the Sacred Lake, was the place where the god was said to have been born.
 In Delphi, the Pythia became filled with the pneuma of Apollo, said to come from a spring inside the Adyton.
 In Didyma, an oracle on the coast of Anatolia, south west of Lydian (Luwian) Sardis, in which priests from the lineage of the Branchidae received inspiration by drinking from a healing spring located in the temple. Was believed to have been founded by Branchus, son or lover of Apollo.
 In Hierapolis Bambyce, Syria (modern Manbij), according to the treatise De Dea Syria, the sanctuary of the Syrian Goddess contained a robed and bearded image of Apollo. Divination was based on spontaneous movements of this image.
 At Patara, in Lycia, there was a seasonal winter oracle of Apollo, said to have been the place where the god went from Delos. As at Delphi the oracle at Patara was a woman.
 In Segesta in Sicily.

Oracles were also given by sons of Apollo.
 In Oropus, north of Athens, the oracle Amphiaraus, was said to be the son of Apollo; Oropus also had a sacred spring.
 in Labadea,  east of Delphi, Trophonius, another son of Apollo, killed his brother and fled to the cave where he was also afterwards consulted as an oracle.

Temples of Apollo

Many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece and the Greek colonies. They show the spread of the cult of Apollo and the evolution of Greek architecture, which was mostly based on the rightness of form and on mathematical relations. Some of the earliest temples, especially in Crete, do not belong to any Greek order. It seems that the first peripteral temples were rectangular wooden structures. The different wooden elements were considered divine, and their forms were preserved in the marble or stone elements of the temples of Doric order. The Greeks used standard types because they believed that the world of objects was a series of typical forms which could be represented in several instances. The temples should be canonic, and the architects were trying to achieve this esthetic perfection. From the earliest times there were certain rules strictly observed in rectangular peripteral and prostyle buildings. The first buildings were built narrowly in order to hold the roof, and when the dimensions changed some mathematical relations became necessary in order to keep the original forms. This probably influenced the theory of numbers of Pythagoras, who believed that behind the appearance of things there was the permanent principle of mathematics.

The Doric order dominated during the 6th and the 5th century BC but there was a mathematical problem regarding the position of the triglyphs, which couldn't be solved without changing the original forms. The order was almost abandoned for the Ionic order, but the Ionic capital also posed an insoluble problem at the corner of a temple. Both orders were abandoned for the Corinthian order gradually during the Hellenistic age and under Rome.

The most important temples are:

Greek temples

Thebes, Greece: The oldest temple probably dedicated to Apollo Ismenius was built in the 9th century BC. It seems that it was a curvilinear building. The Doric temple was built in the early 7th century BC., but only some small parts have been found A festival called Daphnephoria was celebrated every ninth year in honour of Apollo Ismenius (or Galaxius). The people held laurel branches (daphnai), and at the head of the procession walked a youth (chosen priest of Apollo), who was called "daphnephoros".
Eretria: According to the Homeric hymn to Apollo, the god arrived on the plain, seeking for a location to establish its oracle. The first temple of Apollo Daphnephoros, "Apollo, laurel-bearer", or "carrying off Daphne", is dated to 800 BC. The temple was curvilinear hecatombedon (a hundred feet). In a smaller building were kept the bases of the laurel branches which were used for the first building. Another temple probably peripteral was built in the 7th century BC, with an inner row of wooden columns over its Geometric predecessor. It was rebuilt peripteral around 510 BC, with the stylobate measuring 21,00 x 43,00 m. The number of pteron column was 6 x 14. 
Dreros (Crete). The temple of Apollo Delphinios dates from the 7th century BC, or probably from the middle of the 8th century BC. According to the legend, Apollo appeared as a dolphin, and carried Cretan priests to the port of Delphi. The dimensions of the plan are 10,70 x 24,00 m and the building was not peripteral. It contains column-bases of the Minoan type, which may be considered as the predecessors of the Doric columns.
Gortyn (Crete). A temple of Pythian Apollo, was built in the 7th century BC. The plan measured 19,00 x 16,70 m and it was not peripteral. The walls were solid, made from limestone, and there was a single door on the east side.
Thermon (West Greece): The Doric temple of Apollo Thermios, was built in the middle of the 7th century BC. It was built on an older curvilinear building dating perhaps from the 10th century, on which a peristyle was added. The temple was narrow, and the number of pteron columns (probably wooden) was 5 x 15. There was a single row of inner columns. It measures 12.13 x 38.23 m at the stylobate, which was made from stones. 
 
Corinth: A Doric temple was built in the 6th century BC. The temple's stylobate measures 21.36 x 53.30 m, and the number of pteron columns was 6 x 15. There was a double row of inner columns. The style is similar to the Temple of Alcmeonidae at Delphi. The Corinthians were considered to be the inventors of the Doric order. 
Napes (Lesbos): An Aeolic temple probably of Apollo Napaios was built in the 7th century BC. Some special capitals with floral ornament have been found, which are called Aeolic, and it seems that they were borrowed from the East. 
Cyrene, Libya: The oldest Doric temple of Apollo was built in . The number of pteron columns was 6 x 11, and it measures 16.75 x 30.05 m at the stylobate. There was a double row of sixteen inner columns on stylobates. The capitals were made from stone. 
Naukratis: An Ionic temple was built in the early 6th century BC. Only some fragments have been found and the earlier ones, made from limestone, are identified among the oldest of the Ionic order.

Syracuse, Sicily: A Doric temple was built at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The temple's stylobate measures 21.47 x 55.36 m and the number of pteron columns was 6 x 17. It was the first temple in Greek west built completely out of stone. A second row of columns were added, obtaining the effect of an inner porch. 
Selinus (Sicily):The Doric Temple C dates from 550 BC, and it was probably dedicated to Apollo. The temple's stylobate measures 10.48 x 41.63 m and the number of pteron columns was 6 x 17. There was a portico with a second row of columns, which is also attested for the temple at Syracuse.
Delphi: The first temple dedicated to Apollo, was built in the 7th century BC. According to the legend, it was wooden made of laurel branches. The "Temple of Alcmeonidae" was built in   and it is the oldest Doric temple with significant marble elements. The temple's stylobate measures 21.65 x 58.00 m, and the number of pteron columns as 6 x 15. A fest similar with Apollo's fest at Thebes, Greece was celebrated every nine years. A boy was sent to the temple, who walked on the sacred road and returned carrying a laurel branch (dopnephoros). The maidens participated with joyful songs. 
Chios: An Ionic temple of Apollo Phanaios was built at the end of the 6th century BC. Only some small parts have been found and the capitals had floral ornament. 
Abae (Phocis). The temple was destroyed by the Persians in the invasion of Xerxes in 480 BC, and later by the Boeotians. It was rebuilt by Hadrian. The oracle was in use from early Mycenaean times to the Roman period, and shows the continuity of Mycenaean and Classical Greek religion. 
 
Bassae (Peloponnesus): A temple dedicated to Apollo Epikourios ("Apollo the helper"), was built in 430 BC, designed by Iktinos. It combined Doric and Ionic elements, and the earliest use of a column with a Corinthian capital in the middle. The temple is of a relatively modest size, with the stylobate measuring 14.5 x 38.3 metres containing a Doric peristyle of 6 x 15 columns. The roof left a central space open to admit light and air.
Delos: A temple probably dedicated to Apollo and not peripteral, was built in the late 7th century BC, with a plan measuring 10,00 x 15,60 m. The Doric Great temple of Apollo, was built in . The temple's stylobate measures 13.72 x 29.78 m, and the number of pteron columns as 6 x 13. Marble was extensively used.
Ambracia: A Doric peripteral temple dedicated to Apollo Pythios Sotir was built in 500 BC, at the centre of the Greek city Arta. Only some parts have been found, and it seems that the temple was built on earlier sanctuaries dedicated to Apollo. The temple measures 20,75 x 44,00 m at the stylobate. The foundation which supported the statue of the god, still exists.

Didyma (near Miletus): The gigantic Ionic temple of Apollo Didymaios started around 540 BC. The construction ceased and then it was restarted in 330 BC. The temple is dipteral, with an outer row of 10 x 21 columns, and it measures 28.90 x 80.75 m at the stylobate.
Clarus (near ancient Colophon): According to the legend, the famous seer Calchas, on his return from Troy, came to Clarus. He challenged the seer Mopsus, and died when he lost. The Doric temple of Apollo Clarius was probably built in the 3rd century BC., and it was peripteral with 6 x 11 columns. It was reconstructed at the end of the Hellenistic period, and later from the emperor Hadrian but Pausanias claims that it was still incomplete in the 2nd century BC.
Hamaxitus (Troad): In the Iliad, Chryses the priest of Apollo, addresses the god with the epithet Smintheus (Lord of Mice), related to the god's ancient role as bringer of the disease (plague). Recent excavations indicate that the Hellenistic temple of Apollo Smintheus was constructed in 150–125 BC, but the symbol of the mouse god was used on coinage probably from the 4th century . The temple measures 40,00 x 23,00 m at the stylobate, and the number of pteron columns was 8 x 14.
Pythion (), this was the name of a shrine of Apollo at Athens near the Ilisos river. It was created by Peisistratos, and tripods were placed there by those who had won in the cyclic chorus at the Thargelia.
Setae (Lydia): The temple of Apollo Aksyros located in the city.
Apollonia Pontica: There were two temples of Apollo Healer in the city. One from the Late Archaic period and the other from the Early Classical period.
Ikaros island in the Persian Gulf (modern Failaka Island): There was a temple of Apollo on the island.
Argos in Cyprus: there was a temple of Apollo Erithios (Ἐριθίου Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερῷ).
The temple and oracle of Apollo at Eutresis.

Etruscan and Roman temples
Veii (Etruria): The temple of Apollo was built in the late 6th century BC, indicating the spread of Apollo's culture (Aplu) in Etruria. There was a prostyle porch, which is called Tuscan, and a triple cella 18,50 m wide.
Falerii Veteres (Etruria): A temple of Apollo was built probably in the 4th-3rd century BC. Parts of a terracotta capital, and a terracotta base have been found. It seems that the Etruscan columns were derived from the archaic Doric. A cult of Apollo Soranus is attested by one inscription found near Falerii.

Pompeii (Italy): The cult of Apollo was widespread in the region of Campania since the 6th century BC. The temple was built in 120 BC, but its beginnings lie in the 6th century BC. It was reconstructed after an earthquake in AD 63. It demonstrates a mixing of styles which formed the basis of Roman architecture. The columns in front of the cella formed a Tuscan prostyle porch, and the cella is situated unusually far back. The peripteral colonnade of 48 Ionic columns was placed in such a way that the emphasis was given to the front side.
 Rome: The temple of Apollo Sosianus and the temple of Apollo Medicus. The first temple building dates to 431 BC, and was dedicated to Apollo Medicus (the doctor), after a plague of 433 BC. It was rebuilt by Gaius Sosius, probably in 34 BC. Only three columns with Corinthian capitals exist today. It seems that the cult of Apollo had existed in this area since at least to the mid-5th century BC.
Rome: The temple of Apollo Palatinus was located on the Palatine hill within the sacred boundary of the city. It was dedicated by Augustus in 28 BC. The façade of the original temple was Ionic and it was constructed from solid blocks of marble. Many famous statues by Greek masters were on display in and around the temple, including a marble statue of the god at the entrance and a statue of Apollo in the cella.
Melite (modern Mdina, Malta): A Temple of Apollo was built in the city in the 2nd century AD. Its remains were discovered in the 18th century, and many of its architectural fragments were dispersed among private collections or reworked into new sculptures. Parts of the temple's podium were rediscovered in 2002.

Mythology

In the myths, Apollo is the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Leto, his previous wife or one of his mistresses. Apollo often appears in the myths, plays and hymns either directly or indirectly through his oracles. As Zeus' favorite son, he had direct access to the mind of Zeus and was willing to reveal this knowledge to humans. A divinity beyond human comprehension, he appears both as a beneficial and a wrathful god.

Birth

Homeric Hymn to Apollo

Pregnant with the offsprings of Zeus, Leto wandered through many lands wanting to give birth to Apollo. However all the lands rejected her out of fear. Upon reaching Delos, Leto requested the island to shelter her, and that in return her son would bring fame and prosperity to the island. Delos then revealed to Leto that Apollo was rumoured to be the god who will "greatly lord it among gods and men all over the fruitful earth". For this reason, all the lands were fearful and Delos feared that Apollo would cast her aside once he is be born. Hearing this, Leto swore on the river Styx that if she is allowed to give birth on the island, her son would honour Delos the most amongst all the other lands. Assured by this, Delos agreed to assist Leto. All goddesses except Hera also then came to aid Leto. 

However, Hera had tricked Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth, to stay on Olympus, due to which Leto was unable to give birth. The goddesses then convinced Iris to go bring Eileithyia by offering her a necklace of amber 9 yards (8.2 m) long. Iris did accordingly and persuaded Eilithyia to step onto the island. Thus, clutching a palm tree, Leto finally gave birth after labouring for nine days and nine nights, with Apollo "leaping forth" from his mother's womb. The goddesses washed the new born, covered him in a white garment and fastened golden bands around him. As Leto was unable to feed him, Themis, the goddess of divine law, fed him nectar and ambrosia. Upon tasting the divine food, the child broke free of the bands fastened onto him and declared that he would be the master of lyre and archery, and interpret the will of Zeus to humankind. He then started to walk, which caused the island to be filled with gold.

Callimachus' hymn to Delos 

The island Delos used to be a woman named Asteria, who jumped into the waters to escape the advances of Zeus and became a free floating island of the same name. When Leto got pregnant, Hera was told that Leto will give birth to a son who would become to Zeus more dearer than Ares. Enraged by this, Hera watched over the heavens and sent out Ares and Iris to prevent Leto from giving birth on the earth. Ares stationed over the mainland and Iris over the islands, they both threatened all the lands and prevented them from helping Leto. 

When Leto arrived to Thebes, fetal Apollo prophesied from his mother's womb that in the future, he would punish a slanderous woman in Thebes (Niobe), and so he did not want to be born there. Leto then went to Thessaly and sought out the help of the river nymphs whose father was the river Peneus. Though he was initially fearful and reluctant, Peneus later decided to let Leto give birth in his waters. He did not change his mind even when Ares produced a terrifying sound and threatened to hurl mountain peaks into the river. But in the end, Leto declined his help as she did not want him to suffer for her sake. 

After being turned away from various lands, Apollo spoke again from the womb, asking Leto to take look at the floating island in front of her and expressing his wish to be born there. When Leto approached Asteria, all the other islands fled. But Asteria welcomed Leto without any fear of Hera. Walking on the island, she sat down against a palm tree and asked Apollo to be born. During the child birth, the swans circled the island seven times, due to which later on Apollo would play the seven stringed lyre. When Apollo finally "leapt forth" from his mother's womb, the nymphs of the island sung a hymn to Eilithyia that was heard to the heavens. The moment Apollo was born, the entire island, including the trees and the waters, became gold. Asteria bathed the new born, swaddled him and fed him with her breast milk. Since then, the island got rooted and was called as Delos.

Hera was no more angry as Zeus had managed to calm her down, and she held no grudge against Asteria due to the fact that Asteria had rejected Zeus in the past. 
 

Pindar's fragments

Pindar is the earliest source who explicitly calls Apollo and Artemis as twins. Here, Asteria is also stated to be Leto's sister. Wanting escape Zeus' advances, she flung herself into the sea and became a floating rock called Ortygia until the twins were born. When Leto stepped on the rock, four pillars with adamantine bases rose from the earth and held up the rock. When Apollo and Artemis were born, their bodies shone radiantly and a chant was sung by Eileithyia and Lachesis, one of the  three Moirai.

Pseudo-Hyginus

Scorning the advances of Zeus, Asteria tranformed herself into a bird and jumped into a sea. From her, an island rose which was called Ortygia. 
When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant with Zeus' child, she decreed that Leto can give birth only in a place where sun does not shine. During this time, the monster Python also started hounding Leto with an intent of killing her, because he had foreseen his death coming at the hands of Leto's offspring. However, on Zeus' orders, Boreas carried away Leto and entrusted her to Poseidon. To protect her, Poseidon took her to the island Ortygia and covered it with waves so that the sun would not shine on it. Leto gave birth clinging to an olive tree and henceforth the island was called Delos.

Other variations of Apollo's birth include:

Aelian states that it took Leto twelve days and twelve nights to travel from Hyperborea to Delos. Leto changed herself into a she-wolf before giving birth. This is given as the reason why Homer describes Apollo as the "wolf-born god". 

Libanius wrote that neither land nor visible islands would receive Leto, but by the will of Zeus Delos then became visible, and thus received Leto and the children.

According to Strabo, the Curetes helped Leto by creating loud noises with their weapons and thus frightening Hera, they concealed Leto's childbirth.

Theognis wrote that the island was filled with ambrosial fragrance when Apollo was born, and the Earth laughed with joy. 

While in some accounts Apollo's birth itself fixed the floating Delos to the earth, there are accounts of Apollo securing Delos to the bottom of the ocean a little while later. 
This island became sacred to Apollo and was one of the major cult centres of the god.
Apollo was born on the seventh day (, hebdomagenes) of the month Thargelion—according to Delian tradition—or of the month Bysios—according to Delphian tradition. The seventh and twentieth, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him.

The general consensus is that Artemis was born first and subsequently assisted with the birth of Apollo.

Hyperborea

Hyperborea, the mystical land of eternal spring, venerated Apollo above all the gods. The Hyperboreans always sang and danced in his honor and hosted Pythian games. There, a vast forest of beautiful trees was called "the garden of Apollo". Apollo spent the winter months among the Hyperboreans, leaving his shrine in Delphi under the care of Dionysus. His absence from the world caused coldness and this was marked as his annual death. No prophecies were issued during this time. He returned to the world during the beginning of the spring. The Theophania festival was held in Delphi to celebrate his return.

However, Diodorus Silculus states that Apollo visited Hyperborea every nineteen years. This nineteen-year period was called by the Greeks as the ‘year of Meton', the time period in which the stars returned to their initial positions. And that visiting Hyperborea at that time, Apollo played on the cithara and danced continuously from the vernal equinox until the rising of the Pleiades (constellations).

Hyperborea was also Leto's birthplace. It is said that Leto came to Delos from Hyperborea accompanied by a pack of wolves. Henceforth, Hyperborea became Apollo's winter home and wolves became sacred to him. His intimate connection to wolves is evident from his epithet Lyceus, meaning wolf-like. But Apollo was also the wolf-slayer in his role as the god who protected flocks from predators. The Hyperborean worship of Apollo bears the strongest marks of Apollo being worshipped as the sun god. Shamanistic elements in Apollo's cult are often liked to his Hyperborean origin, and he is likewise speculated to have originated as a solar shaman. Shamans like Abaris and Aristeas were also the followers of Apollo, who hailed from Hyperborea.

In myths, the tears of amber Apollo shed when his son Asclepius died mixed with the waters of the river Eridanos, which surrounded Hyperborea. Apollo also buried in Hyperborea the arrow which he had used to kill the Cyclopes. He later gave this arrow to Abaris.

Childhood and youth

Growing up, Apollo was nursed by the nymphs Korythalia and Aletheia, the personification of truth. As a child, Apollo is said to have built a foundation and an altar on Delos using the horns of the goats that his sister Artemis hunted. Since he learnt the art of building when young, he later came to be known as Archegetes, the founder (of towns) and a god who guided men to build new cities. From his father Zeus, Apollo had also received a golden chariot drawn by swans.

In his early years when Apollo spent his time herding cows, he was reared by Thriae, the bee nymphs, who trained him and enhanced his prophetic skills. Apollo is also said to have invented the lyre, and along with Artemis, the art of archery. He then taught the humans the art of healing and archery. Phoebe, his grandmother, gave the oracular shrine of Delphi to Apollo as a birthday gift. Themis inspired him to be the oracular voice of Delphi thereon.

Python

Python, a chthonic serpent-dragon, was a child of Gaia and the guardian of the Delphic Oracle, whose death was foretold by Apollo when he was still in Leto's womb. Python was the nurse of the giant Typhon. In most of the traditions, Apollo was still a child when he killed Python.

Python was sent by Hera to hunt the pregnant Leto to death, and assaulted her. To avenge the trouble given to his mother, Apollo went in search of Python and killed it in the sacred cave at Delphi with the bow and arrows that he had received from Hephaestus. The Delphian nymphs who were present encouraged Apollo during the battle with the cry "Hie Paean". After Apollo was victorious, they also brought him gifts and gave the Corycian cave to him. According to Homer, Apollo encountered and killed the Python when he was looking for a place to establish his shrine.

According to another version, when Leto was in Delphi, Python attacked her. Apollo defended his mother and killed Python. Euripides in his Iphigenia in Aulis gives an account of his fight with Python and the event's aftermath. 

A detailed account of Apollo's conflict with Gaia and Zeus' intervention on behalf of his young son is also given. 

Apollo also demanded that all other methods of divination be made inferior to his, a wish that Zeus granted him readily. Because of this, Athena, who had been practicing divination by throwing pebbles, cast her pebbles away in displeasure.

However, Apollo had committed a blood murder and had to be purified. Because Python was a child of Gaia, Gaia wanted Apollo to be banished to Tartarus as a punishment. Zeus didn't agree and instead exiled his son from Olympus, and instructed him to get purified. Apollo had to serve as a slave for nine years. After the servitude was over, as per his father's order, he travelled to the Vale of Tempe to bathe in waters of Peneus. There Zeus himself performed purificatory rites on Apollo. Purified, Apollo was escorted by his half-sister Athena to Delphi where the oracular shrine was finally handed over to him by Gaia. According to a variation, Apollo had also travelled to Crete, where Carmanor purified him. Apollo later established the Pythian games to appropriate Gaia. Henceforth, Apollo became the god who cleansed himself from the sin of murder, made men aware of their guilt and purified them.

Soon after, Zeus instructed Apollo to go to Delphi and establish his law. But Apollo, disobeying his father, went to the land of Hyperborea and stayed there for a year. He returned only after the Delphians sang hymns to him and pleaded with him to come back. Zeus, pleased with his son's integrity, gave Apollo the seat next to him on his right side. He also gave Apollo various gifts, like a golden tripod, a golden bow and arrows, a golden chariot and the city of Delphi.

Soon after his return, Apollo needed to recruit people to Delphi. So, when he spotted a ship sailing from Crete, he sprang aboard in the form of a dolphin. The crew was awed into submission and followed a course that led the ship to Delphi. There Apollo revealed himself as a god. Initiating them to his service, he instructed them to keep righteousness in their hearts. The Pythia was Apollo's high priestess and his mouthpiece through whom he gave prophecies. Pythia is arguably the constant favorite of Apollo among the mortals.

Tityos

Hera once again sent another giant, Tityos to rape Leto. This time Apollo shot him with his arrows and attacked him with his golden sword. According to another version, Artemis also aided him in protecting their mother by attacking Tityos with her arrows. After the battle Zeus finally relented his aid and hurled Tityos down to Tartarus. There, he was pegged to the rock floor, covering an area of , where a pair of vultures feasted daily on his liver.

Admetus

Admetus was the king of Pherae, who was known for his hospitality. When Apollo was exiled from Olympus for killing Python, he served as a herdsman under Admetus, who was then young and unmarried. Apollo is said to have shared a romantic relationship with Admetus during his stay. After completing his years of servitude, Apollo went back to Olympus as a god.

Because Admetus had treated Apollo well, the god conferred great benefits on him in return. Apollo's mere presence is said to have made the cattle give birth to twins. Apollo helped Admetus win the hand of Alcestis, the daughter of King Pelias, by taming a lion and a boar to draw Admetus' chariot. He was present during their wedding to give his blessings. When Admetus angered the goddess Artemis by forgetting to give her the due offerings, Apollo came to the rescue and calmed his sister. When Apollo learnt of Admetus' untimely death, he convinced or tricked the Fates into letting Admetus live past his time.

According to another version, or perhaps some years later, when Zeus struck down Apollo's son Asclepius with a lightning bolt for resurrecting the dead, Apollo in revenge killed the Cyclopes, who had fashioned the bolt for Zeus. Apollo would have been banished to Tartarus for this, but his mother Leto intervened, and reminding Zeus of their old love, pleaded with him not to kill their son. Zeus obliged and sentenced Apollo to one year of hard labor once again under Admetus.

The love between Apollo and Admetus was a favored topic of Roman poets like Ovid and Servius.

Niobe

The fate of Niobe was prophesied by Apollo while he was still in Leto's womb. Niobe was the queen of Thebes and wife of Amphion. She displayed hubris when she boasted that she was superior to Leto because she had fourteen children (Niobids), seven male and seven female, while Leto had only two. She further mocked Apollo's effeminate appearance and Artemis' manly appearance. Leto, insulted by this, told her children to punish Niobe. Accordingly, Apollo killed Niobe's sons, and Artemis her daughters. According to some versions of the myth, among the Niobids, Chloris and her brother Amyclas were not killed because they prayed to Leto. Amphion, at the sight of his dead sons, either killed himself or was killed by Apollo after swearing revenge.

A devastated Niobe fled to Mount Sipylos in Asia Minor and turned into stone as she wept. Her tears formed the river Achelous. Zeus had turned all the people of Thebes to stone and so no one buried the Niobids until the ninth day after their death, when the gods themselves entombed them.

When Chloris married and had children, Apollo granted her son Nestor the years he had taken away from the Niobids. Hence, Nestor was able to live for 3 generations.

Building the walls of Troy 

Once Apollo and Poseidon served under the Trojan king Laomedon in accordance with Zeus' words. Apollodorus states that the gods willingly went to the king disguised as humans in order to check his hubris. Apollo guarded the cattle of Laomedon in the valleys of Mount Ida, while Poseidon built the walls of Troy. Other versions make both Apollo and Poseidon the builders of the wall. In Ovid's account, Apollo completes his task by playing his tunes on his lyre.

In Pindar's odes, the gods took a mortal named Aeacus as their assistant. When the work was completed, three snakes rushed against the wall, and though the two that attacked the sections of the wall built by the gods fell down dead, the third forced its way into the city through the portion of the wall built by Aeacus. Apollo immediately prophesied that Troy would fall at the hands of Aeacus's descendants, the Aeacidae (i.e. his son Telamon joined Heracles when he sieged the city during Laomedon's rule. Later, his great-grandson Neoptolemus was present in the wooden horse that leads to the downfall of Troy).

However, the king not only refused to give the gods the wages he had promised, but also threatened to bind their feet and hands, and sell them as slaves. Angered by the unpaid labour and the insults, Apollo infected the city with a pestilence and Poseidon sent the sea monster Cetus. To deliver the city from it, Laomedon had to sacrifice his daughter Hesione (who would later be saved by Heracles).

During his stay in Troy, Apollo had a lover named Ourea, who was a nymph and daughter of Poseidon. Together they had a son named Ileus, whom Apollo loved dearly.

Trojan War

Apollo sided with the Trojans during the Trojan War waged by the Greeks against the Trojans.

During the war, the Greek king Agamemnon captured Chryseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, and refused to return her. Angered by this, Apollo shot arrows infected with the plague into the Greek encampment. He demanded that they return the girl, and the Achaeans (Greeks) complied, indirectly causing the anger of Achilles, which is the theme of the Iliad.

Receiving the aegis from Zeus, Apollo entered the battlefield as per his father's command, causing great terror to the enemy with his war cry. He pushed the Greeks back and destroyed many of the soldiers. He is described as "the rouser of armies" because he rallied the Trojan army when they were falling apart.

When Zeus allowed the other gods to get involved in the war, Apollo was provoked by Poseidon to a duel. However, Apollo declined to fight him, saying that he would not fight his uncle for the sake of mortals.

When the Greek hero Diomedes injured the Trojan hero Aeneas, Aphrodite tried to rescue him, but Diomedes injured her as well. Apollo then enveloped Aeneas in a cloud to protect him. He repelled the attacks Diomedes made on him and gave the hero a stern warning to abstain from attacking a god. Aeneas was then taken to Pergamos, a sacred spot in Troy, where he was healed.

After the death of Sarpedon, a son of Zeus, Apollo rescued the corpse from the battlefield as per his father's wish and cleaned it. He then gave it to Sleep (Hypnos) and Death (Thanatos). Apollo had also once convinced Athena to stop the war for that day, so that the warriors can relieve themselves for a while.

The Trojan hero Hector (who, according to some, was the god's own son by Hecuba) was favored by Apollo. When he got severely injured, Apollo healed him and encouraged him to take up his arms. During a duel with Achilles, when Hector was about to lose, Apollo hid Hector in a cloud of mist to save him. When the Greek warrior Patroclus tried to get into the fort of Troy, he was stopped by Apollo. Encouraging Hector to attack Patroclus, Apollo stripped the armour of the Greek warrior and broke his weapons. Patroclus was eventually killed by Hector. At last, after Hector's fated death, Apollo protected his corpse from Achilles' attempt to mutilate it by creating a magical cloud over the corpse, shielding it from the rays of the sun.

Apollo held a grudge against Achilles throughout the war because Achilles had murdered his son Tenes before the war began and brutally assassinated his son Troilus in his own temple. Not only did Apollo save Hector from Achilles, he also tricked Achilles by disguising himself as a Trojan warrior and driving him away from the gates. He foiled Achilles' attempt to mutilate Hector's dead body.

Finally, Apollo caused Achilles' death by guiding an arrow shot by Paris into Achilles' heel. In some versions, Apollo himself killed Achilles by taking the disguise of Paris.

Apollo helped many Trojan warriors, including Agenor, Polydamas, Glaucus in the battlefield. Though he greatly favored the Trojans, Apollo was bound to follow the orders of Zeus and served his father loyally during the war.

Nurturer of the young

Apollo Kourotrophos is the god who nurtures and protects children and the young, especially boys. He oversees their education and their passage into adulthood. Education is said to have originated from Apollo and the Muses. Many myths have him train his children. It was a custom for boys to cut and dedicate their long hair to Apollo after reaching adulthood.

Chiron, the abandoned centaur, was fostered by Apollo, who instructed him in medicine, prophecy, archery and more. Chiron would later become a great teacher himself.

Asclepius in his childhood gained much knowledge pertaining to medicinal arts from his father. However, he was later entrusted to Chiron for further education.

Anius, Apollo's son by Rhoeo, was abandoned by his mother soon after his birth. Apollo brought him up and educated him in mantic arts. Anius later became the priest of Apollo and the king of Delos.

Iamus was the son of Apollo and Evadne. When Evadne went into labour, Apollo sent the Moirai to assist his lover. After the child was born, Apollo sent snakes to feed the child some honey. When Iamus reached the age of education, Apollo took him to Olympia and taught him many arts, including the ability to understand and explain the languages of birds.

Idmon was educated by Apollo to be a seer. Even though he foresaw his death that would happen in his journey with the Argonauts, he embraced his destiny and died a brave death. To commemorate his son's bravery, Apollo commanded Boeotians to build a town around the tomb of the hero, and to honor him.

Apollo adopted Carnus, the abandoned son of Zeus and Europa. He reared the child with the help of his mother Leto and educated him to be a seer.

When his son Melaneus reached the age of marriage, Apollo asked the princess Stratonice to be his son's bride and carried her away from her home when she agreed.

Apollo saved a shepherd boy (name unknown) from death in a large deep cave, by means of vultures. To thank him, the shepherd built Apollo a temple under the name Vulturius.

God of music

Immediately after his birth, Apollo demanded a lyre and invented the paean, thus becoming the god of music. As the divine singer, he is the patron of poets, singers and musicians. The invention of string music is attributed to him. Plato said that the innate ability of humans to take delight in music, rhythm and harmony is the gift of Apollo and the Muses. According to Socrates, ancient Greeks believed that Apollo is the god who directs the harmony and makes all things move together, both for the gods and the humans. For this reason, he was called Homopolon before the Homo was replaced by A. Apollo's harmonious music delivered people from their pain, and hence, like Dionysus, he is also called the liberator. The swans, which were considered to be the most musical among the birds, were believed to be the "singers of Apollo". They are Apollo's sacred birds and acted as his vehicle during his travel to Hyperborea. Aelian says that when the singers would sing hymns to Apollo, the swans would join the chant in unison.

Among the Pythagoreans, the study of mathematics and music were connected to the worship of Apollo, their principal deity. Their belief was that music purifies the soul, just as medicine purifies the body. They also believed that music was delegated to the same mathematical laws of harmony as the mechanics of the cosmos, evolving into an idea known as the music of the spheres.

Apollo appears as the companion of the Muses, and as Musagetes ("leader of Muses") he leads them in dance. They spend their time on Parnassus, which is one of their sacred places. Apollo is also the lover of the Muses and by them he became the father of famous musicians like Orpheus and Linus.

Apollo is often found delighting the immortal gods with his songs and music on the lyre. In his role as the god of banquets, he was always present to play music at weddings of the gods, like the marriage of Eros and Psyche, Peleus and Thetis. He is a frequent guest of the Bacchanalia, and many ancient ceramics depict him being at ease amidst the maenads and satyrs. Apollo also participated in musical contests when challenged by others. He was the victor in all those contests, but he tended to punish his opponents severely for their hubris.

Apollo's lyre

The invention of the lyre is attributed either to Hermes or to Apollo himself. Distinctions have been made that Hermes invented lyre made of tortoise shell, whereas the lyre Apollo invented was a regular lyre.

Myths tell that the infant Hermes stole a number of Apollo's cows and took them to a cave in the woods near Pylos, covering their tracks. In the cave, he found a tortoise and killed it, then removed the insides. He used one of the cow's intestines and the tortoise shell and made his lyre.

Upon discovering the theft, Apollo confronted Hermes and asked him to return his cattle. When Hermes acted innocent, Apollo took the matter to Zeus. Zeus, having seen the events, sided with Apollo, and ordered Hermes to return the cattle. Hermes then began to play music on the lyre he had invented. Apollo fell in love with the instrument and offered to exchange the cattle for the lyre. Hence, Apollo then became the master of the lyre.

According to other versions, Apollo had invented the lyre himself, whose strings he tore in repenting of the excess punishment he had given to Marsyas. Hermes' lyre, therefore, would be a reinvention.

Contest with Pan

Once Pan had the audacity to compare his music with that of Apollo and to challenge the god of music to a contest. The mountain-god Tmolus was chosen to umpire. Pan blew on his pipes, and with his rustic melody gave great satisfaction to himself and his faithful follower, Midas, who happened to be present. Then, Apollo struck the strings of his lyre. It was so beautiful that Tmolus at once awarded the victory to Apollo, and everyone was pleased with the judgement. Only Midas dissented and questioned the justice of the award. Apollo did not want to suffer such a depraved pair of ears any longer, and caused them to become the ears of a donkey.

Contest with Marsyas

Marsyas was a satyr who was punished by Apollo for his hubris. He had found an aulos on the ground, tossed away after being invented by Athena because it made her cheeks puffy. Athena had also placed a curse upon the instrument, that whoever would pick it up would be severely punished. When Marsyas played the flute, everyone became frenzied with joy. This led Marsyas to think that he was better than Apollo, and he challenged the god to a musical contest. The contest was judged by the Muses, or the nymphs of Nysa. Athena was also present to witness the contest.

Marsyas taunted Apollo for "wearing his hair long, for having a fair face and smooth body, for his skill in so many arts". He also further said,

The Muses and Athena sniggered at this comment. The contestants agreed to take turns displaying their skills and the rule was that the victor could "do whatever he wanted" to the loser.

According to one account, after the first round, they both were deemed equal by the Nysiads. But in the next round, Apollo decided to play on his lyre and add his melodious voice to his performance. Marsyas argued against this, saying that Apollo would have an advantage and accused Apollo of cheating. But Apollo replied that since Marsyas played the flute, which needed air blown from the throat, it was similar to singing, and that either they both should get an equal chance to combine their skills or none of them should use their mouths at all. The nymphs decided that Apollo's argument was just. Apollo then played his lyre and sang at the same time, mesmerising the audience. Marsyas could not do this. Apollo was declared the winner and, angered with Marsyas' haughtiness and his accusations, decided to flay the satyr.

According to another account, Marsyas played his flute out of tune at one point and accepted his defeat. Out of shame, he assigned to himself the punishment of being skinned for a wine sack. Another variation is that Apollo played his instrument upside down. Marsyas could not do this with his instrument. So the Muses who were the judges declared Apollo the winner. Apollo hung Marsyas from a tree to flay him.

Apollo flayed the limbs of Marsyas alive in a cave near Celaenae in Phrygia for his hubris to challenge a god. He then gave the rest of his body for proper burial and nailed Marsyas' flayed skin to a nearby pine-tree as a lesson to the others. Marsyas' blood turned into the river Marsyas. But Apollo soon repented and being distressed at what he had done, he tore the strings of his lyre and threw it away. The lyre was later discovered by the Muses and Apollo's sons Linus and Orpheus. The Muses fixed the middle string, Linus the string struck with the forefinger, and Orpheus the lowest string and the one next to it. They took it back to Apollo, but the god, who had decided to stay away from music for a while, laid away both the lyre and the pipes at Delphi and joined Cybele in her wanderings to as far as Hyperborea.

Contest with Cinyras

Cinyras was a ruler of Cyprus, who was a friend of Agamemnon. Cinyras promised to assist Agamemnon in the Trojan war, but did not keep his promise. Agamemnon cursed Cinyras. He invoked Apollo and asked the god to avenge the broken promise. Apollo then had a lyre-playing contest with Cinyras, and defeated him. Either Cinyras committed suicide when he lost, or was killed by Apollo.

Patron of sailors
Apollo functions as the patron and protector of sailors, one of the duties he shares with Poseidon. In the myths, he is seen helping heroes who pray to him for a safe journey.

When Apollo spotted a ship of Cretan sailors that were caught in a storm, he quickly assumed the shape of a dolphin and guided their ship safely to Delphi.

When the Argonauts faced a terrible storm, Jason prayed to his patron, Apollo, to help them. Apollo used his bow and golden arrow to shed light upon an island, where the Argonauts soon took shelter. This island was renamed "Anaphe", which means "He revealed it".

Apollo helped the Greek hero Diomedes, to escape from a great tempest during his journey homeward. As a token of gratitude, Diomedes built a temple in honor of Apollo under the epithet Epibaterius ("the embarker").

During the Trojan War, Odysseus came to the Trojan camp to return Chriseis, the daughter of Apollo's priest Chryses, and brought many offerings to Apollo. Pleased with this, Apollo sent gentle breezes that helped Odysseus return safely to the Greek camp.

Arion was a poet who was kidnapped by some sailors for the rich prizes he possessed. Arion requested them to let him sing for the last time, to which the sailors consented. Arion began singing a song in praise of Apollo, seeking the god's help. Consequently, numerous dolphins surrounded the ship and when Arion jumped into the water, the dolphins carried him away safely.

Wars

Trojan War
Apollo played a pivotal role in the entire Trojan War. He sided with the Trojans, and sent a terrible plague to the Greek camp, which indirectly led to the conflict between Achilles and Agamemnon. He killed the Greek heroes Patroclus, Achilles, and numerous Greek soldiers. He also helped many Trojan heroes, the most important one being Hector. After the end of the war, Apollo and Poseidon together cleaned the remains of the city and the camps.

Telegony war
A war broke out between the Brygoi and the Thesprotians, who had the support of Odysseus. The gods Athena and Ares came to the battlefield and took sides. Athena helped the hero Odysseus while Ares fought alongside of the Brygoi. When Odysseus lost, Athena and Ares came into a direct duel. To stop the battling gods and the terror created by their battle, Apollo intervened and stopped the duel between them.

Indian war
When Zeus suggested that Dionysus defeat the Indians in order to earn a place among the gods, Dionysus declared war against the Indians and travelled to India along with his army of Bacchantes and satyrs. Among the warriors was Aristaeus, Apollo's son. Apollo armed his son with his own hands and gave him a bow and arrows and fitted a strong shield to his arm. After Zeus urged Apollo to join the war, he went to the battlefield. Seeing several of his nymphs and Aristaeus drowning in a river, he took them to safety and healed them. He taught Aristaeus more useful healing arts and sent him back to help the army of Dionysus.

Theban war
During the war between the sons of Oedipus, Apollo favored Amphiaraus, a seer and one of the leaders in the war. Though saddened that the seer was fated to be doomed in the war, Apollo made Amphiaraus' last hours glorious by "lighting his shield and his helm with starry gleam". When Hypseus tried to kill the hero with a spear, Apollo directed the spear towards the charioteer of Amphiaraus instead. Then Apollo himself replaced the charioteer and took the reins in his hands. He deflected many spears and arrows away from them. He also killed many of the enemy warriors like Melaneus, Antiphus, Aetion, Polites and Lampus. At last, when the moment of departure came, Apollo expressed his grief with tears in his eyes and bid farewell to Amphiaraus, who was soon engulfed by the Earth.

Slaying of giants

Apollo killed the giants Python and Tityos, who had assaulted his mother Leto.

Gigantomachy
During the gigantomachy, Apollo and Heracles blinded the giant Ephialtes by shooting him in his eyes, Apollo shooting his left and Heracles his right. He also killed Porphyrion, the king of giants, using his bow and arrows.

Aloadae
The Aloadae, namely Otis and Ephialtes, were twin giants who decided to wage war upon the gods. They attempted to storm Mt. Olympus by piling up mountains, and threatened to fill the sea with mountains and inundate dry land. They even dared to seek the hand of Hera and Artemis in marriage. Angered by this, Apollo killed them by shooting them with arrows. According to another tale, Apollo killed them by sending a deer between them; as they tried to kill it with their javelins, they accidentally stabbed each other and died.

Phorbas
Phorbas was a savage giant king of Phlegyas who was described as having swine-like features. He wished to plunder Delphi for its wealth. He seized the roads to Delphi and started harassing the pilgrims. He captured the old people and children and sent them to his army to hold them for ransom. And he challenged the young and sturdy men to a match of boxing, only to cut their heads off when they would get defeated by him. He hung the chopped-off heads to an oak tree. Finally, Apollo came to put an end to this cruelty. He entered a boxing contest with Phorbas and killed him with a single blow.

Other stories

In the first Olympic games, Apollo defeated Ares and became the victor in wrestling. He outran Hermes in the race and won first place.

Apollo divides months into summer and winter. He rides on the back of a swan to the land of the Hyperboreans during the winter months, and the absence of warmth in winter is due to his departure. During his absence, Delphi was under the care of Dionysus, and no prophecies were given during winters.

Periphas 

Periphas was an Attican king and a priest of Apollo. He was noble, just and rich. He did all his duties justly. Because of this people were very fond of him and started honouring him to the same extent as Zeus. At one point, they worshipped Periphas in place of Zeus and set up shrines and temples for him. This annoyed Zeus, who decided to annihilate the entire family of Periphas. But because he was a just king and a good devotee, Apollo intervened and requested his father to spare Periphas. Zeus considered Apollo's words and agreed to let him live. But he metamorphosed Periphas into an eagle and made the eagle the king of birds. When Periphas' wife requested Zeus to let her stay with her husband, Zeus turned her into a vulture and fulfilled her wish.

Molpadia and Parthenos 

Molpadia and Parthenos were the sisters of Rhoeo, a former lover of Apollo. One day, they were put in charge of watching their father's ancestral wine jar but they fell asleep while performing this duty. While they were asleep, the wine jar was broken by the swine their family kept. When the sisters woke up and saw what had happened, they threw themselves off a cliff in fear of their father's wrath. Apollo, who was passing by, caught them and carried them to two different cities in Chersonesus, Molpadia to Castabus and Parthenos to Bubastus. He turned them into goddesses and they both received divine honors. Molpadia's name was changed to Hemithea upon her deification.

Prometheus 

Prometheus was the titan who was punished by Zeus for stealing fire. He was bound to a rock, where each day an eagle was sent to eat Prometheus' liver, which would then grow back overnight to be eaten again the next day. Seeing his plight, Apollo pleaded with Zeus to release the kind Titan, while Artemis and Leto stood behind him with tears in their eyes. Zeus, moved by Apollo's words and the tears of the goddesses, finally sent Heracles to free Prometheus.

Heracles 

After Heracles (then named Alcides) was struck with madness and killed his family, he sought to purify himself and consulted the oracle of Apollo. Apollo, through the Pythia, commanded him to serve king Eurystheus for twelve years and complete the ten tasks the king would give him. Only then would Alcides be absolved of his sin. Apollo also renamed him Heracles.

To complete his third task, Heracles had to capture the Ceryneian Hind, a hind sacred to Artemis, and bring back it alive. After chasing the hind for one year, the animal eventually got tired, and when it tried crossing the river Ladon, Heracles captured it. While he was taking it back, he was confronted by Apollo and Artemis, who were angered at Heracles for this act. However, Heracles soothed the goddess and explained his situation to her. After much pleading, Artemis permitted him to take the hind and told him to return it later.

After he was freed from his servitude to Eurystheus, Heracles fell in conflict with Iphytus, a prince of Oechalia, and murdered him. Soon after, he contracted a terrible disease. He consulted the oracle of Apollo once again, in the hope of ridding himself of the disease. The Pythia, however, denied to give any prophesy. In anger, Heracles snatched the sacred tripod and started walking away, intending to start his own oracle. However, Apollo did not tolerate this and stopped Heracles; a duel ensued between them. Artemis rushed to support Apollo, while Athena supported Heracles. Soon, Zeus threw his thunderbolt between the fighting brothers and separated them. He reprimanded Heracles for this act of violation and asked Apollo to give a solution to Heracles. Apollo then ordered the hero to serve under Omphale, queen of Lydia for one year in order to purify himself.

After their reconciliation, Apollo and Heracles together founded the city of Gythion.

Plato's concept of soulmates 

A long time ago, there were three kinds of human beings: male, descended from the sun; female, descended from the earth; and androgynous, descended from the moon. Each human being was completely round, with four arms and four legs, two identical faces on opposite sides of a head with four ears, and all else to match. They were powerful and unruly. Otis and Ephialtes even dared to scale Mount Olympus.

To check their insolence, Zeus devised a plan to humble them and improve their manners instead of completely destroying them. He cut them all in two and asked Apollo to make necessary repairs, giving humans the individual shape they still have now. Apollo turned their heads and necks around towards their wounds, he pulled together their skin at the abdomen, and sewed the skin together at the middle of it. This is what we call navel today. He smoothened the wrinkles and shaped the chest. But he made sure to leave a few wrinkles on the abdomen and around the navel so that they might be reminded of their punishment.

The rock of Leukas 

Leukatas was believed to be a white-colored rock jutting out from the island of Leukas into the sea. It was present in the sanctuary of Apollo Leukates. A leap from this rock was believed to have put an end to the longings of love.

Once, Aphrodite fell deeply in love with Adonis, a young man of great beauty who was later accidentally killed by a boar. Heartbroken, Aphrodite wandered looking for the rock of Leukas. When she reached the sanctuary of Apollo in Argos, she confided in him her love and sorrow. Apollo then brought her to the rock of Leukas and asked her to throw herself from the top of the rock. She did so and was freed from her love. When she sought the reason behind this, Apollo told her that Zeus, before taking another lover, would sit on this rock to free himself from his love for Hera.

Another tale relates that a man named Nireus, who fell in love with the cult statue of Athena, came to the rock and jumped in order to relieve himself. After jumping, he fell into the net of a fisherman in which, when he was pulled out, he found a box filled with gold. He fought with the fisherman and took the gold, but Apollo appeared to him in the night in a dream and warned him not to appropriate gold which belonged to others.

It was an ancestral custom among the Leukadians to fling a criminal from this rock every year at the sacrifice performed in honor of Apollo for the sake of averting evil. However, a number of men would be stationed all around below rock to catch the criminal and take him out of the borders in order to exile him from the island. This was the same rock from which, according to a legend, Sappho took her suicidal leap.

Slaying of Titans 
Once Hera, out of spite, aroused the Titans to war against Zeus and take away his throne. Accordingly, when the Titans tried to climb Mount Olympus, Zeus with the help of Apollo, Artemis and Athena, defeated them and cast them into Tartarus.

Female lovers

Love affairs ascribed to Apollo are a late development in Greek mythology. Their vivid anecdotal qualities have made some of them favorites of painters since the Renaissance, the result being that they stand out more prominently in the modern imagination.

Daphne was a nymph who scorned Apollo's advances and ran away from him. When Apollo chased her in order to persuade her, she changed herself into a laurel tree. According to other versions, she cried for help during the chase, and Gaia helped her by taking her in and placing a laurel tree in her place. According to Roman poet Ovid, the chase was brought about by Cupid, who hit Apollo with a golden arrow of love and Daphne with a leaden arrow of hatred. The myth explains the origin of the laurel and the connection of Apollo with the laurel and its leaves, which his priestess employed at Delphi. The leaves became the symbol of victory and laurel wreaths were given to the victors of the Pythian games.

Apollo is said to have been the lover of all nine Muses, and not being able to choose one of them, decided to remain unwed. He fathered the Corybantes by the Muse Thalia, Orpheus by Calliope, Linus of Thrace by Calliope or Urania and Hymenaios (Hymen) by one of the Muses.

In the Great Eoiae that is attributed to Hesoid, Scylla is the daughter of Apollo and Hecate.

Cyrene was a Thessalian princess whom Apollo loved. In her honor, he built the city Cyrene and made her its ruler. She was later granted longevity by Apollo who turned her into a nymph. The couple had two sons, Aristaeus, and Idmon.

Evadne was a nymph daughter of Poseidon and a lover of Apollo. They had a son, Iamos. During the time of the childbirth, Apollo sent Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth to assist her.

Rhoeo, a princess of the island of Naxos was loved by Apollo. Out of affection for her, Apollo turned her sisters into goddesses. On the island Delos she bore Apollo a son named Anius. Not wanting to have the child, she entrusted the infant to Apollo and left. Apollo raised and educated the child on his own.

Ourea, a daughter of Poseidon, fell in love with Apollo when he and Poseidon were serving the Trojan king Laomedon. They both united on the day the walls of Troy were built. She bore to Apollo a son, whom Apollo named Ileus, after the city of his birth, Ilion (Troy). Ileus was very dear to Apollo.

Thero, daughter of Phylas, a maiden as beautiful as the moonbeams, was loved by the radiant Apollo, and she loved him in return. Through their union, she became the mother of Chaeron, who was famed as "the tamer of horses". He later built the city Chaeronea.

Hyrie or Thyrie was the mother of Cycnus. Apollo turned both the mother and son into swans when they jumped into a lake and tried to kill themselves.

Hecuba was the wife of King Priam of Troy, and Apollo had a son with her named Troilus. An oracle prophesied that Troy would not be defeated as long as Troilus reached the age of twenty alive. He was ambushed and killed by Achilleus, and Apollo avenged his death by killing Achilles. After the sack of Troy, Hecuba was taken to Lycia by Apollo.

Coronis was daughter of Phlegyas, King of the Lapiths. While pregnant with Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with Ischys, son of Elatus and slept with him. When Apollo found out about her infidelity through his prophetic powers or thanks to his raven who informed him, he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis. Apollo rescued the baby by cutting open Koronis' belly and gave it to the centaur Chiron to raise.

Dryope, the daughter of Dryops, was impregnated by Apollo in the form of a snake. She gave birth to a son named Amphissus.

In Euripides' play Ion, Apollo fathered Ion by Creusa, wife of Xuthus. He used his powers to conceal her pregnancy from her father. Later, when Creusa left Ion to die in the wild, Apollo asked Hermes to save the child and bring him to the oracle at Delphi, where he was raised by a priestess.

Apollo loved and kidnapped an Oceanid nymph, Melia. Her father Oceanus sent one of his sons, Caanthus, to find her, but Caanthus could not take her back from Apollo, so he burned Apollo's sanctuary. In retaliation, Apollo shot and killed Caanthus.

Male lovers

Hyacinth (or Hyacinthus), a beautiful and athletic Spartan prince, was one of Apollo's favourite lovers. The pair was practicing throwing the discus when a discus thrown by Apollo was blown off course by the jealous Zephyrus and struck Hyacinthus in the head, killing him instantly. Apollo is said to be filled with grief. Out of Hyacinthus' blood, Apollo created a flower named after him as a memorial to his death, and his tears stained the flower petals with the interjection , meaning alas. He was later resurrected and taken to heaven. The festival Hyacinthia was a national celebration of Sparta, which commemorated the death and rebirth of Hyacinthus.

Another male lover was Cyparissus, a descendant of Heracles. Apollo gave him a tame deer as a companion but Cyparissus accidentally killed it with a javelin as it lay asleep in the undergrowth. Cyparissus was so saddened by its death that he asked Apollo to let his tears fall forever. Apollo granted the request by turning him into the Cypress named after him, which was said to be a sad tree because the sap forms droplets like tears on the trunk.

Admetus, the king of Pherae, was also Apollo's lover. During his exile, which lasted either for one year or nine years, Apollo served Admetus as a herdsman. The romantic nature of their relationship was first described by Callimachus of Alexandria, who wrote that Apollo was "fired with love" for Admetus. Plutarch lists Admetus as one of Apollo's lovers and says that Apollo served Admetus because he doted upon him. Latin poet Ovid in his  said that even though he was a god, Apollo forsook his pride and stayed in as a servant for the sake of Admetus. Tibullus describes Apollo's love to the king as servitium amoris (slavery of love) and asserts that Apollo became his servant not by force but by choice. He would also make cheese and serve it to Admetus. His domestic actions caused embarrassment to his family.

When Admetus wanted to marry princess Alcestis, Apollo provided a chariot pulled by a lion and a boar he had tamed. This satisfied Alcestis' father and he let Admetus marry his daughter. Further, Apollo saved the king from Artemis' wrath and also convinced the Moirai to postpone Admetus' death once.

Branchus, a shepherd, one day came across Apollo in the woods. Captivated by the god's beauty, he kissed Apollo. Apollo requited his affections and wanting to reward him, bestowed prophetic skills on him. His descendants, the Branchides, were an influential clan of prophets.

Other male lovers of Apollo include:

Adonis, who is said to have been the lover of both Apollo and Aphrodite. He behaved as a man with Aphrodite and as a woman with Apollo.
Atymnius, otherwise known as a beloved of Sarpedon
Boreas, the god of North winds
Cinyras, king of Cyprus and the priest of Aphrodite
Helenus, a Trojan prince (son of Priam and Hecuba). He received from Apollo an ivory bow with which he later wounded Achilles in the hand.
Hippolytus of Sicyon (not the same as Hippolytus, the son of Theseus)
Hymenaios, the son of Magnes
Iapis, to whom Apollo taught the art of healing
Phorbas, the dragon slayer (probably the son of Triopas)

Children

Apollo sired many children, from mortal women and nymphs as well as the goddesses. His children grew up to be physicians, musicians, poets, seers or archers. Many of his sons founded new cities and became kings.

Asclepius is the most famous son of Apollo. His skills as a physician surpassed that of Apollo's. Zeus killed him for bringing back the dead, but upon Apollo's request, he was resurrected as a god. 
Aristaeus was placed under the care of Chiron after his birth. He became the god of beekeeping, cheese-making, animal husbandry and more. He was ultimately given immortality for the benefits he bestowed upon humanity. The Corybantes were spear-clashing, dancing demigods.

The sons of Apollo who participated in the Trojan War include the Trojan princes Hector and Troilus, as well as Tenes, the king of Tenedos, all three of whom were killed by Achilles over the course of the war.

Apollo's children who became musicians and bards include Orpheus, Linus, Ialemus, Hymenaeus, Philammon, Eumolpus and Eleuther. Apollo fathered 3 daughters, Apollonis, Borysthenis and Cephisso, who formed a group of minor Muses, the "Musa Apollonides". They were nicknamed Nete, Mese and Hypate after the highest, middle and lowest strings of his lyre. Phemonoe was a seer and poet who was the inventor of Hexameter.

Apis, Idmon, Iamus, Tenerus, Mopsus, Galeus, Telmessus and others were gifted seers. Anius, Pythaeus and Ismenus lived as high priests. Most of them were trained by Apollo himself.

Arabus, Delphos, Dryops, Miletos, Tenes, Epidaurus, Ceos, Lycoras, Syrus, Pisus, Marathus, Megarus, Patarus, Acraepheus, Cicon, Chaeron and many other sons of Apollo, under the guidance of his words, founded eponymous cities.

He also had a son named Chrysorrhoas who was a mechanic artist. His other daughters include Eurynome, Chariclo wife of Chiron, Eurydice the wife of Orpheus, Eriopis, famous for her beautiful hair, Melite the heroine, Pamphile the silk weaver, Parthenos, and by some accounts, Phoebe, Hilyra and Scylla. Apollo turned Parthenos into a constellation after her early death.

Additionally, Apollo fostered and educated Chiron, the centaur who later became the greatest teacher and educated many demigods, including Apollo's sons. Apollo also fostered Carnus, the son of Zeus and Europa.

Failed love attempts

Marpessa was kidnapped by Idas but was loved by Apollo as well. Zeus made her choose between them, and she chose Idas on the grounds that Apollo, being immortal, would tire of her when she grew old.

Sinope, a nymph, was approached by the amorous Apollo. She made him promise that he would grant to her whatever she would ask for, and then cleverly asked him to let her stay a virgin. Apollo kept his promise and went back.

Bolina was admired by Apollo but she refused him and jumped into the sea. To avoid her death, Apollo turned her into a nymph, saving her life.

Castalia was a nymph whom Apollo loved. She fled from him and dove into the spring at Delphi, at the base of Mt. Parnassos, which was then named after her. Water from this spring was sacred; it was used to clean the Delphian temples and inspire the priestesses.

Cassandra, was a daughter of Hecuba and Priam. Apollo wished to court her. Cassandra promised to return his love on one condition - he should give her the power to see the future. Apollo fulfilled her wish, but she went back on her word and rejected him soon after. Angered that she broke her promise, Apollo cursed her that even though she would see the future, no one would ever believe her prophecies.

The Sibyl of Cumae like Cassandra promised Apollo her love if he would give her a boon. The Sibyl took a handful of sand and asked Apollo to grant her years of life as many as the grains of sand she held in her hands. Apollo granted her wish, but Sibyl went back on her word. Although Sibyl did live an extended life as Apollo had promised, he did not give her agelessness along with it, so she shrivelled and shrank and only her voice remained.

Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, rejected both Apollo's and Poseidon's marriage proposals and swore that she would always stay unmarried.

In one version of the prophet Tiresias's origins, he was originally a woman who promised Apollo to sleep with him if he would give her music lessons. Apollo gave her her wish, but then she went back on her word and refused him. Apollo in anger turned her into a man.

Female counterparts

Artemis

Artemis as the sister of Apollo, is thea apollousa, that is, she as a female divinity represented the same idea that Apollo did as a male divinity. In the pre-Hellenic period, their relationship was described as the one between husband and wife, and there seems to have been a tradition which actually described Artemis as the wife of Apollo. However, this relationship was never sexual but spiritual, which is why they both are seen being unmarried in the Hellenic period.

Artemis, like her brother, is armed with a bow and arrows. She is the cause of sudden deaths of women. She also is the protector of the young, especially girls. Though she has nothing to do with oracles, music or poetry, she sometimes led the female chorus on Olympus while Apollo sang. The laurel (daphne) was sacred to both. Artemis Daphnaia had her temple among the Lacedemonians, at a place called Hypsoi. 
Apollo Daphnephoros had a temple in Eretria, a "place where the citizens are to take the oaths". In later times when Apollo was regarded as identical with the sun or Helios, Artemis was naturally regarded as Selene or the moon.

Hecate

Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft and magic, is the chthonic counterpart of Apollo. They both are cousins, since their mothers - Leto and Asteria - are sisters. One of Apollo's epithets, Hecatos, is the masculine form of Hecate, and both names mean "working from afar". While Apollo presided over the prophetic powers and magic of light and heaven, Hecate presided over the prophetic powers and magic of night and chthonian darkness. If Hecate is the "gate-keeper", Apollo Agyieus is the "door-keeper". Hecate is the goddess of crossroads and Apollo is the god and protector of streets.

The oldest evidence found for Hecate's worship is at Apollo's temple in Miletos. There, Hecate was taken to be Apollo's sister counterpart in the absence of Artemis. Hecate's lunar nature makes her the goddess of the waning moon and contrasts and complements, at the same time, Apollo's solar nature.

Athena

As a deity of knowledge and great power, Apollo was seen being the male counterpart of Athena. Being Zeus' favorite children, they were given more powers and duties. Apollo and Athena often took up the role of protectors of cities, and were patrons of some of the important cities. Athena was the principal goddess of Athens, Apollo was the principal god of Sparta.

As patrons of arts, Apollo and Athena were companions of the Muses, the former a much more frequent companion than the latter. Apollo was sometimes called the son of Athena and Hephaestus.

In the Trojan War, as Zeus' executive, Apollo is seen holding the aegis like Athena usually does. Apollo's decisions were usually approved by his sister Athena, and they both worked to establish the law and order set forth by Zeus.

Apollo in the Oresteia
In Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy, Clytemnestra kills her husband, King Agamemnon because he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to proceed forward with the Trojan war. Apollo gives an order through the Oracle at Delphi that Agamemnon's son, Orestes, is to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, her lover. Orestes and Pylades carry out the revenge, and consequently Orestes is pursued by the Erinyes or Furies (female personifications of vengeance).

Apollo and the Furies argue about whether the matricide was justified; Apollo holds that the bond of marriage is sacred and Orestes was avenging his father, whereas the Erinyes say that the bond of blood between mother and son is more meaningful than the bond of marriage. They invade his temple, and he drives them away. He says that the matter should be brought before Athena. Apollo promises to protect Orestes, as Orestes has become Apollo's supplicant. Apollo advocates Orestes at the trial, and ultimately Athena rules in favor of Apollo.

Roman Apollo

The Roman worship of Apollo was adopted from the Greeks. As a quintessentially Greek god, Apollo had no direct Roman equivalent, although later Roman poets often referred to him as Phoebus. There was a tradition that the Delphic oracle was consulted as early as the period of the kings of Rome during the reign of Tarquinius Superbus.

On the occasion of a pestilence in the 430s BCE, Apollo's first temple at Rome was established in the Flaminian fields, replacing an older cult site there known as the "Apollinare". During the Second Punic War in 212 BCE, the Ludi Apollinares ("Apollonian Games") were instituted in his honor, on the instructions of a prophecy attributed to one Marcius. In the time of Augustus, who considered himself under the special protection of Apollo and was even said to be his son, his worship developed and he became one of the chief gods of Rome.

After the Battle of Actium, which was fought near a sanctuary of Apollo, Augustus enlarged Apollo's temple, dedicated a portion of the spoils to him, and instituted quinquennial games in his honour. He also erected a new temple to the god on the Palatine hill. Sacrifices and prayers on the Palatine to Apollo and Diana formed the culmination of the Secular Games, held in 17 BCE to celebrate the dawn of a new era.

Festivals
The chief Apollonian festival was the Pythian Games held every four years at Delphi and was one of the four great Panhellenic Games. Also of major importance was the Delia held every four years on Delos.
Athenian annual festivals included the Boedromia, Metageitnia, Pyanepsia, and Thargelia.
Spartan annual festivals were the Carneia and the Hyacinthia.
Thebes every nine years held the Daphnephoria.

Attributes and symbols

Apollo's most common attributes were the bow and arrow. Other attributes of his included the kithara (an advanced version of the common lyre), the plectrum and the sword. Another common emblem was the sacrificial tripod, representing his prophetic powers. The Pythian Games were held in Apollo's honor every four years at Delphi. The bay laurel plant was used in expiatory sacrifices and in making the crown of victory at these games.

The palm tree was also sacred to Apollo because he had been born under one in Delos. Animals sacred to Apollo included wolves, dolphins, roe deer, swans, cicadas (symbolizing music and song), ravens, hawks, crows (Apollo had hawks and crows as his messengers), snakes (referencing Apollo's function as the god of prophecy), mice and griffins, mythical eagle–lion hybrids of Eastern origin.

Homer and Porphyry wrote that Apollo had a hawk as his messenger. In many myths Apollo is transformed into a hawk. In addition, Claudius Aelianus wrote that in Ancient Egypt people believed that hawks were sacred to the god and that according to the ministers of Apollo in Egypt there were certain men called "hawk-keepers" (ἱερακοβοσκοί) who fed and tended the hawks belonging to the god. Eusebius wrote that the second appearance of the moon is held sacred in the city of Apollo in Egypt and that the city's symbol is a man with a hawklike face (Horus). Claudius Aelianus wrote that Egyptians called Apollo Horus in their own language.

As god of colonization, Apollo gave oracular guidance on colonies, especially during the height of colonization, 750–550 BCE. According to Greek tradition, he helped Cretan or Arcadian colonists found the city of Troy. However, this story may reflect a cultural influence which had the reverse direction: Hittite cuneiform texts mention an Asia Minor god called Appaliunas or Apalunas in connection with the city of Wilusa attested in Hittite inscriptions, which is now generally regarded as being identical with the Greek Ilion by most scholars. In this interpretation, Apollo's title of Lykegenes can simply be read as "born in Lycia", which effectively severs the god's supposed link with wolves (possibly a folk etymology).

In literary contexts, Apollo represents harmony, order, and reason—characteristics contrasted with those of Dionysus, god of wine, who represents ecstasy and disorder. The contrast between the roles of these gods is reflected in the adjectives Apollonian and Dionysian. However, the Greeks thought of the two qualities as complementary: the two gods are brothers, and when Apollo at winter left for Hyperborea, he would leave the Delphic oracle to Dionysus. This contrast appears to be shown on the two sides of the Borghese Vase.

Apollo is often associated with the Golden Mean. This is the Greek ideal of moderation and a virtue that opposes gluttony.

In antiquity, Apollo was associated with the planet Mercury. The ancient Greeks believed that Mercury as observed during the morning was a different planet than the one during the evening, because each twilight Mercury would appear farther from the Sun as it set than it had the night before. The morning planet was called Apollo, and the one at evening Hermes/Mercury before they realised they were the same, thereupon the name 'Mercury/Hermes' was kept, and 'Apollo' was dropped.

Apollo in the arts

Apollo is a common theme in Greek and Roman art and also in the art of the Renaissance. The earliest Greek word for a statue is "delight" (, agalma), and the sculptors tried to create forms which would inspire such guiding vision. Maurice Bowra notices that the Greek artist puts into a god the highest degree of power and beauty that can be imagined. The sculptors derived this from observations on human beings, but they also embodied in concrete form, issues beyond the reach of ordinary thought.

The naked bodies of the statues are associated with the cult of the body which was essentially a religious activity. The muscular frames and limbs combined with slim waists indicate the Greek desire for health, and the physical capacity which was necessary in the hard Greek environment. The statues of Apollo and the other gods present them in their full youth and strength. "In the balance and relation of their limbs, such figures express their whole character, mental and physical, and reveal their central being . ,the radiant reality of youth in its heyday".

Archaic sculpture
Numerous free-standing statues of male youths from Archaic Greece exist, and were once thought to be representations of Apollo, though later discoveries indicated that many represented mortals. In 1895, V. I. Leonardos proposed the term kouros ("male youth") to refer to those from Keratea; this usage was later expanded by Henri Lechat in 1904 to cover all statues of this format.

The earliest examples of life-sized statues of Apollo may be two figures from the Ionic sanctuary on the island of Delos. Such statues were found across the Greek-speaking world, the preponderance of these were found at the sanctuaries of Apollo with more than one hundred from the sanctuary of Apollo Ptoios, Boeotia alone. Significantly more rare are the life-sized bronze statues. One of the few originals which survived into the present day—so rare that its discovery in 1959 was described as "a miracle" by Ernst Homann-Wedeking—is the masterpiece bronze, Piraeus Apollo. It was found in Piraeus, a port city close to Athens, and is believed to have come from north-eastern Peloponnesus. It is the only surviving large-scale Peloponnesian statue.

Classical sculpture

The famous Apollo of Mantua and its variants are early forms of the Apollo Citharoedus statue type, in which the god holds the cithara, a sophisticated seven-stringed variant of the lyre, in his left arm. While none of the Greek originals have survived, several Roman copies from approximately the late 1st or early 2nd century exist, of which an example is the Apollo Barberini.

Hellenistic Greece-Rome
Apollo as a handsome beardless young man, is often depicted with a cithara (as Apollo Citharoedus) or bow in his hand, or reclining on a tree (the Apollo Lykeios and Apollo Sauroctonos types). The Apollo Belvedere is a marble sculpture that was rediscovered in the late 15th century; for centuries it epitomized the ideals of Classical Antiquity for Europeans, from the Renaissance through the 19th century. The marble is a Hellenistic or Roman copy of a bronze original by the Greek sculptor Leochares, made between 330 and 320 BCE.

The life-size so-called "Adonis" found in 1780 on the site of a villa suburbana near the Via Labicana in the Roman suburb of Centocelle is identified as an Apollo by modern scholars. In the late 2nd century CE floor mosaic from El Djem, Roman Thysdrus, he is identifiable as Apollo Helios by his effulgent halo, though now even a god's divine nakedness is concealed by his cloak, a mark of increasing conventions of modesty in the later Empire.

Another haloed Apollo in mosaic, from Hadrumentum, is in the museum at Sousse. The conventions of this representation, head tilted, lips slightly parted, large-eyed, curling hair cut in locks grazing the neck, were developed in the 3rd century BCE to depict Alexander the Great. Some time after this mosaic was executed, the earliest depictions of Christ would also be beardless and haloed.

Modern reception
Apollo often appears in modern and popular culture due to his status as the god of music, dance and poetry.

Postclassical art and literature

Dance and music 
Apollo has featured in dance and music in modern culture. Percy Bysshe Shelley composed a "Hymn of Apollo" (1820), and the god's instruction of the Muses formed the subject of Igor Stravinsky's Apollon musagète (1927–1928). In 1978, the Canadian band Rush released an album with songs "Apollo: Bringer of Wisdom"/"Dionysus: Bringer of Love".

Books 
Apollo has been portrayed in modern literature, such as when Charles Handy, in Gods of Management (1978) uses Greek gods as a metaphor to portray various types of organizational culture. Apollo represents a 'role' culture where order, reason, and bureaucracy prevail. In 2016, author Rick Riordan published the first book in the Trials of Apollo series, publishing four other books in the series in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Film 
Apollo has been depicted in modern films—for instance, by Keith David in the 1997 animated feature film Hercules, by Luke Evans in the 2010 action film Clash of the Titans, and by Dimitri Lekkos in the 2010 film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Video games 
Apollo has appeared in many modern video games. Apollo appears as a minor character in Santa Monica Studio's 2010 action-adventure game God of War III with his bow being used by Peirithous. He also appears in the 2014 Hi-Rez Studios Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game Smite as a playable character.

Psychology and philosophy 

In the philosophical discussion of the arts, a distinction is sometimes made between the Apollonian and Dionysian impulses, where the former is concerned with imposing intellectual order and the latter with chaotic creativity. Friedrich Nietzsche argued that a fusion of the two was most desirable. Psychologist Carl Jung's Apollo archetype represents what he saw as the disposition in people to over-intellectualise and maintain emotional distance.

Spaceflight 

In spaceflight, the 1960s and 1970s NASA program for orbiting and landing astronauts on the Moon was named after Apollo, by NASA manager Abe Silverstein:

Genealogy

See also 

 Darrhon
 Dryad
 Epirus
 Family tree of the Greek gods
 Phoebus (disambiguation)
 Sibylline oracles
 Tegyra
 Temple of Apollo (disambiguation)

Notes

References

Sources

Primary sources

 Aelian, On Animals, Volume II: Books 6–11. Translated by A. F. Scholfield. Loeb Classical Library 447. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1958.
 Aeschylus, The Eumenides in Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes, Vol 2, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1926, Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project.
 Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius: the Argonautica, translated by Robert Cooper Seaton, W. Heinemann, 1912. Internet Archive.
 Callimachus, Callimachus and Lycophron with an English Translation by A. W. Mair; Aratus, with an English Translation by G. R. Mair, London: W. Heinemann, New York: G. P. Putnam 1921. Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive.
 Cicero, Marcus Tullius, De Natura Deorum in Cicero in Twenty-eight Volumes, XIX De Natura Deorum; Academica, with an English translation by H. Rackham, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd, 1967.  Internet Archive.
 Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8, translated by C. H. Oldfather, Loeb Classical Library No. 340. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1939. . Online version at Harvard University Press. Online version by Bill Thayer.
 Herodotus, Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. Online version available at The Perseus Digital Library.
 Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Homeric Hymn 3 to Apollo in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Homeric Hymn 4 to Hermes, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PhD in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Homer; The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Hyginus, Gaius Julius, De Astronomica, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. Online version at ToposText.
 Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. Online version at ToposText.
 Livy, The History of Rome, Books I and II With An English Translation. Cambridge. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919.
 Nonnus, Dionysiaca; translated by Rouse, W H D, I Books I-XV. Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. Internet Archive
 Nonnus, Dionysiaca; translated by Rouse, W H D, II Books XVI-XXXV. Loeb Classical Library No. 345, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. Internet Archive
 Statius, Thebaid. Translated by Mozley, J H. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928.
 Strabo, The Geography of Strabo. Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Sophocles, Oedipus Rex
 Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 46. Hyacinthus (330 BCE)
 Ovid, Metamorphoses, Brookes More, Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. 10. 162–219 (1–8 CE)
 Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Philostratus the Elder, Imagines, in Philostratus the Elder, Imagines. Philostratus the Younger, Imagines. Callistratus, Descriptions. Translated by Arthur Fairbanks. Loeb Classical Library No. 256. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1931.  . Online version at Harvard University Press.  Internet Archive 1926 edition. i.24 Hyacinthus (170–245 CE)
 Philostratus the Younger, Imagines, in Philostratus the Elder, Imagines. Philostratus the Younger, Imagines. Callistratus, Descriptions. Translated by Arthur Fairbanks. Loeb Classical Library No. 256. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1931.  . Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive 1926 edition. 14. Hyacinthus (170–245 CE)
 Pindar, Odes, Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Plutarch. Lives, Volume I: Theseus and Romulus. Lycurgus and Numa. Solon and Publicola. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Loeb Classical Library No. 46. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1914. . Online version at Harvard University Press. Numa at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Pseudo-Plutarch, De fluviis, in Plutarch's morals, Volume V, edited and translated by William Watson Goodwin, Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1874. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Lucian, Dialogues of the Dead. Dialogues of the Sea-Gods. Dialogues of the Gods. Dialogues of the Courtesans, translated by M. D. MacLeod, Loeb Classical Library No. 431, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1961. . Online version at Harvard University Press. Internet Archive.
 First Vatican Mythographer, 197. Thamyris et Musae
 Tzetzes, John, Chiliades, editor Gottlieb Kiessling, F.C.G. Vogel, 1826. Google Books. (English translation: Book I by Ana Untila; Books II–IV, by Gary Berkowitz; Books V–VI by Konstantino Ramiotis; Books VII–VIII by Vasiliki Dogani; Books IX–X by Jonathan Alexander; Books XII–XIII by Nikolaos Giallousis. Internet Archive).
 Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, translated by J. H. Mozley, Loeb Classical Library No. 286. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. . Online version at Harvard University Press. Online translated text available at theoi.com.
 Vergil, Aeneid. Theodore C. Williams. trans. Boston. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1910. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

Secondary sources

 Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, The Orphic Hymns, Johns Hopkins University Press; owlerirst Printing edition (May 29, 2013). . Google Books.
 M. Bieber, 1964. Alexander the Great in Greek and Roman Art. Chicago.
 Hugh Bowden, 2005. Classical Athens and the Delphic Oracle: Divination and Democracy. Cambridge University Press.
 Walter Burkert, 1985. Greek Religion (Harvard University Press) III.2.5 passim
 
 Fontenrose, Joseph Eddy, Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins, University of California Press, 1959. .
 Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes:  (Vol. 1),  (Vol. 2).
 
 Miranda J. Green, 1997. Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend, Thames and Hudson.
 Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. .
 Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, . Google Books.
 Karl Kerenyi, 1953. Apollon: Studien über Antiken Religion und Humanität revised edition.
 Kerényi, Karl 1951, The Gods of the Greeks,  Thames and Hudson, London.
 Mertens, Dieter; Schutzenberger, Margareta. Città e monumenti dei Greci d'Occidente: dalla colonizzazione alla crisi di fine V secolo a.C.. Roma L'Erma di Bretschneider, 2006. .
 Martin Nilsson, 1955. Die Geschichte der Griechische Religion, vol. I. C.H. Beck.
 Parada, Carlos, Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology, Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. .
 Pauly–Wissowa, Realencyclopädie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft: II, "Apollon". The best repertory of cult sites (Burkert).
 Peck, Harry Thurston, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York. Harper and Brothers. 1898. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Pfeiff, K.A., 1943. Apollon: Wandlung seines Bildes in der griechischen Kunst. Traces the changing iconography of Apollo.
 D.S.Robertson (1945) A handbook of Greek and Roman Architecture Cambridge University Press
 Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Apollo"
 
 Smith, William, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. William Smith, LLD. William Wayte. G. E. Marindin. Albemarle Street, London. John Murray. 1890. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
 Spivey Nigel (1997) Greek art Phaedon Press Ltd.

External links

 Apollo at the Greek Mythology Link, by Carlos Parada
 The Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 1650 images of Apollo)

 
Greek gods
Roman gods
Beauty gods
Health gods
Knowledge gods
Light gods
Maintenance deities
Music and singing gods
Oracular gods
Solar gods
Plague gods
Dragonslayers
Mythological Greek archers
Mythological rapists
Homosexuality and bisexuality deities
Divine twins
Deities in the Iliad
Metamorphoses characters
Musicians in Greek mythology
LGBT themes in Greek mythology
Children of Zeus
Characters in the Odyssey
Characters in the Argonautica
Characters in Roman mythology
Childhood gods
Mythological Greek physicians
Arts gods
Dii Consentes
Medicine deities
Mercurian deities
Twelve Olympians
Dance gods
Kourotrophoi
Shapeshifters in Greek mythology
Supernatural healing
Wolf deities

Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Agassi is the second of five men to achieve the career Grand Slam in the Open Era and the fifth of eight overall to make the achievement. He is also the first of two men to achieve the career Golden Slam (career Grand Slam and Olympic gold medal), as well as the only man to win a career Super Slam (career Grand Slam, plus the Olympic gold medal and the year-end championships).

Agassi was the first man to win all four singles majors on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass), and remains the most recent American man to win the French Open (in 1999) and the Australian Open (in 2003). He also won 17 Masters titles and was part of the winning Davis Cup teams in 1990, 1992 and 1995. Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in 1995, but was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to No. 141 in 1997, prompting many to believe that his career was over. Agassi returned to No. 1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. During his 20-plus year tour career, Agassi was known by the nickname "The Punisher".

After suffering from sciatica caused by two bulging discs in his back, a spondylolisthesis (vertebral displacement) and a bone spur that interfered with the nerve, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006, after losing in the third round of the US Open. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K–12 public charter school for at-risk children. He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001.

Early life
Andre Agassi was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, to Emmanuel "Mike" Agassi (Aghassian), a former Olympic boxer from Iran, and American Elizabeth "Betty" Agassi (née Dudley). His father is of Armenian and Assyrian heritage. Andre Agassi's mother, Betty, is a breast cancer survivor. He has three older siblings – Rita (last wife of former number one Pancho Gonzales), Philip and Tami. Andre was given the middle name Kirk after Kirk Kerkorian, an Armenian American billionaire. Emmanuel Agassi, then a waiter at Tropicana Las Vegas, had met Kerkorian in 1963.

At the age of 12, Agassi and his good friend and doubles partner, Roddy Parks, won the 1982 National Indoor Boys 14s Doubles Championship in Chicago. Agassi describes memorable experiences and juvenile pranks with Roddy in his book Open.

When he was 13, Agassi was sent to Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy in Florida. He was meant to stay for only three months, because that was all his father could afford. After thirty minutes of watching Agassi play, Bollettieri, deeply impressed by his talent, called Mike and said: "Take your check back. He's here for free." Agassi then dropped out of school in the ninth grade to pursue a full-time tennis career.

Professional career

1986–1993: Breakthrough and the first major title

Agassi turned professional at the age of 16 and competed in his first tournament at La Quinta, California. He won his first match against John Austin, but then lost his second match to Mats Wilander. By the end of 1986, Agassi was ranked No. 91. He won his first top-level singles title in 1987 at the Sul American Open in Itaparica and ended the year ranked No. 25. He won six additional tournaments in 1988 (Memphis, U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, Forest Hills WCT, Stuttgart Outdoor, Volvo International and Livingston Open), and, by December of that year, he had surpassed US$1 million in career prize money after playing in just 43 tournaments—the fastest anyone in history had reached that level. During 1988, he also set the open-era record for most consecutive victories by a male teenager (a record that stood for 17 years until Rafael Nadal broke it in 2005). His year-end ranking was No. 3, behind second-ranked Ivan Lendl and top-ranked Mats Wilander. Both the Association of Tennis Professionals and Tennis magazine named Agassi the Most Improved Player of the Year for 1988.

In addition to not playing the Australian Open (which later became his best Grand Slam event) for the first eight years of his career, Agassi chose not to play at Wimbledon from 1988 through 1990 (although he first played there in 1987, only to lose in the first round to Henri Leconte) and publicly stated that he did not wish to play there because of the event's traditionalism, particularly its "predominantly white" dress code to which players at the event are required to conform.

Strong performances on the tour meant that Agassi was quickly tipped as a future Grand Slam champion. While still a teenager, he reached the semi-finals of both the French Open and the US Open in 1988 and made the US Open semi-finals in 1989. He began the 1990s with a series of near-misses. He reached his first Grand Slam final in 1990 at the French Open, where he was favored before losing in four sets to Andrés Gómez, which he later attributed in his book to worrying about his wig falling off during the match. He reached his second Grand Slam final of the year at the US Open, defeating defending champion Boris Becker in the semi-finals. His opponent in the final was Pete Sampras; a year earlier, Agassi had crushed Sampras, after which time he told his coach that he felt bad for Sampras because he was never going to make it as a pro. Agassi lost the US Open final to Sampras in three sets. The Agassi-Sampras rivalry became the biggest one in tennis over the rest of the decade. Agassi ended 1990 on a high note as he helped the United States win its first Davis Cup in 8 years on home soil against Australia (3-2) and won his only Tennis Masters Cup, beating reigning Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg in the final.

In 1991, Agassi reached his second consecutive French Open final, where he faced fellow Bollettieri Academy alumnus Jim Courier. Courier emerged the victor in a five-set final. The Las Vegan was a set and 3-1 up when came the rain. The rain delay proved to be a confidence builder for Courier. Agassi decided to play at Wimbledon in 1991, leading to weeks of speculation in the media about the clothes he would wear. He eventually emerged for the first round in a completely white outfit. He reached the quarterfinals on that occasion, losing in five sets to David Wheaton.

Agassi's Grand Slam tournament breakthrough came at Wimbledon, not at the French Open or the US Open, where he had previously enjoyed success. In 1992, he defeated Goran Ivanišević in a five-set final. Along the way, Agassi overcame two former Wimbledon champions: Boris Becker and John McEnroe. No other baseliner would triumph at Wimbledon until Lleyton Hewitt ten years later. Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year in 1992. Agassi once again played on the United States' Davis Cup winning team in 1992. It was their second Davis cup title in three years. Agassi famously played the game wearing Oakley brand sunglasses, and a photo of him from the day appeared on the cover of Tennis magazine. In his memoir, he wrote that he was covering up bloodshot eyes from a hangover and claimed that the founder of Oakley, Jim Jannard, had sent him a Dodge Viper to thank him for the inadvertent publicity.

In 1993, Agassi won the only doubles title of his career, at the Cincinnati Masters, partnered with Petr Korda. He missed much of the early part of that year due to injuries. Although he made the quarterfinals in his Wimbledon title defense, he lost to eventual champion and No. 1 Pete Sampras in five sets. Agassi lost in the first round at the US Open to Thomas Enqvist and required wrist surgery late in the year.

1994–1997: Rise to the top, Olympic Gold and the fall
With new coach Brad Gilbert on board, Agassi began to employ more of a tactical, consistent approach, which fueled his resurgence. He started slowly in 1994, losing in the first week at the French Open and Wimbledon. Nevertheless, he emerged during the hard-court season, winning the Canadian Open. His comeback culminated at the 1994 US Open with a five-set fourth-round victory against Michael Chang. He then became the first man to capture the US Open as an unseeded player, beating Michael Stich in the final. Along the way, he beat 5 seeded players.

In 1995, Agassi shaved his balding head, breaking with his old "image is everything" style. He competed in the 1995 Australian Open (his first appearance at the event) and won, beating defending champion Sampras in a four-set final. Agassi and Sampras met in five tournament finals in 1995, all on hardcourt, with Agassi winning three. Agassi won three Masters Series events in 1995 (Cincinnati, Key Biscayne, and the Canadian Open) and seven titles total. He compiled a career-best 26-match winning streak during the summer hard-court circuit, with the last victory being in an intense late-night four-set semi-final of the US Open against Boris Becker. The streak ended the next day when Agassi lost the final to Sampras. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over mentally.

Agassi reached the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in April 1995. He held that ranking until November, for a total of 30 weeks. Agassi skipped most of the fall indoor season which allowed Sampras to surpass him and finish ranked No. 1 at the year-end ranking. In terms of win–loss record, 1995 was Agassi's best year. He won 73 and lost 9 matches, and was also once again a key player on the United States' Davis Cup winning team—the third and final Davis Cup title of his career.

1996 was a less successful year for Agassi, as he failed to reach any Grand Slam final. He suffered two early-round losses to Chris Woodruff and Doug Flach at the French Open and Wimbledon, respectively, and lost to Chang in straight sets in the Australian and US Open semi-finals. At the time, Agassi blamed the Australian Open loss on the windy conditions, but later said in his biography that he had lost the match on purpose, as he did not want to play Boris Becker, whom he would have faced in that final. The high point for Agassi was winning the men's singles gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, beating Sergi Bruguera of Spain in the final. Agassi also successfully defended his singles titles in Cincinnati and Key Biscayne.

1997 was the low point of Agassi's career. His wrist injury resurfaced, and he played only 24 matches during the year. He later confessed that he started using crystal methamphetamine at that time, allegedly on the urging of a friend. He failed an ATP drug test, but wrote a letter claiming the same friend had spiked a drink. The ATP dropped the failed drug test as a warning. In his autobiography, Agassi admitted that the letter was a lie. He quit the drug soon after. At this time Agassi was also in a failing marriage with actress, model, and socialite Brooke Shields and had lost interest in the game. He won no top-level titles, and his ranking sank to No. 141 on November 10, 1997, prompting many to believe that his run as one of the sport's premier competitors was over and he would never again win any significant tournaments.

1998–2003: Return to glory and Career Super Slam

In 1998, Agassi began a rigorous conditioning program and worked his way back up the rankings by playing in Challenger Series tournaments, a circuit for pro players ranked outside the world's top 50. After returning to top physical and mental shape, Agassi recorded the most successful period of his tennis career and also played classic matches in that period against Pete Sampras and Patrick Rafter.

In 1998, Agassi won five titles and leapt from No. 110 to No. 6, the highest jump into the top 10 made by any player during a calendar year. At Wimbledon, he had an early loss in the second round to Tommy Haas. He won five titles in ten finals and was runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Key Biscayne, losing to Marcelo Ríos, who became No. 1 as a result. At the year end he was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year for the second time in his career (the first being 10 years earlier in 1988).

Agassi entered the history books in 1999 when he came back from two sets to love down to beat Andrei Medvedev in a five-set French Open final, becoming, at the time, only the fifth male player (joining Rod Laver, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Don Budge—these have since been joined by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) to win all four Grand Slam singles titles during his career. Only Laver, Agassi, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have achieved this feat during the Open Era. This win also made him the first (of only four, the next being Federer, Nadal and Djokovic respectively) male player in history to have won all four Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts).  Agassi also became the only male player to win the Career Super Slam, consisting of all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal in singles and a Year-end championship.

Agassi followed his 1999 French Open victory by reaching the Wimbledon final, where he lost to Sampras in straight sets. He rebounded from his Wimbledon defeat by winning the US Open, beating Todd Martin in five sets (rallying from a two sets to one deficit) in the final. Overall during the year Agassi won 5 titles including two majors and the ATP Masters Series in Paris, where he beat Marat Safin. Agassi ended 1999 as the No. 1, ending Sampras's record of six consecutive year-ending top rankings (1993–98). This was the only time Agassi ended the year at No. 1.  Agassi was runner-up to Sampras at the year-end Tennis Masters Cup losing 1–6, 5–7, 4–6 despite beating Sampras in the round-robin 6–2, 6–2.

He began the next year 2000 by capturing his second Australian Open title, beating Sampras in a five-set semi-final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in a four-set final. He was the first male player to have reached four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rod Laver achieved the Grand Slam in 1969.  At the time, Agassi was also only the fourth player since Laver to be the reigning champion of three of four Grand Slam events, missing only the Wimbledon title.. 2000 also saw Agassi reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost in five sets to Rafter in a match considered by many to be one of the best ever at Wimbledon. At the inaugural Tennis Masters Cup in Lisbon, Agassi reached the final after defeating Marat Safin in the semi-finals to end the Russian's hopes to become the youngest No. 1 in the history of tennis. Agassi then lost to Gustavo Kuerten in the final, allowing Kuerten to be crowned year-end No. 1.

Agassi opened 2001 by successfully defending his Australian Open title with a straight-sets final win over Arnaud Clément. En route, he beat a cramping Rafter in five sets in front of a sell-out crowd in what turned out to be the Aussie's last Australian Open. At Wimbledon, they met again in the semi-finals, where Agassi lost another close match to Rafter, 8–6 in the fifth set. In the quarterfinals at the US Open, Agassi lost a 3-hour, 33 minute epic match with Sampras, 7–6, 6–7, 6–7, 6–7, with no breaks of serve during the 52-game match. Despite the setback, Agassi finished 2001 ranked No. 3, becoming the only male tennis player to finish a year ranked in the top 3 in three different decades.

2002 opened with disappointment for Agassi, as injury forced him to skip the Australian Open, where he was a two-time defending champion. Agassi recovered from the injury and later that year defended his Key Biscayne title beating then rising Roger Federer in a four-set final. At the US Open, Agassi overcame No.1 ranked and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. This led to what turned out to be the last duel between Agassi and Sampras in final of the US Open, which Sampras won in four sets and left Sampras with a 20–14 edge in their 34 career meetings. The match was the last of Sampras's career. Agassi's US Open finish, along with his Masters Series victories in Key Biscayne, Rome and Madrid, helped him finish 2002 as the oldest year-end No. 2 at 32 years and 8 months.

In 2003, Agassi won the eighth (and final) Grand Slam title of his career at the Australian Open, where he beat Rainer Schüttler in straight sets in the final.

On April 28, 2003, he recaptured the No. 1 ranking to become the oldest top-ranked male player since the ATP rankings began at 33 years and 13 days. The record was later surpassed by Roger Federer in 2018. He had held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks, when Lleyton Hewitt took it back on May 12, 2003. Agassi then recaptured the No. 1 ranking once again on June 16, 2003, which he held for 12 weeks until September 7, 2003. There he managed to reach the US Open semi-finals, where he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero, surrendering his No. 1 ranking to him. During his career, Agassi held the ranking for a total of 101 weeks. Agassi's ranking slipped when injuries forced him to withdraw from a number of events. At the year-end Tennis Masters Cup, Agassi lost in the final to Federer, his third time to finish as runner-up in the event after losses in 1999 and 2000, and finished the year ranked No. 4. At age 33, he had been one of the oldest players to rank in the top 5 since Connors, at age 35, was No. 4 in 1987.

2004–2006: Final years

In 2004, Agassi began the year with a five-set loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to Marat Safin; the loss ended Agassi's 26-match winning streak at the event. He won the Masters series event in Cincinnati to bring his career total to 59 top-level singles titles and a record 17 ATP Masters Series titles, having already won seven of the nine ATP Masters tournament—all except the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. At 34, he became the second-oldest singles champion in Cincinnati tournament history (the tournament began in 1899), tied with Roger Federer and surpassed only by Ken Rosewall, who won the title in 1970 at age 35. He finished the year ranked No. 8, one of the oldest players to finish in the top 10 since the 36-year-old Connors was No. 7 in 1988. At the time, Agassi also became the sixth male player during the open era to reach 800 career wins with his first-round victory over Alex Bogomolov in Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.

Agassi's 2005 began with a quarterfinal loss to Federer at the Australian Open. Agassi had several other deep runs at tournaments, but had to withdraw from several events due to injury. He lost to Jarkko Nieminen in the first round of the French Open. He won his fourth title in Los Angeles and reached the final of the Rogers Cup, before falling to No. 2 Rafael Nadal.

Agassi's 2005 was defined by an improbable run to the US Open final. After beating Răzvan Sabău and Ivo Karlović in straight sets and Tomáš Berdych in four sets, Agassi won three consecutive five-set matches to advance to the final. The most notable of these matches was his quarterfinal victory over James Blake, where he rallied from two sets down to win in the fifth set tie-breaker. His other five-set victories were over Xavier Malisse in the fourth round and Robby Ginepri in the semi-finals. In the final, Agassi faced Federer, who was seeking his second consecutive US Open title and his sixth Grand Slam title in two years. Federer defeated Agassi in four sets. Agassi finished 2005 ranked No. 7, his 16th time in the year-end top-10 rankings, which tied Connors for the most times ranked in the top 10 at year's end.

Agassi had a poor start to 2006, as he was still recovering from an ankle injury and also suffering from back and leg pain and lack of match play. Agassi withdrew from the Australian Open because of the ankle injury, and his back injury and other pains forced him to withdraw from several other events, eventually skipping the entire clay-court season including the French Open. This caused his ranking to drop out of the top 10 for the last time. Agassi returned for the grass-court season, playing a tune-up, and then Wimbledon. He was defeated in the third round by world No. 2 (and eventual runner-up) Rafael Nadal. Against conventions, Agassi, the losing player, was interviewed on court after the match. At Wimbledon, Agassi announced his plans to retire following the US Open. Agassi played only two events during the summer hard-court season with his best result being a quarterfinal loss at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles to Fernando González of Chile, which resulted in him being unseeded at the US Open.

Agassi had a short, but dramatic, run in his final US Open. Because of extreme back pain, Agassi was forced to receive anti-inflammatory injections after every match. After a four-set win against Andrei Pavel, Agassi faced eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis in the second round who had earlier advanced to the 2006 Australian Open final and Wimbledon semi-finals. Agassi won in five sets as the younger Baghdatis succumbed to muscle cramping in the final set. In his last match, Agassi fell to 112th-ranked big-serving Benjamin Becker of Germany in four sets. Agassi received a four-minute standing ovation from the crowd after the match and delivered a retirement speech.

Rivalries

Agassi vs. Sampras

The rivalry has been called the greatest of the generation of players competing in the 1990s, as Sampras and Agassi were the most successful players of that decade. They also had very contrasting playing styles, with Sampras being considered the greatest server and Agassi the greatest serve returner at the time. Agassi and Sampras met 34 times on the tour level with Agassi trailing 14–20.

The 1990 US Open was their first meeting in a Grand Slam tournament final. Agassi was favored as he was ranked No. 4 at the time, compared to the No. 12 ranking of Sampras and because Agassi had defeated Sampras in their only previously completed match. Agassi, however, lost the final to Sampras in straight sets. Their next meeting in a Grand Slam was at the 1992 French Open, where they met in the quarterfinals. Although Sampras was ranked higher, Agassi came out winning in straight sets. They met again on a Grand Slam level at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1993, where Agassi was the defending champion and Sampras was the newly minted world No. 1. Agassi dug himself out from a two-sets-to-love hole, levelling the match at two sets apiece; however, Sampras prevailed in five sets, and went on to win his first Wimbledon championship.

With both Sampras and Agassi participating, the US won the Davis Cup in 1995. The year should be considered the peak of the rivalry as together they won three out of four major titles, meeting each other twice in the finals, and were occupying the top two spots in the rankings for the whole year. They met five times during the year, all in the title matches, including the Australian Open, the Newsweek Champions Cup (now Indian Wells), the Lipton International Players Championships (now Miami Open), the Canadian Open, and the US Open. Agassi won three of the finals, including the Australian Open; however, Sampras took the US Open title, ending Agassi's 26-match winning streak. After Agassi had taken most of the fall season off, Sampras took over the No. 1 ranking for the end of the season. Agassi admitted this loss, which gave Sampras a 9–8 lead in their head-to-head meetings, took two years for him to get over it mentally.

In the following three years, while Sampras continued winning Grand Slam titles every season, Agassi slumped in the rankings and struggled in major competitions. The next time Sampras and Agassi met in a Grand Slam final was at Wimbledon in 1999, where Sampras won in straight sets. For both, it was considered a career rejuvenation, as Sampras had suffered a string of disappointments in the previous year while Agassi was regaining his status as a top-ranked player after winning the French Open. Sampras forfeited the No. 1 ranking to Agassi when injury forced him to withdraw from that year's US Open, which Agassi went on to win. They faced each other twice in the season-ending ATP Tour World Championships, with Sampras losing the round-robin match, but winning the final.

In the 2000s, they met three more times on the Grand Slam level offering three memorable contests. In 2000, the top-ranked Agassi defeated No. 3 Sampras in the semi-finals of the Australian Open in five sets, which was an important win for Agassi who had lost 4 of the previous five matches against Sampras. In arguably their most memorable match ever, Sampras defeated Agassi in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals in four sets. There were no breaks of serve during the entire match. Reruns of the match are frequently featured on television, especially during US Open rain delays, and the match is considered one of the best in history because of the level of play presented by both players.

Their last meeting was the final of the 2002 US Open, which was their third meeting in a US Open final, but the first since 1995. The match was also notable because they had defeated several up-and-coming players en route to the final. Sampras had defeated No. 3 Tommy Haas in the fourth round and future No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals, while Agassi had defeated No. 1 and defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the semi-finals. Sampras defeated Agassi in four sets. This was the final ATP tour singles match of Sampras's career.

Agassi vs. Chang
Michael Chang was the opponent Agassi faced most frequently from all the players other than Sampras. They met 22 times on the tour level with Agassi leading 15–7. Chang, unlike most of Agassi's big rivals, had a playing style similar to his. Both players preferred to stay at the baseline with Chang being more defensive-minded. The outcome was that most of their meetings were built on long and entertaining rallies. The rivalry began late in the 1980s with both players being considered the prodigies of the next great generation of American tennis players and both being of foreign descent.

Agassi won the first four matches including a straight-set victory in round 16 of the 1988 US Open and defeating Chang, the defending champion, in the 1990 French Open in a four-set quarterfinal. Arguably their best match took place in the round of 16 of the 1994 US Open. While both players presented high-quality shot-making, the momentum changed from set to set with Agassi eventually prevailing in a five-set victory. It turned out to be the toughest contest on his way to his first US Open title. Their next two Grand Slam meetings came in 1996, with Chang recording easy straight-set victories in the semi-finals of both the Australian Open and the US Open. Years after, Agassi shockingly admitted in his book that he had lost the first of the matches on purpose as he did not want to face Boris Becker, who was awaiting the winner in the final. Agassi won the last four of their matches, with the last being in 2003 at the Miami Open with Chang being clearly past his prime.

Agassi vs. Becker
Boris Becker and Agassi played 14 times with Agassi leading 10–4. Becker won their first three matches in 1988 and 1989 before Agassi reversed the rivalry in 1990, and won 10 of their last 11 matches. One contributing factor is that after their third match, Agassi picked up a tell regarding Becker's serve and knew where his serves would be directed. They first played at Indian Wells in 1988, with Becker prevailing. Their most notable match was the 1989 Davis Cup semi-final match, which Becker won in five sets after losing the first two in tiebreaks. Agassi, considered a baseliner with a playing style not suiting grass, shocked Becker, a three-time champion, in a five-set quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 1992 on his way to his first Grand Slam title. The intensity of the rivalry peaked in 1995. Becker won that year's Wimbledon semi-final after being down a set and two breaks, to eventually win in four sets. In a highly anticipated rematch in the US Open semi-final, this time it was Agassi who came out victorious in four tight sets. Their final match was played at Hong Kong in 1999, which Agassi won in three sets.

Agassi vs. Rafter
Agassi and Pat Rafter played fifteen times with Agassi leading 10–5. The rivalry has been considered special and delivered memorable encounters, because of the players' contrasting styles of play, with Rafter using traditional serve-&-volley methods against Agassi's variety of return of serves and passing shots as his main weapons. Agassi led 8–2 on hard courts, but Rafter surprisingly won their sole match on clay at the 1999 Rome Masters. They played four matches at Wimbledon with both winning two matches each. Agassi won the first two in 1993 and 1999, while Rafter took their 2000 and 2001 encounters, the latter two matches being gruelling 5-setters often being presented on the lists of best matches ever played. Agassi also won both their meetings at the Australian Open, in 1995 and 2001, on his way to the title on both occasions. Rafter, however, took their only US Open encounter in 1997 and went on to win the title.

Agassi vs. Federer
Agassi and Roger Federer played 11 times, and Federer led their head-to-head series 8–3. With the retirement of Sampras, the rivalry against the 11-years-younger Federer, who was another great server like Sampras, became Agassi's main rivalry for the final years of his career. Agassi won their first three matches, but then went on to lose eight consecutive ones. They first met in just the third tournament of Federer's career at the 1998 Swiss Indoors in Federer's hometown, with Agassi prevailing over the 17-year-old. Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Open in 2002. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003, when he defeated Agassi in both the round-robin and the final. They played a quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two windy days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. At the 2005 Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two tennis legends play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final duel took place in the final of the 2005 US Open. Federer was victorious in four sets in front of a pro-Agassi crowd. The match was the last appearance by Agassi in any tournament final.

Agassi vs. Lendl
Agassi and Ivan Lendl played eight times, and Lendl led their head-to-head series 6–2.

Agassi vs. Edberg
Agassi and Stefan Edberg played nine times, and Agassi led their head-to-head series 6–3.

Earnings
Agassi earned more than $30 million in prize-money during his career, sixth only to Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, Sampras and Murray to date (May 2018). He also earned more than $25 million a year through endorsements during his career, which was ranked fourth in all sports at the time.

Post-retirement
Since retiring after the 2006 US Open, Agassi has participated in a series of charity tournaments and continues his work with his own charity. On September 5, 2007, he was a surprise guest commentator for the Andy Roddick/Roger Federer US Open quarterfinal. He played an exhibition match at Wimbledon, teaming with his wife, Steffi Graf, to play with Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters. He played World Team Tennis for the Philadelphia Freedoms in the summer of 2009. At the 2009 French Open, Agassi was on hand to present Roger Federer, who completed his Career Grand Slam by winning the tournament and joined Agassi as one of six men to complete the Career Grand Slam, with the trophy.

Also in 2009, Agassi played at the Outback Champions Series event for the first time. He played the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships at Surprise, Arizona, where he reached the final before bowing to eventual champion Todd Martin. Agassi returned to the tour renamed for the PowerShares Series in 2011 and participated in a total of seven events while winning two. Agassi beat Courier in the final of the Staples Champions Cup in Boston and later defeated Sampras at the CTCA Championships at his hometown Las Vegas.

In 2012, Agassi took part in five tournaments, winning three of those. In November, at first he won BILT Champions Showdown in San Jose, beating John McEnroe in the final. The following day, he defended his title of the CTCA Championships, while defeating Courier in the decisive match. In the series season finale, he beat Michael Chang for the Acura Champions Cup. The series and Agassi came back to action in 2014. Agassi won both tournaments he participated in. At the Camden Wealth Advisors Cup's final in Houston, Agassi beat James Blake for a rematch of their 2005 US Open quarterfinal. He defeated Blake again in Portland to win the title of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Championships. In 2015, Agassi took part in just one event of the PowerShares Series, losing to Mark Philippoussis in the final of the Champions Shootout. The following year he took part in two events, at first losing to Blake in Chicago, and the next day defeating Mardy Fish, but losing to Roddick in Charleston.

In 2009, in Macau Agassi and Sampras met for the first time on court since the 2002 US Open final. Sampras won the exhibition in three sets. The rivalry between the former champions headlined sports media again in March 2010 after the two participated in the "Hit for Haiti" charity event organized to raise money for the victims of the earthquake. Partnered with Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the old rivals began making jokes at each other's expense, which ended up with Sampras intentionally striking a serve at Agassi's body. After the event, Agassi admitted that he had crossed the line with his jokes and publicly apologized to Sampras. Agassi and Sampras met again one year later for an exhibition match at Madison Square Garden in New York in front of 19 000 spectators as Sampras defeated Agassi in two sets. On March 3, 2014, Agassi and Sampras squared off for an exhibition in London for the annual World Tennis Day. This time, it was Agassi who came out on top in two straight sets.

He returned to the tour in May 2017 in the position of coach to Novak Djokovic for the French Open. Agassi announced the end of the partnership on March 31, 2018, stating that there were too many disagreements in the relationship.

Playing style
Early in his career, Agassi would look to end points quickly by playing first-strike tennis, typically by inducing a weak return with a deep, hard shot, and then playing a winner at an extreme angle. On the rare occasion that he charged the net, Agassi liked to take the ball in the air and hit a swinging volley for a winner. His favored groundstroke was his flat, accurate two-handed backhand, hit well cross-court but especially down the line. His forehand was nearly as strong, especially his inside-out to the ad court.

Agassi's strength was in dictating play from the baseline, and he was able to consistently take the ball on the rise. While he was growing up, his father and Nick Bollettieri trained him in this way. When in control of a point, Agassi would often pass up an opportunity to attempt a winner and hit a conservative shot to minimize his errors, and to make his opponent run more. This change to more methodical, less aggressive baseline play was largely initiated by his longtime coach, Brad Gilbert, in their first year together in 1994. Gilbert encouraged Agassi to wear out opponents with his deep, flat groundstrokes and to use his fitness to win attrition wars, and noted Agassi's two-handed backhand down the line as his very best shot. A signature play later in his career was a change-up drop shot to the deuce court after deep penetrating groundstrokes. This would often be followed by a passing shot or lob if the opponent was fast enough to retrieve it.

Agassi was raised on hardcourts, but found much of his early major-tournament success on the red clay of Roland Garros, reaching two consecutive finals there early in his career. Despite grass being his worst surface, his first major win was at the slick grass of Wimbledon in 1992, a tournament that he professed to hating at the time. His strongest surface over the course of his career, was indeed hardcourt, where he won six of his eight majors.

Business ventures
Agassi established a limited liability company named Andre Agassi Ventures (formerly named Agassi Enterprises). Agassi, along with five athlete partners (including Wayne Gretzky, Joe Montana, Shaquille O'Neal, Ken Griffey Jr., and Monica Seles) opened a chain of sports-themed restaurant named Official All Star Café in April 1996. The restaurant closed down in 2001.

In 1999, he paid $1 million for a 10 percent stake in Nevada First Bank and made a $10 million profit when it was sold to Western Alliance Bancorp in 2006.

In 2002, he joined the Tennis Channel to promote the channel to consumers and cable and satellite industry, and made an equity investment in the network. After meeting chef Michael Mina at one of his restaurants in San Francisco, Agassi partnered with him in 2002 to start Mina Group Inc. and opened 18 concept restaurants in San Francisco, San Jose, Dana Point, Atlantic City and Las Vegas. Agassi was an equity investor of a group that acquired Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Golden Nugget Laughlin from MGM Mirage for $215 million in 2004. One year later, the group sold the hotel-casino to Landry's, Inc. for $163 million in cash and $182 million in assumed debt. In 2007, he sat on the board of Meadows Bank, an independent bank in Nevada. He has invested in start-up companies backed by Allen & Company.

Agassi and Graf formed a company called Agassi Graf Holdings. They invested in PURE, a nightclub at Caesars Palace, which opened in 2004, and sold it to Angel Management Group in 2010. In August 2006, Agassi and Graf developed a joint venture with high-end furniture maker Kreiss Enterprises. They launched a furniture line called Agassi Graf Collection. In September, Agassi and Graf, through their company Agassi Graf Development LLC, along with Bayview Financial LP, finalized an agreement to develop a condominium hotel, Fairmont Tamarack, at Tamarack Resort in Donnelly, Idaho. Owing to difficult market conditions and delays, they withdrew from the project in 2009. The group still owns three small chunks of land. In September, they collaborated with Steve Case's Exclusive Resorts to co-develop luxury resorts and design Agassi-Graf Tennis and Fitness Centers.

They also invested in online ticket reseller viagogo in 2009 and both serve as board members and advisors of the company.

In October 2012, Village Roadshow and investors including Agassi and Graf announced plans to build a new water park called Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas in Las Vegas. Village Roadshow has a 51% stake in the park while Agassi, Graf, and other private investors hold the remaining 49%. The park opened in May 2013.

IMG managed Agassi from the time he turned pro in 1986 through January 2000 before switching to SFX Sports Group. His business manager, lawyer and agent was childhood friend Perry Rogers, but they have been estranged since 2008. In 2009, he and Graf signed with CAA.

Equipment and endorsements
Agassi used Prince Graphite rackets early in his career. He signed a $7 million endorsement contract with Belgian tennis racquet makers Donnay. He later switched to Head Ti Radical racket and Head's LiquidMetal Radical racket, having signed a multimillion-dollar endorsement deal with Head in 1993. He renewed his contract in 1999, and in November 2003 he signed a lifetime agreement with Head. He also endorses Penn tennis balls. On July 25, 2005, Agassi left Nike after 17 years and signed an endorsement deal with Adidas. A major reason for Agassi leaving Nike was because Nike refused to donate to Agassi's charities, and Adidas did. On May 13, 2013, Agassi rejoined Nike.

Agassi was sponsored by DuPont, Ebel, Mountain Dew in 1993, Mazda in 1997, Kia Motors in 2002, American Express and Deutsche Bank in 2003. In 1990, he appeared in a television commercial for Canon Inc., promoting the Canon EOS Rebel camera. Between 1999 and 2000, he signed a multimillion-dollar, multiyear endorsement deal with Schick and became the worldwide spokesman for the company. Agassi signed a multiyear contract with Twinlab and promoted the company's nutritional supplements. In mid-2003, he was named the spokesman of Aramis Life, a fragrance by Aramis, and signed a five-year deal with the company. In March 2004, he signed a ten-year agreement worth $1.5 million a year with 24 Hour Fitness, which will open five Andre Agassi fitness centers by year-end. Prior to the 2012 Australian Open, Agassi and Australian winemaker Jacobs Creek announced a three-year partnership and created the Open Film Series to "[share] personal stories about the life defining moments that shaped his character on and off the court." In 2007, watchmaker Longines named Agassi as their brand ambassador.

Agassi and his mother appeared in a Got Milk? advertisement in 2002.

Agassi has appeared in many advertisements and television commercials with Graf. They both endorsed Deutsche Telekom in 2002, Genworth Financial and Canon Inc. in 2004, LVMH in 2007, and Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit U and Longines in 2013.

Personal life

Relationships and family
In the early 1990s, after dating Wendi Stewart, Agassi dated American singer and entertainer Barbra Streisand. He wrote about the relationship in his 2009 autobiography, "We agree that we're good for each other, and so what if she's twenty-eight years older? We're sympatico, and the public outcry only adds spice to our connection. It makes our friendship feel forbidden, taboo – another piece of my overall rebellion. Dating Barbra Streisand is like wearing Hot Lava."

He was married to Brooke Shields from 1997 to 1999.

He married Steffi Graf on October 22, 2001, at their Las Vegas home; the only witnesses were their mothers. They have two children: son Jaden Gil (born 2001) and daughter Jaz Elle (born 2003). Agassi has said that he and Graf are not pushing their children toward becoming tennis players. The Graf-Agassi family resides in Summerlin, a community in the Las Vegas Valley. Graf's mother and brother, Michael, with his four children, also live there.

Long-time trainer Gil Reyes has been called one of Agassi's closest friends; some have described him as being a "father figure" to Agassi. In 2012, Agassi and Reyes introduced their own line of fitness equipment, BILT By Agassi and Reyes. In December 2008, Agassi's childhood friend and former business manager, Perry Rogers, sued Graf for $50,000 in management fees he claimed that she owed him.

Autobiography

Agassi's autobiography, Open: An Autobiography, (written with assistance from J. R. Moehringer), was published in November 2009. In it, Agassi talks about his childhood and his unconventional Armenian father, who came to the United States from Iran, where he was a professional boxer. Overly demanding and emotionally abusive to the whole family, his father groomed young Agassi for tennis greatness by building a tennis court in their backyard and sending Agassi to tennis boarding school under the supervision of Nick Bollettieri, who later coached and managed part of Agassi's professional career.

There is also mention in the book of using and testing positive for methamphetamine in 1997. In response to this revelation, Roger Federer declared himself shocked and disappointed, while Marat Safin argued that Agassi should return his prize money and be stripped of his titles. In an interview with CBS, Agassi justified himself and asked for understanding, saying that "It was a period in my life where I needed help."

Agassi said that he had always hated tennis during his career because of the constant pressure it exerted on him. He also said he wore a hairpiece earlier in his career and thought Pete Sampras was "robotic".

The book reached No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list and received favorable reviews. It won the Autobiography category of the 2010 British Sports Book Awards. In 2018, the book was listed on Esquire as one of "The 30 Best Sports Books Ever Written", and was also recommended by self-help author Tim Ferriss who described it as "very candid, very amusing, and very instructional".

In media
In 2017, Agassi appeared in the documentary film Love Means Zero, which highlighted the troubled relationship between his coach Nick Bollettieri and him.

Politics
Agassi has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates, and $2,000 to Republicans. On September 1, 2010, when he appeared on daily WNYC public radio program The Brian Lehrer Show, he stated that he is registered as Independent.

Philanthropy
Agassi founded the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994, which assists Las Vegas' young people. He was awarded the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian award in 1995 for his efforts to help disadvantaged youth. He has been cited as the most charitable and socially involved player in professional tennis. It has also been claimed that he may be the most charitable athlete of his generation.

Agassi's charities help in assisting children reach their athletic potential. His Boys & Girls Club sees 2,000 children throughout the year and boasts a world-class junior tennis team. It also has a basketball program (the Agassi Stars) and a rigorous system that encourages a mix of academics and athletics.

In 2001, Agassi opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a tuition-free charter school for at-risk children in the area. He personally donated $35 million to the school. In 2009, the graduating class had a 100 percent graduation rate and expected a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Among other child-related programs that Agassi supports through his Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation is Clark County's only residential facility for abused and neglected children, Child Haven. In 1997, Agassi donated funding to Child Haven for a six-room classroom building now named the Agassi Center for Education. His foundation also provided $720,000 to assist in the building of the Andre Agassi Cottage for Medically Fragile Children. This 20-bed facility opened in December 2001, and accommodates developmentally delayed or handicapped children and children quarantined for infectious diseases.

In 2007, along with several other athletes, Agassi founded the charity Athletes for Hope, which helps professional athletes get involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire all people to volunteer and support their communities. He created the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund, now known as the Turner-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. The Fund is an investment initiative for social change, focusing on the "nationwide effort to move charters from stopgap buildings into permanent campuses."

In September 2013, the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education formed a partnership with V20 Foods to launch Box Budd!es, a line of kids' healthy snacks. All proceeds go to the Foundation.

In February 2014, Agassi remodeled the vacant University of Phoenix building in Las Vegas as a new school, called the Doral Academy West through the Canyon-Agassi Charter School Facilities Fund. Doral Academy opened in August 2014. The Fund purchased a 4.6-acre plot in Henderson, Nevada, to house the Somerset Academy of Las Vegas, which will relocate from its campus inside a church.

On April 2, 2023, Agassi participated with Michael Chang, Andy Roddick and John McEnroe in the first live airing of Pickleball on ESPN in the Million dollar Pickleball Slam at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla.

Career statistics

Singles performance timeline

Grand Slam finals (8 titles, 7 runners-up)
By winning the 1999 French Open, Agassi completed a men's singles Career Grand Slam. He is the 5th of 8 male players in history (after Budge, Perry, Laver and Emerson, and before Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) to achieve this.

Open Era records 
 These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis and in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series since 1990.
 Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.

Legacy
Considered by numerous sources to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has also been called one of the greatest service returners ever to play the game, and was described by the BBC upon his retirement as "perhaps the biggest worldwide star in the sport's history". As a result, he is credited for helping to revive the popularity of tennis during the 1990s.

Professional awards
 ITF World Champion: 1999.
 ATP Player of the Year: 1999.
 ATP Most Improved Player: 1988, 1998

Recognition
 In 1992, Agassi was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
 In 2010, Sports Illustrated named Agassi the 7th greatest male player of all time.
 On July 9, 2011, Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Newport, Rhode Island.

Video
 Wimbledon 2000 Semi-final – Agassi vs. Rafter (2003) Starring: Andre Agassi, Patrick Rafter; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 213 minutes, .
 Charlie Rose with Andre Agassi (May 7, 2001) Charlie Rose, Inc., DVD Release Date: August 15, 2006, Run Time: 57 minutes.
 Wimbledon: The Record Breakers (2005) Starring: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker; Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: August 16, 2005, Run Time: 52 minutes, .

Video games
 Andre Agassi Tennis for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis, Game Gear, Master System]. and mobile phones
 Agassi Tennis Generation for PlayStation 2 and Game Boy Advance
 Agassi Tennis Generation 2002 for Windows
 Smash Court Pro Tournament for PlayStation 2
 Top Spin 4 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii

See also

 All-time tennis records – men's singles
 List of Grand Slam men's singles champions
 Tennis male players statistics
 Tennis records of the Open Era – men's singles

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

 
 
 
 
 Andre Agassi Ventures
 Farewell to Tennis Speech at the U.S. Open
 Agassi's Tennis Hall of Fame Induction for Steffi Graf
 

 
1970 births
Living people
American male tennis players
American autobiographers
American investors
American real estate businesspeople
American sportspeople in doping cases
Doping cases in tennis
ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles
Australian Open (tennis) champions
French Open champions
US Open (tennis) champions
Wimbledon champions
Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in tennis
Tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics
ITF World Champions
International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees
Novak Djokovic coaches
Steffi Graf
Nevada Democrats
Philanthropists from Nevada
Tennis people from Nevada
Writers from Las Vegas
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American sportsmen
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American sportsmen
American people of Iranian-Assyrian descent
American people of Armenian descent
Armenian-American tennis players
Assyrian sportspeople

The Austroasiatic languages   are a large language family spoken throughout mainland Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. These languages are natively spoken by the majority of the population in Vietnam and Cambodia, and by minority populations scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China. Approximately 117 million people speak an Austroasiatic language, of which more than two-thirds are Vietnamese speakers. Of the Austroasiatic languages, only Vietnamese, Khmer, and Mon have lengthy, established presences in the  historical record. Only two are presently considered to be the national languages of sovereign states: Vietnamese in Vietnam, and Khmer in Cambodia. The Mon language is a recognized indigenous language in Myanmar and Thailand, while  the Wa language is a 'recognized national language' in the de facto autonomous Wa State within Myanmar. Santali is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. The remainder of the family's languages are spoken by minority groups and have no official status.

Ethnologue identifies 168 Austroasiatic languages. These form thirteen established families (plus perhaps Shompen, which is poorly attested, as a fourteenth), which have traditionally been grouped into two, as Mon–Khmer, and Munda. However, one recent classification posits three groups (Munda, Mon-Khmer, and Khasi–Khmuic), while another has abandoned Mon–Khmer as a taxon altogether, making it synonymous with the larger family.

Austroasiatic languages appear to be the extant autochthonous languages in mainland Southeast Asia, with the neighboring Kra–Dai, Hmong-Mien, Austronesian, and Sino-Tibetan languages having arrived via later migrations.

Etymology
The name Austroasiatic was coined by Wilhelm Schmidt () based on , the Latin word for "South" (but idiosyncratically used by Schmidt to refer to the southeast), and "Asia". Despite the literal meaning of its name, only three Austroasiatic branches are actually spoken in South Asia: Khasic, Munda, and Nicobarese.

Typology
Regarding word structure, Austroasiatic languages are well known for having an iambic "sesquisyllabic" pattern, with basic nouns and verbs consisting of an initial, unstressed, reduced minor syllable followed by a stressed, full syllable. This reduction of presyllables has led to a variety of phonological shapes of the same original Proto-Austroasiatic prefixes, such as the causative prefix, ranging from CVC syllables to consonant clusters to single consonants among the modern languages. As for word formation, most Austroasiatic languages have a variety of derivational prefixes, many have infixes, but suffixes are almost completely non-existent in most branches except Munda, and a few specialized exceptions in other Austroasiatic branches.

The Austroasiatic languages are further characterized as having unusually large vowel inventories and employing some sort of register contrast, either between modal (normal) voice and breathy (lax) voice or between modal voice and creaky voice. Languages in the Pearic branch and some in the Vietic branch can have a three- or even four-way voicing contrast.

However, some Austroasiatic languages have lost the register contrast by evolving more diphthongs or in a few cases, such as Vietnamese, tonogenesis. Vietnamese has been so heavily influenced by Chinese that its original Austroasiatic phonological quality is obscured and now resembles that of South Chinese languages, whereas Khmer, which had more influence from Sanskrit, has retained a more typically Austroasiatic structure.

Proto-language

Much work has been done on the reconstruction of Proto-Mon–Khmer in Harry L. Shorto's Mon–Khmer Comparative Dictionary. Little work has been done on the Munda languages, which are not well documented. With their demotion from a primary branch, Proto-Mon–Khmer becomes synonymous with Proto-Austroasiatic. Paul Sidwell (2005) reconstructs the consonant inventory of Proto-Mon–Khmer as follows:

This is identical to earlier reconstructions except for .   is better preserved in the Katuic languages, which Sidwell has specialized in.

Internal classification
Linguists traditionally recognize two primary divisions of Austroasiatic: the Mon–Khmer languages of Southeast Asia, Northeast India and the Nicobar Islands, and the Munda languages of East and Central India and parts of Bangladesh and Nepal. However, no evidence for this classification has ever been published.

Each of the families that is written in boldface type below is accepted as a valid clade. By contrast, the relationships between these families within Austroasiatic are debated. In addition to the traditional classification, two recent proposals are given, neither of which accepts traditional "Mon–Khmer" as a valid unit. However, little of the data used for competing classifications has ever been published, and therefore cannot be evaluated by peer review.

In addition, there are suggestions that additional branches of Austroasiatic might be preserved in substrata of Acehnese in Sumatra (Diffloth), the Chamic languages of Vietnam, and the Land Dayak languages of Borneo (Adelaar 1995).

Diffloth (1974)
Diffloth's widely cited original classification, now abandoned by Diffloth himself, is used in Encyclopædia Britannica and—except for the breakup of Southern Mon–Khmer—in Ethnologue.

 Munda
 North Munda
 Korku
 Kherwarian
 South Munda
 Kharia–Juang
 Koraput Munda
 Mon–Khmer
 Eastern Mon–Khmer
 Khmer (Cambodian)
 Pearic
 Bahnaric
 Katuic
 Vietic (Vietnamese, Muong)
 Northern Mon–Khmer
 Khasi (Meghalaya, India)
 Palaungic
 Khmuic
 Southern Mon–Khmer
 Mon
 Aslian (Malaya)
 Nicobarese (Nicobar Islands)

Peiros (2004) 
Peiros is a lexicostatistic classification, based on percentages of shared vocabulary. This means that languages can appear to be more distantly related than they actually are due to language contact. Indeed, when Sidwell (2009) replicated Peiros's study with languages known well enough to account for loans, he did not find the internal (branching) structure below.

 Nicobarese
 Munda–Khmer
 Munda
 Mon–Khmer
 Khasi
 Nuclear Mon–Khmer
 Mangic (Mang + Palyu) (perhaps in Northern MK)
 Vietic (perhaps in Northern MK)
 Northern Mon–Khmer
 Palaungic
 Khmuic
 Central Mon–Khmer
 Khmer dialects
 Pearic
 Asli-Bahnaric
 Aslian
 Mon–Bahnaric
 Monic
 Katu–Bahnaric
 Katuic
 Bahnaric

Diffloth (2005) 
Diffloth compares reconstructions of various clades, and attempts to classify them based on shared innovations, though like other classifications the evidence has not been published. As a schematic, we have:

Or in more detail,

 Munda languages (India)
 Koraput: 7 languages
Core Munda languages
 Kharian–Juang: 2 languages
North Munda languages
 Korku
 Kherwarian: 12 languages

 Khasi–Khmuic languages (Northern Mon–Khmer)
 Khasian: 3 languages of north eastern India and adjacent region of Bangladesh
Palaungo-Khmuic languages
 Khmuic: 13 languages of Laos and Thailand

Palaungo-Pakanic languages
 Pakanic or Palyu: 4 or 5 languages of southern China and Vietnam
 Palaungic: 21 languages of Burma, southern China, and Thailand

 Nuclear Mon–Khmer languages
 Khmero-Vietic languages (Eastern Mon–Khmer)

 Vieto-Katuic languages ?
 Vietic: 10 languages of Vietnam and Laos, including Muong and Vietnamese, which has the most speakers of any Austroasiatic language.
 Katuic: 19 languages of Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.

 Khmero-Bahnaric languages
 Bahnaric: 40 languages of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.
Khmeric languages
 The Khmer dialects of Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 Pearic: 6 languages of Cambodia.

 Nico-Monic languages (Southern Mon–Khmer)
 Nicobarese: 6 languages of the Nicobar Islands, a territory of India.

 Asli-Monic languages
 Aslian: 19 languages of peninsular Malaysia and Thailand.
 Monic: 2 languages, the Mon language of Burma and the Nyahkur language of Thailand.

Sidwell (2009–2015) 

Paul Sidwell (2009), in a lexicostatistical comparison of 36 languages which are well known enough to exclude loanwords, finds little evidence for internal branching, though he did find an area of increased contact between the Bahnaric and Katuic languages, such that languages of all branches apart from the geographically distant Munda and Nicobarese show greater similarity to Bahnaric and Katuic the closer they are to those branches, without any noticeable innovations common to Bahnaric and Katuic.

He therefore takes the conservative view that the thirteen branches of Austroasiatic should be treated as equidistant on current evidence. Sidwell & Blench (2011) discuss this proposal in more detail, and note that there is good evidence for a Khasi–Palaungic node, which could also possibly be closely related to Khmuic.

If this would the case, Sidwell & Blench suggest that Khasic may have been an early offshoot of Palaungic that had spread westward. Sidwell & Blench (2011) suggest Shompen as an additional branch, and believe that a Vieto-Katuic connection is worth investigating. In general, however, the family is thought to have diversified too quickly for a deeply nested structure to have developed, since Proto-Austroasiatic speakers are believed by Sidwell to have radiated out from the central Mekong river valley relatively quickly.

Subsequently, Sidwell (2015a: 179) proposed that Nicobarese subgroups with Aslian, just as how Khasian and Palaungic subgroup with each other.

A subsequent computational phylogenetic analysis (Sidwell 2015b) suggests that Austroasiatic branches may have a loosely nested structure rather than a completely rake-like structure, with an east–west division (consisting of Munda, Khasic, Palaungic, and Khmuic forming a western group as opposed to all of the other branches) occurring possibly as early as 7,000 years before present. However, he still considers the subbranching dubious.

Integrating computational phylogenetic linguistics with recent archaeological findings, Paul Sidwell (2015c) further expanded his Mekong riverine hypothesis by proposing that Austroasiatic had ultimately expanded into Indochina from the Lingnan area of southern China, with the subsequent Mekong riverine dispersal taking place after the initial arrival of Neolithic farmers from southern China.

Sidwell (2015c) tentatively suggests that Austroasiatic may have begun to split up 5,000 years B.P. during the Neolithic transition era of mainland Southeast Asia, with all the major branches of Austroasiatic formed by 4,000 B.P. Austroasiatic would have had two possible dispersal routes from the western periphery of the Pearl River watershed of Lingnan, which would have been either a coastal route down the coast of Vietnam, or downstream through the Mekong River via Yunnan. Both the reconstructed lexicon of Proto-Austroasiatic and the archaeological record clearly show that early Austroasiatic speakers around 4,000 B.P. cultivated rice and millet, kept livestock such as dogs, pigs, and chickens, and thrived mostly in estuarine rather than coastal environments.

At 4,500 B.P., this "Neolithic package" suddenly arrived in Indochina from the Lingnan area without cereal grains and displaced the earlier pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherer cultures, with grain husks found in northern Indochina by 4,100 B.P. and in southern Indochina by 3,800 B.P. However, Sidwell (2015c) found that iron is not reconstructable in Proto-Austroasiatic, since each Austroasiatic branch has different terms for iron that had been borrowed relatively lately from Tai, Chinese, Tibetan, Malay, and other languages.

During the Iron Age about 2,500 B.P., relatively young Austroasiatic branches in Indochina such as Vietic, Katuic, Pearic, and Khmer were formed, while the more internally diverse Bahnaric branch (dating to about 3,000 B.P.) underwent more extensive internal diversification. By the Iron Age, all of the Austroasiatic branches were more or less in their present-day locations, with most of the diversification within Austroasiatic taking place during the Iron Age.

Paul Sidwell (2018) considers the Austroasiatic language family to have rapidly diversified around 4,000 years B.P. during the arrival of rice agriculture in Indochina, but notes that the origin of Proto-Austroasiatic itself is older than that date. The lexicon of Proto-Austroasiatic can be divided into an early and late stratum. The early stratum consists of basic lexicon including body parts, animal names, natural features, and pronouns, while the names of cultural items (agriculture terms and words for cultural artifacts, which are reconstructible in Proto-Austroasiatic) form part of the later stratum.

Roger Blench (2017) suggests that vocabulary related to aquatic subsistence strategies (such as boats, waterways, river fauna, and fish capture techniques) can be reconstructed for Proto-Austroasiatic. Blench (2017) finds widespread Austroasiatic roots for 'river, valley', 'boat', 'fish', 'catfish sp.', 'eel', 'prawn', 'shrimp' (Central Austroasiatic), 'crab', 'tortoise', 'turtle', 'otter', 'crocodile', 'heron, fishing bird', and 'fish trap'. Archaeological evidence for the presence of agriculture in northern Indochina (northern Vietnam, Laos, and other nearby areas) dates back to only about 4,000 years ago (2,000 BC), with agriculture ultimately being introduced from further up to the north in the Yangtze valley where it has been dated to 6,000 B.P.

Sidwell (2022) proposes that the locus of Proto-Austroasiatic was in the Red River Delta area about 4,000-4,500 years before present, instead of the Middle Mekong as he had previously proposed. Austroasiatic dispersed coastal maritime routes and also upstream through river valleys. Khmuic, Palaungic, and Khasic resulted from a westward dispersal that ultimately came from the Red Valley valley. Based on their current distributions, about half of all Austroasiatic branches (including Nicobaric and Munda) can be traced to coastal maritime dispersals.

Hence, this points to a relatively late riverine dispersal of Austroasiatic as compared to Sino-Tibetan, whose speakers had a distinct non-riverine culture. In addition to living an aquatic-based lifestyle, early Austroasiatic speakers would have also had access to livestock, crops, and newer types of watercraft. As early Austroasiatic speakers dispersed rapidly via waterways, they would have encountered speakers of older language families who were already settled in the area, such as Sino-Tibetan.

Sidwell (2018)
Sidwell (2018) (quoted in Sidwell 2021) gives a more nested classification of Austroasiatic branches as suggested by his computational phylogenetic analysis of Austroasiatic languages using a 200-word list. Many of the tentative groupings are likely linkages. Pakanic and Shompen were not included.

Possible extinct branches
Roger Blench (2009) also proposes that there might have been other primary branches of Austroasiatic that are now extinct, based on substrate evidence in modern-day languages.
 Pre-Chamic languages (the languages of coastal Vietnam before the Chamic migrations). Chamic has various Austroasiatic loanwords that cannot be clearly traced to existing Austroasiatic branches (Sidwell 2006, 2007). Larish (1999) also notes that Moklenic languages contain many Austroasiatic loanwords, some of which are similar to the ones found in Chamic.
 Acehnese substratum (Sidwell 2006). Acehnese has many basic words that are of Austroasiatic origin, suggesting that either Austronesian speakers have absorbed earlier Austroasiatic residents in northern Sumatra, or that words might have been borrowed from Austroasiatic languages in southern Vietnam – or perhaps a combination of both. Sidwell (2006) argues that Acehnese and Chamic had often borrowed Austroasiatic words independently of each other, while some Austroasiatic words can be traced back to Proto-Aceh-Chamic. Sidwell (2006) accepts that Acehnese and Chamic are related, but that they had separated from each other before Chamic had borrowed most of its Austroasiatic lexicon.
 Bornean substrate languages (Blench 2010). Blench cites Austroasiatic-origin words in modern-day Bornean branches such as Land Dayak (Bidayuh, Dayak Bakatiq, etc.), Dusunic (Central Dusun, Visayan, etc.), Kayan, and Kenyah, noting especially resemblances with Aslian. As further evidence for his proposal, Blench also cites ethnographic evidence such as musical instruments in Borneo shared in common with Austroasiatic-speaking groups in mainland Southeast Asia. Adelaar (1995) has also noticed phonological and lexical similarities between Land Dayak and Aslian. Kaufman (2018) presents dozens of lexical comparisons showing similarities between various Bornean and Austroasiatic languages.
 Lepcha substratum ("Rongic"). Many words of Austroasiatic origin have been noticed in Lepcha, suggesting a Sino-Tibetan superstrate laid over an Austroasiatic substrate. Blench (2013) calls this branch "Rongic" based on the Lepcha autonym Róng.

Other languages with proposed Austroasiatic substrata are:
 Jiamao, based on evidence from the register system of Jiamao, a Hlai language (Thurgood 1992). Jiamao is known for its highly aberrant vocabulary in relation to other Hlai languages.
 Kerinci: van Reijn (1974) notes that Kerinci, a Malayic language of central Sumatra, shares many phonological similarities with Austroasiatic languages, such as sesquisyllabic word structure and vowel inventory.

John Peterson (2017) suggests that "pre-Munda" ("proto-" in regular terminology) languages may have once dominated the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain, and were then absorbed by Indo-Aryan languages at an early date as Indo-Aryan spread east. Peterson notes that eastern Indo-Aryan languages display many morphosyntactic features similar to those of Munda languages, while western Indo-Aryan languages do not.

Writing systems 
Other than Latin-based alphabets, many Austroasiatic languages are written with the Khmer, Thai, Lao, and Burmese alphabets. Vietnamese divergently had an indigenous script based on Chinese logographic writing. This has since been supplanted by the Latin alphabet in the 20th century. The following are examples of past-used alphabets or current alphabets of Austroasiatic languages.
 Chữ Nôm
 Khmer alphabet
 Khom script (used for a short period in the early 20th century for indigenous languages in Laos)
 Old Mon script
 Mon script
 Pahawh Hmong was once used to write Khmu, under the name "Pahawh Khmu"
 Tai Le (Palaung, Blang)
 Tai Tham (Blang)
 Ol Chiki alphabet (Santali alphabet)
 Mundari Bani (Mundari alphabet)
 Warang Citi (Ho alphabet)
 Ol Onal (Bhumij alphabet)
 Sorang Sompeng alphabet (Sora alphabet)

External relations

Austric languages 

Austroasiatic is an integral part of the controversial Austric hypothesis, which also includes the Austronesian languages, and in some proposals also the Kra–Dai languages and the Hmong–Mien languages.

Hmong-Mien 
Several lexical resemblances are found between the Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic language families (Ratliff 2010), some of which had earlier been proposed by Haudricourt (1951). This could imply a relation or early language contact along the Yangtze.

According to Cai (et al. 2011), Hmong–Mien people are genetically related to Austroasiatic speakers, and their languages were heavily influenced by Sino-Tibetan, especially Tibeto-Burman languages.

Indo-Aryan languages
It is suggested that the Austroasiatic languages have some influence on Indo-Aryan languages including Sanskrit and middle Indo-Aryan languages. Indian linguist Suniti Kumar Chatterji pointed that a specific number of substantives in languages such as Hindi, Punjabi and Bengali were borrowed from Munda languages. Additionally, French linguist Jean Przyluski suggested a similarity between the tales from the Austroasiatic realm and the Indian mythological stories of Matsyagandha (Satyavati from Mahabharata) and the Nāgas.

Austroasiatic migrations and archaeogenetics
Mitsuru Sakitani suggests that Haplogroup O1b1, which is common in Austroasiatic people and some other ethnic groups in southern China, and haplogroup O1b2, which is common in today's Japanese and Koreans, are the carriers of early rice agriculture from southern China. Another study suggests that the haplogroup O1b1 is the major Austroasiatic paternal lineage and O1b2 the "para-Austroasiatic" lineage of the Koreans and Yayoi people.

A full genomic study by Lipson et al. (2018) identified a characteristic lineage that can be associated with the spread of Austroasiatic languages in Southeast Asia and which can be traced back to remains of Neolithic farmers from Mán Bạc (ca. 2000 BCE) in the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam, and to closely related Ban Chiang and Vat Komnou remains in Thailand and Cambodia respectively. This Austroasiatic lineage can be modeled as a sister group of the Austronesian peoples with significant admixture (ca. 30%) from a deeply diverging eastern Eurasian source (modeled by the authors as sharing some genetic drift with the Onge, a modern Andamanese hunter-gatherer group) and which is ancestral to modern Austroasiatic-speaking groups of Southeast Asia such as the Mlabri and the Nicobarese, and partially to the Austroasiatic Munda-speaking groups of South Asia (e.g. the Juang). Significant levels of Austroasiatic ancestry were also found in Austronesian-speaking groups of Sumatra and Borneo. Austroasiatic-speaking groups in southern China (such as the Wa and Blang in Yunnan) predominatly carry the same Mainland Southeast Asian Neolithic farmer ancestry, but with additional geneflow from northern and southern East Asian lineages that can be associated with the spread of Tibeto-Burman and Kra-Dai languages, respectively.

Larena et al. 2021 could reproduce the genetic evidence for the origin of Basal East Asians in Mainland Southeast Asia, which are estimated to have formed about 50kya years ago, and expanded through multiple migration waves southwards and northwards. Early Austroasiatic speakers are estimated to have originated from an lineage, which split from Ancestral East Asians between 25,000 and 15,000 years ago, and were among the first wave to replace distinct Australasian-related groups in Insular Southeast Asia. East Asian-related ancestry became dominant in Insular Southeast Asia already between 15,000 years to 12,000 years ago, and may be associated with Austroasiatic groups, which however got again replaced by later Austronesian groups some 10,000 to 7,000 years ago. Early Austroasiatic people were found to be best represented by the Mlabri people in modern-day Thailand. Proposals for Austroasiatic substratum among later Austronesian languages in Western Indonesia, noteworthy among the Dayak languages, is strengthened by genetic data, suggesting Austroasiatic speakers were assimilated by Austronesian speakers.

Migration into India 
According to Chaubey et al., "Austro-Asiatic speakers in India today are derived from dispersal from Southeast Asia, followed by extensive sex-specific admixture with local Indian populations." According to Riccio et al., the Munda peoples are likely descended from Austroasiatic migrants from Southeast Asia.

According to Zhang et al., Austroasiatic migrations from Southeast Asia into India took place after the Last Glacial Maximum, circa 10,000 years ago. Arunkumar et al., suggest Austroasiatic migrations from Southeast Asia occurred into Northeast India 5.2 ± 0.6 kya and into East India 4.3 ± 0.2 kya.

Notes

References

Sources 

 Adams, K. L. (1989). Systems of numeral classification in the Mon–Khmer, Nicobarese and Aslian subfamilies of Austroasiatic. Canberra, A.C.T., Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. 
 
 Alves, Mark J. (2015). Morphological functions among Mon-Khmer languages: beyond the basics. In N. J. Enfield & Bernard Comrie (eds.), Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: the state of the art. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton, 531–557.
 Bradley, David (2012). "Languages and Language Families in China ", in Rint Sybesma (ed.), Encyclopedia of Chinese Language and Linguistics.
 Chakrabarti, Byomkes. (1994). A Comparative Study of Santali and Bengali.
 
 Diffloth, Gérard. (2005). "The contribution of linguistic palaeontology and Austro-Asiatic". in Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, eds. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. 77–80. London: Routledge Curzon. 
 Filbeck, D. (1978). T'in: a historical study. Pacific linguistics, no. 49. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. 
 Hemeling, K. (1907). Die Nanking Kuanhua. (German language)
 Jenny, Mathias and Paul Sidwell, eds (2015). The Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages . Leiden: Brill.
 Peck, B. M., Comp. (1988). An Enumerative Bibliography of South Asian Language Dictionaries.
 Peiros, Ilia. 1998. Comparative Linguistics in Southeast Asia. Pacific Linguistics Series C, No. 142. Canberra: Australian National University.
 Shorto, Harry L. edited by Sidwell, Paul, Cooper, Doug and Bauer, Christian (2006). A Mon–Khmer comparative dictionary . Canberra: Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics. 
 Shorto, H. L. Bibliographies of Mon–Khmer and Tai Linguistics. London oriental bibliographies, v. 2. London: Oxford University Press, 1963.
 
 
 
 van Driem, George. (2007). Austroasiatic phylogeny and the Austroasiatic homeland in light of recent population genetic studies. Mon-Khmer Studies, 37, 1–14.
 Zide, Norman H., and Milton E. Barker. (1966) Studies in Comparative Austroasiatic Linguistics, The Hague: Mouton (Indo-Iranian monographs, v. 5.).

Further reading 
 
 Mann, Noel, Wendy Smith and Eva Ujlakyova. 2009. Linguistic clusters of Mainland Southeast Asia: an overview of the language families.  Chiang Mai: Payap University.
 
 
 Sidwell, Paul. 2016. Bibliography of Austroasiatic linguistics and related resources .
 E. K. Brown (ed.) Encyclopedia of Languages and Linguistics. Oxford: Elsevier Press.
 Gregory D. S. Anderson and Norman H. Zide. 2002. Issues in Proto-Munda and Proto-Austroasiatic Nominal Derivation: The Bimoraic Constraint. In Marlys A. Macken (ed.) Papers from the 10th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University, South East Asian Studies Program, Monograph Series Press. pp. 55–74.

External links 

 Swadesh lists for Austro-Asiatic languages (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
 Austro-Asiatic at the Linguist List MultiTree Project (not functional as of 2014): Genealogical trees attributed to Sebeok 1942, Pinnow 1959, Diffloth 2005, and Matisoff 2006
 Mon–Khmer.com Lectures by Paul Sidwell
 Mon–Khmer Languages Project at SEAlang
 Munda Languages Project at SEAlang
 RWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
 RWAAI Digital Archive
 Michel Ferlus's recordings of Mon-Khmer (Austroasiatic) languages  (CNRS)

 
Language families

The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic, sometimes Afrasian), also known as Hamito-Semitic or Semito-Hamitic, are a language family (or "phylum") of about 400 languages spoken predominantly in West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and parts of the Sahara and Sahel. Over 500 million people are native speakers of an Afroasiatic language, constituting the fourth-largest language family after Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, and Niger–Congo. Most linguists divide the family into six branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, Semitic, and Omotic. The vast majority of Afroasiatic languages are considered indigenous to the African continent, including all those not belonging to the Semitic branch.

Arabic, if counted as a single language, is by far the most widely spoken within the family, with around 300 million native speakers concentrated primarily in the Middle East and North Africa. Other major Afroasiatic languages include the Chadic Hausa language with over 34 million native speakers, the Semitic Amharic language with 34 million, the Cushitic Oromo language with 35 million, and the Cushitic Somali language with 22 million. Other Afroasiatic languages with millions of native speakers include the Cushitic Sidaama language, the Semitic Tigrinya language and the Omotic Wolaitta language, though most languages within the family are much smaller in size. There are many well-attested Afroasiatic languages from antiquity that have since died or gone extinct, including Egyptian and the Semitic languages Akkadian, Biblical Hebrew, Phoenician, Amorite, and Ugaritic. There is no consensus among historical linguists as to precisely where or when the common ancestor of all Afroasiatic languages, known as Proto-Afroasiatic, was originally spoken. However, most agree that the Proto-Afroasiatic homeland was located somewhere in northeastern Africa, with specific proposals including the Horn of Africa, Egypt, the eastern Sahara. A significant minority of scholars argues for an origin in the Levant. The reconstructed timelines of when Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken vary extensively, with dates ranging from 18,000 BC to 8,000 BC. Even the latest plausible dating makes Afroasiatic the oldest language family accepted by contemporary linguists.

Comparative study of Afroasiatic is hindered by the massive disparities in textual attestation between its branches: while the Semitic and Egyptian branches are attested in writing as early as the fourth millennium BC, Berber, Cushitic, and Omotic languages were often not recorded until the 19th or 20th centuries. While systematic sound laws have not yet been established to explain the relationships between the various branches of Afroasiatic, the languages share a number of common features. One of the most important for establishing membership in the branch is a common set of pronouns. Other widely shared features include a prefix m- which creates nouns from verbs, evidence for alternations between the vowel "a" and a high vowel in the forms of the verb, similar methods of marking gender and plurality, and some details of phonology such as the presence of pharyngeal fricatives. Other features found in multiple branches include a specialized verb conjugation using suffixes (Egyptian, Semitic, Berber), a specialized verb conjugation using prefixes (Semitic, Berber, Cushitic), verbal prefixes deriving middle (t-), causative (s-), and passive (m-) verb forms (Semitic, Berber, Egyptian, Cushitic), and a suffix used to derive adjectives (Egyptian, Semitic).

Name
In current scholarship, the most common names for the family are Afroasiatic (or Afro-Asiatic), Hamito-Semitic, and Semito-Hamitic. Other proposed names that have yet to find widespread acceptance include Erythraic/Erythraean, Lisramic, Noahitic, and Lamekhite.

Friedrich Müller introduced the name Hamito-Semitic to describe the family in his  (1876). The variant Semito-Hamitic is mostly used in older Russian sources. The elements of the name were derived from the names of two sons of Noah as attested in the Book of Genesis's Table of Nations passage: "Semitic" from the first-born Shem, and "Hamitic" from the second-born Ham (). Within the Table of Nations, each of Noah's sons is presented as the common progenitor of various people groups deemed to be closely related: among others Shem was the father of the Jews, Assyrians, and Arameans, while Ham was the father of the Egyptians and Cushites. This genealogy does not reflect the actual origins of these peoples' languages: for example, the Canaanites are descendants of Ham according to the Table, even though Hebrew is now classified as a Canaanite language, while the Elamites are ascribed to Shem despite their language being totally unrelated to Hebrew. The term Semitic for the Semitic languages had already been coined in 1781 by August Ludwig von Schlözer, following an earlier suggestion by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1710. Hamitic was first used by Ernest Renan in 1855 to refer to languages that appeared similar to the Semitic languages, but were not themselves provably a part of the family. The belief in a connection between Africans and the Biblical Ham, which had existed at least as far back as Isidore of Seville in the 6th century AD, led scholars in the early 19th century to speak vaguely of "Hamian" or "Hamitish" languages.

The term Hamito-Semitic has largely fallen out of favor among linguists writing in English, but is still frequently used in the scholarship of various other languages, such as German. Several issues with the label Hamito-Semitic have led many scholars to abandon the term and criticize its continued use. One common objection is that the Hamitic component inaccurately suggests that a monophyletic "Hamitic" branch exists alongside Semitic. In addition, Joseph Greenberg has argued that Hamitic possesses racial connotations, and that "Hamito-Semitic" overstates the centrality of the Semitic languages within the family. By contrast, Victor Porkhomovsky suggests that the label is simply an inherited convention, and doesn't imply a duality of Semitic and "Hamitic" any more than Indo-European implies a duality of Indic and "European". Because of its use by several important scholars and in the titles of significant works of scholarship, the total replacement of Hamito-Semitic is difficult.

While Greenberg ultimately popularized the name "Afroasiatic" in 1960, it appears to have been coined originally by Maurice Delafosse, as French , in 1914. The name refers to the fact that it is the only major language family with large populations in both Africa and Asia. Due to concerns that "Afroasiatic" could imply the inclusion of all languages spoken across Africa and Asia, the name "Afrasian" () was proposed by Igor Diakonoff in 1980. At present it predominantly sees use among Russian scholars.

The names Lisramic—based on the Afroasiastic root *lis- ("tongue") and the Egyptian word rmṯ ("person")—and Erythraean—referring to the core area around which the languages are spoken, the Red Sea—have also been proposed.

Distribution and branches

Scholars generally consider Afroasiatic to have between five and eight branches. The five that are universally agreed upon are Berber (also called "Libyco-Berber"), Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, and Semitic. Most specialists consider the Omotic languages to constitute a sixth branch. Due to the presumed distance of relationship between the various branches, many scholars prefer to refer to Afroasiatic as a "linguistic phylum" rather than a "language family".

M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro and Silvia Štubňová Nigrelli write that there are about 400 languages in Afroasiatic; Ethnologue lists 375 languages. Many scholars estimate fewer languages; exact numbers vary depending on the definitions of "language" and "dialect".

Berber

The Berber (or Libyco-Berber) languages are spoken today by perhaps 16 million people. They are often considered to constitute a single language with multiple dialects. Other scholars, however, argue that they are a group of around twelve languages, about as different from each other as the Romance or Germanic languages. In the past, Berber languages were spoken throughout North Africa except in Egypt; since the 7th century CE, however, they have been heavily affected by Arabic and have been replaced by it in many places.

There are two extinct languages potentially related to modern Berber. The first is the Numidian language, represented by over a thousand short inscriptions in the Libyco-Berber alphabet, found throughout North Africa and dating from the 2nd century BCE onward. The second is the Guanche language, which was formerly spoken on the Canary Islands and went extinct in the 17th century CE. The first longer written examples of modern Berber varieties only date from the 16th or 17th centuries CE.

Chadic

Chadic languages number between 150 and 190, making Chadic the largest family in Afroasiatic. The Chadic languages are typically divided into three major branches, East Chadic, Central Chadic, and West Chadic. Most Chadic languages are located in the Chad basin, with the exception of Hausa. Hausa is the largest Chadic language by native speakers, and is spoken by a large number of people as a lingua franca in Northern Nigeria. It may have as many as 80 to 100 million first and second language speakers. Eight other Chadic languages have around 100,000 speakers; other Chadic languages often have few speakers and may be endangered of going extinct. Only about 40 Chadic languages have been fully described by linguists.

Cushitic

There are about 30 Cushitic languages,  more if Omotic is included, spoken around the Horn of Africa and in Sudan and Tanzania. The Cushitic family is traditionally split into four branches: the single language of Beja (c. 3 million speakers), the Agaw languages, Eastern Cushitic, and Southern Cushitic. Only one Cushitic language, Oromo, has more than 25 million speakers; other languages with more than a million speakers include Somali, Saho-Afar, Hadiyya, and Sidaama. Many Cushitic languages have relatively few speakers. Cushitic does not appear to be related to the written ancient languages known from its area, Meroitic or Old Nubian. The oldest text in a Cushitic language probably dates from around 1770; written orthographies were only developed for a select number of Cushitic languages in early 20th century.

Egyptian

The Egyptian branch consists of a single language, Ancient Egyptian, which was historically spoken in the lower Nile Valley. Egyptian is first attested in writing around 3000 BCE and finally went extinct around 1300 CE, making it the language with the longest written history in the world. Egyptian is usually divided into two major periods, Earlier Egyptian (c. 3000–1300 BCE), which is further subdivided into Old Egyptian and Middle Egyptian, and Later Egyptian (1300 BCE-1300 CE), which is further subdivided into Late Egyptian, Demotic, and Coptic. Coptic is the only stage written alphabetically to show vowels, whereas Egyptian was previously written in Egyptian hieroglyphs, which only represent consonants. In the Coptic period, there is evidence for six major dialects, which presumably existed previously but are obscured by pre-Coptic writing; additionally, Middle Egyptian appears to be based on a different dialect than Old Egyptian, which in turn shows dialectal similarities to Late Egyptian. Egyptian was replaced by Arabic as the spoken language of Egypt, but Coptic continues to be the liturgical language of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Omotic

The c. 30 Omotic languages are still mostly undescribed by linguists. They are all spoken in southwest Ethiopia except for the Ganza language, spoken in Sudan. Omotic is typically split into North Omotic (or Aroid) and South Omotic, with the latter more influenced by the Nilotic languages; it is unclear whether the Dizoid group of Omotic languages belongs to the Northern or Southern group. The two Omotic languages with the most speakers are Wolaitta and Gamo-Gofa-Dawro, with about 1.2 million speakers each.

A majority of specialists consider Omotic to constitute a sixth branch of Afroasiatic. Omotic was formerly considered part of the Cushitic branch; some scholars continue to consider it part of Cushitic. Other scholars have questioned whether it is Afroasiatic at all, due its lack of several typical aspects of Afroasiatic morphology.

Semitic

There are between 40 and 80 languages in the Semitic family. Today, Semitic languages are spoken across North Africa, West Asia, and the Horn of Africa, as well as on the island of Malta, making them the sole Afroasiatic branch with members originating outside Africa. Arabic, spoken in both Asia and Africa, is by far the most widely spoken Afroasiatic language today, with around 300 million native speakers, while the Ethiopian Amharic has around 25 million.

Most authorities divide Semitic into two branches: East Semitic, which includes the extinct Akkadian language and West Semitic, which includes Arabic, Aramaic, the Canaanite languages (including Hebrew), as well as the Ethiopian Semitic languages such as Ge'ez and Amharic. The classification within West Semitic remains contested. The only group with an African origin is Ethiopian Semitic.  The oldest written attestations of Semitic languages come from Mesopotamia, Northern Syria, and Egypt and date as early as c. 3000 BCE.

Other proposed branches
There are also other proposed branches, but none has so far convinced a majority of scholars:
 Linguist H. Fleming proposed that the near-extinct Ongota language is a separate branch of Afroasiatic; however, this is only one of several competing theories. About half of current scholarly hypotheses on Ongota's origins align it with Afroasiatic in some way.
 Robert Hetzron proposed that Beja is not part of Cushitic, but a separate branch. The prevailing opinion, however, is that Beja is a branch of Cushitic.
 The extinct Meroitic language has been proposed to represent a branch of Afroasiatic. Although an Afroasiatic connection is sometimes viewed as refuted, it continues to be defended by scholars such as Edward Lipiński.
 The Kujarge language is usually considered part of the Chadic languages; however, Roger Blench has proposed that it may be a separate branch of Afroasiatic.

Further subdivisions 

There is no agreement on the relationships between and subgrouping of the different Afroasiatic branches. Whereas Marcel Cohen (1947) claimed he saw no evidence for internal subgroupings, numerous other scholars have made proposals, with Carsten Peust counting 27 as of 2012.

Common trends in proposals as of 2019 include using common or lacking grammatical features  to argue that Omotic was the first language to branch off, often followed by Chadic. In contrast to scholars who argue for an early split of Chadic from Afroasiatic, scholars of the Russian school tend to argue that Chadic and Egyptian are closely related, and scholars who rely on percentage of shared lexicon often group Chadic with Berber. Three scholars who agree on an early split between Omotic and the other subbranches, but little else, are Harold Fleming (1983), Christopher Ehret (1995), and Lionel Bender (1997). In contrast, scholars relying on shared lexicon often produce a Cushitic-Omotic group. Additionally, the minority of scholars who favor an Asian origin of Afroasiatic tend to place Semitic as the first branch to split off. Disagreement on which features are innovative and which are inherited from Proto-Afroasiatic produces radically different trees, as can be seen by comparing the trees produced by Ehret and Igor Diakonoff.

Responding to the above, Tom Güldemann criticizes attempts at finding subgroupings based on common or lacking morphology by arguing that the presence or absence of morphological features is not a useful way of discerning subgroupings in Afroasiatic, because it cannot be excluded that families currently lacking certain features had them in the past; this also means that the presence of morphological features cannot be taken as defining a subgroup. Peust notes that other factors that can obscure genetic relationships between languages include the poor state of present documentation and understanding of particular language families (historically with Egyptian, presently with Omotic). Gene Gragg likewise argues that more needs to be known about Omotic still, and that Afroasiatic linguists have still not found convincing isoglosses on which to base genetic distinctions.

One way of avoiding the problem of determining which features are original and which are inherited is to use a computational methodology such as lexicostatistics, with one of the earliest attempts being Fleming 1983. This is also the method used by Alexander Militarev and Sergei Starostin to create a family tree. Fleming (2006) was a more recent attempt by Fleming, with a different result from Militarev and Starostin. Hezekiah Bacovcin and David Wilson argue that this methodology is invalid for discerning linguistic sub-relationship. They note the method's inability to detect various strong commonalities even between well-studied branches of AA.

Classification history
A relationship between Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and the Berber languages was perceived as early as the 9th century CE by the Hebrew grammarian and physician Judah ibn Quraysh, who is regarded as a forerunner of Afroasiatic studies. The French orientalist Guillaume Postel had also pointed out similarities between Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic in 1538, and Hiob Ludolf noted similarities also to Ge'ez and Amharic in 1701. This family was formally described and named "Semitic" by August Ludwig von Schlözer in 1781. In 1844, Theodor Benfey first described the relationship between Semitic and the Egyptian language and connected both to the Berber and the Cushitic languages (which he called "Ethiopic"). In the same year T.N. Newman suggested a relationship between Semitic and the Hausa language, an idea that was taken up by early scholars of Afroasiatic. In 1855, Ernst Renan named these languages, related to Semitic but not Semitic, "Hamitic," in 1860 Carl Lottner proposed that they belonged to a single language family, and in 1876 Friedrich Müller first described them as a "Hamito-Semitic" language family. Müller assumed that there existed a distinct "Hamitic" branch of the family that consisted of Egyptian, Berber, and Cushitic. He did not include the Chadic languages, though contemporary Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius argued for the relation of Hausa to the Berber languages. Some scholars would continue to regard Hausa as related to the other Afroasiatic languages, but the idea was controversial: many scholars refused to admit that the largely unwritten, "Negroid" Chadic languages were in the same family as the "Caucasian" ancient civilizations of the Egyptians and Semites.

An important development in the history of Afroasiatic scholarship – and the history of African linguistics – was the creation of the "Hamitic theory" or "Hamitic hypothesis" by Lepsius, fellow Egyptologist Christian Bunsen, and linguist Christian Bleek. This theory connected the "Hamites", the originators of Hamitic languages, with (supposedly culturally superior) "Caucasians", who were assumed to have migrated into Africa and intermixed with indigenous "Negroid" Africans in ancient times. The "Hamitic theory" would serve as the basis for Carl Meinhof's highly influential classification of African languages in his 1912 book . On one hand, the "Hamitic" classification was justified partially based on linguistic features: for example, Meinhof split the presently-understood Chadic family into "Hamito-Chadic", and an unrelated non-Hamitic "Chadic" based on which languages possessed grammatical gender. On the other hand, the classification also relied on non-linguistic anthropological and culturally contingent features, such as skin color, hair type, and lifestyle. Ultimately, Meinhof's classification of Hamitic proved to include languages from every presently-recognized language family within Africa.

The first scholar to question the existence of "Hamitic languages" was Marcel Cohen in  1924, with skepticism also expressed by A. Klingenheben and Dietrich Westermann during the 1920s and '30s. However, Meinhof's "Hamitic" classification remained prevalent throughout the early 20th century until it was definitively disproven by Joseph Greenberg in the 1940s, based on racial and anthropological data. Instead, Greenberg proposed an Afroasiatic family consisting of five branches: Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, Egyptian, and Semitic. Reluctance among some scholars to recognize Chadic as a branch of Afroasiatic persisted as late as the 1980s. In 1969, Harold Fleming proposed that a group of languages classified by Greenberg as Cushitic were in fact their own independent "Omotic" branch—a proposal that has been widely, if not universally, accepted. These six branches now constitute an academic consensus on the genetic structure of the family.

Greenberg relied on his own method of mass comparison of vocabulary items rather than the comparative method of demonstrating regular sound correspondences to establish the family. An alternative classification, based on the pronominal and conjugation systems, was proposed by A.N. Tucker in 1967. As of 2023, widely accepted sound correspondences between the different branches have not yet been firmly established. Nevertheless, morphological traits attributable to the proto-language and the establishment of cognates throughout the family have confirmed its genetic validity.

Origin

Timeline
There is no consensus as to when Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken. The absolute latest date for when Proto-Afroasiatic could have been extant is , after which Egyptian and the Semitic languages are firmly attested. However, in all likelihood these languages began to diverge well before this hard boundary. The estimations offered by scholars as to when Proto-Afroasiatic was spoken vary widely, ranging from 18,000BCE to 8,000BCE. An estimate at the youngest end of this range still makes Afroasiatic the oldest proven language family. Contrasting proposals of an early emergence, Tom Güldemann has argued that less time may have been required for the divergence than is usually assumed, as it is possible for a language to rapidly restructure due to areal contact, with the evolution of Chadic (and likely also Omotic) serving as pertinent examples.

Location
Likewise, no consensus exists as to where proto-Afroasiatic originated. Scholars have proposed locations for the Afroasiatic homeland across Africa and West Asia. Roger Blench writes that the debate possesses "a strong ideological flavor", with associations between an Asian origin and "high civilization". An additional complicating factor is the lack of agreement on the subgroupings of Afroasiatic (see Further subdivisions) – this makes associating archaeological evidence with the spread of Afroasiatic particularly difficult. Nevertheless, there is a long-accepted link between the speakers of Proto-Southern Cushitic languages and the East African Savanna Pastoral Neolithic (5000 years ago), and archaeological evidence associates the Proto-Cushitic speakers with economic transformations in the Sahara dating c. 8,500 ago, as well as the speakers of the Proto-Zenati variety of the Berber languages with an expansion across the Maghreb in the 5th century CE.

An origin somewhere on the African continent has broad scholarly support, and is seen as being well-s

Antoine Meillet, né le  à Moulins (Allier) et mort le  à Châteaumeillant (Cher), est un philologue français, le principal linguiste français des premières décennies du .

Biographie

Enfance et formation 
Paul Jules Antoine Meillet est d'origine bourbonnaise, fils d'un notaire de Châteaumeillant (Cher). Il naît à Moulins le 11 novembre 1866.

Il passe son enfance à Châteaumeillant, puis fait ses études secondaires au lycée de Moulins.

Étudiant à partir de 1885 à la faculté des lettres de Paris où il suit notamment les cours de Louis Havet, il assiste également à ceux de Michel Bréal au Collège de France et de Ferdinand de Saussure à l'École pratique des hautes études.

En 1889, il est major de l'agrégation de grammaire. En 1891, il fait son premier séjour en Arménie, notamment à Etchmiadzin ; son projet est d'apprendre l'arménien moderne et d'étudier d'anciens manuscrits.
À son retour, il assure à la suite de Saussure le cours de grammaire comparée, qu'il complète à partir de 1894 par une conférence sur les langues persanes.

En 1897, il soutient sa thèse pour le doctorat ès lettres (Recherches sur l'emploi du génitif-accusatif en vieux-slave).

Carrière 
En 1902, il succède au linguiste Auguste Carrière à la chaire d'arménien de l'École des langues orientales. En 1906, à la suite de Michel Bréal, il prend la chaire de grammaire comparée du Collège de France, où il consacre ses cours à l'histoire et à la structure des langues indo-européennes ; il abandonne alors son enseignement à l'École des langues orientales et se consacre désormais à la linguistique comparée au Collège de France, ainsi qu'à l'École pratique des hautes études.

Secrétaire de la Société de linguistique de Paris, il est élu à l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres en 1924. Il préside également l'Institut d'Études Slaves de 1921 à sa mort.

Il a formé toute une génération de linguistes français, parmi lesquels Émile Benveniste, Marcel Cohen, Georges Dumézil, Lilias Homburger, André Martinet, Aurélien Sauvageot, Lucien Tesnière, Joseph Vendryes, ainsi que le japonisant Charles Haguenauer. Antoine Meillet devait diriger la thèse de Jean Paulhan sur la sémantique du proverbe et c'est lui qui découvrit Gustave Guillaume.

Il a influencé aussi un certain nombre de linguistes étrangers. Il a également été le premier à identifier le phénomène de la grammaticalisation.

Selon le linguiste allemand Walter Porzig, Meillet est un « grand précurseur ». Il montre, par exemple, que, dans les dialectes indo-européens, les groupes indo-européens sont le résultat historique d'une variation diatopique.

L’acte de naissance de la sociolinguistique est signé par Antoine Meillet fondateur de la sociolinguistique qui s’est opposé au Cours de linguistique générale de Ferdinand de Saussure dès son apparition en 1916 en le critiquant sur plusieurs plans.

Il meurt en 1936 à Châteaumeillant et est enterré au cimetière de Moulins dans le caveau familial.

Études arméniennes 
 1891 : une mission de trois mois dans le Caucase lui permet d'apprendre l'arménien moderne.
 1902 : il obtient la chaire d'arménien de l'École des langues orientales.
 1903 : nouvelle mission en Arménie russe, il publie son Esquisse d'une grammaire comparée de l'arménien classique, qui demeure une référence en linguistique arménienne et indo-européenne jusqu'à ce jour. L'un de ses étudiants, Hratchia Adjarian, devient le fondateur de la dialectologie arménienne. C'est également sous les encouragements de Meillet qu'Émile Benveniste étudie la langue arménienne.
 1919 : il est cofondateur de la Société des études arméniennes avec Victor Bérard, Charles Diehl, André-Ferdinand Hérold, H. Lacroix, Frédéric Macler, Gabriel Millet, Gustave Schlumberger.
 1920 : le , il crée la Revue des études arméniennes avec Frédéric Macler.

Études homériques 
À la Sorbonne, Meillet supervise le travail de Milman Parry. Meillet offre à son étudiant l'opinion, nouvelle à cette époque, que la structure formulaïque de l'Iliade serait une conséquence directe de sa transmission orale. Ainsi, il le dirige vers l'étude de l'oralité dans son cadre natif et lui suggère d'observer les mécanismes d'une tradition orale vivante à côté du texte classique (l'Iliade) qui est censé résulter d'une telle tradition. En conséquence, Meillet présente Parry à Matija Murko, savant originaire de Slovénie qui avait longuement écrit sur la tradition héroïque épique dans les Balkans, surtout en Bosnie-Herzégovine. Par leurs recherches, dont les résultats sont à présent hébergés par l'université de Harvard, Parry et son élève, Albert Lord, ont profondément renouvelé les études homériques.

Principaux ouvrages 
 Études sur l'étymologie et le vocabulaire du vieux slave. Paris, Bouillon, 1902-05.
 Esquisse d'une grammaire comparée de l'arménien classique, 1903.
 Introduction à l'étude comparative des langues indo-européennes, 1903 ( éd.), Hachette, Paris, 1912 ( éd.).
 Les dialectes indo-européens, 1908.
 Aperçu d'une histoire de la langue grecque, 1913.
 Altarmenisches Elementarbuch, 1913. Heidelberg (en français : Manuel élémentaire d'Arménien classique, traduction de Gabriel Képéklian, Limoges, Lambert-Lucas, 2017 )
 Caractères généraux des langues germaniques, 1917, rev. edn. 1949.
 Linguistique historique et linguistique générale, 1921 (le tome II est paru en 1936 ; les deux tomes ont été réunis chez Lambert-Lucas, Limoges, 2015).
 Les origines indo-européennes des mètres grecs, 1923.
 Traité de grammaire comparée des langues classiques, 1924 (avec Joseph Vendryés).
 La méthode comparative en linguistique historique, 1925, Oslo, Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning (réimpr. Paris, Champion, 1954).
 .
 Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine, 1932 (en collab. Avec Alfred Ernout (1879-1973), éd. augmentée, par Jacques André (1910-1994), Paris : Klincksieck, 2001,  
 Meillet en Arménie, 1891, 1903, Journaux et lettres publiés par Francis Gandon, Limoges, Lambert-Lucas, 2014, .

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 Marc Décimo, Sciences et pataphysique, t. 2 : Comment la linguistique vint à Paris ?, De Michel Bréal à Ferdinand de Saussure, Dijon, Les Presses du réel, coll. Les Hétéroclites, 2014 .

Articles connexes 
 Franz Bopp
 Johann Kaspar Zeuss

Liens externes 

Linguiste français
Philologue français
Slaviste
Personnalité liée à la langue kurde
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales
Arménologue français
Indo-européaniste
Étudiant de l'université de Paris
Membre de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres
Membre de la Société des africanistes
Agrégé de grammaire
Commandeur de la Légion d'honneur promu en 1933
Naissance en novembre 1866
Naissance à Moulins (Allier)
Décès en septembre 1936
Décès à 69 ans
Décès dans le Cher
Personnalité inhumée à Moulins (Allier)
Auteur publié par les éditions Klincksieck

L’algèbre linéaire est la branche des mathématiques qui s'intéresse aux espaces vectoriels et aux transformations linéaires, formalisation générale des théories des systèmes d'équations linéaires.

Histoire 
L'algèbre linéaire est initiée dans son principe par le mathématicien perse Al-Khwârizmî qui s'est inspiré des textes de mathématiques indiens et qui a complété les travaux de l'école grecque, laquelle continuera de se développer des siècles durant. Elle a été reprise par René Descartes qui pose des problèmes de géométrie, comme la détermination de l'intersection de deux droites, en termes d'équation linéaire, établissant dès lors un pont entre deux branches mathématiques jusqu'alors séparées : l'algèbre et la géométrie. S'il ne définit pas la notion de base de l'algèbre linéaire qu'est celle d'espace vectoriel, il l'utilise déjà avec succès, et cette utilisation naturelle des aspects linéaires des équations manipulées demeurera utilisée de manière ad hoc, fondée essentiellement sur les idées géométriques sous-jacentes. Après cette découverte, les progrès en algèbre linéaire vont se limiter à des études ponctuelles comme la définition et l'analyse des premières propriétés des déterminants par Jean d'Alembert.

Ce n'est qu'au  que l'algèbre linéaire devient une branche des mathématiques à part entière. Carl Friedrich Gauss trouve une méthode générique pour la résolution des systèmes d'équations linéaires et Camille Jordan résout définitivement le problème de la réduction d'endomorphisme. En 1843, William Rowan Hamilton (inventeur du terme vector) découvre les quaternions (extension de degré 4 du corps des nombres réels). En 1844, Hermann Grassmann publie son traité Die lineale Ausdehnungslehre, La théorie de l'extension linéaire, qui est la première tentative de formalisation générale de la notion d'espace vectoriel. Si son œuvre reste grandement inaperçue, elle contient l'essentiel des idées modernes de l'algèbre linéaire, et cette étape fondamentale dans le développement de l'algèbre linéaire est reconnue comme telle tant par Hamilton que par Giuseppe Peano, qui axiomatise entièrement la théorie en 1888. Les espaces vectoriels deviennent alors une structure générale omniprésente dans presque tous les domaines mathématiques, notamment en analyse (espaces de fonctions).

Intérêt 
Sous leur forme la plus simple, les applications linéaires dans les espaces vectoriels représentent intuitivement les déplacements dans les espaces géométriques élémentaires comme la droite, le plan ou notre espace physique. Les bases de cette théorie remplacent maintenant la représentation construite par Euclide au  La construction moderne permet de généraliser la notion d'espace à des dimensions quelconques.

L'algèbre linéaire permet de résoudre tout un ensemble d'équations dites linéaires utilisées non seulement en mathématiques ou en mécanique, mais aussi dans de nombreuses autres branches comme les sciences naturelles ou les sciences sociales.

Les espaces vectoriels forment aussi un outil fondamental pour les sciences de l'ingénieur et servent de base à de nombreux domaines dans la recherche opérationnelle.

Enfin, c'est un outil utilisé en mathématiques dans des domaines aussi divers que la théorie des groupes, des anneaux ou des corps, l'analyse fonctionnelle, la géométrie différentielle ou la théorie des nombres.

Présentation élémentaire 
L'algèbre linéaire commence par l'étude de vecteurs dans les espaces cartésiens de dimension 2 et 3. Un vecteur, ici, est une classe d'équivalence de bipoints qui unifie les segments de droite caractérisés à la fois par leur longueur (ou norme), leur direction et leur sens : deux bipoints représentent un même vecteur si le quadrilatère formé sur les quatre points est un parallélogramme. Les vecteurs peuvent alors être utilisés pour représenter certaines entités physiques comme des déplacements, additionnés entre eux ou encore multipliés par des scalaires (nombres), formant ainsi le premier exemple concret d'espace vectoriel.

L'algèbre linéaire moderne s'intéresse beaucoup aux espaces de dimension arbitraire, éventuellement infinie. La plupart des résultats obtenus en dimension 2 ou 3 peuvent être étendus aux dimensions finies supérieures, ce qui permet une interprétation géométrique de listes de nombres (une liste de n nombres s'interprétant comme un vecteur d'un espace à n dimensions).

Quelques théorèmes 
 Théorème de la base incomplète : soient E un espace vectoriel, G une famille génératrice de E et L une famille libre de vecteurs de E. Alors il existe au moins une base de E formée en prenant la réunion de L et d'une partie de G.
 En particulier, tout espace vectoriel possède au moins une base.
 Toutes les bases d'un même espace vectoriel ont le même cardinal.
 Tout espace vectoriel A possède un espace dual A* ; si A est de dimension finie, A* est de même dimension.
 Formule de Grassmann : Soient  et  deux sous-espaces vectoriels d'un même espace vectoriel. On a alors :

D'autres théorèmes concernent les conditions d'inversion de matrices de divers types :
 matrice diagonale ;

 matrice triangulaire ;
 matrice à diagonale dominante.

Un théorème intéressant à l'époque des mémoires d'ordinateurs de petite taille était qu'on pouvait travailler séparément sur des sous-ensembles (« blocs ») d'une matrice en les combinant ensuite par les mêmes règles qu'on utilise pour combiner des scalaires dans les matrices (cf. l’article Matrice par blocs). Avec les mémoires actuelles de plusieurs gigaoctets, cette question a perdu un peu de son intérêt pratique, mais reste très prisée en théorie des nombres, pour la décomposition en produit de facteurs premiers avec le crible général de corps de nombres (algorithme de Lanczos).

Utilisations 
Les espaces vectoriels forment le support et le fondement de l'algèbre linéaire. Ils sont aussi présents dans de nombreux domaines distincts. S'il n'est pas possible d'indiquer ici tous les cas d'utilisation, on peut tout de même citer pour les principales structures objet de théories, des exemples significatifs. Leurs rôles dans de vastes théories ne traitant pas d'une structure particulière, comme celles des nombres algébriques ou  de Galois peuvent aussi être évoqués.

Les espaces vectoriels utilisés sont d'une grande diversité. On y trouve les classiques espaces vectoriels de dimension 2 ou 3 sur les nombres réels, cependant la dimension peut être quelconque, même infinie. Les nombres complexes sont aussi très utilisés, ainsi que les rationnels. Il n'est pas rare qu'une partie des nombres réels ou complexes soit considéré comme un espace vectoriel rationnel. Le corps de base peut aussi contenir un nombre fini d'éléments, définissant parfois un espace vectoriel fini.

Les propriétés géométriques de la structure permettent la démonstration de nombreux théorèmes. Elles ne se limitent pas aux cas où l'espace est réel, même dans le cas de corps plus insolites comme les corps finis ou les extensions finies des rationnels, les propriétés géométriques s'avèrent parfois essentielles.

Groupe fini 

La classification des groupes finis est une vaste question, encore objet de recherche. Si le groupe contient un petit nombre d'éléments, les théorèmes de Sylow peuvent suffire pour en déterminer la structure. Une méthode beaucoup plus puissante est nécessaire dans le cas général.

Georg Frobenius, à la suite de travaux de Richard Dedekind, développe une nouvelle théorie en 1896. Elle se fonde sur l'idée que l'ensemble des « symétries » (au sens : automorphismes) d'un espace vectoriel possède une structure de groupe. Il est toujours possible de représenter un groupe fini par des « symétries » bien choisies sur un espace vectoriel de dimension suffisante. Un groupe est ainsi incarné par des transformations géométriques simples. Une telle incarnation prend le nom de représentation d'un groupe.

Les espaces vectoriels choisis sont de dimension finie, en général sur le corps des complexes, cependant pour disposer de bonnes propriétés arithmétiques le corps peut être celui des rationnels ou encore utiliser des entiers algébriques comme pour la démonstration du théorème de Burnside sur les groupes résolubles. Richard Brauer étudie un cas très abstrait, celui des représentations sur un espace vectoriel construit à l'aide d'un corps fini.

Un exemple relativement simple d'utilisation de cette théorie est donné par Burnside, avec son théorème sur les sous-groupes d'exposant fini du groupe linéaire GL(n, ℂ).

Anneau 

Un exemple célèbre d'anneau disposant aussi d'une structure d'espace vectoriel est celui des polynômes à coefficients dans un corps. Cet espace vectoriel, de dimension infinie, est largement utilisé en algèbre linéaire, à travers par exemple le polynôme minimal ou caractéristique. Le morphisme canonique entre les polynômes et les applications linéaires d'un espace vectoriel est à l'origine d'une structure d'algèbre qui est un anneau, si la multiplication externe est oubliée.

Cette méthode permet d'élucider la structure de certains anneaux. Tout anneau est un espace vectoriel sur ceux de ses sous-anneaux qui sont des corps. L'espace vectoriel ressemble à la structure développée par Grassman. Cette remarque est utilisée au début du , en particulier par Emil Artin et Emmy Noether, pour élucider cette structure dans le cas des anneaux artiniens et noethériens, qui sont des copies de sous-algèbres sur un espace vectoriel construit sur sous-anneau qui s'avère être un corps.

Un exemple est la généralisation d'un théorème de Wedderburn par Artin et portant maintenant le nom de théorème d'Artin-Wedderburn. Il est important en algèbre non commutative.

Un lemme élémentaire permet par ailleurs d'interpréter le corps des quaternions comme l'algèbre des endomorphismes d'une représentation réelle de degré 4 du groupe associé.

Théorie de Galois 

La théorie de Galois contient de nombreux exemples d'espaces vectoriels. Elle consiste à étudier un corps comme un espace vectoriel sur un sous-corps. Ainsi chaque sous-corps permet de considérer la structure initiale comme un espace vectoriel particulier.

Un exemple d'application est celui des figures constructible à la règle et au compas. Ces points forment un corps disposant d'une structure d'espace vectoriel sur les nombres rationnels. Il est de dimension infinie et, pour chaque point, le plus petit sous-corps le contenant est de dimension finie égale à une puissance de 2. Un tel sous-corps est appelé une tour d'extensions quadratiques. Cette propriété de ces espaces vectoriels permet de résoudre d'antiques conjectures comme la duplication du cube, la trisection de l'angle ou la construction d'un polygone régulier.

L'exemple historique de la théorie est celui de la résolution d'une équation polynomiale. Le théorème d'Abel donne une condition nécessaire et suffisante de résolution par radicaux. Les espaces vectoriels utilisés ont pour éléments ceux du plus petit corps L contenant tous les coefficients du polynôme ainsi que ses racines et le corps sous-jacent est un sous-corps K du premier contenant tous les coefficients. Le groupe de Galois est composé des automorphismes du corps L qui laissent invariant le corps K. Ces automorphismes sont en nombre fini et sont des automorphismes du K-espace vectoriel L. L'élément clé de la démonstration montre que l'équation est résoluble seulement si ces automorphismes sont diagonalisables.

Notes et références

Bibliographie 
 Vincent Blanloeil, Une introduction moderne à l’algèbre linéaire, Ellipses, 2012
 Roger Mansuy et Rached Mneimné, Algèbre linéaire - Réduction des endomorphismes, Vuibert, 2012

Voir aussi

Articles connexes 
 Propriétés métriques des droites et plans
Algèbre générale
 Algèbre multilinéaire
 Loi d'inertie de Sylvester
 Optimisation linéaire
 Algorithme de Bartels-Stewart

Liens externes 
  Linear Algebra par Elmer G. Wiens
 Les cours du ROSO, dont de l'Algèbre linéaire
  Braise : la base raisonnée d'exercices de mathématiques et son chapitre sur l'Algèbre linéaire

L'algèbre générale, ou algèbre abstraite, est la branche des mathématiques qui porte principalement sur l'étude des structures algébriques et de leurs relations. L'appellation algèbre générale s'oppose à celle d'algèbre élémentaire ; cette dernière enseigne le calcul algébrique, c'est-à-dire les règles de manipulation des formules et des expressions algébriques.

Historiquement, les structures algébriques sont apparues dans différents domaines des mathématiques, et n'y ont pas été étudiées séparément. C'est pourquoi l'algèbre générale possède beaucoup de connexions avec toutes les branches des mathématiques.

L'étude des structures algébriques peut être faite de manière abstraite, mais unifiée dans le cadre de l'algèbre universelle.

Histoire 
Comme dans d'autres parties des mathématiques, des problèmes et des exemples concrets ont joué un rôle important dans le développement de l'algèbre abstraite. Jusqu'à la fin du , beaucoup - ou plus - de ces problèmes étaient en quelque sorte liés à la théorie des équations algébriques. Les principaux thèmes sont les suivants:
 Résolution de systèmes d'équations linéaires, ce qui a conduit à l'algèbre linéaire
 Tentatives de trouver des formules aux solutions d'équations polynomiales générales de degré supérieur qui ont abouti à la découverte de groupes comme des manifestations abstraites de symétrie
 Études arithmétiques des formes de degré quadratique supérieur et des équations diophantiennes, qui ont produit directement les notions d'un anneau et idéal.

Algèbre moderne 
La fin du  et le début du  a connu un énorme changement dans la méthodologie des mathématiques. L'algèbre abstraite a émergé autour du début du , sous le nom d'algèbre moderne. Son étude faisait partie de l'entraînement pour plus de rigueur intellectuelle en mathématiques. Les définitions officielles de certaines structures algébriques ont émergé au .

Applications 
En raison de sa généralité, l'algèbre abstraite est utilisée dans de nombreux domaines des mathématiques et de la science. Par exemple, la topologie algébrique utilise des objets algébriques pour son étude. La théorie algébrique des nombres étudie divers anneaux numériques qui généralisent l'ensemble des entiers. En utilisant la théorie des nombres algébriques, Andrew Wiles a prouvé le dernier théorème de Fermat.

Bases 
 Théorie des ensembles
 Notion d'ensemble
 Sous-ensemble
 Opérations sur les ensembles
 Produit cartésien
Correspondances et relations
 Relation binaire
 Fonctions et applications
 Loi de composition
 Loi interne

Structures algébriques 

 Magma
 Demi-groupe (ou semi-groupe)
 Quasigroupe
 Monoïde
 Groupe
 Anneau
 Module
 Corps
 Corps commutatif
 Espace vectoriel
 Algèbre linéaire
 Algèbre sur un anneau
 Algèbre sur un corps
 Opérade

Articles connexes 
 Évariste Galois et Niels Henrik Abel (mathématiciens ayant fourni un travail majeur pour la construction de l'algèbre)
 Emmy Noether 
 Théorie des codes
 Théorie des groupes

Lalgorithmique est l'étude et la production de règles et techniques qui sont impliquées dans la définition et la conception d'algorithmes, c'est-à-dire de processus systématiques de résolution d'un problème permettant de décrire précisément des étapes pour résoudre un problème algorithmique.

Étymologie 
Le mot « algorithme » vient du nom du mathématicien Al-Khwârizmî (latinisé au Moyen Âge en ), qui, au  écrivit le premier ouvrage systématique donnant des solutions aux équations linéaires et quadratiques. Le h muet, non justifié par l'étymologie, vient d’une déformation par rapprochement avec le grec  (arithmós). « Algorithme » a donné « algorithmique ». Le synonyme « algorithmie », vieux mot utilisé par exemple par Wronski en 1811, est encore parfois utilisé.

Histoire

Antiquité 
Les premiers algorithmes dont on a retrouvé des descriptions datent des Babyloniens, au . Ils décrivent des méthodes de calcul et des résolutions d'équations à l'aide d'exemples.

Un algorithme célèbre est celui qui se trouve dans le  des Éléments d'Euclide, et appelé algorithme d'Euclide. Il permet de trouver le plus grand diviseur commun, ou PGCD, de deux nombres. Un point particulièrement remarquable est qu’il contient explicitement une itération et que les  et 2 démontrent sa correction.

C'est Archimède qui proposa le premier un algorithme pour le calcul de .

Étude systématique 
Le premier à avoir systématisé des algorithmes est le mathématicien perse Al-Khwârizmî, actif entre 813 et 833. Dans son ouvrage Abrégé du calcul par la restauration et la comparaison, il étudie toutes les équations du second degré et en donne la résolution par des algorithmes généraux. Il utilise des méthodes semblables à celles des Babyloniens, mais se différencie par ses explications systématiques là où les Babyloniens donnaient seulement des exemples.

Le savant andalou Averroès (1126-1198) évoque une méthode de raisonnement où la thèse s’affine étape par étape, itérativement, jusqu’à une certaine convergence et ceci conformément au déroulement d’un algorithme. À la même époque, au , le moine Adelard de Bath introduit le terme latin de , par référence au nom de Al Khuwarizmi. Ce mot donne algorithme en français en 1554.

Au , on pourrait entrevoir une certaine allusion à la méthode algorithmique chez René Descartes dans la méthode générale proposée par le Discours de la méthode (1637), notamment quand, en sa deuxième partie, le mathématicien français propose de . Sans évoquer explicitement les concepts de boucle, d’itération ou de dichotomie, l’approche de Descartes prédispose la logique à accueillir le concept de programme, mot qui naît en français en 1677.

En 1843 , la mathématicienne et pionnière des sciences informatique Ada Lovelace, fille de Lord Byron et assistante de Charles Babbage réalise la première implémentation d'un algorithme sous forme de programme (calcul des nombres de Bernoulli).

Le dixième problème de Hilbert qui fait partie de la liste des  posés par David Hilbert en 1900 à Paris est clairement un problème algorithmique. En l'occurrence, la réponse est qu'il n'y a pas d'algorithme répondant au problème posé.

L'époque contemporaine 
L’algorithmique des  a pour fondement mathématique des formalismes, par exemple celui des machines de Turing, qui permettent de définir précisément ce qu'on entend par « étapes », par « précis » et par « non ambigu » et qui donnent un cadre scientifique pour étudier les propriétés des algorithmes. Cependant, suivant le formalisme choisi on obtient des approches algorithmiques différentes pour résoudre un même problème. Par exemple l'algorithmique récursive, l'algorithmique parallèle ou l’informatique quantique donnent lieu à des présentations d'algorithmes différentes de celles de l'algorithmique itérative.

L'algorithmique s'est surtout développée dans la deuxième moitié du , comme support conceptuel de la programmation des ordinateurs, dans le cadre du développement de l'informatique pendant cette période. Donald Knuth, auteur du traité The Art of Computer Programming qui décrit de très nombreux algorithmes, a contribué, avec d'autres, à poser les fondements mathématiques de leur analyse.

Vocabulaire 
Le substantif algorithmique désigne l'ensemble des méthodes permettant de créer des algorithmes. Le terme est également employé comme adjectif.

Un algorithme énonce une solution à un problème sous la forme d’un enchaînement d’opérations à effectuer.

Les informaticiens utilisent fréquemment l’anglicisme implémentation pour désigner la mise en œuvre de l'algorithme dans un langage de programmation. Cette implémentation réalise la transcription des opérations constitutives de l’algorithme et précise la façon dont ces opérations sont invoquées. Cette écriture en langage informatique, est aussi fréquemment désignée par le terme de « codage ». On parle de « code source » pour désigner le texte, constituant le programme, réalisant l’algorithme. Le code est plus ou moins détaillé selon le niveau d’abstraction du langage utilisé, de même qu'une recette de cuisine doit être plus ou moins détaillée selon l’expérience du cuisinier.

Étude formelle 
De nombreux outils formels ou théoriques ont été développés pour décrire les algorithmes, les étudier, exprimer leurs qualités, pouvoir les comparer :
 ainsi, pour décrire les algorithmes, des structures algorithmiques ont été mises en évidence : structures de contrôle et structures de données ;
 pour justifier de la qualité des algorithmes, les notions de correction, de complétude et de terminaison ont été mises en place ;
 enfin, pour comparer les algorithmes, une théorie de la complexité des algorithmes a été définie.

Structures algorithmiques 
Les concepts en œuvre en algorithmique, par exemple selon l'approche de N. Wirth pour les langages les plus répandus (Pascal, C), sont en petit nombre. Ils appartiennent à deux classes :
 les structures de contrôle :
 séquences,
 conditionnelles,
 boucles ;
 les structures de données :
 constantes,
 variables,
 tableaux ;
 structures récursives (listes, arbres, graphes).

Ce découpage est parfois difficile à percevoir pour certains langages (Lisp, Prolog…) plus basés sur la notion de récursivité où certaines structures de contrôle sont implicites et, donc, semblent disparaître.

Correction, complétude, terminaison 
Ces trois notions « correction », « complétude », « terminaison » sont liées, et supposent qu'un algorithme est écrit pour résoudre un problème.

La terminaison est l'assurance que l'algorithme terminera en un temps fini. Les preuves de terminaison font habituellement intervenir une fonction entière positive strictement décroissante à chaque « pas » de l'algorithme.

Étant donné la garantie qu'un algorithme terminera, la preuve de correction doit apporter l'assurance que si l'algorithme termine en donnant un résultat, alors ce résultat est effectivement une solution au problème posé. Les preuves de correction font habituellement intervenir une spécification logique que doivent vérifier les solutions du problème. La preuve de correction consiste donc à montrer que les résultats de l'algorithme vérifient cette spécification.

La preuve de complétude garantit que, pour un espace de problèmes donné, l'algorithme, s'il termine, donnera l'ensemble des solutions de l'espace du problème. Les preuves de complétude demandent à identifier l'espace du problème et l'espace des solutions pour ensuite montrer que l'algorithme produit bien le second à partir du premier.

Complexité algorithmique 

Les principales notions mathématiques dans le calcul du coût d’un algorithme précis sont les notions de domination (notée O(f(n)), « grand o »), où f est une fonction mathématique de n, variable désignant la quantité d’informations (en bits, en nombre d’enregistrements) manipulée dans l’algorithme. En algorithmique on trouve souvent des complexités du type :

Sans entrer dans les détails mathématiques, le calcul de l’efficacité d’un algorithme (sa complexité algorithmique) consiste en la recherche de deux quantités importantes. La première quantité est l’évolution du nombre d’instructions de base en fonction de la quantité de données à traiter (par exemple, pour un algorithme de tri, il s'agit du nombre de données à trier), que l’on privilégiera sur le temps d'exécution mesuré en secondes (car ce dernier dépend de la machine sur laquelle l'algorithme s'exécute). La seconde quantité estimée est la quantité de mémoire nécessaire pour effectuer les calculs. Baser le calcul de la complexité d’un algorithme sur le temps ou la quantité effective de mémoire qu’un ordinateur particulier prend pour effectuer ledit algorithme ne permet pas de prendre en compte la structure interne de l’algorithme, ni la particularité de l’ordinateur : selon sa charge de travail, la vitesse de son processeur, la vitesse d’accès aux données, l’exécution de l’algorithme (qui peut faire intervenir le hasard) ou son organisation de la mémoire, le temps d’exécution et la quantité de mémoire ne seront pas les mêmes.

Souvent, on examine les performances « au pire », c'est-à-dire dans les configurations telles que le temps d'exécution ou l'espace mémoire est le plus grand. Il existe également un autre aspect de l'évaluation de l'efficacité d'un algorithme : les performances « en moyenne ». Cela suppose d'avoir un modèle de la répartition statistique des données de l'algorithme, tandis que la mise en œuvre des techniques d'analyse implique des méthodes assez fines de combinatoire et d'évaluation asymptotique, utilisant en particulier les séries génératrices et des méthodes avancées d'analyse complexe. L'ensemble de ces méthodes est regroupé sous le nom de combinatoire analytique.

On trouvera dans l’article sur la théorie de la complexité des algorithmes d’autres évaluations de la complexité qui vont en général au-delà des valeurs proposées ci-dessus et qui classifient les problèmes algorithmiques (plutôt que les algorithmes) en classes de complexité.

Quelques indications sur l’efficacité des algorithmes et ses biais 
L'efficacité algorithmique n’est souvent connue que de manière asymptotique, c’est-à-dire pour de grandes valeurs du paramètre n. Lorsque ce paramètre est suffisamment petit, un algorithme de complexité asymptotique plus grande peut en pratique être plus efficace. Ainsi, pour trier un tableau de  (c’est un paramètre de petite taille), il est inutile d’utiliser un algorithme évolué comme le tri rapide (l’un des algorithmes de tri asymptotiquement les plus efficaces en moyenne) : l’algorithme de tri le plus simple à écrire sera suffisamment efficace.

Entre deux algorithmes informatiques de complexité identique, on utilisera celui dont l’occupation mémoire est moindre. L’analyse de la complexité algorithmique peut également servir à évaluer l’occupation mémoire d’un algorithme. Enfin, le choix d’un algorithme plutôt qu’un autre doit se faire en fonction des données que l’on s’attend à lui fournir en entrée. Ainsi, le tri rapide, lorsque l’on choisit le premier élément comme pivot, se comporte de façon désastreuse si on l’applique à une liste de valeurs déjà triée. Il n’est donc pas judicieux de l’utiliser si on prévoit que le programme recevra en entrée des listes déjà presque triées ou alors il faudra choisir le pivot aléatoirement.

D'autres paramètres à prendre en compte sont notamment :
 les biais intrinsèques (acceptés ou involontaires) de nombreux algorithmes peuvent tromper les utilisateurs ou systèmes d'intelligence artificielle, de machine learning, de diagnostic informatique, mécanique, médical, de prévision, de prévention, de sondages ou d'aide à la décision (notamment pour les réseaux sociaux, l'éducation [ex : parcoursup ], la médecine, la justice, la police, l'armée, la politique, l'embauche…) prenant mal en compte ou pas du tous ces biais. En 2019, des chercheurs de Télécom ParisTech ont produit un rapport inventoriant les principaux biais connus, et quelques pistes de remédiation
 la localité de l’algorithme. Par exemple pour un système à mémoire virtuelle ayant peu de mémoire vive (par rapport au nombre de données à traiter), le tri rapide sera normalement plus efficace que le tri par tas car le premier ne passe qu’une seule fois sur chaque élément de la mémoire tandis que le second accède à la mémoire de manière discontinue (ce qui augmente le risque de ).
 certains algorithmes (ceux dont l'analyse de complexité est dite amortie), pour certaines exécutions de l’algorithme (cas marginaux), présentent une complexité qui sera très supérieure au cas moyen, mais ceci sera compensé par des exécutions rendues efficaces du même algorithme dans une suite d'invocations de cet algorithme.
 l'Analyse lisse d'algorithme, qui mesure les performances des algorithmes sur les pires cas, mais avec une légère perturbation des instances. Elle explique pourquoi certains algorithmes analysés comme inefficaces autrement, sont en fait efficaces en pratique. L'algorithme du simplexe est un exemple d'un algorithme qui se comporte bien pour l'analyse lisse.

Approches pratiques 
L'algorithmique a développé quelques stratégies pour résoudre les problèmes :
 algorithme glouton : un premier algorithme peut souvent être proposé en étudiant le problème très progressivement : on résout chaque sous-problème localement en espérant que l'ensemble de leurs résultats composera bien une solution du problème global. On parle alors d'algorithme glouton. L'algorithme glouton n'est souvent qu'une première étape dans la rédaction d'un algorithme plus performant ;
 diviser pour régner : pour améliorer les performances des algorithmes, une technique usuelle consiste à diviser les données d'un problème en sous-ensembles de tailles plus petites, jusqu'à obtenir des données que l'algorithme pourra traiter au cas par cas. Une seconde étape dans ces algorithmes consiste à « fusionner » les résultats partiels pour obtenir une solution globale. Ces algorithmes sont souvent associés à la récursivité ;
 recherche exhaustive (ou combinatoire) : une méthode utilisant l'énorme puissance de calcul des ordinateurs consiste à regarder tous les cas possibles. Cela n'est pour autant possible que dans certains cas particuliers (la combinatoire est souvent plus forte que l'énorme puissance des ordinateurs, aussi énorme soit-elle) ;
 décomposition top-down / bottom-up : (décomposition descendante, décomposition remontante) les décompositions top-down consistent à essayer de décomposer le problème en sous-problèmes à résoudre successivement, la décomposition allant jusqu'à des problèmes triviaux faciles à résoudre. L'algorithme global est alors donné par la composée des algorithmes définis au cours de la décomposition. La démarche bottom-up est la démarche inverse, elle consiste à partir d'algorithmes simples, ne résolvant qu'une étape du problème, pour essayer de les composer pour obtenir un algorithme global ;
 pré-traitement / post-traitement : parfois, certains algorithmes comportent une ou deux phases identifiées comme des pré-traitements (à faire avant l'algorithme principal), ou post-traitement (à faire après l'algorithme principal), pour simplifier l'écriture de l'algorithme général ;
 programmation dynamique : elle s'applique lorsque le problème d'optimisation est composé de plusieurs sous-problèmes de même nature, et qu'une solution optimale du problème global s'obtient à partir de solutions optimales des sous-problèmes.

Les heuristiques 

Pour certains problèmes, les algorithmes ont une complexité beaucoup trop grande pour obtenir un résultat en temps raisonnable, même si l’on pouvait utiliser une puissance de calcul phénoménale. On est donc amené à rechercher la solution de façon non systématique (algorithme de Las Vegas) ou de se contenter d'une solution la plus proche possible d’une solution optimale en procédant par essais successifs (algorithme de Monte-Carlo). Puisque toutes les combinaisons ne peuvent être essayées, certains choix stratégiques doivent être faits. Ces choix, généralement très dépendants du problème traité, constituent ce qu’on appelle une heuristique. Le but d’une heuristique n'est donc pas d'essayer toutes les combinaisons possibles, mais de trouver une solution en un temps raisonnable et par un autre moyen, par exemple en procédant à des tirages aléatoires. La solution peut être exacte (Las Vegas) ou approchée (Monte-Carlo). Les algorithmes d'Atlantic City quant à eux donnent de façon probablement efficace une réponse probablement juste (disons avec une chance sur cent millions de se tromper) à la question posée.

C’est ainsi que les programmes de jeu d’échecs ou de jeu de go (pour ne citer que ceux-là) font appel de manière très fréquente à des heuristiques qui modélisent l’expérience d’un joueur. Certains logiciels antivirus se basent également sur des heuristiques pour reconnaître des virus informatiques non répertoriés dans leur base, en s’appuyant sur des ressemblances avec des virus connus, c'est un exemple d'algorithme d'Atlantic City. De même le problème SAT qui est l'archétype du problème NP-complet donc très difficile est résolu de façon pratique et efficace par la mise au point d'heuristiques.

Exemples d’algorithmes, de problèmes, d'applications ou domaines d'application 
Il existe un certain nombre d’algorithmes classiques, utilisés pour résoudre des problèmes ou plus simplement pour illustrer des méthodes de programmation. On se référera aux articles suivants pour de plus amples détails (voir aussi liste des algorithmes) :
 algorithmes ou problèmes classiques (du plus simple ou plus complexe) :
 échange, ou comment échanger les valeurs de deux variables : problème classique illustrant la notion de variable informatique (voir aussi Structure de données),
 algorithmes de recherche, ou comment retrouver une information dans un ensemble structuré ou non (par exemple Recherche dichotomique),
 algorithme de tri, ou comment trier un ensemble de nombres le plus rapidement possible ou en utilisant le moins de ressources possible,
 problème du voyageur de commerce, problème du sac à dos, problème SAT et autres algorithmes ou approximations de solutions pour les problèmes combinatoires difficiles (dit NP-complets) ;
 algorithmes ou problèmes illustrant la programmation récursive (voir aussi algorithme récursif) :
tours de Hanoï,
 huit dames, placer huit dames sur un échiquier sans qu’elles puissent se prendre entre elles,
 suite de Conway,
 algorithme de dessins récursifs (fractale) pour le Tapis de Sierpiński, la Courbe du dragon, le Flocon de Koch… ;
 algorithmes dans le domaine des mathématiques :
 calcul de la factorielle d'un nombre, de la Fonction d'Ackermann ou de la suite de Fibonacci,
 algorithme du simplexe, qui minimise une fonction linéaire de variables réelles soumises à des contraintes linéaires,
 fraction continue d'un nombre quadratique, permettant d'extraire une racine carrée, cas particulier de la méthode de Newton,
 dans le domaine de l'algèbre : l'algorithme d'unification, le calcul d'une base de Gröbner d'un idéal de polynôme et plus généralement presque toutes les méthodes de calcul symbolique,
 en théorie des graphes qui donne lieu à de nombreux algorithmes,
 test de primalité ;
 algorithmes pour et dans le domaine de l'informatique :
 cryptologie et compression de données,
 informatique musicale,
 algorithme génétique en informatique décisionnelle,
 analyse et compilation des langages formels (voir Compilateur et Interprète (informatique)),
 allocation de mémoire (ramasse-miettes).

Annexes

Notes et références

Bibliographie

Liens externes 

 Qu’est-ce qu'un algorithme ? par Philippe Flajolet et Étienne Parizot sur la revue en ligne Interstices

Articles connexes 
 Algorithme récursif
 Algorithme réparti
 Algorithme émergent
 Algorithme adaptatif
 Algorithme d'approximation
 Art algorithmique
 Liste d'algorithmes
 Métaheuristique
 Recherche opérationnelle
 Paradigme (programmation)

Nom dérivé d'un anthroponyme

L'Argentine est une république présidentielle multipartite, où le président est à la fois chef de l'État et chef du gouvernement. Le pouvoir exécutif est détenu par le gouvernement et le pouvoir législatif est partagé entre le gouvernement et les deux chambres du Congrès. Le pouvoir judiciaire est indépendant des deux premiers.

Pouvoir exécutif 

Les élections présidentielles se déroulent en un ou deux tours. Si aucun candidat ne récolte plus de 45 % des votes, alors un deuxième tour est organisé. Seuls les deux candidats qui ont remporté le plus de votes participent au deuxième tour (2003). Historiquement, le pays est marqué par le bipartisme entre le Parti justicialiste (ou péroniste), qui fut cependant interdit de 1955 aux élections de 1973, puis à nouveau réprimé après le coup d'Etat de mars 1976, et le parti radical (Union Civique Radicale, UCR) et l'élection se fait normalement dès le premier tour.

Depuis 1989, il n'y a eu aucun débat télévisé entre deux candidats à la présidentielle.

Histoire 
L'année 1890 est considérée comme un tournant dans l'histoire politique de l'Argentine. C'est l'année d'un important soulèvement populaire par suite d'une crise économique qui avait accentuée la misère des classes populaires et appauvrit les classes moyennes. C'est aussi l'apparition de la dite « génération de 1890 » comprenant Leandro N. Alem (futur fondateur de l'Union civique radicale), Lisandro de la Torre (futur fondateur du Parti démocrate progressiste) et Juan B. Justo (futur fondateur du Parti socialiste). Cette nouvelle génération d'hommes politiques favorise une forme d'union des classes populaires et des classes moyennes, sous la direction de ces dernières, contre le pouvoir oligarchique des propriétaires fonciers, des grands commerçants et des banquiers. L'Union civique radicale — qui passe, après le suicide d'Alem, sous la direction d'Hipólito Yrigoyen — devient l'expression principale des classes moyennes et, dans une moindre mesure, populaires. Sa tactique allie, à partir de 1892, un dosage réfléchi entre le recours à la voie électorale légale et l'adoption de la voie insurrectionnelle.

En 1912, afin de réduire le risque d'un nouveau soulèvement révolutionnaire, le gouvernement conservateur accepte d'établir le suffrage universel masculin. Hipólito Yrigoyen est élu président et met en œuvre son programme réformiste : abolition du travail des enfants, repos dominical pour les travailleurs, salaire minimal pour certaines professions, recours à l'arbitrage pour les conflits sociaux, etc. En économie, il déclare que « L'État doit acquérir, jour après jour, une position de plus grande activité dans les entreprises qui fournissent des services publics, et se substituer au capital privé existant pour que le service public devienne un instrument de gouvernement ». Plus tard, l'Union civique radicale se scinde avec le regroupement de son aile droite autour de Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear contre Yrigoyen. Les années de pouvoir de l'Union civique radicale représentent un héritage sujet à controverses ; si elles constituent une période de progrès démocratiques et sociaux, elles se caractérisent aussi par les ménagements à l'égard de l'oligarchie et par la conduite très brutale de l'armée lors de la semaine tragique, au cours de laquelle des centaines d'ouvriers grévistes sont assassinés, et la répression sanglante de la Patagonie rebelle ( grévistes sont sommairement exécutés).

L'anarcho-syndicalisme exerce une importante influence auprès des syndicats ouvriers à la fin du  et au début du . Certains militants se dirigent par ailleurs vers la lutte armée, comme en 1929 quand le militant anarchiste Kurt Gustav Wilckens lance une bombe qui tue le colonel Varela, responsable des massacres de la Patagonie rebelle. Les associations socialistes se constituent dans les années 1890. En 1896 est formé le Parti ouvrier socialiste argentin, qui fait paraître Vanguardia, « journal socialiste scientifique défenseur de la classe ouvrière ». En 1904, Alfredo Palacios devient le premier député socialiste d'Amérique latine. Le Parti communiste argentin est fondé en 1918.

En 1947, le gouvernement péroniste fait reconnaître le droit de vote des femmes.

Élection présidentielle 2003 

Les 19 candidats étaient (dans l'ordre alphabétique) :

 Jorge Altamira
 Juan Carlos Arcagni
 José Bonacci
 Alfredo Bravo
 Elisa Carrió
 Manuel Herrera
 Néstor Kirchner
 Manuel Manusovich
 Mario Mazzitelli
 Carlos Menem
 Leopoldo Moreau
 Ricardo López Murphy
 Ricardo Mussa
 Gustavo Breide Obeid
 Adolfo Rodríguez Saá
 Guillermo Sulling
 Enrique Venturino
 Patricia Walsh
 Carlos Zaffore

Carlos Menem, ancien président est arrivé en tête au premier tour avec 24 % des voix, suivi de Néstor Kirchner, proche du président en titre, Eduardo Duhalde, avec 22 %. Tous les deux sont issus du parti justicialiste (péroniste). Carlos Menem, d'après les sondages, ne paraissait pas pouvoir significativement progresser par rapport à son score du premier tour et semblait donc promis à une lourde défaite, avec 30 % de retard. Il a renoncé le 14 mai, à quatre jours du second tour, laissant Nestor Kirchner devenir automatiquement président. Les adversaires de Menem et notamment l'entourage du président Duhalde ont qualifié cette décision d'irresponsable, puisqu'en privant Kirchner de la victoire au second tour, en faisant un président par défaut, elle pourrait miner sérieusement sa légitimité…

Mandats de Nestor et Cristina Kirchner 
Une fois élu à la tête de l'Argentine, Nestor Kirchner a eu devant lui un chantier imposant : reconstruire l'économie de l'Argentine, gravement endommagée par la crise financière de 2001. Il tente d'appliquer à l'Argentine les recettes qui ont fait le succès économique de la province de Santa Cruz, en Patagonie, dont il était le gouverneur jusqu'en 2003.
Ses premières tâches ont été :
 la renégociation de la dette en défaut, avec le FMI et avec les créanciers privés. Un accord a été trouvé avec ces derniers début 2005, ceux-ci devant renoncer à 75 % de leurs créances.
 les renégociations des contrats d'eau et de gaz avec de grandes entreprises étrangères (Suez…). La plupart des services publics ont été privatisés pendant l'ère Menem.
 les discussions avec les « piqueteros », associations de chômeurs bloquant régulièrement les routes pour demander la revalorisation des aides sociales.

Nestor Kirchner a également été confronté à une vague de violences et d'enlèvements (contre rançons), avec l'implication de la police de la Province de Buenos Aires. Il a donc mené une épuration de la police et de la justice pour lutter contre la corruption et la violence organisée, et nomma en  Esteban Righi, l'ex-ministre de l'Intérieur d'Héctor Cámpora (mai-), procureur de la Nation.

Les élections générales de 2007 ont été à nouveau remportées par le Parti justicialiste, portant la femme de Kirchner, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, à la présidence. Elle est réélue en 2011. Les élections générales de 2015 voient la victoire de Mauricio Macri, opposant au dauphin de la présidente sortante, qui ne pouvait se représenter après deux mandats.

Mandat de Mauricio Macri 

.

.

Extrême droite 

Depuis au moins les années 1930, il existe une extrême droite argentine organisée (création du Parti fasciste argentin en 1932, élection du gouverneur de Buenos Aires Manuel Fresco en 1935, Mouvement nationaliste Tacuara des années 1960 qui organisa une forte campagne antisémite après l'enlèvement du nazi Adolf Eichmann par le Mossad). Celle-ci, désignée sous le terme de « national-catholicisme », eut une influence importante dans l'armée et l'Église (avec notamment l'abbé Julio Meinvielle ; la Cité catholique fondée par Jean Ousset, un disciple de Maurras, proche par ailleurs de l'archévêque Antonio Caggiano, ou le magazine Cabildo) et les différents coups d'État (« Révolution libératrice », « Révolution argentine » de 1966 et coup d'Etat de mars 1976, préparé, entre autres, par l'activisme violent de l'Alliance anticommuniste argentine et de la Concentración Nacional Universitaria), celle-ci fut intégrée au régime de Jorge Rafael Videla après , participant aux nombreux escadrons de la mort, ce qui lui ôta toute existence indépendante du pouvoir.

Depuis la transition démocratique des années 1980, elle se montre plus discrète, à l'exception des soulèvements militaires organisés par les Carapintadas. Elle n'en continue pas moins d'exister, avec la fondation du Partido Nuevo Triunfo en 1990, par Alejandro Biondini, ou la re-création du magazine national-catholique et antisémite Cabildo. La Cour suprême a néanmoins ordonné la dissolution de ce parti en 2009 en raison de déclarations nazies et antisémites.

Par ailleurs, , l'un des partisans du Carapintada Seineldín et participants à son putsch, condamné à 7 ans de prison, a fondé en 1996 le marginal . Candidat à l'élection présidentielle de 2003 et de 2007, il obtint à cette dernière , soit 0,25 % des suffrages exprimés.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 L'Argentine des Kirchner : dix ans après la crise, Choiseul, Paris, 2011, 142 p. ( de la revue Problèmes d'Amérique Latine, 2011)

Articles connexes 
 Économie de l'Argentine
 Histoire de l'Argentine
 Liste des chefs d'État argentins
 Représentations diplomatiques de l'Argentine

Liens externes 

  Site officiel du gouvernement

L'Armée républicaine irlandaise (, IRA ; ) est le nom porté, depuis le début du , par plusieurs organisations paramilitaires luttant par les armes contre la présence britannique en Irlande. Les différents groupes se réfèrent à eux comme Óglaigh na hÉireann (« volontaires d'Irlande »).

 L' appelée aussi Old IRA, issue de l'union en 1916 entre l' (proche du Parti travailliste irlandais) et les Irish Volunteers (alors généralement proches de l'IRB), est active entre  et , pendant la guerre d'indépendance irlandaise. Si ceux qui ont accepté le traité anglo-irlandais forment les Forces de Défense irlandaises, une partie de l'organisation, refusant cet accord, se constitue en une nouvelle Irish Republican Army, illégale.
 L'Irish Republican Army anti-traité apparaît entre avril et  du fait du refus du traité anglo-irlandais par une partie de l'Old IRA. Elle participe ainsi à la guerre civile irlandaise de  à . Elle maintient son activité dans les deux Irlandes (État libre d'Irlande, indépendant, et Irlande du Nord, britannique), mais concentre son action sur les intérêts britanniques, surtout en Irlande du Nord. En 1969 l'organisation se divise, donnant naissance à lOfficial Irish Republican Army et à la Provisional Irish Republican Army, minoritaire, moins socialiste et plus activiste.
 LOfficial Irish Republican Army, proche de l'''Official Sinn Féin, plus socialiste et moins nationaliste que la Provisional Irish Republican Army, mène des campagnes d'attentats principalement entre 1969 et 1972 durant le conflit nord-irlandais, avant de décréter un cessez-le-feu.
 La Provisional Irish Republican Army, minoritaire après la scission de 1969 (d'où son nom de provisional, « provisoire ») devient rapidement grâce à son militantisme la principale organisation armée républicaine du conflit nord-irlandais. Le terme de provisional est d'ailleurs abandonné vers la fin des années 1970. Elle fut active de 1969 à 1997 (date du cessez-le-feu définitif), puis déposa définitivement les armes en 2005. Refusant le processus de paix, deux organisations scissionnèrent d'avec la PIRA : la Real Irish Republican Army et la Continuity Irish Republican Army.
 La Continuity Irish Republican Army est issue d'une scission d'avec la Provisional Irish Republican Army dès 1986. Opposée à l'accord du Vendredi saint de 1997, elle continue son action armée jusqu'à aujourd'hui.
 La Real Irish Republican Army est une scission opposée au processus de paix de la Provisional Irish Republican Army, apparue en 1997 et encore active aujourd'hui.
 LIrish Republican Liberation Army naît en 2006 d'une scission de la Continuity Irish Republican Army''.

Généalogie de l'Irish Republican Army

Notes et références

LAutriche ( ), en forme longue la république d'Autriche (), est un État fédéral d'Europe centrale, sans accès à la mer. Pays montagneux, il est entouré, dans le sens des aiguilles d'une montre, par l'Allemagne et la Tchéquie au nord, la Slovaquie et la Hongrie à l'est, la Slovénie et l'Italie au sud, et par la Suisse et le Liechtenstein à l'ouest. Sa capitale est Vienne, la plus grande ville du pays.

L'Autriche est établie au  en tant que margraviat du duché de Bavière au sein du Saint-Empire romain germanique. L'Autriche devient son propre duché en 1156, puis un archiduché en 1453. Au , Vienne devient la capitale de l'empire, et l'Autriche devient un acteur majeur de l'histoire de l'Europe au cours des siècles suivants en tant que terre d'origine de la monarchie de Habsbourg. Après la chute de l'empire en 1806, l'Autriche établit son propre empire, qui devient une des plus grandes puissances mondiales ainsi que le constituant dominant de la Confédération germanique. À la suite de la défaite de l'empire d'Autriche dans la guerre austro-prussienne en 1866, l'Autriche-Hongrie est établie un an plus tard. L'Autriche-Hongrie s'effondre en 1918 après sa défaite lors de la Première Guerre mondiale, menant à l'établissement de la Première République d'Autriche en 1919. En 1938, le pays est annexé par l'Allemagne nazie et devient alors une division de cette dernière. Après sa libération pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'Autriche tombe sous la tutelle des Alliés avant de regagner sa souveraineté en 1955. Depuis, le pays est gouverné en tant que république parlementaire fédérale et adopte une politique de neutralité dans les relations internationales.

L'Autriche est membre de l'Union européenne et de la zone euro, respectivement depuis 1995 et 1999. Sa langue officielle est l'allemand, mais depuis la ratification de la Charte européenne des langues régionales ou minoritaires, six autres langues (hongrois, slovène, croate du Burgenland, tchèque, slovaque et romani) sont reconnues.

Étymologie 
La première mention écrite du nom  se trouve dans lHistoria gentis Langobardorum, et date de l'année 796.  signifie en vieil allemand « le royaume de l'Est ». L'Autriche a longtemps été le plus oriental des pays de l'Ouest. Un croisement avec son équivalent latin,  (dès le ), a donné  en moyen français, puis Autriche en français.

 est dérivé de Ostarrichi, première mention du nom du pays sur un document qui date de 996. Auparavant, le pays est connu sous le nom dOstmark « Marche de l'est », créée par l'empereur germanique Otton .

Géographie 
 
Les trois plus grandes villes sont, dans l'ordre, Vienne, Graz et Linz.

Les Alpes occupent les deux tiers de la surface au sol de l'Autriche. Le point culminant du pays est le Grossglockner, qui s'élève à .

Le fleuve le plus long est le Danube, qui traverse également l'Allemagne, la Slovaquie, la Hongrie, la Croatie, la Serbie, la Bulgarie, la Roumanie, la Moldavie et l'Ukraine. Son parcours en Autriche s'étend sur .

Transports 

L’infrastructure de transports autrichienne est liée directement à sa situation, d’une part au sein des Alpes, et d'autre part à sa situation de carrefour du centre de l’Europe centrale, que ce soit du point de vue des liaisons routières autant que ferroviaires. L'aménagement de voies de communication dans les Alpes nécessite de nombreux tunnels et ponts ayant pour caractéristiques de devoir résister à des conditions météorologiques extrêmes. Du fait de sa situation centrale, l’Autriche constitue un pays de transit, principalement pour les axes Nord-Sud et Nord-Sud-Est, et depuis la chute du rideau de fer également pour l'axe Est-Ouest. Cela implique ainsi un net surdimensionnement des voies de communication, notamment dans des zones écologiques sensibles, soulevant souvent des protestations de la part de la population.

Pour faire face à cette difficile combinaison d'intérêts à la fois économiques et écologiques, certaines mesures ont été rendues nécessaires, contribuant à faire de l'Autriche un pays aux avant-postes de la protection environnementale. La république alpine a par exemple très tôt imposé l'utilisation de pots catalytiques sur les véhicules motorisés. Certaines voies de circulation ne sont ouvertes qu’aux camions à la nuisance sonore réduite. Diverses dérégulations ont toutefois entraîné, principalement parmi certaines populations telles que celles de la vallée de l’Inn, un sentiment d'être oubliées par les instances de régulation agissant aux niveaux nationaux et internationaux, notamment par l’Union européenne.

Transport routier 
Le réseau routier autrichien se compose actuellement de :
 47,59 % d’autoroutes () et voies rapides ;
 47,59 % de routes à caractère prioritaires (anciennement routes fédérales ou ) ;
  de routes régionales () ;
  de routes communales ().

Le réseau routier est entretenu principalement par l’État. Une taxe sur les véhicules existe sur le réseau autoroutier, sous la forme de vignette obligatoire ( en 2012 pour une vignette annuelle). Les camions doivent payer une redevance kilométrique (maximum /km) à la société .

Transport ferroviaire 
La majorité du réseau ferroviaire est gérée par la société ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen). D’autres entreprises sont également présentes dans le transport ferré autrichien, détenues soit par les Länder, soit par le secteur privé.

 En 2006, près de  de passagers ont emprunté le réseau ferroviaire autrichien, soit une augmentation de  par rapport à 2005. Cette croissance rapide ainsi que des investissements insuffisants ont obligé ÖBB à louer des voitures supplémentaires auprès de ses partenaires allemands, suisses, italiens, roumains, hongrois et polonais, afin de faire face à la demande notamment lors des vacances de Noël 2006. La moyenne d'âge des voitures de lÖBB est de .
 Le transport de camions par voie ferrée (également connu sous le terme de « transport combiné » ou « ferroutage ») est en développement rapide : la traversée du Tyrol sur rails a été utilisée par près de  en 2006, soit une augmentation de 130 % du trafic. Grâce en partie à d'importantes subventions de la part de l'État fédéral autrichien, et selon lÖBB, ce mode de transport reviendrait environ 20 % moins cher aux transporteurs, et permet de plus aux chauffeurs de mieux respecter leurs temps de pause réglementaires.

Un réseau de S-Bahn est déployé actuellement dans les régions métropolitaines de chacune des capitales d'État : Vienne, Brégence, Graz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Linz, Salzbourg.

Vienne est la seule ville autrichienne à être équipée d’un véritable réseau de métro (U-Bahn). Certaines stations du réseau de tramway de Linz se trouvent sous terre. Les villes de Vienne, Graz, Linz, Innsbruck et Gmunden possèdent également un réseau de tramway. Le village de Serfaus, situé dans le Tyrol, possède le U-Bahn Serfaus, téléphérique souterrain, parfois considéré comme le métro le plus petit au monde .

Effets du réchauffement climatique 
La crise climatique affecte l'Autriche de diverses manières. Le rapport d'évaluation autrichien sur le changement climatique 2014 (Österreichischer Sachstandsbericht Klimawandel 2014) a abouti aux résultats suivants : en Autriche, la température a augmenté de près de  au cours de la période allant de 1880 à 2014 alors qu'au niveau mondial sur la même période, la température n'a en moyenne augmenté que de . Les mesures prises jusqu'à présent par l'Autriche ne couvrent pas la contribution attendue du pays à la réalisation de l'objectif mondial de . Au , on peut s'attendre à une augmentation des précipitations au cours du semestre d'hiver et à une diminution de ces précipitations pendant le semestre d'été. La durée de l'enneigement s'est raccourcie au cours des dernières décennies, en particulier à moyenne et haute altitude (environ ). Tous les glaciers mesurés en Autriche ont clairement perdu de la surface et du volume depuis 1980. Par exemple, dans les Alpes du sud de l'Ötztal, la plus grande zone glaciaire contiguë d'Autriche, la zone glaciaire est passée de  en 1969 à  en 1997 et  en 2006. Les glissements de terrain, les coulées de boue, les éboulements et autres phénomènes gravitationnels augmentent considérablement dans les régions montagneuses. Le risque d'incendies de forêt augmente. Les perturbations dans les écosystèmes forestiers augmentent en intensité et en fréquence dans tous les scénarios climatiques discutés. Les écosystèmes à longue période de développement et les habitats des Alpes au-dessus de la limite des arbres sont particulièrement affectés par le changement climatique. Le tourisme d'hiver continuera de subir des pressions en raison de l'augmentation constante de la température.

Le mois de  a été le plus chaud jamais enregistré en Autriche.

Préservation de l'environnement 

En 2019, le jour du dépassement (date de l’année à partir de laquelle l’humanité est supposée avoir consommé l’ensemble des ressources que la planète est capable de régénérer en un an) de l'Autriche est le 9 avril. L'Autriche est l'un des pays dont la consommation dépasse le plus les capacités de la planète.

Réseau européen Natura 2000 
Le réseau Natura 2000 rassemble des sites naturels ou semi-naturels de l'Union européenne ayant une grande valeur patrimoniale, par la faune et la flore exceptionnelles qu'ils contiennent.

En décembre 2018, l'Autriche comptait 350 sites dont :

 99 zones de protection spéciale (ZPS) pour les oiseaux sur une superficie de  ;
 304 zones spéciales de conservation (ZSC) (dont les pSIC, SIC) pour les habitats et les espèces sur une superficie de  ;
 la superficie totale est de , ce qui représente 15,4 % de la surface terrestre du territoire de l'Autriche.

Histoire 

Déjà peuplée par les Celtes (culture de Hallstatt), appartenant à l’Empire romain (Norique ainsi qu’une partie de la Pannonie et de la Rhétie) puis en partie possédée par la Francie orientale, l’Autriche est pendant tout le Moyen Âge une des nombreuses principautés de langue allemande composant le Saint-Empire romain germanique. Grâce au Privilegium Minus et à la maison de Babenberg, indépendante de la Bavière depuis 1156, l'Autriche adoptée par la maison de Habsbourg en 1278 (Rodolphe ) a longtemps été la force dominante de l’Empire, plaçant à sa tête beaucoup de ses souverains, jusqu’à sa dissolution en 1806 par le « double-empereur » autrichien François II/I.

À la fin du Moyen Âge, la maison de Habsbourg (plus tard Habsbourg-Lorraine) transforme ses possessions en puissance européenne par rattachement des pays germanophones et non-germanophones, centralise l’administration et le droit dans l’archiduché d'Autriche  et forme enfin en 1804 l’empire d'Autriche. En 1815  l’Autriche et les autres pays germanophones essayent à nouveau de former une confédération germanique, mais l’opposition austro-prussienne domine, et la guerre austro-prussienne achève cette confédération en 1866 et résout la question allemande définitivement de la part de l’Autriche. En 1867, l’Autriche, sous le règne de François-Joseph  se tourne vers le Sud-Est de l’Europe de sorte que l’empire d’Autriche se transforme et s’agrandit pour former la « monarchie danubienne » (allemand : Donaumonarchie), l’Autriche-Hongrie.

La défaite des Empires centraux à la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale voit le territoire de la monarchie danubienne morcelé en plusieurs nouveaux États indépendants. L'Autriche est alors réduite à son territoire actuel. Le pays se laisse alors tenter par l'austrofascisme, puis par le nazisme. En 1938, l'Autriche est purement et simplement annexée au Troisième Reich : c’est l'Anschluss. La défaite hitlérienne à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, laisse le pays exsangue. Vienne, la capitale historique, connaît alors pendant dix ans un sort similaire à celui de Berlin avec une division quadripartite. En 1955, le pays recouvre sa souveraineté et mène une politique de stricte neutralité.

Antiquité et haut Moyen Âge 
Durant l'Antiquité, l'Autriche est peuplée par les Celtes (culture de Hallstatt). Elle est ensuite partagée entre plusieurs provinces romaines, la Norique ainsi qu’une partie de la Pannonie et de la Rhétie. Elle est intégrée à la Francie orientale qui devient le Saint-Empire romain germanique, après les grandes invasions en tant que marche de l'Empire carolingien.

Empire d'Autriche 

En 1815, après le congrès de Vienne, l’Autriche et les autres pays germanophones essayent à nouveau de former une confédération allemande, mais l’opposition austro-prussienne domine. Les tensions atteignent leur paroxysme au cours de la guerre austro-prussienne en 1866. La défaite autrichienne voit l'avènement de cette confédération la même année résolvant ainsi la question allemande à son détriment. Vienne est trois ans après l'épicentre du krach du siècle.

Sous le règne de François-Joseph , en 1867, l'Autriche se tourne vers le Sud-Est de l’Europe, de sorte que l’empire d’Autriche se transforme et s’agrandit pour former la « monarchie danubienne » (), l’Autriche-Hongrie. François-Joseph meurt en 1916, à , pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, après  de règne.

Après de vaines tentatives de retour à la paix, son petit-neveu et successeur Charles  d'Autriche assiste le  à la dislocation de son Empire et part en exil.

Époque contemporaine 

Lors de la scission de l'Autriche-Hongrie en 1918, les députés autrichiens allemands du parlement de Cisleithanie (Reichsrat) élus en 1911 décident de fonder un État d'Autriche allemande. L'Assemblée rédige une constitution déclarant que « l'Autriche allemande est une république démocratique » (article 1) et qu'elle « est une partie de la République allemande » (article 2). Les alliés de la Première Guerre mondiale s'opposent à cette idée, et le traité de Saint-Germain-en-Laye interdit le nom d'« Autriche allemande » et son unification éventuelle avec l'Allemagne (article 88), donnant naissance à l'ère de la Première République d'Autriche.

Considérablement réduite en taille après le traité de Saint-Germain-en-Laye de 1919, l'Autriche connaît une grave crise économique au lendemain de la Grande Guerre. Ce n'est que grâce à l'intervention de la Société des Nations que sa situation s'améliore à la fin des années 1920. Plus tard, l'Autriche est rattachée à l'Allemagne hitlérienne entre 1938 et 1945. À la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, elle est occupée par les armées alliées et ne retrouve sa pleine souveraineté qu'en 1955. La guerre froide en fait à nouveau une « marche » de l'Europe, cette fois face au bloc soviétique. Elle connaît alors un fort redressement économique durant cette période, avant d'adhérer à l'Union européenne en 1995.

Politique

Système politique 

Le Conseil national autrichien (Nationalrat, ) est depuis le  composé comme suit :
  à l’ÖVP (Parti populaire autrichien) (37,54 % des suffrages) ;
  au SPÖ (Parti social-démocrate autrichien) (21,22 %) ;
  au FPÖ (Parti de la liberté d'Autriche) (16,21 %) ;
  à Grünen (Les Verts - L'Alternative Verte) (13,80 %) ;
  à NEOS (l'Autriche nouvelle) (8,06 %).

Heinz Fischer, du SPÖ, est élu président fédéral le  avec 52,41 % des voix contre 47,59 % des voix pour Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Il est intronisé le , soit deux jours après le décès de son prédécesseur, Thomas Klestil. Le , Fischer est réélu avec 79,3 % des voix pour un nouveau mandat de six ans.

Le  a lieu le second tour de l'élection présidentielle de 2016 ; le vainqueur est Alexander Van der Bellen mais les résultats sont annulés et le scrutin, reporté au , confirme la victoire d'Alexander Van der Bellen pour la présidence d'Autriche.

Politique internationale 

L'Autriche est un pays neutre, qui ne fait, par exemple, pas partie de l’OTAN, à la différence de la plupart des pays européens. La neutralité autrichienne est une conséquence directe des négociations pour le Traité d'État autrichien (Staatsvertrag), signé le  à Vienne.

Le pays est membre de l'Association européenne de libre-échange de 1960 à 1995, puis rejoint l'Union européenne le . En 2002, l'Autriche abandonne le schilling autrichien et adopte l'euro.

L'Autriche est un pays observateur au sein de l'Organisation internationale de la francophonie.

En 2000, après l'entrée au gouvernement du Parti de la liberté d'Autriche (FPÖ), les quatorze autres États membres de l'Union européenne cessent toute rencontre bilatérale avec le gouvernement autrichien pendant sept mois, imposent des limitations à ses ambassadeurs et ôtent tout soutien à des candidats autrichiens à des postes dans les organisations internationales.

Forces armées 

L'armée autrichienne est de puissance réduite et participe peu aux opérations hors de son territoire.

Organisation territoriale 

L’organisation territoriale de l'Autriche se compose de plusieurs niveaux. Le premier échelon administratif, sous l’État fédéral, est l’État fédéré. Il existe cependant un échelon statistique supérieur, le groupe d’États. Viennent ensuite les districts et en dessous les communes.

Bundesländer (États) 

L'Autriche est une République fédérant neuf États ou Bundesländer :
  Basse-Autriche (), dont la capitale est Sankt Pölten depuis 1986 ;
  Burgenland, dont la capitale est Eisenstadt ;
  Carinthie (), dont la capitale est Klagenfurt () ;
  Haute-Autriche (), dont la capitale est Linz ;
  Salzbourg (), dont la capitale est Salzbourg ;
  Styrie (), dont la capitale est Graz ;
  Tyrol () dont la capitale est Innsbruck ;
  Vienne (), ville-land et capitale fédérale ;
  Vorarlberg, dont la capitale est Brégence.

Économie 

 Taux de chômage : 4,9 % (2013) ;
 PIB (produit intérieur brut) en parité de pouvoir d'achat :  de dollars (2013) ;
 PIB par habitant :  (2013) ;
 PIB, composition par secteur en 2013 :
primaire (agriculture) : 1,6 % (5,5 % de la population active),
 secondaire (industries) : 28,6 % (26 % de la population active),
 tertiaire (services) : 69,8 % (68,5 % de la population active).

Grâce notamment au poids important des sociétés spécialisées dans la sous-traitance, l'Autriche est essentiellement un pays de petites et moyennes entreprises.

Industrie 

En 2023, l'autriche est classée en  position pour l'indice mondial de l'innovation .

Les secteurs-clés de l'industrie autrichienne :
 l’industrie chimique (cellulose, pétrochimie) ;
 l’industrie textile et de l'habillement (haut de gamme) ;
 l’industrie du papier et du carton-pâte (grâce aux ressources forestières très abondantes) ;
 l’industrie électrique et électronique (plus de  fabriquent des composants électriques ou électroniques, de la puce jusqu’à la centrale électrique livrée clés en main) ;
 l’agroalimentaire (a largement bénéficié de l’intégration européenne) ;
 l’industrie métallurgique et mécanique (le secteur phare, étant donné que l’Autriche est un pays exportateur de machines-outils).

Tourisme 

Le tourisme est l'un des secteurs économiques les plus importants en Autriche : en 2018, sa valeur ajoutée directe est de  d'euros, ce qui correspond à 8,7 % du PIB. Le tourisme est uniformément réparti sur les saisons d'été et d'hiver.

Démographie 

Une estimation préliminaire de la population autrichienne en date du , faisait état de . L'Autriche affiche au total une croissance de plus de  en une année, et a connu ainsi une croissance démographique exceptionnelle de 1,35 %. L'essentiel de cet accroissement est le fait de l'immigration soutenue, le taux d'accroissement naturel étant nul.

La croissance fut de  en 2005. Le taux moyen de 0,66 % observé en 2004-2005 était cinq fois supérieur au taux fort bas affiché au milieu des années 1990.

Mais, à l’instar de tous ses voisins, le pays fait en réalité partie du groupe de pays d’Europe centro-méridionale à bas taux de fécondité (1,41 en 2005). L’excédent des naissances est très faible (de -  à +  ces dernières années) et dû totalement à l’excédent naturel des étrangers. La totalité de l'accroissement de la population constaté est dû à une nouvelle vague d’immigration.

Sur  en 2005, plus de  étaient de nationalité étrangère, et bien plus encore en comptant les naissances liées à des parents immigrés ou étrangers fraîchement naturalisés. Le flux d’immigration nette a dépassé  en 2004 comme en 2005. Le niveau des acquisitions de la nationalité autrichienne est élevé, surtout chez les jeunes et a atteint près de  en 2005, après des années 2003 et 2004 records ( et ). L'Autriche interdit cependant de travailler aux citoyens qui n'ont pas de nationalité de l'UE, afin de freiner l'immigration.

L'espérance de vie en Autriche s'élève à  pour les femmes et à  pour les hommes.

Villes

Culture 

L'Autriche a donné le jour à de nombreux artistes célèbres, comme les compositeurs Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss (père et fils), Anton Bruckner et Gustav Mahler, les actrices Hedy Lamarr et Romy Schneider (certes née à Vienne, celle-ci n'a cependant jamais eu la nationalité autrichienne), les peintres Egon Schiele et Gustav Klimt, les écrivains Arthur Schnitzler, Thomas Bernhard, Ingeborg Bachmann, Elfriede Jelinek et Robert Musil, les architectes Adolf Loos, Otto Wagner, Josef Hoffmann. Beaucoup ont émigré, notamment à la fin des années 1930, et ont connu la notoriété dans des pays étrangers : l'écrivain Stefan Zweig, l'historien d'art Otto Benesch, la peintre Mariette Lydis, le compositeur Arnold Schoenberg, le musicien Erich Wolfgang Korngold, les cinéastes Max Reinhardt, Michael Haneke, la chorégraphe Margarethe Wallmann, l'acteur Arnold Schwarzenegger et beaucoup d'autres. En revanche, et contrairement à une idée répandue, le compositeur Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart n'était pas autrichien : lorsqu'il est né, en 1756, la ville de Salzbourg était encore une principauté du Saint-Empire romain germanique, et ce n'est qu'après sa mort qu'elle a été rattachée à l'Autriche.

Langues 

La langue officielle de l’Autriche est l’allemand. L’allemand autrichien est différent dans sa prononciation et son lexique comparé à celui parlé en Allemagne. Il s’agit de la langue maternelle de 89 % de la population du pays, soit  sur .

98 % de la population sait parler l'Allemand standard, comme celui parlé en Allemagne. Les minorités linguistiques sont majoritairement bilingues.

Religions 

En 2018, 57,2 % des Autrichiens étaient catholiques, 3,3 % protestants luthériens.
En 2001 4,2 % musulmans, 5,5 % autres et 12 % sans religion.

En 2016, le nombre de musulmans s'établit à près de  provenant principalement de Bosnie et de Turquie. Les alévis bektachi sont environ  en Autriche. En 2010, l'État autrichien a officiellement reconnu l'alévisme comme un culte. Les cemevi ont un statut légal, les chefs religieux sont reconnus par l'État, les jours sacrés (kurban, ashura, Hizir et newroz) des alévis sont devenus des jours fériés, et des masters sur l'alévisme sont mis en place. Les Autrichiens musulmans doivent faire face à une montée de l'intolérance religieuse : la majorité de la population considérerait que les musulmans ne devraient pas bénéficier de droits égaux à ceux des catholiques, et les agressions islamophobes sont en augmentation.

Gastronomie

Médias

Télévision 

 Télévision en Autriche
 Chaînes de télévision en Autriche

Presse écrite

Musique classique 
Le pays compte plusieurs orchestres de renommée internationale, tels le Concentus Musicus Wien, dirigé par Nikolaus Harnoncourt, et surtout l'Orchestre philharmonique de Vienne conduit par des chefs invités de renom.

Littérature

Sport

Personnalités 

Parmi les autres Autrichiens célèbres, on compte les compositeurs Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Mozart (même si, Salzbourg, sa ville natale, n'a été rattachée à l'Autriche qu'après sa mort) et Gustav Mahler, les physiciens Ludwig Boltzmann, Erwin Schrödinger, et Wolfgang Pauli, le mathématicien Kurt Gödel, les économistes Ludwig von Mises et Friedrich Hayek, les philosophes Karl Popper et Ludwig Wittgenstein, le psychanalyste Sigmund Freud, les écrivains Stefan Zweig, Robert Musil, Carl Zuckmayer, Elfriede Jelinek, Joseph Roth ou Thomas Bernhard, les peintres Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele et Oskar Kokoschka ainsi que l’acteur et homme politique Arnold Schwarzenegger, l'acteur Christoph Waltz, le réalisateur doublement palmé à Cannes Michael Haneke, l'acteur Helmut Berger, mais aussi Adolf Hitler, émigré en Allemagne en 1913, et qui demande à renoncer à sa nationalité autrichienne le 7 avril 1925 ou encore le père fondateur du sionisme Theodor Herzl.

Située dans les Alpes, l'Autriche est la patrie de nombreux skieurs alpins, comme Toni Sailer, Hermann Maier, Annemarie Moser-Pröll, Anita Wachter et Benjamin Raich. Avec l'Euro 2008, organisé par la Suisse et l'Autriche, les joueurs de l'équipe nationale de football ont gagné aussi en popularité, comme Andy Ivanschitz, Jimmy Hoffer ou Sebastian Prödl.

Ce petit pays démographiquement parlant a aussi donné naissance à deux champions du monde de Formule 1 : Jochen Rindt (champion en 1970 à titre posthume) et Niki Lauda (champion en 1975, 1977 et 1984).

Fêtes et jours fériés 

La pratique religieuse y était de 35 % dans les années 1950.

Photographies

Paysages

Villes

Statistiques 

 Frontières terrestres :  (Allemagne  ; Italie  ; Hongrie  ; Tchéquie  ; Slovénie  ; Suisse  ; Slovaquie  ; Liechtenstein ).
 Extrémités d'altitude : +  < +  (Grossglockner).
 Lignes de téléphones fixes : 421.7 pour  (en 2019).
 Téléphones portables :  pour  (en 2019).
 Postes de radio :  (en 1997).
 Postes de télévision :  (en 1997).
 Utilisateurs d'Internet :  (en 2018).
 Nombre de fournisseurs d'accès Internet : 37 (en 2000).
 Routes :  (la totalité goudronnée) (en 2018).
 Voies ferrées :  (en 2017).
 Voies navigables :  (en 2011).
 Nombre d'aéroports : 50 en 2020 (dont 24 avec des pistes goudronnées) (en 2017).

Bibliographie 

 Hélène de Lauzun,  Histoire de l'Autriche, Paris, Perrin, 2021, 440 p.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Liens externes 
 
 
 
  Portail de l'administration autrichienne
  Présidence fédérale autrichienne
  Portail du gouvernement fédéral autrichien

Éponyme d'un objet céleste

L'arc de triomphe de l'Étoile, souvent appelé simplement l'Arc de Triomphe, est un monument de type tétrapyle situé à Paris, en un point haut à la jonction des territoires des ,  et  arrondissements, notamment au sommet de l'avenue des Champs-Élysées et de l'avenue de la Grande-Armée, lesquelles constituent un grand axe est-ouest parisien partant de la pyramide du Louvre, passant par l'obélisque de La Concorde, l'Arc de Triomphe lui-même et se terminant au loin par l'arche de la Défense. Sa construction, décidée par l'empereur , débute en 1806 et s'achève en 1836 sous le règne de Louis-Philippe.

Place de l'Étoile 

L'Arc de Triomphe s'élève au centre de la place Charles-de-Gaulle (anciennement place de l’Étoile) dans les , , et  arrondissements de Paris. Il est situé dans l'axe et à l’extrémité ouest de l’avenue des Champs-Élysées, à  de la place de la Concorde. C'est un tétrapyle haut de , large de  et profond de , géré par le Centre des monuments nationaux. La hauteur de la grande voûte est de  et sa largeur de . La petite voûte mesure  de haut et  de large. Le monument pèse  . Le coût total de la construction a été de .

La place de l'Étoile forme un énorme rond-point de douze avenues percées au  sous l’impulsion de Napoléon III et du baron Haussmann, alors préfet du département de la Seine. Ces avenues « rayonnent » en étoile autour de la place, notamment l’avenue Kléber, l'avenue de la Grande-Armée, l’avenue de Wagram et, la plus connue, l’avenue des Champs-Élysées. Des pavés de couleurs différentes dessinent sur le sol de la place deux étoiles dont les pointes arrivent pour l'une au milieu des avenues, pour l'autre entre les avenues.

Ce site est desservi par la station de métro Charles de Gaulle - Étoile.

Histoire 
, au lendemain de la bataille d'Austerlitz, déclare aux soldats français :  L'Empereur s'est référé aux arcs de triomphe érigés sous l’Empire romain afin de commémorer un général vainqueur défilant à la tête de ses troupes.

Par un décret impérial daté du , il ordonne la construction de cet arc de triomphe consacré à perpétuer le souvenir des victoires des armées françaises. Son projet initial est d'ériger le monument . Il veut ainsi en faire le point de départ d'une avenue triomphale traversant notamment le Louvre et la place de la Bastille. Le ministre de l'Intérieur Champagny avise l'Empereur que le choix de la Bastille serait dispendieux et le convainc d'ériger l'Arc à l'ouest de Paris sur la place de l'Étoile qui permettait le dégagement de belles perspectives.

Le comte Jean Bérenger, conseiller d'État, se charge du financement comme directeur général de la Caisse d'amortissement. Le décret impérial du , qui ordonne l'érection d'un arc de triomphe, prévoit en effet que .

Pour la conception du monument, l'architecte Jean-François Chalgrin est en concurrence avec son confrère Jean-Arnaud Raymond, chargé de collaborer avec lui. Le premier souhaite orner l'arc de colonnes isolées tandis que le second les veut engagées, l'incompatibilité de ces deux conceptions rendant impossible toute collaboration entre les deux architectes. Un arbitrage rendu par Champagny, ministre de l'Intérieur, force Raymond à se retirer honorablement. Chalgrin supprime alors les colonnes de son projet et s'inspire de l'arc tétrapyle de Janus et de l'arc de Titus à Rome, alors en pleine restauration.

La première pierre en forme de bouclier portant une inscription est posée le  (pour l'anniversaire de l'Empereur) et recouverte d'une plaque en bronze pour la protéger. Cette pose a lieu sans cérémonie officielle, dans l'indifférence générale. Les fondations (un massif de  de longueur sur  de largeur et  de profondeur) exigent deux années de chantier. En 1810, les quatre piles s'élèvent à environ un mètre au-dessus du sol. À l'occasion de son mariage avec l'archiduchesse Marie-Louise et de l'entrée de celle-ci dans Paris, l'Empereur délègue des crédits qui permettent à Chalgrin de construire une maquette en vraie grandeur en charpente, stuc et toiles peintes qui restent assez longtemps en place et sous laquelle la princesse passe. L'architecte meurt assez subitement en 1811, suivi, huit jours après lui, par son confrère Raymond.

Lors des premières défaites napoléoniennes (campagne de Russie en 1812), et des événements de 1814, l'Arc de Triomphe est élevé jusqu'aux voûtes (l'imposte de la grande arcade est posée avec la ), mais la construction est interrompue puis abandonnée sous la Restauration. En 1823, Louis XVIII reprend la construction avec les architectes Louis-Robert Goust puis Huyot et sous la direction de Héricart de Thury. L'Arc doit désormais commémorer l'expédition victorieuse d'Espagne. En 1830, Louis-Philippe reprend la pensée initiale de Napoléon mais, dans un esprit de réconciliation, associe les armées qui ont combattu entre 1792-1815. C’est Louis-Philippe et Adolphe Thiers qui décident du choix des thèmes et des sculpteurs : Le départ des Volontaires, communément appelé La Marseillaise, de François Rude et Le Triomphe de Napoléon de Jean-Pierre Cortot. Plus spectaculaire est la frise située au sommet de l’Arc et qui se divise en deux parties : Le Départ des Armées et Le Retour des Armées avec une longue scène centrale à la gloire de la Nation. La construction est menée à bien entre 1832 et 1836 par l'architecte Guillaume-Abel Blouet.

L'Arc de Triomphe est inauguré le  pour le sixième anniversaire des Trois Glorieuses. Au départ, une grande revue militaire en présence de Louis-Philippe est prévue. Mais, alors qu'il vient d'être visé par un nouvel attentat le , le roi décide de s'en abstenir. La revue militaire est décommandée et remplacée par un grand banquet offert par le roi à trois cents invités, tandis que le monument est découvert en catimini à sept heures du matin, en la seule présence d'Adolphe Thiers et de son ministre des Finances, Antoine d'Argout.

En 1842, Honoré de Balzac en fait un symbole de la fidélité des soldats à l'Empereur : .

Dans l'esprit des concepteurs, le sommet de l'Arc devait être couronné par un groupe sculpté monumental. Plusieurs projets, dont certains très fantaisistes, sont présentés : la France victorieuse, un aigle colossal, Napoléon sur une sphère, un réservoir d'eau, un éléphant, etc. En 1882, un quadrige conçu par le sculpteur Alexandre Falguière est installé sur le socle laissé vide : cette maquette en charpente et en plâtre, grandeur naturelle, représente une allégorie de La France ou de La République, tirée par un char à l'antique s’apprêtant à « écraser l’Anarchie et le Despotisme ». La sculpture monumentale, baptisée le Triomphe de la Révolution, est enlevée dès 1886 car elle commence à se dégrader, son remplacement définitif par un bronze ne s'étant jamais fait par la suite. On peut observer le monument pourvu du groupe de Falguière sur diverses photographies, tout particulièrement celles prises lors des funérailles grandioses de Victor Hugo, en 1885 (voir section « Évènements »). Une réplique en marbre de petite dimension (environ ) du Triomphe de la Révolution est exposée en  du musée de Grenoble.

L'Arc de Triomphe est classé au titre des monuments historiques depuis le .

Un symbole historique 

L'Arc de Triomphe fait partie des monuments nationaux à forte connotation historique. Cette importance s'est renforcée depuis que la dépouille du Soldat inconnu, tué lors de la Première Guerre mondiale, y a été inhumée le . Deux ans plus tard, André Maginot, alors ministre de la Guerre, a soutenu le projet d’y installer une « flamme du souvenir » qui a été allumée pour la première fois le  par le ministre.  depuis l’extinction de la flamme des Vestales en 391. Elle commémore le souvenir des soldats morts au combat et ne s’éteint jamais : elle est ravivée chaque soir à  par des associations d'anciens combattants ou de victimes de guerre.

Ce geste de ravivage symbolique a été accompli même le , où l'armée allemande est entrée dans Paris et défilait sur la place de l'Étoile : ce jour-là, le ravivage a eu lieu devant les officiers allemands qui ont autorisé la cérémonie.

En  est inaugurée la nouvelle scénographie permanente de l'Arc de Triomphe due à l'artiste Maurice Benayoun et à l'architecte Christophe Girault. Renouvelant l'exposition des , cette nouvelle muséographie accorde une large place au multimédia. Intitulée « Entre guerres et paix », elle propose une lecture de l'histoire du monument prenant en compte l'évolution de sa symbolique jusqu'à la période actuelle, période où les valeurs du dialogue et de la rencontre prennent le pas sur la confrontation armée. Une présentation multimédia raconte en sept stations et sur trois niveaux l'histoire du monument de façon contemporaine, interactive et ludique. Elle permet de découvrir ce qui aurait pu être (les projets non réalisés), ce qui a disparu et ce qui ne peut être facilement vu (le décor sculpté).

Détails des sculptures 

L'élévation de cet arc monumental tétrapyle est la suivante : devant les façades principales des piédroits, le premier registre est orné de groupes en ronde-bosse sur des piédestaux. Ce bandeau est surmonté d'un premier entablement constitué d'une frise de grecques et d'une corniche saillante. Le second registre est animé de grands cadres de pierre rectangulaires, orné d’un bas-relief, et surmonté d'un entablement, comprenant une frise historiée, sous une corniche saillante. Le troisième registre dans la partition verticale de l'édifice est un important étage d'attique orné de .

Le programme iconographique comprend :
 Quatre hauts-reliefs posés sur des socles élevés, adossés aux piédroits et hauts de . Ce sont :
 Le Départ des volontaires de 1792 (La Marseillaise), par François Rude. Ce haut-relief représente le rassemblement de tous les Français, pour défendre la nation en partant au combat. L'ensemble et la diversité du peuple français sont mis en avant par la diversité des soldats, jeunes et moins jeunes. Au-dessus d'eux, le Génie de la Guerre les guide . Cette figure fut vite considérée comme une allégorie de la Marseillaise. L'architecture générale mélange le style antique (le Génie de la Guerre casqué et ailé portant l'égide, les drapés, les cuirasses, les armes, le nu) avec le style appartenant au romantisme caractéristique du  en France (gestes véhéments, expression marquée des visages, mouvement général).
 Le Triomphe de 1810, par Jean-Pierre Cortot.
 La Résistance de 1814, par Antoine Étex.
 La Paix de 1815, par Antoine Étex.

 Six bas-reliefs plus petits gravés sur les faces de l'arc, retraçant des scènes de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Ils se situent au-dessus des quatre groupes ainsi que sur les côtés de l'arc :
 Les Funérailles du général Marceau le , par Henri Lemaire (face sud droite).
 La Bataille d'Aboukir le , par Seurre aîné (face sud gauche).
 La Bataille de Jemappes le , par Carlo Marochetti (face est).
 Le Passage du pont d'Arcole le , par Jean-Jacques Feuchère (face nord droite).
 La Prise d'Alexandrie le , par John-Étienne Chaponnière (face nord gauche).
 La Bataille d'Austerlitz le , par Théodore Gechter (face ouest).

 L'attique orné de  en quinconce par des glaives dressés. Sur les boucliers sont gravés les noms de grandes batailles de la Révolution et de l'Empire : Valmy, Jemappes, Fleurus, Montenotte, Lodi, Castiglione, Arcole, Rivoli, Pyramides, Aboukir, Alkmaar, Zurich, Héliopolis, Marengo, Hohenlinden, Ulm, Austerlitz, Iéna, Friedland, Somosierra, Essling, Wagram, Moskowa, Lützen, Bautzen, Dresde, Hanau, Montmirail, Montereau et Ligny.

 Le bas-relief de la frise du grand entablement qui tourne sur les quatre faces de l'édifice. Il représente :
 Le Départ des armées, par Joseph-Silvestre Brun, Georges Jacquot et Laité. Sur cette frise on peut voir la représentation de plusieurs personnalités de la Révolution et de l'Empire. De gauche à droite, on y distingue, Chénier, Moitte, Roland, Me Roland, Penthièvre, Marceau, Hoche, Soult, Carnot, Cambronne, Joubert, La Tour d'Auvergne, Championnet, Jourdan, Beurnonville, La Fayette, Sieyes, Duc d'Orléans, Bailly, Duc de Bourbon, Talleyrand, Mirabeau, Custine, Foy, Desaix, le Duc de Chartres, Masséna, Kléber, Houchard, Kellermann, Daboville, Lefebvre, Augereau, Dumouriez, Miranda, Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, Eugène et Joséphine de Beauharnais, David, Gossec, Rouget de l'Isle.
 Le Retour des armées, par Louis-Denis Caillouette, François Rude et Seurre aîné.
 Les grandes arcades qui sont rehaussées dans leurs écoinçons de figures allégoriques représentant des personnages de la mythologie romaine (Renommées avec le pied posé sur un globe, leurs mains tenant une trompette et Victoires tendant une couronne de laurier), exécutées par James Pradier.

 Sur les faces intérieures des piliers des grandes arcades, sont gravés les noms des grandes batailles de la Révolution et de l'Empire.

 Les petites arcades rehaussées de figures allégoriques représentant l'infanterie par Théophile Bra, la cavalerie par Achille-Joseph-Étienne Valois, l'artillerie par Debay père et la marine par Charles Émile Seurre.

 Sur les faces intérieures des petites arcades, sont gravés les noms des personnalités de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Les noms de ceux qui sont morts au combat sont soulignés à l'instar du général français Frédéric Guillaume de Donop mort à Waterloo.

 Quatre bas-reliefs se situent au-dessus des noms des personnalités de la Révolution et de l'Empire. Ils portent le nom de batailles célèbres de la Révolution et de l'Empire :
 Attributs des victoires du Nord, par François-Joseph Bosio. La scène indique les batailles d'Austerlitz, d'Iéna, de Friedland, d'Ulm, de Wagram et d'Eylau.
 Attributs des victoires du Sud, par Antoine-François Gérard. La scène indique les batailles de Marengo, de Rivoli, d'Arcole et de Lodi.
 Attributs des victoires de l'Est, par Valcher. La scène indique les batailles d'Alexandrie, des Pyramides, d'Aboukir et d'Héliopolis.
 Attributs des victoires de l'Ouest, par Jean-Joseph Espercieux. La scène indique les batailles de Jemmapes et de Fleurus.

 Sous l'Arc se trouve la dalle de la tombe du Soldat inconnu sur laquelle est inscrite l'épitaphe : .

 Le monument est encerclé par cent plots symbolisant les Cent-Jours.

Philatélie 

Dès 1929, l'Arc de Triomphe est représenté sur un timbre de France d'une valeur de  de couleur brun-rouge.

En 1938, il figure sur un timbre de  outremer, émis lors de la visite des souverains britanniques en regard de la tour du palais de Westminster. Le visuel est repris pour un entier postal.

La même année un timbre rouge carminé de  surtaxé  est émis pour célébrer le  de la victoire. L'Arc est au centre avec le défilé du  sur les côtés du timbre. Le visuel est également repris pour un entier postal.

En 1944, le Gouvernement provisoire en fait un symbole de la République et une série de dix timbres d'usage courant est émise (valeurs entre  et ). Ces timbres sont émis par les États-Unis pour servir en France libérée. Une nouvelle série de dix timbres toujours imprimée aux États-Unis sort en 1945 ; les chiffres de la valeur sont en noir et compris entre  et .

En 1968, il est présent pour le cinquantenaire de l'armistice du 11 novembre sur un timbre à  carmin et bleu.

En 1971, il est en arrière-plan d'un timbre rouge émis dans la bande émise à l'occasion de la mort du général de Gaulle. Il représente la descente des Champs-Élysées en 1944.

En 1973, la poste célèbre le  de la flamme sous l'Arc de Triomphe par un timbre de  lilas, rouge et bleu.

En 1989, la poste présente un panorama de Paris sur une bande. L'Arc y figure en arrière-plan de deux timbres multicolores à  représentant l'arche de la Défense et la tour Eiffel. Les visuels sont repris sur des entiers postaux.

En 1995, à l'occasion du cinquantenaire de la victoire du , il figure en arrière-plan d'un portrait du général de Gaulle pour une valeur de .

En 1999, il figure sur un timbre de distributeur à valeurs variables.

En 2001, il figure pour une valeur de  ou  d'euros, sur un timbre de très grand format émis à l'occasion du centenaire de la naissance du dessinateur et graveur Albert Decaris.

En 2003, il est inclus dans un bloc feuillet : « Portraits de régions. La France à voir ». Dans cette série de dix timbres, il est le sujet unique d'un timbre à  d'euro.

Événements 

 
En 1810, à l'occasion de son mariage avec l'archiduchesse Marie-Louise et de l'entrée de celle-ci dans Paris, l'Empereur  fait construire par Chalgrin une maquette grandeur réelle (afin de donner l’illusion du monument achevé) en charpente, stuc et toiles peintes en trompe-l’œil pour simuler les bas-reliefs des piédroits sous laquelle la future impératrice passa solennellement.

Durant le transfert des cendres de Napoléon, le , le cortège passe sous l'Arc de Triomphe.

Le corps de Victor Hugo est veillé sous l'Arc la nuit du , avant d'être enterré au Panthéon. À l'occasion des funérailles, le monument est partiellement voilé de crêpe noir.

En 1938, un moulage de la sculpture originale de la Marseillaise de Rude est effectué pour prévenir les éventuelles destructions dans une guerre, avec notamment le développement de l’aviation et des bombardements.

Le , une manifestation de lycéens et d'étudiants sur les Champs-Élysées et devant l'Arc de triomphe, l'un des tout premiers actes publics de résistance à l'occupant en France, est durement réprimée par les nazis.

En 1997, un Australien essaye de se faire cuire des œufs au plat sur la flamme du Soldat inconnu, ce qu'a fait quelques années plus tôt un chanteur de rock du nom d'Hector, à la suite d'un pari avec Jean Yanne.

Le , un aviateur militaire expérimenté, Charles Godefroy, réussit à passer en avion (avec un appareil biplan Nieuport 17 de  carrés de surface portante et  d’envergure à moteur de ) sous l'Arc de Triomphe, photographié par Jacques Mortane. Cet exploit est mis en scène en 1968 dans le film de Robert Enrico Les aventuriers. Le célèbre as Jean Navarre s'était tué à proximité de Villacoublay le  de la même année au cours d'un vol d'entraînement pour réaliser cet exploit.

En , Alain Marchand réédite le passage sous l'Arc de Triomphe à bord d'un MS 880 Rallye; il est condamné à  d'amende.

Le , un pilote non identifié passe de nouveau sous l'Arc et la tour Eiffel aux commandes d'un Mudry Cap-10B, déclaré volé à l'aéro-club de Lognes.

À noter que dans le film Les Aventuriers (1967), le personnage joué par Alain Delon envisage de passer en avion sous l'Arc de Triomphe, mais échoue à cause du drapeau qui y est déployé
Des pics de sécurité sont installés après que l'on eut constaté  depuis le toit du monument.

Six fois par an (les 7, 8 et  et les 3, 4, ), le Soleil se couche dans l'axe des Champs-Élysées. Pour une personne située sur les Champs-Élysées, le disque solaire est ainsi visible quelques minutes sous l'arche de l'Arc de Triomphe. Le , le phénomène s'accompagne d'une éclipse partielle de Soleil, observée par près de . En sens opposé vu de la porte Maillot, le Soleil se lève quatre fois par an dans l'Arc de Triomphe, les 4, 5, , et le , informations confirmées par l'Institut de mécanique céleste et de calcul des éphémérides. .

La dégradation de l'Arc de triomphe le  s'est effectuée lors de l'acte III du mouvement des Gilets jaunes à Paris. L'Arc de triomphe de l'Étoile investi par des manifestants a subi des dégradations importantes. Le ministre de la Culture, Franck Riester, avance un coût global de remise en état à hauteur de . Lors du procès de , huit manifestants sont reconnus coupables d’avoir pénétré par effraction dans l'Arc de Triomphe et dégradé celui-ci. Ils sont condamnés à des peines modestes, les principaux auteurs des faits, n’ayant pas pu être identifiés.

L'Arc de triomphe est empaqueté du  au  par Christo et Jeanne-Claude. Il s'agit d'une œuvre posthume du couple d'artistes, intitulée  (littéralement L'Arc de Triomphe, emballé). Christo avait commencé à travailler sur ce projet en 1961. L'œuvre temporaire a nécessité  de toiles argent bleuté et trois kilomètres de cordes rouges.

Les travaux de conservation et restauration de l’Arc de Triomphe

La confortation des fondations par injection de coulis 
La confortation des fondations de l’Arc de Triomphe par injection de coulis a été réalisée à la fin des années 1980 en cinq étapes.

: Apparitions des désordres de l'édifice 
, l’Arc souffrait de désordres apparents, telles des fissures et chutes de pierres. Un examen visuel a permis d'identifier les fentes et d'en tracer le relevé. La conclusion des reconnaissances et investigations fut que la cause principale des perturbations était un tassement dû au délavage du mortier à la chaux aérienne des fondations par l’eau de ruissellement. Divers travaux de réhabilitation furent décidés, visant à redonner un aspect neuf au monument, à le prémunir contre de telles altérations et à le conforter. La restauration a été conduite par Michel Marot, architecte des bâtiments civils et palais nationaux. Le Bureau Michel Bancon, spécialisé dans les études de structure et de réhabilitation des édifices anciens, a été chargé de l’expertise du bâtiment afin de définir un programme de consolidation. Solétanche, entreprise spécialisée, a réalisé l’ensemble des travaux sous la direction de Jean-Pierre Gadret.

Les travaux de confortement comportaient essentiellement la régénération des maçonneries de fondation et la consolidation de la superstructure.

À partir de , d’autres travaux de restauration ont débuté. Trois parties étaient concernées : la terrasse et la balustrade de l’attique, la voûte d’ogive intérieure et les salles de la partie basse, la voûte en berceau de la grande arche centrale et son décor sculpté de rosaces. Ces travaux, qui se poursuivront jusqu’en , ont été engagés pour des raisons de sécurité, d’entretien de l’édifice et s’inscrivent dans la perspective d’aménagements intérieurs.

: campagne de mesures et d'essais 
Afin d'établir un diagnostic précis et déduire les origines du phénomène et la nature des travaux les plus rationnels, une série de mesures a été opérée :
 mesures des vibrations au sol et dans la partie supérieure ;
 équipement des fissures et mesures de leur évolution ;
 pose sur l'édifice de niveaux de précision et suivi de leur évolution ;
 mesures de la rotation des piles et de leur verticalité ;
 mesures de l'horizontalité des corniches sur les quatre faces ;
 forages dans les fondations au droit des piles et examens.

: analyse des désordres 
Cette analyse, facilitée par l'existence des plans de l'édifice, a permis de constater que le bâtiment souffrait d'un tassement différentiel des joints de maçonnerie des dix-sept assises de fondations (), avec un mouvement hélicoïdal de l'Arc.

Les fondations constituées de gros blocs en pierre ont subi des mouvements consécutifs à la dégradation de leurs joints. L'eau de pluie de l'esplanade, l'eau de ruissellement des façades et l'eau de terrasse canalisée vers des collecteurs, sans doute fuyards, sont la cause des circulations d'eau qui délavent les joints entraînant une forte altération du mortier à la chaux aérienne.

Le tassement différentiel des fondations ainsi généré entraîne une déformation dite en selle de cheval en partie supérieure de l'édifice avec une tendance à l'éloignement des sommets de piles dans le sens des petits côtés et d'une convergence dans l'autre sens. Michel Bancon explique ce comportement différentiel par la configuration des nombreuses cavités ménagées dans l'Arc qui, par leur emplacement et leur géométrie, sollicitent plus le bâtiment dans l'axe des petits côtés. Une analyse par libération des contraintes montre que celles-ci varient à l'intérieur des maçonneries de .

: travaux de confortement 
Ces analyses ont permis d'établir un plan de confortement comprenant cinq phases :

 Traitement des vides existant dans les joints de maçonnerie et régénération des mortiers délavés par injection partielle de coulis spéciaux dans les fondations ;
 Traitement des fissures en superstructures par injection de coulis de ciment ;
 Confortement des superstructures par mise en place de tirants précontraints à l'intérieur de l'édifice ;
 Injections complémentaires de coulis dans les massifs de fondations ;
 Étanchéification des abords de l'Arc (plate-forme centrale, réseaux d’égouts…).

: travaux d’injection 
Pour remédier à la dégradation des joints de fondation, il a été décidé, à la suite d'une campagne dite de convenance, de procéder à des injections d'abord partielles, sur un huitième de la surface de trois massifs et sur un quart de la surface de celui qui supporte la pile nord-ouest. L'entreprise Solétanche a été choisie pour mener la première campagne d'injection nécessaire. Il a été décidé d’utiliser deux types de coulis, le « Microsol » et le « Silacsol », mis au point, l'un et l'autre, par cette entreprise.

L'usage d'un ciment classique était à rejeter, puisqu'il fallait, d'une part combler au maximum des vides dans les joints des moellons, d'autre part conforter les parties de ces joints qui étaient désagrégées. La granulométrie des produits traditionnels () et la formation qu'ils entraînent de paquets de grains (d'environ ) auraient empêché une exécution correcte de l'opération.

La confortation par précontrainte additionnelle 
Dans le cas de l'Arc de Triomphe, il s'agit d'une précontrainte additionnelle réalisée à l'intérieur de la structure permettant de comprimer les zones fracturées et de recentrer les efforts obliques engendrés par la poussée des voûtes. Cette précontrainte additionnelle a été réalisée par  ancrés dans les parements et raccordés par paires en leur milieu par des coupleurs actifs.

La répartition des tirants tient compte :
 du rééquilibrage des contraintes qui nécessite quatre étages de tirants dans le sens du petit côté et deux étages suivant le grand côté ;
 de la présence d'équipements existants à l'intérieur de l'ouvrage ;
 du phasage des travaux, la mise en tension devant pouvoir se faire de manière progressive, afin d'équilibrer les efforts à répartir ;
 de la possibilité de réglages ultérieurs des efforts dans les tirants ;
 de l'esthétique finale du renforcement compatible avec le cadre de l'édifice.

Bibliographie 
 .
 Marcel Cynamon, Catherine Feff, Arc de Triomphe. Photos des travaux de restauration, Syros, 1988.
 Isabelle Rouge-Ducos, L'Arc de triomphe de l'Étoile : panthéon de la France guerrière, art et histoire, Dijon, éditions Faton, 2008, 397 p.

Articles connexes 
 Noms gravés sous l'arc de triomphe de l'Étoile
 Batailles gravées sur l'arc de triomphe de l'Étoile
 Arc de triomphe
 Liste des arcs de triomphe post-romains

Liens externes 

 
 , sur le site canalacademie.com, magazine hebdomadaire de presse en ligne de l’Institut de France

Notes et références 

Architecture du XIXe siècle en Île-de-France
Architecture néo-classique en France
Sculpture en France
Patrimoine du XIXe siècle
Monument historique dans le 8e arrondissement de Paris
Monument historique dans le 16e arrondissement de Paris
Monument historique dans le 17e arrondissement de Paris
Sculpture française du XIXe siècle
Sculpture néo-classique
Sculpture monumentale
Édifice géré par le Centre des monuments nationaux
Symbole de Paris
Monument historique classé en 1896
Axe historique parisien
Etoile
Place et arc de triomphe de l'Étoile
Réalisation sous l'ère napoléonienne
Édifice représenté sur une pièce de monnaie
Mémoire collective en France

Arsène Lupin est un personnage de fiction français créé par Maurice Leblanc. Ce gentleman cambrioleur est particulièrement connu pour son talent à user de déguisements, à se grimer et à prendre des identités multiples pour commettre ses délits et résoudre des énigmes criminelles.

Le héros apparaît pour la première fois dans la nouvelle L'Arrestation d'Arsène Lupin, parue dans le magazine Je sais tout en juillet 1905. Son créateur, Maurice Leblanc, reprend cette nouvelle dans le recueil Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleur paru la même année. Face au succès grandissant du personnage auprès des lecteurs, ses aventures paraissent de 1905 jusqu'au décès de l'auteur en 1941, dans dix-huit romans, trente-neuf nouvelles et cinq pièces de théâtre.

Ses nombreuses aventures ont pour cadre la France de la Belle Époque et des Années folles, périodes durant lesquelles Arsène Lupin suit le cheminement de pensée de son auteur : les sympathies anarchistes de Lupin dans les premiers romans disparaissent dans les ouvrages écrits pendant la Grande Guerre où Lupin devient très patriote. Surtout, il cesse peu à peu d'être cambrioleur pour devenir détective.

En plus d'être un sportif et un combattant aguerri, il a un don pour les déguisements et fait preuve de sagacité, des compétences qu'il met à profit pour venir à bout de n'importe quelle énigme. De plus, son côté enfantin et charmeur, volontiers railleur, doublé d'un caractère torturé et mystérieux, en a fait un personnage populaire incarnant la figure du gentleman cambrioleur de la Belle Époque.

Sa célébrité à l'étranger lui vaut tant des adaptations cinématographiques américaines que des adaptations en manga par des auteurs japonais. Son nom est également lié à la ville française d'Étretat en Normandie, qui se trouve au centre de plusieurs de ses aventures, parmi lesquelles L'Aiguille creuse a contribué au mythe qui entoure le site.

Enfin, sa popularité a permis l'apparition d'un néologisme : la lupinologie. Ce terme désigne l'étude des aventures lupiniennes par les admirateurs de l'œuvre de Maurice Leblanc, à l'instar de la holmésologie.

Biographie fictive 

La grande majorité des récits qui composent le cycle « Lupin » forme un ensemble cohérent, ponctué de dates, d'événements relatifs à la vie du gentleman cambrioleur qui permettent des recoupements, des renvois à d'autres récits. Néanmoins, l'existence de contradictions entre les œuvres de Maurice Leblanc conduit à ce que même les chronologies les plus abouties diffèrent sur de nombreux points. Ainsi, malgré les tentatives qui se poursuivent, et notamment par des passionnés, pour corriger les imperfections des travaux antérieurs, les incohérences empêchent l'établissement d'une chronologie rigoureuse et définitive.

Généalogie prestigieuse 
Le premier ancêtre connu d'Arsène Lupin est son arrière-grand-père, un général d'Empire. Le général Lupin participe à la bataille de Montmirail le , dans laquelle les armées de Napoléon  ressortent victorieuses contre les troupes russes du général Osten-Sacken et les Prussiens du général Johann Yorck. Son avancement dans l'armée impériale se limite cependant au grade de général de division après avoir contrarié certains projets de l'empereur.

Il se marie avec une cousine, la comtesse de Montcalmet, avec laquelle il habite les ruines du château d'Orsay.

Cambrioleur précoce 

Arsène Lupin naît en 1874, vraisemblablement dans le pays de Caux, d'Henriette d'Andrésy et Théophraste Lupin. Sa famille maternelle n'apprécie pas ce mariage avec un roturier sans patrimoine, dont le métier n'est pas prestigieux : professeur de gymnastique, d'escrime et de boxe.

Henriette renie Théophraste lorsqu'elle apprend qu'il exerce la profession d'escroc. Après quoi, ce dernier est emprisonné aux États-Unis où il serait mort.

En 1880, Arsène vit avec sa mère à Paris. Rejetée par ses parents que son mariage avait indignés, Henriette a été acceptée au domicile d'un cousin éloigné, le duc de Dreux-Soubise, où elle fait office de servante de sa femme. À l'âge de , Arsène vole le précieux collier de la Reine des Dreux-Soubise. Soupçonnée du vol, Henriette est mise à la porte avec son fils et ils trouvent refuge en Normandie auprès d'une femme, Victoire. Henriette reçoit une enveloppe d'argent en liquide.

Six ans plus tard, Henriette meurt, laissant un orphelin de .

Comtesse de Cagliostro 

Arsène Lupin débute dans l'escroquerie et se fait rouler par le couple Imbert.

Au vu de son parcours, il a suivi des études classiques, puis des études de médecine et de droit, reçoit une formation aux Beaux-Arts, devient ensuite acteur, professeur de lutte japonaise. Il s'intéresse par la suite à la prestidigitation aux côtés de Dickson. Il adopte le nom de Rostat durant cet apprentissage, puis travaille six mois avec l'illusionniste Pickmann.

En 1893, en séjour sur la Côte d'Azur, à Aspremont près de Nice, il a une aventure avec une jeune femme qui donnera naissance à Geneviève un an plus tard.

À l'âge de , lorsqu'il rencontre Clarisse d'Étigues, Arsène a déjà connu de nombreux démêlés avec la police. Il prend alors le nom de Raoul d'Andrésy pour demander, en vain, au baron Godefroy d'Étigues la main de sa fille. Il sauve ensuite la vie de Joséphine Pellegrini, dite comtesse de Cagliostro, alors que le baron et ses complices tentaient de la noyer. Neuf jours plus tard, Raoul abandonne Clarisse pour la Cagliostro, avec qui il vit un mois d'amour passionnel sur son bateau, la Nonchalante. Se prétendant descendante du mage Cagliostro, la comtesse affirme détenir le secret de l'immortalité. Elle s'associe au jeune homme pour découvrir les mystérieuses richesses des abbayes du pays de Caux. Ce faisant, elle lui sert de mentor dans la voie du crime, tant et si bien que l'élève finit par dépasser sa maîtresse au terme du roman d'apprentissage La Comtesse de Cagliostro. Arsène conserve toutefois une ligne de conduite à l'égard du meurtre, qui le distingue de Joséphine. Après avoir mis la main sur une partie du « trésor des abbayes », Lupin retourne auprès de Clarisse et la demande de nouveau en mariage sous le nom de vicomte Raoul d'Andrésy.

Pendant cinq ans, il file le parfait amour avec Clarisse, malgré la naissance d'un enfant mort-né. Il continue néanmoins de mener une double vie à l'insu de Clarisse en commettant de multiples cambriolages et cherche à percer le secret de l'énigme de « la fortune des rois de France ».

En 1895, il fréquente, sous l'identité d'un étudiant russe, le laboratoire du dermatologue Altier à l'hôpital Saint-Louis, pendant dix-huit mois.

Après cinq ans de vie commune, Clarisse meurt en donnant naissance à un fils, Jean, lequel est enlevé le lendemain par la comtesse de Cagliostro pour se venger de son ancien amant. Malgré ses efforts, Lupin ne parviendra jamais à retrouver sa trace.

Renommée nationale 
À la suite du décès de sa femme et de la disparition de son fils, Arsène Lupin se jette à corps perdu dans le cambriolage et se fait un nom auprès du grand public : « le vol du Crédit lyonnais, le vol de la rue de Babylone, l'émission des faux billets de banque, l'affaire des polices d'assurance, les cambriolages des châteaux d'Armesnil, de Gouret, d'Imblevain, des Groselliers » contribuent à lui forger une réputation auprès du grand public qui suit ses exploits dans les journaux.

À l'été 1901 ou 1902, il se fait néanmoins arrêter en arrivant à New York par l'inspecteur Ganimard, alors qu'il voyageait à bord du transatlantique La Provence. Son arrestation et son séjour en prison achèvent de lui apporter une renommée nationale. En effet, durant son incarcération à la prison de la Santé, il continue d'organiser des cambriolages tout en informant les journaux et annonce sa prochaine évasion.

À cette époque, Arsène Lupin sympathise avec Maurice Leblanc et, toujours à la recherche de publicité, le charge de raconter ses exploits.

Lors du cambriolage de la villa du député Daubrecq à Enghien-les-Bains, un des deux complices de Lupin tue le domestique de la maison qui alertait la police. Seul Arsène Lupin parvient à prendre la fuite. Par amour pour Clarisse Mergy, la mère du deuxième complice, Lupin va tout faire pour le libérer et l'envoyer vivre en Algérie.

À la suite de sa déception amoureuse avec Clarisse Mergy, Lupin manigance son mariage avec Angélique Sarzeau-Vendôme. Mais en voulant manipuler la jeune fille, celle-ci tombe amoureuse de lui et finit par se retirer dans un couvent après avoir découvert les projets de Lupin.

Lupin affronte « Herlock Sholmès » 

Durant les années 1900, Arsène Lupin continue ses activités de manière intensive, se déplaçant même hors du territoire français. Il s'emploie notamment à substituer des copies aux pièces les plus précieuses de musées européens. C'est sans doute pourquoi il charge Ganimard de résoudre l'énigme de l'écharpe de soie rouge, n'ayant pas le temps de s'en occuper lui-même : 

L'année 1904 est marquée par son face-à-face avec Sherlock Holmes  à la suite du vol d'un diamant bleu. Appelé pour résoudre cette affaire, le célèbre détective anglais met au jour divers secrets de Lupin et procède à son arrestation, de courte durée cependant.

Pendant dix mois, Arsène Lupin officie à Paris, à l'Agence Barnett et Cie, sous l'identité du détective privé Jim Barnett. Il mène ainsi douze affaires aux côtés de l'inspecteur de police Théodore Béchoux. Finalement démasqué, il emprunte l'identité du duc de Charmerace pour continuer ses vols, pour lesquels il se fait aider par sa vieille nourrice, Victoire, et une nouvelle complice, Sonia Krichnoff. Ganimard sur ses talons, il parvient à prendre la fuite en compagnie de Sonia en Inde.

De retour en France, il affronte une nouvelle fois Herlock Sholmès sur le cambriolage de l'hôtel Imbleval. Le détective récupère les objets volés mais ne parvient toujours pas à arrêter Arsène Lupin.

Secret de la fortune des rois de France 

En avril 1908 ou 1909, soit un an après la mort de Sonia Krichnoff, Arsène Lupin est surpris lors d'un cambriolage au château d'Ambrumésy en Normandie et blessé par balle. Pendant sa convalescence, il est soigné par la jeune femme qui lui a tiré dessus, Raymonde de Saint-Véran, laquelle devient sa maîtresse, puis sa femme lorsqu'il l'épouse quelques mois plus tard sous l'identité de Louis Valméras.

Pendant ce temps, un jeune détective amateur, Isidore Beautrelet, parvient à découvrir le repaire secret de Lupin : l'aiguille d'Étretat, qui contient également tous les trésors des rois de France. Lors de l'irruption de la police, Raymonde est abattue accidentellement par Herlock Sholmès.

Ambitions européennes contrariées 

Après la mort de Raymonde, Arsène Lupin ne fait plus parler de lui pendant quatre ans. En réalité, il continue d'opérer sous deux identités : celle de M. Lenormand, chef de la Sûreté à la célébrité croissante, puis celle de Raoul d'Avenac, mondain qui se lance dans l'enquête sur le meurtre de M. Guercin.

Sitôt l'identité de Raoul d'Avenac fragilisée, il la remplace tantôt par celle d'un noble russe, le prince Paul Sernine, tantôt par celle d'un prince français, le prince Serge Rénine.

Arsène Lupin refait son apparition publique lorsque la police découvre le cadavre de Rudolph Kesselbach avec la carte signée du cambrioleur. Lupin annonce alors son retour dans les journaux pour assister le chef de la Sûreté, M. Lenormand, dans l'affaire Kesselbach. Il affronte un ennemi de taille, Louis de Malreich, qui finit par dénoncer toutes ses impostures princières et policières. Arsène Lupin est alors emprisonné à la Santé. L'empereur germanique Guillaume II le visite même en prison, visite durant laquelle le cambrioleur exige du Kaiser, en échange de ses services, sa libération, que le Maroc soit laissé à la France et que le grand-duché de Deux-Ponts-Veldenz soit rendu à l'héritier qu'il a retrouvé, Pierre Leduc, et que celui-ci puisse épouser Geneviève Ernemont.

Une fois son évasion réalisée, Lupin s'apprête à se retirer en compagnie de la veuve de M. Kesselbach, Dolorès. Malheureusement, tous ses projets s'écroulent lorsqu'il découvre que c'est  Kesselbach son véritable ennemi : horrifié, il étrangle Dolorès. En découvrant le meurtre, Pierre Leduc se suicide, mettant ainsi fin au projet de Lupin de placer sa fille Geneviève à la tête du grand-duché de Deux-Ponts-Veldenz. Lupin met alors en scène son suicide et s'engage dans la Légion étrangère sous le nom de don Luis Perenna.

Carrière dans la Légion étrangère 
Don Luis Perenna fait venir à lui soixante anciens complices au Maroc. Ainsi, secondé par une armée de dix mille Marocains, et au terme de quinze mois de bataille, il se crée un empire, deux fois grand comme la France, en Afrique. En 1919, il rentre en France et rencontre le président du Conseil, Valenglay, pour offrir à la France cet empire mauritanien.

Don Luis Perenna se range et épouse une jeune femme, Florence Levasseur, après l'avoir sauvée des griffes d'un criminel. Le couple s'installe dans le village de Saint-Maclou, sur les rives de l'Oise.

Vengeance de la comtesse de Cagliostro 
Dans les années 1920, Arsène Lupin sort de sa retraite quand un certain cambrioleur signe ses forfaits sous son nom. Il reprend alors du service sous le nom de Victor Hautin, inspecteur de la Brigade mondaine. Il parvient ainsi à démasquer l'usurpateur, un individu du nom d'Antoine Bressacq, et fait alors son retour sur le devant de la scène en racontant aux journaux tous les détails de l'affaire.

Un an plus tard, Arsène Lupin, alias Raoul d'Averny, tombe dans le piège posthume que lui avait tendu la comtesse de Cagliostro : faire du fils qu'il a eu avec Clarisse d'Étigues, Jean, un criminel qui s'opposera à son père. Ainsi, celui-ci, qui porte le nom de Félicien Charles, est accusé à tort d'un meurtre. Influencé par d'anciens complices de Joséphine Balsamo, il s'oppose à son père qui tente de l'aider. Arsène Lupin parvient finalement à le sauver, sans pour autant lui révéler sa parenté, tout comme il l'avait fait pour sa fille Geneviève.

Âgé de , Arsène Lupin vit à Paris sous le nom d'Horace Velmont, en compagnie de sa vieille nourrice Victoire. Une organisation criminelle américaine s'intéresse à sa fortune. Il parvient à en livrer les membres à la police et s'enfuit aux États-Unis pour leur échapper à son tour.

De retour en France, il enseigne à des enfants pauvres des bidonvilles du nord de Paris sous le nom de Capitaine Cocorico, tandis que, sous celui d'André de Savery, il travaille comme archéologue pour le ministère de l'Intérieur et épouse une femme du nom de Cora de Lerne.

Personnalité

Figure du gentleman cambrioleur 

Malgré une carrière précoce commencée dans les années 1880, les nombreuses aventures d'Arsène Lupin ont principalement pour cadre la France de la Belle Époque et des Années folles. Son univers est celui de la bourgeoisie du début du , qui voit le développement des résidences secondaires, des déplacements automobiles, d'une société, de plus en plus médiatisée, qui s'ouvre à la consommation.

Il incarne la figure du gentleman cambrioleur, c'est-à-dire celle du cambrioleur qui se distingue par une double vie : mondaine et respectable le jour, faite d'activités illicites la nuit. L'un des traits du gentleman cambrioleur est d'effectuer, paradoxalement, ses forfaits avec l'élégance et le raffinement propres à son rang social. En effet, ses bonnes manières impliquent qu'il ne fonde pas ses activités de cambrioleur sur la violence. Arsène Lupin, à qui le meurtre fait horreur, éprouve à cet égard, une violente répulsion à tuer.

Outre sa non-violence dans la tenue de ses activités, Arsène Lupin revendique également sa qualité de gentilhomme par sa galanterie et son respect des femmes. Ainsi, il lui est arrivé de restituer le butin d'un cambriolage après avoir découvert que la victime était une femme qu'il avait autrefois connue. Cette spontanéité renforce son côté enfantin qui tranche radicalement avec le sérieux que nécessite la tenue de ses activités.

Contrairement aux voleurs classiques, Arsène Lupin est un personnage profondément moral. En effet, il concentre ses larcins sur les individus qui se sont enrichis de manière illégale ou immorale. Toutefois, ce critère n'est pas exclusif chez Lupin et ses victimes peuvent avoir pour seul défaut d'être riches. Sa vision théâtrale du cambriolage répond également à un narcissisme qui s'assouvit avec le besoin d'« épater la galerie ». Ainsi, il s'emploie à démontrer que personne n'arrive à sa mesure, que ce soit les policiers, les détectives ou même le Kaiser. L'une de ses cibles favorites est d'ailleurs la police, qu'il s'amuse à tourner en ridicule. À l'inverse, les seuls adversaires qui parviennent à mettre ses projets en échec sont toujours des femmes : Joséphine Balsamo est la première à percer ses secrets, Dolorès Kesselbach ruine ses rêves de conquête de l'Europe, et Nelly Underdown, en le remplissant de honte, le pousse à lui restituer tous les objets volés.

Évolution du personnage 

Le personnage de Lupin est marqué par une hésitation permanente entre sa qualité d'homme du peuple (son côté Arsène Lupin) et son appartenance à l'aristocratie (la face Raoul d'Andrésy). Cette ambivalence est un leitmotiv de toutes ses aventures.

Bien que sa famille maternelle soit noble, Arsène Lupin est d'origine roturière par son père. Par snobisme, il aspire à la condition aristocratique qu'il singe et moque : lorsqu'il se choisit un pseudonyme, c'est fréquemment avec une particule. Ce choix pourrait s'expliquer par l'humiliation qu'il a connue enfant, lorsqu'il vit le couple de nobles, les Dreux-Soubise, qui l'avait recueilli, exploiter sa mère devenue leur domestique:.

Il commet son premier cambriolage à l'âge de , durant lequel il vole le célèbre collier de la reine aux Dreux-Soubise, pour venger les humiliations subies par sa mère. Dès le début de sa carrière, Lupin montre des sympathies anarchistes, puisqu'il vole des riches qui se montrent impitoyables envers les pauvres. Il ne prétend d'ailleurs pas être différent de ses victimes :  Cependant, son anarchisme n'est pas une expression libertaire, mais plutôt un opportunisme, dans la mesure où il ne cherche pas à renverser le système mais plutôt à le bousculer à son profit. Par ailleurs, conformément à certains mouvements anarchistes des années 1890-1900, Arsène Lupin adopte une tenue vestimentaire de dandy : chapeau haut-de-forme, canne et monocle. En effet, au début du , pour certains anarchistes, cette apparence était un moyen d'affirmer sa supériorité sur la société.

Après l'épisode de L'Aiguille creuse, dans laquelle Lupin revendique l'héritage des rois de France, c'est dans le roman 813 que culmine la mégalomanie du gentleman cambrioleur, où, ne se contentant plus de s'opposer à la société et au pouvoir en place, Arsène Lupin cherche à se substituer à eux. Ainsi, en essayant de faire de sa fille Geneviève, une princesse d'un petit État allemand, c'est en réalité lui qui se nomme empereur ou roi. Comme tout gentilhomme qui se respecte, Arsène Lupin cherche à accumuler le pouvoir. Véritablement, le cambrioleur ne se lance plus de nouveaux défis par appât du gain ou même soif de justice, mais par désir de puissance.

L'évolution d'Arsène Lupin suit celle de Maurice Leblanc. Les sympathies anarchistes du personnage disparaissent dans les romans écrits pendant la Grande Guerre où Lupin devient lui-même très patriote, voire nationaliste. Pendant la guerre, avec l'aide de ses anciens complices, il se constitue un véritable empire mauritanien, qu'il offre à la France à son retour en métropole. Par certains aspects, les romans de Maurice Leblanc écrits avant et pendant la guerre prennent la forme des récits, désignés sous le nom de « romans revanchards », par la germanophobie qu'ils dégagent : les Allemands décrits comme brutaux et vulgaires sont opposés aux Français, élégants et distingués. Surtout, face à l'orgueil allemand, les Français se distinguent par leur fierté, à l'instar d'Arsène Lupin qui toise le Kaiser dans 813.

En 1932, Maurice Leblanc donne une interview pour la Gazette de Bayonne, de Biarritz et du Pays basque dans laquelle il retrace succinctement l'évolution du gentleman cambrioleur :

Avec le temps, Arsène Lupin devient lui-même un bourgeois dans la mesure où il ne songe plus du tout à cambrioler. À la fin des Dents du tigre, il se retire à la campagne en compagnie de sa nouvelle épouse pour cultiver tranquillement ses fleurs et profiter de ses richesses. Au point que, lors de ses dernières aventures, il ne « reprend du service » que pour stopper les agissements d'un usurpateur signant ses forfaits sous le nom d'Arsène Lupin et pour venir ensuite en aide à des jeunes gens en difficulté. Au fil de ses aventures, Arsène Lupin délaisse ainsi peu à peu le métier de cambrioleur pour se consacrer avant tout à celui de détective, tout en commettant néanmoins quelques larcins au passage.

Connaissances et aptitudes

Art du déguisement et de la supercherie 
La renommée d'Arsène Lupin repose en partie sur son art du déguisement et de l'usurpation d'identité. Ces facultés jouent d'ailleurs un rôle essentiel dans presque toutes ses aventures. Présenté comme « l'homme aux mille déguisements », le cambrioleur utilise tous les critères physiques et sociaux pour se transformer : âge, classe sociale, profession, nationalité… Il s'est formé dans sa jeunesse à la prestidigitation auprès de Dickson, puis aux arts de l'illusionnisme pendant six mois aux côtés de Pickmann. Cette formation aux arts de la supercherie est complétée par l'étude de la dermatologie à l'hôpital Saint-Louis, auprès du docteur Altier, connaissances qui lui ont servi pour modifier l'aspect de son visage. Cependant, ces opérations techniques qui consistent à modifier son visage restent rares, à l'inverse des procédés de maquillage qu'il se plaît à utiliser en véritable homme de théâtre qu'il est. Maurice Leblanc nous raconte, d'ailleurs, qu'Arsène Lupin a équipé son automobile en véritable loge d'acteur, avec tout un matériel de maquillage.

L'objectif du cambrioleur est d'être non reconnaissable en toute circonstance. Maurice Leblanc reconnaît ainsi sa difficulté à lui attribuer un visage défini : 

Grâce à ces capacités, Lupin recourt fréquemment à l'usurpation d'identités qui lui permettent d'apparaître publiquement tant dans la société mondaine qu'aux côtés des policiers qui le traquent. Il prend ainsi, dans le roman 813, la direction de la Sûreté sous l'identité du commissaire Lenormand et dirige lui-même les policiers chargés de le capturer.

Outre les usurpations d'identité, Arsène Lupin use d'ingénieuses supercheries pour commettre ses forfaits. Dans le roman La Dame Blonde, sous l'identité de l'architecte Maxime Bermond, il réaménage d'anciennes demeures à Paris pour se constituer un réseau afin de commettre ses larcins et de semer le cas échéant les forces de police. Il se plaît également à manipuler ses victimes. Ainsi, dans la nouvelle Arsène Lupin en prison, il crée une psychose chez le baron Cahorn en préparant le cambriolage depuis sa cellule de la prison de la Santé : après l'avoir annoncé à l'avance dans les journaux, Lupin profite de l'affolement du baron pour faire dévaliser son château par des complices.

Enfin, Arsène Lupin ne voulant ni tuer ni blesser personne, il a fréquemment recours à l'enlèvement comme moyen de pression. Il organise ainsi l'enlèvement de Désiré Baudru pour usurper son identité, ou encore celui d'Herlock Sholmès lorsqu'il l'emprisonne et l'expédie vers l'Angleterre à bord du yacht L'Hirondelle.

Sagacité hors du commun 

Grand amateur de mystère, Arsène Lupin utilise son intelligence, son esprit de déduction et sa clairvoyance pour venir à bout de redoutables énigmes. Ses enquêtes sont toujours construites comme de véritables quêtes dans lesquelles il doit interpréter les faits pour remonter une piste.

D'ailleurs, Maurice Leblanc admet que son héros .

Il s'attelle ainsi à des énigmes centenaires que personne n'a réussi à résoudre, à l'instar des secrets de Marie-Antoinette.

Il rencontre sur son chemin un très grand détective contemporain – Herlock Sholmès. Celui-ci, lui-même d'une très grande perspicacité, met au jour, avec une grande aisance, toutes les supercheries de Lupin qui trompaient auparavant la police et met à mal ses projets :

Leur affrontement dure plusieurs années : quatre ans après leur première rencontre, Lupin provoque le détective britannique par voie de presse et cambriole un hôtel en dépit de la présence d'Herlock Sholmès, qui parvient néanmoins à récupérer les objets volés. Leur face-à-face montre l'incompatibilité des méthodes des deux adversaires : face à la déduction et à l'implacable logique de Sholmès, Lupin se repose entièrement sur son intuition et son sens de l'improvisation. Parce qu'il est désinvolte même avec les faits, Lupin se joue de l'analyse méticuleuse et immobile du détective anglais.

Par ailleurs, son goût pour les mystères l'incite à prendre l'identité de Jim Barnett et d'ouvrir sa propre agence de détective à Paris, l'agence Barnett et Cie, pour se consacrer à la résolution d'énigmes. Il s'adjoint la compagnie du jeune inspecteur de police Théodore Béchoux, qui, malgré les humiliations répétées que lui inflige Barnett, se retrouve toujours forcé de revenir vers le détective, seul en mesure de déchiffrer les étranges affaires auxquelles est confronté le policier.

Sportif et combattant aguerri 

À la Belle Époque, être considéré comme un « sportsman » était très chic en société ; c'est la raison pour laquelle Lupin consacrait chaque matin un quart d'heure à la gymnastique suédoise pour s'entretenir.

Par ailleurs, dès son jeune âge, Arsène Lupin a été initié aux sports de combat. Il raconte ainsi à Clarisse avoir bénéficié des leçons de boxe et de gymnastique que lui aurait prodiguées son père dans son enfance. Il revendique également avoir hérité de son père ses titres de champion de boxe et de lutte romaine. Ses talents précoces pour les arts martiaux lui auraient permis d'ailleurs d'enseigner la lutte japonaise lors de son installation à Paris.

Outre ses qualités de combattant, Arsène Lupin semble également être un sportif aux disciplines variées. En effet, s'il se présente lui-même comme un champion de natation, il semble établi qu'il soit le vainqueur de la course cycliste organisée à Paris lors de l'Exposition internationale de Paris de 1900.

Carrière de cambrioleur

Pseudonymes et usurpations d'identité 
Tout au long de sa carrière de cambrioleur, Arsène Lupin a opéré sous de nombreux noms. Pas moins de quarante-sept pseudonymes ont été utilisés par Maurice Leblanc dans ses nouvelles, romans et pièces de théâtre.

L'histoire d'Arsène Lupin est entièrement construite autour de la question de la dénomination, laquelle a également une fonction ludique et poétique. Ainsi, c'est par l'utilisation de noms différents qu'il organise sa vie de gentleman cambrioleur : Raoul d'Andrésy et autres avatars nobles pour sa vie mondaine et Arsène Lupin pour sa vie d'escroc.

Certains pseudonymes ont été spécialement créés par ses soins, à l'instar de « Raoul d'Andrésy » . Le prénom « Raoul » a d'ailleurs été à plusieurs reprises réutilisé, à l'instar de « Raoul de Limésy », « Raoul d'Avenac », « Raoul d'Enneris » et « Raoul d'Averny », noms utilisés par Lupin pour ouvrir différents comptes bancaires dans la nouvelle Le Piège infernal.

Le gentleman cambrioleur reconnaît, par ailleurs, choisir minutieusement ses pseudonymes, sensible à leurs formes graphiques et sonores, à leur connotation. Il a ainsi inventé un grand nombre de ses noms d'emprunt. L'esprit joueur de Lupin se retrouve également dans la composition même des pseudonymes avec l'utilisation d'anagrammes formées à partir de son propre nom. Ainsi, il officie sous le nom de « Paul Sernine » dans 813, de « Luis Perenna » dans Les Dents du tigre ou encore de « Paule Sinner » dans Les Milliards d'Arsène Lupin.

Enfin, il a usurpé des identités pour monter des escroqueries. Il utilise le nom d'un cousin décédé, « Bernard d'Andrésy », pour voyager à bord du transatlantique La Provence dans la nouvelle L'Arrestation d'Arsène Lupin. C'est sous les traits de « Désiré Baudru », un clochard dont il a subtilisé l'identité, qu'Arsène Lupin s'évade de la prison de la Santé dans L'Évasion d'Arsène Lupin. Enfin, « M. Lenormand » et « Jacques de Charmerace » sont des Français qu'il a connus à l'étranger et dont il a usurpé l'identité en rentrant en France dans, respectivement, le roman 813 et la pièce de théâtre Arsène Lupin.

Bande à Lupin 
Au cours de sa carrière, Arsène Lupin a mis sur pied une véritable bande de malfaiteurs pour l'épauler dans ses forfaits. Celle-ci compterait une soixantaine de membres selon Luis Perenna.

Maurice Leblanc, par ailleurs, confesse que l'organisation de cette bande est entourée de mystère :

Ainsi, nombre de ses complices sont des anonymes que Maurice Leblanc n'a jamais pu mettre en lumière dans ses écrits. Ils sont présents dans toutes les strates de la société, y compris dans les institutions policières et judiciaires : au Palais de Justice, à la préfecture de police de Paris, à la prison de la Santé. Ces inconnus participent aux basses besognes de leur chef, à l'instar des déménageurs du château du baron de Cahorn. Certains d'entre eux ont été mis en avant après avoir été capturés par la police. Ainsi, dans Le Bouchon de cristal, Gilbert et Vaucheray sont emprisonnés après le cambriolage raté du député Daubrecq.

Restent les fidèles de Lupin, qui ont pu acquérir une certaine notoriété en jouant un rôle de premier plan dans les machinations de leur chef. De la sorte, dans la pièce de théâtre de 1908, le père Charolais et ses fils jouent la comédie pour permettre à Lupin d'intriguer, tandis que Sonia Krichnoff, qu'il vient alors de rencontrer, l'aide et devient sa complice avant de le suivre en Inde. Enfin, son ancienne nourrice, Victoire, garde contact avec lui durant sa carrière de cambrioleur et intervient dans plusieurs romans à ses côtés.

Les quatre secrets de Marie-Antoinette et de Cagliostro 
Arsène Lupin apprend l'existence des quatre secrets de Marie-Antoinette et de Cagliostro au début de sa carrière et va tenter de les résoudre tout au long de sa vie.

Dans La Comtesse de Cagliostro, Maurice Leblanc rapporte que la Cagliostro possède un petit miroir magique hérité de son père et sur lequel est inscrite l'énumération des quatre grandes énigmes : 

En effet, au dos du miroir, sont gravées quatre mystérieuses formules héritées de Marie-Antoinette : « In robore fortuna » ; « La dalle des rois de Bohême » ; « La fortune des rois de France » et « Le chandelier à sept branches ».

In robore fortuna 
C'est le seul des quatre secrets à ne pas avoir été découvert par Arsène Lupin. En effet, la solution de cette énigme : « La fortune est dans le chêne » est trouvée par Dorothée dans le roman Dorothée danseuse de corde paru en 1923.

Le secret menait à des diamants cachés par le marquis de Beaugreval, qui laissa pour seul indice indiquant l'emplacement du trésor, une médaille d'or sur laquelle était gravée la formule latine.

La dalle des rois de Bohême 

Le secret de la dalle des rois de Bohême renvoie à une légende de l'île de Sarek qui rapporte qu'une Pierre-Dieu a le pouvoir de guérir et de fortifier quiconque la touche. L'énigme est résolue par Arsène Lupin dans le roman L'Île aux trente cercueils paru en 1919. Cette dalle est, en réalité, en pechblende, minéral radioactif issu d'un gisement du nord de la Bohême, et elle a été apportée par une tribu celte sur l'île de Sarek.

La fortune des rois de France 

Ce secret, transmis entre rois de France, mène à un trésor caché au cœur de la mystérieuse « Aiguille creuse ». Le roi Louis XIV a d'ailleurs fait construire le château de l'Aiguille, dans le département de la Creuse, pour masquer le véritable lieu où se trouve le trésor royal. Ce secret est au cœur de l'intrigue du roman L'Aiguille creuse paru en 1908.

Après être parvenu à déchiffrer un document datant de Guillaume le Conquérant, Arsène Lupin met au jour le secret de l'Aiguille creuse dans les années 1895-1899. Il utilise alors le site comme base secrète pour y cacher ses butins.

Un jeune journaliste, Isidore Beautrelet, sur les traces d'Arsène Lupin, parvient également à déchiffrer le mystère de l'Aiguille creuse en situant son emplacement sur le site d'Étretat. Il découvre alors que l'expression fait référence à l'aiguille haute de  qui se détache de la falaise. Il met au jour un escalier secret qui permet de pénétrer à l'intérieur de l'Aiguille, creusée pour y renfermer les trésors des rois de France.

Sur un mur du repaire, sont gravés les noms de ceux qui s'en rendirent successivement propriétaires :

Le chandelier à sept branches 
Première énigme à être déchiffrée par Arsène Lupin à l'âge de , narrée dans le roman La Comtesse de Cagliostro paru en 1923. En concurrence avec la comtesse de Cagliostro et des nobles normands, Arsène Lupin se lance lui aussi à la recherche d'un chandelier à sept branches, devant conduire au trésor des abbayes de France.

Ce trésor fut constitué, tout au long du Moyen Âge, grâce aux dons offerts à l'Église :

Durant la période révolutionnaire, l'emplacement du trésor faillit tomber dans l'oubli. Un chevalier de Caux apprit, enfant, le secret de la bouche d'un mystérieux condamné à mort avant d'en indiquer l'emplacement sous forme d'énigme à travers la phrase latine : « Ad lapidem currebat olim regina » (« Vers la pierre jadis courait la reine »).

Arsène Lupin découvre que la clé de cette énigme réside dans les initiales des mots de cette formule latine, lesquelles forment le mot « ALCOR », qui désigne l'une des étoiles de la Grande Ourse. En effet, les sept abbayes du pays de Caux d'où convergeaient les richesses de la France chrétienne sont disposées comme les sept étoiles principales de cette constellation, et, à la même position sur une carte terrestre que celle d'Alcor dans la constellation, se trouve l'emplacement du trésor, c'est-à-dire un peu au sud de l'abbaye de Jumièges, la plus riche et la plus puissante des abbayes normandes.

Après être parvenu à déchiffrer l'énigme, Arsène Lupin échoue à mettre la main sur le trésor des abbayes : celui-ci est éparpillé en pleine mer lors de l'explosion du yacht de la Cagliostro. Lupin sauve cependant deux poignées de joyaux, dont un énorme saphir qu'il offre à Clarisse comme cadeau de fiançailles.

Héros de littérature populaire

Création du personnage 

 Maurice Leblanc a toujours gardé le mystère sur les origines du gentleman cambrioleur et celles-ci ont toujours suscité le débat chez les spécialistes.

La première esquisse de son héros apparaît en 1904 dans le journal L'Auto, avec la nouvelle intitulée Un gentleman. Dans ce récit, le gentleman en question était un voleur d'automobiles. Lorsque, l'année suivante, le journaliste Pierre Lafitte lance la nouvelle revue Je sais tout, il fait appel à son ami Maurice Leblanc pour écrire un feuilleton populaire.

, prétend Leblanc. Cette affirmation est cependant fréquemment remise en cause, puisqu'il semblerait au contraire que ce soient les bénéfices tirés par le périodique anglais Strand Magazine qui publiait les récits de Conan Doyle, qui motivèrent Pierre Lafitte à présenter à son lectorat, un récit sur le modèle des aventures de Sherlock Holmes. C'est pourquoi, il chargea son collaborateur direct, Marcel L'Heureux, un ami de longue date de Maurice Leblanc, de lui transmettre sa proposition, que l'écrivain accepta d'ailleurs avec enthousiasme.

Cependant, Maurice Leblanc l'affirme au journaliste Georges Charensol :  Il ajoute ailleurs être redevable à Poe . L'auteur américain a justement un héros, de surcroît français et admiré de Leblanc, qui s'appelle Auguste Dupin, pouvant réconcilier la phonétique et l'esprit de déduction. Toutefois, Charensol, comme tous les autres, n'obtiendra pas d'aveu compromettant de la part d'un auteur qui passe vite au problème général de la création : 

Outre sa dette à l'égard de Poe, Maurice Leblanc ne donne que quelques indications très générales : .

Maurice Leblanc a également pu être influencé par les repris de justice qui se sont succédé à la une des journaux du temps. Marius Jacob (1879-1954), cambrioleur ingénieux doté d'un grand sens de l'humour et capable de grande générosité à l'égard de ses victimes, est cité par plusieurs auteurs, mais Leblanc a nié s'en être inspiré et la question reste ouverte chez les lupinologues. Pendant trois ans, Jacob  défraya la chronique avant d'être arrêté et condamné en mars 1905 aux travaux forcés à perpétuité pour être l'auteur de cent-six vols qualifiés, dans un grand retentissement médiatique.

Bien que possédant plusieurs traits communs avec Arsène Lupin, Marius Jacob n'était pas le seul bandit à étonner la presse par ses prouesses. Il semble que Maurice Leblanc ait puisé dans les faits-divers de son temps l'inspiration de son personnage et de ses intrigues. À cet égard, Arsène Lupin apparaît avant tout comme une création littéraire visiblement bien ancrée dans son époque, à l'instar du cambrioleur anglais Arthur J. Raffles créé en 1898 par Ernest William Hornung, dont les premières aventures paraissent en France également en 1905.

À propos du nom 
Lors de la première représentation de la pièce de théâtre Arsène Lupin en 1908, le journaliste Gaston de Pawlowski émet l'hypothèse que le nom du cambrioleur aurait été inconsciemment influencé par celui d'un ancien conseiller municipal de Paris : . Cette hypothèse est confirmée par Maurice Leblanc en 1933, lorsqu'il déclare avoir déformé le nom de l'ancien conseiller municipal de Paris avant de s'être lancé dans l'écriture de la nouvelle L'Arrestation d'Arsène Lupin.

Genre narratif 

Le journal Je sais tout fait quotidiennement paraître les premières aventures d'Arsène Lupin à partir de 1905. Leur auteur, Maurice Leblanc, n'est pourtant nullement influencé par les romanciers populaires contemporains, tels que Jules Verne, Michel Zévaco, Eugène Sue, qu'il considérait avec un certain mépris. Le style de ses premiers récits n'a d'ailleurs rien de populaire et est, au contraire, extrêmement littéraire : à la différence des feuilletonistes connus pour écrire au jour le jour, Maurice Leblanc remettait au journal un manuscrit terminé et retravaillé. En s'apparentant à la fois au genre du roman policier et à celui du roman d'aventures, les premières nouvelles d'Arsène Lupin s'adressent au lectorat de Je sais tout, essentiellement un public de la petite bourgeoisie, qui cherche à se démarquer du peuple amateur de romans-feuilletons.

Avec la série des Arsène Lupin, Maurice Leblanc expérimente de nombreuses formes narratives de littérature : tout d'abord, il entreprend les aventures de Lupin avec le principe de la suite directe, puis il se contente de mentionner dans ses récits de simples repères chronologiques qui permettent aux lecteurs de situer l'action, et, en parallèle, Maurice Leblanc utilise une formule inédite en France : le récit sériel, dans lequel le héros s'affranchit de toute unité chronologique, garantissant à l'auteur la plus grande liberté narrative.

Par ailleurs, Maurice Leblanc aborde la question du point de vue romanesque de manière variée ; le lecteur est ainsi invité à suivre tantôt la démarche du détective, tantôt celle du confident ou encore celle d'un personnage secondaire. La voix narrative change également, passant du narrateur omniscient à un je intradiégétique. Cependant, la réelle nouveauté qu'il introduit, réside dans l'intrigue policière dont le nom du coupable est connu d'avance : le coupable, c'est Arsène Lupin. La plupart des romans policiers fonctionnent sur le mode inverse : l'intérêt du roman tient dans la recherche du coupable. C'est la raison de l'évolution du personnage : il n'est plus uniquement le cambrioleur, mais devient également détective, le défenseur de la veuve et de l'orphelin. Par ailleurs, cette évolution correspond aussi au changement de mentalité de l'entre-deux-guerres. Ainsi, le ton populaire qu'adopte Maurice Leblanc apparaît moins dans le style que dans les thèmes qu'il décline au fil des aventures de son héros : les pauvres orphelines à protéger, les souterrains secrets, les égouts dont on reste prisonnier.

En outre, à travers les aventures d'Arsène Lupin, Maurice Leblanc a popularisé le genre littéraire du « polar ésotérique ». En effet, l'une des spécificités de son œuvre tient à l'intérêt qu'entretient Lupin pour le passé historique et légendaire. Il se passionne pour les énigmes historiques, mais également géographiques, à l'instar de l'énigme de la dalle des rois de Bohême, dont il résout le mystère en devinant la provenance du rocher. À travers son œuvre lupinienne, Maurice Leblanc conçoit le territoire de la Seine-Inférieure, et principalement le pays de Caux, comme une gigantesque carte au trésor, que son héros s'emploie à déchiffrer.

Succès littéraire 

Maurice Leblanc a écrit la nouvelle L'Arrestation d'Arsène Lupin à la demande de Pierre Lafitte, en 1905, sans prévoir de nouvelles aventures pour son héros : la nouvelle se termine sur l'arrestation du voleur. Le succès de son héros le pousse à prolonger ses aventures. C'est cependant la pièce de théâtre écrite en collaboration avec Francis de Croisset et jouée en 1908 à l'Athénée à guichets fermés qui va démultiplier le succès d'Arsène Lupin et le rendre populaire auprès de tous les publics.

Rapidement, sa notoriété va franchir les frontières de la France grâce à l'adaptation de la pièce de théâtre produite à Broadway, avec près de cent cinquante représentations entre août 1909 et janvier 1910.

La publication du roman-feuilleton 813 en 1910 en première page de la revue Le Journal installe définitivement la popularité du héros. Désormais agacé par sa créature, Maurice Leblanc tentera de tuer Arsène Lupin à de nombreuses reprises, puis sous la pression populaire, il le fera renaître.

En 1917, le rachat des éditions Lafitte par Hachette permet d'étendre la distribution des aventures d'Arsène Lupin, faisant véritablement de Maurice Leblanc un auteur à succès, et notamment à l'étranger où ses livres sont de plus en plus traduits et adaptés au cinéma. Ainsi, en 1923, alors même qu'une adaptation japonaise sort au cinéma en France, il doit soutenir en Hollande un procès contre un éditeur qui publie des traductions en néerlandais des aventures d'Arsène Lupin.

Dans les années 1920, bien qu'il ait accepté de devenir un romancier d'aventures, Maurice Leblanc cherche toujours à s'émanciper de son héros à succès. Cependant, les romans publiés avec un nouveau héros rencontrent un succès moindre, si bien que l'écrivain transforme à l'occasion certains de ses récits en aventures inédites d'Arsène Lupin. Ainsi, en 1923, il consent à introduire de façon anecdotique, le gentleman cambrioleur lors de la réédition de L'Éclat d'obus ; dans les années 1927-1928, Leblanc se résout à transformer, en cours d'écriture, le détective Jim Barnett en avatar de Lupin.

La parution des aventures d'Arsène Lupin au Livre de poche au début des années 1960 a permis de donner une nouvelle vigueur à son succès après un passage à vide à la Libération.

Dans les années 2000, sa popularité ne se cantonne pas uniquement à la France, puisque, parmi les touristes qui visitent le site d'Étretat, beaucoup de « lupinophiles » issus de toute l'Europe, du Brésil et même du Japon refont les trajets du gentleman cambrioleur.

Héritage

Dans l'imaginaire 

Arsène Lupin personnifie la France de la Belle Époque. Il reste indissociable de son chapeau haut-de-forme, son monocle et sa canne à pommeau plus de cent ans après sa création.

Les accessoires vestimentaires caractérisant Lupin n'ont pas été décrits expressément par Maurice Leblanc, mais peints par Léo Fontan. Entre 1906 et 1908, cet artiste vend à forfait à l'éditeur Pierre Lafitte sept illustrations portraiturant le gentleman cambrioleur. Outre une photographie de l'acteur André Brulé interprétant Lupin avec un haut-de-forme, Léo Fontan s'inspire de ses propres traits pour figurer le monte-en-l'air comme un dandy symbolisant la grande vie, aux . Parues en couverture des brochures publiées par Lafitte, puis reproduites dans certaines rééditions plus récentes, les représentations de Lupin par Léo Fontan demeurent mémorables aux yeux de nombreux lecteurs. Après la Première Guerre mondiale, un autre artiste figure également le couvre-chef et le monocle dans de nouvelles illustrations où le héros de Maurice Leblanc arbore .

Umberto Eco résume l'impression qu'Arsène Lupin exerce dans la mémoire collective :

À bien des égards, Arsène Lupin apparaît comme un héros éminemment français, un des derniers héros d'aventures incarnant une attitude chevaleresque, à l'instar de ses prédécesseurs d'Artagnan, Gavroche, Cartouche ou Rocambole. Maurice Leblanc attribue à son héros les vertus françaises, qui tiennent, selon lui, en grande partie à la gaieté, à l'art de la repartie et de la théâtralité. Ainsi, en volant, avant tout, par goût de l'éclat, Arsène Lupin apparaît comme un des émissaires du panache à la française, une figure du bandit romantique qui fascine le peuple.

Postérité dans le pays de Caux 

En 1918, Maurice Leblanc achète une maison dans la commune d'Étretat. C'est dans cette demeure  qu'il écrit une grande partie des aventures d'Arsène Lupin. Lorsque éclate la Seconde Guerre mondiale, l'écrivain s'exile à Perpignan où il meurt deux ans plus tard. Rachetée en 1998 par sa petite-fille, cette demeure est transformée l'année suivante en musée consacré au gentleman cambrioleur, dans lequel elle imagine un itinéraire scénographique à travers la maison. La visite audio, guidée par la voix de Georges Descrières, Arsène Lupin du petit écran, permet d'explorer les souvenirs, confidences, images et témoignages de Maurice Leblanc et de son héros.

Maurice Leblanc était très attaché à la région normande, si bien qu'il donne pour cadre géographique à de nombreuses aventures de Lupin, le pays de Caux : Étretat, Jumièges, Tancarville... Ainsi, le site d'Étretat, et plus précisément son pic de pierre, ont été popularisés par l'aventure de l'Aiguille creuse jusqu'à rendre cette aiguille inséparable du gentleman cambrioleur, du moins dans l'imaginaire collectif. Ce lieu unique de Normandie a, en effet, pris une dimension épique et romanesque depuis que Maurice Leblanc a raconté qu'elle renferme le légendaire trésor que les rois de France se transmettaient depuis Jules César et dont Arsène Lupin s'est rendu maître.

Enfin, la bibliothèque municipale de Biville-sur-Mer, située également dans le pays de Caux, a d'ailleurs été dénommée Arsène Lupin en hommage au héros de Maurice Leblanc.

Lupinologie 

Dans ses romans, Maurice Leblanc se présente comme un biographe et rapporte les conversations qu'il entretient avec Arsène Lupin. Ainsi, le gentleman cambrioleur passe rapidement du statut de héros de fiction à celui de figure historique. Cette ambiguïté apparaît lorsque Leblanc se laisse photographier en avril 1936 aux côtés du célèbre cambrioleur par le magazine TSF Programme  ou bien quand il participe à des émissions radiophoniques quotidiennes en 1939 en se faisant accompagner par un acteur jouant le rôle d'Arsène Lupin. Ainsi, Maurice Leblanc utilise divers procédés qui tendent à brouiller les limites entre réalité et fiction : transposition de faits divers dans ses récits, métamorphose du romancier en confident-historiographe, transfictionnalité…

À l'instar de Sherlock Holmes, le personnage d'Arsène Lupin a fait l'objet d'un canular littéraire qui perdure jusqu'à aujourd'hui : en étant présenté comme un personnage historique, il a eu le droit à ses biographes et au développement d'une science nouvelle, la « lupinologie ». L'objectif de cette discipline est de retracer la vie du cambrioleur en expliquant notamment les contradictions dans l'œuvre de Maurice Leblanc. Parmi les précurseurs de cette discipline, la Société des études lupiniennes se forma dans les années 1960 avec pour objectif d'explorer le mythe Arsène Lupin. Cette association, qui apparaît comme une émanation du Collège de 'Pataphysique, publia ses travaux dans une revue appelée Gazette des études lupiniennes (quatre numéros de 1965-1966), puis dans la Revue des études lupiniennes (cinq numéros de 1967-1970). Si l'humour et la parodie étaient omniprésents dans ces revues, les auteurs firent néanmoins preuve d'une volonté d'appliquer rigoureusement un examen sérieux à un sujet situé en dehors du champ scientifique académique.

Au-delà des biographes officieux d'Arsène Lupin, une association littéraire  a vu le jour en 1985. Elle a été fondée à l'initiative du philosophe et essayiste François George avec l'objectif de réunir les amateurs de l'œuvre littéraire de Maurice Leblanc. Parmi les membres les plus connus de l'A.A.A.L. : les comédiens Georges Descrières, Bernard Lavalette et Jean-Claude Brialy. Outre son rôle d'organisation de manifestations et conférences visant à diffuser la pensée et les actions d'Arsène Lupin, l'association édite également depuis 1986 une revue spécialisée dans les recherches sur la vie du cambrioleur : l'Aiguille Preuve.

Par ailleurs, créé en 2006, le Prix Arsène Lupin de la littérature policière distingue chaque année un roman policier qui combine humour et énigme policière. Ce prix est remis annuellement lors d'une cérémonie dans les locaux de la Monnaie de Paris.

Aventures d'Arsène Lupin

Œuvres de Maurice Leblanc 

La « série » d'ouvrages originaux écrits par Maurice Leblanc comprend dix-huit romans, trente-neuf nouvelles et cinq pièces de théâtre, écrits de 1905 à 1941. Ces œuvres, qui mettent en scène  Arsène Lupin, forment le canon lupinien.

Romans et nouvelles 
Ce canon, définitivement fixé en 2012 avec la parution d'un texte original découvert tardivement, a également évolué avec des remaniements dans les récits par Leblanc pour y introduire le personnage d'Arsène Lupin. Ainsi, L'Éclat d'obus paru en 1915, ne fait mention du gentleman cambrioleur que dans une deuxième version en 1923, afin de faire rentrer ce roman dans la lucrative collection des « Aventures extraordinaires d'Arsène Lupin » des éditions Pierre Lafitte. De la même manière, la nouvelle Le Pardessus d'Arsène Lupin est une adaptation, pour le lectorat américain, de la nouvelle La Dent d'Hercule Petit, dans laquelle Maurice Leblanc a remplacé le personnage principal par Lupin. Enfin, le roman Dorothée danseuse de corde est aussi inclus dans ce canon lupinien malgré l'absence du cambrioleur, dans la mesure où l'héroïne découvre l'un des secrets de Cagliostro.

Pièces de théâtre 

En 1908, alors qu'Arsène Lupin connaît aux États-Unis sa première adaptation au cinéma, en France, Maurice Leblanc garde sa préférence pour le théâtre, qu'il gratifie d'une aventure inédite, écrite en collaboration avec Francis de Croisset. Néanmoins, outre Le Retour d'Arsène Lupin qui est un acte tiré de la pièce de 1908 jamais joué, Maurice Leblanc n'a écrit que trois autres courtes comédies, plus proches de la saynète que véritablement de la pièce de théâtre.

En outre, il travaille en 1937 à adapter son roman L'Aiguille creuse avec Léopold Marchand  pour en faire une pièce en quatre actes, sans que ce projet ne voie cependant le jour.

Adaptation des aventures d'Arsène Lupin

Pièces de théâtre 
En 1909 à Barcelone, Victor Darlay et Henry de Gorsse présentent pour la première fois leur pièce de théâtre Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès, inspirée du roman homonyme. La pièce est reprise en France l'année suivante au théâtre du Châtelet à Paris.

À la suite de la popularité grandissante d'Arsène Lupin, une nouvelle pièce de théâtre autour du roman L'Aiguille creuse est créée par Heraclio Serrano Viteri et Enrique Grimau de Mauro. Elle est jouée en 1911 à Paris, puis l'année suivante à Madrid.

Si Arsène Lupin apparaît dans l'opérette Arsène Lupin banquier présentée aux Bouffes-Parisiens le  et la pièce radiophonique de Carlos Laronde, Peggy rencontre de nouveau Arsène Lupin, diffusée par Radio Cité le , il disparaît néanmoins des planches de théâtre pendant plusieurs décennies. Ce n'est qu'à la fin du , que le gentleman-cambrioleur y fait son retour. Tout d'abord, en 1996, dans une adaptation par Gilles Gleizes de l'Aiguille creuse, puis en 2007, la compagnie Les brigands reprend l'opérette Arsène Lupin banquier au Théâtre de l'Athénée, tandis que Delphine Piard adapte, en 2014, la pièce de 1908 au Théâtre Michel, au Festival off d'Avignon ainsi qu'en tournée en France.

Cinéma et télévision 

Le personnage d'Arsène Lupin connaît rapidement une carrière internationale au cinéma. Ainsi, trois ans après la parution de sa première aventure, le cinéma américain adapte déjà ses aventures dans le court métrage The Gentleman Burglar réalisé par Edwin Stratton Porter. En Allemagne, Arsène Lupin affronte Sherlock Holmes en 1910 par Viggo Larsen ; en France, c'est le réalisateur Michel Carré qui adapte les aventures de Lupin en 1909, puis de nouveau en 1914 ; le gentleman cambrioleur apparaît ensuite en Angleterre en 1916, en Hongrie en 1921 puis au Japon en 1923.

Le premier long-métrage tiré des aventures d'Arsène Lupin sort aux États-Unis en 1919. Chester Withey réalise The Teeth of the Tiger à partir du roman Les Dents du tigre paru en 1914 aux États-Unis avec une intrigue néanmoins simplifiée.

Malgré le succès de l'adaptation de la pièce de théâtre de 1908 par Jack Conway en 1932, la société de production MGM, qui a acquis les droits des romans les plus vendus de Maurice Leblanc, ne les porte pas pour autant à l'écran, obligeant ses concurrents à se contenter des titres moins spectaculaires ou de scénarios originaux.

En 1937, une adaptation du recueil de nouvelles L'Agence Barnett et Cie sort sur les écrans, sous le titre Arsène Lupin détective, avec Jules Berry dans le rôle-titre.

En 1957, Robert Lamoureux interprète le gentleman cambrioleur dans la superproduction française Les Aventures d'Arsène Lupin, réalisée par Jacques Becker. Ce film est un succès en salles et entraîne une suite réalisée par Yves Robert deux ans plus tard, Signé Arsène Lupin, qui fait intervenir plusieurs personnages issus des romans de Leblanc : Isidore Beautrelet de L'Aiguille creuse, l'inspecteur Théodore Béchoux de L'Agence Barnett et Cie. Un troisième volet sort en 1962, Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin d'Édouard Molinaro, qui met cette fois en scène les deux enfants du gentleman cambrioleur, incarnés par Jean-Claude Brialy et Jean-Pierre Cassel.

Arsène Lupin disparaît alors du grand écran pendant plus de quarante-ans et ne revient qu'en 2004 dans une adaptation française de La comtesse de Cagliostro qui dévoile les origines d'un Arsène Lupin joué par Romain Duris.

Entre-temps, les aventures du gentleman cambrioleur se poursuivent sur le petit écran. Une première série québécoise voit le jour en 1960 avec Jean Gascon dans le rôle-titre, mais c'est surtout l'acteur Georges Descrières qui incarnera le plus auprès du public le personnage entre 1971 et 1974, et notamment grâce au succès du générique de la série, chanté par Jacques Dutronc.

En 1980, une nouvelle série, Arsène Lupin joue et perd, adapte 813 avec Jean-Claude Brialy dans le rôle de Lupin. Puis, dans les années 1990, François Dunoyer incarne le cambrioleur dans deux nouvelles séries.

Arsène Lupin est également mis en scène dans Kaitō Lupin - 813 no Nazo en 1979 et Lupin Tai Holmes en 1981, deux films d'animation japonais, inédits en français, qui reprennent respectivement les intrigues de 813 et de La Dame Blonde. Enfin, la série animée franco-canadienne, Les Exploits d'Arsène Lupin, de 1996, raconte des aventures originales dans le Paris des années 1930.

Bandes dessinées et mangas 
Les auteurs de bande dessinée s'intéressent également très tôt au personnage d'Arsène Lupin. Ainsi, entre 1948 et 1949, le dessinateur Georges Bourdin adapte quelques-uns des romans de Maurice Leblanc, publiés sous forme de comics strip dans le quotidien France-Soir. En 1956 et pendant deux ans, Jacques Blondeau prend à son tour le crayon pour raconter les aventures de Lupin dans Le Parisien libéré.

Pendant trente ans, Arsène Lupin disparut de la bande dessinée jusqu'aux années 1990, avec de nouvelles adaptations des romans par André-Paul Duchâteau, dans la collection BDétectives, spécialisée dans la publication de classiques de la littérature policière. Mais c'est véritablement la levée des droits d'auteur en 2012 qui permit à Lupin d'augmenter ses apparitions dans la bande dessinée, et notamment dans des scénarios originaux, tels que Arsène Lupin – Les origines (2014-2016) ou encore Les  mystères d'Arsène Lupin (2016-2018).

Au Japon 

Par ailleurs, Arsène Lupin est très populaire au Japon, au point que plusieurs mangakas se sont appropriés le personnage pour adapter ses aventures. Ainsi, Gō Nagai dessine entre 1984 et 1985 des aventures du gentleman cambrioleur dans des mangas restés inédits en France. Takashi Morita adapte également aux éditions Kurokawa quelques-uns des récits de Maurice Leblanc entre 2011 et 2012, sous le nom de Kaitô Lupin Den – Aventurier (Arsène Lupin l’Aventurier). Kazuhiko Katō  adapte dès 1967 le personnage sous la nom de Lupin III  (Rupan Sansei), connu en France sous le nom d'Edgar de la Cambriole, petit-fils d'Arsène. En animé, une des aventures, Le château de Cagliostro, est réalisée par Hayao Miyazaki en 1979. Les aventures et le personnage d'Arsène Lupin sont également adaptés en jeux vidéo.

Pastiches et hommages

Pastiches littéraires 
Dès l'apparition d'Arsène Lupin, le gentleman cambrioleur inspire de nombreux auteurs qui se lancent dans des pastiches, qui racontent une aventure inédite du héros. Ces romans ou nouvelles apparaissent dès 1909, malgré le droit d'auteur et le refus de Maurice Leblanc, puis de son fils Claude, de l'utilisation littéraire de Lupin.

Quelques auteurs ont, cependant, pu obtenir l'accord des héritiers pour poursuivre l'œuvre de Maurice Leblanc, à l'instar des lupinophiles Pierre Louis Boileau et Thomas Narcejac, qui racontent plusieurs aventures d'Arsène Lupin, dans cinq romans, en imitant avec une grande précision le style de Maurice Leblanc.

Le personnage entre dans le domaine public en France le , ce qui explique l'augmentation des pastiches littéraires au cours du .

Hommages 
Outre les aventures apocryphes d'Arsène Lupin, le cambrioleur est également apparu, en tant que personnage secondaire et de manière épisodique, dans des nouvelles lui rendant hommage, aux côtés de grands détectives de son époque. Ainsi, la romancière américaine Carolyn Wells, avec Le Mystère de la Joconde publié en 1912, puis L'Aventure de la corde à linge en 1915, narre des enquêtes d'une société internationale de détectives dont il est membre aux côtés de Sherlock Holmes, Monsieur Lecoq, Arthur J. Raffles et Auguste Dupin. Lupin côtoie de nouveau ses homologues avec la nouvelle d'Edward G. Ashton de 1952, Les Enquêteurs internationaux, dans laquelle huit célèbres détectives se rassemblent pour élucider un mystère lié l'identité secrète du professeur Moriarty.

Mais véritablement, la réappropriation d'Arsène Lupin par de nouveaux auteurs a lieu à partir de 2005, au moment où Jean-Marc Lofficier lance Les Compagnons de l'Ombre, une série anthologique de nouvelles, dans lesquelles de nombreux auteurs français, anglais ou américains mettent en scène des héros et vilains de la culture populaire des . Arsène Lupin y côtoie ainsi le Fantôme de l'Opéra, les Vampires, Belphégor…

C'est également à cette époque que deux séries de bandes dessinées réintroduisent de façon massive les figures littéraires des . Tout d'abord, la britannique Ligue des gentlemen extraordinaires d'Alan Moore : dans les annexes du volume 2 et du Dossier noir, Lupin est mentionné succinctement comme membre des Hommes mystérieux, un groupe rival de la Ligue, composé notamment des « héros » français Fantômas, du Nyctalope et de Robur. En France, c'est Serge Lehman qui intègre le gentleman cambrioleur dans son univers chimérique avec le tome Ami du mystère, dans lequel il rencontre Théo Sinclair avant sa transformation en l'Œil de la Nuit.

Les hommages sont aussi plus indirects et portent sur des œuvres narrant les aventures des ancêtres ou des descendants d'Arsène Lupin. Ainsi, outre le film de 1962, Arsène Lupin contre Arsène Lupin d'Édouard Molinaro, dans lequel deux fils d'Arsène Lupin s'affrontent pour mettre la main sur le trésor royal de Poldavie, le mangaka japonais Monkey Punch met en scène dans la série de manga et d'anime Lupin III créée en 1967, le personnage d'Arsène Lupin III, un petit-fils du gentleman cambrioleur élevé par son grand-père. Par ailleurs, l'écrivain Jean d'Aillon fait apparaître des ancêtres d'Arsène Lupin dans son roman Le Grand Arcane des rois de France (2015) en lien avec le secret de l'Aiguille creuse.

Dans le premier quart du , l'œuvre de Maurice Leblanc inspire les scénaristes de séries télévisées, qui mettent en scène de nouveaux gentlemen-cambrioleurs. Ainsi, la telenovela philippine Lupin (2007) narre les aventures d'un certain André Lupin, joué par l'acteur Richard Gutierrez. En 2021, dans la série Lupin : Dans l'ombre d'Arsène, Omar Sy incarne un admirateur d'Arsène Lupin, qui s'inspire de son héros pour se venger.

Enfin, le personnage de gentleman cambrioleur a beaucoup inspiré les auteurs qui lui ont rendu hommage à travers des parodies. Ainsi, entre 1980 et 1982, le dessinateur Ferrand imagine pour Le Journal de Tintin un cambrioleur mondain appelé Larsène Rupin. Toujours en 1982, dans la série animée japonaise Gigi, un richissime cambrioleur du nom d'Arsène Lapin opère des vols particulièrement astucieux, simplement pour se distraire. Et depuis 1998, le dessinateur Don Rosa met occasionnellement en scène dans l'univers de Donald Duck, un riche cambrioleur français répondant au nom anagrammatique d'Arpène Lucien ; cet adversaire acharné de Balthazar Picsou adopte

Annexes

Bibliographie

Livres 

 Europe, revue littéraire mensuelle, août-septembre 1979, , 250 p.
 
 
 
.
 
 
 
 
 .

Articles 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 .
 
 
 
 
 .
 
 
 
 .
 
 
 .

Liens externes 

 
 
 
 Tout Arsène Lupin, site généraliste sur Arsène Lupin

Notes et références

Notes

Références 

Prisonnier de fiction
Voleur de fiction
Séducteur de fiction
Détective de fiction
Personnage de roman policier
Personnage de fiction français
Arsene Lupin
Gentleman cambrioleur
Personnage de fiction lié à Paris
Maître du déguisement de fiction
Naissance en 1874

Un algorithme est une suite finie et non ambiguë d'instructions et d’opérations permettant de résoudre une classe de problèmes.

Le domaine qui étudie les algorithmes est appelé l'algorithmique. On retrouve aujourd'hui des algorithmes dans de nombreuses applications telles que le fonctionnement des ordinateurs, la cryptographie, le routage d'informations, la planification et l'utilisation optimale des ressources, le traitement d'images, le traitement de textes, la bio-informatique

L' algorithme peut être mis en forme de façon graphique dans un algorigramme ou organigramme de programmation.

Etymologie et Histoire 
Le mot algorithme a une longue histoire.

'Al-Khwârizmî (en arabe : ), est un mathématicien persan du , dont le nom est relatif au Khwarezm, une région située au Sud de la mer d'Aral.

Au , il écrit en arabe un traité qui sera traduit en latin au  sous le titre Algoritmi de numero Indorum. "Algoritmie des nombres indiens". Algoritmie est la latinisation de son nom par les traducteurs : Alchoarismi puis Algorismi, Algorismo, Algoritmi.

Un de ses ouvrage a d'ailleurs donné son nom à l'algèbre (voir cet article), dont le titre de la traduction par Gilbert de Cremone : Liber Maumeti filii Moysi Alchoarismi de Algebra et Almuquabala, où l'on retrouve traduit son nom : Maumeti filii Moysi Alchoarismi (Muhammad Ben Musa al Kwuwarizmi) et le fameux Alchoarismi  ...

Joannes Sacrobosco, moine ayant étudié à Oxford est reçu à l'université de la Sorbonne le  et élu professeur de Quadrivium peu après. C’est vers cette date qu’il compose De Algorismo. Il est l'un des premiers docteurs du Moyen Âge à utiliser les écrits astronomiques des Arabes, considéré d'ailleurs  en Angleterre comme ayant introduit l'usage des « chiffres » (sifer) que le pape Sylvestre II avait tenté en vain de répandre plus tôt.

Alexandre de Villedieu écrit son Carmen de Algorismo en 1240, sur la science des chiffres.

Algoritmie désigne alors aussi ce nouveau système de numération, le système de numération de position avec le zéro.

Sous l’influence de l’ancien espagnol algorismo, le mot apparaît aussi en français déjà vers 1230 sous la forme augorisme, puis algorisme au , pour désigner le calcul en chiffres, l’arithmétique. La forme moderne du terme reprend le latin médiéval algorithmus, altération influencée par arithmetica et d'autres, du grec ancien arithmos = nombre.

Définition générale 
Un algorithme est une méthode générale pour résoudre un type de problèmes. Il est dit correct lorsque, pour chaque instance du problème, il se termine en produisant la bonne sortie, c'est-à-dire qu'il résout le problème posé.

L'efficacité d'un algorithme est mesurée notamment par :
 sa durée de calcul (en partant du principe que chaque instruction a un temps d'exécution constant) ;
 sa consommation de mémoire vive ;
 la précision des résultats obtenus (par exemple avec l'utilisation de méthodes probabilistes) ;
 sa scalabilité ;
 sa parallélisation

Les ordinateurs sur lesquels s'exécutent ces algorithmes ne sont pas infiniment rapides, car le temps de machine reste une ressource limitée, malgré une augmentation constante des performances des ordinateurs. Un algorithme sera donc dit performant s'il utilise avec parcimonie les ressources dont il dispose, c'est-à-dire le temps CPU, la mémoire vive et (objet de recherches récentes) la consommation électrique. L’analyse de la complexité algorithmique permet de prédire l'évolution en temps calcul nécessaire pour amener un algorithme à son terme, en fonction de la quantité de données à traiter.

L'émergence des langages de niveaux supérieurs pose le problème du temps :

 soit on passe du temps à programmer avec des langages de bas niveau (le programme est alors rapide)
 soit on utilise des langages de haut niveau où une instruction est déjà constituée de plusieurs instructions de base. Le temps d'utilisation de la machine augmente alors de façon importante.

L'algorithme composé de boites peut ainsi être plus ou moins détaillé, précis.

Quelques définitions connexes 
Donald Knuth (1938-) liste, comme prérequis d'un algorithme, cinq propriétés :
 finitude :  ;
 définition précise :  ;
 entrées :  ;
 sorties :  ;
 rendement : .

George Boolos (1940-1996), philosophe et mathématicien, propose la définition suivante :
 

Gérard Berry (1948-), chercheur en science informatique, en donne la définition grand public suivante :
 
Les entrées sont généralement associées à des capteurs et les sorties à des actions, actionneurs ou opérateurs ( affichage, moteurs etc).

Algorithmes numériques 
Les algorithmes sont des objets historiquement dédiés à la résolution de problèmes arithmétiques, comme la multiplication de deux nombres. Ils ont été formalisés bien plus tard avec l'avènement de la logique mathématique et l'émergence des machines qui permettaient de les mettre en œuvre, à savoir les ordinateurs.

Algorithmes non numériques 
La plupart des algorithmes ne sont pas numériques.

On peut distinguer :
 des algorithmes généralistes qui s'appliquent à toute donnée numérique ou non numérique : par exemple les algorithmes liés au chiffrement, ou qui permettent de les mémoriser ou de les transmettre ;
 des algorithmes dédiés à un type de données particulier (par exemple ceux liés au traitement d'images).

Voir aussi :

Algorithmes dans la vie quotidienne 

L'algorithmique intervient de plus en plus dans la vie quotidienne.
 Une recette de cuisine peut être réduite à un algorithme si on peut réduire sa spécification aux éléments constitutifs :
 des entrées (les ingrédients, le matériel utilisé) ;
 des instructions élémentaires simples (frire, flamber, rissoler, braiser, blanchir, etc.) dont les exécutions dans un ordre précis amènent au résultat voulu ;
 un résultat : le plat préparé.
 Cependant, les recettes de cuisine ne sont en général pas présentées rigoureusement sous forme non ambiguë : il est d'usage d'y employer des termes vagues laissant une liberté d'appréciation à l'exécutant alors qu'un algorithme non probabiliste stricto sensu doit être précis et sans ambiguïté.
 Le tissage, surtout tel qu'il a été automatisé par le métier Jacquard, est une activité que l'on peut dire algorithmique.
 Le tricot est enseigné parfois comme éveil aux algorithmes : les machines à tricoter des années 1980 fonctionnaient avec des cartes perforées.
 Un casse-tête, comme le cube Rubik, peut être résolu de façon systématique par un algorithme qui mécanise sa résolution.
 En sport, l'exécution de séquences répondant à des finalités d'attaque, de défense, de progression, correspond à des algorithmes (dans un sens assez lâche du terme). Voir en particulier l'article tactique (football).
 En soins infirmiers, le jugement clinique est assimilable à un algorithme. Le jugement clinique désigne l'ensemble des procédés cognitifs et métacognitifs qui aboutissent au diagnostic infirmier. Il met en jeu des processus de pensée et de prise de décision dans le but d’améliorer l’état de santé et le bien-être des personnes que les soignants accompagnent.
 Un code juridique, qui décrit un ensemble de procédures applicables à un ensemble de cas, est un algorithme.
 Les procédures de dépannage sont des algorithmes.

Les progrès de ce qu'on appelle l'intelligence artificielle s'appuient sur un algorithmique de plus en plus complexe qui devient l'un des rouages cachés du Web 2.0 et des grands réseaux sociaux.

Nouveaux enjeux, éthiques liés à l'intelligence artificielle 
À partir des années 2000, ce qui est appelé  est un ensemble de  (autrement dit de processus informatiques dont on ne sait pas ce qu'il y a à l'intérieur) qui exploitent et influencent les comportements inconscients des consommateurs, et des électeurs.

Critiques 
Dans la vie quotidienne, un glissement de sens s'est opéré, ces dernières années, dans le concept d'« algorithme » qui devient à la fois plus réducteur, puisque ce sont pour l'essentiel des algorithmes de gestion du big data, et d'autre part plus universel en ce sens qu'il intervient dans tous les domaines du comportement quotidien. La famille des algorithmes dont il est question effectue des calculs à partir de grandes masses de données (les big data). Ils réalisent des classements, sélectionnent des informations et en déduisent un profil, en général de consommation, qui est ensuite utilisé ou exploité commercialement. Les implications sont nombreuses et touchent les domaines les plus variés. Mais les libertés individuelles et collectives pourraient être finalement mises en péril, comme le montre la mathématicienne américaine Cathy O'Neil dans le livre Weapons of Math Destruction, publié en 2016 et sorti en français en 2018 sous le titre Algorithmes : la bombe à retardement (aux éditions Les Arènes).

Dans cet ouvrage, l'auteure alerte le lecteur sur les décisions majeures que nous déléguons aujourd'hui aux algorithmes dans des domaines aussi variés que l'éducation, la santé, l'emploi et la justice, sous prétexte qu'ils sont neutres et objectifs, alors que, dans les faits, ils donnent lieu à « des choix éminemment subjectifs, des opinions, voire des préjugés insérés dans des équations mathématiques ».

L'opacité des algorithmes est l'une des raisons principales de ces critiques. Une meilleure information sur leur mode de fonctionnement spécifique permettrait de rendre plus clair le « contrat social passé entre les internautes et les calculateurs ». La description pour chaque algorithme de son propre principe de classement de l'information aide l'utilisateur à mieux comprendre les choix proposés par l'algorithme et les résultats obtenus.

Éthique des algorithmes 
Les philosophes Wendell Wallach et Colin Allen ont soulevé des questions liées à l'implantation par les programmeurs de règles morales dans les algorithmes d'intelligence artificielle : . Dans son livre Faire la morale aux robots : une introduction à l'éthique des algorithmes, Martin Gibert met en évidence le rôle de la programmation dans l'éthique des robots, en traitant plus précisément des enjeux moraux liés à la construction des algorithmes. Il définit un algorithme comme . L'éthique des algorithmes poserait donc une question : . Gibert souligne notamment l'ambiguïté de ces agents moraux artificiels :

Notes et références

Annexes

Articles connexes 
 Analyse de la complexité des algorithmes
 Algorithmique
 Correction d'un algorithme
 Biais algorithmique
 Régulation des algorithmes

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 Qu’est-ce qu'un algorithme ? par Philippe Flajolet et Étienne Parizot sur la revue en ligne Interstices
 Définition du terme « algorithme » par des savants

LAfghanistan (en pachto et en dari : , ), en forme longue de facto lémirat islamique d'Afghanistan (en ,  ; en dari : , ), est un pays d'Asie du Sud ou d'Asie centrale sans accès à la mer entouré par l'Ouzbékistan au nord, la Chine et le Tadjikistan au nord-est, le Pakistan à l'est-sud-est, l’Iran à l'ouest et le Turkménistan au nord-ouest.

Carrefour de l'Asie, ce pays constituait, dans l'Antiquité, un point de passage important sur la route de la soie et pour les conquérants qui souhaitaient prendre le contrôle de l'Inde tels que Cyrus le Grand, Alexandre le Grand, Gengis Khan et Babur. Cette région est aussi le noyau de vastes empires comme l'Empire bactrien, l'Empire kouchan ou encore l'Empire ghaznévide. L'expansion de l'islam y a commencé dès la fin du . C'est à la suite de l'effondrement du royaume perse afcharide que l'Afghanistan devient une entité souveraine, en 1747, sous le commandement du général Ahmad Shah Durrani, devenu la même année premier padichah du pays.

À la suite de la seconde guerre anglo-afghane, les Britanniques privent l'Afghanistan de certains territoires mais s'engagent à ne pas s'immiscer dans les affaires intérieures de la partie restante. Le pays devient ainsi un État tampon entre l'empire britannique et la Russie de 1879 à 1919, demeurant indépendant sur le plan de la politique intérieure. En 1919, à la suite de la troisième guerre anglo-afghane, le pays retrouve le contrôle de sa politique étrangère avec le traité de Rawalpindi, et rejoint en 1921 la Société des Nations.

À partir de la fin des années 1970, l'Afghanistan connaît plusieurs décennies de guerres ininterrompues qui causent la mort de plusieurs centaines de milliers de personnes. En 1979, les troupes soviétiques interviennent militairement en Afghanistan et assassinent le président Hafizullah Amin. Une longue guerre oppose ensuite les Soviétiques et les forces communistes afghanes aux moudjahidines, armés et soutenus par le Pakistan, les États-Unis, la Chine et l'Iran. Les forces soviétiques se retirent du pays en 1989 et le gouvernement communiste de Mohammad Najibullah est renversé en 1992. L'État islamique d'Afghanistan est alors instauré, mais une nouvelle guerre civile oppose rapidement les différentes factions moudjahidines. Le mouvement taliban émerge alors en 1994, sous la direction du mollah Omar, et profite de ces divisions pour prendre le pouvoir à Kaboul en 1996. Une partie du territoire demeure cependant sous le contrôle des moudjahidines de l'Alliance du Nord, qui poursuivent la lutte contre les talibans. Fin 2001, le régime taliban est défait par une coalition internationale menée par les États-Unis, en raison de son refus de livrer le chef d'Al-Qaïda, Oussama ben Laden, responsable des attentats du 11 septembre 2001. Les forces de l'Alliance du Nord reprennent le pouvoir et forment en 2004 la république islamique d'Afghanistan, de type présidentiel, dirigée par un président aux pouvoirs étendus mais contrôlés par un Parlement bicaméral. Pendant vingt ans, les talibans poursuivent cependant une longue guérilla, que les forces du gouvernement afghan et de la FIAS ne parviennent pas à réduire. En 2021, les États-Unis retirent leurs troupes d'Afghanistan et les talibans mènent une offensive à travers tout le pays. Le gouvernement que les États-Unis soutenaient militairement s'effondre. Le , les talibans reprennent le pouvoir à Kaboul sans combats, vingt ans après en avoir été chassés.

Géographie 

L'Afghanistan est un pays montagneux avec des plaines au nord et au sud-ouest. Le point le plus haut du pays, à  au-dessus de la mer, est le Nowshak. De grandes parties du pays sont arides, et l'eau potable est limitée. L'Afghanistan a un climat continental, avec des étés chauds et des hivers froids. Le pays est fréquemment sujet aux tremblements de terre. Le dernier remonte au 7 octobre 2023 et a eu lieu dans l'Ouest du  pays (région d'Hérat). Avec trois secousses majeures de 6.3 et une réplique de 5.5, il a entraîné la mort de 1000 ou  1380 morts (selon les sources).

Les villes principales de l'Afghanistan sont Kaboul, Hérat, Jalalabad, Mazâr-e Charîf et Kandahar.

L'Afghanistan est traversé par le fleuve Hari Rûd, qui coule également en Iran et au Turkménistan.

 Frontières terrestres : , dont :
  avec le Pakistan ;
  avec le Tadjikistan ;
  avec l'Iran ;
  avec le Turkménistan ;
  avec l'Ouzbékistan ;
  avec la Chine.
 Littoral :  ;
 Extrémités d'altitude : de + à +.

Étymologie 
Le nom « Afghanistan » dérive d'un mot ethnonyme désignant les Pachtounes, l’ethnie majoritaire du pays qui a fondé l’Afghanistan actuel. Le suffixe « stān » veut dire « pays » en langue dari, et « afghān » est à l'origine un exonyme persan — vraisemblablement dérivé du bactrien αβαγανο (abagano) — synonyme de « pachtoune » : le nom Afghanistan signifie donc « pays des Pachtounes ».

Pendant longtemps, il était établi qu’al-Biruni, le célèbre mathématicien, encyclopédiste et philosophe persan, était le premier à avoir évoqué les Afghans dans son Histoire de l’Inde (1030). En réalité, le terme « Afghan » avait déjà été cité en 982 par Houdoud al Alam, géographe persan et Ibn al-Athîr qui avait cité le nom dix ans avant le premier.

D'autres explications ont été avancées. Ainsi, l’une prétend que le mot « afghan » aurait des origines albanaises (du grec Al-Ab, on aurait fait Agvan, puis Avgan). L'autre, celle de Vera Marigo, se rapporte aux « épigones » — les successeurs d'Alexandre le Grand : Epigonoï aurait évolué en Aphigonoï (Afigani). Ces théories n'expliquent pas les mille ans qui séparent la fin des royaumes grecs de la toute première apparition du mot « Afghan ».

Une histoire  raconte que le nom « Afghan » vient du mot  qui voudrait dire « cavalier ». Les gens du peuple, pour faciliter la prononciation, disaient Apagan. La phonétique changea lors de la venue des Arabes. Dans l’alphabet arabe la lettre p n’existait pas alors ce qui donna Afagan. Ce mot évolua pour enfin donner le mot Afghan. À la suite de cette interprétation et du roman Les Cavaliers de Joseph Kessel l'on retrouve le « pays des Cavaliers » comme désignation de l’Afghanistan.

Les Afghans considèrent que le nom médiéval de leur pays est Khorassan qui désigne actuellement une région du nord-est de l'Iran.

Histoire 

Les Afghans sont d'origine Indo-Iranienne, quelle que soit leur langue actuelle (Pachto, Dari).

L'Afghanistan, considéré comme un carrefour de l'Asie centrale, a une histoire mouvementée. À travers les âges, le territoire désormais connu sous le nom d'« Afghanistan » a dominé la région puis a été occupé à son tour par l’Empire perse, par Alexandre le Grand, Gengis Khan, et l’URSS. Son emplacement géographique sur les routes commerciales a profité aux nombreux royaumes qui se sont succédé sur ce territoire et en fait encore un enjeu stratégique majeur au début du .

Après l’effondrement des royaumes grecs et un bref contrôle exercé par l’empereur Ashoka, le peuple Yuezhi, avec à sa tête le chef Kujula Kadphisès s’empare du pays et se taille un gigantesque empire : l’Empire kouchan. Son territoire s’étendait de l’Iran actuel jusqu’en Inde, probablement plus loin que Delhi, et de la mer d'Arabie jusqu’à la mer d'Aral. Pour beaucoup d’historiens, c’est grâce à cet Empire kouchan et plus précisément à son empereur Kanishka  que le bouddhisme a pu s’étendre jusqu’en Chine, en Corée et au Japon par les voies commerciales et non par des conquêtes militaires.

Les Afghans ont mené de nombreuses batailles contre les envahisseurs, notamment au cours du  pour combattre l'ingérence occidentale britannique. Ces derniers ont notamment subi en Afghanistan des défaites marquantes, en particulier celles de Gandamak, en 1842, où le  britannique fut totalement anéanti et de Maiwand, en 1880, où le  n’a compté que quelques survivants. L'Afghanistan est avec le Siam et le Japon le seul pays d'Asie à avoir tenu tête aux puissances coloniales européennes. Son histoire et sa création comme État tampon entre les possessions de l’Angleterre et de la Russie ne se comprend pas sans une analyse géopolitique du « Grand Jeu » entre ces puissances, réactivé au début du  dans un contexte de contrôle des routes pétrolières et gazières.

Depuis 1900, treize dirigeants ont été déposés, renversés ou assassinés :
 1919 : Habibullah Khan est assassiné pendant une partie de chasse ;
 1929 : Amanullah Khan doit fuir devant une révolte populaire ;
 1929 : Son frère Inayatullah règne trois jours avant d’abdiquer ;
 1929 : Habibullah Ghazi, dit « Bacha e Saqao », prend le pouvoir avant d'être chassé et exécuté ;
 1933 : Mohammed Nadir Chah est assassiné ;
 1973 : Mohammed Zaher Chah est déposé à la suite d'un coup d'État ;
 1978 : Mohammad Daoud Khan, qui avait pris le pouvoir en 1973, est assassiné à la suite d’un coup d’État pro-communiste ;
 1979 : Nour Mohammad Taraki est assassiné par son Premier ministre et rival Hafizullah Amin ;
 1979 : Hafizullah Amin est renversé et tué à la suite d’un coup d’État soutenu par l’Union soviétique ;
 1986 : Babrak Karmal, contesté par des révoltes populaires armées, est poussé à la démission par les Soviétiques ;
 1992 : Mohammad Najibullah est déposé et le régime communiste s'effondre ;
 1996 : Les talibans prennent Kaboul et assassinent l'ex-président Mohammad Najibullah ;
 2021 : Les talibans prennent Kaboul et le président Ashraf Ghani quitte Kaboul.

Histoire antique et médiévale 

Convoité par de nombreuses puissances tant régionales que mondiales, l’Afghanistan se trouve sur le chemin de l’Inde lorsque Perses, Grecs, Moghols, ou Turcs tentent d’en prendre le contrôle. Inversement, l’Afghanistan est sur le chemin des empereurs indiens comme Ashoka, dans leur volonté d’expansion vers l’ouest.

L'archéologie de l'Afghanistan a révélé la présence de populations depuis la préhistoire. Des relations ont pu être établies entre les cultures du chalcolithique afghan et les cultures chalcolithiques du Baloutchistan pakistanais. Plus tard une civilisation dite de l'Hilmand (seconde moitié du  millénaire - première moitié du  millénaire) prouve par ses productions artisanales l'étendue et la diversité de ses relations avec le plateau iranien, l'Asie centrale et surtout la bordure occidentale du monde indien. Le site de Mundigak (surtout entre 3000 et 2500 av. J.-C.), sur , en est un témoin significatif. Il est en relation étroite avec un site du Sistan iranien, fondé  av. J.-C. : Shahr-i Sokhta dépasse , le travail du lapis-lazuli et de l'albâtre y sont le signe d'une vie florissante. Des échanges révélateurs s'instaurent avec les premières cultures qui précèdent l'apparition de la civilisation de la vallée de l'Indus. Le développement de celle-ci entraine une réorientation complète des échanges commerciaux : Mundigak et de nombreux autres sites disparaissent alors.

Parallèlement, l’Afghanistan a également été le centre de nombreux pouvoirs forts, d'origine grecque sous le royaume gréco-bactrien, bouddhiste sous l’Empire kouchan, turque du Turkestan afghan (la région nord de l'Afghanistan) sous le règne des empereurs Ghaznévides comme Mahmoud de Ghazni qui conquiert, depuis sa capitale Ghazni (sud de l’Afghanistan), la Perse et l’Inde du Nord. L’Afghan Muhammad Ghûrî, de la dynastie des Ghûrides (originaire de la région de Ghûr ou Ghor, au centre de l’actuel Afghanistan) conquiert à son tour la totalité de l’actuel Afghanistan et l’Inde du nord, où on le considère comme le fondateur du Sultanat de Delhi (en réalité fondé après son passage par un de ses lieutenants turcs, Qûtb ud-Dîn Aibak).

La région va souffrir au  du passage des Mongols de Gengis Khan, qui vont détruire des cités prospères comme Balkh et Bâmiyân et massacrer ses habitants. Après une période de décadence sous de petites principautés qui dominent l’actuel Afghanistan, en 1370, Timur Lang – Tamerlan par les occidentaux – un Turc originaire d’Asie centrale se débarrasse de son beau-frère, s'autoproclame émir dans la cité de Balkh et se lance à la conquête du monde en installant sa capitale à Samarcande (dans l’actuel Ouzbékistan) et fonde l’empire des Timurides. Son fils Shah Rukh Mirza transfère le siège de l’empire à Hérat (dans l’ouest afghan). Cette ville connaît son âge d’or sous le règne du sultan Husayn Bayqara au , avec le développement de l’art timuride, de la littérature et de la connaissance, et devient la capitale impériale et le centre de la connaissance et de la civilisation. En 1510, l’empire Timuride est détruit par l’Ouzbek Mohammad Chaybani. Un prince local timuride de Ferghana, Babur, chassé de son trône par ses oncles et installé à Kaboul, fonde alors un petit royaume autour de Kaboul et Kandahar. Depuis Kaboul, il se lance à la conquête de l’Inde, où il chasse le sultan afghan Ibrahim Lodî du trône de Delhi. Babur fonde la dynastie appelée baburide, connue sous le nom des Grands Moghols de l’Inde. L'Afghanistan, disputé entre les Grands Moghols de l’Inde et les Séfévides de Perse, connaît une période mouvementée. En 1707, le prince afghan de Kandahar, Mirwais Khan Hotaki, de la tribu pachtoune de Ghalzaï, chasse les Perses hors de sa région, et son fils Mahmoud Hotaki repousse les Perses, puis envahit leur pays. Il se fait couronner Shahanshah (roi des rois) à Ispahan, la capitale des Séfévides, par l’empereur déchu des Perses qui lui remet sa couronne et son épée en 1722. En 1739, un Turkmène persan s’autoproclame roi sous le nom de Nader Chah Afshar chasse les Afghans et envahit de nouveau le pays et l'Inde du nord.

L’islamisation 
Au cours de l'expansion arabe et de la conquête de l'Irak, à la suite d'une contre-attaque des Sassanides de Perse en 634 (ou 631/632, Bataille du pont), les premières armées arabo-musulmanes défient leur puissant voisin lors de la bataille d'al-Qadisiyya. La déroute des Sassanides ouvre la voie à l'armée musulmane, qui finit par absorber le vaste empire dont l’Afghanistan était partie intégrante. L’islamisation de l’essentiel du pays prendra plus de . La résistance , la retarde considérablement. La région du Nouristan est la dernière région du pays à se convertir à l’islam : les Nouristanis ne sont majoritairement musulmans que depuis le , soit plus de  après les toutes premières conquêtes arabes.

Après l’installation définitive de l’islam en Afghanistan, celui-ci ne s’est plus étendu par l'action des Arabes, mais surtout par celle des Turcs comme l’empereur Mahmoud de Ghazni, puis de l’Afghan Muhammad Ghûrî. Quant à l’islamisation de l’Inde, le chef militaire afghan Sher Shah Suri y joue un grand rôle alors qu'il est suzerain à Sasaram. Il est notamment à l’origine de la , également connue sous le nom de la Grande marche. Cette route relie le Bengale à Delhi, traverse le Pakistan et se prolonge jusqu'en Afghanistan via la Passe de Khyber. Le tombeau du suzerain, appelé aussi le deuxième Taj Mahal en Inde, figure sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’humanité de l’UNESCO.

Histoire moderne

Les Hotaki et les Durrani 

En 1709, Mirwais Hotak, chef de la tribu pachtoune des Ghilzai, se révolte contre les Séfévides et se taille un royaume indépendant dans la région de Kandahar. Après sa mort, son fils Mahmoud envahit la Perse. Il bat les Séfévides à Gulnabad, entre à Ispahan et se proclame roi de Perse en 1722. La domination afghane sur la Perse ne dure que quelques années : dès 1729, Nader Shah reconquiert Ispahan après la bataille de Damghan.

Kandahar, dernier bastion des Hotaki, est prise par Nader Shah en 1738, qui rétablit ainsi l'autorité perse en Afghanistan. Il s'appuie sur les Abdalis, tribu pachtoune rivale des Ghilzai, et place un prince de cette tribu, Ahmad Khan, à la tête d'un régiment de troupes afghanes durant son invasion de l'Empire moghol. Lorsque Nader Chah est assassiné, en 1747, Ahmad Khan est élu roi des Afghans par la loya jirga et adopte le titre de Durr-i-Durrân, « perle des perles ». Le nom de Durrani reste associé à sa dynastie et à la tribu des Abdalis en général. Il fonde ainsi l'Empire durrani, considéré par l'historiographie comme le premier État afghan.

Bénéficiant d'une situation géopolitique favorable, Ahmad Shah Durrani peut étendre son empire aux dépens des Perses comme des Moghols. À son apogée, son autorité s'étend du Khorassan à l'ouest au Cachemire à l'est, et de l'Amou-Daria au nord à la mer d'Arabie au sud. Sa grande victoire sur les Marathes à Panipat en 1761, lui assure la domination sur le nord-ouest de l'Inde, mais il ne peut s'y maintenir face à la montée en puissance des Sikhs, qui prennent le contrôle de Lahore en 1767.

L'Empire durrani ne survit pas longtemps à la mort d'Ahmad Shah, en 1772. Son fils Timour Shah, en butte à l'hostilité des tribus pachtounes, tente de s'appuyer sur les élites urbaines tadjikes et qizilbash et transfère sa capitale de Kandahar à Kaboul en 1775. Il s'avère incapable d'empêcher le déclin de la dynastie, et après sa mort, en 1793, ses nombreux fils se disputent la succession, chacun étant soutenu par une ou plusieurs tribus pachtounes et gouvernant un territoire réduit autour de l'une des grandes forteresses du pays. Kaboul passe ainsi successivement entre les mains de Zaman Shah (1793-1801), Mahmoud Shah (1801-1803), Shah Shuja (1803-1809) et de nouveau Mahmoud Shah (1809-1819).

Affaibli par ces querelles intestines, l'Empire durrani perd ses territoires périphériques. À l'ouest, l'Empire kadjar conquiert le Khorassan et menace Hérat ; au nord, l'émirat de Boukhara étend son autorité sur les tribus ouzbèkes du nord de l'Hindou Kouch ; au sud, le khanat de Kalat se libère de la tutelle afghane ; à l'est, l'Empire sikh prive les Durranis de leurs riches provinces indiennes. C'est de cette période que date le premier contact entre l'Afghanistan et l'Empire britannique : craignant les visées de Napoléon sur l'Inde, les Britanniques envoient un émissaire, Mountstuart Elphinstone, négocier une alliance défensive avec Shah Shuja en 1809.

L'émirat d'Afghanistan au , un pion dans le « Grand Jeu » 

Les premières décennies du  sont marquées par l'ascension des Barakzaï, une branche des Durranis qui font et défont les derniers empereurs de la dynastie. Un membre de cette famille, Dost Mohammad, s'impose à Ghazni en 1819 avant de prendre le contrôle de Kaboul en 1826 grâce au soutien des Qizilbash. Il ne prend pas le titre de shah, mais seulement d'émir. Il s'oppose à Ranjît Singh, le souverain sikh du Pendjab, qui occupe Peshawar en 1823 et accueille à sa cour l'ancien souverain durrani Shah Shuja.

Les visées de Dost Mohammad sur le nord de l'Inde inquiètent les Britanniques, tout comme l'arrivée à Kaboul de Jan Witkiewicz, premier ambassadeur de l'Empire russe, en 1837. Ils envahissent l'Afghanistan en 1839 pour rétablir Shah Shuja sur le trône et faire du pays un État tampon contre l'avancée russe en Asie centrale. La première guerre anglo-afghane se solde par un désastre pour les Britanniques : de nombreuses révoltes éclatent contre le shah, coordonnées par Dost Mohammad, puis par son fils Wazir Akbar, et le corps expéditionnaire britannique est anéanti durant sa retraite hors de Kaboul à la bataille de Gandamak (). Après une expédition punitive qui aboutit à la destruction du bazar de Kaboul au mois d'octobre, les Britanniques quittent l'Afghanistan, laissant Dost Mohammad reprendre le pouvoir.

Ayant conclu une alliance avec les Britanniques en 1855, Dost Muhammad dirige ses ambitions territoriales dans d'autres directions. Il repousse les frontières septentrionales de l'émirat jusqu'à l'Amou-Daria et conquiert Kandahar, Konar et Hérat. À sa mort, en 1863, l'Afghanistan est à peu près réunifié. Une querelle de succession oppose trois de ses fils jusqu'en 1868, lorsque Sher Ali s'impose grâce au soutien financier britannique. Son règne est marqué par une série de réformes inspirées par le penseur Djemâl ad-Dîn al-Afghâni : création d'un embryon de gouvernement, refonte du système fiscal, développement de l'industrie, fondation de la première école publique du pays, naissance du premier journal afghan, Shams al-nahâr (« Le soleil du jour »).

La seconde guerre anglo-afghane éclate en 1878. Elle est le fruit de la rivalité entre les empires russe et britannique en Asie centrale, un « Grand Jeu » dans lequel l'Afghanistan est un pion crucial. Malgré leur victoire à Maiwand (), les Afghans, écrasés à  (), sont contraints d'accepter le traité de Gandomak, par lequel ils perdent toute indépendance en matière de politique étrangère et doivent céder plusieurs districts frontaliers aux Britanniques.

Un neveu de Sher Ali, Abdur Rahman, gouverne l'Afghanistan de 1880 à 1901. Cette période voit la fixation définitive des frontières du pays au nord et à l'est. Le tracé de la ligne Durand, en 1893, divise artificiellement les Pachtounes entre l'Afghanistan et l'Inde britannique. Une série de campagnes militaires permet à Abdur Rahman d'imposer son autorité à l'intérieur de ces limites : Maïmana est définitivement conquise en 1884, le Hazaradjat en 1893, le Kafiristan en 1896. Ces conquêtes s'accompagnent de mesures particulièrement brutales : les chiites du Hazaradjat sont contraints à l'exil tandis que les habitants polythéistes du Kafiristan sont islamisés de force et rebaptisés Nouristanis. Abdur Rahman se montre tout aussi impitoyable dans la manière dont il écrase les révoltes contre son autorité, qu'il s'agisse de prétendants au trône ou de tribus mécontentes de sa politique fiscale. Il prend des mesures dans le domaine économique et social (abolition de l'esclavage, lutte contre les bandits de grands chemins, construction de routes, développement de l'industrie), mais le développement du pays, entravé par un certain isolationnisme, reste limité à la région de Kaboul.

Habibullah Khan succède à son père en 1901. L'une des premières décisions de son règne est une amnistie générale qui permet le retour au pays de nombreux intellectuels exilés par son père. L'un d'eux, Mahmoud Tarzi, devient le chef de file d'un courant « jeune-afghan » inspiré par les Jeunes-Turcs, qui milite pour la modernisation à marche forcée du pays avec l'aide de conseillers turcs. Un autre courant de pensée (Musahiban), pro-britannique et moins radical, tente d'orienter la politique afghane dans une direction diamétralement opposée. Incapable de choisir entre ces deux partis, l'émir opte pour la neutralité pendant la Première Guerre mondiale, malgré les tentatives allemandes d'attirer l'Afghanistan dans le camp des Empires centraux pour attaquer l'Inde. Il est assassiné en 1919.

Le royaume d'Afghanistan 

Après l'assassinat de Habibullah Khan, son fils Amanullah Khan prend le pouvoir en . Quelques mois plus tard, il déclenche la troisième guerre anglo-afghane, un conflit bref qui lui permet de rendre à l'Afghanistan sa complète indépendance vis-à-vis du Royaume-Uni (traité de Rawalpindi). Embrassant le programme des Tarzi (Mahmoud Tarzi est son beau-père et son ministre des Affaires étrangères), le nouvel émir ouvre son pays au monde et lui donne sa première constitution en 1923. Il adopte le titre royal de shah en 1926.

Le vaste programme de réformes d'Amanullah Khan (amélioration de la condition des femmes, lutte contre la corruption, création de passeports et de cartes d'identité, encouragement à l'investissement privé) suscite de nombreux mécontentements en Afghanistan. En 1924, la rébellion des Mangals est réprimée dans le sang. Quelques années plus tard, à la fin de 1928, un brigand d'origine tadjike, Habibullah Kalakani dit Bacha-e Saqâo (« le fils du porteur d'eau »), profite des révoltes qui secouent le pays pour marcher sur Kaboul. Le roi s'enfuit en  et Kalakani, qui s'est proclamé émir, annule toutes ses réformes et met en place un régime religieux autocratique.

Un cousin d'Amanullah, Nadir Khan, mobilise les Pachtounes contre l'usurpateur tadjik, qui est vaincu en . Nadir Khan monte alors sur le trône sous le nom de Nadir Shah. Une nouvelle constitution est promulguée, mais la majeure partie des réformes libérales d'Amanullah ne sont pas rétablies. Partisan d'une modernisation plus progressive du pays, Nadir Shah est assassiné en 1933 par Abdul Khaliq Hazara, un partisan de l'ancien roi déchu.

Le fils du roi, Mohammad Zaher Shah, lui succède. Bien qu'il soit majeur, ce sont d'abord ses oncles qui exercent la réalité du pouvoir en tant que Premiers ministres :  de 1933 à 1946, puis Shah Mahmud Khan de 1946 à 1953. Resté neutre durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le pays est secoué par une série de révoltes tribales entre 1944 et 1947. La même année, l'indépendance du Pakistan ravive la question de la division des Pachtounes de part et d'autre de la ligne Durand.

En 1953, Shah Mahmud Khan est remplacé par Mohammad Daoud Khan, un cousin du roi. Attaché à la réunion de tous les Pachtounes au sein des frontières afghanes, il conduit les relations avec le Pakistan jusqu'au point de rupture. Les relations diplomatiques sont rompues et la frontière fermée en 1961. Les répercussions économiques pour l'Afghanistan, pays sans accès à la mer, sont graves et entraînent la démission de Mohammad Daoud Khan en 1963. Mohammad Zaher Shah prend alors directement en main les rênes du pouvoir et tente de promouvoir quelques réformes libérales, mais peine à asseoir son autorité face aux membres plus conservateurs de la famille royale. Il réussit cependant à maintenir de bonnes relations avec l'Union soviétique aussi bien qu'avec les États-Unis, jouant les deux superpouvoirs l'un contre l'autre pour moderniser le pays grâce à leur aide économique.

Profitant d'une absence du roi pour raisons de santé, Mohammad Daoud Khan mène un coup d'État pacifique le . Il abolit la monarchie et annonce la création de la république d'Afghanistan, dont il devient le premier chef d'État et de gouvernement.

Histoire contemporaine

1978-1992 : intervention soviétique 

L'intervention soviétique en Afghanistan s’inscrit dans le contexte de la guerre froide, puisque les États-Unis soutiennent le Pakistan face à une Inde qui se voulait le fer de lance des pays non alignés ; l’URSS soutient l’Afghanistan qui avait, depuis 1919, des revendications territoriales sur les régions à majorité pachtounes du Pakistan, ce qui aurait permis à l’Afghanistan de se désenclaver en possédant un accès vers la mer d'Arabie.

À la suite d’un coup d’État fomenté en 1973 par le prince Mohammad Daoud Khan, la monarchie afghane est renversée, et la république d’Afghanistan proclamée. L'État afghan s’éloigne de plus en plus de Moscou.

Le coup d’État du Parti démocratique populaire d'Afghanistan, le 27 avril 1978, renverse le gouvernement de Daoud. Ce dernier est assassiné, de même que de nombreux membres de sa famille. Cependant, ce coup d’État n'a été ni organisé ni soutenu par l'Union soviétique, Léonid Brejnev est furieux, mais finira par soutenir le président Nour Mohammad Taraki en signant en décembre 1978 un traité économique et militaire. Nour Mohammad Taraki (1917-1979), chef du Khalq (fraction radicale et majoritairement pachtoune du PDPA) devient président de la nouvelle république démocratique d'Afghanistan, régime socialiste et prosoviétique. Ce régime met en place une série de réformes collectivistes et sociales (école obligatoire pour les filles, droits des femmes, abolition des dettes paysannes, réformes agraires…) qui contrarient les coutumes ancestrales afghanes. Une répression s'exerce contre les opposants au régime, de nombreux dignitaires religieux sont tués ou emprisonnés. L’émigration des Kirghizes du Pamir afghan en Turquie a lieu à cette époque.

Le 15 mars 1979, la  régulière de l'armée afghane se révolte dans la ville d'Hérat à l'ouest du pays. Elle est dirigée par le capitaine Ismaïl qui deviendra célèbre comme chef de la résistance de la région d'Hérat contre l'Union soviétique sous le nom d'Ismaïl Khan. Les soldats abandonnent leur division et partent dans les montagnes avec les armes dont ils ont besoin. Ils sont rejoints par de nombreuses personnes de la population et entrent en résistance contre le gouvernement, secrètement aidés par la CIA.

Le président Taraki téléphone le  au Premier ministre soviétique Alexis Kossyguine (conversation consignée dans les archives du Kremlin) et lui demande l'intervention discrète de l'Armée rouge. Dans un premier temps, il essuie un refus, car les Occidentaux s'en apercevraient en deux heures. Il obtient gain de cause en conseillant de n'utiliser que des soldats provenant des républiques soviétiques frontalières : un officieux « bataillon musulman », habillé avec des uniformes en laine de chameau.
L'Union soviétique fomente un nouveau coup d’État le  afin de permettre à Babrak Karmal, leader d'une faction plus modérée à l'intérieur du Parti communiste, de devenir président. L’Union soviétique intervient massivement à partir de janvier 1980 pour reprendre le contrôle des zones rebelles (Sud-Est du pays principalement).
Une vive résistance se met en place face à un occupant soviétique qui ne s’attendait pas à une telle réaction. De plus, cette agression soulève une grande émotion dans l’ensemble des pays musulmans et de nombreux islamistes issus de divers pays (Algériens, Bosniaques, Philippins, Saoudiens, Palestiniens, Égyptiens…) se joignent aux moudjahidines. Les Soviétiques ne pourront jamais défaire ces combattants qui utilisent le terrain montagneux afghan pour mener une véritable guérilla financée et soutenue militairement par les États-Unis, le Pakistan, l’Arabie saoudite et diverses associations musulmanes à travers le monde.

Le gouvernement entreprend de réformer ou d'abolir certaines pratiques traditionnelles de nature féodale : la dot et les mariages forcés sont interdits, l'âge minimum légal pour le mariage est rehaussé et l'école est rendue obligatoire pour les filles. Les femmes obtiennent par ailleurs le droit de ne pas porter le voile, de circuler librement et de conduire. Un projet de légalisation du divorce est rédigé, mais n'est finalement pas instauré pour ne pas encourager les insurrections conservatrices. Très optimistes, les dirigeants communistes espéraient éliminer l’analphabétisme en cinq ans. En 1988, les femmes représentaient 40 % des médecins et 60 % des enseignants à l'université de Kaboul. Ces réformes ont sapé l'ordre tribal traditionnel et provoqué une opposition dans les zones rurales. Dans le même temps, le gouvernement a brutalement réprimé l'opposition avec des milliers d'exécutions politiques. Jusqu'à  ont été exécutés à la prison de Pul-e-Charkhi.

Le 30 novembre 1986, Mohammad Najibullah devient président de la République à la place de Karmal. Les troupes gouvernementales doivent faire face à l’aide moindre de l’URSS d’année en année (pour cause de perestroïka) et à une intensification des combats soutenus par le Pakistan voisin ainsi que par les États occidentaux, dont les États-Unis. L’aide américaine aux rebelles, qui reçoivent plusieurs milliards de dollars de subsides et d’armements, devient décisive avec la livraison des missiles Stinger permettant d’abattre les hélicoptères et ruinant une stratégie soviétique de contre-guérilla jusqu’alors plutôt efficace.

L’Union soviétique décide unilatéralement de quitter l'Afghanistan en février 1989, laissant à Mohammad Najibullah le contrôle du pays. Le régime tombe le  après la prise de Kaboul et la démission de Mohammed Nadjibullah le 16 avril.

1992-1996 : la guerre civile 

Le , Ahmed Chah Massoud, futur chef de l’alliance du Nord, entre dans Kaboul avec plusieurs milliers d’hommes et devient ministre de la Défense en mai. Le 28 juin, Burhanuddin Rabbani, musulman modéré du Jamiat-e Islami, est nommé président intérimaire, puis élu chef du gouvernement en décembre. De 1992 à 1995, un gouvernement issu de la résistance afghane prend le pouvoir, mais il y a des dissidences internes. Massoud démissionne du gouvernement afin de permettre à Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, un fondamentaliste appartenant à l’ethnie pachtoune, majoritaire dans le pays, de devenir Premier ministre. Mais les affrontements continuent dans Kaboul entre talibans, forces du gouvernement (Massoud) et moudjahidines (Hekmatyar). La charia est progressivement mise en place entre mai et juillet 1992 (port du hijab obligatoire pour les femmes, interdiction de la musique à la radio, application de la loi islamique, prière obligatoire pour les fonctionnaires…)

 les talibans – étudiants en théologie – appuyés par des groupes armés étrangers, conquièrent peu à peu les différentes provinces du pays. De 1994 à 1996, soutenus par l’armée pakistanaise, ils conquièrent l’essentiel du pays (sauf le réduit tadjik au nord-est) qui est sous le contrôle d’une nébuleuse de groupes armés qui forment l’Alliance du Nord, dont le commandant Massoud est la figure de proue. Des membres du Hezb-e-islami (parti de Hekmatyar) entrent au gouvernement du président Rabbani tandis que Hekmatyar devient Premier ministre. Durant l’été 1996, Oussama ben Laden, fuyant l'Arabie saoudite et après un séjour de deux ans au Soudan, retourne en Afghanistan. Il diffuse une déclaration de djihad contre les Américains.

1996-2001 : régime taliban 

Le 27 septembre 1996, les talibans prennent Kaboul, la secrétaire d’État américaine Madeleine Albright déclare alors que , et les fondamentalistes s’emparent dès lors du pouvoir. Le mollah Omar, chef charismatique du mouvement et commandeur des croyants, dirige le pays sans aucun titre politique ou constitutionnel. Mohammad Najibullah et son frère sont assassinés. Selon Ahmed Rashid, le mollah Abdoul Razzaq se trouvait à la tête du groupe qui s’empare de Naibullah, quelques heures avant l’entrée des talibans dans la capitale. Les talibans instaurent une paix relative après des années de guerre, par le biais de l'application d’une loi islamique très stricte ayant pour but d’instaurer « le plus pur État islamique du monde », fondé sur une application rigoureuse de la charia, émanant de l’école déobandi. Les femmes n'ont plus droit à l'éducation et les exécutions sommaires sont courantes. En 1998, la prise de la ville de Mazar-e-Charif entraîne le massacre par les Talibans de quatre à six mille Hazaras.

En 2001, la destruction des statues de Bouddha préislamiques de Bâmiyân (), inscrites au patrimoine mondial de l’humanité par l’UNESCO, attire l’attention de la communauté internationale. Les autorités du Pakistan dénoncent alors publiquement leur politique extrémiste. Des relations étroites entre des groupes fondamentalistes pakistanais et les talibans perdurent néanmoins, notamment dans la région frontalière.

Le , Massoud est assassiné lors d’un attentat suicide déguisé en une fausse interview par de prétendus journalistes. Cet événement est suivi deux jours plus tard des attentats du 11 septembre aux États-Unis, provoquant un revirement de la politique américaine qui va répondre rapidement à cet attentat.

2001-2021 : intervention de l’OTAN 

Accusant le chef d'Al-Qaïda, Oussama ben Laden, d’être responsable des attentats du 11 septembre, avec le soutien des autorités talibanes, les États-Unis déclenchent une nouvelle guerre d’Afghanistan. Avec l’aide des forces terrestres de l’Alliance du Nord et un soutien aérien des forces de l’OTAN, ils renversent en quelques mois le régime taliban. Hamid Karzai devient alors le nouveau président de l’Afghanistan.

La situation à la mi-2002 semble se stabiliser, même si l’insécurité reste présente dans des régions hors du contrôle du nouveau gouvernement, tandis que les zones sous contrôle de la coalition sont la cible d’attentats. Le président Hamid Karzai est ainsi victime d’une tentative d’assassinat, le , lors d’un voyage dans la région de Kandahar. Après le renversement des talibans en 2001, plus de  d'anciens réfugiés sont retournés en Afghanistan.

Le , l’OTAN prend le commandement de la Force internationale d’assistance et de sécurité (FIAS), à laquelle contribuent  ; elle s’emploie à étendre l’autorité du pouvoir central et à faciliter la reconstruction du pays. Au , une force internationale de près de  stationnait en Afghanistan, s’ajoutant aux  américains toujours présents. Cette coalition, formée sous l’égide de l’ONU, tente d’installer des structures favorisant un retour de la démocratie.

Mais les activités rebelles perdurent : le , cinq membres d’ONG sont tués dans une embuscade au nord-ouest de l’Afghanistan. En septembre 2004, une roquette tombe près d’un collège visité quelques minutes plus tard par le président Hamid Karzaï. Le , à Kaboul, un attentat à la voiture piégée fait plus de sept morts. Les talibans visaient l’entreprise de sécurité américaine Dyncorps, qui s’occupe de la protection du président afghan Hamid Karzai.

Entre la chute des talibans en 2001 et la Loya Jirga de 2003, l’Afghanistan a été appelé « État islamique transitoire d’Afghanistan » par les États-Unis et l’Union européenne, lequel est dirigé par une administration intérimaire, puis par une administration transitoire. Depuis l’élaboration de sa nouvelle constitution, le pays est maintenant officiellement nommé « république islamique d’Afghanistan ».

En 2004, deux ans après l’intervention internationale, l’Afghanistan est redevenu le premier pays producteur mondial de pavot, utilisé pour produire l’opium et l’héroïne.

À partir de 2005, la situation s’aggrave à nouveau. Les talibans, appuyés par des volontaires étrangers, s’infiltrent dans certaines régions. En août 2006, l’OTAN lance l'offensive nommée opération Medusa à l’ouest de Kandahar, mais après la perte d’un avion de surveillance avec quatorze militaires et plusieurs morts au sol notamment par tir ami, son commandant réclame des renforts. Sur les dix premiers mois de 2006, la guérilla et les combats ont fait plus de  en Afghanistan, alors que la production d’opium a augmenté de 60 % pendant l’année. La guerre d’Afghanistan est particulièrement liée à l'insurrection islamiste au Nord-Ouest du Pakistan. L’instabilité politique provoquée par les talibans au Pakistan, pays pivot de l’action américaine (conquête du district de Buner par les talibans, à une centaine de kilomètres d’Islamabad, la capitale), remet en cause la perspective d’une victoire à court terme en Afghanistan. Toutefois, depuis avril-mai 2009, l’armée pakistanaise a multiplié ses offensives contre les talibans mais refuse de s’attaquer aux groupes talibans afghans basés au Waziristan du Nord.

En 2015, la Force internationale d'assistance et de sécurité (FIAS) mise en place par l'OTAN est remplacée par la  destinée à prodiguer conseils et formations à l'armée et aux institutions en place. Après un engagement coûteux ( de dollars,  et  parmi les soldats américains), Donald Trump annonce en décembre 2018 son intention unilatérale de se retirer du pays. Les talibans, presque essentiellement composés de Pachtounes, et soutenus de leur côté par l'autre ancien bloc de la guerre froide, prennent l'avantage dans un énième cycle de négociations de paix entamées à Doha en novembre 2018 : après plusieurs conférences avortées, un accord minimal se conclut à Doha en février 2020, visant surtout à sécuriser le retrait des troupes américaines, à éviter les attentats sur le sol américain, et conditionnant un cessez-le-feu entre talibans et gouvernement au pouvoir à la conclusion de négociations ultérieures.

Un nouveau cycle de négociations démarre à Doha le , dans un climat de guerre persistante. Les talibans continuent leurs offensives militaires dans la province de Helmand, les Américains, qui n'ont pas encore effectués leur retrait, reprennent des attaques aériennes contre eux à partir du 10 octobre.

L'Afghanistan doit aussi faire face à la sécheresse. Selon les Nations unies, celle-ci a forcé plus de personnes à quitter leur domicile en 2018 que la violence qui sévit dans le pays.

2021 : retrait complet des États-Unis et retour au pouvoir des talibans 

Comme le président américain Joe Biden s'y est engagé, les troupes américaines poursuivent leur retrait définitif du pays en 2021. Le lundi 12 juillet, le général Austin Scott Miller, chef des forces américaines et de l'OTAN en Afghanistan, quitte ses fonctions.

Le retrait complet des États-Unis doit être effectif le 11 septembre 2021, date anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 qui avaient déclenché l'intervention américaine dans ce pays, mettant fin à vingt ans de guerre contre les talibans.

Les talibans ont signé des accords de non-agression avec les pays voisins (Chine, Iran, Pakistan, Tadjikistan et Ouzbékistan). Ces deux derniers pays refusent désormais d'accueillir les bases militaires des États-Unis ; le Tadjikistan a en revanche envoyé  à sa frontière avec l'Afghanistan.

En juillet 2021, alors que les talibans revendiquent le contrôle de 85 % du pays et d'importants postes frontières, de nombreux pays font évacuer leurs ressortissants du territoire afghan. Les forces talibanes reprennent rapidement du terrain dans les campagnes et encerclent les grandes villes dont Kaboul, avec, pour objectif, l'instauration d'un régime fondamentaliste islamiste.

Au , les talibans contrôlent 267 districts sur les 407 du pays ainsi que vingt-six capitales provinciales sur trente-quatre. Ils entrent dans la capitale, Kaboul, après la fuite du président Ashraf Ghani.

Le 16 août, le fils du commandant Massoud, Ahmad Massoud, annonce, dans un appel publié à sa demande par la revue du philosophe Bernard-Henri Lévy, qu'il entend mener la résistance de son peuple face aux talibans.

Le 30 août, le dernier avion de l'armée américaine quitte Kaboul, achevant le retrait des États-Unis d'Afghanistan et mettant ainsi un terme à une guerre qui aura duré près de deux décennies.

Politique

Historique 
Avec les accords de Bonn en décembre 2001, une commission constitutionnelle est établie afin de mener des consultations populaires et rédiger une constitution. Celle-ci est présentée en décembre 2003 avant d'être adoptée par une Loya Jirga (Grand Conseil). La loi fondamentale entre en vigueur le , date de la proclamation de la république islamique d'Afghanistan qui fonctionne sous la forme d'un régime présidentiel avec une législature bicamérale.

En 2002, l'ancien monarque Mohammad Zaher Shah est retourné dans le pays ; bien que très populaire, il n'est pas réinvesti du pouvoir royal à sa demande et son rôle se limite uniquement à des fonctions cérémonielles, jusqu'à sa mort en 2007.

Des élections nationales se tiennent le . Plus de  d'Afghans sont enregistrés sur les listes électorales. Plus de 17 candidats s'opposant à Hamid Karzai boycottent les élections, soupçonnant une fraude ; une commission indépendante met en évidence la fraude, mais établit que cela n'affecte pas le résultat du scrutin. Karzai est déclaré élu par 55,4 % des voix. Il est investi de la présidence le 7 décembre. Ce sont les premières élections nationales du pays depuis 1969, date des dernières élections parlementaires, à l'époque de la monarchie.

La politique intérieure du cabinet Karzaï est fondée sur un plan de reconstruction élaboré conjointement par ARTF
et plusieurs ministères clés : du Commerce et de l'Industrie, Économie et Finances, Mines et Ressources Naturelles. Le plan prévoit une privatisation des entreprises publiques ainsi que la création des conditions juridiques et fiscales pour attirer des investissements étrangers. Cette stratégie semble porter ses fruits. En 2007, l'entreprise chinoise  a remporté l'appel d'offres du ministère des Mines et des Ressources naturelles portant sur l'exploitation de la mine de cuivre Ainak avec un investissement initial de  de dollars US. L'Afghanistan recevra en échange près de  d'euros de redevances par an pendant , durée de la concession. Le contrat prévoit également la construction d'une centrale électrique de , d'une ville pour les mineurs, d'un hôpital et de plusieurs écoles. La Chine a par ailleurs promis la construction d'un chemin de fer reliant le port d'Hairatan sur le fleuve Amou-Daria dans le nord, jusqu'à la frontière pakistanaise à Turkham d'une valeur totale de  de dollars US. Ce chemin de fer est considéré comme stratégique pour le développement du pays.

Situation actuelle 
Depuis la prise de Kaboul par les talibans le , l'Émirat islamique d'Afghanistan est dirigé par le  des Taliban, chef des croyants, le mollah Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Le  suivant, les talibans annoncent la formation d'un gouvernement dirigé par Mohammad Hassan Akhund.

Pendant l'année suivante, en dépit de leurs promesses initiales, les talibans reviennent à une interprétation ultra rigoriste de l’islam, excluant progressivement les femmes de l'école, des universités et de l'espace public.

La fin de l'aide humanitaire et le gel des fonds ont aggravé l'extrême pauvreté et, selon l'ONU, la famine menace désormais le pays si rien n'est fait avant l'arrivée de l'hiver 2022.

Le , une délégation de haut niveau de l'ONU se rend en Afghanistan pour relayer l'indignation provoquée par les mesures visant les droits des femmes.

Selon l'indice de démocratie, l'Afghanistan est le régime le moins démocratique du monde depuis 2021, avec un indice de démocratie de 0,32 en 2021 et 2022.

Provinces 

L’Afghanistan est divisé en 34 provinces, ou velayat :

Économie 

L'économie de l'Afghanistan repose essentiellement sur l'agriculture. En raison de problèmes de sécurité intérieure, de corruption endémique et de son historique de conflits et d'occupations, le pays est en 2021 l'un des plus pauvres de la planète ; il est très fortement dépendant de l'aide internationale.

Agriculture 

L'Afghanistan est avant tout un pays agricole. 85 % des Afghans sont des paysans. Avant l'intervention soviétique de 1979, réclamée à cor et à cri par le régime communiste afghan alors en place, l'Afghanistan était connu pour sa production de fruits. Profitant d'un climat avantageux et ensoleillé au Sud et humide au Nord, l'Afghanistan produit une large gamme de fruits qui va du raisin aux pastèques en passant par les cerises, abricots et melons. Alexander Burnes, explorateur britannique, décrivait ainsi les fruits afghans :  Les fruits afghans sont toujours autant prisés par les pays voisins qui absorbent la quasi-totalité de la production.

Une grande partie des terres servent à produire du pavot au détriment de la culture de céréales, de fruits et légumes. La culture du coton a également pâti des années de guerre ( de coton graine étaient produites annuellement avant la guerre) et de la généralisation de la culture du pavot. Cela a pour conséquence une raréfaction de denrées alimentaires sur le marché intérieur et le paradoxe est que l'Afghanistan devient ainsi un importateur de fruits, de céréales et de légumes pour répondre aux besoins intérieurs. En outre, ces produits sont chers et les Afghans pâtissent du renchérissement de ces denrées. La production de pavot reste la principale manne financière du pays. Selon les estimations annuelles de l'ONU, les surfaces dédiées à sa culture ont augmenté de 63 % par rapport à 2016, atteignant le record de  cultivés en 2017. Cette évolution est particulièrement marquée dans le Helmand, région frontalière du Pakistan, où les cultures ont augmenté de 79 % pour recouvrir une surface de . Produisant à elle seule près de la moitié du pavot du pays, cette région consacre désormais un tiers de ses terres cultivables à la culture de l'opium. Même dans les régions du nord, où le pavot était quasi inexistant avant 2012, l’expansion est rapide : en 2014, la culture du pavot représentait  ; en 2017, . Le pays totalise ainsi près de 90 % de la production mondiale d'opium.

L'Afghanistan fut également longtemps producteur de vin jusqu'à l'arrivée des islamistes au pouvoir. Avant 1992, l'Afghanistan produisait aussi des alcools forts comme la vodka.

Quant à ses céréales, la région de Badakhshan, à elle seule, est considérée comme le grenier à blé du pays. Le pays est largement autosuffisant si les terres sont correctement employées aux cultures vivrières.

Eau 
Le pays contient en son centre un massif montagneux qui culmine à plus de  d'altitude appelé Hindou Kouch, le piémont de l'Himalaya. Ce massif montagneux contient des milliers de milliards de mètres cubes d'eau gelée en neiges éternelles. Plus d'une demi-douzaine de fleuves prennent leur source dans ce massif. Les problèmes de sécheresse sont essentiellement dus à l'absence d'un système d'irrigation efficace.

Les rivières forment un riche potentiel hydroélectrique très peu exploité. Quelques barrages hydroélectriques ont cependant été construits (Surobi et Surobi II, Darunta, Mahipar…).

Ressources naturelles 
Au Moyen Âge déjà, certains géographes comme l'Arabe Ibn Hawqal () font état d'une extraordinaire richesse du pays en ces termes : 

En outre, le pays dispose d'autres innombrables richesses en tout genre et un immense potentiel d'exploitation à l'échelle industrielle. Mises au jour par les géologues soviétiques, elles sont estimées à  de dollars par des experts américains. La signature d'un protocole d'accord, le , entre le Ministère des mines et deux compagnies chinoises  et  sur les mines de cuivre d'Aynak, témoigne de ce potentiel.

Métaux 
On peut notamment citer : le plomb, le zinc, l'aluminium, le molybdène, le tungstène, le chrome, le baryum, le lithium, mais aussi des métaux très valorisés comme l'étain et le tantale, sans oublier les incontournables que sont le fer et le cuivre. Pour ce dernier, l'Afghanistan a annoncé en 2010 la signature de la cession d'exploitation de la mine de cuivre Aynak, le plus important investissement étranger civil alors. Les clauses du contrat prévoient un investissement chinois (les gagnants de l'appel d'offres sont  et ) de , la construction du chemin de fer reliant le Nord de l'Afghanistan à la frontière pakistanaise, la construction d'une centrale électrique de  et des royalties calculées sur 40 % des ventes de cuivre réalisées. En outre, l'Afghanistan a obtenu la construction d'une usine de transformation de minerai en lingots de cuivre, ce qui permettra au pays d'en maîtriser la technologie.

Le fer peut également constituer une source importante de devises pour le pays. En effet, selon Albert-Félix de Lapparent, la teneur en fer des gisements découverts au sud du Bâmiyân (centre de l'Afghanistan), dans la région de l', est de l'ordre de 60 %. L'exploitation des minerais de fer n'est pour l'instant pas à l'ordre du jour, mais représente un immense potentiel pour le pays.

Par ailleurs, des gisements d’or ont également été découverts dans des régions assez éloignées les unes des autres. Au Badakhchan, fut découverte dans les années 1960 une importante mine d'or qui n'est pas encore exploitée. Plus récemment une autre mine d'or a été découverte en 2003 près d'Hérat à l'Ouest de l'Afghanistan. L'exploitation a déjà commencé et c'est une entreprise britannique qui l'assure.

Ces gisements de métaux ferreux et non ferreux constituent un potentiel de développement et de croissance considérable tant pour le pays que pour les entreprises qui envisagent d'y investir.

En 2010, une équipe de géologues américains confirme les immenses réserves en métaux que possède le pays : selon cette évaluation, ces gisements, répartis dans tout le pays, seraient suffisants pour faire de l'Afghanistan l'un des premiers exportateurs mondiaux de minerais. Ils mettent en particulier en avant les réserves de lithium, de fer et de cuivre.

Pierres ornementales 
Depuis l'Antiquité, l'Afghanistan est la source principale de lapis-lazuli pour toute la planète. Cette pierre ornementale incrustée de quartz a servi à fabriquer des bijoux qu'on a retrouvés dans les tombes des nobles aussi bien en Inde, qu'en Chine et même en Égypte antique. En outre, le lapis-lazuli a servi de pigment bleu pour la peinture de la période de la Renaissance en Europe. À titre d'exemple, citons le bleu éclatant qui a servi à peindre le ciel sur le dôme de la chapelle Sixtine au Vatican, ou le bleu des palais nasrides à Grenade en Espagne musulmane, ce pigment bleu provient du lapis-lazuli venu sur le dos des chameaux afghans.

Pierres précieuses 
En ce qui concerne les pierres précieuses, hormis le diamant, l'Afghanistan contient quasiment toutes les autres pierres précieuses, parmi lesquelles on peut citer l'émeraude, le rubis, le saphir. Le pays a même donné son nom à une pierre : l'afghanite. Le commerce de l'émeraude et de lapis-lazuli a permis au commandant Massoud de payer la guerre coûteuse qu'il menait contre les talibans.

Énergies fossiles 

Le pays possède d'importants gisements de gaz naturel dont l'exploitation avait commencé il y a plus de  déjà. Dans les années 1980, les réserves étaient estimées par la Banque mondiale à  de m. Des études préliminaires réalisées au début du  montrent que ces évaluations ont été sous-estimées d’au moins 18 fois, les réserves réelles seraient donc plus près de  de m. D'autres experts pensent qu'elles sont encore plus vastes puisque les estimations ne concernaient que le nord et l'ouest. Or certaines poches ont été découvertes dans le Sud et l'Est.

Les réserves de pétrole seraient 90 fois plus grandes que ce que pensaient les Soviétiques dans les années 1980. Aujourd’hui, des compagnies pétrolières comme Unocal, Texaco, BP et Total se sont installés à Kaboul pour remporter des appels d’offres du gouvernement.

Charbon 
Le charbon est exploité au début du  de manière quelque peu rudimentaire par des habitants résidant près des gisements. Son utilisation est encore domestique, essentiellement pour le chauffage. On estime que l'exploitation du charbon en Afghanistan pourrait rendre le pays autosuffisant en termes d'énergie. Son utilisation pose cependant des problèmes sanitaires en raison des conséquences sur la qualité de l'air, notamment dans la capitale Kaboul.

Production de tapis 

L'Afghanistan est l'un des plus grands producteurs de tapis du monde.

Ce secteur d'activité emploie plus d'un million de personnes, soit 3 % de la population. Des millions d'autres personnes travaillent dans des branches d'activités connexes, telles que la production de la laine, la coupe, le lavage et la conception stylistique.

En 2005, les exportations de tapis de l'Afghanistan ont atteint  de dollars US, ce qui en fait officiellement le produit d'exportation le plus important du pays.

Selon une étude réalisée pour le compte de l'Agence des États-Unis pour le développement international, l'importance de ce secteur doublerait si le pays pouvait faire revenir les entreprises qui se sont délocalisées au Pakistan.

Seule une petite proportion des tapis au dessin très élaboré et aux belles couleurs est vendue à l'étranger en tant que produits afghans, car plus de 90 % d'entre eux sont envoyés au Pakistan pour la coupe, le lavage et la finition. Ils sont alors exportés avec une étiquette indiquant qu'ils ont été fabriqués au Pakistan.

Narco-économie 

Depuis le retrait des troupes soviétiques, la production d'opium est une source importante de revenus pour les Afghans. Ainsi dans son livre Afghanistan - Opium de guerre, opium de paix, le journaliste et sociologue Alain Labrousse estime qu'un tiers de l'économie du pays repose sur le trafic d'opium ou de ses dérivés. L'Afghanistan est le premier fournisseur mondial d'opium.

Même durant la période des Talibans, sa production a continué, avec plus ou moins un laisser-aller de la part des autorités talibanes. Le mollah Omar a même déclaré à des journalistes allemands : « À long terme, notre objectif est de nettoyer complètement l'Afghanistan de la drogue. Mais on ne peut pas demander à ceux dont l'existence dépend entièrement de la récolte de passer du jour au lendemain à d'autres cultures. » Il a tout de même ajouté que « si des non-musulmans souhaitent acheter de la drogue et s'intoxiquer, ce n'est pas à nous qu'il appartient de les protéger ». Durant l'été de l'an 2000, les Talibans ont malgré tout décidé de faire cesser complètement la production d'opium, la faisant baisser de plus de 95 %. Le peu d'opium encore produit en Afghanistan le fut très majoritairement sur des territoires contrôlés par l'Alliance du Nord, dont la province du Badakhchan qui produisit à elle seule 83 % du pavot afghan entre l'été 2000 et la fin de 2001 (estimation de  d'opium produites, dont 151 au Badakhchan).

Depuis la fin de la guerre d'Afghanistan en 2001 et la mise en place d'un nouveau gouvernement, la culture du pavot, qui était déjà diffuse à l’époque des Talibans, a aujourd’hui atteint des niveaux records estimés pour 2006 à , ce qui dépasse largement la demande mondiale et concurrence durement les autres produits de la toxicomanie. La production par irrigation de légumes ou de fleurs peut s'avérer possible, mais est très vulnérable aux sabotages.

Selon le rapport annuel de l'Office des Nations unies contre les drogues et le crime (ONUDC), publié le 27 août 2007, la production d'opium en Afghanistan a augmenté de 34 % entre 2006 et 2007. Le montant total de la récolte de pavot s'élèvera à  pour 2007, contre  en 2006. En tout, les terres d'Afghanistan utilisées pour la culture du pavot sont passées de  en 2006 à  en 2007. D'après les enquêteurs de l'ONUDC, la culture du pavot se développe essentiellement là où la présence des talibans est très importante, dans le sud, soit à 80 % dans quelques provinces le long de la frontière avec le Pakistan.

Autre point de comparaison issu de l'ONUDC, d'après ses rapports Opium survey 2001 et Afghanistan Opium Survey 2007, la surface cultivée en pavot est passée de  en 2001 (dont plus de 80 %, , dans la province du Badakhshan, celle qui était à l'époque principalement contrôlée par l'Alliance du Nord), à  en 2007 (dont 70 % dans 5 provinces du Sud-Ouest bordant le Pakistan, principalement celle de Helmand), puis  en 2014. Ceci représente une multiplication par plus de 29 de la surface cultivée entre la dernière année du régime des Talibans et la situation en 2014.

Télécommunications 
En 2011, l'entreprise de téléphonie mobile Roshan est l'une des plus importantes du pays. Portée par les investissements du prince Karim Aga Khan IV, elle a pu se targuer d'être le premier employeur privé du pays.

Il y a trois autres opérateurs de téléphonie mobile, Afghan Wireless, MTN Group et Etisalat. Depuis 2006 la téléphonie fixe est gérée par Afghan Telecom.
 Lignes de téléphone :  (en 2019)
 Téléphones portables :  (en 2019)
 Utilisateurs d'Internet :  (en 2018)
 Nombre de fournisseurs d'accès : 46 (en 2010)
 Postes de radio :  (en 1999)
 Postes de télévision :  (en 1999)

Démographie 

L'Afghanistan n'a jamais réalisé un recensement systématique de sa population, les chiffres exacts sur la taille et la composition des divers groupes ethniques ne sont pas disponibles. Les chiffres suivants manquent de fiabilité.

Les Pachtounes forment le plus grand groupe estimé à plus de 42 % de la population. Le deuxième grand groupe linguistique, parlant le dari, comprend les Tadjiks (27 %) et les Hazaras (9 %) qui habitent le centre. Les Ouzbeks représentent 9 % de la population. Il y a également une présence non négligeable de tribus telles les Aimak (4 %), les Turkmènes (3 %), les Baloutches (< 2 %), les Pashayis ou Nouristanis, les Arabes, les Kirghizes... Le bilinguisme est commun. Un petit nombre de minorités ethniques allogènes d'origine indienne, principalement des sikhs et des hindous, parlent le pendjabi.

Les Afghans sont majoritairement musulmans avec approximativement 80-89 % de sunnites et 10-19 % de chiites. Le reste d'entre eux est hindou, sikh, juif ou chrétien. Les hindous et sikhs représentent aujourd'hui 0,3 % de la population contre 1 % dans les années 1970, car beaucoup ont fui pendant la guerre civile des années 1990 vers les contrées voisines, l'Europe ou l'Amérique. Avec la chute des Talibans, des sikhs sont retournés dans la province de Ghazni d'Afghanistan.

L'Afghanistan possède le taux de fécondité le plus élevé d'Asie : plus de cinq enfants par femme en moyenne.

 Population :  (en 2022).  : 40,92 % ;  : 21,85 % ;  : 30,68 % ;  : 3,95 % ; +  : 2,4 %
 Taux de migration :  /  (en 2018)
 Espérance de vie des hommes :  (en 2018)
 Espérance de vie des femmes :  (en 2018)
 Taux de croissance de la pop. : +2,37 % (en 2018)
 Taux de natalité :  /  (en 2018)
 Age moyen 18.4 ans (en 2022)

 Taux de mortalité :  /  (en 2018)
 Taux de mortalité infantile :  /  (en 2018)
 Taux de fécondité :  (en 2018)

Culture 

Beaucoup de monuments historiques du pays ont été endommagés dans les guerres récentes et d'autres détruits comme les deux célèbres statues de Bouddha dans la province de Bamiyan en 2001 par les talibans. En 2017, le site bouddhiste de Mes Aynak est menacé de destruction par l'industrie minière.

Avant 1980, il y avait une tradition de francophonie chez les élites et classes favorisées de l'Afghanistan, et le roi Zaher Chah était francophone, ainsi qu'environ . L'anglais était sans doute plus parlé, et sensiblement plus important. La Poste d'Afghanistan a émis des timbres avec légendes en français jusqu'en 1996. Avec la guerre civile, et l'avènement des Talibans, les rares Afghans qui parlaient des langues étrangères parlaient persan, arabe, et anglais. Un grand nombre d'Afghans proches du régime communiste, entre 1978 et 1992, savent parler le russe. Les deux lycées français furent fermés en 1979 ; ils sont de nouveau ouverts depuis 2003, ainsi que d'autres établissements scolaires, américains, britanniques, etc.

Les talibans, au pouvoir, ont demandé aux chaînes de télévision d'éviter de diffuser à l'antenne des films ou des séries mettant en scène des femmes. Ils ont d'ailleurs précisé que les femmes journalistes intervenant à la télévision doivent porter le voile islamique.

Religion 

Les Afghans sont musulmans à 99 %. Il y a environ 80 % de sunnites.

Depuis août 2021, la grande majorité des Hindous et Sikhs qui vivaient en Afghanistan sont rapatriés en Inde. Après l'installation du régime des Talibans, il ne resterait plus que moins de 250 Hindous et Sikhs en Afghanistan, tous concentrés à Kaboul, dans un même quartier.

Historiquement, l'Afghanistan entretient de bons rapports avec le monde indien, recevant de nombreux marchands, commerçants ou négociants indiens, musulmans, hindous, ou sikhs et cela, depuis bien avant la colonisation européenne. Même depuis la partition de l'Inde et du Pakistan en 1947, l'Afghanistan entretient de bonnes relations diplomatiques et commerciales avec l'Inde et le Pakistan, et reçoit de nombreux visiteurs qu'ils soient musulmans, hindous, ou sikhs pour des échanges commerciaux. La situation change après la chute du régime communiste, en 1992, et surtout avec l'arrivée des talibans, après 1996. Depuis 2001, cependant, avec l'arrivée de l'armée américaine, et le départ du régime des talibans, il y a un timide retour d'hommes d'affaires indiens hindous et sikhs.

 En 1978, il y avait environ  en Afghanistan.

De nos jours, les Talibans, qui sont au pouvoir en Afghanistan, ont des relations diplomatiques importantes avec la Chine. La république populaire de Chine, état officiellement athée, n'a émis aucune demande particulière à propos des Bouddhistes en Afghanistan. En revanche, les Japonais, se disent préoccupés du sort des Bouddhistes dans ce pays, au moment où les Talibans refusent aux Japonais de restaurer le site Bouddhiste de Bâmiyân.

Selon la publication annuelle de l'Index mondial de persécution des chrétiens de l'ONG Portes ouvertes, l'Afghanistan est en 2022, le premier pays du monde en termes de persécution des chrétiens après la Corée du Nord. Second du classement pendant de nombreuses années, il en prend la tête cette année là à la suite du retour au pouvoir des talibans.

L'Afghanistan compte aussi de faibles effectifs de baha'is ainsi que d'ahmadis, groupe religieux dissident de l'islam qui n'est pas reconnu comme musulman par de nombreux musulmans afghans.

Santé 
L'accès à l'eau potable n'est pas acquis dans tout le pays, de même pour le système médical, alors que de nombreuses maladies à transmission vectorielle endémiques ou récemment introduites (notamment transmise par des moustiques, tiques, mouches, poux, etc.) touchent le pays, en tout ou en partie : fièvre hémorragique de Crimée-Congo, paludisme, fièvre pappataci, dengue, fièvre jaune, encéphalite japonaise, maladie du sommeil, leishmaniose cutanée, peste, fièvre de la vallée du Rift, chikungunya, bilharziose, poussières en aérosol ou maladie du contact avec le sol, fièvre de Lassa, filariose, fièvre des tranchées, fièvre boutonneuse méditerranéenne, leishmaniose cutanée (zoonose), leishmaniose cutanée (anthropisation), Leishmaniose viscérale, fièvre Q, fièvre pourprée des montagnes Rocheuses, fièvre jaune, virus du Nil occidental, fièvre de Sindbis, fièvre pourprée des montagnes Rocheuses de Sibérie, typhus à tetranychidae (typhus des broussailles), typhus à poux, typhus murin, fièvre récurrente mondiale, leptospirose (à Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae, L. hebdomadis, L. tarassovi, L. grippotyphosa, L. pomona, L. javanica, L. canicola, L. ballum, L. bataviae). Le pays est aussi touché par la rougeole, la diphtérie, la méningite, la grippe, la tuberculose, des infections respiratoires aiguës, la méningite à méningocoques, la poliomyélite, le charbon, la rage, la rougeole, Escherichia coli entérotoxinogène, Campylobacter, Shigelle, Salmonella, Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis, Entamoeba histolytica, amibiases, hépatite A, hépatite E, fièvre typhoïde et paratyphoïde.

Éducation 

Au printemps 2003, on estimait que 30 % des  d'Afghanistan avaient été sérieusement endommagées pendant la vingtaine d'années de l'occupation soviétique et de la guerre civile. Seulement la moitié des écoles ont indiqué avoir de l'eau potable, tandis qu'un peu moins de 40 % estimait avoir un état sanitaire adéquat. L'éducation pour les garçons ne fut pas une priorité pendant le régime des Talibans, tandis que les filles en furent complètement bannies.

Une étude de 2002 menée par le groupe d'aide Save the Children indique qu'en regard de la pauvreté et de la violence de leur environnement, les enfants afghans s'adaptent. L'étude donne du crédit aux institutions fortes de la famille et de la communauté.

Plus de quatre millions d'enfants afghans, sans doute le nombre maximal, sont reconnus avoir été scolarisés pendant l'année scolaire qui a débuté en mars 2003. L'éducation est maintenant accessible aux garçons et aux filles.

Le niveau d'alphabétisation de la population est estimé en 2018 à 55.5 % pour les hommes et 29.8 % pour les femmes. Entre 2016 et 2020, le taux moyen est passé de 34,8 % à 43 %. En Afghanistan, beaucoup de filles ne reçoivent aucune instruction et celles qui vont à l'école n'y restent en général pas plus de quatre ans.

Fêtes et jours fériés

Droits des femmes 

Dans un pays traditionnellement patriarcal, après une période plutôt favorable sous l'occupation soviétique, les conditions de vie des femmes se dégradent, dans un contexte de conflits militaires, de difficultés économiques et de l'application de la charia depuis 1992. L'arrivée des talibans au pouvoir en 1996 renforce cette situation. En 2021, après le retrait des troupes américaines, la reprise en main du pays par les talibans entraine une nouvelle dégradation de leur conditions et de leurs libertés individuelles.

Langues

Transports 
 Routes :  (dont  goudronnés) (en 2017)
 Voies ferrées : 
 Voies navigables :  (en 2011)
 Nombre d'aéroports : 46 (dont 29 avec des pistes goudronnées) (en 2020)

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 
 .
 .
 .
  (Géologie, biologie, archéologie et cultures)
 .
 .
 .
 
 Pierre Centlivres, 'The Controversy over the Buddhas of Bamiyan', South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal, 2|2008 The Controversy over the Buddhas of Bamiyan
 .
 .
 .
 
 .
 .
 .
 Gilles Dorronsoro Kabul at War (1992-1996) : State, Ethnicity and Social Classes, South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal Kabul at War (1992-1996) : State, Ethnicity and Social Classes
 .
 .
 .

Articles connexes 
 Ahmed Zia Massoud
 Commandant Massoud
 Cuisine afghane
 Hekmatyar
 
 Liste des dirigeants des provinces d’Afghanistan
 Narco-économie en Afghanistan
 Direction nationale de la sécurité
 Corridor Lapiz-lazuli

Liens externes

Lalgèbre de Boole, ou calcul booléen, est la partie des mathématiques qui s'intéresse à une approche algébrique de la logique, vue en termes de variables, d'opérateurs et de fonctions sur les variables logiques, ce qui permet d'utiliser des techniques algébriques pour traiter les expressions à deux valeurs du calcul des propositions. Elle fut lancée en 1854 par le mathématicien britannique George Boole. L'algèbre de Boole trouve de nombreuses applications en informatique et dans la conception des circuits électroniques.

Elle fut utilisée la première fois pour les circuits de commutation téléphonique par Claude Shannon.

Exemple introductif 
L'algèbre de Boole des fonctions logiques permet de modéliser des raisonnements logiques, en exprimant un « état » en fonction de conditions. Par exemple, si nous étudions l'expression Communication et l'expression Décrocher :
 Communication = Émetteur ET Récepteur
Communication serait « VRAI » si à la fois les variables Émetteur ET Récepteur étaient actifs (c'est une fonction logique dépendant des variables Émetteur et Récepteur)
 Décrocher = (Sonnerie ET Décision de répondre) OU Décision d'appeler
Décrocher serait « VRAI » soit si à la fois on entend la sonnerie ET l'on décide de répondre, soit (OU) si simplement l'on décide d'appeler.

L'algèbre de Boole étant un domaine commun à trois disciplines, on rencontre des notations différentes pour désigner un même objet. Dans le reste de l'article, on indiquera les diverses notations, mais on en privilégiera une pour conserver une certaine homogénéité.

Algèbre de Boole des valeurs de vérité 
On appelle B l'ensemble constitué de deux éléments appelés valeurs de vérité {VRAI, FAUX}. Cet ensemble est aussi noté
 
 .
avec  pour  et   pour .

On privilégiera dans la suite la notation .

Sur cet ensemble on peut définir deux lois (ou opérations) binaires, les lois ET et OU, et une  opération unaire, la négation (ou le complémentaire).

Pour l'ensemble des exemples et propriétés suivantes,

Conjonction 

Elle est définie de la manière suivante : a ET b est VRAI si et seulement si a est VRAI et b est VRAI.

Cette loi est aussi notée :
 : Opérateur point ;
 ;
 « & » ou « && » : cette implémentation fait partie de plusieurs langages de programmation tels que Perl, C, PHP, Swift ; 
 « and » ou « AND » : la plupart des langages de programmation comme, par exemple, Ada, Pascal, Perl, Python, PHP proposent cette fonction ; 
 « ∧ » : utilisée dans plusieurs notations algébriques et en APL ; 
 « * » ; le symbole d'une multiplication ordinaire est utilisée dans quelques langages ne disposant pas de fonction adaptée.

On privilégiera dans la suite la notation «  ».

La table de cette loi (analogue à une table d'addition ou de multiplication) n'est pas  une table de vérité.

Disjonction 

Elle est définie de la manière suivante : a OU b est VRAI si et seulement si a est VRAI ou b est VRAI. (En particulier, si a est vrai et que b est vrai aussi, alors a OU b est vrai.)

Cette loi est aussi notée :

 « ∨ » («  ») en mathématiques (et en logique mathématique) ou en APL ;
 «|» ou «||» dans certains langages de programmation ;
 en toutes lettres « or » ou « OR » en logique ou dans certains langages de programmation.

On privilégiera dans la suite la notation  mais on prendra garde du fait que cette loi n'est pas l'addition usuelle dans Z/2Z. C'est pourquoi, en mathématiques et en logique mathématique, la notation  n'est pas utilisée pour désigner le « ou inclusif » : elle est réservée au « ou exclusif », opération qui (jointe au « et ») fait de toute algèbre de Boole un anneau de Boole, en particulier une Z/2Z-algèbre.

Négation 

La négation de a est VRAIE si et seulement si a est FAUX.

La négation de a est notée :
 non-a, non a, not a

 « ~a » dans quelques notations algébriques, en APL et dans quelques langages d'interrogation de bases de données (SQL…) ;
 « ! » dans quelques langages de programmation (C, C++…) ;
 « 1- » dans quelques langages ne disposant pas de fonctions adaptées (Batch…) (puisque 1-0=1 et 1-1=0).

On privilégiera dans la suite la notation .

On obtient alors  et .

Propriétés

Propriétés des opérateurs 
Les opérateurs sont concernés par plusieurs propriétés communes :

 associativité :  , qui est parfois écrit pour cette raison :  et , qui est parfois écrit pour cette raison :  ;
 commutativité :  et  ;
 distributivité :  et   ;
 idempotence :  et  .

Par ailleurs, chaque opérateur possède un élément neutre et un élément absorbant :
  ;
  ;
  ;
  ;
Des simplifications sont possibles comme :
  ;
  ;
  ;
 .
le théorème du consensus s'applique aux opérateurs de l'algèbre de Boole :
 .
Enfin, ils suivent le principe de complémentarité :
 involution :  ( la proposition "La lumière est allumée" équivaut à "la lumière n'est pas non allumée" ou, dit autrement, "la lumière n'est pas éteinte").
 tiers exclu :  (la proposition "lumière allumée" OU "lumière non allumée" est toujours VRAI.).
 contradiction ou antilogie :  (la proposition "lumière allumée" ET "lumière non allumée" est toujours FAUX.).

Structure 
On retrouve alors toutes les propriétés qui confèrent à B une structure d'algèbre de Boole.

Priorité 
Pour alléger les écritures, il est d'usage que les opérations booléennes soient soumises aux mêmes règles de priorité que les opérations arithmétiques usuelles : la fonction ET (multiplication logique) est ainsi prioritaire par rapport à la fonction OU (somme logique). Ainsi :

Il reste possible de placer des parenthèses dans les calculs pour changer l'ordre de priorité des opérations.

Lois de De Morgan

Fonctions logiques 

Mathématiquement, une fonction logique ou opérateur logique est une application de Bn dans B.

En électronique, une fonction logique est une boîte noire qui reçoit en entrée un certain nombre de variables logiques et qui rend en sortie une variable logique dépendant des variables d'entrée. L'article fonction logique précise comment construire les boîtes noires de quelques fonctions fondamentales.

Une table de vérité permet de préciser l'état de la sortie en fonction des états des entrées. Elle caractérise la fonction logique.

Toute table de vérité, et donc toute fonction logique, peut se décrire à l'aide des trois opérations de base :
 disjonction (OU) ;
 conjonction (ET) ;
 négation (NON).

On démontre aussi qu'il existe exactement  fonctions logiques de  paramètres. Il suffit en effet de considérer toutes les tables de vérités possibles, ou de considérer le développement d'une fonction de  paramètres.

Fonctions logiques fondamentales

Fonctions logiques composées 
Ce sont les fonctions logiques à deux variables. Parmi celles-ci, on en dénombre certaines suffisamment intéressantes pour qu'on leur donne un nom.

Disjonction exclusive 

Le OU étudié jusqu'à présent doit se comprendre de la manière suivante : « l'un ou l'autre ou les deux ». Il est également appelé « OU inclusif ». Le OU exclusif (ou XOR pour ' eXclusive OR') s'entend comme : « l'un ou l'autre, mais pas les deux ».

 a XOR b

On peut également le définir avec un modulo sur une somme ordinaire :

Le « ou exclusif » est parfois noté par le signe arithmétique  (différent de). Fonctionnellement, on utilise aussi un + entouré :.

Propriété - Toute table de vérité, toute fonction logique, peut se décrire à l'aide de la constante 1 et des deux opérations : disjonction exclusive et conjonction, car :

Équivalence 

L'équivalence (notée EQV ou XNOR) est vraie si les deux entrées ont la même valeur et fausse sinon.
C'est la négation du « ou exclusif ».
 Léquivalence peut s'écrire 

L'équivalence est souvent notée par le signe .
Elle peut aussi être notée « == » dans certains langages (C++, PHP…) et « ⊙ » en électronique.

 Implication 

L'''implication (notée IMP) s'écrit de la manière suivante 

Cette opération n'est pas commutative. a est une condition suffisante pour b, qui, elle, est une condition nécessaire' pour a.

Mais

 Inhibition 

Linhibition (notée INH) se compose comme suit :

Si a est VRAI, l'expression vaut VRAI, SAUF si b est VRAI.

Cette opération n'est pas commutative.

 Exemple de fonctions logiques à trois ou quatre variables 
 Fonction logique à trois variables 

L'égalité

traduit la situation pratique suivante : On décroche un téléphone quand on décide d'appeler quelqu'un ou quand le téléphone sonne et qu'on décide de répondre''.

Elle est constituée de trois variables :
 a = « Sonnerie » ;
 b = « Décision de répondre » ;
 c = « Décision d'appeler ».
la variable d = « Décrocher » est fonction logique des 3 précédentes et peut s'écrire

La table de vérité de cette fonction d est alors la suivante (à droite) :

La table indique une situation absurde : quand on décide d'appeler quelqu'un et que le téléphone sonne sans qu'on ait envie de répondre, on décrocherait quand même. Une modification de la table comme ci-contre corrigerait cette absurdité. Cette table correspond à une fonction logique Décrocher d2 ou d2 qu'il est possible de déterminer et simplifier en .

Fonction logique à quatre variables 
Un bon élève s'interroge s'il est sage de sortir un soir. Il doit décider en fonction de quatre variables :
 a = il a assez d'argent ;
 b = il a fini ses devoirs ;
 c = le transport en commun est en grève ;
 d = l'automobile de son père est disponible.

Cet élève pourra sortir si :
 il a assez d'argent, a = vrai ;
 il a fini ses devoirs, donc b = vrai ;
 le transport en commun n'est pas en grève, donc c = faux ;
 ou si l'automobile de son père est disponible, donc d = vrai.

L'expression logique de sortir en fonction de l'état des variables a, b, c et d peut donc s'écrire ainsi :

Factorisation d'une expression 
Une fonction logique peut être déterminée
 soit sous forme d'une expression faisant intervenir les 3 opérations (, , )
 soit sous forme de sa table de vérité. Dans ce cas il sera toujours possible d'effectuer un développement pour écrire cette fonction comme une somme de produits.

Exemple : Dans l'exemple de "Décrocher2", la lecture de la table montre que  égale  quand  ou  ou  ou .

Il est possible de trouver une expression minimisant le nombre de termes et le nombre de lettres dans chaque terme. C'est l'objectif de certaines techniques comme la méthode de Quine-Mc Cluskey, les diagrammes de Karnaugh, la méthode des consensus, la double dualisation…

Exemple (suite) : la somme précédente peut être réduite par factorisation des deux premiers termes par  et factorisation des deux derniers termes par

Arbre d'expression 

Les expressions logiques sont souvent représentées en informatique sous forme d'arborescence.

À un premier sommet (racine) sont rattachés différents sous-arbres (ou branches). Les sommets sans issue sont appelés feuilles.

Chaque sommet interne correspond à un sélecteur booléen  « si  alors  sinon  », qui ramène une question  à deux sous-questions plus simples, éventuellement réduites à 1/vrai ou 0/faux.

L'évaluation d'une fonction f dépendant d'une variable q choisie pour la première question est alors , qui ramène à deux expressions indépendantes de .

Soit  ; on peut écrire  

Les arbres dépendant de l'expression et de l'ordre des questions, pour une même expression certains questionnaires seront plus simples que d'autres.

Notes et références

Annexes

Articles connexes 

 Opération bit à bit
 Les lois de la pensée

Bibliographie

Ada est un langage de programmation orienté objet dont les premières versions remontent au début des années 1980.

Présentation 
Ada est un langage de programmation conçu par l’équipe de CII-Honeywell Bull dirigée par Jean Ichbiah en réponse à un cahier des charges établi par le département de la Défense des États-Unis (DoD). Les premiers travaux autour du projet ont commencé à la fin des années 1970 et dès 1979 un preliminary ADA reference manual est publié dans la revue du Special Interest Group on Programming Languages de l'ACM. La première version validée du projet sort au début des années 1980  sous le nom d'Ada 83.

Pour développer le langage, l'équipe de Jean Ichbiah s'est inspirée de son précédent langage LIS (Langage d'Implémentation de Systèmes), conçu à la CII pour permettre le développement de systèmes d'exploitation portables (à 95 %, disait Ichbiah).

Ada 83 a été ensuite repris et amélioré au milieu des années 1990 pour donner Ada 95, le second langage objet normalisé de manière internationale (publié en , il est précédé de peu par Common Lisp, publié en ). Sous les auspices de l’Organisation internationale de normalisation (ISO), le langage a bénéficié d'un amendement (Ada 2005) puis d'une nouvelle révision appelée Ada 2012.

Le nom « Ada » a été choisi en l’honneur d’Ada Lovelace, sans doute la première informaticienne de l’histoire. Il est associé à la couleur verte car, lors de l’appel d’offres du DoD, les différentes propositions étaient désignées par des couleurs pour éviter tout biais, et l’équipe qui l’a conçu était l’équipe verte.

Voici quelques particularités d’Ada :
 typage statique ;
 module par les paquetages et contrôle fin de la visibilité ;
 syntaxe claire et non ambiguë (inspirée de celle du langage Pascal) ;
 généricité ;
 programmation par contrat ;
 multi-tâche ;
 traits temps réel intégrés au langage (tâches, objets protégés, interruptions) ;
 bibliothèques normalisées ;
 liens avec les autres langages ;
 annexes temps réel avec le Profil Ravenscar pour les systèmes sûrs ;
 le document de la norme ISO est librement téléchargeable (voir ci-dessous).

Il est souvent utilisé dans des systèmes temps réel et embarqués nécessitant un haut niveau de fiabilité et de sécurité. De nos jours, Ada est employé bien sûr par son initiateur, mais aussi dans toutes les techniques de pointe : en France, l’automobile, les transports ferroviaires (Alstom, Siemens Mobility, Ansaldo STS), les technologies aéronautiques (Thales Land and Air Systems, Thales Avionics, Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space) et les technologies spatiales (Thales Alenia Space, ArianeGroup, CNES, Arianespace).

En 2013, il est possible de trouver des compilateurs Ada pour certains systèmes d’exploitation (Windows, Linux, VxWorks) et architectures matérielles, y compris un compilateur libre (GNAT, inclus dans GNU Compiler Collection) compilant de l’Ada 83/95/2005/2012.

Ada est parfois utilisé en introduction aux cours de programmation informatique avancée, et il peut être utilisé pour les cours d'introduction à la programmation.

Autres langages dans la mouvance Ada 
Ada est inspiré du langage Pascal dont il a repris tant l'esprit de la syntaxe que de l'architecture. Le langage Ada a inspiré Bertrand Meyer pour la conception du langage Eiffel, qui a ajouté des notions de programmation par contrat (mais se montre moins adapté à l'industrie sous certains aspects). La notion de programmation par contrat, formalisée par Bertrand Meyer avec Eiffel, a amené la création d'une extension au langage Ada, , pour lui faire supporter des notations permettant d'exprimer des assertions contractuelles dans les spécifications. La programmation par contrat (des sous-programmes ou des types d'objets) est finalement intégrée dans la version Ada 2012.

Ada a inspiré le langage PL/SQL dans le domaine des bases de données, ainsi que le langage VHDL pour les architectures matérielles.

Le langage Ada est également à la base de la conception des différents langages de la norme CEI 61131-3, en particulier la partie déclarative commune à tous les langages et le langage ST (texte structuré).

"Hello, world!" en Ada 95 ou Ada 2005 
Un exemple courant pour montrer la syntaxe d’un langage est le programme Hello world :

with Ada.Text_IO; -- Bibliothèque

-- Déclaration de la procédure "Hello"
procedure Hello is
begin
  -- Imprimer "Hello, world!" à l'écran
  Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("Hello, world!");
end Hello;

Il existe des raccourcis pour Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line nécessitant moins de caractères, mais ils ne sont pas utilisés ici pour des raisons de compréhension. Pour des explications plus détaillées, vous pouvez consulter Wikibooks:Ada Programming/Basic.

Bref historique 
 1974 : le département de la Défense américain s'aperçoit qu’il gaspille énormément d’argent en utilisant grosso modo un langage de programmation par application, et en entretenant des programmes écrits dans des langages obsolètes endémiques ou exotiques. Certaines sources avancent le chiffre de  de programmation employés en ces lieux.Le résultat de cette prise de conscience est l’élaboration, en trois ans, du cahier des charges d’un langage unique, suffisamment souple et puissant pour remplacer tous les autres, que ce soit pour le guidage de missiles ou les travaux sur l’intelligence artificielle en passant par les applications de gestion.
 1977 : le département lance un appel d’offres, remporté par une équipe dirigée par le Français Jean Ichbiah.
 1980 : Jean Ichbiah fonde la compagnie Alsys ().
 1983 : Ada83 est normalisé aux États-Unis par l’ANSI (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A-1983).
 1987 : Ada83 fait l’objet de la norme internationale ISO 8652:1987.
 1990 : à partir des améliorations apportées par les différents développeurs de compilateurs, l’Ada Joint Program Office lance un projet de révision du langage.
 1991 : Alsys est revendu à Thomson-CSF et devient TSP (Thomson Software Products).
 1992 : un contrat est passé entre le comité de révision (Ada9X Program Office) et l’Université de New York pour le développement d’un compilateur de référence pour le nouveau langage, qui sera librement disponible. Ce compilateur, GNAT, est basé sur la technologie GCC de GNU.
 1994 : la société Ada Core Technologies (aujourd’hui AdaCore) est fondée par les membres du projet GNAT pour poursuivre la maintenance du compilateur et en assurer la commercialisation et le support.
 1995 : la révision tant attendue arrive à son terme, Ada95 voit le jour. Une norme révisée est publiée, ISO/CEI 8652:1995. Ada95 est le premier langage mettant en œuvre la programmation orientée objet à faire l’objet d’une norme ISO. Le compilateur GNAT couvre l’intégralité de la norme Ada95, y compris l’ensemble de ses annexes optionnelles.
 1996 : TSP devient Aonix.
 2000 : l’Ada Conformity Assessment Authority (ACAA) publie un ensemble de corrections mineures accumulées au cours des cinq années précédentes : le Technical Corrigendum 1.
 2003 : un rapport du  prédit la mort du langage Ada malgré sa supériorité sur les autres.
 2007 : l'ISO publie l'Amendement 1 au langage qui introduit de nouvelles fonctions et officialise de nombreuses améliorations proposées initialement par les différents développeurs de compilateurs. Cette version du langage porte le nom d'Ada 2005, année durant laquelle l'Amendement fut figé pour publication par l'ISO.
 2012 : l'ISO publie une nouvelle révision de la norme (Ada 2012), qui apporte notamment des facilités syntaxiques, la programmation par contrat, le support des architectures multi-cœurs, et une extension de la bibliothèque prédéfinie.
 2016 : Parution d'un corrigendum technique à Ada 2012

Voir aussi

Articles connexes 

 GNAT (compilateur Ada libre)
 MaRTE OS (système d'exploitation temps réel écrit en Ada)

Liens externes 
 
 
 
  Ada Information Clearinghouse : les documents normatifs et bien d'autres choses encore.
  Ada Conformity Assessment Authority : ce groupe indépendant supervise la vérification de conformité des mises en œuvre du langage (autrefois appelé « validation ») et pilote le processus d’amendement et d’amélioration de la définition du langage.
 Ada France : cette association organise un concours tous les ans avec des prix élevés ( pour le premier prix).
  Les pages libres d’AdaCore : AdaCore propose ici en téléchargement ses outils GPL notamment le compilateur GNAT et l’environnement de développement GPS.
 Developpez : diverses ressources sur Ada.
 un cours Ada95 complet (sauf temps réel)
  MIL-STD-1815A, Ada Programming Language
  Site d'information sur Ada 2012

Bibliographie 

 
 
 
 
 
 Léa-Linux : Introduction au langage Ada.
 Simon Descarpentries, Ada95 et GTK+, le duo gagnant ? Article paru dans GNU/Linux Magazine France
 Jean-Pierre Rosen, Méthodes de génie logiciel avec Ada (WikiBook)

Notes et références 

Langage de programmation
Langage orienté objet
Ada
Programmation concurrente
Invention française

LAuvergne ( ou Euvarnhà) est une région historique et culturelle située dans le centre de la France, au cœur du Massif central.

De 1941 à 1946 et de 1956 à 2015, la région Auvergne fut également une région administrative française composée des quatre départements de l'Allier, du Cantal, de la Haute-Loire et du Puy-de-Dôme. Sa plus grande ville, Clermont-Ferrand, en était le chef-lieu. Cette région a été supprimée le  par la loi sur l'Acte  de la décentralisation. Les départements qui la composaient font maintenant partie de la nouvelle région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Avec plus de  d'histoire, l'Auvergne est une des plus anciennes régions de France et une des mieux identifiées. Toutefois, son territoire est perçu de façon variable et le géographe Pierre Bonnaud compte quatre définitions possibles pour les contours de la région. Ainsi, en plus de l’ancienne région administrative, il y a deux Auvergne historiques. La première a existé jusqu'au  et correspond à la cité des Arvernes ou Arvernie qui se perpétua avec le diocèse primitif de Clermont. La constitution du duché de Bourbon confisqua le nord de son territoire et laissa une province plus petite au .

Enfin, dans limaginaire parisien, l'Auvergne apparaît souvent comme une région plus vaste. Au  et au  une vague d'immigration venant d'Auvergne, de l'Aveyron, de la Lozère et de la montagne limousine a submergé la capitale. Elle y a imposé son folklore et a été identifiée comme celle des « Auvergnats de Paris » ou « bougnats ». Il n'est pas rare que toute la partie sud du Massif central soit ainsi assimilée à l'Auvergne. Clin d’œil à l'histoire, cette aire territoriale fait penser à celle des peuples vassaux des Arvernes sous l’Antiquité.

Même si cette région n’a plus de concrétisation administrative, son histoire et sa géographie lui donnent une profonde cohérence. Sa métropole, Clermont-Ferrand, la polarise en totalité et confirme cette unité.

Dénomination et blason 
L'Auvergne tient son nom du peuple des Arvernes, dont le nom est généralement interprété comme « ceux qui vivent devant des terres plantées d'aulnes » par composition du préfixe gaulois are (« près de », « devant ») et de verno ou uerno (« aulnes » ou « aulnaies »). Le nom Auvergne est écrit en roman médiéval ou en auvergnat Arvernha, Auvernha, Auvernhe ou dans le nord de la Lozère Alvernhe. La chaîne évolutive de ce toponyme est Arvernia - Alvernia - Alvernha - Auvernha - Auvergne.

Le blason de l'Auvergne, d’or au gonfanon de gueules bordé de sinople, a été pris par les comtes d'Auvergne depuis au moins le , les sceaux et l'iconographie des comtes  et  présentant déjà le gonfanon pour emblème de l'Auvergne. L'origine de cet emblème n'est pas certaine. Il pourrait s'agir de la bannière de l'abbé d’Aurillac autour de laquelle se rallièrent les chevaliers de la nation d'Auvergne lors de la conquête de Jérusalem ou alors de celle d'Eustache III, aïeul d'Adélaïde de Brabant, la mère du comte. Eustache III avait le titre de comte de Boulogne-sur-Mer et était le frère de Godefroy de Bouillon.

Histoire

Pays des Arvernes 

L'Auvergne doit son nom au peuple gaulois des Arvernes. C'était l'une des tribus les plus puissantes et les plus riches de la Gaule antique. Cette prédominance s’explique par plusieurs raisons. Le territoire arverne donnait à ses occupants une totale autonomie agricole, il se composait au centre de la grande plaine très fertile de la Limagne, de coteaux fruiticoles sur le pourtour et enfin de grandes prairies de moyenne montagne idéales pour l'élevage. Ces zones d'autosubsistance étaient noyées dans un dense massif forestier qui fournissait l'énergie nécessaire à la mise en place d'industries prospères : la céramique et la métallurgie. Lezoux devint à l'époque gallo-romaine un des plus grands centres de production de poteries (en particulier sigillées) d'Europe. Ces poteries font partie du matériel archéologique courant que l'on retrouve partout dans le nord de l'Europe et servent à la datation des lieux fouillés. L'exploitation de nombreuses mines d'or, d'argent et d'autres métaux (exploitées depuis 400  au minimum) permit de faire de la métallurgie, de la forge et de l'orfèvrerie (en particulier du travail du cuivre) une grande spécialité arverne. Dans la Guerre des Gaules de César, Vercingétorix est décrit avec « une grande armure faite de nombreuses pièces d'argent assemblées et reflétant le soleil ». Les Arvernes frappaient leur propre monnaie et multipliaient les échanges commerciaux avec les tribus voisines (moins de  connues pour  gaulois). Ils développèrent au centre du monde gaulois un commerce est-ouest et nord-sud engendrant une grande richesse. La puissance militaire des arvernes était importante, elle s’appuyait sur un territoire difficile à atteindre par les armées adverses car entouré sur quasiment tous ses côtés par des massifs montagneux (seul le nord était ouvert sur les plaines du centre de la Gaule). Enfin, il y avait au sommet du puy de Dôme un sanctuaire d'une importance majeure pour plusieurs nations gauloises qui s'y retrouvaient.

Les recherches archéologiques les plus récentes situent la capitale des Arvernes de la fin du second âge du fer à l'oppidum de Corent.

Strabon décrit une royauté arverne puissante qui impose au  son hégémonie sur les peuples gaulois avec notamment les règnes des rois arvernes Luern et Bituit. Si beaucoup d'historiens, dans la ligne de Camille Jullian, ont décrit la Gaule Celtique comme un « empire arverne », on parle plutôt aujourd'hui d'une « hégémonie » similaire à celle de certaines cités grecques classiques, comme celle qu'exercèrent Athènes ou Sparte, c'est-à-dire non pas une structure politique, mais une ascendance diplomatique, militaire, culturelle et économique. La confédération arverne regroupait les Gabales, les Vellaves, les Cadurques, les Rutènes, et son aire d'influence comprenait une partie du Languedoc et de l'Aquitaine.

Vercingétorix prit le titre de roi en 52  Son père, Celtillos, qui avait tenu cette fonction auparavant, fut exécuté par ses compagnons après avoir tenté de rendre le titre héréditaire. Au cours de l'hiver 53/52 , Vercingétorix profita d'une révolte des Carnutes dans Bourges pour constituer une alliance contre les Romains avec la plupart des  celtes des deux tiers nord de la Gaule. Pour la consolider et en gage de fidélité, il réclama et obtient de chaque peuple gaulois des « otages » (fils ou filles de rois).

Un des hauts lieux historiques d'Auvergne est celui de la bataille de Gergovie, situé à  au sud de Clermont-Ferrand, où Vercingétorix battit Jules César en 52 av. J.-C., avant de le poursuivre avec ses cavaliers et ses troupes vers le nord.

Beaucoup plus tard, le siège d'Alésia se termina par une victoire romaine et marqua la fin du roi arverne. Pour enfermer les troupes Arvernes dans Alésia, les légionnaires romains construisirent pendant des mois  de pièges (fosses avec pieux entre autres) et de fortifications sur plusieurs centaines de mètres. L'arrivée trop tardive des secours des Gaulois de l'ouest (pourtant fortes de plus de ) fut déterminante dans la défaite. Par deux fois, les troupes gauloises dirigées par plusieurs chefs furent à deux doigts d'établir une jonction avec les assiégés. Ces tentatives menées à la tombée de la nuit permirent à Vercingétorix et ses cavaliers de faire des échappées mais coûtèrent de nombreux morts aux troupes arvernes. Vercingétorix négocia sa reddition contre la vie sauve pour les  d'Alésia. Après le départ des Gaulois de l'ouest, on l'emprisonna à Rome et on le fit figurer au triomphe de César ; après quoi il fut exécuté.

Les Romains créèrent par la suite la ville d'Augustonemetum sur l'un des cinq sites urbains arvernes existants, lui-même site d'un ancien volcan. Cette ville deviendra plus tard Clermont-Ferrand. La partie est de la commune actuelle était d'ailleurs occupé par une agglomération de plaine importante (site d'Aulnat-Gandaillat).

Auvergne romaine 

Après sa victoire sur les Arvernes, César amorce une politique habile qui les ménage et les associe au pouvoir. Les deux siècles qui suivent la colonisation correspondent à une période de paix et de prospérité. L’Auvergne fait partie de la province d’Aquitaine, les quelques Romains qui viennent s’y installer sont rapidement assimilés, les modes de vie arvernes et romains sont peu différents et facilitent l’association. Le latin s’impose tardivement sur la langue gauloise. La capitale gallo-romaine, Augustonemetum, prend le nom d’Arvernis au .

À la fin du  ou au , saint Austremoine évangélise l’Auvergne. À cette époque, la province est menacée par la poussée des peuples germaniques et l'affaiblissement de l'empire. En 469, l’autorité de Rome est toujours reconnue mais la province est encerclée par les Burgondes et les Wisigoths. Ces derniers, menés par le roi Euric, déferlent sur le pays en 471. Sidoine Apollinaire, onzième évêque d'Auvergne, mène alors la résistance et la défense d'Arvernis pendant quatre ans aux côtés d'Ecdicius, son beau-frère. Il fournit un riche témoignage sur l'Auvergne à la fin de l'Antiquité.

Moyen Âge

Haut Moyen Âge 

En 475, et malgré une résistance victorieuse, Rome choisit de céder l'Auvergne aux wisigoths afin de conserver la Provence, plus proche géographiquement et culturellement du cœur de l'Empire. L'Auvergne et sa capitale Clermont sont intégrées au royaume wisigoth d'Euric et en deviennent une pièce majeure. Habilement, le roi wisigoth choisit le catholique arverne Victorius pour devenir comte d'Auvergne et duc des provinces d'Aquitaine. Il libère ensuite Sidoine Apollinaire qui retrouve son siège épiscopal après deux années de captivité. À la suite du décès de Victor, le successeur d'Euric, Alaric II, place Apollinaire (le fils de Sidoine) sur le trône comtal. Ce dernier a la charge d'une part importante de l'armée wisigothique et mène le combat avec de nombreux auvergnats contre les Francs lors de la bataille de Vouillé. Après la chute du royaume wisigoth de Toulouse, l'Auvergne passe sous la domination de Clovis, le roi des Francs. L'aristocratie pro-wisigothe d'Auvergne résiste à cette nouvelle domination comme en témoigne la révolte de Placidina et Arcade. Conquise militairement par Thierry en 536, l'Auvergne est rattachée à l'Austrasie pendant un siècle. Des aristocrates gallo-romains locaux sont nommés comtes et dirigent la province avec les évêques d'Auvergne.

À la fin du  ou au début du , l'Auvergne passe sous l'influence du duché d'Aquitaine. Gouvernée par les ducs d'Aquitaine qui portent également le titre de comte d'Auvergne, elle fait l'objet de convoitises entre francs et aquitains. Durant cette période, ce sont les évêques d'Auvergne qui exercent concrètement le pouvoir. Ils fondent partout en Auvergne de nombreux monastères (Brioude, Manglieu, Thiers ou encore Mozac), qui mènent une grande activité intellectuelle et scolaire et font de l'Auvergne une importante place de la Chrétienté.

À ces troubles politiques, se rajoutent pendant ces siècles de grandes calamités telles que les épidémies au  et les incursions des troupes du califat ommeyade. En 760 Pépin le Bref, dans sa lutte contre le duc d'Aquitaine, fait deux incursions dévastatrices qui détruisent la province et sa capitale. Les normands attaquent la région à partir du . Ils assiègent et incendient la capitale avant d'être chassés de la région par les milices et nobles locaux. Les puissantes familles seigneuriales auvergnates, livrées à elles-mêmes, se mènent des guerres privées incessantes, et pillent la région sans relâche. L'insécurité permanente culmine au .

Cette insécurité est à l'origine du mouvement de la « Paix de Dieu », qui naît en Auvergne au milieu du , et qui aura un retentissement formidable dans le monde occidental. Il fondera les bases morales de la société médiévale.

Moyen Âge central 

Gouvernée jusqu'alors par les ducs d'Aquitaine et d'Auvergne la province connaît un changement politique majeur à la fin du  quand Guy, vicomte de Clermont et d'Auvergne, se proclame comte d'Auvergne et crée la dynastie comtale héréditaire. Les comtes d'Auvergne s'affranchissent de plus en plus de leurs suzerains directs. À mesure que leur autonomie s'affirme, l'Auvergne s'intègre progressivement au royaume de France. Les comtes sont eux-mêmes suzerains de grands seigneurs. À la même époque les évêques d'Auvergne deviennent maîtres de grands domaines centrés sur Clermont qui constituent la « seigneurie épiscopale de Clermont ».

Du fait de la concurrence politique des comtes, une longue rivalité entre Clermont et Montferrand voit le jour. Le comte d'Auvergne n'avait pas un grand réseau de vassaux, sans doute parce qu'il n'était que le descendant d'un modeste vicomte. Il possédait en propre de nombreuses terres en Basse-Auvergne, la majeure partie de la Limagne, des terres en Brivadois mais très peu de choses en Haute-Auvergne. Il n'était pas le maître de la capitale qui appartenait aux évêques qui avaient aussi de nombreux vassaux en Haute-Auvergne. Le domaine de l'Abbaye d'Aurillac était libre et exempt de toute juridiction et ne relevait que du pape (il forma par la suite la vicomté de Carlat).

Les abbayes d'Auvergne voient leur renommée s'étendre très largement dans la Chrétienté et se bâtissent une solide réputation en Occident. Véritables foyers intellectuels, elles sont particulièrement prospères du . Les abbayes d'Aurillac et de la Chaise-Dieu sont les plus célèbres. Gerbert d'Aurillac (926-1003), grand savant et mathématicien favorise l'introduction des chiffres arabes en Occident. Entre 950 et 1150 environ, l'Auvergne se couvre d'admirables églises romanes d'une grande homogénéité de style. C'est la naissance de l'art roman auvergnat.

En 1095 le pape  convoque un concile à Clermont. À la fin du concile, il lance l'appel de Clermont et adjure les chrétiens d’Occident de cesser leurs guerres fratricides et de partir pour la Terre Sainte pour délivrer Jérusalem. Une foule considérable de «pauvres gens » se met en route pour Jérusalem et sera massacrée par les Turcs. Les seigneurs partent à leur tour, de tout le royaume, dont le comte d'Auvergne , et de très nombreux seigneurs auvergnats. Ils prendront Jérusalem en 1099.

En 1147 Robert III d'Auvergne meurt en Terre Sainte. À son retour en Auvergne, son fils Guillaume « le jeune », se trouve dépossédé par son oncle Guillaume « l'Ancien » à qui l'on avait confié les biens et prérogatives pendant l'absence du comte d'Auvergne. Le conflit aboutit à un partage des terres du comté : Guillaume l'Ancien (ou Guillaume VIII) garde la plus grande partie des terres et conserve le nom de comté d'Auvergne ;
Guillaume le Jeune (ou Guillaume VII) conserve Montferrand, la capitale comtale, ainsi que quelques terres autour de Pontgibaud et en Limagne (Dauphiné d'Auvergne).

En 1212 le roi de France Philippe-Auguste envoie une armée en Auvergne et dépouille  de presque tout son comté. L'Auvergne tombe à la suite du siège de Tournoël en 1213. Les territoires confisqués, qui représentent la plus grande partie de l'Auvergne, sont annexés au domaine royal et nommés « Terre d'Auvergne ». Ainsi, à partir du début du , l'ancien comté d'Auvergne se trouve morcelée en quatre entités politiques aux statuts inégaux : Le comté d'Auvergne, petite région centrée sur Vic-le-Comte, le Dauphiné d'Auvergne, région située à l'ouest d'une ligne Clermont-Issoire, la seigneurie épiscopale de Clermont, propriété de l'évêque de Clermont et la Terre d'Auvergne qui devient en 1360 le duché d'Auvergne avec Riom pour capitale .

Moyen Âge tardif 
Au  la province reste dans le giron de la famille capétienne. Elle est donnée en apanage à Alphonse de Poitiers, puis en 1360 comme duché à Jean  de Berry (qui rachète aussi la vicomté de Carlat). Une de ses filles épouse le duc de Bourbon qui devient alors duc d'Auvergne. Tous leurs domaines sont finalement confisqués par  en 1527.

La peste noire frappe durement l'Auvergne, en particulier en 1348, 1349, 1360 et 1383. La mortalité très élevée diminue fortement l'activité de la région.

Pendant la guerre de Cent Ans des hommes d'armes français recrutés sur les terres soumises à l'Angleterre et groupés en grandes compagnies pillent et rançonnent les villes auvergnates. Après 1375, les routiers s'implantent solidement en Haute-Auvergne et ne seront chassés que par une forte expédition royale en 1392.

Auvergne des Bourbons 

La maison de Bourbon apparaît au  à Bourbon-l'Archambault. Ses domaines s'agrandissent rapidement et finissent par constituer un duché situé au nord de l'Auvergne. En 1416, les princes de Bourbon parviennent à commander toute la province. Cette situation se prolongera pendant un siècle. Les Bourbons s'opposent régulièrement aux rois de France au cours de cette période. En 1523, spolié par le roi  et sa mère Louise de Savoie, , duc d'Auvergne et de Bourbon se réfugie auprès de l'empereur Charles Quint, qui était également son suzerain pour la principauté des Dombes, et change ainsi de camp pour préserver l'indépendance de ses domaines et la possession de ses biens familiaux. Ses domaines sont finalement confisqués, et l'Auvergne retourne au domaine royal en 1527. Depuis 1012, les comtes d'Auvergne avaient maintenu un petit fief en plein cœur de l’Auvergne à Vic-le-Comte. Catherine de Médicis en hérita par sa mère Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne à la mort de sa tante Anne d'Auvergne en 1524. Son mariage en 1533 avec le futur  permit la réunion de ce dernier morceau de l'Auvergne à la couronne de France.

Temps modernes 

Un siècle après la guerre de Cent Ans, l'Auvergne plonge dans les guerres de religion. Des milices calvinistes font des incursions dans le Haut-Pays, et prennent par surprise des châteaux ou des bourgs catholiques qu'ils rendent ensuite en contrepartie d'une rançon, pillant et détruisant les abbayes. Le capitaine Merle en particulier, solidement implanté dans le Gévaudan voisin, rançonne Issoire mais échoue devant Saint-Flour. C'est ainsi que l'année qui suit la destruction de l'Abbaye de Vabres, la ville d'Aurillac est prise en 1569, ses habitants rançonnés, et son abbaye entièrement pillée, ses trésors fondus et emportés à Genève, ses richesses vendues aux enchères, ses archives incendiées et ses bâtiments détruits.

En 1623, Blaise Pascal naît le 19 juin au pied de la Cathédrale de Clermont-Ferrand. Il est le fils d'Étienne Pascal (1588-1651), conseiller du roi pour l'élection de Basse Auvergne, puis second président à la Cour des aides de Montferrand, et passionné par les sciences (ami de Leibnitz, Mersenne, Roberval et Descartes). Il décidera d'éduquer seul ses enfants (dont Blaise), avec la visite régulière de ses amis scientifiques.

En 1665,  instaure temporairement à Clermont et au Puy une cour criminelle d'exception, les Grands jours d'Auvergne, afin de faire droit à de nombreuses plaintes de personnes du peuple victimes des violences et des exactions de certains fonctionnaires ou membres de la noblesse d'Auvergne. La vie des magistrats est relatée par Esprit Fléchier, de nombreuses condamnations à mort et confiscations sont prononcées.

Au , la condition économique de la paysannerie s'améliore considérablement grâce à la politique avisée des intendants et des subdélégués d'Auvergne qui prennent le relais des abbayes et développent l'élevage, la fabrication du fromage, l'agriculture, les verreries, les forges, les routes. Le contrebandier Mandrin marque la région par ses activités. L'Auvergne voit naître à cette période le général révolutionnaire Desaix.

En 1750 naît la première Loge maçonnique de Clermont. La franc-maçonnerie se développe très rapidement en Auvergne et devient très influente à Clermont où on compte cinq loges à la veille de la Révolution.

Au moment de la révolution française, quelques auvergnats se distinguèrent : Georges Couthon, proche de Robespierre, combattit les cléricaux, Le cantalien Jean-Baptiste Carrier joua un rôle important dans la chute des girondins et Charles-Gilbert Romme créa le calendrier républicain et mit fin à la convention montagnarde.

En 1789, les provinces françaises sont supprimées et sont remplacées par les départements. La partie nord de l'Auvergne donne naissance au Puy-de-Dôme. Les représentants de la région de Clermont, comme le franc-maçon Gaultier de Biauzat, craignaient que l'on choisisse Riom comme chef-lieu. Aussi, ils préférèrent que la partie nord de l'ancienne province fasse partie du département de l'Allier. Cela permettait de mettre Clermont-Ferrand au centre du département et lui garantissait ainsi l'assurance d'être siège de la préfecture. Le nouveau département devait s’appeler "département du Mont-Dore" mais les élus locaux craignirent qu'à Paris, on imagine qu'il y avait de l'or dans la région et qu'on la taxe plus que de raison. Ce fut donc le volcan du puy de Dôme qui donna son nom au nouveau département.

Le département du Cantal correspond à l'ancien bailliage des montagnes d'Auvergne agrandi d'une large partie du Cézallier et de l'Artense, ainsi que de la région de Massiac. Les deux villes d'Aurillac et Saint-Flour se disputèrent âprement le siège de la préfecture. Après une période d'alternance, ce fut Aurillac qui l’emporta. La région de Brioude fut associée au Velay pour former le département de la Haute-Loire. Si les limites extérieures des trois départements reposent sur les frontières historiques des provinces, la ligne qui les sépare reste arbitraire.

et

Au ,  fit beaucoup pour l'Auvergne. Il se soignait à Vichy et souhaita en faire la plus belle station thermale de France. Pour cela, il prit modèle sur la station allemande de Baden-Baden. Il fit tracer dans la ville de grandes avenues, fit construire un casino, de grands hôtels, l'église, le chemin de fer et la gare. Il ajouta de grands parcs et installa une digue fluviale sur l'Allier pour former un lac de plaisance. Lui et l'impératrice Eugénie fréquentèrent également la station de Royat. Intéressé par l'Histoire, il encouragea les fouilles de Gergovie et fit connaître Vercingétorix. Il était membre de plusieurs sociétés savantes d'Auvergne comme la Société de la Haute-Auvergne.

Le train n'arriva à Clermont-Ferrand qu'en 1858. Le reste de l'Auvergne fut desservi encore plus tardivement. C'est la société du Grand Central qui fut chargée d'établir des voies entre Clermont et le sud-ouest et entre Lyon et Bordeaux. Le franchissement des montagnes du Massif central nécessita des travaux considérables et la construction de nombreux ouvrages d'art. Paradoxalement, l'arrivée de ce moyen de transport n'eut pas que des effets positifs. Le phénomène d’exode rural vers Paris s'accéléra et les campagnes très densément peuplées commencèrent à se vider de façon accélérée.

En 1889, André Michelin et son frère Édouard fondèrent à Clermont-Ferrand la société Michelin et , c'était le début d'une aventure industrielle qui allait transformer le paysage économique et humain de la région.

Pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le maréchal Pétain et Pierre Laval décidèrent de faire de la ville de Vichy le siège de l'État français et de son gouvernement. Les importantes capacités hôtelières et la position en zone libre de la ville furent déterminantes dans ce choix. La ville n'a été délivrée de cette occupation qu'à la libération. L'Université de Strasbourg se replia avec ses professeurs et de nombreux intellectuels à Clermont-Ferrand. En avril 1942, le maréchal Pétain intenta le célèbre procès de Riom dans l'intention de montrer la responsabilité politique des hommes de la  République dans la défaite de 1940. Cette tentative se solda par un échec, Léon Blum et Édouard Daladier montrèrent que l'Armée française avait été incapable de préparer et conduire la guerre.

À la même époque, la capitale auvergnate vit la création du premier réseau de résistance de France : Libération-Sud. Le maquis des Résistants d'Auvergne fut l'un des plus grands et des plus actifs de France. Il livra une guerre de guérilla meurtrière face aux Allemands et libéra la région avant l'arrivée de troupes françaises. En 1944, les maquis d'Auvergne menèrent la terrible bataille du Mont Mouchet qui causa d'importantes pertes civiles. Dans les années 1960, Clermont devient une ville universitaire importante, avec un afflux d'étudiants tandis que les lycées de plusieurs villes de la région plus petites vont participer à une version originale de Mai 68, qui va s'étendre rapidement aux entreprises auvergnates.

Région administrative 

En 1941, l’État français créa la région de Clermont-Ferrand, qui regroupait les quatre départements de l'Allier, du Cantal, de la Haute-Loire et du Puy-de-Dôme. En 1955, la France se dota de nouvelles structures régionales, la nouvelle région administrative Auvergne regroupait les quatre mêmes départements. En 1972, la loi fit de la région Auvergne un établissement public régional et la loi de décentralisation de 1982 en fit une collectivité territoriale à part entière.

Le , la région Auvergne a été réunie à la région Rhône-Alpes pour former une grande région administrative qui a reçu le nom de « Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ». Dans cette nouvelle structure, les quatre départements auvergnats ne représentent plus que 14 % du PNB et 18 % de la population totale. Cette marginalisation a été critiquée par plusieurs élus locaux. À l'occasion de cette réforme, l'ensemble des administrations régionales a quitté la région et a été relocalisé à Lyon ; de nombreuses directions régionales, comme celle de la SNCF par exemple, ont également suivi le même chemin. L'Auvergne a ainsi perdu plusieurs centaines d'emplois qualifiés. L'éloignement des centres de décisions régionaux est devenue considérable. Il faut par exemple  de route pour rejoindre Lyon depuis Aurillac ou plus de  de voyage en train.

Géographie

Paysages 
L’Auvergne apparaît comme une région bien individualisée du Massif central. Cependant, si elle est limitée à l’ouest par le Limousin et les gorges de la Dordogne, et à l’est par les monts du Forez, sa bordure méridionale reste plus indécise. On peut néanmoins la jalonner par l’Aubrac et la Margeride. La morphologie d'ensemble de la région se présente comme un entonnoir ouvert au nord et resserré au sud. Au centre, l'Allier forme un axe orienté nord-sud le long duquel s’étendent de vastes plaines : les Limagnes. De part et d’autre s'élèvent les formations collinéennes et de moyenne montagne.

Si le trait dominant de l’Auvergne est son compartimentage en massifs et bassins, un des caractères les plus originaux est la présence de massifs volcaniques remarquablement conservés.

Massifs cristallins 

Les fragments de la vieille chaîne hercynienne qui dataient de la fin de l'Ère primaire ont été fracturés et portés à des altitudes variables à l'Ère tertiaire lors de l'apparition des Alpes. Les blocs cristallins ont été soulevés le long de failles et délimitent de petits fossés : la plaine d’Ambert, surplombée par le massif du Livradois (Bois Noirs, ), et les monts du Forez (Pierre-sur-Haute, ). Ces hosts granitiques sont prolongés au nord par la Montagne bourbonnaise et au sud par les monts de la Margeride (Signal de Randon,) qui se prolongent dans la Lozère. Du nord-ouest au sud-ouest, les masses cristallines conservent une allure de plateau. Les Combrailles sont profondément entaillées par l’érosion fluviale (gorges de la Dordogne et de la Sioule). L’érosion glaciaire intense est à l’origine des nombreux lacs de l’Artense qui lui donnent des aspects de Scandinavie. Au sud-ouest, la Châtaigneraie offre un paysage de collines et un climat adouci, aux accents méditerranéens.

Massifs volcaniques 

Au-dessus du socle cristallin, surgissent les édifices volcaniques. Le volcanisme auvergnat a principalement été actif durant les périodes tertiaire et quaternaire, l'âge des volcans s'étageant de 65 millions d'années pour les plus anciens à seulement  pour la Chaîne des Puys. Les volcans d'Auvergne sont donc les plus anciens volcans d'Europe mais parmi ceux-ci se cache également le plus grand volcan d'Europe. Ce qu'on appelle les Monts du Cantal et qui compte plusieurs sommets volcaniques ne représente en fait qu'un seul et même volcan s'étalant sur  de longueur,  de large et culminant à  (on estime que sa hauteur originelle aurait pu dépasser les  d'altitude).

Les monts Dôme alignent 80 volcans. Tous les types y sont représentés, même si les volcans de type strombolien sont les plus nombreux. Ce sont des volcans récents et bien conservés ; ils sont dominés par le Puy de Dôme (). Le site a été inscrit au Patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO le 2 juillet 2018. Au sud, se situent ensuite les monts Dore qui culminent au Puy de Sancy (), point culminant du Massif central. Ce sont de grands stratovolcans plus anciens qui ont été démembrés par l’érosion fluviatile et glaciaire. Ils emprisonnent des lacs d’origines diverses : lacs de cratère tel que le lac Pavin, lacs de barrage volcanique comme le lac d'Aydat ou le lac Chambon ou lacs morainiques comme le lac de Guéry. Plus au sud, s’enchaînent d’abord le plateau basaltique du Cézallier, qui évoque parfois les paysages de l’Écosse, puis le puissant ensemble volcanique du Cantal d'où rayonnent, à partir du Puy Mary () et du Plomb du Cantal (), des vallées en auge (Cère, Maronne, Rhue, Alagnon). Celles-ci séparent de vastes plateaux basaltiques, aux sols fertiles : les planèzes. La plus grande est la planèze de Saint-Flour. Cet ensemble bénéficie de la protection du Parc des volcans d'Auvergne. Au sud de la Truyère, l’Aubrac conserve une allure de plateau où terrains granitiques et volcaniques se mêlent. À l'est de l'Allier, les volcans du Livradois paraissent plus modestes et le massif du Devès se prolonge jusqu'à Langogne.

Le volcanisme en Auvergne est encore actif. Plusieurs volcans ne sont pas éteints mais seulement endormis et le réveil de l'un d'entre eux reste possible.

Plaines 

Les bassins d’effondrement, dans lesquels les mers tertiaires ont déposé plusieurs centaines de mètres de sédiments, ont fixé les cours de l’Allier le long duquel se succèdent les plaines fertiles. Ces plaines sont appelées « Limagnes » : Limagne de Brioude, d’Issoire, Grande Limagne, Limagne bourbonnaise…

Ces plaines sont parmi les plus basses, les plus plates et les plus fertiles d'Europe. Elles s'étalent sur quatre-vingt-dix kilomètres de long et forment une bande de terre noire en forme de triangle pointé vers le sud et évasé au nord. On y cultive les oléagineux, la betterave mais aussi la vigne et les fruits. Les rendements obtenus sont parmi les plus élevés d'Europe.

Hydrographie 

L'Allier est la grande rivière de l'Auvergne ; après avoir pris sa source dans les monts de la Margeride elle la traverse de part en part en formant un axe orienté nord-sud. Elle fait comme une colonne vertébrale et structure le territoire. L'Auvergne, c'est la vallée de l'Allier, ses coteaux et les montagnes qui l'encadrent. Cette même structure se retrouvait dans l'ancienne région Auvergne.

Le débit de l'Allier dépasse parfois celui de la Loire et cette dernière donne l'impression d'en être l'affluent au point de confluence. L'Allier est une rivière peu domestiquée et qui reste très sauvage. Son lit varie fortement, la faune (notamment les oiseaux) est riche et les zones humides nombreuses. Son débit est très irrégulier, les eaux les plus hautes sont en hiver, les plus basses en été. La Dore dans le Livradois, l'Alagnon dans les Monts du Cantal et la Sioule dans les Monts Dôme et les Combrailles sont trois de ses affluents principaux. Au sud, la Truyère, affluent du Lot, fait frontière avec les départements de la Lozère et l'Aveyron et La Cère avec celui de la Corrèze. À l'ouest, la Dordogne fait transition avec le midi aquitain.

Nb: Seuls les cours d'eau dépassant  de longueur sont mentionnés dans ce tableau.

Nature et environnement 

L'Auvergne présente une très grande variété de milieux naturels et d'espèces animales et végétales. On y trouve par exemple 80 % des espèces de libellules présentes en France et 56 % des espèces de papillons. D'importantes populations d'espèces rares comme le Grand Murin, le Campagnol amphibie le Cuivré de la bistorte ou le Milan royal arrivent à se maintenir. En 2017, on comptait 51 espèces de mammifères en Auvergne.

La richesse naturelle de l'Auvergne s'explique par la diversité de ses caractéristiques physiques (climats, substrats, sols, reliefs), un réseau hydrographique important et tête de bassin versant, un territoire rural et peu urbanisé () et des pratiques agricoles et sylvicoles globalement moins intensives qu’ailleurs en France.

La région n'échappe toutefois pas au déclin de la biodiversité même s'il est plus modéré qu'ailleurs. La fragmentation des espaces naturels et l'appauvrissement ou la destruction des habitats (simplification des milieux agricoles, urbanisation), la pollution (engrais, assainissement domestique), l'arrivée d'espèces exotiques envahissantes et les changements climatiques sont les principales menaces auxquelles l'Auvergne doit faire face.

Parc des Volcans d'Auvergne 

Situé au cœur de l’Auvergne, le parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne abrite des paysages, une faune et une flore remarquables. Du nord au sud, il s'étire sur  et sa superficie de  en fait le plus vaste Parc naturel régional de France. Son altitude varie de  d’altitude. Il se compose de quatre régions volcaniques : le Cézallier, les Monts du Cantal, les Monts Dore et les Monts Dômes, ainsi que d'une région granitique : l'Artense. Ses ressources aquatiques sont d'une grande qualité, il ne compte pas moins de  de cours d’eau, de nombreux lacs naturels, tourbières ou zones humides ; 60 % de son territoire est reconnu pour sa biodiversité remarquable. La diversité géologique, les reliefs et le climat du Parc expliquent son exceptionnelle variété de faune, de flore et de milieux naturels (prairies, landes d’altitude, tourbières, lacs naturels, forêts, falaises).

Les prairies et les pelouses d’altitude et landes couvrent 60 % du Parc de façon continue. Leur diversité floristique est considérée comme unique en Europe. On y trouve la plus importante population nationale de Pies-grièches grises d'Europe. Les forêts couvrent 30 % du territoire, leur diversité et leur richesse varient selon l'altitude et l’exposition et sur des substrats variés et forment le milieu terrestre le plus riche en biodiversité. On compte  de plus de 1 Ha sur le territoire du Parc. Elles restent majoritairement en bon état de conservation et abritent des populations d’espèces animales et végétales remarquables comme la Ligulaire de Sibérie, l’Azuré des mouillères, le Criquet palustre, l’Agrion à lunules. On y trouve aussi une exceptionnelle diversité de mousses bryophytes comme les sphaignes. Le Parc compte de nombreux lacs, dont plus d’une trentaine sont d’origine naturelle. Ces lacs de montagne d’origine volcanique ou glaciaire sont relativement préservés mais fragiles et présentent une exceptionnelle biodiversité. La plupart abritent des herbiers aquatiques oligotrophes.

Parc régional du livradois Forez 

Le Parc du Livradois-Forez est le quatrième plus grand parc naturel régional de France. Cette région de moyenne montagne est située sur la partie orientale de l’Auvergne et possède une grande variété de milieux naturels : tourbières et lacs tourbeux, landes montagnardes des Hautes Chaumes du Forez, hêtraies et sapinières, forêts alluviales, buttes et coteaux secs de Limagne, prairies naturelles de fauche, rivières et torrents où l'on trouve encore la moule perlière. Ce territoire, à l'origine consacré à la polyculture et l'élevage, est aujourd'hui très faiblement peuplé. La moitié de sa surface est constituée de vastes espaces boisés. La totalité des  de mammifères représenté en Auvergne est présente dans le parc.

Entre le parc et l'Allier, le Bois de la Comté est une forêt a fort degré de naturalité qui couvre une surface comprise entre  et . Cette tillaie-frênaie constitue un des massifs les plus diversifiés et floristiquement les plus riches de France.

Sites naturels protégés 

On compte cinq réserves naturelles nationales et cinq réserves naturelles régionales en Auvergne. Il y a également  « habitats Natura 2000 » ainsi que  « oiseaux » pour une superficie  (15 % de la région). On y trouve  d’oiseaux inscrites en annexe I de la directive Oiseaux,  (animales - hors oiseaux - ou végétales) d’intérêt communautaire et  naturels retenus au sein de la directive Habitats.

Climat 

Adossée aux versants septentrional et méridional du Massif central, la région présente d'importants contrastes climatiques générés par le relief, avec une continentalisation rapide d'ouest en est. Trois influences interagissent sur cette région :
 au sud-ouest l'influence océanique est très sensible, le relief réactivant les perturbations d'origine atlantique (flux de sud-ouest à nord-ouest). Les précipitations sont régulières, partout supérieures à , abondantes en montagne  occasionnant un enneigement conséquent bien qu'irrégulier en raison de redoux marqués. Cette région porte bien son surnom de « pays vert » ; on la compare aussi à l'Irlande ou aux highlands d'Écosse (l'ensoleillement y est néanmoins supérieur). Le versant méridional de l'alignement montagneux allant des Monts Dore aux Monts d'Aubrac constitue une franche limite climatique, caractérisée par un effet de foehn et une altération de l'influence océanique ;
 à l'est et au nord de cette ligne - soit sur l'essentiel du territoire régional - la tendance continentale se renforce, avec un accroissement de l'amplitude thermique été-hiver et de la part des orages dans le total des précipitations. À altitude égale, les hivers sont plus froids et beaucoup plus secs, et les étés plus chauds (la température peut dépasser  en plaine). Les précipitations sont de l'ordre de 50 à  en plaine (on relève localement des records d'aridité pour la France continentale), 100 à  en montagne (où l'enneigement est généralement moins abondant mais plus régulier que sur les montagnes du sud-ouest) ;
 une timide influence méditerranéenne peut se manifester lors de cycles perturbés dans le Brivadois et la Châtaigneraie.

Transports et voies de communication

Transport aérien 

L'aéroport de Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne a accueilli jusqu'à  en 2002, il est retombé à  en 2011 à la suite du rachat de Regional Airlines par Air France et à la délocalisation du hub de cette compagnie sur l'aéroport de Lyon en 2003. Depuis le site aéroportuaire a du mal à se relever du préjudice. L'arrivée sur la plate-forme des compagnies FlyKiss puis de Ryanair en 2013 avait malgré tout contribué à relever le trafic à  en 2014. Les aéroports d'Aurillac et du Puy-en-Velay sont reliés à Paris respectivement par Hop ! et Hex'air.

Transport routier 

Les deux autoroutes A71 et A75 constituent un axe nord-sud Paris – Montpellier – Espagne qui se croise à Clermont-Ferrand avec l'axe est-ouest formé par l'A89 Bordeaux – Lyon – Genève. Ils permettent désormais de relier toutes les grandes métropoles nationales. La Méditerranée n'est plus qu'à  de l'ancienne capitale régionale depuis l'ouverture du viaduc de Millau en 2004. L'autoroute A89, prolongée hors de l'Auvergne en autoroute A72, relie Clermont-Ferrand à Saint-Étienne. L'autoroute A77, dite « Autoroute de l'Arbre », poursuit l'autoroute A6 au départ de Paris pour la prolonger et aller (en tant que route nationale 7) jusqu'à Moulins, dans l'Allier.

La qualité des routes est excellente sur tout le réseau des nationales et départementales et ce réseau permet de relier Paris à Moulins (N7) et Clermont-Ferrand en , et Moulins à Montluçon (A71, N79 et ).

Le réseau routier régional compte d'importantes routes nationales comme la RN 102 qui relie l'A75 à Brioude, le Puy-en-Velay et la vallée du Rhône, la RN 122 reliant l'A75 à Aurillac ou la RN 88 formant l'axe transversal Lyon - Saint-Étienne - Le Puy - Toulouse.

Transport ferroviaire 

La ligne SNCF Paris-Clermont-Ferrand a été électrifiée en 1990 et a reçu des améliorations dans le passé. En 2003 le temps de trajet le plus court entre les deux villes était de , il peut s'élever à  pour les trains desservant Nevers, Moulins, Vichy et Riom. Depuis 2012 les trains en provenance d'Auvergne arrivent en gare de Paris-Bercy.

Aucune ligne à grande vitesse n'est prévue à court terme pour la région. Le projet d'une ligne TGV Paris-Bourges-Clermont-Ferrand-Lyon a été plusieurs fois évoqué, notamment en 2015, lors de la création des nouvelles régions administratives. Une telle ligne mettrait Clermont-Ferrand à  de Paris et permettrait de dédoubler l'axe TGV rhodanien très chargé. D'autres projets moins ambitieux mais plus réalistes ont également été proposés, comme le projet « Des trains pour tous » qui propose la modernisation des voies existantes et l'utilisation de trains à haut niveau de service. Les temps de parcours seraient alors de  mais avec des prix de billets plus faibles et une meilleure desserte des villes moyennes du centre.

Le Plan Rail Auvergne 2009-2013 a permis, en cinq ans, de rénover significativement le réseau ferré auvergnat. Toutefois Aurillac et Le Puy-en-Velay ne disposent pas de relation directe en train avec l'Île-de-France.

La ligne qui relie Clermont-Ferrand à Lyon comporte des tronçons sinueux et non électrifiés, notamment entre Roanne et Lozanne. En 2016, il fallait entre  et  pour relier les deux villes. L'amélioration de cette liaison est souhaitable car elle permettrait à l'Auvergne de bénéficier des avantages de la gare de la Part-Dieu pour l'accès à la LGV Méditerranée et aux futures lignes Rhin-Rhône porté par l'association ALTRO.

Les lignes Clermont-Nîmes et Clermont-Béziers souffrent d'une faible fréquentation et leur avenir reste incertain.

Depuis le , la région gère le service TER régional dans le cadre d'une convention avec la SNCF. Le périurbain allant de Moulins à Brioude (via Vichy principalement) concentre la plus importante part des services avec un cadencement lentement mis en place depuis . En , le service TER Auvergne comptait  en circulation par jour, quinze lignes,  de voyages annuels et  pour un budget de  ( de recettes commerciales).

Population et société

Démographie 

L'Auvergne est habitée depuis plus de . Ses habitants ont donc pu voir les éruptions volcaniques à l'origine des volcans les plus jeunes de la chaîne des Puys ( à  ). On estime qu'avant la bataille de Gergovie, vers 250 à 50 , la population des Arvernes (les Gaulois les plus riches de la Gaule Antique) était de l'ordre de  à .

En 2013, la Région Auvergne comptait  mais la partie correspondant à l'ancienne province ne compte que . Les quatre départements auvergnats sont ceux où la population vit en moyenne le plus en altitude et s'inscrivent dans la diagonale du vide. Leur densité de population moyenne n’est que de . Les départements de l’Allier, du Cantal, et la moitié ouest de la Haute-Loire sont marqués par une faible natalité et un vieillissement de la population.

À l'origine très rurale, la population auvergnate tend à s'urbaniser : plus de sept habitants sur dix vivaient en ville en 2016. Grâce à l'attractivité de l’agglomération clermontoise et l’arrivée de jeunes familles, le Puy-de-Dôme limite cette tendance à la baisse et concentre plus de 50 % de la population régionale.

Clermont-Ferrand se trouve au milieu d’un couloir urbain dynamique de  qui s'étend de Vichy à Issoire en suivant l’Allier. Grâce au solde migratoire positif, les quatre départements ont malgré tout gagné  entre 2007 et 2014.

L'Agence régionale de développement des territoires d'Auvergne (ARDTA) et l'INSEE ont établi une typologie des « bassins de vie » de la région qui identifie six types de bassins de vie aux caractéristiques différentes. La première est constituée par la grande agglomération de Clermont-Ferrand. Celle-ci stimule des bassins de vie suburbains grâce à son attraction économique. Les agglomérations moyennes de Moulins, Vichy, Montluçon et Aurillac se placent en situation intermédiaire.

À l'opposé, deux types de zones rurales en difficultés se font face. La première correspond à des territoires de moyenne montagne habités par une population âgée et majoritairement agricole. Dans le Cantal, près de 17 % des personnes âgées de plus de  vivent sous le seuil de pauvreté alors qu'elles ne sont que 9,3 % en Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. La deuxième se retrouve en Bocage bourbonnais ou dans le Livradois. Il s'agit de bassins de vie ruraux socialement fragiles et plus touchées par le chômage.

Villes 

Les principaux foyers de peuplement se trouvent près des cours d'eau (Allier, Tiretaine), les places de marché (Brioude) et les bassins industriels : Clermont-Ferrand, Cournon, Thiers (coutellerie), Vichy, Aurillac. Les villes représentent plus de 70 % de la population, tandis que les campagnes, après un fort exode rural au début du  ont perdu l'essentiel de leur population. L'Auvergne compte six villes dont l'aire urbaine dépasse . Clermont-Ferrand représentait plus du quart de la population de l'ancienne région Auvergne et quasiment la moitié de celle de la région historique. L'ensemble urbain a accédé au rang de métropole le .

Tendances politiques 

Les recherches d'Emmanuel Todd ont montré que le système familial dominant en Auvergne est celui de la famille souche, avec une nuance pour le département de l'Allier où on voit la domination de la famille souche de type incomplet. Ce schéma anthropologique tend à favoriser une attitude d'acceptation de la société telle qu’elle est, sans contestation majeure, mais avec le souhait constant d'améliorer les conditions de vie sociale. Ce type familial exalte sa différence, son ethnocentrisme et son attachement aux liens du sang. Dans les deux tiers ouest de la région on note également la présence sporadique de familles communautaires, notamment à l'ouest de l'Allier ce qui expliquerait certaines tendances électorales.

La région se trouve sous l'influence de deux aires culturelles et politiques contradictoires. La première, celle du « mouvement », trouve son centre directeur vers Montluçon et les Combrailles. La seconde, celle de « l'ordre établi », a son centre directeur en Aubrac. Dans la première, le vote communiste a eu longtemps une place prépondérante. Dans la seconde, les valeurs de la droite traditionnelle et de la religion catholique restent profondément ancrées. Entre les deux, une large bande médiane allant du bocage bourbonnais à la Châtaigneraie oscille entre ces deux tendances. La région de Clermont-Ferrand, ville où la franc-maçonnerie a une implantation très ancienne, est une terre socialiste. La région d'Aurillac a longtemps été radicale, la région de Saint-Flour est très conservatrice et celle de Brioude a longtemps été anticléricale.

Pierre Charbonnier note qu'en Auvergne, le « notable » a longtemps tenu une place essentielle dans la vie politique. Propriétaires terriens, industriels ou alors médecins, on a vu de véritables lignées dynastiques se constituer, comme celles des Dormoy.

Parmi les hommes politiques auvergnats célèbre on retiendra Étienne Clémentel, un des pères de la technocratie et de l'intervention de l'État dans l'économie en France, et plusieurs présidents de la république : Paul Doumer, Georges Pompidou et Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

Emploi et logement 
L'Auvergne connaissait en 2016 un des taux d'emploi les plus élevés de France (91,1 % contre 89,8 % en moyenne nationale). Ce score est à la fois dû à la présence d'industries dynamiques mais aussi à une forte propension de la jeunesse à chercher du travail dans les régions voisines.

En 2018, les quatre départements auvergnats comptaient environ . L'emploi public et l'agriculture sont très représentés ainsi que les activités industrielles (26 % du total contre 18 % en France). Le secteur tertiaire, très varié dans sa composition, représente 64 % du total. Cette proportion est inférieure à la moyenne nationale et les activités scientifiques, techniques et de service aux entreprises y sont insuffisamment développées.

Les cinq principaux employeurs se concentrent sur l'agglomération clermontoise : Michelin, le CHU de Clermont-Ferrand, Limagrain, le conseil départemental du Puy-de-Dôme et la ville de Clermont-Ferrand.

Sports

Rugby 

L'Auvergne est une terre de prédilection pour le rugby:
 Le club de rugby à XV phare de la région est l'ASM Clermont Auvergne. Il a été créé en 1911 par Marcel Michelin et dès la saison 1925 il a accédé à l'élite pour ne plus la quitter. Il a atteint la finale du championnat 14 fois entre 1936 et 2019 mais n'a rapporté chez lui que deux fois le bouclier de Brennus, en 2010 et en 2017. Il a également remporté le Challenge européen à trois reprises en 1999, 2007 et 2019. Le club suscite un véritable engouement dans la région. Sur la saison 2012-2013, le Stade Marcel-Michelin () a connu un taux de remplissage de 96 % et les supporteurs clermontois, plusieurs fois élus « Meilleur public de France », sont souvent considérés comme un des publics les plus fervents et accueillants d'Europe.
 Le Stade aurillacois a été fondé le . L'équipe est montée en Honneur en 1932 puis en Excellence en 1933. Elle évolue ensuite en division 1 jusqu’en 1987. Au cours de la saison 2015-2016, le Stade aurillacois a remporté la demi-finale d'accession au Top 14.

Football 

Le Clermont Foot 63 est un club de football fondé en 1984 et basé à Clermont-Ferrand. Il a été créé sous le nom de Clermont Football Club par la fusion de deux clubs de la ville, le Stade clermontois et l'Association sportive montferrandaise. Après avoir connu de graves difficultés en 1990, le club est reparti sous le nom de Clermont Foot et a accédé à la Ligue 2 en 2003 puis à la Ligue 1 en 2021. C'est le premier club auvergnat à évoluer à ce niveau. Il dispute ses matchs à domicile au stade Gabriel-Montpied. Ce succès fait de Clermont-Ferrand une des rares villes françaises à posséder à la fois une équipe de football évoluant en Ligue 1 et une équipe de rugby dans le Top14.

Athlétisme 
Le club d'athlétisme Clermont Athlétisme Auvergne est lui aussi très dynamique. Créé en 2002 il comptait cinq sections locales et  en 2015. Il a toujours figuré dans le top 5 du classement des clubs FFA et a terminé premier en 2015 au palmarès FFA national mixte. Plusieurs de ses membres sont des champions de classe mondiale comme le perchiste Renaud Lavillenie et le coureur de haies Garfield Darien.

Médias

Presse écrite 
Le journal clermontois La Montagne a été créé en 1919. Il est devenu le grand quotidien régional du Massif Central à partir des années 1960. En 1972, le journal donnera naissance au groupe de presse Centre-France. Celui-ci a pris progressivement des parts majoritaires dans de nombreux quotidiens régionaux. En 2017, il couvre non seulement les quatre départements auvergnats et les trois départements limousins mais aussi cinq des six départements du Centre-Val de Loire ainsi que les départements de la Nièvre et de la Loire. Au total il distribue plus de  par jour et réalise une audience de plus de  de lecteurs par jour.

Radio 
En 1945 l'État crée la station régionale « Radio Clermont-Auvergne ». Celle-ci est devenu après différentes évolutions la station France Bleu Pays d'Auvergne. Elle couvre la totalité des départements de l'Allier, du Cantal et du Puy-de-Dôme ainsi que l'ouest du département de la Haute-Loire. C'est une des stations les plus écoutées dans la région de Clermont-Ferrand. Logos FM est une station musicale et culturelle régionale qui est née à Vichy puis s'est installé à Chamalières. Elle couvre aujourd'hui un bassin d'un million d'habitants. RVA est une radio créée au milieu des années 1980, elle diffuse un programme généraliste sur une grande partie des quatre départements régionaux.

Dans le sud de l'Auvergne, Jordanne FM est une radio associative d'Aurillac qui s'est développée et est devenu une station régionale diffusant sur le Cantal, le Lot, l'Aveyron et la Corrèze. Aucune radio commerciale auvergnate n'a su imposer un réseau sur la totalité de la région. C'est une radio Aveyronnaise, Radio Totem, qui a réussi à développer un réseau qui couvre une grande partie du Sud de l'Auvergne après avoir établi un bureau à Aurillac. Celui-ci produit un programme spécifique pour la région.

Télévision 
France 3 Auvergne est une des vingt-quatre antennes de la chaîne France 3 du groupe France Télévisions. Elle a été créée en 1964 à son emplacement actuel, au château Saint-Victor à Chamalières. Elle dispose de bureaux dans l'Allier (à Moulins), le Cantal (à Aurillac) et la Haute-Loire (au Puy-en-Velay). Elle produit quotidiennement des journaux régionaux et des journaux locaux pour l'agglomération clermontoise ainsi que des magazines sportifs, économiques et politiques.

Recherche et enseignement 

À la rentrée 2014, les collèges et lycées des quatre départements accueillaient plus de  et les établissements de l'enseignement supérieur près de , dont plus de 32.000 dans l'Université Clermont-Auvergne. Cette dernière a obtenu la marque d'excellence « Label I-Site » en 2017. L'apprentissage a concerné plus de  jeunes. Les jeunes auvergnats présentent un taux de scolarisation plus élevé que la moyenne nationale aussi bien dans le secondaire que dans le supérieur. Leurs résultats aux examens sont plus favorables (89 % de réussite à l'ensemble des Bac contre 87 %, 85 % contre 84 % au CAP). Les jeunes sans diplôme et ne poursuivant pas leurs études sont moins nombreux que dans le reste du pays (10 % contre 12 %).

L'Auvergne est également l'un des premiers pôles de recherche en France. En plus de ses  elle n'accueillait pas moins de  en 2011, dans les domaines de la chimie, des pneumatiques, de l'acier, des sciences médicales et pharmaceutiques, dans la recherche agronomique, dans les biotechnologies, la sismologie, la météorologie. Elle compte aujourd'hui quatre EPST (INRA, CNRS, Inserm, IRSTEA), le BRGM, deux pôles de compétitivité dynamiques (Céréales Vallée et ViaMéca), elle participe au Cancéropôle CLARA et au pôle de compétitivité Elastopôle.

Six grandes écoles d'ingénieurs sont reconnues internationalement : l'ISIMA (Institut supérieur d'informatique, de modélisation et de leurs applications), Polytech-Clermont (Institut des sciences de l'ingénieur), SIGMA Clermont (mécanique et chimie), l'ESC Clermont (École supérieure de commerce de Clermont-Ferrand), Agro Paris Tech ENGREF (École Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et des Forêts), VetAgro Sup (Institut d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement).

Économie 
Malgré son faible marché local la région a développé de nombreux champions nationaux et internationaux tournés vers l'exportation tels que Michelin, Limagrain (semences), Aubert et Duval (aéronautique), MSD-Chibret (pharmacie), Bigard (entreprise) & SOCOPA (viande), Centre-France-La Montagne (presse quotidienne régionale), Volvic-groupe Danone (eau minérale). La plupart de ces champions exportent plus de 75 % de leur production dans le monde entier. L'Auvergne compte aussi de nombreuses PME dynamiques qui bénéficient d'un réseau de formation supérieure de qualité centré sur la capitale régionale. Clermont-Ferrand comptait six grandes écoles et  en 2015, ses deux universités ont été réunies en une seule en 2017. Le thermalisme et le tourisme offrent une ressource non négligeable à la région.

Industrie 

L'Auvergne est une région relativement industrielle, puisque la part de l'industrie dans la population active en 2015 s'élevait à 18 % () contre 13 % pour la moyenne nationale. Toutefois, de 2005 à 2015, l'industrie auvergnate a perdu un cinquième de ses emplois. Le tissu industriel est diversifié : pneumatiques (Michelin), élastomères (Trelleborg Industrie), industries métallurgiques (Aubert et Duval, Constellium), mécaniques (Valeo), pharmaceutiques (MSD-Chibret, Thea), Câbleries (Groupe Omerin)… Il s'appuie aussi sur des traditions industrielles anciennes (coutellerie à Thiers, métallurgie à Issoire, dentellerie au Puy, parapluies à Aurillac).

Pneumatiques et caoutchouc 

La principale industrie auvergnate est celle du pneumatique. Michelin était la deuxième entreprise mondiale du secteur en 2014, elle est implantée dans . L'entreprise a gardé son siège social et son centre directeur à Clermont-Ferrand, c'est un cas unique en France car la quasi-totalité des autres entreprises du CAC40 a son siège à Paris ou en région parisienne. Aujourd'hui encore l'entreprise emploie  à Clermont-Ferrand notamment dans les services administratifs ou dans la R&D. Au nord de la ville, le centre de recherche de Ladoux reste le plus important du groupe au niveau mondial (). L'entreprise concurrente Dunlop est installée à Montluçon.

Pharmacie 
En 2016 l'Auvergne se situait au  national pour son industrie pharmaceutique. Le secteur représentait  d’euros de chiffre d’affaires et faisait vivre . Trois sites majeurs sont installés près de Clermont-Ferrand. À Vertolaye le site de Sanofi produit des corticostéroïdes. À Riom MSD Chibret produit des médicaments ophtalmologiques, antibiotiques et antiparasitaires. Thea, également spécialisée dans l'ophtalmologie, est le premier groupe européen indépendant dans ce domaine et possède des filiales dans vingt pays d'Europe. Le Groupement des Industries du Médicament de la Région Auvergne (Gimra) réunit  comme Quantel Medical (équipement laser et à ultrasons) ou TVM (ophtalmologie vétérinaire).

Métallurgie et travail des métaux 

En 2003 le secteur de la métallurgie et des équipements mécaniques en Auvergne représentait  soit 23 % des salariés industriels. L'activité liée aux métaux se concentre dans les environs de Thiers, Issoire et Dompierre-sur-Besbre.

À Thiers, la coutellerie est une activité multiséculaire et fournit encore 80 % de la production nationale. De nombreuses PME y exercent leurs activités principalement dans le décolletage. Aujourd'hui, la ville est reconnue comme étant la capitale française de la coutellerie et représente un important bassin coutelier au niveau mondial. Aubert et Duval (aciers spéciaux) exploite la plus puissante presse hydraulique du monde occidental avec  de puissance installée en 1974 à Issoire et une aciérie électrique aux Ancizes. Toujours à Issoire, Constellium produit des pièces d'aluminium pour l'industrie aéronautique et Issoire Aviation produit également des pièces pour l'aéronautique et des avions légers. L’équipementier Valeo produit des accessoires pour automobiles et PSA Peugeot Citroën exploite à Dompierre-sur-Besbre une fonderie où l'on fabrique des pièces de freinage. À Ambert, le Groupe Omerin est devenu un chef de file mondial dans le secteur des câbles électriques, gaines tressées et éléments flexibles spéciaux, il est devenu le 1er fabricant mondial de fils et câbles isolés en silicone et le 1er tresseur européen de fil de verre.

Agriculture et secteur agro-alimentaire 

Avec  en 2015, l'agriculture représentait 5 % des emplois régionaux (le double de la moyenne nationale : 3,1 %). En moyenne, La valeur de l’ensemble des productions agricoles approchait  d’euros. La production de viande bovine arrive largement en tête (41 % de la production agricole auvergnate). En 2010, l’agriculture occupait plus d’ d’hectares en surface agricole utilisée, soit 57,3 % du territoire régional. Le reste du territoire est occupé par des surfaces boisées () et par des friches ().

L'agroalimentaire est forte et a développé quatre filières d'excellence : la filière céréales qui s'appuie sur les productions de la Limagne, la filière viande avec des productions bovines reconnues (races Salers) mais aussi ovines, porcines et aviaires, la filière lait (cinq AOP fromagères) qui compte  de lait et la filière boissons ( d'eaux minérales et numéro 1 en Europe avec six marques nationales ou internationales). La sylviculture, la production de miels, de confitures et de fruits confits sont des activités anciennes mais toujours présentes.

Filière céréales 

Dans les Limagnes on pratique les grandes cultures : céréales (blé, orge, maïs), oléagineux (colza, tournesol) et betteraves sucrières. Au total  sont consacrés à la production céréalières et c'est à Clermont-Ferrand que se situait l'usine française de transformation de betteraves la plus méridionale. L’entreprise Limagrain est devenue le quatrième plus grand semencier mondial. Elle a établi son siège social à Saint-Bauzire, près de Clermont-Ferrand. Cette société dispose d'un réseau de recherche composé de  de sélection, sept laboratoires de biotechnologie et trois laboratoires de recherche sur les ingrédients. Elle investit plus de 14,6 % de son chiffre d'affaires en recherche et développement ( d'euros) et emploie quelque , ce qui en fait, avec l'INRA et Michelin, l'un des principaux pôles de recherche de la région. Jacquet (leader français de la boulangerie industrielle) et Domagri (filiale de Limagrain) disposent d’installations ultra-modernes pour le travail du grain. Parallèlement à la production de céréales et à l'activité de meunerie, une industrie tournée vers l’alimentation animale se développe (Alivert, Jambon SA, Pet Food Plus, Thivat Nutrition Animale). Dans la Haute-Loire, la culture de la lentille verte du Puy est localisée sur les plateaux du Devès. C'est le premier légume à avoir obtenu une AOC. Dans le Cantal, la culture de la lentille blonde a été relancée sur la Planèze de Saint-Flour.

Filière boissons 

L'Auvergne bénéficie de nombreuses sources d'eau minérale naturelle plate ou naturellement gazeuse, dont plusieurs sont commercialisées (Vichy Célestins et Vichy Saint-Yorre, Châteldon, Rozana, etc.). La plus connue, l'eau de Volvic, n'a jamais été utilisée en thermalisme. Très faiblement minéralisée, elle est classée eau de source aux États-Unis.Le secteur des eaux minérales est particulièrement bien représenté avec Volvic, mais aussi le Groupe Alma (Saint-Yorre, Vichy Célestins, Chateldon et Rozana), Sainte-Marguerite, Châteauneuf, Saint-Diéry, Saint-Géron, Arvie, SMDA (Mont-Dore), Aquamark (Laqueuille), etc. La société Audebert Boissons produit des colas et d'autres sodas vendus sous la marque « Auvergnat ». À Aurillac, la Distillerie Couderc produit les liqueurs de gentiane et différentes crèmes de fruits.

Filière viande 

Dans sa partie montagneuse, l'Auvergne est une région d'élevage extensif orientée vers la production de lait et de viande. C'est le berceau de la race bovine salers et dans une moindre mesure de la race aubrac (Cantal). On y élève aussi beaucoup la charolaise. La ferrandaise est une race locale ancienne qui se développe à nouveau.

Essentiellement orientée vers la viande de boucherie, l’industrie des viandes s’appuie également sur l’élevage de volailles (dix labels rouges), l'élevage porcin (appellation « Porc d'Auvergne ») et les salaisons. La production de viande bovine est bien représentée dans l'Allier, ainsi que dans les Combrailles qui s'est spécialisé ces dernières décennies dans la production de broutards de race charolaise destinés à l'exportation. Dans l'est de la Haute-Loire le Fin gras du Mézenc est une AOC de viande bouchère produite avec des animaux engraissés avec le foin des prairies d'altitude. L'Auvergne organise chaque année en octobre le « Sommet de l'Élevage » à Cournon-d'Auvergne, première manifestation de ce type en Europe.

Les quatre plus grands groupes industriels du secteur sont Arrivé Auvergne, Socopa, Doux et Celvia.

Filière lait 

L'Auvergne est une région importante pour la production de fromages. En 2011 elle produisait le quart de la production française de fromages AOP avec . Cinq appellations agricoles fromagères bénéficient de la protection AOP : Bleu d'Auvergne, Cantal (en trois affinages : jeune, entre-deux, vieux), Fourme d'Ambert, Salers, Saint-nectaire. La production est riche et variée : le gaperon, le chèvreton du Forez, le murol, le pavin, le crottin d'Ambert, la fourme de Saint-Anthème ou le chapelou sont des produits appréciés. Les plus grandes entreprises françaises sont implantées dans la région : Sodiaal (Candia), Savencia Fromage & Dairy, Lactalis, Les Fromageries Occitanes, Société laitière des volcans d'Auvergne et d'importantes PME régionales se sont développées : Dishamp, Walchli, Garmy…

Sylviculture 
En 2014, le secteur Bois auvergnat employait environ  réparties sur environ  et comptait  (7 % en exploitation forestière, 13 % en , 74 % en  et 6 % en négoce).

Dans le nord de l'Allier, la forêt de Tronçais () est aussi une curiosité touristique. Cette haute futaie de chênes est une des plus grandes d'Europe, elle a été créée à l'époque de Colbert pour les besoins de la marine. Elle produit un bois de très haute qualité qui est utilisé par exemple pour la fabrication des tonneaux des grands crus.

Thermalisme 

L'Auvergne a aussi développé un pôle de santé et de loisirs fort avec les stations thermales de Vichy, du Mont-Dore, de Châtel-Guyon, entre autres. Elle compte dix stations thermales :

L'association Thermauvergne inclut également deux stations immédiatement frontalières de l'Allier : Bourbon-Lancy, située dans le département de Saône-et-Loire, et Évaux-les-Bains, située dans le département de la Creuse (mais Saint-Nectaire ne fait pas partie de cette association). Vichy, sous l'impulsion de , est devenue à partir du milieu du  la « Reine des villes d'eaux ». La station thermale de La Bourboule dans le Puy-de-Dôme, créée en 1875 à la suite de la découverte des eaux thermales, fut un centre touristique d'importance, notamment autour de 1900, lorsque  y venaient chaque année. La fréquentation est aujourd'hui bien plus faible.

Tourisme 

En 2014 le chiffre d'affaires du tourisme auvergnat s'élevait à  d'euros. On y a compté  de nuitées (dont 37 % sont des nuitées marchandes) pour  touristiques marchands (principalement en campings, hôtels et meublés de tourisme) et  en résidences secondaires.

Chaque année, la région enregistre environ  de nuitées dans les hébergements marchands,  de nuitées en résidences secondaires, et  de nuitées réalisées chez des parents ou amis. D'après les travaux conduits par l'Observatoire régional du tourisme «SPOT Auvergne» cette clientèle touristique en séjour apporte annuellement entre  d'euros dans l'économie régionale. La consommation touristique totale se situe entre  d'euros et plus de 7 % du PIB régional.

L'Auvergne représente globalement entre 2,7 et 3 % de part de marché dans l'activité touristique nationale, en croissance régulière et totalise entre  et  salariés liés au tourisme selon les mois, en raison de la forte saisonnalité. La clientèle néerlandaise représente 36 % de nuitées. 20 % de la clientèle française vient de l'ancienne région Rhône-Alpes et 18 % de l'Île-de-France. Trois sites majeurs accueillent un million de visiteurs chaque année

Tourisme vert 

Le tourisme vert est un point fort de la région. Elle compte deux parcs naturels régionaux, le parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne et le parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez, mais aussi  de baignade en plan d'eau ou rivière, douze bases de loisirs, cinq plages labellisées « Pavillon Bleu », seize sentiers de Grande Randonnée, quatorze itinéraires équestres, huit voies vertes et  d'itinéraires VTT balisés. Des sites exceptionnels comme le puy Mary ou le Plomb du Cantal sont accessibles par téléphérique ou par la route. Le puy de Dôme est desservi par le train Panoramique des Dômes. De nombreux sentiers de randonnée pédestre, équestre, cycliste et VTT sillonnent l'ensemble des massifs. On peut aussi y pratiquer les sports aériens comme le parapente, le deltaplane, l'ULM, le saut à l'élastique, la chute-libre, le parachute ascensionnel, la pêche, la chasse, le golf, l'escalade et la via ferrata, les parcours dans les arbres, ainsi que le tourisme fluvial.

Depuis le , le site de la Chaîne des Puys et de la Faille de Limagne sont classés sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO.

L'Auvergne possède également de nombreuses communes labellisées « Station Verte » .

La région compte huit routes historiques et touristiques :
 la route historique des châteaux d'Auvergne ;
 la route des forts villageois d'Auvergne ;
 la route des jardins du Massif Central ;
 la route des métiers en Livradois-Forez ;
 la route des villes d'eaux ;
 la route des fromages ;
 la route des églises peintes du Bourbonnais ;
 les chemins de Saint-Jacques.

Parcs de loisirs 
 Le Pal, situé vers Dompierre-sur-Besbre dans l'Allier, attire plus de  par an en combinant les équipements d'un parc de loisirs et d'un grand parc animalier.
 Vulcania, parc de loisirs centré sur le volcanisme situé dans le Puy-de-Dôme, est une attraction touristique ouverte en  qui reçoit chaque année plus de . Trois nouveautés Sur les traces des dinosaures, Premier Envol et Bouleversements devraient encore doper la fréquentation du parc dès 2015 et dans le futur.
 Le Parc animalier d'Auvergne compte plus de 400 animaux sur  et accueille en moyenne .
 L'Aventure Michelin est un nouvel espace patrimonial de la marque qui a été inauguré le  par Michel Rollier, cogérant de Michelin. Situé sur le site historique de Cataroux à Clermont-Ferrand, les visiteurs peuvent découvrir les  consacrés à l'histoire du groupe, de ses hommes et de ses innovations.

Plans d'eau et bases nautiques

Sports d'hiver 

La région compte plusieurs stations de ski alpin, les principales sont Super Lioran sur le massif du Cantal (, ), Super-Besse (, ) et Le Mont-Dore (, ) dans le massif du Sancy, soit au total  de pistes pour le ski alpin. L'Auvergne dispose également de  de pistes nordiques réparties sur  consacrés au ski de fond. On y pratique aussi le ski joëring, le ski de randonnée et la balade en raquettes ou en traineau.

La région possède quelques communes labellisées « Village de Neige ».

Stations de ski en Auvergne:

Festivals et points d'intérêt 

Plusieurs festivals ont obtenu une renommée internationale:
 Le Festival international du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand est le plus grand festival de court-métrage au monde, et le deuxième festival de cinéma de France quant à la fréquentation (plus de  en 2020).
 Le festival de théâtre de rue d'Aurillac, créé en 1986, est le plus grand rassemblement hexagonal des arts de la rue.
 Le Festival de musique de La Chaise-Dieu, créé en 1966, réunit des milliers de mélomanes et d’artistes de renommée internationale au cœur des hauts plateaux du Livradois.

Trois autres festivals connaissent un grand succès et une forte affluence :
 le festival de folklore «Les cultures du monde», créé en 1976. Il a lieu à Gannat la  de juillet. En 2016, il a accueilli ,  des cinq continents,  et environ , c'est une des dix manifestations les plus importantes de la nouvelle région administrative ;
 le festival de musique La Pamparina, créé en 1997. Il se déroule à Thiers au début du mois de juillet et se tient dans les rues de la cité médiévale autour d'un thème qui change chaque année (cordes, voix, percussions, danses, etc.). Il a attiré plus de  en 2018 ;
 la Fête du Roi de l'Oiseau, créée en 1985, se déroule au Puy-en-Velay la  de septembre. La fête médiévale, animée par plus de  costumées, parmi lesquelles plusieurs troupes d'artistes, attire près de  dont  se rassemblent pour suivre le grand défilé dominical de clôture.

Six territoires ont été labellisés Villes et Pays d'art et d'histoire par le ministère de la Culture et de la Communication : le Pays de Billom-Saint-Dier, le Pays du Haut-Allier, le pays d'Issoire - Val d'Allier Sud, le Pays de Riom et la ville de Thiers. Trois édifices sont classés au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco et  historiques sont classés ou inscrits.

Le guide vert, le guide rouge gastronomique et les Cartes Michelin nés en Auvergne, contribuent depuis leur création au développement du tourisme en Auvergne et en France. En , le guide touristique Lonely Planet a classé l'Auvergne au sixième rang des régions incontournables à découvrir dans le monde. Qualifiée par le guide de « joyau méconnu », elle intègre ainsi le Top 10 des régions à visiter en 2016.

Culture 
L’Auvergne s’inscrit en grande partie dans l’aire linguistique de l'occitan auquel s'ajoute des parties pour le Croissant, le bourbonnais d'oïl et le francoprovençal. Cela n'en fait pas pour autant une région véritablement méridionale. Située au centre-sud du pays, elle fait partie de la France médiane plus que de la France centrale ; c'est selon les mots de Pierre Bonnaud une terre « intermédiaire » qui se trouve à la rencontre d’influences venant aussi bien du nord que du sud. À la fois originaux et diversifiés les traits culturels caractérisant l’Auvergne dépassent largement les frontières étroites de la province historique.

Langues régionales 

La quasi-totalité du territoire auvergnat s’inscrit dans l’aire linguistique de l’occitan. En plus de l’auvergnat, d’autre langues apparentées étaient parlées dans la région tels que les parlers du Croissant (arverno-bourbonnais au nord-est et marchois au nord-ouest) ainsi que l'aurillacois au sud-ouest du Cantal. On parlait le dialecte vivaro-alpin dans quelques communes du sud-est du Puy-de-Dôme. Les spécialistes classent l’auvergnat et les parlers du Croissant dans les ensembles supradialectaux du nord-occitan ou de l’arverno-méditerranéen. Ils classent l’aurillacois dans le groupe de l’occitan méridional.

Un dialecte romani propre à l'Auvergne, le romani auvergnat, est également parlé dans la région par les populations roms. Il a été étudié et codifié par Joseph Valet.

Auvergnat 

Les limites linguistiques de l’auvergnat ne correspondent pas à celles de l’ancienne province. On ne le parlait pas dans l’arrondissement d’Aurillac, mais il était parlé dans le sud du Bourbonnais (ligne Montluçon-Gannat-Vichy), le Velay, la moitié est de la Creuse, le Pays d'Ussel et au nord de la Lozère et de l’Ardèche. On peut utiliser deux systèmes graphiques différents pour écrire l’auvergnat : la norme classique et l'écriture auvergnate unifiée spécialement conçue pour s'adapter aux spécificités de la langue et issue des évolutions de cette dernière. On distingue deux ou trois types de nuances dialectales pour cette langue : l’auvergnat septentrional, le plus répandu géographiquement, concentre 80 % de la littérature, l’auvergnat méridional parlé dans les deux tiers du Cantal. Entre les deux, l’auvergnat médian (ou arverno-vellave) parlé de l’Artense au Velay combine de façons diverses les caractéristiques des deux groupes précédents. Plusieurs linguistes comme Henri Guiter, Hans Goebl, Jacques Allières, Jules Ronjat ou Roger Teulat choisissent de le regrouper dans la seule et unique catégorie de l’arverno-limousin.

Vivaro-alpin 

Le vivaro-alpin est un dialecte parlé de l'extrémité est de la région jusqu'aux vallées occitanes d'Italie. En Auvergne, il est parlé à l'extrême sud-est du Puy-de-Dôme et du Livradois, à l'est d'Ambert et autour d'Arlanc.

Aurillacois 

L'aurillacois est une variété septentrionale du languedocien . Il a été nommé « Dialecte carladézien » par le mouvement du revivalisme linguistique du félibrige et guyennais par le géographe Pierre Bonnaud. Proche du rouergat, il est classé dans le groupe « occitan méridional » par Jean Lhermet.

Parlers du Croissant 

La moitié méridionale du département de l'Allier parle une langue de transition située en l'occitan et la langue d'oïl et nommée langue du Croissant. Cette aire du bourbonnais croissantais est elle-même subdivisée. Une frange nord du département du Puy-de-Dôme y est aussi rattachée avec notamment une partie importante du canton de Saint-Eloy-les-Mines.

L'ouest de l'Allier, autour de Montluçon, parle le marchois qui se rapproche du limousin. Les deux tiers sud-est de l'Allier autour de Vichy, de la Limagne bourbonnaise et de la Montagne bourbonnaise utilise l'arverno-bourbonnais qui est lui un parler du Croissant plus proche de l'auvergnat.

Situation actuelle 
L'université Clermont-Auvergne propose des cours d'occitan. La recherche universitaire est assurée au sein de deux laboratoires : le Centre d'Histoire Espaces et Cultures (CHEC) et l'Institut d'Histoire des Représentations et Idées dans les Modernités (IHRIM)149. Un sondage de l’IFOP datant de 2012 indiquait que le nombre de locuteurs se situait aux environs de . Ce nombre a probablement diminué car une grande partie d'entre eux étaient des gens âgés. Les dernières générations semblaient néanmoins développer une envie d'apprendre l'occitan et se montraient favorables à la valorisation de la langue. L'UNESCO classe l'auvergnat dans la catégorie des langues sérieusement en danger.

Querelle linguistique 
Une querelle linguistique est apparue au cours des années 1970. À cette époque le mouvement nationaliste occitan a repris l’aire linguistique de l’occitan pour asseoir ses revendications politiques. Cette idéologisation a provoqué des réactions en Auvergne. Un groupe d’érudits locaux fortement impliqué dans la défense de la langue a tenu à se détacher de cette mouvance. Autour de l’universitaire Pierre Bonnaud et de l’association le Cercle Terre d'Auvergne, il a construit une théorie tendant à prouver que l’auvergnat est une langue ayant connu un développement distinct des autres dialectes occitans. Cette tentative est qualifiée de « sécessionnisme linguistique » par les occitanistes.

Littérature

Littérature en latin 

Sidoine Apollinaire naquit en 430 à Lyon dans une famille de notables gallo-romains. Il fréquenta longtemps les allées du pouvoir et ses talents de poète furent remarqués par les officiels de l'époque qui lui demandèrent de composer leurs panégyriques. Il se retira dans la propriété de sa femme à Avitacum (Aydat) et devint ambassadeur des Arvernes puis évêque de Clermont, ce qui lui donna la charge de cette province à des moments troublés. Ses éloges restent très formels et n'ont qu'une valeur documentaire, mais sa nombreuse correspondance illustre ses qualités d'écrivain et apporte un témoignage sur cette époque lointaine.

Grégoire de Tours (539-594) est né à Clermont (ou peut être à Riom). Issu d'une famille aristocratique arverne, il fut éduqué par son oncle paternel Gallus, évêque de Clermont. Il fut ordonné diacre et résida à la basilique Saint-Julien de Brioude jusqu'à son élection comme évêque de Tours en 573. Il a écrit de nombreux textes religieux, mais ce fut surtout le premier historien de France. Son œuvre majeure est l'Histoire des Francs qui raconte l'histoire du pays des origines jusqu'au .

Gerbert d'Aurillac (945-1003) est probablement entré comme oblat à l'abbaye Saint-Géraud d'Aurillac où il fit de brillantes études. En 999, il devient pape sous le nom de Sylvestre II. Ce fut un humaniste «complet», longtemps avant la Renaissance. Il remit à l'honneur la culture antique et fut un brillant scientifique. Parmi tous ses travaux, on lui doit des traités de mathématiques, des traités ecclésiastiques et une nombreuse correspondance révélant ses qualités humaines.

Littérature en occitan auvergnat 

L'Auvergne est un des principaux berceaux de la littérature occitane et ce depuis le Moyen Âge, moment où l'occitan était aussi utilisé comme langue officielle dans les écrits. En témoignent de nombreux troubadours comme le comte Dalfi d'Auvèrnha ou encore Peire d'Alvernha.

Dès le , on voit apparaître des écrits en auvergnat dans la région de Clermont, seul endroit où l'instruction est présente. Il s'agit en certains cas de textes d'imitation.

Au , les écrivains locaux, issus de la bourgeoisie, forment une confrérie Lau companhou do tour. Chaduc et François Pezant écrivent des noëls dignes d’intérêt. Ceux des frères Pasturel sont religieux et ceux des frères Laborieux sont satiriques. Ces derniers décrivent la vie du vigneron alors que les frères Pasturel écrivent des chansons et des poèmes lyriques. Ils transcrivent l'Énéide de Virgile en vers burlesques auvergnats. À la fin du  et au début du , les auteurs auvergnats prennent part au débat d'idées. Jacques Jarsaillon écrit cinq comédies dramatiques remarquables par leur style, dont Margoutou, L'ivrogne et Claudine. Les études sur les coutumes locales et la langue sont nombreuses (Labouderre, Murat, Vinols, Deribier de Cheysac) et concernent toutes les parties linguistiques de l'Auvergne.

De la fin du  jusqu'au milieu du , la littérature en auvergnat se rétracte dans les petites villes et diminue en qualité de forme et de fond. Les auteurs se laissent influencer par les formes languedociennes et se limitent aux idées convenues. L'ambertois Régis Michalias se distingue dans cet ensemble. Il fut le premier lyrique à la manière auvergnate, Er d'un païzan et Er de loû su évoquent la nature et font part de sentiments retenus.

Depuis 1970, le Cercle Terre d'Auvergne et sa revue Bïzà Neirà ont permis à des locuteurs de s'exprimer.

Les revues Lo Convise d’Aurillac (et leurs éditions) et Parlem! Vai-i qu'a paur! de Thiers (et les éditions de l’Institut d'études occitanes) complètent le paysage littéraire en auvergnat avec les récits d’Étienne Coudert, Josiane Guillot, Jean Roux, Félix Daval, Antoine Chapus, Hervé Quesnel et Christian Bonnet.

Littérature en occitan aurillacois 
La littérature en aurillacois quant à elle connait une chronologie différente de celle de l'auvergnat. Il n'y a pas eu au  de bourgeoisie cultivée pour promouvoir la langue. C'est à la fin du  et au début du  qu'elle connait un véritable printemps grâce à l'heureuse influence du félibrige. Le poète fondateur de la littérature de cette langue est sans conteste Arsène Vermenouze (1850-1910) qui décrit avec sensibilité le pays et les hommes de la terre d'Auvergne. À ce sujet, Pierre Bonnaud dit de son œuvre : . Vermenouze associe le talent de poète à celui de conteur et devient le chef de file incontesté des félibres cantaliens : l'Escolo Oubernhato ou Escòla auvernhata. Le capiscol du mouvement ouvre le chemin à d'autres poètes tels que l'abbé Four ou le chanoine Francis Courchinoux. Le duc de La Salle de Rochemaure écrit les Récits carladésiens. Antonin Dusserre, T. Laborie, F.Bourgade, J.-S. Mathieu ou Fernand Prax ont poursuivi le mouvement avec l'appui de la revue régionaliste « la Veillée d'Auvergne ».

Écrivains auvergnats 
De nombreux écrivains français sont d'origine auvergnate. Leurs œuvres ne sont pas régionalistes mais elles témoignent de la vitalité intellectuelle et artistique de la région.

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) est sans aucun doute le plus célèbre de tous les intellectuels auvergnats. Mathématicien, scientifique et philosophe de génie il a écrit les Pensées, œuvre considérée comme une des pièces maîtresses de la littérature française. D'autres penseurs auvergnats ont également œuvré dans le domaine de la philosophie et de la théologie : Génébrard (1535-1597) grand savant et théologien, Antonin-Gilbert Sertillanges (1863-1948) philosophe moraliste, Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) scientifique et philosophe ou Joseph Malègue (1876-1940) écrivain prolifique porté par la foi.

De grands hommes politiques on marqué leur époque par leurs pensée : Michel de L'Hospital (1506-1573) auteur d'épîtres, de poésies et de traités politiques, l'historien Jean Savaron (1566-1622) ou l'essayiste politique François Montlosier (1755-1838).

De nombreux écrivains auvergnats ont fait partie de l'Académie française : Jean-Baptiste Massillon (1663-1742), prédicateur qui faisait l'admiration de Voltaire, Jean-François Marmontel (1723-1799) écrivain qui a excellé dans tous les genres et les poètes François Maynard (1582-1646), Louis de Boissy (1694-1758), Dormont de Belloy (1727-1775), Jacques Delille (1738-1813), Sébastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort (1740-1794) et Pierre de Nolhac (1859-1936), Jules Romains alias Louis Farigoule (1885-1972).

Parmi les nombreux romanciers on pourrait choisir de citer Jules Vallès (1832-1885), Émile Clermont (1880-1916), Valery Larbaud (1881-1957), Amélie Murat (1882-1940), Paul Morand (1888-1976), Georges Bataille (1897-1962), Jean Montaurier (1906-1992), Pierre Schoendoerffer (1928-2012), cinéaste-écrivain, Georges Conchon (1925-1990), Richard Bohringer (1942-), aussi acteur.

Raymond Bruckberger (1907-1998), écrivain et cinéaste, aumônier de la Résistance, fut l'un des Cantaliens les plus bouillants de son temps.

Albert Londres (1884-1932) fut le premier journaliste moderne.

Auvergne et littérature française 

Plusieurs auteurs, le plus souvent originaires de la région, ont mis l'Auvergne au centre de leur œuvre :

Arsène Vermenouze (1850-1910) n'a pas seulement écrit en langue d'oc, il a également écrit de nombreux poèmes en français. Son recueil Mon Auvergne fut primé par l'Académie française. Camille Gandilhon Gens d'Armes (1871-1948) a marqué son époque pars ses recueils de poèmes exaltant le patriotisme et l'amour de la terre natale.

Une des figures littéraires de l'Auvergne est certainement Henri Pourrat (1887-1959). Il a recueilli la littérature orale de l'Auvergne et a écrit des contes, des romans et des essais concernant la région. Son roman Gaspard des montagnes a connu un immense succès. Antoine Sylvère (1888-1936) doit sa célébrité à son roman Toinou : Le cri d'un enfant auvergnat.

Alexandre Vialatte (1901-1971) est à l'origine d'une œuvre universelle et originale mais il a aussi écrit de belles pages sur l'Auvergne et Lucien Gachon (1894-1984) a décrit avec réalisme l'univers paysan dans ses romans. Jean-Pierre Leclerc (1950-2011) aime dépeindre la région dans ses romans.

Léon Geneix (1905-1990) est également une figure de la poésie auvergnate, notamment par son recueil Les jours qui passent, recueil témoignant de son amour de sa région et de sa passion pour la nature.

L'écrivain Jean Anglade (1915-2017) est un des plus grands porte-paroles de l'Auvergne. Certains n'ont pas hésité à l'honorer du titre de « Giono ou Maupassant d'Auvergne ». Son œuvre est volumineuse, elle se compose de romans, de biographies, d'entretiens, d'ouvrages d'histoire, d'essais, d'albums illustrés, de poésies et de théâtre.

Regard féminin 

Claude Dravaine (1888-1957) a écrit plusieurs romans dont l'action se situe dans la région d'Ambert et si Marie-Aimée Méraville (1902-1963) était institutrice, elle fut surtout romancière, auteur de nouvelles et ethnologue des contes auvergnats. Cécile Sauvage (1883-1927) a illustré le Livradois dans plusieurs de ses romans.

Aujourd'hui Jeanne Cressanges (1929) est l'autrice de romans et d'essais reliés au Bourbonnais.

Cécile Beauvoir (1967) écrit ses romans de façon épurée et poétique pour rendre l'instant et les émotions dans toute leur intensité.

Marie-Hélène Lafon (1962), professeur agrégée de grammaire, est l'auteur de nouvelles, de prose poétique et de romans. Les personnages et les lieux lui sont inspirés par son pays natal situé entre monts du cantal et Cézallier. Ses ouvrages écrits dans un style sensible et affûté ont été plusieurs fois distingués notamment par le Prix Renaudot et le Prix Goncourt de la nouvelle.

Cécile Coulon (1990), romancière, nouvelliste et poétesse a publié son premier roman à l'age de 16 ans. Elle obtient depuis un succès grandissant, plusieurs fois récompensé. Elle a souvent situé ses romans en Auvergne, région où elle est née et où elle vit.

Auvergne et la fiction 
L'écrivain américain Clark Ashton Smith, pour le besoin de ses romans de fantasy, a créé la province historique française fictive d'Averoigne. Son nom est sûrement inspiré de l'Auvergne, bien qu'il évoque également l'Aveyron.

Liturgies régionales 
Il existe depuis le Moyen Âge plusieurs formes liturgiques auvergnates. Les rares études concernant le sujet attestent dernièrement des découvertes réalisées à partir des manuscrits médiévaux et modernes. Les chercheurs comme Michel Huglo avaient commencé à analyser les différents livres liturgiques. La liturgie clermontoise rayonnait sur toute l'Auvergne médiévale. Mais d'autres grandes églises, dirigées par des chanoines ou des moines lettrés, s'étaient également dotées de liturgistes performants. Ainsi les chanoines de Brioude avaient réalisé des livres liturgiques et des pièces liturgiques différentes de celles de la cathédrale mère du diocèse. Au , les chanoines de Clermont avaient ajouté de nombreux saints auvergnats aux calendriers liturgiques du diocèse. Cela correspond au mouvement du gallicanisme. En Velay, les liturgies du diocèse du Puy avaient adopté d'autres particularités.

Ces liturgies auvergnates étaient directement liées à la valorisation identitaire des personnages locaux et des saints locaux. Les Auvergnats ont donc prié leurs saints grâce à des pièces de chant et des oraisons composées en Auvergne par les moines de La Chaise-Dieu, de Clermont, de Brioude etc. Les liturgies en Auvergne ont favorisé la forme des églises auvergnates en particulier dans l'iconographie et dans les thèmes utilisés dans les chapiteaux sculptés.

Dans les églises romanes du diocèse de Clermont, plusieurs chapiteaux représentent le Saint-Sépulcre. Pendant des années les chercheurs ont supposé l'existence d'offices liturgiques ayant un rapport avec le tombeau du Christ à Jérusalem. Avital Heyman a repéré pour l'Auvergne, la montée de la conscience d'une libération indispensable de la Terre sainte. Comme ailleurs en Europe, la dévotion pour le Saint-Sépulcre était particulièrement en vogue. Les clercs ne participant pas aux croisades, pouvaient cependant réaliser des prières pour aider spirituellement les croisés. La libération du Saint-Sépulcre motivait toute la chrétienté et le pape également. Dans de nombreuses églises, on proposait aux pèlerins de visiter des « copies » du Saint-Sépulcre afin de satisfaire les fidèles.

À Brioude, une relique du Saint-Sépulcre était exposée dans une chapelle éponyme. Un chapiteau du Saint-Sépulcre avait d'ailleurs était placé en face d'un chapiteau représentant un croisé triomphant de l'Islam. L'analyse des bréviaires auvergnats a montré récemment que plusieurs prières surérogatoires étaient récitées dans la cathédrale de Clermont afin de « libérer » le Saint-Sépulcre et la Terre Sainte. À Brioude, les chanoines récitaient un office du Saint-Sépulcre le 4 mars de chaque année. Cet office a été effectué par les chanoines jusqu'en 1789. L'iconographie de la chapelle Saint-Michel de la basilique de Brioude reprenait également le thème de la croisade. Ainsi, en Auvergne, de nombreuses églises étaient ornées de fresques et de sculptures représentant la croisade et le Saint-Sépulcre. Ce thème était mélangé aux thèmes mythologiques et moralisateurs. Les clercs avaient ainsi répondu à la dévotion croissante pour le Saint-Sépulcre. Ils soutenaient ainsi par leur prières et par leurs monuments, la libération du tombeau du Christ.

Les formules liturgiques particulières au diocèse de Clermont étaient encore utilisées avant Vatican II. Après la réforme, de nombreux saints auvergnats ont été supprimés des calendriers liturgiques auvergnats. Le clergé clermontois avait hésité (dans les années 1970) à fabriquer un bréviaire de Clermont (comme on le faisait jadis). La liturgie clermontoise est aujourd'hui remplacée par la liturgie romaine. Un missel de Clermont existe, mais il n'est que rarement respecté. Quelques fêtes de saints auvergnats font encore l'objet de liturgies particulières : on fête la Saint-Austremoine ou la Saint-Julien. Mais beaucoup de saints auvergnats ou de vierges auvergnates, comme sainte Florine, ne sont plus fêtés. Depuis les années 2000, quelques reliques réapparaissent cependant lors des offices. Au hasard du vouloir du prêtre, il est encore possible de célébrer devant une relique d'Austremoine La rédaction des missels et des bréviaires en français n'a que très rarement intégré les anciennes liturgies « régionales » au profit du modèle romain, mais de nouvelles coutumes liturgiques naissent dans les paroisses.

Peinture

École de Murol 

L’École de Murol, comme l’école de Barbizon ou l’école de Pont-Aven, présente toutes les caractéristiques des écoles de peinture du paysage du  et du  français : un artiste majeur, une unité de temps et de lieu et une inspiration unique.

L'abbé Léon Boudal, curé de Murol, est à l'origine de l'école. Il a su accueillir une cinquantaine de peintres et les rassembler dans un mouvement pictural fort. Victor Charreton fut leur chef de file. Les autres éléments majeurs de l'école furent Vladimir de Terlikowski, originaire de Varsovie, Armand Point et Mario Pérouse, un industriel auvergnat. Le peintre riomois Charles Jaffeux a également participé au mouvement. À Murol, les artistes ont été séduits par les paysages naturels de la montagne, notamment la neige et les ciels de montagne. Ils ont aussi pris comme modèles des habitants vaquant à leurs occupations. Ces peintres s'inscrivent dans un courant postimpressionniste ou parfois fauviste.

Peintres reconnus 
 Édouard Marty (1851-1913) fit ses études à l'École des beaux-arts de Toulouse et à Paris où il enseigna. Il dessina pour des journaux illustrés et devient illustrateur d'ouvrages. Sa santé fragile l'obligea à revenir Aurillac où il fonda un atelier. Son œuvre est variée, elle se compose entre autres d’aquarelles, de dessins, de pastels, de lithographies et de peintures. Il passa la dernière année de sa vie, en 1912, à Chaudes-Aigues.
 Charles Jaffeux (1902-1941) était originaire de Riom. Élève de l’École des beaux-arts de Clermont-Ferrand, puis de Paris, il fut l'élève de Charles Waltner. Il fréquenta également l'Académie de la Grande Chaumière, et plus tard l'école de Murol. Sa carrière fut courte mais son œuvre est abondante. Dès son retour en Auvergne, il dessina des eaux-fortes des monuments de la région qu'il éditait ensuite en cartes postales, ce qui lui assurait un revenu confortable. Cela lui permit de se consacrer à la peinture des paysages de l'Auvergne mais aussi d'autres régions.
 Victor Fonfreide (1872-1934) était originaire de Volvic. Peintre, illustrateur et lithographe régionaliste, il a contribué à La Veillée d'Auvergne. Élève de l'École d'architecture de Volvic, des beaux-arts de Clermont-Ferrand, puis de l'ENSAD, il a également fréquenté l'école de Murol. Ses techniques sont multiples : aquarelle, sculpture, huile, céramique et plomb, mais c'est surtout avec la craie qu'il est le plus intéressant. Ses sujets sont des paysages et des monuments de l'Auvergne, des personnages et des scènes de genre qu'il traite avec un naturalisme parfois proche de l’expressionnisme.
 Élise Rieuf (1897-1990) est née à Massiac. Elle a fait l’École des Beaux-Arts de Clermont-Ferrand puis est entrée à l'Académie Lacaze à Paris. Elle y a rencontré Marguerite Jeanne Carpentier et a participé à la première école de peinture féminine. Elle enseigna à Düsseldorf et à Agen puis a suivi son mari, l'architecte Paul Veysseyre, à Shanghai où elle s'attacha a peindre la vie et les paysages chinois. Revenue en France, elle resta proche de Marguerite Jeanne Carpentier et exposa régulièrement aux salons. Elle vécut aussi à Aix-en-Provence et se retira à Massiac où elle continua à peindre l'Auvergne. Cette artiste n'a jamais vendu aucune de ses pièces ce qui a réduit sa notoriété. Son œuvre est aujourd'hui exposée dans un musée qui lui est consacré et qui peine à contenir une collection d'une très grande richesse.
 François Boucheix est un peintre surréaliste. Reconnu internationalement, il reste fidèle à sa terre natale. Un musée lui est consacré à Vichy.

Musique

Musique classique 

George Onslow est incontestablement le plus éminent des compositeurs ayant vécu en Auvergne. Né à Clermont-Ferrand (1784), il y est également décédé (1853). En dépit d'une renommée internationale, il resta toujours fidèle à sa ville natale, ce qui ne l'empêcha pas de fréquenter les plus illustres musiciens de son temps et d'être publié et diffusé partout en Europe par les plus grandes maisons d'édition. Un festival, Les Soirées Onslow, lui est consacré chaque été pendant la première semaine du mois d'août à l'initiative du Quatuor Prima Vista qui en est le fondateur.

Dans les années 1920, Joseph Canteloube (1879-1957) collecte, harmonise, et orchestre le recueil Chants d'Auvergne. Ces chants traditionnels font partie du répertoire classique et ont été enregistrés par de nombreux chanteurs, telle la soprano Madeleine Grey qui les crée en 1926, les barytons Gérard Souzay puis Bernard Boucheix en 1966 et 2007, Victoria de los Ángeles en 1973, Frederica von Stade en 1985, etc.

Plusieurs compositeurs sont nés en Auvergne mais sont bien vite partis s’établir à Paris : Antoine Lhoyer, Emmanuel Chabrier, François George Hainl, André Messager, Antoine-François Marmontel, Roger Désormière, André Gannes et François-Bernard Mâche. Seuls quelques-uns sont originaires d’Auvergne et y ont établi leur activité : c’est le cas d’Henri Thévenin (né à Vichy), Gilles Raynal (né à Saint-Flour) et Baudime Jam (né à Clermont-Ferrand).

D'autres ont résidé pendant des périodes plus ou moins longues en Auvergne, sans toutefois s’y installer : Jean-Philippe Rameau (originaire de Dijon), Isaac Strauss (originaire de Strasbourg), Pierre Angot (originaire de Neuville-lès-Dieppe) et Dominique Jayles (originaire de Toulouse). Daniel Meier (1934-2004) était originaire de Pau mais s'est établi définitivement en Auvergne en 1975.

Orchestre national d'Auvergne 

L'orchestre national d'Auvergne est une formation de  de niveau international créée en 1981 par le Conseil régional d'Auvergne et le ministère de la Culture. Il a été placé sous la direction de Jean-Jacques Kantorow puis d'Arie van Beek et enfin de Roberto Forés Veses en 2012. Il est basé à Clermont-Ferrand et se produit dans la région, dans de nombreux festivals en Europe et dans plusieurs villes du monde telles que Tokyo, Osaka, New York, Philadelphie, Baltimore, Munich, Francfort, Amsterdam, La Haye, Zurich, Genève ou Milan. Son répertoire s'étend de la musique baroque à la musique contemporaine. Il a joué sous la conduite de chefs prestigieux comme Emmanuel Krivine, Gilbert Varga, Fabio Biondi ou Hervé Niquet.

Musiques et instruments traditionnels 

Au Moyen Âge, on a d'abord joué de la flûte, du fifre et du tambour. La vielle à roue est arrivée ensuite. C'est un des instruments traditionnels les plus anciennement utilisés. Elle faisait office d'instrument universel car elle permettait à la fois de jouer la mélodie, l'accompagnement rythmique et l'accompagnement mélodique. Le joueur pouvait également chanter en même temps qu'il jouait. Les vielles utilisées en Auvergne sont d'abord venues de Paris et de l'est de la France. La fabrication à Jenzat d'instruments très décorés est à l'origine de sa grande diffusion dans la région. Au  on voit apparaître la cornemuse, appelée chèvre, cabre ou cabrette à cause de l'outre faite en peau de chèvre. La cornemuse bourbonnaise connait un succès plus tardif en Basse Auvergne grâce à la présence d'excellents facteurs locaux. Le violon était aussi très utilisé dans les campagnes.

Une grande page de la musique auvergnate s'est écrite à Paris. Dès le début du  l'immigration auvergnate se développe dans la capitale. Elle prend une très large ampleur avec l'arrivée du chemin de fer dans le Massif central. Les Auvergnats s'installent dans les faubourgs miséreux comme le quartier de la Roquette ou la rue de Lappe, ils occupent des petits métiers (ferrailleurs, porteurs d'eau). C'est à cette époque que se créent les bals auvergnats. Il y a de nombreux banquets où l'on se retrouve par canton ou par corps de métier et où l'on danse la bourrée. La cabrette que l'on équipe d'un soufflet placé sous le bras devient alors un instrument extrêmement populaire. Elle a un son puissant qui s'adapte bien aux ambiances bruyantes et ses nombreuses harmoniques permettent un jeu varié.

Après la guerre de 1870 la musique auvergnate devient à la mode dans tout Paris. On finit par compter plus de 200 bals auvergnats dans la Capitale. D'abord régionale, cette musique devient alors une musique urbaine prisée de tous. Un des plus grands joueurs de cabrette de cette époque fut Antoine Bouscatel. Ce musicien originaire de la vallée de la Jordanne a connu un immense succès. Il tenait un bal « Chez Bousca » d'abord rue de Lappe puis rue de la Huchette. C'est peut-être lui qui, le premier, accepte d'associer l'accordéon à la cabrette. Cet instrument a été apporté par les immigrants italiens. Il a d'abord été accueilli avec réticence dans la communauté auvergnate mais le goût du public fut le plus fort. La présence de la manufacture Dedenis à Brive-la-Gaillarde a accéléré la diffusion de l'instrument dans le Massif central.

Un autre grand acteur de cette histoire musicale fut Martin Cayla. Ce joueur de cabrette était originaire de Sansac-de-Marmiesse. Il créa la maison de disques spécialisée dans la musique auvergnate «Les disques du soleil». Son magasin de disques était le plus grand de Paris. Il signa tous les artistes auvergnats de l'époque et ses enregistrements, revenus dans les campagnes, servirent de modèle à tous les musiciens du Massif central. Cela produisit un phénomène d'unification et de standardisation du répertoire.

Après 1918 la musique jouée dans les bals auvergnats se métisse ; on joue des valses, des polkas, des mazurkas... La cabrette est peu à peu reléguée aux bals strictement régionaux. C'est la naissance d'un nouveau genre de musique : le musette. En Auvergne, jusque dans les années 1960, on aime écouter les deux styles de musique et l'on ne se demande pas lequel est le plus authentique car les deux proviennent de la même source. L'accordéoniste Jean Ségurel a connu un grand succès et aujourd'hui encore des artistes comme Sylvie Pullès poursuivent la tradition.

Depuis les années 1970, lors de la vague folk, la musique de tradition orale est collectée, enregistrée et mise à disposition du plus grand nombre pour que ce patrimoine soit le ferment de nouvelles créations. Aujourd'hui de nombreux groupes assurent des bals, concerts, spectacles comme Bouffard en trio, l'Auvergne Imaginée, Le Comité, La Compagnie Léon Larchet, La Chavannée, La Pastourelle de Roannes Saint Mary, Les Brayauds, Le Duo Artense, Virginie Basset, Anne-Lise Foy, Traucaterme ou encore Alain Bruel. Vielle, accordéons diatonique ou chromatique, cabrettes, violons et cornemuses se mêlent aux trombones à coulisse, trompettes, basses, batteries pour le plaisir de danser des polkas, mazurkas, valses, bourrées à 2 ou 3 temps.

Chants 
Les plus anciens chants d'Auvergne sont probablement les « Chants de Plein Vent ». Il s'agit de simples mélodies psalmodiées sur des onomatopées qui variaient selon la saison ou le moment du jour. Ils accompagnaient les moments de la vie rurale. Les « Grandes » servaient à encourager les animaux à travailler. On note que certains d'entre eux sont composés sur une gamme différente de la gamme moderne ou des gammes antiques grecques ou romaines. Ce système musical original provient probablement de l'époque celtique. Les « chants de moisson » comportaient des paroles.

Les « Baïleros » étaient des psalmodies au rythme libre qui permettaient aux bergers de communiquer entre eux à grande distance.

Les « Révéliés » étaient chantés par les enfants de maison en maison la nuit du  ou au moment des fêtes religieuses pour obtenir de petites récompenses.

Les « Regrets » sont des chants mélancoliques comparables à ceux du troubadour Austan d'Orlhac.

Une grande part des chansons traditionnelles de la région sont simplement des versions arvernisées des chansons communes aux provinces paysannes françaises.

Conservation du patrimoine immatériel 
Depuis 1985 l’Agence des Musiques des Territoires d’Auvergne (AMTA) collecte le patrimoine oral de l’Auvergne (musiques traditionnelles, chants mais aussi contes, légendes, danses, langue…) ; elle a constitué un fonds documentaire qui, en 2016, représente plus de  d’enregistrements sonores, plus de  de films, .

Danse 

La bourrée est la plus fameuse des danses d'Auvergne. Aux , Lully, Rameau ou Bach en firent des arrangements pour la cour, Madame de Sévigné raconte l'avoir vu à Vichy. Traditionnellement elle se dansait entre hommes ou entre femmes. Au début du siècle on la dansait souvent en tenant un bâton. La bourrée auvergnate a un rythme ternaire. Les pas sont glissés et ponctués de frappés, les danseurs ne se rencontrent pas. Les hommes se tiennent droit, un peu inclinés en arrière et la tête en avant, et gardent les poings relevés. Les femmes gardent le buste immobile en tournoyant, leurs bras restent en bas et le mouvement des pieds se fait discret sous les jupes.

La bourrée entre homme et femme conçue comme une poursuite galante serait plus récente. Au , Fléchier fut choqué par l’indécence d'une de ses variantes appelée la « goignade ». Il raconte que les danseurs font .

Costume régional 

Très longtemps le costume paysan est resté simple et peu différent de ceux des autres provinces. Les vêtements étaient faits de chanvre que l'on cultivait sur place ou de laine marron, noire ou grise dans le bas pays. On portait des sabots en boulot ou en vergne dans les montagnes ou en noyer dans les plaines. Les hommes se coiffaient d'un chapeau de feutre à large bord. En Pays Brayaud ils portaient un tricorne de feutre noir. L'hiver on se couvrait d'une mante à cape qui descendait jusqu'aux chevilles appelée la « coubarte » ou la « saïle ».

Au  le costume régional s'individualise. Dans les montagnes les éleveurs adoptent la blouse de lin bleu ou noir comme dans d'autres parties du massif central. Les femmes se montreront plus conservatrices et seront les dernières à abandonner le costume régional. C'est certainement la coiffure qui était l'élément le plus original de leur tenue. La coiffe variait considérablement d'un pays traditionnel à l'autre. De nombreuses nuances de forme et de port permettaient à la porteuse de signifier son état, comme le deuil. En Limagne les femmes portaient un bonnet rond à bordure tuyautée très enfoncé. Les plus jeunes le portaient plus relevé sur le front, sans bordure mais avec un large ruban posé en papillon.

Habitat traditionnel 

Située à la confluence d'influences provenant de toutes les parties de la France, l'Auvergne présente tous les types d'habitats traditionnels mais dans des proportions différentes pour chacun des quinze pays traditionnels.

Dans les Limagnes et la Planèze de Saint-Flour et dans une moindre mesure sur les plateaux défavorisés de la Margeride l'habitat est regroupé en villages. Partout ailleurs l'Auvergne se caractérise par un habitat dispersé. La structure la plus fréquente est celle du hameau de cinq à six maisons d'habitation, accompagnées de leurs granges et dépendances. L'habitat permanent ne dépasse pas les  d'altitude ( sur les versants est des massifs). Au-delà les bâtiments sont dévolus à des utilisations saisonnières (burons, granges). Dans le Cantal la date de construction, voire le nom du propriétaire, figurent fréquemment sur le linteau de la porte. En montagne, le « couderc », espace ouvert et commun, est l'un des éléments importants des villages. Les villages à « barriades » sont constitués de groupes linéaires de maisons jointives. En montagne on retrouve quatre types de maisons :
 La maison élémentaire de l'ouvrier agricole : sans étage et de plan carré, ses matériaux sont d'une relative pauvreté.
 La « borde » ou « bourioto », maison des petits et moyens exploitants : au sol ou non, avec ou sans étage, sa taille reflète l'importance de l'exploitation.
 La borie, maison de fermier dépendant d'un domaine bourgeois ou noble : les dépendance (granges, pigeonnier) indiquent l'importance du domaine.
 La maison de maître souvent isolée par rapport à l'exploitation se distingue par sa situation dominante, son volume important et son architecture ordonnancée.

Dans les Limagnes les maisons sont regroupées et ont plusieurs étages. L'étable et les cuves de vin sont au rez-de-chaussée, la cave est au sous-sol. On monte à l'étage par un escalier extérieur qui donne sur un balcon, « l'estre », lui-même couvert d'un petit toit, le « courcour ». Les fermes isolées ont leurs bâtiments disposés en équerre ou en carré autour d'une cour.

La région se trouve à la rencontre de l'aire des « toits aiguës » et de l'aire des « toits plats ». Les toits « pointus » et à forte pente correspondent aux anciennes toitures en chaume. Elles sont maintenant couvertes de lauzes, d'ardoises ou, éventuellement, de tuiles plates dans le Bassin d'Aurillac. Les toits à faible pente sont les toits « méridionaux », leur couverture est constituée en tuile canal. On les retrouve principalement dans les Limagnes et la moitié est de l'Auvergne. Entre les zones on trouve fréquemment une étroite zone de transition où les deux types de toit se côtoient.

Gastronomie 

La cuisine auvergnate traditionnelle a gardé la réputation d’être simple et roborative. D'origine paysanne, on y trouve souvent des plats à base de choux. Avec les cochonnailles, ce légume est à l'origine de plats tels que la potée, le chou farci, la pintade fermière aux choux, ou la saucisse de choux. Dans l'Aubrac, la soupe au fromage revient à la mode. Les tripous d'Auvergne se composent d'une farce (20 % de fraise de veau, 80 % de pansette de veau ou d'agneau, oignon, ail, persil, épices) roulée dans une pansette de mouton, le tout cuisiné au vin blanc. On les accompagne de pommes de terre, carottes ou lentilles…

Les salaisons auvergnates ont une réputation de grande qualité : Le jambon d’Auvergne et les saucisses et saucissons secs d'Auvergne bénéficient d'une IGP depuis 2016. Le petit salé peut être accompagné de lentille vertes du Puy (AOP) ou de lentilles blondes de la Planèze. Parmi les charcuteries, les pieds de porc panés ou au vin blanc sont des mets réputés, ainsi que l'andouillette de Saint-Pourçain et le pâté thiersois. Le coq et le chapon fermiers au vin de chanturgue, le gigot brayaude, la truite au lard (fario de la Sioule ou de la Cère), entourée ou farcie d'un morceau de poitrine fumée, ou les rillettes de canard sont des grands classiques de la table auvergnate.

Les bourriols sont des petites galettes composées pour moitié de farine de sarrasin et de farine de blé alors que la pachade est une sorte de crêpe épaisse et croustillante cuite dans une poêle avec du beurre. Les rissoles de Saint-Flour quant à elles sont fourrées avec une préparation à base de cantal entre-deux et de fromage blanc.

L'ail rose de Billom est réputé par son goût incomparable. Il est produit dans une aire géographique qui s'étend autour des communes de Billom, Reignat, Espirat et Glaine Montaigue.

La pomme de terre, à la culture adaptée au climat d'altitude, est à l'origine de plats tels que la truffade, un plat composé de pommes de terre sautées et de tome fraîche de cantal. L’aligot est une purée faite avec la tome du même fromage et de l’ail. Le pounti est un pâté sucré-salé du Carladès et de la Châtaigneraie. La patranque est un plat à base de cantal doux et de pain de campagne. Ces spécialités se retrouvent aussi en Margeride dans le sud de l'Aubrac et en Viadène. La patia, plat type de la jasserie, est un gratin de patates cuit au chaudron avec ail, oignon, crème fraîche, sel et poivre.

Parmi les nombreux desserts, la pompe aux pommes, les cornets de Murat fourrés à la crème fraîche et les carrés de Salers, sont les plus connus. La fouasse du Cantal est une grosse brioche au levain parfumée à l'eau de fleur d'oranger. La tarte à la tomme de Vic-sur-Cère est une spécialité locale mais les pâtisseries auvergnates les plus classiques sont le milliard aux cerises et les tartes aux myrtilles du pays. Les friandises les plus fameuses sont bien sûr les pâtes de fruits d'Auvergne, les fruits confits et les confitures artisanales de la Limagne et de Clermont mais aussi les croquets de Mauriac, les macarons de Massiac, les volcans du lac Pavin, les pralines de Randan et d'Aigueperse , les massepains d'Aigueperse, les tourtes macarons-myrtilles, l'aliéné de l'Allier, les noisettes de Salers, les chocolats de Royat, les chocolats à la verveine du Puy, les nougats, les miels artisanaux et les pains d'épices locaux.

Certaines appellations d'origine dans le domaine viticole d'Auvergne bénéficient de la protection de l'AOC : Côtes-d'auvergne, Madargue, Châteaugay, Chanturgue, Corent et Boudes sont les cinq dénominations locales. Il se produit aussi des bières, hydromels et cidres de façon artisanale ou fermière. Les eaux minérales sont nombreuses et variées. Les liqueurs de gentiane (Salers, Avèze, Gentiane d'Or, gentiane d'Aurillac…) sont devenues emblématiques de la région comme la Verveine du Velay en Haute-Loire et les apéritifs et liqueurs à base de châtaigne (comme le birlou, le Tonton) dans l'ouest du Cantal. Le Marc d’Auvergne a obtenu une Indication géographique protégée en . Les distilleries Pagès, Balthazar et Couderc sont renommées dans le domaine des liqueurs.

Le Bourbonnais a aussi ses spécialités : le pâté aux pommes de terre aussi appelé « pâté bourbonnais » est préparé avec de la crème fraîche, la pompe aux grattons, le piquenchâgne, la moutarde de Charroux, les dindes de Jaligny, le parfait de Charolais, le canard à la Duchambais, le fromage de Chambérat, les sucreries (pastilles et sucres d'orge de Vichy), les palais d'or de Moulins, les vérités de Lapalisse, les crottes de marquis de Lurcy-Lévis, l'aliéné de l'Allier. Côté boissons, on trouve le vin de Saint-pourçain, qui détient l'AOC depuis 2009 et qui possède un cépage qui lui est propre, le tressalier. La production est actuellement d'environ  par an pour  cultivés. De petits agriculteurs producteurs se sont également lancés dans la fabrication fermière de bière, de whisky bourbon ou d'absinthe notamment.

Marie Quinton (1854-1933), dite «La Mère Quinton» ou «La Belle Meunière», de Royat est l'ambassadrice de la gastronomie auvergnate et l'aubergiste auvergnate la plus connue au monde avec son cabaret Belle Meunière à l'exposition universelle de Paris 1900 : la truite au bleu, le coq au vin de Chanturgue, ses omelettes, la truite ou la sole «Belle Meunière».

Patrimoine bâti

Art roman auvergnat 

Aux  l'Auvergne a connu une remarquable efflorescence spirituelle et artistique. On ne compte pas moins de deux cent cinquante édifices religieux romans datant de cette époque et constituant un patrimoine culturel exceptionnel. Alors que les régions du nord de la France ont rapidement évolué vers l'art gothique, l'Auvergne a connu un développement plus lent et plus tardif, qui a légué des édifices romans de taille importante et de belle qualité. Cinq édifices situés autour de Clermont-Ferrand sont appelés « les églises majeures » du fait de l'homogénéité de leur architecture : Notre-Dame-du-Port, Saint-Nectaire, Saint-Austremoine d'Issoire, Notre-Dame d'Orcival et Saint-Saturnin. Elles ont toute l'apparence d'édifices construits en une seule campagne, probablement à partir du modèle de l'ancienne cathédrale romane de Clermont aujourd'hui disparue. Ils présentent une synthèse architecturale complexe, précise et tout à fait exceptionnelle dans l'art roman.

Villes et villages pittoresques 
L'Auvergne compte un grand nombre de villages et villes pittoresques. La majeure partie de la province, notamment la partie montagneuse, est restée à l’abri de l'industrialisation et a connu un fort exode rural ; cela explique pourquoi de très nombreux villages sont restés préservés et ont gardé toute leur authenticité. Neuf d'entre eux (Arlempdes, Blesle, Charroux, Lavaudieu, Montpeyroux, Pradelles, Salers, Tournemire et Usson) ont obtenu le label « Plus Beaux Villages de France ». Il est difficile de citer tous ceux qui peuvent retenir l'attention du visiteur : Brioude, Lavoûte-Chilhac, Saint-Arcons-d'Allier, La Chaise-Dieu, Chanteuges, Saugues, Chaudes-Aigues, Murat, Murol, Ébreuil, Saint-Saturnin, Saint-Saint-Floret , Champeix, Saurier, Courpière, Billom, Marcolès, Maurs-la-Jolie ou Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise en sont quelques-uns.

Dans la capitale, le centre ancien de Clermont et le vieux quartier de Montferrand sont dignes d’intérêt. De nombreuses villes ont gardé un centre particulièrement bien préservé, c'est le cas de Thiers avec ses maisons à colombages, Riom, ancienne capitale ducale, Billom, siège d'une université au Moyen Âge, Le Puy-en-Velay, Aurillac, Moulins ou Saint-Flour, ville épiscopale.

Patrimoine civil et militaire 

À l'apogée de la féodalité, l'Auvergne s'est couverte de châteaux, les vicomtes de Clermont, les seigneurs de Mercœur, les barons de Latour et de Polignac et les sires de Bourbon firent construire de nombreuses forteresses. Depuis le , ces bâtiments ont successivement subi les assauts de Philippe Auguste, de la guerre de Cent ans, des villageois, des guerres de Religion, de Richelieu, de Louis XIV et enfin de la Révolution. Avec un peu d'imagination, on ressent la puissance que représentaient au Moyen Âge les châteaux d'Anjony, d'Alleuze, de Léotoing dans les montagnes d'Auvergne ou de Chavaniac dans le Brivadois ou Mauzun dans le Livradois. Le château de Chateaugay a conservé son beau donjon et ceux de Murol et de la Roche résistent au temps. Le château de Tournoël entre Limagne et Monts Dôme a connu de grandes pages d'histoire.

À la Renaissance, les places fortes se transforment en demeures charmantes et deviennent la propriété de bourgeois ou de gens de robe. Le château de Pesteils garda une fonction de surveillance. Les châteaux de Davayat ou d'Effiat ont un beau style Louis XIII. Le château de Cordes dans les Monts Dore reçoit un jardin dessiné par Le Nôtre, celui de Chazeron dans les Combrailles est agrémenté d'un perron et d'une galerie d'honneur. Si le château de Villeneuve-Lembron fait transition entre Moyen Âge et Renaissance, celui de Parentignat prend un tour très classique et celui de La Bâtisse se remarque par la splendeur de ses jardins.

Ouvrages d'art 
L'établissement de voies de communication modernes au travers des montagnes d’Auvergne a nécessité la construction d'importants ouvrages d'art. Certains, comme le viaduc de Garabit, sont devenus des emblèmes de la région.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Bibliographie

Personnalités 
 . Réédition 2005, 988 + [40] de plus, .
  (400 pages + cahier iconographique en couleurs de 72 pages)

Littérature 
 .

Histoire et culture 
 .
 Christian Lauranson-Rosaz, L'Auvergne et ses marges (Velay, Gévaudan) du  : la fin du monde antique ?, thèse de doctorat soutenue en 1984, Le Puy-en-Velay, Les Cahiers de la Haute-Loire, 1987, 494 p. (lire en ligne)
 .
 .
 .
 .
 Lucien Gachon, Henri Pourrat, André Bossuat, Henri Charlier, Alexandre Vialatte, Visages de l'Auvergne, Editions des Horizons de France, ed. 1943, 182 p. et ed. 1964, 222 p.

Sources d'eaux minérales 
 Les sources minérales oubliées du Massif Central, Frédéric Surmely, Éditions de Montmarie
 L'Auvergne qui guérit. Par ses saints, ses sources, ses guérisseurs, René Crozet, 1979.

Voir aussi

Articles connexes

Liens externes 

 Conseil régional d'Auvergne
 Auvergne Tourisme
 Portail régional de l'INSEE
 Portail des fromages AOP d'Auvergne

Ancienne province en France

L'Aisne () est un département français dont le nom vient de la rivière homonyme. Il appartient à la région Hauts-de-France. L'Insee et La Poste lui attribuent le code 02. Sa préfecture est Laon.

Gentilé 
Les habitants du département de l'Aisne sont appelés les Axonais et Axonaises. Ce gentilé est formé sur le nom celte de la rivière Aisne : Axona.

Géographie 

L'Aisne est entourée par les départements du Nord, de la Somme, de l'Oise, de Seine-et-Marne, de la Marne et des Ardennes, ainsi que par la Belgique.

Selon le recensement de 2003, la surface boisée du département est de , soit 16,6 % pour une moyenne métropolitaine de 27,4 %.

Villes principales : Laon (préfecture), Saint-Quentin, Soissons, Château-Thierry, Tergnier, Chauny, Hirson, Villers-Cotterêts, La Fère, Vervins et Guise.

Cours d'eau : l'Escaut (qui prend sa source près du Catelet), l'Aisne, la Marne, l'Ourcq, la Vesle, la Somme qui prend naissance à Fonsomme, l'Oise, la Serre. Dans le sud du département, on trouve le Surmelin, la Verdonnelle et la Dhuys (cette rivière fut canalisée dans l'aqueduc de la Dhuis de  pour alimenter en eau potable Paris depuis le , et uniquement le parc de loisirs de Marne-la-Vallée plus récemment).

Transports 

Canaux : le département est traversé par de nombreux canaux (par exemple le canal de Saint-Quentin, ).

Le département est traversé par quatre lignes de chemin de fer au départ de Paris, les deux premières de la gare du Nord et les deux autres de la gare de l'Est :
 la ligne de Paris à Maubeuge, qui dessert notamment les villes de Chauny, Tergnier et Saint-Quentin ;
 la ligne de Paris à Laon, qui dessert notamment les villes de Soissons, d'Anizy-le-Château et de Laon (préfecture) ;
 la ligne de Paris à Strasbourg, qui dessert notamment la ville de Château-Thierry ;
 la LGV Est européenne.
En 1873, le département de l'Aisne possédait déjà dix chemins de fer représentant un développement total de .

Histoire 

L'Aisne fut l'un des  créés en 1790. Son découpage et son établissement furent confiés par  à Jean Charles Joseph Hyacinthe de Sars, futur maire de Laon en 1800. Il fut constitué de territoires issus des anciens Gouvernements militaires puis civils de l'Île-de-France (Laonnois, Soissonnais, Noyonnais, Valois), de la Champagne (Brie, Omois) et de Picardie (Thiérache, Vermandois). Il est à préciser que les territoires issus du Gouvernement d'Île-de-France ont souvent été cités comme étant issus de la province de Picardie.

Le territoire du département regroupe la principale partie de la généralité de Soissons créée en 1595 (élections de Soissons, Laon, Guise...), et le territoire de l'élection de Saint-Quentin pris à la généralité d'Amiens. La généralité de Soissons comptait sept élections : Clermont-en-Beauvaisis, Crépy-en-Valois, Guise, Noyon, Laon et Soissons qui sont issues de Picardie tandis que Château-Thierry est issue de la Brie (pays traditionnel de Champagne).

De 1791 à 1793, les six districts (Saint-Quentin, Vervins, Laon, Chauny, Soissons et Château-Thierry) du département de l'Aisne fournirent cinq bataillons de volontaires nationaux :

Au  la région Picardie, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec la région Nord-Pas-de-Calais pour devenir la nouvelle région administrative Hauts-de-France.

Héraldique 

Ce blason n'est qu'une proposition de Robert Louis, et n'a pour l'instant pas de valeur officielle. Il rappelle la Picardie par un de ses comtés historiques à savoir le comté de Ponthieu, bien qu'il ne se soit jamais étendu sur le territoire de l'Aisne. Le comté historiquement picard du département est en fait le Vermandois qui s'étendait sur Laon, Soissons et Saint-Quentin à une certaine époque. La Brie autour de Château-Thierry est aussi rappelée par les armoiries du comté de Champagne.

Politique 

Mélange de zones rurales et de villes ouvrières, lieu de résidence pour certaines familles travaillant à Paris ou en Île-de-France, l'Aisne est historiquement un département plutôt orienté à gauche mais on constate, depuis les années 2000, une forte progression du vote Front national. Ainsi, l'Aisne est le département où le parti de Marine le Pen a obtenu ses meilleurs scores à l'élection présidentielle de 2012 et aux élections européennes de 2014 (26,33 % et 40,02 % des voix). La ville de Villers-Cotterêts a également été conquise par le Front national en 2014. En 2017, le département a voté à 52,91 % pour Marine le Pen au second tour de l'élection présidentielle et, en 2022, à 59,91 %, ce qui constitue le résultat métropolitain le plus élevé de la candidate RN pour un département.

La gauche axonaise semble donc sur le déclin, comme l'ont montré les élections départementales de 2015 où elle a perdu la présidence du conseil départemental au profit de la droite et du centre. Les petites cités du nord du département comme Guise, Hirson ou Vervins et la ville cheminote de Tergnier ont longtemps été les bastions locaux des partis de gauche mais connaissent également une percée du vote frontiste.

Administration 

L'Aisne est divisée en cinq arrondissements qui sont subdivisés en . Le département compte 799 communes et cinq circonscriptions législatives.
 Liste des communes françaises ayant changé de nom au cours de la Révolution
 Liste des anciennes communes de l'Aisne
 Liste des députés de l'Aisne
 Liste des sénateurs de l'Aisne
 Liste des conseillers départementaux de l'Aisne
 Liste des circonscriptions législatives de l'Aisne
 Liste des préfets de l'Aisne
 Liste des intercommunalités de l'Aisne en 2019

Démographie 

L'Aisne comprend une seule ville moyenne (Saint-Quentin) et trois petites villes (Soissons, Laon et Château-Thierry), auxquelles on peut ajouter l'ensemble formé par Chauny et Tergnier. Mais, il y a encore beaucoup d'autres agglomérations de caractère urbain, car l'Aisne était densément peuplée avant le . Les villages sont très nombreux et plutôt petits.

L'Aisne a perdu un peu de sa population dans la seconde moitié du , en raison de l'exode rural, pourtant limité par le développement industriel du nord du département (Saint-Quentinois, Chaunois, Thiérache).

Très affecté par la Première Guerre mondiale, le département a vu sa population augmenter légèrement pour retrouver à peu près son niveau de 1900. Depuis une trentaine d'années, le déclin industriel a entraîné une stagnation de la population ( en 1968,  en 1999). Seul le Sud-Ouest du département, proche de l'agglomération parisienne, connaît encore la croissance démographique.

Évolution démographique

Pyramide des âges

Population des communes

Unités urbaines 
Selon le découpage effectué en 2010 par l'INSEE, trente-deux unités urbaines sont centrées sur une commune du département : quinze communes isolées, sept agglomérations bi-communales, et dix petites agglomérations composées de trois à huit communes. Les unités urbaines regroupant plus de  sont :

Aires urbaines 
Selon le découpage effectué en 2010 par l'INSEE, l'Aisne compte onze aires urbaines.  du département appartiennent aux aires urbaines de Reims (67), Paris (66) et Ham (1).

Économie 

En 2019, le taux de chômage est de 12,2 % et 19 % des habitants vivent en dessous du seuil de pauvreté.

Culture

Langue 
Le département comprend plusieurs zones linguistiques : picard au nord ; champenois dans le sud ; français d'Île-de-France, au centre et au sud.

Cette coupure linguistique expliquait sans doute la difficulté pour les habitants du Sud de l'Aisne de s'identifier comme appartenant à la région Picardie.

D'après Abel Hugo, en 1835, la langue française était en usage dans tout le département, à l'exception de quelques cantons reculés ; le français était à cette époque parlé assez correctement. Quelques années auparavant, le langage des campagnes était beaucoup plus rude.

Gastronomie 
 Cuisine rustique. Le Nord du département est une zone d'élevage, on y trouve des produits à base de lait de vache comme le maroilles ou la confiture de lait. On trouve également des spécialités typiquement picardes, comme la ficelle picarde, sorte de crêpe roulée additionnée de fromage fondu, béchamel, jambon et champignons. Le foie gras est un produit développé en Thiérache ; il est de qualité.
 Le porc d'antan de l'Aisne, le porc des plaines et leurs dérivés (jambon sec de l'Aisne, tripes de Thiérache, entre autres) sont reconnus.
 Dans tout le département, des producteurs élèvent des volailles fermières et présentent leurs dérivés (pâtés, terrines, aiguillettes, confits, découpe), sur le réseau « Bienvenue à la Ferme ».
 Le gibier.
 Dans les condiments, on trouve le confit d'oignons de l'Aisne, le vinaigre de cidre de la Thiérache.
 Les « Logis », les « Bistrots de Pays », la tourte aux poireaux, la soupe et le velouté au potiron, la crème soissonnaise ou soupe de Soissons, la tarte au maroilles, le filet mignon au maroilles, le porc au lait, les tripes au maroilles et au cidre, le lapin au cidre, échalotes et oignons, lard fumé et champignons, de la Thiérache, le sauté de lapin à la picarde, la salade au lard, les paupiettes de dindonneau à la picarde, le soissoulet ou cassoulet aux haricots de Soissons et canard fermier, le hochepot picard ou pot au feu régional, les rissoles de Coucy ou rissolles laonnoises, le fromage maincamp de Quierzy, le fromage Chauny, les fromages de Thiérache : le dauphin, la baguette de Thiérache, le losange, les jus de pomme et de poire, le poiré.
 Le haricot de Soissons, les pavés de Laon, les croustillons picards du Saint-Quentinnois, les biscuits P'tio Crac'lin de Bohain-en-Vermandois, les cugnots ou brioches de Saint-Quentin, les confitures et gelées artisanales.
 La culture de fruits rouges (fraises, cerises, framboises) commence à s'y développer dans le Laonnois et la Thiérache.
 Des événements rythment l'actualité gastronomique du département : foires aux fromages (La Capelle), au boudin (Saint-Quentin). Les dégustations sur les brocantes et marchés sont de nombreuses occasions de découvrir des produits locaux dans une ambiance traditionnelle.
 Dans le Sud, les haricots de Soissons, les champignons de Paris et la route touristique du champagne, où certains champagnes produits dans la région de Château-Thierry sont au même titre que le maroilles reconnus par une appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC).
 Le cidre fermier de Thiérache et son eau-de-vie, la « Folie Douce » (apéritif à base de fruits rouges), le pétillant au cidre, la fabrication de la bière (surtout artisanale).
 Des élevages d'abeilles.

Cinéma

Personnalités liées à l'Aisne

Rois et reines 
Charlemagne, roi des Francs et empereur, lieu de naissance supposé à Quierzy.
 Berthe au grand pied ou Bertrade de Laon (v720-783), née près de Laon, épouse de Pépin le Bref et mère de Charlemagne.
, roi des Francs et frère de Charlemagne, est né à Soissons en 751 et mort en 771 à Samoussy.
Lothaire (roi des Francs) (941-986), né à Laon, roi des Francs de 954 à 986.
 , roi des Francs, pour son rôle dans l'épisode du vase de Soissons.
 , à l'origine de l'ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts (1539) sur l'usage de la langue française.

Personnalités historiques 
 Charles Martel, maire du Palais, grand-père de Charlemagne, mort en 741 dans la résidence royale de Quierzy.
  (1550-1588), dit le Balafré, duc de Guise, chef la Ligue catholique et principal opposant à  et  pendant les guerres de Religion (France).
 Thomas de Marle, seigneur de Coucy.
 François-Noël Babeuf, dit Gracchus Babeuf (1760-1797), est natif de Saint-Quentin.
Camille Desmoulins (1760-1794), révolutionnaire, est natif de Guise.
 Antoine Fouquier-Tinville (1746-1795), accusateur public du tribunal révolutionnaire est né à Hérouël aujourd'hui Foreste, près de Saint-Quentin.
 Saint-Just, de son nom complet Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (1767-1794), révolutionnaire proche de Robespierre a vécu une partie de sa jeunesse à Blérancourt et ailleurs dans l'Aisne.
 Nicolas de Condorcet (1743-1794), un philosophe, mathématicien et politologue natif de Ribemont.
 Guillaume-Benoît Houdet, avocat, député et maire de Château-Thierry (1800-1805).
Jean Charbonnel (1927-2014), né à La Fère, homme politique.
Jacques Pelletier (1929-2007), né à Villers-en-Prayères, homme politique.

Écrivains 
 Jean de la Fontaine est natif de Château-Thierry.
 Alexandre Dumas est natif de Villers-Cotterêts.
 Jean Racine est natif de La Ferté-Milon.
 Henri Martin (1810-1883), né à Saint-Quentin, historien, essayiste, romancier, homme politique.
 Madeleine Zillhardt (1863-1950), écrivaine et décoratrice, est native de Saint-Quentin.
Nadine de Rothschild (1932-), née à Saint-Quentin, actrice et femme de lettres.
Philippe Tesson (1928-2023), né à Wassigny, journaliste, écrivain, critique littéraire et dramatique, patron de presse.
Albert Denisse (1868 -1946), brasseur et auteur d'un témoignage sur l'occupation de l'Aisne pendant la Grande Guerre
 Champfleury (écrivain), Jules François Félix Husson, dit Fleury, dit Champfleury (1821-1889), né à Laon, écrivain, journaliste, critique d'art, dramaturge, nouvelliste et romancier

Artistes 
 Les Frères Le Nain, peintres du , sont nés à Laon.
 Maurice Quentin de la Tour, peintre, est natif de Saint-Quentin. Il est représenté sur l'ancien billet de 50 francs Quentin de La Tour, avec l'hôtel de ville de Saint-Quentin (probable jeu de mots cinquante/Saint-Quentin)
 Paul et Camille Claudel sont natifs du Tardenois.
 Henri Matisse, peintre, a passé son enfance à Bohain-en-Vermandois.
 Léon Lhermitte (1844-1925), peintre naturaliste, né à Mont-Saint-Père, père du neurologue et psychiatre Jean Lhermitte (1877-1959) et arrière-grand-père de l'acteur Thierry Lhermitte.
 Jenny Zillhardt (1857-1939), peintre, est native de Saint-Quentin.
 Achille Jacopin est un sculpteur né en 1874 et mort en 1958 à Château-Thierry.

Industriels 
 Jean-Baptiste André Godin (1817-1888), un industriel et philanthrope français, créateur du familistère de Guise.
Émile Dewoitine (1892-1979), né à Crépy (Aisne), Industriel et constructeur aéronautique français, considéré comme le père fondateur des usines toulousaines aérospatiales.

Médecins 
 Christian Cabrol, chirurgien cardiaque (première transplantation européenne en 1968), né le  à Chézy-sur-Marne.
 Suzanne Noël, (1878-1924), née à Laon, docteure en médecine, chirurgienne, pionnière de la chirurgie esthétique réparatrice des blessures de guerre (1914-1918) et membre du mouvement féminin Soroptimist.

Militaires 
 Émile Driant (1855-1916), né à Neufchâtel-sur-Aisne, officier de la Grande Guerre, député de Nancy et héros de Verdun, mort au champ d'honneur.
 Le général Robert Nivelle, à l'origine de la bataille du Chemin des Dames.
 Charles de Gaulle, qui a commandé lors de la bataille de Montcornet.

Hommes et femmes politiques 
 René Dosière
 Xavier Bertrand

Médias 
 Kamini
 Nomi, actrice née à Saint-Quentin.
 Sébastien Cauet
 Philippe Etchebest (1966-), né à Soissons, chef cuisinier et animateur de télévision.

Autres personnalités 
 Jean Mermoz (1901-1936), né à Aubenton, aviateur.

Tourisme 

En général, on admet le découpage touristique de ce département picard en cinq zones, du nord au sud :
 le Saint-Quentinois ;
 la Thiérache ;
 le Laonnois ;
 le Soissonnais ;
 l'Omois.

Le tourisme fluvial concerne en partie le canal de Saint-Quentin avec son touage électrique et ses deux tunnels (Lesdins et Riqueval / Vendhuile), et en partie le canal de l'Ourcq avec Port aux Perches.

En 2007, une grande infrastructure d'hébergement touristique, Center Parcs, s'est implantée sur le lac de l'Ailette, à deux pas de nombreux points touristiques comme la cathédrale de Laon, le chemin des Dames et le château de Coucy.

Parmi les nombreux lieux à découvrir, on peut citer :
 château de Villers-Cotterêts ;
 ruines du château médiéval, avec spectacle de rapaces à Château-Thierry ;
 château de Condé à Condé-en-Brie ;
 château de Coucy à Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique ;
 cathédrale Notre-Dame de Laon ;
 cathédrale Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais de Soissons ;
 abbaye de Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois et son prieuré, le Tortoir ;
 abbaye Saint-Vincent de Laon, abbaye Saint-Martin de Laon, chapelle des Templiers de Laon ;
 abbaye Notre-Dame de Longpont ;
 abbaye Saint-Jean-des-Vignes de Soissons ;
 ruines de l'abbaye de Vauclair ;
 les églises fortifiées de Thiérache, dont celle de Parfondeval Saint-Médard, abbaye de Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache ;
 chemin des Dames: la caverne du Dragon, le plateau de Californie, le fort de la Malmaison, la ferme d'Hurtebise, le monument des Basques, le vieux Craonne ;
 fantômes de Landowski à la Butte Chalmont d'Oulchy-le-Château ;
 familistère de Godin à Guise.

Les manifestations festives, culturelles, commémoratives et sportives 
Depuis 2020, le département est labellisé Terre de Jeux 2024, le label de Paris 2024 à destination des territoires, et accueillera le passage du Relais de la flamme
 Laon : Euromédiévales, Montée historique, Jazz'titudes, Couleurs d'Eté, Festival de Laon, Marché de Noël.
 Saint-Quentin : Fêtes du Bouffon, Foire au Boudin, Festival du Livre et de la B.D., Braderie de Saint-Quentin, Village de Noël, Saint-Quentin Plage.
 Coucy-le-Château : Son et Lumière Coucy à la Merveille, Les Seigneuriales, Les Automnales.
 Château-Thierry : Fêtes à Jean, Festival du Patrimoine vivant, Festival Jean-de-la-Fontaine, Spectacle de Rapaces.
 Guise : Fête du Travail au Familistère, Les Ducales de Guise.
 Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache : Festival de l'Abbaye.
 Hirson : Festival de l'Abbatiale, Transfrontalières.
 Liesse-Notre-Dame : Pèlerinage.
 La Capelle : Foire aux Fromages.
 Marle : Festival d'Histoire vivante.
 Soissons : Festival Soissons en Sc'Aisne, Fête du Haricot .
 Saint-Gobain : Festival des Vers Solidaires
 Chauny : Rock'N Festival
 Septmonts : Festival Pic'Arts.
 Mérlieux-et-Fouquerolles : Fête du Livre.
 Festieux : Plouckstock Festival
 Urcel : Festival Woodrock
 Berzy le Sec : Festival de musique Berzyk
 Festival de Musique en Omois.
 Festival des Cathédrales de Picardie.
 Rallye des Contes et Légendes en Thiérache.
 Jardins en Scène en Picardie.
 Picardie Mouv.
 Journées Européennes du Patrimoine.
 Fête de la Musique.
 Fête du Cinéma.
 Fête du Travail du .
 Fête Nationale du .
 Fêtes religieuses des différents cultes.
 Commémorations du Souvenir des Première et Seconde Guerres mondiales.

Les résidences secondaires 
En 2008, le département comptait 4,1 % de résidences secondaires. Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l'Aisne dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 Jacques-François-Laurent Devisme, Manuel historique du département de l'Aisne, Laon : F. LEBLAN-COURTOIS, 1828 .
 Maximilien Melleville, Dictionnaire historique du département de l'Aisne, Laon : chez l'auteur & Paris : Dumoulin, 1865,   et  .
 Matton, Dictionnaire topographique du département de l'Aisne, 1871 .

Articles connexes 
 Département français
 Communauté de communes de la Champagne Picarde
 Liste de ponts de l'Aisne
 Site naturel de l'Aisne
 Liste des communes de l'Aisne
 Liste des églises de l'Aisne
 Liste des anciennes communes de l'Aisne
 Liste des communes françaises ayant changé de nom au cours de la Révolution

Liens externes 
 Préfecture de l'Aisne
 Conseil départemental de l'Aisne

L’Allier () est un département situé dans la région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. L’Insee et La Poste lui attribuent le code 03. Sa préfecture est Moulins.

Ce département correspond à une large partie de l'ancienne province du Bourbonnais. Pour cette raison, les habitants du département sont officiellement appelés Bourbonnais. Depuis quelques années, la communication du conseil départemental de l'Allier met en avant l'appellation , par exemple sur son logo.

Dénomination 
Le nom du département provient de celui d'une des rivières qui le parcourent, l'Allier.

L'Allier est appelé  en latin et  en bourbonnais du Croissant (moitié sud du département), zone où la langue est de transition entre l'occitan et la langue d'oïl.

Gentilé 
Il n'existait pas de gentilé traditionnel pour nommer les habitants du département de l'Allier jusqu'au , date à laquelle le nom de Bourbonnais et Bourbonnaise est officialisé par le conseil départemental.

En effet, les principaux noms usités étaient Bourbonnais, Élavérins, Alliérins et… habitants de l'Allier et le terme Bourbonnais était de loin le plus couramment utilisé tant par la presse locale que par les instances politiques, notamment le conseil général de l'Allier.

Une enquête de ce dernier, datée de 2001, réalisée auprès de la population, a montré que 50 % des habitants se définissaient comme Bourbonnais (et 35 % comme habitants de l'Allier) et lors de la consultation publique « Allier 2021 », 70 % des sondés ont estimé que Bourbonnais est le gentilé idéal pour les habitants du département.

Histoire 

Le département est l'un des  créés à la Révolution française, le , en application de la loi du . Il correspond à la majeure partie de l'ancienne province du Bourbonnais, à l'exception de Saint-Amand-Montrond et de sa région qui furent rattachés au Cher.

En 1940, le gouvernement du maréchal Pétain s'installe dans la ville de Vichy, qui obtint alors le statut de sous-préfecture, à la place de Lapalisse.

Au  la région Auvergne, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec la région Rhône-Alpes pour devenir la nouvelle région administrative Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Héraldique 

Le blason de l'Allier, qui est aussi celui de l'ancienne province du Bourbonnais, est aux armes de la troisième maison de Bourbon issue de Robert de Clermont, sixième fils de saint Louis, qui épousa Béatrice de Bourbon et fut reconnu sire de Bourbon en 1283 dont descendent en ligne masculine directe l'actuel roi Philippe VI d'Espagne et l'actuel grand-duc Henri de Luxembourg.

Géographie 

Le département se trouve au centre de la France (le centre géographique de la France continentale est disputé entre plusieurs communes du Nord-Ouest de l'Allier et du Sud du Cher). Il a une superficie de  ( département français) mesurant environ  d'est en ouest et  du nord au sud.

Le département de l'Allier est formé de la majeure partie de l'ancien Bourbonnais (une petite partie occupe le sud du Cher). Il fait partie des 11 départements de la région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes dont il occupe le coin nord-ouest (avant la réforme territoriale de 2015, l'Allier faisait partie de l'ancienne région Auvergne). Il est limitrophe des départements du Cher (au nord-ouest), de la Nièvre (au nord), de Saône-et-Loire (au nord-est), de la Loire (à l'est) du Puy-de-Dôme (au sud) et de la Creuse (au sud-ouest).

Le département est principalement rural mais avec des industries (15 % des emplois soit plus que la moyenne de la France de province). Il compte en 2017,  habitants avec trois agglomérations principales : Moulins, la préfecture (au centre-nord du département), Montluçon (au sud-ouest) et Vichy (au sud-est).

En plus de Vichy, le département comprend aussi deux autres villes thermales : Bourbon-l'Archambault et Néris-les-Bains.

Relief 
Le département compte cinq régions avec des types de relief bien distincts. Le Bocage bourbonnais couvre la plus grande partie ouest (englobant la forêt de Tronçais) et centrale du département, suivi de la Sologne bourbonnaise pour la partie est - nord-est, la Montagne bourbonnaise, zone de moyenne montagne juste à l'est de Vichy, qui est le  avec le Montoncel, point culminant du département à , dans le sud-est la Limagne bourbonnaise, qui s’étend de Varennes à Gannat, et en est  et à l'extrême sud-ouest du département la partie bourbonnaise des Combrailles, une région de basse montagne.

La Montagne bourbonnaise et les Combrailles sont les derniers reliefs septentrionaux du Massif central.

Bocage bourbonnais 

Au nord, et ne dépassant guère les  d'altitude, le Bocage bourbonnais occupe un bon tiers du département, avec deux déclinaisons, centre et ouest (pour la partie comprise entre le val de Cher et les limites occidentales du territoire). Le bocage est notamment remarquable pour sa richesse en forêts et bois, dont la célèbre forêt de Tronçais mais aussi les forêts de Moladier, Bagnolet, Civrais, Soulongis, Grosbois, Dreuille, Lespinasse ou la Suave. Sur presque tout le sud du bocage s’étend la Combraille, parfois baptisée Haut Bourbonnais, sur un territoire qui va au-delà des limites départementales de la Creuse et du Puy-de-Dôme. Cette zone du département culmine à  à la Bosse, et les rivières (Sioule, Bouble et Cher) y ont creusé les gorges les plus pittoresques de l’Allier.

À l'ouest de Montluçon se situe la Châtaigneraie bourbonnaise située autour d'Huriel et qui se poursuit jusqu'à la pointe sud du Cher.

Sologne bourbonnaise 

À l'est, reliant le Val d’Allier et les frontières avec la Nièvre et la Saône-et-Loire, la Sologne bourbonnaise présente un bel équilibre entre prairies, cultures, bois et étangs, ce compromis entre agriculture et espaces semi-sauvages constituant un écrin très favorable à la faune et à la flore.

Montagne bourbonnaise 

La Montagne bourbonnaise est une zone de moyenne montagne située au sud-est du département, à l'est de la Allier et de Vichy. Dans son prolongement au sud, elle prend naissance dès le puy Saint-Ambroise (), près de Saint-Léon, pour ensuite s’affirmer sur tout le massif de l’Assise et des Bois Noirs, à la limite du Puy-de-Dôme et de la Loire, jalonnée par le puy de Montoncel (), point culminant de l’Allier.

Limagne bourbonnaise 

Communément rassemblées sous la dénomination de Val d’Allier, la Limagne bourbonnaise et la Forterre s’étendent respectivement à l'ouest et à l'est de la rivière Allier, entre Vichy et Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, avec une qualité essentielle, la fertilité. La Limagne bourbonnaise, entre Sioule et Allier, s'inscrit dans le triangle Gannat-Escurolles-Saint-Pourçain, tandis que la Forterre couvre l'ancien canton de Varennes-sur-Allier, avec une pointe jusqu'à Jaligny-sur-Besbre.

Combrailles 

La ou les Combrailles, dont la partie bourbonnaise constitue l'extrême bande nord-est, est une région de basse montagne composée de collines et de gorges qui s’incline doucement vers le nord et l'est avec de nombreuses rivières et lacs.

Hydrographie 
Le département est traversé à l'ouest par le Cher qui arrose Montluçon, en son centre par l'Allier, qui arrose Vichy puis Moulins, et son affluent la Sioule et à l'est par la Besbre, affluent de la Loire, fleuve marquant au nord-est la limite entre les départements de l'Allier et de la Saône-et-Loire.

L'Allier, souvent présentée comme  est connue pour ses violentes crues.

L'ensemble du département est compris dans le bassin de la Loire.

Climat 

L’Allier constitue une zone franche entre nord et midi. Le département bénéficie globalement d’un climat doux et humide, dominé par les vents d’ouest, ce qui contribue un peu plus à le démarquer de ses cousins auvergnats.

Le département de l’Allier est compris entre deux zones climatiques, une zone océanique plus ou moins altérée au nord et à l’ouest, ouverte aux influences atlantiques et une zone plus au sud avec un climat plus de montagne.

L’humeur du temps s’identifie à la diversité des territoires Bourbonnais, comme les régions plates et de faible altitude de la Sologne bourbonnaise et des grandes plaines fluviales ; les pays de collines, à l’altitude moyenne de 300 à , de la partie centrale du département ; ou la semi-montagne des cantons du sud, avec la Combraille et la Montagne bourbonnaise, entre 700 et .

On relève deux maxima de précipitations en juin et octobre, et un minimum en janvier-février, avec des moyennes de  à Montluçon (altitude ) ;  à Moulins () ;  à Vichy () ;  à Lapalisse () ; et près de  à l’Assise ().

Les vents atlantiques sont dominants, qu’ils soient d’ouest, nord-ouest, ou sud-ouest. L’influence du relief, notamment dans les vals de Cher et d’Allier, donne également des flux sud-nord.

L’insolation moyenne, relevée à la station météo de Vichy-Charmeil, sur la période 1971-2000, est de  par an.

Démographie 

En , la population du département était de , ce qui représente une densité moyenne de  . De nombreuses régions de l'Allier ont une densité inférieure à .

L'Allier est confronté depuis la fin du , mais surtout depuis les années 1970, à une baisse lente de sa population ; entre 2012 et 2017, elle a baissé en moyenne de 0,3 %. Le département connait plusieurs handicaps démographiques. Le nombre des décès (4463 en 2019) est supérieur à celui des naissances (2777 en 2019), le solde naturel est donc déficitaire. Le taux des personnes âgées est important  et le taux de fécondité faible de telle sorte que le solde naturel est déficitaire. Mais le solde migratoire qui était devenu très négatif, est redevenu positif depuis le début des années 2000. En 2017,  se sont installées dans l'Allier quand 9000 en sont parties.

L'Allier compte trois agglomérations importantes : les unités urbaines de Vichy ( dont une petite partie s'étend sur le Puy-de-Dôme), de Montluçon () et de Moulins (). Ces 3 unités urbaines regroupent un peu plus de deux tiers de la population de l'Allier. Le reste du département comprend quelques petites villes et bourgs dispersés, principalement le long des rivières. Les villages peu nombreux sont éloignés les uns des autres, et c'est dans l'ensemble un département faiblement peuplé.

Jusque vers la fin du  pourtant, la population augmenta grâce au développement de ses villes (industries à Montluçon et à Moulins, thermalisme à Vichy) qui compensa l'exode rural. Le département dépassa alors les . Après les pertes de la Première Guerre mondiale, la population se stabilisa, puis ré-augmenta un peu dans les années 1960. Depuis, en raison de la poursuite de l'exode rural et surtout du déclin des industries anciennes, la population a diminué et vieilli régulièrement, passant de  en 1968 à  en 2006. Depuis le début des années 2000 cependant, on observe une stabilisation : le solde migratoire redevenu positif vient contrebalancer un solde naturel toujours négatif. Pour la première fois depuis les années 1960, la population du département a même légèrement augmenté sur la dernière période de référence (2009-2014). Reste à savoir si cette timide reprise se confirmera dans l'avenir.

Pyramide des âges 
La population du département est relativement âgée. En 2018, le taux de personnes d'un âge inférieur à  s'élève à 29,2 %, soit un taux inférieur aux moyennes régionale (35,8 %) et nationale (35,5 %). Le taux de personnes d'un âge supérieur à 60 ans (34,6 %) est supérieur aux taux départemental (25,6 %) et national (25,9 %).

En 2018, le département comptait  pour , soit un taux de 52,05 % de femmes, supérieur au taux régional (51,37 %) et national (51,63 %).

Les pyramides des âges de la commune et du département s'établissent comme suit :

Communes les plus peuplées 

Néris-les-Bains est la seule ville du département à compter plus de 10 % de résidences secondaires : 504 pour  en 1999. Vichy est la ville française comptant le plus de logements vacants : 22,2 % en 2015.

Unités urbaines 
Selon l'Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insee), l'Allier comptait en 2020 douze unités urbaines, dont six composées d'une commune isolée et six formant des agglomérations de deux à treize communes. Dix de ces unités urbaines avaient plus de  en 2019 :

Aires d'attraction d'une ville 
Selon le découpage effectué en 2020 par l'INSEE, l'Allier compte huit aires d'attraction dont la commune-centre est située dans le département. Neuf communes font partie de cinq aires d'attraction centrées hors du département, à savoir l'aire d'attraction de Roanne (1 commune), l'aire d'attraction de Saint-Amand-Montrond (3 communes), l'aire d'attraction de Paray-le-Monial (1 commune), l'aire d'attraction de Digoin (3 communes) et l'aire d'attraction de Bourbon-Lancy (1 commune). 113 communes sont hors d'attraction d'une ville.

Politique et administration 

L'Allier comprend :
 3 arrondissements : arrondissement de Montluçon, de Moulins et de Vichy ;
 19 cantons : Canton de Bellerive-sur-Allier, de Bourbon-l'Archambault, de Commentry, de Cusset, de Dompierre-sur-Besbre, de Gannat, de Huriel, de Lapalisse, de Montluçon-1, de Montluçon-2, de Montluçon-3, de Montluçon-4, de Moulins-1, de Moulins-2, de Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule ;
 317 communes.

Préfets 

Depuis le , Valérie Hatsch est préfète de l'Allier. C'est la seconde femme à occuper ce poste dans le département, après Marie-Françoise Lecaillon. Elle était précédemment préfète de la Lozère. Ses prédécesseurs dans l'Allier furent :
 Jean-Francis Treffel du  au , ensuite il fait valoir ses droits à la retraite ;
 Marie-Françoise Lecaillon du  au , ensuite elle est nommée préfète du Gard ;
 Pascal Sanjuan du  au , ensuite il quitte la préfecture ;
 Arnaud Cochet, du  au , auparavant préfet de la Haute-Saône, ensuite préfet de l'Ain ;
 Benoît Brocart, du  au , auparavant préfet du Territoire de Belfort, ensuite directeur de l'immigration à la Direction générale des étrangers en France, ministère de l'Intérieur ;
 Jean-Luc Marx, du  au , auparavant préfet du Lot, ensuite préfet de la Réunion ;
 Pierre Monzani, du  au , auparavant directeur de l’INHES (Institut national des hautes études de sécurité), ensuite préfet de Seine-et-Marne.

Deux sénateurs 

Les deux sénateurs actuels de l'Allier sont Claude Malhuret (Agir, ex-Les Républicains, élu depuis 2014) et Bruno Rojouan (affilié Les Républicains, élu depuis 2020).

Claude Malhuret, médecin (il cofonda Doctissimo) et avocat, fut maire de Vichy de 1989 à 2017, député européen de 1989 à 1993, député de 1993 à 1997 et secrétaire d'État chargé des Droits de l'homme de 1986 à 1988 dans le gouvernement Chirac pendant la Cohabitation. Il préside au Sénat le groupe Les Indépendants – République et territoires.

Bruno Rojouan, enseignant, fut maire de Villefranche-d'Allier de 1992 à 2020, président de la communauté de communes de la Région de Montmarault puis en 2017, après la fusion avec la communauté de communes de Commentry - Néris-les-Bains, président de la nouvelle entité, Commentry Montmarault Néris Communauté. Il présida l'association des maires de l'Allier de 2001 à 2020 et fut conseiller général de l'Allier de 1991 à 2015.

Aux élections de 2014, Claude Malhuret, maire de Vichy, a été élu sénateur ; il remplace Mireille Schurch qui se ne représentait pas. Gérard Dériot est pour sa part réélu. Il ne s'est pas représenté en 2020.

Aux élections sénatoriales de 2008, la gauche a conquis un des deux sièges de sénateurs de l'Allier jusque-là détenu par « la droite ». Mireille Schurch, maire communiste de Lignerolles, a été élue. Gérard Dériot (DVD) est lui réélu (élu en 1998).

Trois députés 

Les élections législatives de 2022 dans l'Allier ont abouti au renouvellement total de la représentation du département à l'Assemblée nationale. Ces nouveaux élus sont :

  circonscription : Yannick Monnet (PCF), conseiller régional d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes depuis 2021 ;
  circonscription : Jorys Bovet (RN), chauffeur-livreur ;
  de l'Allier : Nicolas Ray (LR), inspecteur des finances publiques, conseiller municipal de Bellerive-sur-Allier depuis 2014.

Les élections législatives de 2017 dans l'Allier ont abouti au renouvellement total de la représentation du département à l'Assemblée nationale. Ces nouveaux élus sont :
  circonscription : Jean-Paul Dufrègne (PCF), ancien maire de Saint-Menoux et ancien président du conseil général de l'Allier, conseiller départemental de l'Allier, élu dans le canton de Souvigny depuis 1998 ;
  circonscription : Laurence Vanceunebrock (LREM), fonctionnaire de police ;
  de l'Allier : Bénédicte Peyrol (LREM), juriste, a 26 ans lors de son élection, elle est une des benjamines de l'Assemblée nationale.

Les élections législatives précédentes en 2012 se déroulèrent pour la première fois avec trois circonscriptions seulement dans l'Allier au lieu de quatre auparavant, à la suite du redécoupage électoral de 2009 (JO du ) à la suite de la baisse de la population dans le département. L'ancienne troisième circonscription, auparavant détenue par Jean Mallot (PS), avait été supprimée. Les trois députés de cette législature étaient tous élus de gauche : Guy Chambefort (PS), Bernard Lesterlin (PS) et Gérard Charasse (PRG).

Les élections législatives de 2007 avaient envoyé à l'Assemblée également quatre élus de gauche avec trois socialistes, Bernard Lesterlin à Montluçon, Jean Mallot à Saint-Pourçain et Guy Chambefort à Moulins et un radical de gauche, Gérard Charasse, à Vichy.

Conseil départemental 

Depuis les élections départementales de , l'Allier a une majorité de droite de deux voix. L'URB (Union Républicaine pour le Bourbonnais, droite) avait déjà dirigé le département entre 2001 et 2008, les dernières années d'une seule voix d'avance. Entre 2008 et 2015, la coalition de gauche était aux manettes, avec également un avantage d'une seule voix (dix PC, six PS, deux PRG,  au total), face à  généraux de l'URB. L'Allier était ainsi présidé par un communiste, Jean-Paul Dufrègne, seul département à l'être avec le Val-de-Marne en Île-de-France. Le conseil général de l'Allier avait déjà été dirigé  par un communiste, Jean-Claude Mairal (1998-2001) ; la perte de son mandat s'était inscrite dans une dynamique nationale de victoire de la droite.

Les trois principales villes 
Les trois grandes villes de l'Allier sont gérées par des maires de droite :
 À Montluçon, Daniel Dugléry maire depuis 2001 est réélu lors des municipales de 2014. Il cède sa place à Frédéric Laporte en décembre 2017. Celui-ci est élu lors des municipales de 2020.

 À Moulins, Pierre-André Périssol, maire depuis 1995. Il fut auparavant adjoint au maire de Paris sous Jacques Chirac. Il fut ministre du Logement dans les gouvernements Juppé entre 1995 et 1997 et par deux fois député de la première circonscription de l'Allier (1993-1995 et 2002-2007).

 À Vichy, Frédéric Aguilera a été élu lors des municipales de 2020. Il était devenu maire en octobre 2017 à la suite de la démission pour cause de cumul de mandats de Claude Malhuret qui avait été maire de la ville de 1989 à 2017.

Éléments d'histoire de « la gauche » dans l'Allier 
Le département se signale par un vote rouge précoce, qui se maintient jusqu’au lendemain de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, pour les deux grands partis politiques de gauche, le Parti communiste et la SFIO, aujourd'hui devenue le PS, et même jusqu'à nos jours.

La petite ville de Commentry a ainsi la particularité d'avoir été la première ville de France et du monde à élire, en 1882, un maire socialiste : Christophe Thivrier. Une autre figure locale, Pierre Brizon, député en 1910, est typiquement le député des métayers.

Plus anciennement, on peut relever que Ledru-Rollin y fait un très bon score en 1848 (14 %), ainsi que les candidats démocrates et socialistes l’année suivante (44 % des voix, contre 35 % en France). De même, la résistance au coup d'État du  est importante, après une tentative de soutien à l’insurrection de . Les Républicains sont majoritaires dès 1876, et emportent les six sièges de députés. Après des scores voisins de 15 % des inscrits de 1893 à 1906, les socialistes montent à 31 % des inscrits (42 % des exprimés) en 1910, score maintenu en 1914.

Dès la fin du , l'Allier est marqué par l'influence des guesdistes, la tendance révolutionnaire du socialisme français. Elle est principalement implantée dans le bassin de Montluçon, auprès des ouvriers de l'industrie sidérurgique, et dans le Bocage bourbonnais, au centre du département. Très tôt s'organise dans l'Allier rural un syndicalisme agricole ancré à gauche, centré sur la défense des métayers et la lutte contre les fermiers généraux.

L'Allier est encore aujourd'hui une des terres du communisme rural (encore 14,66 % aux régionales de 2004, soit le  score du parti derrière la Somme), dans une cohabitation parfois difficile avec le Parti socialiste.

Pour les causes, on peut relever qu’historiquement, l’Allier est un département où la grande propriété se combine à un important métayage. Celui-ci, qui se répand seulement au , n’est pas contrebalancé par la vente des biens nationaux à la Révolution. Au , les grandes propriétés ( et plus) occupent environ la moitié des terres, et même plus de 70 % dans le nord du département. Dans le sud, la petite propriété domine. Le métayage se maintient comme forme de mise en valeur des terres, puisqu’il concerne encore 40 % des terres en 1892 (7 % en France). Les conditions défavorables faites aux métayers favorisent la création de syndicats ruraux, entre 1904 et 1911 (troisième département en France, après l’Hérault et les Landes). Malgré le peu de résultats, la mobilisation est importante et favorise l’élection de candidats de gauche.

Transports

Économie 

L'économie du département de l'Allier reste très ancrée sur l'agriculture traditionnelle (notamment l'élevage et la sylviculture) et sur des ressources héritées du passé. L'agriculture occupe encore une grande part du marché de l'emploi, plus qu'au niveau national ( sur  en 2010) et représente ainsi 7 à 8 % du produit intérieur brut départemental. S'y ajoutent le tourisme et le thermalisme.

L'industrie est très présente, principalement avec la métallurgie, la construction mécanique, le matériel électrique et la fabrication de denrées alimentaires, mais aussi avec les produits en caoutchouc et en plastique, ce qui totalise la moitié des emplois industriels du département. Les secteurs incluent l'automobile, l'armement, le bâtiment, le textile, l'ameublement, la chimie, la santé. Elle comporte plus de petites et moyennes entreprises qu'au niveau national (seules une vingtaine d'établissements occupent au moins ), mais plutôt plus pérennes et moins renouvelées.

Les services marchands donnent eux une activité bien inférieure à la moyenne métropolitaine (38 % contre 46 %), au contraire des services non marchands plus présents (domaines médical, médico-social et social, en particulier, les établissements du domaine public).

Industrie 
L'observatoire économique répertorie, en 2015,  /  dans le secteur mécanique au sens large, 90 /  dans la filière IAA, 150 /  en transport et logistique, 360 /  en filière bois, 94 /  en éco-activités, et 16 /  en santé.
 La filière mécanique/électronique/informatique/automatique/plasturgie compte des grands groupes comme Sagem-Safran (à Montluçon), Potain-Manitowoc, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Dunlop Goodyear (à Montluçon), Erasteel-Eramet, Amis, Bosch (à Yzeure)… et un tissu de PME riche et diversifié. Son développement s'appuie sur le pôle de compétitivité Viameca et sur les formations techniques locales (Montluçon).
 Une cinquantaine d’entreprises spécialisées opèrent en éco-construction, éco-énergie, éco-ingénierie (protection, analyse, récupération/traitement/élimination des déchets, liées au cluster d’excellence labellisé auvergnat (E2IA) et aux formations spécialisées à Montluçon et Vichy.
 L'activité transport et logistique comporte plus de  qui bénéficient d'une situation stratégique vers le nord via l'A77 et l'A71 (Paris, Nantes), l'est via la RCEA et le sud via l'A75, ainsi que des parcs d'activité logistique (La Loue à Montluçon, Château d'eau à Montmarault, Logiparc03 à Moulins, Écherolles à Saint-Loup) et les ZAC (à Saint-Pourcain, Vichy, Commentry et Lapalisse), plus des sociétés d'emballage.
 La filière bois, liée à la sylviculture locale, compte des groupes leaders comme Berry Wood, Chignac Bois et scierie, Ets Canard, Ets J. Bourdier, Ets Roy et Fils, Fournel Emballages, Menuiserie Charpente Philippe Guillaumin, Menuiserie Dutour, Office national des forêts, Sedec, Sefic, Stand Expo Deco, Tonnerre.
 La filière agroalimentaire s'appuie sur la forte tradition agricole locale, la qualité et le haut de gamme, principalement autour de l’eau et de la viande ainsi que le pôle de compétitivité d’envergure internationale Céréales Vallée. Elle compte de grands groupes industriels (Alliance Bigard Charal, Compagnie de Vichy, Épicentre, Kraft Food, Ldc, Sicarev, Société commerciale des eaux du bassin de Vichy…) et de nombreuses PME (Allier Volailles, Convivial, Pouzadoux, Puigrenier, Sicaba…).
 La filière nutrition-santé compte une dizaine de sociétés actives dans la fabrication, l’emballage et le conditionnement et les biotechnologies, groupées dans une association (Nutravita). Elle bénéficie du dynamisme du Parc Naturopôle Nutrition santé et du BioParc de Vichy (L'Oréal Cosmétique à Vichy).

Grandes entreprises 
On compte à fin  :  réalisant plus de  d'euros de chiffre d'affaires annuel.

Agriculture, thermalisme

Tourisme 

Le département de l'Allier est un pays doté de rivières, d'un bocage et de petites montagnes. Des paysages comme le bocage bourbonnais, la montagne bourbonnaise ou la forêt de Tronçais sont autant de lieux adaptés à la pratique d'activités de pleine nature : randonnée, cyclotourisme et VTT, pêche, nage, aviron et sports d'eaux vives.

Le thermalisme est un des secteurs phare de l'activité touristique bourbonnaise avec la station internationale de Vichy, et d'autres (Bourbon-l'Archambault, Néris-les-Bains).

Cette nature préservée abrite également une multitude de châteaux (plus de 500), d'églises romanes et de belles demeures.

La gastronomie bourbonnaise reflète l'histoire de la province et présente des produits de qualité : pâté aux pommes de terre, viande charolaise, andouillette, vins de saint-pourçain (AOC), chambérat du Bourbonnais, moutarde de Charroux, moulinois, vérités de Lapalisse et pastilles de Vichy.

Parmi les sites touristiques à visiter, on peut citer :
 monuments : le château de Lapalisse et ses célèbres plafonds à caissons Renaissance, le château de Bourbon-l'Archambault, « berceau des Bourbons », le Grand Casino de Vichy, le beffroi Jacquemart de Moulins, le château de Chareil-Cintrat, la route historique des châteaux d'Auvergne ;
 églises et abbayes : la cathédrale de Moulins et le triptyque de la Vierge en gloire, l'église prieurale Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul à Souvigny, plus communément appelée le « Saint-Denis » des Bourbons, l'église de Saint-Menoux, l'église de Saint-Désiré, l'église Sainte-Croix de Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, l'abbaye Saint-Vincent de Chantelle, l'abbaye de Sept-Fons à Diou ;
 musées : le Centre national du costume de scène, le musée de la Visitation et de la Vie bourbonnaise, le musée Anne-de-Beaujeu, le Musée de l'illustration jeunesse (MIJ), le musée du Bâtiment et la Maison Mantin à Moulins, le musée Augustin-Bernard à Bourbon-l'Archambault, le musée des Musiques populaires (Mupop) à Montluçon, le musée des Arts d'Afrique et d'Asie à Vichy, le musée de la Vigne et du Terroir à Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, le Musée de Souvigny, l'Historial du paysan soldat à Fleuriel, Street Art City à Lurcy-Lévis ;
 beaux villages : Charroux, Hérisson, Souvigny et Verneuil-en-Bourbonnais ;
 parcs et jardins : l'arboretum de Balaine, le parc des Sources et les parcs d'Allier de Vichy, la route des jardins du Massif Central, le parc de sculptures Erich Engelbrecht au château des Fougis, à Thionne ;
 activités : Le Pal, parc d'attractions et animalier à Dompierre-sur-Besbre, Paléopolis, à Gannat, un site conçu pour comprendre les sciences de la vie et de la terre par le biais de la paléontologie, le ski dans la montagne bourbonnaise, à Lavoine, à la Loge des Gardes et au Mayet-de-Montagne, les gorges de Chouvigny, les plans d'eau de Pirot, de Sault, de Saint-Bonnet-Tronçais, du lac d'Allier de Vichy.

Trois villes se distinguent : Moulins, ville d'art et d'histoire, pour son patrimoine historique du , Montluçon, ville d'art et d'histoire, médiévale et festive dominée par son château, et Vichy, importante ville d'eaux et de musées.

Résidences secondaires 
En 2008 le département comptait 7,5 % de résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l’Allier dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

Le département a attiré de nombreux étrangers, Britanniques, Belges, Suisses et Néerlandais. Ceux-ci ont acquis de nombreuses résidences secondaires en les rénovant, apportant ainsi à l’Allier une diversité culturelle sans égal.

On retrouve ainsi de nombreuses communes devenues « européennes », comme Pouzy-Mésangy qui accueille aujourd’hui des résidents britanniques et suisses.

Culture

Langues régionales 

Le département de l'Allier est partagé en différents parlers bourbonnais. S'y rejoignent et se mélangent les trois grands domaines romans de France : langue d'oïl, occitan et francoprovençal.

Longtemps la population de l'Allier n'a pas parlé le français standard, mais une des langues locales suivantes :
 bourbonnais d'oïl, variante locale du berrichon (lui-même langue d'oïl), à partir d'une ligne Hérisson / Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule / Lapalisse ;
 Le Croissant : zone de transition linguistique où les parlers occitans et d'oïl se côtoient et se mélangent. Cette même zone est à diviser en deux avec une partie occidentale autour de Montluçon qui appartient au dialecte marchois tandis qu'une partie orientale autour de Vichy utilise le parler à proprement parler du bourbonnais méridional.
 Le francoprovençal est parlé dans quelques communes de l'est de la Montagne bourbonnaise (ex. Laprugne, Lavoine, Saint-Nicolas-des-Biefs, Saint-Pierre-Laval) ou du Forez bourbonnais (Montaiguët-en-Forez et Lenax).

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 .

Articles connexes 
 Département français
 Conseil départemental de l'Allier
 Blason de l'Allier
 Listes des cantons et des communes de l'Allier
 Listes de ponts, de personnalités et de films tournés dans le département de l'Allier
 Volontaires nationaux de l'Allier pendant la Révolution
 Liste des églises de l'Allier

Liens externes 

 Conseil départemental de l'Allier
 Préfecture de l'Allier

Les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (), appelées « Basses-Alpes » jusqu'en 1970, en provençal respectivement « Aups-d'Aut-Provenço » (prononciation : « Aw d'Awt'-prouvince ») et « Bassas-Aups » (prononciation : « Basse-Aw ») sont un département français de la région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. L'Insee et la Poste lui attribuent le code 04. Sa préfecture est Digne-les-Bains.

Gentilé 
Ses habitants se nomment les Bas-Alpins (Bas-Alpines au féminin), en référence au nom de « Basses-Alpes » que portait le département jusqu'au .

Géographie 

Avec une superficie de , le département occupe la dix-septième place des plus grands départements.

Limitrophe de l'Italie, le département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence est entouré par les départements des Alpes-Maritimes, du Var, du Vaucluse, de la Drôme et des Hautes-Alpes. Il peut être divisé en trois zones en fonction du relief, du climat, du peuplement et de l'économie :
 les plateaux, collines et vallées de Haute-Provence, qui regroupent un tiers de la surface mais deux tiers de la population, la quasi-totalité de l'activité économique en dehors du tourisme de montagne et les villes les plus importantes du département. La vallée de la Durance, artère du département, coupe cette zone en deux moitiés ;
 les Préalpes, zone de montagne intermédiaire aux vallées encaissées et aux villages très enclavés ;
 les Grandes Alpes, qui regroupent là les vallées de l'Ubaye, de la Blanche et du haut Verdon (en amont de Colmars-les-Alpes), où l'économie s'est reconstruite autour du tourisme de montagne (stations de ski). En Haute-Ubaye, les sommets dépassent  d'altitude et tous les cols avoisinent ou dépassent les  d'altitude. Dans cette partie du département se trouve une des routes les plus élevées d'Europe : la route départementale D 64 atteint l'altitude de  au-dessus du col de la Bonette () et relie le pays de Barcelonnette à la Tinée et à la Vésubie.

Le relief compartimente la région : les vallées encaissées sont difficiles d'accès, divisant le pays en autant de terroirs ne communiquant que très peu avec l’extérieur. En 1877,  n’avaient pour seul accès que des sentiers ou des chemins muletiers.

L'aléa sismique est modéré (zone 3) à moyen (zone 4), différentes failles comme celle de la Durance étant situées dans le département.

Les villes de plus de  sont Manosque, Digne-les-Bains, Sisteron, Oraison, Forcalquier et Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban.

Environnement 
Les prairies du département sont envahies par Xeropicta derbentina, un petit escargot blanc originaire des steppes allant du Caucase à la Croatie, qui monte par groupes sur les herbes. Généralement, il ne cause pas de dommages à la flore, mais il peut introduire des parasites dans les poumons des moutons.

Hydrologie 

La rivière principale est la Durance, qui s'écoule dans la moitié occidentale du département. C'est dans cette vallée qu'on trouve les axes de circulation les plus importants (autoroute A51, voie ferrée, nationale). La quasi-totalité du département se situe dans le bassin versant de la Durance, à l'exception de l'extrême sud-est (cantons d'Annot et Entrevaux) drainé par le Var. Ses principaux affluents dans le département sont l'Ubaye, la Bléone, l'Asse et le Verdon pour la rive gauche, le Buëch, le Jabron et le Largue pour la rive droite.
La Durance et ses affluents ont un caractère torrentiel, avec une transition entre le régime nival des plus hautes vallées et le régime pluvial méditerranéen en moyenne montagne et plus bas. Les étiages estivaux sont sévères et les crues violentes surviennent lorsque de fortes précipitations s'abattent, souvent en automne. La Durance, le Verdon, la Bléone puis le Buëch ont été aménagés au  avec la construction de plusieurs barrages, dont celui de Serre-Ponçon, à cheval sur la limite avec le département voisin des Hautes-Alpes, et la déviation d'une partie des cours d'eau pour l'irrigation et la production d'électricité.

Climatologie 

Le climat des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence est un climat méditerranéen dégradé par l'altitude et la latitude. De fait, si dans les basses vallées et plateaux de Haute-Provence règne un climat méditerranéen d'arrière-pays, plus contrasté que sur la côte, celui de la vallée de l'Ubaye est caractéristique des Alpes internes, avec une continentalité assez marquée : les hivers y sont très rigoureux et les étés orageux. Entre les deux, les deux influences se mélangent dans la zone des Préalpes. Les caractéristiques des deux tendances climatiques se retrouvent dans tout le département avec plus ou moins d'intensité :
 un air sec et très peu de brouillard (moins de vingt jours par an) ;
 des précipitations peu fréquentes (moins de quatre-vingt-dix jours par an) et brutales (cumuls annuels de ) ;
 des orages fréquents en montagne l'été ;
 un excellent ensoleillement en toute saison ( par an) ;
 des amplitudes thermiques élevées, diurnes (plus de ) et annuelles () ;
 des hivers frais et lumineux ;
 des étés très chauds à peine tempérés par l'altitude.

De ce fait, la Haute-Provence est très intéressante pour tous les astronomes européens à la recherche d'un ciel nocturne souvent dégagé et épargné par la pollution lumineuse. De nombreux observatoires amateurs ont été construits, et l'observatoire de Haute-Provence, un des plus grands observatoires d'Europe continentale, est un centre de recherche en astronomie très actif.

Démographie 
Victime de l'exode rural jusqu'au milieu du , le département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence a vu sa population augmenter depuis 50 ans, même si la population d'aujourd'hui se concentre dans les zones les moins enclavées et ne cultive plus la terre.

Un peuplement peu dense et très inégal 
Le département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence est l'un des moins densément peuplés de France avec . La population se concentre essentiellement dans les vallées de la Durance, de la Bléone (jusqu'à Digne) et sur les plateaux proches. Le reste du département est très peu peuplé (moins de  sur la majeure partie du territoire).

La moitié des communes a moins de deux cents habitants, dix-sept communes en ont moins de cinquante, et de nombreux hameaux ont été abandonnés. Les villes sont petites : seules  sont considérées comme urbaines par l'INSEE et seules deux agglomérations, celles de Digne-les-Bains et Manosque, dépassent les . Les arrondissements de Barcelonnette et de Castellane sont les deux arrondissements les moins peuplés de France. Celui de Barcelonette est le seul de France avec moins de . La ville de Castellane est également la plus petite sous-préfecture de France.

Parmi les trente cantons du département, 11 ont une population résidente inférieure à  et six autres une population comprise entre . Seuls cinq cantons comptent une population supérieure à  : Digne Ouest, Forcalquier, Manosque Nord, Manosque Sud Ouest et Volonne.

Communes

Communes les plus peuplées

Communes de moins de 20 habitants

Population bas-alpine par arrondissement

Unités urbaines 
Selon le découpage effectué en 2010 par l'INSEE, les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence comptaient onze unités urbaines, triées ici selon leur population en 2012 :
 Manosque :  (quatre communes)
 Digne-les-Bains :  (quatre communes)
 Sisteron :  (une commune)
 Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban :  (trois communes)
Forcalquier :  (deux communes)
 Oraison :  (deux communes)
 Villeneuve :  (une commune)
 Les Mées :  (une commune)
 Barcelonnette :  (deux communes)
 Volx :  (une commune)
 Peyruis :  (une commune)
 Gréoux-les-Bains :  (une commune)

Aires urbaines 
Selon le découpage effectué en 2010 par l'INSEE, les Alpes-de-haute-Provence comptent sept aires urbaines. Cinq communes du département appartiennent aux aires urbaines de Gap (3) et Nice (2).

Histoire 
La population était autrefois répartie assez régulièrement sur le territoire, y compris dans les zones montagneuses où l'agriculture de montagne était bien développée. Mais dès le milieu du , elle commença à diminuer en raison d'un fort exode rural. De plus de  en 1850, elle tomba à moins de  après la Première Guerre mondiale. Il fallut ensuite attendre 1960 pour que la tendance revienne à la hausse, assez fortement d'ailleurs, passant de moins de  en 1954 à près de  en 1999 et  en 2005. Cependant, si ce chiffre se rapproche du nombre d'habitants qu'avait le département  plus tôt, la répartition et l'activité de la population sont très différentes. La population se concentre à présent dans la vallée de la Durance et le Sud-Ouest du département, et l'agriculture emploie bien moins qu'avant. Le tertiaire, essentiellement le tourisme et les services de proximité, est à présent le principal secteur d'activité.

En 2016 elle compte  et une densité de .

Le département ne s’est jamais vraiment industrialisé ; il comptait  mines en 1870 (une de plomb, quatre de schistes bitumineux, et ).

Pyramide des âges

Un département de villégiature 
Selon le recensement général de la population, 32,8 % des logements disponibles dans le département sont des résidences secondaires. Le tableau ci-dessous indique les principales communes des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

Sources :
 Source INSEE, chiffres au 01/01/2008.

Histoire 

Le département des « Basses-Alpes » est l'un des 83 départements créés à la Révolution française, le , en application de la loi du . Il englobe le Nord-Est montagneux de la Provence, et a été amputé du canton de Sault lors de la formation de Vaucluse en 1793, puis du canton de Barcillonnette rattaché aux Hautes-Alpes en 1810.

Le département compte trois Poilus fusillés pour l'exemple, dont deux communes ont gravé les noms sur leur monument aux morts de la même façon que pour les autres morts de la commune (un à Saint-Michel et l'autre à Méolans-Revel, dont le nom figure également sur le monument de Barcelonnette), celle de Forcalquier s'en étant abstenu. En 2013, le conseil général a officiellement demandé leur réhabilitation.

Le département des Basses-Alpes est occupé par l’Italie fasciste de  à .

Le , son nom est changé en « Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ».

Voici un extrait peu flatteur de l'article « Basses-Alpes » de l'Atlas Larousse publié au début du siècle dernier : "Semées de rochers blanchâtres sortant, comme des ossements, d’un mince sol végétal où languissent des buissons, quelques fleurs de montagne et des arbres rabougris…, ces montagnes forment presque partout un effrayant désert qui n’aura bientôt plus d’habitants : c’est le Sahara sans le soleil de l’Afrique, avec les neiges de la Sibérie." (P. Joanne). Sur ce sol élevé que le déboisement et les inondations qui en sont la conséquence ont frustré de sa terre nourricière, l’agriculture est des plus misérables. On n’y récolte qu’un peu de blé, du vin en petite quantité, mais bon, et des truffes en assez grand nombre. Dans la partie méridionale, qui bénéficie du climat de la Provence, apparaissent les oliviers, mûriers et orangers ; les plantes aromatiques y abondent, et on compte  ruches d’abeilles. Manosque doit à sa situation dans cette région privilégiée d’être de beaucoup la seconde ville du département (avec ). On trouve près de Manosque des mines de lignite et de gypse. Mais, malgré un commerce assez actif d’huiles, de vins et de soies grèges, ce département est aussi l’un des moins peuplés." (Atlas Larousse Illustré, Imprimerie Larousse, Paris, vers 1900).

Héraldique

Politique et administration 

Le département présente une tradition électorale marquée à gauche ancienne. On peut évoquer les solides traditions républicaines, comme le nombre de sociétés populaires pendant la Révolution française, ou la résistance au coup d’État de Napoléon III en 1851. La tradition de gauche s'est aussi manifestée dans le monde rural, puisque l'ensemble des cantons consacrés à l'agriculture ont, très tôt, manifesté une inclination à voter pour des candidats républicains. L’installation de la grande usine chimique de Saint-Auban a aussi eu un effet favorable sur le vote à gauche (cf. ci-dessous) et  La centrale électrique de Sainte-Tulle a également fourni de nombreux militants aux organisations de gauche.

Exceptions dans le département : les secteurs alpins, de Barcelonnette et de la haute vallée du Verdon, territoires d'émigration mais aussi lieu de garnison des chasseurs alpins pour le premier. Ces secteurs, profondément catholiques, ont longtemps opté pour des élus conservateurs dont l'un des plus connus est l'ancien ministre de la  République, Paul Reynaud. Une définition des choix politiques de la population départementale est souvent ainsi traduite : plus l'altitude s'élève, plus le suffrage populaire penche à droite…

Depuis la fin de la Première Guerre mondiale, le département est le plus souvent représenté, tant au Sénat qu'à l'Assemblée Nationale, par des élus issus soit du PCF, soit, surtout, du courant socialiste, par la SFIO puis le PS, ou par le courant radical.

Haut-lieu de la Résistance durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, à la Libération, le département a marqué profondément son ancrage à gauche qui n'a pas vraiment été mis en question depuis. Une évolution, peut être temporaire, a toutefois été constatée en 2007, puisque, pour la première fois dans l'histoire politique locale, un député de droite élu lors du précédent scrutin (en 2002) a été réélu à l'Assemblée nationale.

L'autre siège est occupé par le président du conseil général, Jean-Louis Bianco, ancien ministre de François Mitterrand.

Au Sénat, le département est représenté par Jean-Yves Roux depuis le . Il succède à Claude Domeizel, ancien maire socialiste de Volx.

François Mitterrand a obtenu la majorité des suffrages des habitants du département en 1974, comme en 1981 et 1988, dépassant dans les deux derniers cas la barre des 53 % des voix. En 1995, Jacques Chirac est parvenu en tête au second tour de l'élection présidentielle avec un score légèrement supérieur à 52 %, quoique inférieur à son score national. En 2002, c'est Jean-Marie Le Pen qui est arrivé en tête au premier tour. Enfin, en 2007, c'est Nicolas Sarkozy qui est parvenu en tête au premier tour, avec près de 30 % des voix et 53,2 % au second tour.

Sur les référendums européens, le département a voté Non lors de la consultation sur le traité de Maastricht à 51,6 % (majorité de ) et Non lors de la consultation sur le Traité constitutionnel européen à 60,3 % (majorité de ).

Parlementaires des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 

Pour la  législature de la  République (2022-2027), les députés suivants ont été élus dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence :

Le département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence est représenté par un sénateur, en la personne de Jean-Yves Roux, membre du groupe PS, et élu pour la mandature 2014-2020.

Conseillers régionaux des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 

Le département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence envoie 4 conseillers régionaux sur les 123 que compte le conseil régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

Conseil départemental des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 

Le département est administré par le conseil départemental des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, comprenant 30 conseillers départementaux, répartis sur 15 cantons.
La présidente du conseil départemental des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, élue le , est Éliane Barreille, élue LR du canton de Riez.

Pour la mandature 2021-2027, la composition du conseil départemental est la suivante :

Découpage administratif

État actuel 
 Arrondissement de Barcelonnette : 14 communes, 1 canton ;
 Arrondissement de Castellane : 41 communes, 1 canton ;
 Arrondissement de Digne-les-Bains : 16 communes, 6 cantons ;
 Arrondissement de Forcalquier : 97 communes, 9 cantons.
Au total 198 communes et 15 cantons.

Arrondissements (actuels et anciens)

Communes et intercommunalités

Anciennes communes et modification du découpage administratif des communes 

L'exode rural des  a eu des conséquences importantes sur la population des communes : certaines ont été presque complètement ou complètement abandonnées de leurs habitants, ce qui a entraîné la disparition d’une cinquantaine de communes depuis la création du département. Certains villages existent toujours et ont parfois donné leur nom à la nouvelle commune créée lors du rattachement (par exemple La Mure-Argens), d'autres ne sont plus que des tas de pierres (comme Levens sur la commune de Majastres), ne figurant parfois plus sur les cartes (par exemple Bédejun sur la commune de Chaudon-Norante). À sa formation, le département comptait 270 communes (262 après modification des limites du département), il en reste aujourd'hui 199. En dehors des huit communes rattachées, soit aux Hautes-Alpes (les trois communes du canton de Barcillonnette), soit au Vaucluse (le canton de Sault), de nombreuses communes ont disparu.

En 1854, l'état des communes du département était le suivant :
 Arrondissement de Barcelonnette : 20 communes, 4 cantons ;
 Arrondissement de Castellane : 48 communes, 6 cantons ;
 Arrondissement de Digne-les-Bains : 87 communes, 9 cantons ;
 Arrondissement de Forcalquier : 51 communes, 6 cantons ;
 Arrondissement de Sisteron (ancien) : 50 communes, 5 cantons ;
au total 256 communes et 30 cantons.

Cas particuliers de rattachement et modifications des limites communales :
 certaines communes ont choisi un nom sans filiation historique, par exemple Val-de-Chalvagne formée par la fusion de trois communes (Castellet-Saint-Cassien, Montblanc et Villevieille) ;
 certaines communes en ont absorbé un grand nombre d'autres, c'est le cas de Digne, et de Castellane avec sept communes rattachées : Villars-Brandis, Taloire, Éoulx, Taulane, Chasteuil, et Castillon lors de la création du barrage homonyme.

Il faut aussi signaler d'autres cas atypiques :
 rattachement puis séparation : Archail et Draix entre elles, ainsi que Saint-Martin-les-Eaux vis-à-vis de Manosque ;
 rattachement à une commune puis à une autre : Aurent (rattachée à Braux puis à Castellet-lès-Sausses) ;
 une première fusion de deux communes, suivi d'un rattachement à une autre commune : Peyresq avec La Colle-Saint-Michel (sous le nom de Saint-Michel-Peyresq), cette nouvelle entité est ensuite rattachée à Thorame-Haute ;
 communes fusionnées mais non limitrophes : Le Poil rattaché à Senez.

Il existe encore des cas de communes associées depuis 1973 (certaines ont d'ailleurs disparu plus ou moins rapidement au profit d'une « fusion simple »). Un exemple La Mure-Argens, Argens bénéficiant de ce statut (avec un maire-délégué spécialement pour Argens, une mairie annexe, une section électorale...).

Cantons 

Voir aussi la Liste des anciens cantons des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Territoires de projets : les pays (loi Voynet)

Économie 
Le département présente, de par ses caractéristiques propres (montagne et faible population), un caractère marqué par une relative faiblesse des activités industrielles, et une évolution vers la création d'emplois dans les domaines du commerce et des services.

Ainsi, selon l'enquête sur les besoins de main-d'œuvre des services de l'ASSEDIC, l'essentiel des offres d'emploi est aujourd'hui porté par les professions de l'animation socioculturelle et sportive ( recensées sur  au total dans le département), de l'hôtellerie (), du nettoyage (), de la restauration ().

Toutes ces offres étaient, pour les trois quarts au moins, proposées sur des emplois de caractère saisonnier.

Toutefois, des évolutions sensibles de la situation sociologique du département sont à attendre de l'implantation prochaine, au débouché de la vallée de la Durance du projet ITER.

Secteur primaire 
Dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, l’agriculture a eu une place très importante dans l'économie, mais la monoculture vivrière a laissé place à une agriculture beaucoup plus spécialisée orientée autour des fruits, légumes, des céréales et de produits à haute valeur ajoutée (miel, parfums et huiles essentielles, cosmétiques, olives, viticulture). Les espèces cultivées sont tempérées, surtout en altitude, et méditerranéennes, surtout à basse altitude. La production est d'une grande variété. Depuis quelques années, une recrudescence de la culture de la lavande est apparue, notamment dans le secteur de Saint-André-les-Alpes et de Digne-les-Bains.

La surface agricole utile s'élevait à , dont la plus grande partie dévolue aux activités d'élevage sous forme de prairies en herbe pour plus de .

C'est le secteur de l'arboriculture, notamment le long de la Durance, qui constitue le principal secteur en nombre d’exploitations (829 au total).

Il est suivi du secteur des grandes cultures (céréales notamment) avec , et du secteur de l'élevage dont, et c'est l'une des spécificités du département,  dévolues à l'élevage d'autres animaux que les bovins. Il s'agit de l'élevage de brebis et de chèvres, notamment pour la production du lait utilisé pour la fabrication du fromage AOC Banon. Les éleveurs bovins ne sont, en 2013, que 38 pour l'ensemble du département. Entre le plateau d'Albion et la montagne de Lure, sur la commune de Saumane, il existe une production de fromage de chèvre du Mont-Ventoux.

Les viticulteurs de Pierrevert ont, pour leur part, obtenu le classement de leur production en appellation d'origine contrôlée. Autres cultures permanentes, la lavande et le lavandin occupent plusieurs milliers d'hectares et fournissent plusieurs milliers d'emplois directs. La lavande, qui bénéficie d'une AOP, est concentrée sur le plateau d'Albion, dont l'altitude convient à la plante et qui offre un relief facile à cultiver en grandes surfaces. Le lavandin, cultivé plus bas, est très présent sur le plateau de Valensole, qui compte la moitié des cinquante distilleries du département. Outre la production d'essences aromatiques, la lavande joue un rôle important dans la production de miel : 60 % de la production départementale est du miel de lavande. Ces cultures ont également motivé la création de l'université européenne des senteurs et saveurs, à Forcalquier, et du Centre régionalisé interprofessionnel d'expérimentation en plantes à parfum, aromatiques et médicinales (Crieppam), à Manosque. Cette culture et les industries qui en dépendent est menacée par une invasion de cicadelle (Hyalesthes obsoletus plus précisément) depuis quelques années.

Le département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence est un département dont 49,1 % de la superficie est boisée soit , pour un taux moyen de 39,4 % pour la région Provence–Alpes-Côte d’Azur ; l’ONF gère  Les principales essences exploitées sont le pin sylvestre, le pin noir, le mélèze, le chêne pubescent (ou chêne blanc) et le hêtre. Le sapin et les épicéas sont moins répandus. La canicule de 2003 a entraîné le dépérissement de plusieurs espèces d’arbres, accélérant par conséquent le retour des chênes méditerranéens, des alisiers et du tilleul.

Industrie 
L'industrie constitue un ensemble relativement réduit en termes d'établissements mais comporte par contre plusieurs entreprises relativement importantes.

Le département compte fin 2004,  du secteur secondaire dont dix-sept dépassent cinquante salariés.

C'est notamment le cas de l'historique usine de Saint-Auban (usine Arkema, anciennement Elf-Atochem), l'usine Sanofi de Sisteron (au nord de la ville) et Manosque (usine de l'Occitane). Quelques fabriques plus spécialisées (huile d'olive, parfums, vins) produisent des produits à haute valeur ajoutée.

Fin 2006, selon les données ASSEDIC, l'industrie employait dans le département , soit un peu plus de 14 % des effectifs salariés du secteur privé.

Les secteurs de la chimie, avec  et celui de l'agro-alimentaire avec , constituent les deux principaux pôles d'activité.

Le secteur de la chimie comprend les segments de la pharmacie (usine Sanofi, citée plus haut, avec plus de ), de la chimie de base (usine Arkema, avec plus de cinq cents salariés) et la cosmétique avec plus de .

Pour autant, l'industrie a perdu près de quatre cents emplois depuis 2001, notamment dans le cadre de la réduction des effectifs chez Arkema, malgré la bonne santé financière du groupe Total, qui en est propriétaire.

Cette situation, évidemment, est appelée à connaître une évolution à la suite de l'implantation d’ITER.

Le secteur du Bâtiment et des travaux publics compte, pour sa part,  actifs, dont plus de la moitié (758) sont des établissements sans le moindre salarié (artisans établis à leur compte). Fin 2006, ce secteur emploie plus de , dont près de  dans le secteur des travaux publics, particulièrement porté par la réalisation de grandes infrastructures (autoroute A 51 entre autres).

Tertiaire 

Le secteur tertiaire recouvre des réalités extrêmement diverses.

Fin 2006, ce secteur emploie, entre autres,  dans le domaine des transports,  dans celui des services aux entreprises et plus de  dans le domaine des services aux particuliers.

Ces secteurs connaissent une évolution à la hausse de leur activité.

Le flux migratoire positif du département, trouvant souvent son origine dans l'arrivée dans le département de ménages retraités, explique en particulier la progression sensible des effectifs dans les segments de l'accueil des personnes âgées et de l'aide à domicile.

Les activités de services recouvrent un ensemble de  fin 2004 dont  (plus de 59 %) ne comptent aucun salarié. Pour autant, c'est ce secteur qui comporte, avec 96 établissements, le plus grand nombre de structures dépassant cinquante salariés.

Tourisme 

Le secteur du tourisme est le premier employeur du département avec 16 % des emplois (soit ) et un chiffre d'affaires de  d'euros. En 2012, le département a accueilli près de  de touristes, pour un total de  de nuitées (en baisse de 3,1 % depuis 2011) et  de jours-skieurs.

Après la dépopulation provoquée par l’exode rural, le département a innové en inventant l’agritourisme dans les années 1950, même s’il n’est plus leader en France dans ce domaine. Environ  agricoles proposent une activité touristique (hébergement, restauration ou loisirs) dont 70 labellisées.

Les musées sont aussi un pôle d'attraction : en 2012, ils ont attiré .

Commerce 
Les activités commerciales ont connu de sensibles évolutions, et comptaient en 2004  dont  (plus de 56 %) ne comptent aucun salarié.

Fin 2006, ce secteur emploie cependant , au sein de plus d'un millier d'établissements employeurs, effectif employé en hausse sensible depuis 2001, puisqu'il a créé au total  supplémentaires (plus de 10 % des effectifs) depuis cette date. Ce nombre de salariés représente près de 22 % des effectifs salariés du secteur privé.

Elles sont marquées par le développement, notamment dans les agglomérations de Manosque et de Digne, de zones commerciales occupées par les grandes enseignes de distribution. Près de  du secteur sont employés dans ces établissements.

Autres secteurs 
Le secteur des transports compte une soixantaine d'emplois complémentaires mais c'est surtout le secteur des services aux entreprises et celui des services aux particuliers, et singulièrement le secteur de l'activité sanitaire et sociale qui ont connu une croissance spectaculaire et sensible.

Les chiffres sont clairs : le premier a accru sensiblement son importance dans l'économie avec plus d'un millier d'emplois de plus, notamment dans les segments de l'intérim, du gardiennage et de l'entretien, avec près de  complémentaires.

Cette situation trouve en grande partie explication dans le fait que les principales entreprises industrielles du département, comme les entreprises du secteur du bâtiment, ont recours au travail intérimaire, en lieu et place d'embauches à temps plein. Il conviendrait de fait de s'interroger sur le rapport entre l'évolution de l'emploi dans les secteurs industriels et celui de l'emploi intérimaire, par exemple. Ainsi, dans le canton de Volonne, où se situe l'usine de Saint-Auban, la réduction des emplois industriels ( perdus sur le site Arkema) est en partie compensée par l'accroissement de l'emploi intérimaire (cent emplois complémentaires).

De même, sur Manosque, première ville du département en termes d'emploi, et en développement sensible ( de plus en cinq ans), la progression des emplois intérimaires est spectaculaire, atteignant en effet quatre cents postes de travail, ces salariés intervenant entre autres sur le secteur de la cosmétique (L'Occitane), mais aussi dans le secteur du bâtiment et des travaux publics, et dans le champ des activités du commerce de détail, les grandes enseignes de distribution de la ville préférant ce mode de recrutement aux embauches définitives.

Dans le champ des activités sanitaires et sociales, création importante d'emplois aussi avec  de plus, portant à 13 % la part des salariés du secteur au regard du total de l'emploi privé.

Cette progression provient notamment des activités d'accueil et d'hébergement avec près d'un millier de salariés, en hausse de  environ depuis 2001 tandis que le secteur de l'aide à domicile emploie désormais  au lieu de 457 cinq ans plus tôt.

L'emploi associatif, avec près de mille postes de travail, est aussi très présent sur le département.

Culture 

Le département est labellisé Terre de Jeux 2024, le label des territoires de Paris 2024 et accueillera le passage du Relais de la flamme sur son territoire.

Gastronomie 

 Le boudin est traditionnellement cuit avec du poireau.
 Brouillade de truffes de Riez.
 Pattes à la main de Fours.
 Agneau de Sisteron.
 Vin de Pierrevert (AOC depuis 1997).
 Miel de lavande.
 Fromage de Banon.
 Génépi de la vallée de l'Ubaye.
 Pieds et paquets de Sisteron.
 Liqueurs Henri Bardouin de Forcalquier.
 Promenade Bas-Alpine.

Médias locaux

Presse quotidienne 
La Provence, le Dauphiné libéré et La Marseillaise ont tous trois une édition locale.

Presse hebdomadaire 
 Haute-Provence info.

Presse gratuite 
J'y vais Provence, revue bimestrielle gratuite d'informations culturelles et portraits d'artistes du département, créée par Véronique Basso, directrice de publication et Philippe Robert, webmestre de jyvais04.com (devenu jyvaisprovence.com), et diffusée à  dans les mairies, les offices du tourisme et certains commerces.

Radios locales 
 Alpes 1 (basée à Gap, Hautes-Alpes), émet sur les régions de Digne-les-Bains, Sisteron, Barcelonnette et d'Allos ;
 Durance FM (basée à Reillanne), émet sur les régions de Manosque, Digne-les-Bains et de Sisteron ;
 Fréquence Mistral (basée à Manosque), émet sur les régions de Manosque, Digne-les-Bains, Sisteron et Castellane ;
 Grimaldi FM (basée à Puget-Théniers (Alpes-Martimes)), émet sur les cantons d’Annot et d’Entrevaux ;
 Là la radio, basée à Gap, émet sur les régions d'Allos, Barcelonnette et de Colmars-les-Alpes ;
 Radio Oxygène (basée à Fréjus (Var)), émet sur les régions de Barcelonnette et du Val d'Allos ;
 Radio Star (basée à Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône)), émet sur les régions de Manosque, Digne-les-Bains et de Sisteron ;
 Radio Verdon (basée à Saint-Julien-le-Montagnier (Var)), émet sur les régions de Manosque et de Castellane ;
 Radio Zinzine (basée à Limans), financée par la coopérative Longo Maï, émet sur les régions de Manosque, Digne-les-Bains, Sisteron et de Forcalquier ;
 France Bleu Provence (basée à Aix-en-Provence), émet dans le Val-de-Durance (de Manosque à Sisteron), sur les régions de Digne-les-Bains, du plateau de Valensole et du bas-Verdon.

Télévision locale 
 Télé Locale Provence (TLP) était accessible sur la TNT, sur la région de Manosque et Val de Durance, par satellite ou internet, sur Avignon et sa région. Elle a arrêté d'émettre le .
 En mai 2018, DICI TV, la chaîne également des Hautes-Alpes où est situé le siège, a commencé à émettre dans les Alpes de Haute-Provence couvrant le secteur de Manosque, jusque dans le val d'Allos mais aussi dans le pays de Forcalquier et le Verdon.

Site Internet 
 Verdon Info : site d'information sur le secteur du Pays A (arrondissement de Castellane).

Transports

Le réseau routier 

Beaucoup d'axes routiers des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence sont étroits et sinueux en raison du relief. Ces contraintes naturelles rendent l'accès à certaines parties du département assez difficile, surtout en hiver, et principalement les communes des arrondissements de Barcelonnette et de Castellane. Elles sont de ce fait assez isolées du reste du département et de la région.

La route nationale 85 entre Digne-les-Bains et Castellane traverse plusieurs clues dont celle de Taulanne, extrêmement étroite.

Le réseau ferroviaire 
Les lignes de chemin de fer du département des Alpes de Haute-Provence se répartissent en :
 une ligne de la Société des Chemins de fer de Provence (connue sous le nom de Train des Pignes) :
 la ligne Nice - Digne ;
 deux lignes de la SNCF :
 la ligne Lyon-Perrache - Marseille-Saint-Charles (via Grenoble) ;
 la ligne Saint-Auban - Digne (service assuré par autocars) aujourd’hui désaffectée, qui faisait la liaison entre les deux précédentes. Un projet de réouverture est en cours d'étude et figurait dans le contrat de plan État-Région.

Cette situation place Digne dans la liste des préfectures non ou mal desservies par le rail. La gare la plus proche, offrant des liaisons rapides et régulières par le rail avec d'autres gares (Gap, Aix-en-Provence, Aix-en-Provence TGV, Marseille) est celle de Manosque.

Le service ferroviaire se limite à quelques allers-retours par jour entre Marseille Saint Charles, Veynes-Devoluy, Gap et Briançon, additionné en heures de pointe de relations de banlieue prolongées depuis Marseille et Aix-en-Provence Ville vers Sisteron.

Plusieurs lignes ont été abandonnées :
 la ligne Volx - Forcalquier, déposée ;
 la ligne Volx - Cavaillon, déposée ;
 la ligne Chorges - Barcelonnette, restée inachevée.

La topographie des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence et les conditions de circulation sur le réseau routier rendent difficile l'accès à une gare pour de nombreux habitants du département.

Les ponts

Sociétés savantes, associations 
 Société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, fondée en 1878 par l'abbé Jean-Joseph-Maxime Feraud.
 Alpes de Lumière, association sans but lucratif fondée en 1953 par Pierre Martel et reconnue d'utilité publique.
 Proserpine, association sans but lucratif fondée en 1993 dans le but de connaitre et protéger les papillons de Haute-Provence. Gère le jardin des Papillons (insectes en liberté) à Digne-les-Bains.
 Sabença de la Valeia est une société savante de la vallée de l'Ubaye, elle recherche, étudie et diffuse tout ce qui concerne la vallée.

Films et téléfilms tournés dans le département 

 1925 : Les Misérables de Henri Fescourt avec Gabriel Gabrio
 1934 : Les Misérables de Raymond Bernard avec Harry Baur
 1953 : La Route Napoléon de Jean Delannoy avec Pierre Fresnay
 1958 : L'Eau vive de François Villiers avec Pascale Audret
 1960 : Crésus de Jean Giono avec Fernandel
 1970 : La Maison des bories de Jacques Doniol-Valcroze avec Marie Dubois, Maurice Garrel, Mathieu Carrière, Marie-Véronique Maurin
 1973 : L'Affaire Dominici de Claude Bernard-Aubert avec Jean Gabin, Victor Lanoux, Gérard Darrieu
 1981 : Les Babas-cool de François Leterrier avec Christian Clavier, Marie-Anne Chazel, Anémone
 1988 : La Maison assassinée de Georges Lautner avec Patrick Bruel
 1989 : Après la guerre de Jean-Loup Hubert avec Richard Bohringer
 1995 : Le Hussard sur le toit de Jean-Paul Rappeneau avec Juliette Binoche, Olivier Martinez, François Cluzet
 2003 : L'Affaire Dominici de Pierre Boutron avec Michel Serrault, Michel Blanc
 2006 : Les Courriers de la mort de Philomène Esposito avec Victor Lanoux
 2007 : C'est mieux la vie quand on est grand de Luc Béraud avec Daniel Russo
 2010 : Le Sang des Atrides de Bruno Gantillon avec Victor Lanoux
 2011 : Le Tombeau d'Hélios de Bruno Gantillon avec Victor Lanoux, Féodor Atkine
 2012 : Le Secret des andrônes de Bruno Gantillon avec Victor Lanoux

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Annexe

Bibliographie 
 Inventaire des orgues du département des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Daniel Thièry, recherches historiques : Aux origines des églises et chapelles rurales des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Les Templiers dans les Alpes de Haute Provence
 Département des Alpes-deHaute-Provence : Les templiers

Articles connexes 
 Conseil départemental des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Liste des communes des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Liste des églises des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Liste des anciennes communes des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Liste des anciens cantons des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Département (France)
 Liste des préfets des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Société scientifique et littéraire des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Liste de films tournés dans les Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Volontaires nationaux des Basses-Alpes pendant la Révolution

Liens externes 
 Préfecture des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
 Conseil départemental des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

Les Alpes-Maritimes (prononcé ) sont un département français de la région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Ses habitants sont appelés  mais cette appellation est très rarement employée et on utilise plus fréquemment , plus approprié pour désigner la population vivant sur la bande côtière azuréenne de Menton à Théoule-sur-Mer sur la Côte d'Azur en englobant également les stations de ski. 

L'Insee et La Poste lui attribuent le . Sa préfecture est Nice.

Un premier département des Alpes-Maritimes existe de 1793 à 1814, sous la Révolution française et le Premier Empire. Il est alors composé essentiellement du comté de Nice, détaché du royaume de Sardaigne et réuni à la France, ainsi que de la principauté de Monaco (Monaco, Roquebrune et Menton à l'époque) annexée et l'arrondissement de San Remo, annexé à la République ligurienne. En 1814, le comté de Nice retourne au royaume de Sardaigne et Monaco recouvre son indépendance mais sous protectorat sarde. 

Lors du rattachement du comté de Nice à la France (avril 1860 - à l'exception de Tende et La Brigue, qui ne deviendront françaises qu'en 1947 et de Pigna et du marquisat de Dolceacqua, restés italiens), un second département des Alpes-Maritimes est créé par l'adjonction audit comté de Nice de l'arrondissement de Grasse, détaché du département du Var. Peu après a lieu le rattachement des villes de Menton et Roquebrune, qui avaient fait sécession de la principauté de Monaco et s'étaient placées sous la protection de la Sardaigne  et dont les droits furent rachetés par l'empereur des Français au prince de Monaco en 1861. Le département comporte alors trois arrondissements, Nice, Grasse, et le nouvel arrondissement de Puget-Théniers (de 1860 à 1926).

Le département compte  en .

Géographie

Situation 
Le département des Alpes-Maritimes est limitrophe par les départements du Var au sud-ouest et des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence au nord-ouest ainsi que par l'Italie à l'est et la mer Méditerranée au sud. Sa topographie est très contrastée. Comme son nom l'indique, la plus grande partie du département est partie constituante de l'ensemble topographique des Alpes - et notamment des Alpes maritimes - mais il a également la particularité d'être un département côtier avec sa façade méditerranéenne.

La partie côtière du littoral Azuréen, est très urbanisée et densément peuplée, elle regroupe toutes les villes de la Côte d'Azur dans une conurbation quasi continue de Menton à Théhoule-sur-Mer, tandis que la partie montagneuse, plus étendue mais faiblement peuplée, est entièrement rurale exception faite des trois grandes stations de Valberg née en 1936, Auron en 1937 et Isola 2000 en 1971.

Relief 
Le sommet culminant du département - situé sur la frontière franco-italienne - est la cime du Gélas () qui domine, plus à l'est, la vallée des Merveilles. En effet, le mont Argentera est certes plus élevé avec  d'altitude mais il est situé en territoire italien. Le mont Mounier () domine au sud le vaste dôme de Barrot formé d'une masse de plus de  d'épaisseur de pélites rouges profondément échancrées par les gorges de Daluis et du Cians. Sauf en période hivernale, quatre grands cols permettent de franchir au nord le massif du Mercantour-Argentera dont l'imposante barrière de  de long dresse l'hiver sa muraille neigeuse visible de la côte. À partir de l'ouest, c'est d'abord, sur la route des grandes Alpes, le col de la Cayolle () aux sources du Var (fleuve) sur la commune d'Entraunes. Puis le col de la Bonette, l'un des plus hauts cols routiers d'Europe avec ses  permettant de relier la vallée de la Tinée à celle de l'Ubaye. Plus à l'est, le col de la Lombarde (), au-dessus d'Isola 2000, permet de rejoindre le sanctuaire Sainte Anne de Vinadio en Italie. Et enfin, à son extrémité orientale, le col de Tende () qui assure la liaison avec Coni (ou Cuneo) en Italie.

Paysage et végétation forestière. La seule région des Alpes niçoises a un taux de boisement de 60,9 %, un peu supérieur à la moyenne du département et très supérieur au taux moyen de 39,4 % de la région Provence – Alpes - Côte d’Azur.

Hydrographie 

Les cours d'eau sont l'Aigue Blanche, l'Ardon, l'Artuby, la Banquière, la Barlatte, la Bassera, la Bendola, la Bévéra, le Bieugne, le Borrigo, la Bouillide, le Bourdous, le Bouyon, la Brague, la  le , la Cagne, le Caïros, la , le Careï, la  la , le Cians, le , la Ciavanelle, l'Estéron, la Faye, le Fontanalba, le Fossan, la Ganière, la Gironde, le Gorbio, la Gordolasque, la Grande Frayère, le torrent de la Guercha, la Lane, la Lévensa, le Loup, la Lubiane, la Maglia, le Magnan, la , le Malvan, le Mayola, la Miagne, la Minière, la Mourachonne, la , le Paillon (les Paillons), le Raton, le Réfréi, le Riou, le Riou de l'Argentière, le Rioulan, la Roudoule, la Roya, la Siagne, la Siagnole, la Tinée, le Tuébi, la Valmasque, le Var, le Végay, la Vésubie et la Vionène.

Climat 

Le climat des Alpes-Maritimes est principalement de type montagnard jusqu'au climat méditerranéen en se rapprochant du littoral. Il est caractérisé par des averses importantes en saison automnale et par des orages violents en saison estivale ; ce phénomène est dû à la rencontre des masses d'air chaud le long du littoral et des masses plus froides provenant des montagnes. Ainsi, dans la nuit du 3 au , à la suite de fortes précipitations, des inondations meurtrières ont causé la mort de vingt personnes dans le département.

La zone littorale a un climat méditerranéen (précipitations importantes en automne et au printemps surtout, sécheresse en été, ainsi qu'un hiver doux et sec). Vers l'intérieur, et surtout dans le nord, un climat de montagne (hiver assez vif, orages d'été).

L'un des attraits du département est son niveau d'ensoleillement important :  par an.

À noter aussi que le département est le plus orageux de France avec en moyenne  d'orages par an.

Histoire 

Les Romains créent un district militaire nommé Alpes Maritimæ en 14 av. J.-C., qui acquiert le statut de province (Alpes-Maritimes) au milieu du  s.  Elle a pour capitale Cemenelum (aujourd'hui Cimiez, un quartier du nord de Nice). Dans sa plus grande extension, en 297, cette province englobe Digne et Briançon. Sa capitale est ensuite déplacée à Embrun.

Un premier département des Alpes-Maritimes existe de 1793 à 1814. Son chef-lieu est Nice, mais ses limites diffèrent de celles du département actuel, incluant Monaco (Port-Hercule) et Sanremo (Saint-Rème) mais non l'arrondissement de Grasse (alors dans le département du Var) : le département s’arrête donc à l'ouest approximativement au fleuve Var.

Le découpage en 1812 était:
 Arrondissement de Nice : Cantons : Aspremont, La Brigue (Briga), Menton, Monaco, Nice (deux cantons), Roquebillière (Roccabilliere), Saint-Salvador, Saorge (Saorgio), L'Escarène (Scarena), Sospel (Sospello), Utelle, Villefranche-sur-Mer
 Arrondissement de San-Remo : Cantons : Bordighera, Dolcecacqua, Pigna, San Remo, Taggia, Triora, Vintimille.
 Arrondissement de Puget-Théniers : Cantons : Beuil, Gilette, Guillaumes, Puget-Théniers, Roquesteron, Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée, Villars-sur-Var.
En 1860, Cavour, un des partisans de l'unité italienne autour du royaume de Sardaigne, négocie le soutien de Napoléon III. En échange de la Savoie et du comté de Nice, l'Empire français doit aider la Sardaigne à conquérir la partie de l'Italie du Nord détenue par l'Autriche. Cependant, Napoléon III fait machine arrière durant la guerre, ne permettant à la Sardaigne que l'obtention de la Lombardie. Malgré le fait que l'accord n'est pas rempli, la cession des territoires sardes doit bien avoir lieu. L'annexion est appuyée par un plébiscite remis en question, car le résultat n'aurait pas changé l'issue du vote. Les 15 et 16 avril 1860,  hommes inscrits des  du comté de Nice votent pour le rattachement à la France. Cela représente 83,8 % des inscrits () et 99,2 % des votants (). Le nouveau département des Alpes-Maritimes sera composé de l'ancien comté de Nice, divisé en un arrondissement de Nice et un arrondissement de Puget-Théniers (ces deux arrondissements existaient déjà dans l'ancien département (1793-1814)), et d'une partie du département du Var, l'arrondissement de Grasse, déplaçant la frontière occidentale du fleuve Var jusqu'à la Siagne et Théoule, au pied du massif de l'Estérel. Toutefois le comté de Nice est amputé de Tende et de La Brigue qui seront intégrés à la France lors du traité de Paris en 1947.

L'arrondissement de Puget-Théniers est supprimé à des fins d'économie en 1926 et rattaché à celui de Nice.

En septembre 1947, conformément au traité de Paris signé en février de la même année, les communes de Tende et de La Brigue (ainsi que des parties des communes des hautes vallées de la Vésubie et de la Tinée, dont une partie de la commune d'Isola) restées italiennes depuis 1860, sont rattachées à ce département. Le  suivant, cette annexion est confirmée par un référendum.

Héraldique et logo 

Le département des Alpes-Maritimes utilise un logo dont la forme est un quadrilobe aux arcs sécants, inséré dans un cercle, qui rappelle un motif commun dans les chapelles romanes du département. On y distingue en haut le mélèze de la partie montagneuse du département et en bas le palmier du littoral. À gauche et à droite : la fleur de lys de la partie provençale (issue des armes de la maison d'Anjou) et la croix de la maison de Savoie pour l’ancien comté de Nice, motifs gravés sur les anciennes bornes frontière.

Politique et administration

Tendances politiques et résultats 

Depuis la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le département vote à droite. Sur les neuf circonscriptions des Alpes-Maritimes, 5 sont actuellement tenues par la droite (Les Républicains), trois par la droite souverainiste (Rassemblement national) et une par le centre-droit (Horizons). Sur les cinq sénateurs que compte le département, quatre sont de droite et un du Parti socialiste.

Les Alpes-Maritimes ont connu des problèmes de corruption du personnel politique dans les années 1980 et 1990, aboutissant notamment aux condamnations pénales des maires de Nice, Jacques Médecin, de Cannes, Michel Mouillot et d'Antibes, Pierre Merli.

Conseil départemental 
Le conseil départemental est composé de cinquante-quatre conseillers élus pour six ans. Depuis les élections de mars 2015, cinquante sont de droite, dont 43 LR et 7 UDI, et quatre seulement sont de gauche, dont 2 Front de Gauche, un écologiste et un socialiste. Du  au 15 septembre 2017, le conseil départemental est présidé par Éric Ciotti (LR), et depuis la fin de l'année 2017, le conseil départemental est présidé par Charles-Ange Ginésy (LR).

Budget 
En 2011, le budget primitif du département s'élève à  d'euros dont  (38,3 %) sont consacrés à l'action sociale et  au fonctionnement (26,6 %). Les dépenses d'investissement atteignent un peu plus de  d'euros (19,2 %).

En 2010, le département était le troisième plus endetté de France avec  d'euros d'emprunts soit 68,4 % du budget total. Cette dette se chiffrait à  par foyer fiscal, et à  par habitant. La tendance d'évolution de la dette au cours de la dernière décennie correspond à une forte augmentation :  et + 26 % entre 2009 et 2010. Elle était ainsi de .

Population et société

Démographie 

Selon l'Insee, 39,5 % des enfants nés en 2011 dans le département des Alpes-Maritimes, soit  sur , ont au moins un parent né à l'étranger (quelle que soit sa nationalité), 15,4 % ont un père né au Maghreb.

Communes les plus peuplées

Unités urbaines 
Selon l'INSEE, les Alpes-Maritimes comptaient en 2010 dix unités urbaines, dont sept composées d'une commune isolée, deux formant de petites agglomérations composées de trois à neuf communes et la cinquième de France, celle de Nice et ses 51 communes.

Aires urbaines 
Selon l'INSEE, les Alpes-Maritimes comptaient en 2010 deux aires urbaines, dont la septième de France, celle de Nice.

Les résidences secondaires 

Selon le recensement général de la population au , 23,2 % des logements disponibles dans le département étaient des résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes des Alpes maritimes dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

 Source Insee, chiffres au 01/01/2008.

Transports 

Au moment du premier rattachement des Alpes-Maritimes à la France à la fin du  une route est tracée, qui deviendra plus tard la Route nationale 7.

Le train arrive dans le département à Cagnes en 1863, en prolongement de la ligne Marseille-Draguignan. Nice est relié l'année suivante, puis Menton en 1869, jusqu'à effectuer la jonction avec la ligne ligure en 1872. Le réseau ferré se développe jusqu'à la Seconde Guerre mondiale avec le désenclavement des communes alpines de l'arrière pays niçois et vençois grâce à la ligne de Tende, la ligne Central-Var et la ligne de Digne. Dans le même temps, le Tramways des Alpes-Maritimes (TAM) se développe permettant l'accès à des communes septentrionales du département Saint-Sauveur-sur-Tinée et Saint-Martin-Vésubie. Au bord de mer, le Tramway de Nice et du Littoral (TNL) et le Tramway de Cannes relient alors les villes de la côte méditerranéenne. 

Au début des années 1950, l'essor de la voiture et du bus conduit à la fermeture de l'intégralité du réseau secondaire. Seuls subsistent les lignes Marseille-Menton, Nice-Digne et celle de Tende. La première autoroute du département est construite à partir de 1956, reliant Mandelieu-la-Napoule et Cagnes-sur-Mer. Elle prend le nom d'Autoroute A8 en 1966. Un second tronçon (Autoroute A53) relie Roquebrune et la frontière italienne en 1969. Les deux sections sont finalement reliées dans les années 1980, par la création du contournement de Nice. 

L'Aéroport de Nice-Côte d'Azur trouve son origine dans les années 1910, avec la création d'une liaison postale avec la Corse puis avec Marseille. Aujourd'hui, s'agissant du trafic passagers commerciaux, il occupe la troisième place après les aéroports franciliens, et dessert pour l'été 2022, 108 destinations dans 39 pays. Le second aéroport est celui de Cannes - Mandelieu, deuxième aéroport d'affaires en France après Paris-Le Bourget.

Le réseau Lignes d’Azur est le réseau de transport en commun de la Métropole Nice Côte d'Azur comprenant trois lignes de tramways à Nice et 165 lignes d'autobus et d'autocar.

Enseignement

Enseignement primaire et secondaire 
Le département compte  maternelles,  élémentaires et une école d'enseignement spécial. Il accueille également ,  professionnels et , auxquels il faut ajouter  privés sous contrats.

Enseignement supérieur 

L'enseignement supérieur est relativement peu développé dans le département. L'aire urbaine de Nice ne compte ainsi que , tandis que celles de Rennes ou de Bordeaux en ont .

Les Alpes-Maritimes bénéficient de l'installation à Menton, depuis octobre 2005, d'un premier cycle de l'Institut d'études politiques de Paris, dédié aux relations entre les rives nord et sud de la Méditerranée et aux relations de l’Europe avec le Moyen-Orient.

Plusieurs écoles d'ingénieurs sont installées à Sophia Antipolis, dont EURECOM (École d'ingénieur et centre de recherche en systèmes de communication), l'École des mines de Paris et Polytech Nice-Sophia. En outre, deux grandes écoles de commerces sont installées dans la région : l'EDHEC à Nice, et la SKEMA Business School à Sophia-Antipolis. L'INRIA et le CNRS sont également implantés à Sophia Antipolis.

Le département compte en tout .

Activités

Randonnée pédestre 
Le département des Alpes-Maritimes possède un vaste réseau de sentiers de randonnée qui s'adresse aux randonneurs débutants comme confirmés.

Le département est traversé par des sentiers de grande randonnée (GR, balisage rouge et blanc) : 51, 52, 5, 510, 653A et est doté de nombreux parcours de randonnée à la journée (PR, balisage jaune).

Le balisage comprend un marquage à la peinture complété de balises (panneaux en bois) renseignées sur la direction à suivre et numérotées permettant au randonneur de se repérer sur la carte topographique de randonnée IGN série bleue (échelle 1/25000) de la zone considérée.

Dans ses guides thématiques Randoxygène, le Conseil général divise le département en trois zones touristiques (haut pays, moyen pays et pays côtier) aux caractéristiques et aux influences très différentes, du Mercantour au littoral de la Méditerranée.

Économie 

L'économie des Alpes-Maritimes se caractérise par l'importance du secteur tertiaire. Le département compte, outre les activités touristiques et les services traditionnels, un nombre assez élevé d'entreprises de recherche et du secteur tertiaire supérieur. L'agriculture est peu importante et l'industrie joue un rôle relativement faible, mais elle s'est diversifiée vers des activités à haute valeur technologique. Le secteur du BTP est assez important. L'économie est très sensible aux variations de la conjoncture nationale et internationale. Le taux de chômage se situe à 9,1 %.

D'après l'Insee, en 2005 le PIB par habitant des Alpes-Maritimes atteignait  euros ce qui classait le département au treizième rang en France. Son PIB était de 29,6 milliards d'euros. D'après Eurostat, le PIB par habitant aux prix du marché en 2008 pour le département s'élevait à  euros, ce qui le classait également au treizième rang en France.

Tourisme 

La présence de la mer Méditerranée et des Alpes sous un ciel clément a favorisé le tourisme comme activité dominante. Il constitue une ressource essentielle pour toute la Côte d'Azur. Le secteur représente  directs dans le département. Pour la seule ville de Nice, le chiffre d'affaires représente 12 ou 13 % de part de marché du tourisme en France, la capitale azuréenne étant même la deuxième ville hôtelière du pays, juste après Paris. La ville possède également avec Nice-Côte d'Azur le deuxième aéroport de France derrière Paris et ses trois entités, avec près de 10,5 millions de voyageurs par an qui y ont transité en 2011.

Le bord de mer où réside l'essentiel de la population est une des régions les plus prisées du monde avec plusieurs atouts :
 des stations balnéaires (Cannes, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Antibes, Juan-les-Pins, Nice, Menton) ;
 des petites et moyennes communes côtières profitant des renommées mondiales de leurs voisines tout en se démarquant de ces dernières par des paysages atypiques et une ambiance plus familiale (Théoule-sur-Mer, Villefranche-sur-Mer par exemple) ;
 des villes de congrès qui étalent leur activité sur toute l'année (Cannes avec son palais des Festivals, Nice avec Acropolis, Antibes Juan-les-Pins avec son nouveau palais des congrès et Monaco).

En montagne, le ski et la randonnée redonnent vie à Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée (Auron), Beuil, Péone (Valberg), Saint-Martin-Vésubie, Isola, Gréolières, Peïra-Cava, col de Turini, Turini-Camp d'argent (massif de l'Authion).

Industries 
Les industries sont bien développées, comme la parfumerie à Grasse, les nouvelles technologies autour de Sophia-Antipolis et le Centre spatial de Cannes - Mandelieu, où se trouve le premier constructeur de satellites européens et le premier établissement industriel du département.

Culture 

La vie culturelle est assez riche, largement décrite dans le quotidien régional Nice-Matin, relatée dans ses colonnes, et annoncée hebdomadairement dans le supplément JV du mercredi.

Arts 
 Festival de Cannes (cinéma)
 Festival NMA Cannes (NRJ Music Awards)
 Festival Pantiero Cannes (musique électronique et indépendante), en août à Cannes
 Festival International de danse Cannes (danse), festival qui a lieu en biennal fin novembre début décembre à Cannes
 Festival international des jeux, en février à Cannes
 Festival des Nuits musicales du Suquet Cannes (musique classique), en juillet à Cannes
 Festival d'Art Pyrotechnique Cannes (feux d'artifice), en juillet et août à Cannes
 Festival Performances d'acteurs, en juin à Cannes
 Festival International du Film Ecologique et Social , en juin à Cannes
 Festival de danses « Break the floor », à Cannes en janvier
 Festival international de danse, en novembre à Cannes
 Festival d'art russe, dont la danse, en août à Cannes
 Rencontres internationales de jeunes ballets, organisé par l'École supérieure de danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower en mars à Cannes
 Marché Piémontais à Mougins, (devenu en 2011 le marché italien).
 Festival international de la gastronomie à Mougins
 Festival de Juan-les-Pins (jazz)
 Nice Jazz Festival
 La Farandole, festival international de folklore à Nice
 Carnaval de Nice
 Combat naval fleuri de Villefranche-sur-Mer
 Nuits du Sud à Vence (musiques du monde)
 Festival Tomawok à (Nice) (rock, métal), en juin
 Festival du livre de Mouans-Sartoux, trois jours, début octobre ( Festival en 2008).
 C'est pas classique est une manifestation annuelle pour la musique classique (Nice)
 Fête du Citron de Menton
 Fête de la saint-Pierre (Menton)
 Fête de la Lavande (Sainte-Agnès) 

Parmi les musées renommés, il est possible de citer la Fondation Maeght, à Saint-Paul-de-Vence, le musée Picasso d'Antibes et l'Espace de l'Art concret, à Mouans-Sartoux, le musée national Fernand-Léger à Biot les musées Chagall et Matisse à Nice ainsi que le musée d'art moderne et d'art contemporain (MAMAC), également à Nice.

Sports 
Le Département est labélisé Terre de Jeux 2024, le label de Paris 2024 à destination des territoires, et accueillera le passage du Relais de la flamme.
 L'Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur évolue en ligue 1 du championnat de France de football
 L'Association sportive de Cannes football évolue en Division d'honneur
 Le Racing Club de Grasse évolue en Division d'honneur
 Le Nice Lawn Tennis Club
 Le Stade niçois évolue en Fédérale 2 de rugby à XV
 Le Rugby olympique de Grasse évolue en Fédérale 2 de rugby à XV
 L'OGC Nice Côte d'Azur Handball évolue en  division féminine de handball
 Le Cavigal Nice Sports
 L'Association sportive de Cannes Volley-Ball évolue en ligue A du Championnat de France masculin
 Le Nice Volley-Ball évolue en ligue B de volley-ball
 Le Racing Club de Cannes évolue en ligue A du Championnat de France féminin
 L'Entente sportive Le Cannet-Rocheville évolue en ligue A du Championnat de France féminin
 L'Olympique d'Antibes évolue en Pro A du Championnat de France de basket-ball
 Le Nice Hockey Côte d'Azur évolue en D1 de hockey sur glace masculin
 L'Olympic Nice Natation évolue en  division masculine et féminine
 Les Dauphins de Nice évoluent en  division de football américain

Événements sportifs 
 Le Marathon des Alpes-Maritimes
 L'Ironman France
 L'arrivée du Paris-Nice
 Le Rallye automobile Monte-Carlo 
 Le grand prix de Monaco (Automobile)
 L'Open de Nice
 Le Grand Prix de la Ville de Nice
 Le Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var

Langues 

Les Alpes-Maritimes connaissent deux langues traditionnelles :
 l’occitan ou langue d’oc est la langue traditionnelle. Elle est employée sous 3 formes dialectales: 
le niçart dans la commune de Nice et les communes environnantes;
le provençal maritime à l'Ouest;
le gavot dans le haut-pays (avec une variante, le mentonasque).
le ligure qui se trouve sous deux formes : 
le monégasque qui se concentre principalement autour de Monaco ;
le royasque à l'est.

Le français, langue officielle nationale, est parlé par l'ensemble de la population. Jusqu'au milieu du , l'occitan et l'italien étaient les langues officielles, le français s'est donc imposé tardivement lors de l'unification linguistique de la France promue par la  République.

Gastronomie

Patrimoine

Honneurs 
(100122) Alpes Maritimes, astéroïde.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 
 
 
 
 Inventaire des orgues du département des Alpes-Maritimes
 Archives départementales
 Archeo-alpi-maritimi
 Alpes Maritimes, 1450-1550, Retables et fresques

Articles connexes 
 Conseil départemental des Alpes-Maritimes
 Histoire des Alpes-Maritimes
 Liste des communes des Alpes-Maritimes
 Syndicat mixte touristique des Alpes d'Azur
 Sophia Antipolis
 Liste de films tournés dans les Alpes-Maritimes
 Volontaires nationaux des Alpes-Maritimes pendant la Révolution
 Liste des églises des Alpes-Maritimes

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 
 Portail officiel du tourisme des Alpes-Maritimes

Division administrative fondée en 1860
Éponyme d'un objet céleste

Le département de l'Ardèche () est un département français situé dans la région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Sa préfecture est Privas. Il doit son nom à la rivière Ardèche qui le traverse d'ouest en est et ses habitants s'appellent les Ardéchois(es). Il est composé de  au . L'Insee et la Poste lui attribuent le code 07.

À quelques territoires près, ce département correspond à l'ancienne province du Vivarais qui dépendait elle-même de la province du Languedoc.

Dénomination 
L'Ardèche est appelée, en occitan vivaro-alpin, Ardecha (ou Ardecho). Voir Hydronymie.

Les habitants de l'Ardèche sont appelés Ardéchois. L'Ardèche correspond approximativement à l'ancienne province du Vivarais.

Démographie 

L'Ardèche est un département assez peu peuplé, avec une densité moyenne de , contre  pour la France métropolitaine en . Le département affiche de fortes disparités de peuplement entre la vallée du Rhône et les bassins d'Annonay ou d'Aubenas d'une part, et les très faibles densités du plateau. La population reste plutôt rurale : en 2015, 71 % des habitants vivaient dans des communes de moins de  contre seulement 33 % pour la France entière. Certaines communes se développent grâce à leur position géographique, comme Saint-Péray, Guilherand-Granges et Soyons, situées dans l'agglomération de Valence (Drôme). De manière générale, les communes de la vallée du Rhône, le long de l'ancienne route nationale 86, de Tournon-sur-Rhône à Viviers en passant par Rochemaure, sont en croissance soutenue. Les localités de l'extrême sud-est du département bénéficient de l'attraction de la zone du Tricastin et de l'activité touristique de la région de Vallon-Pont-d'Arc. A contrario, certaines municipalités du nord, du centre, et de l'ouest du département continuent de subir une perte parfois sévère de population, souvent causée par une mauvaise accessibilité routière et la faiblesse des bassins d'emplois.

L'Ardèche se caractérise également par la faiblesse de peuplement de ses villes, la plus peuplée étant Annonay avec . Privas, , est la préfecture la moins peuplée de France et Largentière la seconde sous-préfecture possédant la plus faible population avec , juste derrière Castellane. Le département compte vingt-deux unités urbaines, dont quatre comptent plus de  (Aubenas, Tournon-sur-Rhône, Privas et Annonay).

La seule aire urbaine dépassant les  est celle d'Aubenas avec  en 2015.

Population des communes

Population des unités urbaines 
Selon le découpage effectué en 2010 par l'INSEE, 21 unités urbaines sont centrées sur une commune du département : sept communes isolées, quatre agglomérations bi-communales, et dix petites agglomérations composées de trois à vingt-trois communes. Huit autres communes du département appartiennent à des unités urbaines centrées sur des communes d'un autre département. Les unités urbaines regroupant plus de  sont :

Aires urbaines 

Selon l'INSEE, l'Ardèche compte en date de 2010 dix aires urbaines. Vingt-trois communes du département appartiennent par ailleurs aux aires urbaines de Valence (13), de Montélimar (8), de Vienne (1) et de Langogne (1).

Accès aux soins 
L'Ardèche est considérée comme un désert médical. La plupart des communes du département (88 %) sont confrontées à un accès aux soins inférieur à la moyenne nationale, et plus de 10 % des Ardéchois se retrouvent sans médecin traitant.

Géographie

Situation 

Points extrêmes du département de l'Ardèche :
 Nord : Limony
 Sud : Saint-Sauveur-de-Cruzières
 Est : Guilherand-Granges
 Ouest : Lespéron

Population 
 Commune la plus peuplée : Annonay ( en 2013)
 Commune la moins peuplée : Loubaresse ( en 2013)

Superficie 
 Commune la plus étendue : Lagorce ()
 Commune la moins étendue : Lalevade-d'Ardèche ()

Régions naturelles 

Les sols, le climat et la végétation de l'Ardèche sont bien différents entre le nord et le sud du département, qui est donc caractérisé par sa grande variété de milieux naturels et de paysages, tandis que le département s'étend sur un escarpement de plus de mille mètres de dénivelé, séparant le haut plateau du Massif central et la vallée du Rhône au droit de Valence.
 Le Nord-Ouest, nommé Haut-Vivarais, est plutôt cristallin, humide et vert. Ce pays de hautes collines et de moyennes montagnes appartient au Massif central. Le bassin de l'Eyrieux, jusqu'aux abords des sucs et du mont Mézenc (), forme les Boutières.
 Le Sud (Bas-Vivarais) est marneux ou calcaire, plus sec, avec une végétation déjà méditerranéenne. Le bassin de l'Ardèche y creuse des gorges spectaculaires. Les eaux souterraines sont nombreuses, caractéristiques des milieux karstiques : aven d'Orgnac, aven Marzal, grotte de Saint-Marcel, aven de Noël, et l'Aven Grotte Forestière. Les collines et plateaux des Gras (ou Grads) se rattachent géomorphologiquement aux grands Causses.
 Au centre du département, les basaltes du plateau du Coiron et les marnes et calcaires du Moyen-Vivarais forment une sorte d'espace de transition, dont l'histoire géologique est fort complexe.
 La partie ardéchoise de la vallée du Rhône est plutôt étroite. C'est le Rivage, une plaine d'alluvions d'âges différents, ponctué de villages et de petites villes, au centre de terroirs agricoles fertiles.

Rivières et fleuves 

Le territoire ardéchois est tributaire de deux des grands bassins hydrographiques français :
 le bassin du Rhône, via l'Ardèche, qui se jette dans la Méditerranée ;
 le bassin de la Loire, fleuve coulant vers l'océan Atlantique.

Le bassin de la Loire, qui prend sa source au pied du mont Gerbier-de-Jonc, ne concerne que la frange ouest du département. Les principaux cours d'eau du département coulent directement vers le Rhône, ou sont tributaires du bassin versant de l'Ardèche et du Chassezac, son principal affluent. Le cours de l'Allier, affluent de la Loire, marque la frontière de l'Ardèche et de la Lozère sur une vingtaine de kilomètres, peu après sa source.

Forêt ardéchoise 

Le département de l'Ardèche est un des départements les plus forestiers de France, puisque 45 % du territoire est couvert par des forêts, soit anciennes, soit reconstituées par suite de la déprise agricole. C'est une forêt très morcelée en nombreuses petites parcelles parfois enclavées, ce qui en complique l'exploitation mécanisée.
 Superficie totale :  hectares
 Superficie en propriété privée :  hectares
 Superficie en propriété publique :  hectares
 Nombre de propriétaires privés : 
 Superficie moyenne des propriétés : 3 hectares
 Taux de micro-parcelles (inférieures à 1 hectare) : 50 %

Le plan départemental en faveur de la forêt, adopté en 2006, inscrit les milieux forestiers parmi les grandes priorités de la politique départementale. Le conseil général et le CRPF ou centre régional de la propriété forestière Rhône-Alpes s'entendent pour encourager les projets de regroupements de parcelles, les opérations d'échanges amiables.

Climat 

L'Ardèche offre une forte diversité de climats. En effet, un climat tempéré caractérise le Nord du département alors que le Sud offre un climat plus méditerranéen. On peut citer par exemple :
 l'Ardèche verte ou haute Ardèche située au nord du département, comprise entre  et  d'altitude, est de climat tempéré, la vallée du Rhône se différenciant par des chutes de neige très rares et des orages moins violents ;
 le plateau ardéchois situé à l'ouest du département, d'une altitude moyenne d'environ , présente un climat rude en hiver avec des températures pouvant atteindre les . Il est aussi caractérisé par les nombreuses chutes de neige s’étalant de fin novembre au mois de mars. Un vent de nord, glacial, appelé la burle, souffle régulièrement pendant l'hiver et peut former des congères de plusieurs mètres de haut ;
 l'Ardèche méridionale est caractérisée par un climat chaud et sec méditerranéen (la zone de culture de l'olivier s'étend jusqu'à Aubenas), en remarquant des extrêmes accentués par l'altitude dans la Cévenne ardéchoise ;
 toute la diversité des climats ardéchois se reflétant dans la vaste région du Coiron aux Boutières.

Histoire

De l'Antiquité à la Révolution 

L'installation des hommes préhistoriques dans le département remonte environ à  (grottes moustériennes de Soyons). De nombreuses traces subsistent encore, notamment dans le sud du département (grotte Chauvet, dolmens et menhirs).

Durant l'Antiquité, le sud du département est occupé par le peuple gaulois des Helviens (le site de Jastres à Lussas, en est un vestige), une grande partie des Boutières (entre Eyrieux et Doux) serait du ressort des Segovellaunes, la partie septentrionale, au-delà du Doux, aux Allobroges.

Rome fonde certainement la cité d'Alba-la-Romaine. Les Helviens commercent alors avec les Grecs et les marchands d'Orient. Alba est désertée pendant les invasions et l'évêque local s'installe au bord du Rhône près de son vivarium, site qui prend le nom de Viviers. Le traité de Verdun (843), qui partage l'Empire carolingien, place le comté de Vivarais en Francia Media (domaine de Lothaire  à ne pas confondre avec la Lotharingie, future Lorraine, territoire de Lothaire II fils du précédent). Dans les soubresauts du Moyen Âge, le comte-évêque reste sous la suzeraineté du royaume de Provence puis du Saint-Empire en 1032, avant de passer à la couronne capétienne comme fief mouvant en 1308.

Une grande majorité du Vivarais devient protestante au . S'ensuit un siècle et demi de guerres de religion provoquant répressions et massacres. Le siège de Privas par Richelieu et Louis XIII a lieu en 1629, et Louis XIV après la révocation de l'Édit de Nantes (octobre 1685), lance la répression des camisards au début du  (massacre du serre du Pal, du serre de Muans à Boffres).

Sous Louis XIV, en 1670, une jacquerie paysanne importante : la révolte de Roure ensanglante le Sud de la région, plus de , 40 exécutions, 100 condamnations aux galères.

De la Révolution au  

Les trois ordres se réunissent le  à Annonay, le  à Villeneuve-de Berg, une assemblée générale a lieu le  à Privas dans l'église des Récollets.

Le département des Sources de la Loire est créé le , en application de la loi du , à partir de la quasi-totalité de la province du Vivarais. La Révolution française n'est pas partout bien accueillie en Vivarais. Une partie de la noblesse s'exile. Des bandes de chouans se réfugient dans les montagnes. De 1790 à 1792, plusieurs rassemblements ont lieu au sud du département dans la plaine de Jalès. Lorsque le comte de Saillans tente de soulever le pays dans une contre-révolution royaliste, il est battu à Joyeuse par le général d’Albignac, le .

Les troubles nécessitant l'intervention de forces armées régulières persistèrent jusqu'aux environs de 1800, qu'elles soient simple brigandage (la bande de Degout-Lachamp qui s'était fait connaître en 1783 lors de la révolte des Masques Armés sévit jusqu'en 1796) ou chouannerie résiduelle (Dominique Allier, frère de Claude, prieur de Chambonas et participant des Camps de Jalès), bandits et chouans s'associant parfois (Michel Riou).

Le département participe généreusement à la levée de volontaires nationaux en 1792 et 1793 et aux campagnes de l'Empire.

Après la victoire des coalisés à la bataille de Waterloo (18 juin 1815), le département est occupé par les troupes autrichiennes de juin 1815 à novembre 1818 (voir occupation de la France à la fin du Premier Empire).

Le  voit le département se développer, notamment grâce à l'industrie de la soie et du papier, de la mine (notamment les hauts fourneaux de La Voulte) et l'arrivée du chemin de fer. De nombreuses terrasses cultivées mettent en valeur le territoire. L'Ardèche atteint ainsi un pic de population sous le Second Empire, comptant  selon le recensement de 1861. Département rural, elle ne compte alors aucune grande ville. Cependant, en raison, entre autres, du relief, l'Ardèche est touchée plutôt que d'autres départements par l'exode rural ;  (A. Frémont, 1997).

La guerre de 1870-1871 voit l'Ardèche lever un régiment de gardes mobiles qui participera à la défense de l'Eure.

À la fin du siècle, le sud viticole subit la crise du phylloxéra. Puis l'Ardèche paye un lourd tribut lors des deux guerres mondiales : en 1918,  ne reviennent pas du front, et pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, plusieurs résistants prennent le maquis, ce qui provoque arrestations et exécutions, mais accélère également le départ des troupes nazies.

Après-guerre, la petite industrie se maintient (hautes vallées des Boutières) ou périclite (mines de Largentière) ; l'agriculture reprend ses droits avec un milieu de  où les fruitiers (pêchers de l'Eyrieux, cerises au sud) connaissent la renommée. Depuis 1962, le nombre d'ouvriers de l'industrie en Ardèche dépasse celui des travailleurs de la terre. Le tourisme, de l'Ardèche verte au nord jusqu'aux zones toutes méditerranéennes entre Aubenas et l'embouchure de l'Ardèche dans le Rhône, est devenu un élément important de l'économie ardéchoise.

Au , la région Rhône-Alpes, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec la région Auvergne pour devenir la nouvelle région administrative Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

Langues régionales 
Quelques communes de l'extrême-nord du département (canton de Serrières) sont dans l'espace francoprovençal. Le reste du département est de langue d'oc :
 auvergnat à l'ouest (Monts d'Ardèche) ;
 languedocien au sud (bas-vivarois) ;
 vivaro-alpin en Haut-Vivarais et Boutières.

À l'heure actuelle, l'usage de l'occitan est réduit aux classes d'âges les plus anciennes.
Les principaux mouvements de défense de la langue régionale sont l'Institut d'études occitanes et Parlarem en Vivarés.

Le français régional comporte des mots d'origine occitane :
 chamba, darbou chez les paysans (comprendre terrasse, taupe) ;
 un lycéen vous dira que sa boge est trop lourde (comprendre cartable, mot dérivé du gaulois *bulga, sac de cuir).
L'occitan est la langue utilisée pour le chant « patriotique » ardéchois, l'Ardecho.

Armoiries 

Le blason ancien du Vivarais, repris par le département de l'Ardèche, est un blason de France ancien affecté d'une brisure : une bordure d'or. Cette bordure porte huit écussons d'azur qui représentent les huit places qui envoyaient des députés aux États du Vivarais :
 Tournon-sur-Rhone ;
 Viviers ;
 Boulogne ;
 Largentière ;
 Joyeuse ;
 Annonay ;
 Montlaur ;
 Bourg-Saint-Andéol.

Politique 

Le conseil départemental de l'Ardèche est acquis au Parti socialiste depuis 1998 : Michel Teston, sénateur du département de 1998 à 2014 et Pascal Terrasse, député du département depuis 1997, ont été avec Laurent Ughetto élu en 2017, les présidents du conseil départemental ces dernières années.

Il y existe une pluralité relativement importante dans le résultat des élections locales comme nationales.

Le Parti socialiste, localement bien implanté, avec Laurent Ughetto président du conseil départemental et y comptait trois députés en 2012 : Pascal Terrasse, actuellement aussi conseiller départemental dans le canton de Bourg-Saint-Andéol et membre du parti d'Emmanuel Macron « En Marche ! » ; Olivier Dussopt, maire d'Annonay jusqu'au  et secrétaire d'État depuis le  dans le gouvernement Philippe II ; Sabine Buis, actuellement aussi conseiller départemental dans le canton d'Aubenas-2 et ancienne conseiller régional.

Les législatives de juin 2017 ont élu Hervé Saulignac dans la première circonscription, Olivier Dussopt dans la seconde, tous deux PS avant que ce dernier ne rejoigne le gouvernement d'Édouard Philippe au poste de secrétaire d'État auprès du ministre de l'Action et des Comptes publics, et Fabrice Brun (LR) dans la troisième.

Quatre des  de plus de  que compte le département sont actuellement gérées par le Parti socialiste (Annonay, Boulieu-lès-Annonay, Le Teil et Les Vans) neuf au total pour la gauche. Le parti dispose de treize des  du conseil départemental (24 au total pour la gauche) et de deux des dix conseillers régionaux (trois avec un élu PCF).

Les Républicains, eux aussi relativement bien implantés, y compte les deux sénateurs du département : Mathieu Darnaud, maire de Guilherand-Granges et ancien conseiller régional, et Jacques Genest, maire de Coucouron et notamment président de l'Association des maires ruraux de l'Ardèche.

Huit des  de plus de  que compte le département sont actuellement gérées par le parti, dont les communes de Aubenas et de Vals-les-Bains, quatre par l'UDI et douze par des maires divers droite (DVD). Le parti dispose de quatre des  du conseil départemental (dix au total pour la droite) et de deux de dix conseillers régionaux (cinq avec une élue UDI et deux élues Divers Droite).

Le Rassemblement National réalise quant à lui des scores importants depuis l'élection présidentielle de 2012, notamment dans le Sud-Est du département et sur le plateau ardéchois. La liste RN (ex-FN) arrive en tête dans le département aux élections européennes de 2014 (25,40 % contre 24.86 % au niveau national) et à celle de 2019 (23,49 % contre 23,34 % au niveau national). Il est également en tête au  des élections départementales de 2015 (24.60 %). Après un premier score important en 2012 (20,04 % contre 17,90 % au niveau national), Marine Le Pen y arrive en tête en 2017 avec 22,13 % (21,30 % au niveau national) et réalise 37,63 % au  tour (33,90 % au niveau national). Le parti dispose de 2 des 10 conseillers régionaux du département, dont Céline Porquet, secrétaire départementale de la fédération RN de l'Ardèche et actuelle conseillère municipale à Viviers.

Le vote communiste (Front de Gauche et PCF) est quant à lui présent dans des secteurs plus localisés, notamment à Cruas (seule mairie communiste de plus de ) ou dans certaines communes comme Antraigues-sur-Volane ou Jaujac.

Quant au vote écologiste, il reste très minoritaire mais non négligeable dans les Cévennes ardéchoises (sud-ouest).

Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 2012,  :

François Hollande : 25,98 % (28,63 % en France ; ) | Nicolas Sarkozy : 23,76 % (27,18 % ; ) |

Marine Le Pen : 20,04 % (17,90 % ; ) | Jean-Luc Mélenchon : 14,07 % (11,10 ; )

François Bayrou : 9,15 % (9,13 % ; ) | Eva Joly : 2,80 % (2,31 % ; ) | Nicolas Dupont-Aignan : 1,94 % (1.79 % ; )

Philippe Poutou : 1,37 % (1,15 % ; ) | Nathalie Arthaud : 0,63 % (0,56 % ; ) Jacques Cheminade : 0,26 % (0,25 % ; )

Tandis que le vote pour les deux principaux candidats, à savoir le président de la République sortant Nicolas Sarkozy et son concurrent François Hollande, est bien plus faible au niveau départemental que national (+ de six points d'écart cumulés), Marine Le Pen récolte quant à elle plus de 20 % des suffrages ardéchois. Jean-Luc Mélenchon récolte lui plus de 14 % des suffrages (trois points de plus que le score national), ce qui en fait la plus forte progression par rapport aux autres candidats.

Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 2012,  tour :

François Hollande : 53,45 % en Ardèche (51,64 % en France) | Nicolas Sarkozy : 46,55 % (48,36 %)

Le taux de participation est au  de 84,15 % contre 79,48 % au niveau national (+4,67 points), et au  tour de 83,80 % contre 80,35 % (+) au niveau national.

Résultat du référendum du 29 mai 2005 :

Le « non » l'emporte à 60,00 % dans le département ardéchois, soit plus de cinq points par rapport au niveau national (54,67 %).

Résultat du référendum du 20 septembre 1992 :

Le « oui » l'emporte à 50,97 % dans le département ardéchois de  supplémentaires (51,04 % au niveau national).

 Liste des députés de l'Ardèche
 Liste des sénateurs de l'Ardèche
 Liste des conseillers généraux de l'Ardèche
 Liste des préfets de l'Ardèche
 Élection présidentielle de 1848 dans le département de l'Ardèche
 Élections législatives françaises de 1932 dans le département de l'Ardèche
 Liste des cantons de l'Ardèche.

Économie

Agriculture 
L'agriculture, qui s'est modernisée, est encore bien présente, mais avec des parcelles moyennes assez petites. Depuis 1962, le nombre d'ouvriers de l'industrie dépasse celui des travailleurs de la terre. En 1982, les agriculteurs représentent 14 % de la population active ardéchoise, loin derrière les ouvriers (38 %) et les professions du secteur tertiaire (48 %). L'Ardèche compte ainsi  en 1982, à peine plus que les chômeurs ( en 1986). En 2020 la diminution est très importante : le nombre d'exploitations agricoles est de 3 745 et la population active familiale de 3 965. La taille moyenne des exploitations est de 33 ha. 1 001 exploitations sont  certifiées Agriculture Biologique.

Tous les acteurs de la filière châtaigne ou castanéiculture sont représentés en Ardèche, ce qui équivaut à plus de  à temps plein entre la production, la transformation et la commercialisation. Le département dispose encore de plus de mille exploitations, dont 20 à 60 % des revenus sont issus de la filière châtaigne. En 2004, la production de châtaignes atteignait , soit 50 % de la production française ; elle bénéficie d'un label AOC depuis juin 2006 et du signe AOP depuis 2014. L'AOC Châtaigne d'Ardèche est défendue par le SPCA (syndicat des producteurs de châtaignes d'Ardèche). Les bois de châtaignier sont encore au cœur de la vie rurale, dans la moyenne montagne, soit au-dessus de  d'altitude : fruits, farines, bières, bois, confitures, etc. L'espoir de renforcer le secteur explique en partie la création du parc naturel régional des Monts d'Ardèche et le développement des fêtes Castagnades d'automne.

Le vignoble, en trente ans, est devenu réputé - des côtes-du-Rhône septentrionales autour de Cornas et Saint-Péray, notamment avec les appellations AOC du même nom et celle de Saint Joseph (qui s'étend sur plus de 60 km de Mauves (07) à Chavannay (42) - jusqu'aux Côtes-du-Vivarais et aux Côtes-du-Rhône méridionales, autour de Bourg-Saint-Andéol, et les Comtés-rhodaniens. Autour d'Aubenas, les efforts pour faire connaître le gamay nouveau se multiplient. Certains cépages, comme le viognier blanc, forment d'excellents vins de garde. On peut aussi noter une reprise du cépage typique des Cévennes ardéchoises, le Chatus, qui est cultivé par plus d'une douzaine de vignerons et caves coopératives dans le bas Vivarais.

Les arbres fruitiers (cerises, pêches) de la vallée du Rhône et des vallées des torrents descendus de la montagne bénéficient d'une image de qualité auprès des consommateurs ; cependant, le mitage périurbain a entraîné des arrachages, par exemple autour de Privas, ou le long de la vallée de l'Eyrieux.

Malgré les difficultés, l'élevage progresse, bénéficiant également d'une image de qualité : bovins (du plateau du Coiron, des abords du mont Mézenc (AOC Fin gras du Mézenc)), ovin, caprin, porcin ; autour de la castanéiculture et du tourisme se développe à nouveau l'élevage des ânes et des chevaux. L'Ardèche est un important producteur de fromages (par exemple l'AOC picodon, au lait de chèvre).

La céréaliculture n'est pas dominante, la superficie des terres à céréales ne dépassant pas . En 2006, a été produit pour  de céréales, le rendement étant le plus faible de l'ancienne région Rhône-Alpes avec  à l'hectare

Le goût récent du public pour les variétés anciennes de produits du terroir ou les méthodes traditionnelles de culture a permis de relancer des cultures marginalisées. C'est le cas de la culture de pommes de terre primeur de la vallée de l'Eyrieux, dans le périmètre du parc. La production, limitée à deux cents tonnes, est reconnue pour sa qualité exceptionnelle (marque Les Échamps de l'Eyrieux).

Industrie 

Il existe en 2020, en Ardèche, plus de 3 000 établissements employant environ 20 000 personnes.

L'industrie est très tôt arrivée en Ardèche grâce à la culture du ver à soie développée par Olivier de Serres pour les ateliers de soie lyonnais. Jusqu'au début du , les fermes disposaient d'ateliers d'élevage des vers, les magnaneries. Mais cette activité a périclité dès la fin du , même s'il reste encore plusieurs entreprises du textile - et, dans le Sud, de nombreux mûriers.
Le tissu industriel s'est développé au profit des petites et moyennes entreprises, notamment dans le domaine de la mécanique (Irisbus), du pesage (Precia), de la plasturgie, de la tannerie (Annonay), de la papeterie, de l'agroalimentaire et de la bijouterie (bassin du Cheylard). Quelques industries lourdes se sont également implantées (cimenteries, centrale nucléaire de Cruas, verreries), en particulier le long du Rhône (Le Pouzin par exemple).
L'industrie agroalimentaire est également présente, avec les salaisons, les fromages (picodon, saint-félicien, etc.), la confiserie (crème de marrons, marrons glacés), le miel, les alcools fins, bénéficiant d'un label reconnu.

De la diatomite est extraite du gisement de la montagne d'Andance à Saint-Bauzile depuis 1960 et valorisée dans une usine au village.

En 2011, les projets d'extraction de gaz de schiste ont soulevé une vive opposition de la part des populations concernées.

Construction et travaux publics 
Les 3 967 établissements existants au  emploient environ 9 000 personnes dont 5 841 salariés. 2 868 établissements n'ont aucun salarié et 9 en ont plus de 50.

Tourisme 
Le tourisme est le secteur le plus prometteur, avec  directs ou saisonniers. En 2007, près de  de nuitées ont été enregistrées, soit  de séjours, pour un chiffre d'affaires de  d'euros. 53 % des nuitées se font entre juillet et août.
La capacité d'accueil de visiteurs, en 2020, comprend :  5 888 places dans l'hôtellerie ;  73 305 dans les campings) ; 3 134 dans les résidences de tourisme et résidences hôtelières, 4 453 dans les villages de vacances, chiffres auxquels il faut ajouter 36 786 résidences secondaires et logements occasionnels.

Grandes entreprises 
Le département compte plusieurs entreprises déclarant plus de deux millions d'euros de chiffre d'affaires hors taxes.

Transports

Transport ferroviaire 

Le département de l'Ardèche a la particularité d'être le seul département de France métropolitaine à ne compter aucune gare ferroviaire ou ligne voyageur desservie par la SNCF sur son territoire, la dernière ligne ayant fermé en 1973 (Givors-Grezan : itinéraire Lyon-Nîmes via Villeneuve-lès-Avignon) ; ceci s'explique par sa faible densité et son relief. Ainsi, pour se rendre à Paris depuis Privas, la préfecture, le trajet s'effectue par la route jusqu'à Montélimar ou Valence (gare de Valence ville ou gare de Valence TGV ouverte en 2001).

Dans l'est du département, depuis les années 1980, la ligne ferroviaire de la rive droite du Rhône, actuellement dévouée au trafic de fret, a fait l'objet de projets de réouverture au trafic voyageurs, régulièrement évoqués par les élus locaux. À chaque fois, le projet a été repoussé. Certains trains de voyageurs peuvent cependant être détournés vers Saint-Péray et Le Teil en fonction des nécessités de la SNCF. En 2014, Réseau ferré de France a estimé que la réouverture au trafic voyageurs de la ligne concernée coûterait 107,4 millions d'euros pour un revenu annuel de seulement  d'euros, rendant le projet non rentable. En 2019, la réouverture aux voyageurs de la liaison ferroviaire Valence - Le Teil est prévue pour 2024.

Dans le sud-ouest du département, la ligne de Saint-Germain-des-Fossés à Nîmes-Courbessac  ouverte aux voyageurs pénètre en deux endroits en Ardèche lorsque la voie circule en rive droite de l'Allier : entre Langogne et Cellier-du-Luc et à Laveyrune. Le long de ce tronçon d'une vingtaine de kilomètres, trois gares sont desservies dans le département de la Lozère : Langogne, Luc et La Bastide - Saint-Laurent-les-Bains dans le bourg de la Bastide-Puylaurent. Cependant, même si ces gares sont parfois distantes de quelques mètres de l'Ardèche et que celle de La Bastide - Saint-Laurent-les-Bains fait référence au bourg ardéchois de Saint-Laurent-les-Bains-Laval-d'Aurelle distant d'environ huit kilomètres, aucune ne se trouve dans le département.

Trains touristiques 
Le Mastrou, ce train touristique à vapeur de l'Ardèche verte, relie Lamastre à Tournon-sur-Rhône. 

Le Velay Express, situé sur le plateau du Velay.

Le train touristique de l'Ardèche méridionale reliait Vogüé à Saint-Jean-le-Centenier jusqu'en 2011.

Anciennes liaisons ferroviaires 
L'abandon de ces voies ferrées ouvre des opportunités de développement du réseau cyclable ardéchois.

CFD Réseau du Vivarais
Ligne transcévenole
Ligne du Pouzin à Privas
Ligne de Saint-Sernin à Largentière
Ligne de Vogüé à Lalevade-d'Ardèche
Tramways de l'Ardèche
Tramway de Vals-les-Bains à Aubenas
Tramway de Valence à Saint-Péray

Transport en commun routier 

Le conseil général de l'Ardèche a réorganisé le réseau de transport en commun routier, avec une tarification unique depuis 2009, et un nom et un logo unique depuis mai 2011 : « Le SEPT : service express public de transport ».

Cette nouvelle identité est complétée par l'adoption de la carte de transport en commun OùRA!, compatible avec la plupart des réseaux urbains et interurbains de la région Rhône-Alpes, ainsi que les TER.

La carte OùRA! est également compatible avec les réseaux de bus urbains d'Aubenas (Tout'enbus) et les réseaux de Valence (Citéa) et Montélimar (Montélibus).

Spécialités culinaires 

 Caillette
 Castagnou (apéritif à base de liqueur de châtaigne et de vin blanc)
 Crème de marrons (confiture de châtaignes)
 Crique
 Cousina (soupe à la châtaigne)
 Foudjou
 Bosson macéré
 Fin gras du Mézenc
 Picodon (fromage de chèvre AOC)
 Maôche
 La Bombine (plat)
 Marquisette (boisson)
 La Gueuse (saucisse)

Tourisme 

Le tourisme est très développé en Ardèche. Le département est divisé en quatre grandes zones :
 L'Ardèche méridionale, également appelé Bas-Vivarais, qui s'étend de la vallée du Rhône au piémont cévenol. Cette zone est de loin la plus touristique lors de la période estivale. Les attractions sont :
 Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, commune marquant le début des gorges de l'Ardèche jusqu'à Saint-Martin-d'Ardèche ;
 La grotte Chauvet, découverte en 1994, dont on peut visiter la réplique à la caverne du Pont-d'Arc ;
 Le site archéologique d'Alba-la-Romaine et son musée (MuséAL),
 Le bois de Païolive, près des Vans et des rives du Chassezac ;
 L'aven d'Orgnac, Grand Site, musée ;
Le village médiéval de Balazuc, classé parmi les plus beaux villages de France, avec le Muséum de l'Ardèche,
 Le village médiéval de Saint-Montan, restauré par  bénévoles du monde entier, est un exemple unique en France ;
 Le village médiéval de Joyeuse avec le musée de la Châtaigneraie ;
 Le village de Saint-Alban-Auriolles, son dolmen et le musée Alphonse-Daudet ;
 Le village de Lanas avec son aérodrome et le parc de loisirs Parc Avenue ;
 Le site remarquable des gorges de La Beaume à proximité du village de Joyeuse. Gorges préservées et uniquement accessibles à pied ou en canoë au printemps ;
 La route touristique des gorges de l'Ardèche à travers sa réserve naturelle et sa garrigue ;
 Les nombreux sites mégalithiques (environ 750 dolmens en Bas-Vivarais, et une dizaine de menhirs) ;
 Les églises romanes de Larnas et de Bourg-Saint-Andéol, près de demeures Renaissance ;
Viviers, sa cathédrale et sa vieille-ville ;
 Les châteaux de Largentière, Vogüé et de Labastide-de-Virac ;
 Les villages labellisés comme Balazuc, Saint-Montan, Labeaume.
 Le Festival Aluna, l'un des plus importants du Sud de la France à Ruoms.
 La Cévenne ardéchoise, pays des serres, qui s'étend des Vans au col de Mézilhac, comprend les lieux d'intérêts suivants :
 Les villages de caractère comme Thines, Jaujac et Antraigues-sur-Volane.
 Le pont du Diable à Thueyts. Construit en pierres de basalte il enjambe d'une seule arche l'Ardèche, très mince à cet endroit, à plus de  de hauteur ;
 Le massif du Tanargue, propice aux randonnées cyclistes et pédestres ;
 Station de ski alpin de la Croix de Bauzon ;
 Gorges de la Borne et du Chassezac ;
 La cascade du Ray-Pic, sur la commune de Péreyres.

 La montagne ardéchoise, rude plateau à plus de  d'altitude, faiblement peuplé et sauvage :
 Le mont Gerbier-de-Jonc, où la Loire prend sa source ;
 Le mont Mézenc ;
 L'auberge de Peyrebeille, sise sur la commune de Lanarce ;
 La station de ski nordique de La Chavade - Bel-Air ;
 Le lac d'Issarlès, et d'autres lacs d'altitude, comme ceux de Saint-Martial ou de Coucouron ;
 La station thermale de Saint-Laurent-les-Bains.
 L'Ardèche verte, au nord du département :
 Annonay, berceau de l'aérostation, ville d'origine des frères Montgolfier ;
 Le pays de Saint-Agrève, porte du parc naturel régional, avec sur son territoire le lac de Devesset ;
 Le village de Lalouvesc, pour ses randonnées et les traces qu'a laissées saint Jean-François Régis ;
 Peaugres et son safari ;
 Le château de Crussol, un château (maintenant en ruines) construit en pierres calcaires au début du  sur une hauteur dominant la vallée du Rhône, juste en face de la ville de Valence (Drôme) ;
 Le château et le lycée de Tournon-sur-Rhône ;
 Les locomotives à vapeur du chemin de fer du Vivarais, nommé Le Mastrou, qui relie Tournon-sur-Rhône à Lamastre via Boucieu-le-Roi, et qui empruntent depuis 1891 une étroite voie ferrée qui serpente dans les gorges du Doux ;
 L'Eden-Parc, ancien parc du couvent Notre-Dame à Tournon-sur-Rhône ;
 Les villages de caractère de Desaignes et Boucieu-le-Roi.

 Le pays d'Aubenas-Vals, carrefour de l'Ardèche.
 Aubenas, porte du parc naturel régional des Monts d'Ardèche possédant un riche patrimoine (le château d'Aubenas, le dôme Saint Benoît et l'église Saint Laurent notamment) ;
 Vals-les-Bains, ville thermale de la route des villes d'eaux du Massif central, représentent le premier parc hôtelier d'Ardèche, à la rencontre entre le Massif central et le Bas-Vivarais.
 Le vocable des sources et volcans d'Ardèche désignent le territoire d'accueil touristique composé par les 15 offices de tourisme allant de la vallée du Rhône aux frontières des départements de la Haute-Loire et de la Lozère.

Galerie

Sites

Villes et villages

Personnalités

Résidences secondaires 

Selon le recensement général de la population du , 19,6 % des logements disponibles dans le département étaient des résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l'Ardèche dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % du total des logements.

Notes et références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 Jean-François Blanc, Terrasses d'Ardèche, paysages et patrimoines (1983, thèse d'histoire)
 Pierre Bozon, Ardèche, la terre et les hommes (1978), synthèse complète de l'Ardèche rurale, citée in Lieux de mémoire, 
 Franck Brechon, Ardèche, éd. Bonneton, coll. « Encyclopédie Bonneton », Paris, 2003. 
 Thérèse Bresson, Le Vent feuillaret, une enfance ardéchoise (1980)
 Jean Durand, Les Contes de la Burle (1982)
 Roger Ferlet, De la soie dans les veines (1958)
 André Griffon, Ardèche douce amère (1975)
 Charles Jolivet, La Révolution en Ardèche. - Le Temps présent -CURENDERA (1988)
 Paul Perrève, La Burle. Un médecin de campagne en Haute-Ardèche (1981)
 Élie Reynier, Saint-Sauveur-de-Montagut (1953)
 Élie Reynier, La seconde République en Ardèche (1948)
 Élie Reynier, Mines, métallurgies et voies ferrées de la région privadoise(1943)
 Élie Reynier, Histoire de Privas en 3 tomes (1941 - 1942 - 1946)
 Élie Reynier, L'électrification en Ardèche (1933)
 Pierre Ribon, D'Artagnan en Ardèche, La révolte de Roure en 1670 d'après les archives authentiques et inédites du Roi Louis XIV - E&R Editions et Régions, Valence (2001) - 
 La Révolution en Ardèche - Actes des colloques de Villeneuve-de-Berg et Annonay - septembre 1988 - Édité par Mémoire d'Ardèche et Temps Présent http://www.memoire-ardeche.com.
 Régis Sahuc, Vent d'Usclades.

Articles connexes 
 Conseil départemental de l'Ardèche
 Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de l'Ardèche
 Liste des communes de l'Ardèche
 Liste des sportifs de l'Ardèche
 Liste des sites Natura 2000 de l'Ardèche
 Liste des monuments historiques de l'Ardèche
 Liste des monuments religieux romans de l'Ardèche
 Liste des sites classés de l'Ardèche
 Liste de films tournés dans l'Ardèche
 Volontaires nationaux de l'Ardèche pendant la Révolution
 Liste des églises de l'Ardèche

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 Préfecture de l'Ardèche
 Conseil départemental de l'Ardèche
 Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de l'Ardèche
 Agence de Développement Touristique de l'Ardèche

L’Ariège ( ; ) est un département français de la région Occitanie, nommé d'après la rivière homonyme, situé au sud-ouest de la France. L’Insee et la Poste lui attribuent le code 09. Sa préfecture est Foix qui se trouve à 772 kilomètres de Paris à vol d'oiseau.

Le département a été formé en 1790 de l'addition de l'ancien comté de Foix (406 455 hectares) et de presque l'entièreté du Couserans (162 509 hectares). Au total la superficie du département ariégeois est de 489 387 hectares. Il est frontalier au Sud de la principauté d'Andorre et de la Catalogne, à l'Ouest de la Haute-Garonne et à l'Est des Pyrénées Orientales et de l’Aude. C'est un département de piémont et de haute montagne possédant de nombreux sites historiques allant de la préhistoire jusqu'à nos jours.

Géographie

Géographie physique 
Les points cardinaux situant les extrémités du département sont : L'Hospitalet-prés-l'Andorre au sud, Lézat-sur-Lèze au nord, Saint-Lary à l'ouest, Quérigut à l'est.

En sein du département ariégeois, on peut distinguer trois grandes zones :
 1- la plaine d'Ariège, située dans le nord du département, est constituée de plaines, de collines et de faibles vallons où l’agriculture est très présente. Une partie du Lauragais s’étend sur le nord-est du département. Deux rivières importantes, l’Ariège et la Lèze traversent la plaine du sud au nord. Le paysage de parcelles céréalières domine avec la culture du maïs et du tournesol et avec des prairies ;
 2- le piémont pyrénéen regroupe le massif du Plantaurel et les collines prépyrénéennes inférieures à . Diverses structures géologiques forment des paysages contrastés comme la vallée de Foix dans son massif granitique ou la région de Lavelanet avec ses marnes et son calcaire ;
 3- le haut pays ariégeois représente les hautes montagnes des Pyrénées dépassant les  d'altitude. La pique d'Estats, le pic du Montcalm et le pic du Port de Sullo sont les points culminants du département avec ,  et  respectivement. La forêt domine le paysage où cohabitent des essences de résineux avec des feuillus comme les châtaigniers, les robiniers faux-acacias, les frênes et les hêtres.

Géographie humaine 
L'Ariège fait partie de la région Occitanie. Elle est limitrophe des départements de la Haute-Garonne (à l'ouest et au nord), de l'Aude à l'est et des Pyrénées-Orientales au sud-est, ainsi que de l'Espagne (province de Lérida) et de l'Andorre au sud.

D'une superficie de , le département est divisé en trois arrondissements, Foix, Pamiers et Saint-Girons.

Il est en outre composé de 13 cantons, 8 intercommunalités et 327 communes.

En 2009, le parc naturel régional des Pyrénées ariégeoises est créé, couvrant environ 40 % de la superficie du département de l'Ariège.

Histoire 

Le département a été créé à la Révolution française, le  en application de la loi du , à partir du comté de Foix (Languedoc) et de la vicomté de Couserans, d'une partie du comté de Comminges (Gascogne).

Une demande au Conseil d'État a été déposée en 2005 afin de renommer le département en Ariège-Pyrénées. Selon les défenseurs de ce projet, la mention « Pyrénées » permettrait de mieux situer le département afin de le promouvoir dans toute la France. .

Au  la région Midi-Pyrénées, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec la région Languedoc-Roussillon pour devenir la nouvelle région administrative Occitanie.

Héraldique

Hymne ariégeois 
La chanson patriotique Arièjo ô moun Païs (en écriture mistralienne) Arièja ô mon pais en occitan fut écrite par le curé Sabas Maury né le  1863 à Gestiès dans la vallée du Siguer, curé de Miglos et de Varilhes. Dédiée à la société Amicale des Ariégeois à Paris, elle devint alors tout naturellement l'hymne ariégeois.

Politique 

Le département compte 2 circonscriptions législatives et 13 cantons. D'une manière générale on peut dire que :

Il n'en demeure pas moins qu'avec une représentation parlementaire très majoritairement issue du PS jusqu'en 2017, et un Conseil départemental dont 22 des 26 élus en 2015 sont membres ou proches de ce parti, l'orientation politique du département est clairement identifiée. En 2007, c'est le département qui a le plus voté pour Ségolène Royal (59,56 %). En 2012, c'est le troisième département de France qui vota le plus pour François Hollande avec 64,69 % juste derrière la Corrèze et la Seine-Saint-Denis.

L'Ariège se distingue encore une fois du reste du territoire et confirme son ancrage à gauche en plaçant en tête (deuxième département après la Seine Saint-Denis), lors de l'élection présidentielle de 2017, le candidat de La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon avec 26,77 % des suffrages exprimés, suivi par Marine Le Pen avec 21,70 %. Arrive en troisième position Emmanuel Macron avec 20,91 %. François Fillon n'arrive qu'en quatrième position avec 12,74 % des suffrages exprimés, il s'agit du plus mauvais score du candidat Les Républicains sur tout le territoire national. Chose tout à fait inédite en Ariège, qui avait pourtant depuis le début de la  République placé à chaque élection présidentielle le candidat du Parti socialiste en tête, ce dernier (Benoît Hamon) n'arrive qu'en cinquième position avec 7,86 %. Les autres candidats ne dépassent pas la barre des 5 % des suffrages exprimés.

Coup de tonnerre en Ariège lors des élections législatives de 2017 où pour la première fois depuis 89 ans, la « forteresse socialiste » est tombée au soir du  tour. En effet aucun député socialiste ne représente dès lors le département, tous éliminés dès le  tour. Les candidats de la France insoumise sont élus au second tour à une courte majorité dans les deux circonscriptions que compte le département face aux candidats d'En Marche. L'Ariège se distingue une fois de plus au niveau national, seul département à donner la totalité de ses sièges à la France Insoumise.

La parité homme/femme est bien respectée pour les députés ( Martine Froger et M. Laurent Panifous).

Climat 
Le département est à la limite orientale de la prépondérance océanique dans le régime des pluies, mais d'autres influences se font sentir :
 méditerranéenne, notamment visible par la végétation des collines du piémont, de la vallée de l'Ariège vers Tarascon et du Pays de Sault ;
 continentale dans les vallées pyrénéennes (nombreux orages, amplitude thermique élevée entre le jour et la nuit).

Il n'y a pas de tendance marquée à la sécheresse estivale : le flux de nord-ouest apporte des pluies tout au long de l'année. La pluviométrie, modérée sur le piémont et dans certaines vallées abritées (cumuls de ), s'accroît sensiblement sur les massifs et dans les hautes vallées (). Les versants exposés au nord-ouest sont logiquement les plus humides (Aulus-les-Bains, Orlu…), ainsi que toutes les crêtes frontalières qui subissent aussi le flux de sud-ouest alors que celui-ci est peu actif ailleurs (effet de foehn). L'enneigement est fréquent au-dessus de , durable plusieurs mois de suite au-dessus de . Des espaces péri-glaciaires existent au-dessus de  (le seul glacier ariégeois se trouve au Mont Valier, près de Castillon-en-Couserans).

Les températures sont douces sur le piémont : à Foix, il fait en moyenne  en janvier et  en juillet. Elles déclinent rapidement avec l'altitude : à l'Hospitalet (), on relève  en janvier et  en juillet.

Économie 

Dans le secteur de la haute vallée de l'Ariège, l'extraction du talc constitue la seule activité minière du département après l'échec de la relance de la mine de tungstène de Salau en 2020. L'usine de traitement du talc de Luzenac, approvisionnée par la carrière de Trimouns, produit environ  par an soit 10% du talc mondial. Tarascon-sur-Ariège a pu conserver une petite unité d'aluminerie sous contrôle chinois et issue du démantelement de Pechiney et voir se développer un sous-traitant de l'aéronautique.Elle est complétée par le tourisme avec les stations de sports d'hiver (Ax 3 Domaines, Ascou-Pailhères, Plateau de Beille, Les Monts d'Olmes, le Chioula, Étang de Lers, Guzet, Goulier Neige et Mijanès-Donezan).

Dans le secteur de Lavelanet, l'industrie textile qui était majoritaire voire exclusive a presque complètement disparu entre les années 1980 et 2000, marquées par la fin des artisans sous-traitants et des grands groupes industriels comme Roudière. Il ne reste que quelques entreprises qui essaient de tenir face à la concurrence nord-africaine et asiatique, notamment l'usine Sage de Laroque-d'Olmes, héritière de l'entreprise Michel Thierry, spécialiste des tissus pour l'automobile.

Dans le secteur de Pamiers, l'industrie de la métallurgie, de l'aéronautique et de la chimie y sont principalement présentes. La métallurgie, avec l'usine Aubert et Duval, produit notamment des pièces forgées pour l'industrie aéronautique et énergétique. L'aéronautique se distingue grâce à plusieurs entreprises de sous-traitance (tels que Recaero et Maz'Air), partenaires des constructeurs d'avions. La chimie est, quant à elle, représentée par l'industrie de la peinture avec Maestria et l'Alliance Maestria qui regroupe plusieurs entreprises de la peinture du bâtiment jusqu'à l'aéronautique. Dans la chimie, il y a également l'usine Étienne Lacroix située sur la commune de Mazères, elle y fabrique principalement des feux d'artifice et des pièces pyrotechniques.

Pour le secteur de Saint-Girons, l'industrie est représentée principalement par la fabrication du papier avec l'usine de la Moulasse à Eycheil qui produit du papier à cigarettes et la Papeterie Léon Martin fondée en 1895 à Engomer, toujours familiale et indépendante, qui propose des papiers fins, techniques et spéciaux. Une diversification volontaire a été opérée et réussie dans l'agglomération dès la fin des années 1980 avec différentes unités de production dans l'agroalimentaire, la plasturgie, les biotechnologies... permettant notamment d'attribuer la quasi-totalité des lots disponibles sur la zone industrielle du Couserans à Lorp-Sentaraille et Caumont.

Concentrée principalement dans le Vicdessos et la Haute Ariège, la production hydroélectrique de l'Ariège représente environ le cinquième de la production pyrénéenne. En effet, la centrale hydroélectrique d'Aston possède la plus grosse capacité de production annuelle de la chaîne des Pyrénées (). Avec celles d'Orlu et de l'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre, ces trois centrales sont les plus importantes du département en capacité de production. L'aménagement hydroélectrique ariégeois peut produire pour une ville de . Les grands établissements industriels utilisent l'énergie ainsi produite sans compenser la disparition de l'aluminerie Pechiney d'Auzat en 2003.

Transports 

Majoritairement montagneux et rural, le département de l'Ariège est longtemps resté à l'écart des principaux axes de transport qui desservent les littoraux et les principales vallées. Le chemin de fer est arrivé dans le département en 1861 via la ligne de Toulouse à Puigcerda, la seule à demeurer ouverte à ce jour dans le département. Outre les trains TER Occitanie, cette voie est néanmoins desservie par des Intercités en provenance de Paris-Austerlitz.

Depuis 2002, l'Ariège est reliée au réseau autoroutier national par l'autoroute A66, qui part de l'A 61 au niveau de Villefranche-de-Lauragais et se poursuit au sud de Pamiers par la RN 20 en deux fois deux voies jusqu'à Tarascon-sur-Ariège. En 2001, l'ouverture du tunnel de Foix a permis à la RN 20 d'éviter le goulet d'étranglement constitué par le relief et la ville.

Il n'existe aucun franchissement routier ouvert à la circulation qui permette de rallier directement l'Espagne depuis l'Ariège ; seuls des chemins pédestres traversent la frontière au niveau des cols les moins élevés. Pour rejoindre l'Espagne, il convient de transiter par le Pas de la Case, et donc une partie du département voisin des Pyrénées-Orientales.

Démographie 

Les habitants de l'Ariège sont les Ariégeois.

Communes les plus peuplées

Arrondissements

Aires urbaines 
Le département possède 3 aires urbaines : Foix (), Pamiers () et Saint-Girons ().

Culture

Théâtre 
 L'Estive : scène nationale située sur la commune de Foix, elle propose des spectacles tout au long de l'année.
 Festival MiMa : festival des arts de la marionnette. Il se déroule sur la commune de Mirepoix tous les ans au mois d'août.
 Festival Les Théâtrales en Couserans : festival de théâtre ayant pour objectif de promouvoir et diffuser tous types de spectacles vivants. Il se déroule à Saint-Girons et dans les bourgs du Couserans tous les ans durant la période estivale. Michel Larive en a été le président pendant de nombreuses années avant d'être élu député de la  circonscription de l'Ariège en juin 2017.

Musique 
 Mirepoix Musique promeut la musique classique à Mirepoix.
 « Faites de la musique » à Malegoude.
 Festival Vocal de La Bellongaise à Orgibet.
Festival RITE, chant, danse, musique du monde à Saint-Girons et en Couserans.
 Festival Latino à Tarascon-sur-Ariège
 Festival Jazz Foix 
 Garosnow à Ax-les-Thermes
 Art'cade (scène Ariégeoise de musiques actuelles) (Sainte Croix Volvestre)
 100% Rock à Les Cabannes
 Festival Swing à Mirepoix
 Festival Terre de Couleurs à Daumazan sur Arize
 Festival Blues in Sem & Vicdessos à Sem et Vicdessos
 Manouch Muzik Festival à Mazères
 Celtie d'Oc à Cazavet

Cinéma 

 1975 : Le Passe-Montagne, auteur Christian Bernadac, réalisateur Jean Vernier, téléfilm
 1980 : L'Orsalhèr, de Jean Fléchet
 1982 : Le Retour de Martin Guerre, de Daniel Vigne
 2009 : No pasaran, film d'Éric Martin et Emmanuel Caussé tourné dans la vallée du Vicdessos (Miglos Lapège), dans les environs de Saint-Girons, dans le Couserans, à Foix et à Tarascon-sur-Ariège.
 2012 : La Panification des mœurs, film documentaire de Gwladys Déprez
 2013 : Le Chant du Cygne, film documentaire d'Aurélie Jolibert

Littérature 
 Les Cavaliers aux yeux verts : La porte de Kercabanac est un roman de Loup Durand publié en 1991
 Castelpu, le village imaginaire des romans de Patrick Cintas se situe en Ariège.
 Plusieurs romans de Louis-Henry Destel se déroulent en Ariège.
 Le roman policier de Pascal Dessaint Les Pis rennais (Le Poulpe) est situé dans le Couserans. Il a été réédité en bande dessinée.
 La plupart des romans de Georges-Patrick Gleize publiés chez l'éditeur parisien Albin Michel ont une accroche ariégeoise ou pyrénéenne comme Le Temps en héritage (pays de Foix), Un brin d'espérance (Pays d'Olmes), Rue des Hortensias Rouges (pays d'Ax les-Thermes), Le Forgeron de la liberté (pays de Mirepoix), Le Sentier des pastelliers (Région de Mazéres), La Vie en plus (Couserans), Le Destin de Marthe Rivière (Le Quérigut), Le Chemin de Peyreblanque ou L'Auberge des myrtilles (Pays de Tarascon), Une nuit en juin (Cerdagne et région de Pamiers), Quelques pas dans la neige (haute vallée des Pyrénées ariégeoises).
 Deux romans de Serge Legrand-Vall, La rive sombre de l'Ebre et Reconquista ont pour cadre l'Ariège (pays d'Ax-les-Thermes et Couserans).

Personnalités

Arts 
 Aicart del Fossat, troubadour.
 Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), compositeur né à Pamiers.
 Alphonse Roubichou (1861-1938), peintre impressionniste né à Pamiers.
 Joseph Bergès (1878-1956), peintre.
 André Regagnon (1902-1976), peintre.
 Manolo Valiente (1908-1991), créateur du monument national aux Guérilleros de Prayols.
 René Gaston-Lagorre (1913-2004), peintre ayant eu son atelier en Ariège dans le Couserans et reposant à Seix.
 Pierre Daboval (1918-2015), peintre et dessinateur, habitait à Mirepoix.
 Mady de La Giraudière, artiste peintre de style naïf.
  (1924-), réalisateur britannico-canadien qui habite à Mirepoix. Il a réalisé et écrit une centaine de films.
 Christian d'Orgeix (1927-2019), artiste contemporain né à Foix.
 Marie Laforêt (1939-2019), chanteuse et actrice qui se définit elle-même comme « ariégeoise ». Petite-fille de Louis Doumenach, dirigeant d'une entreprise d'effilochage de textile à Lavelanet.
 Claudius de Cap Blanc (1953-2022), artiste contemporain.
 Leïla Martial (1984-), chanteuse de jazz.

Littérature 
 Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), philosophe et écrivain, né au Carla-Bayle (à l'époque Carla-le-Comte ; la commune changea de nom en son hommage).
 Marie de Calage (1631-1661), poétesse, née à Mirepoix. Plusieurs fois couronnée par l'Académie des Jeux Floraux.
 Frédéric Soulié (1800-1847), romancier né à Foix.
 Latour de Saint-Ybars (1807-1891), poète et dramaturge né à Saint-Ybars.
 Napoléon Peyrat, né en 1809 aux Bordes-sur-Arize, mort en 1881, pasteur, historien du catharisme et poète.
 Marie-Louise (née en 1876 à Mirepoix) et Raymond Escholier (né en 1882 à Paris), auteurs en collaboration de romans "régionalistes" dont Cantegril, prix Fémina 1922.
 Isabelle Sandy (1884-1975), écrivain, née à Saint-Pierre-de-Rivière
 Louis-Henry Destel (1885-1962), romancier, né à Lézat-sur-Lèze.
 Pierre Dumas.
 Marcel Pagnol (1895-1974), romancier, dramaturge et cinéaste, était professeur à l'École Supérieure de Mirepoix.
 Adelin Moulis (1896-1996), poète, historien et folkloriste. Né à Fougax-et-Barrineuf, mort à Mazères.
 Raymond Abellio (Georges Soulès) (1907-1986) philosophe, romancier. Famille paternelle originaire d'Ax-les-Thermes et famille maternelle de Seix en Haut-Couserans.
 Gaston Massat (1909-1966), poète surréaliste et résistant, né à Saint-Girons.
 Michel-Aimé Baudouy (1909-1999), universitaire, romancier et auteur dramatique, né au Vernet d'Ariège.
 Max-Firmin Leclerc (1923-2014), écrivain et réalisateur de télévision, a vécu sur la commune de Durfort (Maloureille) de 1974 à 1988.
 Christian Bernadac (1937-2003), journaliste et écrivain, né à Tarascon-sur-Ariège.
 Michel Cosem, né en 1939, éditeur, écrivain, a vécu longtemps en Ariège, auteur de L'Ariège : vérités et émotions, photogr. Fabien Boutet . coll. "Patrimoine & territoires", 2013.
 Christian Saint-Paul, né en 1948 au Mas-d'Azil, éditeur, poète et chroniqueur radio.
 Georges-Patrick Gleize (1952-), romancier et historien.
 Patrick Cintas (1954-), écrivain, peintre, sculpteur, compositeur.
 Espé (1974-), auteur de bandes dessinées.

Politique 
 Marc-Guillaume-Alexis Vadier (1736-1828), homme politique, député à la Convention nationale, créateur du département de l'Ariège.
 Joseph Lakanal (1762-1845), né à Serres-sur-Arget, député à la Convention nationale.
 Léon Galy-Gasparrou (1850-1921), député de l'Ariège.
 Théophile Delcassé (1852-1923), homme politique, plusieurs fois ministre des Affaires étrangères, en particulier lors de la conclusion de l'Entente cordiale avec la Grande-Bretagne, né à Pamiers.
 Paul Caujolle (1891-1955), maire de Siguer, conseiller général de l’Ariège et président de l’ordre national des experts comptables.
 Pierre Dumas (1891-1967), né et mort à Saint-Martin-d'Oydes (une avenue y porte son nom), écrivain et journaliste, grand résistant connu sous le nom de « st Jean », homme politique, député de la Haute-Garonne.
 Paul Vaillant-Couturier (Paris 1892-1937) originaire de Sainte-Croix-Volvestre.
 François Camel (1893-1941).
 Georges Galy-Gasparrou (1896-1977), député, secrétaire d'État à l'information, maire de Massat.
 François Verdier (1900-1944), né à Lézat-sur-Lèze, résistant ariégeois choisi par le général de Gaulle pour devenir le chef des Mouvements Unis de la Résistance du Sud-Ouest. Il est mort assassiné par la Gestapo en 1944 en forêt de Bouconne.
 Conchita Ramos (1925-2019), résistante liée aux guérilleros espagnols, arrêtée dans sa maison de l'Ariège par la milice de Vichy, torturée par la Gestapo puis déportée à Ravensbrück.
 André Trigano (1925-) Officier de la Légion d'honneur. Il fut maire de Mazères durant 24 ans, conseiller général du canton de Saverdun et député de la  de l'Ariège de 1993 à 1997. Maire de Pamiers, il est aussi le frère de Gilbert Trigano, cofondateur du Club Med.
 Roger Fauroux (1926-2021), ancien ministre, ancien maire de Saint-Girons.
 Augustin Bonrepaux (1936-), homme politique, ancien député de l'Ariège et président du conseil général de l'Ariège, ancien président de la commission des finances à l'Assemblée nationale. Acteur du désenclavement routier de l'Ariège notamment par le tunnel du Puymorens.
 Henri Nayrou (1944-), homme politique, ancien député de l'Ariège et président du conseil départemental de l'Ariège, ancien maire de La Bastide-de-Sérou.
 Jean-Pierre Bel (1951-), sénateur, président du Sénat français du  octobre 2011 au 30 septembre 2014
 Laurence Marandola porte-parole de la Confédération Paysanne depuis 2023.

Religion 
 Lizier de Couserans (508-546), second évêque de Couserans, sanctifié.
 Bernard Saisset (1232-1314), premier évêque de Pamiers.
 Jacques Fournier (1285-1342), évêque de Pamiers puis de Mirepoix, pape sous le nom de Benoît XII de 1336 à 1342 (Avignon), né à Canté près de Saverdun.
 François de Caulet (1610-1680), évêque de Pamiers.
 Jean-François Boyer (1675-1755), évêque de Mirepoix, précepteur du Dauphin, fils de Louis XV.
 Sabas Maury, curé de Miglos de 1890 à 1906 et créateur d'Arièjo ô moun Païs l'hymne ariégeois bien connu.
 Jean-Marc Eychenne évêque de Pamiers, Couserans, Mirepoix. Nommé le 17 décembre 2014 par le pape François nommé évêque de Grenoble et Vienne en 2022.

Sciences et techniques 
 Jean-Baptiste Mercadier (1750-1816), ingénieur des ponts et chaussées et musicien, né à Bélesta.
 Aristide Bergès (1833-1904), ingénieur - inventeur du terme houille blanche.
 Alexandre Grothendieck (1928-2014), mathématicien mort à Saint-Lizier.
 Raymond Augustin Mailhat (1862–1923), fabricant de télescopes et d'instruments optiques de précision.
 Henri Martre (1928-2018), polytechnicien, PDG d'Aérospatiale, président du GIFAS.

Sports 
 Louis-Henry Destel (1885-1962), écrivain du rugby, né à Lézat-sur-Lèze.
 Jacques Dupont (né en 1928), cycliste, détenteur du record olympique, né à Lézat-sur-Lèze.
 Claude Piquemal (né en 1939), athlète sprinteur français médaillé olympique, né à Siguer.
 Aldo Quaglio (né en 1932), joueur de rugby international français, né et formé à Lavelanet.
 Jacques Crampagne (né en 1944), joueur de rugby international français, né à Foix.
 Patrick Estève (né en 1959), joueur de rugby international français, né et formé à Lavelanet.
 Claude Bergeaud (né en 1960), entraineur de basketball français, né à Artigat.
 Sylvain Dispagne (né en 1968), joueur de rugby international français, né à Saint-Girons.
 Jean-Louis Jordana (né en 1968), joueur de rugby international français, né et formé à Lavelanet.
 Michel Marfaing (né en 1970), joueur de rugby international français, né et formé à Pamiers.
 Fabien Barthez (né en 1971), footballeur international français, né à Lavelanet.
 Éric Carrière (né en 1973), footballeur international français, né à Foix.
 Fabien Pelous (né en 1973), joueur de rugby international français, né à Toulouse et formé à Saverdun.
 Benoît Baby (né en 1983), joueur de rugby international français, né à Lavelanet et formé à Toulouse.
 Yoann Huget (né en 1987), joueur de rugby international français, né à Pamiers et formé à Toulouse.
 Jean-Marc Doussain (né en 1991), joueur de rugby international français, né et formé à Toulouse, originaire de Sainte-Croix-Volvestre
 Perrine Laffont (née en 1998), skieuse française, née à Lavelanet et initiée aux Monts d'Olmes. Championne olympique de ski de bosses aux Jeux Olympiques d'hiver 2018.

Divers 
 André Roudière (1922-2010), industriel du textile de Lavelanet, créateur en 1947 d'une entreprise qui comptera jusqu'à 1300 employés.
 Bertrand Clauzel (1772-1842), Maréchal de France sous Napoléon Ier, né à Mirepoix.
 Chloé Mortaud (1989),  Miss France en 2009.
 Léonard-Alexis Autié (env.1751-1820), dit. Monsieur Léonard, coiffeur favori de la reine Marie-Antoinette d'Autriche, né à Pamiers.

Gastronomie 
 Bethmale (fromage)
 Flocon d'Ariège, confiserie
 Hypocras, apéritif
 Azinat, plat de résistance
 Le Milla, gâteau

Tourisme 

 Agence de Développement Touristique Ariège Pyrénées
 Parc naturel régional des Pyrénées ariégeoises

Les résidences secondaires 
Selon le recensement général de la population du  janvier 2008, 25,3 % des logements disponibles dans le département étaient des résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l'Ariège dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

 Source INSEE, chiffres au 01/01/2008.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 Michel Chevalier, L'Ariège, photographies de Nicolas Fediaevsky, 210 pages, Ouest-France, 1985.
 .
 .
  [ce livre est réédité par Cairn, en 2015].
 .
 .

Articles connexes 
 Liste des communes de l'Ariège
 Liste des conseillers généraux de l'Ariège
 Liste des églises de l'Ariège
 Liste de films tournés dans l'Ariège
 Parc naturel régional des Pyrénées ariégeoises
 Volontaires nationaux de l'Ariège pendant la Révolution

Liens externes 

 Préfecture de l'Ariège
 Conseil départemental de l'Ariège
 Chambre de commerce et de l'industrie de l'Ariège
 Ariège Pyrénées Tourisme

LAube () est un département français de la région Grand Est dont le nom vient de l'Aube, premier affluent notable de la Seine (rive droite). L'Insee et la Poste lui attribuent le code 10. Les habitants de ce département sont appelés les Aubois. Sa préfecture est Troyes.

Avec  selon le recensement de 2015, l'Aube se situe en  en nombre d'habitants sur le plan national et  sur l'ensemble du Grand Est.

Le département est constitué tel qu'il est encore aujourd'hui par le décret de l'Assemblée nationale du . Comme une soixantaine de départements en France, il prend le nom d'un cours d'eau.

Géographie

Situation 
Le département de l'Aube est situé au sud-ouest de la région Grand Est. Elle est limitrophe des départements de la Marne au nord (sur  de long environ), de la Haute-Marne à l'est (sur  de long), de la Côte-d'Or au sud-est (sur ), de l'Yonne au sud-ouest (sur ) et de Seine-et-Marne à l'ouest (sur ).

Sous-régions ou « pays » aubois 
On peut distinguer au sein du territoire du département, ces régions naturelles ou pays traditionnels :
 quart nord-ouest : la Champagne crayeuse ;
 à la pointe nord-ouest : le Nogentais ;
 au sud-ouest de Troyes : le Pays d'Othe ;
 au sud du département : le Chaourçois ;
 au nord-est : le Briennois ;
 à l'est : le Barrois ;
 entre Troyes et le Barrois : la Champagne humide.

Relief et géologie 
Le point culminant de l'Aube est de 371±1 m situé à Champignol-lez-Mondeville au lieu-dit le Bois du Mont.

Hydrographie 

Vingt-trois cours d'eau desservent le département, les quatre principaux étant la Seine, l'Aube (affluent de la Seine), l'Armance (affluent de l'Armançon) et la Vanne (affluent de l'Yonne).

Forêts et lacs 

Le département compte  de forêts.

Le parc naturel régional de la forêt d'Orient est l'un des premiers parcs naturels créés en France. On y trouve le lac d'Orient, et les lacs Amance et du Temple où l'on peut s'adonner à la pêche, aux loisirs nautiques ou à la baignade. Les lacs sont en partie spécialisés dans une ou plusieurs de ces activités.

Faune 
En décembre 2022 une « zone de présence permanente du loup » dans le Chaourçois est annoncée par la sous-préfète d'Avallon (Yonne) Depuis un arrêté préfectoral est pris pour l'Aube classant 100 communes en zone 1 (« où des actions de prévention sont nécessaires du fait de la survenue possible de la prédation par le loup pendant l'année en cours ») et 2 communes en zone 2 (« les zones où au moins un acte de prédation sur le cheptel domestique a été constaté au cours de chacune des deux dernières années ») .

Au 13 août 2023 selon l'L'Est-Éclair il y a dans l'Aube, 17 constats d'attaques, avec 32 victimes. Ce sont au niveau national, soixante départements français qui recourront au dispositif d'aide à la protection, face à la prédation.

Climat 

Les conditions climatiques sont modérées, sans froids intenses ni chaleurs excessives, ce qui représente donc un climat d'ordre continental et océanique.

Entre 1950 et 1985, la température moyenne annuelle relevée dans le département est de , ce qui reste équivalent au Bassin parisien et aux villes du nord-est de la France. Le nombre d'heures d'ensoleillement par an est de .

Les précipitations annuelles restent assez importantes ( en moyenne soit  de précipitations). En général, il pleut davantage en automne qu’en hiver, mais la quantité de pluie est la plus élevée durant les mois de printemps. Au contraire, l'été est la saison où les précipitations sont les moins nombreuses. Cependant, le Sud-Est du département est plus sensible aux pluies que le Nord-Ouest.

Les intempéries neigeuses ne sont que relativement faibles. Quant aux vents, ils proviennent essentiellement de la façade ouest.

Voies de communication et transports

Réseau routier 

Le réseau routier du département comporte  d'autoroutes,  de routes nationales,  de routes départementales et de  de routes communales.

Transports en commun 
Dans l’agglomération troyenne, la TCAT assure un réseau de transports en commun. Contrairement à un grand nombre de réseaux qui sont assurés par des opérateurs, c'est la communauté d'agglomération de la ville qui a la propriété de la société. Le réseau dessert actuellement onze communes dont deux hors agglomération troyenne. Les autres villes, y compris Romilly-sur-Seine, ne possèdent pas de réseau de transports en commun.

L'Aube possède également des réseaux de transport interurbains. Vingt-et-une lignes régulières d'autocars relient entre elles les villes principales du département. L'exploitation de ces lignes est confiée à des autocaristes privés : Transdev - Les Courriers de l'Aube pour quatorze lignes, Keolis Sud Lorraine pour quatre lignes, Procars Champagne pour deux lignes, Autocars Bardy pour une ligne.

Réseau ferroviaire 

L'Aube ne bénéficie pas d'une forte desserte ferroviaire. Seules cinq gares sont actuellement ouvertes au service voyageur, toutes situées sur la grande ligne radiale non électrifiée de Paris-Est à Mulhouse. Ce sont : Nogent-sur-Seine, Romilly-sur-Seine, Troyes, Vendeuvre et Bar-sur-Aube. Toutes les autres lignes ayant autrefois desservi le département sont fermées pour ce service. Certaines sections de ces dernières sont cependant toujours ouvertes pour le service du fret.

Voies navigables 
Le département compte  de voies navigables. La ville de Nogent-sur-Seine est le  céréalier français.

Toponymie 
Tient son nom de la rivière Aube.

Histoire

Naissance 
Ses premiers habitants furent les Tricasses et les Lingons avec une forte occupation humaine vers l'an 400 avant Jésus-Christ.

Saint Potentien et saint Savinien, prêtres grecs originaires de Samos, vinrent prêcher l'évangile dès le milieu du .

Saint Patrocle fut l'un des premiers martyrs de la foi nouvelle en l'an 259. Peu de temps après, sainte Jule et quelques notables de la cité des Tricasses subirent également le martyre. Malgré tout, comme ailleurs, la communauté chrétienne devint assez nombreuse pour accueillir un évêque ; saint Amateur fut le premier, en 340.

En l'an 286, les Bagaudes ravagèrent la contrée formant l'Aube. L'empereur Julien vint à Troyes avec son armée et la délivra.

Le  siècle et les monastères 

Deux importants monastères furent fondés sur le territoire du département : l'un à Clairvaux en 1114, créé par Bernard de Clairvaux, l'autre au Paraclet, par son illustre rival, Abélard, et dont Héloïse fut la première abbesse. Le premier se fit remarquer par son éloquence au concile de Troyes et par sa prédication de la seconde croisade.

La réunion de la Champagne avec le royaume de France ne fut définitive qu'en 1361. Pourtant la population désirait absolument le rattachement de la Champagne ; en effet, en 1328, le roi  offrit la ville de Bar-sur-Seine à Philippe de Croÿ, mais les habitants lui rachetèrent pour la rendre au roi, à condition qu'elle devienne inaliénable.

Rattachement définitif au royaume de France 

Le décret de l'Assemblée nationale du  crée officiellement le département de l’Aube. Son premier président est Augustin-Henri-Marie Picot et son premier député est Louis Antoine Joseph Robin. Jacques Claude Beugnot est quant à lui élu procureur-général syndic et également député.

Le  marque l'apparition de la bonneterie dans le département.

Après la victoire des coalisés à la bataille de Waterloo (18 juin 1815), le département est occupé par les troupes russes de juin 1815 à novembre 1818 (voir occupation de la France à la fin du Premier Empire).

En 1911, à la suite de la révolte du vignoble champenois, d'importantes émeutes éclatent dans le département. Les conséquences de cette misère restent tragiques puisque les échauffourées ont fait plusieurs dizaines de blessés.

En 1919, un décret autorise pour la première fois le département de l'Aube à produire du champagne.

Au  janvier 2016 la région Champagne-Ardenne, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec les régions Alsace et Lorraine pour devenir la nouvelle région Grand Est.

Héraldique

Urbanisme

Morphologie urbaine

Logement 
Selon le recensement général de la population du  janvier 2008, 4,6 % des logements disponibles dans le département étaient des résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l'Aube dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

Politique et administration

Conseil départemental 

Le conseil départemental de l'Aube, situé à Troyes, est présidé par Philippe Adnot depuis . Il comprend 33 conseillers généraux représentant les 33 cantons de l'Aube.  sont issus de la Droite (principalement de l’UMP), les autres proviennent du Parti socialiste, du Parti communiste et des Verts. Actuellement le budget du conseil départemental est de 329,8 millions d'euros. Sa principale mission est de mettre en place des actions sociales et de santé.

Représentation et tendances politiques

Personnalités politiques 
Voici les listes des conseillers généraux, des députés, des sénateurs et des préfets du département de l'Aube.
 Liste des députés de l'Aube
 Liste des sénateurs de l'Aube
 Liste des conseillers départementaux de l'Aube
 Liste des préfets de l'Aube

Coopération internationale

Identité visuelle

Démographie

Répartition de la population

Communes les plus peuplées

Évolution démographique

Pyramide des âges

Répartition par catégories socioprofessionnelles

Économie

Généralités 
L'économie de l'Aube est depuis le , axée sur les industries notamment textiles. Ce secteur aujourd'hui en crise fait du département une zone en réelle mutation économique.

En 2007, la population active départementale représentait un total de , avec  occupant un emploi et  au chômage. Les hommes représentaient près de 53 % de cette population active et les femmes 47 %.

Le département de l’Aube présente un important taux de féminisation dans les emplois. En effet, près de la moitié des personnes actives ayant un emploi (46 % en 2007) sont des femmes. Les principaux secteurs touchés par cette féminisation sont le commerce, les transports, le textile, les services publics, l'enseignement ou la santé. Cependant, les femmes sont légèrement plus touchées que les hommes par le chômage (54,8 % des demandeurs d’emploi en 2007). Cette situation est due principalement aux licenciements dans le secteur textile.

Emplois par secteur 
Répartition des emplois selon le secteur d'activité

Tourisme

Agriculture 

La surface agricole utile représente .

L'Aube est le  de chanvre, le  de champagne, de chou à choucroute, de pavot médicinal, de luzerne, le  de pommes de terre, le  de céréales et le  de betteraves.

L'Aube, avec 20 % de la production nationale, est le deuxième département producteur de chou à choucroute, derrière le Bas-Rhin. Une fête de la choucroute a lieu tous les ans à Brienne-le-Château.

Population et société

Enseignement

Primaire et secondaire 
En 2010, l'enseignement élémentaire et secondaire est composé de :
  venant d'une école maternelle sur  (dont un privé) ;
  venant d'une école primaire sur  (dont quatorze privés) ;
  venant d'un collège sur  (dont neuf privés) ;
  venant d'un lycée d’enseignement général sur dix établissements (dont trois privés) ;
  venant d'un lycée d’enseignement professionnel sur dix établissements (dont trois privés).

Enseignement supérieur 
D'après le dernier recensement de l'inspection académique de l’Aube en 2009, le département compte  en enseignement supérieur.

Santé 
Liste des hôpitaux et établissements d'aides

Sports 

Le Département est labélisé Terre de Jeux 2024, le label de Paris 2024 à destination des collectivités, et accueillera le passage du Relais de la flamme.

Il y a 580 clubs et associations sportives dans le département de l’Aube. Les principaux sont :
 l'ES Troyes AC : club de football de  ;
 l'ETAC handball : club de handball de national 3 ;
 l'Union Sportive de Sainte Maure Troyes Handball : club de handball féminin de national 1 ;
 les Pygargues de Troyes : club de football américain de division 2 ;
 le PLAVB (Troyes) : club de volley-ball de régional 1 ;
 le SUMA (Troyes) : club de motoball (l'un des plus titrés de France), évoluant au niveau de l'élite depuis les années 1930 ;
 le Troyes roller hockey : club de roller hockey évoluant en national 2 ;
 les Espadons (Troyes) : club de baseball évoluant en régional 1 ;
 l'Association Romilly Sports 10 : qui regroupe de multiples sections.

Médias 
Hebdomadaire

Il existe La Revue agricole de l'Aube, dont la première parution date du 10 janvier 1902. Cet hebdomadaire traite de l'information rurale, agricole et viticole du département de l'Aube. Son siège est à Troyes.

Radio 
À Troyes, trois radios locales indépendantes sont diffusées :
 Radio Latitude : qui diffuse une programmation axée sur le son dancefloor. Cette dernière est la première radio locale du département. Elle émet sur Troyes, Romilly-sur-Seine et Vendeuvre-sur-Barse ;
 Thème Radio : radio associative diffusant de la musique et les flashs infos de RFI ;
 Radio campus Troyes : radio musicale orientée rock et parfois rap.

À Romilly-sur-Seine en plus de Radio Latitude, une radio locale indépendante est diffusée, il s'agit de Radio Aube et Seine.

RCF Aube est également implantée dans le département.

Télévision 
 Canal 32 : chaîne de télévision locale de Troyes et de son département.
 France 3 Champagne-Ardenne

Quotidiens

Justice 
Toutes les juridictions auboises se situent à Troyes. La ville dispose d'un tribunal d'instance et de grande instance, d'un tribunal de commerce et d'un conseil des prud'hommes pour les juridictions civiles ainsi que d'un tribunal correctionnel, une cour d'assises et un tribunal pour enfants.

En revanche, chaque appel se fait devant la cour d'appel de Reims.

Sécurité 
Le service départemental d'incendie et de secours de l'Aube (SDIS 10) dispose de  d'incendie et de secours dont le plus gros est le centre de secours principal (CSP) de Troyes qui réalise plus de  annuelles. De plus environ  disposent de leur propre corps de sapeurs-pompiers communal qui intervient en première intervention sur leur commune.

Le service d'aide médical urgent de l'Aube (SAMU 10) dispose quant à lui de trois services mobiles d'urgence et de réanimation basés à Troyes (avec deux équipes médicales H24), à Romilly-sur-Seine (une équipe médicale H24) et à Bar-sur-Aube (une équipe médicale H24).

Gestion des déchets 
L'Aube accueille actuellement deux centres de stockage de déchets radioactifs :
 le centre de stockage de l'Aube, un centre de stockage de déchets de faible et moyenne activité (CSFMA) ;
 le centre de stockage de Morvilliers, un centre de stockage de déchets de très faible activité (CSTFA).

Culture et patrimoine

Lieux culturels

Théâtres et concerts 
 Le Cube, dans le Parc des Expositions de Troyes
 Théâtre de Champagne
 Théâtre de la Madeleine
 Espace Argence

Cinéma 

Les quatre principales salles de cinéma sont :
 Le CGR à Troyes
 Le Vagabond à Bar-sur-Aube
 Lumière à Nogent-sur-Seine
 Cinéma Eden à Romilly-sur-Seine

Festivités culturelles 

 Festival en Othe.
Court en Scène, festival international du court métrage
 Manifestation Aube Templiers 2012
 Foire de Champagne
 Troyes Décibels Festival

Gastronomie 

 L'andouillette de Troyes ;
 Le barberey ;
 Le cacibel ;
 Le champagne de Montgueux et de la Côte des Bar ;
 Le chaource ;
 Le chocolat des établissements Jacquot (groupe Cémoi) ;
 La choucroute de Brienne-le-Château ;
 Le cidre du Pays d'Othe ;
 La prunelle de Troyes ;
 Le rosé des Riceys.

Lieux historiques et monuments 

Le patrimoine aubois possède 365 monuments historiques dont 144 sont classés, et .

Châteaux 
 Château de La Motte-Tilly
 Château de Bligny
 Château de Droupt-Saint-Basle
 Château de Barberey-Saint-Sulpice
 Château de Brienne

Musées

Autres lieux historiques 
 Abbaye de Clairvaux
 Abbaye Saint-Loup de Troyes
 Monastère Notre-Dame-de-la-Sainte-Espérance
 Hôtel de Marisy
 Hôtel de ville de Troyes
 Hôtel de préfecture de l'Aube

Lieux touristiques 

 Parc naturel régional de la forêt d'Orient
 Lac d'Orient
 Lacs Amance et du Temple
 Nigloland : parc d'attraction situé à Dolancourt

Personnalités liées au département

Énergies renouvelables 
L'Aube figure parmi les départements qui développent la production d'électricité d'origine renouvelable par l'intermédiaire notamment de parcs éoliens. Au , elle compte deux-cents éoliennes d'une puissance totale de . Trois parcs sont en cours de construction.

En 2014, la région Champagne-Ardenne comprend  en service d'une puissance totale de .

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 Théophile Boutiot, Dictionnaire topographique du département de l'Aube, Impr. nationale, 1874 
 Alphonse Roserot, Dictionnaire historique de la Champagne méridionale (Aube) des origines à 1790, Langres, Imprimerie Champenoise, 1942.

Articles connexes 
 Conseil départemental de l'Aube
 Liste des communes de l'Aube et des anciennes communes de l'Aube
 Liste de films tournés dans le département de l'Aube
 Liste des cavités naturelles les plus longues de l'Aube
 Liste des églises de l'Aube

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 
 Conseil départemental de l'Aube
 Préfecture de l'Aube

L'Aude (prononcé ) est un département français de la région Occitanie, qui se situe dans le Sud de la France. Sa préfecture est Carcassonne, ville médiévale fortifiée de 47 000 habitants, mais sa plus grande ville est Narbonne, qui a .

Le nom vient du fleuve l'Aude. L'Insee et la Poste lui attribuent le code 11.

Histoire

Les premiers humains 
Des traces de la présence humaine, sous forme de percuteurs et d'outils travaillés datant d'environ 1 500 000 ans av. J.-C., sont trouvées dans le département sur la butte de Grazailles, à Carcassonne.

Cependant, la découverte la plus intéressante est celle du crâne de l'homme de Tautavel faite par Henry de Lumley dans la commune de Tautavel dans le département voisin des Pyrénées-Orientales. Il s'agit du plus vieux crâne connu en Europe, datant d'environ   L'"homme" de Tautavel vivait vraisemblablement dans toute la région.

La période gallo-romaine 
Les Romains, dirigés par le général-consul Domitius Ahenorbarbus, s'installent tout d'abord à Narbonne en 118 , sur l'oppidum de Montlaurès, qui devient la capitale de la province et un port marchand très actif. L'emplacement est stratégique puisqu'il se situe au carrefour de la Via Aquitania et d'une antique voie existante, la  Voie Héracléenne, ainsi qu'en bord de mer et près de l'embouchure de l'Aude. Carcassonne devient latine en 30  avec de nombreuses exploitations agricoles céréalières. Pendant près de deux siècles, l'Aude est en paix et l'économie de la région se développe très fortement.

Diverses occupations 
Les Wisigoths envahissent le pays en 435 alors que Flavius Aétius, sénateur romain, était occupé à réprimer les bagaudes, des brigands de la Gaule. En 507,  Clovis remporte la bataille de Vouillé face aux Wisigoths, ce qui lui permet de conquérir Toulouse et l'Aquitaine mais il ne peut récupérer le territoire de l'Aude qui reste aux mains des Wisigoths grâce au secours du roi des Ostrogoths, dont les troupes battent le fils du conquérant franc en 508. La région faisait alors partie de la Septimanie, province ainsi appelée parce qu'elle se composait de sept évêchés que les rois wisigoths y avaient établis : Elne, Agde, Narbonne, Lodève, Béziers, Maguelonne et Nîmes. La Septimanie recouvrait l'Aude mais aussi toute la région du Languedoc-Roussillon.

Mise en place des comtés 
En 817, Louis le Débonnaire détache le Carcassès et le Razès de la Septimanie pour les réunir au marquisat de Toulouse et au royaume d'Aquitaine. Le premier comte de Carcassonne, Oliba, de la famille des comtes de Barcelone, est alors mis en place en 819. Le Razès était un autre comté formé par un archevêque de Narbonne, chassé de sa ville par les Sarrasins. Il y avait transporté son siège épiscopal et avait procuré à ce petit pays les honneurs du titre féodal. Narbonne forme un troisième comté. Ainsi, le département de l'Aude était formé au  de trois comtés : le comté de Carcassonne, le comté du Razès et le comté de Narbonne. En 880, le comté du Razès est uni par un mariage à celui de Carcassonne pour n'en être plus jamais séparé.

À partir du comté de Carcassonne est créé le comté de Foix pour la branche cadette de la famille. À partir du comté de Foix est créé la vicomté de Couserans.

Le catharisme dans l'Aude 
Au , la région connaît le développement du catharisme. Cette religion fut très vite jugée comme hérétique par l’Église catholique. Face à son implantation profonde dans les comtés de Carcassonne et de Toulouse, le pape Innocent III lance en 1209 la croisade contre les albigeois. Les barons du nord s’unissent pour former l’armée des chevaliers croisés sous les ordres de Simon de Montfort. Tandis que le comte de Toulouse, Raymond VI, reçoit l’absolution, le comte de Carcassonne affronte seul l’armée. Carcassonne devient le refuge de nombreux cathares.

La Réforme protestante et l’expansion économique du département 
En 1561, des troubles religieux apparaissent en particulier à Carcassonne à la suite de la Réforme protestante. Le duc Henri  de Montmorency, gouverneur du Languedoc, rejoint les réformés en 1574. Côté catholique, c’est le duc Anne de Joyeuse qui prend la tête de la ligue catholique. Henri II de Montmorency, est défait lors de la bataille de Castelnaudary en septembre 1632 contre les troupes royales, puis condamné à mort et exécuté à Toulouse.

La création du département 

Le département est créé à la Révolution française, le , en application de la loi du , à partir d'une partie de l'ancienne province du Languedoc. Les députés des trois sénéchaussées de Carcassonne, Limoux et Castelnaudary s’accordaient pour réclamer des changements quel que soit l’ordre auquel ils appartenaient. La majorité des sociétés populaires créées dans les communes furent rattachées au Club des Jacobins, de préférence au Club des Cordeliers. Le département de l’Aude apparut le 29 janvier 1790. Les divisions administratives furent modifiées par la loi du 28 pluviôse an VIII, qui créa quatre arrondissements (Raymond Poincaré les réduisit à trois en 1926) et ramena le nombre de cantons de 45 à 31.

L'Aude connaît une forte production viticole tandis que les céréales du Lauragais éprouvent de grandes difficultés. Mais, le département subit la surproduction et la mévente du vin. En 1907, sous l’impulsion de Marcelin Albert et du maire de Narbonne, Ernest Ferroul, la crise viticole se transforme en révolte des vignerons. Cela se traduit par la création à partir de 1909 de nombreuses caves coopératives audoises.

Le , la région Languedoc-Roussillon, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec la région Midi-Pyrénées pour devenir la nouvelle région administrative Occitanie. 

Dans la nuit du 14 au , le département est touché par des inondations sans précédent qui font gonfler les cours d'eau de 8m et noyant au moins . À l’avenir, le réchauffement climatique devrait entrainer un renforcement des très fortes pluies et des crues éclair dans le sud de la France.

Héraldique

Géographie 

L’Aude fait partie de la région Occitanie. Elle est limitrophe des départements des Pyrénées-Orientales au sud, de l’Ariège à l'ouest, de la Haute-Garonne au nord-ouest, du Tarn au nord et de l’Hérault au nord-est. À l’est, le département est bordé par la Méditerranée (golfe du Lion) sur . Sa superficie est de , ce qui le classe au  des départements français. L’Aude est aussi un département pyrénéen dont le point culminant est le pic de Madrès à .

Points extrêmes du département de l'Aude :
 nord : Laprade ;
 sud : Le Bousquet ;
 est : Fleury ;
 ouest : Molandier.

Régions naturelles 

Dans ce département se trouvent des pays qui sont des régions naturelles :
 Lauragais ;
 Montagne Noire ;
 Cabardès ;
 Carcassonnais ;
 Razès ;
 Quercorb ;
 Pays de Sault ;
 Minervois ;
 Corbières ;
 Narbonnais.

Paysages 
Chaque région naturelle de l’Aude est marquée par un paysage particulier. Ainsi, dans l'Est, la lagune et les étangs du littoral forment une barrière littorale entre les terres et la mer. Ils se sont formés par l’accumulation des sédiments apportés par l’Aude, l’Orb et l’Hérault. Ce paysage est constitué de nombreux étangs où l’eau est saumâtre. Le milieu est assez contraignant pour la faune et la flore car il doit subir les assauts de la mer, du soleil, du dessèchement et des inondations. S’y sont développées des plantes halophiles et c’est le lieu privilégié des animaux comme le flamant rose ou l’échasse blanche.

Plus à l'ouest, dans les terres, le maquis et la garrigue dominent le paysage des zones sèches de l’Aude et des Corbières. Ce paysage est issu du déboisement et était entretenu par l’élevage des animaux. La flore y est variée et typique. On y retrouve de nombreuses espèces d’orchidées. Le pays de Sault est dominé par des hêtraies et des sapinières à l’étage montagnard. Ces forêts sont réputées par leurs champignons et détiennent une flore et une faune riche comme le lis des Pyrénées ou la prêle des bois. On y observe aussi Calotriton asper.

Dans le Nord et dans l’Ouest, le pays de la montagne Noire est constitué de forêts de chênes et de hêtres. Le lauragais est constituée d’un paysage de bocage où l’agriculture céréalière façonne les collines. On y trouve des plans d’eau comme le lac de la Ganguise. Enfin, la haute vallée de l’Aude (Razès) est formée d’une ripisylve constituée de hêtres, aulnes, peupliers ou frênes. On y trouve quelques tourbières, assez rares dans le Sud de la France.

Géologie 

Les paysages de l'Aude peuvent s’expliquer grâce à la géologie. Dans le Sud se trouvent des roches sédimentaires plissées lors de la formation des Pyrénées. Dans le Nord et le Centre se trouvent des roches sédimentaires moins plissées. Dans l’extrême Est, près de la Méditerranée, les roches sont entaillées de failles d'effondrement (faille normale) qui sont dues à l'ouverture du golfe du Lion.

La montagne Noire et le Minervois, dans le Nord, sont constitués de gneiss, de granites, de schistes et de marbre constituant la limite sud du Massif central. Ce sont des roches anciennes formées il y a plus de 300 millions d’années et déformées par la formation de la chaîne hercynienne. La montagne d'Alaric est un pli anticlinal en forme de voûte et constitué de calcaire.

Il est à noter que l'Aude est le seul département du pays à être adossé sur deux massifs montagneux à la fois.

Climat 
Le climat de l’Aude est un climat à dominante méditerranéenne. L’automne est caractérisé par des orages violents et rapides. L’été est souvent chaud et sec ce qui est favorable à la culture de la vigne et de l’olivier.

Mais le département est plus contrasté. Dans le Nord, la montagne Noire, et dans le Sud, le pays de Sault, sont des climats à dominante montagnarde avec des températures parfois très basses en hiver. Dans l’Ouest, le climat est à dominante aquitaine avec des précipitations plus importantes tandis que dans l'Est le climat est purement méditerranéen. Dans le centre — régions limouxine, carcassonnaise et du Razès – le climat est dit intermédiaire avec des expositions importantes aux vents.

Les vents sont souvent présents dans l’Aude. C’est l’un des départements français les plus venteux avec 300 à 350 jours de vent par an. Ce phénomène est essentiellement dû aux reliefs nord et sud qui forment un couloir. Du nord-ouest souffle le cers, appelé tramontane en Catalogne ou mistral en Provence. C’est un vent de terre, sec, violent et froid en hiver. De l'est souffle le marin qui devient l’autan au-delà de Castelnaudary et en pays toulousain. Il est chaud et humide et provient de la mer. Ces vents réguliers ont permis d’installer de nombreux parcs d’éoliennes.

Hydrographie 
Le réseau hydrographique de l’Aude est marqué par son fleuve du même nom. Il prend sa source au roc d'Aude, traverse les barrages de Matemale et Puyvalador sur le plateau du Capcir à , puis traverse le département du sud au nord en passant par Axat, Quillan et Limoux en suivant la haute vallée de l’Aude. À Carcassonne, le fleuve change de direction vers la mer Méditerranée à l’est, où il se jette près de Fleury. L'embouchure de l'Aude se trouve au petit hameau des Cabanes de Fleury, où lors des crues la plage se trouve recouverte de bois et de déchets plastiques et autres de la société moderne...

Les autres cours d'eau principaux sont l'Orbieu, le Verdouble, le Fresquel, la Boulzane, l'Hers-Vif, l'Orbiel, la Berre, l'Hers-Mort et la Vixiège.

Économie 

Le secteur primaire tenait une place importante dans le département de l’Aude. Mais depuis les années 1960, ce dernier est en déclin.

Agriculture et pêche 

L’Aude est un pays agricole où la viticulture domine dans l’Est avec les vins de Corbières ou de la Clape, dans le centre avec le Minervois et les côtes de Malepère et dans le Sud avec la blanquette de Limoux. Dans le Lauragais, c’est l’agriculture céréalière qui domine tandis que dans la Montagne Noire seul l’élevage de moutons est possible. De plus, on observe depuis peu une augmentation de la culture d’oliviers en vue de produire de l’huile d'olive.

Port-la-Nouvelle est le premier port de pêche du département suivi du port de Gruissan. En 1996, l’Aude comptait 127 navires de pêche dont 75 à Port-la-Nouvelle et 52 à Gruissan. Ces navires se répartissaient comme suit :
 chalutiers : 19 à Port-la-Nouvelle ;
 thoniers : 2 à Port-la-Nouvelle ;
 petits métiers : 106 dont 54 à Port-La-Nouvelle et 52 à Gruissan.
Les petits métiers correspondent à des embarcations de type barque avec un seul homme pêchant en étang ou des embarcations de type vedette pêchant au large des côtes et emmenant au maximum trois personnes. 85 % des embarcations de petits métiers sont destinées à la pêche en étang (de Bages et de Sigean, de Leucate, de l'Ayrolle) comme dans l’étang de Thau.

Viticulture 
La viticulture est la première économie du département. Les terroirs de l’Aude sont variés et de caractère. La viticulture a connu ses heures de gloire mais aussi de grandes difficultés. Aujourd’hui, elle s’est adaptée et doit encore s’adapter à un marché difficile et changeant. Ce sont les Grecs qui implantent la vigne dans l'Aude et les Romains qui fixent les droits d’exploitation. Les premières vignes sont plantées dans le Minervois au .

Mais la vigne et le vin ne sont produits que pour un usage courant et d’autosuffisance pendant des années. Les céréales et les oliviers dominaient les plaines fertiles de l’Aude. C’est au début du  que le vin se développe dans l’Aude et le reste du Languedoc-Roussillon. Le vin devient un produit de consommation courante. Les rendements sont nécessaires et la vigne remplace les céréales dans les plaines. Une première période de prospérité est importante vers 1850 avant que le phylloxera fasse son apparition vers 1870. À la fin du , l’Aude connaît une deuxième période faste mais la crise viticole se déclenche en 1901 à cause d’une production importante, de fraudes et de méventes. Elle atteint son paroxysme lors de la révolte des vignerons en 1907. Les viticulteurs créent alors un groupement de coopérants et s’organisent pour éviter les fraudes et la tromperie. En 1919 puis en 1935, une loi sur les AOC est adoptée sous l’impulsion de Jean Capus. L’INAO est dès lors mis en place comme organisme de contrôle et d’applications de décrets.

Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le vignoble est redynamisé et la région vit d’une viticulture de masse. Le vin est produit en grande quantité et satisfait une population peu exigeante. Il faut fournir un produit en grande quantité à très bas prix. En 1970, le marché a évolué remplaçant la quantité par la qualité et provoquant une seconde crise viticole. De nombreuses manifestations, négociations et attentats paralysent la région et l’économie. Émile Pouytès et le CRS Joël le Gof meurent tragiquement à Montredon-des-Corbières le 4 mars 1976 durant cette crise. Une large évolution de la viticulture audoise se met en marche avec une réorganisation de la profession et du vignoble. La qualité doit alors devenir la marque du vin de l’Aude.

L’Aude a un terroir riche et varié. Le soleil est très présent et permet de produire un vin de qualité. De nombreux crus sont présents dans le département allant des vins de table aux AOCS en passant par les vins de pays et les VDQS. On distingue sept zones principales de production :
 le vignoble du Cabardès (1) ;
 le vignoble des Corbières (6) ;
 le vignoble des Côtes de la Malepère près de Carcassonne (2) ;
 le vignoble des Coteaux-du-Languedoc dans la plaine du Narbonnais (5) ;
 le vignoble de Fitou (7) ;
 le vignoble de Limoux (3) ;
 et le vignoble du Minervois (4).

Ces zones produisent différents vins comme la blanquette de Limoux, le crémant et chardonnay du Limouxin, la Clape, les Corbières, le Fitou ou le Cabardès.

Industrie et énergie 
L’activité industrielle est fortement représentée dans la haute vallée de l’Aude surtout dans l’arrondissement de Limoux depuis la fin du . Aujourd’hui encore, l’usine de brique (groupe Lafarge) de Limoux est en pleine expansion.

Mais depuis les années 1970, l’industrie connaît un rapide déclin des industries traditionnelles comme la chaussure ou le chapeau. Elle est surtout présente aujourd’hui dans l’arrondissement de Narbonne, notamment avec les installations portuaires et les dépôts pétroliers de Port-la-Nouvelle.

À partir de 1889, la haute vallée de l’Aude connaît un essor important de l’hydroélectricité. Elle fut même le premier département dans le transport et la production d’hydroélectricité grâce aux usines d’Alet et de Quillan. Sous l’impulsion de Joachim Estrade fut créée la Société méridionale de transport de force (SMTF) qui devient la première société d’électricité en France en 1901. L’usine d’Axat-Saint-Georges alimentait les villes de Carcassonne et de Narbonne avec du .

Aujourd’hui, le département de l’Aude est le premier département en ce qui concerne le nombre d’éoliennes installées. Il existe  en fonctionnement. Elles ont une puissance d'environ  et produisent une quantité d'énergie qui représente la consommation domestique d’électricité d’environ . Avec la multiplication de ces installations, la préfecture cherche à mettre en place en concertation avec tous les acteurs (habitants, industriels…) une charte de bonne conduite sur l'éolien.

Toujours dans le domaine de l'énergie, EDF a implanté la plus grande centrale photovoltaïque d'Europe vers Moussan, pas loin de l'usine Comurhex, usine stratégique pour l'industrie nucléaire puisqu'elle transforme le carburant nucléaire.

L'Aude est aussi le siège d'entreprises comme Lafarge (Port-la-Nouvelle), Terreal (Castelnaudary), Actis (Limoux), Formica (Quillan), Arterris (Castelnaudary), Braas Monier (Limoux), Salins du Midi (Gruissan), Narbonne Accessoires (Narbonne), Socamil (Castelnaudary), Jean de Bru (Carcassonne), Minilampe (Carcassonne), Chipie (Carcassonne), Ateliers d'Occitanie (Narbonne), etc.

Artisanat 
L'artisanat est très bien représenté dans l'Aude. Il occupe plus de 14,6 % de la population active. Il représente  dans  qui réalisent un chiffre d’affaires de trois milliards de francs.

Démographie 

Les habitants de l'Aude sont les Audois. Le recensement de 1990 confirme une croissance de la population de l'Aude depuis les années 1960 avec environ  de plus par an. Cette croissance s'explique par le retour des retraités de plus de  dans leur région d'origine et par l'arrivée d'une population immigrée issue du bassin méditerranéen.

 La population est essentiellement rurale avec une densité de  soit deux fois moins que la moyenne nationale. Les deux villes principales, Carcassonne et Narbonne, sont des villes moyennes regroupant seulement un tiers des habitants du département.

Communes les plus peuplées

Population 
 Commune la plus peuplée : Narbonne ( en )
 Commune la moins peuplée : Caunette-sur-Lauquet ( en )

Superficie 
 Commune la plus étendue : Narbonne ()
 Commune la moins étendue : Gramazie ()

Transport 

Deux grands axes routiers traversent le département de l'Aude. De l'ouest à l'est, l'autoroute des Deux Mers ou A61 permet de rejoindre Toulouse et Narbonne en passant par la préfecture de l'Aude, Carcassonne. Du nord au sud, en suivant la côte méditerranéenne, l'autoroute A9 permet de rejoindre l'Espagne vers le sud et Montpellier vers le nord.

Le réseau ferré suit le même trajet que le réseau routier. Il est constitué d'un réseau à faible vitesse mais un projet de construction d'une ligne à grande vitesse est en cours pour rejoindre l'Espagne dans le cadre du réseau ferroviaire transeuropéen (RTE).

Enfin, l'Aude est traversée par le canal du Midi qui est un axe fluvial majeur touristique permettant de passer de l'océan Atlantique à la mer Méditerranée. Il pénètre à l'ouest dans l'Aude au niveau du seuil de Naurouze puis rejoint la Méditerranée au niveau de Sète.

L'Aude est aussi un point d'échange à l'international avec le port de commerce de Port-la-Nouvelle.

Politique 

La population de l'Aude exprime des opinions royalistes jusqu’à la fin de la Restauration. En 1830, les idées républicaines progressent et feront de ce département un bastion de la gauche. Cette progression est symbolisée par deux hommes : Armand Barbès et Théophile Marcou. Armand Barbès apparaît comme le symbole du combat pour une République démocratique sociale.

C'est dans l'Aude que François Mitterrand réalisa son meilleur score lors de l'élection présidentielle de 1981 avec un peu plus de 63 % des voix.

Après avoir offert 19,81% à Jean-Marie Le Pen au premier tour de l'élection présidentielle de 2002, le département évolue progressivement vers l'extrême droite dans les années 2000 et 2010, jusqu'à accorder une majorité en voix à Marine Le Pen au second tour des élections présidentielles françaises de 2022 et faire élire trois députés RN aux élections législatives de la même année. 

 Liste des députés de l'Aude
 Liste des sénateurs de l'Aude
 Liste des conseillers généraux de l'Aude
 Liste des préfets de l'Aude

Éducation 
Le département de l'Aude compte 367 établissements dans le premier degré, ce qui représente  en 2005. Entre 2000 et 2006, les effectifs du primaire ont régulièrement augmenté passant de  à . Dans le secondaire, le département décompte 31 collèges et 17 lycées publics et privés pour environ  en 2006.

Culture

Fêtes et traditions 

Le carnaval de Limoux est la fête du pays audois qui se déroule durant plus de dix semaines. C'est l'un des plus longs carnavals du monde. Il se déroule dans la ville de Limoux sur la place de la République tous les weekends de mi-janvier à fin mars. Il se caractérise par des bandes en costumes de pierrot (les fécos) accompagnés de musiciens.

Dans la région limouxine, une fête de la gastronomie, Toques et clochers organisée par les vignerons du Sieur d'Arques, se déroule le weekend des Rameaux. Elle permet de vendre une grande quantité de vins afin de restaurer le patrimoine local.

L'été voit Narbonne s'animer avec ses Tempos d'Eté.

La Saint-Pierre, la fête des pêcheurs, est très vivace à Leucate et à Gruissan. Dans cette dernière commune, la Saint-Pierre s'accompagne d'un pèlerinage à Notre-Dame des Auzils.

Autre pèlerinage, celui de Notre-Dame de Marceille, en l'honneur de la Vierge du Dimanche.

Le Festival de Carcassonne est un rendez-vous éclectique chaque été dans la ville de Carcassonne : variété, théâtre, danse, opéra, musiques actuelles, musiques traditionnelles...

Le festival Voix d'étoiles à Port Leucate est un festival international des voix du cinéma d'animation.

Carcassonne voit aussi l'embrasement de la Cité à chaque quatorze juillet.

D'une façon plus littéraire, l'Aude est aussi liée au mystère entourant le trésor de l'abbé Saunière, et au sermon du Curé de Cucugnan. Les Banquets du Livre de Lagrasse attirent chaque année des rencontres littéraires et philosophiques.

L'Aude des chanteurs et musiciens, les plus connus étant Charles Trenet, Olivia Ruiz, et René Coll.

Sport 
Le rugby à XV est un sport très pratiqué dans l'Aude. Il apparaît dès le début du  et le club U.S.Quillan domine la fin des années 1920. Jean Bourrel remporte le titre en 1929 face à Lézignan. L'équipe de Carcassonne sera leader après la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Puis ce sera le Racing Club Narbonnais, champion de France en 1936 et 1979, détenteur de neuf Challenge Yves du Manoir et finaliste du Bouclier européen 2001. Mais depuis peu, le rugby à XV audois a du mal à s'imposer dans un sport qui s'est mondialisé et professionnalisé. L'équipe de Carcassonne (Union Sportive Carcassonnaise) et de Narbonne (Racing-Club-Narbonne-Méditerranée) évoluent tout de même dans le championnat de Pro D2.

L'Aude est la terre du rugby à XIII et les équipes de Limoux, Carcassonne et Lézignan évoluent dans l'élite. Puig-Aubert était un joueur emblématique du rugby à treize qui jouait à l'AS Carcassonne.

Le volley-ball est très présent dans l'Aude : le Narbonne Volley-Ball évolue en ProA et le Gruissan Volley Ball (Nationale II) est réputé pour ses nombreux titres chez les jeunes filles.

Chaque 15 août, dans la ville de Quillan s'organise un critérium cycliste, le critérium cycliste de Quillan. C'est le plus ancien des critériums cyclistes.

Le tour de l'Aude féminin est un des événements cyclistes féminins les plus importants. Il a lieu généralement au mois de mai. Il fait partie des trois étapes de la Coupe du Monde cycliste avec le Tour de France et le Tour d'Italie.

Le Mondial du vent, compétition nautique regroupant les kitesurfeurs, a lieu chaque année à Leucate-La Franqui.

En 1993, l'Aude a accueilli plusieurs épreuves des Jeux Méditerranéens : rugby, football, handball, canoé-kayak, voile. Depuis cette date, l'équipe de France de natation synchronisée s'entraîne à Narbonne et l'équipe de France de canoé-kayak utilise les infrastructures d'Axat.

Gastronomie 

Emblème de la gastronomie locale, le cassoulet de Castelnaudary fait à base de haricots blancs et de charcuterie est le plat typique du Lauragais audois. Le fréginat (plat traditionnel des Corbières), est présent dans tous les villages et les campagnes de ces montagnes. C'est une fricassée à base de viande de porc et de haricots blancs (lingots de Castelnaudary), le tout parfumé aux herbes de garrigue. Sur le littoral audois, la borrida d'anguilles est un plat de choix.

D'autres spécialités comme les huîtres de Gruissan et de Leucate ou la Pescajoune sont partie intégrante du patrimoine gastronomique local. L'huile d'olive est aussi un produit très répandu dans l'Aude et a fait la spécialité de Bize-Minervois. La carthagène est un vin de liqueur commercialisé par quelques producteurs. L'hypocras, un breuvage médiéval, est notamment produit dans les Corbières. Enfin, la blanquette de Limoux est un vin blanc pétillant très apprécié dans le département, dont l'origine remonte au . C'est d'ailleurs le plus vieux vin pétillant connu, bien avant le champagne.

Langue occitane 
La langue occitane est parlée dans l'Aude dans sa variante languedocienne. Le nom du département se dit Aude (pr. ['awde]) en occitan.

Dans l'Aude, l'occitan est très peu utilisé de façon écrite avant le , mais plusieurs poètes et troubadours comme Raimon de Miraval utilisent la langue fondée sur l'amour courtois au  et au . Aux , l'occitan est utilisé pour rédiger les écrits administratifs locaux. Au , la langue d'oc est moins utilisée au profit de la langue du roi, le français, dont l'utilisation est rendue obligatoire par l'édit de Villers-Cotterêts en 1539. Elle survit cependant très bien dans la population jusqu'au  et l'instauration de l'école publique et obligatoire en français.

D'après Abel Hugo, en 1835, la langue française était en usage dans les villes du département, mais on y parlait aussi communément le languedocien. Cet idiome était à l'époque celui des habitants des campagnes, qui pour la plupart, n'entendaient pas le français. Il y a même quelques petites villes où les prêtres, comme dans les villages, prêchaient en dialecte.

Dans les années 1970 et 1980, de nouvelles revendications apparaissent avec le combat pour la dignité de la langue et son enseignement. Le discours occitaniste touche un public élargi et des chanteurs comme Claudi Marti ou Mans de Brèish ou La Sauze prônent l'utilisation de l'occitan.

Tourisme 

L'Aude est un département touristique possédant un patrimoine culturel important et des sites naturels très variés. Depuis les années 1990, l'Aude a développé l'attrait de son territoire en misant sur le développement de la publicité autour du catharisme. L'Aude a ainsi été nommé Pays Cathare par le Conseil Général afin de marquer le caractère authentique et mystérieux du département, notamment avec ses nombreux châteaux cathares.

Le tourisme est aussi favorisé grâce à un parc hôtelier toutes catégories de  disponibles à l’année. L'Aude estime sa fréquentation touristique à  en 2014 pour un chiffre d’affaires de  permettant d'occuper  directs et  saisonniers.

Dans un secteur très limité de la vallée de l'Orbiel, le département a eu ponctuellement des problèmes de pollution à cause de ses mines d'or désaffectées (mercure et arsenic).

Patrimoine architectural et urbain de l’Aude 
L'Aude possède une quinzaine de bastides, construites après le traité de Meaux en 1229, lorsque la région est rattachée à la couronne capétienne. La bastide est un type d'urbanisation basé sur un quadrillage créé d'un seul jet et placé sur un site nouveau sans construction. Le but de telles constructions est d'affaiblir les seigneurs locaux et d'attirer la population vers de nouveaux centres économiques. Ces bastides entrent en concurrence avec les villages castraux centrés sur un pouvoir ecclésiastique ou seigneurial. Chalabre, Camps-sur-l'Agly, bastide Saint-Louis à Carcassonne sont des exemples de bastides de l'Aude.

Le département possède de nombreux châteaux qui sont mis en valeur par le conseil départemental de l'Aude afin de stimuler le tourisme. Les forteresses sont souvent situées sur des pitons rocheux, comme le château de Quéribus ou les châteaux de Lastours, leur donnant une position stratégique. La cité de Carcassonne était le centre logistique du pays lors des conflits avec le royaume d'Aragon.

De nombreuses abbayes sont dispersées dans le département de l'Aude. Les plus connues sont l'abbaye de Fontfroide, l'abbaye Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, l'abbaye de Caunes-Minervois, l'abbaye Sainte-Marie de Villelongue ou l'abbaye de Saint-Hilaire.

La cathédrale Saint-Just-et-Saint-Pasteur est une cathédrale gothique remarquable et inachevée. C'est un des symboles de la présence française en terre du Languedoc au Moyen Âge.

Spéléologie 
L'Aude détient de nombreuses cavités naturelles et souterraines propices à la spéléologie. Le pays de Sault est constitué de calcaire, l'une des plus vastes zones des Pyrénées, favorables à la formation de cavités. On y trouve de nombreux barrenc le nom local pour les gouffres. Ce plateau abrite notamment une grotte le TM71 qui est une superbe cavité classé comme réserve naturelle depuis 1987. C'est un cas unique en France.

D'autres cavités naturelles de l'Aude contiennent des concrétions comme le gouffre de Cabrespine, la grotte d'Aguzou ou la grotte de Limousis. Cette dernière contient le plus gros bloc d'aragonite découvert. Dans le massif des Corbières, sur le plateau de Lacamp, se trouvent des cavités particulières formées de roches détritiques (marnes, argiles et poudingues) creusées par l'érosion.

Sports d'hiver et montagne 
La station de ski de Camurac dans les Pyrénées audoises, accueille les amateurs de ski alpin, de raquettes et de randonnée dans une ambiance familiale et contribue à l'économie de tout le Pays de Sault. Camurac est aussi une station verte avec de nombreuses activités de pleine nature. En suivant le sentier cathare qui traverse les gorges de la Frau, le château de Montségur est à quelques kilomètres. Le célèbre village de Montaillou est voisin de Camurac. Les nombreux hébergements touristiques du plateau de Sault accueillent vacanciers et visiteurs.

Les résidences secondaires 

Selon le recensement général de la population du  janvier 2008, 26,5 % des logements disponibles dans le département étaient des résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l'Aude dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

 Source Insee, chiffres au 01/01/2008.

L'Aude dans l'art

Au cinéma 

Toute la diversité du paysage, son authenticité et la singularité de ses monuments ont attiré de nombreux cinéastes. Ainsi, la cité de Carcassonne est le lieu de nombreux tournages. Le parfait état de cette cité offre en effet des décors rêvés pour les films historiques. En 1908, les cinéastes délaissent les décors sur toile et Louis Feuillade filme devant les tours de la cité pour le retour du croisé, serment de fiançailles ou la guitare enchantée. En 1924, des films à gros moyens sont produits comme Le Miracle des loups de Raymond Bernard. En 1928, pour le bimillénaire de la cité de Carcassonne, Jean Renoir réalise Le Tournoi dans la cité. En 1965, la cité de Carcassonne apparaît dans Le Corniaud de Gérard Oury. En 1968 Le Petit Baigneur de Robert Dhéry (avec Louis de Funès et Michel Galabru) est tourné aux Cabanes de Fleury (embouchure de l'Aude).

Plus récemment, le château comtal de la cité sert de décor pour Les Visiteurs de Jean-Marie Poiré en 1992 tandis que le château de Puivert est utilisé dans La Passion Béatrice de Bertrand Tavernier en 1987 et La Neuvième Porte de Roman Polanski en 1999. La plage de Gruissan est présente dans 37°2 le matin de Jean-Jacques Beineix.

Vu par les peintres 
Comme pour le cinéma, la cité de Carcassonne attira de grands peintres. Jacques Ourtal est celui qui peignit le plus la cité en essayant de reproduire la cité à différentes époques. Originaire de Fontiers-Cabardès, le peintre audois Eugène Pech a représenté de nombreuses fois des peintures de la cité aujourd’hui dispersées dans différentes collections publiques et privées. On peut tout de même retrouver les quatre époques de La Cité servant de décors pour L'Hôtel de la Cité.

Une autre artiste audoise, Marie-Louise Petiet, est connue pour sa retranscription de scènes de la vie populaire comme La marchande d'oranges ou La jeune fille aux oies. Plusieurs de ses œuvres sont visibles au musée Petiet de Limoux. Les blanchisseuses représentant une scène de leçon de blanchisserie est particulièrement remarquable et connu. Enfin, durant la même période, Paul Sibra peint de nombreux paysages de l'Aude avec des peintures des Corbières, du Lauragais, de Castelnaudary et des villages perchés sur des buttes.

Achille Laugé (1861 Arzens, 1944 Cailhau), incompris à cause de sa technique pointilliste, a su rendre l'éclosion du printemps, notamment avec les genêts et les amandiers en fleur.

Un autre artiste peintre, Lina Bill (Louis Bonnot), né à Gruissan en 1855 et mort à Avignon en 1936, a peint la Provence et la Méditerranée (musées de Narbonne, de Carcassonne, et musée d'Orsay à Paris).

Personnalités de l’Aude 

 Publius Terentius Varro Atacinus (82-37 ), poète épique romain
 Saint Prudent (), archidiacre de Narbonne et martyr
 Saint Sébastien (), martyr, d'après la légende, il serait un Gaulois narbonnais
 Ermengarde de Narbonne (1127-1196), vicomtesse de Narbonne
Raimond-Roger Trencavel (1185-1209), vicomte de Carcassonne et membres de la maison Trencavel, héros et de la croisade des albigeois.
 Fabre d'Eglantine (1750-1794), compositeur, acteur, dramaturge, et homme politique, guillotiné pendant la Terreur
Guillaume Peyrusse (1776-1860), trésorier général de la Couronne pendant les Cent-Jours, maire de Carcassonne
 Félix Barthe (1795-1863), ministre de l'Instruction publique et des Cultes, puis ministre de la Justice et premier président de la Cour des comptes.
 Ferdinand-Auguste Lapasset (Saint-Martin-de-Ré 1817, Toulouse 1875). Général de division français élu conseiller général du département.
 Charles Cros (1842-1888), poète et scientifique, il est à l'origine du procédé de la photographie couleur et du phonographe
 Marcelin Albert (1851-1921), figure de proue de la révolte des vignerons de 1907
Paul Sabatier (1854-1941), chimiste français, né à Carcassonne, Prix Nobel de chimie 1912
 Paul Combes (1858-1921), organiste et compositeur
 Prosper Montagné (1865-1948), chef cuisinier, auteur de nombreux ouvrages sur la gastronomie
 Louis Martrou (1866-1954), viticulteur et pionnier de la spéléologie en France
 Léon Blum (1872-1950), homme politique élu député puis président du Conseil en 1936.
 Henry de Monfreid (1879-1974), aventurier et écrivain, auteur de nombreux ouvrages dont Les Secrets de la mer rouge
 Loís Alibèrt (1884-1959) linguiste occitan, auteur notamment d'une grammaire, et accessoirement d'un dictionnaire, bases de la norme classique de l'occitan
 Benjamin Crémieux (1888-1944), écrivain, docteur ès lettres, mort en déportation à Buchenwald
 Pierre Reverdy (1889-1960), écrivain précurseur du surréalisme
 Joseph Delteil (1894-1978) écrivain originaire de Pieusse
 Joë Bousquet (1897-1950), poète et écrivain surréaliste
 René Iché (1897-1954), sculpteur moderne et résistant
 André Boyer-Mas (1904-1972), ecclésiastique et diplomate, né à Carcassonne
 Roger Peyrefitte (1907-2000), écrivain
 Georges Guille (1909-1985), homme politique de la SFIO, ancien ministre de l'énergie nucléaire, président du conseil général de l'Aude (1945-1948 et 1951-1976)
 Charles Trenet (1913-2001), chanteur et poète né à Narbonne
 Jean Cau (1925-1993), écrivain, éditorialiste, journaliste né à Bram, il fut le secrétaire de Jean-Paul Sartre
 Gérard Schivardi (1950-), maire de Mailhac, candidat à l'élection présidentielle française de 2007
 Olivia Ruiz (1980-), chanteuse née à Carcassonne
 Dimitri Szarzewski (1983-), talonneur de l'Équipe de France de rugby à XV
 Camille Lacourt (1985-), nageur né à Narbonne
 , célèbres joueurs de rugby à XV, ayant tous commencé leur carrière au RC Narbonne
 Didier Codorniou, ancien rugbyman international ayant joué au RC Narbonne et devenu maire de Gruissan.
 Amédée Domenech, ancien rugbyman international.
 Gaston Bonheur (Gaston Tesseyre) (1913-1980) né à Barbaira. Journaliste et romancier.
 Arnaud Beltrame (1973-2018), gendarme français.
 Albert Fert (1938-), physicien français, né à Carcassonne, Prix Nobel de physique 2007
Jean Guilaine (1936-), archéologue, né à Carcassonne, membre de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres.

Divers 
C'est dans l'Aude qu'a été créée la première radio occitane de la région Languedoc-Roussillon : Ràdio Lenga d'òc 95.5 FM.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 
 Les Couleurs de l'Aude d’André Authier et Jean-Philippe Vidal, édition les créations du Pélican 
 Claude-Joseph Trouvé, Description générale et statistique du département de l'Aude, Paris, Firmin Didot, Imprimeur du Roi, 1818, 679.p
 L’Aude de la préhistoire à nos jours (s. dir. De Jacques Crémadeilis), Saint-Jean-d’Angély, 1989, 430 p.
 Les Audois : dictionnaire biographique (s. dir. de Rémy Cazals et Daniel Fabre), Carcassonne, Association des Amis des Archives de l’Aude, Société d’études scientifiques de l’Aude, 1990, 347 p.
Deux siècles d'histoire préfectorale dans l'Aude (1800-2000), Carcassonne, Association pour la promotion des archives en Languedoc-Roussillon, 2000 
 Marcel Durliat, « L'art dans les pays de l'Aude », dans Congrès archéologique de France.  session. Pays de l'Aude. 1973, Société française d'archéologie, Paris, 1973, 
 Michel Gayraud, Narbonne antique des origines à la fin du . Paris, De Boccard, Revue archéologique de Narbonnaise, Supplément 8, 1981, 591 p.
Histoire de Carcassonne (s.dir de Jean Guilaine et Daniel Fabre), Toulouse, Privat, 2001, 324 p.
 Histoire de Narbonne (s. dir. de Jacques Michaud et André Cabanis), Toulouse, Privat, 2004, 330 p.
 Aude, pays cathare, collectif, Guides Gallimard, 2004
Michel Wiemin, Jean-Michel Périn, Le patrimoine industriel de l'Aude, Images du Patrimoine - Conseil départemental de l'Aude, 1998 
 Bilotte M. et Al., Géologie du département de l'Aude, Société d'études scientifiques de l'Aude, 1989
 Je t'écris de Carcassonne, de Claude Marti et Patrice Cartier, Du Mont, 2011
 
Henri Sivade, Armorial des communes du département de l'Aude, Carcassonne, Archives départementales de l'Aude, 1996 
Martial Andrieu, L'Aude en 200 questions, éditions Sutton, 2013, 
Claire Richard, Le guide de l'Aude, éditions La manufacture 1990,

Articles connexes 
 Conseil général de l'Aude
 Pays Cathare
 Liste des communes de l'Aude
Liste des églises de l'Aude
 Liste de films tournés dans l'Aude
 Volontaires nationaux de l'Aude pendant la Révolution
 Risque d'inondation dans l'Aude

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 Préfecture de l’Aude
 Conseil départemental de l’Aude

L'Aveyron () est un département français situé dans la région Occitanie, dans le sud-ouest de la France. Il doit son nom à la rivière Aveyron qui le traverse.

Il est au centre d'un triangle formé par les villes de Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand et Montpellier. Ce département reprend approximativement les contours de l'ancienne province du Rouergue.

L'Aveyron est l'un des plus grands départements de France métropolitaine par sa superficie (le cinquième avec , sixième si l'on tient compte de la Guyane). Les habitants de l'Aveyron sont les Aveyronnais.

Le département fait partie de l'académie de Toulouse et dépend de la cour d'appel de Montpellier. L'Insee et la Poste lui attribuent le code 12. Sa préfecture est Rodez.

Histoire 

Le département de l'Aveyron est créé en 1790 sur la majeure partie du territoire de l'ancienne province du Rouergue.

Ses premiers habitants connus sont les Rutènes à l'époque gauloise, mais le peuplement est beaucoup plus ancien (premier département de France pour le nombre de dolmens : plus de mille).

En 1808, le département est amputé du canton de Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val pour créer le département de Tarn-et-Garonne.

Au  la région Midi-Pyrénées, à laquelle appartenait le département, fusionne avec la région Languedoc-Roussillon pour devenir la nouvelle région administrative Occitanie.

Culture

Sous-dialecte régional 

Le dialecte régional parlé dans l'Aveyron est une forme d'occitan languedocien : le rouergat. Face au risque de disparition de celui-ci, plusieurs associations demandent à l'État et aux collectivités une politique linguistique ambitieuse.

En rouergat, Aveyron s'écrit :
 Avairon (orthographe classique de l'occitan). Roergue fòrma lo despartament de l'Avairon ;
 Oboyróu (orthographe de l'abbé Vayssier). Rouèrgue fouórmo lou desportomén de l'Oboyróu.

Politique

Géographie 

Le département de l'Aveyron se situe dans le Sud du Massif central. Son point le plus haut est situé près du lieu-dit les Cazalets, culminant à  sur les pentes occidentales du signal de Mailhebiau, sur le plateau de l'Aubrac. Découpé en plusieurs régions naturelles comme les Grands Causses ou le rougier de Camarès, ce département est constitué de hauts plateaux rocheux anciens d'une grande variété géologique. Les rivières Truyère, Lot, Aveyron et Tarn y taillent de profondes vallées.

Climat

Enseignement

Transports

Économie

Tourisme

Association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France 
Dix bourgs de l'Aveyron sont adhérents de l'association loi de 1901 Les Plus Beaux Villages de France :
 Belcastel
 Brousse-le-Château
 La Couvertoirade
 Conques
 Estaing
 Najac
 Peyre
 Saint-Côme-d'Olt
 Sainte-Eulalie-d'Olt
 Sauveterre-de-Rouergue

Autres lieux touristiques 
 Laissac : second marché aux bestiaux de France
 Roquecézière
 Saint-Geniez-d'Olt
 Loc-Dieu
 Bonneval
 Coupiac
 Monts d'Aubrac
 Causse du Larzac
 Sévérac-le-Château
 Bournazel
 Baraqueville
 Château de Calmont d'Olt
 Rodez
 Millau
 Plaisance
 Pons
 Villages médiévaux de la vallée de la Muse ; Castelnau-Pégayrols, Montjaux, Saint-Beauzély.
 Villefranche-de-Rouergue
 Villeneuve
 Le Trou de Bozouls
 Le Tindoul de la Vayssière
 Vallon de Marcillac : vignoble et bourgs : Marcillac-Vallon, Salles-la-Source, Clairvaux-d'Aveyron, Muret-le-Château.
 Lacs du Lévézou
 Laguiole
 Sainte-Geneviève-sur-Argence
 Les Gorges du Tarn
 Sainte-Eulalie-de-Cernon
 Salles-Curan et le lac de Pareloup
 Salvagnac-Cajarc
 Roquefort-sur-Soulzon
 Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance, lieu classé historique avec l'« Enfant sauvage » : Victor de l'Aveyron.
 Peyrusse-le-Roc
 Grotte de Foissac
 Le bassin de Decazeville (Decazeville, Aubin, Cransac, Firmi et Viviez) avec les anciennes mines de charbon.

Les résidences secondaires 
Selon le recensement général de la population du  janvier 2008, 17,8 % des logements disponibles dans le département étaient des résidences secondaires.

Ce tableau indique les principales communes de l'Aveyron dont les résidences secondaires et occasionnelles dépassent 10 % des logements totaux.

 Source INSEE, chiffres au 01/01/2008.

Démographie

Communes les plus peuplées

Arrondissements

Sociétés savantes 
 Société centrale d'Agriculture de l'Aveyron, fondée en 1798, dissoute de nos jours
 Société des lettres, sciences et arts de l'Aveyron, fondée en 1836

Personnalités 
 Denys Affre (1793-1848), archevêque de Paris.
 Henri Affre (1816-1907), est un archiviste départemental, un historien régionaliste du Rouergue et un héraldiste.
 Déodat Alaus, maître maçon du  constructeur des remparts des cités templières et hospitalières du Larzac.
 Georges d'Armagnac (vers 1500-1585), évêque d'Avignon, cardinal et évêque de Rodez.
 Didier Auriol (1958-), est le premier français à remporter le titre de champion du monde des rallyes en 1994, sur Toyota Celica.
 Auguste de Balsac (1788-1880), haut fonctionnaire et homme politique.
 Louis Balsan (1903-1988), archéologue, spéléologue, l'un des derniers grands disciples de Martel.
 Adolphe de Barrau (1803-1884), naturaliste.
 Hippolyte de Barrau (1794-1863), fondateur de la Société des lettres, sciences et arts de l'Aveyron, érudit.
 Eugène de Barrau (1801-1887), notable.
 Justin Bessou (1845-1918), poète d'expression principalement occitane.
 Roger Béteille, né à Vors le 28 août 1921, est un ingénieur aéronautique, surnommé Monsieur Airbus en tant qu'initiateur du programme de l'avion du même nom.
 Joan Bodon (1920-1975), écrivain de langue occitane né à Crespin (maison Joan Bodon).
 Adolphe Boisse (1810-1896), ingénieur et homme politique.
Maurice Bompard (1857-1935), peintre, l'un des fondateurs de la Société des peintres orientalistes français.
 Louis-Gabriel de Bonald (1754-1840), philosophe.
 Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald (1787-1870), cardinal, archevêque de Lyon.
 Émile Borel (1871-1956), mathématicien, professeur à la faculté des sciences de Paris, spécialiste de la théorie des fonctions et des probabilités, membre de l'académie des sciences, homme politique français député et ministre.
 Louis-Jacques-Maurice de Bonald (1787-1870), prélat.
 Éric Bouad (1948-), musicien français.
 José Bové né a Talence en Gironde (1953-), altermondialiste, député européen depuis 2009, militant et ancien porte-parole de la Confédération paysanne, paysan sur le Larzac.
 Michel Bras (1946-), cuisinier 3 étoiles au Guide Michelin pour son établissement à Laguiole.
 Abbé Pierre-Edmond Vivier (1921-1995), historien, paléographe.
 Emma Calvé (1858-1942), est une cantatrice française (soprano), née à Decazeville.
 Jean Carrier (décédé en 1437), ecclésiastique du , dernier partisan et successeur de l'antipape Benoît XIII sous le nom de Benoît XIV.
 Édouard de Castelnau (1851-1944), général d'armée.
 Marc Censi (1936-), ancien président du conseil régional de Midi-Pyrénées, ancien maire de Rodez.
 Hippolyte Coste (1858-1924), botaniste.
 Jean-Louis Cromières,(1947-) artisan paysan, ancien maire de Laguiole dit « Le Visionnaire », a « relancé » la fabrication du couteau de Laguiole à Laguiole (1980).
 Ambroise Crozat, peintre né à Rodez dans la première moitié du .
 Bertrand Delanoë (1950-), homme politique français et maire de Paris.
 Auguste Denayrouze (1837-1883) est, avec Benoît Rouquayrol, l'un des inventeurs du scaphandre autonome.
 François d'Estaing (1501-1529), évêque de Rodez.
 Stéphane Diagana (1969 à Saint-Affrique), athlète français spécialiste du  haies et du relais 4 × , champion du monde en 1997 et 2003.
Louis Dupiech (1900-1945), résistant français, préfet de l'Aveyron, mort en déportation.
 Jules Duval, né à Rodez le 30 avril 1813 et mort le 20 septembre 1870, avocat, économiste et journaliste français. Il est un farouche partisan du fouriérisme et de la colonisation de l'Algérie.
 Philippe Escafre, dit Coyote, dessinateur de bandes dessinées dont Litteul Kévin.
 François Fabié (1846-1926), poète.
 Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915), est un homme de sciences, un humaniste, un naturaliste, un entomologiste éminent, un écrivain passionné par la nature et un poète français et de langue d'oc (et à ce titre félibre), lauréat de l'Académie française et d'un nombre élevé de prix.
 Robert Fabre (1915-2006), fondateur du Mouvement des Radicaux de Gauche, médiateur de la République.
 Maurice Fenaille (1855-1937), mécène.
 Denis Frayssinous (1765-1841), prélat et précepteur du Dauphin.
 David Frétigné (1970-), pilote de motocross, d'enduro et de rallye-raid.
 Joseph-Bernardin Fualdès (1761 - assassiné à Rodez le 19 mars 1817), est un magistrat français, accusateur public, juge du tribunal criminel de l'Aveyron, procureur impérial en 1811.
 Gustave Garrigou (1884-1963), vainqueur du Tour de France en 1911.
 Alexandre Geniez (1988-), coureur cycliste.
 Charles Girou de Buzareingues (1773-1856), agronome et philosophe.
 Jacques Godfrain, ancien député de la troisième circonscription de l’Aveyron de 1978 à 1995 puis de 1997 à 2007, Ministre de la Coopération durant les gouvernements Juppé I et II, et maire de Millau de 1995 à 2008.
 Dom Pierre Guérin (1608-1698), ecclésiastique nantais, poète rouergat.
 Alain Guiraudie (1964-), scénariste et réalisateur.
 Frédéric Hantz (1966-), entraîneur de football.
 Marie-Sophie Lacarrau (1975-), journaliste.
 Gaston Lacombe, ébéniste, sculpteur, peintre (pastel), écrivain, historien et philosophe, ami de Pierre Soulages (1893-1964).
 Guy Lacombe (1955-), entraîneur de football.
 Bernard Laporte (1964-), entraîneur de rugby
 Amédée-Jean-Baptiste Latieule (1838-1903), évêque de Vannes.
 Alain Layrac, est un scénariste français né en 1965 à Decazeville.
 Cyril Lignac (1977-), cuisinier français et animateur de télévision.
Eugène Loup (1867-1948), peintre.
 Jean-Claude Luche (1952-), président du conseil général de l'Aveyron de 2008 à 2017.
 Jean-Henri Magne (1804-1885), est un naturaliste français, professeur puis directeur de l'École nationale vétérinaire d'Alfort.
 Colette Magny (1926-1997), chanteuse et auteur-compositeur. Son grand succès : Melocoton en 1963.
 Cardinal François Marty (1904-1994), cardinal archevêque de Paris.
 Jules Merviel (1906-1976), populaire coureur cycliste des années 1930.
 Amans-Alexis Monteil (1769-1850), historien.
 Antoine de Morlhon (1753-1828), archevêque d'Auch.
 Auguste de Morlhon (1799-1862), évêque du Puy.
 Alain Peyrefitte (1925-1999), écrivain, ministre, membre de l'Académie française.
 Charles de Pomairols (1843-1916), poète régionaliste, originaire de Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
 Pierre Poujade (1920-2003), homme politique.
 Denys Puech (1854-1942), sculpteur, directeur de la Villa Médicis.
 Jean Puech (1942-), ancien président du conseil général de l'Aveyron, sénateur et ancien ministre.
 Jacques Puel (1949-2008), médecin ruthénois spécialisé en chirurgie cardiothoracique.
 Paul Ramadier (1888-1961), premier Président du Conseil de la Quatrième République (SFIO), ministre, député et maire de Decazeville.
 Guillaume-Thomas Raynal (1713-1796), historien, philosophe.
 Sainte Émilie de Rodat (1787-1852), fondatrice de la congrégation des Sœurs de la Sainte-Famille.
 Betty Rosenfeld (1907-1942), ancienne infirmière des Brigades internationales allemande déportée à Auschwitz en 1942. Elle résida à Millau puis à Séverac-le-Château entre 1938 et 1939.
 Gaëtan Roussel (1972-), auteur compositeur.
 Richard Sainct (1970-2004), pilote de moto.
 Antoine Salvanh (vers 1476 - vers 1554), architecte.
 Pierre-Frédéric Sarrus (1798-1861), mathématicien.
 Frédéric Saurel, est un acteur, producteur, réalisateur et scénariste français né en mai 1967.
 Pierre Soulages (1919-2022), peintre.
 Jean-Joseph Tarayre (1770-1855), général et baron d'Empire napoléonien.
 Jacques d'Izarn de Valady (1766-1793), officier, député, fusillé.
 Armand Vaquerin (1951-1993), international de rugby, recordman du nombre de titres de champion de France (10) avec le club de Béziers.
 Joseph Vaylet (1894-1982), majoral du félibrige, est un écrivain, poète, disciple de Frédéric Mistral, qui a contribué à la renaissance de la culture occitane en Aveyron.
 Abbé Aimé Vayssier (1821-1875), ecclésiastique licencié ès-lettres auteur du Dictionnaire patois-français du département de l'Aveyron.
 Jean Verdier (1864-1940), cardinal archevêque de Paris.
 Victor de l'Aveyron (1787?-1828), enfant sauvage d’abord recueilli en 1797 à Lacaune puis retrouvé en 1800 à Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance.
 Eugène Viala (1859-1913), poète, peintre, graveur.
 Bernard Vivier (1955-), membre du Conseil économique, social et environnemental de la République française.
 Lucie Vivier, en religion Mère Maurice-Marie (1921-2015), première Millavoise officier de la Légion d'honneur.
 Zinédine Zidane, né le  à Marseille, est un footballeur international français devenu entraîneur. Il est citoyen d'honneur de l'Aveyron depuis 1999.

Drapeau 
Le drapeau ressemble à celui du Rouergue.

Héraldique

Notes et références

Notes

Références 
 Site sur la résistance en Aveyron durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale

Voir aussi

Bibliographie 

 Encyclopédie Bonneton, Aveyron, Christine Bonneton, 2005
 Jean-Michel Cosson, Dictionnaire de l'Aveyron, Loubatières, 
 Daniel Crozes, Le Guide de l'Aveyron, Éditions du Rouergue, 
 Aue/Miche, L'Aveyron (Découvrir), MSM, 
 Dominique Auzias, Jean-Paul Labourdette, Le Petit Futé Aveyron, Collectif, Nouvelles Éditions Université, 
 Paul Astruc, Les grandes affaires criminelles de l'Aveyron, Éditions De Borée, 
 Christian Bernard, L'Aveyron en fleurs : Inventaire illustré des plantes vasculaires du département de l'Aveyron, Éditions du Rouergue, 
 Francine Claustres, La cuisine aveyronnaise, Sud Ouest, 
 Aveyron : Recettes paysannes, Du Curieux, 
 Fédération française de la randonnée pédestre, L'Aveyron à pied, Guide FFRP, 
 Fédération française de la randonnée pédestre, Les plus beaux villages d'Aveyron… à pied : 20 Promenades et randonnées, FFRP, 
 Hubert Calmette, Les sentiers d'Émilie en Aveyron, Fédération française de randonnée pédestre, 
 Richard André, Romain Pages Éditions, Le Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses, Parc naturel Grands Causses, 
 Rémi Soulié, Le vieux Rouergue : Terre d'Aveyron, Paris, 
 Alain Marc, Aveyron, carnet de routes, Éditions du Rouergue, 
 Laurent Millet, Les noms de famille de l'Aveyron, Archives Cult, 
 Laurent Barthe, Du Rouergue à l'Aveyron, Empreinte, 
 Aveyron 1900-1920 Édition De Boree, 
 Jean-Michel Cosson, Stéphane Monnet, L'Aveyron dans la Guerre 1939-1945, Éditions De Boré, 
 Jill Dawson, Béatrice Dunner, L'Enfant sauvage de l'Aveyron, Du Rocher, 
 Jean Itard, Victor de l'Aveyron, Allia, 
 Dagonet/Christian, Regards Sur l'Aveyron, De Borée, 
 Nicole de Bertier, Rencontre en Aveyron, Equinoxe,

Articles connexes 
 Conseil départemental de l'Aveyron
 Liste des préfets de l'Aveyron
 Communes de l'Aveyron
Liste des églises de l'Aveyron
 Anciennes communes de l'Aveyron
 Intercommunalités de l'Aveyron
 Département français
 Pays Ruthénois
 Plateau du Lévézou
 Association Le Pays du Haut Rouergue
 Parc naturel régional des Grands Causses
 Liste de ponts de l'Aveyron
 Rodez
 Rodez Agglomération
 Liste de films tournés dans l'Aveyron
 Volontaires nationaux de l'Aveyron pendant la Révolution

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 Préfecture de l'Aveyron
 Conseil départemental de l'Aveyron

L’Argentine, en forme longue la République argentine ( et  ), est un pays d’Amérique du Sud partageant ses frontières avec le Chili à l’ouest, la Bolivie et le Paraguay au nord, le Brésil et l’Uruguay au nord-est, et enfin l’océan Atlantique à l'est et au sud. Son territoire américain continental couvre une grande partie du Cône Sud.

Le , lors de la révolution de Mai, le pays n'accepte plus d'être gouverné par un vice-roi (gouverneur) et crée un gouvernement local, qui jure allégeance au roi d'Espagne. L'indépendance vis-à-vis de l'Espagne est définitivement déclarée le  lors du Congrès de Tucumán.

La capitale est Buenos Aires, la langue prédominante est l'espagnol, dans sa variante rioplatense, la monnaie est le peso argentin et la principale religion est le catholicisme. D'une superficie de , l'Argentine a une densité de population de seize habitants par kilomètre carré.

L'Argentine fait partie des pays dits du Cône Sud et parmi les pays d'Amérique latine, il est, avec l'Uruguay et le Chili, celui où la culture européenne est la plus affirmée. L'Argentine est l'un des pays les plus développés du continent latino-américain. Le pays est également la troisième puissance économique d'Amérique latine après le Brésil et le Mexique, que ce soit en PIB nominal ou à parité de pouvoir d'achat (PPA). Il connaît cependant une crise économique depuis la fin des années 2010, marquée par une forte inflation et la hausse de la pauvreté.

Origines du nom 
Le nom « Argentina » (en français « Argentine ») dérive du nom latin  qui désignait l'argent ( et  en espagnol). Il fut probablement utilisé par les navigateurs vénitiens ou génois et son origine pourrait se trouver dans les cadeaux en argent faits par les peuples amérindiens aux explorateurs européens, notamment Sébastien Cabot, ou aux ornements qu'ils portaient. Une autre explication pourrait être la légende de la Sierra de la Plata, trésor légendaire où le Río de la Plata était censé conduire.

Le nom « Río de la Plata » figure dans un atlas vénitien de 1536. Le cartographe portugais Lopo Homem est le premier à utiliser le terme « Terra Argentea » sur une carte de 1554.

Le nom « Argentina » fut popularisé par le poème de Martín del Barco Centenera Argentina y Conquista del Rio de la Plata publié en 1602.

En 1860, « Argentina » devint le nom officiel de la République Argentine.

Géographie

Données générales 

La surface totale de l'Argentine est répartie de la façon suivante (excepté l’Antarctique) :
 total :  ;
 terre :  ;
 eau : .

L'Argentine s'étend sur  du nord au sud et  d'est en ouest. Le territoire peut être divisé en quatre zones distinctes : les plaines fertiles de la pampa au centre du pays, le plat pays de la Patagonie au sud (s'étendant sur un gros quart sud du pays (28 %), jusqu'à la Terre de Feu), les plaines sèches du Gran Chaco au nord et enfin la région très élevée de la cordillère des Andes à l'ouest le long de la frontière avec le Chili dont le mont Aconcagua culmine à .

Le point culminant de l'Argentine  est le mont Aconcagua. La dépression la plus profonde d'Amérique, la Laguna del Carbón à  sous le niveau de la mer, se trouve aussi en Argentine, dans la province de Santa Cruz. Le centre géographique du pays est localisé dans la province de La Pampa.

Le climat est typique de façade orientale des continents, on rencontre un climat subtropical humide dans le nord et aride/subantarctique dans l'extrême sud du pays.

Régions géographiques 
Le pays est traditionnellement divisé en différentes régions majeures.

Pampas 

Les plaines à l'ouest et au sud de Buenos Aires. Appelée la pampa humide, cette région recouvre la plupart des provinces de Buenos Aires et de Córdoba ainsi que celles de Santa Fe et de la Pampa.

Cuyo 
L'ouest de l'Argentine est dominé par l'imposante cordillère des Andes, à l'est se trouve une région aride appelée Cuyo, l'eau descendant des montagnes permet la viticulture et l'agriculture grâce à son irrigation, bien que le relief y soit accidenté.

Le point le plus haut du monde en dehors de l'Himalaya se retrouve en Argentine, au cerro Aconcagua, de . Parmi les plus hautes montagnes des Andes, une importante proportion se retrouve dans le pays. Le point le plus bas des Amériques se trouve aussi en Argentine, dans la province de Santa Cruz (Laguna del Carbón).

Gran Chaco 
La région Gran Chaco se situe au nord du pays, avec des saisons humides et sèches, il permet l'élevage de bétail et la culture de coton. Il recouvre les provinces du Chaco et de Formosa. Il comprend également des forêts subtropicales où se développent la végétation et les animaux.

Mésopotamie argentine 

Ce territoire se trouve entre le Rio Paraná et le Rio Uruguay, partagés entre les provinces de Corrientes et d'Entre Ríos, où l'on entretient le bétail et les Esteros del Iberá. Le climat de la province de Misiones est tropical. Les chutes d'Iguazú s'y trouvent.

Patagonie 

Les steppes de la Patagonie dans les provinces de Neuquén, Río Negro, Chubut et Santa Cruz sont d'origines tertiaires. Le territoire est semi-aride au nord, froid et aride au sud, mais est constitué à l'ouest de plusieurs grands lacs et de forêts. La Terre de Feu, Antarctique et Îles de l'Atlantique Sud est froide et humide, modéré par l'influence océanique. Enfin, le nord peut être référé à Comahue.

Climat 

En considérant la superficie du pays, les différences d'altitude (de  à presque ) et la longueur du pays (du  sud, correspondant dans l'hémisphère nord à la ville de La Havane, jusqu'au  sud, correspondant dans l'hémisphère nord à Copenhague, Moscou et la baie d'Hudson), une énorme diversité de climats coexiste dans le pays.

Le Nord est pratiquement tropical, quoique absolument toutes les régions du pays peuvent voir le mercure descendre à .

Le Centre-Nord et l'Ouest connaissent des journées de chaleur insupportable l'été : la moyenne atteint  dans certains endroits, avec des températures très élevées avoisinant souvent les .

L'hiver, la partie la plus septentrionale du pays enregistre des moyennes autour de  le jour, et de  la nuit, avec des périodes de  alternant avec des journées assez froides qui peuvent même rester en dessous de , et des nuits proches de . Les précipitations varient de  dans la jungle de Misiones, à  dans le Gran Chaco, et seulement  dans les régions les plus arides de l'Ouest argentin.

La Pampa concentre la majorité de la population et de la production du pays, grâce au climat tempéré à quatre saisons : les étés sont assez longs et chauds, avec des journées ayant une température moyenne de  et des nuits agréables à , tandis que les hivers sont doux avec des journées ayant des températures moyennes de  et les nuits autour de . Les gelées sont courantes pendant 3 à , et les températures descendent souvent à , mais rarement moins, quoique les records approchent les . La neige, en revanche, est très rare étant donné que l'hiver est la saison la plus sèche. Les précipitations vont de  dans l'est, à seulement  dans l'Ouest du pays.

La Patagonie est la région la plus froide, mais le climat varie énormément d'un endroit à l'autre : il est extrêmement sec mais assez modéré sur la côte, très sec et rigoureux au centre, et très humide et un peu moins rigoureux dans les vallées des Andes, où l'air du Pacifique pénètre dans le continent. Sur la côte, il fait rarement moins de , et l'été, il peut faire facilement . La neige est assez rare, mais la pluie aussi (). Sur les plateaux du centre de la Patagonie, les étés sont tièdes mais avec des nuits froides (en dessous de , avec du gel parfois en plein été) et les hivers sont assez rigoureux, avec des moyennes proches de  dans plusieurs endroits, accompagnés de chutes de neige fréquentes mais peu abondantes en raison de l'aridité du climat. La température descend facilement à , et les records indiquent des valeurs proches de  lors d'hivers exceptionnels, où certains villages sont isolés par la neige pendant des semaines. Les vallées (très basses) à l'ouest ont des étés frais avec des nuits froides, et des hivers avec des moyennes de  (équivalent de l'Alsace), descendent rarement en dessous de , quoique des valeurs de  sont possibles. La neige peut s'accumuler profondément, car beaucoup de secteurs reçoivent plus de  de pluie et neige, et quelques secteurs isolés voient jusqu'à  par an.

L'extrême sud mérite une note à part, car si les hivers sont semblables à ceux de l'ouest de la Patagonie, avec beaucoup de pluie, neige et mélanges, la particularité du climat est l'absence de l'été : au mois le plus chaud, la moyenne du jour atteint seulement , alors que celle des nuits est de . Il est très courant de voir des journées à  en plein été, et des chutes de neige ne sont pas à exclure. De plus, pendant les mois d'été on peut s'attendre à avoir trois ou quatre journées ensoleillées par mois, avec une quinzaine de journées de pluie, et une douzaine de journées nuageuses.

Dans toute la Patagonie, et surtout dans le sud, on enregistre les plus forts vents au monde : dans certaines villes, la moyenne dépasse les  tous les mois, et lors des tempêtes, les vitesses de  à  sont courantes.

La côte Atlantique argentine a des températures assez froides même l'été, où l'eau n'atteint les  que quelquefois dans quelques endroits précis. Les températures les plus chaudes et les plus froides du continent ont été mesurées en Argentine : plus de  l'été, à Rivadavia, et  l'hiver, au Valle de los Patos, San Juan.

Rivières et lacs 

Parmi les grands fleuves, citons le Paraguay, le Bermejo, le río Negro, le río Colorado, l'Uruguay, ainsi que le Paraná qui est le plus long fleuve d'Argentine. Les fleuves Paraná et Uruguay coulent vers l'océan Atlantique et se rejoignent pour former le delta du río de la Plata. Dans le parc national de Misiones, au nord du pays, les mini-chutes d'une selva saturée vont se réunir pour former le fleuve Panana. Des grands lacs comme des mers se sont formés au pied des Andes, dans des sites encore vierges tels le Nahuel Huapi, à San Carlos de Bariloche.

Environnement 

Le pays abrite des paysages et écosystèmes très variés, en raison notamment d'un important gradient climatique. L'écosystème dominant est celui de la pampa qui abrite une biodiversité originale et souvent endémique.

La forêt a souvent fortement régressé au profit de boisements industriels (monocultures parfois), de l'élevage bovin et d'une agriculture souvent industrielle qui contribue à dégrader les sols. Le Sud du pays est exposé à une augmentation des UV solaires (cancérigènes, mutagènes), induite par le trou de la couche d'ozone, plus grand au-dessus de l'Antarctique qu'au-dessus de l'Arctique.

Depuis les années 1990, l'Argentine a perdu plus de 22 % de ses forêts.

En décembre 2018, Greenpeace révèle un « scandale de pollution massive » dont s'est rendue coupable la multinationale Total au nord de la Patagonie. Une « gigantesque piscine de déchets toxiques » s'est créée, l'entreprise pétrolière étant accusée de jeter des « résidus toxiques à l'air libre, dans de gigantesques piscines creusées sans aucune protection entre les déchets et le sol ». Et ce, alors que des villages Mapuche sont installés à moins de .

Faune et flore 

Dans les immenses étendues de la Pampa subsiste encore une faune précolombienne représentée en particulier par le tatou dit à neuf bandes : les gauchos pourchassent ce mammifère xénarthre car ils redoutent ses terriers dans lesquels le bétail se casse les pattes.

En altitude, le lama est encore utilisé comme animal de portage.

D'après une étude publiée par plusieurs ONG en mars 2018, les forêts de la région du Gran Chaco disparaissent à un rythme comparable, voire supérieur à celui des forêts tropicales d’Amazonie. Cette déforestation a pour cause le développement des cultures de soja, principalement destinées à l’alimentation des animaux d’élevage. L'étude recense en outre différents impacts du développement de ces cultures : .

Frontières terrestres 
  avec le Chili : c'est la troisième plus longue frontière terrestre au monde.
  avec le Paraguay.
  avec le Brésil.
  avec la Bolivie.
  avec l'Uruguay.

Histoire

Époque pré-coloniale 
Un grand nombre de tribus amérindiennes peuplait l'Argentine avant la conquête espagnole, comme les Mapuches (« Araucans »), les Diaguitas, les Pampas, les Tehuelches (« Chonks »), Tobas (« Qoms »), Wichís (« Matacos »), Selknams (« Onas ») et autres ; ceux du Sud, qui s'enveloppaient les jambes et les pieds de fourrure contre le froid, ont été surnommés par les colonisateurs « patagones » (terme dérivant de pata : « pied » en espagnol).

Colonisation espagnole 
En 1516, l'Espagnol Juan Díaz de Solís découvre le Río de la Plata. Le pays est colonisé par les Espagnols entre le  et le . Dans son Voyage d’un naturaliste autour du monde à bord du vaisseau , Charles Darwin décrit les combats que livraient encore dans les années 1830 les peuples autochtones amérindiens contre les cultivateurs et éleveurs d'origine espagnole qui accaparaient leurs terres.

Indépendance 

Ayant repoussé en 1806 et 1807 deux expéditions militaires anglaises, sous l'impulsion de Jacques de Liniers, chef d'escadre chargé d'assurer la défense de la vice-royauté du Rio de la Plata, les colons espagnols comprennent qu'ils peuvent se défendre seuls contre un ennemi autrement mieux armé qu'eux et bien décidé à les évincer. Ils se considèrent dès lors plus Argentins qu'Espagnols et des mouvements d'opposition contre la métropole apparaissent parmi eux à l'aube du . Dès 1810 avec la révolution de Mai (), les Argentins deviennent indépendants de fait. En 1813 le gouvernement brûle en place publique les instruments de torture et le  déclare l'abolition de l'esclavage (selon la Chronologie de l'abolition de l'esclavage).

L'indépendance déclarée le  (lors du congrès constituant tenu dans la ville de San Miguel de Tucumán) n'est que la conséquence juridique venant entériner ce qui est déjà une réalité. Plusieurs années de guerre contre l'Empire colonial espagnol permettent aux Argentins de se séparer définitivement de l'emprise de l'Espagne. Les généraux José de San Martín, Manuel Belgrano et Martín Miguel de Güemes, entre autres, repoussent toute velléité espagnole de reprendre sa colonie. Au commandement d'une armée d'environ , San Martin réalise une campagne prodigieuse, traversant la cordillère des Andes. Au Chili, il inflige des défaites cruciales à l'armée espagnole, d'abord à la Cuesta de Chacabuco et puis (avec des troupes chiliennes de Bernardo O'Higgins) à Maipu, près de Santiago du Chili, où les Argentins triomphent définitivement de l'armée royaliste stationnée au Chili.

Guerre civile et invasions étrangères 

La guerre contre l'Empire espagnol s’achève après la victoire des indépendantistes sud-américains à la bataille d'Ayacucho, en 1824. Cependant, le pays est en situation de guerre civile depuis une décennie. En 1813, avant la déclaration formelle de l'indépendance de toute l'Argentine, la Province Orientale (actuel Uruguay) avec José Gervasio Artigas a défendu le fédéralisme argentin contre le centralisme de la ville du Buenos Aires, menant à une guerre civile de cinquante ans entre fédéraux et unitaires. Toujours en plein conflit entre fédéraux et unitaires, l'Argentine a eu à affronter plusieurs agressions : l'invasion de la Province Orientale par l'Empire du Brésil, mais également l'occupation de la province de Tarija par les boliviens en 1826. En 1833, peu de temps après la fin de la guerre entre l'Argentine et le Brésil, les Britanniques occupent et colonisent les îles Malouines que l'Argentine avait héritées de l'Espagne.
En 1836, l'Argentine se trouve à nouveau en guerre contre la Confédération péruvio-bolivienne et une contre les Empires anglais et français, alliés avec le Brésil, les Paraguayens et les Uruguayens. Ces luttes internes et les interventions étrangères expliquent la durée de l'hégémonie de Juan Manuel de Rosas (1833-1853).
La constitution sera proclamée en 1853, après la fin de la dictature de Juan Manuel de Rosas.

L'année 1890 est considérée comme un tournant dans l'histoire politique de l'Argentine. C'est l'année d'un important soulèvement populaire par suite d'une crise économique qui avait accentué la misère des classes populaires et appauvri les classes moyennes. C'est aussi l'apparition de la dite « génération de 1890 » comprenant Leandro N. Alem (futur fondateur de l'Union civique radicale), Lisandro de la Torre (futur fondateur du Parti démocrate progressiste) et Juan B. Justo (futur fondateur du Parti socialiste). Cette nouvelle génération d'hommes politiques favorise une forme d'union des classes populaires et des classes moyennes, sous la direction de ces dernières, en opposition au pouvoir oligarchique des propriétaires fonciers, des grands commerçants et des banquiers de la « génération de 1880 », plus libérale. L'Union civique radicale — qui passe, après le suicide d'Alem, sous la direction d'Hipólito Yrigoyen — devient l'expression principale des classes moyennes et, dans une moindre mesure, populaires. Sa tactique allie, à partir de 1892, un dosage réfléchi entre le recours à la voie électorale légale et l'adoption de la voie insurrectionnelle.

En 1912, afin de réduire le risque d'un nouveau soulèvement révolutionnaire, le gouvernement conservateur accepte d'établir le suffrage universel masculin. Hipólito Yrigoyen est élu président et met en œuvre son programme réformiste : abolition du travail des enfants, repos dominical pour les travailleurs, salaire minimal pour certaines professions, recours à l'arbitrage pour les conflits sociaux En économie, il déclare : . Plus tard, l'Union civique radicale se scinde avec le regroupement de son aile droite autour de Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear contre Yrigoyen. Les années de pouvoir de l'Union civique radicale représentent un héritage sujet à controverses ; si elles constituent une période de progrès démocratiques et sociaux, elles se caractérisent aussi par les ménagements à l'égard de l'oligarchie et par la conduite très brutale de l'armée.

De nombreux évènements tragiques surviennent au début du  : durant la semaine du 7 au , la répression et les massacres commis à Buenos Aires sur des ouvriers grévistes font des centaines de morts. Entre novembre 1920 et décembre 1921, quelque  furent exécutés par l'armée à l'issue d'une grève insurrectionnelle en Patagonie. En juillet 1924, 500 indigènes qui protestaient contre leurs conditions de travail et la misère dans laquelle ils vivaient, sont massacrés par la police et des milices de propriétaires terriens.

L'anarcho-syndicalisme exerce une importante influence auprès des syndicats ouvriers à la fin du  et au début du . Certains militants se dirigent par ailleurs vers la lutte armée, comme en 1929 quand le militant anarchiste Kurt Gustav Wilckens lance une bombe qui tue le colonel Varela, responsable des massacres de la Patagonie rebelle. Les associations socialistes se constituent dans les années 1890. En 1896 est formé le Parti ouvrier socialiste argentin, qui fait paraître Vanguardia, « journal socialiste scientifique défenseur de la classe ouvrière ». En 1904, Alfredo Palacios devient le premier député socialiste d'Amérique latine. Le Parti communiste argentin est fondé en 1918.

Dictatures du  et péronisme 

Les présidences se succèdent entre 1930 et 1983, mais sur seize présidents, onze sont des militaires et plusieurs sont « présidents de facto » (par opposition aux présidents élus). Perón fait alors ses débuts dans la politique : lieutenant-colonel titulaire de quelques secrétariats d'État du gouvernement militaire établi en juin 1943, il est élu président après la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Celle-ci ayant entraîné l’affaiblissement de l’Occident, l'Argentine devient, vers 1950, la neuvième puissance économique mondiale. Après la guerre, de nombreux nazis fuient en Argentine et ailleurs en Amérique latine.

Au cours des années 1930, beaucoup d'Argentins ont souffert de la faim alors même que le pays était l’un des plus importants exportateurs de produits alimentaires du monde. Sur le plan politique, le latino-américaniste Alain Rouquié indique que « la souveraineté populaire et le suffrage sont fermement dirigés par les représentants de l’élite établie. Ceux-ci n’ont jamais tout à fait cessé de penser que , comme le déclara un ministre de l'Intérieur. »

Le péronisme est un mouvement national et populaire ; il encadre la population argentine (syndicats, femmes, jeunes, ouvriers…) en leur octroyant des droits et un statut. Le partage des richesses est désormais moins déséquilibré et la classe ouvrière argentine, avec le soutien des syndicats, s'identifie au mouvement péroniste : les salaires sont augmentés, un salaire minimum et des congés payés sont instaurés, le droit à la retraite et au repos dominical sont reconnus. La politique sociale du gouvernement péroniste se traduisit également par un engagement inédit de l’État argentin en matière de santé et d’éducation. Ainsi, l’enseignement universitaire fut déclaré gratuitement accessible à tous les Argentins à partir de 1949, ce qui entraîna une augmentation de 300 % du nombre d’étudiants au cours de la présidence de Juan Perón. Le taux d'analphabétisme se réduit assez significativement. L'effort est aussi porté sur l’amélioration des services de santé du pays, et surtout du nombre de personnes pouvant en bénéficier. Le taux de mortalité infantile peut alors être réduit de 80,1 pour 1000 en 1943 à 66,5 pour 1000 en 1953, tandis que l'espérance de vie s’accroît de 61,7 en 1947 à  en 1955.

Perón a donc le soutien de la classe ouvrière, en partie grâce à la redistribution des richesses nationales. Cependant, l'opposition de la bourgeoisie est pour le moins active ; le dirigeant populiste gouverne de façon autoritaire. L’Église se retourne également contre le gouvernement après les tentatives de Perón de laïciser l’enseignement et ses réformes en faveur des droits des femmes. Par ailleurs, sa deuxième femme (Perón était veuf depuis 1938) Eva Perón décédée, restée très aimée des « descamisados » (sans chemises) n'est plus là. Le soutien d'une majorité de la population au mouvement péroniste est néanmoins régulièrement confirmé par les élections et un système démocratique multipartite continue de fonctionner.

En 1955, un coup d'État le chasse du pouvoir (l'armée bombardera la place de Mai, tuant de nombreux civils). Désormais, l'Argentine entre dans une période d'instabilité à la fois économique et politique. Le puissant mouvement péroniste est décapité mais va renaître sous la forme clandestine (sabotage, grèves…). Les élites du pays, revenues au pouvoir, cherchent alors une impossible formule de démocratie sans péronisme. Les militaires organisent des élections, puis reprennent le pouvoir quelque temps après, et ce, à deux reprises.

En 1966 a lieu le coup d'État du général Juan Carlos Onganía. Ce dernier, partisan de la manière forte, met en place un régime bureaucratique et autoritaire. En réaction à la violence, les mouvements sociaux, les syndicats, les étudiants, les ouvriers se battent contre le régime jusqu'à prendre conscience de sa faiblesse. La situation s'aggrave jusqu'à l'année 1969, quand éclate le Cordobazo (une explosion de violence spontanée à la ville de Cordoba dont les ouvriers et les étudiants sont les protagonistes). C'est la première  (il y en aura bien d'autres dans tout le pays) : la population s'attaque aux symboles du pouvoir autoritaire (police…) mais aussi à ceux des multinationales étrangères. Le lendemain, le pays est paralysé par la grève générale. Désormais, même la classe moyenne, traditionnellement anti-péroniste, s'associe au rejet du pouvoir bureaucratique et autoritaire. Les militaires se retirent alors en bonne et due forme, essayant de ne pas perdre la face. Mais il est trop tard et en 1973, la population assiste à la fin du régime militaire. Des élections démocratiques sont organisées, les militaires sont conspués, la gauche révolutionnaire voit ses organisations de masses légalisées et ses militants prisonniers sont tous libérés. L'extrême-gauche gagne des espaces de pouvoir au sein de l'État (Université…).

Après le retour du général Juan Perón en 1973, qui se solde par le massacre d'Ezeiza (la droite péroniste ouvrant le feu sur des militants de l'aile gauche), le pays s'enfonce dans une meurtrière crise politique. José López Rega fonde secrètement l'Alliance anticommuniste argentine qui assassine plus de . Après la mort de Perón, une guerre sale commence dans la province de Tucumán, dès l', qui impliquait la lutte contre la guérilla entre autres par l'enlèvement de partisans armés de la « révolution » et leur séjour dans des centres de détention clandestins, où ils étaient torturés. La très grande majorité n'y a pas survécu. À cette occasion, les leçons transmises par des militaires français sur la bataille d'Alger sont mises en pratique.

En mars 1976, un coup d'État dirigé par une junte de militaires (Jorge Videla) renverse la troisième femme de Perón, Isabel Martínez de Perón, ancienne vice-présidente de son époux, et sa veuve depuis 1974. La Commission nationale sur la disparition des personnes (CONADEP), fondée par le gouvernement démocratique de Raúl R. Alfonsín, a estimé que la répression militaire avait fait un peu moins de , dans la majorité des « disparus ». Buenos Aires participe avec d'autres pays à l’opération Condor (de coordination contre la subversion), et de nombreux réfugiés politiques et des « subversives » enfuis de pays voisins sont assassinés par le biais des services secrets ou d'escadrons de la mort (la Triple A). Il est à noter que cette Triple A a été créée en 1974 durant le gouvernement constitutionnel d'Isabel Perón et a commencé son travail dès cette année-là. L'ambassade américaine est souvent informée.

Guerre des Malouines et transition démocratique 

Afin de relancer sa popularité, la junte de Buenos Aires, dirigée depuis décembre 1981 par Leopoldo Galtieri, l’un des plus « durs », décide d’envahir les îles Malouines en 1982, provoquant ainsi la guerre des Malouines contre le Royaume-Uni, alors dirigé par Margaret Thatcher. En raison de son anticommunisme viscéral et de la mise en place de l’opération Charly (pendant laquelle les services argentins ont transmis à leurs homologues d’Amérique centrale les techniques de la guerre sale : escadrons de la mort, torture systématique contre la population civile afin de la démoraliser, vols de la mort), Buenos Aires semblait penser pouvoir compter, à tort, sur le soutien de Ronald Reagan, nouvellement élu.

La défaite lors de la guerre des Malouines précipite la chute du régime et une lente transition démocratique.

Raúl Alfonsín (1983-1989) fut le symbole même du retour à la démocratie en République argentine. Dans les premiers jours de son mandat, en 1983, il abroge l’amnistie déclarée avant que les forces armées ne perdent le pouvoir et demande de poursuivre neuf dirigeants de la junte militaire. Il nomme en même temps une commission nationale sur la disparition des personnes et en choisit les membres : dix citoyens de premier plan, connus pour leur rôle dans la défense des droits de l’Homme. Aux yeux du monde éclate la cruauté des crimes de la junte militaire argentine : quelque  torturées puis exécutées clandestinement.

Mais si les principaux responsables de violations des droits de l'Homme durant le régime militaire seront jugés et condamnés, la pression de l'establishment militaire va forcer Alfonsin à céder aux revendications des militaires. Trois ans plus tard, son gouvernement empêche le jugement de nombreux autres responsables, en instaurant les lois de pardon Punto Final et Obediencia Debida. La première prescrit les procès à venir et la seconde accorde l'amnistie aux officiers subalternes, responsables d'atrocités commises sous les ordres des chefs des forces armées.
Depuis lors, plusieurs présidents se sont succédé : Carlos Menem (1989-1999), Fernando de la Rúa (1999-2001). Des lois d'amnistie sont votées sous Menem, notamment en raison de la rébellion de secteurs d’extrême droite dans l'armée (les Carapintadas, qui tentent plusieurs coups d’État à la fin des années 1980). Un procès durant lequel comparaissent les principaux responsables de la junte, ainsi que des Montoneros, se tient néanmoins en 1985 : c'est le Procès des Juntes (Juicio a las Juntas).

La décennie Menem est marquée par une libéralisation de l'économie, menant à la modernisation de la plus grande partie du pays, à l'enrichissement d'une part importante de la population, mais aussi à l'apparition de groupes contestataires, les piqueteros, qui deviendront célèbres après la crise économique de la fin des années 1990. En effet, de 1990 à 1998 se produit le miracle argentin, caractérisé par un libéralisme radical (alignement du peso sur le dollar, privatisations, réformes économiques et sociales) qui eut pour effet un fort taux de croissance économique exponentielle, se traduisant par un enrichissement et une modernisation jamais vus dans le pays. Le FMI aida beaucoup l'Argentine à se développer durant cette période. La consommation a augmenté considérablement, et les Argentins ont alors pu accéder aux mêmes biens matériels que les Européens ; l'Internet, la téléphonie mobile, l'électro-ménager moderne Cependant, ce libéralisme ne profita pas à toute la population. Les laissés-pour-compte du miracle économique représentaient une part non négligeable dans l'Argentine des années 1990 : 18 % de chômeurs en 1996.

Crise de 2001 

Le choix de créer dans les années 1990 une caisse d'émission monétaire liée strictement au dollar, avait eu pour conséquence, lors de la hausse massive de celui-ci à la fin des années 1990, de provoquer un arrêt brusque des exportations argentines. Le Brésil avait dévalué fortement sa monnaie et l'Argentine, son principal partenaire commercial, s'était retrouvée à sec de devises. Cette situation avait engendré une fuite de capitaux massive pendant les mois d'août, septembre et octobre. La crise est partiellement jugulée par un contrôle draconien des dépôts bancaires, appelé Corralito, fondé sur l'obligation d'effectuer toutes les opérations financières à travers les banques et la restriction des retraits d'argent en numéraire. Le gros de la population n'étant pas bancarisé, la perception des rémunérations et salaires devient un véritable casse-tête, ce qui provoque une aggravation radicale de la crise en décembre 2001, provoquant un véritable chaos social, et des émeutes des classes sociales les plus appauvries par la crise. La répression cause , le ministre des Finances est relevé de ses fonctions, mais cela ne suffit pas et le président signifie sa démission en s'enfuyant du palais du Gouvernement en hélicoptère. Le gouvernement, le FMI et la parité entre le peso et le dollar américain sont les thèmes les plus critiqués.

En dix jours, quatre présidents se succèdent (Camaño, Rodriguez Saa, Puerta, Duhalde), le gouvernement argentin se déclare en état de cessation de paiement, abroge la loi consacrant l'intangibilité des dépôts bancaires (ce qui provoque l’évaporation des dépôts des classes moyennes qui en avaient mais ne les avaient pas transférés) et, donc, par un approfondissement de la crise économique. Le , le nouveau gouvernement procède à un gel total des avoirs bancaires, appelé Corralón, et une dévaluation officielle du peso de 28 % par rapport au dollar, tandis que dans la rue le dollar se change à 1,60 peso pour atteindre très vite plus de 3 pesos.

Le monde entier a été surpris par les événements de décembre 2001. Les médias ont montré un pays caractérisé par les pillages de magasins et les concerts de casseroles des classes moyennes. Mais ces représentations sont simplistes et plus que subjectives. Les émeutes et les mobilisations ne sont pas nées à la fin de l'année 2001. Dès 1989, une vague de saccages de magasins a eu lieu, conséquence de l'hyperinflation. En décembre 1993, le pays a connu des révoltes, notamment à Santiago del Estero. En 1996, les premiers piqueteros établissaient des barrages à Cutral-Co, dans la province de Neuquen. Mais les médias n'avaient laissé que très peu de visibilité à ces mouvements.

Les protestations de décembre 2001 doivent être analysées en tenant compte des changements que le répertoire de l'action collective a connus ces dernières années en Argentine. Comme l'a expliqué Javier Ayuero, « loin d'être l'explosion d'une citoyenneté paraissant jusqu'alors repliée sur elle-même et incapable d'exprimer son mécontentement, le mois de décembre 2001 représente plutôt le point le plus critique d'un processus de mobilisation populaire datant environ d'une dizaine d'années ».

Eduardo Duhalde demeure président de l'Argentine entre janvier 2002 et mai 2003 où il met fin à la parité entre le peso argentin et le dollar américain et met en place un plan économique productiviste. Il appelle à des élections présidentielles anticipées en avril 2003 où il soutient le candidat péroniste de centre gauche Néstor Kirchner. Ce dernier est élu par défaut à la suite du retrait de Carlos Menem au second tour.

Gouvernement Kirchner 

Néstor Kirchner exerce la fonction de président de la République argentine de 2003 à 2007. Il renégocie la dette du pays en 2005 (il refuse le remboursement de trois quarts des  de dollars de dette extérieure). Il gèle les tarifs énergétiques et du transport, et taxe très fortement les importations. Néstor Kirchner est décédé en 2010 d'une crise cardiaque.

Son épouse, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, élue au premier tour le  lui succède le . En 2008 la présidente est confrontée à un lourd conflit social l'opposant aux agriculteurs et relatif, notamment, au niveau des taxes sur les exportations de soja. Les agriculteurs argentins ont engagé une grève d'ampleur de commercialisation des céréales.

Gouvernement Macri 

En 2015, Mauricio Macri est élu président.

Le gouvernement supprime l'impôt sur les exportations, met fin au contrôle des changes, laisse flotter le peso et réduit les subventions à l’énergie. Une réforme du marché du travail vient faciliter les licenciements. La libéralisation du secteur financier entraine une fuite des capitaux estimée en 2019 à près de  de dollars depuis l’élection de Mauricio Macri, soit environ un sixième du produit intérieur brut (PIB) argentin. La production industrielle baisse fortement du fait de l'arrêt d'une grande partie des subventions. Les taux d’intérêt considérables offerts aux investissements spéculatifs (afin de faire affluer les dollars) favorisent la mise en place d'un cercle vicieux par lequel les emprunts d’hier doivent être remboursés par d’autres, plus coûteux encore. Le pays s'enfonce dans une grave crise économique. Le Financial Times note en octobre 2017 que « Le gouvernement [argentin] a plus emprunté que n’importe quel autre pays émergent depuis l’élection de Mauricio Macri. Environ  de dollars en deux ans ». La dette du pays, qui s’établissait à 40 % du PIB en 2015, dépasse 75 % en janvier 2019, après avoir grimpé de vingt points de pourcentage au cours de la seule année 2018. Le cours du peso chute de 118 % entre janvier et septembre 2018.

En octobre 2019, environ 40 % des Argentins vivent en dessous du seuil de pauvreté selon la chaîne nationale C5N (35 % selon les chiffres officiels, soit une augmentation de 30 % en un an). L’inflation dépasse les 54 % sur les 12 derniers mois et les 237 % depuis le début du mandat de Mauricio Macri. Les classes populaires ont de plus en plus de difficultés à se nourrir et beaucoup de personnes en viennent à sauter des repas. Selon la Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture (FAO), cinq millions d’Argentins souffraient d’une « insécurité alimentaire » grave sur la période 2016-2018, ce qui représentait une multiplication par deux par rapport à la période 2014-2016, et la situation s'est depuis lors encore aggravée. Le taux de chômage dépasse les 10 % selon des chiffres officiels vraisemblablement sous-évalués et une chute de 3,1 % du PIB est à prévoir pour l'année 2019 selon le Fonds monétaire international (FMI).

Politique et administration

Répartition des pouvoirs 

L'Argentine a un régime présidentiel dans une république fédérale. La Constitution argentine de 1853, révisée en 1860, 1866, 1898, 1957 et 1994 dispose que le mandat présidentiel est de quatre ans (renouvelable deux fois). Il y a possibilité de réélection, mais il faut laisser passer . Le président devait être de religion catholique jusqu'en 1994 : Carlos Menem, d'origine syrienne et de confession musulmane dut se convertir au catholicisme pour être élu président.

Élu au suffrage universel, le président est à la fois à la tête de l'État et à la tête du gouvernement, le président actuel est Alberto Fernández.

La Constitution garantit la séparation des pouvoirs entre l'exécutif, le législatif et le judiciaire. L'exécutif est confié au président, le législatif au Congrès et le judiciaire à la Cour suprême d'Argentine composée de sept membres.

Le Congrès de la Nation argentine est composé de deux chambres :
 le Sénat :  ( par provinces) élus pour six ans ;
 la Chambre des députés :  élus au suffrage universel, renouvelables par moitié tous les deux ans. Un tiers des candidats doit être féminin.

La justice nationale est composée de différents tribunaux, dont le plus élevé est la Cour Suprême.

Provinces 

Conformément à la constitution de 1853, révisée en 1994, l’Argentine est une république fédérale organisée en 23 provinces dirigés par des gouverneurs élus) et une cité autonome avec statut spécial : Buenos Aires, capitale fédérale. Les 24 ressorts sont les suivants :

Les provinces ont de fait tous les pouvoirs qui n’ont pas été délégués expressément à l'État fédéral. Elles sont chargées d’administrer la justice et l’éducation primaire. Elles s’organisent comme elles l’entendent en élisant leurs pouvoirs exécutif et législatif. Les provinces peuvent régler entre elles toutes sortes d’accords de type judiciaire, économique ou social. Le pouvoir exécutif national a seulement le pouvoir d’intervenir afin d’assurer la forme républicaine du gouvernement et de repousser les invasions étrangères.
La majorité des provinces du centre et du nord du pays sont antérieures à l’existence de l’Argentine comme fédération, cependant des provinces avec une grande présence aborigène ou une faible population (comme le sont au nord : Chaco, Formosa et Misiones ; et la grande partie sud du pays : La Pampa, Neuquén, Rio Negro, Chubut, Santa Cruz, la Terre de Feu, le territoire argentin en Antarctique et les îles de l’Atlantique sud) étaient à une époque des « territoires nationaux » dépendant de l'État fédéral. En devenant des provinces, elles acquirent le même statut administratif que celles qui existaient déjà.

Les derniers territoires à changer de statut furent la Terre de Feu, Antarctique et Îles de l'Atlantique Sud qui furent regroupés pour devenir une même et unique province en 1991, en dépit du fait que la définition de cette province contient des territoires contestés en Antarctique (avec le Chili et le Royaume-Uni) et du fait que l’Argentine a ratifié le traité sur l’Antarctique qui a gelé les prétentions territoriales, et les îles de l’Atlantique sud sont reconnues internationalement comme parties du Royaume-Uni (à l’exception des îles Shetland du Sud intégrées au traité sur l’Antarctique), seul le litige de souveraineté concernant le partage de la Terre de Feu ayant été résolu (par un traité international signé avec le Chili).

Un des anciens territoires nationaux, le territoire des Andes, ne parvint jamais à se convertir en province. Il fut formé en 1900 et couvrait alors la totalité de la Puna du nord-ouest du pays, mais, en raison d'un développement et d'une population très faibles, il fut dissous en 1943, les territoires étant alors incorporés aux provinces de Jujuy, Salta et Catamarca.

Relations internationales 
L'Argentine est membre permanent du Mercosur (communauté économique des pays de l'Amérique du Sud) avec le Brésil, le Paraguay, l'Uruguay et le Venezuela ; cinq autres pays y sont associés : la Bolivie, le Chili, le Pérou, la Colombie et l'Équateur.

L'Argentine est le seul pays d'Amérique du Sud à avoir pris part en 1991 à la guerre du Golfe, mandatée par l'ONU. Elle fut également le seul pays latin à participer à l'Opération Uphold Democracy à Haïti en 1994-1995. Enfin, elle s'engagea dans la force de maintien de la paix des Nations unies (Casques bleus) à travers le monde dont les conflits concernant Salvador-Honduras-Guatemala-Nicaragua, Équateur-Pérou, le Sahara occidental, l’Angola, le Koweït, Chypre, la Croatie, le Kosovo, la Bosnie-Herzégovine ou le Timor oriental.

En , en reconnaissance de ses contributions à la sécurité internationale, le président des États-Unis Bill Clinton désigna l’Argentine comme l'un des alliés majeurs hors-OTAN. En 2005, l'Argentine fut membre temporaire du Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies.

En 1993, l'Argentine lança l'initiative des casques blancs des Nations unies spécialisés dans l'aide humanitaire.

Depuis 2004, les relations habituellement cordiales entre l'Argentine et l'Uruguay se sont progressivement dégradées à cause de la construction en Uruguay de deux grandes usines de fabrication de cellulose, sur les rives du rio Uruguay qui marque la frontière entre les deux pays. Ce contentieux est surnommé en France la « guerre du papier ». L'Argentine met en avant les dégâts écologiques que subirait le fleuve. La polémique fut alimentée par une escalade de déclarations de la part des deux États, l'Argentine portant l'affaire devant la Cour internationale de justice (CIJ) en mai 2006, puis l'Uruguay lui emboîtant le pas en novembre 2006. Des blocus routiers en Argentine ont empêché l'approvisionnement en matériaux de construction depuis le Chili, aggravant la situation. Les relations économiques et sociales entre les deux pays se sont améliorées en 2007.

Douze pays d'Amérique du Sud ont signé le  la Déclaration de Cuzco visant à la réunion du Mercosur, de la Communauté andine et du Chili, du Guyana et du Suriname en une seule communauté supranationale, la Communauté sud-américaine des nations (CSN), sur le modèle de l'Union européenne. Cela est devenu UNASUR (Union des Nations sud-américaines) lors du premier sommet énergétique sud-américain organisé au Venezuela à la mi-avril 2007.

Outre une communauté économique, le projet inclut à terme :
 une monnaie commune ;
 une citoyenneté et un passeport commun ;
 un parlement commun.

Ce projet a pris naissance dans un contexte d'opposition au ZLEA, « Initiatives pour les Amériques », lancé par George Bush en 1990 puis concrétisé en 1994 au Sommet des Amériques, et donc dans un contexte d'opposition à l'ingérence nord-américaine dans les affaires politiques et économiques sud-américaines.

En 2005, la ville de Mar del Plata a accueilli le quatrième sommet des Amériques, marqué par de nombreuses protestations anti-US. Si bien que l'année suivante, elle mit sa priorité dans les initiatives régionales telles que le Mercosur ou la Banque du Sud après une décennie de partenariat avec les États-Unis.

En contentieux avec le Royaume-Uni, l'Argentine réclame la souveraineté des îles Malouines, de la Géorgie du Sud, des îles Sandwich du Sud et des îles Shetland du Sud (ces dernières également revendiquées par le Chili mais les prétentions des trois pays sont gelées depuis la signature du traité de l’Antarctique) et d'environ  de kilomètres carrés du continent Antarctique. Un autre sujet de discorde est la frontière avec le Chili, en particulier au sujet du tracé de la frontière extrême sud en Terre de Feu, un traité fut signé en 1984 entre les deux pays au Vatican.

Enfin, l'Argentine fut l'un des signataires initiaux du traité sur l'Antarctique (1959).

Armée

Population et société

Démographie 

L'Argentine compte environ  d'habitants. Parmi les multiples groupes ethniques habitant le pays, on en compte trois à l'origine de la population actuelle. Tout d'abord, les Amérindiens représentent, ensemble et sans tenir compte des différences ethnoculturelles à peu près 1,49 % de la population totale. Les descendants d'Africains amenés comme esclaves pendant les temps de domination espagnole représentent 0,37 %. Le groupe le plus large, les Européens principalement méditerranéen, (espagnol et italien) et métis constituent 97 % de la population selon la CIA. , on compte de même des populations issues de l'immigration du  qui inclut entre autres, en plus des Italiens et des Espagnols, des Arabes, des Allemands, des Français, et des Asiatiques. Il faut bien préciser que lors de l'arrivée de ces immigrants, qui pour la plupart étaient des hommes seuls, un métissage très important a eu lieu entre les étrangers et les femmes locales, de souche européenne et indigène pour la plupart, ce qui a contribué à la diversité ethnique. Selon les résultats d'une étude menée en 2010 par le généticien Daniel Corach, 53,7 % de la population a au moins un ancêtre autochtone, presque toujours matrilinéaire. Selon la Dirección Nacional de Migraciones, près de 45 % des Argentins seraient d'origine italienne et 31 % d'origine espagnole, faisant des Italiens et des Espagnols les principaux groupes ethniques en Argentine.

La population est très inégalement répartie, puisqu'un tiers de la population (environ  d'habitants) est concentré dans la capitale et l'agglomération de Buenos Aires, appelée aussi .

Outre la région de la capitale fédérale, la population est concentrée dans d'autres zones urbaines dont les principales sont les suivantes : Córdoba (centre,  d'habitants), Rosario (est,  d'habitants), Mendoza (ouest,  d'habitants), San Miguel de Tucumán (nord, près d'un million d'habitants). Au total, environ 91 % de la population habite dans des agglomérations urbaines.

Traditionnellement, l'Argentine a joui d'un très haut niveau de vie en comparaison avec d'autres pays de la région, mais la crise économique des années 2001-2002 a diminué cette impression. Toutefois, plus de la moitié de la population reste considérée comme faisant partie de la classe moyenne, et depuis la crise, une forte reprise économique a aidé postérieurement à réduire la pauvreté à 23,4 % de la population. Plus de 8 % de la population vivait dans des conditions précaires, dans des villas miserias ou bidonvilles, dans le pays il y a  miseria.

Études génétiques 
 Homburguer et al., 2015, PLOS One Genetics : 67 % européen, 28 % amérindien, 4 % africain and 1,4 % asiatique.
 Avena et al., 2012, PLOS One Genetics : 65 % européen, 31 % amérindien, and 4 % africain.
 National Geographic : 52 % européenne, 27 % amérindien, 9 % africain et 9 % autres.

Langues 

Il n'y a pas de langue officielle en Argentine, cependant, en raison du système fédéral du pays, chaque province peut établir la langue officielle de son territoire.

L'espagnol est parlé par la quasi-totalité des Argentins. Le pays possède également le nombre le plus important d'hispanophones qui emploie couramment le voseo, l'utilisation du pronom  au lieu de  (), ce qui implique alors un changement dans la façon de conjuguer les verbes également. À cause de la grande extension géographique de l'Argentine, l'espagnol varie considérablement de régions en régions, le dialecte le plus important numériquement est l'espagnol rioplatense, principalement parlé autour du bassin de La Plata, qui possède un accent similaire à celui de la langue napolitaine. L'italien serait beaucoup parlé en seconde langue, surtout par des personnes d'origine italienne (c'est notamment le cas du pape François).

L'Argentine est un État observateur au sein de l'Organisation internationale de la francophonie depuis 2016. À la suite de la conquête de 1759 en Nouvelle-France, environ  ont immigré en Argentine à partir des années 1857, même si les deux dates (1759 et 1857) semblent éloignées, le phénomène reste le même si l'on tient compte de l'apparition réelle des besoins en émigration des suites de l'effondrement de l'empire français en Amérique. En 2006, 17 % des Argentins se réclament d'ascendance française.

Religion 

La principale religion est le christianisme, principalement le catholicisme (qui est la religion d'État). La liberté de culte est garantie par l'article 14 de la constitution. Le catholicisme est dominant, avec des estimations du nombre de catholiques variant de 70 % à 90 % de la population. En juillet 2014, une étude publiée par la CIA Factbook répertorie 92 % de catholiques dont 18 % de pratiquants. Jorge Mario Bergoglio, prélat argentin, est élu pape le  sous le nom de François, il est le premier pape issu du continent américain.

La société, la culture et l'histoire de l'Argentine sont profondément imprégnées par le catholicisme. L'Église catholique tient une place importante dans la société argentine, . La présence catholique en Amérique latine remonte à la fin du , au moment où les conquistadors espagnols débarquèrent dans le Nouveau Monde, amenant avec eux leur culture et leur religion.

Il y a sept universités catholiques en Argentine : l'université catholique argentine à Buenos Aires, l'Universidad Católica de Córdoba, l'université nationale de La Plata, l'université de Salta, l'université de Santa Fé, l'université de Cuyo, et l'université de Santiago del Estero. Suivant le modèle de l'Empire romain, l'Église argentine est divisée à travers le pays en plusieurs diocèses et archidiocèses, unités territoriales administratives placées sous l'autorité d'un évêque. Si la plupart des villes de tailles moyennes sont des diocèses, les archidiocèses interviennent dans les villes ou la population est plus importante. Ainsi, Buenos Aires, par exemple, est un archidiocèse en raison, non seulement de la taille de sa population, mais également de l'importance historique de la ville, qui fut en 1776 la capitale de la vice-royauté espagnole du Rio de la Plata. La cathédrale métropolitaine de Buenos Aires, principale église catholique de Buenos Aires et siège de l’archidiocèse, abrite le tombeau du célèbre général José de San Martín.

L'Argentine possède la plus importante communauté juive d'Amérique latine avec environ .

Selon une importante étude du Barometer d'Amérique latine, le paysage religieux argentin se répartit entre 77 % de catholiques, 7 % de protestants, 4 % des autres religions et 13 % de sans religion. Le nombre d'athées est très important pour un pays d'Amérique latine, d'autant plus que dans les années 1960, il n'y avait que rarement d'Argentins sans religion.

La Convention baptiste évangélique Argentine est fondée en 1908. En 2016, elle compterait 670 églises et .

Femmes, droit à l'avortement et droits LGBT 
Sous le mandat de la présidente Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, le mariage homosexuel est légalisé en 2010, le droit à changer de sexe à l'état civil pour les personnes trans en 2012 et la PMA en 2013. Le 30 décembre 2020, sous le mandat d'Alberto Fernandez, un projet de loi légalisant l'avortement sans conditions jusqu'à la quatorzième semaine de grossesse est approuvé par le Sénat argentin, après un vote en faveur des députés argentins le 11 décembre. L'Argentine, qui n'autorisait l'avortement depuis 1921 qu’en cas de viol ou de danger pour la vie de la mère, devient le quatrième pays d'Amérique Latine à légaliser l'IVG après Cuba, l'Uruguay et le Guyana. Toutefois, les médecins peuvent toujours opposer leur « objection de conscience », dans un pays qui reste très divisé sur la question. L'Argentine de 2020 compte  d'habitants et connaissait jusque-là  clandestins par an (selon le gouvernement), menant eux-mêmes à une hospitalisation en raison de complications pour  par an. Dans le même temps, le pays, souhaitant réduire le nombre d'avortements pour raisons économiques, a créé une allocation financière destinée à aider les mères et leur enfant durant la grossesse et les premières années.

Système de retraite 

Le gouvernement argentin nationalise en 2008 les retraites, mettant fin à quatorze ans de domination des Administradoras de Fondos de Jubilaciones y Pensiones (AFJP), des organismes privés de gestion de l’épargne-retraite. La mesure a provoqué une fuite des capitaux et de fortes baisses des Bourses de Buenos Aires et de Madrid (de nombreuses entreprises espagnoles détenaient participation dans les AFJP).

Ces pensions, dont le montant était défini selon des critères retenus au moment de la souscription du contrat initial, obéissaient à plusieurs facteurs variables, tels le capital investi, les intérêts accumulés ou l’espérance de vie. Au moment du départ à la retraite, elles étaient rarement conformes aux prévisions de départ et se révélaient généralement insuffisantes, voire misérables. Désormais, le système garantit dans la plupart des cas un revenu supérieur à 60 % des salaires.

La publication des montants considérables que les dirigeants des AFJP et des compagnies d’assurance s’octroyaient avait soulevé l’indignation d'une grande partie de l'opinion publique. En quatorze ans, plus d’un tiers des  de dollars de rétributions pour « prestations de services » ont été destinés aux salaires des principaux dirigeants, tandis que les commissions versées aux directeurs commerciaux constituaient le deuxième poste de dépenses.

Économie 

L'Argentine est un pays industrialisé souvent considéré comme émergent même si certains organismes ne reconnaissent pas cette définition, le pays ayant été un des plus riches de la planète jusqu'au début du  mais étant souvent frappé par des crises économiques comme en 1989 ou en 2001. L'Argentine fait partie du G20. Souffrant d'inflation et de difficultés financières, le pays doit souvent faire appel aux organisations économiques internationales telles que le FMI.

L'Argentine est la deuxième puissance économique d'Amérique du Sud derrière le Brésil quant au PIB nominal. Le pays possède une importante richesse agricole. Parmi les points forts de son agriculture, le pays était aussi régulièrement huitième au palmarès des producteurs mondiaux de céréales au milieu des années 2010, dominé par les États-Unis. Il a aussi de nombreuses capacités industrielles et un certain potentiel minier. Pourtant, l'Argentine connaît d'importants problèmes économiques. Le chômage et le bas niveau de vie continuent de marquer le pays, pourtant largement plus développé que les autres nations du tiers monde.

L'Argentine est le deuxième pays du continent latino-américain en 2021 quant à l'développement humain après le Chili selon les données des Nations unies. Cependant, les inégalités sociales se sont accrues et l'existence de bidonvilles en périphérie des grandes villes persiste.

L'Argentine dispose de nombreuses richesses naturelles et d'une main-d'œuvre très qualifiée, d'une agriculture orientée vers l'exportation et d'un tissu industriel diversifié.

Jusque dans les années 1950, à son apogée économique, l'Argentine était l'un des pays les plus riches du monde. Son PIB par habitant le positionnait au douzième rang mondial, juste devant la France.

Malgré ces atouts, l'Argentine a accumulé à la fin des années 1980 une lourde dette externe (dette qu'elle ne compte rembourser qu'en partie, « 10 % »), l'inflation atteignait 100 % par mois et la production avait considérablement chuté.

Pour lutter contre cette crise économique, le gouvernement de Menem a lancé une politique de libéralisation du commerce, de déréglementation et de privatisation. En 1991, le gouvernement décida d'ancrer le peso argentin au dollar américain (technique du currency board) et limita par une loi la croissance de la masse monétaire à la croissance de réserves monétaires. Ce système très particulier du currency board permet l'embellie des années 1990, mais se révèle particulièrement dangereux face aux mouvements erratiques et violents du marché des changes flottants qui suivent la crise économique asiatique et à la forte remontée du dollar qui rendent l'économie argentine non compétitive par rapport à celles de ses voisins. Il sombre lorsque l'économie mondiale entre en récession avec la crise de la bulle Internet au début des années 2000.

La récession, amplifiée par les mesures d'économie drastiques exigées par le Fonds monétaire international (FMI) en contrepartie de son aide en dollars, est extrêmement violente et entraîne une hausse spectaculaire de la pauvreté ainsi que d'importants mouvements sociaux et de rapides changements politiques. L'instabilité politique a plongé l'économie argentine dans une crise sans précédent (2002). Le PIB a chuté de 11 % en 2002 avec la fin de la parité 1 peso = . Cette crise a mené plus de 50 % de la population sous le seuil de pauvreté. Des manifestations ont alors été organisées, suivies de pillages de magasins. Les banques locales incapables de fournir en dollars sont en faillite technique. Le plan argentin de conversion de dette a pour conséquence des pertes sévères pour les créanciers privés. Le pays fait finalement défaut sur sa dette. Les créanciers étrangers comme EDF sont spoliés. Le gouvernement, en dévaluant, rétablit l'équilibre avec le réal brésilien.

Le pays sort de la partie la plus aigüe de la crise dès 2003. Les conséquences les plus durables sont les difficultés récurrentes des gouvernements à financer leurs budgets, le départ du pays de certains investisseurs industriels, une nette diminution de la confiance des créanciers privés et de longs contentieux avec des fonds vautour américains, contentieux qui se poursuivent jusque dans les années 2010. De 2003 à 2007 le PIB repart à 9 % de croissance annuelle, en produisant une réactivation économique dans tous les secteurs, une forte réduction de la pauvreté et un retour de la classe moyenne.

Le , l'Argentine et le Brésil signent, après près de trois ans de négociations, un accord qui doit permettre de protéger les secteurs de production qui pourraient être trop durement affectés par la compétition du pays voisin. Le Mécanisme d’adaptation compétitive (MAC) permet de fixer des droits de douane sur le produit « trop compétitif » du pays voisin pour trois ans, renouvelable une fois.

Depuis 2003, l’Argentine semble avoir repris le chemin de la forte croissance économique et de l'augmentation des salaires. Cependant, l'Argentine semble souffrir de la crise américaine et de la chute du dollar ; en effet, la forte inflation avec un taux « officiel » de 8 à 9 %, pourrait en réalité atteindre 25 % en 2008. Officiellement, le taux de pauvreté était de 20,6 %, mais si l'on suppute une inflation de 25 %, en 2008, le taux de personnes vivant au-dessous du seuil de pauvreté a augmenté, passant à 30,3 %. Ce serait le premier renversement de situation depuis 2003. Cependant, l'INDEC indique un taux de pauvreté de 15,8 % pour le second semestre 2008 ; il faut toutefois noter que l'opposition dénonce une manipulation des chiffres. En effet la moitié des Argentins seraient touchés par un niveau de vie inférieur à celui de la plupart des pays développés, et près d'un tiers vivrait sous le seuil de pauvreté national.

Au cours du second trimestre 2008, la croissance économique connaît un certain ralentissement. Au total, le revenu par habitant de l’Argentine est le quatrième plus haut d’Amérique latine, mais sa croissance sur les vingt dernières années est faible et surtout particulièrement volatile. Le niveau de vie argentin est comparable à celui du Mezzogiorno, en Italie du sud.

En 2019, l'économie est en crise, l'industrie automobile ne fonctionne qu'à 15 % de la capacité installée, les ventes de voitures sont en chute libre (- 54 % sur un an), l'inflation atteint 54,7 % sur un an. Le gouvernement sollicite un prêt du FMI, qui a débloqué en 2018 le versement de  de dollars sur trois ans en contrepartie de coupes budgétaires. Près de  ont été perdus en trois ans et la pauvreté atteint son plus haut niveau depuis le début du .

Le gouvernement argentin introduit en 2020 une taxe sur les grandes fortunes afin de financer des aides sociales, des subventions aux petites entreprises et des programmes de relance économique dans un contexte de crise. La fiscalité est traditionnellement plutôt faible en Argentine et les recettes fiscales de l’État proviennent principalement de la TVA, ce qui favoriserait la montée des inégalités.

L'Argentine est en 2021 toujours en situation de profonde crise économique et sociale (taux de pauvreté de 40 %, taux d’inflation de 52 %, pression de la dette auprès du FMI). Dans ce contexte, près de 25% des adolescents âgés de 13 à  sont obligés de travailler pour aider leurs familles pauvres et endettées.

 Monnaie nationale : le peso argentin ()
 PIB par habitant :  (2014, valeur PPA)
 Taux de chômage : 7,1 % (2014)
 Population vivant sous le seuil de pauvreté : 25,7 % (2017)
 Taux d'inflation : 28,5 % (2018)
 Principaux clients : Brésil (17,3 %), Chili (9,4 %), États-Unis (8,7 %), Chine (7,5 %), Espagne (4,1 %)
 Principaux fournisseurs : Brésil (34,1 %), États-Unis (12,6 %), Chine (9,1 %), Allemagne (4,5 %)
 Coefficient de Gini : 42,4 (2016)

Agriculture 

Le secteur agricole contribue au PIB à hauteur de 18 % et représente 61 % du total des exportations.
L'Argentine compte environ  de paysans, qui produisent près de 80 % des légumes consommés dans le pays. Pourtant, « la culture prédominante des grands propriétaires fonciers rend invisibles les petits producteurs », déplore Matías Bohl, référent de la Fédération nationale paysanne. La propriété de la terre est très inégalement répartie. Moins de 1 % des propriétaires terriens possèdent 40 % de la terre.

L’Argentine est l’un des cinq plus grands producteurs au monde de soja, maïs, tournesol, sorgho, citron et yerba mate, et l’un des 15 plus grands producteurs au monde de blé, orge et raisin. De plus, il est l'un des cinq plus grands producteurs au monde de bœuf et miel.

Médias 
Le groupe Clarín détient la principale chaîne de télévision du pays : Canal 13, ainsi que le journal argentin qui a le tirage le plus important, le quotidien centriste Clarín. Les quotidiens qui suivent, d'après leur tirage, sont La Nación, Página/12, , , La Prensa, et Buenos Aires Herald.

Le service téléphonique a été privatisé en 1990 par le gouvernement de Carlos Menem. Il y a  de lignes téléphoniques installées, soit  pour . La téléphonie mobile relie 75 % de la population ( de personnes). Ce nombre élevé est dû en partie au fait que des personnes de faible revenu ont pu durant les dernières années accéder à des plans de paiement.

Il y a près de  de radio, dont 260 sont AM et approximativement  sont FM.

L'Argentine est le pays d'Amérique latine où l'accès à la télévision par câble est le plus répandu : selon des données de 2001, la grande majorité des foyers possède au moins un téléviseur et 60 % des personnes équipées reçoivent la télévision câblée. Les principales chaines de télévision qui transmettent depuis Buenos Aires sont Canal 13, Telefe, Canal 9 et América TV.

En 2005, 26,3 % de la population avait accès à internet avec plus de dix millions d'utilisateurs dans le pays.

En octobre 2009, le gouvernement péroniste argentin promulgue une importante réforme du système médiatique, consistant en une limitation de la concentration des licences, du capital et de l’actionnariat afin de permettre à des médias aux ressources financières plus modestes de se constituer. Après une bataille juridique de quatre ans contre le puissant conglomérat médiatique Clarín, qui contestait la constitutionnalité de la loi, celle-ci est finalement validée par la justice. Sous la présidence de Mauricio Macri (élu en 2015) l'essentiel de la loi est abrogé.

Transports 

 Autocar. Les compagnies de transport, à travers tout le pays, disposent d'autocars modernes et confortables. C'est le moyen de transport le plus répandu en Argentine. L'ensemble des compagnies assurent la liaison vers toutes les villes importantes du pays et vers les grandes villes des pays limitrophes.
 Chemin de fer. Dans les années 1950, l'Argentine possédait le meilleur réseau de chemin de fer d'Amérique latine, mais les choses ont changé. Le réseau ferroviaire est devenu quasiment inexistant, à l'exception de quelques lignes touristiques. Il reste intéressant de prendre le train pour aller vers les villes du nord et vers la Bolivie, ainsi que vers les villes de la Pampa (Mendoza, Cordoba, Mar del Plata, Tucuman) surtout de nuit. Les prix sont équivalents à ceux pratiqués par les autocars. Au total, il y a , dont  de voies électrifiées.
 Avion. Les vols intérieurs constituent une solution pratique pour visiter l'ensemble du pays. En 2010, le pays comptait environ . Cependant la plupart sont de petits aéroports ou bien des aérodromes avec des pistes non goudronnées.

Rangs internationaux 

En 2022, l'Argentine est classé en  pour l'indice mondial de l'innovation.

Culture

Musique et danse 

L'Argentine possède tout un amalgame de rythmes hérités et mélangés pendant des siècles sur l'ensemble de son territoire. Ainsi, les contrastes et la multiplicité caractérisent l'art musical dans le pays.

Parmi les musiques traditionnelles, de tradition rurale, la chacarera, la  milonga, la zamba, le gato, le cielito sont très diffusés, notamment à travers le festival de Cosquín, Córdoba, la fête nationale du folklore argentin. Ainsi on compte aussi les rythmes indigènes de souche, tels que le fameux carnavalito du Nord du pays, les musiques mapuches partagées avec le Chili (notamment le loncomeo), les sons guaranis… D'autre part, l'influence africaine atteint presque tous les rythmes nationaux, en particulier avec l'utilisation du bombo, et la particularité rythmique de certaines musiques, comme la chacarera De même, un rythme caractéristique des afrodescendants est le  candombe  , aussi très caractéristique de l'Uruguay. C'est une musique très rythmée et généralement en forme de comparsa, de groupe musical ambulant dans la rue. À Buenos Aires et Montevideo, on peut apprécier le candombe de façon publique. Le tango, internationalement reconnu et déclaré Patrimoine culturel immatériel, est peut-être ce qui caractérise l'Argentine à l'œil étranger, même s'il est réduit à la ville de Buenos Aires et à Montevideo. Ses origines remontent aux danses africaines du candombe qui a subi un métissage avec la  milonga, donnant ainsi un rythme très énergique joué de guitare, tambours et flûte. Cependant, ce que nous appelons tango aujourd'hui est la modification de ce rythme par les immigrants européens, qui ont ajouté des instruments différents tel que le bandonéon et un style et paroles singuliers, différents de la véritable souche du tango.
Une fête nationale très importante est le Carnaval del Pais, déroulé à Gualeguaychú, Entre Ríos tous les ans. Celle-ci est une occasion pour dévoiler tout le coloris et la danse au rythme du candombe du Río de la Plata.

Parmi les grands compositeurs argentins, on compte Astor Piazzolla.

Littérature 

La littérature argentine, de langue espagnole, a acquis durant le , une véritable indépendance, une identité propre vis-à-vis de l'Espagne. Bien que Jorge Luis Borges jouisse d'une reconnaissance internationale, se sont illustrés également Adolfo Bioy Casares, Victoria Ocampo, Silvina Ocampo, Ernesto Sábato, Roberto Arlt, Alfonsina Storni, Manuel Mujica Láinez, Héctor Tizón, Leopoldo Marechal, Juan Filloy, Ricardo Piglia, Alberto Laiseca, Leopoldo Lugones, Alejandra Pizarnik, Tomás Eloy Martínez, Juan José Saer, César Aira, Angélica Gorodischer, Osvaldo Soriano, José Hernández, María Elena Walsh, ainsi que certains auteurs de la diaspora comme Julio Cortázar.

Traditions culinaires 

L'Argentine possède une variété de plats culinaires traditionnels hérités de la rencontre des grands groupes présents en Amérique latine (Italiens, Espagnols, indigènes). Ainsi, un grand nombre de plats typiques sont consommés tout au long du territoire : les pizze, les tallarines, milanesas, empanadas, le locro, les humitas, les tamales, le puchero, alfajores, le dulce de leche, le arroz con leche, la mazamorra, entre une infinité d'autres plats. Leur préparation varie selon les traditions de chaque région, et certaines préparations sont partagées avec d'autres pays de la région (Chili, Uruguay, Paraguay). Cependant, les trois aliments les plus caractéristiques, peut-être par leur popularité ou par leur succès auprès des touristes sont les suivants :

Maté 
Le maté est une infusion traditionnelle consommée en Argentine comme partout en Amérique du Sud, issue de la culture des indiens Guaranis. C'est une part très importante de la culture, et il est fréquent de voir des personnes boire le maté dans la rue. La plante utilisée, la yerba maté, parfois appelé « thé du Paraguay », « thé des Jésuites » ou « thé du Brésil », est une espèce sud-américaine dont les feuilles, que l'on torréfie et pulvérise, fournissent, infusées dans l'eau chaude, une boisson stimulante, aux effets semblables à ceux du café ou du thé.
Cette boisson, consommée chaude et parfois froide, de goût fort et amer, est préparée avec des feuilles de yerba maté. Elle se boit dans une calebasse grâce à un tube métallique qui sert aussi de filtre, la bombilla. Pour le savourer, les gauchos s'organisent en cercle où le maté passe de main en main selon un rituel très précis qui invite par exemple les participants à faire circuler la calebasse dans le sens anti-horaire afin de faire passer le temps moins vite. Cette boisson traditionnelle symbolise, par ses rites de consommation, la fraternité et l'hospitalité des gauchos.

Asado 

En Argentine, le terme asado se réfère non seulement à une grillade en tant que telle mais aussi à l’acte social, à la réunion où l’on mange de la viande (blanche ou rouge) ou des choripanes (sandwiches avec chorizo et sauce criolla ou chimichurri). Ces viandes sont cuites et grillées horizontalement « a la parilla » ou verticalement, « en croix ». L’asado est presque le « plat national » de l’Argentine par son origine très ancrée dans la tradition des gauchos. Il existe même des « asadores », personnes spécialisées dans l’art de cuisiner un asado.

Confiture de lait 
Le  (« la confiture de lait ») est une spécialité sucrée sans véritable origine puisqu'il existe des recettes similaires dans toutes les parties du monde, mais est extrêmement apprécié en Argentine et tout au long de l'Amérique latine. D'origine coloniale, il s’agit d'un mélange de lait et de sucre ( à  par litre de lait) porté à ébullition, puis cuit à feu très doux jusqu’à épaississement et obtention d’une couleur caramel. Il est très utilisé dans les pâtisseries ou tout simplement comme confiture.

Locro 
Le locro (du quechua ruqru) est un ragoût à base de courge, de maïs et de haricots consommés.

Symboles nationaux 

 Le drapeau de l'Argentine, créé par le héros national Manuel Belgrano, a inspiré plusieurs peuples latino-américains dans le choix de leur propre drapeau. Il fut en son temps adopté par les Provinces unies d'Amérique centrale, et c'est pour cela que les drapeaux du Salvador, du Honduras, du Nicaragua et du Guatemala sont très semblables au drapeau argentin. Dessiné par le général Manuel Belgrano, le drapeau argentin est les bandes bleues et blanches font référence aux cocardes de la même couleur distribuées le  lors du début de la guerre d'indépendance. Le drapeau est rendu officiel, deux semaines après l'indépendance, le , puis, en 1818, est ajouté le soleil dit Sol de Mayo. Jusqu'au , le drapeau avec le soleil, dit drapeau de guerre, est exclusif aux institutions officielles, alors que le drapeau sans le soleil est utilisé pour les manifestations ou institutions n'ayant pas caractère officiel. Désormais, le drapeau avec le soleil est utilisé partout.

 La fleur nationale de l'Argentine est le ceibo, dont le nom scientifique est Erythrina crista-galli. Elle fut déclarée comme telle le  par le décret  du pouvoir exécutif.
 L’oiseau national est le hornero ou Furnarius rufus, sympathique oiseau que l'on retrouve dans toutes les villes argentines et qui y construit de curieux nids.
 La pierre nationale est la rhodochrosite.

Ordres et décorations 
 Ordre de Saint-Martin, le Libérateur
 Ordre de Mai

Fêtes et jours fériés

Sports 
Bien que le football soit le sport le plus populaire en Argentine avec de très grands joueurs comme Alfredo Di Stéfano, Osvaldo Piazza, Diego Maradona ou Lionel Messi, d'autres sports sont largement pratiqués, le sport national est d'ailleurs le pato. Ainsi, l'Argentine s'illustre régulièrement en basket-ball, en rugby à , en pelote basque, en padel ou encore en tennis avec Guillermo Vilas, Gabriela Sabatini ou Juan Martín del Potro notamment. Par ailleurs, on peut également citer le rink hockey, le hockey sur gazon, le polo avec  ou Adolfo Cambiaso, le golf avec Eduardo Romero ou le sport automobile avec Juan Manuel Fangio comme sports appréciés en Argentine. Un autre sport, le rugby à XIII, s'implante également dans le pays depuis la fin des années 2000.

Voir aussi

Articles connexes 
 Presse écrite en Argentine
 Peuples amérindiens d'Argentine

Liens externes 

 Site touristique officiel
 Site officiel Ambassade Argentine
 Données de la Banque mondiale

Notes et références 

Éponyme d'un objet céleste

est un réalisateur, producteur, scénariste et monteur japonais, né le  à Tokyo, où il est mort le . Il est considéré comme l’un des cinéastes les plus célèbres et influents de l’histoire du cinéma. En cinquante-sept ans de carrière cinématographique, il a réalisé plus de trente films.

Après une brève expérience de peintre, Akira Kurosawa entre dans l’industrie cinématographique japonaise en 1936 en tant qu’assistant réalisateur et scénariste. Il fait ses débuts en tant que réalisateur pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale avec le film d’action populaire . Son huitième long métrage, , sort en 1948 et est acclamé par la critique, consolidant sa réputation. Ce film marque les débuts de sa collaboration avec l’acteur Toshirō Mifune, qui va tourner dans seize de ses films.

Pour , dont la première a lieu à Tokyo en , Akira Kurosawa reçoit le Lion d’or de la Mostra de Venise. Cette récompense inattendue permet au film d’être diffusé en Europe et en Amérique du Nord. Son succès public et critique ouvre les portes de l’Occident au cinéma japonais et permet à d’autres cinéastes japonais d’obtenir une reconnaissance internationale. Des  au début des , Kurosawa réalise environ un film par an, dont ,  et . Au début des , il devient beaucoup moins prolifique, mais ses œuvres tardives  continuent de remporter des prix, dont la Palme d’or au Festival de Cannes pour Kagemusha.
 
En 1990, il reçoit l’Oscar d’honneur décerné par l’ . En 1999, il est nommé à titre posthume « Personnalité asiatique du siècle » dans la catégorie « Arts, littérature, et culture » par le magazine Asiaweek et CNN, présenté comme .

Biographie

Enfance et éducation cinématographique (1910-1935) 
Kurosawa naît le  dans le quartier de Higashiōi (arrondissement de Shinagawa) à Tokyo. Son père Isamu, descendant d’une famille de samouraïs de la préfecture d’Akita, est directeur de l’école secondaire de l’Institut d’éducation physique de l’armée, tandis que sa mère vient d’une famille de marchands d’Osaka. Il est le benjamin d’une lignée de sept enfants. Deux d’entre eux sont presqu’adultes à sa naissance, et une de ses sœurs meurt peu de temps après. Kurosawa ne grandit alors qu’avec trois de ses frères et sœurs.

En plus de promouvoir l’exercice physique, son père, Isamu Kurosawa, considère la culture occidentale  comme un point essentiel de l’éducation : le jeune Akira découvre le cinéma à l’âge de . Sous l’influence d’un de ses professeurs d’école élémentaire, , il se passionne pour la peinture et le dessin. À cette époque, il étudie également la calligraphie et le kendo.

L’enfance d’Akira Kurosawa est également très influencée par son frère Heigo, de quatre ans son aîné. Kurosawa rapporte qu’à la suite du séisme du Kantō de 1923, Heigo l’emmène dans les quartiers les plus détruits de la capitale et que lorsqu’il tente de détourner les yeux des cadavres jonchant les rues, son frère l’en empêche pour l’obliger à affronter ses peurs. Pour certains critiques, cet événement a fortement influencé la sensibilité de Kurosawa.

Heigo est un élève brillant, mais échoue à son examen d’entrée au lycée. À la suite de cet échec, il se détache peu à peu de sa famille, et se concentre sur la littérature étrangère. À la fin des années 1920, Heigo devient benshi (commentateur de films muets) et se fait connaître sous le nom de Suda Teimei. Akira, qui veut alors devenir peintre de style occidental, emménage avec son frère. Grâce à Heigo, Akira découvre non seulement le cinéma, mais également le théâtre et le cirque. Dans le même temps, il expose ses toiles et travaux dans le cadre des expositions de la Ligue des artistes prolétariens. Mais il n’arrive pas à vivre de sa peinture et finit par s’en lasser. Il se détourne aussi de la politique alors que la répression policière s’est accentuée.

Avec l’avènement du cinéma parlant au début des années 1930, il devient difficile pour les benshi comme Heigo de trouver du travail, et Akira retourne chez ses parents. En , Heigo se suicide avec sa compagne. Kurosawa décrit cette mort comme un sentiment durable de perte, et l’évoque dans le chapitre intitulé « Une histoire dont je ne veux pas parler » de son autobiographie. Seulement quatre mois après la mort de Heigo, son frère aîné meurt également.

Apprentissage de la réalisation (1935-1941) 

En 1935, le nouveau studio de cinéma « Photo Chemical Laboratories »  recherche des assistants réalisateurs. Bien qu’il n’ait jamais envisagé de travailler dans le cinéma et qu’il ait déjà un travail d’illustrateur de livres, Kurosawa répond à l’annonce du studio, qui demande aux candidats de rédiger un essai sur les défauts fondamentaux des films japonais et les moyens d’y remédier. Kurosawa explique dans son papier que si ces défauts sont fondamentaux, alors il n’y a aucun moyen de les corriger. Cette lettre au ton moqueur lui permet de passer les examens suivants. Le réalisateur Kajirō Yamamoto, qui fait partie des recruteurs, insiste pour que Kurosawa soit embauché. En , à l’âge de , Kurosawa entre chez PCL.

Au cours de ses cinq années en tant qu’assistant, Kurosawa travaille pour un nombre important de réalisateurs différents, mais celui qui lui apporte le plus reste Kajirō Yamamoto. Sur ses vingt-quatre films en tant qu’assistant réalisateur, dix-sept sont réalisés par Yamamoto, la plupart étant des comédies jouées par l’acteur Ken’ichi Enomoto, plus connu sous le nom de « Enoken ». Yamamoto cultive le talent de Kurosawa et le fait passer en une année de troisième assistant à « assistant réalisateur en chef ». Les responsabilités de Kurosawa s’accroissent, et son travail va de l’élaboration des scènes et du développement du film aux repérages des lieux de tournage, en passant par la finition du scénario, les répétitions, l’éclairage, le doublage, le montage et la direction de la seconde équipe. Dans son dernier film en tant qu’assistant réalisateur, , Kurosawa prend en charge l’essentiel de la production, Yamamoto étant déjà occupé par le tournage d’un autre film.

Yamamoto confie à Kurosawa qu’un bon réalisateur doit avant tout être un excellent scénariste. Kurosawa comprend alors qu’il peut être davantage rémunéré en écrivant des scénarios plutôt qu’en restant assistant réalisateur. Par la suite, il écrit ou coécrit tous ses films, et écrit fréquemment des scénarios pour d’autres réalisateurs, comme celui du film  de Satsuo Yamamoto. L’écriture de scénarios pour d’autres réalisateurs est pour Kurosawa une activité lucrative, qui dure jusque dans les années 1960, bien après qu’il soit devenu célèbre.

Guerre, censure et mariage (1942-1945) 
Durant les deux ans suivant la sortie de Cheval en 1941, Kurosawa est en quête d’une histoire qui pourrait lancer sa carrière de réalisateur. Vers la fin de l’année 1942, environ un an après le début de la guerre entre le Japon et les États-Unis, le romancier Tsuneo Tomita publie Sugata Sanshirō, un roman sur la naissance du judo écrit dans le style de Miyamoto Musashi. Intrigué par le livre, Kurosawa l’achète le jour de sa publication ; après l’avoir lu d’une traite, il demande immédiatement à la Tōhō d’en acquérir les droits d’adaptation. Son intuition s’est avérée juste puisque, en l’espace de quelques jours, trois autres grands studios japonais proposent également d’acheter les droits. La Tōhō finit par les obtenir, et Kurosawa entame la préproduction de son premier film en tant que réalisateur.

Le tournage de  débute à Yokohama en . La production du film ne pose pas de problème, mais la censure, qui avait donné son accord en amont conformément à la loi sur le cinéma de 1939, juge le résultat du tournage trop . La Légende du grand judo doit finalement sa sortie le  au réalisateur Yasujirō Ozu, qui défend le film. Néanmoins, dix-huit minutes de la version initiale sont censurées. La plupart de ces coupes sont aujourd’hui considérées comme définitivement perdues. La Légende du grand judo est un film caractéristique de l’idéologie de l’époque. Il exalte les vertus morales et l’abnégation du petit peuple, par opposition à l’égoïsme et à la méchanceté des bourgeois occidentalisés, représentés par le personnage de Gennosuke.

Kurosawa s’intéresse ensuite au sujet des femmes ouvrières en temps de guerre dans , un film de propagande tourné dans un style semi-documentaire au début de l’année 1944. Le scénario, écrit par Kurosawa, met en scène un groupe de jeunes ouvrières dans une usine de lentilles optiques à usage militaire qui fait tout son possible malgré les difficultés pour augmenter sa productivité. Pour obtenir des performances réalistes de la part des actrices, Kurosawa les fait vivre dans une véritable usine pendant le tournage, manger la nourriture de l’usine et s’appeler les unes les autres par les noms de leurs personnages. Il utilise des méthodes similaires avec ses interprètes tout au long de sa carrière.

Au cours de la production, Yōko Yaguchi, l’actrice interprétant la meneuse du groupe d’ouvrières, est choisie par ses collègues pour présenter à Kurosawa leurs exigences. Paradoxalement, alors qu’ils s’opposent en permanence, Yaguchi et Kurosawa se rapprochent. Ils se marient le , alors que Yōko est enceinte de deux mois. Ils restent mariés jusqu’à la mort de Yōko en 1985. Ils ont ensemble deux enfants : un fils, Hisao, né le , producteur de quelques-uns des derniers projets de son père, et une fille, Kazuko, née le , chef costumière.

Juste avant son mariage, Kurosawa est pressé par le studio de donner une suite à La Légende du grand judo. Le film de propagande  sort en , et est souvent considéré comme l’une des œuvres les moins abouties de Kurosawa.

Dans le contexte de pénurie des derniers mois de la guerre, Kurosawa décide d’écrire le scénario d’un film moins onéreux à produire que les précédents. , basé sur la pièce de kabuki Kanjinchō, avec Enoken, est achevé en . À cette date, le Japon vient de capituler, et l’occupation du pays par les Alliés a commencé. Le système de censure mis en place par les Américains, à l’encontre de tous les films japonais réalisés pendant la guerre, bloque la diffusion du film, estimant qu’il défend des valeurs . Le film avait déjà été critiqué par les censeurs japonais en temps de guerre, qui le jugeaient trop occidental et . Ils regrettaient notamment le rôle du porteur comique interprété par Enoken. Le film n’aurait donc probablement pas vu le jour même si la guerre s’était poursuivie plus longtemps. Il ne sort finalement qu’en 1952, sept ans après son tournage.

Travaux d'après-guerre (1946-1950) 
Au lendemain de la guerre, Kurosawa est inspiré par les idéaux démocratiques du nouveau régime né de l’occupation. Le premier film résultant de cette inspiration est , sorti en 1946, basé sur l’incident de Takigawa de 1933 et l’affaire de l’espion Hotsumi Ozaki, dans lequel le réalisateur critique le régime japonais d’avant-guerre. Le personnage central du film est une femme, Yukie (interprétée par Setsuko Hara), qui cherche sa place dans un contexte de crise politique. Le scénario original, écrit par Eijirō Hisaita, doit être revu et corrigé de façon importante en raison de ses thèmes politiques. Le film divise la critique, tant par son sujet controversé que par le sexe de son personnage principal. En revanche, le succès auprès du public est présent, et le titre du film devient une phrase culte d’après-guerre.

Son film suivant, , sort en  et reçoit un accueil critique mitigé. Il s’agit de l’histoire d’amour relativement simple d’un couple appauvri par la guerre qui souhaite profiter de son jour de repos. Pour ce film, Kurosawa est influencé par les œuvres de Frank Capra, D. W. Griffith et F. W. Murnau, des cinéastes qu’il admire profondément. En 1947 sort , un film de Senkichi Taniguchi et écrit par Kurosawa. Ce film marque les débuts du jeune acteur Toshirō Mifune. C’est Kurosawa, avec l’aide de Yamamoto, qui insiste pour que le studio Tōhō engage Mifune.

L’année suivante sort . Bien que le scénario doive être réécrit à cause de la censure de l’occupation, Kurosawa a le sentiment de pouvoir enfin s’exprimer librement. Le film raconte l’histoire d’un médecin tentant de sauver un yakuza de la tuberculose. Il s’agit de la première collaboration entre le réalisateur et Mifune. Cette collaboration se poursuit durant les seize films suivants du cinéaste (hormis Vivre), où Mifune joue les premiers rôles. À l’origine, Mifune n’est pas censé jouer le personnage principal de L’Ange ivre, mais sa prestation de yakuza est telle qu’il domine le film et éclipse le rôle du docteur alcoolique tenu par Takashi Shimura. Kurosawa décide alors de ne pas gêner la montée en puissance du jeune acteur. Le jeu de rebelle de Mifune conquiert aussitôt le public. L’avant-première a lieu en , et le film est élu meilleur film de l’année par la prestigieuse revue Kinema Junpō. Au total, trois films de Kurosawa seront ainsi récompensés.

Avec le producteur Sōjirō Motoki et les réalisateurs Kajirō Yamamoto, Mikio Naruse et Senkichi Taniguchi, Kurosawa fonde l’. Pour les débuts de cette organisation, et pour son premier film pour Daiei, Kurosawa adapte avec Taniguchi une pièce contemporaine de Kazuo Kikuta.  a pour tête d’affiche Toshirō Mifune en jeune médecin idéaliste luttant contre la syphilis. Il s’agit d’une tentative délibérée de Kurosawa de sortir Mifune des rôles de gangsters. Sorti en , le film est un succès au box-office, mais est généralement considéré comme l’un des moins bons du cinéaste.

Son second film de l’année 1949, également produit par l’Association artistique cinématographique et distribué par la Shintōhō, est , l’un de ses films les plus célèbres. Ce film policier raconte l’histoire d’un jeune détective (interprété par Mifune) obsédé par son pistolet volé par un démuni qui s’en sert pour commettre des crimes. Il est chargé d’assister le commissaire Sato, dont la perspicacité pour remonter jusqu’au coupable rappelle celle du commissaire Maigret. Adapté d’un roman de Kurosawa lui-même, et écrit dans le style de l’un de ses auteurs favoris , il s’agit avant tout de sa première collaboration avec le scénariste Ryūzō Kikushima. L’une des séquences les plus célèbres du film, d’une durée de huit minutes et sans dialogues, représente le jeune détective déguisé en pauvre vétéran errant dans les rues à la recherche de son arme ; cette séquence utilise des plans d’un documentaire sur la ville de Tokyo ravagée par la guerre, réalisé par Ishirō Honda, un ami de Kurosawa et futur réalisateur de .

, produit par la Shōchiku et sorti en , est inspiré d’une expérience personnelle du réalisateur avec la presse à scandale. Le film mêle drame judiciaire et problèmes sociaux sur fond de liberté d’expression et de responsabilités personnelles. Mais Kurosawa juge le travail flou et peu satisfaisant, rejoignant ce que s’accorde à dire la majorité des critiques. Cependant, c’est avec son second film de 1950, , que Kurosawa finit par gagner un tout nouveau public.

Reconnaissance internationale (1950-1958) 
Après la sortie de Scandale, Kurosawa est approché par les studios Daiei, afin qu’il réalise un deuxième film pour eux après Le Duel silencieux. Le réalisateur choisit alors le script d’un jeune scénariste, Shinobu Hashimoto, basé sur la nouvelle de Ryūnosuke Akutagawa intitulée  qui narre le meurtre d’un samouraï et le viol de sa femme. Kurosawa voit dans cette nouvelle un potentiel cinématographique, et décide de la développer avec l’aide de Hashimoto. Daiei accueille le projet avec enthousiasme d’autant que le budget requis semble faible avec ses deux uniques décors et un tournage majoritairement en extérieur. Matsutarō Kawaguchi, alors cadre à la Daiei, se plaindra plus tard auprès de Kurosawa d’avoir été roulé tant l’imposant décor de la porte Rashō a été couteux.

Le tournage de Rashōmon se déroule du  au  dans les grands espaces montagneux de la forêt de Nara puis dans la forêt qui longe le Konkai kōmyō-ji à Kyoto. La post-production du film dure une seule semaine, et est gênée par un incendie dans les studios. L’avant-première a lieu le  au théâtre impérial de Tokyo, la sortie nationale le lendemain. Les critiques sont partagées, intriguées par le thème unique du film. Il s’agit néanmoins d’un succès financier modéré pour la société Daiei.

Le film suivant de Kurosawa, pour Shōchiku, est , une adaptation du roman de l’écrivain préféré du réalisateur, Fiodor Dostoïevski. Le cinéaste délocalise l’histoire de la Russie à Hokkaidō, mais reste très fidèle à l’œuvre originale, ce que de nombreuses critiques jugent dommageable pour le film. Jugé trop long, le film de Kurosawa est raccourci, passant de  (près de ) à , ce qui rend l’histoire difficilement compréhensible. À sa sortie, les critiques sont très mauvaises, mais le film rencontre un succès modéré auprès du public, essentiellement grâce à la présence de Setsuko Hara.

Pendant ce temps, à l’insu de Kurosawa, Rashōmon est sélectionné à la Mostra de Venise grâce aux efforts de Giuliana Stramigioli, une représentante basée au Japon d’une société de production italienne. Le , Rashōmon reçoit la plus haute distinction du festival, le Lion d’or. Cette récompense surprend l’ensemble du monde du cinéma, qui à l’époque ignorait quasiment tout de la tradition cinématographique du Japon.

Daiei exploite alors brièvement le film à Los Angeles jusqu’à ce que RKO rachète les droits de distribution sur le sol des États-Unis. Le risque est grand pour RKO : à l’époque, un seul film sous-titré est sur le marché américain, et le seul film japonais ayant été distribué à New York, une comédie de Mikio Naruse en 1937, a été un échec critique et commercial. Pourtant, l’exploitation de Rashōmon est un succès, aidée par de nombreux critiques dont Ed Sullivan : lors des trois premières semaines, le film engrange , et ce dans un seul cinéma de New York. Le public français quant à lui découvre le film en salles en . Ce succès entraîne un regain d’intérêt pour les films japonais en Occident dans les , éclipsant le cinéma néoréaliste italien. Grâce à cette renommée, les films d’autres cinéastes japonais commencent à recevoir des récompenses et à être distribués en Occident, comme ceux de Kenji Mizoguchi, et plus tard ceux de Yasujirō Ozu, des cinéastes reconnus au Japon mais totalement inconnus dans cette partie du monde.

Sa carrière gonflée par sa reconnaissance internationale, Kurosawa retourne chez Tōhō et travaille sur son prochain film, . Le film met en scène Watanabe (Takashi Shimura), un fonctionnaire atteint d’un cancer qui cherche à donner un dernier sens à sa vie. Pour le scénario, Kurosawa s’allie à Hashimoto et à l’écrivain Hideo Oguni, avec qui il coécrit douze films. Malgré le sujet grave, les scénaristes abordent le récit d’une manière satirique, ce que certains comparent au travail de Bertolt Brecht. Cette stratégie leur a permis d’éviter ce sentimentalisme commun qui règne habituellement autour de personnages atteints de maladies incurables. Vivre sort en , Kurosawa est récompensé de son deuxième « meilleur film » de Kinema Junpō, et le film remporte un grand succès au box-office.

En , Kurosawa s’isole durant  avec les deux scénaristes de Ikiru, Shinobu Hashimoto et Hideo Oguni. Ensemble, ils écrivent le scénario du prochain film du cinéaste, . Il s’agit du premier véritable chanbara de Kurosawa, genre pour lequel il est aujourd’hui le plus connu. L’histoire, celle d’un pauvre village de l’époque Sengoku qui fait appel à un groupe de samouraïs afin de se défendre des bandits, est traitée par Kurosawa d’une manière totalement épique, et l’action est méticuleusement détaillée durant les trois heures et demie. Le film s’appuie sur une distribution d’ensemble impressionnante, composée notamment d’acteurs ayant déjà tourné avec Kurosawa.

Trois mois sont nécessaires pour la préproduction, un mois pour les répétitions. Le tournage dure  étalés sur près d’un an, interrompu entre autres par des difficultés de production et d’ordre financier, ainsi que par les problèmes de santé de Kurosawa. Le film sort finalement en , soit  après la date prévue. Le film coûte trois fois plus que prévu, et devient alors le film japonais le plus cher jamais réalisé. Les critiques sont positives, et le succès au box-office permet de rentrer rapidement dans les frais. Après de nombreuses modifications, il est distribué sur le marché international. Au fil du temps, et grâce aux versions non modifiées diffusées par la suite, le film accroît sa notoriété. En 1979, un vote parmi des critiques japonais le classe comme étant le meilleur film japonais de tous les temps. Aujourd’hui encore, il est considéré comme tel par certains critiques.

En 1954, des tests nucléaires militaires dans le Pacifique créent des incidents aux conséquences désastreuses, comme celui impliquant le thonier japonais Daigo Fukuryū Maru. C’est dans cette anxiété ambiante que Kurosawa conçoit son film suivant, . Le propos porte sur un riche industriel (Toshirō Mifune) terrifié à l’idée d’une attaque nucléaire, et qui décide d’emmener sa famille dans une ferme au Brésil pour être en sécurité. La production est moins chaotique que lors du film précédent, mais à quelques jours de la fin du tournage, Fumio Hayasaka, compositeur et ami de Kurosawa, meurt de la tuberculose. La bande originale est alors achevée par l’assistant de Hayasaka, Masaru Satō, qui travaille sur les huit films suivants de Kurosawa. Vivre dans la peur sort en , mais l’accueil des critiques et du public est timide et réservé. Le film devient alors le premier de Kurosawa à ne pas rentrer dans ses frais durant son exploitation en salle. Aujourd’hui, il est considéré comme le meilleur film traitant des effets psychologiques de la paralysie nucléaire mondiale.

Le projet suivant de Kurosawa, , est une adaptation du Macbeth de William Shakespeare, dont l’histoire est transposée en Asie à l’époque Sengoku. Kurosawa donne pour instruction aux acteurs, et notamment à l’actrice principale Isuzu Yamada, d’agir et de jouer comme s’il s’agissait d’un classique de la littérature japonaise et non occidentale. Le jeu des acteurs s’apparente alors aux techniques et styles du théâtre nô. Le film est tourné en 1956 et sort en . Le succès en salle est légèrement moins mauvais que pour Vivre dans la peur. À l’étranger, le film devient rapidement une référence parmi les adaptations cinématographiques de Shakespeare.

La production d’une autre adaptation d’un classique européen suit immédiatement celle du Château de l’araignée. , adapté de la pièce du même nom de Maxime Gorki, est réalisé en mai et . Bien que l’adaptation soit très fidèle à la pièce de théâtre russe, l’exercice de transposition à l’époque d’Edo est considéré comme une réussite artistique. La première a lieu en , et le film reçoit un accueil partagé, similaire à celui reçu par Le Château de l’araignée. Certains critiques le classent parmi les œuvres les plus sous-estimées de Kurosawa.

Les trois films suivant Les Sept Samouraïs n’ont pas connu le même succès auprès du public japonais. Le travail de Kurosawa est de plus en plus sombre et pessimiste, et le réalisateur aborde les questions de la rédemption. Kurosawa, qui s’aperçoit de ces changements, décide délibérément de retourner à des films plus légers et divertissants. À cette même époque, le format écran large devient très populaire au Japon. En résulte , film d’action et d’aventure mettant en scène une princesse, son fidèle général et deux paysans devant traverser les lignes ennemies pour pouvoir rejoindre leurs foyers. Sorti en 1958, La Forteresse cachée est un énorme succès au box-office, et est chaudement accueilli par les critiques. Aujourd’hui, le film est considéré comme l’un des films les plus légers et accessibles de Kurosawa, mais reste très populaire pour ses nombreuses influences, notamment sur Star Wars, le  de George Lucas sorti en 1977.

Naissance d'une entreprise et fin d'une ère (1959-1965) 
Depuis Rashōmon, les films de Kurosawa atteignent un public plus large, et la fortune du réalisateur augmente. Tōhō propose alors au réalisateur de financer lui-même une partie de ses films, et ainsi de limiter les risques financiers pour la société de production, en échange de quoi Kurosawa aurait davantage de liberté artistique en tant que coproducteur. Kurosawa accepte, et la Kurosawa Production Company naît en , avec Tōhō comme actionnaire principal.

Alors qu’il met maintenant en jeu son propre argent, Kurosawa choisit de réaliser un film critiquant plus ouvertement la politique et l’économie japonaise que ses précédentes œuvres. , basé sur un scénario de Mike Inoue, neveu de Kurosawa, raconte la vengeance d’un jeune homme grimpant dans la hiérarchie d’une entreprise corrompue afin de démasquer les responsables de la mort de son père. Son thème se révèle d’actualité : pendant la production, de grandes manifestations ont lieu pour dénoncer le traité de coopération mutuelle et de sécurité entre les États-Unis et le Japon. Ce traité est considéré, notamment par la jeunesse, comme une menace pour la démocratie du pays car il donne plus de pouvoir aux entreprises et aux politiciens. Le film sort en  sous une critique positive, mais le succès au box-office est modeste. La séquence d’ouverture de , décrivant une cérémonie d’entreprise interrompue par des journalistes et la police, est considérée comme l’une des plus savamment orchestrées de Kurosawa, mais, par comparaison, le reste du film déçoit. Le film est également critiqué pour son héros conventionnel luttant contre un mal social qui ne peut être résolu par des individualités.

, le second film de Kurosawa Productions, est centré sur le samouraï Sanjūrō qui pousse à s’entretuer deux clans se disputant violemment le contrôle d’une ville du . Le réalisateur joue avec les conventions de genre, en particulier le western, et se permet un portrait artistique de la violence sans précédent au Japon. Sanjurō est parfois perçu comme un personnage fantaisiste qui renverse par magie le triomphe historique des marchands corrompus sur les samouraïs. Le film sort en  et obtient un immense succès au box-office, rapportant plus d’argent que tous les films précédents de Kurosawa. Le film démontre une influence importante du genre au Japon, et inaugure une nouvelle ère pour les zankoku eiga, films de samouraïs ultraviolents. Le film et son humour noir sont largement imités à l’étranger , mais beaucoup s’accordent à dire que l’original de Kurosawa est supérieur aux imitations.

À la suite du succès de Le Garde du corps, Kurosawa se retrouve sous la pression de la Tōhō, qui désire une suite. Il s’oriente alors vers un scénario qu’il écrivit avant Le Garde du corps et le retravaille pour y inclure le héros.  est le premier des trois films de Kurosawa à être adapté des travaux de l’écrivain Shūgorō Yamamoto (les deux autres sont Barberousse et Dodes’kaden). Le film est plus léger et plus conventionnel que Le Garde du corps, bien que l’histoire de lutte de pouvoir au sein d’un clan de samouraïs est décrite avec des nuances très comiques. Le film sort le  et surpasse rapidement Le Garde du corps au box-office.

Pendant ce temps, la Tōhō acquiert à la demande de Kurosawa les droits d’adaptation de Rançon sur un thème mineur (, 1959), roman policier de la série  District d’Ed McBain. Kurosawa veut en effet réaliser un film dénonçant le kidnapping, qu’il considère comme l’un des pires crimes. Le thriller  est tourné fin 1962 et sort en  sous des critiques élogieuses. Le film devient le plus gros succès de Kurosawa au box-office, et le plus gros succès de l’année au Japon. Cependant, son succès est quelque peu terni lorsque, ironiquement, le film entraîne une hausse du nombre d’enlèvements après sa sortie. Kurosawa lui-même reçoit des menaces d’enlèvement visant sa fille Kazuko. Entre le ciel et l’enfer est considéré par de nombreux critiques comme l’une des œuvres les plus importantes du cinéaste.

Kurosawa enchaîne rapidement avec son film suivant . Il se base pour cela sur des nouvelles de Shūgorō Yamamoto, ainsi que sur Humiliés et Offensés de Dostoïevski. Ce film d’époque qui se déroule dans un hospice du milieu du  permet à Kurosawa de mettre en avant les thèmes humanistes qui lui sont chers. Yasumoto, un jeune médecin formé à l’étranger, vaniteux et matérialiste, est contraint de devenir interne dans la clinique pour pauvres du docteur Niide, surnommé Akahige (Barberousse) et interprété par Mifune. Au début réticent, Yasumoto finit par admirer Barberousse et à respecter les patients qu’il méprisait à son arrivée. Yūzō Kayama, l’interprète du personnage de Yasumoto, est à l’époque une star de films et de musiques populaires. Cette célébrité permet à Kurosawa de garantir un certain succès à son film. Le tournage, le plus long jamais effectué par le réalisateur, s’étale sur près d’une année après 5 mois de préproduction, et s’achève au printemps 1965. Barberousse sort en , devient le plus grand succès de l’année au Japon et remporte le trophée du meilleur film de Kinema Junpō, le troisième et dernier pour Kurosawa. Le film reste l’un des plus connus et des plus appréciés de Kurosawa au Japon. À l’étranger, les critiques sont plus partagées. La plupart des critiques reconnaissent sa maîtrise technique (certains le situent même parmi les meilleures réalisations de Kurosawa), tandis que d’autres insistent sur son manque de complexité et de puissance narrative. D’autres prétendent enfin que ce film représente un recul de Kurosawa dans ses engagements politiques et sociaux.

Barberousse marque la fin d’une ère pour Kurosawa. Le réalisateur lui-même le reconnaît à la sortie du film, et déclare au critique Donald Richie qu’un cycle vient de se terminer, et que ses films à venir et ses méthodes de production seront différents. À la fin des années 1950, la télévision se développe et domine les audiences du cinéma. Les revenus des studios de cinéma chutent et ne sont plus investis dans des productions coûteuses et à risques comme celles de Kurosawa. Barberousse marque aussi chronologiquement la moitié de la carrière du cinéaste. Au cours de ses 29 premières années dans l’industrie du cinéma, il réalise , tandis que lors des  suivantes il n’en réalise que 7 de plus. En outre, pour des raisons jamais réellement exposées, Barberousse est le dernier film de Kurosawa avec Toshirō Mifune. Yū Fujiki, un acteur ayant travaillé sur Les Bas-fonds, déclare à propos de la complicité des deux hommes sur le plateau que . Donald Richie décrit leurs rapports comme une symbiose unique.

Passage par Hollywood (1966-1968) 
Quand le contrat d’exclusivité entre Kurosawa et Tōhō arrive à son terme en 1966, le réalisateur, alors âgé de 56 ans, prend un virage important dans sa carrière. Les problèmes rencontrés par l’industrie cinématographique japonaise et les douzaines d’offres émanant de l’étranger l’incitent en effet à travailler pour la première fois hors du Japon.

Pour son premier projet étranger, Kurosawa s’inspire d’un article du magazine Life. Ce thriller produit par Embassy Pictures, qui aurait dû être tourné en anglais et titré , aurait été le premier film en couleur de Kurosawa. Toutefois, la barrière de la langue est un problème majeur pour cette production, et la traduction en anglais du scénario n’est pas achevée à l’automne 1966, alors que le tournage est censé débuter. Le tournage nécessitant de la neige, il est reporté à l’automne 1967, puis annulé en 1968. Près de vingt ans plus tard, Andreï Kontchalovski, un autre étranger à Hollywood, réalise finalement Runaway Train, un film au scénario totalement différent des travaux de Kurosawa.

Malgré cet échec, Kurosawa est par la suite impliqué dans des projets hollywoodiens beaucoup plus ambitieux. Tora ! Tora ! Tora !, produit par la 20th Century Fox et Kurosawa Production, est une description de l’attaque de Pearl Harbor selon les points de vue américain et japonais. La partie japonaise du film est initialement confiée à Kurosawa, la partie américaine à un réalisateur anglophone. Kurosawa passe plusieurs mois à travailler sur le scénario en compagnie de Ryūzō Kikushima et Hideo Oguni, mais, rapidement, le projet commence à se désagréger. Le réalisateur choisi pour les passages américains n’est pas comme prévu le célèbre anglais David Lean, ce que les producteurs avaient fait croire à Kurosawa, mais Richard Fleischer, un expert en effets spéciaux beaucoup moins connu que Lean. Le budget initial subit également des coupes, et la durée de film allouée aux séquences japonaises ne doit pas excéder 90 minutes, ce qui se révèle un gros problème pour Kurosawa, dont le script dépasse les 4 heures. En , après une multitude de modifications, un accord est trouvé pour un scénario tronqué et plus ou moins fini. Le tournage débute en décembre, mais Kurosawa reste à peine trois semaines en tant que réalisateur. Son équipe et ses méthodes de travail sont peu familières aux exigences d’une production hollywoodienne et laissent perplexes les producteurs américains, qui en concluent que Kurosawa est un malade mental. Au Noël 1968, les producteurs annoncent que Kurosawa quitte la production, officiellement pour « fatigue ». Officieusement, il en est congédié. Finalement, il est remplacé par les deux réalisateurs Kinji Fukasaku et Toshio Masuda.

Tora ! Tora ! Tora ! sort finalement en  sous des critiques peu enthousiastes, et reste une véritable tragédie dans la carrière du cinéaste. Kurosawa consacra en effet plusieurs années de sa vie sur un projet à la logistique cauchemardesque, pour finalement ne pas réaliser un seul mètre de film. De plus, son nom est enlevé des crédits, alors que le script des séquences japonaises reste celui qu’il a coécrit. Par la suite, il se détache de son collaborateur de longue date, l’écrivain Ryūzō Kikushima, et ne travaille plus jamais avec lui. Le projet met également au grand jour une affaire de corruption au sein de sa propre société de production . Sa santé mentale fut remise en question. Enfin, le milieu du cinéma japonais commence à le suspecter de vouloir mettre un terme à sa carrière.

Une décennie difficile (1969-1977) 
Sachant que sa réputation est en jeu après la débâcle du très médiatisé Tora ! Tora ! Tora !, Kurosawa passe rapidement à un nouveau projet. Keisuke Kinoshita, Masaki Kobayashi et Kon Ichikawa, trois amis de Kurosawa, viennent épauler le réalisateur. En , ils créent à eux quatre une société de production qu’ils nomment le . Bien que l’idée de base de cette société est de permettre aux quatre réalisateurs de créer un film chacun, il est parfois évoqué que la véritable motivation des trois autres réalisateurs est d’offrir plus facilement à Kurosawa la possibilité de mener à terme un film, et ainsi de signer son retour dans l’industrie du cinéma.

Le premier projet proposé est un film historique appelé Dora-Heita, mais il est jugé trop coûteux, et Kurosawa se tourne alors vers , nouvelle adaptation d’une œuvre de Yamamoto portant à nouveau sur les pauvres et les démunis. Kurosawa voulant démontrer qu’il est toujours capable de travailler rapidement et efficacement avec un budget restreint, le film est rapidement tourné en neuf semaines. Pour son premier travail en couleur, il laisse de côté le montage dynamique et les compositions complexes et se concentre davantage sur la création d’une palette de couleurs primaires audacieuse, quasi surréaliste, afin de mettre en valeur la toxicité de l’environnement des personnages. Le film sort en  au Japon, où il rencontre un succès limité auprès des critiques et une totale indifférence du public. L’échec financier important cause la dissolution du Club des Quatre Chevaliers. À sa sortie à l’étranger, le film est relativement bien accueilli par la critique, mais est depuis considéré comme incomparable avec les meilleurs travaux du réalisateur.

Après avoir connu des difficultés pendant la production de Dodesukaden, Kurosawa se tourne vers la télévision l’année suivante, pour la seule fois de sa carrière, avec , un documentaire sur les chevaux de course pur-sang. Il comporte une voix off narrée par un homme et un enfant fictifs, interprétés par les mêmes acteurs que le mendiant et son fils dans Dodesukaden. Kurosawa retrouve aussi son collaborateur habituel Masaru Satō, qui compose la musique. Il s’agit du seul documentaire dans la filmographie de Kurosawa, et du seul film qu’il n’a pas monté lui-même, dans la mesure où un monteur est crédité.

Incapable d’obtenir des financements pour les projets à venir et souffrant de problèmes de santé, Kurosawa semble atteindre un point de rupture : le , il se tranche la gorge et les poignets à plusieurs reprises. Cette tentative de suicide échoue, et Kurosawa guérit assez rapidement. Il décide alors de se réfugier dans sa vie privée, ne sachant pas s’il réalisera de nouveaux films.

Au début de l’année 1973, le studio soviétique Mosfilm souhaite travailler avec le réalisateur. Kurosawa leur propose alors l’adaptation d’une autobiographie de l’explorateur russe Vladimir Arseniev, intitulée Dersou Ouzala, qu’il souhaite réaliser depuis les années 1930. Le roman traite d’un chasseur Hezhen vivant en harmonie avec la nature avant qu’elle ne soit détruite par la civilisation. En , Kurosawa, alors âgé de , part s’installer un an et demi en Union Soviétique avec quatre de ses plus proches collaborateurs. Le tournage commence en  en Sibérie dans des conditions naturelles extrêmement difficiles, et se termine en . Kurosawa, alors épuisé et souffrant du mal du pays, retourne au Japon dès le mois de juin. La première mondiale de  a lieu le . Alors que la critique japonaise reste muette, le film est chaleureusement accueilli à l’étranger, remportant le Prix d’Or du Festival international du film de Moscou ainsi que l’Oscar du meilleur film en langue étrangère. Le succès au box-office est également au rendez-vous. Aujourd’hui, la critique reste divisée : certains y voient un exemple du déclin de Kurosawa, tandis que d’autres comptent le film parmi ses travaux les plus aboutis.

Bien qu’il reçoive des propositions de projets pour la télévision, Kurosawa ne manifeste aucun intérêt à sortir du monde du cinéma. Néanmoins, en 1976, il accepte d’apparaître dans une série de publicités télévisées pour le whisky Suntory. Craignant qu’il ne puisse plus réaliser de nouveau film, le réalisateur continue néanmoins de travailler sur divers projets, d’écrire de nouveaux scénarios, et crée des illustrations détaillées de ses travaux dans l’intention de laisser derrière lui une empreinte visuelle de ses plans, au cas où il ne pourrait les filmer.

Deux grandes épopées (1978-1986) 
En 1977, le réalisateur américain George Lucas sort le premier épisode de la saga Star Wars, un film de science-fiction au succès planétaire influencé par La Forteresse cachée de Kurosawa. Lucas, qui vénère Kurosawa et le considère comme un modèle, est choqué d’apprendre que le Japonais est incapable de trouver les fonds nécessaires pour un nouveau film. En , Lucas et Kurosawa se rencontrent à Los Angeles pour évoquer le projet le moins risqué du réalisateur japonais : , une épopée racontant l’histoire d’un voleur qui devient le double d’un seigneur japonais. Lucas est passionné par le scénario et les illustrations de Kurosawa et use alors de son influence pour convaincre la 20th Century Fox de produire le film, dix ans après l’échec de Tora ! Tora ! Tora !. Lucas parvient également à engager Francis Ford Coppola  en tant que coproducteur.

La production de Kagemusha débute en  avec un Kurosawa de bonne humeur. Le tournage s’étale de  à  et n’est pas épargné de problèmes, avec notamment le renvoi de l’acteur principal Shintarō Katsu. Katsu est remplacé par Tatsuya Nakadai, qui joue alors le premier de ses deux rôles principaux avec Kurosawa. Le film est terminé avec quelques semaines de retard et sort à Tokyo en . Kagemusha devient rapidement un succès au Japon. Il s’agit également d’un succès à l’étranger, tant au niveau des critiques qu’au box-office. Le film remporte la Palme d’or au Festival de Cannes 1980 en mai. Malgré tout, certains critiques dénoncent à l’époque et encore aujourd’hui une certaine froideur dans le film. Kurosawa passe le reste de l’année 1980 à promouvoir son film, à recevoir des récompenses et à exposer ses peintures, qui ont servi de storyboards.

Le succès international de Kagemusha permet à Kurosawa d’entamer son projet suivant, , une autre épopée. Le scénario, en partie fondé sur la tragédie Le Roi Lear de William Shakespeare, dépeint un sanguinaire daimyo (interprété par Tatsuya Nakadai) qui, après avoir banni son seul fils loyal, lègue son royaume à ses deux autres fils, qui ne tardent pas à le trahir, plongeant alors le royaume tout entier dans une guerre fratricide. Les studios japonais sont réticents pour produire un des films les plus coûteux de l’histoire du pays, et un financement étranger est une nouvelle fois nécessaire. Cette fois-ci, c’est le producteur français Serge Silberman qui vient en aide à Kurosawa. Le tournage ne commence qu’en , et dure plus d’un an.

En , la femme de Kurosawa, Yōko, tombe malade, et la production de Ran est stoppée. Yōko meurt le  à l’âge de 64 ans. La première du film a lieu le  au Festival international du film de Tokyo. Le film est un succès financier modeste au Japon, mais beaucoup plus important à l’étranger. Comme précédemment pour Kagemusha, Kurosawa commence un tour d’Europe pour la promotion de son film jusqu’à la fin de l’année.

Ran remporte plusieurs récompenses au Japon, mais n’est pas aussi acclamé que d’autres travaux de Kurosawa des années 1950 et 1960. Le monde du cinéma est très surpris lorsque le Japon décide de ne pas sélectionner le film pour l’Oscar du meilleur film en langue étrangère en 1986. Mais Kurosawa et les producteurs attribuent ce choix à une incompréhension : à cause de la complexité du règlement de l’Academy, personne ne sait si le film peut concourir pour le Japon, pour la France (par son financement), ou bien pour les deux. En réponse à ce petit scandale, le réalisateur Sidney Lumet milite pour que Kurosawa soit nommé à l’Oscar du meilleur réalisateur (remporté cette année-là par Sydney Pollack pour Out of Africa). La costumière de Ran, Emi Wada, reçoit finalement le seul Oscar du film.

Kagemusha et Ran sont souvent cités parmi les films les plus aboutis d’Akira Kurosawa. Après sa sortie, Kurosawa évoque Ran comme son meilleur film, contrairement à son attitude habituelle qui consistait à répondre  lorsqu’on lui demandait de citer son meilleur film.

Derniers travaux et mort (1987-1998) 
Pour son film suivant, Kurosawa choisit un sujet très différent de ce qu’il a pu aborder tout au long de sa carrière. , un film profondément personnel, est entièrement basé sur les propres rêves du réalisateur. Pour la première fois depuis près de quarante ans, Kurosawa s’attelle seul à l’écriture du scénario. Bien que le budget prévisionnel soit plus faible que Ran, les studios japonais restent réticents à produire un nouveau film de Kurosawa. Le cinéaste se tourne alors vers un autre de ses admirateurs célèbres, le réalisateur américain Steven Spielberg, qui persuade la Warner Bros. de racheter les droits du film. Ce rachat permet à Hisao Kurosawa, le fils d’Akira, coproducteur et futur dirigeant de Kurosawa Productions, de négocier plus facilement un prêt au Japon permettant de couvrir les frais de production. Le tournage dure plus de huit mois, et Rêves est projeté pour la première fois en  au Festival de Cannes. L’accueil au Festival est poli mais discret, et il en est de même lors de sa diffusion internationale.

Kurosawa se tourne ensuite vers une histoire plus conventionnelle, , qui s’intéresse aux cicatrices du bombardement nucléaire de Nagasaki à la fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Le scénario est une adaptation du roman de Kiyoko Murata, mais les références au bombardement viennent du réalisateur et non du livre. Le film, le premier entièrement produit au Japon depuis Dodes’kaden, est également le premier film de Kurosawa dans lequel apparaît une star du cinéma américain, en l’occurrence Richard Gere dans le petit rôle du neveu de l’héroïne. Le tournage a lieu début 1991 et sort le  de la même année. Les critiques sont très mauvaises, notamment aux États-Unis où Kurosawa est accusé d’antiaméricanisme.

Kurosawa ne perd pas de temps et passe très rapidement à son projet suivant, . Basé sur les essais autobiographiques de Hyakken Uchida, le film suit la vie d’un Japonais professeur d’allemand durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale et l’après-guerre. Le récit est centré sur les célébrations d’anniversaires avec ses élèves, au cours desquelles le protagoniste répète son refus de mourir tout de suite . Le tournage débute en  et se termine en septembre. Le film sort le , mais récolte des critiques encore plus mauvaises et décevantes que ses deux films précédents.

Cet échec n’empêche toutefois pas Kurosawa de continuer à travailler. En 1993, il écrit le scénario original de , suivi en 1995 du script de . Alors qu’il finalise ce dernier en 1995, Kurosawa chute et se brise la base de la colonne vertébrale. À la suite de cet accident, il doit utiliser un fauteuil roulant pour le reste de sa vie, mettant fin aux espoirs de le revoir un jour réaliser un nouveau film. Son souhait répété de mourir sur le tournage d’un film ne se réalise pas.

Après cet accident en 1995, la santé d’Akira Kurosawa commence à se détériorer. Alors que son esprit est toujours vif et fort, son corps l’abandonne, et pour les six derniers mois de sa vie, le cinéaste reste chez lui, au lit, à écouter de la musique et regarder la télévision. Le , Akira Kurosawa meurt d’une attaque cérébrale à Setagaya (Tokyo) à l’âge de .

Au moment de sa mort, Kurosawa a deux enfants, son fils Hisao, qui a épousé Hiroko Hayashi, et sa fille Kazuko Kurosawa, qui a épousé Harayuki Katō, ainsi que plusieurs petits-enfants. L’un de ses petits-enfants, l’acteur Takayuki Katō, fils de Kazuko, joue un second rôle dans deux films développés à titre posthume à partir de scénarios écrits par Kurosawa et restés sans suite de son vivant,  de Takashi Koizumi et  de Kei Kumai, sortis respectivement en 1999 et 2002.

Méthodes de travail 
Toutes les sources biographiques s’accordent à dire que Kurosawa est un réalisateur de terrain, passionnément impliqué dans chacun des aspects de la production de ses films. Comme le résume un journaliste, . Sa participation active s’étend du concept initial du film à sa finalisation.

Écriture du scénario 
Kurosawa aime à répéter que le scénario est le fondement absolu d’un bon film et que, si un mauvais réalisateur peut parfois faire d’un bon scénario un film correct, un grand réalisateur ne pourra jamais faire un bon film à partir d’un mauvais scénario. Au cours de la période d’après-guerre, il commence à collaborer avec un groupe de cinq scénaristes : Eijirō Hisaita, Ryūzō Kikushima, Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni, et Masato Ide. Quels que soient les membres de ce groupe à travailler sur un film, ils se réunissent autour d’une table, souvent dans une station thermale, où ils ne peuvent être distraits par le monde extérieur. Par exemple, Les Sept Samouraïs est écrit de cette façon. En général, en dehors d’Oguni qui agit comme arbitre, ils travaillent tous sur les mêmes pages et Kurosawa choisit alors la meilleure version de chacune des scènes concernées. Cette méthode est choisie .

Souvent, en plus du véritable script, Kurosawa rédige à ce stade de nombreuses notes très détaillées afin d’élaborer, de préciser sa pensée. Ainsi, pour Les Sept Samouraïs, il écrit six cahiers dans lesquels il crée, entre autres, les biographies détaillées des samouraïs, comprenant par exemple ce qu’ils portent et mangent, leur manière de marcher, de parler, de se comporter, et même leur façon de lacer leurs chaussures. Pour les  de paysans du film, il crée un registre de  et demande aux acteurs de vivre et travailler dans le cadre de ces  pour toute la durée du tournage.

Tournage 

Pour ses premiers films, Kurosawa utilise des objectifs standards et une profondeur de champ étendue. À partir des Sept Samouraïs (1954), ses techniques de prises de vues changent radicalement, avec l’utilisation d’objectifs de longue focale et de plusieurs caméras. Kurosawa affirme que l’utilisation de ces objectifs et de plusieurs caméras en simultané offre la possibilité de filmer à une distance plus élevée sans que les acteurs ne sachent quelle caméra sera utilisée au montage final, ce qui leur permet de jouer beaucoup plus naturellement. Tatsuya Nakadai reconnaît d’ailleurs que les caméras multiples l’aident lors de ses interprétations avec le réalisateur. Ces changements ont également un impact important sur l’aspect des scènes d’action du film, en particulier lors de la bataille finale sous la pluie. Selon Stephen Prince, .

Dans La Forteresse cachée, Kurosawa utilise pour la première fois de sa carrière le format large anamorphosé. Ces trois techniques (objectifs de longue focale, caméras multiples et format large) sont par la suite pleinement exploitées par Kurosawa, même lors de scènes ne présentant pas ou peu d’action. Par exemple, l’utilisation de ces techniques dans les premières scènes de Entre le ciel et l’enfer permet d’intensifier et de dramatiser les tensions et relations de pouvoir entre les différents personnages, le tout dans un espace très confiné.

Pour tous ses films, et plus particulièrement pour ses , Kurosawa insiste sur l’authenticité absolue des décors, costumes et accessoires. Ainsi, dans Le Château de l’araignée, dans la scène ou Washizu (Mifune) est attaqué par ses propres hommes, le réalisateur fait tirer des flèches réelles (évidées et guidées par des fils) en direction de Mifune à une distance d’environ . Des marques au sol permettent à l’acteur de ne pas être touché. Certaines flèches atterrissent cependant à quelques centimètres seulement de Mifune, qui souffre par la suite de cauchemars. Celui-ci admet plus tard qu’il n’a pas eu à forcer son talent pour paraître apeuré à l’écran.

Dans Barberousse, afin de construire la porte d’enceinte de la clinique, Kurosawa demande à ses assistants de démonter d’anciens décors et d’utiliser leur bois pourri afin de créer une porte paraissant ravagée par le temps. Dans le même film, pour les tasses qu’utilisent les personnages, Kurosawa ordonne à son équipe de verser l’équivalent de cinquante ans de thé dans les tasses pour qu’elles soient suffisamment colorées.

Dans Ran, le directeur artistique Yoshirō Muraki, qui construit le troisième château sous la supervision du réalisateur, crée les pierres de l’ouvrage à partir de photographies d’un célèbre château : il peint des blocs de polystyrène en suivant scrupuleusement ces photographies puis les colle selon une technique d’empilement particulière appelée moellonage qui prend plusieurs mois. Plus tard, avant de filmer la scène du château en feu, il apparaît nécessaire d’empêcher les « pierres » de fondre. Pour cela, elles sont recouvertes de quatre couches de ciment puis doivent de nouveau être peintes.

Montage 

Tout au long de sa carrière, Kurosawa fait souvent remarquer qu’il tourne un film dans l’unique but d’avoir de la matière pour le montage, car il s’agit pour lui de la partie la plus importante et artistiquement la plus intéressante dans la production d’un film. L’équipe créative de Kurosawa considère le montage comme le plus grand talent du cinéaste. Hiroshi Nezu, un superviseur de production, déclare : .

Teruyo Nogami, membre récurrente de l’équipe du cinéaste, confirme ce point de vue : . Elle raconte que Kurosawa peut se remémorer précisément chaque prise, et que si, dans la salle de montage, elle lui tend la mauvaise prise d’une scène, il le remarque immédiatement, alors que, contrairement à elle, il ne prend pas de notes détaillées. Elle compare son cerveau à un ordinateur, qui fait avec les morceaux de films ce qu’un ordinateur réalise de nos jours.

Contrairement aux standards hollywoodiens qui consistent à réaliser le montage après la fin du tournage, Kurosawa a pour habitude de monter ses films de façon quotidienne, au fur et à mesure. Cette méthode l’aide beaucoup dans son travail lorsqu’il commence à utiliser plusieurs caméras simultanément et se retrouve avec une quantité importante de rushes à assembler. . En raison de cette méthode de travail, la postproduction peut être étonnamment courte. Par exemple, l’avant-première de Yojimbo a lieu le , soit quatre jours seulement après la fin du tournage le .

Le « Kurosawa-gumi » 

Kurosawa travaille constamment avec un cercle fermé de personnes qu’il s’est lui-même constitué tout au long de sa carrière, communément appelé le . Voici une liste partielle des membres de ce groupe, répartis par profession. Les informations suivantes sont basées sur les pages IMDb des films d’Akira Kurosawa et sur la filmographie établie par Stuart Galbraith IV, biographe de Kurosawa.

 Compositeurs : Fumio Hayasaka (L’Ange ivre, Chien enragé, Scandale, Rashōmon, L'Idiot, Vivre, Les Sept Samouraïs, Vivre dans la peur) ; Masaru Satō (Le Château de l’araignée, Les Bas-fonds, La Forteresse cachée, Les salauds dorment en paix, Le Garde du corps, Sanjuro, Entre le ciel et l’enfer, Barberousse) ; Tōru Takemitsu (Dodes’kaden, Ran) ; Shin'ichirō Ikebe (Kagemusha, l’Ombre du guerrier, Rêves, Rhapsodie en août, Madadayo).
 Direction de la photographie : Asakazu Nakai (Je ne regrette rien de ma jeunesse, Un merveilleux dimanche, Chien enragé, Vivre, Les Sept Samouraïs, Vivre dans la peur, Le Château de l’araignée, Entre le ciel et l’enfer, Barberousse, Dersou Ouzala, Ran) ; Kazuo Miyagawa (Rashōmon, Le Garde du corps) ; Kazuo Yamazaki (Les Bas-fonds, La Forteresse cachée) ; Takao Saitō (Sanjuro, Entre le ciel et l’enfer, Barberousse, Dodes’kaden, Kagemusha, l’Ombre du guerrier, Ran, Rêves, Rhapsodie en août, Madadayo).
 Direction artistique : Yoshirō Muraki est le directeur artistique assistant, puis le directeur artistique de l’ensemble des films de Kurosawa (à l’exception de Dersou Ouzala) depuis L’Ange ivre jusqu’à la fin de la carrière du cinéaste.
 Équipe de production : Teruyo Nogami a travaillé en tant que scripte, directrice de production, assistante réalisatrice ou assistante productrice sur tous les films de Kurosawa, depuis Rashōmon (1950) jusqu’à la fin de la carrière du réalisateur. Hiroshi Nezu a été directeur de production sur tous ses films à partir des Sept Samouraïs jusqu’à Dodes’kaden, à l’exception de Sanjuro. Plus de  après avoir pris sa retraite en tant que réalisateur, Ishirō Honda est revenu pour travailler à nouveau pour son ami et ancien mentor en tant que conseiller à la réalisation, directeur de production et consultant créatif sur les cinq derniers films de Kurosawa (Kagemusha, l’Ombre du guerrier, Ran, Rêves, Rhapsodie en août, Madadayo).
 Acteurs :
 Rôles principaux : Takashi Shimura (), Toshirō Mifune (), Susumu Fujita (), Masayuki Mori () et Tatsuya Nakadai () ;
 Rôles secondaires : Kamatari Fujiwara (), Minoru Chiaki (), Kokuten Kōdō, Masao Shimizu (), Noriko Honma, Sachio Sakai, Yoshio Tsuchiya (), Eiko Miyoshi, Senkichi Ōmura, Yutaka Sada, Gen Shimizu, Atsushi Watanabe (), Bokuzen Hidari, Kōji Mitsui, Noriko Sengoku, Akira Tani, Eijirō Tōno, Kichijirō Ueda (), Ichirō Chiba, Takeshi Katō, Ikio Sawamura (), Kyōko Kagawa, Isao Kimura, Akitake Kōno, Yoshio Kosugi, Seiji Miyaguchi, Chieko Nakakita, Nobuo Nakamura, Toranosuke Ogawa, Ichirō Sugai, Kin Sugai, Yoshitaka Zushi, Hisashi Igawa (), Yūnosuke Itō, Daisuke Katō, Akemi Negishi, Kō Nishimura, Denjirō Ōkōchi et Masayuki Yui ().

Style 
Une grande majorité des observateurs qualifient le style de Kurosawa d’audacieux et de dynamique, et le comparent au style narratif hollywoodien traditionnel, qui met l’accent sur la pensée linéaire, chronologique, causale et historique. Ils considèrent aussi que, depuis son tout premier film, Kurosawa dégage un style très distinct du style classique et sans faille d’Hollywood : Kurosawa n’hésite pas à perturber la scène représentée à l’écran par l’utilisation de nombreuses prises de vues différentes, et s’oppose ainsi au traditionnel raccord 180° développé par Hollywood. Kurosawa, par l’utilisation de mouvements fluides de caméra plutôt que d’un montage conventionnel, tend également à intégrer une dimension spatiale dans la narration temporelle.

Raccord dans l'axe 
Dans ses films des années 1940 et 1950, Kurosawa utilise fréquemment le raccord dans l’axe. La caméra se rapproche ou s’éloigne du sujet, non pas par le biais d’un travelling ou d’un fondu enchaîné, mais par une série de plans rapprochés. Par exemple, dans La Nouvelle Légende du grand judo, le héros prend congé de la femme qu’il aime, mais après s’être éloigné un peu, il se retourne et s’incline devant elle, puis, après s’être éloigné encore, il se retourne et s’incline à nouveau. Les trois plans ne sont pas reliés dans le film par des mouvements de caméra ou des fondus, mais par une série de deux coupes rapides. Cela a pour effet de souligner la durée du départ de Sanshiro.

Dans la séquence d’ouverture des Sept Samouraïs dans le village de paysans, le raccord dans l’axe est utilisé à deux reprises. Lorsque les villageois sont à l’extérieur, réunis en cercle, pleurant et se lamentant sur l’arrivée imminente des bandits, ils sont aperçus d’en haut dans un plan extrêmement long ; puis, après un raccord, ils sont filmés en plan beaucoup plus rapproché, puis dans un plan encore plus rapproché au niveau du sol. Ce n’est qu’à ce moment-là que le dialogue commence. Quelques minutes plus tard, lorsque les villageois se rendent au moulin pour demander conseil à l’ancien du village, il y a un long plan du moulin, avec une roue qui tourne lentement dans la rivière. Les plans se succèdent ainsi : un long plan du moulin, avec une roue qui tourne lentement dans la rivière, un plan plus rapproché de cette roue, et un plan encore plus rapproché de celle-ci. Comme le moulin est l’endroit où vit l’ancien, ces plans permettent au spectateur d’associer ce personnage au moulin.

Raccord dans le mouvement 
Plusieurs spécialistes ont souligné la tendance de Kurosawa à utiliser le raccord dans le mouvement. Par exemple, dans une séquence du film Les Sept Samouraïs, le samouraï Shichirôji, debout, tente de consoler le paysan Manzo, assis par terre. Shichirôji met alors un genou à terre pour lui parler. Kurosawa choisit de filmer cette simple action en deux prises au lieu d’une, en les raccordant juste après que Shichirôji commence à s’agenouiller, dans le but de mettre en avant l’humilité du samouraï. Les exemples sont nombreux dans ce même film. Couper l’action, la fragmenter, est un moyen très utilisé par Kurosawa pour créer de l’émotion.

Volet 

Le style de Kurosawa est également marqué par son usage du volet ( en anglais). Il s’agit d’un effet créé par une tireuse optique, qui consiste, à la fin d’une scène, à faire apparaître une ligne ou une barre qui se déplace sur l’écran, effaçant l’image et révélant simultanément la première image de la scène suivante. En tant que dispositif de transition, il est utilisé comme substitut de la coupe directe ou du fondu enchaîné (bien qu’il arrive souvent qu’il utilise ces deux dispositifs ensemble). Dans ses œuvres les plus abouties, Kurosawa utilise le volet si fréquemment qu’il en devient une sorte de signature. L’Ange ivre compte ainsi pas moins de douze volets.

Il existe un certain nombre de théories concernant l’objectif de ce dispositif courant dans le cinéma muet mais plus rare dans le cinéma sonore et réaliste. Goodwin affirme que les volets dans Rashōmon, par exemple, remplissent l’un des trois objectifs suivants : accentuer le mouvement dans les travellings, marquer les changements narratifs dans les scènes de cour et marquer les ellipses temporelles entre les actions (par exemple entre la fin du témoignage d’un personnage et le début de celui d’un autre). Il note également que pour Les Bas-fonds, dans lequel Kurosawa n’utilise à aucune reprise le volet, il manie habilement les personnes et les accessoires dans le cadre afin de faire apparaître et disparaître de nouvelles images, comme le fait un volet.

Kurosawa utilise aussi le volet comme dispositif satirique dans Vivre. Un groupe de femmes se rend au bureau du gouvernement local pour demander aux bureaucrates de transformer un terrain vague en terrain de jeu pour les enfants. Le spectateur est alors confronté à une série de plans subjectifs de différents bureaucrates, reliés par des transitions rapides, chacun d’entre eux renvoyant le groupe à un autre service. L’utilisation du volet rend la séquence plus drôle, les images de bureaucrates sont empilées comme des cartes, chacune plus rigide que la précédente.

Bande-son 

De l’avis général, Kurosawa accorde toujours une grande attention à la bande-son de ses films (les mémoires de Teruyo Nogami en donnent de nombreux exemples). À la fin des années 1940, il commence à utiliser la musique comme contrepoint du contenu émotionnel d’une scène, plutôt que pour simplement renforcer l’émotion, comme le fait le cinéma hollywoodien. Cette approche de la musique de ses films lui est inspirée par une tragédie familiale. Lorsque Kurosawa apprend la mort de son père en 1948, il se met à errer sans but dans les rues de Tokyo. Son chagrin est amplifié lorsqu’il entend soudain la chanson gaie  (Valse du coucou, 1918) composée par Johan Emanuel Jonasson. Il s’empresse alors d’échapper à cette . Il demande ensuite à son compositeur, Fumio Hayasaka, avec qui il travaille sur L’Ange ivre, d’utiliser cette chanson comme une sorte d’accompagnement ironique de la scène dans laquelle le gangster mourant, Matsunaga, tombe au plus bas.

Cette approche de la musique se retrouve également dans Chien enragé, sorti un an après L’Ange ivre. Dans la scène finale, le détective Murakami se bat furieusement contre le meurtrier Yusa dans un champ boueux. On entend soudain un morceau de Mozart, joué au piano par une femme dans une maison voisine. La sérénité de la musique de Mozart semble d’un autre monde et contraste avec la violence primitive de la scène, et en renforce la puissance. De la même façon, dans Les Sept Samouraïs, des oiseaux gazouillent en arrière-plan durant les épisodes de meurtre et de mutilation comme dans la première scène où les fermiers se lamentent sur leur sort.

Thèmes récurrents 
Dans ses œuvres, Akira Kurosawa s’attache à décrire ou à faire une parabole de la société humaine. Il dépeint ainsi au long de ses films la pauvreté (Les Bas-fonds, Dodes’kaden), la violence urbaine (Chien enragé), la maladie et l’immobilité des fonctionnaires (Vivre), la destruction de l’environnement (Rêves), ou encore la vieillesse (Madadayo).

Relation maître-disciple 
De nombreux commentateurs notent chez Kurosawa la redondance du lien complexe entre un homme âgé et un autre plus jeune entretenant une relation de maître-disciple. Ce sujet est clairement tiré de l’expérience personnelle du cinéaste. Selon Joan Mellen, . Le critique Tadao Satō considère le personnage récurrent du maître comme un père de substitution, dont le rôle est de guider le jeune protagoniste et de l’aider à mûrir, à grandir.

Dans son tout premier film, La Légende du grand judo, après que Yano, le maître judoka, est devenu le professeur et le guide spirituel du personnage principal, le récit est une chronique de l’évolution, étape par étape, de la maîtrise et de la maturité grandissantes du héros Sanshiro Sugata. Les relations maître-élève qui apparaissent dans les films d’après-guerre  utilisent très peu l’enseignement direct et théorique, mais beaucoup l’apprentissage par l’expérience et l’exemple. Certains attribuent cette caractéristique à la nature silencieuse et privée de l’illumination zen.

Avec Kagemusha, l’Ombre du guerrier, cette relation évolue. Un voleur choisi pour jouer le double d’un grand seigneur continue son imitation après la mort de son maître. La présence du maître est alors fantomatique, et la relation entre les deux personnages est entretenue depuis l’au-delà. Contrairement aux précédents films, la fin de cette relation n’amène alors pas au renouvellement de la vie et de ses engagements, mais à la mort. Toutefois, dans son tout dernier film Madadayo  une vision plus joyeuse réapparaît. La fête dépeinte par Kurosawa met en avant les joies simples que peuvent procurer les relations professeurs-élèves, les liens de parenté et le simple fait d’être en vie.

Héros 
Le cinéma de Kurosawa est un cinéma épique, héroïque, dont les films sont emmenés par un héros unique dont les actes et le destin comptent plus que sa propre vie. L’émergence chez Kurosawa de ce héros unique coïncide avec la période d’après-guerre et l’objectif de l’occupation du Japon par les États-Unis de remplacer le féodalisme japonais par l’individualisme. L’évolution politique du pays n’est pas sans déplaire au cinéaste, qui cherche alors à développer son propre style cinématographique. Selon le critique Tadao Satō, le peuple japonais a beaucoup souffert de la défaite militaire du pays et s’est rendu compte que le gouvernement n’était ni juste ni fiable. Pendant cette période de doutes et d’incertitudes, Kurosawa réalise une série de films soutenant l’opinion du peuple selon laquelle le sens de la vie n’est pas dicté par le pays ou la nation, mais qu’il s’agit là de quelque chose que chaque individu doit découvrir dans la souffrance. Le réalisateur lui-même se rend compte de ce lien entre son état d’esprit et celui du peuple : .

Le premier de ces héros d’après-guerre fut une héroïne, Yukie Yagihara, interprétée par Setsuko Hara dans Je ne regrette rien de ma jeunesse. Cette héroïne n’hésite pas à fuir sa famille et son milieu social, persévère face aux obstacles qu’elle rencontre, prend en main sa vie et celle des autres, et fait face à une solitude existentielle. Tous ces éléments forment le premier exemple cohérent de l’héroïsme selon Kurosawa. Cette solitude existentielle est également illustrée par le docteur Sanada (interprété par Takashi Shimura) dans L’Ange ivre : Sanada s’oppose à la tradition et se bat, seul, pour un monde meilleur.

Les Sept Samouraïs est considéré comme la représentation ultime du héros idéal de Kurosawa. Selon Joan Mellen, . C’est à cause, et non en dépit, de la guerre civile chaotique dépeinte dans le film que les sept samouraïs accèdent à la grandeur. . Cependant, cet héroïsme est vain car . Ainsi, le courage et l’habileté suprême des personnages centraux n’empêcheront pas leur destruction finale ni celle de leur classe.

À mesure que la carrière de Kurosawa progresse, il semble avoir de plus en plus de mal à soutenir l’idéal héroïque. Comme le note Prince, . De plus, l’idéal d’héroïsme du réalisateur est subverti par l’histoire elle-même : . Selon Prince, la vision du cinéaste est finalement devenue si sombre qu’il en est venu à considérer l’histoire simplement comme une répétition sans fin de violence, au sein de laquelle l’individu est dépeint non seulement comme non héroïque, mais aussi comme totalement impuissant.

Nature 
La nature est un élément crucial dans les films d’Akira Kurosawa. Comme de nombreux artistes japonais, le réalisateur est très sensible aux subtilités et à la beauté des saisons et des paysages. Il n’hésite pas à utiliser le climat et la météo comme des éléments parfois actifs de l’intrigue. Ainsi, dans Chien enragé et Vivre dans la peur, la chaleur accablante est omniprésente : elle représente notamment le monde oppressé par l’effondrement économique et la menace nucléaire. Kurosawa lui-même déclare : .

Dans Le Château de l’araignée, le brouillard permet de renforcer l’ambiance du film. Il produit un effet d’incertitude, d’hésitation, de menace et de peur chez le spectateur, sentiments vécus par les personnages eux-mêmes. Kurosawa déclare sur les décors : .

Le vent est également un symbole puissant dans la filmographie de Kurosawa, il est la métaphore persistante du changement, du destin et de l’adversité. Dans Le Garde du corps, lors de la bataille finale, les vents soufflent, créant des nuages de poussières, gênant les combats.

Enfin, la pluie n’est jamais neutre chez le cinéaste : il n’est jamais question d’une pluie faible, d’un petit filet, d’une bruine, mais toujours d’averses frénétiques, violentes, de tempêtes. Dans Les Sept Samouraïs, la bataille finale se déroule sous une pluie battante, aveuglante, permettant à Kurosawa de fusionner les différentes classes sociales. Mais cette fusion de l’identité sociale est chaotique, symbolisée par une bataille qui se transforme peu à peu en un vortex de pluie et de boue.

Violence 
Avec Le Château de l’araignée (1957) apparaît une obsession pour les cycles historiques à la violence sauvage et inexorable. Dans le film, la liberté n’existe pas, la seule loi existante est celle de cause à effet dont les événements qui en découlent sont inscrits dans un cycle qui se répète indéfiniment. En effet, le seigneur de Washizu qui  assassine son propre seigneur des années auparavant pour s’emparer du pouvoir, est lui-même assassiné par Washizu (Macbeth) pour les mêmes raisons. Selon Prince, .

Prince affirme que les deux épopées Kagemusha et Ran marquent un tournant majeur dans la vision du monde de Kurosawa. Dans Kagemusha, . L’épopée suivante, Ran, est . Le cadre historique du film est utilisé comme . , qui est comparée à de nombreuses reprises dans le scénario à l’enfer. .

Postérité

Reconnaissance 

De nombreux cinéastes disent avoir été influencés par l’œuvre de Kurosawa. Ingmar Bergman qualifie son propre film La Source d’. Il ajoute qu’à la sortie du film, en 1960, son admiration pour le cinéma japonais était à son comble. Federico Fellini considérait Kurosawa comme . Steven Spielberg a souligné l’importance du cinéma de Kurosawa dans le développement de sa propre vision cinématographique. Le cinéaste Satyajit Ray, à qui a été décerné à titre posthume le prix Akira Kurosawa pour l’ensemble de sa carrière de réalisateur au Festival international du film de San Francisco en 1992, avait déclaré ceci à propos de Rashōmon :

Roman Polanski considère Kurosawa comme l’un de ses trois cinéastes préférés, avec Orson Welles et Federico Fellini. Les Sept Samouraïs, Le Château de l’araignée et La Forteresse cachée font ainsi partie de ses films préférés. Bernardo Bertolucci considère l’influence de Kurosawa comme fondamentale : . Andreï Tarkovski cite Kurosawa comme l’un de ses réalisateurs favoris et place Les Sept Samouraïs parmi ses dix films préférés. Sidney Lumet qualifie quant à lui Kurosawa de . Werner Herzog, interrogé sur ses cinéastes préférés, évoque Rashōmon en ces mots :

Selon Anthony Frewin, assistant de Stanley Kubrick, ce dernier considère Kurosawa comme  et parle de lui . Ainsi, lorsque Kurosawa, qui admire aussi Kubrick, lui envoie une lettre, à la fin des années 1990, Kubrick passe plusieurs mois à réécrire sa réponse. Mais entre-temps, Kurosawa décède et Kubrick en est terriblement bouleversé. Robert Altman, lorsqu’il découvre Rashōmon pour la première fois, est si impressionné par la séquence d’images du soleil qu’il incorpore ces mêmes séquences dès le lendemain dans son travail. George Lucas cite La Forteresse cachée comme principale inspiration pour son space opera Star Wars (1977). Il mentionne également d’autres films de Kurosawa comme ses favoris, notamment Les Sept Samouraïs, Le Garde du corps et Vivre. Zack Snyder cite Kurosawa comme l’une de ses influences pour son film Netflix alors en cours de développement, Rebel Moon.

Critiques 
Kenji Mizoguchi, réalisateur acclamé des Contes de la lune vague après la pluie (1953) et de L’Intendant Sansho (1954), est de onze ans l’aîné de Kurosawa. À partir du milieu des années 1950, certains critiques de la Nouvelle Vague française commencent à préférer Mizoguchi à Kurosawa. Le critique et cinéaste de la Nouvelle Vague Jacques Rivette, en particulier, estime que Mizoguchi est le seul réalisateur japonais dont l’œuvre est à la fois entièrement japonaise et véritablement universelle ; Kurosawa, en revanche, est considéré comme plus influencé par le cinéma et la culture occidentaux, un point de vue qui reste contesté.

Au Japon, certains critiques et cinéastes considèrent que Kurosawa est élitiste. Ils estiment qu’il concentre ses efforts et son attention sur des personnages exceptionnels ou héroïques. Dans son commentaire du DVD des Sept Samouraïs, Joan Mellen soutient que certains plans des personnages de samouraïs Kanbei et Kyuzō, qui montrent que Kurosawa leur accorde un statut ou une validité supérieurs, constituent des preuves de ce point de vue. Ces critiques japonais affirment que Kurosawa n’est pas suffisamment progressiste parce que les paysans sont incapables de trouver des leaders dans leurs rangs. Dans une interview avec Mellen, Kurosawa s’en est défendu en disant :

Dès le début des années 1950, Kurosawa est accusé de vouloir satisfaire les goûts occidentaux en raison de sa popularité en Europe et en Amérique. Dans les années 1970, le réalisateur de gauche Nagisa Ōshima, connu pour ses réactions critiques à l’égard de l’œuvre de Kurosawa, accuse ce dernier de se plier aux croyances et idéologies occidentales. L’auteur Audie Bock, cependant, estime que Kurosawa ne joue jamais le jeu d’un public non japonais et qu’il dénonce les réalisateurs qui l’ont fait.

Adaptations de son œuvre 
Au Japon, l’œuvre de Kurosawa a fait l’objet de nombreux . C’est le cas de La Légende du grand judo, qui a inspiré quatre films : Sugata Sanshirō, réalisé par Shigeo Tanaka en 1955, Sanshirō Sugata, produit par Kurosawa et réalisé par Seiichiro Uchikawa en 1965, Ninkyō yawara ichidai, réalisé par Sadao Nakajima en 1966, Dawn of Judo, réalisé par Kunio Watanabe en 1970, ainsi que Sugata Sanshirō, réalisé par Kihachi Okamoto en 1977. Chien enragé a fait quant à lui l’objet de deux reprises : un film réalisé par Azuma Morisaki en 1973 pour la Shōchiku et un téléfilm réalisé par Yasuo Tsuruhashi en 2013 pour TV Asahi. En 2007, Entre le ciel et l’enfer inspire le téléfilm Tengoku to jigoku, réalisé par Yasuo Tsuruhashi. La même année, un  de Sanjuro intitulé Tsubaki Sanjurō est réalisé par Yoshimitsu Morita. Enfin, La Forteresse cachée a inspiré le film Kakushi toride no san-akunin: The Last Princess, réalisé par Shinji Higuchi en 2008.

Les films de Kurosawa ont également fait l’objet de reprises hors du Japon. Les Sept Samouraïs a inspiré de nombreux , le premier étant le western Les Sept Mercenaires (), réalisé en 1960 par John Sturges. Le film de Sturges fait lui-même l’objet en 2016 d’un  d’Antoine Fuqua intitulé Les Sept Mercenaires (). Il existe d’autres adaptations moins connues des Sept Samouraïs, comme Les Sept Sauvages (), réalisé en 1968 par Richard Rush, Les Mercenaires de l’espace (), réalisé en 1980 par Jimmy T. Murakami, Les Sept Gladiateurs (), réalisé en 1983 par Bruno Mattei et Claudio Fragasso, ou encore un film kazakh, The Wild East (), réalisé en 1993 par Rachid Nougmanov. Le film Rashōmon a fait l’objet de deux  : le western américain L'Outrage () de Martin Ritt, sorti en 1964 et The Outrage (), film thaïlandais de Pantewanop Tewakul sorti en 2011. Un autre film de Kurosawa à avoir fait l’objet de plusieurs reprises est Le Garde du corps. Le plus connu d’entre eux est le western spaghetti Pour une poignée de dollars (), réalisé par Sergio Leone en 1964. Bien que largement inspiré du film de Kurosawa, Leone n’avait pas obtenu l’autorisation officielle pour faire un remake de ce film, qui était protégé par des droits d’auteur. Kurosawa a donc intenté un procès avec la Tōhō pour violation des droits d’auteur et a reçu les droits de distribution au Japon et dans d’autres pays ainsi que 15 % des recettes du box-office mondial. Dernier Recours (), réalisé par Walter Hill en 1996 avec Bruce Willis et Christopher Walken, s’inspire également du Garde du corps.

Scénarios posthumes 
Après la mort de Kurosawa, plusieurs travaux posthumes basés sur ses scénarios sont produits. Le film  réalisé par Takashi Koizumi sort en 1999, et  réalisé par Kei Kumai sort en 2002. Le scénario de Dora-Heita écrit par le Club des Quatre Chevaliers à l’époque de la production de Dodes’kaden est finalement réalisé par Kon Ichikawa, seul membre du Club encore en vie. Dora-heita sort en 2000. Huayi Brothers Media et CKF Pictures en Chine annoncent en 2017 leur intention de produire un scénario posthume de Kurosawa adapté de la nouvelle Le Masque de la mort rouge d’Edgar Allan Poe pour une sortie en 2020, sous le titre Le Masque de la mort noire. Patrick Frater du magazine Variety déclare en , déclare que deux autres projets de films inachevés de Kurosawa sont prévus, le tournage de Silvering Spear devant commencer en 2018.

Société Kurosawa Production 
En , il est annoncé que les droits de remake de la plupart des films de Kurosawa et des scénarios non produits sont cédés par l’Akira Kurosawa 100 Project à la société Splendent, basée à Los Angeles. La fondatrice de Splendent, Sakiko Yamada, déclare que son objectif est .

La société Kurosawa Production, créée en 1959, continue de superviser de nombreux aspects de l’héritage de Kurosawa. Le fils du réalisateur, Hisao Kurosawa, est l’actuel dirigeant de la société. Sa filiale américaine, Kurosawa Enterprises, est située à Los Angeles. Les droits sur les œuvres de Kurosawa sont alors détenus par Kurosawa Production et les studios de cinéma sous lesquels il travaillait, notamment la Tōhō. Ces droits sont ensuite cédés au Akira Kurosawa 100 Project avant d’être réattribués en 2011 à la société Splendent, basée à Los Angeles. Kurosawa Production travaille en étroite collaboration avec la Fondation Akira Kurosawa, créée en décembre 2003 et également dirigée par Hisao Kurosawa. La fondation organise un concours annuel de courts métrages et mène des projets liés à Kurosawa, notamment un projet récemment mis en veilleuse visant à construire un musée commémoratif pour le réalisateur.

Hommages 
En 1981, le Kurosawa Film Studio est ouvert à Yokohama ; deux autres sites sont ouverts par la suite au Japon. Une vaste collection de documents d’archives, notamment des scénarios scannés, des photos et des articles de presse, est disponible sur l’Akira Kurosawa Digital Archive, un site Internet japonais géré par le centre de recherche des archives numériques de l’université de Ryūkoku en collaboration avec Kurosawa Production. Une école de cinéma Akira Kurosawa est créée à l’université d’Anaheim au printemps 2009 avec le soutien de la famille Kurosawa et de Kurosawa Production. Elle propose des programmes en ligne sur la réalisation de films numériques, avec un siège à Anaheim et un centre d’apprentissage à Tokyo.

En 1999, Kurosawa est nommé « Asiatique du siècle » dans la catégorie « Arts, Littérature, et Culture » par le magazine Asiaweek et CNN, cité comme . En commémoration du  anniversaire de la naissance de Kurosawa en 2010, un projet appelé AK100 est lancé en 2008. Le projet AK100 vise à . Deux prix cinématographiques sont également nommés en l’honneur de Kurosawa. Le prix Akira Kurosawa récompense l’ensemble de la carrière d’un réalisateur est décerné lors du Festival international du film de San Francisco, tandis que le prix Akira Kurosawa est remis lors du Festival international du film de Tokyo.

Filmographie

Réalisateur 
 1943 : 
 1944 : 
 1945 : 
 1945 : 
 1946 :  co-réalisé avec Kajirō Yamamoto et Hideo Sekigawa
 1946 : 
 1947 : 
 1948 : 
 1949 : 
 1949 : 
 1950 : 
 1950 : 
 1951 : 
 1952 : 
 1954 : 
 1955 : 
 1957 : 
 1957 : 
 1958 : 
 1960 : 
 1961 : 
 1962 : 
 1963 : 
 1965 : 
 1970 : 
 1970 :  (téléfilm documentaire)
 1975 : 
 1980 : 
 1985 : 
 1990 : 
 1991 : 
 1993 :

Scénariste 
Akira Kurosawa est auteur ou co-auteur de tous les scénarios de ses films à l’exception de trois d’entre eux : Ceux qui bâtissent l’avenir et Je ne regrette rien de ma jeunesse en 1946 et Un merveilleux dimanche en 1947. Il a aussi écrit ou co-écrit des scénarios pour d’autres cinéastes :
 1942 :  d’Osamu Fushimizu
 1942 :  de Satsuo Yamamoto
 1944 :  de Santarō Marune
 1945 :  de Kiyoshi Saeki
 1947 :  de Shirō Toyoda
 1947 :  de Senkichi Taniguchi
 1948 :  de Keisuke Kinoshita
 1949 :  de Motoyoshi Oda
 1949 :  de Senkichi Taniguchi
 1950 :  de Senkichi Taniguchi
 1950 :  d’Isamu Kosugi
 1950 :  de Masahiro Makino
 1951 :  de Senkichi Taniguchi
 1951 :  de Tatsuo Ōsone
 1952 :  de Kazuo Mori
 1952 :  de Hiroshi Inagaki
 1953 :  de Senkichi Taniguchi
 1955 :  d’Akira Mimura
 1955 :  de Hiromichi Horikawa
 1957 :  de Kazuo Mori
 1959 :  de Toshio Sugie
 1962 :  de Shunkai Mizuho
 1964 :  de Kinji Fukasaku
 1965 :  de Seiichirō Uchikawa

 Œuvres posthumes 
 1998 :  de Takashi Koizumi. La mise en scène, le scénario et les dialogues sont signés d’Akira Kurosawa.
 2000 :  de Kon Ichikawa
 2003 :  de Kei Kumai, le dernier scénario écrit par Kurosawa

Distinctions 

De nombreux prix et récompenses sont décernés à Kurosawa tout au long de sa vie. Ses films ont été récompensés aux Oscars du cinéma et dans les trois principaux festivals de cinéma du monde : le Festival de Cannes, la Mostra de Venise et la Berlinale. Lors de la  cérémonie des Oscars en 1990, il reçoit un Oscar d’honneur donné par deux de ses plus grands admirateurs : Steven Spielberg et George Lucas.

Kurosawa a reçu un certain nombre de décorations honorifiques tout au long de sa vie, notamment au Japon. Il est honoré du prix de la personne de mérite culturel en 1976 et reçoit l’ordre de la Culture en 1985. Il est également lauréat du prix de la culture asiatique de Fukuoka en 1990, du Praemium Imperiale en 1992 et du Prix de Kyoto en 1994. Enfin, Kurosawa reçoit à titre posthume en 1998 le Prix d’honneur de la Nation, pour avoir .

En Europe, Kurosawa est nommé officier de la Légion d’honneur française en 1984, commandeur des arts et des lettres en 1985 et chevalier grand-croix de l’Ordre du mérite de la République italienne en 1986.

Récompenses 
Sauf mention contraire, les informations suivantes sont basées sur la page IMDb d’Akira Kurosawa et sur la filmographie établie par Stuart Galbraith IV, biographe d’Akira Kurosawa.

Nominations

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Annexes

Bibliographie 

Les ouvrages sont classés selon leur année de parution.

Ouvrages en anglais

Ouvrages en français 
 .
 
 .
 .
 .

Ouvrages en japonais

Vidéographie

Liens externes 

Réalisateur japonais
Réalisateur de films de samouraï
Réalisateur de yakuza eiga
Scénariste japonais de cinéma
Producteur japonais de cinéma
Monteur japonais
Oscar d'honneur
Prix Mainichi de la meilleure réalisation
British Academy Film Award de la meilleure réalisation
Ours d'argent de la meilleure réalisation
Réalisateur lauréat de la Palme d'or
Lauréat du prix de Kyoto
Lauréat du Praemium Imperiale
Lauréat du prix de la culture asiatique de Fukuoka
Récipiendaire de l'ordre de la Culture
Récipiendaire du prix Ramon-Magsaysay
Personne de mérite culturel
Naissance en mars 1910
Naissance à Shinagawa
Décès en septembre 1998
Décès à 88 ans
Décès à Setagaya
Mort d'un accident vasculaire cérébral

LAfrique du Sud, en forme longue la république d'Afrique du Sud, est un pays d'Afrique australe. Sa capitale administrative est Pretoria. Il est frontalier à l'ouest-nord-ouest avec la Namibie, au nord et au nord-nord-est avec le Botswana, au nord-est avec le Zimbabwe, et à l'est-nord-est avec le Mozambique et l'Eswatini. Le Lesotho est pour sa part un État enclavé dans le territoire sud-africain.

L'Afrique du Sud compte  d’habitants en 2018 répartis en 80,2 % de Noirs, 8,8 % de Coloureds, 8,4 % de Blancs et 2,5 % d'asiatiques (sous-continent indien). Nation aux phénotypes très variés, l'Afrique du Sud est ainsi en Afrique le pays présentant la plus grande portion de populations dites coloureds, blanches et Asiatiques. Elle est souvent appelée « nation arc-en-ciel », notion inventée par l'archevêque anglican et militant des droits de l'homme sud-africain Desmond Tutu pour désigner la diversité de la nation sud-africaine et qui a remplacé le concept de société plurale employé précédemment par les théoriciens de l'apartheid (1948-1991).

L'égalité des revenus entre les différents groupes de populations n'a pas progressé depuis la fin de l'apartheid et l'Afrique du Sud connaît un taux d'inégalité parmi les plus élevés au monde. C'est toutefois une puissance de référence pour le continent africain avec l'une des économies les plus développées du continent et des infrastructures modernes couvrant tout le pays. C'est la deuxième puissance économique d'Afrique derrière le Nigeria. Le pays se caractérise aussi par une importante population de souche européenne (Afrikaners, Anglo-sud-africains) et par d'importantes richesses minières (or, diamant, charbon, etc.) qui en ont fait un allié indispensable des pays occidentaux durant la guerre froide.

La dénomination « république d'Afrique du Sud » a succédé à celle d'« Union d'Afrique du Sud » le , lorsque le pays a cessé d'être une monarchie constitutionnelle pour devenir une république.

Géographie 
La république d'Afrique du Sud est entourée au nord par la Namibie (ancienne province sud-africaine du Sud-Ouest africain), le Botswana et le Zimbabwe, au nord-est par le Mozambique et l'Eswatini. Le Lesotho est quant à lui enclavé au sein du territoire sud-africain.

À ce territoire s'ajoute l’archipel des Îles du Prince-Édouard (île Marion et île du Prince-Edward) et, jusqu'en 1994, Walvis Bay (enclavée au sein du Sud-Ouest africain et seul port en eau profonde de la région).

Les frontières terrestres sud-africaines atteignent  (Botswana : ; Lesotho :  ; Namibie :  ; Mozambique :  ; Eswatini :  ; Zimbabwe : ).

Climats 
Les climats régionaux du territoire sont :
 Région du Cap : climat méditerranéen
 Sud-est, région de Durban : climat subtropical humide
 Côte atlantique : climat désertique
 Plateaux du nord : climat tropical

Pour faire face à la sécheresse, les autorités instaurent en octobre 2019 des restrictions d’eau dans les principales villes du pays. Plusieurs régions du centre et du nord du pays avaient déjà subi des coupures d'eau, notamment en raison de la défaillance des installations du principal distributeur d’eau d'Afrique du Sud, Rand Water. Dans certaines provinces, comme celles du Cap-Oriental et du Cap-Occidental, la sécheresse a ruiné les récoltes et provoqué la mort de troupeaux de bétail.

Espace montagneux 
Dans la partie sud du pays se trouvent les monts du Drakensberg, qui s'étendent du KwaZulu-Natal jusqu'à la province du Cap (ceinture plissée du Cap), soit sur environ .

L'altitude moyenne est de , le point culminant de ce relief étant le Thabana Ntlenyana, au Lesotho, à . C'est dans ce massif que se trouve le plus haut sommet d'Afrique du Sud, le Mafadi, à .

Le massif du Drakensberg est plutôt ancien avec des sommets arrondis ; c'est une zone verdoyante et un lieu de vie du peuple San. C'est également dans ce massif que le fleuve Orange prend sa source.

Au nord du pays se trouve une ancienne zone volcanique, Pilanesberg. C'est une zone relativement escarpée qui comporte des cratères. La faune y est très riche : mammifères dont des cervidés, etc.

On y rencontre également une flore typique : adansonia, teck, ébène, hibiscus, etc.

Enfin, l'altitude suffisamment élevée pour cette latitude permet la pratique du ski lors de l'hiver austral. Il n'est pas rare, comme lors du mois de juin 2007, de voir tomber de la neige en quantité ( en une journée). Elle reste cependant généralement cantonnée aux plus hauts sommets du Drakensberg pendant l'hiver, et même si la température est assez basse pour l'empêcher de fondre, la faiblesse des précipitations limite l'enneigement. La neige tombe une fois tous les dix ans sur Johannesburg, mais presque jamais à Pretoria, pourtant distante de seulement , mais à une altitude plus faible.

Plaines 
Les plaines se situent principalement dans le Nord-Ouest et dans l'État libre d'Orange, qui sont les greniers céréaliers de l'Afrique du Sud, grâce à la production de blé et de maïs. Le coton est également cultivé. On y pratique aussi l'élevage de moutons. Le pays est au palmarès des huit premiers producteurs de coton d'Afrique de l'est, du sud et du nord au milieu des années 2010 et neuvième au palmarès des producteurs africains de thé au début de la décennie 2010, dominé par le Kenya.

Le sous-sol est également très riche en or, en diamants, en uranium et en charbon, particulièrement dans les villes de Kimberley et Bloemfontein.

Le nord-ouest du pays est occupé par le désert du Kalahari qui s'étend également sur le Botswana et la Namibie, et qui a une superficie de près de . Caractérisé par ses dunes de sable rouge, c'est un désert semi-aride comportant de nombreuses zones de savanes et quelques arbres tels les acacias à épines et les baobabs.
On y observe de nombreuses migrations animales.

Littoraux 
L'Afrique du Sud compte  de côtes.

Le long de la façade de l'Atlantique, le littoral est plutôt régulier et les côtes mesurent . Dans le Namaqualand on observe une explosion florale pendant un mois, où plus de  végétales fleurissent en même temps, lys, aloes, protea, etc. entre mi-août et mi-septembre. Cette zone est très touristique. La zone du cap de Bonne-Espérance est principalement rocheuse et des colonies de manchots y sont installées. On trouve également l'île aux Phoques Robben Island qui accueille des phoques venant principalement de l'Antarctique.

Plus à l'est, le littoral est une alternance de côtes rocheuses et de plages de sable fin.

Les principales stations balnéaires sont dans l'est du pays, East London, Jeffreys Bay, Port Elizabeth, Durban…

On trouve également des zones maritimes protégées dans le cadre de parcs Nationaux comme la réserve , s'étendant sur terre et au large, où l'on peut pratiquer la plongée sous-marine.

Faune et flore 
L'Afrique du Sud possède, grâce à sa grande variété d'écosystèmes, une faune et une flore très diversifiées. Les déserts, savanes arides, savanes humides, forêts, fynbos, montagnes et côtes, offrent de nombreuses niches écologiques pour les nombreuses espèces animales et végétales. Des populations très importantes de mammifères marins vivent aux abords des côtes, notamment atlantiques, parmi lesquelles des baleines, des dauphins, des globicéphales et de très importantes colonies de pinnipèdes. Elle fait partie des dix-sept pays mégadivers, pays dont la biodiversité est la plus importante de la planète.

Depuis le début du ,  de plantes ont disparu en Afrique du Sud, principalement victimes de la déforestation.

Géographie administrative 

Traditionnellement, l'on a reconnu historiquement trois capitales officielles à l'Afrique du Sud, l'une, administrative, à Pretoria, l'autre, législative, au Cap et enfin une troisième, judiciaire, à Bloemfontein. Toutefois désormais seule la ville du Cap est mentionnée par la Constitution en tant que siège du parlement. Par ailleurs, l'instance judiciaire suprême du pays, la Cour constitutionnelle, siégeant à Johannesbourg, la ville de Bloemfontein ne mérite dès lors plus son surnom de capitale judiciaire. La métropole de Johannesbourg, la plus riche du pays et siège de la Bourse sud-africaine, est également considérée comme sa capitale économique.

En avril 1994, les quatre provinces et les dix bantoustans qui constituaient géographiquement et politiquement l'Afrique du Sud ont été dissous pour former neuf nouvelles provinces intégrées :
 Cap-Occidental (Western Cape) : Sud-Ouest de l'ancienne province du Cap ainsi que les deux îles de l'archipel du Prince-Édouard ;
 Cap-Nord (Northern Cape) : Nord de l'ancienne province du Cap ;
 Cap-Oriental (Eastern Cape) : Bantoustans indépendants du Transkei, du Ciskei et Sud-Est de l'ancienne province du Cap ;
 KwaZulu-Natal : Natal et Zoulouland ;
 État Libre (Free State) : État libre d'Orange et quelques homelands intégrés ;
 Nord-Ouest (North West) : ancien Transvaal-Ouest, nord de la province du Cap et bantoustan du Bophuthatswana ;
 Gauteng : ancien Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging, au centre du Transvaal ;
 Mpumalanga : ancienne région du Transvaal-Est ;
 Limpopo (province) : ancienne région du Transvaal-Nord, appelée province du Nord entre 1995 et 2002.

Chacune de ces provinces est divisée en municipalités métropolitaines et en districts municipaux. Ces derniers sont à leur tour divisés en municipalités locales. Les municipalités locales et métropolitaines sont divisées en circonscriptions électorales appelées wards.

Les municipalités métropolitaines exercent l’intégralité du pouvoir municipal, contrairement aux autres territoires dans lesquels le pouvoir est partagé entre les districts et les municipalités locales.

Les municipalités métropolitaines sont dirigées par un conseil municipal dont les conseillers sont directement élus lors d’un scrutin proportionnel par liste.

Les huit municipalités métropolitaines correspondent aux plus grandes agglomérations du pays :
Buffalo City (East London), Le Cap, Ekurhuleni (East Rand), eThekwini (Durban), Johannesbourg, Mangaung (Bloemfontein), Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth), et Tshwane (Pretoria).

Les districts ont la charge de nombreuses missions dont le développement économique, l’entretien des routes et les transports publics. Les conseillers municipaux des districts sont élus au scrutin proportionnel par liste pour 40 % d’entre eux, les 60 % restants étant nommés au sein des conseils des municipalités locales.

Les districts municipaux sont divisés en 226 municipalités locales. Généralement, elles englobent une ou plusieurs villes ainsi que les villages et les zones rurales aux alentours. Les municipalités locales exercent le pouvoir local en complément des attributions des districts. Les conseillers sont élus pour moitié au scrutin proportionnel par liste, l’autre moitié étant élue au scrutin uninominal dans les wards (circonscriptions électorales).

Histoire

Origines 
Les Khoïsan, regroupant les Khoïkhoïs et les Sans, sont les premiers habitants connus de l'Afrique du Sud (40 000 av. J.-C.).

Les premiers peuples de langues bantoues, venant à l'origine du grassland camerounais actuel, atteignent l'actuelle province du KwaZulu-Natal vers l'an 500 de notre ère. Au , des xhosas s'installent dans la région de la Fish River (Transkei).

Arrivée des européens et colonisation 

En 1488 le navigateur portugais Bartolomeu Dias atteint le cap des Tempêtes (cap de Bonne-Espérance), suivi en 1497 par le navigateur portugais Vasco de Gama qui longe la côte du Natal.

L'implantation définitive d'Européens en Afrique du Sud date de 1652 avec l'établissement, pour le compte de la Compagnie hollandaise des Indes orientales, d'une station de ravitaillement au Cap dirigée par le Néerlandais Jan van Riebeeck.

En 1657, plusieurs salariés de la compagnie sont autorisés à s'établir définitivement au Cap alors que des esclaves sont déportés de Batavia et de Madagascar pour pallier le manque de main d'œuvre sur place. En 1688, deux cents huguenots français rejoignent les 800 administrés du comptoir commercial et fondent Franschhoek. En 1691, la colonie du Cap est mise en place.

C'est en 1770 que sont relatés les premiers contacts entre les bantous et les boers (les fermiers libres d'origine franco-néerlandaise) à la hauteur de la Great Fish River (à  à l'est de la cité mère). Les relations sont rapidement conflictuelles et, en 1779, débute la première des neuf guerres cafres (1779-1878).

Entre 1795 et 1804, les Britanniques occupent l'Afrique du Sud. La colonie est restituée brièvement aux Néerlandais, entre 1804 et 1806.

En 1806, les Néerlandais cèdent définitivement la place aux Britanniques qui deviennent la nouvelle puissance coloniale.

De 1818 à 1825, lors du Mfecane, le Roi des Zoulous, Chaka, étend son empire sur l'est de l'Afrique du Sud au prix d'une conquête sanglante sur les autres peuples tribaux.

Le grand Trek et les conflits anglo-zoulous et anglo-boers 
En 1835, les Boers quittent la colonie du Cap pour les territoires intérieurs de l'Afrique du Sud afin d'échapper à l'administration britannique. C'est le Grand Trek, parsemé de tragédies et de batailles (bataille de Blood River contre les Zoulous en 1838). Deux républiques boers indépendantes sont finalement fondées et reconnues par le Royaume-Uni : la république sud-africaine du Transvaal (1852) et l'État libre d'Orange (1854).

En 1866, la colonie du Cap étend également son territoire et annexe la cafrerie britannique alors que les premiers diamants sont découverts à Kimberley, puis des gisements d'or dans le Witwatersrand au Transvaal.

En 1879, durant la Guerre anglo-zouloue, les Britanniques subissent une défaite historique lors de la bataille d'Isandhlwana avant de finalement s'imposer au Zoulouland.

Après l'annexion d'autres territoires tribaux, une des plus grandes spéculations de l'histoire boursière provoque la crise boursière des mines d'or sud-africaines de 1895, au moment du Raid Jameson, perpétré par les britanniques, en vue du percement de mines jusqu'à  sous terre.

Motivée en partie par ces mines d'or, la seconde guerre des Boers (1899-1902) et l'annexion du Transvaal et de l'État libre d'Orange consacre la domination britannique sur la majeure partie de l'Afrique australe, au prix de l'internement et de la mort de milliers de civils boers dans des camps de concentration britanniques.

L'Union sud-africaine (1910-1961) 
Le , huit ans après la fin de la seconde guerre des Boers et après quatre ans de négociations, le South Africa Act accorde l'indépendance nominale, en créant l'union d'Afrique du Sud. Le pays est fondé à partir du regroupement des colonies du Cap, du Natal, du Transvaal et de l'Orange. Le South Africa Act établit une démocratie parlementaire sur le modèle de Westminster avec un régime de type monarchie constitutionnelle héréditaire (monarchie sud-africaine) et un parlement souverain. Les modalités d'octroi du droit de vote diffèrent cependant entre les quatre nouvelles provinces (si le corps électoral est essentiellement blanc, les provinces du Natal et du Cap accordent sous condition censitaire le droit de vote aux personnes de couleur dites « civilisées »). Le général boer Louis Botha devient le premier chef du gouvernement sud-africain.

En 1912, un parti politique, le Congrès national africain (ANC), est fondé à Bloemfontein, revendiquant une plus grande participation des populations noires aux affaires du pays. L'année suivante, le Native land act est adopté. Basé sur le système des réserves établi à l'époque coloniale et dans les républiques boers, il divise le territoire sud-africain entre les terres indigènes (7 % puis 13 % du territoire) et les terres destinées aux Blancs et aux administrations publiques (87 % du territoire).

En 1915, engagées dans la Première Guerre mondiale, les troupes sud-africaines subissent de lourdes pertes dans la Somme (France). En Afrique, elles prennent le contrôle du Sud-Ouest africain allemand (future Namibie) qui leur est octroyé sous mandat par la Société des Nations en 1920.

En 1918, le Broederbond, une société secrète est fondée avec pour objectif la promotion politique, sociale et économique des Afrikaners (la dénomination devenue usuelle des Boers).

La révolte ouvrière des Afrikaners du Witwatersrand en 1922, durement réprimée, permet aux nationalistes blancs de s'unifier et de remporter les élections générales de 1924 sous la direction de James Barry Hertzog. En 1934, face à la crise économique, Hertzog s'unit néanmoins aux libéraux de Jan Smuts pour former un gouvernement d'union nationale. À la même époque, des anthropologues et des linguistes de l'université de Stellenbosch comme Werner Max Eiselen forgent un nouveau concept social et politique qui donnera naissance à l'idéologie de l'apartheid : rejetant l'idée de société unique sud-africaine, ils proposent de séparer géographiquement, politiquement et économiquement les noirs et les blancs d'Afrique du Sud ainsi que les différentes ethnies entre elles, afin de maintenir et renforcer leurs identités ethniques et linguistiques et de lutter contre les effets qu'ils estiment acculturants de l'urbanisation et du travail migrant sur les structures traditionnelles africaines. En 1936, la franchise électorale des populations noires au Cap est supprimée. En 1939, le pays, sous la direction de Smuts, s'engage aux côtés des alliés dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En 1945, Smuts participe à la rédaction du préambule de l'Organisation des Nations unies.

L'Union puis la République sud-africaine sous l'apartheid (1948-1991) 

En 1948, le parti national remporte les élections générales. Le nouveau premier ministre, Daniel François Malan, met en place la politique d'apartheid, renforcée en 1956 par la suppression de la franchise du droit de vote des Coloureds (gouvernement Strijdom). En 1958, Hendrik Verwoerd devient premier ministre.

En 1960, le massacre de Sharpeville puis l'interdiction de l'ANC et des mouvements nationalistes africains mènent à la condamnation de la politique d'apartheid par les Nations unies et par la communauté internationale.

Le , le pays devient une république à la suite d'un référendum où les électeurs votent majoritairement pour la fin de la monarchie. La république d'Afrique du Sud est alors proclamée, et le dernier gouverneur général du pays, Charles Swart, devient ainsi le premier président de l'État. Le pays se retire également du Commonwealth. L'ANC débute alors la lutte armée dans l'Umkhonto we Sizwe.

En 1964, Nelson Mandela, l'un des chefs de Umkhonto we Sizwe est condamné à perpétuité pour terrorisme et les autres chefs de l'ANC sont emprisonnés ou exilés. En 1966, Hendrik Verwoerd, premier ministre d'Afrique du Sud et grand architecte de l'apartheid, est assassiné.

En 1976, les émeutes dans le township de Soweto contre l'enseignement obligatoire en afrikaans conduisent le gouvernement à déclarer l'état d'urgence alors que le Bantoustan du Transkei est déclaré indépendant dans le cadre de la politique d'apartheid.

En 1984, pour sortir du blocage politique, le régime politique est présidentialisé et un parlement tricaméral, ouvert aux Indiens et aux Coloureds, est inauguré. Néanmoins, l'état d'urgence est de nouveau proclamé en 1986 alors que des sanctions économiques et politiques internationales isolent le pays en dépit de l'abrogation de lois symboliques de l'apartheid comme le passeport intérieur. Seul l'État d'Israël continue d'avoir des relations discrètes et collabore avec le pouvoir au point de vue militaire et sécuritaire : échanges de technologies, contrats de licences de fabrication d'armement, échanges techniques en matière de sécurité intérieure et savoir-faire d'espionnage.

En 1990, le nouveau président sud-africain, Frederik de Klerk, légalise l'ANC, le parti communiste sud-africain et tous les mouvements noirs. Nelson Mandela est libéré.

En juin 1991, le gouvernement abolit les dernières lois de l'apartheid et entame un processus de transition constitutionnelle (Codesa).

L'Afrique du Sud post-apartheid 
Ce processus de négociations débouche sur un projet intérimaire de constitution en 1993 qui réorganise l'État sud-africain autour des valeurs-clés de liberté, égalité, dignité et place en son sommet une Cour constitutionnelle et sur les premières élections au suffrage universel sans distinctions raciales ou censitaires de l'histoire du pays le . Ces élections sont remportées par le congrès national africain ce qui permet à Nelson Mandela d'être élu par la nouvelle assemblée constituante en tant que premier président noir du pays. Par la même occasion, le pays réintègre le Commonwealth.

En 1995, une Commission vérité et réconciliation est mise en place, puis l'année suivante, le  est adoptée la nouvelle constitution sud-africaine, principalement fondée sur la constitution provisoire de 1993.

De 1999 à 2008, le pays est présidé par Thabo Mbeki. Est ainsi apparue aux côtés de la bourgeoisie blanche une bourgeoisie noire ; ni l'ANC, ni le parti communiste, ni le syndicat COSATU (« Congrès des syndicats sud-africains ») n'ont remis en cause l'ordre économique et social. Au contraire, les privatisations se sont multipliées. L'Afrique du Sud est un des pays les plus inégalitaires du monde, ainsi que l'atteste son coefficient de Gini évalué à 0,63 en 2014 par la Banque mondiale, faisant ainsi de l'Afrique du Sud le pays le plus inégalitaire parmi les 168 territoires étudiés par la Banque mondiale (les autres pays n'ayant pas fourni assez de données).

À la suite des difficultés économiques et sociales apparues lors du second mandat de Thabo Mbeki, caractérisées en 2008 par une grave pénurie d'électricité en Afrique du Sud et la dégradation des infrastructures, son parti l'ANC lui retire son mandat le . Thabo Mbeki remet sa démission au Parlement qui élit alors Kgalema Motlanthe pour terminer son mandat jusqu'aux élections générales de 2009.

Après les élections générales du , remportées par l'ANC, Jacob Zuma, ancien vice-président de 1999 à 2005, devient le nouveau président de la République. Il prête serment le  et forme un gouvernement plus ouvert aux partis politiques minoritaires, dont le parti communiste mais aussi, pour la première fois depuis 1994, le front de la liberté (droite afrikaner). Le massacre de Marikana en 2012, où la police tire sur des salariés grévistes faisant des dizaines de morts, entache la gouvernance de l'ANC au sein de son électorat mais lors des élections générales sud-africaines de 2014, Jacob Zuma est réélu pour un second mandat, l'ANC restant nettement en tête dans l'électorat bien qu'en recul face à l'Alliance démocratique et aux Combattants pour la liberté économique de Julius Malema.

Visé par des affaires de corruption, Jacob Zuma démissionne sous la pression de son parti début 2018, après avoir été menacé de destitution, et Cyril Ramaphosa lui succède comme président de la République par intérim. Le , le Parlement élit formellement Cyril Ramaphosa président de la République.

Il est réélu chef de l’État le , à l’issue d’élections générales lors desquelles l’ANC obtient le plus faible score de son histoire (57,5 %), passant sous la barre des 60 % pour la première fois depuis un quart de siècle et payant ainsi les errements et les scandales de l'ère Zuma, son prédécesseur.

Il doit également faire face à une opposition interne au sein de l'ANC, avec un clan resté fidèle à Jacob Zuma, ayant à sa tête le secrétaire général de l’ANC, Ace Magashule, et son adjointe, Jessie Duarte. Une vague de xénophobie vis-à-vis des migrants, les « étrangers », secoue également le pays.

Le 10 février 2020, Cyril Ramaphosa prend la présidence de l'Union africaine, succédant à Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.

Politique et administration

Organisation des pouvoirs 
Le régime est parlementaire depuis le South Africa Act en 1910 et le suffrage universel en vigueur depuis 1994. La constitution sud-africaine, la cinquième de l’État sud-africain, fut promulguée par le Président Nelson Mandela le  et est entrée en vigueur le .

Les fonctions de chef du gouvernement et de chef d'État se confondent sous le titre de président de la république d'Afrique du Sud. Ce dernier est élu par le parlement.

Le parlement d’Afrique du Sud est composé de deux chambres : une chambre basse, l’Assemblée nationale et une chambre haute, le Conseil national des Provinces (en anglais : National Council of Provinces, NCoP). Les  de l'assemblée nationale sont élus par scrutin proportionnel de liste. Le NCoP, qui a remplacé le Sénat en 1997, est composé de  représentant les neuf provinces.

Chaque province est dotée d'une législature provinciale monocamérale, et d'un conseil exécutif présidé par un premier ministre (premier en anglais et en afrikaans). Les provinces sont moins autonomes que celles, par exemple, du Canada ou que les États aux États-Unis. Il s'agit alors d'un système fédéral modéré. L'État compte  officielles qui, en pratique, sont traitées différemment, l'afrikaans perdant du terrain devant l'anglais favorisé par l'ANC.

Enfin, le système judiciaire sud-africain est hybride en ce sens qu'il se fonde sur le système du common law s'agissant des activités administratives, alors que le droit privé est essentiellement imprégné par la tradition romano-germanique. L'organisation judiciaire est divisée, à l'image du modèle anglo-saxon, entre cours locales, , hautes-cours provinciales d'appel et une Cour suprême d'appel lorsque des causes non constitutionnelles sont en jeu. Le système judiciaire sud-africain est chapeauté par une Cour constitutionnelle, instance suprême du pays chargée d'exercer un contrôle de la constitutionnalité des actes du parlement et du gouvernement et de toute autre cause si l'intérêt de la justice le commande. La Cour constitutionnelle, de type Cour suprême mixte, siège à Constitution Hill, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

Tendances politiques, partis et élections 
Des élections générales de 1994 à celles de 2014, l'ANC domine la vie politique et demeure de loin le premier parti du pays notamment parce qu'il est le seul à avoir pu réaliser un complet maillage électoral du pays, disposant de militants jusque dans les bourgades les plus reculées.

Le gouvernement doit résoudre le problème des violences qui touchent les campagnes du pays : la réforme agraire impose la redistribution des terres aux Noirs et les fermiers afrikaners doivent souvent vendre leurs exploitations au gouvernement, ce qui suscite des résistances. Ces fermiers, au nombre de  environ, sont parfois attaqués par des bandes organisées et certains s'inscrivent à des stages commandos pour pallier le manque d'aide du gouvernement. Plusieurs partis d'extrême droite continuent de recruter au sein d'une frange de cette population qui se sent délaissée.

Cependant, depuis l'élection de Jacob Zuma en 2009, les performances électorales de l'ANC sont contestées par une opposition hétéroclite qui, bien que morcelée, progresse fortement. En 2014, si l'ANC remporte nettement, pour la cinquième fois, les élections générales avec 62,15 % des voix, il réalise son plus mauvais score national face notamment à l’Alliance démocratique (22,23 %) et aux Combattants pour la liberté économique (6,35 %), un jeune parti radical dirigé par Julius Malema. Lors des élections municipales sud-africaines de 2016, l'ANC enregistre sa plus forte baisse électorale et son plus faible score national (53,91 %). S'il parvient à encore conserver la très grande majorité des municipalités, en particulier en zone rurale (à l'exception notable des municipalités du Cap-Occidental), l'ANC est battu dans les plus grandes métropoles du pays (Le Cap, Tshwane, Johannesbourg, Nelson Mandela Bay) au profit de Alliance démocratique, alliée parfois pour la circonstance au parti de Malema. Cette baisse nationale de l'ANC peut être analysée comme liée aux scandales de corruption visant le président Jacob Zuma et aux mauvaises performances économiques de l'Afrique du Sud. Lors de la dernière élection, tenue le 8 mai 2019, l'ANC a remporté 57,5% des voix et , tandis que la principale opposition, l'Alliance démocratique (DA), a remporté 20,77% des voix et . Les combattants de la liberté économique (EFF), fondés par Julius Malema, ancien président de la Youth Wing de l'ANC ( ANC Youth League ) qui a ensuite été expulsé de l'ANC, ont remporté 10,79% des voix et . L'ANC est le parti politique au pouvoir en Afrique du Sud depuis la fin de l'apartheid.

Politique environnementale et énergétique 
En 2011, 93 % de l'électricité de l'Afrique du Sud provient du charbon. C'est l'un des pays les plus dépendant de ce combustible ; le port de Richards Bay abrite le premier terminal portuaire exportateur de charbon au monde.

Le pays dispose de la seule centrale nucléaire du continent africain, située à Koeberg, entrée en service en 1982. Pour assurer son développement et sa croissance économique, le pays doit cependant continuer à investir dans le secteur énergétique, notamment nucléaire, mais aussi thermique, pour assurer ses besoins immédiats : construction d'une centrale à charbon à Medupi.

En 2019, l'Afrique du Sud peine à produire les besoins en électricité du pays, et le pays fait face à de nombreuses coupures. Pour remédier à cette situation, en partie liée à des sabotages ou des problèmes de gouvernance mais également à un manque d'équipements, l'État a décidé de créer de nouvelles centrales à charbon. Toutefois, la société publique Eskom demeure très endettée.

L'Afrique du Sud est le premier pollueur du continent africain, et le quatorzième au niveau mondial, de par ses émissions de carbone. Le gouvernement instaure en 2019 une taxe carbone pour tenter d'inciter les entreprises à faire des efforts. Bien que soutenue par les organisations environnementales, cette initiative est jugée insuffisante et peu dissuasive.

La pollution de l'air représenterait un coût annuel de deux milliards d’euros.

Énergies renouvelables 
Le pays bénéficie de caractéristiques naturelles adéquates pour la production d'énergie verte : ensoleillement, vent ou encore espaces maritimes.

Organisation des forces de défense 
La South African National Defence Force (SANDF) a été créée en 1994 en tant que force militaire volontaire composée de l'ancienne South African Defence Force, des forces des groupes nationalistes africains (uMkhonto we Sizwe et Azanian People's Liberation Army), et des anciennes forces de défense des Bantoustans.

La SANDF est subdivisée en quatre branches : 

 l'armée sud-africaine
 l'armée de l'air sud-africaine 
 la marine sud-africaine 
 le service de santé militaire sud-africain.

Elle a servi dans des forces multinationales de maintien de la paix des Nations unies. Selon la puissance de feu mondiale, l'Afrique du Sud est classée 26e armée la plus puissante du monde et 2e en Afrique.  

L'Afrique du Sud est le seul pays africain à avoir développé avec succès des armes nucléaires. Il est devenu le premier pays (suivi de l'Ukraine) doté d'une capacité nucléaire à renoncer volontairement à son programme et à le démanteler, et a signé dans la foulée le traité de non-prolifération nucléaire en 1991. L'Afrique du Sud a entrepris un programme d'armement nucléaire dans les années 1970. Selon le président F.W. de Klerk, la décision de construire une « dissuasion nucléaire » a été prise dès 1974 dans un contexte de menace expansionniste soviétique. En 2017, l'Afrique du Sud a signé le traité des Nations unies sur l'interdiction des armes nucléaires.

Drapeau 

Le drapeau de l'Afrique du Sud a été adopté le  et est officiellement l'emblème du pays depuis le .

Son prédécesseur était contesté pour son symbolisme exclusivement lié à l'histoire afrikaner et britannique du pays.

Les six couleurs symbolisent à la fois les diverses tendances politiques du pays, les couleurs prédominantes des anciens drapeaux utilisés par l'Afrique du Sud au cours de son histoire ainsi que ses ressources naturelles.

Instances internationales 
Le 21 octobre 2016, l'Afrique du Sud annonce son retrait de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI).

Population 

La population sud-africaine compte  d'habitants en 2020 ; c'est le  pays le plus peuplé au monde. Elle est inégalement répartie : la plupart des habitants résident dans l'Est du pays. Le Gauteng est la région la plus peuplée suivie par le KwaZulu-Natal. L'aridité explique en partie les faibles densités du Nord-Ouest.

Selon le recensement de 2010, 79,4 % des Sud-Africains sont noirs, 9,2 % sont blancs, 8,8 % sont coloureds (métis) et 2,6 % des sud-africains sont indo-asiatique.

La population noire se répartit en différentes ethnies dont les plus importantes sont les Zoulous et les Xhosas. Concentrée dans l'Est du pays, elle est cependant minoritaire dans les deux provinces du Cap-Occidental et du Cap-Nord. Parmi la population blanche du pays, la plus ancienne, les Afrikaners (ou Boers) représentent une proportion de 60 % des Blancs du pays. Les ancêtres de ces Afrikaners étaient originaires des Pays-Bas ou d'Europe du Nord. Une partie non négligeable étaient également des huguenots français (voir aussi l'article huguenots d'Afrique du Sud) qui s'installèrent dans la colonie du Cap durant les guerres de religion en France (ces derniers font cependant partie de la communauté Afrikaner, on estime d'ailleurs que 25 % des noms de familles afrikaners sont d'origine française). Les autres blancs (40 %) sont surtout d'origine britannique, portugaise et allemande.

Selon un rapport de la SAIRR (institut sud-africain des relations raciales), environ , soit un sixième de la population, ont quitté le pays depuis 1994. Ces départs massifs, surtout de jeunes Sud-Africains diplômés, ont été dénoncés par l'opposition qui a attaqué l'ANC sur ces trop nombreux départs. Cependant, on constate depuis un nouveau phénomène, la « révolution du retour au foyer ».

Beaucoup d’enfants issus des régions rurales n'ont pas de pièce d’identité ou d'acte de naissance, parfois trop coûteux à aller chercher pour les parents. L’ONG Scalabrini Center estime à 40 % la part de ces enfants qui demeurent hors du système éducatif.

Santé 
L'Apartheid a doté l'Afrique du Sud d'un système de santé de renommée mondiale mais circonscrit aux zones géographiques blanches. Depuis la fin de l'Apartheid, la situation s'est détériorée en raison d'un plan de départ de fonctionnaires et médecins blancs lancé par le gouvernement et du développement de la corruption.

L’espérance de vie a chuté de  en 1990 à  en 2005, avant de remonter a  en 2011.

Le pays a le taux d’incidence du VIH le plus élevé au monde, avec  de citoyens  porteurs du virus.

En 2012, selon l'UNICEF, 17,9 % de la population adulte vit avec le VIH.

L'espérance de vie des hommes est de , celui des femmes de . Le taux annuel de croissance de la population est de 1,07 %, selon les chiffres des statistiques sud-africaines. Le taux de natalité s'élève à  (en 2009). Le taux de mortalité atteint  en 2001, et  en 2002, celui de la mortalité infantile  en 2009. En 2009, le taux de fécondité était de .

Langues 

Il n'y a pas de langue maternelle majoritairement dominante en Afrique du Sud.

En 1910, le néerlandais était, avec l'anglais, l'une des deux langues officielles reconnues par les nouvelles institutions de l'union de l'Afrique du Sud. En mai 1925, l'afrikaans a été promu au rang de langue officielle à la place du néerlandais (). L'Afrique du Sud adhère au début du  à l'Union linguistique néerlandaise, mais  seulement savent encore parler cette langue.

Depuis 1994, onze langues officielles (anglais, afrikaans, zoulou, xhosa, swati, ndebele, sesotho, sepedi, setswana, xitsonga, tshivenda) sont reconnues par la Constitution sud-africaine Selon l'article 6 de la constitution sud-africaine de 1996, l'État et les provinces doivent aussi faire la promotion des langues parlées par les diverses communautés vivant dans le pays ; les principales sont : l'allemand, le grec, le gujarâtî, l'hindi, le portugais, le tamoul, le télougou, l'ourdou, l'arabe, l'hébreu, le sanskrit.

Dans les faits, le zoulou est la langue maternelle la plus pratiquée dans les foyers sud-africains (environ ¼ des habitants), suivi par le xhosa (17,6 %). En troisième place arrive l'afrikaans avec 14 % de locuteurs maternels. Mais comme elle est employée en seconde langue par plus de 30 % des citoyens sud-africains, l'afrikaans est indirectement la deuxième langue la plus parlée du pays. Cependant elle souffre de la concurrence de l'anglais, qui paraît plus utile et reste la langue des affaires et de la communication.

D'une manière générale, l'anglais progresse dans tous les milieux et particulièrement chez les jeunes éduqués, dont beaucoup exigent de suivre un enseignement supérieur dans cette langue, et fait ainsi figure de langue véhiculaire. Aussi, du temps de l'Apartheid, l'anglais était vu comme la langue de la liberté, pour communiquer avec le monde extérieur. Si l'anglais est la première des secondes langues et que 85 % de la population du pays la parle (dont plus de 90 % chez les Blancs) ou en a des notions, elle n'est réellement la langue maternelle que d'un peu moins de  des citoyens de l'Afrique du Sud. Elle reste de plus incomprise dans des zones rurales ou bien chez des personnes âgées et des membres de tribus locales assez isolées.

En 2020, l'anglais est la langue maternelle de 10 % de la population Sud-Africaine, et est la seconde langue de 85 % des Sud-Africains. Donc, 95 % de la population (2020) Sud-Africaine parle anglais couramment, ou à des notions plus ou moins importante de cette langue. Souvent, l'anglais est assez  mal parlé, surtout par le prolétariat noir, ou des travailleurs actifs qui ont commencé une vie professionnelle assez jeunes. 5 % de la population Sud-Africaine, en revanche, ne sait pas parler anglais, souvent des noirs ou des Afrikaners âgés, ou des populations noires souvent très éloignés des centres urbains, ou des migrants (Angolais, Mozambicains). Avec la scolarisation obligatoire, l'anglais devrait être parlé par au moins 98 % de la population en 2050, mais avec des niveaux variables.

Religion 

Selon un recensement de 2016:
 chrétiens : 78 % :
 églises africaines : 25,4% ;
 pentecôtistes : 15,2% ;
 indéfini : 7,3% ;
 catholiques : 6,8 % ;
 calvinistes : 5,3% ;
 méthodistes : 5,0% ;
 sans religion : 10,9 % ;
 animistes (religions traditionnelles africaines) : 4,4 % ;
 musulmans : 1,6 % ;
 hindouistes: 1,0% ;
 autres (dont Bouddhistes, Juifs, Sikhs, Ahmadis, et baha'is) : 4,1%.

Droits LGBT

Culture

Fêtes et jours fériés 
 , Jour de l'an, .
 21 mars, Journée des droits de l'homme, , où est commémoré le massacre de Sharpeville en 1960.
 Vendredi saint, .
 Lundi de Pâques, .
 27 avril, Jour de la Liberté, /, fête nationale depuis 1994, qui commémore les premières élections multiraciales de 1994.
 , Fête du Travail, , depuis 1990.
 16 juin, Fête de la Jeunesse, .
 9 août, Journée nationale des femmes, National Women's Day.
 24 septembre, Journée du patrimoine, , chaque groupe ethnique célèbre sa culture.
 4 octobre, Fête nationale.
 16 décembre, Fête de la réconciliation, (ancien jour du vœu), Reconciliation Day, (Day of the Vow / Geloftedag / Dingaansdag), commémoration de la victoire des Blancs sur les Zoulous en 1838. Il s'agit d'une fête controversée.
 25 décembre, Noël, .
 26 décembre, (Fête de Bienveillance), .

Musique 
Johnny Clegg est un chanteur sud-africain, surnommé le « zoulou blanc », sa chanson la plus célèbre est « Asimbonanga » (1987), rend hommage à Nelson Mandela, alors incarcéré depuis plus de . Ses chansons sont principalement axées sur la lutte contre l'apartheid en Afrique du Sud et pour la défense de la culture africaine. Il est connu aussi pour sa chanson « Scatterlings of Africa » (1982), reprise pour la bande originale du film « Rain Man » (1988).

Miriam Makeba est une chanteuse de jazz sud-africaine, connue pour son tube « Pata, Pata » et a énormément œuvré pour lutter contre l’apartheid.

Littérature 
Alan Paton est un écrivain sud-africain surtout connu pour son premier roman, "Cry, the Beloved Country" (1948), qui a attiré l'attention internationale sur les injustices raciales de l'apartheid sud-africain.

Nadine Gordimer est une femme de lettres sud-africaine, elle a reçu le prix Nobel de littérature qui récompense un écrivain dont « l’œuvre épique a rendu à l'humanité d'éminents services ».

J.M. Coetzee est romancier et professeur en littérature né au Cap. Il obtient de nombreux prix littéraires pour ses romans dont le prestigieux prix Nobel de littérature en 2003. Ce dernier récompense l'auteur "qui, sous d'innombrables formes, dépeint l'implication surprenante de l'outsider".

Sport 

Dans le domaine sportif, l'Afrique du Sud est surtout connue pour son équipe de rugby à XV, majoritairement joué par les classes aisées et blanches, qu'ont représentée des joueurs tels que François Pienaar, Frik du Preez, Joost van der Westhuizen, André Venter, Os du Randt, Percy Montgomery, Bryan Habana etc.

Pieter-Steph du Toit (élu meilleur joueur du monde World Rugby en 2019) et Cheslin Kolbe sont actuellement classés parmi les meilleurs joueurs du monde.

En sept participations, l'Afrique du Sud remporte trois fois la Coupe du monde : le  à Johannesbourg (Ellis Park) : Afrique du Sud 15-12 Nouvelle-Zélande (après prolongation), le  à Saint-Denis (Stade de France) : Afrique du Sud 15-6 Angleterre et le 2 novembre 2019 au Japon : Afrique du Sud 32-12 Angleterre. L'équipe nationale est donc championne du monde en titre.

Le rugby à XIII, interdit pendant l’Apartheid car surtout pratiqué par les Noirs, peine à s'implanter malgré un fort succès auprès des couches sociales petites et moyennes.

En 2010, l'Afrique du Sud organise la coupe du monde de football 2010, devenant ainsi le premier pays du continent africain à accueillir cette compétition. L'Afrique du Sud possède de bons joueurs évoluant en Europe. Les vuvuzelas, sortes de trompettes africaines émettant un bruit de ruches d'abeilles, sont le socle d'une véritable culture du football. Le pays fut champion d'Afrique de football 1996 à Johannesbourg (FNB Stadium).

L'Afrique du Sud a organisé la coupe du monde de cricket en 2003.

L'Afrique du Sud compte notamment Jody Scheckter qui fut champion du monde de  en 1979 sur Ferrari et son fils Tomas qui fait une carrière en IRL. Le pays a par ailleurs accueilli un Grand Prix du championnat du monde de formule 1 entre 1967 et 1993 sur les circuits d'East London et Kyalami.

L'Afrique du Sud organise aussi plusieurs épreuves du championnat du monde de surf.

Bianca Buitendag, surfeuse professionnelle, finit médaille d'Argent sur l'épreuve de surf lors des Jeux olympiques d'été de 2020 se tiennent à Tokyo, au Japon.

L'Afrique du Sud compte notamment Cameron van der Burgh qui possède les records du monde au  brasse grand bassin () et au  brasse petit bassin ()  brasse ().

L'Afrique du Sud compte dans ses rangs l'athlète Wayde van Niekerk, recordman du  en  en finale des Jeux Olympiques de Rio en 2016. Il est également le seul homme à avoir réalisé les trois temps suivants en une carrière :  en moins de  ;  en moins de  et enfin  en moins de .

L'Afrique du Sud est aussi bien représentée au golf. Les golfeurs sud-africains les plus connus sont Bobby Locke, Gary Player et Ernie Els. De nombreuses compétitions internationales se déroulent en Afrique du Sud.

Kristen Neuschäfer, navigatrice, remporte le 27 avril 2023 aux Sables d'Olonne la mythique course autour du monde à la voile sans escale et sans assistance électronique, la Golden Globe Race 2022. Elle est la première femme à remporter un tour du monde à la voile en solitaire.

Problèmes sociaux

Pauvreté, chômage et mouvements migratoires 

Selon l'indice de développement humain (IDH) du Programme des Nations unies pour le développement (PNUD), l'Afrique du Sud a reculé de  dans leur classement entre 1990 et 2005, constatant l'appauvrissement général de la population. Le nombre de personnes vivant en dessous du seuil d'extrême pauvreté a doublé en dix ans, passant de , soit 8,8 % de la population. Près de 40 % des villes en Afrique du Sud sont composées de townships et cette différence entre les riches et les pauvres est très visible ainsi que très présente, elle est à l'origine de beaucoup de tension entre les deux classes sociales. Plus de 43 % de la population vit avec moins de  () par mois. Le chômage a un taux officiel de 23,2 % selon l'OIT, mais les syndicats l'estiment proche de 40 %. En 2013, le revenu de la tranche la plus pauvre de la population (40 % des Sud-Africains), est inférieur de moitié à celui qu’il était en 1993.

Une partie de la minorité blanche effrayée par la hausse de la criminalité ( blancs ont été assassinés entre la fin de l'apartheid et février 2009), par la discrimination positive, par la pandémie du Sida, et par les événements survenus au Zimbabwe à l'encontre des fermiers blancs, émigre massivement en Australie ou en Nouvelle-Zélande. Ainsi, près d'un million de Sud-Africains blancs auraient quitté le pays depuis 1994. De nombreux émigrés d'Afrique du Sud affirment que la criminalité est un facteur majeur qui explique leur décision de quitter le pays. On assisterait cependant à un retour de beaucoup de Blancs confrontés à la crise mondiale, et qui retrouvent au pays natal des conditions de vie plus enviables.

En mai 2008, Johannesbourg et d'autres villes du pays connaissent de violentes émeutes anti-immigrés qui font environ ,  et provoquent l'exode de plusieurs milliers d'immigrés clandestins. Ces épisodes de xénophobie relativement fréquents se reproduisent fin mars 2015 dans un contexte d'immigration importante et de chômage massif.

Le jeudi 16 août 2012, trente-quatre mineurs ont été tués et soixante-dix-huit blessés dans des affrontements entre grévistes et policiers à la mine de platine Lonmin de Marikana, au nord de Johannesbourg, selon un bilan officiel de la police nationale. Les mineurs, qui vivent dans des taudis accolés à la mine, sans eau courante, touchent environ  par mois (). « Nous sommes exploités, ni le gouvernement ni les syndicats ne sont venus à notre aide », a déclaré l'un d'eux. « Les sociétés minières font de l'argent grâce à notre travail et on ne nous paye presque rien. Nous ne pouvons pas nous offrir une vie décente. Nous vivons comme des animaux à cause des salaires de misère ». Toutefois, le gouvernement sud-africain s'est dit prêt à compenser financièrement « dans les prochains mois » les familles des victimes du massacre de Marikana.

En 2019, le salaire moyen des Sud-africains blancs est 3,5 fois plus élevé que celui des Sud-africains noirs. Le chômage frappe 27 % de la population et à cause de la pandémie de Covid-19 le pourcentage du chômage dépasse 34 % au deuxième trimestre de l'année.

Criminalité 

À la suite de l'augmentation des cambriolages au début des années 1990, les Sud-Africains ont commencé à se barricader chez eux, élevant des clôtures et des murs pour se protéger de la rue, puis de leurs voisins. Devant la hardiesse des cambrioleurs, les plus aisés d'entre eux ont installé des détecteurs de mouvement et des alarmes dans leurs maisons puis des grilles électrifiées à  et des barrières à infrarouges. Les malfaiteurs s'en sont alors pris à leurs victimes devant chez elles, leur mettant un pistolet sur la tempe pour les forcer à ouvrir leur maison et à désamorcer le système d'alarme. Les habitants aisés de Johannesbourg se sont retranchés dans des quartiers aux allures de forteresses, murés et sécurisés, uniquement accessibles par un portail surveillé vingt-quatre heures sur vingt-quatre. Si dans ces quartiers la criminalité a chuté, parfois de 70 %, les municipalités ont souvent cependant interdit de se barricader de la sorte, afin notamment d'éviter le repli des Blancs entre eux.

D'après le journal Le Monde du , l'Afrique du Sud bat des records en matière de criminalité : on y compte environ  par an,  de meurtre, plus de  et environ . Le taux de violence sexuelle en Afrique du Sud était, en 2000, le plus élevé au monde. En 2009, on estimait qu'un Sud-Africain sur quatre avait commis un viol, qu'un enfant était violé toutes les trois minutes. En 2013, les statistiques avancent que « 40 % des Sud-Africaines seront violées dans leur vie ».

En 2005, l'Afrique du Sud a compté quelque  assassinées,  violées et  selon les chiffres cités par le Sunday Times. Pour les années 2007 et 2008, les statistiques ont encore recensé quelque  chez les particuliers, pas moins de  dans les magasins, les usines et les bureaux, près de  de dégradation lourde de matériel, ainsi que  et  de meurtre. Les violences se concentrent au Cap, à Durban, mais aussi à Johannesbourg et à Pretoria. Les fermiers sont aussi fréquemment victimes d'attaques. Ainsi, presque tous les habitants d'Afrique du Sud ont une fois dans leur vie fait l'expérience directe de la criminalité.

L'État sud-africain dispose pourtant de  et de  pour rétablir l'ordre et la sécurité mais les agents de police sont généralement mal formés et mal payés. La police fait elle-même surveiller certains commissariats par des sociétés privées. Ces dernières, qui emploient  de sécurité privés, sont à ce jour chargées de la protection d'un million et demi d'entreprises et de foyers sud-africains.

En septembre 2011, les chiffres officiels de la criminalité indiquent à nouveau une forte baisse dans presque tous les types de crimes ( , tentatives de meurtre, cambriolages, violences), confirmant la nette tendance des années précédentes. Le nombre de meurtres qui avait atteint il y a quelques années des records mondiaux, est retombé à des valeurs semblables aux années précédant la fin de l'apartheid en 1994. Seuls les explosions des distributeurs de billets, ou encore les crimes liés à la consommation de drogue ou d'alcool dont la répression a été renforcée, ont augmenté. Ces chiffres sont toutefois à relativiser car les taux et les modalités de déclarations de crimes sont plus performants en Afrique du Sud que dans le reste de l'Afrique subsaharienne. Si en 2013, le taux d'assassinats était encore de 31,8/, c'est déjà deux fois moins qu'en 1994. C'est moins qu'en Côte d'Ivoire (56,9/) qui arrive juste derrière la Jamaïque et le Honduras au niveau mondial. C'est aussi moins qu'en Zambie (38 pour ), en Ouganda (36,3), au Malawi (36) et au Lesotho (35,2).

Économie 

Longtemps première puissance économique du continent, le produit intérieur brut (PIB) de l'Afrique du Sud est, depuis 2014, classé derrière celui du Nigeria à la suite d'un changement de calcul statistique bien que ce pays demeure largement derrière l'Afrique du Sud pour ce qui est du développement ou du PIB par habitant.

Pays capitaliste favorable à l'économie de marché, l'Afrique du Sud a opté pour un libéralisme économique tempéré par une forte implication de l'État afin de réguler l'économie, de modifier la répartition inégalitaire des richesses et d'assurer une meilleure protection des catégories sociales historiquement et économiquement les plus défavorisés. L'Afrique du Sud représente un quart du PIB africain avec un taux de croissance moyen de 5 % par an. Son réseau de transports, ses installations énergétiques (avec la seule centrale nucléaire du continent à Koeberg), en ont fait un pays quasi développé. Le pays bénéficie d'un sous-sol riche en matières premières comme l'or, dont il est l'un des principaux producteurs mondiaux, du platine et des métaux précieux, et surtout d'immenses réserves de charbon, première production minière du pays en 2016 En outre, les multinationales sud-africaines sont prospères et compétitives sur les marchés internationaux. Ainsi, sur les 100 plus grandes entreprises africaines, 61 sont sud-africaines. En 2022, l’Afrique du Sud est classée en  pour l'indice mondial de l'innovation.

Classement des principales puissances économiques en Afrique

Discrimination « positive » 

Depuis 1994, les autorités sud-africaines ont mis en œuvre une politique d ou  (discrimination positive), visant à promouvoir une meilleure représentation de la majorité noire dans les différents secteurs du pays (administration, services publics et parapublics, sociétés nationalisées et privées). Ainsi, dans de nombreux secteurs, des Blancs ont été invités à faire valoir leurs droits à la retraite ou à accepter des licenciements, moyennant une indemnité de départ. Un des résultats fut l'appauvrissement d'une partie de cette minorité blanche (10 % de ses membres vivent aujourd’hui avec  par an).

Ce programme a cependant contribué au développement d'une classe moyenne noire. Les black diamonds, qui gagnent plus de  par mois (), représentent environ 10 % de la population noire mais ceux-ci sont en général très endettés et souffrent de l'augmentation régulière des taux d'intérêt. Il est également reproché à cette politique de discrimination positive de ne favoriser qu'une toute petite partie de la population des noirs, ceux qui sont diplômés, vivant dans des centres urbains.

Par ailleurs, une étude rendue publique en 2006, et portant sur la période 1995-2005, montre que les blancs qualifiés émigrent en masse : en dix ans, 16,1 % des Sud-Africains blancs auraient quitté le pays. À la suite des critiques des partis d'opposition, le gouvernement sud-africain redéfinit sa politique de discrimination positive en cherchant à favoriser le retour au pays de ces expatriés trop nombreux et trop qualifiés. C'est la vice-présidente Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka qui est chargée de mettre cette réforme en œuvre en promouvant des salaires incitatifs à ceux qui reviendraient au pays.

En , l'écrivain sud-africain André Brink s'en prend à la mise en œuvre de la politique de discrimination positive constatant que l’application de celle-ci a .

En , des membres de la nouvelle direction de l'ANC, mise en place par Jacob Zuma, reconnaissaient, auprès des entrepreneurs et des représentants de la minorité blanche, les errements pratiqués dans le domaine de la discrimination positive et promettaient d'infléchir la politique du prochain gouvernement qui succéderait à celui de Thabo Mbeki. Ainsi, Mathews Phosa, trésorier général de l’ANC, reconnaissait le  causé par la pratique de la discrimination positive. Il indiquait par ailleurs que le  en 2009.

Réforme agraire 

Après la seconde guerre des Boers (1899-1902), la spoliation des populations noires a été institutionnalisée. En 1913, le Natives Land Act limite la propriété foncière des personnes noires à 7 % du territoire (étendu à 13 % en 1936). Quatre millions de paysans perdent alors les terres qu'ils possédaient encore et deviennent généralement métayers ou mineurs, une main d’œuvre peu couteuse pour les propriétaires.

En 1994, 87 % des terres arables d'Afrique du Sud appartenaient à des fermiers blancs. L'objectif de la réforme agraire alors mise en place est de redistribuer 30 % des terres aux populations noires d’ici 2014. Selon le procédé mis en place, l’État sud-africain rachète les propriétés au prix du marché pour les redistribuer selon le principe du volontariat. Les deux tiers des , enregistrées avant la date butoir fixé au , sont satisfaites mais il s'agit majoritairement de terres en zones urbaines et non dans les régions agricoles. En 2006, seules un peu plus de 3 % des terres concernées avaient effectivement été redistribuées. L'objectif de 30 % est par la suite repoussé à 2025. La loi prévoit que les descendants des fermiers noirs, dépossédés par la force ou injustement indemnisés dans le cadre des lois adoptées depuis 1913, peuvent demander la restitution de leurs terres. En , la majorité des  au « Sommet sur la terre », a recommandé des expropriations alors que la vice-présidente Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka demandait d'« importer des experts du Zimbabwe ».

À la mi-2011, sur  d’hectares, près de  d'hectares (8 %) ont été transférés à  de noirs alors que  possèdent et gèrent 80 % des surfaces cultivables. Selon d’autres estimations, la part des transferts ne serait pas supérieure à 5 %. Ce faible pourcentage s'explique par la volonté de l’État sud-africain d’éviter un effondrement de la production comme au Zimbabwe voisin au début des années 2000, parce que de nouveaux acquéreurs, incapables de maintenir des rendements équivalents, ont eux-mêmes revendu leurs terres, et surtout parce que le gouvernement devrait débourser jusqu'à  d’euros pour dédommager les propriétaires pour atteindre les 30 % escomptés. Le gouvernement ne veut pas que cette redistribution affecte la rentabilité économique de ces terres (l'Afrique du Sud est un pays émergent où l'agriculture ne représente cependant que 3 % du PIB). Dans la province du Limpopo, 90 % des terres agricoles font l’objet de réclamations mais les restitutions effectuées ont majoritairement tourné au désastre, marqué par une sous-exploitation de ces terres laissées en déshérence, faute d'encadrement technique et financier. L’Université de Pretoria estime ainsi que dans 44 % des cas, la production a significativement baissé quand elle n'a pas tout simplement cessé dans 24 % des cas.

Le , sous la pression politique de Julius Malema, le jeune chef de la ligue de jeunesse de l'ANC, le ministre de la Réforme agraire présente un nouveau projet de redistribution des terres dont l'objectif est de restreindre la propriété foncière privée, de restreindre l’achat de terres par des étrangers mais aussi de transférer des terres appartenant aux Blancs à des agriculteurs noirs.

L'Afrique du Sud est au palmarès des huit premiers producteurs de coton d'Afrique de l'est, du sud et du nord au milieu des années 2010 et neuvième au palmarès des producteurs africains de thé au début de la décennie 2010, dominé par le Kenya. Le secteur agricole doit cependant faire face à la sécheresse : dans la province du Cap, celle-ci a fait baisser la production de 20 % en 2019.

En 2018,  commerciales emploient environ  agricoles. Les conditions de vie de ces derniers sont souvent difficiles ; beaucoup vivent dans des taudis dépourvus d'eau courante. La directrice de l'association pour l'avancement rural, Laurel Oettle, souligne que « les saisonniers n'ont pas de revenus pendant des mois. Certains sont parfois payés en produits agricoles. Les cas d'abus sexuels sont nombreux. L'accès aux tombes des ancêtres donne lieu à des conflits. »

Réquisition d'actifs d'entreprises par le pouvoir politique 
Depuis 1994, pratiquement tous les grands groupes miniers et les banques ont cédé entre 10 et 26 % de leur capital à des noirs, indiens et Coloureds. Dans un premier temps, une petite élite noire, issue des leaders de l'ANC, s'est reconvertie avec succès dans les affaires en bénéficiant de grosses cessions de capital d'entreprises. Le plus riche d'entre eux est Patrice Motsepe qui est devenu le  Noir le plus riche au monde avec  de dollars derrière le Nigérian Aliko Dangote avec  de dollars selon le magazine Forbes en 2011.

Depuis 2000, des objectifs précis ont été négociés dans certains secteurs (mines, banques, distribution du pétrole, etc.). Ainsi, selon la charte minière de 2002, toutes les compagnies doivent céder 26 % de leur capital d'ici à 2014. Les Noirs devront représenter 40 % des cadres en 2009. Les compagnies qui ne respecteront pas ces conditions pourront perdre leurs droits d'exploitation.

Un arsenal législatif est d'ailleurs en cours d'adoption. Des objectifs précis seront fixés notamment en matière de cession de capitaux et de promotion interne des Noirs dans les entreprises.

Toutes les entreprises y compris les PME devront remplir un bulletin de note (ceux qui auront les meilleures notes auront plus de chance de remporter les marchés publics). Les multinationales sont cependant exemptées.

Fluctuations du rand et inflation 
En 2007, la monnaie nationale, le rand, s'était nettement dépréciée par rapport à l'euro et au dollar. En 2010-2011 par contre, elle s'est renchérie significativement. En 2012, le rand montre sa résistance face à l'euro.

Si en 1970, un rand valait un dollar, la monnaie sud-africaine n'a cessé de se déprécier depuis les années 1980. En , l'euro valait plus de 11 rands alors que le dollar valait 7,50 rands (soit une perte de 12 % de sa valeur depuis le début de la même année). En 2011, l'euro ne vaut plus que 9,90 rands et le dollar vaut 7,10 rands, ce qui semble confirmer la valeur refuge que le rand peut constituer face aux turbulences rencontrées en Europe et aux États-Unis. Depuis lors, en 2011, les taux ont sensiblement baissé, passant de 15 % en 2007 à moins de 9 % en 2011.

En 2007, l'inflation qui avait été jusque-là maîtrisée, atteint 8,6 % alors que la hausse des prix dépasse les 6 %, obligeant la Banque centrale sud-africaine à augmenter à quatre reprises ses taux d'intérêt. En 2011, l'inflation retombe à 4 %.

Difficultés structurelles de l'économie sud-africaine 

Dans les années 1950, l'Afrique du Sud avait développé une large gamme d’hydrocarbures synthétiques. Elle y était contrainte par deux facteurs : l'Apartheid, qui avait entraîné un blocus des produits pétroliers, puis, bien plus tard, en 1979, par l’arrêt des livraisons en provenance de l’Iran, seul fournisseur de l’Afrique du Sud jusqu'à la révolution qui renversa le régime du Shah.

En 2008, la croissance sud-africaine a été minée par des coupures d'électricité qui ont paralysé les grandes villes, provoquent des embouteillages monstres sur les grandes artères et menacent l'économie du pays et de la région, en provoquant notamment la fermeture provisoire des principales mines d'or, de platine et de diamant. À la suite de cette crise qui remet en cause l'activité salariée de , le gouvernement fait son mea culpa pour n'avoir pas modernisé ou construit de centrales électriques depuis la fin de l’apartheid. Cette crise a menacé un temps la valeur du Rand en baisse constante à l'époque ainsi que la capacité de l'Afrique du Sud à organiser la Coupe du monde de football en 2010. Ces prévisions alarmistes se sont véritablement vérifiées aux vues des pertes engendrées par la Coupe du Monde de football et ce malgré la mise en marche de nouvelles centrales électriques. Cette Coupe du Monde aura eu un effet dévastateur sur l'emploi, et entraîné des pertes financières estimées à  d'euros. 85 % de l'électricité sud-africaine est produite à partir de centrales thermiques fonctionnant au charbon, dont certaines sont vieillissantes.

Pour pallier cette pénurie, de nouvelles centrales électriques sont en construction, comme la centrale solaire de Khi Solar One dans le Cap-Nord, ou le parc éolien West Cost One dans le Cap-Occidental.

Néanmoins, à la fin du mandat du président Thabo Mbeki en 2008, de nombreuses faiblesses ou erreurs de sa gestion sont mises en exergue par la presse occidentale, notamment la dégradation de l'état des routes (qui demeure le meilleur réseau routier d'Afrique, devant celui du Maroc), les carences du système de santé publique, la dégradation des hôpitaux publics et des écoles publiques. La corruption et l'inefficacité de l'administration, par manque de personnel, de motivation et de moyens complètent le tableau des difficultés structurelles auxquelles fait face l'Afrique du Sud.

En 2018, d'après la géographe spécialiste de l'énergie Bernadette Mérenne-Schoumaker, l'un des grands défis de l'économie sud-africaine est de diversifier son mix énergétique dans l'optique d'une transition énergétique, sans abandonner un secteur minier qui représente plus de  dans un pays où le chômage dépasse 27 %.

Tourisme 

L'Afrique du Sud connaît un essor touristique continu. La découverte des parcs nationaux et autres réserves d'animaux aux excellentes structures d’accueil reste l'un des arguments principaux du séjour, mais le pays présente de nombreux autres attraits.

Faune 
En partant du nord-est vers le sud-ouest, on trouve en Afrique du Sud l'une des plus grandes diversités d'animaux du continent :
 Les « Big Five » (terme de chasse réunissant buffles, éléphants, léopards, lions, rhinocéros) sont présents ainsi que les girafes et les guépards, dans le plus grand ( de long,  de large) des vingt-deux parcs nationaux sud-africains, le parc national Kruger ; l'aspect particulier de la brousse (végétation parsemée d'arbustes), ses animaux rares (lycaon, rhinocéros noir) et le séjour dans des loges de safari en font une destination touristique importante.
 Au sud du Eswatini, la réserve d'Hluhluwe-Umfolozi tire son intérêt de la présence des Big Five mais aussi des rhinocéros blancs, espèce très rare qui a échappé à l'extermination.
 Les marais de la région de Santa Lucia, dans le KwaZulu-Natal, abritent des hippopotames, des crocodiles et nombre d’espèces d'oiseaux.
 Dans la province du Nord-Ouest, le parc national Pilanesberg accueille des rhinocéros blancs, des zèbres, des buffles, des girafes.
 Non loin du Cap se trouvent les réserves d'oiseaux sauvages du lagon de  et de .
 À mi-distance du Cap et de Port Elizabeth, il est également possible de visiter des fermes d'autruches autour d'Oudtshoorn.
 Situé au nord de Port Elizabeth, Addo est un parc national réputé pour ses éléphants.
 Dans les savanes du désert du Karoo vivent les springboks, une espèce d'antilope du sud de l'Afrique.
 On les retrouve dans le parc transfrontalier de Kgalagadi, aux confins de la Namibie et du Botswana, où ils voisinent avec les lions, les guépards, les zèbres, les gnous, les suricates (petites mangoustes  de l'endroit) et de nombreuses espèces d'oiseaux, dont l'aigle martial.

Paysages et randonnées 
Un élément notable des paysages sud-africains est une longue barrière montagneuse, le Drakensberg, qui court des confins du Mozambique jusqu'à la province du Cap. Les panoramas que le Drakensberg a engendrés dans le Transvaal, tout particulièrement ceux du Blyde River Canyon () comptent parmi les plus beaux du pays. Ils attirent les randonneurs dont les plus chevronnés se lancent, à l'est du KwaZulu-Natal et du pays zoulou, vers les sommets au-dessus de  de Cathedral Peak ou du parc national de Royal Natal.

Au sud, les paysages gagnent en diversité : on peut aussi bien apprécier les reliefs tourmentés et déchiquetés de la région désertique du Karoo et de la vallée de la Désolation que la douceur de la route des vins, à l'est du Cap.

Les huguenots chassés de France se sont installés dans cette région : « le coin des Français » () et ces vignobles en sont un fort symbole.

On peut également choisir des visites ponctuelles : tout près du Cap, le jardin botanique national de Kirstenbosch, le plus riche du pays grâce à ses , ou les grottes du Cango, réputées notamment parce qu'elles renferment des fresques et des motifs sans.

D'autres peintures et gravures bochimans sont visibles dans le KwaZulu-Natal, le long de la frontière est du Lesotho (parc national de Royal Natal, ), où il est aussi possible de se familiariser avec les coutumes du peuple zoulou.

Deux curiosités caractérisent la région du fleuve Orange : Les spectaculaires chutes d'Augrabies, d'une hauteur de , et les mines de diamant de Kimberley.

La majorité de ces sites bénéficient d'une excellente structure touristique et d'un important réseau national de grandes randonnées.

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Voir aussi

Bibliographie

Romans sur l'Afrique du Sud 
 
 
 André Brink, Au plus noir de la nuit, Stock, 1974, 
 
 
 
 .
 
 .
 
 
 .

Films sur l'Afrique du Sud 
 1955 :Tant que soufflera la tempête de Henry King
 1964 : Zoulou de Cy Endfield
 1974 : Gold de Peter Hunt
 1979 : L'Ultime Attaque de Douglas Hickox
 1988 : Un monde à part de Chris Menges
 1989 : Une saison blanche et sèche d'Euzhan Palcy
 1992 : La Puissance de l'ange de John G. Avildsen
 2005 : Mon nom est Tsotsi de Gavin Hood
 2006 : Au nom de la liberté de Philip Noyce
 2007 : Goodbye Bafana de Bille August
 2008 : Skin d'Anthony Fabian
 2009 : Invictus de Clint Eastwood
 2011 : Ingrid Jonker de Paula van der Oest
 2012 : Sugar Man (film, 2012) de Malik Bendjelloul
 2013 : Zulu de Jérôme Salle
 2013 : Mandela de Justin Chadwick

Articles connexes 
 Cuisine sud-africaine
 Enko Education
 Astronomie en Afrique du Sud

Liens externes 
 
 
 
 
 Office de tourisme d'Afrique du Sud
 Profils de pays de la FAO : L'Afrique du Sud
 Parlement de l'Afrique su Sud
  Président de l'Afrique du Sud

Nom

Langue et ethnie 
Aka peut désigner :
 Akha, peuple de Birmanie qui parle le akha ;
 Akas, peuple de pygmées nomades d’Afrique ;
 Aka, langue bantoue (Afrique) ;
 tribu Aka, tribu d’Inde de l'État d’Arunachal Pradesh.

 Patronyme 

 Eugène Aouélé Aka (1948-), homme politique ivoirien.

 Pseudonyme 

 Atsutsè Kokouvi Agbobli (1941-2008), historien, journaliste, et homme politique togolais ;
 AKA (1988-2023), rappeur sud-africain.

 Toponyme 

 Aka, village japonais situé dans la préfecture de Fukuoka ;
 Aka, village et commune du comitat de Komárom-Esztergom en Hongrie ;
 Aka, rivière du Congo-Kinshasa.

 Art 
Aka ou AKA peut désigner :
 AKA, film de 2002 de l'écrivain Duncan Roy ;
 A.K.A., album de Jennifer Lopez ;
 AKA, film de 2023 de Morgan S. Dalibert.

 Autre 
Aka peut désigner :
 Aka birman, forme martiale ou séquence de combat réalisée dans le vide, pratiquée dans les arts martiaux birmans.

 Sigle 

AKA peut faire référence à :
 Abstrackt Keal Agram, groupe de musique électronique.
 AKA, type de navire selon la liste des codes des immatriculations des navires de l'US Navy.
 Aka, acronyme anglais, signifie « also known as'' », équivalent à « alias » en français.

Code 
AKA peut faire référence à :
 .

Aka peut faire référence à :
 langues akan, langues parlées au Ghana et en Côte d'Ivoire, selon le code ISO 639 alpha-3.

Code

L' est un art martial japonais (budo), fondé par Morihei Ueshiba ōsensei entre 1925 et 1969.

L'aïkido a été officiellement reconnu par le gouvernement japonais en 1940 sous le nom d’aikibudō et sous le nom aikido en 1942 donné par la « Dai Nippon Butoku Kai », organisme gouvernemental visant à regrouper tous les arts martiaux japonais pendant la guerre. Il a été créé à partir de l'expérience que son fondateur avait de l'enseignement des koryu (écoles d'arts martiaux anciennes), essentiellement laikijutsu de l'école daitō ryū et le kenjutsu (art du sabre japonais). L'aïkido est né de la rencontre entre ces techniques de combat et une réflexion métaphysique de Morihei Ueshiba sur le sens de la pratique martiale à l'ère moderne.

L'aïkido se compose de techniques avec armes et à mains nues utilisant la force de l'adversaire, ou plutôt son agressivité et sa volonté de nuire. Ces techniques visent non pas à vaincre l'adversaire, mais à réduire sa tentative d'agression à néant.

L'aïkido peut être considéré comme la concrétisation du concept de légitime défense : une réaction proportionnée et immédiate à une agression. En fait, dans l'esprit de l'aïkido, il n'y a pas de combat, puisque celui-ci se termine au moment même où il commence. Conformément à cette logique, il n'existe pas de compétition d'aïkido excepté dans le style Shodokan fondé par Kenji Tomiki (et de ce fait appelé aussi Tomiki ryu, École Tomiki).

De plus, l'aïkido est aussi intimement lié à la religion Shinto. En 1942, O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba érigea à Kasama (ville située au nord-est de Tokyo) un sanctuaire dédié aux  et déesses protecteurs de l'aïkido : l' est aujourd'hui classé monument historique.

Historique de l'aïkido 

Comme la plupart des budō modernes (judo, karaté, kendo…), l'aïkido est l'héritier des arts martiaux développés durant les périodes de guerre, qui furent modifiés lors des périodes de paix (ère Tokugawa) et de la disparition de la classe des samouraïs (restauration de Meiji).

Morihei Ueshiba était un fervent pratiquant shinto, il fut également initié à la religion Ōmoto-kyō, au bouddhisme Shingon et au Kototama. Il avait par ailleurs une expérience réelle de la guerre : il participa à la Guerre russo-japonaise, et nombre de ses élèves moururent durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Son parcours, emblématique d'une authentique réalisation spirituelle, passant de techniques guerrières visant à tuer rapidement un adversaire à un art visant l'accomplissement de l'être humain, le conduisit à recevoir la révélation de nouvelles techniques martiales, et à devoir nous transmettre l'« art de paix », dont le but serait d'améliorer l'Homme, d'un point de vue physique mais surtout comportemental (tolérance et paix) et spirituel.

Le terme aïkido 

Le terme aïkido (aikidō en japonais) est composé de trois kanjis signifiant :
 合 ai : du verbe au, concorder ; harmonie ;
 気 ki : énergie ;
 道 dō : la voie.

Aïkido peut donc se traduire par « la voie de la concordance des énergies ».

En effet, le terme « concordance » est plus près du sens japonais original de l’aiki comme étant une action de rencontre (explicité dans la composition du kanji) que le terme « harmonisation ». L’« harmonie » peut être le résultat souhaité de la pratique de l'aïkido, mais on ne fait pas d'aïkido sans faire concorder les énergies. Comme le fait remarquer Olivier Gaurin, l'aïkido, par la concordance (« mettre les cœurs ensemble »), amène à un résultat où il sera possible de communiquer avec l'« adversaire », chose impossible si on a dans l'idée de l'harmoniser (« amener à une entente, se mettre d'accord », ce qui peut être impossible) ou de le détruire. Un autre problème soulevé est qu'« harmonie » implique souvent une notion d'amitié ou de paix, ce qui est superflu (on ne peut pas être aimé par tout le monde, même si l'on aime soi-même tout le monde). Par exemple, les Japonais utilisent le mot wagō (和合) pour « harmonie », terme composé de « paix » et de « concorder » : en concordant vers la paix, on crée l'harmonie.

Cependant, d’après le fils de Morihei Ueshiba, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, tout l’accent de l’Aïkido était mis  Le traducteur souligne d’ailleurs que « le premier signe de l’Aïkido « aï » qui signifie harmonie se lit de la même façon que le signe « amour ». Morihei insista de plus en plus sur l’imbrication de ces deux sens. »
Kisshomaru Ueshiba rapporte aussi les propos du fondateur au cours d'une visite à Hawaï : « Je crois que l'aiki - qui naît de l'étude des arts martiaux - peut unir les peuples et donne au Monde son harmonie, dans le véritable esprit du budo, en le baignant d'une force immuable d'Amour.»

Le terme « aïkidoka » 
 est la dénomination que reçoivent les pratiquants de l'aïkido. S'il suffit, en dehors du Japon, d'être un pratiquant pour être appelé ainsi, le terme exact est en réalité aikishugyosha, autrement dit, étudiants de l'aïkido. Au Japon, le terme implique un professionnel qui se voue uniquement à cet art.

Ailleurs, l'usage a cependant conservé une appellation similaire avec les autres arts martiaux japonais, comme les judokas et les karatékas.

Pratique de l'aïkido 

L'aïkido est pratiqué par des femmes et des hommes de toutes tailles et âges. Le but de la pratique est de s'améliorer, de progresser (techniquement, physiquement et mentalement) dans la bonne humeur (le fondateur Morihei Ueshiba insistait beaucoup sur ce point). Ne sont montrées que des techniques respectant le partenaire. La complexité de cet art demande un haut niveau de pratique dans son utilisation en combat réel. S'il est vrai que les techniques de base reposaient sur des pratiques académiques classiques et étaient adaptées à un style combatif, il reste que l’aïkido n’est pas une pratique qui vise en premier à la bagarre de rue mais un art martial qui prépare autant physiquement (souplesse, rapidité, musculature), mentalement (rester calme en toutes circonstances) que techniquement (respecter la distance de sécurité, trouver l'ouverture, se placer, gérer plusieurs attaques simultanées) au combat en toute situation. Si l'aïkido est une activité physique, voire sportive, il dépasse ce point de vue en intégrant une vision de l’Homme.

Il existe différents styles d'aïkido répondant à différentes aspirations. Le style le plus répandu est celui initié par le propre fils du fondateur, Kisshomaru Ueshiba, style connu sous le nom dAikikai. Cependant, pour comprendre l’existence d’écoles différentes, il faut prendre en compte le fait que le fondateur de l’aïkido a créé cet art martial et l’a développé tout au long de sa vie. S’il fut un soldat patriote et brillant dans les années 1930, contribuant à la militarisation des esprits en lien avec des organisations secrètes comme la Société du Dragon Noir ou des politiciens d'extrême-droite tels Oawa Shumei, Inoue Nissho et Kozaburo Tachibana, tous membres du groupe ultranationaliste Sakurakai dont certaines des reunions avaient lieu au Ueshiba Dojo, le fondateur de l'aïkido fut profondément bouleversé par l'usage de l'arme atomique en août 1945 et la défaite japonaise qui lui suivit et devint dès lors un pacifiste convaincu. Si le patriotisme de Ueshiba ne prête pas à controverse, son pacifisme est bien plus accrédité par ses propos humanistes (voir dans les notes le propos tenu à Morihiro Saito venu requérir son enseignement) et par sa contribution aux orientations de l'évolution de l'aïkido que par ses engagements auprès de Onisaburo Deguchi gendre de Nao fondatrice de l'Omoto Kyo organisation sectaire dont les discours pacifiques et internationalistes se doublaient d'idéologies et de pratiques à caractère fascisant. L'aïkido devient le premier art martial japonais à être autorisé par les Autorités américaines qui occupent le Japon en 1948 (création de l'Aïkikaï Hombu dojo) et Ueshiba Senseï situe lui-même dans son interview de 1957 sa conversion au pacifisme vers 1950. En cela il suit parfaitement l'allocution de l'empereur Hirohito lors de la capitulation qui encourageait son peuple à .

Morihei Ueshiba eut de nombreux disciples, dont certains ont propagé des techniques en perpétuelle évolution. En simplifiant, on distingue trois périodes : celles d'avant-guerre très dures et visant avant tout l'efficacité, puis celles des années Iwama 1942-1952 plus fluides mais conservant atemis et armes, et enfin la dernière période beaucoup plus souple encore. Dans cette dernière période, le fondateur privilégie Ikkyo ura sur Shomen à la place de Ikkyo omote. Chaque disciple d'O Senseï a développé une version, maintenant une évolution constante.

Tadashi Abe, de retour au Japon, ne reconnaît pas l'aïkido qu'il avait appris à l'Aïkikaï et le quitte. D'autres maîtres enseignent selon leurs sensibilités, créant des styles et des écoles différentes. En France, on compte une vingtaine de styles.

À Iwama, au dojo de Saïto Mohiro senseï, on estime que l'aïkido est né en 1942 et on y préserve cette version des origines. Pour ce courant, la simplification qui suivit répondait à un intérêt de popularisation. Ainsi Saïto senseï a-t-il été surpris de découvrir que les techniques du livre Budo de 1938 étaient exactement celles qu'a pratiquées Ueshiba senseï avec lui pendant des années, sachant que Saïto a commencé l'aïkido en... juillet 1946.

La pratique 

Le fondateur de l'aïkido ne voulait pas entendre parler de compétition. L'accent est mis sur le développement complet de l'individu. Pendant les cours, les élèves observent l'enseignant faire la démonstration d'une technique et travaillent ensuite avec un partenaire pour la répliquer. Ils améliorent ainsi leur technique et leur compréhension de l'art. Le mouvement, le positionnement, la précision et le rythme sont tous des aspects importants dans l'exécution des techniques. Les élèves gagnent également en souplesse et en adaptation en les appliquant.

Au niveau débutant, les aïkidokas s'entraînent par deux. L’« attaquant » (uke, littéralement « celui qui accepte, qui chute », également appelé aite, littéralement « celui qui prête sa main ») déclenche une attaque contre le « défenseur » (tori « celui qui saisit », également appelé shi et parfois nage « celui qui projette » ou encore shite « celui qui exécute »), qui la neutralise avec une technique d'aïkido.
En Ki Aïkido, nage et uke sont utilisés pour indiquer qui va se défendre (et projeter ou contrôler l'autre) et qui attaque (et qui va « recevoir » la technique d'aïkido).

En général, la technique est étudiée de la manière suivante : le professeur montre le mouvement, puis le partenaire aite attaque tori quatre fois (deux fois de chaque côté : gauche et droite alternativement), puis les partenaires échangent les rôles pour 4 nouvelles attaques et ainsi de suite. Lorsque plusieurs mouvements ont été vus à partir d'une même attaque, le professeur peut faire travailler en « technique libre » (jiyū waza) : les rôles aite et tori ne changent pas, aite se relève après chaque mouvement et réattaque immédiatement tori qui applique la technique qu'il veut ; le placement et le mouvement du corps ainsi que l'endurance (cardio-vasculaire) sont alors travaillés. Parfois, tori est assailli par plusieurs aite, afin de travailler la réponse à une attaque de groupe (ce travail se nomme randori bien qu'il soit différent du combat libre pratiqué au judo).

Composantes d’un mouvement 

Les mouvements d'aïkido partent de l'attaque d'un des deux partenaires, attaque déclenchée de sa propre initiative par ce partenaire (uke) ou suscitée par le pratiquant qui va appliquer la technique (tori). Cette attaque peut consister en un coup, une saisie ou une combinaison des deux. Coups et saisies visent en général la partie supérieure du corps.

Il y a ensuite trois ou quatre parties qui se retrouvent toujours à la genèse d'une technique d'aïkido même si des variations peuvent être observées d'un style à un autre :
 l'absorption : au moment où l'énergie de l'attaque de aite se libère (l'attaque part), tori bouge pour modifier la cible ou la trajectoire de l'attaque. C'est dans cette phase que tori s'approprie l'attaque de aite au lieu de la subir.
 L'entrée : tori s'esquive par un pivot, avançant sur son côté, etc. Les possibilités sont nombreuses. Il peut également attaquer pour obliger aite à une réaction de défense et exploiter cette dernière par la suite.
 Le déséquilibre : par ses déplacements et mouvements tori dirige, entretient et amplifie le déséquilibre en utilisant l'énergie cinétique et la force de celui-ci.
 L'immobilisation ou la projection : tori projette ou immobilise aite. L'immobilisation s'obtient à l'aide d'une clef (au bras, au poignet…). La projection s'obtient à l'aide de différents contrôles au niveau du corps de aite (tête, coude, poignet…) privant ou dissuadant ce dernier de toute autre issue que la chute au sol.

Richesse des combinaisons de mouvements

Omote et ura - 表 裏 
La plupart des techniques peuvent être réalisées selon deux variantes. Le terme omote désigne les techniques exécutées en entrant face à l’adversaire et ura celles exécutées en entrant derrière l’adversaire(en tournant). Elles correspondent à des possibilités différentes selon l'attaque du partenaire et également à un état d'esprit particulier.

Les techniques omote augmentent donc le risque, car elles exigent d'entrer dans l'attaque de l'adversaire. Leurs réussites requièrent souvent de porter, généralement de manière symbolique, un atemi (un coup) pour déséquilibrer l'adversaire, le surprendre, le forcer à réagir.

Irimi et tenkan - 入身 転換 
C'est le mouvement des hanches (koshi) de tori qui constitue le principal moteur des techniques, que ce soit pour s'approcher (irimi, « entrer ») ou pour tourner (tenkan). En effet, c'est au niveau des hanches que se situe le centre de gravité d'une personne se trouvant dans une position stable. Le reste du corps (torse, bras) ne sert qu'à relier les hanches de uke à celles de tori pour leur transmettre le mouvement et provoquer la chute. Dans la symbolique japonaise, c'est le seika tanden (le « centre des énergies », situé dans le ventre hara, donc associé aux hanches) de tori qui est le centre du mouvement.

Tous les mouvements ont donc une combinaison irimi-tenkan. La rotation (tenkan) est parfois appelée tai sabaki (rotation du corps) ou koshi sabaki (rotation des hanches, puisque le mouvement du corps est en fait le mouvement des hanches).

Les techniques peuvent utiliser entre autres :
 uniquement le principe irimi : tori se rapproche de uke ce qui lui permet d'esquiver l'attaque (l'attaque passe « derrière » tori) et de le déséquilibrer (de « prendre son centre ») ; ce sont les techniques les plus directes, mais aussi les plus compliquées à mettre en œuvre, le principal défaut des débutants étant leur tendance naturelle à entrer en utilisant la force ;
 uniquement le principe tenkan : le corps s'efface, laissant passer l'attaque, et tori guide aite ; aite suit une trajectoire circulaire dont le centre est tori ;
 une combinaison irimi-tenkan : tori entre puis pivote ;
 une combinaison tenkan-irimi : tori pivote, puis entre pour prendre le centre de aite.

La majorité des techniques se déclinent en version irimi et tenkan. Les techniques à réaliser pour un passage de ceinture peuvent montrer les deux versions ou se limiter à une.

Techniques debout et à genoux 
Les Japonais vivaient beaucoup assis à même le sol. Ils ont donc développé des techniques pour pouvoir faire face à une attaque alors qu'ils étaient assis. Les mouvements peuvent se faire lorsque les deux partenaires sont debout (tachi waza, 立技), lorsque les deux partenaires sont assis (suwari waza, 座技), ou bien lorsque aite (l'attaquant) est debout et tori (le défenseur) est assis (hanmihandachi waza, 半身半立技).

Travail à genoux : Suwariwaza - 座技 

Le travail à genoux permet :
 de renforcer naturellement la souplesse et la force des jambes ;
 de travailler le mouvement (un principe de base est de ne pas compenser la faiblesse technique par la force) ;
 d'expérimenter des rapports de taille et de force différents de ceux rencontrés debout ;
 de s'obliger à garder le haut du corps à la verticale ;
 d'obliger le travail avec les hanches plutôt qu'avec les jambes ;
 de travailler le rapport de distance tori / aite avec plus de précision.

Ce travail peut cependant présenter un risque d'aggraver des problèmes de genou, voire d'en créer s'il est mal pratiqué. Pour cette raison, il est aujourd'hui moins pratiqué.

Hanmi handachi waza - 半身半立技 
Dans ce travail, aite, debout, attaque un tori à genoux. Ce travail cumule les difficultés inhérentes au travail à genoux et le fait que la position debout donne un avantage à aite en termes de puissance et de capacité de déplacement. Ce travail oblige ainsi à une grande précision dans l'obtention du déséquilibre pour tori.

Rôle de l'attaquant (aïte, uke) 
L'aïkido insiste sur le fait que, alors que tori exécute la technique d'aïkido et sort théoriquement « vainqueur » de chaque rencontre, l'attaquant gagne aussi en expérience en suivant correctement la technique, en étant de façon répétitive « projeté » ou amené au sol et subissant une clef. La plupart du temps, le terme aïte est préféré en aïkido à celui de uke, car le pratiquant progresse et travaille quelle que soit sa situation et son rôle dans la pratique. Même en tant qu'attaquant, il faut être attentif et prêt, ce qui correspond plus au terme de aïte alors que pour l'aïkido uke est plus passif.

Aïte doit rester actif en permanence et toujours garder une attitude martiale, comme s'il cherchait en permanence une faille pour frapper, bloquer, ou retourner la situation ; il existe d'ailleurs des techniques de retournement (kaeshi waza), aïte ne pouvant retourner la situation que s'il a une attitude « parfaite ». La tentative d'échapper à l'action de tori est par ailleurs le moteur de certains mouvements, comme irimi nage : aïte est amené vers le sol en pivotant, et lorsqu'il essaie de se rétablir, tori utilise ce mouvement pour le projeter en arrière, s'il n'essayait pas de se rétablir, aïte serait en bien plus mauvaise posture puisque dans l'impossibilité de parer un atemi.

Grâce à son travail en tant qu’aïte, un pratiquant apprend indirectement les sensations de tori. La progression se faisant dans le même temps pour tori et aïte. Même s'il existe une certaine codification du travail d’aïte, tori doit être en mesure de pratiquer l'aïkido avec des non aïkidokas.

Richesse des combinaisons — takemusu aiki (武産合気) 
Il n'existe qu'un nombre relativement réduit de principes techniques, mais chaque technique peut se faire à partir d'une prise ou d'un coup différent de la part de uke, en omote ou en ura (mais pas toujours), debout ou à genoux. Ainsi, le nombre de situations est en fait important, sans compter la possibilité, à haut niveau, de changer de technique en cours de route (henka ōyō waza), ou bien de retourner la situation (kaeshi waza, uke reprend l'avantage et devient tori).

Par ailleurs chaque technique peut posséder un nombre très élevé de variantes. L'exécution de beaucoup de techniques peut de plus être amenée à varier selon les niveaux de pratique. Morihei Ueshiba nommait cette richesse, cette possibilité de « création infinie », takemusu aiki. Le terme takemusu aiki désigne l'aïkido comme source de tous les arts martiaux ; non pas sur un plan historique, mais en tant qu'art contenant les éléments de base utilisés dans tous les autres arts martiaux : gestion de la posture, des distances, même si les postures et distances sont différentes dans les autres arts martiaux.

Meguri 
Mise en place d'une rotation du poignet, permettant de mobiliser uke, de le diriger.
Ce mouvement qui part du seka tanden (centre) est transmis par les chaînes musculaires et énergétiques. La mise en place de ce mouvement a été largement développée par Hirokazu Kobayashi (1929-1998).

Un exemple : ikkyō 

La technique fondamentale ikkyō — littéralement, « premier principe » — Tout le mouvement du corps de tori est identique à celui d'une coupe au sabre. Ikkyō peut se faire :
 sous la forme omote : tori avance en direction de uke (irimi, tori « entre » et vient « prendre le centre » de uke), et effectue un mouvement de coupe de sabre en direction de la tête de uke ; il passe devant uke pour l'amener au sol ;
 sous la forme ura : tori effectue un mouvement de coupe de sabre (shomen-uchi). Puis pivote (tai sabaki, tenkan) ; tori se retrouve dans la même direction de uke, le déséquilibre et la rotation l'amènent au sol.

Ikkyō donc peut se décliner en
 ai hanmi katate dori ikkyō omote : uke saisit le poignet opposé, tori entre (irimi) en levant les mains et fait la forme omote ;

 ai hanmi katate dori ikkyō ura : idem mais forme ura ;
 gyaku hanmi katate dori ikkyō omote : uke saisit le poignet lui faisant face, tori entre (irimi) en portant un atemi, saisit le poignet de uke avec sa main libre puis fait la forme omote ;
 kata dori men uchi ikkyō omote : uke saisit l'épaule de tori, tori frappe uke à la tête en « piquant » avec les doigts, uke recule le buste et bloque la frappe ; tori profite de ce déséquilibre pour pivoter (tenkan), entraînant ainsi uke, et fait la forme omote ;
 suwari waza shomen uchi ikkyō omote : les deux partenaires sont à genou, uke porte une attaque à la tête, tori reçoit (pare) avec son bras et effectue ikkyō sur le bras d'attaque ;
…

La pratique des armes 

En plus des techniques à main nues, l'aïkido comporte l'étude du maniement d'armes en bois : le sabre ou bokken (aikiken), le bâton ou jō (aikijo), le couteau ou tantō, et de façon plus anecdotique, le juken (baïonnette), arme dans laquelle excellait le fondateur et qui lui avait valu d'en être formateur à l'armée avant et pendant la guerre russo-japonaise (1904-1905).

Le fondateur a réuni dans le jō des techniques de lance, de sabre de naginata (fauchard) et de Jūkendō (Baïonnette). La technique de sabre qu'il a développée est singulièrement différente du kenjutsu des koryu (écoles traditionnelles). C'est surtout à l'étude de cette dernière que le fondateur consacra son énergie en ce qui concerne les armes.

Histoire 
En réalité, Morihei Ueshiba n'a jamais enseigné directement la pratique des armes, ni lors des stages qu'il donnait régulièrement, ni lors des cours qu'il dispensait à l'Hombu Dojo, le dojo central de l'aïkido à Tokyo. Toutefois, comme il les pratiquait presque chaque jour dans son dojo personnel devant un nombre restreint d'élèves, ceci explique leur relative méconnaissance. La transmission de cette pratique s'est faite essentiellement par les plus gradés de ses uchi deshi (étudiant admis à résider dans le dojo) : Hikitsuchi Michio, Sadateru Arikawa et Morihiro Saito. Ce dernier a vécu 23 ans auprès du Fondateur et, après la mort de celui-ci, a regroupé les techniques qu'il avait apprises et il a élaboré différents exercices pour permettre leur enseignement. Il existe ainsi dix kumijo (jo contre jo) et cinq Kumitachi (ken contre ken), tous sujets à de nombreuses variantes, plus ce que le fondateur nommait « son œuvre » : Ki Musubi No Tachi. Leur validité martiale est manifeste, Morihei Ueshiba ayant d'ailleurs étudié de nombreuses koryu. Ainsi, on note des ressemblances évidentes entre certaines techniques du sabre de l'aïkido et celles de la koryu Kashima Shinto Ryu (par exemple, entre « ichi no tachi » —aïkido— et le premier kata « ipommé » —Kashima Shinto Ryu—).

La place des armes dans l'aïkido est l'objet d'un vif débat : peu d'écoles en maîtrisent réellement la pratique et les techniques à mains nues occupent donc généralement l'immense majorité du temps d'étude.

Dans la branche Iwama ryu (élèves de Morihiro Saito), la pratique des armes, bukiwaza (武器技), est mise sur le même plan que celle à mains nues (taijutsu). La pratique du bokken y est appelée aikiken et la pratique du jō aikijō. Maître Saito expliquait que pour le fondateur, l'aïkido était l'étude du bukiwaza et du taijutsu, et que ces deux éléments sont indissociables.

Pratique 
Par la répétition d'exercices (les suburis qui peuvent être envisagés comme un alphabet de mouvements élémentaires), le pratiquant vise, entre autres, à réaliser l'unité du corps avec le ken ou le jo qui doivent ainsi véritablement devenir le prolongement de son corps. Par extension de ce principe, la sensation doit devenir la même avec un partenaire qui doit être maîtrisé de la même façon et suivant les mêmes principes.

La pratique des armes permet également d'appréhender différentes distances face à un ou plusieurs adversaires (maai), de travailler une posture correcte (shisei) et de vaincre l'appréhension des armes. Bien que la plupart des techniques d'aïkido (issues principalement des 118 techniques de base du Daito-ryu) soient des techniques développées, non pas à partir de techniques d'armes, mais soit de lutte à mains nues, soit de défense à mains nues contre un attaquant armé, l'étude des armes peut parfois être utile à la compréhension de certaines techniques à mains nues via certains parallèles.

En effet, une grande quantité de mouvements est dérivée des techniques utilisées par les guerriers armés, ou de techniques utilisées pour désarmer l'adversaire. De plus, la visualisation d'un mouvement avec un sabre donne une conception plus claire du mouvement à effectuer à mains nues. Les techniques de sabre ont eu une grande importance dans l'élaboration de l'aïkido par Maître Ueshiba.

On peut aussi considérer que, fondamentalement, une technique d'aïkido ne peut se réaliser efficacement que si « l'entrée », l'instant de mise en relation entre les deux protagonistes au moment de l'attaque, est réussie. C'est l'instant « aïki », fraction de seconde où l'harmonie est ou n'est pas, que le génie martial de Moriheï Ueshiba a su percevoir et développer. La pratique des armes permet de se focaliser principalement sur cet instant.

La pratique des armes est très diverse :
 jo contre jo ;
 jo contre mains nues / mains nues contre jo, pratique appelée « jo nage » lorsque l'adversaire saisit votre jo ; ou « jo dori » lorsqu'il vous attaque avec un jo ;
 bokken contre bokken, pratique appelée « ken tai ken » ;
 bokken contre mains nues / mains nues contre bokken, pratique appelée « tachi dori » ;
 bokken contre jo, pratique appelée « ken tai jo » ;
 tanto contre mains nues, pratique appelée « tanto dori » ;
 juken (baïonnette) contre mains nues, pratique appelée « juken dori » dont Moriheï Ueshiba fut longtemps instructeur pour les armées impériales.

L'apprentissage peut comporter plusieurs types d'exercices :
 suburi : mouvements réalisés seul et destinés à développer la maîtrise des armes et à apprendre différents coups et postures ;
 awase : applications avec partenaire des suburi destinées à travailler l'harmonisation ;
 kumijo et kumitachi : séquences de combat stéréotypées avec partenaire ;
 kata : suite codifiée de coups et techniques pouvant s'exécuter seul ou à plusieurs.

Une autre arme est pratiquée dans certaines écoles d'aïkido : le bō (bâton long) ainsi que le bâton court ou tambō. La pratique du bō permet d'abord la juste position des hanches et des pieds, qui est la même qu'à mains nues.

Aux États-Unis, certains dojo enseignent également des techniques de désarmement avec des pistolets en mousse ou en bois, tandis qu'en Afrique, certains dōjō pratiquent des techniques de défense contre différents types de machettes.

Au niveau des passages de grade, le travail à mains nues contre le jō ou le tantō est généralement exigible à partir du premier kyū. Le travail au bokken, contre mains nues ou contre un autre bokken, est exigible à partir du troisième dan. Bien entendu, des différences existent là aussi d'une école à l'autre.

Concordance des énergies (principe d’aiki) 

L'aïkido se base sur le principe de la « concordance des énergies ». D'un point de vue martial, cela se comprend de trois manières :
 unir les énergies de son propre corps (via le seika tanden) pour agir, coordonner les bras et les jambes ; notamment, on s'attache à mouvoir les deux mains ensemble (comme si elles tenaient un sabre) en maintenant une certaine extension des bras, afin de mieux transmettre le mouvement au partenaire (par un effet de levier) et de maintenir une distance de sécurité (gestion de la distance, ma ai) ;
 unir les énergies des deux partenaires : tori ne va pas s'opposer à uke mais va au contraire accompagner son mouvement, s'accorder à son rythme (gestion du rythme, autre sens de ma ai) ; alors que uke s'attend à rencontrer une résistance, il rencontre en fait le vide, et même une assistance pour poursuivre son mouvement, ce qui provoque sa chute (la sensation est similaire à une porte qui s'ouvre au moment où on essaie de l'enfoncer). Pour prendre une image : lorsque l'on étaie un mur, le mur et l'étai sont en opposition, ils se renforcent mutuellement ; de même si tori s'oppose à uke, il le renforce sur ses positions, il le stabilise, alors que s'il l'accompagne dans son mouvement, il maintient le déséquilibre ;
 agir comme un intermédiaire entre un état de violence et un état où la violence n'est plus : on laisse la violence se déployer où elle ne peut nuire. On peut comparer la personne qui agit de cette façon à un « passeur d'orages » : non pas celui qui empêche les orages de tomber, mais celui qui les dirige de manière qu'ils ne fassent pas de dégâts. Il ne cherche pas à dominer, mais à débloquer là où il y a fixation (sur une émotion, sur la violence ou l'attaque comme telle, etc.). Après le déblocage, il ne conduit pas consciemment la violence – ce serait là une forme de domination – mais la laisse couler vers un endroit où elle ne peut nuire.

On peut y voir une progression :
 partant du niveau psychomoteur (« l'esprit et le corps », unir nos propres énergies) ;
 au niveau technique (s'unir avec l'énergie des autres et par là créer un vide) ;
 puis au niveau mental (« être » le vide, le non-manifesté, voir Budo > Budo et spiritualité).
Il serait bien sûr futile d'essayer d'« être le vide » avant d'être capable d'en créer un ou d'essayer de s'unir avec des énergies extérieures lorsqu’on n’est pas encore capable d'unir ses propres énergies internes. Un concept de progression semblable se retrouve dans l'enseignement du Tenshin Aïkido : on commence par le gō (剛, dur : nos techniques sont angulaires, exécutées avec force), ensuite vient le jū (柔, flexible : nos techniques deviennent flexibles, on se sert de la force de l'autre) et finalement le ryū (流, flux : nos techniques « coulent » comme de l'eau, on laisse passer la force de l'autre).

Pour cultiver cette notion de l'énergie, on pratique en début et en fin de séance des exercices respiratoires. Dans la symbolique taoïste, ces exercices sont là pour mettre en mouvement l'énergie vitale (le ki, qui signifie aussi le souffle).

Morihei Ueshiba était aussi un adepte de la secte shintoïste Ōmoto-kyō. Une de ses intentions, en fondant l'aïkido, était de promouvoir la paix et l'harmonie entre les êtres, afin de créer une société meilleure. Le terme « concordance des énergies » renvoie donc également à une conception de la société où les gens coopéreraient entre eux vers la paix et l'harmonie plutôt que de s'affronter. Dans sa dimension mystique la plus extrême, il considérait l'aïkido comme une prière gestuelle, semblable aux mudrâ bouddhiques, associée à une prière vocale, le kotodama.

Forme, attitude et efficacité martiale 
L'enseignement de l'aïkido se fait essentiellement par la répétition de techniques de base. La maîtrise de chaque point d'une technique est indispensable à son fonctionnement. Le but de ces formes est aussi de travailler l'attitude. En effet, un mouvement ne peut être réussi que si :
 tori est toujours stable, il doit donc avoir une attitude « parfaite » (shisei - 姿勢) ;
 tori gère les ouvertures (possibilités d'attaque) et fermetures (empêcher uke de contre-attaquer), en gérant les distances, les directions et le rythme du mouvement (maai - 間合) ;
 tori coordonne ses mouvements et les harmonise pour maîtriser uke sans que celui-ci rencontre une opposition qui lui permettrait de se raffermir (aiki) ;
 uke est toujours en déséquilibre, ce qui implique un travail sur les directions, l'extension des bras et la continuité du mouvement (ki no nagare).

Cette attitude est très importante et indispensable aux progrès. Dans un combat réel, un mouvement ne présentant pas la plus parfaite exactitude est inefficace. L'efficacité martiale, pour un aïkidoka, ne réside pas dans l'agressivité qui mène à la destruction, mais dans l'attitude.

Une des manières d'évaluer la justesse martiale est de marquer des atemi (coups) (par exemple lancer la main ouverte ou le poing vers le visage du partenaire pour simuler un coup de poing) : si tori a la possibilité de frapper, c'est que son attitude est correcte, et si uke peut frapper, c'est que tori a fait une erreur. Le port de tels coups est indispensable sur certaines techniques, la réaction de uke à ce coup étant utilisée. Mais il n'est pas nécessaire de porter réellement ces coups. Certaines branches de l'aïkido vont jusqu'à supprimer le marquage des atemi, ce qui n'est pas sans susciter des controverses.

C'est ainsi que l'aïkido peut se prétendre à la fois « martial » et « non-violent » : il n'est pas nécessaire d'être violent pour être efficace martialement, l'être est même contre-productif en aïkido.

Pour des raisons pédagogiques, les mouvements sont parfois montrés avec une grande amplitude, alors qu'en combat réel les mouvements courts sont plus efficaces (rapidité et économie d'énergie). Les mouvements se raccourcissent spontanément avec la tension nerveuse (stress) de l'agression, ils raccourcissent également au fur et à mesure de la progression du pratiquant.

La pratique régulière et assidue de l'aïkido permet aussi de préparer un individu physiquement (souplesse, rapidité, musculature), mentalement (calme et maîtrise de soi) et techniquement (respect de la distance de sécurité, ouverture, placement, gestion de plusieurs attaques simultanées).

La garde : kamae - 構え 

La garde de base en aïkido est la position hanmi (san kaku 三角, littéralement « trois points », en triangle). Le pied avant est dans l'alignement de la jambe, le pied arrière ouvert avec un angle d'environ 50° par rapport à l'axe du pied avant. Le poids est réparti sur la plante des deux pieds, les talons très légers. Dans cette position les hanches se placent naturellement de trois quart.

Cette position est intermédiaire entre la garde iaidō (les pieds sont parallèles, les hanches complètement de face) et la garde de karaté, où les hanches sont profilées pour réduire la zone d'impact et permettre d'armer les coups de pied. L'objectif de cette garde est d'obtenir une bonne mobilité dans toutes les directions.

On rencontre également la position hitoemi (一重身). Hitoemi signifie « le corps d'une unique épaisseur ». Hitoemi consiste à se tenir debout en ayant la pointe des orteils sur une même ligne droite. C'est une posture où l'on présente totalement le côté du corps au partenaire. C'est la garde kamae de base au jo ainsi que l'attitude que l'on assume au sabre lorsque l'on exécute tsuki.

Excepté dans le style Yoshinkan ryû, il n'y a pas de position particulière pour les mains en aïkido. Le but principal de cette « absence de garde » pour les mains est simple : cela évite de les mettre en avant, et donc de les exposer à une éventuelle arme cachée de l'adversaire (comme un couteau dans la manche). On désigne ceci par l'expression shizen tai (position naturelle).

La tenue 
La tenue de base est le keikogi (vêtement d'entraînement), appelé à tort « kimono ». Il se compose d'une veste et d'un pantalon en coton blanc. La veste est fermée par une ceinture (obi). Il s'agit du même qu'en judo, bien qu'il existe des vestes spécifiques dont les manches sont raccourcies afin de faciliter la saisie des poignets.

Lorsque le professeur estime que l'élève a acquis une technique satisfaisante, il l'autorise à porter le hakama, une sorte de pantalon flottant noir ou bleu foncé. Cependant, selon les dojos et les écoles, le port du hakama peut varier : le pratiquant est autorisé à le mettre dès le début (car il s'agit de la tenue traditionnelle), à partir du troisième, deuxième ou premier kyū.

L'aïkido se pratique pieds nus sur le tatami (ou, à défaut de tatami, sur un tapis), mais l'étiquette enseigne qu'il faut s'y rendre avec des chaussures pour des raisons d'hygiène ; les pratiquants utilisent en général des nu-pieds appelés zōri. Les zōri doivent être disposées perpendiculairement au tatami, la pointe en direction de l'extérieur afin de pouvoir repartir rapidement.

Les grades 

Morihei Ueshiba donnait initialement à certains élèves des certificats traditionnels d'aptitude. Par exemple, Minoru Mochizuki reçu en 1932 un hiden mokuroku en Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu, certificat attestant de la maîtrise des  de base équivalent de nos jours au  (selon Rinjiro Shirata, le contenu de ce mokuroku est le même que celui du livre Budo Renshu publié en 1933). On sait cependant qu'il adopta le système de Dan avant la Seconde Guerre mondiale puisque Shigemi Yonekawa reçut le  en 1940. Le système des grades dan dans les Budō est développé au Japon par Jigorō Kanō dès le  afin de remplacer le système traditionnel de certificats d'aptitude permettant d'enseigner (soit en succédant au maître, soit en fondant sa propre école). Cela en créant des étapes intermédiaires, plus modernes et progressives, les grades kyū et dan.

Dans certaines écoles d'aïkido (car ce n'est pas systématique), le débutant se voit attribuer le grade sixième kyū, puis progresse jusqu'au premier kyū. Les passages de grade kyū se font au dojo (lieu de pratique) par le professeur lui-même. Puis, le pratiquant passe le premier dan (devant un jury ou son professeur en fonction des écoles et/ou des pays, certaines écoles traditionnelles n'admettent aucune forme d'examen, les grades sont accordés de manière discrétionnaire par le professeur qui observe l'évolution de ses élèves), le grade le plus élevé étant le dixième dan (accordé uniquement à titre posthume ou exceptionnellement pour des personnes de très haut niveau).

Il n'existe en aïkido que deux couleurs de ceinture : blanc et noir. On porte la ceinture blanche du sixième au premier kyū, puis la ceinture noire à partir du premier dan. Certains dojos utilisent des ceintures de couleurs (blanc, jaune, orange, vert, bleu, marron, noir) différentes pour marquer le niveau, et ainsi donner des repères de progression aux jeunes pratiquants, parfois aussi aux adultes.

Le hakama était la tenue communément portée dans les koryu (les écoles traditionnelles d'arts martiaux), bien que la forme et la couleur n’aient pas forcément été uniformisées, même au sein d'une même école (la formalisation provient probablement de la restauration Meiji) et un certain nombre de Budo modernes, dont l'aikido, ont gardé cet usage. Il est dit que Ô sensei interdisait quiconque ne portant pas le hakama à entrer dans le dojo, même les visiteurs. Cependant pendant la période d'après guerre, les élèves ne pouvaient plus se payer les hakama, Ô sensei autorisa donc ses élèves à pratiquer sans hakama le temps qu'ils économisent pour s'en payer un. Depuis lors certains de ses élèves ont cru que le hakama avait une portée honorifique. C'est pour cela qu'aujourd'hui beaucoup de professeurs autorisent le port du hakama lorsqu'ils estiment que le pratiquant a atteint un niveau suffisant. Selon les dojos, cela se fait au troisième kyū (équivalent de la ceinture verte au judo) ou au premier kyū (équivalent à la ceinture marron) ou avant (voir « La tenue » ci-dessus). Toutefois, certaines écoles ne l'autorisent qu'à partir du premier dan.

La ceinture noire n'est pas une marque de maîtrise, le pratiquant de niveau premier dan est un étudiant (shodan) qui a acquis les bases. Les usages peuvent toutefois varier d'une école à l'autre. Dans certains dojos, l'étude, qu'on appelle bukiwaza, des techniques avec armes (bokken, jō, etc.) est considérée comme indissociable de l'étude des techniques à mains nues (taijutsu). Une progression en parallèle dans ces deux domaines est obligatoire ; on ne peut, par exemple, prétendre passer le troisième kyū en taijutsu si l'on n'a pas atteint au minimum le quatrième kyū en bukiwaza, et inversement, de sorte qu'il y a à tout moment au plus un kyū, ou un dan, de différence entre le niveau dans ces deux domaines de pratique.

Le Kiaï et les sons en aïkido (kototama ou kotodama) 

Habituellement dans les dojos d'aujourd'hui, la pratique de l'aïkido est silencieuse. Cependant, dans l'enseignement de Morihei Ueshiba, l'exécution des techniques étaient accompagnée de Kiaï, certains mouvements (en particulier des enchaînement au Jo) s'accompagnaient de l'articulation de sons, les kotodama.

Outre pour l'attaque, des katas, les kotodama sont aussi utilisés pour la méditation, en Ki Aïkido. L'invocation shintoïste "TOHO KAMI EMI TAME" est utilisée lors des exercices de respiration en position seiza.

Étiquette 

Comme dans tous les budo, l'étiquette, ou reishiki, a une importance particulière en aïkido. En effet, on peut voir les arts martiaux comme reproduisant des situations de combat dans un cadre pacifique (l'entraînement). L'étiquette vise alors à garantir l'intégrité physique  et mentale  des pratiquants, mais aussi à garder à l'esprit que l'on est en situation de combat, ce qui fait la différence avec d'autres activités sportives.

L'aïkido à travers le monde 

 La fin de la Seconde Guerre mondiale voit apparaître un hiatus dans l'enseignement de tous les arts martiaux japonais, et l'aïkido est le premier en 1948 à pouvoir rouvrir les portes de ses dojo. Ayant toujours vu son art comme un cadeau à l'humanité, Morihei Ueshiba fait tout ce qui est en son pouvoir, lui qui ne parle que le japonais, pour promouvoir l'aïkido au niveau international en envoyant des émissaires en Europe et en Amérique, et en ouvrant ses portes aux étrangers qui veulent le pratiquer au Japon.
 Des techniques de combat variées se sont inspirées de l'aïkido en y mêlant des techniques de sports de combat : à titre d'exemple, le Real Aikido d'origine serbe et dont la vocation est de parfaire le self-defense. Néanmoins, l'esprit combatif, volontaire et très pragmatique de ces techniques semble très différent de l'attitude défensive, de l'esprit pacifique et convivial promus par Morihei Ueshiba, et ne permet pas de les catégoriser dans les pratiques d'Aïkido.

L'aïkido dans le monde 
Selon les chiffres publiés par l'Aikikai, l'aïkido rassemble, dans les années 2010,  de pratiquants dans , 44 d'entre eux étant officiellement reconnus par le Hombu Dojo.

L'aïkido en France 

Hors du Japon, la France est l'un des pays qui compte le plus de pratiquants d'aïkido, avec plus de .

L'aïkido est tout d'abord arrivé en France dans sa forme ancienne, l'aïki-budo, introduit par Minoru Mochizuki, qui fut envoyé par le Kodokan en 1951. En 1952, Tadashi Abe, missionné quant à lui par l'Aïkikaï, arrive en France et y reste pendant 8 ans pour y diffuser l’aïkido. Il crée les séries et co-écrit deux manuels avec Jean Zin. Tadashi Abe est un guerrier redoutable qui blesse parfois ses uke. Il voyage beaucoup et enseigne alors à Pierre Chassang, Georges Rousseau, Jean Delforge, etc. C'est lui qui encourage André Nocquet à partir au Japon. Quand celui-ci rentre, il succède à Tadashi Abe comme représentant de l'aïkido en France. Très vite, d'autres Japonais arrivent cependant : Masamichi Noro (1961) et Mutsuro Nakazono (1961) puis Nobuyoshi Tamura (1964).
L'aïkido est exposé en 1964 au grand public par un documentaire de l'émission télévisée Les Coulisses de l'exploit, qui lui est consacré et contient un entretien avec le fondateur Morihei Ueshiba, avec les premiers maîtres français dont André Nocquet ainsi qu'avec des pratiquants ; le documentaire est commenté par le journaliste Thierry Roland.

La FFATK (Fédération Française d'Aïkido, Taï-Jitsu et de Kendo) fut créée en 1958 par Jim Alcheik et Émile Blanc. Ensuite l'aïkido fut pratiqué au sein de la fédération de judo, la FFJDA mais il s'en est séparé en 1982 avec la création de deux fédérations :
 la FFLAB (Fédération Française Libre d'Aïkido et de Budo) en 1982, qui devient en 1985 la FFAB (Fédération Française d'Aïkido et de Budo) ;
 la Fédération Française d'Aïkido, Aïkibudo et Affinitaires (FFAAA) en 1983 qui devient la Fédération française d'aïkido, aïkibudo et associées en 2019.

Agréées par le ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports en 1985, ces deux fédérations sont régulièrement invitées à la fusion de la part des pouvoirs publics. Du fait de l'agrément, l'UFA (Union des fédérations d'aïkido), structure chapeautant les deux fédérations, est seule habilitée à délivrer des grades dan reconnus officiellement en France, par l'intermédiaire de la Commission Spécialisée des Dan et Grades Equivalents - CSDGE- dont les membres sont nommés par arrêté ministériel. Outre ces deux fédérations, il existe un grand nombre de groupes où les différences sont d'ordre pédagogique, technique, spirituel, personnel, hiérarchique, sportif, etc. Ces groupes ont leurs structures et systèmes de délivrance de grades propres dont les titulaires ne peuvent se prévaloir publiquement sans risquer des poursuites - à moins d'en préciser systématiquement l'origine. Du fait des grandes différences d'une école à l'autre, chaque aïkidoka doit nécessairement indiquer la source de la valeur attribuée à sa compétence. Il n'existe pas à ce jour de tableau des équivalences entre grades, ceux décernés au Japon paraissant les plus légitimes et authentiques.

Dans les années 1990, une des branches de l'Aïkido, le Ki Aïkido, s'installe en région parisienne, Normandie et Bretagne.
Pendant que Tadashi Abe enseignait l'Aïkido en France, Kenshiro Abbe faisait de même en Angleterre dans les années 1950. Ken Williams y devint le plus jeune troisième dan non-japonais, et premier assistant non-japonais à l'époque. Il fit venir Tadashi Abe pour enseigner à son élève Ken Williams, qui développa l'Aikikai anglais dans les années 1960.
Après avoir étudié auprès de Koichi Tohei (directeur technique de l'Aïkikai des années 1950-60, dont l'enseignement fut influencé par Tempu Nakamura, créateur du yoga japonais Shinshin Toitsu Dou) au Japon dans les années 1970, il fonda la Ki Federation of Great Britain pour enseigner le Ki Aïkido. Les clubs parisiens sont affiliés à sa fédération anglaise.

Seule la FFAAA est reconnue par la Fédération internationale d'aïkido.

Notes et références

Annexes

Bibliographie 
 
 Poy-Tardieu, N., Le guide des arts martiaux et sports de combat, Budo Éditions, 2001.

Ouvrages sur l'aïkido 
 
  
 
 Tony Thielemans, Le guide Marabout de l'Aïkido et du Kendo, bibliothèque Marabout service. 1967, éditions Gérard et Cie, Verviers, Belgique. 
  
  
  
  
 Morihei Ueshiba et Hideo Takahashi, Takemusu Aiki, volume III, traduit du japonais par Seiichi Kurihara et Bruno Traversi, notes de Pierre Régnier, Éditions du Cénacle de France, 2011, 146 p. 
 Itsuo TSUDA, Science du particulier - École de la respiration, 
 Jean-Gabriel GRESLÉ, Réflexions sur l'Aïkido, juin 1995 
  
  
 
 
 Guy Bonnefond (FFAB) et Louis Cleriot (FFAAA), Histoire de l'aïkido : 50 ans de présence en France, Budo Éditions, 2000. 
 Guy Bonnefond, Aïkido Memento de la formation commune et spécifique : (préparation au brevet d'État, degrés 1b et 2h), Vigot Éditions, 1996. 
 Guy Bonnefond et Nobuyoshi Tamura, Aïkido : Méthode nationale, 1977, 260 p. (ASIN B0014M13LI)
Serge Dufoulon, "Le corps et la beauté dans l'Aïkido : Du singulier à l'universel" in The Conversation, juin 2018
 Philippe Doussin, Comprendre l'Essence du Budo, Budo Edition 2011
 Philippe Doussin, La Voie de l'Aïki, en quête du geste vrai, Budo Edition 2018

Ouvrages sur Morihei Ueshiba 
  
Bruno Traversi (collectif), Les Carnets de Takemusu Aiki Vol. I - Le corps et le sabre (2nd ed.), France, Éditions du Cénacle de France, 2015, 120 p. 
Bruno Traversi (collectif), Les Carnets de Takemusu Aiki Vol. II - L'éducation et l'art du sabre selon Ueshiba Morihei, France, Éditions du Cénacle de France, 2016, 133 p. 
 .

Périodiques

Articles connexes 
 Directement liés à l'aïkido :
 Aïkibudo
 Aikikai | Birankai | Yoshinkan | Histoire de l'aïkido
 L'art de la paix : Enseignements du fondateur de l'aïkido
 Morihei Ueshiba | Shodokan | Stage d'aïkido
 Techniques d'aïkido
 Tachi dori
 Arts martiaux proches :
 Aïkijutsu | Aïkiryu | Aïki Taïjutsu | Hapkido | Jiu-jitsu brésilien | Judo | Judo do | Ju-jitsu | Kinomichi | Taijutsu | Yoseikan Budo || Ki Aïkido
 Voir aussi :
 Arts martiaux | Arts martiaux japonais | Budō | Dan | Kyū | Dojo | Grades japonais | Iwama | Ki | Tori et uke | Shuhari

Liens externes 

 Fédération internationale d'Aïkido
 Reportage d'archive sur les débuts de l'aïkido en France (INA) centrée sur André Nocquet

Art martial japonais

En métallurgie, un alliage est un mélange de plusieurs éléments chimiques, dont le principal constituant est un métal, et dont les caractéristiques sont celles d'un matériau métallique .

Les caractéristiques mécaniques des métaux purs sont la plupart du temps relativement faibles. Le fait d'ajouter d'autres éléments permet de « durcir » le métal en augmentant ses caractéristiques mécaniques. Outre les renforcements mécaniques engendrés par déformation, tels que l'écrouissage, il existe des durcissements chimiques par addition d'éléments en solution solide ou par précipitation de phases secondaires durcissantes telles que les carbures. Ces ajouts permettent également de modifier les caractéristiques chimiques, telle que la résistance à la corrosion, ou d'améliorer d'autres caractéristiques, par exemple la coulabilité.

Dans un alliage, l'élément métallique majoritaire, c'est-à-dire constituant la plus importante partie du mélange, est appelé « métal de base » ou « base ». Les éléments ajoutés volontairement sont appelés « éléments d'alliage » ou « éléments d'addition » et les éléments non désirés sont appelés « impuretés ».

Les éléments d'alliage sont le plus souvent des métaux, mais peuvent également être d'autres éléments chimiques tels que le carbone (dans l'acier ou la fonte) ou le silicium (dans l'aluminium).

Quand l'élément d'alliage n'est pas un métal, sa teneur reste généralement faible (quelques % massique au maximum). Ainsi, dans un acier la concentration en carbone est inférieure à 2 % massique (inférieure à 7 % massique dans le cas de la fonte), alors qu'il est possible de faire un alliage cuivre-zinc (communément appelé laiton) avec 50 % de chacun des éléments.

Histoire 
Il existe également des alliages dits naturels, par exemple l'électrum, alliage d'or et d'argent natifs utilisé dans la Préhistoire et l'Antiquité : Varna, Asie Mineure, Ur, Égypte, entre autres. Au , dans un ouvrage Sur les Pierres, le philosophe Théophraste explique le titre d’un alliage est déterminé en collybos, drachmes ou demi-drachme - ou encore en grains d'orge.

Alliage binaire

Alliage binaire à une seule phase 
Un alliage homogène est constitué d'une seule phase solide homogène. Pour obtenir un alliage homogène, il faut qu'il y ait miscibilité totale entre les éléments d'alliage. Il y a deux possibilités :
 Les deux éléments d'alliage sont solubles l'un dans l'autre quelles que soient leurs proportions respectives.
 La concentration de l'élément d'alliage est inférieure à la limite de solubilité.

Les règles de Hume-Rothery indiquent les conditions pour obtenir un alliage homogène avec solubilité totale à l'état solide.

Le bismuth et l'antimoine sont totalement solubles l'un dans l'autre. Ils forment donc une solution solide quelles que soient la composition chimique et la température (à la condition de rester dans l'état solide c'est-à-dire en dessous de la température de solidus). Le diagramme de phase qui en résulte est dans ce cas un diagramme à un fuseau.

D'autres couples de métaux présentent une bonne miscibilité permettant d’obtenir des solutions solides homogènes à certaines températures : cuivre-nickel, cuivre-palladium, argent-or, argent-palladium, molybdène-vanadium, molybdène-tungstène, etc.

Certains alliages binaires présentent un défaut de solubilité à basses températures. Il apparaît sur le diagramme de phase un secteur où cohabitent deux phases, la première étant constituée d'une solution solide saturée de B dans A, et inversement la deuxième phase étant constituée d'une solution solide saturée de A dans B. C'est le cas par exemple du système cuivre-nickel qui présente en dessous de  une zone avec deux phases.

Alliage binaire à plusieurs phases 
Un autre type de diagramme de phases relativement commun dans les alliages binaires est un diagramme de phase eutectique. Ce type de diagramme de phase présente un certain nombre de caractéristiques importantes méritant d'être signalées. Tout d'abord, il existe trois régions monophasées qui sont visibles sur le schéma : α, β et liquide. Sur la figure à gauche, la phase α est une solution solide riche en cuivre, qui a pour soluté l'argent et présente une maille de structure CFC (cubique à faces centrées). La phase β (solution solide) est également caractérisée par une structure CFC, mais pour laquelle le cuivre est le soluté.

Ainsi, la solubilité de l'élément d'addition dans chacune de ces phases solides est limitée. Autrement dit la concentration d'argent qui peut se dissoudre dans le cuivre (pour la phase α) sans en modifier la structure cristallographique est limitée. Pour la même raison l'addition de cuivre dans l'argent (phase β) est limitée. La limite de solubilité de la phase α correspond à la ligne de démarcation, marquée « CBA ».

Pour des températures inférieures à  (), la ligne correspondant à la limite de solubilité solide qui sépare la région de la phase α et la région de coexistence des phases α + β est appelée une ligne de solvus. La frontière séparant la phase α et la région α + L est la ligne de solidus (AB), tandis que la ligne séparant la région α + L et le domaine liquide est la ligne de liquidus (AE). Pour la partie riche en argent du diagramme de phases, trois lignes existent également : solvus (HG), solidus (GF) et liquidus (EF). La ligne horizontale BEG, qui est parallèle à l'axe des abscisses s'étend entre les maxima de solubilité respectifs des phases α et β. Elle est appelée palier eutectique et peut aussi être considérée comme une ligne de solidus, représentant la température la plus basse à laquelle une phase liquide peut exister à l'équilibre thermodynamique pour tout alliage de cuivre et d'argent.

Il y a aussi trois régions de deux phases trouvées dans le système cuivre-argent. Comme l'argent est ajouté au cuivre, la température à laquelle les alliages deviennent totalement liquides diminue au long de la ligne liquidus (ligne AE); ainsi, la température de fusion du cuivre est réduite par l'ajout d'argent. C'est le même principe pour les alliages dont le composé majoritaire est l'argent : l'introduction de cuivre réduit la température de fusion complète au long de la ligne liquidus FE. Ces lignes liquidus répondent au point E sur le diagramme de phase, par le biais de qui passe également la ligne horizontale isotherme BEG. Point E est le point eutectique, qui est désigné par la composition CE et de la température TE; pour le système cuivre-argent, les valeurs de la CE et TE sont 71,9 wt% Ag et  (), respectivement.

Une importante réaction a lieu dans un alliage de composition « CE » cependant elle change la température en passant par TE. Sur le refroidissement, une phase liquide est transformée en deux phases solides (α et β) à la température TE, la réaction inverse se produit sur l'échauffement. C'est ce qu'on appelle une réaction eutectique (eutectique signifie facilement fondu), et CE et TE représentent les composition et température eutectiques, respectivement. Souvent, la ligne solidus horizontale à TE est appelé isotherme eutectique. La réaction eutectique, sur le refroidissement, est similaire à la solidification des composants purs en ce que la réaction à terme à une température constante, ou isométriquement, à TE. Toutefois, le produit solide de la solidification eutectique est toujours deux phases solides, alors que pour un simple composant, une seule phase se forme. À cause de cette réaction eutectique, les diagrammes de phase similaires à ceux de la figure du diagramme Ag-Cu sont qualifiées de diagrammes de phase eutectiques.

Dans la construction de diagrammes de phases binaires, il est important de comprendre qu'un ou au maximum deux phases peuvent être en équilibre dans une région de phase. Pour un système eutectique, trois phases (α, β et L) peuvent être en équilibre, mais seulement à points au long de la ligne eutectique.

Il y a des milliers de combinaisons possibles pour diagrammes de phases avec plusieurs phases. Certaines des principales caractéristiques des diagrammes de phases comprennent points congrus, où une phase solide se transforme directement en liquide. Il y a aussi le point péritectoïde, pour lequel une phase solide se transforme en deux phases solides différentes de la phase solide initiale, lors du chauffage. À l'inverse, si la transformation a lieu lors du refroidissement, on parle de point eutectoïde.

Un diagramme de phase complexe d'une grande importance technologique est celle de la fer-carbone système de moins de 7 % de carbone.

L'axe des X d'un tel schéma correspond à la concentration variable du mélange. Comme les mélanges sont généralement loin d'affaiblir et leur densité en fonction de la température est généralement inconnu, la mesure préférée est la concentration molaire. Un schéma fondé sur le volume de mesure comme molarité serait déconseillé.

Structure

Alliage homogène 
Un élément d'addition qui forme une solution solide avec le métal de base peut être localisé soit entre les atomes de l'élément majoritaire (on parle alors d'« insertion »), soit à la place des atomes du métal majoritaire (on parle alors de « substitution »).

Une substitution peut conduire, soit à un alliage désordonné, où les différents atomes occupent des positions aléatoires, soit à un alliage ordonné, où les atomes de différentes natures suivent une alternance régulière.

Alliage hétérogène 
Lorsque la teneur en élément d'alliage augmente, on peut avoir formation de deux phases : une phase contenant peu d'éléments d'alliage, et une phase à forte teneur en éléments d'alliage. Les cristallites à forte teneur sont appelés « précipités ».

Les précipités sont souvent des alliages ordonnés, que l'on appelle « intermétalliques ». Les intermétalliques ainsi formés sont parfois par la suite étudiés en tant qu'alliages propres, comme un nouveau matériau, et on essaie d'en produire en tant que tel et non plus en tant que précipités.

Exemples

Principaux alliages

Alliages de fer 
 acier : fer + carbone (< 2,1 % en masse) + optionnellement nickel, chrome, molybdène (< 4 %)
 acier inoxydable : fer + carbone (< 2,1 % en masse) + nickel + chrome + optionnellement molybdène, vanadium
 fonte : fer + carbone (> 2 % en masse)

Alliages de cuivre 

 bronze : cuivre + étain
 laiton : cuivre + zinc
 billon : cuivre + argent ; utilisé principalement pour frapper des monnaies de faible valeur

Alliages d'aluminium 
Ils sont aussi appelés alliages légers compte tenu de la masse volumique de l'aluminium comparée à celle des autres métaux. le plus employé est le duralium, composé d'aluminium (95 %), de cuivre (4 %), de magnésium (0,5 %) et de manganèse (0,5 %).

Pour plus de détails voir les deux articles ci-dessous :
 alliages d'aluminium pour corroyage
 alliages d'aluminium pour fonderie

Alliages d'or et d'argent 

 or blanc, gris, rose...

 électrum : or + argent
 porpézite : or + palladium
 rhodite : or + rhodium
 argent Britannia
 argent sterling

Alliages moins connus 

 amalgame : mercure + un autre métal, par exemple or ou cuivre ; le terme désigne également un mélange de métaux utilisé pour les soins dentaires (« plombage »)

 alliage plomb-étain : pour la brasure
 maillechort : cuivre + zinc + nickel
 monel (nom commercial) : nickel + cuivre
 régule : étain ou plomb + antimoine
 ruolz : nickel + argent + cuivre
 tumbaga : alliage d'or et de cuivre utilisé par les civilisations précolombiennes d'Amérique du Sud et de Mésoamérique.
 virenium : cuivre + zinc + nickel
 zamak : zinc + aluminium + magnésium + cuivre et autres « ZL » (composant principaux : zinc et aluminium)

Alliages pour des applications spécifiques 
 ferrotitanes : fer + 25 à 70 % de Ti + 4 à 10 % d'aluminium
 TA6V : titane + 6 % aluminium + 4 % vanadium, très utilisé dans l'industrie aéronautique
 MCrAl : métal + chrome + aluminium + parfois de l'yttrium (MCrAlY), alliages réputés pour leur bonne tenue mécanique et résistance à la corrosion à haute température
 FeCrAl : fer + chrome + aluminium
 NiCrAl : nickel + chrome + aluminium
 superalliages à base nickel (par exemple les inconels) : bonne tenue mécanique et résistance à la corrosion à haute température
 intermétalliques : alliages ordonnés, respectant une stœchiométrie précise (mais des écarts à la stœchiométrie sont tolérés)
 NiAl β : 50 % nickel + 50 % aluminium
 FeAl B2 : 50 % fer + 50 % aluminium
 TiAl : 50 % titane + 50 % aluminium

 Les alliages présentant de faibles coefficients de dilatation (créés par Charles Édouard Guillaume)
 Invar (36 % de nickel, 0,4 % de manganèse, 0,1 % de carbone, 63,5 % de fer), dix fois moins dilatable que le fer
 Élinvar (Nivarox, Métélinvar, Isoval) (nickel, chrome, fer)

 FeNiCo un alliage 54 % fer + 29 % nickel + 17 % cobalt destiné au scellement verre/métal ou céramique/métal

Références

Notes

Voir aussi

Différents alliages

Articles connexes 
 Alliage à mémoire de forme
 Composé intermétallique
 Coulabilité
 Désignation des métaux et alliages
 Étamage
 Loi de Vegard
 Métal réfractaire
 Superalliage

Liens externes

L, en forme longue le , est une monarchie absolue islamique dirigée par la dynastie des Saoud, depuis sa création en 1932 par Abdelaziz ibn Saoud. Peuplée de  d'habitants (les Saoudiens et Saoudiennes), occupant 80 % de la péninsule arabique, c'est le plus grand pays du Moyen-Orient avec une superficie de plus de deux millions de kilomètres carrés et le deuxième plus grand des pays du monde arabe (après l'Algérie). 

La capitale et la plus grande ville de l'Arabie saoudite est Riyad, située dans la province du même nom, son unité monétaire est le riyal saoudien, sa langue officielle est l'arabe et sa religion d'État est l'islam sunnite. 

Le Royaume abrite les deux plus grands lieux saints de l'islam : la mosquée al-Harâm (à La Mecque) et la mosquée du Prophète (à Médine).

L'Arabie saoudite est la première économie du monde arabe. Sa compagnie nationale d'hydrocarbures, Saudi Aramco, dont le siège social est situé à Dhahran, est la première productrice mondiale de pétrole.

Géographie 

L'Arabie saoudite est limitrophe de l’Irak au nord, du Koweït au nord-nord-est, du Bahreïn à l'est-nord-est, du Qatar et des Émirats arabes unis à l'est, d’Oman à l'est-sud-est, du Yémen au sud-sud-est et de la Jordanie au nord-ouest ; elle est bordée par la mer Rouge à l'ouest-sud-ouest et le golfe Persique à l'est-nord-est.

En 2000, l'Arabie saoudite et le Yémen ont signé un accord afin de concrétiser leur frontière commune, source de discorde jusque-là. À l'est-sud-est, une grande partie des frontières avec les Émirats arabes unis et Oman n'est pas clairement établie, d'où la difficulté de calculer correctement la superficie du Royaume saoudien. Le gouvernement annonce  tandis que d'autres estimations varient de  jusqu'à . Cependant le pays est considéré comme le treizième plus grand par sa superficie.

Depuis la région côtière occidentale Tihama, les terres s'élèvent depuis les montagnes du Hedjaz au-dessus desquelles s'étend le plateau de Nejd, dans la partie la plus centrale. La région du sud, Asir, possède des montagnes s'élevant jusqu'à  et est réputée pour avoir le climat le plus frais et le plus humide du pays. L'Est est, quant à lui, plutôt rocailleux avec des étendues de sable en continuité jusqu'au golfe Persique. L'hostile Rub' al Khali (le « Quart Vide ») est un désert s'étendant dans le sud du pays.

Relativement peu peuplées, la plupart des terres varient entre désert et zone semi-aride, occupées par une traditionnelle population bédouine. La végétation s'y limite à de maigres plantes et autres herbes. Moins de 2 % des terres sont cultivables, soit tout de même  carrés, surtout dans l'Asir, et la région haute de Najran. Le centre de population est principalement situé le long des côtes est et ouest, malgré quelques oasis densément peuplées à l'intérieur du pays, telles Al-Hufuf et Buraydah. Le reste du pays compte très peu d'habitants bien que l'industrie pétrolière y ait bâti quelques communautés artificielles. L'Arabie saoudite n'a aucun lac de surface ou rivière permanente, bien que sa grande ligne côtière s'étende sur  de la mer Rouge au golfe Persique, offrant de nombreux récifs de coraux et une large biodiversité côtière et aquatique.

Toponymie 

Alors que le terme « Arabie » désigne la péninsule arabique dans son ensemble, l'adjectif « saoudite » évoque les Al Saoud, et en particulier Abdelaziz ibn Saoud dit « Ibn Saoud », qui reconquit ce pays au profit de sa famille en 1932 et en fit le « Royaume arabe saoudien » (en arabe al-Mamlakat al-°Arabīyat as-Sa°ūdīyat ; ), en français le « royaume d'Arabie saoudite », ou en plus court  (es-saoudia), que l'on pourrait traduire par la « Saoudite » ou la « Saoudie ». « Saoud » se réfère ici à Saoud ben Mohammed Al Mouqrin, le père de Mohammed Ibn Saoud, patriarche de la famille et fondateur en 1744 du premier État saoudien.

En français, les orthographes « séoudite » (à la place de « saoudite ») et « Séoud » (au lieu de « Saoud »), fréquentes autrefois, se sont raréfiées sous l'influence de règles de transcription anglophones. Par ailleurs, la transcription « saoudite » est conforme à la norme ISO 233 et à la norme DIN 31635 qui transcrivent par un /a/ la voyelle fatha / َ / que l'on trouve dans le mot sa'ûd (سَعود). En revanche, on continue à trouver le nom du fondateur de la dynastie orthographié Ibn Séoud, à côté de Ibn Saoud.

L'adjectif qualificatif « saoudite » ou « séoudite » s'écrit sans majuscule selon :
 la Commission de toponymie de l’IGN (pays, territoires et villes du monde juillet 2021) ;
 le Code de rédaction interinstitutionnel, annexe A5, liste des États (au ), publié par l’Office des publications officielles des Communautés européennes ;
 la liste alphabétique des pays membres de l'Organisation internationale du travail (OIT) et Alphabetical list of other countries, territories and areas.
Cependant, on le trouve écrit « Arabie Saoudite » dans le Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l'Imprimerie nationale (, 1990).

Climat 

L’Arabie saoudite a globalement un climat désertique, avec des températures diurnes très élevées et une forte baisse de la température pendant la nuit. Les températures estivales moyennes sont d'environ , mais peuvent atteindre . En hiver, la température descend rarement en dessous de . Au printemps et en automne, la chaleur est tempérée, avec des températures moyennes autour de . Les précipitations annuelles sont extrêmement faibles.

La région de l'Asir diffère, en raison de la mousson de l'océan Indien qui, généralement entre octobre et mars, donne une pluviométrie moyenne de , soit environ 60 % des précipitations annuelles.

La côte ouest du pays, sur la mer Rouge, a un climat subtropical. Dans la zone centrale, autour de Djeddah et La Mecque, les étés sont très chauds avec un degré d'humidité très élevé, alors que les hivers sont modérés avec une humidité basse. Cette région reçoit des pluies légères mais soudaines, parfois accompagnées d'orages de novembre à février. Au printemps et en automne, les pluies sont rares. Les vents du sud occasionnels durant l'hiver entraînent des tempêtes de sable et de pluie, provoquant des inondations dans les vallées, ce qui cause de nombreux dommages aux populations nomades ou semi-nomades qui y résident.

En été, les moyennes de température sont de , alors qu'en hiver, elles avoisinent . Le , une température de  a été enregistrée à La Mecque. Le , à Taëf, un minimum de  a été constaté.

Biodiversité 

La faune comprend des mammifères comme : des loups, des hyènes, des mangoustes, des babouins, des lièvres, des rats des sables et des gerboises. Les plus gros animaux sont les gazelles, les oryx et les léopards qui, relativement nombreux avant les années 1950, sont actuellement des espèces en voie de disparition, à cause de la chasse en véhicules motorisés.

Parmi les oiseaux les plus courants, on trouve les faucons (qui sont capturés et entraînés pour la chasse), les aigles, les vautours, les gangas et les bulbuls.

Il existe plusieurs espèces de serpents, dont beaucoup sont venimeux, et de nombreux types de lézards.

La vie marine, dans le golfe Persique, est variée, avec une réserve de dugongs sur la mer Rouge.

Les animaux domestiques sont les dromadaires, les moutons, les chèvres, les ânes et les poules.

En raison du climat, la vie végétale naturelle de l'Arabie saoudite se compose essentiellement de petites herbes et d'arbustes nécessitant peu d'eau. On note cependant quelques petites zones herbeuses et des arbres dans le sud de l'Asir. Le palmier dattier (Phoenix dactylifera) y est très répandu.

Un nombre important de zones naturelles, terrestres et marines, sont protégées.

Géographie administrative 

L'Arabie saoudite est divisée en treize provinces (mintaqah idāriyya en arabe, expression qui se traduit littéralement par « région administrative », dont la forme au pluriel est manatiq idāriyya).

Les provinces sont divisées en  (, muhafazat au pluriel, muhafazah singulier), dont les capitales provinciales, qui ont un statut différent des municipalités (intègres), sont dirigées par des maires (amin).

Les gouvernorats sont subdivisés en sous-gouvernorats (marakiz, au pluriel markaz).

Histoire 

Le premier État saoudien est constitué aux alentours de 1744. Un chef de tribu local, Mohammed Ibn Saoud, s'associe avec un prédicateur religieux, Mohammed ben Abdelwahhab ; après avoir eu sa vie menacée par les polythéistes qu'il essayait de réfuter. Et ensemble ils fondent le projet d'unifier la péninsule sur la croyance des pieux prédécesseurs, les 3 premières générations de l'Islam, et donc l'Islam originel.

La famille Al Saoud et le royaume connaissent ensuite des confrontations augmentant ou réduisant leur pouvoir en fonction des accords et désaccords avec l'Égypte, l'Empire ottoman et d'autres pays arabes pour le contrôle de la péninsule. Trop instable, le royaume finit par disparaître en 1818.

Un second État saoudien est fondé six années plus tard en 1824, mais disparaît en 1891.

Dans la nuit du 15 au , Abdelaziz ibn Saoud, souhaitant restaurer l'ancien État de son aïeul, s'empare de Riyad, alors occupée par la famille rivale Al Rachid, originaire de Haïl. En 1904, il s'empare de l'oasis de Buraydah, capitale de la région du Qasim, au nord du Nejd. Abdelaziz fonde vers 1912, avec l'appui des bédouins, l'ordre des Ikhwâns (« frères ») qui lui permet d'agrandir son domaine. Les Ikhwâns sont progressivement installés dans environ deux cents tentes (les hujjar). En 1913, Abdelaziz s'empare de la province de Al-Hassa, dans l'est, dont la majorité de la population est chiite. Son poids politique est reconnu par les Ottomans en  lorsque ceux-ci le nomment wali du Nejd.

Avec le déclenchement de la Première Guerre mondiale, Abdelaziz se rapproche graduellement des Britanniques. Un traité de protection est signé avec ces derniers en 1915.

Profitant de la dislocation de l'Empire ottoman et de la faiblesse des États arabes qui se constituent pendant le conflit mondial, il fait la conquête par la force en 1924-1925 du Hedjaz, un État comprenant les villes de La Mecque et de Médine, en s'en emparant il met fin à près d'un millénaire de chérifat hachémite, la lignée des descendants du grand-père du prophète. Il finit par se faire reconnaître roi du Hedjaz, en 1927.

L'État ainsi constitué est consolidé par Abdelaziz Al Saoud pour devenir un pays puissant et surtout acteur de la scène internationale. Cet arrêt des conquêtes le brouille avec ses alliés ikhwâns, qui voudraient poursuivre la conquête pour étendre les frontières à toute la communauté des croyants. L'appui des oulémas, essentiellement par une fatwa de 1927, profite à Abdelaziz : ils décrètent qu'il est interdit de se révolter contre le détenteur du pouvoir. Dès lors, il devient licite de faire la guerre contre les Ikhwâns, qui sont écrasés en 1929.

L'Arabie saoudite est fondée officiellement le  par la fusion des provinces du Nejd et du Hedjaz. Abdelaziz ibn Saoud (Ibn Saoud) en devient le roi. Les guerres ayant permis l'accession au pouvoir d'Ibn Saoud firent  entre 1901 et 1932.

La découverte de pétrole en  transforme le pays sur le plan économique et marque le début d'une alliance stratégique avec les États-Unis, concrétisée par le Pacte du Quincy. En échange d'un accès au pétrole, les États-Unis s'engagent à protéger militairement la dynastie des Saoud. Cette alliance se révèlera d'autant plus durable que le pays se présente comme un allié de poids face à la montée des nationalistes arabes dans les années 1950-1960 soutenus par l'Union soviétique.

Abdelaziz accepte le concept de modernisation du pays et persuade les ultra-conservateurs religieux d'accepter les nouvelles technologies, ce qui se traduit concrètement par un confort matériel pour les Saoudiens, mais sans changement des mentalités. Après cinquante ans de pouvoir, Adb al-Aziz meurt en 1953, lui succèdent ses fils .

En 1973, l'Arabie saoudite est le leader du cartel des pays pétroliers, l'Organisation des pays exportateurs de pétrole (OPEP), et son ministre du Pétrole et des Ressources minérales Ahmed Zaki Yamani, diplômé de Harvard, est la tête pensante du quadruplement du prix du pétrole qui fait soudain de l'Arabie saoudite une super-puissance financière.

La rapide augmentation des recettes saoudiennes au début des années 1980, qui passent de  de dollars à près de  en 1981, permet également au pays qui est le «berceau» du wahhabisme d'exporter sa doctrine religieuse sous la forme du salafisme. Cette politique extérieure se manifeste dans la lutte organisée contre l'Union soviétique dans le conflit afghan en accord avec l'allié américain, mais également dans le soutien financier de nombreuses organisations islamiques à travers le monde dans les années 2000-2015.

Dans les années 1980, la prise de la Grande Mosquée de La Mecque met en évidence le poids de la communauté ultra-conservatrice et la pression fondamentaliste s'accentue. Une police des mœurs, la Muttawa, est mise en place, s'assurant que tout ce qui se passe dans le royaume n'enfreint pas les règles de l'islam. Les nouvelles technologies sont encadrées, la musique n'est pas autorisée en public, encore moins le théâtre, et la télévision par satellite est également filtrée, tandis que la ségrégation sexuelle est accentuée, et le port du voile intégral obligatoire.

Politique intérieure 

L'Arabie saoudite est une monarchie absolue islamique, contrôlée par les familles Saoud et Wahhab qui sont liées par le mariage.

Pour le politologue Riadh Sidaoui, les deux dynasties du Nejd sont les « deux faces d’une même pièce ».

Pour Nabil Mouline, chercheur au CNRS et spécialiste de l'Arabie saoudite, le système successoral saoudien est de type adelphique, c'est-à-dire entre frères. Toutefois, la transmission de la couronne demeure quelque peu aléatoire puisque le roi n'est pas nécessairement l'aîné : « Chaque roi potentiel est à la tête d’une faction, dont la puissance est déterminée par la force de son clientélisme, son soutien dans les forces armées et ses appuis dans le monde religieux et intellectuel. »

La loi fondamentale de l'Arabie saoudite définit le Coran comme constitution du pays et codifie depuis 1992 les règles d'organisation gouvernementale déjà existantes. Le Conseil des oulémas et le Comité permanent des recherches islamiques et de la délivrance des fatwas sont compétents pour l'interprétation des règles religieuses. Aucune manifestation ou culte d'une autre religion ne sont acceptés, et ceux qui expriment à ce titre une opinion différente sont déclarés apostats et passibles de la peine de mort. La liberté de religion de la population non-musulmane d'origine y est très restreinte et doit s'exercer exclusivement dans le domaine privé. Une assemblée consultative existe.

Depuis la fondation de l'État en 1932 par Abdelaziz ibn Saoud, le royaume a été gouverné par sept monarques.

En , après un accident vasculaire cérébral du roi Fahd, en tant que prince héritier, Abdallah a pris de facto la direction de l'État. Il devient roi en 2005 après le décès de ce dernier.

Le , l'Arabie saoudite, confrontée à un ralentissement de son économie (basée en grande partie sur le pétrole) et à une recrudescence de son taux de chômage (30 % de sa population active), décide d'expulser des centaines de milliers de travailleurs étrangers.

En , Salmane succède à son demi-frère Abdallah, décédé.

Politique extérieure 

L'Arabie saoudite est l'une des puissances régionales au Moyen-Orient. En tant que gardienne des lieux saints de l'islam, elle jouit d'un grand prestige dans l'ensemble du monde musulman et diffuse le wahhabisme partout dans le monde. Elle rassemble autour d'elle la plupart des pays arabes à majorité sunnite dans une alliance contre l'Iran, où domine le chiisme, et ses alliés. L'Arabie saoudite bénéficie de revenus financiers considérables qu'elle tire de sa richesse en pétrole, dont elle est le premier pays exportateur au monde, et en gaz naturel. La rente pétrolière est la source de sa puissance, mais elle la rend dépendante aux variations du cours du baril et l'oblige à une alliance avec les États-Unis pour assurer la sécurité de l'approvisionnement en hydrocarbures dont les puissances économiques mondiales sont presque toutes très dépendantes.

Diffusion de l’islam dans le monde 
L'historien britannique Charles Allen a chiffré que depuis 1979, les autorités saoudiennes ont consacré plus de  de dollars à la diffusion de leur idéologie, le wahhabisme, l'une des formes les plus rigoristes de l'islam sunnite. Ce financement a été rendu possible par les réserves de pétrole du pays et le soutien des États-Unis et de l'Europe qui dépendent de ces réserves pour le fonctionnement de leur économie.

Dans une série d'entretiens en forme de bilan avec le magazine The Atlantic paru en , le président américain Barack Obama a déclaré, selon Jeffrey Goldberg, que l'Arabie saoudite « propage l’extrémisme qui a généré le terrorisme » et expliqué comment l’Indonésie, notamment, « d’État musulman et tolérant, est devenu un pays extrémiste, à cause du financement par l’Arabie saoudite des mouvements fanatiques et des écoles wahhabites ». À la suite de ces propos peu diplomatiques, la maison royale saoudienne s'est dite « offensée ».

Le , le vice-chancelier allemand, Sigmar Gabriel, a estimé que l'Arabie saoudite devait cesser le financement des mosquées salafistes en Allemagne qui ne « sont pas moins dangereuses que les extrémistes de droite ».

Opposition à l'Iran, à la Syrie, aux Houthis, aux salafistes djihadistes et aux Frères musulmans 

Initialement, l'Arabie saoudite entretient de bonnes relations avec les Frères musulmans. La rupture se produit en 1991, lorsque la confrérie dénonce l'alliance saoudienne avec les États-Unis lors de la Guerre du Golfe.

À partir de 1993, la monarchie saoudienne tente un rapprochement avec sa minorité chiite. En 2005, des partis religieux chiites sont autorisés à présenter des candidats aux élections. Cependant, les chiites restent victimes de discriminations et cette période d'ouverture prend fin avec la répression du soulèvement bahreïnien et le début de la guerre civile syrienne en 2011.

À l'intérieur comme à l'extérieur de ses frontières, la dynastie des Saoud au pouvoir est contestée par les salafistes djihadistes qui rejettent la monarchie et réclament une théocratie pure. Ces derniers renient même leur citoyenneté saoudienne pour se revendiquer « jaziri » (de la péninsule arabique). À partir de 2003, le royaume est aux prises avec Al-Qaïda dans la péninsule arabique (AQPA), qui commet plusieurs attentats et assassinats, mais finit par être repoussé au Yémen.

En 2007, lors de la guerre d'Irak, l'Arabie saoudite joue un rôle déterminant dans la création et le financement des Sahwa, des milices sunnites qui contribuent à marginaliser les djihadistes de l'État islamique d'Irak et à instaurer jusqu'en 2011 une relative accalmie en Irak. Mais le , Nouri al-Maliki, alors Premier ministre irakien, proche allié de l'Iran, accuse l'Arabie saoudite et le Qatar de fournir un soutien politique, financier et médiatique aux groupes d'insurgés comme Daech, Front al-Nosra, Al-Qaïda, etc, allant même jusqu'à « acheter des armes au bénéfice de ces organisations terroristes » pour conclure en droit international que : « Ils attaquent l'Irak, via la Syrie, et de manière directe, ils ont déclaré la guerre à l'Irak ».

Bien qu'hostile aux révolutions du Printemps arabe, l'Arabie saoudite commence à soutenir les rebelles en Syrie, quelques mois après le début de la guerre civile syrienne. Le royaume tient notamment à contenir l'influence de l'Iran, son principal rival dans la région. Il s'appuie sur les conservateurs, les officiers déserteurs, les tribus et les libéraux, et soutient des groupes salafistes, notamment Jaych al-Islam, ainsi que l'Armée syrienne libre et des groupes modérés, en revanche, il s'oppose aux Frères musulmans. Cependant, des milliers de Saoudiens partent combattre en Syrie et des groupes djihadistes comme l'État islamique ou le Front al-Nosra bénéficient de soutiens financiers venus d'acteurs privés, d'associations, ou d'hommes d'affaires, parfois liés à certains membres de la famille royale, qui profitent d'un certain laisser-faire de l'État. Selon le chercheur Pierre-Jean Luizard, au sein même de la famille royale, certaines branches s'estimant lésées font allégeance à l'État islamique. En 2014 et 2015, l'hebdomadaire britannique The Economist et l'institut Soufan group estiment que  ont rejoint des groupes djihadistes en Syrie et en Irak, principalement l'État islamique. L'Arabie saoudite finit par s'inquiéter de la montée en puissance des salafistes djihadistes, qui contestent la légitimité de la dynastie saoudienne, et redoute qu'ils ne puissent bénéficier d'une certaine attractivité aux yeux d'une partie de la population saoudienne, ce qui pourrait déstabiliser le royaume. En  les départs de combattants pour la Syrie sont rendus illégaux par le ministère de l'Intérieur dirigé par le prince Mohammed ben Nayef Al Saoud. En , le Royaume saoudien classe le Front al-Nosra et l'État islamique comme organisations terroristes et interdit tout soutien ou financement à ces groupes. En , Riyad rejoint la coalition internationale contre l'EI.

Dans une vidéo publiée le , Abou Bakr al-Baghdadi, le « calife » de l'État islamique, appelle à des soulèvements en Arabie saoudite. De  à , l'État islamique mène 7 attentats en Arabie saoudite qui font . Le Ministre saoudien de l'Intérieur Mohammed ben Nayef Al Saoud, responsable de la lutte anti-terroriste, est la cible de quatre tentatives d'assassinats de 2004 à 2015, dont un attentat-suicide d'Al-Qaïda dans la péninsule arabique en 2009.

Pour le politologue François Burgat : . Selon lui, plus que par l'Iran et les chiites, l'Arabie saoudite s'estime menacée principalement par son opposition : les « modérés » (Al-Islah, l'organisation yéménite apparentée aux Frères musulmans) et les radicaux.

En Égypte, l'Arabie saoudite approuve le coup d'État mené le  par l'armée qui porte au pouvoir le général Abdel Fattah al-Sissi et renverse le président Mohamed Morsi, membre des Frères musulmans.

Le , le roi Abdallah ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud fait inscrire les Frères musulmans sur la liste des organisations terroristes, mais son successeur, Salmane ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud, se montre plus conciliant à leur égard.

Le journaliste Alain Gresh note qu'à partir de 2016 l'Arabie saoudite se rapproche à petits pas des Frères musulmans : « Prudemment, parce que, à terme, les Frères restent un danger, notamment à l’intérieur du royaume ; avec détermination, car la menace iranienne est prioritaire à court et moyen terme ».

À partir de 2015, l'Arabie saoudite concentre ses efforts au Yémen, où elle intervient militairement contre les Houthis, alliés de l'Iran. En , Mohammed ben Salmane est nommé ministre de la Défense. Il décide de conduire des opérations militaires au Yémen contre les rebelles houthistes afin de limiter l'influence iranienne dans le pays. En , dans une déclaration publique, les services de renseignement allemands ont exprimé leur inquiétude devant la nouvelle politique étrangère du jeune prince héritier, soulignant la façon dont la « position diplomatique jusqu'ici prudente des chefs aînés de la famille royale est remplacée par une politique interventionniste impulsive » et présente un danger pour la stabilité de la région.

En , le royaume wahhabite désigne le Hezbollah comme organisation terroriste et remet en cause une aide financière de quatre milliards de dollars aux forces armées libanaises.

Selon Ali Al-Ahmad, directeur du , basé à Washington, .

Relations avec le Qatar 

Le , l'Arabie saoudite accuse le Royaume qatari de complaisance avec l'Iran, le Hamas, le Hezbollah et de « soutenir le terrorisme » et d'avoir des liens avec les Houthis, Al-Qaïda, l'État islamique et les Frères musulmans, groupements classés « terroriste » par l'Arabie saoudite. Riyad décide de sanctionner Doha et, le , le gouvernement saoudien rompt ses relations diplomatiques avec le Qatar et ferme sa frontière avec l'émirat. Ses alliés, les Émirats arabes unis, Bahreïn, Yémen et Égypte feront de même.

Il s'ensuit alors une crise diplomatique : expulsion des nationaux qataris du territoire saoudien, et en , une vague d'arrestations de journalistes, intellectuels, politiques (dont le conseiller du gouvernement saoudien, Issam Al Zamel), universitaires, chercheurs ou écrivains qui seraient proches des mouvances islamistes « pro-Qatar », accusés d'avoir maintenu « le silence sur le Qatar » et de « non-participation à la campagne médiatique contre le Qatar », faits qui sont récemment devenus des délits.

.

Alliance avec les États-Unis 

Liée aux États-Unis depuis le pacte du Quincy en 1945, l'Arabie saoudite prend ses distances avec son allié américain au début des années 2010, en réponse à la non-intervention militaire du pays pendant la guerre civile syrienne et au rapprochement irano-américain qui fait suite à l'élection d'Hassan Rohani à la présidence de la République islamique. En conséquence, l'Arabie saoudite refuse son siège obtenu par l'élection du Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies de 2013.

Liens avec les auteurs des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 
Il est à noter que 15 des  de l'air, lors des attentats du 11 septembre 2001, étaient des sujets du roi d'Arabie saoudite. Selon Bob Graham, ancien vice-président de la commission d'enquête parlementaire sur le , les  classifiées du rapport publié en 2002, intitulées « éléments, discussion et récit concernant certains sujets sensibles de sécurité nationale », mettraient en cause le consulat saoudien à Los Angeles, l'ambassade d'Arabie saoudite à Washington ainsi que de riches Saoudiens installés à Sarasota en Floride. Et de conclure : « Pour moi, nous avons montré que quoi qu'ils fassent, il y aurait impunité. Ils ont donc continué à soutenir Al-Qaïda, puis plus récemment dans l'appui économique et idéologique à l'État islamique (Daech). C'est notre refus de regarder en face la vérité qui a créé la nouvelle vague d'extrémisme qui a frappé Paris (attentats contre Charlie Hebdo)». En , Bob Graham a déclaré sur la chaîne de télévision Fox News qu'il aurait reçu un coup de fil de la Maison blanche l'informant de la décision du président américain de déclassifier les 28 pages litigieuses sous . Selon le New York Times, l'Arabie saoudite menacerait de vendre des « centaines de milliards de dollars de titres américains si le Congrès adoptait un projet de loi qui permettrait de rendre responsable le gouvernement du Royaume arabe devant les tribunaux américains de leur éventuel rôle lors des attaques du  ». Pour la première fois, en , le Département du Trésor des États-Unis a dévoilé que le montant des bons du trésor détenus par l'Arabie saoudite s'élèveraient seulement à  de dollars, ce qui en ferait le treizième adjudicataire très loin derrière la Chine et le Japon. Par ailleurs, les sénateurs américains ont approuvé à l'unanimité la proposition de loi autorisant les victimes du  à poursuivre l'Arabie saoudite. En , le Congrès des États-Unis a publié un document de 28 pages crédibilisant les accusations de Zacarias Moussaoui, qualifié de « dérangé » par l'Arabie saoudite :

Une note de l'administration américaine datant de 2009 (et dévoilée par WikiLeaks un an après) avance que « les donateurs privés en Arabie saoudite demeurent la principale source mondiale de financement de groupes terroristes sunnites ». Par ailleurs, deux articles, l'un paru dans The Daily Telegraph en , et l'autre dans Le Monde le  (ce dernier étant un point de vue écrit par les historiens Sophie Bessis et Mohamed Harbi), affirment que l'Arabie saoudite serait, avec le Qatar et la Turquie, l'une des principales sources financières et militaires de l'extrémisme islamiste.

Accusations de liens avec d'autres activités terroristes ou extrémistes 
Le , Yves Bonnet, ancien patron de la DST, a affirmé : « On n'ose pas parler de l'Arabie saoudite et du Qatar, mais il faudrait peut-être aussi que ces braves gens cessent d'alimenter de leurs fonds un certain nombre d'actions préoccupantes.»

Le , dans une tribune publiée par le New York Times, le vainqueur du prix Goncourt du premier roman 2015, l'écrivain Kamel Daoud, visé par une fatwa, a affirmé que l'Arabie saoudite n'est qu'un « Daech qui a réussi » en sus d'être le principal « mécène idéologique de la culture islamiste ». Selon lui, pour lutter contre le terrorisme, l'Occident devrait enfin s'attaquer à « la cause » plutôt qu'à « l'effet ».

Pierre-Jean Luizard, historien et chercheur au CNRS, affirme en 2017 : .

Pour François Burgat, directeur de recherche à l'Institut de recherches et d’études sur le monde arabe et musulman (IREMAM), ni le Qatar, ni l'Arabie saoudite ne soutiennent al-Qaïda ou l'État islamique : .

En 2015, Stéphane Lacroix, chercheur au Centre de recherches internationales (CERI), déclare : . En Syrie, l'État saoudien a soutenu l'Armée syrienne libre, puis des islamistes nationalistes non-djihadistes. Cependant .

Communication politique 
Afin de redorer son blason en France, l'Arabie saoudite aurait missionné quatre agences de communication et de relations presse françaises : Publicis, Image 7, Edile Consulting et une autre dont le nom n'a pas filtré.

Relations étrangères 

En septembre 2020, Showtime a annoncé qu'elle présenterait en première son documentaire original, Kingdom of Silence, le 2 octobre de cette année. Le film était basé sur le meurtre de Jamal Khashoggi en 2018 par les autorités saoudiennes. Il a été réalisé par le cinéaste Rick Rowley, le documentaire examine la relation entre les États-Unis et l'Arabie saoudite, comme toile de fond du meurtre de Khashoggi, ainsi que les interactions entre l'administration Trump et le prince héritier saoudien Mohammed ben Salmane. Un autre documentaire de Bryan Fogel, The Dissident devait être libéré le même jour, marquant le deuxième anniversaire de la mort de Khashoggi. Il a dépeint le meurtre à l'aide de séquences de surveillance invisibles et d'un accès sans précédent à d'autres détails de couverture.

En , l'Allemagne a assuré de prolonger l'embargo sur l'exportation d'armes vers l'Arabie saoudite jusqu'à la fin de 2021. Le gouvernement fédéral ne délivrerait pas de nouveaux permis d'exportation d'armes en 2021. Par ailleurs, le gouvernement allemand a imposé un embargo sur les ventes d'armes à l'Arabie saoudite en 2018, à la suite de la fin de la guerre au Yémen et en  après l'assassinat du journaliste Jamal Khashoggi.

Raytheon Technologies Corporation pourrait vendre les armes directement au gouvernement saoudien après avoir reçu la licence le , et cela malgré les critiques émanant de politiciens et de groupes de défense des droits de l’homme à propos de l’utilisation d’armes américaines par l’armée saoudienne contre des cibles civiles au Yémen.

Le 29 janvier 2021, dans le sillage de la nouvelle administration américaine, l'Italie annonce qu'elle arrêtera les ventes d'armes à l'Arabie saoudite et aux Émirats arabes unis. Ces deux pays sont impliqués dans la guerre au Yémen. En outre, il y avait une pression dans différents pays pour appeler à la fin des livraisons d'armes à Riyad et à Abou Dhabi. Cette décision est qualifiée d'« historique » par le Réseau italien pour la paix et le désarmement, selon lequel,  bombes ne seront pas livrées.

Forces armées 

L'Arabie saoudite consacre au budget militaire l'un des pourcentages les plus élevés du monde, ses dépenses militaires dépassant la barre des 10 % du PIB. Les forces armées saoudiennes se composent de l'Armée de terre saoudienne, de la Force aérienne royale saoudienne, de la Marine royale saoudienne, de la , de la  (la SANG en anglais, un organisme indépendant de l'armée), et les forces paramilitaires, pour un total de près de  en service actif. En 2005, les forces armées affichaient le personnel ci-après : pour l'Armée de terre,  ; pour l'armée de l'air,  ; pour la marine,  (dont ) ; et la SANG affichait  actifs et  tribaux. En outre, il y a le Al Mukhabarat Al Un'amah le service de renseignement militaire.

Le royaume dispose d'une longue relation militaire avec le Pakistan, il a longtemps été avancé que l'Arabie saoudite aurait secrètement financé le programme nucléaire pakistanais et chercherait à acquérir des armes atomiques au Pakistan, dans un avenir proche. La SANG n'est pas une réserve, mais une force de première ligne pleinement opérationnelle, et est issue de la tribu militaro-religieuse des Saoud, les Ikhwan. Son existence perdure, quoiqu'elle soit présentée comme étant, de fait, l'armée privative de feu Abdallah depuis les années 1960 et, que contrairement au reste des forces armées, elle est indépendante du Ministère de la Défense et de l'Aviation. La SANG contrebalançait les factions  dans la famille royale : le Prince Sultan, Ministre de la Défense et de l'Aviation, est l'un des soi-disant « Sept Sudairi » et contrôle le reste des forces armées.

Les dépenses de défense et de sécurité de l'Arabie saoudite ont considérablement augmenté depuis le milieu des années 1990. Elles atteignaient environ  de dollars en 2017, ce qui représente environ 10,3 % du produit intérieur brut et la classe au quatrième rang des pays qui dépensent le plus pour leurs forces armées. Son arsenal moderne de haute technologie fait de l'Arabie saoudite l'un des pays les plus puissamment armés du monde. Son équipement militaire est fourni principalement par les États-Unis, la France et le Royaume-Uni.

Les États-Unis ont vendu pour plus de  de dollars de matériel militaire entre 1951 et 2006, aux forces armées saoudiennes. Le , le Département d'État des États-Unis a notifié au Congrès son intention de conclure le plus grand marché de l'histoire américaine — une somme estimée à  de dollars de commandes par le royaume d'Arabie saoudite. Le package constitue une amélioration considérable de la capacité offensive des forces armées saoudiennes. 2013 a vu les dépenses militaires saoudiennes s'élever à  de dollars, dépassant celle du Royaume-Uni, de la France et du Japon au quatrième rang à l'échelle mondiale.

Le Royaume-Uni a également été l'un des principaux fournisseurs d'équipements militaires à l'Arabie saoudite depuis 1965. Depuis 1985, le Royaume-Uni a fourni des avions militaires — notamment les avions de combat Tornado et l'Eurofighter Typhoon et d'autres équipements dans le cadre d'un contrat de long terme le marché militaire Al-Yamamah estimé à une valeur de  de livres en 2006 et il est projeté un autre d'une valeur de  de livres. En , le géant britannique de la défense BAE a signé un marché de  de livres ( de dollars) pour la fourniture de jets d'entraînement Hawk à l'Arabie saoudite.

Selon le Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, le SIPRI, sur la période 2010-2014, l'Arabie saoudite est le deuxième plus grand importateur d'armes, recevant quatre fois plus d'armes majeures que sur la période 2005-2009. Les principales importations de 2010-2014 incluent  de combat du Royaume-Uni,  de combat des États-Unis, quatre avions ravitailleurs de l'Espagne et plus de  blindés du Canada. L'Arabie saoudite a une longue liste de commandes militaires en cours, dont  de combat supplémentaires du Royaume-Uni,  de combat des États-Unis et un grand nombre de véhicules blindés en provenance du Canada. L'Arabie saoudite a capté 41 % des exportations d'armes du Royaume-Uni, sur la période de 2010-2014.

En dépit de ces dépenses militaires très importantes, pour le géopoliticien Renaud Girard, « son instrument militaire est extrêmement faible » comme le montrerait son incapacité de faire face aux rebelles houthistes au Yémen.

En , des ONG canadiennes demandent d'arrêter l'exportation d'armes vers Riyad. Au total,  de défense des droits de l'homme, de contrôle des armements et de travailleurs, parmi lesquelles les sections canadiennes d'Amnesty International et d'Oxfam, écrivent une lettre ouverte au Premier ministre Justin Trudeau « sur les graves implications éthiques, juridiques, sur les droits humains et humanitaires » concernant ces exportations. En ,  et , des appels similaires ont été adressés au gouvernement mais sont restés sans réponse. Les ventes d'armes à l'Arabie saoudite s'élevaient à  de dollars en 2019. Après la mort du journaliste Jamal Khashoggi au consulat saoudien à Istanbul, Ottawa a suspendu les exportations d'armes vers Riyad mais les a reprises à partir d'.

En , Amnesty International a révélé que la France avait promu et soutenu financièrement et politiquement un campus militaire privé destiné à former des soldats saoudiens. Le camp d'entraînement militaire était situé à Commercy dans l'est de la France et était dirigé par l'armurier belge John Cockerill. Selon le rapport, la France se préparait à former des soldats saoudiens au maniement des dernières versions d'armes déjà utilisées dans le conflit au Yémen. En 2019, le gouvernement français a confirmé qu'une nouvelle cargaison d'armes était dirigée vers l'Arabie saoudite.

Selon le Groupement pour une Suisse sans Armée, durant les trois premiers semestres de 2020, l'Arabie saoudite a acheté du matériel de guerre à la Suisse pour  de francs suisses, alors même qu'elle est fortement impliquée dans la guerre au Yémen.

Prolifération nucléaire 

Le , l'Arabie saoudite a ratifié le Traité sur la non-prolifération des armes nucléaires, sans avoir pour autant signé le protocole additionnel de 1997 aux fins de vérification des accords de garantie.
Toutefois, selon le Sunday Times, citant un haut responsable américain en , l'Arabie saoudite, en parallèle avec l'Iran, aurait pris la décision stratégique d'acquérir des armes nucléaires au Pakistan. En effet, pour la journaliste Dominique Lorentz, plus de doute, l'Iran est aujourd'hui une puissance nucléaire. Or, dans ce cas de figure, , chef du renseignement militaire d’Israël, avait commenté que si l’Iran avait la bombe, « les Saoudiens n’attendront pas un mois. Ils ont déjà payé pour la bombe, ils iront au Pakistan et ils prendront ce dont ils ont besoin ». Dans ces conditions, toujours selon le Sunday Times, l’Arabie saoudite aurait donc demandé au Pakistan, dont elle finance depuis trente ans le programme nucléaire, un remboursement de sa dette sous la forme de bombes atomiques disponibles à volonté, mais dont le « produit fini » resterait stationné au Pakistan.

Le , le Parlement européen, lors d'une session plénière à Bruxelles, a adopté une résolution, à une large majorité des eurodéputés, pour un embargo sur les livraisons d'armes des pays de l'Union européenne à destination de l'Arabie saoudite. Dans le même sens, le , le Parlement hollandais a adopté une résolution interdisant l'exportation d'armes vers l'Arabie saoudite.

En 2015, l'Arabie saoudite affichait le troisième plus gros budget militaire du monde, avec  de dollars, après les États-Unis ( de dollars) et la Chine (estimé à  de dollars). Sur une période de dix ans (2006-2015), son budget a augmenté de +97 %. Selon l'Institut international de recherche sur la paix de Stockholm (Sipri), avec  par habitant, l'Arabie saoudite est devenue la championne des dépenses militaires par habitant, devant Oman () et Israël (). Autre record mondial, l'Arabie saoudite consacre jusqu'à 13 % de son PIB pour le budget de la défense, lorsque la plupart des pays se bornent à dépenser entre 2 et 4 % de leur PIB.

Droit 

Le droit saoudien est officiellement fondé sur la charia. Toutefois, selon des recherches conduites par le Réseau international de solidarité WMUML en 2011 sur les lois dites islamiques (dénommées à tort charia), il s'avère qu'en réalité, elles seraient basées sur la tradition et la coutume. Le terme charia est instrumentalisé par les autorités religieuses ou gouvernementales du pays afin de leur donner une soi-disant légitimité religieuse, mais avant tout pour établir, rétablir ou renforcer le patriarcat de la société.

Pour la hedjazie Suhayla Zayn al-Abidin, le wahhabisme a servi à légitimer ce qui n’est rien d’autre que des coutumes locales najdies : « alors que l’islam a permis l’ijtihad (l’interprétation des textes) dans le but de s’adapter aux circonstances correspondant aux différents lieux et aux différentes époques, un groupe d’oulémas, qui n’est pas peu nombreux, s’est contenté de proclamer des interdictions au nom de sadd al-dharaʿi (« blocage des moyens », principe-clé du droit wahhabite). Ceux d’entre eux qui ont appliqué ce principe à la femme l’ont fait parce qu’ils la regardent avec des yeux païens (jahiliyya), et la traitent selon des coutumes et des traditions païennes, qui ne sont en rien une application de ce qu’a apporté l’islam » (in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, ).

L’assistance d'un avocat avant le procès et la représentation légale en salle est régulièrement déniée aux prévenus. Les accusés sont parfois reconnus coupables sur la base d'« aveux » obtenus sous la torture ou les mauvais traitements. S'agissant des étrangers, beaucoup ne bénéficient pas de services de traduction adaptés durant leur procès et ont signé des documents – notamment des « aveux » – qu'ils ne comprennent pas.

De nombreux crimes sont passibles de la peine de mort, comme l'homicide volontaire, le viol, le vol à main armée, la sorcellerie, l’adultère, la sodomie, l'apostasie, le prosélytisme non-musulman, le trafic de stupéfiants, le sabotage, l'espionnage, la trahison ou la défiance vis-à-vis de la famille royale. En Arabie saoudite, les exécutés sont très généralement décapités au sabre, en particulier pour apostasie, ou lapidés pour l'adultère, rarement par d'autres méthodes comme la crucifixion ou l'arme à feu. Le fait de demander des réformes pour le pays est passible de prison. Le fait de détenir des bouteilles de vin est passible de coups de fouet.

Le fait de propager des contenus à caractère pornographique est passible de cinq ans de prison et d'une amende de  de riyals saoudiens, soit environ . Dans le cadre du programme de sécurité de la famille, une nouvelle loi de 2016 prévoit que le fait pour une femme de violer la vie privée de son mari en consultant son téléphone portable sans en avertir celui-ci ou sans son contentement (la réciproque n'étant pas vraie), est désormais passible de coups de fouet, d'une peine de prison ou d'une amende. Par ailleurs, les étrangers jugés « trop beaux » (peu important qu'ils soient musulmans ou non) sont considérés par le comité pour la promotion de la vertu et la prévention du vice comme des « tentateurs » et font donc l'objet d'une mesure de reconduite à la frontière manu militari pour prévenir tout trouble à l'ordre public.

Depuis le début de l'année 2016, les autorités ont fait exécuter plus de , criminels, opposants au régime ou manifestants laïcs (selon un décompte AFP sur la base d'annonces officielles). L'année 2015 constituait déjà un record en la matière avec pas moins de 153 exécutions, contre 90 exécutions en 2014, ce qui confirme le rythme « sans précédent » observé par Amnesty International. Toujours en 2015, les autorités avaient publié une offre d'emploi pour recruter 8 bourreaux. 

Par ailleurs, l'abolition de l'esclavage en 1968 n'est que théorique, puisqu'il perdure de fait dans la péninsule arabique sous des formes très diverses allant de l'esclave domestique à l'esclave sexuel.

De nombreux colloques se sont tenus en Arabie saoudite pour condamner les attentats-suicides, l'agression physique des personnes civiles et les attentats du 11 septembre 2001, entre autres, comme contraires à l'islam. Un décret royal de  punit de trois à vingt ans de prison toute « appartenance à des courants religieux ou intellectuels, à des groupes ou à des formations définis comme terroristes nationalement, régionalement ou internationalement ; tout appui quel qu’il soit à leur idéologie ou à leur vision, toute expression d’une quelconque sympathie avec eux », le mot « terrorisme » incluant l’athéisme et toute mise en cause des principes fondamentaux de la religion ainsi que pour une femme enfreignant l'interdiction de conduire.

Depuis les attentats du , le royaume wahhabite tolérait, dans les faits, l'homosexualité des Saoudiens qui n'étaient plus poursuivis à ce titre.

Droits de l'homme 

L'Arabie saoudite est l'un des pays qui respecte le moins les droits de l'homme, avec l'un des pires bilans en ce domaine. Les droits d'expression, d'association et la liberté d'opinion ne sont pas garantis. Les droits des femmes sont très limités, la liberté religieuse est minimaliste et les droits LGBT sont inexistants. Les autorités considèrent toute voix dissidente comme du terrorisme. L'Arabie saoudite figure en  sur 180 au classement mondial de la liberté de la presse établi par RSF en 2015.

Alors que l'ambassadeur de l'Arabie saoudite à l'Office des Nations-Unies, , est nommé le  à la tête du panel du Conseil des droits de l'Homme, de nombreuses associations des droits de l'Homme ont manifesté leur désaccord avec cette nomination en raison de l'exécution de plus de  depuis le début de l'année 2015 en Arabie saoudite. Cette vague de protestations s'est amplifiée avec l'annonce de l'exécution d'Ali Mohammed al-Nimr.

Le , l'Arabie saoudite empêche la mise en place d’une enquête internationale sur la conduite de ses frappes aériennes au Yémen. Pour Karim Lahidji, président de la FIDH : « C’est là la vraie victoire de l’Arabie saoudite à l’ONU, et non comme on a pu l’entendre la nomination quelques semaines plus tôt de son ambassadeur à la tête du comité consultatif du Conseil des droits de l’Homme, une position honorifique mais aux pouvoirs restreints». En effet, selon un responsable de l'administration américaine, la coalition conduite par les Saoudiens a recours à des armes à sous-munitions (interdites en droit international) dans le conflit armé au Yémen.

Raif Badawi, auteur du blog Free Saudi Liberals visant à ouvrir le dialogue social, est arrêté en 2012 et condamné en 2013 à plus de  de bâton pour avoir critiqué les autorités religieuses saoudiennes, il devient une cause célèbre internationale sur le sujet des droits de l'homme et est récipiendaire en 2015 du prix Sakharov.

Le , à effet de dévoiler la réalité des droits de l'Homme en Arabie saoudite, l'ONG Front Line produit un documentaire de , intitulé Saudi Arabia Uncovered, de James Jones, tourné essentiellement en caméra caché.

Afin de se prémunir de critiques des gouvernements occidentaux sur les droits de l'homme, l'Arabie saoudite n'hésite pas à recourir à des mesures de rétorsion financières à leur encontre et, selon Le Point, « cela fonctionne ».

En 2019, l'athéisme et l'homosexualité restent passibles de la peine de mort en Arabie saoudite, l'athéisme pouvant tomber sous le coup de la loi antiterroriste.

Le , Human Rights Watch (HRW) affirme que des milliers de migrants éthiopiens au Yémen avaient été expulsés de force vers l'Arabie saoudite par les Houthis, en avril de la même année. Plusieurs dizaines de migrants sont tués au poste frontière d'al-Ghar (province de Sa'dah) au cours d'un accrochage entre Houtis et gardes-frontières saoudiens. AP précise que . Les migrants interrogés par HRW font aussi état, à la suite de ces déplacements, de mauvais traitements de la part des forces saoudiennes et de détention dans des conditions insalubres en Arabie saoudite. Et l'organisation ajoute que  Enfin, HRW a exhorté les autorités houthi et saoudiennes à enquêter sur les meurtres et les abus subis par les migrants éthiopiens.

En , Al-Jabri, dans la plainte de 106 pages déposée devant un tribunal de Washington contre le prince héritier Mohammed ben Salmane, avance que le prince avait envoyé une escouade saoudienne pour l'assassiner deux semaines seulement après le meurtre du dissident Jamal Khashoggi. Cependant, il aurait été sauvé, après que les gardes-frontières ont repéré l'escouade de mercenaires à l'aéroport international Pearson de Toronto. Quelques jours plus tard, le tribunal américain répond à la plainte et émet une assignation à comparaître contre le dirigeant arabe. Le , l'Arabie saoudite arrête le gendre de Saad Aljabri, Salem Almuzaini. Dans une déclaration qu'elle a tweetée, la famille de Jabri affirme que .

Un article publié par The Guardian en  dénonce la condition de vie dans les centres de détention saoudiens où sont enfermés les étrangers qui travaillent illégalement dans le royaume. Les travailleurs clandestins incarcérés vivent dans des conditions de surpeuplement et d'insalubrité, beaucoup dorment sur des lits en métal et boivent de l'eau dans les toilettes. En outre, dans ces centres, beaucoup de personnes sont victimes de violences physiques et n'ont pas accès aux soins. À l'heure du danger que présente la pandémie de COVID-19, les détenus courent également un risque élevé d'être infectés dans des établissements surpeuplés.

En , deux groupes de défense des droits de l'homme, ALQST basé à Londres et MENA Rights Group, basé à Genève, annoncent vouloir porter plainte conjointement auprès de l'Organisation des Nations unies à propos de la détention arbitraire de Salmane ben Abdul Aziz () en Arabie saoudite. Arrêté en  avec son père sans que l'on sache pourquoi, le prince Salmane est détenu pendant environ un an dans la prison d'Al Hayer, un établissement de haute-sécurité, et retenu ensuite dans une villa à Riyad. Transféré dans un autre lieu de détention, il est ramené à la villa de Riyad, à la suite de pressions américaines. Selon Ines Osman, directrice du MENA Rights Group, le prince Salmane et son père sont détenus depuis deux ans et demi sans base légale, puisqu'ils n'ont pas été inculpés. Le , membre du Parlement européen, Marc Tarabella déclare dans une lettre à l'ambassadeur saoudien auprès de l'Union européenne que le prince Salmane ben Abdulaziz et son père avaient été expulsés de la villa et emmenés dans un lieu secret.

Le , un article de The Daily Telegraph révèle que l'Arabie saoudite détenait des milliers de migrants africains dans un centre de détention dans des conditions horribles (heinous conditions), dans le cadre d'une campagne visant à arrêter la propagation du Covid-19. Des vidéos ayant fuité montrent des hommes torse nu, allongés en rangs serrés dans de petites pièces avec les fenêtres tenues fermées. L'un d'entre eux relève qu'ils ont été « traités comme des animaux et battus tous les jours. » Un autre souligne qu'ils ont eu « à peine de quoi se nourrir et juste assez d'eau pour survivre ».

Le , un autre article du The Daily Telegraph révèle que le gouvernement éthiopien avait tenté de faire taire des centaines de ses propres citoyens retenus dans des « centres de détention infernaux » en Arabie saoudite et qu'il avait « dissimulé des allégations d'abus horribles ». Le journal relève que les conditions du centre de détention d'Arabie saoudite sont inadéquates et que les gens « meurent de coup de chaleur, de maladie ou se suicident ». Or, dans un document portant le sceau officiel du Consulat éthiopien à Djedda, les autorités éthiopiennes ont menacé leurs ressortissants de « poursuites juridiques » s'ils continuaient à publier sur les réseaux sociaux des informations et vidéos sur les centres de détention, arguant que de telles informations sont « cause de détresse pour les familles et la communauté éthiopienne dans son ensemble ».

En août 2020, l'ancien secrétaire général de la fondation, Bader al-Asaker et le prince Mohammed ben Salmane sont accusés par Saad Aljabri de tentative d'assassinat contre lui. En septembre 2020, l'Arabie saoudite avait mis en examen l'organisation caritative phare du prince héritier Mohammed ben Salmane, Misk, après avoir été mêlée à de présumés scandales.

Le , l'Arabie saoudite échoue dans sa tentative d'obtenir une place au Conseil des droits de l'homme des Nations unies, tandis que la Russie, la Chine et Cuba l'intègrent pour les trois prochaines années. C'est coup dur pour le royaume, qui souhaite améliorer son image depuis le meurtre du dissident saoudien Jamal Khashoggi.

Le , Loujain Al-Hathloul entame une deuxième grève de la faim afin d'avoir plus de contacts avec sa famille. En août, elle reprend sa grève de la faim, après avoir été sans contact avec sa famille pendant au moins six semaines. La pandémie de Covid-19 a été utilisée comme argument pour lui refuser tout contact de mars à août. Le , Loujain Al-Hathloul est transféré devant un tribunal spécial pour terrorisme et crimes de sécurité nationale. Le , Hathloul est condamné à cinq ans et huit mois de prison. Le même jour, la France et l'Allemagne exigent la libération rapide de Loujain.

Le , Hatice Cengiz écrit une lettre ouverte au chanteur Justin Bieber pour annuler sa programmation 5 décembre 2021 Performance à Jeddah.

En , l'Arabie saoudite organise le festival de Soundstorm du MDL Beast dans le royaume, . La présence de nombreux DJ et interprètes du monde entier dont Alesso, David Guetta et DJ Snake est critiquée par l'organisation Human Rights Watch pour qui les superstars auraient dû choisir entre participer en dénonçant les violations des droits de l'homme par le royaume, ou ne pas participer. MDL Beast a utilisé des influenceurs et des superstars de l'industrie de la musique pour aider à restaurer l'image du pays depuis sa création en 2019.

L'Arabie Saoudite est régulièrement accusée par de nombreuses organisations de défense des droits de l'homme d'espionner, d'enlever et torturer des dissidents, ce qu'elle nie. Le , Ahmad Abouammo, un ancien employé de Twitter, est reconnu coupable d'espionner des dissidents saoudiens sur les plateformes de médias sociaux et de partager leurs informations personnelles avec l'Arabie saoudite, en échange de centaines de milliers de dollars et d'une montre de luxe. Il a été condamné à une peine de 10 à .

En , un tribunal saoudien condamne une étudiante à  de prison pour avoir « fourni de l'aide », via ses tweets, à des opposants politiques qui cherchent à « troubler l'ordre public ». Salma Al-Chehab, âgée de , publiait régulièrement des messages en faveur des droits des femmes dans le royaume. Le , les Nations unies ont appelé à la sortie immédiate et inconditionnelle de Salma. Le , la ministre des Affaires étrangères Liz Truss a été appelée à intervenir dans le cas « scandaleux » de Salma. De plus, partout dans le monde, les défenseurs des droits de l'homme ont appelé à libérer Salma. Elle a été arrêtée en  lorsqu'elle était en vacances en Arabie saoudite et initialement condamnée à six ans de prison. Le , FIDH ainsi que  de défense des droits de l'homme ont appelé la communauté internationale à inscrire les autorités saoudiennes à la libérer immédiatement et inconditionnellement.

Le même mois, une femme saoudienne Nourah al-Qahtani est condamnée à  de prison pour « utilisation d’Internet dans le but de diviser la société », et « atteinte à l’ordre public ». Elle est détenue depuis .

Husain ben Abdullah ben Yusuf Alsadeq, un militant saoudien, a été condamné à neuf ans de prison en 2018, qui a été augmenté à  après un appel en 2021. Il a été illégalement arrêté pour de fausses allégations d'insulte du gouvernement saoudien et le roi lors d'une conversation avec le maire de Tarout concernant le Stampede 2015 au pèlerinage annuel du Hajj en Arabie saoudite. Il a été détenu illégalement le  en violation de l'alliance et des paragraphes 9 et 14 de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme. En outre, ADHRB a aussi appelé sa libération immédiate et une action appropriée à faire contre les coupables pour violation de ses droits.

Torture 
La torture est une pratique courante et bien documentée en Arabie saoudite.
 En 2002, après la révélation par The Guardian de la torture subie lors d'interrogatoires par trois ressortissants britanniques dans un bâtiment du ministère de l'intérieur, Hanny Megally, directeur exécutif de la division Moyen-Orient et Afrique du Nord de Human Rights Watch déclare : « la pratique de la torture en Arabie Saoudite est bien documentée, et le gouvernement est légalement obligé d'enquêter sur ces récentes allégations. ».
 En 2018, à l'issue d'une inspection officielle de cinq jours du pays à l'invitation du gouvernement, l'Organisation des Nations unies a conclu que l'Arabie saoudite utilise systématiquement des lois antiterroristes pour justifier la torture, réprimer toute contestation et emprisonner les défenseurs des droits de l'homme.

Maltraitance d'enfants 
Selon un rapport de l'ONU en date du , intitulé « Le sort des enfants en temps de conflit armé », l'Arabie saoudite serait impliquée dans la mort de plus de  dans le cadre de son intervention contre la rébellion houthie au Yémen.

Par ailleurs, selon une étude menée par le Docteur Nura Al-Suwaiyan, directeur du programme de sécurité de la famille à la , un enfant sur quatre est maltraité en Arabie saoudite. La  rapporte que près de 45 % des enfants du pays sont confrontés à une certaine forme de violence et à la violence domestique. En 2013, le gouvernement a adopté une loi criminalisant la violence domestique à l'encontre des enfants.

Trafic d'êtres humains 
Il a été affirmé que la traite des femmes est un problème particulier en Arabie saoudite, à raison du grand nombre d'employées de maison qui sont étrangères au pays (en particulier Mauritaniennes), et des failles dans le système aboutissant à ce que nombre d'entre elles sont victimes de mauvais traitements et de torture, sous la forme d'esclavage.

Situation des femmes 
Dès leur naissance, les Saoudiennes sont placées par la charia sous l'autorité légale d'un homme, le « gardien » (mahram), qui peut être leur père, leur mari, leur frère, leur oncle ou même leur fils. Les femmes ne peuvent rien entreprendre sans l'autorisation de leur « gardien », elles ne peuvent ni travailler, ni se marier, ni même se faire ausculter par un médecin (femme), sans l'agrément d'un homme. De ce fait, quels que soient les droits accordés aux femmes (droit de vote, de conduire, etc.), ces droits restent dépendants de la permission du tuteur, ce qui se traduit dans les faits par la privation de ces droits. La plupart des mariages sont arrangés, mais se concluent dans environ 20 % des cas par un divorce, la garde étant la plupart du temps confiée au père. Non accompagnées d'un tuteur, les femmes n'ont pas le droit de sortir dans un espace public, où les membres du comité pour le commandement de la vertu et la répression du vice (Hai'a, une agence gouvernementale qui contrôle l'application de la charia) veillent à ce qu'elles portent bien le voile.

Selon Gérard-François Dumont, de l'Académie de géopolitique de Paris, l’espérance de vie à la naissance des Saoudiennes s'avère étonnamment faible eu égard à la rente pétrolière. D'un point de vue strictement féminin, les Saoudiennes ont une espérance de vie inférieure de deux ans à celle des Tunisiennes, et de dix ans à celle des Françaises. D'un point de vue plus masculin, les Saoudiennes vivent seulement deux ans de plus que les Saoudiens, lorsque les Tunisiennes vivent quatre ans de plus que les Tunisiens et les Françaises atteignent sept ans de plus que les Français.

L'Arabie saoudite impose une stricte séparation des sexes. La plupart des maisons, banques ou universités ont une entrée pour les hommes et une entrée pour les femmes.

En 2005, l'Arabie saoudite affiche un taux de travail féminin parmi les plus bas du monde (18 %). Le ministre du Travail Ghazi Al-Gosaibi promulgue alors une loi pour autoriser les femmes à travailler dans les magasins de lingerie ; elle n'est en réalité appliquée que plus tard, à cause de l'opposition des religieux conservateurs, même si les agents Hai'a procèdent de temps à autre à la fermeture de certains de ces magasins. Jusque-là, les Saoudiennes diplômées qui travaillaient étaient limitées aux secteurs de l'enseignement pour filles ou de la médecine pour les femmes patientes. Les femmes qui travaillent disposent de leur propre compte bancaire. La plupart des Saoudiens souhaitent que leurs filles passent le baccalauréat ; par ailleurs, 42 % des étudiants dans les universités sont des jeunes filles.

Le , le roi Abdallah accorde le droit de vote aux femmes aux élections municipales ainsi que leur éligibilité. Toutefois, il est à noter que les Saoudiennes n'ont voté qu'en 2015 (dans des isoloirs séparés) ; que les candidates (sous réserves d'être autorisées et couvertes de l'abaya) n'ont pas eu le droit de prendre la parole en public ; et que les élues (après plusieurs incidents) n'ont pas eu non plus le droit de siéger dans la même pièce que leurs collègues masculins. En 2012, le roi Abdallah autorise les femmes à vendre de la lingerie et des cosmétiques. Pour lutter contre le chômage des femmes, ce commerce (d'articles exclusivement féminins) est désormais réservé aux seules Saoudiennes, qui n'auront plus besoin de permis de travail dans ce secteur. En 2015, son successeur, le roi Salmane accorde aux femmes le droit de voyager sans qu'un « gardien » ne les accompagne, ni ne donne son autorisation pour qu'elles voyagent sans lui. Concrètement, les Saoudiennes n'auront plus besoin de se munir d'un papier jaune par lequel leur « gardien » les autorisait à partir à l’étranger et elles ne seront plus suspendues à une éventuelle opposition de dernière minute par retour de SMS au moment de quitter le territoire saoudien. La même année, le roi Salmane accorde aux veuves et aux divorcées (seulement) une carte d'identité pour leur permettre d'effectuer des démarches basiques, mais sans autre précision quant à la date d'entrée en vigueur de cette réforme. En 2016, les Saoudiennes se voient accorder le droit de signer leur propre contrat de mariage et d'en obtenir une copie afin de leur permettre de « prendre connaissance » de leurs « droits » et des « termes du contrat ».

Le , un décret signé du roi Salmane annonce que les femmes sont désormais autorisées à se rendre à l’étranger sans requérir au préalable l’agrément du référent masculin qui leur tient de gardien. Le texte dispose qu’un passeport saoudien doit être délivré à tout citoyen qui en fait la demande et que toute personne âgée d’au moins , sans distinction de sexe, peut voyager comme elle l’entend. Le décret dispose également que les femmes peuvent déclarer officiellement une naissance, un mariage ou un divorce et être titulaires de l’autorité parentale sur leurs enfants mineurs. Des prérogatives jusqu’ici réservées aux hommes.

Le , les autorités saoudiennes nomment dix femmes à des postes de responsabilité dans les deux saintes mosquées du pays.

D'autres mesures suivent, comme la fin de la ségrégation des sexes dans les restaurants. Par ailleurs le nombre de femmes travaillant ou en recherche active d'emploi augmente fortement, passant de  à  entre 2018 et 2021 puis  en 2022.

Permis de conduire 
Pendant de longues années, l'Arabie saoudite est pointée du doigt car les femmes y sont interdites du droit de conduire. C'était le dernier pays au monde à pratiquer cette interdiction, alors qu'en 2014 le pays autorisait une aviatrice diplômée, à piloter un avion à titre professionnel. Selon un journal saoudien, cette mesure coûte près de  de dollars à l'économie saoudienne du fait de l'emploi de chauffeurs privés ou de taxi. Régulièrement, des femmes bravent cette interdiction en se filmant en train de conduire afin de faire évoluer la situation. En , un prêcheur saoudien déclare que l'interdiction de conduire imposée aux femmes se justifierait, car elles n'ont que le  du cerveau d'un homme. Bien que cette déclaration ait obtenu des soutiens de milieux conservateurs, les autorités saoudiennes lui interdisent de prêcher en expliquant . Le , le roi Salman d’Arabie saoudite signe un décret autorisant les femmes à conduire. La mesure est entrée en vigueur le  à minuit, mais les premières autorisations ont été délivrées aux saoudiennes dès le début du mois. Certaines femmes n'ont eu parfois qu'à échanger leurs permis étrangers contre des permis saoudiens après avoir passé un test. Selon le cabinet de consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers, quelque trois millions de Saoudiennes pourraient se voir attribuer un permis et commencer à conduire d'ici 2020.

Consanguinité 

Le mariage entre cousins du premier ou deuxième degré, en Arabie saoudite, est parmi les taux les plus élevés dans le monde, environ 35 %. Traditionnellement considérée comme un moyen de « sécuriser les relations entre les tribus et la préservation de la fortune de la famille », la pratique a été citée comme un facteur dans les taux plus élevés de maladies génétiques sévères comme la mucoviscidose (fibrose kystique), les maladies du sang, le diabète de type 2 (qui affecte environ 32 % des adultes saoudiens), l'hypertension (qui affecte 33 %), la thalassémie, la drépanocytose, l'amyotrophie spinale, la surdité et le mutisme.  a écrit sur un site web nommé To The Point que : « Cela a conduit récemment des théologiens wahhabites à conseiller préventivement aux jeunes hommes de . »

Économie 

En 2018, l'Arabie saoudite était la  plus grande économie du monde (PIB nominal) et la  d'Asie. C'est également la première économie du monde arabe. En 2022, le pays est classé en  pour l'indice mondial de l'innovation.

Industrie pétrolière 
L'Arabie saoudite est membre de l'OPEP et sa compagnie nationale Saudi Aramco est la première productrice mondiale de pétrole. Le pays a dominé le palmarès des producteurs OPEP pendant la décennie 2010. En 2012, les revenus des exportations pétrolières (pétrole brut et dérivés) atteignent leur pic historique à hauteur de  de dollars. Aussi le krach sur le cours du baril qui passe de  fin 2014 à  en , a mis le budget 2015 en déficit de , celui de 2016 étant estimé à . En 2017, les revenus pétroliers chutent à . En 2018, le pétrole représente 31 % du PIB et 79 % des recettes d'exportations, l'activité économique non-pétrolière du pays reste fortement tributaire des dépenses publiques, ces dernières corrélées aux cours du pétrole. Entre 2010 et 2019, la part des revenus pétroliers sur l'ensemble des revenus chutent de 90 % à 65%.

L'exploitation et l'exportation du pétrole ont fortement développé l'activité économique de la côte nord-est du pays, autour de Dammam, Khobar et Dhahran avec le port d'Al-Jubayl, ainsi que la côte sur la mer Rouge (Djeddah, Yanbu).

Industrie chimique 
L'industrie chimique est le  économique du pays dans les exportations, avec  de revenus générés en 2018 l’Arabie saoudite se positionne comme le plus grand producteur de la région et le  mondiale de produit chimique d'après la . SABIC, La plus importante entreprise saoudienne dans le domaine de la chimie, a été classé  mondial dans le C&EN's Global Top 50 chemical companies of 2018.

Tourisme religieux 
Le pèlerinage du Hajj et de la Omra représentent la  plus importante source extérieure de revenus (derrière les exportations de pétrole et de produits chimiques), elle rapporterait (en temps normal)  de revenus annuels.

Composition des exportations 

The Atlas of Economic Complexity

Composition sectorielle du PIB

Stratégie de diversification 
Pour diversifier son économie l'Arabie saoudite mise sur le secteur des énergies non carbonées, avec un plan de  de dollars pour construire  nucléaires d'ici 2030, et sur l'énergie solaire avec  milliards pour construire  de panneaux photovoltaïques en plein désert équivalent en énergie à  nucléaires.

En 2016, afin de réduire la dépendance de l'économie saoudienne vis-à-vis du pétrole, le prince Mohammed ben Salmane annonce une série de mesures dans le cadre d'un grand programme baptisé Vision 2030, qui prévoit la baisse des subventions, de nouvelles taxes, et la création d'un fonds souverain à partir des recettes de la vente de 5 % du capital de Saudi Aramco.

Sur le modèle des fonds norvégiens ou qataris, ce fonds d'environ  de dollars serait chargé d'effectuer des investissements à l'étranger dans différents secteurs comme la technologie, les transports, l'industrie ou l'immobilier, afin de diversifier les recettes et de préparer l'après pétrole. Parmi les premiers investissements importants, une levée de  de dollars pour l'entreprise Uber permet au dirigeant du fonds Yasir Al Rumayyan d'entrer au conseil d’administration de l'entreprise californienne.

Dans le chantier destiné à diversifier son secteur énergétique, et plus largement son économie, l’Arabie saoudite affiche l'objectif de produire 10 % de son électricité à partir de sources d’énergies renouvelables en 2023 et d'en exporter les technologies.

En , l'Arabie saoudite et le groupe japonais SoftBank Group signent un partenariat visant à développer un méga-projet solaire dans le royaume avec l'objectif de construire  de capacité d'ici 2030.

Pauvreté 
Les estimations du nombre de Saoudiens vivant en dessous du seuil de pauvreté se situent entre 12,7 % et 25 % de la population. Les rapports de presse privés et les estimations pour 2013 suggèrent que « entre deux et quatre millions » de Saoudiens de souche vivent avec un revenu « inférieur à  par mois » – environ  par jour – considéré comme le seuil de pauvreté en Arabie Saoudite. À l'inverse, la fortune personnelle du roi Abdallah est évaluée par le magazine Forbes à  de dollars.

Travailleurs étrangers 
Le pays compte environ six millions d'immigrés bénéficiant de peu de droits.

Les travailleurs étrangers constituent environ 30 % de la population du pays en 2011 pour 53,3 % de sa population active courant année 2013. Elle représente  employés (53,4 %) en comparaison aux  saoudiens employés (46,6 %).

Principales villes 

En projet : .

Science 
La recherche scientifique est organisée et coordonnée au niveau national par la .

Une stratégie nationale pour le développement de la science, de l'innovation et de la technologie dans le royaume a été mise en place en 2006, elle a pour ambition de transformer l'économie saoudienne en une économie fondée sur la connaissance et compétitive au niveau mondial.

Cette vision est échelonnée en quatre plans quinquennaux :
 Le premier plan constituait en l’établissement d'une infrastructure solide pour la science, la technologie et l'innovation (2006-2011).
 Le deuxième plan vise à placer le pays aux premiers rangs de la région dans ces domaines (2011-2015).
 Le troisième à placer le pays au niveau des pays développés d'Asie (2015-2020).
 Le quatrième plan à placer le royaume au niveau des pays les plus avancés au monde (2020-2025).

La production scientifique saoudienne, bien qu'historiquement faible, est entrée dans une phase de croissance rapide depuis 2008.

Cela est dû non seulement à une stratégie visant à augmenter le niveau de collaboration avec les institutions de recherche les plus renommées au monde via une collaboration internationale universitaire accrue et l'ouverture de plusieurs centres de recherche commun (voir JCEP), mais également à une augmentation des fonds financiers alloués à la R&D dans le pays passant de 0,08 % du PIB en 2008 à près 1 % du PIB en 2014 selon les estimations de la revue Nature, pour un des secteurs R&D les plus efficients au monde en termes de rapport Qualité/Coût.

L'Arabie saoudite est citée dans le rapport Nature Publishing Index 2012 comme l'un des cinq pays à surveiller pour la croissance de leur publication scientifique dans la revue scientifique Nature, en 2013 le royaume est également cité dans un rapport de Thomson Reuters sur les performances scientifiques du G20 comme pays gagnant du poids dans le monde de la science.

À la suite de l'implémentation du plan Vision 2030, une révision du plan scientifique NSTIP (National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy) est mise en place, incluant notamment plusieurs programmes stratégiques d'investissement visant a augmenter les dépenses intérieure brute de R&D (DIRD) de 0,8 % en 2017 a 2,5 % en 2020.

Institutions scientifiques de premier plan 

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology 
La  est l'agence nationale scientifique saoudienne, elle dispose de 7 instituts regroupant 28 centres de recherche.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology 
La KAUST est une université de recherche privée mixte internationale sise à Thuwal. Elle est inaugurée en 2009 avec une dotation gouvernementale de , l'institution est comparée à une nouvelle Maison de la sagesse. Elle figure à la  du top 500 académique mondial dans le classement Nature Index 2020, est classé premier mondial en citation par faculté depuis cinq années consécutives par le QS World University Rankings et fait partie des 10 meilleures universités de recherche de moins de  dans le monde.

King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center 
La  est une institution de recherche indépendante à but non lucratif spécialisée dans les politiques énergétiques. En 2020, elle est placée à la  du classement 2019 Top Energy and Resource Policy Think Tanks.

King Abdullah International Medical Research Center’s 
La KAIMRC est une institution de premier plan dans la recherche clinique et biomédicale en Arabie saoudite.
Elle dispose de nombreux laboratoires et centres de recherche dans le pays. L'organisation fait également office de coordinateur et partenaire au niveau national avec les départements de recherche clinique et biomédicale de deux autres institutions (MNG-HA et KSAU-HS).

En 2020, l'institution réalise la première étude mondiale sur le traitement du MERS.

Les publications scientifiques combinées de la KAIMRC avec la MNG-HA (Ministry of National Guard - Health Affairs) et la KSAU-HS (King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences) auraient augmenté de 300 % entre 2015 et 2019 selon un rapport de l'institution.

King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre 

Le  est un établissement médical tertiaire et de recherche situé à Riyadh. Cet hôpital est régulièrement reconnu au niveau international pour l'excellence de ses soins, et est le centre national de référence de recherche dans les domaines de l'oncologie, de la transplantation d'organes, des maladies cardiovasculaires ou encore des maladies génétiques.

En 2014, son service de radio-oncologie accueille le premier laboratoire actif de la région du Moyen-Orient offrant des services de  ionisant.

L'établissement est classé en  dans le monde arabe et en  au Moyen-Orient dans la catégorie médicale du classement scientifique  pour l'année 2020.

Publication scientifique 
Selon l'indice de mesure scientifique SCImago, l'Arabie saoudite se situe en 2020 à la  par rapport au nombre d'articles publiés et à la  par rapport au nombre de citations d'articles, au Moyen-Orient le royaume figure à la  derrière l'Iran et la Turquie en nombre d'articles publiés (mais en  en nombre de citations d'articles).

En 2020, l'Arabie saoudite est particulièrement active (en nombres d'articles publiés) dans les domaines du Génie chimique (), de la Chimie (), de l'Informatique (), de l'Odontologie (), de l'Énergie (), de l'Ingénierie (), de la Science des matériaux (), des Mathématiques (), de la science Interdisciplinaire (), de la Pharmacologie, Toxicologie et Pharmacotechnie (), de la Physique et de la Astronomie ()

Dans le classement Nature Index 2020 dédié a la recherche de haute qualité le pays figure à la , la KAUST contribuant à hauteur de 78 % au classement du pays.

Selon des données issue de Web of Science, l'Arabie saoudite aurait réalisé un bond spectaculaire dans la publication d'articles scientifiques dans le domaine des nanotechnologies passant de  publiés sur base annuelle entre 2008 et 2020.

Innovation 
Selon l'OMPI  ont été déposés par des personnes ou organisations résidents ou basées en Arabie saoudite pour l'année 2020, plaçant ce pays à la  mondiale (comparativement à la  en 2008 avec  déposés). Les trois institutions saoudiennes ayant déposé le plus de brevets internationaux (a travers le système PCT) en 2019 sont : 

Saudi Aramco figurant à la  au rang global dans le classement Top PCT Applicants avec  déposés.

SABIC figurant à la  au rang global dans le classement Top PCT Applicants avec  déposés.

La KAUST figurant à la  au rang global mais également à la  mondiale dans le classement dédié aux institutions éducatives avec  déposés (classement Top PCT Applicants).

D’après Statnano, l'Arabie saoudite était en 2019 le  pays le plus innovant dans les nanotechnologies.

Incubateurs et accélérateurs de start-ups 
 Badir Technology Incubators and Accelerators Program (2007)
 Riyadh Valley Company (2010)
 Wa’ed - Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Center (2011)
 Flat6Labs Jeddah (2013)
 Entrepreneurship Institute - Center for Business Incubators (2013)
 Wadi Makkah (2014)
 9/10ths Startup Accelerator (2016)
 BIAC - Business Incubator and Accelerator Company (2016)
 TAQADAM Accelerator Startups (2016)
 Blossom - Female Accelerator (2017)
 Taibah Valley Innovation Hub (2018)
 Misk500 Accelerator Program (2018)
  - Forward Accelerator (2019)
 FinTech Accelerator (2019)
 MBSC Venture Lab (2019)
 Attliq Program - Pre-Accelerator (2020)
 The Riyadh Techstars Accelerator (2021)
 The Garage (2022)
 Suliman S. Olayan Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2022)

Parcs scientifiques 
 Dhahran Techno Valley
 Riyadh Techno Valley
 KAUST’s Research & Technology Park
 Makkah Techno Valley
 KAIMRC Medical Biotechnology Park

Démographie 

D'après le Département central des statistiques et de l'information, la population du pays s'élève à  en 2017 dont environ 38 % d'étrangers. La croissance démographique annuelle est de 2,46 %.

La population est très jeune car 75 % des Saoudiens sont âgés de moins de .

Les travailleurs immigrés non arabes viennent principalement du Bangladesh, du Pakistan, des Philippines, d'Inde et d'Indonésie.

La population étrangère résidant en Arabie saoudite 
Le Département Central des Statistiques et de l'Information d'Arabie saoudite estime la population étrangère à la fin de l'année 2016 à 38 % (). Le CIA Factbook estime qu'à compter de 2013 les ressortissants étrangers vivant en Arabie saoudite représentent environ 21 % de la population. D'autres sources donnent diverses estimations ; Indiens :  ; Pakistanais : ; Égyptiens :  Yéménites :  ; Bangalais : , Philippins :  ; Jordaniens et Palestiniens :  ; Indonésiens :  ; Sri Lankais : , Soudanais : , Syriens :  et Turcs : . Il y a environ  en Arabie saoudite, dont la plupart vivent dans des  ou des .

Les musulmans étrangers qui ont résidé dans le royaume pendant dix ans peuvent être naturalisés. La priorité est donnée aux titulaires de diplômes dans divers domaines scientifiques, à l'exclusion des Palestiniens à moins qu'ils ne soient mariés à un ressortissant Saoudien, en raison des instructions de la Ligue arabe défendant aux États arabes de leur octroyer la nationalité. L'Arabie saoudite n'est pas signataire de la Convention des Nations unies sur les réfugiés de 1951.

Compte tenu de l'accroissement démographique saoudien et, en parallèle, de la stagnation des revenus du pétrole, la pression pour la « saoudisation » (le remplacement de travailleurs étrangers par des Saoudiens) de l'emploi croît, de sorte que le gouvernement saoudien entend réduire le nombre de ressortissants étrangers dans le pays. L'Arabie saoudite a ainsi expulsé  Yéménites en 1990-1991 et a construit une  face à l'afflux d'immigrants illégaux et contre la contrebande de drogue et d'armes. En , l'Arabie saoudite a expulsé des milliers de clandestins éthiopiens résidant dans le royaume. Différentes organisations de Droits de l'Homme ont critiqué l'Arabie saoudite quant à l'instrumentalisation de la question. Plus de  , principalement en provenance de Somalie, d'Éthiopie et du Yémen — ont été arrêtés et expulsés depuis 2013.

Processus de sédentarisation 
Jusque dans les années 1960, la majorité de la population était nomade.

Installation de villages pour les semi-nomades entre 1992 et le début des années 2000 
Ces installations ont lieu dans les régions de La Mecque et de Djeddah, en Arabie saoudite.

En 1992, compte tenu de la situation de nomades très pauvres, vivant dans le désert et qui devaient faire face à des problèmes sévères de famine et de santé, le prince Majid ben Abdelaziz Al Saoud et ses conseillers, Zaki et Fayez Mandoura ont imaginé la création de villages pour répondre aux besoins sociaux de base de cette population.

Ce programme avait été conçu au départ pour loger une population très pauvre (plus de ), dispersée dans des zones désertes au sud de La Mecque et au Nord de Djeddah. Il s'agissait de construire , , , quatre centres de soins médicaux, trois halls de marché et deux puits. Le programme devait à terme donner des conditions de vie moins précarisées à plus de .

Le programme a commencé en 1993. Les constructions étaient faites de roches volcaniques locales, par des maçons et des travailleurs non qualifiés des communes proches sous la supervision de deux ingénieurs et d'un architecte.

La première phase permit de construire  avec quatre mosquées, quatre lieux de prières, quatre écoles de garçons, trois de filles, un puits et un réservoir d'eau dans une période de trois ans.

La seconde phase a commencé en 1996 et fut accompagnée d'une organisation de programme social pour le bien-être de ces personnes et leur permettre d'être auto-suffisantes par l'élevage de volailles, la fabrication de paniers, le tissage, la couture, l'artisanat et les soins de santé et aux enfants. De nombreuses conférences ont été mises en place à ce sujet avec les professeurs de l'université du roi Abdulaziz à Jeddah et à celle de l'université Oumm al-Qura à la Mecque.

Au début des années 2000, environ 10 % de la population semi-nomade de la région du Hedjaz a pu bénéficier d'abris de base.

Le principe était de fournir des constructions et des équipements de base afin d'avoir des abris très économiques avec un minimum de confort. Il s'agissait aussi de faire un maximum avec un minimum de coûts. Pour cela, l'architecte a décidé d'utiliser les matériaux à disposition et a adapté les techniques de construction à ces matériaux.

En 2000, le prince Majid a été remplacé en tant que gouverneur de la Mecque par son plus jeune frère, Majid ben Abdulaziz Al Saoud (décédé en ) qui a semblé moins intéressé par le projet. D'autres changements sont intervenus dans la structure administrative de la société caritative qui se dénomme depuis le  : The Society of Majid Bin Abdulaziz for Development and Social Services. Le conseil d'administration est dirigé par le prince Mashal ben Madjid ben Abdulaziz. Le directeur général est  Hammam K. Zare.

Les constructions de maisons en pierre de ce projet, dans les régions désertiques autour de la Mecque, ont été arrêtées.

Les différents programmes de l'actuelle fondation semblent majoritairement tournés vers les filles et jeunes filles pauvres et un programme de développement de villages y apparaît depuis 2009.

Transports

Transport routier 

Voies terrestres :
total = , se répartissant en :
 voies revêtues :  ;
 voies non revêtues :  (2000).

Les routes et les rues sont construites de manière à résister à l'action du soleil, du sable, du vent.

Les zones rurales offrent de petites routes, à deux voies.

Les autoroutes urbaines sont anciennes et bien entretenues.

Les autoroutes inter-urbaines sont en très bon état, en extension.

Les voies (auto)routières les plus importantes sont :

Transport ferroviaire 

L'entreprise qui gère le transport ferroviaire en Arabie saoudite est la  (SRO), entreprise publique créée en 1949. Ce domaine employait environ  en 2008.

Le réseau compte environ  de voies ferrées. Les deux principales lignes ferroviaires du réseau relient Dammam et Riyad, l'une affectée au fret est longue de , l'autre au transport de voyageurs est plus courte avec .

Depuis le , la LGV Haramain, ligne de train à grande vitesse, relie La Mecque à Médine via Djeddah et est la première ligne électrifiée du pays.

L'Arabie saoudite prend également une part importante dans le projet de la Gulf Railway, une ligne ferroviaire longeant les côtes occidentales du golfe Persique, et impliquant les cinq autres États du Conseil de coopération du Golfe. Cette ligne, qui doit être mise en service en 2017, doit relier entre elles toutes les capitales et autres villes importantes de la région, allant de Koweït (depuis la frontière irako-koweïtienne) à Mascate. La finalisation de la ligne ferroviaire Gulf Railway a été reportée en 2020-2021, puis 2025, sa longueur totale sera de  dont  dans le territoire saoudien.

Transport aérien 

L'Arabie saoudite dispose de  dont quatre aéroports internationaux situés respectivement à Riyad (aéroport international du roi Khaled), Dammam (aéroport international du roi Fahd), Djeddah (aéroport international Roi-Abdelaziz) et Médine (aéroport international Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz). .

Langues 
La langue officielle est l'arabe, mais il diffère sensiblement de celui parlé en Syrie ou en Irak, bien que certains dialectes régionaux du pays partagent la moitié de leurs lexiques avec quelques parlers bédouins d'Afrique du Nord ou du Moyen-Orient. L'anglais est très courant. C'est la langue de l'élite et des affaires. Au moins 15 % des Saoudiens parleraient l'anglais en seconde langue, surtout les plus jeunes. Le farsi, ou persan, est parlé surtout en seconde langue dans la région du nord-est, la région de Dhahran, et vers la frontière avec le Bahreïn, où vit une forte communauté chiite.

.

Sports 
Le , l'Arabie saoudite annonce le lancement de l'Académie des sports Mahd en France. Elle a pour but de découvrir de jeunes talents, capables d'incarner à terme une nouvelle « génération dorée ». Des footballeurs en herbe formés sur le sol français ont alors l'occasion de rejoindre des clubs avec un sponsor saoudien. En outre, l’objectif de l’académie est de permettre au royaume du Golfe de briller aux niveaux national et international dans le domaine sportif.

Certains appelent les sportifs à boycotter des compétitions en Arabie saoudite afin de faire pression sur le gouvernement. Ainsi, le , Lina al-Hathloul, sœur de la principale militante saoudienne Loujain al-Hathloul, actuellement emprisonnée (octobre 2020), avait demandé aux golfeuses du Ladies European Tour de boycotter l'événement en Arabie saoudite, de façon que le gouvernent ne puisse utiliser le sport pour s'attacher une réputation de pays progressiste. Lina al-Hathloul a lancé un appel aux golfeuses : .

Le , des défenseurs des droits de l'homme ont appelé au boycott du Rallye Dakar pour critiquer le « sportswashing » du royaume conservateur d'Arabie saoudite alors que la militante des droits des femmes était toujours en prison. La controverse se poursuit en 2022 à l'occasion du tournoi de golf LIV. De plus, Greg Norman, le patron de LIV Golf, a affirmé que Tiger Woods, un golfeur professionnel américain, avait rejeté une offre de 700 à  de dollars à jouer dans la série de golf LIV financée par l'Arabie saoudite. Et les critiques affirment que le LIV est une tactique utilisée par le gouvernement saoudien pour détourner l'attention des abus continus et flagrants des droits de l'homme à Riyad ainsi que des liens avec les attaques terroristes du 11 septembre.

En 2021, l'Arabie saoudite accueille son tout premier Grand-Prix de Formule 1 dans la ville de Djeddah, pendant l'avant dernière manche du championnat du championnat du monde de Formule 1 où les protagonistes Lewis Hamilton et Max Verstappen qui se sont battus jusqu'aux trois derniers tours de course. Et en 2022, le Grand-Prix de Djeddah était la deuxième manche du championnat du monde de F1, voyant le combat entre Max Verstappen et Charles Leclerc , et sera au calendrier de la F1, pour l'année 2023.

En juillet 2022, Le Monde a publié que l'Arabie saoudite et d'autres pays du Golfe ont été utilisés par e-sport comme un outil de «soft power». Ils ont été massivement investis dans des sports électroniques. Aussi, MBS a investi dans des sociétés de jeux vidéo comme SNK, Electronic Arts et Activision Blizzard. De plus, en septembre 2022, L’Orient-Le Jour a publié que tous des milliards de dollars d'investissements faisaient partie du projet «Vision 2030», pour restaurer l’image du royaume brutal, qui est encore terni par les violations des droits de l’homme ces dernières années. En outre, en janvier 2022, une organisation, Savvy Gaming Group, a été lancé par le riche fonds souverain saoudien, pour développer le secteur des jeux vidéo, ESL et FACEIT, pour  de dollars.

Le , le Conseil olympique d'Asie a annoncé que l'Arabie saoudite accueillera les Jeux asiatiques d'hiver de 2029 à Trojena. Cette décision prise à son assemblée générale à Phnom Penh. Cependant, les organisations non gouvernementales ont accusé que le MBS veut détourner l'attention internationale des violations des droits de l'homme dans le royaume, c'est pourquoi ces dernières années, les événements sportifs se sont multipliés en Arabie saoudite. En outre, en septembre 2022, selon un responsable égyptien, la Grèce, l'Égypte et l'Arabie saoudite avaient commencé des discussions sur une offre conjointe pour la Coupe du monde de football en 2030.

Religion 

L'islam sunnite hanbalite (connu pour son rigorisme) est déclaré religion d'État par les autorités saoudiennes qui démentent l'existence du wahhabisme (excommunié du sunnisme dès le milieu du ) dans le royaume. Les statistiques officielles font état de 100 % de sunnites parmi les musulmans.

Selon le Pew Research Center, en 2010, 93 % des habitants d'Arabie saoudite sont musulmans, alors que 4,4 % sont chrétiens, principalement catholiques (3,8 %), 1,1 % sont hindous, et 1,5 % de la population n'est pas affilié à une religion.

Mais, dans les faits, le sunnisme ne serait pratiqué que par 85 à 90 % des Saoudiens, le reste professant le chiisme (principalement duodécimain), dont la pratique est tolérée dans la province orientale d'ach-Charqiya, et notamment dans la ville de Qatif. Perçus par le régime comme une cinquième colonne proche de l'ennemi iranien, la plupart des chiites sont, de plus, concentrés dans la région d'Al-Hassa qui recèle l'essentiel des ressources pétrolières du royaume. Une grande partie de ces Saoudiens chiites sont d'origine irakienne. Par ailleurs, une des estimations les plus détaillées de la population religieuse dans le Golfe Persique est celle de Mehrdad Izady qui estime, « en utilisant des critères culturels et non confessionnels », à environ  le nombre de wahhabites qui se concentrent en particulier dans la région centrale du Nejd.

L'Arabie saoudite abrite les deux plus importants lieux saints de l'islam :
 Mosquée al-Harâm, mosquée sacrée, située à La Mecque ;
 Mosquée du Prophète, située à Médine.
L'accès à ces deux villes reste rigoureusement interdit aux non-musulmans.

Il est à noter que l'ensemble du pays est sacralisé par les musulmans, qui se mettent en état d'irham. En effet, pour accomplir la dernière volonté de Mahomet qui aurait dit sur son lit de mort : « deux religions ne peuvent pas coexister en Arabie », le deuxième calife de l'islam, Omar ibn al-Khattab, a expulsé en son temps les juifs et les chrétiens de la péninsule arabique pour n'y laisser que les musulmans, considérés comme les seuls vrais adeptes de la religion d'Abraham. À la suite de la première guerre du Golfe (invasion du Koweït en 1990), Oussama ben Laden entre dans une vive polémique avec le roi Fahd à qui il reproche d'avoir autorisé les « infidèles » à  de l'Arabie saoudite en permettant à l'armée américaine d'y installer des bases.

Dans ce contexte, tout autre culte religieux non-musulman est formellement interdit et la constitution du royaume ne connaît pas d'autre religion que l'islam. Une police religieuse, la Muttawa, qui dépend du Comité pour la promotion de la vertu et la prévention du vice, veille à la stricte application des préceptes wahhabites dans l'espace public. Toutefois, dans les faits, d'autres religions sont pratiquées dans un cadre privé. En effet, pour des raisons économiques, le pays fait appel à une importante immigration de travail ; principalement des travailleurs immigrés philippins de confession chrétienne (plus d'un million) et indiens de confession hindoue. Au total, 30 % de la population serait non musulmane. Avant 1932 et la création de l'Arabie saoudite, il y avait des chrétiens locaux, au nord et au nord-est de l'actuelle Arabie saoudite : il s'agissait surtout de Chaldéens et de Nestoriens. Il y avait aussi des chrétiens grecs orthodoxes. Il y avait aussi de petites communautés chrétiennes à Najran, et dans l'Asir. Après 1932, les informations les concernant se firent rares, mais il semble avéré que certains partirent s'installer en Jordanie, Syrie, et Irak. D'autre part, de nombreux monastères et édifices religieux chrétiens furent alors rasés. On ignore si de nos jours il reste des chrétiens locaux dans le royaume, et quel est leur nombre.

Il y avait aussi autrefois des Juifs, dans ce qui constitue aujourd'hui l'Arabie saoudite. Le nombre de Juifs déclinera sensiblement après la création de l'Arabie saoudite, en 1932, et la création de l'État d’Israël. Il ne resterait plus de Juifs locaux de nos jours. 

Le , Abdallah, le successeur du roi Fahd, a annoncé des réformes d'ampleur tendant à dégager à terme le royaume de son idéologie d’État officielle, le wahhabisme, tout en gardant néanmoins cette même dénomination intacte sur le plan officiel. La Commission des Grands Oulémas, corps de savants religieux faisant autorité dans le pays, aura dorénavant  issus de courants divers du sunnisme (c'est-à-dire les écoles hanafite, malikite et shaféite), et non plus de la seule école hanbalite, connue pour son rigorisme. De même, le Conseil de la Shoura, sorte de corps législatif dénué cependant d’une pleine consécration de ses prérogatives judiciaires, inclura 5 chiites dans ce corps.

En 2013, le roi Abdallah a retiré aux officiers et agents de la police religieuse (accusée de commettre des abus) le pouvoir de procéder à des interrogatoires et d'engager des poursuites judiciaires. En 2016, son successeu

Alan Smithee steht als Pseudonym für einen fiktiven Regisseur, der Filme verantwortet, bei denen der eigentliche Regisseur seinen Namen nicht mit dem Werk in Verbindung gebracht haben möchte. Von 1968 bis 2000 wurde es von der Directors Guild of America (DGA) für solche Situationen empfohlen.

Alternative Schreibweisen sind unter anderem die Ursprungsvariante Allen Smithee sowie Alan Smythee und Adam Smithee. Auch zwei teilweise asiatisch anmutende Schreibweisen Alan Smi Thee und Sumishii Aran gehören – so die Internet Movie Database – dazu.

Geschichte

Entstehung 
Das Pseudonym entstand 1968 infolge der Arbeiten am Western-Film Death of a Gunfighter (deutscher Titel Frank Patch – Deine Stunden sind gezählt). Regisseur Robert Totten und Hauptdarsteller Richard Widmark gerieten in einen Streit, woraufhin Don Siegel als neuer Regisseur eingesetzt wurde.

Der Film trug nach Abschluss der Arbeiten noch deutlich Tottens Handschrift, der auch mehr Drehtage als Siegel daran gearbeitet hatte, weshalb dieser die Nennung seines Namens als Regisseur ablehnte. Totten selbst lehnte aber ebenfalls ab. Als Lösung wurde  Allen Smithee als ein möglichst einzigartiger Name gewählt.

In den zeitgenössischen Kritiken wurde der Regisseur u. a. von Roger Ebert mit den Worten gelobt:

Aufdeckung und Abkehr 
1997 kam die Parodie An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (deutscher Titel Fahr zur Hölle Hollywood) in die Kinos, was das Pseudonym einem größeren Publikum bekannt machte, nicht zuletzt weil Arthur Hiller, der eigentliche Regisseur des Films, selbst seinen Namen zurückzog und analog zum Filmtitel das Pseudonym Alan Smithee benutzte. Der Film gilt als einer der schlechtesten Filme der 1990er Jahre und gewann fünf Goldene Himbeeren.

Der Film Supernova ist der erste Post-Smithee-Film, dort führte ein gewisser Thomas Lee alias Walter Hill die Regie.

Verwendung 
Die Verwendung dieses oder eines anderen Pseudonyms ist für Mitglieder der DGA streng reglementiert. Ein Regisseur, der für einen von ihm gedrehten Film seinen Namen nicht hergeben möchte, hat nach Sichtung des fertigen Films drei Tage Zeit, anzuzeigen, dass er ein Pseudonym verwenden möchte. Der Rat der DGA entscheidet binnen zwei Tagen über das Anliegen. Erhebt die Produktionsfirma Einspruch, entscheidet ein Komitee aus Mitgliedern der DGA und der Vereinigung der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten, ob der Regisseur ein Pseudonym angeben darf. Über die Beantragung muss der Regisseur Stillschweigen halten, ebenso darf er den fertigen Film nicht öffentlich kritisieren, wenn die DGA ihm die Verwendung eines Pseudonyms zugesteht. Ein Antrag des Regisseurs auf Pseudonymisierung kann abgelehnt werden, so durfte Tony Kaye den Namen Smithee bei dem Film American History X nicht einsetzen, obwohl er den Antrag stellte.

Auch bei nicht-US-amerikanischen Produktionen wird der Name verwendet, wie etwa beim Pilotfilm der Fernsehserie Schulmädchen. 2007 sendete die ARD am 8. und 9. August den zweiteiligen TV-Film Paparazzo. Auch in diesem Werk erscheint anstatt des eigentlichen Regisseurs Stephan Wagner Alan Smithee im Abspann.

Regisseure, die das Pseudonym benutzt haben:
 Don Siegel und Robert Totten (für Frank Patch – Deine Stunden sind gezählt)
 David Lynch (für die dreistündige Fernsehfassung von Der Wüstenplanet)
 Chris Christensen (The Omega Imperative)
 Gianni Bozzacchi (für I Love N.Y.)
 Stuart Rosenberg (für Let’s Get Harry)
 Richard C. Sarafian (für Starfire)
 Dennis Hopper (für Catchfire)
 Arthur Hiller (für Fahr zur Hölle Hollywood)
 Rick Rosenthal (Die Vögel II – Die Rückkehr)
 Kevin Yagher (Hellraiser IV – Bloodline)
 William Lustig (Maniac Cop 3)
 Jerrold Freedman (für Die O.J. Simpson Story – Der Mordfall des Jahrhunderts)

Der Pilotfilm der Serie MacGyver und die fünfte Folge der ersten Staffel führen einen Alan Smithee als Regisseur. Auf der TV-Serien-Seite TV Rage wird Jerrold Freedman als Regisseur des Pilotfilms angegeben. Der Regisseur der fünften Folge ist unbekannt.

Zu den Drehbuchautoren, die das Pseudonym benutzt haben, gehören Sam Raimi und Ivan Raimi, die das Drehbuch zu Die total beknackte Nuß als Alan Smithee, Jr. und Alan Smithee, Sr. schrieben.

Auch in Computerspielen wird dieses Pseudonym angegeben: Im Abspann des Ego-Shooters Marine Sharpshooter IV aus dem Jahr 2008 wird als Art Director des Spiels Alan Smithee genannt.

2014 produzierte die New Yorker Performance-Kompanie Big Dance Theater Alan Smithee Directed this Play, das im August des Jahres auch in Berlin bei Tanz im August aufgeführt wurde.

Literatur 
 Jeremy Braddock, Stephen Hock (Hrsg.): Directed by Allen Smithee. Foreword by Andrew Sarris. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, London 2001, ISBN 0-8166-3534-X.

Weblinks 
 
 Artikel über Smithee von ABC Online (englisch)
 Der Mann, der niemals lebte, Spiegel Online einestages
 Alan Smithee lebt!, DRadio Wissen

Einzelnachweise 

 
Smithee, Alan
Smithee, Alan

Actinium ist ein radioaktives chemisches Element mit dem Elementsymbol Ac und der Ordnungszahl 89. Im Periodensystem der Elemente steht es in der 3. IUPAC-Gruppe, der Scandiumgruppe. Das Element ist ein Metall und gehört zur 7. Periode, d-Block. Es ist der Namensgeber der Gruppe der Actinoide, der ihm folgenden 14 Elemente.

Geschichte 

Das Actinium wurde im Jahr 1899 von dem französischen Chemiker André-Louis Debierne entdeckt, der es aus Pechblende isolierte und ihm zunächst Ähnlichkeiten mit dem Titan oder dem Thorium zuschrieb; seine Bezeichnung leitete er wegen der Radioaktivität von griechisch ἀκτίς aktís ‚Strahl‘ ab. Friedrich Giesel entdeckte das Element unabhängig davon im Jahr 1902 und beschrieb eine Ähnlichkeit zum Lanthan; er gab ihm den Namen Emanium, eine Bildung zu lateinisch emano ‚ausfließen‘, ebenfalls mit Bezug zur abgegebenen Strahlung. Nachdem Actinium und Emanium im Jahre 1904 als identisch erkannt worden waren, wurde Debiernes Namensgebung der Vorzug gegeben, da er es zuerst entdeckt hatte.

Die Geschichte der Entdeckung wurde in Publikationen von 1971 und später im Jahr 2000 immer noch als fraglich beschrieben. Sie zeigen, dass die Publikationen von 1904 einerseits und die von 1899 und 1900 andererseits Widersprüche aufweisen.

Gewinnung und Darstellung 
Da in Uranerzen nur wenig Actinium vorhanden ist, spielt diese Quelle keine Rolle für die Gewinnung. Technisch wird das Isotop 227Ac durch Bestrahlung von 226Ra mit Neutronen in Kernreaktoren hergestellt.

Die Zeitangaben sind Halbwertszeiten.

Durch den schnellen Zerfall des Actiniums waren stets nur geringe Mengen verfügbar. Die erste künstliche Herstellung von Actinium wurde im Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago durchgeführt.

Eigenschaften

Physikalische Eigenschaften 
Das Metall ist silberweiß glänzend und relativ weich. Aufgrund seiner starken Radioaktivität leuchtet Actinium im Dunkeln in einem hellblauen Licht.

Actinium ist das namensgebende Element der Actinoiden, ähnlich wie Lanthan für die Lanthanoiden. Die Gruppe der Elemente zeigt deutlichere Unterschiede als die Lanthanoide; daher dauerte es bis 1945, bis Glenn T. Seaborg die wichtigsten Änderungen zum Periodensystem von Mendelejew vorschlagen konnte: die Einführung der Actinoide.

Chemische Eigenschaften 
Es ist sehr reaktionsfähig und wird von Luft und Wasser angegriffen, überzieht sich aber mit einer Schicht von Actiniumoxid, wodurch es vor weiterer Oxidation geschützt ist. Das Ac3+-Ion ist farblos. Das chemische Verhalten von Actinium ähnelt sehr dem Lanthan. Actinium ist in allen zehn bekannten Verbindungen dreiwertig.

Isotope 
Bekannt sind 26 Isotope, wovon nur zwei natürlich vorkommen. Das langlebigste Isotop 227Ac (Halbwertszeit 21,8 Jahre) hat zwei Zerfallskanäle: es ist ein Alpha- und Betastrahler. 227Ac ist ein Zerfallsprodukt des Uranisotops 235U und kommt zu einem kleinen Teil in Uranerzen vor. Daraus lassen sich wägbare Mengen 227Ac gewinnen, die somit ein verhältnismäßig einfaches Studium dieses Elementes ermöglichen. Da sich unter den radioaktiven Zerfallsprodukten einige Gammastrahler befinden, sind aber aufwändige Strahlenschutzvorkehrungen nötig.

Verwendung 
Actinium wird zur Erzeugung von Neutronen eingesetzt, die bei Aktivierungsanalysen eine Rolle spielen. Außerdem wird es für die thermoionische Energieumwandlung genutzt.

Beim dualen Zerfall des 227Ac geht der größte Teil unter Emission von Beta-Teilchen in das Thoriumisotop 227Th, aber ca. 1 % zerfällt durch Alpha-Emission zu Francium 223Fr. Eine Lösung von 227Ac ist daher als Quelle für das kurzlebige 223Fr verwendbar. Letzteres kann dann regelmäßig abgetrennt und untersucht werden.

Sicherheitshinweise 
Einstufungen nach der CLP-Verordnung liegen nicht vor, weil diese nur die chemische Gefährlichkeit umfassen und eine völlig untergeordnete Rolle gegenüber den auf der Radioaktivität beruhenden Gefahren spielen. Auch Letzteres gilt nur, wenn es sich um eine dafür relevante Stoffmenge handelt.

Verbindungen 
Nur eine geringe Anzahl von Actiniumverbindungen ist bekannt. Mit Ausnahme von AcPO4 sind sie alle den entsprechenden Lanthanverbindungen ähnlich und enthalten Actinium in der Oxidationsstufe +3. Insbesondere unterscheiden sich die Gitterkonstanten der jeweiligen Lanthan- und Actinium-Verbindungen nur in wenigen Prozent.

Oxide 
Actinium(III)-oxid (Ac2O3) kann durch Erhitzen des Hydroxids bei 500 °C oder des Oxalats bei 1100 °C im Vakuum erhalten werden. Das Kristallgitter ist isotyp mit den Oxiden der meisten dreiwertigen Seltenerdmetalle.

Halogenide 
Actinium(III)-fluorid (AcF3) kann entweder in Lösung oder durch Feststoffreaktion dargestellt werden. Im ersten Fall gibt man bei Raumtemperatur Flusssäure zu einer Ac3+-Lösung und fällt das Produkt aus. im anderen Fall wird Actinium-Metall mit Fluorwasserstoff bei 700 °C in einer Platinapparatur behandelt.

Actinium(III)-chlorid (AcCl3) wird durch Umsetzung von Actiniumhydroxid oder -oxalat mit Tetrachlormethan bei Temperaturen oberhalb von 960 °C erhalten.

Die Reaktion von Aluminiumbromid und Actinium(III)-oxid führt zum Actinium(III)-bromid (AcBr3) und Behandlung mit feuchtem Ammoniak bei 500 °C führt zum Oxibromid AcOBr.

Weitere Verbindungen 
Gibt man Natriumdihydrogenphosphat (NaH2PO4) zu einer Lösung von Actinium in Salzsäure, erhält man weiß gefärbtes Actiniumphosphat (AcPO4 · 0,5 H2O); ein Erhitzen von Actinium(III)-oxalat mit Schwefelwasserstoff bei 1400 °C für ein paar Minuten führt zu schwarzem Actinium(III)-sulfid (Ac2S3).

Literatur 
 Harold W. Kirby, Lester R. Morss: Actinium, in: Lester R. Morss, Norman M. Edelstein, Jean Fuger (Hrsg.): The Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements, Springer, Dordrecht 2006; ISBN 1-4020-3555-1, S. 18–51 (doi:10.1007/1-4020-3598-5_2).

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Ang Lee (; * 23. Oktober 1954 in Chaozhou, Landkreis Pingtung, Taiwan) ist ein taiwanischer Filmregisseur, Drehbuchautor und Produzent. Er ist als vielfach ausgezeichneter Regisseur bekannt für so unterschiedliche Filme wie Eat Drink Man Woman, die Jane-Austen-Adaption Sinn und Sinnlichkeit und den Martial Arts-Film Tiger and Dragon. Für seine Filme Brokeback Mountain (2005) und Life of Pi: Schiffbruch mit Tiger (2012) wurde er jeweils mit dem Oscar in der Kategorie Beste Regie ausgezeichnet.

Leben 
Ang Lee wurde 1954 in Taiwan geboren. Seine Eltern, Emigranten aus China, lernten sich in Taiwan kennen, Lee ist ihr ältester Sohn. Die Großeltern väterlicher- und mütterlicherseits sind im Zuge der kommunistischen Revolution in China ums Leben gekommen. Da sein Vater als Lehrer häufiger die Arbeitsstelle wechselte, wuchs Ang Lee in verschiedenen Städten Taiwans auf.

Entgegen den Wünschen seiner Eltern, wie sein Vater eine klassische akademische Laufbahn einzuschlagen, interessierte sich Lee für das Schauspiel und absolvierte mit ihrem Einverständnis zunächst ein Theater- und Filmstudium in Taipeh. Im Anschluss daran ging er 1978 in die USA, um an der Universität von Illinois in Urbana-Champaign Theaterwissenschaft und -regie zu studieren. Nach dem Erwerb seines B.A. in Illinois verlegte er sich ganz auf das Studium der Film- und Theaterproduktion an der Universität von New York, das er 1985 mit einem Master abschloss. Danach entschloss er sich, mit seiner ebenfalls aus Taiwan stammenden Ehefrau zusammen in den USA zu bleiben.

Sein Interesse verschob sich trotz erster Erfahrungen mit dem Super-8-Film in Taiwan erst spät ganz auf Filmregie und -produktion – auch weil Lee seinen Berufswunsch seiner Familie und insbesondere seinem Vater gegenüber lange Zeit nicht eingestehen wollte.
Nach dem Studium konnte er zunächst keine eigenen Projekte umsetzen. Erst ab 1992, als er seinen ersten Langfilm fertigstellte, zeichnete sich eine kontinuierliche Karriere als Regisseur ab.

Als seine bisher größte Erfolge – sowohl beim Publikum als auch bei der Kritik – gelten das Martial Arts-Drama Tiger and Dragon mit einer pan-asiatischen Starbesetzung und der Post-Western-Liebesfilm Brokeback Mountain mit Heath Ledger und Jake Gyllenhaal. Für Letzteren bekam Lee 2006 als erster asiatisch-stämmiger und nicht-weißer Regisseur den Oscar für die beste Regie. Außerdem wurden Lees Filme, neben vielen weiteren Preisen, mit mittlerweile zwei Goldenen Bären der Berlinale und zwei Goldenen Löwen der Filmfestspiele von Venedig ausgezeichnet.

Lee ist seit 1983 mit der Mikrobiologin Jane Lin verheiratet. Sie leben in White Plains, Westchester County, im Bundesstaat New York. Aus der Ehe stammen die Söhne Haan (* 1984) und Mason (* 1990). Ang Lee besitzt eine United States Permanent Resident Card.

Filmisches Werk 
Nach seinen ersten Filmerfahrungen in Taiwan setzte sich Lee erst wieder während seines Studiums in den USA ernsthaft mit dem Filmemachen auseinander. Im Rahmen seines Studiums in New York drehte er einige Kurzfilme und wirkte unter anderem beim Abschlussdreh seines Studienkollegen Spike Lee als Regieassistent mit. Sein eigener Abschlussfilm Fine Line gewann 1985 zwei Preise beim renommierten Filmfest seiner Universität. Erst 1992 gelang es ihm, nach dem Gewinn eines hochdotierten Drehbuchwettbewerbs in Taiwan, den ersten einer Reihe von drei Filmen zu drehen, die west-östliche Konflikte taiwanischer Familien zum Thema haben.

1992–1994: Die „Father-Knows-Best“-Trilogie 
Diese ersten drei Langfilme, die Lee realisieren konnte, werden im Allgemeinen unter dem Begriff Father Knows Best gefasst. Diese Bezeichnung geht auf die wiederkehrende Figur des chinesischen Familienoberhaupts, gespielt jeweils vom taiwanischen Schauspieler Sihung Lung, zurück. Die drei Filme thematisieren, wie später noch öfter bei Ang Lee, familiäre Probleme, die aus dem Konflikt zwischen Selbstbestimmung und Tradition, zwischen Innen und Außen, zwischen Ost und West sowie zwischen den Generationen herrühren. Die Filme sind allesamt US-amerikanisch-taiwanische Koproduktionen. Anders als bei allen bislang folgenden Projekten handelt es sich bei den ersten Filmen Lees nicht um Adaptionen, sondern um Filme nach von ihm selbst geschriebenen Originaldrehbüchern.

Der erste Film, Schiebende Hände (1992), handelt vom Einzug eines chinesischen Vaters bei seinem erwachsenen Sohn und der US-amerikanischen Schwiegertochter in New York und den interkulturellen Problemen, die in der neuen Wohngemeinschaft entstehen. Dies war die erste Zusammenarbeit zwischen Lee und dem Drehbuchautor und Produzenten James Schamus – seitdem bildeten die beiden bei jedem Film Lees eine enge Arbeitsgemeinschaft. Wie in den beiden folgenden Filmen schrieben sie auch gemeinsam das Drehbuch. In allen weiteren Filmen Lees (mit Ausnahme des Kurzfilms The Hire: Chosen) hat Schamus seither entscheidende Funktionen ausgeübt.

Auch die regelmäßige Zusammenarbeit mit dem Filmeditor Tim Squyres nahm in Lees Erstling ihren Anfang. Mit Ausnahme des Erfolgsfilms Brokeback Mountain von 2005 hat Squires jeden Film, den Ang Lee gedreht hat, geschnitten.

Nach dem Erfolg seines Erstlings konnte Lee als Nächstes Das Hochzeitsbankett (1993) drehen, eine Komödie über die fingierte Eheschließung eines homosexuellen Exil-Taiwaners in den USA. Erneut taucht hier die Figur des strengen, aber weisen Familienoberhaupts auf. Hatte Schiebende Hände zunächst vor allem in Taiwan für Aufmerksamkeit (und Preise) gesorgt, wurde mit dem zweiten Langfilm Lees auch Europa auf den aufstrebenden Regisseur aufmerksam: Der Film erhielt bei der Berlinale 1993 den Goldenen Bären als Bester fremdsprachiger Film und war zudem für einen Oscar nominiert. Er gilt darüber hinaus als einer der profitabelsten Low-Budget-Filme des Jahres 1993. Mit nur einer Million US-Dollar Produktionskosten erzielte er ein Einspielergebnis von über 23 Millionen US-Dollar.

Sihung Lung ist auch im letzten Teil der Trilogie, Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), die „kongeniale Verkörperung des chinesischen Familienoberhaupts“, das „Zentrum dieser Maskeraden, in denen es darum geht, ein altes Gesicht zu wahren und dann zu lernen, es zu verlieren, um ein neues, lebenstauglicheres zu gewinnen.“ Dieses Mal ist er der verwitwete Vater dreier Töchter, die ihr Leben und ihre Lieben auf unterschiedliche Art angehen und dabei ebenfalls innerfamiliäre Konflikte klären müssen. Eat Drink Man Woman wurde, anders als seine Vorgänger, in Taipeh gedreht. Im Mittelpunkt des Films stehen (der Titel deutet es an) die Liebe und das Essen. Ang Lee, privat ein passionierter Koch, legte hierbei besonders großen Wert auf die kulinarische Komponente als Stilmittel und konzipierte die Hauptfigur des älteren Witwers als berühmten Koch.

1995–1999: Dreimal anglo-amerikanische Geschichte 
Mit dem Angebot der Produzentin Lindsay Doran, die von der britischen Schauspielerin Emma Thompson verfasste Adaption des Romans Verstand und Gefühl von Jane Austen in Großbritannien zu drehen, eröffnete sich Lee eine lange ersehnte neue Perspektive jenseits asiatisch geprägter Stoffe.

In einer neuen Trilogie setzt er sich mit unterschiedlichen Kulturen auseinander:
 Sinn und Sinnlichkeit ist die Verfilmung des Romans der englischen Schriftstellerin Jane Austen;
 Der Eissturm spielt in den USA der 1970er Jahre;
 Ride with the Devil ist im Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg angesiedelt.

2000–heute: Pendeln zwischen West und Ost 
Tiger and Dragon sowie Hulk sind sehr unterschiedliche Action-Filme. Mit Tiger and Dragon gewann Lee zwei Golden Globes. Das Werk wurde außerdem mit vier Academy Awards (Oscars) prämiert, darunter der Trophäe für den besten fremdsprachigen Film. Für diesen Film wurde er 2001 auch mit einem Chlotrudis Award ausgezeichnet, seinen zweiten Chlotrudis erhielt er 2006 für Brokeback Mountain.

Für Brokeback Mountain wurde Lee mit einer Vielzahl von Filmpreisen geehrt, darunter mit dem Oscar für die beste Regie, dem Goldene Löwen der Filmfestspiele von Venedig sowie der Auszeichnung der Hollywood Foreign Press Association als bester Regisseur des Jahres. 2007 verfilmte er mit Gefahr und Begierde eine Kurzgeschichte von Eileen Chang. Der Thriller spielt zur Zeit des Zweiten Weltkriegs in Shanghai und handelt von einer jungen chinesischen Agentin (gespielt von Tang Wei), die beauftragt wird, einen hochrangigen Verräter (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) zu liquidieren. Lees erste chinesischsprachige Spielfilmproduktion seit Tiger and Dragon war 2007 im offiziellen Wettbewerb der 64. Filmfestspiele von Venedig vertreten und brachte ihm erneut den Goldenen Löwen ein. Im selben Jahr wurde Gefahr und Begierde als offizieller taiwanischer Beitrag für die Nominierung um den besten fremdsprachigen Film bei der Oscar-Verleihung 2008 ausgewählt, später aber auf Empfehlung der Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences wieder zurückgezogen und durch Chen Huai-Ens Lian xi qu () ersetzt.

Ende Februar 2009 wurde bekannt gegeben, dass Lee die Jury der 66. Filmfestspiele von Venedig leiten werde. Zwei Monate später erhielt er für seine Komödie Taking Woodstock eine Einladung in den Wettbewerb der 62. Internationalen Filmfestspiele von Cannes.

2013 wurde er in die Wettbewerbsjury des 66. Filmfestivals von Cannes berufen.

Stil 
Ang Lee ist ein international anerkannter und erfolgreicher Regisseur und gilt als einer der vielseitigsten Filmemacher der letzten Jahre. Häufig behandelt Lee in seinen Filmen das Thema Familie auf eine Art und Weise, die autobiographische Züge seines eigenen Lebens trägt. Er lässt seine Umgebung ganz bewusst auf sich einwirken und bringt diese in seine Filme ein.

Kennzeichnend für die meisten seiner Filme ist eine wenig geradlinige Erzählstruktur, die die Charaktere und die Geschichte aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln darstellt. Er verknüpft die Konflikte des menschlichen Lebens mit traditionellen und innovativen Stilelementen.

Für Ang Lee sind die klassisch-soliden Erzählstrukturen zu langweilig, daher kombiniert er verschiedene Genres und Epochen. Er selbst sagte einmal:

Filmografie 

 1982: Shades of the Lake – Kurzfilm
 1984: Fine Line – Kurzfilm
 1992: Schiebende Hände (Pushing Hands, Tui Shou)
 1993: Das Hochzeitsbankett (The Wedding Banquet, Xiyan)
 1994: Eat Drink Man Woman (Yinshi nannü)
 1995: Sinn und Sinnlichkeit (Sense and Sensibility)
 1997: Der Eissturm (The Icestorm)
 1999: Ride with the Devil
 2000: Tiger and Dragon (auch: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Wohu canglong)
 2001: The Hire: Chosen – Kurzwerbefilm für eine Automarke
 2003: Hulk
 2005: Brokeback Mountain
 2007: Gefahr und Begierde (Se, Jie)
 2009: Taking Woodstock
 2012: Life of Pi: Schiffbruch mit Tiger
 2016: Die irre Heldentour des Billy Lynn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk)
 2019: Gemini Man

Auszeichnungen (Auswahl)

Oscarverleihung 
 2001: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Bester fremdsprachiger Film für Tiger and Dragon
 2001: Nominierung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Tiger and Dragon
 2001: Nominierung in der Kategorie Bester Film für Tiger and Dragon
 2006: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Brokeback Mountain
 2013: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Life of Pi: Schiffbruch mit Tiger
 2013: Nominierung in der Kategorie Bester Film für Life of Pi: Schiffbruch mit Tiger

Golden Globe Award 
 1996: Nominierung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Sinn und Sinnlichkeit
 2001: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Tiger and Dragon
 2006: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Brokeback Mountain
 2013: Nominierung in der Kategorie Beste Regie für Life of Pi: Schiffbruch mit Tiger

Directors Guild of America Award 
 1996: Nominierung in der Kategorie Beste Spielfilmregie für Sinn und Sinnlichkeit
 2001: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Beste Spielfilmregie für Tiger and Dragon
 2006: Auszeichnung in der Kategorie Beste Spielfilmregie für Brokeback Mountain
 2013: Nominierung in der Kategorie Beste Spielfilmregie für Life of Pi: Schiffbruch mit Tiger

Weitere Auszeichnungen 
 1992: Bester Film des Asia-Pacific Film Festivals für Schiebende Hände
 1993: Goldener Bär der Berliner Filmfestspiele für Das Hochzeitsbankett
 1993: Golden Horse Beste Regie für Das Hochzeitsbankett
 1996: Goldener Bär der Berliner Filmfestspiele für Sinn und Sinnlichkeit
 1997: Bundesfilmpreis für den besten ausländischen Film mit Sinn und Sinnlichkeit
 2000: Golden Horse Bester Film für Tiger and Dragon
 2001: Hong Kong Film Award für Tiger and Dragon
 2002: Aufnahme in die American Academy of Arts and Sciences
 2005: Goldener Löwe des Filmfestivals in Venedig für Brokeback Mountain
 2007: Golden Horse Beste Regie für Gefahr und Begierde
 2007: Goldener Löwe des Filmfestivals in Venedig für Gefahr und Begierde

Literatur 
chronologisch aufsteigend
 Tanja Hanhart (Redaktorin): Ang Lee und sein Kino. Poesie im Grossformat. In: du 796 (Feb. 2006), ISBN 978-3-03717-021-2.
 Thomas Koebner: [Artikel] Ang Lee. In: Ders. (Hrsg.): Filmregisseure. Biographien, Werkbeschreibungen, Filmographien. Mit 109 Abbildungen. 3., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage. Reclam, Stuttgart 2008 [1. Aufl. 1999], ISBN 978-3-15-010662-4, S. 429–433.
 Qin Hu: Das Kino von Ang Lee – Von der chinesischen Philosophie, Kunstauffassung und Kultur zu filmästhetischen Aspekten. Gardez! Verlag, 2008.
 Isabell Gössele: Das Kino des Ang Lee – Im Atem des verborgenen Drachen. Tectum, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8288-2046-3.
 Michael Pekler, Andreas Ungerböck: Ang Lee und seine Filme. Schüren, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89472-665-2.

Siehe auch 
 Taiwanischer Film
 US-amerikanischer Film

Weblinks 

 
 Ang Lee / Li An () bei AllMovie (englisch)
 Ang Lee / Li An () bei Taiwan Cinema (englisch)
 Ang Lee / Li An () bei Chinese Movie Database (chinesisch, englisch)
 Ang Lee / Li An () bei Hong Kong Movie Database (chinesisch, englisch)

 
 Infos zum 
 Biografie von Ang Lee bei WHO’S WHO
 Rüdiger Sturm: „Wenn du Erfolg hast, missbrauche ihn!“ In: Spiegel Online, 17. Oktober 2007, Interview
 Thomas Abeltshauser: Der Subtext des Western, Interview auf critic.de
 Ralph Geisenhanslüke: Regisseur Ang Lee: „Ich wollte immer meinen Vater stolz machen“ In: Zeit, 1. Januar 2013, Interview
 Andreas Kilb: Ang Lee zum Sechzigsten. Die Zerbrechlichkeit der Welt. In: FAZ, 23. Oktober 2014

Einzelnachweise 

 
Drehbuchautor
Filmregisseur
Oscarpreisträger
Golden-Globe-Preisträger
Person als Namensgeber für einen Asteroiden
Mitglied der American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Taiwaner
Geboren 1954
Mann

Anschluss ist in der Soziologie ein Fachbegriff aus der Systemtheorie von Niklas Luhmann und bezeichnet die in einer sozialen Begegnung auf eine Selektion der anderen Seite folgende, selbst gewählte Selektion. Diese Selektionen beziehen sich aufeinander.

Die Anschlussfähigkeit ist die Kapazität von Systemen zu gewährleisten, dass sich an die Selektionen eines Systems weitere anschließen können. Alle sozialen Systeme reproduzieren sich über Kommunikation (z. B. Wirtschaftssystem oder Politik) oder Handlungen (Medizin und Erziehungssystem). Dies gelingt nur, wenn die einzelnen Einheiten aneinander anschlussfähig sind, was durch einen systemspezifischen Code geleistet wird, der als zentrale Logik (Leitunterscheidung) aller Kommunikation zugrunde liegt und sie als systemzugehörig erkennbar macht. Im Wirtschaftssystem beispielsweise sorgt der Code zahlen/nicht zahlen dafür, dass die Kommunikationen sich auf sich selbst beziehen und sich selbst reproduzieren können, also dass auf jede Zahlung eine neue erfolgt. Dies funktioniert über das generalisierte Kommunikationsmedium Geld, das die letzte Zahlung mit der jetzigen verknüpft. Würde das Geld nicht mehr akzeptiert, folgt der Zahlung keine weitere Zahlung mehr und das System hätte seine Anschlussfähigkeit verloren. Die Anschlussfähigkeit innerhalb eines Systems wird als Selbstreferenz bezeichnet, im Gegensatz zum fremdreferentiellen Bezug auf die Umwelt (Welt, andere Systeme).

Den Begriff hat Luhmann auf eine Anregung eines Bielefelder Kollegen, des Philosophen Jürgen Frese entwickelt. Frese zeigte in einem Sektionsreferat des Achten Deutschen Kongresses für Philosophie in Heidelberg (1966, gedruckt 1967) mit dem Titel „Sprechen als Metapher für Handeln“, dass es fruchtbar ist, von den dominanten Handlungsmodellen Arbeit und Konsum abzurücken und ergänzend Sprechen als Modell für Handeln zu nutzen. Frese schreibt: „Die wichtigste Errungenschaft, die die Sprachmetapher für die Aufhellung des nicht-sprachlichen Handelns einbringt, ist ihre Leistung, Reihenbildung erklärbar zu machen. Fassen wir Satz und Handlung zum neutralen und an andere Philosopheme anschließbaren Begriff des Aktes zusammen, so können wir … sagen: Der Sinn eines Aktes ist das als eine bestimmte Situation gegebene Ensemble der Möglichkeiten, an diesen Akt weitere Akte anzuschließen; d. h. der Sinn eines Aktes ist die Mannigfaltigkeit der Anschließbarkeiten, die er eröffnet.“ Diese Idee wurde von Luhmann aufgegriffen und im Rahmen seiner Systemtheorie weiterentwickelt. Frese selbst baute sie im Rahmen seiner Lehre von den Formularen weiter aus.

Literatur 
 Niklas Luhmann: Soziale Systeme. Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1987, ISBN 3-518-28266-2.
 Jürgen Frese:  Sprechen als Metapher für Handeln. In: Hans-Georg Gadamer: Das Problem der Sprache. Achter Deutscher Kongress für Philosophie. Heidelberg 1966, Fink Verlag, München 1967, S. 45–55.
 Jürgen Frese: Prozesse im Handlungsfeld. Klaus Boer Verlag, München 1985, ISBN 3-924963-06-1.

Einzelnachweise 

Soziologische Systemtheorie

Die Aussagenlogik ist ein Teilgebiet der Logik, das sich mit Aussagen und deren Verknüpfung durch Junktoren befasst, ausgehend von strukturlosen Elementaraussagen (Atomen), denen ein Wahrheitswert zugeordnet wird. In der klassischen Aussagenlogik wird jeder Aussage ein Element einer Booleschen Algebra als Wahrheitswert zugeordnet. Der Wahrheitswert einer zusammengesetzten Aussage lässt sich ohne zusätzliche Informationen mittels der Operationen der Booleschen Algebra aus den Wahrheitswerten ihrer Teilaussagen bestimmen.

Geschichte 
Historisch geht die Aussagenlogik zurück bis zu Aristoteles, der erstmals aussagenlogische Grundsätze diskutierte, nämlich in seiner Metaphysik den Satz vom Widerspruch und den Satz vom ausgeschlossenen Dritten, und der in seiner ersten Analytik den indirekten Beweis thematisierte. Die zweiwertige aussagenlogische Semantik entwickelten etwas später die megarischen Philosophen Diodoros Kronos und Philon. Die Aussagensemantik und -axiomatik kombinierte der Stoiker Chrysippos von Soli, der den ersten aussagenlogischen Kalkül formulierte. Die Weiterentwicklung der Aussagenlogik der Stoa durch das Mittelalter wird oft übersehen. Eine erste vollständige und entscheidbare Formalisierung für aussagenlogische Tautologien – allerdings noch nicht für das aussagenlogische Schließen – schuf George Boole 1847 mit seinem algebraischen Logikkalkül. Den ersten aussagenlogischen Kalkül mit Schlussregeln formulierte Gottlob Frege im Rahmen seiner Begriffsschrift 1879. Er war die Vorlage für den Aussagenkalkül von Bertrand Russell 1908, der sich später durchsetzte (s. u.).

Abgrenzung zu anderen Logiken 
Da in der heutigen Mathematik die klassische Aussagenlogik maßgeblich wurde, wird in diesem Artikel dieser moderne Haupttypus der Aussagenlogik behandelt. Allgemein ist die klassische Logik durch zwei Eigenschaften charakterisiert:

 Jede Aussage hat einen von genau zwei Wahrheitswerten, meist „falsch“ oder „wahr“ (Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit oder Bivalenzprinzip).
 Der Wahrheitswert jeder zusammengesetzten Aussage ist eindeutig durch die Wahrheitswerte ihrer Teilaussagen bestimmt (Prinzip der Extensionalität oder Kompositionalität, siehe Extensionalitätsprinzip)

Das Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit wird oft mit dem Satz vom ausgeschlossenen Dritten verwechselt.

Die klassische Aussagenlogik ist jenes Gebiet der klassischen Logik, das die innere Struktur von Sätzen (Aussagen) daraufhin untersucht, aus welchen anderen Sätzen (Teilsätzen) sie zusammengesetzt sind und wie diese Teilsätze miteinander verknüpft sind. Die innere Struktur von Sätzen, die ihrerseits nicht in weitere Teilsätze zerlegt werden können, wird von der Aussagenlogik nicht betrachtet. Ein Beispiel: Die Aussage „Alle Katzen sind Hunde, und die Erde ist eine Scheibe“ ist mit dem Bindewort „und“ aus den beiden kürzeren Aussagen „Alle Katzen sind Hunde“ und „Die Erde ist eine Scheibe“ zusammengesetzt. Diese beiden Aussagen lassen sich ihrerseits nicht mehr in weitere Aussagen zerlegen, sind aus aussagenlogischer Sicht also elementar oder atomar. Andere, auf die Aussagenlogik aufbauende logische Systeme betrachten die innere Struktur solcher atomaren Aussagen; ein wichtiges Beispiel ist die Prädikatenlogik.

In Abgrenzung zur klassischen Logik entstehen nichtklassische Logiksysteme, wenn man das Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit, das Prinzip der Extensionalität oder sogar beide Prinzipien aufhebt. Nichtklassische Logiken, die durch die Aufhebung des Prinzips der Zweiwertigkeit entstehen, heißen mehrwertige Logik. Die Zahl der Wahrheitswerte (in diesem Falle üblicher: Pseudowahrheitswerte) kann dabei endlich sein (z. B. dreiwertige Logik), ist aber oft auch unendlich (z. B. Fuzzy-Logik). Hingegen verwenden Logiken, die durch die Aufhebung der Extensionalität entstehen, Junktoren (Konnektive), bei denen sich der Wahrheitswert des zusammengesetzten Satzes nicht mehr eindeutig aus dem Wahrheitswert seiner Teile bestimmen lässt. Ein Beispiel für nichtextensionale Logik ist die Modallogik, die die einstelligen nichtextensionalen Operatoren „es ist notwendig, dass“ und „es ist möglich, dass“ einführt.

Logische Systeme stehen innerhalb der Logik nicht in einem Konkurrenzverhältnis um Wahrheit oder Richtigkeit. Die Frage, welches logische System für einen bestimmten Zweck genutzt werden soll, ist eher eine pragmatische.

Oft werden logische Systeme und logische Fragestellungen mit außerlogischen Fragen verwechselt oder vermischt, z. B. mit der metaphysischen Frage, welches logische System „richtig“ sei, d. h. die Wirklichkeit beschreibe. Zu dieser Frage gibt es unterschiedliche Standpunkte einschließlich des positivistischen Standpunkts, dass diese Frage sinnlos sei. Diese Fragen fallen aber in andere Gebiete, z. B. Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Sprachwissenschaft.

Wenn in diesem Artikel die klassische Aussagenlogik behandelt wird, so ist das also nicht als metaphysische Festlegung zu verstehen oder gar als Behauptung, dass „alle Aussagen wahr oder falsch sind“. Es ist lediglich so, dass die klassische Aussagenlogik einfach nur solche Aussagen behandelt, die wahr oder falsch sind. Das ist eine große formale Vereinfachung, die dieses System relativ leicht erlernbar sein lässt. Braucht man aus metaphysischen oder pragmatischen Gründen mehr als zwei Wahrheitswerte, kann die klassische Aussagenlogik als Ausgangspunkt dienen, um ein geeignetes logisches System aufzustellen.

Umgangssprachliche Einleitung

Einfache Aussage (Elementaraussage) 

Eine Aussage A ist ein Satz, der entweder wahr (w, wahr, true, 1) oder nicht wahr (f, falsch, false, 0) ist. Das gilt sowohl für einfache als auch für verknüpfte Aussagen. „Halbwahrheiten“ gibt es nicht. Eine Aussage kann sowohl der gewöhnlichen Sprache entstammen als auch der Sprache der Mathematik. Eine Elementaraussage ist eine Aussage, die keine aussagenlogischen Verknüpfungen (nicht, und, oder, wenn … dann, genau dann wenn) enthält.

Beispiele für Elementaraussagen:
 : München ist 781 km von Hamburg entfernt.
 : 9 ist durch 3 teilbar.
 : Eintracht Frankfurt wird in der nächsten Saison deutscher Fußballmeister.
 : Alle Autos sind grün.
 ist offensichtlich wahr (triviale mathematische Aussage),  dagegen ist falsch (es gibt einfache Gegenbeispiele). 
 stellt im mathematischen Sinne keine Aussage dar (ungenau genug in vielerlei Hinsicht, hat Interpretationsspielraum), gleiches gilt für .

In der klassischen Aussagenlogik ist eine Aussage entweder wahr oder nicht wahr, auch wenn man den Wahrheitsgehalt nicht kennt. Das ist zum Beispiel bei den ungelösten mathematischen Problemen der Fall.

Anmerkung:  ist eine All-Aussage; die Struktur solcher Aussagen ist Gegenstand der Prädikatenlogik. Im Sinne der Aussagenlogik ist es eine Elementaraussage.

Verneinte Aussage – Negation 

Die Verneinung bzw. Negation (auch: Satzverneinung, äußere Verneinung, kontradiktorisches Gegenteil) einer Aussage A ist diejenige Aussage ¬A, die genau dann wahr ist, wenn A falsch ist, und die genau dann falsch ist, wenn A wahr ist. Einfacher: Die Verneinung einer Aussage A dreht den Wahrheitswert von A in sein Gegenteil um.

Man erhält die Verneinung einer Aussage A immer dadurch, dass man ihr die Formulierung „Es ist nicht der Fall, dass“ voranstellt. Zwar lässt sich ein natürlichsprachlicher Satz auch verneinen, indem man das Wort „nicht“ oder eine andere negative Formulierung an geeigneter Stelle einfügt – es ist aber nicht immer ganz einfach, zu erkennen, welche Formulierung zu verwenden und an welcher Stelle einzufügen ist. Formal schreibt man für „nicht A“ in der gebräuchlichsten Notation (Schreibweise) ¬A, auf Englisch und in der Schaltalgebra auch „NOT A“, gelegentlich auch „~A“.

Wir verneinen die obigen Beispiele:
 : Es ist nicht der Fall, dass München 781 km von Hamburg entfernt ist.
 : Es ist nicht der Fall, dass 9 durch 3 teilbar ist.
 : Es ist nicht der Fall, dass Eintracht Frankfurt in der nächsten Saison deutscher Fußballmeister wird.
 : Es ist nicht der Fall, dass alle Autos grün sind. (Es kann durchaus auch grüne Autos geben, aber es gibt mindestens ein Auto, das nicht grün ist.)

Allgemein gilt für die Verneinung:
 Wenn eine Aussage  wahr ist, ist die Verneinung  falsch.
 Wenn eine Aussage  falsch ist, ist die Verneinung  wahr.
 Eine Aussage  kann nicht gleichzeitig wahr und falsch sein.
 Die Aussagen  und  können nicht gleichzeitig wahr sein.

Und-verknüpfte Aussagen – Konjunktion 

Eine Konjunktion ist eine aus zwei Aussagen zusammengesetzte Aussage, die die Wahrheit all ihrer Teilaussagen behauptet. Umgangssprachlich verbindet man zwei Aussagen A und B durch das Bindewort „und“ zu einer Konjunktion „A und B“, in der logischen Sprache verwendet man meist das Zeichen  (Schreibweise: ), gelegentlich auch das kaufmännische Und, den Ampersand (&).
 Sprechweise: A und B
 Schreibweise: 
 auf Englisch und in der Schaltalgebra auch A AND B

Die Aussage  ist immer dann wahr, wenn sowohl A als auch B jeweils wahr sind.
Andernfalls ist  falsch, nämlich dann, wenn entweder A oder B oder beide Aussagen falsch sind.

Beispiele für eine Und-Verknüpfung:

 A: 9 ist durch 3 teilbar
 B: 9 ist eine Quadratzahl

Diese Teilaussagen und ihre Negationen werden nun durch  miteinander verknüpft:

 : 9 ist durch 3 teilbar und 9 ist eine Quadratzahl.
 : 9 ist nicht durch 3 teilbar und 9 ist eine Quadratzahl.
 : 9 ist durch 3 teilbar und 9 ist keine Quadratzahl.
 : 9 ist nicht durch 3 teilbar und 9 ist keine Quadratzahl.
Nur  ist wahr, weil  wahr ist und auch  wahr ist.
 ist falsch, weil  falsch ist.
 ist falsch, weil  falsch ist.
 ist falsch, weil sowohl  als auch  falsch
ist.

Nichtausschließendes Oder – Disjunktion 

Eine Disjunktion ist eine zusammengesetzte Aussage, die behauptet, dass mindestens eine ihrer Teilaussagen wahr ist. Die Disjunktion in diesem Sinn wird auch nichtausschließendes Oder genannt. (Aber Achtung: Die Bezeichnung „Disjunktion“ wurde und wird oft auch für das ausschließende Oder, „entweder … oder“, verwendet – man denke an das Konzept der disjunkten Mengen. Einige Autoren verwenden daher für das Nichtausschließende Oder den Begriff Adjunktion.)
Das Formelzeichen „“ stammt von dem lateinischen Wort „vel“; für ausschließendes Oder wurde im Lateinischen „aut ... aut“ verwandt.
 Sprechweise: „A oder B“; genauer: „A oder B oder beide“, häufig in juristischen oder medizinischen Texten: „A und/oder B“
 Schreibweise: 
 auf Englisch und in der Schaltalgebra auch A OR B

Die Aussage  ist immer dann wahr, wenn mindestens eine der Teilaussagen A oder B wahr ist, bzw. wenn beide Teilaussagen wahr sind. Andernfalls ist  falsch, nämlich dann, wenn sowohl A als auch B falsch sind.

Beispiel für eine Oder-Verknüpfung:
 A: 9 ist durch 3 teilbar
 B: 9 ist eine Quadratzahl

Diese Teilaussagen und ihre Negationen werden nun durch  miteinander verknüpft:
 : 9 ist durch 3 teilbar oder 9 ist eine Quadratzahl.
 : 9 ist nicht durch 3 teilbar oder 9 ist eine Quadratzahl.
 : 9 ist durch 3 teilbar oder 9 ist keine Quadratzahl.
 : 9 ist nicht durch 3 teilbar oder 9 ist keine Quadratzahl.

 ist wahr, weil sowohl  als auch  wahr sind.
 ist wahr, weil  wahr ist.
 ist wahr, weil  wahr ist.
Nur  ist falsch, weil sowohl  als auch  falsch sind.

Materiale Implikation 

Die materiale Implikation, auch Konditional oder Subjunktion genannt, drückt die hinreichende Bedingung aus: Sie sagt, dass die Wahrheit des einen Satzes eine hinreichende Bedingung für die Wahrheit des anderen Satzes ist. Man schreibt
 

oder auch
 

und liest
 A ist eine hinreichende Bedingung für B.
 Schon wenn A, dann B.
 A setzt voraus, dass B.
 B ist eine notwendige Bedingung für A.Dass B genau dann eine notwendige Bedingung für A ist, wenn A eine hinreichende Bedingung für B ist, ist eine auf den ersten Blick überraschende und vielleicht kontraintuitive, jedoch zutreffende Feststellung. Das Unterkapitel Hinreichende und notwendige Bedingung bemüht sich, diesen Zusammenhang sichtbarer zu machen.
 A impliziert B.
 Nur wenn B, dann A.
oder auch nur
 Wenn A, dann B.

In einem Konditional nennt man A das Antezedens, B das Konsequens oder Sukzedens.

Beispiele:
 Dass es regnet, ist eine hinreichende Bedingung dafür, dass die Straße nass ist.
 Schon wenn es regnet, ist die Straße nass.
 Wenn es regnet, ist die Straße nass.
 Nur wenn die Straße nass ist, kann es regnen.
 Wenn Person x einen Wagen der Marke y hat, hat x ein Auto.
 Wenn eine Zahl n durch 6 teilbar ist, dann ist die Zahl n durch 3 teilbar.

Die Lesart „wenn … dann“ ist insofern problematisch, als mit dem natürlichsprachlichen „wenn … dann“ vor allem inhaltliche Zusammenhänge wie Kausalität oder zeitliche Nähe ausgedrückt werden. All das macht die materiale Implikation nicht, sie nennt nur den formalen Zusammenhang: „Dass es regnet, ist eine hinreichende Bedingung dafür, dass die Straße nass ist“. Zur Frage, warum das eine hinreichende Bedingung ist – ob auf Grund eines kausalen Zusammenhangs oder auch nur rein zufällig –, nimmt die materiale Implikation nicht Stellung.

Als Umkehrschluss bezeichnet man den Schluss von  auf . Für die Beispiele bedeutet das:
 Wenn die Straße nicht nass ist, regnet es nicht.
 Wenn Person x kein Auto hat, dann hat x keinen Wagen der Marke y.
 Wenn die Zahl n nicht durch 3 teilbar ist, dann ist n nicht durch 6 teilbar.

Umgangssprachlich lässt man sich gelegentlich zu weiteren – falschen – Aussagen
verleiten:
 Weil es nicht regnete, kann die Straße nicht nass sein. Diese Folgerung ist falsch, da die Straße auch aus anderen Gründen nass werden kann (Rohrbruch, Übung der Feuerwehr …).
 x hat keinen Wagen der Marke y, also hat x kein Auto. Falsch, denn er könnte ja einen Wagen der Marke z haben.
 n ist nicht durch 6 teilbar, also ist n auch nicht durch 3 teilbar.Auch diese Folgerung ist falsch. Die Zahl 15 ist nicht durch 6 teilbar und sehr wohl durch 3.

Das bedeutet: Wenn die Folgerung  wahr ist, dann erhält man aus der
Aussage ¬A keine Aussage über B; B kann wahr oder falsch sein. („Ex falso sequitur quodlibet“ – „Aus Falschem folgt Beliebiges“)

Die Implikation ist ein wichtiges Mittel in der Mathematik. Die meisten mathematischen Beweise verwenden das Konzept der Implikation.

Bikonditional 

Das Bikonditional, oft auch objektsprachliche Äquivalenz oder materiale Äquivalenz genannt, drückt die hinreichende und notwendige Bedingung aus, sagt also, dass eine Aussage A genau dann zutrifft, wenn eine Aussage B zutrifft. Man schreibt:
 

und liest
 A ist genau dann der Fall, wenn B der Fall ist.
 A genau dann wenn B.
 A ist äquivalent zu B.
 A ist dann und nur dann der Fall, wenn B der Fall ist.

Auch beim Bikonditional wird eine rein formale Aussage getroffen, die nichts über einen allfälligen inhaltlichen Zusammenhang von A und B aussagt.

Statt  zu sagen, kann man auch sagen, dass A eine hinreichende Bedingung für B und dass B eine hinreichende Bedingung für A ist, also . Tatsächlich sind diese beiden Aussagen logisch äquivalent.

Beispiel:
 Die natürliche Zahl n ist genau dann durch 6 teilbar, wenn n durch 2 und durch 3 teilbar ist.Wenn n durch 6 teilbar ist, dann folgt daraus, dass n durch 2 und durch 3 teilbar ist. Umgekehrt gilt aber auch: Wenn n durch 2 und durch 3 teilbar ist, dann ist n durch 6 teilbar.
 Heute ist genau dann Dienstag, wenn morgen Mittwoch ist.

Das Bikonditional als zusammengesetzte Aussage innerhalb der logischen Sprache (siehe Objektsprache) wird oft mit dem Konzept der logischen Äquivalenz verwechselt oder vermischt. Die logische Äquivalenz ist eine metasprachliche, meist natürlichsprachlich formulierte Eigenschaft zweier Aussagen der logischen Sprache. Ein Zusammenhang zwischen logischer Äquivalenz und Bikonditional besteht nur insofern, als das Metatheorem gilt, dass ein Bikonditional  genau dann eine Tautologie ist, wenn die beiden Aussagen A und B logisch äquivalent sind.

Ausschließendes Oder 

Das ausschließende Oder (Kontravalenz oder Antivalenz), „entweder A oder B“, besagt, dass genau eine der beiden von ihm verknüpften Aussagen wahr ist. Entsprechend ist ein ausschließendes Oder nicht nur dann falsch, wenn sowohl A als auch B falsch sind, sondern auch, wenn beide wahr sind. (Einige Autoren verwenden für das Ausschließende Oder den Begriff Alternative.)

Obwohl das ausschließende Oder ein Konzept ist, mit dem man in der natürlichen Sprache immer wieder zu tun hat, wird es in den meisten logischen Sprachen nicht als eigenständiger Junktor eingeführt. Stattdessen wird das ausschließende Oder zum Beispiel als verneintes Bikonditional ausgedrückt, also als .

Große Bedeutung genießt das ausschließende Oder hingegen in der Schaltalgebra, wo es meist als XOR (eXclusive OR) aufgeschrieben wird.

Verneinung einer verknüpften Aussage (De Morgansche Gesetze)

Verneinung einer Konjunktion 
Die Verneinung der Konjunktion „A und B“ (in der logischen Schreibweise: ) lautet „Es ist nicht der Fall, dass A und B zutreffen“ (in der logischen Schreibweise: ).
Diese ist logisch äquivalent mit der Aussage
„A ist nicht der Fall, oder B ist nicht der Fall (oder beides)“ (in logischer Schreibweise: ).

Ein Beispiel:

Wenn man die Aussage
 Es regnet, und die Erde ist eine Scheibe
verneinen möchte, dann kann man entweder sagen
 Es ist nicht der Fall, dass es regnet und die Erde eine Scheibe ist.
oder man sagt
 Es regnet nicht oder die Erde ist keine Scheibe (oder beides).

In der Schaltalgebra wird sehr oft der Junktor NAND verwendet, wobei „A NAND B“ denselben Wahrheitswertverlauf hat wie der Ausdruck .

Verneinung einer Disjunktion 
Die Verneinung der Disjunktion „A oder B (oder beides)“ (in der logischen Schreibweise: ) lautet „Es ist nicht der Fall, dass A oder B zutrifft“ (in logischer Schreibweise: ).
Diese ist logisch äquivalent mit der Aussage
„A ist nicht der Fall, und B ist nicht der Fall“ (in logischer Schreibweise: ).

Ein Beispiel:

Wenn man die Aussage
 Die Erde ist eine Scheibe, oder die Erde ist ein Würfel.
verneinen möchte, so sagt man
 Es ist nicht der Fall, dass die Erde eine Scheibe ist oder dass die Erde ein Würfel ist.
Nach dem Gesetz von De Morgan kann man nun aber auch sagen:
 Die Erde ist keine Scheibe, und die Erde ist kein Würfel
oder in schönerem Deutsch
 Die Erde ist weder eine Scheibe noch ein Würfel.

In der Schaltalgebra wird das Konnektiv NOR verwendet, das denselben Wahrheitswertverlauf hat wie die Aussage .

Hinreichende und notwendige Bedingung 
Dieser Abschnitt soll den zunächst oft als kontraintuitiv empfundenen Zusammenhang zwischen hinreichender und notwendiger Bedingung, wie er im Abschnitt über die materiale Implikation angesprochen wurde, wiederaufgreifen und näher ausführen.

Betrachten wir noch einmal die materiale Implikation .

Man sagt: A ist hinreichend für B: Schon wenn A der Fall ist, ist auch B der Fall.

Umgekehrt kann man aber auch sagen: B ist notwendig für A. Ohne B kann A nicht erfüllt sein.

Wie kommt dieser Zusammenhang zustande?

Wir wissen, dass die Wahrheit von A die Wahrheit von B nach sich zieht, denn A ist ja hinreichende Bedingung für B. Somit ist es einfach nicht möglich, dass A eintritt, ohne dass B damit ebenfalls eintreten würde: B ist also gezwungenermaßen der Fall, wenn A der Fall ist. B ist „notwendig“ für A.

Dieser Zusammenhang ist in Wahrheit also ziemlich einfach; Hauptgrund dafür, dass er anfangs oft als kontraintuitiv empfunden wird, ist wahrscheinlich die Schwierigkeit, zwischen den vielen Bedeutungen des umgangssprachlichen „wenn … dann“ einerseits und der rein formalen hinreichenden und notwendigen Bedingung andererseits strikt zu trennen.

Mit dem umgangssprachlichen „wenn … dann“ möchte man fast immer einen inhaltlichen (kausalen oder auch temporalen) Zusammenhang zwischen Antecedens und Konsequens ausdrücken: „Regen verursacht Straßennässe“, „Zuerst fällt der Regen, erst nachher wird die Straße nass“. Wenn man die hinreichende Bedingung in diesem Sinn missversteht, dann ist es klar, dass die in umgekehrter Reihenfolge formulierte notwendige Bedingung „Nur wenn die Straße nass ist, regnet es“ seltsam aussieht: „Regen verursacht doch Straßennässe. Wie kann daraus je gefolgert werden, dass Straßennässe Regen verursacht?“

All dies sagt die materiale Implikation aber nicht aus. „A ist eine hinreichende Bedingung für B“ meint schlicht, dass wenn die Aussage A wahr ist, auch die Aussage B wahr ist – zeitlos und zusammenhanglos, nicht etwa „später“ oder „weil“.

Analog sagt die notwendige Bedingung, „B ist eine notwendige Bedingung für A“, lediglich das aus, dass B wahr ist, sofern A es ist. Genau das ist aber die Definition des Konditionals A → B.

Formaler Zugang

Einleitung 
Spätestens beim lauten Lesen von Sätzen wie

 „Die Aussage  ist genau dann wahr, wenn die Aussagen A und B wahr sind“

wird der selbstbewusste Laie verlangen, dass ihm erklärt wird, was das soll.

Die Antwort des Logikers: Es soll versucht werden, Sicherheit in die Regeln des logischen Schließens zu bringen. Seit den Sophisten ist dem Abendland klar, dass scheinbar zwingende Schlüsse zu offensichtlich absurden Ergebnissen führen können. Immer wieder wurden Paradoxien formuliert und von großen Denkern als Herausforderung empfunden. Logiker versuchen deshalb, die Regeln des Argumentierens so streng wie möglich zu fassen.

Das einleitende Beispiel macht klar, dass dazu eine Trennung der Sprachebenen unerlässlich ist: Die formale Aussage A∧B soll dadurch erklärt werden, dass auf einer metasprachlichen Ebene sowohl über die Aussage A als auch über die Aussage B geredet wird.

Ein Versuch, dies durchzuführen, besteht darin, die Aussagenlogik als formales System, konkret als Kalkül (eine bestimmte Art eines formalen Systems) zu definieren. Die Begriffe „wahr“ und „falsch“ kommen in diesem System zunächst überhaupt nicht vor. Stattdessen werden Axiome gesetzt, die einfach als Zeichenketten angesehen werden, aus denen weitere ableitbare Zeichenketten aufgrund von bestimmten Schlussregeln hergeleitet werden.

Das Ziel dabei ist einerseits, dass in einem formalen System nur Zeichenketten (Sätze) hergeleitet werden können, die bei einer plausiblen Interpretation auch wahr sind. Andererseits sollen alle Sätze, die als „wahr“ interpretierbar sind, auch hergeleitet werden können. Das erste ist die Forderung nach Korrektheit, das zweite die nach Vollständigkeit des formalen Systems; beide Eigenschaften sind unter Kalkül: Der Begriff Kalkül in der Logik beschrieben.

Für die klassische Aussagenlogik, mit der wir es hier zu tun haben, gibt es Kalküle (formale Systeme), die sowohl korrekt als auch vollständig sind. Für gewisse komplexere logische Systeme (z. B. Mengenlehre) ist es aber unmöglich, einen vollständigen Kalkül aufzustellen, der auch korrekt ist; diese Erkenntnis wurde 1931 von Kurt Gödel bewiesen (Gödelscher Unvollständigkeitssatz).

Syntax 
Es gibt viele verschiedene Möglichkeiten, die Syntax („Grammatik“) einer logischen Sprache formal zu definieren; meist geschieht das im Rahmen eines Kalküls. Die folgende Definition ist daher nur als Beispiel dafür zu verstehen, wie ein Kalkül für die klassische Aussagenlogik aussehen kann. Weitere Beispiele für konkrete Kalküle finden sich unter Baumkalkül, Begriffsschrift, Systeme natürlichen Schließens, Sequenzenkalkül oder Resolutionskalkül. Ein weiterer axiomatischer Kalkül ist als Beispiel im Artikel Hilbert-Kalkül angegeben, ein graphischer Kalkül im Artikel Existential Graphs.

Bausteine der aussagenlogischen Sprache 
Als Bausteine der aussagenlogischen Sprache sollen Satzbuchstaben („atomare Formeln“, Satzkonstanten), Junktoren und Gliederungszeichen verwendet werden. Satzbuchstaben sollen die Zeichen P0, P1, P2, … sein. Junktoren sollen die Zeichen ¬, ∧, ∨, → und ↔ sein. Als Gliederungszeichen sollen die runden Klammern dienen.

Formal lässt sich das z. B. auf folgende Weise ausdrücken:

Sei V die (abzählbar unendliche) Menge der atomaren Formeln (Satzbuchstaben):

 V = {Pn | n ∈ N0} (N0: Menge der natürlichen Zahlen inkl. 0), d. h. V = {P0, P1, P2, P3, …}

Sei J die Menge der Junktoren und Gliederungszeichen:

 J = {¬, ∧, ∨, →, ↔, (, )}

Das Alphabet der logischen Sprache sei die Menge V ∪ J, also die Vereinigungsmenge von atomaren Formeln, Junktoren und Gliederungszeichen.

Formationsregeln 
Die Formationsregeln legen fest, wie man aus den Bausteinen der aussagenlogischen Sprache Sätze (Formeln) bilden kann. Hier sollen aussagenlogische Formeln als Worte über dem Alphabet der logischen Sprache, also über V ∪ J wie folgt induktiv definiert werden:

 Alle atomaren Formeln F ∈ V (d. h. alle Satzbuchstaben) sind Formeln.
 Ist F eine Formel, so ist auch (¬F) eine Formel.(Diese Formel heißt Negation von F.)
 Sind F und G zwei (nicht notwendigerweise unterschiedliche) Formeln, so ist auch (F ∧ G) eine Formel.(Diese Formel heißt Konjunktion von F und G.)
 Sind F und G zwei (nicht notwendigerweise unterschiedliche) Formeln, so ist auch (F ∨ G) eine Formel.(Diese Formel heißt Disjunktion von F und G.)
 Sind F und G zwei (nicht notwendigerweise unterschiedliche) Formeln, so ist auch (F → G) eine Formel.(Diese Formel heißt materiale Implikation oder Konditional von F und G.)
 Sind F und G zwei (nicht notwendigerweise unterschiedliche) Formeln, so ist auch (F ↔ G) eine Formel.(Diese Formel heißt Bikonditional von F und G.)
 Nichts anderes ist eine aussagenlogische Formel.

Schlussregeln 

Schlussregeln sind allgemein Transformationsregeln (Umformungsregeln), die auf bestehende Formeln angewandt werden und aus ihnen neue Formeln erzeugen. Wenn man einen Kalkül für ein logisches System aufstellt, dann wählt man die Transformationsregeln so, dass sie aus bestehenden Formeln solche Formeln erzeugen, die aus den Ausgangsformeln semantisch folgen – deshalb die Bezeichnung „Schlussregel“ (eine Schlussfolgerung ziehen).

Innerhalb der Syntax sind die Schlussregeln allerdings rein formale Transformationsregeln, denen für sich keinerlei inhaltliche Bedeutung zukommt.

An konkreten Schlussregeln sollen hier nur zwei angegeben werden: der Modus ponendo ponens und die Substitutionsregel.

 Modus ponendo ponens
 Aus einem Satz der Form  und einem Satz der Form  darf man auf einen Satz der Form  schließen; dabei sind  und  Platzhalter für beliebige Formeln. Zum Beispiel darf man nach dieser Schlussregel aus „Wenn Regen die Straße benetzt, dann ist der Straßenbelag regennass“ und aus „Regen benetzt die Straße“ schließen auf „Der Straßenbelag ist regennass“.

 Substitutionsregel (Ersetzungsregel)
 In einem Satz dürfen alle Vorkommnisse eines beliebigen Atoms (z. B. „P“) durch einen beliebig komplexen Satz (z. B. ) ersetzt werden. Es müssen dabei aber auch wirklich alle Vorkommnisse des gewählten Atoms ersetzt werden und sie müssen auch wirklich alle durch denselben Satz ersetzt werden.
 Zum Beispiel darf mittels der Substitutionsregel aus  auf  geschlossen werden. Man sagt, P werde durch  ersetzt oder  werde für P substituiert (eingesetzt).

Axiome 

Axiome sind ausgezeichnete (im Sinn von: hervorgehobene) Formeln der aussagenlogischen Sprache. Die Auszeichnung besteht darin, dass sie innerhalb eines Beweises oder einer Herleitung (siehe unten) ohne weitere Rechtfertigung verwendet werden.

Pragmatisch wählt man solche Formeln als Axiome, die semantisch gesehen Tautologien sind, also immer zutreffen, und die dabei helfen, Beweise zu verkürzen. Innerhalb der Syntax sind die Axiome allerdings rein formale Objekte, denen keinerlei inhaltliche Bedeutung oder Rechtfertigung zukommt.

Axiome sind im Allgemeinen optional, d. h., ein Kalkül kann auch ganz ohne Axiome auskommen, wenn er ausreichend viele bzw. mächtige Schlussregeln hat. Axiomfreie Kalküle sind zum Beispiel die Systeme natürlichen Schließens oder Baumkalküle.

Hier soll exemplarisch ein axiomatischer Kalkül gezeigt werden, und zwar Russells Aussagenkalkül aus seiner Typentheorie 1908, den er 1910 in die Principia Mathematica übernahm. Dieser Kalkül umfasst die folgenden Axiome (von denen das vierte redundant, d. h. nicht unbedingt erforderlich ist, weil aus den anderen Axiomen herleitbar):

 
 
 
 
 

Um aus diesen Axiomen auch solche gültigen Sätze herleiten zu können, die andere als die in den Axiomen vorkommende Junktoren enthalten, werden diese durch folgende Festlegung auf die vorhandenen Junktoren zurückgeführt:

 
 

Alternativ zu – wie hier – konkreten Axiomen kann man auch Axiomenschemata angeben, in welchem Fall man auch ohne Substitutionsregel auskommt. Interpretiert man die obigen Axiome als Axiomenschemata, dann stünde z. B. das erste Axiomenschema, , für unendlich viele Axiome, nämlich alle Ersetzungsinstanzen dieses Schemas.

Herleitung und Beweis 

Eine Herleitung ist eine Liste von aufsteigend nummerierten Sätzen, die mit einer oder mehreren Annahmen (den Prämissen der Herleitung) oder Axiomen beginnt. Alle auf diese folgenden Sätze sind entweder ebenfalls Axiome (bei manchen Kalkülen sind auch weitere Annahmen zulässig) oder sind aus einer oder mehreren der vorangehenden Zeilen durch Anwendung von Schlussregeln entstanden. Der letzte Satz in der Liste ist die Konklusion der Herleitung.

Eine Herleitung ohne Prämissen heißt Beweis. Oft werden aber die Wörter „Herleitung“ und „Beweis“ synonym gebraucht.

Wenn es gelingt, aus einer Menge von Annahmen (Prämissen) Δ eine Konklusion P herzuleiten, dann schreibt man auch .

Gelingt es, einen Satz P ohne die Verwendung von Annahmen herzuleiten (zu beweisen), dann schreibt man auch: . In diesem Fall wird P Theorem genannt.

Das Zeichen  geht auf die Begriffsschrift zurück, jenes Werk, in dem Gottlob Frege 1879 die erste Formalisierung der Prädikatenlogik angegeben hat.

In der klassischen Aussagenlogik wählt man die Schlussregeln so, dass sich mit ihrer Hilfe alle gültigen Argumente (und nur gültige Argumente) herleiten lassen; die Frage der Gültigkeit wird im folgenden Abschnitt, „Semantik“, behandelt.

Semantik 
Außerhalb der Logik bezeichnet Semantik ein Forschungsgebiet, das sich mit der Bedeutung von Sprache und deren Teilen befasst. Oft wird auch das Wort Semantik gleichbedeutend mit dem Wort Bedeutung verwendet.

Auch innerhalb der Logik geht es bei Semantik um Bedeutung: Darum nämlich, den Ausdrücken einer formalen Sprache – zum Beispiel der hier behandelten Sprache der Aussagenlogik – eine Bedeutung zuzuordnen. In der Logik wird auch das meist sehr formal unternommen.

Im Zentrum der (formalen) Semantik steht eine Auswertungsfunktion (andere Bezeichnungen lauten Bewertungsfunktion, Denotationsfunktion, Wahrheitswertefunktion), die den Formeln der logischen Sprache eine Bedeutung zuordnet. Formal gesprochen ist die Auswertungsfunktion eine Abbildung von der Menge der Formeln der Sprache in die Menge der Wahrheitswerte. Oft wird die Auswertungsfunktion mit dem Großbuchstaben V bezeichnet.

In der klassischen Aussagenlogik ist die Auswertungsfunktion sehr einfach: Das Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit fordert, dass sie für jede zu bewertende Formel genau einen von genau zwei Wahrheitswerten liefern muss; und das Prinzip der Extensionalität fordert, dass die Bewertungsfunktion beim Bewerten eines komplexen Satzes nur die Bewertung von dessen Teilsätzen berücksichtigen muss.

Jedem Atom, also jedem Satzbuchstaben (Atom) wird durch Festsetzung ein Wahrheitswert zugeordnet. Man sagt: Die Atome werden interpretiert. Es wird also z. B. festgelegt, dass P0 wahr ist, dass P1 falsch ist und dass P2 ebenfalls falsch ist. Damit ist der Bewertung der Bausteine der logischen Sprache Genüge getan. Formal ist eine solche Bewertung – Interpretation genannt und oft mit dem Kleinbuchstaben v bezeichnet – eine Funktion im mathematischen Sinn, d. h. eine Abbildung von der Menge der Atome in die Menge der Wahrheitswerte.

Wenn die Auswertungsfunktion V auf ein Atom angewandt wird, d. h. wenn sie ein Atom bewerten soll, liefert sie die Interpretation dieses Atoms im Sinn des obigen Absatzes. Mit anderen Worten, sie liefert den Wert, den die Bewertung v dem Atom zuordnet.

Um die zusammengesetzten Formeln bewerten zu können, muss für jeden Junktor definiert werden, welchen Wahrheitswert die Bewertungsfunktion für die unterschiedlichen Wahrheitswertkombinationen liefert, den seine Argumente annehmen können. In der klassischen Aussagenlogik geschieht das meist mittels Wahrheitstabellen, weil es nur überschaubar wenige Möglichkeiten gibt.

Der einstellige Junktor ¬, die Negation, ist in der klassischen Aussagenlogik so definiert, dass er den Wahrheitswert seines Arguments ins Gegenteil umkehrt, also „verneint“: Ist die Bewertung einer Formel X wahr, dann liefert die Bewertungsfunktion für ¬X falsch; wird aber X falsch bewertet, dann liefert die Bewertungsfunktion für ¬X wahr. Die Wahrheitstabelle sieht folgendermaßen aus:

Die Wahrheitswertverläufe der verwendeten zweistelligen Konnektive sind in der klassischen Aussagenlogik wie folgt definiert:

Allgemein gibt es für die klassische Aussagenlogik vier einstellige und sechzehn zweistellige Junktoren. Die hier behandelte logische Sprache beschränkt sich nur deshalb auf die Junktoren ¬, ∧, ∨, → und ↔, weil diese am gebräuchlichsten sind und weil sie auch inhaltlich noch am ehesten aus der Alltagssprache bekannt sind. Aus formaler Sicht ist die einzige Bedingung, die man bei der Wahl von Junktoren erfüllen möchte, die, dass sich mit den gewählten Junktoren auch alle anderen theoretisch möglichen Junktoren ausdrücken lassen; man sagt: Dass die Menge der gewählten Junktoren funktional vollständig ist. Diese Anforderung ist bei der hier getroffenen Wahl erfüllt.

Näheres zur Frage, wie viele und welche Junktoren es gibt und wie viele Junktoren man benötigt, um funktionale Vollständigkeit zu erreichen, ist im Kapitel Junktor beschrieben.

Semantische Gültigkeit, Tautologien 
Semantische Gültigkeit ist eine Eigenschaft von Formeln oder von Argumenten. (Ein Argument ist die Behauptung, dass aus einigen Aussagen – den Prämissen – eine bestimmte Aussage – die Konklusion – folgt.)

Eine Formel der aussagenlogischen Sprache heißt genau dann semantisch gültig, wenn die Formel unter allen Interpretationen – d. h. unter allen Zuordnungen von Wahrheitswerten zu den in ihr vorkommenden Atomen – wahr ist; wenn sie sozusagen allgemeingültig ist; mit anderen Worten: Wenn die Wahrheitstabelle für diese Aussage in jeder Zeile das Ergebnis wahr zeigt. Man nennt semantisch gültige Formeln auch Tautologien und schreibt, wenn  eine Tautologie ist, formal wie folgt:
 

Ein Argument heißt genau dann semantisch gültig, wenn unter der Voraussetzung, dass alle Prämissen wahr sind, auch die Konklusion wahr ist. In der Formulierung von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: Aus Wahrem folgt nur Wahres. Diese Definition muss natürlich ebenfalls formal gefasst werden, und das geschieht wie folgt: Ein Argument ist genau dann semantisch gültig, wenn alle Zuordnungen von Wahrheitswerten zu den in Prämissen und Konklusion vorkommenden Atomen, unter denen die Bewertungsfunktion für alle Prämissen den Wert wahr liefert, auch für die Konklusion den Wert wahr liefert.

Um auszudrücken, dass aus einer Menge  von Formeln (der Prämissenmenge) eine Formel  (die Konklusion) semantisch folgt, schreibt man formal wie folgt:

Beachte die graphische Ähnlichkeit und die inhaltliche Verschiedenheit zwischen  (Kapitel „Herleitung und Beweis“) und  (Siehe: Semantische Folgerung): Die erste Formulierung –  – drückt die syntaktische Gültigkeit des Arguments aus, sagt also, dass aus den Formeln in  mit den Schlussregeln des gewählten Kalküls die Formel  hergeleitet werden kann.  hingegen behauptet die semantische Gültigkeit, die in der klassischen Aussagenlogik wie in den vorangegangenen Absätzen als das Leibniz’sche Aus Wahrem folgt nur Wahres definiert ist.

Wichtige semantische Eigenschaften: Erfüllbarkeit, Widerlegbarkeit und Unerfüllbarkeit 

Neben der Eigenschaft der Gültigkeit (Allgemeingültigkeit) gibt es einige andere wichtige Eigenschaften: Erfüllbarkeit, Widerlegbarkeit und Unerfüllbarkeit. Im Gegensatz zur Gültigkeit, die Eigenschaft von Formeln oder von Argumenten sein kann, sind Erfüllbarkeit, Widerlegbarkeit und Unerfüllbarkeit Eigenschaften von Sätzen oder von Satzmengen.

 Eine Formel heißt erfüllbar, wenn es mindestens eine Interpretation der in ihr vorkommenden Atome (Satzbuchstaben) gibt, unter der die Formel wahr ist.
 Eine Formel heißt widerlegbar, wenn es mindestens eine Interpretation der in ihr vorkommenden Atome gibt, unter der die Formel falsch ist.
 Eine Formel heißt unerfüllbar, wenn sie unter allen Interpretationen der in ihr vorkommenden Satzbuchstaben falsch ist.
 Eine Formelmenge heißt erfüllbar, wenn alle in ihr enthaltenen Formeln erfüllbar sind.

Die Frage, ob eine Formel (oder eine Formelmenge) eine der genannten Eigenschaften hat, ist ebenso wie die Frage, ob eine Formel allgemeingültig, d. h. eine Tautologie ist, für allgemeine Formeln nicht effizient lösbar: Zwar ist die Wahrheitstafel ein Entscheidungsverfahren für jede dieser Fragen, doch umfasst eine Wahrheitstafel für eine Aussage bzw. eine Aussagemenge in n Atomen  Zeilen; das Wahrheitstafelverfahren ist nichts anderes als ein Brute-Force-Verfahren.

Jede dieser Fragestellungen kann auf die Frage zurückgeführt werden, ob eine bestimmte Formel erfüllbar ist:
 Eine Formel  ist genau dann eine Tautologie, wenn  unerfüllbar ist.
 Eine Formel  ist genau dann widerlegbar, wenn  erfüllbar ist.

Die Frage, ob eine Aussage erfüllbar ist, wird Erfüllbarkeitsproblem oder SAT-Problem (nach dem englischen Wort für Erfüllbarkeit, satisfiability) genannt. Das SAT-Problem spielt eine wichtige Rolle in der theoretischen Informatik und Komplexitätstheorie. Das Erfüllbarkeitsproblem für allgemeine (beliebige) Formeln ist NP-vollständig, d. h. (unter der Voraussetzung, dass P ungleich NP) nicht in polynomialer Laufzeit lösbar.

Für bestimmte echte Teilmengen der Formeln der aussagenlogischen Sprache ist das SAT-Problem dennoch schneller, d. h. in polynomial beschränkter Rechenzeit lösbar. Eine solche Teilmenge sind die Horn-Formeln, das sind Konjunktionen von Disjunktionen, deren Disjunkte verneinte oder unverneinte Atome sind, wobei innerhalb einer solchen Disjunktion allerdings höchstens ein Atom unverneint sein darf.

Algebraische Sicht 
Wenn man die Semantik betrachtet, die hier für die klassische Aussagenlogik aufgestellt wurde, dann erkennt man gewisse Gesetzmäßigkeiten. Wird z. B. die Auswertungsfunktion auf eine Aussage der Form X ∧ W angewendet, wobei W eine beliebige wahre Aussage sein soll, dann stellt man fest, dass die Auswertungsfunktion für X ∧ W immer den Wahrheitswert wahr liefert, wenn V(X)=wahr ist (das heißt V(X∧W)=V(X)). Von der Struktur her gleichwertige Gesetzmäßigkeiten gelten auch in anderen Semantiken, auch in solchen, die für ganz andere, nichtlogische Systeme aufgestellt werden. Für die Arithmetik gilt z. B., dass die dortige Bewertungsfunktion (hier VArithmetik genannt) für einen Ausdruck der Form X + Y immer den Wert von X liefert, sofern der Wert von Y null ist: VArithmetik(X+Y)=VArithmetik(X), wenn VArithmetik(Y) = null ist.

Eine formale Wissenschaft, die solche strukturellen Gesetzmäßigkeiten untersucht, ist die abstrakte Algebra (meist Teilgebiet der Mathematik, aber auch der Informatik). In der abstrakten Algebra wird zum Beispiel untersucht, für welche Verknüpfungen es ein neutrales Element gibt, d. h. ein Element N, das für eine Verknüpfung op dazu führt, dass (für beliebiges X) gilt: X op N = X. So würde man aus algebraischer Sicht sagen, dass es für die klassische aussagenlogische Konjunktion genau ein neutrales Element gibt, nämlich wahr, und dass es für die Addition in der Arithmetik ebenfalls genau ein neutrales Element gibt, nämlich die Zahl Null. Nur am Rande sei erwähnt, dass es auch für andere Junktoren neutrale Elemente gibt; das neutrale Element für die Disjunktion ist falsch: V(X ∨ F) = V(X), wenn V(F)=falsch ist.

Die formale Algebra betrachtet formale Semantiken rein nach ihren strukturellen Eigenschaften. Sind diese identisch, dann besteht zwischen ihnen aus algebraischer Sicht kein Unterschied. Aus algebraischer Sicht, genauer: Aus Sicht der formalen Algebra ist die Semantik für die klassische Aussagenlogik eine zweiwertige Boolesche Algebra. Andere formale Systeme, deren Semantiken jeweils eine Boolesche Algebra bilden, sind die Schaltalgebra und die elementare Mengenlehre. Aus algebraischer Sicht besteht daher zwischen diesen Disziplinen kein Unterschied.

Normalformen 
Jede aussagenlogische Formel lässt sich in eine äquivalente Formel in
konjunktiver Normalform und eine äquivalente Formel in
disjunktiver Normalform umformen.

Metatheorie 

In der Metatheorie werden die Eigenschaften von logischen Systemen untersucht: Das logische System ist in der Metatheorie der Untersuchungsgegenstand.

Eine metatheoretische Fragestellung ist zum Beispiel die, ob in einem Kalkül ein Widerspruch hergeleitet werden kann.

Der vorliegende Abschnitt soll einige wichtige metatheoretische Fragestellungen aus dem Blickwinkel der Aussagenlogik betrachten.

 Konsistenz
 Ein Kalkül wird genau dann konsistent genannt, wenn es unmöglich ist, mit Hilfe seiner Axiome und Regeln einen Widerspruch herzuleiten, d. h. eine Aussage der Form P ∧ ¬ P (z. B. „Hugo ist groß, und Hugo ist nicht groß“). Für einen Kalkül, der in der Aussagenlogik verwendet werden soll, ist das eine Mindestanforderung.
 Ist es in einem Kalkül möglich, einen Widerspruch herzuleiten, dann wird der Kalkül inkonsistent genannt.
 Es gibt formale Systeme, in denen solch ein Widerspruch hergeleitet werden kann, die aber durchaus sinnvoll sind. Für solche Systeme wird ein anderer Konsistenzbegriff verwendet: Ein Kalkül ist konsistent, wenn in ihm nicht alle Formeln herleitbar sind (siehe parakonsistente Logik).
 Es lässt sich leicht zeigen, dass für die klassische Logik die beiden Konsistenzbegriffe zusammenfallen: In der klassischen Logik lässt sich aus einem Widerspruch jeder beliebige Satz herleiten (dieser Sachverhalt wird Ex falso quodlibet genannt), d. h. wenn ein klassischer Kalkül auch nur einen Widerspruch herleiten könnte, also im ersten Sinn inkonsistent wäre, dann könnte er jede Aussage herleiten, wäre also im zweiten Sinn inkonsistent. Wenn umgekehrt ein Kalkül inkonsistent im zweiten Sinn ist, also in ihm jede Aussage herleitbar ist, dann ist insbesondere auch jeder Widerspruch herleitbar und ist er auch inkonsistent im ersten Sinn.

 Korrektheit
 Ein Kalkül heißt genau dann korrekt (semantisch korrekt), wenn in ihm nur solche Formeln hergeleitet werden können, die auch semantisch gültig sind. Für die klassische Aussagenlogik bedeutet das einfacher: Ein Kalkül ist genau dann korrekt, wenn in ihm nur Tautologien bewiesen und nur gültige Argumente hergeleitet werden können.
 Ist es in einem aussagenlogischen Kalkül möglich, mindestens ein ungültiges Argument herzuleiten oder mindestens eine Formel zu beweisen, die keine Tautologie ist, dann ist der Kalkül inkorrekt.

 Vollständigkeit
 Vollständig (semantisch vollständig) heißt ein Kalkül genau dann, wenn in ihm alle semantisch gültigen Formeln hergeleitet werden können; für die klassische Aussagenlogik: Wenn in ihm alle Tautologien hergeleitet werden können.

 Adäquatheit
 Ein Kalkül heißt genau dann im Hinblick auf eine spezielle Semantik adäquat, wenn er (semantisch) korrekt und (semantisch) vollständig ist.

Ein metatheoretisches Resultat ist zum Beispiel die Feststellung, dass alle korrekten Kalküle auch konsistent sind. Ein anderes metatheoretisches Resultat ist die Feststellung, dass ein konsistenter Kalkül nicht automatisch korrekt sein muss: Es ist ohne weiteres möglich, einen Kalkül aufzustellen, in dem zwar kein Widerspruch hergeleitet werden kann, in dem aber z. B. die nicht allgemeingültige Aussage der Form „A ∨ B“ hergeleitet werden kann. Ein solcher Kalkül wäre aus ersterem Grund konsistent, aus letzterem Grund aber nicht korrekt.

Ein weiteres, sehr einfaches Resultat ist die Feststellung, dass ein vollständiger Kalkül nicht automatisch auch korrekt oder nur konsistent sein muss. Das einfachste Beispiel wäre ein Kalkül, in dem jede Formel der aussagenlogischen Sprache herleitbar ist. Da jede Formel herleitbar ist, sind alle Tautologien herleitbar, die ja Formeln sind: Das macht den Kalkül vollständig. Da aber jede Formel herleitbar ist, ist insbesondere auch die Formel P0 ∧ ¬ P0 und die Formel A ∨ B herleitbar: Ersteres macht den Kalkül inkonsistent, letzteres inkorrekt.

Das Ideal, das ein Kalkül erfüllen sollte, ist Korrektheit und Vollständigkeit: Wenn das der Fall ist, dann ist er der ideale Kalkül für ein logisches System, weil er alle semantisch gültigen Sätze (und nur diese) herleiten kann. So sind die beiden Fragen, ob ein konkreter Kalkül korrekt und/oder vollständig ist und ob es für ein bestimmtes logisches System überhaupt möglich ist, einen korrekten und vollständigen Kalkül anzugeben, zwei besonders wichtige metatheoretische Fragestellungen.

Abgrenzung und Philosophie 
Die klassische Aussagenlogik, wie sie hier ausgeführt wurde, ist ein formales logisches System. Als solches ist sie eines unter vielen, die aus formaler Sicht gleichwertig nebeneinander stehen und die ganz bestimmte Eigenschaften haben: Die meisten sind konsistent, die meisten sind korrekt, etliche sind vollständig, und einige sind sogar entscheidbar. Aus formaler Sicht stehen die logischen Systeme in keinem Konkurrenzverhalten hinsichtlich Wahrheit oder Richtigkeit.

Von formalen, innerlogischen Fragen klar unterschieden sind außerlogische Fragen: Solche nach der Nützlichkeit (Anwendbarkeit) einzelner Systeme für einen bestimmten Zweck und solche nach dem philosophischen, speziell metaphysischen Status einzelner Systeme.

Die Nützlichkeitserwägung ist die einfachere, bezüglich deren Meinungsunterschiede weniger tiefgehend bzw. weniger schwerwiegend sind. Klassische Aussagenlogik zum Beispiel bewährt sich in der Beschreibung elektronischer Schaltungen (Schaltalgebra) oder zur Formulierung und Vereinfachung logischer Ausdrücke in Programmiersprachen. Prädikatenlogik wird gerne angewandt, wenn es darum geht, Faktenwissen zu formalisieren und automatisiert Schlüsse daraus zu ziehen, wie das unter anderem im Rahmen der Programmiersprache Prolog geschieht. Fuzzy-Logiken, nonmonotone, mehrwertige und auch parakonsistente Logiken sind hochwillkommen, wenn es darum geht, mit Wissensbeständen umzugehen, in denen Aussagen mit unterschiedlich starkem Gewissheitsgrad oder gar einander widersprechende Aussagen abgelegt werden sollen und dennoch sinnvolle Schlüsse aus dem Gesamtbestand gezogen werden sollen. Auch wenn es je nach Anwendungsfall sehr große Meinungsunterschiede geben kann, welches logisches System besser geeignet ist, ist die Natur des Problems für alle Beteiligten unmittelbar und in gleicher Weise greifbar. Einzelwissenschaftliche Überlegungen und Fragestellungen spielen sich überwiegend in diesem Bereich ab.

(Noch) kontroverser als solche pragmatischen Überlegungen sind Fragestellungen philosophischer und metaphysischer Natur. Geradezu paradigmatisch ist die Frage, „welches logische System richtig ist“, wobei „richtig“ hier gemeint ist als: Welches logische System nicht nur einen Teilaspekt der Wirklichkeit modellhaft vereinfacht, sondern die Wirklichkeit, das Sein als Ganzes adäquat beschreibt. Zu dieser Fragestellung gibt es viele unterschiedliche Meinungen einschließlich der vom philosophischen Positivismus eingeführten Meinung, dass die Fragestellung als Ganzes sinnlos ist.

In den Bereich metaphysischer Fragestellungen fällt auch die Frage, ob es so etwas wie ein metaphysisches Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit gebe, ob also Aussagen über die Wirklichkeit durchgehend ins Schema wahr/falsch passen oder nicht. Diese Frage ist unabhängig von der Frage, ob die Beschäftigung mit zwei- oder mehrwertigen Logiken praktisch sinnvoll ist: Selbst wenn ein metaphysisches Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit herrscht, könnte man anwendungspraktisch mehrwertige Logiken nützen, etwa dazu, epistemische Sachverhalte zu fassen, zum Beispiel aus Aussagen zu schließen, die zwar metaphysisch wahr oder falsch sind, von denen aber nicht oder noch nicht bekannt ist, welches von beidem der Fall ist. Umgekehrt kann man auch dann, wenn ein solches metaphysisches Prinzip nicht gilt, zweiwertige Logik wegen ihrer Einfachheit für solche Anwendungen bevorzugen, bei denen nur mit solchen Sätzen umgegangen werden muss, die tatsächlich wahr oder falsch sind.

Die Frage nach einem metaphysischen Prinzip der Zweiwertigkeit ist wie die meisten metaphysischen Fragen nicht endgültig zufriedenstellend beantwortet. Ein früher Einwand gegen ein solches Prinzip, den Aristoteles zur Diskussion stellte, war das Thema der Aussagen über zukünftige Sachverhalte („Morgen wird es regnen“). Wenn Aussagen über Zukünftiges schon heute wahr oder falsch wären, so wird argumentiert, dann müsse die Zukunft bis ins letzte Detail vorbestimmt sein. Ein anderer Einwand, der vorgebracht wird, ist, dass es Aussagen gibt, deren Wahrheit praktisch oder theoretisch nicht festgestellt werden kann – zum Beispiel lässt sich die Wahrheit von „Der Rasen vor dem Weißen Haus bestand am 1. Februar 1870 aus genau 6.120.375,4 Grashalmen“ einfach nicht feststellen.

Befürworter eines metaphysischen Zweiwertigkeitsprinzips berufen sich oft auf das Verhalten von Metatheoretikern, also von Mathematikern oder Logikern, die Aussagen über formale Systeme treffen: Egal wie mehrwertig oder nichtklassisch das untersuchte System ist, die dabei getroffenen Metavermutungen, Metabehauptungen und Metafeststellungen sind immer zweiwertig: Ein Kalkül, auch ein parakonsistenter oder nonmonotoner, wird immer als entweder konsistent oder inkonsistent betrachtet, und ein logisches System ist immer entweder korrekt oder inkorrekt, vollständig oder nicht vollständig, entscheidbar oder unentscheidbar, niemals „ein bisschen“ von beidem. Befürworter deuten das als Hinweis darauf, dass es in der Wirklichkeit tatsächlich eine strenge Unterscheidung nach wahr und falsch gebe oder dass es zumindest sinnvoll ist, eine solche anzunehmen.

Eine andere philosophische Fragestellung ist die nach dem metaphysischen Status des Untersuchungsgegenstands der Logik, also danach, was logische Systeme, Kalküle, Wahrheitswerte eigentlich „sind“.

Der platonische Standpunkt besteht darin, dass die in der Logik verwendeten Zeichen und Konstrukte eine außerlogische Bedeutung haben, dass sie Namen für real existierende (wenn auch natürlich nicht-physikalische) Gegenstände sind. In diesem Sinn gäbe es so etwas wie das Wahre und das Falsche, abstrakte Gegenstände, die von den Zeichen „wahr“ und „falsch“ benannt werden.

Der Gegenpol zum Platonismus wäre der Nominalismus, der Existenz nur den Zeichen zuspricht, die in der Logik manipuliert werden. Gegenstand der Logik sind Zeichen, und die Tätigkeit der Logiker ist die Manipulation von Zeichen. Die Zeichen bezeichnen aber nichts, so etwas wie das Wahre oder das Falsche gibt es also nicht. Im Grundlagenstreit der Mathematik entspräche der nominalistischen Position die formalistische Richtung.

Eine Mittelstellung nähme der philosophische Konstruktivismus ein, demzufolge die Zeichen zwar keine unabhängig existierenden Gegenstände bezeichnen, durch den Umgang mit den Zeichen aber Gegenstände konstruiert werden.

Literatur 
 Jon Barwise, John Etchemendy: The Language of First Order Logic (= CSLI Lecture Notes. Bd. 23). 2. Auflage, revised and expanded. Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford CA 1991, ISBN 0-937073-74-1.
 Ansgar Beckermann: Einführung in die Logik. 2., neu bearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage. de Gruyter, Berlin u. a. 2003, ISBN 3-11-017965-2.
 Karel Berka, Lothar Kreiser: Logik-Texte. Kommentierte Auswahl zur Geschichte der modernen Logik. 4., gegenüber der 3., erweiterte, durchgesehene Auflage. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1986.
 Wolfgang Detel: Grundkurs Philosophie. Band 1: Logik (= Universal-Bibliothek. Nr. 18468). Reclam, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 978-3-15-018468-4.
 Wilfrid Hodges: Logic. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1977, ISBN 0-14-021985-4 (2. Auflage. ebenda 2001 ISBN 0-14-100314-6).
 Rüdiger Inhetveen: Logik. Eine dialog-orientierte Einführung (= Eagle. Bd. 2). Edition am Gutenbergplatz, Leipzig 2003, ISBN 3-937219-02-1.
 E. J. Lemmon: Beginning Logic. Nelson, London 1965 (2. Auflage. Chapman & Hall, London 1987, ISBN 0-412-38090-0).
 Wesley C. Salmon: Logik. (= Universal-Bibliothek. Nr. 7996). Reclam Stuttgart 1983, ISBN 3-15-007996-9.

Weblinks 

 
 Christian Spannagel: Aussagen- und Prädikatenlogik. Vorlesungsreihe, 2012.

Einzelnachweise 

Sprachphilosophie

Aa 
 Bertus Aafjes (1914–1993), NL
 Jeppe Aakjær (1866–1930), DK
 Johannes Aal (um 1500–1551), CH
 Hans Aanrud (1863–1953), NO
 Emil Aarestrup (1800–1856), DK
 Soazig Aaron (* 1949), FR
 Ivar Aasen (1813–1896), NO

Ab 
 Petrus Abaelardus (1079–1142), FR
 Sait Faik Abasıyanık (1906–1954), TR
 Lynn Abbey (* 1948), US
 Jacob Abbott (1803–1879), US
 John Stevens Cabot Abbott (1805–1877), US
 Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir (1795–1852), MAL
 Abe Kōbō (1924–1993), JP
 Rebecca Abe (* 1967), D
 Hans Karl Abel (1876–1951), D
 Curt Abel-Musgrave (1860–1938), D, GB, USA
 Matthias Abele von und zu Lilienberg (1616/1618–1677), AT
 Joe Abercrombie (* 1974), GB
 Walter Abish (1931–2022), US
 Hermann Able (1930–2013), D
 Dan Abnett (* 1965), GB
 Abraham a Sancta Clara (1644–1709), D
 Peter Abraham (1936–2015), D
 Peter Abrahams (1919–2017), ZA
 M. H. Abrams (1912–2015), US
 Hans Aßmann Freiherr von Abschatz (1646–1699), D
 Dannie Abse (1923–2014), GB
 Leo Abse (1917–2008), GB
 Alexander Abusch (1902–1982), D

Ac 
 Chinua Achebe (1930–2013), NG
 Anna Maria Achenrainer (1909–1972), AT
 Franz Heinrich Achermann (1881–1946), CH
 Arthur Achleitner (1858–1927), D
 Friedrich Achleitner (1930–2019), AT
 Bella Achmadulina (1937–2010), RUS
 Anna Achmatowa (1889–1961), RUS
 Willi Achten (* 1958), D
 Herbert Achternbusch (1938–2022), D
 Thomas Achtzehner (* 1964), D
 André Aciman (* 1951), US
 Joan Acker (1924–2016), US
 Kathy Acker (1947–1997), US
 J. R. Ackerley (1896–1967), US
 Forrest J. Ackerman (1916–2008), US
 Peter Ackroyd (* 1949), GB
 Isabell Hohmann (geb. Ackermann) (* 1979), D
 Walter Ackermann (1903–1939), D
 Jürg Acklin (* 1945), CH
 Mercedes de Acosta (1893–1968), US
 Harold Acton (1904–1994), GB

Ad 
 Gilbert Adair (1944–2011), GB
 Barry Adam (* 1952), CAN
 Engelbert Adam (1850–1919), D
 Max Adam (* 1952), D
 Friedrich Wilhelm Adami (1816–1893), D
 Louis Adamic (1899–1951), US
 Arthur Adamov (1908–1970), FR
 Don Adams (* 1926), US
 Douglas Adams (1952–2001), GB
 Henry Adams (1838–1918), US
 Léonie Adams (1899–1988), US
 Nene Adams (1966–2015), US
 Richard Adams (1920–2016), GB
 Fleur Adcock (* 1934), NZ/GB
 Joseph Addison (1672–1719), GB
 Uri Adelman (1958–2004), IL
 Jacques d’Adelswärd-Fersen (1880–1923), FR
 Leonhard Adelt (1881–1945), D
 Amal Aden (* 1983), NORW/SOMALIA
 Aravind Adiga (* 1974), IN
 Halide Edip Adıvar (1884–1964), TR
 Alfred Adler (1870–1937), AT
 Detlev P. Adler (* 1956), D
 Hans Adler (1880–1957), AT
 Hans Günther Adler (1910–1988), CZ
 Katharina Adler (Autorin) (* 1980), D
 Katharina Adler (Publizistin) (1919–2010), D
 Paul Adler (1878–1946), CZ / D
 Jussi Adler-Olsen (* 1950), DK
 Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem (1854–1941), D
 Roland Adloff (* 1956), D
 Karl Adolph (1869–1931), AT
 Rudolf Adolph (1900–1984), D
 Jorge Enrique Adoum (1926–2009), EC
 Endre Ady (1877–1919), HU

Ae 
 Eva Björg Ægisdóttir (* 1988), IS
 Alphons Aeby (1885–1941), CH
 Uli Aechtner (* 1952), D
 Hermann Aellen (1887–1939), CH
 Æmilie Juliane von Barby-Mühlingen (1637–1706), D
 Aeschylus (525–456 v. Chr.), GR

Af 
 Horst Afheldt (1924–2016), D
 Tatamkhulu Afrika (1920–2002), ZA

Ag 
 Giorgio Agamben (* 1942), IT
 James Agee (1909–1955), US
 Joel Agee (* 1940), US
 Samuel Agnon (1888–1970), IL
 Dritëro Agolli (1931–2017), AL
 Alfhild Agrell (1849–1923), SE
 Rudolf Agricola (≈1444–1485), D
 Rudolf Agstner (1951–2016), AT
 João Aguiar (1943–2010), PT
 Maurice Agulhon (1926–2014), FR

Ah 
 Jerry Ahern (* 1946), US
 Luise Ahlborn (1834–1921), D
 Charlotte von Ahlefeld (1781–1849), D
 Lars Ahlin (1915–1997), SE
 Per Ahlmark (1939–2018), SE
 Leopold Ahlsen (1927–2018), D
 Muniruddin Ahmed (1934–2019), PAK
 Ahn Jung-hyo (1941–2023), ROK
 Juhani Aho (1861–1921), FIN
 Martin Ahrends (* 1951), D
 Barbara Ahrens (* 1945), D
 Henning Ahrens (* 1964), D

Ai 
 Wilhelmine Maria Aichbichler (1904–2002), AT
 Wolf von Aichelburg (1912–1994), D
 Inge Aicher-Scholl (1917–1998), D
 Ilse Aichinger (1921–2016), AT
 Christoph Wilhelm Aigner (* 1954), AT
 Conrad Aiken (1889–1973), USA
 Joan Aiken (1924–2004), GB
 Matti Aikio (1872–1929), NO
 Zhang Ailing (1920–1995), CHN
 Pierre d’Ailly (1351–1420), FR
 César Aira (* 1949), ARG
 Rennie Airth (* 1935), ZA
 Aischylos (525 v.C.–455 v.C.), GR
 Dietmar von Aist (1140–1171), AT
 Tschynggys Aitmatow (1928–2008), KIG

Aj 
 Émile Ajar (1914–1980), FR
 J. F. Ade Ajayi (1929–2014), NGA
 Gennadi Ajgi (1934–2006), RUS

Ak 
 Taner Akçam (* 1953), TR
 Alan Burt Akers (Kenneth Bulmer; 1921–2005), GB
 Tim Akers (* 1972), US
 Doğan Akhanlı (1957–2021), TR / D
 Kostas Akrivos (* 1958), GR
 Wassili Aksjonow (1932–2009), RUS
 Boris Akunin (* 1956), RUS
 Akutagawa Ryūnosuke (1892–1927), JPN

Al

Ala–Alb 
 Leopoldo Alas Mínguez (1962–2008), SP
 Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani (900–945), YE
 Abdullah al-Harari (1910–2008), ET
 Mohammed Abed Al Jabri (1936–2010), MAR
 Abū l-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī (973–1057), SYR
 Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (864–930), (IR) (Perser)
 Alain-Fournier (1886–1914), FR
 Rabih Alameddine (* 1959), Libanon
 Yahya Alavi fard (* 1973), IR
 Jessica Marie Alba (* 1981), US
 David Albahari (1948–2023), SCG
 Edward Albee (1928–2016), US
 Paul Albers (1852–1929), D
 Hans Albert (1921–2023), D
 Heinrich Albert (1604–1641), D
 Michael Albert (1836–1893), D
 Konrad Alberti (1862–1918), D
 Rafael Alberti (1903–1999), ES
 Aegidius Albertinus (1560–1620), D
 Jürgen Alberts (* 1946), D
 Elisabeth Albertsen (* 1942), D
 Johann Georg Albini (1624–1679), D
 Johann Georg Albini der Jüngere (1659–1714), D
 Hermann Anton Albrecht (1835–1906), D
 Johann Friedrich Ernst Albrecht (1752–1814), D
 Paul Albrecht (1863–nach 1935), D
 Sophie Albrecht (1757–1840), D
 Madeleine Albright (1937–2022)

Alc–Alg 
 Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), US
 Alan Alda (* 1936), US
 Hanny Alders (1946–2010), NL
 Richard Aldington (1892–1962), GB
 Brian W. Aldiss (1925–2017), GB
 Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907), US
 Vicente Aleixandre (1898–1984), ES
 Scholem Alejchem (1859–1916), UA
 Mateo Alemán (1547–1609?), ES
 José de Alencar (1829–1877), BR
 Elisabeth Alexander (1922–2009), D
 Lloyd Alexander (1924–2007), US
 Swetlana Alexijewitsch (* 1948), BY
 Willibald Alexis (1798–1871), D
 Stephan Alfare (* 1966), AT
 Isaak Alfasi (1013–1103)
 Vittorio Alfieri (1749–1803), IT
 Susanne Alge (1958–2022), AT
 Luise Algenstaedt (1861–1947), D
 Nelson Algren (1909–1981), US

Ali–Alz 
 Sabahattin Ali (1907–1948), TR
 Tariq Ali (* 1943), GB
 Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), I
 Gabrielle Alioth (* 1955), CH
 Archibald Alison (1757–1839), GB
 Marcel Allain (1885–1969), FR
 Alphonse Allais (1854–1905), FR
 Ove Allansson (1932–2016), SE
 Henri Alleg (1921–2013), FR / DZ
 Urs Allemann (* 1948), CH
 Richard Allen (eigentlich James Moffat; 1922–1993), GB
 Roger MacBride Allen (* 1957), US
 Steve Allen (1921–2000), US
 Woody Allen (* 1935), US
 Isabel Allende (* 1942), CHL
 Kristiane Allert-Wybranietz (1955–2017), D
 Manfred Allié (* 1955), D
 Margery Allingham (1904–1966), GB
 William Allingham (1828?–1889), IRL
 Dorothy Allison (* 1949), USA
 Pierre Allix (1641–1717), FR
 Karl Allmendinger (1863–1946), D
 Hermann Allmers (1821–1902), D
 Aaron Allston (1960–2014), US
 Washington Allston (1779–1843), US
 David Almond (* 1951), GB
 Carl Jonas Love Almqvist (1793–1866), SE
 Schulamit Aloni (1928–2014), IL
 Hans Joachim Alpers (1943–2011), D
 Rebecca Alpert (* 1950), USA
 Ellen Alpsten (* 1971), EAK / D
 Hilton Als (* 1960), US
 Otto Alscher (1880–1944), AT
 Franz Alt (* 1938), D
 Çetin Altan (1927–2015), TR
 Peter Altenberg (1859–1919), D
 Matthias Altenburg (* 1958), D
 Ludwig Altenhöfer (1921–1974), D
 Peter Paul Althaus (1892–1965), D
 Lisa Alther (* 1944), US
 Louis Althusser (1918–1990), FR
 René Altmann (1929–1978), CH / AT
 Anna Altschuk (1955–2008), RUS
 Noel Alumit (* 1968), USA/Philippinen
 Elmar Altvater (1938–2018), D
 Volker H. Altwasser (* 1969), D
 Julia Alvarez (* 1950), DOM / US
 Fernão Álvares do Oriente (1530/40–1595/1607), PT
 Ludwig von Alvensleben (1800–1868), D
 Betti Alver (1906–1989), EST
 Paul Alverdes (1897–1979), D
 Katja Alves (* 1961), CH
 Götz Aly (* 1947), D

Am 
 George Amabile (* 1936), CAN
 Jorge Amado (1912–2001), BR
 Andrej Amalrik (1938–1980), RUS
 Jürg Amann (1947–2013), CH
 Gerhard Amanshauser (1928–2006), AT
 Martin Amanshauser (* 1968), AT
 Amaru (6.–8. Jh.), IND
 Axel von Ambesser (1910–1988), D
 Ingvar Ambjørnsen (* 1956), NOR
 Eric Ambler (1909–1998), GB
 Kai Ambos (* 1965), D
 Francis Ambrière (1907–1998), FR
 Gustinus Ambrosi (1893–1975), AT
 Gerhard Amendt (* 1939), D
 Günter Amendt (1939–2011), D
 Carl Amery (1922–2005), D
 Jean Améry (1912–1978), AT
 Jehuda Amichai (1924–2000), IL
 Samir Amin (1931–2018), EGY
 Aharon Amir (1923–2008), ISR
 Kingsley Amis (1922–1995), GB
 Martin Amis (1949–2023), GB
 Daniel Amor (* 1973), CH
 Roberto Ampuero (* 1953), Chile
 Djamel Amrani (1935–2005), DZ
 Nicole Amrein (* 1970), CH
 Gerhard von Amyntor (1831–1910), AT

An

Ana–And 
 Heinrich Anacker (1901–1971), CH
 Manolis Anagnostakis (1925–2005), GR
 Rudolfo Anaya (1937–2020), US
 Eugen Andergassen (1907–1987), AT
 Charlie Jane Anders (* 1969), US
 Günther Anders (1902–1992), AT
 Richard Anders (1928–2012), D
 Alfred Andersch (1914–1980), D
 Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875), DK
 Lale Andersen (1905–1972), D
 Martin Andersen Nexø (1869–1954), DK
 Kevin J. Anderson (* 1962), US
 Poul Anderson (1926–2001), US
 Sascha Anderson (* 1953), D
 Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941), US
 Gail Anderson-Dargatz (* 1963), CDN
 Dan Andersson (1888–1920), SE
 Reinhold Andert (* 1944), D
 Emma Andijewska (* 1931), UA
 Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902–1987), BR
 Mário de Andrade (1893–1945), BR
 Oswald de Andrade (1890–1954), BR
 Oswald Andrae (1926–1997), D
 Marie Andrae-Romanek (1854–?), D
 Johann Valentin Andreae (1586–1654), D
 Wilhelm Andreae (1822–1872), D
 Fred Andreas (1898–?), D
 Lou Andreas-Salomé (1861–1937), D
 Stefan Andres (1906–1970), D
 Andreas Andresen (1828–1871), D
 V. C. Andrews (1923–1986), US
 Leopold Andrian (1875–1951), AT / FL
 Ivo Andrić (1892–1975), SCG
 Hartmut Andryczuk (* 1957), D
 Jerzy Andrzejewski (1909–1983), PL

Ane–Anz 
 Aneirin (≈525–600), GB
 Angelo Anelli (1761–1820), IT
 A. Rosa Anemon (* 1952)
 Maya Angelou (1928–2014), US
 Angelus Silesius (1624–1677), D 
 Arnold Angenendt (1934–2021), D
 August Angenetter (1876–1944), AT
 Fred Antoine Angermayer (1889–1951), AT
 Gustl Angstmann (1947–1998), D
 Friedrich Ani (* 1959), D
 Mathilde Franziska Anneke (1817–1884), D / US
 Hedwig Anneler (1888–1969), CH
 Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938), IT
 Jean Anouilh (1910–1987), FR
 Albert Otto Anschütz (1890–1945), AT
 Elizabeth Anscombe (1919–2001), GB
 Salomon An-ski (1863–1920), RUS
 Otto Anthes (1754–≈1806), D
 Mark Anthony (* 1966), US
 Piers Anthony (* 1934), GB
 Antiphanes (408v.C.–?), GR
 Alfred Antkowiak (1925–1976), D
 Helga Anton (1923–2007), D
 Michelangelo Antonioni (1912–2007), IT
 Anton Ulrich (Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel) (1633–1714), D
 Donald Antrim (* 1958), US
 António Lobo Antunes (* 1942), PT
 Christopher Anvil (1925–2009), US
 Oskar Anwand (1872–1946), D
 Chairil Anwar (1922–1949), RI
 Gloria Anzaldúa (1942–2004), US
 Johann Anzengruber (1810–1844), AT
 Ludwig Anzengruber (1839–1889), AT

Ap 
 August Apel (1771–1816), D
 Hans Apel (1932–2011), D
 Bruno Apitz (1900–1979), D
 Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918), FR
 Apollodor von Athen (≈175 v. Chr.), GR
 Apollonios von Rhodos (295–215 v. Chr.), GR
 Aharon Appelfeld (1932–2018), IL
 Johann Conrad Appenzeller (1775–1850), CH
 Anne Applebaum (* 1964), US / PL

Ar

Ara–Arm 
 Louis Aragon (1897–1982), FR
 Kurt Aram (1869–1934), D
 Matilde Rosa Araújo (1921–2010), PT
 John Arbuthnot (1667–1735), GB
 Jeffrey Archer (* 1940), GB
 Archilochos (≈650 v. Chr.–?), GR
 John Arden (1930–2012), GB
 Reinaldo Arenas (1943–1990), CU
 Erich Arendt (1903–1984), D
 Hannah Arendt (1906–1975), D / US
 Birgitta Arens (* 1948), D
 Detlev Arens (* 1948), D
 Walter Conrad Arensberg (1878–1954), US
 Wilhelm Arent (1864–19**), D
 Ewald Arenz (* 1965), D
 Karl Otmar von Aretin (1923–2014), D
 Pietro Aretino (1492–1556), IT
 Tudor Arghezi (1880–1967), RO
 Philippe Ariès (1914–1984), FR
 Ludovico Ariosto (1474–1533), IT
 Aristainetos (5. Jh.), GR
 Aristophanes († um 380 v. Chr.), GR
 Aristoteles (384–322), GR
 Jakob Arjouni (1964–2013), D
 Marcel Arland (1899–1986), FR
 Renato Arlati (1936–2005), CH
 Roberto Arlt (1900–1942), RA
 Friedrich Wilhelm Arming (1805–1864), AT / US
 Wilhelm Arminius (1861–1917), D
 Kelley Armstrong (* 1968), CAN

Arn–Arz 
 Frank Arnau (1894–1976), AT
 Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769–1860), D
 Johann Arndt (1555–1621), D
 Martin von Arndt (* 1968), D
 Edwin Arnet (1901–1962), CH
 Hermann Arnhold (1921–1991), RU/D
 Achim von Arnim (1781–1831), D
 Bettina von Arnim (1785–1859), D
 Gisela von Arnim (1827–1889), D
 Gottfried Arnold (1666–1714), D
 Hans Arnold (1886–1961), D
 Heinz Ludwig Arnold (1940–2011), D
 Johann Georg Daniel Arnold (1780–1829), D
 Johannes Arnold (1928–1987), D
 Matthew Arnold (1822–1888), GB
 Paul Johannes Arnold (1884–?), D
 Wolf-Rüdiger Arnold, auch Wolf Arnold (* 1939), D
 Paul-Alexandre Arnoux (1884–1973), FR
 Benedikt Arnstein (1761–1841), AT
 Jean-Paul Aron (1925–1988), FR
 Raymond Aron (1905–1983), FR
 Hans Arp (1887–1966), D / FR
 Fernando Arrabal (* 1932)
 Dschalāl ad-Dīn ar-Rūmī (1207–1273), IR
 Kaan Arslanoğlu (* 1959), TR
 Antonin Artaud (1896–1948), FR
 Elizabeth Arthur (* 1953), US
 H. C. Artmann (1921–2000), AT
 Newton Arvin (1900–1963), USA
 Dan Ar Wern (* 1952), FR
 Cäsar von Arx (1895–1949), CH
 Thomas Arzt (* 1983)

As 
 Catherine Asaro (* 1955), US
 Wilhelm Ernst Asbeck (1881–1947), D
 Schalom Asch (1880–1957), PL / US
 Udo Aschenbeck (1939–1995), D
 Hans Aschenborn (1888–1931), D
 Eva Aschenbrenner (1924–2013), D
 Robert Ascher (1883–1933), A
 Saul Ascher (1767–1822), D
 Charles Robert Ashbee (1863–1942), GB
 John Ashbery (1927–2017), US
 Isaac Asimov (1920–1992), US
 Janet Asimov (1926–2019), US
 Katrin Askan (* 1966), D
 Alexander Askoldow (1932–2018), RUS
 Herbert Asmodi (1923–2007), D
 Georg Asmussen (1856–1933), D
 Ruth Aspöck (* 1947), A
 Robert Lynn Asprin (1946–2008), US
 Nikolaj Assejew (1889–1963), RUS
 David Assing (1787–1842), D
 Ludmilla Assing (1821–1880), D
 Rosa Maria Assing (1782–1840), D
 Ottilie Assing (1821–1884), D
 Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839–1908), BR
 Hans Assmann Freiherr von Abschatz (1645–1699), D
 David Jakob Assur (1810–1869), D
 Wiktor Petrowitsch Astafjew (1924–2001), RUS
 Arnfrid Astel (1933–2018), D
 Sean Astin (* 1971), US
 Thea Astley (1925–2004), AUS
 Louise Aston (1814–1871), D
 John Jacob Astor IV (1864–1912), US
 Miguel Ángel Asturias (1899–1974), GCA (Guatemalteke)
 Ala al-Aswani (* 1957), EGY

At 
 Oğuz Atay (1934–1977), TR
 Gertrude Atherton (1857–1948), US
 Kate Atkinson (* 1951), GB
 Yağmur Atsız (* 1939), TR
 Fariduddin Attar (1136 [?]–1221 [?]), IR
 Per Atterbom (1790–1855), SE
 Margaret Atwood (* 1939), CND

Au 
 Annemarie in der Au (1924–1998), D
 Max Aub (1903–1972), E
 Brigitte Aubert (* 1956), F
 Théodore Agrippa d’Aubigné (1552–1630), F
 Victor Auburtin (1870–1928), D
 Wystan Hugh Auden (1907–1973), GB
 Jacques Audiberti (18991965), F
 Jakob Audorf (1835–1898), D
 Hartmann von Aue (1170–1220), D
 Jean M. Auel (* 1936), US
 Ludwig Auer (1839–1914), D
 Margit Auer (* 1967), D
 Martin Auer (* 1951), A
 Richard Auer (* 1965), D
 Alfred Auerbach (1873–1954), D
 Berthold Auerbach (1812–1882), D
 Ludwig Auerbach (1840–1882), D
 Raoul Auernheimer (1876–1948), A
 Joseph von Auffenberg (1798–1857), D
 August Augspurger (1620–1675), D
 August der Jüngere (Braunschweig–Wolfenbüttel) (1579–1666), D
 Ernst Augustin (1927–2019), D
 Ferdinand von Augustin (1807–1861), A
 Waldemar Augustiny (1897–1979), D
 Anton Aulke (1887–1974), D
 Reinhold Aumaier (* 1953), A
 Ludwig Aurbacher (1784–1847), D
 Rose Ausländer (1901–1988), D
 Ausonius (310 [?]–393 [?])
 Jane Austen (1775–1817), GB
 Paul Auster (* 1947), US
 Rose Austerlitz (1876–1939), D / A

Av 
 Ava von Göttweig (≈1060–1127), A
 Nicolaus von Avancini (1611–1686), IT
 Friedrich Christian Benedikt Avé-Lallemant (1809–1892), D
 Ferdinand Avenarius (1856–1923), D
 Elise Averdieck (1808–1907), D
 Ellis Avery (1972–2019), USA
 Uri Avnery (1923–2018), IL

Aw 
 Kofi Awoonor (1935–2013), GH

Ax 
 David Axmann (1947–2015), AT
 Elisabeth Axmann (1926–2015), RO

Ay 
 Francisco Ayala (1906–2009), ES
 May Ayim (1960–1996), D
 Marcel Aymé (1902–1967), FR
 Cornelius Hermann von Ayrenhoff (1733–1819), AT
 Jakob Ayrer (1544–1605), D
 Thomas Ays (* 1977), D

A
A

Ha

Haa–Han 
Ha Song-ran (1967)
Alban Haas (1877–1968)
Rudolf Haas (1877–1943)
Wolf Haas (1960)
Hella Haasse (1918–2011)
Paavo Haavikko (1931–2008)
Hans Habe (1911–1977)
Martin Haberer
Jürgen Habermas (1929)
Emil Habibi (1922–1996)
Marilyn Hacker (* 1942)
Erich Hackl (1954)
Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer (1816–1877)
Peter Hacks (1928–2003)
Maja Haderlap (1961)
Pierre Hadot (1922–2010)
Erwin J. Haeberle (1936–2021)
Gabriele Haefs (1953)
Gisbert Haefs (1950)
Hanswilhelm Haefs (1935–2015)
Stefan Haenni (1958)
Farid Hafez (1981)
Friedrich von Hagedorn (1708–1754)
Rudolf Hagelstange (1912–1984)
August Hagen (1797–1880)
Hans Oliva-Hagen (1922–1992)
Henry Rider Haggard (1856–1925)
Michael Hagner (1960)
Ulla Hahn (1946)
Gino Hahnemann (1946–2006)
Arthur Hailey (1920–2004)
Max Halbe (1865–1944)
Hubertus Halbfas (1932–2022)
Georges Haldas (1917–2010)
Ulrich Christian Haldi (1944–2003)
Alex Haley (1922–1992)
Tomáš Halík (1948)
Anna Maria Hall (1800–1881)
Granville Stanley Hall (1844–1924)
Lee Hall (1966)
Manly Palmer Hall (1901–1990)
Samuel Carter Hall (1800–1889)
Stuart Hall (1932–2014)
Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777)
Friedrich Halm (1806–1871)
David M. Halperin (1952)
A. H. Halsey (1923–2014)
Johann Georg Hamann (1730–1788)
Jean Hamburger (1909–1992)
Peter Hamecher (1879–1938)
Robert Hamerling (1830–1889)
Frederick Spencer Hamilton (1856–1928)
Hugo Hamilton (1953)
Peter F. Hamilton (1960)
Heinz Hamm (1944)
Peter Hamm (1937–2019)
Manfred Hammes (1950)
Dashiell Hammett (1894–1961)
Christopher Hampton (1946)
Knut Hamsun (1859–1952)
Han Kang (1970)
Han Sŏr-ya (1900–1976)
Han Suyin (1917–2012)
Han Yong-un (1879–1944)
Enrica von Handel-Mazzetti (1871–1955)
Peter Handke (1942)
Ernst-Wilhelm Händler (1953)
Charles Handy (1932)
Thích Nhất Hạnh (1926–2022)
Kristin Hannah (1960)
Dörte Hansen (1964)
Joseph Hansen (1923–2004), US
Heinrich Hansjakob (1887–1916)
Arthur Häny (1924–2019)

Har–Haz 
Miklós Haraszti (1945)
Sabine Harbeke (1965)
Thea von Harbou (1888–1954)
Ferdinand Hardekopf (1876–1954)
Maximilian Harden (1861–1927)
Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis) (1772–1801)
James Hardiman (1782–1855)
Ernst Hardt (1876–1947)
Thomas Hardy (1840–1928)
Ludwig Harig (1927–2018)
Roswitha Haring (1960)
Jakob Haringer (1893–1948)
Sabine Hark (1962)
Rudolf Harms (1901–1984)
Jacqueline Harpman (1929–2012)
Harro Harring (1798–1870)
Bertha Harris (1937–2005)
E. Lynn Harris (1955–2009)
Robert Harris (1957)
Thomas Harris (1940)
Harry Harrison (1925–2012)
Jim Harrison (1937–2016)
Max Harrison (19**)
Zsolt Harsányi (1887–1943)
Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1607–1658)
Ellen Hart (* 1949), USA
Heinrich Hart (1855–1906)
Julius Hart (1859–1930)
Marisa Hart (* 1986)
Maarten ’t Hart (1944)
Bret Harte (1836–1902)
Elisabeth Hartenstein (1900–1994)
Felix Hartlaub (1913–1945)
Otto Erich Hartleben (1864–1905)
Peter Härtling (1933–2017)
Hartmann von Aue (um 1250)
Michael Hartnett (1941–1999)
Sonya Hartnett (1968)
Diana Hartog (1950)
Harald Hartung (1932)
Hugo Hartung (1902–1972)
Wilhelm Hartung (1919–2003)
Cornelius Hartz (1973)
Theo Harych (1903–1958)
Sinan Hasani (1922–2010)
Jaroslav Hašek (1883–1923)
Walter Hasenclever (1890–1940)
Adam Haslett (* 1970)
Josef Haslinger (1955)
Amira Hass (1956)
Yahya Hassan (1995–2020)
Benjamin Hasselhorn (1986)
Gert Haucke (1929–2008)
Ursula Haucke (1924–2014)
Wilhelm Hauff (1802–1827)
Rolf Haufs (1935–2013)
Tormod Haugen (1945–2008)
Torill Thorstad Hauger (1943–2014)
Carl Hauptmann (1858–1921)
Gaby Hauptmann (1957)
Gerhart Hauptmann (1862–1946)
Jan-Christoph Hauschild (1955)
Marlen Haushofer (1920–1970)
Friederike Hausmann (1945)
Manfred Hausmann (1898–1986)
Raoul Hausmann (1886–1971)
Harald Havas (1964)
Václav Havel (1936–2011)
Alfred Haverkamp (1937–2021)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864)
Mo Hayder (1962–2021)
André Haynal (1930–2019)
Attila Hazai (1967–2012)
William Hazlitt (1778–1830)

He 
Richard Head (~1637–1686)
Dan Healey (* 1957)
Trebor Healey (* 1962)
Dermot Healy (1947–2014)
Seamus Heaney (1939–2013)
Henry F. Heard (1889–1971)
Friedrich Hebbel (1813–1863)
Johann Peter Hebel (1760–1826)
Jutta Hecker (1904–2002)
Yael Hedaya (1964)
Walter Hedemann (1932–2019)
Markus Hediger (1959)
Jakob Christoph Heer (1859–1925)
Martha Heesen (1948)
Detlev van Heest (1956)
Ulrich Hefner (1961)
Paul Heidelbach (1870–1954)
Verner von Heidenstam (1859–1940)
Ulrike Heider (* 1947)
Konrad Heidkamp (1947–2009)
Herman Heijermans (1864–1924)
Carolyn Heilbrun (1926–2003)
Scott Heim (* 1966), US
Bernd Heimberger (1942–2013)
Christoph Hein (1944)
Manfred Peter Hein (1931)
Sybille Hein (1970)
Ernst Wilhelm Heine (1940–2023)
Heinrich Heine (1797–1856)
Helme Heine (1941)
Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988)
Heinrich von Veldeke (12. Jh.)
Helmut T. Heinrich (1933–2017)
Jutta Heinrich (1940–2021)
Klaus Heinrich (1927–2020)
Willi Heinrich (1920–2005)
Gunnar Heinsohn (1943–2023)
Rudolf Heinz (1937)
Hans-Jürgen Heise (1930–2013)
Henry von Heiseler (1875–1928)
Helmut Heißenbüttel (1921–1996)
Wilhelm Heitmeyer (1945)
Arash Hejazi (1971)
Franz Held (1862–1908)
Wolfgang Held (1930–2014)
Joachim Helfer (1964)
Monika Helfer (1947)
Ágnes Heller (1929–2019)
Eva Heller (1948–2008)
Gisela Heller (1929)
Jane Heller (1950)
Joseph Heller (1923–1999)
Bert Hellinger (1925–2019)
Klaus Hellmer
Hans G Helms (1932–2012)
Werner Helwig (1905–1985)
Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
Essex Hemphill (1957–1995)
Karl Henckell (1864–1929)
Hans Otto Henel (1888–19?)
Friedhelm Hengsbach (1937)
Martin Henkel (1943–2021)
Herbert Hennies (1900–1979)
Alexa Hennig von Lange (1974)
O. Henry (1862–1910)
Gregor Hens (1965), D
Eckhard Henscheid (1941)
Jana Hensel (1976)
Luise Hensel (1798–1876)
Philip Hensher (* 1965)
Rudolf Henz (1897–1987)
Manfred Hepperle (1931–2012)
Frank Herbert (1920–1986)
George Herbert (1593–1633)
James Herbert (1943–2013), GB
Zbigniew Herbert (1924–1998)
Günter Herburger (1932–2018), D
Alice Herdan-Zuckmayer (1901–1991)
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), D
Ernst Herhaus (1932–2010), D
Elisabeth Hering (1909–1999)
Heinrich Herm (1882–1948)
Eva Herman (1958)
Judith Lewis Herman (1942), US
Georg Hermann (1871–1943), D
Judith Hermann (1970), D
Kai Hermann (1938), D
Carl-Henrik Hermansson (1917–2016), SE
Karl Heinrich Hermes (1800–1856)
Stephan Hermlin (1915–1997), D
Uwe Herms (1937–2023), D
José Hernández (1834–1886), Arg.
Michael Herr (1940–2016), US
Santiago Herraiz (1963), ES
Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
Hans Herrig (1845–1892)
Horst Herrmann (1940–2017), D
Wolfgang Herrndorf (1965–2013), D
Hans-Georg van Herste (1959)
Peter Hertel (1937), D
Kurt Herterich (1928–2015), D
Henrik Hertz (1798–1870), DK
Wilhelm Hertz (1835–1902)
Klaus-Peter Hertzsch (1930–2015), D
Georg Herwegh (1817–1875), D
Alexander Herzen (1812–1870)
Manfred Herzer (* 1949), D
Heinz Stefan Herzka (1935–2021), CH
Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando (1877–1954)
Axel Herzog (1944–2010)
Gabriele Herzog (1948)
Rudolf Herzog (1869–1943)
Henning Heske (1960)
Eva Hesse (1925–2020), D
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962)
Franz Hessel (1880–1941)
Stéphane Hessel (1917–2013)
Thomas Hettche (1964)
Peter Hetzel (1960–2014)
Sigrid Heuck (1932–2014)
Andrea Heuser (1972), D
Wilhelm Hey (1789–1854)
Georgette Heyer (1902–1974)
Georg Heym (1887–1912)
Stefan Heym (1913–2001)
Christopher Heyn (* 19**)
Paul Heyse (1830–1914)

Hi 
George V. Higgins (1939–1999), US
Jack Higgins (1929–2022), GB
Michael D. Higgins (* 1941), IRL
Patricia Highsmith (1921–1995), US
Oscar Hijuelos (1951–2013), US
Raul Hilberg (1926–2007), US
Wolfgang Hilbig (1941–2007), D
Alexandra Hildebrandt (* 1970), D
Dieter Hildebrandt (1927–2013), D
Dieter Hildebrandt (Autor) (* 1932), D
Otto Hildebrandt (1924–2015), D
Wolfgang Hildesheimer (1916–1991), D
Reginald Hill (1936–2012), GB
Peter Hille (1854–1904), D
Kurt Hiller (1885–1972), D
James Hillman (1926–2011), US
Hermann Hiltbrunner (1893–1961), CH
James Hilton (1900–1954), GB
Chester Himes (1909–1984), US
Saeko Himuro (1957–2008), JPN
Walter Hinck (1922–2015), D
Walter Hinderer (* 1934), D
Federico Hindermann (1921–2012), CH
August Hinrichs (1879–1956), D
Georg Hinrichs (1847–1920)
Ulrich Hinse (* 1947), D
Ernst Hinterberger (1931–2012), AT
Andrea Hirata (20. Jahrh.), ID
Helmut Hirsch (1907–2009), D
Georg Hirschfeld (1873–1942), D
Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935), D
Albert O. Hirschman (1915–2012), US
Christopher Hitchens (1949–2011), GB/US
Shere Hite (1942–2020), US/D

Hl 
Marek Hlasko (1934–1969)

Ho 
Russell Hoban (1925–2011), US/GB
Robin Hobb (1952), US
Eric Hobsbawm (1917–2012), GB
Gerhard Hoch (1923–2015), D
Paulus Hochgatterer (1961), AT
Rolf Hochhuth (1931–2020), D
Adam Hochschild (1942), US
Arlie Russell Hochschild (* 1940), US
Fritz Hochwälder (1911–1986)
Guy Hocquenghem (1946–1988), FR
Johann Friedrich Hodann (1674–1745)
Max Hodann (1894–1946), D
Jakob van Hoddis (1887–1942), D
André Hodeir (1921–2011), FR
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924)
Leonie Hodkevitch (1966), A
Peter Høeg (1957), DK
Dirk Hoeges (1943–2020), D
Herbert von Hoerner (1884–1950)
Norbert Hoerster (1937), D
Friedl Hofbauer (1924–2014), AT
Gerald Höfer (1960), D
Walther Hofer (1920–2013), CH
Eric Hoffer (1902–1983), US
Jilliane Hoffman (1967), US
Camill Hoffmann (1878–1944)
E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776–1822), D
Heinrich Hoffmann (1809–1894), D
Hilmar Hoffmann (1925–2018), D
Peter Hoffmann (* 1956), D
Stanley Hoffmann (1928–2015), US
August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874), D
Heinrich Hoffmann (Sagensammler) (1848–1918)
Henk Hofland (1927–2016), NL
Polly Maria Höfler (1907–1952)
Albert Hofmann (1906–2008), CH
Gert Hofmann (1931–1993), D
Peter Ralf Hofmann (* 1965), D
Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874–1929)
Christian Hofmann von Hofmannswaldau (1616–1679), D
Desmond Hogan (1950), IRL
James P. Hogan (1941–2010), GB
Helmut Höge (1947), D
James Hogg (1770–1835), GB
Richard Hoggart (1918–2014), GB
Raimund Hoghe (1949–2021), D
Gerrit Hohendorf (1963–2021), D
Ludwig Hohl (1904–1980), D
Robert Hohlbaum (1886–1955), D
Wolfgang Hohlbein (1953), D
Thomas Höhle (1926–2012), D
Franz Hohler (1943), CH
Pentti Holappa (1927–2017), FI
Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843), D
Alma Holgersen (1896–1976)
Felix Hollaender (1867–1931), D
John Hollander (1929–2013), US
Walter Höllerer (1922–2003), D
Andrew Holleran (* 1944), US
Alan Hollinghurst (* 1954), GB
Andrej Holm (* 1970), D
Åke Holmberg (1907–1991), SE
James Holmes (1924–1986), NL
Michael Holroyd (1935), GB
Victoria Holt (1906–1993), GB
Hans Egon Holthusen (1913–1997), D
Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748–1776), D
Arno Holz (1863–1929), D
Hans Heinz Holz (1927–2011), D
Klaus Holzkamp (1927–1995), D
Homer, griech. Antike
Hong Sung-won (1937–2008), ROK
Barbara Honigmann (1949), D
bell hooks (1952–2021), US
Anthony Hope (1863–1933), GB
Hans von Hopfen (1835–1904)
Dietrich von Hopfgarten (15. Jh.), D
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889)
Felicitas Hoppe (1960), D
Klaus Horn (1934–1985), D
Uffo Daniel Horn (1817–1860)
Nick Hornby (1957), GB
Karen Horney (1885–1952), US
Ernest William Hornung (1866–1921), GB
Eberhard Horst (1924–2012), D
Hans-Ulrich Horster (1900–1993), D
Ulrich Horstmann (1949), D
Ödön von Horváth (1901–1938), AT/HU
Rolf Hosfeld (1948), D
Jens Christian Hostrup (1818–1892), DK
Kari Hotakainen (1957), FI
Arnold Hottinger (1926–2019), CH
Michel Houellebecq (1958), FR
Geoffrey Household (1900–1988), GB
A. E. Housman (1859–1936), GB
Elizabeth Jane Howard (1923–2014), GB
Richard Howard (1929–2022), USA
Fred Hoyle (1915–2001), GB

Hr 
Bohumil Hrabal (1914–1997)

Hu 
Hans Hubberten (1929–1988)
Christine Huber (1963)
Franz Xaver Huber (1755–1809)
Franz Xaver Huber (1755–1814)
Hermann J. Huber (1954–2009)
Johann Ludwig Huber (1723–1800)
Helene Hübener (1843–1918)
Hadayatullah Hübsch (1946–2011)
Friedrich Huch (1873–1913)
Ricarda Huch (1864–1947)
Peter Huchel (1903–1981)
Walter Huder (1921–2002)
Else Hueck-Dehio (1897–1976)
Paweł Huelle (* 1957)
Tanya Huff (* 1957)
Richard Hughes (1900–1976)
Huh Su-kyung (1964–2018)
Kurt Huhn (1902–1976)
Richard Hülsenbeck (1892–1974)
Thomas Hürlimann (1950)
Alfred Huggenberger (1867–1960)
Declan Hughes (1963)
Langston Hughes (1900–1976)
Ted Hughes (1930–1998)
Victor Hugo (1802–1885)
Peer Hultberg (1935–2007)
Rudolf Jakob Humm (1895–1977)
Julius Hundeiker (1784–1854)
Monika Hunnius (1858–1934)
Leigh Hunt (1784–1859)
Erin Hunter (Sammelpseudonym)
Samuel P. Huntington (1927–2008)
Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
Nancy Huston (1953)
Siri Hustvedt (1955)
Maude Hutchins (1899–1991)
Ulrich von Hutten (1488–1523)
Hannes Hüttner (1932–2014)
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848–1907)

Hv 
Michal Hvorecký (1976)

Hw 
Hwang Ji-u (1952), KOR
Hwang Sok-yong (1943), KOR
Hwang Tong-gyu (* 1938), KOR

Hy 
Joe Hyams (1923–2008)
Douglas Hyde (1860–1949)
Antti Hyry (1931–2016)
Hyun Ki-young (* 1941)

H
H

Ca

Cab–Cap 
 Fernán Caballero (1796–1877), ES
 George Washington Cable (1844–1925), US
 Guillermo Cabrera Infante (1929–2005), CU
 Pino Cacucci (* 1955), IT
 Caedmon (7. Jh.), GB
 James M. Cain (1882–1977), US
 Rachel Caine (1962–2020), US
 Alice Calaprice (* 1941), US
 Moyra Caldecott (1927–2015), ZA
 Nigel Calder (1931–2014), GB
 Pedro Calderón de la Barca (1600–1681), ES
 Erskine Caldwell (1903–1987), US
 Taylor Caldwell (1900–1985), US
 Noël Calef (1907–1968), FR
 Andrew Calimach (* 1953), USA/RUM
 Nuran David Calis (* 1976), D
 Franz Callenbach (1663–1743), D
 Robert Calvert (1945–1988), GB
 Italo Calvino (1923–1985), IT
 Jorge Camacho (* 1966), ES
 Josef Maria Camenzind (1904–1984), CH
 Richard Owen Cambridge (1717–1802), GB
 Andrea Camilleri (1925–2019), IT
 Luís de Camões (1524–1580), PT
 Paul-Henri Campbell (* 1982), USA/D
 Thomas Campbell (1774–1844), GB
 Joachim Heinrich Campe (1746–1818), D
 Thomas Campion (1567–1620), GB
 Maximiano Campos (1941–1998), BR
 Albert Camus (1913–1960), FR
 Matilde Camus (1919–2012), ES
 Safiye Can (* 1977), D
 Trudi Canavan (* 1969), AUS
 Elias Canetti (1905–1994)
 Veza Canetti (1897–1963), AT
 Hans Caninenberg (1913–2008), D
 May Wedderburn Cannan (1893–1973), GB
 Friedrich Rudolf Ludwig von Canitz (1654–1699), D
 Ivan Cankar (1876–1918), SLO
 Cao Cao (155–220), CN
 Truman Capote (1924–1984), US
 Alex Capus (* 1961), D

Car–Caz 
 Emilio Carballido (1925–2008), MEX
 Lorenzo Carcaterra (* 1954), US
 Tom Cardamone (* 1969), US
 Lara Cardella (* 1969), IT
 Ernesto Cardenal (1925–2020), NIC
 Marie Cardinal (1928/29–2001), FR
 Giosuè Carducci (1835–1907), IT
 Viktor Car-Emin (1870–1963), HR
 Diane Carey (* 1954), US
 Henry Carey (1687–1743), GB
 Peter Carey (* 1943), AUS
 Siegfried Carl (* 1951), D
 William Carleton (1794–1869), IRL
 Gianrico Carofiglio (* 1961), IT
 Maxence Caron (* 1976), FR
 Hans Carossa (1878–1956), D
 Edward Carpenter (1844–1929), GB
 Richard Carpenter (1929–2012), GB
 Alejo Carpentier (1904–1980), CU
 Allen Carr (1934–2006), GB
 Caleb Carr (* 1955), US
 John Dickson Carr (1906–1977), US
 Marina Carr (* 1964), IRL
 Mary Jane Carr (1895–1988), US
 Raymond Carr (1919–2015), GB
 John le Carré (1931–2020), GB
 Emmanuel Carrère (* 1957), FR
 Jean Carrière (1928–2005), FR
 Mathieu Carrière (* 1950), D
 Moritz Carrière (1817–1895), D
 Leonora Carrington (1917–2011), MX
 Jim Carroll (1949–2009), US
 Jonathan Carroll (* 1949), US
 Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), GB
 Ciaran Carson (1948–2019), IRL/GB
 Paul Carson (* 1949), GB/IRL
 Rachel Carson (1907–1964), US
 Mircea Cărtărescu (* 1956), RO
 Angela Carter (1940–1992), GB
 David Carter (1952–2020), US
 Lin Carter (1930–1988), US
 Stephen L. Carter (* 1954), US
 Raymond Carver (1938–1988), US
 Joyce Cary (1888–1957), IRL/GB
 Giovanni Giacomo Casanova (1725–1798), IT
 Francisco Casavella (1963–2008), ES
 Jon Cassar (* 1958), CAN
 Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998), US
 Horacio Castellanos Moya (* 1957), SLV
 Ana Castillo (* 1953), USA
 Michel del Castillo (* 1933), ES/FR
 Claire Castillon (* 1975), FR
 Elisabeth Castonier (1894–1975), D
 Rainer Castor (1961–2015), D
 Carlos Castro (1945–2011), PT
 Rosalía de Castro (1837–1885), ES
 Willa Cather (1873–1947), US
 Catull, römischer Dichter
 Charles Causley (1917–2003), GB
 Gion Mathias Cavelty (* 1974), CH
 Jean Cayrol (1911–2005), FR
 Andrew Cayton (1954–2015), US
 Louis Cazamian (1877–1965), FR

Ce 
 Camilo José Cela (1916–2002), ES
 Paul Celan (1920–1970)
 Gianni Celati (1937–2022), IT
 Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894–1961), FR
 Blaise Cendrars (1887–1961), CH
 C. W. Ceram (1915–1972), D
 Vincenzo Cerami (1940–2013), IT
 Claretta Cerio (* 1926), D
 Luis Cernuda (1902–1963), SP
 Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616), ES
 Karl Cervik (1931–2012), AT / D
 Aimé Césaire (1913–2008), FR / Martinique
 David Cesarani (1956–2015), GB

Ch 
 Rosa Chacel (1898–1994), ES
 Elizabeth Chadwick (* 1957), GB
 Owen Chadwick (1916–2015), GB
 Ch’ae Man-sik (1902–1950), ROK
 Aidan Chambers (* 1934), GB
 Nicolas Chamfort (1741–1794), FR
 Frederick Chamier (1796–1870), GB
 Adelbert von Chamisso (1781–1838), D
 Karen Chance (* 19**), US
 Raymond Thornton Chandler (1888–1959), US
 Jean Chapelain (1595–1674), FR
 George Chapman (1559 [?]–1634), GB
 Desmond Chapman-Huston (1884–1952), IRL
 Maurice Chappaz (1916–2009), CH
 Michele Chinzi (* 1993), D
 René Char (1907–1988), FR
 Louis Henry Charbonneau (1924–2017), US
 Émile Chartier (Alain; 1868–1951), FR
 Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770), GB
 Bruce Chatwin (1940–1989), GB
 Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400), GB
 Nirad C. Chaudhuri (1897–1999)
 George Chauncey (* 1954)  US
 John Cheever (1912–1982), US
 Cheiro (1866–1936), IRL
 Cheon Woon-young (* 1971), ROK
 Gert Chesi (* 1940), AT
 Phyllis Chesler (* 1940), US
 Jacques Chessex (1934–2009), CH
 Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936), GB
 Elizabeth Chevalier
 Gabriel Chevallier (1895–1969), FR
 Robert Erskine Childers (1870–1922), IRL
 Mark Childress (1957), USA
 Rafael Chirbes (1949–2015), ES
 Hans Chlumberg (1897–1930), D
 Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos (1741–1803), FR
 Ch’oe Yun (* 1953), ROK
 Choi In-hun (1936–2018), ROK
 Choi In-seok (* 1953), ROK
 Choi Seung-ho (* 1954), ROK
 Noam Chomsky (* 1928), US
 Chong Hyon-jong (* 1939), ROK
 David Chotjewitz (* 1964), D
 Peter O. Chotjewitz (1934–2010), D
 Mohamed Choukri (1935–2003), MAR
 Driss Chraïbi (1926–2007), MAR
 Chrétien de Troyes (~1140-~1190), FR
 Ada Christen (1839–1901), AT
 Inger Christensen (1935–2009), DK
 Mathias Christiansen (* 1968), D
 Agatha Christie (1890–1976), GB
 Nils Christie (1928–2015), NO
 John Christopher (1922–2012), GB
 Ralph Chubb (1892–1960), GB
 Winston Churchill (1874–1965), GB
 Stefan Chwin (* 1949), PL

Ci 
 Florian Cieslik (* 1975), D
 Emil Cioran (1911–1995), RO/FR
 Giulio Cisco (1920–1999), IT

Cl  
 Tom Clancy (1947–2013), US
 John Clare (1793–1864), GB
 Christopher Clark (* 1960), AU
 Mary Higgins Clark (1927–2020), US
 Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008), GB
 Paul Claudel (1868–1955), FR
 Philippe Claudel (* 1962), FR
 Claudian (Claudius Claudianus) (~370–405)
 Hermann Claudius (1878–1980), D
 Matthias Claudius (1740–1815), D
 Hugo Claus (1929–2008), BE
 Connie Clausen (1923–1997), US
 Bernard Clavel (1923–2010), FR
 James Clavell (1921–1994), GB / US
 Paul Cleave (* 1974), NZ
 Eldridge Cleaver (1935–1998), US
 John Cleland (1709–1789), GB
 Monika Clemens (* 1954), D
 Willem de Clercq (1795–1844), NL
 Kitty Clive (1711–1785), GB
 Stuart Cloete (1897–1976), ZA
 Arthur Hugh Clough (1819–1861), GB

Co

Cob–Con 
 James Cobb, US
 Harlan Coben (* 1962), US
 Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), FR
 Paulo Coelho (* 1947), BR
 J. M. Coetzee (* 1940), ZA
 Leonard Cohen (1934–2016), CAN
 Matt Cohen (1942–1999), CAN
 Stephen Colbert (* 1964), US
 George Douglas Howard Cole (1889–1959), GB
 Margaret Cole (1893–1980), GB
 Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834), GB
 Egmont Colerus von Geldern (1888–1939), AT
 Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (1873–1954), FR
 Eoin Colfer (* 1965), IRL
 Billy Collins (* 1941), US
 Jackie Collins (1937–2015), GB / US
 Max Allan Collins (* 1948), US
 Suzanne Collins (* 1962), US
 Wilkie Collins (1824–1889), GB
 William Collins (1721–1759), GB
 Carlo Collodi (1826–1890), IT
 John Robert Colombo (* 1936), CAN
 Vittoria Colonna (1490–1547), IT
 Padraic Colum (1881–1972), IRL
 Leo Colze (1870–1914), D
 Johann Amos Comenius (1592–1670)
 Alex Comfort (1920–2000), GB
 Michael Connelly (* 1956), US
 John Connolly (* 1968), IRL
 John Connor (* 1946), GB
 Robert Conquest (1917–2015), GB
 Jo Conrad (* 1958), D
 Johannes Conrad (1929–2005), D
 Joseph Conrad (1857–1924), PL / GB
 Michael Georg Conrad (1846–1927), D
 Walter Conrad (1922–2006), D
 Hermann Conradi (1862–1890), D
 Karl Otto Conrady (1926–2020), D
 Shirley Conran (* 1932), GB
 Vincenzo Consolo (1933–2012), IT
 Karl Wilhelm Contessa (1777–1825), D
 Philip E. Converse (1928–2014), US
 Gerry Conway (* 1952), US

Coo–Cow 
 Blanche Wiesen Cook (* 1941), US
 Bruce Alexander Cook (1932–2003), US
 Glen Cook (* 1944), US
 Matt Cook (GB)
 Nick Cook (* 1960), GB
 Richard Cook (1957–2007), GB
 Robin Cook (* 1940), US
 Katharine Coman (1857–1915), US
 Dennis Cooper (* 1953), US
 James Fenimore Cooper (1789–1851), US
 Susan Cooper (* 1935), GB / US
 Robert Coover (* 1932), US
 Wendy Cope (* 1945), GB
 Tristan Corbière (1845–1875), FR
 Wolfgang Cordan (1909–1966), D
 Daniel Cordier (1920–2020), FR
 Michael Cordy (* 1962), GB
 Tee Corinne (1943–2006), USA
 Pierre Corneille (1606–1684), FR
 Ignác Cornova (1740–1822), IT
 Claudia Maria Cornwall (* 1948), CAN
 Bernard Cornwell (* 1944), GB
 Patricia Cornwell (* 1956), US
 Gregory Corso (1930–2001), US
 Julio Cortázar (1914–1984), RA (Argentinien)
 Jayne Cortez (1936–2012), US
 Gottlieb Siegmund Corvinus (1677–1747), D
 Bora Ćosić (* 1932), RS
 Albert Cossery (1913–2008), EGY/FR
 Humberto Costantini (1924–1987), RA
 Júlia da Costa (1844–1911), BR
 Frank Cottrell Boyce (* 1961), GB
 Louis Couperus (1863–1923), NL
 Douglas Coupland (* 1961), CA
 Gil Courtemanche (1943–2011), CA
 Hedwig Courths-Mahler (1867–1950), D
 Mia Couto (* 1955), MOZ
 Francis Coventry (1725–1754), GB
 Noël Coward (1899–1973), GB
 Elise Cowen (1933–1962), US
 Malcolm Cowley (1898–1989), US
 William Cowper (1731–1800), GB

Cr 
 Jim Crace (* 1946), GB
 Heinz von Cramer (1924–2009), D
 Tomas Cramer (1967), D
 Hart Crane (1899–1932), US
 Stephen Crane (1871–1900), US
 Quintin Craufurd (1743–1819), GB
 Isabella Valancy Crawford (1850–1887), CA
 Sharon Creech (* 1945), US
 Robert Creeley (1926–2005), USA
 Victoriano Crémer (190*–2009), ES
 Jean-Louis Crémieux-Brilhac (1917–2015), FR
 Helmut Creutz (1923–2017), D
 Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur (1735–1813), US / FR
 Harry Crews (1935–2012), US
 Michael Crichton (1942–2008), US
 Quentin Crisp (1908–1999), GB
 Ann C. Crispin (1950–2013), US
 Edmund Crispin (1921–1978), GB
 Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957), IRL
 Eugen Croissant (1862–1918), D
 Anna Croissant-Rust (1860–1943), D
 Joseph Croitoru (* 1960), D
 Thomas Crofton Croker (1798–1854), IRL
 Deborah Crombie (* 1952), US
 Louis Crompton (1925–2009), GB
 Patricia Crone (1945–2015), DK
 Anthony Cronin (1928–2016), IRL
 Archibald Joseph Cronin (1896–1981), GB
 Wolf-Ulrich Cropp (* 1941), D
 Charles Cros (1842–1888), FR
 Donna Woolfolk Cross (* 1947), US
 Nicolas de Crosta (1900–1972), D
 Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), GB
 Mart Crowley (1935–2020), US
 Lorna Crozier (* 1948), CAN
 Michel Crozier (1922–2013), FR
 Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695), MEX

Cs 
 Franz Theodor Csokor (1885–1969), A

Cu 
 Countee Cullen (1903–1946), US
 Necati Cumalı (1921–2001), TR
 E. E. Cummings (1894–1962), US
 Michael Cunningham (* 1952), US
 Jamie Lee Curtis (* 1958), US
 James Oliver Curwood (1878–1927), US

Cz 
 Heinz Czechowski (1935–2009), D
 Daniel Czepko (1605–1660), D
 Alfons von Czibulka (1888–1969), A
 Wolfgang Cziesla (1955), D

C
C

I 
 Yi I (1536–1584)

Ia 
 Iacopone da Todi (1230/36–1306)
 Karl Iagnemma (1972)
 Iambulos

Ib 
 Alfred Ibach (1902–1948)
 Jorge Ibargüengoitia (1928–1983)
 Eva Ibbotson (1925–2010)
 Muhammad ibn Ammar (1031–1086)
 Ibn Battuta (1304–1368)
 Abbas Ibn Firnas (-888)
 Usama Ibn Munqidh (1095–1188)
 Ahmad ibn Abdallah ibn Zaidun (1003–1071)
 Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906)
 Ibuse Masuji (1898–1993)
 Ibykos (um 530 v. Chr.)

Ic 
 Jorge Icaza (1906–1978)
 Iceberg Slim (1918–1992)

Id 
 Robert Ide (1975)
 Wilhelm Ide (1887–1963)
 Wilhelm Idel (1849–1927)
 Peter Iden (1938)
 Eric Idle (1943)
 Yusuf Idris (1927–1991)
 Annika Idström (1947–2011)
 Zygmunt Idzikowski (1884–1911)

Ig 
 Jayne-Ann Igel (1954)
 Pelle Igel (1905–1981)
 Conn Iggulden (1971)

Ih 
 Ihara Saikaku (1642–1693)
 Kurt Ihlenfeld (1901–1972)

Ik 
 Daisaku Ikeda (1928)
 Alexander Ikonnikow (1974)

Il 
 Il-yeon (1206–1289)
 Greg Iles (1960)
 Ilja Arnoldowitsch Ilf (1897–1937)
 Paul Ilg (1875–1957)
 Pedro Reinhold Ilgen (1869–1920)
 Attila İlhan (1925–2005)
 Iwan Alexandrowitsch Iljin (1883–1954)
 Eduard Ille (1823–1900)
 Luigi Illica (1857–1919)
 Florian Illies (1971)
 Heribert Illig (1947)
 Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (1775–1813)
 Theodor Illion (1898–1984)

Im 
 Gerd Imbsweiler (1941–2013)
 Anatols Imermanis (1914–1998)
 Al Imfeld (1935–2017)
 Karl Imfeld (1931–2020)
 Pierre Imhasly (1939–2017)
 Kurt Imhof (1956–2015)
 Immanuel ha-Romi (um 1261 – um 1335)
 Carl Leberecht Immermann (1796–1840)
 Christian Immler (* 1964)

In 
 Wera Michailowna Inber (1890–1972)
 Steve Ince
 Thomas Harper Ince (1882–1924)
 Elizabeth Inchbald (1753–1821)
 Hans-Ulrich Indenmaur
 Arnaldur Indriðason (1961)
 Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957)
 William Inge (1913–1973)
 Jean Ingelow (1820–1897)
 Bernhard Severin Ingemann (1789–1862)
 Marcus Ingendaay (1958)
 Paul Ingendaay (1961)
 Karlheinz Ingenkamp (1925–2015)
 Meinrad Inglin (1893–1971)
 Felix Philipp Ingold (1942)
 Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson (1955)
 Anton Ingolič (1907–1992)
 J. H. Ingraham (1809–1860)
 Lotte Ingrisch (1930–2022)
 Simon Ings (1965)
 Helge Ingstad (1899–2001)
 Frid Ingulstad (1935)
 Dimiter Inkiow (1932–2006)
 Bill Inmon (1945)
 Franz Innerhofer (1944–2002)
 Hammond Innes (1906–1994)
 Michael Innes (1907–1991)
 Inoue Hisashi (1934–2010)
 Nobutaka Inoue (1948)
 Yasushi Inoue (1907–1991)
 Bożena Intrator (1964)

Io 
 Ion von Chios (480 v. Chr. – 423/22 v. Chr. oder 422/421 v. Chr.)
 Eugène Ionesco (1912–1994)
 Dschaba Iosseliani (1926–2003)

Ip 
 Josef Ippers (1932–1989)
 Zehra İpşiroğlu (1948)

Iq 
 Muhammad Iqbal (1877–1938)

Ir 
 Faruk İremet (1965)
 Valentin Iremonger (1918–1991)
 Christoph Irenäus (um 1522–um 1595)
 Franciscus Irenicus (1494/1495–1553)
 Margrit Irgang (1948)
 Lothar Irle (1905–1974)
 Thilo Irmisch (1816–1879)
 Ian Irvine (1950)
 John Irving (1942)
 Washington Irving (1783–1859)
 Karol Irzykowski (1873–1944)

Is 
 Jorge Isaacs (1837–1895)
 Isabelle d’Orléans-Bragance (1911–2003)
 Antonije Isaković (1923–2002)
 Jógvan Isaksen (1950)
 Ralf Isau (1956)
 Richard Isay (1934–2012)
 Ise (um 875–938)
 Moses Isegawa (1963)
 Hermann Iseke (1857–1907)
 Dorothea Iser (1946)
 Hamzah al-Isfahani (-961)
 Ali al Isfahani (897–967)
 Ayaz İshaki (1878–1954)
 Christopher Isherwood (1904–1986)
 Ishigaki Rin (1920–2004)
 Kazuo Ishiguro (1954)
 Shintarō Ishihara (1932–2022)
 Isidor von Sevilla (um 560–636)
 José Francisco de Isla (1703–1781)
 Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976)
 Alan Isler (1934–2010)
 Ursula Isler (1923–2007)
 Isokrates (436 v. Chr.-338 v. Chr.)
 Isidore Isou (1925–2007)
 Roman Israel (1979)
 Otmar Issing (1936)
 Panait Istrati (1884–1935)
 Dora d’Istria (1828–1882)
 Isyllos

It 
 Rolf Italiaander (1913–1991)
 Frances Itani (* 1942)
 Joseph Albrecht von Ittner (1754–1825)
 Karl Itzinger (1888–1948)

Iu 
 Gaius Iulius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus (um 130 v. Chr.-87 v. Chr.)

Iv 
 Jurga Ivanauskaitė (1961–2007)
 Vintilă Ivănceanu (1940–2008)
 Ivan Ivanji (* 1929)
 Ivar Ivask (1927–1992)
 Marius Ivaškevičius (* 1973)
 Rada Iveković (* 1945)
 Burl Ives (1909–1995)
 George Cecil Ives (1867–1950)
 Paul d’Ivoi (1856–1915)

Iw 
 Konstantin Iwanow (1890–1915)
 Wsewolod Wjatscheslawowitsch Iwanow (1895–1963)
 Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894–1980)
 Michael K. Iwoleit (1962)

Iy 
 Festus Iyayi (1947–2013)

Iz 
 Boris Izaguirre (1965)
 Andreas Izquierdo (1968)
 Jean-Claude Izzo (1945–2000)

I
I

Ka 
Dieter B. Kabus (1941–1993)
Ismail Kadare (* 1936)
Lamya Kaddor (* 1978)
Wolfgang Kaes (* 1958)
Franz Kafka (1883–1924)
Donald Kagan (1932–2021)
Janet Kagan (1946–2008)
Jerome Kagan (1929–2021)
Hans Kägi (1889–1971)
Wolfgang Kahl (* 1951)
Heinz Kahlau (1931–2012)
Hilde Kähler-Timm (* 1947)
Georg Kaiser (1878–1945)
Joachim Kaiser (1928–2017)
Ulrich Kaiser (1934–2015)
Mascha Kaléko (1907–1975)
Ludwig Kalisch (1814–1882)
Dieter Kalka (* 1957)
Tuula Kallioniemi (* 1951)
Karin Kallmaker (* 1960)
Fritz Kalmar (1911–2008)
Iakovos Kambanellis (1922–2011)
Wladimir Kaminer (* 1967)
Stuart Kaminsky (1934–2009)
Wilhelm Kamlah (1905–1976)
Toshirō Kanamori (1946–2020)
Sarah Kane (1971–1999)
Kang Sok-kyong (* 1951)
Yoram Kaniuk (1930–2013)
Hermann Kant (1926–2016)
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804)
Norbert Kapferer (1948–2018)
Leslie Kaplan (* 1943)
Philip Kapleau (1912–2004)
Václav Kaplický (1895–1982)
Walter Kappacher (* 1938)
Manfred Kappeler (* 1940)
Ryszard Kapuściński (1932–2007)
Hellmuth Karasek (1934–2015)
Adel Karasholi (* 1936)
Ulrich Karger (* 1957)
Karl Karst (* 1956)
Yaak Karsunke (* 1934)
Marie Luise Kaschnitz (1901–1974)
Erich Kästner (1899–1974)
Jörg Kastner (* 1962)
Katō Shūichi (1919–2008)
Jonathan David Katz (* 1958), US
Jonathan Ned Katz (* 1938), US
Delfried Kaufmann (1922–2015)
Alex Kava (* 1960)
Konstantinos Kavafis (1863–1933)
Patrick Kavanagh (1904–1967)
Manuela Kay (* 1964)
Umar Kayam (1932–2002)
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957)

Ke 
John B. Keane (1928–2002)
H. R. F. Keating (1926–2011)
Johann Christian Keck (1631–1687)
Edmund Keeley (1928–2022)
Hans Keilson (1909–2011)
Marita Keilson-Lauritz (* 1935)
Necla Kelek (* 1957)
Ravindra Kelekar (1925–2010)
Gottfried Keller (1819–1890)
Peter Keller (1953/54–2014)
Faye Kellerman (* 1952)
Jonathan Kellerman (* 1949)
Bernhard Kellermann (1879–1951)
Hans Kelsen (1881–1973)
Orhan Kemal (1914–1970)
Yaşar Kemal (1923–2015)
Friedhelm Kemp (1914–2011)
Martina Kempff (* 1950)
Walter Kempowski (1929–2007)
Jehoschua Kenaz (1937–2020)
Eugene Kennedy (1928–2015)
Emma Kennedy (* 1967)
Holly Kennedy (* 1963)
Hubert Kennedy (* 1931)
Margrit Kennedy (1939–2013)
Raymond Arthur Kennedy (1934–2008)
Alexander Kent (1924–2017)
Navid Kermani (* 1967)
Taras Kermauner (1930–2008)
Frank Kermode (1919–2010)
Johann Georg Kerner (1770–1812)
Jack Kerouac (1922–1969)
Alfred Kerr (1867–1948)
Katharine Kerr (* 1944)
Philip Kerr (1956–2018)
Ian Kershaw (* 1943)
Paul Kersten (1943–2020)
Karl Maria Kertbeny (1824–1882)
Imre Kertész (1929–2016)
Ken Kesey (1935–2001)
Irmgard Keun (1905–1982)
Francis Scott Key (1779–1843)
Daniel Keyes (1927–2014)
Greg Keyes (* 1963)
Marian Keyes (* 1963)
Linde von Keyserlingk (1932–2020)
Tullio Kezich (1928–2009)

Kh 
 Yasmina Khadra (* 1955)

Ki 
Benedict Kiely (1919–2007)
Sabina Kienlechner (* 1948)
Toni Kienlechner (1919–2010)
Ilse Kilic (* 1958)
Kevin Killian (1952–2019), US
Thomas Kilroy (* 1934)
Werner Kilz (1931–2007)
Kim Ae-ran (* 1980), ROK
Kim Byeong-eon (* 1951), ROK
Kim Chi-ha (1941–2022), ROK
Kim Hoon (* 1948), ROK
Kim Hye-soon (* 1955), ROK
Kim Kwang-kyu (* 1941), ROK
Kim Seung-ok (* 1941), ROK
Kim Yeon-su (* 1970), ROK
Jamaica Kincaid (* 1949)
Laurie R. King (* 1952), US
Rosamond S. King, USA/Gambia
Stephen King (* 1947), US
Tabitha King (* 1949), US
Thomas King (* 1943)
Dick King-Smith (1922–2011), GB
Tanja Kinkel (* 1969)
Sophie Kinsella (* 1969)
Thomas Kinsella (1928–2021)
Esther Kinsky (* 1956), D
Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)
Heinar Kipphardt (1922–1982)
Bodo Kirchhoff (* 1948)
Barbara Kirchner (* 1970)
Rainer Kirsch (1934–2015)
Sarah Kirsch (1935–2013)
Pentti Kirstilä (1948–2021)
Egon Erwin Kisch (1885–1948)
Ephraim Kishon (1924–2005)
Takeshi Kitano (* 1947), J
Friedrich Kittler (1943–2011), D
Sheila Kitzinger (1929–2015), GB
Jan İlhan Kızılhan (* 1966), D

Kl 
Wolfgang Klafki (1927–2016)
Lena Klassen (* 1971)
H. Gustav Klaus (1944–2020)
Hans-Peter Klausch (1954–2016)
Wolf Klaußner (1929–2005)
Ernst Klee (1942–2013)
Lis Kleeberg (1916–2019)
Michael Kleeberg (* 1959)
Georg Klein (* 1953)
Eloise Klein Healy (* 1943)
Paul Alfred Kleinert (* 1960)
Ewald Christian von Kleist (1715–1759)
Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811)
Victor Klemperer (1881–1960)
Eckart Kleßmann (* 1933)
Ivan Klíma (* 1931)
Editha Klipstein (1880–1953)
Carol Kloeppel (* 1963)
Arno Klönne (1931–2015)
Michael Klonovsky (* 1962)
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724–1803)
Heinz-Georg Klös (1926–2014)
Frank Klose (1958–2015)
Wolfgang Klötzer (1925–2015)
Alexander Kluge (* 1932)
Kurt Kluge (1886–1940)
Martin Kluger (1948–2021)
Martin Kluger (* 1957)
Ruth Klüger (1931–2020)

Kn 
Hildegard Knef (1925–2002)
Hanns Kneifel (1936–2012)
Moritz Freiherr Knigge (1968–2021)
Friedrich Knilli (1930–2022)
Helmut Knorr (1917–1985)
Gösta Knutsson (1908–1973)

Ko 
Anne Koark (* 1963)
Adolf Kober (1879–1958)
Hainer Kober (* 1942)
Christopher John Koch (1932–2013)
Erwin Koch (* 1956)
Howard Koch (1902–1995)
Manfred Koch (* 1955)
Ursula Koch (* 1944)
Werner Koch (1926–1992)
Wolfgang Koeppen (1906–1996)
Wayne Koestenbaum (* 1958)
Arthur Koestler (1905–1983)
Werner Kofler (1947–2011)
Eugen Kogon (1903–1987)
Johann Georg Kohl (1808–1878)
Henning Köhler (1951–2021)
Michael Köhler (1946–2005)
Michael Köhlmeier (* 1949)
Heinz Kohut (1913–1981)
Vera C. Koin (* 1946)
Bohuslav Kokoschka (1892–1976)
Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980)
Leszek Kołakowski (1927–2009)
Ulrike Kolb (* 1942)
Uwe Kolbe (* 1957)
Walter Kolbenhoff (1908–1993)
Stefan Kolditz (* 1956)
Oswalt Kolle (1928–2010)
Alfred Kolleritsch (1931–2020)
Bernard-Marie Koltès (1948–1989)
Alfred Komarek (* 1945)
Helmut Komp (1930–2016)
Gerrit Komrij (1944–2012)
Yusef Komunyakaa (* 1947)
Tomasz Konatkowski (* 1968)
Jan Koneffke (* 1960)
Blaže Koneski (1921–1993)
Barbara König (1925–2011)
Karl König (1902–1966)
Ralf König (* 1960)
Helga Königsdorf (1938–2014)
Alfred Könner (1921–2008)
Bill Konigsberg (* 1970), US
Taeko Kōno (1926–2015)
György Konrád (1933–2019)
Heinz G. Konsalik (1921–1999)
Gerhard Konzelmann (1932–2008)
Werner Kopacka (1950–2015)
Angelika Kopečný (* 1949)
Gerhard Köpf (* 1948)
Edlef Köppen (1893–1939)
Klaus Kordon (* 1943)
Theodor Körner (1791–1813)
Torsten Körner (* 1965)
Niviaq Korneliussen (* 1990)
Wladimir Korolenko (1853–1921)
Irina Korschunow (1925–2013)
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka (1889–1968)
Andreas Kossert (* 1970)
Conor Kostick (* 1964)
Dezsö Kosztolányi (1885–1936)
Kurt Koszyk (1929–2015)
August von Kotzebue (1761–1819)
William Kotzwinkle (* 1943)
Menis Koumandareas (1931–2014)
Ahmadou Kourouma (1927–2003)

Kp 
Tété-Michel Kpomassie (* 1941)

Kr 
 Christian Kracht (* 1966)
 Gisela Kraft (1936–2010)
 Claire Krähenbühl (* 1942)
 Johannes Kram (* 1967)
 Fritz W. Kramer (1941–2022)
 Jörg Krämer (* 1966)
 Ralf Kramp (* 1963)
 László Krasznahorkai (* 1954)
 Edwin Kratschmer (* 1931)
 Herbert Alois Kraus (1911–2008)
 Karl Kraus (1874–1936)
 Wolfgang Kraus (1924–1998)
 Elmar Kraushaar (* 1950)
 Wolfgang Kraushaar (* 1948)
 Ursula Krechel (* 1947)
 Georg Kreisel (1923–2015)
 Georg Kreisler (1922–2011)
 Ernst Kreuder (1903–1972)
 Dietmar Kreutzer (* 1965)
 Michael Krickl (1883–1949)
 Arnold Krieger (1904–1965)
 Günter Krieger (* 1965)
 Hans Krieger (1933–2023)
 Erich Kriemer (1926–1998)
 Heiko Krimmer (1943–2015)
 Julia Kristeva (* 1941)
 Vlado Kristl (1923–2004)
 Ágota Kristóf (1935–2011)
 Friedrich Kröhnke (* 1956)
 Brigitte Kronauer (1940–2019)
 Jaan Kross (1920–2007)
 Jürgen Kross (1937–2019)
 Michael Krüger (* 1943)
 Paul Krugman (* 1953)
 Angela Krumpen (* 1963)
 Hans Kruppa (* 1952)
 Karsten Kruschel (* 1959)
 Fred Kruse, D
 Max Kruse (1921–2015)
 Peter Kruse (1955–2015), D
 James Krüss (1926–1997), D
 Hans-Jürgen Krysmanski (1935–2016), D

Ku 
Susanna Kubelka (* 1942)
André Kubiczek (* 1969)
Werner Kuchar (1971–2013)
Claus Küchenmeister (1930–2014)
Wera Küchenmeister (1929–2013)
Rosalie Küchler-Ming (1882–1946)
Judith Kuckart (* 1959)
Wojciech Kuczok (* 1972)
Anatoli Kudrjawitzki (* 1954)
Wolfgang Kudrnofsky (1927–2010)
Matthias Kuhle (1948–2015)
Martin Kuhlwilm (* 1983)
Dieter Kühn (1935–2015)
Harold W. Kuhn (1925–2014)
Michael Kuhn (* 1955)
Thomas S. Kuhn (1922–1996)
Volker Kühn (1933–2015)
Norbert Kühne (* 1941)
Reinhard Kühnl (1936–2014)
Fritz Kühnlenz (1906–1975)
Ayşe Kulin (* 1941)
Milan Kundera (1929–2023)
Günter Kunert (1929–2019)
Hans Küng (1928–2021)
Gunnar Kunz (* 1961)
Heinz Rudolf Kunze (* 1956)
Reiner Kunze (* 1933)
Tuli Kupferberg (1923–2010)
Dirk Kurbjuweit (* 1962)
Hanif Kureishi (* 1954)
Horst Kurnitzky (1938–2021)
Kemal Kurt (1947–2002)
Robert Kurz (1943–2012)
Peter Kurzeck (1943–2013)
Kurt Kusenberg (1904–1983)
Tony Kushner (* 1956)
Axel Kutsch (* 1945)
Markus Kutter (1925–2005)

K
K

Ja 
Edmond Jabès (1912–1991), FR
Eberhard Jäckel (1929–2017), D
Lisa Jackson (* 1952), US
Shirley Jackson (1916–1965), US
Heinrich Eduard Jacob (1889–1967), D/ US
Uwe Jacobi (1939–2020), D
Ludwig Jacobowski (1868–1900), D
A. J. Jacobs (* 1968), US
Emil Jacobsen (1836–1911), D
Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847–1885), DK
Howard Jacobson (* 1942), GB
Russell Jacoby (* 1945), US
Brian Jacques (1939–2011), GB
Norbert Jacques (1880–1954), LU/ D
Urs Jaeggi (1931–2021), CH/D
Rona Jaffe (1931–2005), US
Markus Jäger (* 1976), AU
Willigis Jäger (1925–2020), D
Annamarie Jagose (* 1965), Neuseeland
Moritz Jahn (1884–1979), D
Harald Jähner (* 1953), D
Hans Henny Jahnn (1894–1959), D
John Jakes (1932–2023), US
Karl-Heinz Jakobs (1929–2015), D
Roman Jakobson (1896–1982), RU
Henry James (1843–1916), US
P. D. James (1920–2014), GB
Ernst Jandl (1925–2000), AT
Sabrina Janesch (* 1985), D
Hans Janitschek (1934–2008), AT
Martin Jankowski (* 1965), D
Arthur Janov (1924–2017), US
Franz Janowitz (1892–1917)
Hans Jansen (1942–2015), NL
Peter W. Jansen (1930–2008), D
Tove Jansson (1914–2001), FI
Elisabeth von Janstein (1891–1944)
Bengt Janus (1921–1988), DK
Marlies Janz (1942–2020), D
Lisa Jardine (1944–2015), GB
Gerhard Jaschke (* 1949), AT
Karla Jay (* 1947), US

Je 
Johann Christian Jeckel (1672–1737)
Sheila Jeffreys (1948)
Margarete Jehn (1935–2021)
Elfriede Jelinek (1946)
Oskar Jellinek (1886–1949)
Tahar Ben Jelloun (1944)
Mirko Jelusich (1886–1969)
N. K. Jemisin (1972)
Alexis Jenni (1963)
Gary Jennings (1928–1999)
Zoë Jenny (1974)
Ina Jens (1880–1945)
Inge Jens (1927–2021)
Tilman Jens (1954–2020)
Walter Jens (1923–2013)
Johannes Vilhelm Jensen (1873–1950)
Marcus Jensen (1967)
Wilhelm Jensen (1837–1911)
Louis Jent (1936–2014)
Jeon Gyeong-rin (1962)
Oskar Jerschke (1861–1928)
Wolfgang Jeschke (1936–2015)
Bernhard Jessen (1886–1909)
Sergei Jessenin (1895–1925)
K. W. Jeter (1950)

Ji 
Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881–1958), ES
Reinhard Jirgl (* 1953), D

Jo 
Jürgen Joedicke (1925–2015), D
Johannes Secundus (1511–1536), NL
Johannes von Tepl (ca. 1350–1414)
Albrecht von Johansdorf (12./13. Jh.)
Warren Johansson (1934–1994), US
Iris Johansen (* 1938), US
Antonius John (1922–2016), D
Adam Johnson (* 1967), US
B. S. Johnson (1933–1973), GB
David K. Johnson (* 1962), US
Denis Johnson (1949–2017), US
Dominic Johnson (* 1966), D
Fenton Johnson (1888–1958), USA
Fenton Johnson (* 1953), USA
Toby Johnson (* 1945), USA
Uwe Johnson (1934–1984), D
Fred Johnston (* 1951), IRL
Jennifer Johnston (* 1930), IRL
Jill Johnston (1929–2010), USA
Hanns Johst (1890–1978), D
Anna Maria Jokl (1911–2001), AT/IL
Anna Jonas (1944–2013), D
Ernest Jones (1879–1958), GB
Mal Lewis Jones GB
Jong Chan (* 1953), ROK
Gert Jonke (1946–2009), AT
Thierry Jonquet (1954–2009), FR
Neil Jordan (* 1950), IRL
Wilhelm Jordan (1819–1904), D
Brenda Joyce (* 1954), US 
Graham Joyce (1954–2014), GB
James Joyce (1882–1941), IRL
Stanislaus Joyce (1884–1955), IRL

Ju 
William Quan Judge (1851–1896)
Tony Judt (1948–2010)
Arnim Juhre (1925–2015)
C. G. Jung (1875–1961)
Ernst F. Jung (1910–†)
Franz Jung (1888–1963)
Johann Heinrich Jung (gen. Jung-Stilling) (1740–1817)
Rudolf Jung (1907–1973)
Michael Jungblut (1937–2020)
Eberhard Jüngel (1934–2021)
Ernst Jünger (1895–1998)
Friedrich Georg Jünger (1898–1977)
Robert Jungk (1913–1994)
Horst Jüssen (1941–2008)

J
J

Va 
 Emile Mario Vacano (1840–1892), AU
 Andrew Vachss (1942–2021), US
 Klaus Vack (1935–2019), D
 Urvashi Vaid (1958–2022), US
 Roger Vailland (1907–1965), FR
 Catherynne M. Valente (* 1979), USA
 Karl Valentin (1882–1948), D
 Thomas Valentin (1922–1980), D
 Valérie Valère (1961–1982), FR
 Paul Valéry (1871–1945), FR
 Günter Vallaster (* 1968), AT
 Jaume Vallcorba Plana (1949–2014), ES
 César Vallejo (1892–1938), PER
 Fernando Vallejo (* 1942), MEX
 Carlos G. Vallés (1925–2020), ES/IND
 Jules Vallès (1832–1885), FR
 Henry Vallotton (1891–1971), CH
 Diego Valverde Villena (* 1967), ES
 Jack Vance (1916–2013), US
 Philipp Vandenberg (* 1941), D
 Birgit Vanderbeke (1956–2021), D
 Maxence Van der Meersch (1907–1951), FR
 Raoul Vaneigem (* 1934), BE
 Ruth Vanita (* 1955), IND
 Eric Van Lustbader (* 1946), US
 David Van Reybrouck (* 1971), BE
 Carl Van Vechten (1880–1964), US
 Valerio Varesi (* 1959), IT
 Álvaro Vargas Llosa (* 1966), PER
 Fred Vargas (* 1957), FR
 Mario Vargas Llosa (* 1936), PER
 Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (1785–1858), D
 Rahel Varnhagen von Ense (1771–1833), D
 Lucian Vărșăndan (* 1975), RO
 José Mauro de Vasconcelos (1920–1984), BRA
 Claude Favre de Vaugelas (1585–1650), FR
 Richard Murray Vaughan (1965–2020), KAN
 Jean Vautrin (1933–2015), FR
 Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (1939–2003), ES

Ve 
 Friedrich Karl von Vechelde (1801–1846)
 Orhan Veli Kanık (1914–1950), TR
 Venantius Fortunatus (~540–610)
 Tomas Venclova (* 1937), LT
 Edward van de Vendel (* 1964), NL
 Bernart de Ventadorn (~1130–1200), FR
 Roger Vercel (1894–1957), FR
 Vercors (1902–1991), FR
 Clemens Verenkotte (* 1960), D
 Abraham Verghese (* 1955), USA
 Vergil (70–19 v. Chr.)
 Émile Verhaeren (1855–1916), BE
 Paul Verlaine (1844–1896), FR
 Isa Vermehren (1918–2009), D
 John Vermeulen (1941–2009), BE
 Jules Verne (1828–1905), FR
 Sandro Veronesi (* 1959), IT
 Anacleto Verrecchia (1926–2012), IT
 Vladimir Vertlib (* 1966), AT
 Tarjei Vesaas (1897–1970), NO
 Bernward Vesper (1938–1971), D
 Guntram Vesper (1941–2020), D
 Will Vesper (1882–1962), D
 Anne-Catharina Vestly (1920–2008), NO
 Aglaja Veteranyi (1962–2002), CH
 Mischa Vetere (* 1967), CH
 Paul Veyne (1930–2022), FR

Vi 
 Boris Vian (1920–1959), FR
 Martha Vicinus (* 1939), US
 Salley Vickers
 Gary Victor (* 1958)
 Gore Vidal (1925–2012), US
 François Viète
 Klaus Vieweg (* 1953), D
 Alfred de Vigny
 Jean Villard (1895–1982), CH
 Dominique de Villepin
 Gérard de Villiers (1929–2013), FR
 Mathias Villiers de l’Isle-Adam
 François Villon, FR
 David Viñas (1927–2011), ARG
 Vernor Vinge
 Simon Vinkenoog
 Christina Viragh (* 1953), HU
 Elio Vittorini, IT

Vl 
 Ivan Vladislavić (* 1957), ZA
 Ernst Vlcek (1941–2008), AT

Vo 
 Bruno Vogel (1898–1987), D
 Hans-Jochen Vogel (1926–2020), D
 Maja von Vogel (* 1973), D
 Paula Vogel (* 1951), US
 Giorgio Voghera (1908–1999), IT
 Walter Vogt (1927–1988), SCHW
 Judith C. Vogt (* 1981), D
 Hildegard Voigt (1856–1936), D
 Lene Voigt (1891–1962), D
 Vamik D. Volkan (* 1932), US
 William T. Vollmann (* 1959), US
 Voltaire (1694–1778), FR
 Élisabeth Vonarburg
 Kurt Vonnegut (1922–2007), US
 Jana Voosen (* 1976), D
 Herbert Vorgrimler (1929–2014), D
 Harry Voss (* 1969), D
 Johann Heinrich Voß (1751–1826), D

Vr 
 Leo Vroman (1915–2014), NL

Vu 
 Jean Vuilleumier (1934–2012), CH
 Christian August Vulpius
 Wolfgang Vulpius

V

Ga 
Jostein Gaarder (1952)
Diana Gabaldon (1952)
Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002)
Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973)
William Gaddis (1922–1998)
Rebecca Gablé (1964)
Friedrich von Gagern (1882–1947)
Zsuzsanna Gahse (1946)
Gerd Gaiser (1908–1976)
Patrick Gale (* 1962)
Eduardo Galeano (1940–2015)
Damon Galgut (* 1963)
Mavis Gallant (1922–2014)
Pierre Marie Gallois (1911–2010)
John Galsworthy (1867–1933)
Bettina Galvagni (1976)
Patrick Galvin (1927–2011)
Joshua Gamson (* 1962)
Ludwig Ganghofer (1855–1920)
Hans Ganz (1890–1957)
Roger Garaudy (1913–2012), FR
Burckhard Garbe (1941–2021), D
Agustín García Calvo (1926–2012), ES
Federico García Lorca (1898–1936), ES
Gabriel García Márquez (1927–2014)
Muriel Gardiner (1901–1985)
Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884–1964), GB
John Gardner (1933–1982)
John Edmund Gardner (1926–2007)
Martin Gardner (1914–2010)
David Garnett (1892–1981)
Karl-Heinz Garnitz (1942)
Romain Gary (1914–1980)
Catherine Gaskin (1929–2009)
William Gass (1924–2017)
Peter Gast (1854–1918)
Zélia Gattai (1916–2008)
Armand Gatti (1924–2017)
Sigfrid Gauch (1945)
Théophile Gautier (1811–1872)
John Gay (1685–1732)
Peter Gay (1923–2015)
Roxane Gay (* 1974)

Ge 
Peter Geach (1916–2013), GB
Rollo Gebhard (1921–2013), D
Pauline Gedge (* 1945), NZL
Jef Geeraerts (1930–2015), BE
Frank Geerk (1946–2008), D
Emanuel Geibel (1815–1884), D
Swetlana Geier (1923–2010), D
Benno Geiger (1882–1965)
Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg (1445–1510), D
Ines Geipel (* 1960), D
Achim Geisenhanslüke (* 1965), D
Christoph Geiser (* 1949), CH
Katharina Geiser (* 1956), CH
Christian Geissler (1928–2008), D
Horst Wolfram Geißler (1893–1983), D
Sina-Aline Geißler (* 1965), D
Jonas Geist (1936–2009), D
Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715–1769), D
Juan Gelman (1930–2014), AR
Wilhelm Genazino (1943–2018), D
Goede Gendrich (1912–2000), D
Jean Genet (1910–1986), FR
Elizabeth George (* 1949), US
Jean Craighead George (1919–2012), US
Stefan George (1868–1933), D
Doris Gercke (1937), D
Bronisław Geremek (1932–2008), PL
Paul Gerhardt (1602–1676), D
Klaus Gerisch (* 1936), D
Hans Egon Gerlach (1908–?), D
Harald Gerlach (1940–2001), D
Rolf Gerlach (* 1935), D
Robert Gernhardt (1937–2006), D
Tess Gerritsen (* 1953), US
Friedrich Gerstäcker (1816–1872), D
Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg (1737–1823), D
Elfriede Gerstl (1932–2009), AT
Elisabeth Gerter (1895–1955), CH
Georg Gottfried Gervinus (1805–1871), D
Masha Gessen (* 1967), RU / US
Friedrich Geßler (1844–1891)
Salomon Gessner (1730–1788), CH

Gf 
Simon Gfeller (1868–1943)

Gh 
 Mirza Ghalib (1797–1869), IND

Gi 
William Gibson (1914–2008)
William Gibson (1948)
André Gide (1869–1951)
Elsa Gidlow (1898–1986)
Hans Giebisch (1888–1966)
Kerstin Gier (1966)
W. K. Giesa (1954–2008)
Wolfram Gieseke (1972)
Bernhard Giesen (1948–2020)
Christa Gießler (1954), D
Richard Gifford (1725–1807)
Gerd Gigerenzer (* 1947)
Elizabeth Gilbert (* 1969)
Jaime Gil de Biedma (1929–1990)
Werner Gilde (1920–1991)
Hermann von Gilm (1812–1864)
Dorothy Gilman (1923–2012)
Frank D. Gilroy (1925–2015)
Alex Gino (US)
Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997)
Carlo Ginzburg (* 1939)
Natalia Ginzburg (1916–1991)
Franz Karl Ginzkey (1871–1963)
Jean Giono (1895–1970)
Ralph Giordano (1923–2014)
René Girard (1923–2015)
Jean Giraud (1938–2012)
Jean Giraudoux (1882–1944)
Hans Bernd Gisevius (1904–1974)
George Robert Gissing (1857–1903)
Todd Gitlin (1943–2022)
Giuseppe Giusti (1809–1850)

Gl 
Enoch Gläser (1628–1668), D
Hermann Glaser (1928–2018), D
Otto Glaubrecht (1807–1859)
Friedrich Glauser (1896–1938)
Thomas Glavinic (* 1972), AT
Nathan Glazer (1923–2019), US
Danuta Gleed (1946–1996)
Manfred Wöhlcke von Glehn (* 1942)
Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (1719–1803)
Victoria Glendinning (* 1937), GB
Robert Ferdinand Glener (* 1964)
Fjodor Nikolajewitsch Glinka (1788–1880)
Sergej Nikolajewitsch Glinka (1774–1847)
Ralph Roger Glöckler (* 1950), D
André Glucksmann (1937–2015), FR
Fritz R. Glunk (1936–2021), D
Donald F. Glut (* 1944), US

Gn 
Dietmar Gnedt (* 1957), A

Go

God–Gol 
Rumer Godden (1907–1998), GB
Sabri Godo (1929–2011), AL
Reinhard Goering (1887–1936), D
Albrecht Goes (1908–2000), D
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832), D
Curt Goetz (1888–1960), D/CH
Rainald Goetz (* 1954), D
Erving Goffman (1922–1982), US
Octavian Goga (1881–1938), RO
Oliver St. John Gogarty (1878–1957), IRL
Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), RU
Ziya Gökalp (1876–1924), TR
Hüseyin Gökçe (* 1954), TR
A. Erol Göksu (* 1957), TR
Arthur Golden (* 1956), US
Daniel Goldhagen (* 1959), US
William Golding (1911–1993), GB
Lucien Goldmann (1913–1970), FR
Nahum Goldmann (1895–1982)
Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793), IT
Georges-Arthur Goldschmidt (* 1928), FR
Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774), IRL
Martin Goldstein (1927–2012), D
Max Goldt (* 1958), D
Claire Goll (1890–1977), D/FR
Ernst Goll (1887–1912), AT
Yvan Goll (1891–1950), FR
Anne Golon (1921–2017), FR
Franz Goltsch (1865–1921)
Manuela Golz (* 1965), D

Gom–Goy 
Witold Gombrowicz (1904–1969), PL
Jewelle Gomez (* 1948), US
Eugen Gomringer (* 1925), CH
Edmond und Jules Goncourt (1822–1896)/(1830–1870)
Árpád Göncz (1922–2015), HU
Gong Ji-young (* 1963), ROK
Luis de Góngora (1561–1627), ES
Iwan Alexandrowitsch Gontscharow (1812–1891)
Rigoberto González (* 1970), US
Brad Gooch (* 1952), US
Melissa Good (* 1962), US
Jack Goody (1919–2015), GB
Mario Göpfert (* 1957)
Nadine Gordimer (1923–2014), ZA
Maxim Gorki (1868–1936)
Alexander Gorkow (* 1966), D
Ida Friederike Görres (1901–1971)
Herman Gorter (1864–1927), NL
Ghazi al-Gosaibi (1940–2010), SA
Paula Gosling (* 1939), US/GB
Phyllis Gotlieb (1926–2009), CA
Otto Gotsche (1904–1985)
Emil Gött (1864–1908)
Gottfried von Straßburg (ca. 1200)
Georg Gotthart († 1619)
Jeremias Gotthelf (1797–1854)
Gerald Götting (1923–2015), D
Herbert Gottschalk (1919–1981), D
Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700–1766)
Alfred B. Gottwaldt (1949–2015), D
Jule Govrin (* 1984), D
Barbara Gowdy (* 1950), CA
Frank Goyke (* 1961), D
José Agustín Goytisolo (1928–1999), ES
Juan Goytisolo (1931–2017), ES
Luis Goytisolo (* 1935), ES

Gr

Gra–Gre 
 Christian Dietrich Grabbe (1801–1836)
 Georg Grabenhorst (1899–1997)
 Rudolf Graber (1899–1958)
 David Graeber (1961–2020)
 Erdmann Graeser (1870–1937)
 Oskar Maria Graf (1894–1967)
 Sigmund Graff (1898–1979)
 Sue Grafton (1940–2017), US
 Winston Graham (1908–2003)
 Judy Grahn (* 1940), US
 Egon Gramer (1936–2014)
 Christine Grän (* 1952), AT
 Almudena Grandes (1960–2021), E
 Jean-Christophe Grangé (* 1961)
 Günter Grass (1927–2015)
 Edwin Gräupl (* 1941), A
 Robert Graves (1895–1985), GB
 Emily Gravett (* 1972)
 Thomas Gray (1716–1771)
 Robert Greacen (1920–2008)
 Alain Grée (* 1936)
 Andrew Greeley (1928–2013)
 Gerald Green (1922–2006)
 John Green (* 1977), USA
 Julien Green (1900–1998)
 Graham Greene (1904–1991)
 Harlan Greene (* 1953)
 Robert Greene (1558–1592), GB
 Robert Greene (* 1959), USA
 Germaine Greer (* 1939), AUS
 Mathias Greffrath (* 1945), D
 Georg Greflinger (1619[?]–1677), D
 Martin Gregor-Dellin (1926–1988)
 Martin Greif (1839–1911)
 Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg (1633–1694), A
 Leo Greiner (1876–1928)
 Rudolf Greinz (1866–1942)
 Hermann L. Gremliza (1940–2019)
 Maria Grengg (1899–1936)
 Uwe Greßmann (1933–1969)
 Jakob Gretser (1562–1625), D
 Ruth Greuner (* 1931)
 Felix Paul Greve (1879–1948)
 Ludwig Greve (1924–1991)

Gri–Grz 
Lucie Griebel (1854–1922)
Friedrich Griese (1890–1975)
Barbara Grier (1933–2011), USA
Nicola Griffith (* 1960), GB
M. A. Griffiths (1947–2009), GB
Harald Grill (* 1951), D
Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
Hannelore Grimm (* 1940)
Hans Grimm (1875–1959)
Herman Grimm (1828–1901)
Brüder Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) und Wilhelm (1786–1859)
Matthias T. J. Grimme (* 1953)
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1622–1676)
Jim Grimsley (* 1955), US
Agnes-Marie Grisebach (1913–2011), D
John Grisham (* 1955), US
Johann Grob (1643–1697), CH
Wolfram Groddeck (* 1949), CH
Paula Grogger (1892–1984), AT
Balduin Groller (1848–1916), AT
Oskar Grosberg (1862–1941)
Jürgen Groß (1946). D
Raphael Gross (* 1966), CH
Julius Grosse (1828–1902), D
Hanns Grössel (1932–2012), D
Alfred Grosser (* 1925), D/ FR
Karlheinz Grosser (* 1922), D
David Grossman (* 1954), IL
Wassili Grossman (1905–1964), SU
Claus Grossner (1941–2010), D
Alexandra von Grote (* 1944), D
Christian Grote (1931–2023), D
Klaus Groth (1819–1899), D
Alexander Grothendieck (1928–2014), FR
Friedrich Grotjahn (* 1937), D
Benoîte Groult (1920–2016), FR
Frederick Philip Grove (1879–1948)
Sabine Gruber (* 1963), AT
Lothar Gruchmann (1929–2015), D
Arno Gruen (1923–2015), D/CH
Detlef Grumbach (* 1955), D
Doris Grumbach (1918–2022), US
Michael Grumley (1942–1988), US
Gerhard Grümmer (1926–1995), D
Anastasius Grün (1806–1876), AT
Max von der Grün (1926–2005), D
Durs Grünbein (* 1962), D
Arnon Grunberg (* 1971), NL
Alfred Grünewald (1884–1942), AT
Jiří Gruša (1938–2011), CZ
Andreas Gryphius (1616–1664), D
Christian Gryphius (1649–1706), D
Martin Grzimek (* 1950), D

Gs 
Norbert Gstrein (1961), AT

Gu 
Giovanni Guareschi (1908–1968)
Félix Guattari (1930–1992), FR
Claudia Gudelius (1951), D
Yim Guechse (* 1946), KH/ D
Kurt Guggenheim (1896–1983)
Werner Johannes Guggenheim (1895–1946)
Josef Guggenmos (1922–2003), D
Hervé Guibert (1955–1991), FR
Henri Guilbeaux (1884–1938), FR
Nicolas Guillén (1902–1989), CU
Claude Guillon (1952–2023), FR
Guido Guinizelli (1230 [?]–1276 [?]), IT
Trygve Gulbranssen (1894–1962)
Robert van Gulik (1910–1967), NL
Ferreira Gullar (1930–2016), BRA
Olav Gullvaag (1885–1961)
Karoline von Günderode (1780–1806)
Herma Gunert (1905–1949)
Dilek Güngör (* 1972), D
Thomas Gunkel (* 1956), D
Thom Gunn (1929–2004), GB
Gunnar Gunnarsson (1889–1975)
Dirk van Gunsteren (* 1953), D
Mirijam Günter (* 1972), D
Johann Christian Günther (1659–1723)
Manfred Günther (* 1948), D
Neil J. Gunther (* 1950)
Batya Gur (1947–2005)
Allan Gurganus (* 1947), US
Ivor Gurney (1890–1937), GB
Lars Gustafsson (1936–2016), SE
Albert Paris Gütersloh (1887–1973), AT
David Guterson (* 1956), US
Pedro Juan Gutiérrez (* 1950), CU
Karl Guthausen (1921–2012), D
Karl Gutzkow (1811–1878), D

Gw 
Alexander Xaver Gwerder (1923–1952)

Gy 
 Lars Gyllensten (1921–2006), SE
 Brion Gysin (1916–1986), USA

G
G

Wa 
Edmund de Waal (* 1964)
Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder (1773–1798)
Stephan Wackwitz (* 1952)
Martin Waddell (* 1941)
Henry Wade (1887–1969)
Stephan Waetzoldt (1849–1904)
Stephan Waetzoldt (1920–2008)
Wilhelm Waetzoldt (1880–1945)
Klaus Wagenbach (1930–2021)
Benjamin Wagner (* 1990)
Bernd Wagner (* 1948)
Christian Wagner (1835–1918)
David Wagner (* 1971)
Gerhard Wagner (1950–2011)
Gottlieb Friedrich Wagner (1774–1839)
Antje Wagner (* 1974)
Jan Wagner (* 1971)
S. O. Wagner (1902–1975)
Mats Wahl (* 1945)
Per Wahlöö (1926–1975)
Arkadi Wainer (1931–2005)
Georgi Wainer (1938–2009)
Angelika Waldis (* 1940)
Keith Waldrop (1932–2023)
Alice Walker (* 1944)
Mervyn Wall (1908–1997)
David Foster Wallace (1962–2008)
Edgar Wallace (1875–1932)
Irving Wallace (1916–1990)
Botho Walldorf (* 1945)
Franz Wallner-Basté (1896–1984)
Günter Wallraff (* 1942)
Martin Walser (1927–2023)
Robert Walser (1878–1956)
Enda Walsh (* 1967)
Minette Walters (* 1949)
J. Walther (* 1977)
Eric Walz (* 1966)
Wandalbert von Prüm (813–870)
Fred Wander (1917–2006)
Maxie Wander (1933–1977)
Wang Shuo (* 1958)
Klaus Wanninger (* 1953)
Peter Wapnewski (1922–2012)
Peter Wark (* 1961)
Michael Warner (* 1958)
Patricia Nell Warren (1936–2019)
Robert Penn Warren (1905–1989)
Jakob Wassermann (1873–1934)
Lawrence Edward Watkin (1901–1981)
Vernon Phillips Watkins (1906–1967)
Alan Watts (1915–1973)
Paul Watzlawick (1921–2007)
Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
Sylvia Waugh (* 1935)
Thomas Waugh (* 1948)
Peter Wawerzinek (* 1954)

We 
Anne Weber (* 1964)
Hermann Weber (1928–2014)
Ilse Weber (1903–1944)
Frank Wedekind (1864–1918)
Armin T. Wegner (1886–1978)
Hans-Ulrich Wehler (1931–2014)
Elke Wehr (1946–2008)
Gerhard Wehr (1931–2015)
Ulrich Wehrlin
Wei Wei (1920–2008)
Stefan Weidner (* 1967)
Sigrid Weigel (* 1950)
Andrew Weil (* 1942)
Grete Weil (1906–1999)
Simone Weil (1909–1943)
Eliot Weinberger (* 1949)
Manfred Weinert (1934–2012)
Günther Weisenborn (1902–1969)
Theodor Weißenborn (1933–2021)
Leo Weismantel (1888–1964)
Ernst Weiß (1882–1940)
Peter Weiss (1916–1982)
Ruth Weiss (* 1924)
Carl Weissner (1940–2012)
Eva Weissweiler (* 1951)
Joseph Weizenbaum (1923–2008)
Manfred Wekwerth (1929–2014)
Dieter Wellershoff (1925–2018)
Marianne Wellershoff (* 1963)
David Wellington (* 1971)
H. G. Wells (1866–1946)
Irvine Welsh (* 1958)
Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich
Eudora Welty (1909–2001)
Dieter Wende (* 1938)
Ernst Wenig (* 1944)
K. D. Wentworth (1951–2012)
Patricia Wentworth (1878–1961)
Martin Wennerhold (* 1971)
Franz Werfel
Franz Joseph Werfer (1778–1823)
Dan Ar Wern
Karl Ferdinand Werner (1924–2008)
Markus Werner (1944–2016)
Friedhelm Werremeier (1930–2019)
Barry Werth (* 1952)
Glenway Wescott (1901–1987)
Mathilde Wesendonck
Arnold Wesker (1932–2016)
Günther Wessel (* 1959)
Edda Weßlau (1956–2014)
Martin Litchfield West (1937–2015)
Morris L. West
Nathanael West
Rebecca West (1892–1983)
Robert Westfield (* 1972)
Donald E. Westlake (1933–2008)
Robert Paul Weston (* 1975)
Janwillem van de Wetering (1931–2008)
Herbert Wetterauer (* 1957)

Wh 
Edith Wharton (1862–1937)
William Wharton (1925–2008)
Phillis Wheatley (1753–1784)
Edwin Percy Whipple (1819–1886)
Edmund White (* 1940)
Ellen Gould Harmon White (1827–1915)
Ethel Lina White (1876–1944)
James White (1928–1999)
Kenneth White (1936–2023)
Michael White (1948–2008)
Osmar White (1909–1991)
Patrick White (1912–1990)
T. H. White (1906–1964)
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947)
Colson Whitehead (* 1969)
Walt Whitman (1819–1892)
George Whitmore (1945–1988), US
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

Wi 
Leonard Wibberley (1915–1983)
Siegfried Wichmann (1921–2015), D
Fritz Widhalm (* 1956)
Urs Widmer (1938–2014)
Thomas Wieczorek (1953–2013), D
Gustav Johannes Wied (1858–1914), DK
Charlotte Wiedemann (* 1954), D
Hans-Georg Wiedemann (1936–2015), D
Christoph Wiegand (* 1983), D/Peru
Christoph Martin Wieland (1733–1813)
Oswald Wiener (1935–2021)
Robert Wienes (20. Jh.)
Ernst W. Wies (1922–2012)
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016)
Pontus Wikner (1837–1888)
Adolf von Wilbrandt (1837–1911)
Richard Wilbur (1921–2017)
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
Peter Wildeblood (1923–1999)
Thornton Wilder (1897–1975)
Franziska Wilhelm (* 1981)
Roderick Wilkinson (* 1917)
Eileen Wilks (* 1952)
Roger Willemsen (1955–2016)
Jürg Willi (1934–2019)
Nigel Williams (* 1948)
Tad Williams (* 1957)
Tennessee Williams (1911–1983)
William Carlos Williams (1883–1963)
Calder Willingham (1922–1995)
Johannes Willms (1948–2022)
James Wills (1790–1868)
William Gorman Wills (1828–1891)
Dorrit Willumsen (* 1940), DK
John Wilmot, 2. Earl of Rochester (1647–1680), GB
Angus Wilson (1913–1991), GB
Colin Wilson (1931–2013), GB
Edmund Wilson (1895–1972), US
Francis Paul Wilson (* 1946), US
Lanford Wilson (1937–2011), US
Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007)
Robert McLiam Wilson (* 1964)
Robert Wilson (* 1957)
Josef Winckler (1881–1966)
Donald Windham (1920–2010)
Helmut Windisch (1925–2011)
Betty Winkelman (* 1936)
Eugen Gottlob Winkler (1912–1936)
Josef Winkler (* 1953)
Donald Winnicott (1896–1971)
Christa Winsloe (1888–1944)
Don Winslow (* 1953)
Maren Winter (* 1961)
Jeanette Winterson (* 1959)
Tim Winton (* 1960)
Walter Wippersberg (1945–2016)
Günther Wirth (1923–2015)
Mario Wirz (1956–2013)
Robert S. Wistrich (1945–2015)
Michał Witkowski (* 1975)
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)
Monique Wittig (1935–2003)
Frank Witzel (* 1955)

Wo 
Sandra Wöhe (* 1959), NL
Gabriele Wohmann (1932–2015)
Christoph Leonhard Wolbach (1783–1872)
Christa Wolf (1929–2011), D
Friedrich Wolf (1888–1953), D
Joan Wolf (* 1951), US
Katharina Wolf (* 1984), D
Markus Wolf (1923–2006), D
Naomi Wolf (* 1962), US
Ror Wolf (1932–2020), D
Ursula Wölfel (1922–2014), D
William Wolfensberger (1889–1918), CH
Alfred Wolfenstein (1883–1945), D
Charlotte Wolff (1897–1986), GB
Tobias Wolff (* 1945), US
Michael Wolfinger (* 1978), D
Sheldon Wolin (1922–2015), US
Gabriel Wolkenfeld (* 1985), D
Jan Wolkers (1925–2007), NL
Alexander Wolkow (1891–1977), RU
Hans Wollschläger (1935–2007), D
Lewis Wolpert (1929–2021), ZA/GB
Wolf Wondratschek (* 1943), D
Barbara Wood (* 1947), US
Christopher Wood (1935–2015), GB
Ellen Meiksins Wood (1942–2016), US
Chris Wooding (* 1977), GB
Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (1939–2007), US
Jacqueline Woodson (* 1963), US
Bella Sidney Woolf (1877–1960), GB
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941), GB
Moritz Wormser (1867–1940), D
Herman Wouk (1915–2019), US

Wr 
Dough Wright (* 1962), USA
Ernest Vincent Wright (1873–1939), USA
Leslie Kirk Wright (* 1952), USA
Richard Wright (1908–1960), USA
Ronald Wright (* 1948), CAN
William Connor Wright (1930–2016)  USA

Wu 
Bernhard Wucherer (1954–2022)
Franz M. Wuketits (1955–2018)
Hartmann Wunderer (1950–2016)
Christian Gottlieb Wunderlich (1780–1843)
Christine Wunnicke (* 1966)
Ernst Wünsch (* 1951)
Léon Wurmser (1931–2020)
Heinrich Würzer (1751–1835)
Hans Werner Wüst (* 1950)

W

Ba

Baa–Ban 
 Johannes Baader (1875–1955), D
 Albert Cornelis Baantjer (1923–2010), NL
 Johannes Baargeld (1892–1927), D
 Isaak Babel (1894–1941), RUS
 Jörg Baberowski (* 1961), D
 Ingrid Bachér (* 1930), D
 Guido Bachmann (1940–2003), CH
 Ingeborg Bachmann (1926–1973), AT
 Johann Friedrich Bachstrom (1686–1742)
 Albert Bächtold (1891–1981), CH
 Francis Bacon (1561–1626), GB
 Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński (1921–1944), PL
 Bae Su-ah (* 1965) ROK
 Julio Baghy (1891–1967), HU
 Enid Bagnold (1889–1981), GB
 Mohammad-Taqi Bahar (1884–1951), IR
 Patrick Bahners (* 1967), D
 Uwe Bahnsen (1934–2023), D
 Egon Bahr (1922–2015), D
 Hermann Bahr (1863–1934), D
 Rudolf Bahro (1935–1997), D
 Bai Juyi (772–846), CN
 Michael Baigent (1948–2013), NZ/GB
 Paul Bailey (* 1937), GB
 Joanna Baillie (1762–1851), GB
 Beryl Bainbridge (1932–2010), GB
 James Robert Baker (1946–1997), USA
 Nicholson Baker (* 1957), US
 Gerbrand Bakker (* 1962), NL
 Grigori Jakowlewitsch Baklanow (1923–2009), RUS
 Eva Bakos (1929–2003), AT
 Güner Yasemin Balcı (* 1975), D
 David Baldacci (* 1960), US
 Jakob Balde (1604–1668), D
 James Baldwin (1924–1987), US
 Oliver Baldwin (1899–1958), GB
 Patrick Balfour, 3. Baron Kinross (1904–1976), GB
 Rıfat Bali (* 1948), TR
 Michael Balint (1896–1970), HU / GB
 Hugo Ball (1886–1927), D
 David Ballantyne (1924–1986), NZ
 George Ballard (1706–1755), GB
 James Graham Ballard (1930–2009), GB
 Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), FR
 Peter Bamm (1897–1975), D
 Herman Bang (1857–1912), DK
 Zsuzsa Bánk (* 1965), D
 Iain M. Banks (1954–2013), GB
 John Banville (* 1945), IRL

Bar–Baz 
 Amiri Baraka (1934–2014), US

 John Barbour (1316–1396), GB
 Leland Bardwell (1922–2016), IRL
 Joan Barfoot (* 1946), CAN
 Lukas Bärfuss (* 1971), CH
 Daniel Bärholz (1641–1688), D
 Alessandro Baricco (* 1958), IT
 Avraham Barkai (1921–2020), ISR
 Clive Barker (* 1952), GB
 Pat Barker (* 1943), GB
 Ernst Barlach (1870–1938), D
 Nigel Barley (* 1947), GB
 Chris Barnard (1939–2015), ZA
 Djuna Barnes (1892–1982), US
 Julian Barnes (* 1946), GB
 Linda Barnes (* 1949), US
 Peter Barnes (1931–2004), GB
 William Barnes (1801–1886), GB
 Allen Barnett (1955–1991), US
 Lisa A. Barnett (1958–2006), US
 Pío Baroja (1872–1956), E
 Dan Bar-On (1938–2008), ISR
 Len Barot (* 1950), US
 Hans Dieter Baroth (1937–2008), D
 Nevada Barr (* 1952), US
 Thomas A. Barron (* 1952), US
 Kevin Barry (* 1969), IRL
 Max Barry (* 1973), AUS
 Sebastian Barry (* 1955), IRL
 Adolf Bartels (1862–1945), D
 John Barth (* 1930), US
 Kaspar von Barth (1587–1658), D
 Kurt Barthel (1914–1967), D
 Henner Barthel (* 1947), D
 Donald Barthelme (1931–1989), US
 Roland Barthes (1915–1980), FR
 Joachim Bartholomae (1956), D
 Władysław Bartoszewski (1922–2015), PL
 Kurt Bartsch (1937–2010), D
 Michael Bartsch (* 1953), D
 Rudolf Hans Bartsch (1873–1952), AT
 Günter Barudio (1942–2022), D
 Karlheinz Barwasser (* 1950), D
 Johann Bernhard Basedow (1724–1790), D
 Giorgio Bassani (1916–2000), IT
 Horst Bastian (1939–1986), D
 Georges Bataille (1897–1962), FR
 Ludwig Bäte (1892–1977), D
 Katharine Lee Bates (1859–1929), US
 Gregory Bateson (1904–1980), US
 Henry Bauchau (1913–2012), BE
 Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867), FR
 Dolores Bauer (1934–2010), AT
 Erwin Heinrich Bauer (1857–1901), D
 Franz Bauer (1923–2001), D
 Fritz Bauer (1903–1968), D
 Josef Martin Bauer (1901–1970), D
 Marion Dane Bauer (* 1938), US
 Thomas Bauer (* 1976), D
 Wolfgang Bauer (1941–2005), AT
 Eduard von Bauernfeld (1802–1890), AT
 Lyman Frank Baum (1856–1919), US
 Oskar Baum (1883–1941), D
 Vicki Baum (1888–1960), AT
 Zygmunt Bauman (1925–2017), PL/GB
 Hans Baumann (1914–1988), D
 Rudolf Baumbach (1840–1905), D
 Iso Baumer (1929–2021), CH
 Thomas Baumer (* 1960), CH
 Eva Gesine Baur (* 1960), D
 Thea Bauriedl (1938–2022), D
 Jürgen Bause (* 1950), D
 Hermann Bausinger (1926–2021), D
 Nina Bawden (1925–2012), GB
 Bruce Bawer (* 1956), US
 George Baxt (1923–2003), US
 Stephen Baxter (* 1957), GB
 Oya Baydar (* 1940), TR
 Konrad Bayer (1932–1964), AT
 Osvaldo Bayer (1927–2018), AR
 William Bayer (* 1939), US
 Barrington J. Bayley (1937–2008), GB
 Pauline Baynes (1922–2008), GB
 Brandon Bays (* 1953), US

Be

Bea–Bek 
 Peter S. Beagle (* 1939), US
 Peter Beard (1938–2020), US
 Pierre Beaumarchais (1732–1799), FR
 Francis Beaumont (1586–1616), GB
 Philippe Beaussant (1930–2016), FR
 Simone de Beauvoir (1908–1986), FR
 Pierre Bec (1921–2014), FR
 Joachim Beccau (1690–1754), D
 Alison Bechdel (* 1960), US
 Johann Joachim Becher (1635–1682), D
 Johannes R. Becher (1891–1958), D
 Ulrich Becher (1910–1990), D
 Johann Matthäus Bechstein (1757–1822), D
 Ludwig Bechstein (1801–1860), D
 Béatrix Beck (1914–2008), FR
 Gad Beck (1923–2012), D
 Karl Isidor Beck (1817–1879), HU / AT
 Ulrich Beck (1944–2015), D
 Howard P. Becker (1899–1960), US
 Howard S. Becker (1928–2023), US
 Jurek Becker (1937–1997), D
 Jürgen Becker (* 1932), D
 Jürgen Becker (* 1959), D
 Werner Becker (1924–1984), D
 Samuel Beckett (1906–1989), IRL
 Simon Beckett (* 1968), GB
 William Beckford (1760–1844), GB
 Johann Joseph Beckh (1635–1692?), D
 Mani Beckmann (* 1965), D
 Lillian Beckwith (1916–2004), GB
 Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803–1849), GB
 Klaus Bednarz (1942–2015), D
 Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896), US
 Jürg Beeler (* 1957), CH
 Johann Beer (1655–1700), AT
 Richard Beer-Hofmann (1866–1945), AT
 Azouz Begag (* 1957), FR
 François Bégaudeau (* 1971), FR
 Louis Begley (* 1933), US
 Brendan Behan (1923–1964), IRL
 Dominic Behan (1928–1989), IRL
 Simin Behbahani (1927–2014), IR
 Martin Beheim-Schwarzbach (1900–1985), D
 Eduard Ludwig Behm (1898–?), D
 Martin Behm (1557–1622), D
 Albrecht Behmel (* 1971), D
 Aphra Behn (1640–1689), GB
 Maria Beig (1920–2018), D
 Frédéric Beigbeder (* 1965), FR
 Lilo Beil (* 1947), D
 Johannes Beilharz (* 1956), D
 Roman Bek (* 1924), CZ
 Pál Békés (1956–2010), HU

Bel–Beq 
 Rabah Belamri (1946–1995), DZA/FR
 Quentin Bell (1910–1996), GB
 Wolf J. Bell (1924–2014), D
 Joachim du Bellay (1522 [?]–1560), FR
 Gioconda Belli (* 1948), NIC
 Eros Bellinelli (1920–2019), CH
 Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953), GB
 Saul Bellow (1915–2005), US
 Maria Belpaire (1853–1948), BE
 Catherine Belsey (1940–2021), GB
 Andrei Bely (1880–1934), RU
 Pietro Bembo (1470–1547), IT
 Hans Bemmann (1922–2003), D
 Hans Bender (1919–2015), D
 Mario Benedetti (1920–2009), UY
 Julius Roderich Benedix (1811–1873), D
 Stephen Vincent Benét (1898–1943), US
 William Rose Benét (1886–1950), US
 Moscheh Ya’akov Ben-Gavriêl (1891–1965), AT / IL
 Jessica Benjamin (* 1946), US
 Walter Benjamin (1902–1968), D
 Gottfried Benn (1886–1956), D
 Alan Bennett (* 1934), GB
 Nigel Bennett (* 1949), GB / CA
 Ronan Bennett (* 1956), IRL / GB
 Jean-Luc Benoziglio (1941–2013), CH
 Hans G. Bentz (1902–1968), D
 Elazar Benyoëtz (* 1937), IL
 Isabella Benz (* 1990), D
 Wolfgang Benz (* 1941), D
 Udo Benzenhöfer (1957–2021), D
 Juliette Benzoni (1920–2016), FR
 Jochen Bepler (1951–2015), D

Ber–Bez 
 Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780–1857), FR
 Cleonice Berardinelli (1916–2023), BR
 John Berendt (* 1939), USA
 Carsten Berg (* 1959), D
 Sibylle Berg (* 1962), D
 Werner Bergengruen (1892–1964), D
 Erika Berger (1939–2016), D
 Gisela Berger (1878–1961)
 John Berger (1926–2017), GB
 Lore Berger (1921–1943), CH
 Raimund Berger (1917–1954)
 Thomas Berger (1924–2014), US
 Uwe Berger (1928–2014), D
 Yves Berger (1931–2004), FR
 Gerd Bergfleth (1936–2023), D
 Heinz Berggruen (1914–2007), D
 C. C. Bergius (1910–1996), D
 S. Bear Bergman (* 1974), US
 Rolf Bergmann (1942–2015), D
 Theodor Bergmann (1916–2017), D
 Ulrich Berkes (1936–2022), D
 Ulla Berkéwicz (* 1948), D

 Lauren Berlant (1957–2021), US
 Ira Berlin (1941–2018), US
 Malou Berlin (* 1961), D
 Georges Bernanos (1888–1948), FR
 Rudolf Bernauer (1880–1953), AT
 Jacques Berndorf (1936–2022), D
 Josef Bernegger (1907–1994), AT
 Matthias Bernegger (1582–1640), D
 Thomas Bernhard (1931–1989), AT
 Emmanuèle Bernheim (1955–2017), FR
 Jörg Bernig (* 1964), D
 François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis (1715–1794), FR
 Werner Bernreuther (* 1941), D
 Aaron Bernstein (1812–1884), D
 F. W. Bernstein (1938–2018), D
 Daniel Berrigan (1921–2016), US
 Leo Bersani (1931–2022), US
 Francis Berthelot (* 1946), FR
 Al Berto (1948–1997), PT
 Giuseppe Berto (1914–1978), IT
 Alexander Bertsch (* 1940), D
 Hugo Bertsch (1851–1935), D
 Allan Bérubé (1946–2007), US
 Betty Berzon (1928–2006), US
 Johann von Besser (1654–1729), D
 Waldemar Besson (1929–1971), D
 Hans Bethge (1876–1946), D
 John Betjeman (1906–1984), GB
 Joachim Betke (1601–1663), D
 Lotte Betke (1905–2008), D
 Bruno Bettelheim (1903–1990), AT/US
 Manfred Bettinger (* 1954), D
 Werner Beumelburg (1899–1963), D
 Alberto Bevilacqua (1934–2013), IT
 Paul Bew (* 1950), IRL/GB
 Claire Beyer (* 1947), D
 Konrad Beyer (1834–1906), D
 Marcel Beyer (* 1965), D
 Franz Adam Beyerlein (1871–1949), D
 Klaus von Beyme (1934–2021), D
 Jochen Beyse (* 1949), D

Bi 
 Héctor Bianciotti (1930–2012), FR
 Peter Bichsel (* 1935), CH
 Frank Bidart (* 1939), US
 Jakob Bidermann (1578–1639), D
 Peter Biele (1931–2021), D
 Manfred Bieler (1934–2002), D
 Walter Biemel (1918–2015), D
 Ulrich Bien (* 1947), D
 Horst Bienek (1930–1990), D
 Otto Julius Bierbaum (1865–1910), D
 Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914), US
 Pieke Biermann (* 1950), D
 Wolf Biermann (* 1936), D
 Hartmut Biewald (* 1943), D
 Lloyd Biggle, jr. (1923–2002), US
 Jack Bilbo (1907–1967), D
 Dmitri Bilenkin (1933–1987), Sow-RUS
 S. Corinna Bille (1912–1979), CH
 Maxim Biller (* 1960), D
 Susanne Billig (* 1961), D
 Richard Billinger (1890–1965), AT
 Mark Billingham (* 1961), GB
 Maeve Binchy (1939–2012), IRL
 Rudolf G. Binding (1867–1938), D
 Ida Bindschedler (1854–1919), CH
 Jon Bing (1944–2014), NO
 Horst Bingel (1933–2008), D
 Ludwig Binswanger (1881–1966), CH
 Ilse Bintig (1924–2014), D
 Adolfo Bioy Casares (1914–1999), ARG
 Thomas Birch (1705–1766), GB
 Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer (1800–1868), D
 Sigmund von Birken (1626–1681), D
 Norman Birnbaum (1926–2019), US
 Rita Bischof (* 1948), D
 Eugen Biser (1918–2014), D
 Anne Bishop (* 1950), US
 Elizabeth Bishop (1911–1979), US
 Urs Bitterli (1935–2021), CH
 Roswitha Bitterlich (1920–2015), AT
 Wolfgang Bittner (* 1941), D

Bj 
 Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910), NO
 Ketil Bjørnstad (* 1952), NO

Bl 
 William Black (1841–1898), GB
 Marie-Claire Blais (1939–2021), CA
 Michael Blake (1945–2015), US
 William Blake (1757–1827), GB
 Günter Blamberger (* 1951), D
 Maurice Blanchot (1907–2003), FR
 Richard Blank (1939–2022), D
 Philippe Blasband (* 1964), IR (Iraner)
 Ernst Blass (1890–1939), D
 Lena Blaudez (* 1958), D
 James Blaylock (* 1950), US
 Manfred Blechschmidt (1923–2015), D
 Lucy Jane Bledsoe (* 1957); US
 Karl Bleibtreu (1859–1928), D
 Detlef Bernd Blettenberg (* 1949), D
 Nico Bleutge (* 1972), D
 Tania Blixen (1885–1962), DK
 Detlef Blöcher (1953), D
 Alexander Blok (1880–1921), RU
 Jan Blokker (1927–2010), NL
 Philipp Blom (* 1970), D
 Harold Bloom (1930–2019), US
 Hans Blüher (1888–1955), D
 Peter Blum (1925–1990), GB
 Ruth Blum (1913–1975), D
 Hans Friedrich Blunck (1888–1961), D
 Edmund Blunden (1896–1974), GB
 Giles Blunt (* 1952), CAN
 Wilfrid Scawen Blunt (1840–1922), GB
 Robert Bly (1926–2021), US
 Enid Blyton (1900–1968), GB

Bo

Boa–Bon 
 Bo Yang (1920–2008), TW
 Augusto Boal (1931–2009), BR
 Norberto Bobbio (1909–2004), IT
 Robert Bober (* 1931), FR
 Johannes Bobrowski (1917–1965), D
 Giovanni Boccaccio (1313–1375), IT
 Manfred Böckl (* 1948), D
 Walter Bockmayer (1948–2014), D
 Jean Bodel (1165 [?]–1209 [?]), FR
 Manfred Boden (* 1938), D
 Friedrich von Bodenstedt (1819–1892), D
 Johann Jakob Bodmer (1698–1683), D
 Henning Boëtius (1939–2022), D
 Dirk Bogarde (1921–1999), GB
 Helene Böhlau (1859–1940), D
 Gerhard Bohlmann (1878–1944), D
 Gernot Böhme (1937–2022), D
 Herbert Böhme (1907–1971), D
 Jacob Böhme (1575–1624), D
 Martin Böhme (1557–1622), D
 Karl Heinz Bohrer (1932–2021), D
 August Bohse (1661–1742), D
 Matteo Maria Boiardo (1441–1494), IT
 Heinrich Christian Boie (1744–1806), D
 Nicolas Boileau (1636–1711), FR
 Roberto Bolaño (1953–2003), RCH (Chilene)
 Klaus Böldl (* 1964), D
 Dermot Bolger (* 1959), IRL
 Annemarie Böll (1910–2004), D
 Heinrich Böll (1917–1985), D
 René Böll (* 1948), D
 Jean Bollack (1923–2012), FR
 Klaus Bölling (1928–2014), D
 Barbara Bollwahn (1964–2018), D
 Wilhelm Bölsche (1861–1939), D
 Sharon Bolton (* 1960), GB
 Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906), AT
 Norbert Bolz (* 1953), D
 Horatius Bonar (1808–1889), GB
 Bonaventura von Bagnoregio (1221–1274), IT
 Giuseppe Bonaviri (1924–2009), IT
 Nelson Slade Bond (1908–2006), US
 François Bondy (1915–2003), CH
 Achille Bonito Oliva (* 1939), IT
 Abel Bonnard (1883–1968), FR
 Marie-Jo Bonnet (* 1949), FR
 Rolf Bönnen (* 1954), D
 Waldemar Bonsels (1881–1952), D

Bop–Boz 
 Rudolf Borchardt (1877–1945), D
 Elisabeth Borchers (1926–2013), D
 Wolfgang Borchert (1921–1947), D
 Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), RA (Argentinier)
 Barrie Jean Borich (* 1959), USA
 Nicolas Born (1937–1979), D
 Ludwig Börne (1768–1837), D
 Ernst Bornemann (1915–1995), D
 Simon Borowiak (* 1964 als Simone Borowiak), D
 Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), PL
 Kay Borowsky (* 1943), D
 Gerd Bosbach (* 1953), D
 Juan Bosch (1909–2001), DOM
 Harry Böseke (1950–2015), D
 Alfredo Bosi (1936–2021), BR
 Hermann Bossdorf (1877–1921), D
 Jakob Bosshart (1862–1924), CH
 Rolf Bossi (1923–2015), D
 Nora Bossong (* 1982), D
 Shmuley Boteach (* 1966), US
 Pierre Bottero (1964–2009), FR
 António Botto (1897–1959), PT
 Alain de Botton (* 1969), CH / GB
 Michel Marc Bouchard (* 1958), CAN
 Pierre Boulle (1912–1994), FR
 Anthony Bourdain (1956–2018), US
 Pierre Bourdieu (1930–2002), FR
 Madeleine Bourdouxhe (1906–1996), BE
 Emmanuel Bove (1898–1945), FR
 Silvia Bovenschen (1946–2017), D
 Margret Boveri (1900–1975), D
 Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973), IRL/GB
 Marjorie Bowen (1885–1952), GB
 Patrick Gillman Bowen (1882–1940), IRL
 Elisabeth Bowers (* 1949), CA
 Richard Bowes (* 1944), US
 Jane Bowles (1917–1973), US
 Paul Bowles (1910–1999), US
 Malcolm Boyd (1923–2015), US
 Karin Boye (1900–1941), SE
 Kay Boyle (1902–1992), US
 T. C. Boyle (* 1948), US
 John Boyne (* 1971), IRL
 Johannes Wilhelm Boysen (1834–1870), D

Br

Bra 
 Hans-Peter Brachmanski (* 1957), D
 Leigh Brackett (1915–1978), US
 Ray Bradbury (1920–2012), US
 Scott Bradfield (* 1955), US
 Barbara Taylor Bradford (* 1933), GB
 Marion Zimmer Bradley (1930–1999), US
 Gillian Bradshaw (* 1956), US
 John Bradshaw (1933–2016), US
 Kazys Bradūnas (1917–2009), LT
 Harald Braem (* 1944), D
 John Braine (1922–1986), GB
 Valentino Braitenberg (1926–2011), IT
 Ulrich Bräker (1735–1798), CH
 Christopher Bram (* 1952), US
 Ariane Braml (1969–2021), CH
 Dana Brandt (* 1976), D
 Kurt Brand (1914–1991), D
 Lars Brandt (* 1951), D
 Peter Brandt (* 1948), D
 Rut Brandt (1920–2006), NO/D
 Willy Brandt (1913–1992), D
 Fred Branfman (1942–2014), US
 Gerhard Branstner (1927–2008), D
 Beth Brant (1941–2015), CAN
 Sebastian Brant (1457–1521), D
 Thomas Brasch (1945–2001), D
 Anneke Brassinga (* 1948), NL
 Felix Braun (1885–1973), AT
 Joachim Braun (* 1960), D
 Lily Braun (1865–1916), D
 Michael Braun (1958–2022), D
 Peter Braun (1960–2016), D
 Volker Braun (* 1939), D
 Herbert Bräutigam (1927–2020), D
 Richard Brautigan (1935–1984), US
 Leo Brawand (1924–2009), D
 Alan Bray (1948–2001), GB

Bre 
 Beat Brechbühl (* 1939), CH
 Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), D
 Stefan Brecht (1924–2009), US
 Magnus Brechtken (* 1964), D
 Friedrich Breckling (1629–1711), D
 Ilse von Bredow (1922–2014), D
 Alfred Brehm (1829–1884), D
 Bruno Brehm (1892–1974), AT
 Christian Brehme (1613–1667), D
 Olaf Breidbach (1957–2014), D
 Joseph Breitbach (1903–1980), D / FR
 Irmela Brender (1935–2017), D
 Christopher Brennan (1870–1932), AU
 Herbie Brennan (* 1940), IRL
 Maeve Brennan (1917–1993), IRL / US
 Robert Brennan (1881–1964), IRL
 Heinz Brenner (1900–1981), D
 Helmut Brennicke (1918–2005), D
 Madeleine Brent (= Peter O’Donnell, 1920–2010), GB
 Bernard von Brentano (1901–1964), D
 Clemens Brentano (1778–1842), D
 Friedrich Christian Bressand (1670–1699), D
 André Breton (1896–1966), FR
 Brian Brett (* 1950), CAN
 Lily Brett (* 1946), AU / US
 Dieter Breuers (1935–2015), D
 Breyten Breytenbach (* 1939), ZA / FR

Bri–Bry 
 Patricia Briggs (* 1965), US
 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826), FR
 John Brinckman (1814–1870), D
 André Brink (1935–2015), ZA
 Rolf Dieter Brinkmann (1940–1975), D
 Gwen Bristow (1903–1980), US
 Kristen Britain, US
 Georg Britting (1891–1964), D
 Andrew Britton (1981–2008), US
 Hermann Broch (1886–1951), AT
 Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680–1747), D
 Stefan Brockhoff (Sammelpseudonym), D
 Max Brod (1884–1968), CZ
 Roland Brodbeck (* 1966), CH
 Harold Brodkey (1930–1996), US
 Joseph Brodsky (1940–1996), RU / US
 Karl Bröger (1886–1944), D
 Louis Bromfield (1896–1956), US
 E. M. Broner (1927–2011), US
 Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917–2005), US
 Władysław Broniewski (1897–1962), PL
 Arnolt Bronnen (1895–1959), AT
 Anne Brontë (1820–1849), GB
 Branwell Brontë (1817–1848) GB
 Charlotte Brontë (1816–1855), GB
 Emily Brontë (1818–1848), GB
 Rupert Brooke (1887–1915), GB
 Anita Brookner (1928–2016), GB
 Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), US
 Jeroen Brouwers (1940–2022), NL
 Dan Brown (* 1964), US
 Fredric Brown (1906–1972), US
 George Mackay Brown (1921–1996), GB
 Jericho Brown (* 1976), US
 Rita Mae Brown (* 1944), US
 Sandra Brown (* 1948), US
 Sharon Brown (* 1946), CAN
 John Ross Browne (1817–1875), US
 Moses Browne (1704–1787) GB
 Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861), GB
 Robert Browning (1812–1889), GB
 Sylvia Brownrigg (* 1964), US
 Christine Brückner (1921–1996), D
 Ferdinand Bruckner (1891–1958), AT / D
 Pascal Bruckner (* 1948), FR
 Peter Brückner (1922–1982), D
 Ken Bruen (* 1951), IRL
 Caspar Brülow (1585–1627), D
 Micha Brumlik (* 1947), CH / D
 Herbert Bruna (1926–2013), D
 Jerome Bruner (1915–2016), US
 Marcus Brühl (1975–2015), D
 Elfriede Brüning (1910–2014), D
 Marianne Bruns (1897–1994), D
 Günter de Bruyn (1926–2020), D
 William C. Bryant (1794–1878), US
 Bryher alias Annie Winifred Ellermann (1894–1983), GB
 Ernest Bryll (* 1935), PL
 Bill Bryson (* 1951), US

Bu 
 Dionis Bubani (1926–2006), AL
 Martin Buber (1878–1965), IL
 Jorge Bucay (* 1949), AR
 Hans Christoph Buch (* 1944), D
 August Buchner (1591–1661), D
 Georg Büchner (1813–1837), D
 Andreas Heinrich Bucholtz (1607–1671), D
 Pearl S. Buck (1892–1973), US
 Theo Buck (1930–2019), D
 Algis Budrys (1931–2008), US
 Hans-Christian Bues (* 1948), D
 Gesualdo Bufalino (1920–1996), IT
 Jakob Bührer (1882–1975), AT
 Charles Bukowski (1920–1994), US
 Michail Bulgakow (1891–1940), RUS
 Vern Leroy Bullough (1928–2006), US
 Kenneth Bulmer (1921–2005), GB
 Iwan Bunin (1870–1953), RUS
 Hans Bunje (1923–2008), D
 Karl Bunje (1897–1985), D
 Ruth Bunkenburg (1922–2015), D
 Joseph Hans Bunzel (1907–1975), A/USA
 Avraham Burg (* 1955), IL
 Gottfried August Bürger (1747–1794), D
 Hermann Burger (1942–1989), CH
 Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), GB
 Michael Burk (* 1924), D
 Erika Burkart (1922–2010), CH
 Kemal Burkay (* 1937), TR
 Jan Burke (* 1953), US
 Walter Burkert (1931–2015), D
 Florian Burkhardt (* 1974), CH
 Werner Burkhardt (1928–2008), D
 Robert Bürkner (1887–1962), D
 Michael Burleigh (* 1955), GB
 James MacGregor Burns (1918–2014), US
 John Horne Burns (1916–1953), US
 Robert Burns (1759–1796), GB
 Stanley Burnshaw (1906–2005), US
 John Burnside (* 1955), GB
 Andreas Buro (1928–2016), D
 William S. Burroughs (1914–1997), US
 Hermann Burte (1879–1960), D
 Fritz B. Busch (1922–2010), D
 Wilhelm Busch (1832–1908), D
 Carl Busse (1872–1918), D
 Hugo Busse (1850–1913), D
 Dolly Buster (* 1969), CZ
 Jim Butcher (* 1971), US
 Gwendoline Butler (1922–2013), GB
 Judith Butler (* 1956), US
 Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006), US
 Samuel Butler (Dichter) (1612–1680), GB
 Samuel Butler (Schriftsteller) (1835–1902), GB
 Michel Butor (1926–2016), FR
 Samuel von Butschky (1612–1678), D
 Ignazio Buttitta (1899–1997), IT
 Jacqes Buval
 Cyriel Buysse (1859–1932), BE
 Dino Buzzati (1906–1972), IT

By 
 A. S. Byatt (* 1936), GB
 Lord Byron (1788–1824), GB

Einzelnachweise 

B
B

Da 
 Maria Dąbrowska (1889–1965), PL
 Simon Dach (1605–1659), D
 Robert Dachs (1955–2015), D / AT
 Anne Dacier (1654–1720), FR
 Didier Daeninckx (* 1949), FR
 Wolfgang Därr (* 1948), D
 Günther Däss (* 1926), D
 Adelheid Dahimène (1956–2010), AT
 Roald Dahl (1916–1990), GB
 Robert Alan Dahl (1915–2014), US
 Daniela Dahn (* 1949), D
 Felix Dahn (1834–1912), D
 Ralf Dahrendorf (1929–2009), D
 Hans Daiber (1927–2013), D
 Wilfried Daim (1923–2016), AT
 György Dalos (* 1943), HU
 Roque Dalton (1935–1975), ES
 Sigrid Damm (* 1940), D
 Jakub Malukow-Danecki (* 1957), PL
 Utta Danella (1920–2015), D
 Heinrich Danioth (1896–1953), CH
 Colin Dann (* 1943), GB
 Jack Dann (* 1945), US
 Otto Dann (1937–2014), D
 Martin Dannecker (* 1942), D
 Peter Dannenberg (1930–2015), D
 Gabriele D’Annunzio (1863–1938), IT
 Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), IT
 Arthur C. Danto (1924–2013), US
 Lorenzo da Ponte (1749–1838), IT
 Asal Dardan (* 1978), D
 Rubén Darío (1867–1916), NIC
 George Darley (1795–1846), IRL
 Stefano D’Arrigo (1919–1992), IT
 Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), GB
 Mahmud Darwisch (1941–2008), Palästina
 Dietmar Dath (* 1970), D
 Theodor Däubler (1876–1934), D
 Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897), FR
 Rudolf H. Daumann (1896–1957), D
 Max Dauthendey (1867–1918), D
 William Davenant (1606–1668), GB
 Jakob Julius David (1859–1906), AT
 Janina David (1930–2023), PL / GB
 Alexandra David-Néel (1868–1969), FR
 Basil Davidson (1914–2010), GB
 Diane Mott Davidson (* 1949), US
 W. H. Davies (1871–1940), GB
 David Brion Davis (1927–2019), US
 Dorothy Salisbury Davis (1916–2014), US
 Lydia Davis (* 1947), US
 Abha Dawesar (* 1974), Indien
 Amber Dawn (* 1974), CAN
 Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972), IRL / GB

De 
 Edmondo De Amicis (1846–1908), IT
 Andrea De Carlo (* 1952), IT
 Charles De Coster (1827–1879), BE
 Luciano De Crescenzo (1928–2019), IT
 Erri De Luca (* 1950), IT
 James De Mille (1833–1880), CND
 Martin R. Dean (* 1955), CH
 Seamus Deane (1940–2021), GB/IRL
 Aleš Debeljak (1961–2016), SLO
 Guy Debord (1931–1994), FR
 Jan Decker (* 1977), D
 Jacques Decour (1910–1942), FR
 Karl Dedecius (1921–2016), D
 Constantin Christian Dedekind (1628–1715), D
 Warwick Deeping (1877–1950), GB
 Daniel Defoe (1660–1731), GB
 Régine Deforges (1935–2014), FR
 Jeanne Degen (1941–1998), CH
 Volker W. Degener (* 1941), D
 Franz Josef Degenhardt (1931–2011), D
 Paula Dehmel (1862–1918), D
 Richard Dehmel (1863–1920), D
 Hannelore Deinert (* 1942), D
 Heinrich Deiters (1882–1971), D
 Manfred Deix (1949–2016), AT
 Matthew B. J. Delaney (* 19**), US
 Samuel R. Delany (* 1942), US
 Grazia Deledda (1871–1936), IT
 Gilles Deleuze (1925–1995), FR
 Antonio Delfini (1907–1963), IT
 Don DeLillo (* 1936), US
 Friedrich Christian Delius (1943–2022), D
 Marie Eugenie Delle Grazie (1864–1931), AT
 Alexandre Delmar (* 1975), FR
 Olivier Delorme (* 1954), FR
 Lloyd deMause (1931–2020), US
 James DeMeo (1949–2022), US
 John D’Emilio (* 1948), US
 John Denham (1615–1669), IRL/GB
 Tory Dent (1958–2005), USA
 Jacques Derrida (1930–2004), FR
 Agnès Desarthe (* 1966), FR
 Karlheinz Deschner (1924–2014), D
 Heinrich Deserno (1945–2023), D
 Stéphane Desombre (1907–1981), F
 Virginie Despentes (* 1969), FR
 Thorwald Dethlefsen (1946–2010), D
 Sophie Dethleffs (1809–1864), D
 Robin Detje (* 1964), D
 Inge Deutschkron (1922–2022), D
 Georges Devereux (1908–1985), US/FR
 Otto Devrient (1838–1894), D
 Karel Dewetter (1882–1962), CS
 Helen DeWitt (* 1957), GB
 Colin Dexter (1930–2017), GB

Di 
 Tommaso Di Ciaula (1941–2021), IT
 Philip K. Dick (1928–1982), US
 Charles Dickens (1812–1870), GB
 Monica Dickens (1915–1992), GB
 James Dickey (1923–1997), US
 George Dickie (1926–2020), US
 Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), US
 Peter Dickinson (1927–2015), GB
 Denis Diderot (1713–1784), FR
 Georges Didi-Huberman (* 1953), FR
 Joan Didion (1934–2021), US
 Ernst Didring (1868–1931), SE
 Christiane Dieckerhoff (* 1960), D
 Christoph Dieckmann (* 1956), D
 Dorothea Dieckmann (* 1957), D
 Guido Dieckmann (* 1969), D
 Lorenz Diefenbach (1806–1883), D
 Karl-Martin Dietz (* 1945), D
 William C. Dietz (* 1945), US
 Georg Diez (* 1969), D
 Lutz van Dijk (* 1955), D / NL
 Johann Michael Dilherr (1604–1669), D
 Julian Dillier (1922–2001), CH
 Blaga Dimitrowa (1922–2003), BG
 S. S. Van Dine (1888–1939), US 
 Franz von Dingelstedt (1814–1881), D
 Hrant Dink (1954–2007), TR
 Artur Dinter (1876–1948), D
 Diane DiPrima (1934–2020), US
 Thomas Michael Disch (1940–2008), US
 Esther Dischereit (* 1952), D
 Hugo Dittberner (* 1944), D
 Melvin Dixon (1950–1992), USA

Dj 
 Tahar Djaout (1954–1993), DZ (Algerien)
 Assia Djebar (1936–2015), DZ
 Philippe Djian (* 1949), FR

Do 
 Jens Dobler (* 1965), D
 Alfred Döblin (1878–1957), D
 Farzana Doctor (* 1970), CAN
 E. L. Doctorow (1931–2015), US
 Heimito von Doderer (1896–1966), AT
 David Dodge (1910–1974), US
 Anthony Doerr (* 1973), US
 Peter Döge (* 1961), D
 Alban Dold (1882–1960), D
 Yvonne Dold-Samplonius (1937–2014), NL
 Françoise Dolto (1908–1988), FR
 Karl Domanig (1854–1913), AT
 Hans Dominik (1872–1945), D
 Ludwig Donin (1810–1876)
 J. P. Donleavy (1926–2017), US/IRL
 John Donne (1572–1631), GB
 Jennifer Donnelly (* 1963), US
 Lara Elena Donnelly (* 1990), US
 Emma Donoghue (* 1969), IRL
 Gerard Donovan (* 1959), IRL
 Wolfgang Donsbach (1949–2015), D
 Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961), auch bekannt als H. D., US
 Peter Dörfler (1878–1955), D
 Felix Dörmann (1870–1928), AT
 Anne Dorn (1925–2017), D
 Klaus Dörner (1933–2022), D
 Maximilian Dorner (1973–2023), D
 Martin Dornes (1950–2021), D
 Candas Jane Dorsey (* 1952), CAN
 Tankred Dorst (1925–2017), D
 John Dos Passos (1896–1970), US
 Fjodor Dostojewski (1821–1881), RUS
 Mark Doty (* 1953), USA
 Alfred Douglas (1870–1945), GB
 Norman Douglas (1868–1952), GB
 Sara Douglass (1957–2011), AUS
 Rita Dove (* 1952), US
 Siobhan Dowd (1960–2007), IRL/GB
 Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930), GB
 Margit Anna Doyle  (* 1958), AT
 Roddy Doyle (* 1958), IRL

Dr 
 Albert Drach (1902–1995), AT
 Hanna Maria Drack (1913–1988), D, AT
 Michael Drayton (1563–1631), GB
 Jan Drees (* 1979), D
 Theodore Dreiser (1871–1945), US
 Aleksandër Stavre Drenova (1872–1947), AL
 Peter Drescher (1946–2021), D
 Leberecht Dreves (1816–1870), D
 Jörg Drews (1938–2009), D
 Jeremias Drexel (1581–1638), D
 Ernst-Jürgen Dreyer (1934–2011), D
 Max Dreyer (1862–1946), D
 Dore Dreysel (1904–1985), D
 Janez Drnovšek (1950–2008), SLO
 Wiglaf Droste (1961–2019), D
 Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797–1848), D
 Maurice Druon (1918–2009), FR
 John Dryden (1631–1700), GB

Du 
 Du Fu (712–770), CN
 Du Mu (803–852), CN
 Martin Duberman (* 1930), US
 Richard Dübell (* 1962), D
 Helmut Dubiel (1946–2015), D
 Isidore Ducasse (1846–1870), FR
 Johann Friedrich Dücker (1826–1911)
 Gunter Dueck (* 1951), D
 Hans Peter Duerr (* 1943), D
 John von Düffel (* 1966), D
 Martin Duffy (* 1952), IRL
 Georges Duhamel (1884–1966), FR
 Edouard Dujardin (1861–1949), FR
 Markus Dullin (* 1964), D
 Axel Dulz (* 1960), D
 Alexandre Dumas d. Ä. (1802–1870), FR
 Alexandre Dumas d. J. (1824–1895), FR
 Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989), GB
 Hal Duncan (* 1971) GB
 Helen Dunmore (1952–2017), GB
 Carola Dunn (* 1946), GB / USA
 Douglas Dunn (* 1942), GB
 Ellen Dunne (* 1977), AT / IRL
 John Gregory Dunne (1932–2003), US
 Patrick Dunne (* 20. Jh.), IRL
 Lord Dunsany (1878–1957), IRL
 Marguerite Duras (1914–1996), FR
 Ilija Dürhammer (* 1969), ÖSTERR
 Hans-Peter Dürr (1929–2014), D
 Gerald Durrell (1925–1995), GB
 Lawrence Durrell (1912–1990), GB / IRL
 Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990), CH
 Werner Dürrson (1932–2008), D
 Louis Dutens (1730–1812), FR
 Ralph Dutli (* 1954), CH
 Olav Duun (1876–1939), NO
 Freimut Duve (1936–2020), D
 Karen Duve (* 1961), D
 Thomas Duve (* 1967), D
 Gustave Duverne (1891–1967), F
 Wolf Düwel (1923–1993), D

Dw 
 Edwin Erich Dwinger (1898–1981), D
 Ronald Dworkin (1931–2013), US

Dy 
 Richard Dyer (* 1945), GB
 Wayne Dyer (1940–2015), USA
 Elana Dykewomon (1949–2022), USA
 Bob Dylan (* 1941), USA
 Wayne R. Dynes (* 1934), USA

D
D

Sa 
Ferdinand von Saar (1833–1906)
Umberto Saba (1883–1957)
Robert Sabatier (1923–2012)
Ernesto Sabato (1911–2011)
Rolf D. Sabel (* 1949)
Martin Sabrow (* 1954)
Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1890–1916)
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895)
Hans Sachs (1494–1576)
Nelly Sachs (1891–1970)
Jonathan Sacks (1948–2020)
Oliver Sacks (1933–2015)
Vita Sackville-West (1892–1962)
Donatien-Alphonse-François, Marquis de Sade (1740–1814)
Abu’Abdellah Mosharrefo’d–Din ben Mosleho’d–Din Sa’di (zwischen 1213 und 1219 – 1292)
Douglas Sadownick (* 1959)
Rüdiger Safranski (* 1945)
Carl Sagan (1934–1996)
Françoise Sagan (1935–2004)
Hans Sahl (1902–1993)
Marshall Sahlins (1930–2021)
Edward Said (1935–2003)
SAID (1947–2021)
Angela Saini (* 1980)
Assoto Saint (1957–1994)
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900–1944)
At-Tayyib Salih (1929–2009)
J. D. Salinger (1919–2010)
James Sallis (* 1944)
Sally Salminen (1906–1976)
Ernst von Salomon (1902–1972)
Sallust (86–35 v. Chr.)
Felix Salten (1869–1945)
James Salter (1925–2015)
Gaston Salvatore (1941–2015), CL / D
R. A. Salvatore (* 1959)
Lydie Salvayre (* 1948), FR
Jewgenij Samjatin (1884–1937)
Jeffrey L. Sammons (1936–2021), US
José Luis Sampedro (1917–2013), ES
Clara Sánchez (* 1955), ES
Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio (1927–2019), ES
George Sand (1804–1876)
Margit Sandemo (1924–2018)
Gregor Sander (* 1968)
Maurice-Yves Sandoz (1892–1958), CH
Cícero Sandroni (* 1935), BR
Edoardo Sanguineti (1930–2010)
Eric San Juan (* 1973), US
José Saramago (1922–2010)
Stephan Sarek (* 1957), D
Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941–1995)
William Saroyan (1908–1981)
Nathalie Sarraute (1900–1999), FR
Joseba Sarrionandia (* 1958)
Andrew Sarris (1928–2012), US
Joachim Sartorius (* 1946)
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)
Saskia Sassen (* 1949)
Alfonso Sastre (1926–2021), E
John Saul (* 1942)
Annie Saumont (1927–2017)
Dan Savage (* 1964)
Jon Savage (* 1953)
Richard Henry Savage (1846–1903)
Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864)
Sam Savage (1940–2019)
Roberto Saviano (* 1979)
Alberto Savinio (1891–1952)
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957)
Şara Sayın (1926–2017)
Steven Saylor (* 1956)

Sc 
Giorgio Scerbanenco (1911–1969)
Andrea Schacht (1956–2017)
Carlo Schäfer (1964–2015)
Rafik Schami (* 1946)
Sydney Schanberg (1934–2016)
Frieda Schanz (1859–1944)
Frank Schätzing (* 1957), D
Karl Herbert Scheer
Paul Scheerbart (1863–1915)
Leopold Schefer (1784–1862)
Joseph Victor von Scheffel (1826–1886)
Ursel Scheffler (* 1938), D
Wolfgang Scheffler (1929–2008), D
Susanne Scheibler
Jonathan Schell (1943–2014), US
Peter Schellenbaum (1939–2018), CH
Bernardin Schellenberger (* 1944), D
Caroline Schelling (1763–1809)
Friedrich Schelling (1775–1854)
Andreas Schendel (* 1971), D
Daniela Schenk (* 1964), CH
Johannes Schenk (1941–2006)
Joan Schenkar (* 1952), USA
Max von Schenkendorf (1783–1817)
Walter Schenker (1943–2018)
Karl Adolf Scherer (1929–2008)
Marie-Luise Scherer (1938–2022), D
René Schérer (1922–2023), FR
Ronald M. Schernikau (1960–1991), D
Manfred Scheuch (1929–2016), AT
Mario Scheuermann (1948–2015), D
Christian Scheuß (* 1966), D
Jakob van Schevichaven (1866–1935)
Taras Grigorjewitsch Schewtschenko (1814–1861)
Alfred Schickel (1933–2015)
Gotthard B. Schicker (1946–2017)
Claudia Beate Schill (1952–2022)
Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)
Helmut Schiller (* 1938), D
Lawrence Schimel (* 1971), US
Jochen Schimmang (* 1948)
Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003)
Roland Schimmelpfennig (* 1967)
Ferdinand von Schirach (* 1964)
Frank Schirrmacher (1959–2014)
Wolfgang Schivelbusch (1941–2023)
Peter Schjeldahl (1942–2022)
Johannes Schlaf (1862–1941)
Evelyn Schlag (* 1952)
Einar Schleef (1944–2001)
August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845)
Dorothea von Schlegel (1763–1839)
Friedrich von Schlegel (1772–1829)
Johann Elias Schlegel (1719–1749)
Carl Ludwig Schleich (1859–1922)
Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834)
Klaus Schlesinger (1937–2001)
Christoph Schlingensief (1960–2010), D
Bernhard Schlink (* 1944), D
Joachim Schlör (* 1960), D
Andreas Schlüter (* 1958)
Ann-Helena Schlüter
Herman Schmalenbach (1885–1950), D
Werner Schmalenbach (1920–2010), D/CH
Dagmar Isabell Schmidbauer (* 1962), D
Wolfgang Schmidbauer (* 1941), D
Alfred Schmidt (1931–2012), D
Arno Schmidt (1914–1979), D
Christian Schmidt (1980), D
Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015), D
Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer (* 1948), D
Kathrin Schmidt (* 1958), D
Rudolf Schmidt (1875–1943), D
Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler (1942–2008), AT
Gerhard Schmidtchen (1925–2022), D
Wieland Schmied (1929–2014), AT
Marion Schmitt (* 1959)
Philipp Schmitz (1935–2015)
Johann Gottfried Schnabel (1692–1744/1748)
Siegfried Schnabl (1927–2015), D
Friedrich Schnack (1888–1977)
Harald Schneider (* 1962)
Karla Schneider (* 1938), D
Peter Schneider (* 1940), D
Reinhold Schneider (1903–1958), D
Wolfgang Schneider (1938–2003), D
Robert Wolfgang Schnell (1916–1986), D
Helmut Schnelle (1932–2015), D
Arthur Schnitzler (1862–1931), AT
Wolfdietrich Schnurre (1920–1989), D
Axel Schock (* 1965), D
Wilfried F. Schoeller (1941–2020), D
Christel Schöllhammer (* 1938), D
Peter Schoenen (1952–2014), D
Sigmar Schollak (1930–2012), D
Peter Scholl-Latour (1924–2014), D/FR
Eike Schönfeld (* 1949), D
Dietmar Schönherr (1926–2014)
Johannes Schönherr (1894–1961)
Karl Schönherr (1867–1943)
Katja Schönherr (* 1982)
Renate Schoof (* 1950) D
Adele Schopenhauer (1797–1849)
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860)
Roberto Schopflocher (1923–2016)
Eberhard Schorsch (1935–1991)
Carl E. Schorske (1915–2015), US
Claudia Schoppmann (* 1958), D
Justus Georg Schottelius (1612–1676)
Julie Schrader (1881–1939), D
Daniel Schreiber (* 1977), D
Hermann Schreiber (1920–2014)
Hermann Schreiber (1929–2020)
Jürgen Schreiber (1947–2022), D
Karl-Heinz Schreiber (1949–2014)
Klaus Peter Schreiner (1930–2017), D
Peter Schreiner (* 1953), D
Angelika Schrobsdorff (1927–2016)
Rudolf Alexander Schröder (1878–1962), D
Willy Schrödter (1878–1971)
Raoul Schrott (* 1964), AT
Jürg Schubiger (1936–2014), CH
Bernd Schuh (* 1948), D
Jean-Jacques Schuhl (* 1941), FR
Herbert Schui (1940–2016), D
Budd Schulberg (1914–2009), US
Herbert Schuldt (* 1941)
Horst Schüler-Springorum (1928–2015), D
Sarah Schulman (* 1958), US
Bruno Schulz (1892–1942), PL
Frank Schulz (* 1957), D
Franz Schulz (1897–1971), AT/US
Hagen Schulze (1943–2014), D
Micha Schulze (* 1967), D
Hans-Eugen Schulze (1922–2013), D
Ingo Schulze (* 1962), D
Dirk Schümer (* 1962), D
Romy Schurhammer (1936–2019), D
Maik T. Schurkus (* 1970), D
Wolfram Schütte (* 1939), D
Silke Schütze (* 1961), D
Stephan Schütze (1771–1839), D
James Schuyler (1923–1991), USA
Gustav Schwab (1792–1850), D
Werner Schwab (1958–1994), AT
Brigitte Schwaiger (1949–2010), AT
Marcel Schwander (1929–2010), CH
Delmore Schwartz (1913–1966), US
Lynne Sharon Schwartz (* 1939), US
Alice Schwarzer (* 1942), D
Alfred Otto Schwede (1915–1987), D
Michael Schweer
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), D / FR
Rolf Schwendter (1939–2013), AT
Hermann Schweppenhäuser (1928–2015), D
Malin Schwerdtfeger (* 1972), D
Ulrike Schwieren-Höger (* 1951), D
Peter Schwindt (* 1964), D
Monique Schwitter (* 1972), CH / D
Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948), D
Leonardo Sciascia (1921–1989), IT
C. R. Scott (* 1984), D
Gil Scott-Heron (1949–2011), US
Melissa Scott (* 1960), US
Michael Scott (* 1959), IRL
Sir Walter Scott (1771–1832)
Lisa Scottoline (* 1955), US
Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1820–1886)
Roger Scruton (1944–2020), GB
Madeleine de Scudéry (1607–1701)

Se 
Charles Sealsfield (1793–1864)
W. G. Sebald (1944–2001)
David Sedaris (* 1956)
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950–2009)
Annette Seemann (* 1959)
Peter Seewald (* 1954)
Giorgos Seferis (1900–1971)
Erich Segal (1937–2010)
Tom Segev (* 1945)
Anna Seghers (1900–1983)
Jan Seghers (* 1958)
Georg Seidel (1945–1990)
Heinrich Seidel (1842–1906)
Heinrich Wolfgang Seidel (1876–1945)
Ina Seidel (1885–1974)
Oskar Seidlin (1911–1984)
John Seigenthaler senior (1927–2014)
Lutz Seiler (* 1963), D
Susanne Seitz (* 1964)
Martin Selber (1924–2006)
Erich Selbmann (1926–2006)
Fritz Selbmann (1899–1975)
Dirk Seliger (* 1970)
Rafael Seligmann (* 1947)
Shyam Selvadurai (* 1965)
Friedrich Hermann Semmig (1820–1897)
Jeanne Berta Semmig (1867–1958)
Jaime Semprun (1947–2010)
Jorge Semprún (1923–2011)
Amartya Sen (* 1933)
Maurice Sendak (1928–2012)
Ramón J. Sender (1901–1982)
Nedim Şener (* 1966)
Richard Sennett (* 1943)
Zafer Şenocak (* 1961)
Luis Sepúlveda (1949–2020)
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (55 v. Chr. – 40 n. Chr.)
Seo Jeong-in (* 1936)
Seo Young-eun (* 1943)
Wolf Serno (* 1944)
Walter Serner (1889–1942)
Michel Serres (1930–2019)
Clemens J. Setz (* 1982)
Wolfram Setz (1941–2023)
Bernhard Setzwein (* 1960)
Johann Gottfried Seume (1763–1810)
Beppe Severgnini (* 1956)
Ruth Seydewitz (1905–1989)
Napoleon Seyfarth (1953–2000)
Joachim Seyppel (1919–2012)
Hilal Sezgin (* 1970)

Sg 
Manlio Sgalambro (1924–2014)

Sh 
Elif Shafak (* 1971)
Peter Shaffer (1926–2016)
William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
Meir Shalev (1948–2023)
Zeruya Shalev (* 1959)
Ralph Shallis († 1995)
Sidney Shapiro (1915–2014)
Tom Sharpe (1928–2013)
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Irwin Shaw (1913–1984)
Patricia Shaw (* 1929)
Robert Sheckley (1928–2005)
Maurice Sheehy (1928–1991)
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851)
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
Lucius Shepard (1947–2014)
Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816)
Randy Shilts (1951–1994)
Shin Kyong-nim (* 1936)
Vladimir Shlapentokh (1926–2015)

Si 
Jules Siber (1871–1943)
Gertrud Siche-Tarnowski
Barbara Sichtermann (* 1943)
Enzo Siciliano (1934–2006)
Wolfram Siebeck (1928–2016)
Wolf Jobst Siedler (1926–2013)
Martin Siems (1948–2020)
Hans Siemsen (1891–1969)
Henryk Sienkiewicz (1846–1916)
Christian Sigrist (1935–2015)
Volkmar Sigusch (1940–2023)
Arthur Silbergleit (1881–1943)
Alan Sillitoe (1928–2010)
Ignazio Silone (1900–1978)
Charles Silverstein (1935–2023)
Clifford D. Simak (1904–1988)
Georges Simenon (1903–1989)
Charles Simic (1938–2023)
Georg Simmel (1858–1918)
Johannes Mario Simmel (1924–2009)
Claude Simon (1913–2005)
Erik Simon (* 1950)
Simonides von Amorgos (7. Jahrhundert v. Chr.)
Simonides von Keos (557 oder 556 – 468 oder 467 v. Chr.)
Konstantin Simonow (1915–1979)
N. F. Simpson (1919–2011)
Hüseyin Şimşek (* 1962)
Sin Kyong-suk (* 1963)
Upton Sinclair (1878–1968)
Isaac B. Singer (1904–1991)
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014)
Saut Situmorang (* 1966)
Sitor Situmorang (1924–2014)
Edith Sitwell (1887–1964)

Sj–So 
Arne Sjöberg Paul Brinkmann (1934–1997)
Maj Sjöwall (1935–2020)
Maya Skiba (* 1989)
Hamid Skif (1951–2011)
Scipio Slataper (1888–1915)
Henry Slesar (1927–2002)
Ondreij Sliacki (1849–1921)
Joshua Slocum (1844–1909)
Joan Slonczewski (* 1956)
Peter Sloterdijk (* 1947)
Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961)
Cordwainer Smith Paul Linebarger (1913–1966)
Emma Smith (1923–2018)
Lillian Smith (1897–1966)
Martin Cruz Smith (* 1942)
Stevie Smith (1902–1971)
Wilbur Smith (1933–2021)
Ján Smrek (1898–1982)
Timothy Snyder (* 1969)
Dava Sobel (* 1947), US
Jehoschua Sobol (* 1939)
Ernst Solèr (1960–2008)
Philippe Sollers (1936–2023)
Franco Solo (Verlagspseudonym, verschiedene Autoren)
Alexander Solschenizyn (1918–2008)
Nicolaus Sombart (1923–2008)
Werner Sombart (1863–1941)
Volker Sommer (* 1954)
Hugo Sonnenschein (1889–1953)
Marco Sonnleitner (* 1965)
Susan Sontag (1933–2004)
Michael Sontheimer (* 1955)
Sophokles (497/96–≈406 v.a.Z.)
Osvaldo Soriano (1943–1997)
Flavio Soriga (* 1975)
Wladimir Sorokin (* 1955)
Dido Sotiriou (1909–2004)
Philippe Soupault (1897–1990)
Ivan Southall (1921–2008)
Johannes K. Soyener (1945–2018)
Jura Soyfer (1912–1939)
Wole Soyinka (* 1934)

Sp 
Tom Spanbauer (* 1946), US
Muriel Spark (1918–2006), GB
Nicholas Sparks (* 1965), US
Bernd Späth (* 1950), D
Gerold Späth (* 1939), CH
Stephen Spender (1909–1995), GB
Tilman Spengler (* 1947), D
Manès Sperber (1905–1984), AT
Martin Sperr (1944–2002), D
Monika Sperr (1941–1984), D
Dieter Spethmann (1926–2016), D
Art Spiegelman (* 1948), US
Erik Spiekermann (* 1947), D
Arndt Spieth (* 1962), D
Erica Spindler (* 1957), US
Jerry Spinelli (* 1941), US
Burkhard Spinnen (* 1956), D
Carl Spitteler (1845–1924), CH
Robert L. Spitzer (1932–2015), US
Heinrich Spoerl (1887–1955), D
C.M. Spoerri (* 1983), CH
Donald Spoto (1941–2023), US/DK
Hans-Hermann Sprado (1956–2014), D
Johanna Spyri (1827–1901), CH

St

Sta – Ste 
 Reiner Stach (* 1951), D
 Emerich von Stadion (1838–1901), AT
 Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (1766–1817)
 Helmut Stalder (* 1966), CH
 George Stambolian (1938–1991), US
 Peter Stamm (* 1963), CH
 Regula Stämpfli (* 1962), CH
 Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904), GB
 Pietro Stanzano (1928–1968), IT
 Andrzej Stasiuk (* 1960), PL
 Joseph Staten, US
 Edward St Aubyn (* 1960), GB
 Toralf Staud (* 1972), D
 Robert Stauffer (* 1936), D
 Michael Stavarič (* 1972), AT
 John Stave (1929–1993), D
 Jerzy Stefan Stawiński (1921–2010), PL
 Bernhard Stecher (* 1961), A
 Danielle Steel (* 1947), US
 Verena Stefan (1947–2017), CH
 Jón Kalman Stefánsson (* 1963)
 Hansjakob Stehle (1927–2015), D
 Robert Steigerwald (1925–2016), D
 Gertrude Stein (1874–1946), US
 Peter Steinacker (1943–2015), D
 Thomas von Steinaecker (* 1977), D
 Peter Steinbach (Drehbuchautor) (1938–2019), D
 Peter Steinbach (Historiker) (* 1948), D
 John Steinbeck (1902–1968), US
 Guido Steinberg (* 1968), D
 Karl Steinbuch (1917–2005)
 George Steiner (1929–2020), US
 Jens Steiner (* 1975), CH
 Jörg Steiner (1930–2013), CH
 Andreas Steinhöfel (* 1962), D
 Klaus Steiniger (1932–2016), D
 Ronen Steinke (* 1983), D
 Marlene Stenten (1935–2019), D
 Neal Stephenson (* 1959), US
 Carola Stern (1925–2006), D
 Fritz Stern (1926–2016), US
 Horst Stern (1922–2019), D
 Carl Sternheim (1878–1942)
 Norbert Sternmut (* 1958)
 Andreas Sternweiler (* 1957), D
 Julius Stettenheim (1831–1916)
 Johann Kaspar Steube (1747–1795)
 Karl Steuerwald (1905–1989), D
 Wallace Stevens (1879–1955), US
 Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)
 Samuel M. Steward (1909–1993), US
 Fred Mustard Stewart
 Mary Stewart (1916–2014), GB

Sti – Sty 
Vicki Stiefel, US
Caspar von Stieler (1632–1707)
Helm Stierlin (1926–2021), D
Adalbert Stifter (1805–1868), D
Klaus Stiller (* 1941), D
Michael Stiller (1945–2016), D
Julius Stinde (1841–1905), D
Conradine Stinde (1856–1925), D
Helene Stöcker (1869–1943), D
Juliana von Stockhausen (1899–1998), D
Charles Warren Stoddard (1843–1909), GB
Dejan Stojanović (* 1959), US, SR
Ceija Stojka (1933–2013), AT
Bram Stoker (1847–1912), GB
Clifford Stoll (* 1950), US
Michael Stolleis (1941–2021), D
Robert Stoller (1925–1991), US
Aryeh Lev Stollman (* 1954), US
Manfred Stolpe (1936–2019), D
Irving Stone (1903–1989), US
Hans Joachim Störig (1915–2012), D
Theodor Storm (1817–1888), D
Rex Stout (1886–1975), US
Horst Stowasser (1951–2009)
Lytton Strachey (1880–1932), GB
August Stramm (1874–1915), D
Giovanni Francisco Straparola (~1480–~1558)
Botho Strauß (* 1944), D
Emil Strauß (1866–1960), D
Leo Strauss (1899–1973)
Werner Streletz (* 1949), D
Carlo Strenger (1958–2019), CH/ISR
Jan Stressenreuter (1961–2018), D
Johan August Strindberg (1849–1912)
Erwin Strittmatter (1912–1994), D
Eva Strittmatter (1930–2011), D
Tina Stroheker (* 1948), D
Anna Stroka (1923–2020), PL
Gisbert Strotdrees (* 1960), D
Arkadi Strugazki, RUS
Boris Strugazki, RUS
Ulf G. Stuberger (1949–2015), D
Heinz Stübig (1939–2021), D
Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre (* 1975), D
Giani Stuparich (1891–1961), IT
Howard O. Sturgis (1855–1920), GB
Jakob Stutz (1801–1871), SCHW
William Styron (1925–2006), US

Su–Sz 
Andreas Suchanek (* 1982)
Hermann Sudermann (1857–1928)
Eugène Sue (1804–1859)
Hannes Sulzenbacher (* 1968)
Alain Claude Sulzer (* 1953)
Ingo Sundmacher (* 1965)
Sung Suk-je (* 1960)
Wolfgang Suppan (1933–2015)
Peter Surava (1912–1995)
Manil Suri (* 1959)
Arno Surminski (* 1934)
Ida Sury (1911–2004), CH
Patrick Süskind (* 1949)
Ron Suresha (* 1958)
Paul Sussman (1968–2012)
Rosemary Sutcliff (1920–1992)
Martin Suter (* 1948)
Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914)
Italo Svevo (1861–1928)
Leonie Swann (* 1975)
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772)
Matthew Sweeney (1952–2018)
Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)
John Addington Symonds (1840–1893)
Arthur William Symons (1865–1945)
Julian Symons (1912–1994)
John Millington Synge (1871–1909)
Michael Szameit (1950–2014)
Thomas Szasz (1920–2012)
Antal Szerb (1901–1945)

S

Ta 
 George Tabori (1914–2007)
 Antonio Tabucchi (1943–2012)
 Abdellah Taïa (* 1973)
 Paco Ignacio Taibo I (1924–2008)
 Paco Ignacio Taibo II (* 1949)
 Mariko Tamaki (* 1975)
 Susanna Tamaro (* 1957)
 Ülkü Tamer (1937–2018)
 Oğuz Tansel (1915–1994)
 Tristan Taormino (* 1971)
 Jean Tardieu (1903–1995)
 Rudolf Tarnow (1867–1933)
 Donna Tartt (* 1963)
 Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard (1938–2009)
 Michel Tauriac (1927–2013)
 Kressmann Taylor (1903–1996)

Te 
 Michelle Tea (* 1971)
 Hernando Téllez (1908–1966)
 Uwe Tellkamp (* 1968)
 Émile Témime (1926–2008)
 Vijay Tendulkar (1928–2008)
 László Tengelyi (1954–2014)
 William Tenn (* 1945)
 Studs Terkel (1912–2008)
 Martin Textor (* 1954)
 Josephine Tey (1896–1952)

Th 
 William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863), GB
 Elisabeth von Thadden (* 1961), D
 Rudolf von Thadden (1932–2015), D
 Albert Vigoleis Thelen (1903–1989), D
 Jürgen Theobaldy (* 1944), D
 Michael Theunissen (1932–2015), D
 Klaus Theweleit (* 1942), D
 Friedel Thiekötter (1944–2011), D
 August Thieme (1780–1860), D
 Stephan Thiemonds (* 1971), D
 Ludwig Thoma (1867–1921), D
 Dylan Thomas (1914–1953), GB
 Leslie Thomas (1931–2014), GB
 Kate Thompson (* 1956), GB
 Kate Thompson (* 1959), IRL
 Judith Jarvis Thomson (1929–2020), USA
 Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), USA
 Ines Thorn (* 1964), D
 Raik Thorstad (* 1980), D
 Moritz August von Thümmel (1738–1817), D
 James Thurber (1894–1961), US
 Harry Thürk (1927–2005), D
 Brigitte Thurm (1932–2020), D

Ti 
 Bassam Tibi (* 1944)
 Herbert Tichy (1912–1987)
 Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853)
 Walter van Tilburg Clark (1909–1971)
 Freeman Tilden (1883–1980)
 Claude Tillier (1801–1844)
 Germaine Tillion (1907–2008)
 Charles Tilly (1929–2008)
 Louise A. Tilly (1930–2018)
 Richard H. Tilly (1932–2023)
 Uwe Timm (* 1940)
 Philipp Tingler (* 1970)
 Julius Tinzmann (1907–1982)
 James Tiptree junior (1915–1987)
 Aleksandar Tišma (1924–2003)

To 
 Alexis de Tocqueville (1805–1859), FR
 Emmanuel Todd (* 1951), FR
 Jürgen Todenhöfer (* 1940), D
 Tzvetan Todorov (1939–2017), BG/FR
 Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925–2006), IDN
 Colm Tóibín (* 1955), IRL
 Alice B. Toklas (1877–1967), US
 Sandi Toksvig (* 1958), GB
 J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), GB
 Ernst Toller (1893–1939), D
 Alexei Konstantinowitsch Tolstoi (1817–1875), RU
 Alexei Nikolajewitsch Tolstoi (1883–1945), RU
 Lew Tolstoi (1828–1910), RU
 Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (1896–1957), IT
 Horst Tomayer (1938–2013), D
 Javier Tomeo (1932–2013), ES
 Pier Vittorio Tondelli (1955–1991), SP
 Andreas Tönnesmann (1953–2014), D
 John Kennedy Toole (1937–1969), US
 Peter Torberg (* 1958), D
 Miguel Torga (1907–1995), PT
 Michel Tournier (1924–2016), FR
 Jean-Philippe Toussaint (* 1957), BE
 Larry Townsend (1930–2008), USA
 Sue Townsend (1946–2014), GB
 Arnold J. Toynbee (1889–1975), GB
 Federigo Tozzi (1883–1920), IT

Tr 
 P. J. Tracy (* 1947 / * 1967)
 Georg Trakl (1887–1914)
 Edmond Tranin (1895–20. Jh.), F
 Tomas Tranströmer (1931–2015)
 Klaus Traube (1928–2016)
 B. Traven († 1969)
 Wolfgang Tress (1948–2023)
 William Trevor (1928–2016)
 Jürgen Trimborn (1971–2012)
 Trixini (1933–2015)
 Johannes Trojan (1837–1915)
 Ilija Trojanow (* 1965)
 Lothar Trolle (* 1944)
 Emma Trosse (1863–1943)
 Ernst Trost (1933–2015)
 Evelyne Trouillot (* 1954)
 Lyonel Trouillot (* 1956)
 M. J. Trow (* 1949)
 Monique Truong (* 1968)

Tu 
 Barbara Tuchman (1912–1989)
 Kurt Tucholsky (1890–1935)
 Wilson Tucker (1914–2006)
 Hans Tügel (1894–1984)
 Ludwig Tügel (1889–1972)
 Otto Tetjus Tügel (1892–1973)
 Ernst Tugendhat (1930–2023)
 Iwan Turgenew (1818–1883)
 Desmond Tutu (1931–2021)

Tw 
 Mark Twain (1835–1910)
 Abraham J. Twerski (1930–2021)

Ty 
 Juri Tynjanow (1894–1943)

Tz 
 Tristan Tzara (1896–1963)

T

Ma 
 Amin Maalouf (* 1949)
 Michael Maar (* 1960)
 Paul Maar (* 1937)
 Rozena Maart (* 1962)
 Walter Maas (1900–1981)
 Joachim Maass (1901–1972)
 Donagh MacDonagh (1912–1968)
 George MacDonald (1824–1905)
 Marianne MacDonald (* 1934)
 Ross Macdonald (1915–1983)
 Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527)
 John Henry Mackay (1864–1933)
 Compton Mackenzie (1883–1972)
 Bernard MacLaverty (* 1942)
 Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982)
 Charlotte MacLeod (1922–2005)
 Ian R. MacLeod (* 1956)
 Ken MacLeod (* 1954)
 Louis MacNeice (1907–1963)
 Terence MacSwiney (1879–1920)
 Deirdre Madden (* 1960)
 Richard Robert Madden (1798–1886)
 Haki R. Madhubuti (* 1942)
 Madonna (* 1958)
 Hubert Maessen (1947–2015)
 Maurice Maeterlinck (1862–1949)
 Perihan Mağden (* 1960)
 Maurizio Maggiani (* 1951)
 Magor (Pseudonym; 1944–2011)
 Claudio Magris (* 1939)
 Nagib Mahfuz (1911–2006)
 Albert Mähl (1893–1970)
 Regina Mahlmann (* 1959)
 Josef Mahlmeister (* 1959)
 Derek Mahon (1941–2020)
 Margaret Mahy (1936–2012)
 Andreas Maier (* 1967)
 Franz Georg Maier (1926–2014)
 Norman Mailer (1923–2007)
 Ella Maillart (1903–1997)
 Peter Maiwald (1946–2008)
 Geert Mak (* 1946)
 Mahmut Makal (1930–2018)
 Bernard Malamud (1914–1986)
 Curzio Malaparte (1898–1957)
 Janet Malcolm (1934–2021)
 Henri Maldiney (1912–2013)
 Luigi Malerba (1927–2008)
 Helmut Maletzke (1920–2017)
 Léo Malet (1909–1996)
 Judith Malina (1926–2015)
 Rainer Malkowski (1939–2003)
 Lore Mallachow (1894–1973)
 Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898)
 Bernhard Elis Malmström (1816–1865)
 André Malraux (1901–1976)
 Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874)
 Jean-Patrick Manchette (1942–1995)
 Giorgio Manganelli (1922–1990)
 Andrew Mango (1926–2014)
 Cyril Mango (1928–2021)
 Henning Mankell (1948–2015)
 Erika Mann (1905–1969)
 Frido Mann (* 1940)
 Golo Mann (1909–1994)
 Heinrich Mann (1871–1950)
 Klaus Mann (1906–1949)
 Michael Mann (1919–1977)
 Thomas Mann (1875–1955)
 Olivia Manning (1911–1980)
 Jaime Manrique (* 1949)
 Barbara Mansion (1961–2022)
 Ahmad Mansour (* 1976)
 Hilary Mantel (1952–2022)
 Jürgen Manthey (1932–2018)
 Manning Marable (1950–2011)
 Sándor Márai (1900–1989)
 Dacia Maraini (* 1936)
 Félicien Marceau (1913–2012)
 Philip Marchand (* 1946)
 Marie Marcks (1922–2014)
 Eric Marcus (* 1958)
 Hugo Marcus (1880–1966)
 Sharon Marcus (* 1966)
 Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979)
 Ludwig Marcuse (1894–1971)
 Peter Marginter (1934–2008)
 Alfred Margul-Sperber (1898–1967)
 Giwi Margwelaschwili (1927–2020)
 Javier Marías (1951–2022)
 Alexandra Marinina (* 1957)
 Bernard Maris (1946–2015)
 Petros Markaris (* 1937)
 Hubert Markl (1938–2015)
 Laurie J. Marks (* 1957)
 Daphne Marlatt (* 1942)
 Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)
 Monika Maron (* 1941)
 John Phillips Marquand (1893–1960)
 Odo Marquard (1928–2015)
 Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982)
 Bruce Marshall (1899–1987)
 Yann Martel (* 1963)
 Harald Martenstein (* 1953)
 Kurt Marti (1921–2017)
 Del Martin (1921–2008)
 Emer Martin (* 1968)
 Michael Martin (1932–2015)
 Paul C. Martin (1939–2020)
 Ralf-Peter Märtin (1951–2016)
 Carlo Maria Martini (1927–2012)
 Anke Martiny (1939–2016)
 Siegfried Maruhn (1923–2011)
 Arthur Marx (1921–2011)
 Karl Marx (1818–1883)
 John Masefield (1878–1967)
 Dorota Masłowska (* 1983)
 François Maspero (1932–2015), FR
 Hans-Jürgen Massaquoi (1926–2013)
 Jeffrey Masson (* 1941)
 Richard Matheson (1926–2013), US
 Sulejman Mato (* 1941)
 Hisako Matsubara (* 1935)
 Peter von Matt (* 1937)
 Gert Mattenklott (1942–2009)
 Bernd Matthies (* 1953)
 Peter Matthiessen (1927–2014), US
 Siegfried Mattl (1954–2015), AT
 Charles Robert Maturin (1782–1824)
 Ana María Matute (1925–2014), ES
 Volker Mauersberger (1939–2021), D/ES
 William Somerset Maugham (1874–1965), GB
 Robin Maugham (1916–1981), GB
 Guy de Maupassant (1850–1893)
 Armistead Maupin (* 1944)
 Paolo Maurensig (1943–2021)
 André Maurois (1885–1967)
 William Maxwell (1908–2000), US
 Doro May (* 1953)
 Karl May (1842–1912)
 Ruth von Mayenburg (1907–1993)
 Frederick Mayer (1921–2006)
 Hans Mayer (1907–2001)
 Friederike Mayröcker (1924–2021), AT

Mb 
 Achille Mbembe (* 1957)

Mc 
 Scott McBain (* 1960)
 Patrick McCabe (* 1955)
 Colum McCann (* 1965)
 John McCann (1905–1980)
 Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023)
 James G. McCarthy (* 1952)
 Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)
 Frank McCourt (1930–2009)
 Barry McCrea (* 1974)
 Carson McCullers (1917–1967)
 Colleen McCullough (1937–2015)
 Val McDermid (* 1955)
 Martin McDonagh (* 1970)
 Nick McDonell (* 1984)
 Ian McEwan (* 1948)
 John McGahern (1934–2006)
 Jon McGregor (* 1976)
 Frank McGuinness (* 1953)
 Maureen F. McHugh (* 1959)
 William McIlvanney (1936–2015)
 Mary Susan McIntosh (1936–2013)
 David McKee (1935–2022)
 Suzy McKee Charnas (1939–2023)
 Barry McKinnon (* 1944)
 Lois McMaster Bujold (* 1949)
 Terrence McNally (1938–2020)
 Anna McPartlin (* 1972)
 Conor McPherson (* 1971)
 George McWhirter (* 1939)

Md 
 Zakes Mda (* 1948), ZA

Me 
 Marijane Meaker (1927–2022)
 Angelika Mechtel (1943–2000)
 Mechthild von Magdeburg (≈1207–1282)
 Christoph Meckel (1935–2020)
 Abdelwahab Meddeb (1946–2014)
 Charles L. Mee (* 1938)
 Klaus Meffert
 Max Meffert
 Walter Mehring (1896–1981)
 Gerhard Meier (1917–2008)
 Jörg Otto Meier (* 1950)
 Mischa Meier (* 1971)
 Thomas Meinecke (* 1955)
 Tobias O. Meissner (* 1967)
 Ernst Meister (1911–1979)
 Kurt Meister (1901–1961)
 Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560)
 Digne Meller Marcovicz (1934–2014)
 Herman Melville (1819–1891)
 Andreas Melzer (* 1960), D
 Albert Memmi (1920–2020)
 Robert Menasse (* 1954)
 Daniel Mendelsohn (* 1960)
 Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786)
 José Mendiluce Pereiro (1951–2015)
 Eduardo Mendoza (* 1943)
 Luigi Meneghello (1922–2007)
 Otto Mensing (1868–1939)
 Stavros Mentzos (1930–2015)
 Pascal Mercier (1944–2023)
 Sophie Mereau (1770–1806)
 George Meredith (1828–1909)
 William Meredith (1919–2007)
 Nezihe Meriç (1925–2009)
 İbrahim Abdülkadir Meriçboyu (1917–1985)
 James Merrill (1926–1995)
 Judith Merkle Riley (1942–2010)
 Robert Merle (1908–2004)
 Mark Merlis (1950–2017)
 Fatima Mernissi (1940–2015)
 Michael Merschmeier (* 1953)
 Peter Merseburger (1928–2022)
 Klaus Mertes (* 1954)
 Samuel Merwin (1874–1936)
 Gerhard Merz  (* 1945)
 Konrad Merz (1908–1999)
 Meshullam ben Menahem da Volterra (15. Jahrhundert)
 Charlotte Mew (1869–1928)
 Joanne Meyerowitz (* 1954)
 Benno Meyer-Wehlack (1928–2014)
 Clemens Meyer (* 1977)
 Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825–1898)
 Detlev Meyer (1950–1999)
 Kai Meyer (* 1969)
 Gustav Meyrink (1868–1932)

Mi 
 Léonora Miano (* 1973)
 Rolf Michaelis (1933–2013)
 Anne Michaels (* 1958)
 Nikolai von Michalewsky (1931–2000)
 Sergei Michalkow (1913–2009)
 Henri Michaux (1899–1984)
 Oscar Micheaux (1884–1951)
 Karl Markus Michel (1929–2000)
 Michelangelo (1475–1564)
 Tilde Michels (1920–2012)
 Ivo Michiels (1923–2012)
 Karl Mickel (1935–2000)
 Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855)
 Wolfgang Mieder (* 1944)
 Max Miedinger (1910–1980)
 Ulf Miehe (1940–1989)
 Thomas R. P. Mielke (1940–2020)
 Fritz Mierau (1934–2018)
 Manfred Miethe (* 1950)
 Kálmán Mikszáth (1847–1910)
 Margaret Millar (1915–1994)
 Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
 Alice Miller (1923–2010)
 Arthur Miller (1915–2005)
 Grazyna Miller (1957–2009)
 Henry Miller (1891–1980)
 Neil Miller (* 1945)
 Susanne Miller (1915–2008)
 Kate Millett (1934–2017), US
 Lucy Millowitsch (1905–1990)
 Peter Millowitsch (* 1949)
 Magnus Mills (* 1954)
 Alan Alexander Milne (1882–1956)
 John Milton (1608–1674)
 Anthony Minghella (1954–2008)
 Nils Minkmar (* 1966)
 André Miquel (1929–2022), FR
 Yukio Mishima (1925–1970)
 Pankaj Mishra (* 1969)
 Robert Misik (* 1966)
 Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914)
 Gabriela Mistral (1889–1957)
 Adrian Mitchell (1932–2008)
 David Mitchell (* 1969)
 Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949)
 Silas Weir Mitchell (1829–1914)
 Anna Mitgutsch (* 1948)
 Alexander Mitscherlich (1908–1982)
 Margarete Mitscherlich (1917–2012)
 Melitta Mitscherlich (1906–1992)
 Thomas Mitscherlich (1942–1998)
 Werner Mittenzwei (1927–2014)
 Henri Mitterand (1928–2021)
 Frédéric Mitterrand (* 1947)

Mo 
 Mo Yan (* 1955)
 Patrick Modiano (* 1945)
 Klaus Modick (* 1951)
 Walter Moers (* 1957)
 Bärbel Mohr (1964–2010)
 Lutz Mohr (* 1944)
 Eva Moldenhauer (1934–2019)
 Molière (1622–1673)
 Virginia Ramey Mollenkott (1932–2020)
 Balduin Möllhausen (1825–1905)
 Ferenc Molnár (1878–1952)
 Michael Molsner (* 1939)
 Elisabeth Moltmann-Wendel (1926–2016)
 Jürgen Moltmann (* 1926)
 Navarre Scott Momaday (* 1934)
 Hans Mommsen (1930–2015)
 Margareta Mommsen (* 1938)
 Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903)
 Wilhelm Mommsen (1892–1966)
 Wolfgang J. Mommsen (1930–2004)
 Paul Monette (1945–1995)
 Libuše Moníková (1945–1998)
 Horst Mönnich (1918–2014)
 Carlos Monsiváis (1938–2010)
 Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
 Eugenio Montale (1896–1981)
 Eugenio Montejo (1938–2008)
 Charles de Seconsat Montesquieu (1689–1755)
 James Montgomery (1771–1854)
 Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972)
 Jeanne Montoupet
 William Vaughn Moody (1869–1910)
 Moon Chung-hee (* 1947)
 Brian Moore (1921–1999)
 Edward Moore (1712–1757)
 Henry Moore (1745–1833)
 Marianne Moore (1887–1972)
 Michael Moore (* 1954)
 Patrick Moore (1923–2012)
 Susanna Moore (* 1946)
 Thomas Moore (Dichter) (1779–1852)
 Johanna Moosdorf (1911–2000)
 Terézia Mora (* 1971)
 Dom Moraes (1938–2004)
 Elsa Morante (1912–1985)
 Alberto Moravia (1907–1990)
 Charles Langbridge Morgan (1894–1958)
 Edmund S. Morgan (1916–2013)
 Elaine Morgan (1920–2013)
 Marlo Morgan (* 1937)
 Christian Morgenstern (1871–1914)
 Danny Morgenstern (* 1979)
 Fritz Morgenthaler (1919–1984)
 Irmtraud Morgner (1933–1990)
 Mori Sumio (1919–2010)
 Eduard Mörike (1804–1875)
 Edgar Morin (* 1921)
 Karl Philipp Moritz (1756–1793)
 Rainer Moritz (* 1958)
 David Morrell (* 1943)
 Jan Morris (1926–2020)
 William Morris (1834–1896)
 Danny Morrison (* 1953)
 Toni Morrison (1931–2019)
 Guido Morselli (1912–1973)
 Bodo Morshäuser (* 1953)
 John Mortimer (1923–2009)
 Thomas Morus (1478–1535)
 Fanny Morweiser (1940–2014)
 Peter Morwood (* 1956)
 Johann Michael Moscherosch (1601–1669)
 Serge Moscovici (1925–2014)
 Martin Mosebach (* 1951)
 Justus Möser (1720–1794)
 Tilmann Moser (* 1938)
 Howard Moss (1922–1987)
 George L. Mosse (1918–1999)
 Walter Mossmann (1941–2015)
 Andrew Motion (* 1952)

Mr 
 Sławomir Mrożek (1930–2013)

Mu 
 Werner Muensterberger (1913–2011)
 Caroline Muhr (1925–1978)
 Erich Mühsam (1878–1934)
 Christa Mulack (1943–2021)
 Wolfheinrich von der Mülbe (1879–1965)
 Paul Muldoon (* 1951)
 Harry Mulisch (1927–2010)
 André Müller (1946–2011)
 Artur Müller (1909–1987)
 Charles Muller (1909–2015)
 Corinna Müller (* 1966)
 Heiner Müller (1929–1995)
 Herta Müller (* 1953)
 Wilhelm Müller (1794–1827)
 Mirjam Müntefering (* 1969)
 Erich Mulzer (1929–2005)
 Uğur Mumcu (1942–1993)
 Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
 Amélie Mummendey (1944–2018)
 Börries Freiherr von Münchhausen (1874–1945)
 Murathan Mungan (* 1955)
 Jens Emil Mungard (1885–1940)
 Alice Munro (* 1931)
 Hector Hugh Munro (d. i. Saki; 1870–1916)
 Axel Munthe (1857–1949)
 Haruki Murakami (* 1949)
 Luís Murat (1861–1929), BR
 Iris Murdoch (1919–1999)
 Douglas Murray (* 1979)
 Karl August Musäus (1735–1787)
 Adolf Muschg (* 1934)
 Walter Muschg (1898–1965)
 Robert Musil (1880–1942)
 Franz Mußner (1916–2016)
 Florentine Mütherich (1915–2015)
 Álvaro Mutis (1923–2013)
 Adolf Mützelburg (1831–1882)

My 
 Eileen Myles (* 1949)
 Hubertus Mynarek (* 1929)
 Jan Myrdal (1927–2020)

M

Oa 
 Joyce Carol Oates (* 1938)

Ob 
 René Oberholzer (* 1963)
 Urs Oberlin (1919–2008)
 Edna O’Brien (* 1930)
 Fitz-James O’Brien (1828–1862)
 Flann O’Brien (1911–1966)
 Kate O’Brien (1897–1974)
 Michael O’Brien (1948–2015)

Oc 
 Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906–1970)
 Sean O’Casey (1880–1964)
 Carol O’Connell (* 1947)
 Frank O’Connor (1903–1966)
 Gemma O’Connor (* 1940)
 Joseph O’Connor (* 1963)
 Mary Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
 Tomás Ó Criomhthain (1856–1937)

Od 
 Peter O’Donnell (1920–2010)

Oe 
 Kenzaburō Ōe (1935–2023)
 Petra Oelker (* 1947)
 Jürgen Oelkers (* 1947)

Of 
 Nuala O’Faolain (1940–2008)
 Seán O’Faoláin (1900–1991)
 Liam O’Flaherty (1896–1984)

Og 
 Yōko Ogawa (* 1962)
 Standish James O' Grady (1846–1928)

Oh 
 Andrew O’Hagan (* 1968)
 John O’Hara (1905–1970)
 Saul O’Hara (* 1924)
 Breandán Ó hEithir (1930–1990)
 Oh Gyu-won (* 1941)
 Thomas Ohlemacher (1962–2015)
 Oh Soo-yeon (* 1964)
 Adelheid Ohlig (* 1945)
 Kristina Ohlsson (* 1979)
 Günter Ohnemus (* 1946)

Ok 
 Celil Oker (1952–2019), TR
 Andreas Okopenko (1930–2010), AT
 Els Oksaar (1926–2015), EE / SE
 Sofi Oksanen (* 1977), FI

On 
 Stewart O’Nan (* 1961), US
 Michael Ondaatje (* 1943), CAN
 Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953), US
 Jamie O’Neill (* 1962), IRL
 Juan Carlos Onetti (1909–1994), URY
 Tõnu Õnnepalu (* 1962), EST
 Kyle Onstott (1887–1966), US

Oo 
 Hans van Ooyen (* 1954)

Op 
 Martin Opitz (1597–1639)
 Karl Oppel (1816–1903)
 Heinrich Albert Oppermann (1812–1870)

Or 
 Vladimir Oravsky (* 1947)
 Aras Ören (* 1939)
 Uri Orlev (1931–2022)
 Peter Orlovsky (1933–2010)
 José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955)
 Hanns-Josef Ortheil (* 1951)
 Markus Orths (* 1969)
 Joe Orton (1933–1967)
 George Orwell (1903–1950)

Os 
 Cathal Ó Searcaigh (* 1956)
 Diarmaid Ó Súilleabháin (1932–1985)
 Carl von Ossietzky (1889–1938)
 Leonie Ossowski (1925–2019)
 Håkan Östlundh (* 1962)
 Nikolai Alexejewitsch Ostrowski (1904–1936)
 Oswald von Wolkenstein (um 1377–1445)

Ot 
 Dominic O. Otiang'a (* 1987)
 Karl-Heinz Ott (* 1957)
 Ossip Ottersleben, siehe: Norbert Kühne
 Géza Ottlik (1912–1990)
 Otto von Freising (um 1111/12–1158)

Ou 
 Jean Oury (1924–2014)

Ov 
 Ovid (43 v. Chr. – ~18 n. Chr.)
 Angelika Overath (* 1957)

Ow 
 John Owen (1563–1622)
 Robert Owen (1771–1858)

Oy 
 Ferdinand Oyono (1929–2010)

Oz 
 Amos Oz (1939–2018)
 Baydar Özcan (* 1950)
 Celal Özcan (* 1954)
 Emine Sevgi Özdamar (* 1946)
 A. Kadir Özdemir (* 1977)
 Selim Özdoğan (* 1971)
 Yaşar Nuri Öztürk (1945–2016)

O

Fa 
 Kurt Faber (1883–1929), D
 Jan Fabricius (1871–1964), NL
 Johann Albert Fabricius (1668–1736), D
 Johan Fabricius (1899–1981), NL
 Lillian Faderman (* 1940), US
 Peter Faecke (1940–2014), D
 Sait Faik (1906–1954), TR
 Colin Falconer (* 1953), GB
 Knut Faldbakken (* 1941), NO
 Giorgio Faletti (1950–2014), IT
 Gustav Falke (1853–1916), D
 Konrad Falke (1880–1942), CH
 Oriana Fallaci (1929–2006), IT
 Hans Fallada (1893–1947), D
 György Faludy (1910–2006), HU
 Alfred Fankhauser (1890–1973), CH
 John Fante (1909–1983), USA
 Daniel Faria (1971–1999), PT
 Attila Márton Farkas (* 1965), HU
 Walter Farley (1915–1989), US
 George Farquhar (~1677–1707), IRL
 David Farrell (* 1977), US
 James Gordon Farrell (1935–1979), GB/IRL
 Mick Farren (1943–2013), GB
 Howard Fast (1914–2003), US
 Sherko Fatah (* 1964), D
 William Faulkner (1897–1962), US
 Sebastian Faulks (* 1953), GB
 Jörg Fauser (1944–1987), D
 Wolfgang Max Faust (1944–1993), D
 Giuseppe Fava (1925–1984), IT
 Jean Favier (1932–2014), FR

Fe 
 Jan Feddersen (* 1957), D
 Heinrich Federer (1866–1928), CH
 Raymond Federman (1928–2009), FR / US
 Reinhard Federmann (auch Randolph Mills; 1923–1976), AT
 Jürg Federspiel (1931–2007), CH
 Christine Feehan (* 19**), US
 Gerdt Fehrle (* 1961), D
 Johann Hinrich Fehrs (1838–1916), D
 Anatol Feid (1942–2002), D
 Reshad Feild (1934–2016), GB
 David B. Feinberg (1956–1994), US
 Leslie Feinberg (1949–2014), US
 Barthold Feind (1678–1721), D
 David Feintuch (1944–2006), US
 Raymond Feist (* 1945), US
 François Fejtő (1909–2008), HU / FR
 Wilfried Feldenkirchen (1947–2010), D
 Franz Michael Felder (1839–1869), AT
 Robert Feldhoff (1962–2009), D
 Paul Felgenhauer (1593–1677 [?]), D
 Rudolf Felmayer (1897–1970), AT
 Ludwig Fels (1946–2021), D
 Philipp Felsch (* 1972), D
 Monika Felten (* 1965), D
 Otto Fenichel (1897–1946), AT
 James Fenton (* 1949), GB
 Edna Ferber (1887–1968), US
 Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008), US
 Niall Ferguson (* 1964), GB
 Janko Ferk (* 1958), AT
 Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919–2021), US
 Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–2011), GB
 Dominique Fernandez (* 1929), FR
 Joachim Fernau (1909–1988), D
 Jérôme Ferrari (* 1968), FR
 Paolo Ferrari (1822–1889), IT
 Ernesto Ferrero (1938–2023), IT
 Robert Ferro (1941–1988), US
 Karen-Susan Fessel (* 1964), D
 Gustav von Festenberg (1892–1968), AT
 Iring Fetscher (1922–2014), D
 Lion Feuchtwanger (1884–1958), D
 Nikolaus Fey (1881–1956), D

Ff 
 Jasper Fforde (* 1961), GB

Fi 
 Hubert Fichte (1935–1986), D
 Joseph Ficko (1772–1843)
 Edward Field (* 1924), US
 Michael Field (Katherine Harris Bradley und Edith Emma Cooper), GB
 Henry Fielding (1707–1754), GB
 Joy Fielding (* 1945), CAN
 Sarah Fielding (1710–1768), GB
 Günter Figal (* 1949), D
 Marcelo Figueras (* 1962), ARG
 Jürgen Fijalkowski (1928–2014), D
 Gottfried Finckelthaus (1614–1648), D
 Ludwig Finckh (1876–1964), D
 Kurt Arnold Findeisen (1883–1963), D
 Joseph Finder
 Andreas Findig (1961–2018), AT
 Fritz Fink (1893–1945), D
 Ida Fink (1921–2011), PL/ISR
 Peter Finkelgruen (* 1942), D
 Alain Finkielkraut (* 1949), FR
 Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925–2006), GB
 Erasmus Finx (1627–1694), D
 Johann Fischart (1546–1590), D
 Erica Fischer (* 1943), AT
 Peter Fisher (1944–2012), US
 Hervé Fischer (* 1941), FR / CAN
 Johann Georg Fischer (1816–1897), D
 Marie Louise Fischer (1922–2005), D
 Arthur Fischer-Colbrie (1895–1968), AT
 Wilhelm Fischer-Graz (1846–1932), AT
 Joshua Fishman (1926–2015), US
 Robert Fisk (1946–2020), GB
 Sebastian Fitzek (* 1971), D
 F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940), US
 Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948), US
 Constantine Fitzgibbon (1919–1983), IRL
 Louise Fitzhugh (1928–1974), US

Fl 
 Karl-Hermann Flach (1929–1973), D
 Ennio Flaiano (1910–1972), IT
 Cäsar Flaischlen (1864–1920), D
 Otto Flake (1880–1963), D
 Janet Flanner (1892–1978), US
 Kurt Flasch (* 1930), D
 Curth Flatow (1920–2011), D
 Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880), FR
 Friedrich Hermann Flayder (1596–1644), D
 Ossip K. Flechtheim (1909–1998), D
 Max Fleischer (1880–1941)
 Marieluise Fleißer (1901–1974), D
 Ian Fleming (1908–1964), GB
 Paul Fleming (1609–1640)
 Walter Flex (1887–1917)
 Fedor Flinzer (1832–1911)
 Andreas Flitner (1922–2016)
 Cynthia Flood (* 1940), CAN
 Catalin Dorian Florescu (* 1967), CH
 Radu Florescu (1925–2014), RO
 Manfred Flügge (* 1946)
 Werner Flume (1908–2009), D
 Vilém Flusser (1920–1991)
 Vince Flynn (1966–2013), US

Fo 
 Gorch Fock (1880–1916)
 Robert Focken (1963), D
 Walter Foelske (1934–2015), D
 David Foenkinos (1974), FR
 Jonathan Safran Foer (1977), US
 Rodolfo Fogwill (1941–2010), AR
 Vicente Molina Foix (* 1946), SP
 Ken Follett (1949), GB
 Charles de Fontaine
 Theodor Fontane (1819–1898), D
 Ford Madox Ford (1873–1939), GB
 John M. Ford (1957–2006), US
 Michael Thomas Ford (* 1968), US
 Richard Ford (1944), US
 Auguste Forel (1848–1931), CH
 Eva Forest (1928–2007), ES
 Cecil Scott Forester (1899–1966)
 George Forestier (1921–1951)
 Katherine V. Forrest (1939), CA
 Viviane Forrester (1925–2013), FR
 Wilhelm August Förstemann (1791–1836), D
 Edward Morgan Forster (1879–1970)
 Jeannette Howard Foster (1895–1981), US
 Johann Georg Forster (1754–1794)
 Margaret Forster (1938–2016), GB
 Rudolf Förster (1926–2017), D
 Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (1846–1935), D
 Frederick Forsyth (1938), GB
 Dieter Forte (1935–2019), D
 Mario Fortunato (* 1958), IT
 Venantius Fortunatus (536–610)
 Ugo Foscolo (1778–1827), IT
 Jon Fosse (1959), NO
 Karin Fossum (1954), NO
 Michel Foucault (1926–1984), FR
 Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777–1843)
 John Fowles (1926–2005), GB
 Edward Fox (1958), US
 Paula Fox (1923–2017), US

Fr

Fra–Fre 
 Irène Frain (1950), FR
 Ruwim Frajerman (1891–1972), SU
 Janet Frame (1924–2004), NZ
 Anatole France (1844–1924), FR
 David France (* 1959), US
 Franz Karl Franchy (1896–1972), AT
 David Francis (* 1958), AUSTR
 Dick Francis (1920–2010), GB
 H. G. Francis (1936–2011), D
 Erasmus Francisci (1627–1694), D
 Hermann Franck (1802–1855), D
 Johann Franck (1618–1677), D
 Julia Franck (* 1970), D
 Michael Erich Franck (1691–1721), D
 Abraham von Franckenberg (1593–1652), D
 Veronica Franco (1546–1591), IT
 Arno Frank (1968)
 Bruno Frank (1887–1945), D
 Leonhard Frank (1882–1961), D
 Nathaniel Frank, US
 Martin Frank (* 1950), SCHW
Suzanne Frank (1967), US
 Herbert W. Franke (1927–2022), AT
 Herman Franke (1948–2010), NL
 Patrick Franke (* 1967), D
 Ludwig August Frankl von Hochwart (1810–1894), AT
 Viktor Frankl (1905–1997), AT
 Andreas Franz (1954–2011), D
 Michael Franz (* 1937), D
 Peter Franz (* 1941), D
 Jonathan Franzen (* 1959), US
 Carlo Maria Franzero (1892–1986), IT
 Karl Emil Franzos (1848–1904), AT
 Ilse Frapan (1849–1908), D
 Naim Frashëri (1846–1900), AL
 Marianne Fredriksson (1927–2007), SE
 Jonathan Freedland (* 1967), GB
 Nicolas Freeling (1927–2003), GB
 Norbert Frei (* 1955), D
 Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810–1876), D
 Johannes Freinsheim (1608–1660), D
 Paulo Freire (1921–1997), BR
 Roberto Freire (1927–2008), BR
 David French (1939–2010), CAN
 Marilyn French (1929–2009), US
 Tana French (* 1973)
 Gustav Frenssen (1863–1945), D
 Elisabeth Frenzel (1915–2014), D
 Herbert A. Frenzel (1908–1995), D
 Anna Freud (1895–1982), AT / GB
 Clement Freud (1924–2009), GB
 Esther Freud (* 1963), GB
 Lisa Freund (* 1951), D
 Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), AT
 Kaspar Freuler (1887–1969), CH
 Peter Freund (* 1952), D
 Alexander Moritz Frey (1881–1957), D
 James Frey (* 1969), US
 Gustav Freytag (1816–1895), D

Fri–Frz 
 Nancy Friday (1933–2017), US
 Kurt Frieberger (1883–1970), AT
 Amelie Fried (1958), D
 Erich Fried (1921–1988), AT
 Hédi Fried (1924–2022), SE
 Ludwig von Friedeburg (1924–2010), D
 Egon Friedell (1878–1938), AT
 Jürgen Friedenberg (1934–2012), D
 Richard Friedenthal (1896–1979), D/GB
 Boris Friedewald (1969), D
 Salomo Friedlaender (1871–1946), D
 Saul Friedländer (1932)
 David D. Friedman (1945)
 Milton Friedman (1912–2006)
 Horst Friedrich (1931–2015), D
 Jörg Friedrich (1944), D
 Willi Friedrich (1948)
 Brian Friel (1929–2015), IRL
 Wilhelm Ruprecht Frieling (1952), D
 Fritz Rudolf Fries (1935–2014), D
 Matthias Frings (* 1953), D
 Bernard Friot (1951), FR
 Max Frisch (1911–1991)
 Paul Frischauer (1898–1977)
 Nicodemus Frischlin (1547–1590), D
 Barbara Frischmuth (1941)
 Roman Frister (1928–2015)
 Ahasverus Fritsch (1629–1701), D
 Gerhard Fritsch (1924–1969), AT
 Jack Fritscher (* 1939), US
 Gabriele Fritsch-Vivié, D
 Walter Helmut Fritz (1929–2010), D
 Susanne Fröhlich (1962), D
 Erich Fromm (1900–1980), D/US
 Jeaniene Frost (1974), US
 Robert Lee Frost (1874–1963), US
 Carlo Fruttero (1926–2012), IT
 Christopher Fry (1907–2005), GB
 Stephen Fry (1957), GB
 Richard Nelson Frye (1920–2014), US

Fu 
 Dieter R. Fuchs (* 1952), D
 Gerd Fuchs (1932–2016)
 Günter Bruno Fuchs (1928–1977)
 Hanns Fuchs (1881–19?)
 Jürgen Fuchs (1950–1999)
 Michael Fuchs-Gamböck (1965), D
 Werner Fuchs-Heinritz (1941–2018), D
 Carlos Fuentes (1928–2012)
 Franz Fühmann (1922–1984), D
 Caritas Führer (* 1957), D
 Horst Fuhrmann (1926–2011), D
 Ladislav Fuks (1923–1994)
 Ludwig Fulda (1862–1939)
 Wes Funk (1969–2015), CAN
 Cornelia Funke (1958), D
 Frank Furedi (1947), GB
 Martin Furian (1932–2020), D
 Erna Furman (1926–2002), AU, CS, USA
 Louis Fürnberg (1909–1957)
 Johanna Fürstauer (1931–2018), ÖSTERR
 Peter Fürstenau (1930–2021), D
 Peter Furth (1930–2019), D
 Füruzan (Selçuk) (1935), TR
 Paul Fussell (1924–2012), US
 Gertrud Fussenegger (1912–2009)
 Fuzuli (1495–1556)

Fy 
 Frances Fyfield (* 1948), GB

F
F

Ea 
 Charles Eastman (1858–1939), (Indianer)
 David Easton (1917–2014), CA

Eb 
 Martin Ebbertz (* 1962), D
 Isabelle Eberhardt (1877–1904), RUS / CH
 Georg Ebers (1837–1898), D
 David Ebershoff (* 1969), US
 Roger Ebert (1942–2013), US
 Robert Ebner (1940–2008), D
 Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830–1916), AT

Ec 
 José Maria Eça de Queiroz (1845–1900), PT
 Jean Echenoz (* 1947), FR
 Dietrich Eckart (1868–1923), D
 Wolfgang U. Eckart (1952–2021), D
 Fritz Eckenga (* 1955), D
 Christopher Ecker (* 1967), D
 Johann Peter Eckermann (1792–1854), D
 Allan W. Eckert (1931–2011), US
 Fritz Eckhardt (1907–1995), AT
 Heinrich Eckmann (1893–1940), D
 Umberto Eco (1932–2016), IT

Ed 
 David Eddings (1931–2009), US
 Leigh Eddings (1937–2007), US
 Eric Rucker Eddison (1882–1945), GB
 Edmund Edel (1863–1934), D
 Peter Edel (1921–1983), D
 Gerald M. Edelman (1929–2014), US
 Ruth Eder (* 1947), D
 Ferit Edgü (* 1936), TR
 Wolfgang Anselm von Edling (1741–1794), AT
 Kasimir Edschmid (1890–1966), D
 Esi Edugyan (* 1977), CAN
 Cordelia Edvardson (1929–2012), SE
 Blake Edwards (1922–2010), US
 Åke Edwardson (* 1953), SE

Ee 
 Georges Eekhoud (1854–1927), BELG

Ef 
 George Alec Effinger (1947–2002), US
 Victor Eftimiu (1889–1972), RO

Eg 
 Greg Egan (* 1961), AUS
 Axel Eggebrecht (1899–1991), D
 Dave Eggers (* 1970), US
 Kurt Eggers (1905–1943), D
 Fabre d’Églantine (1750–1794), F
 Werner J. Egli (* 1943), CH
 Eugen Egner (* 1951), D

Eh 
 Andres Ehin (1940–2011), EE
 Ursula Ehler (* 1940), D
 Ilja Ehrenburg (1891–1967), RUS
 Serge Ehrensperger (1935–2013), CH
 Albert Ehrenstein (1885–1951), D

Ei 
 Karl Eibl (1940–2014), D
 Clemens Eich (1954–1998), D
 Günter Eich (1907–1972), D
 Heinrich Eichen (1905–1986), D
 Boris Eichenbaum (1886–1959), RUS
 Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857), D
 Dietrich Eichholtz (1930–2016), D
 Bernd Eilert (* 1949), D
 Albert Einstein (1879–1955), D / CH
 Carl Einstein (1885–1940), D
 Paul Eipper (1891–1964), D
 Peter Eisenberg (* 1940), D
 Helmut Eisendle (1939–2003), AT
 John Eisenhower (1922–2013), US
 Herbert Eisenreich (1925–1986), AT
 Gottfried Eisermann (1918–2014), D
 Kurt Eisner (1867–1919), D

Ej 
 Jakob Ejersbo (1968–2008), DK

Ek 
 Alice M. Ekert-Rotholz (1900–1995), D
 Kerstin Ekman (* 1933), SE

El 
 Johanna Elberskirchen (1864–1943), D
 İsmet Elçi (* 1964), TR / D
 Suzette Haden Elgin (1936–2015), US
 Mircea Eliade (1907–1986), RO
 Norbert Elias (1897–1990), D / GB
 George Eliot, eigentlich Mary Ann Evans (1819–1880), GB
 T. S. Eliot (1888–1965), US / GB
 William B. Ellern (* 1933)
 Ebenezer Elliott (1781–1849), GB
 Bret Easton Ellis (* 1964), US
 Harlan Ellison (1934–2018), US
 Ralph Ellison (1914–1994), US
 Albert Ellmenreich (1816–1905), D
 Friederike Ellmenreich (1775–1845), D
 James Ellroy (* 1948), US
 Heinrich Elmenhorst (1632–1704), D
 Jürgen Elsässer (* 1957), D
 Franz von Elsholtz (1791–1872), D
 Robert Elsie (1950–2017)
 Gisela Elsner (1937–1992), D
 Willem Elsschot (1882–1960), NL
 Paul Éluard (1895–1952), FR
 Roger Elwood (* 1933), US
 Odysseas Elytis (1911–1996), GR

Em 
 Carolin Emcke (* 1967), D
 Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), US
 Mihai Eminescu (1850–1889), RO
 Pierre Emmanuel (1916–1984), F
 Empedokles (~494 v.C.–434 v.C), GR
 Rudolf von Ems (~1200–1254), D

En 
 Mathias Énard (* 1972), FR
 Encheduanna (~2300 v.C.–?)
 Michael Ende (1929–1995), D
 Klaus Ender (1939–2021), D/AT
 Adolf Endler (1930–2009), D
 Shusaku Endo (1923–1996), JP
 Elke Endraß (* 1959), D
 Ria Endres (* 1946), D
 F. William Engdahl (* 1944), US
 Gerrit Engelke (1890–1918), D
 Heiko Engelkes (1933–2008), D
 Bernt Engelmann (1921–1994), D
 Peter Engelmann (* 1947), D / AT
 Aydın Engin (1941–2022), TR/D
 Osman Engin (* 1960), D
 Selli Engler (1899–1972), D
 Peter Englund (* 1957), SE
 Enheduanna (um 2300 v. Chr.)
 Werner Enke (* 1941), D
 Quintus Ennius (239–169 v. Chr.)
 Per Olov Enquist (1934–2020), SE
 Anne Enright (* 1962), IRL
 Peter Ensikat (1941–2013), D
 Jean-Paul Enthoven (* 1949), FR
 Raphaël Enthoven (* 1975), FR
 Christian Enzensberger (1931–2009), D
 Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929–2022), D
 Ulrich Enzensberger (* 1944), D

Ep 
 Hans Eppendorfer (1942–1999), D
 Erhard Eppler (1926–2019), D
 Alek Epstein (* 1975), IL
 Helen Epstein (* 1947), US

Er 
 Erasmus von Rotterdam (1469–1536), NL
 Nazlı Eray (* 1945), TR
 Elke Erb (* 1938), D
 Ute Erb (* 1940), D
 Leyla Erbil (1931–2013), TR
 Ulrich Erckenbrecht (* 1947), D
 Richard Erdoes (1912–2008), US
 Aslı Erdoğan (* 1967), TR
 Louise Erdrich (* 1954), US (Indianerin)
 Heinz Erhardt (1909–1979), D
 Didier Eribon (* 1953), FR
 Steve Erickson (* 1950), US
 Steven Erikson, eigentlich Steve Rune Lundin (* 1959), CA
 Wolf Erlbruch (1948–2022), D
 Maria Erlenberger (* 1948), D
 Otto Erler (1872–1943), D
 Rainer Erler (* 1933), D
 Otto Ernst (1862–1926), D
 Paul Ernst (1866–1933), D
 Axel Ertelt (1954–2023), D
 Emil Ertl (1860–1935), AT
 Bruno Ertler (1889–1927), AT

Es 
 Andreas Eschbach (* 1959), D
 Wolfram von Eschenbach (~1170–1220), D
 Memduh Şevket Esendal (1883–1952), TR
 William N. Eskridge (* 1951), US
 Bernard d’Espagnat (1921–2015), FR
 Javier Abril Espinoza (* 1967), HND
 Jörgen von Essen (1862–1921)

 Édouard Estaunié (1862–1942), FR
 Natalja Estemirowa (1959–2009), RUS
 Péter Esterházy (1950–2016), HU
 József Eszterhas (* 1944), HU / US

Et 
 Anna Ettlinger (1841–1934), D
 Johann Christoph Ettner (1654–1724), D

Eu 
 Euhemerus (~340 v.C.–~260 v.C.), GR
 Herbert Eulenberg (1876–1949), D
 Eun Hee-kyung (1959), ROK
 Richard Euringer (1891–1953), D
 Euripides (480 v.C.–406 v.C.), GR

Ev 
 Susan Evance (~1780–?), GB
 Janet Evanovich (* 1943), USA
 Nicholas Evans (1950–2022), GB
 Evert Everts (* 1941), D

Ew 
 Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871–1943), D

Ex 
 Charles Exbrayat (1906–1989), F
 Richard Exner (1929–2008), USA / D
 Alexandre Olivier Exquemelin (1645–1707), B

Ey 
 Erich Eyck (1878–1964), D/GB
 Hans Jürgen Eysenck (1916–1997), GB
 Max Eyth (1836–1906), D

E
E

La 
 Jacques Lacan (1901–1981), FR
 Alberto de Lacerda (1928–2007), PT, GB
 Mercedes Lackey (* 1950), USA
 Stephan Lackner (1910–2000)
 Ernesto Laclau (1935–2014)
 Erwin Lademann (1923–2015), D
 Oliver La Farge (1901–1963), USA
 Celso Lafer (* 1941)
 Dany Laferrière (* 1953)
 Raphael Aloysius Lafferty (1914–2002), USA
 Carmen Laforet (1921–2004)
 Jean-Luc Lagarce (1957–1995), FR
 Geoffroy de Lagasnerie (* 1981), FR
 Pär Lagerkvist (1891–1974), SE
 Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940), SE
 Ronald D. Laing (1927–1989), GB
 James Fintan Lalor (1807–1849), IRL
 Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869), FR
 Julien Offray de La Mettrie (1709–1751), FR 
 Eberhard Lämmert (1924–2015), D
 Nanny Lambrecht (1868–1942), D
 Friedo Lampe (1899–1945), D
 Rolf Lamprecht (1930–2022), D
 Gustav Landauer (1870–1919), D
 Karl Landauer (1887–1945), D
 Michael Landgraf (* 1961), D
 Walter Landin (1952–2021), D
 Valentin Landmann (* 1950), CH
 Othmar Franz Lang (1921–2005), AT
 Thomas Lang (* 1967), D
 Julius Langbehn (1851–1907), D
 Horst Lange (1904–1971)
 Sophie Lange (1936–2023); D
 Georg Langemeyer (1929–2014), D
 Katja Lange-Müller (* 1951)
 Tanja Langer (* 1962)
 Marianne Lange-Weinert (1921–2005), D
 Ruby Langford Ginibi (1934–2011)
 Elisabeth Langgässer (1899–1950)
 Gerd Langguth (1946–2013), D
 Robert Langs (* 1928), US
 Jaron Lanier (* 1960), US
 Armand Lanoux (1913–1983)
 Laotse (6. Jh. v. Chr.)
 Jean Laplanche (1924–2012)
 Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy (* 1939), US
 Dionysius Lardner (1793–1859)
 Remo H. Largo (1943–2020), CH
 Sophie von La Roche (1731–1807)
 François de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)
 Åsa Larsson (* 1966)
 Stieg Larsson (1954–2004)
 Gregor Laschen (1941–2018)
 Bernd A. Laska (* 1943), D
 Else Lasker-Schüler (1869–1945)
 Bruno Latour (1947–2022)
 Rüdiger Lautmann (* 1935)
 D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930)
 T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence von Arabien; 1888–1935)
 Willi Layh (1903–1977)
 Auguste Lazar (1887–1970)

Le 
 Edward Lear (1812–1888), GB
 Timothy Leary (1920–1996), US
 David Leavitt (* 1961), US
 Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941), FR
 Stanisław Jerzy Lec (1909–1966), PL
 Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (* 1940), FR
 Harper Lee (1926–2016), US
 Hermione Lee (* 1948), GB
 Root Leeb (* 1955), D
 Lee Ho-chol (1932–2016), ROK
 Lee Hye-kyoung (* 1960), ROK
 Lee Je-ha (* 1937), ROK
 Lee Seong-bok (* 1952), ROK
 Lee Sung-U (* 1960), ROK
 Lee Sun-won (* 1958), ROK
 Tanith Lee (1947–2015), GB
 Gene Lees (1928–2010), CA
 Joke van Leeuwen (* 1952), NL
 Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814–1873), IRL
 Pierre Legendre (1930–2023), FR
 Jacques Le Goff (1924–2014), FR
 Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018),
 Christian Lehnert (* 1969), D
 Thomas Lehr (* 1957), D
 Jürgen Leinemann (1937–2013), D
 Eino Leino (1878–1926), FI
 Dieter Leisegang (1942–1973), D
 Otmar Leist (1921–2012), D
 François Lelord (* 1953), FR
 Stanisław Lem (1921–2006), PL
 Pierre Lemaitre (* 1951), FR
 Hanna Lemke (* 1981), D
 Nikolaus Lenau (1802–1850), AT
 Madeleine L’Engle (1918–2007), US
 Elisabeth Lenk (1937–2022), D
 Charlotte Lennox (1730–1804), GB
 Georg Lentz (1928–2009), D
 Siegfried Lenz (1926–2014), D
 Donna Leon (* 1942), US
 Elmore Leonard (1925–2013), US
 Hugh Leonard (1926–2009), IRL
 Wolfgang Leonhard (1921–2014), D
 Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), IT
 M. Rainer Lepsius (1928–2014), D
 Michail Lermontow (1814–1841), RU
 Gilles Leroy (* 1958), FR
 John T. Lescroart (* 1948), US
 Norbert Leser (1933–2014), AT
 Doris Leslie (1902–1982), GB
 Doris Lessing (1919–2013), GB
 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), D
 Didier Lestrade (* 1958), FR
 Helmut Lethen (* 1939), D
 Reinhard Lettau (1929–1996), D/US
 Stan Leventhal (1951–1995), US
 Oscar Levertin (1862–1906), SE
 Carlo Levi (1902–1975), IT
 Paolo Levi (1919–1989), IT
 Primo Levi (1919–1987), IT
 Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995), FR
 Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009), FR
 David Levithan (* 1972), US
 Amy Levy (1861–1889), GB
 Waldtraut Lewin (1937–2017), D
 Charles Lewinsky (* 1946), CH
 C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), IRL/GB
 Sibylle Lewitscharoff (1954–2023), D
 Christoph Leyendecker (1943–2016), D
 Simon Leys (1935–2014), BE
 José Lezama Lima (1910–1976), CU

Li 
 Liao Yiwu (* 1958), CN
 Thorsten Libotte (* 1972), D
 Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799), D
 Sara Lidman (1923–2004), SE
 Jonas Lie (1833–1908), NO
 Norman Liebold (* 1976), D
 Hendrik Liersch (* 1962), D
 Werner Liersch (1932–2014), D
 Lothar Lies (1940–2008), D / AT
 Erich Lifka (1924–2007), ÖSTER
 Robert Lifton (* 1926), US
 Rosa Liksom (* 1958), FI
 Detlev von Liliencron (1844–1909)
 Charles Lillard (1944–1997), CAN
 Lim Chul-woo (* 1954), ROK
 Jakov Lind (1927–2007), AT / GB
 Gunnel Linde (1924–2014), SE
 Ulf Linde (1929–2013), SE
 Friedrich Lindemann (1898–1950), D
 Till Lindemann (* 1963), D
 Werner Lindemann (1926–1993), D
 Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002), SE
 Håkan Lindquist (1958–2022), SE
 Mark Lindquist (* 1959), US
 Věra Linhartová (* 1938), CZ
 Manolo Link (* 1955), D
 Pentti Linkola (1932–2020), FI
 Charles de Lint (* 1951), NL/CND
 Edith Linvers (* 1940), D
 Hans Lipinsky-Gottersdorf (1920–1991)
 Rudolf zur Lippe (1937–2019), D
 Isaac Lipschits (1930–2008), NL
 Cvetka Lipuš (* 1966), AT
 Florjan Lipuš (* 1937), AT
 Clarice Lispector (1920–1977), BR
 Angela Litschev (* 1978), D
 Jonathan Littell (* 1967), US/FR
 Robert Littell (* 1935), US
 Zülfü Livaneli (* 1946), TR
 Penelope Lively (* 1933), GB

Lo 
 Arnold Lobel (1933–1987)
 Sascha Lobo (* 1975)
 Theo Löbsack (1923–2001)
 Erich Loest (1926–2013)
 Hugo Loetscher (1929–2009)
 Hans Löffler (* 1946)
 Henner Löffler (* 1943)
 Hans-Martin Lohmann (1944–2014)
 Georg Lohmeier (1926–2015)
 Michail Wassiljewitsch Lomonossow (1711–1735)
 Jack London (1876–1916)

 Hermann Löns (1866–1914)
 Christel Looks-Theile (1930–2015)
 Irma Loos, Geburtsname und Pseudonym für Irma Hain (1907–?)
 Audre Lorde (1934–1992)
 Iny Lorentz, Pseudonym für Ingrid Klocke (* 1949) und Elmar Wohlrath
 Klaus-Joachim Lorenzen-Schmidt (1948–2015)
 Rudolf Lorenzen (1922–2013)
 Loriot (1923–2011)
 Peter Lösche (1939–2016)
 Gert Loschütz (* 1946)
 Claudia Lössl (1975–2015)
 Pierre Loti (1850–1923)
 Édouard Louis (* 1992)
 H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937)
 James Russell Lowell (1819–1891)
 Robert Lowell (1917–1977)
 Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957)
 Robert Lowry (1919–1994)
 David Lozano Garbala (* 1974), ES

Lu 
 Lu Xun (1881–1936)
 Gerd Hergen Lübben (* 1937), D
 Lucan (39–65)
 Carlo Lucarelli (* 1960)
 John V. Luce (1920–2011)
 Thomas Luckmann (1927–2016)
 Dirk Ludigs (* 1965)
 Robert Ludlum (1927–2001)
 Andrea Ludolph (1962–2015)
 Alf Lüdtke (1943–2019)
 Emil Ludwig (1881–1948)
 Otto Ludwig (1813–1865)
 Georg Lukács (1885–1971), HU
 John Lukacs (1924–2019), US
 Helmut Lukesch (* 1946)
 Raimundus Lullus (1235–1316)
 Peter Lundgreen (1936–2015), D
 Anja Lundholm (1918–2007), D
 Gunnar Lundkvist (* 1958), SE
 Nils Artur Lundkvist (1906–1991), SE
 Alison Lurie (1926–2020), US
 Martin Luther (1483–1546), D
 Ludger Lütkehaus (1943–2019), D
 Rainer Lutz (* 1943)

Ly 
 Elizabeth A. Lynn (* 1946), USA
 Bernárd Lynch (* 1947), IRL
 Phyllis Lyon (1924–2020), USA
 Humphrey Lyttelton (1921–2008), GB

L

Na 
 Magdalen Nabb (1947–2007)
 Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
 Maurice Nadeau (1911–2013)
 Melinda Nadj Abonji (* 1968)
 Karl Gottfried Nadler (1809–1849)
 Isabella Nadolny (1917–2004)
 Sten Nadolny (* 1942)
 Kiran Nagarkar (1942–2019)
 Ivan Nagel (1931–2012)
 Mirosław Nahacz (1984–2007)
 V. S. Naipaul (1932–2018)
 Salah Naoura (* 1964)
 Donna Jo Napoli (* 1948)
 R. K. Narayan (1906–2001)
 Wolf-Dieter Narr (1937–2019)
 Armin Nassehi (* 1960)
 Peter Nathschläger (* 1965)
 Hans Joachim Nauschütz (1940–2003)
 Michael Nava (* 1954)
 Mende Nazer (* ≈1980)
 Aquiles Nazoa (1920–1976)

Nd 
 Marie NDiaye (* 1967)

Ne 
 Otto Nebel (1892–1973)
 Ernst Nebhut (1898–1974)
 Rosemary Neering (* 1945)
 Rüdiger Nehberg (1935–2020), D
 Günter Nehm (1926–2009)
 Chloe Neill (* 1975)
 Oswald von Nell-Breuning (1890–1991), D
 René Nelli (1906–1982), FR
 Howard Nemerov (1920–1991)
 Ingo Nentwig (1960–2016), D
 Pablo Neruda (1904–1973)
 Edith Nesbit (1858–1924), GB
 Aziz Nesin (1915–1995)
 Patrick Ness (* 1971)
 Håkan Nesser (* 1950)
 Joan Nestle (* 1940)
 Ralf Nestmeyer (* 1964)
 Johann Nestroy (1801–1862)
 Uwe Nettelbeck (1940–2007)
 Horst Neubert (1932–2015)
 Werner Neubert (* 1929)
 Kurt Neuburger (1902–1996)
 Rupert Neudeck (1939–2016)
 Christian Neuhuber (* 1970), AT
 Peter Horst Neumann (1936–2009)
 Robert Neumann (1897–1975)
 Ronnith Neumann (* 1948)
 Wilhelm Neumann (1781–1834)
 Wolfgang Neuss (1923–1989)
 Erik Neutsch (1931–2013)
 Angelika Neuwirth (* 1943)
 Annalee Newitz (* 1969)
 Lesléa Newman (* 1955)

Ni 
 Gerhard Nickel (1928–2015)
 Hans Nicklisch (1911–2001)
 Friedrich Nicolai (1733–1811)
 Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill (* 1952)
 Wolf von Niebelschütz (1913–1960)
 Ernst Elias Niebergall (1815–1843)
 William G. Niederland (1904–1993)
 Stephan Niederwieser (* 1962)
 Werner Niegisch (* 1931)
 Karena Niehoff (1920–1992)
 Norbert Niemann (* 1961)
 Hans-Jürgen Nierentz (1909–1995)
 Doris Niespor (* 1969)
 Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900)
 Anaïs Nin (1903–1977)
 Nithard (~790–844)
 Bernd Nitzschke (* 1944)
 Larry Niven (* 1938)
 Hamza Niyoziy (1889–1929)
 Paul Nizan (1905–1940)

No 
 Christopher Nolan (1965–2009)
 Ingrid Noll (* 1935)
 Ernst Nolte (1923–2016)
 Thubten Jigme Norbu (1922–2008)
 Dieter Nörr (1931–2017)
 Harold Norse (1916–2009)
 Rictor Norton (* 1945)
 Hans Erich Nossack (1901–1977)
 Regina Nössler (* 1964)
 Christine Nöstlinger (1936–2018)
 Ernst Erich Noth (1909–1983)
 Monika Nothing (* 1942)
 Helga M. Novak (1935–2013)
 Novalis (1772–1801)
 Joachim Nowotny (1933–2014)

Nu 
 Malla Nunn (* 19**)
 Branislav Nušić (1864–1938)

Ny 
 Harri Nykänen (1953–2023)
 Eric Nylund (* 1964)

N

Pa 
Gert von Paczensky (1925–2014), deutscher Journalist und Schriftsteller
Susanne von Paczensky (1923–2010), deutsche Sachbuchautorin
Krzysztof Paczuski (1956–2004), polnischer Lyriker
Tarcísio Padilha (1928–2021), brasilianischer Philosoph
Heberto Padilla (1932–2000), kubanischer Dichter
Thomas de Padova (* 1965), deutscher Wissenschaftsjournalist und Schriftsteller
Elifius Paffrath (1942–2016), deutscher Theaterwissenschaftler, Dramatiker und Hörspielautor
Camille Paglia (* 1947), US-amerikanische Kulturwissenschaftlerin und Autorin
Marcel Pagnol (1895–1974), französischer Schriftsteller
Boris Pahor (1913–2022), slowenischsprachiger Schriftsteller
Teuvo Pakkala (1862–1925), finnischer Schriftsteller
Chuck Palahniuk (* 1962), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Josep Palau i Fabre (1917–2008), spanischer Schriftsteller und Kunstkritiker
Aldo Palazzeschi (1885–1974), italienischer Schriftsteller und Lyriker
Grace Paley (1922–2007), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
Reinhard Palm (1957–2014), österreichischer Autor, Übersetzer und Dramaturg
Connie Palmen (* 1955), niederländische Schriftstellerin
Lilli Palmer (1914–1986), deutsche Schauspielerin und Autorin
Orhan Pamuk (* 1952), türkischer Schriftsteller
Leif Panduro (1923–1977), dänischer Schriftsteller
Oskar Panizza (1853–1921), deutscher Schriftsteller
Wolfhart Pannenberg (1928–2014), deutscher evangelischer Theologe und Autor
Christopher Paolini (* 1983), US-amerikanischer Autor
Walter Papst (1924–2008), deutscher Designer und Schriftsteller
Peter Paret (1924–2020), US-amerikanischer Historiker und Autor
Sara Paretsky (* 1947), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
Edith Pargeter (1913–1995), britische Schriftstellerin (Ellis Peters)
Paul Parin (1916–2009), Schweizer Ethno-Psychoanalytiker und Schriftsteller
Goffredo Parise (1929–1986), italienischer Schriftsteller und Journalist
Park Kyung-ni (1926–2008), südkoreanische Schriftstellerin
Park Min-gyu (* 1968), südkoreanischer Schriftsteller
Robert B. Parker (1932–2010), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Stewart Parker (1941–1988), nordirischer Schriftsteller
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), französischer Schriftsteller
Wiktor Paskow (1949–2009), bulgarischer Schriftsteller
Fernando del Paso (1935–2018), mexikanischer Schriftsteller und Dichter
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922–1975), italienischer Schriftsteller und Filmregisseur
Kathrin Passig (* 1970), deutsche Schriftstellerin, Essayistin, Übersetzerin, …
Boris Pasternak (1890–1960), russischer Schriftsteller
Oskar Pastior (1928–2006), deutscher Schriftsteller
Susann Pásztor (* 1957), deutsche Schriftstellerin und Übersetzerin
James Patterson (* 1947), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Cindy Patton (* 1956), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
Kurt Pätzold (1930–2016), deutscher Historiker und Autor
Jean Paul, eigentlich: Jean Paul Richter (1763–1825), deutscher Schriftsteller
Steven Paulsen (* 1955), australischer Schriftsteller
Birgit Pausch (* 1942), deutsche Autorin
Randy Pausch (1960–2008), US-amerikanischer Autor
Gudrun Pausewang (1928–2020), deutsche Schriftstellerin
Jean-Jacques Pauvert (1926–2014), französischer Verleger und Autor
Cesare Pavese (1908–1950), italienischer Schriftsteller
Pavao Pavličić (* 1946), kroatischer Schriftsteller
Miodrag Pavlović (1928–2014), serbischer Dichter, Schriftsteller, Dramaturg und Lektor
Henning Pawel (1944–2022), deutscher Schriftsteller
Anna Pawełczyńska (1922–2014), polnische Soziologin und Autorin

Pe 
Philippa Pearce (1920–2006), britische Schriftstellerin
Dale Peck (* 1967), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Christiern Pedersen (ca. 1480–1554), dänischer Schriftsteller
Wolfgang Pehnt (1931–2023), deutscher Architekturhistoriker, -kritiker und -theoretiker
Michael Peinkofer (* 1969), deutscher Autor, Filmjournalist und Übersetzer
Ulrich Peltzer (* 1956), deutscher Schriftsteller
Sandro Penna (1906–1977), italienischer Dichter und Erzähler
Ernst Penzoldt (1892–1955), deutscher Schriftsteller
Walker Percy (1916–1990), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
William Armstrong Percy (1933–2022), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller und Historiker
Georges Perec (1936–1982), französischer Schriftsteller
Cristina Peri Rossi (* 1941), uruguayisch-spanische Schriftstellerin
Dieter Perlowski (* 1950), deutscher Schriftsteller
Gilles Perrault (1931–2023), französischer Schriftsteller
Stan Persky (* 1941), kanadischer Schriftsteller und Medienkommentator
Christer Persson (* 1943), schwedischer Schriftsteller
Leo Perutz (1882–1957), österreichischer Schriftsteller
Nossrat Peseschkian (1933–2010), iranisch-deutscher Psychotherapeut und Autor
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746–1827), deutscher Schriftsteller
Žarko Petan (1929–2014), slowenischer Schriftsteller
Elizabeth Peters (1927–2013), US-amerikanische Krimi-Schriftstellerin
Julie Anne Peters (1952–2023), US-amerikanische Jugendbuchautorin
Jochen Petersdorf (1934–2008), deutscher Satiriker
Jan Petersen (1906–1969), deutscher Schriftsteller
Jens Petersen (* 1976), deutscher Schriftsteller
Hans Peterson (1922–2022), schwedischer Autor
Vladislav Petković Dis (1880–1917), serbischer Dichter
Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), italienischer Schriftsteller
Horst Petri (1936–2022), deutscher Psychoanalytiker und Autor
Waleri Petrow (1920–2014), bulgarischer Schriftsteller und Übersetzer
Per Petterson (* 1952), norwegischer Schriftsteller
Rudolf Peyer (1929–2017), Schweizer Schriftsteller und Übersetzer
Roger Peyrefitte (1907–2000), französischer Schriftsteller

Pf 
William Pfaff (1928–2015), US-amerikanischer Autor und Publizist
Justus Pfaue (1942–2014), deutscher Schriftsteller und Drehbuchautor
Erich Pfefferlen (* 1952), deutscher Schriftsteller
Hans Pfeiffer (1925–1998), deutscher Schriftsteller
Ferdinand Pfohl (1862–1949), deutscher Schriftsteller

Ph 
Hermes Phettberg (* 1952), österreichischer Autor
Peter Philipp (1971–2014), deutscher Schriftsteller und Kabarettist
Susan Elizabeth Phillips (* 1948), US-amerikanische Roman-Autorin

Pi 
 Jean Piaget (1896–1980), Schweizer Entwicklungspsychologe und Autor
 Felice Picano (* 1944), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
 Othmar Pickl (1927–2008), österreichischer Historiker und Autor
 Jodi Picoult (* 1967), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
 Rosamunde Pilcher (1924–2019), britische Autorin von Liebesromanen
 Volker Elis Pilgrim (1942–2022), deutscher Schriftsteller
 Doris Pilkington (1937–2014), aborigene Schriftstellerin aus Australien
 Pindar (522/518 – um 442 v. Chr.), griechischer Schriftsteller
 Claudia Piñeiro (* 1960), argentinische Schriftstellerin
 Ramiro Pinilla (1923–2014), spanischer Schriftsteller
 Heinz-Jürgen Pinnow (1925–2016), deutscher Linguist und Ethnologe
 Harold Pinter (1930–2008), britischer Schriftsteller, Nobelpreis 2005
 Heinz Piontek (1925–2003), deutscher Schriftsteller
 Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936), italienischer Schriftsteller, Nobelpreis 1934
 Akif Pirinçci (* 1959), türkisch-deutscher Schriftsteller
 Liaty Pisani (* 1950), italienische Schriftstellerin
 Pitigrilli (d. i. Dino Segre; 1893–1975), italienischer Schriftsteller
 Siegfried Pitschmann (1930–2002), deutscher Schriftsteller
 Ruth Pitter (1897–1992), britische Dichterin
 Hermann Peter Piwitt (* 1935), deutscher Schriftsteller

Pl 
Arno Plack (1930–2012), deutscher Philosoph und Schriftsteller
Hermann Plahn (1865–?), deutscher Schriftsteller
Belva Plain (1915–2010), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
Richard Plant (1910–1998), deutsch-US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Jannis Plastargias (* 1975), deutsch-griechischer Schriftsteller
August Graf von Platen (1796–1835), deutscher Schriftsteller
Alan Plater (1935–2010), britischer Schriftsteller
Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), US-amerikanische Lyrikerin und Prosaautorin
Platon (427–347 v. Chr.), griechischer Schriftsteller
Titus Maccius Plautus (250–184 v. Chr.), römischer Schriftsteller
Ulrich Plenzdorf (1934–2007), deutscher Schriftsteller
Thomas Pletzinger (* 1975), deutscher Schriftsteller
Peter Plichta (* 1939), deutscher Chemiker und Schriftsteller
Gaius Secundus Plinius, auch: Plinius der Ältere (23/24–79), römischer Schriftsteller
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, auch: Plinius der Jüngere (61–113), römischer Schriftsteller
Jürgen Ploog (1935–2020), deutscher Schriftsteller und Publizist
Plotin (um 205–um 270), griechischer Schriftsteller
Benno Pludra (1925–2014), deutscher Kinder- und Jugendbuch-Autor
Erika Pluhar (* 1939), österreichische Schriftstellerin und darstellende Künstlerin
Plutarch (um 45–nach 120), griechischer Schriftsteller

Po 
 Erich Friedrich Podach (1894–1967), ungarisch-deutscher Literaturwissenschaftler und Ethnologe
 Norbert Podewin (1935–2014), deutscher Historiker, Biograf und Essayist
 Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
 Otto Pöggeler (1928–2014), deutscher Philosoph und Autor
 Frederik Pohl (1919–2013), US-amerikanischer Science-Fiction-Autor
 Ilse Pohl (1907–2010), deutsche Schriftstellerin
 Wolfgang Pohrt (1945–2018), deutscher politischer Publizist
 Paul Polansky (1942–2021), US-amerikanischer Lyriker und Sachbuchautor
 Alfred Polgar (1873–1955), österreichischer Schriftsteller
 Anna Politkowskaja (1958–2006), russische Essayistin
 John Polkinghorne (1930–2021), britischer Physiker und Theologe
 Wolfgang Pollanz (* 1954), österreichischer Schriftsteller
 Jean-Bertrand Pontalis (1924–2013), französischer Psychoanalytiker und Schriftsteller
 Claude Ponti (* 1948), französischer Kinderbuch-Illustrator und Schriftsteller
 Giuseppe Pontiggia (1934–2003), italienischer Schriftsteller 
 Alexander Pope (1688–1744), englischer Schriftsteller
 Jewgeni Popow (* 1946), russischer Schriftsteller
 Steffen Popp (* 1978), deutscher Dichter, Schriftsteller und Übersetzer
 Bernhard Pörksen (* 1969), deutscher Medienwissenschaftler und Autor
 Katherine Anne Porter (1890–1980), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
 Peter Porter (1929–2010), australischstämmiger britischer Dichter
 Hugo Portisch (1927–2021), österreichischer Journalist und Buchautor
 Alan Posener (* 1949), britisch-deutscher Journalist und Biograf
 Julius Posener (1904–1996), deutscher Architekturhistoriker und -kritiker
 Karl Postl, bekannt als Charles Sealsfield (1793–1864), deutscher Schriftsteller
 Neil Postman (1931–2003), US-amerikanischer Essayist
 Ezra Pound (1885–1972), US-amerikanischer Dichter
 Anthony Powell (1905–2000), britischer Schriftsteller

Pr 
Peter Prange (* 1955), deutscher Schriftsteller
Heribert Prantl (* 1953), deutscher Journalist und Essayist
Terry Pratchett (1948–2015), britischer Schriftsteller
Vasco Pratolini (1913–1991), italienischer Schriftsteller
Minnie Bruce Pratt (1946–2023), US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
Rosa von Praunheim (* 1942), deutscher Schriftsteller und Filmregisseur
Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (1927–2013), britische Schriftstellerin
Albert Precht (1947–2015), österreichischer Sachbuchautor
Richard David Precht (* 1964), deutscher Schriftsteller und Philosoph
Thomas Pregel (* 1977), deutscher Schriftsteller
François Maher Presley (* 1961), deutscher Autor
Mirjam Pressler (1940–2019), deutsche Schriftstellerin und Übersetzerin
John Preston (1945–1994), US-amerikanischer Autor
Andreas Pretzel (* 1961), deutscher Kulturhistoriker und Autor
Otfried Preußler (1923–2013), deutscher Schriftsteller
Costanzo Preve (1943–2013), italienischer Philosoph und Autor
Anthony Price (1928–2019), britischer Schriftsteller
Reynolds Price (1933–2011), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Gerhard Priesemann (1925–2011), deutscher Lyriker
John Boynton Priestley (1894–1984), englischer Schriftsteller
Anatoli Pristawkin (1931–2008), russischer Schriftsteller
Gert Prokop (1932–1994), deutscher Schriftsteller
Rüdiger Proske (1916–2010), deutscher Journalist und Buchautor
Annie Proulx (* 1935), kanadisch-US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin
Marcel Proust (1871–1922), französischer Schriftsteller

Ps 
Alexander Pschera (* 1964), deutscher Autor, Publizist und Übersetzer

Pu 
Hermann von Pückler-Muskau (1785–1871), deutscher Schriftsteller
Manuel Puig (1932–1990), argentinischer Schriftsteller
James Purdy (1914–2009), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller
Alexander Sergejewitsch Puschkin (1799–1837), russischer Schriftsteller
Hilary Putnam (1926–2016), US-amerikanischer Philosoph und Autor
Jesco von Puttkamer (1933–2012), deutschstämmiger Autor
Reiner Putzger (* 1940), deutscher Schriftsteller und Sprecherzieher
Mario Puzo (1920–1999), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller

Py 
Thomas Pynchon (* 1937), US-amerikanischer Schriftsteller

P

Qa 
 Nizar Qabbani (1923–1998), SYR

Qi 
 Qiu Xiaolong (* 1953), CHN / USA

Qu 
Helmut Qualtinger (1928–1986), AT
David Quammen (* 1948), US
Pier Antonio Quarantotti Gambini (1910–1965), IT
Salvatore Quasimodo (1901–1968), IT
Carol Queen (* 1957), USA
Ellery Queen (Sammelpseudonym; 1905–1971 und 1905–1982), US
Jorge H. Queirolo (* 1963), ECU
Raymond Queneau (1903–1976), FR
William Quindt (1898–1969), D
Daniel Quinn (1935–2018), US
Lawrence J. Quirk (1923–2014), US
Hermann Quistorf (1884–1969), D
Sabrina Qunaj (* 1986), AT

Q

Ra 
Wilhelm Raabe (1831–1910)
François Rabelais (1494–1553)
Jean Racine (1639–1699)
Ann Radcliffe (1764–1823)
Fritz J. Raddatz (1931–2015)
Hartmut Radebold (1935–2021)
Cay Rademacher (* 1965)
Raymond Radiguet (1903–1923)
Iris Radisch (* 1959)
Friedrich Radszuweit (1876–1932)
Peter Radtke (1943–2020)
Marc-André Raffalovich (1864–1934)
Atiq Rahimi (* 1962)
Fred Rai (1941–2015)
Ferdinand Raimund (1790–1834)
Werner Raith (1940–2001)
Hannu Raittila (* 1956)
Hannu Rajaniemi (* 1978)
David Rakoff (1964–2012)
Tariq Ramadan (* 1962)
Tilman Rammstedt (* 1975)
Mario Ramos (* 1973)
Tamara Ramsay (1895–1985)
Ayn Rand (1905–1982)
Robert Randau (1873–1950)
Leopold von Ranke (1795–1886)
Uta Ranke-Heinemann (1927–2021)
Ian Rankin (* 1960)
Christoph Ransmayr (* 1954)
Lev Raphael (* 1954)
Renate Rasp (1935–2015)
Valentin Rasputin (1937–2015)
Claudia Rath (* 1964)
Julian Rathbone (1935–2008)
Lutz Rathenow (* 1952)
Terence Rattigan (1911–1977)
Albert H. Rausch (1882–1949)
Charles E. Raven (1885–1964)
Sławomir Rawicz (1915–2004)
John Rawls (1921–2002)
Derek Raymond (1931–1994)

Re 
Alojz Rebula (1924–2018)
Käthe Recheis (1928–2015)
John Rechy (* 1934)
Elisa von der Recke (1754–1833)
Jean M. Redmann (* 1955)
Patrick Redmond (* 1966)
Ishmael Reed (* 1938)
Justin Phillip Reed (* 1989)
Jan Philipp Reemtsma (* 1952)
Thilo Reffert (* 1970)
Erik Reger (1893–1954)
Gustav Regler (1898–1963)
Wulff D. Rehfus (1944–2015)
Ruth Rehmann (1922–2016)
Jens Rehn (1918–1983)
Wilhelm Reich (1897–1957)
Marcel Reich-Ranicki (1920–2013)
Reimut Reiche (* 1941)
Andreas Artur Reichelt (* 1977)
Martin Reichert (1973–2023)
Kathy Reichs (* 1948)
Robert Reid (* 1966)
Theodor Reik (1888–1969)
Matthew Reilly (* 1974)
Brigitte Reimann (1933–1973)
Uwe Reimer (1948–2004)
Gudrun Reinboth (* 1943)
Herbert Reinecker (1914–2007)
Lenka Reinerová (1916–2008)
Ludwig Reiners (1896–1957)
Christa Reinig (1926–2008)
Leonhard Reinirkens (1924–2008)
Andreas Reinke (* 1957)
Gerlind Reinshagen (1926–2019)
Erich Maria Remarque (1898–1970)
Ilkka Remes (* 1962)
Pierre-Jean Rémy (1937–2010)
Jules Renard (1864–1910)
Mary Renault (1905–1983)
Ruth Rendell (1930–2015)
Willibrordus S. Rendra (1935–2009)
Ludwig Renn (1889–1979)
Louise Rennison (1951–2016)
Karl Rennstich (1937–2015)
Regula Renschler (* 1935)
Wilfried A. Resch (* 1960)
Karin Reschke (* 1940)
Christian Reuter (getauft am 9. Oktober 1665 – nachweisbar bis 1712)
Fritz Reuter (1810–1874)
Fanny zu Reventlow (1871–1918)
Felix Rexhausen (1932–1992)
Alastair Reynolds (* 1966)
Mack Reynolds (1917–1983)
Simon Reynolds (* 1963)
Charles Reznikoff (1894–1976)
Gregor von Rezzori (1914–1998)

Ri 
Øystein Rian (* 1945), NOR
João Ubaldo Ribeiro (1941–2014), BR
Ugo Riccarelli (1954–2013), IT
Anne Rice (1941–2021), US
Christopher Rice (* 1978), US
Elmer Rice (1892–1967), US
Peter Rice (1935–1992), IRL
Stan Rice (1942–2002), US
Adrienne Rich (1929–2012), US
Donald Richie (1924–2013), US
Hans Werner Richter (1908–1993), D
Horst-Eberhard Richter (1923–2011), D
Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (= Pseudonym „Jean Paul“; 1763–1825), D
Jutta Richter (* 1955), D
Charlotte Richter-Peill (* 1969), D
Karin Rick (* 1955), AU
Christian Rickens (* 1971), D
Folkert Rickers (1938–2011), D
Keith Ridgway (* 1965), IRL
Manfred Riedel (1936–2009), D
Ines Rieder (1954–2015), AT
Dominik Riedo (* 1974), CH
Gregor Riegler (* 1950), AT
Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl (1823–1897), D
Jørn Riel (1931–2023), DK
Carme Riera (* 1948), ES
Michael Rieth (1944–2014), D
Klaus Rifbjerg (1931–2015), DA
Judith Merkle Riley (1942–2010), US
Lucinda Riley (1965–2021), GB
Rainer Maria Rilke (1875–1926), AT
Monika Rinck (* 1969), D
Joachim Ringelnatz (1883–1934), D
Luise Rinser (1911–2002), D
Rick Riordan (* 1964), US
Martin Ripkens (1934–2012), D
Martí de Riquer (1914–2013), ES
Armin Risi (* 1962), CH
Gilbert Rist (1938–2023), CH
Johann Rist (1607–1667), D
Giannis Ritsos (1909–1990), GR
Gerhard A. Ritter (1929–2015), D
Heinz Ritter-Schaumburg (1902–1994), D
Henning Ritter (1943–2013), D
Ulrich Ritzel (* 1940), D
William Riviere (* 19**), DMA

Ro 
 Augusto Roa Bastos (1917–2005)
 Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922–2008)
 Harold Robbins (1916–1997)
 Tom Robbins (* 1932)
 Ludwig Robert (1778–1832)
 Carolina De Robertis (* 1975)
 Nora Roberts (* 1950)
 Frank M. Robinson (1926–2014)
 Patrick Robinson (* 1940)
 Peter Robinson (1950–2022)
 Billy Roche (* 1949)
 Charlotte Roche (* 1978)
 Henri-Pierre Roché (1879–1959)
 Christiane Rochefort (1917–1998)
 Petra Röder (1969–2018)
 Mary Rodgers (1931–2014)
 Klaus Roehler (1929–2000)
 Oskar Roehler (* 1959)
 Michael Roes (* 1960)
 Theodore Roethke (1908–1963)
 Carl Rogers (1902–1987)
 Adela Rogers St. Johns (1894–1988)
 Viola Roggenkamp (* 1948)
 Hedwig Rohde (1908–1990)
 Géza Róheim (1881–1953)
 Wolfgang Rohner-Radegast (1920–2002)
 Jörn Jacob Rohwer (* 1965)
 Gonzalo Rojas (1916–2011)
 Romain Rolland (1866–1944)
 Chris P. Rolls (* 1971)
 Lawrence Roman (1921–2008)
 Manfred Römbell (1941–2010)
 Michael Römling (* 1973)
 Manfred Rommel (1928–2013)
 Birgit Rommelspacher (1945–2015)
 Frank Ronan (* 1963)
 Ned Rorem (1923–2022)
 Richard Rorty (1931–2007)
 António Ramos Rosa (1924–2013)
 Hartmut Rosa (* 1965)
 João Guimarães Rosa (1908–1967)
 Emily Rosdolsky (1911–2001)
 Roman Rosdolsky (1898–1967)
 Gillian Rose (1947–1995)
 Peter Rosegger (1843–1918)
 Peter Rosei (* 1946)
 Joe Rosenblatt (1933–2019)
 Herbert Rosendorfer (1934–2012)
 Thomas Rosenlöcher (1947–2022)
 Conrad Rosenstein (1910–1977)
 Gabriel Rosenstock (* 1949)
 Robert Rosentreter (1931–2015)
 Jo Hanns Rösler (1899–1966)
 Shane Ross (* 1949)
 Rossana Rossanda (1924–2020)
 Christian Roth (* 1945)
 Eugen Roth (1895–1976)
 Joseph Roth (1894–1939)
 Jürgen Roth (Publizist) (1945–2017)
 Jürgen Roth (Schriftsteller) (* 1968)
 Marie-Louise Roth (1926–2014)
 Philip Roth (1933–2018)
 Michael Rothballer (* 1974)
 Hans Rothe (1894–1977)
 Dietmar Rothermund (1933–2020)
 Franz Ignatius Rothfischer (1720/21–1755)
 Ralf Rothmann (* 1953)
 Julian B. Rotter (1916–2014)
 Anton Rotzetter (1939–2016)
 Élisabeth Roudinesco (* 1944)
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
 Raymond Roussel (1877–1933)
 Alma Routsong (1924–1996)
 Joanne K. Rowling (* 1965)
 Harry Rowohlt (1945–2015)
 Arundhati Roy (* 1961)
 Jules Roy (1907–2000)
 Tadeusz Różewicz (1921–2014)
 Gilles Rozier (* 1963)

Ru 
 Nikolaj Rubcov (1936–1971), RU
 Richard L. Rubenstein (1924–2021)
 Gayle Rubin (* 1949)
 Ludwig Rubiner (1881–1920)
 Tex Rubinowitz (* 1961)
 Tuvia Rübner (1924–2019)
 Günter Ruch (1956–2010)
 Günther Rücker (1924–2008)
 Friedrich Rückert (1788–1866)
 Stephan Rudas (1944–2010)
 Niall Rudd (1927–2015)
 Kriss Rudolph (* 1971)
 Reginald Rudorf (1929–2008)
 Ariane Rüdiger (* 1958)
 Walter Rüegg (1918–2015)
 Matt Ruff (* 1965)
 Arnold Ruge (1802–1880)
 Eugen Ruge (* 1954)
 Uta Ruge (* 1953)
 Alice Rühle-Gerstel (1894–1943)
 Günther Rühle (1924–2021)
 Gerhard Rühm (* 1930)
 Eva Rühmkorf (1935–2013)
 Peter Rühmkorf (1929–2008)
 Carlos Ruiz Zafón (1964–2020)
 Jane Rule (1931–2007)
 Juan Rulfo (1917–1986)
 Dschalal ad-Din ar-Rumi (1207–1273)
 Manfred Rumpf
 Xiao Rundcrantz (* 1966)
 Arno Frank Runen (* 1968)
 Leila Rupp (* 1950)
 Salman Rushdie (* 1947)
 Rosie Rushton (* 1945)
 Bertrand Russell (1872–1970)
 Paul Elliott Russell (* 1956)
 Richard Russo (* 1949)
 Richard Paul Russo (* 1954)
 Vito Russo (1946–1990)
 Rustichello da Pisa (13. Jh.)

Ry 
Cornelius Ryan (1920–1974)
Michail Ryklin (* 1948)
Geoff Ryman (* 1951)
Juri Rytcheu (1930–2008)

R
R

U 
 Anneliese Ude-Pestel (1921–2017), D
 Milan Uhde (* 1936), CZ
 Ludwig Uhland (1787–1862), D
 Marie Ulfers (1888–1960), D
 Udo Ulfkotte (1960–2017), D
 Arne Ulbricht (* 1972), D
 Anya Ulinich (* 1973), US
 Ljudmila Ulizkaja (* 1943), RU
 Otto Ullrich (1938–2015), D
 Elisabeth von Ulmann (Elisabeth Meyer-Runge; 1929–2005), D
 Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (1825–1895), D
 Ahmet Ümit (* 1960), TR
 Mehmet Ünal (* 1951), TR
 Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888–1970), IT
 Gert Fritz Unger (1921–2005), D
 Tomi Ungerer (1931–2019), FR
 Edith Unnerstad (1900–1982), S
 Barry Unsworth (1930–2012), GB
 John Updike (1932–2009), US
 Arthur W. Upfield (1890–1964), AUS
 Peter Urban (1941–2013), D
 Grete von Urbanitzky (1891–1974), ÖSTERR
 Leon Uris (1924–2003), US
 Urmuz (1883–1923), RO
 Else Ury (1877–1943), D
 Halid Ziya Uşaklıgil (1866–1945), TR
 Detlev von Uslar (1926–2022), D
 Peter Ustinov (1921–2004), GB
 Murat Uyurkulak (* 1972), TR
 Johann Peter Uz (1720–1796), D
 Mehmed Uzun (1953–2007), TR

U

Y 
Irvin D. Yalom (* 1931), US
Yang Gui-ja (* 1955), ROK
Richard Yates (1926–1992), US
W. Edgar Yates (1938–2021), GB
William Butler Yeats (1865–1939), IRL
Frank Yerby (1916–1991), US
Yi In-seong (* 1953), ROK
Carol Beach York (1928–2013), US
Banana Yoshimoto (* 1964), JP
Patricia Young (* 1954), CAN
Marguerite Yourcenar (1903–1987), BE / FR
Yun Dae-nyong (* 1962), ROK
Yun Heung-gil (* 1942), ROK
Yun Hu-myeong (* 1946), ROK

Y

Za 
 Franciszek Zabłocki (1752–1821)
 Jan Zábrana (1931–1984)
 Manfred Zach (* 1947), D
 Justus Friedrich Wilhelm Zachariae (1726–1777), D
 Gerd Zacher (1929–2014), D
 Christina Zacker (* 1954), D
 Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021), PL
 Peter-Paul Zahl (1944–2011), D
 Ernst Zahn (1867–1952)
 Johannes Christoph Andreas Zahn (1817–1895)
 Johann Zahn (1641–1707)
 Leopold Zahn (1890–1970)
 Timothy Zahn (* 1951)
 Daniel Zahno (* 1963)
 Norbert Zähringer (* 1967)
 Heinz Zahrnt (1915–2003)
 Amir Zaidan (* 1964)
 Dschurdschī Zaidān (1861–1914)
 Feridun Zaimoğlu (* 1964)
 Dane Zajc (1929–2005)
 Janusz A. Zajdel (1938–1985)
 Alphons Žák (1868–1931)
 Józef Andrzej Załuski (1702–1774)
 Vojtech Zamarovský (1919–2006)
 Hans Georg Zambona (* 1928)
 Themistocles Zammit (1864–1935)
 Antonio de Zamora (1660–1727)
 Adela Zamudio (1854–1928)
 Tomasz Zan (1796–1855)
 Herbert Zand (1923–1970)
 Hans Conrad Zander (1937)
 Judith Zander (* 1980)
 Maximilian Zander (1929–2016)
 Israel Zangwill (1864–1926)
 Antonio Zaniboni (um 1690?–1767)
 Zanobi da Strada (1312–1361)
 Andrea Zanzotto (1921–2011)
 Gabriela Zapolska (1857–1921)
 Hartmut Zapp (1939–2021)
 Luisa Zappa (* 1952)
 Dilek Zaptçıoğlu (* 1960)
 Felician Martin von Zaremba (1794–1874)
 Michael Zaremba (1955–2012)
 Gostan Zarian (1885–1969)
 Marģeris Zariņš (1910–1993)
 Nancy Zaroulis
 Sidonia Hedwig Zäunemann (1714–1740)
 Friedrich Zauner (1936–2022)
 Hansjörg Zauner (1959–2017)

Ze 
 Zeami Motokiyo (1363–1443)
 Bernhard von Zech (1649–1720)
 Paul Zech (1881–1946)
 Ruth Zechlin (1899–1966)
 Ingo Zechner (1972)
 Joseph Christian von Zedlitz (1790–1862)
 Dorothea Zeemann (1909–1993)
 Sigrid Zeevaert (1960)
 Juli Zeh (1974)
 Ludwig Zehetner (1939)
 Hans Zehrer (1899–1966)
 Klaus Cäsar Zehrer (1969)
 Hans-Joachim Zeidler (1935–2010)
 Johann Gottfried Zeidler (1655–1711)
 Arnd Zeigler (1965)
 Martin Zeiller (1589–1661)
 Gert Zeising (1936)
 Armin Zeißler (1922–2014)
 Jewsei Lwowitsch Zeitlin (1948)
 Handrij Zejler (1804–1872)
 Semir Zeki (1940)
 Roger Zelazny (1937–1995)
 Gertrud Zelinsky (1937)
 Katharina Zell (1497–1562)
 Bernhard Zeller (1919–2008)
 Eduard Zeller (1814–1908)
 Eva Zeller (1923–2022)
 Eva Christina Zeller (1960)
 Felicia Zeller (1970)
 Michael Zeller (1944)
 Joachim Zelter (1962)
 Žemaitė (1845–1921)
 Adolf von Zemlinszky (1845–1900)
 Valérie Zenatti (1970)
 Lothar Zenetti (1926–2019)
 Helmut Zenker (1949–2003)
 Apostolo Zeno (1668–1750)
 Ofelia Zepeda (1952)
 Akaki Zereteli (1840–1915)
 Julius Zerfaß (1886–1956)
 Ansgar Zerfaß (1965)
 Heinrich Zerkaulen (1892–1954)
 Maurice Zermatten (1910–2001)
 Guido Zernatto (1903–1943)
 John Zerzan (1943)
 Julius Zerzer (1889–1971)
 Philipp von Zesen (1619–1689)
 Sarah Zettel (1966)
 Bruno Zevi (1918–2000)
 René Zey (1955)
 Julius Zeyer (1841–1901)

 Yvette Z’Graggen (1920–2012)

Zh 
 Zhang Ailing (1920–1995)
 Zhang Boduan (–1082)
 Zhang Xiguo (1944)
 Zhang Jie (1937–2022)
 Zhao Jingshen (1902–1985)
 Zheng Xuan (127–200)
 Zheng Yi (1947)
 Zhou Wei Hui (1973)
 Zhou Zuoren (1885–1967)
 Zhu Wen (1967)
 Zhu Xi (1130–1200)
 Zhuangzi (ca. 365–290 v. Chr.)

Zi 
 Werner P. Zibaso (1910–1983)
 Mischa Zickler (1966)
 Anton Ziegenaus (1936)
 Thomas Ziegenfuß (1958)
 Werner Ziegenfuß (1904–1975)
 Ulrich Zieger (1961–2015)
 Cecily von Ziegesar (1970)
 Heinrich Anselm von Ziegler und Kliphausen (1663–1696)
 Alexander Ziegler (1822–1887)
 Alexander Ziegler (1944–1987)
 Bernhard Ziegler (1964)
 Caspar Ziegler (1621–1690)
 Franz Ziegler (1803–1876)
 Friedrich Wilhelm Ziegler (1761–1827)
 Hans Severus Ziegler (1893–1978)
 Manuel Ziegler (1994)
 Thomas Ziegler (1956–2004)
 Eduard Ziehen (1819–1884)
 Adam Zielinski (1929–2010)
 Jochen Ziem (1932–1994)
 Sonja Ziemann (1926–2020)
 Andrzej Ziemiański (1960)
 Rafał Ziemkiewicz (1964)
 O. P. Zier (1954)
 Otto Zierer (1909–1983)
 Herbert Ziergiebel (1922–1988)
 Heinz-Jürgen Zierke (1926)
 Roland Ziersch (1904–1969)
 Maxim Ziese (1901–1955)
 Kurt Ziesel (1911–2001)
 Uschi Zietsch (1961)
 Benny Ziffer (1953)
 Miroslav Zikmund (1919)
 Péter Zilahy (1970)
 Gerlis Zillgens
 Hans-Joachim Zillmer (1950)
 Diethard Zils (1935)
 Christopher Zimmer (1959)
 Dieter Zimmer (1939)
 Dieter E. Zimmer (1934–2020)
 Hans Zimmer (1946)
 Carl Zimmerer (1926–2001)
 Max Zimmering (1909–1973)
 Christa-Maria Zimmermann (1943)
 Friedrich Zimmermann (1852–1917)
 Friedrich W. Zimmermann (1939)
 Hans-Günther Zimmermann (1951)
 Heinrich Zimmermann (1741–1805)
 Irene Zimmermann (1955)
 Moshe Zimmermann (1943)
 Peter Zimmermann (1961)
 Robert von Zimmermann (1824–1898)
 Walter Zimmermann (1949)
 Wilhelm Zimmermann (1807–1878)
 Katharina Zimmermann (1933)
 Froben Christoph von Zimmern (1519–1566)
 Helen Zimmern (1846–1934)
 Wilhelm Werner von Zimmern (1485–1575)
 Reiner Zimnik (1930–2021)
 Julius Wilhelm Zincgref (1591–1635)
 Paul Zindel (1935–2003)
 Udo Zindel (1956)
 Harry Zingel (1963–2009)
 David Zindell (1952)
 Ignaz Vinzenz Zingerle (1825–1892)
 Robert M. Zingg (1900–1957)
 Vera Zingsem (1954)
 Jörg Zink (1922)
 Alexander Zinn (1880–1941)
 Dorit Zinn (1940)
 Hedda Zinner (1905–1994)

 Franz Xaver Zippe (1791–1863)
 Hans Zippert (1957)
 Peter Zirbes (1825–1901)
 Anton Zischka (1904–1997)
 Hanns Zischler (1947)
 Alfredo Zitarrosa (1936–1989)
 Arnulf Zitelmann (1929–2023)
 Peter von Zittau (um 1275–1339)
 Maria Zittrauer (1913–1997)
 Kathinka Zitz-Halein (1801–1877)
 Georg Zitzer (1870–1932)
 Slavoj Žižek (1949)

Zo 
 Joseph Zobel (1915–2006)
 Fedor von Zobeltitz (1857–1934)
 Hanns von Zobeltitz (1853–1918)
 Hans-Caspar von Zobeltitz (1883–1940)
 Hans Zöberlein (1895–1964)
 Joseph Zoderer (1935–2022)
 Dietmar Zoedler (1921)
 Georg Zoëga (1755–1809)
 Lily Zografou (1922–1998)
 Irving Kenneth Zola (1935–1994)
 Émile Zola (1840–1902)
 Elisabeth Zöller (1945)
 Georg Joachim Zollikofer (1730–1788)
 Albin Zollinger (1895–1941)
 Koos van Zomeren (1946)
 Richard Zoozmann (1863–1934)
 Emil Zopfi (1943)
 Helmut Zöpfl (1937)
 Fritz Zorn (1944–1976)
 Juan Luis Zorrilla de San Martín (1855–1931)
 José Zorrilla y Moral (1817–1893)
 Alvise Zorzi (1922–2016)
 Zosimos
 Zosimos aus Panopolis (ca. 350–ca. 420)
 Roland Zoss (1951)
 Volker Zotz (1956)
 Zou Yan

Zs 
 Heinrich Zschokke (1771–1848)
 Matthias Zschokke (1954)
 Gerald Zschorsch (1941)
 Béla Zsolt (1895–1949)

Zu 
 Robert Zubrin
 Vinzenz Jakob von Zuccalmaglio (1806–1876)
 Karl Zuchardt (1887–1968)
 Renée Zucker (1954)
 Erwin Zucker-Schilling (1903–1985)
 Berta Zuckerkandl-Szeps (1864–1945)
 Hugo Zuckermann (1881–1914)
 Marcia Zuckermann (1957)
 Wolfgang Zuckermann (1922–2018)
 Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977)
 Peter Zudeick (1946)
 Manfred Züfle (1936–2007)
 Volkmar von Zühlsdorff (1912–2006)
 Gary Zukav
 Wojciech Żukrowski (1916–2000)
 Tilman Zülch (1939–2023)
 Jürgen Zulley (1945)
 Hans Zulliger (1893–1965)
 Zuo Qiuming
 Otto C. A. zur Nedden (1902–1994)
 Walter Zürcher (1934–2007)
 Meinolf Zurhorst (1953)
 Jeronimo Zurita (1512–1580)
 Josef Zurkirchen (1900–1993)
 Unica Zürn (1916–1970)
 Hannele Zürndorfer (1925)
 Markus Zusak (1975)
 Harald Zusanek (1922–1989)

Zw 
 Arnold Zweig (1887–1968)
 Friderike Maria Zweig (1882–1971)
 Stefan Zweig (1881–1942)
 Stefan Jerzy Zweig (1941)
 Stefanie Zweig (1932–2014)
 Gerhard Zwerenz (1925–2015)
 Michael Zwerin (1930–2010)
 Marina Iwanowna Zwetajewa (1892–1941)
 Jan Zweyer (1953)
 Johannes Zwick (um 1496–1542)
 Ernst Zwilling (1904–1990)
 Paul Zwilling (1547–1581)
 Frank Zwillinger (1909–1989)
 Hanns Peter Zwißler (1946)

Zy 
 Rajzel Zychlinski (1910–2001)
 Jenni Zylka (1969)
 Martin Zylka (1970)
 Leonid Borissowitsch Zypkin (1926–1982)

Z

Anthony Minghella, CBE (* 6. Januar 1954 in Ryde auf der Isle of Wight; † 18. März 2008 in London) war ein britischer Filmregisseur, Filmproduzent, Drehbuchautor, Dramatiker, Hörspielautor, Theater- und Opernregisseur.

Leben 
Anthony Minghella war der Sohn italienisch-schottischer Eltern, die auf der Isle of Wight eine Fabrik für Eiscreme betrieben. Nach seinem Schulabschluss studierte er an der Universität Hull, wo er eine Zeit lang als Dozent tätig war. Im Jahr 1978 drehte er einen ersten Kurzfilm und seit 1981 war er als Autor und Story Editor tätig. Er wurde mit Theaterstücken, Rundfunkhörspielen, der Fernsehserie Inspector Morse und vielen Drehbüchern für Film und Fernsehen bekannt. Er entwickelte die Drehbücher für die im Jahr 1988 erfolgreich ausgestrahlte Fernsehserie The Storyteller von Muppets-Erfinder Jim Henson.

Auch als Produzent war er erfolgreich, darunter für die Filme Der stille Amerikaner, Die Dolmetscherin und Der Vorleser, für den er 2008 posthum für den Oscar (Kategorie „Bester Film“) nominiert wurde. Gemeinsam mit seinem Freund und Kollegen Sydney Pollack gründete er die Produktionsfirma Mirage Enterprises. Der Regisseur Minghella galt als ein guter Schauspielerführer: Unter seiner Regie brachten es zahlreiche Darsteller zu Oscar-Nominierungen, zwei Schauspielerinnen erhielten die Auszeichnung als „Beste Nebendarstellerin“: Juliette Binoche (Der englische Patient) und Renée Zellweger (Unterwegs nach Cold Mountain).

Gegen Ende seines Lebens kehrte Minghella zu seinen Anfängen im Radio und auf der Bühne zurück: Im Jahr 2006 wurde sein Hörspiel Eyes Down Looking mit Jude Law zu Ehren von Samuel Beckett auf BBC Radio 3 ausgestrahlt, ein Jahr zuvor hatte seine Inszenierung der Puccini-Oper Madame Butterfly in der English National Opera in London Premiere und wurde auch in der Nationaloper von Vilnius, in der Metropolitan Opera in New York und in der Wiener Staatsoper gezeigt. Am Ende des Films Abbitte von Joe Wright (2007) hat er einen Kurzauftritt als Talkshow-Moderator neben Vanessa Redgrave. Seine letzte Arbeit als Drehbuchautor war das Skript für den Musical-Film Nine (gemeinsam mit Michael Tolkin). Zu seinen letzten Regiearbeiten zählt der Pilotfilm zur Krimiserie Eine Detektivin für Botswana (Originaltitel: ), den die BBC fünf Tage nach seinem Tod erstmals ausstrahlte.

Minghella war mit der aus Hongkong stammenden Choreographin, Produzentin und Schauspielerin Carolyn Choa (Wie verrückt und aus tiefstem Herzen) verheiratet. Der Ehe entstammen zwei Kinder, die in der Filmbranche tätig sind: Tochter Hannah Minghella in der Produktion und Sohn Max Minghella als Schauspieler (Agora – Die Säulen des Himmels). Seine Schwester Edana Minghella (1959–2022) und sein jüngerer Bruder Dominic Minghella (* 1966; u. a. für die britische Fernsehserie Doc Martin) sind Drehbuchautoren.

Minghella starb am 18. März 2008 im Alter von 54 Jahren in einem Londoner Krankenhaus an inneren Blutungen infolge der Operation eines Tonsillenkarzinoms sowie eines Karzinoms im Nacken.

Auszeichnungen 
Im Jahr 1984 erhielt Minghella den Londoner Kritikerpreis als meistversprechender junger Dramatiker, 1986 den Kritikerpreis für sein Stück Made in Bangkok als bestes Stück der Saison. 1997 erhielt er für Der englische Patient den Oscar in der Rubrik Beste Regie, 1999 eine Oscar-Nominierung in der Kategorie Bestes adaptiertes Drehbuch für Der talentierte Mr. Ripley, bei dem er auch Regie führte.

Im Jahr 2001 wurde Minghella zum Commander of the British Empire (CBE) ernannt. Von 2003 bis 2007 war er Präsident des British Film Institute. Seit 1997 trägt das Anthony Minghella Theatre auf der Isle of Wight seinen Namen.

Filmografie als Regisseur (Auswahl) 
 1991: Wie verrückt und aus tiefstem Herzen (Truly Madly Deeply)
 1993: Mr. Wonderful
 1996: Der englische Patient (The English Patient)
 1999: Der talentierte Mr. Ripley (The Talented Mr. Ripley)
 2003: Unterwegs nach Cold Mountain (Cold Mountain)
 2006: Breaking and Entering – Einbruch & Diebstahl (Breaking and Entering)
 2009: New York, I Love You (Szene)

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise 

 
Autor
Literatur (20. Jahrhundert)
Literatur (Englisch)
Drama
Theaterregisseur
Hörspielautor
Drehbuchautor
Filmregisseur
Filmproduzent
Oscarpreisträger
Commander des Order of the British Empire
Brite
Geboren 1954
Gestorben 2008
Mann

Die Geschichte des US-amerikanischen Films ist ein Kapitel der Filmgeschichte, das gerade wegen der hervorgehobenen Stellung der Vereinigten Staaten als Filmnation sowohl für die Filmkunst als auch für die Ökonomie des Films relevant ist. Weltruhm erlangte Hollywood, ein Stadtteil von Los Angeles, als Zentrum der US-amerikanischen Filmindustrie, weshalb der Name oft auch als Synonym für die gesamte amerikanische Film-Branche steht. Synonym für Hollywoods Filmindustrie wird wiederum der Begriff Traumfabrik ( Dreamfactory) verwendet.

Der Aufbau des Filmmarktes (1910 bis 1918)

Internationale Entwicklung 
Bis 1912 konzentrierten sich die US-amerikanischen Filmunternehmen auf den inneramerikanischen Filmwettbewerb. Erst danach stieg ihr Einfluss auf dem Weltmarkt. Und zwar so rapide, dass sie bereits 1914, zu Beginn des Ersten Weltkriegs, die Hälfte der Welt-Filmproduktion stellten.

Der harte Wettkampf zwischen dem Edison Trust und den von Carl Laemmle angeführten „Independents“ hatte wirksame Instrumente geschaffen, die, am nationalen Konkurrenten erprobt und verfeinert, nun mit zunehmender Härte die internationalen Mitbewerber trafen. Dennoch war die Vormachtstellung Hollywoods längst nicht unangreifbar, erst eine politische Entwicklung verschaffte ihr die nötige Ruhe zur Restrukturierung: Der Krieg in Europa.

Die französische Filmproduktion, Hauptkonkurrent der US-Amerikaner, kam mit dem Ausbruch des Krieges sofort und vollständig zum Erliegen, denn Pathé wandelte seine Rohfilm-Fabrik in eine Munitionsfabrik um und seine Studios in Kasernen. Ähnlich, und doch weniger extrem, brach die italienische Produktion beim Kriegseintritt des Landes 1916 ein.

Nachdem absehbar war, dass der Krieg sehr lange dauern konnte, bemühten sich die Franzosen, wieder ins Geschäft zu kommen. Die Position, die sie vor Ausbruch des Krieges innehatten, erreichten sie nicht mehr. Zudem beschloss das Deutsche Reich 1916 das generelle Filmeinfuhrverbot, was die europäischen Filmnationen ihres wichtigsten Absatzmarktes beraubte. Auch der Export nach Übersee gestaltete sich zunehmend schwierig, denn die Militärs beanspruchten viele Transportkapazitäten für sich. Außerdem führten deutsche U-Boote und kleinere Kreuzer einen Handelskrieg gegen die Entente-Mächte, wobei auch zivile Frachter versenkt wurden, da man die Entente verdächtigte, sie für Waffenlieferungen zu missbrauchen (z. B. die Versenkung der Lusitania).

Nationale Entwicklung 
Die Macht der Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC) war 1914 bereits weitgehend gebrochen, die später folgenden Gerichtsurteile waren nur noch Formalitäten. Sowohl die nationale als auch die internationale Konkurrenz der Independents waren also ausgeschaltet. Die US-Filmwirtschaft verlor zwar einen Teil des europäischen Absatzmarktes, doch der Bedarf an frischen Filmen innerhalb der Vereinigten Staaten war höher als in ganz Europa zusammen, so gab es beispielsweise 1916 bereits ca. 28.000 Kinos in ganz Amerika.
Auch in der übrigen Welt nahmen die Hollywood-Unternehmen eine dominierende Stellung ein, sie stellten zum Beispiel einen Großteil der in Australien und Südamerika gezeigten Filme, die ab ca. 1916 direkt vertrieben wurden (früher war es üblich, an lokale Zwischenhändler zu verkaufen).

Oligopolisierung 
Nach Robert C. Allen und Douglas Gomery basiert der freie Wettbewerb zwischen Unternehmen auf vier Punkten:

 Der Austauschbarkeit der Produkte
 Dem geringen Marktanteil der einzelnen Unternehmen
 Dem Fehlen von Wettbewerbshemmnissen
 Der Mobilität der Ressourcen

Das Oligopol der MPPC 
Der erste Versuch, den freien Wettbewerb zu zerstören und ein Oligopol zu bilden, wurde mittels der Patente betrieben. MPPC versuchte, den Zugang fremder Unternehmen zu behindern, indem sie diesen durch Lizenzgebühren den Wettbewerb erschwerte. Um das System durchzusetzen, sollte zudem eine hohe Marktdurchdringung erfolgen. Auf ihrem Höhepunkt kontrollierte die MPPC via Lizenz den Großteil der Kinos. Auch der Zugang zu Filmmaterial war nicht ohne Lizenz möglich, da Eastman Kodak einen Exklusivvertrag mit der MPPC geschlossen hatte.

Der Edison-Trust attackierte also vor allem die Punkte 2–4. Das System scheiterte endgültig mit der Annullierung der Edison-Patente durch den Obersten Gerichtshof der Vereinigten Staaten, sein Niedergang jedoch hatte schon wesentlich früher begonnen.

Reaktionen der „Independents“ 
Den freien Zugang zum Filmmaterial erlangten die Independents durch den Bau eigener Kameras und durch die Aufhebung des Patents auf Rohfilme 1912. Und um mit dem Trust konkurrieren zu können, begannen sie, ihre Filme von denen der MPPC unterscheidbar zu machen. Hierbei entstanden der Feature Film und das „Starsystem“.

Die MPPC war zwar nicht blind gegenüber diesen Neuerungen, auch sie drehte Feature Films, durch ihre Struktur und vor allem durch ihre Kundenstruktur, war sie dennoch nicht in der Lage, mit diesen neuen Instrumenten zu experimentieren. Der Trust wollte Massenware verkaufen um eine bestimmte Marge zu erwirtschaften. Teure Stars hätten nur die Kosten hochgetrieben, und Feature Films bargen ein nicht zu unterschätzendes Risiko, für das die Kunden des Trusts nicht aufkommen wollten. So konnten die „Independents“ den ersten Punkt des freien Wettbewerbs unterhöhlen und einzigartige Filmerlebnisse statt austauschbarer Produkte bieten, was dem Publikumsinteresse deutlich entgegenkam und vor allem finanzkräftigere Mittelschichten erschloss.

Der Feature Film kommt ca. 1909 auf und wird nur von den Independents ernsthaft weiterentwickelt, beispielsweise von Famous Players, die später nur noch Features produzieren. Famous Players sind auch die erste Gesellschaft, die das Starsystem konsequent nutzt, nach früheren Versuchen, z. B. von I.M.P.

Distribution 
Durch die oben genannten Schritte schaffen es die Independents, sich eine Position im Markt zu sichern und immer weiter auszubauen. Für nationales und internationales Wachstum fehlen ihnen effiziente Strukturen, zum Beispiel in der Distribution. Noch bis in die Mitte der 1910er Jahre hält sich das alte States-Rights-System, in dem der Produzent lokale Franchise-Rechte seines Films an einen Distributor verkauft, der diese dann innerhalb seines festgelegten Gebiets an Kinos weiter verleiht.

Diese Situation ändert sich erstmals 1914 mit der Fusion von elf regionalen Distributoren zu Paramount, die als erste landesweite Rechte handelt. Durch ihre schiere Größe kann das Unternehmen wesentlich kosteneffizienter arbeiten als die Mitbewerber, ganz abgesehen davon, dass dieses System auch für die Produktionsgesellschaft erhebliche Vorteile mit sich bringt. Das alte System kommt bis 1918 zum Erliegen.

Vertikale Integration 
Kurz nach ihrer Gründung schließt Paramount Fünfjahresverträge mit Famous Players, Lasky und Bosworth ab, die später auf 25 Jahre verlängert werden. Hier zeichnet sich ein Trend ab, der 1914 zunehmend an Bedeutung gewinnt: Die Verflechtung der bisher getrennten Bereiche Distribution, Produktion und Vorführung, ein Phänomen, das in der Fachliteratur als Vertikale Integration bezeichnet wird. Die Bindung durch die Fünfjahresverträge ist vorteilhaft für alle Beteiligten: Jeder profitiert vom Erfolg des anderen. Wenn das Lasky-Programm sehr gut ist, wird das Paramount-Sortiment von mehr Kinos gekauft, wovon auch Famous Players und Bosworth profitieren, da ihr Programm so auch eine größere Verbreitung findet. Die Kooperation führt dann auch, zwei Jahre später, zur Fusion der genannten und noch einiger weiterer Unternehmen.

Doch es lassen sich durchaus auch frühere Beispiele für vertikale Integration finden. So sind 1912 unter dem Namen Universal erstmals alle drei Bereiche des Filmbusiness vereint. Es fehlte allerdings eine große First-Run-Kinokette. Dennoch schien der Branche die Fusion so bedrohlich, dass die Gründung von Mutual eine direkte Gegenmaßnahme darstellen sollte. Auch hier fanden sich viele Unternehmen unter einem Dach zusammen, denen es explizit nur um Distribution und Produktion ging.

Auch William Fox besitzt 1913 ein Distributions- und ein Produktionsunternehmen, die allerdings erst später zusammengeführt werden. Von Seiten der Kinokettenbesitzer ist zunächst wenig zu hören, erst 1915 schließen sich drei große Ketten, Rowland, Clarke und Mayer, zur Metro Pictures Corporation zusammen, einer Produktionsgesellschaft.

Komplette Vertikale Integration 
Die wirklich große Reaktion der Kinobesitzer kam erst 1917. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt war die fusionierte Paramount zur dominanten Gesellschaft geworden, die ihre Filme mittels Block-Booking vertrieb. Das hieß, um einen Film mit einem Star vom Kaliber einer Mary Pickford zu bekommen, musste man ein komplettes Paket erwerben, dessen große Mehrheit bestenfalls als durchschnittlich zu bezeichnen war. Andererseits konnte man dem Kauf der Pakete schlecht entgehen, wenn man nicht sein Publikum an ein anderes Kino verlieren wollte, das ebendiesen Mary-Pickford-Film zeigte.

Um dieses System zu durchbrechen, schlossen sich 26 der größten nationalen First-Run-Kinokettenbesitzer zum First National Exhibitors Circuit zusammen. Mit ihrer erheblichen Kaufkraft wollten sie gemeinsame Einkäufe tätigen und auch distribuieren. Zuerst war es das Ziel, Stars zu kaufen, ihre Filme zu finanzieren und im Gegenzug das Aufführungsrecht zu erwerben sowie das Recht, die entstandenen Filme regional weiter zu verleihen.

Sehr bald kam auch eine eigene Produktion dazu. Zwischen 1917 und 1918 nahm First National Charlie Chaplin und Mary Pickford für jeweils eine Million Dollars unter Vertrag. Beide erhielten vollständige künstlerische Freiheit. First National kontrollierte zu diesem Zeitpunkt bereits ca. 600 Kinos, 200 davon Erstaufführungshäuser.

Aus den First-Run-Kinos stammten bis zu 50 Prozent der Einnahmen der Produzenten, außerdem waren Kinos die verlässlichsten Geldverdiener im recht unsteten Filmgeschäft, da das Betreiberrisiko viel geringer war als beispielsweise in der Produktion. Darüber hinaus entschied der Erfolg in den First-Runs über eine lukrative Distribution.

Wenn Paramount also seine Abnehmer und sein Publikum nicht verlieren wollte, musste ein Gegenschlag erfolgen. Also stieg die Gesellschaft, mit finanzieller Unterstützung des Bankhauses Kuhn, Loeb & Co., ins Geschäft mit den Kinos ein, anfangs mit einer Summe von 10 Millionen Dollar. Somit wurde Paramount der erste vollintegrierte, oder komplett vertikal integrierte Filmkonzern.

Das zweite Oligopol 
So wurden aus den alten Independents die Inhaber des zweiten Oligopols. Am Ende der 1910er Jahre war der erste Punkt des freien Wettbewerbs durch das Starsystem und Feature-Filme außer Kraft gesetzt, der zweite Punkt durch die schiere Größe der Unternehmen: Weniger als zehn Unternehmen kontrollierten über 50 Prozent des Marktes. Durch die Vereinigung der Distribution und durch den beginnenden Kampf um die Kinos waren auch die letzten beiden Bedingungen für einen funktionierenden Wettbewerb ausgehebelt.

Ein neues Unternehmen konnte weder einen genügenden Zugang zu den Kinos noch Zugriff auf die Stars, also auf die essentiellen Ressourcen der Filmproduktion erhalten. Auch waren die Produktionskosten stark gestiegen. Zwischen 50.000 und 100.000 US-Dollar pro Film waren normal, nach oben gab es keine Beschränkungen. Ein Großteil dieses Geldes floss in die Taschen der Stars, der Rest wurde in bessere Ausstattung investiert, eine weitere Hürde für Neueinsteiger.

Um dem Trend zu höheren Gagen entgegenzuwirken, und um, wie später in einer Anhörung des Obersten Gerichtshofs bekannt wurde, ein Monopol zu errichten, planten First National und Paramount eine Fusion im Wert von 40 Millionen US-Dollar. Es war geplant, mit jedem bedeutenden Kinobesitzer in den Vereinigten Staaten einen Fünf-Jahres-Vertrag abzuschließen. Die Stars hätten dann keine Grundlage mehr für irgendwelche Forderungen gehabt.

United Artists 
Die Pläne zu diesem Merger wurden von einem Privatdetektiv aufgedeckt, der im Auftrag von Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks und D. W. Griffith herausfinden sollte, warum weder First National noch Paramount ihre Verträge verlängerte. Natürlich waren sie entsetzt über solche Aussichten und beschlossen, dem entgegenzuwirken, indem sie ihr eigenes Unternehmen gründeten.

1919 entstand United Artists als Gesellschaft für den Filmvertrieb. Finanziert wurde das Unternehmen durch die Morgan-Gruppe sowie durch eine Einlage von 100.000 US-Dollar für Vorzugs-Anteilscheine durch die Eigentümer. Daneben existierten auch normale Anteilscheine, bei deren Weiterverkauf United Artists ein Vorkaufsrecht hatte.

Die Gesellschaft hatte keine eigenen Studios, sondern nutzte die Studios seiner Mitglieder. Sie war errichtet worden als reine Dienstleistungsgesellschaft, die nicht auf Rendite arbeiten sollte, sondern den Besitzern größtmögliche Autonomie und Profite aus dem Geschäft mit ihren Filmen einräumte. Es gab kein Block-Booking, jeder Film wurde individuell vertrieben und musste allein durch seine künstlerischen Qualitäten überzeugen. Die Verleihgebühren der United Artists lagen deutlich unter denen von First National und Paramount, stellten also eine erhebliche Bedrohung für die marktbeherrschende Stellung der beiden dar.

Der Kampf um die Kinos 
Die Fusion der beiden Giganten war auch gescheitert, weil ihr wichtigstes Kapital, die Stars, sich auf und davon gemacht hatte. First National war also immer noch Konkurrent Paramounts, und die United Artists mit ihren qualitativ sehr hochwertigen Filmen und ihrer enormen Beliebtheit brachten das Unternehmen weiter in Bedrängnis. Also versuchte Paramount das, was man heute eine feindliche Übernahme nennen würde: Stück für Stück wurden die in der First National zusammengeschlossenen Kinoketten aufgekauft.

Auch andere Unternehmen versuchten nun, Kontrolle über die Erstaufführungshäuser zu erlangen, sogar United Artists sah sich später, 1924, mangels Abnehmern gezwungen, eine eigene Kette zu gründen. Wie auch schon in der Vergangenheit, wurden die Kämpfe um die Kinos mit harten Bandagen ausgetragen, vor allem Paramounts „dynamite gang“, auch „wrecking crew“ genannt, wurde ihrem Ruf gerecht. Eine weit verbreitete Methode, Kinos an sich zu binden, war das Blocksystem.

Zwischen Erstem Weltkrieg und dem Ende der Stummfilmzeit (1918 bis etwa 1930)

Dominanz des Weltmarktes 
Seit 1917 begannen US-amerikanische Unternehmen, ihre Gewinne auf der Basis von in- und ausländischen Verkäufen zu schätzen. Aus dieser Gewinnschätzung ergab sich das Budget der Produktion, das dadurch erhöht wurde, was für die ausländische Konkurrenz doppelt schlecht war. Die Produktionskosten eines Filmes wurden in den Vereinigten Staaten amortisiert, und später wurden die Filme billig im Ausland angeboten, wodurch die internationale Konkurrenz nicht mehr mithalten konnte.

US-amerikanische Filme galten als qualitativ besser und waren im Erwerb trotzdem günstiger als z. B. deutsche Produktionen. Auch waren die Infrastruktur und die Rationalisierung der Produktionsabläufe nirgends so weit gediehen wie in Hollywood, ein Resultat auch des wachsenden Einflusses der Banken.

Als der Erste Weltkrieg vorbei war, und die Menschen in den bislang abgeschnittenen Ländern wie Deutschland oder Österreich erstmals wieder Hollywood-Produktionen zu sehen bekamen, erlebten sie einen wahren Quantensprung in der Qualität. Die führenden europäischen Filmproduktionsländer, deren isolierte Filmindustrien fünf Jahre lang unter dem Ersten Weltkrieg gelitten hatten, und zudem mit viel geringeren Budgets zu kämpfen hatten, konnten der Konkurrenz aus den Vereinigten Staaten nur noch wenig entgegensetzen. Bis 1927 erhöhte sich der Anteil der amerikanischen Filmproduktion an der Weltfilmproduktion auf nahezu 90 %, was zu Beginn der 1920er Jahre die Filmwirtschaft in England, Frankreich, Italien, Deutschland und Österreich schwer in Bedrängnis brachte und die dortige Filmproduktion stark zurückgehen ließ. Zahlreiche europäische Filmproduktionsgesellschaften mussten schließen. 1925 wurden alleine nach Österreich 1200 US-Produktionen exportiert, obwohl der Bedarf der dortigen Kinos auf lediglich rund 350 geschätzt wurde. In vielen Ländern wurden Filmkontingente eingeführt, die die erlaubte Anzahl an Filmimporten aus den Vereinigten Staaten regelten.

Da rund 45 % der Gewinne zu dieser Zeit aus Europa kamen, wurden die Restriktionen in Europa von den amerikanischen Filmmagnaten mit Argwohn betrachtet. Zumeist erfolglos wurde gegen Einfuhrbeschränkungen Lobbying betrieben. In Ungarn jedoch wurden die geplanten Einfuhrbeschränkungen nicht eingeführt, nachdem die US-amerikanische Filmindustrie den ungarischen Behörden damit gedroht hatte, keine Filme mehr in Ungarn zu zeigen.

Filmwirtschaftliche Situation 
1927 waren nach Zahlen des US-Handelsdepartements beim amerikanischen Film 350.000 Personen beschäftigt. Zur Filmproduktion wurden rund 500.000 Kilometer Filmband verbraucht, wofür mehr Silber benötigt wurde, als der Umlauf an Silbermünzen in den Vereinigten Staaten ausmachte. Es wurden Filme im Ausmaß von 75.000 Kilometer Filmband und einem damaligen Wert von rund 320 Millionen Mark exportiert. Ende des Jahres 1927 zählten die Vereinigten Staaten 21.642 Kinos, die in jenem Jahr insgesamt 3 Milliarden Mal besucht wurden, was wiederum einen Erlös aus dem Eintrittsgeld von rund 2,5 Milliarden Dollar ergab.

Während Amerika den weltweiten Filmmarkt fast ohne nennenswerte Konkurrenz dominierte, hatten ausländische Produktionen am US-Markt kaum eine Chance. Spielten in manchen Ländern jährlich bis zu 1000 oder mehr US-Filmproduktionen in den Kinos, liefen in den gesamten Vereinigten Staaten im Jahr 1927 nur 65 ausländische Filme, davon 38 aus Deutschland, neun aus England, sechs aus Frankreich, vier aus Russland, je zwei aus Österreich und Italien und je einer aus China und Polen. Selbst diese Filme waren zumeist nur wenig verbreitet und liefen fast ausschließlich auf so genannten Filmkunstbühnen.

Das Studiosystem

Frühe Tonfilmära bis Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs 
Ab 1933, verstärkt jedoch ab Beginn des Zweiten Weltkriegs und der Ausbreitung des Deutschen Reichs auf immer weitere Teile Europas, setzte eine Emigrationswelle von zumeist jüdischen Filmschaffenden aus Europa ein. Waren deren Auswanderungsziele zu Beginn noch häufig europäische Städte mit Filmindustrie wie Wien, Paris oder London, kristallisierte sich bald die aufstrebende Filmindustrie Hollywoods als begehrtestes und vielversprechendstes Ziel der Emigranten heraus – verstärkt durch gezieltes Anwerben europäischer Filmgrößen durch Hollywood-Studiobosse.

Von den etwa 2000 jüdischen Filmschaffenden, die im Deutschen Reich keine Arbeit mehr fanden und auswandern mussten, fanden sich letztendlich rund 800 in Hollywood wieder – darunter fast die gesamte Elite des deutschsprachigen Filmschaffens dieser Zeit. Vielen gelang dort eine ruhmvolle Karriere, viele, vor allem jene, die 1938 und noch später ohne Arbeitsangebot in Hollywood ankamen, konnten nicht mehr an ihre bisherige Karriere anschließen und kamen nur in schlecht bezahlten und unbedeutenden Positionen unter oder mussten nach einer Weile gar das Filmgeschäft aufgeben. Statt der bisher aus Berlin und Wien gewohnten Kaffeehäuser, wo man sich einst regelmäßig traf, wurden nun große Appartements und Villen von in Hollywood erfolgreichen Emigranten neue Treffpunkte. Beliebte Treffpunkte der Film- und Theaterschaffenden waren die Adressen von Henry Koster, Paul Henreid, Ernst Deutsch-Dryden, Paul Kohner und später auch von Sam Spiegel. Die literarische Emigration, inklusive Drehbuchautoren, traf sich häufig bei Salka Viertel und bei Brecht.

Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg

New Hollywood

Siehe auch 
 Liste erfolgreicher Filme in den Vereinigten Staaten
 Experimentalfilm
 Filmgeschichte
 Filmstudio
 Kriegsfilm
 US-amerikanische Filmproduktionsgesellschaften
 Undergroundfilm

Literatur

Deutsch 
 Kenneth Anger: Hollywood Babylon, Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1999
 Helmut G. Asper: ‘Etwas Besseres als den Tod …’. Filmexil in Hollywood: Porträts, Filme, Dokumente. Schüren 2002, ISBN 3-89472-362-9.
 Elisabeth Bronfen, Norbert Grob (Hrsg.): Classical Hollywood. Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 2013, ISBN 978-3-15-019015-9. (Filme von 1929 bis 1960)
 Peter Bürger: Kino der Angst. Terror, Krieg und Staatskunst aus Hollywood. Schmetterling Verlag; Auflage: 2., durchges. u. erw. Aufl. 2006, ISBN 3-89657-472-8.
 Hollywood hybrid. Genre und Gender im zeitgenössischen Mainstream-Film, hg. von Claudia Liebrand, Schüren Presseverlag 2003
 Neal Gabler: Ein eigenes Reich. Wie jüdische Emigranten Hollywood erfanden. Berlin Verlag 2004, ISBN 3-8270-0353-9.
 Michaela Krützen: Dramaturgie des Films. Wie Hollywood erzählt. Frankfurt am Main, Fischer TB, 2004, ISBN 3-596-16021-9.
 Paul Werner, Uta van Steen: Rebellin in Hollywood – 13 Porträts des Eigensinns. Münster 1987
 Slavoj Žižek: Lacan in Hollywood. Turia & Kant 2000, ISBN 3-85132-276-2.

Englisch 
Hollywood
 Christopher Ames: Movies about the movies: Hollywood reflected. University Press of Kentucky, 1997
 Ward Churchill: Fantasies of the Master Race: Literature, Cinema, and the Colonization of American Indians: Literature, Cinema and the Colonization of American Indians. City Lights Books., U.S., 1998, ISBN 0-87286-348-4.
 George F. Custen: Twentieth Century’s Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Culture of Hollywood. BasicBooks, New York 1997, ISBN 0-465-07619-X.
 David Bordwell, Janet Staiger, Kristin Thompson: The Classical Hollywood Cinema. Columbia University Press, New York 1985
 Alan Taylor: We, the media …, genre, star system, representation of news journalism, media mergers, 1976–1999. Peter Lang, 2005, ISBN 3-631-51852-8, S. 418.
 Steven Alan Carr: Hollywood and anti-semitism: a cultural history up to World War II. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2001
 Gene Fernett: American Film Studios: An Historical Encyclopedia. McFarland, Jefferson, NC 1988, ISBN 0-7864-1325-5.
 Otto Friedrich: City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940s. Harper & Row, New York 1986, ISBN 0-06-015626-0.
 Neal Gabler: An empire of their own: how the Jews invented Hollywood. Crown Publishers, New York 1988.
 Molly Haskell: From reverence to rape the treatment of women in the movies. 2. Auflage. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1987.
 Mick LaSalle: Complicated Women: Sex and Power in Pre-Code Hollywood. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000, ISBN 0-312-25207-2.
 Ethan Mordden: The Hollywood Studios: House Style in the Golden Age of the Movies. Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1988, ISBN 0-394-55404-3.
 Stephen Prince: A new pot of gold: Hollywood under the electronic rainbow, 1980–1989 (= History of the American cinema. vol. 10). New York: Scribner u. a. 2000.
 Vincent F. Rocchio: Reel Racism: Confronting Construction of Afro-American Culture. Westview Press, 2000.
 Peter C. Rollins (Hrsg.): Hollywood’s Indian: the portrayal of the Native American in film. Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1998.
 Marjorie Rosen: Popcorn Venus: Women, Movies & the American Dream. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, New York 1973, ISBN 0-698-10545-1.
 Steven J. Ross: Working class Hollywood: silent film and the shaping of class in America. Princeton University Press, 1998.
 Jean Rouverol: Refugees from Hollywood: a journal of the blacklist years. University of New Mexico Press, 2000.
 Kerry Segrave: American television abroad: Hollywood’s attempt to dominate world television. McFarland, 1998.
 Dawn B. Sova: Women in Hollywood: from vamp to studio head. Fromm International Publ., New York 1998.
 John Trumpbour: Selling Hollywood to the World: U.S. and European Struggles for Mastery of the Global Film Industry 1920–1950. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
 Eileen Whitfield: Pickford: the woman who made Hollywood. Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 1997.

Experimentalfilm
 Lauren Rabinovitz: Points of resistance: women, power & politics in the New York avant-garde cinema, 1943–71. 2. Auflage. University of Illinois Press, 2003.
 P. Adams Sitney: Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde 1943–1978. 2. Auflage. Oxford University Press, 1979.

Dokumentarfilm
 Bill Nichols: Newsreel: documentary filmmaking on the American left. Arno Pr., New York 1980.
 Janet K. Cutler, Phyllis Rauch Klotman (Hrsg.): Struggles for Representation: African American Documentary Film and Video. Indiana University Press, 2000.

Independent film
 Peter Biskind: Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film. Bloomsbury, 2005.
 Greg Merritt: Celluloid Mavericks: A History of American Independent Film. Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2001.

Einzelnachweise 

 US
US

Vorsätze für Maßeinheiten, Einheitenvorsätze, Einheitenpräfixe oder kurz Präfixe oder Vorsätze dienen dazu, Vielfache oder Teile von Maßeinheiten zu bilden, um Zahlen mit vielen Stellen zu vermeiden.

SI-Präfixe 
SI-Präfixe (Einheitenvorsatzzeichen) sind für die Verwendung im Internationalen Einheitensystem (SI) definierte Dezimalpräfixe. Sie basieren auf Zehnerpotenzen mit ganzzahligen Exponenten. Man unterscheidet zwischen dem Namen des Präfixes und seinem Symbol. Die Symbole sind international einheitlich. Die Namen unterscheiden sich je nach Sprache.

Die Zeichen für Teile einer Einheit werden als Kleinbuchstaben geschrieben, während die meisten Zeichen für Vielfache einer Einheit als Großbuchstaben geschrieben werden. Ausnahmen von dieser Systematik sind aus historischen Gründen die Zeichen für Deka (da), Hekto (h) und Kilo (k). Das Beratende Komitee für Einheiten (CCU) des Internationalen Büros für Maß und Gewicht diskutierte die Möglichkeiten, diese Symbole durch D, H und K zu ersetzen, legte diese Idee jedoch auf Eis (), weil Änderungen am System nur „aus sehr wichtigen Gründen“ erfolgen sollten.

Typografie 
Die Einheitenvorsatzzeichen werden wie die Einheitenzeichen in aufrechter, nicht kursiver Schrift geschrieben, unabhängig von der Schriftart (Schriftauszeichnung) des umgebenden Textes. Zwischen Einheitenvorsatzzeichen und Einheitenzeichen wird kein Zwischenraum geschrieben.

Das Präfix-Symbol für „Mikro“ ist der griechische Buchstabe μ (My). Aus historischen Gründen ist es in Unicode zweimal vorhanden: als Buchstabe des griechischen Alphabets (U+03BC) und als Sonderzeichen (U+00B5), siehe My → Mikro-Zeichen. Wo dieses Zeichen nicht verfügbar ist, wird vor allem in der elektrotechnischen Literatur ersatzweise häufig u verwendet. Das wurde in der Internationalen Norm ISO 2955 von 1983, die 2001 zurückgezogen wurde, auch so empfohlen. Für Deutschland gelten weiterhin die Empfehlungen der DIN-Norm DIN 66030 Informationstechnik – Darstellung von Einheitennamen in Systemen mit beschränktem Schriftzeichenvorrat vom Mai 2002. In Österreich sieht das Maß- und Eichgesetz μ vor. Beim Austausch medizinischer Daten gemäß dem HL7-Standard ist u anstelle von μ zugelassen. Im englischen Sprachraum wird μ manchmal durch mc ersetzt.

Kombination von SI-Präfixen und Einheiten 
 Die Zusammensetzung aus Präfix und Einheitenzeichen bildet ein neues, beim Zeilenumbruch nicht trennbares Einheitenzeichen.
 Präfixe dürfen nicht kombiniert werden. Es gibt also keine Mega-Kilometer oder Dezi-Kilogramm. (Die in der IT verwendete Hekto-Nanosekunde  1 hns = 0,1 µs ist nicht normgerecht.) In Einheiten, die als Produkte oder Quotienten geschrieben werden, darf jeder Faktor ein Präfix tragen; kg/dm3 ist also zulässig.
 Einheitenvorsatzzeichen und Einheitenvorsatznamen können nicht alleine, sondern nur zusammen mit Einheitenzeichen und Einheitennamen verwendet werden.
 Für Zeiteinheiten außerhalb des SI (zugelassen sind Minute (min), Stunde (h) und Tag (d) ) werden Präfixe nicht verwendet; für die SI-Einheit Sekunde sind Präfixe erlaubt.
 Das Kilogramm (kg) verwendet bereits kilo, also werden keine weiteren Vorsätze angewendet. Stattdessen wird vom Gramm (g) ausgegangen. Statt Megagramm, Gigagramm usw. wird in der Regel auf die (metrische) Tonne (t) zurückgegriffen.
 Bei der Potenzierung gilt der Exponent für die Einheit mitsamt SI-Präfix, d. h.5 km2 = 5 ⸱ (1000 m)2 = 5 ⸱  m2 =  m2.In km/s2 , kg⸱m2 und g⸱mm2 gilt der Exponent jeweils für den unterstrichenen Teil.
 Das Zeichen m bezeichnet sowohl die Einheit Meter als auch das Präfix Milli (). Um Missverständnisse zu vermeiden, wird es bei zusammengesetzten Einheiten für die Bedeutung Meter an die letzte Stelle gesetzt; vorangestellt wird es als Präfix interpretiert. Beispiel: Nm steht für Newtonmeter, mN für Millinewton. Nach den strengeren Regeln des SI ist Nm überhaupt nicht zulässig, sondern nur die Trennung mit Leerzeichen (N m) oder Multiplikationspunkt (N⸱m). Analog kann Tm (T für die Einheit Tesla oder das Präfix Tera) für Terameter (eher unübliche Längeneinheit), aber ohne Leerzeichen oder Multiplikationspunkt auch für Teslameter (die Einheit des Kraftfaktors B × L) stehen.

Internationale und deutsche Benennung 
Die Namen der Vorsätze werden von der Generalkonferenz für Maß und Gewicht für die englische und französische Sprache vorgegeben. Die Bezeichnungen sind für diese beiden Sprachen gleich, außer dass im Französischen die Vorsätze , ,  und  mit Akut geschrieben werden. Im amerikanischen Englisch ist deka anstelle von deca üblich.

Die deutschen Bezeichnungen werden nach DIN 1301-1 festgelegt. Sie unterscheiden sich von den englischen insofern, als bei Deka, Hekto, Mikro, Piko, Yokto und Quekto jeweils ein C durch ein K ersetzt ist und bei Dezi und Zenti ein C durch ein Z.

Sprachliches 
Der Name eines Einheitenvorsatzes bildet mit dem zugehörigen Einheitennamen ein zusammengesetztes Wort. Beispiele sind Nanometer oder Milligramm. Wenn aus dem Zusammenhang klar ist, welche Einheit gemeint ist, wird dieses zusammengesetzte Wort in der Umgangssprache häufig auf den Vorsatz verkürzt. So ist von Kilo die Rede, wenn Kilogramm (kg) gemeint ist. Im technischen Bereich wird der Mikrometer (μm) kurz als My [] bezeichnet; im Englischen ist noch die Bezeichnung micron für Mikrometer üblich, die 1967 aus dem SI entfernt wurde. Im Österreichischen und Tschechischen wird das Kurzwort Deka für die Masseeinheit Dekagramm (dag) verwendet.

Im Flächenmaß Hektar (Hekto-Ar, 100 a) verschwindet ausnahmsweise an der Wortfügestelle das O von hekto, was den Doppelselbstlaut vermeidet. In angelsächsischen Sprachraum wird aus gleichem Grund für Megaohm (MΩ) gelegentlich megohm geschrieben.

Geschichte 

Bereits bei der Einführung metrischer Einheiten in Frankreich 1793 wurden Maßeinheiten für Länge, Fläche, Volumen und Gewicht (Masse) definiert, deren Bezeichnungen die Vorsätze déci, centi, milli, hecto, kilo, sowie auch demi (½), double (2) und myria (10000) hatten. Als 1874 die British Association for the Advancement of Science das CGS-System einführte, wurden systematisch die Vorsätze micro bis mega verwendet.

Das Internationale Komitee für Maß und Gewicht beschloss 1879 einheitliche Symbole für die Präfixe von Milli bis Kilo. Allerdings wurden nicht alle Kombinationen von Grundeinheit und Vorsatz freigegeben, sondern eine limitierte Liste von Kombinationen. So war der Hektoliter gelistet, nicht aber Hektometer oder Hektogramm.

Bis 1960 waren in Frankreich die Vorsätze myria (gr.   = zehntausend) mit dem Zeichen ma für das 10+4‑fache und dimi mit Zeichen dm für das 10−4‑fache genormt. Statt myria wurde Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts auf einen Vorschlag von Thomas Young hin z. T. auch myrio geschrieben.
Früher waren in Deutschland auch das Symbol D und in Großbritannien dk für Deka üblich, in Österreich war das Zeichen dk bis Mitte der 1950er Jahre gesetzlich vorgeschrieben.

Bei der Schaffung des SI im Jahr 1960 wurden die bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt definierten heute gültigen Präfixe von 10−12 bis 10+12 und deren Symbole übernommen. 1964 folgten Femto und Atto, 1975 Peta und Exa, 1991 die Präfixe bis 10−24 und 10+24 und 2022 schließlich die Präfixe bis 10−30 und 10+30.

Einheitenvorsätze für binäre Vielfache 

 
In der Datenverarbeitung kommen oft Zweierpotenzen vor – insbesondere bei der Größe von Arbeitsspeichern und anderen Datenspeichern. Ähnlich wie bei Zehnerpotenzen ist auch hier die Verwendung von Präfixen hilfreich. Da 210 = 1024 sehr nahe bei 1000 liegt, bürgerte es sich ein, bei Größenangaben von Datenmengen in Bit und Byte den Vorsatz Kilo für 1024 zu verwenden. Analog verwendete man Mega für 220 = 1048576 etc… Da dies aber zu Zweideutigkeiten führte, definierte die für die Normung in der Elektrotechnik zuständige International Electrotechnical Commission spezielle Binärpräfixe. Das binäre Präfixsymbol entsteht durch Anhängen von ‑i an das entsprechende dezimale Präfixsymbol (Ki wird dabei im Gegensatz zu k groß geschrieben). Der Name eines binären Präfixes wird durch Anhängen von ‑bi an die ersten beiden Buchstaben des entsprechenden dezimalen Präfixnamens gebildet (siehe Tabelle). Zu den 2022 neu eingeführten SI-Präfixen Ronna und Quetta gibt es offiziell noch keine binären Entsprechungen.

Diese Binärpräfixe wurden von den wichtigsten Normungsinstitutionen übernommen. Die Dezimalpräfixe sollen nur noch für Zehnerpotenzen verwendet werden, z. B. 100 GB = 1011 B ≈ 93,1 GiB. Manche Hersteller haben diese Empfehlung aber noch nicht umgesetzt und verwenden dezimale Präfixe im binären Sinn (siehe Byte).

Siehe auch 
 Wissenschaftliche Notation
 Schreibweise von Zahlen

Weblinks 

 The International System of Units (SI): Prefixes, offizielle Seite des  Internationalen Büros für Maß und Gewicht (BIPM) (englisch)
 SI-Präfix Informationen des NIST zu SI-Präfixen (englisch)
  (englisch, PDF, 944 kB)
 Gesetzliche Präfixe in der Schweiz
 Umrechnung IEA

Einzelnachweise 

 
Masseinheiten, Vorsatze
Masseinheiten, Vorsatze

Viele, aber nicht alle, Fachautoren kürzen ohne Punkt und Leerzeichen ab: So wird die Abbreviatur für in der Regel, normalerweise i. d. R., mit idR abbreviert. Ungeachtet dessen werden Akronyme, wie sonst auch, ohne Punkte gebildet. Folgende Liste von Abkürzungen aus der Rechtssprache versucht nur sprachlich korrekte Abbreviaturen, also mit Punkt und Leerzeichen, aufzuführen, sofern nicht die geraffte Schreibweise in den Alltag Einzug gefunden hat und dort dominiert (z. B. eG, GbR oder MdB) oder die Abbreviatur nur in juristischen Schriften und dort auch nur zusammengeschrieben auftaucht.

A 
 A. Anhang
 a. analog
 a. A. andere(r) Ansicht
 AA Auswärtiges Amt oder Agentur für Arbeit oder Aktuelles Arbeitsrecht (Zeitschrift) oder Anonyme Alkoholiker oder Amtsanwalt
 AABG Gesetz zur Begrenzung der Arzneimittelausgaben der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung
 AABGebV Besondere Gebührenverordnung des Auswärtigen Amts für individuell zurechenbare öffentliche Leistungen in dessen Zuständigkeitsbereich
 AAG Aufwendungsausgleichsgesetz (Gesetz über den Ausgleich der Arbeitgeberaufwendungen für Entgeltfortzahlung) oder Aussiedleraufnahmegesetz
 AAO Alarm- und Ausrückeordnung
 AApoO (AAppO) Approbationsordnung für Apotheker
 ÄApoO (ÄAppO) Approbationsordnung für Ärzte, siehe → Approbationsordnung
 ÄApprOÄndV Änderungsverordnung zur ÄApoO
 AAPV Allgemeine Ambulante Palliativversorgung
 ÄArbVtrG Gesetz über befristete Arbeitsverträge mit Ärzten in der Weiterbildung
 AarhusÜbk Übereinkommen über den Zugang zu Informationen, die Öffentlichkeitsbeteiligung an Entscheidungsverfahren und den Zugang zu Gerichten in Umweltangelegenheiten
 AATV Verordnung über Nachweispflichten für Arzneimittel, die zur Anwendung bei Tieren bestimmt sind
 AAÜG Anspruchs- und Anwartschaftsüberführungsgesetz
 AAÜG-ÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung und Ergänzung des Anspruchs- und Anwartschaftsüberführungsgesetzes
 AAÜGErstV Verordnung über die Erstattung von Aufwendungen nach dem Gesetz zur Überführung von Ansprüchen und Anwartschaften aus Zusatz- und Sonderversorgungssystemen des Beitrittsgebiets durch den Bund
 AAustVorhAbk USA Abkommen zwischen der Regierung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Regierung der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika über die Durchführung von Austauschvorhaben zum Zwecke der Aus- und Weiterbildung
 AAV Verordnung über Aufenthaltsgenehmigungen zur Ausübung einer unselbstständigen Tätigkeit (Arbeitsaufenthaltsverordnung) oder Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Union der Sozialistischen Sowjetrepubliken über die Bedingungen des befristeten Aufenthalts und die Modalitäten des planmäßigen Abzugs der sowjetischen Truppen aus dem Gebiet der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 12. Oktober 1990 (Aufenthalts- und Abzugsvertrag) oder Allgemeine Arbeitnehmerschutzverordnung (Österreich)
 AB allgemein Ausführungsbestimmung oder Allgemeine Bedingungen oder Arbeitsbereich (siehe Arbeits- und Sozialrecht in Deutschland) oder Abgeschlossenheitsbescheinigung
 ABA Arbeitsgemeinschaft für betriebliche Altersversorgung e.V. (siehe aba (Verband)) oder Arbeit, Beruf und Arbeitslosenhilfe (Zeitschrift)
 ABAG Arzneimittelbudget-Ablösungsgesetz
 ABAS Ausschuss für Biologische Arbeitsstoffe
 ABB Allgemeine Bedingungen für Beförderungen oder Allgemeine Bausparbedingungen
 ABBergV Bergverordnung für alle bergbaulichen Bereiche (Allgemeine Bundesbergverordnung)
 ABBV Verordnung zur Berechnung von Ablösungsbeträgen nach dem Eisenbahnkreuzungsgesetz, dem Bundesfernstraßengesetz und dem Bundeswasserstraßengesetz
 ABD Ausfuhrbegleitdokument (siehe Ausfuhranmeldung)
 ABE allgemeine Betriebserlaubnis (ABE)
 AbfAblV Abfallablagerungsverordnung (Verordnung über die umweltverträgliche Ablagerung von Siedlungsabfällen)
 AbfAEV Verordnung über das Anzeige- und Erlaubnisverfahren für Sammler, Beförderer, Händler und Makler von Abfällen (Anzeige- und Erlaubnisverordnung)
 AbfallR Zeitschrift für das Recht der Abfallwirtschaft
 AbfBeauftrV Verordnung über Betriebsbeauftragte für Abfall (siehe Abfallbeauftragter)
 AbfG Gesetz über die Vermeidung und Entsorgung von Abfällen (aufgehoben; inzwischen Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz - KrWG)
 AbfKlärV 1992 Verordnung über die Verwertung von Klärschlamm, Klärschlammgemisch und Klärschlammkompost (Klärschlammverordnung)
 AbfKoBiV Abfallwirtschaftskonzept- und bilanzverordnung (aufgehoben)
 AbfVerbrBußV Verordnung zur Durchsetzung von Vorschriften in Rechtsakten der Europäischen Gemeinschaft über die Verbringung von Abfällen (Abfallverbringungsbußgeldverordnung)
 AbfVerbrG Abfallverbringungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Ausführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1013/2006 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 14. Juni 2006 über die Verbringung von Abfällen und des Basler Übereinkommens vom 22. März 1989 über die Kontrolle der grenzüberschreitenden Verbringung gefährlicher Abfälle und ihrer Entsorgung)
 AbfVerbrGebV Verordnung zur Erhebung von Gebühren bei notifizierungsbedürftigen Verbringungen von Abfällen durch die Bundesrepublik Deutschland
 Abg. Abgeordnete(r)
 ABGB Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch (Österreich)
 AbgG Abgeordnetengesetz (Gesetz über die Rechtsverhältnisse der Mitglieder des Deutschen Bundestages)
 AbgrG Abgrabungsgesetz
 AbgrV Verordnung über die Abgrenzung der im Pflegesatz nicht zu berücksichtigenden Investitionskosten von den pflegesatzfähigen Kosten der Krankenhäuser (Abgrenzungsverordnung)
 ABH Ausländerbehörde
 Abh. Abhandlung
 AbiNSchPrV BE 2009 Verordnung über die Prüfung zum Erwerb der allgemeinen Hochschulreife von Nichtschülerinnen und Nichtschülern (PrüfVO – Nichtschülerabitur) vom 3. November 2009
 Abk. Abkommen oder Abkürzung
 Abk. ISR Abkommen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und dem Staate Israel
 abl. ablehnend
 ABl Amtsblatt
 AbL Arbeitsgemeinschaft bäuerliche Landwirtschaft
 AbLaV Verordnung zu abschaltbaren Lasten
 ABl. EG Amtsblatt der Europäischen Gemeinschaften
 ABl. EU Amtsblatt der Europäischen Union
 ABM Arbeitsbeschaffungsmaßnahme
 ABMG Autobahnmautgesetz für schwere Nutzfahrzeuge
 ABNJ areas beyond national jurisdiction
 ABO (ApBetrO) Apothekenbetriebsordnung
 AbP Allgemeines bauaufsichtliches Prüfzeugnis
 AbrStV Abrechnungsstellenverordnung (Verordnung über die Abrechnungsstellen im Scheckverkehr)
 Abs. Absatz
 ABS Ausschuss für Betriebssicherheit oder Antiblockiersystem
 AbschlagsV Verordnung über Abschlagszahlungen bei Bauträgerverträgen
 Abschn. Abschnitt
 AbsFondsG (AbsFG) Gesetz über die Errichtung eines zentralen Fonds zur Absatzförderung der deutschen Land- und Ernährungswirtschaft (siehe Absatzförderungsfonds der deutschen Land- und Ernährungswirtschaft)
 AbsFondsGBeitrV Verordnung über die Beiträge nach dem Absatzfondsgesetz
 AbsichG Absicherungsgesetz (Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur außenwirtschaftlichen Absicherung)
 AbStG Gesetz über Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Abstimmungsgesetz) (Berlin)
 AbStO Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes über Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Abstimmungsordnung) (Berlin)
 ABV Verordnung über Anforderungsbehörden und Bedarfsträger nach dem Bundesleistungsgesetz
 ABVT Amt für Binnen-Verkehrstechnik
 abw. abweichend
 AbwAG Abwasserabgabengesetz
 AbwasserMeistPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Abwassermeister/Geprüfte Abwassermeisterin
 AbwV Abwasserverordnung (Verordnung über Anforderungen an das Einleiten von Abwasser in Gewässer)
 AbZ Allgemeine bauaufsichtliche Zulassung
 ABZ Anschluss- und Benutzungszwang
 AbzG Abzahlungsgesetz (aufgehoben, siehe jetzt §§ 499 ff. BGB)
 AbzStEntModG Abzugsteuerentlastungsmodernisierungsgesetz
 ACCC Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee
 ACER Agentur für die Zusammenarbeit der Energieregulierungsbehörden (engl.: Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators)
 ACK Amtschefkonferenz
 AcP Archiv für die civilistische Praxis
 AdA Angehörige der Armee (Schweiz)
 AdenauerHStiftG Gesetz über die Errichtung einer Stiftung Bundeskanzler-Adenauer-Haus
 AdG (AdoptG) Adoptionsgesetz (Gesetz über die Annahme als Kind und zur Änderung anderer Vorschriften)
 ADHGB Allgemeines Deutsches Handelsgesetzbuch
 AdKG Gesetz zur Errichtung der Akademie der Künste
 AdLDAV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 61a des Gesetzes über die Alterssicherung der Landwirte
 ADN Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf Binnenwasserstraßen (Abkürzung ADN, von franz.: Accord européen relatif au transport international des marchandises dangereuses par voies de navigation intérieures; engl.: European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Inland Waterways)
 ADNR Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf dem Rhein
 A. d. ö. R. Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts
 AdoptG (AdG) Adoptionsgesetz (Gesetz über die Annahme als Kind und zur Änderung anderer Vorschriften)
 AdR Ausschuss der Regionen der EU
 ADR Europäisches Übereinkommen über die internationale Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf der Straße () oder Außergerichtliche Streitbeilegung der EU ()
 ADRÄndV ADR-Änderungsverordnung
 ADRG Gesetz zu dem Europäischen Übereinkommen vom 30. September 1957 über die internationale Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf der Straße
 ADS Allgemeine Deutsche Seeversicherungsbedingungen oder Antidiskriminierungsstelle des Bundes
 ADSp Allgemeine Deutsche Spediteurbedingungen
 AdÜbAG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Haager Übereinkommens vom 29. Mai 1993 über den Schutz von Kindern und die Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet der internationalen Adoption
 AdV Aussetzung der Vollziehung
 AdVermiG Adoptionsvermittlungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Vermittlung der Annahme als Kind und über das Verbot der Vermittlung von Ersatzmüttern)
 AdVermiStAnKoV Verordnung über die Anerkennung von Adoptionsvermittlungsstellen in freier Trägerschaft sowie die im Adoptionsvermittlungsverfahren zu erstattenden Kosten
 AdWirkG Adoptionswirkungsgesetz (Gesetz über Wirkungen der Annahme als Kind nach ausländischem Recht)
 a. E. am Ende
 AE Akteneinsicht oder Arbeitsrechtliche Entscheidungen (Zeitschrift) oder Alternativentwurf
 AEAJ Association of European Administrative Judges (dt.: Verband Europäischer Verwaltungsrichter)
 AEAO Anwendungserlass zur Abgabenordnung
 AEAusglV Verordnung über den Ausgleich gemeinwirtschaftlicher Leistungen im Eisenbahnverkehr
 AEG Allgemeines Eisenbahngesetz
 AELV Verordnung zur Ermittlung des Arbeitseinkommens aus der Land- und Forstwirtschaft
 AEMR Allgemeine Erklärung der Menschenrechte
 ÄndG Änderungsgesetz
 ÄndSchnAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Änderungsschneider/zur Änderungsschneiderin
 ÄndVO Änderungsverordnung
 AEntG Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz
 AEntGMeldstellV Verordnung zur Bestimmung der zuständigen Behörde nach § 18 Absatz 6 des Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetzes
 AEntGMeldV Verordnung über Meldepflichten nach dem Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz
 AEO Authorized Economic Operator (dt.: ZWB – Zugelassener Wirtschaftsbeteiligter)
 AER Akteneinsichtsrecht
 AERB Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Einbruchsdiebstahl- und Raubversicherung
 AErlV Arbeitserlaubnisverordnung
 ÄrzteG Bundesgesetz über die Ausübung des ärztlichen Berufes und die Standesvertretung der Ärzte (Österreich)
 ÄrztMitt Ärztliche Mitteilungen (Zeitschrift)
 Ärzte-ZV Zulassungsverordnung für Vertragsärzte
 AETR Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Arbeit des im internationalen Straßenverkehr beschäftigten Fahrpersonals (Siehe AETR-Abkommen)
 AEUV Vertrag über die Arbeitsweise der Europäischen Union
 AEVO Ausbilder-Eignungsverordnung
 ÄZQ Ärztliches Zentrum für Qualität in der Medizin der Bundesärztekammer
 a. F. alte Fassung
 AfA Absetzung für Abnutzung oder Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Agrarfragen
 AfaA Absetzung für außergewöhnliche technische oder wirtschaftliche Abnutzung
 AfAMed Ausschuss für Arbeitsmedizin
 AFB Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Feuerversicherung
 AFBG Aufstiegsfortbildungsförderungsgesetz
 AFFAngAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum/zur Fachangestellten für Arbeitsförderung
 AFG Arbeitsförderungsgesetz (jetzt SGB III)
 AFGBV Verordnung zur Genehmigung und zum Betrieb von Kraftfahrzeugen mit autonomer Fahrfunktion in festgelegten Betriebsbereichen (Autonome Fahrzeuge-Genehmigungs- und Betriebsverordnung) (siehe Autonomes Fahren)
 AFIG Gesetz zur Veröffentlichung von Informationen über die Zahlung von Mitteln aus den Europäischen Fonds für Landwirtschaft und Fischerei
 AFIS Automatisiertes Fingerabdruckidentifizierungssystem
 AFIV Verordnung über die Veröffentlichung von Informationen über die Zahlung von Mitteln aus den Europäischen Fonds für Landwirtschaft und für Fischerei
 AfK (ArchKommWiss) Archiv für Kommunalwissenschaften (Zeitschrift)
 AFKG Gesetz zur Konsolidierung der Arbeitsförderung
 Aflatoxin VerbotsV Verordnung über das Verbot der Verwendung von mit Aflatoxinen kontaminierten Stoffen bei der Herstellung von Arzneimitteln
 AfögLTAV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für den Besuch von Ausbildungsstätten für landwirtschaftlich-technische, milchwirtschaftlich-technische und biologisch-technische Assistentinnen und Assistenten
 AfögVorkHSV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für die Teilnahme an Vorkursen zur Vorbereitung des Besuchs von Kollegs und Hochschulen
 AfP Zeitschrift für Medien- und Kommunikationsrecht (früher: Archiv für Presserecht) oder Ausschuss für Produktsicherheit
 AfPS Ausschuss für Produktsicherheit
 AfR Amt für den Rechtsschutz des Vermögens der DDR
 AfrEntwBkÜbk Übereinkommen zur Errichtung der Afrikanischen Entwicklungsbank (siehe Afrikanische Entwicklungsbank)
 AfrEntwBkÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 4. August 1963 zur Errichtung der Afrikanischen Entwicklungsbank
 AFRG Arbeitsförderungs-Reformgesetz oder Gesetz zur Regelung bestimmter Altforderungen
 AfS Absetzung für Substanzverringerung (siehe Abschreibung)
 AFS Ausschuss für Finanzstabilität
 AFSBw Amt für Flugsicherung der Bundeswehr
 AFSG Gesetz zu dem Internationalen Übereinkommen von 2001 über die Beschränkung des Einsatzes schädlicher Bewuchsschutzsysteme auf Schiffen
 AFSÜbk Internationales Übereinkommen von 2001 über die Beschränkung des Einsatzes schädlicher Bewuchsschutzsysteme auf Schiffen
 AFuG 1997 Amateurfunkgesetz
 AFuV Amateurfunkverordnung (Verordnung zum Gesetz über den Amateurfunk)
 AFVFinV Verordnung über die Finanzierung der Verwaltung des Ausgleichsfonds der sozialen Pflegeversicherung
 AFWoG Gesetz über den Abbau der Fehlsubventionierung und Mietverzerrung im Wohnungswesen
 aG Nachteilsausgleich
 AG Amtsgericht oder Aktiengesellschaft oder Die Aktiengesellschaft (Zeitschrift) oder Arbeitgeber oder Ausführungsgesetz oder Antragsgegner
 AGB Arbeitsgesetzbuch der DDR oder Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen oder Außergewöhnliche Belastung
 AGB DDR Arbeitsgesetzbuch der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
 AGBG AGB-Gesetz (aufgehoben; jetzt §§ 305 ff. BGB)
 AGBGB Ausführungsgesetz zum BGB
 AGebS Abfallgebührensatzung
 AGES Agentur für Gesundheit und Ernährungssicherheit (Österreich)
 AGesVG Anti-Gesichtsverhüllungsgesetz
 AGeV Verordnung über bestimmte alkoholhaltige Getränke
 AGG Allgemeines Gleichbehandlungsgesetz
 AGGVG Ausführungsgesetz GVG (Gesetz zur Ausführung des Gerichtsverfassungsgesetzes und von Verfahrensgesetzen der ordentlichen Gerichtsbarkeit)
 AGH Arbeitsgelegenheit
 AGH-MAE Arbeitsgelegenheit mit Mehraufwandsentschädigung (auch umgangssprachlich „Ein-Euro-Job“ genannt)
 AGJ Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kinder- und Jugendhilfe
 AG-KJHG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Kinder- und Jugendhilfegesetzes
 AGL Anspruchsgrundlage
 AGLottStV Ausführungsgesetz zum Lotteriestaatsvertrag
 AGMahnVordrV Verordnung zur Einführung von Vordrucken für das arbeitsgerichtliche Mahnverfahren
 AGMahnVordrVÄndV Verordnung zur Änderung von Vordrucken für das arbeitsgerichtliche Mahnverfahren
 AgNwV Verordnung über Art, Umfang und Form der erforderlichen Nachweise im Sinne des § 19 Absatz 2 Satz 2 des Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetzes
 AGOZV Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen von Anbaumaterial von Gemüse-, Obst- und Zierpflanzenarten (Anbaumaterialverordnung)
 AG-PStG Bbg Brandenburgisches Gesetz zur Ausführung des Personenstandsgesetzes
 AGR Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Hauptstraßen des internationalen Verkehrs
 AgrarAbsFDG Agrarabsatzförderungsdurchführungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Durchführung der Rechtsakte der Europäischen Gemeinschaft über gemeinschaftliche Informations- und Absatzförderungsmaßnahmen für Agrarerzeugnisse)
 AgrarAusbStEignV Verordnung über die Eignung der Ausbildungsstätte für die Berufsausbildung zur Fachkraft Agrarservice
 AgrarAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zur Fachkraft Agrarservice
 AgrarErzAnpBeihV Verordnung zur Gewährung einer außergewöhnlichen Anpassungsbeihilfe für Erzeuger in bestimmten Agrarsektoren (Agrarerzeugeranpassungsbeihilfenverordnung)
 AgrarOLkG Gesetz zur Stärkung der Organisationen und Lieferketten im Agrarbereich (Agrarorganisationen-und-Lieferketten-Gesetz)
 AgrarR Agrarrecht (Zeitschrift)
 AgrarservMeistPrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Agrarservicemeister und Agrarservicemeisterin
 AgrStatEBV Verordnung zur Erhebung agrarstatistischer Daten für die Emissionsberichterstattung
 AgrStatG Agrarstatistikgesetz
 AgrStruktGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Gesetzes über die Gemeinschaftsaufgabe „Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes“
 AgrStruktG Agrarstrukturgesetz (Gesetz über die Gemeinschaftsaufgabe „Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes“)
 AgrVG Agrarverfahrensgesetz (Österreich)
 AGS Anwaltsgebühren Spezial (Zeitschrift) oder Ausschuss für Gefahrstoffe
 AG-SGG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Sozialgerichtsgesetzes im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen
 AGT Arbeitsgemeinschaft Testamentsvollstreckung und Vermögenssorge e.V. oder Allgemeine Geschäftsbedingungen für Transporteure (Österreich)
 AGV außerhalb von Geschäftsräumen geschlossene Verträge
 AGVwGO Gesetz zur Ausführung der Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung
 AGW Arbeitsplatzgrenzwert
 AHB Allgemeine Versicherungsbedingungen für die Haftpflichtversicherung (siehe Haftpflichtversicherung)
 AHG Amtshaftungsgesetz (Österreich)
 AHGV Verordnung zum Altschuldenhilfe-Gesetz
 AHiVwVtr AUT Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Republik Österreich über Amts- und Rechtshilfe in Verwaltungssachen
 AHiVwVtrAUTG Gesetz zu dem Vertrag vom 31. Mai 1988 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Republik Österreich über Amts- und Rechtshilfe in Verwaltungssachen
 AHK Auslandshandelskammer oder Autonome Honorar-Kriterien (der Rechtsanwälte in Österreich)
 AHP Anhaltspunkte für die ärztliche Gutachtertätigkeit im sozialen Entschädigungsrecht und nach dem Schwerbehindertenrecht
 AHR autonome Honorarrichtlinien (Österreich) oder Allgemeine Hochschulreife
 AHRC Asiatische Menschenrechtskommission ()
 AHRS Arzthaftpflicht-Rechtsprechung
 AHStatDV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes über die Statistik des grenzüberschreitenden Warenverkehrs
 AHStatGes Gesetz über die Statistik des grenzüberschreitenden Warenverkehrs (siehe Außenhandelsstatistik)
 AHundV Assistenzhundeverordnung
 AHV Alters- und Hinterlassenenversicherung (Schweiz)
 AHVG Gesetz über die Alters- und Hinterlassenenversicherung (Schweiz)
 AiB Arbeitsrecht im Betrieb, juristische Fachzeitschrift
 AIF Alternativer Investmentfonds (engl.: alternative investment fund)
 AIFMD Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (Richtlinie 2011/61/EU über die Verwalter alternativer Investmentfonds)
 AIFM-UmsG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2011/61/EU über die Verwalter alternativer Investmentfonds (AIFM-Umsetzungsgesetz)
 AIFO AIDS-Forschung
 AIG Akteneinsichts- und Informationszugangsgesetz (Brandenburg) oder Auslandsinvestitionsgesetz (auch AusIvG)
 AIHonO Verordnung über die Honorare für Architekten- und Ingenieurleistungen
 AIM AnwaltInfo Mietrecht (Zeitschrift)
 AIMPV Verordnung über die Meldepflicht bei Aviärer Influenza beim Menschen
 AiP Arzt im Praktikum
 AIPS Arzneimittelinformationspublikationssystem (Schweiz)
 AIVG Arbeitslosenversicherungsgesetz (Österreich)
 AIZ AIZ – Das Immobilienmagazin (früher: Allgemeine Immobilienzeitung)
 AjBD Arbeitsgemeinschaft für juristisches Bibliotheks- und Dokumentationswesen
 a. K. außer Kraft
 AK Anschaffungskosten oder Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte (kurz Arbeiterkammer) (Österreich) oder Anwaltskommentar oder Alternativkommentar oder Aarhus-Konvention
 ak.mas Arbeitsrechtliche Kommission des Deutschen Caritasverbandes
 Akad. d. Wiss. Akademie der Wissenschaften
 A/KAE Ausführungsanordnung zur Konzessionsabgabenanordnung
 AKA Arbeitsgemeinschaft kommunale und kirchliche Altersversorgung e.V.
 AKB Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Kraftfahrtversicherung
 AKG Allgemeines Kriegsfolgengesetz (Gesetz zur allgemeinen Regelung durch den Krieg und den Zusammenbruch des Deutschen Reiches entstandener Schäden) oder Arbeiterkammergesetz (Bundesgesetz über die Kammern für Arbeiter und Angestellte und die Bundeskammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte)(Österreich)
 AkkStelleG Gesetz über die Akkreditierungsstelle
 AkkStelleGBV Verordnung über die Beleihung der Akkreditierungsstelle nach dem Akkreditierungsstellengesetz
 AkkStelleKostV Kostenverordnung der Akkreditierungsstelle
 AKostG Auslandskostengesetz
 AKostV Auslandskostenverordnung
 AKP Afrikanische, Karibische und Pazifische Staaten
 AKP/EWGAbk4G Gesetz zu dem Vierten AKP-EWG-Abkommen von Lome vom 15. Dezember 1989 sowie zu den mit diesem Abkommen in Zusammenhang stehenden Abkommen
 AktFoV Aktionärsforumverordnung (Verordnung über das Aktionärsforum nach § 127a des Aktiengesetzes, siehe )
 AktG Aktiengesetz
 AktO Aktenordnung
 AktStR Aktuelle Steuerrundschau (Zeitschrift) oder Aktuelles Steuerrecht (Zeitschrift)
 AktuarV Verordnung über die versicherungsmathematische Bestätigung und den Erläuterungsbericht des Verantwortlichen Aktuars
 AKZ Ausfuhrkassenzettel
 ALB Allgemeine Leistungsbedingungen oder Allgemeine Lieferbedingungen oder Allgemeine Lagerbedingungen oder Allgemeine Lebensversicherungsbedingungen
 ALBeitrBek Bekanntmachung der Beiträge und der Beitragszuschüsse in der Alterssicherung der Landwirte
 ALBVVG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung von Lieferengpässen bei patentfreien Arzneimitteln und zur Verbesserung der Versorgung mit Kinderarzneimitteln (Arzneimittel-Lieferengpassbekämpfungs- und Versorgungsverbesserungsgesetz)
 ALFV Verordnung über die Anzeigepflicht von Leiharbeit in der Fleischwirtschaft
 ALG Gesetz über die Alterssicherung der Landwirte
 Alg Arbeitslosengeld
 Alg Ⅱ-V Arbeitslosengeld II/Sozialgeld-Verordnung
 Alhi Arbeitslosenhilfe
 AlhiV (AlhiVO) Arbeitslosenhilfe-Verordnung
 alic actio libera in causa
 AlkG Bundesgesetz über die gebrannten Wasser (Alkoholgesetz (Schweiz))
 AlkopopStG Gesetz über die Erhebung einer Sondersteuer auf alkoholhaltige Süßgetränke (Alkopops) zum Schutz junger Menschen (Alkopopsteuergesetz (Deutschland))
 AlkopopStV Verordnung über das Verfahren zur Berechnung des Netto-Mehraufkommens der nach dem Alkopopsteuergesetz erhobenen Alkopopsteuer
 AlkoVerfrG Gesetz über die Verfrachtung alkoholischer Waren
 AlkoV Alkoholverordnung
 AlkStG Alkoholsteuergesetz
 AlkStV Alkoholsteuerveordnung
 allg. A. allgemeine Ansicht
 AllGAG Allgemeines Grundbuchsanlegungsgesetz (Österreich)
 allg. M. allgemeine Meinung
 ALLMBL Allgemeines Ministerialblatt (Bayern)
 ALM Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Landesmedienanstalten
 ALR Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten
 ALSAG Altlastensanierungsgesetz (Österreich)
 Alt. Alternative
 AltEinkG Alterseinkünftegesetz
 AltersteilzeitG Altersteilzeitgesetz
 AltersVersErhV Verordnung zur Durchführung einer Erhebung über Arten und Umfang der betrieblichen Altersversorgung
 AltfAbwGA Gesetz zur beschleunigten Abwicklung einiger Altforderungen
 AltfahrzeugG Altfahrzeuggesetz (Gesetz über die Entsorgung von Altfahrzeugen)
 AltfahrzeugV Altfahrzeug-Verordnung
 AltGG Gesetz zur Gewährung eines Altersgelds für freiwillig aus dem Bundesdienst ausscheidende Beamte, Richter und Soldaten (Altersgeldgesetz)
 AltGZustAnO Altersgeldzuständigkeitsanordnung
 AltholzV Altholzverordnung (Verordnung über Anforderungen an die Verwertung und Beseitigung von Altholz)
 AltgAATVDBest Durchführungsbestimmung zur Verordnung über die Tilgung der Anteilsrechte von Inhabern mit Wohnsitz außerhalb der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik an der Altguthaben-Ablösungs-Anleihe
 Altlastenatlas-VO Verordnung des Bundesministers für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft über die Ausweisung von Altlasten und deren Einstufung in Prioritätenklassen (Altlastenatlasverordnung) (Österreich)
 AltlV Verordnung über die Sanierung von belasteten Standorten (Altlasten-Verordnung) (Schweiz)
 AltölV Altölverordnung
 AltPflAPrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für den Beruf der Altenpflegerin und des Altenpflegers
 AltPflG Gesetz über die Berufe in der Altenpflege, kurz Altenpflegegesetz (aufgehoben, ersetzt durch Pflegeberufegesetz)
 AltSchG Altschuldenhilfe-Gesetz (Gesetz über Altschuldenhilfen für Kommunale Wohnungsunternehmen, Wohnungsgenossenschaften und private Vermieter in dem in Artikel 3 des Einigungsvertrages genannten Gebiet)
 AltTZG 1996 (ATG) Altersteilzeitgesetz (Artikel 1 des Gesetzes zur Förderung eines gleitenden Übergangs in den Ruhestand)
 AltvDV Verordnung zur Durchführung der steuerlichen Vorschriften des Einkommensteuergesetzes zur Altersvorsorge und zum Rentenbezugsmitteilungsverfahren sowie zum weiteren Datenaustausch mit der zentralen Stelle (Altersvorsorge-Durchführungsverordnung)
 AltvPIBV Verordnung zum Produktinformationsblatt und zu weiteren Informationspflichten bei zertifizierten Altersvorsorge- und Basisrentenverträgen nach dem Altersvorsorgeverträge-Zertifizierungsgesetz (Altersvorsorge-Produktinformationsblattverordnung)
 AltZertG Gesetz über die Zertifizierung von Altersvorsorge- und Basisrentenverträgen (Altersvorsorgeverträge-Zertifizierungsgesetz)
 ALÜ Auswahl, Leitung, Überwachung
 ALV Verordnung über die Seelotsreviere und ihre Grenzen (Allgemeine Lotsverordnung) oder Arbeitslosenversicherung (Schweiz)
 AlVG Arbeitslosenversicherungsgesetz (Österreich)
 a. M. allgemeine Meinung oder anderer Meinung
 AM Arbeitsmediziner (siehe Betriebsarzt) oder Arbeitsmediziner(in) (Österreich)
 AMAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Aufbereitungsmechaniker/zur Aufbereitungsmechanikerin
 AMBezV Verordnung über die Bezeichnung der Art der wirksamen Bestandteile von Fertigarzneimitteln
 AMbG Allgemeines Magnetschwebebahngesetz
 AMBO Arzneimittelbetriebsordnung (Österreich)
 AMBtAngV Verordnung über die Angabe von Arzneimittelbestandteilen
 AMFarbV Arzneimittelfarbstoffverordnung
 AMFG Bundesgesetz betreffend die Arbeitsmarktförderung (Österreich)
 AMG Arzneimittelgesetz oder Arzneimittelgesetz (Österreich)
 AMG-AV AMG-Anzeigeverordnung (Verordnung über die elektronische Anzeige von Nebenwirkungen bei Arzneimitteln)
 AMGBefV Verordnung zur Übertragung von Befugnissen zum Erlass von Rechtsverordnungen zur Regelung von Verfahren, Weiterleitung von Ausfertigungen und Einreichung von Unterlagen nach dem Arzneimittelgesetz (AMG-Befugnisverordnung)
 AMGBlauzAusnV Verordnung über Ausnahmen von § 56a des Arzneimittelgesetzes zum Schutz vor der Blauzungenkrankheit
 AMG-EV Verordnung über die Einreichung von Unterlagen in Verfahren für die Zulassung und Verlängerung der Zulassung von Arzneimitteln
 AMG1976ZSAusnV Verordnung über die Zulassung von Ausnahmen von Vorschriften des Arzneimittelgesetzes für die Bereiche des Zivil- und Katastrophenschutzes, der Bundeswehr, der Bundespolizei sowie der Bereitschaftspolizeien der Länder
 AMGKostV Kostenverordnung für die Zulassung von Arzneimitteln durch das Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte und das Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit
 AMGrHdlBetrV Betriebsverordnung für Arzneimittelgroßhandelsbetriebe
 AMHV Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen von Arzneimitteln ohne Genehmigung oder ohne Zulassung in Härtefällen (Arzneimittel-Härtefall-Verordnung)
 AMNOG Gesetz zur Neuordnung des Arzneimittelmarktes in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Arzneimittelmarktneuordnungsgesetz)
 AM-NutzenV Verordnung über die Nutzenbewertung von Arzneimitteln nach § 35a Absatz 1 SGB V für Erstattungsvereinbarungen nach § 130b SGB V (Arzneimittel-Nutzenbewertungsverordnung)
 AMPreisV Verordnung über Preisspannen für Fertigarzneimittel (Arzneimittelpreisverordnung)
 AMR Arbeitsmedizinische Regeln
 AMRabG Gesetz über Rabatte für Arzneimittel
 AMRadV Verordnung über radioaktive oder mit ionisierenden Strahlen behandelte Arzneimittel
 AMRE Allgemeine Erklärung der Menschenrechte
 AMRK Amerikanische Menschenrechtskonvention oder Asiatische Menschenrechtskommission (Asian Human Rights Commission)
 AM-RL Richtlinie über die Verordnung von Arzneimitteln in der vertragsärztlichen Versorgung (Arzneimittel-Richtlinie)
 AMRNOG Gesetz zur Neuordnung des Arzneimittelrechts
 AMS Arbeitsmarktservice (Österreich) oder Arbeitsschutzmanagementsystem
 AMSachKV Verordnung über den Nachweis der Sachkenntnis im Einzelhandel mit freiverkäuflichen Arzneimitteln
 AMSachvGO Geschäftsordnung der Ausschüsse für Standardzulassungen, Apothekenpflicht und Verschreibungspflicht (Anlage zur Verordnung zur Errichtung von Sachverständigen-Ausschüssen für Standardzulassungen, Apothekenpflicht und Verschreibungspflicht von Arzneimitteln)
 AMSachvV Verordnung zur Errichtung von Sachverständigen-Ausschüssen für Standardzulassungen, Apothekenpflicht und Verschreibungspflicht von Arzneimitteln
 amtl. amtlich
 Amtl.Begr. Amtliche Begründung
 Amtl.Mitt. Amtliche Mitteilung
 AmtsbezSaarAnO Anordnung über die Festsetzung von Amtsbezeichnungen für die Beamten des Bundes im Saarland
 AmtshilfeRLUmsG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Amtshilferichtlinie sowie zur Änderung steuerlicher Vorschriften (Amtshilferichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz)
 AmtsschErl Erlass über die Amtsschilder der Bundesbehörden
 AMV Verordnung über die Amtsdauer, Amtsführung und Entschädigung der Mitglieder des Gemeinsamen Bundesausschusses und der Landesausschüsse der Ärzte (Zahnärzte) und Krankenkassen oder Arbeitsmarktverwaltung (Österreich) (siehe Arbeitsmarktservice)
 AMVerkRV Verordnung über apothekenpflichtige und freiverkäufliche Arzneimittel
 AMVV Arzneimittelverschreibungsverordnung
 AMWarnV Arzneimittel-Warnhinweisverordnung
 AMWHV Verordnung über die Anwendung der Guten Herstellungspraxis bei der Herstellung von Arzneimitteln und Wirkstoffen und über die Anwendung der Guten fachlichen Praxis bei der Herstellung von Produkten menschlicher Herkunft (Arzneimittel- und Wirkstoffherstellungsverordnung)
 AMZulRegAV Verordnung zur Festlegung von Anforderungen an den Antrag auf Zulassung, Verlängerung der Zulassung und Registrierung von Arzneimitteln
 AN Arbeitnehmer oder Auftragnehmer
 ANBA Amtliche Nachrichten der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
 Änd. Änderung
 ÄndG Änderungsgesetz
 AnerkV Verordnung über die Anforderungen und das Verfahren für die Anerkennung von Konformitätsbewertungsstellen
 AnfG Anfechtungsgesetz
 AnFrV Verordnung zur Verlängerung der Frist für die Stellung von Anträgen nach § 1 Abs. 4 sowie § 10 des Vermögenszuordnungsgesetzes
 Angekl. Angeklagte(r)
 Ange. Hier handelt es sich um ein für die Zukunft angenommenes Arbeitsentgelt, das der Arbeitgeber nicht vorausbescheinigt hat. Solche Angaben sind in Rentenvorausberechnungen enthalten, wenn der Versicherte eine Auskunft eingeholt hat, bei der die Höhe der Beiträge zur Vermeidung von Rentenminderungen bei vorzeitiger Inanspruchnahme einer Rente wegen Alters ermittelt werden.
 AngG Angestelltengesetz (Österreich)
 AngKG Gesetz über die Fristen für die Kündigung von Angestellten
 AnglG Gesetz zur Angleichung der Bestandsrenten an das Nettorentenniveau der Bundesrepublik und zu weiteren rentenrechtlichen Regelungen
 Anh. Anhang
 AnhO Anhalteordnung (Österreich)
 Anl. Anlage
 AnlBV Verordnung über das Anlaufen der inneren Gewässer der Bundesrepublik Deutschland aus Seegebieten seewärts der Grenze des deutschen Küstenmeeres und das Auslaufen
 AnlEntG Anlegerentschädigungsgesetz
 AnlGBlnV Verordnung zur Erstreckung des Anleihe-Gesetzes von 1950 auf das Land Berlin
 AnlV Anlageverordnung Verordnung über die Anlage des gebundenen Vermögens von Versicherungsunternehmen
 Anm. Anmerkung
 AnnSächsOLG Annalen des Sächsischen OLG Dresden
 AnO Anordnung
 AnpflEigentG  Gesetz zur Regelung des Eigentums an von landwirtschaftlichen Produktionsgenossenschaften vorgenommenen Anpflanzungen
 AnrV Verordnung über das anzurechnende Einkommen nach dem Bundesversorgungsgesetz (Anrechnungsverordnung)
 AnsFuG Anlegerschutz- und Funktionsverbesserungsgesetz
 AnsprÜbersV Verordnung über die Übersetzungen der Ansprüche europäischer Patentanmeldungen
 ANSpZ Arbeitnehmersparzulage
 AnSVG Anlegerschutzverbesserungsgesetz
 AntarktMeerSchÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 20. Mai 1980 über die Erhaltung der lebenden Meeresschätze der Antarktis
 AntarktUmwSchProtAG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Umweltschutzprotokolls vom 4. Oktober 1991 zum Antarktis-Vertrag
 AntarktUmwSchProtAG§6Abs5V Verordnung über Zusammensetzung, Berufung und Verfahren einer unabhängigen Kommission wissenschaftlicher Sachverständiger nach § 6 Abs. 5 des Umweltschutzprotokoll-Ausführungsgesetzes vom 22. September 1994
 AntarktUmwSchProtG Gesetz zum Umweltschutzprotokoll vom 4. Oktober 1991 zum Antarktis-Vertrag
 AntarktVtrG Gesetz zum Antarktis-Vertrag vom 1. Dezember 1959
 ANTHV Verordnung über Nachweispflichten der Tierhalter für Arzneimittel, die zur Anwendung bei Tieren bestimmt sind
 AntibAMVV Verordnung über die Verwendung antibiotisch wirksamer Arzneimittel (Antibiotika-Arzneimittel-Verwendungsverordnung)
 AntiDHG Gesetz über die Hilfe für durch Anti-D-Immunprophylaxe mit dem Hepatitis-C-Virus infizierte Personen
 AntiDopG Gesetz gegen Doping im Sport (Anti-Doping-Gesetz)
 AntKostV Kostenverordnung für Amtshandlungen nach dem Umweltschutzprotokoll-Ausführungsgesetz vom 22. September 1994
 AnVNG Gesetz zur Regelung des Rechts der Rentenversicherung der Angestellten
 AnwBl. Anwaltsblatt (Deutschland) oder Österreichisches Anwaltsblatt
 AnwG Anwaltsgericht
 AnwGH Anwaltsgerichtshof
 AnwK (AnwKomm) Anwaltskommentar
 AnwSoZuschlVAufhV Anwärtersonderzuschlags-Verordnung
 AnwZpvV Verordnung zur Festlegung eines späteren Anwendungszeitpunktes der Verpflichtungen nach § 5b des Einkommensteuergesetzes
 AnwZV Anwartschaftszeitenverordnung
 Anz. Anzeiger
 AnzV Verordnung über die Anzeigen und die Vorlage von Unterlagen nach dem Kreditwesengesetz
 AO Abgabenordnung (auch AO 1977) oder Anordnung
 AOAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung von Gesetzen an die Abgabenordnung
 AÖSp Allgemeine Österreichische Spediteurbedingungen
 AO-StB Der AO-Steuer-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 AO1977§180Abs2V Verordnung über die gesonderte Feststellung von Besteuerungsgrundlagen nach § 180 Abs. 2 der Abgabenordnung
 AöR Archiv des öffentlichen Rechts (Zeitschrift) oder Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts (auch A.ö.R.)
 AOK Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse
 AQTIV Aktivieren, qualifizieren, trainieren, investieren, vermitteln
 AP Arbeitsrechtliche Praxis, Nachschlagewerk des Bundesarbeitsgerichts, Loseblatt-Sammlung, München (Beck-Verlag)
 APAG Abschlussprüferaufsichtsgesetz (Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung der Berufsaufsicht über Abschlussprüfer in der Wirtschaftsprüferordnung)
 APAK Abschlussprüferaufsichtskommission
 ApBetrO (ABO) Apothekenbetriebsordnung (Verordnung über den Betrieb von Apotheken)
 apf Ausbildung – Prüfung – Fortbildung. Zeitschrift für die staatliche und kommunale Verwaltung
 APG Allgemeines Pensionsgesetz (Österreich) oder Altenpflegegesetz (z. B. in NRW) oder Anpassungsgeld
 AP-gDBPolV Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für den gehobenen Polizeivollzugsdienst in der Bundespolizei
 AP-mDBPolV Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für den mittleren Polizeivollzugsdienst in der Bundespolizei
 APO Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsordnung
 APOAA Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für die Laufbahn des Amtsanwaltsdienstes des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsordnung Amtsanwälte)
 APL Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten
 ApoAnwRstG Gesetz über die Rechtsstellung vorgeprüfter Apothekeranwärter
 ApoG Apothekengesetz
 ApprOÄ (AppOÄ) Approbationsordnung für Ärzte
 APR Allgemeines Persönlichkeitsrecht oder Allgemeines Polizeirecht oder
 APS Allgemeines Präferenzsystem der EU
 APTU Einheitliche Rechtsvorschriften für die Verbindlicherklärung technischer Normen und für die Annahme einheitlicher technischer Vorschriften für Eisenbahnmaterial, das zur Verwendung im internationalen Verkehr bestimmt ist (Règles uniformes concernant la validation de normes techniques et l'adoption de prescriptions techniques uniformes applicables au matériel ferroviaire destiné à être utilisé en trafic international) (Anhang F zum COTIF)
 APuZ Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte (Zeitschrift)
 AR Aufsichtsrat oder Arbeitsrecht
 ARB Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Rechtsschutz-Versicherung (siehe Allgemeine Rechtsschutzbedingungen) oder Allgemeine Reisebedingungen
 ArbEG (ArbnErfG) Arbeitnehmererfindungsgesetz (Gesetz über Arbeitnehmererfindungen)
 ArbG Arbeitsgericht oder Arbeitgeber (auch AG)
 ArbGBeschlG Gesetz zur Vereinfachung und Beschleunigung des arbeitsgerichtlichen Verfahrens
 ArbRGenÄndV Verordnung zur Änderung und Aufhebung arbeitsgenehmigungsrechtlicher Vorschriften
 ArbGG Arbeitsgerichtsgesetz
 ArbIG Arbeitsinspektionsgesetz (Österreich)
 ArbKrankhG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der wirtschaftlichen Stellung der Arbeiter im Krankheitsfalle
 AR-Blattei Arbeitsrechts-Blattei
 ArblVAbk CHE Abkommen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft über Arbeitslosenversicherung
 ArblVAbkCHEG Gesetz zu dem Abkommen vom 20. Oktober 1982 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft über Arbeitslosenversicherung
 ArbMedVV Verordnung zur arbeitsmedizinischen Vorsorge (siehe Arbeitsmedizinische Vorsorgeuntersuchungen)
 ArbN Arbeitnehmer
 ArbnErfG Arbeitnehmererfindungsgesetz
 ArbnErfGDV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes über Arbeitnehmererfindungen
 ArbPlSchG Arbeitsplatzschutzgesetz
 ArbPlSchG§11 V Verordnung zur Regelung des Erstattungsverfahrens nach § 11 des Arbeitsplatzschutzgesetzes
 ArbPlSchGAbschn3V Verordnung zum Dritten Abschnitt des Arbeitsplatzschutzgesetzes
 ArbR Arbeitsrecht oder Zeitschrift Arbeitsrecht aktuell
 ArbRB Arbeit-Rechts-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 ArbRBerG Gesetz zur Änderung des Kündigungsrechts und anderer arbeitsrechtlicher Vorschriften (Arbeitsrechtsbereinigungsgesetz)
 ArbRBeschFG Arbeitsrechtliches Beschäftigungsförderungsgesetz
 ArbRGeg. Das Arbeitsrecht der Gegenwart (Zeitschrift/Jahrbuch)
 ArbSch Arbeitsschutz (Beilage zum Bundesarbeitsblatt)
 ArbSchG Arbeitsschutzgesetz
 ArbSchKonG Gesetz zur Verbesserung des Vollzugs im Arbeitsschutz (Arbeitsschutzkontrollgesetz)
 Arb(Slg) Sammlung Arbeitsrechtlicher Entscheidungen (Österreich)
 ArbStättR Arbeitsstättenrichtlinie
 ArbStättV Arbeitsstättenverordnung
 ArbStoffV Verordnung über gefährliche Arbeitsstoffe (Arbeitsstoffverordnung)
 ArbuR Arbeit und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 ArbVers Die Arbeiterversorgung (Zeitschrift)
 ArbVG Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (Österreich) oder Arbeitsvertragsgesetz
 ArbZAbsichG Gesetz zur sozialrechtlichen Absicherung flexibler Arbeitszeitregelungen
 ArbZG Arbeitszeitgesetz
 ArbZRG Arbeitszeitrechtsgesetz (Gesetz zur Vereinheitlichung und Flexibilisierung des Arbeitszeitrechts)
 ArbZSKG Gesetz zur Regelung der Arbeitszeit selbständiger Berufskraftfahrer (siehe Lenk- und Ruhezeiten)
 ArbZV Arbeitszeitverordnung
 ArchBR Archiv für Bürgerliches Recht
 ArchKommWiss (AfK) Archiv für Kommunalwissenschaften (Zeitschrift)
 ArchKrim Archiv für Kriminologie
 ArchPF Archiv für das Post- und Fernmeldewesen
 ArchPR Archiv presserechtlicher Entscheidungen
 ArchPT Archiv für Post und Telekommunikation
 ArchSozArb Archiv für Wissenschaft und Praxis der sozialen Arbeit
 ArchVölkR (AVR) Archiv des Völkerrechts
 ARE Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung (Schweiz)
 ARegV Verordnung über die Anreizregulierung der Energieversorgungsnetze (Anreizregulierungsverordnung)
 ArEV Arbeitsentgeltverordnung
 arg. argumentum
 ArG Bundesgesetz über die Arbeit in Industrie, Gewerbe und Handel (Schweiz)
 ARG Arbeitsruhegesetz (Österreich)
 ARGE Arbeitsgemeinschaft
 ArGV Arbeitsgenehmigungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Arbeitsgenehmigung für ausländische Arbeitnehmer)
 ARG-VO Arbeitsruhegesetz-Verordnung (Österreich)
 AromV Aromenverordnung
 ARP Arbeitsschutz in Recht und Praxis (Zeitschrift)
 ARS Arbeitsrechtssammlung oder Allgemeines Rundschreiben
 ARSP Archiv für Rechts- und Sozialphilosophie (Zeitschrift)
 ARSt Arbeitsrecht in Stichworten
 Art. Artikel oder Gesetzesartikel
 ArtHG Bundesgesetz über die Überwachung des Handels mit Exemplaren wildlebender Tier- und Pflanzenarten (Artenhandelsgesetz) (Österreich)
 ARUG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Aktionärsrechterichtlinie
 ARV Auslandsreisekostenverordnung (Verordnung über die Reisekostenvergütung bei Auslandsdienstreisen) (siehe Bundesreisekostengesetz)
 ArVNG Arbeiterrentenversicherungs-Neuregelungsgesetz
 ArztR Arztrecht (Zeitschrift) oder Arztrecht
 AS Arbeitssuchende(r) oder Aktuelles Steuerrecht oder Auslegungsschrift oder Amtliche Sammlung des Bundesrechts (Schweiz) oder Antragsteller oder Alternative Streitbeilegung
 ASA Archiv für Schweizerisches Abgaberecht (Zeitschrift) oder Amt für Soziale Angelegenheiten (siehe Versorgungsamt) oder Arbeitsschutzausschuss
 ASAV Anwerbestoppausnahmeverordnung
 ASBw Amt für Sicherheit der Bundeswehr
 ASchG Bundesgesetz über Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz bei der Arbeit (ArbeitnehmerInnenschutzgesetz) (Österreich)
 ASD Allgemeiner Sozialer Dienst
 ASF Aufbauseminar zur Nachschulung von Fahranfängern (siehe Aufbauseminar für Fahranfänger)
 ASFINAG  Autobahnen- und Schnellstraßen-Finanzierungs-Aktiengesellschaft (ASFINAG) (Österreich)
 ASG Arbeitssicherstellungsgesetz
 ASGG Arbeits- und Sozialgerichtsgesetz
 ASGB Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz
 ASGG Arbeits- und Sozialgerichtsgesetz (Österreich)
 ASiG Arbeitssicherheitsgesetz
 ASIS Ausbildungsstellen-Informationssystem
 ASOG Bln Allgemeines Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz (Berlin)
 ASP Aufbauseminar zur Nachschulung von Punkteauffälligen
 ASR Arbeitsstättenrichtlinien oder Arbeitsstättenregel oder Anwalt, Anwältin im Sozialrecht (Zeitschrift) oder Auto, Steuern, Recht (Zeitschrift)
 ASRG Agrarsozialreformgesetz
 ASt. Antragsteller
 AStA Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss
 ASTA Ausschuss für Arbeitsstätten
 AStBV Anweisungen für das Straf- und Bußgeldverfahren (Steuer)
 AStG Außensteuergesetz oder Automobilsteuergesetz (Schweiz) oder Bundesgesetz über alternative Streitbeilegung in Verbraucherangelegenheiten (Alternative-Streitbeilegung-Gesetz (Österreich)) oder Alternative-Streitbeilegung-Gesetz (Liechtenstein)
 ASTRA Bundesamt für Strassen (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral des routes, ital. Ufficio federale delle strade)
 AStV Ausschuss der Ständigen Vertreter der Mitgliedstaaten (der EU) oder Automobilsteuerverordnung (Schweiz)
 ASVG Allgemeines Sozialversicherungsgesetz (Österreich) oder Agrarstrukturverbesserungsgesetz
 AsylG Asylgesetz (Deutschland)
 AsylG 2005 österreichisches Asylgesetz 2005
 AsylbLG Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz
 AsylGH Asylgerichtshof (Österreich)
 AsylVfG Asylverfahrensgesetz – bis 23. Oktober 2015 gültige Bezeichnung des deutschen Asylgesetzes
 AsylZBV 1997 Verordnung über die Zuständigkeit für die Ausführung des Übereinkommens vom 15. Juni 1990 über die Bestimmung des zuständigen Staates für die Prüfung eines in einem Mitgliedstaat der Europäischen Gemeinschaften gestellten Asylantrags
 AT Allgemeiner Teil (z. B. 1. Buch des BGB oder der AT im StGB) oder Arbeitstag(e)
 ATAD Anti-Steuervermeidungs-Richtlinie der EU (engl.: Anti-Tax Avoidance Directive)
 ATADUmSG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Anti-Steuervermeidungs-Richtlinie
 AtAV Verordnung über die Verbringung radioaktiver Abfälle oder abgebrannter Brennelemente (Atomrechtliche Abfallverbringungsverordnung)
 ATC Anatomisch-Therapeutisch-Chemisches Klassifikationssystem
 AtDeckV 1977 Atomdeckungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Deckungsvorsorge nach dem Atomgesetz)
 ATDG Antiterrordateigesetz (Gesetz zur Errichtung einer standardisierten zentralen Antiterrordatei von Polizeibehörden und Nachrichtendiensten von Bund und Ländern) (siehe Antiterrordatei)
 AtEV Verordnung über Anforderungen und Verfahren zur Entsorgung radioaktiver Abfälle (Atomrechtliche Entsorgungsverordnung)
 ATEX Richtlinie 2014/34/EU des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 26. Februar 2014 zur Harmonisierung der Rechtsvorschriften der Mitgliedstaaten für Geräte und Schutzsysteme zur bestimmungsgemäßen Verwendung in explosionsgefährdeten Bereichen (ATEX-Richtlinie)
 ATF Ausgleichstaxfonds (Österreich)
 AtG Atomgesetz oder Atomgesetz (Schweiz)
 ATG (AltTZG) Altersteilzeitgesetz
 AtGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Atomgesetzes
 ATLAS Automatisiertes Tarif- und lokales Zollabwicklungssystem (siehe ATLAS (Zollsoftware))
 ATMF Einheitliche Rechtsvorschriften für die technische Zulassung von Eisenbahnmaterial, das im internationalen Verkehr verwendet wird (Règles uniformes concernant l'admission technique de matériel ferroviaire utilisé en trafic international) (Anhang G zum COTIF)
 ATO Allgemeine Tarifordnung für Arbeitnehmer im öffentlichen Dienst
 AtomHG Atomhaftungsgesetz (Österreich)
 ATPL Verkehrspilotenlizenz (engl.: Airline Transport Pilot Licence/License - ATPL; dt.: Lizenz für Verkehrspiloten)
 ATSG Bundesgesetz über den Allgemeinen Teil des Sozialversicherungsrechts (Schweiz)
 AtSKostV Kostenverordnung zum Atomgesetz und zum Strahlenschutzgesetz
 AtSMV Verordnung über den kerntechnischen Sicherheitsbeauftragten und über die Meldung von Störfällen und sonstigen Ereignissen (Atomrechtliche Sicherheitsbeauftragten- und Meldeverordnung)
 ATV Allgemeine technische Vorschriften für Bauleistungen oder Tarifvertrag über die betriebliche bzw. zusätzliche Altersversorgung der Beschäftigten des öffentlichen Dienste
 ATV-K Altersvorsorge-Tarifvertrag-Kommunal
 AtVfV Atomverfahrensverordnung (Verordnung über das Verfahren bei der Genehmigung von Anlagen nach § 7 des Atomgesetzes)
 ATZ Altersteilzeit
 AtZÜV Verordnung für die Überprüfung der Zuverlässigkeit zum Schutz gegen Entwendung oder Freisetzung radioaktiver Stoffe nach dem Atomgesetz (Atomrechtliche Zuverlässigkeitsüberprüfungs-Verordnung)
 ATZV Altersteilzeitverordnung (Verordnung über die Gewährung eines Zuschlags bei Altersteilzeit)
 AU Anerkenntnisurteil oder Arbeitsunfähigkeit oder Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung oder Abgasuntersuchung
 AuA Arbeit und Arbeitsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 AuAS Ausländer- und Asylrecht Schnelldienst (Zeitschrift)
 AuB Arbeit und Beruf (Zeitschrift) oder Allgemeine Unfallversicherungs-Bedingungen oder Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung
 AÜ Athener Übereinkommen über die Beförderung von Reisenden und ihrem Gepäck auf See (von 1974 oder 2002)
 AÜG Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Arbeitskräfteüberlassungsgesetz (Österreich)
 AÜGLohnV Verordnung über eine Lohnuntergrenze in der Arbeitnehmerüberlassung
 AÜGMeldstellV Verordnung zur Bestimmung der zuständigen Behörde nach § 17b Absatz 4 des Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetzes
 AÜKostV Verordnung über die Kosten der Erlaubnis zur gewerbsmäßigen Arbeitnehmerüberlassung (Arbeitnehmerüberlassungserlaubnis-Kostenverordnung)
 AufbewJustVO NRW Verordnung über die Aufbewahrung von Schriftgut in der Justiz und Justizverwaltung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (Aufbewahrungsverordnung der Justiz Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 AufbhEG 2021 Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens „Aufbauhilfe 2021“ (Aufbauhilfefonds-Errichtungsgesetz 2021)
 AufbhV 2021 Verordnung über die Verteilung und Verwendung der Mittel des Fonds „Aufbauhilfe 2021“ (Aufbauhilfeverordnung 2021)
 AufenthEWGG Aufenthalt-EWG-Gesetz (Gesetz über Einreise und Aufenthalt von Staatsangehörigen der Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft)
 AufenthG Aufenthaltsgesetz
 AufenthG/EWG Gesetz über die Einreise und den Aufenthalt von Staatsangehörigen der Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft
 AufenthV Aufenthaltsverordnung
 Auff. Auffassung
 aufgeh. aufgehoben
 Aufl. Auflage
 AufwAG Aufwertungsausgleichsgesetz (Gesetz über einen Ausgleich für Folgen der Aufwertung der Deutschen Mark auf dem Gebiet der Landwirtschaft)
 AuG Bundesgesetz über die Ausländerinnen und Ausländer (Ausländergesetz (Schweiz))
 AUG Auslandsunterhaltsgesetz (Gesetz zur Geltendmachung von Unterhaltsansprüchen im Verkehr mit ausländischen Staaten)
 AuR Arbeit und Recht, Zeitschrift, Bund-Verlag (Frankfurt a.M.) oder Arzneimittel & Recht - Zeitschrift für Arzneimittelrecht und Arzneimittelpolitik (Zeitschrift)
 AuRAG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Europäischen Übereinkommens betreffend Auskünfte über ausländisches Recht und seines Zusatzprotokolls (Auslands-Rechtsauskunftgesetz)
 ausdr. ausdrücklich
 ausf. ausführlich
 AusfG Ausführungsgesetz
 AusfVO Ausführungsverordnung
 AusglMechAV Verordnung zur Ausführung der Verordnung zur Weiterentwicklung des bundesweiten Ausgleichsmechanismus
 AusglMechV Verordnung zur Weiterentwicklung des bundesweiten Ausgleichsmechanismus
 AusglLeistG Ausgleichsleistungsgesetz
 ausl. ausländisch
 AUSL Mit dieser Abkürzung werden Versicherungszeiten gekennzeichnet, die in einem Land der Europäischen Union (EU), dem Europäischen Wirtschaftsraum EU (EWR) oder einem Vertragsstaat zurückgelegt wurden.
 AuslandsrentenVO Verordnung über die Zahlung von Renten in das Ausland
 AuslAufnVO Ausländer- und Aufnahmeverordnung
 AuslBG Bundesgesetz vom 20. März 1975, mit dem die Beschäftigung von Ausländern geregelt wird (Ausländerbeschäftigungsgesetz)(Österreich)
 AuslBVO Ausländerbeschäftigungsverordnung (Österreich)
 AuslDatV Ausländerdateienverordnung (Verordnung über die Führung von Ausländerdateien durch die Ausländerbehörden und die Auslandsvertretungen)
 AuslDÜV Verordnung über Datenübermittlungen an die Ausländerbehörden
 AuslG Ausländergesetz (aufgehoben; ersetzt durch Aufenthaltsgesetz)
 AuslG1990DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Ausländergesetzes
 AuslGebV 1990 Ausländer-Gebührenverordnung (Gebührenverordnung zum Ausländergesetz und zum Gesetz zu dem Schengener Durchführungsübereinkommen)
 AuslInvestmG Auslandinvestmentgesetz (Gesetz über den Vertrieb ausländischer Investmentanteile und über die Besteuerung der Erträge aus ausländischen Investmentanteilen)
 AuslR Ausländerrecht
 AuslvG (auch AIG) Auslandsinvestitionsgesetz (Gesetz über steuerliche Maßnahmen bei Auslandsinvestitionen der deutschen Wirtschaft)
 AuslZuschlV Verordnung über die Gewährung von Auslandszuschlägen (Auslandszuschlagsverordnung)
 ausr ausreichend
 AusRbV Verordnung Ausübungsvorschriften für das Reisebürogewerbe (Österreich)
 AußStrG Außerstreitgesetz (Österreich) (siehe Zivilverfahrensrecht (Österreich) Abschnitt Erkenntnisverfahren)
 AusÜbsiedWOG Gesetz über die Festlegung eines vorläufigen Wohnortes für Spätaussiedler
 AuswSG Auswandererschutzgesetz
 AV Allgemeinverfügung oder Aktenvermerk oder Ausführungsvorschrift oder Allgemeine Verfügung oder Arbeitsvertrag oder Allgemeine Vorschriften oder Arbeitslosenversicherung oder Anlagenverzeichnis
 AVA Ausschreibung, Vergabe und Abrechnung (eine standardisierte Methode im Bauwesen) oder Allgemeine Vertragsbestimmungen zum Einheitsarchitektenvertrag 1979 oder Altersversorgungsabgabe oder Allgemeine Verfahrensanweisung oder Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift für die Ausstellung von Bescheinigungen gem. § 7 Abs. 4 S. 1 Nr. 2 und § 32 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 des Wohnungseigentumsgesetzes (siehe unter Abgeschlossenheitsbescheinigung)
 AVAG Anerkennungs- und Vollstreckungsausführungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Ausführung zwischenstaatlicher Verträge und zur Durchführung von Verordnungen der Europäischen Gemeinschaft auf dem Gebiet der Anerkennung und Vollstreckung in Zivil- und Handelssachen)
 AVAVG Gesetz über Arbeitsvermittlung und Arbeitslosenversicherung (bis 30. Juni 1969; ab 1. Juli 1969: Arbeitsförderungsgesetz)
 AVB Allgemeine Versorgungsbedingungen oder Allgemeine Versicherungsbedingungen
 AVBEltV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Elektrizitätsversorgung von Tarifkunden
 AVBFernwärmeV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Versorgung mit Fernwärme
 AVBGasV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Gasversorgung von Tarifkunden
 AVBWasserV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Versorgung mit Wasser
 AVE Allgemeinverbindlichkeitserklärung eines Tarifvertrages
 AVermV Arbeitsvermittlungsverordnung
 AVG Allgemeines Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Österreich) oder Angestelltenversicherungsgesetz oder Arbeitsvermittlungsgesetz (Schweiz)
 AVHintG NRW Ausführungsvorschriften zum Hinterlegungsgesetz von Nordrhein-Westfalen
 AVmEG Gesetz zur Ergänzung des Gesetzes zur Reform der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung und zur Förderung eines kapitalgedeckten Altersvorsorgevermögens
(Altersvermögensergänzungsgesetz)
 AVmG Gesetz zur Reform der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung und zur Förderung eines kapitalgedeckten Altersvorsorgevermögens (Altersvermögensgesetz)
 AVO Ausführungsverordnung
 AVOG Bundesgesetz über den Aufbau und die Zuständigkeitsregelung der Abgabenverwaltung des Bundes (Abgabenverwaltungsorganisationsgesetz 2010) (Österreich)
 AVOG 2010 – DV Verordnung des Bundesministers für Finanzen zur Durchführung des Abgabenverwaltungsorganisationsgesetzes 2010 (Österreich)
 AVR (ArchVölkR) Archiv des Völkerrechts (Zeitschrift) oder Allgemeine Vertragsrichtlinien oder Richtlinien für Arbeitsverträge in den Einrichtungen des Deutschen Caritasverbandes (siehe AVR-Caritas) oder Allgemeines Verwaltungsrecht
 AVRAG Arbeitsvertragsrechts-Anpassungsgesetz (Österreich)
 AVV Abfallverzeichnis-Verordnung oder Allgemeiner Vertrag für die Verwendung von Güterwagen oder Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift oder Auftragsverarbeitungs-Vertrag oder Arbeitsvermittlungsverordnung (Schweiz)
 AVV LmH Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift Lebensmittelhygiene
 AVWG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Wirtschaftlichkeit in der Arzneimittelversorgung (Arzneimittelversorgungs-Wirtschaftlichkeitsgesetz)
 AVWL Altersvorsorgewirksame Leistung
 AVwV Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift
 aW Aufschiebende Wirkung
 AWaffV Allgemeine Waffengesetz-Verordnung (siehe Waffengesetz (Deutschland))
 AWB Air Waybill (Luftfrachtbrief)
 AWD Außenwirtschaftsdienst des Betriebs-Beraters
 AWG Außenwirtschaftsgesetz oder Abfallwirtschaftsgesetz 2002 (Österreich)
 AWO Arbeiterwohlfahrt
 AW Prax Außenwirtschaftliche Praxis (Zeitschrift)
 AWS Abfallwirtschaftssatzung
 AwSV Verordnung über Anlagen zum Umgang mit wassergefährdenden Stoffen
 AWV Außenwirtschaftsverordnung oder Arzneimittel-Werbeverordnung (Schweiz)
 AWZ Außenwirtschaftszone oder Ausschließliche Wirtschaftszone (nach Art. 55-75 Seerechtsübereinkommen)
 Az. Aktenzeichen
 AZ Arbeitszeit oder Ackerzahl
 AZAV Akkreditierungs- und Zulassungsverordnung Arbeitsförderung
 AZF Allgemeines Sprechfunkzeugnis für den Flugfunkdienst (siehe Sprechfunkzeugnis (Luftfahrt))
 AZG Allgemeines Zuständigkeitsgesetz (z. B. AZG Berlin) oder Arbeitszeitgesetz (Österreich)
 AZO Allgemeine Zollordnung (Siehe Zollwesen) oder Arbeitszeitordnung
 AZR Ausländerzentralregister
 AZRG Gesetz über das Ausländerzentralregister
 AZRG-DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes über das Ausländerzentralregister
 AZWV Anerkennungs- und Zulassungsverordnung Weiterbildung (nach § 87 SGB III) (aufgehoben und abgelöst durch die Akkreditierungs- und Zulassungsverordnung Arbeitsförderung (AZAV))

B 
 BA Bundesagentur für Arbeit (früher: Bundesanstalt für Arbeit) oder Bauamt oder Bauart oder Bergakademie oder Bergamt oder Berufsakademie oder Betreibungsamt (Schweiz) oder Betriebsanweisung oder Betriebsarzt oder Bezirksamt oder Biologischer Arbeitsstoff oder Blutalkohol (siehe Blutalkoholkonzentration) oder Zeitschrift “Blutalkohol” oder Bundesamt oder Bundesanwalt beim Bundesgerichtshof oder Bundesanwaltschaft (siehe Bundesanwaltschaft (Schweiz)) oder Bundesarchiv oder Bußgeldakte oder Bratislaver Abkommen (ein internationaler Vertrag zur Schifffahrt auf der Donau) oder Betriebsausgabe
 BAA Bundesausgleichsamt
 BAAINBw Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr
 BAB Bundesautobahn oder Betriebsabrechnungsbogen oder Berufsausbildungsbeihilfe (eine Leistung nach dem Sozialgesetzbuch Ⅲ) oder Börsenaufsichtsbehörde oder Bundesausländerbeirat
 BABl. (BArbBl) Bundesarbeitsblatt
 Bad. Baden, badisch
 BADV Verordnung über Bodenabfertigungsdienste auf Flugplätzen (Bodenabfertigungsdienst-Verordnung) oder Bundesamt für zentrale Dienste und offene Vermögensfragen
 BÄK Bundesärztekammer
 BÄO Bundesärzteordnung
 BAES Bundesamt für Ernährungssicherheit (Österreich)
 BAF Bundesaufsichtsamt für Flugsicherung
 BAFA Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle
 BAFG Gesetz über die Errichtung des Bundesaufsichtsamtes für Flugsicherung
 BAFin Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht
 BAFL Fremden- und asylrechtliche Blätter (Österreich)
 BAfM Bundesanstalt für Milchforschung
 BAföG Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz
 BAföGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetzes
 BAföGVwV Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschriften zum BAföG
 BAföG-MedPflegbV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für Medizinalfachberufe und für Pflegeberufe (BAföG-Medizinalfach- und Plegeberufe-Verordnung)
 BAFU Bundesamt für Umwelt (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de l’environnement, ital. Ufficio federale dell’ambiente)
 BAFzA Bundesamt für Familie und zivilgesellschaftliche Aufgaben
 BAG Bundesarbeitsgericht oder Bundesamt für Güterverkehr oder Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft oder Bundesamt für Gesundheit (Schweiz) oder Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Bundesaufsichtsamtes für das Versicherungswesen oder Berufsausübungsgemeinschaft oder Berufsausbildungsgesetz (Österreich) oder gewerblich-technische Berufsaufbauschule
 BAGE Entscheidungen des Bundesarbeitsgerichts
 BAGGS Bundesarbeitsgericht – Großer Senat
 BAGH Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Hilfe für Behinderte
 BAGLJÄ Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Landesjugendämter
 BAGKF Bundesanstalt für Getreide-, Kartoffel- und Fettforschung
 BAGReport Schnelldienst zur arbeitsgerichtlichen Rechtsprechung des BAG und des EuGH (Zeitschrift)
 BAG-SB Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Schuldnerberatung
 BAG-SHI Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Erwerbslosen- und Sozialhilfeinitiativen
 BAG-UB Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Unterstützte Beschäftigung
 BAIK Bundeskammer der Architekten und Ingenieurkonsulenten (Österreich)
 BAIUDBw Bundesamt für Infrastruktur, Umweltschutz und Dienstleistungen der Bundeswehr
 BAK Blutalkoholkonzentration oder Bundesarbeitskammer (Österreich) (siehe Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte) oder Bundesamt zur Korruptionsprävention und Korruptionsbekämpfung (Österreich)
 BAKJ Bundesarbeitskreis kritischer Juragruppen
 BAKOM Bundesamt für Kommunikation (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de la communication, ital. Ufficio federale delle comunicazioni)
 BAKred Bundesaufsichtsamt für das Kreditwesen (einer der Vorgänger der BaFin)
 BallastwG Gesetz zu dem Internationalen Übereinkommen von 2004 zur Kontrolle und Behandlung von Ballastwasser und Sedimenten von Schiffen (Ballastwasser-Gesetz)
 BALM Bundesamt für Logistik und Mobilität oder Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaftliche Marktordnung
 BAM Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung
 BAMF Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge
 BankA Bank-Archiv (Zeitschrift)
 BankFachwPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Bankfachwirt/Geprüfte Bankfachwirtin
 BankKfm/KfrAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Bankkaufmann/zur Bankkauffrau
 BAnstPT Bundesanstalt für Post und Telekommunikation DBP
 BAnz Bundesanzeiger
 BAO Bundesabgabenordnung (Österreich)
 BÄO Bundesärzteordnung
 BaP Beamtenverhältnis auf Probe
 BAPersBw Bundesamt für das Personalmanagement der Bundeswehr
 BApO Bundes-Apothekerordnung
 BAPT Bundesamt für Post und Telekommunikation (aufgelöst zum 1. Januar 1998)
 BAR Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Rehabilitation e.V.
 BArbBl (BABl.) Bundesarbeitsblatt
 BArchBV Bundesarchiv-Benutzungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Benutzung von Archivgut beim Bundesarchiv)
 BArchG Gesetz über die Nutzung und Sicherung von Archivgut des Bundes (Bundesarchivgesetz)
 BArchivG Bundesgesetz über die Sicherung, Aufbewahrung und Nutzung von Archivgut des Bundes (Bundesarchivgesetz (Österreich))
 BArchKV Verordnung über Kosten beim Bundesarchiv
 BARL Berufsanerkennungsrichtlinie (Richtlinie 2005/36/EG über die Anerkennung von Berufsqualifikationen)
 BArtSchV Bundesartenschutzverordnung
 BarwertVO Barwertverordnung (Verordnung zur Ermittlung des Barwerts einer auszugleichenden Versorgung nach § 1587 a Abs. 3 Nr. 2 und Abs. 4 des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuchs)
 BAS Bundesamt für Schiffsvermessung (siehe Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie) oder Bundesamt für Soziale Sicherung (bis 2019: Bundesversicherungsamt (BVA))
 BASE Bundesamt für die Sicherheit der nuklearen Entsorgung
 BASG Bundesamt für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (Österreich)
 BASPOErmV Verordnung zur Ermächtigung zum Erlass von Prüfungsordnungen (BAS-Prüfungsordnungsermächtigungsverordnung)
 BASS Bereinigte Amtliche Sammlung der Schulvorschriften Nordrhein-Westfalen oder Büro für arbeits- und sozialpolitische Studien (Schweiz)
 BAStrlSchG Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Bundesamtes für Strahlenschutz
 BAT Bundes-Angestelltentarifvertrag oder Biologischer Arbeitsstoff-Toleranzwert oder Beste verfügbare Techniken (engl.: best available techniques - BAT)
 BAT-O Bundes-Angestelltentarifvertrag Ost
 BattG Batteriegesetz (Gesetz über das Inverkehrbringen, die Rücknahme und die umweltverträgliche Entsorgung von Batterien und Akkumulatoren)
 BattGDV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Batteriegesetzes
 BattV Batterieverordnung
 BATZV Beamtenaltersteilzeitverordnung
 BAuA Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin
 BaubetrV Verordnung über die Betriebe des Baugewerbes, in denen die ganzjährige Beschäftigung zu fördern ist (Baubetriebe-Verordnung)
 BauFG Bauforderungen-Sicherungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Sicherung der Bauforderungen)
 BAufsAG Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Bundesaufsichtsamtes für das Versicherungs- und Bausparwesen
 BauGB Baugesetzbuch
 BauGBMaßnG Maßnahmengesetz zum BauGB
 BauGO Baugebührenordnung
 BauKG Bauarbeitenkoordinationsgesetz (Österreich)
 BauNVO Baunutzungsverordnung
 BauO Bauordnung (des jeweiligen Bundeslandes)
 baupol. baupolizeilich
 BauPG Bauproduktegesetz (Gesetz über das Inverkehrbringen von und den freien Warenverkehr mit Bauprodukten zur Umsetzung der des Rates vom 21. Dezember 1988 zur Angleichung der Rechts- und Verwaltungsvorschriften der Mitgliedstaaten)
 BauR Baurecht oder Baurecht (Zeitschrift)
 BausparkG (oder BauSpkG) Gesetz über Bausparkassen (Bausparkassengesetz)
 BausparkV Verordnung zum Gesetz über Bausparkassen
 BauSparVetrAbwV Durchführungs- und Ergänzungsverordnung über die vereinfachte Abwicklung von Bausparverträgen
 BaustellV Baustellenverordnung
 BauSV Der Bausachverständige (Zeitschrift)
 BauVorlV Verordnung über Bauvorlagen und bauaufsichtliche Anzeigen (Bauvorlagenverordnung) (Bayern)
 BAV Bundesaufsichtsamt für das Versicherungswesen (2002 aufgegangen in der BaFin) oder Bundesamt für Verkehr (Schweiz) (franz.: Office fédéral des transports, ital.: Ufficio federale dei trasporti) oder Bundesanstalt für Verwaltungsdienstleistungen
 BaW Beamtenverhältnis auf Widerruf
 BAW Bundesanstalt für Wasserbau
 BAWe Bundesaufsichtsamt für den Wertpapierhandel (2002 aufgegangen in der Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (BaFin))
 BAWV Bundesamt für Wehrverwaltung
 Bay. Bayern, bayerisch
 BayAbgrG Bayerisches Abgrabungsgesetz
 BayÄrzteBl. Bayerisches Ärzteblatt
 BayBauO Bayerische Bauordnung
 BayBgm. Der Bayerische Bürgermeister (Zeitschrift)
 BayBS Bereinigte Sammlung des Bayerischen Landesrechts (siehe Bayerische Rechtssammlung)
 BayBZ Bayerische Beamtenzeitung
 BayDGH Bayerischer Dienstgerichtshof
 BayDStH Bayerischer Dienststrafhof
 BayGlG Bayerisches Gleichstellungsgesetz
 BayGrStG Bayerisches Grundsteuergesetz
 BayGVBl. Bayerisches Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt
 BayGZ Bayerische Gemeindezeitung
 BayJMBl. Bayerisches Justizministerialblatt
 BayKiBiG Bayerisches Kinderbildungs- und -betreuungsgesetz
 BayKirchStG Gesetz über die Erhebung von Steuern durch Kirchen, Religions- und weltanschauliche Gemeinschaften (Bayerisches Kirchensteuergesetz)
 BayLfSt Bayerisches Landesamt für Steuern
 BayMABl. Ministerialamtsblatt der bayerischen inneren Verwaltung
 BayMG Bayerisches Mediengesetz
 BayObLG Bayerisches Oberstes Landesgericht
 BayObLGSt Sammlung der Entscheidungen des BayObLG in Strafsachen
 BayObLGZ Sammlung der Entscheidungen des BayObLG in Zivilsachen
 BayRG Bayerisches Rundfunkgesetz
 BayRS Bayerische Rechtssammlung
 BayRSG Gesetz über die Sammlung des bayerischen Landesrechts
 BaySchlG Bayerisches Schlichtungsgesetz
 BayStrWG Bayerisches Straßen- und Wegegesetz
 BayVBl. Bayerische Verwaltungsblätter (Zeitschrift)
 BayVerfGH Bayerischer Verfassungsgerichtshof
 BayVGH Bayerischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof
 BayVSG Bayerisches Verfassungsschutzgesetz
 BAZ Bundesamt für den Zivildienst
 BAZL Bundesamt für Zivilluftfahrt (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de l’aviation civile, ital. Ufficio federale dell’aviazione civile)
 BB Betriebs-Berater (Zeitschrift) oder Brandenburg
 BBahn Bundesbahn (auch DB)
 BBahnG Bundesbahngesetz (Deutschland) oder Bundesbahngesetz (Österreich)
 BBahnVermG Gesetz über die vermögensrechtlichen Verhältnisse der Deutschen Bundesbahn
 BBankG Bundesbankgesetz
 BBankLV Verordnung über die Laufbahnen der Bundesbankbeamtinnen und Bundesbankbeamten
 BBankPersV Verordnung zur Regelung der Rechtsverhältnisse des Personals der Deutschen Bundesbank
 BBauBl Bundesbaublatt
 BBauG Bundesbaugesetz (aufgehoben, jetzt: Baugesetzbuch (BauGB))
 BBB Berufsbildungsbereich (siehe Werkstatt für behinderte Menschen Abschnitt Berufsbildungsbereich (BBB))
 BBergG Bundesberggesetz
 BBesG Bundesbesoldungsgesetz
 BBesO Bundesbesoldungsordnung
 BBFestV Verordnung zur Festlegung und Anpassung der Bundesbeteiligung an den Leistungen für Unterkunft und Heizung (Bundesbeteiligungs-Festlegungsverordnung) (Anmerkung: mit jeweiliger Jahresangabe)
 BBg. Brandenburg, brandenburgisch
 BbgKVerf Kommunalverfassung des Landes Brandenburg (siehe Gemeindeordnungen in Deutschland)
 BbgPsychKG Gesetz über Hilfen und Schutzmaßnahmen bei psychischen Krankheiten (Brandenburgisches Psychisch-Kranken-Gesetz)
 BbgVerf Verfassung des Landes Brandenburg
 BbgVwGG Gesetz über die Errichtung der Verwaltungsgerichtsbarkeit und zur Ausführung der Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung im Land Brandenburg (Brandenburgisches Verwaltungsgerichtsgesetz)
 BbgWG Brandenburgisches Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetz)
 BBG Bundesbeamtengesetz oder Berufsbildungsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Bundesbehindertengesetz (Österreich) oder Beitragsbemessungsgrenze
 bbH bauartbestimmte Höchstgeschwindigkeit
 BBhV Verordnung über Beihilfe in Krankheits-, Pflege- und Geburtsfällen (Bundesbeihilfeverordnung)
 BBiG Berufsbildungsgesetz
 BBilRG Bankbilanzrichtlinien-Gesetz
 BBiModG Berufsbildungsmodernisierungsgesetz
 BBiZ Berufsbildungszentrum
 BBK Buchführung, Bilanz, Kostenrechnung (Zeitschrift) oder Bundesamt für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe
 BBKG Gesetz über die Errichtung des Bundesamtes für Bevölkerungsschutz und Katastrophenhilfe
 BBl Bundesblatt (Schweiz)
 BBL Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik (Schweiz)
 BBodSchG Bundes-Bodenschutzgesetz
 BBodSchV Bundes-Bodenschutz- und Altlastenverordnung
 BBPlG Gesetz über den Bundesbedarfsplan (Bundesbedarfsplangesetz)
 BBPol Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei
 BBSR Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung
 BBR Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung
 BBT Bundesamt für Berufsbildung und Technologie (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de la formation professionnelle et de la technologie, ital. Ufficio federale della formazione professionale e della tecnologia)
 BBV Berufsbildungsverordnung (Schweiz) (siehe Berufliche Grundbildung)
 BBVLG 1975 Gesetz über vermögenswirksame Leistungen für Beamte, Richter, Berufssoldaten und Soldaten auf Zeit – Art. VI Nr. 1 des Zweiten Gesetzes zur Vereinheitlichung und Neuregelung des Besoldungsrechts in Bund und Ländern (2. BesVNG) –
 BC Zeitschrift für Bilanzierung, Rechnungswesen und Controlling
 BCBS Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (dt.: Basler Ausschuss für Bankenaufsicht)
 Bd. Band
 BDB Bund Deutscher Baumeister, Architekten und Ingenieure e.V.
 Bde. Bände
 BDA Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Arbeitgeberverbände oder Bundesdenkmalamt (Österreich)
 BDBOS Bundesanstalt für den Digitalfunk der Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben
 BDBOSG Gesetz über die Errichtung einer Bundesanstalt für den Digitalfunk der Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben (BDBOS-Gesetz)
 BDG Bundesdisziplinargesetz oder Beamten-Dienstrechtsgesetz 1979 (Österreich)
 BGT Betreuungsgerichtstag e.V. (siehe Vormundschaftsgerichtstag)
 BDH Bundesdisziplinarhof
 BDiszH (BDH) Bundesdisziplinarhof
 BDK Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter
 BDO Bundesdisziplinarordnung
 BDSG Bundesdatenschutzgesetz
 BdSt Bund der Steuerzahler Deutschland
 BDVR Bund-Deutscher-Verwaltungsrichter-und-Verwaltungsrichterinnen-Rundschreiben
 BE Betriebseinheit oder Berlin oder Betriebseinnahme
 beA Besonderes elektronisches Anwaltspostfach
 BeamtStG Beamtenstatusgesetz
 BeamtVG Beamtenversorgungsgesetz
 BeamtVGVwV Allgemeinen Verwaltungsvorschriften zum Beamtenversorgungsgesetz
 BeamtVÜV Verordnung über beamtenversorgungsrechtliche Übergangsregelungen nach Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands
 Bearb. Bearbeiter(in)
 beBPo Besonderes elektronisches Behördenpostfach
 BeckOK Beck´scher Online-Kommentar
 BeckRS Beck-Rechtssachen (Online-Zeitschrift)
 BedGgstV Bedarfsgegenständeverordnung
 BefBezG Befriedungs-Bezirksgesetz (Gesetz über befriedete Bezirke für Verfassungsorgane des Bundes)
 BEG Bundesentschädigungsgesetz
 beE Betriebsorganisatorisch eigenständige Einheit
 BEEG Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz
 BEGDV 1 Erste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundesentschädigungsgesetzes
 BEGDV 6 Sechste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Bundesentschädigungsgesetzes
 BEGebV Verordnung über die Gebühren und Auslagen für Amtshandlungen der Eisenbahnverkehrsverwaltung des Bundes
 begl. beglaubigt
 Begr. Begründung
 BEGTGP Gesetz über die Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen
 BEHG Bundesgesetz über die Börsen und den Effektenhandel oder Gesetz über einen nationalen Zertifikatehandel für Brennstoffemissionen (Brennstoffemissionshandelsgesetz)
 BehiG Bundesgesetz über die Beseitigung von Benachteiligungen von Menschen mit Behinderungen, Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (Schweiz)
 BeHiV Behindertengleichstellungsverordnung (Schweiz)
 BEHV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Brennstoffemissionshandelsgesetzes (Brennstoffemissionshandelsverordnung)
 Beigel. Beigeladene(r)
 Beil. Beilage
 BEinstG Behinderteneinstellungsgesetz (Österreich)
 BeitrRLUmsG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Beitreibungsrichtlinie. sowie zur Änderung steuerlicher Vorschriften (Beitreibungsrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz)
 bej. bejahend
 Bek. (BekM) Bekanntmachung
 BekanntmVO Bekanntmachungsverordnung
 Bekl. Beklagter
 BeklV Beklagtenvertreter(in)
 BelWertV Beleihungswertermittlungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Ermittlung des Beleihungswertes von Grundstücken nach § 16 Abs. 1 und 2 des Pfandbriefgesetzes)
 Bem. Bemerkung
 BEM Betriebliches Eingliederungsmanagement
 BEMA Bewertungsmaßstab zahnärztlicher Leistungen
 BEMFV Verordnung über das Nachweisverfahren zur Begrenzung elektromagnetischer Felder
 beN besonderes elektronisches Notarpostfach
 BEPS Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (dt.: Gewinnkürzung und Gewinnverlagerung)
 BEPSUmsG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Änderungen der EU-Amtshilferichtlinie und von weiteren Maßnahmen gegen Gewinnkürzungen und -verlagerungen
 ber. berichtigt
 Ber. Berufung (Recht) oder Berichtigung
 BER Bundeselternrat
 BerBiG (BBiG) Berufsbildungsgesetz (Deutschland)
 BerBiFG Berufsbildungsförderungsgesetz
 BerBiRefG Berufsbildungsreformgesetz (Gesetz zur Reform der beruflichen Bildung)
 BerGer. Berufungsgericht
 BerGH Berufungsgerichtshof
 BergPDV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes über Bergmannsprämien
 BergPG Bergmannsprämiengesetz (Gesetz über Bergmannsprämien)
 BerH Beratungshilfe
 BerHG (BeratHiG) Beratungshilfegesetz (Gesetz über Rechtsberatung und Vertretung für Bürger mit geringem Einkommen)
 Berl. Berlin, Berliner
 BerlÄrzteBl. Berliner Ärzteblatt (Zeitschrift)
 BerlAVG Berliner Ausschreibungs- und Vergabegesetz
 BerlinFG Berlinförderungsgesetz
 BerlVerfGH Berliner Verfassungsgerichtshof (siehe Verfassungsgerichtshof des Landes Berlin)
 BerRehaG Gesetz über den Ausgleich beruflicher Benachteiligungen für Opfer politischer Verfolgung im Beitrittsgebiet (Artikel 2 des Zweiten Gesetzes zur Bereinigung von SED-Unrecht)
 BErzGG Bundeserziehungsgeldgesetz (aufgehoben; jetzt Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz – BEEG)
 bes. besonders
 Bes. Beschluss
 BesBed. Besondere Bedingungen
 BesBedPHV Besonderen Bedingungen zur Privathaftpflichtversicherung
 Besch. Beschuldigte(r)
 BeschA Beschaffungsamt des BMI
 BeschFG Beschäftigungsförderungsgesetz
 BeschG Beschussgesetz (Gesetz über die Prüfung und Zulassung von Feuerwaffen, Böllern, Geräten, bei denen zum Antrieb Munition verwendet wird, sowie von Munition und sonstigen Waffen)
 Beschl. Beschluss (Gericht) oder Beschluss (EU)
 BeschSchG Beschäftigtenschutzgesetz (Gesetz zum Schutz der Beschäftigten vor sexueller Belästigung am Arbeitsplatz; Artikel 10 des Gesetzes zur Durchsetzung der Gleichberechtigung von Frauen und Männern), aufgehoben am 18. August 2006; siehe jetzt das Allgemeine Gleichbehandlungsgesetz (AGG)
 BeschSiG Gesetz zur Beschäftigungssicherung infolge der COVID-19-Pandemie (Beschäftigungssicherungsgesetz)
 BeschwGer. Beschwerdegericht
 BeschussV Beschussverordnung (Allgemeine Verordnung zum Beschussgesetz)
 BeschV Beschäftigungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Beschäftigung von Ausländerinnen und Ausländern)
 BeschVerfV Beschäftigungsverfahrensverordnung (Verordnung über das Verfahren und die Zulassung von im Inland lebenden Ausländern zur Ausübung einer Beschäftigung)
 Beschw. Beschwerde (deutsches Recht), Beschwerde (schweizerisches Recht)
 BesGr Besoldungsgruppe
 BesO Besoldungsordnung (siehe u. a. Besoldungsordnung B)
 BeSoGeKo Rat für Beschäftigung, Soziales, Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz der EU (engl.: Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council – EPSCO)
 beSt Besonderes elektronisches Steuerberaterpostfach
 BeSt Beratersicht zur Steuerrechtsprechung
 BestG Bestattungsgesetz (Landesgesetze; z. B. Gesetz über das Friedhofs- und Bestattungswesen NRW)
 BestüVAbfV Verordnung zur Bestimmung von überwachungsbedürftigen Abfällen zur Verwertung
 BesÜV 2 Zweite Verordnung über besoldungsrechtliche Übergangsregelungen nach Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands
 bestr. bestritten
 Bet. Beteiligte(r)
 BetmG Betäubungsmittelgesetz (Schweiz)
 BetmKV Betäubungsmittelkontrollverordnung (Schweiz)
 BetmSV Verordnung vom 25. Mai 2011 über Betäubungsmittelsucht und andere suchtbedingte Störungen (Betäubungsmittelsuchtverordnung) (Schweiz)
 BetmVV-EDI Verordnung des EDI vom 30. Mai 2011 über die Verzeichnisse der Betäubungsmittel, psychotropen Stoffe, Vorläuferstoffe und Hilfschemikalien (Betäubungsmittelverzeichnisverordnung) (Schweiz)
 betr. betreffend oder betrieblich
 Betr. Betroffene(r) oder Betrieb oder Betrag
 BetrAV Betriebliche Altersversorgung
 BetrAVG Betriebsrentengesetz (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der betrieblichen Altersversorgung)
 BetrKV Betriebskostenverordnung
 BetrPrämDurchfV Betriebsprämiendurchführungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung der einheitlichen Betriebsprämie)
 BetrSichV Betriebssicherheitsverordnung
 BetrVerf. Betriebsverfassung
 BetrVG Betriebsverfassungsgesetz
 BetrVG 1952 Betriebsverfassungsgesetz 1952
 BetrVGDV1WO Erste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Betriebsverfassungsgesetzes (Wahlordnung – WO); ebenso gebräuchlich sind die Abkürzungen WahlO und WO.
 BEU Bundesstelle für Eisenbahnunfalluntersuchung
 BeurkG Beurkundungsgesetz
 BEV Bundesamt für Eich- und Vermessungswesen (Österreich)  oder Bundeseisenbahnvermögen
 BevStatG Bevölkerungsstatistikgesetz
 BEVVG Bundeseisenbahnverkehrsverwaltungsgesetz
 BEVO Bargeldlos entrichtete Beiträge
 Bew. Beweis oder Bewertung
 BewachV Bewachungsverordnung
 BewachVwV Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zum Vollzug des § 34 a der Gewerbeordnung und zur Bewachungsverordnung
 BewÄndG Bewertungsänderungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Änderung des Bewertungsgesetzes)
 BewDV Durchführungsverordnung zum Bewertungsgesetz
 BewG Bewertungsgesetz
 BewG§122Abs3DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 122 Abs. 3 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§39DV 1 Erste Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 39 Abs. 1 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§39DV 2 Zweite Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 39 Abs. 1 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§39DV 3 Dritte Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 39 Abs. 1 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§55Abs3/4DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 55 Abs. 3 und 4 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§55Abs8DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 55 Abs. 8 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§81DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 81 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewG§90DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 90 des Bewertungsgesetzes
 BewHi (BewH) Bewährungshilfe oder Bewährungshilfe. Fachzeitschrift für Bewährungs-, Gerichts- und Straffälligenhilfe.
 BewRGr Richtlinien für die Bewertung des Grundvermögens
 BewRL Bewertungs-Richtlinien für das land- und forstwirtschaftliche Vermögen
 BEZ Bundesergänzungszuweisungen (siehe Länderfinanzausgleich Abschnitt Bundesergänzungszuweisungen (BEZ))
 BezG Bezirksgericht (Österreich), Bezirksgericht (Schweiz)
 BEZNG Bundeseisenbahnneugliederungsgesetz
 BezO Bezirksordnung
 BezReg Bezirksregierung
 BezWahlG Bezirkswahlgesetz
 Bf. Beschwerdeführer(in)
 BF Berufsfeuerwehr
 BfA Bundesversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte
 BFA Bundesfinanzakademie
 BfAAG Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Bundesamts für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten
 bfai Bundesagentur für Außenwirtschaft (abgelöst am 1. Januar 2009 durch die Germany Trade and Invest – Gesellschaft für Außenwirtschaft und Standortmarketing mbH)
 BfArM Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte
 BfB Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein (seit 2018 aufgelöst)
 BfC Bundesstelle für Chemikalien
 BfD Beauftragter für Datenschutz oder Bundesfinanzdirektion
 BFD Bundesfinanzdirektion oder Bundesfreiwilligendienst oder Berufsförderungsdienst der deutschen Bundeswehr
 BFDG Gesetz über den Bundesfreiwilligendienst (kurz: Bundesfreiwilligendienstgesetz)
 BfdH Beauftragter für den Haushalt
 BfDI Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit
 BFE Bundesamt für Energie (Schweiz) oder Beweissicherungs- und Festnahmeeinheit der Polizei (Deutschland)
 BfEL Bundesforschungsanstalt für Ernährung und Lebensmittel (bis 31. Dezember 2007; siehe jetzt Max Rubner-Institut)
 BfF Bundesamt für Finanzen oder Begutachtungsstelle für Fahreignung
 BfG Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde
 BFG Bundesfinanzgesetz (Österreich) oder Verwaltungsgericht des Bundes für Finanzen (kurz: Bundesfinanzgericht) (Österreich)
 BFH Bundesfinanzhof oder Bundesforschungsanstalt für Forst- und Holzwirtschaft (aufgehoben; jetzt Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI) – Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei)
 BFHE Entscheidungen des Bundesfinanzhofs (amtliche Sammlung)
 BFH-EntlG Bundesfinanzhof-Entlastungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Entlastung des Bundesfinanzhofs)
 BFH/NV BFH/NV (Sammlung amtlich nicht veröffentlichter Entscheidungen des Bundesfinanzhofs)
 BfJ Bundesamt für Justiz (Deutschland)
 BFKM Bundesfach- und Koordinierungsstelle Männergewaltschutz
 BFM Bundesamt für Migration (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral des migrations, ital. Ufficio federale della migrazione)
 BfN Bundesamt für Naturschutz
 BfNatSchG Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Bundesamtes für Naturschutz
 BfR Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung
 BfS Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz oder Bekanntmachungen für Seefahrer
 BFS Bundesanstalt für Flugsicherung
 BFSG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie (EU) 2019/882 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates über die Barrierefreiheitsanforderungen für Produkte und Dienstleistungen (Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz)
 BFStrMG Bundesfernstraßenmautgesetz
 BFU Bundesstelle für Flugunfalluntersuchung
 BFuP Betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis (Zeitschrift)
 BfV Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz
 BFW Basisfallwert
 Bg. Beschwerdegegner(in)
 BG Berufsgenossenschaft oder Die Berufsgenossenschaft (Zeitschrift) oder Betriebsgefahr oder Bedarfsgemeinschaft oder Beamtengesetz (eines Bundeslandes) oder Berufungsgericht oder Bezirksgericht (Österreich; siehe Gerichtsorganisation in Österreich)
 BGA Bundesgesundheitsamt
 BGB Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch oder Bußgeldbescheid
 BG BAU Berufsgenossenschaft der Bauwirtschaft
 BGB-InfoV BGB-Informationspflichten-Verordnung
 BGBl. Bundesgesetzblatt (Deutschland) oder Bundesgesetzblatt für die Republik Österreich oder Bundesgesetzblatt des Norddeutschen Bundes (1867–1871) oder Bundesgesetzblatt des Deutschen Bundes (1871)
 BGE Bundesgerichtsentscheidungen
 BGebG Gesetz über Gebühren und Auslagen des Bundes (Bundesgebührengesetz)
 BGer Bundesgericht (Schweiz) (franz. Tribunal fédéral, ital. Tribunale federale, rät. Tribunal federal)
 BG ETEM Berufsgenossenschaft Energie Textil Elektro Medienerzeugnisse
 BGF Brutto-Grundfläche (siehe Grundfläche (Architektur))
 BGG Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Bundesgerichtsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Berufsgenossenschaftliche Grundsätze
 BGH Bundesgerichtshof
 BGHM Berufsgenossenschaft Holz und Metall
 BGHR Rechtsprechung(sammlung) des BGH (BGHR)
 BGHSt Entscheidungen des Bundesgerichtshofs in Strafsachen (amtliche Sammlung)
 BGHW Berufsgenossenschaft Handel und Warendistribution
 BGHZ Entscheidungen des Bundesgerichtshofs in Zivilsachen (amtliche Sammlung)
 BGI Berufsgenossenschaftliche Informationen
 BGJ Berufsgrundbildungsjahr
 BGleiG Gesetz für die Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern in der Bundesverwaltung und in den Unternehmen und Gerichten des Bundes (Bundesgleichstellungsgesetz)
 BGlG Gesetz über die Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (Liechtenstein)
 Bgm. Bürgermeister
 BGM Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement
 BGN Berufsgenossenschaft Nahrungsmittel und Gastgewerbe
 BGÖ Bundesgesetz über das Öffentlichkeitsprinzip der Verwaltung (Öffentlichkeitsgesetz) (Schweiz)
 BGR Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe oder Berufsgenossenschaftliche Regeln
 BG RCI Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie
 BGremBG Gesetz über die Mitwirkung des Bundes an der Besetzung von Gremien (Bundesgremienbesetzungsgesetz)
 BG See See-Berufsgenossenschaft (auch See-BG)
 BGSG Bundesgrenzschutzgesetz (aufgehoben durch das Bundespolizeigesetz)
 BGStG Bundesgesetz über die Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (Österreich)
 BGT Betreuungsgerichtstag e.V.
 BG-V Verordnung über Anlagen zum Umgang mit wassergefährdenden Stoffen anlässlich eines Brennstoffwechsels wegen einer ernsten oder erheblichen Gasmangellage (Brennstoffwechsel-Gasmangellage-Verordnung)
 BGV Berufsgenossenschaftliche Vorschriften
 BG Verkehr Berufsgenossenschaft für Transport und Verkehrswirtschaft
 BgVV Bundesinstitut für gesundheitlichen Verbraucherschutz und Veterinärmedizin
 BGW Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege oder Biologischer Grenzwert
 BH Bezirkshauptmannschaft (Österreich) oder Bezirkshauptmann (Österreich)
 BHO Bundeshaushaltsordnung
 BHV Betriebshaftpflichtversicherung
 BhVO Beihilfenverordnung
 BIA Büro für Interne Angelegenheiten (Österreich)
 BIBB Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung
 BienSchV Bienenschutzverordnung (Verordnung über die Anwendung bienengefährlicher Pflanzenschutzmittel)
 BienSeuchV Bienenseuchen-Verordnung
 BierStG Biersteuergesetz
 BierStV Biersteuerverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes)
 BierV Bierverordnung
 BIFD Bulletin for International Fiscal Documentation (Zeitschrift)
 BIH Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft der Integrationsämter und Hauptfürsorgestellen
 BildscharbV Bildschirmarbeitsverordnung
 BilKoG Bilanzkontrollgesetz (Gesetz zur Kontrolle von Unternehmensabschlüssen)
 BilMoG Bilanzrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Bilanzrechts)
 BilReG Bilanzrechtsreformgesetz (Gesetz zur Einführung internationaler Rechnungslegungsstandards und zur Sicherung der Qualität der Abschlussprüfung)
 BilRUG Bilanzrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz
 BImA Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben
 BImAG Gesetz über die Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben
 BIMCO Baltic and International Maritime Conference
 BImSchG Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetz
 BImSchV Bundes-Immissionsschutzverordnung
 BinSchAbgasV Verordnung über die Begrenzung von Abgasemissionen aus Dieselmotoren in der Binnenschifffahrt (Binnenschiffs-Abgasemissionsverordnung)
 BinSchArbZV Binnenschifffahrts-Arbeitszeitverordnung
 BinSchEO Verordnung über die Eichung von Binnenschiffen (Binnenschiffseichordnung)
 BinSchG Binnenschiffahrtsgesetz
 BinSchGerG Gesetz über das gerichtliche Verfahren in Binnenschifffahrtssachen
 BinSchKostV Kostenverordnung der Wasser- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung auf dem Gebiet der Binnenschifffahrt (Binnenschifffahrtskostenverordnung)
 BinSchLV Verordnung über die Lade- und Löschzeiten sowie das Liegegeld in der Binnenschifffahrt (siehe Lade- und Löschzeitenverordnung)
 BinSchPatentV Verordnung über Befähigungszeugnisse in der Binnenschiffahrt (Binnenschifferpatentverordnung)
 BinSchPersV Verordnung über die Besatzung und über die Befähigungen der Besatzung von Fahrzeugen in der Binnenschifffahrt (Binnenschiffspersonalverordnung)
 BinSch-SportbootVermV Verordnung über die gewerbsmäßige Vermietung von Sportbooten sowie deren Benutzung auf den Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen (Binnenschifffahrt-Sportbootvermietungsverordnung)
 BinSchStrO Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen-Ordnung
 BinSchUO Verordnung über die Schiffssicherheit in der Binnenschifffahrt (Binnenschifffahrts-Untersuchungsordnung)
 BinSchVfG Gesetz über das gerichtliche Verfahren in Binnenschifffahrtssachen (siehe Schifffahrtsgericht)
 BioAbfV Bioabfallverordnung
 Biokraft-NachV Verordnung über Anforderungen an eine nachhaltige Herstellung von Biokraftstoffen (Biokraftstoff-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung)
 BioKraftQuG Gesetz zur Einführung einer Biokraftstoffquote durch Änderung des Bundes-Immissionsschutzgesetzes und zur Änderung energie- und stromsteuerrechtlicher Vorschriften (Biokraftstoffquotengesetz)
 BiomasseV Biomasseverordnung (Verordnung über die Erzeugung von Strom aus Biomasse)
 BioNachGebV Verordnung über Gebühren für Amtshandlungen der Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung nach der Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung und der Biokraftstoff-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung (Biomassestrom- sowie Biokraftstoff-Nachhaltigkeitsgebührenverordnung)
 BioSt-NachV Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung
 BioStoffV Biostoffverordnung (Verordnung über Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz bei Tätigkeiten mit biologischen Arbeitsstoffen)
 BioSt-NachV Verordnung über Anforderungen an eine nachhaltige Herstellung von flüssiger Biomasse zur Stromerzeugung (Biomassestrom-Nachhaltigkeitsverordnung)
 BIP Bruttoinlandsprodukt (engl.: Gross domestic product - GDP)
 BiRiLiG Bilanzrichtliniengesetz (Gesetz zur Durchführung der Vierten, Siebenten und Achten Richtlinie des Rates der Europäischen Gemeinschaften zur Koordinierung des Gesellschaftsrechts)
 BIRL Beteiligungsinformations-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 88/627/EWG […] über die bei Erwerb und Veräußerung einer bedeutenden Beteiligung an einer börsennotierten Gesellschaft zu veröffentlichenden Informationen)
 BIT Bundesamt für Informatik und Telekommunikation (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de l’informatique et de la télécommunication, ital. Ufficio federale dell’informatica e della telecomunicazione) oder Bundesstelle für Informationstechnik oder Investitionsschutzabkommen (engl.: Bilateral Investment Treaties – BIT)
 BITV Verordnung zur Schaffung barrierefreier Informationstechnik nach dem Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz (siehe Barrierefreie-Informationstechnik-Verordnung)
 BIZ Berufsinformationszentrum oder Bank für Internationalen Zahlungsausgleich
 BJ Bundesamt für Justiz (Schweiz) oder Betrifft Justiz (Zeitschrift)
 BJagdG Bundesjagdgesetz
 BK Bundeskanzler oder Bundeskanzleramt (Deutschland) oder Bundeskriminalamt (Österreich) oder Betriebskosten oder Betriebskosten (Immobilien) oder Bonner/Berliner Kommentar oder Berufskrankheit oder Schweizerische Bundeskanzlei (französisch Chancellerie fédérale, italienisch Cancelleria federale, rätoromanisch Chanzlia federala) oder Berufskolleg
 BKA Bundeskriminalamt (Deutschland) oder Bundeskanzleramt (Österreich)
 BKAG Bundeskriminalamtgesetz (Gesetz über das Bundeskriminalamt und die Zusammenarbeit des Bundes und der Länder in kriminalpolizeilichen Angelegenheiten)
 BKAmt Bundeskanzleramt (Deutschland)
 BKartA Bundeskartellamt
 BKatV Bußgeldkatalog-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Erteilung einer Verwarnung, Regelsätze für Geldbußen und die Anordnung eines Fahrverbots wegen Ordnungswidrigkeiten im Straßenverkehr) (siehe Bußgeldkatalog)
 BKG Brand- und Katastrophenschutzgesetz (mehrerer Bundesländer, u. a. Rheinland-Pfalz)
 BKGG Bundeskindergeldgesetz (Artikel 2 des Jahressteuergesetzes 1996)
 BKiSchG Bundeskinderschutzgesetz
 B-KJHG Bundes-Kinder- und Jugendhilfegesetz (Österreich)
 BKK Betriebskrankenkasse oder Die Betriebskrankenkasse (Zeitschrift)
 BKleingG Bundeskleingartengesetz
 BKM Beauftragter der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien
 BKrFQG Berufskraftfahrerqualifikationsgesetz
 BKrFQV Berufskraftfahrerqualifikationsverordnung
 BKomBesV Bundes-Kommunalbesoldungsverordnung
 BKR Zeitschrift für Bank- und Kapitalmarktrecht oder Bundeskrebsregister (siehe Krebsregister)
 BKRG Bundeskrebsregisterdatengesetz (siehe Krebsregister)
 B-KUVG Beamten-Kranken- und Unfallversicherungsgesetz (Österreich)
 BKV Berufskrankheiten-Verordnung oder Betriebskollektivvertrag (DDR)
 B/L Bill of Lading (siehe Konnossement)
 Bl. Blatt
 BlauSchimmelV Verordnungen zur Bekämpfung der Blauschimmelkrankheit des Tabaks
 BlauzungenV Verordnung zum Schutz gegen die Blauzungenkrankheit vom 22. März 2002
 BLE Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung
 BLG Bundesleistungsgesetz
 BLGABV Verordnung über Anforderungsbehörden und Bedarfsträger nach dem Bundesleistungsgesetz
 BlGBW Blätter für Grundstücks-, Bau- und Wohnungswesen (Zeitschrift)
 BLJ Bucerius Law Journal (Zeitschrift)
 BLK Bund-Länder-Kommission (z. B. Bund-Länder-Kommission für Datenverarbeitung und Rationalisierung in der Justiz oder Bund-Länder-Kommission für Bildungsplanung und Forschungsförderung)
 BLL Begutachtungsleitlinien zur Kraftfahrereignung
 BLM Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien
 BlPMZ Blatt für Patent-, Muster- und Zeichenwesen
 BlStSozArbR Blätter für Steuerrecht, Sozialversicherung und Arbeitsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 BLV Bundeslaufbahnverordnung (Verordnung über die Laufbahnen der Bundesbeamten 1978) oder Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit und Veterinärwesen (Schweiz) (französisch: Office fédéral de la sécurité alimentaire et des affaires vétérinaires (OSAV), italienisch: Ufficio federale della sicurezza alimentare e di veterinaria (USAV), rätoromanisch: Uffizi federal da segirezza alimentara e fatgs veterinars (USAV))
 BLW Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de l’agriculture OFAG, ital. Ufficio federale dell’agricoltura UFAG)
 BM Bundesministerium (Deutschland) oder Bundesministerium (Österreich) oder Bundesminister (Deutschland) oder Bundesminister (Österreich) oder Bürgermeister
 BMAS Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales
 BMASK Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales und Konsumentenschutz (Österreich)
 BMDV Bundesministerium für Digitales und Verkehr
 BMDV-WS-BesGebV Besondere Gebührenverordnung des Bundesministeriums für Digitales und Verkehr für individuell zurechenbare öffentliche Leistungen im Zusammenhang mit der Verwaltung der Wasserstraßen und der Schifffahrtsverwaltung (BMDV-Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt Besondere Gebührenverordnung)
 BMEIA Bundesministerium für Europa, Integration und Äußeres (Österreich)
 BMeldDigiV Verordnung zur Bestimmung von Inhalt, Form und Verfahren von Datenübermittlungen zwischen Meldebehörden und einem Verwaltungsportal zur Erbringung von digitalen Verwaltungsleistungen (Bundesmeldedatendigitalisierungsverordnung)
 BMeldDÜV Bundesmeldedatenübermittlungsverordnung
 BMEL Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft
 BMF Bundesministerium der Finanzen (Deutschland) oder Bundesministerium für Finanzen (Österreich)
 BMFSFJ Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend
 BMG Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Deutschland) oder Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (Österreich) oder Bundesmeldegesetz (Deutschland)
 BMGVwV Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zur Durchführung des Bundesmeldegesetzes
 BMI Bundesministerium des Innern (Deutschland) oder Bundesministerium für Inneres (Österreich)
 BMin Bundesminister (Deutschland) oder Bundesminister (Österreich)
 BMinG Bundesministergesetz
 BMJ Bundesministerium für Justiz (Österreich)
 BMJV Bundesministerium der Justiz und für Verbraucherschutz (Deutschland)
 BMKÖS Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport (Österreich)
 BMK Bundesministerium für Klimaschutz, Umwelt, Energie, Mobilität, Innovation und Technologie (Österreich)
 BMLFUW Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft, Umwelt und Wasserwirtschaft (auch oder Lebensministerium genannt) (Österreich)
 BMLVS Bundesministerium für Landesverteidigung und Sport (Österreich)
 BMPT Bundesministerium für Post und Telekommunikation (aufgelöst 1998)
 BMS Bedarfsorientierte Mindestsicherung (Österreich)
 BMSGPK Bundesministerium für Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz (Österreich)
 BMSK Bundesministerium für soziale Sicherheit, Generationen und Konsumentenschutz (Österreich) (siehe Bundesministerium für soziale Sicherheit und Generationen)
 BMT Bundesmanteltarifvertrag
 BmTierSSchV Verordnung über das innergemeinschaftliche Verbringen sowie die Einfuhr und Durchfuhr von Tieren und Waren (Binnenmarkt-Tierseuchenschutzverordnung)
 BMT-G Bundesmanteltarifvertrag für Arbeiter gemeindlicher Verwaltungen und Betriebe
 BMUBGebV Besondere Gebührenverordnung des Bundesministeriums für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit für individuell zurechenbare öffentliche Leistungen in dessen Zuständigkeitsbereich (Besondere Gebührenverordnung BMU)
 BMUB Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit
 BMUKK Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur (Österreich, Vorgänger zum Bundesministerium für Bildung und Frauen)
 BMUV Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, nukleare Sicherheit und Verbraucherschutz
 BMV Bundesmantelvertrag oder Besitzmittlungsverhältnis
 BMV-Ä Bundesmantelvertrag – Ärzte
 BMVg Bundesministerium der Verteidigung
 BMVG Betriebliches Mitarbeitervorsorgegesetz (Österreich, seit dem 1. Juli 2002)
 BMVgVFAPrV Verordnung für die Durchführung der Abschlussprüfung im staatlich anerkannten Ausbildungsberuf Verwaltungsfachangestellte und Verwaltungsfachangestellter – Fachrichtung Bundesverwaltung – im Geschäftsbereich des Bundesministeriums der Verteidigung (BMVg-Verwaltungsfachangestelltenprüfungsverordnung)
 BMVI Bundesministerium für Verkehr und digitale Infrastruktur
 BMVIT Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie (Österreich)
 BMWA Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie bis 2005 oder Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Angelegenheiten (Österreich) 1987–2000 oder Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Arbeit (Österreich) 2000–2009
 BMWF Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft und Forschung (Österreich)
 BMWFW Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft (Österreich)
 BMWi Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie
 BMWK Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz
 BMWSB Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen
 BMZ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung oder Baumassenzahl (siehe Abschnitt Baumassenzahl in Maße der baulichen Nutzung) oder Brandmelderzentrale
 BNatSchG Bundesnaturschutzgesetz (Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege)
 BNatSchNeuregG Gesetz zur Neuregelung des Rechts des Naturschutzes und der Landespflege und zur Anpassung anderer Rechtsvorschriften
 BND Bundesnachrichtendienst
 BNDG Gesetz über den Bundesnachrichtendienst
 BNE Bruttonationaleinkommen (bis 1999 auch Bruttosozialprodukt (BSP); englisch Gross National Product (GNP) bzw. Gross National Income (GNI))
 BNetzA Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen, kurz Bundesnetzagentur
 BNichtrSchG Bundesnichtraucherschutzgesetz (Gesetz zur Einführung eines Rauchverbotes in Einrichtungen des Bundes und öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln)
 BNotK Bundesnotarkammer
 BNotO Bundesnotarordnung
 BNV Bundesnebentätigkeitsverordnung (Verordnung über die Nebentätigkeit der Bundesbeamten, Berufssoldaten und Soldaten auf Zeit)
 BO Berufsordnung oder Bauordnung oder Betriebsordnung oder Bauordnungen (der österreichischen Bundesländer)
 BOA Verordnung über den Bau und Betrieb von Anschlussbahnen
 BodenseeSchO Bodenseeschifffahrtsverordnung (Verordnung über die Schifffahrt auf dem Bodensee)
 BodSchätzG Gesetz zur Schätzung des landwirtschaftlichen Kulturbodens (Bodenschätzungsgesetz)
 BodSchätzDB Durchführungsbestimmungen zum Bodenschätzungsgesetz
 BodSchätzOffVO Verordnung über die Offenlegung der Ergebnisse der Bodenschätzung
 BörsG Börsengesetz (Deutschland)
 BörsZulV Verordnung über die Zulassung von Wertpapieren zur amtlichen Notierung an einer Wertpapierbörse (Börsenzulassungs-Verordnung)
 BOKraft Verordnung über den Betrieb von Kraftfahrunternehmen im Personenverkehr
 BO P Bau- und Betriebsordnung für Pioniereisenbahnen
 BOPST Bundesopiumstelle
 BORA Berufsordnung für Rechtsanwälte
 BORS Behörden und Organisationen für Rettung und Sicherheit (Schweiz)
 BOS Berufsoberschule oder Behörden und Organisationen mit Sicherheitsaufgaben
 BOStB Berufsordnung für Steuerberater
 BOStrab Straßenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung
 b + p Betrieb und Personal (Zeitschrift)
 BP Bundespatent
 BPA Bereitschaftspolizeiabteilung (siehe Bayerische Bereitschaftspolizei)
 BPatG Bundespatentgericht
 BPD Bundespolizeidirektion (Österreich)
 BPersVG Bundespersonalvertretungsgesetz
 BPflVO (BPflV) Verordnung zur Regelung der Krankenhauspflegesätze (Bundespflegesatzverordnung)
 BPG Betriebspensionsgesetz (siehe Pensionskasse#Österreich)
 BPGer Bundespatentgericht (Schweiz) (BPGer; franz. Tribunal fédéral des brevets, ital. Tribunale federale dei brevetti)
 BPjM Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (inzwischen unbenannt in Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz - BzKJ)
 BPjS Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften (bis 2003; danach bis 2021: Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien; inzwischen: Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz - BzKJ)
 BPK Bezirkspolizeikommando (Österreich)
 B-Plan Bebauungsplan (Deutschland) oder Bebauungsplan (Österreich)
 BpO (manchmal auch „BPO“) Betriebsprüfungsordnung
 BPOL Bundespolizei (Deutschland)
 BPOLAK Bundespolizeiakademie
 BPolBG Bundespolizeibeamtengesetz
 BPOLD Bundespolizeidirektion(en)
 BPOLI Bundespolizeiinspektion(en)
 BPOLIKB Bundespolizeiinspektionen Kriminalitätsbekämpfung
 BPolG Bundespolizeigesetz
 BPolLV Bundespolizei-Laufbahnverordnung (Verordnung über die Laufbahnen der Polizeivollzugsbeamtinnen und Polizeivollzugsbeamten in der Bundespolizei)
 BPOLR Bundespolizeirevier(e)
 BPolZV Bundespolizei-Zuständigkeitsverordnung (Verordnung über die Zuständigkeit der Bundespolizeibehörden)
 BPR Bauproduktenrichtlinie der EU
 BPrA Bundespräsidialamt
 BPräs. Bundespräsident (Deutschland) oder Bundespräsident (Österreich) oder Bundespräsident (Schweiz)
 BPräsWahlG Gesetz über die Wahl des Bundespräsidenten durch die Bundesversammlung
 BPrBindG Buchpreisbindungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Preisbindung für Bücher)
 BPRL Börsenprospekt-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 80/390/EWG […] zur Koordinierung der Bedingungen für die Erstellung, die Kontrolle und die Verbreitung des Prospekts, der für die Zulassung von Wertpapieren zur amtlichen Notierung an einer Wertpapierbörse zu veröffentlichen ist)
 BPÜ Bedarfsplanüberprüfung
 BPUVZ Betriebliche Prävention und Unfallversicherung
 BPV Bundespersonalverordnung (Schweiz)
 BQFG Gesetz über die Feststellung der Gleichwertigkeit von Berufsqualifikationen (Berufsqualifikationsfeststellungsgesetz)
 BQG Beschäftigungs- und Qualifizierungsgesellschaft
 br Behindertenrecht. Fachzeitschrift für Fragen der Rehabilitation (Zeitschrift)
 BR Bundesrat (Deutschland) oder Bundesrat (Österreich) oder Bundesrat (Schweiz) oder Betriebsrat
 BRAGO Bundesrechtsanwaltsgebührenordnung, ab 1. Juli 2004: Rechtsanwaltsvergütungsgesetz
 BRAK Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer
 BRAK-Mitt. Mitteilungen der Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer (siehe BRAK-Mitteilungen)
 BranntwMonG Branntweinmonopolgesetz (Gesetz über das Branntweinmonopol) [außer Kraft seit dem 1. Januar 2018, abgelöst durch Teile des Alkoholsteuergesetzes (AlkStG)]
 BranntwMonVwG Gesetz über die Errichtung der Bundesmonopolverwaltung für Branntwein
 BranntwStV Branntweinsteuerverordnung (siehe Branntweinsteuer)
 BRAO Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung
 BRat Bundesrat(Deutschland) oder Bundesrat (Österreich) oder Bundesrat (Schweiz) (auch BR)
 BrBp Baurecht und Baupraxis (Zeitschrift)
 BR-Dr. (BR-Drs.) Bundesrats-Drucksache
 BReg Bundesregierung
 Brem. (brem.) Bremen, bremische
 BremGBl. Gesetzblatt (Bremen)
 BremHilfsG Bremisches Hilfeleistungsgesetz
 BReModG Betriebsrätemodernisierungsgesetz
 BrennO Brennereiordnung (Anlage zur Branntweinmonopolverordnung)
 BRep Bundesrepublik
 BrexitSozSichÜG Gesetz zu Übergangsregelungen im Bereich der sozialen Sicherheit und in weiteren Bereichen nach dem Austritt des Vereinigten Königreichs Großbritannien und Nordirland aus der Europäischen Union
 BRF-V Betriebsratsfonds-Verordnung (Österreich)
 BRGO Betriebsrats-Geschäftsordnung (Österreich)
 BRH Bundesrechnungshof
 BriefArbbV Verordnung über zwingende Arbeitsbedingungen für die Branche Briefdienstleistungen (auch „Postmindestlohnverordnung“ genannt)
 br-info Betreuungsrechtliche Informationen (Zeitschrift)
 BRJ Bonner Rechtsjournal (Zeitschrift)
 BRK Übereinkommen über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen (kurz: Behindertenrechtskonvention – BRK)
 BRKG Bundesreisekostengesetz
 BRKVwV Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschriften zum Bundesreisekostengesetz
 BRKG§6Abs2V Wegstreckenentschädigung-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Wegstreckenentschädigung bei der Benutzung eines Kraftfahrzeugs, das ein Dienstreisender mit schriftlicher Anerkennung der Behörde im überwiegenden dienstlichen Interesse hält)
 BrMV Branntweinmonopolverordnung
 BRPHV Verordnung über die Raumordnung im Bund für einen länderübergreifenden Hochwasserschutz
 BR-Prot. Bundesrats-Protokolle
 BRRG Beamtenrechtsrahmengesetz
 BRRL Bodenrahmenrichtlinie
 BRS Baurechtssammlung oder Informationsdienst Öffentliches Baurecht (Zeitschrift)
 BrStV Branntweinsteuerverordnung (siehe Branntweinsteuer)
 Brüssel I-VO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 44/2001 […] über die gerichtliche Zuständigkeit und die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen in Zivil- und Handelssachen
 BRWO Betriebsrats-Wahlordnung (Österreich)
 BS Benannte Stelle
 BSA Bundessortenamt
 BSAVfV Bundessortenamt-Verfahrensverordnung (Verordnung über Verfahren vor dem Bundessortenamt)
 BSchEG Bauarbeiter-Schlechtwetter-Entschädigungsgesetz (Österreich)
 BSchGO Tarifvertrag über die Bühnenschiedsgerichtsbarkeit – Bühnenschiedsgerichtsordnung
 BSeeSchG Bundesseeschiffahrtsgesetz (Gesetz über die Aufgaben des Bundes auf dem Gebiet der Seeschiffahrt)
 BSeuchG Bundesseuchengesetz (jetzt: Infektionsschutzgesetz)
 BSEUntersV BSE-Untersuchungsverordnung
 BSEV 2000 Verordnung über fleischhygienische Schutzmaßnahmen gegen die Bovine Spongiforme Enzephalopathie
 BSEVorsorgV BSE-Vorsorgeverordnung
 BSFZ Bescheinigungsstelle Forschungszulage
 BSG Bundessozialgericht
 BsGaV Betriebsstättengewinnaufteilungsverordnung
 BSGE Entscheidungen des Bundessozialgerichts (amtliche Sammlung)
 BSG 1999 Beitragssatzgesetz 1999 (Gesetz zur Bestimmung der Beitragssätze in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung für 1999 und zur Bestimmung weiterer Rechengrößen der Sozialversicherung für 1999)
 BSH Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie
 BSHG Bundessozialhilfegesetz
 BSHG§47 V Verordnung nach § 47 des Bundessozialhilfegesetzes
 BSHG§76DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 76 des Bundessozialhilfegesetzes, mit Einführung des SGB Ⅻ umbenannt in „Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 82 des Zwölften Buches Sozialgesetzbuch“
 BSHG§81Abs1DV 1975 Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 81 Abs. 1 Nr. 3 des Bundessozialhilfegesetzes
 BSHG§88Abs2DV 1988 Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 88 Abs. 2 Nr. 8 des Bundessozialhilfegesetzes – mit Einführung des SGB XII umbenannt in „Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 90 Abs. 2 Nr. 9 des Zwölften Buches Sozialgesetzbuch“
 BSHGGrbBGV 8 Achte Verordnung zur Neufestsetzung von Geldleistungen und Grundbeträgen nach dem Bundessozialhilfegesetz in dem in Artikel 3 des Einigungsvertrages genannten Gebiet
 BSI Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik
 BSI-KostV BSI-Kostenverordnung (Kostenverordnung für Amtshandlungen des Bundesamtes für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik)
 BSI-KritisV Verordnung zur Bestimmung Kritischer Infrastrukturen nach dem BSI-Gesetz (BSI-Kritisverordnung)
 BSIG Gesetz über das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI-Gesetz)
 BSK Bundesfachgruppe Schwertransporte und Kranarbeiten
 BSNR Betriebsstättennummer
 BSO Bodensee-Schifffahrts-Ordnung
 BSozG (BSG) Bundessozialgericht
 BSP Bruttosozialprodukt (siehe nun Bruttonationaleinkommen - (BNE)) oder Bodenseeschifferpatent
 BSpkG Gesetz über Bausparkassen (Bausparkassengesetz)
 BSprA Bundessprachenamt
 BStBK Bundessteuerberaterkammer
 BSSP Bodenseeschifferpatent
 BSt Bestimmte Stelle
 BStatG 1987 Bundesstatistikgesetz
 BStBl Bundessteuerblatt
 BStMG Bundesgesetz über die Mauteinhebung auf Bundesstraßen (Bundesstraßen-Mautgesetz 2002) (Österreich)
 BStU Bundesbeauftragter für die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (kurz: Bundesbeauftragter für die Stasi-Unterlagen)
 BSU Bundesstelle für Seeunfalluntersuchung
 BSV Verordnung über die Schifffahrt auf schweizerischen Gewässern (kurz: Binnenschifffahrtsverordnung)
 BSVG Bauern-Sozialversicherungsgesetz (Österreich)
 BSWAG Bundesschienenwegeausbaugesetz
 BSZG Bundessonderzahlungsgesetz
 BT Bundestag oder Besonderer Teil (z. B. StGB -§§ 80 ff. StGB-) oder Betriebsteil
 BTÄO Bundes-Tierärzteordnung
 BTag Bundestag
 BtBG Betreuungsbehördengesetz
 BT-Drs. (BT-Dr.) Bundestagsdrucksache
 BtG Betreuungsgesetz oder Betreuungsgericht
 BTHG Gesetz zur Stärkung der Teilhabe und Selbstbestimmung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (Bundesteilhabegesetz)
 BTHO Hausordnung des Deutschen Bundestages
 BtMan Betreuungsmanagement (Fachzeitschrift)
 BtMAHV Betäubungsmittel-Außenhandelsverordnung
 BtMBinHV Betäubungsmittel-Binnenhandelsverordnung
 BtMG Betäubungsmittelgesetz
 BtMKostV Betäubungsmittel-Kostenverordnung
 BtMVV Betäubungsmittel-Verschreibungsverordnung
 BTO Bundestarifordnung
 BTOEltV Bundestarifordnung Elektrizität
 BtOG Betreuungsorganisationsgesetz
 BtPlus Zeitschrift für professionelle Betreuungsarbeit
 BtPrax Betreuungsrechtliche Praxis (Zeitschrift)
 BtR Betreuungsrecht
 BtRegV Verordnung über die Registrierung von beruflichen Betreuern (Betreuerregistrierungsverordnung)
 BU Berufsunfähigkeit
 BUAG Bauarbeiter-Urlaubs- und Abfertigungsgesetz (Österreich)
 BuchPrG Buchpreisbindungsgesetz
 BÜ Berner Übereinkunft zum Schutz von Werken der Literatur und Kunst
 BüG Bürgerrechtsgesetz (Schweiz)
 BÜPF Schweizer Bundesgesetz vom 6. Oktober 2000 betreffend die Überwachung des Post- und Fernmeldeverkehrs
 Büro Das juristische Büro (Zeitschrift)
 BuFDI Bundesfreiwilligendienst
 BUGO-Z Bundesgebührenordnung für Zahnärzte (aufgehoben; jetzt GOZ)
 BUK Bundesverband der Unfallkassen (siehe Unfallkasse)
 BUKG Bundesumzugskostengesetz (Gesetz über die Umzugskostenvergütung für die Bundesbeamten, Richter im Bundesdienst und Soldaten)
 BUrlG Bundesurlaubsgesetz
 BUrlV Bundesurlaubsverordnung
 BuS-Betreuung Betriebsärztliche und Sicherheitstechnische Betreuung
 ButtV Butterverordnung
 b. u. v. beschlossen und verkündet
 BUV Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung
 BuW Betrieb und Wirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 BUZ Berufsunfähigkeitszusatzversicherung (siehe Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung)
 B. v. Beschluss vom
 BV Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft oder Bundesverfassung (Österreich) oder Verfassung des Freistaates Bayern oder Betriebsverfassung oder Betriebsvereinbarung oder Betriebsversammlung oder Betriebsvermögen oder Berechnungsverordnung (siehe Zweite Berechnungsverordnung) oder Bestandsverzeichnis oder Beklagtenvertreter(in) oder Bürovorsteher oder Bauverbot (Österreich) oder Bauvorhaben oder Bundesversammlung (Schweiz) (französisch Assemblée fédérale, italienisch Assemblea federale, rätoromanisch Assamblea federala)
 BVA Bundesversicherungsamt (Deutschland) oder Bundesverwaltungsamt (Deutschland) oder Bundesvergabeamt (Österreich) oder Bahnversicherungsanstalt
 BVB Bezirksverwaltungsbehörde oder Bauvorlageberechtigung
 BVDV Verordnung zum Schutz der Rinder vor einer Infektion mit dem Bovinen Virusdiarrhoe-Virus
 BVE Bundesgesetz über die verdeckte Ermittlung (Schweiz)
 BVerfG Bundesverfassungsgericht
 BVerfGE Senatsentscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts
 BVerfGG Bundesverfassungsgerichtsgesetz
 BVerfGK Kammerentscheidungen des Bundesverfassungsgerichts
 BVerfSchG Bundesverfassungsschutzgesetz
 BVersTG Bundesversorgungsteilungsgesetz
 BVerwG Bundesverwaltungsgericht
 BVerwGE Entscheidungen des Bundesverwaltungsgerichts (amtliche Sammlung)
 BVET Bundesamt für Lebensmittelsicherheit und Veterinärwesen (Schweiz) (franz. Office vétérinaire fédéral, ital. Ufficio federale di veterinaria)
 BVFG Bundesvertriebenengesetz
 B-VG Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz (Österreich)
 BVG Bundesverfassungsgesetz; ein Bundesgesetz im Verfassungsrang (Österreich) oder Bundesversorgungsgesetz oder Bundesverfassungsgericht oder Bundesgesetz über die berufliche Alters-, Invaliden- und Hinterlassenenvorsorge (Schweiz) (siehe Pensionskasse#Schweiz/Liechtenstein)
 BVGer Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Schweiz) (franz. Tribunal administratif fédéral, ital. Tribunale amministrativo federale, rät. Tribunal administrativ federal)
 BVJ Berufsvorbereitungsjahr
 BVKatBin-See Allgemeinen Verwaltungsvorschrift für die Erteilung von Buß- und Verwarnungsgeldern für Zuwiderhandlungen gegen strom- und schifffahrtspolizeiliche Vorschriften des Bundes auf Binnen- und Seeschifffahrtsstraßen sowie in der ausschließlichen Wirtschaftszone und auf der Hohen See (Buß- und Verwarnungsgeldkatalog Binnen- und Seeschifffahrtsstraßen)
 BVL Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit
 BVO Beihilfenverordnung
 BVO 2 Zweite Berechnungsverordnung (Verordnung über wohnungswirtschaftliche Berechnungen, Zweite Berechnungsverordnung)
 BVormVG Berufsvormündervergütungsgesetz (aufgehoben; jetzt Vormünder- und Betreuervergütungsgesetz - VBVG)
 BVR Sicherungseinrichtung des Bundesverbandes der Deutschen Volksbanken und Raiffeisenbanken
 BvS Bundesanstalt für vereinigungsbedingte Sonderaufgaben
 BVT Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung (Österreich) oder Beste verfügbare Techniken (engl.: best available techniques - BAT)
 BVV Bezirksverordnetenversammlung (in Berlin) oder Beweisverwertungsverbot oder Beitragsverfahrensverordnung (Verordnung über die Berechnung, Zahlung, Weiterleitung, Abrechnung und Prüfung des Gesamtsozialversicherungsbeitrages) oder Betriebsvermögensvergleich
 BVVG BVVG Bodenverwertungs- und -verwaltungs GmbH
 BVwAG Gesetz über die Errichtung des Bundesverwaltungsamtes
 BVwG Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Österreich)
 BVWP Bundesverkehrswegeplan
 BW Baden-Württemberg, baden-württembergisch oder Bundeswehr
 BWA Betriebswirtschaftliche Auswertung
 BWahlG Bundeswahlgesetz
 BWahlGV Bundeswahlgeräteverordnung
 BWahlO Bundeswahlordnung
 BWaldG Bundeswaldgesetz
 BwAttraktStG Gesetz zur Steigerung der Attraktivität des Dienstes in der Bundeswehr (Bundeswehr-Attraktivitätssteigerungsgesetz)
 BWB Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung oder Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde (Österreich)
 BWBauO Baden-Württembergische Bauordnung
 BwBBG Gesetz zur Beschleunigung von Beschaffungsmaßnahmen für die Bundeswehr (Bundeswehrbeschaffungsbeschleunigungsgesetz)
 BwDA Bundeswehrdisziplinaranwalt beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht
 BwDLZ Bundeswehr-Dienstleistungszentrum
 BWDRG Baden-württembergisches Dienstrechtsreformgesetz
 BwFachS Bundeswehrfachschule
 BWG (BWahlG) Bundeswahlgesetz oder Berliner Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetz) oder Bankwesengesetz (österreichisches Gesetz für Kreditinstitute)
 BWGZ Baden-Württembergische Gemeindezeitung
 BWH Bewährungshilfe oder Bewährungshelfer
 BWildSchV Bundeswildschutzverordnung (Verordnung über den Schutz von Wild)
 BWIS Bundesgesetz über Massnahmen zur Wahrung der inneren Sicherheit (Schweiz)
 BwKoopG Bundeswehr-Kooperationsgesetz
 BWL Bundesamt für wirtschaftliche Landesversorgung (Schweiz)
 BWLSG Landessozialgericht Baden-Württemberg
 BWNotZ Mitteilungen aus der Praxis. Zeitschrift für das Notariat in Baden-Württemberg.
 BWO Bundesamt für Wohnungswesen (Schweiz)
 BWV Bundeswehrverwaltung (Zeitschrift)
 BwVollzO Bundeswehrvollzugsordnung
 BWVPr Baden-Württembergische Verwaltungspraxis (Zeitschrift)
 BWZ Bodenwertzahl oder Bewilligungszeitraum
 BY Bayern
 BZAA Bundeszentralstelle für Auslandsadoption
 BZÄK Bundeszahnärztekammer
 BZBl. Bundeszollblatt
 BzbV Beamter zur besonderen Verwendung
 BZF Beschränkt gültiges Sprechfunkzeugnis für den Flugfunkdienst
 BZgA Bundeszentrale für gesundheitliche Aufklärung
 bzgl. bezüglich
 BzKJ Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz
 BZR Bundeszentralregister
 BZRG Bundeszentralregistergesetz
 BZRL Börsenzulassungs-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 79/279/EWG […] zur Koordinierung der Bedingungen für die Zulassung von Wertpapieren zur amtlichen Notierung an einer Wertpapierbörse)
 BZRG Bundeszentralregistergesetz (= Gesetz über das Bundeszentralregister und das Erziehungsregister)
 BZSt Bundeszentralamt für Steuern

C 
 CAA (US-amerikanischer) Clean-Air-Act
 CAO Computer Assisted Ordering (siehe Strichcode)
 CAT UN-Antifolterkonvention (engl.: United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – CAT) oder UN-Ausschuss gegen Folter (engl.: Committee Against Torture – CAT)
 CB Compliance-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 CbCR Country-by-Country-Reporting
 CBD Biodiversitätskonvention (Übereinkommen über die biologische Vielfalt) (engl.: Convention on Biological Diversity – CBD)
 CBTR Centrum für Deutsches und Internationales Baugrund- und Tiefbaurecht
 CC Corps Consulaire (franz. für „Konsularisches Korps“) oder Code civil (Frankreich) oder Conference Committee
 CCBE Rat der Anwaltschaften der Europäischen Gemeinschaft (engl.: Council of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe; franz.: Commission de Conseil des Barreaux européens – CCBE)
 CCC Constitutio Criminalis Carolina
 CCZ Corporate Compliance Zeitschrift – Zeitschrift für Haftungsvermeidung im Unternehmen
 CD Diplomatisches Corps (franz.: corps diplomatique)
 CDM Clean Development Mechanism (Mechanismus für umweltverträgliche Entwicklung; Art. 12 Kyoto-Protokoll; § 2 Nr. 8 ProMechG)
 CDNI Übereinkommen über die Sammlung, Abgabe und Annahme von Abfällen in der Rhein- und Binnenschifffahrt (Straßburger Abfallübereinkommen) (franz.: Convention relative à la collecte, au dépôt et à la réception des déchets survenant en navigation rhénane et intérieure – CDNI)
 CdT Übersetzungszentrum für die Einrichtungen der Europäischen Union (franz.: Centre de Traduction des Organes de l'Union Européenne; engl.: Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union)
 CE Europäische Konformität (franz.: Conformité Européenne) oder Europäische Gemeinschaft
 CEBS Ausschuss der Europäischen Aufsichtsbehörden für das Bankwesen (engl.: Committee of European Banking Supervisors - CEBS)
 CEDAW UN-Konvention zur Beseitigung jeder Form von Diskriminierung der Frau (engl.: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) oder UN-Ausschuss für die Beseitigung der Diskriminierung der Frau
 CEDEFOP Europäisches Zentrum für die Förderung der Berufsbildung (engl.: European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training)
 CEMT Europäische Verkehrsministerkonferenz (engl.: European Conference of Ministers of Transport - ECMT, franz.: Conférence Européenne des Ministres des Transports - CEMT)
 CEN Europäisches Komitee für Normung (Abk. CEN; franz.: Comité Européen de Normalisation; engl.: European Committee for Standardization)
 CENELEC Europäisches Komitee für elektrotechnische Normung (franz.: Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique; engl.: European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization)
 CEPD Europäischer Datenschutzbeauftragter (EDBS) (engl.: EDPS – European Data Protection Supervisor; aus dem Französischen: CEPD – Contrôleur européen de la protection des données)
 CEPOL Collège Européen de Police (siehe Europäische Polizeiakademie (EPA))
 CEPT Conférence Européenne des Administrations des Postes et des Télécommunications (Europäische Konferenz der Verwaltungen für Post und Telekommunikation)
 CERD UN-Ausschuss für die Beseitigung der Rassendiskriminierung (engl.: Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – CERD)
 CESL Gemeinsames Europäisches Kaufrecht (engl.: Common European Sales Law – CESL)
 CESCR UN-Ausschuss für wirtschaftliche, soziale und kulturelle Rechte  (engl.: Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
 CESR Ausschuss der Europäischen Aufsichtsbehörden für das Wertpapierwesen (engl.: Committee of European Securities Regulators – CESR) (aufgehoben zum 1. Januar 2011; aufgegangen in der Europäischen Wertpapier- und Marktaufsichtsbehörde (ESMA))
 CETA  Umfassendes Wirtschafts- und Handelsabkommen EU-Kanada (von englisch: Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, auch als Canada-EU Trade Agreement gelesen, französisch: Accord économique et commercial global - AECG)
 CFCA Europäische Fischereiaufsichtsbehörde (engl.: Community Fisheries Control Agency)
 CFR Cost And Freight (Kosten und Fracht) (siehe Incoterms) oder Code of Federal Regulations (USA) (deutsch: Sammlung der Bundesverordnungen)
 ChancenG Gesetz zur Verwirklichung der Chancengleichheit von Frauen und Männern im öffentlichen Dienst in Baden-Württemberg (Chancengleichheitsgesetz BW)
 ChemG Chemikaliengesetz oder Chemikaliengesetz (Schweiz)
 ChemBiozidDV Verordnung über die Meldung und die Abgabe von Biozid-Produkten sowie zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EU) Nr. 528/2012 (Biozidrechts-Durchführungsverordnung)
 ChemBiozidZulv Biozid-Zulassungsverordnung
 ChemGiftInfoV Giftinformationsverordnung (Verordnung über die Mitteilungspflichten nach § 16e des Chemikaliengesetzes zur Vorbeugung und Information bei Vergiftungen)
 ChemKlimaschutzV Chemikalien-Klimaschutzverordnung
 ChemOzonSchichtV Verordnung über Stoffe, die die Ozonschicht schädigen (Chemikalien-Ozonschichtverordnung)
 ChemRRV Verordnung zur Reduktion von Risiken beim Umgang mit bestimmten besonders gefährlichen Stoffen, Zubereitungen und Gegenständen (Chemikalien-Risikoreduktions-Verordnung) (Schweiz)
 ChemStrOWiV Verordnung zur Durchsetzung gemeinschaftsrechtlicher Verordnungen über Stoffe und Zubereitungen (Chemikalien-Straf- und Bußgeldverordnung)
 ChemV Chemikalienverordnung (Schweiz)
 ChemVerbotsV Chemikalien-Verbotsverordnung (Verordnung über Verbote und Beschränkungen des Inverkehrbringens gefährlicher Stoffe, Zubereitungen und Erzeugnisse nach dem Chemikaliengesetz)
 C. I. C. Corpus iuris civilis oder Corpus Iuris Canonici
 c. i. c. culpa in contrahendo
 CHF Schweizer Franken
 CHMP Ausschuss für Humanarzneimittel der EU (engl.: Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use - CHMP)
 CHR UN-Menschenrechtskommission (engl.: United Nations Commission on Human Rights, kurz: CHR)
 CIEC Internationale Kommission für das Zivilstandswesen (franz. Commission Internationale de l'Etat Civil – CIEC)
 CIF Cost, Insurance, Freight (Kosten, Versicherung, Fracht) (siehe Incoterms)
 CILIP Bürgerrechte & Polizei/CILIP (Zeitschrift)
 CIM Einheitliche Rechtsvorschriften für den Vertrag über die internationale Eisenbahnbeförderung von Gütern – Règles uniformes concernant le contrat de transport international ferroviaires des marchandises (Anhang B zum COTIF)
 CIP Carriage Insurance Paid (Fracht und Versicherung bezahlt) (siehe Incoterms)
 CIRAM Common Integrated Risk Analysis Model (übersetzt: Gemeinsames integriertes Risikosanalysemodell)
 CISG Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen über den internationalen Warenkauf
 CITES Washingtoner Artenschutzübereinkommen (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)
 CIV Einheitliche Rechtsvorschriften für den Vertrag über die internationale Eisenbahnbeförderung von Personen – Règles uniformes concernant le contrat de transport international ferroviaires des voyageurs (Anhang A zum COTIF)
 CJP Criminal Justice Project der EJTN
 CLNI Straßburger Übereinkommen über die Beschränkung der Haftung in der Binnenschiffahrt
 CMNI Budapester Übereinkommen über den Vertrag über die Güterbeförderung in der Binnenschifffahrt – Convention de Budapest relative au contract de transport de marchandises en navigation intérieure
 CMR Convention relative au contrat de transport international de marchandises par route (französisch), die Internationale Vereinbarung über Beförderungsverträge auf Straßen
 Co. Company
 CO2KostAufG Gesetz zur Aufteilung der Kohlendioxidkosten (Kohlendioxidkostenaufteilungsgesetz)
 Colido Computergestützte Liegenschaftsdokumentation der DDR
 ComCom Eidgenössische Kommunikationskommission
 ContStifG Conterganstiftungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Conterganstiftung für behinderte Menschen)
 Corona-ArbSchV SARS-CoV-2-Arbeitsschutzverordnung
 CoronaEinrVO Coronaeinreiseverordnung (diverser Bundesländer, z. B. in NRW)
 CoronaImpfV Verordnung zum Anspruch auf Schutzimpfung gegen das Coronavirus SARSCoV-2 (Coronaimpfverordnung)
 CoronaSchV Coronavirus-Schutzverordnung (diverser Bundesländer, z. B. NRW)
 CoronaVMeldeV Verordnung über die Ausdehnung der Meldepflicht nach § 6 Absatz 1 Satz 1 Nummer 1 und § 7 Absatz 1 Satz 1 des Infektionsschutzgesetzes auf Infektionen mit dem erstmals im Dezember 2019 in Wuhan/Volksrepublik China aufgetretenen neuartigen Coronavirus („2019-nCoV“)
 COTIF original , engl.: Convention concerning International Carriage by Rail (siehe Übereinkommen über den internationalen Eisenbahnverkehr)
 COVInsAG COVID-19-Insolvenzaussetzungsgesetz
 COVMG Gesetz über Maßnahmen im Gesellschafts-, Genossenschafts-, Vereins-, Stiftungs- und Wohnungseigentumsrecht zur Bekämpfung der Auswirkungen der Covid-19-Pandemie
 COVuR Zeitschrift „COVID-19 und alle Rechtsfragen zur Corona-Krise“
 CPC Central Product Classification der UN (dt.: Zentrale Gütersystematik)
 CPI Internationaler Strafgerichtshof (franz. Cour pénale internationale – CPI; engl. International Criminal Court – ICC)
 CPlVO Campingplatzverordnung
 CPR Construction Products Regulation (EU-Bauprodukteverordnung - EU-BauPVO) (siehe Verordnung (EU) Nr. 305/2011)
 CPT Carriage Paid To (Fracht bezahlt bis) (siehe Incoterms) oder Europäisches Komitee zur Verhütung von Folter und unmenschlicher oder erniedrigender Behandlung oder Strafe (engl.: Committee for the Prevention of Torture – CPT)
 CPVO Gemeinschaftliches Sortenamt der EU (engl.: Community Plant Variety Office)
 CR (C&R) Computer und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 CRC Übereinkommen über die Rechte des Kindes, kurz UN-Kinderrechtskonvention (engl.: Convention on the Rights of the Child – CRC)
 CRD Eigenkapitalrichtlinie der EU (englisch )
 CRPD Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (dt.: Übereinkommen über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen (Behindertenrechtskonvention))
 CRR Kapitaladäquanzverordnung der EU (englisch )
 CRTD Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Cause during Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road, Rail and Inland Navigation Vessels
 CSD Kommission der Vereinten Nationen für Nachhaltige Entwicklung (engl.: Commission on Sustainable Development)
 CSG Containersicherheitsgesetz (Österreich)
 CSR Corporate Social Responsibility oder Stoffsicherheitsbericht (engl.: chemical safety report)
 CSR-RL-UG Gesetz zur Stärkung der nichtfinanziellen Berichterstattung der Unternehmen in ihren Lage- und Konzernlageberichten (CSR-Richtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz)
 CTD Common Technical Document
 CTM Gemeinschaftsmarke (engl.: Community Trade Mark – CTM)
 CTU Cargo Transport Unit (dt.: Beförderungseinheit)
 CuR Contracting und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 CUI Einheitliche Rechtsvorschriften für den Vertrag über die Nutzung der Infrastruktur im internationalen Eisenbahnverkehr – Règles uniformes concernant le contrat d'utilisation de l'infrastructure en trafic international ferroviaire (Anhang E zum COTIF)
 CUV Einheitliche Rechtsvorschriften für Verträge über die Verwendung von Wagen im internationalen Eisenbahnverkehr – Règles uniformes concernant les contrats d'utilisation de véhicules en trafic international ferroviaire (Anhang D zum COTIF)
 CWÜ Chemiewaffenübereinkommen (siehe Chemiewaffenkonvention)
 CWK Chemiewaffenkonvention

D 
 d. A. der Akte
 DA Dienstanweisung
 DaBaGG Gesetz zur Einführung eines Datenbankgrundbuchs
 dabei Dachverband berufliche Integration (Österreich)
 DÄBl. Deutsches Ärzteblatt (Zeitschrift)
 DAF Delivered At Frontier (frei Grenze) (siehe Incoterms)
 DAG Direktor des Amtsgerichts oder Deutsche Angestelltengewerkschaft
 DAkkS Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH
 DAMA Deutsche Arzneimittel- und Medizinprodukteagentur (siehe Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte#Geschichte)
 DampfkV Dampfkesselverordnung (aufgehoben; abgelöst von Betriebssicherheitsverordnung (BetrSV))
 DANA Datenschutz Nachrichten
 DAngVers Die Angestelltenversicherung (Zeitschrift)
 DAP Delivered At Place (Geliefert benannter Ort) (siehe Incoterms)
 DAR Deutsches Autorecht (Zeitschrift) oder Deutscher Akkreditierungsrat
 DarlehensV Verordnung über die Einziehung der nach dem Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz geleisteten Darlehen (Darlehensverordnung)
 DAT Delivered At Terminal (Geliefert Terminal) (siehe Incoterms) oder Deutscher Anwaltstag
 DaTraGebV Datentransparenz-Gebührenverordnung (Verordnung zur Erhebung von Gebühren und Auslagen für die Bereitstellung von Daten nach den Regelungen der Datentransparenzverordnung)
 DatraV Verordnung zur Umsetzung der Vorschriften über die Datentransparenz (Datentransparenzverordnung)
 DAV Deutscher Anwaltverein
 DAVorm Zeitschrift „Der Amtsvormund“
 dB Dezibel
 DB Durchführungsbestimmung(en) oder Der Betrieb (Zeitschrift) oder Deutsche Bahn AG oder Deckungsbeitrag oder Direkte Bundessteuer (Schweiz)
 DBA Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen
 DBB DBB Beamtenbund und Tarifunion (früher: Deutscher Beamtenbund)
 DBeglG Dienstrechtsbegleitgesetz (Dienstrechtliches Begleitgesetz im Zusammenhang mit dem Beschluss des Deutschen Bundestages vom 20. Juli 1991 zur Vollendung der Einheit Deutschlands)
 DBfK Deutscher Berufsverband für Pflegeberufe
 DBG Bundesgesetz über die Direkte Bundessteuer (Schweiz)
 DBGK Deutsches Büro Grüne Karte e.V. (siehe Internationale Versicherungskarte für Kraftverkehr)
 DBGrG Deutsche Bahn Gründungsgesetz
 DBGT Deutscher Baugerichtstag
 DBiblG Gesetz über die Deutsche Bibliothek
 DBJR Deutscher Bundesjugendring
 DBP Deutsches Bundespatent (siehe Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt (DPMA)) oder Deutsche Bundespost
 DBV Deutscher Bauernverband oder Verfassung des Deutschen Bundes (siehe Bismarcksche Reichsverfassung)
 DBW Die Betriebswirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 DCFR Entwurf für einen Gemeinsamen Referenzrahmen („Draft Common Frame of Reference“)
 DCGK Deutscher Corporate Governance Kodex
 DCS DatenClearingStelle
 DDA Dresdner Amtsblatt
 DDP Delivered Duty Paid (Geliefert Zoll bezahlt) (siehe Incoterms)
 DDR Deutsche Demokratische Republik
 DDR-IG DDR-Investitionsgesetz
 DDU Delivered Duty Unpaid (frei unverzollt) (siehe Incoterms)
 DE-AS Deutsche Auslegungsschrift
 DE-BP Deutsches Bundespatent
 DeckReg Deckungsregister
 DeckRegV Verordnung über die Form und den Inhalt der Deckungsregister nach dem Pfandbriefgesetz und die Aufzeichnung der Eintragungen (Deckungsregisterverordnung)
 DeckRV Deckungsrückstellungsverordnung
 DEFG Deutsche-Einheit-Fonds-Gesetz (Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Fonds „Deutsche Einheit“)
 DEG Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH
 DE-GM Deutsches Bundesgebrauchsmuster
 DEHSt Deutsche Emissionshandelsstelle
 deNIS Deutsches Notfallvorsorge-Informationssystem
 DE-OS Deutsche Offenlegungsschrift
 DepotG Depotgesetz
 DE-PS Deutsche Patentschrift
 DepV Deponieverordnung (Verordnung über Deponien und Langzeitlager; Errichtung, Betrieb, Stilllegung und Nachsorge von Deponien und Langzeitlagern, Behandlung von Abfällen zur Ablagerung auf Deponien, Herstellung von Deponieersatzbaustoffen, Ablagerung von Abfällen auf Deponien)
 DepVerwV Deponieverwertungsverordnung [aufgehoben seit 16. Juli 2009; siehe nun Deponieverordnung (DepV)]
 DEQ Delivered Ex Quay (frei ab Kai) (siehe Incoterms)
 DES Delivered Ex Ship (frei ab Schiff) (siehe Incoterms) oder Dokumenteneinbringungsservice (Österreich)
 DesignG Designgesetz (früher Geschmacksmustergesetz)
 DEÜV Datenerfassungs- und -übermittlungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Erfassung und Übermittlung von Daten für die Träger der Sozialversicherung)
 DeuFöV Verordnung über die berufsbezogene Deutschsprachförderung (Deutschsprachförderverordnung)
 DEZA Direktion für Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit (Schweiz) (franz. Direction du développement et de la coopération, ital. Direzione dello sviluppo e della cooperazione)
 DFG Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
 DFGT Deutscher Familiengerichtstag
 DFK Stiftung Deutsches Forum für Kriminalprävention
 DFR Deutschsprachiges Fallrecht
 DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung GmbH
 DFÜ Datenfernübertragung
 DG Generaldirektion der EU-Kommission (für engl.  / franz. ; dt. Abkürzung: GD)
 DGB Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund
 DGL Dienstgruppenleiter
 DGL-VO NRW Dauergrünlanderhaltungsverordnung NRW
 DGO Deutsche Gemeindeordnung
 DGR Dangerous Goods Regulations
 DGRL Richtlinie 97/23/EG über Druckgeräte
 DGUV Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung
 DGV Dienstgütevereinbarung (siehe Service-Level-Agreement)
 DGVB Deutscher Gerichtsvollzieher-Bund
 DGVO Druckgeräteverordnung (Österreich)
 DGVZ Deutsche Gerichtsvollzieher-Zeitung
 DH-BA Durchführungshinweise der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
 DHI Deutsches Hydrographisches Institut (siehe Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie)
 DHKT Deutscher Handwerkskammertag
 DHPol Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei
 DHV Deutscher Hochschulverband
 DiätAss APrV Diätassistenten Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung
 DiätAssG Gesetz über den Beruf der Diätassistentin und des Diätassistenten (Diätassistentengesetz)
 DiätV Verordnung über diätetische Lebensmittel (Diätverordnung)
 DIBt Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik
 Dig. Digesten
 DiGa Digitale Gesundheitsanwendung
 DiGaV Verordnung über das Verfahren und die Anforderungen zur Prüfung der Erstattungsfähigkeit digitaler Gesundheitsanwendungen in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen-Verordnung)
 DIHT Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag
 DIMDI Deutsches Institut für Medizinische Dokumentation und Information
 DIMDIV Verordnung über das datenbankgestützte Informationssystem über Medizinprodukte des Deutschen Instituts für Medizinische Dokumentation und Information (DIMDI-Verordnung)
 DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung (siehe DIN-Norm)
 dingl. dinglich
 DiplBezÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Wiener Übereinkommen über diplomatische Beziehungen
 Dipl.-Ing. Diplom-Ingenieur
 DiReG Gesetz zur Ergänzung der Regelungen zur Umsetzung der Digitalisierungsrichtlinie
 DirektZahlDurchfV Verordnung zur Durchführung der Direktzahlungen an Inhaber landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe im Rahmen von Stützungsregelungen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik (Direktzahlungen-Durchführungsverordnung)
 DirektZahlVerpflV Direktzahlungen-Verpflichtungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Grundsätze der Erhaltung landwirtschaftlicher Flächen in einem guten landwirtschaftlichen und ökologischen Zustand)
 DIRL Richtlinie (EU) 2019/770 (Digitale-Inhalte-Richtlinie) (engl.: digital content and digital services Directive)
 DiRUG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Digitalisierungsrichtlinie
 DIS Deutsche Institution für Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit e.V.
 Diss. Dissertation
 DJ Deutsche Justiz (Zeitschrift)
 DJB Deutscher Juristinnenbund oder Das juristische Büro (Zeitschrift)
 djbZ Zeitschrift des Deutschen Juristinnenbundes
 DJR Der junge Rechtsgelehrte (Zeitschrift)
 DJT Deutscher Juristentag
 DJZ Deutsche Juristen-Zeitung
 DK Die Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft oder Deponieklasse
 DKG Deutsche Krankenhausgesellschaft
 DKM Digitale Katastralmappe (Österreich)
 DL-InfoV Dienstleistungs-Informationspflichten-Verordnung
 DLkrT (DLT) Deutscher Landkreistag
 DLMB Deutsches Lebensmittelbuch
 DLRL Dienstleistungsrichtlinie (Richtlinie 2006/123/EG über Dienstleistungen im Binnenmarkt)
 DM Deutsche Mark oder Drittmittel
 DMB Deutscher Mieterbund e. V.
 DMBilG D-Markbilanzgesetz (Gesetz über die Eröffnungsbilanz in Deutscher Mark und die Kapitalneufestsetzung)
 DmMV Verordnung zur Festlegung der nicht geringen Menge von Dopingmitteln (Dopingmittel-Mengen-Verordnung)
 DMP Disease-Management-Programm
 DMSG Denkmalschutzgesetz (Österreich)
 DMT Deutscher Mietgerichtstag
 DNA Desoxyribonukleinsäure
 DNBG Gesetz über die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
 DNeuG Dienstrechtsneuordnungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Neuordnung und Modernisierung des Bundesdienstrechts)
 DNK Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitskodex
 DNotI Deutsches Notarinstitut
 DNotZ Deutsche Notar-Zeitschrift
 DNotZBayB Bayerische Beilage zur DNotZ
 DNV Die Neue Verwaltung (Zeitschrift)
 DO Durchführungsordnung (auch DVO) oder Dienstordnung
 DÖD Der Öffentliche Dienst (Zeitschrift)
 DÖV Die Öffentliche Verwaltung (Zeitschrift)
 DOHG Dopingopfer-Hilfegesetz (Gesetz über eine finanzielle Hilfe für Doping-Opfer der DDR)
 DOK-VO Verordnung über Sicherheits- und Gesundheitsschutzdokumente (Österreich)
 DonauSchPV Donauschifffahrtspolizeiverordnung
 DONot Dienstordnung für Notarinnen und Notare
 DoP Leistungserklärung (Declaration of Performance - DoP) (siehe Verordnung (EU) Nr. 305/2011)
 DPAii Europäische Plattform für Aktionärsidentifikation- und -information
 DPMA Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt
 DPolBl Deutsches Polizeiblatt. Fachzeitschrift für die Aus- und Fortbildung in Bund und Ländern
 DPR Deutsche Prüfstelle für Rechnungslegung
 DPRA Nach dem deutsch-polnischen Rentenabkommen vom 9. Oktober 1975 anerkannte Zeiten
 DPWV Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Gesamtverband e.V. (Der Paritätische) (siehe Der Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband)
 Dr. Doktor oder Drucksache
 DR Deutsches Reich oder Deutsches Recht (1931–1945) oder Deutsche Reichsbahn (1920–1945) oder Deutsche Reichsbahn (1945–1993)
 DRB Deutscher Richterbund
 DRG Diagnosis Related Groups (kurz DRG, deutsch Diagnosebezogene Fallgruppen)
 DrittelbG Drittelbeteiligungsgesetz
 DRiG Deutsches Richtergesetz
 DRiZ Deutsche Richterzeitung
 DRKG DRK-Gesetz, Gesetz über das Deutsche Rote Kreuz
 Drs. Drucksache
 DRSC Deutsches Rechnungslegungs Standards Committee
 DruckbehVO Druckbehälterverordnung
 DRV Deutsche Rentenversicherung
 DRV-Bund Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund
 DRV KBS Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See
 DRZ Deutsche Rechtszeitschrift
 DruckLV Druckluftverordnung (Verordnung über Arbeiten in Druckluft)
 DS Der Sachverständige, Fachzeitschrift für Sachverständige, Kammern, Gerichte und Behörden
 DSAnpUG-EU Gesetz zur Anpassung des Datenschutzrechts an die Verordnung (EU) 2016/679 und zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie (EU) 2016/680 (Datenschutz-Anpassungs- und -Umsetzungsgesetz EU)
 DSB Datenschutzbeauftragter
 DSchVO Deichschutzverordnung
 DSE Deutsche Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit für Erbstreitigkeiten e.V.
 DSG Datenschutzgesetz (meist gemeint Landesdatenschutzgesetz, z. B. DSG LSA) oder Bundesgesetz zum Schutz natürlicher Personen bei der Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten (Datenschutzgesetz (Österreich))
 DSG-EKD EKD-Datenschutzgesetz
 DSGT Deutscher Sozialgerichtstag
 DSGVO oder DS-GVO Datenschutz-Grundverordnung
 DSK Datenschutzkonzept oder Datenschutzkommission (Österreich; aufgehoben, jetzt Datenschutzbehörde - DSB)
 DSL Drittschadensliquidation
 DSM oder DSM-RL Richtlinie (EU) 2019/790 (Urheberrecht im digitalen Binnenmarkt)
 DSR Deutscher Standardisierungsrat (siehe Deutsches Rechnungslegungs Standards Committee (DRSC))
 DSRL Richtlinie 2002/58/EG des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 12. Juli 2002 über die Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten und den Schutz der Privatsphäre in der elektronischen Kommunikation (Datenschutzrichtlinie für elektronische Kommunikation)
 DSRV Datenstelle der Träger der Rentenversicherung
 DSt Disziplinarstatut für Rechtsanwälte und Rechtsanwaltsanwärter (Österreich)
 DST Deutscher Städtetag
 DStGB Deutscher Städte- und Gemeindebund
 DStJG Deutsche Steuerjuristische Gesellschaft
 DStR Deutsches Steuerrecht (Zeitschrift) (vormals Das deutsche Steuerrecht (Zeitschrift))
 DStRE Deutsches Steuerrecht - Entscheidungsdienst (Zeitschrift)
 DStV Deutscher Steuerberaterverband e.V.
 DStZ Deutsche Steuer-Zeitung
 DSV Deutscher Segler-Verband
 DSW Deutsches Studentenwerk
 DTSchB Deutscher Tierschutzbund e.V.
 DtZ (ehemalige) Deutsch-Deutsche Rechts-Zeitschrift
 DuD Datenschutz und Datensicherheit (Zeitschrift)
 DÜ Dubliner Übereinkommen
 DüBV Verordnung über die Errichtung eines Wissenschaftlichen Beirats für Düngungsfragen
 DÜG Diskontsatz-Überleitungs-Gesetz (jeweils geltender Basiszinssatz nach dem DÜG)
 DüMV Düngemittelverordnung
 DüngG Düngegesetz
 DüngeV (DüV) Düngeverordnung (Verordnung über die Anwendung von Düngemitteln, Bodenhilfsstoffen, Kultursubstraten und Pflanzenhilfsmitteln nach den Grundsätzen der guten fachlichen Praxis)
 DüngMG 1977 Düngemittelgesetz
 DüssTab Düsseldorfer Tabelle
 DÜVO Nach der Datenübermittlungsverordnung (DÜVO) gemeldete Zeiten. Hierüber hat der Arbeitgeber einen Nachweis erteilt.
 DuR Demokratie und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 DuPMedAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Mediengestalter Digital und Print und zur Mediengestalterin Digital und Print (Digital- und Print-Mediengestalter-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 DV Durchführungsverordnung oder Datenverarbeitung oder Deutscher Verein für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V. oder Dienstvereinbarung
 DVA Deutscher Vergabe- und Vertragsausschuss für Bauleistungen (früher: Deutschen Verdingungsausschuss)
 DVAL Deutscher Verdingungsausschuss für Leistung
 DVBl. Deutsches Verwaltungsblatt
 DVD Deutsche Vereinigung für Datenschutz
 DV E Empfehlungen des Deutschen Vereins für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V.
 DVEV Deutsche Vereinigung für Erbrecht und Vermögensnachfolge e.V.
 DVG Gesetz für eine bessere Versorgung durch Digitalisierung und Innovation (Digitale-Versorgung-Gesetz)
 DVGT Deutscher Verkehrsgerichtstag
 DVGW Deutscher Verein des Gas- und Wasserfaches
 DV H Hinweise des Deutschen Vereins für öffentliche und private Fürsorge e.V.
 DVIR Deutsche Vereinigung für Internationales Recht
 DVIS Deutscher Verein für Internationales Seerecht
 DVJJ Deutsche Vereinigung für Jugendgerichte und Jugendgerichtshilfen e.V.
 DVLStHV Durchführungsverordnung Lohnsteuerhilfevereine (Verordnung zur Durchführung der Vorschriften über Lohnsteuerhilfevereine)
 DVO (DV) Durchführungsverordnung
 DVO-JuSchG Verordnung zur Durchführung des Jugendschutzgesetzes
 DVPMG Gesetz zur digitalen Modernisierung von Versorgung und Pflege (Digitale-Versorgung-und-Pflege-Modernisierungsgesetz)
 DVR Deutscher Verkehrssicherheitsrat e.V.
 DVStB Durchführungsverordnung Steuerberatung (Verordnung zur Durchführung der Vorschriften über Steuerberater, Steuerbevollmächtigte und Steuerberatungsgesellschaften)
 DVZ Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung (seit 1947) oder Deutsche Verkehrs-Zeitung (1877–1945)
 DWD Deutscher Wetterdienst
 DWDG Gesetz über den Deutschen Wetterdienst
 DWW Deutsche Wohnungswirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 DZWIR Deutsche Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht

E 
 E Entwurf oder Entscheidung oder Ergebnis oder Entscheidungssammlung
 eA einstweilige Anordnung
 EA Europa-Archiv (Zeitschrift) oder Elektronische Aufsicht (Österreich) (siehe Elektronische Fußfessel)
 EAD Europäischer Auswärtiger Dienst (engl.: European External Action Service – EEAS) oder European Assessment Document (Europäisches Bewertungsdokument) (siehe Europäische Technische Zulassung)
 EAEG Einlagensicherungs- und Anlegerentschädigungsgesetz (2015 umbenannt in Anlegerentschädigungsgesetz)
 EAG Europäische Atomgemeinschaft oder Europarecht-Anpassungsgesetz oder Erneuerbaren-Ausbau-Gesetz (Österreich)
 EAG Bau Europarechtsanpassungsgesetz Bau
 EAGFL Europäischer Ausrichtungs- und Garantiefonds für Landwirtschaft
 EAGV Vertrag über die Europäische Atomgemeinschaft
 EAK Europäische Abfallartenkatalog (engl.: European Waste Catalogue - EWC)
 EALG Gesetz über die Entschädigung nach dem Gesetz zur Regelung offener Vermögensfragen und über staatliche Ausgleichsleistungen für Enteignungen auf besatzungsrechtlicher oder besatzungshoheitlicher Grundlage (Entschädigungs- und Ausgleichsleistungsgesetz)
 EAMIV Verordnung über die Mindestanforderungen an die Informationen in elektronischen Programmen für die Verordnung von Arzneimitteln durch Vertragsärzte und über die Veröffentlichung der Beschlüsse des Gemeinsamen Bundesausschusses (Elektronische Arzneimittelinformationen-Verordnung)
 EAMIVÄndV Verordnung zur Änderung der Elektronische Arzneimittelinformationen-Verordnung
 eANV Elektronisches Abfallnachweisverfahren
 eAO einstweilige Anordnung
 EAO Erreichbarkeitsanordnung
 EAR Europäische Agentur für den Wiederaufbau der EU (engl.: European Agency for Reconstruction)
 E/A-Rechnung Einnahmen-Ausgaben-Rechnung (Österreich)
 EASA Europäische Agentur für Flugsicherheit der EU (engl.: European Aviation Safety Agency - EASA)
 EASA-FCL Verordnung (EU) Nr. 1178/2011 der Kommission vom 3. November 2011 zur Festlegung technischer Vorschriften und von Verwaltungsverfahren in Bezug auf das fliegende Personal in der Zivilluftfahrt gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 216/2008 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates
 EASO Europäisches Unterstützungsbüro für Asylfragen
 eAT Elektronischer Aufenthaltstitel
 EAÜ Elektronische Aufenthalts-Überwachung (siehe Elektronische Fußfessel)
 EAV Eidgenössische Alkoholverwaltung (franz. Régie fédérale des alcools, ital. Regìa federale degli alcool) oder Einzelarbeitsvertrag (nach schweizerischem Obligationenrecht. OR 319ff) oder Ergebnisabführungsvertrag im deutschen Steuer- und Gesellschaftsrecht oder Eignungsauswahlverfahren bei der Bundespolizei, der Polizei der Länder und dem Zoll
 EAVG Energieausweis-Vorlage-Gesetz (Österreich)
 EAZW Eidgenössisches Amt für das Zivilstandswesen
 EB Empfangsbekenntnis oder Erziehungsbeistand oder EröffnungsBilanz oder Erziehungsberatung oder Exekutivbediensteter oder europa-blätter (Zeitschrift) oder Einfuhrbewilligung
 EBA Eisenbahn-Bundesamt oder Europäische Bankenaufsichtsbehörde (engl.: European Banking Authority) oder Europäischer Berufsausweis (engl.: EPC - European Professional Card)
 EBAO Einforderungs- und Beitreibungsanordnung
 EBArbSchV Verordnung über die Übertragung von Zuständigkeiten im Bereich des technischen Arbeitsschutzes bei Eisenbahnen des Bundes (Eisenbahn-Arbeitsschutzzuständigkeitsverordnung)
 EBDD Europäische Beobachtungsstelle für Drogen und Drogensucht (engl.: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction – EMCDDA)
 EBE Einzelbetriebserlaubnis
 EBE/BGH Eildienst: Bundesgerichtliche Entscheidungen – Die Entscheidungen des BUNDESGERICHTSHOF (Zeitschrift)
 EBE/BAG Eildienst: Bundesgerichtliche Entscheidungen – Die Entscheidungen des Bundesarbeitsgerichtes (Zeitschrift)
 EBeV Verordnung über die Emissionsberichterstattung nach dem Brennstoffemissionshandelsgesetz für die Jahre 2023 bis 2030 (Emissionsberichterstattungsverordnung 2030)
 EBG Eisenbahngesetz (Schweiz)
 EBGB Eidgenössisches Büro für die Gleichstellung von Menschen mit Behinderungen (Schweiz)
 EBHaftPflV Eisenbahnhaftpflichtversicherungsverordnung
 EBI Europäische Bürgerinitiative
 EBIG Gesetz zur Europäischen Bürgerinitiative
 EBIGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Gesetzes zur Europäischen Bürgerinitiative
 EBL Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit (engl.: European Food Safety Authority – EFSA) oder Eisenbahnbetriebsleiter
 eBO Elektronisches Bürger- und Organisationenpostfach
 EBO Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung
 EBOA Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung für Anschlussbahnen
 EBPV Eisenbahnbetriebsleiter-Prüfungsverordnung
 EBR Europäischer Betriebsrat
 EBRD Europäische Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung (kurz EBWE oder EBRD, von engl.: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)
 EBRG Europäische Betriebsräte-Gesetz (Gesetz über Europäische Betriebsräte; Artikel 1 des Gesetzes über Europäische Betriebsräte) (siehe Europäischer Betriebsrat)
 EBV Eigentümer-Besitzer-Verhältnis oder Eisenbahnbetriebsleiterverordnung oder Verordnung zur Erstellung einer Entgeltbescheinigung nach § 108 Absatz 3 Satz 1 der Gewerbeordnung (Entgeltbescheinigungsverordnung)
 EBWE Europäische Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung (kurz EBWE oder EBRD, von engl.: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development)
 EBZugV Eisenbahnunternehmer-Berufszugangsverordnung
 ECAC  Europäische Zivilluftfahrt-Konferenz (englisch: European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), französisch: Conférence Européenne de l'Aviation Civile (CEAC))
 ECB Europäische Zentralbank (engl.: European Central Bank – ECB; franz.: Banque centrale européenne – BCE) oder Europäisches Büro für Chemische Stoffe (engl.: European Chemicals Bureau – ECB)
 ECCHR European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (deutsch: Europäisches Zentrum für Verfassungs- und Menschenrechte)
 ECDC Europäisches Zentrum für die Prävention und die Kontrolle von Krankheiten (engl.: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control)
 ECE Economic Commission for Europe
 ECFR European Company and Financial Law Review (Zeitschrift)
 ECHA European Chemicals Agency (dt.: Europäische Chemikalien-Agentur)
 ECIP Europäisches Zollinformationsportal (engl.: European Customs Information Portal – ECIP)
 ECM Entity in Charge of Maintenance (Dt.: die für die Instandhaltung zuständige Stelle)
 ECMT Europäische Verkehrsministerkonferenz (engl.: European Conference of Ministers of Transport; franz.: Conférence Européenne des Ministres des Transports (CEMT))
 ECMZ ECM-Zertifizierungsstelle
 ECOFIN Rat für Wirtschaft und Finanzen (offiziell: Rat „Wirtschaft und Finanzen“)
 E-ControlG Bundesgesetz über die Regulierungsbehörde in der Elektrizitäts- und Erdgaswirtschaft (Energie-Control-Gesetz) (Österreich)
 ECOSOC Wirtschafts- und Sozialrat der Vereinten Nationen (engl.: Economic and Social Council – ECOSOC; franz.: Conseil économique et social de l’ONU)
 ECRI Europäische Kommission gegen Rassismus und Intoleranz (engl.: European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, kurz ECRI)
 ECTS European Credit Transfer System (dt.: Europäisches System zur Übertragung und Akkumulierung von Studienleistungen)
 ECU Europäische Währungseinheit (englisch ECU = European Currency Unit)
 ECVRR European Centralized Virtual Vehicle Register (dt.: Europäisches Fahrzeugeinstellungsregister - EVR)
 ECX European Climate Exchange
 ED Erkennungsdienst, erkennungsdienstlich (siehe Erkennungsdienstliche Behandlung)
 EDA Europäische Demokratische Anwälte oder European Defence Agency (Agentur für die Bereiche Entwicklung der Verteidigungsfähigkeiten, Forschung, Beschaffung und Rüstung der EU (= Europäische Verteidigungsagentur) – EVA) oder Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten (franz. Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, ital. Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rät. Departament federal d’affars exteriurs)
 EdF Entziehung der Fahrerlaubnis (siehe Entziehung und Neuerteilung der Fahrerlaubnis)
 EDI Electronic Data Interchange (elektronischer Datenaustausch) oder Eidgenössisches Departement des Innern (franz. Département fédéral de l’intérieur, ital. Dipartimento federale dell’interno, rät. Departament federal da l’intern)
 EDL-G Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates über Energieeffizienz und Energiedienstleistungen
 EDÖB Eidgenössischer Datenschutz- und Öffentlichkeitsbeauftragter (französisch Préposé fédéral à la protection des données et à la transparence, italienisch Incaricato federale della protezione dei dati e della trasparenza)
 EDPS Europäischer Datenschutzbeauftragter (EDSB) (aus dem Englischen: EDPS – European Data Protection Supervisor; franz.: CEPD – Contrôleur européen de la protection des données)
 EDQM  Europäische Direktorat für die Qualität von Arzneimitteln (engl.: European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines & HealthCare (EDQM), franz.: Direction européenne de la qualité du médicament et soin de santé)
 EDSA Europäischer Datenschutzausschuss
 EDSB Europäischer Datenschutzbeauftragter (engl.: EDPS – European Data Protection Supervisor; franz.: CEPD – Contrôleur européen de la protection des données) oder Eidgenössischer Datenschutzbeauftragter
 EDU European Drug Unit
 EdV Ende der Verhandlung
 EDV Elektronische Datenverarbeitung
 EDVGT EDV-Gerichtstag
 EdW Entschädigungseinrichtung der Wertpapierhandelsunternehmen
 EE Einsatzeinheit (Österreich) oder Erbrecht effektiv (Zeitschrift)
 EEA Einheitliche Europäische Akte oder Europäische Umweltagentur (engl.: European Environment Agency (EEA)) oder Europäische Ermittlungsanordnung oder European Economic Area (Europäischer Wirtschaftsraum)
 EEÄndG Entlassungsentschädigungs-Änderungsgesetz
 EEAR Europäische EDV-Akademie des Rechts
 EEAS Europäischer Auswärtiger Dienst (engl.: European External Action Service)
 EEE Einrichtungsbezogener Eigenanteil oder Einheitliche Europäische Eigenerklärung (ein in Umsetzung der RL 2014/24/EU neu eingefügtes Institut im europäischen Vergaberecht zur Feststellung der Eignung der Bieter)
 EEffG Bundesgesetz über die Steigerung der Energieeffizienz bei Unternehmen und dem Bund (Bundes-Energieeffizienzgesetz) (Österreich)
 EEG Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz (Gesetz für den Vorrang Erneuerbarer Energien)
 EEP Energieeffizienzplan
 EES Einreise-/Ausreisesystem nach der Verordnung (EU) 2017/2226
 EESDG Gesetz zur Durchführung des Einreise-/Ausreisesystems nach der Verordnung (EU) 2017/2226 (EES-Durchführungsgesetz)
 EETS European Electronic Toll Service (dt.: Elektronisches Register für den europäischen elektronischen Mautdienst)
 EEX European Energy Exchange
 EFA Europäisches Fürsorgeabkommen vom 11. Dezember 1953
 Efb Entsorgungsfachbetrieb
 EfbV Entsorgungsfachbetriebeverordnung (Verordnung über Entsorgungsfachbetriebe)
 EFD Europäischer Freiwilligendienst (engl.: European Voluntary Service – EVS) oder Eidgenössisches Finanzdepartement (Schweiz) (franz. Département fédéral des finances, ital. Dipartimento federale delle finanze, rät. Departament federal da finanzas)
 EFDA European Fusion Development Agreement
 EFG Entscheidungen der Finanzgerichte (Zeitschrift)
 EFK Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle (siehe Rechnungshof#Schweiz)
 EFPV Eisenbahn-Fahrpersonalverordnung
 EFR Europäischer Forschungsraum (engl.: European Research Area - ERA)
 EFRE Europäischer Fonds für regionale Entwicklung
 EFSF Europäische Finanzstabilisierungsfazilität
 EFSA Europäische Behörde für Lebensmittelsicherheit (engl.: European Food Safety Authority – EFSA)
 EFSM Europäischer Finanzstabilisierungsmechanismus (siehe Euro-Rettungsschirm)
 EFTA Europäische Freihandelsassoziation (engl.: European Free Trade Association)
 EFV Eidgenössische Finanzverwaltung
 EF-VO Einreise-Freimengen-Verordnung (siehe Reisefreimenge)
 EFZ Ehefähigkeitszeugnis (Deutschland) oder Eidgenössisches Fähigkeitszeugnis oder Eingeschränktes Funksprechzeugnis (siehe Sprechfunkzeugnis (Luftfahrt)) oder Entgeltfortzahlung (siehe Entgeltfortzahlung im Krankheitsfall) oder Erweitertes Führungszeugnis
 EFZG Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Zahlung des Arbeitsentgelts an Feiertagen und im Krankheitsfall) (auch EntgFG)
 eG eingetragene Genossenschaft
 EG Europäische Gemeinschaft (jetzt nur noch Europäische Union (EU)) oder EG-Vertrag oder Einführungsgesetz oder Entschädigungsgesetz oder Entgeltgruppe
 eGA Elektronische Gesundheitsakte
 EGAHiG EG-Amtshilfe-Gesetz
 EGAktG Einführungsgesetz zum Aktiengesetz
 EGAO Einführungsgesetz zur Abgabenordnung
 EG-BewVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1206/2001 […] über die Zusammenarbeit […] auf dem Gebiet der Beweisaufnahme in Zivil- und Handelssachen
 EGB Europäischer Gewerkschaftsbund
 EGBGB Einführungsgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche
 EGBNichtrSchG Gesetz zum Schutz vor den Gefahren des Passivrauchens
 EGFL Europäischer Garantiefonds für die Landwirtschaft
 EGGenTDurchfG Gentechnikdurchführungsgesetz
 EGGVG Einführungsgesetz zum Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz
 EGH Ehrengerichtshof
 EGHGB Einführungsgesetz zum Handelsgesetzbuch
 EGInsO Einführungsgesetz zur Insolvenzordnung (Deutschland)
 EG-InsVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1347/2000 […] über Insolvenzverfahren
 eGK Elektronische Gesundheitskarte
 EGL Ermächtigungsgrundlage
 EGKS Europäische Gemeinschaft für Kohle und Stahl
 EG-MahnVO Verordnung (EG) […] zur Einführung eines Europäischen Mahnverfahrens
 EGMR Europäischer Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte
 EGovG E-Government-Gesetz (Deutschland)
 EGOWiG Einführungsgesetz zum Gesetz über Ordnungswidrigkeiten
 EGRDG Einführungsgesetz zum Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz
 EgRL Entsorgergemeinschaftenrichtlinie (Richtlinie für die Tätigkeit und Anerkennung von Entsorgergemeinschaften)
 EGRL EG-Richtlinie
 EGScheckG Einführungsgesetz zum Scheckgesetz
 EGStGB Einführungsgesetz zum Strafgesetzbuch
 EGStPO Einführungsgesetz zur Strafprozessordnung
 EGV Vertrag zur Gründung der Europäischen Gemeinschaft (abgelöst durch EUV aufgrund des Vertrages von Lissabon) oder Eingliederungsvereinbarung
 EGVerfVerbDV EG-Verfütterungsverbotsdurchführungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung des gemeinschaftlichen Verfütterungsverbotsrechts)
 EGVG Einführungsgesetz zu den Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetzen 2008 (Österreich)
 EG-VollstrTitelVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 805/2004 […] zur Einführung eines europäischen Vollstreckungstitels für unbestrittene Forderungen
 EGVP Elektronisches Gerichts- und Verwaltungspostfach
 EGVVG Einführungsgesetz zum Versicherungsvertragsgesetz (Deutschland)
 EGWG Einführungsgesetz zum Wechselgesetz
 EGWStG Einführungsgesetz zum Wehrstrafgesetz
 EGZPO Einführungsgesetz zur Zivilprozessordnung
 EG-ZustellVO Zustellungsverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1348/2000 […] über die Zustellung gerichtlicher und außergerichtlicher Schriftstücke in Zivil- oder Handelssachen in den Mitgliedstaaten)
 EGZVG Einführungsgesetz zum ZVG
 EHB (auch EuHB) Europäischer Haftbefehl
 EHEA Europäische Hochschulraum (engl.: European Higher Education Area - EHEA)
 EheG Ehegesetz (Deutschland) oder Ehegesetz (Österreich)
 EheRG Eherechts-Reformgesetz
 EheGVVO Ehe-Gerichtsstands- und Vollstreckungsverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2201/2003 […] über die Zuständigkeit und die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen in Ehesachen und in Verfahren betreffend die elterliche Verantwortung und zur Aufhebung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1347/2000)
 EhfG Entwicklungshelfer-Gesetz
 EhrAmtStG Ehrenamtsstärkungsgesetz
 EhrRiEG (EhrRiEntschG) Gesetz über die Entschädigung der ehrenamtlichen Richter (aufgehoben, jetzt: JVEG)
 EHUG Gesetz über elektronische Handelsregister und Genossenschaftsregister sowie das Unternehmensregister
 EHV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Treibhausgas-Emissionshandelsgesetzes in der Handelsperiode 2021 bis 2030 (Emissionshandelsverordnung 2030)
 EIB Europäische Investitionsbank
 EIBV Eisenbahninfrastruktur-Benutzungsverordnung (aufgehoben; abgelöst seit dem 2. September 2016 durch das Eisenbahnregulierungsgesetz (ERegG))
 EichG Eichgesetz (aufgehoben; jetzt Mess- und Eichgesetz (MessEG))
 EichO Eichordnung (aufgehoben; jetzt Mess- und Eichverordnung (MessEV))
 eID elektronischer Identitätsnachweis
 eID-Karte-Gesetz Gesetz über eine Karte für Unionsbürger und Angehörige des Europäischen Wirtschaftsraums mit Funktion zum elektronischen Identitätsnachweis
 eIDAS elektronische Identifizierung und Vertrauensdienste für elektronische Transaktionen (IVT) (engl.: electronic IDentification, Authentication and trust Services) (siehe auch Verordnung (EU) Nr. 910/2014 (eIDAS-Verordnung))
 EIF Europäischer Investitionsfonds
 EigenBetrVO Eigenbetriebsverordnung
 EIGV Verordnung über die Erteilung von Inbetriebnahmegenehmigungen für das Eisenbahnsystem (Eisenbahn-Inbetriebnahmegenehmigungsverordnung)
 EigZulG Eigenheimzulagengesetz (siehe Eigenheimzulage)
 EINECS European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances (= Altstoffverzeichnis der EU)
 Einf. Einführung
 EinhV Einheitenverordnung (Ausführungsverordnung zum Gesetz über die Einheiten im Messwesen und die Zeitbestimmung)
 EinhZeitG (EinhG) Einheiten- und Zeitgesetz
 EinigungsStVV Einigungsstellen-Verfahrensverordnung
 EinglMV Eingliederungsmittel-Verordnung
 EinglVerbG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Eingliederungschancen am Arbeitsmarkt
 Einl. Einleitung
 EinsatzVG Einsatzversorgungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Regelung der Versorgung bei besonderen Auslandsverwendungen)
 EinsatzVVerbG Einsatzversorgungs-Verbesserungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Versorgung bei besonderen Auslandsverwendungen)
 EinsatzWVG Einsatz-Weiterverwendungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Regelung der Weiterverwendung nach Einsatzunfällen)
 EinSiG Einlagensicherungsgesetz
 einstw. einstweilig
 EIOPA Europäische Aufsichtsbehörde für das Versicherungswesen und die betriebliche Altersversorgung (engl.: European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority – EIOPA)
 EIRD Implantateregister-Errichtungsgesetz
 EisbG Eisenbahngesetz 1957 (Österreich)
 EisbVO Eisenbahnverordnung (Österreich)
 EIU Eisenbahninfrastrukturunternehmen
 EJDM Europäische Vereinigung von Juristinnen und Juristen für Demokratie und Menschenrechte in der Welt e.V.
 EJG Eurojust-Gesetz
 EJN Europäisches Justizielles Netz (engl.: European Judicial Network)
 EJPD Eidgenössisches Justiz- und Polizeidepartement (franz. Département fédéral de justice et police, ital. Dipartimento federale di giustizia e polizia, rät. Departament federal da giustia e polizia)
 EJTAnV Eurojust-Anlaufstellen-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Benennung und Einrichtung der nationalen Eurojust-Anlaufstelle für Terrorismusfragen)
 EJTN European Judicial Training Network
 e. K. (e. Kfr./Kfm.) eingetragener Kaufmann
 EK Eigenkapital oder Eisenbahnkreuzung (Österreich)
 EKAG Bundesgesetz, mit dem ein Energiekostenausgleich eingeführt wird (Energiekostenausgleichsgesetz) (Österreich)
 EKD Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
 EKEG Eigenkapitalersatz-Gesetz (Österreich)
 EKF Elektrokleinstfahrzeug
 eKFV Elektrokleinstfahrzeuge-Verordnung
 EKHG Eisenbahn- und Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtgesetz (Österreich)
 EKMR Europäische Kommission für Menschenrechte
 EKrG Eisenbahnkreuzungsgesetz
 EKS Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche Schweiz
 EL Ergänzungslieferung
 ElCom Eidgenössische Elektrizitätskommission (franz. Commission fédérale de l’électricité, ital. Commissione federale dell’energia elettrica)
 EleG Elektrizitätsgesetz (Schweiz)
 ElektroG Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz
 ElektroGGebV Gebührenverordnung zum Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz (Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz-Gebührenverordnung)
 ElektroStoffV Verordnung zur Beschränkung der Verwendung gefährlicher Stoffe in Elektro- und Elektronikgeräten (Elektro- und Elektronikgeräte-Stoff-Verordnung)
 ELER Europäischer Landwirtschaftsfonds für die Entwicklung des ländlichen Raums
 ElexV Verordnung über elektrische Anlagen in explosionsgefährdeten Bereichen
 ELGA Elektronische Gesundheitsakte (Österreich)
 ElGVG Gesetz zur Vereinheitlichung von Vorschriften über bestimmte elektronische Informations- und Kommunikationsdienste (Elektronischer-Geschäftsverkehr-Vereinheitlichungsgesetz)
 ELR European Law Reporter (Zeitschrift)
 ELStAM Elektronische Lohnsteuerabzugsmerkmale
 ELSTER elektronische Steuererklärung – ELSTER
 EltLastV Elektrizitätslastverteilungs-Verordnung
 EltSV Elektrizitätssicherungsverordnung
 ElWOG Elektrizitätswirtschafts- und -organisationsgesetz (Österreich)
 EltZSoldV  Elternzeitverordnung für Soldatinnen und Soldaten
 ELWIS Elektronisches Wasserstraßen-Informationssystem (siehe ELWIS)
 ElWOG Bundesgesetz, mit dem die Organisation auf dem Gebiet der Elektrizitätswirtschaft neu geregelt wird (Elektrizitätswirtschafts- und –organisationsgesetz 2010) (Österreich)
 EMA Einwohnermeldeamt oder Einwohnermeldeauskunft oder Europäische Arzneimittel-Agentur (englisch European Medicines Agency – EMA)
 EMAS Eco Management and Audit Scheme
 EMASPrivilegV Verordnung über immissionsschutz- und abfallrechtliche Überwachungserleichterungen für nach der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 761/2001 registrierte Standorte und Organisationen (EMASPrivilegierungs-Verordnung)
 EMCDDA Europäische Beobachtungsstelle für Drogen und Drogensucht (engl.: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction)
 EMCS Excise Movement and Control System(ECMS) (dt.: Beförderungs- und Kontrollsystem für verbrauchsteuerpflichtige Waren)
 EMEA Europäische Arzneimittel-Agentur
 EMFAF Europäischer Meeres-, Fischerei- und Aquakulturfonds (engl.: European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund)
 EMFU Verordnung über elektromagnetische Felder (= 26. BImSchV)
 EMFV Verordnung zum Schutz der Beschäftigten vor Gefährdungen durch elektromagnetische Felder (Arbeitsschutzverordnung zu elektromagnetischen Feldern)
 EmoG Elektromobilitätsgesetz
 EMP Europäische Mediterrane Partnerschaft
 EMRK Europäische Konvention zum Schutze der Menschenrechte
 EMS Epidemiologisches Meldesystem (Österreich)
 EMSA Europäische Agentur für die Sicherheit des Seeverkehrs der EU ()
 EmsSchEV Schifffahrtsordnung Ems-Einführungsverordnung
 EmsSchO Schifffahrtordnung Ems
 EMV Elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit
 EMVBeitrV Verordnung über Beiträge nach dem Gesetz über die elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit von Geräten
 EMVG Gesetz über die elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit von Betriebsmitteln
 EMVU Elektromagnetische Umweltverträglichkeit
 EMZ Ertragsmesszahl (siehe Bodenschätzung)
 EN Europäische Norm
 ENA Europäisches Niederlassungsabkommen
 EndlagerVlV Endlager-Vorausleistungs-Verordnung (Verordnung über Vorausleistungen für die Einrichtung von Anlagen des Bundes zur Sicherstellung und zur Endlagerung radioaktiver Abfälle)
 EnEG Energieeinsparungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Einsparung von Energie in Gebäuden)
 EnergieStG Energiesteuergesetz
 EnergieStSenkG Gesetz zur Änderung des Energiesteuerrechts zur temporären Absenkung der Energiesteuer für Kraftstoffe (Energiesteuersenkungsgesetz)
 EnergieStV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Energiesteuergesetzes (Energiesteuer-Durchführungsverordnung)
 ENeuOG Eisenbahnneuordnungsgesetz
 EnEV Energieeinsparverordnung
 EnFG Gesetz zur Finanzierung der Energiewende im Stromsektor durch Zahlungen des Bundes und Erhebung von Umlagen (Energiefinanzierungsgesetz)
 EnG Energiegesetz (Schweiz)
 ENISA Europäische Agentur für Netz- und Informationssicherheit der EU ()
 EnLAG Gesetz zum Ausbau von Energieleitungen (Energieleitungsausbaugesetz)
 EnLG Bundesgesetz über Lenkungsmaßnahmen zur Sicherung der Energieversorgung (Energielenkungsgesetz 2012) (Österreich)
 ENP Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik
 EnSiG Gesetz zur Sicherung der Energieversorgung bei Gefährdung oder Störung der Einfuhren von Erdöl, Erdölerzeugnissen oder Erdgas (Energiesicherungsgesetz)
 EnSikuMaV Verordnung zur Sicherung der Energieversorgung über kurzfristig wirksame Maßnahmen (Kurzfristenergieversorgungssicherungsmaßnahmenverordnung)
 EnSimiMaV Verordnung zur Sicherung der Energieversorgung über mittelfristig wirksame Maßnahmen (Mittelfristenergieversorgungssicherungsmaßnahmenverordnung)
 EnSiTrV Verordnung zur priorisierten Abwicklung von schienengebundenen Energieträgertransporten zur Sicherung der Energieversorgung (Energiesicherungstransportverordnung)
 EnStatG Energiestatistikgesetz
 EntgFG Entgeltfortzahlungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Zahlung des Arbeitsentgelts an Feiertagen und im Krankheitsfall) (auch EFZG)
 EntgTranspG Gesetz zur Förderung der Entgelttransparenz zwischen Männern und Frauen (Entgelttransparenzgesetz)
 EntlG Entlastungsgesetz
 EntschRG Entschädigungsrentengesetz
 EntsorgÜG Gesetz zur Regelung des Übergangs der Finanzierungs- und Handlungspflichten für die Entsorgung radioaktiver Abfälle der Betreiber von Kernkraftwerken (Entsorgungsübergangsgesetz)
 EntwLStG Entwicklungsländer-Steuergesetz (Gesetz über steuerliche Maßnahmen zur Förderung von privaten Kapitalanlagen in Entwicklungsländern)
 EnVHV Verordnung über Energieverbrauchshöchstwerte von Haushaltskühl- und Haushaltsgefriergeräten
 EnVKG Energieverbrauchskennzeichnungsgesetz
 EnVKV Verordnung über die Kennzeichnung von Haushaltsgeräten mit Angaben über den Verbrauch an Energie und anderen wichtigen Ressourcen (Energieverbrauchskennzeichnungsverordnung)
 EnWG Energiewirtschaftsgesetz (Gesetz über die Elektrizitäts- und Gasversorgung)
 EnWGKostV Verordnung über die Gebühren und Auslagen für Amtshandlungen der Bundesnetzagentur nach dem Energiewirtschaftsgesetz (Energiewirtschaftskostenverordnung)
 EnWG-SubVO Verordnung zur Subdelegation der Verordnungsermächtigung nach Energiewirtschaftsgesetz
 EnWNG Gesetz zur Neuregelung energiewirtschaftsrechtlicher Vorschriften
 EnWZ Zeitschrift für das gesamte Recht der Energiewirtschaft
 ENZ Europäisches Nachlasszeugnis
 EO Eichordnung oder Exekutionsordnung (Österreich) oder Erwerbsersatzordnung (Schweiz)
 EOTA Europäischen Organisation für Technische Bewertung (European Organisation for Technical Assessment – EOTA) (siehe Europäische Technische Zulassung)
 EP Europäisches Parlament oder Europäisches Patent oder Einheitspapier (siehe Zollanmeldung)
 ePA Elektronische Patientenakte
 EPA Europäisches Patentamt (siehe Europäische Patentorganisation) oder Europäische Polizeiakademie (auch CEPOL für franz.: Collège Européen de Police) oder Eidgenössisches Personalamt oder Wirtschaftspartnerschaftsabkommen der EU (engl.: Economic Partnership Agreements) oder Einheitspreisabkommen
 EPBD EU-Gebäuderichtlinie (engl.: Energy Performance of Buildings Directive - EPBD)
 EPC European Professional Card (dt.: Europäischer Berufsausweis)
 EPER Europäisches Schadstoffemissionsregister (engl.: European Pollutant Emission Register - EPER)
 EpG Bundesgesetz über die Bekämpfung übertragbarer Krankheiten des Menschen (Epidemiengesetz) (Schweiz)
 EPG Europäische Politische Gemeinschaft oder Eingetragene Partnerschaft-Gesetz (Österreich) oder Europäische Privatgesellschaft oder Einheitliches Patentgericht
 EPGÜ Übereinkommen über ein Einheitliches Patentgericht
 EPLA Europäisches Übereinkommen über Patentstreitigkeiten (engl.: European Patent Litigation Agreement – EPLA)
 EPLJ European Property Law Journal (Zeitschrift)
 EPO Europäische Patentorganisation
 EPPSG Gesetz zur Zahlung einer einmaligen Energiepreispauschale für Studierende, Fachschülerinnen und Fachschüler sowie Berufsfachschülerinnen und Berufsfachschüler in Bildungsgängen mit dem Ziel eines mindestens zweijährigen berufsqualifizierenden Abschlusses (Studierenden-Energiepreispauschalengesetz)
 EPR Europäische Gefängnisregeln (engl.: European Prison Rules – EPR)
 E-PS Europäische Patentschrift (siehe Europäisches Patent)
 EPSCO Rat für Beschäftigung, Sozialpolitik, Gesundheit und Verbraucherschutz der EU (BeSoGeKo) (engl.: Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council – EPSCO)
 EPÜ Europäisches Patentübereinkommen
 EPZ Europäische Politische Zusammenarbeit
 EQ Einstiegsqualifizierung
 EQJ Einstiegsqualifizierung Jugendlicher
 ER Einstweiliger Rechtsschutz oder Ermittlungsrichter oder Einzelrichter oder Europäischer Rat oder Europarat (englisch Council of Europe, franz. Conseil de l’Europe)
 ERA Europäische Eisenbahnagentur (engl.: European Railway Agency - ERA) oder Entgelt-Rahmenabkommen oder European Research Area (Europäischer Forschungsraum) oder Empfehlungen für Radverkehrsanlagen oder Europäische Rechtsakademie oder Einheitliche Richtlinien und Gebräuche für Dokumenten-Akkreditive (z. B. ERA 500) der Internationalen Handelskammer (ICC) Paris
 ERA-TV Tarifvertrag über das Entgelt-Rahmenabkommen
 ERATV European Register of Authorised Types of Vehicles (dt.: Europäisches Register genehmigter Fahrzeugtypen)
 ErbbauRG Erbbaurechtsgesetz (vormals ErbbauV bzw. ErbbauVO (Verordnung über das Erbbaurecht))
 ErbbauZ Zeitschrift für Erbbaurecht
 ErbR Zeitschrift für die gesamte erbrechtliche Praxis
 ErbStB Der Erbschaftssteuer-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 ErbStDV 1998 (ErbStDVO) Erbschaftsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 ErbStG Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuergesetz
 ErbStRG Erbschaftssteuerreformgesetz (Gesetz zur Reform des Erbschaftsteuer- und Schenkungsteuerrechts)
 ERCC Zentrum für die Koordination von Notfallmaßnahmen (engl.: Emergency Response Coordination Centre)
 ERCL European Review of Contract Law (Zeitschrift)
 ErdölBevG Gesetz über die Bevorratung mit Erdöl und Erdölerzeugnissen (Erdölbevorratungsgesetz) (siehe Strategische Ölreserve)
 ERegG Eisenbahnregulierungsgesetz
 erg. ergänzend
 ERG Exportrisikogarantie oder Einheitliche Richtlinien für auf Anforderung zahlbare Garantien der Internationalen Handelskammer (ICC) Paris
 ErgThAPrV Ergotherapeuten-Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung (siehe Ergotherapeut)
 Erl Erlass
 ERP European Recovery Program (Europäisches Wiederaufbauprogramm, Marshallplan) oder Enterprise-Resource-Planning
 ErrV Verordnung zur Regelung weiterer Voraussetzungen der Erreichbarkeit erwerbsfähiger Leistungsberechtigter nach dem Zweiten Buch Sozialgesetzbuch (Erreichbarkeits-Verordnung)
 ErsatzbaustoffV Verordnung über Anforderungen an den Einbau von mineralischen Ersatzbaustoffen in technische Bauwerke (Ersatzbaustoffverordnung)
 ErsDiG Ersatzdienstgesetz (Gesetz über den Zivildienst der Kriegsdienstverweigerer) (aufgehoben; nunmehr Zivildienstgesetz (Deutschland) - ZDG)
 ErstrG Erstreckungsgesetz
 ERTMS: European Rail Traffic Management System
 ERV Einheitliche Richtlinien für Vertragsgarantien oder Elektronischer Rechtsverkehr
 ERVB Elektronischer-Rechtsverkehr-Bekanntmachung
 ERVGerFöG Gesetz zur Förderung des elektronischen Rechtsverkehrs mit den Gerichten
 ERVV Verordnung über die technischen Rahmenbedingungen des elektronischen Rechtsverkehrs und über das besondere elektronische Behördenpostfach  (Elektronischer-Rechtsverkehr-Verordnung)
 ErwSchG Erwachsenenschutz-Gesetz (Österreich)
 ErwSÜ Haager Übereinkommen über den internationalen Schutz von Erwachsenen vom 13. Januar 2000
 ErzUrlV Erziehungsurlaubsverordnung (Verordnung über Erziehungsurlaub für Bundesbeamte und Richter im Bundesdienst)
 eS elterliche Sorge
 ESA Euratom-Versorgungsagentur der EU (engl.: Euratom Supply Agency – ESA) oder European Space Agency oder Europäisches System Volkswirtschaftlicher Gesamtrechnungen (engl.: European System of Accounts – ESA)
 ESanMV Verordnung zur Bestimmung von Mindestanforderungen für energetische Maßnahmen bei zu eigenen Wohnzwecken genutzten Gebäuden nach § 35c des Einkommensteuergesetzes (Energetische Sanierungsmaßnahmen-Verordnung) (siehe Energieeffizientes Gebäude)
 ESBO Eisenbahn-Bau- und Betriebsordnung für Schmalspurbahnen
 ESC Europäische Sozialcharta
 ESchG Embryonenschutzgesetz
 ESD Europäische Zinssteuerrichtlinie (engl.: European Savings Tax Directive – ESD)
 ESEF European Single Electronic Format (siehe EU-einheitliches elektronisches Berichtsformat)
 ESF Europäischer Sozialfonds
 ESFS Europäisches Finanzaufsichtssystem (engl.: European System of Financial Supervision – ESFS)
 ESG Ernährungssicherstellungsgesetz (aufgehoben) oder Environmental Social Governance (dt.: Umwelt, Soziales und Unternehmensführung) oder Zeitschrift für nachhaltige Unternehmensführung
 ESGZ Zeitschrift für Nachhaltigkeit und Recht
 ESIS Europäisches Standardisiertes Merkblatt
 ESiV Eisenbahn-Sicherheitsverordnung
 ESM Europäischer Stabilitätsmechanismus (engl.: rescue funding programm; umgangssprachlich Euro-Rettungsschirm)
 ESMA Europäische Wertpapier- und Marktaufsichtsbehörde (kurz ESMA von engl.: European Securities and Markets Authority)
 ESMFinG Gesetz zur finanziellen Beteiligung am Europäischen Stabilitätsmechanismus (ESM-Finanzierungsgesetz)
 ESO (ESO 1959) Eisenbahn-Signalordnung
 ESRB Europäischer Ausschuss für Systemrisiken (auch EU-Systemrisiko-Rat; European Systemic Risk Board – ESRB)
 EssigV Verordnung über den Verkehr mit Essig und Essigessenz
 ESt. Einkommensteuer oder Einkommensteuer (Österreich)
 EStabG Gesetz zur Übernahme von Gewährleistungen im Rahmen eines europäischen Stabilisierungsmechanismus (Euro-Stabilisierungsmechanismusgesetz) (auch StabMechG abgekürzt)
 EStDV Einkommensteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 EStG Einkommensteuergesetz (Deutschland) oder Einkommensteuergesetz 1988 (Österreich)
 EStR Einkommensteuer-Richtlinien
 EStRefG Einkommensteuer-Reformgesetz
 EStSchlEV Einkommensteuerschlüsselzahlenermittlungsverordnung
 ESTV Eidgenössische Steuerverwaltung (franz. Administration fédérale des contributions, ital. Amministrazione federale delle contribuzioni)
 ESÜ Luxemburger Europäisches Übereinkommen vom 20. Mai 1980 über die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen über das Sorgerecht für Kinder und die Wiederherstellung des Sorgeverhältnisses () – kurz: Europäisches Sorgerechtsübereinkommen
 ESUG Gesetz zur weiteren Erleichterung der Sanierung von Unternehmen
 ESVG Europäisches System Volkswirtschaftlicher Gesamtrechnungen (engl.: European System of Accounts – ESA) oder Gesetz über die Sicherstellung der Grundversorgung mit Lebensmitteln in einer Versorgungskrise und Maßnahmen zur Vorsorge für eine Versorgungskrise (Ernährungssicherstellungs- und -vorsorgegesetz)
 ESVGH Entscheidungssammlung des Hessischen Verwaltungsgerichtshofes und des Verwaltungsgerichtshofes Baden-Württemberg mit Entscheidungen der Staatsgerichtshöfe beider Länder
 ESVP Europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
 ESZB Europäisches System der Zentralbanken
 ET Erörterungstermin
 et al. et alii ()
 ETA Europäische Technische Zulassung (engl.: European Technical Approval – ETA)
 ETAG Leitlinien für die Europäische Technische Zulassung
 ETBI Erlaubnistatbestandsirrtum (auch: Erlaubnistatumstandsirrtum)
 ETF Europäische Stiftung für Berufsbildung (engl.: European Training Foundation)
 EthRG Ethikratgesetz
 ETIAS Europäisches Reiseinformations- und -genehmigungssystem nach der Verordnung (EU) 2018/1240
 ETIASDG Gesetz zur Durchführung des Europäischen Reiseinformations- und -genehmigungssystems nach der Verordnung (EU) 2018/1240 (ETIAS-Durchführungsgesetz)
 ETL European Transport Law (Zeitschrift)
 ETR Europäisches Transportrecht (Zeitschrift)
 ETSI Europäisches Institut für Telekommunikationsnormen (engl.: European Telecommunications Standards Institute)
 ETZ Europäische Technische Zulassung (engl.: European Technical Approval – ETA)
 EU Europäische Union oder EU-Vertrag
 EUA Europäische Umweltagentur (engl.: European Environment Agency (EEA))
 EuAbgG Europaabgeordnetengesetz
 EuAHiG Gesetz über die Durchführung der gegenseitigen Amtshilfe in Steuersachen zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union
 EuAlÜbk Europäisches Auslieferungsübereinkommen
 EUAufhAsylRUG Gesetz zur Umsetzung aufenthalts- und asylrechtlicher Richtlinien der Europäischen Union
 EUB Eisenbahn-Unfalluntersuchungsstelle des Bundes (bis 2016; nunmehr Bundesstelle für Eisenbahnunfalluntersuchung)
 EuBagatellVO Europäische Bagatellverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 861/2007 […] zur Einführung eines europäischen Verfahrens für geringfügige Forderungen)
 EU-BauPVO EU-Bauprodukteverordnung (Verordnung (EU) Nr. 305/2011)
 EUB Eisenbahn-Unfalluntersuchungsstelle des Bundes (aufgelöst; nunmehr: Bundesstelle für Eisenbahnunfalluntersuchung - BEU)
 EUBeitrG Gesetz über die Durchführung der Amtshilfe bei der Beitreibung von Forderungen (EU-Beitreibungsgesetz)
 EUBestG Gesetz zu dem Protokoll vom 27. September 1996 zum Übereinkommen über den Schutz der finanziellen Interessen der Europäischen Gemeinschaften
 EuBVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1206/2001 […] über die Zusammenarbeit zwischen den Gerichten der Mitgliedstaaten auf dem Gebiet der Beweisaufnahme in Zivil- oder Handelssachen (siehe u. a. Internationales Zivilverfahrensrecht (Deutschland))
 EUCARIS European Car and Driving License Information System (siehe Zentrales Fahrerlaubnisregister#Regelung auf EU-Ebene)
 EUCU European Union Customs Union (dt.: Europäische Zollunion)
 EuEheVO Ehe-Gerichtsstands- und Vollstreckungsverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2201/2003 […] über die Zuständigkeit und die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen in Ehesachen und in Verfahren betreffend die elterliche Verantwortung und zur Aufhebung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1347/2000) (siehe Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2201/2003 (Brüssel IIa))
 EUFA Europäische Fischereiaufsichtsagentur
 EU-FCL Verordnung (EU) Nr. 1178/2011 der Kommission vom 3. November 2011 zur Festlegung technischer Vorschriften und von Verwaltungsverfahren in Bezug auf das fliegende Personal in der Zivilluftfahrt gemäß der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 216/2008 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates
 EUFinSchStG Gesetz zur Stärkung des Schutzes der finanziellen Interessen der Europäischen Union (EU-Finanzschutzstärkungsgesetz)
 EuG Europäisches Gericht erster Instanz
 EÜG Eignungsübungengesetz (Gesetz über den Einfluss von Eignungsübungen der Streitkräfte auf Vertragsverhältnisse der Arbeitnehmer und Handelsvertreter sowie auf Beamtenverhältnisse)
 EuGeldG Gesetz zur Umsetzung des Rahmenbeschlusses 2005/214/JI des Rates vom 24. Februar 2005 über die Anwendung des Grundsatzes der gegenseitigen Anerkennung von Geldstrafen und Geldbußen
 EUGFVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 861/2007 vom 11. Juli 2007 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates zur Einführung eines europäischen Verfahrens für geringfügige Forderungen
 EuGH Europäischer Gerichtshof
 EuGHE Sammlung der Entscheidungen des EUGH
 EuGHMR Europäischer Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte
 EuGöD Gericht für den öffentlichen Dienst der Europäischen Union
 EuGRZ Europäische Grundrechte-Zeitschrift
 EuGüVO Verordnung (EU) 2016/1103 des Rates vom 24. Juni 2016 zur Durchführung einer Verstärkten Zusammenarbeit im Bereich der Zuständigkeit, des anzuwendenden Rechts und der Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen in Fragen des ehelichen Güterstands
 EÜGV Verordnung zum Eignungsübungengesetz
 EuGVO (EuGVVO oder EuGÜbk) Verordnung (EG) Nr. 44/2001 […] über die gerichtliche Zuständigkeit und die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen in Zivil- und Handelssachen
 EuGVÜ Europäisches Gerichtsstands- und Vollstreckungsübereinkommen (außer für Dänemark; ersetzt durch EuGVVO)
 EuGVVO (EuGVO) Verordnung (EG) Nr. 44/2001 […] über die gerichtliche Zuständigkeit und die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen in Zivil- und Handelssachen
 EuHB (auch EHB) Europäischer Haftbefehl
 EuHbG Gesetz zur Umsetzung des Rahmenbeschlusses über den Europäischen Haftbefehl und die Übergabeverfahren zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union (Europäisches Haftbefehlsgesetz)
 EuInsVO Europäische Insolvenzverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1346/2000 über Insolvenzverfahren)
 EUIPO Amt der Europäischen Union für geistiges Eigentum
 EUKiGAbV Verordnung über den automatisierten Abruf von Daten der Familienkassen durch Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union (EU-Kindergelddaten-Abrufverordnung)
 EUISS EU-Institut für Sicherheitsstudien (engl.: EU Institute for Security Studies)
 EuLF The European Legal Forum (Zeitschrift)
 EuMahnVO Europäische Mahnverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1896/2006 […] zur Einführung eines Europäischen Mahnverfahrens)
 EUMC Europäische Stelle zur Beobachtung von Rassismus und Fremdenfeindlichkeit (engl.: European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia)
 EUMVVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1896/2006 vom 12. Juni 2006 zur Einführung eines Europäischen Mahnverfahrens
 EU-OSHA Europäische Agentur für Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz am Arbeitsplatz der EU
 EÜPV Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Regelung des Personenverkehrs zwischen den Mitgliedstaaten des Europarats vom 13. Dezember 1957
 EÜR Einnahmenüberschussrechnung
 EuR Europarecht oder Europarecht (Zeitschrift)
 EuRAG Gesetz über die Tätigkeit europäischer Rechtsanwälte in Deutschland
 EURATOM Europäische Atomgemeinschaft
 EUREK Europäische Raumentwicklungskonzept
 EURES European Employment Services (siehe EURES)
 EuRH Europäischer Rechnungshof
 EuRHÜbk Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Rechtshilfe in Strafsachen (siehe Rechtshilfe)
 EURIBOR Euro Interbank Offered Rate
 EUROMED Euro-mediterrane Partnerschaft
 EURL Richtlinie (EU)
 EUrlV Erholungsurlaubverordnung (Verordnung über den Erholungsurlaub der Bundesbeamten und Richter im Bundesdienst)
 EURODAC Europäisches Fingerabdruck-Identifizierungssystem (EURODAC)
 EUROEG EURO-Einführungsgesetz
 Eurojust Europäische Einheit für justizielle Zusammenarbeit (kurz: Eurojust)
 EuropolG Gesetz zur Anwendung der Verordnung (EU) 2016/794 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 11. Mai 2016 über die Agentur der Europäischen Union für die Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet der Strafverfolgung (Europol) und zur Ersetzung und Aufhebung der Beschlüsse 2009/371/JI, 2009/934/JI, 2009/935/JI, 2009/936/JI und 2009/968/JI des Rates (Europol-Gesetz)
 EUROSTAT Statistisches Amt der Europäischen Union (kurz Eurostat bzw. ESTAT)
 EUROFOUND Europäische Stiftung zur Verbesserung der Lebens- und Arbeitsbedingungen
 EurUP Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht
 EUSC Satellitenzentrum der Europäischen Union
 EuSchutzMVO Verordnung über die gegenseitige Anerkennung von Schutzmaßnahmen in Zivilsachen
 EUSE European Union of Supported Employment
 EuSorgeRÜbk Europäisches Sorgerechtsübereinkommen (Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Entscheidungen über das Sorgerecht für Kinder und die Wiederherstellung des Sorgeverhältnisses)
 EUSt. Einfuhrumsatzsteuer (Deutschland)
 EUStA Europäische Staatsanwaltschaft
 EUStAG Europäische-Staatsanwaltschaft-Gesetz (Deutschland)
 EU-TAM-VO Verordnung (EU) 2019/6 des Europäischen Parlaments über Tierarzneimittel
 EU-UStB EU-Umsatz-Steuer-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 EUStBV Einfuhrumsatzsteuer-Befreiungsverordnung
 EUTB ergänzende unabhängige Teilhabeberatung (siehe auch Peer-Beratung)
 EUTM European Union Training Mission (dt.: Ausbildungsmission der Europäischen Union)
 EUV Vertrag über die Europäische Union oder Eisenbahn-Unfalluntersuchungsverordnung
 EuVT Europäischer Vollstreckungstitel
 EuVTVO Europäische Vollstreckungstitelverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 805/2004 […] zur Einführung eines europäischen Vollstreckungstitels für unbestrittene Forderungen)
 EuWG Europawahlgesetz (Gesetz über die Wahl der Abgeordneten des Europäischen Parlaments aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland)
 EuWO 1988 (auch EWO) Europawahlordnung
 eUZ Elektronisches Ursprungszeugnis
 EuZA Europäische Zeitschrift für Arbeitsrecht
 EUZBLG (auch ZEUBLG) Gesetz über die Zusammenarbeit von Bund und Ländern in Angelegenheiten der Europäischen Union
 EuZVO Zustellungsverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1348/2000 […] über die Zustellung gerichtlicher und außergerichtlicher Schriftstücke in Zivil- oder Handelssachen in den Mitgliedstaaten)
 EuZW Europäische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht
 e. V. eingetragener Verein (siehe Verein) oder Eidesstattliche Versicherung oder einstweilige Verfügung oder Eingliederungsvereinbarung
 EV Eigentumsvorbehalt oder Einigungsvertrag oder Ermittlungsverfahren oder Eingangsverfahren (nach § 40 SGB IX, siehe u. a. Werkstatt für behinderte Menschen) oder Versicherung an Eides statt (= eidesstattliche Versicherung) oder Endverbraucher oder Einwilligungsvorbehalt oder Erbvertrag oder Ehevertrag
 EVA Agentur für die Bereiche Entwicklung der Verteidigungsfähigkeiten, Forschung, Beschaffung und Rüstung der EU (= Europäische Verteidigungsagentur) (engl.: European Defence Agency (EDA))
 eVB elektronische Versicherungsbestätigung
 EvBl Evidenzblatt (Österreich)
 EVD Eidgenössisches Volkswirtschaftsdepartement (franz. Département fédéral de l’économie, ital. Dipartimento federale dell’economia, rät. Departament federal d’economia) oder elektronisches Verwaltungsdokument
 EVertr Einigungsvertrag
 EVG Ernährungsvorsorgegesetz (aufgehoben zum 11. April 2017; jetzt Ernährungssicherstellungs- und -vorsorgegesetz - ESVG) oder Europäische Verteidigungsgemeinschaft oder Eidgenössisches Versicherungsgericht
 EVO Eisenbahn-Verkehrsordnung
 EVR Europäisches Fahrzeugeinstellungsregister (engl.: ECVRR - European Centralized Virtual Vehicle Register)
 e.VS. eingetragene Verbrauchsstiftung
 EVS Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe oder Europäischer Freiwilligendienst (EFD) (engl.: European Voluntary Service – EVS)
 EVSP Europäische Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik
 evtl. eventuell
 EVTZ Europäischer Verbund für territoriale Zusammenarbeit
 EVÜ Übereinkommen von Rom über das auf vertragliche Schuldverhältnisse anzuwendende Recht
 EVU Energieversorgungsunternehmen oder Eisenbahnverkehrsunternehmen
 EVZ Empfangs- und Verfahrenszentren für Asylsuchende (Schweiz) (siehe Bundesamt für Migration)
 EWC European Waste Catalogue (dt.: Europäische Abfallartenkatalog - EAK)
 EWG Europäische Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft (nunmehr Europäische Union)
 EWGRL EWG-Richtlinie (siehe Richtlinie (EU))
 EWGV Vertrag zur Gründung der europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft
 EWiR Entscheidungen zum Wirtschaftsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 EWIV Europäische wirtschaftliche Interessenvereinigung
 EWIVAG Ausführungsgesetz zur EWIV
 EWIVO Verordnung über die Schaffung einer Europäischen wirtschaftlichen Interessenvereinigung
 EWKFondsG Gesetz über den Einwegkunststofffonds (Einwegkunststofffondsgesetz)
 EWKKennzV Einwegkunststoffkennzeichnungsverordnung
 EWKRL Richtlinie (EU) 2019/904 (Einwegkunststoff-Richtlinie)
 EWKVerbotsV Verordnung über das Verbot des Inverkehrbringens von bestimmten Einwegkunststoffprodukten und von Produkten aus oxo-abbaubarem Kunststoff (Einwegkunststoffverbotsverordnung)
 EWO (auch EuWO) Europawahlordnung
 EWPBG Gesetz zur Einführung von Preisbremsen für leitungsgebundenes Erdgas und Wärme (Erdgas-Wärme-Preisbremsengesetz)
 eWpRV Verordnung über Anforderungen an elektronische Wertpapierregister
 EWR Europäischer Wirtschaftsraum (engl.: European Economic Area - EEA)
 EWS Europäisches Währungssystem oder Europäisches Wirtschafts- und Steuerrecht, Betriebs-Berater für Europarecht (Zeitschrift)
 EWSA Europäischer Wirtschafts- und Sozialausschuss
 EWSG Gesetz über eine Soforthilfe für Letztverbraucher von leitungsgebundenem Erdgas und Kunden von Wärme (Erdgas-Wärme-Soforthilfegesetz)
 EWU Europäische Währungsunion (siehe Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion)
 EWWU Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion
 ExMinV Existenzminimum-Verordnung (Österreich)
 EXW Ex Works (ab Werk) (siehe Incoterms)
 EYC Rat für Bildung, Jugend, Kultur und Sport der EU (engl.: Education, Youth and Culture Council)
 EZ Erhebungszeitraum oder Einzelzimmer oder Einlagezahl (Grundbuch)
 EzA Entscheidungen zum Arbeitsrecht
 EZA Eisenbahn-Zentralamt oder Einzelzollanmeldung
 EZAR Entscheidungssammlung zum Ausländer- und Asylrecht
 EZAR NF Entscheidungssammlung zum Ausländer- und Asylrecht, neue Folge ab 2005
 EZB Europäische Zentralbank (engl.: European Central Bank – ECB; franz.: Banque centrale européenne – BCE)
 EZG Emissionszertifikategesetz (Österreich)
 EZHW Erster Zollhauptwachtmeister
 EzSt Entscheidungssammlung zum Straf- und Ordnungswidrigkeitenrecht (Loseblattsammlung)
 EZT Elektronischer Zoll-Tarif (siehe TARIC)
 EZV Eidgenössische Zollverwaltung (franz. Administration fédérale des douanes, ital. Amministrazione federale delle dogane)
 EZulV Erschwerniszulagen-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Gewährung von Erschwerniszulagen)

F 
 F-Plan Flächennutzungsplan
 FA Finanzamt oder Fachanwalt (Deutschland) oder Fachanwalt (Schweiz) oder Führungsaufsicht oder Facharzt oder Fachaufsicht
 FABS Fahrerlaubnis-Bewertungssystem
 FAC Rat für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten der EU (engl.: Foreign Affairs Council)
 FachKrEG Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz
 FactÜ Unidroit-Abkommen über das internationale Factoring
 FAER Fahreignungsregister
 FahrSiLehrgZulV Verordnung über das Zulassungsverfahren sowie die Prüfungsdurchführung für Lehrgänge für Sachkundige für die Fahrgastschifffahrt (Fahrgastsicherheitslehrgänge-Zulassungs- und Prüfungsverordnung)
 FAK freight all kinds
 FÄndG Finanz-Änderungsgesetz 1967
 FäV Fährenbetriebsverordnung
 FAG Fernmeldeanlagengesetz oder Finanzausgleichsgesetz (siehe Finanzausgleich (Deutschland))
 FAGO Finanzamt-Geschäftsordnung (Geschäftsordnung für die Finanzämter)
 FahrlAusbV Fahrlehrer-Ausbildungsverordnung
 FahrlG Fahrlehrergesetz (Gesetz über das Fahrlehrerwesen)
 FahrlG2018DV Durchführungsverordnung zum Fahrlehrergesetz
 FahrlPrüfV Fahrlehrer-Prüfungsverordnung
 FahrschAusbO Fahrschüler-Ausbildungsordnung
 FAL Bundesforschungsanstalt für Landwirtschaft
 FamEntlastG Familienentlastungsgesetz
 FamFG Gesetz über das Verfahren in Familiensachen und in den Angelegenheiten der freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit
 FamFR Familienrecht und Familienverfahrensrecht (Zeitschrift)
 FamGerMKindwG Gesetz zur Erleichterung familiengerichtlicher Maßnahmen bei Gefährdung des Kindeswohls
 FamGKG Gesetz über die Kosten in Familiensachen (siehe Gesetz über Gerichtskosten in Familiensachen)
 FamRÄndG Familienrechtsänderungsgesetz
 FamRB Der Familien-Rechts-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 FamRBInt Familien-Rechts-Berater international (Zeitschrift)
 FamRMaßnErlG Gesetz zur Erleichterung familiengerichtlicher Maßnahmen bei Gefährdung des Kindeswohls (siehe Kinderschutz)
 FamRZ Zeitschrift für das gesamte Familienrecht
 FANG Fremdrenten- und Auslandsrenten-Neuregelungsgesetz
 FAO Fachanwaltsordnung oder Food and Agriculture Organisation (Ernährungs- und Landwirtschaftsorganisation)
 FAS Free Alongside Ship (frei längsseits Schiff) (siehe Incoterms)
 FASi Fachkraft für Arbeitssicherheit
 FATCA Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
 FATCA-USA-UmsV Verordnung zur Umsetzung der Verpflichtungen aus dem Abkommen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika zur Förderung der Steuerehrlichkeit bei internationalen Sachverhalten und hinsichtlich der als Gesetz über die Steuerehrlichkeit bezüglich Auslandskonten bekannten US-amerikanischen Informations- und Meldebestimmungen
 FA-ZVO Verordnung über die Zuständigkeiten der Finanzämter (Finanzamtszuständigkeitsverordnung) (z.B. in NRW)
 FB Frachtbrief
 FBA Folgenbeseitigungsanspruch oder Fernstraßen-Bundesamt
 FBeitrV Frequenznutzungsbeitragsverordnung
 FBG Fleischerei-Berufsgenossenschaft
 FBV Fahrzeug-Betriebs-Verordnung
 FCA Free CArrier (Frei Frachtführer) (siehe Incoterms)
 FCKW Fluor-Chlor-Kohlenwasserstoff(e)
 FCKWHalonVerbV Verordnung zum Verbot von bestimmten die Ozonschicht abbauenden Halogenkohlenwasserstoffen (siehe FCKW-Halon-Verbots-Verordnung)
 FCT Forwarding Agent´s Certifikate of Transport
 FDA Food and Drug Administration
 FE Fahrerlaubnis oder Fahreignung oder Europäische Stiftung (lat.: Fundatio Europaea)
 FEB Fahrerlaubnisbehörde
 FEG Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz
 fedpol Bundesamt für Polizei (Schweiz) (franz. Office fédéral de la police, ital. Ufficio federale di polizia)
 FELEG Gesetz zur Förderung der Einstellung der landwirtschaftlichen Erwerbstätigkeit
 FEM Freiheitsentziehende Maßnahme
 FEP Flächenentwicklungsplan
 FernAbsG Fernabsatzgesetz
 FernStrÜG Fernstraßen-Überleitungsgesetz
 FernUSG Fernunterrichtsschutzgesetz
 FerReiseV Verordnung zur Erleichterung des Ferienreiseverkehrs auf der Straße (Ferienreiseverordnung) (siehe Wochenendfahrverbot)
 FertigPackV Fertigpackungsverordnung
 FeS Fahreignungsseminar
 FeuerbrandV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung der Feuerbrandkrankheit
 FeuerschStG Feuerschutzsteuergesetz
 FeV Fahrerlaubnis-Verordnung
 FEVS Fürsorgerechtliche Entscheidungen der Verwaltungs- und Sozialgerichte (Zeitschrift)
 FF Frachtführer oder Forum Familienrecht (Zeitschrift)
 FFG Filmförderungsgesetz (Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur Förderung des deutschen Films) (siehe Filmförderungsgesetz (Deutschland))
 FFG Frauenförderungsgesetz
 FFH Fauna-Flora-Habitat
 FFH-Richtlinie Richtlinie 92/43/EWG (Fauna-Flora-Habitat-Richtlinie)
 FFK Fortsetzungsfeststellungsklage
 FG Finanzgericht oder Festgabe
 FGB Familiengesetzbuch (DDR)
 FGebV Frequenzgebührenverordnung
 FGG Gesetz über die Angelegenheiten der freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit (aufgehoben; abgelöst durch das FamFG)
 FGO Finanzgerichtsordnung
 FGPrax Praxis der freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit (Zeitschrift)
 FGRVO Fluggastrechteverordnung der EU (siehe Fahrgastrechte)
 FGV Fahrzeug-Genehmigungs-Verordnung oder Flüssiggasverordnung (Österreich)
 FH Fachhochschule
 FHGöD Gesetz über die Fachhochschulen für den öffentlichen Dienst im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen
 FHöV Fachhochschule für öffentliche Verwaltung
 FIAF Finanzinstrument für die Ausrichtung der Fischerei der EU
 FIATA Internationaler Spediteurverband (siehe FIATA)
 FinAnV Finanzanalyseverordnung (Verordnung über die Analyse von Finanzinstrumenten)
 FinB (auch FinBeh) Finanzbehörde
 FinDAG Gesetz über die Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Finanzdienstleistungsaufsichtsgesetz)
 FinDiszErstV Verordnung zur Durchführung der Erstattung von Mitteln aus der Finanzdisziplin des Europäischen Garantiefonds für die Landwirtschaft an die Empfänger von Direktzahlungen (Finanzdisziplin-Erstattungsverordnung)
 FINMA Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht (franz.: Autorité fédérale de surveillance des marchés financiers, ital.: Autorità federale di vigilanza sui mercati finanziari, rätoromanisch: Autoritad federala per la surveglianza dals martgads da finanzas)
 FINMAG Bundesgesetz über die Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht (Finanzmarktaufsichtsgesetz)
 FinStabG Finanzstabilitätsgesetz
 FinStrG Bundesgesetz vom 26. Juni 1958, betreffend das Finanzstrafrecht und das Finanzstrafverfahrensrecht (Finanzstrafgesetz) (Österreich)
 FinVermV Verordnung über die Finanzanlagenvermittlung
 FIS Fachinformationsstelle Zivil- und Katastrophenschutz oder Fédération Internationale de Ski
 FIS-Regeln Verhaltens-Regeln des Internationalen Skiverbandes FIS für Skifahrer und Snowboarder (siehe FIS-Regeln)
 FischEtikettG Fischetikettierungsgesetz
 FischHV Fischhygieneverordnung (Verordnung über die hygienischen Anforderungen an Fischereierzeugnisse und lebende Muscheln)
 FischSeuchV Fischseuchenverordnung (siehe u. a. Fischkrankheit)
 FIU Zentralstelle für Finanztransaktionsuntersuchungen (engl.: Financial Intelligence Unit - FIU)
 FJD Freiwilliges Jahr in der Denkmalpflege
 FKAustG Gesetz zum automatischen Austausch von Informationen über Finanzkonten in Steuersachen
 FKEG Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz
 FKN Fachkundenachweis für Seenotsignalmittel
 FKPG Gesetz zur Umsetzung des Föderalen Konsolidierungsprogramms
 FKS Fachkundige Stelle (nach § 84 SGB III) oder Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit der Bundeszollverwaltung
 FKüAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zur Fachkraft Küche (Fachkraft-Küche-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 FKV Fusionskontrollverordnung (siehe Zusammenschlusskontrolle oder Kartellrecht)
 FLAF Familienlastenausgleichsfonds (Österreich)
 FlaggAO Flaggenanordnung (Anordnung über die deutschen Flaggen)
 FlaggRG (FlRG) Flaggenrechtsgesetz (Gesetz über das Flaggenrecht der Seeschiffe und die Flaggenführung der Binnenschiffe) (siehe Flaggenrecht)
 FlBG Fleischbeschaugesetz
 FlErwV Flächenerwerbsverordnung
 FlG Fleischgesetz
 FlHG Fleischhygienegesetz
 FLI Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit
 FlNr. Flurnummer
 FlRG Flaggenrechtsgesetz (siehe Flaggenrecht)
 FlRV Flaggenrechtsverordnung
 FlsBergV Festlandsockel-Bergverordnung
 FlStk. (FlSt.) Flurstück
 FlStNr. Flurstücknummer
 FlugBelWertV Verordnung über die Ermittlung der Beleihungswerte von Flugzeugen nach § 26d Absatz 1 und 2 des Pfandbriefgesetzes (Flugzeugbeleihungswertermittlungsverordnung)
 Fluggastrechte-VO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 261/2004 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 11. Februar 2004 über eine gemeinsame Regelung für Ausgleichs- und Unterstützungsleistungen für Fluggäste im Fall der Nichtbeförderung und bei Annullierung oder großer Verspätung von Flügen und zur Aufhebung der Verordnung (EWG) Nr. 295/91 (Fluggastrechte-Verordnung)
 FluglärmG Fluglärmschutzgesetz
 FlurbG Flurbereinigungsgesetz
 FlUUG Gesetz über die Untersuchung von Unfällen und Störungen bei dem Betrieb von zivilen Luftfahrzeugen (Flugunfall-Untersuchungs-Gesetz (Deutschland))
 FM Finanzminister oder Finanzministerium
 FMA Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehörde (Österreich) oder FMA Finanzmarktaufsicht Liechtenstein
 FMABG Finanzmarktaufsichtsbehördengesetz (Österreich)
 FMAG Finanzmarktaufsichtsgesetz (Liechtenstein)
 FMG Fernmeldegesetz (Schweiz)
 FMFG Finanzmarktförderungsgesetz
 FMK Finanzministerkonferenz
 FMS Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds
 FMSA Bundesanstalt für Finanzmarktstabilisierung
 FMStErgG Gesetz zur weiteren Stabilisierung des Finanzmarktes (Finanzmarktstabilisierungsergänzungsgesetz)
 FMStFG Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfondsgesetz
 FMStG Finanzmarktstabilisierungsgesetz
 FMStV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Stabilisierungsfondsgesetzes (Finanzmarktstabilisierungsfonds-Verordnung)
 Fn. Fußnote
 FN Firmenbuchnummer (Österreich)
 FNA Fundstellennachweis A (für Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I)
 FNB Fundstellennachweis B (für Bundesgesetzblatt Teil II)
 FNP Flächennutzungsplan
 FOB Free On Board (siehe Incoterms)
 FOCJ Functional, Overlapping, Competing Jurisdictions
 FödRefBeglG Föderalismusreform-Begleitgesetz
 FöGbG Fördergebietsgesetz (Gesetz über Sonderabschreibungen und Abzugsbeträge im Fördergebiet; Artikel 6 des Gesetzes zur Förderung von Investitionen und Schaffung von Arbeitsplätzen im Beitrittsgebiet sowie zur Änderung steuerrechtlicher und anderer Vorschriften)
 FÖJFG Gesetz zur Förderung eines Freiwilligen Ökologischen Jahres
 FördStEG Gesetz zur Förderung der Steuerehrlichkeit
 FördElRV Gesetz zur Förderung des elektronischen Rechtsverkehrs mit den Gerichten
 FOR Fachoberschulreife (siehe Fachoberschule)
 Form. Formular
 FormAnpG Formanpassungsgesetz
 FortentwicklungsG Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung der Grundsicherung für Arbeitssuchende
 FOS Fachoberschule
 FoVG Forstvermehrungsgut-Gesetz
 FoVo Forderung und Vollstreckung (Zeitschrift)
 FPackV Fertigpackungsverordnung
 FPersG Fahrpersonalgesetz
 FPersV Fahrpersonalverordnung
 FPflZG (FPfZG) Gesetz über die Familienpflegezeit (Familienpflegezeitgesetz)
 FPG Fremdenpolizeigesetz (Österreich) (siehe u. a. Aufenthaltsstatus)
 FPR Familie, Partnerschaft und Recht (Zeitschrift) (siehe Familie Partnerschaft Recht)
 FR Finanz-Rundschau, Ertragssteuerrecht (Zeitschrift)
 FRA Agentur der Europäischen Union für Grundrechte (engl.: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights)
 FreihEntzG Freiheitsentziehungsgesetz (z. B. hessisches Gesetz über die Entziehung der Freiheit geisteskranker, geistesschwacher, rauschgift- oder alkoholsüchtiger Personen – FreihEntzG HE)
 FreiwFortbV Fahranfängerfortbildungsverordnung (aufgehoben)
 FreizügEGV Freizügigkeitsverordnung (Verordnung über die allgemeine Freizügigkeit von Staatsangehörigen der Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union)
 FreizügG/EU Freizügigkeitsgesetz/EU
 FreqBZPV Frequenzbereichszuweisungsplanverordnung
 FreqNPAV Verordnung über das Verfahren zur Aufstellung des Frequenznutzungsplanes
 FreqZutV Frequenzzuteilungsverordnung
 FrFG Frauenfördergesetz (Sachsen-Anhalt)
 FRG Fremdrentengesetz
 FRGB Anerkannte Beschäftigungszeiten nach § 16 des Fremdrentengesetzes (FRGB).
 FRGN Zeiten einer Nachversicherung nach Art. 6 § 23 FANG.
 FrhEntzG Freiheitsentziehungsgesetz (Gesetz über das gerichtliche Verfahren bei Freiheitsentziehungen)
 FRONTEX Europäische Agentur für die operative Zusammenarbeit an den Außengrenzen der Mitgliedstaaten der Europäischen Union (franz.: Frontières extérieures)
 FR-PS französische Patentschrift
 FrSaftErfrischGetrV Verordnung über Fruchtsaft, einige ähnliche Erzeugnisse, Fruchtnektar und koffeinhaltige Erfrischungsgetränke
 FrStllgV Freistellungsverordnung
 FRUG (auch FinMarktRL-UmsG) Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie über Märkte für Finanzinstrumente und der Durchführungsrichtlinie der Kommission (Finanzmarktrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz)
 FRV Paulskirchenverfassung (auch: Frankfurter Reichsverfassung, abgekürzt FRV)
 FS Festschrift oder  Führerschein oder Freiheitsstrafe
 FSA Freistellungsauftrag für Kapitalerträge
 FSAV Flugsicherungsausrüstung-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Flugsicherungsausrüstung der Luftfahrzeuge)
 FSB Secretariat to the Financial Stability Board Bank for International Settlements (kurz: Financial Stability Board – FSB; dt.: Finanzstabilitätsrat)
 FSG Führerscheingesetz (Österreich)
 FSHG Gesetz über den Feuerschutz und die Hilfeleistung (NRW)
 FSJ Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr
 FSJG Gesetz zur Förderung eines freiwilligen ökologischen Jahres
 FSK Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft
 FStrAbG Fernstraßenausbaugesetz
 FStrBAG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Fernstraßen-Bundesamtes
 FStrG Bundesfernstraßengesetz
 FStrPrivFinG Fernstraßenbauprivatfinanzierungsgesetz (Gesetz über den Bau und die Finanzierung von Bundesfernstraßen durch Private) (siehe u. a. F-Modell)
 FSV Verordnung über Sicherheitspersonal in der Fahrgastschifffahrt
 FSVG Sozialversicherung freiberuflich selbständig Erwerbstätiger (Österreich)
 FTEG Gesetz über Funkanlagen und Telekommunikationsendeinrichtungen (aufgehoben zum 4. Juli 2017; abgelöst durch Funkanlagengesetz - FuAG)
 FuAG Funkanlagengesetz
 FuR Familie und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 FusG Schweizer Bundesgesetz über Fusion, Spaltung, Umwandlung und Vermögensübertragung (Fusionsgesetz)
 Fußn. Fußnote
 FuttMG Futtermittelgesetz (siehe Futtermittel)
 FuttMVerwVerbV 2 Zweite Futtermittel-Verwertungsverbotsverordnung
 FV Fahrverbot oder Verordnung über die Zulassung von Fahrlehrern und ihre Berufsausübung (Fahrlehrerverordnung) (Liechtenstein)
 FVerlV Verordnung zur Anwendung des Fremdvergleichsgrundsatzes nach § 1 Abs. 1 des Außensteuergesetzes in Fällen grenzüberschreitender Funktionsverlagerungen (Funktionsverlagerungsverordnung)
 FVG Gesetz über die Finanzverwaltung (Finanzverwaltungsgesetz)
 FvP Fachtechnisch verantwortliche Person (Schweiz)
 FWD Freiwilliger Wehrdienst
 FWDL Freiwillig Wehrdienst Leistender
 FwG Feuerwehrgesetz (z. B. in Baden-Württemberg)
 FWMR Forschungsstelle für Wirtschafts- und Medienrecht der Uni Bayreuth
 FWR Fiata Warehouse Receipt (ein von der FIATA entwickelter Lagerschein)
 FZ Führungszeugnis
 FZA Funkzellenabfrage
 FZG Bundesgesetz über die Freizügigkeit in der beruflichen Alters-, Hinterlassenen- und Invalidenvorsorge (Schweiz)
 FzgLiefgMeldV Fahrzeuglieferungs-Meldepflichtverordnung
 FZR Verdienst für den Beiträge zur Freiwilligen Zusatzrentenversicherung in der ehemaligen DDR (Beitrittsgebiet) gezahlt wurden.
 FZulBV Forschungszulagen-Bescheinigungsverordnung
 FZulG Forschungszulagengesetz
 FZV Fahrzeug-Zulassungsverordnung

G 
 G. Gesetz oder Gehbehinderung oder Gutachten
 G 10 (G 10 2001) Gesetz zur Beschränkung des Brief-, Post- und Fernmeldegeheimnisses
 gA gewöhnlicher Aufenthalt
 GA Goltdammer’s Archiv für Strafrecht (Zeitschrift) oder General Assembly (Vollversammlung der Vereinten Nationen) oder Generalanwalt (EuGH) oder Referatsleiter der Generalprokurator am OGH in Österreich oder erster schweizerischer Bundesanwalt oder Geschäftsanweisung oder Allgemeine Luftfahrt (General Aviation) oder Gemeinschaftsaufgabe oder Gutachterausschuss
 GAA Gewerbeaufsichtsamt oder Geldausgabeautomat
 GABl. Gemeinsames Amtsblatt
 GAC Rat für Allgemeine Angelegenheiten der EU (engl.: General Affairs Council)
 GAD Gesetz über den Auswärtigen Dienst oder Grenzaufsichtsdienst
 GärtnAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Gärtner/zur Gärtnerin
 GaFG Gesetz zur Errichtung des Sondervermögens „Ausbau ganztägiger Bildungs- und Betreuungsangebote für Kinder im Grundschulalter“
 GaFinHG Gesetz über Finanzhilfen des Bundes zum Ausbau ganztägiger Bildungs- und Betreuungsangebote für Kinder im Grundschulalter (Ganztagsfinanzhilfegesetz)
 GaFöG Gesetz zur ganztägigen Förderung von Kindern im Grundschulalter (Ganztagsförderungsgesetz)
 GAFTA Grain and Feed Trade Association
 gAG Gemeinnützige Aktiengesellschaft
 GAG Gemeindeaufgabengesetz (z. B. in Bayern) oder Gesplittete Abwassergebühr
 GAK-Gesetz Gesetz über die Gemeinschaftsaufgabe „Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und des Küstenschutzes“
 GalvMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Galvaniseur-Handwerk
 GAnwZ Bayerische Geschäftsanweisung in Zivilsachen
 GAP Gemeinsame Agrarpolitik der EU oder Gute landwirtschaftliche Praxis oder Gasanlagenprüfung
 GAPAusnV Verordnung zur Durchführung der im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik geltenden Ausnahmeregelungen hinsichtlich der Anwendung der Standards für den guten landwirtschaftlichen und ökologischen Zustand (GLÖZ-Standards) 7 und 8 für das Antragsjahr 2023 (GAP-Ausnahmen-Verordnung)
 GAPDZG Gesetz zur Durchführung der im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik finanzierten Direktzahlungen (GAP-Direktzahlungen-Gesetz)
 GAPDZV Verordnung zur Durchführung der GAP-Direktzahlungen (GAP-Direktzahlungen-Verordnung)
 GAPFinISchG Gesetz zur Regelung einzelner dem Schutz der finanziellen Interessen der Union dienender Bestimmungen im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik (GAP-Finanzinteressen-Schutz-Gesetz)
 GAPInVeKoSG Gesetz zur Durchführung des im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik einzuführenden Integrierten Verwaltungs- und Kontrollsystems
 GAPKondG Gesetz zur Durchführung der im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik geltenden Konditionalität (GAP-Konditionalitäten-Gesetz)
 GAPKondV Verordnung zur Durchführung der im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik geltenden Konditionalität (GAP-Konditionalitäten-Verordnung)
 GAPStatG Gesetz über die Statistiken zu Gesundheitsausgaben und ihrer Finanzierung, zu Krankheitskosten sowie zum Personal im Gesundheitswesen
 GarBBAnO Anordnung über den Bau und Betrieb von Garagen (der DDR)
 GartAusbStEignV Verordnung über die Eignung der Ausbildungsstätte für die Berufsausbildung zum Gärtner/zur Gärtnerin
 GartenKundenBerPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Kundenberater/Geprüfte Kundenberaterin - Gartenbau
 GartMStrV Verordnung über die Anforderungen in der Meisterprüfung für den Beruf Gärtner/Gärtnerin
 GarVO Garagenverordnung (z. B. in HH)
 GasgeräteDG Gesetz zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EU) 2016/426 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 9. März 2016 über Geräte zur Verbrennung gasförmiger Brennstoffe und zur Aufhebung der Richtlinie 2009/142/EG (Gasgerätedurchführungsgesetz)
 GasGKErstV Verordnung zu Kostenerstattungsansprüchen für Gasgeräte (Gasgerätekostenerstattungsverordnung)
 GasGVV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Grundversorgung von Haushaltskunden und die Ersatzversorgung mit Gas aus dem Niederdrucknetz (Gasgrundversorgungsverordnung)
 GasHDrLtgV Verordnung über Gashochdruckleitungen
 GasLastV Verordnung über die Sicherstellung der Gasversorgung (Gaslastverteilungs-Verordnung)
 GasNEV Gasnetzentgeltverordnung
 GasNZV Gasnetzzugangsverordnung
 GASP Gemeinsame Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der Europäischen Union
 GasPrAnpV Verordnung nach § 26 des Energiesicherungsgesetzes über einen finanziellen Ausgleich durch eine saldierte Preisanpassung (Gaspreisanpassungsverordnung)
 GasSpBefüllV Verordnung zur Zurverfügungstellung unterbrechbarer Speicherkapazitäten zur Gewährleistung der Versorgungssicherheit (Gasspeicherbefüllungsverordnung)
 GasSpFüllstV Verordnung zur Anpassung von Füllstandsvorgaben für Gasspeicheranlagen (Gasspeicherfüllstandsverordnung)
 GaStatAusV Verordnung zur Aussetzung der Erhebung über Kinder in den Klassenstufen eins bis vier nach dem Achten Buch Sozialgesetzbuch (Ganztagsstatistikaussetzungsverordnung)
 GastroAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildungen zur Fachkraft für Gastronomie, zum Fachmann für Restaurants und Veranstaltungsgastronomie und zur Fachfrau für Restaurants und Veranstaltungsgastronomie sowie zum Fachmann für Systemgastronomie und zur Fachfrau für Systemgastronomie (Gastronomieberufeausbildungsverordnung)
 GASV Verordnung zur Bestimmung von weiteren grundlegenden Anforderungen an Geräte sowie zur Bestimmung von Äquivalenzen nationaler Schnittstellen und Geräteklassenkennungen auf dem Gebiet der Funkanlagen und Telekommunikationsendeinrichtungen (Grundlegende Anforderungen- und Schnittstellen-Verordnung)
 GasSV Verordnung zur Sicherung der Gasversorgung in einer Versorgungskrise (Gassicherungsverordnung) (siehe Gasreserve)
 GASt Grenzaufsichtsstelle
 GastG Gaststättengesetz
 GastgewAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung im Gastgewerbe
 GastStG Gaststaatgesetz
 GATS Allgemeines Abkommen über den Handel mit Dienstleistungen (englisch General Agreement on Trade in Services)
 GATT Allgemeines Zoll- und Handelsabkommen (engl.: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade – GATT) (heute: WTO)
 GATTG Gesetz über das Protokoll von Torquay vom 21. April 1951 und über den Beitritt der Bundesrepublik Deutschland zum Allgemeinen Zoll- und Handelsabkommen
 GaufzV Verordnung zu Art, Inhalt und Umfang von Aufzeichnungen im Sinne des § 90 Absatz 3 der Abgabenordnung (Gewinnabgrenzungsaufzeichnungsverordnung)
 GAV Gesamtarbeitsvertrag (Schweiz)
 GAVO Garagenverordnung (z. B. in BW)
 GAW Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft (Österreich) oder Gesetz über den Außenwirtschafts-, Kapital- und Zahlungsverkehr
 GB Grundbuch oder Gerichtsbescheid
 G-BA (auch GemBA oder GBA) Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss
 GBA Generalbundesanwalt oder Grundbuchamt oder Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss
 GBankDVDV Verordnung über den Vorbereitungsdienst für den gehobenen Bankdienst der Deutschen Bundesbank
 GbAusV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Geigenbauer und zur Geigenbauerin
 GBBerG Grundbuchbereinigungsgesetz
 GBG Grundbuchsgesetz (Österreich)
 GBK Gleichbehandlungskommission (Österreich)
 GBK/GAW-Gesetz Bundesgesetz über die Gleichbehandlungskommission und die Gleichbehandlungsanwaltschaft (Österreich)
 GBl Gesetzblatt
 GBMaßnG Gesetz über Maßnahmen auf dem Gebiete des Grundbuchwesens
 GBO Grundbuchordnung
 GBOERA Grundbuch- und Öffentlichkeitsregisteramt (Liechtenstein)
 GB-PS Britische Patentschrift
 GbR Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts (= BGB-Gesellschaft)
 GBR Gesamtbetriebsrat
 GbV Gefahrgutbeauftragtenverordnung
 GBV Grundbuchverfügung oder Schweizerische Verordnung betreffend das Grundbuch oder Geschäftsbesorgungsvertrag
 GBZugV Berufszugangsverordnung für den Güterkraftverkehr
 GCM Globaler Pakt für sichere, geordnete und reguläre Migration (englisch: Global Compact for Save, Regular, and Orderly Migration)
 GCP Good Clinical Practice (deutsch: „Gute klinische Praxis“)
 GCP-V Verordnung über die Anwendung der Guten klinischen Praxis bei der Durchführung von klinischen Prüfungen mit Arzneimitteln zur Anwendung am Menschen (GCP-Verordnung)
 GD Generaldirektion der EU-Kommission (auch DG für  / franz. )
 GDA Gemeinsame Deutsche Arbeitsschutzstrategie
 GdB Grad der Behinderung
 GDB Grundstücksdatenbank (Österreich)
 GDD Gesellschaft für Datenschutz und Datensicherheit e.V.
 GDEW Gesetz zur Digitalisierung der Energiewende
 GDG Gesundheitsdienstgesetz
 GDPdU Grundsätze zum Datenzugriff und zur Prüfbarkeit digitaler Unterlagen (GDPdU)
 GDRG / G-DRG German Diagnosis Related Groups (dt.: diagnosebezogene Fallgruppen)
 GdS Grad der Schädigungsfolgen (seit dem 21. Dezember 2007; vorher MdE – Minderung der Erwerbsfähigkeit) oder Gewerkschaft der Sozialversicherung
 GDV Gesamtverband der Deutschen Versicherungswirtschaft e.V.
 GdWE Gemeinschaft der Wohnungseigentümer
 GDWS Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt
 GE Das Grundeigentum (Zeitschrift) oder Geistiges Eigentum oder Gemeinschaftseigentum
 GEA Gemeinsame Ermittlungsgruppen Arbeit
 GEAS Gemeinsames Europäisches Asylsystem (siehe Asylpolitik der Europäischen Union)
 geb. geboren oder gebunden
 Geb. Gebühr(en)
 GebG Gebührengesetz (siehe z. B.: Gebührengesetz 1957, Österreich)
 GebGabe Geburtstagsgabe
 GebrM Gebrauchsmuster
 GebrMG Gebrauchsmustergesetz
 GedSchr Gedächtnisschrift
 GEEV Verordnung zur grenzüberschreitenden Ausschreibung für Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien (Grenzüberschreitende-Erneuerbare-Energien-Verordnung)
 GefBeitrV Verordnung über die Pauschalberechnung der Beiträge zur Arbeitsförderung für Gefangene (Gefangenen-Beitragsverordnung)
 GeflPestV (auch GeflPestSchV) Verordnung zum Schutz gegen die Geflügelpest (Geflügelpest-Verordnung)
 GefStoffV Gefahrstoffverordnung
 GEG Gebäudeenergiegesetz
 GEIG Gebäude-Elektromobilitätsinfrastruktur-Gesetz
 GEK (auch GEKR) Gemeinsames Europäisches Kaufrecht
 GeldStrTV Verordnung über die Tilgung uneinbringlicher Geldstrafen durch freie Arbeit (NRW)
 GelverkG Bundesgesetz über die nichtlinienmäßige gewerbsmäßige Beförderung von Personen mit Kraftfahrzeugen (Gelegenheitsverkehrs-Gesetz 1996) (Österreich)
 gem. gemäß oder gemeinsam
 GemA (auch GemAus) Gemeinsamer Ausschuss
 GemAusGO Geschäftsordnung für den Gemeinsamen Ausschuß
 GEMA Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte
 GemBA (auch G-BA oder GBA) Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss
 GemO (GO) Gemeindeordnung oder Gemeinschaftsordnung einer Wohnungseigentümergemeinschaft
 GemFinRefG Gesetz zur Neuordnung der Gemeindefinanzen (Gemeindefinanzreformgesetz)
 GemSOGB (GmS-OGB) Gemeinsamer Senat der obersten Gerichtshöfe des Bundes
 Gen. Genehmigung oder Genossenschaft
 GenBeschlG Genehmigungsbeschleunigungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Beschleunigung von Genehmigungsverfahren)
 GenDG Gesetz über genetische Untersuchungen beim Menschen (Gendiagnostikgesetz)
 GenG Genossenschaftsgesetz
 GenRegV Genossenschaftsregister-Verordnung (Verordnung über das Genossenschaftsregister)
 GenTG Gentechnikgesetz
 GenTPflEV Verordnung über die gute fachliche Praxis bei der Erzeugung gentechnisch veränderter Pflanzen (Gentechnik-Pflanzenerzeugungsverordnung)
 GenTSV Gentechniksicherheits-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Sicherheitsstufen und Sicherheitsmaßnahmen bei gentechnischen Arbeiten in gentechnischen Anlagen)
 GenTVfV Gentechnikverfahrens-Verordnung (Verordnung über Antrags- und Anmeldeunterlagen und über Genehmigungs- und Anmeldeverfahren nach dem Gentechnikgesetz)
 GER Gemeinsame Ermittlungsgruppe Rauschgift
 GerZV Gerichtszuständigkeitsverordnung
 Ges. Gesetz oder Gesellschaft oder Gesellschafter
 GesamtKiZ Gesamtkinderzuschlag (siehe Kinderzuschlag)
 GesBergV Bergverordnung zum gesundheitlichen Schutz der Beschäftigten (Gesundheitsschutz-Bergverordnung)
 GesbR Gesellschaft nach bürgerlichem Recht (Österreich)
 GeschG Bundesgesetz zum Schutz vor Gewalt in der Familie (Gewaltschutzgesetz) (Österreich)
 GeschGehG Gesetz zum Schutz von Geschäftsgeheimnissen (Geschäftsgeheimnisgesetz)
 GeschmMG Geschmacksmustergesetz (heißt seit 2014 Designgesetz)
 GeschO (GO) Geschäftsordnung
 GESG Gesundheits- und Ernährungssicherheitsgesetz (Österreich)
 GesLV Verordnung über die Ausgestaltung der Gesellschafterliste (Gesellschafterlistenverordnung)
 GesR Zeitschrift für Gesundheitsrecht oder Gesellschaftsrecht oder Gesellschaftsregister
 GesRuaCovBekG Gesetz über Maßnahmen im Gesellschafts-, Genossenschafts-, Vereins-, Stiftungs- und Wohnungseigentumsrecht zur Bekämpfung der Auswirkungen der COVID-19-Pandemie
 GesRV Verordnung über die Einrichtung und Führung des Gesellschaftsregisters (Gesellschaftsregisterverordnung)
 GESTA Stand der Gesetzgebung des Bundes
 GewAbfV Verordnung über die Bewirtschaftung von gewerblichen Siedlungsabfällen und von bestimmten Bau- und Abbruchabfällen (Gewerbeabfallverordnung)
 GewAnzV Verordnung zur Ausgestaltung des Gewerbeanzeigeverfahrens (Gewerbeanzeigeverordnung)
 GewArch (GewA) Gewerbearchiv – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsverwaltungsrecht
 GewebeG Gesetz über Qualität und Sicherheit von menschlichen Geweben und Zellen (Gewebegesetz)
 GewinnungsAbfV Gewinnungsabfallverordnung (Verordnung zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2006/21/EG des europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 15. März 2006 über die Bewirtschaftung von Abfällen aus der mineralgewinnenden Industrie und zur Änderung der Richtlinie 2004/35/EG; Errichtung, Betrieb, Stilllegung und Nachsorge für Beseitigungsanlagen für Gewinnungsabfälle, Lagerung, Ablagerung und Verwertung von Gewinnungsabfällen)
 GewO Gewerbeordnung (Deutschland) oder Gewerbeordnung (Österreich)
 GewO§34cDV Verordnung über die Pflichten der Makler, Darlehens- und Anlagenvermittler, Bauträger und Baubetreuer
 GewSchG Gewaltschutzgesetz
 GewSt Gewerbesteuer (Deutschland)
 GewStDV Gewerbesteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 GewStG Gewerbesteuergesetz
 GewStR Gewerbesteuer-Richtlinien
 gez. gezeichnet
 GEZ Gebühreneinzugszentrale
 GF Geschäftsführer, bzw. Geschäftsführung oder Grundfläche (Architektur)
 GFABPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfte Fachkraft zur Arbeits- und Berufsförderung (Arbeits- und Berufsförderungsfortbildungsprüfungsverordnung)
 GFDV Verordnung über die Art der Daten, die nach § 30 Absatz 1 Satz 1 und § 31 Absatz 1 Satz 1 des Bundespolizeigesetzes zur Grenzfahndung und zur grenzpolizeilichen Beobachtung gespeichert werden dürfen (Grenzfahndungsdatenverordnung)
 GFG Gemeinsame Finanzermittlungsgruppe oder Gesetz über die Förderung des wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses an den Hochschulen
 GFK Abkommen über die Rechtsstellung der Flüchtlinge (Genfer Flüchtlingskonvention)
 GFlFleischV Verordnung über Vermarktungsnormen für Geflügelfleisch
 GFlHG Geflügelfleischhygienegesetz
 GflSalmoV Verordnung zum Schutz gegen bestimmte Salmonelleninfektionen beim Haushuhn und bei Puten (Geflügel-Salmonellen-Verordnung)
 GFZ Geschossflächenzahl (siehe Maß der baulichen Nutzung#Geschossflächenzahl (GFZ))
 GFP Gemeinsame Fischereipolitik der EU
 GFV Verordnung über die Durchführung der Graduiertenförderung
 GG Grundgesetz oder Gefahrgut
 GGAV Gefahrgut-Ausnahmeverordnung (Verordnung über Ausnahmen von den Vorschriften über die Beförderung gefährlicher Güter)
 GGBefG Gefahrgutbeförderungsgesetz
 GGBG Gefahrgutbeförderungsgesetz (Österreich)
 GGBV Gefahrgutbeförderungsverordnung (Österreich)
 GGG Gerichtsgebührengesetz (Österreich)
 GGKontrollV Verordnung über die Kontrollen von Gefahrguttransporten auf der Straße und in den Unternehmen (Gefahrgutkontrollverordnung)
 GGKostV Kostenverordnung für Maßnahmen bei der Beförderung gefährlicher Güter (Gefahrgutkostenverordnung)
 gGmbH Gemeinnützige GmbH
 GGO Gemeinsame Geschäftsordnung der Bundesministerien
 GgV Geburtsgebrechenverordnung (Schweiz)
 GGV Gebäudegrundbuchverfügung (Verordnung über die Anlegung und Führung von Gebäudegrundbüchern)
 GGVBinSch Verordnung über die Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf Binnengewässern (Gefahrgutverordnung Binnenschifffahrt)
 GGVSEB Gefahrgutverordnung Straße, Eisenbahn und Binnenschifffahrt
 GGVSee Gefahrgutverordnung See
 GH Geschäftsherr
 GHS Global harmonisiertes System zur Einstufung und Kennzeichnung von Chemikalien
 GiMedAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Gestalter für immersive Medien und zur Gestalterin für immersive Medien (Gestalter-immersive-Medien-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 GIRL Geruchsimmissions-Richtlinie
 GlRStG Gesetz zur Verkürzung des Restschuldbefreiungsverfahrens und zur Stärkung der Gläubigerrechte
 GjS Gesetz über die Verbreitung jugendgefährdender Schriften und Medieninhalte
 GK Gemeinschaftskommentar oder Großkommentar
 GkG Gesetz über die kommunale Gemeinschaftsarbeit (z. B. in NRW)
 GKG Gerichtskostengesetz oder Güterkontrollgesetz (Schweiz)
 GKV Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung oder Gesamtkostenverfahren oder Gesamtkirchenverwaltung oder Gesamtkreditvolumen oder Spitzenverband Bund der Krankenkassen oder Grenzwerteverordnung (Österreich)
 GKV-BRG Gesetz zur Einführung eines Freibetrages in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung zur Förderung der betrieblichen Altersvorsorge (GKV-Betriebsrentenfreibetragsgesetz)
 GKV-FQWG Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung der Finanzstruktur und der Qualität in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (GKV-Finanzstruktur- und Qualitäts-Weiterentwicklungsgesetz)
 GKV-IPReG Gesetz zur Stärkung von intensivpflegerischer Versorgung und medizinischer Rehabilitation in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Intensivpflege- und Rehabilitationsstärkungsgesetz)
 GKV-SolG Gesetz zur Stärkung der Solidarität in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung
 GKV-VSG GKV-Versorgungsstärkungsgesetz
 GKV-VStG Versorgungsstrukturgesetz
 GKV-WSG Gesetz zur Stärkung des Wettbewerbs in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung
 GlBG Bundesgesetz über die Gleichbehandlung (Gleichbehandlungsgesetz) (Österreich)
 GlasappAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Glasapparatebauer und zur Glasapparatebauerin (Glasapparatebauer-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 GlAusbV 2001 Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Glaser/zur Glaserin
 GleibWV Verordnung über die Wahl der Gleichstellungsbeauftragten und ihrer Stellvertreterin in Dienststellen des Bundes (Gleichstellungsbeauftragten-Wahlverordnung)
 GleichberG Gesetz über die Gleichberechtigung von Mann und Frau auf dem Gebiet des bürgerlichen Rechts (Gleichberechtigungsgesetz)
 GleichstG TH Thüringer Gleichstellungsgesetz
 GleiStatV Verordnung über statistische Erhebungen zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern in Dienststellen des Bundes
 GlG Gleichstellungsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Gesetz zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern im öffentlichen Dienst des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Gleichstellungsgesetz M-V) oder Bayerisches Gesetz zur Gleichstellung von Frauen und Männern (Bayerisches Gleichstellungsgesetz - GlG Bay)
 GLS Grundlohnsumme
 GlüStV Glücksspielstaatsvertrag
 GM Gebrauchsmuster
 GmbH Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung oder Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (Österreich) oder Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (Liechtenstein) oder Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung (Schweiz)
 GmbHG GmbH-Gesetz in Deutschland oder GmbH-Gesetz in Österreich
 GmbHR GmbH-Rundschau (Zeitschrift)
 GMBl Gemeinsames Ministerialblatt
 GMG Gesetz zur Modernisierung der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung, kurz: GKV-Modernisierungsgesetz
 GMK Gesundheitsministerkonferenz
 GMLZ Gemeinsames Melde- und Lagezentrum von Bund und Ländern
 GMP Gute Herstellungspraxis (engl.: Good Manufacturing Practice - GMP)
 GmS-OGB (GemSOGB) Gemeinsamer Senat der obersten Gerichtshöfe des Bundes
 GNG Gesetz über die Neuordnung zentraler Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens
 GnO Gnadenordnung
 GnR Genossenschaftsregister
 GNT Güternahverkehrstarif
 GntDAIVAPrV Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für den gehobenen nichttechnischen Dienst in der allgemeinen und inneren Verwaltung des Bundes
 GO Gemeindeordnung oder Geschäftsordnung oder Gebührenordnung
 GoA Geschäftsführung ohne Auftrag
 GOÄ Gebührenordnung für Ärzte
 GoB Grundsätze ordnungsmäßiger Buchführung
 GoBD Grundsätze zur ordnungsmäßigen Führung und Aufbewahrung von Büchern, Aufzeichnungen und Unterlagen in elektronischer Form sowie zum Datenzugriff
 GOBR (auch GO BR) Geschäftsordnung des Bundesrates (Deutschland)
 GOBReg (auch GO BReg) Geschäftsordnung der Bundesregierung
 GoBS Grundsätze ordnungsmäßiger DV-gestützter Buchführungssysteme
 GOBT (auch GO BT) Geschäftsordnung des Deutschen Bundestages
 GOBVerfG (auch GO BVerfG) Geschäftsordnung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts
 GOJIL Goettingen Journal of International Law (Zeitschrift)
 GoldfrUmrG Gesetz zu den Protokollen vom 19. November 1976 und vom 5. Juli 1978 über die Ersetzung des Goldfrankens durch das Sonderziehungsrecht des Internationalen Währungsfonds sowie zur Regelung der Umrechnung des Goldfrankens in haftungsrechtlichen Bestimmungen
 GoldSchmAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Goldschmied/zur Goldschmiedin
 GoldSilberschmiedMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Gold- und Silberschmiede-Handwerk
 GoltdA Goltdammers Archiv für Strafrecht
 GOP Gebührenordnung für Psychologische Psychotherapeuten und Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapeuten
 GOT Gebührenordnung für Tierärzte und Tierärztinnen
 GO-VermA Geschäftsordnung Vermittlungsausschuss
 GOZ Gebührenordnung für Zahnärzte
 GPA Government Procurement Agreement oder Gemeindeprüfungsamt
 gpaNRW Gemeindeprüfungsamt NRW
 GPatG Gesetz über das Gemeinschaftspatent und zur Änderung patentrechtlicher Vorschriften
 GPEV Verordnung zur Erhebung von Garantieprämien für die ergänzende staatliche Absicherung von Reisegutscheinen wegen der COVID-19-Pandemie
 GPR Gesamtpersonalrat
 GPSG Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz
 GPSGV 1 Erste Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen elektrischer Betriebsmittel zur Verwendung innerhalb bestimmter Spannungsgrenzen)
 GPSGV 2 Zweite Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Verordnung über die Sicherheit von Spielzeug)
 GPSGV 3 Dritte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz
 GPSGV 6 Sechste Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen von einfachen Druckbehältern)
 GPSGV 7 Siebte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Gasverbrauchseinrichtungsverordnung)
 GPSGV 8 Achte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen von persönlichen Schutzausrüstungen)
 GPSGV 9 Neunte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Maschinenverordnung)
 GPSGV 10 Zehnte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen von Sportbooten)
 GPSGV 11 Elfte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Explosionsschutzverordnung)
 GPSGV 12 Zwölfte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Aufzugsverordnung)
 GPSGV 13 Dreizehnte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Aerosolverpackungsverordnung)
 GPSGV 14 Vierzehnte Verordnung zum Geräte- und Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Druckgeräteverordnung)
 GPV Verordnung über die Zulassung privater Gegenprobensachverständiger und über Regelungen für amtliche Gegenproben
 GR Güterrechtsregister oder Gemeinderat oder Grundrecht
 GRA Gemeinsame Rechtliche Anweisungen (z.B. der Dt. Rentenversicherung Bund)
 GräbG Gesetz über die Erhaltung der Gräber der Opfer von Krieg und Gewaltherrschaft (Gräbergesetz)
 GräbGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Gesetzes über die Erhaltung der Gräber der Opfer von Krieg und Gewaltherrschaft
 GrÄndStVtr Staatsvertrag zwischen Bundesländern über die Änderung der gemeinsamen Landesgrenze
 GrAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Graveur und zur Graveurin
 GravMStrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Graveur-Handwerk
 GrBrückAbk Abkommen zwischen zwei Staaten über Grenzbrücke(n)
 GRC Grundrechtecharta der EU (siehe Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union)
 grds. grundsätzlich
 GrdstVG Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung der Agrarstruktur und zur Sicherung land- und forstwirtschaftlicher Betriebe (Grundstückverkehrsgesetz)
 GrenzAV Verordnung über die Ausdehnung des grenznahen Raumes und die der Grenzaufsicht unterworfenen Gebiete (nicht amtlich)
 GrenzVerkVtr Grenzverkehrsvertrag zwischen zwei Staaten
 GrEStG Grunderwerbsteuergesetz (Deutschland) oder Grunderwerbsteuergesetz 1987 (Österreich)
 GRG Gesetz zur Strukturreform im Gesundheitswesen
 GrHdlKfmAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Kaufmann im Groß- und Außenhandel/zur Kauffrau im Groß- und Außenhandel
 GrImpfStRüV Verordnung über die Rückerstattung nicht genutzter saisonaler Grippeimpfstoffe (Grippeimpfstoffrückerstattungsverordnung)
 GRMG Geschäftsraummietengesetz
 GRN Geschäftsreglement des Nationalrates (Schweiz)
 GrO Grundordnung des kirchlichen Dienstes im Rahmen kirchlicher Arbeitsverhältnisse der katholischen Kirche (siehe Arbeitsrecht der Kirchen) oder Grundordnung der EKD
 GroMiKV Verordnung über die Erfassung, Bemessung, Gewichtung und Anzeige von Krediten im Bereich der Großkredit- und Millionenkreditvorschriften des Kreditwesengesetzes (Großkredit- und Millionenkreditverordnung)
 GrPfREuroV Verordnung über Grundpfandrechte in ausländischer Währung und in Euro
 GrS Großer Senat
 GRS Geschäftsreglement des Ständerates (Schweiz)
 GrSiDAV Verordnung über den automatisierten Datenabgleich bei Leistungen der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende (Grundsicherungs-Datenabgleichsverordnung) (siehe auch Leistungsmissbrauch)
 GrStG Grundsteuergesetz
 GrStDV Grundsteuerdurchführungsverordnung
 GrStRefG Grundsteuer-Reformgesetz
 GrStRefUG Grundsteuerreform-Umsetzungsgesetz
 GrundVtr Vertrag vom 21. Dezember 1972 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik über die Grundlagen der Beziehungen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik (Grundlagenvertrag (auch Grundvertrag genannt))
 GrundVtrG Gesetz zum (Grundlagenvertrag)
 GRUR Gewerblicher Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht (Zeitschrift)
 GRUR-RR Gewerblicher-Rechtsschutz-und-Urheberrecht-Rechtsprechungsreport
 GRV Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung (Deutschland)
 GRW Gemeinschaftsaufgabe Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur
 GRWG Gesetz über die Gemeinschaftsaufgabe Verbesserung der regionalen Wirtschaftsstruktur
 GrwV Verordnung zum Schutz des Grundwassers (Grundwasserverordnung)
 GRZ Grundflächenzahl (siehe Maß der baulichen Nutzung#Grundflächenzahl (GRZ))
 GrZS Großer Zivilsenat des Bundesgerichtshofes
 GS Großer Senat oder Gedächtnisschrift oder Gesetzessammlung oder Geprüfte Sicherheit
 GSA Agentur für das Europäische GNSS (engl.: European GNSS Agency)
 GSA Fleisch Gesetz zur Sicherung von Arbeitnehmerrechten in der Fleischwirtschaft
 GSBG Gesundheits- und Sozialbereichsbeihilfengesetz (Österreich)
 GSchG Gewässerschutzgesetz (Schweiz)
 GSchV Gewässerschutzverordnung (Schweiz)
 GSG Gesundheitsstrukturgesetz oder Grenzschutzgruppe
 GSi Grundsicherung
 GSiG Grundsicherungsgesetz
 GSOD Großer Sicherheits- und Ordnungsdienst (Österreich)
 GSpG Glücksspielgesetz
 GStA Generalstaatsanwalt
 GStG Gesetz zur Gleichstellung der Frauen im öffentlichen Dienst (Schleswig-Holstein)
 GStrukG Gesetz zur Sicherung und Strukturverbesserung der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Gesundheitsstrukturgesetz)
 GStW Gebührenstreitwert
 GSSt Großer Senat für Strafsachen (des Bundesgerichtshofes)
 GSVG Gewerbliches Sozialversicherungsgesetz (Österreich)
 GSVP Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik der EU
 GSZ Großer Senat für Zivilsachen (des Bundesgerichtshofes) oder Zeitschrift für das Gesamte Sicherheitsrecht
 GT Gerichtstag
 gtai Germany Trade and Invest – Gesellschaft für Außenwirtschaft und Standortmarketing mbH
 GTelG Gesundheitstelematikgesetz (Österreich)
 GTG Gentechnikgesetz (Österreich)
 GTÜ Gesellschaft für Technische Überwachung
 GÜG Gesetz zur Überwachung des Verkehrs mit Grundstoffen, die für die unerlaubte Herstellung von Betäubungsmitteln missbraucht werden können (Grundstoffüberwachungsgesetz)
 GÜGKostV Grundstoff-Kostenverordnung
 GüKBillBG Gesetz zur illegalen Beschäftigung im gewerblichen Güterkraftverkehr
 GüKG Güterkraftverkehrsgesetz
 GüKGrKabotageV Verordnung über den grenzüberschreitenden Verkehr und den Kabotageverkehr
 GüKUMB Beförderungsbedingungen für den Umzugsverkehr und für die Beförderung von Handelsmöbeln
 GüKVO Verordnung über den Güterkraftverkehr
 GütbefG Güterbeförderungsgesetz 1995 (Österreich)
 GÜL Gemeinsame Überwachungsstelle der Länder (siehe Elektronische Fußfessel)
 GütVerkFwFortbV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfter Fachwirt für Güterverkehr und Logistik und Geprüfte Fachwirtin für Güterverkehr und Logistik (siehe Verkehrsfachwirt)
 GU Generalunternehmer oder Gerichtsurkunde
 gUG gemeinnützige Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt)
 GUG Grundbuchumstellungsgesetz (Österreich) oder Grundstücksmarkt und Grundstückswert (Zeitschrift)
 GuKG Bundesgesetz über Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegeberufe (Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegegesetz) (Österreich)
 GUMG Bundesgesetz über genetische Untersuchungen beim Menschen (Schweiz)
 GUMV Verordnung über genetische Untersuchungen beim Menschen (Schweiz)
 GuP Gesundheit und Pflege. Rechtszeitschrift für das gesamte Gesundheitswesen
 GUS Gemeinschaft Unabhängiger Staaten
 GuT Gewerbemiete und Teileigentum (Zeitschrift)
 GuV Gewinn- und Verlustrechnung
 GUV Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung (Deutschland) oder Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung (Österreich)
 g. V. gesetzlicher Vertreter
 GV Gerichtsvollzieher oder Geschlechtsverkehr oder Generalversammlung
 GVBl. (GVOBl.) Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt
 GVFG Gesetz über Finanzhilfen des Bundes zur Verbesserung der Verkehrsverhältnisse der Gemeinden (Gemeindeverkehrsfinanzierungsgesetz)
 GVG Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz
 GVGA Gerichtsvollzieher-Geschäftsanweisung
 GVKostG Gerichtsvollzieherkostengesetz
 GvKostRNeuOG Gesetz zur Neuordnung des Gerichtsvollzieherkostenrechts
 GV.NRW. (GVNW.) Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
 GVO Gruppenfreistellungsverordnung oder Grundstücksverkehrsordnung oder Gentechnisch veränderter Organismus oder Gerichtsvollzieherordnung
 GVSP Gemeinsame Sicherheits- und Verteidigungspolitik der EU (engl.: Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), französisch Politique commune de sécurité et de défense (PCSD))
 gVV Gemeinschaftliches Versandverfahren (siehe Gemeinschaftliches und gemeinsames Versandverfahren)
 GVWG Gesundheitsversorgungsweiterentwicklungsgesetz
 GWB Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen oder Grundqualifikations- und Weiterbildungsverordnung – Berufskraftfahrer (Österreich)
 GWDS Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt
 GwG Geldwäschegesetz (Gesetz über das Aufspüren von Gewinnen aus schweren Straftaten)
 GWG Geringwertiges Wirtschaftsgut
 GwGEG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Vierten EU-Geldwäscherichtlinie, zur Ausführung der EU-Geldtransferverordnung und zur Neuorganisation der Zentralstelle für Finanztransaktionsuntersuchungen
 GWK Schweizer Grenzwache (Grenzwachtkorps) (franz. Corps suisse des gardes-frontière, ital. Guardie di confine svizzere) oder Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz
 g. w. o. geschehen wie oben (= actum ut supra), bestätigt durch den Beurkundenden bei einer Niederschrift (veraltet)
 GWR Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 GWRL Richtlinie 2006/118/EG des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 12. Dezember 2006 zum Schutz des Grundwassers vor Verschmutzungen und Verschlechterungen
 GYIL German Yearbook of International Law
 Gz. Geschäftszeichen
 GZ Grünlandzahl oder Geschäftszeichen oder Geschäftszahl (siehe Aktenzeichen (Österreich))
 GZD Generalzolldirektion
 GZK GATT-Zollwertkodex
 GZR Gewerbezentralregister
 GZT Gemeinsamer Zolltarif
 GZV Gerichtliche Zuständigkeitsverordnung
 GZVJu Gerichtliche Zuständigkeitsverordnung Justiz (Verordnung über gerichtliche Zuständigkeiten im Bereich des Bayerischen Staatsministeriums der Justiz)

H 
 H. Heft
 h. A. herrschende Auffassung
 HaagÜbkAG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Haager Übereinkommens vom 15. November 1965 über die Zustellung gerichtlicher und außergerichtlicher Schriftstücke im Ausland in Zivil- oder Handelssachen und des Haager Übereinkommens vom 18. März 1970 über die Beweisaufnahme im Ausland in Zivil- oder Handelssachen
 HABM Harmonisierungsamt für den Binnenmarkt (Marken, Muster und Modelle) (englisch OHIM)
 HACCP Gefahrenanalyse und kritische Kontrollpunkte (englisch )
 HärteV Verordnung über Zusatzleistungen in Härtefällen nach dem Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz
 HafenlogAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zur Fachkraft für Hafenlogistik
 HafenSchAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Hafenschiffer/zur Hafenschifferin
 HAfG Gesetz über den Holzabsatzfonds (Holzabsatzfondsgesetz)
 HaftEntschBefStoffeSeeÜbk Internationales Übereinkommen über die Haftung und Entschädigung für Schäden bei der Beförderung schädlicher und gefährlicher Stoffe auf See
 HaftPflG Haftpflichtgesetz
 HAG Heimarbeitsgesetz
 HAGDV Heimarbeitsgesetz-Durchführungsverordnung (Rechtsverordnung zur Durchführung des Heimarbeitsgesetzes)
 HalblSchG Halbleiterschutzgesetz
 HalblSchV Verordnung zur Ausführung des Halbleiterschutzgesetzes
 Halbs. Halbsatz
 HaldeRlAnO Anordnung über Halden und Restlöcher
 Hamb. (hamb.) Hamburg, hamburgisch
 HambGE Hamburger Grundeigentum (Zeitschrift)
 HambTG Hamburgisches Transparenzgesetz
 HandelsfachwPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Handelsfachwirt/Geprüfte Handelsfachwirtin
 HandwO Handwerksordnung
 HandzMstrV Verordnung über das Berufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen im praktischen und im fachtheoretischen Teil der Meisterprüfung für das Handzuginstrumentenmacher-Handwerk
 HanfEinfV Verordnung über die Einfuhr von Hanf aus Drittländern
 Hansa Hansa – International Maritime Journal (Zeitschrift, siehe Hansa)
 HApoQualVO Verordnung der Österreichischen Tierärztekammer über den Erwerb der Zusatzqualifikation zur Führung einer Hausapotheke (Hausapothekenqualifikationsordnungsverordnung)
 HaRÄG Handelsrechtsänderungsgesetz (Österreich)
 HArchDVDV Verordnung über den Vorbereitungsdienst für den höheren Archivdienst des Bundes
 HärteV Verordnung über Zusatzleistungen in Härtefällen nach dem Bundesausbildungsförderungsgesetz
 HAuslG Gesetz über die Rechtsstellung heimatloser Ausländer im Bundesgebiet
 HausratsV Hausratsverordnung (weitgehend aufgehoben; jetzt §§ 1568 a, b BGB)
 HausratsVO Hausratsverordnung
 HAV Verordnung zur Abstimmung über die Aufnahme in die hüttenknappschaftliche Zusatzversicherung
 HaWiAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Hauswirtschafter und zur Hauswirtschafterin
 HB Hansestadt Bremen oder Handelsbilanz
 HBA Elektronischer Heilberufsausweis
 HBankDVDV Verordnung über den Vorbereitungsdienst für den höheren Bankdienst der Deutschen Bundesbank
 HBauStatG Gesetz über die Statistik der Bautätigkeit im Hochbau und die Fortschreibung des Wohnungsbestandes
 HBeG Hausbetreuungsgesetz (Österreich)
 HBegleitG Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur Entlastung der öffentlichen Haushalte und zur Stabilisierung der Finanzentwicklung in der Rentenversicherung sowie über die Verlängerung der Investitionshilfeabgabe (Haushaltsbegleitgesetz 1984)
 HBeglG Gesetz über Maßnahmen zur Entlastung der öffentlichen Haushalte sowie über strukturelle Anpassungen in dem in Artikel 3 des Einigungsvertrages genannten Gebiet (Haushaltsbegleitgesetz 1991)
 HBFG Hochschulbauförderungsgesetz
 HBG Hypothekenbankgesetz (aufgehoben; abgelöst durch Pfandbriefgesetz)
 HBKG Heilberufe-Kammergesetz (z. B. Baden-Württembergisches HBKG)
 HBPolVDAufstV Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für den verkürzten Aufstieg in den höheren Polizeivollzugsdienst in der Bundespolizei
 HBÜ Haager Übereinkommen über die Beweisaufnahme im Ausland in Zivil- und Handelssachen oder Londoner Übereinkommen von 1976 über die Beschränkung der Haftung für Seeforderungen
 HCCH Haager Konferenz für Internationales Privatrecht
 HCVO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1924/2006 (Health Claims)
 HDARL Hochschuldiplomanerkennungsrichtlinie der EU
 Hdb. Handbuch
 HdBALBV Verordnung über die Leistungsbezüge und Zulagen an der Hochschule der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
 HDG Heeresdisziplinargesetz (Österreich)
 HdGStiftG Gesetz zur Errichtung einer Stiftung „Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland“ (Artikel 1 d. Gesetzes zur Errichtung einer Stiftung „Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland“)
 HDiszErstV Verordnung zur Durchführung der Erstattung von Mitteln aus der Haushaltsdisziplin des Europäischen Garantiefonds für die Landwirtschaft (EGFL) an die Empfänger von Direktzahlungen
 HdlFachwPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfter Handelsfachwirt und Geprüfte Handelsfachwirtin
 HdlKlG Handelsklassengesetz (siehe Güteklasse)
 HdlKlSchafFlV Verordnung über gesetzliche Handelsklassen für Schaffleisch
 HdlStatG Gesetz über die Statistik im Handel und Gastgewerbe (Handels- und Dienstleistungsstatistikgesetz)
 HebG Gesetz über das Studium und den Beruf von Hebammen (Hebammengesetz) (siehe Hebammengesetz (Deutschland))
 HebRefG Hebammenreformgesetz
 HebStPrV Studien- und Prüfungsverordnung für Hebammen
 HEheSchlA Haager Abkommen zur Regelung des Geltungsbereichs der Gesetze auf dem Gebiete der Eheschließung
 HeilBerG Heilberufegesetz (z.B. HeilBerG NRW)
 HeilprG (HeilpraktG) Gesetz über die berufsmäßige Ausübung der Heilkunde ohne Bestallung (Heilpraktikergesetz)
 HeilprGDV Heilpraktikergesetz-Durchführungsverordnung
 HeilVfV Verordnung über die Durchführung von Heilverfahren nach § 33 des Beamtenversorgungsgesetzes (Heilverfahrensverordnung)
 HeimAG Heimarbeitergesetz 1961 (Österreich)
 HeimG Heimgesetz
 HeimGÄndG Änderungsgesetz zum Heimgesetz
 HeimMindBauV Verordnung über bauliche Mindestanforderungen für Altenheime, Altenwohnheime und Pflegeheime für Volljährige (Heimmindestbauverordnung)
 HeimMitwirkungsV (HeimmwV) Heimmitwirkungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Mitwirkung der Heimbewohner in Angelegenheiten des Heimbetriebs)
 HeimPersV Heimpersonalverordnung (Verordnung über personelle Anforderungen für Heime)
 HeimsicherungsV Heimsicherungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Pflichten der Träger von Altenheimen, Altenwohnheimen und Pflegeheimen für Volljährige im Fall der Entgegennahme von Leistungen zum Zweck der Unterbringung eines Bewohners oder Bewerbers)
 HeizAnlV Heizungsanlagen-Verordnung (aufgehoben; jetzt aufgegangen in der Energieeinsparverordnung)
 HeizkostenV Verordnung über die verbrauchsabhängige Abrechnung der Heiz- und Warmwasserkosten (Heizkostenverordnung)
 HeizkZuschG Gesetz zur Gewährung eines Heizkostenzuschusses aufgrund stark gestiegener Energiekosten (Heizkostenzuschussgesetz)
 HeizölLBV Verordnung über Lieferbeschränkungen für leichtes Heizöl in einer Versorgungskrise (Heizöl-Lieferbeschränkungs-Verordnung)
 HELCOM Helsinki-Kommission (engl.: Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission)
 HEMBV Verordnung über die Organisation der nach dem Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz einzurichtenden externen Meldestelle des Bundes (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz-Externe-Meldestelle-des-Bundes-Verordnung)
 hEN Europäische harmonisierte Normen (siehe Harmonisierte Norm)
 HerrentunnelMautHV Verordnung über die Höhe der Maut für die Benutzung des Herrentunnels
 Hess. (hess.) Hessen, hessisch
 HessStGH Hessischer Staatsgerichtshof (siehe Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen)
 HESt Höchstrichterliche Entscheidungen. Sammlung von Entscheidungen der Oberlandesgerichte und der Oberen Gerichte in Strafsachen.
 HeuerVtrÜbkG Gesetz betreffend das Internationale Übereinkommen über den Heuervertrag der Schiffsleute
 HFEG Hessisches Freiheitsentziehungsgesetz
 HFlV Hackfleisch-Verordnung (aufgehoben; aufgegangen in der Tierische Lebensmittel-Hygieneverordnung (Tier-LMHV))
 HFR Höchstrichterliche Finanzrechtsprechung oder Humboldt Forum Recht (Zeitschrift)
 HG Hochschulgesetz oder Handelsgericht (Österreich; siehe Gerichtsorganisation in Österreich)
 Hg. (Hrsg.) Herausgeber
 HGB Handelsgesetzbuch
 HGIG Hessisches Gleichberechtigungsgesetz (siehe Gesetze und amtliche Regelungen zur geschlechtergerechten Sprache)
 HGO Hessische Gemeindeordnung
 HGBP Hessisches Gesetz über Betreuungs- und Pflegeleistungen
 HGrG Haushaltsgrundsätzegesetz
 HGrGMoG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Haushaltsgrundsätzegesetzes (Haushaltsgrundsätzemodernisierungsgesetz)
 HGÜ (HGÜ 2005) Haager Übereinkommen über Gerichtsstandsvereinbarungen
 HH Hamburg
 HHG Häftlingshilfegesetz (Gesetz über Hilfsmaßnahmen für Personen, die aus politischen Gründen außerhalb der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in Gewahrsam genommen wurden)
 HIA Honorarinformationen zur Architekturleistung (Österreich)
 HiKassGAufhG Gesetz betreffend die Aufhebung des Hilfskassengesetzes
 HiKG Hilfskassengesetz
 HilfsM-RL Richtlinie über die Verordnung von Hilfsmitteln in der vertragsärztlichen Versorgung (Hilfsmittel-Richtlinie)
 HinSchG Gesetz für einen besseren Schutz hinweisgebender Personen sowie zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie zum Schutz von Personen, die Verstöße gegen das Unionsrecht melden (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz) oder Gesetz für einen besseren Schutz hinweisgebender Personen (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz)
 HinterlO (HintO) Hinterlegungsordnung (aufgehoben zum 1. Dezember 2010; jetzt Länderangelegenheit)
 HintG Hinterlegungsgesetz (z. B. von Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 HIVHG Gesetz über die humanitäre Hilfe für durch Blutprodukte HIV-infizierte Personen
 HJAV Hauptjugend- und Auszubildendenvertretung (siehe Jugend- und Auszubildendenvertretung)
 HK Heidelberger Kommentar(e) oder Handkommentar oder Hotelkosten (siehe Pflegesatz) oder Havariekommando
 HKaG Gesetz über die Berufsausübung, die Berufsvertretungen und die Berufsgerichtsbarkeit der Ärzte, Zahnärzte, Tierärzte, Apotheker sowie der Psychologischen Psychotherapeuten und der Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapeuten (Heilberufe-Kammergesetz) (Bayern)
 HkG Heimkehrergesetz
 HkNDV Durchführungsverordnung über Herkunftsnachweise für Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien (Herkunftsnachweis-Durchführungsverordnung)
 HkNGebV Gebührenverordnung zur Herkunftsnachweisverordnung (Herkunftsnachweis-Gebührenverordnung)
 HkNV Verordnung über Herkunftsnachweise für Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien (Herkunftsnachweisverordnung)
 HKP Heil- und Kostenplan oder Häusliche Krankenpflege
 HKrimDAPrV Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung für den höheren Kriminaldienst des Bundes
 HkRNDV Durchführungsverordnung über Herkunfts- und Regionalnachweise für Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien (Herkunfts- und Regionalnachweis-Durchführungsverordnung)
 HKStAufhG Heimkehrerstiftungsaufhebungsgesetz
 HKStG Heimkehrerstiftungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Heimkehrerstiftung; Artikel 4 des Gesetzes zur Bereinigung von Kriegsfolgengesetzen)
 HKÜ Haager Übereinkommen über die zivilrechtlichen Aspekte internationaler Kindesentführung (siehe auch Internationale Kindesentführung)
 HKV Bund/Küstenländer-Vereinbarung über die Errichtung des Havariekommandos
 HKWAbfV Verordnung über die Entsorgung gebrauchter halogenierter Lösemittel
 h. L. herrschende Lehre
 HLKA Hessisches Landeskriminalamt
 HLP Hauptleistungspflicht ( I BGB)
 HLPG Hessisches Landesplanungsgesetz
 HlSchG Halbleiterschutzgesetz (Österreich) (siehe Halbleiterschutzrecht)
 HlSchV Halbleiterschutzverordnung (Österreich)
 HLU Hilfe zum Lebensunterhalt
 h. M. herrschende Meinung
 HMA Haager Abkommen über die internationale Hinterlegung gewerblicher Muster und Modelle (kurz: Haager Musterabkommen – HMA)
 Hmb. Hamburg
 HmbBG Hamburgisches Beamtengesetz
 HmbGleiG Hamburgisches Gleichstellungsgesetz
 HmbMedHygVO Hamburgische Verordnung über die Hygiene und Infektionsprävention in medizinischen Einrichtungen
 HmbPsychKG Hamburgische Gesetz über Hilfen und Schutzmaßnahmen bei psychischen Krankheiten
 HmbSchRZ Hamburger Zeitschrift für Schifffahrtsrecht
 HmbVgG Hamburgisches Vergabegesetz
 HMG Heilmittelgesetz (Schweiz)
 HNS hazardous noxious substances
 HNS-Ü HNS-Übereinkommen (Internationales Übereinkommen vom 3. Mai 1996 über die Haftung und Entschädigung bei der Beförderung gefährlicher und schädlicher Stoffe auf See)
 HOAI Honorarordnung für Architekten und Ingenieure
 HöfeO Höfeordnung
 HöfeVfO Verfahrensordnung für Höfesachen
 HofV Verordnung über die grundbuchmäßige Behandlung von Anteilen an ungetrennten Hofräumen
 HoheSeeEinbrG Gesetz über das Verbot der Einbringung von Abfällen und anderen Stoffen und Gegenständen in die Hohe See (Artikel 1 des Gesetzes zur Ausführung des Protokolls vom 7. November 1996 zum Übereinkommen über die Verhütung der Meeresverschmutzung durch das Einbringen von Abfällen und anderen Stoffen von 1972)
 HohSeeEinbrV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes zu den Übereinkommen vom 15. Februar 1972 und 29. Dezember 1972 zur Verhütung der Meeresverschmutzung durch das Einbringen von Abfällen durch Schiffe und Luftfahrzeuge
 HoheSeeÜbk Übereinkommen über die Hohe See (= Genfer Seerechtskonventionen)
 HoheSeeÜbkG Gesetz zum Übereinkommen vom 29. April 1958 über die Hohe See
 HolzblMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Holzblasinstrumentenmacher-Handwerk  (Holzblasinstrumentenmachermeisterverordnung)
 HolzhandelsVO Verordnung (EU) Nr. 995/2010 (Holzhandelsverordnung)
 HolzSiG Gesetz gegen den Handel mit illegal eingeschlagenem Holz (Holzhandels-Sicherungs-Gesetz)
 HomTAMRegV Verordnung über die Registrierung homöopathischer Tierarzneimittel (Homöopathische Tierarzneimittel-Registrierungsverordnung)
 HonigV Honigverordnung
 HopfG (auch HopfenG) Hopfengesetz
 HopfV Verordnung zur Durchführung des gemeinschaftlichen Hopfenrechts
 HörgAkMstrV Verordnung über das Berufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen im praktischen und im fachtheoretischen Teil der Meisterprüfung für das Hörgeräteakustiker-Handwerk (Hörgeräteakustikermeisterverordnung)
 HotelAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildungen zum Hotelfachmann und zur Hotelfachfrau sowie zum Kaufmann für Hotelmanagement und zur Kauffrau für Hotelmanagement (Hotelberufeausbildungsverordnung)
 HPflG Haftpflichtgesetz
 HPflEGRLDV Verordnung über die Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung ausländischer Kraftfahrzeuge und Kraftfahrzeuganhänger
 HPG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Hospiz- und Palliativversorgung in Deutschland (Hospiz- und Palliativgesetz)
 HPR Hauptpersonalrat
 HR Handelsregister (Deutschland) oder Handelsrecht oder Haager Regeln (ein völkerrechtlicher Vertrag aus dem Seefrachtrecht) oder Hamburg-Regeln (ein völkerrechtlicher Vertrag aus dem Seefrachtrecht) (vgl. Haager Regeln) oder Human Resources
 HRA Handelsregister Abteilung A oder kantonales Handelsregisteramt (Schweiz)
 HRB Handelsregister Abteilung B
 HRC UN-Menschenrechtsausschuss (engl.: Human Rights Committee – HRC)
 HRefG Handelsrechtsreformgesetz
 HReg Handelsregister (Schweiz)
 HRegGebV Handelsregistergebührenverordnung (Verordnung über Gebühren in Handels-, Partnerschafts- und Genossenschaftsregistersachen)
 HRegV Handelsregisterverordnung (Schweiz) oder Handelsregisterverordnung (Deutschland)
 HRFEG Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung des Haushaltsrechts von Bund und Ländern
 HRG Hochschulrahmengesetz
 HR Nord Norddeutsche Hochschule für Rechtspflege
 HRR Höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung oder Höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung (Zeitschrift)
 HRRS Online-Zeitschrift Höchstrichterliche Rechtsprechung Strafrecht & Rechtsprechungsdatenbank (Zeitschrift)
 HRV Handelsregisterverordnung oder Handelsregisterverfügung
 Hs. Halbsatz
 HS Halbsatz oder Harmonisiertes System
 HSchBauFG Hochschulbauförderungsgesetz
 HSchulBG Hochschulbauförderungsgesetz
 HSDARL Hochschuldiplomanerkennungsrichtlinie der EU
 HSOG Hessisches Gesetz über die öffentliche Sicherheit und Ordnung
 HSPV Hochschule für Polizei und öffentliche Verwaltung Nordrhein-Westfalen
 HStatG Gesetz über die Statistik für das Hochschulwesen sowie für die Berufsakademien (Hochschulstatistikgesetz)
 HStruktG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Haushaltsstruktur
 HU Hauptuntersuchung
 HufBeschlG Hufbeschlaggesetz (Gesetz über den Beschlag von Hufen und Klauen)
 HufBeschlV Hufbeschlagverordnung (Verordnung über den Beschlag von Hufen und Klauen)
 HumHAG Flüchtlingsmaßnahmengesetz (Gesetz über Maßnahmen für im Rahmen humanitärer Hilfsaktionen aufgenommene Flüchtlinge)
 HumHiG Flüchtlingsmaßnahmengesetz (Gesetz über Maßnahmen für im Rahmen humanitärer Hilfsaktionen aufgenommene Flüchtlinge)
 HundVerbrEinfG Gesetz zur Beschränkung des Verbringens oder der Einfuhr gefährlicher Hunde in das Inland (Hundeverbringungs- und -einfuhrbeschränkungsgesetz)
 HundVerbrEinfVO Verordnung über Ausnahmen zum Verbringungs- und Einfuhrverbot von gefährlichen Hunden in das Inland (Hundeverbringungs- und Einfuhrverordnung)
 HUntVÜ (HUntVÜ 1973) Haager Übereinkommen über die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung von Unterhaltsentscheidungen
 HV Hoher Vertreter der Europäischen Union für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik oder Verfassung des Landes Hessen oder Handlungsvollmacht oder Haushaltsvorstand oder Hauptversammlung einer Aktiengesellschaft oder Hauptverwaltung oder Hauptvertretung oder Hausverwaltung oder Haltverbot oder Hörerversammlung an einer Universität
 HVA Hauptverwaltung Aufklärung des MfS der DDR oder Handbuch für die Vergabe und Ausführung (siehe Vergabehandbuch)
 HVBG Hauptverband der gewerblichen Berufsgenossenschaften
 HVgG Hessisches Gesetz über die Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge (Hessisches Vergabegesetz)
 HVPI Harmonisierter Verbraucherpreisindex
 HVR Haag-Visby-Regeln (ein völkerrechtlicher Vertrag aus dem Seefrachtrecht) (vgl. Haager Regeln)
 HW Heranwachsender
 HWaG Hamburgisches Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetz)
 HWG Gesetz über die Werbung auf dem Gebiete des Heilwesens (Heilmittelwerbegesetz) oder Hamburgisches Wegegesetz oder Hamburgisches Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetz) oder Hessisches Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetze) oder Haustürwiderrufsgesetz (bis zum 31. Dezember 2011; dann Vorschriften in das BGB überführt)
 HWiG Haustürwiderrufsgesetz (im Jahr 2002 aufgehoben und in das BGB überführt)
 HwK Handwerkskammer
 HwO Handwerksordnung
 HygMedV Verordnung über die Hygiene und Infektionsprävention in medizinischen Einrichtungen
 HypDck Hypothekenpfandbriefe – Deckung
 HZA Hauptzollamt
 HzE Hilfen zur Erziehung (nach KJHG, bzw. SGB VIII)
 HzL Hilfe zum Lebensunterhalt
 HZPA Haager Zivilprozessabkommen (1905)
 HZPÜ Haager Übereinkommen über den Zivilprozess (1954)
 HZÜ (HZÜ 1965) Haager Zustellungsübereinkommen (Haager Übereinkommen über die Zustellung gerichtlicher und außergerichtlicher Schriftstücke im Ausland in Zivil- oder Handelssachen)

I 
 i. A. im Auftrag
 IAEO Internationale Atomenergie-Organisation (engl.: IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency)
 IAG Institut für Arbeit und Gesundheit der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung
 IAO Internationale Arbeitsorganisation (International Labour Organization)
 IAS International Accounting Standards (Internationaler Rechnungslegungsstandard)
 IASB International Accounting Standards Board
 IASC International Accounting Standards Committee
 IASCF International Accounting Standards Committee Foundation
 IATA International Air Transport Association
 IATE Inter-Active Terminology for Europe (= Terminologiedatenbank für die Institutionen der Europäischen Union)
 IBMG Internationales Büro für Maß und Gewicht (franz.: Bureau International des Poids et Mesures – BIPM)
 IBR Immobilien- und Baurecht (Zeitschrift)
 IBRD Internationale Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung (engl.: International Bank for Reconstruction and Development – IBRD)
 IBS Informations- und Beratungsstelle Studium und Behinderung des DSW (Deutsches Studentenwerk) oder Internationaler Bootsschein
 ICAO International Civil Aviation Organisation (= Internationale Zivilluftfahrtorganisation)
 ICC Institute Cargo Clauses oder Internationaler Strafgerichtshof (franz.: Cour pénale internationale – CPI; engl. International Criminal Court – ICC) oder Internationale Handelskammer (engl.: International Chamber of Commerce – ICC, franz.: Chambre de commerce internationale)
 ICCPR Internationaler Pakt über bürgerliche und politische Rechte (engl.: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – ICCPR), kurz UN-Zivilpakt (in der Schweiz auch UNO-Pakt II genannt)
 ICD International Classification of Diseases
 ICERD Internationales Übereinkommen zur Beseitigung jeder Form von Rassendiskriminierung (kurz: UN-Rassendiskriminierungskonvention; internationale Abkürzung: ICERD)
 ICESCR Internationaler Pakt über wirtschaftliche, soziale und kulturelle Rechte – kurz: IPwskR (engl.: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights), kurz UN-Sozialpakt (in der Schweiz auch UNO-Pakt I genannt)
 ICF Internationale Klassifikation der Funktionsfähigkeit, Behinderung und Gesundheit (engl.: International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – ICF)
 ICG Inter-Cargo-Güterzusystem
 ICH International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use
 ICIDH International Classification of Impairments, Disabites and Handicaps
 ICPM Internationale Klassifikation der Behandlungsmethoden in der Medizin (International Classification of Procedures in Medicine)
 ICRMW Internationale Konvention zum Schutz der Rechte aller Wanderarbeitnehmer und ihrer Familienangehörigen (kurz: UN-Wanderarbeiterkonvention; englisch: International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families)
 ICRP Internationale Strahlenschutzkommission (International Commission on Radiological Protection)
 ICSID Internationales Zentrum zur Beilegung von Investitionsstreitigkeiten (englisch International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes – ICSID)
 ICTR Internationaler Strafgerichtshof für Ruanda (engl.: International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda – ICTR; franz.: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; kinyarwanda: Urukiko Nshinjabyaha Mpuzamahanga rwagenewe u Rwanda)
 ICTY Internationaler Strafgerichtshof für das ehemalige Jugoslawien (franz.: Tribunal pénal international pour l'ex-Yougoslavie – TPIY; engl.: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia – ICTY; umgangssprachlich häufig auch UN-Kriegsverbrechertribunal oder Haager Tribunal genannt)
 ICWC Internationales Forschungs- und Dokumentationszentrum Kriegsverbrecherprozesse
 i. d. F. in der Fassung
  i. d. g. F. in der geltenden Fassung
 IDÜV Indexdatenübermittlungsverordnung
 IDUR Informationsdienst Umweltrecht (Zeitschrift)
 i. E. im Einzelnen oder im Ergebnis
 IEA Internationale Energieagentur (engl.: International Energy Agency)
 IED Richtlinie 2010/75/EU über Industrieemissionen (Industrieemissionsrichtlinie; engl.: Industrial Emissions Directive - IED)
 IE-RL (auch IERL) Richtlinie 2010/75/EU über Industrieemissionen (Industrieemissionsrichtlinie; engl.: Industrial Emissions Directive - IED)
 i. e. S. im engeren Sinne
 IFA Institut für Arbeitsschutz der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung
 IFAC International Federation of Accountants
 IFD Integrationsfachdienst (nach SGB IX)
 IFG Informationsfreiheitsgesetz
 IFGGebV Informationsgebührenverordnung (Verordnung über die Gebühren und Auslagen nach dem Informationsfreiheitsgesetz)
 IFR Instrumentenflugregeln (siehe Instrumentenflug#Instrumentenflugregeln)
 IFRIC International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee
 IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards (Internationaler Rechnungslegungsstandard)
 IfSG (auch InfSchG) Infektionsschutzgesetz
 IFV Internationaler Fernmeldevertrag ()
 i.G. in Gründung
 IG Industrie-Gewerkschaft
 i.g.E. Innergemeinschaftlicher Erwerb (Deutschland)
 IGE Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum (franz. Institut Fédéral de la Propriété Intellectuelle, ital. Istituto Federale della Proprietà Intellettuale, rät. Institut Federal da Proprietad Intellectuala)
 IGeL Individuelle Gesundheitsleistungen
 IGG Inklusionsgrundsätzegesetz (NRW)
 IGH Internationaler Gerichtshof
 IG-L Immissionsschutzgesetz-Luft (Österreich)
 i. H. a. in Hinsicht auf
 IHK Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammer
 IHKG Gesetz zur vorläufigen Regelung des Rechts der Industrie- und Handelskammern (IHK-Gesetz) oder Gesetz über die Industrie- und Handelskammern im Lande Nordrhein-Westfalen
 IHR Internationales Handelsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 i. H. v. in Höhe von
 IK Investitionskosten (siehe Pflegesatz)
 IKRK Internationales Komitee vom Roten Kreuz (siehe Internationale Rotkreuz- und Rothalbmond-Bewegung)
 IKTZ Zentrum für Informations- und Kommunikationstechnik der Bundespolizei
 i. L. in Liquidation
 ILC International Law Commission (Internationale Rechtskommission) oder Völkerrechtskommission
 ILMR Internationale Liga für Menschenrechte (Berlin)
 ILO International Labour Organization (Internationale Arbeitsorganisation)
 IMB International Maritime Bureau der Internationalen Handelskammer
 IMA Interministerielle Arbeitsgruppe
 IMF International Monetary Fund (= Internationaler Währungsfonds (IWF); auch bekannt als Weltwährungsfonds)
 IMI Binnenmarkt-Informationssystem (engl.: Internal Market Information System – IMI)
 IMIS Integriertes Mess- und Informationssystem zur Überwachung der Radioaktivität
 IMK Ständige Konferenz der Innenminister und -senatoren der Länder, kurz Innenministerkonferenz oder  Internationale Moselkommission
 ImmoKWPLV Immobiliar-Kreditwürdigkeitsleitlinien-Verordnung
 ImmoStR Zeitschrift zum Immobiliensteuerrecht
 ImmoWertV Immobilienwertermittlungsverordnung (siehe Wertermittlungsverordnung)
 ImmVermV Immobiliardarlehensvermittlungsverordnung
 IMO Internationale Seeschifffahrts-Organisation (International Maritime Organization)
 InbeQ Maßnahme zur individuellen betrieblichen Qualifizierung
 InEK Institut für das Entgeltsystem im Krankenhaus
 INES Internationale Bewertungsskala für nukleare Ereignisse
 INF Die Information über Steuer und Wirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 info also Informationen zum Arbeitslosenrecht und Sozialhilferecht (Zeitschrift)
 InflAusG Gesetz zum Ausgleich der Inflation durch einen fairen Einkommensteuertarif sowie zur Anpassung weiterer steuerlicher Regelungen (Inflationsausgleichsgesetz)
 InfAuslR Informationsbrief Ausländerrecht
 InfrAG Infrastrukturabgabengesetz
 InfraStrPlanVBeschlG Gesetz zur Beschleunigung von Planungsverfahren für Infrastrukturvorhaben (Infrastrukturplanungsbeschleunigungsgesetz)
 InfrGG Gesetz zur Errichtung einer Infrastrukturgesellschaft für Autobahnen und andere Bundesfernstraßen (Infrastrukturgesellschaftserrichtungsgesetz)
 InfrGGBV Verordnung über die Beleihung der Gesellschaft privaten Rechts im Sinne des Infrastrukturgesellschaftserrichtungsgesetzes (InfrGG-Beleihungsverordnung)
 InfSchG (auch IfSG) Infektionsschutzgesetz
 InsbürO Zeitschrift für das Insolvenzbüro, inzwischen: Zeitschrift für Insolvenzsachbearbeitung und Entschuldungsverfahren
 InsO Insolvenzordnung (Deutschland)
 InsoGeldFestV 2023 Verordnung zur Festsetzung des Umlagesatzes für das Insolvenzgeld für das Kalenderjahr 2023 (Insolvenzgeldumlagesatzverordnung 2023)
 InstitutsVergV Verordnung über die aufsichtsrechtlichen Anforderungen an Vergütungssysteme von Instituten (Institutsvergütungsverordnung)
 InsVfVO Insolvenzverfahrenverordnung (Verordnung über Insolvenzverfahren)
 InsVV Insolvenzrechtliche Vergütungsverordnung (siehe Kosten des Insolvenzverfahrens)
 IntBestG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung internationaler Bestechung (Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 17. Dezember 1997 über die Bekämpfung der Bestechung ausländischer Amtsträger im internationalen Geschäftsverkehr)
 InTeR Zeitschrift zum Innovations- und Technikrecht
 IntFamRVG Internationales Familienrechtsverfahrensgesetz (Gesetz zur Durch- und Ausführung bestimmter Rechtsinstrumente auf dem Gebiet des internationalen Familienrechts)
 IntGesR Internationales Gesellschaftsrecht
 IntKfzV Verordnung über internationalen Kraftfahrzeugverkehr (Deutschland) (seit Juli 2008 aufgehoben)
 IntV Integrationskurs-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Durchführung von Integrationskursen für Ausländer und Spätaussiedler) (siehe Integrationskurs)
 IntPatÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 27. November 1963 zur Vereinheitlichung gewisser Begriffe des materiellen Rechts der Erfindungspatente, dem Vertrag vom 19. Juni 1970 über die internationale Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet des Patentwesens und dem Übereinkommen vom 5. Oktober 1973 über die Erteilung europäischer Patente (Gesetz über internationale Patentübereinkommen)
 INVEKOS Integriertes Verwaltungs- und Kontrollsystem
 InVeKoS-Verordnung Verordnung über die Durchführung von Stützungsregelungen und des Integrierten Verwaltungs- und Kontrollsystems
 InvErlG Investitionserleichterungsgesetz
 InvG Investmentgesetz (aufgehoben zum 22. Juli 2013; jetzt geregelt im Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch)
 InVo Insolvenz & Vollstreckung (Zeitschrift)
 InvStG Investmentsteuergesetz
 InvStRefG Gesetz zur Reform der Investmentbesteuerung (Investmentsteuerreformgesetz)
 InvZulG Investitionszulagengesetz (siehe Investitionszulage)
 IO Insolvenzordnung (Österreich)
 IOSCO Internationale Organisation der Wertpapieraufsichtsbehörden ()
 IOSS Import-One-Stop-Shop
 IPA Institut für Prävention und Arbeitsmedizin der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung
 IPbpR Internationaler Pakt über bürgerliche und politische Rechte (ICCPR-International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights), kurz UN-Zivilpakt (in der Schweiz auch UNO-Pakt II genannt)
 IPG Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft
 IPJ Intellectual Property Journal (siehe Zeitschrift für Geistiges Eigentum)
 IPR Internationales Privatrecht
 IPRax Praxis des Internationalen Privat- und Verfahrensrechts (Zeitschrift)
 IPREG Gesetz zur Stärkung von intensivpflegerischer Versorgung und medizinischer Rehabilitation in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Intensivpflege- und Rehabilitationsstärkungsgesetz)
 IPwskR Internationaler Pakt über wirtschaftliche, soziale und kulturelle Rechte (engl.: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – ICESCR), kurz UN-Sozialpakt (in der Schweiz auch UNO-Pakt I)
 IQ Intelligenzquotient
 IQTIG Institut für Qualitätssicherung und Transparenz im Gesundheitswesen
 IQWiG Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen
 IR international registriert oder InfrastrukturRecht (Zeitschrift)
 IRegG Gesetz zum Implantateregister Deutschland (Implantateregistergesetz)
 IRG Internationales Rechtshilfegesetz
 IRL Richtlinie 2003/6/EG über Insider-Geschäfte und Marktmanipulation
 IRP Investitionsrahmenplan für die Verkehrsinfrastruktur des Bundes
 IRZ Zeitschrift für Internationale Rechnungslegung oder Deutsche Stiftung für Internationale Rechtliche Zusammenarbeit e.V. (siehe IRZ-Stiftung)
  i. S. im Sinne
 ISA International Standards on Auditing
 ISB Informatikstrategieorgan Bund (Schweiz)
 iSd im Sinne des
  i. S. d. im Sinne des/der Verweis auf Norm
 ISO Internationale Organisation für Normung (englisch: International Organization for Standardization)
 IStGH Internationaler Strafgerichtshof (franz. Cour pénale internationale – CPI; engl. International Criminal Court – ICC)
 IStR Internationales Steuerrecht (Zeitschrift)
  i. S. v. im Sinne von Gesetz
 IT Informationstechnologie
 IT-AmtBw Bundesamt für Informationsmanagement und Informationstechnik der Bundeswehr
 IT-AV Verordnung über Aufenthaltserlaubnisse für Fachkräfte (Verordnung über Aufenthaltserlaubnisse für hoch qualifizierte ausländische Fachkräfte der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie) (siehe Greencard (Deutschland))
 IT-ArGV Verordnung über Arbeitsgenehmigung Fachkräfte (IT-Arbeitsgenehmigungsverordnung; Verordnung über die Arbeitsgenehmigung für hoch qualifizierte ausländische Fachkräfte der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie)
 ITF Investitions- und Tilgungsfonds oder International Transport Forum (dt.: Weltverkehrsforum)
 ITFG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens „Investitions- und Tilgungsfonds“
 ITTA Internationales Tropenholz-Übereinkommen ()
 ITRB Der IT-Rechts-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 ITU Internationale Fernmeldeunion (; )
 ITZBund Informationstechnikzentrum Bund
 IUA International Underwriting Association of London
 iÜ im Übrigen
 IUG Gesetz über Investmentunternehmen (Liechtenstein)
 IuKDG Informations- und Kommunikationsdienste-Gesetz
 IUV Industrieunfallverordnung (Österreich) (siehe Störfallverordnung)
 i. V. in Vollmacht oder in Vertretung
 IV Invalidenversicherung (Schweiz)
 IVBV Informationsverbund der Bundesverwaltung
 IVD In-vitro-Diagnostikum
 IVDR Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (siehe In-vitro-Diagnostikum)
 IVG Bundesgesetz über die Invalidenversicherung (Schweiz) (siehe Invalidenversicherung (Schweiz))
 IVI Institut für Virologie und Immunologie (Schweiz) (früher Institut für Viruskrankheiten und Immunprophylaxe) (französisch: Institut de virologie et d’immunologie, italienisch: Istituto di virologia e di immunologia)
  i. V. m. in Verbindung mit Verweis auf Norm
 IVU-Richtlinie Richtlinie 96/61/EG über die integrierte Vermeidung und Verminderung der Umweltverschmutzung
 IWC Internationales Übereinkommen zur Regelung des Walfangs (engl.: International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling - IWC)
 IWF Internationaler Währungsfonds (engl.: International Monetary Fund, IMF; auch bekannt als Weltwährungsfonds)
 IWG Informationsweiterverwendungsgesetz
 i. w. S. im weiteren Sinne
 IZPR Internationales Zivilprozessrecht
 IZVR Internationales Zivilverfahrensrecht

J 
 JA Juristische Arbeitsblätter (Zeitschrift) oder Jugendamt oder Justizanstalt (Österreich) oder Justizangestellter oder Jahresabschluss
 JAA Jugendarrestanstalt oder Joint Aviation Authorities
 JABl. Juristische Arbeitsblätter (Zeitschrift)
 JAbschlWUV Verordnung über die Gliederung des Jahresabschlusses von Wohnungsunternehmen
 JAEG Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze (= Versicherungspflichtgrenze)
 JAG Juristenausbildungsgesetz (des jeweiligen Bundeslandes)
 JagdzeitV Verordnung über die Jagdzeiten
 JAktAV Verordnung über die Aufbewahrung und Speicherung von Justizakten (Justizaktenaufbewahrungsverordnung)
 JAmt Zeitschrift „Das Jugendamt“
 JAO Juristenausbildungsordnung
 JAP Juristische Ausbildung und Praxisvorbereitung (österreichische Fachzeitschrift)
 JAR Joint Aviation Requirements (siehe Joint Aviation Authorities)
 JArbSchG Jugendarbeitsschutzgesetz
 JArbSchUV Jugendarbeitsschutzuntersuchungsverordnung
 JAV Jugend- und Auszubildendenvertretung nach §§ 60 ff. BetrVG (Deutschland)
 JAVollzO Jugendarrestvollzugsordnung
 JBA Justizbetreuungsagentur (Österreich)
 JBA-G Justizbetreuungsagentur-Gesetz (Österreich)
 JBeitrG Justizbeitreibungsgesetz
 JBeitrO Justizbeitreibungsordnung
 JBl. Justizblatt
 JBlRP Justizblatt Rheinland-Pfalz
 JC Jobcenter
 JCER Journal of Contemporary European Research
 JCMS Journal of Common Market Studies
 JEIH Journal of European Integration History
 JEPP Journal of European Public Policy
 JETL Journal of European Tort Law (Zeitschrift)
 JFDG Jugendfreiwilligendienstegesetz (Gesetz zur Förderung von Jugendfreiwilligendiensten)
 JFG Jahrbuch für Entscheidungen in Angelegenheiten der Freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit und des Grundbuchrechts
 JGG Jugendgerichtsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Jugendgerichtsgesetz 1988 (Österreich)
 JGH Jugendgerichtshilfe
 JGS Justizgesetzsammlung (österreichischer Begriff)
 JGT Jugendgerichtstag
 JHA Rat für Justiz und Inneres der EU ()
 JI Joint Implementation (Gemeinsame Projektumsetzung; Art. 6 Kyoto-Protokoll; § 2 Nr. 7 ProMechG)
 JIBL Journal of International Biotechnology Law (Zeitschrift)
 JI-Rat Rat für Justiz und Inneres der EU ()
 JIT Just-in-time-Vertrag
 JKI Julius Kühn-Institut – Bundesforschungsinstitut für Kulturpflanzen
 JKomG Justizkommunikationsgesetz (Gesetz über die Verwendung elektronischer Kommunikationsformen in der Justiz)
 JMBl. Justizministerialblatt
 JMBl. NRW Justizministerialblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
 JMS Jugend Medien Schutz-Report. Fachzeitschrift für Jugendmedienschutz
 JMStV Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag
 JN Jurisdiktionsnorm (Österreich)
 JöR Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts der Gegenwart
 JÖSchG Gesetz zum Schutze der Jugend in der Öffentlichkeit, (jetzt: Jugendschutzgesetz)
 JoJZG Journal der Juristischen Zeitgeschichte (Zeitschrift)
 JOR Jahrbuch für Ostrecht
 JPS Jahrbuch für die Praxis der Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit
 JR Juristische Rundschau (Zeitschrift)
 JSG Jugendschutzgesetze in Österreich
 JStG Jahressteuergesetz
 JStVollzG Jugendstrafvollzugsgesetz
 Jugdl Jugendlicher
 JugG Jugendgericht
 JugK Jugendkammer
 JugR Jugendrecht oder Jugendrichter
 JugSchG Jugendschöffengericht
 JuHi Jugendhilfe
 JuHiS Jugendhilfe im oder in Strafverfahren
 JuMiG Justizmitteilungsgesetz (Justizmitteilungsgesetz und Gesetz zur Änderung kostenrechtlicher und anderer Gesetze)
 JuMoG Justizmodernisierungsgesetz
 jur. juristisch
 JurA Juristische Analysen (Zeitschrift von 1969 bis 1971)
 Jura Juristische Ausbildung (Zeitschrift)
 JurBüro Das juristische Büro (Zeitschrift)
 JuRi Jugendrichter
 JurPC JurPC. Internet-Zeitschrift für Rechtsinformatik
 JuS Juristische Schulung (Zeitschrift)
 JuSchG Jugendschutzgesetz (Deutschland)
 JustG NRW Justizgesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen (Gesetz über die Justiz im Land Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 Justiz Die Justiz. Amtsblatt des Justizministeriums von Baden-Württemberg.
 JuStr Jugendstrafe
 JV Justizverwaltung
 JVA Justizvollzugsanstalt oder Justizverwaltungsakt
 JVBl. Justizverwaltungsblatt
 JVEG Justizvergütungs- und -entschädigungsgesetz
 JVerwA Justizverwaltungsakt
 JVerwB Justizverwaltungsbehörde
 JVKostG Justizverwaltungskostengesetz (Gesetz über Kosten im Bereich der Justizverwaltung)
 JVKostO Justizverwaltungskostenordnung (Gesetz über Kosten im Bereich der Justizverwaltung)
 JVollzDSG NRW Gesetz zum Schutz personenbezogener Daten im Justizvollzug in Nordrhein-Westfalen (Justizvollzugsdatenschutzgesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 JVollzGB BW Gesetzbuch über den Justizvollzug in Baden-Württemberg
 JW Juristische Wochenschrift (Zeitschrift)
 JWG Jugendwohlfahrtsgesetz oder Jugendwohlfahrtsgesetz (Österreich)
 JZ Juristenzeitung
 JZZ Justizielle Zusammenarbeit in Zivilsachen (, )

K 
 KA Kriminalakte oder Kontrollaufforderung oder Konkursamt (Schweiz) oder Konzessionsabgabe
 KAE Anordnung über die Zulässigkeit von Konzessionsabgaben der Unternehmen und Betriebe zur Versorgung mit Elektrizität, Gas und Wasser an Gemeinden und Gemeindeverbände
 KäseV Käseverordnung
 KaffeeStG Kaffeesteuergesetz
 KaffeeStV Kaffeesteuerverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung des Kaffeesteuergesetzes)
 KaffeeV Kaffeeverordnung (Verordnung über Kaffee, Kaffee- und Zichorien-Extrakte)
 KAG Kommunalabgabengesetz oder Kapitalanlagegesellschaft oder Bundesgesetz  über die kollektiven Kapitalanlagen (Kollektivanlagengesetz) (Schweiz)
 KAGB Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch
 KAGBAuslAnzV Verordnung über die Anzeigen und die Vorlage von Unterlagen nach § 36 des Kapitalanlagegesetzbuchs (KAGB-Auslagerungsanzeigenverordnung)
 KAGG Gesetz über Kapitalanlagegesellschaften
 KakaoV Kakaoverordnung (Verordnung über Kakao- und Schokoladenerzeugnisse)
 KAKuG Bundesgesetz über Krankenanstalten und Kuranstalte (Österreich)
 KalV Verordnung über die versicherungsmathematischen Methoden zur Prämienkalkulation und zur Berechnung der Alterungsrückstellung in der privaten Krankenversicherung (Kalkulationsverordnung)
 KAMaRisk Mindestanforderungen an das Risikomanagement von Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaften
 Kap. Kapitel
 KapAusstV Kapitalausstattungs-Verordnung
 KapErtSt (auch KESt, KapESt, KapSt) Kapitalertragsteuer
 KapErhG Kapitalerhöhungsgesetz
 KapErhStG Kapitalerhöhungssteuergesetz
 KapInHaG Kapitalmarktinformations-Haftungsgesetz
 KapMuG Kapitalanleger-Musterverfahrensgesetz (Gesetz über Musterverfahren in kapitalmarktrechtlichen Streitigkeiten)
 KAPOVAZ Kapazitätsorientierte variable Arbeitszeit (siehe KAPOVAZ)
 KapResV Verordnung zur Regelung des Verfahrens der Beschaffung, des Einsatzes und der Abrechnung einer Kapazitätsreserve (Kapazitätsreserveverordnung)
 KapVO NRW Verordnung zur Ermittlung der Aufnahmekapazität an Hochschulen in Nordrhein-Westfalen für Studiengänge außerhalb des zentralen Vergabeverfahrens (Kapazitätsverordnung NRW)
 KartG 2005 Bundesgesetz gegen Kartelle und andere Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (Kartellgesetz 2005) (Österreich)
 KartKrebs/KartZystV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung des Kartoffelkrebses und der Kartoffelzystennematoden
 KartringfV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung der Bakteriellen Ringfäule und der Schleimkrankheit
 KAS Kommission für Anlagensicherheit
 KassenSichV Verordnung zur Bestimmung der technischen Anforderungen an elektronische Aufzeichnungs- und Sicherungssysteme im Geschäftsverkehr (Kassensicherungsverordnung)
 KastrG Gesetz über die freiwillige Kastration und andere Behandlungsmethoden
 kath. katholisch
 KatSG Katastrophenschutzgesetz (mehrerer Bundesländer, u. a. Schleswig-Holstein)
 KAV Konzessionsabgabenverordnung oder Kompetenzzentrum Amtliche Veröffentlichungen (Schweiz) oder Kölner Anwaltverein oder Kommunale Ausländervertretung
 KAVerOV Kapitalanlage-Verhaltens- und Organisationsverordnung
 KBA Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt
 KBFG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens „Kinderbetreuungsausbau“ (Kinderbetreuungsfinanzierungsgesetz)
 KBG Kinderbetreuungsgeld (Österreich)
 KBG.EKD Kirchengesetz über die Kirchenbeamtinnen und Kirchenbeamten in der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland
(Kirchenbeamtengesetz der EKD)
 KBGG Kinderbetreuungsgeldgesetz (Österreich)
 KBS Knappschaft Bahn-See (siehe Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See)
 KBV Kleinbetragsverordnung oder Kassenärztliche Bundesvereinigung
 KDG Gesetz über den Kirchlichen Datenschutz
 K. d. ö. R. Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (Deutschland)
 KDO Anordnung über den kirchlichen Datenschutz der katholischen Kirche
 KdU Kosten der Unterkunft
 KDV Kriegsdienstverweigerung oder Kraftfahrgesetz-Durchführungsverordnung (Österreich)
 KDVG Kriegsdienstverweigerungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Verweigerung des Kriegsdienstes mit der Waffe aus Gewissensgründen)
 KE Kabinettsentwurf oder Kontrollexemplar
 keA kleine einzige Anlaufstelle
 KEFU Kontrolleinheit Flughafen Überwachung
 KEG Kernenergiegesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Atomgesetz (Schweiz)) oder Kommandit-Erwerbsgesellschaft (Österreich) (bis zu 31. Dezember 2006; aufgehoben durch das HaRäG. Siehe Erwerbsgesellschaft (Österreich))
 KEnG Kantonale(s) Energiegesetz(e) (Schweiz)
 KennV Kennzeichnungsverordnung zur Kennzeichnung von Behältern und Bereichen in denen Arbeitsstoffe gelagert werden (Österreich)
 KEP Kontrolleinheit Prävention (siehe Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit der Bundeszollverwaltung) oder Kurier-Express-Paket-Dienst
 kER Kurzfristige Erfolgsrechnung
 KER Kosten- und Erlösrechnung (siehe Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung – KLR)
 KES (KE See) Kontrolleinheit See
 KESB Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzbehörde (Schweiz) (siehe Kindes- und Erwachsenenschutzrecht)
 KESt Kapitalertragsteuer oder Kapitalertragsteuer (Österreich)
 KEV Kontrolleinheit Verkehrswege des Zolls
 KFA Kostenfestsetzungsantrag oder Kommunaler Finanzausgleich (siehe Finanzausgleich (Deutschland))
 KFB Kostenfestsetzungsbeschluss
 KFBauMechAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbaumechaniker und zur Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbaumechanikerin (Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbaumechanikerausbildungsverordnung)
 KfBG Kriegsfolgenbereinigungsgesetz (siehe Volksdeutsche#Kriegsfolgenbereinigungsgesetz)
 KFG Kraftfahrgesetz 1967 (Österreich)
 KfH Kammer für Handelssachen
 KfiH Kammer für internationale Handelssachen
 KfiHG Gesetz zur Einführung von Kammern für internationale Handelssachen
 KFRG Krebsfrüherkennungs- und -registergesetz (siehe Krebsregister)
 Kfv Kostenfestsetzungsverfahren
 KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (siehe KfW Bankengruppe)
 KfWV Verordnung zur Anwendung von bankaufsichtsrechtlichen Vorschriften auf die Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau sowie zur Zuweisung der Aufsicht über die Einhaltung dieser Vorschriften an die Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (KfW-Verordnung)
 KfWVÄndV Verordnung zur Änderung der KfW-Verordnung
 Kfz Kraftfahrzeug
 KfzHV Verordnung über Kraftfahrzeughilfe zur beruflichen Rehabilitation (Kraftfahrzeughilfe-Verordnung)
 KfzPflVV Kraftfahrzeug-Pflichtversicherungsverordnung (Verordnung über den Versicherungsschutz in der Kraftfahrzeug-Haftpflichtversicherung)
 KfzStG Bundesgesetz über die Erhebung einer Kraftfahrzeugsteuer (Kraftfahrzeugsteuergesetz 1992) (Österreich)
 KG Kommanditgesellschaft (Deutschland/ Österreich/ Schweiz) oder Kammergericht (Berlin) oder Konsulargesetz (Deutschland) oder Konsulargesetz (Österreich) oder Kartellgesetz (Schweiz) oder Kirchengericht
 KGaA Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien
 KgfEG Kriegsgefangenenentschädigungsgesetz
 KGH Kirchengerichtshof (z. B. Kirchengerichtshof der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland – KGH EKD)
 KGR Kammergericht-Report (Zeitschrift)
 KGSG Gesetz zum Schutz von Kulturgut (kurz: Kulturgutschutzgesetz)
 KHBV Krankenhaus-Buchführungsverordnung
 KHEntgG Krankenhausentgeltgesetz (Gesetz über die Entgelte für voll- und teilstationäre Krankenhausleistungen)
 KHfEVerbG Katzen- und Hundefell-Einfuhr-Verbotsgesetz (aufgehoben; abgelöst durch Tiererzeugnisse-Handels-Verbotsgesetz (TierErzHaVerbG))
 KHG Gesetz zur wirtschaftlichen Sicherung der Krankenhäuser und zur Regelung der Krankenhauspflegesätze (Krankenhausfinanzierungsgesetz)
 KHK Kriminalhauptkommissar
 KHPflEG Gesetz zur Pflegepersonalbemessung im Krankenhaus sowie zur Anpassung weiterer Regelungen im Krankenhauswesen und in der Digitalisierung (Krankenhauspflegeentlastungsgesetz)
 KHSFV Verordnung zur Verwaltung des Strukturfonds im Krankenhausbereich (Krankenhausstrukturfonds-Verordnung)
 KHSG Krankenhausstrukturgesetz
 KhuR Krankenhaus und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 KHV Kommunikationshilfenverordnung
 KHZG Gesetz für ein Zukunftsprogramm Krankenhäuser (Krankenhauszukunftsgesetz)
 Ki Kind(er)
 KiAustrG Gesetz zur Regelung des Austritts aus Kirchen, Religionsgemeinschaften und Weltanschauungsgemeinschaften des öffentlichen Rechts (Kirchenaustrittsgesetz) (NRW)
 KiBeG Kinderbetreuungsgesetz
 KiBiz Kinderbildungsgesetz (in NRW)
 KICK Kinder- und Jugendhilfeweiterentwicklungsgesetz
 KID Kontoinformationsdienst
 KIDL Kontoinformationsdienstleister
 KiESt Kircheneinkommensteuer
 KiFöG Kinderförderungsgesetz
 KiG Kindergeld oder Kirchengesetz
 KiGG Kirchengerichtsgesetz (z. B. KiGG EKD)
 KIJA Kinder- und Jugendanwaltschaft (Österreich)
 KindArbSchV Kinderarbeitsschutzverordnung (Verordnung über den Kinderarbeitsschutz)
 KindEntfÜbk Haager Kindesentführungsübereinkommen (Übereinkommen über die zivilrechtlichen Aspekte internationaler Kindesentführung)
 KindPrax Kindschaftsrechtliche Praxis (ehemalige Zeitschrift)
 KindRG Kindschaftsrechtsreformgesetz
 KindUG Kindesunterhaltsgesetz (Gesetz zur Vereinheitlichung des Unterhaltsrechts minderjähriger Kinder)
 KInvFG Gesetz zur Förderung von Investitionen finanzschwacher Kommunen (Kommunalinvestitionsförderungsgesetz)
 KiQuTG  Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung der Qualität und zur Verbesserung der Teilhabe in Tageseinrichtungen und in der Kindertagespflege (KiTa-Qualitäts- und -Teilhabeverbesserungsgesetz)
 KirchE Entscheidungen in Kirchensachen seit 1946
 KirchStG Kirchensteuergesetz (diverser Bundesländer)
 KirchStWRG Gesetz zur Regelung des Kirchensteuerwesens
 KiSt Kirchensteuer
 KIStAM Kirchensteuerabzugsmerkmal
 KiTa Kindertagesstätte
 KitaFinHG Gesetz über Finanzhilfen des Bundes zum Ausbau der Tagesbetreuung für Kinder
 KiTaQG Zweites Gesetz zur Weiterentwicklung der Qualität und zur Teilhabe in der Kindertagesbetreuung (KiTa-Qualitätsgesetz)
 KiwunschG Kinderwunschförderungsgesetz
 KiZ Kinderzuschlag
 KJ Kritische Justiz (Zeitschrift)
 Kj. Kalenderjahr
 KJB Karlsruher Juristische Bibliographie
 KJBG Kinder- und Jugendlichen-Beschäftigungsgesetz (Österreich)
 KJHG Gesetz zur Neuordnung des Kinder- und Jugendhilferechts (Kinder- und Jugendhilfegesetz), siehe Achtes Buch Sozialgesetzbuch
 KJM Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz
 KJP Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapeut
 KJSG Kinder- und Jugendstärkungsgesetz
 KK Karlsruher Kommentar oder Kasseler Kommentar oder Kriminal-Kommissar oder Krankenkasse
 KKG Konsumkreditgesetz (Schweiz) oder Gesetz zur Kooperation und Information im Kinderschutz
 Kl. Kläger
 KlimaRZ Zeitschrift für materielles und prozessuales Klimarecht
 KlV Klägervertreter(in)
 KLR Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung
 KM Kölner Mietrecht (Zeitschrift)
 KMB Klein- und Mittelbetriebe (Österreich) (siehe Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen)
 KMK Kultusministerkonferenz
 KMK-HSchR Informationen zum Hochschulrecht (Zeitschrift)
 KMMG Theodor Kleinknecht / Karlheinz Meyer / Lutz Meyer-Goßner, Strafprozessordnung, Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz, Nebengesetze und ergänzende Bestimmungen, Kurzkommentar, Verlag C. H. Beck München, regelmäßig aufgelegt
 KMU Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen
 KmV Kontaminanten-Verordnung (Verordnung zur Begrenzung von Kontaminanten in Lebensmitteln)
 KN Kombinierte Nomenklatur
 KN-V Verordnung über den Vergleich von Kosten und Nutzen der Kraft-Wärme-Kopplung und der Rückführung industrieller Abwärme beider Wärme- und Kälteversorgung (KWK-Kosten-Nutzen-Vergleich-Verordnung)
 KO Konkursordnung (jetzt: Insolvenzordnung (Deutschland) / Insolvenzordnung (Österreich))
 KochAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Koch und zur Köchin (Kochausbildungsverordnung)
 KODA Kommissionen zur Ordnung des Arbeitsvertragsrechts im kirchlichen Bereich der katholischen Kirche (siehe Kommissionen zur Ordnung des diözesanen Arbeitsvertragsrechts)
 K. ö. R. Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (Deutschland) oder Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts (Österreich)
 KöMoG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Körperschaftsteuerrechts
 KOG Kommunales Optionsgesetz
 KohleAG Gesetz zur Reduzierung und zur Beendigung der Kohleverstromung und zur Änderung weiterer Gesetze (Kohleausstiegsgesetz) (siehe Ausstieg aus der Kohleverstromung in Deutschland)
 Kom. Kommission oder Bezeichnung für Mitteilungen der Europäischen Union
 Komm. Kommentar
 KommHVO NRW Verordnung über das Haushaltswesen der Kommunen im Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (Kommunalhaushaltsverordnung Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 KommJur Kommunaljurist (Zeitschrift)
 KomtrZV Kommunalträger-Zulassungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Zulassung von kommunalen Trägern als Träger der Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende)
 KonBefrV Konzernabschlussbefreiungsverordnung (Verordnung über befreiende Konzernabschlüsse und Konzernlageberichte von Mutterunternehmen mit Sitz in einem Drittstaat)
 KonfV Konfitürenverordnung (Verordnung über Konfitüren und einige ähnliche Erzeugnisse)
 KonsG Gesetz über die Konsularbeamten, ihre Aufgaben und Befugnisse (Konsulargesetz (Deutschland)) oder Konsulargesetz (Österreich)
 KonsHilfG Gesetz zur Gewährung von Konsolidierungshilfen (Konsolidierungshilfengesetz) (siehe Schuldenbremse (Deutschland))
 KonTraG Gesetz zur Kontrolle und Transparenz im Unternehmensbereich
 KonzVgV Verordnung über die Vergabe von Konzessionen (Konzessionsvergabeverordnung)
 KonzVO Konzentrationsverordnung
 KorruptionsbG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Korruptionsbekämpfung (Korruptionsbekämpfungsgesetz) (NRW)
 KostÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung und Ergänzung kostenrechtlicher Vorschriften
 KostO Kostenordnung
 KostRsp. Kostenrechtsprechung (Zeitschrift)
 KostV Kostenverordnung
 KostVfg Kostenverfügung
 KoRe Kostenrechnung (siehe u. a. Kosten- und Leistungsrechnung)
 KOV Die Kriegsopferversorgung (Zeitschrift) oder Verordnung des Bundesgerichts vom 13. Juli 1911 über die Geschäftsführung der Konkursämter (Schweiz)
 KOVAnpV Verordnung zur Anpassung des Bemessungsbetrages und von Geldleistungen nach dem Bundesversorgungsgesetz (KOV-Anpassungsverordnung)
 KOVVfG (KriegsopfVwVfG) Kriegsopfer-Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz
 KPBV Verordnung über das Verfahren zur Zusammenarbeit der Bundesoberbehörden und der registrierten Ethik-Kommissionen bei der Bewertung von Anträgen auf Genehmigung von klinischen Prüfungen mit Humanarzneimitteln (Klinische Prüfung-Bewertungsverfahren-Verordnung)
 KPfleG Krankenhauspflegeentlastungsgesetz
 KPH Krankenpflegehelfer (siehe Gesundheits- und Krankenpflegehelfer)
 KPI Kriminalpolizeiinspektion
 KpS Kriminalpolizeiliche Sammlung(en)
 KraftNAV Verordnung zur Regelung des Netzanschlusses von Anlagen zur Erzeugung von elektrischer Energie (Kraftwerks-Netzanschlussverordnung)
 KraftStDV Kraftfahrzeugsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 KraftStG Kraftfahrzeugsteuergesetz
 KrB Kriminalbeamter (Österreich) (siehe Kriminalbeamtenkorps)
 KrG Kreisgericht (DDR)
 KRG Kontrollratsgesetz oder Karenzgeldgesetz (Österreich)
 KrimZ Kriminologische Zentralstelle e.V.
 KRINKO Kommission für Krankenhaushygiene und Infektionsprävention
 Kripo Kriminalpolizei
 krit. kritisch
 KritV Kritische Vierteljahresschrift für Gesetzgebung und Rechtswissenschaft (Zeitschrift)
 KRK Übereinkommen über die Rechte des Kindes, kurz UN-Kinderrechtskonvention ()
 KrO Landkreisordnung
 KroatienAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung des nationalen Steuerrechts an den Beitritt Kroatiens zur EU und zur Änderung weiterer steuerlicher Vorschriften
 KrPflG Krankenpflegegesetz (Deutschland)
 KrV Die Krankenversicherung (Zeitschrift)
 KrW-/AbfG Kreislaufwirtschafts- und Abfallgesetz (aufgehoben; nun Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz)
 KrWaffKontrG (KrWaffG) Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz
 KrWG Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz
 KryptoFAV Verordnung über Kryptofondsanteile
 KryptoWTransferV Verordnung über verstärkte Sorgfaltspflichten bei dem Transfer von Kryptowerten (Kryptowertetransferverordnung)
 KSAStabG Künstlersozialabgabenstabilisierungsgesetz
 KSchG Kündigungsschutzgesetz oder Konsumentenschutzgesetz (Österreich)
 KSG Bundes-Klimaschutzgesetz oder Klimaschutzgesetz (Österreich) oder Katastrophenschutzgesetz
 KSI Krisen-, Sanierungs- und Insolvenzberatung (Zeitschrift)
 KSK Künstlersozialkasse
 KSpG Gesetz zur Demonstration der dauerhaften Speicherung von Kohlendioxid (Kohlendioxid-Speicherungsgesetz) (siehe CO2-Abscheidung und -Speicherung)
 KSpVO Verordnung der Landesregierung zur Bestimmung der Gebiete mit verlängerter Kündigungssperrfrist bei Wohnungsumwandlungen in Eigentumswohnungen (Kündigungssperrfristverordnung Baden-Württemberg - KSpVO BW) oder Verordnung zur Bestimmung der Gebiete mit verlängerter Kündigungssperrfrist bei der Begründung und Veräußerung von Wohnungseigentum an vermieteten Wohnungen (Kündigungssperrfristverordnung Nordrhein-Westfalen – KSpVO NRW) (aufgehoben; ersetzt durch Mieterschutzverordnung NRW - MietSchVO NRW)
 KStA Korruptionsstaatsanwaltschaft (Österreich, bis zum 1. September 2011 bestehend; amtlich: Zentrale Staatsanwaltschaft zur Bekämpfung von Korruption)
 KStDV 1977 Körperschaftsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 KStG Körperschaftsteuergesetz (Deutschland) oder Körperschaftssteuergesetz 1988 (Österreich)
 KStZ Kommunale Steuerzeitschrift
 KSÜ Haager Übereinkommen über den Schutz von Kindern (Haager Kinderschutzübereinkommen) (= Übereinkommen über die Zuständigkeit, das anzuwendende Recht, die Anerkennung, Vollstreckung und Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet der elterlichen Verantwortung und die Maßnahmen zum Schutz von Kindern) (siehe u. a. Familienrecht (Deutschland))
 KSVG Künstlersozialversicherungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Sozialversicherung der selbständigen Künstler und Publizisten) oder Saarländisches Kommunalselbstverwaltungsgesetz (siehe Gemeindeordnungen in Deutschland)
 KSzW Kölner Schrift zum Wirtschaftsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 KT Kommunaler Träger
 KTFG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens „Klima- und Transformationsfonds“ (Klima- und Transformationsfondsgesetz)
 KTI Kriminaltechnisches Institut
 KTS Zeitschrift für Insolvenzrecht
 KündSchFristVO Verordnung zur Verlängerung der Kündigungsschutzfrist für Wohnraum (Kündigungsschutzfristverordnung Hamburg)
 KünSchKlVO  Verordnung im Sinne des § 577a Absatz 2 BGB über den verlängerten Kündigungsschutz bei Umwandlung einer Mietwohnung in eine Eigentumswohnung (Kündigungsschutzklausel-Verordnung Berlin)
 KÜO Kehr- und Überprüfungsordnung
 KüSchV Verordnung über die Küstenschifffahrt
 KUG (KunstUrhG) Gesetz betreffend das Urheberrecht an Werken der bildenden Künste und der Photographie (Kunsturhebergesetz)
 KugZuV Verordnung zur Verlängerung der Zugangserleichterungen für den Bezug von Kurzarbeitergeld (Kurzarbeitergeldzugangsverordnung)
 KultGüRückG Kulturgüterrückgabegesetz
 KultgVV Kulturgüterverzeichnis-Verordnung (Verordnung über das Verzeichnis wertvollen Kulturgutes nach dem Kulturgüterrückgabegesetz)
 KunstUrhG (KUG) Kunsturheberrechtsgesetz
 KUP Kriminologie und Praxis (Schriftenreihe des Kriminologische Zentralstelle e.V.)
 KUR Kunst und Recht – Journal für Kunstrecht, Urheberrecht und Kulturpolitik (Zeitschrift)
 KuR (K&R) Kommunikation und Recht (Zeitschrift) oder Kirche & Recht (Zeitschrift)
 KURS Niedersachsen Konzeption zum Umgang mit rückfallgefährdeten Sexualstraftäterinnen und Sexualstraftätern in Niedersachsen
 KUVG Kranken- und Unfallversicherungsgesetz von 1911 (Schweiz) (aufgehoben; jetzt KVG – Krankenversicherungsgesetz)
 KV Klägervertreter(in) oder Kommunalverfassung oder Krankenversicherung oder Kostenverzeichnis oder Kombinierter Verkehr oder Kassenärztliche Vereinigung oder Kollektivvertrag (Österreich) oder Kaufvertrag oder Körperverletzung (Deutschland) oder Körperverletzung (Österreich) oder Kostenvoranschlag oder Kreisverband oder Kurzvortrag
 KVBG Kohleverstromungsbeendigungsgesetz
 KVG Krankenversicherungsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft
 KVLG Gesetz über die Krankenversicherung der Landwirte (siehe Zweites Gesetz über die Krankenversicherung der Landwirte)
 KV MV Kommunalverfassung für das Land Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (siehe Gemeindeordnungen in Deutschland)
 KVR Kollisionsverhütungsregeln oder Kreisverwaltungsreferat (siehe u. a. Stadtverwaltung München)
 KVStDV Kapitalverkehrsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 KVStG Kapitalverkehrsteuergesetz
 KWEA Kreiswehrersatzamt
 KWEG Kriegswirtschaftliches Ermächtigungsgesetz (Gesetz vom 24. Juli 1917, mit welchem die Regierung ermächtigt wird, aus Anlass der durch den Kriegszustand verursachten außerordentlichen Verhältnisse die notwendigen Verfügungen auf wirtschaftlichem Gebiete zu treffen)
 KWG Kreditwesengesetz
 KWGWpIGVermV Verordnung über die vertraglich gebundenen Vermittler und das öffentliche Register nach § 2 Absatz 10 Satz 5 des Kreditwesengesetzes und nach § 3 Absatz 2 Satz 5 des Wertpapierinstitutsgesetzes (KWG-WpIG-Vermittlerverordnung)
 KWahlG Kommunalwahlgesetz (siehe Kommunalwahlrecht)
 KWKG Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz
 KWKG 2002 Kraft-Wärme-Kopplungsgesetz
 KZBV Kassenzahnärztliche Bundesvereinigung
 KZV Kassenzahnärztliche Vereinigung

L 
 L-G/hFSDBWFSV Verordnung über die Laufbahnen des gehobenen und höheren Fachschuldienstes an Bundeswehrfachschulen
 LA-ADBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn und Ausbildung für den Amtsgehilfendienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung
 LabMeldAnpV Verordnung zur Anpassung der Meldepflicht nach § 7 des Infektionsschutzgesetzes an die epidemische Lage (Labormeldepflicht-Anpassungsverordnung)
 LADG Landesantidiskriminierungsgesetz (des Landes Berlin)
 LA-eLDBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn und Ausbildung für den einfachen Lagerverwaltungsdienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung
 LadSchlG Ladenschlussgesetz (Gesetz über den Ladenschluss)
 LärmVibrationsArbSchV Verordnung zum Schutz der Beschäftigten vor Gefährdungen durch Lärm und Vibrationen (Lärm- und Vibrations-Arbeitsschutzverordnung)
 LAG Landesarbeitsgericht oder Lastenausgleichsgesetz oder Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft oder Landarbeitsgesetz (Österreich)
 LAGE Entscheidungen der Landesarbeitsgerichte, Loseblattsammlung Neuwied (Luchterhand Fachverlag)
 LAGPflB Landesausführungsgesetz Pflegeberufe (NRW)
 LAP-gehDAAV 2004 Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den gehobenen Auswärtigen Dienst
 LAP-gntDBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den gehobenen nichttechnischen Verwaltungsdienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung
 LAP-gtDBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den gehobenen technischen Dienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung – Fachrichtung Wehrtechnik
 LAP-hADV 2004 Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den höheren Auswärtigen Dienst
 LAP-htDBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den höheren technischen Dienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung – Fachrichtung Wehrtechnik
 LAP-mDAAV 2004 Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den mittleren Auswärtigen Dienst
 LAP-mDFm/EloAufklBundV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den mittleren Dienst der Fernmelde- und Elektronischen Aufklärung des Bundes
 LAP-mftDBwV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den mittleren feuerwehrtechnischen Dienst in der Bundeswehr
 LAP-mntDBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den mittleren nichttechnischen Verwaltungsdienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung
 LAP-mtDBWVV Verordnung über die Laufbahn, Ausbildung und Prüfung für den mittleren technischen Dienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung – Fachrichtung Wehrtechnik –
 LaPlaG (auch LPlG) Landesplanungsgesetz
 LaReDa Landesrechtsprechungsdatenbank
 LASI Länderausschuss für Arbeitsschutz und Sicherheitstechnik
 LasthandhabV Lastenhandhabungsverordnung
 laTPS Lärmabhängiges Trassenpreissystem
 LAWA Bund/Länder-Arbeitsgemeinschaft Wasser
 LB Landesbank
 LBA Luftfahrt-Bundesamt
 LBG Landesbeamtengesetz oder Gesetz über die Landbeschaffung für Aufgaben der Verteidigung (Landbeschaffungsgesetz)
 LBO Landesbauordnung
 LBauO Landesbauordnung
 LBtG Landesbetreuungsgesetz (mehrerer Bundesländer, z. B. NRW)
 LDSG Landesdatenschutzgesetz
 l. d. u. g. laut diktiert und genehmigt
 l. d. k. E. laut diktiert, kein Einwand
 LDüngVO Landesdüngeverordnung (z.B. in NRW)
 LE Ladungseinheit oder Lerneinheit
 leg. cit. legis citatae (lat.: des zitierten Gesetzes), benutzt bei wiederholter Zitierung desselben Gesetzes
 LegRegG Gesetz über die Registrierung von Betrieben zur Haltung von Legehennen (Legehennenbetriebsregistergesetz)
 LEI Legal Entity Identifier (dt.: Rechtsträger-Kennung)
 LEntwG Landesentwicklungsgesetz (z.B. in Sachsen-Anhalt)
 LEP Landesentwicklungsplan (siehe Landesentwicklungsprogramm)
 LEP NRW Landesentwicklungsplan Nordrhein-Westfalen (siehe Landesentwicklungsprogramm)
 LEPro Landesentwicklungsprogramm (siehe Landesentwicklungsprogramm)
 LES Liechtensteinische Entscheidungssammlung oder Leistungen zur Eingliederung von Selbständigen
 LFA Länderfinanzausgleich
 LfB Landesbevollmächtigter für Bahnaufsicht
 lfd. laufend
 LfD Landesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz
 LFG Luftfahrtgesetz (Österreich) oder Luftfahrtgesetz (Schweiz) oder Luftfahrtgesetz (Liechtenstein)
 LFGB Lebensmittel-, Bedarfsgegenstände- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch
 LFGG Landesgesetz über die freiwillige Gerichtsbarkeit (Baden-Württemberg)
 LfP Bayerisches Landesamt für Pflege
 LfSt Landesamt für Steuern (eines Bundeslandes, z. B. Bayerisches Landesamt für Steuern - BayLfSt)
 LG Landgericht oder Lebensgemeinschaft oder Landesgerichte (Österreich; siehe Gerichtsorganisation in Österreich)
 LGBl. Landesgesetzblatt
 LGebG Landesgebührengesetz
 LGG Landesgleichstellungsgesetz (Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, NRW, Rheinland-Pfalz) (siehe Gesetze und amtliche Regelungen zur geschlechtergerechten Sprache)
 LGrStG Landesgrundsteuergesetz (z.B. in Baden-Württemberg)
 LGuVBl. Landesgesetz- und Verordnungsblatt (eines Bundeslandes in Österreich)
 LGVÜ Luganer Übereinkommen über die gerichtliche Zuständigkeit und die Vollstreckung gerichtlicher Entscheidungen in Zivil- und Handelssachen (Lugano-Übereinkommen)
 LGZ Landesgerichte für Zivilrechtssachen (Österreich; siehe Gerichtsorganisation in Österreich)
 LHB Luftfahrt-Haftpflichtversicherungs-Bedingungen
 LHG Landeshochschulgesetz
 LHmV Lösungsmittel-Höchstmengenverordnung
 LHO Landeshaushaltsordnung
 LHundG Landeshundegesetz (z.B. LHundG NRW)
 LiegTG Liegenschaftsteilungsgesetz (Österreich) (siehe Grundbuch#Österreich)
 LImSchG Landesimmissionsschutzgesetz
 lit. Litera (lat. Buchstabe)
 Lit. Literatur (oft für Lehrmeinung)
 LJA Landesjugendamt
 LJV Landesjustizverwaltung
 LJZ Liechtensteinische Juristenzeitung
 LK Leipziger Kommentar oder Lehrkontrolle
 LKA Landeskriminalamt
 LKO Landkreisordnung
 LKÖ Landwirtschaftskammer Österreich
 LKRZ Zeitschrift für Landes- und Kommunalrecht Hessen – Rheinland-Pfalz – Saarland
 LkSG Gesetz über unternehmerische Sorgfaltspflichten in Lieferketten (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz) (siehe Lieferkettengesetz)
 LKV Landes- und Kommunalverwaltung (Zeitschrift) oder  Los-Kennzeichnungs-Verordnung
 LKW-MautV LKW-Maut-Verordnung
 LLC Limited Liability Company
 LLG Landwirtschafts- und Landeskulturgesetz (Baden-Württemberg)
 LLMC Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (= Internationales „Übereinkommen über die Beschränkung der Haftung für Seeforderungen“ vom 19. November 1976 in der Fassung des Protokolls von 1996)
 LLP Limited Liability Partnership
 LM (LMK) Entscheidungen des Bundesgerichtshofes im Nachschlagewerk von Lindenmaier-Möhring
 LMBestrV Verordnung über die Behandlung von Lebensmitteln mit Elektronen-, Gamma- und Röntgenstrahlen, Neutronen oder ultravioletten Strahlen (siehe Lebensmittelbestrahlung)
 LMBG Lebensmittel- und Bedarfsgegenständegesetz (Gesetz über den Verkehr mit Lebensmitteln, Tabakerzeugnissen, kosmetischen Mitteln und sonstigen Bedarfsgegenständen)
 LMEV Lebensmitteleinfuhr-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Durchführung der veterinärrechtlichen Kontrollen bei der Einfuhr und Durchfuhr von Lebensmitteln tierischen Ursprungs aus Drittländern sowie über die Einfuhr sonstiger Lebensmittel aus Drittländern)
 LMG (auch LMedG oder LMedienG) Landesmediengesetz
 LMHV Lebensmittelhygiene-Verordnung (Verordnung über Anforderungen an die Hygiene beim Herstellen, Behandeln und Inverkehrbringen von Lebensmitteln)
 LMIV Lebensmittel-Informationsverordnung (Verordnung (EU) Nr. 1169/2011)
 LMIDV Lebensmittelinformations-Durchführungsverordnung
 LMK (LM) Entscheidungen des Bundesgerichtshofes im Nachschlagewerk von Lindenmaier-Möhring
 LMKÜV Verordnung mit Übergangsregelungen zur Einführung der Informationen zur Lebensmittelkette
 LMKV Lebensmittel-Kennzeichnungsverordnung
 LMR Lokales Melderegister (Österreich)
 LMRStV Verordnung zur Durchsetzung lebensmittelrechtlicher Rechtsakte der Europäischen Gemeinschaft (Lebensmittelrechtliche Straf- und Bußgeldverordnung)
 LMSVG Lebensmittelsicherheits- und Verbraucherschutzgesetz (Österreich)
 LMÜTranspG Gesetz zur Transparenzmachung von Ergebnissen amtlicher Kontrollen in der Lebensmittelüberwachung (Lebensmittelüberwachungstransparenzgesetz) (Berlin)
 LMuR Lebensmittel & Recht (Zeitschrift)
 LNatSchG NRW Landesnaturschutzgesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen
 LNGG Gesetz zur Beschleunigung des Einsatzes verflüssigten Erdgases (LNG-Beschleunigungsgesetz)
 LOB leistungsorientierte Bezahlung (siehe Leistungsorientierte Vergütung)
 LobbyRG Gesetz zur Einführung eines Lobbyregisters für die Interessenvertretung gegenüber dem Deutschen Bundestag und gegenüber der Bundesregierung (Lobbyregistergesetz)
 LOG Landesorganisationsgesetz (z. B. in NRW)
 LogisV Verordnung über die Unterbringung der Besatzungsmitglieder an Bord von Kauffahrteischiffen
 LogopG Gesetz über den Beruf des Logopäden
 LohnfortzG Lohnfortzahlungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Zahlung des Arbeitsentgelts an Feiertagen und im Krankheitsfall)
 LOStA Leitender Oberstaatsanwalt
 LotterieStV Lotteriestaatsvertrag (siehe Glücksspielstaatsvertrag)
 LottStV Lotteriestaatsvertrag (siehe Glücksspielstaatsvertrag)
 LQN Leistungs- und Qualitätsnachweis
 LQV Leistungs- und Qualitätsvereinbarung
 LP Legislaturperiode oder Leistungspflicht
 LPD Landespolizeidirektion
 LPachtVG Landpachtverkehrsgesetz (siehe Landpacht)
 LPartG Lebenspartnerschaftsgesetz
 LPK Lehr- und Praxiskommentar (zu diversen Gesetzen) oder Landespolizeikommando (Österreich)
 LPlG (auch LaPlaG) Landesplanungsgesetz
 LPVG Landespersonalvertretungsgesetz (siehe z. B. Landespersonalvertretungsgesetz (Nordrhein-Westfalen))
 LPZV Leistungsprämien- und Zulagenverordnung (Verordnung über die Gewährung von Prämien und Zulagen für besondere Leistungen)
 LR Löwe / Rosenberg, Die Strafprozessordnung und das Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz mit Nebengesetzen, Großkommentar oder Landrat oder Lehrerrat
 LRA Landratsamt oder Lohnrahmenabkommen
 LRC Allgemeines Funkbetriebszeugnis ()
 LRD Leitender Regierungsdirektor
 LRE Sammlung lebensmittelrechtlicher Entscheidungen
 LRG Landesrundfunkgesetz
 LRH Landesrechnungshof (siehe Rechnungshof > Landesrechnungshof)
 LROP Landes-Raumordnungsprogramm Niedersachsen
 LRP Landschaftsrahmenplan
 LRV Luftreinhalte-Verordnung (Schweiz)
 Ls. Leitsatz
 LSA Land Sachsen-Anhalt oder Lichtsignalanlage
 LSD-BG Lohn- und Sozialdumping-Bekämpfungsgesetz (Österreich)
 LSG Landessozialgericht oder Landschaftsschutzgebiet
 LSpG Gesetz zur Durchführung der Rechtsakte der Europäischen Union über Qualitätsregelungen betreffend garantiert traditionelle Spezialitäten und fakultative Qualitätsangaben (Lebensmittelspezialitätengesetz)
 LSt. Lohnsteuer (Deutschland) oder Lohnsteuer (Österreich)
 LStDV Lohnsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 LStR Lohnsteuer-Richtlinien
 LStuV Lohnstufenverordnung (Verordnung über das leistungsabhängige Aufsteigen in den Grundgehaltsstufen)
 LStVG (Bayerisches) Landesstraf- und Verordnungsgesetz (siehe auch Polizei Bayern)
 LSV Ladesäulenverordnung oder Lärmschutz-Verordnung (Schweiz)
 LSVA Leistungsabhängige Schwerverkehrsabgabe (Schweiz)
 LSVMG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Rechts der landwirtschaftlichen Sozialversicherung
 LSV-NOG Gesetz zur Neuordnung der Organisation der landwirtschaftlichen Sozialversicherung
 LT Landtag
 lt. laut (gemäß)
 lt. d. u. g. laut diktiert und genehmigt
 Ltd. Kapitalgesellschaft (Vereinigtes Königreich) (Limited) oder leitend
 LTO Legal Tribune Online (Zeitschrift)
 LTranspG Landestransparenzgesetz (z.B. in Rheinland-Pfalz)
 LTTG Landesgesetz zur Gewährleistung von Tariftreue und Mindestentgelt bei öffentlicher Auftragsvergabe Rheinland-Pfalz
 LTV Verordnung über die Tarifordnung für die Seelotsreviere (Lotstarifverordnung)
 LTZ Zeitschrift für die digitale Rechtsanwendung
 LuF Land- und Forstwirtschaft
 LufABw Luftfahrtamt der Bundeswehr
 LuftBauO Bauordnung für Luftfahrtgerät
 LuftBO Betriebsordnung für Luftfahrtgerät
 LuftEBV Verordnung zur Regelung des Betriebs von nicht als Luftfahrtgerät zugelassenen elektronischen Geräten in Luftfahrzeugen (Luftfahrzeug-Elektronik-Betriebs-Verordnung)
 LuftGerPV Verordnung zur Prüfung von Luftfahrtgerät
 LuftPersV Verordnung über Luftfahrtpersonal
 LuftSchlichtV Verordnung nach § 57c des Luftverkehrsgesetzes zur Schlichtung im Luftverkehr (Luftverkehrsschlichtungsverordnung)
 LuftSiG Luftsicherheitsgesetz
 LuftSiSchulV Luftsicherheits-Schulungsverordnung
 LuftVG Luftverkehrsgesetz
 LuftVO Luftverkehrs-Ordnung
 LuftVStAbsenkV Luftverkehrsteuer-Absenkungsverordnung
 LuftVStG Luftverkehrsteuergesetz (siehe Luftverkehrabgabe)
 LuftVZO Luftverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung
 LugÜ Lugano-Übereinkommen
 LV Landesverfassung (Deutschland) oder Landesverfassung(Österreich) oder Leistungsverzeichnis oder Landesverfügung oder Lebensversicherung oder Verfassung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein
 LVA Landesversicherungsanstalt
 LVerbO Landschaftsverbandsordnung (siehe Landschaftsverbände in Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 LVerfG Landesverfassungsgericht
 LVG Landesverwaltungsgesetz
 LVGG (oder LvwGG) Landesverwaltungsgericht (in Österreich)
 LVR Landschaftsverband Rheinland oder Luftverkehrsregeln (Österreich)
 LVRG Lebensversicherungsreformgesetz
 LVT Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz und Terrorismusbekämpfung (Österreich)
 LVwVfG Landesverwaltungsverfahrensgesetz
 LVwVG Landesverwaltungsvollstreckungsgesetz
 LWaG Landeswassergesetz
 LwAltschG Landwirtschaft-Altschuldengesetz
 LwAltschV Landwirtschaft-Altschuldenverordnung
 LwAnpG Landwirtschaftsanpassungsgesetz
 LWG Landeswassergesetz oder Bayerische Landesanstalt für Weinbau und Gartenbau
 LwG Landwirtschaftsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Landwirtschaftsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Landwirtschaftsgericht
 LWK Landwirtschaftskammer
 LWL Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe
 LWND Luftwaffennachrichtendienst (Schweiz; bis 2007) (siehe Schweizer Nachrichtendienste)
 LWV Landeswohlfahrtsverband
 LwVfG Landwirtschaftsverfahrensgesetz (Gesetz über das Verfahren in Landwirtschaftssachen)
 LZA Lichtzeichenanlage (= Ampel)
 LZG NRW Landeszentrum Gesundheit Nordrhein-Westfalen

M 
 MABl. Ministerialamtsblatt
 MaBV Verordnung über die Pflichten der Makler, Darlehens- und Anlagenvermittler, Anlageberater, Bauträger und Baubetreuer (Makler- und Bauträgerverordnung)
 MAD Militärischer Abschirmdienst
 MADG MAD-Gesetz (Gesetz über den Militärischen Abschirmdienst)
 MAE Mehraufwandsentschädigung
 MaGO Mindestanforderungen an die Geschäftsorganisation von Versicherungsunternehmen
 MAK Maximale Arbeitsplatz-Konzentration
 MaklerG Maklergesetz (Österreich)
 MaklKostVertG Gesetz über die Verteilung der Maklerkosten bei der Vermittlung von Kaufverträgen über Wohnungen und Einfamilienhäuser
 MaKonV Marktmanipulations-Konkretisierungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Konkretisierung des Verbotes der Marktmanipulation) (siehe Marktmanipulation)
 MalerArbbV Verordnung über zwingende Arbeitsbedingungen im Maler- und Lackiererhandwerk (Malerarbeitsbedingungenverordnung)
 MaPrV Verordnung über die Höhe der Managementprämie für Strom aus Windenergie und solarer Strahlungsenergie (Managementprämienverordnung)
 MariMedV Verordnung über maritime medizinische Anforderungen auf Kauffahrteischiffen (Maritime-Medizin-Verordnung)
 MaRisk (BA) Mindestanforderungen an das Risikomanagement (BA)
 MarkenG Markengesetz
 MarkenRRG Markenrechtsreformgesetz (Gesetz zur Reform des Markenrechts und zur Umsetzung der Ersten Richtlinie 89/104/EWG des Rates vom 21. Dezember 1988 zur Angleichung der Rechtsvorschriften der Mitgliedstaaten über die Marken)
 MarkenV Verordnung zur Ausführung des Markengesetzes (Markenverordnung)
 MarktAngV Marktzugangsangabenverordnung (siehe Wertpapierhandelsgesetz)
 MARPOL Internationales Übereinkommen zur Verhütung der Meeresverschmutzung durch Schiffe (engl.: International Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Ships, auch MARPOL 73/78 (von marine pollution))
 MaschV Verordnung über die Sicherheit von Maschinen (Maschinenverordnung) (Schweiz)
 MaßstG Gesetz über verfassungskonkretisierende allgemeine Maßstäbe für die Verteilung des Umsatzsteueraufkommens, für den Finanzausgleich unter den Ländern sowie für die Gewährung von Bundesergänzungszuweisungen (Maßstäbegesetz) (siehe Finanzausgleich (Deutschland))
 MaStR Marktstammdatenregister
 MaStRV Verordnung über das zentrale elektronische Verzeichnis energiewirtschaftlicher Daten (Marktstammdatenregisterverordnung)
 MautHV Mauthöheverordnung (Verordnung zur Festsetzung der Höhe der Autobahnmaut für schwere Nutzfahrzeuge)
 MautStrAusdehnV Mautstreckenausdehnungsverordnung
 MautSysG Mautsystemgesetz (Deutschland)
 MAV Mitarbeitervertretung oder maschinelles Anfrageverfahren
 MAVO Mitarbeitervertretungsordnung der katholischen Kirche
 MB Mahnbescheid
 MbBO Magnetschwebebahn-Bau und Betriebsordnung
 MBergG Meeresbodenbergbaugesetz
 MBG Mitbestimmungsgesetz (z. B. in Schleswig-Holstein)
 MBl. Ministerialblatt
 MBl.NRW. Ministerialblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
 MBO Musterentwurf zur Bauordnung
 MBPlG Magnetschwebebahnplanungsgesetz
 MdB, M. d. B. Mitglied des Bundestages
 MDD Richtlinie 93/42/EWG über Medizinprodukte (engl.: Medical Device Directive - MDD)
 MdE Mitglied des Europäischen Parlaments (auch MdEP) oder Minderung der Erwerbsfähigkeit (bis zum 21. Dezember 2007; nunmehr GdS – Grad der Schädigungsfolgen)
 Mdj. Minderjähriger
 MDK Medizinischer Dienst der Krankenversicherung
 MdL, M. d. L. Mitglied des Landtags
 m. d. P. n. v. u. n. v. mit den Parteien nicht verwandt und nicht verschwägert
 MDR Monatsschrift für Deutsches Recht oder Verordnung (EU) 2017/745 über Medizinprodukte (engl.: Medical Device Regulation - MDR) oder Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk
 MDStV Mediendienste-Staatsvertrag
 ME Musterentwurf
 MEA Miteigentumsanteil
 MedBG Medizinalberufegesetz (Schweiz)
 MedBVSV Verordnung zur Sicherstellung der Versorgung der Bevölkerung mit Produkten des medizinischen Bedarfs bei der durch das Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 verursachten Epidemie (Medizinischer Bedarf Versorgungssicherstellungsverordnung)
 MEDEL Magistrats Européens pour la Démocratie et les Libertés
 MedFAngAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Medizinischen Fachangestellten/ zur Medizinischen Fachangestellten
 MedGV Medizingeräteverordnung (Verordnung über die Sicherheit medizinisch-technischer Geräte; aufgehoben und ersetzt zum 1. Januar 2002 durch Medizinproduktegesetz)
 MedHygV (MedHygVO) Verordnung zur Hygiene und Infektionsprävention in medizinischen Einrichtungen (diverser Bundesländer)
 MediationsG Mediationsgesetz
 MedienG Bundesgesetz vom 12. Juni 1981 über die Presse und andere publizistische Medien (Mediengesetz) (Österreich)
 MedizinalfachberufeV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für Medizinalfachberufe (aufgehoben; ersetzt durch BAföG-Medizinalfach- und Pflegeberufe-Verordnung – BAföG-MedPflegbV)
 MedR Medizinrecht (Zeitschrift)
 MedSach Der medizinische Sachverständige (Zeitschrift)
 MEG Maß- und Eichgesetz (Österreich)
 MEK Mobiles Einsatzkommando
 MeldeG Meldegesetz 1991 (Österreich)
 MeldFortG Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung des Meldewesens (siehe Bundesmeldegesetz)
 MeMBV Medizinproduktemethodenbewertungsverordnung
 MEP Mitglied des Europäischen Parlaments ()
 MEPolG Musterentwurf eines einheitlichen Polizeigesetzes des Bundes und der Länder
 MepV Medizinprodukteverordnung (Schweiz)
 MERL Richtlinie 98/59/EG des Rates vom 20. Juli 1998 zur Angleichung der Rechtsvorschriften der Mitgliedsstaaten über Massenentlassungen (Massenentlassungs-Richtlinie)
 MessEG Gesetz über das Inverkehrbringen und die Bereitstellung von Messgeräten auf dem Markt, ihre Verwendung und Eichung sowie über Fertigpackungen (Mess- und Eichgesetz)
 MessEV Verordnung über das Inverkehrbringen und die Bereitstellung von Messgeräten auf dem Markt sowie über ihre Verwendung und Eichung (Mess- und Eichverordnung)
 MessZV Verordnung über Rahmenbedingungen für den Messstellenbetrieb und die Messung im Bereich der leitungsgebundenen Elektrizitäts- und Gasversorgung (Messzugangsverordnung) (aufgehoben, ersetzt durch Messstellenbetriebsgesetz - MsbG)
 METAS Bundesamt für Metrologie (Schweiz) (, , rät. Uffizi federal per metrologia)
 Met/GlockAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Metall- und Glockengießer/zur Metall- und Glockengießerin
 MFE Mobile Fahndungseinheit
 MFG Gesetz zur Förderung des Mittelstandes (Mittelstandsförderungs- und Vergabegesetz) Schleswig-Holstein
 MFK Motorfahrzeugkontrolle (siehe Strassenverkehrsamt) oder Musterfeststellungsklage
 MFKRegV Verordnung über das Register für Musterfeststellungsklagen(Musterfeststellungsklagenregister-Verordnung)
 MFR Mehrjähriger Finanzrahmen der Europäischen Union
 MfS Ministerium für Staatssicherheit
 MgFSG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Bestimmungen der Umwandlungsrichtlinie über die Mitbestimmung der Arbeitnehmer bei grenzüberschreitenden Umwandlungen, Verschmelzungen und Spaltungen
 MgVG Mitbestimmungsgesetz bei einer grenzüberschreitenden Verschmelzung (Gesetz über die Mitbestimmung der Arbeitnehmer bei einer grenzüberschreitenden Verschmelzung)
 MgvG Gesetz zur Vorbereitung der Schaffung von Baurecht durch Maßnahmengesetz im Verkehrsbereich (Maßnahmengesetzvorbereitungsgesetz)
 MHbeG Gesetz zur Beschränkung der Haftung Minderjähriger (Minderjährigenhaftungsbeschränkungsgesetz)
 MHD Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum
 MHG Miethöheregelungsgesetz
 MIAS Mehrwertsteuer-Informationsaustauschsystem der Europäischen Kommission (engl.: VAT Information Exchange System - VIES)
 MIB Melde- und Informationssystem Binnenschifffahrt
 MicroBilG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2012/6/EU des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 14. März 2012 zur Änderung der Richtlinie 78/660/EWG des Rates über den Jahresabschluss von Gesellschaften bestimmter Rechtsformen hinsichtlich Kleinstbetrieben (Kleinstkapitalgesellschaften-Bilanzrechtsänderungsgesetz)
 MID Richtlinie 2004/22/EG über Messgeräte (Messgeräterichtlinie; engl.: Measuring Instruments Directive – MID)
 MietAnpG Mietrechtsanpassungsgesetz
 MietbegrenzV Mietpreisbegrenzungsverordnung (Brandenburg)
 MietbegrenzVO Mietpreisbegrenzungsverordnung (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 MietBegrVO Mietpreisbegrenzungsverordnung (Rheinland-Pfalz oder Thüringen)
 MietBgKaLVO Mietpreisbegrenzungs- und Kappungsgrenzenlandesverordnung (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
 MietBgVO Mietpreisbegrenzungsverordnung (Baden-Württemberg)
 MietPrVO Mietpreisverordnung (Schleswig-Holstein)
 MietRB Der Miet-Rechts-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 MietSchVO Mieterschutzverordnung (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 MiFID Richtlinie 2004/39/EG über Märkte für Finanzinstrumente (engl.: MiFID = Markets in Financial Instruments Directive)
 MiFIR Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (VO[EU] 600/2014)
 MikrozensusG (MZG) Mikrozensusgesetz (Gesetz zur Durchführung einer Repräsentativstatistik über die Bevölkerung und den Arbeitsmarkt sowie die Wohnsituation der Haushalte)
 MilchAbgV Milchabgabenverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung der EG-Milchabgabenregelung)
 MilchErzV Milcherzeugnisverordnung
 MilchFettG Milch- und Fettgesetz
 MilchGüV Milch-Güteverordnung
 MilchMagG Gesetz über Milch, Milcherzeugnisse, Margarineerzeugnisse und ähnliche Erzeugnisse (Milch- und Margarinegesetz)
 MilchQuotV Milchquotenverordnung
 MilchSonMaßG Gesetz zur Durchführung von Sondermaßnahmen der Europäischen Union im Milchmarktbereich
 MilchSoPrG Milch-Sonderprogrammgesetz (Gesetz über ein Sonderprogramm mit Maßnahmen für Milchviehhalter)
 MilchVO Milchverordnung (aufgehoben)
 MiLoAufzV Mindestlohnaufzeichnungsverordnung
 MiLoDokV Mindestlohndokumentationspflichtenverordnung
 MiLoG Gesetz zur Regelung eines allgemeinen Mindestlohns (Mindestlohngesetz)
 MiLoMeldV Verordnung über Meldepflichten nach dem Mindestlohngesetz, dem Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz und dem Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz (Mindestlohnmeldeverordnung)
 MiLoV Mindestlohnanpassungsverordnung
 MilStG Militärstrafgesetz (Österreich) oder Militärstrafgesetz (Schweiz)
 MilzbRbV Verordnung zum Schutz gegen den Milzbrand und den Rauschbrand
 Min/TafelWV Mineral- und Tafelwasser-Verordnung (Verordnung über natürliches Mineralwasser, Quellwasser und Tafelwasser)
 MinBlFin Ministerialblatt des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen
 MindArbBedG (MiArbG) Mindestarbeitsbedingungsgesetz
 MindSchRÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Rahmenübereinkommen des Europarats vom 1. Februar 1995 zum Schutz nationaler Minderheiten
 MindZV Verordnung über die Mindestbeitragsrückerstattung in der Lebensversicherung (Mindestzuführungsverordnung)
 MinNettoV 2000 Mindestnettobeträge-Verordnung 2000 (Verordnung über die Mindestnettobeträge nach dem Altersteilzeitgesetz für das Jahr 2000)
 MinölStG Mineralölsteuergesetz
 MinöStG Mineralölsteuergesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Mineralölsteuer (Schweiz))
 MinöStV Mineralölsteuerverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung des Mineralölsteuergesetzes)
 MinroG Mineralrohstoffgesetz (Österreich)
 MiSchuV Mieterschutzverordnung (Bayern oder Hessen oder Niedersachsen)
 MissbrauchEindämmG Gesetz zur Eindämmung missbräuchlicher Steuergestaltungen
 MiStra Anordnung über Mitteilungen in Strafsachen
 MitbestG Mitbestimmungsgesetz
 Mitt Mitteilungen der deutschen Patentanwälte (Zeitschrift)
 MittBayNot Mitteilungen des Bayerischen Notarvereins, der Notarkasse und der Landesnotarkammer Bayern (siehe MittBayNot)
 MittdtschPatAnw Mitteilungen deutscher Patentanwälte
 MiZi Anordnung über Mitteilungen in Zivilsachen
 MJ Minderjähriger
 MK Ministerkonferenz
 MKG Mobile Kontrollgruppe(n)
 MKRO Ministerkonferenz für Raumordnung
 MKSeuchV (MKSV) Verordnung zum Schutz gegen die Maul- und Klauenseuche
 MKSV Maul- und Klauenseuche-Verordnung (Verordnung zur Bekämpfung der Maul- und Klauenseuche)
 MKÜ Mobile Kontroll- und Überwachungseinheit der Bundespolizei
 MLAnpV Verordnung zur Anpassung der Mindestleistung nach dem Unterhaltssicherungsgesetz (Mindestleistungsanpassungsverordnung)
 MLE Magister Legum Europae (Studienabschluss im Europarecht)
 MLR Marburg Law Review (Zeitschrift)
 MM Mindermeinung oder Minderheitsmeinung oder MieterMagazin (Zeitschrift)
 MMA Madrider Abkommen über die internationale Registrierung von Marken (kurz: Madrider Markenabkommen – MMA)
 MMilchPulvV Verordnung zur Durchführung der öffentlichen Lagerhaltung von Magermilchpulver
 MMR Multimedia und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 MND Militärischer Nachrichtendienst (Schweiz) (siehe Schweizer Nachrichtendienste)
 MntDBwVVDV Verordnung über den Vorbereitungsdienst für den mittleren nichttechnischen Verwaltungsdienst in der Bundeswehrverwaltung
 MobHV Mobilitätshilfenverordnung
 ModEnG Gesetz zur Förderung der Modernisierung von Wohnungen und von Maßnahmen zur Einsparung von Heizenergie (Modernisierungs- und Energieeinsparungsgesetz)
 ModG Modulationsgesetz (Gesetz zur Modulation von Direktzahlungen im Rahmen der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik)
 ModGAufhG Gesetz zur Aufhebung des Modulationsgesetzes
 ModistAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Modisten/zur Modistin
 ModMstrV Verordnung über das Berufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen im praktischen und im fachtheoretischen Teil der Meisterprüfung für das Modisten-Handwerk
 MOE Mittel- und Osteuropa
 MOEL Mittel- und osteuropäische Länder (kurz MOEL)
 MÖSt Mineralölsteuer (Österreich)
 MÖStG Mineralölsteuergesetz (Österreich)
 MOG Marktorganisationsgesetz (Gesetz zur Durchführung der Gemeinsamen Marktorganisation und der Direktzahlungen)
 MolkMeistPrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Molkereimeister – Bachelor Professional in Milchtechnologie und Molkereimeisterin – Bachelor Professional in Milchtechnologie
 MoMiG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des GmbH-Rechts und zur Bekämpfung von Missbräuchen
 MontanMitbestG Montan-Mitbestimmungsgesetz
 MontanMitbestErgG Montan-Mitbestimmungsergänzungsgesetz
 MoPeG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Personengesellschaftsrechts
 MoselSchPV Moselschifffahrtspolizeiverordnung
 MOSS Mini-One-Stop-Shop
 MoU Memorandum of Understanding
 MP Ministerpräsident
 MPAMIV Verordnung über die Meldung von mutmaßlichen schwerwiegenden Vorkommnissen bei Medizinprodukten sowie zum Informationsaustausch der zuständigen Behörden (Medizinprodukte Anwendermelde- und Informationsverordnung)
 MPAV Verordnung zur Regelung der Abgabe von Medizinprodukten (Medizinprodukte-Abgabeverordnung)
 MPBetreibV Verordnung über das Errichten, Betreiben und Anwenden von Medizinprodukten (Medizinprodukte-Betreiberverordnung)
 MPDG Gesetz zur Durchführung unionsrechtlicher Vorschriften betreffend Medizinprodukte (Medizinprodukterecht-Durchführungsgesetz)
 MPEUAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung des Medizinprodukterechts an die Verordnung (EU) 2017/745 und die Verordnung (EU) 2017/746 (Medizinprodukte-EU-Anpassungsgesetz)
 MPG Medizinproduktegesetz (Deutschland/ Österreich)
 MPGebV Gebührenverordnung zum Medizinproduktegesetz und den zu seiner Ausführung ergangenen Rechtsverordnungen (Medizinprodukte-Gebührenverordnung)
 MPhG Masseur- und Physiotherapeutengesetz
 MPK Ministerpräsidentenkonferenz
 MPKPV Verordnung über klinische Prüfungen von Medizinprodukten
 MPR Medizin Produkte Recht (Zeitschrift)
 MPSV Medizinprodukte-Sicherheitsplanverordnung (Verordnung über die Erfassung, Bewertung und Abwehr von Risiken bei Medizinprodukten) [aufgehoben; ersetzt durch Medizinprodukte Anwendermelde- und Informationsverordnung (MPAMIV)]
 MPU Medizinisch-Psychologische Untersuchung
 MPV Medizinprodukte-Verordnung
 MPVerschrV Verordnung über die Verschreibungspflicht von Medizinprodukten
 MPVertrV Verordnung über Vertriebswege für Medizinprodukte
 MR Musterregister (vergleiche jetzt: Geschmacksmuster)
 MRB-V Menschenrechtsbeiratverordnung (Österreich)
 MRG Mietrechtsgesetz (Österreich) (siehe auch Mietvertrag (Österreich))
 MRI Max Rubner-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ernährung und Lebensmittel
 MRK Menschenrechtskonvention, siehe Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention (EMRK)
 MRL Richtlinie 2006/42/EG (Maschinenrichtlinie)
 MRM MenschenRechtsMagazin des MenschenRechtsZentrum (Potsdam) (MRZ)
 MRN Movement Reference Number (dt. etwa Versandreferenznummer) (siehe Versandanmeldung)
 MRRG Melderechtsrahmengesetz
 MRZ MenschenRechtsZentrum (Potsdam)
 MSA Haager Minderjährigenschutzabkommen vom 5. November 1961 (= Übereinkommen über die Zuständigkeit der Behörden und das anzuwendende Recht auf dem Gebiet des Schutzes von Minderjährigen)
 MsbLärmSchV Magnetschwebebahn-Lärmschutzverordnung
 MsbG Gesetz über den Messstellenbetrieb und die Datenkommunikation in intelligenten Energienetzen (Messstellenbetriebsgesetz)
 MSchG Markenschutzgesetz
 MSchG Mutterschutzgesetz (Österreich)
 MsRG Gesetz zur Reform des Mietspiegelrechts (Mietspiegelreformgesetz)
 MSchKrim Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform
 MStG Militärstrafgesetz (Schweiz)
 MStGB Militär-Strafgesetzbuch für das Deutsche Reich (siehe unter Wehrstrafgesetz)
 MStP Militärstrafprozess (Schweiz)
 MStV Medienstaatsvertrag
 MsV Verordnung über den Inhalt und das Verfahren zur Erstellung und zur Anpassung von Mietspiegeln sowie zur Konkretisierung der Grundsätze für qualifizierte Mietspiegel (Mietspiegelverordnung)
 MSZ Maritimes Sicherheitszentrum
 MT Multimodaler Transport
 MTA Medizinisch-technischer Assistent oder Manteltarifvertrag für Auszubildende [aufgehoben; jetzt Tarifvertrag für Auszubildende des öffentlichen Dienstes - TVAöD]
 MTA-APrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für technische Assistenten in der Medizin
 MTAG Gesetz über technische Assistenten in der Medizin
 MTD-Gesetz Bundesgesetz über die Regelung der gehobenen medizinisch-technischen Dienste (Österreich)
 MTS Markttransparenzstelle für den Großhandel im Bereich Strom und Gas
 MTV Manteltarifvertrag
 mtl. monatlich
 MÜ Montrealer Übereinkommen
 MüG Gesetz zur Marktüberwachung und zur Sicherstellung der Konformität von Produkten (Marktüberwachungsgesetz)
 MüKo (auch MK oder MünchKomm) Münchner Kommentar (Gesetzeskommentar zu verschiedenen Gesetzen)
 MuFKlaG Gesetz zur Einführung einer zivilprozessualen Musterfeststellungsklage
 MuSchBV Verordnung über den Mutterschutz für Beamtinnen
 MuSchEltZV Verordnung über den Mutterschutz für Beamtinnen des Bundes und die Elternzeit für Beamtinnen und Beamte des Bundes (Mutterschutz- und Elternzeitverordnung)
 MuSchRiV Richtlinie 92/85/EWG (Mutterschutzrichtlinie)
 MuSchG Mutterschutzgesetz
 MuSchSoldV Mutterschutzverordnung für Soldatinnen
 MuSchV Mutterschutzverordnung (aufgehoben: jetzt Mutterschutz- und Elternzeitverordnung – MuSchEltZV)
 MuW Markenschutz und Wettbewerb, eine ehemalige Monatsschrift für Marken-, Patent- und Wettbewerbsrecht
 MV Mitteilungsverordnung (Verordnung über Mitteilungen an die Finanzbehörden durch andere Behörden und öffentlich-rechtliche Rundfunkanstalten) oder Mecklenburg-Vorpommern oder Mitarbeitervertretung oder Multimodaler Verkehr oder Mitgliederversammlung (Verein) oder Mitgliederversammlung (Partei) oder Militärversicherung (Schweiz)
 MVVerf Verfassung des Landes Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
 MVG Mitarbeitervertretungsgesetz der evangelischen Kirche oder Bundesgesetz über die Militärversicherung (Schweiz)
 MVG-EKD Mitarbeitervertretungsgesetz der EKD
 MVZ Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum
 MW Minderwert oder Mietwagen für Selbstfahrer oder Mietwagen mit Fahrer
 MWBO Muster-Weiterbildungsordnung
 MwSt Mehrwertsteuer oder Mehrwertsteuer (Schweiz)
 MwStSystRL Richtlinie 2006/112/EG (Mehrwertsteuer-Systemrichtlinie)
 MWSTG Mehrwertsteuergesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Mehrwertsteuer (Schweiz))
 m. w. N., m. weit. Nachw. mit weiterem Nachweis/weiteren Nachweisen
 m. W. v. mit Wirkung vom
 MZG (MikrozensusG) Mikrozensusgesetz (Gesetz zur Durchführung einer Repräsentativstatistik über die Bevölkerung und den Arbeitsmarkt sowie die Wohnsituation der Haushalte)
 MZK Modernisierter Zollkodex (siehe auch Zollkodex)

N 
 NABEG Netzausbaubeschleunigungsgesetz Übertragungsnetz
 Nachw. Nachwort
 NachwG Nachweisgesetz
 NachhG Gesetz zur Nachhaftung für Abbau- und Entsorgungskosten im Kernenergiebereich (Nachhaftungsgesetz)
 NachwV Nachweisverordnung (Verordnung über die Nachweisführung bei der Entsorgung von Abfällen)
 NÄG Namensänderungsgesetz (Österreich)
 NAFTA Nordamerikanisches Freihandelsabkommen ()
 NamÄndG Namensänderungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Änderung von Familiennamen und Vornamen) (siehe Namensrecht (Deutschland))
 NamÄndVwV Namensänderungsverwaltungsvorschrift
 NAP Nationaler Aktionsplan für ein kindergerechtes Deutschland oder Nationaler Allokationsplan oder Nationaler Aktionsplan
 NaStraG Gesetz zur Namensaktie und zur Erleichterung der Stimmrechtsausübung
 NastV Nadelstichverordnung (Österreich)
 NATO Nordatlantik-Pakt (; )
 NATOHQAbk Abkommen zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und dem Obersten Hauptquartier der Alliierten Mächte, Europa, über die besonderen Bedingungen für die Einrichtung und den Betrieb internationaler militärischer Hauptquartiere in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
 NATOHQProt Protokoll über die Rechtsstellung der auf Grund des Nordatlantikvertrags errichteten internationalen militärischen Hauptquartiere
 NATOStatÜbk Übereinkommen über den Status der Nordatlantikvertrags-Organisation, der nationalen Vertreter und des internationalen Personals
 NATOProtG Gesetz zu dem Protokoll vom 28. August 1952 über die Rechtsstellung der auf Grund des Nordatlantikvertrags errichteten internationalen militärischen Hauptquartiere und zu den dieses Protokoll ergänzenden Vereinbarungen
 NATOTrStat Abkommen zwischen den Parteien des Nordatlantikvertrags über die Rechtsstellung ihrer Truppen
 NATOTrStatVtrG Gesetz zu dem Abkommen zwischen den Parteien des Nordatlantikvertrags vom 19. Juni 1951 über die Rechtsstellung ihrer Truppen und zu den Zusatzvereinbarungen vom 3. August 1959 zu diesem Abkommen
 NATOVorRV Verordnung über die Gewährung von Vorrechten und Befreiungen an die Nordatlantikvertrags-Organisation, die nationalen Vertreter, das internationale Personal und die für die Organisation tätigen Sachverständigen
 Natur/LandschaftsPflPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Natur- und Landschaftspfleger/Geprüfte Natur- und Landschaftspflegerin
 NaturwMechAusbV 2003 Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Naturwerksteinmechaniker/zur Naturwerksteinmechanikerin
 NAV Niederspannungsanschlussverordnung oder Normalarbeitsverhältnis
 NB Notifizierte Stelle (Notified body - NB) (siehe Benannte Stelle)
 NBA Neues Begutachtungsassessment (nach § 15 SGB XI) (siehe unter Pflegebedürftigkeit)
 NBauO (NBO) Niedersächsische Bauordnung
 NBG Niedersächsisches Beamtengesetz
 NBV Norddeutsche Bundesverfassung (siehe Norddeutscher Bund)
 NC Numerus clausus oder Numerus clausus (Recht)
 NCTS New Computerized Transit System
 NDAV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für den Netzanschluss und dessen Nutzung für die Gasversorgung in Niederdruck (Niederdruckanschlussverordnung)
 NdB Netze des Bundes
 NDB Nachrichtendienst des Bundes (Schweiz) (siehe Schweizer Nachrichtendienste)
 NDBZ Neue Deutsche Beamtenzeitung (Zeitschrift)
 NDIG Niedersächsisches Gesetz über digitale Verwaltung und Informationssicherheit
 NDKontrG Nachrichtendienstekontrollgesetz (Gesetz über die parlamentarische Kontrolle nachrichtendienstlicher Tätigkeit des Bundes)
 Nds. Niedersachsen, niedersächsisch
 Nds. GVBl. Niedersächsisches Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt
 NdsLVergabeG Niedersächsisches Landesvergabegesetz
 NdsOVG Niedersächsisches Oberverwaltungsgericht
 NdsRPfl Niedersächsische Rechtspflege (Zeitschrift)
 Nds. SOG Niedersächsisches Gesetz über die öffentliche Sicherheit und Ordnung
 NdsStGH Niedersächsischer Staatsgerichtshof
 NdsVBl. Niedersächsische Verwaltungsblätter (Zeitschrift)
 NDÜV Verordnung über die Übermittlung von Auskünften an die Nachrichtendienste des Bundes (Nachrichtendienste-Übermittlungsverordnung)
 NDV Nachrichtendienst des Deutschen Vereins für öffentliche und private Fürsorge
 NDV-RD Rechtsprechungsdienst zum NDV
 NDWV Verordnung zur Festlegung von Dosiswerten für frühe Notfallschutzmaßnahmen (Notfall-Dosiswerte-Verordnung)
 ne nichtehelich
 NECP Nationaler Energie- und Klimaplan (engl.: National Energy and Climate Plan)
 NEhelG Nichtehelichengesetz (Gesetz über die rechtliche Stellung der nichtehelichen Kinder)
 nEHS Nationales Emissionshandelssystem
 NELEV Verordnung zum Nachweis von elektrotechnischen Eigenschaften von Energieanlagen (Elektrotechnische-Eigenschaften-Nachweis-Verordnung)
 NelkenwV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung von Nelkenwicklern
 NEMV (NemV) Nahrungsergänzungsmittelverordnung (Verordnung über Nahrungsergänzungsmittel)
 NEP Netzentwicklungsplan
 NetzDG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtsdurchsetzung in sozialen Netzwerken (Netzwerkdurchsetzungsgesetz)
 NetzResV Verordnung zur Regelung der Beschaffung und Vorhaltung von Anlagen in der Netzreserve (Netzreserveverordnung)
 NeuGlV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetzes nach Artikel 29 Abs. 6 des Grundgesetzes
 n.F. (auch nF) neue Fassung
 NfD nur für den Dienstgebrauch (siehe Geheimhaltungsgrad)
 NfS Nachrichten für Seefahrer
 NGefAG Niedersächsisches Gefahrenabwehrgesetz (bis Ende 2003, jetzt: Nds. SOG)
 NGG Niedersächsisches Gleichberechtigungsgesetz oder Gewerkschaft Nahrung-Genuss-Gaststätten
 NGlüSpG Niedersächsisches Glücksspielgesetz
 NGO Niedersächsische Gemeindeordnung oder Nichtregierungsorganisation ()
 NGrStG Niedersächsisches Grundsteuergesetz
 NHG Bundesgesetz über den Natur- und Heimatschutz (Schweiz) oder Niedersächsisches Hochschulgesetz
 NI Notarius International (Zeitschrift)
 NichtAnpG Gesetz über die Nichtanpassung von Amtsgehalt und Ortszuschlag der Mitglieder der Bundesregierung und der Parlamentarischen Staatssekretäre
 NIMEXE Nomenklatur für die Import- und Exportstatistiken der Europäischen Gemeinschaften (siehe KN: Kombinierte Nomenklatur)
 NIP Nettoinlandsprodukt
 NiSG Gesetz zum Schutz vor nichtionisierender Strahlung bei der Anwendung am Menschen (siehe Nichtionisierende Strahlung)
 NiSV Verordnung zum Schutz vor schädlichen Wirkungen nichtionisierender Strahlung bei der Anwendung beim Menschen
 NISV Verordnung über den Schutz vor nichtionisierender Strahlung (Schweiz)
 NJ Neue Justiz (Zeitschrift)
 NJOZ Neue Juristische Online-Zeitschrift
 NJvollzG Niedersächsisches Justizvollzugsgesetz
 NJW Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (Zeitschrift)
 NJW-RR Neue Juristische Wochenschrift – Rechtsprechungsreport
 NK Neue Kriminalpolitik. Forum für Praxis, Recht und Kriminalwissenschaften (Zeitschrift) oder Nebenkosten oder Normenkontrolle (Normenkontrollverfahren)
 NKAG Niedersächsisches Kommunalabgabengesetz
 NKomVG Niedersächsisches Kommunalverfassungsgesetz
 NKR Nationaler Normenkontrollrat
 NKRG Gesetz zur Einsetzung eines Nationalen Normenkontrollrates (siehe Nationaler Normenkontrollrat)
 NKT Normalkostentarif (Österreich)
 NKV Nährwert-Kennzeichnungsverordnung (Verordnung über nährwertbezogene Angaben bei Lebensmitteln und die Nährwertkennzeichnung von Lebensmitteln) (siehe Nährwertkennzeichnung) oder Nutzen-Kosten-Verhältnis
 NKWG Niedersächsisches Kommunalwahlgesetz
 NLF New Legislative Framework (Neues Konzept für die Produktkonformität in der Europäischen Union)
 NLMR Newsletter Menschenrechte (Zeitschrift)
 NLO Niedersächsische Landkreisordnung
 NLottG Niedersächsisches Lotteriegesetz
 NLP Nebenleistungspflicht ( Ⅱ BGB)
 NLV Neuartige Lebensmittel- und Lebensmittelzutaten-Verordnung (siehe u. a. Novel Food) oder Nettolohnvereinbarung
 NMV Verordnung über die Ermittlung der zulässigen Miete für preisgebundene Wohnungen (Neubaumietenverordnung)
 NO Notariatsordnung (Österreich)
 NOEP nicht öffentlich ermittelnde Polizeibeamte
 NOK Nord-Ostsee-Kanal
 NOK-GefAbwV Verordnung über die Gefahrenabwehr in den bundeseigenen Schleusenanlagen im Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal-Gefahrenabwehrverordnung)
 NOK-LV Verordnung über die Verwaltung und Ordnung der Seelotsreviere Nord-Ostsee-Kanal I und Nord-Ostsee-Kanal II/ Kieler Förde/ Trave/ Flensburger Förde
 NOKBefAbgV Verordnung über die Befahrungsabgaben auf dem Nord-Ostsee-Kanal
 NordÖR Zeitschrift für Öffentliches Recht in Norddeutschland
 NordSBefV Verordnung über das Befahren der Bundeswasserstraßen in Nationalparken im Bereich der Nordsee (Nordsee-Befahrensverordnung)
 NotAktVV Verordnung über die Führung notarieller Akten und Verzeichnisse
 NotBZ Zeitschrift für die notarielle Beratungs- und Beurkundungspraxis
 NotFV Verordnung über die notarielle Fachprüfung (siehe Notar)
 NotK Notarkammer
 NotLPlVbgG Gesetz zu der Vereinbarung über die Zuweisung eines Notliegeplatzes im Rahmen der Maritimen Notfallvorsorge
 NotrufV Verordnung über Notrufverbindungen
 NotSan-APrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für Notfallsanitäterinnen und Notfallsanitäter
 NotSanG Notfallsanitätergesetz
 NotV Notverordnung
 NotViKoV Verordnung über den Betrieb eines Videokommunikationssystems für notarielle Urkundstätigkeiten
 NotVPV Verordnung über das Notarverzeichnis und die besonderen elektronischen Notarpostfächer
 NoVA Normverbrauchsabgabe (Österreich)
 NP Neue Praxis (Zeitschrift) oder Nebenpflicht
 NPA Neues Polizei-Archiv (Zeitschrift)
 NPNordSBefV Verordnung über das Befahren der Bundeswasserstraßen in Nationalparken im Bereich der Nordsee
 NPO Non-Profit-Organisation (dt.: nicht gewinnorientierte Organisation)
 npoR Zeitschrift für das Recht der Non Profit Organisationen
 NpSG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Verbreitung neuer psychoaktiver Stoffe (Neue-psychoaktive-Stoffe-Gesetz)
 NPsychKG Niedersächsisches Gesetz über Hilfen und Schutzmaßnahmen für psychisch Kranke
 Nr. Nummer (in einer Aufzählungsliste in einer Norm)
 NR Nationalrat (Schweiz) (, , rät. Cussegl naziunal)
 NRG Nachbarrechtsgesetz (Gesetz über das Nachbarrecht)
 NRG Nutzungsrechtsgesetz
 nrkr nicht rechtskräftig in Deutschland oder Österreich
 NRO Nichtregierungsorganisation
 NROG Niedersächsisches Raumordnungsgesetz
 NRSG Nichtraucher-Schutzgesetz
 NRÜ Nomos Rechtsprechungsübersicht (Zeitschrift)
 NRV Neue Richtervereinigung e. V.
 NRVP Nationaler Radverkehrsplan
 NRW oder NW Nordrhein-Westfalen, nordrhein-westfälisch
 NRWO Nationalratswahlordnung
 NSAhndG Gesetz zur Ahndung nationalsozialistischer Straftaten
 NS-AufhG Gesetz zur Aufhebung nationalsozialistischer Unrechtsurteile in der Strafrechtspflege (NS-Unrechtsurteileaufhebungsgesetz)
 NS-VEntschG NS-Verfolgtenentschädigungsgesetz
 NSchG Niedersächsisches Schulgesetz oder Nachtschwerarbeitsgesetz (Österreich)
 NSG Naturschutzgebiet (Deutschland)
 NSGBefV Naturschutzgebietsbefahrensverordnung (Verordnung über das Befahren der Bundeswasserstraßen in bestimmten Naturschutzgebieten)
 NSOEBGG Gesetz über Entschädigungen für Opfer des Nationalsozialismus im Beitrittsgebiet
 NStE Neue Entscheidungssammlung für das Strafrecht
 NStZ Neue Zeitschrift für Strafrecht
 NStZ-RR Neue Zeitschrift für Strafrecht – Rechtsprechungsreport
 NSUnrUrtBesG Gesetz zur Beseitigung nationalsozialistischer Unrechtsurteile
 NSVerbG Gesetz zur Regelung der Verbindlichkeiten nationalsozialistischer Einrichtungen und der Rechtsverhältnisse an deren Vermögen
 NTS NATO-Truppenstatut
 NTSG NATO-Truppen-Schutzgesetz (Gesetz über den Schutz der Truppen des Nordatlantikpaktes durch das Straf- und Ordnungswidrigkeitenrecht)
 NtV Nebentätigkeitsverordnung
 NukHaftÜbk/AtHaftÜbkGemProtG Gesetz zu dem Gemeinsamen Protokoll vom 21. September 1988 über die Anwendung des Wiener Übereinkommens und des Pariser Übereinkommens (Gesetz zu dem Gemeinsamen Protokoll über die Anwendung des Wiener Übereinkommens und des Pariser Übereinkommens)
 NuR Natur und Recht (Zeitschrift) oder Netzwirtschaften & Recht (Zeitschrift)
 NutzEV Verordnung über eine angemessene Gestaltung von Nutzungsentgelten (Nutzungsentgeltverordnung)
 NV Niedersächsische Verfassung
 n. v. nicht veröffentlicht
 n. v. u. n. v. nicht verwandt und nicht verschwägert
 NVA Nationale Volksarmee
 NVAbstG Niedersächsisches Gesetz über Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Niedersächsisches Volksabstimmungsgesetz)
 NVB Nichtveranlagungsbescheinigung
 NVersZ Neue Zeitschrift für Versicherung und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 NVG Notarversicherungsgesetz (Österreich)
 NVOCC Non-vessel operating common carrier (dt. schiffsbuchender Verfrachter)
 NVR Nationales Fahrzeugeinstellungsregister
 NVV Atomwaffensperrvertrag, bzw. Nichtverbreitungsvertrag ()
 NvWV Verordnung über ergänzende Bestimmungen zur Nutzung nicht verfügbarer Werke nach dem Urheberrechtsgesetz und dem Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz (Nicht-verfügbare-Werke-Verordnung)
 NVwZ Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht
 NVwZ-RR Neue Zeitschrift für Verwaltungsrecht – Rechtsprechungsreport
 NW oder NRW Nordrhein-Westfalen, nordrhein-westfälisch
 NWB Neue Wirtschafts-Briefe (Zeitschrift)
 NWVBl. Nordrhein-Westfälische Verwaltungsblätter (Zeitschrift)
 NYC New Yorker Übereinkommen über die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung ausländischer Schiedssprüche (), kurz „New Yorker Übereinkommen“ bzw. „New York Convention“
 NZA Neue Zeitschrift für Arbeitsrecht (bis 1991: Neue Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Sozialrecht; Zeitschrift)
 NZA-RR Neue Zeitschrift für Arbeitsrecht – Rechtsprechungsreport (Zeitschrift)
 NZB Nationale Zentralbank oder Nichtzulassungsbeschwerde
 NZBau Neue Zeitschrift für Baurecht und Vergaberecht
 NZFam Neue Zeitschrift für Familienrecht
 NZG Neue Zeitschrift für Gesellschaftsrecht
 NZI Neue Zeitschrift für das Recht der Insolvenz und Sanierung (Zeitschrift)
 NZM Neue Zeitschrift für Miet- und Wohnungsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 NZKart Neue Zeitschrift für Kartellrecht (Zeitschrift)
 NZS Neue Zeitschrift für Sozialrecht (Zeitschrift)
 NZWehR Neue Zeitschrift für Wehrrecht
 NZWiSt Neue Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts-, Steuer- und Unternehmensstrafrecht
 NZV Netzzugangsverordnung oder Neue Zeitschrift für Verkehrsrecht
 NZZ Nebenzollzahlstelle

O 
 OAPI Afrikanische Organisation für geistiges Eigentum (Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle – OAPI)
 OAS Organisation Amerikanischer Staaten ()
 OASG Gesetz zur Sicherung der zivilrechtlichen Ansprüche der Opfer von Straftaten (Opferanspruchssicherungsgesetz)
 OB Oberbürgermeister
 OBA Oberbundesanwalt (aufgelöst; jetzt Vertreter des Bundesinteresses beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht)
 OBG Ordnungsbehördengesetz (in NRW)
 OBU On-Board-Unit (Mautsystem)
 OCG NRW Gesetz über die Zulassung von Online-Casinospielen im Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (Online-Casinospiel Gesetz NRW)
 ODR-VO Verordnung (EU) Nr. 524/2013 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 21. Mai 2013 über die Online-Beilegung verbraucherrechtlicher Streitigkeiten und zur Änderung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2006/2004 und der Richtlinie 2009/22/EG (siehe Verordnung über Online-Streitbeilegung in Verbraucherangelegenheiten)
 ODV Ortsbewegliche-Druckgeräte-Verordnung
 OECD Organisation für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung ()
 OECD-MA Inf OECD-Musterabkommen über den Informationsaustausch in Steuersachen
 OEEC Organization for European Economic Co-operation (1961 in die OECD überführt)
 OEG Opferentschädigungsgesetz oder offene Erwerbsgesellschaft (Österreich) (bis zum 31. Dezember 2006; aufgehoben durch das HaRäG. Siehe Erwerbsgesellschaft (Österreich))
 OER (OstEurR) Osteuropa-Recht (Zeitschrift)
 OEZ Observationseinheit Zoll
 OFD Oberfinanzdirektion
 OffshoreBergV Bergverordnung für das Gebiet der Küstengewässer und des Festlandsockels (Offshore-Bergverordnung)
 OG Bundesgesetz über die Organisation der Bundesrechtspflege (Schweiz) oder Oberstes Gericht der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik oder Offene Gesellschaft (Österreich) oder Obergericht
 OGAW Organismus für gemeinsame Anlagen in Wertpapieren (franz.: OPCVM – Organisme de placement collectif en valeurs mobilières; ) (siehe OGAW-Richtlinie)
 OGAWRL OGAW-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 85/611/EWG […] zur Koordinierung der Rechts- und Verwaltungsvorschriften betreffend bestimmte Organismen für gemeinsame Anlagen in Wertpapieren)
 OGErzeugerOrgDV Verordnung zur Durchführung der unionsrechtlichen Regelungen über Erzeugerorganisationen im Sektor Obst und Gemüse (Obst-Gemüse-Erzeugerorganisationendurchführungsverordnung)
 OGewV Verordnung zum Schutz der Oberflächengewässer (Oberflächengewässerverordnung)
 OGH Oberster Gerichtshof (Österreich) oder Oberster Gerichtshof für die Britische Zone
 OGHG Bundesgesetz über den Obersten Gerichtshof (Österreich)
 oHG (OHG) offene Handelsgesellschaft
 OHIM Harmonisierungsamt für den Binnenmarkt (Marken, Muster und Modelle) (kurz: HABM)
 oHvA ohne Hinterlassung von Abkömmlingen (Erbrecht)
 OIE Weltorganisation für Tiergesundheit ()
 OK Organisierte Kriminalität oder Offener Kommentar
 OKrD Oberkreisdirektor (früher in NRW)
 OLA Operational Level Agreement oder Office of Legal Affairs der UN (dt.: Bereich Rechtsangelegenheiten der UN)
 OLAF Europäisches Amt für Betrugsbekämpfung ()
 OLG Oberlandesgericht
 OLGE Sammlung der Rechtsprechung der Oberlandesgerichte
 OLGR OLG-Report (Zeitschrift)
 OLGSt Entscheidungen der Oberlandesgerichte zum Straf- und Strafverfahrensrecht
 OLGZ Entscheidungen der Oberlandesgerichte in Zivilsachen einschließlich der freiwilligen Gerichtsbarkeit
 OLSchVO Orderlagerscheinverordnung (aufgehoben durch das Transportrechtsreformgesetz 1998)
 OlympSchG Olympiaschutzgesetz (Gesetz zum Schutz des olympischen Emblems und der olympischen Bezeichnungen)
 OMC Organisation mondiale du commerce (= Welthandelsorganisation)
 OPA Oberprüfungsamt für das technische Referendariat
 OPCAT Fakultativprotokoll zum Übereinkommen gegen Folter und andere grausame, unmenschliche oder erniedrigende Behandlung oder Strafe (engl.: Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – OPCAT)
 OPCW Organisation für das Verbot chemischer Waffen (engl.: Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons)
 OPFEP Optimierte Praktische Fahrerlaubnisprüfung
 OpferRRG Opferrechtsreformgesetz (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Verletzten im Strafverfahren)
 OPS Operationen- und Prozedurenschlüssel
 OR Obligationenrecht (Schweiz)
 OrgHG Organhaftpflichtgesetz (Österreich)
 OrgKG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des illegalen Rauschgifthandels und anderer Erscheinungsformen der organisierten Kriminalität
 OrgStA Anordnung über Organisation und Dienstbetrieb der Staatsanwaltschaften
 OrgStrV Organstrafverfügungsverordnung (Österreich)
 OrgKG Organisierte-Kriminalität-Gesetz (Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des illegalen Drogenhandels und anderer Erscheinungsformen der organisierten Kriminalität)
 ORR Oberregierungsrat
 OrthoptG Gesetz über den Beruf der Orthoptistin und des Orthoptisten
 OrtsDruckV (ODV) Verordnung über ortsbewegliche Druckgeräte
 OS Offenlegungsschrift
 OSCOM Oslo-Konvention
 OSS One-Stop-Shop
 OStA Oberstaatsanwalt
 OstEurR (OER) Osteuropa-Recht (Zeitschrift)
 OStrV Arbeitsschutzverordnung zu künstlicher optischer Strahlung
 OSZE Organisation für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa
 OT ohne Tarifbindung
 OTIF Zwischenstaatliche Organisation für den internationalen Eisenbahnverkehr (französisch: Organisation intergouvernementale pour les transports internationaux ferroviaires (OTIF), englisch: Intergovernmental Organisation for International Carriage by Rail)
 OTPG Organtransplantationsgesetz (Österreich)
 OVG Oberverwaltungsgericht
 OVGE Entscheidungen der Oberverwaltungsgerichte und Verwaltungsgerichtshöfe
 o. V. i. A. oder Vertreter im Amt
 OVP Ordnung des Vorbereitungsdienstes und der Zweiten Staatsprüfung für Lehrämter an Schulen (NRW)
 OWi Ordnungswidrigkeit
 OWiG Gesetz über Ordnungswidrigkeiten
 OWVO Ordnungswidrigkeitenverordnung (Verordnung zur Bekämpfung von Ordnungswidrigkeiten)
 OZD Oberzolldirektion
 OZG Gesetz zur Verbesserung des Onlinezugangs zu Verwaltungsleistungen (Onlinezugangsgesetz)

Ö 
 öAT Zeitschrift für das öffentliche Arbeits- und Tarifrecht
 ÖÄK Österreichische Ärztekammer
 ÖBGBl. Bundesgesetzblatt für die Republik Österreich
 ÖBl Österreichische Blätter für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht (Zeitschrift)
 ö. b. u. v. öffentlich bestellt und vereidigt, siehe öffentlich bestellte und vereidigte Sachverständige
 ÖBV Öffentlich bestellter Vermessungsingenieur
 ÖGAM Österreichische Gesellschaft für Allgemeinmedizin
 ÖGB Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund
 ÖGD Öffentlicher Gesundheitsdienst
 ÖGV Österreichischer Genossenschaftsverband
 ÖJZ Österreichische Juristen-Zeitung (Zeitschrift)
 ÖkoKennzG Öko-Kennzeichengesetz (Gesetz zur Einführung und Verwendung eines Kennzeichens für Erzeugnisse des ökologischen Landbaus)
 ÖkoKennzV Öko-Kennzeichenverordnung
 ÖkoV Verordnung (EG) Nr. 834/2007 (Öko-Verordnung)
 ÖLG Öko-Landbaugesetz
 ÖLG-DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Öko-Landbaugesetzes (Öko-Landbaugesetz-Durchführungsverordnung)
 ÖlHÜ Internationales Übereinkommen vom 29. November 1969 über die zivilrechtliche Haftung für Ölverschmutzungsschäden (Ölhaftungsübereinkommen)
 ÖLMB Österreichisches Lebensmittelbuch (siehe Codex Alimentarius Austriacus)
 ÖlSG Gesetz über die Haftung und Entschädigung für Ölverschmutzungsschäden durch Seeschiffe (Ölschadengesetz)
 ÖPA Österreichisches Patentamt
 ÖPAK Österreichische Patentanwaltskammer
 ÖPG Gesetz über die Pfandbriefe und verwandten Schuldverschreibungen öffentlich-rechtlicher Kreditanstalten (aufgehoben; abgelöst durch Pfandbriefgesetz)
 ÖPNV Öffentlicher Personennahverkehr
 ÖPNRV-G 1999 Öffentlicher Personennah- und Regionalverkehrsgesetz 1999 (Österreich)
 ÖPPBeschlG Gesetz zur Beschleunigung der Umsetzung von Öffentlich Privaten Partnerschaften und zur Verbesserung gesetzlicher Rahmenbedingungen für Öffentlich Private Partnerschaften (ÖPP-Beschleunigungsgesetz)
 ÖPUL Österreichisches Programm für umweltgerechte Landwirtschaft
 ÖPP Öffentlich Private Partnerschaft
 ÖR Öffentliches Recht, öffentlich-rechtlich
 ÖRAK Österreichischer Rechtsanwaltskammertag
 ÖRegV Öffentlichkeitsregisterverordnung (Liechtenstein)
 ÖRK Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz
 ÖROK Österreichische Raumordnungskonferenz
 ÖSPV Öffentlicher Straßenpersonennahverkehr
 österr österreichisch
 ÖStZ Österreichische Steuerzeitung (Zeitschrift)
 ÖTZ Österreichische Technische Zulassung
 ÖV Österreichische Vereinigung für gewerblichen Rechtsschutz und Urheberrecht
 ÖZPR Österreichische Zeitschrift für Pflegerecht
 ÖZW Österreichische Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht

P 
 PA Prüfungsausschuss
 PACE Parlamentarische Versammlung des Europarates
 PachtkredG Pachtkreditgesetz
 PackmAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Packmitteltechnologen und zur Packmitteltechnologin
 PackungsV Verordnung über die Bestimmung und Kennzeichnung von Packungsgrößen für Arzneimittel in der vertragsärztlichen Versorgung (Packungsverordnung) (siehe Packungsgrößenkennzeichnung)
 PAG Polizeiaufgabengesetz (in Bayern oder in Thüringen oder in Brandenburg) oder Patentanwaltsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Pensionsanpassungsgesetz 2020 (Österreich)
 Pal Palandt (Gesetzeskommentar)
 PAngV Preisangabenverordnung
 PAO Patentanwaltsordnung
 PAO157Abs2DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 157 Absatz 2 der Patentanwaltsordnung
 PapKuVerarbIndMeistPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Industriemeister/Geprüfte Industriemeisterin – Fachrichtung Papier- und Kunststoffverarbeitung
 PaPkG Preisangaben- und Preisklauselgesetz
 PapTechAusbV 2010 Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Papiertechnologen/zur Papiertechnologin
 ParkettlAusbV 2002 Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Parkettleger/zur Parkettlegerin
 ParkettlMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Parkettleger-Handwerk
 ParlBG Gesetz über die parlamentarische Beteiligung bei der Entscheidung über den Einsatz bewaffneter Streitkräfte im Ausland (Parlamentsbeteiligungsgesetz)
 ParlG Parlamentsgesetz (Schweiz)
 ParlStG Gesetz über die Rechtsverhältnisse der parlamentarischen Staatssekretäre
 ParlVV Parlamentsverwaltungsverordnung (Schweiz)
 ParteienG Parteiengesetz
 ParteiG Parteiengesetz (siehe Gesetz über die politischen Parteien)
 PartG Parteiengesetz (siehe Gesetz über die politischen Parteien) oder Partnerschaftsgesetz (Schweiz)
 PartGG Gesetz über Partnerschaftsgesellschaften Angehöriger Freier Berufe (Partnerschaftsgesellschaftsgesetz)
 PartGmbB Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mit beschränkter Berufshaftung
 PartGGuaÄndG Gesetz zur Einführung einer Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mit beschränkter Berufshaftung und zur Änderung des Berufsrechts der Rechtsanwälte, Patentanwälte, Steuerberater und Wirtschaftsprüfer
 PassDEÜV Verordnung zur Erfassung und Qualitätssicherung des Lichtbildes und der Fingerabdrücke in den Passbehörden und der Übermittlung der Passantragsdaten an den Passhersteller
 PassG (PaßG) Passgesetz
 PassV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Passgesetzes (Passverordnung)
 PatAnwG Patentanwaltsgesetz (Österreich)
 PatAnwO (auch PatAO oder PAO) Patentanwaltsordnung (siehe Patentanwalt)
 PatAnwAPO Patentanwaltsausbildungs- und Prüfungsordnung (siehe Patentassessor)
 PatBeteiligungsV Verordnung zur Beteiligung von Patientinnen und Patienten in der Gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Patientenbeteiligungsverordnung) (siehe auch bei Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten)
 PatG Patentgesetz oder Patentgesetz (Österreich)
 PatGG Bundesgesetz vom 20. März 2009 über das Bundespatentgericht (Patentgerichtsgesetz) (Schweiz)
 PatK Patentanwaltskammer
 PatKostG Patentkostengesetz (Gesetz über die Kosten des Deutschen Patent- und Markenamts und des Bundespatentgerichts)
 PatRG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechte von Patientinnen und Patienten (Patientenrechtegesetz)
 PatV Patentverordnung (Verordnung zum Verfahren in Patentsachen vor dem Deutschen Patent- und Markenamt)
 PatVG Patientenverfügungs-Gesetz (Österreich)
 PAuswG (PersAuswG) Personalausweisgesetz
 PAuswGebV Personalausweisgebührenverordnung
 PAuswV Verordnung über Personalausweise, eID-Karten für Unionsbürger und Angehörige des Europäischen Wirtschaftsraums und den elektronischen Identitätsnachweis (Personalausweisverordnung)
 PB Polizeibezirk oder Polizeiliche Beobachtung oder Persönliches Budget oder Pflegebudget
 PBeaKK Postbeamtenkrankenkasse
 PBefAusglV Verordnung über den Ausgleich gemeinwirtschaftlicher Leistungen im Straßenpersonenverkehr
 PBefG Personenbeförderungsgesetz (Deutschland)
 PBG Personenbeförderungsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Planungsbeschleunigungsgesetz
 PBLEntgV Postbankleistungsentgeltverordnung
 PBV Verordnung über die Rechnungs- und Buchführungspflichten der Pflegeeinrichtungen (Pflege-Buchführungsverordnung)
 PBZugV Berufszugangsverordnung für den Straßenpersonenverkehr
 PCBAbfallV Verordnung über die Entsorgung polychlorierter Biphenyle, polychlorierter Terphenyle und halogenierter Monomethyldiphenylmethane (PCB/PCT-Abfallverordnung)
 PCT Vertrag über die Internationale Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet des Patentwesens (kurz Patent-Zusammenarbeitsvertrag oder PCT, nach )
 PCTAO Ausführungsordnung zum Vertrag über die internationale Zusammenarbeit auf dem Gebiet des Patentwesens
 PD Polizeidirektion
 PDK Prüfdienst Krankenversicherung im Bundesamt für Soziale Sicherung
 PDLV Postdienstleistungsverordnung (siehe u. a. Postreform)
 PDSV Postdienste-Datenschutzverordnung
 PECL Grundregeln des Europäischen Vertragsrechts („Principles of European Contract Law“)
 PED Pressure Equipment Directive (Richtlinie 97/23/EG über Druckgeräte)
 PEG Private-Equity-Gesellschaft (siehe Private Equity)
 PEI Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Bundesinstitut für Impfstoffe und biomedizinische Arzneimittel
 PEL Principles of European Law
 PER Präsident des Europäischen Rates
 PersAuswG Personalausweisgesetz
 PersR Personalrat oder Der Personalrat (Zeitschrift)
 PersV Die Personalvertretung. Fachzeitschrift des gesamten Personalwesens für Personalvertretungen und Dienststellen
 PersVG Personalvertretungsgesetz
 PFA Polizei-Führungsakademie (aufgehoben; jetzt Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei)
 PfandBarwertV Verordnung über die Sicherstellung der jederzeitigen Deckung von Hypothekenpfandbriefen, Öffentlichen Pfandbriefen, Schiffspfandbriefen und Flugzeugpfandbriefen nach dem Barwert und dessen Berechnung bei Pfandbriefbanken (Pfandbrief-Barwertverordnung)
 PfandBG Pfandbriefgesetz
 PfandlV Pfandleiherverordnung
 PfandMeldeV Verordnung über pfandbriefrechtliche Meldungen (Pfandbrief-Meldeverordnung)
 PfG NW Gesetz zur Umsetzung des Pflege-Versicherungsgesetzes (Landespflegegesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 PflAFinV Verordnung über die Finanzierung der beruflichen Ausbildung nach dem Pflegeberufegesetz sowie zur Durchführung statistischer Erhebungen (Pflege-Ausbildungsfinanzierungsverordnung)
 PflAPrV Pflegeausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung
 PflAV Pflichtablieferungs-Verordnung in Deutschland oder in Österreich; Verordnung über die Ablieferung von Medienwerken an die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek bzw. die Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
 PflBestSchV Verordnung zum Schutz von Beständen zur Erzeugung oder zum Erhalt von Obstanbaumaterial sowie Erwerbsobstbeständen vor besonderen unionsgeregelten Nicht-Quarantäneschadorganismen (Pflanzenbeständeschutzverordnung)
 PflBG Gesetz über die Pflegeberufe (Pflegeberufegesetz)
 PflBRefG Gesetz zur Reform der Pflegeberufe (Pflegeberufereformgesetz)
 PflegeArbbV Verordnung über zwingende Arbeitsbedingungen für die Pflegebranche (Pflegearbeitsbedingungenverordnung) (siehe Mindestarbeitsbedingungen (Pflegebranche))
 PflegeVG Pflegeversicherungsgesetz
 PflegeWEG Pflege-Weiterentwicklungsgesetz
 PflegeZG Pflegezeitgesetz
 PflKartV Pflanzkartoffelverordnung
 PflR Pflegerecht (Zeitschrift)
 PflSchAnwV Pflanzenschutzanwendungsverordnung (Verordnung über Anwendungsverbote für Pflanzenschutzmittel)
 PflSchG Pflanzenschutzgesetz
 PflSchMGebV Pflanzenschutzmittel-Gebührenverordnung
 PflSchMGV Verordnung über Pflanzenschutzmittel und Pflanzenschutzgeräte (Pflanzenschutzmittelverordnung)
 PflSchSachkV Pflanzenschutz-Sachkundeverordnung
 PflVG (PflVersG) Pflichtversicherungsgesetz
 PflZV Verordnung über einen Vorschuss bei der Inanspruchnahme von Familienpflegezeit oder Pflegezeit (Pflegezeitvorschussverordnung nach § 7 Abs. 7 BBesG)
 PFV Planfeststellungsverfahren oder Personenfeststellungsverfahren
 pFV positive Forderungsverletzung (siehe positive Vertragsverletzung)
 PfWG Pflege-Weiterentwicklungsgesetz
 PG Personengesellschaft oder Postgesetz (Schweiz)
 PGR Personen- und Gesellschaftsrecht (Liechtenstein)
 PGV Verordnung der Bundesministerin für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales über die Untergrenzen einer großen Menge (Grenzmengen) bezüglich der psychotropen Stoffe (Psychotropen-Grenzmengenverordnung) (Österreich)
 pHG persönlich haftender Gesellschafter
 PHG Produkthaftungsgesetz (Österreich)
 PHi
 PHK Polizeihauptkommissar oder Pflegehilfskraft
 PHV Privathaftpflichtversicherung
 PI Polizeiinspektion oder Polizeiinspektion (Österreich)
 PIZ Patentinformationszentrum
 PJZS Polizeiliche und justizielle Zusammenarbeit in Strafsachen (engl.: police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters (PJCCM), franz.: coopération policière et judiciaire en matière pénale (CPJMP))
 PK Polizeikommissariat (Deutschland) oder Polizeikommissariat (Österreich) oder Polizeikommissar oder Praxis-Kommentar oder Pflegekosten (siehe Pflegesatz) oder Pflegekasse
 PKBG Bundesgesetz über die Pensionskasse des Bundes (Schweiz)
 PKG Pensionskassengesetz (siehe Pensionskasse#Österreich) oder Parlamentarisches Kontrollgremium
 PKGr Parlamentarisches Kontrollgremium
 PKGrG Gesetz über die parlamentarische Kontrolle nachrichtendienstlicher Tätigkeit des Bundes (Kontrollgremiumgesetz)
 PKH Prozesskostenhilfe
 PKHFV Verordnung zur Verwendung eines Formulars für die Erklärung über die persönlichen und wirtschaftlichen Verhältnisse bei Prozess- und Verfahrenskostenhilfe
 PKW-EnVKV Verordnung über Verbraucherinformationen zu Kraftstoffverbrauch, CO2-Emissionen und Stromverbrauch neuer Personenkraftwagen (PKW-Energieverbrauchskennzeichnungsverordnung)
 PKV Private Krankenversicherung
 PKZ Personenkennzeichen (siehe Steuer-Identifikationsnummer#Vorläufer und europäische Entsprechungen oder Personenkennzahl, DDR)
 PlanSiG Gesetz zur Sicherstellung ordnungsgemäßer Planungs- und Genehmigungsverfahren während der COVID-19-Pandemie (Plansicherstellungsgesetz)
 Plan-UP Plan-Umweltprüfung (siehe Strategische Umweltprüfung)
 PlanzV Verordnung über die Ausarbeitung der Bauleitpläne und die Darstellung des Planinhalts (Planzeichenverordnung)
 PLC Public Limited Company
 PlfZV Verordnung über die Zuweisung der Planfeststellung für länderübergreifende und grenzüberschreitende Höchstspannungsleitungen auf die Bundesnetzagentur (Planfeststellungszuweisungverordnung)
 PlVereinfG Gesetz zur Vereinfachung der Planungsverfahren für Verkehrswege (Planungsvereinfachungsgesetz)
 PlVereinhG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Öffentlichkeitsbeteiligung und Vereinheitlichung von Planfeststellungsverfahren
 PLZ Postleitzahl
 PM Polizeimeister(in) oder Pressemitteilung
 PMElekPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfter Prozessmanager Elektrotechnik und Geprüfte Prozessmanagerin Elektrotechnik (Certified Process Manager - Electric/Electronics)
 PMMA Protokoll zum Madrider Abkommen über die internationale Registrierung von Marken (siehe Madrider Abkommen über die internationale Registrierung von Marken#Protokoll zum Madrider Abkommen über die internationale Registrierung von Marken (PMMA))
 PMMPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Prozessmanager - Mikrotechnologie und Geprüfte Prozessmanagerin - Mikrotechnologie (Certified Process Manager - Microtechnology)
 PNG Pflege-Neuausrichtungs-Gesetz
 PNUPZV Verordnung über Leistungsprämien und -zulagen für Beamtinnen und Beamte der Postnachfolgeunternehmen
 PodAPrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für Podologinnen und Podologen
 PodG Gesetz über den Beruf der Podologin und des Podologen (Podologengesetz) (siehe Podologie)
 POG Polizeiorganisationsgesetz (z. B. in NRW) oder Polizei- und Ordnungsbehördengesetz
 POGRP Polizei- und Ordnungsbehördengesetz Rheinland-Pfalz
 POK Polizeioberkommissar
 POLAS POLizeiAuskunftsSystem (POLAS)
 PolBTLV Verordnung über die Laufbahnen des Polizeivollzugsdienstes beim Deutschen Bundestag
 PolG Polizeigesetz
 PolierPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfter Polier und Geprüfte Polierin
 PolioV Verordnung zur Vernichtung und zum Laborcontainment des Poliovirus Typ 3
 PolstAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Polsterer und zur Polsterin (Polstererausbildungsverordnung)
 Polst/DekoAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Polster- und Dekorationsnäher/zur Polster- und Dekorationsnäherin
 PolVBDVorgV Verordnung zu § 82 des Bundesdisziplinargesetzes
 PolZusuaVtrCHEG Gesetz zu den Verträgen vom 27. April 1999 und 8. Juli 1999 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft über grenzüberschreitende polizeiliche Zusammenarbeit, Auslieferung, Rechtshilfe sowie zu dem Abkommen vom 8. Juli 1999 zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft über Durchgangsrechte
 POP-Abfall-ÜberwV Verordnung über die Getrenntsammlung und Überwachung von nicht gefährlichen Abfällen mit persistenten organischen Schadstoffen
 POR Polizei- und Ordnungsrecht
 PortalV Verordnung zu den Voraussetzungen und dem Verfahren der Zulassung von in nicht öffentlich-rechtlicher Form betriebenen Portalen zur Durchführung von einfachen Melderegisterauskünften über das Internet (Portalverordnung)
 PornoG Pornographiegesetz (Österreich)
 POS Point Of Sale
 PostAnwAbk 1984 Postanweisungs- und Postreisescheckabkommen
 PostAnwÜbkVollzO Vollzugsordnung zum Postanweisungsübereinkommen
 Post-AZV Verordnung über die Arbeitszeit der Beamtinnen und Beamten bei der Deutschen Post AG
 PostBATZV Verordnung über die Bewilligung von Altersteilzeit und die Gewährung eines Altersteilzeitzuschlags für die Beamtinnen und Beamten bei der Deutschen Post AG
 PostCom Postkommission (Schweiz) (franz.: La Commission de la poste, ital.: La Commissione federale delle poste)
 PostG Postgesetz
 PostG-ÜbertrV Verordnung zur Übertragung der Befugnis zum Erlass einer Rechtsverordnung nach § 18a des Postgesetzes
 PostgiroAbk Postgiroabkommen
 PostgiroÜbkVollzO Vollzugsordnung zum Postgiroübereinkommen
 PostLEntgV Verordnung über die Gewährung von Leistungsentgelten an Beamtinnen und Beamte bei der Deutschen Post AG
 PostLV Verordnung über die Laufbahnen der Beamtinnen und Beamten im Geltungsbereich des Postpersonalrechtsgesetzes (Postlaufbahnverordnung)
 PostnachnAbk 1984 Postnachnahmeabkommen
 PostnachnÜbkVollzO Vollzugsordnung zum Postnachnahmeübereinkommen
 PostPakAbk 1984 Postpaketabkommen
 PostPakÜbkVollzO Vollzugsordnung zum Postpaketübereinkommen
 PostPersRG Gesetz zum Personalrecht der Beschäftigten der früheren Deutschen Bundespost (Postpersonalrechtsgesetz)
 PostSchliV Verordnung zur Regelung des Verfahrens der außergerichtlichen Streitbeilegung bei der Schlichtungsstelle Post der Bundesnetzagentur für Elektrizität, Gas, Telekommunikation, Post und Eisenbahnen (Post-Schlichtungsverordnung)
 PostSparAbk 1984 Postsparkassenabkommen
 PostUmwG Gesetz zur Umwandlung der Unternehmen der Deutschen Bundespost in die Rechtsform der Aktiengesellschaft
 PostZahlÜbk Postzahlungsdienste-Übereinkommen
 PostZtgAbk 1984 Postzeitungsabkommen
 pp. per Prokura, auch ppa., (Zusatz vor Unterschriften in Vertretung für einen Vollkaufmann durch einen Prokuristen)
 PP Polizeipräsidium
 ppa. per Prokura, auch pp., (Zusatz vor Unterschriften in Vertretung für einen Vollkaufmann durch einen Prokuristen)
 PPDAV Verordnung zu automatisierten Datenabrufen aus den Pass- und Personalausweisregistern
 PPR Pflegepersonal-Regelung
 PpSG Gesetz zur Stärkung des Pflegepersonals (Pflegepersonal-Stärkungsgesetz)
 PPÜ Postpaketübereinkommen
 PPUG Pflegepersonaluntergrenze
 PpUGV Pflegepersonaluntergrenzen-Verordnung (siehe auch bei Pflegepersonal-Stärkungsgesetz)
 PPV Private Pflegeversicherung oder Pädiatrische Palliativversorgung
 PQsG Pflege-Qualitätssicherungsgesetz
 Pr. Preußen, preußisch
 PR Partnerschaftsregister oder Personalrat oder Privatrecht
 Präs. Präsident
 PräsLG Präsident des Landgerichts
 PräsOLG Präsident des Oberlandesgerichts
 PräzwMechMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Präzisionswerkzeugmechaniker-Handwerk
 PrALR Preußisches Allgemeines Landrecht
 prEG Gesetz über die Eisenbahn-Unternehmungen (Preußisches Eisenbahngesetz)
 PreisG Übergangsgesetz über Preisbildung und Preisüberwachung
 PreisklauselG (PrkG) Gesetz über das Verbot der Verwendung von Preisklauseln bei der Bestimmung von Geldschulden (Preisklauselgesetz) (siehe Wertsicherungsklausel)
 PreisStatG Gesetz über die Preisstatistik
 PresseratG Gesetz zur Gewährleistung der Unabhängigkeit des vom Deutschen Presserat eingesetzten Beschwerdeausschusses
 PRev Revisionspraxis – Journal für Revisoren, Wirtschaftsprüfer, IT-Sicherheits- und Datenschutzbeauftragte (Zeitschrift)
 PRG Patientenrechtegesetz
 PrGS Preußische Gesetzessammlung
 PrHaushStatG Gesetz über die Statistik der Wirtschaftsrechnungen privater Haushalte
 PrHG Bundesgesetz über die Produktehaftpflicht (Schweiz)
 PrisenGO Prisengerichtsordnung
 PrisenO Prisenordnung
 PrkG Gesetz über das Verbot der Verwendung von Preisklauseln bei der Bestimmung von Geldschulden (Preisklauselgesetz)
 PrKultbG Gesetz zur Errichtung einer Stiftung „Preußischer Kulturbesitz“ und zur Übertragung von Vermögenswerten des ehemaligen Landes Preußen auf die Stiftung
 PrKultbSaV Verordnung über die Satzung der Stiftung „Preußischer Kulturbesitz“
 PrKV Preisklauselverordnung (aufgehoben; jetzt PrKG)
 PrLagerhBeihV Verordnung über die Gewährung von Beihilfen für die private Lagerhaltung bestimmter Milcherzeugnisse
 PRM Personen mit Behinderung und eingeschränkter Mobilität ()
 PRM-VO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1107/2006 über die Rechte von behinderten Flugreisenden (EU-Flugverordnung)
 ProblBinSchR Probleme des Binnenschifffahrtsrechts (Zeitschrift)
 ProdGewStatG Gesetz über die Statistik im Produzierenden Gewerbe
 ProdHaftG Produkthaftungsgesetz (Deutschland)
 ProdMechTextAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Produktionsmechaniker-Textil/zur Produktionsmechanikerin-Textil
 ProdSG Gesetz über die Bereitstellung von Produkten auf dem Markt (Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Deutschland))
 ProdSV Verordnung zum Produktsicherheitsgesetz
 ProdTechAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Produktionstechnologen/zur Produktionstechnologin
 ProMechG Projekt-Mechanismen-Gesetz (Gesetz über projektbezogene Mechanismen nach dem Protokoll von Kyoto zum Rahmenübereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen über Klimaänderungen vom 11. Dezember 1997)
 Prot. Protokoll(e)
 ProtErklG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Protokollerklärung der Bundesregierung zur Vermittlungsempfehlung zum Gesetz zum Abbau von Steuervergünstigungen und Ausnahmeregelungen (Steuervergünstigungsabbaugesetz - StVergAbG) („Korb II-Gesetz“)
 ProstAV Verordnung über das Verfahren zur Anmeldung einer Tätigkeit als Prostituierte oder Prostituierte
 ProstG Gesetz zur Regelung der Rechtsverhältnisse von Prostituierten (Prostitutionsgesetz)
 ProstSchG Gesetz zum Schutz von in der Prostitution tätigen Personen (Prostituiertenschutzgesetz)
 ProstStatV Verordnung über die Führung einer Bundesstatistik nach dem Prostituiertenschutzgesetz
 ProTechPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Prozessmanager – Produktionstechnologie/ Geprüfte Prozessmanagerin – Produktionstechnologie
 PrOVG Preußisches Oberverwaltungsgericht
 ProViDa Police-Pilot-System
 PrSG Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Schweiz)
 PRTR-V Verordnung zum Register über die Freisetzung von Schadstoffen sowie den Transfer von Abfällen und von Schadstoffen in Abwasser (Schweiz)
 PrüfbV Verordnung über die Prüfung der Jahresabschlüsse der Kreditinstitute und Finanzdienstleistungsinstitute sowie über die darüber zu erstellenden Berichte
 PrüflabV Verordnung über die Akkreditierung von Prüflaboratorien als Voraussetzung für die Zulassung privater Gegenprobensachverständiger für die Untersuchung von Proben
 PrüfV Verordnung über den Inhalt der Prüfungsberichte zu den Jahresabschlüssen und den Solvabilitätsübersichten von Versicherungsunternehmen
 PrümVtr Vertrag zwischen dem Königreich Belgien, der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, dem Königreich Spanien, der Französischen Republik, dem Großherzogtum Luxemburg, dem Königreich der Niederlande und der Republik Österreich über die Vertiefung der grenzüberschreitenden Zusammenarbeit, insbesondere zur Bekämpfung des Terrorismus, der grenzüberschreitenden Kriminalität und der illegalen Migration (Prümer Vertrag)
 PrümVtrAG Ausführungsgesetz zum Prümer Vertrag und zum Ratsbeschluss Prüm
 PrüVOFortkfmBf Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfter Fachmann für kaufmännische Betriebsführung nach der Handwerksordnung und Geprüfte Fachfrau für kaufmännische Betriebsführung nach der Handwerksordnung
 PRV Verordnung über die Einrichtung und Führung des Partnerschaftsregisters
 PrVerwBl Preußisches Verwaltungsblatt
 PrZBrGleichstV Verordnung zur Gleichstellung von Prüfungszeugnissen der Berufsfachschulen für Bürokaufleute, Bürogehilfinnen und Teilezurichter in Bremen mit den Zeugnissen über das Bestehen der Abschlußprüfung in Ausbildungsberufen
 PS Personensorge oder Pferdestärken oder Patentschrift
 PSA Personal-Service-Agentur oder Persönliche Schutzausrüstung
 PSA-BV PSA-Benutzungsverordnung
 PSA-DG Gesetz zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EU) 2016/425 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 9. März 2016 über persönliche Schutzausrüstungen (PSA) und zur Aufhebung der Richtlinie 89/686/EWG des Rates (PSA-Durchführungsgesetz)
 PSD I Erste Zahlungsdienste-Richtlinie der EG (siehe Zahlungsdiensterecht)
 PSD II Zweite Zahlungsdienste-Richtlinie der EU (siehe Zahlungsdiensterecht)
 PSG Privatstiftungsgesetz (Österreich), siehe (Stiftung) oder Produktsicherheitsgesetz (Österreich) oder Pflegestärkungsgesetze oder Gesetz zur Sicherstellung von Postdienstleistungen in besonderen Fällen (Postsicherstellungsgesetz)
 PStS Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär (siehe Parlamentarischer Staatssekretär)
 PStG Personenstandsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Personenstandsgesetz (Österreich)
 PStTG Gesetz über die Meldepflicht und den automatischen Austausch von Informationen meldender Plattformbetreiber in Steuersachen
 PStV Personenstandsverordnung
 PStR Praxis Steuerstrafrecht (Zeitschrift)
 PStRG Personenstandsrechtsreformgesetz
 PStTG Gesetz über die Meldepflicht und den automatischen Austausch von Informationen meldender Plattformbetreiber in Steuersachen (Plattformen-Steuertransparenzgesetz)
 PSV Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein
 PSVaG Pensions-Sicherungs-Verein Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit (PSVaG)
 PsychHG Gesetz zur Hilfe und Unterbringung von Menschen mit Hilfebedarf infolge psychischer Störungen (Schleswig-Holstein)
 PsychKG Psychisch-Kranken-Gesetz
 PsychKG LSA Gesetz über Hilfen für psychisch Kranke und Schutzmaßnahmen des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt
 PsychKG M-V Gesetz über Hilfen und Schutzmaßnahmen für Menschen mit psychischen Krankheiten (Psychischkrankengesetz  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
 PsychKG NRW Gesetz über Hilfen und Schutzmaßnahmen bei psychischen Krankheiten (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 PsychKHG Gesetz über Hilfen und Schutzmaßnahmen bei psychischen Krankheiten (Psychisch-Kranken-Hilfe-Gesetz Baden-Württemberg) oder Landesgesetz über Hilfen bei psychischen Erkrankungen (Rheinland-Pfalz) oder Psychisch-Kranken-Hilfe-Gesetz (Hessen)
 PsychKVVerbG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der ambulanten und teilstationären Versorgung psychisch Kranker
 PsychotrStÜbk Übereinkommen von 1971 über psychotrope Stoffe
 PsychPbG Gesetz über die psychosoziale Prozessbegleitung im Strafverfahren
 Psych-PV (PsychPV) Psychiatrie-Personalverordnung (Verordnung über Maßstäbe und Grundsätze für den Personalbedarf in der stationären Psychiatrie)
 PsychThApprO Approbationsordnung für Psychotherapeutinnen und Psychotherapeuten
 PsychThG Gesetz über den Beruf der Psychotherapeutin und des Psychotherapeuten (Psychotherapeutengesetz)
 PsychTh-APrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für Psychologische Psychotherapeuten
 PsychThV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für den Besuch von Ausbildungsstätten für Psychotherapie und Kinder- und Jugendlichenpsychotherapie
 PSZ Projekt Strukturentwicklung Zoll
 PTA Pharmazeutisch-technischer Assistent
 PTA-APrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für pharmazeutisch-technische Assistentinnen und pharmazeutisch-technische Assistenten
 PTAG Gesetz über den Beruf der pharmazeutisch-technischen Assistentin und des pharmazeutisch-technischen Assistenten
 PTB Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt
 PTBBGebV Besondere Gebührenverordnung für individuell zurechenbare öffentliche Leistungen der Physikalisch-Technischen Bundesanstalt
 PTBS Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung (engl.: posttraumatic stress disorder - PTSD)
 PTNeuOG Postneuordnungsgesetz
 PTO United States Patent and Trademark Office
 PTSG Post- und Telekommunikationssicherstellungsgesetz
 PTStiftG Gesetz zur Errichtung einer Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation
 PTT Post- und Telekommunikationsunternehmen
 PUA Parlamentarischer Untersuchungsausschuss
 PUAG Untersuchungsausschussgesetz
 PublG Gesetz über die Rechnungslegung von bestimmten Unternehmen und Konzernen (Publizitätsgesetz) oder Publikationsgesetz (Schweiz)
 Publica Pensionskasse des Bundes PUBLICA (Schweiz)
 PudlV Postuniversaldienstleistungsverordnung
 PUEG Gesetz zur Unterstützung und Entlastung in der Pflege (Pflegeunterstützungs- und -entlastungsgesetz)
 PüG Preisüberwachungsgesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Preisüberwacher)
 PUK Parlamentarische Untersuchungskommission (Schweiz)
 PV Prozessbevollmächtigter oder Parteivertreter oder Pflegeversicherung (Deutschland) oder Patientenverfügung oder Psychotropenverordnung (Österreich) oder Pflichtverletzung
 PVAufhAnO Anordnung über die Aufhebung von Rechtsvorschriften auf dem Gebiet der freiwilligen Personenversicherungen der Bürger
 PVB Personalverband des Bundes (Schweiz) (franz. , ital. ) oder Polizeivollzugsbeamter
 PVBger Personalverordnung des Bundesgerichts (Schweiz)
 PVR Praxis Verkehrsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 PVÜ Pariser Verbandsübereinkunft zum Schutz des gewerblichen Eigentums
 PVÜG Gesetz zu den am 24. Juli 1971 in Paris unterzeichneten Übereinkünften auf dem Gebiet des Urheberrechts
 pVV positive Vertragsverletzung
 PW Personenwagen (Schweiz) (siehe Personenkraftwagen) oder Personenwoche (siehe Personenstunde) oder Polizeiwachtmeister (ein früherer Dienstgrad der Polizei)
 PWMAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Präzisionswerkzeugmechaniker und zur Präzisionswerkzeugmechanikerin
 PWV Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband
 PZU Postzustellungsurkunde

Q 
 QES Qualifizierte elektronische Signatur
 QM Qualitätsmanagement
 QMS Qualitätsmanagementsystem
 QPR Qualitätsprüfungs-Richtlinien (z.B. nach § 114 SGB XI)
 QRL Richtlinie 2011/95/EU (Qualifikationsrichtlinie)
 QS Qualitätssicherung
 QS-Ri QP Richtlinien des GKV-Spitzenverbandes zur Qualitätssicherung der Qualitätsprüfungen nach §§ 114 ff. SGB XI
 QSV Qualitätssicherungsvereinbarung
 QuID (QUID) Quantitative Ingredients Declaration (Mengenkennzeichnung von Lebensmitteln)
 QZ Qualität und Zuverlässigkeit (Zeitschrift)

R 
 R Rex oder Regina im englischen Strafrecht
 RA Rechtsanwalt
 RAA Rat für Allgemeine Angelegenheiten der EU (engl.: ) oder Rechtsanwaltsanwärter (Österreich)
 RAB Rat für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten der EU (engl.: ) oder Regeln zum Arbeitsschutz auf Baustellen
 RabelsZ Rabels Zeitschrift für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht
 RADLR (RADLRL) Rechtsanwaltsdienstleistungsrichtlinie
 RAINWAT Regionale Vereinbarung über den Binnenschifffahrtsfunk (engl.: )
 RAK Rechtsanwaltskammer oder Rechtsanwaltskammer (Österreich)
 RAL RAL Deutsches Institut für Gütesicherung und Kennzeichnung oder Richtlinien für die Anlage von Landstraßen
 RANLR (RANLRL) Rechtsanwaltsniederlassungsrichtlinie
 RAO Rechtsanwaltsordnung (Österreich) oder Reichsabgabenordnung
 RAPEX Rapid Exchange of Information System der EU
 RAS Richtlinien für die Anlage von Straßen
 RATG Rechtsanwaltstarifgesetz (Österreich)
 RaumausMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Raumausstatter-Handwerk (Raumausstattermeisterverordnung)
 RAuskÜbkZProtG Gesetz zum Zusatzprotokoll vom 15. März 1978 zum Europäischen Übereinkommen betreffend Auskünfte über ausländisches Recht
 RAV Republikanischer Anwältinnen- und Anwälteverein oder Regionales Arbeitsvermittlungszentrum (Schweiz)
 RAVPV Verordnung über die Rechtsanwaltsverzeichnisse und die besonderen elektronischen Anwaltspostfächer
 RAW Recht Automobil Wirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 RAZEignPrV Verordnung über die Eignungsprüfung für die Zulassung zur Rechtsanwaltschaft
 RB Rechtsbeistand oder Rahmenbeschluss oder Regierungsbezirk
 RBBau Richtlinien für die Durchführung von Bauaufgaben des Bundes
 RBD Recht, Bibliothek, Dokumentation (Zeitschrift)
 RBEG Regelbedarfs-Ermittlungsgesetz
 RBerG Rechtsbereinigungsgesetz oder Rechtsberatungsgesetz
 RBG Reichsbürgergesetz
 RBP Rahmenbetriebsplan
 RBSFV Regelbedarfsstufen-Fortschreibungsverordnung zum Regelbedarfs-Ermittlungsgesetz
 RBStV (auch RBeitrStV) Rundfunkbeitragsstaatsvertrag
 RBÜ Revidierte Berner Übereinkunft (siehe Berner Übereinkunft zum Schutz von Werken der Literatur und Kunst)
 RD Regierungsdirektor oder Regionaldirektion
 RdA Recht der Arbeit (Zeitschrift)
 RDB Rechtsdatenbank
 RdE Recht der Energiewirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 RdErl Runderlass
 RdF Recht der Finanzinstrumente (Zeitschrift)
 RDG Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz oder Rechtsdepesche für das Gesundheitswesen (Zeitschrift) oder Rettungsdienstgesetz (eines Bundeslandes, z. B. HmbRDG)
 RDGEG Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz-Einführungsgesetz (Einführungsgesetz zum Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz)
 RDi Recht digital (Zeitschrift)
 RdJB Zeitschrift „Recht der Jugend und des Bildungswesens“
 RdL Recht der Lebenshilfe (Zeitschrift) oder Recht der Landwirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 Rdnr. Randnummer
 RdR Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung
 RdTW Recht der Transportwirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 RDV Rechtsdienstleistungsverordnung (Verordnung zum Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz) oder Recht der Datenverarbeitung (Zeitschrift für Datenschutz-, Informations- und Kommunikationsrecht)
 RDW Österreichisches Recht der Wirtschaft
 RdZ Recht der Zahlungsdienste (Zeitschrift) oder Randzahl
 REACH Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1907/2006 (REACH) (= EU-Chemikalienverordnung) (REACH steht für )
 ReblV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung der Reblaus
 RechKredV Verordnung über die Rechnungslegung der Kreditinstitute und Finanzdienstleistungsinstitute (Kreditinstituts-Rechnungslegungsverordnung)
 RechPensV Verordnung über die Rechnungslegung von Pensionsfonds (Pensionsfonds-Rechnungslegungsverordnung)
 RechtspflegerG (RpflG) Rechtspflegergesetz
 RechVersV Versicherungsunternehmens-Rechnungslegungsverordnung
 RED Renewable Energies Directive (dt.: Erneuerbare-Energien-Richtlinie)  (siehe Richtlinie 2009/28/EG (Erneuerbare-Energien-Richtlinie))
 RED-G Gesetz zur Errichtung einer standardisierten zentralen Datei von Polizeibehörden und Nachrichtendiensten von Bund und Ländern zur Bekämpfung des gewaltbezogenen Rechtsextremismus (Rechtsextremismus-Datei-Gesetz)
 REE Recht der Erneuerbaren Energien (Zeitschrift)
 Ref Referendar oder Referendariat oder Reform
 RefE Referentenentwurf
 RefiRegV Verordnung über die Form des Refinanzierungsregisters nach dem Kreditwesengesetz sowie die Art und Weise der Aufzeichnung (Refinanzierungsregisterverordnung)
 RegBl. Regierungsblatt
 RegE Regierungsentwurf
 RegelBetrV Regelbetrag-Verordnung
 RegelsatzVO Regelsatzverordnung
 RegG Gesetz zur Regionalisierung des öffentlichen Personennahverkehrs (Regionalisierungsgesetz)
 RegVBG Gesetz zur Vereinfachung und Beschleunigung registerrechtlicher und anderer Verfahren (Registerverfahrenbeschleunigungsgesetz)
 Reha Rehabilitation
 ReiseRÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung reiserechtlicher Vorschriften
 REITG REIT-Gesetz
 RelKErzG Gesetz über die religiöse Kindererziehung
 REMIT Verordnung (EU) Nr. 1227/2011 über die Integrität und Transparenz des Energiegroßhandelsmarkts (REMIT) (engl.: Regulation on wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency; Akronym REMIT)
 ReNo Rechtsanwalts- und Notarfachangestellter
 RENO Deutsche Vereinigung der Rechtsanwalts- und Notariatsangestellten
 ReNoPatAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildungen zum Rechtsanwaltsfachangestellten und zur Rechtsanwaltsfachangestellten, zum Notarfachangestellten und zur Notarfachangestellten, zum Rechtsanwalts- und Notarfachangestellten und zur Rechtsanwalts- und Notarfachangestellten sowie zum Patentanwaltsfachangestellten und zur Patentanwaltsfachangestellten* (ReNoPat-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 RenoPatAusb-FachEigV Verordnung über die fachliche Eignung für die Berufsausbildung der Fachangestellten in Rechtsanwalt- und Patentanwaltschaft, Notariat und bei Rechtsbeiständen
 RennwLottAB Ausführungsbestimmungen zum Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz
 RennwLottG Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz
 RentEPPG Gesetz zur Zahlung einer Energiepreispauschale für Rentnerinnen und Rentner (Rentenbeziehende-Energiepreispauschalengesetz)
 RentSV Verordnung über die Wahrnehmung von Aufgaben der Träger der Rentenversicherung und anderer Sozialversicherungsträger durch den Renten Service der Deutschen Post AG (Renten Service Verordnung)
 ResKVAbLaV Verordnung zur Regelung der Beschaffung und Vorhaltung von Anlagen in der Netzreserve (Reservekraftwerksverordnung)
 RestSchBÄndG Gesetz zur weiteren Verkürzung des Restschuldbefreiungsverfahrens und zur Anpassung pandemiebedingter Vorschriften im Gesellschafts-, Genossenschafts-, Vereins- und Stiftungsrecht sowie im Miet- und Pachtrecht
 RettAPO Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für Rettungssanitäter und Rettungshelfer (NRW)
 RettAssAPrV Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsverordnung für Rettungsassistentinnen und Rettungsassistenten
 RettAssG Rettungsassistentengesetz
 RettDG Rettungsdienstgesetz (eines Bundeslandes; z. B. RettDG LSA)
 RettG Rettungsgesetz (eines Bundeslandes)
 RettSanAPrV Verordnung über die Ausbildung und Prüfung von Rettungssanitätern (Rettungssanitäterausbildungsverordnung) (MV)
 RettungsG Gesetz zur Rettung von Unternehmen zur Stabilisierung des Finanzmarktes (Rettungsübernahmegesetz)
 RezPG Rezeptpflichtgesetz (Österreich)
 RF Rechtsfolge
 RfA Reichsversicherungsanstalt für Angestellte
 RfB Rückstellung für Beitragsrückerstattung
 RFG (RiFG) Richter am Finanzgericht
 RFinStV Rundfunkfinanzierungsstaatsvertrag
 RFRL Richtlinie 2008/115/EG (Rückführungsrichtlinie)
 RfStV Rundfunkstaatsvertrag
 RG Reichsgericht oder Reichsgericht (Österreich) oder Reformgesetz oder Rechtsgrund
 Rg Rechtsgeschichte. Zeitschrift des Max-Planck-Instituts für Rechtsgeschichte und Rechtstheorie
 RGBl. Reichsgesetzblatt (Deutschland) oder Reichsgesetzblatt (Österreich)
 RGebStV Rundfunkgebührenstaatsvertrag (aufgehoben; abgelöst durch Rundfunkbeitragsstaatsvertrag - RBStV)
 RGRE Rat der Gemeinden und Regionen Europas
 RGRK Reichsgerichtsrätekommentar zum BGB
 RGSt Entscheidungen des Reichsgerichts in Strafsachen (amtliche Sammlung)
 RGZ Entscheidungen des Reichsgerichts in Zivilsachen (amtliche Sammlung)
 RH Rechnungshof (Österreich)
 RHB Rote-Hand-Brief
 RheinPatV Verordnung über die Erteilung von Patenten für den Rhein (Rheinpatentverordnung)
 RheinSchPersEV Verordnung zur Einführung der Verordnung über das Schiffspersonal auf dem Rhein (Rheinschiffspersonaleinführungsverordnung)
 RheinSchPersV Verordnung über das Schiffspersonal auf dem Rhein (Schiffspersonalverordnung-Rhein)
 RheinSchPV Rheinschifffahrtspolizeiverordnung
 RheinSchUO Rheinschifffahrtsuntersuchungsordnung
 RHmV Rückstands-Höchstmengenverordnung
 Rh-Pf. (RhPf oder RP) Rheinland-Pfalz, rheinland-pfälzisch
 Ri Richter
 RiA Recht im Amt. Zeitschrift für den öffentlichen Dienst
 RiAA Richteramtsanwärter (Österreich)
 RiAG Richter am Amtsgericht
 RiArbG Richter am Arbeitsgericht
 RiBAG Richter am Bundesarbeitsgericht
 RiBGH Richter am Bundesgerichtshof
 RiBPatG Richter am Bundespatentgericht
 RiBSG Richter am Bundessozialgericht
 RID Regelung für die internationale Eisenbahnbeförderung gefährlicher Güter (Anhang C 1999 zum COTIF) (siehe Übereinkommen über den internationalen Eisenbahnverkehr)
 RidoHiMi Richtlinien zur Festlegung der doppelfunktionalen Hilfsmittel
 RiFlEtikettG Rindfleischetikettierungsgesetz
 RiJGG Richtlinien zum Jugendgerichtsgesetz (Deutschland)
 RiLG Richter am Landgericht
 RiLi Richtlinie oder Richtlinie (EU)
 RiLSA Richtlinien für Lichtsignalanlagen
 RiOLG Richter am Oberlandesgericht
 RIS Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes (in Österreich)
 RiStBV Richtlinien für das Straf- und Bußgeldverfahren
 RIV Regolamento Internazionale Veicoli (Übereinkommen über die gegenseitige Benutzung von Güterwagen im internationalen Verkehr)
 RiVASt Richtlinien für den Verkehr mit dem Ausland in strafrechtlichen Angelegenheiten (vgl. Rechtshilfe)
 RIW Recht der Internationalen Wirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 RK Reparaturkosten
 RKG Rotkreuzgesetz (Bundesgesetz über die Anerkennung des Österreichischen Roten Kreuzes und den Schutz des Zeichens des Roten Kreuzes)
 RKI Robert Koch-Institut, Bundesinstitut für Infektionskrankheiten und nicht übertragbare Krankheiten
 RL Richtlinie
 RL-BA Richtlinie über die Berufsausübung der Rechtsanwälte und Rechtsanwaltsanwärter (Österreich)
 RLJGG Richtlinien zum Jugendgerichtsgesetz (Deutschland)
 RLV Regelleistungsvolumen oder Richtlinien-Verordnung (Österreich)
 RMB Rechtsmittelbelehrung (siehe Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung)
 RMBl. Reichsministerialblatt
 RMI Reichsministerium des Innern
 RMK Raumentwicklungsministerkonferenz
 RMS Referenzmitgliedstaat
 Rn. Randnummer
 RNotZ Rheinische Notar-Zeitschrift
 RöV Röntgenverordnung
 ROG Raumordnungsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Salzburger Raumordnungsgesetz
 ROHG Reichsoberhandelsgericht
 ROHGE Entscheidungen des Reichsoberhandelsgerichts
 RohrFLtgV Verordnung über Rohrfernleitungsanlagen (Rohrfernleitungsverordnung)
 ROV Raumordnungsverordnung oder Raumordnungsverfahren
 ROW Recht in Ost und West (Zeitschrift)
 RP Regierungspräsident (Deutschland) oder Regierungspräsident (Schweiz) oder Regierungspräsidium oder Rheinland-Pfalz
 RPA Rechnungsprüfungsamt
 Rpfl Rechtspfleger
 Rpfleger Der Deutsche Rechtspfleger (Zeitschrift)
 RPflegeBw Rechtspflege der Bundeswehr
 RPflG Rechtspflegergesetz
 RPG Reichspreßgesetz (Deutschland), Raumplanungsgesetz (Schweiz), Rechtspraktikantengesetz (Österreich)
 RPV Regionaler Planungsverband
 RR Regierungsrat (Deutschland) oder ein Ehrentitel Regierungsrat (Österreich) oder Kantonsregierung (Schweiz) oder Rotterdam-Regeln (ein völkerrechtlicher Vertrag aus dem Seehandelsrecht) (siehe Haager Regeln) oder Vollzugsordnung für den Funkdienst (engl.: )
 RRa Zeitschrift „Reiserecht aktuell“
 RRef Rechtsreferendar oder Rechtsreferendariat
 RRG Rentenreformgesetz
 Rs. Rechtssache oder Rechtssache (Bezeichnung der Entscheidungen des EuGH)
 RSA Risikostrukturausgleich
 RSanV Verordnung über die Tätigkeit als Rettungssanitäter (Bayern)
 RSAV Verordnung über das Verfahren zum Risikostrukturausgleich in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung (Risikostruktur-Ausgleichsverordnung) (siehe Risikostrukturausgleich)
 RSchOG Reichsschiffahrtsobergericht
 RsDE Beiträge zum Recht der sozialen Dienste und Einrichtungen (Zeitschrift)
 RSE Richtlinien zur Durchführung der Gefahrgutverordnung Straße und Eisenbahn (GGVSE-Durchführungsrichtlinien)
 RSEB Richtlinien zur Durchführung der Gefahrgutverordnung Straße, Eisenbahn und Binnenschifffahrt (siehe RSE)
 RSK Reaktor-Sicherheitskommission
 RSO Rechtssicherungs-Ordnung (Liechtenstein)
 Rspr. Rechtsprechung
 RsprEinhG Gesetz zur Wahrung der Einheitlichkeit der Rechtsprechung der obersten Gerichtshöfe des Bundes (siehe Gemeinsamer Senat der obersten Gerichtshöfe des Bundes)
 RStDG Richter- und Staatsanwaltschaftsdienstgesetz (Österreich)
 RStruktFV Restrukturierungsfonds-Verordnung
 RStV Rundfunkstaatsvertrag
 RSV Regelsatzverordnung oder Rechtsschutzversicherung oder Reisebürosicherungsverordnung (Österreich) (siehe Reiserecht#International)
 RTR Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (Österreich)
 RTVG Bundesgesetz über Radio- und Fernsehen (Schweiz) (siehe Bundesamt für Kommunikation)
 RüFüRL Richtlinie 2008/115/EG (Rückführungsrichtlinie)
 RüstAltFG Rüstungsaltlastenfinanzierungsgesetz (vgl. auch Altlast)
 RuP Recht und Politik (Zeitschrift) oder Recht und Psychiatrie (Zeitschrift) (siehe Recht & Psychiatrie) oder Recht und Praxis (Zeitschrift) oder Restschuldversicherung bei Ratenkrediten
 RuStAG Reichs- und Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (siehe Deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit)
 RV Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung (Deutschland) oder Reichsverfassung oder Rechtsverordnung oder Regierungsvorlage (Österreich)
 RVÄndG Rentenversicherungsänderungsgesetz
 RVG Rechtsanwaltsvergütungsgesetz oder Reichsverwaltungsgericht
 RVO Rechtsverordnung oder Reichsversicherungsordnung
 RVOG Regierungs- und Verwaltungsorganisationsgesetzes (Schweiz)
 RVS Rollfuhrversicherungsschein
 RVT Rentenversicherungsträger
 RVZ Revierzentrale (zur Überwachung der Binnenschifffahrt auf einzelnen Abschnitten)
 RW Restwert; Rechtswissenschaft (Zeitschrift)
 RWBestV 2023 Verordnung zur Bestimmung der Rentenwerte in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherung und zur Bestimmung weiterer Werte zum 1. Juli 2023
(Rentenwertbestimmungsverordnung 2023) (siehe Aktueller Rentenwert)
 RWP (RwP) Rechts- und Wirtschaftspraxis (Zeitschrift)
 Rz Randzeichen
 r+s Recht und Schaden

S 
 S. Satz oder Seite
 s. A. samt Anhang
 SA Sozialarbeiter (siehe Soziale Arbeit)
 SaarGlV Verordnung über die Gleichstellung von aus dem Saargebiet verdrängten Deutschen
 Saarl. Saarland, saarländisch
 SaarVtr Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Französischen Republik zur Regelung der Saarfrage
 SaarVtrG Gesetz über den Vertrag zwischen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und der Französischen Republik zur Regelung der Saarfrage
 SaatArtVerzV Verordnung über das Artenverzeichnis zum Saatgutverkehrsgesetz
 SaatAufzV Saatgutaufzeichnungsverordnung
 SaatBeihV Saatgutbeihilfeverordnung
 SaatEinfMeldV Verordnung über die Meldung und Vorführung von Saatgut bei der Einfuhr
 SaatG (SaatVerkG) Saatgutverkehrsgesetz
 SaAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Sattler/zur Sattlerin
 SaatV Verordnung über den Verkehr mit Saatgut landwirtschaftlicher Arten und von Gemüsearten (Saatgutverordnung (Deutschland))
 SachBezV Verordnung über den Wert der Sachbezüge in der Sozialversicherung (Sachbezugsverordnung)
 SachenRÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung sachenrechtlicher, grundbuchrechtlicher und anderer Vorschriften
 SachenRBerG Gesetz zur Sachenrechtsbereinigung im Beitrittsgebiet (Sachenrechtsbereinigungsgesetz)
 SachenR-DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Grundbuchbereinigungsgesetzes und anderer Vorschriften auf dem Gebiet des Sachenrechts
 Sachs. Sachsen
 SachvPrüfV Verordnung über die Prüfung des Jahresabschlusses und des Lageberichts von Versicherungsunternehmen durch einen unabhängigen Sachverständigen (Sachverständigenprüfverordnung)
 SachvRatG Gesetz über die Bildung eines Sachverständigenrates zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung
 sächs. sächsisch
 SächsBRKG Sächsisches Gesetz über den Brandschutz, Rettungsdienst und Katastrophenschutz
 SächsFFG Gesetz zur Förderung von Frauen und der Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf im öffentlichen Dienst im Freistaat Sachsen (Sächsisches Frauenförderungsgesetz)
 SächsFG Sächsisches Feiertagsgesetz
 SächsGemO Sächsische Gemeindeordnung
 SächsHG Sächsisches Hochschulgesetz (bis zum 31. Dezember 2008) (siehe Landeshochschulgesetz)
 SächsHSFG Sächsisches Hochschulfreiheitsgesetz () (siehe Landeshochschulgesetz)
 SächsHSG Sächsisches Hochschulgesetz (1. Januar 2009 bis 17. November 2012) (siehe Landeshochschulgesetz)
 SächsJG Sächsisches Justizgesetz (Gesetz über die Justiz im Freistaat Sachsen)
 SächsJOrgVO Verordnung des Sächsischen Staatsministeriums der Justiz über die Organisation der Justiz (Sächsische Justizorganisationsverordnung)
 SächsMedHygVO Verordnung der Sächsischen Staatsregierung über die Hygiene und Infektionsprävention in medizinischen Einrichtungen
 SächsPBG Sächsisches Polizeibehördengesetz
 SächsPolG Polizeigesetz des Freistaates Sachsen
 SächsPsychKG Sächsisches Gesetz über die Hilfen und die Unterbringung bei psychischen Krankheiten
 SächsPVDG Sächsisches Polizeivollzugsdienstgesetz
 SächsTranspG Gesetz über die Transparenz von Informationen im Freistaat Sachsen (Sächsisches Transparenzgesetz)
 SächsVBl. Sächsische Verwaltungsblätter
 SächsVerf Verfassung des Freistaates Sachsen
 SächsVergabeDVO Sächsische Vergabedurchführungsverordnung
 SächsVergabeG Gesetz über die Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge im Freistaat Sachsen (Sächsisches Vergabegesetz)
 SächsVSG Sächsisches Verfassungsschutzgesetz
 SächsWG Sächsisches Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetz)
 SÄG Seerechtsänderungsgesetz
 SaDV Sammelantrags-Datenträger-Verordnung
 SAE Sammlung Arbeitsrechtlicher Entscheidungen (Deutschland)
 SAG Gesetz zur Sanierung und Abwicklung von Instituten und Finanzgruppen
 SAM Strukturanpassungsmaßnahme
 SANCO Generaldirektion Gesundheit und Verbraucher der Europäischen Kommission
 SanDVergV Verordnung über die Vergütung für Bereitschaftsdienst und Rufbereitschaft im Sanitätsdienst in Bundeswehrkrankenhäusern
 SanG Sanierungshilfengesetz
 SanInsFoG Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung des Sanierungs- und Insolvenzrechts
 SanInsKG Gesetz zur vorübergehenden Anpassung sanierungs- und insolvenzrechtlicher Vorschriften zur Abmilderung von Krisenfolgen (Sanierungs- und Insolvenzrechtliches Krisenfolgenabmilderungsgesetz)
 SanktDG Gesetz zur Durchsetzung von wirtschaftlichen Sanktionsmaßnahmen (Sanktionsdurchsetzungsgesetz)
 SanOAAusbGV Verordnung über das Ausbildungsgeld für Sanitätsoffizier-Anwärterinnen und -Anwärter (Sanitätsoffizieranwärter-Ausbildungsgeldverordnung)
 SAPPV Spezialisierte ambulante pädiatrische Palliativversorgung
 SAPV Spezialisierte ambulante Palliativversorgung
 SAR Sozialhilfe- und Asylbewerberleistungsrecht
 SaRegG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Samenspenderregisters und zur Regelung der Auskunftserteilung über den Spender nach heterologer Verwendung von Samen (Samenspenderregistergesetz)
 SARSCoV2AMVV Verordnung über Abweichungen von den Vorschriften des Fünften Buches Sozialgesetzbuch, des Apothekengesetzes, der Apothekenbetriebsordnung, der Arzneimittelpreisverordnung, des Betäubungsmittelgesetzes und der Betäubungsmittel-Verschreibungsverordnung infolge der SARS-CoV-2-Epidemie (SARS-CoV-2-Arzneimittelversorgungsverordnung)
 SAS Schweizerische Akkreditierungsstelle (franz. , ital. )
 SatDSiG Gesetz zum Schutz vor Gefährdung der Sicherheit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland durch das Verbreiten von hochwertigen Erdfernerkundungsdaten (Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz)
 SatDSiV Verordnung zum Satellitendatensicherheitsgesetz
 SatellitÜbk Übereinkommen über die Verbreitung der durch Satelliten übertragenen programmtragenden Signale
 SatellitÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 21. Mai 1974 über die Verbreitung der durch Satelliten übertragenen programmtragenden Signale
 SattlFeintMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Sattler- und Feintäschner-Handwerk
 SaubFahrzeugBeschG Gesetz über die Beschaffung sauberer Straßenfahrzeuge (Saubere-Fahrzeuge-Beschaffungs-Gesetz)
 SaZ Soldat auf Zeit
 SAZV Verordnung über die Arbeitszeit der Soldatinnen und Soldaten (Soldatenarbeitszeitverordnung)
 SB Schutzbereich
 SBAuVO Sonderbauverordnung (z.B. in NRW)
 SBF Sportbootführerschein Binnen oder Sportbootführerschein See oder Staatssekretariat für Bildung und Forschung (Schweiz)
 SBF Binnen Sportbootführerschein Binnen
 SBF See Sportbootführerschein See
 SBG Soldatinnen- und Soldatenbeteiligungsgesetz
 SBGG Gesetz über die Selbstbestimmung in Bezug auf den Geschlechtseintrag
 SBGWV Wahlverordnung zum Soldatinnen- und Soldatenbeteiligungsgesetz
 SBkBG Gesetz über die Staatsbank Berlin
 SBkBÜblG Gesetz über die Überleitung der Staatsbank Berlin
 SBV (SchwbV) Schwerbehindertenvertretung
 SBZ Sowjetische Besatzungszone
 SCE Europäische Genossenschaft (lat.: Societas Cooperativa Europaea)
 SCEAG Gesetz zur Ausführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1435/2003 des Rates vom 22. Juli 2003 über das Statut der Europäischen Genossenschaft (SCE)
 SCEBG Gesetz über die Beteiligung der Arbeitnehmer und Arbeitnehmerinnen in einer Europäischen Genossenschaft
 SchadRegProt Protokoll über Schadstofffreisetzungs- und -verbringungsregister
 SchadRegProtAG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Protokolls über Schadstofffreisetzungs- und -verbringungsregister vom 21. Mai 2003 sowie zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 166/2006
 SchädlBekAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Schädlingsbekämpfer/zur Schädlingsbekämpferin
 SchaEVZG Gesetz über eine staatliche Vorauszahlung an durch Straftaten geschädigte Bürger (Schadenersatzvorauszahlungsgesetz)
 SchAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung bestimmter Bedingungen in der Seeschifffahrt an den internationalen Standard
 ScharkaV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung der Scharka-Krankheit
 SchauAusnV Vierte Verordnung über Ausnahmen von straßenverkehrsrechtlichen Vorschriften (Schausteller-Ausnahmeverordnung)
 SchauHV Verordnung über die Haftpflichtversicherung für Schausteller (Schaustellerhaftpflichtverordnung)
 SchaumwZwStG Gesetz zur Besteuerung von Schaumwein und Zwischenerzeugnissen (siehe Schaumweinsteuer)
 SchaumwZwStV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Schaumwein- und Zwischenerzeugnissteuergesetzes
 SchAusnahmeV Verordnung zur Regelung von Erleichterungen und Ausnahmen von Schutzmaßnahmen zur Verhinderung der Verbreitung von COVID-19 (COVID-19-Schutzmaßnahmen-Ausnahmenverordnung)
 SchAusrV Schiffsausrüstungsverordnung
 SchBauG Gesetz über bauliche Maßnahmen zum Schutz der Zivilbevölkerung (Schutzbaugesetz)
 SchBerG Schutzbereichsgesetz (Gesetz über die Beschränkung von Grundeigentum für die militärische Verteidigung)
 SchBesV Schiffsbesetzungsverordnung
 SchBFrdFlaggV Verordnung über die Besatzung von Schiffen unter fremder Flagge
 SchBG Schiffsbankgesetz (aufgehoben; abgelöst durch Pfandbriefgesetz)
 SchBrÜbkG Gesetz betreffend das Internationale Übereinkommen über die Gewährung einer Entschädigung für Arbeitslosigkeit infolge von Schiffbruch
 SchErsRÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung schadensersatzrechtlicher Vorschriften
 ScheckG Scheckgesetz
 SchenkMG Schenkungsmeldegesetz (Österreich)
 SchfAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Schornsteinfeger und zur Schornsteinfegerin
 SchfHwG Gesetz über das Berufsrecht und die Versorgung im Schornsteinfegerhandwerk (Schornsteinfeger-Handwerksgesetz)
 SchG Schulgesetz oder Schifffahrtsgericht
 SchGeschUV Verordnung über die Übermittlung schiffahrtsgeschäftlicher Unterlagen an ausländische Stellen
 SchGG Schutzgebietsgesetz
 SchHaltHygV Verordnung über hygienische Anforderungen beim Halten von Schweinen (Schweinehaltungshygieneverordnung)
 SchiedsAmtsO Verordnung über die Schiedsämter für die vertragsärztliche (vertragszahnärztliche) Versorgung (Schiedsamtsverordnung)
 SchiedsG Gesetz über die Schiedsstellen in den Gemeinden
 SchiedsVZ Zeitschrift für Schiedsverfahren
 SchiffsBelWertV Verordnung über die Ermittlung der Beleihungswerte von Schiffen und Schiffsbauwerken nach § 24 Abs. 1 bis 3 des Pfandbriefgesetzes (Schiffsbeleihungswertermittlungsverordnung)
 SchiffsRegG Gesetz über Rechte an eingetragenen Schiffen und Schiffsbauwerken (Schiffsregistergesetz) (siehe Schiffsregister)
 SchildV Verordnung zur Bekämpfung der San-Jose-Schildlaus
 SchiLichtrMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Schilder- und Lichtreklamehersteller-Handwerk
 SchKfmAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Schifffahrtskaufmann/zur Schifffahrtskauffrau
 SchKG Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursgesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht) oder Gesetz zur Vermeidung und Bewältigung von Schwangerschaftskonflikten (Schwangerschaftskonfliktgesetz)
 SchKiSpV Verordnung über die Schüler- und Kinderspeisung
 SchlärmschG Gesetz zum Verbot des Betriebs lauter Güterwagen (Schienenlärmschutzgesetz)
 SchleusV Verordnung über den Betrieb der Schleusenanlagen im Bereich des Nord-Ostsee-Kanals, des Achterwehrer Schifffahrtskanals, des Gieselau-Kanals und der Eider
 SchlG Schlichtungsgesetz (Gesetz zur obligatorischen außergerichtlichen Streitschlichtung)
 SchLHeimÜbkG Gesetz betreffend das Internationale Übereinkommen über die Heimschaffung der Schiffsleute
 SchLichtReklAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Schilder- und Lichtreklamehersteller und zur Schilder- und Lichtreklameherstellerin
 SchlichtVerfV Schlichtungsstellenverfahrensverordnung
 SchlTSchÜbk Europäisches Übereinkommen über den Schutz von Schlachttieren
 SchlTSchÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Europäischen Übereinkommen vom 10. Mai 1979 über den Schutz von Schlachttieren
 SchlussFinG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Sondervermögens „Vorsorge für Schlusszahlungen für inflationsindexierte Bundeswertpapiere“ (Schlusszahlungsfinanzierungsgesetz)
 SchnellLG Gesetz über die Bereitstellung flächendeckender Schnellladeinfrastruktur für reine Batterieelektrofahrzeuge (Schnellladegesetz)
 SchOffzAusbV Schiffsoffizier-Ausbildungsverordnung (aufgehoben zum 1. Juni 2014; ersetzt durch See-BV – Seeleute-Befähigungsverordnung)
 SchOG Schifffahrtsobergericht (siehe Schifffahrtsgericht) oder Schulorganisationsgesetz (Österreich)
 SchoMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Schornsteinfeger-Handwerk
 SchRegDV Verordnung zur Durchführung der Schiffsregisterordnung
 SchRegG (auch SchRG) Gesetz über Rechte an eingetragenen Schiffen und Schiffsbauwerken (Schiffsregistergesetz) (siehe Schiffsregister)
 SchRegO Schiffsregisterordnung (siehe Schiffsregister)
 SchRG Gesetz über Rechte an eingetragenen Schiffen und Schiffsbauwerken (Schiffsregistergesetz) (siehe Schiffsregister)
 SchRGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Gesetzes über Rechte an eingetragenen Schiffen und Schiffsbauwerken, der Schiffsregisterordnung und des Gesetzes über die Zwangsversteigerung und die Zwangsverwaltung
 SchriSeMstrV Verordnung über das Berufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen im praktischen und im fachtheoretischen Teil der Meisterprüfung für das Schriftsetzer-(Buchdrucker-)Handwerk
 Schrott-UStV Schrott-Umsatzsteuerverordnung (Österreich)
 SchrZAbkG Gesetz zum Wiener Abkommen vom 12. Juni 1973 über den Schutz typographischer Schriftzeichen und ihre internationale Hinterlegung (Schriftzeichengesetz)
 SchSG Schiffssicherheitsgesetz
 SchSiAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zur Fachkraft für Schutz und Sicherheit
 SchSiHafV Verordnung über die Schutz- und Sicherheitshäfen, die Häfen der Deutschen Marine und der Bundespolizei der Bundesrepublik Deutschland an Seeschifffahrtsstraßen
 SchSiMeistPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Meister/Geprüfte Meisterin für Schutz und Sicherheit
 SchSiServAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zur Servicekraft für Schutz und Sicherheit
 SchSprAnerkÜbk Übereinkommen über die Anerkennung und Vollstreckung ausländischer Schiedssprüche
 SchStV Verordnung über die Schiedsstelle für Arzneimittelversorgung und die Arzneimittelabrechnung (Schiedsstellenverordnung)
 SchSV Schiffssicherheitsverordnung
 SchuFV Schuldnerverzeichnisführungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Führung des Schuldnerverzeichnisses) ab dem 1. Januar 2013 gemäß § 882 b ZPO n. F.
 SchuhfAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Schuhfertiger und zur Schuhfertigerin
 SchuhmMstrV Verordnung über die Meisterprüfung in den Teilen I und II im Schuhmacher-Handwerk (Schuhmachermeisterverordnung)
 SchuldBBerG Gesetz zur Behandlung von Schuldbuchforderungen gegen die ehemalige Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR-Schuldbuchbereinigungsgesetz)
 SchuldMitüG Gesetz zur Mitübernahme der Schulden des Erblastentilgungsfonds, des Bundeseisenbahnvermögens sowie des Ausgleichsfonds zur Sicherung des Steinkohleneinsatzes in die Bundesschuld (Schuldenmitübernahmegesetz)
 SchuldRAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung schuldrechtlicher Nutzungsverhältnisse an Grundstücken im Beitrittsgebiet (Schuldrechtanpassungsgesetz)
 SchuldSaarUmstV Verordnung über die Umstellung von Schuldverhältnissen und dinglichen Rechten im Saarland
 SchulG Schulgesetz
 SchulObG Gesetz zur Durchführung gemeinschaftsrechtlicher Vorschriften über das Schulobstprogramm (Schulobstgesetz) (siehe Schulobstprogramm)
 SchulversucheV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für den Besuch von Ausbildungsstätten, an denen Schulversuche durchgeführt werden
 SchUnfDatG Schiffsunfalldatenbankgesetz
 SchuTSEV Verordnung zum Schutz von öffentlichen Telekommunikationsnetzen und Sende- und Empfangsfunkanlagen, die in definierten Frequenzbereichen zu Sicherheitszwecken betrieben werden (Sicherheitsfunk-Schutzverordnung)
 SchuV Verordnung über die Erfüllung von Entschädigungs- und Ausgleichsleistungsansprüchen durch Begebung und Zuteilung von Schuldverschreibungen des Entschädigungsfonds (Schuldverschreibungsverordnung)
 SchuVAbdrV Verordnung über den Bezug von Abdrucken aus dem Schuldnerverzeichnis (Schuldnerverzeichnisabdruckverordnung)
 SchuVVO Schuldnerverzeichnisverordnung
 SchVerschrFrdWäG Gesetz über Fremdwährungs-Schuldverschreibungen
 SchVG Gesetz über Schuldverschreibungen aus Gesamtemissionen (Schuldverschreibungsgesetz)
 SchVw SchulVerwaltung (Fachzeitschrift)
 SchVG Schuldverschreibungsgesetz (Gesetz über Schuldverschreibungen aus Gesamtemissionen) oder Schülervertretungsgesetz
 SchwarmfdPV Verordnung zur Ausgestaltung der Prüfungen nach § 32f des Wertpapierhandelsgesetzes bei Schwarmfinanzierungsdienstleistern nach der Verordnung (EU) 2020/1503 (Schwarmfinanzierungsdienstleister-Prüfungsverordnung)
 SchwarzArbG Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Schwarzarbeit und illegalen Beschäftigung)
 SchwAV Schwerbehindertenausgleichsabgabeverordnung
 SchwbAwV Schwerbehindertenausweisverordnung
 SchwbBAG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Arbeitslosigkeit Schwerbehinderter
 SchwbG Schwerbehindertengesetz (jetzt SGB IX)
 SchwbV (SBV) Schwerbehindertenvertretung
 SchwbVWO Wahlordnung Schwerbehindertenvertretungen
 SchwFamG Gesetz zum Schutz des vorgeburtlichen/werdenden Lebens, zur Förderung einer kinderfreundlicheren Gesellschaft, für Hilfen im Schwangerschaftskonflikt und zur Regelung des Schwangerschaftsabbruchs (Schwangeren- und Familienhilfegesetz), siehe → Schwangerschaftskonfliktgesetz
 SchwG Schwurgericht
 SchwHKlV Verordnung über gesetzliche Handelsklassen für Schweineschlachtkörper (Schweineschlachtkörper-Handelsklassenverordnung)
 SchwPestMonV Verordnung zur Durchführung eines Monitorings auf das Virus der Klassischen und der Afrikanischen Schweinepest bei Wild- und Hausschweinen (Schweinepest-Monitoring-Verordnung)
 SchwPestV Verordnung zum Schutz gegen die Schweinepest und die Afrikanische Schweinepest (Schweinepest-Verordnung)
 SchwSalmoV Verordnung zur Verminderung der Salmonellenverbreitung durch Schlachtschweine (Schweine-Salmonellen-Verordnung)
 SchZusStrZustÜbk Internationales Übereinkommen zur Vereinheitlichung von Regeln über die strafgerichtliche Zuständigkeit bei Schiffszusammenstößen und anderen mit der Führung eines Seeschiffes zusammenhängenden Ereignissen
 SchZusZZustÜbk Internationales Übereinkommen zur Vereinheitlichung von Regeln über die zivilgerichtliche Zuständigkeit bei Schiffszusammenstößen
 SCIP Substances of Concern In articles as such or in complex objects (Products) (siehe SCIP-Datenbank)
 SCOTUS Oberster Gerichtshof der Vereinigten Staaten (engl.: )
 SCPA Semiconductor Chip Protection Act von 1984 in den Vereinigten Staaten
 SDB Sicherheitsdatenblatt
 SDDSG Suchdienstedatenschutzgesetz
 SdK Schutzgemeinschaft der Kapitalanleger
 SdL Soziale Sicherheit in der Landwirtschaft (Zeitschrift) oder Schadensersatz statt der Leistung (§ ff. BGB)
 SDLWindV Verordnung zu Systemdienstleistungen durch Windenergieanlagen (Systemdienstleistungsverordnung)
 SDR Verordnung über die Beförderung gefährlicher Güter auf der Straße (Schweiz)
 SDSRV Schriftenreihe des deutschen Sozialrechtsverbandes
 SdT Stand der Technik
 SDÜ Schengener Durchführungsübereinkommen (siehe Schengener Abkommen)
 SE Europäische Gesellschaft (lat.: Societas Europaea) oder Schadensersatz oder Sondereigentum
 SEA Schadensersatzanspruch
 SEAG Gesetz zur Ausführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2157/2001 des Rates vom 8. Oktober 2001 über das Statut der Europäischen Gesellschaft (SE) (SE-Ausführungsgesetz)
 SEBG Gesetz über die Beteiligung der Arbeitnehmer in einer Europäischen Gesellschaft (SE-Beteiligungsgesetz)
 SECO Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft (Schweiz) (franz. , ital. )
 SEDDiktStiftG Gesetz über die Errichtung einer Stiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur
 SeeAnlG Seeanlagengesetz
 SeeAnlV Seeanlagenverordnung (aufgehoben, abgelöst zum 1. Januar 2017 durch das Seeanlagengesetz)
 SeeArbG Seearbeitsgesetz
 SeeArbÜV Verordnung über die Überprüfung der Einhaltung der Arbeits- und Lebensbedingungen auf Schiffen (Seearbeitsüberprüfungs-Verordnung)
 See-ArbZNV Verordnung betreffend die Übersicht über die Arbeitsorganisation und die Arbeitszeitnachweise in der Seeschifffahrt (See-Arbeitszeitnachweisverordnung)
 SeeAufgG Seeaufgabengesetz (Gesetz über die Aufgaben des Bundes auf dem Gebiet der Seeschifffahrt)
 See-BAV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung in der Seeschifffahrt
 See-BV Seeleute-Befähigungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Befähigungen der Seeleute in der Seeschifffahrt) (siehe indirekt bei Schiffsoffizier-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 SEED System for Exchange of Excise Data (dt.: System zum Austausch von Verbrauchsteuerdaten)
 SeeDTauglV Seediensttauglichkeitsverordnung
 SeeFischG Gesetz zur Regelung der Seefischerei und zur Durchführung des Fischereirechts der Europäischen Union (Seefischereigesetz)
 SeefiV Seefischereiverordnung
 SeeLG Gesetz über das Seelotswesen (Seelotsgesetz)
 SeeLotsEigV Verordnung über die Feststellung der gesundheitlichen Eignung von Seelotsinnen und Seelotsen (Seelotseignungsverordnung)
 SeemG Seemannsgesetz
 SeemAmtsV Seemannsamtsverordnung
 SeeLAuFV Verordnung über die Aus- und Fortbildung der Seelotsinnen und Seelotsen (Seelotsenaus- und -fortbildungsverordnung)
 SeeRÜbkAG Gesetz zur Ausführung des Seerechtsübereinkommens der Vereinten Nationen vom 10. Dezember 1982 sowie des Übereinkommens vom 28. Juli 1994 zur Durchführung des Teils XI des Seerechtsübereinkommens (Ausführungsgesetz Seerechtsübereinkommen 1982/1994)
 SeeSchFG Bundesgesetz über die Seeschifffahrt (Seeschifffahrtsgesetz) (Österreich)
 SeeSchStrO Seeschifffahrtsstraßen-Ordnung
 SeeSpbootV Verordnung über die Inbetriebnahme von Sportbooten und Wassermotorrädern sowie deren Vermietung und gewerbsmäßige Nutzung im Küstenbereich (See-Sportbootverordnung)
 SeeUmwVerhV Verordnung über das umweltgerechte Verhalten in der Seeschifffahrt (See-Umweltverhaltensverordnung)
 SeeUnterkunftsV Verordnung über die Unterkünfte und Freizeiteinrichtungen der Besatzungsmitglieder an Bord von Kauffahrteischiffen (See-Unterkunftsverordnung)
 SeeVersNachwG Seeversicherungsnachweisgesetz
 SeeVersNachwVO Seeversicherungsnachweisverordnung
 SEK Spezialeinsatzkommando
 SektVO Sektorenverordnung (siehe Vergabeverordnung)
 SEO Sondereinheit für Observation
 SEPA Europäischer Zahlungsraum (englisch )
 SEPA-VO Verordnung (EU) Nr. 260/2012 des EUROPÄISCHEN PARLAMENTS UND DES RATES vom 14. März 2012 zur Festlegung der technischen Vorschriften und der Geschäftsanforderungen für Überweisungen und Lastschriften in Euro und zur Änderung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 924/2009
 SER Standard-Einsatz-Regel
 SERA Durchführungsverordnung (EU) Nr. 923/2012 zur Festlegung gemeinsamer Luftverkehrsregeln und Betriebsvorschriften für Dienste und Verfahren der Flugsicherung (englisch: Standardised European Rules of the Air - SERA)
 SES Einheitlicher Europäischer Luftraum (englisch: Single European Sky - SES)
 SEStEG Gesetz über steuerliche Begleitmaßnahmen zur Einführung der Europäischen Gesellschaft und zur Änderung weiterer steuerrechtlicher Vorschriften
 SEU Schuleingangsuntersuchung
 SeuchRNeuG Gesetz zur Neuordnung seuchenrechtlicher Vorschriften (siehe Infektionsschutzgesetz)
 SEV Sondereinheitenverordnung (Österreich) oder Europäisches Übereinkommen über die Rechtsstellung der Wanderarbeitnehmer
 SE-VO Verordnung (EG) Nr. 2157/2001 des Rates über das Statut der Europäischen Gesellschaft (SE)
 SfH Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung
 SFHÄndG Schwangeren- und Familienhilfeänderungsgesetz
 SFK Sicherheitsfachkraft (Österreich) (siehe Fachkraft für Arbeitssicherheit)
 SFN Sonntags-, Feiertags- und Nachtarbeit
 SG Soldatengesetz oder Sozialgericht
 SGB Sozialgesetzbuch (derzeit Bücher I-XII)
 SGb Die Sozialgerichtsbarkeit. Zeitschrift für das aktuelle Sozialrecht
 SGG Sozialgerichtsgesetz oder Störung der Geschäftsgrundlage oder Suchtgiftgesetz (Österreich)
 SGFFG Schienengüterfernverkehrsnetzförderungsgesetz
 SGV Verordnung des Bundesministers für Gesundheit über die Grenzmengen der Suchtgifte (Suchtgift-Grenzmengenverordnung) (Österreich) oder Schienengüterverkehr
 S-H (SH) Schleswig-Holstein
 SHAB Schweizerisches Handelsamtsblatt (siehe Handelsregister (Schweiz))
 SHR Sozialhilferichtlinien oder Seehandelsrecht
 SHS Sporthochseeschifferschein
 SHT Sozialhilfeträger
 SIAK-BV Sicherheitsakademie-Bildungsverordnung (Österreich)
 sic! Zeitschrift für Immaterialgüter-, Informations- und Wettbewerbsrecht (Schweiz)
 SID Sicherheitsdirektion
 SIF Staatssekretariat für internationale Finanzfragen (Schweiz)
 SiG Sicherungsgeber
 SiGePlan Sicherheits- und Gesundheitsschutzplan (siehe Baustellenverordnung)
 SigG Signaturgesetz (Deutschland) oder Signaturgesetz (Österreich) oder Signaturgesetz (Liechtenstein)
 SigV Signaturverordnung oder Signaturverordnung (Österreich) oder Signaturverordnung (Liechtenstein)
 SiN Sicherungsnehmer
 SIRENE SIRENE (; ) (siehe Schengener Informationssystem)
 SIS Schengener Informationssystem oder Stellen-Informationssystem
 SISY Staatsanwaltliches Informations-System (nach § ff. StPO)
 SITC Internationales Warenverzeichnis für den Außenhandel ()
 SiV Sicherungsvertrag oder Verordnung über die Anforderungen an Sicherheiten und die Anlage bestimmter Vermögen (Sicherheitenverordnung)
 SJZ Schweizerische Juristen-Zeitung oder Süddeutsche Juristenzeitung
 SjE Sammlung jugendrechtlicher Entscheidungen
 SK Systematischer Kommentar
 SKBPRV Streitkräfte-Bezirkspersonalräteverordnung
 SKH Schweizerisches Korps für humanitäre Hilfe
 SKN Sachkundenachweis (siehe Befähigungsnachweis) oder Sachkundenachweis für Seenotsignalmittel
 SKrfArbZG Gesetz zur Regelung der Arbeitszeit von selbständigen Kraftfahrern
 SkResNOG Streitkräftereserve-Neuordnungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Neuordnung der Reserve der Streitkräfte und zur Rechtsbereinigung des Wehrpflichtgesetzes)
 SKS Sportküstenschifferschein
 SKOS Schweizerische Konferenz für Sozialhilfe (siehe Sozialhilfe (Schweiz))
 SKZG Bundesgesetz über die befristete Einführung eines Stromkostenzuschusses für Haushaltskundinnen und Haushaltskunden (Stromkostenzuschussgesetz) (Österreich)
 SLA Service-Level-Agreement (= Dienstgütevereinbarung)
 Slg. Sammlung
 SLV Soldatenlaufbahnverordnung
 SLVS Speditions-, Logistik- und Lagerversicherungsschein
 SMAD Sowjetische Militäradministration in Deutschland
 SMBl.NRW. Sammlung des Ministerialblattes für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
 SMD Sozialmedizinischer Dienst
 SME Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (siehe Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen)
 SMG Schuldrechtsmodernisierungsgesetz oder Suchtmittelgesetz (Österreich)
 SMGS Soglashenije Meshdunarodnom Grusowom Soobstschenii (osteuropäisches und asiatisches Eisenbahnverkehrsabkommen)
 SMS Sicherheitsmanagementsystem
 SNA System of National Accounts
 SNR Sondernutzungsrecht
 SoEnergieV Verordnung zur Vergabe von sonstigen Energiegewinnungsbereichen in der ausschließlichen Wirtschaftszone (Sonstige-Energiegewinnungsbereiche-Verordnung)
 SOG Sicherheits- und Ordnungsgesetz
 SoKa-Bau Sozialkassen der Bauwirtschaft (SoKa-Bau)
 SoKaSiG Gesetz zur Sicherung der Sozialkassenverfahren im Baugewerbe und zur Änderung des ArbGG
 SoldReheHomG Gesetz zur Rehabilitierung der wegen einvernehmlicher homosexueller Handlungen, wegen ihrer homosexuellen Orientierung oder wegen ihrer geschlechtlichen Identität dienstrechtlich benachteiligten Soldatinnen und Soldaten
 Soli Solidaritätszuschlag
 SOLAS International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (Internationales Übereinkommen zum Schutz des menschlichen Lebens auf See)
 SolvV Solvabilitätsverordnung (Verordnung über die angemessene Eigenmittelausstattung von Instituten, Institutsgruppen und Finanzholding-Gruppen)
 SolZG 1995 Solidaritätszuschlaggesetz 1995
 SorgeRG Gesetz zur Neuregelung des Rechts der elterlichen Sorge (siehe Elterliche Sorge (Deutschland))
 SortSchG Sortenschutzgesetz
 SoSi Soziale Sicherheit oder Soziale Sicherheit (Zeitschrift) (Österreich) oder Soziale Sicherheit. Zeitschrift für Arbeit und Soziales
 Sozakt Sozialrecht aktuell
 SozDIG Gesetz zur Förderung eines freiwilligen sozialen Jahres
 soz.-päd. sozial-pädagogisch
 SozPflegerV Verordnung über die Ausbildungsförderung für soziale Pflegeberufe (aufgehoben; ersetzt durch BAföG-Medizinalfach- und Pflegeberufe-Verordnung – BAföG-MedPflegbV)
 SozR Sozialrecht (Deutschland) oder Sozialrecht (Österreich)
 SozSich Soziale Sicherheit. Zeitschrift für Arbeit und Soziales
 SozV Verordnung über die Einführung der mitteleuropäischen Sommerzeit ab dem Jahr 2002 (Sommerzeitverordnung)
 SP Schadenpraxis (Zeitschrift)
 SPA Europäisches Vogelschutzgebiet (engl.: ) (siehe Richtlinie 79/409/EWG über die Erhaltung der wildlebenden Vogelarten#Europäisches Vogelschutzgebiet, Special Protection Area (SPA)) oder Schnellinformation für Personalmanagement und Arbeitsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 SpBG Spielbankengesetz
 SpbootFüV-See Verordnung über die Eignung und Befähigung zum Führen von Sportbooten auf den Seeschifffahrtsstraßen (Sportbootführerscheinverordnung-See)
 SPE Europäische Privatgesellschaft (lateinisch: Societas Privata Europaea – SPE)
 SpedKfmAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Kaufmann für Spedition und Logistikdienstleistung/zur Kauffrau für Spedition und Logistikdienstleistung
 SperrWarnGebV Verordnung über Sicherungsmaßnahmen für militärische Sperr- und Warngebiete an der schleswig-holsteinischen Ost- und Westküste und im Nord-Ostsee-Kanal (Sperr- und Warngebietverordnung)
 SpG Bundesgesetz über die Ordnung des Sparkassenwesens (Sparkassengesetz) (Österreich) oder Sprachengesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Gesetze und amtliche Regelungen zur geschlechtergerechten Sprache)
 SPG Sicherheitspolizeigesetz
 SPFH Sozialpädagogische Familienhilfe
 SpFV Verordnung über das Führen von Sportbooten (Sportbootführerscheinverordnung)
 SPFV Schienenpersonenfernverkehr
 SpielV (SpielVO) Spielverordnung
 SPK Stadtpolizeikommando (Österreich)
 SpkG Sparkassengesetz
 SPNV Schienenpersonennahverkehr
 SportbootFüV-Bin Verordnung über das Führen von Sportbooten auf den Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen (Sportbootführerscheinverordnung-Binnen)
 SportSeeSchV Verordnung über den Erwerb von Sportsee- und Sporthochseeschifferscheinen und die Besetzung von Traditionsschiffen (Sportseeschifferscheinverordnung) (siehe Sportschifferschein)
 SprAuG Sprecherausschussgesetz
 SprDstBw Sprachendienst der Bundeswehr (siehe Bundessprachenamt (BSprA))
 SprengG Sprengstoffgesetz (Deutschland)
 SpengV Sprengstoffverordnung (Deutschland)
 SprstG Sprengstoffgesetz (Schweiz)
 SprstV Sprengstoffverordnung (Schweiz)
 SpruchG Spruchverfahrensgesetz (Gesetz über das gesellschaftsrechtliche Spruchverfahren) (siehe Spruchverfahren)
 SpTrUG Treuhandunternehmen-Spaltungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Spaltung der von der Treuhand verwalteten Unternehmen)
 SpuRt Zeitschrift für Sport und Recht
 SpV Spektrum für Versicherungsrecht (Zeitschrift) oder Sprachenverordnung (Schweiz) (siehe Gesetze und amtliche Regelungen zur geschlechtergerechten Sprache)
 SPV Straßenpersonenverkehr oder Schienenpersonenverkehr oder Sonstige Politische Vereinigung (bei Europawahlen) oder Soziale Pflegeversicherung
 SQ Schlüsselqualifikation
 SR Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen oder Systematische Sammlung des Bundesrechts (Schweiz) oder Sachenrecht (Liechtenstein) oder Verordnung der Bundesversammlung über die Redaktionskommission (Schweiz)
 SRÄG Seerechtsänderungsgesetz
 SRC Beschränkt gültiges Funkbetriebszeugnis (engl.: )
 SRTour Steuer- und RechtsBrief Touristik (Zeitschrift)
 SRU Sachverständigenrat für Umweltfragen
 SRÜ Seerechtsübereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen vom 10. Dezember 1982 ()
 SRV Schuldenregulierungsverfahren (Österreich)
 SRVwV Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift über das Rechnungswesen in der Sozialversicherung
 Ss Schriftsatz
 SSB Strahlenschutzbeauftragter
 SSEE Sichere Signaturerstellungseinheit
 SSG  Seeschifffahrtsgesetz (Schweiz)
 SSK Strahlenschutzkommission
 SSS Sportseeschifferschein (siehe Sportschifferschein)
 SSV StraßenSignalisationsverordnung (Schweiz) oder Sommerschlussverkauf oder Strahlenschutzverantwortlicher oder Störung des Sozialverhaltens oder Straßensignalisationsverordnung (Liechtenstein)
 ST Sachsen-Anhalt, sachsen-anhaltisch
 StA Staatsanwalt oder Staatsanwaltschaft oder Standesamt
 StabMechG Gesetz zur Übernahme von Gewährleistungen im Rahmen eines europäischen Stabilisierungsmechanismus (Euro-Stabilisierungsmechanismusgesetz) (auch EStabG abgekürzt)
 StabiRatG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Stabilitätsrates und zur Vermeidung von Haushaltsnotlagen (Stabilitätsratsgesetz)
 StAbwG Gesetz zur Abwehr von Steuervermeidung und unfairem Steuerwettbewerb (Steueroasen-Abwehrgesetz)
 StAbwV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 3 des Steueroasen-Abwehrgesetzes (Steueroasen-Abwehrverordnung)
 StADV Steueranmeldungs-Datenträger-Verordnung
 Stänko Ständige Konferenz der Kinder- und Jugendanwaltschaften Österreichs
 STAF Bundesgesetz über die Steuerreform und die AHV-Finanzierung (Schweiz)
 StAG Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (Deutschland)
 StandAG Gesetz zur Suche und Auswahl eines Standortes für ein Endlager für hochradioaktive Abfälle (Standortauswahlgesetz)
 StandOG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der steuerlichen Bedingungen zur Sicherung des Wirtschaftsstandorts Deutschland im Europäischen Binnenmarkt (Standortsicherungsgesetz)
 StandZV Verordnung über Standardzulassungen von Arzneimitteln
 StAnz Staatsanzeiger
 StatRegG Gesetz über den Aufbau und die Führung eines Statistikregisters (Statistikregistergesetz)
 StAuskV Verordnung zur Durchführung von § 89 Abs. 2 der Abgabenordnung (Steuer-Auskunftsverordnung) (siehe Verbindliche Auskunft)
 StaRUG Unternehmensstabilisierungs- und -restrukturierungsgesetz
 StAZ Das Standesamt (Zeitschrift für Standesamtswesen, Familienrecht, Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht, Personenstandsrecht, Internationales Privatrecht des In- und Auslands)
 StB Steuerberater oder Der Steuerberater (Zeitschrift) oder Steuerbetrag oder Steuerbilanz
 StBAG Steuerbeamtenausbildungsgesetz
 StBAPO Ausbildungs- und Prüfungsordnung für die Steuerbeamtinnen und Steuerbeamten (Steuerbeamtenausbildungs- und -prüfungsordnung)
 StBerG Steuerberatungsgesetz
 Stbg Die Steuerberatung (Zeitschrift)
 StbG Staatsbürgerschaftsgesetz (siehe Österreichische Staatsbürgerschaft)
 StBGebV Steuerberatergebührenverordnung (siehe Steuerberater)
 StBp Die steuerliche Betriebsprüfung. Fachorgan für die Wirtschafts- und Prüfungspraxis
 StBPPV Verordnung über die Steuerberaterplattform und die besonderen elektronischen Steuerberaterpostfächer (Steuerberaterplattform- und -postfachverordnung)
 STC  (englisch f.: beinhaltet angeblich)
 STCW Internationales Übereinkommen über Normen für die Ausbildung, die Erteilung von Befähigungszeugnissen und den Wachdienst von Seeleuten (STCW-Übereinkommen; von engl.: )
 StDÜV Verordnung über die elektronische Übermittlung von für das Besteuerungsverfahren erforderlichen Daten (Steuerdaten-Übermittlungsverordnung)
 SteinAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Steinmetz und Steinbildhauer/zur Steinmetzin und Steinbildhauerin
 StEntlG Steuerentlastungsgesetz
 SterilEntschAufhG Gesetz zur Aufhebung von Sterilisationsentscheidungen der ehemaligen Erbgesundheitsgerichte (Artikel 2 des Gesetzes zur Aufhebung nationalsozialistischer Unrechtsurteile in der Strafrechtspflege und von Sterilisationsentscheidungen der ehemaligen Erbgesundheitsgerichte) (siehe Erbgesundheitsgericht#Aufhebung der Gerichtsbeschlüsse (1998) und Ächtung des Gesetzes (2007))
 SteuerHBekV Steuerhinterziehungsbekämpfungsverordnung
 SteuK Steuerrecht kurzgefaßt (Zeitschrift)
 Stf., StF Stammfassung
 StFachAngAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Steuerfachangestellten/zur Steuerfachangestellten
 StFG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Finanzmarkt- und eines Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfonds (Stabilisierungsfondsgesetz)
 StFV Verordnung vom 27. Februar 1991 über den Schutz vor Störfällen (Störfallverordnung) (Schweiz)
 StG Strafgesetz (in Österreich bis 31. Dezember 1974) oder Bundesgesetz über die Stempelabgaben (Schweiz)
 StGB Strafgesetzbuch (Anm.: gleichlautende Abkürzung in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz)
 StGG Staatsgrundgesetz (Österreich)
 StGH Staatsgerichtshof
 StGH Hess Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen
 StHBG (auch StHintBekG) Steuerhinterziehungsbekämpfungsgesetz
 StHG Staatshaftungsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Staatshaftungsgesetz (DDR) oder Bundesgesetz über die Harmonisierung der direkten Steuern der Kantone und Gemeinden (Steuerharmonisierungsgesetz (Schweiz)) (siehe Steuerrecht (Schweiz))
 StichprobenV Verordnung über Verfahren und Umfang der Haushaltebefragung auf Stichprobenbasis zum Zensusgesetz 2011
 StIdV Verordnung zur Vergabe steuerlicher Identifikationsnummern (siehe Steuer-Identifikationsnummer)
 STIFA Stiftungsaufsichtsbehörde (siehe Stiftungsaufsicht (Liechtenstein))
 StiftBTG Gesetz über die Bildung und Tätigkeit von Stiftungen
 StiftEG Stiftungseingangssteuergesetz (Österreich)
 StiftG Stiftungsgesetz (eines Bundeslandes, z. B. StiftG NRW)
 StiftKStBegV Verordnung über die Steuerbegünstigung von Stiftungen, die an die Stelle von Familienfideikommissen getreten sind
 StiftRG Stiftungsregistergesetz
 STIKO Ständige Impfkommission
 StIKoVetV Verordnung über die Ständige Impfkommission Veterinärmedizin
 StImmÜbkG Gesetz zum Europäischen Übereinkommen vom 16. Mai 1972 über Staatenimmunität
 StipG Gesetz zur Schaffung eines nationalen Stipendienprogramms (siehe Deutschlandstipendium)
 StipHV Verordnung über die Erreichung der Höchstgrenze nach dem Stipendienprogramm-Gesetz
 StipV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Stipendienprogramm-Gesetzes
 StK Strafkammer oder Sicherheitstechnische Kontrolle
 StM Staatsministerium oder Staatsminister(in)
 StMBG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung des Missbrauchs und zur Bereinigung des Steuerrechts (Missbrauchsbekämpfungs- und Steuerbereinigungsgesetz)
 StMin Staatsminister (Deutschland)
 StModernG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Besteuerungsverfahrens
 StmStbMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Steinmetz- und Steinbildhauer-Handwerk
 StöV (auch StFV) Störfallverordnung (Deutschland/Schweiz)
 StoffBilV Verordnung über den Umgang mit Nährstoffen im Betrieb und betriebliche Stoffstrombilanzen
 StoffR Zeitschrift für das Stoffrecht
 StPO Strafprozessordnung (Strafprozessordnung (Deutschland), Strafprozeßordnung 1975, Strafprozessordnung (Schweiz))
 str. strittig
 StrabBlPV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum Betriebsleiter von Straßenbahnunternehmen (Straßenbahn-Betriebsleiter-Prüfungsverordnung)
 StraBEG Gesetz zur Förderung der Steuerehrlichkeit
 StrabVO Straßenbahnverordnung 1999 (Österreich)
 StrÄndG Strafrechtsänderungsgesetz
 StraBEG Strafbefreiungserklärungsgesetz
 StrbauMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Straßenbauer-Handwerk
 StrEG Gesetz über die Entschädigung für Strafverfolgungsmaßnahmen oder Gesetz über die Einspeisung von Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien in das öffentliche Stromnetz (Stromeinspeisungsgesetz) (aufgehoben)
 StrFinG Straßenbaufinanzierungsgesetz
 StrK Strafkammer
 StrKrVerkLeistV Verordnung über Verkehrsleistungen der Eisenbahnen für die Streitkräfte
 StrlSchG Strahlenschutzgesetz (Deutschland)
 StrlSchNRV Verordnung zur weiteren Modernisierung des Strahlenschutzrechts
 StromEinspG Gesetz über die Einspeisung von Strom aus erneuerbaren Energien in das öffentliche Stromnetz (Stromeinspeisungsgesetz) (aufgehoben)
 StromGVV Verordnung über Allgemeine Bedingungen für die Grundversorgung von Haushaltskunden und die Ersatzversorgung mit Elektrizität aus dem Niederspannungsnetz (Stromgrundversorgungsverordnung)
 StromNEV Stromnetzentgeltverordnung
 StromNZV Verordnung über den Zugang zu Elektrizitätsversorgungsnetzen (Stromnetzzugangsverordnung)
 StromPBG Gesetz zur Einführung einer Strompreisbremse (Strompreisbremsegesetz)
 StromStG Stromsteuergesetz
 StromStV Stromsteuerverordnung
 StromVG Stromversorgungsgesetz (Schweiz)
 StromVV Stromversorgungsverordnung (Schweiz)
 StrR Strafrecht
 StrRehaHomG Gesetz zur strafrechtlichen Rehabilitierung der nach dem 8. Mai 1945 wegen einvernehmlicher homosexueller Handlungen verurteilten Personen
 StRR Strafrechtsreport (Zeitschrift)
 StrRehaG Strafrechtliches Rehabilitierungsgesetz
 StrRG Strafrechts-Reformgesetz
 StrSchG Strahlenschutzgesetz (Österreich)
 StrSchV Strahlenschutzverordnung (Deutschland)
 StVergAbG Steuervergünstigungsabbaugesetzes
 StrVG Strahlenschutzvorsorgegesetz (siehe Strahlenschutz)
 StReformG Steuerreformgesetz
 StRR StrafRechtsReport. Arbeitszeitschrift für das gesamte Strafrecht.
 st. Rspr. Ständige Rechtsprechung
 StrWAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Straßenwärter/zur Straßenwärterin
 StS Strafsenat
 StSenkG Steuersenkungsgesetz
 StSG Strahlenschutzgesetz (Schweiz)
 StSV Strahlenschutzverordnung (Schweiz)
 StTbV Straßenverkehr-Transportbegleitungsverordnung
 StUA Staatliches Umweltamt
 StuB Steuern und Bilanzen. Die Zeitschrift für das Steuerrecht und die Rechnungslegung der Unternehmen
 StudZR Studentische Zeitschrift für Rechtswissenschaft Heidelberg
 StUG Stasi-Unterlagen-Gesetz (Gesetz über die Unterlagen des Staatssicherheitsdienstes der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik)
 StUmgBG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Steuerumgehung und zur Änderung weiterer steuerlicher Vorschriften (Steuerumgehungsbekämpfungsgesetz)
 StuW Steuer und Wirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 StuZBl. Steuer- und Zollblatt
 StV Strafverteidiger (Deutschland) oder Strafverteidiger (Österreich) oder Strafverteidigung oder Strafverteidiger (Zeitschrift) oder Studienvertretung (Österreich) oder Studierendenvertretung oder Verordnung über die Stempelabgaben (Schweiz)
 StVA Straßenverkehrsamt (Schweiz) (siehe Straßenverkehrsbehörde)
 StVergAbG Gesetz zum Abbau von Steuervergünstigungen und Ausnahmeregelungen (Steuervergünstigungsabbaugesetz)
 StVG Straßenverkehrsgesetz (Deutschland/Österreich) oder Strafvollzugsgesetz (Österreich)
 StVO Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung (Deutschland) oder Straßenverkehrsordnung 1960 (Österreich)
 StVollstrK Strafvollstreckungskammer
 StVollstrO Strafvollstreckungsordnung
 StVollzG Strafvollzugsgesetz(e) (Deutschland)
 StVUnfStatG Gesetz über die Statistik der Straßenverkehrsunfälle (Straßenverkehrsunfallstatistikgesetz)
 StVZO Straßenverkehrs-Zulassungs-Ordnung
 StZG Gesetz zur Sicherstellung des Embryonenschutzes im Zusammenhang mit Einfuhr und Verwendung menschlicher embryonaler Stammzellen (Stammzellgesetz)
 StZG-KostV Kostenverordnung zum Stammzellgesetz
 SUB Sicherheitsuntersuchungsstelle des Bundes (Österreich)
 SubvG Gesetz gegen missbräuchliche Inanspruchnahme von Subventionen (Subventionsgesetz (Deutschland)) oder Subventionsgesetz (eines Bundeslandes, z. B. BaySubvG)
 SÜ Sicherungsübereignung
 SÜFV Sicherheitsüberprüfungsfeststellungsverordnung
 SÜG Sicherheitsüberprüfungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Voraussetzungen und das Verfahren von Sicherheitsüberprüfungen des Bundes)
 SüwVKan Selbstüberwachungsverordnung Kanal
 SUG Seesicherheits-Untersuchungs-Gesetz (Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Sicherheit der Seefahrt durch die Untersuchung von Seeunfällen und anderen Vorkommnissen)
 SUP Strategische Umweltprüfung oder Einpersonengesellschaft (Europäische Union) (lat.: Societas Unius Personae)
 SUrlV Sonderurlaubsverordnung (Verordnung über den Sonderurlaub für Bundesbeamtinnen, Bundesbeamte, Richterinnen und Richter des Bundes)
 SuSchVO Verordnung über die Anforderungen an den Sachkundenachweis und die besonderen Schulungen des Personals von Spielhallen im Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (Sachkundenachweis und Schulungsverordnung) (in NRW)
 SUST Schweizerische Sicherheitsuntersuchungsstelle
 SUVA Schweizerische Unfallversicherungsanstalt
 SV Sachverhalt oder Sachverständiger oder Schuldverhältnis oder Sicherungsverwahrung oder Selbstverwaltung oder Suchtgiftverordnung (Österreich) oder Shareholder Value oder Sozialversicherung oder Strafvollzug oder Schülervertretung
 SVAG Bundesgesetz über eine leistungsabhängige Schwerverkehrsabgabe (Schwerverkehrsabgabegesetz) (Schweiz)
 SVAwV Sozialversicherungsausweis-Verordnung
 SVB Sachverständigenbeirat
 SVBÖTZ Sachverständigenbeirat für Fragen der Österreichischen Technischen Zulassung
 SVertO Gesetz über das Verfahren bei der Errichtung und Verteilung eines Fonds zur Beschränkung der Haftung in der See- und Binnenschiffahrt (Schifffahrtsrechtliche Verteilungsordnung)
 SvEV Verordnung über die sozialversicherungsrechtliche Beurteilung von Zuwendungen des Arbeitgebers als Arbeitsentgelt (Sozialversicherungsentgeltverordnung)
 SVG Gesetz über die Versorgung für die ehemaligen Soldaten der Bundeswehr und ihre Hinterbliebenen (Soldatenversorgungsgesetz) oder Strassenverkehrsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Strassenverkehrsgesetz (Liechtenstein) oder Sozialversicherungsgericht (Schweiz) (z.B. Sozialversicherungsgericht des Kantons Zürich)
 SVHC Substance of Very High Concern (dt.: Besonders besorgniserregender Stoff)
 SVLFG Sozialversicherung für Landwirtschaft, Forsten und Gartenbau
 SVLFGG Gesetz zur Errichtung der Sozialversicherung für Landwirtschaft, Forsten und Gartenbau
 SVP Sicherheitsvertrauensperson (Österreich)
 SVR Straßenverkehrsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 SVT Sozialversicherungsträger
 SVS/RVS Speditions- und Rollfuhrversicherungsschein
 SVÜ Haager Übereinkommen für Straßenverkehrsunfälle
 SVWO Wahlordnung für die Sozialversicherung (siehe Sozialwahl)
 SWG Saarländisches Wassergesetz (siehe Landeswassergesetz)
 SWRÄG Sachwalterrechts-Änderungsgesetz (Österreich)
 SysStabV Verordnung zur Gewährleistung der technischen Sicherheit und Systemstabilität des Elektrizitätsversorgungsnetzes (Systemstabilitätsverordnung)
 SZ Sammlung Zivilsachen, kurz für Entscheidungen des Österreichischen Obersten Gerichtshofes in Zivilsachen oder unter Romanisten auch Savigny-Zeitschrift oder Süddeutsche Zeitung
 SZIER Schweizerische Zeitschrift für internationales und europäisches Recht
 SZR Sonderziehungsrecht

T 
 TA Technische Anleitung (z. B. TA Lärm, TA Luft, TA Siedlungsabfall)
 TA Abfall Technische Anleitung Abfall (siehe TA Abfall)
 TAB Technische Anschlussbedingungen
 TabakerzG Tabakerzeugnisgesetz
 TabakerzV Tabakerzeugnisverordnung
 TabStG (auch TabakStG) Tabaksteuergesetz (Deutschland) (siehe auch Tabaksteuer (Deutschland))
 TabStV Tabaksteuerverordnung (siehe auch Tabaksteuer (Deutschland))
 TÄG Tierärztegesetz (Österreich)
 TÄHAV Verordnung über Tierärztliche Hausapotheken
 TätoV Verordnung über Mittel zum Tätowieren einschließlich bestimmter vergleichbarer Stoffe und Zubereitungen aus Stoffen (Tätowiermittel-Verordnung)
 TAG Tagesbetreuungsausbaugesetz (Gesetz zum qualitätsorientierten und bedarfsgerechten Ausbau der Tagesbetreuung für Kinder)
 TAKG Tierarzneimittelkontrollgesetz (Österreich)
 TAMG Gesetz über den Verkehr mit Tierarzneimitteln und zur Durchführung unionsrechtlicher Vorschriften betreffend Tierarzneimittel (Tierarzneimittelgesetz)
 TAMKatV Verordnung über Einteilungskriterien für die Kategorien der Apothekenpflicht oder Freiverkäuflichkeit von Tierarzneimitteln und veterinärmedizintechnischen Produkten (Tierarzneimittel-Kategorisierungsverordnung)
 TAMV Tierarzneimittelverordnung (Schweiz)
 TAMWHV Verordnung über die Anwendung der Guten Herstellungspraxis bei der Herstellung von Tierarzneimitteln und Wirkstoffen (Tierarzneimittel- und Wirkstoffherstellungsverordnung)
 TAN Transaktionsnummer
 TAppV Tierärzte-Approbationsverordnung
 TARIC Integrierter Tarif der Europäischen Gemeinschaft (franz.: )
 TarifAutoStG Gesetz zur Stärkung der Tarifautonomie (Tarifautonomiestärkungsgesetz)
 TariftG NRW Tariftreuegesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen
 TASi TA Siedlungsabfall
 TB Tatbestand oder Tätigkeitsbericht
 TBEG Terrorismusbekämpfungsergänzungsgesetz
 TBelV Verordnung über die Übertragung der Führung des Transparenzregisters (Transparenzregisterbeleihungsverordnung)
 TDG Teledienstegesetz oder Truppendienstgericht
 TDDSG Teledienstedatenschutzgesetz
 TE Tateinheit oder Teileigentum oder Teilungserklärung
 TechKontrollV Verordnung über technische Kontrollen von Nutzfahrzeugen auf der Straße
 TEG Todeserklärungsgesetz (Österreich)
 TEHG Treibhausgas-Emissionshandelsgesetz
 TeilhStG Teilhabestärkungsgesetz
 teilw. teilweise
 TEIV Transeuropäische-Eisenbahn-Interoperabilitätsverordnung
 TEN Transeuropäische Netze (engl.: )
 TEntgV Telekommunikations-Entgeltregulierungsverordnung
 TerrOIBG Gesetz zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EU) 2021/784 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 29. April 2021 zur Bekämpfung der Verbreitung terroristischer Online-Inhalte (Terroristische-Online-Inhalte-Bekämpfungs-Gesetz)
 TerrWV Territoriale Wehrverwaltung
 TestV Verordnung zum Anspruch auf Testung in Bezug auf einen direkten Erregernachweis des Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2
 TextilKennzG (TextilKG) Textilkennzeichnungsgesetz
 TFG Gesetz zur Regelung des Transfusionswesens (Transfusionsgesetz)
 TFH Technische Fachhochschule
 TfV Verordnung über die Erteilung der Fahrberechtigung an Triebfahrzeugführer sowie die Anerkennung von Personen und Stellen für Ausbildung und Prüfung (Triebfahrzeugführerscheinverordnung)
 TGA Trägergemeinschaft für Akkreditierung (aufgegangen zum 1. Januar 2010 in der Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle - DAkkS)
 TgV Transportgenehmigungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Transportgenehmigung bei der Abfallbeförderung)
 TGV Trennungsgeldverordnung oder Transportgenehmigungsverordnung
 TH Technische Hochschule
 THAMNV Tierhalter-Arzneimittelanwendungs- und Nachweisverordnung
 THG Bundesgesetz vom 6. Oktober 1995 über die technischen Handelshemmnisse (Schweiz)
 Thür. (Th) Thüringen, thüringisch/Thüringer
 ThürBVVG Gesetz über Verfahren beim Bürgerantrag, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Thüringen)
 ThürGerZustVO Thüringer Verordnung über gerichtliche Zuständigkeiten in der ordentlichen Gerichtsbarkeit
 ThürGlüG Thüringer Glücksspielgesetz
 ThürKO Thüringer Kommunalordnung
 ThürLiegVerwG Thüringer Gesetz über die Verwertung der Liegenschaften der Westgruppe der Truppen (Thüringer Liegenschaftsverwertungsgesetz)
 ThürPAG Thüringer Polizeiaufgabengesetz
 ThürPsychKG Thüringer Gesetz zur Hilfe und Unterbringung psychisch kranker Menschen
 ThürVBl. Thüringische Verwaltungsblätter (Zeitschrift)
 ThürVerf Verfassung des Freistaats Thüringen
 ThürVerfGH Thüringer Verfassungsgerichtshof
 ThürVerfGHG Gesetz über den Thüringer Verfassungsgerichtshof
 ThürVgG Thüringer Gesetz über die Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge (Thüringer Vergabegesetz)
 ThürWG Thüringer Wassergesetz
 ThUG Therapieunterbringungsgesetz
 THV Verordnung über die Verwendung von Extraktionslösungsmitteln und anderen technischen Hilfsstoffen bei der Herstellung von Lebensmitteln (Technische Hilfsstoff-Verordnung)
 THW Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk
 THWG Gesetz über das Technische Hilfswerk
 THWMitwV Verordnung über die Mitwirkung der Helferinnen und Helfer im Technischen Hilfswerk (THW-Mitwirkungsverordnung)
 TIEA Tax Information Exchange Agreements
 TiefseebergbauG Tiefseebergbaugesetz
 TierErzHaVerbG Tiererzeugnisse-Handels-Verbotsgesetz
 TierGesG Gesetz zur Vorbeugung vor und Bekämpfung von Tierseuchen (Tiergesundheitsgesetz)
 TierHaltKennzG Gesetz zur Kennzeichnung von Lebensmitteln mit der Haltungsform der Tiere, von denen die Lebensmittel gewonnen wurden (Tierhaltungskennzeichnungsgesetz)
 TierImpfStV Tierimpfstoff-Verordnung (siehe Tierarzneimittel)
 TierKBG Tierkörperbeseitigungs-Gesetz (Gesetz über die Beseitigung von Tierkörpern, Tierkörperteilen und tierischen Erzeugnissen)
 Tier-LMHV Tierische Lebensmittel-Hygieneverordnung
 TierNebG Tierische Nebenprodukte-Beseitigungsgesetz
 TierSchG Tierschutzgesetz (Deutschland)
 TierSchKomV Tierschutzkommissions-Verordnung (Verordnung über die Tierschutzkommission beim Bundesministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz)
 TierSchlV Tierschutz-Schlachtverordnung (Verordnung zum Schutz von Tieren im Zusammenhang mit der Schlachtung oder Tötung)
 TierSchNutztV Verordnung zum Schutz landwirtschaftlicher Nutztiere und anderer zur Erzeugung tierischer Produkte gehaltener Tiere bei ihrer Haltung (Tierschutz-Nutztierhaltungsverordnung)
 TierSchTrV Verordnung zum Schutz von Tieren beim Transport und zur Durchführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1/2005 des Rates (Tierschutztransportverordnung) (siehe Tiertransport#Europäische Union)
 TierSG Tierseuchengesetz (Deutschland) (aufgehoben; abgelöst am 1. Mai 2014 durch das Tiergesundheitsgesetz)
 TierVerbG Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Rechtsstellung des Tieres im bürgerlichen Recht
 TIN Tax Identification Number (dt.: Steuerliche Identifikationsnummer)
 TIR Transports Internationaux Routiers, ein Zolldokument
 TKG Telekommunikationsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Telekommunikationsgesetz (Österreich)
 TKMoG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie (EU) 2018/1972 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 11.12.2018 über den europäischen Kodex für die elektronische Kommunikation (Neufassung) und zur Modernisierung des Telekommunikationsrechts (Telekommunikationsmodernisierungsgesetz)
 TKMR Telekommunikations- & Medienrecht (Zeitschrift)
 TKMV Verordnung über die Mindestanforderungen für das Recht auf Versorgung mit Telekommunikationsdiensten (TK-Mindestversorgungsverordnung)
 TKÜ Telekommunikationsüberwachung
 TKÜV Telekommunikations-Überwachungsverordnung
 TKV Telekommunikationskundenschutzverordnung
 TLMV Verordnung über tiefgefrorene Lebensmittel
 TLT Markenrechtsvertrag (engl.: )
 TM Tatmehrheit oder Trainingsmaßnahme oder Unregistered Trade Mark
 TMG Telemediengesetz
 TOA Täter-Opfer-Ausgleich
 TÖB (auch TöB) Träger öffentlicher Belange
 TP Tarifpost des Gebührengesetzes (Österreich)
 TPG Transplantationsgesetz
 TPS Trassenpreissystem
 TR Technische Regeln
 TRA Technische Regeln für Aufzüge
 TRACES TRAde Control and Expert System (TRACES)
 TraFinG (auch TrafinG Gw) Gesetz zur europäischen Vernetzung der Transparenzregister und zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2019/1153 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 20. Juni 2019 zur Nutzung von Finanzinformationen für die Bekämpfung von Geldwäsche, Terrorismusfinanzierung und sonstigen schweren Straftaten (Transparenzregister- und Finanzinformationsgesetz)
 TranspG Transparenzgesetz oder Bundesgesetz über die Transplantation von Organen, Geweben und Zellen (Transplantationsgesetz) (Schweiz)
 TransPuG Transparenz- und Publizitätsgesetz
 transpr (TranspR) Transportrecht (Zeitschrift)
 TRBA Technische Regeln für Biologische Arbeitsstoffe (siehe Biologischer Arbeitsstoff)
 TRBf Technische Regeln für brennbare Flüssigkeiten
 TRBS Technische Regeln für Betriebssicherheit
 TrDüV Verordnung zur Datenübermittlung durch Mitteilungsverpflichtete und durch den Betreiber des Unternehmensregisters an das Transparenzregister (Transparenzregisterdatenübermittlungsverordnung)
 TrEinV Verordnung über die Einsichtnahme in das Transparenzregister (Transparenzregistereinsichtnahmeverordnung)
 TREMF Technische Regeln zur Arbeitsschutzverordnung zu elektromagnetischen Feldern
 TreuhUmbenV Verordnung über die Umbenennung und die Anpassung von Zuständigkeiten der Treuhandanstalt (Treuhandanstaltumbenennungsverordnung)
 TREVI ##
 TRG Transportrechtsreformgesetz 1998
 TrGebV Transparenzregistergebührenverordnung
 TRGS Technische Regeln für Gefahrstoffe
 TrinkwV Trinkwasserverordnung
 TRIPS Übereinkommen über handelsbezogene Aspekte der Rechte des geistigen Eigentums (Österreich: Abkommen über handelsbezogene Aspekte der Rechte des Geistigen Eigentums) oder TRIPS-Abkommen (englisch , franz. )
 TRK Technische Richtkonzentration
 TRLV Technische Regeln zur Lärm- und Vibrations-Arbeitsschutzverordnung
 TROS Technische Regeln zur Arbeitsschutzverordnung zu künstlicher optischer Strahlung
 TrUG Treuunternehmensgesetz (Liechtenstein)
 TS Totalschaden oder Tagessatz
 TSchG Tierschutzgesetz (Schweiz)
 TSchV Tierschutzverordnung (Schweiz)
 TSG Transsexuellengesetz oder Tierseuchengesetz (Österreich) oder Tierseuchengesetz (Schweiz)
 TSI Technische Spezifikation für die Interoperabilität
 TSK Tierseuchenkasse
 TspV Verordnung über die Zulassung des Befahrens der Eder- und der Diemeltalsperre sowie die Abwehr strom- und schifffahrtspolizeilicher Gefahren (Talsperrenverordnung)
 TSS Traditionsschifferschein
 TStG Tabaksteuergesetz (Schweiz) (siehe Tabaksteuer (Schweiz))
 TSVG Terminservice- und Versorgungsgesetz
 TTDSG Telekommunikations-Telemedien-Datenschutzgesetz
 TTE Rat für Verkehr, Telekommunikation und Energie der EU (engl.: Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council)
 TPP Drittdienste im Zahlungsverkehr (engl.: third party payments providers)
 TÜ Telekommunikationsüberwachung
 TUG Transparenzrichtlinie-Umsetzungsgesetz
 TuP Zeitschrift „Theorie und Praxis der sozialen Arbeit“
 TürkeiErdbebenAufenthÜV Verordnung zur vorübergehenden Befreiung vom Erfordernis eines Aufenthaltstitels für anlässlich des Erdbebens vom 6. Februar 2023 eingereiste türkische Staatsangehörige (Türkei-Erdbeben-Aufenthalts-Übergangsverordnung)
 TV Tarifvertrag oder Testamentsvollstrecker
 t. v. A. teilweise vertretene Ansicht
 TVA Tarif- und Verkehrsanzeiger oder Technische Verordnung über Abfälle (Schweiz)
 TVA-L BBiG Tarifvertrag für Auszubildende der Länder in Ausbildungsberufen nach dem Berufsbildungsgesetz
 TVA-L Pflege Tarifvertrag für Auszubildende der Länder in Pflegeberufen
 TVAöD Tarifvertrag für Auszubildende des öffentlichen Dienstes
 TVG Tarifvertragsgesetz
 TVgG NRW Gesetz über die Sicherung von Tariftreue und Sozialstandards sowie fairen Wettbewerb bei der Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge (Tariftreue- und Vergabegesetz Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 TV-L Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder
 TVöD Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst
 Tz. Teilziffer oder Teilzeit oder Textziffer
 TzBfG Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz

U 
 UA Untersuchungsausschuss oder Urkundenarchiv
 UA-GebS Gebührensatzung für das Elektronische Urkundenarchiv
 UAbs. Unterabsatz
 UAG Gesetz zur Ausführung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1221/2009 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 25. November 2009 über die freiwillige Teilnahme von Organisationen an einem Gemeinschaftssystem für Umweltmanagement und Umweltbetriebsprüfung und zur Aufhebung der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 761/2001, sowie der Beschlüsse der Kommission 2001/681EG und 2006/193/EG (Umweltauditgesetz)
 ÜAnlG Gesetz über überwachungsbedürftige Anlagen
 UB Unterstützte Beschäftigung oder Universitätsbibliothek oder Untersuchungsbezirk oder Untersuchungsbereich
 UBA Umweltbundesamt (Deutschland) oder Umweltbundesamt (Österreich)
 UBAS Unabhängiger Bundesasylsenat (Österreich)
 UbG Unterbringungsgesetz, siehe Unterbringungsgesetz (Österreich)
 UBG Gesetz über die Unterhaltshilfe für Angehörige von Kriegsgefangenen
 UBGG Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaftsgesetz (Gesetz über Unternehmensbeteiligungsgesellschaften)
 UBI UKW-Sprechfunkzeugnis für den Binnenschifffahrtsfunk
 UBRegG Gesetz zur Errichtung und Führung eines Registers über Unternehmensbasisdaten und zur Einführung einer bundeseinheitlichen Wirtschaftsnummer für Unternehmen (Unternehmensbasisdatenregistergesetz)
 UBS Unabhängige Bewertungsstelle
 UBSKM Unabhängige Beauftragte für Fragen des sexuellen Kindesmissbrauchs
 UBWV Unterrichtsblätter für die Bundeswehrverwaltung (Zeitschrift)
 Übk. Übereinkommen
 UCC Welturheberrechtsabkommen (engl.: ) oder Union Customs Code (dt.: Zollkodex der Union (UZK))
 UCLAF  (dt.: Dienststelle für die Koordinierung der Betrugsbekämpfung) (Vorgängerorganisation zur OLAF)
 UdG Urkundsbeamter der Geschäftsstelle
 UDS Unfalldatenspeicher
 UDV Unfallforschung der Versicherer
 UERV Verordnung zur Anrechnung von Upstream-Emissionsminderungen auf die Treibhausgasquote
 UFF Unterfrachtführer
 UFG Umweltförderungsgesetz (Österreich)
 UFITA Archiv für Urheber- und Medienrecht (Zeitschrift)
 ÜG Überweisungsgesetz oder Überbrückungsgeld (Existenzgründung)
 ÜNB Übertragungsnetzbetreiber (engl.: )
 ÜNSchutzV Verordnung zum Schutz von Übertragungsnetzen
 UG Unternehmergesellschaft oder Unterbringungsgesetz (siehe Unterbringungsgesetz (Deutschland)) oder Untergeschoss oder Untergemeinschaft oder Universitätsgesetz 2002 (Österreich)
 UGP Unlautere Geschäftspraktiken
 UGB Unternehmensgesetzbuch in Österreich oder Umweltgesetzbuch
 U-Haft Untersuchungshaft
 UHG (UmweltHG) Umwelthaftungsgesetz
 uHP unlautere Handelspraktiken
 UhrmAusbV 2001 Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Uhrmacher/zur Uhrmacherin
 UhrmMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Uhrmacher-Handwerk
 UIC Internationaler Eisenbahnverband (franz.: , engl.: )
 UID Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (Österreich)
 UIG Umweltinformationsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Umweltinformationsgesetz (Österreich) oder Umweltinformationsgesetz (eines deutschen Bundeslandes; z. B. UIG NRW)
 UIGGebV Umweltinformationskostenverordnung
 UINL Internationale Union des Notariats (franz.: ) (früher: Internationale Union des Lateinischen Notariats)
 UK United Kingdom oder Unabkömmlichstellung
 UK-Bund Unfallkasse des Bundes
 UKG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Umweltkriminalität
 UKlaG Unterlassungsklagengesetz
 UkraineAufenthÜV Verordnung zur vorübergehenden Befreiung vom Erfordernis eines Aufenthaltstitels von anlässlich des Krieges in der Ukraine eingereisten Personen (Ukraine-Aufenthalts-Übergangsverordnung)
 UKuR Ukraine-Krieg und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 UkV Unabkömmlichstellungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Zuständigkeit und das Verfahren bei der Unabkömmlichstellung)
 U. m. A. Urschriftlich mit Akten
 umA unbegleiteter minderjähriger Ausländer
 UMA Untersuchung des Motormanagements und Abgasreinigungssystems
 UMAG Gesetz zur Unternehmensintegrität und Modernisierung des Anfechtungsrechts
 UMB Unfallmerkblatt
 UMDNS Universal Medical Device Nomenclatur System (siehe UMDNS)
 UMK Umweltministerkonferenz
 UmRUG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Umwandlungsrichtlinie und zur Änderung weiterer Gesetze vom 22.2.2023
 UMS Umweltmanagementsystem
 UmstG Drittes Gesetz zur Neuordnung des Geldwesens (Umstellungsgesetz)
 UmstRückstG Gesetz über die Bildung von Rückstellungen in der Umstellungsrechnung der Geldinstitute, Versicherungsunternehmen und Bausparkassen und in der Altbankenrechnung der Berliner Altbanken
 umstr. umstritten
 UmwandlGV HE Verordnung über den Genehmigungsvorbehalt für die Begründung von Wohnungs- oder Teileigentum und zur Bestimmung der Gebiete mit angespannten Wohnungsmärkten nach dem Baugesetzbuch (Umwandlungsgenehmigungs- und Gebietsbestimmungsverordnung) (Hessen)
 UmwandV Verordnung über einen Genehmigungsvorbehalt gemäß § 250 Absatz 1 Satz 1 des Baugesetzbuchs für die Begründung oder Teilung von Wohnungseigentum (Deutschland) oder Teileigentum in Gebieten mit angespannten Wohnungsmärkten (Umwandlungsverordnung nach § 250 BauGB) (Berlin)
 UmwAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung in den umwelttechnischen Berufen
 UmwG Umwandlungsgesetz
 UmwRBehG (UmwRG) Umwelt-Rechtsbehelfsgesetz
 UmwStG Umwandlungssteuergesetz
 UN Vereinte Nationen ()
 UnbBeschErtV Verordnung über das Verfahren bei der Erteilung von Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigungen für andere Spiele im Sinne des § 33d Abs.1 der Gewerbeordnung (Verordnung zur Erteilung von Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigungen)
 UN-BRK Übereinkommen über die Rechte von Menschen mit Behinderungen (kurz: UN-Behindertenrechtskonvention)
 UN-Ch Charta der Vereinten Nationen
 UNCCD Übereinkommen der Vereinten Nationen zur Bekämpfung der Wüstenbildung (engl.: United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa)
 UNCED Konferenz der Vereinten Nationen über Umwelt und Entwicklung (engl.: )
 UNCITRAL Kommission der Vereinten Nationen für internationales Handelsrecht
 UNCLOS  (siehe Seerechtsübereinkommen)
 UNCTAD Konferenz der Vereinten Nationen für Handel und Entwicklung (kurz: Welthandels- und Entwicklungskonferenz; engl.: ; franz.: )
 UNDRO  (UNDRO) (Organisation der Vereinten Nationen für Katastrophenhilfe)
 UNEP Umweltprogramm der Vereinten Nationen (engl.: United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP; französisch: Programme des Nations unies pour l’environnement – PNUE)
 UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, dt. Organisation der Vereinten Nationen für Erziehung, Wissenschaft und Kultur)
 UNFCCC Klimarahmenkonvention der Vereinten Nationen (engl.: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – UNFCCC)
 UNGA Generalversammlung der Vereinten Nationen (engl.: )
 UNHCR Hoher Flüchtlingskommissar der Vereinten Nationen (engl.: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
 UNHRC UN-Menschenrechtsrat (engl.: United Nations Human Rights Council, kurz: UNHRC)
 UniBwLeistBV Leistungsbezügeverordnung UniBW (Verordnung über die Leistungsbezüge und Zulagen an den Universitäten der Bundeswehr)
 UNIDO Organisation der Vereinten Nationen für industrielle Entwicklung (engl.: United Nations Industrial Development Organization – UNIDO, französische/spanische Abkürzung ONUDI)
 UniStG Universitäts-Studiengesetz (Österreich) (aufgehoben)
 UN-KindK UN-Konvention über die Rechte der Kinder (siehe Kinderrechtskonvention)
 UNO United Nations Organisation oder: United Nations Organization (= Vereinte Nationen)
 UNS UN-Sekretariat (engl.: United Nations Secretariat)
 UNSC United Nations Security Council (siehe Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen)
 UNSCEAR Wissenschaftlicher Ausschuss der Vereinten Nationen zur Untersuchung der Auswirkungen der atomaren Strahlung (engl.: )
 UNSG Generalsekretär der Vereinten Nationen
 UNSNA System of National Accounts (veraltet, heute: SNA)
 UNTC Vertragssammlung der Vereinten Nationen (engl.: )
 UNTS Vertragsserie der UNO (engl.: )
 UntStFG Gesetz zur Fortentwicklung des Unternehmenssteuerrechts
 UntStReisekÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung und Vereinfachung der Unternehmensbesteuerung und des steuerlichen Reisekostenrechts
 UntStRG Unternehmenssteuerreformgesetz 2018
 UNWTO Welttourismusorganisation (engl.: )
 UPD Unabhängige Patientenberatung Deutschland
 UPR Umwelt- und Planungsrecht (Zeitschrift)
 UPU Weltpostverein (für engl.: Universal Postal Union - UPU) (franz.: )
 ÜPF Überwachung des Post- und Fernmeldeverkehrs (Schweiz) (siehe Schweizer Nachrichtendienste)
 UR Urkundenrolle oder Umsatzsteuer-Rundschau (Zeitschrift) oder Untersuchungsrichter oder Unternehmensregister
 URG Bundesgesetz über das Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (Schweiz)
 UrhG Urheberrechtsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Urheberrecht (Österreich)
 UrhDaG Gesetz über die urheberrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit von Diensteanbietern für das Teilen von Online-Inhalten (Urheberrechts-Diensteanbieter-Gesetz)
 UrhBiMaG Gesetz zur Anpassung des Urheberrechts an die Erfordernisse des digitalen Binnenmarktes
 UrhWG (auch UrhWahrnG) Urheberrechtswahrnehmungsgesetz (bis zum 31. Mai 2016; abgelöst seit dem 1. Juni 2016 durch Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz)
 Urk. Urkunde
 UrkB Urkundsbeamter
 UrlG Urlaubsgesetz (Österreich)
 Urt. Urteil
 URV Unternehmensregisterverordnung (Verordnung über das Unternehmensregister) oder Verordnung über das Urheberrecht und verwandte Schutzrechte (Urheberrechtsverordnung) (Schweiz)
 USchadG Umweltschadensgesetz
 USG Unterhaltssicherungsgesetz oder Bundesgesetz über den Umweltschutz (Umweltschutzgesetz Schweiz)
 US-GAAP United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (Allgemein anerkannte Rechnungslegungsgrundsätze)
 USIC United States International Trade Commission (dt.: Kommission für internationalen Handel der Vereinigten Staaten)
 USPTO United States Patent and Trademark Office
 USR Unternehmenssteuerreform (Schweiz)
 USSC Oberster Gerichtshof der Vereinigten Staaten ()
 USt Umsatzsteuer oder Umsatzsteuer (Österreich)
 UStAE Umsatzsteuer-Anwendungserlass
 UStÄndG Umsatzsteuer-Änderungsgesetz
 UStatG Umweltstatistikgesetz
 UStB Der Umsatzsteuer-Berater (Zeitschrift)
 UStDB Durchführungsbestimmungen zum Umsatzsteuergesetz
 UStDV Umsatzsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 UStErstV Umsatzsteuererstattungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Erstattung von Umsatzsteuer an ausländische ständige diplomatische Missionen und ihre ausländische Mitglieder)
 UStG Umsatzsteuergesetz (Deutschland) oder Umsatzsteuergesetz (Österreich) (siehe Umsatzsteuer (Österreich))
 USt-IdNr. Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer (Deutschland)
 UStKongrBericht Umsatzsteuerkongress-Bericht
 UStR Umsatzsteuerrichtlinien oder Umsatzsteuer-Rundschau (Zeitschrift)
 UStSchlFestV Umsatzsteuerschlüsselzahlenfestsetzungsverordnung
 UntStReformG Unternehmensteuerreformgesetz
 UStVA Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung (Deutschland) oder Umsatzsteuer-Voranmeldung (Österreich)
 UStZustV (auch UStZV) Verordnung über die örtliche Zuständigkeit für die Umsatzsteuer im Ausland ansässiger Unternehmer (Umsatzsteuerzuständigkeitsverordnung)
 USV Uniformschutzverordnung (Österreich)
 UTB Uni-Taschenbücher
 UTP Unfair Trading Practices
 UTP-RL Richtlinie (EU) 2019/633 über unlautere Handelspraktiken in den Geschäftsbeziehungen zwischen Unternehmen in der Agrar- und Lebensmittelversorgungskette (UTP-Richtlinie)
 UTR Schriftenreihe „Umwelt- und Technikrecht“ (Hrsg.: Institut für Umwelt- und Technikrecht der Uni Trier (IUTR)) oder Umwelt- und Technikrecht
 UUG Bundesgesetz über die unabhängige Sicherheitsuntersuchung von Unfällen und Störungen (Österreich)
 UV Unfallversicherung
 UVAL Unfallversicherung für Arbeitslose (Schweiz)
 UVAV Verordnung über die Anzeige von Versicherungsfällen in der gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung (Unfallversicherungs-Anzeigenverordnung)
 UVB Unfallversicherung Bund und Bahn
 UVBBErG Gesetz zur Errichtung der Unfallversicherung Bund und Bahn
 UVEG Unfallversicherungs-Einordnungsgesetz
 UVEK Eidgenössisches Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation (franz. , ital. , rät. Departament federal per ambient, traffic, energia e communicaziun)
 UVG Unterhaltsvorschussgesetz oder Unfallversicherungsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Unfallversicherungsgesetz (Deutsches Reich) (von 1884; abgelöst 1911 durch die Reichsversicherungsordnung)
 UVgO Verfahrensordnung für die Vergabe öffentlicher Liefer- und Dienstleistungsaufträge unterhalb der EU-Schwellenwerte (Unterschwellenvergabeordnung)
 UVMG Gesetz zur Modernisierung der gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung (Unfallversicherungsmodernisierungsgesetz)
 UVollzG Untersuchungshaftvollzugsgesetz
 UVollzO Untersuchungshaftvollzugsordnung
 UVP Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung oder Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung in der Schweiz
 UVPG Gesetz über die Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung
 UVPV Verordnung über die Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung (Schweiz) (siehe Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung in der Schweiz)
 UVR Umsatz- und Verkehrssteuer-Recht (Zeitschrift)
 UVS Unabhängiger Verwaltungssenat (Österreich) oder Umweltverträglichkeitsstudie
 UVT Unfallversicherungsträger (Deutschland)
 UVV Unfallverhütungsvorschriften
 UVZ Urkundenverzeichnis
 UWG Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb oder Unabhängige Wählergemeinschaft
 UZ Ursprungszeugnis oder Untersuchungszentrale der Bundesstelle für Eisenbahnunfalluntersuchung
 UZK Zollkodex der Union
 ÜZV Verordnung zur Regelung einer Übergangszahlung an Beamte
 UZwGBw Gesetz über die Anwendung unmittelbaren Zwanges und die Ausübung besonderer Befugnisse durch Soldaten der Bundeswehr und verbündeter Streitkräfte sowie zivile Wachpersonen
 UZwG Unmittelbarer Zwang-Gesetz

V 
 V. Verfügung oder Verkäufer
 v., v versus: Durch den Buchstaben werden besonders in common-law-Rechtsordnungen die Parteien eines Rechtsstreites in dessen offizieller Bezeichnung voneinander getrennt, zum Beispiel Brown v. Board of Education. In zivilrechtlichen Fällen wird „v.“ als ‚and‘ gesprochen. In den Vereinigten Staaten steht nach dem Buchstaben v ein Punkt, in England und Wales nicht.
 VA Vermittlungsausschuss oder Verwaltungsakt (Deutschland) oder Versorgungsausgleich oder Vollstreckungsauftrag oder Verkehrsrecht aktuell (Zeitschrift) oder Verwaltungsausschuss oder Verfahrensanweisung oder Versorgungsamt oder vollstreckbare Ausfertigung oder Vermögensauskunft oder Volksanwaltschaft (Österreich)
 VAböV Verordnung über die technischen Anforderungen an die behindertengerechte Gestaltung des öffentlichen Verkehrs (Schweiz)
 VAbstG Gesetz über Volksabstimmung, Volksbegehren und Volksantrag (Volksabstimmungsgesetz) (Baden-Württemberg) oder Hamburgisches Gesetz über Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Volksabstimmungsgesetz) oder Niedersächsisches Gesetz über Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Niedersächsisches Volksabstimmungsgesetz) oder Volksabstimmungsgesetz (Saarland) oder Gesetz über das Verfahren bei Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Volksabstimmungsgesetz) (Sachsen-Anhalt) oder Gesetz über Initiativen aus dem Volk, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Volksabstimmungsgesetz) (Schleswig-Holstein)
 VAbstO Volksabstimmungsordnung (Saarland)
 VÄndG Vertragsarztrechtsänderungsgesetz
 VaG Gesetz zur Ausführung von Initiativen aus dem Volk, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Volksabstimmungsgesetz)
 VAG Versicherungsaufsichtsgesetz
 VAGBbg Gesetz über das Verfahren bei Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Volksabstimmungsgesetz) (Brandenburg)
 VAHR Versorgungsausgleich-Härtegesetz (Gesetz zur Regelung von Härten im Versorgungsausgleich)
 VAM Virtueller Arbeitsmarkt oder Vermögensabschöpfende Maßnahmen (siehe u. a. Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit der Bundeszollverwaltung)
 VAO (auch VRAO) Verkehrsrechtliche Anordnung
 Var. Variante
 VASA Verordnung über die Abgabe zur Sanierung von Altlasten (Schweiz)
 VAStrRefG Gesetz zur Strukturreform des Versorgungsausgleiches
 VAT  (siehe Umsatzsteuer)
 vAw von Amts wegen
 VAwS Wassergefährdende-Stoffe-Anlagenverordnung (Verordnung über Anlagen zum Umgang mit wassergefährdenden Stoffen und über Fachbetriebe)
 VAUwS Verordnung über Anlagen zum Umgang mit wassergefährdenden Stoffen
 VB Verfassungsbeschwerde oder Vollstreckungsbescheid oder Verkehrsbehörde oder Verwaltungsbehörde oder Vollstreckungsbehörde oder Volksbegehren (Deutschland) oder Volksbegehren (Österreich)
 VbA Verordnung biologische Arbeitsstoffe (Österreich)
 VBBo Verordnung über Belastungen des Bodens (Schweiz)
 VbF Verordnung über brennbare Flüssigkeiten
 VBG Verwaltungs-Berufsgenossenschaft
 VBGL Vertragsbedingungen für den Güterkraftverkehrs-, Speditions- und Logistikunternehmer
 VBI Vertreter des Bundesinteresses beim Bundesverwaltungsgericht
 VBl. Verwaltungsblatt oder Verkehrsblatt (Zeitschrift)
 VBL Versorgungsanstalt des Bundes und der Länder
 VBlBW Verwaltungsblätter für Baden-Württemberg
 VböV Verordnung über die behindertengerechte Gestaltung des öffentlichen Verkehrs (Schweiz)
 VBP Biozidprodukteverordnung (Schweiz)
 VbrInsVV Verbraucherinsolvenzvordruckverordnung
 VBR-IStGH Verfahrens- und Beweisordnung des IStGH (Internationaler Strafgerichtshof)
 VBS Eidgenössisches Departement für Verteidigung, Bevölkerungsschutz und Sport (Schweiz) (franz. , ital. , rät. Departament federal da defensiun, protecziun da la populaziun e sport)
 VBVG Vormünder- und Betreuervergütungsgesetz
 VCG Venture-Capital-Gesellschaft (siehe Private Equity)
 VCLT Wiener Übereinkommen über das Recht der Verträge vom 23. Mai 1969 (WÜRV; auch: Wiener Vertragsrechtskonvention (WVK); engl. )
 VD Verkehrsdienst (Fachzeitschrift)
 VDA Vertrauensdiensteanbieter
 VDG Vertrauensdienstegesetz
 VDJ Vereinigung Demokratischer Juristinnen und Juristen e.V.
 VDL Bundesverband Deutscher Landwirte e.V.
 VDR Verband Deutscher Rentenversicherungsträger
 VDR INFO Informationsdienst des VDR
 VDS Vorratsdatenspeicherung
 VDV Verband Deutscher Verkehrsunternehmen
 VE Vertragsentwurf oder Verfassungsentwurf oder Vieheinheit oder Verpflichtungsermächtigung (engl.: ; franz.: ) oder Volksentscheid
 VEP Verkehrsentwicklungsplan oder Vorhaben- und Erschließungsplan
 VerbotsG Verbotsgesetz 1947 (Österreich)
 VerbrKrG Verbraucherkreditgesetz (Deutschland)
 VerbrVerbG Gesetz zur Überwachung strafrechtlicher und anderer Verbringungsverbote
 Verdi Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft
 VereinsG Vereinsgesetz (Deutschland)
 VerG Vereinsgesetz 2002 (Österreich)
 VerglO Vergleichsordnung (aufgehoben; Verfahren jetzt geregelt in der Insolvenzordnung (Deutschland))
 Verf. Verfassung oder Verfahren oder Verfügung
 VerfG Verfassungsgericht
 VerfGH Verfassungsgerichtshof in deutschen Bundesländern
 VerfGH BW Verfassungsgerichtshof für das Land Baden-Württemberg
 VerfGH NRW Verfassungsgerichtshof für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
 VerfGHG Gesetz über den Verfassungsgerichtshof (mehrere Bundesländer, z. B. BaWü)
 Verf NRW Verfassung für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen
 VerfVerbG Verfütterungsverbots-Gesetz (Gesetz über das Verbot des Verfütterns, des innergemeinschaftlichen Verbringens und der Ausfuhr bestimmter Futtermittel)
 VergabeR Vergaberecht (Zeitschrift)
 VergRModG Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Vergaberechts (Vergaberechtsmodernisierungsgesetz)
 VergStatVO Verordnung zur Statistik über die Vergabe öffentlicher Aufträge und Konzessionen (Vergabestatistikverordnung)
 VerkA Der Verkehrsanwalt (Zeitschrift)
 VerkLG Gesetz zur Sicherung von Verkehrsleistungen (Verkehrsleistungsgesetz)
 VerkMitt Verkehrsrechtliche Mitteilungen
 VerkPBG Verkehrswegeplanungsbeschleunigungsgesetz
 VerkProspG Verkaufsprospektgesetz
 VerkPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Verkehrsfachwirt/Geprüfte Verkehrsfachwirtin [aufgehoben; ersetzt durch Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Fortbildungsabschluss Geprüfter Fachwirt für Güterverkehr und Logistik und Geprüfte Fachwirtin für Güterverkehr und Logistik (GütVerkFwFortbV)]
 VerkStatG Gesetz über die Statistik der See- und Binnenschifffahrt, des Güterkraftverkehrs, des Luftverkehrs sowie des Schienenverkehrs und des gewerblichen Straßen-Personenverkehrs (Verkehrstatistikgesetz)
 VerlG Verlagsgesetz
 VermAnlG Gesetz über Vermögensanlagen (Vermögensanlagengesetz)
 VermBDV Vermögensbildungs-Durchführungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung des Vermögensbildungsgesetzes)
 VermBG Vermögensbildungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Vermögensbildung der Arbeitnehmer)
 VermG Vermögensgesetz (Gesetz zur Regelung offener Vermögensfragen) oder Vermessungsgesetz (Österreich)
 VermKatG Vermessungs- und Katastergesetz (z. B. in NRW)
 VermVV Verordnung über das Vermögensverzeichnis (Vermögensverzeichnisverordnung)
 vern. verneinend
 VerpackG Verpackungsgesetz
 VerpackV Verpackungsverordnung Deutschland (aufgehoben zum 1. Januar 2019; abgelöst durch Verpackungsgesetz)
 VerpackVO Verpackungsverordnung Österreich
 VerpflG Verpflichtungsgesetz (Gesetz über die förmliche Verpflichtung nichtbeamteter Personen)
 Vers. Versicherung
 VersammlG (VersG) Versammlungsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Versammlungsgesetz 1953 (Österreich)
 VersatzV Verordnung über den Versatz von Abfällen unter Tage; Verwertung von Abfällen als Versatzmaterial unter Tage (Versatzverordnung)
 VersAusgl-AnzV Verordnung über die Anzeigen von Versicherungsunternehmen und Pensionsfonds zur Ausgliederung von Funktionen und Versicherungstätigkeiten (Versicherungs-Ausgliederungsanzeigenverordnung)
 VersAusglG Versorgungsausgleichsgesetz (siehe Versorgungsausgleich)
 VersAusglKassG Gesetz über die Versorgungsausgleichskassen (siehe Versorgungsausgleich)
 VersFinKfAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Kaufmann für Versicherungen und Finanzen/zur Kauffrau für Versicherungen und Finanzen
 VersG (VersammlG) Versammlungsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Versammlungsgesetz 1953 (Österreich)
 VersMedV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 1 Abs. 1 und 3, des § 30 Abs. 1 und des § 35 Abs. 1 des Bundesversorgungsgesetzes (Versorgungsmedizin-Verordnung)
 VerschG Verschollenheitsgesetz
 VersR Versicherungsrecht (Zeitschrift) oder Versicherungsrecht
 VersRücklG Versorgungsrücklagegesetz (Gesetz über eine Versorgungsrücklage des Bundes)
 VersRuhG Gesetz über das Ruhen von Ansprüchen aus Sonder- und Zusatzversorgungssystemen (Versorgungsruhensgesetz)
 VersStDV Versicherungssteuer-Durchführungsverordnung (Durchführungsverordnung zum Versicherungsteuergesetz)
 VersStG Versicherungsteuergesetz oder Versicherungsteuergesetz (Österreich)
 VersTierMeldV Versuchstiermeldeverordnung (Verordnung über die Meldung zu Versuchszwecken oder zu bestimmten anderen Zwecken verwendeter Wirbeltiere)
 VersTierAufzKennzV Verordnung über Aufzeichnungen über Versuchstiere und deren Kennzeichnung (siehe Tierversuch)
 VerstV Verordnung über gewerbsmäßige Versteigerungen
 VersVermV Verordnung über die Versicherungsvermittlung und -beratung (Versicherungsvermittlungsverordnung)
 VerwArch. Verwaltungsarchiv
 VerwB Verwaltungsbehörde
 VeVA Verordnung über den Verkehr mit Abfällen (Schweiz)
 VEXAT Verordnung explosionsfähiger Atmosphären (Österreich)
 VfB Verfassungsbeschwerde
 Vfg. Verfügung
 VfGG Verfassungsgerichtshofgesetz (siehe Verfassungsgerichtshof (Österreich))
 VfGH Verfassungsgerichtshof (Österreich)
 VFR visual flight rules (Sichtflugregeln)
 VfSlg Sammlung der Erkenntnisse und wichtigsten Beschlüsse des Verfassungsgerichtshofes (1919–1920; Neue Folge 1921–1933, 1946 ff., Österreich)
 VG Verwaltungsgericht oder Versicherungsgeber oder Vormundschaftsgericht
 vGA Verdeckte Gewinnausschüttung
 VgA Verteidigungsausschuss des Deutschen Bundestages
 VGfA Versicherungsgesetz für Angestellte (siehe Angestelltenversicherungsgesetz)
 VGG Verwaltungsgerichtsgesetz (Schweiz) oder Gesetz über die Wahrnehmung von Urheberrechten und verwandten Schutzrechten durch Verwertungsgesellschaften (Verwertungsgesellschaftengesetz)
 VGH Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Oberverwaltungsgericht in Baden-Württemberg, Bayern und Hessen) oder (selten) Verfassungsgerichtshof
 VGHG Gesetz über den Verfassungsgerichtshof (z. B. in NRW)
 VglWebV Verordnung über die Anforderungen an Vergleichswebsites nach dem Zahlungskontengesetz sowie an die Akkreditierung und Konformitätsbewertung (Vergleichswebsitesverordnung)
 VGO Vollzugsgeschäftsordnung
 VGR Volkswirtschaftliche Gesamtrechnung oder Wissenschaftliche Vereinigung für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht oder Tagungsband der Wissenschaftlichen Vereinigung für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht oder Geschäftsreglement vom 17. April 2008 für das Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Schweiz)
 VGS Vereinigte Große Senate des BGH (siehe Großer Senat)
 VGT Deutscher Verkehrsgerichtstag oder Vormundschaftsgerichtstag
 VGÜ Verordnung zur Gesundheitsüberwachung (Österreich)
 VgV Vergabeverordnung
 VGWG Landesverwaltungsgericht Wien
 v. H. vom Hundert
 VHB Vergabehandbuch
 VHM Verhältnismäßigkeit
 VI Volksinitiative oder Volksinitiative (Schweiz)
 VIA Verbraucherinsolvenz aktuell (Zeitschrift)
 ViehVerkV Viehverkehrsverordnung (Verordnung zum Schutz gegen die Verschleppung von Tierseuchen im Viehverkehr)
 VIES VAT Information Exchange System (dt.: Mehrwertsteuer-Informationsaustauschsystem - MIAS) der Europäischen Kommission
 VIFG Verkehrsinfrastrukturfinanzierungsgesellschaft
 VIFGG Gesetz zur Änderung des Autobahnmautgesetzes für schwere Nutzfahrzeuge und zur Errichtung einer Verkehrsinfrastrukturfinanzierungsgesellschaft (Verkehrsinfrastrukturfinanzierungsgesetz) (außer Kraft)
 ViGGebV Verbraucherinformations-Gebührenverordnung (Verordnung über die Gebühren nach dem Verbraucherinformationsgesetz)
 V. i. S. d. P. Verantwortlich im Sinne des Presserechts
 VIVBVEG Gesetz über das Verfahren bei Volksinitiative, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (NRW)
 VIZ (ehemalige juristische) Zeitschrift für Vermögens- und Immobilienrecht
 VJSchrStFR Vierteljahresschrift für Steuer- und Finanzrecht (Zeitschrift)
 VK Vergabekammer
 VKA Vereinigung der kommunalen Arbeitgeberverbände
 VkBkmG Gesetz über die Verkündung von Gesetzen und Rechtsverordnungen und über Bekanntmachungen (Verkündungs- und Bekanntmachungsgesetz)
 VKBl. (VBl.) Verkehrsblatt (Zeitschrift)
 VKG Väterkarenzgesetz (Österreich)
 VKH Verfahrenskostenhilfe
 VKR Vergabekoordinierungsrichtlinie (Richtlinie 2004/18/EG)
 Vkz Verkehrszentrale (siehe Nord-Ostsee-Kanal#Verkehr)
 VL Vermögenswirksame Leistungen
 VLR Vereinigung Liechtensteinischer Richter
 VM Verkehrsrechtliche Mitteilungen (Zeitschrift)
 VMBG Vereinigung der Metall-Berufsgenossenschaften
 VMC Visual Meteorological Conditions (Sichtflugbedingungen)
 VMG Versorgungs-medizinische Grundsätze
 VMWG Verordnung über die Miete und Pacht von Wohn- und Geschäftsräumen (Schweiz) (siehe Mietvertrag (Schweiz))
 VN Vereinte Nationen oder Versicherungsnehmer
 VNB Verteilnetzbetreiber
 VO Verordnung oder Verordnung der EU / EG / EWG (siehe Verordnung (EU))
 VOB Vergabe- und Vertragsordnung für Bauleistungen (neue Bezeichnung ab Neufassung 2002) oder Verdingungsordnung für Bauleistungen (Bezeichnung bis zur Neufassung)
 VOB/A VOB Teil A (Allgemeine Bestimmungen für die Vergabe von Bauleistungen – VOB/A)
 VOB/B VOB Teil B (Allgemeine Vertragsbedingungen für die Ausführung von Bauleistungen – VOB/B)
 VOB/C VOB Teil C (Allgemeine Technische Vertragsbedingungen für Bauleistungen)
 VoBeG Gesetz über Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Hessen)
 VOBl. Verordnungsblatt
 VOF Vergabeordnung für freiberufliche Leistungen
 VO Funk Vollzugsordnung für den Funkdienst (engl.: Radio Regulations – RR)
 VO-GO Verordnung über die gymnasiale Oberstufe
 VOH Verkehrsopferhilfe
 VOL Vergabe- und Vertragsordnung für Leistungen oder Verordnung über die Aufstellung von Durchschnittssätzen für die Ermittlung des Gewinns aus Land- und Forstwirtschaft
 Vollj. Volljährige(r)
 VolksAbstG Volksabstimmungsgesetz (Saarland)
 VolksEG Gesetz über das Verfahren beim Volksentscheid (Bremen)
 Vorbem. Vorbemerkung
 VOR Zeitschrift für Verkehrs- und Ordnungswidrigkeitenrecht
 VorlV Verordnung der Bundesministerin für Arbeit, Gesundheit und Soziales über den Verkehr und die Gebarung mit Vorläuferstoffen (Vorläuferstoffeverordnung) (Österreich) oder Verordnung vom 29. Mai 1996 über die Vorläuferchemikalien und andere Chemikalien, die zur Herstellung von Betäubungsmitteln und psychotropen Stoffen verwendet werden (Vorläuferverordnung) (Schweiz)
 Vors. Vorsitz(ender)
 VorstAG Vorstandsvergütungsangemessenheitsgesetz (siehe Vergütungsregister)
 VorstOG Vorstandsvergütungs-Offenlegungsgesetz
 VOSTRA Verordnung vom 29. September 2006 über das Strafregister (Schweiz)
 VO-UA Verfahrensordnung für parlamentarische Untersuchungsausschüsse (Österreich) (siehe Untersuchungsausschuss#Untersuchungsausschüsse im Nationalrat)
 VPI Verkehrspolizeiinspektion
 VP Verträglichkeitsprüfung oder Verkehrsplan
 VpDel Verordnung über parlamentarische Delegationen (Schweiz)
 VPS virtuelle Poststelle
 VR Vereinsregister oder Verwaltungsrundschau (Zeitschrift) oder Völkerrecht oder Verbraucherrecht oder Versicherer oder Verwaltungsrat (Schweiz)
 VRegGebS Vorsorgeregister-Gebührensatzung
 VRegV Vorsorgeregisterverordnung
 VRG Veranlagungs- und Risikogemeinschaft (siehe Pensionskasse#Österreich)
 VRLG Vorsitzender Richter am Landgericht
 VRR VerkehrsRechtsReport (Zeitschrift) oder Richtlinie 2011/83/EU (Verbraucherrechte-Richtlinie) oder Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr
 VRRL Richtlinie 2011/83/EU (Verbraucherrechte-Richtlinie)
 VRRLUmsG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Verbraucherrechterichtlinie und zur Änderung des Gesetzes zur Regelung der Wohnungsvermittlung
 VRS Verkehrsrechtssammlung
 VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee (Zeitschrift)
 VRV Vereinsregisterverordnung oder Verkehrsregelnverordnung (Schweiz) oder Verwaltungsrichter-Vereinigung (Österreich)
 VS Vermögenssorge oder Verschlusssache
 VSA Verschlusssachenanweisung (Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zum materiellen Geheimschutz)
 VSBG Gesetz über die alternative Streitbeilegung in Verbrauchersachen (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz)
 VSBInfoV Verordnung über Informations- und Berichtspflichten nach dem Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungs-Informationspflichtenverordnung)
 VSchDG EG-Verbraucherschutz-Durchsetzungsgesetz
 VSF Vorschriftensammlung Bundesfinanzverwaltung
 VSF-Z Vorschriftensammlung Bundesfinanzverwaltung – Zoll
 VSG Vorschriften für Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz (früher: Unfallverhütungsvorschriften (UVV)) oder Versorgungsstärkungsgesetz
 VSSR Vierteljahresschrift für Sozialrecht (Zeitschrift)
 VSt Vergabestelle oder Vermögenssteuer oder Verbrauchsteuer (Deutschland)
 VStDÜV Verordnung zur elektronischen Übermittlung von Daten für die Verbrauchsteuern und die Luftverkehrsteuer (Verbrauch-und-Luftverkehrsteuerdaten-Übermittlungs-Verordnung)
 VStDV Vermögensteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 VStG Vermögensteuergesetz oder Bundesgesetz über die Verrechnungssteuer (Schweiz) oder Verwaltungsstrafgesetz (Österreich)
 VStGB Völkerstrafgesetzbuch
 VStR Vermögenssteuer-Richtlinien
 VStRG Vermögenssteuerreformgesetz (Gesetz zur Reform des Vermögensteuerrechts und zur Änderung anderer Steuergesetze)
 VStV Verrechnungssteuerverordnung (Schweiz)
 VSV Vorschriftensammlung für die Verwaltung
 VSVgV Vergabeverordnung Verteidigung und Sicherheit
 VT Verkündungstermin oder Verkehrsteilnehmer
 VTS Verordnung über die technischen Anforderungen an Strassenfahrzeuge (Schweiz)
 VuB Recht der Verbote und Beschränkungen für den grenzüberschreitenden Warenverkehr
 VUDat Elektronisches Zentralregister für Güter- und Personenkraftverkehrsunternehmen (Verkehrsunternehmensdatei)
 VUDatDV Durchführungsverordnung über die Verkehrsunternehmensdatei (Verkehrsunternehmensdatei-Durchführungsverordnung)
 v. u. g. vorgelesen und genehmigt
 VU Versäumnisurteil
 v. g. u. vorgelesen, genehmigt, unterschrieben (veraltet; Beispiel: ca. 1908)
 VÜPF Schweizer Verordnung vom 31. Oktober 2001 über die Überwachung des Post- und Fernmeldeverkehrs
 VuR Verbraucher und Recht (Zeitschrift)
 VuT (V + T) Verkehr und Technik. Organ für den Öffentlichen Personennahverkehr (Zeitschrift)
 VÜA Vergabeüberwachungsausschuss
 VV Vergütungsverzeichnis oder Verwaltungsvorschrift oder Vermögensverzeichnis oder Vertreterversammlung oder Verwaltungsvereinbarung oder Verbändevereinbarung (Energiewirtschaft)
 VVA Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1013/2006 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 14. Juni 2006 über die Verbringung von Abfällen (siehe auch Verordnung (EWG) Nr. 259/93)
 VVAE Verordnung über die Vermeidung und die Entsorgung von Abfällen (Abfallverordnung) (Schweiz)
 VVaG Versicherungsverein auf Gegenseitigkeit
 VV-BHO Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschriften zur Bundeshaushaltsordnung
 VVDStRL Veröffentlichungen der Vereinigung der Deutschen Staatsrechtslehrer
 VVE Vertrag über eine Verfassung für Europa
 VVG Versicherungsvertragsgesetz
 VVG Verwaltungsvollstreckungsgesetz (Österreich)
 VVVG Gesetz über Volksantrag, Volksbegehren und Volksentscheid (Sachsen)
 VVZ elektronische Verwahrungsverzeichnis (gemäß § 59a BeurkG)
 VW Versicherungswirtschaft (Zeitschrift)
 VwDVG Gesetz über die Verwendung von Verwaltungsdaten für Zwecke der Wirtschaftsstatistiken (Verwaltungsdatenverwendungsgesetz)
 VwGH Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Österreich)
 VwGO Verwaltungsgerichtsordnung
 VwGVG Bundesgesetz über das Verfahren der Verwaltungsgerichte (Verwaltungsgerichtsverfahrensgesetz) (Österreich)
 VwKostG Verwaltungskostengesetz
 VwR Verwaltungsrecht
 VwRehaG Verwaltungsrechtliches Rehabilitierungsgesetz
 VwV Verwaltungsvorschrift oder Verwaltungsverfahren oder Verwaltungsvollstreckung
 VwFAngAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Verwaltungsfachangestellten/ zur Verwaltungsfachangestellten
 VwV-StVO Verwaltungsvorschrift zur Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung
 VwVfG Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz
 VwVG Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (Schweiz)
 VwVG Verwaltungs-Vollstreckungsgesetz (des Bundes oder der Länder)
 VwV-StVO Verwaltungsvorschrift zur Straßenverkehrs-Ordnung
 VwVwS Verwaltungsvorschrift wassergefährdende Stoffe (siehe Wassergefährdende Stoffe)
 VwZG Verwaltungszustellungsgesetz
 VZ Veranlagungszeitraum oder Verkehrszeichen oder Vollzeit
 VZBV Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband
 VzA Vollzugsanordnung
 VZÄ Vollzeitäquivalent
 VZertES Verordnung über Zertifizierungsdienste im Bereich der elektronischen Signatur und anderer Anwendungen digitaler Zertifikate (Verordnung über die elektronische Signatur) (Schweiz)
 VZG Verordnung des Bundesgerichts über die Zwangsverwertung von Grundstücken (Schweiz)
 VZH Vollzugshandbuch (im österreichischen Strafvollzug)
 VZKG Verbraucherzahlungskontogesetz (Österreich)
 VZO Vollzugsordnung für Justizanstalten (Österreich)
 VZOG Gesetz über die Feststellung der Zuordnung von ehemals volkseigenem Vermögen (Vermögenszuordnungsgesetz)
 VZR Verkehrszentralregister
 vZTA Verbindliche Zolltarifauskunft
 VZV Verordnung über die Zulassung von Personen und Fahrzeugen zum Strassenverkehr (Verkehrszulassungsverordnung) (Schweiz) oder Verkehrszulassungsverordnung (Liechtenstein)

W 
 WA Warschauer Abkommen (zum Luftvertrag) oder Washingtoner Artenschutzübereinkommen oder Warenverzeichnis für die Außenhandelsstatistik oder Wirtschaftsausschuss (nach §§ 106 ff. BetrVG)
 WADA Welt-Anti-Doping-Agentur
 WählGTranspG Gesetz über die Transparenz der Finanzierung kommunaler Wählergruppen (Wählergruppentransparenzgesetz NRW)
 WährG Währungsgesetz
 WaffenG Waffengesetz
 WaffG Waffengesetz 1996 (Österreich)
 WaffGBundFreistV Verordnung über die Freistellung von Behörden, Dienststellen und Gerichten des Bundes von waffenrechtlichen Vorschriften(Waffengesetz-Bund-Freistellungsverordnung)
 WaffGHZAOWiV Verordnung über die Zuständigkeit der Hauptzollämter zur Verfolgung und Ahndung bestimmter Ordnungswidrigkeiten nach dem Waffengesetz und dem Sprengstoffgesetz
 WaffRG Waffenrechtsregistergesetz
 WaffRGDV Verordnung zur Durchführung des Waffenregistergesetzes
 WAG Gesetz über die Rechtsverhältnisse bei baulichen Maßnahmen auf ehemals in Anspruch genommenen Grundstücken (Wertausgleichsgesetz)
 WahlO Erste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Betriebsverfassungsgesetzes (Wahlordnung – WO); in der Datenbank Juris abgekürzt mit BetrVGDV1WO.
 WahlPrG Wahlprüfungsgesetz
 WahrnG Urheberrechtswahrnehmungsgesetz (Gesetz über die Wahrnehmung von Urheberrechten und verwandten Schutzrechten)
 WahrnV Verordnung über die Wahrnehmung einzelner den Prüfungsstellen, der Gebrauchsmusterstelle, den Markenstellen und den Abteilungen des Patentamts obliegender Geschäfte
 WalfÜbk Internationales Übereinkommen zur Regelung des Walfangs  (engl.: International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling - IWC)
 WalfÜbkG Gesetz zu dem Internationalen Übereinkommen vom 2. Dezember 1946 zur Regelung des Walfangs
 WaPo (auch WSP) Wasserschutzpolizei
 WARL Wertpapierangebots-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 89/298/EWG […] zur Koordinierung der Bedingungen für die Erstellung, Kontrolle und Verbreitung des Prospekts, der im Falle öffentlicher Angebote von Wertpapieren zu veröffentlichen ist)
 WasBauPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Wasserbaumeister/Geprüfte Wasserbaumeisterin (siehe Wasserbauer)
 WasKwV Verordnung über die steuerliche Begünstigung von Wasserkraftwerken
 WasKwVÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung der Verordnung über die steuerliche Begünstigung von Wasserkraftwerken
 WasMotRV Verordnung über das Fahren mit Wassermotorrädern auf den Binnenschifffahrtsstraßen (siehe Wassermotorrad)
 WasserstoffNEV Verordnung über die Kosten und Entgelte für den Zugang zu Wasserstoffnetzen (Wasserstoffnetzentgeltverordnung)
 WasSiG Gesetz über die Sicherstellung von Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der Wasserwirtschaft für Zwecke der Verteidigung
 WaStrAbG Bundeswasserstraßenausbaugesetz
 WaStrAbgG Gesetz betreffend den Ausbau der deutschen Wasserstraßen und die Erhebung von Schifffahrtsabgaben
 WaStrBAV Bekanntmachung der Strompolizeiverordnung zum Schutz bundeseigener Betriebsanlagen an Bundeswasserstraßen (Wasserstraßen-Betriebsanlagenverordnung)
 WaStrG Bundeswasserstraßengesetz
 WaStrG-KostV Kostenverordnung zum Bundeswasserstraßengesetz
 WBA Wiederbeschaffungsaufwand
 WBeauftr Wehrbeauftragter des Deutschen Bundestages
 WBeauftrG Gesetz über den Wehrbeauftragten des Deutschen Bundestages
 WBF Rat für Wettbewerbsfähigkeit (Binnenmarkt, Industrie, Forschung und Raumfahrt) der EU (engl.: , franz.: )
 WBK Waffenbesitzkarte
 WBO Wehrbeschwerdeordnung oder Weiterbildungsordnung
 WBS Wohnberechtigungsschein
 WBV Wehrbereichsverwaltung
 WBVG Wohn- und Betreuungsvertragsgesetz
 WBW Wiederbeschaffungswert
 WCO World Customs Organization (Weltzollorganisation)
 WCT WIPO-Urheberrechtsvertrag (von engl. )
 WD Wissenschaftliche Dienste des Deutschen Bundestages
 WDO Wehrdisziplinarordnung
 WE Währungseinheit oder Willenserklärung oder Wohnungseigentum oder Wohnungseigentümer oder Zeitschrift „Das Wohnungseigentum“
 webERV Web-basierter Elektronischer Rechtsverkehr (Österreich)
 WEG Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (Deutschland) oder Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (Österreich) oder Wohnungseigentümergemeinschaft
 WEGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Wohnungseigentumsgesetzes und anderer Gesetze
 WehrpflG Wehrpflichtgesetz
 WeinG Weingesetz
 WeinSBV Weinrechtliche Straf- und Bußgeldverordnung
 WeinÜV Wein-Überwachungsverordnung
 WeinV Weinverordnung (Deutschland)
 WEKO Wettbewerbskommission (Schweiz) (franz. , ital. )
 WEMoG Wohnungseigentumsmodernisierungsgesetz
 WertR Wertermittlungsrichtlinie
 WertV Wertermittlungsverordnung
 Weser/Jade-LV Verordnung über die Verwaltung und Ordnung der Seelotsreviere Weser I und Weser II/Jade (Weser/Jade-Lotsverordnung)
 WettbG Bundesgesetz über die Einrichtung einer Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde (Wettbewerbsgesetz) (Österreich)
 WEU Westeuropäische Union
 WFachwPrV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum anerkannten Abschluss Geprüfter Wirtschaftsfachwirt/Geprüfte Wirtschaftsfachwirtin
 WfB Werkstatt für Behinderte (Begriff aus dem alten Bundessozialhilfegesetz (BSHG)) (abgelöst durch den Begriff „Werkstatt für behinderte Menschen“ (WfBM) nach dem SGB IX)
 WFB Wohnraumförderungsbestimmungen (z. B. in NRW)
 WfBM Werkstatt für behinderte Menschen
 WFG Wachstums- und Beschäftigungsförderungsgesetz
 WFNG Gesetz zur Förderung und Nutzung von Wohnraum (NRW)
 WG Wechselgesetz oder Waffengesetz (Schweiz) oder Wohngemeinschaft oder Wassergesetz (z. B. WG BW, siehe Landeswassergesetz) oder Wassergesetz (DDR) oder Wählergruppe oder Wirtschaftsgut (Steuerlehre)
 WGG Wegfall der Geschäftsgrundlage oder Wohnungsgemeinnützigkeitsgesetz (Österreich)
 WGK Wassergefährdungsklasse
 WGSVG Gesetz zur Regelung der Wiedergutmachung nationalsozialistischen Unrechts in der Sozialversicherung
 WGT Westgruppe der Truppen
 WGT-LVG Gesetz über die Verwertung der Liegenschaften der Westgruppe der Truppen (Brandenburg)
 WHG Wasserhaushaltsgesetz
 WHO Weltgesundheitsorganisation ()
 WHÜ Weltraumhaftungsübereinkommen (Übereinkommen über die völkerrechtliche Haftung für Schäden durch Weltraumgegenstände)
 WiB Wirtschaftliche Beratung (Zeitschrift)
 WikG Gesetz zur Bekämpfung der Wirtschaftskriminalität
 WindBG Gesetz zur Festlegung von Flächenbedarfen für Windenergieanlagen an Land (Windenergieflächenbedarfsgesetz)
 WindSeeG Gesetz zur Entwicklung und Förderung der Windenergie auf See (Windenergie-auf-See-Gesetz)
 WinterbeschÄndV Winterbeschäftigungs-Änderungs-Verordnung
 WinterbeschV Verordnung über ergänzende Leistungen zum Saison-Kurzarbeitergeld und die Aufbringung der erforderlichen Mittel zur Aufrechterhaltung der Beschäftigung in den Wintermonaten (Winterbeschäftigungs-Verordnung)
 WIPO Weltorganisation für geistiges Eigentum (engl.: ; franz. )
 WiPrO (WPO) Wirtschaftsprüferordnung
 WiPrPrüfV Wirtschaftsprüferprüfungsverordnung
 WiRO Zeitschrift für Wirtschaft und Recht in Osteuropa
 WiSiV Wirtschaftssicherstellungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Sicherstellung von Leistungen auf dem Gebiet der gewerblichen Wirtschaft)
 WissZeitVG Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz
 WiStG (WiStG 1954) Wirtschaftsstrafgesetz 1954 (Gesetz zur weiteren Vereinfachung des Wirtschaftsstrafrechts)
 wistra Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Steuerstrafrecht
 WiVerw Wirtschaft und Verwaltung (Zeitschrift), Vierteljahresbeilage zum Gewerbearchiv
 Wj. Wirtschaftsjahr
 WKM Wechselkursmechanismus (siehe u. a. Wechselkursmechanismus II)
 WKÖ österreichische Wirtschaftskammer (siehe Wirtschaftskammer Österreich)
 WKRL Richtlinie (EU) 2019/771 (Warenkauf) (engl.: concerning contracts for the sale of goods Directive)
 WKStA Wirtschafts- und Korruptionsstaatsanwaltschaft (Österreich; amtlich: Zentrale Staatsanwaltschaft zur Verfolgung von Wirtschaftsstraftaten und Korruption)
 wl wohnungslos
 WM Wertpapier-Mitteilungen, Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Bankrecht oder Wohnungswirtschaft und Mietrecht (Zeitschrift)
 WMO Weltorganisation für Meteorologie (engl.: World Meteorological Organization, kurz WMO; spanische und französische Abkürzung: OMM)
 WMV Weimarer Verfassung
 WMVO Werkstätten-Mitwirkungsverordnung (nach SGB IX)
 WNA Wasserstraßen-Neubauamt
 WNB Wohnraumnutzungsbestimmungen NRW
 WO Erste Verordnung zur Durchführung des Betriebsverfassungsgesetzes (Wahlordnung – WO); gebräuchlich ist auch die Abkürzung WahlO; in der Datenbank Juris abgekürzt mit BetrVGDV1WO bezeichnet.
 WoBauG Wohnungsbaugesetz (aufgehoben)
 WoBindG Wohnungsbindungsgesetz
 WoFG Wohnraumförderungsgesetz
 WoFlV Wohnflächenverordnung
 WoGG Wohngeldgesetz
 WoGRefG Gesetz zur Reform des Wohngeldrechts und zur Änderung des Wohnraumförderungsgesetzes (Wohngeldreformgesetz)
 WoGV Wohngeldverordnung
 WoGVÄndV Verordnung zur Änderung der Wohngeldverordnung
 WohnStG NRW Wohnraumstärkungsgesetz (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 WO-LPVG Wahlordnung zum Landespersonalvertretungsgesetz
 WoP Wohnungsbauprämie
 WoPDV Wohnungsbauprämien-Durchführungsverordnung (Verordnung zur Durchführung des Wohnungsbau-Prämiengesetzes)
 WoPG Gesetz über die Gewährung von Prämien für Wohnbausparer (Wohnungsbauprämiengesetz) (siehe Wohnungsbauprämie)
 WOrtPrG Gesetz zur Einführung des Wohnortprinzips bei Honorarvereinbarungen für Ärzte und Zahnärzte
 WOS Wahlordnung Seeschifffahrt (2. VO zum Betriebsverfassungsgesetz)
 WP Wirtschaftsprüfer/-prüfung oder Wahlperiode
 WpAIV Wertpapierhandelsanzeige- und Insiderverzeichnisverordnung (Verordnung zur Konkretisierung von Anzeige-, Mitteilungs- und Veröffentlichungspflichten sowie der Pflicht zur Führung von Insiderverzeichnissen nach dem Wertpapierhandelsgesetz)
 WPDLRL Wertpapierdienstleistungs-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 93/22/EWG […] über Wertpapierdienstleistungen)
 WpDPV Wertpapierdienstleistungs-Prüfungsverordnung (Verordnung über die Prüfung der Wertpapierdienstleistungsunternehmen nach § 36 des Wertpapierhandelsgesetzes)
 WpDVerOV Verordnung zur Konkretisierung der Verhaltensregeln und Organisationsanforderungen für Wertpapierdienstleistungsunternehmen (Wertpapierdienstleistungs-Verhaltens- und -Organisationsverordnung)
 WPflG Wehrpflichtgesetz
 WPg Die Wirtschaftsprüfung (Zeitschrift)
 WpHG Wertpapierhandelsgesetz
 WpIG Gesetz zur Beaufsichtigung von Wertpapierinstituten (Wertpapierinstitutsgesetz)
 WPK Wirtschaftsprüferkammer
 WPO (WiPrO) Wirtschaftsprüferordnung
 WpPG Wertpapierprospektgesetz
 WpÜG Wertpapiererwerbs- und Übernahmegesetz
 WpÜGAngebV Verordnung über den Inhalt der Angebotsunterlage, die Gegenleistung bei Übernahmeangeboten und Pflichtangeboten und die Befreiung von der Verpflichtung zur Veröffentlichung und zur Abgabe eines Angebots (WpÜG-Angebotsverordnung)
 WPV Weltpostverein (franz.: ) oder Weltpostvertrag
 WPVertr Weltpostvertrag
 WRegG Gesetz zur Einrichtung und zum Betrieb eines Registers zum Schutz des Wettbewerbs um öffentliche Aufträge und Konzessionen (Wettbewerbsregistergesetz)
 WRMG Wasch- und Reinigungsmittelgesetz
 WRP Wettbewerb in Recht und Praxis (Zeitschrift)j
 WRRL Richtlinie 2000/60/EG (Wasserrahmenrichtlinie)
 WRV Weimarer Reichsverfassung
 WSA Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsamt oder Wirtschafts- und Sozialausschuss der EU
 WSD Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion (siehe u. a. Wasser- und Schifffahrtsdirektion Nord), ab 2013 ersetzt durch Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt (GDWS)
 WSF Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfonds
 WSF-KostV Verordnung über die Erstattung von Kosten, die im Rahmen der Durchführung von Maßnahmen des Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfonds nach dem Stabilisierungsfondsgesetz entstehen (Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfonds-Kostenverordnung)
 WSG Wehrsoldgesetz oder Wasserschutzgebiet
 WSP (auch WaPo) Wasserschutzpolizei
 WStDV Wechselsteuer-Durchführungsverordnung
 WStFG Gesetz zur Errichtung eines Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfonds (Wirtschaftsstabilisierungsfondsgesetz)
 WStG Wehrstrafgesetz oder Wechselsteuergesetz
 WSV Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes oder Widerspruchsverfahren
 WSVSeeKostV Kostenverordnung für Amtshandlungen der Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsverwaltung des Bundes auf dem Gebiet der Seeschifffahrt
 WTG Wohn- und Teilhabegesetz (mehrerer Bundesländer)
 WTG-DVO Wohn- und Teilhabegesetz Durchführungsverordnung (z.B. in NRW)
 WTG LSA Wohn- und Teilhabegesetz (Sachsen-Anhalt)
 WTG NRW Wohn- und Teilhabegesetz (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
 WTO Welthandelsorganisation (World Trade Organization), früher: GATT
 WuB Entscheidungsanmerkungen zum Wirtschafts- und Bankrecht
 WÜD Wiener Übereinkommen über diplomatische Beziehungen
 WÜK Wiener Übereinkommen über konsularische Beziehungen
 WÜRV Wiener Übereinkommen über das Recht der Verträge vom 23. Mai 1969 (auch: Wiener Vertragsrechtskonvention (WVK), engl. )
 WuM Wohnungswirtschaft und Mietrecht (Zeitschrift)
 WUSt Warenumsatzsteuer (Schweiz) (1995 aufgehoben, ersetzt durch Mehrwertsteuer (Schweiz))
 WuW Wirtschaft und Wettbewerb (Zeitschrift)
 WVG Wasserverbandsgesetz
 WVK Wiener Übereinkommen über das Recht der Verträge vom 23. Mai 1969 (auch: Wiener Vertragsrechtskonvention (WVK), engl. )
 WVO Werkstättenverordnung
 WVRK Wiener Vertragsrechtskonvention
 WVU Wasserversorgungsunternehmen
 WVZ Wechselverkehrszeichen
 WWO Weltwirtschaftsordnung
 WWU Europäische Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion
 WZO Weltzollorganisation (engl.: )
 WzS Wege zur Sozialversicherung. Zeitschrift für die Sozialversicherungs-Praxis

Y 
 YAR York-Antwerpener Regeln

Z 
 ZA Zeitausgleich bei gleitender Arbeitszeit oder Zollamt
 ZAD Zahlungsauslösedienst
 ZADL Zahlungsauslösedienstleister
 ZAE Zusatzblatt Ausfuhrerstattung
 ZÄPrO Approbationsordnung für Zahnärzte
 ZAF Zollamtfrau (siehe Amtsbezeichnungen der deutschen Zollverwaltung)
 ZAfTDa Zentralarchiv für Tätigkeitsberichte des Bundes- und der Landesdatenschutzbeauftragten und der Aufsichtsbehörden für den Datenschutz
 ZAG Zusatzabkommen von Guadalajara (zum Warschauer Abkommen) oder Gesetz über die Beaufsichtigung von Zahlungsdiensten (Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz)
 ZAGAnzV Verordnung über die Anzeigen und die Vorlage von Unterlagen nach dem Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz (ZAG-Anzeigenverordnung)
 ZAGMonAwV Verordnung zur Einreichung von Monatsausweisen nach dem Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz
 ZahlPrüfbV Verordnung über die Prüfung der Jahresabschlüsse der Zahlungsinstitute sowie die darüber zu erstellenden Berichte (Zahlungsinstituts-Prüfungsberichtsverordnung)
 ZahlVGJG Justizbehörden-Zahlungsverkehr-Gesetz (Gesetz über den Zahlungsverkehr mit Gerichten und Justizbehörden)
 Zahnärzte-ZV Zulassungsverordnung für Vertragszahnärzte
 ZahnFinAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung der Finanzierung von Zahnersatz
 ZahnHkG Gesetz über die Ausübung der Zahnheilkunde
 ZahnmedAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Zahnmedizinischen Fachangestellten/zur Zahnmedizinischen Fachangestellten (siehe Zahnmedizinischer Fachangestellter)
 ZahntechAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Zahntechniker und zur Zahntechnikerin
 ZahntechMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Zahntechniker-Handwerk
 ZAI Zollamtsinspektor (siehe Amtsbezeichnungen der deutschen Zollverwaltung)
 ZAM Zollamtmann (siehe Amtsbezeichnungen der deutschen Zollverwaltung)
 ZaöRV Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht
 ZAP Zeitschrift für die Anwaltspraxis
 ZApprO (ZÄPrO) Zahnärzteapprobationsordnung
 ZAR Zeitschrift für Ausländerrecht und Ausländerpolitik oder Zollamtsrat/rätin
 ZAS Zentrale Ausgleichsstelle (Schweiz)
 ZAV Zentrale Auslands- und Fachvermittlung der Bundesagentur für Arbeit
 ZB Europäischer Zahlungsbefehl oder Zahlungsbefehl (Deutschland) oder Zahlungsbefehl (Österreich) oder Zahlungsbefehl (Schweiz) oder Zulassungsbescheinigung oder Zustellungsbevollmächtigter oder Ziviler Bevölkerungsschutz
 ZBB Zeitschrift für Bankrecht und Bankwirtschaft/Journal of Banking Law and Banking (JBB)
 ZBl Schweizerisches Zentralblatt für Staats- und Verwaltungsrecht (Zeitschrift) oder Zentralblatt für das Deutsche Reich
 ZblJugR Zentralblatt für Jugendrecht und Jugendwohlfahrt
 ZBR Zeitschrift für Beamtenrecht oder Zurückbehaltungsrecht
 ZBRL Zwischenberichts-Richtlinie (Richtlinie 82/121/EWG […] über regelmäßige Informationen, die von Gesellschaften zu veröffentlichen sind, deren Aktien zur amtlichen Notierung an einer Wertpapierbörse zugelassen sind)
 ZCG Zeitschrift für Corporate Governance. Leitung und Überwachung in der Unternehmens- und Prüfungspraxis
 ZChinR Zeitschrift für Chinesisches Recht
 z. D. zur Disposition (= „zur freien Verfügung“)
 ZD Zeitschrift für Datenschutz
 ZDA Zertifizierungsdiensteanbieter
 ZDG Zivildienstgesetz
 ZDH Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks e.V.
 ZDPersAV Verordnung über die Führung der Personalakten durch das Bundesamt für den Zivildienst
 ZDRL Richtlinie (EU) 2015/2366 des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 25. November 2015 über Zahlungsdienste im Binnenmarkt, zur Änderung der Richtlinien 2002/65/EG, 2009/110/EG und 2013/36/EU und der Verordnung (EU) Nr. 1093/2010 sowie zur Aufhebung der Richtlinie 2007/64/EG (Zahlungsdiensterichtlinie)
 ZDRL-II-UG Gesetz zur Umsetzung der Zweiten Zahlungsdiensterichtlinie
 ZDUG Zahlungsdiensteumsetzungsgesetz
 ZDVG Gesetz über den Vertrauensmann der Zivildienstleistenden (Artikel 2 des Gesetzes über die Beteiligung der Soldaten und der Zivildienstleistenden)
 ZDVÜV Verordnung über versorgungsrechtliche Übergangsregelungen für Zivildienstleistende nach Herstellung der Einheit Deutschlands
 ZDVWahlV Verordnung über die Wahl der Vertrauensmänner der Zivildienstleistenden
 ZdW Bay Zeitschrift der Wohnungswirtschaft Bayern
 ZE Zahlungsermächtigung (engl.: ; franz.: ) oder Zugelassener Empfänger
 ZEG Zuständigkeitsergänzungsgesetz
 ZEMA Zentrale einfache Melderegisterauskunft (ZEMA) oder Zentrale Melde- und Auswertestelle für Störfälle und Störungen (nach der Störfallverordnung)
 ZensG 2011 Zensusgesetz 2011
 ZensTeG Gesetz zur Erprobung eines registergestützten Zensus
 ZensVorbG 2011 Zensusvorbereitungsgesetz 2011
 ZerlG Zerlegungsgesetz
 ZertES Bundesgesetz über Zertifizierungsdienste im Bereich der elektronischen Signatur und anderer Anwendungen digitaler Zertifikate (Bundesgesetz über die elektronische Signatur, Schweiz)
 ZertVerwV Verordnung über die Prüfung zum zertifizierten Verwalter nach dem Wohnungseigentumsgesetz (Zertifizierter-Verwalter-Prüfungsverordnung) (siehe Wohnungseigentumsverwaltung)
 ZESAR Zeitschrift für europäisches Sozial- und Arbeitsrecht
 ZESV Verordnung über die Zentrale Ethik-Kommission für Stammzellenforschung und über die zuständige Behörde nach dem Stammzellgesetz
 ZEUBLG Gesetz über die Zusammenarbeit von Bund und Ländern in Angelegenheiten der Europäischen Union
 ZEuP Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht
 ZEuS Zeitschrift für europarechtliche Studien
 ZEV Zeitschrift für Erbrecht und Vermögensnachfolge
 ZEVIS Zentrales Verkehrs-Informationssystem (ZEVIS)
 ZevKR Zeitschrift für evangelisches Kirchenrecht
 ZfA Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen oder Zentrale Zulagenstelle für Altersvermögen oder Zeitschrift für Arbeitsrecht
 ZFA Zahnmedizinischer Fachangestellter oder Zeitschrift für Arbeitsrecht
 ZfB Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft oder Zeitschrift für Binnenschifffahrtsrecht oder Zeitschrift für Bergrecht
 zfbf Schmalenbachs Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung
 ZfBR Zeitschrift für deutsches und internationales Bau- und Vergaberecht
 ZFD Zollfahndungsdienst
 ZFDG (auch ZFdG) Zollfahndungsdienstgesetz (Gesetz über das Zollkriminalamt und die Zollfahndungsämter)
 ZFE Zeitschrift für Familien- und Erbrecht
 ZfF Zeitschrift für das Fürsorgewesen
 ZfhF Zeitschrift für handelswissenschaftliche Forschung
 ZfgK Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen
 ZfIR Zeitschrift für Immobilienrecht
 ZFIS Zeitschrift für Innere Sicherheit in Deutschland und Europa
 ZfJ Zeitschrift für Jugendrecht
 ZfL Zeitschrift für Lebensrecht
 ZfPW Zeitschrift für die gesamte Privatrechtswissenschaft
 ZfR Zeitschrift für Rechtspfleger
 ZfRV Zeitschrift für Europarecht, internationales Privatrecht und Rechtsvergleichung
 ZfS Zeitschrift für Schadensrecht oder Zeitschrift für Soziologie oder Zeitschrift für Sozialversicherung, Sozialhilfe und Versorgung
 ZfSH/SGB Zeitschrift für die sozialrechtliche Praxis (bis 1996: Zeitschrift für Sozialhilfe und Sozialgesetzbuch. Monatszeitschrift für deutsches, ausländisches und internationales Sozialrecht und den europäischen Sozialraum)
 ZfStrVo Zeitschrift für Strafvollzug und Straffälligenhilfe
 ZfU Zeitschrift für Umweltpolitik & Umweltrecht
 ZfW Zeitschrift für Wasserrecht
 ZfWG Zeitschrift für Wett- und Glücksspielrecht
 ZfZ Zeitschrift für Zölle und Verbrauchssteuern
 ZG Zollgesetz oder Zeitschrift für Gesetzgebung
 ZGA Zugewinnausgleich
 ZGÄndG Gesetz zur Änderung des Zollgesetzes
 ZGB Zivilgesetzbuch (Begriffsklärung) oder Zivilgesetzbuch (Schweiz)
 ZGE Zeitschrift für Geistiges Eigentum
 ZGI Zeitschrift für das gesamte Informationsrecht
 ZGR Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht
 ZgS Zeitschrift für die gesamte Staatswissenschaft
 ZGS Zeitschrift für das gesamte Schuldrecht oder Zeitschrift für Vertragsgestaltung, Schuld- und Haftungsrecht
 ZHG Gesetz über die Ausübung der Zahnheilkunde
 ZHG§10PrO Prüfungsordnung nach § 10 des Gesetzes über die Ausübung der Zahnheilkunde
 ZHG§19ZG Gesetz über die Zulassung von nach § 19 des Zahnheilkundegesetzes berechtigten Personen zur Behandlung der Versicherten in der gesetzlichen Krankenversicherung
 ZHG§8DV Verordnung zur Durchführung des § 8 Abs. 1 des Gesetzes über die Ausübung der Zahnheilkunde
 ZHR Zeitschrift für das gesamte Handels- und Wirtschaftsrecht
 ZHS Zollhauptsekretär (siehe Amtsbezeichnungen der deutschen Zollverwaltung)
 ZHW Zollhauptwachtmeister
 ZI Zollinspektor
 ZIdPrüfV Verordnung über die Bestimmung von Dokumenten, die zur Überprüfung der Identität einer nach dem Geldwäschegesetz zu identifizierenden Person zum Zwecke des Abschlusses eines Zahlungskontovertrags zugelassen werden (Zahlungskonto-Identitätsprüfungsverordnung)
 ZIEV Verordnung über die angemessene Eigenkapitalausstattung von Zahlungsinstituten und E-Geld-Instituten nach dem Zahlungsdiensteaufsichtsgesetz (ZAG-Instituts-Eigenmittelverordnung)
 ZimMstrV Verordnung über das Meisterprüfungsberufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen in den Teilen I und II der Meisterprüfung im Zimmerer-Handwerk
 ZinnGießHwV Verordnung über das Berufsbild des Zinngießer-Handwerks
 ZInsO Zeitschrift für das gesamte Insolvenzrecht
 ZinnRVorRV Verordnung über die Gewährung von Vorrechten und Immunitäten an den Internationalen Zinnrat nach dem Fünften Internationalen Zinn-Übereinkommen vom 21. Juni 1975
 ZIP Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht
 ZIR Zeitschrift Interne Revision. Fachzeitschrift für Wissenschaft und Praxis
 ZirkRegV Verordnung über die Registrierung von Erlaubnissen zur Zurschaustellung von Tieren an wechselnden Orten (Zirkusregisterverordnung)
 ZIS Zeitschrift für Internationale Strafrechtsdogmatik oder Zollinformationssystem
 ZISG Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen auf Grund von Artikel K.3 des Vertrags über die Europäische Union vom 26. Juli 1995 über den Einsatz der Informationstechnologie im Zollbereich
 ZIV Zinsinformationsverordnung (Verordnung zur Umsetzung der Richtlinie 2003/48/EG des Rates im Bereich der Besteuerung von Zinserträgen)
 ZivHaftBkÖlVerschmSchÜbk Internationales Übereinkommen über die zivilrechtliche Haftung für Schäden durch Bunkerölverschmutzung
 ZIVIT Zentrum für Informationsverarbeitung und Informationstechnik
 ZJI Zusammenarbeit im Bereich Justiz und Inneres
 ZJJ Zeitschrift für Jugendkriminalität und Jugendhilfe
 ZJS Zeitschrift für das Juristische Studium
 ZK Zivilkammer oder Zentralkomitee oder Zollkodex (aufgehoben, abgelöst 2016 durch UZK Zollkodex der Union) oder Zollkasse oder Zutrittskontrolle
 ZKA Zollkriminalamt oder Zentraler Kreditausschuss (bis Juli 2011, seitdem Die Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft)
 ZKBSV Verordnung über die Zentrale Kommission für die Biologische Sicherheit
 ZKDSG Gesetz über den Schutz von zugangskontrollierten Diensten und von Zugangskontrolldiensten (Zugangskontrolldiensteschutz-Gesetz)
 ZK-DVO Durchführungsverordnung zum Zollkodex
 ZKF Zeitschrift für Kommunalfinanzen (Zeitschrift)
 ZKG Gesetz über die Vergleichbarkeit von Zahlungskontoentgelten, den Wechsel von Zahlungskonten sowie den Zugang zu Zahlungskonten mit grundlegenden Funktionen (Zahlungskontengesetz)
 ZKJ Zeitschrift für Kindschaftsrecht und Jugendhilfe
 ZKM Zeitschrift für Konfliktmanagement
 ZKR Zentralkommission für die Rheinschifffahrt oder Zentrales Kontrollgerätkartenregister
 ZKS Zentrale Koordinierungsstelle der Länder
 ZKS-Abfall Zentrale Koordinierungsstelle der Länder Abfall (siehe Zentrale Koordinierungsstelle Abfall)
 ZLG Zentralstelle der Länder für Gesundheitsschutz bei Arzneimitteln und Medizinprodukten
 ZLS Zentralstelle der Länder für Sicherheitstechnik
 ZLR Zeitschrift für das gesamte Lebensmittelrecht oder Richtlinie 2003/49/EG (Zins- und Lizenzrichtlinie)
 ZLuftSiÜbk Übereinkommen zur Bekämpfung widerrechtlicher Handlungen gegen die Sicherheit der Zivilluftfahrt
 ZLW Zeitschrift für Luft- und Weltraumrecht
 ZM Zusammenfassende Meldung
 ZMDV Datenträger-Verordnung über die Abgabe Zusammenfassender Meldungen
 ZMediatAusbV Verordnung über die Aus- und Fortbildung von zertifizierten Mediatoren (Zertifizierte-Mediatoren-Ausbildungsverordnung)
 ZMGR Zeitschrift für das gesamte Medizin- und Gesundheitsrecht
 ZMR Zeitschrift für Miet- und Raumrecht oder Zentrales Melderegister (Österreich) (siehe Melderegister#Österreich)
 ZMV Zugänglichmachungsverordnung (Verordnung zur barrierefreien Zugänglichmachung von Dokumenten für blinde und sehbehinderte Personen im gerichtlichen Verfahren) oder Zeitschrift für die Praxis der Mitarbeitervertretung in den Einrichtungen der katholischen und evangelischen Kirche
 ZNDG Bundesgesetz über die Zuständigkeiten im Bereich des zivilen Nachrichtendienstes (Schweiz)
 ZNotP Zeitschrift für Notarpraxis
 ZNR Zeitschrift für Neuere Rechtsgeschichte
 ZOAR Zolloberamtsrat
 ZÖD Zusatzversorgung des öffentlichen Dienstes
 ZOI Zolloberinspektor
 ZollKostV Zollkostenverordnung
 ZollV Zollverordnung
 ZollVG Zollverwaltungsgesetz
 ZonenRFG Zonenrandförderungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Förderung des Zonenrandgebietes)
 ZoonoseV Verordnung mit lebensmittelrechtlichen Vorschriften zur Überwachung von Zoonosen und Zoonoseerregern
 ZÖR Zeitschrift für öffentliches Recht (Österreich)
 ZOS Zollobersekretär
 ZOV Zeitschrift für offene Vermögensfragen, Rehabilitierungs- und sonstiges Wiedergutmachungsrecht
 ZOW Zolloberwachtmeister
 ZP Zusatzprotokoll oder Zusatzpatent
 ZPO Zivilprozessordnung
 ZParl Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen
 ZPr. Die Zollpraxis (Zeitschrift)
 ZPÜ Zentralstelle für private Überspielungsrechte
 ZQ Zentrum für Qualität und Management im Gesundheitswesen oder Zusatzqualifikation
 ZR Zivilrecht oder Zollrecht
 ZRBG Gesetz zur Zahlbarmachung von Renten aus Beschäftigungen in einem Ghetto (Ghettorentengesetz)
 ZRFC Risk, Fraud & Compliance. Prävention und Aufdeckung in der Compliance-Organisation
 ZRG Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (auch ZSS)
 ZRHO Rechtshilfeordnung für Zivilsachen
 ZRP Zeitschrift für Rechtspolitik
 ZS Zivilsenat oder Zollsekretär oder Zulassungsstelle
 ZSAI Zollschiffsamtsinspektor
 ZSchG Zeugenschutzgesetz
 ZSE Zeitschrift für Staats- und Europawissenschaften
 ZSEG Zeugen- und Sachverständigen-Entschädigungsgesetz (aufgehoben, siehe jetzt JVEG)
 ZSG Zivilschutzgesetz
 ZSHG Zeugenschutz-Harmonisierungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Harmonisierung des Schutzes gefährdeter Zeugen)
 ZSHS Zollschiffshauptsekretär
 ZSKG Gesetz über den Zivilschutz und die Katastrophenhilfe des Bundes (Zivilschutz- und Katastrophenhilfegesetz)
 ZSOS Zollschiffsobersekretär
 ZSR Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Recht oder Zentrales Schutzschriften-Register (siehe Schutzschrift)
 ZSS Zeitschrift der Savigny-Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte (auch ZRG)
 ZSSR Zentrales Schutzschriften-Register (siehe Schutzschrift)
 ZStAmnG Zinssteueramnestiegesetz (Gesetz über die strafbefreiende Erklärung von Einkünften aus Kapitalvermögen und von Kapitalvermögen)
 ZStV Zentrales Staatsanwaltschaftliches Verfahrensregister oder Zivilstandsverordnung (Schweiz) oder Zeitschrift für Stiftungs- und Vereinswesen
 ZStVBetrV Verordnung über den Betrieb des Zentralen Staatsanwaltschaftlichen Verfahrensregisters
 ZStW Zeitschrift für die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft
 ZSVR Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister
 ZSW Zeitschrift für das gesamte Sachverständigenwesen
 ZT Kammer der Ziviltechniker (kurz: Ziviltechnikerkammer) (Österreich)
 ZTechAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Zahntechniker/zur Zahntechnikerin
 ZTKG (auch ZTG) Ziviltechnikerkammergesetz (Österreich)
 ZTR Zeitschrift für Tarifrecht oder Zentrales Testamentsregister
 ZTRV Testamentsregister-Verordnung (siehe Zentrales Testamentsregister)
 ZTV Zolltarifverordnung oder Zusätzliche technische Vertragsbedingungen
 ZU Zustellungsurkunde
 ZuckStG Zuckersteuergesetz (siehe Zuckersteuer)
 ZuckStDB Zuckersteuer-Durchführungsbestimmung
 ZÜS Zugelassene Überwachungsstelle
 ZuG Zuteilungsgesetz
 ZugErschwG Gesetz zur Erschwerung des Zugangs zu kinderpornographischen Inhalten in Kommunikationsnetzen (Zugangserschwerungsgesetz)
 ZuInvG Gesetz zur Umsetzung von Zukunftsinvestitionen der Kommunen und Länder (Zukunftsinvestitionsgesetz)
 ZulKostV Kostenverordnung für die Zulassung von Meßgeräten zur Eichung
 ZUM Zeitschrift für Urheber- und Medienrecht
 ZuMonAwV Verordnung über die Einreichung zusammengefaßter Monatsausweise nach dem Gesetz über das Kreditwesen
 ZupfInstrmMAusbV Verordnung über die Berufsausbildung zum Zupfinstrumentenmacher/zur Zupfinstrumentenmacherin
 ZupfMstrV Verordnung über das Berufsbild und über die Prüfungsanforderungen im praktischen und im fachtheoretischen Teil der Meisterprüfung für das Zupfinstrumentenmacher-Handwerk
 ZUR Zeitschrift für Umweltrecht
 ZuschlagV Verordnung über die Festsetzung eines Zuschlages für die Berechnung des haftenden Eigenkapitals von Kreditinstituten in der Rechtsform der eingetragenen Genossenschaft
 ZusEntschLnuklSchÜbk Übereinkommen über zusätzliche Entschädigungsleistungen für nuklearen Schaden
 ZustAnpG Gesetz zur Anpassung von Rechtsvorschriften an veränderte Zuständigkeiten oder Behördenbezeichnungen innerhalb der Bundesregierung (Zuständigkeitsanpassungsgesetz)
 ZustDG EG-Zustellungsdurchführungsgesetz (Gesetz zur Durchführung gemeinschaftsrechtlicher Vorschriften über die Zustellung gerichtlicher und außergerichtlicher Schriftstücke in Zivil- oder Handelssachen in den Mitgliedstaaten), aufgehoben durch EG-Beweisaufnahmedurchführungsgesetz vom 4. November 2003 ()
 ZustErgG Gesetz zur Ergänzung von Zuständigkeiten auf den Gebieten des Bürgerlichen Rechts, des Handelsrechts und des Strafrechts
 ZustVO Zustellungsverordnung (Verordnung (EG) Nr. 1348/2000 […] über die Zustellung gerichtlicher und außergerichtlicher Schriftstücke in Zivil- oder Handelssachen in den Mitgliedstaaten) oder Zuständigkeitsverordnung
 ZustVV Zustellungsvordruckverordnung
 ZuV Zusatzstoffverordnung (Schweiz) oder Zusatzstoff-Verordnung (Österreich)
 ZuVOJu Baden-Württembergische Verordnung des Justizministeriums über Zuständigkeiten in der Justiz (Zuständigkeitsverordnung Justiz)
 ZuwG Zuwanderungsgesetz
 ZUZ Zentrale Unterstützungsgruppe Zoll
 ZV Zwangsvollstreckung oder Zwangsversteigerung (Deutschland) oder Zwangsverwaltung oder Zahlungsverkehr oder Zusatzversicherung oder Zweckverband oder Zollvertrag oder Zollvorschrift oder Zielvereinbarung oder Zentralvorstand oder Zeugenvernehmung oder Zulassungsverordnung oder Zugelassener Versender
 zvE Zu versteuerndes Einkommen
 ZVersWiss Zeitschrift für die gesamte Versicherungswissenschaft
 ZVertriebsR Zeitschrift für Vertriebsrecht
 ZVFV Verordnung über Formulare für die Zwangsvollstreckung (Zwangsvollstreckungsformular-Verordnung)
 ZVG Gesetz über die Zwangsversteigerung und die Zwangsverwaltung
 ZVglRWiss Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Rechtswissenschaft
 ZVI Zeitschrift für Verbraucher- und Privat-Insolvenzrecht
 ZVR Zivilverfahrensrecht oder Zwangsvollstreckungsrecht oder Zentrales Vorsorgeregister (siehe Vorsorgeregister-Verordnung) oder Zeugnisverweigerungsrecht oder (österreichische) Zeitschrift für Verkehrsrecht
 ZVS Zentralstelle für die Vergabe von Studienplätzen (aufgehoben; jetzt Stiftung für Hochschulzulassung (SfH))
 zw. zweifelhaft oder zwischen
 ZW Zollwachtmeister
 ZwangsmEinwG Gesetz zur Regelung der betreuungsrechtlichen Einwilligung in eine ärztliche Zwangsmaßnahme (siehe Betreuung)
 ZWB Zugelassener Wirtschaftsbeteiligter
 ZWE Zeitschrift für Wohnungseigentumsrecht
 ZWeR Zeitschrift für Wettbewerbsrecht – Journal of Competition Law
 ZwEWG Zweckentfremdungsgesetz (mehrerer Bundesländer, z. B. Bay oder BW)
 ZWH Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsstrafrecht und Haftung im Unternehmen
 ZWG Bundesgesetz über Zweitwohnungen(Zweitwohnungsgeset) (Schweiz)
 ZwVbG Zweckentfremdungsverbots-Gesetz Berlin
 ZwVbVO Zweckentfremdungsverbot-Verordnung
 ZwStVO Saarländische Verordnung betreffend die Errichtung von amtsgerichtlichen Zweigstellen
 ZwVollStrÄndG Gesetz zur Reform der Sachaufklärung in der Zwangsvollstreckung
 ZwVwV Zwangsverwalterverordnung
 ZZ Zollzahlstelle oder Zusatzzeichen oder Zwischenzeugnis
 ZZP Zeitschrift für Zivilprozess
 ZZulV Zusatzstoff-Zulassungsverordnung

Siehe auch 

 Liste der Rechtsnormen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
 Portal:Recht/Liste der Rechtsthemen
 Latein im Recht

Literatur

Weblinks 
 Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations – Datenbank mit Abkürzungen zur Rechtssprache international (einschließlich deutschsprachiger Abkürzungen), Universität Cardiff
 Juristische Abkürzungen von A bis Z

Einzelnachweise 

Liste (Recht)
!Abkurzungen
Gesetze und Recht

Dies ist eine Liste technischer Abkürzungen, die im IT-Bereich verwendet werden.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Siehe auch 
 Liste von Abkürzungen (Netzjargon)
 Liste von Dateinamenserweiterungen
 Liste der Abkürzungen in der Informationstechnik

Weblinks 
 Seite zum Suchen von Abkürzungen
 14000 Abkürzungen aus Informatik und Telekommunikation
 Seite zum Suchen von Abkürzungen (englisch)

Abkurzungen (Computer)
Computer

Dies ist eine Liste von Firmen (Namen der Unternehmen) sowie ihrer Herkunft (Etymologie). Häufig sind die Firmen Abkürzungen oder Akronyme der Namen der Gründer, voriger Gesellschaften oder des Unternehmensziels.

# 
 20th Century Fox – gebildet 1935 durch die Fusion von Twentieth Century Pictures und der Fox Film Corporation von William Fox.
 3B Scientific – Best Quality, Best Value, Best Service
 3M – Die Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (etwa „Bergbau- und Fertigungsgesellschaft Minnesota“) begann damit, das Mineral Korund für Sandpapier abzubauen.
 3S – Steht für Smart Software Solutions. Der Hersteller von CoDeSys, einer Entwicklungsumgebung für SPS nach dem IEC-61131-3-Standard für professionelle Anwendungsentwicklung in der Industrieautomation.
 7-Eleven – 7-Eleven wurde 1927 als „Tote’m“ gegründet (nach den „tote“ genannten Tragetaschen in Supermärkten, zusammen mit „’m“ für „them“, Englisch für „ihnen“). 1946 wurde Tote’m zu 7-Eleven, um die neuen, verlängerten Einkaufszeiten – 7 Uhr morgens bis 11 Uhr abends, 7 Tage die Woche – widerzuspiegeln.

A 
 A&P – The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, Supermarkt-Kette in den USA, deren Aktienmehrheit seit 1979 die Unternehmensgruppe Tengelmann hält; im Deutschen auch Attraktiv und Preiswert.
 ABB – Asea Brown Boveri, früher ASEA und BBC
 ABN AMRO – In den 1900ern fusionierten die Nederlandse Handelmaatschappij (Niederländische Handelsgesellschaft; 1824) und die Twentsche Bank zur  Algemene Bank Nederland (Allgemeine Bank der Niederlande). 1966 fusionierten die  Amsterdamsche Bank und die  Rotterdamsche Bank zur Amro Bank. 1991 fusionierten ABN und die Amro Bank zur ABN AMRO.
 ABUS – August Bremicker (Und) Söhne
 Accenture – „Accent on the Future“ (etwa: Hervorhebung der Zukunft). Ein Größer-als-Zeichen als Akzent über dem t des Unternehmenslogos zeigt symbolisch in die Zukunft. Der Name entstand als Vorschlag eines norwegischen Mitarbeiters im Rahmen eines unternehmensweiten Namensfindungsprozesses. Bis zum 1. Januar 2001 hieß das Unternehmen Andersen Consulting.
 Adecco – Entstand aus der Fusion der Schweizer Personalagentur Adia mit der französischen Personalagentur Ecco.
 Adesso  – Italienisch: der Name bedeute „jetzt“ oder auch „sofort“.
 Adidas – vom Namen des Gründers Adolf Dassler (Adi Dassler)
 Adobe – Kommt vom Namen des Flusses Adobe Creek, der hinter dem Haus der Begründer John Warnock und Chuck Geschke fließt.
 AEG – Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft
 AGA – Aktiebolaget Gasacculumator
 Agfa – Agfa stand ursprünglich für „Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation“. Anilin wird zur Synthese von Farben verwendet.
 Agip – Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli (: Allgemeine Italienische Erdölgesellschaft).
 Ahold – Ahold (1973 gegründet) steht für Albert Heijn Holding (Eine Holding ist eine Gesellschaft ohne eigenen Produktionsbetrieb). Die Holding wurde um die Albert Heijn Supermärkte (1887 gegründet) errichtet. 1987 wurde Ahold zu Royal Ahold.
 Akamai – Hawaiisch für „klug, intelligent und cool“.
 AKZO – Unternehmenszusammenschluss 1969 von Algemene Kunstzijde Unie (AKU) und Koninklijke Zout Organon (KZO)
 Alcatel – Société Alsacienne de Constructions Atomiques, de Télécommunications et d’Electronique (: Elsässische Entwicklungsgesellschaft der Atom-, Telekommunikations- und Elektrotechnik).
 ALDI – Albrecht-Discount (Unternehmensgründer Karl und Theo Albrecht)
 Alete – lateinisch alete „Ernährt Euch!“ (Imperativ Plural des Verbs „alere“ = sich ernähren, nahrhaft sein)
 Alfa Romeo – Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (: Lombardische Autofabrik), ergänzt um den Namen des Gründers Nicola Romeo.
 Alno – Vom Namen des Gründers Albert Nothdurft.
 AltaVista – Spanisch für „hochgelegener Ausblick“.
 Alza – Vom Namen des Begründers Alejandro Zaffaroni.
 Amazon.com – Begründer Jeff Bezos benannte das Unternehmen nach dem voluminösesten Fluss, dem Amazonas (vorher hieß das Unternehmen Cadabra.com). Er sah die Möglichkeiten von größeren Verkaufsvolumen, die ein Online-Buchgeschäft gegenüber den zu der Zeit stark verbreiteten Bücherläden bietet. (Alternative: Es wird gesagt, dass Jeff Bezos sein Buchgeschäft Amazon einfach aufgrund der Popularität von Yahoo so benannte; Yahoo listete die Einträge nach dem Alphabet sortiert, und so würde Amazon immer über seinen Wettbewerbern in den relevanten Kategorien stehen, in denen es gelistet wurde.)
 AMD – Advanced Micro Devices
 AMG – Hans-Werner Aufrecht und Erhard Melcher in Großaspach
 AMOCO – American Oil Company – heute Teil von BP
 Amstrad – „Amstrad Consumer Electronics plc“ wurde von Alan Michael Sugar in Großbritannien gegründet. Der Name ist ein Zusammenzug von Alan Michael Sugar Trading (Handel).
 AOK — Die Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse besteht aus 11 selbstständigen Krankenkassen und wurde von Otto v. Bismark 1884 gegründet.
 Apache – Erstens: Der Name wurde aus Respekt vor den Ureinwohnern Nordamerikas, dem Stamm der Apachen gewählt, die dafür bekannt waren, höchste Fähigkeiten in der Kriegführung und unerschöpfliche Ausdauer zu besitzen. Zweitens: Weitläufiger (obwohl fälschlicherweise) akzeptiert, ist, dass der Name einem englischen Wortspiel entstammt: Die Gründer fingen damit an, Quellcode-Patches für NCSAs httpd-Server zu schreiben. Das Ergebnis war „a patchy“ server (frei übersetzt: Ein geflickter Server, ein Flickenteppich-Server). Daher der Name Apache.
 Apple – (Englisch für Apfel) Aufgrund der Lieblingsfrucht des Unternehmens-Mitgründers Steve Jobs und/oder wegen der Zeit, die er in einem Obstgarten arbeitete. Er war bereits drei Monate im Rückstand mit der Benennung seines Unternehmens und drohte, sein Unternehmen „Apple Computer“ zu nennen, wenn seine Kollegen bis 17:00 Uhr keinen besseren Namen nennen würden. Apples Macintosh ist nach einer beliebten Apfelsorte in den USA benannt.
 ARAG – Auto-Rechtsschutz-AG.
 Aral – Aromaten und Aliphaten, zwei wesentliche Bestandteile des Otto-Kraftstoffs.
 Arby’s – Amerikanische Aussprache der Abkürzung ihrer Gründer – der Raffel Brothers. Ihre Partner wollten den Namen „Big Tex“ verwenden, waren aber nicht erfolgreich in der Verhandlung mit einem Akroner Geschäftsmann, der den Namen bereits benutzte. Mit Forrests Worten: „Wir kamen auf Arby’s, was für R.B. steht, die Initialen der Raffel Brothers, obwohl die Kunden wahrscheinlich denken könnten, dass die Initialen für Rinderbraten (roast beef) stehen.“
 ARC – Austrian Research Centers, früher Forschungszentrum Seibersdorf
 Arcor – Der Name sollte aus dem Feld der Telekommunikationsanbieter herausstechen. Nach der Entwicklung und Prüfung von ca. 10.000 internationalen Namenskreationen fiel die Wahl auf den von Nomen International kreierten Namen Arcor. Als Begründung wurde angegeben, „Arcor“ sei kurz und prägnant und strahle Dynamik und Kompetenz aus. Die Semantik des Namens spiele mit dem „goldenen Bogen“ (frz. „l’arc d’or“), dem Brückenschlag zum Kunden.
 ARD – Arbeitsgemeinschaft der öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunkanstalten der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. In der DDR wurde daraus wegen begrenzter Reichweite: Außer Raum Dresden.
 ARM – Benannt nach dem Mikroprozessor, der von dem kleinen, britischen Unternehmen Acorn als Nachfolger des 6502 aus dessen BBC-Mikrocomputer entwickelt wurde. ARM stand ursprünglich für Acorn Risc Machine (RISC ist eine Abkürzung aus dem IT-Bereich, die eine Bauart von Prozessoren bezeichnet). Als das Unternehmen Unterstützung von Apple und VTI erhielt, wurde der Name zu Advanced Risc Machines geändert.
 ASICS – ASICS ist eine Abkürzung für „Anima Sana In Corpore Sano“, was aus dem lateinischen übersetzt so viel bedeutet wie „Ein gesunder Geist in einem gesunden Körper“.
 Ask Jeeves – Internet-Suchmaschine, die nach dem Gentleman Reginald Jeeves in einer Bücherserie von P. G. Wodehouse benannt ist.
 Aston Martin – Von den Aston-Hill-Rennen (nahe Aston Clinton) aus der Gegend, in der das Unternehmen gegründet wurde, und dem Nachnamen von Lionel Martin, dem Unternehmensgründer.
 ASV – Axel Springer Verlag, seit 2003 nur noch „Axel Springer“.
 AT&T – Die „American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation“ wechselte ihren Namen in den 1990ern offiziell zu „AT&T“.
 Atari – Vom Brettspiel Go stammend ist „atari“ das japanische Wort für die Situation, in der die Steine des Gegners in der Gefahr sind, genommen zu werden.
 Athesia – Vom lateinischen Namen der Etsch (Athesis)
 ATI – Ursprünglich Array Technology Incorporated, später ATI Technologies Incorporated (rekursives Akronym). ATI wurde 2006 von AMD aufgekauft, bleibt als Markenname jedoch erhalten.
 ATS – Auto Technisches Spezialzubehör; Produziert leichte Aluräder und Motorteile mit einem eigenen Formel-1-Team in den späteren 1970ern und frühen 1980ern.
 AUA – heute „Austrian“, früher Austrian Airlines
 Audi – Keine Abkürzung, sondern die lateinische Übersetzung des Nachnamens des Unternehmensgründers August Horch. Der Gründer verließ sein Unternehmen „Horch“ nach fünf Jahren, wollte aber weiterhin Autos bauen. Da aber das frühere Unternehmen weiterhin existierte, nannte er das neue Unternehmen Audi nach der lateinischen Übersetzung (Horch = Imperativ Singular für „Hören“).
 Avanade – Ableitung der Wörter, die kollektiv die zukunftsorientierte und Initiative ergreifende Methode beschreiben, mit der das Unternehmen Kundenziele vorantreibt: avan-, advance (voranschreiten), advantage (Vorteil), avenue (Möglichkeit) + -ade, action (Aktion), act (Handeln). Joint Venture von Accenture und Microsoft.

B 
 Bang & Olufsen – Vom Namen ihrer Gründer, Bang und Olufsen aus Dänemark.
 B&Q – Von den Initialen ihrer Gründer, Block und Quayle.
 B&W – Von den Initialen ihrer Gründer, Bowers und Wilkins.
 Bally – Ursprünglich „Lion Manufacturing“, änderte ihren Namen zu Bally nach dem Erfolg ihres ersten populären Flippers Ballyhoo.
 BASF – früher Badische Anilin und Soda Fabrik (Anilin wird zur Synthese von Farben verwendet, Soda wird zur Glasverarbeitung gebraucht). Soda und Anilin waren die ersten Produkte des Unternehmens.
 Bayer – nach dem Gründer Friedrich Bayer, der seinen Namen aus Marketinggründen von Beyer geändert hatte (bis 1972 Farbenfabriken Bayer AG)
 BayWa – Bayrische Warenvermittlungs AG. 1923 trennte die Bayrische Zentral-Darlehenskasse ihr Warengeschäft vom Finanzgeschäft ab.
 BBDO – Nach den Anfangsbuchstaben der Unternehmensgründer Batton, Barton, Durstine, Osborne benanntes internationales (Werbe-)Agentur-Netzwerk.
 BEA Systems – Von den ersten Initialen der drei Unternehmensgründer: Bill Coleman, Ed Scott and Alfred Chuang.
 BenQ – „Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to life“ (etwa: Bringt Freude und Qualität ins Leben).
 bft – Bund freier Tankstellen
 Bibitec – Akronym für Bielefelder Biotechnologie. Die Bibitec Prozessentwicklungs GmbH ist ein in Bielefeld ansässiges Biotechnologieunternehmen.
 BIC – Abkürzung des Familiennamens des Unternehmensgründers Marcel Bich
 BILLA – Billiger Laden, gegründet von Karl Wlaschek (Größte österreichische Supermarktkette)
 Bimota – Von den ersten Silben der Familiennamen der Gründer Bianchi, Morri und Tamburini abgeleitet.
 BIPA – Billige Parfümerie, gegründet von Karl Wlaschek (österreichische Drogeriemarktkette)
 Bizerba – Familienname des Unternehmensgründers Bizer, Unternehmenssitz Balingen
 Blackstone – Der Unternehmensgründer Stephen Schwarzman stand Pate für Black, und der Mitbegründer Peter Peterson, dessen Namen auf Griechisch Stein bedeutet, steuerte stone bei.
 BMW – Bayerische Motorenwerke
 BOB – Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn, Bayerische Oberlandbahn und Berner Oberland-Bahn
 BP – früher: The British Petroleum Company, auch umgedeutet zu beyond petroleum
 BRAX – Markenname der Leineweber GmbH & Co. KG, im Jahr 1950 abgeleitet vom lateinischen Begriff „bracae“ für Hose und von der englischen Firma „Daks“, für die das Unternehmen in Lizenz produzierte.
 Bridgestone – benannt nach dem Gründer Shojiro Ishibashi. Der Nachname Ishibashi (石橋) bedeutet „Steinbrücke“ beziehungsweise „Brücke aus Stein“ (Englisch: „stone bridge“ oder „bridge of stone“)
 BSF – Bremer Silberwaren Fabrik
 Bull – Die in Paris gegründete Compagnie des machines Bull nutzte die Patente für Lochkartenmaschinen, gesichert vom Norwegischen Ingenieur Frederik Rosing Bull.

C 
 C&A – Initialen der Brüder Clemens & August Brenninkmeijer, die das Textilunternehmen 1841 in den Niederlanden gründeten.
 CA – Computer Associates
 Canon – Von Kannon, dem japanischen Namen des buddhistischen Bodhisattva der Gnade. Der Name wurde zu Canon geändert, um zu vermeiden, dass religiöse Gruppen beleidigt würden.
 Casala – ehem. Schulmöbelfabrik aus Lauenau (Carl Sasse Lauenau, benannt nach Gründer und Ort).
 Casio – Vom Namen ihres Gründers Kashio Tadao, der das Unternehmen Kashio Seisakuja als Subunternehmer-Fabrik eingerichtet hatte.
 Castrol – Abgeleitet von Castor Oil, dem Öl der Rizinuspflanze (engl. castor bean), das vom Unternehmensgründer als Additiv beigemischt wurde.
 Ciba-Geigy – Ciba heißt Chemische Industrie Basel, fusioniert mit einem Unternehmen, das nach seinem Gründer Johann Rudolf Geigy-Merian benannt war. Wurde später nach einer Fusion mit Sandoz umbenannt zu Novartis.
 Cintis – Kurz für Consulting, Information, Networking, Technologie, Integrierung und Software von CINTIS International Limited
 Cisco – Kurz für San Francisco. Möglich ist aber auch, dass es „CIS-co“ war – Computer Information Services war die Abteilung der Stanford University, in der die Gründer arbeiteten.
 Coca-Cola – Coca-Cola kommt vom Namen der Coca-Blätter und den Kola-Früchten, die für den Geschmack verarbeitet wurden. Coca-Cola-Erfinder John Pemberton änderte das „K“ von Kola zu „C“, damit der Name besser aussah.
 Coleco – Fing als Connecticut Leather Company an (etwa: Connecticut Leder-Unternehmen).
 Colgate-Palmolive – Entstand aus der Fusion der Seifenhersteller Colgate & Company und Palmolive-Peet. Peet wurde 1953 gestrichen. Colgate wurde nach William Colgate benannt, einem englischen Immigranten, der 1806 ein Stärke-, Seife- und Kerzen-Unternehmen in New York City errichtete. Palmolive wurde nach den zwei Ölen benannt, die in seiner Produktion verwendet wurden.
 COLT – Von City of London Telecom.
 Compaq – Von „Comp“ für Computer und „pack“ für ein kleines Objekt. Eine andere Erklärung ist Compatibility and Quality (Kompatibilität und Qualität).
 Corel – Vom Namen des Gründers Dr. Michael Cowpland. Corel steht hier für Cowpland Research Laboratory (Cowpland Forschungslabor).
 Cray Research – Benannt nach dem Begründer Seymour Roger Cray, der 1997 durch einen Autounfall ums Leben kam.
 CVS – Abkürzung für Consumer Value Stores (etwa: Konsumartikelläden).

D 
 DADC – Digital Audio Disc Corporation, gehört zum Medienkonzern Sony und ist spezialisiert auf die Herstellung von Tonträgern.
 Daewoo – Der Unternehmensgründer Kim Woo Chong nannte das Unternehmen so, weil Daewoo auf Koreanisch „Großes Universum“ bedeutet.
 DAF – Doorne’s Automobiel Fabriken (gegr. von Hub van Doorne)
 Daimler AG – Nach der Trennung von Chrysler ist dies nun der neue Unternehmensname. Umgangssprachlich wird in Württemberg schon immer nur „Daimler“ gesagt. In Baden heißt die Daimler AG volkstümlich auch heute noch „Benz“. Daimler-Benz wiederum setzt sich zusammen aus den Namen der Gründer der Vorgängergesellschaften Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft und Benz & Cie.
 DB – Deutsche Bahn AG (seit 1991, vorher Deutsche Bundesbahn)
 DDB – Nach den Anfangsbuchstaben der Unternehmensgründer Doyle, Dane, Bernbach benanntes internationales (Werbe-)Agentur-Netzwerk.
 DEA – Deutsche Erdöl-AG, 2002 von Shell übernommen.
 debis – Daimler-Benz InterServices AG
 Debian – Der Projektgründer Ian Murdock benannte es nach sich selbst und seiner Freundin Debra.
 DEC – Digital Equipment Corporation, Computerhersteller
 Dell – Benannt nach dem Gründer Michael Dell. Das Unternehmen änderte seinen Namen 2003 zu Dell Computer.
 Delta Air Lines – Die in Atlanta, GA ansässige Fluggesellschaft wurde nach ihrem ersten vorrangigem Zielgebiet, dem Mississippi-Delta, benannt.
 Demag – Deutsche Maschinenbau-Aktiengesellschaft
 Degesch – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung mbH, bekannt als Inhaberin des Patents des Giftstoffes Zyklon B
 Degussa – Deutsche Gold- und Silber-Scheideanstalt
 Detecon – Deutsche Telepost Consulting
 DEUTA – Deutsche Tachometerwerke (1905-), Automobil-Sparte heute in VDO Automotive, Bahn-Sparte heute DEUTA-Werke GmbH
 DHL – Das Unternehmen wurde von Adrian Dalsey, Larry Hillblom und Robert Lynn gegründet, deren letzte Initialen den Namen ausmachen.
 Diamond-Reo – Dieser LKW-Hersteller entstand 1967 aus der Fusion von REO mit Diamond T.
 Diamond T – Der Gründer des ehemaligen Herstellers von PKW (1905–11) und LKW (bis 1967), Charles Arthur Tilt, stellte seiner Initiale das „Diamond“ (Diamant) voran als Hinweis auf die Hochwertigkeit seiner Produkte
 DKW – Dampfkraftwagen, später auch Des Knaben Wunsch und Das kleine Wunder (oder Deutscher Kinder-Wagen)
 Dow Chemical Company – Benannt nach dem Gründer Herbert Henry Dow.
 DUAL – Einst Hersteller hochwertiger Plattenspieler. Der Name geht auf den dualen Antrieb (Feder und Elektromotor) der damals gebauten Plattenspieler zurück.
 Dugena – Deutsche Uhrmacher-Genossenschaft Alpina, deutsche Uhrenmarke
 Dureco – Dutch Record Company, niederländisches Plattenlabel
 DSW – Deutscher Schutz- und Wachdienst
 DWS – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wertpapiersparen mbH

E 
 EADS – European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company
 Ebay – Pierre Omidyar, der die Handelsplattform gründete, hatte einen Internet-Consulting-Konzern namens „Echo Bay Technology Group“ auf die Beine gestellt. „Echo Bay“ bezog sich nicht auf die Stadt in Nevada in der Naturlandschaft am Lake Mead (dem Stausee des Hoover-Damms) oder auf irgendeinen anderen real existierenden Ort. „Es klang einfach gut“ wird von Omidyar berichtet. Als er versuchte, EchoBay.com zu registrieren, fand er heraus, dass der Goldminenbetreiber Echo Bay Minengesellschaft die Domain bereits gesichert hatte. Daher registrierte Omidyar den Namen, den er für den Zweitbesten hielt: eBay.com.
 EDEKA – 1911 wurde aus der Abkürzung EdK, Einkaufsgenossenschaft der Kolonialwarenhändler, der bis heute gültige Unternehmens- und Markenname EDEKA gebildet.
 Eduscho – nach dem Gründer Eduard Schopf
 EHI – Euro Handels Institut
 ELF – : Essences et Lubrifiants Français (oder „de France“; französische Treibstoffe und Schmiermittel)
 EMC² Corporation – Das Unternehmen wurde von Richard Egan und Roger Marino gegründet. Es gab lange das Gerücht, dass es ursprünglich einen weiteren Partner C gab, der für den dritten Buchstaben verantwortlich war. Aus anderen Berichten geht hervor, dass das C nur für Company (: Unternehmen) steht, also: E + M + Company = EMC. Da das Unternehmen im Technologiesektor arbeiten würde, übernahm es die EMC² Schreibweise von der berühmten Einstein-Gleichung E=mc².
 EMI – Electric & Musical Industries Ltd., Medienkonzern und Plattenlabel
 EnBW – Energie Baden-Württemberg
 Epcos – Electronic Parts and Components
 Epson – Epson Seiko Corporation, der japanische Drucker- und Peripheriehersteller, wurde nach „Son of Electronic Printer“ (= Sohn des elektrischen Druckers) benannt.
 Erdal – Nach dem Unternehmenssitz in der Erthalstraße in Mainz (in der Aussprache der Mainzer Mundart)
 ESA – European Space Agency
 Escom – Erich Schmitt Computergesellschaft mbH
 Esso – Von den Initialen S.O. (Standard Oil of New Jersey), die ausgesprochen „Esso“ ergeben (heute ExxonMobil).
 Evonik – vormals RAG (Ruhrkohle AG), da Rag im amerikanischen Sprachgebrauch für Blödsinn steht, war ein neuer Name zum internationalen Börsengang dringend nötig. Evonik ist abgeleitet aus dem lateinischen „evolvere“ = sich entwickeln… wollen
 Exxon – Ein Name, der in den frühen 1970ern von Esso erfunden wurde, um ein neutrales aber eindeutiges Markenzeichen für das Unternehmen zu haben. Nur Tage nach der Ankündigung des Namens wurde Exxon das „Doppelkreuzunternehmen“ genannt, was aber später nachließ.

F 
 FAG – Fischer AG
 Faun – Abkürzung von Fahrzeugfabriken Ansbach Und Nürnberg
 Facel – Abkürzung von Forges et Ateliers de Constructions d’Eure-et-Loir, war ein französisches Unternehmen, welches Metallobjekte (Haushalt, Luftfahrt, Facel Métallon Karosserien, Facel Vega Automobile) fertigte
 FCB – Nach den Anfangsbuchstaben der Unternehmensgründer Foote, Cone, Belding benanntes internationales (Werbe-)Agentur-Netzwerk.
 FedEx — Federal Express ist einer der größten US-Paketzusteller weltweit.
 Fegime – Abkürzung von „Fédération Européenne des Grossistes Indépendants en Matériel Electrique“ (Europäischer Bund der unabhängigen Elektrogroßhändler).
 Fiat – Abkürzung von Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (: Italienische Autofabrik Turin)
 Fibro – Ursprünglich Abkürzung von Fischer und Brodbeck
 Firestone Tire & Rubber Company – Benannt nach ihrem Gründer Harvey Firestone.
 Ford Motor Company – Benannt nach ihrem Gründer Henry Ford, der 1913 die Automobilmassenproduktion erdachte.
 Fraport – Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide
 Fuji – vom höchsten japanischen Berg Fujisan.

G 
 Galantos – Galantos leitet sich ab von galanthus nivalis, dem Schneeglöckchen. Der darin enthaltene Wirkstoff Galantamin wird als Mittel gegen die Alzheimer-Krankheit genutzt.
 GE – General Electric
 Geha – Abkürzung für Gebrüder-Hartmann-Werke
 GEMA – Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte
 GEZ – Gebühreneinzugszentrale
 GF AG – Abkürzung für Georg Fischer AG. Gegründet von dem renommierten Erfinder und Entwickler Johann Konrad Fischer.
 Glock – Benannt nach ihrem Gründer Gaston Glock.
 GLS – General Logistics Systems
 GM – General Motors
 GNU – GNU’s Not UNIX, eine Open-Source-Implementation von Unix
 GOLA – Anagramm des englischen Wortes „Goal“, 1905 als erster britischer Hersteller von Sportschuhen gegründet.
 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company – Von den Unternehmensgründern benannt nach Charles Goodyear, dem Erfinder der Vulkanisation, der mit dem Unternehmen selbst aber nichts zu tun hatte.
 Google – Der Name begann als scherzhafte Prahlerei, wie viel Informationen die Suchmaschine bewältigen können würde. Ursprünglich wurde sie Googol genannt, ein Wort für die Zahl 1 gefolgt von 100 Nullen. Nachdem die Gründer, die beiden Stanford-Absolventen Sergey Brin und Larry Page, das Projekt einem Investor präsentierten, bekamen sie einen Scheck ausgestellt für Google Inc.
 Gulfstream Aerospace – Gulfstream Aerospace geht zurück auf die Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. 1985 wurde das Unternehmen verkauft und in Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation nach dem Golfstrom umbenannt, der direkt an der Ostküste der USA verläuft.

H 

 H&M – 1947 richtete ein schwedischer Geschäftsmann namens Erling Persson einen Frauenkleiderladen namens „Hennes“ in Västerås, Schweden ein. „Hennes“ ist schwedisch für „Ihr“. 1968 erwarb Persson die Voraussetzungen für eine Kette, indem er das Lager eines Jagdausrüstungsladens namens „Mauritz“ Widforss aufkaufte. Im Inventar des Ladens fand sich auch eine Ansammlung von Männerkleidung, und Persson war aufgefordert, in die Männerkleidung zu expandieren. So benannte er das Unternehmen „Hennes & Mauritz“, was später zu H&M abgekürzt wurde.
 Haier – chinesisch 海尔; Der Name leitet sich von der zweiten Silbe des (ehemals) deutschen Unternehmens Liebherr ab, da der Ursprung des Unternehmens in einem Joint Venture von Liebherr liegt.
 Hakle – vom Unternehmensgründer Hans Klenk abgeleitet
 Hanomag – Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG
 Hanwag – vom Unternehmensgründer Hans Wagner abgeleitet. Der Bruder Lorenz Wagner gründete LOWA Sportschuhe
 Hapag – Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actiengesellschaft
 Haribo – vom Namen des Gründers und seiner deutschen Heimatstadt: Hans Riegel Bonn
 Hasbro – gegründet von Henry und Helal Hassenfeld, den Hassenfeld Brothers
 HB (Zigarettenmarke) – leitet sich vom Namen der Zigarettenfabrik Haus Bergmann ab
 HDI – Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie
 Helago – 1938 vom Namen der Gründer und des deutschen Firmensitzes für das 1932 gegründete Unternehmen abgeleitet: Peter Heinz Erich Laufer Godesberg.
 HELLA – Unternehmensgründer Sally Windmüller wollte seine Frau, die Helene hieß, mit der Kurzform ihres Namens ehren und zudem die klangliche Assoziation zum Wort „heller“ nutzen
 Hertie – Hermann Tietz, Onkel des Gründers Oskar Leonhard Tietz
 HP – setzt sich zusammen aus den ersten Buchstaben der Nachnamen der Gründer William Hewlett und David Packard
 HEW – Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke AG
 HHLA – Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG
 Hilcona – Hilti Convenience Nahrungsmittel
 Hitachi – wörtlich „Sonnenaufgang“
 HL – Initialen des Gründers Hugo Leibbrand
 Hoechst – abgeleitet vom Sitz der damaligen Farbwerke vorm. Meister Lucius & Brüning in der Stadt Höchst (heute Frankfurt-Höchst)
 Honda – vom Namen des Gründers Soichiro Honda
 Honeywell – vom Namen Mark Honeywell des Gründers der Honeywell Heating Specialty Co. (etwa „Honeywell Beheizungsspezialist“); später fusionierte sie mit der Minneapolis Heat Regulator Company („Minneapolis Unternehmen für Hitzeregulatoren“) und wurde am Ende 1963 Honeywell Inc. genannt
 Hospira – Der Name, von den Unternehmensmitarbeitern ausgewählt, kommt von den englischen Worten „Hospital“ (Krankenhaus), „Spirit“ (Geist), „Inspire“ (Inspirieren) und dem lateinischen Wort „spero“ (= Hoffnung). Er reflektiert den Marktfokus des Unternehmens als Hersteller von Krankenhausartikeln.
 Hotmail – Gründer Jack Smith hatte die Idee, E-Mails über das Internet von einem Computer überall auf der Welt abfragen zu können. Als Sabeer Bhatia den Unternehmensplan für den Maildienst erstellte, probierte er alle Möglichkeiten von Namen aus, die auf „mail“ endeten, und blieb schließlich bei Hotmail, da es die Buchstaben „HTML“ enthielt – die Dokumentsprache, die für Internetseiten verwendet wird. Ursprünglich wurde es auch HoTMaiL mit der bestimmten Groß-/Kleinschreibung genannt (wenn man auf Hotmails „mail“-Reiter klickt, findet man dort immer noch „HoTMaiL“ in der URL).
 HSBC – The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (etwa „Hongkong und Shanghaier Bankgesellschaft“)
 Hyundai – Bedeutung der Wörter „Gegenwart“ oder „Moderne“ auf Koreanisch

I 
 IABG – Industrieanlagen-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH
 IATA – International Airtransport Association
 IBM – Gegründet von einem ehemaligen Mitarbeiter des Unternehmens National Cash Register („Nationale Barkassiermaschinen“). Um dieses in jedem Aspekt zu übertrumpfen, nannte er das Unternehmen „International Business Machines“ („Internationale Geschäfts-/Unternehmensmaschinen“).
 IKEA – Gegründet von Ingvar Kamprad aus Schweden. Der Name IKEA kommt von einer raffinierten Abkürzung der Initialen des Gründers, Ingvar Kamprad, dessen Familienbauernhof Elmtaryd genannt wurde, und sich in der Nähe des Dorfs Agunnaryd befand. Die Abkürzung wird außerdem für einen schwedischen Satz verwendet, der zufällig im Englischen die gleiche Abkürzung hat: Ingvar Kamprad’s Economical Alternative (Ingvar Kamprads ökonomische Alternative).
 IMS Connector Systems – Gegründet von Johann Morat, wurde es später zu Johann Morat und Söhne, wobei das J im Zuge der Globalisierung irgendwann zum I wurde.
 Imhotep Ltd – Benannt nach dem ersten Ingenieur Imhotep (2686–2613 v. Chr., Ägypten). Er baute die Stufenpyramide von Sakkara.
 Infineon Technologies AG – Nach der Trennung der Siemens AG von ihrem Halbleiter-Geschäftszweig (Siemens HL oder Siemens SC/SSC) wurde der Name aus den zwei Wörtern Infinity (Unendlichkeit) und Aeon (Ewigkeit) gebildet.
 INA – Industrie-Nadellager
 Inco – International Nickel Company
 Intel – Bob Noyce und Gordon Moore wollten ihr neues Unternehmen „Moore Noyce“ nennen, aber der Name war bereits von einer Hotelkette geschützt, also mussten sie sich mit der Abkürzung aus Integrated Electronics („Integrierte Elektronik“) zufriedengeben.
 IVECO – Industrial Vehicles Corporation – Gesellschaft für industrielle Fahrzeuge

J 
 JVC – Victor Company of Japan oder Japan Victor Company. Das Victor ist eine Abkürzung des englischen Wortes victory (=Sieg) und stammt vom ehemaligen Mutterunternehmen Victor Talking Machine Company.

K 
 K2 – Nach den Gebrüder Bill und Don Kirschner (K2 = 2 × Kirschner), die Namensgleichheit mit dem zweithöchsten Berg der Welt wird gern zu Werbezwecken genutzt.
 KACO Dichtungswerke – Vom Gründungsnamen „Kupfer-Asbest & Co.“ Weltweit tätiger Hersteller von Dichtungen, Sitz in Heilbronn.
 Kawasaki – Vom Namen des Unternehmensgründers Shōzō Kawasaki.
 KBA – Koenig und Bauer Aktiengesellschaft – Hersteller von Druckmaschinen
 Keli – Der Getränkehändler Walter Kesterzanek aus Linz erfand 1956 die beliebte Limonade. Es ist in Österreich bekannt, dass sich Keli lange Zeit Ke-Li schrieb, Kesterzanek wird neuerdings genannt, als Keli noch Teil von Stock-Weinbrand-Linz war (bis Ende der 1990er) schien jedenfalls ein Graf Keglevich in der Geschäftsführung der Firma Stock auf (Quelle Amtsblatt der Wiener Zeitung von damals)
 KFZ – Kernforschungszentrum Jülich (heute: Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH)
 KFC – Kurzform von Kentucky Fried Chicken (= Kentucky frittierte Hühnchen). Das Unternehmen kürzte den Namen 1991 ab, um dem ungesunden Eindruck des Wortes „fried“ (= frittiert) zu vermeiden. Neuere Werbespots versuchen den Eindruck zu erwecken, dass die Abkürzung für „Kitchen Fresh Chicken“ (= küchenfrisches Hühnchen) steht.
 KIA – Der Name KIA basiert auf chinesischen Schriftzeichen: ki steht für aufsteigen und a für Asien. Frei übersetzt „Aufstieg aus Asien“
 KiK – Kunde ist König – deutscher Textil-Discounter
 Kinko’s – Vom College-Spitznamen des Gründers Paul Orfalea. Er wurde Kinko genannt, weil er lockiges rotes Haar hatte.
 KKH – Seit 1975 „Kaufmännische Krankenkasse – KKH“, früher „Kaufmännische Krankenkasse Halle“.
 KLM – Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Niederländisch für „Königliche Luftfahrt Gesellschaft“)
 Kodak – Die Kodak-Kamera und der Name wurden vom Unternehmensgründer George Eastman erfunden. Der Buchstabe „K“ war sein Lieblingsbuchstabe, er fand, es sei ein starker, prägnanter Buchstabe. Er probierte verschiedene Kombinationen von Wörtern aus, die mit „K“ begannen oder endeten. Er sah drei Vorteile in diesem Namen: Er hatte Vorzüge als Marke, kann kaum falsch ausgesprochen werden und glich nichts anderem in der Fotografiekunst. Es gibt auch das (falsche) Gerücht, dass der Name aus dem Geräusch des Blendenverschlusses entstanden sei.
 Konica Minolta – Früher war das Unternehmen Konica unter dem Namen Konishiroku Kogaku bekannt. Konishiroku ist die Kurzform von Konishiya Rokubeiten und war der erste Name des Unternehmens von Rokusaburo Sugiura. Die Wurzeln des Unternehmens Konica gehen auf das Jahr 1873 zurück. Die Geschichte des Unternehmens Minolta reicht bis ins Jahr 1928 zurück, als Kazuo Tashima am 11. November in Osaka, Japan, das Nichi-Doku Shashinki Shōten (日独写真機商店, „japanisch-deutsches Kamerageschäft“) gründete. Im Juli 1931 wurde das Unternehmen in Molta KG („Mechanismus, Optik und Linsen von Tashima“) umbenannt und der Markenname Minolta („Mechanismus, Instrumente, Optik und Linsen von Tashima“) registriert. Im August 2003 fusionierten Konica und Minolta zum neuen Unternehmen „Konica Minolta“.
 KPM – Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin.
 KPMG – Klynveld, Peat, Marwick, Goerdeler
 KUKA – Keller und Knappich Augsburg. Gegründet 1898 in Augsburg, ist der Unternehmensname zusammengesetzt aus den Namen der Unternehmensgründer und des Gründungsortes. Heute ist KUKA ein Hersteller von Industrierobotern.
 KUNO – Kriminalitätsbekämpfung im unbaren Zahlungsverkehr durch Nutzung nichtpolizeilicher Organisationen
 KTM – Kronreif Trunkenpolz (Unternehmensgründer) Mattighofen (Standort in Österreich)
 KW-Software – Initialen der Gründer Jürgen Klöpper und Reinhard Wiege, Technologie-Anbieter für die industrielle Steuerungs-, Sicherheits- und Netzwerktechnik
 Kyocera – Von Kyoto Ceramics (= Kyōto Keramik)

L 
 Lamborghini – nach dem Unternehmensgründer Ferruccio Lamborghini.
 Lancia – nach dem Unternehmensgründer Vincenzo Lancia.
 Lego – Kombination aus dem dänischen „leg godt“, das „spiel gut“ bedeutet. Lego heißt auf Lateinisch auch „ich setze zusammen“, allerdings behauptet der Konzern, dies sei nur ein Zufall und die Etymologie des Wortes sei ganz und gar dänisch. Jahre bevor der kleine Plastikbauklotz erfunden wurde, stellte LEGO Holzspielzeuge her.
 Leica – Leitz Camera.
 LG – Lucky Goldstar. Das „Lucky“ geht zurück auf die 1947 gegründete Lak-Hui Chemical Industrial Corporation, „GoldStar“ kam 1958 als Marke für Radios dazu. Heute der zweitgrößte koreanische Mischkonzern. Seit dem Jahr 2002 wird die Firma des Unternehmens auch von „Life’s Good“ abgeleitet.
 LoJack – „LoJack“ (Hersteller von Auffindungssystemen für gestohlene Fahrzeuge, Baumaschinen und Computer) ist ein Wortspiel auf die Worte „looted“ (US-englisch für „geklaut“) und „Hijack“ (englisch für „entführen“).
 Lominger Limited – Kombination der Nachnamen der Unternehmensgründer: Lombardo und Eichinger.
 Lonsdale – Boxausrüstungshersteller, benannt nach dem „Lonsdale-Gürtel“, einer Boxtrophäe, der vom englischen Lord Lonsdale gestiftet wurde.
 Lotus Software – Mitch Kapor hatte den Namen vom „Lotussitz“ (auch „Padmasana“). Kapor war früher Lehrer der von Maharishi Mahesh Yogi gelehrten Transzendentalen Meditation.
 LOWA Sportschuhe – Vom Unternehmensgründer Lorenz Wagner abgeleitet. Der Bruder Hans Wagner gründete Hanwag.
 LVMH – Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy
 LTU – Lufttransport-Unternehmen GmbH & Co. KG
 LuK – Lamellen- und Kupplungsbau
 Lycos – Von Lycosidae, der Familie der Wolfsspinnen.

M 
 Maggi – nach dem Unternehmensgründer Julius Maggi.
 Maserati – nach dem Unternehmensgründer Alfieri Maserati.
 Mattel – Kombination aus den Namen der Unternehmensgründer Harold „Matt“ Matson und Elliot Handler
 Macronimous – Indischer Web-Designer. Kombination aus Magnonimous  und der Vorsilbe Macro für Groß.
 Magirus-Deutz – nach dem Gründer der Feuerwehrgerätefabrik Magirus Conrad Dietrich Magirus und dem Motorenhersteller Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz, der Magirus 1935/36 übernommen hatte
 MAN – Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg
 Mandriva – Entstanden durch die Fusion der Linux-Distributoren Mandrakesoft und Conectiva.
 MBNA – ursprünglich eine Tochter der Maryland National Corporation, steht die Abkürzung für Maryland Bank National Association; auch Mercedes-Benz of North America.
 McDonald’s – Nach den Gründern des ersten McDonald’s-Restaurants 1940, Dick McDonald und Mac McDonald
 Mercedes-Benz – Der Markenname der Daimler AG wird zusammengesetzt aus dem Vornamen der Tochter Emil Jellineks, eines Großkunden der damaligen Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (um 1900) und dem Nachnamen Carl Benz’, des Gründers der Benz & Cie.
 MGM – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, entstanden durch die Fusion von Metro Picture Corporation, Goldwyn Picture Corporation und Louis B. Mayer Pictures. Goldwyn setzt sich zusammen aus Namensteilen von Samuel Goldfish und Edgar und Archibald Selwyn.
 MIBRAG – Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlen Aktiengesellschaft
 Microsoft – Microcomputer Software, der ursprüngliche Name war Micro-Soft; später wurde der Bindestrich entfernt
 Mimeo.com – Ursprünglicher Name EasyCopy, später nach dem Mimeograf (Kopierverfahren mit Wachsmatrizen) umbenannt
 Minol – Der Name besteht aus den beiden Anfangssilben von Mineralöl und Oleum (lat. Öl).
 Missippi Management – nach dem Unternehmensgründer Andre Dieckschulte. Namenskombination aus dem größten und schnellsten Fluss der Welt, dem Mississippi River. Eingetragene Schutzmarke.
 Mitel – Mike and Terrys Lawnmowers (= Rasenmäher), nach den Unternehmensgründern Michael Cowpland und Terry Matthews.
 MITRE – Massachusetts Institute of Technology Research Establishment
 Mitropa – Mitteleuropäische Schlaf- und Speisewagen Aktiengesellschaft.
 Mitsubishi – Der Name bedeutet „drei Wasserkastanien“, wobei im Japanischen das japanische Wort für Wasserkastanie benutzt wurde, um die Form eines Diamanten zu beschreiben. Die „drei Wasserkastanien“ stammen vom Familienwappen des Firmengründers Yataro Iwasaki und bilden auch das Unternehmenslogo. In der deutschsprachigen Werbung wird der Name als „drei Diamanten“ übersetzt.
 Motorola – Der Gründer von „Galvin Manufacturing Company“, Paul Galvin, verwendete diese Bezeichnung, als sein Unternehmen mit der Produktion von Radios für Autos begann. Die Endung „ola“ wurde damals für viele Produkte im Audio-Bereich verwendet (z. B. „Victrola“ des Unternehmens Victor Talking Machine Company). Der Name sollte eine Verbindung zwischen „Bewegung“ und „Sound“ herstellen. Der Name wurde so populär, dass er später als Firma übernommen wurde.
 Mozilla Foundation – Nach dem Webbrowser Mozilla, der den Mosaic-Browser ablösen sollte. Mozilla ist eine Kreation von Jamie W. Zawinski aus dem Wort „Mosaic-Killer“ in Anlehnung an Godzilla.
 MPO – Moulages Plastiques de l’Ouest, heute MPO-Gruppe, französischstämmiges Unternehmen zur Herstellung von Tonträgern
 MTU – Motoren und Turbinen Union, beziehungsweise MTU Aero Engines
 MOL – Magyar und Olaj és Gázipari Részvénytársaság, der führende Mineralölkonzern Ungarns
 MZ – Motorradwerk Zschopau

N 
 Nabisco – früher „National Biscuit Company“, 1971 in Nabisco umbenannt
 namco – Nakamura Amusement Machine Manufacturing Company
 Namestorm – Kombination aus Names und Brainstorming
 NCR Corporation – National Cash Register. Während die Gesellschaft im Besitz von AT&T war, wurde die Abkürzung (vermutlich nur inoffiziell) auch als „Network Computing Resource“ gedeutet
 ND SatCom – aus Nortel Dasa SatCom (SatCom bedeutet Satellitenkommunikation)
 NEC – Nippon Electric Company, Limited. Gegründet 1899 als erstes japanisches Joint Venture mit einem amerikanischen Unternehmen, der Western Electric. Gehört heute zur Sumitomo-Gruppe
 Nestlé – benannt nach dem Unternehmensgründer Heinrich Nestle (später: Henri Nestlé). Wegen der Namensform (Nestle = schwäbisch für Nestlein, kleines Nest) enthält das Unternehmenslogo ein Nest mit einem Muttervogel und zwei Küken.
 Nike – Benannt nach der Griechischen Siegesgöttin
 Nikon – Kurzform des ursprünglichen Namens Nippon Kogaku, was „Japanische Optik“ bedeutet
 Nintendo – besteht aus den drei japanischen Kanji-Zeichen  (nin-ten-dō). Die beiden ersten bedeuten „Der Himmel segnet ehrliche Arbeit“ bzw. „In der Hand des Himmels/Schicksals“; „dō“ schließlich bedeutet direkt übersetzt „Tempel“ oder „Halle“ und ist eine allgemeine Nachsilbe für ein Geschäft
 Nirosta – Nicht rostender Stahl (registriertes Warenzeichen von ThyssenKrupp)
 Nissan – Kurzform des ursprünglichen Namens Nippon Sangyo, was „Japanische Industrie“ bedeutet
 NITAG – Naphthaindustrie und Tankanlagen AG
 NKD – Niedrig Kalkuliert = Discount
 Nokia – Ursprünglich eine Papierfabrik, später wurden in der finnischen Stadt Nokia Gummiprodukte hergestellt. Schließlich wurde der Ortsname als Firma übernommen.
 Nortel – Bis 1976 unter dem Namen Northern Electric, danach als Northern Telecom and Bay Networks.
 Novartis – lateinische novae artes = neues Handwerk
 Novell – Durch eine Verwechslung der Gattin des Unternehmensgründers George Canova, die dachte, dass „novell“ der französische Ausdruck für „Neu“ ist (richtig wäre „Nouvelle“ für „neu, Neuigkeit“)
 Nvidia – von lat. Invidia für „Neid“, man beachte die Aussprache in Werbespots etc.: „Invidia“

O 
 O&K – Orenstein & Koppel
 o.b. – ohne Binde
 Obi – geht auf die französische Aussprache des Wortes Hobby zurück
 Océ – Ohne Componente, nach einem 1930 auf den Markt gebrachten Kopierverfahren. Das „é“ wurde aus Marketinggründen hinzugefügt.
 odol – entweder aus dem Griechischen odous („Zahn“) und Lateinisch oleum („Öl“) oder One Drop Only Lotion
 Oldsmobile – Zusammenzug des Nachnamens des Unternehmensgründers Ransom Eli Olds und Automobile (englische Schreibweise)
 OMV – Österreichische Mineralölverwaltungs AG
 Onko – bedeutet Kaffee „ohne Koffein“
 Oracle – Ursprünglich ein CIA-Projekt, das den Einsatz der neuen entwickelten Datenbanksprache SQL erleichtern sollte. Dieses wurde unter dem Codenamen Oracle geführt (in der Hoffnung, damit „auf alles eine Antwort zu bekommen“). Später wurde es vom Projektteam Larry Ellison, Ed Oates und Bob Miner in deren eigenem Unternehmen „Relational Technology Inc.“ übernommen und in weiterer Folge auch als Firma verwendet.
 ORF – Österreichischer Rundfunk
 Osram – benannt nach den Elementen Osmium und Wolfram
 ÖBB – Österreichische Bundesbahnen
 Optrel – ist eine Verkürzung des Begriffs Optoelektronik und verweist auf die Verbindung von Optik und Elektronik

P 
 Pamida – US-Einzelhändler, gegründet von Jim Witherspoon und Lee Wegener, der seinen Namen von Witherspoons drei Söhnen bekam: Patrick, Michael und David
 PCM-Sierra – PCM steht für Pacific Microelectronics Center, die Forschungsabteilung von BC Tel. Sierra steht für das Unternehmen Sierra Semiconductor, das möglicherweise aufgrund der Nähe der Sierra Nevada so benannt wurde.
 PDO: Philips & DuPont Optical, ehemaliger Hersteller von Audio-CDs
 Pennzoil – Aus dem Zusammenschluss von South Penn Oil (frühere Standard-Oil-Tochter) und Zapata Oil
 Pepsi – Der Name Pepsi stammt von dem Verdauungsenzym Pepsin
 Persil – Dieser Waschmittelname ist gebildet aus „Perborat“ und „Silikat“
 Petrobras – Kurzform für Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., das staatliche Ölunternehmen Brasiliens
 Petronas – Kurzform für Petroliam Nasional Berhad, malaysischer Mineralölkonzern
 Philips – Nach den Unternehmensgründern Gerard und Anton Philips, die 1891 das Unternehmen gründeten.
 Pixar – Spanische Verbform zu Pixel, bedeutet so viel wie Pixel machen. Ursprünglich stand der Name pixer zur Diskussion, aber Unternehmensgründer Steve Jobs favorisierte die spanische Form
 Plus – Prima leben und sparen
 PMA – Print Media Austria AG
 PMDC – PolyGram Manufacturing & Distribution Centres GmbH, ehemaliger Hersteller von Audio-CDs
 Pontiac – Namensgeber war der Ottawa-Häuptling Pontiac.
 Porsche – Sportwagenhersteller, benannt nach Ferry Porsche, Sohn des Gründers Ferdinand Porsche (österreichischer Autokonstrukteur). Der Familienname könnte vom Tschechischen Namen „Boreš“ (boresh) stammen.
 Psion – Vom Unternehmensgründer David Potter als Abkürzung für „Potter Scientific Instruments Or Nothing“
 Puma AG – Rudolf Dassler, Gründer des Sportartikelunternehmens, führte zunächst zusammen mit seinem Bruder Adolf („Adi“) Dassler ein gemeinsames Unternehmen. Aufgrund von Meinungsverschiedenheiten trennte man sich 1948. Während sein Bruder mit Adidas seinen eigenen geschäftlichen Weg ging, sah Rudolf Dassler als Firma zunächst „Ruda“ (aus „Rudolf Dassler“) vor. Wegen des ähnlichen, aber besseren Klangs und der Assoziation mit der Dynamik des amerikanischen Silberlöwen fiel die Entscheidung dann aber auf „Puma“.
 PwC – PricewaterhouseCoopers

Q 
 Q8 – Kuwait–Petroleum vertreibt Mineralöle unter dieser Marke, die englische Aussprache („Q eight“) ähnelt dem Landesnamen.
 Qantas – Queensland And Northern  Territory Aerial Services
 Quark – (Hersteller von QuarkXPress) Benannt nach dem Elementarteilchen von Atomen
 QVC – Quality, Value and Convenience (dt. Qualität, Wert und Bequemlichkeit)

R 
 RAND – (US-amerikanischer „Think Tank“) Research ANd Development
 Raytheon – (Amerikanischer Rüstungs- und Elektronikkonzern) „Ray“ engl. für „Strahl“ und „theon“ griech. für „Von den Göttern“. Hersteller von Projektilen wie Patriot, Maverick, Sidewinder, Tomahawk und andere militärische Technologie.
 RBS – Royal Bank of Scotland
 RCA – (Früher Hersteller von Kommunikationselektronik, jetzt Handelsmarke für Unterhaltungselektronik) Von Radio Corporation of America (etwa „amerikanische Radiogesellschaft“)
 REWE – Revisionsverband der Westkaufgenossenschaften
 Red Hat – Der Unternehmensgründer Marc Ewing bekam ein Cap in den Farben der Lacrosse-Mannschaft der Cornell-Universität (mit roten und weißen Streifen) von seinem Großvater geschenkt, als er dort das College besuchte. Da sich viele Leute mit Computerproblemen an ihn wandten, wurde er bald als „der Typ mit dem roten Hut“ bezeichnet. Als er das Cap verlor, hat er es verzweifelt gesucht – sogar im Handbuch der Beta-Version von Red Hat Linux fand sich eine Suchmeldung.
 Reebok – eine abgewandelte Schreibweise von Rhebok, einer afrikanischen Antilope (deutsch Rehantilope)
 Reo – Der ehemalige LKW- und PW-Hersteller ist nach den Initialen des Unternehmensgründers Ransom Eli Olds benannt, dem es nach dem Ausscheiden aus dem von ihm gegründeten Unternehmen Oldsmobile untersagt war, unter eigenem Namen Fahrzeuge zu bauen.
 Repsol – (Unternehmen der Petrochemie) Der Name kommt von Refineria de Petroleo de eScombreras Oil (Escombreras ist eine Ölraffinerie in Cartagena, Spanien) und wurde aufgrund seines Wohlklangs gewählt, als das damals staatliche Ölunternehmen 1986 in eine Aktiengesellschaft umgewandelt wurde. Vorher war Repsol eine Schmieröl-Handelsmarke.
 Ricola – Richterich & Co. Laufen
 Rolls-Royce – 1884 gründete Frederick Henry Royce ein Unternehmen für Elektro- und Technikprodukte. Im Jahr 1904 baute er sein erstes Auto, ein Royce. Am 4. Mai desselben Jahres wurde er Charles Stewart Rolls vorgestellt; die beiden beschlossen eine Partnerschaft – Royce sollte die Autos bauen, der Verkauf würde exklusiv durch Rolls erfolgen. Eine Vertragsklausel legte fest, dass die Autos Rolls-Royce heißen sollten.
 RSA Security – Benannt nach den Anfangsbuchstaben der Nachnamen der Erfinder des RSA-Kryptosystems (und Unternehmensgründer), nämlich Ronald Rivest, Adi Shamir und Leonard Adleman.
 RSCG – Nach den Anfangsbuchstaben der Unternehmensgründer Roux, Séguéla, Cayzac, Goudard benanntes internationales (Werbe-)Agentur-Netzwerk.
 RTL – Radiotélévision de Luxembourg
 RUEFA Reisen – dieses heute zum Österreichischen Verkehrsbüro gehörende Unternehmen hieß ursprünglich Reisen Und Erholung Für Alle
 RWE – gegründet als Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk

S 
 Saab – 1937 als Svenska Aeroplan AktieBolaget (Schwedische Flugzeug-AG) gegründet
 SAECO – Sergio Arthur e compagnia – 1981 von Sergio Zappella und Arthur Schmed gegründetes italienisches Haushaltsgeräteunternehmen (vor allem Kaffeevollautomaten)
 SAME – Societa Anonima Motori Endotermici
 Samsonite – Samsonite ist benannt nach dem biblischen Samson, der bekannt für seine Stärke war.
 Samsung – ist Koreanisch für „Drei Sterne“
 Sanyo – ist Japanisch („三洋“) für „Drei Ozeane“
 SAP – Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung; Ursprünglich für: Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung.
 Saudi Aramco – (Erdölfördergesellschaft) Ursprünglich war der Name ARAMCO (Arabian American Oil Company, etwa „Arabisch-Amerikanische Ölgesellschaft“). Als die Saudi-Arabische Regierung das Unternehmen 1988 übernahm, war der Name „Aramco“ bereits auf der ganzen Welt und besonders in Saudi-Arabien bekannt. Der Name wurde daraufhin in „Saudi Aramco“ geändert, ohne dass man sich der ursprünglichen Bedeutung der Abkürzung ARAMCO bewusst war, welche im Gegensatz zu vorher nichts mehr mit dem aktuellen offiziellen Namen gemein hat: „Saudi Arabian Oil Company“ (etwa „Saudi-Arabische Ölgesellschaft“)
 SCO – Santa Cruz Operation
 Seat, ursprünglich SEAT: Sociedad Española de Automóviles de Turismo (Spanisch für „Spanische PKW-Gesellschaft“)
 Sega – Service Games of Japan. Englisch etwa „Spiele für den Militärdienst in Japan“, da der amerikanische Unternehmensgründer Marty Bromley ursprünglich Flipperautomaten für die Kasernen der in Japan stationierten amerikanischen Soldaten herstellte.
 Seiko – (Uhrenhersteller) Der offiziellen Unternehmensgeschichte „A Journey in Time: The Remarkable Story of Seiko“ (2003) nach ist Seiko das japanische Wort für „exquisit“, „exakt“ () oder „Erfolg“ ()
 SERO AG – verarbeitete SEkundärROhstoffe
 SEW-Eurodrive – Süddeutsche Elektromotorenwerke. Eines der weltweit führenden Unternehmen in der Antriebstechnik mit Sitz in Bruchsal.
 SGI – Von Silicon Graphics Inc.
 Sharp – Dieses japanische Elektronikunternehmen benannte sich nach ihrem ersten Produkt, einem Bleistift, der immer spitz ist.
 Shell – Das Muschel-Symbol (engl. shell) und der entsprechende Unternehmensname „Shell“ (ursprünglich „The Shell Transport and Trading Comp. Ltd.“) gehen auf den Unternehmensgründer Marcus Samuel zurück, dessen Vater durch Import und Handel asiatischer Kammmuscheln sein Geld verdiente.
 Siemens – Gegründet von Werner von Siemens und Johann Georg Halske im Jahr 1847; ursprünglicher Name: Telegraphen-Bau-Anstalt von Siemens & Halske.
 Simca – Die Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carosserie Automobile war ein französischer Automobilhersteller.
 Sinalco – Vom lateinischen Ausdruck sine (= „ohne“) alcohole („Alkohol“). Ursprünglich „Bilz’ Brause“; umbenannt nach einem Wettbewerb um den neuen Namen.
 Six Apart – Die Unternehmensmitbegründer Ben und Mena Trott wurden im Abstand von sechs Tagen geboren (September 1977).
 STO AG – Von dem Namen des Gründers Stotmeister
 SKF – Von Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB („Schwedische Kugellager-Fabrik“), einem schwedischen Hersteller mit Gründung 1907.
 SMA – SMA Technologie AG; der ursprüngliche Name des Unternehmens war System-, Mess- und Anlagentechnik
 SMA und Partner – Von den Namen der Gründer Werner Stohler, Martin Meister und Hans Rudolf Akermann
 smart – Swatch + Mercedes + Art
 Smilebit – (Konsolenspielentwickler) Früheres Sega-Entwicklungsstudio. Der Name stammt von der Hoffnung, die Spieler zum Lächeln zu bringen („smile“) und der kleinsten Informationseinheit des Computers („bit“)
 Smeg – (Hersteller von Küchengeräten) Die Abkürzung stammt vom Namen der ursprünglichen Emailfabrik Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla im Dorf Guastalla, Reggio nell’Emilia.
 SNK – (Videospiel-Unternehmen) Shin Nihon Kikaku, Japanisch für „Neues Japan Projekt“ oder „Plan für ein Neues Japan“
 Sony – Aus dem lateinischen Wort sonus = Klang und dem englischen Wort sunny = sonnig; der erste Vorschlag, Sonny, klingt ähnlich einem japanischen Begriff für „schlechtes Geschäft“, darum wandelte der Unternehmensgründer Akio Morita dies zu Sony ab – auch, weil sich dieses Wort in vielen Sprachen gut ausspricht. Ursprünglich hieß das Unternehmen Tōkyō Tsūshin Kōgyō Kabushiki Kaisha.
 Spar – nl. De SPAR – Door eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen Regelmatig (dt.: Durch einträchtiges Zusammenwirken profitieren alle regelmäßig/gleichermaßen). Handelskette, freiwilliger Zusammenschluss von Einzelhändlern. Das niederländische Wort „de spar“ steht auch für „die Tanne“, die sich im Unternehmenslogo widerspiegelt.
 Sperry – Amerikanisches Unternehmen, gegründet von Elmer Ambrose Sperry (1860–1930), ursprünglicher Name „Sperry Gyroscope Company“. Sperry übernahm Univac und wurde später selbst von Burroughs übernommen; das fusionierte Unternehmen wurde „Unisys“ genannt (United Information Systems, etwa „Vereinte Informationssysteme“).
 SP OAO Spartak – (Weißrussischer Süßwarenhersteller) SP OAO ist die transliterierte russische Abkürzung СП ОАО (Gemeinsamer Betrieb Offene Aktiengesellschaft). Ursprünglich „Proswet“ („Lichtblick“), 1931 wurde das Unternehmen umbenannt und erhielt den jetzigen Namen, nach dem Namen des berühmten römischen Gladiators und Anführer der aufständischen Sklaven im dritten Sklavenkrieg Spartacus.
 Sprint – Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Communications, da man früher Telekommunikationsleitungen entlang von Bahnstrecken oder Pipelines verlegte, weil die Grundstücke und die Genehmigungen bereits vorhanden waren.
 Starbucks – Zuerst wollte einer der Unternehmensgründer das Unternehmen Pequod nennen, nach dem Schiff im Roman Moby Dick von Herman Melville. Dies wurde abgelehnt und ein Begriff mit lokalem Bezug zu Seattle gesucht – gefunden wurde Starbo, der Name eines Bergbau-Camps am Mount Rainier. In Moby Dick gibt es eine Figur, deren Namen so ähnlich klingt, nämlich der erste Maat Starbuck – allerdings ist dieser nicht als Kaffeetrinker bekannt. radio.weblogs.com
 Stellent – Erstellt aus den Worten stellar („brillant“, „ausgezeichnet“) und excellent („großartig“).
 Subaru – Benannt nach dem japanischen Namen der Plejaden, auch als Siebengestirn bekannt. Das Unternehmen entstand aus einer Fusion von sechs Einzelunternehmen, analog zu den sechs Sternen, die man in Japan zu den Plejaden zählt. Die Anordnung der sechs Sterne findet sich im Unternehmenslogo wieder.
 SULO – Benannt nach den Firmengründern Fritz Streuber und Walter Lohmann
 SuSE – Gesellschaft für Software- und Systementwicklung AG
 Sun Microsystems – Die Gründer des Unternehmens entwarfen ihre ersten Computer an der Stanford University und wählten den Namen Stanford University Network nach einem ihrer Produkte zur Vernetzung der Bibliotheksrechner an der Uni.
 Suzuki – Benannt nach dem Unternehmensgründer Michio Suzuki.
 Swicofil – ein französisches Kunstwort für „Schweizer Garnunternehmen“

T 
 Taco Bell – benannt nach dem Unternehmensgründer Glen Bell
 Talanx – ursprünglich als HDI Beteiligung AG gegründet setzt sich das Kunstwort Talanx aus den Begriffen Talent (antike Währungseinheit) und Phalanx (flexible Schlachtaufstellung) zusammen
 TAM – Der Name der zweitgrößten brasilianischen Fluggesellschaft ist die Abkürzung von Transportes Aéreos Marília; die Gesellschaft wurde in der Stadt Marília (Bundesstaat São Paulo) von Rolim Amaro gegründet.
 Taxan – (Japanisches Elektronikunternehmen) Künstlicher Name, der gewählt wurde, weil einerseits „Takusan“ (jap. für „viel(e)“) als Name günstig schien, andererseits (und hauptsächlich), weil der Unternehmenschef (zu der Zeit in den USA) allen als „Tak-san“ (jap. etwa „Herr Tak“ bzw. höfliche Aussprache des Namens) bekannt war
 Thomas Cook AG – benannt nach dem ersten Reiseveranstalter Thomas Cook
 Tchibo – Tchiling-Bohne, nach Carl Tchiling-Hirrian
 Tefal – Kurzwort aus Teflon und Aluminium
 Teroson – Theodor Ross und Sohn
 Tesa – Benannt nach dem Spitznamen der Sekretärin Elsa Tesmer, die bei Beiersdorf arbeitete.
 Tesco – Der Gründer Jack Cohen übernahm eine große Ladung Tee von T. E. Stockwell und erstelle neue Etiketten, bei denen er Teile seines Namens und des Lieferantennamens mischte: T. E. Stockwell + Jack Cohen
 Testa – Das Unternehmen Tesch & Stabenow ist in der Nachkriegszeit als Lieferant des Schädlingsbekämpfungsmittels Zyklon B in Konzentrationslagern bekannt geworden. Ab 1947 ist die Abkürzung Testa für „Technische Entwesungsstation“ benutzt worden.
 Texaco – aus dem englischen: Texas company
 THX – Vom Namen des Erfinders dieser Audiotechnik und dem u. a. darin verwendeten Crossover Equalizer: Tomlinson Holman Crossover () für (Über)Kreuzung, also X. Diese Deutung könnte allerdings erst nach der Abkürzung entstanden sein (Backronym), da George Lucas die Technologie besitzt und er schon lange vor der Erfindung einen Film namens THX 1138 gedreht hatte
 Tim Hortons – Benannt nach dem Gründer, dem Eishockey-Spieler der Buffalo Sabres, Tim Horton
 Toblerone – Jean Tobler (Unternehmensgründer), torrone (italienisch für Nougat)
 Tomra – Der Name leitet sich von Tomske (norwegisch für „leer“) und Reture Automat (Rückgabeautomat) ab.
 Toshiba – Das Unternehmen entstand aus einer Fusion des Konsumgüter-Herstellers Tōkyō Denki und des Elektrotechnik-Unternehmens Shibaura Seisaku-sho und hieß Tōkyō Shibaura Denki, wurde aber nur unter der Abkürzung Toshiba bekannt.
 Toyota – Benannt nach dem Unternehmensgründer Sakichi Toyoda. Ursprünglich lautete die Firma Toyoda, wurde jedoch umbenannt, da der neue Name besser auszusprechen ist und dem Unternehmensgründer seinen Privatnamen zurückgibt. Der neue Name wird in Katakana-Schriftzeichen mit acht Strichen gezeichnet, dies ist in Asien eine Glückszahl.
 Trigema – Trikotwarenfabrik Gebrüder Mayer
 TVR – Der Name dieses Sportwagenherstellers kommt vom Vornamen des Unternehmensgründers Trevor Wilkinson.

U 
 Umbro – (britischer Sportbekleidungshersteller) Wurde 1924 von den Humphrey Brothers Harold C. und Wallace gegründet
 UA – United Artists.
 UBS – Ursprünglich die französische Version der Firmenabkürzung der Schweizerischen Bankgesellschaft (→ Union des Banques Suisse). Nach der Fusion mit dem Schweizerischen Bankverein sollte UBS zuerst United Banks of Switzerland heißen, dieser Name war jedoch bereits besetzt. Somit heißt UBS einfach nichts.
 Unisys – (US-amerikanischer Informatik-Dienstleister) Von United Information Systems (etwa Vereinte Informationssysteme), der neue Name für das Unternehmen, das aus der Fusion der zwei früheren Mainframe-Hersteller Burroughs und Sperry hervorging. Es vereinte zwei inkompatible Produktsortimente.
 unterm durchschnitt – tauchte erstmals Anfang 1980 als Plattenladen in der kommunistischen Hamburger Punkbewegung auf. Die Ladenfläche befand sich im Tiefparterre zur Straße „Durchschnitt“. Seit 1999 ein Musiklabel aus Köln.
 ÜSTRA – 1921 benannt als Ueberlandwerke und Straßenbahnen Hannover AG
 UFA – Universum Film Aktiengesellschaft
 Unocal – Die Union Oil Company of California wurde 1890 gegründet
 UPS – United Parcel Service
 Urospace – „yoUR Online SPACE“, IAAS-Anbieter im Rahmen des Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie Technologieprogramm Trusted Cloud geförderten SkIDentity-Projekts.
 UUNET – Einer der ältesten und größten Internet Service Provider, benannt nach UNIX-to-UNIX Network
 Uvex – Die Kurzform des Qualitätsmerkmals „UltraViolet EXcluded“

V 
 VAG – Volkswagen und Audi-Gemeinschaft
 Varig – Der Name der größten brasilianischen Fluggesellschaft ist eine Abkürzung von Viação Aérea Rio Grandense, da sie im brasilianischen Bundesstaat Rio Grande do Sul gegründet wurde.
 VARTA – Vertrieb, Aufladung und Reparatur transportabler Akkumulatoren
 Vaude – Initialen des Nachnamens von Unternehmensgründer Albrecht von Dewitz
 VDO – Vereinigte Deuta OTA (Deuta: Deutsche Tachometerwerke; OTA: aus namensrechtlichen Bedenken geändertes OSA; OSA: Otto-Schulze-Autometerwerke; Otto Schulze: Tachometer-Entwickler)
 VEBA – Vereinigte Elektrizitäts- und Bergwerks AG
 Verizon – ein Kofferwort aus veritas ( Wahrheit) und horizon ( Horizont)
 VIAG – Vereinigte Industrie-Unternehmen AG
 Victorinox – Victoria (Mutter des Unternehmensgründers) und inoxydable (frz. für rostfrei)
 Vileda – von: wie Leder
 Virgin – Eine Freundin des Unternehmensgründers Richard Branson meinte, in Geschäftsdingen seien sie alle noch Jungfrauen.
 Vodafone – Voice, Data Fax Over Net
 Volvo –  für ich rolle
 VW – Volkswagen AG

W 
 Wachovia – (Finanzen/Bank) Von der lateinischen Version des Namens Wachau. Eine Gegend in North Carolina, USA wurde wegen der deutschsprachigen Siedler aus dieser Gegend so genannt, und viele Unternehmen um den Ort Charlotte tragen „Wachovia“ im Namen
 WAGO – Benannt nach den Erfindern der Federklemmtechnik WAGner und Olbrich
 Waitrose – Diese britische Supermarktkette wurde nach zwei der Gründer benannt: Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose, David Taylor
 Wal-Mart – Sam Walton → „Walton’s Mart“
 Wang Laboratories – Benannt nach dem Erfinder des Kernspeichers und Unternehmensgründer An Wang
 Wendy’s – Diese Fast-Food-Kette wurde nach dem Spitznamen von Melinda Thomas, der Tochter des Unternehmensgründers Dave Thomas, benannt.
 WHSmith – (Britische Buch- und Zeitschriftenkette) Von Henry Walton Smith und seiner Frau Anna 1792 in London gegründet. Sie nannten ihr kleines Zeitungsgeschäft nach ihrem Sohn William Henry Smith, der im gleichen Jahr geboren wurde.
 Wielton – Wortspiel aus den polnischen Worten für viele Tonnen (poln. wiele ton), in Anlehnung an die beworbene Belastbarkeit der unter dem Markennamen Wielton vertriebenen Sattelauflieger; darüber hinaus klangähnlich zum Firmensitz in Wieluń und dem im Logo eingesetzten Kamel (poln. wielbłąd).
 Williams-Sonoma – Gegründet von Chuck Williams in Sonoma (Kalifornien)
 WIDIA – Wie Diamant – Handelsname eines besonders gehärteten Metalls für Werkzeuge. Patent Fr. Krupp AG, Essen.
 Wipro – Western India Products Limited (das heutige IT-Unternehmen stellte früher Haushaltswaren her)
 WLZ – Württembergische Landwirtschaftliche Zentralgenossenschaft Raiffeisen eGmbH, jetzt verschmolzen mit BayWa
 WMF – Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik.
 WoltLab – Woltersdorf Laboratory
 WPP Group – Wire and Plastics Products plc., ursprünglich ein Hersteller von Einkaufskörben, heute größte Werbe-Holding der Welt. Die Firma des Unternehmens war im Eigentum des ursprünglich von Saatchi & Saatchi kommenden Gründers Martin Sorrell.
 Würth – Vom Namen des Unternehmensgründers Adolf Würth

X 
 Xerox – Der Erfinder des Fotokopiergeräts, Chester Carlson, verwendete die griechische Silbe xer = trocken, um den Unterschied zur vorher bekannten nassen Hektografie zu betonen.

Y 
 Yahoo! – Das Wort stammt aus dem Buch Gullivers Reisen von Jonathan Swift und beschreibt ein nur dem Aussehen nach menschenähnliches Wesen mit tierischem Verhalten. Die Unternehmensgründer David Filo und Jerry Yang bezeichneten sich scherzhaft als Yahoos. Später wurde das Wort als Backronym umgedeutet zu „Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle“.
 Yoplait – Im Jahr 1965 fusionierten die Unternehmen Yola und Coplait. Das Logo des gemeinsamen Unternehmens ist eine sechsblättrige Blüte, die die sechs Hauptgenossenschaften symbolisiert, die das Unternehmen bildeten.

Z 
 ZDF – Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen
 ZDIS – Der Unternehmensname Ziegler Domain und Internet Service, stammt aus der Gründerzeit. Heute werden Ersatzakkus hergestellt.
 ZEAG – Zementwerk Aktiengesellschaft
 Zend Technologies – aus den Namen der beiden Gründer Zeev Suraski und Andi Gutmans
 Zewa – Zellstoff Waldhof, Mannheimer Papierhersteller. Waldhof ist ein Mannheimer Stadtteil, der unter anderem auch durch den gleichnamigen Fußballverein (SV Waldhof Mannheim) bekannt ist.
 Zuse KG – Gegründet vom deutschen Computerpionier Konrad Zuse, der Ende der 1930er Jahre seinen ersten Computer im Wohnzimmer seiner Eltern gebaut hatte. Später wurde dieses Unternehmen von Siemens übernommen.

Fußnoten

Weblinks 
 www.markenlexikon.com/produkte_a.html
 www.abkuerzungen.de
 Unternehmensnamen auf Chinesisch und Japanisch: Ostasieninstitut der FH-Ludwigshafen

Unternehmensnamen, Etymologie

ISO 4217 ist die von der Internationalen Organisation für Normung publizierte Norm für Währungs-Kurzzeichen, die im internationalen Zahlungsverkehr zur eindeutigen Identifizierung benutzt werden sollen. Am 1. August 2015 wurde die neue Version ISO 4217:2015 veröffentlicht. Diese 8. Version ersetzt den Vorgänger aus dem Jahr 2008.

Systematik

Alphabetische Codes 
Die Abkürzungen umfassen jeweils drei Buchstaben. Die ersten beiden sind üblicherweise die Landeskennung nach ISO 3166-1 ALPHA-2 (beispielsweise AU für Australien), der letzte Buchstabe ist in der Regel der Anfangsbuchstabe des Währungsnamens, so beispielsweise D für Dollar. Gemeinsam ergibt dies AUD als genormte Abkürzung für den Australischen Dollar.

Währungen, die nicht von einem Einzelstaat herausgegeben werden, haben als ersten Buchstaben ein X; die beiden folgenden Buchstaben geben den Namen der Währung an. Dies ist sowohl bei den meisten Währungsunionen der Fall (z. B. der Ostkaribische Dollar (XCD)), als auch bei den IWF-Sonderziehungsrechten (XDR).

Von diesen Regeln wird in den folgenden Fällen abgewichen:
 wenn in einem Land (z. B. nach einer Währungsreform) eine neue Währung eingeführt wird, deren erster Buchstabe schon belegt ist. So hat z. B. der „neue“ Bulgarische Lew den Währungscode BGN, um ihn vom alten Lew mit dem Kürzel BGL zu unterscheiden, oder auch der neue Russische Rubel RUB im Unterschied zum alten Rubel RUR.
 für den Euro wurde abweichend von der Systematik aller zuvor vergebenen Codes EUR verwendet, wodurch die Abkürzung der Europäischen Union, EU, an der Stelle des üblichen ISO-3166-Kürzels steht.

Auch für nicht-geldliche Wertaufbewahrungs- und Transaktionsmittel gibt es Kodierungen. So wird eine Feinunze Gold (= 31,1034768 Gramm) beispielsweise mit XAU abgekürzt (zusammengesetzt aus X und dem chemischen Symbol für Gold: Au), Silber entsprechend mit XAG. Transaktionen, in denen keine Währung verwendet wird, werden mit XXX gekennzeichnet.

Numerische Codes 
Neben der Buchstabenkodierung werden auch dreistellige Zifferncodes verwendet. Dabei bedeuten die Zahlenbereiche
 002–898 reguläre Währungen von Einzelstaaten; dies ist gleich der Kodierung des herausgebenden Staates nach ISO 3166-1. Ungerade Kodierungen zeigen später gebildete Staaten an.
 900–998 Sonderzahlungsmittel sowie nach 1981 eingeführte Währungen von Einzelstaaten, wenn mehrere Zahlungsmittel gleichzeitig gültig sind.

Teilweise wird bei Änderung der Währung und des Buchstaben-Codes die bisherige numerische Kodierung beibehalten, insbesondere wenn sich lediglich der Name des Zahlungsmittels geändert hat.
 Beispiele:
 Burma-Kyat (BUK) und Myanmar-Kyat (MMK) wechselten den Code 104 nicht.
 Sowjetischer (SUR) und Russischer (RUR) Rubel hatten beide den Code 810, der Neue Russische Rubel (RUB) dagegen 643.
Auch wenn eine direkte Währungsumstellung erfolgt, bleibt meist der numerische Code unverändert.
 Beispiel:
 Peruanischer Sol (PES) und Nuevo Sol (PEN) wechselten den Code 604 nicht.
Diese Codes sind deshalb ohne Kenntnis des Zeitpunkts nicht immer so eindeutig einer bestimmten Währung des betreffenden Landes zuzuordnen, wie das mit den Buchstaben-Codes möglich ist. Allerdings sind sie für konkrete finanzielle Transaktionen vorgesehen, so dass die Angabe bei mehreren Möglichkeiten nur bedeutet: „In der am Tag der Wertstellung gültigen Landeswährung“.

Listen der Währungscodes 
Der Standard definiert drei Listen, die selbst im Standardtext nicht enthalten sind, sondern auf der ISO-Website in ihrer jeweils aktuellen Fassung zur Verfügung gestellt werden:
 Codes für Währungen, Fonds und Edelmetalle (Currency, fund and precious metal codes)
 Codes für speziell registrierte Fonds (Fund codes registered with the Maintenance Agency)
 Codes für historische Währungen und Fonds (Codes for historic denominations of currencies and funds)

Aktuell gültige Währungen

Andere Einheiten

Frühere Währungen

Weblinks 
 Currency Codes der ISO
 Codes historischer Währungen
 Amt für Veröffentlichungen der EU

Einzelnachweise 

4217
!Iso 4217

Ein Achsensprung ist ein Filmschnitt, mit dem die Beziehungsachse der Figuren oder Gruppen übersprungen wird. Blickachsen
oder Beziehungsachsen zwischen den Akteuren untereinander oder dem Point of Interest des Protagonisten bilden eine gedachte Linie. Auf die Leinwand projiziert, stellt diese Linie eine „links-rechts-“ und „oben-unten-Beziehung“ zwischen den Akteuren dar. Mit Achsensprung bezeichnet man einen Schnitt, bei dem sich dieses Verhältnis umkehrt. Es wird zwischen Seitenachsensprung und dem Höhenachsensprung unterschieden. Letzterer wird als weniger desorientierend vom Zuschauer empfunden, da die Leinwand weniger hoch als breit ist. 
Ein Achsensprung kann beim Zuschauer Desorientierung verursachen, da die Anordnung und Blickrichtung der Akteure im Frame sich relativ zum Zuschauer zu verändern scheint.

Aktionsachse (Handlungsachse)
ist die gedachte Linie, in deren Richtung sich die Handlung oder das Inertialsystem der Filmwelt bewegt. Bei einer Autofahrt zum Beispiel ist die Aktionsachse so stark, dass die Beziehungsachsen an Bedeutung verlieren. Die Orientierung bleibt trotz eventuellem Achsensprung bewahrt. Wenn man aus der Fahrerseite filmt, bewegt sich die Landschaft scheinbar von rechts nach links; filmt man aus der Beifahrerseite, bewegt sie sich scheinbar von links nach rechts. Diese Änderung der Bewegungsrichtung ist aber nicht irritierend. Analog werden zwei Autos, die bei einer Parallelmontage in die gleiche Richtung fahren (oft von links nach rechts, weil das unserer Leserichtung entspricht), als einander verfolgend wahrgenommen; wenn eines jedoch von links nach rechts und das andere von rechts nach links fährt, erwartet der Zuschauer einen Zusammenstoß.

Im Continuity Editing des klassischen Hollywoodkinos wird der Achsensprung als Fehler betrachtet und dementsprechend vermieden. 

Der Grundsatz, Achsensprünge zu vermeiden, wird 180-Grad-Regel genannt.

Bewusster Achsensprung 
In manchen Fällen kann ein bewusster Achsensprung auch Stilmittel sein, um beispielsweise Verwirrung oder einen Kippmoment zu symbolisieren; Stanley Kubrick wird in diesem Zusammenhang häufig genannt. In Werbespots werden Achsensprünge oft verwendet, um einen rasanten Effekt zu bewirken. Bekannt ist auch eine Szene aus Herr der Ringe, in welcher Sméagol mit sich selbst spricht. Da er mit den Schnitten wechselnd von der einen zur anderen Seite spricht (Achsensprung), entsteht der Eindruck zweier gleich aussehender Personen, womit der gespaltene Charakter der Figur unterstrichen wird.

Achsenwechsel 
Im Gegensatz zum Achsensprung handelt es sich hierbei um eine Bewegung der Kamera (Steadicam oder einer Dollyfahrt) über die Achse oder um eine Änderung der Bewegungsachse bzw. der Blickrichtung der Figuren, wodurch eine neue Achse definiert wird. Der Achsenwechsel wird vom Zuschauer nicht als störend wahrgenommen, weil sich die Bewegung fließend vollzieht. Diese Bewegung wird mitunter auch als Crab bezeichnet. Außerdem kann ein Zwischenschnitt in eine Totale eine Achsenüberschreitung möglich machen, da so die räumliche Anordnung der Akteure für den Zuschauer deutlich wird, oder der Zwischenschnitt auf einen Closeup, da sich der Betrachter danach wieder neu räumlich orientiert.

Achsen im Film 
 Die Handlungsachse gibt die Hauptrichtung der Handlung an. Meist ist sie die Verbindung der Akteure, bei einer Fußballübertragung die Verbindung der Tore.
 Die Blickachse gibt die Blickrichtung und den Blickwinkel (Verhältnis zwischen der Höhen- und Seitenachse) der Figuren an. Bei Gesprächen ist darauf zu achten, dass sich die Figuren anschauen, was bedeutet, dass, wenn eine Figur in einem Bild nach links oben schaut, der Gesprächspartner im anderen Bild (Gegenschuss) nach rechts unten schaut. Diese Richtungen und die beiden Winkel sollten nicht verändert werden, solange sich die reale Blickrichtung bzw. der Standpunkt der Figuren nicht ändert.
 Die Kameraachse ist die „Blickrichtung“ der Kamera. Bei einer subjektiven Perspektive (Point of View) ist sie mit der Blickachse identisch.

Weblinks 
 Erklärvideo zu Achsensprung
Filmgestaltung
Postproduktion

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (* 13. August 1899 in Leytonstone, England; † 29. April 1980 in Los Angeles) war ein britischer Filmregisseur, Drehbuchautor, Filmproduzent und Filmeditor. Er siedelte 1939 in die USA über und nahm am 20. April 1955 zusätzlich die US-amerikanische Staatsbürgerschaft an.

Hitchcock gilt hinsichtlich seines Stils bis heute als einer der einflussreichsten Filmregisseure, obwohl er nie einen Oscar als Regisseur gewinnen konnte. Er etablierte die Begriffe Suspense und MacGuffin. Sein Genre war der Thriller, dessen Spannung er mit Humor verband. Die wiederkehrenden Motive seiner Filme waren Angst, Schuld und Identitätsverlust. Mehrfach variierte er das Thema des unschuldig Verfolgten.

Hitchcock legte großen Wert auf die künstlerische Kontrolle über das Werk des Autors. Sein Gesamtwerk umfasst 53 Spielfilme und gehört – gemessen am Publikumserfolg sowie der Rezeption durch Kritik und Wissenschaft – zu den bedeutendsten der Filmgeschichte. Auch dank seiner bewussten Selbstvermarktung zählt Hitchcock heute zu den bekanntesten zeitgeschichtlichen Persönlichkeiten. Er ist dem Autorenfilm zuzurechnen.

Am 3. Januar 1980 wurde er von Königin Elisabeth II. zum Knight Commander des Order of the British Empire ernannt.

Leben und Werk

Kindheit, Jugend und Ausbildung 
Alfred Hitchcock war der jüngste Sohn des Gemüsehändlers William Hitchcock (1862–1914) und dessen Ehefrau Emma Jane Whelan (1863–1942). Durch den Altersunterschied von sieben beziehungsweise neun Jahren zu seinen Geschwistern, durch seine römisch-katholische Erziehung in einem von der anglikanischen Kirche geprägten Land und nicht zuletzt durch sein Äußeres – er war klein und schon als Kind korpulent – hatte er eine einsame Kindheit. Zwischen 1910 und 1913 war er Schüler des St.-Ignatius-College, einer Londoner Jesuitenschule. Er verließ das College mit knapp 14 Jahren und besuchte stattdessen Abendkurse auf der Londoner Universität, diverse Handwerkskurse und später wenige Monate lang die School of Engineering and Navigation. Zudem belegte er Kurse in technischem Zeichnen sowie in Kunstgeschichte an der Londoner Kunstakademie. Seine Freizeit verbrachte er oft mit dem Lesen von Fahrplänen und dem Studium von Stadtplänen und Landkarten. Mit fortschreitendem Alter flüchtete er sich in Romane, besuchte Theatervorstellungen und ging oft ins Kino. Außerdem verfolgte er Mordprozesse im Gerichtshof Old Bailey und besuchte gerne das Black Museum von Scotland Yard. Der Tod des Vaters Ende 1914, zu dem er kein enges Verhältnis hatte, band Hitchcock noch enger an seine Mutter.

1915 nahm er eine Stelle als technischer Angestellter bei der W.T. Henley Telegraph Company an, die elektrische Leitungen herstellte. Wegen seines zeichnerischen Talents wurde er bald in die Werbeabteilung versetzt. Unter seinem bis zuletzt gebrauchten Spitznamen „Hitch“ veröffentlichte er in der Betriebszeitschrift seine ersten gruseligen Kurzgeschichten.

Anstellung beim Film 

Im Frühjahr 1920 hörte Hitchcock von der Neugründung eines Studios der amerikanischen Produktionsgesellschaft Paramount Famous Players-Lasky im Londoner Stadtbezirk Islington. Er bewarb sich mit einer Mappe mit Illustrationen und wurde als Zeichner von Zwischentiteln angestellt. In den Jahren 1921 und 1922 zeichnete er die Titel für mindestens zwölf Filme. Nebenbei entwarf er Kostüme, Dekorationen und Szenenbilder. Auch durch Überarbeitungen von Drehbüchern machte er auf sich aufmerksam. Bei zwei Filmen arbeitete er mit George Fitzmaurice zusammen, dessen genaue Produktionsplanung ihn sehr beeinflusste.

1922 bekam Hitchcock Gelegenheit, sich als Regisseur zu versuchen. Mit dem Autor Seymour Hicks stellte er die letzten Filmszenen von Always Tell Your Wife fertig, nachdem der ursprüngliche Regisseur gefeuert worden war. Bald darauf konnte er einen eigenen Film drehen, Number 13 (in einigen Quellen Mrs. Peabody), der jedoch unvollendet blieb, da Famous Players-Lasky im Laufe der Dreharbeiten das Studio wegen finanzieller Schwierigkeiten schließen musste. Das leerstehende Gelände wurde an unabhängige Produzenten vermietet, darunter auch an Michael Balcon, der das Studio 1924 schließlich erwarb. Er stellte Hitchcock als Regieassistent ein, sowie (auf dessen Empfehlung) die Filmeditorin Alma Reville. Die beiden kannten sich seit 1921, seitdem sie gelegentlich an denselben Filmen gearbeitet hatten. Bis 1925 entstanden fünf Filme, bei denen Hitchcock dem Regisseur Graham Cutts assistierte und zu Cutts’ wachsendem Unmut mehr und mehr künstlerischen Einfluss gewann. Neben dem Drehbuch kümmerte er sich auch um die Bauten, das Szenenbild, die Besetzung, die Kostüme sowie die Ausstattung und nahm so mit der Zeit die Aufgaben eines Produktionsleiters wahr.

Hitchcocks letzte Zusammenarbeit mit Graham Cutts führte ihn 1924/25 nach Deutschland. Der unter der Beteiligung der deutschen UFA produzierte Film Die Prinzessin und der Geiger entstand in den Babelsberger Filmstudios – damals die modernsten der Welt. Dabei hatte Hitchcock die Möglichkeit, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau bei den Arbeiten an Der letzte Mann zu beobachten; von diesem beeindruckt übernahm er einige Techniken Murnaus für die Szenenbilder seiner aktuellen Produktion. Durch diesen und weitere Besuche konnte Hitchcock fließend Deutsch sprechen; später sprach er zum Beispiel einige Trailer seiner Filme selbst.

Zurück in England übertrug ihm Michael Balcon 1925 die Regie für einen eigenen Film. Das Projekt führte den jungen Hitchcock wieder nach Deutschland. Nur die Münchner Lichtspielkunst (Emelka) fand sich bereit, den Film des unbekannten Regie-Debütanten mitzuproduzieren. Für das Melodram Irrgarten der Leidenschaft (1925) verpflichtete Balcon kostspielige Stars aus Hollywood. Alma Reville, mittlerweile Hitchcocks Verlobte, war als Regieassistentin und Editorin Mitglied des sehr kleinen Filmteams. Balcon war mit Hitchcocks ambitionierter Arbeit zufrieden und vertraute ihm eine weitere deutsch-englische Koproduktion an: Der Bergadler wurde noch im selben Jahr, diesmal in Tirol, gedreht. Doch beide Filme, die 1925 beziehungsweise 1926 in Deutschland in den Kinos anliefen, wurden in England zunächst nicht veröffentlicht. Der englische Verleiher und Geldgeber C. M. Woolf war, im Gegensatz zu Balcon, nicht von Hitchcocks betont expressionistischem Stil überzeugt. Der Bergadler ist der einzige von Hitchcocks Filmen, der nicht mehr erhalten ist.

Karriere in England

Leben und Arbeit in England 

Mit dem 1926 gedrehten Film Der Mieter um einen einzelgängerischen Pensionsgast, der verdächtigt wird, ein Serienmörder zu sein, hatte Hitchcock sein Thema gefunden. Doch nicht zuletzt wegen dessen expressionistischer Bildgestaltung lehnte es Woolf abermals ab, den Film zu veröffentlichen. Balcon zog daraufhin den jungen Ivor Montagu hinzu, der Erfahrung mit Filmüberarbeitungen hatte; mit Hitchcock zusammen wurden einige Änderungen vorgenommen. Der überragende Erfolg bei einer Pressevorführung ebnete dann den Weg zur Veröffentlichung seiner ersten beiden Filme. Der Mieter kam 1927 in kurzer Abfolge mit Irrgarten der Leidenschaft und Der Bergadler in die Kinos und bedeutete für Hitchcock den Durchbruch als Regisseur.

Für Balcons Gainsborough Pictures drehte Hitchcock 1927 noch die zwei Melodramen Abwärts und Leichtlebig. Beiden Filmen war kein Erfolg beschieden. Bereits zuvor hatte er beschlossen, zu der neu gegründeten Firma British International Pictures (BIP) des Produzenten John Maxwell zu wechseln. Mit einem Jahresgehalt von 13.000 Pfund Sterling stieg er zum bestbezahlten Regisseur Großbritanniens auf. Dort entstand mit dem Boxerdrama Der Weltmeister sein erster Film nach einem Originaldrehbuch. Die Presse reagierte äußerst positiv. Obwohl die drei folgenden Stummfilme Die Frau des Farmers, Champagne und Der Mann von der Insel Man abgesehen von einzelnen Szenen als Fingerübungen gelten, hatte sich Hitchcock in Großbritannien innerhalb kurzer Zeit einen Namen gemacht: Die junge britische Filmindustrie, sehr darauf bedacht, sich von der amerikanischen abzuheben, war nur allzu gerne bereit, ihn als kommenden Regiestar zu feiern.

Im Dezember 1926 heirateten Alfred Hitchcock und Alma Reville, die für die Hochzeit zum katholischen Glauben konvertierte. 1928 wurde ihre gemeinsame Tochter Patricia geboren. Beruflich blieb Alma bis zum Schluss seine engste Mitarbeiterin und Beraterin.

Das Aufkommen des Tonfilms hielten viele Regisseure für das Ende ihrer Kunstform. Hitchcock hingegen nutzte das Potential der neuen Technik. Erpressung (1929) wurde ursprünglich als Stummfilm produziert. Die Produzenten erlaubten Hitchcock jedoch, eine Filmrolle mit Tonmaterial nachzudrehen. Er versah daraufhin einzelne Schlüsselszenen mit wirkungsvollen Toneffekten und gesprochenem Dialog, wobei die tschechische Schauspielerin Anny Ondra, die ihre Rolle stumm spielen musste, von der englischen Schauspielerin Joan Barry simultan synchronisiert wurde. Erpressung war der erste britische Tonfilm und wurde ein großer Erfolg. Hitchcock nutzte seine gewonnene Popularität und gründete mit der Hitchcock Baker Productions Ltd. eine Gesellschaft zur Vermarktung seiner Person.

Auf Geheiß seines Studios drehte er Juno and the Paycock (1930) sowie einige Szenen für die Musikrevue Elstree Calling. Mit Mord – Sir John greift ein! fand er wieder zu seinem Thema und auch nach Deutschland zurück: In Berlin stellte er die deutsche Sprachversion des Films unter dem Titel Mary her. Es folgten drei Filme, von denen Hitchcock nur die Komödie Endlich sind wir reich wirklich interessierte: In dem zusammen mit seiner Frau und Val Valentine verfassten Drehbuch verarbeitete er unter anderem die Erfahrungen seiner noch jungen Ehe. Den ihm aufgezwungenen Thriller Nummer siebzehn beschloss Hitchcock aus Protest zu sabotieren und zu einer wirren, albernen Parodie zu machen. Die turbulente Verbindung zwischen Humor und Spannung lässt Nummer siebzehn aus heutiger Sicht als einen Vorläufer späterer Klassiker des Genres erscheinen. Hitchcocks Vertrag mit der British International Pictures endete nach sechs Jahren mit einem Einsatz als Produzent (Lord Camber’s Ladies). Die Zusammenarbeit hatte zunehmend unter dem Konflikt zwischen Hitchcocks Streben nach künstlerischer Kontrolle und den Vorschriften des Studios gelitten. Doch auch den folgenden Film Waltzes from Vienna, ein „Musical ohne Musik“ (Hitchcock) für den unabhängigen Produzenten Tom Arnold, drehte er betont lustlos: „Ich hasse dieses Zeug. Melodrama ist das einzige, was ich wirklich kann.“

Englische Produktionen 
Unmittelbar nach Waltzes from Vienna nahm er die fruchtbare Zusammenarbeit mit dem Produzenten Michael Balcon wieder auf. Als erster Film für die Gaumont British entstand der Thriller Der Mann, der zuviel wußte (1934). Das Drehbuch erarbeitete Hitchcock im Wesentlichen mit seiner Frau Alma und dem Drehbuchautor Charles Bennett. Der Film wurde sowohl von der Kritik als auch vom Publikum enthusiastisch aufgenommen. Der humorvolle Spionagethriller Die 39 Stufen (1935, Drehbuch: Charles Bennett) gilt als Blaupause späterer Verfolgungsthriller. Eine turbulente Szene folgt auf die nächste, es gibt keine Übergänge und kaum Zeit für den Zuschauer, über die manchmal fehlende Logik nachzudenken. Hitchcock ordnete nach eigenem Bekunden alles dem Tempo unter. Der große Erfolg des Films sollte ihm recht geben. Es folgten Geheimagent (1936) und Sabotage (1936), die insbesondere in Hitchcocks eigener späterer Bewertung gegenüber den beiden Vorgängerfilmen abfielen. Doch die psychologisch vielschichtige Behandlung des Themas „Schuld“ weist bereits auf spätere Werke hin.

Nach Sabotage endete abrupt die zweite erfolgreiche Phase der Zusammenarbeit mit Michael Balcon, als die Produktionsfirma Gaumont British von deren Besitzern geschlossen und Balcon entlassen wurde. Die beiden folgenden Filme drehte Hitchcock daher wieder für die Gainsborough Pictures – diesmal allerdings ohne seinen ehemaligen Förderer. Jung und unschuldig (1937) war eine weitere, unbeschwerte Variation der Geschichte vom unschuldig Verfolgten. Eine der bekanntesten Szenen ist die im Grand Hotel, als die Kamera über das gesamte Foyer schwenkt. Solche Plansequenzen nutzte Hitchcock auch später noch in vielen weiteren Filmen. Der erfolgreiche Thriller Eine Dame verschwindet (1938) spielt überwiegend in einem fahrenden Zug. Die Dreharbeiten fanden jedoch ausschließlich in einem kleinen Londoner Studio statt, was dank technisch anspruchsvoller Rückprojektionen möglich wurde.

Hitchcock festigte mit diesen sechs Filmen seine Stellung innerhalb des britischen Kinos. Ende der 1930er Jahre beauftragte er die Selznick-Joyce-Agentur, deren Mitinhaber Myron Selznick, der ältere Bruder des Hollywood-Moguls David O. Selznick war, seine Interessen wahrzunehmen. Hitchcock, dessen Ruf mittlerweile bis nach Hollywood gelangt war, unterzeichnete 1938 einen Vertrag für die Produktionsgesellschaft von David O. Selznick, der damals gerade mit der Vorproduktion zu Vom Winde verweht beschäftigt war. In Gedanken bereits in Hollywood, drehte Hitchcock in England noch einen letzten Film für die Produktionsfirma des nach England emigrierten deutschen Produzenten Erich Pommer. Doch der Kostümfilm Riff-Piraten wurde von der Presse verrissen.

Hollywood und der Zweite Weltkrieg 

In seinen ersten Jahren in Hollywood stieß Hitchcock auf unerwartete Schwierigkeiten. David O. Selznick übte starke Kontrolle über die Filme seines Studios aus und achtete darauf, dass sich der freiheitsliebende Hitchcock möglichst eng an die literarische Vorlage seines ersten Hollywoodfilmes hielt. Trotz dieser Spannungen wurde Rebecca für den britischen Regisseur ein erfolgreicher Einstand in Hollywood: Das psychologisch dichte und düster-romantische Melodram war 1940 elfmal für den Oscar nominiert und gewann schließlich zwei der Trophäen (Kamera und Produktion).

In den nächsten Jahren machte Selznick sein Geld mit Hitchcock, indem er ihn für beträchtliche Summen an andere Studios auslieh. Der Krieg in Europa weitete sich aus, als der unabhängige Produzent Walter Wanger Hitchcock für ein aktuelles Kriegsdrama engagierte. Der Auslandskorrespondent blieb Hitchcocks Naturell entsprechend jedoch ein weitgehend unpolitischer Spionagethriller. Nur der nachgedrehte Schlussmonolog, gerichtet an die noch neutralen USA, wirkte aufrüttelnd. Kurz nach Fertigstellung des Films wurde England von Deutschland bombardiert. Der rechtzeitig ausgewanderte Hitchcock musste sich daraufhin scharfe Kritik von ehemaligen britischen Kollegen, allen voran Michael Balcon, gefallen lassen.

Mit Verdacht (1941, RKO), der ersten Zusammenarbeit mit Cary Grant, und Saboteure (1942, Universal) blieb Hitchcock bei seinen klassischen Themen. Zwischen diesen Produktionen drehte er, für ihn und andere ungewohnt, seine einzige Screwball-Komödie. Obwohl damals durchaus positiv aufgenommen, zeigte er sich mit Mr. und Mrs. Smith (1941, RKO) nicht zufrieden.
Weit mehr am Herzen lag ihm die Arbeit an dem Thriller Im Schatten des Zweifels (1943, Universal). Hitchcocks Filme gelten allgemein als stark von seinem Charakter geprägt. Dieses Familienmelodram wird als einer seiner persönlichsten Filme bezeichnet: In allen Hauptfiguren spiegeln sich demnach Eigenschaften und Ängste Hitchcocks. Als während der Dreharbeiten Hitchcocks Mutter in London starb, verstärkte dies die autobiografischen Tendenzen.

Wie viele britische Regisseure leistete Hitchcock seine Beiträge für die Kriegspropaganda und drehte unter anderem Kurzfilme zur Unterstützung der französischen Résistance. Auch in seine nächste Hollywood-Produktion arbeitete er stark propagandistische Töne ein, doch sein stets bewusst irritierender Umgang mit Klischees sorgte diesmal für Kontroversen: In einem kleinen Rettungsboot sehen sich englische und amerikanische Schiffbrüchige einem intellektuell überlegenen Nazi gegenüber. Dennoch wurde der formalistisch strenge Psychothriller Das Rettungsboot (1944, 20th Century Fox) dreimal für den Oscar nominiert (Drehbuch, Kamera und Regie).

Psychologie, wichtige Komponente seines Werks, stand im Mittelpunkt von Ich kämpfe um dich (1945), der nach langer Zeit wieder für Selznick entstand. Dieser war vom Thema Psychoanalyse schnell begeistert und ließ Hitchcock ungewohnt viel freie Hand, doch kürzte er den Film nach der ersten Probevorführung um rund zwanzig Minuten. Die erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit mit Ingrid Bergman in der Hauptrolle wurde in der folgenden Produktion Berüchtigt (1946) fortgesetzt, die Selznick allerdings wieder an RKO verkaufte. Die Geschichte um eine Spionin (Bergman), die aus Pflichtgefühl von ihrem Liebhaber (Cary Grant) gedrängt wird, mit dem Feind zu schlafen, bot für Hitchcocks Obsessionen eine breite Projektionsfläche.

Mit dem Gerichtsdrama Der Fall Paradin (1947) lief der Vertrag Hitchcocks mit Selznick aus. Selznick behielt, bei der Stoffauswahl angefangen, bei dieser relativ chaotisch verlaufenden Produktion die Oberhand. Dass Hitchcock währenddessen Vorbereitungen für seine eigene Produktionsfirma traf, verstärkte die Spannungen zwischen den machtbewussten Männern. Dennoch bot Selznick Hitchcock – erfolglos – eine Vertragsverlängerung an.

Unabhängigkeit 

Bereits im April 1946, rund zwei Jahre, bevor der Vertrag mit Selznick auslaufen sollte, gründete Hitchcock mit dem befreundeten Kinokettenbesitzer Sidney Bernstein die Produktionsfirma Transatlantic Pictures, für die er seinen ersten Farbfilm inszenierte, Cocktail für eine Leiche (1948) mit James Stewart in einer der Hauptrollen. Der Film blieb jedoch vor allem wegen eines anderen Hitchcock-Experiments in Erinnerung; jede Einstellung des kammerspielartigen Films dauert so lange, wie es das Filmmaterial in der Kamera erlaubte, also rund zehn Minuten. Durch geschickte Übergänge sollte so der Eindruck entstehen, dass sich die Geschichte in Echtzeit und von nur einer Kamera gefilmt ereignete.

Sklavin des Herzens (1949), ein für Hitchcock untypischer, melodramatischer Kostümfilm, war vor allem ein Vehikel für Ingrid Bergman. Trotz der Starbesetzung und der technischen Raffinessen wurde er kommerziell ein ähnlicher Misserfolg wie Cocktail für eine Leiche – Transatlantic ging daraufhin in die Insolvenz.

Nachdem sein Berater und Agent Myron Selznick 1944 gestorben war, wurden Hitchcocks Interessen von mehreren Personen wahrgenommen, bevor er 1948 mit Lew Wasserman zusammentraf. Wasserman war seit 1946 Präsident der weltgrößten Künstleragentur Music Corporation of America (MCA), der sich Hitchcock 1948 anschloss. Es begann eine enge wie äußerst lohnende Zusammenarbeit.

Warner Brothers 
Hitchcock schloss mit Warner Bros. einen lukrativen Vertrag über vier Filme ab, bei denen er als Regisseur und Produzent, angefangen bei der Stoffauswahl, völlig freie Hand hatte. Der erste dieser Filme war der Thriller Die rote Lola (1950) mit Marlene Dietrich, der im Londoner Theatermilieu spielte. Eines seiner Lieblingsmotive stellte er auf den Kopf; am Ende entpuppt sich der „unschuldig Verfolgte“ als der wahre Mörder. Hitchcock drehte in seiner Heimat, spürte allerdings wieder die alten Ressentiments, die nach seiner Auswanderung entstanden waren. Der Film selbst war nicht sonderlich erfolgreich.

Im April 1950 begann Hitchcock, regelmäßige Kolloquien an den Universitäten von Kalifornien und Südkalifornien abzuhalten, in denen unter anderem Previews seiner aktuellen Filme gezeigt wurden. Diese Tradition sollte er die kommenden 20 Jahre beibehalten.

Der Fremde im Zug (1951, nach einem Roman von Patricia Highsmith) brachte schließlich nach fünf Jahren Flaute wieder einen überragenden Erfolg. Mit diesem Film begann die dreizehnjährige Zusammenarbeit mit dem Kameramann Robert Burks. Wie schon in Die rote Lola spielte Hitchcocks Tochter Patricia eine Nebenrolle. 1953 folgte mit Ich beichte der eindeutigste filmische Bezug auf Hitchcocks starke katholische Prägung. Obwohl von der Kritik geschätzt, floppte der Film an den Kinokassen, was Hitchcock vor allem der Humorlosigkeit des Publikums anlastete.

Als Anfang der 1950er Jahre das Fernsehen Einzug in die Wohnzimmer hielt, versuchte die Kinoindustrie, mit neuen technischen Verfahren wie dem Breitbildformat Cinemascope oder dem 3D-Verfahren den Zuschauerschwund aufzuhalten. So drängte Warner Bros. Hitchcock, seinen nächsten Film in 3D zu drehen. Über diese Entscheidung, die zur Einschränkung der Bewegungsfreiheit der Kamera führte, war Hitchcock nicht glücklich; er setzte auch nur wenige explizite 3-D-Effekte ein. Bei Anruf Mord (1954) ist die Verfilmung eines damals sehr populären Theaterstücks von Frederick Knott, der auch das Drehbuch schrieb. Mit  Grace Kelly als Hauptdarstellerin drehte Hitchcock im Anschluss noch zwei weitere Filme, ehe sie sich aus dem Filmgeschäft zurückzog.

Paramount 
Die Erfahrung mit dem aufgezwungenen 3D-Verfahren zeigte Hitchcock die Grenzen bei Warner Brothers. Er schloss daher 1953 einen Vertrag mit Paramount ab, der ihm völlige künstlerische Freiheit garantierte. 1954 begann die für Hitchcock erfolgreichste Zeit mit Das Fenster zum Hof. Neben Grace Kelly ist ein weiteres Mal James Stewart zu sehen. Die Hauptfigur sitzt während des gesamten Films im Rollstuhl und beobachtet durch ein Teleobjektiv das Geschehen in den gegenüberliegenden Wohnungen – sozusagen stellvertretend für den Zuschauer, aber auch stellvertretend für Hitchcock selbst, der in diesem Film den voyeuristischen Aspekt des Filmemachens aufzeigt.
Über den Dächern von Nizza (1955) ist ein leichter, romantischer Thriller, in dem neben Grace Kelly – nach zwei Jahren Filmpause – wieder Cary Grant spielte. Wohl um dem Glamour dieses an der Côte d’Azur angesiedelten Films etwas entgegenzusetzen, drehte Hitchcock noch im selben Jahr die kostengünstig produzierte schwarze Komödie Immer Ärger mit Harry, in der Shirley MacLaine neben John Forsythe ihren ersten Filmauftritt hatte. Edmund Gwenn, der bereits in früheren Hitchcock-Filmen mitgewirkt hatte, spielte fast achtzigjährig eine seiner wenigen Hauptrollen. Obwohl Hitchcock in vielen seiner Filme schwarzen Humor untergebracht hat, ist es eine der wenigen echten Komödien von ihm.

1955 nahm Hitchcock – rund fünf Jahre nach seiner Frau – die amerikanische Staatsbürgerschaft an. Im selben Jahr begann er mit Doris Day und James Stewart die Dreharbeiten zu Der Mann, der zuviel wußte (1956), der einzigen Neuverfilmung eines seiner Filme in seiner Karriere. Ebenfalls 1955 startete die wöchentliche Fernsehserie Alfred Hitchcock Presents (ab 1962 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour). Hitchcock war Produzent, trat in vielen Folgen als Moderator auf und inszenierte insgesamt 18 Folgen. Auch für die Fernsehserien Suspicion und Startime nahm er für je eine Folge im Regiestuhl Platz. Nach zehn Jahren beendete er seine Fernseharbeit, an der er zunehmend das Interesse verloren hatte. Hinzu kam, dass die Produktion den Auftraggebern zu teuer wurde und die Zeit von Serien mit jeweils abgeschlossenen Folgen, sogenannten „Anthologies“, zu Ende ging.

Mit Der falsche Mann wurde er 1956 einem seiner Grundprinzipien, der strikten Trennung von Leben und Fiktion, untreu. In dem Schwarzweißfilm mit Henry Fonda und Vera Miles wird an authentischen Schauplätzen die auf Tatsachen beruhende Geschichte eines zu unrecht Verurteilten erzählt. Der Film entstand noch einmal für Warner Bros., da Hitchcock dem Studio bei seinem Ausscheiden noch einen Film ohne Regiegage zugesagt hatte. Allerdings war Der falsche Mann, der viele Stilelemente des Film noir und ein trostloses Ende aufweist, kommerziell ein Flop.

Höhepunkt und Wende 

1957 drehte Hitchcock seinen letzten Film für Paramount: Vertigo – Aus dem Reich der Toten (1958 veröffentlicht). Das Drehbuch entstand in gemeinsamer intensiver Arbeit von Hitchcock und Samuel A. Taylor. In wenige seiner Filmfiguren projizierte Hitchcock wohl so viel von seiner eigenen Persönlichkeit wie in den von James Stewart verkörperten Scottie Ferguson, der versucht, eine Frau nach seinen Vorstellungen umzuformen. Zu seiner Entstehungszeit nicht besonders erfolgreich, zählt der Film inzwischen – ähnlich wie der folgende Der unsichtbare Dritte – zu den bedeutendsten Werken Hitchcocks. Hitchcock und sein Drehbuchautor Ernest Lehman konzipierten Der unsichtbare Dritte (1959, MGM) als eine Abfolge von Abenteuern, in denen ein Unschuldiger (Cary Grant in seinem letzten Hitchcock-Film) um seine Reputation und sein Leben kämpft. Die elegante Leichtigkeit der Erzählung beeinflusste viele nachfolgende Abenteuer- und Agentenfilme, was sich u. a. in den James-Bond-Filmen der darauf folgenden Jahre zeigt. Für Hitchcock selbst blieb es für lange Zeit der letzte vorwiegend heitere Film.

Das im Anschluss vorbereitete Projekt mit Audrey Hepburn in der Hauptrolle wurde durch Hitchcock gestoppt, als Hepburn wegen einer geplanten Vergewaltigungsszene absagte. Mit seiner bewusst kostengünstigen Produktion Psycho (1960) folgte Hitchcocks wohl bekanntester Film: Die in einer Woche Dreharbeit entstandene „Duschszene“ zählt heute zu seinen meistanalysierten Filmszenen. Ungewöhnlich war auch der Tod einer Hauptfigur nach nur einem Drittel des Films. Die zeitgenössischen Kritiken fielen unerwartet barsch aus, doch das Publikum machte Psycho zu Hitchcocks größtem kommerziellen Erfolg.

Nachdem zwei angedachte Projekte scheiterten – unter anderem, weil Walt Disney dem Psycho-Regisseur die Dreherlaubnis in Disneyland verweigerte – nahm Hitchcock seinen nächsten Film erst Mitte 1961 in Angriff: Die Vögel (1963), ein weiterer Horrorfilm, der nicht zuletzt durch seine Dramaturgie und die eingesetzte Tricktechnik – etwa den Sodium Vapor Process – stilbildend wirkte. Der deutsche Komponist Oskar Sala setzte statt Filmmusik elektronisch erzeugte Geräusche ein. Seine Hauptdarstellerin Tippi Hedren hatte Hitchcock im Werbefernsehen entdeckt. Obwohl sie keine Filmerfahrung besaß, nahm er sie für die nächsten sieben Jahre unter Vertrag.

Die Vögel entstand für Universal, die kurz zuvor teilweise von MCA übernommen worden waren und für die Hitchcock von nun an alle seine Filme drehen sollte. Lew Wasserman, bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt Agent Hitchcocks, wurde Präsident von Universal und gab seine Agententätigkeit auf. Hitchcock selbst trat seine Rechte an Psycho und seiner Fernsehserie ab und wurde im Gegenzug der drittgrößte Aktionär von MCA.

Nach Die Vögel gibt es in Hitchcocks Werk einen Bruch. Die folgenden drei Filme der 1960er Jahre blieben kommerziell hinter den vorangegangenen Erfolgen zurück. Konflikte mit seiner Hauptdarstellerin Tippi Hedren prägten die Dreharbeiten so weit, dass er das Gelingen seines nächsten Films Marnie (1964) bewusst zu sabotieren schien. Der Film fiel bei der professionellen Filmkritik durch. Bemängelt wurde, dass das Psychogramm einer verstörten, traumatisierten Frau sich psychologischer Erklärungsmodelle bediene, die überholt und undifferenziert wirkten, und der Film enthalte, untypisch für Hitchcock, viele handwerkliche Fehler. Die Qualität und der Rang des Films in Hitchcocks Werk wurde erst im Nachhinein nach François Truffauts ausführlicher Analyse des Films erkannt. Dieser erste kommerzielle Misserfolg seit rund fünfzehn Jahren war in mehrfacher Hinsicht ein Wendepunkt in Hitchcocks Karriere. Tippi Hedren war die letzte typische „Hitchcock-Blondine“ und Marnie der letzte Film, den Hitchcocks langjähriger Kameramann Robert Burks drehte. Kurz nach Abschluss der Dreharbeiten starb zudem Hitchcocks Filmeditor George Tomasini, mit dem er zehn Jahre lang zusammengearbeitet hatte, und für Bernard Herrmann, der seit 1955 Hitchcocks bevorzugter Filmkomponist war, war Marnie die letzte Zusammenarbeit mit Hitchcock.

Das Spätwerk

Erfolge und eine Rückkehr in die Heimat 

Filmproduktionen wurden immer aufwendiger, der Erfolg an der Kinokasse immer wichtiger. Diverse Projekte, die Hitchcock reizten und die er mehr oder weniger intensiv plante, kamen so aus Angst der Produzenten nicht zustande – etwa Mary Rose, die geplante Verfilmung eines skurrilen Theaterstücks. Mit R.R.R.R., einem Drehbuch mit zahlreichen Verwicklungen über eine italienische Ganoven-Familie in New York, wollte er Jahre nach Der unsichtbare Dritte wieder einen komischen Thriller drehen und damit alle Nachahmer (Charade, Topkapi und andere) übertreffen. Das weit fortgeschrittene Projekt scheiterte schließlich an unüberbrückbaren sprachlichen und kulturellen Problemen mit den italienischen Mitarbeitern.

Am 7. März 1965 erhielt Hitchcock für seinen „historischen Beitrag zum amerikanischen Kino“ den Milestone Award der Producers Guild of America – die erste von vielen Ehrungen für sein Lebenswerk.

Mit Der zerrissene Vorhang (1966) kehrte Hitchcock schließlich zum Genre des Spionagefilms zurück, in dem er bereits in den 1930er Jahren in England große Erfolge gefeiert hatte. Die Premiere dieses 50. Hitchcock-Filmes sollte von einer groß angelegten Marketingkampagne begleitet werden. Nicht nur aus diesem Grund setzte Universal die aktuellen Stars Paul Newman und Julie Andrews gegen Hitchcocks Widerstand als Hauptdarsteller durch. Überdies kam es zum Bruch mit dem Komponisten Bernard Herrmann, als dieser nicht die von Universal gewünschte, auch für den Schallplattenverkauf geeignete Unterhaltungsmusik vorlegte. Auch an anderen wichtigen Positionen seines Stabes musste Hitchcock auf vertraute Mitarbeiter verzichten. Der zerrissene Vorhang fällt handwerklich und dramaturgisch gegenüber Hitchcocks letzten Filmen deutlich ab und wurde von der Kritik durchweg verrissen.

Universal forderte von ihm zeitgemäßere Themen ein. Als das von ihm und Howard Fast detailliert ausgearbeitete Drehbuch über einen homosexuellen Frauenmörder abgelehnt wurde, zog er sich für ein Jahr ins Privatleben zurück. Anfang 1968 entschloss er sich unter dem Druck der langen Pause seit dem letzten Film und der noch längeren Zeitspanne seit dem letzten Erfolg, den Spionageroman Topas von Leon Uris zu verfilmen, dessen Rechte Universal kurz zuvor erworben hatte. Topas wurde dann fast ausschließlich mit europäischen Schauspielern besetzt und völlig ohne Hollywood-Stars. In Europa waren die Französinnen Dany Robin und Claude Jade wie ihre Landsmänner Michel Piccoli und Philippe Noiret und die deutsche Aktrice Karin Dor Stars; die für amerikanische Zuschauer bekanntesten Gesichter waren der Fernsehschauspieler John Forsythe und der aus Kanada stammende John Vernon. Das endgültige Drehbuch wurde erst während der laufenden Dreharbeiten geschrieben, der Schluss nach einer katastrophalen Preview improvisiert. Publikum und Kritik reagierten mit Ablehnung auf Hitchcocks bis dahin teuersten Film, doch er zeigte sich zuversichtlich: „Ich habe meinen letzten Film noch nicht gedreht. Topas ist mein 51. Film, aber wann ich meinen letzten Film drehen werde, ist von mir, meinen Finanziers und Gott noch nicht entschieden worden.“

Im Spätsommer 1970 nahm Hitchcock sein nächstes Projekt in Angriff und reiste dafür wieder in seine Heimat, wo er diesmal begeistert empfangen wurde. Frenzy (1972) spielt in London, dem Hitchcock eine liebevolle Hommage erweist, und ist in seinen Worten „die Geschichte eines Mannes, der impotent ist, und sich deshalb durch Mord ausdrückt“. Zunächst verliefen die Drehbucharbeit und auch die Dreharbeiten, die Hitchcock so ernst nahm wie lange nicht mehr, weitgehend reibungsfrei. Doch als seine Frau Alma einen Herzinfarkt erlitten hatte, wurde Hitchcock müde und untätig; die Crew war, ähnlich wie bei den drei vorangegangenen Filmen, wieder weitgehend auf sich alleine gestellt. Dennoch wurde Frenzy, ein brutaler, zum Teil bitterer, von tiefschwarzem britischen Humor durchzogener Film, ein großer Erfolg. Nur in England war man enttäuscht und bemängelte vor allem die anachronistisch wirkende Darstellung Londons und des britischen Lebens.

Der letzte Film 
Im Frühjahr 1973 entschloss sich Hitchcock, den Roman The Rainbird Pattern von Victor Canning zu verfilmen. Doch die Arbeit am Drehbuch mit Ernest Lehman (Der unsichtbare Dritte) ging diesmal nicht mehr so reibungslos vonstatten: Hitchcock war merklich müde geworden, seine körperlichen Schmerzen betäubte er zunehmend mit Alkohol. Zwei Jahre benötigte die Fertigstellung des Drehbuchs, so lange wie nie zuvor in seiner Karriere.

Mit Familiengrab, wie der Film schließlich hieß, kehrte Hitchcock zum scheinbar heiteren, diesmal jedoch morbid akzentuierten Unterhaltungsthriller zurück. Wie stets legte er Wert auf eine ausgeklügelte Bildsprache, die erneut mit Hilfe von Storyboards erarbeitet wurde.
Die Dreharbeiten gestalteten sich reibungslos und in einer entspannten Atmosphäre. Hitchcock, der sich im Rahmen seiner gesundheitlichen Möglichkeiten mit einem lange nicht gezeigten Elan in die Dreharbeiten einbrachte, zeigte sich zu Neuerungen bereit: Er war offen für Improvisationen seiner Schauspieler und nahm noch während der Dreharbeiten Änderungen am Ablauf vor. Die Überwachung der Schnittarbeiten musste er weitgehend seinen Mitarbeiterinnen Peggy Robertson und Suzanne Gauthier überlassen, da sich sein Gesundheitszustand deutlich verschlechterte. Zudem erlitt Alma einen zweiten Schlaganfall.

Familiengrab wurde nach seiner Premiere im Frühjahr 1976 überwiegend freundlich aufgenommen, und Hitchcock schöpfte aus der Sympathie, die ihm entgegenschlug, für kurze Zeit Kraft, neue Filmideen aufzugreifen. Sein erst Anfang 1978 in Angriff genommenes Projekt, die Verfilmung des Romans The Short Night von Ronald Kirkbride, wurde aufgrund seines sich weiter verschlechternden Gesundheitszustands jedoch etwa ein Jahr später von Universal gestoppt. Im März 1979 wurde er vom American Film Institute für sein Lebenswerk geehrt. Zwei Monate später schloss er sein Büro auf dem Gelände der Universal-Studios. Am 3. Januar 1980 wurde Hitchcock in den britischen Adelsstand erhoben.

Am Morgen des 29. April 1980 starb Alfred Hitchcock im Alter von 80 Jahren in seinem Haus in Los Angeles an Nierenversagen. Seine Leiche wurde eingeäschert, die Asche an einem unbekannten Ort verstreut.

Inhalte und Formen 

In rund fünfzig Jahren hat Alfred Hitchcock dreiundfünfzig Spielfilme als Regisseur begonnen und beendet. Die weitaus größte Zahl dieser Filme gehört dem Genre des Thrillers an und weist ähnliche Erzählmuster und Motive auf, wiederkehrende Elemente, visuelle Stilmittel und Effekte, die sich wie ein roter Faden durch sein Gesamtwerk ziehen.

Inhalt

Motive 
Das Grundmotiv in Hitchcocks Filmen bildet meist die Angst der Protagonisten vor der Vernichtung ihrer (bürgerlichen) Existenz. Dabei bezieht sich diese Angst nicht nur auf Mörder, Gangster oder Spione, welche die bürgerliche Ordnung angreifen; die Hauptfiguren finden sich häufig in der Lage wieder, sogar von Vertretern des Gesetzes bedroht zu werden.

Zu diesem Motiv der Angst kommt – Hitchcocks katholischer Prägung entsprechend – jenes von Schuld und Sühne hinzu. Der unschuldig Verfolgte in seinen Filmen ist „unschuldig, aber nur in Bezug auf das, was man ihm vorwirft.“ Das heißt, die Figur wird durch das, was ihr im Laufe des Filmes widerfährt, im übertragenen Sinne für andere Defizite oder Vergehen bestraft: In Bei Anruf Mord etwa wird die Hauptfigur des Mordes verdächtigt; tatsächlich musste sie aus Notwehr töten. Das folgende Unheil kann jedoch als Strafe für den von ihr begangenen Ehebruch angesehen werden.

Eine Variation dieses Themas ist die Übertragung der Schuld auf eine andere Person. Unschuldige werden zu Schuldigen (oder Mitschuldigen) an Verbrechen anderer, da sie aus persönlichen Gründen nicht zur Aufklärung beitragen können. Zentral sind hierbei die beiden Filme Ich beichte und Der Fremde im Zug, in denen die jeweiligen Protagonisten von Morden, die andere begangen haben, profitieren und, nachdem sie selbst unter Verdacht geraten, keine Möglichkeit haben, sich zu entlasten. In Vertigo macht der wahre Mörder die Hauptfigur durch ein Komplott zunächst scheinbar zum Schuldigen am Tod der ihr anvertrauten Person. Später macht sich das Opfer der Intrige tatsächlich am Tod der Frau schuldig, die er liebt.

Falsche Verdächtigungen, aber auch ausgeprägte Schuldkomplexe, gehen bei Hitchcocks Filmen mit der Bedrohung der Identität einher. Seine traumatisierten oder verfolgten Figuren nehmen selbst falsche Namen an oder werden – aus unbekannten Gründen – für jemand anderen gehalten. Das Motiv des Identitätsverlusts spielt Hitchcock, angefangen von seinem ersten bis zu seinem letzten Film, in unterschiedlichsten Varianten durch, besonders einprägsam in Vertigo: Die weibliche Hauptfigur wird zunächst im Rahmen eines Mordkomplotts in eine andere Person (die anschließend ermordet wird) verwandelt und nimmt daraufhin wieder ihre eigentliche Identität an, nur um anschließend wieder in die andere Person zurückverwandelt zu werden.

Oft stehen Schuld und Bedrohung in Zusammenhang mit sexuellen Aspekten. In Der Fall Paradin genügt bereits der Gedanke an Ehebruch, um das Leben des Protagonisten zu gefährden. In Berüchtigt ist der Zusammenhang zwischen Sex, Schuld und Bedrohung zentrales Thema. Hitchcocks Verbindung von Sex und Gewalt wird in Mordszenen deutlich, die er oft wie Vergewaltigungen inszeniert, etwa der Schlusskampf zwischen Onkel und Nichte Charlie in Im Schatten des Zweifels, die Scherenszene in Bei Anruf Mord und die Duschszene in Psycho. Darüber hinaus spielt Sexualität gerade in abnorm empfundenen Erscheinungsformen eine große Rolle in seinem Werk. Aufgrund der Auflagen der Zensur werden jedoch Homosexualität, die in Verbindung mit Schuld und Verderben regelmäßig vorkommt, oder Nekrophilie (in Vertigo) nur in einzelnen Gesten oder Schlüsselszenen angedeutet. Auch Fetischismus (Erpressung, Vertigo, Psycho) und Voyeurismus (Das Fenster zum Hof, Psycho) spielen in seinen Filmen eine gewisse Rolle. In mehreren Filmen wird zudem ein erotischer Bezug der männlichen Hauptfiguren zu ihren Müttern angedeutet, etwa in Psycho und Die Vögel. Zentral in diesem Zusammenhang ist Berüchtigt. Hier verhalten sich Claude Rains und Leopoldine Konstantin in manchen Schlüsselszenen wie ein Ehepaar. Dieser Eindruck wird durch den geringen Altersunterschied der Schauspieler von nur vier Jahren verstärkt.

Unter den in Hitchcocks Bildsprache verwendeten Symbolen finden sich Vögel als Vorboten des Unglücks (etwa in Erpressung, später als vorherrschendes Thema in Die Vögel), Treppen, die Verlust oder Freiheit bedeuten können (Berüchtigt, Psycho, Vertigo und andere), sowie Handschellen und andere Fesseln, um Abhängigkeit und Ausgeliefertsein auszudrücken, meist im sexuellen Kontext (zum Beispiel in Der Mieter). Auch Spiegel tauchen bei Hitchcock regelmäßig auf – in Zusammenhang mit dem Verlust oder der Erkenntnis der eigenen Persönlichkeit oder als allgemeines Symbol für Täuschungen (einprägende Beispiele: Vertigo und Psycho).

Figuren 
Die meisten Protagonisten in Hitchcocks Thrillern sind Normalbürger, die zu Beginn der Geschichte in der Regel nichts mit kriminellen Machenschaften zu tun haben. Meist werden sie durch Zufall oder unbekannte Umstände in geheimnisvolle und bedrohliche Vorgänge gezogen. Dem Zuschauer wird so das beunruhigende Gefühl vermittelt, dass auch er jederzeit in derartige Situationen geraten könnte. Professionelle Agenten oder Spione findet man dagegen nur selten unter den Hauptfiguren, obwohl Hitchcock viele Filme drehte, die im Agentenmilieu spielen. Hitchcock drehte bis auf eine Ausnahme (Erpressung, 1929) auch nie einen Film, in dem die Arbeit der Polizei im Mittelpunkt steht; aktive Polizisten tauchen ansonsten nur als Nebenfiguren und üblicherweise als Hindernis auf.

Männliche Antihelden 
Der Prototyp des Antihelden bei Hitchcock sind die von James Stewart gespielten Figuren: In Cocktail für eine Leiche muss der von Stewart dargestellte Lehrer erkennen, dass zwei seiner Studenten eine seiner Theorien zum Anlass nahmen, einen Mord zu verüben und diesen mit seinen Thesen zu rechtfertigen; am Ende steht er hilflos vor diesem menschlichen Abgrund, in den er nicht nur hineingezogen wurde, sondern den er sogar mit heraufbeschworen hat. In Das Fenster zum Hof stellt Stewart eine Figur dar, die bindungsscheu sowie körperlich beeinträchtigt und voyeuristisch veranlagt ist und dadurch in Schwierigkeiten kommt.

Es gibt nur wenige positive, ungebrochene Helden bei Hitchcock. Ein Schauspieler, der diesen seltenen Rollentypus verkörperte, war Cary Grant in Über den Dächern von Nizza und in Der unsichtbare Dritte. Diese Figuren meistern die Herausforderungen zwar mit Charme und Leichtigkeit, doch stehen sie in Verdacht, kriminell zu sein beziehungsweise verlieren sie zeitweise die Kontrolle, womit selbst sie keine gänzlich unantastbaren Helden sein können. Aber sogar Cary Grant spielte in zwei seiner Hitchcock-Filme Figuren, deren Schattenseiten sich zeitweise vor deren positive Merkmale schieben.

Im Laufe der Karriere Hitchcocks gewinnen ambivalente oder gar negativ gezeichnete Hauptfiguren immer stärker an Gewicht. Diese Antihelden weisen physische oder psychische Probleme auf, sind Verlierertypen oder unsympathisch. Durch ihr obsessives Fehlverhalten wirken sie schwach und können Schaden anrichten. Diese Figuren dienen zwar kaum als Vorbild, doch soll deren ambivalente Persönlichkeit dazu beitragen, dass sich der Zuschauer in ihnen wiederfinden kann.

Starke Frauen 
In vielen Filmen bedient Hitchcock auf den ersten Blick das klassische Motiv der schwachen, zu beschützenden Frau. Doch während das Klischee verlangt, dass der strahlende Held sie rettet, ist sie bei Hitchcock oft auf sich alleine gestellt. In einigen Fällen ist der vermeintliche Beschützer schwach oder zu sehr mit sich selbst beschäftigt, als dass er der bedrohten Frau helfen könnte, wie zum Beispiel Ingrid Bergman und Cary Grant in Berüchtigt. In anderen Fällen geht von der männlichen Hauptfigur (in der Regel dem Ehemann) sogar ein tatsächliches oder vermeintliches Bedrohungspotential aus. Klassische Beispiele: Joan Fontaine und Cary Grant in Verdacht sowie Grace Kelly und Ray Milland in Bei Anruf Mord.

Die Rollenverteilung zwischen Mann und Frau kehrt Hitchcock in einigen Filmen gänzlich um: Die Frau ist dem Mann, der zunehmend passiver wird, überlegen und wendet das Geschehen zum Guten. Beispiele sind Jung und unschuldig (die Tochter des Polizeichefs verhilft einem Verdächtigen zur Flucht und löst letztendlich den Fall), Ich kämpfe um dich (eine Psychologin dringt in das Unterbewusste des Mordverdächtigen ein und rettet ihn vor der sicheren Verurteilung) sowie Der Mann, der zuviel wußte (die Ehefrau verhindert zuerst einen geplanten Mord und rettet dann das eigene Kind vor den Verbrechern).

Der Typ, der sich dabei im Laufe der Zeit herauskristallisierte, ist jener der jungen, schönen, kühlen, hintergründigen und undurchsichtigen Blondine. Die oberflächliche Kühle der Hitchcock-Blondine verbirgt jedoch eine stark entwickelte Sexualität. Besonders deutlich wird dies in Der unsichtbare Dritte, wenn Eva Marie Saint zunächst gegenüber Cary Grant zweideutige Bemerkungen macht, dann plötzlich den völlig überraschten Fremden küsst und ihn ohne Zögern in ihrem Schlafwagenabteil unterbringt. Nicht der Mann, sondern die (blonde) Frau spielt hier den aktiven Part.

Sympathische Schurken 

Hitchcock legt durch seine Gestaltung von Figuren und Dramaturgie dem Zuschauer eine Identifikation mit dem Schurken nahe.
Seine Antagonisten wirken zuweilen auffällig sympathisch und übertreffen mitunter die Ausstrahlung der Hauptfiguren.
Oft konkurrieren Held und Bösewicht um dieselbe Frau; die Liebe des Gegenspielers erscheint dabei tiefer und aufrichtiger als die des Helden. Besonders auffällig ist dies in Berüchtigt (Claude Rains gegenüber Cary Grant) und in Der unsichtbare Dritte (James Mason wiederum gegenüber Cary Grant). Selbst ein ausgesprochen heimtückischer Schurke wie Ray Milland in Bei Anruf Mord wirkt in einzelnen Momenten gegenüber dem unbeholfenen Robert Cummings sympathischer, in jedem Fall jedoch gegenüber der Polizei vertrauenserweckender. Oft sind sie die eigentlichen Hauptfiguren, wie Joseph Cotten als charmanter Witwenmörder in Im Schatten des Zweifels oder Anthony Perkins als linkischer, von seiner Mutter gepeinigter Mörder in Psycho.

Dominante Mütter 
In vielen seiner Filme – ab Mitte der 1940er Jahre regelmäßig – tauchen dominante Mütter auf, die einen beunruhigenden Einfluss auf ihre meist erwachsenen Kinder ausüben und zum Teil Auslöser oder Ursache dramatischer Ereignisse sind. Erstmals uneingeschränkt bösartig erscheint die Mutter in Berüchtigt (1946), die ihren Sohn zum Mord an der Frau, die er liebt, antreibt.
Der extremste Fall tritt in Psycho (1960) zutage, wo die tote Mutter noch von ihrem Sohn Besitz ergreift und ihn zu ihrem mordenden Werkzeug werden lässt. Daneben gibt es eine Vielzahl weniger dämonischer Variationen, wobei Besitzergreifung allen Mutter-Typen gemein ist:
In Die Vögel (1963) erträgt es die Mutter von Mitch (Jessica Tandy) nicht, dass ihr erwachsener Sohn (Rod Taylor) sich für eine andere Frau interessiert. In Marnie (1964) wird das Leben der Tochter durch einen von der Mutter übertragenen Schuldkomplex beinahe zerstört.

In zwei Filmen variiert Hitchcock dieses Rollenmuster: In Rebecca und Sklavin des Herzens übernehmen Haushälterinnen die Funktion der dämonischen Mutter.

Zwielichtige oder leichtgläubige Beamte 
Üblicherweise positiv besetzte Figuren wie Polizisten, Richter oder andere Vertreter des Staates erscheinen oft zwiespältig: Sie sind nicht in der Lage, die Helden zu beschützen, oder stellen sogar eine Bedrohung für diese dar. Polizisten verdrehen das Recht, sie handeln aus persönlichen Motiven, sie glauben dem ersten Anschein und schützen den tatsächlich Schuldigen aufgrund von dessen vordergründig tadellosem Erscheinen, sie sind tollpatschig oder arbeiten schlampig. Dieses Rollenmuster durchzieht Hitchcocks gesamtes Werk, von Der Mieter (1927) bis Frenzy (1972).

Darüber hinaus finden sich vereinzelt Geheimdienstmitarbeiter unter den Nebenfiguren, die sich als Gegner (das Ehepaar Drayton in Der Mann, der zuviel wußte, 1956) oder als Helfer offenbaren, wobei auch letztere Schwierigkeiten bringen können – beispielsweise der „General“ (Peter Lorre) in Geheimagent oder Leo G. Carroll als CIA-Mitarbeiter in Der unsichtbare Dritte. Indem die feste Trennlinie zwischen Gut und Böse verschwimmt, wird das Gefühl der Verunsicherung beim Zuschauer gesteigert.

Formale Elemente

Dramaturgie 

Hitchcocks Credo lautete: „For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake.“ (etwa: „Für mich ist das Kino nicht ein Stück Leben, sondern ein Stück Kuchen.“) Film war für ihn eine artifizielle Kunstform. Nur einmal – in Der falsche Mann – wich er von diesem Grundsatz ab. Aber auch hier liegt der Akzent auf jenen Elementen, die nicht dokumentarisch sind – etwa der subjektiven Perspektive des unschuldig Verdächtigten und seiner hilflosen Frau. Einigen seiner weiteren Filme liegen zwar auch reale Ereignisse zugrunde (Der zerrissene Vorhang, Das Fenster zum Hof, Der Auslandskorrespondent oder Cocktail für eine Leiche), doch werden diese so weit fiktionalisiert, dass außer dem Grundmotiv kein Bezug zu der ursprünglichen Geschichte übrig bleibt.

Eine nicht verwirklichte Idee für Der unsichtbare Dritte, die der Regisseur im Interview mit Truffaut erwähnt, verdeutlicht Hitchcocks Vorstellungen davon, die Realität zu transzendieren: Er wollte zeigen, wie unter den Augen Cary Grants auf einem Fließband ein Auto zusammengebaut wird und anschließend aus dem fertiggestellten Auto eine Leiche fällt – nach realistischen Maßstäben unmöglich. Doch Hitchcocks Begründung für das Verwerfen der Idee zeigt, dass er sich in solchen Fragen nicht an der Wahrscheinlichkeit orientierte: „Wir haben die Idee in der Geschichte nicht richtig unterbringen können, und selbst eine willkürliche Szene kann man nicht ohne Motiv ausführen.“ Den Vorwurf, Gesetze der Plausibilität zu missachten, nahm er bewusst in Kauf: „Wenn man alles analysieren wollte und alles nach Erwägungen der Glaubwürdigkeit und Wahrscheinlichkeit konstruieren, dann würde keine Spielfilmhandlung dieser Analyse standhalten, und es bliebe einem nur noch eines übrig: Dokumentarfilme zu drehen.“ Hitchcock vertraute darauf, dass die Zuschauer unwahrscheinliche Details akzeptieren würden, da er diese nur verwendete, um die Handlung zu dramatisieren, voranzutreiben oder zu straffen.

Für bewusste Irritation sorgte auch Hitchcocks Spiel mit filmtypischen Klischees. So vermied er es insbesondere bei den Nebenrollen, Schauspieler nach festgelegtem Typ zu besetzen. Auch bei der Wahl seiner Spielorte entzog sich Hitchcock den Genre-Gesetzen. So ließ er Verbrechen und bedrohliche Szenen häufig nicht in unheimlichen, dunklen Räumen stattfinden, sondern bei hellem Tageslicht und an scheinbar harmlosen Orten wie einem mit Menschen übersäten Marktplatz (Der Mann, der zuviel wußte [1956] und Der Auslandskorrespondent), in einer menschenleeren Landschaft, auf einer öffentlichen Versteigerung und in einer Hotelhalle (Der unsichtbare Dritte), auf einer idyllischen Bergstraße (Über den Dächern von Nizza), auf einer Party (Berüchtigt und Jung und unschuldig) in einer voll besetzten Konzerthalle (beide Der Mann, der zuviel wußte) oder in einem mit lauter freundlichen Menschen besetzten Eisenbahnzug (Eine Dame verschwindet).

Suspense 

Die klassische, auf das Überraschungsmoment aufbauende Form des Kriminalfilms ist der Whodunit. Bis auf wenige Ausnahmen bediente sich Hitchcock jedoch einer anderen Form des Spannungsaufbaus, des sogenannten Suspense: Dem Zuschauer sind ab einem gewissen Zeitpunkt bestimmte Informationen oder Umstände bekannt, von denen die handelnden Personen nichts wissen. Er fiebert in besonderer Weise mit den Helden, er sieht Ereignisse kommen, möchte den Figuren helfen, kann es aber nicht. In einigen Filmen wird das klassische Suspense dahingehend variiert, dass handelnde Personen die Rolle des Zuschauers übernehmen. Ein Beispiel von vielen: In Das Fenster zum Hof dringt Lisa in die Wohnung des verdächtigen Nachbarn ein, um nach Beweisen für einen möglichen Mord zu suchen. Ihr Partner Jeff beobachtet das Geschehen von der gegenüber liegenden Wohnung aus und sieht dabei den Nachbarn vorzeitig zurückkommen. Er vermutet sie in Lebensgefahr, kann ihr aber nicht helfen.

Für einige markante Szenen baute Hitchcock zudem bewusst eine Suspense-Situation auf, um den Zuschauer mit einem umso gewaltigeren Überraschungseffekt schockieren zu können. Ein berühmtes Beispiel findet sich in Psycho: Zum einen ist Marion Crane mit verschiedenen Insignien einer typischen Hauptfigur eines Hitchcockfilms ausgestattet, so dass kaum jemand erwartet, dass sie bereits in der ersten Hälfte des Films stirbt. Zum anderen schaltet Hitchcock der Duschszene selbst einen Suspense-Moment vor. Norman Bates beobachtet Marion Crane durch ein Loch in der Wand beim Entkleiden. Sie geht unter die Dusche. Der Zuschauer wird nun eben keinen Mord, sondern schlimmstenfalls eine Vergewaltigung durch Norman befürchten. Der bestialische Mord ist somit völlig überraschend und damit ein Grund für die Berühmtheit der Szene.

MacGuffin 

Ein von Hitchcock in seinen Thrillern sehr häufig verwendetes Mittel war der sogenannte MacGuffin: ein Element, das die Handlung vorantreibt oder sogar initiiert, obwohl es für die Entwicklung der Figuren und für den Zuschauer inhaltlich völlig bedeutungslos, geradezu austauschbar ist. Der MacGuffin in Der unsichtbare Dritte sind schlicht „Regierungsgeheimnisse“, über die der Held oder der Zuschauer während der gesamten Handlung nichts Weiteres erfährt. In Psycho benutzt Hitchcock unterschlagenes Geld, das die Sekretärin zur Flucht treibt und so in „Bates Motel“ führt, um das Publikum anfangs gezielt in die Irre zu führen und für einen Kriminalfall zu interessieren, der mit der eigentlichen Handlung nur am Rande zu tun hat. Die mysteriösen „39 Stufen“ im gleichnamigen Film sind eine Geheimorganisation, über die bis kurz vor Ende des Films überhaupt nichts bekannt ist, außer dass sie gefährlich ist. Ein besonders außergewöhnlicher MacGuffin ist die als Volksliedmelodie getarnte Geheimdienstinformation aus Eine Dame verschwindet.

Filmische Mittel 

Beeinflusst vom Stummfilm beruhte Hitchcocks Filmverständnis auf dem Anspruch, alles Wichtige in seinen Filmen visuell und so wenig wie möglich durch Dialoge auszudrücken. Seine typischen Kameraeinstellungen geben im Bild genau das wieder, was für das Verständnis der Szene wesentlich ist – auch um dem Zuschauer nicht die Möglichkeit zu geben, sich durch unwesentliche Details ablenken zu lassen. So wirken beispielsweise Kuss-Szenen bei Hitchcock immer sehr intim, da er gewöhnlich mit der Kamera sehr nahe an die beiden sich Küssenden heranfuhr und den Zuschauer sozusagen zum dritten Umarmenden machte. Zu den berühmtesten Beispielen dieser visuellen Erzählweise zählen die Duschszene aus Psycho, der Flugzeugangriff auf Cary Grant und die Jagd auf Mount Rushmore in Der unsichtbare Dritte, die Versammlung der Vögel auf dem Klettergerüst in Die Vögel oder die zehnminütige Konzertszene in der Royal Albert Hall in Der Mann, der zuviel wußte von 1956.

Hitchcocks visueller Arbeitsstil drückt sich unter anderem in den Expositionen vieler seiner Filme aus. Er bringt den Zuschauern die handelnden Figuren und die Umstände der folgenden Handlung ohne die Verwendung von Dialogen nahe. Die Länge dieser Einführungen variiert zwischen wenigen Sekunden und mehreren Minuten. Erstmals verfolgte Hitchcock diese Technik 1929 in seinem ersten Tonfilm Erpressung.

Zudem tauchen in Hitchcocks Filmen immer wieder ungewöhnliche filmische Operationen auf, um die Stimmung und Spannung bewusst zu verstärken, beispielsweise eine gegenläufige Zoom-Fahrtbewegung in Vertigo (später auch als „Vertigo-Effekt“ bezeichnet), lange Kamerafahrten wie die aus einer Totale eines großen Raums bis in die Naheinstellung eines Schlüssels in einer Hand (in Berüchtigt) oder auf ein zuckendes Auge (in Jung und unschuldig) sowie die aus ungefähr siebzig Einstellungen bestehende fünfundvierzig Sekunden lange Mordszene unter der Dusche in Psycho, unmittelbar gefolgt von einer etwa einminütigen Kamerafahrt ohne einen einzigen Schnitt. Der Production Designer Robert Boyle, mit dem Hitchcock bei fünf Filmen zusammenarbeitete, meinte: „Keiner der Regisseure, mit denen ich je zusammengearbeitet habe, wusste so viel über Film wie er. Viele der Regisseure, mit denen ich gearbeitet habe, wussten eine ganze Menge, aber sie besaßen nicht die technischen Fähigkeiten, die er hatte. Er suchte immer nur den visuellen Ausdruck, und so etwas wie eine zufällige Einstellung gab es bei ihm nicht.“

Nur einmal griff Hitchcock aus Experimentierfreude auf einen filmtechnischen Kniff zurück, der sich nicht unmittelbar aus der Dramaturgie ergab. In Cocktail für eine Leiche (1948) drehte er bis zu zehn Minuten lange Einstellungen, die er zum großen Teil sogar über unsichtbare Schnitte ineinander übergehen ließ. Er wollte damit bei dieser Theaterverfilmung die Einheit von Zeit und Raum dokumentieren. Später gab er zu, dass es ein Fehler war, damit gleichzeitig den Schnitt als wesentliches gestaltendes Instrument der Dramaturgie aus der Hand gegeben zu haben.

Licht und Farben 
Inspiriert von amerikanischen und deutschen Filmemachern, setzte Hitchcock schon bei seinen ersten Filmen Licht- beziehungsweise Schatteneffekte ein. Typisch für Hitchcock sind Linien und Streifen in Form von Schatten (durch Gitter, Jalousien oder Ähnliches verursacht), die vor allem auf Gesichter fallen und eine unheilvolle Atmosphäre verstärken sollen. Darüber hinaus verwendet er in einzelnen Szenen sehr starke, zum Teil unnatürlich wirkende Kontraste, um einen äußeren oder inneren Gut-Böse-Gegensatz zu visualisieren.

Dieses Hell-Dunkel-Spiel unterstützte Hitchcock durch die Kostüme der Figuren. So ließ er Ingrid Bergman am Anfang von Berüchtigt gestreifte Kleidung tragen, um ihre Zerrissenheit zu unterstreichen. In Der Mieter trug Ivor Novello zu Beginn Schwarz, später, um seine Unschuld auch nach außen hin deutlich zu machen, Weiß. Die Methode, durch die Farbgebung der Kostüme den emotionalen Zustand der Figuren zu unterstreichen, behielt Hitchcock auch für die Farbfilme bei. In Bei Anruf Mord wurden die Kostüme von Grace Kelly mit der Dauer des Films immer trister und grauer, entsprechend ihrer inneren Gemütsverfassung.
Zu Hitchcocks Farbwahl von Grace Kellys Kleidern in Das Fenster zum Hof sagte die Kostümbildnerin Edith Head: „Für jede Farbe und jeden Stil gab es einen Grund; er war sich seiner ganzen Entscheidung absolut sicher. In einer Szene sah er sie in blassem Grün, in einer anderen in weißem Chiffon, in einer weiteren in Gold. Er stellte im Studio tatsächlich einen Traum zusammen.“ In seinen späteren Filmen, allen voran Marnie und Vertigo, gab es eine ausgefeilte, die Kostüme, die Dekors und die Beleuchtung umfassende Farbdramaturgie.

Tricktechnik 
Nach Hitchcocks Filmverständnis schafft sich der Film seine eigene Realität und soll oder darf kein Abbild des wahren Lebens sein. Die Nutzung sämtlicher Möglichkeiten, genau das wiederzugeben, was der Regisseur sich vorstellt, ist nach diesem Verständnis nicht nur legitim, sondern erforderlich. Hitchcock hat die Entwicklung der Tricktechnik aufmerksam beobachtet und schon sehr früh – gelegentlich zum Missfallen seiner Produzenten – neue Trickverfahren eingesetzt, zum Beispiel das Schüfftan-Verfahren (in Erpressung) oder das Matte Painting. In seinen englischen Thrillern, vor allem in Nummer siebzehn und Jung und unschuldig, arbeitete Hitchcock bei Verfolgungsjagden oft und erkennbar mit Modellen. In Eine Dame verschwindet sind die Rückprojektionen während der Zugfahrt aber bereits so ausgereift, dass sie noch Jahrzehnte später überzeugen. Ähnliches gilt für die Schlussszene von Der Fremde im Zug, in der zwei Männer auf einem sich immer schneller drehenden Karussell kämpfen – in einer virtuosen Kombination von Realeinstellungen, Modellen und Rückprojektionen. Die Vögel (1963) beinhaltet rund vierhundert Trickeinstellungen, für die Hitchcock auf sämtliche damals verfügbaren Tricktechniken zurückgriff, unter anderem auch auf das ansonsten für Animationsfilme verwendete Rotoskopieverfahren.

Ton und Musik 
Hitchcock hat seit dem Aufkommen des Tonfilms Musik und Toneffekte eingesetzt, um die Dramaturgie bewusst zu unterstützen. Den Umgang Hitchcocks mit dem Medium Ton beschrieb die Schauspielerin Teresa Wright (Im Schatten des Zweifels) folgendermaßen: „Wenn ein Schauspieler mit den Fingern trommelte, war das nicht ein zweckloses Trommeln, es hatte einen Rhythmus, ein musikalisches Muster – es war wie ein Geräusch-Refrain. Ob jemand nun ging oder mit Papier raschelte oder einen Umschlag zerriss oder vor sich hin pfiff, ob das Flattern von Vögeln oder ein Geräusch von draußen war, alles wurde sorgfältig von ihm orchestriert. Er komponierte die Toneffekte wie ein Musiker Instrumentenstimmen.“ Gegenüber Truffaut erwähnte Hitchcock, dass er nach dem Endschnitt eines Films seiner Sekretärin ein „Tondrehbuch“ diktiert, das alle von ihm gewünschten Geräusche enthält.

In Mord – Sir John greift ein! (1930) versteckte Hitchcock, da ein nachträgliches Bearbeiten der Tonspur zu diesem Zeitpunkt technisch noch nicht möglich war, gar ein komplettes Orchester hinter den Kulissen, um die entsprechenden Stellen musikalisch zu untermalen. Weitere klassische Beispiele für Hitchcocks dramaturgischen Musikeinsatz sind Geheimagent (1936, der Dauerakkord des toten Organisten in der Kirche), Eine Dame verschwindet (1938, die Melodie mit dem Geheimcode und der „Volkstanz“), Im Schatten des Zweifels (1943, der „Merry-Widow“-Walzer), Der Fremde im Zug (1951, die Szenen auf dem Rummelplatz) und Das Fenster zum Hof (1954, die im Laufe des Films entstehende Komposition des Klavierspielers). In Der Mann, der zuviel wußte (1956) schließlich wird Musik, sowohl orchestral wie auch gesungen, aktiv inszeniert und dramaturgisch eingebunden: Sie spielt eine wesentliche Rolle in der Gesamtdramaturgie des Films.

Die Musik der Filme aus den späten 1950er und frühen 1960er Jahren, der Zeit als Hitchcock mit dem Komponisten Bernard Herrmann zusammenarbeitete, ist tragendes Element der jeweiligen Filme. Kritiker bescheinigen der Musik der Filme Vertigo, Der unsichtbare Dritte und Psycho sowie den Toneffekten von Oskar Sala zu Die Vögel, wesentlich zum jeweiligen Gesamteindruck des Films beizutragen.

Prägende Einflüsse

Vorbilder 
Hitchcock war beeindruckt von den Filmen, die er in seiner Jugend und in seinen frühen Jahren im Filmgeschäft sah, etwa jenen von D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton und Douglas Fairbanks senior. Als Stummfilmregisseur in England übernahm er vom US-Film unter anderem die Technik, mit Hilfe von Beleuchtungseffekten Tiefe zu schaffen und den Vorder- vom Hintergrund abzusetzen, was bis in die 1930er Jahre im britischen Film unüblich war. Angetan war er auch von den deutschen Stummfilmregisseuren wie Fritz Lang und Ernst Lubitsch. F. W. Murnaus Der letzte Mann, dessen Dreharbeiten Hitchcock 1922 in München beobachtete, bezeichnete er später als den fast perfekten Film: „Er erzählte seine Geschichte ohne Titel; von Anfang bis Ende vertraute er ganz auf seine Bilder. Das hatte damals einen ungeheueren Einfluss auf meine Arbeit.“ Einfluss auf Hitchcocks Arbeit hatte auch Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari, den Robert Wiene 1919 drehte. Die Betonung des Visuellen im deutschen Expressionismus prägte seinen eigenen Umgang mit filmischen Mitteln.

Abgesehen von diesen stilistischen Einflüssen vermied es Hitchcock jedoch, Szenen oder Einstellungen bekannter Filme zu zitieren. Als Ausnahme kann Panzerkreuzer Potemkin (1925) des sowjetischen Regisseurs Eisenstein angesehen werden. In Die 39 Stufen, Über den Dächern von Nizza und einigen weiteren Filmen erinnern die vor Entsetzen schreienden Frauen an Einstellungen aus der berühmten und oft zitierten Szene an der Hafentreppe in Odessa.

Es gibt außerdem in Hitchcocks Werk aus den 1940er und 1950er Jahren einige motivische und visuelle Überschneidungen mit der Gattung des Film noir, die den amerikanischen Kriminalfilm in jener Zeit bestimmte, etwa in Im Schatten des Zweifels und Berüchtigt, und besonders in Der falsche Mann, wo das Motiv der allgegenwärtigen Bedrohung der Hauptfiguren eine Rolle spielt. Darüber hinaus bediente er sich gerne einer ähnlich kontrastreichen Bildgestaltung, die er sich in den Grundzügen allerdings bereits in den 1920er Jahren angeeignet hatte. Auch Vertigo erinnert in der Grundkonstellation und der alptraumhaften Zwanghaftigkeit der Geschehnisse an einige Filme des Genres, wie zum Beispiel Frau ohne Gewissen, hebt sich jedoch formal und stilistisch deutlich vom Film noir ab.
Als typischer Vertreter des Genres kann Hitchcock jedenfalls nicht angesehen werden.

Obsessionen und Vorwürfe wegen sexueller Belästigung 

Seine Vorliebe für Blondinen erklärte Hitchcock gegenüber Truffaut wie folgt: „Ich finde, die englischen Frauen, die Schwedinnen, die Norddeutschen und die Skandinavierinnen sind interessanter als die romanischen, die Italienerinnen und die Französinnen. Der Sex darf nicht gleich ins Auge stechen. Eine junge Engländerin mag daherkommen wie eine Lehrerin, aber wenn Sie mit ihr in ein Taxi steigen, überrascht sie Sie damit, dass sie Ihnen in den Hosenschlitz greift.“ Ähnlich äußerte er sich 1969 gegenüber Look über die Truffaut-Schauspielerin Claude Jade, die bei ihm in Topaz gespielt hatte: „Claude Jade ist eine eher ruhige junge Dame, doch für ihr Benehmen auf dem Rücksitz eines Taxis würde ich keine Garantie übernehmen“.

Dass Hitchcock zu seinen jungen blonden Schauspielerinnen ein besonderes Verhältnis hatte und ihnen mehr Aufmerksamkeit widmete als allen anderen, war schon früh bekannt. Die Sorgfalt, mit der Hitchcock bereits in den 1930er und 1940er Jahren Madeleine Carroll, Carole Lombard und insbesondere Ingrid Bergman in Szene setzte, entwickelte sich mit der Zeit zu einer sich steigernden Verquickung privater und beruflicher Interessen, die sich zu einer Obsession ausweitete. Mit Vera Miles probte er die Nervenzusammenbrüche, welche sie in Der falsche Mann darstellen sollte, wochenlang jeweils mehrere Stunden täglich. Für sie wie für Kim Novak ließ er von der Kostümbildnerin eine komplette Garderobe schneidern, die für ihr privates Leben gedacht war. Tippi Hedren (Die Vögel) behauptete, er habe sie sogar von zwei Crew-Mitgliedern beschatten lassen und begonnen, ihr Vorschriften für ihr Verhalten im Privatleben zu machen. Hedren warf in ihrer Biografie 2016 Hitchcock vor, sie mehrfach sexuell belästigt zu haben, und bezeichnete ihn als pervers. Er habe sie für sich völlig vereinnahmen wollen, sich auf sie geworfen und begrapscht. Weiter drohte er ihr ihre Karriere zu ruinieren, wenn sie nicht kooperieren würde. Diese Vereinnahmung hatte ihren Höhepunkt in sich über Tage hinziehenden Aufnahmen von auf sie einstürzenden, echten Vögeln. Nach einem eindeutigen, erfolglosen Annäherungsversuch während der Arbeiten zu Marnie kam es schließlich zum Bruch. Die zuvor offen bekundete Zuneigung schlug ins Gegenteil um, und Hitchcock ließ keine Gelegenheit aus, Tippi Hedren bei anderen herabzusetzen. Sie blieb die letzte typische „Hitchcock-Blondine“. Zwar hielt sich Hitchcock darüber stets äußerst bedeckt, doch es gilt als gesichert, dass der Regisseur sich von diesen Schwierigkeiten lange nicht erholen konnte und in seiner kreativen Schaffenskraft beeinträchtigt war. Ebenso gelten Filme wie Vertigo und Berüchtigt, aber auch Marnie oder Im Schatten des Zweifels, die von neurotischen Männern handeln, die Frauen manipulieren, als stark autobiographisch.

Auch die Verbindung zwischen Sex und Gewalt faszinierte Hitchcock, was vor allem in seinen späteren Werken immer deutlicher zutage tritt. Mehrfach inszenierte er vollendete oder versuchte Vergewaltigungen (schon früh in Erpressung, später dann in Marnie und Frenzy). In drei nicht realisierten Projekten sollten Vergewaltiger oder Vergewaltigungen eine zentrale Rolle spielen. Morde inszenierte er einige Male als Vergewaltigungen, mit dem Messer als Phallus-Symbol. Doch auch der Tod durch Erwürgen oder Strangulieren übte eine gewisse Faszination auf ihn aus. Einige Würgeszenen gehören zu den bemerkenswertesten Mordszenen seiner Karriere, etwa in Cocktail für eine Leiche, Bei Anruf Mord, Der zerrissene Vorhang und Frenzy. Sich selbst ließ er oft in „Würgerposen“ ablichten.

Ähnlich offen kokettierte Hitchcock zeit seines Lebens mit seiner panischen Angst vor der Polizei. Hitchcock erzählte gerne, dass er mit fünf Jahren, nachdem er etwas angestellt hatte, von seinem Vater mit einem Zettel auf das nahegelegene Polizeirevier geschickt worden sei. Der Polizist las den Zettel und sperrte Alfred für fünf oder zehn Minuten in eine Zelle mit dem Kommentar, dies würde die Polizei mit ungezogenen Jungen so machen. In seinen Filmen geht von Polizisten stets eine latente Gefahr aus.

Zu der Frage, inwieweit das von Hitchcock in seinen Filmen transportierte Bild der besitzergreifenden Mutter von der eigenen Mutter geprägt ist, gab es von ihm selbst keinerlei Aussagen. Das wenige, was man aus seiner Kindheit weiß, legt jedoch autobiographische Ursprünge nahe. Hitchcocks Mutter starb nach langer Krankheit im August 1942 während der Dreharbeiten zu Im Schatten des Zweifels. Dieser bereits von vornherein stark autobiographisch geprägte Film nimmt eindeutig Bezug auf Hitchcocks Verhältnis zu ihr: Der Name Emma scheint nicht die einzige Gemeinsamkeit zwischen ihr und der dominanten Mutterfigur im Film zu sein. Zudem ist im Film noch von einer anderen gebieterischen, jedoch kranken Mutter die Rede – jener des Krimi-Besessenen Herb Hawkins, der wiederum als Selbstprojektion Hitchcocks gilt.

Auffallend oft sind Toiletten in Hitchcocks Filmen zu sehen oder zu hören, in denen konspirative Dinge irgendwelcher Art stattfinden. Laut seinem Biographen Donald Spoto hatte er eine „pubertäre Fixierung“, die in seiner viktorianischen Erziehung begründet lag. Hitchcock äußerte sich zwar oft und gerne über menschliche Körperfunktionen, wollte aber den Eindruck erwecken, er selbst habe mit solchen Dingen nichts zu tun. Bezugnehmend auf seine Körperfülle, deutete Hitchcock hingegen mehrfach an, dass für ihn Essen eine Art Ersatzbefriedigung sei. So gibt es in einigen Hitchcockfilmen eine symbolische Verbindung von Essen, Sex und Tod.

Zensur 
In den USA galt zwischen 1934 und 1967 der Hays Code, auch Production Code genannt, eine Sammlung von Richtlinien über die Einhaltung der gängigen Moralvorstellungen und über die Zulässigkeit der Darstellung von Kriminalität, Gewalt und Sexualität im Film.

So musste Hitchcock zum Beispiel das geplante Ende für Verdacht fallen lassen, weil es Anfang der 1940er Jahre nicht möglich war, den Selbstmord einer schwangeren Frau zu zeigen. Noch bis kurz vor Schluss der Dreharbeiten hatte er kein passendes Ende für den Film gefunden. In Berüchtigt musste Hitchcock einen Dialog streichen, in dem sich ein Vertreter der US-Regierung positiv über die Möglichkeit einer Ehescheidung äußerte. Bei Saboteure drehte er politisch heikle Textstellen zur Sicherheit alternativ in entschärften Versionen.

Doch in vielen Fällen gelang es ihm, die Beschränkungen durch die Zensur kreativ zu umgehen. So war es damals unter anderem nicht erlaubt, eine Toilette zu zeigen. Daher verzerrte Hitchcock in Mr. und Mrs. Smith die eindeutigen Geräusche einer Toilette so, dass man sie für eine Dampfheizung halten konnte. In Psycho zeigte er eine Toilette, in der ein Papierzettel hinuntergespült wurde. Indem er das Bild der Toilette mit einer dramaturgischen Funktion versah – das Verschwinden eines Beweisstücks musste erklärt werden – verhinderte er, dass die Szene geschnitten wurde. Niemals wurde eine Toilette zu Zeiten des Hays Code expliziter gezeigt.

Da auch die Länge von Küssen im Film damals auf drei Sekunden begrenzt war, inszenierte Hitchcock den Kuss zwischen Ingrid Bergman und Cary Grant in Berüchtigt als Folge von einzelnen, durch kurze Dialogsätze unterbrochenen Küssen. Hitchcocks größter Sieg gegen die Zensur war die Schlussszene von Der unsichtbare Dritte: Cary Grant und Eva Marie Saint befinden sich in einem Schlafwagen. Er zieht sie zu sich nach oben in das obere Bett, und sie küssen sich. Es erfolgt ein Umschnitt, und man sieht einen Zug in einen Tunnel rasen – eine der explizitesten Andeutungen des Sexualakts in einem US-Film zu Zeiten des Production Code.

Arbeitsweise 
Einer der wichtigsten Aspekte der Arbeitsweise Alfred Hitchcocks war, dass er im Idealfall von der Stoffauswahl bis zum Endschnitt nichts dem Zufall überließ, sondern die völlige Kontrolle über die Herstellung des Films beanspruchte.

Wenn Hitchcock existierende Vorlagen benutzte, etwa Romane oder Bühnenstücke, übernahm er nur einzelne Grundmotive der Handlung und entwickelte daraus zusammen mit dem jeweiligen Drehbuchautor oft eine völlig neue Geschichte. Hochwertige, komplexe Literatur sperrte sich gegen diesen Umgang und Hitchcock scheute daher deren Verfilmung – auch aus Respekt vor dem Werk.
Hitchcock war meist an der Drehbucherstellung beteiligt, wurde aber nach 1932 bei keinem seiner Filme offiziell als Autor in Vor- oder Abspann erwähnt: „Ich will nie einen Titel als Produzent oder Autor. Ich habe das Design des Films geschrieben. Mit anderen Worten, ich setze mich mit dem Autor zusammen und entwerfe den ganzen Film vom Anfang bis zum Ende.“ Der Autor Samuel A. Taylor: „Mit ihm zu arbeiten, bedeutete auch mit ihm zu schreiben, was auf die wenigsten Regisseure zutrifft. Hitchcock behauptete nie, selbst ein Schriftsteller zu sein, aber in Wahrheit schrieb er doch seine eigenen Drehbücher, denn er sah bereits jede Szene deutlich in seinem Kopf vor sich und hatte eine sehr genaue Vorstellung davon, wie sie ablaufen sollte. Ich merkte, dass ich nur noch die Figuren persönlicher und menschlicher zu gestalten brauchte und sie weiter entwickeln musste.“ Gelegentlich veränderte Hitchcock im Nachhinein noch die Dialoge ganzer Szenen, etwa um die Spannungs-Dramaturgie zu verbessern (Beispiel: Das Rettungsboot) oder um autobiographische Bezüge einzubauen (Beispiel: Ich beichte).
Auch wenn ihm geschliffene Dialoge wichtig waren, legte Hitchcock sein Hauptaugenmerk stets auf die Ausdruckskraft der Bilder. So wurde im Idealfall jede einzelne Einstellung des Films vor Drehbeginn in Storyboards festgelegt.

Seit Beginn seiner Regisseurtätigkeit verfolgte er das Ziel, jegliche Improvisation so weit es geht zu vermeiden. Gegenüber Truffaut erklärte er: „Ich habe Angst davor gehabt, im Atelier zu improvisieren, weil, selbst wenn man im Augenblick Ideen hat, bestimmt keine Zeit bleibt nachzuprüfen, was sie taugen. [… Andere Regisseure] lassen ein ganzes Team warten und setzen sich hin, um zu überlegen. Nein, das könnte ich nicht.“

Nach eigenen Aussagen bereitete Hitchcock die Planung eines Projekts mehr Freude als die eigentlichen Dreharbeiten: Durch zu viele Einflüsse – Produzenten, Technik, Schauspieler, Zeitdruck – sah er die angestrebte Kontrolle über sein Werk bedroht. Außerdem sah er im Idealfall die kreative Arbeit am Film mit Beginn der Dreharbeiten als abgeschlossen an: „Ich drehe einen vorgeschnittenen Film. Mit anderen Worten, jedes Stück Film ist entworfen, um eine Funktion zu erfüllen.“

Diese Grundsätze waren jedoch eher eine Idealvorstellung Hitchcocks. Tatsächlich wurde es ihm spätestens ab 1948 zur Gewohnheit, beim Drehen Alternativen auszuprobieren. Doch auch hier bemühte er sich um möglichst exakte Vorausplanung: Ein Beispiel hierfür ist die Belagerung des Hauses durch die Vögel in Die Vögel. Gegenüber Truffaut beschrieb Hitchcock, wie er die ursprünglich geplante Szene noch unmittelbar am Drehort umschrieb und bis ins kleinste Detail skizzierte, so dass sie kurz darauf entsprechend diesen neuen Entwürfen gedreht werden konnte. Darüber hinaus wurde Hitchcock im Laufe seiner Karriere immer freier, auch kurzfristig vom festgelegten Drehbuch abzuweichen. Entgegen seinen Gewohnheiten ließ er sogar Improvisationen der Schauspieler zu, wenn auch nur bei eher unwichtigen Szenen.
Bill Krohn ging 1999 in Hitchcock at Work ausführlich auf Hitchcocks Arbeitsweise ein. Er rekonstruierte auf Basis von Originalunterlagen wie Drehbuchversionen, Skripte, Storyboards, Memos, Produktionsnotizen etc. und mit Hilfe von Beteiligten die Produktionsgeschichte diverser Filme (darunter Hitchcocks berühmteste) und widerlegt Hitchcocks Bekenntnis zum „vorgeschnittenen Films“: So kam es bei vielen Filmen vor, dass Hitchcock entscheidende Schlüsselszenen in verschiedenen Varianten drehte und meist erst im Schneideraum über die endgültige Form einzelner Szenen entschied.

Mitarbeiter 
Im Laufe der Jahre entwickelte sich mit verschiedenen Autoren eine besonders kreative Zusammenarbeit. Hervorzuheben sind Eliot Stannard, Angus MacPhail, Charles Bennett, Ben Hecht und John Michael Hayes.
Obwohl Samuel A. Taylor (Vertigo) und auch Ernest Lehman (Der unsichtbare Dritte) nur je zwei Drehbücher zu tatsächlich realisierten Filmen schrieben, gehörten sie zu den wenigen Mitarbeitern, die mit ihm in den letzten Jahren seiner Karriere regelmäßig zusammenarbeiteten und bis kurz vor seinem Tod Kontakt hatten.
Doch auch mit namhaften Theater- oder Romanautoren arbeitete Hitchcock mehrfach bei der Drehbucherstellung zusammen, reibungslos mit Thornton Wilder und George Tabori, konfliktbeladen mit John Steinbeck, Raymond Chandler und Leon Uris.
Der Kult, den Hitchcock gern um seine Person betrieb, und sein manchmal diktatorischer Stil, führte auch zu Konflikten mit befreundeten Autoren. John Michael Hayes, der im Streit von Hitchcock schied: „Ich tat für ihn, was jeder andere Autor für ihn tat – ich schrieb! Wenn man aber Hitchcocks Interviews liest, kann man den Eindruck bekommen, er habe das Drehbuch geschrieben, die Charaktere entwickelt, die Motivation beigesteuert.“
Wenn Hitchcock mit der Arbeit eines Autors nicht zufrieden war, oder wenn er seine Autorität angegriffen fühlte, dann ersetzte er Autoren kurzerhand durch andere.

Cary Grant und James Stewart wurden innerhalb der jeweils vier Filme, die sie für Hitchcock drehten, zu Hitchcocks Alter Ego. Grant wurde zu dem, „was Hitchcock gerne gewesen wäre“, wie es Hitchcocks Biograph Donald Spoto formulierte, während Stewart vieles wäre, „von dem Hitchcock dachte, er sei es selbst“. Mit einigen seiner Schauspieler verband Hitchcock zudem eine langjährige persönliche Freundschaft, allen voran mit Grace Kelly. Darüber hinaus sind die als neurotisch zu bezeichnenden Beziehungen zu seinen blonden Hauptdarstellerinnen – insbesondere mit Tippi Hedren – bekannt.
Am Anfang von Hitchcocks Karriere galt Film in England als Unterhaltung für die Unterschicht. Aus dieser Zeit stammt Hitchcocks oft zitierter Ausspruch „Alle Schauspieler sind Vieh“, der sich auf diejenigen Theaterschauspieler bezog, die nur mit Widerwillen und des Geldes wegen nebenher als Filmschauspieler arbeiteten. Die Aussage verselbständigte sich später und wurde oft als genereller Ausdruck der Geringschätzung Hitchcocks Schauspielern gegenüber angesehen. Tatsächlich hatte er auch später oft Probleme mit Schauspielern, die eigene Vorstellungen durchsetzen wollten, anstatt sich in die vorgefertigte Planung des Regisseurs einzufügen. Anhänger des Method Actings wie Montgomery Clift und Paul Newman waren Hitchcock daher genauso lästig wie Exzentriker oder Egomanen. Große Achtung hatte Hitchcock hingegen vor Schauspielern, die sein Filmverständnis teilten oder sich zumindest seiner Arbeitsweise anpassten, und gewährte etwa Joseph Cotten und Marlene Dietrich große künstlerische Freiheiten. Oft waren es jedoch die Produzenten, die über die Besetzung der Hauptrollen entschieden. Umso mehr nutzte Hitchcock seine größere Freiheit bei den zu besetzenden Nebenrollen, wobei er gerne auf Theaterschauspieler zurückgriff, die er noch aus seiner Zeit in London in bester Erinnerung hatte, zum Beispiel Leo G. Carroll in insgesamt sechs Filmen oder Cedric Hardwicke in Verdacht und Cocktail für eine Leiche.

Die bekannte Kostümbildnerin Edith Head, mit der er ab Das Fenster zum Hof bei fast allen Filmen zusammenarbeitete, meinte: „Loyalität war Hitchcock besonders wichtig. Er war Mitarbeitern gegenüber so loyal, wie er es von ihnen erwartete.“

Bei fünf Filmen war Robert F. Boyle für das Production Design verantwortlich; er gehörte bis zu Hitchcocks Tod zu dessen engsten Mitarbeitern. Außerdem griff er im Laufe seiner Karriere gern auf Albert Whitlock als Szenenbildner zurück. Äußerst zufrieden war Hitchcock, dem die Ausdruckskraft der Bilder stets wichtig war, auch mit dem Art Director Henry Bumstead. Der Titeldesigner Saul Bass entwarf nicht nur einige Filmtitel für die Vorspanne sowie Plakate, sondern war bereits bei den Arbeiten an vielen Storyboards maßgeblich beteiligt.

Wichtigster Kameramann in seinen frühen Jahren bei den British International Pictures war John J. Cox. Über Hitchcock sagte Kameramann Robert Burks, der mit Ausnahme von Psycho an allen Filmen zwischen 1951 und 1964 beteiligt war: „Man hatte nie Ärger mit ihm, solange man etwas von seiner Arbeit verstand und sie ausführte. Hitchcock bestand auf Perfektion.“ Mit Leonard J. South, ehemaliger Assistent Burks’, arbeitete Hitchcock über einen Zeitraum von insgesamt 35 Jahren zusammen.

Von den Komponisten der Filmmusiken ist Louis Levy hervorzuheben, der die Soundtracks für die frühen englischen Filme von Der Mann, der zuviel wußte bis Eine Dame verschwindet beisteuerte. Als der Hitchcock-Komponist schlechthin gilt Bernard Herrmann, der ab Immer Ärger mit Harry bis einschließlich Marnie (1964) alle Filmmusiken für Hitchcock komponierte.

Der Filmeditor George Tomasini war bis zu seinem Tod 1964 ein Jahrzehnt lang enger Mitarbeiter Hitchcocks. Zu Beginn seiner Karriere wirkte seine Frau Alma als Editorin bei seinen Filmen mit; sie blieb bis zuletzt eine der einflussreichsten Mitarbeiterinnen.

Selbstvermarktung 

Schon zu Beginn seiner Karriere war Hitchcock die Bedeutung der Vermarktung der eigenen Person bewusst: Viele seiner späteren Tätigkeiten sind Teil einer Strategie, sich und seinen Namen als Marke zu etablieren. Bereits 1927 führte Hitchcock ein stilisiertes Selbstporträt als Logo, das bis heute bekannt ist. Anfang der 1930er Jahre, als er mit dem Erfolg seiner Filme in England populär wurde, gründete er mit der Hitchcock Baker Productions Ltd. eine Gesellschaft, die bis zu seiner Übersiedlung nach Amerika ausschließlich dafür zuständig war, für ihn und mit seiner Person Öffentlichkeitsarbeit zu betreiben. Anschließend wurden diese Aufgaben von der Künstleragentur Selznick-Joyce, danach von der Music Corporation of America (MCA) wahrgenommen, wobei der Präsident der MCA, Lew Wasserman, zu seinem persönlichen Agenten wurde. 1962 wurde unter Herman Citron eine neue Gesellschaft gegründet, die Hitchcocks Interessen vertrat und seinen Namen vermarktete. Diese Selbstvermarktung diente auch dazu, eine Machtposition im Produktionsprozess seiner Filme zu erlangen, und war somit Teil seines Kampfes um künstlerische Unabhängigkeit.

Cameos 
Aus Mangel an Statisten in seinen ersten britischen Filmen sah man Hitchcock immer wieder im Hintergrund auftauchen. Daraus entwickelte er eines seiner bekanntesten Markenzeichen: Hitchcocks obligatorischer Cameo. Da das Publikum mit der Zeit immer weniger auf die Handlung achtete, als vielmehr auf Hitchcock lauerte, legte er in späteren Filmen diesen Running Gag möglichst weit an den Filmanfang.

In drei Filmen hatte Hitchcock keinen eigentlichen Cameo. In zwei von diesen Filmen trat er auf Fotos in Erscheinung: Das Rettungsboot spielt ausschließlich in einem kleinen Rettungsboot auf dem Meer. Er ist daher in einer zufällig im Boot liegenden Zeitung in einer Werbeanzeige für eine Diät auf einem „Vorher-Nachher-Foto“ zu sehen. Auch in Bei Anruf Mord war kein Auftritt möglich. Stattdessen taucht Hitchcock auf einem an der Wand hängenden Foto einer Wiedersehensfeier von College-Absolventen auf. In Der falsche Mann schließlich tritt er am Anfang des Films persönlich auf und spricht den Prolog. Dies ist gleichzeitig seine einzige Sprechrolle in einem seiner Kinofilme.

Alle bekannten Hitchcock-Cameos (chronologisch)

Trailer 
Während von den Filmgesellschaften üblicherweise für die Vermarktung eigene Abteilungen oder externe Agenturen beauftragt werden, trugen bei Hitchcocks Filmen die Werbekampagnen deutlich die Handschrift des Regisseurs. Seine Kino-Trailer waren häufig nicht nur Zusammenschnitte des angekündigten Films: Mit steigendem Wiedererkennungswert seiner Person stellte Hitchcock in der Rolle eines „Master of Ceremony“ seine eigenen Filme vor und führte den Zuschauer humorvoll durch die Kulissen. Oftmals sprach er auch die deutschsprachigen Trailer selbst ein.

Fernsehen 
Auf den Rat seines Agenten Lew Wasserman hin stieg Hitchcock 1955 in das Fernsehgeschäft ein. Hitchcock gründete die Fernsehproduktionsfirma Shamley Productions und produzierte bis 1965 seine eigene wöchentliche Fernsehserie. Am Anfang vieler Folgen begrüßte Hitchcock das Publikum, indem er mit ungerührter Miene makabre Ansagetexte sprach. Die Moderationen, die ihn zu einer nationalen Berühmtheit machten, wurden von dem Bühnenautor James D. Allardice verfasst, der fortan bis zu seinem Tod 1966 für Hitchcock auch als Redenschreiber arbeitete. Als Titelmusik für die Serie Alfred Hitchcock Presents verwendete Hitchcock das Hauptthema von Charles Gounods Marche funèbre d’une marionette (Trauermarsch einer Marionette), das sich im Weiteren zu einer Erkennungsmelodie für Hitchcocks Öffentlichkeitsarbeit entwickelte.

Bücher und Zeitschriften 
1956 schloss Hitchcock einen Lizenzvertrag mit HSD Publications ab, der die Überlassung seines Namens für das Krimi-Magazin Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine zum Inhalt hatte. Die Zeitschrift enthält Mystery- und Kriminalgeschichten, Buchrezensionen und Rätsel und erscheint noch heute. Einführungen und Vorworte, die mit seinem Namen unterschrieben waren, wurden stets von Ghostwritern verfasst.

Von 1964 bis 1987 erschien in den USA die Jugend-Krimi-Reihe „The Three Investigators“, auf Deutsch seit 1968 Die drei ???. Der Journalist und Autor Robert Arthur kannte Alfred Hitchcock persönlich und bat ihn, seinen Namen zur Vermarktung dieser geplanten Buchreihe verwenden zu dürfen. Schließlich baute er die Figur „Alfred Hitchcock“ in die Handlung ein. Anders als in Europa hielt sich der Erfolg der Bücher in den USA in Grenzen. In Deutschland, wo die Bücher besonders populär waren, entstand die gleichnamige Hörspielreihe. Durch diese bis heute erfolgreichste Hörspielproduktion der Welt wurde der Name Hitchcock auch bei vielen bekannt, die mit seinem filmischen Schaffen nicht vertraut waren.

Wirkung 
Viele Elemente aus seinem Werk sind inzwischen in das Standardrepertoire des Kinos eingegangen, ohne dass sie noch bewusst oder direkt mit Hitchcock in Verbindung gebracht werden, insbesondere der Einsatz von Suspense als spannungserzeugendem Mittel oder die Verwendung von MacGuffins als handlungsvorantreibendes Element. Darüber hinaus gibt es seit den 1940er Jahren unzählige Beispiele für Thriller oder Dramen, teils von sehr namhaften Regisseuren, in denen typische Motive Hitchcocks oder seine Stilelemente bewusst kopiert oder variiert werden. Manche dieser Filme sind als Hommage des jeweiligen Regisseurs an Hitchcock zu verstehen, in anderen Fällen wurde Hitchcocks Stil übernommen, da er sich als erfolgreich und wirksam erwiesen hat.

USA 
Insbesondere Hitchcocks Erfolgsfilme aus den 1950er bis Anfang der 1960er Jahre inspirierten in den Folgejahren Hollywood-Produktionen, die inhaltlich oder stilistisch oft mit Hitchcock in Verbindung gebracht werden.

Zu den vielen Hollywood-Regisseuren, die Alfred Hitchcock mehr oder weniger direkt beeinflusste, zählt Brian De Palma, der mit vielen Verweisen und Zitaten auf Hitchcocks Werk arbeitet. Überdies übernahm er in einigen Filmen Grundstrukturen aus dessen Filmen. So entwickelt er in Dressed to Kill (1980) das Grundmotiv aus Psycho weiter und zitiert aus weiteren Hitchcock-Filmen. 1976 lehnte sich Schwarzer Engel stark an Vertigo an. 1984 spielt de Palma in Der Tod kommt zweimal mit eindeutigen Bezügen auf Das Fenster zum Hof und Vertigo.

Auch wenn Steven Spielberg selten direkt stilistische Motive kopiert oder adaptiert und nur wenige seiner Filme thematische Parallelen aufzeigen, erinnert Der weiße Hai (1975) in Spannungsaufbau und Dramaturgie an Die Vögel und ist die Indiana-Jones-Filmreihe (1981–1989) stark von Der unsichtbare Dritte (1959) beeinflusst. Auch ein Film wie Schindlers Liste (1993) wäre in dieser Form ohne den Einfluss Hitchcocks nicht möglich gewesen. Der von Hitchcocks Kameramann Irmin Roberts entwickelte Vertigo-Effekt wird bisweilen auch als „Jaws Effect“ bezeichnet, da Spielberg diese relativ schwierig umzusetzende Kameraeinstellung im Weißen Hai (Originaltitel: Jaws) als einer der ersten prominenten Regisseure 16 Jahre nach Vertigo einsetzte. Inzwischen gehört dieser emotional sehr wirkungsvolle Kameratrick zum Standardrepertoire des Hollywood-Kinos.

Weitere amerikanische Regisseure, die erkennbar von Hitchcock beeinflusst wurden oder sich auf dessen Werk berufen, sind John Carpenter, David Fincher, David Mamet, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, David Lynch und M. Night Shyamalan.

Frankreich 
Bereits seit Mitte der 1950er Jahre war Hitchcock insbesondere in Frankreich bei den Vertretern der Nouvelle Vague hoch angesehen. 1957 veröffentlichten die damaligen Filmkritiker und späteren Regisseure Éric Rohmer und Claude Chabrol das erste Buch über ihn. 1956 erschien ein Sonderheft der Cahiers du cinéma, das maßgeblich zu Hitchcocks Popularität in Frankreich beitrug. Als er im Mai 1960 zu einem Filmfestival reiste, das die Cinémathèque française ihm zu Ehren in Paris abhielt, wurde er von Dutzenden jungen Filmemachern frenetisch gefeiert. Die internationale Ausgabe der Herald Tribune schrieb, dass Hitchcock in dieser Woche „das Idol der französischen Avantgarde geworden“ sei.

Im August 1962 gab Hitchcock dem damals dreißigjährigen französischen Filmkritiker und Regisseur François Truffaut ein fünfzigstündiges Interview. Truffaut befragte Hitchcock chronologisch zu dessen bisherigen achtundvierzig Filmen. Das Interview erschien 1966 als Mr. Hitchcock, wie haben Sie das gemacht? in Buchform und gilt als Standardwerk der Filmliteratur. Einzelne Filme Truffauts zeigen den Einfluss Hitchcocks deutlich, etwa Die Braut trug schwarz (1968) oder Das Geheimnis der falschen Braut (1969), die Geschichte eines Mannes, der einer Betrügerin und Mörderin verfällt und auch nicht von ihr lassen kann, als sie ihn zu töten versucht. Der Film ist stark von verschiedenen inhaltlichen und stilistischen Motiven aus Vertigo, Marnie und Verdacht beeinflusst. Sein letzter Film Auf Liebe und Tod (1983), in dem ein unschuldiger Mann eines Mordes beschuldigt wird, ist voll von hitchcockschen Motiven und Anspielungen auf dessen Werk. Weitere Filme, die Truffaut selbst in der Tradition Hitchcocks sah, waren Die süße Haut und Fahrenheit 451. 1968/69 besetzte Hitchcock die bevorzugte Schauspielerin Truffauts, Claude Jade, für seinen Film Topas.

In vielen Filmen von Claude Chabrol wird eine scheinbar heile bürgerliche Welt angegriffen und durcheinandergebracht. Die hitchcockschen Hauptmotive der Schuldübertragung sowie der doppelten oder der gespaltenen Persönlichkeit tauchen bei Chabrol immer wieder auf. Einige Beispiele sind Schrei, wenn du kannst (1959), Das Auge des Bösen (1962), Der Schlachter (1970) und Masken (1987). Neben Chabrol und Truffaut haben sich in Frankreich unter anderen auch Henri-Georges Clouzot und René Clément des hitchcockschen Repertoires bedient.

Übriges Europa 
Außerhalb Frankreichs war in Europa der unmittelbare Einfluss Hitchcocks auf andere Filmemacher deutlich geringer. Einige europäische oder europäischstämmige Regisseure haben jedoch einzelne Filme gedreht, denen eine Stilverwandtschaft anzuerkennen ist oder die unmittelbar als Hommage an Hitchcock gedacht sind, zum Beispiel Ministerium der Angst von Fritz Lang (1943), Der dritte Mann von Carol Reed (1949), Zeugin der Anklage von Billy Wilder (1957), Frantic von Roman Polański (1988) und Schatten der Vergangenheit von Kenneth Branagh (1991).

Filmografie 
Alle Filme, an denen Hitchcock beteiligt war, in der Reihenfolge ihrer Produktion:
 Jahr: das Jahr der Uraufführung, bei nicht oder erst später aufgeführten Filmen das letzte Produktionsjahr
 Beteiligung: R = Regie; (R) = Hitchcock drehte als Regisseur nur einzelne Szenen und wird im Abspann nicht genannt; R (TV) = Regiearbeiten für das Fernsehen; B = Buch (nur bei namentlicher Nennung; Hitchcock arbeitete jedoch an fast allen Drehbüchern seiner Filme mit und lieferte in vielen Fällen Szenen oder einzelne Dialoge); P = Produktion; D = Darsteller (Statist); TA = Treatment Advisor; TD = Titel-Designer; RA = Regie-Assistent; AD = Art Director; * = ohne namentliche Nennung
 Nr.: Position in den 53 von Hitchcock selbst inszenierten Spielfilmen
 Uraufführung: für die Kinofilme nach der Internet Movie Database, für die Fernsehfilme nach Donald Spoto

1920–1925 
(Stummfilme; in Schwarzweiß)

1925–1939 
(bis einschließlich Nr. 9 Stummfilme, ab Nr. 10 Tonfilme; alle Filme in Schwarzweiß)

1940–1947 
(alle Filme in Schwarzweiß)

In diese Phase fällt auch Hitchcocks einzige Mitarbeit an einem längeren Dokumentarfilm (German Concentration Camps Factual Survey) von Mai bis Juli 1945 in London. Er hat dies später im Interview als seinen Beitrag zum Krieg bezeichnet. Der Film wurde nicht fertiggestellt.

1948–1957 
(Filme Nr. 35, 36, 37, 38 und 44 in Schwarzweiß, alle anderen in Farbe)

Zwischen 1955 und 1965 trat der Regisseur in insgesamt 360 Folgen der Fernsehserien Alfred Hitchcock Presents (267 Folgen) und The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (93 Folgen) in der Rolle des Gastgebers auf.

1958–1964 
(Film Nr. 47 in Schwarzweiß, alle anderen in Farbe)

1966–1976 
(alle Filme in Farbe)

Nicht realisierte Filmprojekte

Auszeichnungen 

Hitchcock wurde sechsmal für den Oscar nominiert: fünfmal für die Beste Regie, einmal für den Besten Film (als Produzent). Alle sechs Mal ging er leer aus, was ihn zu dem Kommentar veranlasste: „Immer nur Brautjungfer, nie die Braut“. Bei der Oscarverleihung 1968 gewann er den Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, einen Sonderpreis für besonders kreative Filmschaffende. Zudem wurde Rebecca 1941 mit dem Oscar für den besten Film ausgezeichnet.

Alfred Hitchcock zählt, gemeinsam mit Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini und Ingmar Bergman, zu den aus Sicht von Filmkritikern wohl bedeutendsten Regisseuren. Diese vier sind die einzigen Filmregisseure, die mindestens vier Mal auf der Liste der 100 Filme mit den besten Kritikerbewertungen auf der Website „They Shoot Pictures“ vertreten sind, für die über 9000 Filmkritiken und Kritikerumfragen der letzten Jahrzehnte ausgewertet wurden. Zu den vier Hitchcock-Filmen, die vertreten sind, zählen Vertigo – Aus dem Reich der Toten (Platz 2), Psycho (Platz 23), Das Fenster zum Hof (Platz 41) und Der unsichtbare Dritte (Platz 59).

 1939: NYFCC Award als Bester Regisseur für Eine Dame verschwindet
 1941: Oscar-Nominierung für Rebecca (Beste Regie)
 1942: Oscar-Nominierung für Verdacht (Bester Film)
 1944: Oscar-Nominierung für Das Rettungsboot (Beste Regie)
 1945: Oscar-Nominierung für Ich kämpfe um dich (Beste Regie)
 1948: Kinema Junpo Award für Verdacht als Bester Fremdsprachiger Film
 1950: Preis beim Filmfestival von Locarno für Die rote Lola
 1954: Oscar-Nominierung für Das Fenster zum Hof (Beste Regie)
 1958: Golden Globe für „The best TV-Show: Alfred Hitchcock Presents“
 1958: Zweiter Platz beim Laurel Award als Bester Regisseur
 1958: Silberne Muschel beim Filmfestival von San Sebastián für Vertigo – Aus dem Reich der Toten
 1959: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1959: Silberne Muschel beim Filmfestival von San Sebastián für Der unsichtbare Dritte
 1960: Oscar-Nominierung für Psycho (Beste Regie)
 1960: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1961: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1962: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1963: Zweiter Platz beim Laurel Award als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1964: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1965: Zweiter Platz beim Laurel Award als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1965: Milestone Award der Producers Guild of America
 1966: Ehrung durch die Association of Cinematography, Television and Allied Technicians (ACTT)
 1966: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1967: Zweiter Platz beim Laurel Award als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1968: Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award als Spezialoscar für besonders kreative Filmproduzenten
 1968: Ehrendoktorwürde der University of California
 1968: D. W. Griffith Award der Directors Guild of America
 1969: Officier des Arts et des Lettres
 1970: National Board of Review Award als Bester Regisseur für Topas
 1971: Ehrenmitgliedschaft der britischen Society of Film and Television
 1971: Golden Laurel als Bester Regisseur / Produzent
 1971: Ernennung zum Ritter der Ehrenlegion bei der Cinémathèque française
 1971: BAFTA Award für sein Lebenswerk (Academy Fellowship)
 1972: Golden Globe für sein Lebenswerk: Cecil B. deMille Award
 1972: Ehrendoktorwürde der Universität von Columbia
 1973: Grand Master Award der Mystery Writers of America
 1974: Würdigung durch die „Film Society of Lincoln Center“ in New York
 1979: AFI Life Achievement Award des American Film Institute
 1980: Knight Commander of the British Empire
 1984: Jussi (Finnland) als Bester ausländischer Filmemacher
 1994: Life Career Award (postum) der Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

Er wurde mit zwei Sternen auf dem Hollywood Walk of Fame geehrt. Den einen in der Kategorie Film findet man bei der Adresse 6506 Hollywood Blvd, den anderen in der Kategorie Fernsehen am 7013 Hollywood Blvd.

Biografische Spielfilme über Hitchcock 
 The Girl (TV Spielfilm, 2012)
Regie: Julian Jarrold; Besetzung: Toby Jones (Alfred Hitchcock), Sienna Miller (Tippi Hedren), Imelda Staunton (Alma Reville Hitchcock), Conrad Kemp (Evan Hunter), Penelope Wilton (Peggy Robertson)
 Hitchcock (Spielfilm, 2012)
Regie: Sacha Gervasi; Besetzung: Anthony Hopkins (Alfred Hitchcock), Helen Mirren (Alma Reville Hitchcock), Scarlett Johansson (Janet Leigh), Danny Huston (Whitfield Cook), Toni Collette (Peggy Robertson), Michael Stuhlbarg (Lew Wasserman), Michael Wincott (Ed Gein), Jessica Biel (Vera Miles), James D’Arcy (Anthony Perkins)

Dokumentarfilme 
 Bei Anruf Hitchcock – Das Genie hinter dem Showman (Dial „H“ for Hitchcock – The Genius Behind the Showman; aka Hitchcock: Shadow of a Genius). TV-Dokumentation, USA 1999, von Ted Haimes; 101 Minuten.
 Hitchcock – Truffaut. Dokumentarfilm, USA, Frankreich, 2014, 79 Min., Buch: Kent Jones und Serge Toubiana, Regie: Kent Jones, Produktion: arte France, Artline Films, Cohen Media Group, Erstsendung: 16. November 2015 bei arte, Dossier mit Filmausschnitten vom Festival de Cannes 2015, .
 Mr. und Mrs. Hitchcock. Regie: Laurent Herbiet, 55 Minuten, Frankreich 2018.

Literatur

Biografien 
 Laurent Bouzereau: Alfred Hitchcock. Knesebeck, München 2010, ISBN 978-3-86873-250-4 (mit einem Vorwort von Patricia Hitchcock O’Connell und bisher unveröffentlichtem Bildmaterial und herausnehmbaren Faksimiles von Storyboards und handschriftlichen Notizen).
 Charlotte Chandler: It’s Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock – A Personal Biography. Simon & Schuster, New York 2005, ISBN 0-7432-3970-9.
 Thomas Koebner: Alfred Hitchcock. In: Ders. (Hrsg.): Filmregisseure. Biographien, Werkbeschreibung, Filmographien. 3., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage. Reclam, Stuttgart 2008 [1. Aufl. 1999], ISBN 978-3-15-010662-4, S. 324–331.
 Patrick McGilligan: Alfred Hitchcock. A Life in Darkness and Light. Wiley, Chichester 2003, ISBN 0-470-86972-0.
 Enno Patalas: Hitchcock. dtv, München 1999, ISBN 3-423-31020-0.
 Donald Spoto: Alfred Hitchcock – Die dunkle Seite des Genies. Ins Deutsche übersetzt von Bodo Fründt. Heyne, München 1984, ISBN 3-453-55146-X.
 John Russel Taylor: Die Hitchcock-Biographie. Fischer Cinema, Frankfurt am Main 1982, ISBN 3-596-23680-0.
 Edward White: The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense. W. W. Norton, New York 2021, ISBN 978-1-324-00239-0.
 Thilo Wydra: Alfred Hitchcock. Leben – Werk – Wirkung. Suhrkamp, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-18243-7.

Werkschauen 
Sortiert in der chronologischen Reihenfolge der jeweiligen Originalausgabe.

 Éric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol: Hitchcock. Ed. Universitaires, Paris 1957.
 H.P. Manz: Alfred Hitchcock – eine Bildchronik. Mit Texten von Hitchcock, Godard, Truffaut u. a. Sanssouci, Zürich 1962.
 François Truffaut: Mr. Hitchcock, wie haben Sie das gemacht?. Heyne, München 1973, ISBN 3-453-86141-8 (Abfolge von Interviews (circa 50 Stunden) des französischen Regisseurs mit Hitchcock), Originalausgabe: Le cinéma selon Hitchcock. (1966, dt. etwa: „Der Film gemäß Hitchcock“)
 Robert A. Harris, Michael S. Lasky, Hrsg. Joe Hembus: Alfred Hitchcock und seine Filme. (OT: The Films of Alfred Hitchcock). Citadel-Filmbücher bei Goldmann, München 1976, ISBN 3-442-10201-4.
 François Truffaut, Robert Fischer (Hrsg.): Truffaut, Hitchcock. Diana, Zürich 1999, ISBN 3-8284-5021-0 (frz. Original: 1984; erweiterte und gebundene Ausgabe von Mr. Hitchcock, wie haben Sie das gemacht? (1966)).
 Bodo Fründt: Alfred Hitchcock und seine Filme. Heyne Filmbibliothek Band Nr. 91, München 1986, ISBN 3-453-86091-8.
 Robert E. Kapsis: Hitchcock: The Making of a Reputation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1992, ISBN 0-226-42489-8 (wissenschaftliche englischsprachige Arbeit, die informationsreich den aufgebauten Ruf Hitchcocks beleuchtet und so auch auf Nachahmungen seiner Filme eingeht, speziell: Brian De Palma).
 Frank Schnelle (Hrsg.): Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Verlag Robert Fischer + Uwe Wiedleroither, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-924098-06-9.
 Eva Rieger: Alfred Hitchcock und die Musik. Eine Untersuchung zum Verhältnis von Film, Musik und Geschlecht. Kleine, Bielefeld 1996, ISBN 3-89370-236-9.
 Donald Spoto: Alfred Hitchcock und seine Filme. Wilhelm Heyne, München 1999, ISBN 3-453-15746-X.
 Lars-Olav Beier, Georg Seeßlen (Hrsg.): Alfred Hitchcock. Bertz + Fischer, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-929470-76-4.
 Hans-Peter Reichmann, Maren Wurster: Hitchcock in Frankfurt (Kinematograph 15). Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main 2000. ISBN 3-88799-061-7.
 Bill Krohn: Hitchcock at Work. Phaidon, Wien 2000, ISBN 0-7148-4333-4 (detaillierte Studie über Hitchcocks Arbeitsweise in seiner amerikanischen Zeit).
 Slavoj Žižek et al.: Was sie immer schon über Lacan wissen wollten und Hitchcock nie zu fragen wagten, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2002
 Paul Duncan: Alfred Hitchcock, The Complete Films. Deutsch im Taschen-Verlag, Köln 2003, ISBN 3-8228-1671-X
 Nikolai Wojtko (Hrsg.): Alfred Hitchcock – der Filmverführer. Kovac, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 978-3-8300-2148-3.
 Gregor J. Weber: Jeder tötet, was er liebt. Liebes- und Todesszenen in den Filmen Alfred Hitchcocks. Schüren, Marburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89472-487-0.
 Adrian Weibel: Spannung bei Hitchcock. Zur Funktionsweise des auktorialen Suspense. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-8260-3681-1.
 Ingo Kammerer: Hitchcock – Angstgelächter in der Zelle. Mühlbeyer Filmbuchverlag, Frankenthal 2010, ISBN 978-3-945378-57-1.
 Henry Keazor (Hrsg.): Hitchcock und die Künste. Schüren, Marburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-89472-828-1.
 Éric Rohmer und Claude Chabrol: Hitchcock. Hrsg. und aus dem Französischen von Robert Fischer. Alexander, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-89581-280-4.
 Stephen Rebello: Hitchcock und die Geschichte von „Psycho“. Wilhelm Heyne, München 2013, ISBN 978-3-453-43726-5 (Grundlage für das Drehbuch von Hitchcock).
 Tania Modleski: The Women Who Knew Too Much. Hitchcock and Feminist Theory, Routledge, London und New York 3. Auflage 2015
 Paul Duncan (Hrsg.): Alfred Hitchcock. Sämtliche Filme. Taschen, Köln 2019, ISBN 978-3-8365-6681-0. (Mit zahlreichen Filmfotos, Kinoplakaten und Bildern von Dreharbeiten).
 Thilo Wydra: Hitchcock's Blondes. Erfindung eines Frauentyps. Schirmer/Mosel, München 2018, ISBN 978-3-8296-0835-0.
 Bernard Benoliel, Gilles Esposito, Murielle Joudet, Jean-François Rauger: Hitchcock. Alle Filme Delius Klasing, 2020, ISBN 978-3-667-11870-7.

Weblinks 

 
 
 
 Hitchcock-Wiki
 hitchcock.tv – umfangreiche englischsprachige Privatseite
 Dorit Kreissl: Alfred Hitchcock - Meister des Suspense Bayern 2 Radiowissen. Ausstrahlung am 19. November 2019 (Podcast)
 Wissenschaftliche Literatur (Open Access) zu Alfred Hitchcock auf mediarep.org.

Anmerkungen 
Hauptquellen sind die beiden Biografien von Taylor und Spoto sowie die Bücher von Truffaut und Krohn.

 
Filmregisseur
Filmproduzent
Person (Stummfilm)
Knight Commander des Order of the British Empire
Mitglied der Ehrenlegion (Ritter)
Träger des Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Offizier)
Person (Film, London)
Oscarpreisträger
Brite
US-Amerikaner
Geboren 1899
Gestorben 1980
Mann

Die Auteur-Theorie (von ) ist eine Filmtheorie und die theoretische Grundlage für den Autorenfilm – insbesondere den französischen – in den 1950er Jahren, der sich vom „Produzenten-Kino“ abgrenzte. Auch heute noch wird die Definition des Auteur-Begriffs ständig weiterentwickelt. Im Zentrum des Films steht für die Auteur-Theorie der Regisseur oder Filmemacher als geistiger Urheber und zentraler Gestalter des Kunstwerks.

Geschichte der Auteur-Theorie 
Ende der 1940er Jahre wurde eine erste Auteur-Theorie von dem französischen Filmkritiker Alexandre Astruc formuliert, indem er die Frage nach dem geistigen Besitz eines Films aufwarf. Im traditionellen Schaffensprozess lassen sich die Anteile von Drehbuchautor, Kameramann und Filmregisseur am Gesamtwerk nur schwer zuordnen. Durch die Zuteilung der Teilaufgaben als Honorartätigkeit durch die Filmgesellschaften leide die Kreativität, so die These. Im Umkehrschluss fordert diese Theorie die Zusammenführung der Tätigkeiten zu einer kreativen Einheit. Er formulierte seinen Entwurf in dem Aufsatz „La caméra-stylo“. Die Kamera sollte wie ein Stift verwendet werden. Er war sich sicher, dass bedeutende Schriften in Zukunft nicht mehr als Text, sondern mit der „Kamera geschrieben“ würden.

Doch durchgesetzt haben sich solche und ähnliche Ideen der Auteur-Theorie erst in den 1950er Jahren. Deren gängiger Begriff als Wegbereiter für die heutige Auteur-Theorie lautete zunächst politique des auteurs (Autoren-Politik), was erst im Laufe der Zeit zur Theorie umgeformt wurde. Das Wort politique bzw. Politik stand hier also eher für Parteilichkeit, welche für filmwissenschaftliche Diskussionen eher hinderlich ist (siehe unten).

Die politique des auteurs wurde zu dieser Zeit von einer Gruppe von jungen Filmkritikern um André Bazin entwickelt, die für die Filmzeitschrift Cahiers du cinéma schrieben. Eine wesentliche Rolle spielte dabei François Truffaut: Im Januar 1954 veröffentlichte er seinen Aufsehen erregenden Aufsatz Eine gewisse Tendenz im französischen Film (Une certaine tendance du cinéma français), in dem er sich mit scharfer Polemik gegen den etablierten französischen „Qualitätsfilm“ wandte. Bei diesem trat der Regisseur gegenüber dem Drehbuchautor und dem Autor der literarischen Vorlage oft in den Hintergrund. Truffaut plädierte dagegen für einen Film, bei dem Form und Inhalt vollständig vom Regisseur selbst als dem eigentlichen „auteur“ des Films bestimmt werden. Er fand das bei traditionell als Autoren ihrer Filme betrachteten europäischen Regisseuren wie Luis Buñuel, Jean Renoir und Roberto Rossellini, außerdem aber auch und vor allem bei Regisseuren wie Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Fritz Lang und Vincente Minnelli, die (zum großen Teil als Vertragsregisseure) im Studiosystem Hollywoods arbeiteten, deren Filme aber trotzdem einen persönlichen Stil aufweisen.

Das Konzept des Regisseurs als auteur seiner Filme wurde für die Filmkritik der Cahiers du cinéma bestimmend, und damit für die Regisseure der Nouvelle Vague, die daraus hervorgingen, neben Truffaut etwa Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette oder Claude Chabrol – Filmemacher, die sich zur Umsetzung ihrer künstlerischen Ziele einer jeweils ganz eigenen filmischen Form bedienten.

Roland Barthes hingegen misst in seinem Essay La mort de l'auteur (1968, Der Tod des Autors) dem Autor für die Literatur eine weitaus geringere Bedeutung bei, als es bisher der Fall war. Der „Auteur-Dieu“ („Autoren-Gott“) wird von Barthes durch den „écrivain“ (den Schriftsteller) ersetzt und folgt damit einer Kritik, die Julia Kristeva bereits 1967 in ihrem Aufsatz Bakhtine, le mot, le dialogue et le roman (Bachtin, das Wort, der Dialog und der Roman, 1972) aufbrachte.

Für den europäischen Film blieb die Auteur-Theorie aber noch bis in die 1970er prägend. Danach setzte auch hier eine Abkehr von der „verhängnisvollen Macht der Regisseure“ (Günter Rohrbach) ein. Wirtschaftlicher Druck zwang zur Rückkehr zu einer arbeitsteiligen Produktionsweise, wie sie für den Produzenten-Film charakteristisch ist. Damit einher ging notwendigerweise auch wieder die Einigung aller Beteiligten auf einen kleinsten gemeinsamen Nenner und somit auch häufig eine gewisse Banalisierung der Filminhalte, die umso stärker zu Tage tritt, je weniger der Produzent als Projektverantwortlicher in den eigentlichen schöpferischen Prozess eingebunden ist.

In der Filmwissenschaft wurden auch immer neue Autorschaften von Teammitgliedern entdeckt. In der Realität ist Film Teamarbeit und es ist dem Film nicht anzusehen, ob zum Beispiel die Idee für eine Einstellung nun vom Regisseur oder vom Kameramann stammt. Im Dogma-Film ist der Kameramann nicht weisungsgebunden. Die „Polnische Schule“ bindet den Kameramann bereits in den Prozess des Drehbuchschreibens ein. Unerfahrene Regisseure sind meist sehr auf die Kreativität des Kameramanns oder der Kamerafrau und anderer Teammitglieder angewiesen.

Durch das Aufkommen digitaler Aufnahmetechniken wie Digital Video seit Ende der 1990er Jahre sehen viele Filmemacher, wie etwa Wim Wenders, wieder günstigere Bedingungen für individuelle, subjektive Produktionen gegeben.

Kritik und Diskussion 

Die von François Truffaut und Jean-Luc Godard proklamierte „politique des auteurs“ (Autorenpolitik) der fünfziger Jahre war ursprünglich ein Versuch, bestimmte Regisseure wie Alfred Hitchcock als Künstler anzuerkennen, die ihre völlig eigene Bildsprache entwickelten oder, wie Truffaut selber, sämtliche Aspekte ihrer Filme selbst bestimmten. Ein Autorenfilmer ist demnach ein Regisseur, der einen Film – möglichst ohne Kompromisse – so gestaltet, wie er ihn selbst haben möchte.

Die „politique des auteurs“ geriet schnell in die Kritik. Kritiker wie Andrew Sarris und Peter Wollen wiesen auf ein empirisches Problem hin: Niemand kann beweisen, wie viel Einfluss der Regisseur wirklich auf seine Filme hatte bzw. welchen Einfluss Form und Inhalt wirklich auf das haben, was wir als Autorschaft wahrnehmen.

Als Beispiel hierfür gilt der Vorspann von Vertigo – Aus dem Reich der Toten (1958), den Alfred Hitchcock nicht selbst angefertigt hat, oder die Tatsache, dass viele seiner Filme auf einer Buchvorlage fremder Autoren basieren und selbst die Drehbücher selten von ihm selbst stammten. Gerade Hitchcock aber ist eine zentrale Figur in der „politique des auteurs“.

Wie der Name „politique des auteurs“ sagt, handelte es sich um eine Politik, einen gezielten polemischen Eingriff. Der Village-Voice-Kritiker Andrew Sarris übersetzte „politique des auteurs“ jedoch 1962 mit „auteur theory“, wobei unklar blieb, in welchem Sinne es sich hier tatsächlich um eine Theorie handelt. Sarris popularisierte diese „Theorie“ im englischen Sprachraum und benutzte sie vor allem, um die absolute Überlegenheit des Hollywood-Kinos darzulegen, war er doch davon überzeugt, es sei „the only cinema in the world worth exploring in depth beneath the frosting of a few great directors at the top“. Nun war die Frage: Wo ist die Grenze? Wen oder vielmehr was nehmen wir als Autor wahr? Sarris unterteilte die Regisseure in verschiedene Kategorien, in die Spitze setzte er ein Pantheon der seiner Ansicht nach 14 besten Regisseure, die bisher in den USA gearbeitet hatten. Als Gegenspielerin von Sarris etablierte sich in den USA mit ihrem Essay Circles and Squares vor allem Pauline Kael. Sie kritisierte an der Auteur-Theorie, dass sie vor allem retrospektiv funktioniere und verschiedene Regisseure auf dogmatische Weise gegeneinander aufwäge. Kael wollte Filme eher als Einzelwerk und weniger im Gesamtwerk eines Regisseurs sehen.

Soziologisch gesehen war die Autorentheorie eine Distinktionsstrategie junger Kritiker, die auf sich aufmerksam machen wollten. Godard hat dies später offen zugegeben: „Wir sagten von Preminger und den anderen Regisseuren, die für Studios arbeiteten, wie man heute fürs Fernsehen arbeitet: ‚Sie sind Lohnempfänger, aber gleichzeitig mehr als das, denn sie haben Talent, einige sogar Genie …‘, aber das war total falsch. Wir haben das gesagt, weil wir es glaubten, aber in Wirklichkeit steckt dahinter, dass wir auf uns aufmerksam machen wollten, weil niemand auf uns hörte. Die Türen waren zu. Deshalb mussten wir sagen: Hitchcock ist ein größeres Genie als Chateaubriand.“

In den siebziger Jahren folgte dann die stärkste Kritik an der „politique des auteurs“. Roland Barthes proklamierte bereits 1968 vor einem poststrukturalistischen Hintergrund den „Tod des Autors“. Der Autor wurde nun aufgrund des empirischen Dilemmas der Beweisbarkeit von Autorschaften als Image-Figur erkannt, die sich aus ihrer Umwelt formt und in die Werke einschreibt. Auch von feministischer Seite wurde die „politique des auteurs“ scharf angegriffen, diene sie doch dazu, den kollektiven Charakter des Filmemachens zu verdecken und in der Tradition patriarchaler Heldenverehrung Männer zu Superstars zu stilisieren. Claire Johnston verteidigte den Ansatz insofern, als dieser einer zu monolithischen Sicht des Hollywood-Kinos entgegenwirke.

In den neunziger Jahren schließlich ging die Tendenz zu der Annahme, dass Autorschaften zum Großteil (z. T. kommerziell) konstruiert sind. Timothy Corrigan nennt dies den „commercial auteur“. Es wird damit gerechnet, dass das Publikum den Film eines als Autor bekannten Regisseurs als z. B. „Der neue Woody Allen!“ wahrnimmt, ohne wirklich zu wissen, wie viel Einfluss Woody Allen tatsächlich auf den Film hatte.

Dana Polan verfolgte einen weiteren interessanten Ansatz: Er sieht den „auteurist“ als Hauptverantwortlichen für konstruierte Autorenbilder. Das sind Kritiker, die den Autor als höchste Instanz suchen und damit – wie François Truffaut – auf einen Filmemacher als Künstler hinweisen wollen und nebenbei ihre eigene Erkenntniskraft zelebrieren. Der Begriff dafür lautet „Auteur Desire“. Dieser Ansatz zeigt noch einmal den größten Vorwurf gegenüber der „politique des auteurs“ auf. Trotzdem ist die Nennung eines Regisseurs parallel zu – beispielsweise – einem Buchautor als Schöpfergeist auch unter reflektierenden Filmkritikern und -wissenschaftlern weiterhin außerordentlich beliebt. Steckt also doch mehr dahinter?

Ein neuerer Ansatz, die kontextorientierte Werkanalyse von Jan Distelmeyer, versucht diese Frage zu klären. Als Grundlage dienen Publikums- und Kritikerrezeption auf der einen Seite und die Konstruktion des Autors aus Biografie, Filmindustrie und kulturellem Umfeld auf der anderen Seite. Diese zweiseitige Annäherung erkennt das empirische Dilemma der Definition von „auteur“ an und maßt sich auch keine Bestimmung dessen an, was jetzt eigentlich das Werk von Autor XYZ ist. Viele andere Filmtheoretiker verfolgen heutzutage ähnliche Konzepte. Doch auch eine solch freie Handhabung kann das Problem nicht vollständig lösen, da die wichtigsten Elemente variabel sind und sich so einer eindeutigen Aussage verschließen.

Der Schwerpunkt kritischer Tendenzen liegt also zum Großteil in der Empirie. Einen Filmemacher als „auteur“ anzuerkennen fordert uneingeschränktes Vertrauen in seine Aussagen, wie viel Einfluss er auf seine eigenen Filme hatte. Da dies in Zeiten einer sehr starken Vermarktung aller möglichen mehr oder weniger (un)abhängigen Regisseure seitens von Filmindustrie und Verleih ein fast aussichtsloses Unterfangen ist, ist ein Restzweifel und das stete Hinterfragen der „auteur“-Definition angebracht (weitere Quellenangaben zu diesem Abschnitt Kritik und Diskussion im Literaturverzeichnis).

Wichtige Auteur-Theoretiker 
 André Bazin
 Andrew Sarris
 Claude Chabrol
 Dana Polan
 Éric Rohmer
 François Truffaut
 Jan Distelmeyer
 Jean-Luc Godard
 Peter Wollen
 Roland Barthes
 Timothy Corrigan

Literatur 
 François Truffaut: Une certaine tendance du cinéma français. In: Cahiers du cinéma. 1954,31 (Januar). Übersetzung: A Certain Tendency of the French Cinema. In: Bill Nichols (Hrsg.): Movies and Methods. Berkeley 1976, S. 224–237.
 Jean-Luc Godard: Godard/Kritiker. München 1974, S. 38–56.
 Jean-Luc Godard: Einführung in eine wahre Geschichte des Kinos. Hanser 1981, ISBN 3446132821.
 Andrew Sarris: Towards a Theory of Film History. In: Bill Nichols (Hrsg.): Movies and Methods. Berkeley 1976, S. 237–251.
 Peter Wollen: The Auteur Theory. In: Signs and Meaning in the Cinema. London 1969, S. 74–115.
 Roland Barthes: Der Tod des Autors. In: Fotis Jannidis, Gerhard Lauer, Mathias Martinez, Simone Winko (Hrsg.): Texte zur Theorie der Autorschaft. Stuttgart 2000, S. 185–193.
 Timothy Corrigan: A Cinema without Walls. Movies and Culture after Vietnam. New Brunswick 1991, S. 101–136.
 Dana Polan: Auteur Desire. In: Screening the Past – An International, Refereed, Electronic Journal of Visual Media and History. Nr. 12 („Auteurism 2001“)
 Jan Distelmeyer: Vom auteur zum Kulturprodukt. Entwurf einer kontextorientierten Werkgeschichtsschreibung. In: Andrea Nolte (Hrsg.): Mediale Wirklichkeiten. Dokumentation des 15. Film- und Fernsehwissenschaftlichen Kolloquiums. Marburg 2003, S. 86–97.

Einzelnachweise 

Filmwissenschaft

Aki Olavi Kaurismäki  (* 4. April 1957 in Orimattila) ist ein vielfach preisgekrönter finnischer Filmregisseur.

Leben und Werk 
Aki Kaurismäki studierte an der Universität Tampere Literatur- und Kommunikationswissenschaften. Neben diversen Aushilfsjobs, etwa als Briefträger oder in der Gastronomie, war er Herausgeber eines universitären Filmmagazins. Darüber hinaus schrieb er von 1979 bis 1984 Filmkritiken für das Magazin Filmihullu. Das erste Drehbuch folgte 1980 für den mittellangen Film Der Lügner (Valehtelija), bei dem sein Bruder Mika Regie führte.

Kaurismäkis Filme thematisieren häufig Schicksale von gesellschaftlichen Außenseitern in städtischen Zentren wie Helsinki. Sie sind nicht nur für ihre sparsamen Dialoge, sondern auch für einen skurril-lakonischen Humor bekannt. Kaurismäki arbeitet regelmäßig mit einem festen Stamm befreundeter Schauspieler und Musiker, die seine Filme auch stilistisch geprägt haben: Matti Pellonpää, Kati Outinen, Kari Väänänen und Sakke Järvenpää. Als Reminiszenz an Alfred Hitchcock hat er in seinen Filmen gelegentlich Cameo-Auftritte, was auch Hitchcock zu tun pflegte.

In Deutschland wurden seine Filme zum ersten Mal 1986 auf dem Filmfestival Grenzland-Filmtage in Selb gezeigt. Aki Kaurismäki führte dabei die Filme Der Lügner, Calamari Union und Crime and Punishment persönlich vor. Während des Festivals schrieb er das Drehbuch für seinen Film Schatten im Paradies, den er 1988 erneut persönlich bei den Grenzland-Filmtagen in Selb präsentierte. Dieser Film brachte ihm den internationalen Durchbruch. Ein Großteil der Filmmusik kam von der Band Nardis aus Erlangen, die Kaurismäki 1986 auf den Grenzland-Filmtagen kennengelernt hatte.
Dem breiten deutschen Publikum bekannt wurde der finnische Regisseur durch seine Teilnahme an der Berlinale 1988. Im Jahre 2006 wurde sein Film Lichter der Vorstadt als offizieller finnischer Beitrag für eine Oscar-Nominierung gewählt, Kaurismäki lehnte die Entsendung jedoch ab (siehe auch Politische Stellungnahmen und Proteste).

Zusammen mit seinem Bruder Mika Kaurismäki gründete er das Midnight Sun Film Festival im lappischen Sodankylä sowie die Verleihfirma Villealfa. Der Name geht zurück auf die Figur Ville Alfa, den Protagonisten im Film Der Lügner. Gleichzeitig handelt es sich um ein Anagramm von Alphaville, einem Film von Jean-Luc Godard.

1989 emigrierte Kaurismäki mit seiner Frau nach Portugal, weil „es in ganz Helsinki keinen Platz mehr gebe, wo er seine Kamera noch postieren könne“.

Rainer Gansera, der für die Zeitschrift epd Film mit dem „Chef-Melancholiker des europäischen Autorenkinos“ 2006 in Hof gesprochen hat, zeigte sich auch von seinem Auftreten persönlich beeindruckt und beschrieb atmosphärisch:

Als persönliche Leitbilder will Kaurismäki Bresson, Ozu und Godard gesehen haben, der Ausbildung an den Filmhochschulen seines Landes dagegen habe er nicht viel Positives abgewinnen können.
Bei Pandora sind Ende 2006 als „Aki Kaurismäki DVD-Collection“ 14 Spielfilme und fünf Kurzfilme (mit digital restaurierten Bildern) in vier Boxen erschienen.

2011 stellte Kaurismäki nach fünf Jahren mit Le Havre einen Spielfilm fertig, der ihm wieder einmal eine Einladung in den Wettbewerb der Filmfestspiele von Cannes einbrachte. Der in Frankreich gedrehte Film handelt von einem Schuhputzer aus der gleichnamigen Hafenstadt, der sich eines illegalen Flüchtlingskindes aus Afrika annimmt. Le Havre gewann in Cannes den FIPRESCI-Preis.

Für den Spielfilm Die andere Seite der Hoffnung erhielt Kaurismäki 2017 eine Einladung in den Wettbewerb der 67. Internationalen Filmfestspiele Berlin. Der Film spielt in Helsinki und erzählt von der Begegnung eines älteren finnischen Handelsvertreters (dargestellt von Sakari Kuosmanen) mit einem jungen syrischen Flüchtling (Sherwan Haji). Der Film kam am 3. Februar 2017 in die finnischen Kinos.

Im Jahr 2023 erhielt er für seinen Spielfilm Fallende Blätter erneut eine Einladung in den Wettbewerb um die Goldene Palme des Filmfestivals von Cannes. Das Werk erhielt dort den Preis der Jury zuerkannt.

Filmografie

Regisseur 
 1981: The Saimaa Gesture (Saimaa-ilmiö) – Dokumentarfilm mit seinem Bruder Mika
 1983: Crime and Punishment (Rikos ja rangaistus)
 1984: Der Clan – Geschichte der Frösche (Klaani – tarina Sammakoitten suvusta) – Co-Autor seines Bruders Mika
 1985: Calamari Union
 1986: Rocky VI – Kurzfilm
 1986: Schatten im Paradies (Varjoja paratiisissa)
 1987: Hamlet goes Business (Hamlet liikemaailmassa)
 1987: Thru The Wire – Kurzfilm
 1987: Rich Little Bitch – Kurzfilm
 1988: Ariel
 1989: Likaiset kädet – Produktion für das finnische Fernsehen
 1989: Leningrad Cowboys Go America
 1990: Das Mädchen aus der Streichholzfabrik (Tulitikkutehtaan tyttö)
 1990: Vertrag mit meinem Killer (I Hired a Contract Killer)
 1991: Those Were The Days – Kurzfilm
 1992: Das Leben der Bohème (Boheemielämää / La vie de Bohème)
 1992: These Boots – Kurzfilm
 1993: Tatjana – Take Care Of Your Scarf (Pidä huivista kiini, Tatjana)
 1993: Total Balalaika Show
 1994: Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses
 1996: Wolken ziehen vorüber (Kauas pilvet karkaavat)
 1999: Juha
 2002: Der Mann ohne Vergangenheit (Mies Vailla Menneisyyttä)
 2002: Dogs Have No Hell – Kurzfilmbeitrag in Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet
 2006: Lichter der Vorstadt (Laitakaupungin valot)
 2011: Le Havre
 2012: Juice Leskinen & Grand Slam: Bluesia Pieksämäen asemalla – Kurzfilm
 2012: Tavern Man – Beitrag in Historic Centre
 2017: Die andere Seite der Hoffnung (Toivon tuolla puolen)
 2023: Fallende Blätter (Kuolleet lehdet)

Schauspieler 
 1980: Der Lügner (Valehtelija) – auch Drehbuchautor (Film seines Bruders Mika)
 1982: The Worthless (Arvottomat) – auch Drehbuchautor und Regieassis

Andorra, oficialmente Principado de Andorra () es un micro-Estado soberano sin litoral ubicado en el suroeste de Europa, entre España y Francia, en el límite de la península ibérica. Se constituye en Estado independiente, de derecho, democrático y social, cuya forma de gobierno es el coprincipado parlamentario. Su territorio está organizado en siete parroquias, con una población total de 79 877 habitantes a 28 de febrero de 2022. Su capital es Andorra la Vieja.

Con sus 468 km² de extensión territorial, Andorra es el micro-Estado más grande de Europa y está situado en los Pirineos, entre España y Francia; tiene una altitud media de 1996ms.n.m. Limita por el sur con España —con la provincia catalana de Lérida— y por el norte con Francia —con los departamentos de Ariège y Pirineos Orientales (Occitania)—. Pertenece culturalmente a la Europa latina.

Su sistema político es una democracia parlamentaria cuyos jefes de Estado son los copríncipes de Andorra: el obispo de Urgel y el presidente de Francia; el jefe de Gobierno es el presidente del Gobierno de Andorra.

El idioma oficial es el catalán aunque, por influencia de los estados que la rodean, son de uso común el español, portugués y el francés.

No tiene ejército, pero sí un cuerpo de policía creado en 1931. En caso de emergencias o desastres naturales, como por ejemplo las inundaciones que ocurrieron en 1982, la costumbre dictaba que se convocaría al somatén, formado por los cabezas de familia con nacionalidad andorrana, aunque es una práctica fuera de época y la policía del país gestiona todas las emergencias. En caso de catástrofe grave, se recurriría a ayuda española o francesa, según el tratado trilateral de vecindad, amistad y cooperación. 

Durante mucho tiempo pobre y aislado, consiguió una notable prosperidad desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial a través del turismo y, especialmente, por su condición de paraíso fiscal, de la que salió para España el 10 de febrero de 2010.

Toponimia 
La etimología de Andorra y de su capital, Andorra la Vieja, es desconocida, así como su procedencia. 

Entre las hipótesis propuestas, las más aceptadas consideran que se trata de un término de origen prerromano y quizás íbero o vasco. El pueblo de los andosini (Ἀνδοσίνοι), mencionado por Polibio como moradores de los Pirineos, puede ser un antecedente, en especial porque en inscripciones ibéricas se encuentra el gentilicio andur(r)iensis, que presupone la existencia de un topónimo *Andura. Este nombre puede relacionarse con el euskera handia, "grande" o "gigante". 

También se han sugerido otras posibles derivaciones del vasco como ur, "agua", quizás con la forma Ameturra, "Diez fuentes", compuesta de hamar "diez" e iturri "fuentes". Caro Baroja, en cambio, propuso una relación con (h)erri, "tierra" o "pueblo".

Una hipótesis relaciona a la palabra Andorra con andurrial, palabra cuyo origen sigue siendo incierto pero que Coromines relaciona con el árabe gandura, "mujer coqueta", y otros con "matorrales", o bien, según Francisco Martínez Marina, con el árabe al darrah, que significa "boscosa". 

Una obra de divulgación propone una etimología céltica derivada de las palabras an, "soplo" y dor, "puerta", en alusión a los vientos pirenaicos. 

La etimología popular ha creado la leyenda de que le dio el nombre Carlomagno, fundador de la nacionalidad andorrana, en alusión al Valle de Endor, transliterado como Andor, mencionado en la Biblia como lugar de la derrota de Sísara.

Símbolos

Escudo 

El escudo de armas del Principado de Andorra, cuyo lema es Virtus Unita Fortior, está formado por cuatro cuarteles (dos por cada copríncipe).

 Primer cuartel (superior izquierdo a la vista del observador): De gules, una mitra y un báculo de oro (obispado de la Seo de Urgel).
 Segundo cuartel (superior derecho a ojos del observador): De oro, tres palos de gules (del Condado de Foix).
 Tercer cuartel (inferior izquierdo a la vista del observador): De oro, cuatro palos de gules (de Cataluña).
 Cuarto cuartel (inferior derecho a la vista del observador): de oro, dos vacas de gules puestas en palo (del Vizcondado de Bearne).

Bandera 
La bandera de Andorra se adoptó oficialmente en 1866 y es tricolor vertical, azul, amarillo y rojo, la franja amarilla ligeramente más grande que las otras dos. En el centro se muestra el escudo de Andorra, para diferenciarla de las banderas de Chad, Moldavia y Rumanía.

Himno 
El himno, titulado El Gran Carlemany (El gran Carlomagno), tiene letra escrita por  Joan Benlloch i Vivó y música compuesta por Enric Marfany Bons. Se adoptó oficialmente en 1914 y se interpretó por primera vez el 8 de septiembre de 1921.

Historia

Prehistoria 
Durante el periodo del Mesolítico, pequeños grupos de humanos se asentaron en grutas próximas al Gran Valira, como en la Balma de la Margineda, y otros puntos del territorio como Pal, La Massana y Ordino, donde el 5 de junio de 2001 se encontró un sarcófago fabricado con losas de pizarra y que contenía restos humanos, brazaletes y recipientes de cerámica con alimentos.

Debido a la fertilidad de las tierras, estos grupos las cultivaron y se establecieron definitivamente y recibieron de los pueblos que pasaron por su territorio la cultura del bronce al beneficiarse de los metales que había en Arinsal.

Imperio romano 
La primera referencia escrita sobre los andosinos se encuentra en la descripción que hizo el historiador griego Polibio sobre el paso de Aníbal por los Pirineos. En el año 27a.C. el territorio se adjunta a la provincia romana Hispania Tarraconense, recién creada, a la cual perteneció incluso después de la creación del reino visigodo. Durante el , el Imperio romano sucumbe a los visigodos, que ocupan la Galia meridional y parte de Hispania.

Edad Media y Edad Moderna 

Trescientos años después, los musulmanes conquistan ese territorio al traspasar la frontera del reino franco. En el año 732, Carlos Martel los derrota en la batalla de Poitiers (732) y frenan su expansión hacia el Norte, aunque continúan asentados en los Pirineos. Posteriormente Carlomagno crea la Marca Hispánica y su sucesor Luis el Piadoso integra, en el año 817, Andorra en el Imperio carolingio.

En la Edad Media (los valles de) Andorra pasan a pertenecer al Condado de Urgel, al ser cedidos por Carlos el Calvo de la Francia Occidental (actual Francia) a Sunifredo I en el año 839. También se documenta el Acta de Consagración y Dotación de la Catedral de la Seo de Urgel y, por primera vez, se detalla su organización territorial por parroquias. Con la expansión de este condado hacia el sur, donde había terrenos más fértiles, las zonas montañosas dejaron de tener interés para el conde y, en 1133, Ermengol VI cede todos los bienes y derechos adquiridos sobre los valles de Andorra al obispo de Urgel. En 1095, el obispado, a cambio de protección militar, cedió sus derechos políticos, militares y judiciales a la familia Caboet, aunque conservó la soberanía sobre Andorra, transformando el dominio territorial en un señorío episcopal. En 1185, Arnalda de Caboet contrajo matrimonio con Arnaldo I de Castellbó. El matrimonio de Roger Bernardo II de Foix y Ermesinda de Castellbó, en 1208, supuso el dominio feudal de Andorra por parte de los condes de Foix, quienes irían aumentando su poder en Bearne, Reino de Navarra y, siglos más tarde, el Reino de Francia.

Según la tradición, Carlomagno, el primer monarca del Sacro Imperio Romano Germánico, concedió la independencia a este estado a cambio de ayuda para su lucha contra Al-Ándalus. Para acabar con las pugnas por el poder, en 1278 se estableció un régimen de coprincipado mediante el cual el conde francés de Foix y el obispo de Urgel compartieron el gobierno de ese territorio.

Como consecuencia de los conflictos entre Roger Bernardo III de Foix y Pedro de Urtx, el 8 de septiembre de 1278 se firma el primer pariaje en Lérida, que fija los límites del poder de cada señor, representa la fundación del Principado de Andorra y define las obligaciones de los andorranos en materia de diezmos y asuntos militares, por lo que se formó un «condominio feudal», aunque esto no le preocupa a la Corona de Aragón, ya que el condado de Foix era vasallo suyo y Andorra estaba dentro de las fronteras de la corona. Diez años después, como consecuencia de la construcción de una iglesia fortificada en San Vicente de Enclar por el conde de Foix, desde donde podía vigilar las actividades del obispo de Urgel, se firmó el segundo pariaje en 1288. Este segundo tratado otorga, entre otros aspectos, el derecho a nombrar por ambas partes unos notarios que ostenten su representación en el Principado. En 1396 Martín el Humano se anexionó los valles de Andorra, ya que estaba aumentando el poder de Francia y el del c. Foix, pero se los devolvió a la casa de Foix cuatro años más tarde.

En 1419 se creó el Consejo de la Tierra, formado por dos o tres representantes de las siete parroquias, con el objetivo de defender los intereses locales. De nuevo volvió a anexionárselos Fernando el Católico en 1512, en su lucha contra los Albret de Navarra y contra los condes de Foix; pero los reintegró un año más tarde a Germana de Foix, que había de ser su segunda esposa. Carlos V ratificó esta donación y renunció a todos sus derechos del Principado de Andorra, excepto al de nombrar obispo (que ha sido retenido hasta la actualidad), que fue agregado a la corona francesa por Enrique III de Navarra y IV de Francia en 1607, y su hijo en 1620 Luis XIII, lo declara unido a Francia hasta la Revolución, en el que Francia renunció a sus derechos temporalmente y el obispo de Urgel la gobernó para sí mismo, hasta que Napoleón volvió a aceptar la soberanía hasta 1814, cuando fue liberada por Inglaterra y sus aliados y se formalizó un condominio entre Urgel y Francia, en el que se reconocía su independencia, y por eso los jefes de Estado serán el obispo de la Seo de Urgel y el rey de Francia (en la actualidad, el presidente de la República Francesa).

Nueva Reforma 

En la sociedad andorrana anterior al  solo existían dos grupos sociales en el Principado: los focs que eran familias o casas andorranas existentes desde hacía siglos y que tenían recursos económicos suficientes para pagar los impuestos del Consell General o Parlamento, y los casalers, grupo formado por las casas más pobres. En la vida política únicamente podían participar los miembros pertenecientes al primer grupo (cuyo número era de 179 casas frente a las 600 de los casalers).

La Revolución francesa (1789-1799), como heredera del territorio, renunció a sus derechos feudales sobre Andorra. Luego Napoleón Bonaparte volvió a aceptar su soberanía en 1806 por petición expresa de los andorranos.

En 1866 se inició, por Guillem d'Areny-Plandolit y Anton Maestre, un proceso democratizador con la Nova Reforma, que concedió una participación más activa al pueblo andorrano en el gobierno del país. Las principales modificaciones fueron:

 Derecho de voto para todos los cabeza de familia.
 Incompatibilidad entre el cargo de consejero general y el de Cònsol (consejero) del Común y duración de los cargos de cuatro años.
 Renovación de los consejeros —generales o del Común— cada cuatro años.
 Limitación del número de consejeros del Común en cada parroquia.
 Creación del cargo de Comisionado del Pueblo con la finalidad de fiscalizar o controlar a la Administración y las cuentas públicas.

Desde el 18 de agosto hasta el 9 de octubre de 1933, un destacamento de gendarmes franceses ocupó Andorra debido a los altercados producidos para conseguir el sufragio universal masculino (el voto femenino no se consiguió hasta 1970) y a la lucha, más o menos encubierta, entre el Consejo General (Consell General) y los copríncipes. Paralelamente, los obreros de FHASA que construían la carretera desde Andorra la Vieja hasta el Pas de la Casa, y provenientes de España afiliados a la CNT y FAI, iniciaron una huelga para reivindicar mejoras en sus condiciones de trabajo.

El único periodo histórico durante el cual Andorra no dependió de ningún otro estado, salvo un periodo de anexión directa a Francia por Napoleón entre 1812 y 1814, fueron unos días en 1934, en los cuales el autodeclarado "barón de Orange", un ciudadano ruso llamado Boris de Skossyreff, se hizo proclamar "Rey de Andorra" y, en apenas nueve días, anunció una constitución, un boletín oficial y varios decretos y le declararó la guerra al copríncipe episcopal, el obispo de Urgel. Si bien el 8 de julio Francia comunicó oficialmente que no intervendría en Andorra, el obispo de Urgel no tardó en actuar el día 21 de ese mismo mes, denunciando a Boris ante la Guardia Civil que envió cuatro agentes y un sargento del cuartel de la Seo de Urgel, que detuvieron y esposaron al supuesto "rey", llevándoselo a la Seo sin que los habitantes del Principado hicieran nada por impedirlo,. A la mañana siguiente fue trasladado a Barcelona y puesto a disposición del juez Bellón. Reaparecería en febrero de 1938, en Aix-en-Provence,  reivindicando el trono andorrano, aunque fue detenido por las autoridades francesas y juzgado el 21 de marzo de 1938.

En 1936, con motivo de la guerra civil española, volvería la presencia de gendarmes franceses, comandados nuevamente por el coronel René Baulard hasta 1940, año en que Francia se rinde al ejército alemán. La Guerra Civil y la consiguiente victoria franquista, además del estallido de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la invasión de Francia por parte de los alemanes de Hitler, dejó al país en una difícil tesitura, amparada por el Gobierno de Vichy dirigido por el Mariscal Petain, tuvo que simpatizar forzosamente con los regímenes de Hitler y de Francisco Franco para mantener su neutralidad, aprovechando esta situación para organizar cadenas de evasión destinadas a pasar judíos perseguidos por la Gestapo, así como oficiales y soldados aliados hacia España. Finalmente, en 1944, debido a las incursiones de maquis desde Andorra hacia España, el general de Gaulle envió a un contingente de gendarmes para evitar la invasión franquista de Andorra. A su vez, el Copríncipe episcopal también envió un destacamento de guardias civiles, permaneciendo, tanto franceses como españoles, hasta 1945.

El 14 de enero de 1982 entró en funciones el primer gobierno andorrano, presidido por Òscar Ribas Reig. La última fecha histórica es el 14 de marzo de 1993, cuando se aprobó en referéndum la segunda Constitución escrita de su historia, que desarticuló las últimas reminiscencias feudales del Principado al declarar al pueblo andorrano como único soberano del Estado. Ese mismo año se firmó el Tratado de buena vecindad, amistad y cooperación entre España, Francia y Andorra.

Gobierno y política 

Andorra es un coprincipado parlamentario y aprobó su Constitución el 14 de marzo de 1993. La política general y la administración del país es responsabilidad del Gobierno de Andorra. La jefatura del Estado recae en la figura del copríncipe episcopal, el obispo de Seo de Urgel, y del copríncipe francés, el presidente de la República Francesa como heredero de los derechos del Conde de Foix. Los actuales jefes de Estado son Emmanuel Macron, presidente de la República Francesa, representado por Patrick Strzoda, y el obispo de Seo de Urgel Joan Enric Vives i Sicília, representado por Josep María Mauri. El presidente del Gobierno actual es Xavier Espot Zamora.

El Principado está representado internacionalmente en varias organizaciones, además de poseer un cuerpo diplomático en países del exterior.

Poder ejecutivo 

El órgano ejecutivo está compuesto por un presidente del Gobierno y varios ministerios en número variable.

Poder legislativo 

El Consejo General de Andorra, antiguamente denominado Consejo General de los Valles de Andorra, es el órgano legislativo y se trata de un parlamento unicameral de representación mixta y paritaria de la población nacional y de las siete parroquias, compuesto por 28 miembros elegidos cada cuatro años. La sede del parlamento es el Nuevo Parlamento de Andorra, inaugurado en 2011. Hasta entonces la sede fue la histórica Casa de la Vall.

Los partidos representados en el Consejo General, según los resultados de las elecciones del 2 de abril de 2023 son:

Actualmente, en Andorra gobierna Demócratas, partido de centroderecha que en las últimas elecciones de 2023 obtuvo mayoría absoluta en coalición con otros partidos y candidatos. El presidente del Gobierno (Cap de Govern) del país es Xavier Espot Zamora.

Los partidos de derechas obtienen muy buenos resultados y siempre ha gobernado la derecha, excepto desde 2009 hasta 2011, que gobernó el Partido Socialdemócrata de Andorra. El Partido Liberal de Andorra había sido el partido hegemónico del centroderecha hasta 2011 cuando le superó Demócratas. A su derecha se encuentra el nuevo partido conservador y populista Andorra Adelante, que obtuvo 3 escaños en su primera aparición electoral.

En la izquierda, el PSA había sido el partido principal, e incluso ocupó el gobierno de 2009 a  2011, pero ha pasado a una tercera posición desde 2023, siendo superado por Concordia.

Poder judicial 
El sistema judicial andorrano está compuesto por:
 Bailía de Andorra: juzga, en primera instancia, los delitos menores y contravenciones penales así como los litigios civiles y administrativos.
 Tribunal de Cortes: dirime, en primera instancia, sobre los delitos mayores y, en apelación, los recursos contra las sentencias dictadas por el Tribunal de Batlles.
 Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Andorra: compuesto por un presidente y ocho magistrados designados por el Consell Superior de la Justicia. Cuenta con competencias sobre asuntos civiles, administrativos y penales.
 Consejo Superior de la Justicia: órgano de representación, gobierno y administración del poder judicial y que vela por la independencia y buen funcionamiento de la justicia.
 Tribunal Constitucional de Andorra: es el encargado de interpretar la Constitución andorrana, así como decidir sobre la adecuación de las restantes leyes a esta. Se compone de cuatro magistrados.

Administración pública 
Los comunes son órganos de representación y administración civil de las parroquias. Son corporaciones públicas con personalidad jurídica y potestad normativa local. Los comunes se encargan de aprobar y ejecutar el presupuesto comunal, gestionar los bienes de propiedad comunal y pueden presentar proyectos de ley al Consejo General de Andorra. Sus miembros se eligen cada cuatro años por sufragio universal e incluyen un cónsul mayor, un cónsul menor y entre 8 y 14 consejeros comunales.

Derechos humanos 

La actual normativa sobre revisiones médicas que se realizan a inmigrantes, establece que se denegará la autorización de trabajo a aquellas personas que padezcan alcoholismo u otras toxicomanías, enfermedades susceptibles de cuarentena definidas en el Reglamento Sanitario Internacional de la Organización Mundial de la Salud, alteraciones psicomentales graves que representen un peligro para el orden o seguridad públicas, enfermedades infecciosas que representen un peligro para la salud pública como hepatitis o sida, enfermedades crónicas que evolucionen a una incapacidad laboral como sordera o incapacidades físicas o psíquicas para el tipo de trabajo solicitado.

Los Derechos Humanos quedan asegurados con la figura del Raonador del Ciutadà (Defensor del Pueblo), que es una institución independiente de cualquier otra que tiene como misión la defensa y la protección de los derechos y libertades fundamentales reconocidos en la Constitución, la vigilancia del cumplimento y la defensa de los derechos reconocidos en los convenios internacionales firmados y ratificados por el Principado de Andorra en los términos que establece la ley, en particular sobre los derechos de los niños, de las personas con discapacidad, y también la lucha contra la discriminación de todo tipos y contra las actitudes racistas, xenófobas, antisemitas e intolerantes.

Defensa 
Andorra no tiene fuerzas armadas propias, aunque existe un pequeño ejército ceremonial. La responsabilidad de la defensa de la nación recae principalmente en sus vecinos, Francia y España, según el Tratado de 1993 entre España, Francia y Andorra.

Andorra ha contado a través de diversas épocas con un pequeño ejército, que históricamente se ha alzado o reconstituido en diversas fechas, pero que en los tiempos modernos nunca ha llegado a constituir un ejército permanente. El principio básico de la defensa andorrana es que todos los hombres sanos están disponibles para luchar si son llamados por el Somatén (formado por los cabezas de familia). Al ser un país sin salida al mar, Andorra carece de armada.

Antes de la Primera Guerra Mundial, Andorra mantuvo una milicia armada de unos 600 milicianos a tiempo parcial bajo la supervisión de un capitán del somatén (Capità o Cap de Sometent) y un teniente (Desener o Lloctinent del Capità). Este cuerpo no podía prestar servicio fuera del principado y estaba dirigido por dos oficiales (veguers) nombrados por Francia y el obispo de Urgel en España.

En la época moderna, el ejército se componía de un cuerpo muy reducido de voluntarios dispuestos a realizar tareas ceremoniales. Los uniformes y el armamento se pasaban de generación en generación dentro de las familias y las comunidades.

El papel del ejército en la seguridad interior fue asumido en gran medida por la formación del Cuerpo de Policía de Andorra en 1931. Breves desórdenes civiles relacionados con las elecciones de 1933 llevaron a solicitar ayuda a la Gendarmería Nacional francesa, con un destacamento residente en Andorra durante dos meses bajo el mando de René-Jules Baulard. La Policía andorrana fue reformada al año siguiente, con once soldados nombrados para funciones de supervisión. La fuerza estaba compuesta por seis cabos, uno por cada parroquia (aunque actualmente hay siete parroquias, hasta 1978 solo había seis), más cuatro oficiales subalternos para coordinar la acción, y un comandante con el rango de mayor. Era responsabilidad de los seis cabos, cada uno en su parroquia, poder reunir una fuerza de combate entre los hombres aptos de la parroquia.

La única sección permanente del Somatén actual es una unidad ceremonial de doce hombres. Sin embargo, todos los hombres sanos están técnicamente disponibles para el servicio militar, con el requisito de que cada familia tenga acceso a un arma de fuego. Un arma de área como una escopeta por hogar no está regulada, sin embargo las armas a distancia como pistolas y fusiles requieren una licencia. El ejército andorrano no ha combatido en más de 700 años y su principal responsabilidad es presentar la bandera de Andorra en actos ceremoniales oficiales. Según Marc Forné Molné, el presupuesto militar de Andorra proviene estrictamente de donaciones voluntarias y de la disponibilidad de voluntarios a tiempo completo.

En tiempos más recientes solo ha habido una llamada de emergencia general al Somatén: durante las inundaciones de 1982 en el Pirineo español, donde perecieron 12 ciudadanos de Andorra, para ayudar a la población y establecer un orden público junto con las unidades de la policía local.

Organización territorial 

Andorra se divide territorialmente en siete parroquias, primer y único nivel político-administrativo del país. Aun así, hay subdivisiones territoriales: las parroquias de Ordino, La Massana y San Julián de Loria se dividen en quarts (cuartos rurales), y la parroquia de Canillo en veïnats (vecindades).

Parroquias 
Las parroquias toman el nombre de su capital y el orden protocolario es:

 Canillo. Fronteriza con Francia.
 Encamp. Fronteriza con Francia y España.
 Ordino. Fronteriza con Francia.
 La Massana. Fronteriza con Francia y España.
 Andorra la Vieja. Parroquia más poblada y fronteriza con España. Su ciudad principal es la capital del país.
 San Julián de Loria. Fronteriza con España.
 Las Escaldas-Engordany. Fronteriza con España. Es la más reciente, al haberse formado en junio de 1978.

Política exterior 
Desde el establecimiento de su soberanía plena con la ratificación de la Constitución en 1993, Andorra ha pasado a ser un miembro activo de la comunidad internacional. En julio de 1993, Andorra estableció su primera misión diplomática en el mundo ante las Naciones Unidas.

Los asuntos exteriores son supervisados por el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (Ministeri d'Afers Exteriors).

Andorra es miembro de pleno derecho de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO), la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (UNCTAD), la Corte Penal Internacional (CPI), el Centro Internacional de Estudios de Conservación y Restauración de los Bienes Culturales (ICCROM), la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (UIT), la Cruz Roja Internacional, la Convención Universal sobre Derecho de Autor, el Consejo de Europa, la Organización Mundial del Turismo, la Organización para la Seguridad y la Cooperación en Europa (OSCE), el Consejo de Cooperación Aduanera (CCA) e Interpol. Desde 1991, Andorra tiene un acuerdo especial con la Unión Europea (Acuerdo entre la Comunidad Económica Europea y el Principado de Andorra sobre relaciones comerciales)

Embajadas 
  Embajada de España
  Embajada de Francia
  Embajada de Portugal

Consulados 
  Consulado de Italia 
  Consulado de Filipinas
  Consulado General de España

Geografía 

Se sitúa mayoritariamente en la península ibérica, con la excepción de la Solana que vierte aguas al río Ariège, afluente del Garona, que desemboca en Burdeos. La superficie de Andorra, englobada en la península ibérica, es de 468 km². Su relieve es montañoso, con 65 picos de más de 2500 m de altitud. La montaña más alta es el pico de Comapedrosa que, con una altitud de 2946 m s. n. m., está situado en la cordillera de los Pirineos, enclavado entre la frontera de España y Francia. Es una región de escarpados picos montañosos y estrechos valles por donde fluyen numerosos cursos de agua que se unen para formar los tres ríos principales: el río Valira del Norte, el río Valira de Oriente y el río Gran Valira. Hay grandes extensiones boscosas de pinos y abedules debido al clima mediterráneo de alta montaña del que goza el país. En 2004, el valle de Madriu-Perafita-Claror fue declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

Clima 
Andorra cuenta con un clima mediterráneo y oceánico de alta montaña, en el que las temperaturas en invierno son frías y en verano, suaves. Se producen variaciones en el clima dependiendo de la altitud y la orientación. El Principado tiene un porcentaje elevado de días soleados y el clima es algo húmedo.

La media de las mínimas anuales es de -11 °C y la de las máximas es de 24 °C. Las precipitaciones más abundantes se producen durante el otoño mientras que en invierno son, sobre todo, de nieve.

Se puede definir un modelo global caracterizado por lluvias convectivas y abundantes durante la primavera y el verano, que pueden durar hasta el otoño (mayo, junio y agosto suelen ser los meses más lluviosos); en invierno, sin embargo, es menos lluvioso, excepto en las tierras altas, sometidas a la influencia de los frentes del Atlántico, lo que explica la gran cantidad de nieve que cae en las montañas andorranas. El régimen de temperaturas se caracteriza, a grandes rasgos, por un verano templado y un invierno largo y frío; de acuerdo con la condición montañosa del Principado.

Relieve 
Este pequeño país se caracteriza por sus cumbres de materiales paleozoicos, que se elevan por encima de los 2600 m s. n. m. y llegan a un máximo de 2946 m s. n. m. en el Pico de Coma Pedrosa, cerca del Pla de l'Estany en la frontera hispano-francesa. La actividad humana se centra en el valle transversal noreste-suroeste, que a partir del puerto de Envalira, con 2408 m s. n. m., desciende hasta los 840 m s. n. m., cuando el río Valira entra en España.

Vegetación 
Los bosques ocupan 2/5 del territorio, distribuidos en tres pisos altitudinales: hasta los 1200 metros, destacan la encina y el roble; hasta los 1600-1700 metros, predomina el pino silvestre; y hasta los 2200-2300 metros, abunda el pino negro, sustituido en las cumbres por los prados alpinos.

En la parroquia de La Massana está el bosque de Arinsal, una de las masas forestales más importantes de Andorra. Su flor típica es la grandalla.

Hidrografía 
El país es cruzado por los tres ríos principales. El Valira de Oriente nace en la parte más oriental, tiene un recorrido de 23km y pasa por las ciudades de Canillo y Encamp, confluyendo con el río Valira del Norte, que nace en los lagos de Tristaina, tiene un recorrido de 14km y pasa por la ciudad de Ordino y La Massana para finalmente, en la ciudad de Las Escaldas-Engordany, confluir ambos ríos y formar el Gran Valira, con un recorrido de 11,6km y un caudal anual medio de 13m³/s. Este último, en su descenso hacia el sur, acaba desembocando en el río Segre que, a su vez, es afluente del Ebro.

Andorra tiene más de 60 lagos. Los más representativos son el lago de Juclar, cuya superficie es la más extensa de todos los lagos del Principado con 21 hectáreas y que, durante la época estival y por la consecuente falta de agua, puede avistarse como tres lagos diferentes, aunque en realidad es el mismo, el lago de l'Illa con 13 hectáreas, el estanque de Engolasters con 7 hectáreas y los tres lagos de Tristaina.

Demografía y sociedad

Población 

La población de Andorra en 2022 era de 79 877 habitantes. En 2008 era de 84 484 habitantes, de los cuales 31 636 eran andorranos, 27 300 españoles, 13 794 portugueses, 5214 franceses y 6540 de otras nacionalidades. Debido a una política voluntaria de carácter restrictivo para adquirir la nacionalidad, en 1998, última fecha de la que se tiene información de todos los habitantes con nacionalidad andorrana, solo el 53,1% habían nacido en Andorra. Aun así, el número total de ciudadanos andorranos ha crecido significativamente en los últimos diez años: en 1998, solo representaban el 24,5% de la población total y en la actualidad, ya son mayoría relativa. Por el contrario, el número absoluto de ciudadanos españoles en 2008 era ligeramente menor que el número de 1998, pero su porcentaje con respecto de la población total ha disminuido significativamente del 48,4% al 32,8%, y hoy constituyen la primera minoría del país, junto con portugueses (16,3%) y franceses (6,3%) como los otros grupos principales. En conjunto, los ciudadanos que no disponen de la nacionalidad andorrana son mayoritarios, pero no tienen derecho a voto en las elecciones comunales, ni tampoco pueden ser presidentes.

En cuanto a las parroquias, la más poblada es Andorra la Vieja, con una población de 24678 habitantes en 2008, seguida de Las Escaldas-Engordany con 16714, Encamp con 14234, San Julián de Loria con 9652, La Massana 9636, Canillo 5625 y Ordino con solo 3945 habitantes, siendo la menos poblada.

La tasa de crecimiento demográfico es más alta que las de la mayoría de los estados europeos; en 2008 se estimaba en el 2% anual. Esta tasa de crecimiento demográfico es debida a una tasa de natalidad, estimada en 2008, de 10,6 por cada 1000 habitantes, una tasa de mortalidad de 5,6 por cada 1000 habitantes, y una altísima tasa neta de migración de 14 migrantes por cada 1000 habitantes. La tasa de crecimiento anual había llegado a un máximo histórico del 7,7% en 2003, seguida del 6,4% en 2004, siendo Canillo la parroquia con la tasa más elevada. La esperanza de vida de los andorranos es la segunda más alta del mundo, estimada en 91,2 años (89,2 para los hombres y 93,2 para las mujeres). La tasa de fertilidad es de 1,32 hijos por mujer. En cuanto a la pirámide de edades, el 15,5% de los andorranos en 2008 tenían menos de 14 años, el 72,5% entre 15 y 64 años, y el 12% tenían 65 o más años. La media de edad de los residentes andorranos es de 38,8 años.

Idiomas 

El idioma oficial de Andorra es el catalán, es el único estado que lo tiene como único idioma oficial. Aunque la realidad lingüística es el resultado de la gran transformación demográfica que ha vivido el país desde la segunda mitad del : en 1940 las personas extranjeras residentes en el país representaban solo el 17%; en 1989 representaban el 75,7% —máximo histórico— y en 2007 son alrededor del 65%. También suele oírse el francés, dada la situación fronteriza del Principado. Recientemente ha habido un incremento significativo de la población de habla portuguesa.

El catalán es la lengua materna del 35,7% de la población de nacionalidad andorrana, pero lo utiliza habitualmente el 45,9%. Para el castellano, es respectivamente el 43,2% y el 39,1%. A pesar del crecimiento de la población de nacionalidades andorrana y portuguesa, el 43,4% declaró que el español es su lengua materna. El estudio muestra que en los últimos años se ha producido un deterioro de la posición de la lengua catalana en favor del español.

En cuanto a la alfabetización, el 100% de los ciudadanos saben leer y escribir. El español es la lengua que ocupa el primer lugar respecto a la proporción de la población alfabetizada, seguida del francés, y en tercer lugar el catalán.

Según un estudio de 2018 del Servicio de Política Lingüística del Gobierno de Andorra, los idiomas más comunes en Andorra son:

Religión 

A pesar de que no hay ninguna religión oficial, la Constitución hace una mención explícita de la Iglesia católica, a la cual garantiza el ejercicio libre y público de sus actividades y el mantenimiento de las relaciones de colaboración especial con el Estado, de acuerdo con la tradición andorrana, aunque también establece la libertad religiosa. Nótese también que uno de los copríncipes del Principado es el obispo católico de la Seo de Urgel, y que la celebración religiosa del 8 de septiembre, de la Virgen de Meritxell es fiesta nacional. Se estima que el 95% de la población andorrana profesa el cristianismo; entre sus denominaciones está el catolicismo (mayoritariamente), el protestantismo, el mormonismo y los Testigos de Jehová. Otras religiones que se practican son el islam —por los 2000 inmigrantes norteafricanos establecidos— y el hinduismo.

La población de Andorra es predominantemente (88,2%) católica; su patrona es Nuestra Señora de Meritxell. Si bien no es una religión oficial del micro-Estado, la constitución reconoce una relación especial con la Iglesia católica, y le da algunos privilegios. Otras denominaciones cristianas incluyen la Iglesia Anglicana, la Iglesia de Unificación, la Iglesia Nueva Apostólica y los Testigos de Jehová. La pequeña comunidad musulmana está compuesta principalmente por inmigrantes del norte de África. Hay una pequeña comunidad de hindúes y bahá'ís, y aproximadamente cien judíos viven en Andorra.

Sanidad 
La sanidad en el país forma parte de la red pública y se accede a través de la afiliación a la seguridad social llamada Caja Andorrana de Seguridad Social (CASS). Hay solo un hospital, el Hospital Nuestra Señora de Meritxell, en Las Escaldas-Engordany y once centros de salud repartidos por las principales poblaciones.

Andorra tiene convenios con la Generalidad de Cataluña en materia sanitaria. En el año 2010 se firmó un nuevo acuerdo para compartir servicios sanitarios, de emergencias e historias clínicas para coordinar la derivación de pacientes del Alto Urgel al Principado y pacientes de Andorra a Cataluña. Además, el acuerdo también permite a los andorranos acceder a la tarjeta sanitaria europea y el Banco de Sangre y Tejidos de Cataluña.

Los tratamientos sanitarios en Andorra son asumidos íntegramente por los ciudadanos, si bien el Estado les garantiza la devolución del 75% del importe si gozan de cobertura sanitaria. El resto debe pagarlo el afectado o bien un seguro médico que tenga contratado. El coste de estos ronda los 60 euros al mes.

Educación 

En Andorra conviven tres sistemas educativos con centros de educación primaria, secundaria y Formación Profesional:
 Andorrano. Dependiente del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Juventud.
 Español. Dependiente del Ministerio de Educación de España.
 Francés. Dependiente del Ministerio de Educación Nacional de Francia.

Además de la oferta pública, hay que añadir la existencia de dos centros congregacionales que se rigen por el sistema español aunque mayoritariamente imparten las clases en catalán promoviendo, también, el uso del francés y el español. Para el curso escolar 2005-2006, en el sistema francés estaban inscritos 3636 alumnos, en el andorrano 3612, y en el español 3541.

En 1997 se fundó la Universidad de Andorra, de carácter público y que tiene firmados convenios de colaboración con diversas universidades españolas y francesas. Esta universidad se compone de tres centros:
 Escuela de Enfermería. Se imparte la carrera de Enfermería.
 Escuela de Informática y Gestión. Se imparten las carreras de Administración de Empresas, Ciencias de la Educación e Informática.
 Centro de Estudios Virtuales. Se imparten asignaturas virtuales, estudios de Primer o Segundo Ciclo, postgrados y cursos de actualización.
 Centro de Enseñanza Profesional de Aixovall, situado en San Julián de Loria.

Durante los meses de verano organiza la Universidad de Verano, cuyo actual presidente de honor es Juan Goytisolo relevando, en el 2006, a José Luis Sampedro.

Economía 

Andorra no es un miembro de pleno derecho en la Unión Europea pero, desde 1990, goza de una relación especial y es tratado como si fuera parte de ella para el comercio en bienes manufacturados (exonerados de impuestos) y como no miembro de la UE para los productos agrícolas.

Tradicionalmente Andorra ha sido un país agrícola y ganadero aunque, desde la década de los 50, el sector primario ha ido perdiendo importancia. La producción agrícola está limitada, ya que solo el 2% de la tierra es cultivable, plantándose tabaco en la casi totalidad de sus campos, y la principal actividad ganadera es la crianza bovina y equina, basadas en un sistema de explotación extensivo. En el sector secundario predominan las industrias de transformación (cigarrillos, puros y muebles) e industrias primarias. Actualmente el sector terciario representa, según estimaciones, el 80% del PIB andorrano, siendo el turismo el sostén principal de la economía andorrana. Nueve millones de personas la visitan anualmente, atraídas por su condición de paraíso fiscal, sus estaciones de esquí y el diferencial de precios en el comercio respecto de los países vecinos, aunque este último se ha erosionado recientemente mientras las economías francesa y española se han abierto, proporcionando una disponibilidad más amplia de bienes y tarifas más bajas. En el año 2005, el país recibió a 11049490 visitantes de los cuales 2 418 409 eran turistas y 8631081 excursionistas. Del total de visitantes, el 57,2% eran españoles, el 39,8% franceses y solo un 3,0% venían de otros países.

Actualmente, el sector financiero del país cuenta con tres entidades bancarias pertenecientes a la Asociación de Bancos Andorranos —a su vez miembro de la Federación Bancaria de la Unión Europea—, que en el pasado contribuía sustancialmente a la economía debido al secreto bancario que fomentaba las grandes cuentas de la banca offshore (y que contaba hasta hace poco con cinco entidades bancarias). A finales de la década de 2010, entraron en vigor diversos tratados de intercambio de información, que propiciaron la apertura económica y transparencia de la banca andorrana, causando, por otra parte, que las posiciones monetarias extraterritoriales del país pirineo se fueran reduciendo considerablemente. Este cambio de parecer se debió en un principio a la presión ejercida por el entonces presidente de Francia Nicolas Sarkozy (quien llegó hasta a amenazar con dimitir como jefe de Estado andorrano). Como consecuencia, el gobierno andorrano firmó en abril de 2009 la Declaración de París en la cumbre londinense del G-20, para así dejar de ser considerado paraíso fiscal por la OCDE. Para 2020, Andorra había firmado tratados de intercambio de información fiscal con 95 países y organizaciones, incluido el Foro Global sobre Transparencia e Intercambio de Información Tributaria (auspiciado por el llamado G-5 y avalado por la OCDE).

Todos los bancos de Andorra son bancos nacionales y de propiedad local, cuyas principales actividades son la banca privada, la banca de consumo (para actividades locales) y la banca comercial. Con el intercambio automático de datos CRS en vigor, el capital extranjero existente en el país está sujeto al cumplimiento de los requisitos internacionales.

Los agentes sociales son:
 Organizaciones sindicales. En diciembre de 2008, el número de asalariados era de 40 694.
 SAT
 USdA
 Organizaciones empresariales
 CEA
 PIME

Moneda 

Andorra ha carecido históricamente de moneda oficial. Hasta la introducción del euro en España y Francia, la peseta española y el franco francés fueron de facto las monedas usadas allí. A partir de 2002, el euro se convirtió, también de facto, en la moneda andorrana.

En 2011 se firmó un acuerdo monetario que le permitiría a Andorra usar el euro de manera oficial así como acuñar sus propias monedas de euro desde el 1 de julio de 2013. Este acuerdo dependía de la ratificación andorrana, la cual sucedió en abril de 2012, momento en que entró en vigor. En octubre de 2012 las autoridades andorranas pospusieron la emisión de monedas en euro hasta 2014, año en el que finalmente fue emitida la primera serie.

Tradicionalmente Andorra emitía monedas denominadas «Diners» que no tenían curso legal sino que eran con fines de coleccionismo. Estas monedas podrán seguir siendo emitidas.

La supervisión de los bancos andorranos y demás entidades financieras corresponde al Autoridad Financiera Andorrana, creado en 1989.

Espacio Schengen 
Andorra no forma parte del acuerdo Schengen firmado por 26 países. Esto implica que para acceder al principado se deben cumplir una serie de requisitos para superar los controles fronterizos. Si el origen del visitante es de fuera de la Unión Europea deberá solicitar una visa para poder acceder al país. La persona que esté interesada en entrar en Andorra deberá solicitar una visa de entrada múltiple a territorio europeo. Esto es debido a que si se visita territorio andorrano se estará abandonando la Unión Europea, y necesitará otro visado de entrada a España o Francia para abandonar el país; ya que Andorra no posee vuelos directos y la entrada debe hacerse desde uno de los países vecinos. Cabe destacar que la mayor parte de la actividad fronteriza está relacionada con el control de mercancías que entran a territorio europeo. 

Para las personas pertenecientes a territorios adheridos al acuerdo Schengen que desean entrar en Andorra no es necesario ningún tipo de visado. Solo será necesario cuando la persona realice largas estancias en el Principado de Andorra, normalmente superiores a 90 días.

Fiscalidad 
El Principado de Andorra dejó de ser considerado un paraíso fiscal con la introducción de impuestos en su país como el Impuesto General Indirecto (IGI), el Impuesto de Sociedades (IS) y el Impuesto de la Renta de las Personas Físicas (IRPF).

El Impuesto General Indirecto (IGI) se estableció en Andorra en el año 2013 y el tipo general aplicado es del 4,5%.

El Impuesto de Sociedades (IS) grava las ganancias obtenidas por las empresas andorranas a un tipo máximo del 10%. Uno de los puntos más interesantes es que la distribución de dividendos está totalmente exenta de impuestos.

Por último, el Impuesto de Renta sobre las Personas Físicas (IRPF), grava las ganancias obtenidas mundialmente por las personas físicas residentes en Andorra. Los primeros 24000€ obtenidos están totalmente exentos y el tipo impositivo máximo de este impuesto está establecido en el 10%.

Infraestructura

Transportes 

Andorra se comunica con el exterior a través de las vías terrestres. No dispone de ferrocarril (aunque existe un proyecto de línea ferroviaria Barcelona-Andorra, conectando la Seo de Urgel con Puigcerdá, además de la estación Andorra-l'Hospitalet en territorio francés), metro o aeropuertos (desestimando el apoyo al aeropuerto de Seo de Urgel en beneficio del aeropuerto de Lérida), pero tiene una infraestructura de carreteras lo bastante amplia para poder cubrir la mayor parte del país.

Actualmente están en curso diversas obras en infraestructuras viarias como, por ejemplo, la ampliación de carriles en las carreteras principales, la supresión de puntos negros en la red viaria y la construcción de varios túneles, de los cuales se han iniciado trabajos en el Túnel de los Dos Valiras.

También es posible acceder al Principado con las líneas regulares de autobús, que conectan Andorra con prácticamente cualquier punto de Europa o a través de los helipuertos que hay en Andorra la Vieja y en La Massana. Obviamente no dispone de accesos por mar, ni tampoco ningún río navegable.

Telecomunicaciones 

La primera emisora de radio comercial en emitir desde Andorra fue Ràdio Andorra que estuvo en activo desde 1939 hasta 1981. El 12 de octubre de 1989, el Consell General estableció la radio y la televisión como servicios públicos esenciales al crear la entidad gestora ORTA convirtiéndose, el 13 de abril de 2000, en la sociedad pública Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra, S.A.
En 1990 se fundó la radio pública Radio Nacional de Andorra. En 1998, operaban 15 emisoras FM y el número de aparatos de radio en 1997 era de 16 000.
Como canal de televisión autóctono únicamente existe la cadena pública nacional Andorra Televisión, creada en 1995, aunque el Gobierno promueve la emisión de canales internacionales dentro del Principado.

Las primeras emisiones analógicas de televisión fueron con las cadenas españolas TVE-1, TVE-2 y TV3 y las francesas TF1, France 2 y France 3 aunque en años posteriores, y aún emitiendo en analógico, se fueron introduciendo el canal catalán Canal 33, la cadena Antena 3 y la francesa M6. Con la llegada de la TDT, el 25 de septiembre de 2007, la oferta televisiva se amplió con cadenas españolas como Cuatro, Telecinco, La Sexta, el canal 3/24, el canal francés NRJ 12, la portuguesa RTP, la estadounidense CNN International, la británica BBC World y el francoalemán ARTE. Actualmente de manera gratuita solo se emite el TDT con canales andorranos, franceses, españoles, internacionales y algunos regionales como TV3. No obstante, se ofrecen numerosos paquetes con una variedad inmensa de canales, entre ellos los paquetes de Movistar Plus+.

El proveedor de telefonía fija, móvil, Internet y televisión por suscripción es Andorra Telecom. La red telefónica está compuesta por conexiones de enlaces de radio con microondas entre centrales para las conexiones locales, y circuitos terrestres hacia España y Francia para las comunicaciones internacionales. Andorra Telecom dispone en la actualidad de tres enlaces internacionales, uno hacia Francia con Orange y dos hacia España con Telefónica Global Solutions y GTT Communications.

Desde 2014 una red FTTH cubre el 100% de los hogares andorranos, ofreciendo hasta 1 Gbps simétrico. En 2014 se llevó a cabo la desconexión total del ADSL en el territorio y en 2016 se terminó de desinstalar la antigua red de cobre, ya sin uso tras la sustitución por la red de fibra óptica. El acceso a internet está considerado "derecho universal" desde 2011.

Andorra no está incluido dentro del roaming europeo gratuito. En el caso de usuarios españoles, el simple envío de un video mediante WhatsApp puede tener un coste de 30 euros. El coste de un solo MB puede llegar a 12 euros en algunos operadores, siendo Movistar el más económico, con 3 GB por 9 euros diarios. Las alternativas de ahorro pueden ser adquirir tarjetas SIM prepago de Andorra Telecom o bien SIM específicas o internacionales.

El servicio de correo es atendido por la Sociedad Estatal Correos y Telégrafos (España) desde 1928, y La Poste (Francia) desde 1931.

En 2004, se introdujeron los códigos postales según el orden protocolario de las parroquias:
 Canillo: AD100.
 Encamp: AD200.
 Ordino: AD300.
 La Massana: AD400.
 Andorra la Vieja: AD500.
 San Julián de Loria: AD600.
 Las Escaldas-Engordany: AD700.

Cultura 

La Biblioteca Nacional y los Archivos Nacionales fueron creados en 1974 y 1975 respectivamente, y se localizan en la capital.

Además existen varios museos: Casa Rull en Sispony, la Farga Rossell en La Massana, y el Centro de interpretación Andorra Románica en Pal, el museo Viladomat, el museo de Maquetas de Arte Románico y el museo del Perfume en Las Escaldas-Engordany, el museo de miniaturas de Nicolaï Siadristy, la Casa de Areny-Plandolit y el museo postal de Andorra en Ordino, el Museo Nacional del Automóvil en Encamp, la Casa de la Vall, con una sección dedicada a la filatelia y numismática, en Andorra la Vieja y el Museo del Tabaco en San Julián de Loria.

Arquitectura 

Andorra cuenta con un gran número de monumentos románicos. La iglesia de Santa Coloma, construida entre los siglos IX y X d.C. es una de las pocas iglesias románicas del mundo con campanario cilíndrico, fechado en el .

Literatura 
La literatura andorrana tiene sus orígenes en el . Antoni Fiter i Rossell escribió un libro sobre la historia, el gobierno y los usos y costumbres de Andorra llamado Manual Digest de las Valls neustras de Andorra en 1748. Esta obra también contiene los documentos de Carlomagno y Ludovico Pío. Actualmente el original se conserva en la casa Fiter-Riba, de Ordino, aunque existe una copia en el Armario de las siete llaves de la Casa de la Vall y otra en los archivos del Obispado de La Seo de Urgel. Posteriormente, en 1763, el párroco Antoni Puig escribió el Politar andorrà, obra donde se describen los privilegios del Principado y las atribuciones de las autoridades. El poeta Jacinto Verdaguer se inspiró, en parte, con el valle de Seturia para su obra Canigó, publicada en 1886.

Como autores de literatura contemporánea se pueden citar a Antoni Morell i Mora, Albert Salvadó i Miras, Teresa Colom i Pich y Albert Villaró i Boix participando algunos de estos escritores en la edición del 2007 de la Feria del Libro de Fráncfort. Así mismo, el Gobierno andorrano, junto con editoriales catalanas, convoca anualmente el Premio Carlomagno y, desde 2007, el Premio Ramon Llull.

Música 

El evento más importante en la vida cultural andorrana es el Festival internacional de jazz de Las Escaldas-Engordany, celebrado durante el mes de julio, donde intérpretes como Miles Davis, Fats Domino y B.B. King han participado. En el Auditorio Nacional de Andorra, ubicado en Ordino, se celebra el Festival Internacional Narciso Yepes, dedicado a la música clásica y al jazz. En la capital, durante las noches de los jueves de julio y agosto, también se realiza el Dijous de Rock, donde grupos locales y, puntualmente, españoles, ofrecen conciertos al público asistente. La asociación Centre de la Cultura Catalana organiza, desde 1999, el Premio Carles Sabater eligiendo a la mejor canción en catalán del año.

La Orquesta Nacional de Cámara de Andorra, dirigida y fundada en 1992 por el violinista Gerard Claret, celebra un certamen de canto con fama internacional, avalado por Montserrat Caballé, además de haber ofrecido conciertos en España, Francia y Bélgica y participar regularmente en los ciclos del Palacio de la Música Catalana.

La música tradicional andorrana, relacionada con la de otras regiones pirenaicas, cuenta con danzas características como la Marratxa, recopiladas por la folclorista Palmira Jaquetti i Isant.

En 1968 Andorra participó, por primera vez, en el Festival Internacional da Canção, representada por Romuald, con la canción "Le Bruit des Vagues". En 1969 volvió a representar dicho artista al país, con la canción "Tous les printemps du monde". En 1970 lo hizo la cantante Rosa Morena con el tema "Como un pájaro" (Como ave), la cual, obtuvo el Premio de la Crítica de Río de Janeiro.

En 2004, Andorra participó, por primera vez, en el Festival de la Canción de Eurovisión representada por Marta Roure. Este hecho atrajo la atención de los medios de comunicación de Cataluña, ya que fue la primera canción en catalán que participaba en el festival. No pasó de la semifinal, como ocurriría en 2005 (Marian van de Wal), 2006 (Jenny), 2007 (Anonymous), 2008 (Gisela) y 2009 (con la cantante danesa Susanne Georgi), siendo este el último año de su participación.

Fiestas oficiales 

Los días festivos son de cumplimiento obligatorio, retribuidos y no recuperables para las industrias en general, oficinas, establecimientos bancarios, peluquerías, transporte y distribución de mercancías y servicios no relacionados directamente con el turismo.

Desde el 2009, cuando el 14 de marzo coincide con sábado, el gobierno andorrano permite abrir a las empresas dedicadas al comercio, lo cual origina protestas por parte de sindicatos, asociaciones o, en el caso de 2009, del Común de Andorra la Vieja.

Deporte

Juegos de los Pequeños Estados de Europa 

Andorra fue sede, en 1991 y 2005, de los Juegos de los Pequeños Estados de Europa, competición que al amparo del COI se organiza para países europeos con menos de 1 millón de habitantes.

Baloncesto 
En la temporada 1991-92, el Básquet Club Andorra consigue el ascenso a la Liga ACB, de la mano del entrenador Edu Torres. El equipo descendió de la máxima categoría en 1996. En la temporada 2014-15, el Básquet Club Andorra vuelve a conseguir el ascenso a la Liga ACB. Andorra ha alcanzado cuartos de final en las campañas 1994-95, 2016-17 y 2017-18.

El mejor jugador andorrano de baloncesto de la historia es el base Quino Colom.

Deportes de invierno 
El deporte nacional es el esquí. La capital, Andorra la Vieja, intentó ser sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno del 2010, pero no se clasificó para la final. También se estudió una candidatura conjunta con Zaragoza para los juegos del 2018. El Principado también albergó etapas de Pirena, una competición de mushing iniciada en 1990.Andorra tiene dos dominios esquiables formados por la unión de varias estaciones de esquí, y un complejo destinado al ocio donde se puede practicar esquí de fondo:
 Grandvalira. Surgida de la fusión de Pas de la Casa-Grau Roig y Soldeu-El Tarter. La pista Avet, situada en el pueblo de Soldeu alberga pruebas internacionales de esquí como la Copa del Mundo de Esquí Alpino.
 Grandvalira Resorts. Surgida de la alianza entre las estaciones de esquí de Grandvalira, Pal, Arinsal y Ordino-Arcalís.
 Naturlandia. Ubicado en la zona de La Rabassa, con una cota máxima de 2160ms.n.m. y una cota mínima de 1960ms.n.m. Tiene 15km de pistas marcadas, distribuidos en 5 pistas de diferente dificultad.

Fútbol 

La Federación Andorrana de Fútbol organiza la liga de fútbol en el Principado con Primera y Segunda división, así como la Copa Constitució y la Supercopa, donde se enfrentan el campeón de Liga y de Copa. El ganador de Primera juega la ronda previa de la Liga de Campeones de la UEFA. Los partidos se juegan en el Campo Comunal de Andorra la Vieja.

La Selección de fútbol participa en competiciones oficiales, aunque nunca ha estado en ningún Mundial ni Eurocopa. Siempre fue considerada una de las peores selecciones de Europa y del mundo, sin embargo en los últimos años ha tenido un progreso destacable.

El Fútbol Club Andorra juega en Segunda División de España en la Liga española de fútbol al estar inscrito en la Real Federación Española de Fútbol.

Fútbol sala 

La liga andorrana de fútbol sala está dividida en 2 categorías, y el campeón de Primera división juega la fase previa de la Copa de la UEFA de fútbol sala.

El Fútbol Club Andorra tiene una sección de fútbol sala, cuyo equipo es el Butagaz Andorra, que milita en la División de Plata española.

Ciclismo 

En 1993, el equipo de ciclismo Festina cambió su domicilio social al Principado y hasta 2001, año de su desaparición, participó en varias ediciones del Tour de Francia, Giro de Italia y Vuelta ciclista a España.

Melcior Mauri impulsó el equipo Andorra-Grandvalira.

Hockey sobre patines 

Andorra posee una selección de hockey sobre patines, que compite desde 1990. En general compite en el Campeonato Mundial B (jugó 6 veces el Campeonato Mundial A), después de la generación de dos divisiones del Campeonato mundial de hockey sobre patines masculino. Obtuvo el Campeonato Mundial B de Hockey sobre patines en el año 2002, jugado en Montevideo, Uruguay y en 1992 como local. Un tercer puesto en el campeonato jugado en Macao (2004) y un cuarto lugar en 1998 (Macao) y 1996 (Ciudad de México).

Otros deportes 
Se podría decir que en Andorra se practican todos los deportes. Aparte del ciclismo, el fútbol y el baloncesto también es muy popular el rugby con la Selección de rugby de Andorra; el balonmano con el Balonmano Club Concordia, la natación, el judo, la gimnasia, el voleibol y muchos más.

Motor 
Dentro de los deportes de motor, uno de los practicados son los rallies. La prueba más emblemática es el Rally Andorra que se celebra desde los años 1970. Dentro de esta disciplina los pilotos andorranos más destacados son: Gerard De La Casa, Ferrán Font, Joan Carchat, Ferrán Urteru, Jules Gounon, Carles Santacreu, Joan Vinyes o Albert Llovera.

Véase también 
 
 Selección de rugby de Andorra
 Pasaporte andorrano
 Resolución 848 del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas

Referencias

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos 

 Portal oficial del Principado de Andorra

Política
 Gobierno de Andorra (en catalán)
 Consell General (en catalán)
 Web del Copríncipe francés (en catalán y francés)

Turismo
 Información general (en castellano)

Argentina, oficialmente, República Argentina, es un país soberano de América del Sur, ubicado en el extremo sur y sudeste de dicho subcontinente. Adopta la forma de gobierno republicana, democrática, representativa y federal.

La Argentina está organizada como un Estado federal descentralizado, integrado desde 1994 por veintitrés provincias y la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (CABA), capital federal del país. Las veinticuatro jurisdicciones o distritos autogobernados tienen constitución, bandera y fuerza de seguridad propias. Las provincias mantienen todos los poderes no delegados al Estado nacional, tienen tres poderes autónomos y garantizan la autonomía de sus municipios.

Integra el Mercosur —bloque del que fue fundador en 1991—, la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños (CELAC) y la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA).

Para 2020, con una puntuación neta de 0,845, Argentina es el segundo país con el mayor índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) de América Latina, solamente detrás de su vecino Chile. Ajustado por desigualdad la Argentina retrocede cuatro lugares en la clasificación, en tanto que según el índice de desigualdad de género su ubicación retrocede al puesto 75. En educación la ley establece que el gasto público en educación no debe ser inferior al 6% del PBI, con una tasa de alfabetismo de las personas mayores de 15años superior al 99%.

La economía argentina es la segunda más desarrollada e importante en Sudamérica. Según el Banco Mundial, su PIB nominal es el 27.º del mundo. Debido a su importancia geopolítica y económica, es uno de los tres estados soberanos latinoamericanos que forman parte del denominado Grupo de los 20 e integra además el grupo de los NIC o nuevos países industrializados.

Es el único país latinoamericano que tiene un centro de investigación y enseñanza científica entre los diez mejores del mundo, y el país iberoamericano con mayor cantidad de premios Nobel en ciencias. Su capacidad tecnológica y científica le ha permitido diseñar, producir y exportar satélites, construir reactores nucleares y ser el primer productor de software, aeronaves, entre otras cosas. Es considerada una potencia regional.

Ha brindado una creciente cooperación nuclear a países de América Latina, el Magreb, el golfo Pérsico, el Sudeste Asiático y Oceanía, a partir de las capacidades desarrolladas por la Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA) y por la prestigiosa empresa estatal INVAP. Es el país latinoamericano que más premios Nobel ha ganado —cinco en total—, tres de ellos vinculados con la ciencia.

Es un país bicontinental con una superficie de 2780400km², es el país hispanohablante más extenso del planeta, el segundo más grande de América Latina y octavo en el mundo, si se considera solo la superficie continental sujeta a soberanía efectiva. Su plataforma continental, reconocida por la ONU en 2016, alcanza los 6581500km², convirtiéndose en una de las más grandes del mundo, extendiéndose desde el continente americano hasta el Polo Sur en la Antártida, a través del Atlántico Sur. Si se cuentan las islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur, Sandwich del Sur y otras numerosas islas menores (administradas por el Reino Unido, pero de soberanía en litigio), más una porción del área antártica llamada Antártida Argentina al sur del paralelo 60°S, sobre la cual Argentina reclama soberanía, la superficie se eleva a 3761274km². Es uno de los veinte países que tienen presencia permanente en la Antártida, siendo entre ellos el que tiene mayor cantidad de bases permanentes, con seis bases en total.

Su territorio reúne una gran diversidad de climas, causada por una amplitud latitudinal que supera los 30° —incluyendo varias zonas geoastronómicas—, una diferencia en la altitud que va de 107 m bajo el nivel del mar (Laguna del Carbón) a casi 7000 y la extensión del litoral marítimo que alcanza 4725km. Amplias llanuras húmedas limitan con extensos desiertos y altas montañas, mientras que la presencia de climas tropicales y subtropicales en el norte, contrastan con las nevadas y fríos extremos en las zonas cordilleranas y el sur.

Su territorio continental americano, que abarca gran parte del Cono Sur, limita al norte con Bolivia y Paraguay, al nordeste con Brasil, al este con Uruguay y el océano Atlántico, al oeste con Chile y, siempre en su sector americano, al sur con Chile y las aguas atlánticas del pasaje de Drake.

Los primeros registros de pobladores en el actual territorio argentino se remontan a los trece mil años AP, durante el Paleoamericano. En tiempos protohistóricos, periodo precolombino, fue habitado por numerosos pueblos indígenas, algunos de los cuales aún habitan el país; entre ellos guaycurúes, guaraníes, mapuches, tehuelches y diaguitas, estos últimos formaban parte del Imperio Incaico. La colonización española del actual territorio argentino comenzó con viajes exploratorios desde el año 1512, el establecimiento de una población en 1528 y la distribución del territorio a los adelantados. Más tarde, quedó bajo la jurisdicción del Virreinato del Perú. En 1776, la Corona española fundó el Virreinato del Río de la Plata, el cual sería una entidad política precedente a la actual República Argentina. El 25 de mayo de 1810 alcanzó la independencia de facto cuando fue depuesto el último virrey español que gobernó desde Buenos Aires, organizándose la Primera Junta de gobierno. El día 9 de julio de 1816 fue proclamada la independencia en San Miguel de Tucumán.

Toponimia 

El nombre oficial del país es República Argentina, literalmente, "República del Plata". Por elipsis, suele denominarse, "la Argentina". El uso sin artículo, está muy extendido y no se considera incorrecto, si bien la Academia Argentina de Letras lo ha calificado de "reprensible".

Argentina es el femenino del adjetivo poético "argentino" que indica algo que tiene cualidades de la plata o relacionado con ella, del latín argentum que significa "plata". Argentum, a su vez, procede del protoitálico: *argentom, derivado del protoindoeuropeo: *h₂r̥ǵn̥tóm, sustantivo formado a partir del adjetivo *h₂erǵ- que significa: “blanco” o bien "brillante".

Argentina fue una denominación poética de los países ribereños del Plata, río llamado así porque era un acceso a los yacimientos argentíferos del Alto Perú, donde la ciudad de La Plata (Charcas, actual Sucre) era también llamada Civitas Argentina (Ciudad Argentina).

El uso como topónimo, aunque con una declinación diferente, aparece por primera vez en 1554 en el mapa de Lopo Homem: donde los territorios de la región litoral son llamados: Terra Argentea. Más tarde,en 1602, Martín del Barco Centenera la elige, a imitación de La Araucana, como título de un poema épico sobre la conquista: La Argentina. Desde entonces y hasta finales del , Argentina y argentino fueron denominaciones literarias del territorio y los pobladores de la región rioplatense.

Con la creación del Virreinato del Río de la Plata y su posterior independencia como Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata, Argentina y argentino se hicieron más comunes, aunque a veces con una connotación restringida a Buenos Aires y las provincias cercanas.

La Constitución de 1826, usó Argentina como nombre oficial del Estado y, desde entonces, a pesar del rechazo a dicha constitución, fue usado de manera habitual. A partir de la década de 1830, Rosas, formalmente gobernador de Buenos Aires, era el "encargado de dirigir las relaciones exteriores de la República Argentina".

La reforma constitucional argentina de 1860 sancionó como artículo 35 la norma que estableció los nombres oficiales del país, vigente desde entonces: 

En 1860, en la ciudad de Paraná, entonces capital de la Confederación Argentina, el presidente Derqui decretó que para "uniformar los actos administrativos" se usaría siempre República Argentina. Dos años más tarde, en 1862, Bartolomé Mitre, primer presidente del país reunificado, se refirió a su cargo como: presidente de la Nación Argentina.

Historia

Período prehispánico

Conquista y colonización española

Independencia

Primera Junta de Gobierno 

La Primera Junta de Gobierno, oficialmente Junta Provisional Gubernativa de las Provincias del Río de la Plata a nombre del Señor Don Fernando VII fue la Junta de gobierno surgida el viernes 25 de mayo de 1810 en Buenos Aires, capital del Virreinato del Río de la Plata, como consecuencia del triunfo de la Revolución de Mayo que destituyó al virrey Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros y nombró a Cornelio Saavedra como el presidente de la Primera Junta de las Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata. La sede del gobierno fue fijada en el Fuerte de Buenos Aires, que sirviera desde 1776 como residencia de los virreyes y donde hoy se encuentra la Casa de Gobierno. La Primera Junta existió como tal hasta el 18 de diciembre del mismo año, ya que con la incorporación de diputados del interior se transformó en la Junta Grande, que dio origen a la prolongada Guerra de la Independencia de las Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata contra España (1810-1824).

Mientras se desarrollaba la guerra de independencia, también tenía lugar una compleja disputa por la forma de organización del nuevo Estado, que generó en 1814 el inicio de una guerra civil que —con intermitencias— duraría más de medio siglo. El líder de la fracción federal, el oriental José Gervasio Artigas fue proclamado Protector de la Unión de los Pueblos Libres, una liga de provincias que se negaban a ser administrados por el gobierno unitario de Buenos Aires. La misma organizó el llamado Congreso de Oriente en Concepción del Uruguay, del cual aún se discute si alcanzó a proclamar —como se proponía— la independencia de España.

El 9 de julio de 1816, en la ciudad de San Miguel de Tucumán, reunido el congreso de diputados de las provincias del noroeste y centro-oeste del país y de la de Buenos Aires, junto con algunos diputados exiliados del Alto Perú, proclamó la independencia de las Provincias Unidas en Sud América, utilizando la siguiente fórmula:

En varios puntos de Sudamérica los nuevos gobiernos debieron enfrentar la resistencia contrarrevolucionaria de los ejércitos realistas, que intentaban restaurar la autoridad de la monarquía española en la región. Comenzaron las guerras por la independencia. Algunos de los principales comandantes fueron Manuel Belgrano, al mando del Ejército del Norte, José de San Martín, creador del Ejército de los Andes, Martín Miguel de Güemes, organizador de la guerra gaucha y Juana Azurduy, comandante de la guerra de guerrillas en el Alto Perú. El Estado argentino considera a San Martín como el mayor héroe militar de su independencia y lo honra con el título de «Padre de la Patria». Junto a Simón Bolívar, fueron los máximos responsables de las gestas libertadoras que terminaron con la presencia española en el continente.

La formación del Estado federal 

Las primeras décadas como país independiente fueron conflictivas: ante la hegemonía de los unitarios, los federales se alzaron repetidamente en defensa de la autonomía de las provincias, llevando —tras la llamada Anarquía del Año XX— a la división del país en provincias autónomas gobernadas generalmente por caudillos militares, mientras que el país —excepto un breve intervalo entre 1825 y 1827— careció de un gobierno nacional hasta 1852. Cada provincia asumió la plenitud del gobierno en el ámbito de su territorio.

La guerra de la independencia continuó hasta el año 1825, pero se luchó preferentemente en la frontera norte y en el Perú. Mientras tanto, la Provincia Oriental fue invadida por el reino de Portugal, de quien pasó al Imperio del Brasil. La consecuente Guerra del Brasil culminó con la Convención Preliminar de Paz de 1828, que declaró independiente al territorio en disputa, con el nombre de Estado Oriental del Uruguay. Poco antes, en 1825, el Alto Perú formó la República de Bolivia y al año siguiente le fue agregada la ciudad de Tarija y su jurisdicción.

El territorio restante —que había logrado aumentar en algo su control territorial con algunas exitosas campañas militares contra los indígenas— comenzó a usar el nombre de «Argentina» de manera oficial a mediados de la década de 1820. La denominación oficial «Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata» continúa considerándose, constitucionalmente, un nombre alternativo para el país, aunque ha caído en práctico desuso.

A principios de los años 1830, los federales lograron triunfar en todo el país, que adoptó el nombre de Confederación Argentina. Durante más de veinte años, el gobernador federal de Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, asumió en los hechos la máxima autoridad nacional, aunque en teoría solo era el depositario de la representación externa del conjunto de las provincias.

Durante la época de su hegemonía combatió y derrotó sucesivos levantamientos de los unitarios, un bloqueo del Río de la Plata por parte de Francia y luego otro bloqueo conjunto por parte de Gran Bretaña y Francia. También mantuvo conflictos bélicos contra la Confederación Perú-Boliviana y contra el llamado Gobierno de la Defensa de Montevideo, la capital uruguaya, debido a la injerencia de los dos partidos de ese país —blancos y colorados— en las guerras civiles argentinas.

Pese a la paz que fue capaz de imponer y el crecimiento económico —al menos de las provincias del Litoral—, los enemigos de Rosas reclamaban libertades individuales, políticas y de expresión, que eran férreamente anuladas por el gobernador porteño; el núcleo de sus reclamos era la sanción de una constitución política que organizara formalmente el Estado nacional y garantizara los derechos de los ciudadanos.

Organización Nacional 

En 1852, Rosas fue derrotado en la batalla de Caseros por el Ejército Grande, una alianza entre las provincias de Entre Ríos y Corrientes, las tropas coloradas de Uruguay y otras de Brasil. La alianza fue encabezada por el federal antirrosista Justo José de Urquiza, gobernador de Entre Ríos, quien asumió la presidencia provisional.

Este período duró hasta la sanción de una Constitución en 1853, que con algunos cambios ha regido en el país hasta la actualidad. La misma adoptó un régimen federal, pero la provincia de Buenos Aires se separó de la Confederación Argentina, que debió establecer su capital en la ciudad de Paraná. En 1859, la Confederación derrotó a Buenos Aires en la batalla de Cepeda, forzándola a firmar el Pacto de San José de Flores, por el cual Buenos Aires se reincorporaba a la que desde entonces pasó a llamarse República Argentina. No obstante, la reunificación definitiva fue lograda bajo la dirección de Buenos Aires tras la batalla de Pavón (1861), durante la presidencia de Bartolomé Mitre.

En 1865, la Argentina se involucró nuevamente en una guerra civil en Uruguay, a lo cual el Paraguay respondió ocupando la ciudad de Corrientes. Tras firmar una Triple Alianza con el Brasil y Uruguay, la Argentina tomó parte en la Guerra de la Triple Alianza contra el Paraguay, que duró cinco años y requirió la participación de diez mil soldados argentinos. El Paraguay resultó finalmente derrotado en 1870, quedando totalmente devastado y muerta una gran parte de su población masculina. Pese a su enorme costo económico y en vidas humanas y a que fue causa de la continuación de las guerras civiles en la Argentina, este país logró consolidar sus límites en el noreste, ya que se fijó la frontera en los ríos Pilcomayo, Paraguay y Paraná.

Durante las presidencias de Mitre y sobre todo de Sarmiento y Avellaneda, la Argentina se insertó en la economía mundial como un país agroexportador, sostenido por una amplia red ferroviaria y el avance del sistema educativo. Tras dos sangrientas revoluciones en 1874 y 1880, en este último año la ciudad de Buenos Aires fue federalizada y se estableció un equilibrio durable entre las provincias y la capital.

Gobiernos conservadores y primeros gobiernos radicales 

Entre 1878 y 1884 se produjeron las llamadas Conquista del Desierto y del Chaco, con el objeto de dar por término a los constantes enfrentamientos entre indígenas y criollos en la frontera y apropiarse de los territorios indígenas, triplicando el territorio argentino. La primera conquista, impulsada por Julio A. Roca, consistió en una serie de incursiones militares a los territorios pampeanos y patagónicos dominados por los pueblos originarios, repartiéndolos entre los miembros de la Sociedad Rural, financiadores de las expediciones. La conquista del Chaco duró hasta fines del siglo, dado que su incorporación plena al sistema económico nacional solo tuvo lugar cuando se reemplazó la mera extracción de maderas y tanino por la producción de algodón. El gobierno argentino consideró a los indígenas como seres inferiores, sin los mismos derechos que los criollos y europeos.

Entre 1880 y 1916, el Partido Autonomista Nacional (PAN) monopolizó el poder sobre la base de elecciones fraudulentas, propiciado por el sistema del voto cantado y durante 25 años, la figura excluyente fue el general Julio Argentino Roca. La llamada República Conservadora o República Oligárquica organizó un exitoso y moderno modelo agroexportador basado en la llamada división internacional del trabajo impuesta por el Imperio británico, orientado principalmente a la producción de carne y granos con destino al mercado británico. En el relato tradicional el país fue visto en esa época como «el granero del mundo».

Este modelo económico generó una concentración de la riqueza en pocas manos y la exclusión social de las clases trabajadoras y de las poblaciones asentadas fuera de la región pampeana. La economía alcanzó altos niveles de crecimiento que atrajeron una gran corriente inmigratoria principalmente constituida por millones de italianos y españoles y en menor medida de seguidos de europeos orientales y asiáticos occidentales. La población argentina, que representaba el 0,13% de la población mundial en 1869, pasaría a representar el 0,55% en 1930, proporción en la que, aproximadamente, se estabilizaría desde entonces.

La prosperidad de la economía impulsó el crecimiento de una considerable clase media, integrada mayoritariamente por inmigrantes o sus descendientes. Los inmigrantes europeos también introdujeron en el país ideas políticas nuevas como el socialismo y el anarquismo, así como participaron junto a la población local, especialmente la afroargentina, en la creación de organizaciones de ayuda mutua y sindicatos. Surgieron partidos políticos modernos como la Unión Cívica Radical (UCR) y el Partido Socialista (PS).

Después de más de dos décadas de conflictos políticos y sociales, fraudes electorales y graves actos de represión, en 1912 fue sancionada la Ley Sáenz Peña, que estableció el sufragio secreto, obligatorio y universal para votantes masculinos. En la primera elección presidencial con sufragio secreto, los conservadores fueron desplazados del poder por los radicales dirigidos por Hipólito Yrigoyen, que fue presidente entre 1916 y 1922, y entre 1928 y 1930. Durante su primer gobierno se inició el movimiento estudiantil conocido como la reforma universitaria, que se extendió por toda América Latina y se produjeron las masacres obreras de la Semana Trágica y la Patagonia rebelde. Entre ambos gobiernos de Yrigoyen fue elegido presidente el también radical Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear.

Alternancia entre golpes de estado y regímenes democráticos 

El 6 de septiembre de 1930 se produjo el primero de una serie de golpes de Estado en Argentina que llevó a un grupo cívico-militar a establecer una dictadura justificada por la Corte Suprema como «gobierno de facto», después de derrocar a Hipólito Yrigoyen. Este golpe de Estado inició una secuela de gobiernos fraudulentos conocidos como la Década Infame.

El modelo agroexportador argentino entró en crisis por el cierre de los mercados internacionales causado por la Crisis de 1929. El país impulsó un proceso de sustitución de importaciones que desarrolló un amplio sector industrial. La Década Infame fue derrocada por la Revolución del 43, un segundo golpe de Estado que instaló un gobierno militar en cuyo seno se produciría una alianza entre sindicatos y algunos militares que dieron origen al peronismo. A pesar de la presión de Estados Unidos desde que este país entró a la guerra a fines de 1941 cuando fue atacado por Japón, la Argentina se mantuvo neutral durante la mayor parte del resto de la II Guerra Mundial, uniéndose a los Aliados el 27 de marzo de 1945, durante el gobierno del general Edelmiro Farrell, poco antes de la terminación de la Guerra.

En 1946 fue elegido presidente Juan Domingo Perón con apoyo de los sindicatos organizados en el Partido Laborista. Perón, acompañado por su esposa Evita, encabezó un nuevo movimiento que puso el acento en la justicia social, la soberanía política y la independencia económica. Bajo su gobierno se estableció el sufragio femenino en 1947, la igualdad de hombres y mujeres en el derecho familiar, la igualdad de los hijos nacidos dentro o fuera del matrimonio, la gratuidad de la enseñanza universitaria, se erradicó el paludismo, etc.

A través de la Fundación Eva Perón, se desarrolló una ayuda social sin precedentes en el país, brindando apoyo económico a los sectores más vulnerables. También se nacionalizaron los ferrocarriles y el comercio exterior, y se generó un fuerte proceso de industrialización, promoviendo la industria pesada.

En 1951 Perón fue reelegido para un nuevo período presidencial con el 63,40% de los votos en lo que constituyó la primera elección con sufragio universal de hombres y mujeres en la Argentina. En 1952 murió Evita. Casi 60años después, sería declarada la Mujer del Bicentenario, como el símbolo del protagonismo de la mujer en la historia argentina.
El peronismo contó con una amplia adhesión de la población, pero también con un fuerte rechazo de los sectores opositores, polarizándose la sociedad argentina en peronistas y antiperonistas. Su política perjudicó a los intereses británicos, dominantes hasta entonces en la economía, que apoyaron a los opositores.
El inicio de un conflicto con la Iglesia católica debilitó la lealtad al gobierno de vastos sectores y unificó a la oposición.

El 16 de junio de 1955 una conjura cívico-militar, utilizando unos treinta aviones de la Armada y de la Fuerza Aérea, bombardearon y ametrallaron a la población de Buenos Aires en la Plaza de Mayo y otros lugares. Este ataque produjo 308 víctimas oficialmente identificadas —entre ellas 111 activistas sindicales que incluyen a 23 mujeres—, un número de muertos que no pudieron ser individualizados debido a las mutilaciones y más de 700 heridos.

En septiembre Perón fue derrocado por un nuevo golpe autodenominado Revolución Libertadora, que proscribió al peronismo, muchos de cuyos partidarios fueron encarcelados o fusilados, lo que le valió al golpismo el mote de «Revolución Fusiladora». Perón se vio obligado a exiliarse hasta el final de la proscripción en 1973.

Durante la proscripción, el peronismo continuará teniendo influencia en la política y el sindicalismo —ámbito en el que ganó la mayoría de las elecciones—, negando legitimidad a las autoridades instaladas por medios no democráticos y desarrollando una actividad opositora conocida por la Resistencia peronista.

En 1958 fue elegido presidente Arturo Frondizi (UCRI) en elecciones con el peronismo proscripto pero después de realizar un pacto electoral con Perón, siendo derrocado por un nuevo golpe militar en 1962. El golpe esta vez tuvo la particularidad de que el poder fue asumido por el civil José María Guido, nombrado presidente por la Corte Suprema de Justicia ese mismo día tras el derrocamiento y arresto de Frondizi, alegando para su nombramiento un vacío de poder. A pesar de que formalmente Guido ejercía la presidencia, el verdadero poder material residía en la esfera militar. Durante su mandato se agudizaron los enfrentamientos entre dos facciones del Ejército Argentino, conocidas como Azules y Colorados, llegándose a enfrentamientos armados. La victoria del sector «azul» permitió al general Juan Carlos Onganía reunificar al Ejército.

Con el peronismo todavía proscripto y el expresidente Frondizi detenido, en 1963 fue elegido como mandatario Arturo Umberto Illia (UCRP), quien también sería depuesto por un golpe militar en 1966, que llevaría al gobierno a Onganía.

Su dictadura, la primera de las tres que conformaron la autodenominada Revolución Argentina (1966-1973), fue también la primera dictadura permanente instalada en el marco de los regímenes militares que se multiplicaron en América Latina con apoyo activo de Estados Unidos a través de la Escuela de las Américas y la doctrina de la seguridad nacional en el marco global de la Guerra Fría. La abolición de la actividad política y el terrorismo de estado, provocó un estado insurreccional de la población que se manifestó en la aparición de varias organizaciones guerrilleras —como Montoneros, las FAR y el ERP— y gran cantidad de puebladas insurreccionales, como el Cordobazo, el Rosariazo y el Tucumanazo, entre otras. Acorralada por la insurrección popular, la dictadura organizó una salida electoral con participación del peronismo —aunque impidiendo la candidatura de Perón—.

En 1973 el peronismo fue legalizado y triunfó en las elecciones presidenciales, dando inicio a lo que ha dado en llamarse el tercer peronismo. Tras la renuncia del presidente Héctor José Cámpora, ese mismo año, Juan Domingo Perón fue elegido presidente por tercera vez, precipitando así su muerte nueve meses después. Lo sucedió su vicepresidenta y esposa, María Estela Martínez de Perón. Este período se caracterizó por un acelerado deterioro de la situación interna, producto de la crisis del petróleo de 1973 y la generalizada violencia política, incluyendo la organización desde el gobierno de una fuerza parapolicial llamada la Alianza Anticomunista Argentina (Triple A) que junto a las fuerzas policiales y militares, asesinaron a cientos de opositores desde 1973 —varios de ellos «detenidos desaparecidos»—, así como la instalación de centros clandestinos de detención en el marco de la represión ordenada por los llamados decretos de aniquilamiento.

El 24 de marzo de 1976 se produjo un nuevo golpe militar que instaló una nueva dictadura permanente autodenominada Proceso de Reorganización Nacional, que duraría casi ocho años y que estaría internacionalmente coordinada con las demás dictaduras sudamericanas mediante el Plan Cóndor, bajo el amparo de Estados Unidos. Durante la misma se implantó un régimen de terrorismo de Estado que llevó a cabo un plan sistemático de secuestro, tortura y eliminación de opositores, calificado por la justicia de genocidio, causando miles desaparecidos y cientos de niños que sufrieron la supresión de su identidad.

Como respuesta se formaron organizaciones de derechos humanos, como las Madres de Plaza de Mayo y las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, que desempeñarán un rol crucial en el «juicio y castigo a los culpables» y en la recuperación de los bebés secuestrados cuya identidad había sido suprimida. También el movimiento sindical opuso una fuerte resistencia, llegando a declarar varias huelgas generales, a pesar de las desapariciones que lo afectaron masivamente, la disolución de la CGT y la intervención de los sindicatos.

La dictadura contó con apoyo activo de los principales grupos empresariales, ocupando funciones claves del gobierno, así como del Fondo Monetario Internacional, las empresas multinacionales, los principales medios de prensa, junto a periodistas y comunicadores destacados. El plan económico siguió los lineamientos de la Escuela de Chicago —frecuentemente identificada con el neoliberalismo—. Un sector importante de la población apoyó la dictadura, en tanto que otro sector la resistió mediante la acción guerrillera, la creación de organizaciones de derechos humanos como las Madres de Plaza de Mayo, o la acción sindical y las huelgas.

La deuda externa, que condicionará a los gobiernos democráticos a partir de 1983, pasó de 7700 millones en 1976 a 45 000 millones de dólares en 1983, en muchos casos fruto de operaciones delictivas en beneficio de los grupos económicos y las empresas multinacionales. En 1978, se produjo una grave crisis con Chile por los límites en la zona del canal Beagle, que llevó a ambos países al borde de la guerra. En el año 1982 se desarrolló la guerra de las Malvinas con el Reino Unido; la derrota argentina fue uno de los factores que llevaron al colapso del régimen militar y al llamado a elecciones generales para el año siguiente.

Recuperación de la democracia

Kirchnerismo y macrismo

Gobierno y política

Poder Ejecutivo

Poder Legislativo

Poder Judicial

Ministerio Público

Gobiernos provinciales

Relaciones exteriores

Defensa y seguridad

Fuerzas Armadas

Fuerzas de Seguridad 
La seguridad de las aguas territoriales corresponde a la Prefectura Naval Argentina (PNA), la de regiones fronterizas y obras de infraestructura críticas a la Gendarmería Nacional Argentina (GNA) y la de los aeropuertos a la Policía de Seguridad Aeroportuaria (PSA); estas fuerzas de seguridad dependen del Ministerio de Seguridad.

El Sistema de Inteligencia Nacional dirige las acciones de inteligencia, dentro de los que se destaca la Agencia Federal de Inteligencia (AFI), aunque también existen diferentes organismos públicos como la Dirección de Observaciones Judiciales, el Departamento de Intercepción y Captación de las Comunicaciones, la Inteligencia de la Gendarmería Nacional, la Oficina Anticorrupción, entre otras.

Cada provincia cuenta con su propia policía, que puede trabajar en conjunto con la PFA la fuerza de seguridad que se encarga de los delitos de ámbito exclusivamente federal o que involucran a más de una jurisdicción. La Policía Federal fue hasta 2009 la fuerza policial de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, cuando el entonces jefe de Gobierno porteño Mauricio Macri creó la Policía Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, la misma fue creada en el marco de la ley n.º2894, de Seguridad Pública, que fue sancionada el 28 de octubre de 2008 y promulgada por medio del decreto1354 del 18 de noviembre de ese año. La reglamentación de la norma se registró el 20 de marzo de 2009 por medio del decreto210.

Derechos humanos 

En su Constitución, Argentina establece la jerarquía constitucional de los tratados de derechos humanos.

De acuerdo con el Informe sobre Desarrollo Humano del Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo de 2018, la Argentina tiene un Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) de 0,825. A nivel mundial, se sitúa en el puesto47 dentro de los 189estados que participan en la clasificación, encasillado como un país de IDH muy alto que junto con Chile y Uruguay son los únicos países de América Latina que se encuentran en este nivel de IDH.

Organización territorial

Provincias

Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Regiones para el desarrollo económico y social

Geografía

Geografía política

Ubicación

Regiones naturales

Relieve

Hidrografía

Clima

Efectos del cambio climático

Problemas ambientales

Símbolos patrios

Bandera

Sol de Mayo

Escudo

Himno

Escarapela

Lema

Logo

Símbolos patrios provinciales

Flora y fauna

Flora

Fauna

Bosques

Economía

Agricultura y ganadería

Petróleo

Minería

Manufacturas

Turismo

Transporte

Energía 

El sector eléctrico en la Argentina se organiza a partir de la articulación de entidades o empresas que desarrollan la generación, el transporte y la distribución de la energía.

En 2020, Argentina fue el 18.º mayor productor de gas natural del mundo (44,6 millones de metros cúbicos); el 28.º mayor productor de petróleo del mundo (440000 barriles/día); el  mayor productor de energía hidroeléctrica del mundo, con 11,3GW de potencia instalada; el 27.º mayor productor de energía eólica del mundo, con 2,6GW de potencia instalada; y el 42.º mayor productor de energía solar del mundo, con 0,7GW de potencia instalada.

El potencial eólico de la región de la Patagonia se considera gigantesco, con estimaciones de que el área podría proporcionar suficiente electricidad para sostener el consumo de un país como Brasil solo. Sin embargo, Argentina tiene deficiencias de infraestructura para llevar a cabo la transmisión de energía eléctrica desde áreas deshabitadas y con mucho viento hacia los grandes centros del país.

La generación de energía eléctrica alcanzó los  GWh en el año 2014, lo que representa un crecimiento de algo más del 40% respecto de los GWh registrados en el año 2004. El 64% se generó en plantas térmicas, el 31% hidráulicas, el 4% nucleares y solamente el 1% eólicas y solares.

El desarrollo de instalaciones de generación de energía a partir de recursos renovables se encuentra en pleno desarrollo. Hacia finales del año 2014, existía una potencia instalada de 187MW de generación de energía eólica en la región patagónica y noroeste argentino y 8MW de generación de energía solar en la región cuyana.

Argentina cuenta con gran potencial de generación de energía mareomotriz, dadas las condiciones de las corrientes y la amplitud de mareas de la costa patagónica. En diciembre de 2014, se instalaron en la provincia de Santa Cruz los primeros dos equipos para la obtención de datos sobre la potencialidad de este recurso.

Esta Nación fue la primera en América latina en construir una central nuclear, actualmente cuenta con tres campos nucleares (Atucha I «Juan Domingo Perón», Atucha II «Dr Néstor Kirchner» y «Embalse») y una cuarta en período de construcción.

El desarrollo de la energía geotérmica prácticamente no presenta avances destacables, pese a la presencia de afluentes termales y la evidencia de actividad volcánica potencial en diversos puntos del país.

El transporte de energía eléctrica se desarrolla a través de una red de líneas de alta tensión y distribución troncal de  km de longitud lo que representa un incremento de más del 65% en la longitud del sistema de redes existente en el año 2004.

La distribución de energía eléctrica está a cargo de empresas que, a fines del año 2014 sumaban más de 40 entidades, cubriendo un área de km², lo que representa algo más del 80% de la superficie del país y proporcionando el servicio a  usuarios de pequeños consumos (demanda menor a 4000kWh/bimestre), la mayoría usuarios residenciales.

En el año 2014, se produjeron  m³ de petróleo y  millones de metros cúbicos de gas natural. Paralelamente, durante los últimos años cobró notoriedad el hallazgo de grandes volúmenes de hidrocarburos en reservorios no convencionales (I.e: gas de lutita). Según un informe, Argentina estaría en el segundo puesto a nivel mundial en cuanto a este tipo de reservas.

Ciencia y tecnología

Medios de comunicación

Telecomunicaciones

Diarios

Población

Demografía

Composición étnica

Emigración

Inmigración 

El censo nacional de 2010 estimó que al momento residían en Argentina un total de 1805957 inmigrantes nacidos en otro país, equivalente a un 4,5% de la población y registrando por primera vez desde el pico de 1914 (29,9%) un leve incremento en el porcentaje de extranjeros relativo a los nativos y luego del mínimo histórico alcanzado en 2001 (4,1%).

De acuerdo con dos sucesivos informes de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), al 2015, Argentina contaba con  inmigrantes y, al 2017, con , equivalentes a un 4,6% y 4,9% de la población, respectivamente, asentando esta tendencia creciente.

La tasa de extranjeros en proporción a los nacidos en el país es muy pequeña en comparación con otras naciones (121.º), pero medido en términos absolutos, Argentina es el mayor receptor de inmigrantes de toda América Latina, así como el que más cantidad tiene en la región y se ubica 28.º en el ranking mundial.

Las 20 mayores comunidades inmigrantes según los censos nacionales de 1991, 2001 y 2010 

Fuente: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC), 1991, 2001, 2010.

Pueblos indígenas

Salud

Discapacidad 
En el año 2018, el Indec llevó a cabo una encuesta nacional en localidades de más de 5000 habitantes, de la que surgió que el 10,2% de la población total padece algún tipo de discapacidad.

De ese total, un 48,8% tiene alguna discapacidad motora, con un 30,0% con dificultades para caminar, un 6,1% con dificultades en los miembros superiores, y 12,9% con ambas. Otro 25% del conjunto de las personas con discapacidades tiene dificultades visuales, de las cuales el 3,6% —casi uno de cada mil habitantes— son completamente no videntes. Del total de personas con discapacidad, el 20,8% tiene dificultades en la audición, de los cuales el 49% no pueden oír sin audífono —un 1% de la población total. Del total de personas con dificultades, el 7,9% tiene dificultades en el habla y de ellos el 10,6% —algo menos de uno de cada mil habitantes— no puede hablar en absoluto. Un 12,3% tiene dificultades para comprender lo que oye o aprender lo que estudia o se le enseña —un 1,25% del total de la población—, de entre los cuales uno de cada ocho afirma no poder aprender nada.

El mismo estudio detalla también que el porcentaje de personas de más de catorce años de edad con alguna discapacidad que desempeña alguna tarea remunerada es del 35,9%, pero alcanzando al 64,3% para el grupo de edad de entre 30 y 49 años, y disminuyendo al 13,3% para 65 años de edad y más.

Urbanización

Ciudades principales

Cultura

Literatura

Música

Cine

Teatro

Pintura

Historieta

Idioma

Religión

Educación

Museos, espacios de memoria y salas de espectáculos 

Los museos más sobresalientes son el Museo Histórico Nacional de Argentina y el MALBA, donde se hacen exposiciones de pintura y escultura. Son muy importantes también los museos paleontológicos de la Patagonia (Trelew, Plaza Huincul, etc.); las ruinas jesuíticas de San Ignacio, en Misiones o el Palacio San José en Entre Ríos.

También son importantes los espacios de memoria creados donde funcionaron centros de detención clandestina durante la dictadura de Videla, como la ESMA en Buenos Aires y La Perla en Córdoba.

Por otro lado, se destaca la actividad cultural veraniega en Mar del Plata y Villa Carlos Paz; y las fiestas y festivales populares como el Festival de Cosquín o el de Jesús María en la provincia de Córdoba. El Carnaval de Gualeguaychú es el espectáculo teatral a cielo abierto más grande de la Argentina y considerado el tercer carnaval más importante del mundo.
Cientos de fiestas nacionales se desarrollan en el país durante todo el año.

En Buenos Aires existen alrededor de 100 cines y 90 teatros, con una abundante cartelera de espectáculos. La capital de Argentina también se distingue en la presentación de espectáculos o artistas de renombre internacional. Se encuentran, entre otros, los centros culturales como el Borges, el Recoleta o el San Martín.

Gastronomía

Deporte

Días festivos

Véase también

Notas

Referencias

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos 
 
 
 
 
 
 Portal oficial del Estado argentino
 Sitio oficial de la Presidencia de la Nación
 Sitio oficial de la Secretaría de Turismo
 Perfiles de países: Argentina
 Academia Argentina de Letras: “Sobre el uso del artículo la ante el nombre de nuestro país y de algunas provincias de la Argentina” (página 8)

 
Países del G-15

El Principado de Andorra (nombre local, Principat d'Andorra) es un estado de la Europa meridional, situado en la cordillera de los Pirineos orientales. Limita con España al sur y con Francia al norte.

Geografía física 
Es un estado sin litoral, en el que se encuentran importantes cruces de caminos de los Pirineos.

Relieve 

La superficie de Andorra es de 468km². Está en la vertiente meridional de los Pirineos. Es una región de escarpados picos montañosos y estrechos valles por donde fluyen numerosos cursos de agua. Sus cumbres de materiales paleozoicos, en 65 casos por encima de los  El puerto de Envalira llega a los  La montaña más alta es el pico de Comapedrosa que, con una altitud de  Su territorio se divide básicamente en tres valles con forma de Y: el valle (vall en catalán) del Valira del Este, el valle del Valira del Norte que se unen, luego pasan por Andorra la Vieja y atraviesan un tercer valle, el del río Valira, que discurre hacia el sur, donde se unirá al Segre.

Ríos y lagos 
Por los valles de Andorra fluyen numerosos cursos de agua que se unen para formar el río Valira. La cuenca del Valira tiene la forma de Y, con sus dos afluentes más: el Valira del Norte (Valira del Nord) y el Valira del Este (Valira d’Orient). El Valira del Norte nace en los lagos de Tristaina, tiene un recorrido de 14km y pasa por la ciudad de Ordino y La Massana hasta que llega a Las Escaldas-Engordany, donde se une al Valira del Este. Este segundo afluente del Valira nace en la parte más oriental, tiene un recorrido de 23km y pasa por las ciudades de Canillo y Encamp antes de llegar a la ciudad de Las Escaldas-Engordany. Juntos forman el Gran Valira, que recorre 11,6km. Su caudal anual medio es de 13m³ cúbicos por segundo. Discurre hacia el sur y acaba desembocando en el río Segre que, a su vez, es afluente del Ebro.

Por todo el paisaje de Andorra se encuentran más de sesenta lagos de montaña propios de todo el Pirineo. Los más representativos son el lago de Juclar, cuya superficie es la más extensa de todos los lagos del Principado con 21 hectáreas, y que, durante la época estival y por la consecuente falta de agua, parece como si fueran tres lagos diferentes: el lago de l'Illa con 13 hectáreas, el estanque de Engolasters (lago artificial) con 7 hectáreas y los tres lagos de Tristaina.

Clima 
Andorra cuenta con un clima mediterráneo de alta montaña en el que las temperaturas en invierno son frías y en verano, suaves. Se producen variaciones en el clima dependiendo de la altitud y la orientación, pues por esa orientación montañosa hay grandes oscilaciones térmicas. Los valles tienen un clima que es similar al clima templado de los vecinos de Andorra, pero debido a su mayor altitud, los inviernos tienden a ser más severos, la humedad inferior y los veranos ligeramente más frescos. Las regiones por encima de la línea alpina de los árboles, a alrededor de 2100–2400 msnm tienen un clima y praderas alpinos.

Las temperaturas medias diarias máxima y mínima en Las Escaldas-Engordany son, respectivamente, 28 °C y 15 °C en julio y 11 °C y -2 °C en enero. Puede descender hasta 10 grados bajo cero en invierno y subir hasta los 33 °C en verano. La temperatura media anual varía de 11 °C en San Julián de Loria en el sur, a 8 °C en La Massana en el centro, y de 2 °C en Arcalís en el norte. 

El principado tiene un porcentaje muy alto de días soleados. Hay, de media, 300 días al año soleados. La insolación álgida diaria media varía de 1.150 W/m2 en junio a 280 W/m² en diciembre.

El clima es seco. La precipitación media anual es de 1071,9 mm para todo el país, pero varía según la parte del territorio, siendo mayor con la altitud y de sur a norte. La parroquia más seca del país es San Julián de Loria (800 mm al año) en el sur, y la más lluviosa es Canillo (1100 mm al año) en el norte. Las precipitaciones anuales pueden superar los 1220 mm en las zonas montañosas más altas. Los meses más secos tienden a ser enero y febrero, y los más lluviosos, mayo, junio y noviembre. En los meses de verano hay pocas lluvias, pero pueden ser muy intensas debido a que se asocian a tormentas. Al atardecer es cuando hay más precipitaciones salvo en invierno que son, sobre todo, de nieve. La nieve cubre completamente los valles septentrionales durante varios meses. Esas precipitaciones moderadas permiten cultivos en el verano.

Temperaturas y precipitaciones en Andorra

Fuente: "Tablas de Clima" de Andorra, en colonialvoyage.com.

Medio ambiente 

En Andorra se encuentra la ecorregión bosque de los Pirineos, que forma parte del bioma "Bosque templado de frondosas". Hay grandes extensiones boscosas de pinos y abedules debido al clima mediterráneo de alta montaña que tiene el país. Los bosques ocupan 2/5 del territorio, según tres pisos altitudinales:
 hasta los 1200 msnm, encinas y robles; 
 hasta 1600-1700 msnm predomina el pino silvestre; y
 hasta 2200-2300 msnm abunda el pino negro, sustituido en las cumbres por los prados alpinos.
La Massana mantiene una de las masas forestales más importantes de Andorra (Bosc D'Arinsal). En el 2004, el valle de Madriu-Perafita-Claror fue declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco. Además, tiene dos espacios protegidos como reserva de caza, Enclar (2500 hectáreas) y Xixerella (750 ha).

Geografía humana 

La población es de 83.888 habitantes (est. julio de 2009), lo que da una densidad de población de 179,25 hab/km². La población urbana es el 89% del total (2008), concentrándose en las poblaciones de Andorra la Vieja y Las Escaldas-Engordany, donde se desarrollan las principales actividades económicas del país. El resto de la población se encuentra dispersa en el medio rural.

En cuanto a los grupos étnicos el principal es el español 43%, al que siguen los andorranos 33%, portugueses 11%, franceses 7% y otros 6% (1998). El idioma oficial es el catalán, aunque se hablan también castellano, francés y portugués. La religión predominante es el catolicismo.
Religión: catolicismo. 

La capital es Andorra la Vieja que tiene 24.574 habitantes (2007) y es la sede del gobierno. Le siguen en población Les Escaldes, Encamp, San Julián de Loria y La Massana. 

Andorra está dividida en siete territorios llamados parroquias. Son meramente administrativas sin autonomía propia; a su vez, tienen divisiones menores. Son: Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, La Massana, Andorra la Vieja, San Julián de Loria y Las Escaldas-Engordany

Geografía económica 
La actividad humana se centra en el valle transversal noreste-suroeste, que a partir del Puerto de Envalira (2.407 m) desciende hasta los 840 m, cuando el río Valira entra en España.

Los recursos naturales de Andorra se concentran en la energía hidroeléctrica, agua mineral, madera, mineral ferroso y plomo. La tierra arable representa el 2,13% del uso de la tierra. A cosechas permanentes se dedica 0% y otros 97,87% (2005). La central hidroeléctrica de Les Escaldes proporciona energía para Andorra y el excedente se exporta a Francia y España.

La agricultura emplea al 0,3% de la población activa, la industria el 20,8% y los servicios el 79% (2007). No hay datos de la composición del PIB por sector. Pero se calcula que el turismo, el pilar principal de la pequeña y adinerada economía de Andorra, supone más del 80%. Se calcula que al año la visitan unos 2 millones de turistas, atraídos por su estatus de tienda libre de impuestos y por sus centros turísticos de invierno y de verano. La ventaja comparativa de Andorra ha disminuido recientemente conforme las economías de las vecinas Francia y España se han abierto, proporcionando una mayor disponibilidad de productos de consumo y tarifas aduaneras menores. El sector bancario, con su estatus parcial de paraíso fiscal, también contribuye sustancialmente a la economía. La producción agrícola es limitada, pues solo el 2% de la tierra puede ararse. Produce pequeñas cantidades de centeno, trigo, cebada, avena y verduras; la mayor parte de la comida debe importarse. La principal actividad ganadera es la cría de oveja. La principal industria es el turismo, en particular el de la práctica de deportes de invierno, la cría de ganado, la madera, la banca, el tabaco (cigarrillos y puros), así como muebles. 

Tiene 320 km de carreteras (2008). No hay vías férreas ni fluviales.

Véase también 
 Geografía
 Andorra

Referencias 
 "Europe :: ANDORRA" , CIA - The World Factbook (en inglés)
Notas

Enlaces externos 
 Página del Gobierno de Andorra (en catalán)
 Portal de información sobre Andorra

 

bn:অ্যান্ডোরা#ভূগোল

Andorra cuenta con 81.588 habitantes y una densidad de población de 174 hab./km², según el censo de 2022. Debido a una política restrictiva de concesión de la nacionalidad, la población de nacionalidad andorrana solo constituye el 36,6% de los habitantes del país; el resto de la población, aun siendo mayoritaria, no dispone de derechos políticos.

Nacionalidades y evolución demográfica 
Según el censo de 2008, el 36,6% de la población del país (30.442 habitantes) es de nacionalidad andorrana, el 33,0% (27.476 hab.) es de nacionalidad española, el 16,2% (13.518 hab.) es de nacionalidad portuguesa, el 6,2% (5.200 hab.) es de nacionalidad francesa, y el 7,8% restante (6.502 hab.) es de otras nacionalidades.

Los nacionales andorranos son minoría en su país, ya que solo forman el 36,6% de la población. Esto es debido a varios factores. 

Por un lado, Andorra, situada en una zona aislada, ha tenido siempre una densidad de población baja. Por su condición de paraíso fiscal, a partir de los años 60 se formó una potente industria comercial que, unido al desarrollo de estaciones de esquí, hizo que se necesitase un crecimiento demográfico, que fue dado por la inmigración, principalmente procedente de España y, en menor medida y más tarde, de Portugal. Debido a la bonanza económica del país, esta corriente inmigratoria sigue siendo importante. Por otro lado, Andorra ha sido durante el  muy restrictiva a la hora de otorgar la nacionalidad a los inmigrantes y a sus descendientes, por lo que el porcentaje de nacionales ha sido muy bajo desde los años 1960.

Según la extremadamente restrictiva ley de adquisición de la nacionalidad vigente entre 1939 y 1995, solo podían disponer de nacionalidad andorrana aquellas personas nacidas en Andorra cuyo padre era de nacionalidad andorrana y residente en el país. Esta norma, aparte de ser considerada discriminatoria para las mujeres (pues a los hijos de andorranas y extranjeros se les negaba la nacionalidad, mientras que a los hijos de andorranos y extranjeras se les permitía adquirirla), hizo que a partir de los años 1950 el número de no nacionales superase a los de nacionalidad andorrana. 

Durante los años 1980 y principios de los años 1990, la población de nacionalidad andorrana alcanzó sus proporciones más bajas, no superando el 20% de la población. Una norma de los años 1970 creó una categoría de habitantes apátridas, eufemísticamente clasificados como nats a Andorra (hijos de un progenitor paterno no andorrano pero nacidos en Andorra), cuyo número hacia 1990 era cercano al de nacionales andorranos. Así, en 1993, el 82,3% de la población del país no disponía de la nacionalidad andorrana, por lo que no disponía de ningún derecho político y se encontraban discriminados administrativamente.

En 1995 entró en vigor una nueva ley de adquisición de la nacionalidad, también muy restrictiva aunque no hasta los extremos de la norma de 1939. Con esta nueva ley, pueden adquirir la nacionalidad los nacidos en Andorra si uno de sus dos padres dispone de la nacionalidad, ha nacido en el país y tiene en el país su residencia permanente o si uno de su progenitores puede justificar su residencia principal y permanente en el país en los dieciocho años anteriores al nacimiento (reducido a diez años en una modificación de ley realizada en 2004). Pueden, además, solicitarla el resto de gente nacida en Andorra y los extranjeros que hayan vivido en el país durante más de 25 años (20 años desde el 2004) y superen un "examen de integración", donde deben de demostrar sus conocimientos en catalán y en cultura, historia, instituciones y tradiciones andorranas; además, deben de perder su nacionalidad anterior. A raíz de esto, la proporción de ciudadanos con nacionalidad aumentó a finales de los años 1990, especialmente entre 1998 y 1999. Durante el  este porcentaje se ha estabilizado en torno al 36%.

A los habitantes de Andorra que no disponen de la nacionalidad andorrana se les niega el derecho al voto y el derecho a presentarse a elecciones. También tienen restringida su participación en sindicatos, cuyos órganos ejecutivos deben de estar dominados por andorranos, aun siendo minoría en el mundo laboral. Además, los ciudadanos que no disponen de la nacionalidad andorrana no pueden ser presidentes ni poseer más del 33% del capital de una compañía. Estas limitaciones en los derechos básicos siguen afectando a más del 60% de la población del país, lo que ha sido criticado por su carácter discriminatorio y su anacronismo.

Nacimientos y defunciones

Población por parroquias 

El mayor núcleo de población del Principado es la capital, Andorra la Vieja, con 24.574 habitantes (2008), lo que representa el 29,6% de la población andorrana. Las siguientes parroquias por población son Las Escaldas-Engordany (16.474 hab.) y Encamp (14.030hab.).

Lenguas 

El idioma oficial es el catalán, lengua habitual del 43,8% de la población. El castellano es la segunda lengua más hablada en el principado, con un 32,8% de la población que la tienen como lengua habitual. El portugués es la lengua habitual del 7,6% de la población y el francés del 7,1%. Sin embargo, el castellano es la lengua materna o primera lengua del 35,9% de la población, mientras que el catalán lo es para el 31,4%.

Según un estudio de 2018 del Servicio de Política Lingüística del Gobierno de Andorra, los idiomas más comunes en Andorra son:

Educación 
En Andorra conviven tres sistemas educativos: el francés, el español y el andorrano. Para el curso escolar 2004-2005, el sistema francés era seguido por 3.650 alumnos, el español por 3.499 y el andorrano por 3.328.

En 1997 se fundó la universidad del país, la Universidad de Andorra. Las únicas carreras universitarias presentes son la de Informática y la de Enfermería, aunque existen convenios de colaboración con diversas universidades españolas y francesas, que garantizan la correcta formación en todas las áreas del conocimiento.

Datos demográficos 
Datos según The World Factbook:

Población:
76.875 (2004)
Hombres: 40.085
Mujeres: 36.790
Edad ternaria:
0-14 años: 14,82% (hombres 5.922; mujeres 5.476)
15-64 años: 73,21% (hombres 29.628; mujeres 26.661)
Más de 65 años: 11,95% (hombres 4.535; mujeres 4.653) (2004)
Tasa de crecimiento de la población: -0,19% (2000)
Tasa de nacimientos: 10,58 nacimientos/1.000 habitantes (2004)
Tasa de defunciones: 3,65 defunciones/1.000 habitantes (2004)
Tasa de mortalidad infantil: 4,08 muertes/1.000 nacimientos (2000)
Esperanza de vida: 
Total: 83,46 años
hombres: 80,56 años
mujeres: 86,56 años (2000)
Tasa de fertilidad: 1,25 nacimientos/mujer (2000)
'Habitantes por nacionalidades: andorranos 35,72%, españoles 37,36%, portugueses 12,98%, franceses 6,62%, otros 7,29% (2004)
Religión: Católica (predominante)

Véase también 
 Andorra

Referencias

Enlaces externos 
 Servicio de Estudios. Ministerio de Finanzas. Estadísticas del Principado de Andorra

Las artes visuales engloban las artes plásticas tradicionales, así como las expresiones que incorporan a la nueva tecnología orientada al arte o elementos no convencionales, y que su mayor componente expresivo es visual, como la fotografía, videografía, cinematografía, y lo también llamado arte de los nuevos medios, entre los que se incluyen:
 arte digital
 fanart
 fotografía 
 net.art
 videoarte

Así como otras expresiones de aparición en el arte del siglo XX, como:
 arte ambiental
 arte cinético
 arte efímero
 arte postal
 arte público
 arte urbano
 instalación
 intervención
 Land Art

Otras disciplinas artísticas, como las artes escénicas, poseen dimensiones compartidas con las artes visuales, por lo que estas definiciones no son estrictas y se consideran, en el campo de las artes visuales, también expresiones como:
 Arte de acción
 Arte interactivo
 Caligrafía
 Fluxus
 Grafiti

Dibujo

El dibujo es un medio para hacer una imagen, ilustración o gráfico utilizando cualquiera de una amplia variedad de herramientas y técnicas disponibles en línea y fuera de línea. Por lo general, consiste en hacer marcas en una superficie aplicando la presión de una herramienta, o moviendo una herramienta a través de una superficie utilizando medios secos como grafito lápices, pluma y tinta, pinceles para tinta, lápices de cera, crayónes, carbónes, pasteles y marcadores. También se utilizan herramientas digitales, como bolígrafos y lápices ópticos, que simulan los efectos de éstos. Las principales técnicas utilizadas en el dibujo son: el trazado de líneas, el rayado, el rayado cruzado, el rayado aleatorio, el sombreado, el garabateo, el punteado y la mezcla. Un artista que destaca en el dibujo se denomina dibujante o dibujante.

El dibujo y la pintura se remontan a decenas de miles de años. El arte del Paleolítico Superior incluye el arte figurativo que comienza entre hace unos 40.000 y 35.000 años. Las pinturas rupestres no figurativas que consisten en plantillas manuales y formas geométricas simples son aún más antiguas. Las pinturas rupestres paleolíticas de animales se encuentran en zonas como Lascaux, Francia y Altamira, España en Europa, Maros, Sulawesi en Asia, y Gabarnmung, Australia.

En el antiguo Egipto, los dibujos en tinta sobre papiro, a menudo representando personas, se utilizaban como modelos para la pintura o la escultura. Los dibujos en vasos griegos, inicialmente geométricos, evolucionaron posteriormente hacia la forma humana con la cerámica de figuras negras durante el 

Con el papel que se hizo común en Europa en el , el dibujo fue adoptado por maestros como Sandro Botticelli, Rafael Sanzio, Miguel Ángel y Leonardo da Vinci que a veces trataban el dibujo como un arte en sí mismo y no como una etapa preparatoria para la pintura o la escultura.

Pintura

La pintura tomada literalmente es la práctica de aplicar pigmento suspendido en un soporte (o medio) y un agente aglutinante (un pegamento) a una superficie (soporte) como el papel, el lienzo o una pared. Sin embargo, cuando se utiliza en un sentido artístico significa el uso de esta actividad en combinación con el dibujo, la composición, u otras consideraciones estéticas con el fin de manifestar la intención expresiva y conceptual del practicante. La pintura también se utiliza para expresar motivos e ideas espirituales; los lugares de este tipo de pintura van desde obras de arte que representan figuras mitológicas en cerámica hasta La Capilla Sixtina, pasando por el propio cuerpo humano.

Historia

Orígenes e historia temprana

Al igual que el dibujo, la pintura tiene sus orígenes documentados en las cuevas y en las paredes de las rocas. Los mejores ejemplos, que algunos creen que tienen 32.000 años de antigüedad, se encuentran en las cuevas de Chauvet y Lascaux en el sur de Francia. En tonos rojos, marrones, amarillos y negros, las pinturas de las paredes y los techos representan bisontes, ganado, caballos y ciervos.

En las tumbas del antiguo Egipto se pueden encontrar pinturas de figuras humanas. En el gran templo de Ramsés II, Nefertari, su reina, es representada siendo conducida por Isis. Los griegos contribuyeron a la pintura pero gran parte de su obra se ha perdido. Una de las mejores representaciones que se conservan son los retratos de momias de Fayum helenísticos. Otro ejemplo es el mosaico de la Batalla de Issus en Pompeya, que probablemente se basó en una pintura griega. El arte griego y romano contribuyó al arte bizantino en el  a.C., que inició una tradición en la pintura de iconos.

El Renacimiento

Aparte de los manuscritos iluminados producidos por los monjes durante la Edad Media, la siguiente contribución significativa al arte europeo fue la de los pintores renacentistas italianos. Desde Giotto en el  hasta Leonardo da Vinci y Rafael a principios del , este fue el período más rico del arte italiano ya que se utilizaron las técnicas del claroscuro para crear la ilusión del espacio tridimensional.

También los pintores del norte de Europa se vieron influidos por la escuela italiana. El belga Jan van Eyck, el neerlandés Pieter Bruegel el Viejo y el alemán Hans Holbein el Joven son algunos de los pintores más exitosos de la época. Utilizaban la técnica de veladura con óleos para conseguir profundidad y luminosidad.

Maestros holandeses

El  fue testigo de la aparición de los grandes maestros holandeses, como el polifacético Rembrandt, especialmente recordado por sus retratos y escenas bíblicas, y Vermeer, que se especializó en escenas interiores de la vida neerlandesa.

Barroco

El Barroco comenzó después del Renacimiento, desde finales del  hasta finales del . Entre los principales artistas del Barroco se encuentran Caravaggio, que hizo un gran uso del tenebrismo. Peter Paul Rubens, un pintor flamenco que estudió en Italia, trabajó para las iglesias locales de Amberes y también pintó una serie para María de Médici. Annibale Carracci tomó influencias de la Capilla Sixtina y creó el género de la pintura ilusionista de techos. Gran parte del desarrollo que se produjo en el Barroco fue debido a la Reforma Protestante y la consiguiente Contrarreforma. Gran parte de lo que define al Barroco es la iluminación dramática y los efectos visuales en general.

Impresionismo

El Impresionismo comenzó en Francia en el  con una asociación informal de artistas que incluía a Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir y Paul Cézanne que aportaron un nuevo estilo de pincelada libre a la pintura, eligiendo a menudo pintar escenas realistas de la vida moderna en el exterior en lugar de en el estudio. Esto se consiguió mediante una nueva expresión de los rasgos estéticos demostrados por las pinceladas y la impresión de realidad. Consiguieron una intensa vibración del color mediante el uso de colores puros, sin mezclar, y pinceladas cortas. El movimiento influyó en el arte como una dinámica, moviéndose a través del tiempo y ajustándose a las nuevas técnicas y a la percepción del arte. La atención al detalle pasó a ser menos prioritaria en la realización, mientras se exploraba una visión sesgada de los paisajes y la naturaleza para el ojo de los artistas.

[[Archivo:The Scream.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|alt=Pintura de Edvard Munch El grito de 1893 hombre en el puente con las manos en las orejas y la boca abierta|Edvard Munch: El grito' (1893)]]

Post-impresionismo

Hacia finales del , varios pintores jóvenes llevaron el impresionismo un paso más allá, utilizando formas geométricas y colores poco naturales para representar las emociones, al tiempo que buscaban un simbolismo más profundo. Destacan Paul Gauguin, muy influido por el arte asiático, africano y japonés, Vincent van Gogh, un neerlandés que se trasladó a Francia, donde se inspiró en la fuerte luz del sol del sur, y Toulouse-Lautrec, recordado por sus vívidas pinturas de la vida nocturna en el barrio parisino de Montmartre.

Simbolismo, expresionismo y cubismo

Edvard Munch, artista noruego, desarrolló su enfoque simbolista a finales del , inspirado por el impresionista francés Manet. El grito'' (1893), su obra más famosa, se interpreta ampliamente como una representación de la ansiedad universal del hombre moderno. En parte como resultado de la influencia de Munch, el movimiento alemán del expresionista se originó en Alemania a principios del , cuando artistas como Ernst Kirschner y Erich Heckel comenzaron a distorsionar la realidad para conseguir un efecto emocional.

Paralelamente, en Francia se desarrolló el estilo conocido como cubismo, ya que los artistas se centraron en el volumen y el espacio de las estructuras nítidas dentro de una composición. Pablo Picasso y Georges Braque fueron los principales defensores de este movimiento. Los objetos se descomponen, se analizan y se vuelven a ensamblar de forma abstracta. En la década de 1920, el estilo se convirtió en surrealismo con Dali y Magritte.

Grabado

Grabado es la creación, con fines artísticos, de una imagen en una matriz que luego se transfiere a una superficie bidimensional (plana) mediante tinta (u otra forma de pigmentación). Salvo en el caso de un monotipo, la misma matriz puede utilizarse para producir muchos ejemplares de la estampa.

Históricamente, las principales técnicas (también llamadas medios) implicadas son la xilografía, el grabado lineal, el aguafuerte, la litografía y la serigrafía (serigrafía, serigrafía), pero hay muchas otras, incluidas las modernas técnicas digitales. Normalmente, la impresión se realiza sobre papel, pero otros soportes van desde la tela y la vitela hasta materiales más modernos.

Historia de Europa
Los grabados de la tradición occidental producidos antes de 1830 aproximadamente se conocen como old master print. En Europa, a partir de alrededor del año 1400 d.C. se utilizó la xilografía para realizar impresiones maestras sobre papel utilizando técnicas de impresión desarrolladas en el mundo bizantino e islámico. Michael Wolgemut mejoró la xilografía alemana desde aproximadamente 1475, y Erhard Reuwich, un neerlandés, fue el primero en utilizar el rayado en cruz.  A finales de siglo Alberto Durero llevó la xilografía occidental a un estadio que nunca ha sido superado, aumentando el estatus de la xilografía de una sola hoja.

Origen y práctica china

En China, el arte del grabado se desarrolló hace unos 1.100 años como ilustraciones junto al texto recortado en bloques de madera para su impresión en papel. Al principio, las imágenes eran principalmente religiosas, pero en la Dinastía Song, los artistas comenzaron a recortar paisajes. Durante las dinastías Ming (1368-1644) y Qing (1616-1911), la técnica se perfeccionó tanto para grabados religiosos como artísticos.

Desarrollo en Japón 1603-1867

La xilografía en Japón (japonés: 木版画, moku hanga) es una técnica más conocida por su uso en el género artístico ukiyo-e; sin embargo, también se utilizó muy ampliamente para la impresión de libros ilustrados en la misma época. La xilografía se había utilizado en China durante siglos para imprimir libros, mucho antes de la llegada de los tipos móviles, pero solo se adoptó ampliamente en Japón durante el periodo Edo (1603-1867). Aunque es similar a la xilografía occidental en algunos aspectos, el moku hanga difiere en gran medida en que se utilizan tintas a base de agua (a diferencia de la xilografía occidental, que utiliza tintas a base de aceite), lo que permite una amplia gama de colores vivos, veladuras y transparencia del color.

Percepción 
En la percepción de la obra, nuestra visión tiene tendencia a agrupar o separar elementos de acuerdo a forma, contraste, color, iluminación etc. En esa percepción visual y la recepción sensorial que se realiza de la obra están basadas las artes visuales. Diferentes códigos visuales de proporción, equilibrio, ritmo, textura y valores tonales que son tomados en cuenta por los creadores en su comunicación con el espectador. El sistema visual de los seres humanos asimila la información interpretándola a través de estímulos visuales relacionados con su conocimiento previo y su estado emocional, la recepción o discriminación de esos estímulos se traduce en la capacidad de interpretar la información a través de los efectos de la luz visible percibida.

La psicología de la Gestalt es una teoría de la percepción surgida en Alemania a principios del  que alude a estos modos de percepción de la forma de aquello que vemos y como es decodificado por nuestro cerebro a través de las asociaciones que se producen en el momento de la percepción. Sus principios básicos son:

Por agrupación 
Existen varias formas de agrupación:
 Por proximidad: se tiene la tendencia visual a agrupar los elementos cuando estos tienen cercanía entre sí.
  Por semejanza: agrupación cuando los elementos son figuras conocidas, parecidas o iguales entre sí.
 Por continuidades: búsqueda de semejanzas a través de una continuidad significativa, es decir observamos primero los elementos principales seguido de los menos importantes.

Por figura/fondo 
La tendencia visual hace separar los elementos del fondo o viceversa; ya que a veces el fondo es percibido también como una figura.

Por contorno 
El contorno separa y distingue la figura del fondo y está representado por una línea continua o discontinua o en el límite de dos colores diferentes, llamado línea de recorte.

Por pregnancia 
Tendencia a rellenar visualmente aquellos espacios huecos para completar un objeto.

Artes aplicadas 

Las artes aplicadas basan su definición en la utilidad de un objeto creado para determinado fin. Se las puede considerar dentro de las artes plásticas y visuales cuando su valor artístico y estético trasciende la utilidad, también es llamado arte utilitario o funcional. Cuando el componente decorativo es mayor al funcional, pero mantiene la referencia, se les considera también dentro de las artes decorativas. Entre ellas se cuentan gran variedad de formas artesanales como:
 alfarería
 orfebrería
 talla en madera
 tapicería
 vitral

Las nuevas utilidades basadas en diseño, comparten espacio con las Artes aplicadas y son consideradas también en el campo de las Artes visuales por su manejo del lenguaje visual y apreciación estética. Entre ellas:
 diseño de interiores
 diseño gráfico
 diseño industrial

Referencias

Enlaces externos 
Documento: The Survival of the Artist. How Visual Artists Live and Work (UNESCO).

 

Arte
Formas de arte
Arte público

La agricultura (del latín agri ‘campo’ y cultūra ‘cultivo’, ‘crianza’) es el conjunto de actividades económicas y técnicas relacionadas con el tratamiento del suelo y el cultivo de la tierra para la producción de alimentos. Comprende todo un conjunto de acciones humanas que transforma el medio ambiente natural.

Las acciones relacionadas son las que integran el llamado sector agrícola. Todas las actividades económicas que abarca dicho sector tienen su fundamento en la explotación de los recursos que la tierra origina, favorecida por la acción del ser humano: alimentos vegetales como cereales, frutas, hortalizas, pastos cultivados y forrajes; fibras utilizadas por la industria textil; cultivos energéticos etc.

La agricultura también incluye una demanda global del ramo y el servicio de la alimentación mundial depende en gran medida del clima y de las técnicas para poder hacer la tierra fértil, conserva su origen en la propiedad privada y en la explotación de la tierra entregada a familias para poder establecerse. Es una actividad de gran importancia estratégica como base fundamental para el desarrollo autosuficiente y dinero de las naciones. La ciencia que estudia la práctica de la agricultura es la agronomía.

Historia

Comienzo de la agricultura 

La agricultura comenzó una vez que las personas plantaron hierbas por sus semillas (o granos) en el Cercano Oriente, en Guangdong en China y en Latinoamérica; y tal vez plantaron verduras de raíz en Perú e Indonesia, también. El Creciente Fértil del sudoeste asiático, Egipto e India fueron los lugares donde se desarrollaron inicialmente la siembra y cosecha hidráulica de plantas que habían sido recogidas previamente en la naturaleza. El desarrollo independiente de la agricultura se produjo en el norte y sur de China, en el Sahel de África, en Nueva Guinea y en varias regiones de las Américas. Los ocho cultivos llamados fundadores del Neolítico de la agricultura, marcas de almidón en implementos de piedra que se encontraron en Nueva Guinea sugieren que el camote se ha cultivado ahí al menos desde hace 30000 años; Las castañas de agua y los frijoles pudieron haber sido cultivados cerca de la Cueva del Espíritu, en Tailandia desde el año  a 7500 a.C.

El desarrollo primigenio de la agricultura en el creciente fértil se suele fechar hace alrededor del 9500 a. C., tras la última glaciación y muy probablemente como consecuencia de ella. Las comunidades de cazadores-recolectores del Oriente Medio se sedentarizaron y empezaron a domesticar animales y plantas salvajes de los que ya se alimentaban con el objetivo de proveerse de una fuente estable de alimento sin tener que viajar en su busca. La revolución neolítica subsecuente conllevó enormes cambios en la forma de vida de los seres humanos y llevó finalmente a la aparición de la civilización" la revolución en las mismas áreas unos pocos milenios después. Alrededor del año 9000 a.C., algunas personas abandonaron el viejo modo de vida de cazar animales y recolectar frutos para establecerse y cultivar. Los expertos llaman a este gran cambio la "revolución neolítica". El farro y la cebada se cultivaron en el Cercano Oriente alrededor del año 8000 a.C.; borregos y cabras se domesticaron en este lugar poco después.

En el año 7000 a. C., la naciente agricultura llegó a Egipto. Por lo menos desde 7000 a. C., en el subcontinente indio se cultivó trigo y cebada, como lo demuestran excavaciones arqueológicas en Mehrgarh en Baluchistán, en lo que hoy es Pakistán.

En el año 6000 a. C., la agricultura campesina se atrincheró en las orillas del Nilo. Esto debido al poco desarrollo aún de las técnicas de riego. Durante este tiempo, la agricultura se desarrolló de forma independiente en el Lejano Oriente, con el arroz, en lugar de trigo, como cultivo principal. Los agricultores de China e Indonesia lograron domesticar el taro o papa china (Colocasia esculenta) y el frijol mung (Vigna radiata), la soja y el azuki (Vigna angularis). Como complemento a estas nuevas fuentes de hidratos de carbono, una red de pesca altamente organizada en los ríos, lagos y las costas del océano en estas áreas trajo consigo grandes volúmenes de proteínas esenciales. En conjunto, estos nuevos métodos agrícolas y de pesca originaron un auge de la población humana que empequeñeció todas las expansiones anteriores y que continúa en la actualidad.

El arado jalado por bueyes se utilizó desde el 5000 a.C. Los chinos usaron arados de mano aun antes; En 5000 a. C., los sumerios habían desarrollado las principales técnicas agrícolas, incluyendo el cultivo intensivo de la tierra a gran escala, el monocultivo, técnicas de riego y el uso de mano de obra especializada, particularmente a lo largo de la vía acuática ahora conocida como el canal de Shatt al-Arab, del delta de Golfo Pérsico a la confluencia de los ríos Tigris y Éufrates.

La domesticación de especies silvestres: uros y muflones en ganado vacuno y ovino, respectivamente, dio paso a la utilización a gran escala de animales para comida/fibra y como bestias de carga. El pastor se unió al agricultor como un proveedor esencial para las sociedades sedentarias y seminómadas. El maíz, la mandioca y el arrurruz fueron domesticadas por primera vez en el continente americano y se remontan al 5200 antes de Cristo (a.C.).

Cómo nació la agricultura en el mundo 

El inicio de la agricultura se encuentra en el período Neolítico, cuando la economía de las sociedades humanas evolucionó desde la recolección, la caza y la pesca a la agricultura y la ganadería. Las primeras plantas cultivadas fueron el trigo y la cebada. Sus orígenes se pierden en la prehistoria y su desarrollo se gestó en varias culturas que la practicaron de forma independiente, como las que surgieron en el denominado Creciente Fértil (zona de Oriente Próximo desde Mesopotamia al Antiguo Egipto), las culturas precolombinas de América Central, la cultura desarrollada por los chinos al este de Asia, etc.

Marcas de almidón en implementos de piedra que se encontraron en Nueva Guinea sugieren que el camote se ha cultivado ahí al menos desde hace 30000 años; Se produce una transición, generalmente gradual, desde la economía de caza y recolección de productos agrícolas. Las razones del desarrollo de la agricultura pudieron ser debidas a cambios climáticos hacia temperaturas más templadas; también pudieron deberse a la escasez de caza o alimentos de recolección, o la desertización de amplias regiones. A pesar de sus ventajas, según algunos antropólogos, la agricultura significó una reducción de la variedad en la dieta, creando un cambio en la evolución de la especie humana hacia individuos más vulnerables y dependientes de un enclave que sus predecesores.

La agricultura y la dedicación de las mujeres a una maternidad es cuando una mujer tiene un bebé y lo cuida hasta su último aliento, permitieron una mayor densidad de población que la economía de caza y recolección por la disponibilidad de alimento para un mayor número de individuos. Con la agricultura las sociedades van sedentarizándose y la propiedad deja de ser un derecho solo sobre objetos móviles para trasladarse también a los bienes inmuebles, se amplía la división del trabajo y surge una sociedad más compleja con actividades artesanales y comerciales especializadas, los asentamientos agrícolas y los conflictos por la interpretación de linderos de propiedad dan origen a los primeros sistemas jurídicos y gubernamentales.

Agricultura en la antigua Roma 

En los primeros tiempos de Roma se cultivaban principalmente cereales, leguminosas y hortalizas, pero en la época de la expansión republicana e imperial la agricultura incluía, además del trigo (el pan fue siempre la base de la alimentación) los otros dos elementos de la llamada tríada o trilogía mediterránea.

El campesino trabajaba con su familia, en un modelo literariamente idealizado de vida sencilla (base de los valores morales, familiares y públicos, y de la participación en la res publica); pero con la expansión territorial, la continuidad del esfuerzo bélico, que exigía un prolongado servicio militar de los ciudadanos, arruinó las pequeñas explotaciones en beneficio del modo de producción esclavista. En ese sistema se incluía la mayor parte de la producción agrícola, tanto la de los modestos lotes de tierras repartidos a soldados veteranos como los grandes latifundios en manos de la aristocracia senatorial. En la lenta transición del esclavismo al feudalismo, a partir de la crisis del , se sustituyeron los esclavos por siervos, y el Imperio se ruralizó, pasando las villae rurales a ser centros autosuficientes, en perjuicio de las decadentes ciudades.

Edad Media 

A lo largo de la Edad Media europea, surgen importantes innovaciones tecnológicas que aportarán algunos elementos positivos al trabajo de los campesinos. Las principales innovaciones en la agricultura medieval se debieron al mayor dinamismo del modo de producción feudal, que suponía para los siervos un mayor incentivo en la mejora de la producción que para los esclavos. Las Partidas de Alfonso X de Castilla definen a los campesinos dentro de la sociedad estamental como los que labran la tierra e fazen en ella aquellas cosas por las que los hombres han de vivir y de mantenerse. Este campesinado activo fue la fuerza fundamental del trabajo en la sociedad medieval.

La introducción del uso de arados pesados (con ruedas y vertedera) permitió un cultivo más profundo de los suelos del norte de Europa (se incorporó a lo largo del  en las regiones al norte de los Alpes, mientras que los suelos frágiles de la zona mediterránea seguían vinculados al arado romano). Los molinos hidráulicos (posteriormente los de viento introducidos desde Persia) incrementaron de forma importante la productividad del trabajo, al igual que la mejora paulatina de los aperos agrícolas, como nuevos tipos de trillos, hoces y guadañas.

El cambio del buey por el caballo como animal de tiro fue el resultado de dos avances tecnológicos —el uso de la herradura y el desarrollo de la collera— que permitían al caballo tirar de mayores cargas más fácilmente. Esto aumentó la eficiencia del transporte por tierra, tanto para el comercio como para las campañas militares, y sumado a la mejora general de la red de carreteras aumentó las oportunidades comerciales para las comunidades rurales mejor comunicadas. En algunas zonas con tierras especialmente fértiles, se introdujo la rotación de cultivos de tres hojas (rotación trienal, asociando un cereal de primavera o una leguminosa a un cereal de invierno), lo que reducía al 33 en vez de al 50 % la necesidad de barbecho frente al sistema de año y vez, aumentando la producción y haciéndola más diversificada. La posibilidad de abonado, estaba restringida a la disponibilidad de ganadería asociada, que, en las zonas y periodos en que se incrementó, tuvo un importante impacto en la vida campesina, aunque no siempre positivo para los agricultores, cuyos intereses estaban en contradicción con los de los ganaderos, habitualmente de condición privilegiada (el Concejo de la Mesta y asociaciones ganaderas similares en los reinos cristianos peninsulares). El ejemplo de los monasterios, especialmente de la Orden benedictina expandidos por toda Europa occidental (Cluny y Císter), extendió prácticas agrícolas, de gestión de las propiedades y de industria alimentaria. En zonas de Europa meridional (la Sicilia y la España musulmanas), los árabes introdujeron mejoras agrícolas, especialmente en sistemas de regadío (norias de Murcia, acequias de Valencia), el aprovechamiento de las laderas (bancales de las Alpujarras), zonas inundables (arroz) y el cultivo intensivo de huertas, con la generalización de los frutales mediterráneos (naranjos, almendros) y todo tipo de verduras, que caracterizarán el estereotipo de la alimentación de los campesinos sometidos de estas zonas, de origen musulmán, frente a los conquistadores cristianos (villano harto de ajos llamaba Don Quijote a Sancho).

Estos cambios causaron un crecimiento, tanto en la variedad como en la cantidad de las cosechas, que tuvo efectos importantes en la dieta de la población. El campo fue el gran protagonista en la Plena Edad Media europea. Los recursos que aportaba la agricultura y la ganadería eran la base de la economía y la tierra era el centro de las relaciones sociales, siendo la distribución de sus excedentes la que permitió la revolución urbana que se vivió entre los siglos  y , cumbre del periodo denominado óptimo medieval, beneficiado por un clima especialmente benigno. La tasa de crecimiento promedio interanual de la población europea durante el período 1000-1300 fue de 0,2 %. Entre las causas de la reducción de la tasa de mortalidad que permitió ese crecimiento, leve pero sostenido, se ha sugerido la mejora en la alimentación producto de la incorporación del octavo aminoácido, gracias al consumo de la lenteja.

La expansión agrícola de las tierras cultivables se hizo a costa de la reducción de la superficie del bosque y de la incorporación de tierras marginales y aunque contribuyó al crecimiento de la producción de alimentos, inevitablemente conducía a las consecuencias negativas de la ley de los rendimientos decrecientes, lo que estuvo entre las causas lejanas o precondiciones de la crisis del . A pesar de los progresos, la agricultura medieval manifestó siempre signos de precariedad debido a la imposibilidad de realizar la inversión productiva de los excedentes (extraídos en forma de renta feudal por la nobleza y el clero) y su estrecha dependencia de las condiciones naturales.

Edad Moderna 
Durante el Antiguo Régimen los países del sur y este de Europa prolongaron el sistema económico feudal, especialmente en la agricultura, pudiéndose hablar de una refeudalización evidente desde la crisis del , en que se reafirmó la posición predominante de los señores frente a los campesinos, que seguían siendo la inmensa mayoría de la población, pero que no tenían posibilidad de iniciar la acumulación del capital necesaria para la transformación agraria. En cambio, en la Europa noroccidental, especialmente en Países Bajos e Inglaterra, los cambios sociales y políticos (revolución burguesa) se vieron acompañados en el campo por una revolución agrícola previa a la Revolución Industrial del , que intensificó los cultivos, aumentando los rendimientos gracias a mejoras técnicas y productivas (rotación de cultivos de cuatro hojas de Waasland; aperos de Jethro Tull) y a la introducción de nuevos cultivos.

La integración de la economía mundial tras la era de los descubrimientos permitió un intercambio de cultivos a nivel planetario: productos del Viejo Mundo, tanto de zonas templadas como el trigo y la vid, como de zonas cálidas como la caña de azúcar, el algodón y el café, fueron introducidos con éxito en América; mientras que productos del Nuevo Mundo como el maíz, la patata, el tomate, el pimiento y el tabaco diversificaron la agricultura europea y del resto de los continentes. Ya en época industrial, la explotación del caucho, restringida inicialmente a la silvicultura amazónica, también se acabó extendiendo a otras zonas ecuatoriales a pesar de todo el cuidado que se puso en impedirlo.

Edad Contemporánea 
La ideología del liberalismo económico propugnó la liberación del mercado de tierras y la imposición de la propiedad privada sobre ellas, con distintas manifestaciones según los países (enclosures en Inglaterra desde el ; en España supresión de mayorazgos y señoríos desde las Cortes de Cádiz, desamortización de Mendizábal en 1836). La formación de mercados nacionales unificados implicaba la unificación de los pesos y medidas, y la liberalización de los precios frente al anterior proteccionismo mercantilista, tarea que el despotismo ilustrado había iniciado desde supuestos fisiócratas a mediados del . La supresión de la tasa del trigo en España en 1765 estuvo entre las causas del motín de Esquilache, a partir de lo cual la lenta tramitación de una Ley Agraria no llegó a resultados efectivos (Informe de Jovellanos, 1795). En el Imperio austríaco se produjo la abolición de la servidumbre (José II, 1785), que en el Imperio ruso no llegó hasta 1861 (reforma de Alejandro II). En Francia, la Revolución de 1789 suprimió los derechos feudales, proporcionando una base de pequeños propietarios pero con suficiente capacidad de capitalización, muy implicados con su tierra, que caracterizó desde entonces la vitalidad y especial fuerza social y política del campo francés. En Inglaterra, el predominio de los terratenientes y la gentry en el Parlamento logró mantener hasta bien entrado el  el proteccionismo de las Corn Laws para evitar un descenso en el precio del trigo, en perjuicio de los industriales que patrocinaron la Escuela de Mánchester. Lo que sí se había producido es la drástica reducción de la población activa agraria ante cada vez mayor productividad del trabajo. La falta de expectativas de trabajo en el campo para una población creciente (explosión demográfica)y la ruptura de las redes de solidaridad tradicionales en las parroquias rurales (Poor Laws, desaparición de los comunales —en España con la desamortización de Madoz, 1855—) condujo a un imparable éxodo rural que alimentó los suburbios de las ciudades industriales.

El uso de abonos químicos (fosfatos, nitratos, etc.) la mecanización y los estudios científicos de la edafología y la ingeniería agrícola transformaron la agricultura, a finales del , en una actividad similar a la industrial en cuanto a su conexión con la ciencia y tecnología. No obstante, la dependencia de la climatología y la periódica irrupción de plagas (hambre irlandesa de 1845-1849, con afectación de la patata, filoxera desde 1863, con afectación de la vid) produjo periódicas crisis agrícolas.

La división del mundo en países desarrollados y subdesarrollados tuvo en la agricultura uno de sus aspectos: los primeros caracterizados por una agricultura especializada y de mercado con altos rendimientos (incluso en los denominados países nuevos donde la presión de la población sobre la superficie es menor); mientras que en los segundos se produjo una división por zonas entre una agricultura de subsistencia de explotaciones familiares con tecnología tradicional y sometida a la presión del crecimiento demográfico, y una agricultura de plantación de monocultivos destinados al mercado internacional, que también presiona sobre los cada vez más reducidos espacios naturales (deforestación).

La revolución verde de la segunda mitad del  significó un salto cualitativo en la tecnificación de la agricultura en todo el mundo, basándose en mejoras tecnológicas avanzadas como las semillas de alto rendimiento, que a finales de  experimentó un nuevo impulso con la biotecnología (OGM). Simultáneamente, la evolución generalizada hacia una agricultura de mercado produjo la cada vez mayor dependencia de los plaguicidas y el abonado intensivo, con graves problemas medioambientales como la contaminación de suelos y acuíferos y una drástica reducción de la biodiversidad; a lo que se ha pretendido responder con el planteamiento de una denominada agricultura sostenible. El total de la superficie global dedicada a las actividades agrarias se sitúa desde finales de los 50 entre el 35% y el 40%.

Actualidad 

, especialmente con la aparición del tractor, las exigentes tareas de sembrar, cosechar y trillar pueden realizarse de forma rápida y a una escala antes inimaginable. Según la Academia Internacional de Ingeniería de Estados Unidos. La mecanización agraria es uno de los 20 mayores logros de la ingeniería del .
A principios del , en Estados Unidos se necesitaba un granjero para alimentar de 2 a 5 personas, mientras que hoy, gracias a la tecnología, los agroquímicos y las variedades actuales, un granjero puede alimentar a 130 personas. El costo de esta productividad es un gran consumo energético, generalmente de combustibles fósiles.

La difusión de la radio y la televisión (medios de comunicación), así como de la informática, son de gran ayuda, al facilitar informes meteorológicos, estudios de mercado, etc.

Además de comida para humanos y sus animales, se produce cada vez con más amplia utilidad tales como flores, plantas ornamentales, madera, fertilizantes, pieles, cuero, productos químicos (etanol, plásticos, azúcar, almidón), fibras (algodón, cáñamo, lino), combustible (biodiésel, el propio etanol, que ahora ya se está obteniendo del maíz), productos biofarmacéuticos, y drogas tanto legales como ilegales (tabaco, marihuana, opio, cocaína). También existen plantas creadas por ingeniería genética que producen sustancias especializadas (como, por ejemplo, el maíz transgénico, que, al igual que la obtención de etanol, está modificando la economía de los cultivos de esta planta y la vida de las comunidades que de ella siguen dependiendo).

La manipulación genética, la mejor gestión de los nutrientes del suelo y la mejora en el control de las semillas han aumentado enormemente las cosechas por unidad de superficie, a cambio estas semillas se han vuelto más sensibles a plagas y enfermedades, lo que conlleva una necesidad de estos últimos mayor por parte del agricultor; Prueba de ello es el resurgimiento de antiguas variedades, muy resistentes a las enfermedades y plagas, por su rusticidad. Al mismo tiempo, la mecanización ha reducido la exigencia de mano de obra. Las cosechas son generalmente menores en los países más pobres, al carecer del capital, la tecnología y los conocimientos científicos necesarios.

La agricultura moderna depende en gran medida de la tecnología y las ciencias físicas y biológicas. La irrigación, el drenaje, la conservación y la sanidad, que son vitales para una agricultura exitosa, exigen el conocimiento especializado de ingenieros agrónomos. La química agrícola, en cambio, trata con la aplicación de fertilizantes, insecticidas y fungicidas, la reparación de suelos, el análisis de productos agrícolas, etc.

Las variedades de semillas han sido mejoradas hasta el punto de poder germinar más rápido y adaptarse a estaciones más breves en distintos climas. Las semillas actuales pueden resistir a pesticidas capaces de exterminar a todas las plantas verdes. Los cultivos hidropónicos, un método para cultivar sin tierra, utilizando soluciones de nutrientes químicos, pueden ayudar a cubrir la creciente necesidad de producción a medida que la población mundial aumenta.

Otras técnicas modernas que han contribuido al desarrollo de la agricultura son las de empaquetado, procesamiento y mercadeo. Así, el procesamiento de los alimentos, como el congelado rápido y la deshidratación han abierto nuevos horizontes a la comercialización de los productos y aumentado los posibles mercados.

La mayoría de las personas en situación de pobreza alrededor del mundo dependen de la agricultura. Por ello, la seguridad alimentaria y la agricultura están siendo promovidas por gobiernos y organismos de desarrollo como una estrategia para favorecer a las personas en situación de pobreza y estimular el crecimiento económico. Estas intervenciones agrícolas incluyen tecnología, habilidades y el entorno regulatorio. Se ha planteado analizar el impacto de varias de estas intervenciones como, por ejemplo, la titulación de tierras, la capacitación y tecnología, las escuelas de campo para agricultores, el pago por servicios ambientales y la gestión forestal descentralizada.

Un análisis de cinco revisiones sistemáticas concluyó, entre varios resultados, que las reformas de titulación de tierras tienen efectos positivos sobre la productividad agrícola y en los ingresos de aquellos beneficiados. Asimismo, las innovaciones tecnológicas impactan positivamente en la seguridad alimentaria familiar, mientras que las escuelas de campo para agricultores demostraron ser eficaces en aumentar la producción agrícola. A pesar de que también se obtuvieron otros resultados, todavía queda pendiente comprender por qué algunos programas son más eficaces que otros, por lo que es recomendable realizar más investigaciones que estudien la gama completa de impactos relevantes y evalúen resultados sociales más amplios.

Sector agrícola 
Sector agrícola es el sector de la economía que produce  productos agrícolas (materias primas de origen vegetal).

No debe confundirse con el sector agrario, que incluye también la ganadería y las demás actividades económicas del campo, ni con el sector primario, que incluye otros sectores productores de materias primas, como la minería y la explotación forestal.

Habitualmente se utiliza la expresión para identificar los intereses sectoriales de las empresas agrícolas o, genéricamente, de la totalidad de los habitantes de zonas agrícolas, puesto que son determinantes en la vida económica de la mayor parte de las regiones rurales. En la política de determinados países, especialmente en los Estados Unidos, funcionan como un lobby o grupo de presión.

Producto agrícola 
Producto agrícola es la denominación genérica de cada uno de los productos de la agricultura, la actividad humana que obtiene materias primas de origen vegetal a través del cultivo. No se consideran productos agrícolas estrictamente los procedentes de la explotación forestal. Menos habitual es la distinción con los productos procedentes de la recolección, que en algunos casos es todavía una actividad económica estimable (por ejemplo, la recolección de setas –que propiamente no son vegetales, sino hongos–).

Según el destino que se dé al producto, puede hacerse una división entre productos agrícolas alimentarios y productos agrícolas industriales. De los alimentarios, los más importantes (por ser la base de la alimentación humana y de la ganadería), destacan los cereales (trigo, arroz, maíz,tomate etc.); la patata y otros tubérculos; legumbres; las plantas oleaginosas (olivo, girasol, soja, colza); la vid y otras plantas susceptibles de producir distintas bebidas alcohólicas; las plantas azucareras; y los productos hortofrutícolas. De los industriales, imprescindibles para muchos procesos industriales, destacan las materias primas para la industria textil, como el algodón, el lino textil, el esparto, etc.; y otros de gran importancia económica, como el caucho y el tabaco. Las plantas tintóreas, que fueron de gran importancia hasta la Revolución Industrial, han sido sustituidas por tintes químicos. La producción de biocombustibles a partir de restos vegetales o cultivados expresamente para ello ha sido objeto de gran desarrollo en los últimos años.

No debe confundirse producción agrícola con producción agraria, que incluye, además de los productos de la agricultura, los de las demás actividades agrarias, especialmente la ganadería. Otro concepto confluyente es el de la totalidad de los productos del campo o productos rurales (lo rural). Estrictamente, la producción rural también incluye los productos de la industria rural, especialmente los de la industria alimentaria local o tradicional y los de la artesanía rural.

Tampoco se debe confundir con la aportación del sector primario a la producción total (PIB o PNB según cómo se considere), que suele dividirse en los tres sectores de la economía, puesto que el sector primario incluye, además, la pesca.Para que los agricultores puedan producir alimentos hacen uso de dos recursos naturales importantes:  
el suelo y el agua. Esta labor a menudo la realizan,  en áreas donde la topografía es montañosa con altas pendientes donde se requieren prácticas para el manejo de la escarnecía y control de erosión.  El suelo y el agua son también recursos vitales para toda actividad humana. Por tal razón el agricultor debe conocer las prácticas recomendadas para el uso efectivo y la conservación de estos recursos esenciales.

Tipos de agricultura 

Los tipos de agricultura pueden dividirse según muchos criterios distintos de clasificación:

Según su dependencia del agua:
 De secano: es la agricultura producida sin aporte de agua por parte del mismo agricultor. Nutriéndose el suelo de la lluvia o aguas subterráneas.
 De regadío: se produce con el aporte de agua por parte del agricultor, mediante el suministro que se capta de cauces superficiales naturales o artificiales, o mediante la extracción de aguas subterráneas de los pozos.

Según la magnitud de la producción y su relación con el mercado:
 Agricultura de subsistencia: Consiste en la producción de la cantidad mínima de comida necesaria para cubrir las necesidades del agricultor y su familia, sin apenas excedentes que comercializar. El nivel técnico es primitivo.
 Agricultura industrial: Se producen grandes cantidades, utilizando costosos medios de producción, para obtener excedentes y comercializarlos. Típica de países industrializados, de los países en vías de desarrollo y del sector internacionalizado de los países más pobres. El nivel técnico es de orden tecnológico. También puede definirse como Agricultura de mercado.

Según se pretenda obtener el máximo rendimiento o la mínima utilización de otros medios de producción, lo que determinará una mayor o menor huella ecológica:
 Agricultura intensiva: busca una producción grande en poco espacio. Conlleva un mayor desgaste del sitio. Propia de los países industrializados.
 Agricultura extensiva: depende de una mayor superficie, es decir, provoca menor presión sobre el lugar y sus relaciones ecológicas, aunque sus beneficios comerciales suelen ser menores.

Según el método y objetivos:
 Agricultura tradicional: utiliza los sistemas típicos de un lugar, que han configurado la cultura del mismo, en periodos más o menos prolongados.
 Agricultura industrial: basada sobre todo en sistemas intensivos, está enfocada a producir grandes cantidades de alimentos en menos tiempo y espacio —pero con mayor desgaste ecológico—, dirigida a mover grandes beneficios comerciales.
 Agricultura orgánica: biológica o ecológica (son sinónimos): crean diversos sistemas de producción que respeten las características ecológicas de los lugares y geobiológicas de los suelos, procurando respetar las estaciones y las distribuciones naturales de las especies vegetales, fomentando la fertilidad del suelo.
 Agricultura natural: se recogen los productos producidos sin la intervención humana y se consumen.
Agricultura por contrato: es un acuerdo entre un agricultor y una empresa, establecido antes de que comience la producción. Dicho acuerdo varía por región, y compromete a la empresa a proporcionar recursos y servicios al agricultor, tales como transporte, certificación, suministro de insumos o créditos. Para que los agricultores renuncien a su autonomía en la producción y comercialización de sus productos, es necesario ofrecerles importantes ganancias. Una revisión resume los hallazgos de 75 reportes, que cubren 26 ejemplos empíricos de agricultura por contrato en 13 países en desarrollo. La conclusión de dicha revisión es que la agricultura por contrato puede aumentar los ingresos de los agricultores entre 23% y 54%. Asimismo, se concluye que los agricultores más pobres generalmente no son parte de estos esquemas. Estos resultados, sin embargo, deben examinarse con cuidado debido a posibles sesgos en las estimaciones, ya que no existen datos de agricultores que se retiran del programa o que fracasan en los primeros años, por ejemplo.

Impacto negativo sobre el medio ambiente

Pérdida de la biodiversidad y deforestación 

La concentración parcelaria, la deforestación y el drenaje de marismas para la explotación agrícola reducen la superficie disponible para la vida silvestre y fragmentan los hábitat naturales. Los plaguicidas y herbicidas destruyen gran número de insectos y plantas no deseadas, por lo que afectan a especies más grandes que ven reducidas sus fuentes de alimentos. Estas formas de vida que se ven afectadas pueden ser importantes recicladores de nutrientes del suelo, polinizadores de cultivos y predadores de insectos dañinos. Es decir, la pérdida de biodiversidad comienza con la fase de preparación de la tierra para el desarrollo agrícola y continúa después. Esta pérdida de biodiversidad es una constante que no se reduce ni siquiera en aquellos países que valoran y protegen la naturaleza. Asimismo, la degradación de la tierra, la salinización y el exceso de extracción de agua provocados por la agricultura afectan a la base de su propio futuro.

Muchos de estos problemas van agotando y desertizando el suelo, obligando a abandonar unos terrenos para arar otros nuevos que, a su vez, se agotan, creando un círculo vicioso que va destruyendo el entorno. Un ejemplo claro es la progresiva deforestación de la selva del Amazonas.

Emisión de gases de efecto invernadero 
La agricultura es también una importante fuente de contaminación del aire y de gases de efecto invernadero. El amoniaco es una de las causas principales de la lluvia ácida que daña los árboles, acidifica los suelos, los lagos y los ríos, perjudicando la biodiversidad. Las emisiones de amoniaco procedentes de los fertilizantes minerales representan aproximadamente el 16% y la combustión de biomasa y residuos de cultivos el 18%. Asimismo, la combustión de biomasa de plantas provoca la emisión de otros potentes contaminantes del aire, como dióxido de carbono, óxido nitroso y partículas de humo. Los seres humanos son responsables aproximadamente del 90% de la combustión de biomasa, principalmente por la quema deliberada de vegetación forestal, asociada con la deforestación, y residuos de pastos y cultivos para favorecer el crecimiento de nuevos cultivos y destruir hábitats de insectos dañinos. El cultivo de arroz es otra fuente agrícola importante de metano, que representa aproximadamente una quinta parte del total de las emisiones.

Erosión y uso del suelo 
La agricultura, especialmente la agricultura intensiva o industrial, tiene un impacto negativo sobre el suelo. Entre los problemas frecuentes se pueden mencionar:

Erosión del terreno
 Agotamiento de minerales del suelo
Salinización del suelo en zonas secas
 Competencia entre los agrocombustibles y la alimentación

Agroquímicos 
Los pesticidas, herbicidas y otro tipo de agroquímicos afectan de varias maneras al ecosistema. Algunas de estos problemas incluyen:

 Contaminación por nitrógeno y fósforomagnesio en ríos, lagos y aguas subterráneas
 Contaminación por residuos de pesticidas del suelo, agua y aire
 Causar desequilibrios en la biota por el uso indiscriminado de pesticidas

Otros problemas 

 Contaminación por desechos orgánicos

Maquinaria, equipos y herramientas agrícolas

Maquinaria agrícola 

Las maquinarias son elementos que se utilizan para dirigir la acción realizada por las fuerzas de trabajo a base de energía; por su parte en el campo agrícola, los mecanismos a motor que se emplean en estas labores aligeran la producción y mejoran las técnicas de cultivo. Entre las máquinas agrícolas más utilizadas en las labores del campo se mencionan:
 Tractor: es una máquina agrícola muy útil, con ruedas o cadenas diseñadas para moverse con facilidad en el terreno y potencia de tracción que permite realizar grandes tareas agrícolas, aun en terrenos encharcados. Tiene dos pedales de freno y está acondicionando para halar rastras. Hay dos tipos de tractores: el de oruga, de gran estabilidad y fuerza, y el de ruedas, capaz de desplazarse hasta por carreteras; posee mayor velocidad que el de oruga.
 Motocultor: es una máquina agrícola de un solo eje y se opera por manillar; suele tener mediana potencia pero, en cambio puede ser muy versátil con los numerosos aperos e implementos que se han venido desarrollando. Es la maquinaria ideal para parcelas pequeñas o minifundios, muy frecuentes en los países del Sur de Europa, y también del sudeste asiático, así como de otras partes del mundo; la fuerza del motor es bastante reducida (motores monocilíndricos de gasolina o diésel de unos 200 cm³ en promedio) pero queda compensada por la escasa velocidad, lo que le da una gran potencia. Aunque también puede emplearse en parcelas relativamente grandes con un asiento para el conductor, su empleo ha venido siendo sustituido parcialmente por los tractores más grandes, esenciales en las labores de integración parcelaria, como la que se ha llevado a cabo en Francia y en otros países, por lo que su uso ha venido limitándose cada vez más para las labores hortícolas, en jardinería y de ornamento en las parcelas minifundistas. Los implementos del motocultor pueden variar desde las cosechadores, sembradoras, fumigadoras, transporte y hasta toma de fuerza para bombas de riego y otros fines. Seguirá siendo esencial en las parcelas en los terrenos bastante desnivelados y fragmentados por el relieve.
 Cosechadora: o segadora es una máquina agrícola de motor potente, peine cortador para segar las plantas maduras de cereales y un largo rastrillo que va delante de la máquina y gira sobre un eje horizontal.

Equipos agrícolas 

Los equipos agrícolas son un grupo de aparatos diseñados para abrir surcos en la tierra, desmenuzar, fumigar y fertilizar en el suelo.
 Arado: es un equipo agrícola diseñado para abrir surcos en la tierra; está compuesto por una cuchilla, reja, vertedera, talón, cama, timón y mancera, las cuales sirven para cortar y nivelar la tierra, sostener las piezas del arado, fijar el tiro y servir de empuñadura. Existen diversos tipos de arados, pero los más conocidos son:
 arado de vertedera, formado por la reja, cuchillas y la vertedera.
 arado de discos: formado por discos cóncavos para abrir surcos profundos.
 arado superficial, para remover la capa superior del suelo.
 arado de subsuelo, para remover la tierra a profundidad.
 Rastra: es un equipo agrícola diseñado para desmenuzar las partes o porciones de tierra que han sido removidas por el arado; están compuestas por un armazón que pueden ser de madera y metal, los dientes y el enganche que la une al tractor.
 Asperjadora: es un equipo agrícola diseñado para fumigar; está compuesta por un depósito de líquido, bomba de presión, tapa, boca, tanque y válvula de presión, correas, manguera, llave y la boquilla por donde sale el líquido para fumigar, sea insecticida, fungicida o herbicida. La asperjadora manual se coloca en la espalda del rociador y éste lleva colocada en la boca y nariz una mascarilla especial para evitar que los fuertes olores despedidos por la sustancia que expele la asperjadora le hagan daño.
 Sembradora de siembra directa: es un equipo para colocar las simientes sobre la cama de siembra, sin laboreo previo.
 Abonadora: es un equipo agrícola diseñado para distribuir fertilizantes; está compuesta por tres partes principales: la tolva o depósito del abono, el tubo de caída del fertilizante y el distribuidor del fertilizante.
 Empacadora: es un equipo agrícola diseñado para empaquetar o empacar la paja de los cereales u otras plantas herbáceas forrajeras en balas (también llamadas pacas o alpacas).

Herramientas agrícolas 

Las herramientas agrícolas son instrumentos que se utilizan para labrar la tierra, cargar arena, deshierbar, remover la tierra, abrir zanjas, transportar abono o material, etc. Son muchas y muy variadas las herramientas agrícolas, entre las que se mencionan:
 Azadas: son herramientas con extremo en forma de pala; son de metal con borde inferior de filo cortante; sirven para remover la tierra.
 Barretones: son palancas de acero terminadas en hoja plana y semiplana del mismo metal, mango de mediana longitud.
 Carretillas: son cargos pequeños que tienen una rueda y sirven para cargar y descargar material agrícola, sea arena, tierra, abonos.
 Escardillas: constituyen variantes de las azadas, de menor anchura, utilizadas para escardar, es decir, para limpiar los cultivos de cardos y de otras hierbas y plantas indeseables.
 Machetes: son herramientas diseñadas para cortar; tienen una hoja de acero larga y afilada, unida a un mango de madera.
 Palas: son láminas de metal, preferiblemente acero, que se usan para labrar la tierra; pueden ser de punta o de forma ancha; tienen borde inferior con filo cortante y mango largo de madera terminado en un asa de metal.
 Picos: son instrumentos compuestos de una parte de acero cuyos extremos terminan en forma de pala rectangular, por un lado, y por la tierra en forma vertical; tiene una pala rectangular con borde inferior de filo y mango de madera o metal.
 Rastrillos: diseñados para cubrir o rastrillar semillas; tienen una parte horizontal de metal y formada por dientes delgados o gruesos según el uso.
 Regaderas: son envases de metal con depósito para agua, con un tubo que termina en una pieza redonda con muchos agujeros pequeños; sirve para regar plantas.
 Trasplantadora: son pequeñas palas de metal en forma de cuchara pequeña, de bordes afilados y mango de madera. Sirven para sacar semillas.

Diferencias entre maquinarias, equipos y herramientas según su uso 
La diferencia es que las maquinarias se encargan de remover la tierra, mientras que los equipos se encargan de ayudar al terreno, de deshacerse de lo que no debería estar en la tierra, y las herramientas ayudan a transportar y excavar para sembrar un nuevo cultivo.

Importancia de las maquinarias, equipos y herramientas en la labor agrícola 
La importancia que existe en:
 Las maquinarias agrícolas se utilizan para arrastrar, desmenuzar o remover la tierra, limpieza y para sembrar.
 Los equipos agrícolas se utilizan para labrar la tierra, eliminar la maleza, fumigar las plantas y para abonar el suelo.
 Las herramientas agrícolas se utilizan para abrir zanjas, cargar tierra, extraer raíces, arrancar hierbas, perforar el suelo y rociar con agua las plantas.

Políticas agrarias 
La política agraria es muy compleja debido a la necesidad de equilibrar la ecología, las necesidades del país y los problemas sociales de quienes viven del campo.

La agricultura es un tema clave en la lucha por la justicia global. A pesar de existir un exceso de comida en los mercados mundiales, que hace que los precios caigan de forma continuada, aún no se ha resuelto el problema del hambre en el mundo. La rápida pérdida de tierras cultivables y la disminución de la cantidad de agua dulce disponible, de la que un 70 % se utiliza para la agricultura, son hoy una de las principales causas de la pobreza. La lucha contra el hambre que sufren 800 millones de seres humanos no es posible sin una profunda reforma de la política agraria global.

Los países ricos protegen a sus agricultores, bien a través de subvenciones a la producción, bien a través de fuertes aranceles a los productos extranjeros. Esto causa que los agricultores de países pobres se vean incapaces de competir en igualdad, por lo que actualmente existe una gran oposición por parte de muchos sectores a estos apoyos.

Las patentes otorgadas a las compañías que desarrollan nuevos tipos de semillas por ingeniería genética han permitido que se licencien a los agricultores las semillas de forma muy similar a la utilizada para licenciar software. Esto ha cambiado la balanza de poder en favor de los fabricantes de semillas, que pueden ahora dictar términos y condiciones antes imposibles. Debido a que si el agricultor no accede a las demandas de la compañía, esta no le vende la semilla. Esto ha hecho que muchos les acusen de biopiratería, ya que muchas de estas empresas se dedican a investigar las propiedades de las plantas, partiendo de conocimientos milenarios. Dándose la paradoja de que al patentar estos conocimientos, obligando a los pueblos de los que han aprendido dicho conocimiento, a pagarles por su uso.

Estudios económicos 
Con objeto de impulsar las exportaciones de productos agrícolas, diversos organismos gubernamentales publican estudios económicos por productos y por países, a través de internet. Entre otros, se encuentran el FAS del Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (USDA), Agricultura y Agroalimentario Canadá (AAFC), Austrade y NZTE, que representan cuatro de los países más importantes a nivel de exportación de productos agrícolas. La Federación de Asociaciones de Comercio Internacional publica estudios de FAS y AAFC, así como de otros organismos no gubernamentales, en su página web globaltrade.net.

Filosofía de la agricultura 

La filosofía de la agricultura es, a grandes rasgos, una disciplina dedicada a la crítica sistemática de los marcos filosóficos (o cosmovisiones éticas) que son la base para las decisiones relativas a la agricultura.

Muchos de estos puntos de vista también se utilizan en la toma de decisiones sobre el uso del suelo en general. En el uso diario, puede definirse como la búsqueda de la sabiduría asociada a la agricultura, como uno de los componentes que fundan la civilización.

Simbología 
La agricultura se representa del mismo modo que a la diosa Ceres, coronada de espigas, con un arado al lado y un arbusto que empieza a florecer. Algunas veces tiene un cuerno de la abundancia lleno de toda clase de frutos y ambas manos sobre una pala o azada. Otros la pintan apoyada sobre el Zodiaco, para significar que las estaciones arreglan los trabajos de la agricultura y revestida de un ropaje verde, símbolo de la esperanza.

En algunas medallas es representada con una mujer que tiene echados a sus pies un león y un toro, el uno emblema de la tierra y el otro, de la labranza. En una piedra grabada de la biblioteca del Vaticano, se ve representada la Agricultura por Psiquis, apoyándose, en una pala como trabajo en que el alma encuentra lugar para la meditación. El genio de la Agricultura se simboliza por medio de un niño desnudo, de una fisonomía risueña y coronado de adormideras; en una mano tiene un manojo de espigas y en la otra un racimo de uvas.

Véase también 

 Agricultura de conservación
 Agricultura de precisión
Impacto ambiental de la agricultura
Cultura
 Agricultura de secano
 Cosecha
 Anexo:Cronología de las tecnologías de la agricultura y alimentación
 Geografía rural
 Siembra directa
 Manejo integrado de plagas
 Política Agrícola Común de la Unión Europea
 Revolución verde
 Subsidio agrícola
 Cambio climático y agricultura
 Muestreo de suelo agrícola

Notas

Bibliografía 
 IROULEGUY, Victoria. De agrarische geschiedenis van West-Europa, Utrecht-Amberes 1964
 LUELMO, Julio. Historia de la agricultura en Europa y América. Madrid: Ediciones Istmo, 1975.
 Marcel Mazoyer, Laurence Roudart: Histoire des agricultures du monde: Du néolithique à la crise contemporaine, París: Seuil, 2002, ISBN 2-02-053061-9, engl. A History of World Agriculture: From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis, New York: Monthly Review Press, 2006, ISBN 1-58367-121-8

Enlaces externos 

 
 Panorama Agrario — Guías, noticias y bolsa de trabajo del sector agrario.
 MAGRAMA —Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (España)—. 
 AGP, noticias de agricultura. 
 Web informativa sobre agriculturas.
 EFEagro, periodismo agroganadero.
 Agriculturas campesinas, globalización y desarrollo agrícola sostenible.
 United Agriculture.
 Red profesional sobre agroalimentación CHIL.org , avalada por el MAGRAMA —Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (España)
 Fundación Para El Desarrollo Socioeconómico y Restauración Ambiental, FUNDESYRAM (El Salvador)
 Shot Informativo (Tec de Monterrey) El Campo

Tecnología

Se denomina astronomía galáctica a la investigación astronómica de nuestra galaxia, la Vía Láctea.

La diferencia entre astronomía galáctica y astronomía extragaláctica solo se empezó a hacer a principios del siglo pasado, cuando las observaciones de Edwin Hubble mostraron sin lugar a dudas que la nebulosa de Andrómeda era una galaxia similar a la nuestra, y a una considerable distancia de ella.

Los objetos de interés en nuestra galaxia son muchos, incluyendo estrellas, nubes interestelares —-que es donde la formación estelar se realiza—-, nuestro centro galáctico —-que estamos casi seguros posee un agujero negro—-, etc.

Véase también 
 Galaxia

Astrofísica galáctica
Disciplinas de la astronomía

ASCII (acrónimo inglés de American Standard Code for Information Interchange —Código Estándar estadounidense para el Intercambio de Información—), pronunciado generalmente  o (rara vez) [ásθi] o [ási], es un código de caracteres basado en el alfabeto latino, tal como se usa en inglés moderno. Fue creado en 1963 por el Comité Estadounidense de Estándares (ASA, conocido desde 1969 como el Instituto Estadounidense de Estándares Nacionales, o ANSI) como una evolución de los conjuntos de códigos utilizados entonces en telegrafía. Más tarde, en 1967, se incluyeron las minúsculas, y se redefinieron algunos códigos de control para formar el código conocido como US-ASCII.

El código ASCII utiliza 7 bits para representar los caracteres, aunque inicialmente empleaba un bit adicional (bit de paridad) que se usaba para detectar errores en la transmisión. A menudo se llama incorrectamente ASCII a varios códigos de caracteres de 8 bits que extienden el ASCII con caracteres propios de idiomas distintos al inglés, como el estándar ISO/IEC 8859-1.

ASCII fue publicado como estándar por primera vez en 1967 y fue actualizado por última vez en 1986. En la actualidad define códigos para 32 caracteres no imprimibles, de los cuales la mayoría son caracteres de control que tienen efecto sobre cómo se procesa el texto, más otros 95 caracteres imprimibles que les siguen en la numeración (empezando por el carácter espacio).

Casi todos los sistemas informáticos actuales utilizan el código ASCII o una extensión compatible para representar textos y para el control de dispositivos que manejan letras o cualquier símbolo en el teclado.

Vista general 
Las computadoras únicamente entienden números. El código ASCII es un método de traducción de letras y símbolos a números como ‘a=97’ o ‘/=47’ .

Como otros códigos de formato de representación de caracteres, el ASCII es un método para una correspondencia entre cadenas de bits y una serie de símbolos (alfanuméricos y otros), permitiendo de esta forma la comunicación entre dispositivos digitales así como su procesado y almacenamiento. El código de caracteres ASCII —o una extensión compatible (ver más abajo)— se usa casi en todas las computadoras, especialmente con computadoras personales y estaciones de trabajo. El nombre más apropiado para este código de caracteres es "US-ASCII".

ASCII es, en sentido estricto, un código de siete bits, lo que significa que usa cadenas de bits representables con siete dígitos binarios (que van de 0 a 127 en base decimal) para representar información de caracteres. En el momento en el que se introdujo el código ASCII muchas computadoras trabajaban con grupos de ocho bits (bytes u octetos), como la unidad mínima de información; donde el octavo bit se usaba habitualmente como bit de paridad con funciones de control de errores en líneas de comunicación u otras funciones específicas del dispositivo. Las máquinas que no usaban la comprobación de paridad asignaban al octavo bit el valor cero en la mayoría de los casos, aunque otros sistemas como las computadoras Prime, que ejecutaban PRIMOS ponían el octavo bit del código ASCII a uno.
El código ASCII define una relación entre caracteres específicos y secuencias de bits; además de reservar unos cuantos códigos de control para el procesador de textos, y no define ningún mecanismo para describir la estructura o la apariencia del texto en un documento; estos asuntos están especificados por otros lenguajes como los lenguajes de etiquetas.

Historia 

El código ASCII se desarrolló en el ámbito de la telegrafía y se usó por primera vez comercialmente como un código de teleimpresión impulsado por los servicios de datos de Bell. Bell había planeado usar un código de seis bits, derivado de Fieldata, que añadía puntuación y letras minúsculas al más antiguo código de teleimpresión Baudot, pero se les convenció para que se unieran al subcomité de la Agencia de Estándares Estadounidense (ASA), que había empezado a desarrollar el código ASCII. Baudot ayudó en la automatización del envío y recepción de mensajes telegráficos, y tomó muchas características del código Morse; sin embargo, a diferencia del código Morse, Baudot usó códigos de longitud constante. Comparado con los primeros códigos telegráficos, el código propuesto por Bell y ASA resultó en una reorganización más conveniente para ordenar listas (especialmente porque estaba ordenado alfabéticamente) y añadió características como la 'secuencia de escape'.

La Agencia de Estándares Estadounidense (ASA), que se convertiría más tarde en el Instituto Nacional Estadounidense de Estándares (ANSI), publicó por primera vez el código ASCII en 1963. El ASCII publicado en 1963 tenía una flecha apuntando hacia arriba (↑) en lugar del circunflejo (^) y una flecha apuntando hacia la izquierda en lugar del guion bajo (_). La versión de 1967 añadió las letras minúsculas, cambió los nombres de algunos códigos de control y cambió de lugar los dos códigos de control ACK y ESC de la zona de letras minúsculas a la zona de códigos de control.

ASCII fue actualizado en consecuencia y publicado como ANSI X3.4-1968, ANSI X3.4-1977, y finalmente ANSI X3.4-1986.
Otros órganos de estandarización han publicado códigos de caracteres que son idénticos a ASCII. Estos códigos de caracteres reciben a menudo el nombre de ASCII, a pesar de que ASCII se define estrictamente solamente por los estándares ASA/ANSI:

 La Asociación Europea de Fabricantes de Computadores (ECMA) publicó ediciones de su clon de ASCII, ECMA-6 en 1965, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1983, y 1991. La edición de 1991 es idéntica a ANSI X3.4-1986.
 La Organización Internacional de Estandarización (ISO) publicó su versión, ISO 646 (más tarde ISO/IEC 646) en 1967, 1972, 1983 y 1991. En particular, ISO 646:1972 estableció un conjunto de versiones específicas para cada país donde los caracteres de puntuación fueron reemplazados con caracteres no ingleses. ISO/IEC 646:1991 La International Reference Version es la misma que en el ANSI X3.4-1986.
 La Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (ITU) publicó su versión de ANSI X3.4-1986, Recomendación ITU T.50, en 1992. A principios de la década de 1970 publicó una versión como Recomendación CCITT V.3.
 DIN publicó una versión de ASCII como el estándar DIN 66003 en 1974.
 El Grupo de Trabajo en Ingeniería de Internet (IETF) publicó una versión en 1969 como RFC 20, y estableció la versión estándar para Internet, basada en ANSI X3.4-1986, con la publicación de RFC 1345 en 1992.
 La versión de IBM de ANSI X3.4-1986 se publicó en la literatura técnica de IBM como página de códigos 367.

El código ASCII también está incluido en Unicode, constituyendo los primeros 128 caracteres (o los 'más bajos').

Los caracteres de control ASCII 

El código ASCII reserva los primeros 32 códigos (numerados del 0 al 31 en decimal) para caracteres de control: códigos no pensados originalmente para representar información imprimible, sino para controlar dispositivos (como impresoras) que usaban ASCII. Por ejemplo, el carácter 10 representa la función "nueva línea" (line feed), que hace que una impresora avance el papel, y el carácter 27 representa la tecla "escape" que a menudo se encuentra en la esquina superior izquierda de los teclados comunes.

El código 127 (los siete bits a uno), otro carácter especial, equivale a "suprimir" ("delete"). Aunque esta función se asemeja a otros caracteres de control, los diseñadores de ASCII idearon este código para poder "borrar" una sección de papel perforado (un medio de almacenamiento popular hasta la década de 1980) mediante la perforación de todos los agujeros posibles de una posición de carácter concreta, reemplazando cualquier información previa. Dado que el código 0 era ignorado, fue posible dejar huecos (regiones de agujeros) y más tarde hacer correcciones.

Muchos de los caracteres de control ASCII servían para marcar paquetes de datos, o para controlar protocolos de transmisión de datos (por ejemplo ENQuiry, con el significado: ¿hay alguna estación por ahí?, ACKnowledge: recibido o ", Start Of Header: inicio de cabecera, Start of TeXt: inicio de texto, End of TeXt: final de texto, etc.). ESCape y SUBstitute permitían a un protocolo de comunicaciones, por ejemplo, marcar datos binarios para que contuviesen códigos con el mismo código que el carácter de protocolo, y que el receptor pudiese interpretarlos como datos en lugar de como caracteres propios del protocolo.
Los diseñadores del código ASCII idearon los caracteres de separación para su uso en sistemas de cintas magnéticas.

Dos de los caracteres de control de dispositivos, comúnmente llamados XON y XOFF generalmente ejercían funciones de caracteres de control de flujo para controlar el flujo hacia un dispositivo lento (como una impresora) desde un dispositivo rápido (como una computadora), de forma que los datos no saturasen la capacidad de recepción del dispositivo lento y se perdiesen.

Los primeros usuarios de ASCII adoptaron algunos de los códigos de control para representar "metainformación" como final-de-línea, principio/final de un elemento de datos, etc. Estas asignaciones a menudo entraban en conflicto, así que parte del esfuerzo de convertir datos de un formato a otro comporta hacer las conversiones correctas de metainformación. Por ejemplo, el carácter que representa el final-de-línea en ficheros de texto varía con el sistema operativo. Cuando se copian archivos de un sistema a otro, el sistema de conversión debe reconocer estos caracteres como marcas de final-de-línea y actuar en consecuencia.

Actualmente los usuarios de ASCII usan menos los caracteres de control, (con algunas excepciones como "retorno de carro" o "nueva línea"). Los lenguajes modernos de etiquetas, los protocolos modernos de comunicación, el paso de dispositivos basados en texto a basados en gráficos, el declive de las teleimpresoras, las tarjetas perforadas y los papeles continuos han dejado obsoleta la mayoría de caracteres de control.

Caracteres imprimibles ASCII 

El carácter 'espacio', designa al espacio entre palabras, y se produce normalmente por la barra espaciadora de un teclado. Los códigos del 32 al 126 se conocen como caracteres imprimibles, y representan letras, dígitos, signos de puntuación y varios símbolos.

El ASCII de siete bits proporciona siete caracteres "nacionales" y, si la combinación concreta de hardware y software lo permite, puede utilizar combinaciones de teclas para simular otros caracteres internacionales: en estos casos un backspace puede preceder a un acento abierto o grave (en los estándares británico y estadounidense, pero solo en estos estándares, se llama también "opening single quotation mark"), una tilde o una "marca de respiración".

!"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz{}|~

Rasgos estructurales 

 Los dígitos del 0 al 9 se representan con sus valores prefijados con el valor 0011 en binario (esto significa que la conversión BCD-ASCII es una simple cuestión de tomar cada unidad bcd y prefijarla con 0011).
 Las cadenas de bits de las letras minúsculas y mayúsculas solo difieren en un bit, simplificando de esta forma la conversión de uno a otro grupo.

Otros nombres para ASCII 

La RFC 1345 (publicada en junio de 1992) y el registro IANA de códigos de caracteres, reconocen los siguientes nombres alternativos para ASCII para su uso en Internet.

 ANSI_X3.4-1968 (nombre canónico)
 ANSI_X3.4-1986
 ASCII
 US-ASCII (nombre MIME recomendado)
 us
 ISO646-US
 ISO_646.irv:1991
 iso-ir-6
 IBM367
 cp367
 csASCII

De estos, solo los nombres "US-ASCII" y "ASCII" se usan ampliamente. A menudo se encuentran en el parámetro de "código de caracteres" opcional en la cabecera Content-Type de algunos mensajes MIME, en el elemento equivalente "meta" de algunos documentos HTML, y en la parte de declaración de codificación de carácter de la cabecera de algunos documentos XML.

Variantes de ASCII 

A medida que la tecnología informática se difundió a lo largo del mundo, se desarrollaron diferentes estándares y las empresas desarrollaron muchas variaciones del código ASCII para facilitar la escritura de lenguas diferentes al inglés que usaran alfabetos latinos. Se pueden encontrar algunas de esas variaciones clasificadas como "ASCII Extendido", aunque en ocasiones el término se aplica erróneamente para cubrir todas las variantes, incluso las que no preservan el conjunto de códigos de caracteres original ASCII de siete bits.

La ISO 646 (1972), el primer intento de remediar el sesgo pro-inglés de la codificación de caracteres, creó problemas de compatibilidad, pues también era un código de caracteres de 7 bits. No especificó códigos adicionales, así que reasignó algunos específicamente para los nuevos lenguajes. De esta forma se volvió imposible saber en qué variante se encontraba codificado el texto, consecuentemente, los procesadores de texto podían tratar una sola variante.

La tecnología mejoró y aportó medios para representar la información codificada en el octavo bit de cada byte, liberando este bit, lo que añadió otros 128 códigos de carácter adicionales que quedaron disponibles para nuevas asignaciones. Por ejemplo, IBM desarrolló páginas de código de 8 bits, como la página de códigos 437, que reemplazaba los caracteres de control con símbolos gráficos como sonrisas, y asignó otros caracteres gráficos adicionales a los 128 bytes superiores de la página de códigos.

Algunos sistemas operativos como DOS, podían trabajar con esas páginas de código, y los fabricantes de computadoras personales incluyeron soporte para dichas páginas en su hardware.

Los estándares de ocho bits como ISO 8859 y Mac OS Roman fueron desarrollados como verdaderas extensiones de ASCII, dejando los primeros 127 caracteres intactos y añadiendo únicamente valores adicionales por encima de los 7-bits. Esto permitió la representación de un abanico mayor de lenguajes, pero estos estándares continuaron sufriendo incompatibilidades y limitaciones. Todavía hoy, ISO-8859-1 y su variante Windows-1252 (a veces llamada erróneamente ISO-8859-1) y el código ASCII original de 7 bits son los códigos de carácter más comúnmente utilizados.

Unicode y Conjunto de Caracteres Universal (UCS) ISO/IEC 10646 definen un conjunto de caracteres mucho mayor, y sus diferentes formas de codificación han empezado a reemplazar ISO 8859 y ASCII rápidamente en muchos entornos. Mientras que ASCII básicamente usa códigos de 7-bits, Unicode y UCS usan "code points" o apuntadores relativamente abstractos: números positivos (incluyendo el cero) que asignan secuencias de 8 o más bits a caracteres. Para permitir la compatibilidad, Unicode y UCS asignan los primeros 128 apuntadores a los mismos caracteres que el código ASCII. De esta forma se puede pensar en ASCII como un subconjunto muy pequeño de Unicode y UCS. La popular codificación UTF-8 recomienda el uso de uno a cuatro valores de 8 bits para cada apuntador, donde los primeros 128 valores apuntan a los mismos caracteres que ASCII. Otras codificaciones de caracteres como UTF-16 se parece a ASCII en cómo representan los primeros 128 caracteres de Unicode, pero tienden a usar 16 a 32 bits por carácter, así que requieren de una conversión adecuada para que haya compatibilidad entre ambos códigos de carácter.

La palabra ASCIIbético (o, más habitualmente, la palabra "inglesa" ASCIIbetical) describe la ordenación según el orden de los códigos ASCII en lugar del orden alfabético.

La abreviatura ASCIIZ o ASCIZ se refiere a una cadena de caracteres terminada en cero (del inglés zero).
Es muy normal que el código ASCII sea integrado en otros sistemas de codificación más sofisticados y por esto debe tenerse claro cual es papel del código ASCII en la tabla o mapa de caracteres de una computadora.

Arte ASCII 

El código de caracteres ASCII es el soporte de una disciplina artística minoritaria, el arte ASCII, que consiste en la composición de imágenes mediante caracteres imprimibles ASCII. El efecto resultante ha sido comparado con el puntillismo, pues las imágenes producidas con esta técnica generalmente se aprecian con más detalle al ser vistas a distancia. El arte ASCII empezó siendo un arte experimental, pero pronto se popularizó como recurso para representar imágenes en soportes incapaces de procesar gráficos, como teletipos, terminales, correos electrónicos o algunas impresoras.

Aunque se puede componer arte ASCII manualmente mediante un editor de textos, también se pueden convertir automáticamente imágenes y videos en ASCII mediante software, como la librería Aalib (de licencia libre), que ha alcanzado cierta popularidad. Aalib está soportada por algunos programas de diseño gráfico, juegos y reproductores de vídeo.

Véase también

Variantes ASCII de computadoras específicas 
 ATASCII
 PETSCII

Notas y referencias

Referencias generales 
 Unicode.org Cuadro Unicode de la zona ASCII
 Tom Jennings (29 de octubre de 2004). Historia anotada de los códigos de caracteres Accedido 17 de diciembre de 2005.

Enlaces externos 
 Los caracteres y el código ASCII Herramienta en línea que muestra los caracteres ASCII y sus conversiones a otros sistemas numéricos.
 ASCII To Character Converter at DigitVital.com
 Conversión desde y hacia decimal, octal, hexadecimal, binario (ASCII notación)
 El código ASCII. El código ascii, tabla disponible para pc y dispositivos móviles.
 www.elcodigoascii.com.ar El código ASCII. Tabla con los códigos ASCII simple y completa.

Codificación de caracteres
Protocolos y formatos de nivel de presentación
Informática de 1963
Introducciones relacionadas a la ciencia de la computación de 1963

La arquitectura (del latín architectūra, architectūrae, y este a su vez del griego antiguo ἀρχιτέκτων, architéctōn, ‘arquitecto’ o ‘constructor jefe’, compuesto de ἀρχός, archós ‘jefe’, ‘guía’, y τέκτων, téctōn, ‘constructor’) es el arte y la técnica de proyectar, diseñar y construir, modificando el hábitat humano, estudiando la estética, el buen uso y la función de los espacios, ya sean arquitectónicos, urbanos o de paisaje.

La arquitectura nació en la prehistoria, durante el Neolítico, cuando diversos grupos humanos desarrollaron un estilo de vida sedentario basado en la agricultura. Este nuevo modo de vida conllevó al desarrollo de viviendas estables y recintos ceremoniales, los cuales fueron evolucionando estéticamente a partir de elementos simbólicos presentes en el contexto sociocultural donde se desarrollaban en ese momento. Así surgieron, por ejemplo, los dolmenes y crómlechs en Europa, construidos con enormes bloques de piedra. A medida que las sociedades se hacían más complejas y extensas, surgieron los primeros núcleos urbanos cerrados, con viviendas agrupadas en torno a lugares sagrados. De esta forma nacieron las altas culturas de Oriente Medio: Mesopotamia y Egipto, que legaron numerosas obras arquitectónicas, de las que destacan, por ejemplo, los sistemas de irrigación, los zigurats, los templos y las pirámides.

La arquitectura urbana antigua estaba preocupada por la construcción de estructuras religiosas y edificios que simbolizaran el poder político de los gobernantes. Fueron los antiguos griegos y romanos quienes perfeccionaron la arquitectura, sentando las bases de la arquitectura clásica y convirtiéndola en punto de referencia para los siglos venideros. Durante esta etapa se desarrollaron los arcos y columnas estilizadas, se trabajaron la piedra caliza y el mármol, los sistemas de irrigación y acueductos, ciudades saneadas y se dio origen al concreto. Como ejemplos del alto grado de desarrollo arquitectónico durante aquella época, se tienen al Partenón de Atenas y al Coliseo romano. La arquitectura india y china influyó en formas en toda Asia y la arquitectura budista en particular adoptó diversos sabores locales. Durante la Edad Media europea, surgieron estilos paneuropeos de catedrales y abadías románicas y góticas, mientras que el Renacimiento favoreció las formas clásicas implementadas por arquitectos conocidos por su nombre. Más tarde, los roles de arquitectos e ingenieros se separaron. La arquitectura moderna comenzó después de la Primera Guerra Mundial como un movimiento de vanguardia que buscaba desarrollar un estilo completamente nuevo apropiado para un nuevo orden social y económico de posguerra enfocado en satisfacer las necesidades de las clases media y trabajadora. Se hizo hincapié en las técnicas modernas, los materiales y las formas geométricas simplificadas, allanando el camino para las superestructuras de gran altura. Muchos arquitectos se desilusionaron con el modernismo que percibieron como ahistórico y antiestético, y se desarrolló la arquitectura posmoderna y contemporánea.

Historia

Arquitectura contemporánea 

Desde la década de 1980, a medida que la complejidad de los edificios comenzó a aumentar (en términos de sistemas estructurales, servicios, energía y tecnologías), el campo de la arquitectura se volvió multidisciplinario con especializaciones para cada tipo de proyecto, experiencia tecnológica o métodos de entrega de proyectos. Además, ha habido una mayor separación entre el arquitecto de 'diseño' y el arquitecto de 'proyecto' que asegura que el proyecto cumple con los estándares requeridos y se ocupa de las cuestiones de responsabilidad. Los procesos preparatorios para el diseño de cualquier gran edificio se han vuelto cada vez más complicados y requieren estudios preliminares de cuestiones como durabilidad, sostenibilidad, calidad, dinero y cumplimiento de las leyes locales. Una estructura grande ya no puede ser el diseño de una persona, sino el trabajo de muchas. El modernismo y el posmodernismo han sido criticados por algunos miembros de la profesión arquitectónica que sienten que la arquitectura exitosa no es una búsqueda personal, filosófica o estética de los individualistas; más bien, tiene que considerar las necesidades diarias de las personas y utilizar la tecnología para crear entornos habitables, y el proceso de diseño se basa en estudios de ciencias sociales, ambientales y del comportamiento.

La sostenibilidad medioambiental se ha convertido en un tema principal, con un profundo efecto en la profesión arquitectónica. Muchos desarrolladores, aquellos que apoyan la financiación de edificios, se han educado para fomentar la facilitación de un diseño ambientalmente sostenible, en lugar de soluciones basadas principalmente en el costo inmediato. Los principales ejemplos de esto se pueden encontrar en el diseño de edificios solares pasivos, diseños de techos más ecológicos, materiales biodegradables y más atención al uso de energía de una estructura. Este gran cambio en la arquitectura también ha cambiado las escuelas de arquitectura para centrarse más en el medio ambiente. Ha habido una aceleración en el número de edificios que buscan cumplir con el diseño sostenible de edificios verdes.principios. Las prácticas sostenibles que estaban en el centro de la arquitectura vernácula proporcionan cada vez más inspiración para técnicas contemporáneas ambiental y socialmente sostenibles. El sistema de calificación LEED (Liderazgo en Energía y Diseño Ambiental) del Consejo de Edificios Verdes de Estados Unidos ha sido fundamental en esto.

Al mismo tiempo, los últimos movimientos del Nuevo urbanismo, la arquitectura metafórica, la arquitectura complementaria, neofuturismo y la nueva arquitectura clásica promueven un enfoque sostenible a la construcción que se aprecia y se desarrolla un crecimiento inteligente, tradición arquitectónica y de diseño clásico. Esto contrasta con la arquitectura modernista y globalmente uniforme, además de apoyarse en las urbanizaciones solitarias y la expansión suburbana. Los muros cortina de vidrio, que eran el sello distintivo de la vida urbana ultramoderna en muchos países, surgieron incluso en países en desarrollo como Nigeria, donde los estilos internacionales habían estado representados desde mediados del , principalmente debido a las inclinaciones de arquitectos formados en el extranjero.

Definiciones 

Según el tópico popular, en el tratado más antiguo que se conserva sobre la materia, De Architectura, de Vitruvio, en el , se dice que la arquitectura descansa en tres principios: la Belleza (Venustas), la Firmeza (Firmitas) y la Utilidad (Utilitas). La arquitectura se puede definir como un equilibrio entre estos tres elementos, sin sobrepasar ninguno a los otros. No tendría sentido tratar de entender un trabajo de la arquitectura sin aceptar estos tres aspectos.

Sin embargo, basta con leer el tratado para percatarse de que Vitruvio exigía estas características para algunos edificios públicos muy particulares. De hecho, cuando Vitruvio se atreve a intentar un análisis del arte sobre el que escribe, propone entender la arquitectura como compuesta de cuatro elementos: orden arquitectónico (relación de cada parte con su uso), disposición («las especies de disposición […] son el trazado en planta, en alzado y en perspectiva»), proporción («concordancia uniforme entre la obra entera y sus miembros») y distribución (en griego οἰκονομία, oikonomía, consiste «en el debido y mejor uso posible de los materiales y de los terrenos, y en procurar el menor coste de la obra conseguido de un modo racional y ponderado»). Sus dudas al respecto son bastante intensas, pues cuatro páginas más adelante divide la arquitectura en tres partes: construcción, gnómica y mecánica. Por interesante y sugerente que sea, no debe olvidarse que este tratado es el único tratado clásico que nos ha llegado, y la probabilidad de que sea lo mejor de su época es pequeña.

La historia de las diversas versiones del tratado de Vitruvio resume bien el conflicto a la hora de definir la arquitectura. En 1674 Claude Perrault, médico fisiólogo especializado en disección de cadáveres y buen dibujante, publica su traducción resumida del tratado de Vitruvio, que queda totalmente reorganizado. El resumen de Perrault es el medio por el que se conoció Vitruvio y que desde entonces influyó en los tratados y teorías de los siglos siguientes. En ese resumen en el que la tríada vitruviana va a ver la luz.

En general, los más reconocidos arquitectos del , entre los que se puede mencionar a Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Kahn, Alvar Aalto, Luis Barragán, Tadao Andō, Richard Meier, César Pelli o Pedro Ramírez Vázquez han dado a su oficio una definición distinta, enfocando su finalidad de manera diferente. William Morris, fundador del Arts and Crafts, dio la siguiente definición: 

O, considerando la opinión del arquitecto historiador Bruno Zevi: 

La diferencia sustancial entre la versión de Perrault y las anteriores radica, según José Luis González Moreno-Navarro, en que Perrault tergiversa «el carácter sintético de la arquitectura en una visión estrictamente analítica y fragmentada en tres ramas autónomas [lo que] es una consecuencia de su estructura mental […] formada a lo largo de una vida dedicada al análisis de los organismos vivos, que evidentemente en ningún momento recomponía y volvía a dar vida». Por el contrario, según Vitruvio:

En el ámbito académico el proceso producción arquitectónica, o de proyecto, involucra la sensibilidad como medio de recorte de las diferentes disciplinas asociadas, y aun cuando en épocas pasadas se escribieran extensos tratados, hoy en día lo legal y lo técnico dictan las normas, pero no los modos. Es entonces la arquitectura —desde lo contemporáneo y apoyada en los nuevos recursos tecnológicos— un ejercicio en el que efectivamente se envuelven orden, síntesis, semiología, materia, pero aún más importante que aquello, es un trabajo creativo, innovativo, inédito, siempre que se excluya la arquitectura producida desde la industria inmobiliaria.

La importancia de la arquitectura en el  ha sido enorme, pues su ejercicio fue responsable de no menos de la tercera parte de los materiales acarreados por la humanidad en ese lapso.

Durante este periodo, no solamente se ha producido un gran aumento de población, con sus correspondientes necesidades edificatorias (especialmente de viviendas), sino también importantes movimientos de poblaciones, desde las zonas rurales a las urbanas y, terminada la Guerra Fría, desde los países pobres a los países ricos. Los movimientos migratorios han supuesto, no solo un aumento de la demanda de nuevos edificios en las zonas urbanas, sino también el abandono del patrimonio construido que, en muchos casos, se ha perdido definitivamente.

Este constante cambio en las necesidades y usos asociados a la edificación permite explicar otra de las características de la Arquitectura moderna. Este constante replanteo de conceptos se han desarrollado distintos y numerosos estilos arquitectónicos con el afán de dar una respuesta a esta interrogante; en el , se produce el abandono de la ortodoxia neoclásica en favor de un eclecticismo estilístico de carácter historicista, dando lugar al neogótico, neorrománico, neomudéjar… Solamente con la llegada del  surgen estilos realmente originales, como el Arts and Crafts, el Art Nouveau, el Modernismo, el Bauhaus, el Estilo Internacional, el Post-Modernismo, etc.

Teoría de la arquitectura 

La filosofía de la arquitectura es una rama de la filosofía del arte, que se ocupa del valor estético de la arquitectura, su semántica y las relaciones con el desarrollo de la cultura. Muchos filósofos y teóricos, desde Platón hasta Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Robert Venturi y Ludwig Wittgenstein se han preocupado por la naturaleza de la arquitectura y si la arquitectura se distingue o no de la construcción.

Tratados históricos 
La obra escrita más antigua que se conserva sobre el tema de la arquitectura es De architectura del arquitecto romano Vitruvio a principios del  Según Vitruvio, un buen edificio debe satisfacer los tres principios de firmitas, utilitas, venustas, comúnmente conocidos por la traducción original: firmeza, comodidad y deleite. Un equivalente en español sería:

 Durabilidad: un edificio debe mantenerse firme y permanecer en buenas condiciones.
 Utilidad: debe ser adecuado para los fines para los que se utiliza.
 Belleza: debe ser estéticamente agradable.

Según Vitruvio, el arquitecto debe esforzarse por cumplir cada uno de estos tres atributos de la mejor manera posible. Leon Battista Alberti, que elabora las ideas de Vitruvio en su tratado De re aedificatoria, vio la belleza principalmente como una cuestión de proporción, aunque también influyó el ornamento. Para Alberti, las reglas de la proporción eran las que regían la figura humana idealizada, la media áurea. El aspecto más importante de la belleza era, por tanto, una parte inherente de un objeto, más que algo aplicado superficialmente, y se basaba en verdades universales y reconocibles. La noción de estilo en las artes no se desarrolló hasta el , con los escritos de Giorgio Vasari. En el , sus Vidas de los más excelentes pintores, escultores y arquitectos se habían traducido al italiano, francés, español e inglés.

En el , el arquitecto, pintor y teórico manierista italiano Sebastiano Serlio escribió Tutte L'Opere D'Architettura et Prospetiva (Obras completas sobre arquitectura y perspectiva). Este tratado ejerció una inmensa influencia en toda Europa, siendo el primer manual que enfatizó los aspectos prácticos más que los teóricos de la arquitectura, y fue el primero en catalogar los cinco órdenes.

A principios del , Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin escribió Contrastes (1836) que, como sugería el título, contrastaba el mundo industrial moderno, que él despreciaba, con una imagen idealizada del mundo neomedieval. La arquitectura gótica, creía Pugin, era la única «verdadera forma de arquitectura cristiana». El crítico de arte inglés del , John Ruskin, en su Seven Lamps of Architecture, publicado en 1849, era mucho más limitado en su visión de lo que constituía la arquitectura. La arquitectura era el «arte que dispone y adorna de tal manera los edificios levantados por los hombres… que la vista de ellos» contribuye «a su salud mental, poder y placer». Para Ruskin, la estética tenía una importancia primordial. Su trabajo continúa afirmando que un edificio no es verdaderamente una obra de arquitectura a menos que esté «adornado» de alguna manera. Para Ruskin, un edificio bien construido, bien proporcionado y funcional necesitaba al menos hileras de cuerdas o rustificación.

Sobre la diferencia entre los ideales de la arquitectura y la mera construcción, el reconocido arquitecto del  Le Corbusier escribió: Empleas piedra, madera y hormigón, y con estos materiales construyes casas y palacios: eso es construcción. El ingenio está en juego. Pero de repente me tocas el corazón, me haces bien. Estoy feliz y digo: Esto es hermoso. Eso es Arquitectura. El contemporáneo de Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, dijo: La arquitectura comienza cuando juntas cuidadosamente dos ladrillos. Allí comienza.

Conceptos modernos 

El notable arquitecto de rascacielos del , Louis Sullivan, promovió un precepto primordial del diseño arquitectónico: «La forma sigue a la función». Si bien la noción de que las consideraciones estructurales y estéticas debían estar completamente sujetas a la funcionalidad fue recibida tanto con popularidad como con escepticismo, tuvo el efecto de introducir el concepto de «función» en lugar de la «utilidad» de Vitruvio. Se llegó a considerar que la «función» englobaba todos los criterios de uso, percepción y disfrute de un edificio, no solamente prácticos, sino también estéticos, psicológicos y culturales.

Nunzia Rondanini afirmó: A través de su dimensión estética, la arquitectura va más allá de los aspectos funcionales que tiene en común con otras ciencias humanas. A través de su propia forma particular de expresar valores, la arquitectura puede estimular e influir en la vida social sin presumir que, en y por sí misma, promoverá el desarrollo social… Restringir el significado del formalismo (arquitectónico) al arte por el arte no solo es reaccionario; también puede ser una búsqueda sin propósito de perfección u originalidad que degrada la forma en una mera instrumentalidad.

Entre las filosofías que han influido en arquitectos modernos y su enfoque para el diseño de edificios son Racionalismo, empirismo, estructuralismo, postestructuralismo, deconstrucción y la fenomenología.

A finales del  se añadió un nuevo concepto a los incluidos en la brújula tanto de estructura como de función, la consideración de la sostenibilidad y, por tanto, la arquitectura sostenible. Para satisfacer el espíritu contemporáneo, un edificio debe construirse de una manera que sea respetuosa con el medio ambiente en términos de la producción de sus materiales, su impacto en el entorno natural y construido de su área circundante y las demandas que hace a las fuentes de energía no sostenibles. para calefacción, refrigeración, gestión de agua y residuos e iluminación.

Práctica profesional 

Tradicionalmente, la arquitectura ha sido considerada una de las siete Bellas Artes. Determinados edificios u otras construcciones son obras de arte ya que pueden ser considerados primariamente en función de su forma o estructura sensible o de su estética.

Desde este punto de vista, aunque los medios de la arquitectura puedan consistir en muros, columnas, forjados, techos y demás elementos constructivos, su fin es crear espacios con sentido donde los seres humanos puedan desarrollar todo tipo de actividades. Es en este «tener sentido» en que puede distinguirse la arquitectura (como arte) de la mera construcción. Así es como esta es capaz de condicionar el comportamiento del hombre en el espacio, tanto física como emocionalmente.

Aunque en la actualidad suele considerarse que la principal actividad de la arquitectura va dirigida al diseño de espacios para el refugio y la habitación (las viviendas), solamente a partir del  comenzaron los arquitectos a preocuparse por el problema del alojamiento, la habitabilidad y la higiene de las viviendas, y a ampliar su ámbito de actuación más allá de los monumentos y edificios representativos.

La evolución a la especialización y la separación de ámbitos laborales es similar a la de otras profesiones. En los siglos pasados los arquitectos no solo se ocupaban de diseñar los edificios sino también de asuntos que hoy competen a otras profesiones diversas. Diseñaban plazas, alamedas y parques, especialización que hoy se conoce como exteriorismo o paisajismo.

La especialización de los arquitectos en la creación de objetos utilizados en las edificaciones, tales como los muebles, ha dado como resultado el nacimiento de la profesión de diseño industrial. Hoy, los profesionales que proyectan y planifican el desarrollo de los sistemas urbanos son los urbanistas. Esta última profesión tiene estudios separados en algunos países, mientras que en otros sus atribuciones son desarrolladas por arquitectos e ingenieros civiles, de forma conjunta o independiente.

Hoy en día, para el ejercicio de la profesión se precisa de un tipo de profesional capaz de trabajar en equipos interdisciplinares, dominar técnicamente y socialmente las tecnologías digitales y combinar distintas habilidades relacionadas con el diseño, la investigación y la gestión de proyectos. Para que la formación de este tipo de profesionales sea exitosa, las escuelas de arquitectura deben revisar sus modelos educativos y desarrollar métodos de enseñanza-aprendizaje que puedan ir más allá de los programas académicos establecidos.

Véase también 

 Semiótica visual en arquitectura
 Matemáticas y arquitectura

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 
 
 
 Díaz-Pines Mateo, Fernando. "Exilio de la Teoría. El malestar en la cultura arquitectónica y la ajenidad de la teoría" rita_ Revista Indexada de Textos Académicos, 5, pp.124-129. DOI 10.24192/2386-7027(2016)(v5)(08).
 AA.VV., Enciclopedia dell'Architettura, Milano., Garzanti, 1996. ISBN 88-11-50465-1.
 Sergio Bollati e Giuseppe Lonetti, L'organismo architettonico, Firenze, Alinea, 1990.
 Giorgio Cricco e Francesco Di Teodoro, Itinerario nell'arte, Bologna, Zanichelli, 2003. ISBN 88-08-21740-X.
 W. Müller e G. Vogel, Atlante di architettura, Milano, Hoepli, 1992. ISBN 88-203-1977-2.
 Pevsner, Fleming e Honour, Dizionario di architettura, Torino, Utet, 1978 ISBN 88-06-51961-1; ristampato come Dizionario dei termini artistici, Utet Tea, 1994.
 Ludovico Quaroni, La costruzione del progetto architettonico, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1996.
 Riccardo Salvi, Dentro l'edificio. Brevi considerazioni sull'architettura d'interni, Milano, Franco Angeli, ISBN 978-88-917-4431-9.
 Bernard Tschumi e M. Berman, Index. Archivio dell'architettura contemporanea, Milano, postmedia books, 2004. ISBN 88-7490-017-1.

Enlaces externos 
 (de Benito Bails)

 
Arte
Construcción

Anoeta es una localidad y municipio guipuzcoano situado en la parte central de la comarca de Tolosaldea, en la comunidad autónoma del País Vasco en España. Se encuentra en el valle medio del río Oria, a 20 km del mar Cantábrico y a 24 km de la capital de la provincia, San Sebastián. La población cuenta con buenas comunicaciones (autovía N-1 y ferrocarril Irún-Madrid).

Limita con los municipios de Irura, Tolosa, Hernialde, Alquiza, Asteasu, Cizúrquil y Villabona. En su término municipal se encuentra el yacimiento arqueológico de Basagain, un poblado fortificado de la Edad del Hierro.

La principal actividad económica es la industrial: existen modernas industrias de construcciones metálicas, dedicadas principalmente a la maquinaria del papel y sus complementos. Con una joven pirámide de edad dada su reciente expansión urbanística, cuenta con los principales servicios necesarios (educación, servicio médico, bancario y comercial) y está junto a importantes poblaciones (solo a 2 km de Tolosa y a 9 km de Andoáin, con centros comerciales y administrativos.

El municipio tiene 4,14 km² de superficie y 1997 habitantes (2016). El río Oria la separa del vecino municipio de Irura.

Siendo una "Universidad" independiente, en 1374 decidió unirse a Tolosa, para posteriormente adquirir el Título de Villa en 1615.

En el casco de este municipio destaca la iglesia de San Juan Bautista, edificio del XVI, con remodelaciones en el XVII y XVIII, cubierto con bóvedas de crucería. Cuenta también la localidad con la Casa-Torre de Ateaga, magnífico caserío con escudo de armas. Hasta seis miembros de este caserío sirvieron en la Casa Real. En 1888, la Infanta Eulalia pasó una temporada de descanso en esta casa, durante la cual recibió la visita de la reina María Cristina.

Para realizar excursiones montañeras es recomendable el ascenso a los montes Ernio y Uzturre. En las proximidades de la localidad existe una cruz de piedra labrada donde se llevaba a los niños a aprender a andar.

Sus fiestas patronales se celebran el día del Corpus Christi. También se celebran las de San Juan, el 24 de junio.

Política y administración

Véase también 
 Caserío Etxeberri

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 Página web del Ayuntamiento de Anoeta

Municipios de Guipúzcoa
Localidades de Guipúzcoa

Ana María Matute Ausejo (Barcelona, 26 de julio de 1925-Barcelona, 25 de junio de 2014) fue una novelista española miembro de la Real Academia Española —donde ocupó el asiento «K»— que en 2010 obtuvo el Premio Cervantes. Matute fue una de las voces más personales de la literatura española del  y es considerada por muchos como una de las mejores novelistas de la novela española de posguerra.

Biografía 
Ana María Matute fue la segunda de cinco hijos de una familia de la pequeña burguesía catalana, conservadora y religiosa. Su padre, Facundo Matute, era un catalán propietario de la fábrica de paraguas Matute S.A., y su madre fue María Ausejo Matute. Tuvieron cinco hijos. 

Su vida en Barcelona le ayudó a ver la ciudad más industrializada de España y a conocer de cerca los acontecimientos sociales, económicos y políticos. Todo esto, se manifestó en su cuento Muy contento (1968), donde apareció la figura del explotado por la vida industrial y sus órdenes. Durante su niñez, Matute vivió un tiempo considerable en Madrid, pero pocas de sus historias hablan sobre sus experiencias vividas en la capital de España.

Cuando Ana María Matute tenía cuatro años cayó gravemente enferma. Por dicha razón, su familia la llevó a vivir al pueblo natal de sus abuelos, Mansilla de la Sierra, una pequeña localidad en las montañas de La Rioja. Matute dijo que la gente de aquel pueblo influyó en su obra. Dicha influencia puede ser vista en la obra antológica Historias de la Artámila (1961), la cual trata de la gente que Matute conoció en Mansilla, así como en Paulina (1960), obra infantil en la que presenta influencias de Heidi (1880), como el amor por la naturaleza y la relación de la niña con su abuelo. En dicha obra, se deduce, además, cierto carácter autobiográfico, pues la niña protagonista sufre una grave enfermedad y por esta razón su tía la lleva a las montañas a vivir con sus abuelos. A pesar de esto, Matute afirmó que no era una novela autobiográfica. 

Ana María Matute tenía once años de edad cuando comenzó la guerra civil española de 1936. La violencia, el odio, la muerte, la miseria, la angustia y la extrema pobreza que siguieron a la guerra marcaron hondamente a su persona y a su narrativa. La de Matute es la infancia robada por el trauma de la guerra y las consecuencias psicológicas del conflicto y la posguerra en la mentalidad de una niña. Esto se refleja en sus primeras obras literarias centradas en «los niños asombrados» que veían y muy a pesar suyo, tenían que entender los sinsentidos que les rodeaban. Características neorrealistas pueden ser observadas en obras como en Los Abel (1948), Fiesta al Noroeste (1953), Pequeño teatro (1954), Los hijos muertos (1958) o Los soldados lloran de noche (1964). En todas estas obras —que se inician con gran lirismo y poco a poco se sumergen en un realismo exacerbado—, la mirada protagonista infantil o adolescente es lo más sobresaliente y marca un distanciamiento afectivo entre realidad y sentimiento o entendimiento.

Mientras vivió en Madrid asistió a un colegio religioso. Escribió su primera novela, Pequeño teatro, a los 17 años de edad, aunque no fue publicada hasta 8 años más tarde (1950). En 1949, presentó Luciérnagas al Premio Nadal, "pero fue eliminada en una de las rondas finales"; sin embargo, la censura impidió la publicación. Sus problemas con el franquismo no se limitaron a este aspecto, ya que en mayo de 1972, se le aplicó una prohibición de salida al extranjero, impidiéndole ir a un congreso de literatura infantil en Niza.

En el 17 de noviembre de 1952, Matute se casó con el escritor Ramón Eugenio de Goicoechea. En 1954 nació su único hijo, Juan Pablo, al que le dedicó gran parte de sus obras infantiles. Se separó de su esposo en el año 1963. Como resultado de las leyes españolas, Matute no tenía derecho a ver a su hijo después de la separación, ya que su esposo obtuvo la tutela del niño, y esto le provocó problemas emocionales.

Encontró el amor años después, al lado del empresario francés Julio Brocard, con el que compartió la pasión de viajar. Brocard murió en 1990, el 26 de julio, día del cumpleaños de Matute. Ella sufría ya depresión, y la pérdida de su gran amor la sumió más en la misma.

En 1976 fue propuesta para el Premio Nobel de Literatura. Después de varios años de gran silencio narrativo, en 1984 obtuvo el Premio Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil con la obra Sólo un pie descalzo. En 1996 publicó Olvidado rey Gudú y ese mismo año fue elegida académica de la Real Academia Española donde ocupaba el asiento «K», convirtiéndose en la tercera mujer en formar parte de esta institución. Leyó su discurso de ingreso en 1998.

Matute fue también miembro honorario de la Sociedad Hispánica de América. Existe un premio literario que lleva su nombre y sus libros han sido traducidos a 23 idiomas.

En 2007 recibió el Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas al conjunto de su labor literaria.

El 12 de marzo de 2009, la escritora depositó en la Caja de las Letras del Instituto Cervantes la primera edición del libro Olvidado rey Gudú.

Asimismo, en noviembre de 2010 se le concedió el Premio Cervantes, el más prestigioso de la lengua castellana, que se le entregó en Alcalá de Henares el 27 de abril de 2011.

En el año 2012 fue parte del jurado del Premio Miguel de Cervantes.

Matute era profesora de la universidad y viajaba a muchas ciudades para dar conferencias, especialmente a los Estados Unidos. En sus discursos hablaba sobre los beneficios de los cambios emocionales, los cambios constantes del ser humano y cómo la inocencia nunca se pierde completamente. Ella decía que aunque su cuerpo fuese viejo, su corazón todavía era joven.

Falleció en Barcelona en la madrugada del 24 de septiembre de 2014 tras varios días con problemas cardiorrespiratorios.

Estilo literario 
Ana María Matute trata muchos aspectos políticos, sociales y morales de España durante el periodo de la posguerra. Su prosa es muy frecuentemente lírica y práctica. En sus novelas, Matute incorpora técnicas literarias asociadas con la novela modernista o surrealista. Con todas estas cualidades y talento literario, Matute es considerada «una escritora esencialmente realista», puesto que como ella misma afirma: «Si somos capaces de imaginar, es porque lo que imaginamos también es real». Muchos de sus libros tratan del periodo de la vida que abarcan desde la niñez y la adolescencia hasta la vida adulta, y en sus personajes infantiles se rastrea la influencia del mítico personaje de Celia creado por Elena Fortún. Su narrativa se caracteriza por la fantasía y el lirismo, presentando temas muy importantes como: la infancia irrecuperable, la incomunicación humana, el cainismo, la injusticia, la violencia, la soledad, el desamparo y la muerte.

Matute utiliza mucho, como fuente primaria, el pesimismo, lo cual da a sus novelas una sensatez más clara que la realidad de la vida. «La enajenación, la hipocresía, la desmoralización y la malicia» son características que comúnmente son fáciles de encontrar en la ficción de sus obras. Una de sus características más comunes es el uso de la trilogía: una obra literaria que está compuesta por tres novelas o cuentos que tienen tanto características en común como diferentes. Muchos críticos consideran que su mejor obra es la trilogía Los Mercaderes, la cual está conformada por Primera memoria, Los soldados lloran de noche y La trampa. Sobre su obra se dice que «aunque los argumentos de cada una de sus novelas son independientes, las une el tema general de la guerra civil y el retrato de una sociedad dominada por el materialismo y el interés propio».

Censura de su obra en España 
Durante la dictadura franquista, su trabajo fue objeto de reparos y advertencias y sufrió correcciones, tachaduras y rechazos completos. "La censura franquista vendrá a entorpecer tanto el proceso de creación como el curso de su recepción, debido a las intervenciones aplicadas en exceso a Matute". La misma autora señala en repetidas ocasiones las cortapisas ejercidas:

En una entrevista de 1990, Matute vuelve a recordar ese periodo:

La censura no recayó exclusivamente sobre las novelas. El libro de microrrelatos Los niños tontos fue rechazado para publicación en primera instancia por los reparos de la censora María Isabel Niño Más, quien entendía estos microtextos como "auténticas pesadillas", de "mal ejemplo" para los niños. Posteriormente, un censor eclesiástico, Francisco Aguirre, dictaminó que "aunque tratan de niños no son para niños, creo que se puede permitir su publicación", en diciembre de 1956. 

Los reproches censores a la obra de Matute fueron notables especialmente desde sus comienzos hasta los años sesenta, momento en el que la autora adquirió renombre a nivel internacional.

Obras

Novelas 
 Los Abel (1948)
 Fiesta al Noroeste (1952)
 Pequeño teatro (1954), Premio Planeta
 En esta tierra (1955). Versión censurada de Luciérnagas, que se publicó íntegra y con su título original solo en 1993.
 Los hijos muertos (1958)
 Primera memoria (1960), Premio Nadal 1959, 1ª parte de la trilogía Los mercaderes.
 Los soldados lloran de noche (1964) 2ª parte de la trilogía Los mercaderes 
 Algunos muchachos (1968)
 La trampa (1969) 3ª parte de la trilogía Los mercaderes.
 La torre vigía (1971)
 El mar (1975)
 Olvidado rey Gudú (1996)
 Aranmanoth (2000)
 Paraíso inhabitado (2008)
 Demonios familiares (2014)

Cuentos 
 El chico de al lado (1944)
 La pequeña vida (1953)
 Los niños tontos (1956)
 Vida nueva (1956)
 El tiempo (1957)
 A la mitad del camino (1961)
 Historias de la Artámila (1961)
 El arrepentido (1961)
 Tres y un sueño (1961)
 El río (1963)
 La Virgen de Antioquía y otros relatos (1990)
 De ninguna parte (1993)
 El verdadero final de la Bella Durmiente (1995)
 El árbol de oro (1995)
 El rey (1996)
 Casa de juegos prohibidos (1996)
 Los de la tienda; El maestro; Toda la brutalidad del mundo (1998)
 La puerta de la luna. Cuentos completos (2010)
 La música (2014)

Obras infantiles 
 El país de la pizarra (1957)
 Paulina, el mundo y las estrellas (1960)
 El saltamontes verde y El aprendiz (1960)
 El libro de juegos para los niños de otros (1961)
 Caballito loco y Carnavalito (1962)
 El polizón del "Ulises" (1965)
 Paulina (1969)
 El aprendiz (1972)
 Sólo un pie descalzo (1983)
 El saltamontes verde (1986)
 La oveja negra (1994)
 Todos mis cuentos (2000)

Premios y reconocimientos 
 Mención especial en el Premio Nadal (1948) por Los Abel
 Premio Café Gijón (1952) por Fiesta al Noroeste
 Premio Planeta (1954) por Pequeño teatro
 Premio de la Crítica de narrativa castellana (1959) por Los hijos muertos
 Premio Nacional de Narrativa (1959) por Los hijos muertos
 Premio Nadal (1959) por Primera memoria
 Premio Lazarillo de creación literaria infantil (1965) por El polizón del Ulises
 Premio Fastenrath de la Real Academia Española (1968) por Los soldados lloran de noche
 Ministerio de Cultura. Libro de interés juvenil (1976)
 Premio Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil (1984) por Sólo un pie descalzo
 Premio Ciudad de Barcelona de Literatura en lengua castellana (1995) por El verdadero final de la Bella Durmiente
 Premio Ojo Crítico Especial (1997) por Olvidado Rey Gudú
  Premio Ciudad de Alcalá de las Artes y las Letras (2001)
 Premio Internacional Terenci Moix (2006) por su trayectoria literaria
 Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas (2007) al conjunto de su obra
 Premio Creu de Sant Jordi (2009)
 Finalista del Premio Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras (2010)
 Premio Miguel de Cervantes (2010)
 Premio de la Crítica de la Feria del Libro de Bilbao (2011)
 Premios Ondas Mediterráneas Mención Especial RIET (2012)

Desde enero de 2022  una calle de su ciudad natal, Barcelona, lleva su nombre, entre los distritos de Gràcia y Horta-Guinardó.

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 Página oficial de Ana María Matute 
 Ana María Matute en www.escritoras.com (en línea)
 Especial: Ana María Matute, Premio Cervantes 2011 
 Discurso al recibir el Premio Cervantes el 27 de abril de 2011
 Página sobre la antología Partes de guerra
 Spanish Women Writers
 Memoria, infancia y guerra civil: el mundo narrativo de Ana María Matute . Bórquez, Néstor Horacio. Olivar, vol. 12, no. 16. 
 Postales borrosas de la infancia: la guerra en las novelas de Ana María Matute . Bórquez, Néstor Horacio. II Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Españolas Contemporáneas. Diálogos transatlánticos.  
 Reportaje sobre Ana María Matute en el programa Imprescindibles de TVE

 Vídeo del fallo del jurado del XI Premio de Narración Breve de la UNED, presidido por Ana María Matute, y compuesto por Josefina Aldecoa, Jesús Munárriz, José Romera Castillo, en el hotel Conde de Suchil de Madrid, en el programa emitido en TVE-2 (20 de junio de 2000): https://canal.uned.es/mmobj/index/id/9506

Nacidos en Barcelona
Fallecidos en Barcelona
Generación del 50
Escritores en español del siglo XX
Escritores en español del siglo XXI
Novelistas de España del siglo XX
Novelistas de España del siglo XXI
Cuentistas de España del siglo XX
Cuentistas de España del siglo XXI
Académicos de la Real Academia Española
Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas
Ganadores del Premio Cervantes
Escritores de Barcelona
Escritoras de España
Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes
Ganadores del Premio Planeta
Ganadores del Premio Nadal
Ana María Matute
Premio Fastenrath
Galardonados con el Premio Café Gijón
Ganadores del Premio Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil de España
Españolas del siglo XX
Españolas del siglo XXI
Mujeres novelistas de España
Ganadores del Premio de la Crítica de narrativa castellana
Ganadores del Premio Ciudad de Alcalá
Mujeres cuentistas
Fallecidos por complicaciones cardiovasculares
Sepultados en el cementerio de Montjuic

Un agujero negro es una región finita del espacio descrita en las ecuaciones de Einstein,  cuyo interior posee una concentración de masa lo suficientemente elevada como para generar un campo gravitatorio tal que, salvo por un determinado tipo de procesos cuánticos, ninguna partícula ni radiación —ni siquiera la luz— pueden escapar de él (en 2021 se observaron reflejos de luz en la parte más lejana del agujero negro). Los agujeros negros pueden ser capaces de emitir un tipo de radiación, la radiación de Hawking, conjeturada por Stephen Hawking en la década de 1970. La radiación emitida por agujeros negros como Cygnus X-1 no procede del propio agujero negro sino de su disco de acreción.

La gravedad de un agujero negro, o «curvatura del espacio-tiempo», provoca una singularidad envuelta por una superficie cerrada, llamada horizonte de sucesos. Esto es previsto por las ecuaciones del campo de Einstein. El horizonte de sucesos separa la región del agujero negro del resto del universo, y una vez dentro de él, ningún tipo de partícula, sea material o electromagnética, puede salir, ni siquiera los fotones. Dicha curvatura es estudiada por la relatividad general, la que predijo la existencia de los agujeros negros y fue su primer indicio. En la década de 1970, Stephen Hawking, Ellis y Penrose demostraron varios teoremas importantes sobre la ocurrencia y geometría de los agujeros negros. Previamente, en 1963, Roy Kerr había demostrado que en un espacio-tiempo de cuatro dimensiones todos los agujeros negros debían tener una geometría cuasiesférica determinada por tres parámetros: su masa M, su carga eléctrica total e y su momento angular L.

Se conjetura que en el centro de la mayoría de las galaxias, entre ellas la Vía Láctea, hay agujeros negros supermasivos. 

El 11 de febrero de 2016, las colaboraciones LIGO, Virgo y GEO600 anunciaron la primera detección de ondas gravitacionales, producidas por la fusión de dos agujeros negros a unos 410 millones de pársecs, megapársecs o Mpc, es decir, a unos 1337 millones de años luz, mega-años luz o Mal de la Tierra. Las observaciones demostraron la existencia de un sistema binario de agujeros negros de masa estelar y la primera observación de una fusión de dos agujeros negros de un sistema binario. Anteriormente, la existencia de agujeros negros estaba apoyada en observaciones astronómicas de forma indirecta, a través de la emisión de rayos X por estrellas binarias y galaxias activas.

La gravedad de un agujero negro puede atraer el gas que se encuentra a su alrededor, que se arremolina y calienta a temperaturas de hasta , esto es, 2000 veces mayor temperatura que la de la superficie del Sol.

El 10 de abril de 2019, el consorcio internacional Telescopio del Horizonte de Sucesos presentó la primera imagen jamás capturada de un agujero negro supermasivo ubicado en el centro de la galaxia M87.

Proceso de formación 

Los agujeros negros se forman en un proceso de colapso gravitatorio que fue ampliamente estudiado a mediados de  por diversos científicos, particularmente Robert Oppenheimer, Roger Penrose y Stephen Hawking, entre otros. Hawking, en su libro divulgativo Historia del tiempo: del Big Bang a los agujeros negros (1988), repasa algunos de los hechos bien establecidos sobre la formación de agujeros negros.

Este proceso comienza después de la «muerte» de una gigante roja (estrella de 10 a 25 o más veces la masa del Sol), entendiéndose por «muerte» la extinción total de su energía. Tras varios miles de millones de años de vida, la fuerza gravitatoria de dicha estrella comienza a ejercer fuerza sobre sí misma originando una masa concentrada en un pequeño volumen, convirtiéndose en una enana blanca. En este punto, dicho proceso puede proseguir hasta el colapso de dicho astro por la autoatracción gravitatoria que termina por convertir a esta enana blanca en un agujero negro. Este proceso acaba por reunir una fuerza de atracción tan fuerte que atrapa hasta la luz en éste.

En palabras más simples, un agujero negro es el resultado final de la acción de la gravedad extrema llevada hasta el límite posible. La misma gravedad que mantiene a la estrella estable, la empieza a comprimir hasta el punto que los átomos comienzan a aplastarse. Los electrones en órbita se acercan cada vez más al núcleo atómico y acaban fusionándose con los protones, formando más neutrones mediante el proceso:

Este proceso comportaría la emisión de un número elevado de neutrinos. El resultado final es una estrella de neutrones. En este punto, dependiendo de la masa de la estrella, el plasma de neutrones dispara una reacción en cadena irreversible, la gravedad aumenta enormemente al disminuirse la distancia que había originalmente entre los átomos. Las partículas de neutrones implosionan, aplastándose más, logrando como resultado un agujero negro, que es una región del espacio-tiempo limitada por el llamado horizonte de sucesos. En la actualidad todavía se desconoce lo que sucede con la materia que cae en el agujero negro atravesando este límite, porque para escalas pequeñas solo una teoría cuántica de la gravedad podría explicarlos adecuadamente, pero no existe una formulación completamente consistente con dicha teoría.

Historia 

El concepto de un cuerpo tan denso que ni siquiera la luz puede escapar de él fue descrito en un artículo enviado en 1783 a la Royal Society por el geólogo y clérigo inglés John Michell. Por aquel entonces la teoría de Newton de la gravitación y el concepto de velocidad de escape eran muy conocidas. Michell calculó que un cuerpo con una densidad 500 veces mayor a la del Sol, pero con su mismo radio, tendría, en su superficie, una velocidad de escape igual a la de la luz y sería invisible. En 1796, el matemático francés Pierre-Simon Laplace explicó en las dos primeras ediciones de su libro Exposition du Systeme du Monde la misma idea, aunque, al ganar terreno la idea de que la luz era una onda sin masa, en el  fue descartada en ediciones posteriores.

En 1915, Einstein desarrolló la relatividad general y demostró que la luz era influida por la interacción gravitatoria. Unos meses después, Karl Schwarzschild encontró una solución a las ecuaciones de Einstein, donde un cuerpo pesado absorbería la luz. Se sabe ahora que el radio de Schwarzschild es el radio del horizonte de sucesos de un agujero negro que no gira, pero esto no era bien entendido en aquel entonces. El propio Schwarzschild pensó que no era más que una solución matemática, no física. En 1930, Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar demostró que un cuerpo con una masa crítica (ahora conocida como límite de Chandrasekhar) y que no emitiese radiación, colapsaría por su propia gravedad porque no habría nada que se conociera que pudiera frenarla (para dicha masa la fuerza de atracción gravitatoria sería mayor que la proporcionada por el principio de exclusión de Pauli). Sin embargo, Eddington se opuso a la idea de que la estrella alcanzara un tamaño nulo, lo que implicaría una singularidad desnuda de materia, y que debería haber algo que inevitablemente pusiera freno al colapso, línea adoptada por la mayoría de los científicos.

En 1939, Robert Oppenheimer predijo que una estrella masiva podría sufrir un colapso gravitatorio y, por tanto, los agujeros negros podrían ser formados en la naturaleza. Esta teoría no fue objeto de mucha atención hasta los años 60, porque, después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial se tenía más interés en lo que sucedía a escala atómica.

En 1967, Stephen Hawking y Roger Penrose probaron que los agujeros negros son soluciones a las ecuaciones de Einstein y que en determinados casos no se podría impedir que se crease un agujero negro a partir de un colapso. La idea de agujero negro tomó fuerza con los avances científicos y experimentales que llevaron al descubrimiento de los púlsares. Poco después, en 1969, John Wheeler acuñó la locución «agujero negro» durante una reunión de cosmólogos en Nueva York, para designar lo que anteriormente se llamó «estrella en colapso gravitatorio completo».

El 10 de abril de 2019, el consorcio internacional Telescopio del Horizonte de Sucesos presentó la primera imagen jamás capturada de un agujero negro supermasivo ubicado en el centro de la galaxia M87. Se esperaba a su vez el anuncio de otra imagen real de un agujero negro en Sagitario A*; sin embargo, aclararon que no se había obtenido porque la fuente era muy variable durante los periodos de observación, resolviéndose en un futuro.

Clasificación teórica 

Según su origen, teóricamente pueden existir al menos dos clases de agujeros negros:

Según la masa 
 Agujeros negros supermasivos: con varios millones de masas solares. Se hallarían en el centro de varias galaxias, por ejemplo en la nuestra, llamado ''Sagitario A''. Se forman en el mismo proceso que da origen a los componentes esféricos de las galaxias.
 Agujeros negros de masa intermedia: (IMBH) es una clase de agujero negro con una masa en el rango de 100 a un millón de masas solares, significativamente más que los agujeros negros estelares, pero menos que los agujeros negros supermasivos.
 Agujeros negros de masa estelar: Se forman cuando una estrella de más de 30-70 masas solares se convierte en supernova e implosiona. Tienen más de tres masas solares. Su núcleo se concentra en un volumen muy pequeño que cada vez se va reduciendo más. Este es el tipo de agujeros negros postulados por primera vez dentro de la teoría de la relatividad general.
 Micro agujeros negros: Son objetos hipotéticos, algo más pequeños que los estelares. Si son suficientemente pequeños, pueden llegar a evaporarse en un período relativamente corto mediante emisión de radiación de Hawking. Este tipo de entidades físicas es postulado en algunos enfoques de la gravedad cuántica, pero no pueden ser generados por un proceso convencional de colapso gravitatorio, el cual requiere masas superiores a la del Sol.

Según su carga y momento angular 
Existe un teorema sobre propiedades de los agujeros negros que se suele enunciar diciendo que «un agujero negro no tiene pelo» (en inglés No-hair theorem); el teorema afirma que cualquier objeto que sufra un colapso gravitatorio alcanza un estado estacionario como agujero negro descrito solo por tres parámetros: su masa , su carga  y su momento angular . Considerando estas dos últimas propiedades físicas, tenemos la siguiente clasificación para el estado final de un agujero negro:
 El agujero negro más sencillo posible es el agujero negro de Schwarzschild, que no rota ni tiene carga.
 Si no gira pero posee carga eléctrica, se tiene el llamado agujero negro de Reissner-Nordstrøm.
 Un agujero negro en rotación y sin carga es un agujero negro de Kerr.
 Si posee rotación y carga, hablamos de un agujero negro de Kerr-Newman.
Las cuatro soluciones anteriores pueden sistematizarse de la siguiente manera:

Descripción teórica

Zonas observables 

En las cercanías de un agujero negro se suele formar un disco de acrecimiento, compuesto de materia con momento angular, carga eléctrica y masa, la que es afectada por la enorme atracción gravitatoria del mismo, ocasionando que inexorablemente atraviese el horizonte de sucesos y, por lo tanto, incremente el tamaño del agujero.

En cuanto a la luz que atraviesa la zona del disco, también es afectada, tal como está previsto por la teoría de la Relatividad. El efecto es visible desde la Tierra por la desviación momentánea que produce en posiciones estelares conocidas, cuando los haces de luz procedentes de las mismas transitan dicha zona.

Hasta hoy es imposible describir lo que sucede en el interior de un agujero negro; solo se puede imaginar, suponer y observar sus efectos sobre la materia y la energía en las zonas externas y cercanas al horizonte de sucesos y la ergosfera.

Uno de los efectos más controvertidos que implica la existencia de un agujero negro es su aparente capacidad para disminuir la entropía del Universo, lo que violaría los fundamentos de la termodinámica, ya que toda materia y energía electromagnética que atraviese dicho horizonte de sucesos, tienen asociados un nivel de entropía. Stephen Hawking propone en uno de sus libros que la única forma de que no aumente la entropía sería que la información de todo lo que atraviese el horizonte de sucesos siga existiendo de alguna forma.

Otra de las implicaciones de un agujero negro supermasivo sería la probabilidad que fuese capaz de generar su colapso completo, convirtiéndose en una singularidad desnuda de materia.

La entropía en los agujeros negros 

Según Stephen Hawking, en los agujeros negros se fusionan el segundo principio de la termodinámica, lo que dio pie a especulaciones sobre viajes en el espacio-tiempo y agujeros de gusano. El tema está siendo motivo de revisión; Hawking se retractó de su teoría inicial y admitió que la entropía de la materia se conserva en el interior de un agujero negro (véase enlace externo). Según Hawking, a pesar de la imposibilidad física de escape de un agujero negro, estos pueden terminar evaporándose por la llamada radiación de Hawking, una fuente de rayos X que escapa del horizonte de sucesos.

La hipótesis de que los agujeros negros contienen una entropía y que, además, esta es finita, requiere para ser consecuente que tales agujeros emitan radiaciones térmicas, lo que al principio parece increíble. La explicación es que la radiación emitida escapa del agujero negro, de una región de la que el observador exterior no conoce más que su masa, su momento angular y su carga eléctrica. Eso significa que son igualmente probables todas las combinaciones o configuraciones de radiaciones de partículas que tengan energía, momento angular y carga eléctrica iguales. Son muchas las posibilidades de entes, si se quiere hasta de los más exóticos, que pueden ser emitidos por un agujero negro, pero ello corresponde a un número reducido de configuraciones. El número mayor de configuraciones corresponde con mucho a una emisión con un espectro que es casi térmico.

Físicos como Jacob D. Bekenstein han relacionado los agujeros negros y su entropía con la teoría de la información. Los trabajos de Bekenstein sobre teoría de la información y agujeros negros sugirieron que la segunda ley seguiría siendo válida si se introducía una entropía generalizada (Sgen) que sumara a la entropía convencional (Sconv), la entropía atribuible a los agujeros negros que depende del área total (A) de agujeros negros en el universo. Concretamente esta entropía generalizada debe definirse como:

Donde, k es la constante de Boltzmann, c es la velocidad de la luz, G es la constante de gravitación universal y  es la constante de Planck racionalizada, y A el área del horizonte de sucesos.

Definición de agujero negro 
A pesar de que existen explicaciones intuitivas del comportamiento de un agujero negro, en cosmología teórica no existe una definición simple de qué constituye un agujero negro, y todos los teóricos trabajan con definiciones topológicas sofisticadas de qué constituye un agujero negro. De hecho en un espacio-tiempo compacto no hay una manera adecuada y general de definir qué condiciones debe cumplir una región para ser considerada un agujero negro. En espacio-tiempos no compactos se requieren algunas condiciones técnicas para decidir si una región es un agujero negro, así se dice que en un espacio-tiempo asintóticamente plano y predictible (que contiene una hipersuperficie de Cauchy que satisface ciertos requisitos), se dice que hay una región de agujero negro si el pasado causal de la hipersuperficie de tipo luz situada en el infinito futuro no contiene a todo el espacio-tiempo (eso significa que dicha hipersuperficie es inalcanzable desde algunos puntos del espacio tiempo, precisamente aquellos contenidos en el área de agujero negro). La frontera del pasado causal de la hipersuperficie de tipo luz futura es el horizonte de sucesos.

¿Imposibilidad teórica de los agujeros negros? 
Los agujeros negros contienen toda la masa de la estrella en un punto matemático, que es lo que se conoce como singularidad. Einstein nunca aceptó eso, sino que pensaba que la masa debería ocupar una región finita aunque fuera pequeña y por eso se opuso a la existencia de agujeros negros, que nadie llamaba así entonces (se conocían como «singularidades de Schwarzschild»). El nombre de black hole lo propuso el físico estadounidense Wheeler, 10 años después de la muerte de Einstein.

Existen resultados matemáticos sólidos bajo los cuales una teoría métrica de la gravitación (como la relatividad general) predice la formación de agujeros negros. Estos resultados se conocen como teoremas de singularidades que predicen la ocurrencia de singularidades espaciotemporales (y si se acepta la hipótesis de censura cósmica, por tanto a la formación de agujeros negros). Las ecuaciones de campo de Einstein para la relatividad general admiten situaciones para las cuales se cumplen las condiciones de ocurrencia de singularidades y por tanto, los teoremas de singularidad muestran que los agujeros negros son posibles dentro de la relatividad general. Sin embargo, algunas teorías métricas alternativas como la teoría relativista de la gravitación, muy similar a la relatividad general en casi todos los aspectos y que también explica los hechos observados en el sistema solar y la expansión del universo, usa ecuaciones de campo ligeramente diferentes donde siempre se cumple que en ausencia local de materia y en virtud de las condiciones de causalidad de la teoría, para cualquier campo vectorial isótropo (vectores tipo luz) definido sobre el espacio-tiempo se cumple la desigualdad:

Esta condición implica que no se cumplirán las condiciones de los teoremas mencionados anteriormente y, por tanto, estos no pueden ser aplicados para predecir la existencia de singularidades y por tanto agujeros negros.

Dado que los datos experimentales no permiten discernir cuál de las dos teorías (la de relatividad general de Einstein o la relativista de la gravitación de Logunov) es la correcta, pues ambas coinciden para la mayoría de los hechos observacionales bien comprobados, no puede darse por garantizado que los agujeros negros sean una consecuencia necesaria de la gravitación.

Ausencia de singularidad central según otras teorías 
El 10 de diciembre de 2018, Abhay Ashtekar, Javier Olmedo y Parampreet Singh publicaron un artículo científico en el campo de la teoría de la gravedad del bucle, demostrando la ausencia de singularidad central dentro del agujero negro, sin especificar geométricamente el futuro de la materia en este punto, mientras que el modelo de Janus propone una explicación.

Este nuevo estudio da las mismas conclusiones que los obtenidos por trabajos anteriores basados en la relatividad general.

Los agujeros negros en la física actual 
Se explican los fenómenos físicos mediante dos teorías en cierto modo contrapuestas y basadas en principios incompatibles: la mecánica cuántica, que explica la naturaleza de «lo muy pequeño», donde predomina el caos y la estadística y admite casos de evolución temporal no determinista, y la relatividad general, que explica la naturaleza de «lo muy pesado» y que afirma que en todo momento se puede saber con exactitud dónde está un cuerpo, siendo esta teoría totalmente determinista. Ambas teorías están experimentalmente confirmadas pero, al intentar explicar la naturaleza de un agujero negro, es necesario discernir si se aplica la cuántica por ser algo muy pequeño o la relatividad por ser algo tan pesado. Está claro que hasta que no se disponga de una física más avanzada no se conseguirá explicar realmente la naturaleza de este fenómeno.

Descubrimientos recientes 
En 1995 un equipo de investigadores de la UCLA dirigido por Andrea Ghez demostró mediante simulación por ordenadores la posibilidad de la existencia de agujeros negros supermasivos en el núcleo de las galaxias. Tras estos cálculos mediante el sistema de óptica adaptativa se verificó que algo deformaba los rayos de luz emitidos desde el centro de nuestra galaxia (la Vía Láctea). Tal deformación se debe a un invisible agujero negro supermasivo que ha sido denominado Sgr.A (o Sagittarius A). En 2007-2008 se iniciaron una serie de experimentos de interferometría a partir de medidas de radiotelescopios para medir el tamaño del agujero negro supermasivo en el centro de la Vía Láctea, al que se le calcula una masa 4.5 millones de veces mayor que la del Sol y una distancia de 26 000 años luz (unos 255 000 billones de km respecto de la Tierra). El agujero negro supermasivo del centro de nuestra galaxia actualmente sería poco activo ya que ha consumido gran parte de la materia bariónica, que se encuentra en la zona de su inmediato campo gravitatorio y emite grandes cantidades de radiación. 

Por su parte, la astrofísica Feryal Özel ha explicado algunas características probables en torno a un agujero negro: cualquier cosa, incluido el espacio vacío, que entre en la fuerza de marea provocada por un agujero negro se aceleraría a extremada velocidad como en un vórtice y todo el tiempo dentro del área de atracción de un agujero negro se dirigiría hacia el mismo agujero negro.

En el presente se considera que, pese a la perspectiva destructiva que se tiene de los agujeros negros, estos al condensar en torno a sí materia sirven en parte a la constitución de las galaxias y a la formación de nuevas estrellas.

En junio de 2004 astrónomos descubrieron un agujero negro súper masivo, el Q0906+6930, en el centro de una galaxia distante a unos 12 700 millones de años luz. Esta observación indicó una rápida creación de agujeros negros súper masivos en el Universo joven.

La formación de micro agujeros negros en los aceleradores de partículas ha sido informada, pero no confirmada. Por ahora, no hay candidatos observados para ser agujeros negros primordiales.

El 11 de febrero de 2016, la colaboración LIGO anunció la primera de observación directa de ondas gravitatorias, generadas por la fusión de dos agujeros negros de masa estelar. Lo que supuso, además, la primera observación directa de dos agujeros negros fusionándose.

El 10 de abril de 2019, el telescopio del horizonte de sucesos fotografió por primera vez un agujero negro, el agujero negro supermasivo de entre 6400 y 6600 masas solares localizado en el centro de la galaxia M87. Esta es la primera evidencia directa que se tiene de la existencia de estos cuerpos y podrá abrir la puerta a futuras investigaciones sobre una teoría del todo que una la teoría de la Relatividad de Einstein y la mecánica cuántica.

El 5 de mayo del 2022, la agencia espacial estadounidense NASA publicó el «sonido» de los agujeros negros, el audio se considera teórico ya que fue producido a través de un proceso informático que sonoriza las ondas electromagnéticas recibidas en un radiotelescopio.

El mayor 
Dejando a un lado los agujeros negros supermasivos que suelen estar en el núcleo de las galaxias y cuya masa son de millones de veces nuestro Sol, el mayor agujero negro de masa estelar conocido hasta la fecha, se descubrió el año 2007 y fue denominado IC 10 X-1. Está en la galaxia enana IC 10 situada en la constelación de Casiopea, a una distancia de 1,8 millones de años luz (17 trillones de kilómetros) de la Tierra, con una masa de entre 24 y 33 veces la de nuestro Sol.

Posteriormente, en abril de 2008, la revista Nature publicó un estudio realizado en la Universidad de Turku (Finlandia). Según dicho estudio, un equipo de científicos dirigido por Mauri Valtonen descubrió un sistema binario, un blazar, llamado OJ 287, en la constelación de Cáncer. Tal sistema parece estar constituido por un agujero negro menor que orbita en torno a otro mayor, siendo la masa del mayor de 18 000 millones de veces la de nuestro Sol, lo que le convierte en el mayor agujero negro conocido. Se supone que en cada intervalo de rotación el agujero negro menor, que tiene una masa de 100 millones de soles, golpea la ergosfera del mayor dos veces, generándose un cuásar. Situado a 3500 millones de años luz de la Tierra, está relativamente cerca de la Tierra para ser un cuásar.

El menor 
Sin contar los posibles microagujeros negros que casi siempre son efímeros al producirse a escalas subatómicas; macroscópicamente en abril de 2008 el equipo coordinado por Nikolai Saposhnikov y Lev Titarchuk ha identificado el más pequeño de los agujeros negros conocidos hasta la fecha; ha sido denominado J1650, se ubica en la constelación Ara (o Altar) de la Vía Láctea (la misma galaxia de la cual forma parte la Tierra). J 1650 tiene una masa equivalente a 3,8 soles y tan solo 24 km de diámetro se habría formado por el colapso de una estrella; tales dimensiones estaban previstas por las ecuaciones de Einstein. Se considera que son prácticamente las dimensiones mínimas que puede tener un agujero negro ya que una estrella que colapsara y produjera un fenómeno de menor masa se transformaría en una estrella de neutrones. Se considera que pueden existir muchos más agujeros negros de dimensiones semejantes.

Chorros de plasma 
En abril de 2008 la revista Nature publicó un estudio realizado en la Universidad de Boston dirigido por Alan Marscher donde explica que chorros de plasma colimados parten de campos magnéticos ubicados cerca del borde de los agujeros negros. En zonas puntuales de tales campos magnéticos los chorros de plasma son orientados y acelerados a velocidades cercanas a c (velocidad de la luz), tal proceso es comparable a la aceleración de partículas para crear una corriente de chorro (jet) en un reactor. Cuando los chorros de plasma originados por un agujero negro son observables desde la Tierra tal tipo de agujero negro entra en la categoría de blazar.

Que un agujero negro «emita» radiaciones parece una contradicción, sin embargo esto se explica: todo objeto (supóngase una estrella) que es atrapado por la gravitación de un agujero negro, antes de ser completamente «engullido», antes de pasar tras el horizonte de sucesos, se encuentra tan fuertemente presionado por las fuerzas de marea del agujero negro en la zona de la ergosfera que una pequeña parte de su materia sale disparada a velocidades próximas a la de la luz (como cuando se aprieta fuertemente una naranja: parte del material de la naranja sale eyectado en forma de chorros de jugo, en el caso de los objetos atrapados por un agujero negro, parte de su masa sale disparada centrífugamente en forma de radiación fuera del campo gravitatorio de la singularidad).

Formación de estrellas por el influjo de agujeros negros 
Nuevas estrellas podrían formarse a partir de los discos elípticos en torno a agujeros negros; tales discos elípticos se producen por antiguas nubes de gas desintegradas previamente por los mismos agujeros negros; las estrellas producidas por condensación o acreción de tales discos elípticos al parecer tienen órbitas muy elípticas en torno a los agujeros negros supermasivos.

Radiación de Hawking 

Hasta principios de 1970 se pensaba que los agujeros negros no emitían directamente ningún tipo de materia, y su destino último era seguir creciendo por la acreción de más y más materia. Sin embargo, una consideración de los efectos cuánticos en el horizonte de sucesos de un agujero llevó a Hawking a descubrir un proceso físico por el cual el agujero podría emitir radiación. De acuerdo con el principio de incertidumbre de la mecánica cuántica existe la posibilidad de que en el horizonte se formen pares de partícula-antipartícula de corta duración, dado que la probabilidad de que uno de los elementos del par caiga dentro del agujero de manera irreversible y el otro miembro del par escape, el principio de conservación requiere que el agujero disminuya su masa para compensar la energía que se lleva el par que escapa de los aledaños del horizonte de sucesos. Nótese que en este proceso el par se forma estrictamente en el exterior del agujero negro, por lo que no contradice el hecho de que ninguna partícula material puede abandonar el interior. Sin embargo, sí existe un efecto neto de transferencia de energía del agujero negro a sus aledaños, que es la radiación Hawking, cuya producción no viola ningún principio físico.

Apariencia y óptica

Nota lingüística 
En países como España o Argentina, donde se diferencia entre un hoyo (concavidad) y un agujero (abertura), debe usarse la locución «agujero negro». En los países como México o Chile donde hoyo y agujero son sinónimos, también son sinónimos «hoyo negro» y «agujero negro».

Véase también 
 Agujero blanco
 Agujero de gusano
 Agujero negro de Kerr
 Agujero negro de Kerr-Newman
 Agujero negro de Reissner-Nordstrøm
 Agujero negro de Schwarzschild
 Gran Atractor
 Diagrama de Penrose
 Estrella de neutrones
 Galaxia activa
 Galaxia elíptica M87
 Historia del tiempo (libro de Hawking)
 Magnetar
 Microagujero negro
 Objeto astronómico
 Principio holográfico
 Púlsar
 Radiación de Hawking
 Singularidad desnuda
 Singularidad gravitacional
 Teoría de los universos fecundos
 Paradoja de la pérdida de información en agujeros negros
 Nave estelar de agujero negro
 Anillo negro
 Kugelblitz (astrofísica) 
 Anexo:Glosario de relatividad
Personas
 Karl Schwarzschild
 Kip Thorne
 Leonard Susskind
 Stephen Hawking
 Albert Einstein
 Katie Bouman

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 Hawking, S. W. & Ellis, G. F. R.: The Large Scale Structure of Space-time, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1973, ISBN 0-521-09906-4.
 Logunov, A. A. 1998, Curso de Teoría de la Relatividad y de la gravitación, Universidad Estatal de Lomonósov, Moscú, ISBN 5-88417-162-5.
 Wald, R. M.: General the Relativity, (cap. 12 «Black Holes»), Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1984, ISBN 0-226-87032-4.

Enlaces externos 

 Proyecto Celestia Vídeo educativo para entender los agujeros negros (vídeo n.º 28).
 Cientos de agujeros negros listos a devorar todo a su paso en nuestra galaxia
 Científicos finlandeses lograron calcular la masa del mayor agujero negro conocido en el espacio
 Vídeo que simula la caída en un agujero negro 
 Vídeo de una conferencia de divulgación sobre Agujeros Negros por Enrique Fernández Borja
 Vídeo de la conferencia Los agujeros negros y la naturaleza del espacio tiempo por Juan Maldacena

 
Materia oscura

La palabra anarquía deriva del griego «ἀναρχία» («anarkhia»). Está compuesta del prefijo griego ἀν- (an), que significa «no» o «sin», y de la raíz arkhê (en griego ἀρχή, «origen», «principio», «poder» o «mandato». La antípoda de sinarquía.). La etimología del término designa, de una manera general, aquello desprovisto de principio director y de origen. Esto se traduce por «ausencia de apriorismo», «ausencia de norma», «ausencia de jerarquía», «ausencia de autoridad» o «ausencia de gobierno», y sirve para designar aquellas situaciones donde se da la ausencia de Estado o poder público. A diferencia de la autarquía (gobierno de uno mismo), un concepto de filosofía moral, la anarquía se refiere a una situación del orden político.

En la filosofía política la palabra anarquía es polisémica, usándose como caos político o como forma de gobierno. En materia de doctrina de relaciones internacionales se llama anarquía en relaciones internacionales a la apreciación de que los Estados son autónomos frente al derecho internacional en la medida que no existe un gobierno mundial  sobre los gobiernos nacionales.

El término "anarquía"

Etimología 
El término anarquía deriva del griego «ἀναρχία» («anarkhia»), y está formado por el prefijo a –privativo an– (en griego αν, o sea «sin» o «privado de») yuxtapuesto a la palabra arkhê (en griego ἀρχή, o sea «origen», «principio», «poder», o «mando»). La etimología del término designa pues, de una manera general, lo que está desprovisto de principio director y de origen. Esto redunda o implica «ausencia de principio», «ausencia de reglas», «ausencia de jefatura», «ausencia de autoridad» y «ausencia de gobierno».

En uno de sus usos más comunes, anarquía evoca o equivale a caos, desorden (lo contrario de organizado) y anomia.

Los términos «anarquía» y «anarquista» se usaron libremente, en un sentido político, desde el . Felipe IV de Francia usaba estos términos frecuentemente en sus ordenanzas para designar desorden o caos. Durante la Revolución francesa, en términos de crítica negativa, relacionados con los abusos empleados por varios partidos para dañar a sus oponentes; así, tanto los Enragés, que desconfiaban del poder excesivo, como Robespierre, que lo buscaba, fueron tachados de anarquistas. La palabra agregó un significado nuevo, el que implica o equivale a un sistema o una organización donde los individuos no están sometidos a una autoridad, cuando Pierre Joseph Proudhon publicó ¿Qué es la propiedad? (1840), el libro que le estableció como un pionero del movimiento social anarquista. Tras responder al título («la propiedad es un robo»), el autor se convierte en el primer hombre que se autodeclara anarquista y precisa qué es lo que entiende por anarquía: «una forma de gobierno sin amo ni soberano». Sin embargo, el mismo autor, desde la Revolución de 1848, dejó de definirse como "anarquista" y prefirió usar otros vocablos para su pensamiento radical.

Antigua Grecia 

Según Homero y Heródoto, el término anarkhia señalaba una situación en la cual un grupo armado o un ejército, se encontraba sin jefatura. Por ejemplo, en la obra Los siete contra Tebas (año -467), el autor Esquilo de dicha tragedia utilizó por la primera vez el término αναρχία en el sentido de «desobediencia». En efecto, en dicha pieza, Antígona rehusó obedecer las órdenes de la ciudad (o polis), dando sepultura al cadáver de su hermano, quien había sido condenado a que su cuerpo sirviera de «comida a los perros».

Según el historiador Jenofonte en su obra Helénicas, el año -404 fue llamado «Anarquía» por los atenienses. En efecto, después de la derrota de Atenas en la guerra del Peloponeso, Esparta impuso a la ciudad un gobierno oligárquico compuesto por treinta magistrados conocidos como los tiranos. Contrariamente a la costumbre entonces en uso en Atenas, los atenienses se rehusaron a rendir honores a Pitodoros, quien había sido elegido arconte por los oligarcas, evitando o dificultando así que se diera ese nombre al año en curso.

Los filósofos Sócrates y Platón por su parte, utilizaron este término en una forma negativa, asociándolo a una forma corrupta de régimen democrático. En la obra La República, Platón claramente denunciaba a la democracia, acusándola de acarrear confusión entre gobernantes y gobernados, así como en cierta medida conducir a la tiranía. Platón describía entonces una visión muy negativa sobre la anarquía generada o inducida por la democracia: fin de las jerarquías, conflictos entre generaciones y entre hombres y mujeres, salvajadas y excesos de todo tipo.

El término en francés 

En francés, el término anarquía surgió en la Edad Media con la traducción de obras de Aristóteles a manos de Nicole Oresme (1320-1382), y a pedido del rey Carlos V (1364-1380). Las citadas obras no fueron traducciones directas del griego sino que partieron de las versiones en latín de Robert de Lincoln (1175-1253), de Guillaume de Moerbeke (1215-1286), y de Durand d'Auvergne, las que fueron acompañadas de un glosario destinado a facilitar la comprensión de la obra y de la cultura de la época. Estas traducciones dieron en particular al idioma francés algunas de las bases de su vocabulario político, incluyendo términos tales como démocratie, oligarchie, tyrannie, monarchie, aristocratie, etc. En total y según Robert Taylor, Nicole Oresme introdujo 450 palabras nuevas en la lengua francesa, y entre ellas se estableció la primera definición en francés del término "anarchie":

Poco utilizada entre los siglos XIV y XVII, esta palabra ingresó en el Dictionnaire de l'Académie française en 1694. Inmediatamente asociado con el término démocratie, la Académie française confirmó su definición con similar redacción un siglo más tarde, en su edición de 1798.

Denis Diderot, en la Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers del año 1751, completa esta definición, ampliándola y suprimiendo toda referencia al término démocratie:

Utilizado tanto por Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet como por Voltaire, el uso de este término se hizo más corriente con la Revolución Francesa, particularmente durante el llamado período del terror. También lo usaron frecuentemente tanto Mirabeau como Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud, Madame de Staël, y Pierre-Paul Royer-Collard, entre otros. Los llamados «Enragés (furiosos)», grupo liderado por Jacques Roux (1752-1794), fueron acusados de incitar al pueblo «a proscribir toda traza de gobierno» y de entonces desarrollar « los principios monstruosos de la anarquía ». En esa época utilizado por todos y contra todos, ese término tenía entonces un valor peyorativo e injurioso.

Un retorno al «sentido positivo» de la palabra anarquía surgió en Alemania en la Enciclopedia Universal (Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste) publicada en Leipzig en 1818 por Johann Samuel Ersch y Johann Gottfried Gruber. El artículo « Anarquía » escrito por Karl Wenzeslaus Rodecker von Rotteck expresaba:

Asimismo, fue en 1840 que el teórico socialista Pierre Joseph Proudhon en su libro Qu'est-ce que la propriété?, opera una verdadera ruptura semántica con el uso peyorativo de moda después de la revolución de 1789. En efecto, Proudhon se declaró «anarquista» afirmando que «la sociedad busca el orden en la anarquía». En el conjunto de su obra, este autor continuó utilizando el término en su acepción negativa, incluso equiparándolo a «caos», conforme a su «dialéctica de los contrarios» según la cual una sociedad justa y digna surgirá de la libertad máxima, y no del autoritarismo (y no del dirigismo).

Pero véase que a la época de Proudhon, no existía ningún «movimiento anarquista». En efecto, será necesario esperar a los debates que opusieron a autoritarios y anti-autoritarios en el seno de la Asociación Internacional de Trabajadores (1864-1872), así como la creación de la Federación del Jura (1871) y la Internacional de Saint-Imier (1872), para ver surgir los primeros grupos declaradamente anarquistas (período entre 1876 y 1877).

La filosofía política anarquista 

En términos generales el anarquismo plantea una sociedad políticamente organizada sin Estado a la que llaman «anarquía». La idea común de los anarquistas es que consideran que el Estado es innecesario y también directamente perjudicial en la medida en que atenta contra la libertad individual y la libertad colectiva. Este concepto puede ir acompañado, dependiendo de la rama de anarquismo que se consulte, por los conceptos de horizontalismo, que rechaza las jerarquías, o de voluntarismo, que no rechaza las jerarquías y que plantea que las relaciones humanas deben nacer necesariamente de la voluntariedad de las partes. Los anarquistas de diferentes corrientes difieren en gran medida de la forma exacta de esta sociedad ideal. El punto de mayor controversia es lo tocante a la organización económica de la sociedad, habiéndose producido en el seno del movimiento anarquista profundos debates al respecto; el más acalorado y conocido de ellos fue el que se produjo durante finales del sigloXIX entre el colectivismo y el comunismo libertario, predominando finalmente este último. En el sigloXX la distinción en materia económica entre formas de anarquismo se ha dado principalmente entre el anarcocapitalismo y el anarcosocialismo (concepto que agrupa al anarquismo clásico que adopta ideas económicas socialistas), ambas tendencias provienen de tradiciones ideológicas, contextos históricos y autores muy distintos aunque comparten puntos de vista sobre teoría del Estado. El principio básico en que están de acuerdo es en la no-existencia de un Estado dentro de un sistema de no-agresión o anarquía. Dentro de este marco, la mayoría de tendencias anarquistas proponen que un sistema de asociación voluntaria de un tipo u otro puede proporcionar los servicios para los cuales los seres humanos han confiado en las instituciones coercitivas externas del Estado.

Algunos autores equiparan el concepto de anarquía, entendido como sociedad ideal, al concepto de acracia o al de orden natural.

Anarquías en la historia

Caos político 
Un caos político puede ser producido tras el colapso de un Estado al no poder aplicar la ley sobre su territorio (ver: Estado fallido), o por medio de un grave conflicto institucional en que nadie alcanza a ejercer la jefatura del Estado o su reconocimiento está en disputa (ver: Vacío de poder). Algunos ejemplos de esta acepción de la palabra son:
 La anarquía del siglo III durante el Imperio Romano.
 La anarquía inglesa. Guerra civil en Inglaterra y Normandía.
 El Terror.
 Anarquía en los Estados Unidos, un fenómeno del sigloXVII dado en algunas comunidades creadas por disidentes políticos y religiosos de las Trece Colonias americanas, al margen de la autoridad colonial y vinculada con el anarcocapitalismo más que con el anarquismo clásico.
 La Anarquía militar (1841-1845), periodo caótico y de gran inestabilidad de la historia del Perú durante la Restauración peruana.
 La organización de la República de Chile y la acefalía del Ejecutivo (Chile).
 La anarquía del añoXX y la acefalía presidencial en Argentina.
 La anarquía en Somalia.
 La anarquía en Albania (1997).

Comunidades y sociedades organizadas sin Estado 
En otras ocasiones se le denomina anarquía a los casos de pequeñas comunidades o de sociedades más extendidas en donde se prescinde de Estado —al menos de la forma en que se entiende al Estado Moderno— y las instituciones de convivencia social son o formadas por el libre acuerdo o surgen de forma espontánea —y no necesariamente por motivaciones ideológicas—. Probablemente este uso del término anarquía para estos casos se derive del uso favorable dado a este término por parte de las filosofías políticas anarquistas, incluso aplicado en casos de sociedades previas a la aparición de tales ideologías. Estas formas de convivencia recurren a algún tipo de organización tradicional como la familia, la religión, la comunidad vecinal, los gremios profesionales (incluyendo gremios que otras circunstancias serían ilegales, como las mafias), a formas de organización basadas en la afinidad ideológica con fines productivos o al contrario con fines de estilo de vida, o inclusive casos donde la organización de la vida social queda a cargo de empresas privadas. A veces este uso de «anarquía» para comunidades y sociedades concretas parece ser ambiguo, pues denota una forma de organización heterodoxa pero también alude al significado de caos, implicando que existe algún tipo de orden pero que es de alguna forma inestable.

 Irlanda celta (Edad Antigua-1607). Los clanes o tuath eran las unidades políticas básicas y se formaban de personas unidas voluntariamente para y la suma total de los terrenos de sus miembros constituía su dimensión geográfica.
 Mancomunidad Islandesa (930-1262). Los individuos podían elegir voluntariamente la pertenencia a cualquier clan y las jefaturas del clan podían ser compradas y vendidas, y no existían monopolios geográficos de clan.
 República de Cospaia (1440-1826), un territorio y aldea en Italia que por accidente quedó fuera de los límites de la República de Florencia y los Estados Pontificios, siendo terra nullius declaró su independencia y finalmente se convirtió en una destacada zona agrícola y de comercio sin impuestos ni autoridades.
 Anarquía en los Estados Unidos, un fenómeno del sigloXVII dado en algunas comunidades que se dieron a sí mismas gobiernos voluntarios y libre empresa, destacando el caso del Santo Experimento en la Pensilvania de William Penn. Usualmente fueron creadas por disidentes políticos y religiosos de las Trece Colonias americanas, al margen de la autoridad colonial británica.
 De existencia discutida, la comunidad de Libertatia. En el marco de una utopía pirata, y en el contexto de la piratería de los siglosXVII y XVIII.
 La comunidad cristiana creada en la colina de Saint George, en Inglaterra, por los Cavadores.
 Quilombo de los Palmares, Brasil siglos XVI y XVII.
 La Whiteway Colony, en el Reino Unido.
 Como resultado de la revolución majnovista de corte anarcocomunista, existió entre enero de 1919 y agosto de 1921 el "Territorio Libre" o "Majnovia".
 Provincia Libre de Shinmin, Corea y China, (1929-1931).
 Comunidades anarcosindicalistas en España durante la Revolución Española, aunadas en La Colectividad; como el anarcosindicalismo en Cataluña (21 de julio de 1936-14 de junio de 1937) y el Consejo Regional de Defensa de Aragón (6 de octubre de 1936-10 de agosto de 1937).
 Ciudad libre de Christiania en Copenhague, Dinamarca (26 de septiembre de 1971-presente). Allí gobierna La Asamblea General, formada por ciudadanos de la Christiania elegidos por democracia directa. Algunas de sus leyes son independientes del Estado danés, por lo que no pagan impuestos al mismo.
 La anarquía en Somalia (1991-presente).
 Ciudad amurallada de Kowloon (1898-1993), un enclave de China dentro del Hong Kong británico que en la práctica quedó autogobernado por refugiados chinos y la mafia local.
 Gurgaon (1979-presente), un próspero distrito de negocios en India que surgió sin planificación urbana después de quedar en un limbo legal que dejó al territorio fuera de la división administrativa del país.
 Liberland, una micronación y Estado autodeclarado en 2015 en una terra nullius entre Serbia y Croacia, que propone los «impuestos voluntarios» y que está inspirada por el ideal anarcocapitalista. Ha sido reconocida diplomáticamente por Somalilandia.

Véase también 
 Antiestatismo
 Sociedad sin Estado
 Anarcocapitalismo

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

Anarquismo
Helenismos

América del Norte o Norteamérica (también llamada América Septentrional) es un subcontinente en América.En países anglosajones y germánicos, suele ser considerado un continente propio, dentro del supercontinente más grande de América. Yace en el hemisferio norte y casi por completo en el hemisferio occidental y limita al norte con el océano Ártico, al este con el océano Atlántico, al noreste con Europa septentrional a través de Groenlandia, al sureste con el mar Caribe, al suroeste con el océano Pacífico y al noroeste con Asia del Norte a través del estrecho de Bering. Está conectado con América del Sur por el estrecho puente territorial que representa América Central, el cual, dependiendo de la región del mundo, a veces se suele considerar igualmente norteamericano, y otras veces un subcontinente aparte. 

Bajo la consideración de tríada, cubriría un área aproximadamente de 24 323 000 km², lo que representa alrededor de un 4,8 % de la superficie total del planeta y un 16,5 % de las tierras emergidas. En 2014 su población estimada fue de más de 472 millones de habitantes. En 2014 el IDH promedio de todos los países del subcontinente norteamericano fue de 0,895. Se hablan numerosas lenguas originarias y de inmigrantes, pero las oficiales (legalmente o de facto) y ampliamente predominantes son el inglés, español y francés. No obstante, estos valores cambian bajo la concepción de Norteamérica desde Alaska a Panamá, incluyendo El Caribe.

Toponimia 

Se acepta ampliamente que el nombre “América” procede del navegante y explorador Américo Vespucio, y que fue el cartógrafo alemán Martin Waldseemüller quien le puso ese nombre. Vespucio fue el primer europeo en sugerir que América no era las Indias Orientales, sino un nuevo mundo desconocido por los europeos. Los nombres América del Norte y América del Sur surgen al estar conformado el continente por dos grandes masas de tierra, una en el norte y otra en el sur.

La segunda teoría, con menor aceptación, es que este nombre proviene de un comerciante inglés llamado Richard Amerike, de Bristol, que se cree financió el viaje de John Cabot de Inglaterra a Terranova en 1497. Otra teoría es que el nombre proviene de una lengua amerindia.

Delimitación 

No hay un solo criterio para definir este término. En los países hispanohablantes, el uso normalmente define a Norteamérica como el subcontinente conformado por Canadá, Estados Unidos (incluyendo Alaska), México, (hasta el istmo de Tehuantepec), Groenlandia e islas adyacentes. En cambio en los países anglohablantes y otros, se suele considerar a Norteamérica como un continente que está conformado por lo antes mencionado además de Centroamérica y las Antillas, presentando un límite natural con Sudamérica más o menos a la frontera actual de Panamá/Colombia. Por otro lado, el geoesquema de la ONU usa “Northern America” (América Norteña) para indicar la subregión cultural conformada por Estados Unidos y Canadá.

Historia 

A la llegada de los europeos, América del Norte estaba poblada por etnias indígenas provenientes de inmigraciones asiáticas a través del estrecho de Bering.

La colonización europea del Norte (por orden cronológico: española, francesa e inglesa) consistió básicamente en el avance progresivo desde la costa oriental hacia el oeste. En líneas generales, la colonización anglosajona supuso la marginación e incluso el exterminio de las poblaciones indígenas, hasta confinar a los supervivientes en reservas situadas en las zonas más improductivas y estériles del territorio. Sin embargo, las colonizaciones francesa y española supusieron la mezcla de razas y el mestizaje.

Era precolombina 

Los antropólogos tienen diversas teorías acerca de las primeras poblaciones que se establecieron en América del Norte. Las evidencias genéticas y arqueológicas indican que los primeros americanos llegaron desde Asia en torno a la última gran glaciación, cuando el hielo cubría el estrecho de Bering creando un puente terrestre llamado Beringia.

Antes del contacto con los europeos, los pueblos indígenas de América del Norte se dividían en múltiples entidades políticas, desde pequeños grupos de unas pocas familias a jefaturas y reinos. Vivían en varias áreas culturales que correspondían a grandes rasgos con las distintas zonas geobiológicas que ocupaban y que dan una buena idea de los distintos usos y costumbres. Por ejemplo, de los cazadores de bisontes de las Grandes Llanuras, o los agricultores de Mesoamérica. A estos grupos indígenas también se les puede clasificar lingüísticamente (por ejemplo, las familias atapasca, álgica y utoazteca son tres de las más extendidas en Norteamérica), aunque es importante tener en cuenta que los pueblos con lenguas relacionadas no siempre compartían la misma cultura material, ni siquiera fueron siempre aliados.

El período arcaico en América vio a un entorno cambiante que ofreció un clima cálido más árido y la desaparición de la megafauna. La mayoría de los grupos de población en ese momento todavía eran cazadores-recolectores muy móviles, pero después comenzaron a surgir los grupos individuales, se centraban sobre los recursos disponibles para ellos a nivel local, por lo que con el paso del tiempo no había un patrón de creciente generalización regional como, el suroeste, el Ártico, la pobreza, Dalton y el Plano tradicional.

Estas adaptaciones regionales se convertirían en la norma con menos dependencia de la caza y la recolección, con una economía más variada de caza menor, pescados, estacionalmente vegetales silvestres cosechadas y alimentos vegetales. Muchos grupos continuaron como cazadores de caza mayor, sin embargo sus tradiciones de caza se hicieron más variadas y sus métodos de adquisición de carne más sofisticados. La colocación de artefactos y materiales dentro de una necrópolis arcaica indicaban diferenciación social según el estado de algunos grupos.

Los grupos culturales más meridionales de América del Norte fueron responsables de la domesticación de muchos cultivos que ahora se utilizan en todo el mundo, como los tomates y las calabazas. Tal vez lo más importante es que uno de los cultivos más importantes del mundo es el maíz. Como resultado del desarrollo de la agricultura en el sur, muchos de los avances culturales importantes se hicieron allí. Por ejemplo, la civilización maya elaboró un sistema de escritura, construyó enormes pirámides, tenían un complejo calendario, y desarrollaron el concepto de cero 500 años antes que nadie en el Viejo Mundo. La cultura maya aún estaba presente cuando los europeos llegaron a Centroamérica, pero la dominación política en la zona se había desplazado hacia el Imperio azteca.

Más al norte de Mesoamérica los grupos humanos que desarrollaron sociedades y culturas más complejas son los pueblos de la cultura misisipiana y la confederación iroquesa en época histórica bien documentada. Además existen algunas culturas complejas conocidas solo arqueológicamente como las de los anasazi o los Hohokam.

La llegada de los europeos a América supuso un cambio drástico, frecuentemente traumático o catastrófico para ellos y sus culturas. Desaparecieron pueblos enteros, incluso grupos lingüísticos completos y los que sobrevivieron en general cambiaron muy rápidamente.

Asentamientos vikingos en América 

L'Anse aux Meadows (una corrupción del nombre original francés L'Anse-aux-Méduses, “La ensenada de las medusas”) es un paraje situado en la punta septentrional de la isla de Terranova, en la provincia de Terranova y Labrador (Canadá), donde el investigador noruego Helge Ingstad y su esposa, la arqueóloga Anne Stine, encontraron en 1960 unas elevaciones cubiertas de hierba que resultaron ser los restos de una aldea vikinga.

En 2015 fue hallado un posible segundo asentamiento en otro punto de la isla de Terranova llamado Point Rosee, 500 km más lejos hacia el sudeste de lo que inicialmente se sabía de los vikingos. El hallazgo fue detectado por la arqueóloga estadounidense Sarah Parcak mediante tecnología de imágenes infrarrojas desde el espacio.

Época colonial 
En 1663 la corona francesa había tomado el control de las empresas de comercio de pieles de la Nueva Francia. Esto marcó el comienzo de una nueva era del colonialismo más formal en América del Norte.

La rivalidad entre las potencias europeas creó una serie de guerras en América del Norte que tuvieron un gran impacto en el desarrollo de las colonias. El territorio cambió de manos varias veces. La paz no se logró hasta que las fuerzas francesas en América del Norte fueron vencidas en la batalla de las Llanuras de Abraham (en Quebec) y Francia cedió la mayor parte de sus reivindicaciones fuera del Caribe. El fin de la presencia francesa en América del Norte fue un desastre para los países indígenas del este de América del Norte, que perdieron a su principal aliado en contra de la expansión angloamericana de exterminio. Durante la rebelión de Pontiac (1763-1766), una confederación de Grandes Lagos y el área de las tribus se enfrentaron en una campaña poco exitosa para defender sus derechos sobre las tierras al oeste de los montes Apalaches, lo que llevó a que fueran encerrados en reservas en virtud de la proclamación real de 1763.

Entre 1535 a 1821, los territorios colonizados por el Imperio español en el actual México se llamaban virreinato de Nueva España.

Independencias 
La llegada de la Revolución de las Trece Colonias tuvo un gran impacto en todo el continente. Lo más importante fue la creación de los Estados Unidos de América. Sin embargo, la guerra revolucionaria estadounidense fue una guerra importante que tocó todos los rincones de la región. El asentamiento de los lealistas del Imperio Unido llevó a la creación de Canadá como una comunidad separada.

Mientras tanto, el control de España sobre México se estaba debilitando. La independencia fue declarada en 1810 por Miguel Hidalgo, iniciando en ese momento la Guerra de Independencia de México. En 1813, José María Morelos y el Congreso de Anáhuac firmaron el Acta Solemne de la Declaración de la Independencia de América del Norte, el primer documento legal donde se establece la separación de la Nueva España con respecto a España. Finalmente México se independizo en 1821 como Imperio y España lo reconoció como nación independiente en 1823.

Expansión territorial 

Desde el momento de la independencia de los Estados Unidos, ese país se expandió rápidamente hacia el oeste, adquiriendo el vasto territorio de Luisiana en 1803. Entre 1810 y 1811 una confederación indígena luchó sin éxito para mantener a los estadounidenses fuera de los Grandes Lagos. Los seguidores de Tecumseh se fueron al norte en Canadá, donde ayudaron a los británicos para repeler un intento estadounidense de apoderarse de Canadá durante la guerra de 1812. Después de la guerra, el asentamiento británico e irlandés en Canadá aumentó de forma espectacular.
La expansión de Estados Unidos se vio complicada por la división de los estados entre “libre” y “esclavo”, lo que llevó al Compromiso de Misuri de 1820.

Asimismo, Canadá se enfrentó a una división entre comunidades francesas e inglesas que llevaron al estallido de la guerra civil en 1837.

México se enfrentó a constantes tensiones políticas entre liberales y conservadores, tuvo un conflicto territorial con Guatemala en donde México consiguió la adquisición de Chiapas y el soconusco, así como también tuvo conflictos con Estados Unidos por Texas, quien se declaró independiente (por invasores estadounidenses) en 1836 y por los territorios de California.

Conflictos 
La secesión de los Estados Confederados y la guerra civil resultante sacudió a la sociedad estadounidense. Esto condujo a la abolición de la esclavitud en los Estados Unidos, la destrucción de la mayor parte del Sur, y una gran pérdida de vidas. Del conflicto Estados Unidos surgió como una nación industrializada de gran alcance.

En parte como respuesta a la amenaza del poder estadounidense, cuatro de las colonias canadienses acordaron federarse en 1867, creando el Dominio de Canadá. La nueva nación no era plenamente soberana, pero contaba con una considerable independencia de Gran Bretaña. Con la incorporación de la Columbia Británica Canadá se expandió hacia el Pacífico en 1871 y estableció un ferrocarril transcontinental, el Canadian Pacific, en 1885.

En México, conflictos como la Guerra de Reforma debilitaron al estado mexicano, y lo abrieron a la influencia extranjera. Esto llevó al Segundo Imperio francés a invadir a México y el establecimiento de un Segundo Imperio Mexicano.

Además existió el conflicto con Guatemala en el que barcos pesqueros mexicanos fueron atacados por la Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca (FAG) en aguas territoriales de Guatemala, el saldo fue de tres pescadores mexicanos muertos y catorce heridos. Diez de los sobrevivientes fueron sometidos a interrogación militar por parte de Guatemala. La situación causó una terminación temporal de las relaciones diplomáticas y comerciales entre México y Guatemala, un puente fronterizo fue destruido y ambos países activaron una alerta militar.

Geografía

Clima y vegetación 

La vegetación y el clima de América del Norte posee una variedad climática muy grande. Aunque el grupo climático que prevalece es el de los climas templados. Concretamente, el clima continental es el que mayor superficie abarca. Aunque el abanico es mayor y varía desde el clima tropical del sur de México hasta el clima polar de las regiones más norteñas del continente, cuenta con la mayoría de los climas del mundo. En el norte se encuentran tundras árticas (p. ej. Groenlandia, Yukón), pasando por una gran variedad de bosques (Montañas Rocosas, Apalaches y los bosques de las Sierras Madre), bosques tropicales (Selva Lacandona y los Chimalapas), desiertos (Desierto de Sonora, Zona del Silencio), llanuras (Grandes Llanuras, Comarca Lagunera), manglares (p. ej. Luisiana, Tabasco), etc. Grosso modo, la vegetación asociada a ellos es la típica del imperio Holoártico, en el norte, y del imperio Neotropical, en el sur. La frontera entre ambos imperios se sitúa en torno a los 40°N.

Demografía

Idiomas 

Actualmente, los idiomas más extendidos en América del Norte son el inglés, el español y el francés. El término Angloamérica se usa a veces para referirse a los países anglófonos de todo el continente americano. El término América Latina se refiere a la zona de América en donde las lenguas romances (derivadas del latín) predominan. Ambos términos pueden ser empleados para el subcontinente norteamericano.

 El idioma inglés, aunque no es oficial, es la lengua mayoritaria de Estados Unidos. En Canadá es más hablado que el francés, aunque ambos idiomas son cooficiales en dicho país. También es el idioma oficial en las islas Bermudas, que son una dependencia británica.

 El idioma español, aunque no es oficial, es la lengua nacional de México según la Ley General de los Derechos Lingüísticos de este país y es el segundo idioma más hablado en los Estados Unidos. México tiene la mayor población de hispanohablantes del mundo y Estados Unidos es el segundo país con mayor número de hispanohablantes.

 El idioma francés históricamente ha desempeñado un papel importante en América del Norte y se mantiene presente en varias regiones. En Canadá es el idioma oficial y más hablado de la provincia de Quebec, además de ser uno de los dos oficiales en la provincia de Nuevo Brunswick. Frente a la costa de Terranova, las islas de San Pedro y Miquelón son dependencias francesas, y en el estado de Luisiana (al sur de Estados Unidos) quedan pequeñas comunidades bilingües (francés e inglés).

 El idioma groenlandés desde junio de 2009 es la única lengua oficial de Groenlandia, un país autónomo del Reino de Dinamarca, además de ser el idioma más hablado de ese territorio. El idioma danés, sin ser oficial, es usado en asuntos administrativos y por una minoría europea.

Aunque se han perdido un gran número de lenguas indígenas desde la conquista europea, todavía se hablan más de 250 lenguas autóctonas (pertenecientes a más de 40 familias lingüísticas distintas), principalmente en México y los Estados Unidos. En México, se reconocen unas 60 lenguas indígenas que están reconocidas como lenguas nacionales cooficiales. En los Estados Unidos y Canadá, las lenguas indígenas no tienen reconocimiento oficial, y la gran mayoría de ellas son lenguas amenazadas. En México las lenguas indígenas tienen reconocimiento oficial, y la secretaría de educación publica materiales escolares en algunas de estas lenguas.

En cuanto a las lenguas alóctonas de América del Norte, el inglés, el francés y el español, tienen reconocimiento oficial. Además en los Estados Unidos existe un gran número de comunidades inmigrantes que siguen usando sus lenguas originarias.

Población 

Demográficamente, el subcontinente es racial y étnicamente diverso. Los tres principales grupos étnicos son los mestizos, los negros y los blancos. Existen importantes minorías de amerindios y de personas provenientes de Asia. El país más poblado de América del Norte es Estados Unidos, con más de 325 millones de personas. El segundo país más poblado es México, con una población de más de 130 millones de personas. Canadá ocupa el tercer puesto, con más de 35 millones de habitantes.

En la lista se muestran las ciudades de América del Norte que superan el millón de habitantes, en el 2020 según los censos oficiales de México y los Estados Unidos y 2021 para Canadá

Religión

Cristianismo 
Aproximadamente entre el 75 y el 80 % de la población se considera cristiana. Dentro de ella, la mayoría están identificados como cristianos históricos o tradicionales desde la colonia (protestantismo y catolicismo). Dentro de los estudios en las últimas décadas existen otros tipos de cristianos recientes (mormones, testigos de Jehová, Iglesia morava y cristianos marginales).

 México: 92 %
 Estados Unidos: 80 %
 Canadá: 73 %

Catolicismo 
 México: 82 %
 Canadá: 41 %
 Estados Unidos: 29 %

Protestantismo 
 Estados Unidos: 47 %
 Canadá: 30 %
 México: 8 %

Otros cristianos 
 Estados Unidos: 2 %
 México: 2 %
 Canadá: 1 %

Otras religiones 
Debido a la inmigración asiática y mediterránea en el , se incorporaron otras religiones en América del Norte, entre ellas, el judaísmo, el bahaísmo, el islamismo y el budismo como las más grandes, que abarcan entre el 1 y el 3 %. También existen religiones que abarcan la espiritualidad, como la nueva era, el gnosticismo y el ocultismo.

 Estados Unidos: 2 %
 México: 2 %
 Canadá: 2 %

Sin afiliación religiosa 
Entre ellas están el ateísmo, el agnosticismo, el humanismo secular, el escepticismo religioso y los no religiosos. La irreligiosidad es un movimiento que gana cada vez más popularidad en la sociedad norteamericana. Mientras avanzan la modernización y la infraestructura, la sociedad se hace más transparente en la religión. La práctica religiosa es menor al 30 % en Canadá y los Estados Unidos. En México la cifra parece ser de un 53 %. Según las estadísticas de GALLUP en el año 2010, un 65 % creen que existe un Dios, un 20 % cree en alguna fuerza espiritual y un 15 % no creen que haya un Dios o alguna fuerza espiritual.

 Canadá: 26 %
 Estados Unidos: 18 %
 México: 6 %

Países y territorios 
Sin la región centroamericana, Norteamérica se divide políticamente en tres países soberanos e independientes: Canadá, Estados Unidos y México. Además al subcontinente están ligados 3 dependencias insulares: Groenlandia, Bermudas y San Pedro y Miquelón, así como la Isla Clipperton, no habitada.

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  para el año 2016

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  para el año 2016.

Economía 

La economía de América del Norte es de las más grandes del mundo, sus tres países constituyentes (México, Estados Unidos y Canadá), tienen un PIB PPA de 18 000 000 millones de dólares (que supera a la Unión Europea), cuentan con un elevado desarrollo industrial y económico, que los ubican entre las 15 mayores economías del mundo. Estados Unidos es el país más fuerte económicamente del continente y del mundo, cuenta con una economía orientada en la producción industrial, cuyos principales socios son México y Canadá (con quienes conforma el T-MEC), así como China, Japón y Alemania.

La segunda mayor economía en el subcontinente es la de México, es un país recientemente industrializado con acelerado desarrollo industrial. La economía mexicana se encuentra actualmente diversificada, aunque México continúa siendo uno de los mayores productores de petróleo en el mundo. Sus principales socios comerciales son los Estados Unidos y Canadá; sin embargo, la integración entre México y Canadá ha sido mucho más lenta de lo esperado.

Canadá fue, hasta hace unos años, la segunda economía de Norteamérica (el índice en términos de PIB nominal de Canadá respecto a México continúa siendo superior), cuenta con un sistema financiero orientado al mercado, patrones de producción y elevados estándares de vida, cuenta con grandes depósitos de gas natural sobre la costa este y en tres provincias del oeste, junto con una gran variedad de recursos naturales. Su principal socio comercial es Estados Unidos, a donde destina más del 85 % de sus exportaciones.

Entre las instituciones internacionales establecidas entre los países de Norteamérica, destaca el Banco Norteamericano de Desarrollo, gobernado bilateralmente por México y los Estados Unidos, cuyo propósito es financiar proyectos certificados por la Comisión de Cooperación para el Entorno Fronterizo.

Los territorios de América del Norte, Groenlandia, Bermudas, San Pedro y Miquelón, cuentan con Índices de Desarrollo Humano elevados, así como economías sustentables. La economía de los tres territorios depende de la pesca y exportación del pescado, así como de la producción de sellos postales. En Groenlandia el marisco de mayor exportación es el camarón; mientras que en San Pedro y Miquelón la mayor exportación es el bacalao, registrando altibajos económicos en los últimos años.

Las monedas más fuertes utilizadas en Norteamérica son el dólar estadounidense (moneda oficial de los Estados Unidos y ampliamente utilizada en el intercambio comercial internacional), el dólar canadiense y el peso mexicano (moneda emergente más utilizada en el mundo). En menor medida, el dólar bermudeño, el euro (oficial en San Pedro y Miquelón) y la corona danesa (en Groenlandia), dado que cada país y territorio, con excepción de San Pedro y Miquelón y Groenlandia, cuenta con su propia moneda nacional.

El IVA
Los europeos cuando visitan Estados Unidos deben tener en cuenta que en el supermercado el precio marcado en los productos no es el precio final – el IVA se aplica en la caja. Cada uno de los estados federales en los Estados Unidos puede decidir por sí mismo, cuánto se añade a los productos. Actualmente el IVA en ese país varía entre un 4 y un 8 %. En México la tasa vigente de IVA es del 16% (8% en la franja fronteriza norte) en todos los bienes y servicios, salvo contadas excepciones como los medicamentos y los alimentos no procesados.

Tratados comerciales entre ambos países

TLCAN como antecedente 
Es un importante bloque comercial entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (conocido también como NAFTA, por sus siglas en inglés North American Free Trade Agreement: ‘acuerdo de libre comercio norteamericano’). Es uno de los bloques comerciales más importantes del mundo y se encuentra apoyado por dos suplementos trilaterales: el Acuerdo de Cooperación Ambiental de América del Norte, cuyo objetivo es la conservación y protección del medio ambiente en Norteamérica, y el Acuerdo Norteamericano de Cooperación Laboral, que engloba los aspectos comerciales del convenio.

A consecuencia de este tratado y su ampliación, desde el año 2005, se realiza anualmente la denominada Cumbre de Líderes de América del Norte, la última sede fue la ciudad de Guadalajara en el año 2009, siendo esta la reunión más importante en la región, donde se tratan temas de suma relevancia para la zona y se promueve la integración regional.

T-MEC 
El 30 de septiembre de 2018, se anunció que Estados Unidos, México y Canadá habían llegado a un acuerdo para reemplazar el TLCAN con el Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC o USMCA por sus siglas en inglés). El nuevo tratado de libre comercio entró en vigor definitivamente el 1 de julio de 2020 después de que el Parlamento canadiense aprobara el acuerdo y los tres presidentes —Trump, López Obrador y Trudeau— sellaran definitivamente con sus firmas el nuevo tratado.

Uso del término 

 Tanto América del Norte como Norteamérica son designaciones correctas del subcontinente americano que engloba el conjunto de países situados al norte de México y al propio México. El uso de Norteamérica como sinónimo de Estados Unidos de América está bastante generalizado. Aunque no sea censurable, dada su frecuencia, es preferible mantener la distinción de ambas denominaciones, Estados Unidos de América para el país y Norteamérica o América del Norte para todo el subcontinente, especialmente en contextos en que su referencia pueda ser ambigua.

 Debido a que en los países angloparlantes utilizan el nombre "América del Norte " para referirse únicamente a Estados Unidos y Canadá, se suele dividir al subcontinente (México y Centroamérica). Centroamérica incluye los siguientes países: Guatemala, Belice (país angloparlante y relacionado con el Caribe), Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica y Panamá (país relacionado con el Caribe y asociado históricamente con Sudamérica).

 Usualmente los términos América del Norte y Norteamérica son sinónimos, pero en algunas ocasiones se hace una distinción entre ambos términos, haciendo referencia el primero (América del Norte) a un concepto puramente geográfico que incluye a Belice, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua y Panamá, y haciendo referencia el segundo (Norteamérica) a un concepto político (que no incluye a México y Centroamérica) o a un concepto cultural e histórico (que no incluye a Centroamérica).

Véase también 

 Costa noroccidental de América del Norte
 Historia de América del Norte
 América Central
 América del Sur
 Antillas
 Caribe (región)
 Anexo:Ciudades de América del Norte por PIB
 Anexo:Ciudades de América del Norte por población

Notas

Referencias

Enlaces externos 
 "North America"/"Central America". The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6.ª ed. 2001-6. Nueva: Columbia University Press.
 "North America"/"Central America". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
 UN Statistics Division.
 GeoHive: Población de continentes, regiones y países.
 “Norteamérica”/ “Centroamérica”. MSN Encarta.
 American Heritage Dictionaries, North America y Central America.
 Houghton Mifflin Company, "North America".
 
 Crystal Reference Encyclopedia, "North America".

América del Sur, Sudamérica o Suramérica es un subcontinente en América y considerado por muchos, por la diferencia cultural, un continente del supercontinente de América. Está atravesada por la línea ecuatorial en su extremo norte, quedando así con la mayor parte de su territorio comprendida dentro del hemisferio sur.

Se sitúa entre el océano Atlántico y el océano Pacífico, los cuales delimitan los extremos Este y Oeste respectivamente, mientras que el mar Caribe delimita por el norte y el océano Antártico su extremo sur. Está conectada con América del Norte por el estrecho puente territorial que representa América Central. América del Sur es la zona terrestre más próxima a la Antártida, a través del paso de Drake al sur. Ocupa una superficie de 18,2 millones de km², lo que representa un 42,9% del continente americano y un 13,0% de las tierras emergidas, y está habitada por el 6,5% de la población mundial.

América del Sur está conformada por un conjunto de trece países soberanos: Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Perú, Surinam, Trinidad y Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela, además de Francia con la Guayana Francesa y cinco dependencias de otros estados. Brasil concentra aproximadamente la mitad de la población y la producción económica de la región.

Los países que bordean el mar Caribe son: Colombia, Venezuela, (aunque se suele incluir a Trinidad y Tobago por encontrarse sobre la plataforma continental), Guyana, Surinam, también la Guayana Francesa, que es un departamento de ultramar de Francia, Aruba, Curazao y la isla de Bonaire pertenecientes al Reino de los Países Bajos; se conocen en conjunto como el Caribe sudamericano, mientras que Argentina, Chile, Paraguay y Uruguay forman el Cono Sur, una región del subcontinente que se caracteriza por los más altos estándares de calidad de vida y desarrollo en relación con el resto de Latinoamérica. Colombia y Venezuela, además de estar en la región Caribe, pertenecen también junto a Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador y Perú a la zona andina.

Desde el  hasta principios del  la mayor parte de América del Sur estaba dividida en colonias gobernadas, mayoritariamente, por España y Portugal, seguidas por una colonia del Reino Unido, una de Francia y otra de los Países Bajos, las cuales se fueron convirtiendo en Repúblicas, con la excepción de la Guayana Francesa convertida en Departamento de Ultramar francés (Región Ultraperiférica Europea) y las Islas Malvinas e islas vecinas. 

Si bien, el límite actual de América del Sur con América Central se ubica en una línea imaginaria en la selva del Darién, fue a partir de la construcción del canal de Panamá que se empieza a asociar a este país con América Central en medios anglosajones. Finalmente en 1955, Panamá pasó a formar parte de América Central geográficamente, pero mantiene lazos históricos y culturales con América del Sur.
Esta región subcontinental ubicada en su mayoría en el hemisferio sur, limita al norte con el mar Caribe, al este y al sur con el océano Atlántico y al oeste con el océano Pacífico. Se extiende desde el límite entre Panamá y Colombia hasta el cabo de Hornos (Chile).

Historia

Época precolombina 

El Complejo Arqueológico Ingapirca ubicado en el sur andino del Ecuador, específicamente en la provincia de Cañar, es un complejo arqueológico de origen inca. Se encuentra localizado a 3160 , a una distancia de 42km de Azogues, capital de la provincia de Cañar y a 90km al norte de la ciudad de Cuenca. Ingapirca es el lugar sagrado de la ocupación inca en el Ecuador. Es considerado como el sitio arqueológico precolombino más importante del país y el conjunto arquitectónico inca mejor conservado del Ecuador es una palabra kichwa que significa “muro o pared del Inca”. Esta construcción es una magnífica muestra de lo que fue la cultura cañari-inca. Tiene una extensión de cuatro hectáreas y fue un importante centro religioso, político, científico, militar y administrativo durante la conquista inca.

Los asentamientos posteriores en Tiahuanaco, construido en las riberas del lago Titicaca, y San Agustín, en Colombia, se han convertido en grandes misterios de la arqueología.

La reiteración de sitios arqueológicos de gran antigüedad en América del Sur y la escasa cantidad de los mismos en el norte del subcontinente, sumado a las diferencias de consideración en genes y fenotipos entre los paleoindios suramericanos y norteamericanos, ha causado la adhesión de algunos investigadores a la hipótesis de un poblamiento autónomo de América del Sur, no proveniente del norte.

Esta hipótesis se relaciona con la teoría del ingreso por la Antártida desde Oceanía, y parecen confirmarla los hallazgos de asentamientos de tribus costeras de unos 14800 años de antigüedad en Monte Verde, Chile.

Durante su migración y especialmente después del descubrimiento de la agricultura, los antiguos pobladores americanos fueron estableciéndose en las áreas y sectores que consideraban más propicias para su desarrollo y modos de vida. En Ayacucho, Perú, ya se domesticaban llamas 5000 años antes de Cristo. En los siglos posteriores, también se desarrollaron en diferentes regiones del subcontinente, áreas para la siembra de arracacha, batata, calabaza, piña, frijoles, papa, casabe, quinua, yuca, y ñame, que son originarios de América del Sur. 

En situación de aislamiento durante milenios con respecto a las sociedades del Viejo Mundo, los pueblos suramericanos conformaron culturas autónomas originales hasta el punto de producir dos revoluciones neolíticas separadas, en los Andes que dieron origen a cientos de civilizaciones agrocerámicas, varias de las cuales consideraban a la olla de barro un símbolo de gran valor espiritual ya que representaba el universo de los dioses, el lugar de los entierros, el depósito para fermentar la chicha y el utensilio para preparar alimentos.

En los Andes de Colombia y en la costa del Ecuador, se han encontrado las primeras cerámicas de América, realizadas entre los años 3600 y 3000a.C. La metalurgia sudamericana precolombina tuvo un desarrollo considerable. Los chibchas en Colombia alcanzaron métodos de fundición, soldadura oxiacetilénica, laminación, filigrana, cera fundida y vaciado simple. La orfebrería de la región se encuentra al origen del mito de El Dorado.

La Cultura Chinchorro, ubicada en la costa norte de Chile (Atacama) y sur de Perú, desarrolló técnicas de momificación casi 2 mil años antes que los egipcios, y sus momias son consideradas las más antiguas del mundo.

Hacia el , la influencia inca llegó a articular los actuales territorios del Perú, Bolivia y Ecuador, además del norte de Chile, el norte, noroeste y oeste de Argentina, y la zona sur de Colombia. Desde Cuzco, el Imperio Inca consolidó un estado que logró sintetizar y difundir los múltiples conocimientos artísticos, científicos y tecnológicos de sus antecesores. Dichos conocimientos, sin embargo no incluían la escritura, ya que esta era desconocida en América del Sur antes de la llegada de los europeos. Actualmente, algunas costumbres y tradiciones de la desaparecida civilización inca prevalecen en etnias andinas como los quechuas y aimaras. El territorio de Brasil ha estado habitado desde hace al menos 8000 años.

Culturas indígenas más importantes previas al contacto europeo 
 Civilización Caral, también conocida como Caral-Supe o Norte Chico, fue una antigua civilización del Perú, una compleja sociedad preincaica que incluye cerca de treinta grandes asentamientos humanos. Ĥ3200a.C.-1600a.C.
 Cultura Vicus es una cultura arqueológica del Antiguo Perú que se desarrolló en entre los años 500a.C. y 500d.C. en la zona costera norte del Perú, en el curso inferior del río Piura, a 7km del distrito de Chulucanas, en la provincia de Morropón, departamento de Piura.
 Tiahuanaco fue el centro de la civilización tiahuanacota, una cultura preincaica que basaba su economía en la agricultura y la ganadería, y que abarcó centralmente los territorios de la meseta del Collao (entre el occidente de Bolivia y el sur del Perú) en los Andes, expandiéndose hacia la costa (sur del Perú y norte de Chile) y hasta el norte de Argentina y que irradió su influencia tecnológica y religiosa hacia otras civilizaciones contemporáneas a ella.
 Imperio Inca, Imperio incaico o Tahuantinsuyo fue un estado precolombino situado en América del Sur. Floreció en la zona andina del subcontinente entre los siglos XV y XVI, como consecuencia del apogeo de la civilización incaica.
 Muiscas, la confederación muisca fue la unidad política de los cacicazgos muiscas, como el cacicazgo de Zipaquirá, liderados por el zipa de Bacatá, el zaque de Hunza, el iraca de Sugamuxi y el tundama de Duitama. Subsistió hasta 1541, fecha en que se consolidó la conquista española en el centro de Colombia.
 Cultura Chimú, o Chimor es una cultura del Antiguo Perú surgida en la costa norte tras el decaimiento del Imperio wari entre los años 1000 y 1200d.C. Ocuparon los territorios que antes habitaron los mochicas, llegando a expandir sus dominios, en su etapa de mayor desarrollo, por toda una extensa franja del norte del Perú, desde Tumbes hasta el valle de Huarmey.
 Cultura Chavín fue una de las grandes civilizaciones americanas que se desarrolló entre los ríos Mosna y Huachecsa, en la provincia de Huari, departamento de Áncash en el Perú. Se desarrolló entre 1200a.C.-200a.C.
 Guaraníes o avá (hombre) fue un pueblo nativo sudamericano, originario de la región amazónica; los mismos se establecieron en distintas regiones del continente, especialmente en lo que hoy es Paraguay, Argentina, el sur de Brasil, el sureste de Bolivia y el noreste de Uruguay. Previo al contacto europeo., eran conocidos por su cultura de cazadores, recolectores, cultivadores y pescadores.
 Cultura Nazca es una cultura arqueológica del Antiguo Perú que surgió en la provincia de Nazca (departamento de Ica) alrededor del  y entra en decadencia en el .
 Cultura Paracas, o cultura de Paracas es una cultura arqueológica del Antiguo Perú originada a finales del periodo formativo superior, alrededor del 500a.C. alrededor de la península de Paracas. La península en cuestión se sitúa entre los ríos Ica y Pisco en el actual departamento de Ica. Desde aquel punto de partida, los paracas lograron dominar aproximadamente desde el río Cañete, al norte hasta Yauca, al sur, teniendo como centro a la ciudad de Ica.
 Cultura Mochica, también llamada Moche, es una cultura arqueológica del Antiguo Perú que se desarrolló entre el 100a.C. y el 800d.C. en el valle Moche teniendo como capital al territorio que actualmente se denomina Huacas del Sol y de la Luna en la región La Libertad, esta cultura se extendió hacia los valles de la costa norte del actual Perú.
 Charrúas fueron un conjunto de pueblos amerindios que habitaban en los territorios del actual Uruguay, y también en el Estado brasileño de Río Grande del Sur. Las lenguas charrúas son un grupo lingüístico único y separado de otras lenguas indígenas. Con los únicos grupos lingüísticos que tiene algunas características similares es con las lenguas del Chaco y con las lenguas macro-yê del Brasil.
 La Cultura mollo fue una civilización preincaica que habitó la zona occidental de la cordillera Real en el actual departamento de La Paz en Bolivia. Esta civilización apareció aproximadamente en el año 700d.C. y se extiende hasta el 1300 o 1400d.C. Su decaimiento se confunde con el arribo de los Incas a la zona, por lo cual se cree que estos absorbieron a los mollo aprendiendo algunas técnicas constructivas de ellos.
 El Pueblo kali'na son una etnia amerindia del norte de Sudamérica, se dividen en diferentes tribus o grupos independientes que comparte la lengua y ciertas tradiciones. Se ubican específicamente las Guyanas, Venezuela y Brasil

Era colonial 

El Imperio español y el Imperio portugués fueron los primeros en realizar la conquista, y se asentaron principalmente en el sur de Norteamérica, Centroamérica y en el área andina de Sudamérica (imperios azteca, maya e inca, respectivamente). España fue la potencia que mayor presencia colonial impuso en América. En el Caribe, dominó sobre todo Cuba, La Española, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, incluyendo a la península de Florida dentro de sus posesiones caribeñas. Desde los asentamientos antillanos, tomó posesión por la fuerza de los grandes estados existentes en América en ese momento: en América del Norte llegó a apropiarse del Imperio azteca, en el actual México, estableciéndose en sus ciudades, además de dominar a tlaxcaltecas, tarascos, mixtecas y zapotecas. A partir de ahí controló una gran parte de América Central, dominando a las poblaciones de lengua maya, a los pipiles, los niquiranos y los pueblos de habla guaimí de Veragua (Panamá). 

Desde Panamá se emprendió la conquista de la zona andina de América del Sur hasta la zona central de la actual Chile, controlada por el Imperio incaico en el actual Perú. Al mismo tiempo, en busca de la Sierra de la Plata y las tierras del Rey Blanco, se fundaron ciudades en el estuario del Plata y sobre las márgenes de los ríos Paraná y Paraguay, siendo la más importante de ellas; Asunción.

El Tratado de Tordesillas suscrito en 1494 entre los reyes de Castilla y Aragón, y Juan II rey de Portugal, estableció un reparto de las zonas de anexión del Nuevo Mundo. La parte oriental de América del Sur, el extremo este de Brasil, quedaba adscrito al área de acción de Portugal, lo que posibilitó el sometimiento a su soberanía cuando en 1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral arribó a costas brasileras.

El 5 de agosto de 1498 se verificó el primer desembarco europeo en América del Sur. A partir del 13 de agosto, Cristóbal Colón navegó por la costa oriental de la actual Venezuela hasta la península de Paria, Isla de Margarita y Cubagua antes de regresar a La Española. En la isla de Cubagua se fundó el primer asentamiento europeo en Sudamérica: Nueva Cádiz (1500). Mientras que en Cumaná (actual Venezuela) se fundó el primer asentamiento en tierra firme (1515).

El conquistador español Francisco Pizarro llegó a Cajamarca en 1532, tomando prisionero al monarca inca, Atahualpa. Posteriormente dio orden de ejecutarlo y se alió con la nobleza del Cuzco, lo cual le permitió completar la conquista del Imperio incaico.

Portugal se apropió de la mayor parte de la franja costera atlántica de la parte norte de América del Sur, que más tarde originaría el Estado de Brasil.

Inglaterra estableció trece colonias en la franja costera atlántica norteamericana, además de en algunas islas caribeñas.

Francia ocupó la actual Guayana Francesa en Sudamérica (aún bajo su dominio), Luisiana en el Golfo de México (desde los Grandes Lagos), algunas islas del Caribe, y la región canadiense de Quebec.

Países Bajos estableció colonias en Norteamérica (Nueva Ámsterdam que luego sería Nueva York), norte de América del Sur (Guyana neerlandesa hoy Surinam) y algunos asentamientos en islas caribeñas (Antillas Neerlandesas y Aruba).

Emancipación 

A lo largo de 1808, las presiones del Emperador Francés Napoleón I desencadenaron una serie de acontecimientos que empeoraron aún más la ya comprometida situación española. El rey Carlos IV de España abdicó el trono a favor de su hijo Fernando VII el 19 de marzo de 1808 después de los sucesos del Motín de Aranjuez, y más tarde, el 5 de mayo de 1808 se terminó de consumar el desastre para España cuando CarlosIV y su hijo fueron obligados a ceder el trono a Napoleón para designar a su hermano, José I, como nuevo Rey de España. Esto provocó una reacción popular en España que desencadenó lo que hoy se conoce como la Guerra de la Independencia Española y tanto en América como en España, se formaron juntas regionales que fomentaron la lucha contra los invasores franceses para restablecer en el trono al monarca legítimo. 

Sin embargo, en las juntas americanas solo se hablaba con entusiasmo de la Junta popular de Cádiz y muchas de ellas eran vistas con recelo por las autoridades españolas, que las suponían sospechosas de ser favorables a los franceses y que no se habían olvidado de acciones como la de Antonio Nariño en Bogotá, que había publicado la Declaración de los Derechos del Hombre y del Ciudadano, el movimiento de Juan Picornell, la Conspiración de Manuel Gual y José María España, o de las fracasadas expediciones militares de Francisco de Miranda en Venezuela.

El proceso de las Guerras de Independencia Hispanoamericanas se inició con la Revolución de Chuquisaca (actual Sucre) el 25 de mayo de 1809 en el Alto Perú y culminó con la ocupación de las fortalezas del Callao en 1826. En el año 1817, el general libertador José de San Martín realiza el Cruce de los Andes y, en conjunto con el ejército de Bernardo O'Higgins, derrota a los realistas en Chile. 

Finalmente se dirige a Lima con el fin de impactar en el centro del poder español.
La altura promedio de 3000 (metros sobre el nivel del mar) y los picos de  provocaron el mal de montaña en el ejército. El camino promediaba los 30cm de ancho y era irregular. La temperatura descendía entre −15 y −20°C (grados centígrados) durante la noche. De los 5400 hombres que componían el ejército, 300 murieron en el camino. Solo llegaron 5000 mulas de las 9200 que partieron y 500 caballos de los 1500 iniciales. Al mismo tiempo, San Martín dirigía las 6 columnas que cruzaban la cordillera por distintos puntos, con el objetivo de confundir y dispersar las fuerzas realistas que los esperaban para enfrentarlos. Al arribar a Chile, el ejército patriota al mando de San Martín, logra un triunfo clave en la batalla de Chacabuco.
La historia de la emancipación suramericana comenzaba a escribirse. Luego, se complementaría con las acciones militares iniciadas por el libertador Simón Bolívar al norte del subcontinente, dando su primer gran golpe en la Batalla de Boyacá, donde consigue una decisiva victoria patriota.

Período poscolonial 

Un hecho crucial para el surgimiento del Brasil como Estado nación fue el traslado, a raíz de las Guerras Napoleónicas, de la capital portuguesa desde Lisboa a Río de Janeiro implicándose con ello la asignación de la categoría de reino al Brasil, un reino dentro del Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil y Algarve (1807–1821), al disolverse pacíficamente tal reino surgió el Imperio de Brasil. La independencia fue proclamada en 1822 por el hijo del rey de Portugal. Pedro I estableció una monarquía constitucional que reino hasta la Proclamación de la República en 1889.

Tras su independencia, América del Sur sufrió en algunos de sus países diversos tipos de dictaduras y hombres fuertes. Sin embargo a finales del  la mayor parte del subcontinente logró hacerse de gobernantes elegidos democráticamente, aunque no en todas las circunstancias se han establecido instituciones duraderas. 

El desarrollo económico de Argentina y Uruguay desde principios de siglo haría de que se transformasen en la meca de la inmigración, sobre todo desde Europa y Asia. Durante la Primera y Segunda Guerra Mundial, el subcontinente se mantuvo a salvo de la ola destructiva que arrasó Europa, Asia y África y se volvió una vez más receptor natural de miles de refugiados. No obstante entre 1941 y 1942 se desarrolló la Guerra peruano-ecuatoriana.

En la década de 1960 se inició una serie de regímenes dictatoriales favorecidos por las aristocracias locales con apoyo de los Estados Unidos —mediante la doctrina de seguridad nacional— con el objetivo de neutralizar a gobiernos de tendencia socialista en diversos países de América del Sur: Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile y Bolivia.

Desde 1999, excepto Colombia, varios países de América del Sur han elegido gobiernos de centroizquierda como Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay y recientemente Perú, o de izquierda como Bolivia, Ecuador y Venezuela, aunque la mayoría de estos gobiernos abrazan el libre mercado. Sin embargo, a partir de 2015 esta tendencia comenzó a modificarse con la elección de un gobierno de centroderecha en Argentina y la derrota del partido oficialista de izquierda en Venezuela en las elecciones legislativas de ese país.

En 2008 se da la creación de la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (Unasur) y el Banco del Sur que busca políticas de integración económica, políticas y culturales entre los países miembros, también busca defender las democracias de la región de los golpes de estado. Un ejemplo de esto es la reacción de países sudamericanos y especialmente del Unasur en la Crisis política en Ecuador de 2010, o en la crisis política en Bolivia de 2008.

En cuanto al orden público, el conflicto armado en Colombia ha llevado a que otros estados del subcontinente se impliquen en el desarrollo del mismo. El llamado Acuerdo humanitario ha contado con la participación activa de varios gobiernos suramericanos, en especial la participación de la administración de Hugo Chávez. La situación dio lugar a la Crisis diplomática de Colombia con Ecuador y Venezuela de 2008 que finalizó en la XX Reunión Cumbre del Grupo de Río, en 2010 se produjo una nueva crisis diplomática entre Colombia y Venezuela que finalizaría con la mediación del Unasur.

Geografía 
 

El territorio de América del Sur tiene una superficie de 18200000km². Sus costas tienen una longitud de unos 39910km (unos 25870km las de la masa continental).

Geología y relieve 
Topográficamente, América del Sur se divide en tres secciones: la cordillera, las tierras bajas del interior, y el escudo continental. La cordillera de los Andes destaca por ser la cadena montañosa más larga y joven del mundo, así como la más alta después de los Himalayas. Naciendo en las profundidades oceánicas, se yergue desde el sudeste del archipiélago de Tierra del Fuego, siguiendo un trazo paralelo a la costa del Pacífico, para diversificarse en el norte, abriéndose en dos brazos, uno hacia el istmo de Panamá y otro bordeando la costa caribeña. 

El origen de la cordillera es el resultado de la subducción de la placa de Nazca bajo la placa suramericana a una velocidad cercana a los 9cm/año. Pasa por Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador, Colombia y Venezuela. Varios de sus picos más altos superan los 6000 (metros sobre el nivel del mar), como el Aconcagua (), el Nevado Ojos del Salado (), el Nevado Huascarán (), el Nevado Sajama () o el Volcán Chimborazo ().

No obstante, en Colombia, el otro extremo del subcontinente, aún es posible registrar alturas mayores a los  en la Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, o en el Nevado del Ruiz. A lo largo de su recorrido, se ramifica en diversos ramales o cordilleras que encierran valles como la Depresión intermedia y el Valle del Cauca, en Colombia, y altiplanos como el Altiplano andino, una meseta de aproximadamente  que cubre una región seca entre el noroeste argentino, Bolivia, Perú y Chile.

Los países ubicados en el llamado "Cinturón de Fuego del Pacífico" presentan uno de los mayores niveles de sismicidad y vulcanismo del mundo, fenómenos relacionados entre sí, y efectos secundarios de la subducción de la Placa de Nazca bajo la placa Continental. Chile tiene la mayor cadena de volcanes del mundo después de Indonesia, con unos 2000volcanes identificados, 500potencialmente activos, y varias erupciones recientes.

Las tierras bajas se suelen clasificar en tres sistemas: los llanos del Orinoco, la llanura del Amazonas y la llanura Chacopampeana o del Plata, formadas por la sedimentación producida por los ríos que las atraviesan y el depósito de partículas producidas por la erosión eólica. Se encuentran además, pequeñas llanuras costeras a lo largo del océano Pacífico en Colombia, Ecuador y Perú y sobre el Atlántico en Guyana, Surinam, Guayana Francesa y Brasil. La mayor depresión del subcontinente se encuentra a 105m bajo el nivel del mar en la Laguna del Carbón, Argentina.

El escudo continental se separa en tres secciones desiguales: el Macizo de Brasilia, el Macizo Guayanés, y el Macizo Patagónico, los dos primeros entre los más antiguos del planeta. La dureza de las rocas cristalinas que los conforman les otorga gran estabilidad y es la razón de que no se produzcan terremotos en las enormes regiones que ocupan, así como los puntos de contacto entre estas (las regiones sedimentarias de la Amazonia y la llanura chaco-pampeana). El Macizo de Brasilia ocupa el este, centro y sur de Brasil, gran parte de Uruguay, el este de Paraguay y el noreste de Argentina. El Macizo Guayanés comprende una gran parte de Guyana, Surinam y la Guayana Francesa; el sur de Venezuela, una parte del norte de Brasil y del oriente colombiano. El Macizo Patagónico abarca casi toda la Patagonia argentina y el extremo sur de la parte chilena.

También se encuentran otros sistemas orográficos importantes rejuvenecidos por el plegamiento andino, dispersos entre las regiones llanas del subcontinente, como las sierras Macarena y Chiribiquete en Colombia, la serranía de Santiago en Bolivia, la Sierra del Divisor en Brasil y Perú, y las sierras Pampeanas, Ventania y Tandilia en Argentina.

En el zócalo continental de América del Sur están situadas varias islas, siendo las mayores Tierra del Fuego (Argentina y Chile), Marajó (Brasil), la Isla Grande de Chiloé (Chile), las islas Malvinas (Territorio Británico de Ultramar), Trinidad (Trinidad y Tobago), Puná (Ecuador) e isla Margarita (Venezuela). El sur del subcontinente muestra su característica de exglaciar con los numerosos fiordos e islas en el sur de Chile. Hay algunos grupos de islas fuera del zócalo continental, pero próximas a las costas sudamericanas: las Islas Galápagos (Ecuador), la Isla de Pascua (Chile), Isla de Aves (Venezuela), Isla Sala y Gómez (Chile), Malpelo, Gorgona (Colombia), y los archipiélagos de las Georgias del Sur y las Sándwich del Sur (en disputa entre Argentina y el Reino Unido, siendo actualmente un Territorio Británico de Ultramar. Ver nota 16).

Clima 

América del Sur alberga una gran variedad de climas: la humedad cálida de la Selva Amazónica, el frío seco de la Patagonia, la aridez del Desierto de Atacama, los vientos helados de la isla de Tierra del Fuego. La explicación reside en:
 La amplitud de latitudes que ocupa el subcontinente. La mayor parte del subcontinente se encuentra dentro de las zonas tropicales, el Ecuador terrestre lo atraviesa por la parte norte, el trópico de Capricornio pasa cerca de su latitud media. Por debajo de este predomina el clima templado en Uruguay, el centro de Argentina, el sur de Brasil y en el sur de Chile, y el clima mediterráneo en el centro de Chile. Finalmente en la Patagonia se encuentran climas fríos (húmedo en la zona cordillerana y la zona occidental, y seco en la zona oriental). El extremo sur penetra en la zona subantártica.
 La diferencia de temperaturas entre los océanos colindantes. Generalmente el lado atlántico es más cálido y el pacífico es más frío por la presencia de la corriente de Humboldt, procedente del antártico.
 La presencia de los Andes, que presenta grandes diferencias térmicas según la altitud (cuenta con hielos eternos incluso en la zona ecuatorial), y que actúa como biombo climático.

En la región occidental, entre los Andes y el océano Pacífico, se encuentran las zonas más húmedas del planeta: El Chocó (Colombia, Ecuador, Perú, Panamá), también las más secas del globo, en el Desierto de Atacama (Chile), que en algunas áreas no tiene registros de precipitaciones desde hace más de 100 años.

Hidrografía 
El 26% del agua dulce de la Tierra se encuentra en América del Sur, donde destacan por su enorme extensión las cuencas de los ríos Amazonas (la mayor del planeta), Orinoco y Paraná. Debido a la presencia paralela al océano Pacífico de la cordillera de los Andes, los ríos de mayor cauce y cuenca son aquellos que vierten sus aguas en el océano Atlántico.

Por su estructura geológica, presenta dos grandes tipos de ríos:
 Los que desembocan en el océano Atlántico, que son largos, caudalosos y torrenciales.
 Los que desembocan en el océano Pacífico. que son cortos y torrenciales, debido a que en su recorrido desde la cordillera de los Andes hasta el océano deben salvar un gran desnivel.

Interesante resulta la semejanza entre los ríos que desembocan en el océano Pacífico y los que lo hacen en el mar Caribe, por sus caudales y torrentes.

También se destaca el acuífero Guaraní, como el más grande del mundo, capaz de abastecer a la población mundial por 200 años. Este es compartido por Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay y Uruguay.

En los Andes patagónicos se encuentra el campo de hielo patagónico norte y el campo de hielo patagónico sur; este último es la tercera mayor extensión glaciar en el mundo después de la Antártida y Groenlandia.

El lago de Maracaibo en Venezuela es el más grande del subcontinente con 13000km².

Vegetación 
Las plantas crecen con profusión en el terreno fértil. América del Sur es el hogar del espinoso pino araucano, el árbol del caucho y la patata. Otras muchas plantas domésticas comunes son de origen sudamericano.

América del Sur abarca gran variedad de regiones biogeográficas, la mayor extensión de selvas y bosques lluviosos del mundo, debido a que dos terceras partes de su superficie se hallan entre los trópicos. Alcanza su máxima anchura cerca del ecuador, donde reina la Selva amazónica o Amazonia en los territorios de Ecuador, Bolivia, Perú, Colombia, Venezuela, Brasil y Guyana.

En los pantanos litorales de las regiones de baja latitud crecen mangles. En las llanuras del Amazonas, situada en las cercanías del Ecuador, el calor intenso y las lluvias copiosas dan lugar a la selva, o bosque húmedo tropical. Las selvas del Amazonas son las más extensas del mundo.

Las sabanas se presentan en el Mato Grosso, los Llanos de Colombia y Venezuela. El desierto casi absoluto, el más árido del mundo se presenta en Atacama, costa del Pacífico entre los 21 y 27 grados de latitud.

Sobre la cordillera de los Andes la vegetación va variando según la altitud y la latitud, predominando la vegetación de páramo sobre los 3000 (metros sobre el nivel del mar) en las bajas latitudes, como en el altiplano. A partir del paralelo 35 aproximadamente la ladera occidental está cubierta de bosques templados. Al sur del paralelo 38 ambas laderas presentan tupidos bosques templados y subantárticos.

La zona templada incluye las pampas, donde predominan las gramíneas; matorrales y bosque esclerófilo en el centro norte de Chile, a partir del centro sur de Chile predominan los bosques templados.

Fauna 
América del Sur posee la fauna y flora más variadas del mundo. Únicamente en la cuenca del Amazonas, hay más de 44 000 clases de plantas diferentes, 2500 tipos de peces fluviales y 1500 especies de aves. En la selva tropical hay grandes arañas comedoras de aves y mamíferos como los armadillos, jaguares y perezosos.

En los ríos hay manatíes, delfines de agua dulce, siluros gigantes y anguilas. Quedan aún por identificar y estudiar muchos de los miles de insectos forestales existentes.
Los Andes son el hogar de la alpaca y la vicuña, parientes lejanos del camello. Su lana es muy preciada, al igual que la de la chinchilla de montaña, un animal parecido al conejo. El ñandú, vive en la pradera de las pampas. En las regiones más frías del extremo sur hay pingüinos y focas. Frente a la costa del Ecuador, las islas Galápagos cuentan con formas de vida espectaculares como la famosa tortuga gigante. En otras regiones hay animales únicos, como el lagarto azul de gorgona, un reptil con una coloración azul, la rana dorada venenosa, el vertebrado más venenoso, y el pudu, un venado de tamaño pequeño, entre otros.

En la actualidad muchos hábitats y especies están amenazados en América del Sur. A medida que se aclaran los bosques tropicales para crear minas, carreteras y tierras de cultivo, desaparecen los hábitats naturales de muchos animales, haciendo imposible su supervivencia. Se están perdiendo plantas de valor incalculable, ya que los científicos apenas han comenzado a descubrir las sustancias medicinales que contienen.

Geografía política

Economía

Diversidad económica 

En la actualidad, podemos reconocer 3 tipos de sistemas económicos en América del Sur, que si bien pueden compartir aspectos similares y generales, sus economías siguen una línea predeterminada, en esto reconocemos los netamente capitalistas, economías abiertas, los cuales se basan en el modelo del libre mercado, países como Chile, Colombia, y en menor medida Perú, que han adoptado los modelos económicos de Estados Unidos, aunque con un grado menor de economía mixta, sin ser claramente distinguible.

Por otro lado existen los países que si bien, sostienen una estructura de apertura al mundo, mantienen modelos más orientados a la Economía social de mercado o de economías mixtas en diferentes magnitudes, el caso de Argentina, Uruguay, Brasil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay que ejercen un control y normativa con el fin de regular el libre mercado, finalmente existen aquellos países que sostienen economías semi-cerradas con un espectro más radicalizado que los anteriores, o con muy poca relación de libre mercado, manteniendo relaciones económicas con países exclusivos de sus bloques, países como Venezuela que a pesar de sostener modelos económicos semi-cerrados, mantienen relaciones comerciales con las potencias del capitalismo Estados Unidos y Europa.

Principales industrias 

El Banco Mundial hace anualmente una lista de los principales países fabricantes por el valor total de la fabricación. Según la lista de 2019, Brasil tiene la decimotercera industria más valiosa del mundo (U $ 173.6 mil millones), Venezuela la trigésima más grande (U $ 58.200 millones, sin embargo, que dependen del petróleo para obtener este valor), Argentina el 31 más grande (U $ 57,7 mil millones), Colombia el 46 más grande (U $ 35,4 mil millones), Perú el 50 más grande (U $ 28,7 mil millones) y Chile el 51 más grande (U $ 28,3 mil millones).
Las características generales de la composición industrial y productiva de las economías exportadoras de América del Sur son la extracción de recursos naturales, mayoritariamente las industrias mineras y petrolíferas, manufactura y agrícola.

Los países en donde la industria agrícola es el principal rubro son Brasil (20%) siendo el mayor productor mundial de caña de azúcar, soja, naranja, café, guaraná, açaí y castaña de pará, Argentina (27%) siendo uno de los 5 mayores productores mundiales de yerba mate, soja, maíz, limones, pera y semilla de girasol, y Paraguay (55%), mientras que en Uruguay es el ganadero con un (19%) seguido del agrícola con (16%); con respecto a la industria petrolífera, esta es la principal en Venezuela con (63%) de sus exportaciones, Ecuador (46%), Colombia (40%) y Bolivia con su exportación de gas y de petróleo con un (37%), los países en donde la industria minera es la principal son Chile (51%) siendo el mayor productor mundial de cobre, litio y yodo, y Perú (58%) siendo el segundo productor mundial de plata.

En términos de exportaciones, al año de 2019 las mayores economías son Brasil con USD 217000 millones, Chile con USD69000 millones, Argentina con USD58000 millones y Perú con USD45000 millones. En importaciones, las economías con mayores movimientos son Brasil con USD 153000 millones, Argentina con USD 64000 millones, Chile con USD 61000 millones y Colombia con USD 44000 millones en 2019.

Reseñas

Brasil 

Brasil es el mayor productor mundial de caña de azúcar, soja, café, naranja, guaraná, açaí y nuez de Brasil; es uno de los 5 mayores productores de maíz, papaya, tabaco, piña, banana, algodón, frijoles, coco, sandía y limón; y es uno de los 10 productores más grandes del mundo de cacao, anacardo, aguacate, caqui, mango, guayaba, arroz, sorgo y tomate. En la producción de proteínas animales, Brasil es el mayor exportador mundial de carne de pollo. También es el segundo mayor productor de carne vacuna, el tercer mayor productor mundial de leche, el cuarto mayor productor mundial de carne de cerdo y el séptimo mayor productor de huevo del mundo.

Brasil es el segundo exportador mundial de mineral de hierro y uno de los 5 mayores productores del mundo de bauxita, manganeso y estaño, además de poseer el 98% de las reservas mundiales de niobio, además de tener la más grande producción de etanol. Las exportaciones brasileñas (201.9 millones de dólares) se encuentran entre las veinte más grandes del mundo. Es el mayor productor de café mundial y el primer productor de equipos militares, televisores, semiconductores, celulares, computadoras, automóviles y aviones en Sudamérica. Brasil es el segundo exportador mundial de alimentos procesados; el 2.º productor de celulosa del mundo y el 8.º productor de papel; el cuarto mayor productor de zapatos; el octavo productor de vehículos y el noveno productor de acero del mundo; y tiene la octava industria química más grande del mundo, además de tener la quinta industria textil más grande del mundo. En la industria de la aviación, Brasil tiene a Embraer, el tercer mayor fabricante de aviones del mundo, solo por detrás de Boeing y Airbus. La Bovespa en São Paulo es la décima segunda mayor bolsa de valores (en valores de mercado) del mundo.

Economía

Argentina 

Argentina es uno de los países con la industria ganadera y agrícola más grandes, es la economía 20 del mundo. Es el primer productor mundial de yerba mate, es uno de los 5 mayores productores del mundo de soja, maíz, limones, pera y semilla de girasol, uno de los 10 mayores productores del mundo de uva, cebada, alcachofa, tabaco y algodón, y uno de los 15 mayores productores del mundo de trigo, cana de azúcar, sorgo y pomelo. También es el tercer productor más grande de miel en el mundo y el cuarto productor más grande de carne vacuna; el más grande productor de trigo y lana en Latinoamérica, entre otros cultivos.. Es el mayor productor de vino en América Latina con 6% de la producción mundial, quinto en el mundo, y el principal productor de biodiésel a nivel global. La producción de gas natural y petróleo son importantes también aunque no principales. El Yacimiento Aguilar, en la provincia de Jujuy, es la mayor concentración de minerales de plomo y cinc de Sudamérica, y el Bajo de la Alumbrera en la provincia de Catamarca, es uno de los yacimientos para la extracción más grandes de oro y cobre en América Latina, siendo la Argentina el decimotercer mayor productor de oro del mundo. Posee la tercera reserva de gas más grande del planeta. Argentina es el más importante productor de software de la región y ocupa el segundo puesto en Sudamérica en cuanto a fabricación de autopartes, después de Brasil, siendo además el vigésimo mayor fabricante de automóviles en el mundo.

El Banco Mundial hace anualmente una lista de los principales países fabricantes por el valor total de la fabricación. Según la lista de 2019, Argentina tendría la 31.ª industria más valiosa del mundo (U $ 57,7 mil millones). En la lista de destinos turísticos mundiales, en 2018, Argentina fue el 47.º país más visitado del mundo, con 6,9 millones de turistas internacionales (y ingresos de U $ 5.5 mil millones).

Chile 

Chile es el país con los ingresos más altos de América Latina, con 27059 PIB por cápita PPA y 16277 PIB per cápita nominal. El Banco Mundial integró a Chile y Uruguay a la categoría de países de ingresos altos, siendo los únicos países de América Latina en obtener ese estatus. Chile, al año 2022 es la cuarta economía de Sudamérica, con un PIB Nominal de US$352.664 millones

Chile es miembro de la OCDE, grupo que solo integran Canadá, Estados Unidos y México en el continente americano. También pertenece al Acuerdo Estratégico Trans-Pacífico de Asociación Económica y a la APEC.

Además, la economía de Chile lidera y ostenta índices destacables en cuanto a competitividad, Libertad económica, Crecimiento Económico , además de gozar con la clasificación de la deuda externa más favorable del subcontinente, mientras que en cuanto a inversión extranjera, Chile acapara casi el 75% de las inversiones en el Cono Sur y 28% en toda Latinoamérica con 30323 millones el 2012, mientras que en términos de inversión hacia el exterior de empresas nacionales, este acapara casi el 50% con 21090 millones el 2012 en América Latina, transformándose como una de las economías más dinámicas y desarrolladas del subcontinente.

Chile es el mayor productor mundial de cobre, litio y yodo, y cuenta con el 38% de las reservas mundiales de cobre. La empresa estatal Codelco explota, entre otros, los yacimientos de Chuquicamata y El Teniente, la mina a cielo abierto y la mina de cobre subterránea más grandes del mundo, respectivamente. Además, Chile posee el 39% de las reservas de litio en Sudamérica, seguido por la Argentina con 32%, y Bolivia con 28%. En 2010, el 42% de la producción mundial de este mineral se concentraba en Chile y el 17%, en Argentina.
Además de explotar sus propios recursos domésticos, Chile participa en numerosos proyectos mineros extranjeros, ya sea como inversionista o como proveedor de ingeniería y servicios, en países como Australia, Pakistán y Perú, entre otros. Desde mayo de 2010, Chile pasó a integrar la OCDE. Chile posee el primer mayor índice de desarrollo humano de Latinoamérica, adelante de Argentina.

Además de la industria minera, Chile también es el 9.º mayor productor mundial de uva, acaparando el 21,7% de los envíos globales, y en 2012 se encontraba entre los principales exportadores de arándanos frescos, ciruelasy manzanas deshidratadas, salmón, truchas y carbonato de litio. Chile es uno de los 5 mayores productores mundiales de cereza dulce y arándano y uno de los 10 mayores productores mundiales de uva, manzana, kiwi, melocotón, ciruela y avellana europea, con su agricultura enfocada a la exportación de frutas de alto valor.

Colombia 

Colombia, al año 2022, es la tercera mayor economía sudamericana, después de Brasil y Argentina y se encuentra entre las primeras 42 del mundo.

Por contar con una población joven, una economía dinámica y pólizas que salvaguardan la economía, Colombia fue incluida en los CIVETS, un grupo de países que son considerados como los “nuevos BRICS”. Aparte de ser miembro de los CIVETS, Colombia también forma parte de la Alianza del Pacífico, la Organización Mundial del Comercio y la Comunidad Andina de Naciones, y a partir del 2018 se integró como el tercer miembro de Latinoamérica en la OCDE, tras ser formalmente invitada por esta organización.

Colombia es uno de los 5 mayores productores del mundo de café, aguacate y aceite de palma, y uno de los 10 mayores productores del mundo de caña de azúcar, banana, piña y cacao. Además, es el segundo mayor productor de flores. En la producción de carne vacuna y carne de pollo, Colombia se encuentra entre los 20 mayores productores del mundo. En la producción de petróleo, Colombia fue el 22.º productor de petróleo más grande del mundo en 2019, con 886 mil barriles / día. En la producción de gas natural, en 2018, Colombia produjo 379 bcf (miles de millones de pies cúbicos). El Banco Mundial hace anualmente una lista de los principales países fabricantes por el valor total de la fabricación. Según la lista de 2019, Colombia tendría la 46.º industria más valiosa del mundo (U $ 35,4 mil millones). En la lista de destinos turísticos mundiales, en 2018, Colombia fue el 65.º país más visitado del mundo, con 3.8 millones de turistas internacionales (y ingresos de U $ 5.5 mil millones).

Algunas compañías destacadas de Colombia son Grupo Nutresa, Quala, Alpina Productos Alimenticios, Harinera del Valle, Colombina, Ecopetrol, Postobón, Cementos Argos; Grupo Sura, Bancolombia, Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia entre otras.

Perú 

Perú es la quinta economía de América del Sur y una de las economías con mayor crecimiento en América con 3,9% al 2018. La economía de Perú ha crecido en los últimos años gracias a su apertura económica, los tratados de libre comercio firmados con países europeos, asiáticos y americanos y el megaproyecto que está en negociación Acuerdo Estratégico Trans-Pacífico de Asociación Económica. Perú es parte de la Comunidad Andina de Naciones y la Alianza del Pacífico.

El Perú se situaba en 2011, en agroindustria, como el primer productor mundial de harina de pescado, segundo productor mundial de espárragos, quinto productor mundial de maíz, cuarto productor mundial de alcachofas, sexto productor mundial de café; en minería como el tercer productor mundial de plata, de cobre y de zinc, cuarto productor mundial de plomo, sexto productor mundial de oro, además de contar con grandes yacimientos de hierro, estaño, manganeso; además de petróleo y gas natural.

Es además, el primer productor mundial de lana de alpaca, y el más importante exportador de prendas textiles de algodón en América Latina y por su riqueza natural es un excelente lugar para el desarrollo de la industria de los polímeros a nivel mundial. El país se encuentra en una etapa de crecimiento económico y se espera a la luz de los acuerdos y tratados firmados en áreas de libre comercio, se constituya como una de las naciones de Sudamérica más atractivas para desarrollar negocios.

En 2018, Perú fue uno de los 5 mayores productores del mundo de aguacate, arándano azul, alcachofa y espárrago, uno de los 10 mayores productores del mundo de café y cacao, uno de los 15 mayores productores del mundo de patata y piña, y también tiene una producción considerable de uva, caña de azúcar, arroz, banano, maíz y mandioca; su agricultura está considerablemente diversificada. En la producción de carne de pollo, Perú se encuentra entre los 20 mayores productores del mundo. En 2018, Perú fue el segundo productor mundial de plata y cobre y el sexto productor de oro (los 3 metales que generan más valor), además de ser el tercer productor mundial de zinc y estaño y el cuarto de plomo. El Banco Mundial hace anualmente una lista de los principales países fabricantes por el valor total de la fabricación. Según la lista de 2019, Perú tendría la 50.º industria más valiosa del mundo (U $ 28,7 mil millones). En la lista de destinos turísticos mundiales, en 2018, Perú fue el 60.º país más visitado del mundo, con 4.4 millones de turistas internacionales (y ingresos de U $ 3.9 mil millones).

Perú también es el cuarto país de Sudamérica con mayor recepción de inversión extranjera directa, con 6769 millones de dólares en el año 2017, superando a países como Chile, Ecuador o Paraguay.

Venezuela 

Venezuela, de acuerdo con el Fondo Monetario Internacional, ha perdido su otrora poderío económico sudamericano, en términos de PIB Nominal, y en el año 2022 es la 91.ª economía a nivel mundial. El país es miembro fundador de la OPEP, tiene una economía basada en la extracción y refinación del petróleo, además de poseer las reservadas probadas de petróleo más grandes del mundo, que se creen superan los 300 mil millones de barriles. Las reservas de hierro de Venezuela son unas de las más importantes en el mundo, con empresas potentes como SIDOR. Venezuela forma parte del Mercosur.

Además Venezuela posee enormes reservas de oro, diamantes y coltán en el denominado Arco Minero del Orinoco sin embargo no son aprovechadas , también posee millones de hectáreas de tierras fértiles de las cuales la mayoría no son explotadas .

Las sanciones de Estados Unidos y la Unión Europea han propiciado que muchos países no negocien con Venezuela. La deficiente política económica ha provocado una hiperinflación que ha debilitado a su moneda nacional, el bolívar.

Otros 
Por otro lado, Venezuela y Ecuador forman parte de la OPEP, gracias a sus abundantes reservas de petróleo.

Ganadería 

Brasil es el mayor exportador mundial de carne de pollo: 3,77 millones de toneladas en 2019. El país es el poseedor del segundo rebaño de ganado más grande del mundo, el 22,2% del rebaño mundial. El país fue el segundo mayor productor de carne de res en 2019, responsable del 15,4% de la producción mundial. También fue el tercer mayor productor de leche del mundo en 2018. Este año, el país produjo 35,1 mil millones de litros. En 2019, Brasil fue el 4.º productor de carne de cerdo del mundo, con casi 4 millones de toneladas.

En 2018, Argentina fue el cuarto productor mundial de carne de vacuno, con una producción de 3 millones de toneladas (solo por detrás de Estados Unidos, Brasil y China). Uruguay también es un importante productor de carne. En 2018, produjo 589 mil toneladas de carne vacuna.

En la producción de carne de pollo, Argentina se encuentra entre los 15 mayores productores del mundo, y Perú y Colombia entre los 20 más grandes. En la producción de carne de res, Colombia es uno de los 20 mayores productores del mundo. En la producción de miel, Argentina se encuentra entre los 5 mayores productores del mundo, y Brasil entre los 15 más grandes. En términos de producción de leche de vaca, Argentina se encuentra entre los 20 mayores productores del mundo.

Minería 

Brasil es el segundo exportador mundial de mineral de hierro, tiene el 98% de las reservas conocidas de niobio en el mundo y es uno de los 5 mayores productores mundiales de bauxita, manganeso y estaño.

En cuanto a las piedras preciosas, Brasil es el mayor productor mundial de amatista, topacio, ágata y uno de los principales productores de turmalina, esmeralda, aguamarina, granate y ópalo. También hay producción de amatista en Uruguay y Bolivia. En la producción de esmeralda, Colombia es el mayor productor mundial. Guyana es un productor considerable de diamante.

Chile fue, en 2019, el mayor productor mundial de cobre, yodo y renio, el segundo mayor productor de litio y molibdeno, el sexto mayor productor de plata, el séptimo mayor productor de sal, el octavo mayor productor de potasa, el decimotercer productor de azufre y el decimotercer productor de mineral de hierro del mundo. En la producción de oro, entre 2006 y 2017, el país produjo cantidades anuales entre 35,9 toneladas en 2017 a 51,3 toneladas en 2013.

Perú fue, en 2019, el segundo productor mundial de cobre, plata y zinc, octavo productor mundial de oro, tercer productor mundial de plomo, el cuarto productor mundial de estaño, el quinto mayor productor de boro y el cuarto mayor productor de molibdeno del mundo.

Bolivia fue, en 2019, el 8.º productor mundial de plata; 4.º productor mundial de boro; 5.º productor mundial de antimonio; 5.º productor mundial de estaño; 6.º productor mundial de tungsteno; 7.º productor mundial de zinc, y el 8.º productor mundial de plomo. En la producción de oro, hasta 2012 el país producía un promedio anual de entre 7 y 10 toneladas por año. Posteriormente, la minería aumentó, alcanzando un pico de producción en 2014 de 25 toneladas. En 2017 el país produjo 24,8 toneladas.

Argentina fue, en 2019, el cuarto productor mundial de litio, el noveno productor mundial de plata, el decimoséptimo productor mundial de oro y el séptimo productor mundial de boro.

Colombia es el mayor productor mundial de esmeralda. En la producción de oro, entre 2006 y 2017, el país produjo 15 toneladas por año hasta 2007, cuando su producción aumentó significativamente, batiendo un récord de 66,1 toneladas extraídas en 2012. En 2017, extrajo 52,2 toneladas. El país se encuentra entre los 25 mayores productores de oro del mundo. En la producción de plata, en 2017 el país extrajo 15,5 toneladas.

Petróleo y gas 
En la producción de petróleo, Brasil fue el décimo productor de petróleo más grande del mundo en 2019, con 2.8 millones de barriles / día. Venezuela fue el vigésimo primer lugar, con 877 mil barriles / día, Colombia en el puesto 22 con 886 mil barriles / día, Ecuador en el 28 con 531 mil barriles / día y Argentina. 29 con 507 mil barriles / día. Como Venezuela y Ecuador consumen poco petróleo y exportan la mayor parte de su producción, forman parte de OPEP. Venezuela tuvo una gran caída en la producción después de 2015 (donde produjo 2,5 millones de barriles / día), cayendo en 2016 a 2,2 millones, en 2017 a 2 millones, en 2018 a 1,4 millones y en 2019 a 877 mil, por falta de inversiones.

En la producción de gas natural, en 2018, Argentina produjo 1524 bcf (miles de millones de pies cúbicos), Venezuela 946, Brasil 877, Bolivia 617, Perú 451, Colombia 379.

Turismo 

En la lista de destinos turísticos mundiales, en 2018, Argentina fue el 47.º país más visitado, con 6,9 millones de turistas internacionales (y ingresos de U $ 5.5 mil millones); Brasil fue el 48.º más visitado con 6,6 millones de turistas (y ingresos de U $ 5.9 mil millones); Chile en el puesto 53 con 5,7 millones de turistas (y ingresos de U $ 2.9 mil millones); Perú en el puesto 60 con 4,4 millones de turistas (y ingresos de U $ 3.9 mil millones); Colombia 65.º con 3,8 millones de turistas (y ingresos de U $ 5.5 mil millones); Uruguay 69.º con 3,4 millones de turistas (y ingresos de U $ 2.3 mil millones). Tenga en cuenta que la cantidad de turistas no siempre refleja la cantidad monetaria que obtiene el país del turismo. Algunos países realizan turismo de nivel superior, obteniendo más beneficios. El turismo en América del Sur aún está poco evolucionado: en Europa, por ejemplo, los países obtienen valores turísticos anuales como U $ 73,7 mil millones (España), recibiendo 82,7 millones de turistas, o U $ 67,3 mil millones (Francia) recibiendo 89,4 millones de turistas. Mientras que Europa recibió 710 millones de turistas en 2018, Asia 347 millones y América del Norte 142,2 millones, América del Sur recibió solo 37 millones, Centroamérica 10,8 millones y el Caribe 25,7 millones.

Transporte 

El transporte en América del Sur se realiza básicamente en la modalidad carretera, la más desarrollada de la región. También hay una infraestructura considerable de puertos y aeropuertos. El sector ferroviario y fluvial, aunque tiene potencial, suele ser tratado de forma secundaria.

Brasil tiene más de 1,7 millones de kilómetros de carreteras, de los cuales 215.000km están pavimentados, y unos 14000km son carreteras divididas. Las dos carreteras más importantes del país son BR-101 y BR-116. Argentina tiene más de 600.000km de carreteras, de los cuales unos 70.000km están pavimentados y unos 2500km son carreteras divididas. Las tres carreteras más importantes del país son Ruta 9, Ruta 7 y Ruta 14. Colombia tiene alrededor de 210.000km de carreteras y unos 2.300km son carreteras divididas. Chile tiene cerca de 82.000km de carreteras, 20000 de las cuales están pavimentadas, y aproximadamente 2000km son carreteras divididas. La carretera más importante del país es la Ruta 5 (Carretera Panamericana) Estos 4 países son los que cuentan con la mejor infraestructura vial y con el mayor número de carreteras de doble carril.

Debido a la Cordillera de los Andes, Río Amazonas y Selva Amazónica, siempre ha habido dificultades para implementar carreteras transcontinentales o bioceánicas. Prácticamente la única ruta que existía era la que conectaba Brasil con Buenos Aires, en Argentina y luego con Santiago, en Chile. Sin embargo, en los últimos años, con el esfuerzo conjunto de los países, han comenzado a surgir nuevas rutas, como Brasil-Perú (Carretera Interoceánica), y una nueva carretera entre Brasil, Paraguay, norte de Argentina y norte de Chile (Corredor Bioceánico).

Hay más de 2000 aeropuertos en Brasil. El país tiene el segundo mayor número de aeropuertos del mundo, solo detrás de Estados Unidos. El Aeropuerto Internacional de São Paulo, ubicado en la Región Metropolitana de São Paulo, es el más grande y concurrido del país - el aeropuerto conecta São Paulo con prácticamente todas las principales ciudades del mundo. Brasil tiene 44 aeropuertos internacionales, como los de Río de Janeiro, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Porto Alegre, Florianópolis, Cuiabá, Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza, Belém y Manaos, entre otros. Argentina cuenta con importantes aeropuertos internacionales como Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Bariloche, Mendoza, Salta, Puerto Iguazú, Neuquén y Ushuaia, entre otros. Chile cuenta con importantes aeropuertos internacionales como Santiago, Antofagasta, Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas e Iquique, entre otros. Colombia cuenta con importantes aeropuertos internacionales como Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, Cali y Barranquilla, entre otros. Perú cuenta con importantes aeropuertos internacionales como Lima, Cuzco y Arequipa. Otros aeropuertos importantes son los de las capitales de Uruguay (Montevideo), Paraguay (Asunción), Bolivia (La Paz) y Ecuador (Quito). Los 10 aeropuertos más transitados de América del Sur en 2017 fueron: São Paulo-Guarulhos (Brasil), Bogotá (Colombia), São Paulo-Congonhas (Brasil), Santiago (Chile), Lima (Perú), Brasilia (Brasil), Río de Janeiro. (Brasil), Buenos Aires-Aeroparque (Argentina), Buenos Aires-Ezeiza (Argentina) y Minas Gerais (Brasil).

Acerca de puertos, Brasil tiene algunos de los puertos más activos de América del Sur, como Puerto de Santos, Puerto de Río de Janeiro, Puerto de Paranaguá, Puerto de Itajaí, Puerto de Rio Grande y Puerto de Suape. Argentina tiene puertos como Puerto de Buenos Aires y Puerto de Rosario. Chile tiene importantes puertos en Valparaíso, Caldera, Mejillones, Antofagasta, Iquique, Arica y Puerto Montt. Colombia cuenta con importantes puertos como Buenaventura, Tumaco y Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta. Perú tiene puertos importantes en Callao, Ilo y Matarani. Los 15 puertos más activos de América del Sur son: Puerto de Santos (Brasil), Puerto de Bahía de Cartagena (Colombia), Callao (Perú), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Buenos Aires (Argentina), San Antonio (Chile), Buenaventura (Colombia), Itajaí (Brasil), Valparaíso (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay), Paranaguá (Brasil), Rio Grande (Brasil), São Francisco do Sul (Brasil), Manaos (Brasil) y Coronel (Chile).

La red ferroviaria brasileña tiene una extensión de unos 30 000 kilómetros. Se utiliza básicamente para transportar minerales. El ferrocarril argentino La red, con 47.000km de vías, fue una de las más grandes del mundo y sigue siendo la más extensa de Latinoamérica. Llegó a tener unos 100 000km de raíles, pero el levantamiento de vías y el énfasis puesto en el transporte motorizado lo redujeron gradualmente. Tiene cuatro senderos diferentes y conexiones internacionales con Paraguay, Bolivia, Chile, Brasil y Uruguay. Chile tiene casi 7000km de vías férreas, con conexiones a Argentina, Bolivia y Perú. Colombia tiene solo unos 3500km de vías férreas.

Entre las principales vías navegables brasileñas destacan dos: Hidrovía Paraná-Tieté (que tiene una longitud de 2400km, 1600 en el río Paraná y 800km en el río Tietê, drenando la producción agrícola de los estados de Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás y parte de Rondônia, Tocantins y Minas Gerais) e Hidrovia do Solimões-Amazonas (tiene dos tramos: Solimões, que se extiende desde Tabatinga hasta Manaos, con aproximadamente 1600km, y Amazonas, que se extiende desde Manaos a Belém, con 1650km. Casi en su totalidad el transporte de pasajeros desde la llanura amazónica se realiza por esta vía fluvial, además de prácticamente todo el transporte de carga que se dirige a los principales centros regionales de Belém y Manaos). En Brasil, este transporte todavía está infrautilizado: los tramos de vías navegables más importantes, desde el punto de vista económico, se encuentran en el sureste y sur del país. Su pleno aprovechamiento aún depende de la construcción de esclusas, grandes obras de dragado y principalmente de puertos que permitan la integración intermodal. En Argentina, la red de vías navegables está conformada por los ríos La Plata, Paraná, Paraguay y Uruguay. Los principales puertos fluviales son Zárate y Campana. El puerto de Buenos Aires es históricamente el primero en importancia individual, pero el área conocida como Up-River, que se extiende a lo largo de 67km de la porción Santa Fe del río Paraná, aglutina 17 puertos que concentran el 50% de las exportaciones totales del país.

Energía 

Petróleo

Algunos países sudamericanos están entre los mayores productores de petróleo, Brasil es el décimo productor mundial, Venezuela el décimo sexto y Colombia el vigésimo segundo. En la siguiente tabla se muestran los países con producción superior a 100000 barriles por día.

Producción eléctrica

Entre los 50 mayores productores de electricidad mundial se encuentran algunos países de América del Sur, siendo Brasil el octavo productor, Argentina el trigésimo, Chile el treinta y ocho, Venezuela trigésimo noveno y Colombia el cuadragésimo mayor. En la región los mayores productores se resumen en la tabla siguiente.

Brasil 

El gobierno brasileño ha emprendido un ambicioso programa para reducir la dependencia del petróleo importado. Las importaciones anteriormente representaban más del 70% de las necesidades de petróleo del país, pero Brasil se volvió autosuficiente en petróleo en 2006–2007. Brasil fue el décimo mayor productor de petróleo del mundo en 2019, con 2,8 millones de barriles/día. La producción logra abastecer la demanda del país. A principios de 2020, en la producción de petróleo y gas natural, el país superó por primera vez los 4 millones de barriles de petróleo equivalente por día. En enero de este año se extrajeron 3,168 millones de barriles de petróleo por día y 138,753 millones de metros cúbicos de gas natural.

Hidroelectricidad

Brasil es el segundo mayor productor mundial de energía hidroeléctrica. En 2019, Brasil tenía 217 centrales hidroeléctricas en operación, con una capacidad instalada de 98.581 MW, el 60,16% de la generación energética del país. En la generación total de electricidad, en 2019 Brasil alcanzó los 170.000 MW de capacidad instalada, más del 75% de fuentes renovables (la mayoría, hidroeléctricas). A fines de 2021, Brasil era el segundo país del mundo en términos de potencia hidroeléctrica instalada (109,4 GW).

En 2013, la Región Sudeste utilizó alrededor del 50% de la carga del Sistema Integrado Nacional (SIN), siendo la principal región consumidora de energía del país. La capacidad instalada de generación de electricidad de la región totalizó casi 42.500 MW, lo que representó alrededor de un tercio de la capacidad de generación de Brasil. La generación hidroeléctrica representó el 58% de la capacidad instalada de la región, correspondiendo el 42% restante básicamente a la generación termoeléctrica. São Paulo representó el 40% de esta capacidad; Minas Gerais en aproximadamente un 25%; Río de Janeiro en 13,3%; y Espírito Santo representó el resto. La Región Sur es propietaria de la Represa de Itaipu, que fue la mayor central hidroeléctrica del mundo durante varios años, hasta la inauguración de la Represa de las Tres Gargantas en China. Sigue siendo la segunda hidroeléctrica en funcionamiento más grande del mundo. Brasil es copropietario de la Planta de Itaipu con Paraguay: la presa está ubicada en el Río Paraná, ubicado en la frontera entre países. Tiene una capacidad de generación instalada de 14 GW para 20 unidades generadoras de 700 MW cada uno. Región Norte tiene grandes centrales hidroeléctricas, como Represa de Belo Monte y Represa de Tucuruí, que producen gran parte de la energía nacional. El potencial hidroeléctrico de Brasil aún no se ha explotado por completo, por lo que el país aún tiene la capacidad para construir varias plantas de energía renovable en su territorio.

Energía eólica

En 2020 Brasil fue el octavo país del mundo en términos de potencia eólica instalada (17,2 GW).
En 2019, se estimó que el país tenía un potencial de generación estimado energía eólica de alrededor de 522 GW (esto, solo en tierra), energía suficiente para satisfacer tres veces la demanda actual del país. A julio de 2022, según ONS, la capacidad instalada total fue de 22 GW, con un factor de capacidad promedio del 58%. Si bien el factor de capacidad de producción eólica promedio mundial es del 24,7%, hay áreas en el norte de Brasil, especialmente en el estado de Bahía, donde algunos parques eólicos registran un factor de capacidad promedio superior al 60%; el factor de capacidad promedio en la Región Nordeste es de 45% en la costa y 49% en el interior. En 2019, la energía eólica representó el 9% de la energía generada en el país.

Energía nuclear

En 2020 Brasil fue el vigésimo segundo país del mundo en términos de potencia nuclear instalada (1,89 GW), la energía nuclear representa alrededor del 4% de la electricidad de Brasil. El monopolio de la generación de energía nuclear es propiedad de Eletronuclear (Eletrobrás Eletronuclear S / A), una subsidiaria de propiedad total de Eletrobrás. La energía nuclear es producida por dos reactores en Angra. Está ubicado en la Central Nuclear Almirante Álvaro Alberto (CNAAA) en la Praia de Itaorna en Angra dos Reis, Río de Janeiro. Consta de dos reactores de agua a presión, Angra I, con una capacidad de 657 MW, conectado a la red eléctrica en 1982, y Angra II, con una capacidad de 1.350 MW, conectado en 2000. Un tercer reactor, Angra III, con un se espera que sea de 1.350 MW, debería estar terminado.

Energía solar

En 2020, Brasil fue el decimocuarto país del mundo en términos de energía solar instalada (7,8 GW). A agosto de 2022, según ONS, la capacidad instalada total de energía solar fotovoltaica era de 17 GW, con un factor de capacidad promedio del 23%. Algunos de los estados brasileños más irradiados son MG (Minas Gerais), BA (Bahía) y GO (Goiás), que en realidad tienen récords mundiales de irradiación. En 2019, la energía solar representó el 1,27% de la energía generada en el país.

Biomasa

En 2020, Brasil fue el segundo país más grande del mundo en la producción de energía a través de biomasa (producción de energía a partir de biocombustibles sólidos y residuos renovables), con 15,2 GW instalados.

Inversión extranjera 

Las mayores economías receptoras de inversiones en el período entre 2015 y 2020 fueron Brasil, Colombia, Argentina y Perú.

¹ cifras preliminares 

La siguiente tabla contempla el total del inventario acumulado en IED por países receptores.

Inversión de empresas de América del Sur 
En términos de la inversión directa de las economías de América del Sur en el exterior creció un 17% en 2012. Los flujos de IED desde la región se han mantenido en niveles altos durante los tres últimos años. Estas inversiones provinieron principalmente del Brasil y Chile, si bien en 2012 se concentraron casi exclusivamente en Chile.

Las empresas trans-latinoamericanas se han beneficiado durante estos tres últimos años de un buen nivel de crecimiento económico y de la confianza de los inversores en la región, lo que ha favorecido su acceso al crédito. En 2012, en un contexto de contracción de la IED mundial, las empresas trans-latinoamericanas se expandieron, en algunos casos, a partir de oportunidades de negocios generadas por el repliegue de firmas europeas. En efecto, siete de las diez mayores adquisiciones realizadas por las trans-latinoamericanas en 2012 correspondieron a compra de activos a empresas europeas.

Las empresas chilenas invirtieron 21090 millones de dólares en el extranjero en 2012, lo que representó un nuevo récord, y concentraron su expansión en América del Sur, principalmente en el comercio minorista, la industria forestal y el transporte. Por su parte, las empresas brasileñas continuaron su expansión en el exterior y realizaron 7 de las 20 mayores adquisiciones efectuadas por trans-latinoamericanas en 2012. Más allá de los flujos anuales de IED.

Empresas de Venezuela y de Argentina también originaron IED, aunque de menor magnitud, mientras que los montos del resto de las economías de la región fueron modestos.

De hecho, la mayoría de las economías pequeñas como Bolivia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador más los países del Caribe, no informan datos de IED hacia el exterior o lo hacen de un modo imperfecto.

Si bien existe evidencia anecdótica de inversiones extranjeras por parte de empresas de otros países como Guatemala (en el sector de la caña de azúcar) o Trinidad y Tobago (servicios financieros), los montos oficiales son todavía muy incompletos. Un caso especial es el de Panamá, país en el que algunas empresas extranjeras establecen su base para las operaciones en Centroamérica y otros países de la región, y que, por tanto, recibe y envía flujos de IED en tránsito. Panamá no presenta datos oficiales de IED en el exterior, pero el Fondo Monetario Internacional (FMI) estima que el monto de los dos últimos años asciende a 400 millones de dólares.

La siguiente tabla contempla el total del inventario acumulado en IED por países emisores.

Mayores adquisiciones de empresas Multinacionales Latinas

Integración económica 

El mayor acuerdo o bloque comercial de la región es el UNASUR conformado por el Mercosur y el CAN, se intenta la integración económica a nivel continental a través de la Aladi y el SELA. También Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua y Venezuela tienen su propio bloque, llamado en este caso la Alternativa Bolivariana para América Latina y el Caribe. En América del Sur existe el Mercosur, integrado por Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay, Uruguay, y Venezuela. La Comunidad Andina de Naciones, formada por Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador y Perú. La Alianza del Pacífico formada por Perú, Chile, Colombia y México que busca primero una integración económica que buscará conquistar el mercado asiático.

Fuera del ámbito continental, Argentina y Brasil son los únicos países sudamericanos que forman parte del Grupo de los 20 (países industrializados y emergentes), el grupo de los 20 países más poderosos e influyentes del mundo. Por otro lado, Chile y Perú forman parte de una alianza económica internacional, APEC (Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia-Pacífico). Finalmente, Colombia y Chile son los únicos países que forman parte de la OCDE.

Indicadores económicos

Otros indicadores

Ciencia y tecnología 

Sudamérica ha ganado cuatro Premios Nobel en áreas científicas; los argentinos César Milstein, Luis Federico Leloir y Bernardo Houssay (el primer latinoamericano en ser galardonado con un Premio Nobel), y el venezolano-estadounidense Baruj Benacerraf. Además se han producido destacados investigadores como el físico Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo, que predijo la existencia de partículas atómicas 80 años antes de su descubrimiento; el bioquímico Pablo Valenzuela, quien dirigió los esfuerzos para descubrir el virus de la hepatitis C y la creación de la primera vacuna para la hepatitis B; Anthony Atala, creador del primer órgano humano creado en un laboratorio; Ricardo Baeza-Yates, destacado creador de algoritmos computacionales; Andreas Pavel, inventor del walkman; Pedro Paulet, creador del primer cohete funcional de la historia, antes que los fabricados en Alemania y Estados Unidos; Alberto Santos Dumont, ingeniero autodidacta y aviador, considerado por algunos como el primer piloto de avión de la historia; César Lattes, codescubridor del mesón π (mesón pi o pion), junto con el Premio Nobel de Física Cecil Frank Powell, líder de la investigación; Ladislao Biro, inventor del bolígrafo, o el físico F. J. Duarte, pionero mundial en investigación láser, entre otros.

Argentina es un de los país más avanzados en programas espaciales y satélitales por ser capaz de producir un satélite propio.
Cuenta con un programa de satélites, centrales nucleares y su propia compañía pública de energía nuclear, el INVAP, una prestigiosa empresa argentina de alta tecnología dedicada al diseño, integración, y construcción de plantas, equipamientos y dispositivos en áreas de alta complejidad como energía nuclear, tecnología espacial, tecnología industrial y equipamiento médico y científico. Es la única empresa en Latinoamérica reconocida por la NASA como apta para realizar sistemas satélitales completos, desde su diseño y construcción hasta su operación. La misma provee a varios países de reactores nucleares.

El Instituto Balseiro, ubicado en Bariloche es una de las mejores instituciones científicas en el mundo.

Asimismo, la historia de la puesta en órbita de satélites en Sudamérica es iniciada con los lanzamientos del brasileño BrasilSat en 1985 y el argentino Lusat 1 en 1990. A partir de entonces, varios países sudamericanos han seguido el ejemplo. Actualmente Argentina cuenta con 11 satélites, Brasil con 13, Chile y Venezuela con 2 y Colombia y Bolivia con 1.

En el 2002 la Argentina logró exitosamente la clonación del primer vacuno, convirtiéndola en el primer país latinoamericano y uno de los únicos nueve países del mundo en haber completado esta tarea. El 6 de abril de 2012 se logró la inédita clonación de Rosita ISA, el primer bovino nacido en el mundo al que se le incorporaron dos genes humanos, y que resultará en una leche con lactoferrina humana y lisozima (una proteína y una enzima) con propiedades antibacteriales y antivirales ideales para el sistema inmunológico de los bebés. Argentina también se ubica entre los cuatro únicos países a nivel mundial (junto a Estados Unidos, Italia y Canadá) en lograr la clonación de caballos de alto valor competitivo. En los años '60 y '70 la Argentina efectuó experiencias enviando a distintos animales en vuelos suborbitales a bordo de cohetes de elaboración propia, lo que transformó a este país en la cuarta nación en haber enviado animales al espacio, y una de las únicas seis en la actualidad en haberlo hecho, junto a los Estados Unidos, la Unión Soviética, Francia, Japón y China.

En 1995 la Unesco eligió a Argentina como la sede para instalar el Observatorio Pierre Auger en Malargüe, provincia de Mendoza, el cual comenzó a funcionar en 2005. Se trata de un proyecto conjunto de más de 20 países en el que colaboran unos 250 científicos de más de 30 instituciones, con la finalidad de detectar partículas subatómicas que provienen del espacio exterior denominadas rayos cósmicos. Brasil y Argentina construirán conjuntamente el radiotelescopio LLAMA con una antena de 12 metros que se instalará a una altitud de 4.825 metros en la provincia de Salta, en los Andes argentinos. El posicionamiento del LLAMA, a 150 kilómetros del ALMA, le permitirá operar también como una antena más para el observatorio europeo ubicado en Chile.

En el campo de la energía atómica, solo Argentina y Brasil han estado al borde de la fabricación de armas nucleares. De concretarse el prototipo de una bomba nuclear de tipo implosión de plutonio en los años 70 por parte de Argentina, se habría desatado una carrera armamentista con Brasil, países que históricamente se han disputado el liderazgo de la región. Finalmente, en 1991 los parlamentos de Argentina y Brasil ratificaron un acuerdo de inspección bilateral que creó la Agencia Brasileño-Argentina de Contabilidad y Control de Materiales Nucleares (ABACC) para supervisar que la energía nuclear de ambas naciones se produzca para fines pacíficos. Posteriormente, la Argentina ratificó el Tratado de No Proliferación Nuclear en 1995 y Brasil en 1998.

Por otro lado, Argentina y Brasil son las únicas naciones sudamericanas dotadas de centrales nucleares para enfrentar la gran demanda energética de sus industrias: las argentinas Atucha I (la primera construida en toda América Latina), Atucha II y Embalse y las brasileñas Angra I y Angra II.

En la área nuclear Brasil también tiene otros reactores para producción de radiofármacos y investigación, además de dominar el ciclo completo de enriquecimiento de uranio, que suministra el combustible nuclear a su central nuclear y también ya ha exportado para Argentina, para uso en sus reactores nucleares. El país está construyendo su primero submarino nuclear, el SN10 Álvaro Alberto, un desarrollo de los submarinos Clase Riachuelo en carrera de producción.

Brasil también realiza experimentos en el área de fusión nuclear, contando con tres tokamaks (reactores experimentales para el estudio del plasma de fusión) y el INPE (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Espaciales) opera el ETE (Experimento esférico Tokamak) diseñado y construido en el país.

Las actividades espaciales brasileñas están a cargo de la Agencia Espacial Brasileña (AEB), una serie de vehículos espaciales son producidos en Brasil desde los ya retirados Sonda sucedidos por las series VS de cohetes suborbitales capaces de vuelos en altitudes máximas de 950 km y carga útil de hasta media tonelada. Los cohetes brasileños tener decenas de vuelos desde el Centro de Lanzamiento de Alcântara (CLA) y también son exportados para uso por otras agencias espaciales como la DLR alemana. También proyectado y construido una serie de satélites de observación y otros fines científicos como los SCD, Amazônia-1 y CBERS y ha puesto en vuelo a su primero motor Scramjet del vehículo hipersónico 14-X lanzado desde el CLA.

El Laboratórios Nacional de Luz Sincrotón (LNLS) en la ciudad de Campinas cuenta con dos aceleradores de partículas, el UVX y el Sírius, este con un anillo magnético de 518 metros y 3 GeV de potencia, se trata de equipos únicos en toda América Latina y raros en todo el mundo. El LNLS es una instalación con tecnología avanzada en Brasil abierta para ser utilizada por investigadores de cualquier universidad o empresa del país y del mundo.

El país es el único en Latinoamérica a tener supercomputadoras en el Top500, ranking mundial de las computadoras más potentes, el más potente es el Pegaso inaugurado en 2022 por la empresa Petrobras que tiene una capacidad de procesamiento de 21 PetaFlops, 678 Terabytes de RAM y una red de 400 Gbps, el equipamiento casi duplica la capacidad de las supercomputadoras actuales Dragon (14 Petaflops) y Atlas (8,9 Petaflops) combinadas.

El Brasil tiene tradición en la ingeniería civil con importantes obras como la Represa de Itaipú, Brasília, el puente Rio-Niterói y la Rodovia dos Imigrantes, carretera que conecta la meseta de São Paulo con su costa. En el área de biotecnología e ingeniería agronómica, cuenta con empresas de referencia en suelos tropicales como Embrapa, que permitió la expansión de la agricultura en suelos relativamente infértiles del interior del país, permitiendo que el país se convierta en uno de los mayores exportadores de alimentos en el mundo.

La ciencia de Brasil en el período 2011 a 2016, publicó más de 250.000 artículos en la base de datos de Web of Science en todas las áreas del conocimiento, con uno de los mayores crecimiento de producción científica entre todas las naciones y alcanzó el 11.º puesto entre los productores de conocimiento del mundo, aportando el 2,12% de los artículos de 183 países.

El Perú cuenta con el Centro Nuclear de Huarangal, la utilidad más importante que tiene el centro nuclear se encuentra en la planta de producción de radioisótopo que son utilizados para realizar gammagrafías, que facilitan hacer diagnósticos médicos, así como una mayor precisión en el estudio de los tejidos del cuerpo humano.

Además, el centro nuclear cuenta con laboratorios para el perfilaje de pozos petroleros, interconexión de acuíferos, estudio de fugas de embalses, en la detección de fallas en la soldadura. En la agricultura, para optimizar el uso de fertilizantes, entre otras aplicaciones.

Tecnópolis es la megamuestra argentina de ciencia, tecnología, industria y arte más grande de América Latina. Las actividades abarcan desde encuentro con el Proyecto Tronador y el Pulqui I (primer avión a reacción diseñado en América Latina y sexto en el mundo), simulaciones del Big Bang, del Gran Colisionador de Hadrones y del ambiente gélido de la Antártida, recorrido por la historia de la tecnología comunicacional, y temas variados como materiales ultrarresistentes, los microchips y la nanotecnología.

En la Guayana Francesa opera desde 1968 el Puerto espacial de Kourou (Centre Spatial Guyanais o CSG). Es un lugar de lanzamiento propiedad de Francia que es utilizado por el francés Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) y la Agencia Espacial Europea (ESA). Desde aquí son lanzadas las misiones Ariane y se está trabajando para la base realice también lanzamientos de cohetes Soyuz como parte de un acuerdo entre Rusia y la ESA.

En el desierto de Atacama, en el Norte Grande de Chile, existe más de una docena de observatorios —como Paranal (VLT), el complejo astronómico más avanzado y poderoso del planeta, Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), hasta la fecha el mayor proyecto astronómico del mundo, y La Silla, pertenecientes al European Southern Observatory (ESO); Las Campanas, de la Carnegie Institution of Washington en asociación con la Universidad de Harvard y el MIT, y Cerro Tololo y Gemini Sur, pertenecientes al consorcio AURA/NOAO (siglas en inglés de Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy/National Optical Astronomy Observatories), entre otros—. Chile posee el 40% de la observación astronómica del mundo; el Telescopio Europeo Extremadamente Grande (E-ELT) y la ampliación del Atacama Large Millimeter Array, lo que hará que el país tenga aproximadamente el 60% del total mundial.

En la ciudad de Lima se encuentra el Radio Observatorio de Jicamarca (ROJ) es una estación ecuatorial de la cadena de radio observatorios de dispersión incoherente (ISR, por sus siglas en inglés Incoherent Scatter Radar) del Hemisferio Oeste que se extiende desde Lima, Perú hasta Søndre Strømfjord, Groenlandia. El ROJ es la primera facilidad científica en el mundo para el estudio de la ionosfera ecuatorial. El Observatorio se ubica a media hora de viaje en automóvil hacia el este de Lima. Su ángulo de inclinación magnética es aproximadamente 1.º, pero varía ligeramente con la altitud y la estación del año.

El radar puede determinar la dirección del campo magnético terrestre (B) con gran precisión y puede ser apuntado perpendicularmente a B en las altitudes a lo largo de la ionosfera. El estudio de la ionosfera ecuatorial ha logrado un gran desarrollo debido, en gran parte, a las contribuciones realizadas por el ROJ en radio-ciencia.

En Venezuela, el Observatorio Astronómico Nacional de Llano del Hato está ubicado en los predios de la población de Apartaderos del estado Mérida a 3600  convirtiéndolo en uno de los observatorios enclavados a mayor altura del mundo, es administrado por el Centro de Investigaciones de Astronomía CIDA; desde este observatorio se han descubierto y registrado numerosos asteroides. Además este país cuenta con la Agencia Bolivariana para Actividades Espaciales ABAE, ente encargado de políticas y desarrollos en materia aeroespacial, cuyas actividades incluyen el control del Satélite VENESAT-1 Simón Bolívar, Satélite Miranda (VRSS-1) y Satélite Sucre (VRSS-2). El Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas IVIC, es otro importante centro de desarrollo tecnológico del cual depende la Empresa "Quimbiotec", donde funciona una Planta Productora de Derivados Sanguíneos, única de su tipo en el país que produce y comercializa derivados de sangre de alta calidad, así como medicamentos recombinantes, sueros antiofídicos y antiescorpiónicos. Entre sus productos químicos y biológicos figuran la albúmina humana, inmunoglobulina endovenosa, inmunoglobulina anti-D y factor VIII humano.

Sudamérica se ha ido integrando rápidamente a las tendencias mundiales en Tecnologías de la Información y acceso a Internet en distintas áreas. Brasil lidera la producción de software en la región, mientras Argentina es el principal exportador de software.

Demografía

Capitales y áreas metropolitanas más pobladas por país

Áreas metropolitanas en general por población 
Esta es una lista de las áreas metropolitanas más pobladas de América del Sur, según diversas fuentes.

Conformación étnica 

La región es una de las más diversas del mundo. Esto es el resultado de la colonización española y portuguesa en una zona poblada por numerosos pueblos indígenas, por la traída forzosa de esclavos negros de África, por la inmigración masiva de europeos y asiáticos desde el  y por la mezcla entre estos distintos grupos, originando numerosas variantes.

Si bien no existe claridad, ni consenso sobre los volúmenes de población indígena tras la llegada de los colonizadores europeos, se estima que su número debiera ascender al menos a los 20 millones de personas, de los cuales unos 10 millones se encuentran en la Sudamérica andina, y unos 10 en la Sudamérica extra andina; aunque hay investigadores que calculan el número en varios cientos de millones. Entre los siglos  y , por su parte la región recibió la llegada de varios millones de esclavos procedentes de África, de los cuales al menos 3 millones habrían llegado a Brasil, y un millón y medio en las distintas colonias españolas en América.

A partir de la segunda mitad del  y la primera mitad del  la región experimentó una masiva inmigración europea, concentrándose preferentemente en Argentina, Brasil, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela y Perú. Esta población provenía de España, Italia, Alemania y Portugal, entre otros países. También se recibió una considerable inmigración proveniente de Palestina, Armenia, Siria, etc.; así como de Japón, China y Corea.

Países como Uruguay, Argentina y Chile poseen un alto componente europeo en sus poblaciones, con porcentajes entre el 60% y 80% del total. 
En 2005, el genetista argentino Daniel Corach realizó un estudio genético en Argentina diferenciando ambas vías. El resultado fue que por la vía materna (ADN mitocondrial) la presencia de ancestralidad indígena se encuentra en la mayoría de los casos (53,7%), mientras que por la vía paterna (cromosoma Y), casi todos los casos (94,1%) revelan ancestralidad europea.
Otro estudio realizado por investigadores de varias nacionalidades, y publicada también en PloS One Genetics, en 2015, dio por resultado que la composición argentina estaba constituida por un 67,3% de aporte europeo, un 27,7% de aporte amerindio, un 3,6% de aporte africano, y un 1,4% de aporte asiático. El estudio grafica también cómo el 90% de la población argentina posee una composición genética notoriamente diferente a la de los europeos nativos, evidenciándose por tanto un perfil propiamente latinoamericano de mestizaje o mixtura en el grueso poblacional argentino.
En Chile, el grado de componente europeo es muy importante alcanzando un 47% de su población. En Venezuela cerca del 49-50% del total, en Brasil el 47.7% y en Colombia son el 45-50% del total de su población.
EL país donde el porcentaje de amerindios es el mayor componente de la población es Bolivia. Asimismo, existen significativas comunidades indígenas en Ecuador y Perú. En Chile los amerindios puros son casi inexistentes, ya que la mayoría de ellos tiene algún grado de mezcla europea a través del mestizaje. En Argentina la población corresponde a un número bajo superando el 6% de la población total del país. En el caso de Brasil y Paraguay si se consideran minorías casi inexistentes. En Uruguay no es posible encontrar descendientes amerindios puros, sin embargo, existen descendientes mestizos concentrados especialmente en el noroeste de ese país. En tal medida se podría calificar a Argentina, Chile y Uruguay como de predominancia caucásica ; Bolivia, predominancia amerindia ; Venezuela, Perú, Brasil y Colombia como países mixtos (blancos-mestizos) ; mientras, Paraguay y Ecuador de una mayoría mestiza ; Guyana y Surinam pueden ser calificados como países asiáticos y afrodescendientes .

Un estudio genético autosómico de 2015, el cual incluyó 25 otros estudios, con 38 poblaciones de Brasil, la composición de Brasil es la siguiente: el aporte europeo es 62%, el africano 21% y el indígena 17%. La contribución europea es más alta en el Sur (77%), la africana más fuerte en el Nordeste (21%) y la indígena en el Norte (32%).

Idiomas

Lenguas europeas 
El portugués y el español son los idiomas principales de América del Sur, siendo que al 2021 el portugués es la lengua más hablada del subcontinente y se habla principalmente en Brasil, donde es el idioma oficial. El español es oficial en todos los otros países a excepción del ya mencionado Brasil, en las Guyanas, en Surinam y algunos paíes insulares del mar del Caribe Sudamericano. 

En Guyana, en las islas Malvinas (en litigio entre Argentina y Reino Unido quien las administra) y en Trinidad y Tobago se habla el inglés. En Surinam, Aruba, Curazao y Bonaire se habla el neerlandés. En el Departamento de Ultramar de Guayana Francesa, se habla el francés.

Lenguas nativas 

En la actualidad todavía se hablan más de 300 lenguas indígenas pertenecientes a multitud de familias (casi la mitad de ellas se hablan en Brasil), y se ha registrado la extinción de unas 180 más desde la llegada de los europeos. Se han reconocido más de 33 familias de tamaño grande o medio, y existe un número elevado de lenguas aisladas e incluso lenguas insuficientemente documentadas que no han podido ser clasificadas adecuadamente. Desde el punto de vista tipológico las lenguas andinas difieren notablemente de las lenguas amazónicas aunque existe una zona de transición entre estos grupos.

Las lenguas quechuas son la familia de lenguas con un mayor número de hablantes, con más de 12 millones de personas. Tradicionalmente se habla del "quechua" o "quichua" como de un solo idioma, aunque desde el punto de vista lingüístico existen variedades difícilmente inteligibles entre sí. Según la Constitución Política de Bolivia, el quechua es uno de los 37 idiomas oficiales de Bolivia. En el Perú, el quechua, que se habla en algunas variedades, está declarado como lengua oficial. Se habla además, una considerable minoría en Ecuador, en Santiago del Estero (Argentina), Tucumán, Salta y Jujuy, así como en el norte de Chile.

El guaraní es la segunda lengua indígena más hablada con más de 7 millones de personas, principalmente en Paraguay, donde es uno de los idiomas oficiales, y en la provincia de Corrientes en Argentina, donde es cooficial. El aimara es también cooficial en Bolivia, mientras que en el Perú solo donde prevalece, asimismo el aimara constituye la primera lengua de casi un tercio de la población de Bolivia y es el principal idioma amerindio del sur peruano, el norte chileno y es hablado también en el norte de Argentina por la comunidad aimara.

Lenguas significativas no oficiales 
 El mapudungun es la lengua nativa de los mapuches, hablada por unas 450 mil personas en el centro-sur de Chile y en la Patagonia Argentina.
 El wayúu es una lengua indígena hablada por algo más de 300 mil personas en los países de Colombia y Venezuela. En Colombia esta lengua es oficial en los territorios indígenas wayúu desde la Constitución Política de 1991; asimismo es cooficial en Venezuela desde 1999, como recoge la constitución venezolana.
 Diversos idiomas, como el alemán (el sur de Brasil, Paraguay, Argentina, el sur de Chile y la selva central del Perú) el italiano (Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela), y el japonés (Brasil, Perú y Colombia) son aún hablados por los inmigrantes que llegaron a los países a fines del  y a lo largo del .
 El galés se habla en la provincia argentina de Chubut.
 El croata es hablado por parte de la comunidad de descendientes de inmigrantes que habita en las regiones chilenas de Antofagasta y Magallanes.
 El inglés en islas y costas del Caribe colombiano.
El árabe tiene una fuerte presencia en el norte de Colombia.

Religión 

El cristianismo (catolicismo, seguido del protestantismo) es la religión predominante, aunque el número de fieles tiene tendencia a decrecer por causa del crecimiento del agnosticismo, el ateísmo . También existen diversas religiones entre los nativos indígenas. Brasil es el país con mayor número de católicos en el mundo, aunque su número disminuye rápidamente.
También hay numerosas comunidades judías en Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay. Las religiones afroamericanas tienen presencia en países con fuerte población negra como Colombia, Venezuela y Brasil, en Uruguay hay una minoría de practicantes de la religión umbandista.

Cultura 

La cultura sudamericana está marcada por el pasado colonial y el ancestro precolombino en principal medida a los que se fueron sumando, en distinta medida, elementos traídos por posteriores inmigrantes que fueron llegando a la región. Así mismo, se ve el creciente desarrollo de una cultura enmarcada en el proceso de globalización.

Las diferencias culturales son pronunciadas y la partición del subcontinente en la época colonial hizo que existan dos lenguas dominantes, el español y el portugués, este último hablado casi que exclusivamente en Brasil. La cultura indígena de origen precolombino tiene fuerte presencia en el Perú y Bolivia y algunas regiones de la Amazonia. En Paraguay, el guaraní (lengua aborigen usada por el pueblo del mismo nombre) es ampliamente utilizado además del castellano, e incluso reconocido como idioma oficial del país.

Las diferencias culturales no están enmarcadas dentro de las fronteras nacionales. Así es posible encontrar mayor similitud cultural entre los habitantes de sectores fronterizos que entre esos mismos y los del interior de cada país. Esto se debe en parte a la división poscolonial que acompañó a la formación de los Estados independientes durante el .

El fenómeno emigratorio de gran crecimiento en décadas recientes ha llevado a que los sudamericanos que se establecen en Europa y América del Norte principalmente lleven consigo parte de sus costumbres contribuyendo a la expansión de la cultura sudamericana. Existe una significativa presencia de Inmigración sudamericana, en Nueva York y en Miami. Ello provoca que las costumbres que estos emigrantes toman en sus países de acogida los acompañen de vuelta cuando llegan a sus países de origen, contribuyendo así a un nuevo intercambio cultural.

Literatura 

La cultura sudamericana está presente de diversas maneras a nivel mundial. Así, por ejemplo, las artesanías andinas disfrutan de considerable demanda en diferentes mercados como el europeo.

En la primera mitad del  el tango, estilo musical y danza de origen rioplatense (argentino-uruguayo), tuvo gran éxito en Europa y Colombia. Esta música era interpretada en castellano lo que no fue un obstáculo para su difusión en el exterior. En América de Sur se han desarrollado estilos musicales no exclusivos del subcontinente, como la salsa, que tiene epicentros como Barranquilla, Cali y Cartagena (Colombia) y Caracas (Venezuela). También algunas expresiones culturales de Brasil tienen fuerte presencia a nivel mundial como la capoeira, la bossa nova y la samba.

La literatura tiene importancia significativa en Sudamérica y prueba de ello son los cuatro escritores que han sido laureados con el Premio Nobel de Literatura: Los chilenos Gabriela Mistral y Pablo Neruda, el colombiano Gabriel García Márquez y el peruano Mario Vargas Llosa. Respecto de un galardón específico del idioma castellano, los argentinos Jorge Luis Borges, Ernesto Sabato, Adolfo Bioy Casares y Juan Gelman; los chilenos Gonzalo Rojas, Jorge Edwards y Nicanor Parra; el paraguayo Augusto Roa Bastos, y el uruguayo Juan Carlos Onetti fueron premiados con el Premio Cervantes. Otros escritores y figuras de la literatura continental en español son los venezolanos Rómulo Gallegos, Teresa de la Parra y Arturo Uslar Pietri; los argentinos Julio Cortázar, Alfonsina Storni, Victoria Ocampo y Roberto Arlt; los chilenos Vicente Huidobro, Manuel Rojas, Isabel Allende, José Donoso y Roberto Bolaño; el paraguayo Augusto Roa Bastos; los peruanos César Vallejo, Ciro Alegría y Julio Ramón Ribeyro; los uruguayos Felisberto Hernández, Juan Carlos Onetti, Mario Benedetti y Eduardo Galeano.

El máximo galardón de la lengua portuguesa, el Premio Camões ha sido concedido desde su creación en 1988 a los siguientes autores brasileños: João Cabral de Melo Neto, Rachel de Queiroz, Jorge Amado, António Cândido, Autran Dourado, Rubem Fonseca, Lygia Fagundes Telles, João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Ferreira Gullar y Dalton Trevisan. Pero fuera de estos exponentes recientes, Brasil ha aportado otros autores literarios de repercusión continental y mundial como Machado de Assis, Euclides da Cunha, Guimaraes Rosa Vinicius de Moraes, Clarice Lispector y Paulo Coelho.

Por otra parte, el surgimiento y desarrollo de diversos estilos o corrientes literarias se relacionan con América del Sur. Así por ejemplo, aunque de autor nicaragüense, Rubén Darío, el primer libro del modernismo hispánico, Azul..., se publicó en Valparaíso en 1888 marcando senda para numerosos autores del subcontinente. Mientras el origen y universalización del llamado realismo mágico también se asocia con autores sudamericanos, como María Luisa Bombal, Arturo Uslar Pietri y Gabriel García Márquez. Otros casos son numerosos, como la más personal, aunque también iniciadora de una escuela, "antipoesía" de Nicanor Parra o el "creacionismo" de Vicente Huidobro. Por su parte, en Brasil han surgido corrientes y escuelas literarias de carácter nacional, como el modernismo brasileño, diverso del hispánico, que también tiene exponentes en la plástica.

Jorge Luis Borges fue uno de los autores más importantes e influyentes de la literatura del , a nivel sudamericano y global. Inventó prácticamente un nuevo género de literatura. Recibió el primer Prix International de la historia en 1961, y el Premio Jerusalén en 1971. Ciego a los 55 años, fue muy polémico, con posturas políticas que le impidieron ganar el Premio Nobel de Literatura al que fue candidato durante casi treinta años. El escritor y ensayista J. M. Coetzee dijo de él: «Él, más que cualquier otro, renovó el lenguaje de ficción y así abrió el camino para toda una generación de destacados novelistas hispanoamericanos».

Artes plásticas 

El artista plástico ecuatoriano Oswaldo Guayasamín representó con su estilo en la pintura y la escultura el sentir de los pueblos de América Latina resaltando las injusticias sociales en diversas partes del mundo. El venezolano Armando Reverón, cuya obra empieza a ser reconocida internacionalmente, es uno de los artistas más importantes del  en América del Sur; es precursor del Arte Povera y del Happening. El colombiano Fernando Botero (1932) es uno de los mayores exponentes de la pintura y la escultura que continúa activo y que ha sido capaz de desarrollar un estilo reconocible y propio. Por su parte, el venezolano Carlos Cruz-Diez ha contribuido notablemente al arte contemporáneo, con presencia de obras en todo el mundo.

Actualmente diversos artistas suramericanos emergentes son reconocidos por la crítica de arte internacional: Guillermo Lorca, pintor chileno, Teddy Cobeña escultor ecuatoriano (premio internacional de escultura en Francia) o el artista argentino Adrián Villar Rojas, premio de arte del museo de Zúrich, entre muchos otros.

Deporte 

El grado de desarrollo de las infraestructuras deportivas varía radicalmente entre un país y otro y entre las propias regiones de un mismo país. La inversión estatal también es dispar, siendo frecuente que las áreas menos desarrolladas económicamente tengan un menor acceso a dichas infraestructuras que las más desarrolladas. Además, el modelo de deporte aplicado en América del Sur desde finales del  entendido como la comparación de rendimientos corporales para designar campeones u obtener recompensas, ha fracasado ya que aún no se ha logrado la incorporación de la mayor parte de la población a la práctica del deporte de manera regular. América del Sur cuenta con infraestructuras deportivas de gran envergadura, tanto por su aforo, condiciones de infraestructura, servicios, como por su localía, entre los cuales se destacan:
 El Hipódromo de San Isidro, dedicado a las carreras de caballos, cuenta con una capacidad para 100000 personas, siendo el más grande de Sudamérica, ubicado en el Partido de San Isidro, en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 El estadio Monumental del Perú, popularmente conocido como Monumental de la "U" o Monumental de Ate, es el estadio principal del Club Universitario de Deportes. Cuenta con una capacidad o aforo total para 85000 espectadores: 65000 asistentes en sus cuatro tribunas y 20000 personas adicionales en los cuatro edificios de palcos-suites que lo rodean, lo cual lo convierte en el estadio de fútbol más grande de Sudamérica, después de la remodelación hecha al estadio Maracaná que disminuyó su aforo a 78639.
 El estadio Monumental de Caracas es el estadio de béisbol más grande de Sudamérica y el segundo de América Latina, después del Latino de La Habana, Cuba y tiene una capacidad aproximada de 40000 espectadores. 
 El estadio Centenario fue sede de la primera Copa Mundial de Fútbol, es el estadio con mayor capacidad de Uruguay con unos 65235 asientos de capacidad, lo cual lo convierte en uno de los 15 más grandes de América. El 18 de julio de 1983 fue declarado por la FIFA como Monumento Histórico del Fútbol Mundial, siendo la única construcción de esta índole en todo el mundo, se ubica en el Barrio Parque Batlle de Montevideo, Uruguay.
 El estadio Hernando Siles es el estadio más grande de Bolivia con capacidad para 42000 espectadores, se ubica en La Paz a unos 3650 (metros sobre el nivel del mar) lo cual lo convierte en el estadio de alta categoría a mayor altitud en el mundo, a pesar de ser el segundo estadio más alto del mundo detrás del estadio Víctor Agustín Ugarte de Potosí, el cual tiene capacidad de 32000 espectadores y se ubica a unos 
 El autódromo José Carlos Pace se encuentra ubicado en el barrio de Interlagos de São Paulo, Brasil, es el más grande de Sudamérica con capacidad para 60000 espectadores.
 El Goiânia Arena es la infraestructura dedicada al voleibol más grande de Sudamérica con capacidad para 15000 espectadores, se ubica en Goiânia, capital del estado de Goiás en Brasil.
 El Coliseo Cubierto Julio Monsalvo y el Coliseo Amauta, ambos gimnasios construidos para albergar competiciones de baloncesto, localizados en Valledupar, Colombia, y en Lima, Perú, respectivamente, son los más grandes de Sudamérica con 20000 personas de capacidad cada uno.

Fútbol 

En América del Sur se practica una considerable cantidad de disciplinas deportivas, sin embargo, el deporte más popular es el fútbol. La primera edición de la Copa Mundial de Fútbol, la competición internacional más importante del planeta, se celebró en Uruguay en 1930, luego recibiendo los torneos de Brasil en 1950, Chile en 1962, Argentina en 1978 y Brasil 2014. Los países de la región han obtenido el título en 10 de las 22 ediciones disputadas hasta 2022: Brasil (5), Argentina (3) y Uruguay (2), siendo Sudamérica el subcontinente que más copas ha ganado. Además, Argentina ha sido subcampeón en tres ocasiones y Brasil ha alcanzado el puesto de subcampeón en dos ocasiones. El encuentro entre Argentina y Brasil es considerado el Superclásico de las Américas, el más importante en el continente y uno de los más famosos a nivel global. El argentino Diego Armando Maradona y el brasileño Pelé han sido considerados en repetidas ocasiones como los mejores jugadores de la historia.

En un ámbito menor, el fútbol es representado en Sudamérica por la Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol cuyo torneo más importante a nivel selecciones es la Copa América en donde participan las 10 Selecciones nacionales afiliadas a la Conmebol; Uruguay y Argentina poseen 15 y Brasil 9 de estos títulos respectivamente. A nivel de clubes, el torneo más importante es la Copa Libertadores de América (liderada por el club argentino Independiente con siete títulos), siendo esta considerada el 2.º Torneo Continental de Clubes más importante del mundo y el  Torneo de Clubes más importante del Mundo, solo detrás de la Copa Mundial de Clubes de la FIFA y la Champions League de la UEFA. Se celebra paralelamente otro torneo de clubes en la región denominado Copa Sudamericana la cual también posee gran auge a nivel mundial.

Juegos Olímpicos y Juegos Panamericanos 

La Organización Deportiva Suramericana (ODESUR) es la asociación de los comités olímpicos nacionales de los países suramericanos y tiene como misión promocionar los fines y principios del movimiento olímpico. Pese a la gran tradición deportiva, además del prestigio deportivo que varios países de la región tienen a nivel mundial el Comité Olímpico Internacional hasta el momento eligió apenas a Río de Janeiro como sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de 2016 y a Buenos Aires como sede de los Juegos Olímpicos de la Juventud de 2018. Los países con mayor número de medallas en olimpíadas están listados en el cuadro de abajo.

 
El país que más ha participado en los Juegos Olímpicos de verano es Argentina, presente en 23 olimpíadas y entre los demás solo Chile, Uruguay y Brasil han participado de 20 o más ediciones. Los deportes que más han legado medallas a Brasil en los Juegos Olímpicos son yudo, vela, atletismo, natación y voleibol mientras Argentina se ha destacado en boxeo, vela y atletismo y Colombia en halterofilia, ciclismo y boxeo.

Los Juegos Panamericanos son el evento deportivo internacional de América celebrado cada cuatro años en el año anterior a los Juegos Olímpicos de verano. Los países de Sudamérica han sido sede de 7 competiciones continentales: Buenos Aires - 1951, São Paulo - 1963, Cali - 1971, Caracas - 1983, Mar del Plata - 1995, Río de Janeiro, 2007, Lima - 2019 y serán sedes de las próximas 2 ediciones: Santiago de Chile, Barranquilla - 2027. Los números de medallas de los países Sudamericanos en los Juegos Panamericanos están listados abajo.

Los Juegos Suramericanos -celebrados cada cuatro años- son la competición más importante a nivel subcontinental. Esta institución también comenzó a organizar los Juegos Suramericanos de Playa a partir de 2009.

Deportes con animales 

El subcontinente sudamericano es escenario de diversos festejos taurinos, heredados de los colonos españoles. En países como Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador y Perú hay políticas permisivas en cuanto a las corridas de toros, siendo muchas de sus ciudades importantes iconos dentro del Calendario Taurino Internacional, por lo cual son lugares infaltables para los amantes de las corridas de toros, que por motivos climáticos no pueden festejar durante el invierno europeo y acuden a las ciudades suramericanas a participar de ellos.

En otros países se encuentran restringidas las corridas de toros, Chile fue el primer país de América del Sur en prohibirlas en 1822, aunque siguieron realizándose hasta fines del . En 1890 se prohibieron en Uruguay, aunque en 1935 fueron parcialmente revertidas en Colonia, hasta abandonarse finalmente en 1937. Argentina fue el primer país sudamericano en prohibir de manera definitiva las corridas de toros, en 1899. En Brasil fueron prohibidas por Getúlio Vargas en 1934, junto a las riñas de gallos.

Otros deportes 

Otros deportes como el baloncesto, la natación y el voleibol también son populares. Independientemente del nivel de popularidad, algunos países han definido una disciplina como deporte nacional por ley. Tal es el caso de Argentina (pato), Colombia (tejo), Chile (rodeo chileno y rayuela) y Venezuela (coleo).

En cuanto al béisbol, tiene una importancia nula en todo el subcontinente, excepto en Venezuela y la costa caribeña de Colombia, donde el deporte goza de gran popularidad. La mayoría de las naciones suramericanas forman parte de la Confederación Panamericana de Béisbol, pero no todas son de carácter profesional. En Venezuela, el deporte profesional más popular entre la población es el béisbol. Hay cientos de jugadores profesionales venezolanos jugando en ligas de Estados Unidos. El béisbol se ha practicado en este país desde principios del  La era moderna del béisbol y el pico de su popularidad llegó en 1941 cuando Venezuela vence a Cuba y se proclama campeón mundial en la final de la Copa Mundial de Béisbol (mundial de béisbol amateur). La selección venezolana también ganó el torneo en 1944 y 1945 siendo la selección más ganadora después de Cuba y los Estados Unidos. En el Clásico Mundial de Béisbol (mundial de béisbol profesional) del 2009, la selección venezolana alcanzó el tercer lugar. Desde Colombia se han exportado jugadores a las Grandes Ligas como Edgar Rentería, Orlando Cabrera y Ernesto Frieri. En 1947 y 1965 la selección colombiana obtuvo la Copa Mundial de Béisbol.

En otros deportes, algunos países suramericanos se destacan a nivel mundial de manera individual. Por ejemplo, Argentina es una potencia en básquetbol, rugby, tenis, boxeo, polo, hockey sobre césped y hockey sobre patines; Brasil en automovilismo, fútbol playa, fútbol sala, skateboarding y artes marciales mixtas; Chile destaca en el polo, además de destacar en tenis entrando en el podio en las olimpíadas; Colombia en ciclismo y patinaje; Venezuela, una de las máximas potencias del mundo en béisbol, destacando históricamente en deportes como boxeo, halterofilia, ciclismo, kárate y taekwondo. La práctica del tenis se realiza principalmente en Argentina, Chile y Brasil, que han tenido campeones de torneos de Grand Slam. Gustavo Kuerten y Marcelo Ríos han sido los únicos tenistas latinoamericanos en alcanzar el puesto número 1 del ranking. En voleibol, Brasil y Perú son potencias mundiales habiendo ganado medallas olímpicas y campeonatos mundiales para sus naciones.

Celebraciones 

 El carnaval de Barranquilla en la ciudad de la costa del Caribe colombiano, es la fiesta cultural más importante del país e igualmente es considerado por la Unesco Obra Maestra del Patrimonio Oral e Intangible de la Humanidad.
 Carnaval de Negros y Blancos de Pasto es la fiesta más importante del suroccidente colombiano. Declarada Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad en 2009 por la Unesco.
 El Festival Folclórico y Reinado Nacional del Bambuco, es una de las fiestas más importantes del sur de Colombia, especialmente del departamento del Huila, cuya capital, Neiva, es la sede del festival. 
 El carnaval de Riosucio es una celebración que se realiza cada dos años en Riosucio, Caldas, Colombia. Se lleva a cabo alrededor del 6 de enero.
 El carnaval de Río es una celebración popular anual que tiene lugar durante la cuaresma, se caracteriza por la competencia entre las escuelas de samba en el afamado sambódromo. Muchos carnavales se realizan en Brasil, sin embargo el de Río de Janeiro es el más famoso y reconocido a nivel mundial.
 El carnaval de Oruro es una celebración popular realizada cada año en la ciudad boliviana de Oruro. El año 2001 la Unesco declaró al carnaval como Obra Maestra del Patrimonio Oral e Intangible de la Humanidad.
 La Fiesta de la Vendimia. Es la mayor celebración que se realiza en el mundo en honor al vino en la provincia de Mendoza, Argentina.
 Viña del Mar (Chile) es reconocida por el Festival Internacional de la Canción de Viña del Mar, el más grande de su tipo en Hispanoamérica.
 El carnaval de El Callao es el más famoso de Venezuela, por lo que ha sido reconocido, como evento de Interés Turístico Regional y declarado por el Instituto de Patrimonio Cultural de Venezuela como evento de Interés Turístico Nacional en marzo de 1998 y el 1 de diciembre de 2016 fue declarado Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial de la Humanidad por la Unesco.

Véase también 

 Wikiproyecto:América del Sur
 América Latina
 Uso de la palabra americano
 Anexo:Banderas de Sudamérica
 Anexo:Récords mundiales geográficos de América del Sur
 Unasur
 Mercosur
 Cono Sur
 Países bolivarianos
 Comunidad Andina
 Colonización española de América
 Las Guayanas
 Departamento de ultramar
 Imperio del Brasil
 Conmebol

Notas y referencias

Referencias

Notas

Bibliografía 
 Lenguas de América del sur:

Enlaces externos 

 Mapa de América del Sur.
 El clima en Sudamérica.
 Embajadas de Sudamérica.
 Noticias de Sudamérica.
 Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos.

Asia es el continente más grande y poblado de la Tierra. Con 44,6 millones de km² aproximadamente, representa el 8,7% de la superficie de la tierra y el  de las tierras emergidas. En agosto de 2023 tiene alrededor de 4757 millones de habitantes, que representan el 59% de la población mundial. Se extiende sobre la mitad oriental del hemisferio norte, desde el océano Glacial Ártico, al norte, hasta el océano Índico, al sur. Limita, al oeste con los montes Urales (Rusia), y al este con el océano Pacífico. Asia es la cuna de muchas civilizaciones antiguas como la mesopotámica, la india y la china, entre otras.

En la división convencional de continentes, de origen europeo, Asia y Europa aparecen como dos entidades diferentes por razones culturales e históricas. En términos geográficos, forman en realidad un único continente, llamado Eurasia. Además, África está unida a Eurasia por el istmo de Suez por lo que también se puede considerar toda la extensión conjunta de Europa, Asia y África como un único supercontinente, ocasionalmente denominado Eurafrasia, o Afro-Eurasia.

Etimología 
El antónimo «Asia», como topónimo, corresponde a la civilización griega, para la cual Asia eran las tierras al este del mar Egeo, sometidas al Imperio persa, sin otro límite que la India y el mar Eritreo (mar Rojo y océano Índico).

El nombre se origina en 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊, (a-si-wi-ja) Aswia, atestiguado como gentilicio en griego micénico, una entidad política de Anatolia conocida en los documentos hititas como 𒀸𒋗𒉿 Assuwa, derrotada en el siglo XV a. C., pero cuyo nombre subsistió para la región más occidental de Anatolia (por ejemplo Assos). 

Se ha sugerido que Assuwa contiene la raíz egea asis «barroso» o bien sea un derivado del acadio 𒀀𒍮 aṣû, «salir fuera», bien en el sentido de rebelarse, dado que se la menciona como una alianza «contra» el Imperio hitita, o bien en el sentido de «amanecer», si bien este último es problemático al encontrarse al oeste respecto de Hattusas. El mismo vocablo acadio Asu, por otra parte, podría ser el origen del nombre, sin hacer referencia a Assuwa con el sentido de Oriente, así como Europa significaría Occidente.Se necesita mejor fuente. La mitología griega consideraba que el nombre derivaba de Asia, oceánida y esposa de Prometeo.

Geografía 

El concepto europeo de tres continentes (Asia, Europa y África) se remonta a la Antigüedad clásica, y se difundió durante la Edad Media debido a los estudios del erudito del siglo VII Isidoro de Sevilla (véase Mapa de T en O). 

La delimitación entre Asia y África forma el istmo de Suez y el mar Rojo. Los límites entre Asia y Europa, convencionalmente, se considera que discurren entre el mar Egeo, los Dardanelos, el Bósforo, el mar Negro, el Cáucaso, el mar Caspio, el río Ural y los montes Urales.

En el lejano noreste de Asia, Siberia está separada de Norteamérica por el estrecho de Bering. Asia está rodeada por el sur por el océano Índico (específicamente, de oeste a este, el golfo de Adén, el mar Arábigo y la bahía de Bengala), al este por las aguas del océano Pacífico (incluyendo, en contra las manecillas del reloj, el mar de la China Meridional, el mar de la China Oriental, el mar Amarillo, el mar del Japón, el mar de Ojotsk y el mar de Bering) y por el norte por el océano Ártico. Australia (u Oceanía) permanece en el sudeste. El límite geológico y ecológico entre Asia y Oceanía en el sector que separa a la Austronesia de la Australasia es la Línea de Wallace aunque histórica y culturalmente el límite con Oceanía está dado más frecuentemente por la Línea de Weber. (Tras ser una colonia neerlandesa, a mediados del recién pasado , el Estado de núcleo asiático llamado Indonesia heredó territorios de Oceanía como las islas Aru y el oeste de la isla de Nueva Guinea por lo que actualmente los neófitos suelen confundirse con los límites del sudeste asiático y la Oceanía.)

Algunos geógrafos no consideran que Asia y Europa sean continentes separados, ya que no existe una separación física lógica entre ambas. Por ejemplo, Barry Cunliffe, el profesor emérito de arqueología europea de Oxford, sostiene que Europa ha sido geográficamente y culturalmente la "excrecencia occidental del continente asiático". 

Geográficamente, Asia es la mayor parte oriental del continente denominado Eurasia con Europa constituyendo una península noroccidental de la masa continental denominada Eurafrasia: geológicamente, Asia, Europa y África constituyen un territorio único y continuo (salvo el artificial canal de Suez) y comparten una plataforma continental común. La mayor parte de Europa y Asia se asientan en la placa tectónica euroasiática, que bordea a la placa arábiga y la placa India por el sur; la parte más nororiental de Siberia (al este de los Montes Cherski) forma parte de la placa Norteamericana.

En geografía, existen dos escuelas de pensamiento principales. Una escuela obedece a las convenciones históricas y trata Europa y Asia como continentes diferentes, categorizando subregiones dentro de ellos para un análisis más detallado. La otra escuela compara la palabra "continente" con una región geográfica cuando se refiere a Europa, y utiliza el término "región" para describir a Asia en términos de la fisiografía. Dado que, en términos lingüísticos, "continente" implica una masa distinta, cada vez es más común sustituir el término "región" por el de "continente" para evitar el problema de la desambiguación.

Dado el alcance y diversidad de la masa de tierra, a veces no está siquiera claro en qué consiste "Asia" exactamente. Algunas definiciones excluyen Turquía, Oriente Medio, Asia Central y Rusia, y solo consideran que componen Asia el Lejano Oriente, el Sureste Asiático y el subcontinente indio, especialmente en Estados Unidos después de la II Guerra Mundial. 

El término a veces se reduce de forma más estrecha para referirse a la región Asia-Pacífico, que no incluye Oriente Medio, el Sureste Asiático ni Rusia, pero sí incluye las islas del océano Pacífico y puede incluir partes de Australasia u Oceanía, a pesar de que los isleños del Pacífico no son considerados asiáticos.

Relieve 

El relieve de Asia está constituido por una dilatada meseta, en cuyos bordes se levanten fuertes cordilleras y a cuyo pie septentrional se extienden las llanuras que alcanzan el océano Ártico, en tanto que la vertiente sur se disponen, como en Europa, tres dilatadas penínsulas. En el núcleo central de todo el sistema orográfico es la meseta de Pamir o apodada junto a la del Tíbet como «El Techo del Mundo» (3600 m s. n. m. de altura media), de la que en direcciones a amplias cordilleras. Al sureste del «nudo orográfico» del Pamir se extiende otra meseta excelsa, que es la del Tíbet (la meseta más extensa y elevada actual del planeta Tierra), de mayor extensión y altura (5000 m) que el propio Pamir.

Entre las cadenas del sudoeste del Pamir y del Tíbet destacan las siguientes: del este de la meseta nace la cadena de los Kuen-Lun que, con los Tian Shan, encierra la depresión del Tarim; más al sur, las formaciones de Hedin (7000 m) y del Karakorum (8611 m); en los bordes del suroeste y sur del Tíbet se levantan las alturas más importantes de la Tierra en el Himalaya (Everest, 8848 m; Kanchenjunga, 8585 m). La zona montañosa central es, pues, una extensa región de mesetas de gran altura en cuyos bordes se eleva la crestería montañosa. De este modo las mesetas quedan confinadas, a manera de depresiones, en el cerco de sus montañas limitantes, por lo que son desérticas o subdesérticas (faja de desiertos: desierto de Arabia, desierto de Persia, Turquestán o Turán, desierto de Gobi, etc).

Hidrografía 

Por la vertiente septentrional corren hacia el océano Glacial, entre otros, los ríos Obi (4100 km) Yenisei (4750 km) y Lena (4270 km). Es muy interesante el régimen peculiar de estos ríos siberianos: como sus fuentes están a millares de kilómetros, más al sur que su desembocadura, al sobrevenir a flujos de agua en el curso alto, todavía permanece helado el tramo inferior, lo que es causa de grandes inundaciones. 

En el Pacífico desemboca el Amur (en el golfo de Ojotsk), procedentes de los Kuen-lun, vierten sus aguas en el golfo de Pechili y en el mar de la China Oriental, respectivamente; el Sikiang y el Song-ka, que desaguan por Cantón y Hanoi.
De la vertiente meridional del Himalaya descienden hasta el golfo de Bengala y el mar Arábigo, dependencias del océano Índico, el Ganges y el Indo: ambos de una longitud aproximada de unos 3000 km que construyen amplios deltas. 

En Asia occidental, los ríos más notables son el Éufrates (2700 km) y el Tigris (2 000 km) que tienen su arranque en la meseta de Armenia, y fundidos en un solo río al final de su curso, desaguan en el golfo Pérsico, al que poco a poco van colmando con sus aluviones. En las estepas centrales son numerosas las cuencas interiores, cerradas, que desembocan en lagos. Así por ejemplo ocurre con los ríos Sir Daria y Amu Daria, que vierten en el mar de Aral, que, a pesar de su nombre, es un lago.

Geografía política 

Las circunstancias históricas y humanas han marcado la verdadera división entre el Asia Occidental desde la India hacia el oeste y el Asia Oriental conocida como el Lejano Oriente, desde la India hacia el este.
Geográficamente, gran parte de Rusia pertenece al norte de Asia (el resto está en Europa). La mayor parte de Turquía está en Asia (el resto en Europa). Una pequeña parte de Egipto, la península del Sinaí, pertenece a Asia Occidental (la mayor parte está en África).

Organizaciones internacionales y regionales 
El continente asiático está plenamente integrado en las organizaciones internacionales. Todos los países asiáticos salvo Taiwán, Palestina y algunos con un reconocimiento muy limitado (Abjasia, Osetia del Sur, Artsaj), pertenecen a la ONU, contando entre sus fundadores con la República de China (sustituida por la RP China en 1971) o Arabia Saudí. Recientemente, la Organización de las Naciones Unidas aceptó al Estado de Palestina como Estado observador (2012). Previamente, en 1974, le había otorgado la condición de observadora a la Organización para la Liberación de Palestina como representante del pueblo palestino.

A nivel económico los estados asiáticos forman parte del Fondo Monetario Internacional (salvo Corea del Norte), aunque algunos no cumplen con el artículo VIII como son Siria, Irak, Turkmenistán, Afganistán, Bután, Birmania y Laos. En el caso de la Organización Mundial del Comercio se integran todos salvo Turkmenistán y Corea del Norte, además de países como Irán, Uzbekistán, Iraq, Siria, Bután o Timor Oriental que tienen el estatus de observadores. Dentro del continente tiene un papel destacado la OPEP, pues de los trece países miembros seis son asiáticos, concretamente del Golfo Pérsico, como Arabia Saudí, Kuwait, Iraq, Irán, Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Catar.

En materia de justicia y seguridad todos los países asiáticos están integrados en la INTERPOL, salvo Corea del Norte. Por otro lado en el caso de la Corte Penal Internacional veintiún países no han firmado ni ratificado el Estatuto de Roma. Mientras que son diez los firmantes que aún no lo han ratificado. En el resto de países se acepta la jurisdicción del Corte Penal Internacional para juzgar casos de crímenes contra la humanidad.

En caso del Movimiento de Países No Alineados (1961) son 38 naciones asiáticas las que forman parte de esta organización en favor de la neutralidad.

Existen otras organizaciones de tipo transcontinental como la OCDE en 1961 (países americanos, europeos y asiáticos) a la que se adhirieron países como Japón (1964), Corea del Sur (1996) o Israel (2010) o el Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia-Pacífico (1989) que aglutina a 12 países asiáticos (incluidas las dos Chinas) más Rusia, Estados Unidos, Canadá, México, Perú y Chile por América; y Nueva Zelanda, Australia y Papúa Nueva Guinea por Oceanía. Así mismo, en este ámbito transcontinental destaca el Plan Colombo (1950) para fomentar el desarrollo económico y social de 27 países (22 asiáticos). Finalmente la Asociación ribereña del Océano Índico para la cooperación regional (1997) que engloba países asiáticos, africanos más Australia.

A nivel regional no existen ninguna organización al mismo nivel que la Unión Europea, pero si muchos bloques regionales que buscan favorecer la integración de sus miembros sobre todo a nivel económico. En el año 2002 se fundó Diálogo para la Cooperación Asiática (ACD) con el objetivo de coordinar a nivel continental las distintas organizaciones políticas y económicas de Asia.

Desde 2005 se vienen realizando cumbres de jefes de Estado dentro de la Cumbre de Asia Oriental (más Estados Unidos y Rusia) con el objetivo de fomentar las relaciones de paz y la estabilidad de las regiones asiáticas. Existen otras dos organizaciones que buscan la cooperación pacífica, una entre continentes, como Cumbre Asia-Europa (ASEM) y otra a nivel regional como Secretaría para la Cooperación Trilateral (2011) entre Japón, la República Popular de China y Corea del Sur.

Destacan dos instituciones financieras internacionales que compiten entre sí. Por un lado el Banco Asiático de Desarrollo (1966), con 48 países regionales y 19 no regionales, donde Estados Unidos y Japón son los máximos accionistas y otro el Banco Asiático de Inversión en Infraestructura, a iniciativa de la República Popular de China en 2014, que engloba a 31 estados asiáticos y algunos europeos como España, Alemania o Francia.

La organización regional más importante y más antigua es la Asociación de Naciones del Sudeste Asiático (1967) que tiene como objetivos acelerar el crecimiento económico, fomentar la paz y la estabilidad regional. También destaca la Asociación Sudasiática para la Cooperación Regional (1985) entre cuyos miembros destacan India o Pakistán. Además de esta dos organizaciones, dentro de la ACD está también el Consejo de Cooperación para los Estados Árabes del Golfo (1981) y la Unión Económica Euroasiática (2015) entre Rusia y algunas de las repúblicas exsoviéticas de Asia Central.

Existen otras organismos de tipo regional como la Organización de Cooperación de Shanghái (1996) de tipo militar y que incluye a potencias nucleares como la República Popular de China y Rusia, y en 2017 se unieron India y Pakistán. La Organización de Cooperación Económica (1985) de países de Asia Central o Consejo de Cooperación de los Estados de Habla Túrquica (2009).

Rusia tienen una fuerte influencia en países asiáticos de la antigua órbita soviética, de ello se desprende la creación de la Comunidad de Estados Independientes (1992) o la alianza de tipo militar de la Organización del Tratado de la Seguridad Colectiva (1994).

En la región también destaca la Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) que engloba países del Golfo de Bengala, la Comisión del Río Mekong en la península de Indochina o la Cooperación Mekong-Ganges.

Estados soberanos miembros de la ONU 

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  actualizados 1 junio de 2016.

Estados con reconocimiento limitado 
Recoge los estados europeos con una independencia de facto como naciones con un limitado reconocimiento (o irreconocimiento) internacional, y ninguno es miembro de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas. El contencioso entre RP China y la República de China se remonta al final de la guerra civil china en 1949, los aliados occidentales se negaron a reconocer al gobierno comunista hasta 1971 cuando la República Popular de China ocupó su asiento en la ONU. La República de China esta reconocida por 21 estados.
Así mismo, el conflicto árabe-israelí, iniciado en 1948, dio como resultado un conflicto por la región de Palestina entre Israel y la Autoridad palestina. Palestina esta reconocida por 136 países y es miembro observador de la ONU.

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  actualizados 1 junio de 2016.

Dependencias 

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  actualizados 1 junio de 2016.

Regiones administrativas especiales 

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  actualizados 1 junio de 2016.

Moneda

Historia 

Mientras que África es considerada generalmente como el lugar de nacimiento de la humanidad, se cree que Asia fue la cuna de la civilización, aunque esta en realidad no fue única y uniforme: la gran extensión del continente asiático hizo casi inevitable que surgieran varias culturas de manera independiente.

Los principales reinos antiguos en la interacción cultural como el gran emperador de Ciro II el Grande, que unificó a los pueblos de origen iraní en el Reino de Persia. Después la creación del Imperio persa aqueménida (550 a. C.-330 a. C. aproximadamente), que extendió la cultura persa desde el mar Mediterráneo hasta el río Indo. La expansión india, la difusión de la civilización china, el dominio musulmán (conocido como el auge y expansión del islam) y mongol, la influencia china y mongola. Además los primeros inicios del dominio colonial de las grandes potencias europeas, como la exploración y colonización realizadas primeramente por España y Portugal, como la llegada de Fernando de Magallanes en 1521 quien descubrió la parte oriental del continente asiático seguido después por Juan Sebastián Elcano, y más tarde colonizadas por Francia, Gran Bretaña, Países Bajos y Rusia.

En la Edad Moderna, Asia constituyó el continente económicamente más productivo. Hacia 1500, Oriente Medio, India y China concentraban cerca del 60 % de la producción mundial, y poco antes de 1800 el 80 % de la misma. Durante el siglo XVIII, los textiles de India se exportaban extensivamente a Francia e Inglaterra. Y gran cantidad de productos industriales chinos estaban presentes tanto en la América colonial desde el siglo XVII como en Europa. Se estima que un 75 % de la plata extraída por los españoles en América acabó en China a cambio de la compra de productos manufacturados en China. La Revolución Industrial europea alteró este equilibrio, y mediante conquista militar gran parte de Asia pasó a estar controlada por potencias europeas.

Tras llegar a la independencia de los países colonizados de sus antiguas metropólis mediante la adopción de una respuesta al imperialismo propia en cada país, Asia vería el mantenimiento de esa independencia, la aparición de conflictos, la intensificación del nacionalismo, la confrontación ideológica y la expansión económica.

Colonización de Asia por Homo sapiens 
Un modelo común para la colonización de Asia, asume que esta se dio a través de varios eventos migratorios desde África y Oriente Medio. Una primera migración temprana a través de la costa sur del continente dio origen a ciertas poblaciones actuales de Oceanía como los onge de las islas Andamán, mientras que una migración posterior hacia el Norte dio origen a europeos orientales y asiáticos.

El hallazgo del Hombre de Ust’-Ishim en Siberia y el estudio de su genoma han permitido conocer nuevos datos sobre los procesos migratorios que se produjeron hacia este continente. El hecho de que el individuo de Ust'-Ishim no esté más estrechamente relacionado con los onge de las islas Andamán (descendientes de la primera migración costera) que con los actuales asiáticos orientales o nativos americanos (descendientes de la migración hacia el Norte), muestra que al menos otro grupo, al cual pertenecieron los ancestros del individuo de Ust’-Ishim, colonizaron Asia antes de 45 000 BP.

Además, el individuo probablemente vivió durante un periodo cálido (Interestadio de Groenlandia 12), que ha sido propuesto como tiempo de expansión por Eurasia.
Este individuo podría entonces representar una radiación humana temprana hacia Europa y Asia Central que pudo haber fracasado en cuanto a la presencia de descendientes en las poblaciones actuales.

Demografía 

La población del continente asiático se estima en más de 4,463 millones de habitantes, concentrándose en la costa del mar de la China y en la península indostánica, en regiones que llegan a alcanzar densidades de mil habitantes por kilómetro cuadrado. Aunque en los últimos lustros su crecimiento ha disminuido, todavía en países del Medio Oriente se mantienen importantes tasas de crecimiento demográfico; en general cerca del 70% de los nacimientos en el mundo se producen en Asia de manera que el envejecimiento no es tan progresivo. Además, cuenta con una alta proporción poblacional cuya edad es inferior a los 30 años y en la que los ancianos son un porcentaje relativamente minoritario.

Características de la población 
La población asiática presenta diferentes características, no es homogénea entre sí; algunos rasgos comunes en ciertas zonas de Asia son los ojos rasgados (en el Lejano Oriente desde Siberia, China, Vietnam, la península de Corea, las islas de Taiwán, Japón, el archipiélago malayo y filipino). Dentro de ese grupo étnico se destacan los nativos malayos, de piel morena u oscura que se dividen en diferentes ramas, ya que de ellos descienden los tagalos, visayos, iloacanes, polinesios, melanesios, micronesios, etc. Las etnias de fenotipo caucásico comprenden el Medio y Próximo Oriente. Entre ellas se destacan los árabes, armenios, judíos, persas, asirios, turcos, rusos, etc. Existen también algunas etnias no originarias de Asia, provenientes de Europa y África, producto de la migración.

Población por sexo 
En la mayor parte de los países del continente asiático tanto del Lejano Oriente como Oriente Medio, predominan los hombres, excepto en Vietnam, Laos, Camboya, Tailandia, Birmania, Líbano, Rusia, Kazajistán, Armenia, Sri Lanka entre otros, donde predominan las mujeres. En Israel y Japón, los hombres menores de 65 años son la mayoría de la población, no así en Filipinas, donde las mujeres entre 15 y 65 años (y de ahí en adelante) son mayoría. En Rusia el alto número de mujeres que tiene se debe a las guerras que atravesó el país, lo que ha hecho que los varones hayan ido disminuyendo como en otros países de Europa Oriental, así como otros casos también en Europa y Asia.

Los más de 4200 millones de habitantes, suponen casi el 61% de la población mundial. Es, además, el continente más densamente poblado.

Lenguas de Asia 

Las lenguas que se hablan en el continente asiático son numerosas. Las lenguas autóctonas de Asia, se clasifican en unas doce grandes familias de lenguas y un número mayor de pequeñas familias, lenguas aisladas o de difícil clasificación. Las principales familias de lenguas por número de hablantes en Asia son:
 Lenguas indoeuropeas, habladas principalmente en Rusia, Irán, Pakistán, India y Bangladesh.
 Lenguas sinotibetanas, habladas especialmente en Extremo Oriente y en el Sudeste Asiático.
 Lenguas austronesias, habladas en Indonesia, el Sureste asiático continental y Filipinas.
 Lenguas dravídicas, hablads principalmene en el sur de la India y Sri Lanka.
 Lenguas túrquicas, habladas en Turquía, el centro de Asia y numerosos enclaves en toda Asia.
 Lenguas austroasiáticas, habladas desde algunos enclaves en la India, por todo el Sureste asiático, Birmania, Laos, Camboya y Vietnam.
 Lenguas kra-dai, habladas principalmente en Tailandia, Birmania y China.
Dos lenguas usualmente consideradas lenguas aisladas, el japonés y el coreano se acercan en número de hablantes a algunas de estas familias.

Lenguas nativas 

Entre ellas, la más hablada es el chino o mandarín, seguido del hindi, el chino cantonés, el urdu, el árabe y el tamil. Entre otras, destacan como lenguas oficiales y nativas: el japonés, el bahasa indonesio, el coreano, turco, hebreo, persa, birmano, tailandés, tagalo, mongol, armenio, tibetano y el tetun.

Lenguas europeas 
Debido a la colonización europea en diferentes países asiáticos, algunos idiomas europeos son también de uso habitual. Por ejemplo el inglés es utilizado como lengua oficial, asociada y comercial en la India, Malasia, Filipinas, Singapur, Birmania, Sri Lanka, Pakistán, Líbano, Bangladés, Israel, Maldivas, Brunéi, Emiratos Árabes Unidos, la región china de Hong Kong, el Territorio Británico del Océano Índico, entre otros. El francés se utiliza en las naciones de la península de Indochina como Camboya, Laos y Vietnam, parte de la India (en el territorio de Puducherry) y en Líbano como segunda lengua oficial junto con el árabe, la otra lengua oficial.

La lengua española es hablada por minorías en las Filipinas, aunque del español en esta parte de la región oriental del Sudeste Asiático, ha derivado una lengua criolla como el chabacano. También es hablado en determinados sectores de las Filipinas, así como al norte del estado de Sabah en Malasia, donde está reconocido como lengua oficial junto con el malayo y el inglés. Además, es hablado en la ciudad de Ternate en Indonesia. También el español es hablado por las comunidades sefardíes en oriente próximo, principalmente en países como Israel y zonas de Turquía, al igual que en algunos sectores de Palestina y Líbano. Además, del español ha derivado, también, un dialecto hablado por los sefarditas como el judeoespañol o ladino y que está presente también en oriente próximo.

El griego es hablado en la isla de Chipre junto con el turco. 

El portugués es lengua oficial junto con el tetun en Timor Oriental y se habla también en algunos sectores de la India como Goa, Dadra y Nagar Haveli y Damán y Diu, en el estado de Malaca en Malasia y en la región china de Macao.

Economía

Antigüedad, Edad media y Edad Moderna 
Durante la dinastía Han la población de China era de unos 60 millones de habitantes y se extendía sobre unos 6 millones de km², mientras que el Imperio romano tenía una unos 55 millones que se extendía sobre un área de unos 4,5 millones de km². Por la misma época la época la India, que no era en ese entonces un estado unificado tendría unos 60 millones de habitantes, con una extensión inferior a los 4 millones de km². El mayor peso demográfico de Asia, hizo que sólo hasta bien entrado el siglo XIX la economía europea no tuviera un peso sustancial dentro de la economía mundial, que durante milenios estuvo dominada por las poblaciones de Asia.

Así, tanto durante la Edad Media, como durante la Edad Moderna, la economía asiática fue muy superior a la del resto del mundo. Durante la Edad Moderna, Asia aún siguió siendo el continente económicamente más productivo. Hacia 1500, Oriente Medio, India y China concentraban cerca del 60 % de la producción mundial, y poco antes de 1800, el 80 %. Durante el , los textiles de India se exportaban extensivamente a Francia e Inglaterra. Y gran cantidad de productos industriales chinos estaban presentes, tanto en la América colonial desde el , como en Europa. Se estima que un 75 % de la plata extraída por los españoles en América acabó en China a cambio de la compra de productos manufacturados en China. La revolución industrial europea alteró este equilibrio, y mediante conquista militar gran parte de Asia y África pasaron a estar controladas por potencias europeas, durante la segunda y tercera oleadas de la Expansión europea.

Edad contemporánea 

Asia es el mayor productor global de alimentos, pero también el mayor consumidor y tiene las mayores reservas de la mayoría de los minerales. Asia es el continente que concentra el mayor crecimiento económico, consume la mayoría del crédito global, tiene un 80 % del crecimiento económico mundial, también el mayor crecimiento de inversión en ciencia y tecnología, inversión en educación, y en el sector económico. La cooperación entre el gobierno, las industrias y el dominio de la tecnología han llevado a Asia al éxito económico. El PIB (PPA) estimado para 2022 fue de $72.7 billones de dólares, un 48,1 % del PIB (PPA) mundial. Aunque el PIB nominal es $39 billones, por lo que, para el mismo año, el PIB per cápita era $8 890.

En minería, el continente tiene una gran producción de oro (principalmente en China, Rusia, Indonesia, Kazajistán y Uzbekistán); plata (principalmente en China y Rusia); cobre (principalmente en China, Rusia y Kazajistán); platino (Rusia); mineral de hierro (China, India, Rusia, Kazajistán y Turquía); zinc (China, India, Kazajistán y Rusia); molibdeno (China, Armenia, Irán, Rusia, Mongolia y Turquía); litio (China); plomo (China, Rusia, India, Turquía, Tayikistán y Kazajistán); bauxita (China, India, Indonesia, Kazajistán, Rusia, Vietnam y Malasia); estaño (China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malasia, Rusia y Laos); manganeso (China, India, Myanmar, Malasia, Vietnam, Kazajistán y Georgia);  mercurio (China, Tayikistán y Kirguistán); antimonio (China, Rusia, Tayikistán, Myanmar, Turquía, Irán, Vietnam, Kazajistán y Laos); niquel (Indonesia, Filipinas, Rusia y China); renio (Corea del Sur, China, Kazajistán, Uzbekistán y Armenia); yodo (Japón, Turkmenistán, Azerbaiyán, Indonesia y Rusia), otros.
En la producción de petróleo, el continente tenía 14 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2020: Rusia (segundo), Arabia Saudita (tercero), Irak (quinto), China (sexto), Emiratos Árabes Unidos (séptimo), Irán (9º), Kuwait (10º), Kazajistán (12º), Qatar (15º), Omán (18º), Indonesia (21º), Azerbaiyán (22º), India (23º) y Malasia (25º).

En la producción de gas natural, el continente tenía 18 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2015: Rusia (2º), Irán (3º), Qatar (4º), China (6º), Arabia Saudita (8º), Indonesia (9º), Turkmenistán (10º), Malasia (13º), Emiratos Árabes Unidos (14º), Uzbekistán (15º), Tailandia (22º), Pakistán (23º), Omán (24º), Azerbaiyán (25º), India (26º), Bangladés (27º), Kazajistán (28º) y Baréin (30º).

En la producción de carbón, el continente tenía 10 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2018: China (1°), India (2°), Indonesia (5°), Rusia (6°), Kazajistán (10°), Turquía (11°), Mongolia (14°), Vietnam (18°), Tailandia (23°) y Filipinas (28°).

En la producción de  vehículos, el continente tenía 10 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2020: China (1°), Japón (3°), Corea del Sur (5°), India (6°), Rusia (10°), Tailandia (11°), Turquía (14°), Irán (18°), Indonesia (20°) y Malasia (23°).

En la producción de acero, el continente tenía 12 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2019: China (1°), India (2°), Japón (3°), Rusia (5°), Corea del Sur (6°), Turquía (8º), Irán (10º), Taiwán (12º), Vietnam (14º), Bangladés (20º), Indonesia (25º) y Arabia Saudita (29º).

Desde 2004 la UE es el principal socio comercial de China, que a su vez es el segundo socio comercial de la organización europea.

En 2005, China se convirtió en la sexta economía mundial. Con un crecimiento oficial del 9,5 % anual, la economía china está considerada como la de mayor crecimiento del planeta, manteniendo una tasa media superior al 8% desde los años 1980.

También se destaca el Asia meridional con crecimientos anuales de 8 %.

Muchas zonas de Asia están económicamente subdesarrolladas. Un elevado porcentaje de la población del continente se dedica a la agricultura, pese a lo cual gran parte de la actividad agrícola se caracteriza por cosechas y productividad laboral relativamente bajas. En conjunto, una minoría de los asiáticos está empleada en actividades de manufactura; en muchas ocasiones los centros urbanos y las industrias no se han integrado adecuadamente con el sector rural. Los sistemas de transporte locales e internacionales de los países asiáticos todavía están poco desarrollados en muchas zonas, pero han mejorado notablemente en los últimos años.

Sin embargo, hay un creciente número de excepciones. Japón ha modernizado con éxito su economía, al igual que Israel, Corea del Sur, Singapur, Hong Kong y, en menor grado, Indonesia, Malasia, Tailandia, Turquía y los estados petrolíferos de la península arábiga. En general han conseguido tasas de crecimiento económico que superan el 5% anual, un porcentaje que se aleja de sus tasas de crecimiento demográfico. En cambio, aunque los países del suroeste de Asia han hecho progresos, la distribución de los ingresos ha quedado más concentrada que en otros países. Estimulada por las inversiones extranjeras a gran escala, la rápida privatización y la industrialización, la República Popular China consiguió el crecimiento más rápido de Asia a principios de la década de 1990. Se estima que la economía china creció un 12% en 1992, aunque los niveles de renta per cápita permanecieron relativamente bajos. Vietnam y Laos, dos de los países más pobres de Asia, están empezando a conseguir un significativo crecimiento económico y a captar un notable nivel de inversión extranjera.

La crisis financiera asiática de 1997 

En julio de 1997, la moneda tailandesa (el baht) se devaluó, contradiciendo las repetidas declaraciones de las autoridades gubernamentales de que eso no ocurriría. En cuestión de días, las monedas de Indonesia, Filipinas y Malasia fueron fuertemente atacadas y comenzaron a derrumbarse. Para fines de octubre, el won de Corea del Sur se colapsó y la crisis se generalizó en el continente asiático.

Puede sonar paradójico que apenas unos cuantos meses antes de las crisis estas economías eran vistas como sólidas y estables, con muy buen futuro económico. Incluso, días antes de las crisis, los analistas financieros y económicos parecían no tener la mínima noción de lo que pasaría. El hecho de que ambas economías formaran parte del grupo de las economías más vigiladas por la comunidad financiera internacional hace a estas dos características todavía más insólitas.

El hecho es que la mayoría de las economías de Asia Oriental sufrió una severa recesión en 1998; el PIB se desplomó: 14 % en Indonesia, 9 % en Tailandia, 7% en Malasia, 6 % en Corea, 5 % en Hong Kong y 3 % en Japón.Turismo
Con el creciente turismo regional con el dominio de los visitantes chinos, MasterCard ha publicado el Índice de Ciudades de Destino Global 2019 con 13 de 20 dominados por las ciudades de la región de Asia y el Pacífico y también por primera vez una ciudad de un país de Asia (Bangkok) en el primer puesto con 22.78 visitantes internacionales más. Dubái (4 °), Singapur (5 °), Kuala Lumpur (6 °), Estambul (8 °), Tokio (9 °), Seúl (11 °), Osaka (12 °), La Meca (13 °), Phuket (14 °), Pattaya (15 °), Bali (19), Hong Kong (20).

Religión 

Asia es un continente de gran riqueza espiritual y de diametral importancia religiosa ya que las religiones más practicadas del mundo surgieron en Asia, siendo cuna de las cinco grandes religiones mundiales – el judaísmo, el cristianismo, el islam, el budismo y el hinduismo. Debido a ello, países y Estados asiáticos como Israel y Palestina (lugares sagrados para judíos, cristianos y musulmanes), Arabia Saudita (donde se encuentran las dos ciudades más sagradas para los musulmanes) e India (donde se encuentran los lugares santos de hindúes y budistas), reciben millones de peregrinos de todo el mundo.

Otras importantes religiones surgidas en Asia son el bahaísmo (Irán), el confucianismo (China), el jainismo (India), el sijismo (India), el taoísmo (China), el zoroastrismo (Irán) y el sintoísmo (Japón).

Entre diferentes pueblos asiáticos también se practica el animismo y el chamanismo, desde los seguidores del culto Bön en Tíbet, y la religión tradicional china, hasta las creencias animistas de diferentes tribus indígenas de todo el continente asiático.

La religión mayoritaria de Asia es el budismo, practicado principalmente en el Este y Sudeste Asiático, aunque en muchos países es practicado de forma sincrética al lado de otra religión nacional (por ejemplo, el taoísmo, confucianismo y la religión tradicional china en China).
De cerca le sigue el islam predominante en el Medio Oriente y el Asia Central (desde la península del Sinaí hasta Pakistán) más Malasia e Indonesia. El hinduismo es otra de las grandes religiones de Asia aunque más geográficamente concentrada en el subcontinente indio, es mayoritario solo en India y Nepal, pero con minorías en muchos países asiáticos.

El judaísmo es mayoritario en Israel (único país donde es mayoría en el mundo), y el cristianismo es mayoritario en Filipinas y Timor Oriental, y tiene un alto porcentaje en Corea del Sur y Armenia pero tiene importantes minorías en Asia, por ejemplo en Líbano, Siria, Turquía e Israel.

A diferencia de otros continentes, la religión en Asia es de gran importancia y en muchos países es vista como parte de la identidad étnica, lo que ha motivado más de un conflicto étnico, como lo son el conflicto árabe-israelí, el enfrentamiento entre hindúes y musulmanes en India, Pakistán y Bangladés, entre hindúes y budistas en Sri Lanka, entre musulmanes y budistas en Indonesia, entre musulmanes y cristianos en Líbano y entre hindúes y sikhs en India.

Deportes 

En el continente se practican diferentes estilos deportivos, aunque en el Lejano Oriente, los más populares son las artes marciales como el Judo, el Karate, el Aikido, el Kenjutsu, el Bojutsu, el Ninjutsu, el Kenpō, entre otros originarios de Japón. El Taichi, el Kung-fu, el Choy Lee Fut, el Shaolin, entre otros originarios de la China. El Taekwondo, el Hapkido, el Taekkyon, el Tangsudo, entre otros en Corea. El Eskrima, el Kali filipino y otros son originarios de Filipinas. Además también en el continente se han hecho famosos otros deportes como el Béisbol, Fútbol, Baloncesto, Natación, Esgrima, Tenis, Voleibol, etc...

Ciertos países asiáticos, agrupados a través del Consejo Olímpico de Asia, han destacado en diferentes torneos a nivel continental o internacional, como los Juegos Asiáticos celebrados a partir de 1951 en diferentes países del continente; los Juegos de la Mancomunidad; los Juegos de la Francofonía; Filipinas y Timor Oriental han participado en uno de los eventos deportivos de los Juegos Iberoamericanos.

Japón fue el primer país del continente en inaugurar los Juegos Olímpicos como Tokio 1964. También han sido sede olímpica Corea del Sur en Seúl 1988 y China en Pekín 2008. Además por primera vez dos países juntos, Japón y Corea del Sur, fueron los anfitriones de la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2002. También será Catar sede de la Copa Mundial de Fútbol de 2022. Yao Ming es el mejor deportista de la historia china juega en la NBA en los Houston Rockets, también Ji Sung Park uno de los mejores futbolistas sur-coreano que juega al fútbol. Japón es el seleccionado que más veces ha conquistado la Copa Asiática, en cuatro ocasiones.

También cabe destacar que Australia, a pesar de estar geográficamente ubicada en Oceanía, forma parte desde 2006 de la confederación de Asia. Con la obtención de la Copa Asiática 2015 se convirtió en la primera selección del mundo en lograr el curioso récord de ser el único país campeón de dos continentes distintos, ya que anteriormente conquistó la Copa de las Naciones de la OFC en cuatro ocasiones.

Véase también 

 División política de Asia
 :Categoría:Cultura de Asia
 Orientalismo
 Gastronomía de Asia
 Cuatro tigres asiáticos
 América
 Oceanía

Notas y referencias 

Asia

Un año, año terrestre, año sideral, sidéreo o año juliano (símbolo: a) se refiere al tiempo orbital del planeta Tierra, es decir, al tiempo que tarda dicho planeta en dar una vuelta completa alrededor del Sol. El término año también se usa para referirse al periodo orbital de cualquier planeta y, por extensión, se aplica a otros ciclos orbitales.

Un año natural es una aproximación al número de días del período orbital de la Tierra, tal y como se cuenta en un determinado calendario. El calendario gregoriano, o calendario moderno, presenta su año natural como un año común de 365 días o como un año bisiesto de 366 días, al igual que los  calendarios julianos; "véase" abajo. Para el calendario gregoriano, la duración media del año civil (el año medio) a lo largo del ciclo bisiesto completo de 400 años es de 365.2425 días. La norma ISO ISO 80000-3, Anexo C, admite el símbolo a (del latín annus) para representar un año de 365 o 366 días. En inglés, se suelen utilizar las abreviaturas y y yr.

En astronomía, el año juliano es una unidad de tiempo; se define como 365.25 días de exactamente 86 400 segundos (unidad base del SI), que suman exactamente 31 557 600 segundos en el año astronómico juliano.

La palabra año también se utiliza para periodos vagamente asociados con el calendario o el año astronómico, pero no idénticos a ellos, como el año estacional, el año fiscal, el Año escolar, etc. Del mismo modo, año puede significar el período orbital de cualquier planeta; por ejemplo, un  año marciano y un  año venusiano son ejemplos del tiempo que tarda un planeta en transitar una órbita completa. El término también puede usarse en referencia a cualquier período o ciclo largo, como el Gran Año.

Etimología
El inglés year (vía sajón occidental ġēar (), anglosajones ġēr) continúa Protogermánico *jǣran (*jē₁ran). Los cognados son alemán Jahr, Alto alemán antiguo jār, nórdico antiguo ár y Gótica [:wikt:𐌾𐌴𐍂|jer]], del sustantivo  protoindoeuropeo *yeh₁r-om "año, estación". Los cognados que también descienden del mismo sustantivo protoindoeuropeo (con variación en el sufijo ablaut) son el  avestano yārǝ "año", griego  () "año, estación, período de tiempo" (de donde "hora"), Eslavo eclesiástico antiguo jarŭ, y latín hornus "de este año". 

Latín  (un sustantivo masculino de  2ª declinación;  es el acusativo singular;  es genitivo singular y nominativo plural;  el dativo y ablativo singular) procede de un sustantivo de la  lengua protoindoeuropea-PIE *h₂et-no-, que también dio lugar al gótico aþn "año" (solo se atestigua el dativo plural aþnam).

Aunque la mayoría de las lenguas tratan la palabra como temático *yeh₁r-o-, hay pruebas de una derivación original con un sufijo *-r/n, *yeh₁-ro-. Ambas palabras indoeuropeas para año, *yeh₁-ro- y *h₂et-no-, derivarían entonces de raíces verbales que significan "ir, moverse", *h₁ey- y *h₂et-, respectivamente (compárese sánscrito védico éti "va", atasi "vas, vagas"). Varias palabras inglesas derivan del latín , como anual, annuity, aniversario, etc.; per annum significa "cada año",  significa "en el año del Señor".

La palabra griega para "año", , es cognada del latín vetus "viejo", de la palabra PIE *wetos- "año", también conservada en este significado en sánscrito. vat-sa-ras "año" y vat-sa- "yearling (calf)", este último también reflejado en el latín [:wikt:vitulus|vitulus]] "becerro", inglés wether "carnero" (inglés antiguo weðer, gótico wiþrus "cordero").

En algunas lenguas, es común contar los años haciendo referencia a una estación, como en "veranos", o "inviernos", o "cosechas". Algunos ejemplos son el chino 年 "año", originalmente 秂, un compuesto ideográfico de una persona que lleva un haz de trigo que denota "cosecha". El eslavo además de [:wikt:Reconstrucción:Protoeslavo/godъ|godŭ] "período de tiempo; año" utiliza [:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Slavic/lěto|lěto] "verano; año".

Intercalación 
Los años astronómicos no tienen un número entero de días o meses lunares. Cualquier calendario que siga a un año astronómico debe tener un sistema de intercalación como los años bisiestos.

Calendario juliano 
En el calendario juliano, la duración media de un año es de 365,25 días. En un año no bisiesto, hay 365 días, en un año bisiesto hay 366 días. Un año bisiesto ocurre cada cuatro años, o año bisiesto, durante el cual un día bisiesto es intercalado en el mes de febrero. El nombre "Día bisiesto" se aplica al día añadido.

El Calendario juliano revisado, propuesto en 1923 y utilizado en algunas  Iglesias ortodoxas orientales
tiene 218 años bisiestos cada 900 años, con una duración media del año de 365,242 222 2 días, cercana a la duración del año tropical medio, 365,242 19 días (error relativo de 9-10-8).
En el año 2800 d. C., los calendarios gregoriano y juliano revisado comenzarán a diferir en un día de calendario.

Calendario gregoriano
El calendario gregoriano intenta que el  equinoccio hacia el norte caiga en el 21 de marzo o poco antes, por lo que sigue el año del equinoccio hacia el norte, o año tropical. Dado que 97 de los 400 años son bisiestos, la duración media del año del calendario gregoriano es de 365,242 días; con un error relativo inferior a una ppm (8-10-7) con respecto a la duración actual del año tropical medio 365,242 días y aún más cerca del actual año del equinoccio de marzo de 365,242 días que pretende igualar. Se estima que para el año 4000 de nuestra era, el equinoccio hacia el norte se retrasará un día en el calendario gregoriano, no por esta diferencia, sino por la ralentización de la rotación de la Tierra y el consiguiente alargamiento del día.

Otros calendarios

Históricamente, los calendarios lunisolares intercalaban  meses bisiestos enteros de forma observacional. Los calendarios lunisolares han caído en desuso, excepto por razones litúrgicas (calendario hebreo, varios calendarios hindúes).

Una adaptación moderna del histórico calendario Jalali, conocida como  calendario Solar Hijri (1925), es un calendario solar puramente con un patrón irregular de días bisiestos basado en la observación (o en el cálculo astronómico), cuyo objetivo es situar el año nuevo (Nouruz) en el día del equinoxiovernal (para el huso horario de Teherán), en lugar de utilizar un sistema algorítmico de años bisiestos.

Cómputo 

La sencillez de la definición oculta la complejidad de su cómputo.

Se consideran diversos años según la referencia elegida para determinar su duración:

El año o año sidéreo cuando:
 El tiempo que trascurre entre dos pasos consecutivos de la Tierra por un mismo punto de su órbita. Generalmente usado por los astrónomos, es la medida más precisa de un año.
Referencia: las estrellas.
Duración: 366.255 936 días siderales, o 365.256 363 004 días solares medios, 365 días 6 horas 9 minutos 9.76 segundos, es decir, menos medio (1/2) día solar.

El año trópico, año solar o año tropical cuando:

 El tiempo transcurrido entre dos pasos sucesivos del Sol por el equinoccio medio. En otras palabras, tiempo de primavera a primavera por ejemplo. Referencia: equinoccio vernal. Las civilizaciones Mesopotámica y Egipcia lograron unos valores muy aproximados al real para el año trópico, sobre todo considerando la escasez de medios de la época.
 Duración: 365.242 190 402 días solares medios, 365 d 5 h 48 m 45.22 s.

Año de calendario cuando:
 El número de días completos considerados como un año a efectos civiles o religiosos. Para que se ajuste a los ciclos astronómicos, que importan fracciones de día, este cómputo de tiempo varía cada año.

Otras definiciones 
En astronomía y astrofísica, además del año sideral son de interés:
 El año anomalístico: tiempo transcurrido entre dos pasos sucesivos de la Tierra por el perihelio de su órbita (365.2596 días)
 El año cósmico o galáctico: tiempo transcurrido en una órbita del Sol en torno al centro de la Vía Láctea (unos 220 millones de años)
 El año platónico: tiempo en el que el eje de la Tierra describe un círculo completo en la esfera celeste debido a la precesión (unos 25 800 años)
 El año de eclipse: tiempo entre dos pasos sucesivos del Sol por un nodo de la órbita de la Luna, momento en que puede suceder un eclipse.

Variaciones en la duración del año y el día 
La duración exacta de un año astronómico cambia a lo largo del tiempo. Las causas principales de estos cambios son:

 La precesión de los equinoccios cambia la posición de los acontecimientos astronómicos respecto a los ejes de la órbita de la Tierra. Un acontecimiento que se mueva hacia el perihelio se repite con un periodo más corto de un año a otro; un acontecimiento que se mueva hacia el perihelio se repetirá con un periodo más largo de un año a otro (a pesar de que este efecto no cambia el valor mediano de la duración del año).
 La influencia gravitatoria de la luna y los planetas cambia el movimiento de la Tierra en una órbita constante alrededor del Sol. La órbita de la Tierra varía de una manera caótica, pero en un intervalo bastante más limitado que las órbitas de los planetas más próximos.
 La resistencia de marea entre la Tierra y la Luna y el Sol incrementa la duración del día y del mes (transfiriendo momento angular de la rotación de la Tierra a la revolución de la Luna); como el día solar mediano aparente es la unidad con que se mide la longitud del día en la vida civil, hace el efecto que cambia la duración del año. A su vez, la resistencia de marea depende de factores como por ejemplo el Rebote posglaciar y la subida del nivel del mar.
 Los cambios en la masa efectiva del Sol, causados por el viento solar y la radiación de energía generada por fusión nuclear y radiada por su superficie, afectarán el periodo orbital de la Tierra sobre un periodo largo (aproximadamente 1,25 microsegundos por año).
 Otros efectos tienden a acortar el periodo orbital terrestre, como por ejemplo el efecto Poynting-Robertson (aproximadamente 30 nanosegundos por año) o la onda gravitatoria (aproximadamente 165 attosegundos por año).

Evolución histórica del año solar 
 Año egipcioEstimaba que un año duraba 365 días. El calendario egipcio sufrió desfases de tiempo muy notables y se trató de reformar durante el Congreso de Canopo (véase Decreto de Canopo), donde se concluyó que el año duraba 365.25 días.
 
 Año solar julianoBasado en el Decreto de Canopo, estimaba que un año duraba 365.25 días solares, o sea 365 días y 6 horas. También consideraba que cada cuatro años se contaran 366 días solares. A ese año cuarto se le llamó bisiesto porque los antiguos romanos contaban la fecha 24 de febrero dos veces.

 Año solar gregoriano Es el año calendario. Es una corrección en el conteo del año solar juliano, porque en 1582 unos astrónomos descubrieron un desfase paulatino de tiempo en el calendario juliano. Después de una larga investigación, concluyeron que un año duraba aproximadamente 365,2425 días solares, es decir 365 días, 5 horas, 49 minutos y 12 segundos. También se determinó que los años seculares podían ser bisiestos, solo si eran divisibles entre 400.

Símbolo 

El símbolo establecido para el año en la norma ISO 80000 es a (del latín annus). De él se pueden derivar, con el uso de múltiplos, Ma (megaaños, millones de años) y ka (kiloaños, miles de años).

Año bisiesto 
Cada cuatro años se tiene que añadir un día para ajustar el año del calendario al año natural.

Los romanos lo situaban entre el veintitrés y el veinticuatro de febrero, y por motivos de superstición no tenía nombre ni cifra: si el veintitrés era el día sextum ante calendas martii, de este día de más decían día bisextum, el otro sexto.

Se creía que este año traía mala suerte. Durante el día añadido (29 de febrero) los demonios y los malos espíritus dominaban. Los nacidos este día son seres "extraños", cuando menos porque solo cumplen años cada cuatro. Hay la creencia que en el año bisiesto todas las hojas de olivo se giran hacia abajo y quienes nacen en año bisiesto no atrapan la viruela.

Años astronómicos

Año juliano 
El año juliano, tal y como se utiliza en astronomía y otras ciencias, es una unidad de tiempo definida exactamente como 365.25 días. Este es el significado normal de la unidad "año" utilizada en diversos contextos científicos. El siglo juliano de 36 525 días y el milenio juliano de 365 250 días se utilizan en los cálculos astronómicos. Fundamentalmente, expresar un intervalo de tiempo en años julianos es una forma de especificar con precisión cuántos días (no cuántos años "reales"), para intervalos de tiempo largos en los que indicar el número de días sería poco manejable y poco intuitivo. Por convención, el año juliano se utiliza en el cálculo de la distancia recorrida por un año-luz.

En el Código Unificado de Unidades de Medida, el símbolo a (sin subíndice) se refiere siempre al año juliano, aj, de exactamente 31 557 600 segundos.

365.25 d × 86 400 s = 1 a = 1 aj = 31.5576 ms

Años siderales, tropicales y anómalos 
Las relaciones entre ellos se estudian con más detalle en Precesión de los equinoccios.

Cada uno de estos tres años puede llamarse, de forma general, año astronómico.

El año sideral es el tiempo que tarda la Tierra en completar una revolución de su órbita, medida con respecto a un marco de referencia fijo (como las estrellas fijas, latín , singular ). Su duración media es de 365,256 363 004 días (365 d 6 h 9 min 9,76 s) (en la época J2000.0 = 1 de enero de 2000, 12:00:00 TT).
Hoy en día el año tropical medio se define como el periodo de tiempo para que la longitud eclíptica media del Sol aumente 360 grados. Dado que la longitud eclíptica del Sol se mide con respecto al equinoccio, el año tropical comprende un ciclo completo de las estaciones; debido a la importancia biológica y socioeconómica de las estaciones, el año tropical es la base de la mayoría de los calendarios. La definición moderna del año tropical medio difiere del tiempo real entre los pasos de, por ejemplo, el equinoccio hacia el norte por varias razones que se explican a continuación. Debido a la precesión axial de la Tierra, este año es unos 20 minutos más corto que el año sideral. El año tropical medio es de aproximadamente 365 días, 5 horas, 48 minutos, 45 segundos, utilizando la definición moderna ( = 365,242 19 d × 86 400 s).

El año anómalo es el tiempo que tarda la Tierra en completar una revolución con respecto a su ápsides. La órbita de la Tierra es elíptica; los puntos extremos, llamados ápsides, son el perihelio, donde la Tierra está más cerca del Sol (5 de enero, 07:48 UT en 2020), y el afelio, donde la Tierra está más lejos del Sol (4 de julio, 11:35 UT en 2020). El año anómalo suele definirse como el tiempo que transcurre entre los pasos del perihelio. Su duración media es de 365,259 636 días (365 d 6 h 13 min 52,6 s) (en la época J2011.0).

Año dracónico  

El año dracónico, año draconítico, año de eclipse o año eclíptico es el tiempo que tarda el Sol (visto desde la Tierra) en completar una revolución con respecto al mismo nodo lunar. (punto en el que la órbita de la Luna se cruza con la eclíptica). El año está asociado a los eclipses: éstos ocurren solo cuando tanto el Sol como la Luna están cerca de estos nodos; por lo que los eclipses ocurren dentro de aproximadamente un mes de cada medio año de eclipse. Por lo tanto, hay dos temporadas de eclipsess cada año de eclipses. La duración media del año de eclipses es
346,620075883 días (346 d 14 h 52 min 54 s) (en la época J2000.0).

Este término se utiliza a veces erróneamente para el período dracónico o nodal de precesión lunar, es decir, el período de una revolución completa del nodo ascendente de la Luna alrededor de la eclíptica: 18,612815932 años julianos, es decir, 6798,331019 días; en la época J2000.0).

Ciclo de luna llena 
El  ciclo de luna llena es el tiempo que tarda el Sol (visto desde la Tierra) en completar una revolución con respecto al perigeo de la órbita de la Luna. Este periodo está asociado al tamaño aparente de la luna llena, y también a la duración variable del mes sinódico. La duración de un ciclo de luna llena es:
411,78443029 días (411 días 18 horas 49 minutos 35 segundos) (en la época J2000.0).

Año lunar 
El  año lunar comprende doce ciclos completos de las fases de la Luna, vistos desde la Tierra. Tiene una duración de aproximadamente 354,37 días. Los musulmanes lo utilizan para celebrar sus Eids y para marcar el inicio del mes de ayuno del Ramadán. El año civil musulmán se basa en el ciclo lunar. El calendario judío también es esencialmente lunar, excepto que se añade un mes lunar intercalar una vez cada dos o tres años, para mantener el calendario sincronizado también con el ciclo solar. Así, un año lunar en el calendario judío (hebreo) consta de doce o trece meses lunares.

Año vago 
El año vago, de  o año errante, es una aproximación integral al año que equivale a 365 días, que vaga en relación con años más exactos. Normalmente el año vago se divide en 12 schematic meses de 30 días cada uno más 5 epagomenal días. El año vago fue utilizado en los calendarios de Etiopía, Antiguo Egipto, Irán, Armenia y en Mesoamérica entre los Aztecas y Mayas. Todavía es utilizado por muchas comunidades zoroastrianas.

Año helíaco 
Un año helíaco es el intervalo entre las  salidas helíacas de una estrella. Se diferencia del año sideral para las estrellas alejadas de la eclíptica debido principalmente a la precesión de los equinoccios.

Año sótico 
El año sótico es el intervalo entre las salidas helíacas de la estrella Sirio. Actualmente es menor que el año sideral y su duración es muy cercana al año juliano de 365,25 días.

Año gaussiano 
El año gaussiano es el año sideral para un planeta de masa despreciable (respecto al Sol) y no perturbado por otros planetas que se rige por la constante gravitatoria gaussiana. Dicho planeta estaría ligeramente más cerca del Sol que la distancia media de la Tierra. Su longitud es:
365,2568983 días (365 d 6 h 9 min 56 s).

Año besseliano   
Esta sección está enlazada desde Tiempo Universal

El Año besseliano es un año tropical que comienza cuando el Sol medio (ficticio) alcanza una longitud eclíptica de 280°. En la actualidad, esto ocurre el 1 de enero o cerca de esa fecha. Recibe su nombre del astrónomo y matemático alemán del  Friedrich Bessel. La siguiente ecuación puede utilizarse para calcular la época besseliana actual (en años):
 B = 1900,0 + (fecha julianaTT -2 415 020,31352 / 365,242 198 781

El subíndice TT indica que para esta fórmula, la fecha juliana debe utilizar la escala del Tiempo Terrestre, o su predecesor, el tiempo de efemérides.

Otros años

Año fiscal 
Uno año fiscal, o año financiero, es un periodo de 12 meses usado para calcular informes financieros anuales en negocios y otras organizaciones. En la mayoría de jurisdicciones hay leyes que regulan la contabilidad y requieren estos informes una vez cada doce meses. Este año no corresponde necesariamente con el año civil.

Año judicial 
Periodo, generalmente del 1 de septiembre de un año al 31 de julio del año siguiente, durante el cual son desarrolladas las tareas normales de los tribunales y órganos de la administración de justicia.

Año escolar 
El año escolar, año académico o curso académico, es el periodo del año en que los alumnos van a sus centros de enseñanza. Generalmente dura 9 meses y se puede dividir en semestres, trimestres o cuatrimestres dependiente del país e institución.

En diferentes países el año escolar o año académico empieza y acaba en diferentes fechas. En la mayoría de los países de Sudamérica, por ejemplo, el año empieza en marzo y acaba en diciembre. En Europa, en cambio, generalmente empieza en septiembre y acaba en junio.

Año agrícola 
Es el periodo de los trabajos agrícolas desde el inicio de las labores de preparación hasta las de recolección. Estos trabajos no coinciden con el año natural. A efectos legales, cada ciclo cuenta como un año agrícola. Véase también año agrícola y calendario agrícola.

Año forestal 
Un año forestal es un periodo de 12 meses, generalmente del 1 de octubre de un año al 30 de septiembre del año siguiente, durante el cual se desarrollan los aprovechamientos forestales.

Año litúrgico 

Se trata de un año ordenado de forma que se celebren sucesivamente los principales acontecimientos de la vida de Cristo y los misterios más importantes del cristianismo. Consta de dos partes: la del temporal, o ciclo de las fiestas móviles, y centrada en la celebración de la Pascua, y la parte del santoral, o calendario de fiestas fijas.

Jubileo o Año Santo  
El jubileo o año santo es una celebración que tiene lugar en distintas Iglesias cristianas históricas, particularmente la Iglesia católica y la Iglesia ortodoxa, y que conmemora un año sabático con significados particulares.

Año sabático 

Inicialmente según la ley judía, el año sabático es el último de cada siete años durante el cual la tierra no podía ser cultivada y cada amo tenía que liberar un esclavo hebreo, si este lo quería. Por otro lado en los países de tradición cultural anglosajona, el año sabático se refería al curso o semestre que se concede cada seis o siete años a un profesor para dedicarlo en sus estudios o en la investigación, eximiéndolo de la enseñanza.

Años particulares 
 Año olímpico : Año contado a partir de la olimpiada. Fue introducido en Grecia por el historiador Timeo de Tauromenio, el cual calculó los años, a partir del 776 a.C., según la lista de los vencedores de los juegos olímpicos. El sistema se puso en práctica desde el 260 a.C. (130.ª olimpiada), y fue abolido en tiempo de Teodosio el Grande, en 395.
 Año zodíaco : El año del calendario egipcio en que acababa el periodo zodíaco y, por lo tanto, coincidían aproximadamente el año civil y el año trópico.
 Año de la fundación de Roma: Año contado a partir de la fecha supuesta de la fundación de Roma, el 753 a.C..
 Año del consulado: Año contado a partir del nombramiento de los cónsules. El origen de este cómputo, que la ley romana mandaba de emplear para la datación de los documentos públicos, se remonta al inicio de la república (509 a.C.).
 Año del imperio: Año contado a partir de la proclamación del emperador. Esta fórmula fue adjuntada a la del año del consulado, en el bajo imperio romano, y finalmente la sustituyó.
 Año de la confusión o Annus confusionis: El año 46 a.C., en que tuvo lugar la reforma juliana. Duró 445 días.
 Año del reino: Año contado a partir de la elevación del rey al trono. Este sistema de datación fue empleado por los reinos cristianos de la Alta Edad Media, por analogía con el año del imperio o del pontificado, hasta que, gradualmente, fue sustituido por el de la era cristiana.

Duración de los años de los diferentes planetas 
Se indica la duración  en días terrestres. Redondeado a dos cifras decimales.

Anécdotas causadas por la adopción del calendario gregoriano 

 Santa Teresa de Ávila murió el jueves 4 de octubre de 1582 y fue enterrada el día siguiente viernes 15 de octubre. La fiesta de Santa Teresa se celebra el 15 de octubre.
 Shakespeare y Cervantes murieron en la misma fecha, el 23 de abril de 1616, pero no el mismo día. Cervantes murió el 23 de abril de 1616 según el calendario gregoriano vigente en España desde 1582. Shakespeare murió el 3 de mayo de 1616 según el calendario juliano vigente en Inglaterra hasta 1752.
 Rusia no aceptó la reforma del calendario gregoriano hasta la llegada de los sóviets. La adopción del nuevo calendario se hizo de forma que el 1 de febrero de 1918 pasó a ser el día 14 de febrero. Se da el caso curioso que la llamada “Revolución de Octubre”, en la antigua URSS, se celebraba en noviembre. Esto era debido al hecho que la revolución había tenido lugar el 25 / 26 de octubre de 1917, según el calendario juliano vigente en la Rusia zarista, fecha que, cuando el nuevo régimen adoptó el calendario gregoriano, fue a caer el 7 / 8 de noviembre. El cumpleaños de la revolución siempre se celebró en noviembre e, incluso, a veces se habla de la “Revolución de Noviembre”.

Véase también 
 Década
 Año cero
 Año luz
 Año común
 Año bisiesto
 Jubileo
 Sistema horario de 24 horas
 Samvatsara, término en sánscrito para año.
 Calendario lunar
 Calendario maya

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 
Año

Bibliografía

Asaph Hall (Goshen, Connecticut; 15 de octubre de 1829-Annapolis, Maryland; 22 de noviembre de 1907) fue un astrónomo estadounidense. Descubridor en 1877 de los dos satélites de Marte —Fobos y Deimos—, determinó las órbitas de numerosos satélites, el movimiento de una serie de estrellas binarias, la rotación de Saturno y la masa de Marte y de otros planetas.

Biografía 
Con una escasa formación académica, ya que a la muerte de su padre tuvo que trabajar como carpintero para ayudar a su madre, sus ansias de conocimiento y de estudiar el cielo le llevaron a prepararse por su propia cuenta. En 1857 entró a trabajar como ayudante del astrónomo William Cranch Bond en el Observatorio de Harvard (Harvard College Observatory): el sueldo que tenía era de doce dólares al mes.

En 1856 contrajo matrimonio con Angeline Stickney (1830 - 1892), quien siempre le apoyó en su trabajo.

Después de efectuar numerosas observaciones, aprender técnicas astronómicas y mejorar sus conocimientos, en 1863 fue nombrado director del Observatorio Naval de Washington (USNO), donde descubrió los dos satélites de Marte en agosto de 1877, Deimos y Fobos, con el gran refractor de 66 cm de dicho observatorio, obra del óptico estadounidense Alvan Clark. Antes había descubierto el período de rotación de Saturno. En 1895 ocuparía el puesto de profesor de astronomía en la Universidad Harvard.

Uno de los mayores cráteres de Fobos se llama Hall en su honor; Stickney, bautizado así en honor de su esposa, es el mayor y más profundo del satélite.

Tuvo cuatro hijos: Asaph Jr., Samuel, Angel y Percival; solo el primero (Asaph Hall Jr.) continuaría la tradición familiar haciéndose astrónomo y efectuando numerosos trabajos astronómicos; publicó gran cantidad de artículos y estudios celestes.

Publicaciones 
 Nebulae in the Pleiades, (1886), Astronomische Nachrichten, volume 114, p. 167.
 Observations on Mars, (1888), Astronomical Journal, vol. 8, iss. 181, p. 98-98.
 Observations of Mars, 1892, (1893), Astronomical Journal, vol. 12, iss. 288, p. 185-188.
 The orbit of the satellite of Neptune, (1898), Astronomical Journal, vol. 19, iss. 441, p. 65-66.
 Motion of the perihelion of Mercury, (1900), Astronomical Journal, vol. 20, iss. 479, p. 185-186.
 The differential equations of disturbed elliptic motion, (1906), Astronomical Journal, vol. 25, iss. 586, p. 77-79.

Reconocimientos

 Premio Lalande de la Academia Francesa de Ciencias en 1878.
 Medalla de Oro de la Royal Astronomical Society en 1879.
 Medalla de Arago en 1893.
 Nombarado caballero de la Legión de Honor en 1896.

Eponimia 
 El cráter lunar Hall lleva este nombre en su memoria.
 Así mismo, el cráter Hall en la luna marciana Fobos le debe su nombre.
 El asteroide (2023) Asaph y (3299) Hall también fue nombrado en su honor.

Referencias

Fuente 
 Historia del Telescopio, Isaac Asimov, Alianza Editorial (1986).
 Buscador NASA ADS (trabajos, artículos y publicaciones).

Véase también 
 Anexo:Astrónomos y astrofísicos notables

Enlaces externos 

 Breve reseña sobre Asaph Hall 

Medalla Royal Astronomical Society
Astrónomos de Estados Unidos
Astrónomos del siglo XIX
Astrónomos del siglo XX
Premio Lalande
Graduados honorarios de la Universidad Yale

Afganistán (, ; , ; ), oficialmente el Emirato Islámico de Afganistán (, ; , ), es un país montañoso sin salida al mar ubicado en Asia del Sur. Limita con Pakistán al sur y al este, con Irán al oeste, con Turkmenistán, Uzbekistán y Tayikistán al norte, y con China al noreste, a través del corredor de Waján. Su forma de gobierno actual es la de una monarquía religiosa constituida como emirato islámico; su capital y ciudad más grande es Kabul, con una población estimada de 4,6 millones de personas, en su mayoría pastunes, tayikos, hazaras, uzbekos y turcomanos.

La particular situación geográfica de Afganistán lo ha convertido en un lugar de encuentro de imperios y civilizaciones, así como un espacio de intercambio y comunicación de importantes polos culturales y comerciales; entre ellos destaca la ruta de la seda. Este hecho, así como su estructura tribal, hace difícil la definición de Afganistán como Estado a lo largo de la historia. En este contexto, el territorio recibió tres denominaciones principales en su evolución: Ariana (asentamiento de tribus arias en el II milenio a. C.),Jorasán (medievo) y Afganistán en la Edad Moderna. La historia del territorio que ocupa hoy Afganistán es vasta, hay indicios de quienes habitaron estas tierras desde la época de la Prehistoria. Desde la Edad Antigua, pasando por la Edad Media, Edad Moderna y hasta la Edad Contemporánea ha sido parte de muchos imperios y reinos.

Etimología 

El nombre Afganistán (افغانستان en dari y en pastún) deriva directamente de la forma árabe Afġānistan, basada a su vez en una forma irania que significa ‘tierra de los afganos’ (afghāni 'afgano' + persa stan 'país'). En su uso moderno, deriva de la palabra afgano. Los pastunes comenzaron a usar este término para identificarlos. El sufijo -stan significa «tierra», por ende, Afganistán significa la tierra de los afganos; este sufijo se usa asimismo en otros países de Asia.

Historia 

Los primeros rastros humanos en Afganistán se remontan al Paleolítico Medio, y la ubicación estratégica del país a lo largo de la Ruta de la Seda lo conectaba con las culturas del Oriente Medio y otras partes de Asia. Históricamente, su territorio ha estado habitado por varios pueblos y ha sido testigo de numerosas campañas militares; incluidas las de Alejandro Magno, los Maurya, los árabes musulmanes, los mongoles, los británicos, los soviéticos y los Estados Unidos junto a los países aliados de la OTAN. Se le conoce por ello como el «cementerio de imperios», aunque ha sido ocupado durante varios períodos diferentes de su historia. Esta tierra también sirvió como la fuente de la cual los grecobactrianos, kushanes, heftalitas, samánidas, saffaríes, gaznávidas, gúridas, khiljis, mogoles, hotakis, durranis y otros se han levantado para forjar grandes imperios.

El Afganistán actual comenzó con las dinastías hotaki y durrani en el . A finales del , Afganistán se convirtió en un Estado bisagra en «El Gran Juego» entre la India británica y el Imperio ruso. Después de la tercera guerra anglo-afgana en 1919, el país se liberó del dominio extranjero y finalmente se convirtió en el Reino de Afganistán en junio de 1926 bajo el rey Amanulá Khan. Este reino duró casi cincuenta años, hasta que el rey Mohammed Zahir Shah fue derrocado mediante el golpe de Estado de Mohamed Daud Khan y se estableció la República de Afganistán, en 1973. En 1978, tras la Revolución de Saur, en Afganistán se estableció la República Democrática de Afganistán. La intervención de la Unión Soviética en apoyo del Gobierno comunista, dio inicio a la guerra de Afganistán de 1978 a 1992, contra la guerrilla islámica, que recibió el apoyo de Estados Unidos, Arabia Saudita, Pakistán y otras naciones occidentales y musulmanas. Los soviéticos se retiraron en 1989, pero la guerra civil prosiguió hasta que en 1996 los talibanes establecieron el Emirato Islámico de Afganistán basado en su interpretación de la Sharia, que gobernó la mayor parte del país como un régimen totalitario durante cinco años. 

En 2001, en reacción a los atentados del 11 de septiembre de 2001, una coalición internacional de la OTAN liderada por Estados Unidos entró en el país para derrocar a los talibanes y colocó en el poder al Gobierno que constituye la República Islámica de Afganistán, dando inicio a una nueva guerra de Afganistán. En 2014, Estados Unidos y la OTAN declararon formalmente que abandonaban la guerra, pero mantuvieron tropas en el país en apoyo al Gobierno. En septiembre de 2020 el Gobierno y los Talibánes –que controlaban más de la mitad del territorio nacional en aquel entonces– iniciaron negociaciones consideradas «históricas» con el fin de alcanzar la paz y constituir un nuevo régimen constitucional, que pueda combinar ambas visiones del Estado islámico. Las negociaciones no prosperaron y las partes se mantuvieron en conflicto hasta 2021. El 8 de septiembre de 2021, el grupo talibán que gobernaba el país declaró a Afganistán como un Emirato Islámico y conformó un nuevo Gobierno.

Antigüedad 
Las excavaciones de los yacimientos prehistóricos permitieron saber que los humanos vivían en lo que hoy es Afganistán hace al menos 50000 años, y que las comunidades agrícolas de la zona fueron de las primeras en el mundo.

El territorio fue un punto de encuentro, donde numerosas civilizaciones interactuaron y a menudo se confrontaron. Ha estado habitado por varios pueblos a lo largo de diferentes épocas, destacándose los iranios, que tuvieron una importante función en el desarrollo de las civilizaciones de Asia Central. El territorio fue incorporado a importantes imperios, entre ellos el Imperio aqueménida, el Imperio Macedónico, el Imperio Maurya y el Imperio Árabe.

Época premusulmana 
De la prehistoria del país se conoce todavía poco. Sin embargo, durante las misiones de excavación francesas se descubrieron en Mundigak siete niveles de civilización que se escalonaban desde el IV milenio hasta alrededor del año  Los arios, provenientes del actual Irán, llegados del oeste, ocuparon el país en una época indeterminada y establecieron su etnia básica. Bajo la dinastía aqueménida, Afganistán, íntegramente conquistado por Ciro, rey de Persia, fue dividido en cinco satrapías por Darío I. La pax iránica reinó en el país durante dos siglos, lo que le permitió participar del gran esplendor de Irán y dejarse impregnar por la reforma religiosa de Zaratustra. La conquista de Alejandro Magno en el año 331 a. C. provocó, más que en cualquier otra parte, una simbiosis entre Grecia, Irán y la India.

Tras la muerte de Alejandro, las satrapías subsistieron, librando sangrientas luchas. Sucesivamente, el país fue dominado por los seléucidas, la dinastía india de los Maurya, y el reino grecobactriano. A finales del  nuevas invasiones arias impusieron la preponderancia de la tribu kushana, que alcanzó su apogeo bajo Kujula Kadphises en el  y bajo la dinastía Kaniska en el . A pesar de la presencia de otras corrientes religiosas (como el altar del fuego en Surj Kotal), el país se entregó entonces al budismo, como muestran manifestaciones arquitectónicas tales como el Gran Santuario de Bamiyan. Su enorme auge fue solamente frenado por la nueva preponderancia de Irán bajo los sasánidas en el , y las invasiones de los hunos o heftalíes (mongoles), que trajeron la inseguridad y la opresión.

Islam e invasión mongola 
En el 651, los sasánidas fueron vencidos por los ejércitos árabes (conquista de Harat), que ocuparon el país. Los árabes se enfrentaron a una viva resistencia que impidió una conquista árabe completa e hizo que la islamización fuese muy lenta: la antigua Kapici (región de Kabul) no fue convertida hasta finales del siglo IX, y hasta el  subsistieron numerosos principados, tanto vasallos como independientes.En el norte, los samaníes, iranios originarios de Samán, cerca de Balj, consiguieron la hegemonía. Los mercenarios turcos que habían reclutado, originaron una nueva era. En 962, uno de ellos, Alp Tigin, se hizo independiente en la región de Gazni. Sus sucesores, sobre todo Mahmud (999-1030) a la cabeza de la dinastía gaznávida, extendieron su dominación hasta Isfahán y lanzaron diecisiete expediciones contra la India. Convirtieron Gazni, rival de Bagdad, en un centro notable, donde brillaron artistas y escritores, entre ellos Ferdousí, el poeta nacional de Irán. Estos desaparecieron bajo el empuje de príncipes afganos, los guríes, que usurparon el poder. Desde entonces, afganos y turcos afganizados proporcionaron príncipes y mandos a las monarquías indo-musulmanas.

Esta avanzada civilización de los siglos XI y XII, comparable a la del Afganistán budista de siglos anteriores, se hundió bajo la invasión de Gengis Khan, que se ensañó particularmente con el país (1221-1222). A las devastaciones mongoles se añadieron las de Timur Lang (Tamerlán), quien se hizo coronar en Balj, en 1370. Este fue culpable, entre otras cosas, de la ruina del importante sistema de riego, de lo que ya no se recuperaría jamás. Sin embargo, en torno a Herat se desarrolló el renacimiento timurí, iniciado con el Sha Ruj Mirza (1405-1447) y llevado a su cúspide por Husayn-i Bayqara (1469-1506), junto con su ministro Mir ‘Ali Sir Nawa´i. El Afganistán oriental, encerrado en sí mismo, vivió cierto renacimiento cuando el turco Baber (Babur) se instaló en Kabul en el año 1504 y conquistó la India, donde fundó la dinastía de los grandes mogoles, aunque siguió siendo para ellos una provincia lejana y olvidada. En la misma época, el Afganistán occidental pasó al poder de los safawi de Irán.

Dinastía durraní, imperialismo extranjero y reformas 

La decadencia de los mogoles y el debilitamiento de los Safawíes, a principios del , hicieron que las inquietas tribus afganas recuperaran sus libertades y permitieron el nacimiento de un Estado afgano, gracias a la rebelión y la declaración de independencia de Mirwais Kan Hotak, jefe de la tribu de los Ghilzai, en 1709. Pero los Ghilzai tuvieron que afrontar el movimiento nacional de Nader Shah, que conquistó Kandahar y Kabul en 1738. Un oficial de Nader, Ahmad Khan, de la tribu de los abdalíes, se proclamó rey en Kandahar, tan pronto como Nader Shah fue asesinado (1747), y fundó la dinastía de los Durraníes, primera dinastía afgana independiente. Este intervino repetidas veces en la India, como sus antecesores, y constituyó un reino extenso pero inestable. Su sucesor, Timur Shah Durrani, que trasladó su capital a Kabul, mantuvo la paz en el reino, pero, tras su muerte, sus hijos y jefes tribales se disputaron su sucesión (1793). Finalmente, Dust Muhammad, cuya presencia se data desde 1818, fue reconocido emir en Kabul (1838) y fundó la dinastía de los Barakza'i o Muhammadza'i. Renunció a las provincias indias y se dedicó por entero a Afganistán, convertido en Estado tapón entre los imperios británico y ruso.

Dust Muhammad, unas veces víctima y otras veces beneficiario de la intervención británica, durante la primera guerra anglo-afgana (1839-1842), fue sustituido por Suya'al-Malk (1839) y, tras una insurrección y la aniquilación del ejército británico de Alexander Burnes (1842), fue restablecido en el trono a cambio de aceptar un protectorado británico.

La presión rusa sobre el Asia central llevó en 1878 a una segunda guerra afgana contra Gran Bretaña, y Abd ur-Rahman Khan (1880-1901) hubo de reconocer las fronteras de la «Línea Durand» en 1893. Los esfuerzos de Habib Allah (1901-1919) y de Aman Allah Khan (1919-1929) para sacar a su país del aislamiento fueron anulados por la voluntad británica de reforzarlo. Solamente la tercera guerra afgana, llamada de la independencia, consagró el pleno reconocimiento de la soberanía de Afganistán: armisticio de Rawalpindi (8 de agosto de 1919) y tratado de Kabul (22 de noviembre de 1921). Aman Allah Khan inició la modernización del país: constitución (1922), código administrativo (1923), comienzo de la instrucción femenina (1924), nueva constitución (1928), viaja a Europa y se hace coronar rey. La reacción conservadora no tardó mucho. El soberano fue derrocado, y un aventurero, Habib Allah Khan, ejerció durante seis meses una sangrienta dictadura.

Nadir Shah, pariente de Aman Allah Khan, eliminó al usurpador y se hizo proclamar rey en 1929. Instruido por la experiencia, reemprendió con prudencia las reformas, pero fue asesinado en 1933. Le sucedió su hijo Mohammed Zahir Shah de cultura francesa y adicto a ideas nuevas, quien hizo que su país entrara en la Sociedad de las Naciones (1934) y abrió progresivamente el país a la influencia exterior. En 1937 firmó el pacto de Sa'dabad con Turquía, Irán e Irak, pero no se dejó arrastrar a la Segunda Guerra Mundial.

Relaciones diplomáticas 
La división de la India planteó de nuevo el problema de la «Línea Durand», además de que Zahir reivindicó los territorios de los afganos que vivían en el nuevo Estado de Pakistán (problema del Pathanistán). La crisis se prolongó hasta 1963, cuando se firmó un acuerdo con Pakistán; casi al mismo tiempo se firmó un acuerdo con China. Resueltos estos problemas exteriores, Zahir dio una nueva prueba de voluntad reformadora al hacer aprobar, en 1964, por la Asamblea Constituyente, una nueva constitución y al estimular la escolarización de las mujeres, a las que en 1959 se había concedido el derecho de no llevar velo. La ayuda internacional, en la que participaban la República Federal de Alemania, Estados Unidos y, sobre todo, la URSS (acuerdos de 1964), empezó a ser más importante.

Revolución e invasión soviética 

Tras las reformas de Zahir una crisis de modernización sacudió el país, poco preparado para una transformación. En 1965 se creó por un grupo de intelectuales del Partido Democrático del Pueblo (PDP), una escisión dentro del partido gobernante, que acabó por dividirse, en 1967, en dos partidos, el Khalq y el Parcham, que se enfrentaron violentamente en movimientos de agitación estudiantil (1969), dando como resultado un Parlamento incapaz de legislar. Además, en 1970 y 1971, las cosechas fueron catastróficas y el hambre asoló el país. Esto provocó un cambio de Gobierno, aunque la inestabilidad continuó. El 16 y 17 de julio de 1973, un golpe de Estado militar, dirigido por Sardar Muhammad Daud, primo y cuñado del rey, y apoyado por los dos partidos de la oposición derrocó a Zahir Shah, quien salió hacia el exilio en Roma. Fue proclamada la república. Pero la reforma agraria, que obtuvo poco apoyo, y el autoritarismo del presidente condujeron al derrocamiento de este en abril de 1978.

El socialista Nur Muhammad Taraki tomó el poder; pero, aunque de inspiración comunista, el nuevo régimen evitaba cuidadosamente toda alusión al marxismo. Sin embargo, el dominio soviético, directo o indirecto, aumentaba. En diciembre de 1978, se firmó un tratado de amistad y de cooperación entre Kabul y Moscú, que permitía, entre otras cosas, a la URSS intervenir militarmente para «proteger el país».

Afganistán se encontraba entonces en pleno caos; unos 200000 afganos, entre ellos la comunidad kirguiz del Pamir, se refugiaron en Pakistán; se hablaba de 300000 muertos en 17 meses, 12000 a 15000 presos políticos, de provincias sublevadas, regiones enteras que escapaban al poder central y combates violentos. El 14 de septiembre de 1979 fue asesinado Nur Muhammad Taraki. Su sustituto, Hafizullah Amín, anunció a la vez su fidelidad al Kremlin y la adopción de medidas en favor del islam (reparación de mezquitas). Pero a su vez fue derrocado y ejecutado cuando se produjo la intervención militar soviética de diciembre de 1979, que instaló en el poder a Babrak Karmal. La prolongada intervención soviética tuvo como efecto la intensificación de la guerrilla interior (apoyada logísticamente desde el exterior por Pakistán,  y China) y la manifestación, en el mundo occidental y en el mundo islámico, de numerosas reacciones antisoviéticas. Asimismo, provocó un éxodo masivo de la población hacia Irán y Pakistán (tres millones en 1985).

El nuevo Gobierno inició un programa de reformas que eliminó la usura, inició una campaña de alfabetización, eliminó el cultivo del opio, legalizó los sindicatos, estableció una ley de salario mínimo y rebajó entre un 20 y un 30% los precios de artículos de primera necesidad. En cuanto a los derechos de la mujer, el régimen socialista otorgó permiso de no usar velo, abolió la dote, promovió la integración de mujeres al trabajo (245000 obreras y el 40% de los médicos son mujeres) y a la educación (el analfabetismo femenino es reducido del 98% al 75%, el 60% del profesorado de la Universidad de Kabul son mujeres, 440000 mujeres más trabajaban en educación y 80000 participaban en la campaña de alfabetización), así como a la vida política. El Decreto N.º 7 del 17 de octubre de 1978 otorgó a las mujeres iguales derechos que los varones. El período de la República Democrática fue en el que más mujeres profesionales hubo en Afganistán.

Estas reformas gubernamentales socavaron el orden tribal tradicional y provocaron oposición en las zonas rurales. Al mismo tiempo, el Gobierno reprimió brutalmente a la oposición con miles de ejecuciones políticas. Hasta 27000 fueron ejecutados en la prisión de Pul-e-Charkhi.

Tras la invasión del país por la URSS, en diciembre de 1979, 120000 soldados soviéticos se establecieron en Afganistán. La resistencia afgana se dividió en siete partidos políticos sunníes establecidos en Peshawar y ocho partidos chiitas establecidos en Irán. Los partidos sunníes (el 80 % de la población afgana es suní) eran mantenidos por Pakistán y recibían armas de Estados Unidos. Los chiitas administraban el centro del país (Hazarayat), que mantenían liberado casi en su totalidad desde 1979. Una guerra de diez años enfrentaría a un ejército soviético pesado y poco motivado, y una guerrilla legitimada por el islam y el nacionalismo. El Gobierno y los soviéticos controlaban las grandes ciudades y los ejes de comunicación, la resistencia dominaba el campo. En el interior del país, la resistencia se dividió en centenares de pequeños frentes, correspondiendo a menudo a la segmentación por comandantes locales, en general, intelectuales venidos de las ciudades, mullahs, o pequeños notables. Entre cuatro y cinco millones de refugiados se instalaron en Pakistán o en Irán. Babrak Karmal, al frente del Partido comunista y del Estado afgano, de diciembre de 1979 a 1986, no consiguió establecer el régimen socialista y revolucionario que soñaba. El partido estaba minado por la división entre la facción Khalq, mayoritaria y radical, que recluta sus efectivos sobre todo de la etnia pashto, y la facción Parcham, más moderada. Los comunistas aparecían además, como el partido del extranjero.

Implicaciones internacionales 

Estados Unidos pretendió oponerse a la brecha abierta por los soviéticos en los países del tercer mundo durante los años setenta, preparando represalias contra la URSS si aumentaba la amenaza que la ocupación de Afganistán suponía para el control del golfo pérsico. El momento culminante de su ayuda financiera y militar fue la entrega a la resistencia de misiles antiaéreos Stinger (1986). Arabia Saudí se preocupó por impedir cualquier incursión de Irán, entonces en guerra con Irak. Se esforzó en constituir un frente de fundamentalistas sunníes, reclutados sobre todo entre la etnia pastún, en perjuicio de los chiitas e incluso de los sunníes de habla persa (llamados impropiamente tayikos), susceptibles a los ojos de los saudíes de preferir a Irán. Pakistán, bajo la égida del general Zia Ul-Haq, cuya política proseguiría tras su muerte (1988), tenía dos objetivos: eliminar la amenaza soviética con el fin de evitar quedar atrapado entre Afganistán y la India, aliados de la URSS, pero también establecer una especie de protectorado en un futuro Afganistán islámico.

A pesar de las ofensivas sangrientas, sobre todo entre 1984 y 1986, los soviéticos no pudieron vencer en batallas decisivas contra la resistencia, ni siquiera cerrar la frontera con Pakistán. La guerra impidió también cualquier posible tregua con Estados Unidos. Cada año, en noviembre, una mayoría aplastante de los países miembros de la asamblea general de la ONU pedía la retirada de las tropas soviéticas. Desde su llegada al poder en 1985, Gorbachov se esforzó por salir del punto muerto militar y eliminar el obstáculo que representaba la cuestión afgana para la nueva distensión.

Gobierno de Najibulá y guerra civil 
Karmal, reelegido jefe de Estado y secretario general del partido (en enero de 1986), fue desplazado de este último cargo y del poder por Mohammad Najibulá (en mayo de 1986). M. Najibulá, en 1987, lanzó un llamamiento a la «reconciliación nacional» e hizo adoptar en noviembre una constitución que no tenía influencias comunistas. En abril de 1988, los acuerdos de Ginebra ratificaron el calendario de retirada de las tropas soviéticas, sin que se llegara a un verdadero acuerdo político. Las últimas tropas soviéticas abandonaron el país en febrero de 1989. Su partida no permitió a la resistencia afgana apoderarse de la capital, sumida en numerosos conflictos tanto étnicos como políticos. En Peshawar, los moderados, en gran medida partidarios del anterior rey Mohammed Zahir Shah y pertenecientes a la élite tribal, se opusieron a los fundamentalistas que preconizaban un Estado islámico y que eran apoyados por el ejército paquistaní, los Hermanos Musulmanes Árabes y Arabia Saudita. El jefe de los fundamentalistas, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, tomó posiciones claramente antioccidentales y lanzó ataques armados contra los otros grupos muyahidines, liderados por Mas‘ud, del valle del Panjshir. Un Gobierno interino de Afganistán formado en Peshawar en febrero de 1989 por los partidos sunníes, bajo la presión de Pakistán, no consiguió unir a los comandantes muyahidines del interior, acostumbrados a una gran autonomía, ni a los chiitas. Se llegó a una fase de estabilidad precaria; las grandes ciudades pasaron a estar controladas por el régimen, en tanto que el campo lo estaba por los muyahidines. Pero la guerra había perdido su aspecto ideológico, por cuanto el régimen de Kabul había renunciado a su identificación con el comunismo: el P.D.P.A. cambió su nombre en 1990 por el de Hizb-i Watan, Partido de la Patria. Por su parte, muchos muyahidines luchaban más por conservar el poder local que habían adquirido que por crear una improbable república islámica. Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética, dada su voluntad de poner fin a uno de los últimos conflictos del tiempo de la Guerra Fría, se comprometieron en septiembre de 1992 a interrumpir sus entregas de armas a todos los bandos de la lucha en Afganistán (acuerdo que entró en vigor en enero de 1992). Al perder el apoyo soviético, Najibulá, que además había de enfrentarse a graves disensiones en el seno de su propio partido, vio debilitarse su posición en los primeros meses de 1992; su propuesta de un alto el fuego unilateral no logró la aceptación de las organizaciones de la resistencia. 

Mientras la ONU multiplicaba sus intervenciones tratando de establecer una regulación política del conflicto, los muyahidines acentuaron su presión en el norte. En abril, se hicieron con el control de todo el país, y obligaron a Najibulá a dejar el poder. Un Consejo islámico, resultante de un pacto entre las diferentes facciones de la resistencia, se hizo cargo interinamente del gobierno del país, bajo la dirección de Sigbatullah Mojaddedi. Mas´ud fue nombrado ministro de Defensa. En junio, Mojaddedi cedió el poder a un consejo dirigente de diez miembros, presidido por Burhanuddin Rabbani. Sin embargo, pronto se reprodujeron las antiguas rivalidades entre muyahidines y etnias, y en agosto G. Hekmaktyar lanzó una gran ofensiva contra la capital: los enfrentamientos entre milicias fundamentalistas y fuerzas gubernamentales causaron más de 2000 muertos y provocaron el éxodo de más de un tercio de la población. Esta segunda batalla de Kabul fue acompañada de una multiplicación de los combates por el resto del país. Un consejo de 1335 delegados eligió a B. Rabbani jefe de Estado por un periodo de 18 meses (diciembre de 1992) y designó a cincuenta de sus miembros para formar un parlamento con poderes constituyentes (enero de 1993). En marzo las distintas facciones alcanzaron un consenso para que Gulbuddin Hekmatiar, dirigente de Hezbi Islami, ocupara el puesto de primer ministro, a la vez que ratificaban la elección de B. Rabbani.

Estado Islámico de Afganistán 

Tras la caída del anterior Gobierno en 1992 se creó el Estado Islámico de Afganistán a través de los Acuerdos de Peshawar.

Emirato Islámico de Afganistán 

En 1996 el movimiento talibán tomó el poder de Kabul e instauró un Gobierno basado en la Sharia. En 2001 una coalición comandada por Estados Unidos invadió el país derrocando a su gobernante Mohammad Omar e instaurando un nuevo régimen.

República Islámica de Afganistán 

En diciembre de 2001, después de que el Gobierno talibán fuera derrocado, se formó el nuevo Gobierno afgano, Hamid Karzai se proclamó como presidente, y se estableció la Fuerza Internacional de Asistencia para la Seguridad (ISAF) por el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas para ayudar a la administración Karzai y proporcionar una seguridad básica. Las fuerzas de los Talibanes, mientras tanto, comenzaron a reagruparse dentro de Pakistán. Más tropas de la coalición internacional entraron en Afganistán y comenzaron la reconstrucción del país, devastado por la guerra.

Tras perder el poder a manos de una coalición internacional (ISAF), los talibanes comenzaron un movimiento insurgente para recuperar el control de Afganistán. Durante la siguiente década, la ISAF y las tropas afganas llevaron a cabo numerosas ofensivas contra los talibanes, sin lograr claros resultados. Afganistán seguía siendo uno de los países más pobres del mundo, debido a la falta de inversión extranjera, la corrupción del Gobierno y la insurgencia talibán.

Mientras tanto, el Gobierno afgano fue capaz de construir unas estructuras democráticas, y el país cambió su nombre a la República Islámica de Afganistán. Se hicieron intentos, a menudo con el apoyo de los países donantes extranjeros, para mejorar la economía del país, la salud, la educación, el transporte y la agricultura. Las fuerzas de la ISAF también comenzaron a entrenar a las fuerzas de seguridad afganas. En la década posterior a 2002, más de cinco millones de afganos fueron repatriados, incluyendo algunos que fueron deportados por países occidentales.

Para el año 2009, comenzó a formarse un gobierno en la sombra de control talibán en ciertas partes del país. En 2010, el presidente Karzai intentó mantener negociaciones de paz con los líderes talibanes, pero el grupo rebelde se negó a asistir hasta mediados de 2015, cuando el líder supremo de los talibanes, finalmente, decidió unirse a las conversaciones de paz.

Después de la muerte de Osama bin Laden en mayo de 2011 en Pakistán, fueron asesinadas muchas figuras prominentes afganas. Las escaramuzas en la frontera entre Afganistán y Pakistán se intensificaron y muchos ataques a gran escala por parte de la Red Haqqani comenzados en Pakistán también se llevaron a cabo en Afganistán. Estados Unidos culpó a infiltrados dentro del Gobierno paquistaní por el aumento de los ataques. El Gobierno de EE.UU. gastó decenas de miles de millones de dólares en ayuda para el desarrollo durante 15 años y más de mil millones de dólares en gastos militares durante el mismo período. La corrupción de los contratistas de defensa, de desarrollo occidentales y afganos asociados alcanzó niveles sin precedentes en un país donde el PIB nacional era a menudo solo una pequeña fracción del presupuesto anual del Gobierno de Estados Unidos para el conflicto.

Después de las elecciones presidenciales de Afganistán de 2014, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai se convirtió en presidente en septiembre de 2014. La guerra de Estados Unidos en Afganistán (la guerra más larga sostenida por los EE.UU. hasta ahora) terminó oficialmente el 28 de diciembre de 2014. Sin embargo, miles de tropas de la OTAN, lideradas por Estados Unidos, permanecieron en el país para entrenar y asesorar a las fuerzas del Gobierno afgano. Hasta 2016, la guerra de 2001 a 2021, se tradujo en más de 90.000 muertes relacionadas directamente con tal conflicto, cifra que incluye a las bajas de los insurgentes, los civiles afganos y las fuerzas gubernamentales. Más de 100.000 personas resultaron heridas.

Vuelta al poder de los talibanes 

El 14 de abril de 2021, el secretario general de la OTAN, Jens Stoltenberg, dijo que la alianza acordó comenzar a retirar sus tropas de Afganistán antes del 1 de mayo. Poco después de que comenzara la retirada de las tropas de la OTAN, el Talibán lanzó una ofensiva contra el Gobierno afgano, avanzando rápidamente frente al colapso de las fuerzas del Gobierno afgano. Según un informe de inteligencia de Estados Unidos, era probable que el Gobierno afgano colapsase dentro de los seis meses posteriores a que la OTAN completase su retirada del país. El 15 de agosto de 2021, cuando los talibanes controlaban una vez más la gran mayoría del territorio afgano, los talibanes comenzaron a capturar la ciudad capital de Kabul, con evacuaciones a gran escala de civiles, funcionarios gubernamentales y diplomáticos extranjeros a través del Aeropuerto Internacional de Kabul controlado por las fuerzas de los Estados Unidos. Al parecer, se ordenó a los combatientes talibanes que no interfirieran en las evacuaciones de civiles y que dejaran salir de la ciudad a quienes quisieran. Más tarde, ese mismo día, los informes noticiosos afirmaron que Ashraf Ghani había abandonado Afganistán.

Gobierno y política 

Desde la caída de Kabul, la organización de los talibanes ha tomado el control de facto del país, conformando un Gobierno provisional. Paramilitares y exfuncionarios de la extinta República Islámica están alojados en el valle de Panshir, no reconociendo al nuevo Gobierno talibán.

Derechos humanos 

Afganistán es considerado el país más peligroso del mundo para las mujeres.
Además de la pobreza y la corrupción, Afganistán es el país más peligroso donde pueda vivir una mujer si se toman en cuenta otros factores como la salud, la violencia sexual y no sexual, la violencia doméstica y la discriminación económica. El índice de mortalidad materna es de 1 cada 11 partos, el 87 % de las mujeres son analfabetas y hasta el 80 % padecen matrimonios forzados. Las mujeres no tienen acceso a servicios sanitarios básicos, ni a recursos financieros y carecen de libertad para elegir pareja.
Según una encuesta realizada por la Thomson Reuters Foundation en 2011 y el International Rescue Committee, las mujeres corren mayor peligro por la falta de acceso a servicios médicos y la violencia de sus congéneres, que por las bombas y el mantenimiento de las hostilidades. La violación no está penada por la ley.

Durante el Gobierno talibán las mujeres debieron taparse la cara para poder ver a un hombre que no es su marido o su hijo. Para ello se cubren con el burka completo (pieza de tela que cubre la cabeza y deja solo una rejilla de tela para ver). No pueden salir solas de casa. Ser azotadas públicamente es el castigo por mostrar los tobillos, usar tacones altos, lavar ropa en público, asomarse al balcón de su casa o viajar en taxi sin su tutor legal (padre, hermano o marido). También son castigadas por apariciones públicas, ya sea en revistas, libros, televisión, radio, o incluso baños públicos, ir a reuniones donde haya varones extraños o estrechar la mano o tocar a un hombre que no sea su marido. Las mujeres tenían prohibido estudiar (excepto la religión), trabajar, hacer tratos comerciales, usar maquillaje, pintarse las uñas, reírse en voz alta, vestirse con colores, ser fotografiadas o filmadas. Los derechos constitucionales de las mujeres son avasallados continuamente y las mujeres que quieren dedicarse a la función pública o a la política son perseguidas y acosadas. A pesar de que la nueva Constitución afgana de 2004 prohíbe cualquier tipo de discriminación y distinción entre los ciudadanos de Afganistán, existen leyes inconstitucionales contra las mujeres, como la que las obliga a obedecer las exigencias sexuales de sus esposos y otorga a estos el derecho a retirar la manutención básica, incluyendo los alimentos, si ella se niega, o la que da la custodia de los hijos exclusivamente a los varones. El 80 % de las mujeres sufre violencia doméstica, conducta que no está penada en Afganistán. En la práctica los cambios fueron limitados, ya que no tuvieron aceptación total, y, en consecuencia muchas mujeres continuaron padeciendo los mismos problemas. El matrimonio forzado, el matrimonio de niñas menores de edad y la violencia doméstica siguen siendo prácticas muy extendidas.
Las mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual son encarceladas acusadas de crímenes contra la moral. Las mujeres que huyen de sus casas por malos tratos también son encarceladas.

Organización territorial 

Afganistán está dividido administrativamente en 34 provincias (vilayatos). Cada provincia tiene una capital y un gobernador a cargo. Las provincias se dividen en 364 distritos, y cada uno de ellos normalmente cubre una ciudad o un número de aldeas. Cada distrito provincial está representado por un gobernador de distrito. El país no cuenta con una entidad de administración regional. Sin embargo tradicionalmente se divide el país en cinco cuadrantes, norte, sur, este, oeste más la central donde se encuentra la provincia y capital del país Kabul.

Los gobernadores provinciales, así como los gobernadores de distrito, son elegidos para el cargo durante las elecciones presidenciales de la nación, que tienen lugar cada cinco años. Los gobernadores provinciales son los representantes del Gobierno central de Kabul y son responsables de todas las cuestiones administrativas y formales dentro de sus provincias. El jefe de la policía provincial es nombrado por el Ministerio del Interior en Kabul y trabaja junto con el gobernador de la provincia, en cumplimiento de la ley para todos los distritos de la provincia. Hay una excepción en la capital (Kabul), donde el alcalde es elegido directamente por el presidente, y es completamente independiente del gobernador de Kabul.

Geografía 

Afganistán posee una superficie de 652 230 kilómetros cuadrados, de los cuales aproximadamente el 75 % es montañoso. De hecho, las poco pobladas tierras altas centrales conforman la mayor parte del Hindú Kush, la principal cadena montañosa del país y la segunda más alta del mundo, con varios picos por encima de los 6400 metros en su extremo oriental. El punto más elevado de este país mediooriental es la cima de la montaña Nowshak, a 

En la región noreste existe una importante actividad sísmica que con frecuencia causa cientos de muertes. El clima puede catalogarse como continental extremo, con escasas precipitaciones. Una buena parte del territorio es desértico o semidesértico, excepto unos cuantos valles fértiles muy poblados, como el de Herat, al noroeste. La red fluvial es de tipo endorreico, siendo los ríos más importantes el Amu Daria (que es el cuasi mítico Oxus), el Helmand y el Kabul.

Economía 

Afganistán es un país extremadamente pobre, con una alta dependencia en la agricultura, pues la mayor parte de la población (90 %) trabaja en el sector agrícola cultivando cereales, frutales, frutos secos, algodón y papaya. La mayoría de la agricultura se realiza en las llanuras del norte, cerca de las fronteras con Turkmenistán, Uzbekistán y Tayikistán. También hay importantes rebaños de ovejas karakul, así como artesanía de alfombras. Posee importantes reservas de gas natural explotadas a baja escala por empresas de capital estadounidense y una industria (textiles, alimentos) de incipiente desarrollo. En general, la economía afgana tiene muy bajo desarrollo debido a la situación de guerra permanente, a la falta de un Gobierno central efectivo, y a la fragmentación de la sociedad en grupos tribales.

La agricultura es la principal fuente de ingreso de este país, pues se cultiva principalmente trigo, maíz, arroz, cebada, hortalizas, varios tipos de frutos secos, nueces, tabaco, algodón, remolacha y adormidera, esta última cultivada de manera ilícita para la fabricación de opio y sus derivados como la heroína, siendo el primer productor de opio en el mundo, según datos de la Oficina de Naciones Unidas contra la Droga y el Delito (ONUDD). Los productos principales de exportación de Afganistán son opio, frutos secos, alfombras, lana, algodón, pieles y cueros, piedras preciosas y semipreciosas. También se cultiva y se usa, en la industria de insumos, las semillas de ricino y rubia. En la ganadería, destaca la cría de ganado ovino que origina gran cantidad de carne, además de lana y pieles, para exportación. También se crían camellos, burros, vacas y cabras. Los productos principales de importación de Afganistán son maquinaria y bienes de equipo, alimentos, textiles y petróleo y sus derivados.

La economía ha sufrido bastante debido a agitaciones políticas y militares, así como a una sequía severa que ha añadido dificultades al país entre 1998 y 2001. La mayoría de la población sufre de insuficiencia de comida, vestido, vivienda, atención médica y otros problemas, todo esto empeorado por operaciones militares e incertidumbre política. La inflación constituye un serio problema. Luego de la guerra contra la coalición liderada por Estados Unidos, que provocó el derrocamiento del régimen talibán en noviembre de 2001, muchos de los agricultores han cambiado sus cultivos por paga en efectivo, en vez de cultivar alimentos para consumo interno, dando lugar a cultivos ilícitos como el de adormidera o amapola para producir opio, el cual se ha incrementado grandemente en la década del 2010; tal es así que Afganistán se convirtió en el primer proveedor ilegal de opio en el mundo.

A pesar de la labor de la comunidad internacional y el Gobierno de Karzai para erradicar los cultivos ilícitos de adormidera o amapola, la dependencia de ésta en la economía del país sigue en aumento. Según la ONUDD, en el año 2006 el cultivo de adormidera creció un 59 % y la producción del opio creció un 49 %. En un artículo de la Washington Quarterly, Peter van Ham y Jorrit Kamminga dan más detalles de la economía ilícita del opio en Afganistán y posibles soluciones.

Esfuerzos internacionales para la reconstrucción de Afganistán llevaron a la creación de la Autoridad Interina de Afganistán, como resultado del Acuerdo de Bonn de 2001. En enero de 2002, en la Conferencia de Donantes para la Reconstrucción de Afganistán en Tokio, se recolectaron unos 4500 millones de dólares, que serían administrados por el Banco Mundial. Las áreas prioritarias para la reconstrucción incluyen instalaciones sanitarias para educación y salud, mejora del sector agrícola, así como carreteras, energía y telecomunicaciones. Dos tercios de la población viven con menos de dos dólares al día.

Minería 

Las riquezas económicas todavía no han sido explotadas en gran escala en la minería. Existen ruinas a  de Kabul, producto de intentos de extraer las riquezas de la minería, que fueron realizadas en la época de los soviéticos, esmeraldas, cromo, cinc, uranio e hidrocarburos. Aunque esto son cifras estimadas y susceptibles de ser modificadas con respecto al petróleo, solo en la cuenca del Amu Daria, se encuentran en explotación 322 pozos, donde se estima que hay entre  de crudo. Aunque la prensa occidental habla con euforia del descubrimiento repentino del «oro negro» afgano, desligándolo de la invasión y la ocupación del país, desde 1938 —cuando los británicos construyeron las primeras refinerías en Irán y Arabia— había conocimiento sobre los yacimientos petrolíferos de Angut, al norte de Afganistán, que en 1959 fueron explotados por los soviéticos, quienes construyeron el primer gasoducto del país que terminaba en Uzbekistán. Quien estaría manejando el proyecto de la futura explotación minera es la empresa estatal china China Metallurgical Group Corporation; además, el Banco Mundial ha invertido recursos para poder manejar el proyecto.

El oro, plata, cobre, berilio y lapislázuli han sido explotados en pequeñas cantidades en las áreas montañosas. También se explotan depósitos de carbón y gas natural (estos últimos en el norte del país, que se desarrollaron durante la ocupación soviética).

El 13 de junio de 2010 se publicó el hallazgo de litio entre los yacimientos del país, un mineral necesario para la fabricación de baterías de diferentes dispositivos.

Exportaciones e importaciones

Exportaciones 

En 2016, Afganistán exportó $482.000.000, lo que lo convierte en el 104° exportador en el mundo. En los últimos cinco años, la tasa de exportación cayó un 15,48 %, siendo $531.000.000 en 2011 y $482.000.000 en la actualidad. Las exportaciones más recientes son lideradas por las uvas, que representa el 20 % de las exportaciones totales del país, seguidos por jugos de verduras, que representan el 17,8 %. Los principales destinos de las exportaciones son la India, con el 46 % ($220.000.000), Pakistán con el 41 % ($200.000.000), Irán con el 3,1 % ($15.100.000), Irak con el 2,1 % ($10.100.000) y Turquía con el 1,9 % ($9.150.000).

Importaciones 

En 2016, Afganistán importó $3.770.000.000, lo que lo convierte en el 93.° importador en el mundo. En los últimos cinco años, la tasa de importación cayó un 51,12 %, siendo $12.500.000.000 en 2011 y $3.770.000.000 en la actualidad. Las importaciones más recientes son lideradas por el trigo, que representa el 17,6 % de las importaciones totales del país, seguidos por la turba, que representan el 15,9 %. Los principales orígenes de las importaciones son Irán, con el 22 % ($840.000.000), Pakistán con el 17 % ($653.000.000), China con el 14 % ($526.000.000), Kazajistán con el 13 % ($499.000.000) y Turkmenistán con el 7,7 % ($289.000.000).

Infraestructura

Comunicaciones y tecnología 

Afganistán avanzó rápidamente en la tecnología de las comunicaciones y durante el régimen anterior a 2021 contó con empresas de comunicación inalámbrica, Internet, radiodifusoras y canales de televisión. Las empresas de telecomunicaciones afganas Afghan Telecom, Afghan Wireless, Roshan (que es en parte propiedad del príncipe Karim Aga Khan IV), MTN Group y Etisalat lograron un rápido incremento en el uso de teléfonos celulares. En 2011 existían 16,8 millones de líneas móviles.

La telefonía fija es manejada desde 2006 por Afghan Telecom, creada en ese año con la misión de reconstruir una red destruida por dos décadas de guerra. En 2011 había solamente 72 700 líneas fijas. En el 2006, el Ministerio Afgano de Comunicaciones firmó un contrato de 64,5 millones de dólares con ZTE Corporation para la creación de una red nacional de cable de fibra óptica. 

Los servicios postales y de entrega de paquetes (como FedEx, DHL y otros) existen en las principales ciudades y pueblos. A partir de 2008, el país tiene 460000 líneas de teléfono, y alrededor de 500000 personas (1,5 % de la población) tienen acceso a Internet.

Transporte 

La aerolínea Ariana Afghan Airlines despachaba vuelos hacia Fráncfort del Meno, Dubái y Estambul, desde Kabul y Herat. El país contó con servicios de vuelos nacionales e internacionales disponibles con las empresas de propiedad local, como Air Kam, Pamir Airways y Airways Safi. A partir del 15 de agosto de 2021 estuvieron suspendidos los vuelos civiles en el aeropuerto de Kabul, tras la ocupación militar de las instalaciones por las fuerzas de ocupación de los Estados Unidos a fin de facilitar la evacuación de ciudadanos extranjeros y afganos que necesitaban dejar el país tras la toma de Kabul por las fuerzas que derrocaron el gobierno de Ashraf Ghani. A partir del 13 de septiembre se comenzó a retomar la actividad comercial con vuelos chárter a Pakistán e Irán.

Los automóviles fueron más asequibles tras la ocupación de fuerzas extranjeras de 2002 , siendo Toyota, Land Rover, BMW y Hyundai los concesionarios más habituales. La mayoría de los ciudadanos que viajan grandes distancias usan los servicios de autobús. Los nuevos automóviles se han vuelto más ampliamente disponibles después de la reconstrucción de caminos y carreteras. Los vehículos son importados de los Emiratos Árabes Unidos a través de Pakistán e Irán.

El país cuenta con un servicio ferroviario limitado con Turkmenistán y Uzbekistán en el norte. Hay dos proyectos ferroviarios más actualmente en curso con los países vecinos; uno pretende conectar Herat e Irán, mientras que el otro quiere conectar con los ferrocarriles pakistaníes.

Medios de comunicación 

Los medios de comunicación estuvieron estrechamente controlados por los talibanes, tanto que la televisión fue cerrada en 1996 y a la prensa se le prohibió publicar comentarios, fotos o cartas de los lectores. Radio Kabul solo transmitía programas religiosos y de propaganda, y salía al aire sin música. Después de que el nuevo Gobierno asumiera en 2001, las restricciones a la prensa se han aligerado de manera gradual y diversificado los medios de comunicación privados. La libertad de expresión y de prensa se promueve en la Constitución de 2004 y la censura fue prohibida, a pesar de que difamar a las personas o la producción de material contrario a los principios del islam está prohibida. En 2008, Reporteros sin Fronteras colocó al país en el puesto 156 de 173, siendo los primeros más libres. 400 publicaciones están registradas, por lo menos 15 canales locales de televisión afgana y 60 emisoras de radio. Las estaciones de radio extranjeras, como el Servicio Mundial de la BBC, también se transmiten en el país.

Algunos diarios de Afganistán son Arman e milli, Hasht e subh, Mandegar y Outlook.

Demografía 

En 2007, Afganistán tenía una población de  habitantes. La esperanza de vida en 2018 se estimaba en los 49 años. Estimaciones del Banco Mundial para el año 2019, elevaban la esperanza de vida a los 65 años. A 2020 el 43 % de la población estaba alfabetizada. El promedio de hijos por mujer es de 6,64, una de las tasas más elevadas del planeta, que está provocando un incremento demográfico nunca visto en la historia del país.

Afganistán es un país multilingüe, multiétnico y multicultural, y además está en una encrucijada entre el este (China), el sur (Asia meridional, incluido Pakistán), el oeste (Oriente Medio, incluido Irán) y el norte (grupo de países de la antigua URSS). También fue un antiguo punto de encuentro del comercio y migración. A lo largo de la historia, la región de la moderna Afganistán fue invadida por varios pueblos, que incluyen los persas, griegos, árabes, turcos, mongoles, británicos, soviéticos y por la coalición liderada por EE. UU. en 2001.

La población de Afganistán está dividida en un gran número de grupos étnicos. Como no se ha llevado a cabo un censo sistemático en el país últimamente, no se cuenta con cifras exactas del tamaño y composición de los variados grupos étnicos. Por lo tanto, la mayoría de las cifras son solo aproximaciones. Según el CIA World Factbook (actualizado el 23 de noviembre de 2012), la distribución de grupos étnicos es la siguiente:
 Pastunes: 42 %
 Tayikos: 27 %
 Hazaras: 9 %
 Uzbekos: 9 %
 Aimak: 4 %
 Turcomanos: 3 %
 Baluchi: 2 %
 Otros: 4 %

Los idiomas oficiales de Afganistán son el persa afgano o dari (persa), hablado por el 50 % de la población, y el pastún, hablado por el 35 % de la población. Otras lenguas incluyen idiomas turcos, entre ellos, uzbeko y turcomano o turkmeno (este último, hablado por el 10 % de los habitantes), así como 30 lenguas menores. El bilingüismo es común, y esta es una de las razones por las cuales los porcentajes resultan variables.

Religiosamente, los afganos son predominantemente musulmanes (de los cuales aproximadamente 80-89 % son sunníes y 10-19 % son chiíes). Hay también minorías budistas, hinduistas y sijs. Una minoría judía milenaria se ha reducido desde hace algunos años. Muchos de los judíos huyeron en los noventa (durante la guerra civil y durante el régimen islamista radical de los talibanes) hacia los países vecinos, a Europa y al continente americano. Con la caída de los talibanes, algunos sijs y judíos han retornado a la provincia afgana de Ġaznī.

Durante los últimos años, Afganistán se ha mantenido fuera de la lista de países ordenados según su Índice de Desarrollo Humano elaborada por la ONU, debido a que no es posible recopilar datos suficientes para una correcta clasificación. En todo caso, cabría esperar que Afganistán fuera el último en dicho ranking, dado su escaso desarrollo económico y social.

Afganistán es muy pobre; de hecho, en 1995 ocupó el puesto 192.º (el último) en la clasificación de países según el consumo de calorías de su población. Miles de personas carecen de alimentos, vivienda y asistencia sanitaria. Entre 1979 y 2000, una tercera parte de su población abandonó el territorio, huyendo de la guerra, estimándose que son cerca de seis millones los refugiados afganos establecidos en Pakistán e Irán, quienes poco a poco han regresado a Afganistán.

Algunas de las principales ciudades son:

Educación 

Para el año 2017 se estimó que los gastos de educación alcanzaron el 4,1% del PBI.

A partir de 2006, más de cuatro millones de alumnos de ambos sexos estaban inscritos en todo el país. 

Tras el establecimiento del Emirato Islámico, existen diversos obstáculos significativos en la educación del país, debido a la falta de financiación, edificios escolares inseguros y reglas culturales. La falta de profesores es otro obstáculo.

La tasa de alfabetización según estimación de 1999 es de 36%: el 51% de los hombres y el 21% de las mujeres. Actualmente hay unas 9500 escuelas en el país.

Las mejores universidades de Afganistán son la Universidad Americana de Afganistán (AUAF), seguida de la Universidad de Kabul (KU), ambas ubicadas en Kabul. La Academia Militar Nacional de Afganistán, fue una institución de desarrollo militar de cuatro años dedicada a graduar a los oficiales de las Fuerzas Armadas afganas. La Universidad de Defensa Afgana fue construida cerca de Qargha en Kabul. Las principales universidades fuera de Kabul incluyen la Universidad de Kandahar en el sur, la Universidad de Herat en el noroeste, la Universidad de Balkh y la Universidad de Kunduz en el norte, la Universidad de Nangarhar y la Universidad de Khost (SZU) en el este. Estados Unidos planificó construir seis facultades de educación y cinco colegios provinciales de formación de docentes en todo el país, dos grandes escuelas secundarias en Kabul y una escuela en Jalalabad, durante los años de invasión.

Religión 

La cultura de Afganistán ha recibido una enorme influencia del islam, pero también en menor medida por el budismo y el zoroastrismo. El país ha sido un cruce de caminos a lo largo de la historia para la India, Irán y Asia Central, lo cual ha repercutido sobre su civilización.

La mayoría de los afganos (cerca del 99 %) son musulmanes, de los cuales el 80 % son suníes y solo el 19 % son chiíes. Una importante figura de la vida musulmán en Afganistán es el mulá (líder religioso o instructor). Cualquier hombre que pueda recitar el Corán de memoria puede ser un mulá.

El pueblo hazara es predominantemente chiita, principalmente de la rama de los Doce con algunos grupos más pequeños que practican la rama del ismailismo, aunque también hay una pequeña minoría sunita. Los tizks Qizilbash de Afganistán han sido tradicionalmente chiitas.

Miles de sikhs e hindúes afganos también se encuentran en las principales ciudades. Había una pequeña comunidad judía en Afganistán que había emigrado a Israel y los Estados Unidos a fines del ; al menos un judío, Zablon Simintov, permaneció. Hay entre 500 y 8000 cristianos en Afganistán, los cuales practican su fe de forma clandestina debido a la gran oposición social existente.

Cultura 

Afganistán cuenta con una compleja historia, que ha quedado reflejada en su actual civilización, idiomas y monumentos. Los afganos se muestran orgullosos de su país, su linaje y soberanía. Al estar en un cruce de caminos de múltiples rutas comerciales e imperios, la cultura afgana es rica y multilingüe, con herencias de todas las etnias y pueblos que arribaron a su territorio, donde el islam tiene una importancia predominante, pero hay influencias budistas y nómadas. La literatura afgana la componen básicamente poemas en los idiomas persa y pastún. Su música la componen instrumentos de cuerda tradicionales como el laúd dotar o el laúd tanbur, por influencias árabes y persas y el tambor tabla, influencia india.

Deporte 

El buzkashi o kokpar es una actividad ecuestre practicada en Afganistán, y está considerada el deporte nacional.

Mientras que su selección de fútbol nunca se ha clasificado a la Copa Asiática, menos a la Copa Mundial de Fútbol, ya que siempre fue considerada una de las más débiles de la AFC, pero en los últimos años ha tenido un progreso importante, donde destacan grandes logros, como el título del Campeonato de la SAFF 2013.
A nivel clubes, existe la Liga Premier de Afganistán, fundada en 2012 y cuyo equipo más laureado es el Shaheen Asmayee, con 5 conquistas. Además, fue el primer equipo afgano en participar en un torneo internacional, fue en la Copa AFC 2017, cayendo en primera fase ante el Khosilot Farkhor de Tayikistán.

Véase también 

 Dinastía hotaki (1709-1738)
 Imperio durrani (1747-1926)
 Reino de Afganistán (1926-1973)
 República de Afganistán (1973-1978)
 República Democrática de Afganistán (1978-1992)
 Estado Islámico de Afganistán (1992-1996)
 Emirato Islámico de Afganistán (1996-2001)
 Kafiristán

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 Afganistán, crónica de una ficción de Mònica Bernabé Fernández, editorial Debate (2012), ISBN 978-84-9992-087-0.
 
 Gomà, Daniel. Historia de Afganistán: de los orígenes del Estado afgano a la caída del régimen talibán, Publicaciones de la Universidad de Barcelona (2011), ISBN 978-84-475-3484-5

Enlaces externos 

 Sitio de la Presidencia de Afganistán.
 Perfiles de países de la FAO: Afganistán

 
Repúblicas islámicas
Estados sin litoral
Países de Asia
Estados miembros de la Organización de Cooperación Islámica

La arqueología (del griego «ἀρχαίος» archaios, viejo o antiguo, y «λόγος» logos, ciencia o estudio) es la ciencia que estudia los cambios que se producen en las sociedades, desde las primeras agrupaciones de humanos hasta las actuales, a través de restos materiales dispersos en la geografía y conservados a través del tiempo. La arqueología puede considerarse tanto una ciencia social como una rama de las humanidades.

Introducción 
En Estados Unidos, la arqueología es considerada un subcampo de la antropología, mientras que en Europa la arqueología a menudo se considera una disciplina en sí misma o un subcampo de otras disciplinas.

Los arqueólogos estudian la prehistoria y la historia humana, desde el desarrollo de las primeras herramientas de piedra en Lomekwi en el África Oriental (Kenia) hace 3,3 millones de años hasta las últimas décadas. 

La arqueología es una mezcla de descubrimientos de restos materiales, su intervención con metodología rigurosa, junto al paciente trabajo de analistas científicos, y junto a la etapa de interpretación, que permite entender qué significaron los elementos descubiertos o explorados en la historia de la humanidad. En consecuencia, la arqueología es tanto una actividad física de campo como una búsqueda y exploración intelectual en el laboratorio.

La mayoría de los primeros arqueólogos, que aplicaron la nueva disciplina a los estudios de los anticuarios, definieron la arqueología como el «estudio sistemático de restos materiales de la vida humana ya desaparecida». Otros arqueólogos enfatizaron aspectos psicológico-conductistas, y definieron la arqueología como «la reconstrucción de la vida de los pueblos antiguos».

La disciplina implica topografía, excavación y, finalmente, el análisis post-excavación de los datos recopilados para aprender más sobre el pasado. En un amplio alcance, la arqueología se basa en la investigación interdisciplinaria. Se basa en Antropología, Historia, Historia del Arte, Estudios Clásicos, Etnología, Geografía, Geología, Historia de la literatura, Lingüística, Semiología, Crítica Textual, Física, Ciencia de la información, Química, Estadística, Paleoecología, Paleografía, Paleontología, Paleozoología y Paleobotánica.

En Estados Unidos e Inglaterra, la arqueología ha sido siempre considerada como una disciplina perteneciente a la antropología. En efecto, mientras que la antropología se centra en el estudio de las culturas humanas, la arqueología se dedica al estudio de las manifestaciones materiales de dichas culturas. De este modo, en tanto que las antiguas generaciones de arqueólogos estudiaban un antiguo instrumento de cerámica como un elemento cronológico que ayudaría a ponerle una fecha a la cultura que era objeto de estudio, o simplemente como un objeto con un cierto valor estético, los antropólogos verían el mismo objeto como un instrumento que les serviría para comprender el pensamiento, los valores y la cultura de quien lo fabricó. Sin embargo, en la mayoría de los países, la arqueología ha estado más unida al estudio de la historia; en un principio como ciencia auxiliar de la historia del arte, y luego de la historiografía en general.

Con el paso del tiempo se ha dejado de lado la tradicional visión de la arqueología como una de las ciencias auxiliares de la historia. En la actualidad, la arqueología es considerada una ciencia histórica autónoma; es decir sería una de las distintas disciplinas históricas.

La arqueología es una de las principales ciencias del karst objeto de la espeleología, ocupándose de los yacimientos en cavidades subterráneas.

Su principal objetivo es el estudio de los cambios en la organización social, así como la diversidad del comportamiento humano (económico, político, ideológico) en el pasado. Esto normalmente se logra a través del estudio de restos materiales en contextos espaciales y temporales definidos. Es por este motivo que la arqueología tiene, en primer lugar, un particular interés en la definición clara de secuencias temporales (divisiones diacrónicas), que se concretan en periodos; aunque hay arqueólogos que tienden a especializarse en un periodo, también prestan atención a sucesos previos y posteriores a ese periodo; a este patrón constituye una excepción la arqueología urbana, donde no resulta posible establecer divisiones temporales o diacrónicas. En segundo lugar, la arqueología centra su atención en marcos espaciales concretos (divisiones sincrónicas) tales como «regiones» o unidades políticas, «sub-regiones» o comunidades, y «áreas locales-yacimientos» o unidades domésticas y sus restos asociados (lugares de actividad, tumbas, entre otros). A diferencia de la Historia, secuencias temporales profundas y diversidad de espacios la proveen de variadas y complementarias escalas de análisis, rasgos únicos que le permiten reconstruir y dar explicaciones acerca de los cambios sociales y la diversidad de la organización social humana.

La Arqueología ha cruzado un largo camino que inicia desde la búsqueda de ciudades antiguas o perdidas, identificación de grupos humanos con características particulares, hasta encontrar y coleccionar objetos desconocidos, permitiendo así la realización proyectos de investigación comprometidos con el entorno social y político de un país, debido a que por legislación el patrimonio arqueológico es considerado como una herencia del mismo, que se debe preservar y estudiar, generando modelos imaginarios que identifican diversos aspectos del pasado que serán proyectados en el futuro.

La investigación arqueológica ha estado relacionada fundamentalmente a la Prehistoria y a la Antigüedad; sin embargo, durante las últimas décadas la metodología arqueológica se ha aplicado a etapas más recientes, como la Edad Media (arqueología medieval), la Edad Moderna (arqueología postmedieval) o el periodo industrial. En la actualidad, los arqueólogos dedican ocasionalmente su atención a materiales actuales, investigan residuos urbanos, con lo que está naciendo la denominada arqueología industrial.

La arqueología se desarrolló a partir del Anticuario en Europa durante el , y desde entonces se ha convertido en una disciplina que se práctica en todo el mundo. Desde su desarrollo temprano, varias subdisciplinas específicas de la arqueología se han desarrollado, incluida la arqueología marítima, la arqueología feminista y la arqueoastronomía, y se han desarrollado numerosas técnicas científicas diferentes para ayudar a la investigación arqueológica. Sin embargo, hoy en día, los arqueólogos se enfrentan a muchos problemas, como el manejo de la pseudoarqueología, el saqueo de artefactos, la falta de interés público y la oposición a la excavación de restos humanos.

Historia 

La arqueología surgió del antiguo estudio multidisciplinario conocido como anticuario. Los anticuarios estudiaron la historia con especial atención a los artefactos y manuscritos antiguos, así como a los sitios históricos.

La arqueología establece que el estudio del hombre y la sociedad no es un hecho científico.

Desde los años cincuenta, la arqueología en Norteamérica y en Europa occidental ha pasado desde una ortodoxia histórico-cultural hacia innovaciones teóricas. Las innovaciones teóricas produjeron el surgimiento de desacuerdos sobre los objetivos de la disciplina de la arqueología y cómo se debe acceder a ellos. Con el paso del tiempo los arqueólogos han abandonado su positivismo y han dudado sobre la objetividad de sus investigaciones, considerando los factores sociales y las soluciones convincentes como problemas. Algunos extremistas niegan que las interpretaciones ofrecidas por los arqueólogos sean un reflejo de los valores transitorios de las sociedades donde viven.

La perspectiva histórica de las relaciones entre la arqueología y el contexto social aborda un modo comparativo donde surgen problemas como la subjetividad, la objetividad y la acumulación de conocimiento. En los últimos años los arqueólogos están de acuerdo con que «ningún problema histórico debería ser tratado sin estudiar antes... la historia del pensamiento histórico sobre él», cita dicha por el filósofo R. G. Collingwood. La investigación histórica sobre la interpretación arqueológica se ha multiplicado y adoptado a metodologías más sofisticadas. Michael Schiffer afirma que hay que exponer y articular las teorías actuales, y las licenciaturas deberían dejar de ser 
«historias del pensamiento». Tanto la veracidad como la falsedad de las formulaciones teóricas son independientes de las influencias sociales y de la historia, y están determinadas por la aplicación de procedimientos de evaluación. Siguiendo esta idea, tanto la historia de la arqueología como la filosofía están desconectadas, y el análisis histórico es el elemento que observa estas posiciones.

Se puede distinguir entre un diálogo interno, donde los arqueólogos desarrollan métodos para inferir en el comportamiento humano a través de los datos arqueológicos, y un diálogo externo, donde se utilizan los hallazgos para hacer alusión a los problemas sobre dicho comportamiento y la historia humana. El diálogo interno trata los rasgos de la arqueología como disciplina, y el diálogo externo contribuye a la participación de la arqueología en las ciencias sociales.

La reacción del público ante los hallazgos arqueológicos señala la necesidad de contemplar la historia de la arqueología a través de un amplio contexto social. La imagen más popular que muestra la misma es la de una disciplina esotérica sin ninguna relevancia en la actualidad. En ocasiones los arqueólogos son descritos como «seniles casanovas de la ciencia que se mueven entre los montones de basura de la antigüedad», aunque en los últimos doscientos años se ha despertado el interés por esta rama, sobresaliendo autores como Austen Layard en Nimrud o Heinrich Schliemann en Troya, y descubrimientos como la tumba de Tutankamon, el Palacio de Minos, el ejército de terracotas del emperador chino Qin Shihuangdi y los fósiles de homínidos en el África Oriental de hace millones de años. Durante la segunda mitad del  la arqueología recibió apoyo, debatiéndose entre el evolucionismo y el libro del Génesis.

Las interpretaciones históricas son subjetivas, y debido a la abundancia de estas, en muchas ocasiones se manipula. Si la interpretación histórica es una forma de creación de mitos, estos ayudan a guiar a la acción pública y constituyen un sustituto para el instinto. Según este punto de vista, los mitos están sujetos a la selección natural y pueden aproximarse a la realidad, sin embargo, dicha realidad es endeble acerca de la objetividad de las interpretaciones históricas.

El enfoque histórico de la historia de la arqueología examina entre la interpretación arqueológica y el medio social-cultural. La perspectiva temporal proporciona distinciones entre la arqueología y la sociedad y permite identificar factores mediante la observación.

Aproximaciones a la historia de la arqueología 

Con el estudio de la historia de la arqueología se produjeron numerosos desacuerdos sobre la naturaleza y el significado de la misma. G. R. Willey y J. A. Sabloff distinguieron cuatro periodos sucesivos en su History of American Archaeology (1974, 1980): especulativo, clasificatorio-descriptivo, clasificatorio-histórico y explicativo. Esto implica que en el hemisferio occidental, la arqueología se centra en la descripción y la clasificación. Clasificando los datos en relevantes o irrelevantes, como ocurre también en el periodo clasificatorio-descriptivo, implica la existencia de un marco teórico. También puede sostenerse que el hecho más simple no puede constituirse independientemente de un contexto teórico. En el pasado, estos marcos teóricos no lo formulaban los arqueólogos, y actualmente es la arqueología norteamericana la que elabora propuestas teóricas.

En el pasado los arqueólogos emplearon teorías, pero ha sido en la actualidad cuando esas teorías han adquirido un paradigma de investigación. La comunidad científica mantiene esta tradición, y se encarga de divulgarlo en libros de texto y revistas científicas. A partir de entonces la arqueología se definió como una «indisciplinada disciplina empírica» y sugirió que su desarrollo teórico se considere en un estado preparadigmático. Las propuestas que son reconocidas internacionalmente son las únicas que se pueden calificar como paradigma. Los estudios de las primeras fases del desarrollo arqueológico revelan formulaciones más globales y consistentes, para lo que se necesita un estudio que respete el pasado y juzgue el trabajo según el periodo.

Algunos arqueólogos mezclan la idea de Kuhn con una visión evolucionista. Mantienen que las fases sucesivas del desarrollo de la teoría arqueológica poseen una consistencia interna suficiente como para ser calificadas de paradigmas, y que la sustitución de un paradigma por otro constituye una revolución científica. A raíz de esta visión, innovadores como Christian Thomsen, Oscar Montelius, Gordon Childe y Lewis Binford encontraron errores y formaron nuevos paradigmas que cambiaron la dirección de la investigación arqueológica y determinaron qué tipo de problemas eran importantes o no.

Estudio arqueológico

Prospección

Excavación 

Dentro de las excavaciones arqueológicas podemos observar diversos tipos: las de urgencia, las de investigación y las de patrimonio.
Las excavaciones de urgencia están condicionadas por la transformación del espacio. Esta transformación va ligada a la construcción de infraestructuras o edificios. Esto exige documentar los restos ya que el sitio va a ser destruido por la construcción. Este tipo las pagan las constructoras públicas o privadas que van a modificar el espacio y se realiza un Estudio de Impacto Arqueológico.
Las excavaciones de investigación se realizan para descubrir nuevos datos que nos ayudan a cubrir lagunas de información concretas que hay en la Historia.
Las de patrimonio cultural se centran en el desarrollo estratégico de actividades culturales (turismo) y el aporte de interés a ciertos puntos de atracción del territorio.

La arqueología es una ciencia que permite registrar a partir de sus evidencias materiales la evolución de la actividad humana, es decir, en creación, en tecnología y ciencia.
Para poder excavar hay que tener el permiso de la autoridad correspondiente. Existe un registro arqueológico de las excavaciones y las autoridades son las que exigen una serie de condiciones para la excavación de los yacimientos: el lugar donde se han de guardar los restos, el director de la excavación, las fechas, el derecho a inspecciones, la elaboración de un libro diario donde se recoja todo lo relacionado con la excavación.
Una vez finalizada la excavación se ha de elaborar un inventario de materiales para el ingreso en el museo y una memoria preliminar para la autoridad correspondiente analizando los resultados de la excavación.

Trabajo de laboratorio 

Con los datos obtenidos en la excavación, se deben analizar los restos obtenidos exhaustivamente. Para ello se realizan las tareas de procesado en el laboratorio.

En primer lugar, los restos se lavan y consolidan (en caso de ser necesario) evitando deteriorar los materiales. Hay que tener cuidado al lavar la cerámica pintada, para no deteriorar su pigmentación. Los huesos son higroscópicos, por lo que no es bueno lavarlos con agua, sino con un pincel o una esponja en seco. Es conveniente lavar en seco y cuidadosamente los estucos, yesos y otros materiales frágiles.

Después se llevan a cabo las labores de siglado y registro, en donde cada pieza se sigla para poder identificarla en caso de confusión. Se sigla identificando el yacimiento y un número con la pieza exacta que se indica en el registro. Hecho esto, se ha de identificar la cerámica mediante tablas tipológicas.

Cuando está hecho todo lo anterior, se ha de dibujar el material representativo para la publicación. Además, hay que analizar mediante otras técnicas (métodos de datación, medios químicos...).

Métodos de datación absoluta

Dendrocronología 

La dendrocronología (dendro: árbol; cronos: tiempo) es fundamental actualmente y necesaria para correlacionar los resultados del C-14. Se basa en los anillos de crecimiento de los árboles. Su conocimiento se remonta al Renacimiento ya que Leonardo da Vinci hizo un estudio sobre ellos. Sin embargo, fue en el  cuando naturalistas como Duhamel y Buffon empezaron a realizar estudios sobre ello con árboles que habían sido cortados simultáneamente. Así, reconocieron que anualmente el árbol generaba un anillo más. Cuando llegaron al anillo 28 (contando desde fuera) observaron que en todas las especies este tenía un grosor más pequeño que denotaba un escaso crecimiento del árbol. Cada anillo tiene una parte más clara y otra más oscura debido a las diferencias en el ritmo de crecimiento según las estaciones. El anillo 28 corresponde al año 1709 en el que hubo unas heladas históricas. Fueron los primeros que relacionaron las características climáticas con la forma de los anillos. A principios del , el astrónomo estadounidense Douglass estudió si la radiación procedente de las manchas solares quedaban reflejadas en el crecimiento de los árboles. Para ello observó la evolución de los anillos intentando llegar lo más lejos posible. Así, utilizó especies de larga duración como las secuoyas o los pinos amarillos. Tras esto, se consiguió realizar secuencias de la morfología de los anillos de zonas geográficas concretas. Hoy en día en la mayor parte de Europa se tiene una secuencia maestra que se remonta a 3000 años e incluso en ciertos lugares hasta los 5000. Para la arqueología europea el material básico de construcción es la madera debido a su riqueza forestal por lo que se posee gran cantidad de material para estos estudios. Es el método más seguro que existe.

Hay que tener cuidado con el factor "madera antigua" en donde se datan objetos hechos con partes interiores de un árbol (podría decirse que el corazón del árbol) pudiendo dar fechas alteradas de varios cientos de años.

Carbono 14 

El profesor Libby, que trabajaba en el Instituto de Estudios Nucleares de Chicago, desarrolló el método adecuadamente entre 1946-1949. El método alcanzó una popularidad inmediata y Libby obtuvo el premio Nobel en 1960. Este rápido reconocimiento se debe a dos grandes ventajas: el uso de muestras provenientes de cualquier lugar del mundo sin necesidad de un estudio previo, y que alcanza una cronología bastante amplia que llega hasta el 50.000 BP. Actúa sobre la materia orgánica. Los átomos de C14 están presentes en la atmósfera y se forman en la estratosfera a partir de la interacción de la radiación solar y el N. El C14 es absorbido por los seres vivos mediante la fotosíntesis de las plantas a través de la cadena alimenticia. No todos los seres vivos poseen la misma proporción de C14.

Mientras un organismo está vivo conserva la misma proporción de C14 en el organismo; cuando muere disminuye de forma constante. El ritmo de pérdida se conoce como la vida media del C14 y es conocido. Libby calculó una vida media de 5568 años, pero actualmente se ha corregido en 5730. Esta cifra se refiere al tiempo que tarda un organismo en disminuir la proporción de C14 a la mitad. Así, al cabo de otros 5730 años se habrá reducido a la mitad del 50% que quedaba. Los laboratorios miden la cantidad de C14 que tiene la muestra. La diferencia entre esta cifra y la que debería tener se traduce en años. El trabajo de laboratorio es muy complejo ya que hay que limpiar el elemento con gran cuidado para no contaminar el exterior. Son necesarios unos gramos de materia prima para obtener la datación. Hoy día existe una opción, el C14AMS, que trabaja con cantidades muy pequeñas pero es más caro y laborioso. No todos los materiales suponen la misma facilidad de datación ya que las conchas son muy complicadas por su alto porcentaje de minerales. Por el contrario, los huesos se fechan muy bien aunque lo más fácil es la madera. Gracias a este método se puede datar el polen.

Potasio-argón 

El método del potasio-argón es otro método de datación radiométrica, que permite datar rocas de origen volcánico asociadas a algunos de los restos fósiles y arqueológicos más antiguos del origen de la humanidad. En el momento de solidificación de una roca ígnea, el 40K que contiene comienza a desintegrarse, a un ritmo conocido, en 40Ar. La vida media del 40K es de 1,25Ma y la edad de la roca viene dada por la proporción 40K/40Ar que presenta actualmente. Este método, junto al similar del argón-argón (basado la proporción 40Ar/39Ar) ha dado muy buenos resultados en los yacimientos de origen sedimentario africanos, donde es frecuente la intercalación de rocas procedentes de episodios volcánicos, como por ejemplo en la secuencia estratigráfica de la Garganta de Olduvai. Otro ejemplo es el del yacimiento de Laetoli, donde una erupción volcánica dejó una capa de cenizas, fechada por K/Ar en 3,7Ma, sobre la que imprimieron sus huellas algunos animales y varios ejemplares de Australopithecus afarensis.

Termoluminiscencia 

La termoluminiscencia se usa para cerámicas, pero en ocasiones se ha usado para elementos de sílex. El sistema consiste en que las partículas de arcilla van absorbiendo materiales radiactivos del suelo (uranio, potasio). Cuando esa arcilla es sometida a altas temperaturas la carga radioactiva queda a 0. A partir de ese momento vuelve a empezar a cargarse. Se traslada al laboratorio el resto y en condiciones controladas se vuelve a someter al calor y unas máquinas miden la cantidad de carga que se desprende y que había acumulado la arcilla. Cuanto mayor sea la carga radioactiva, mayor será su antigüedad. El sistema se completa analizado la carga de ese estrato para ver si el estrato ha fomentado la carga, ya que el ritmo de carga puede depender del estrato. Tras el proceso, el material queda completamente destruido.

Paleomagnetismo 

Se basa en el hecho de que la polaridad magnética de la Tierra no es estática: los polos Norte y Sur magnéticos se invierten cada cierto tiempo por causas aún poco conocidas. No se presentan pautas o ciclos periódicos. Estos cambios de polaridad quedan reflejados en las rocas de origen ígneo y en algunos estratos sedimentarios, en los que las partículas minerales magnéticas quedan orientadas según la posición de los polos magnéticos en el momento de su formación, a modo de "brújulas fosilizadas". El último gran cambio de polaridad (de sur a norte) se dio hace 780 milenios (Inversión magnética de Brunhes-Matuyama). El paleomagnetismo fue muy importante en la excavación de Atapuerca: en el sector de Gran Dolina, los estratos en los que se estaban sacando restos humanos de Homo antecessor (TD 6), se formaron en una época de polaridad inversa, por lo que son más antiguos de 780.000 años.

Racemización de aminoácidos 

La racemización de aminoácidos es un método de datación química que consiste en la conversión de un compuesto L-aminoácido a un D-aminoácido o viceversa y permite datar muestras orgánicas hasta el Paleolítico Medio.

Subdisciplinas arqueológicas 

La arqueología en el gran desarrollo teórico y metodológico de las últimas décadas, ha dado lugar a numerosas subdisciplinas de marcado carácter temático-conceptual:

Arqueología de Campos de Batalla 

Recibe diversas denominaciones, tales como arqueología del conflicto, arqueología de los campos de batalla o arqueología de la guerra. Su objetivo es el estudio de los procesos bélicos a partir de los restos recuperados en los escenarios donde estos se desarrollaron; siendo la prospección arqueológica determinante para conocer aspectos de los hechos que sucedieron sobre el terreno.

Arqueología histórica 

La arqueología histórica es la arqueología que estudia culturas con algunas formas de escrituras. En Inglaterra los arqueólogos descubrieron planos de pueblos medievales del , abandonados después de que se produjeran crisis, como es el caso de la peste negra.

La arqueología, de la misma manera que se dedica al estudio de la antropología (arqueología antropológica), también se dedica al estudio de la historia (arqueología histórica). La arqueología histórica es la crónica de la humanidad desde los comienzos hasta hace unos tres millones de años, aunque las fuentes históricas comienzan más temprano, con el nacimiento del documento escrito en Asia Occidental en el , aunque en otros lugares, Australia por ejemplo, existió en . En ese sentido, la arqueología comprende los periodos y lugares donde existen dichos documentos e inscripciones.

Sitios arqueológicos notables

Arqueólogos históricos notables

Etnoarqueología 

La etnoarqueología se trata del estudio de una comunidad humana viva a partir de la cultura material (aproximación arqueológica). En sus inicios se postuló como un modo de entender el registro arqueológico con analogías de referentes culturales actuales. En las corrientes posmodernas se concibe como una buena forma de obtener referentes inspiradores para elaborar las interpretaciones arqueológicas y construir narrativas enriquecedoras.

Arqueología cognitiva 

La arqueología cognitiva es la rama de origen reciente que responde a la necesidad de estudiar las formas de pensamiento y las estructuras simbólicas del pasado a partir de los restos materiales hallados.
Se formó principalmente para conocer las sociedades prehistóricas debido a la falta de fuentes escritas que aportaran información de estas; este nuevo enfoque "imaginativo" mezclado con métodos científicos de vanguardia fue uno de los instigadores de la
Nueva Arqueología.

Arqueología contextual 

Se preocupa por el contexto de un artefacto y de las asociaciones que hay entre varios objetos. También tienen en cuenta la cantidad de objetos idénticos que hay en un yacimiento y el lugar donde se encuentra. Por lo tanto, permite averiguar la función de un artefacto y la información sobre cómo influía en la sociedad.

Arqueología darwinista 

Afirma que los procesos que llevan a la estabilidad y al cambio cultural son similares a los de la evolución biológica. La evolución cultural es el conjunto de modificaciones en la distribución de los atributos de las sociedades. También defiende que la cultura humana es consecuencia de un aprendizaje social a través del contacto con otros seres humanos.

Arqueología de género 

Es el estudio del rol, acciones e ideologías que hay entre hombres y mujeres. Busca las diferencias entre el papel social de cada uno de ellos en distintas culturas. Se fija en las desigualdades biológicas y en las construcciones sociales que se transmiten a los humanos desde la infancia.

Arqueología experimental 

La arqueología experimental representa la aplicación del método experimental para desarrollar procesos que han sido creados por la arqueología.

Arqueología holística 

La arqueología holística engloba todos los aspectos de las sociedades humanas (ecología, economía, política, arte, ideología...) y los relaciona entre ellos. Sus principales fuentes provienen de otros tipos distintos de la misma disciplina: etnografía, etnohistoria y arqueología contextual.

Arqueología del paisaje 

La arqueología del paisaje o arqueología espacial es un método por el cual se intenta conocer como era el medio en la antigüedad. Se hacen pequeños sondeos aleatorios de 2 x 2 en el ámbito circundante que se quiere estudiar y gracias a ello se saca información de la diversidad del medio y de las diferentes actividades que se practicaron en cada parte del medio.

Arqueología de la arquitectura 

La arqueología de la arquitectura, también conocida como arqueología mural, arqueología arquitectónica o arquitectura arqueológica, es una rama de la arqueología que se dedica al estudio de los materiales arquitectónicos.

Arqueometría 

La arqueometría es la incorporación de técnicas físico-químicas aplicadas al estudio arqueológico. Esta permite nuevas perspectivas a la investigación arqueológica. Dentro de estos estudios, resalta la caracterización de materiales, el estudio sobre composición y manipulación de elementos metalúrgicos, el análisis de contenido de recipientes arqueológicos, etc.

Los estudios arqueométricos tienen como antecedente el análisis de la composición de los materiales arqueológicos encontrados como son los metales, los cristales, la Cerámica, los objetos, las rocas, entre otros, que datan del , estos estudios se desarrollaron en tres etapas básicamente: en la primera etapa se realizaron estudios de Rayos X y la fotografía área;  la segunda etapa se identificó por el desarrollo de las principales técnicas de medición como la emisión óptica, el radiocarbono, la termoluminiscencia, la fluorescencia y la tercera etapa se caracterizó por el avance de las técnicas multielementales como la espectrometría de masas y la teledetección espacial.

Paleoetnobotánica

Tafonomía arqueológica 

La tafonomía es el estudio de la formación de yacimientos.

Estudios osteológicos

Zooarqueología 

La zooarqueología es el estudio de los restos antiguos de animales. Con esta disciplina científica se pueden identificar las especies existentes en un yacimiento arqueológico, pudiendo dar un patrón alimenticio de la ocupación.

La zooarqueología ha pasado por varias etapas hasta llegar a la situación actual donde existe diversidad en la productividad y un refinamiento en las diversas técnicas para inferir la Información sobre el pasado y la Historia de los animales. Durante los años setenta los trabajos se centraron hacia el reconocimiento de patrones de búsqueda en situaciones de registro zooarqueológico, culminando con la llegada del modelo epistemológico. En la década de los noventa se inicia con la publicación de artículos, síntesis y diversos volúmenes dedicados a esta ciencia y en menor medida a la Tafonomía, se observó un notable aumento en la difusión y en la importancia de esta disciplina.

Antropología física (bioarqueología) 

La antropología física en su aplicación a la arqueología es un análisis de los restos óseos humanos, en aspectos biológicos del ser humano y de su relación con los aspectos históricos y culturales.  En EE.UU. esta disciplina se denomina, desde 1976 bioarqueología. Su objetivo general es el estudio de la variación biológica humana en poblaciones modernas. Sin embargo, el estudio de la evolución de los mecanismos culturales y fisiológicos para amortiguar el estrés ambiental es fundamental para comprender nuestro éxito como especie, lo que nos permitió colonizar una amplia gama de nichos.

Arqueología pública 

Si la arqueología intenta crear un nuevo conocimiento desde el estudio de la cultura material de sociedades pasadas, la arqueología pública trata de estudiar todas las relaciones entre esa Arqueología y la sociedad actual para así mejorar su entendimiento general y la coexistencia entre ambas.

Arqueología genética y molecular 

La arqueogenética es un término acuñado por el arqueólogo británico Colin Renfrew, que se refiere a la aplicación de las técnicas de la genética de poblaciones para el estudio del pasado humano.

Tipos de trabajo arqueológico 

Así como a otras de perfil metodológico-contextual:

 Arqueología aérea
 Arqueología subacuática

Categorías cronoarqueológicas 

Asimismo existen delimitaciones cronoespaciales a nivel mundial, que delimitan una serie de grandes áreas culturales, cuyos estudios se configuran usualmente como subdisciplinas con cierta autonomía dentro de la ciencia arqueológica. Las más destacables serían:

Arqueología americana 

 Arqueología andina (véase también Arqueología del Perú)
 Arqueología argentina.
 Arqueología comparativa = Área Intermedia; Norte, Centro y Sur América
 Arqueología de sociedades complejas = Área Intermedia; Norte, Centro y Sur América
 Arqueología mesoamericana

Arqueología de Egipto y de Próximo Oriente 

 Arqueología egipcia (división que conforma junto a otros campos de estudio la Egiptología)
 Arqueología Acadia
 Arqueología Babilónica
 Arqueología bíblica
 Arqueología de Israel
 Arqueología fenicio-púnica
 Arqueología Hitita
 Asiriología
 Sumeriología

Arqueología europea 

 Arqueología clásica
 Arqueología europea
 Arqueología medieval
 Arqueología postmedieval
 Arqueología prehistórica
 Arqueología protohistórica

Arqueología mundial 

 Arqueología del conflicto
 Arqueología del pasado contemporáneo
 Arqueología industrial

Revistas científicas de arqueología

Cultura popular 

La mezcla del peligro y la labor detectivesca han convertido a la arqueología en un vehículo para escritores de ficción y cineastas, desde Agatha Christie con Asesinato en Mesopotamia hasta Steven Spielberg con Indiana Jones. Aunque estas imágenes se alejen de la realidad, captan la verdad esencial de que la arqueología es una búsqueda de conocimiento entre el presente y el pasado.

Véase también

Referencias

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos 

 Portal de Arqueología NAyA Revista académica con gran cantidad de artículos y ponencias de congresos (en español)
 Experimental Archaeology, Archeoparagliding, Reconstructions (en inglés, alemán, polaco y ucraniano)
 North Pacific Prehistory, revista académica especializada en arqueología del nordeste asiático y América del Norte (en español, inglés y francés)
 Rupestreweb Publicación de arte rupestre (pinturas y petroglifos) de América latina.
 Arqueología Iberoamericana - Revista científica internacional de acceso abierto dedicada a la arqueología americana e ibérica.

Disciplinas auxiliares de la Antropología
 
Antropología
Disciplinas auxiliares usadas en historia
Ciencias históricas
Helenismos

El Commodore Amiga fue un ordenador personal comercializado por Commodore International entre 1985 y 1994. Fue diseñado por Jay Glenn Miner y un reducido equipo de ingenieros pertenecientes a la empresa Didbit ubicada en Santa Clara, California. Su módico precio de entrada y sus capacidades multimedia, mucho más avanzadas que los compatibles PC y Macintosh de la época, le confirió mayor popularidad entre los amantes de los videojuegos. Su sistema operativo tiene una particularidad excepcional para la informática de la época, consistente en ser el primer ordenador multitarea y multimedia orientado al gran público.

Historia 

El desarrollo del Amiga, comenzó en 1982 con Jay Miner, (desarrollador del conjunto de chips del Atari 800), como diseñador principal de hardware de Amiga Corporation. Inicialmente fue pensado como una consola de juegos de la siguiente generación, aunque finalmente fue rediseñado como un ordenador de propósito general después de la crisis del videojuego de 1983. Un prototipo del modelo completo de ordenador, fue expuesto al público por primera vez en el verano de 1984 en la feria ≪Consumer Electronics Show≫. Con la finalidad de plasmar el diseño del ordenador al mercado, Commodore International compró a Amiga Corporation, y financió el desarrollo del ordenador. El primer modelo fue lanzado en 1985 simplemente como ≪The Amiga from Commodore≫, aunque posteriormente fue designado como ≪Amiga 1000≫. El siguiente año la línea de productos Amiga fue ampliada mediante la introducción de dos nuevos modelos, el ≪Amiga 2000≫ destinado a uso profesional y de altos gráficos, y el ≪Amiga 500≫ dirigido al uso en hogar. Commodore lanzó posteriormente otros modelos, tanto para el uso doméstico de juegos como para productividad de gama alta.

En 1994 Commodore se declaró en bancarrota y sus activos fueron adquiridos por ≪Escom≫ fabricante de PC de origen Alemán, el cual creó la subsidiaria ≪Amiga Technologies≫, los cuales relanzaron los modelos A1200 y A4000T, además de crear una nueva versión 68060 del modelo A4000T. Sin embargo Escom también se declaró en bancarrota en el año 1997. La marca Amiga fue vendida entonces a otro fabricante de PC, Gateway 2000, el cual tenía grandes planes para Amiga; sin embargo en el 2000 Gateway vendió la marca Amiga sin haber lanzado ningún producto. El actual propietario de la marca Amiga tiene los derechos para vender hardware usando el nombre Amiga o AmigaOne a los vendedores de ordenadores Commodore de Estados Unidos, Eyetech Group, Ltd. y A-Eon Technology CVBA. Los clones no-oficiales del AmigaOne eran desarrollados por Acube, compañía italiana de hardware.

Hardware 

La idea básica con la que fue diseñado el Amiga fue la de hacer que cada tarea (sonido, gráficos, periféricos, etc.) estuviera descentralizada, teniendo un chip específico para cada una, con un procesador central, el Motorola 68000, que coordinara a todos estos chips dedicados diseñados especialmente (custom chips, en inglés).

Distinguimos tres familias de ordenadores Amiga agrupándolas según su conjunto de chips (chipset):

 OCS: Original Chip Set (chipset original);
 ECS: Enhaced Chip Set (chipset mejorado);
 AGA: Advanced Graphic Architecture (arquitectura gráfica avanzada).

Cuando apareció en 1985 estaba muchos años por delante de los demás sistemas, usando ideas como compartición de IRQs, entrada/salida mapeada en memoria, multitarea real usando el sistema de multitarea apropiativa, etc. Aunque algunas de estas técnicas habían sido inventadas anteriormente, aún no habían sido realmente utilizadas en la práctica ni en un ordenador personal.

Modelos y variantes

Modelos de Amiga comercializados 

Como en determinadas aplicaciones (renderizados, grandes interacciones, etc.) la potencia de cálculo se quedaba corta, aparecieron placas capaces de sustituir el procesador original del Amiga por otro más potente. Es lo que llamamos tarjetas aceleradoras. Surgieron una gran variedad de fabricantes y modelos abarcando básicamente toda la familia del MC68000 (desde el 68010 hasta el 68060, así como los modelos de microprocesadores Poco 603 y 604).

Sistema operativo 
El sistema operativo AmigaOS es sofisticado, combinando un GUI como el Macintosh con la flexibilidad de Unix.

Al menos los siguientes sistemas operativos están disponibles para Amiga además del AmigaOS:
 Amiga Unix System V R4 (también conocido como AMIX): distribuido con los A2000UX y A3000UX, venía en una cinta de streamer.
 Mach.
 GNU/Linux.
 Linux m68k: para los procesadores de la familia 680x0. Cabe señalar que fue la primera implementación no x86 de Linux.
 Linux PowerPC: existen varios proyectos, el más famoso es APUS (que proporciona un kernel nativo PPC para Amiga PowerUP).
 NetBSD.
 OpenBSD.
 Minix 1.5.
 pOS: sistema comercial creado por Pios para sustituir al AmigaOS. Fracasó estrepitosamente.
 MorphOS: sistema comercial creado para aprovechar las aceleradoras PPC.

Actualidad y futuro 

Pese a que la comunidad de usuarios se ha ido reduciendo progresivamente debido al estancamiento de su tecnología (que no ha evolucionado en paralelo con la de los PC), existen muchos usuarios que siguen apostando por Amiga, por lo que sigue desarrollándose activamente hardware y software para la plataforma. Se espera que pronto aparezca un nuevo Amiga, aunque se lleva esperando desde hace años sin resultados tangibles. La nueva versión trataría de aprovechar las tecnologías actuales de los PC y dotarlos de un microprocesador de la familia PowerPC G3/G4/G5 o posterior y un sistema operativo eficiente, que no desperdicie los recursos del sistema.

Software

Emuladores 

Otra vía de futuro que algunos usuarios ven es la emulación del Amiga en otras plataformas. Existen distintos emuladores de Amiga que se muestran a continuación:

 Libres o gratuitos:
 UAE: Acrónimo de Unix Amiga Emulator. Fue el primer emulador de Amiga.
 WinUAE, BeUAE,...: UAE para Microsoft Windows, BeOS. Véase sitio web de UAE.
 Fellow: Otro emulador para Windows.
 Comerciales:
 Amithlon: Producido por Haage And Partner. Corre sobre un mini núcleo Linux y es en la actualidad el más rápido que existe gracias a la tecnología de compilación JIT (Just In Time).
 AmigaOSXL: También producido por Haage And Partner. Básicamente es una versión de UAE que corre sobre QNX. Es coetáneo de Amithlon y las diferencias con el anterior es que este sacrifica velocidad en pro de la compatibilidad con el chipset. También tiene la capacidad de poder ejecutar binarios x86 de QNX directamente desde el Workbench.
 Amiga Forever: Comercializado por la casa Cloanto. Básicamente es el WinUAE con los ficheros de ROM introducidos mediante expreso permiso de Amiga, Inc. La última versión cuenta con tecnologías de compilación JIT, al igual que Amithlon.

Sistemas operativos 

Los siguientes sistemas operativos actuales son sucesores o presentan cierta compatibilidad con Amiga:
 AmigaOS 4: sucesor oficial, comercial, para PowerPC.
 AROS: opensource, para x86, ARM, m68k y PowerPC.
 MorphOS: comercial, para PowerPC.
 AmigaOS 4.1 Final Edition

Hardware 
En cuanto a los nuevos proyectos de hard relacionados con Amiga, encontramos:

Ya descatalogados 

 Phase5 BlizzardPPC (para Amiga 1200) y Phase5 CyberstormPPC (para Amiga 3000 y 4000) de 1997-2000 que permitían instalar una CPU PowerPC en Amiga Clásicos. En julio de 2007 salió una versión de AmigaOS 4.0 exclusivamente para máquinas con BlizzardPPC y CyberstormPPC, actualizado en febrero de 2008. Anteriormente salió el Morphos 1.4.5 para dichos productos

 AmigaOne basado en los diseños de Teron de MAI, corre AmigaOS4.0 pero actualmente no se produce ya. Originalmente iba a ser fabricada por Escena para Eyetech pero debido a los retrasos se optó por las placas de referencia de MAI. Salieron 3 modelos entre 2002 y 2004, AmigaOne SE (Teron CX, con un PPC750 a 600Mhz y numerosos problemas), AmigaOne XE (Teron GX, con zócalo de CPU MegArray incompatible con Mac, habitualmente con un G3 a 800Mhz o un G4 a 800/933Mhz) y MicroA1 (mini Teron, con G3 PPC750FX o GX a 800Mhz). Corre AmigaOS 4.0 y 4.1.

 Pegasos es una máquina fabricada por bplan GmbH y comercializada por Genesi. Salió en 2 versiones, Pegasos1 (con un 750cx/600Mhz y chipset ArticiaS de MAI), del cual a su vez salieron 3 versiones. La primera tenía problemas de DMA, y las dos siguientes los fueron corrigiendo con el chip llamado April. La última versión con el chip April2 era por fin muy estable) y Pegasos2 (con chipset de Marvell, soporte de memoria DDR y un G3/600Mhz o un G4/1Ghz, así como 2 Ethernets). Ambas placas corren LinuxPPC y MorphOS (un SO moderno compatible con AmigaOS3.x, WarpOS, PowerUP -y AmigaOS4 mediante un emulador de terceros-). Ya no se producen, se fabricaron entre 2002 y 2006. El Pegasos 2 (no así el Pegasos 1) soporta AmigaOS 4.1 desde 2009.

 A-EON AmigaOne X1000, ordenador anunciado en enero de 2010, con CPU PowerPC doble núcleo y coprocesadores XMOS XCore. Se esperaba que se comercializara a partir de verano de 2010, pero tras varios retrasos su primer lote vio la luz en 2012. Cesó la producción en 2015 por la escasez de unidades de su CPU, pero se anunció un sustituto (aún no a la venta).

 EFIKA 5K2 placa base comercializada por Genesi con CPU PPC Freescale 5200B, posterior a los Pegasos 2. Soporta, entre otros, MorphOS y Linux. Presentada en 2005, siguió a la venta en Directron, fabricante que consiguió reducir el precio hasta 99 Dólares.

Actualmente a la venta 

 Sam440ep placa base producida por la compañía italiana ACube Systems Srl que integra una CPU PPC AMCC 440EP. Dos versiones: "ep" con gráfica integrada ATI Radeon Mobility M9 y "ep-flex" sin gráfica integrada. Soporta AmigaOS 4.1, AROS, Linux y FreeBSD. Lanzada en 2007, continúa en fabricación en la actualidad (enero de 2012).
 Sam 460ex: En abril de 2010 Acube anunció que una nueva placa base Sam460ex (con CPU más potente que la Sam440) estaría disponible a finales de septiembre de 2010, fue retrasado. En noviembre de 2010 estaba a la venta para el mercado industrial de equipos embebidos con Linux y en marzo de 2011 para el público en general con AmigaOS 4.1. No sustituye a la Sam440, aunque se sitúa por encima de la 440 por precio y prestaciones. Posteriormente Acube anunció una versión más asequible, la Sam460ex-Lite (prestaciones intermedias entre la 440ep-flex y la 460ex) y un ordenador completo basado en la Sam 460ex, el AmigaOne 500.

 Minimig es una reimplementación libre de un A500 en un FPGA de Altera. La primera versión cuenta con un 68000 real de 3.3v, un PIC para cargar el programa del FPGA y también para leer tarjetas MMC. Requieren una imagen de la ROM de un A500 (ya sea 1.x,2.x,3.x) para funcionar.

Anunciados 

 AmigaOne X3500 y X5000, sucesores del X1000, anunciados en enero de 2014.

 Otros proyectos fueron anunciados pero se cancelaron o retrasaron sine die. Por ejemplo los Elbox Shark PPC, concepto similar a las Phase5 BlizzardPPC y CyberstormPPC, tarjetas aceleradoras basada en microprocesador PowerPC, pero que en este caso se acopla en una ranura PCI, de aplicación para Amigas clásicos ampliados con una expansión PCI Elbox Mediator, Prometheus o similar. No hay noticias de este fabricante, era de suponer que en estas máquinas con esta expansión funcionara AmigaOS 4.0. Se prometió que saldría cuando el AmigaOS4.0 fuese sacado oficialmente el cual no ha visto la luz. También se canceló el Amiga netbook, computadora portátil anunciada por Hyperion en octubre de 2011.

Amiga Inc 

Por otro lado, los actuales dueños de Amiga, Amiga, Inc. han apostado por los productos AmigaDE/AmigaAnyware que no están relacionados con AmigaOS ni corren sobre ninguna de sus encarnaciones. Este sistema es el Amiga DE (Digital Environment) que utiliza una tecnología de abstracción a nivel de plataforma y procesador. Se utiliza tecnología Elate/intent de Tao Group y corre en equipos de sobremesa en GNU/Linux y también sobre WindowsCE. Es una especie de máquina virtual que permite correr el mismo programa sin recompilarlo.

Véase también 

 Listado de emuladores de Commodore Amiga
 Emulación en la Amiga

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 AROS Amiga Research Operation System.
 Página oficial de Amiga, Inc., donde se puede ver la evolución futura prevista del Amiga.
 bplan GmbH, fabricante de Pegasos.
 BBoAH, Big Book of Amiga Hardware.

 
Computadoras de 32 bits
Computadoras con CPU 68000
Computadoras domésticas con procesadores de 16 bits
Plataformas de la edad de oro del software español

El Commodore Amiga 500, conocido como el Amiga 500, es un computador personal de la gama Commodore Amiga que fue lanzado en 1987 al mismo tiempo que el Commodore Amiga 2000. Mientras que este último se orientaba a un mercado profesional y de usuarios avanzados, el Amiga 500 lo hacía al mercado doméstico y del videojuego. Ambos fueron anunciados en el Consumer Electronics Show de enero de 1987. El precio inicial, sin monitor, en Estados Unidos fue de 595,95 dólares.

Fue el modelo de la gama con mayores ventas, con un éxito remarcable en Europa, donde dominó el mercado del videojuego para ordenadores, rivalizando con las videoconsolas Sega Megadrive y Super Nintendo.

Debido a las diferentes normas de electricidad y televisión, se construyen dos versiones principales de la placa madre, una para NTSC (Estados Unidos, Japón, y otros) y otra para PAL (Europa y parte de Asia). Las zonas con norma SECAM (Francia, Europa del Este) usan equipos PAL. Las diferencias son principalmente de frecuencias de reloj. No obstante los chips gráficos son capaces de conmutar entre ambos modos sin problemas si se dispone de un monitor RGB.

Además del paquete estándar, se han distribuido diversas variantes en cuanto al software incluido. En octubre de 1989, se lanza el Batman Pack, que fue distribuido en el Reino Unido.

En las navidades de 1991, es parcialmente sustituido por el Commodore Amiga A-500 Plus (una versión mejorada del Amiga 500). Ambos dejan de fabricarse a mediados de 1992, siendo sustituidos por el Commodore Amiga 600 y posteriormente por el Commodore Amiga 1200. Pese a ser máquinas más avanzadas ninguna logra el éxito del Amiga 500.

Especificaciones técnicas 

 CPU CISC Motorola 68000 a 7,16 MHz la versión NTSC, o 7,1 MHz la PAL. Aunque implementa un modelo de 32 bits y tiene registros de 32 bits, así como un bus interno de datos de 32 bits, sus tres ALU son de 16 bits, su bus externo de datos es de 16 bits y su bus de direcciones es de 24 bits, por lo que solo puede direccionar 16 MB de RAM. 
 ROM: de 512 KB conteniendo el Kickstart. 
 RAM: 512 KB de CHIP RAM por defecto (buffers de sonido, memoria gráfica y software coexisten en el mismo espacio), ampliables a 1 MB de CHIP RAM y hasta 8 MB de Fast RAM (direccionable solo por el microprocesador, sin compartirla con el resto del chipset). Ulteriormente la Fast RAM podía ser ampliada hasta 128 MB con tarjeta aceleradora.
 Sistema operativo: AmigaOS 1.2 o 1.3 (teniendo micronúcleo multitarea preferente de 32-bit) dependiendo de la revisión.
 Chipset OCS/ECS en los A500+ disfrazados de Amiga 500.
 Versiones a 50 Hz PAL o 60 Hz NTSC dependiendo del país.
 Filtro de graves de audio controlable por software (LED de funcionamiento brillante con el filtro activado, más oscuro con el filtro apagado).
 Compartición de interrupciones IRQ (como el bus PCI).
 Sistema de IRQ con 7 niveles de prioridades de interrupciones.
 Sin límite en el número de interrupciones utilizadas.
 Recursos gestionados por Autoconfig, muy similar a ACPI. Los recursos no eran numerados o etiquetados, simplemente dados como cantidades y direcciones de memoria.
 No hay puertos de E/S específicos, usa E/S mapeada en memoria separadamente para cada dispositivo.
 Soporte:
 Unidad de disquete interna de 3,5" y doble densidad, 880 KB en formato estándar Amiga, capacidad de leer/escribir discos en formato MS-DOS usando un sistema de archivos adicional. Debido a su controladora, es capaz de leer/escribir casi cualquier formato de doble densidad.
 Hasta 3 unidades de disco externas conectables en cadena, de 3,5" o de 5,25".
 Disco duro externo IDE o SCSI por medio de expansión (puede incorporar más prestaciones, como ampliaciones de memoria).
 Unidad externa de CD-ROM Amiga A570 opcional.
 Teclado: estándar Amiga QWERTY/QWERTZ/AZERTY mecánico con interruptores Mitsumi, conformado por 96 teclas incluyendo 10 teclas de función, Ayuda, Suprimir, bloque de cuatro teclas del cursor y el teclado numérico. 
 Carcasa: rectangular con la parte del teclado en plano inclinado, muy similar a la del Commodore 64c. En el lateral izquierdo, protegido por una trampilla, está el conector Zorro II de ampliación. En el derecho, unidad de disquete integrada. En la trasera, conectores.

Conectores 

 Dos conectores para joysticks digitales y ratón (DE-9). El ratón debe soportar el protocolo privativo o bien conectarse con un adaptador.
 Dos conectores de sonido estéreo (RCA).
 Un puerto de unidades de disquete externas (DB-23F), para conectar hasta 3 unidades en cadena.
 Un puerto serie RS-232 (DB-25).
 Puerto de impresora paralelo Centronics (DB-25).
 Conector de alimentación externa (+5V, +/-12V).
 Conector RGB analógico con salida de video a 50 Hz PAL o 60 Hz NTSC (DB-23M). Puede usarse con monitores de vídeo como el Commodore 1084S o, mediante adaptadores, con monitores VGA multisíncronos o cualquier equipo con un euroconector completo. El uso de un monitor VGA común requiere un periférico adicional para doblar la velocidad de barrido, dada la diferencia entre la señal original del Amiga (~15 kHz) y la que soportan estos monitores (~31 kHz+).
 Conector de vídeo monocromo (RCA).
 Conector de expansión de bus de tipo Zorro II en el lateral izquierdo.
 Conector de expansión interna, accesible mediante una trampilla inferior, para expansiones de RAM, reloj en tiempo real y otras.

Véase también 
 Commodore Amiga A-500 Plus

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

  Música de Amiga

Commodore Amiga
Computadoras con CPU 68000
Computadoras domésticas con procesadores de 16 bits

Aquifoliaceae, las aquifoliáceas, son una familia perteneciente al orden Aquifoliales. Contiene solo dos géneros de árboles y arbustos perennifolios o caducifolios, ordinariamente dioicos.

Descripción
El género más conocido y numeroso, Ilex, popularmente llamados acebos, consta de alrededor de 600 especies, de las cuales unas 300 son propias de países templados y tropicales, sobre todo de América. Se caracterizan por tener hojas simples y alternas con flores generalmente unisexuales, actinomorfas, inconspicuas, a menudo tetrámeras, de ovario súpero y dispuestas frecuentemente en cimas. Los frutos son drupas. 

El otro género, Nemopanthus, únicamente contiene una especie, Nemopanthus mucronatus, que difiere de las de Ilex en sus flores con un cáliz más reducido y pétalos estrechos, además de ser tetraploides, en lugar de diploides.

Taxonomía 
La familia fue descrita por Bercht. & J.Presl y publicado en O Přirozenosti rostlin, aneb rostlinar 2(110): 440, 438. 1825.

Géneros

 Ilex 
 Nemopanthus
 Prinos
Géneros pendientes de ser aceptados
 Ageria
 Arinemia
 Ennepta
 Hexotria
 Nemopanthes
 Pseudehretia
 Synstima

Referencias

Bibliografía
  Berendsohn, W.G., A. K. Gruber y J. A. Monterrosa Salomón. 2009. Nova silva cuscatlanica. Árboles nativos e introducidos de El Salvador. Parte 1: Angiospermae - Familias A a L. Englera 29(1): 1–438.
  Hahn. 2001. Aquifoliaceae. En: W.D. Stevens, C. Ulloa Ulloa, A. Pool y O.M. Montiel (eds.). Fl. Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85(1): 133–136.
  Idárraga-Piedrahíta, A., R. D. C. Ortiz, R. Callejas Posada y M. Merello. (eds.) 2011. Fl. Antioquia: Cat. 2: 9–939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
  Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee y S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2014. Cat. Pl. Vasc. Bolivia, Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 127(1–2): i–viii, 1–1744. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, S. Luis.
  Jørgensen, P. M., M. H. Nee y S. G. Beck. (eds.) 2015 en adelante. Catálogo de las plantas vasculares de Bolivia (adiciones).  
  Linares, J. L. 2003 [2005]. Listado comentado de los árboles nativos y cultivados en la república de El Salvador. Ceiba 44(2): 105–268.
  Nasir, E. y S. I. Ali (eds). 1980-2005. Fl. Pakistan. Univ. de Karachi, Karachi.
  Nelson, C. H. 2008. Cat. Pl. Vasc. Honduras 1–1576. Secretaría de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Tegucigalpa.
  Standley, P. C. y J. A. Steyermark. 1949. Aquifoliaceae. In Standley, P.C. y Steyermark, J.A. (Eds), Flora of Guatemala - Part VI. Fieldiana, Bot. 24(6): 196–201.  View in Biodiversity Heritage Library
  Stevens, W. D., C. Ulloa Ulloa, A. Pool y O. M. Montiel. 2001. Flora de Nicaragua. Monogr. Syst. Bot. Missouri Bot. Gard. 85: i–xlii,.

Enlaces externos

Las sapindáceas (Sapindaceae) son una familia de plantas perteneciente al orden Sapindales. Comparte con otras familias del orden Sapindales sus hojas creciendo en espiral, su forma pinaticompuesta (a veces palmada, trifoliada o con un solo foliolo), con un foliolo en el ápice y las flores tienen un disco nectarífero evidente rodeando al ovario. Hay alrededor de 140-150 géneros con 1400-2000 especies nativas de países cálidos. Entre otros géneros, pertenecen a ella los arces y los castaños de Indias.

Características 
Son árboles, arbustos, lianas y hierbas, frecuentemente bejucos. Hojas esparcidas. A menudo con células secretoras. Flores hermafroditas, o unisexuadas por aborto, zigomorfas, en general pentámeras, generalmente con un disco anular excéntrico entre la corola y el androceo, con 8-10 estambres; gineceo de 2-3 carpelos concrescentes, con un único óvulo cada uno. Fruto variable, capsular, seco e indehiscente, esquizocárpico, en baya o drupa.

Ex Aceraceae 

Como Aceraceae se agrupaba anteriormente a unas 125 especies nativas de las regiones frías del hemisferio norte, en los géneros vegetales Acer (los arces) y Dipteronia; estudios genéticos recientes han llevado a reclasificarlos en la familia de las sapindáceas, subfamilia Hippocastanoideae, tribu Acerae, y no se emplea actualmente.

Las especies de este taxón son árboles o arbustos, generalmente caducifolios, con hojas opuestas palmatilobadas o en ocasiones pinnaticompuestas. Presentan flores hermafroditas o unisexuales, actinomorfas, diclamídeas o a veces apétalas, es decir, (monoclamídeas sin corola), tetrámeras o pentámeras, hipoginas; agrupadas en corimbos o en panículas. Frutos en disámara (aquenios alados).

Subdivisiones taxonómicas 
Actualmente están aceptadas 4 subfamilias.

Subfamilias 
 Xanthoceroideae Thorne & Reveal: monogenérica (Xanthoceras Bunge, 1833) y monoespecífica (Xanthoceras sorbifolia,  norte de China, anteriormente en la tribu Harpullieae Radlk., 1890 de la subfamilia Sapindoideae).
 Hippocastanoideae Dumortier: 5 géneros 143 especies, con el género Acer, L., 1753 que tiene 126. Hemisferio norte templado; algunas tropicales y, en este caso, generalmente en montañas.
 Dodonaeoideae Burnett: 22 géneros -con 70 especies del género Dodonaea, P.Miller, 1754-  y un total de 145 especies. Pantropical-templado cálido, especialmente en Australia y sureste de Asia.
 Sapindoideae Burnett: 111 géneros y 1340 especies. Principales géneros con número de especies: Serjania (230), Paullinia (195), Allophylus (1-250), Guioa (65), Cupaniopsis (60), Talisia (42), Cupania (50), Matayba (50). Pantropical.

Géneros 
 Véase: Anexo:Géneros Sapindaceae

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Anacardiaceae es una familia de plantas esencialmente arbóreas y arbustivas perteneciente al orden Sapindales. La constituyen 77 géneros con unas 700 especies aceptadas, de las casi 3000 descritas, propias de países tropicales, cálidos y templados.

Descripción 
Son árboles, arbustos, raramente subarbustos o trepadoras, frecuentemente con savia venenosa. Son plantas dioicas, monoicas, andromonoicas, polígamas o hermafroditas. Tienen hojas alternas, raramente opuestas o verticiladas, simples o pinnaticompuestas, pecioladas o sésiles, generalmente sin estípulas; cuando son compuestas, los folíolos son opuestos o a veces alternos, de márgenes enteros, serrados o crenados. Las inflorescencias son terminales y/o axilares, tirsoides, paniculadas, racemosas o espigadas, con brácteas y bractéolas deciduas o persistentes, petaloides o foliosas, de flores actinomorfas, unisexuales o bisexuales, con hipanto a veces presente y perianto generalmente de 2 verticilos. El fruto es drupáceo o samaroide, carnoso o seco, a veces con un ala lateral o marginal, ocasionalmente con el cáliz subyacente agrandado (Astronium) o unido a un hipocarpo carnoso (Anacardium). Las semillas, en número de 1–12, poseen endosperma escaso o ausente, un embrión curvado o recto, los cotiledones generalmente libres, bilobados, iguales o plano-convexos.

Taxonomía 
Anacardiaceae fue descrita por Robert Brown y publicado en Narrative of an Expedition to Explore the River Zaire, p. 431, 1818.

Géneros

Sinonimia 
 Blepharocaryaceae, Comocladiaceae, Julianiaceae, Lentiscaceae, Pistaciaceae, Schinaceae, Spondiadaceae, Vernicaceae.
 Julianaceae.

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 Anacardiaceae en Plant Systematic
 Anacardiaceae de Chile, en Chileflora
 Anacardiaceae en BoDD – Botanical Dermatology Database

El autogiro o girocóptero es una aerodino de alas móviles, es decir, en este caso, esta aeronave vuela como los aviones pero su ala es un rotor que gira por la acción del viento relativo que lo atraviesa de abajo arriba. Por ello, se puede considerar un híbrido entre el aeroplano y el helicóptero: al igual que el aeroplano, su propulsión se realiza mediante una hélice, pero, además de alas, tiene un rotor como el helicóptero. Este rotor no está conectado al motor de la aeronave, por lo que autogira, impulsado por el aire, generando así la fuerza de sustentación. En el helicóptero, por el contrario, la propulsión y la sustentación se producen en el rotor, que sí está impulsado por el motor.

Historia 

El autogiro fue invención del ingeniero español Juan de la Cierva, quien desarrolló el rotor articulado que más tarde usarían los helicópteros (aunque es pasivo, este sistema diseñado por Juan de la Cierva compensaba la diferencia de empuje del aire batido, cuando la pala va adelante, con el batido, cuando va atrás, que hacía volcar tanto al autogiro como al helicóptero). En su primer vuelo, el autogiro logró recorrer 200 metros en 1917 y más tarde, realizó el primer viaje entre aeródromos desde Getafe a Cuatro Vientos en 1918. Hay que destacar que Juan de la Cierva nunca se interesó por los helicópteros, a los que consideraba demasiado complicados para volar y proclives a los accidentes.

Los primeros modelos de autogiros fabricados por Juan de la Cierva disponían de unas pequeñas alas que hacían la función de alerones para controlar el alabeo. Posteriormente su inventor introdujo una articulación en la cabeza del rotor y le aplicó «mando directo» haciendo innecesarias las citadas alas. Así mismo, en los modelos más avanzados se podría transmitir fuerza del motor al rotor por medio de un prelanzador, acortando así la carrera de despegue, hasta llegar al «despegue de salto», prácticamente vertical. El primer prelanzador fue diseñado por Heraclio Alfaro Fournier. Un perfeccionamiento posterior fue el llamado rotor autodinámico, introduciendo un ángulo respecto a la vertical en la articulación de arrastre, sistema que mantenía las palas del rotor en «paso fino» hasta que alcanzada una cierta velocidad y se desembragaba el motor, momento en el que las palas se desplazaban en arrastre aumentando bruscamente su ángulo de ataque, y generando así la sustentación necesaria para el «despegue de salto».

El nacimiento de los helicópteros propició el declive de los autogiros hasta su práctica desaparición, aunque en tiempos más recientes ha habido un cierto resurgir entre la aviación deportiva, tanto por iniciativas comerciales como por aficionados que construyen sus propios autogiros. Igualmente se desarrollaron aparatos experimentales como el Wallis WA-116 Agile, famoso por su participación en la película de James Bond de 1967 Sólo se vive dos veces.

Tras varios años de trabajo en la Maestranza Aérea de Albacete, el 15 de enero de 1998 se voló de nuevo un autogiro Cierva C.30. Fue pilotado por el teniente coronel Fernando Iglesia Manix. Después de un accidente en junio de 2000 fue entregado al Museo del Aire, ubicado en la base aérea de Cuatro Vientos (Madrid).

Autorrotación con motor parado 
En caso de una parada del motor en vuelo, el autogiro planea y comienza a descender lentamente, tal como cae la semilla de un  sicomoro, que tiene una forma de hélice que hace que caiga  suavemente del árbol en autorrotación. Cuanto más rápido lo haga, tanto más rápidamente giran las palas del rotor, almacenando energía y proporcionando mayor sustentación. También en un helicóptero se puede recurrir a la autorrotación para tomar tierra sin motor, pero el piloto tiene que actuar sobre el paso colectivo y colocar el rotor en régimen de autorrotación. En cambio, un autogiro vuela siempre en autorrotación. Cabe aclarar que para que las palas autorroten, el ángulo de ataque debe ser negativo.

Véase también 
 Feria Aerosport
 Helicóptero
 Juan de la Cierva
 Pere de Son Gall
 Historia de la aviación
 Anexo:Cronología de la aviación
 Ígor Sikorski
 Girodino

Referencias

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos 

 Giroaventura, aventuras de un grupo de autogiros.
 Popular Rotorcraft Association.  Asociación de gente que construye y vuela autogiros y helicópteros .
 Rotorbyte  .

Aviación
Aeronaves por tipo
 
Inventos de España

Albert Einstein (; Ulm, Imperio alemán, 14 de marzo de 1879-Princeton, Estados Unidos, 18 de abril de 1955) fue un físico alemán de origen judío, nacionalizado después suizo, austriaco y estadounidense. Se le considera el científico más importante, conocido y popular del .

En 1905, cuando era un joven físico desconocido, empleado en la Oficina de Patentes de Berna, publicó su teoría de la relatividad especial. En ella incorporó, en un marco teórico simple fundamentado en postulados físicos sencillos, conceptos y fenómenos estudiados antes por Henri Poincaré y Hendrik Lorentz. Como una consecuencia lógica de esta teoría, dedujo la ecuación de la física más conocida a nivel popular: la equivalencia masa-energía, E=mc². Ese año, publicó otros trabajos que sentarían algunas de las bases de la física estadística y de la mecánica cuántica.

En 1915, presentó la teoría de la relatividad general, en la que reformuló por completo el concepto de la gravedad. Una de las consecuencias fue el surgimiento del estudio científico del origen y la evolución del universo por la rama de la física denominada cosmología. En 1919, cuando las observaciones británicas de un eclipse solar confirmaron sus predicciones acerca de la curvatura de la luz, fue idolatrado por la prensa. Einstein se convirtió en un ícono popular de la ciencia mundialmente famoso, un privilegio al alcance de muy pocos científicos.

Por sus explicaciones sobre el efecto fotoeléctrico y sus numerosas contribuciones a la física teórica, en 1921 obtuvo el Premio Nobel de Física y no por la Teoría de la Relatividad, pues el científico a quien se encomendó la tarea de evaluarla no la entendió, y temieron correr el riesgo de que luego se demostrase errónea. En esa época era aún considerada un tanto controvertida.

Ante el ascenso del nazismo, Einstein abandonó Alemania en diciembre de 1932 con destino a Estados Unidos, donde se dedicó a la docencia en el Institute for Advanced Study. Se nacionalizó estadounidense en 1940. Durante sus últimos años trabajó por integrar en una misma teoría la fuerza gravitatoria y la electromagnética.

Aunque es considerado por algunos como el «padre de la bomba atómica», abogó por el federalismo mundial, el internacionalismo, el pacifismo, el sionismo y el socialismo democrático, con una fuerte devoción por la libertad individual y la libertad de expresión. Fue proclamado «personaje del » y el más preeminente científico por la revista Time.

Biografía

Infancia 
Nació en la ciudad alemana de Ulm, cien kilómetros al este de Stuttgart, en el seno de una familia judía. Sus padres fueron Hermann Einstein y Pauline Koch. Hermann y Pauline se habían casado en 1876, cuando Hermann tenía casi veintinueve años y ella dieciocho. La familia de Pauline vivía cerca de Stuttgart, concretamente en la ciudad de Cannstatt; allí su padre, Julius Koch, explotaba con su hermano Heinrich un comercio muy próspero de cereales. Pauline tocaba el piano y le transmitió a su hijo su amor por la música, entre otras cualidades como su "perseverancia y paciencia". De su padre, Hermann, también heredó ciertos caracteres como la generosidad y la amabilidad que caracterizaron a Albert.

En 1880 la familia se mudó a Múnich, donde se criaría durante catorce años, y su padre y el hermano de este, Jakob, quien influyó intelectualmente sobre Albert, fundaron en octubre una empresa dedicada a la instalación de agua y gas. Como el negocio marchaba bien, con el apoyo de toda la familia decidieron abrir un taller propio de aparatos eléctricos (Elektrotechnische Fabrik J. Einstein & Cie.), que suministraban a centrales eléctricas en Múnich-Schwabing, Varese y Susa en Italia, la que fracasaría tras endeudar a toda la familia. Esto causó un trauma no solo a Albert sino también al resto de la familia. A fin de saldar las deudas y financiar el traslado, el querido jardín de la casa de Múnich fue vendido a un promotor inmobiliario.

Desde sus comienzos, demostró cierta dificultad para expresarse, pues no empezó a hablar hasta la edad de tres años, por lo que aparentaba poseer algún retardo que le provocaría algunos problemas. Al contrario que su hermana menor, Maya, que era más vivaracha y alegre, Albert era paciente y metódico y no le gustaba exhibirse. Solía evitar la compañía de otros infantes de su edad y a pesar de que, como niños, también tenían de vez en cuando sus diferencias, únicamente admitía a su hermana en sus soledades. Cursó sus estudios primarios en una escuela católica; desde 1888 asistió al instituto de segunda enseñanza Luitpold (que en 1965 recibiría el nombre de Gymasium Albert Einstein). Sacó buenas notas en general, no tanto en las asignaturas de idiomas, pero excelentes en las de ciencias naturales. Los libros de divulgación científica de Aaron Bernstein marcaron su interés y su futura carrera. Fue un período difícil que sobrellevaría gracias a las clases de violín (a partir de 1884) que le daría su madre (instrumento que le apasionaba y que continuó tocando el resto de sus días) y a la introducción al álgebra que le descubriría su tío Jakob. Su paso por el Gymnasium (instituto de bachillerato), sin embargo, no fue muy gratificante: la rigidez y la disciplina militar de los institutos de secundaria de la época de Otto von Bismarck le granjearon no pocas polémicas con los profesores: en el Luitpold Gymnasium las cosas llegaron a un punto crítico en 1894, cuando Einstein tenía quince años. Un nuevo profesor, el Dr. Joseph Degenhart, le dijo que «nunca conseguiría nada en la vida». Cuando Einstein le respondió que «no había cometido ningún delito», el profesor le respondió: «tu sola presencia aquí mina el respeto que me debe la clase».

Su tío, Jakob Einstein, un ingeniero con gran inventiva e ideas, convenció al padre de Albert para que construyese una casa con un taller, en donde llevarían a cabo nuevos proyectos y experimentos tecnológicos de la época a modo de obtener unos beneficios, pero, debido a que los aparatos y artilugios que afinaban y fabricaban eran productos para el futuro, en el presente carecían de compradores y el negoció fracasó. El pequeño Albert, se crio motivado por las investigaciones que se realizaban en el taller y todos los aparatos que allí había. Además, su tío incentivó sus inquietudes científicas proporcionándole libros de ciencia. Según relata el propio Einstein en su autobiografía, de la lectura de estos libros de divulgación científica nacería un constante cuestionamiento de las afirmaciones de la religión; un librepensamiento decidido que fue asociado a otras formas de rechazo hacia el Estado y la autoridad. Un escepticismo poco común en aquella época, a decir del propio Einstein. El colegio no lo motivaba, y aunque era excelente en matemáticas y física, no se interesaba por las demás asignaturas. A los quince años, sin tutor ni guía, emprendió el estudio del cálculo infinitesimal. La idea, claramente infundada, de que era un mal estudiante proviene de los primeros biógrafos que escribieron sobre Einstein, que confundieron el sistema de calificación escolar de Suiza (un 6 en Suiza es la mejor calificación) con el alemán (un 6 es la peor nota).

En 1894, la compañía Hermann sufría importantes dificultades económicas y los Einstein se mudaron de Múnich a Pavía (concretamente al Palazzo Cornazzani), en Italia, cerca de Milán. Albert permaneció en Múnich para terminar sus cursos antes de reunirse con su familia en Pavía, pero la separación duró poco tiempo: antes de obtener su título de bachiller decidió abandonar el Gymnasium. Sin consultarlo con sus padres, Albert se puso en contacto con un médico (el hermano mayor de Max Talmud, un estudiante de medicina que iba todos los viernes a comer a la casa de los padres de Einstein) para que certificara que padecía de agotamiento y necesitaba un tiempo sin asistir a la escuela, y convenció a un profesor para que certificara su excelencia en el campo de las matemáticas. Las autoridades de la escuela le dejaron ir. Justo después de las Navidades de 1894, Albert abandonó Múnich y se fue a Milán para reunirse con sus padres.

Juventud 

Así, la familia Einstein intentó matricular a Albert en la Escuela Politécnica Federal de Zúrich pero, al no tener el título de bachiller, tuvo que presentarse a una prueba de acceso que suspendió a causa de una calificación deficiente en una asignatura de letras. Esto supuso que fuera rechazado inicialmente, pero el director del centro, impresionado por sus resultados en ciencias, le aconsejó que continuara sus estudios de bachiller y que obtuviera el título que le daría acceso directo al Politécnico. Su familia lo envió a Aarau para terminar sus estudios secundarios en la escuela cantonal de Argovia, a unos 50km al oeste de Zúrich, donde Einstein obtuvo el título de bachiller alemán en 1896, a la edad de dieciséis años. Ese mismo año renunció a su ciudadanía alemana, presuntamente para evitar el servicio militar, pasando a ser un apátrida. Inició los trámites para naturalizarse suizo. A fines de 1896, a la edad de diecisiete años, Einstein ingresó en la Escuela Politécnica Federal de Zúrich (Suiza), probablemente el centro más importante de la Europa central para estudiar ciencias fuera de Alemania, matriculándose en la Escuela de orientación matemática y científica, con la idea de estudiar física.
Durante sus años en la políticamente vibrante Zúrich, descubrió la obra de diversos filósofos: Henri Poincaré, Baruch Spinoza, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx y Ernst Mach. También tomó contacto con el movimiento socialista a través de Friedrich Adler y con cierto pensamiento inconformista y revolucionario en el que mucho tuvo que ver su amigo de toda la vida Michele Besso. En octubre de 1896, conoció a Mileva Marić, una compañera de clase serbia, de talante feminista y radical, de la que se enamoró. En 1900, Albert y Mileva se graduaron en el Politécnico de Zúrich y en 1901, a la edad de veintidós años, consiguió la ciudadanía suiza. Durante este período discutía sus ideas científicas con un grupo de amigos cercanos, incluyendo a Mileva, con la cual tuvo en secreto una hija en enero de 1902, llamada Lieserl. Al día de hoy nadie sabe qué fue de la niña, asumiéndose que fue adoptada en la Serbia natal de Mileva, después de que ambos contrajeran matrimonio, el 6 de enero de 1903, en la ciudad de Berna. No obstante, esta teoría difícilmente puede demostrarse, ya que solo se dispone de pruebas circunstanciales. Los padres de Einstein siempre se opusieron al matrimonio, hasta que en 1902 su padre cayó enfermo de muerte y consintió. Mas su madre nunca se resignó al mismo.

Se graduó en 1900, obteniendo el diploma de profesor de matemática y de física, pero no pudo encontrar trabajo en la Universidad, por lo que ejerció como tutor en Winterthur, Schaffhausen y Berna. Su compañero de clase Marcel Grossmann, un hombre que más adelante desempeñaría un papel fundamental en las matemáticas de la relatividad general, le ofreció un empleo fijo en la Oficina Federal de la Propiedad Intelectual de Suiza, en Berna, una oficina de patentes, donde trabajó de 1902 a 1909. Su personalidad le causó también problemas con el director de la Oficina, quien le enseñó a «expresarse correctamente».

En esta época, Einstein se refería con amor a su mujer Mileva como «una persona que es mi igual y tan fuerte e independiente como yo». Abram Joffe, en su biografía de Einstein, argumenta que durante este periodo fue ayudado en sus investigaciones por Mileva. Esto se contradice con otros biógrafos como Ronald W. Clark, quien afirma que Einstein y Mileva llevaban una relación distante que le brindaba la soledad necesaria para concentrarse en su trabajo.

En mayo de 1904, Einstein y Mileva tuvieron un hijo, al que llamaron Hans Albert Einstein. Ese mismo año consiguió un trabajo permanente en la Oficina de Patentes. Poco después finalizó su doctorado presentando una tesis titulada Una nueva determinación de las dimensiones moleculares, consistente en un trabajo de 17 folios que surgió de una conversación mantenida con Michele Besso, mientras se tomaban una taza de té; al azucarar Einstein el suyo, le preguntó a Besso: 

En 1905, redactó varios trabajos fundamentales sobre la física de pequeña y gran escala. En el primero de ellos explicaba el movimiento browniano, en el segundo el efecto fotoeléctrico y los dos restantes desarrollaban la relatividad especial y la equivalencia masa-energía. El primero de ellos le valió el grado de doctor por la Universidad de Zúrich en 1906, y su trabajo sobre el efecto fotoeléctrico le haría merecedor del Premio Nobel de Física en 1921, por sus trabajos sobre el movimiento browniano y su interpretación sobre el efecto fotoeléctrico. Estos artículos fueron enviados a la revista Annalen der Physik y son conocidos generalmente como los artículos del annus mirabilis («año milagroso»).

Madurez 

En 1908, a la edad de veintinueve años, fue contratado en la Universidad de Berna, Suiza, como profesor y conferenciante (privatdozent). Einstein y Mileva tuvieron un nuevo hijo, Eduard, nacido el 28 de julio de 1910. Poco después la familia se mudó a Praga, donde Einstein obtuvo la plaza de professor de física teórica, el equivalente a catedrático, en la Universidad Alemana de Praga, debiendo adoptar la nacionalidad austríaca para poder acceder al cargo. En esta época trabajó estrechamente con Marcel Grossmann y Otto Stern. También comenzó a llamar al tiempo matemático «cuarta dimensión».
En 1913, justo antes de la Primera Guerra Mundial, fue elegido miembro de la Academia Prusiana de Ciencias. Estableció su residencia en Berlín, donde permaneció durante diecisiete años. El emperador Guillermo le invitó a dirigir la sección de Física del Instituto Kaiser Wilhelm de Física.

El 14 de febrero de 1919, a la edad de treinta y nueve años, se divorció de Mileva, después de un matrimonio de dieciséis años, y algunos meses después, el 2 de junio de 1919, se casó con una prima suya, Elsa Loewenthal, cuyo apellido de soltera era Einstein; Loewenthal era el apellido de su primer marido, Max Loewenthal. Elsa era tres años mayor que él y le había estado cuidando tras sufrir un fuerte estado de agotamiento. Einstein y Elsa no tuvieron hijos.

El destino de la hija de Albert y Mileva, Lieserl, nacida antes de que sus padres se casaran o encontraran trabajo, es desconocido. De sus dos hijos, el primero, Hans Albert, se mudó a California, donde llegó a ser profesor universitario, aunque con poca interacción con su padre; el segundo, Eduard, sufría esquizofrenia y fue internado en 1932 en una institución para tratamiento de enfermedades mentales en Zúrich. Fue el primero de muchos ingresos. Einstein quería llevar a su hijo enfermo a Princeton, pero la embajada de Estados Unidos no lo admitió por sus malos antecedentes. Eduard falleció en el centro psiquiátrico en 1965.

En Berlín en los años 1920, la fama de Einstein despertaba acaloradas discusiones. En los diarios conservadores se podían leer editoriales que atacaban su teoría. Se convocaban conferencias-espectáculo tratando de argumentar lo disparatada que resultaba la teoría especial de la relatividad. Incluso se le atacaba, en forma velada, no abiertamente, por su condición de judío. Su nombre figuraba, junto al de otros intelectuales alemanes, en las listas de personas consideradas «un peligro para el país» por el partido nazi. En el resto del mundo, la teoría de la relatividad era apasionadamente debatida en conferencias populares y textos.

En Alemania, las expresiones de odio a los judíos alcanzaron niveles muy elevados. Varios físicos de ideología nazi, algunos tan notables como los premios Nobel de Física Johannes Stark y Philipp Lenard, intentaron desacreditar sus teorías. Otros físicos que enseñaban la teoría de la relatividad, como Werner Heisenberg, fueron vetados en sus intentos de acceder a puestos docentes.

En 1923 visitó España, entablando relación con José Ortega y Gasset. Al desembarcar en Barcelona, y dadas las ideas socialistas que profesaba, aceptó una invitación para dar una conferencia en la sede de la CNT, donde entabló amistad con Ángel Pestaña. Preguntó qué significaban las siglas CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo), y cuando lo comprendió, y dadas las ideas anarquistas del sindicato, propuso eliminar la palabra "Nacional", que en Alemania tenía connotaciones violentas. En su visita también conoció brevemente a Santiago Ramón y Cajal y adicionalmente recibió un homenaje del rey Alfonso XIII de España, quien lo nombra miembro de la Real Academia de Ciencias.

Antes del ascenso del nazismo —Adolf Hitler llegó al poder como canciller el 30 de enero de 1933—, había dejado Alemania en diciembre de 1932 para zarpar inciertamente hacia Estados Unidos, país donde enseñó en el Institute for Advanced Study, agregando a su nacionalidad suiza la estadounidense en 1940, a la edad de sesenta y un años.

Antes de decidirse por el exilio estadounidense, en 1933 el gobierno de la Segunda República española ofreció a Einstein incorporarse como investigador a la Universidad Central de Madrid. Medió en estas gestiones el entonces embajador en el Reino Unido, Ramón Pérez de Ayala, a iniciativa del ministro Fernando de los Ríos. Finalmente, dada la situación de inestabilidad política en Europa y el ascenso al poder de la CEDA en España, Einstein declinó la oferta. Ante la posibilidad de que el científico alemán aceptara el puesto, sectores de la derecha española mostraron su malestar y hubo algunas reacciones antisemitas. El diario católico El Debate (vinculado a la CEDA) publicó un editorial el 12 de abril (titulado Todo es relativo) donde se refería a Einstein como "el judío"; en otro artículo del mismo periódico se negaba que fuese una víctima de la persecución hitleriana y que su destierro fuera forzado: «El ministro socialista se ha apresurado a ofrecerle protección. Judaísmo y marxismo se identifican y confunden», se añadía.

Einstein, en 1939 decide ejercer su influencia participando en cuestiones políticas que afectan al mundo. Redacta una célebre carta a Roosevelt, para promover el proyecto atómico e impedir que los «enemigos de la humanidad» lo hicieran antes:

Durante sus últimos años, Einstein trabajó por integrar en una misma teoría las cuatro interacciones fundamentales, tarea aún inconclusa.

Muerte 
El 16 de abril de 1955, Albert Einstein experimentó una hemorragia interna causada por la ruptura de un aneurisma de la aorta abdominal, que anteriormente había sido reforzada quirúrgicamente por el doctor Rudolph Nissen en 1948. Einstein rechazó la cirugía, diciendo: «Quiero irme cuando quiero. Es de mal gusto prolongar artificialmente la vida. He hecho mi parte, es hora de irse. Yo lo haré con elegancia». Murió en el Hospital de Princeton a primera hora del 18 de abril de 1955 a la edad de setenta y seis años. En la mesilla quedaba el borrador del discurso por el séptimo aniversario de la independencia de Israel, que jamás llegaría a pronunciar, y que empezaba así: «Hoy les hablo no como ciudadano estadounidense, ni tampoco como judío, sino como ser humano».

Einstein no quiso tener un funeral rutilante, con la asistencia de dignatarios de todo el mundo. De acuerdo con su deseo, su cuerpo fue incinerado en la misma tarde, antes de que la mayor parte del mundo se enterara de la noticia. En el crematorio solo hubo doce personas, entre las cuales estuvo su hijo mayor. Sus cenizas fueron esparcidas en el río Delaware a fin de que el lugar de sus restos no se convirtiera en objeto de mórbida veneración. Pero hubo una parte de su cuerpo que no se quemó.

Durante la autopsia, el patólogo del hospital Thomas Stoltz Harvey extrajo el cerebro de Einstein para conservarlo, sin el permiso de su familia, con la esperanza de que la neurociencia del futuro fuera capaz de descubrir lo que hizo a Einstein ser tan inteligente. Lo conservó durante varias décadas, hasta que finalmente lo devolvió a los laboratorios de Princeton cuando tenía más de ochenta años. Pensaba que el cerebro de Einstein «le revelaría los secretos de su genialidad y que así se haría famoso». Hasta ahora, el único dato científico medianamente interesante obtenido del estudio del cerebro es que una parte de él —la parte que, entre otras cosas, está relacionada con la capacidad matemática— es más grande que en otros cerebros.

Son recientes y escasos los estudios detallados del cerebro de Einstein. En 1985, por ejemplo, la profesora Marian Diamond, de la Universidad de California en Berkeley, informó de un número de células gliales (que nutren a las neuronas) de superior calidad en áreas del hemisferio izquierdo, encargado del control de las habilidades matemáticas. En 1999, la neurocientífica Sandra Witelson informaba que el lóbulo parietal inferior de Einstein, un área relacionada con el razonamiento matemático, era un 15% más ancho de lo normal. Además, halló que su cisura de Silvio, un surco que normalmente se extiende desde la parte delantera del cerebro hasta la parte posterior, no recorría todo el camino.

Trayectoria científica 
En 1901 apareció el primer trabajo científico de Einstein: trataba de la atracción capilar. Publicó dos trabajos en 1902 y 1903, sobre los fundamentos estadísticos de la termodinámica, corroborando experimentalmente que la temperatura de un cuerpo se debe a la agitación de sus moléculas, una teoría aún discutida en esa época.

Los artículos de 1905 
En 1905 finalizó su doctorado presentando una tesis titulada Una nueva determinación de las dimensiones moleculares. Ese mismo año escribió cuatro artículos fundamentales sobre la física de pequeña y gran escala. En ellos explicaba el movimiento browniano, el efecto fotoeléctrico y desarrollaba la relatividad especial y la equivalencia masa-energía. El trabajo de Einstein sobre el efecto fotoeléctrico le proporcionaría el Premio Nobel de física en 1921. Estos artículos fueron enviados a la revista Annalen der Physik y son conocidos generalmente como los artículos del annus mirabilis (del latín: «año milagroso»). La Unión Internacional de Física Pura y Aplicada, junto con la Unesco, conmemoraron 2005 como el Año Mundial de la Física celebrando el centenario de publicación de estos trabajos.

Efecto fotoeléctrico 

El primero de sus artículos de 1905 se titulaba Un punto de vista heurístico sobre la producción y transformación de luz. En él, Einstein proponía la idea de «quanto» de luz (ahora llamados fotones) y mostraba cómo se podía utilizar este concepto para explicar el efecto fotoeléctrico.

La teoría de los cuantos de luz fue un fuerte indicio de la dualidad onda-corpúsculo y de que los sistemas físicos pueden mostrar tanto propiedades ondulatorias como corpusculares. Este artículo constituyó uno de los pilares básicos de la mecánica cuántica. Una explicación completa del efecto fotoeléctrico solamente pudo ser elaborada cuando la teoría cuántica estuvo más avanzada. Por este trabajo, y por sus contribuciones a la física teórica, Einstein recibió el Premio Nobel de Física de 1921.

Movimiento browniano 

Su segundo artículo, titulado Sobre el movimiento requerido por la teoría cinética molecular del calor de pequeñas partículas suspendidas en un líquido estacionario, cubría sus estudios sobre el movimiento browniano.

El artículo sobre el movimiento browniano, el cuarto en grado de importancia, está estrechamente relacionado, con el artículo sobre teoría molecular. Se trata de una pieza de mecánica estadística muy elaborada, destacable por el hecho que Einstein no había oído hablar de las mediciones de Robert Brown de la década de 1820 hasta finales de ese mismo año (1905); así pues, escribió este artículo, titulándolo Sobre la teoría del movimiento browniano.

El artículo explicaba el fenómeno haciendo uso de las estadísticas del movimiento térmico de los átomos individuales que forman un fluido. El movimiento browniano había desconcertado a la comunidad científica desde su descubrimiento unas décadas atrás. La explicación de Einstein proporcionaba una evidencia experimental incontestable sobre la existencia real de los átomos. El artículo también aportaba un fuerte impulso a la mecánica estadística y a la teoría cinética de los fluidos, dos campos que en aquella época permanecían controvertidos.

Antes de este trabajo los átomos se consideraban un concepto útil en física y química, pero al contrario de lo que cuenta la leyenda, la mayoría de los físicos contemporáneos ya creían en la teoría atómica y en la mecánica estadística desarrollada por Boltzmann, Maxwell y Gibbs; además ya se habían hecho estimaciones bastante buenas de los radios del núcleo y del número de Avogadro. El artículo de Einstein sobre el movimiento atómico entregaba a los experimentalistas un método sencillo para contar átomos mirando a través de un microscopio ordinario.

Wilhelm Ostwald, uno de los líderes de la escuela antiatómica, comunicó a Arnold Sommerfeld que había sido transformado en un creyente en los átomos por la explicación de Einstein del movimiento browniano.

Relatividad especial 

El tercer artículo de Einstein de ese año se titulaba Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper («Sobre la electrodinámica de cuerpos en movimiento»). En este artículo Einstein introducía la teoría de la relatividad especial estudiando el movimiento de los cuerpos y el electromagnetismo en ausencia de la fuerza de interacción gravitatoria.

La relatividad especial resolvía los problemas abiertos por el experimento de Michelson y Morley en el que se había demostrado que las ondas electromagnéticas que forman la luz se movían en ausencia de un medio. La velocidad de la luz es, por lo tanto, constante y no relativa al movimiento. Ya en 1894, George Fitzgerald había estudiado esta cuestión demostrando que el experimento de Michelson y Morley podía ser explicado si los cuerpos se contraen en la dirección de su movimiento. De hecho, algunas de las ecuaciones fundamentales del artículo de Einstein habían sido introducidas anteriormente (1903) por Hendrik Lorentz, físico neerlandés, dando forma matemática a la conjetura de Fitzgerald.

Esta famosa publicación está cuestionada como trabajo original de Einstein, debido a que en ella omitió citar toda referencia a las ideas o conceptos desarrollados por estos autores así como los trabajos de Poincaré. En realidad Einstein desarrollaba su teoría de una manera totalmente diferente a estos autores deduciendo hechos experimentales a partir de principios fundamentales y no dando una explicación fenomenológica a observaciones desconcertantes. El mérito de Einstein estaba por lo tanto en explicar lo sucedido en el experimento de Michelson y Morley como consecuencia final de una teoría completa y elegante basada en principios fundamentales y no como una explicación ad-hoc o fenomenológica de un fenómeno observado.

Su razonamiento se basó en dos axiomas simples: En el primero reformuló el principio de simultaneidad, introducido por Galileo Galilei siglos antes, por el que las leyes de la física deben ser invariantes para todos los observadores que se mueven a velocidades constantes entre ellos, y el segundo, que la velocidad de la luz es constante para cualquier observador. Este segundo axioma, revolucionario, va más allá de las consecuencias previstas por Lorentz o Poincaré que simplemente relataban un mecanismo para explicar el acortamiento de uno de los brazos del experimento de Michelson y Morley. Este postulado implica que si un destello de luz se lanza al cruzarse dos observadores en movimiento relativo, ambos verán alejarse la luz produciendo un círculo perfecto con cada uno de ellos en el centro. Si a ambos lados de los observadores se pusiera un detector, ninguno de los observadores se pondría de acuerdo en qué detector se activó primero (se pierden los conceptos de tiempo absoluto y simultaneidad). La teoría recibió el nombre de «teoría especial de la relatividad» o «teoría restringida de la relatividad» para distinguirla de la teoría de la relatividad general, que fue introducida por Einstein en 1915 y en la que se consideran los efectos de la gravedad y la aceleración.

Equivalencia masa-energía 

El cuarto artículo de aquel año se titulaba Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig y mostraba una deducción de la fórmula de la relatividad que relaciona masa y energía. En este artículo se exponía que la variación de masa de un objeto que emite una energía L, es:

 
donde V era la notación de la velocidad de la luz usada por Einstein en 1905.

Esta fórmula implica que la energía E de un cuerpo en reposo es igual a su masa m multiplicada por la velocidad de la luz al cuadrado:

 

Muestra cómo una partícula con masa posee un tipo de energía, «energía en reposo», distinta de las clásicas energía cinética y energía potencial. La relación masa-energía se utiliza comúnmente para explicar cómo se produce la energía nuclear; midiendo la masa de núcleos atómicos y dividiendo por el número atómico se puede calcular la energía de enlace atrapada en los núcleos atómicos. Paralelamente, la cantidad de energía producida en la fisión de un núcleo atómico se calcula como la diferencia de masa entre el núcleo inicial y los productos de su desintegración, multiplicada por la velocidad de la luz al cuadrado.

Relatividad general 

En noviembre de 1915, Einstein presentó una serie de conferencias en la Academia Prusiana de las Ciencias en las que describió la teoría de la relatividad general. La última de estas charlas concluyó con la presentación de la ecuación que reemplaza a la ley de gravedad de Isaac Newton. En esta teoría todos los observadores son considerados equivalentes y no únicamente aquellos que se mueven con una velocidad uniforme. La gravedad no es ya una fuerza o acción a distancia, como era en la gravedad newtoniana, sino una consecuencia de la curvatura del espacio-tiempo. La teoría proporcionaba las bases para el estudio de la cosmología y permitía comprender las características esenciales del Universo, muchas de las cuales no serían descubiertas sino con posterioridad a la muerte de Einstein.

La relatividad general fue obtenida por Einstein a partir de razonamientos matemáticos, experimentos hipotéticos (gedanken experiment) y rigurosa deducción matemática sin contar realmente con una base experimental. El principio fundamental de la teoría era el denominado principio de equivalencia. A pesar de la abstracción matemática de la teoría, las ecuaciones permitían deducir fenómenos comprobables. El 29 de mayo de 1919, Arthur Eddington fue capaz de medir, durante un eclipse, la desviación de la luz de una estrella al pasar cerca del Sol, una de las predicciones de la relatividad general. Cuando se hizo pública esta confirmación la fama de Einstein se incrementó enormemente y se consideró un paso revolucionario en la física. Desde entonces la teoría se ha verificado en todos y cada uno de los experimentos y verificaciones realizados hasta el momento.

A pesar de su popularidad, o quizás precisamente por ella, la teoría contó con importantes detractores entre la comunidad científica que no podían aceptar una física sin un sistema de referencia absoluto.

Estadísticas de Bose-Einstein 

En 1924 Einstein recibió un artículo de un joven físico indio, Satyendranath Bose, denominado La ley de Plank y la hipótesis del cuanto de luz, describiendo a la luz como un gas de fotones y pidiendo la ayuda de Einstein para su publicación. Einstein se dio cuenta de que el mismo tipo de estadísticas podían aplicarse a grupos de átomos y publicó el artículo, conjuntamente con Bose, en alemán, la lengua más importante en física en la época. Las estadísticas de Bose-Einstein explican el comportamiento de los tipos básicos de partículas elementales denominadas bosones.

Debate Bohr-Einstein

La teoría de campo unificada 
Einstein dedicó sus últimos años a la búsqueda de una de las más importantes teorías de la física, la llamada teoría de campo unificada. Dicha búsqueda, después de su teoría general de la relatividad, consistió en una serie de intentos tendentes a generalizar su teoría de la gravitación para lograr unificar y resumir las leyes fundamentales de la física, específicamente la gravitación y el electromagnetismo. En el año 1950, expuso su teoría de campo unificada en un artículo titulado «Sobre la teoría generalizada de la gravitación» (On the Generalized Theory of Gravitation) en la revista Scientific American.

Aunque Albert Einstein fue mundialmente célebre por sus trabajos en física teórica, paulatinamente fue aislándose en su investigación, y sus intentos no tuvieron éxito. Persiguiendo la unificación de las fuerzas fundamentales, Albert ignoró algunos importantes desarrollos en la física, siendo notablemente visible en el tema de las fuerzas nuclear fuerte y nuclear débil, que no se entendieron bien sino después de quince años tras la muerte de Einstein (cerca del año 1970), mediante numerosos experimentos en física de altas energías. Los intentos propuestos por la teoría de cuerdas o la teoría M, evidencian que aún perdura su ímpetu para conseguir demostrar la gran teoría de la unificación de las leyes de la física.

Actividad política

La causa sionista 
Los acontecimientos de la Primera Guerra Mundial empujaron a Einstein a comprometerse políticamente, tomando partido. Sentía desprecio por la violencia, la bravuconería, la agresión y la injusticia.

Originario de una familia judía asimilada, Einstein advirtió la crecida del antisemitismo durante la Primera Guerra Mundial y abogó parcialmente por la causa sionista. Einstein fue uno de los miembros más conocidos del Partido Democrático Alemán (DDP). Entre 1921 y 1932 pronunció diversos discursos, con el propósito de ayudar a recoger fondos para la colectividad judía y sostener la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén, fundada en 1918, y como prueba de su creciente adhesión a la causa sionista. Sin embargo, aunque estaba a favor de que Palestina fuese un "hogar" para los judíos, tal y como afirmaba la Declaración Balfour, estaba en contra de la creación de un Estado judío. Así, en enero de 1946, en una declaración ante el Comité Angloamericano de Investigación que interrogó a varias personalidades sobre la creación de un Estado judío, Einstein dijo:

Einstein abogó por un Estado binacional donde judíos y palestinos tuvieran los mismos derechos: «Nosotros, esto es, judíos y árabes, debemos unirnos y llegar a una comprensión recíproca en cuanto a las necesidades de los dos pueblos, en lo que atañe a las directivas satisfactorias para una convivencia provechosa».

Con el auge del nazismo en Alemania, Einstein dejó su país y decidó residir en Estados Unidos. Un grupo de enemigos de sus teorías en la Alemania nazi creó una asociación en su contra, e incluso un hombre fue acusado de promover su asesinato. Además, se publicó un libro titulado Cien autores en contra de Einstein, ante el cual Einstein se limitó a decir: «¿Por qué cien? Si estuviera equivocado, bastaría con uno solo».

El Estado de Israel se creó en 1948. Cuando Jaim Weizmann, el primer presidente de Israel y viejo amigo de Einstein, murió en 1952, Abba Eban, embajador israelí en Estados Unidos, le ofreció la presidencia. Einstein rechazó el ofrecimiento diciendo: «Estoy profundamente conmovido por el ofrecimiento del Estado de Israel y a la vez apenado y avergonzado por no poder aceptarlo. Durante toda mi vida he tratado con cuestiones objetivas, por lo que carezco de la aptitud natural y de la experiencia para tratar como es debido con la gente y para desempeñar funciones oficiales. Soy el más afligido por estas circunstancias, porque mi relación con el pueblo judío se ha convertido en mi vínculo humano más fuerte, desde que tomé plena conciencia de nuestra precaria situación entre las naciones del mundo».

La causa socialista 
En mayo de 1949, Monthly Review publicó (en Nueva York) un artículo suyo titulado «¿Por qué el socialismo?» en el que reflexiona sobre la historia, las conquistas y las consecuencias de la «anarquía económica de la sociedad capitalista», artículo que hoy sigue teniendo vigencia. Una parte muy citada del mismo habla del papel de los medios privados en relación con las posibilidades democráticas de los países:

La causa pacifista 

Albert Einstein fue un pacifista convencido. En 1914, 93 prominentes intelectuales alemanes firmaron el Manifiesto para el mundo civilizado para apoyar al káiser y desafiar a las «hordas de rusos aliados con mongoles y negros que pretenden atacar a la raza blanca», justificando la invasión alemana de Bélgica; pero Einstein se negó a firmarlo junto con otros tres intelectuales, que pretendían impulsar un contramanifiesto, exclamando posteriormente:

Durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Einstein renunció parcialmente al pacifismo proponiendo a los Estados Unidos que fabricasen una bomba nuclear antes que la Alemania nazi, pero advirtió públicamente sobre los peligros de una guerra nuclear y proponía el control internacional de dichas armas.

En 1939 se produce su más importante participación en cuestiones mundiales. El Informe Smyth, aunque con sutiles recortes y omisiones, narra la historia de cómo los físicos trataron, sin éxito, de interesar a la Marina y al Ejército en el proyecto atómico. Pero la célebre carta de Einstein a Roosevelt escrita el 2 de agosto fue la que consiguió romper la rigidez de la mentalidad militar. Sin embargo, Einstein, que siente desprecio por la violencia y las guerras, es considerado el «padre de la bomba atómica». En plena Segunda Guerra Mundial apoyó una iniciativa de Robert Oppenheimer para comenzar el programa de desarrollo de armas nucleares conocido como Proyecto Manhattan. En su discurso pronunciado en Nueva York, en diciembre de 1945, expuso:

Einstein impulsó en 1955 el conocido Manifiesto Russell-Einstein, un llamamiento a los científicos para unirse en favor de la desaparición de las armas nucleares. Este documento sirvió de inspiración para la posterior fundación de las Conferencias Pugwash, que en 1995 se hicieron acreedoras del Premio Nobel de la Paz.

Ética y religión 

Einstein se declaró agnóstico, y en ocasiones se declaró también ateo aunque algunos historiadores niegan este extremo. En cierta ocasión, en una reunión, se le preguntó a Einstein si creía o no en un dios a lo que respondió: «Creo en el dios de Spinoza, que es idéntico al orden matemático del Universo». Dijo que creía en el Dios «panteísta» de Baruch Spinoza, pero no en un dios personal, una creencia que criticó. Einstein distingue tres estilos que suelen entremezclarse en la práctica de la religión. El primero está motivado por el miedo y la mala comprensión de la causalidad, por tanto, tiende a inventar seres sobrenaturales. El segundo es social y moral, motivado por el deseo de apoyo y amor. Ambos tienen un concepto antropomórfico de Dios. El tercero —que Einstein considera el más maduro—, está motivado por un sentido de asombro ante la Naturaleza.

En una carta a la Asociación Central de Ciudadanos Alemanes de la Fe Judía, en 1920, les escribe:

Una cita más larga de Einstein aparece en Science, Philosophy, and Religion, A Symposium (Simposio de ciencia, filosofía y religión), publicado por la Conferencia de Ciencia, Filosofía y Religión en su Relación con la Forma de Vida Democrática:

En una carta fechada en marzo de 1954, que fue incluida en el libro Albert Einstein: su lado humano (en inglés), editado por su fiel secretaria Helen Dukas y su colaborador Banesh Hoffman y publicada por Princeton University Press, Einstein dice:

La carta al filósofo Eric Gutkind, del 3 de enero de ese mismo año, subastada en mayo de 2008, deja al parecer las cosas más claras. Dice Einstein:

También hay una carta poco conocida de Einstein, enviada a Guy H. Raner Jr, el 2 de julio de 1945, en respuesta a un rumor de que un sacerdote jesuita lo había convertido al cristianismo, en la cual Einstein se declara directamente ateo (citado por Michael R. Gilmore en Skeptic Magazine, v. 5, No.2)

William Hermanns, veterano superviviente de Verdún, profesor de literatura alemana, entrevistó varias veces a Einstein, la primera en Berlín en 1930. En esa ocasión planteó la idea de una religión cósmica, una idea a la que había hecho referencia en la conversación sobre la realidad que había tenido con Rabindranath Tagore y que después desarrolló y tituló «Religión y Ciencia», publicado en el New York Times en 1930. Einstein siguió desarrollando esta idea y Herrmanns, que la consideraba compatible con las creencias tradicionales se propuso fundar un movimiento que integrara las tradiciones judías, cristiana, vedista, budista e islámica. Estaba dispuesto a obtener declaraciones concisas y precisas sobre Dios. Einstein no pudo serlo más:

Para Einstein, su religión cósmica y su condición judía no guardaban relación entre sí. Cuando se le preguntó si existía un punto de vista judío replicó:

Einstein decía que la moral no era dictada por Dios, sino por la humanidad:

Algunas publicaciones 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . First of a series of papers on this topic.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 . The chasing a light beam thought experiment is described on pages 48–51.
 Collected Papers: . Más información sobre los volúmenes publicados se halla en la web Einstein Papers Project y en Princeton University Press Einstein Page

Eponimia 

Además de numerosas calles, plazas y ciudades de varios países del mundo, así como distintas instituciones académicas, una amplia relación de elementos relacionados con la ciencia llevan el nombre de Einstein en su memoria:

Química
 El elemento Einstenio fue nombrado en su honor.
Matemáticas
 Convenio de suma de Einstein, notación abreviada usada en álgebra tensorial.
Física
 Anillo de Einstein, efecto gravitatorio sobre la luz estelar.
 Ecuaciones del campo de Einstein, 10 ecuaciones de la teoría de la relatividad general.
 Estadística de Bose-Einstein, tipo de mecánica estadística aplicable a bosones en equilibrio térmico.
 Condensado de Bose-Einstein, estado de agregación de la materia que se da en ciertos materiales a temperaturas cercanas al cero absoluto.
 Einstein (unidad de medida), unidad de medida de cantidad de radiación.
 Relación de Einstein (teoría cinética), relacionada con el movimiento browniano.
 Modelo de Einstein, utilizado en la física de sólidos de la mecánica cuántica.
Espacio
 Observatorio Einstein, un detector espacial de rayos X astronómicos.
 Albert Einstein (nave), nave espacial de carga europea lanzada en 2013.
Astronomía
 Torre Einstein, observatorio erigido en 1924 situado en Potsdam.
 Einstein, cráter de impacto lunar.
 Einstein, asteroide número 2001 del catálogo del Minor Planet Center.
 Cruz de Einstein, cuásar afectado por el fenómenos gravitatorios que afectan a su luz.
Museo
 Einsteinhaus, casa-museo localizada en Berna, dedicada al físico alemán.
Premio
 Medalla Albert Einstein, reconociendo anualmente desde 1979 trabajos relacionados con la obra de Einstein.
 Medalla Albert Einstein de la UNESCO.

En la cultura popular 
Albert Einstein ha sido objeto e inspiración para muchas obras de la cultura popular.

En el cumpleaños 72 de Einstein, el 14 de marzo de 1951, el fotógrafo de United Press, Arthur Sasse, intentaba persuadirlo para que no sonriera ante la cámara, pero ese día, al haber sonreído a los fotógrafos muchas veces, Einstein le sacó la lengua. Esta fotografía se convirtió en una de las más populares jamás tomadas. Einstein disfrutó de esta foto y le pidió a UPI que le diera nueve copias para uso personal, una de las cuales firmó para un reportero. El 19 de junio de 2009, la fotografía firmada original se vendió en una subasta por $, un récord para una foto de Einstein.

Einstein es un modelo favorito para las representaciones de genios o científicos locos; Su rostro expresivo y sus peinados distintivos han sido ampliamente copiados y exagerados. Frederic Golden, de la revista Time , escribió que Einstein era "el sueño de un dibujante hecho realidad".

El nombre de "Einstein" se ha convertido en sinónimo de una persona extremadamente inteligente. También se puede usar sarcásticamente cuando alguien dice lo obvio o demuestra falta de sabiduría o inteligencia.

Einstein también ha sido objeto de muchas citas que se han hecho especialmente populares en Internet y se le han atribuido falsamente, incluida "la definición de locura".

Véase también

Referencias

Bibliografía

Bibliografía general 
 
 Albert Einstein. (2004). "Colección Grandes Biografías, 59". Editorial Planeta-De Agostini. Barcelona, España. ISBN 84-395-4730-7.
 Amis, Martin. (2005). Los monstruos de Einstein. Ediciones Minotauro. Barcelona, España. ISBN 84-450-7089-4.
 Clark, Ronald W., Einstein: The Life and Times, 1971, ISBN 0-380-44123-3.
 Conferencia de Ciencia, Filosofía y Religión en su Relación con la Forma de Vida Democrática, Science, Philosophy, and Religion, A Symposium (Simposio de ciencia, filosofía y religión), Nueva York, 1941.
 Dukas, Helen, y Banesh Hoffman, Albert Einstein: The Human Side (Albert Einstein, el lado humano), Princeton University Press.
 
 Hart, Michael H., The 100, Carol Publishing Group, 1992, ISBN 0-8065-1350-0.
 
 
 Otero Carvajal, Luis Enrique: "Einstein y la revolución científica del siglo XX", Cuadernos de Historia Contemporanéa n.º 27 (2005), .
 Pais, Abraham, Subtle is the Lord. The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein, 1982, ISBN 0-19-520438-7.
 Parker, Barry, Einstein's Brainchild, 280 págs., 2000, Prometheus Books, ISBN 1-57392-857-7 (en inglés)

Einstein y la teoría de la relatividad 

 
 Einstein, Albert, El significado de la relatividad, Espasa Calpe, 1971.
 Greene, Brian, El universo elegante, Planeta, 2001.
 Hawking, Stephen, Breve historia del tiempo, Planeta, 1992, ISBN 968-406-356-3.
 
 
 Russell, Bertrand, El ABC de la relatividad, 1925.
 Schwinger, Julian (1986): Einstein's Legacy: The Unity of Space and Time. Scientific American Library. 250 págs. Nueva York ISBN 0-7167-5011-2 (El Legado de Einstein. La unidad del espacio y el tiempo. Prensa Científica, S.A., Biblioteca Scientific American. 250 págs. Barcelona, 1995, ISBN 84-7593-054-9)

Material digital 
 Byron Preiss Multimedia. (2001). Einstein y su teoría de la relatividad. "Colección Ciencia Activa". Anaya Multimedia-Anaya Interactiva. Madrid, España. ISBN 84-415-0247-1. (dos CD y un manual).

Enlaces externos 

  (colección digitalizada de documentos de y sobre Einstein)

 
 

 
Laureados con el Premio Nobel 1921
Nacidos en Ulm
Doctores honoris causa por la Universidad de Ginebra
Personas que dan nombre a un asteroide
Judíos laureados con el Premio Nobel de Física

Las araliáceas, familia Araliaceae (1300 especies, 50 géneros), son una familia de plantas del orden de las apiales, que incluye las hiedras (Hedera spp., en particular Hedera helix) y el ginseng (Panax spp., oriundas de Corea y de uso medicinal).

Descripción
Son plantas leñosas o raramente herbáceas, a menudo lianas. Hojas alternas, simples o divididas. Flores inconspicuas, regulares, generalmente bisexuales, casi siempre pentámeras, con estambres alternipétalos y con gineceo ínfero con 5 estilos (carácter definitorio de familia). Inflorescencias umbelares. Fruto en baya o en drupa. Existen 49 géneros y unas 700 especies originarios de las zonas tropicales y subtropicales.

Géneros 
Subfamilia Aralioideae

Subfamilia Hydrocotyloideae
Azorella
Centella
Hydrocotyle
Platysace
Xanthosia

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Las apiáceas (Apiaceae, anteriormente clasificada como Umbelliferae) es una familia de plantas herbáceas y arbustos fanerógamas perteneciente al orden de las apiales. Esta familia está constituida por unos 418 géneros y más de 3257 especies aceptadas extendidas por todo el mundo, aunque son poco frecuentes en zonas tropicales, desérticas y  en Australia.

Descripción 
Presentan un tallo a menudo estirado; con la médula blanda o fistulosa. Hojas alternas, casi siempre con una vaina abrazadora grande, enteras, partidas, graminoides o más frecuentemente recortadas, o, hendidas, muy a menudo divididas.  Suelen tener resinas y alcaloides, las de terrenos secos con mayor abundancia de gomorresinas y las de terrenos húmedos de alcaloides.

Flores generalmente hermafroditas más o menos actinomorfas; cáliz con 5 sépalos pequeños o nulos; corola con 5 pétalos, frecuentemente lobulados; androceo con 5 estambres; gineceo ínfero bicarpelar con 2 estilos (carácter definitorio de familia), con la base ensanchada formando un estilopodio, los cuales a su vez forman un disco; cada carpelo con dos partes, comisura y dorso, este último puede estar ornamentado.

Inflorescencias en umbela compuesta, raramente en umbela simple o en umbela capituliforme. En la base de los radios de la umbelas primarias suele haber un involucro de brácteas, en ocasiones llamativas, mientras que en la base de los radios de la umbelas secundarias o umbeculas suele hallarse un involucelo de bracteolas. 

Frutos secos, derivados del tipo aquenio, esquizocarpicos (diaquenios), que cuando están maduros se separan en dos mericarpos monospermos (una sola semilla), quedando unidos al peciolo por el carpóforo. Cada mericarpo suele presentar costillas (costas) entre las que se pueden presentar costillas secundarias (estas y las primeras pueden diferenciarse en alas, espinas, etc.), bajo ellas puede haber canales oleíferos (vitas) y estrías (valles o valeculas). Dichas semillas maduras son prácticamente indispensables para una correcta identificación de los taxones. Las semillas tienen un endosperma aceitoso.

Fitoquímica 
No producen glucósidos cianogénicos. En diversas especies se han registrado compuestos mono y poliacetilénicos tales como el falcarinol (Daucus), la cicutoxina (Cicuta), la enantotoxina (Oenanthe) y la carotatoxina (Daucus). Se presentan algunos alcaloides, tales como la coniína (o cicutina) y la conicina (Conium, Cicuta). Las proantocianidinas están ausentes. Los flavonoides pueden estar presentes: los más comunes son el kaempferol, la quercetina, la luteolina y la apiina (su aglicona es la apigenina). Se encuentran saponinas  en algunos casos (como Physospermum verticillatum,  que contiene buddlejasaponina IV and songarosaponina). La acumulación de aluminio no se presenta. Se encuentran azúcares no ubicuos, tales como umbeliferosa y apiosa. La cumarina umbeliferina es típica de esta familia.

La cicuta fue la planta utilizada para envenenar a Sócrates.

Taxonomía 
Tribu
Apioideae incertae sedis
Subfamilias
Apioideae
Azorelloideae
Mackinlayoideae
Saniculoideae

Referencias

Enlaces externos 
 Umbelliferae  en The Families of Flowering Plants (DELTA)
 Apiaceae en Angiosperm Phylogeny Website
 Apiaceae en Flora of Northern Ireland
 Apiaceae en Michigan Flora
 Apiaceae en Flora of Zimbabwe
 Umbelliferae en Flora of New Zealand
 Umbelliferae en Flora of Pakistan
 Apiaceae en Chileflora
 Apiaceae en Flowers in Israel
 Apiaceae en Discover Life
 Umbellifer Resource Centre en Real Jardín Botánico de Edimburgo
 Umbellifer Information Server en Universidad Estatal de Moscú

En física de partículas, a cada tipo de partícula se le asocia una antipartícula con la misma masa, pero con cargas físicas opuestas (como la carga eléctrica). Algunas partículas son idénticas a su antipartícula, como por ejemplo el fotón, que no tiene carga. Pero no todas las partículas de carga neutra son idénticas a su antipartícula. Siempre hemos tenido la impresión de que las leyes de la naturaleza parecían haber sido diseñadas para que todo fuese simétrico entre partículas y antipartículas hasta que los experimentos de la llamada violación CP (violación carga-paridad) encontraron que la simetría temporal se violaba en ciertos sucesos de la naturaleza. El exceso observado de bariones con respecto a los anti-bariones, en el universo, es uno de los principales problemas sin respuesta de la cosmología.

Los pares partícula-antipartícula pueden aniquilarse entre ellos si se encuentran en el estado cuántico apropiado. Estos estados pueden producirse en varios procesos. Estos procesos se usan en los aceleradores de partículas para crear nuevas partículas y probar las teorías de la física de partículas. Los procesos de altas energías en la naturaleza pueden crear antipartículas, y estos son visibles debido a los rayos cósmicos y en ciertas reacciones nucleares. La palabra antimateria se refiere a las antipartículas elementales, los compuestos de antipartículas hechos con éstas (como el antihidrógeno) y formaciones mayores que pueden hacerse con ellos.

Las leyes de la naturaleza son casi simétricas con respecto a las partículas y antipartículas. Por ejemplo, un antiprotón y un positrón pueden formar un antihidrógeno [que se cree que tiene las mismas propiedades que un átomo de hidrógeno. Esto lleva a preguntarse por qué la formación de materia tras el Big Bang dio lugar a un universo formado casi enteramente por materia, en lugar de ser una mezcla a medias de materia y antimateria. El descubrimiento de la violación de la paridad de carga ayudó a esclarecer este problema al demostrar que esta simetría, que originalmente se creía perfecta, era sólo aproximada.

Dado que carga es conservada, no es posible crear una antipartícula sin destruir otra partícula de la misma carga (como ocurre, por ejemplo, cuando se producen antipartículas de forma natural mediante desintegración beta o la colisión de rayos cósmicos con la atmósfera terrestre), o mediante la creación simultánea de una partícula y su antipartícula, lo que puede ocurrir en aceleradores de partículas como el Gran Colisionador de Hadrones del CERN.

Aunque las partículas y sus antipartículas tienen cargas opuestas, las partículas eléctricamente neutras no tienen por qué ser idénticas a sus antipartículas. El neutrón, por ejemplo, está hecho de quarks, el antineutrón de antiquarks, y se distinguen entre sí porque neutrones y antineutrones se aniquilan al entrar en contacto. Sin embargo, otras partículas neutras son sus propias antipartículas, como fotóns, Z0  bosones,  mesóns, e hipotéticos gravitóns y algunas hipotéticas partículas masivas débilmente interactuantes.

Historia

Experimento 
En 1932, poco después de la predicción del positrón por Dirac,  encontró que las colisiones de los rayos cósmicos producían estas partículas dentro de una cámara de niebla —un detector de partículas donde los electrones o los positrones que se mueven a través de él dejan detrás de ellos trayectorias, marcando su movimiento por el gas—. La relación entre la carga eléctrica y la masa de una partícula puede medirse observando las curvas que marcan en su camino por la cámara de niebla dentro de un campo magnético. Originalmente los positrones, debido a que sus trayectorias también se curvaban, fueron confundidos con electrones que viajaban en la dirección opuesta.

El antiprotón y el antineutrón fueron encontrados por Emilio Segrè y Owen Chamberlain en 1955, en la universidad de California. Desde entonces se han creado las antipartículas de muchas otras partículas subatómicas en los experimentos con aceleradores de partículas. En años recientes, se ha conseguido generar átomos completos de antimateria compuestos por antiprotones y positrones, recolectados en trampas electromagnéticas.

Teoría de Dirac 
...el desarrollo de la teoría cuántica de campos hizo innecesaria la interpretación de las antipartículas como huecos, incluso aunque desafortunadamente aún persiste en muchos libros de texto.

Las soluciones de la ecuación de Dirac contenían estados cuánticos de energía negativa. Como resultado un electrón siempre podría radiar energía cayendo en un estado de energía negativa. Incluso peor que eso, podría estar radiando una cantidad infinita de energía porque habría disponibles infinitos estados de energía negativa. Para resolver esta situación que iba contra la física, Dirac postuló que un "mar" de electrones de energía negativa llenaban el universo, ya ocupando todos los estados de energía negativa de forma que, debido al principio de exclusión de Pauli ningún otro electrón podría caer en ellos. Sin embargo, a veces, una de estas partículas con energía negativa podría ser elevada desde este mar de Dirac a un nivel de energía mayor para convertirse en una partícula de energía positiva. Pero, cuando era elevada, esta partícula dejaba un hueco detrás en el mar, que actuaría exactamente como un electrón de energía positiva pero con carga contraria. Dirac interpretó estos electrones inversos como protones, y llamó por eso a su artículo de 1930 Una teoría de electrones y protones.

Dirac ya era consciente del problema de que esta representación implicaba una carga negativa infinita para el universo, e intentó argumentar que nosotros percibiríamos este estado como el estado normal de carga cero. Otra dificultad que esta teoría encontraba era la diferencia entre las masas del electrón y el protón. Aquí Dirac intentó solucionarlo argumentando que esto se debía a las interacciones electromagnéticas con ese "mar", hasta que Hermann Weyl probó que la teoría de huecos era completamente simétrica entre las cargas negativas y positivas. Dirac también predijo una reacción e-+p+→γ+γ (en la que el electrón y el protón se aniquilaban para dar dos fotones). Robert Oppenheimer e Ígor Tam probaron que esto causaría que la materia ordinaria desapareciera demasiado deprisa. Un año más tarde, en 1931, Dirac modificó su teoría y postuló el positrón, una partícula nueva de la misma masa que el electrón. El descubrimiento de esa partícula el año siguiente eliminó las dos últimas objeciones a su teoría.

Sin embargo permanecía el problema de la carga infinita del universo. También, como ahora sabemos, los bosones (partículas con spin entero) también poseen antipartículas, pero estos no obedecen el principio de exclusión de Pauli, así que la teoría de los huecos no funciona con ellos. La teoría cuántica de campos proporciona una interpretación unificada de las antipartículas, que resuelve ambos problemas.

Aniquilación partícula-antipartícula 

Si una partícula y su antipartícula se encuentran en los estados cuánticos apropiados, entonces pueden aniquilarse la una a la otra y producir otras partículas. Las reacciones como:

e+ + e- → γ + γ

(aniquilación de un par electrón-positrón en dos fotones) son un ejemplo del proceso.

La aniquilación de un par electrón-positrón en un solo fotón: e+ + e- → γ
no puede ocurrir porque es imposible que se conserven la energía y el momento a la vez en este proceso. La reacción inversa es también imposible por esta razón. Sin embargo, este fenómeno se observa en la naturaleza; se puede crear un par electrón-positrón a partir de un solo fotón con una energía de al menos la masa de ambas partículas: 1.022 MeV. Lo cierto es que, según la teoría cuántica de campos, este proceso está permitido como un estado cuántico intermedio para tiempos suficientemente cortos en los que la violación de la conservación de la energía puede acomodarse al principio de incertidumbre de Heisenberg. Esto abre la vía para la producción de pares virtuales o su aniquilación donde el estado cuántico de una sola partícula puede fluctuar en un estado cuántico de dos partículas y volver a su estado inicial. Estos procesos son importantes en el Vacío cuántico y la renormalización de una teoría cuántica de campos. También abre el camino para una mezcla de partículas neutras a través de procesos como el mostrado aquí, que es un ejemplo complicado de la renormalización de la masa.

Propiedades de las antipartículas 
Los estados cuánticos de una partícula y de su antipartícula pueden intercambiarse aplicando la simetría de carga (C), paridad (P), y la simetría temporal (T). Si |p,σ,n> es el estado cuántico de una partícula (n), con momento p, espín J cuyo componente en la dirección z es σ, entonces tendremos

CPT |p,σ,n> = (-1)J-σ |p,-σ,nc>,

donde nc es el estado de carga conjugado, es decir, la antipartícula. Este comportamiento bajo CPT es el mismo que establece que una partícula y su antipartícula están en la misma representación irreducible del grupo de Poincaré. Las propiedades de las antipartículas pueden relacionarse así con las de las partículas. Si T es una buena simetría de la dinámica, entonces

T |p,σ,n> α |-p,-σ,n>
CP |p,σ,n> α |-p,σ,nc>
C |p,σ,n> α |p,σ,nc>,

donde el signo de proporcionalidad indica que podría existir un término de fase en el lado derecho de la ecuación. En otras palabras, la partícula y su antipartícula deben tener:

 La misma masa m,
 el mismo estado de espín J,
 cargas eléctricas opuestas q y -q.

Teoría cuántica de campos 
Esta sección utiliza las ideas, el lenguaje y la notación usada en la cuantización canónica de la teoría cuántica de campos.

Se puede intentar cuantizar el campo de un electrón sin mezclar los operadores de creación y aniquilación escribiendo:

ψ(x) = ∑k uk(x) ak e-i E(k)t,

donde se está usando el símbolo k para denotar los números cuánticos p y σ de las secciones anteriores, el signo de la energía E(k) y ak denota los operadores correspondientes de aniquilación. Por supuesto, como estamos tratando con fermiones, los operadores deberán satisfacer las relaciones canónicas anticonmutativas. Sin embargo, si escribimos el Hamiltoniano

H = ∑k E(k) a+k ak,

vemos inmediatamente que el valor esperado de H no necesita ser positivo. Esto ocurre porque E(k) puede tener cualquier signo posible, y la combinación de operadores de creación y de aniquilación tiene valor esperado 1 o 0.

Así pues se debe introducir el campo antipartícula de carga conjugada con sus propios operadores de creación y de aniquilación que satisfagan las siguientes relaciones:

bk' = a+k y b+k' = ak

donde k' tiene el mismo p, σ y signo de la energía opuestos. Así podemos reescribir el campo en la forma:

ψ(x) = ∑k(+) uk(x) ak e-i E(k)t + ∑k(-) uk(x) b+k e-i E(k)t,

donde el primer sumatorio se realiza sobre los estados positivos de energía y el segundo sobre los de energía negativa. La energía entonces se transforma en

H = ∑k(+) E(k) a+k ak + ∑k(-) |E(k)| b+k bk + E0,

donde E0 es una constante infinita negativa. El estado vacío se define como el estado que no contiene ninguna partícula ni antipartícula, es decir, ak |0> = 0 y bk |0> = 0. De esta forma la energía del vacío será exactamente E0. Como todas las energías se miden con respecto al vacío, H será definitivamente positiva. Un análisis de las propiedades de ak y de bk muestra que uno es el operador de aniquilación para las partículas y el otro para las antipartículas. Este es el caso de un fermión.

Esta aproximación se la debemos a Vladímir Fok, Wendell Furry y Robert Oppenheimer. Si se cuantiza un campo escalar real, entonces se encuentra que solo hay una clase de operador de aniquilación, así pues los campos escalares describen a los bosones neutros. Como los campos escalares complejos admiten dos clases diferentes de operadores de aniquilación, que están relacionados por conjugación, esos campos describen bosones cargados.

Interpretación de Feynman y Stueckelberg 
Considerando la propagación hacia atrás en el tiempo de la mitad del campo del electrón que tiene energías positivas, Richard Feynman mostró que se violaba la causalidad a menos que se permitiera que algunas partículas viajaran más rápidas que la luz. Pero si las partículas pudieran viajar más rápido que la luz entonces, desde el punto de vista de otro observador inercial parecería como si estuviera viajando atrás en el tiempo y con carga opuesta.

De esta forma Feynman llegó a entender de forma gráfica el hecho de que la partícula y su antipartícula tuvieran la misma masa m y spin J pero cargas opuestas. Esto le permitió reescribir la teoría de perturbaciones de forma precisa en forma de diagramas, llamados diagramas de Feynman, con partículas viajando adelante y atrás en el tiempo. Esta técnica es ahora la más extendida para calcular amplitudes en la teoría cuántica de campos.

Este gráfico fue desarrollado de forma independiente por Ernest Stueckelberg, y por eso se ha dado en llamar la interpretación de Feynman y Stueckelberg de las antipartículas.

Véase también 
 Antimateria
 Teoría cuántica de campos
 Anexo:Tabla de partículas
 Interacción gravitacional de la antimateria
 Paridad, Conjugación de carga and Simetría temporal
 Violación CP
 Teoría cuántica de campos
 Bariogénesis, Asimetría de bariones
 Universo de un único electrón
 Paul Dirac

Referencias

Lecturas adicionales

Enlaces externos 

Antimateria

Véase Pinidae para una introducción a estos grupos

Las araucariáceas (nombre científico Araucariaceae) son una familia de coníferas del Orden Araucariales, comprende 3 géneros. Son árboles de larga vida altamente resinosos, usualmente muy simétricos y cónicos. Los conos son solitarios, más o menos erectos, y pesados, las escamas ovulíferas cada una con un óvulo, semillas grandes. La familia está prácticamente restringida al Hemisferio Sur.

 Descripción Introducción teórica en Terminología descriptiva de las plantas

Árboles de larga vida, hasta 65 m de alto y 6 m de diámetro en la base, altamente resinosos, usualmente muy simétricos y cónicos en su forma de crecimiento. Hojas simples, enteras, variadas en forma (como punzones, escamas, lineales, oblongas o elípticas), a veces en el mismo individuo, persistentes, con la punta aguzada en algunas especies de Araucaria, de disposición espiralada u opuesta. Dioicos o monoicos. Estróbilos microsporangiados cilíndricos, con numerosos microsporofilos dispuestos en espiral, cada uno con 4-20 microsporangios, polen sin "sacca", la exina con hoyuelos. Conos solitarios, más o menos erectos, pesados, madurando en 2-3 años y finalmente desintegrándose en el árbol, escamas ovulíferas cada una con 1 óvulo, numerosas, dispuestas en espiral, aplanadas, lineales a peltadas, la bráctea más o menos larga que la escama y fusionada a ella, semillas grandes, con o sin alas marginales. 2 cotiledones, a veces altamente divididos y pareciendo 4.

Ecología 

Araucariaceae está casi restringida al Hemisferio Sur, desde el sudeste de Asia a Australia, Nueva Zelanda, y el sur de Sudamérica. 

Los miembros de esta familia usualmente crecen en bosques lluviosos tropicales y subtropicales como también en áreas más templadas. 

La familia es más diversa en Nueva Caledonia, donde hay 5 especies de Agathis y 13 especies de Araucaria endémicas. Las especies de esta área de cada género forman un grupo monofilético de acuerdo con análisis de rbcL. El pequeño monto de diversificación genética de las especies dentro de cada género sugiere una radiación relativamente reciente en el suelo inusual (ultramáfico) de Nueva Caledonia. 

En algunas especies de Araucaria, las hojas que terminan en puntas aguzadas, la habilidad de regenerar ramas, y la protección del ápice de crecimiento por las ramas que lo rodean sugieren una adaptación contra herbívoros hoy extintos.

Uno de los árboles más grandes y de larga vida de esta familia es Agathis australis, comúnmente llamado Kauri. Un individuo particular en el norte de Nueva Zelanda tenía 51,5 m de altura y 13,8 m de circunferencia y unos 2000 años de vida a principios del 2001. El nombre maorí para este individuo es Tane Mahuta, que se traduce como "dios del bosque".

Filogenia 
Introducción teórica en Filogenia

Las secuencias de 28S rRNA fuertemente sugieren una relación de hermanos entre Podocarpaceae y Araucariaceae, compartiendo las siguientes sinapomorfías: un óvulo por escama ovulífera, la escama ovulífera cercanamente asociada a la semilla, y posiblemente la bráctea fusionada a la escama. Agathis y Araucaria difieren una de otra fuertemente en sus estructuras foliares y reproductivas. Las hojas de Agathis son opuestas y amplias, mientras que las de Araucaria son de disposición espiralada y lineales a amplias. Agathis es monoico con óvulos libres de la escama del cono y tiene semillas aladas. Araucaria es dioico, con óvulos fusionados a la escama del cono y usualmente tiene semillas sin alas. Las secuencias de ADN de rbcL también sostienen una monofilia de los dos géneros. Los datos de rbcL también están de acuerdo con la división del género en 4 secciones basados en caracgteres no moleculares como el número de cotiledones, posición de los conos microsporangiados, y caracteres celulares de la epidermis de las hojas. Wollemia nobilis fue encontrado en 1994 en el Parque nacional Wollemi en Sídney, Australia, por el oficial del "National Park and Wildlife Service" David Noble. Era conocido para la ciencia antes de 1994 solo como un fósil que se extendía hasta hace 150 millones de años, y es uno de los árboles del mundo más raros, con solo unos 43 adultos en dos poblaciones que distan unos 1,5 km entre ellas. Los árboles, algunos de los cuales tienen entre 500 y 1000 años, tienen una corteza inusual, descripta como "chocolate burbujeante".

 Taxonomía Introducción teórica en Taxonomía

3 géneros, 32 especies. Los géneros más representados son Araucaria (18 especies) y Agathis (13 especies).

La clasificación, según Christenhusz et al. 2011, que también provee una secuencia lineal de las gimnospermas hasta género:

 Familia 8. Araucariaceae Henkel & W.Hochst., Syn. Nadelhölz.: xvii, 1 (1865), nom. cons. Tipo: Araucaria Juss. Sinónimos: Dammaraceae Link, Abh. Konigl. Akad. Wiss. Berlín 1827: 157 (1830), nom. illeg. Tipo: Dammara Link. Agathidaceae (Vierh.) Baum.-Bodenh. ex A.V.Bobrov & Melikian, Komarovia 4: 61 (2006). Tipo: Agathis Salisb.
3 géneros, 41 especies, Sudeste de Asia y Filipinas a Australasia, Pacífico, sur de Sudamérica.
 8.1. Araucaria Juss., Gen. 413 (1789). Tipo: A. imbricata Pav., nom. illeg. (≡ Pinus araucana Molina) Dombeya Lam., Encycl. Meth., Bot. 2: 301 (1786), nom. illeg., non L’Hér. (1785), nom. rej. Tipo: D. chilensis Lam., nom. illeg. (≡ Pinus araucana Molina) Sinónimos: Columbea Salisb., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 8: 317 (1807), nom. illeg. Tipo: C. quadrifaria Salisb., nom. illeg. (≡ Pinus araucana Molina) Eutassa Salisb., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 8: 316 (1807). Tipo: E. heterophylla Salisb. (≡ Araucaria heterophylla). Eutacta Link, Linnaea 15: 543 (1842). Tipo: E. cunninghamii (Aiton ex A. Cunn.) Link (tipo designado aquí por Mill & Farjon) (≡ Araucaria cunninghamii Aiton ex A.Cunn.). Quadrifaria Manetti ex Gordon, Pinet. Suppl. 14 (1862). Tipo: Q. imbricata (Pav.) Manetti ex Gordon (≡ Araucaria araucana). Marywildea A.V.Bobrov & Melikian, Komarovia 4: 57 (2006). Tipo: M. bidwillii (Hook.) A.V.Bobrov & Melikian (≡ Araucaria bidwillii Hook.). Titanodendron A.V.Bobrov & Melikian, Komarovia 4: 60 (2006). Tipo: T. hunsteinii (K.Schum.) A.V.Bobrov & Melikian (≡ Araucaria hunsteinii K.Schum.).

 8.2. Wollemia W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen, Telopea 6: 173 (1995). Tipo: W. nobilis W.G.Jones, K.D.Hill & J.M.Allen

 8.3. Agathis Salisb., Trans. Linn. Soc. London 8: 311 (1807), nom. cons. Tipo: A. loranthifolia Salisb., nom. illeg. (≡ Pinus dammara (Lamb.) L.C.Rich.) Sinónimos: Dammara Link, Enum. Pl. Horti Berol. 2: 411 (1822), nom. illeg., non Gaertner (1790). Salisburyodendron A.V.Bobrov & Melikian, Komarovia 4: 62 (2006). Tipo: S. australis (Lamb.) A.V.Bobrov & Melikian (≡ Agathis australis Salisb.).

Evolución 

Araucariaceae, como Podocarpaceae, es una familia distintiva casi exclusiva del Hemisferio Sur. Su registro fósil, en particular el de Araucaria, se extiende hasta el Jurásico.

Importancia económica 

Los dos géneros más representados producen madera. Los individuos más grandes, como los de Agathis australis de Nueva Zelanda, que llegan a 65 m de altura y 6 m de diámetro, contienen grandes cantidades de madera de alta calidad. 

Araucaria heterophylla y Araucaria araucana de Chile son ornamentales muy preciados, tanto como plantas de prados como plantas de interior.

Enlaces externos 

 Stevens, P. F. 2001 en adelante. Angiosperm Phylogeny Website Versión 7, mayo de 2006 .

Referencias 

 Judd, Campbell, Kellogg, Stevens, Donoghue. 2007. Plant Systematics, a phylogenetic approach, third edition. Sinauer associates, inc. USA.

Arecidae es el nombre de un taxón de plantas ubicado en la categoría taxonómica de subclase, que según el Código Internacional de Nomenclatura Botánica debe estar circunscripto obligadamente al menos por el orden Arecales. Este taxón fue utilizado por el popular sistema de clasificación de  Cronquist (1981). Sus miembros comparten una serie de caracteres superficiales, como el hábito (que unió a las palmeras con las ciclantáceas y las pandanáceas), y las inflorescencias en espádice con espata (que incluyó en esta subclase a las aráceas y las lemnáceas). Hoy se sabe que este taxón es polifilético, y sus miembros se distribuyen en los monofiléticos Commelinidae, Pandanales y Alismatales.

Caracteres 

En su hábito son hierbas, arbustos, bejucos o en algunos casos árboles, con crecimiento secundario limitado y sin formación de tejido vascular nuevo.

Presentan hojas alternas, en ocasiones todas son basales, o en una corona terminal.

Las flores son numerosas y generalmente pequeñas, hermafroditas o unisexuales, hipóginas. Frecuentemente su inflorescencia es un espádice y está rodeada por una espata.

El perianto puede estar bien desarrollado con dos verticilos de tres tépalos, o llegar a estar, en ocasiones, muy reducido y vestigial o incluso estar ausente.

El androceo puede tener uno o muchos estambres con granos de polen binucleados o, en ocasiones, trinucleados.

El gineceo generalmente está formado por tres carpelos (o hasta uno o muchos), unidos o libres, con uno a muchos primordios seminales en cada lóculo.

El fruto suele ser indehiscente, generalmente en baya o drupa, el fruto puede ser múltiple.

Ecología 

La polinización es mediada por insectos (entomógama) o por el viento (anemógama).

Filogenia 

Los análisis moleculares de ADN hechos desde la década del '90 demostraron que este taxón como aquí circunscripto es polifilético. 

Arecaceae, Cyclanthaceae y Pandanaceae comparten un hábito arborescente o herbáceo tipo enredadera, los estomas tetracíticos, los frutos indehiscentes y carnosos, y un desarrollo del embrión similar. Sin embargo, en Pandanaceae/Cyclanthaceae están ausentes los caracteres presentes en el clado Commelinidae, al que pertenece hoy en día Arecaceae. Las palmeras hoy son Arecales, como en Cronquist, pero se ubican en la subclase Commelinidae, las ciclantáceas y las pandanáceas hoy se ubican en Pandanales, y no están cercanamente emparentadas con las palmeras. 

Finalmente las aráceas y lemnáceas están hoy en Alismatales, habiéndose resuelto que las inflorescencias con espádice y espata aparecieron muchas veces en diferentes clados no relacionados de plantas, por lo que no son útiles para discernir la filogenia a estos niveles del árbol.

Taxonomía 

Comprende 4 órdenes con 5 familias y unas 5.600 especies; la mayoría pertenecientes al orden Arecales.

Orden Arecales:
Arecáceas o palmáceas, familia Arecaceae, también llamada Palmae. 
Orden Cyclanthales:
Ciclantáceas, familia Cyclanthaceae.
Orden Pandanales:
Pandanáceas, familia Pandanaceae.
Orden Arales:
Aráceas, familia Araceae. 
Lemnáceas, familia Lemnaceae.

Véase también 

Clasificación de los organismos vegetales

Referencias 

 ITIS 42430

Referencias citadas 

Liliopsida

Los ascomicetos (Ascomycota) son una división de hongos con micelio tabicado que producen ascosporas endógenas. Pueden ser unicelulares y talófitos. Han sido aislados de lugares extremos, desde dentro de rocas en la planicie helada de Antártica hasta las profundidades del mar. Existen en ambientes terrestres y acuáticos, en sustratos como la madera, materiales de queratina (uñas, plumas, cuernos y pelos), estiércol, suelo y alimento, entre otros. Incluye una gran diversidad de tipos de hongos, como las "falsas setas", las trufas, las "lenguas terrestres", entre otros que forman ascocarpos, la mayoría de los líquenes, algunos mohos de pan y frutas como Penicillium del cual se obtuvo la penicilina, las levaduras clásicas (Saccharomycetes) usadas en la fermentación de la cerveza y otros alimentos. Al igual que otros hongos, también incluye parásitos de animales y plantas, entre ellos se destacan los que causan las dermatofitosis o tiñas en los humanos como el pie de atleta.

Es el grupo taxonómico más grande con 32,000 especies descritas en 3,400 géneros. Cabe mencionar que este tipo de hongos puede reproducirse de forma asexual por medio de unas esporas haploides llamadas conidios sin embargo el nombre del grupo proviene del griego (askos) que significa saco ya que estos organismos se caracterizan por desarrollar en su fase sexual unas estructuras llamadas ascas que son semejantes a una bolsa.

Reproducción

Reproducción asexual 

La reproducción asexual se realiza mediante aplanosporas del tipo conidios, clamidosporas. Son los básicos; pueden encontrarse miembros que poseen tipos de esas esporas. La diferencia básica entre los tipos de esporas es: 

Conidios: Ciertas hifas por división mitótica no simétrica (por mitosis no simétrica, de células hijas grandes y células hijas pequeñas). Se completa el estrangulamiento y se forma una primera espora, el contenido de esta esporas  y por procedimiento igual se forma otra espora, como resultado tenemos hifas con gran cantidad de esporas. La célula distal mantiene  su forma, luego las células que actúan esporas. El protoplasma resultante se estira y toma el tamaño original de la porción y forma nuevamente otra célula de esporas.

Oidios: Cualquier hifa vegetativa (es fragmentada en cada septo), pueden originarse; sin previa transformación  de las hifas, se forman los septos, se separan las hifas y cada pedazo de segmento actúa como una espora, pudiendo conservar en algunos casos la morfología que tenía y en otros redondean esta característica la posee la mayoría de los patógenos.

Clamidospora: En hifas vegetativas, principalmente en la porción distal, el protoplasma de cada célula se contrae, se cubre con una pared gruesa, y cuando las paredes maternas se desintegran, ellas salen al exterior.

Reproducción sexual

Morfogénesis de las ascas (Ascogénesis) 
En términos generales el inicio de su fase sexual comienza con el reconocimiento y diferenciación sexual de sus hifas. Una vez realizado esto las hifas especializadas llevan a cabo la plasmogamia que consiste en fusionar sus citoplasmas permitiendo que los dos núcleos haploides se encuentren compartimentalizados en un mismo citoplasma (dicarionte). Posteriormente se realiza la cariogamia que consiste en la fusión de esos dos núcleos haploides convirtiéndose en un solo núcleo diploide. El último paso es la meiosis en donde ocurre entrecruzamiento de material genético dando como resultado núcleos haploides que por medio de una esporogénesis forman las esporas haploides de origen sexual llamadas ascosporas.   

Dentro de la división Ascomycota se pueden encontrar algunos organismos homotálicos, en los que cualquier órgano sexual masculino es compatible con cualquier órgano sexual femenino de la misma especie; mientras que la mayor parte del grupo son heterotálicos, es decir, poseen dos tipos reproductivos, a los que se les designa como (A1) Y (A2), para que los órganos sexuales lleven a cabo la copulación, deben estar presentes dos micelios opuestos, donde los ascogonios y anteridios no provengan de un mismo micelio.

La plasmogamia de Ascomycota se lleva a cabo mediante diferentes mecanismos como: contacto gametangial donde los gametangios entran en contacto a partir de un tricógino y  presentan un de puente para dar paso al flujo de núcleos;  copulación gametangial, que se caracteriza por dar paso a la plasmogamia a partir de la fusión de gametos; espermatización: que es la unión de un espermacio a una estructura receptora o somatogamia que está caracterizada por la fusión de hifas somáticas; sin embargo, predomina el contacto gametangial en este grupo. 

En levaduras y algunos hongos, las ascas se originan directamente de una célula; sin embargo, en la mayoría de ascomycetes se desarrolla a partir de hifas especializadas como la hifa ascógena que frecuentemente es multinucleada. El desarrollo de las ascas inicia con la división de ambos tipos de núcleo (masculino y femenino) contenidos en la hifa ascógena y simultáneamente se forma un  doblez que va de la punta de la hifa hacia el tallo, generando una estructura similar a un “gancho”. Posteriormente se forman dos septos que separan los núcleos y los distribuyen dejando la célula terminal uninucleada y a la penúltima binucleada (núcleo masculino y femenino)  y  conforme la punta del gancho se va fusionando al tallo, y la penúltima célula n+n (dicarionte) comienza a alargarse y a la par, se fusionan sus núcleos (cariogamia) y pasa ser diploide (2n). Se divide mediante meiosis y genera cuatro meiosporas (originadas a partir de meiosis) haploides y se dividen nuevamente por mitosis hasta que finalmente se obtienen ocho ascosporas.

Cabe destacar que las ascas en formación tienen un sistema de doble membrana continua con el retículo endoplásmico (RE), de manera que cada núcleo y una porción de citoplasma serán rodeados por una doble membrana, una vez que esto ocurre se forma la pared primaria de la ascospora y luego las otras capas de la pared. Por otra parte, se ha visto que los septos que se encargan de distribuir la carga genética en el asca, son distintos a los cuerpos de Woronin y son estructuras muy especializadas que bloquean los poros del septo en la base del asca. Es probable que esta especialización de los septos permita una presión de turgencia más elevada respecto a las células adyacentes, favoreciendo así la libración de las esporas.

Tipos de ascas 

Como ya mencionamos las ascosporas son el resultado de la meiosis la cual se lleva a cabo dentro de las ascas (o ascos) que a partir de estudios de microscopía han podido diferenciarse en: protunicadas, unitunicadas y bitunicadas. Estos tipos de ascas varían en función de sus paredes y su mecanismo de liberación de esporas:
 Ascas protunicadas: únicamente presentan una pared y su mecanismo de dehiscencia depende del rompimiento de esa capa de frágil naturaleza.
 Ascas unitunicadas: presentan una pared y su mecanismo de dehiscencias está regulado por un orificio en la región apical llamada opérculo.
 Ascas bitunicadas: presentan dos paredes, una de ellas sale para expulsar las ascosporas.

Estructuras de reproducción sexual (Tipos de ascoma) 

Las ascas a su vez se generan dentro de cuerpos fructíferos llamados ascocarpos los cuales pueden ser de seis tipos: cleistotecio, peritecio, apotecio, ascostroma uni- o multilocular, gimnotecio y casmotecio. Algunos autores definen a otras variantes de ascocarpos como  el histerotecio refiriéndose a un pseudotecio ascolocular alargado de los ascomycetes liquenizados y el tiriotecio que es parecido al peritecio pero más aplastado.

El cleistotecio es una estructura totalmente cerrada en donde las ascas (que encierras las ascosporas) se encuentran distribuidas al azar. Son de pared delgada y evanescente. Para que las ascas sean liberadas la pared del ascocarpo debe romperse o desintegrarse. Un ejemplo de esto lo podemos observar en Coprotiella Venezuelensis o en Eurotium rubrum.

En el caso del peritecio encontramos que las ascas están organizadas en fascículos que forman un himenio. Generalmente este tipo de ascocarpo tiene forma de pera o botella y posee un ostiolo o poro en la parte apical por donde se liberan las ascosporas. Ejemplos de esto lo tenemos en los Laboulbeniales.

En el apotecio se puede observar que tiene forma de copa y en la madurez expone al himenóforo donde se encuentras las ascas. Un ejemplo de esta estructura la encontramos en  Pezizales como Helvella brevis u Otidea grandis, en Helotiales como Mollisia undulato-depressula o en Sordariales como Lasiosphaeria hispida.

Por otro lado en el ascostroma unilocular o pseudotecio encontramos que las ascas se forman inmersas en lóculos y su pared es solamente de estroma. En Pleospora herbarum podemos encontrar esta estructura.

Por su parte el gimnotecio es un tipo de ascocarpo formado por ascas rodeadas de hifas entrelazadas. Hay especies patógenas para el ser humano que pueden desarrollar esta forma como es el caso del hongo dimórfico Ajellomyces dermatitidis  (Blastomyces dermatitidis, estado asexual) que genera blastomicosis.

Y finalmente el casmotecio que es una estructura totalmente cerrada en donde las ascas se organizan en una forma basal de manera que todas se encuentran a la misma altura y son liberadas por la rotura de la pared. Ejemplos de este tipo de ascocarpo lo podemos observar en Podosphaera fusca.

Todas estas estructuras además de contener a las ascas también pueden verse asociadas con un elemento denominado hamatecio que puede distinguirse entre paráfisis (hifas alargadas que se originan en la base los apotecios y peritecios), perífisis (hifas cortas no ramificadas que encontramos dentro de peritecios) y pseudoparáfisis (hifas que se originan por encima de las ascas de un ascostroma). En algunos casos podemos encontrar ascas desnudas como en el moho Eremascus fertilis.

El tipo de ascas, el arreglo que presentan así como su relación de estas con estructuras estériles de un ascocarpo (hamatecio) son algunos criterios de importancia taxonómica para la clasificación de este grupo de hongos.

Filogenia 
El análisis genético ribosómico revela las siguientes relaciones para las subdivisiones y clases de ascomicetos:

Taxonomía

Ecología 
Los ascomicetos desarrollan una función central en la mayoría de los ecosistemas terrestres. Se ocupan de la descomposición de materiales orgánicos, como hojas muertas, tallos, árboles caídos, etc. y ayudan a los animales detritívoros que viven de la materia orgánica a obtener sus nutrientes. Procesan materias como la celulosa y la lignina, que son difíciles de explotar, por todo esto juegan un papel muy importante en los ciclos naturales del nitrógeno y del carbono.

Los cuerpos fructíferos o ascocarpos proveen alimento a un conjunto diverso de animales, como insectos, babosas, caracoles hasta roedores y mamíferos grandes como el ciervo y el chancho salvaje.

Los hongos ascomicetos son conocidos también por sus relaciones simbióticas con otros organismos.

Líquenes 

Probablemente desde muy temprano los ascomicetos “domesticaron” a las algas Chlorophyta o algas verdes, como así también a otros tipos de algas y a cianobacterias. Juntos forman relaciones mutualistas conocidas como líquenes, que subsisten en regiones sumamente inhóspitas de la tierra, incluyendo el ártico, los desiertos y cimas de altas montañas y pueden aguantar temperaturas extremas entre -40 °C a +80 °C. Mientras el socio fotoautótrofo, el alga, crea energía metabólica por medio de la fotosíntesis, el hongo ofrece un soporte y protege contra la radiación y la deshidratación. Alrededor del 42% de los ascomicetos (aproximadamente 18.000 especies) forman líquenes y la gran mayoría de los hongos que forman líquenes pertenecen a este grupo. La proporción de basidiomicetes es del dos o cuatro por ciento.

Micorrizas y hongos endófitos 

Los ascomicetos forman dos importantes tipos de relaciones con las plantas: las micorrizas y los endófitos. Las micorrizas son asociaciones simbióticas del hongo con el sistema de raíces de las plantas; el hongo realiza la absorción de sales y minerales del suelo en forma mucho más eficiente que las raíces de la planta. Por su parte la planta proporciona los productos de fotosíntesis al hongo. En el caso de muchas especies, como la mayoría de las coníferas y muchas otras plantas, esta asociación es de vital importancia. Incluso, en ciertos casos el hongo transporta nutrientes de una planta a otra contribuyendo a la robustez del ecosistema. Es posible que las micorrizas hayan existido desde muy temprano en el proceso de la invasión de los ambientes terrestres por las plantas. Hay evidencia de que los fósiles de plantas terrestres más antiguos ya presentaban micorrizas.

Los endófitos viven dentro de las plantas, especialmente en los tallos y hojas, pero generalmente no dañan al hospedador. Aún no se conoce bien la naturaleza exacta de esta relación pero parece que esta asociación confiere una mayor resistencia contra los insectos, los nemátodos y las bacterias; también es posible que contribuya a la producción de alcaloides tóxicos usados por las plantas en su defensa contra los herbívoros.

Relaciones simbióticas con animales 
Una serie de especies de ascomicetos del género Xylaria se encuentran en los nidos de hormigas cortadoras de hojas de Sudamérica y otras hormigas de la tribu Attini que cultivan hongos y también en los cultivos de hongos de las termitas (Isoptera). Estos hongos recién forman ascocarpos después que los insectos se han ido así que se piensa que se trata de hongos cultivados por ellos por comparación con lo que ocurre en varios casos de asociaciones  con Basidiomycota.

Los escarabajos de la corteza, de la familia Scolytidae, son simbiontes importantes de ascomicetes. Las hembras transportan las esporas a la nueva planta hospedante en sacos, llamado micetangios, bajo la quitina. Carcomen túneles dentro de la madera y hacen cámaras o celdillas que usan para poner sus huevos. Cuando depositan los huevos también dejan esporas de las cuales crecen las hifas que pueden efectuar la descomposición de la madera. Cuando nacen las larvas se alimentan de los hongos. Después de la metamorfosis acarrean esporas con las que pueden infectar a otros árboles. Un ejemplo bien conocido de esto es la grafiosis, causada por el hongo Ophiostoma ulmi, transmitido por el escarabajo de la corteza de los olmos Scolytus multistriatus

Orden Endomicetales 
Son las levaduras. Sacaromicetáceos. No producen hifas. Se encargan de algunas fermentaciones (ver: Louis Pasteur), algunas especies viven de forma anaerobia: Saccharomyces cerevisiae y Saccharomyces ellipsoideus; convirtiendo los azúcares en alcohol etílico y dióxido de carbono. La reproducción es asexual por gemación, durante la formación de yemas el núcleo sufre división y unos de los núcleos hijos pasa a la nueva yema. Saccharomyces cerevisiae es heterotálico con cepas + y -, luego se da plasmogamia (fusión del citoplasma) seguida de la cariogamia (fusión de núcleos), después la célula diploide (2n) se convierta en asca y después de sufrir meiosis se forman cuatro ascosporas, solo existe gemación diploide y haploide en Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Clase Euascomycetes 
Producen esporocarpos. La primera fase ocurre con plasmogamia pero al no sufrir cariogamia, su carga genética queda “n+n” (binucleadas). Ocurre mitosis y luego se da la cariogamia. Las hifas son septadas (con divisiones) regularmente, hay presencia de quitina, existe además un poro central que interconecta las hifas unas con otras.

Referencias 

http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/content/58/2/224.short Oxford Journals

Enlaces externos

El ajedrez es un juego de tablero entre dos contrincantes en el que cada uno dispone al inicio de dieciséis piezas móviles, desiguales en importancia y valor, que se desplazan sobre un tablero capturando piezas del contrario, según ciertas reglas. En su versión de competición, está considerado como un deporte, aunque en la actualidad tiene claramente una dimensión social, educativa y terapéutica.

Se juega sobre un tablero cuadriculado de 8×8 casillas (también llamadas escaques), alternadas en colores blanco y negro, que constituyen las 64 posibles posiciones entre las que se mueven las piezas durante el desarrollo del juego. Al principio del juego cada jugador tiene dieciséis piezas: un rey, una dama, dos alfiles, dos caballos, dos torres y ocho peones. Se trata de un juego de estrategia en el que el objetivo es "encerrar" al rey del oponente. Esto se hace amenazando la casilla que ocupa el rey con alguna de las piezas propias sin que el otro jugador pueda proteger a su rey interponiendo una pieza entre su rey y la pieza que lo amenaza, mover su rey a un escaque libre o capturar a la pieza que lo está amenazando, lo que trae como resultado el jaque mate y el fin de la partida. 

Este juego, tal como se conoce actualmente, surgió en Europa durante el , como evolución del juego persa shatranj, que a su vez surgió a partir del más antiguo chaturanga, que se practicaba en la India en el . La tradición de organizar competiciones de ajedrez empezó en el . El primer campeonato oficial del mundo de ajedrez se organizó en 1886. El ajedrez está considerado por el Comité Olímpico Internacional como un deporte, y las competiciones internacionales están reguladas por la FIDE. Los jugadores compiten a nivel individual en diferentes torneos, aunque también existen competiciones por equipos, siendo una de las más importantes las Olimpiadas de ajedrez.

Actualmente, la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez es la máxima autoridad del ajedrez como deporte y la organización internacional que establece las reglas del ajedrez aceptadas universalmente.

Historia del ajedrez 

El predecesor de todos los juegos de la familia del ajedrez, es decir, no solo del ajedrez europeo sino también del xiangqi, shōgi, janggi, o el makruk, surgió presumiblemente en la India septentrional como juego para cuatro. Este ajedrez primitivo se conocería como chaturanga (चतुरङ्ग en sánscrito) en Persia y tras la conquista por los árabes continuaría desarrollándose siguiendo las expansiones islámicas. 

Los árabes conquistaron entre los años 632 y 651 el imperio Sasánida. Durante ese tiempo entraron en contacto con el ajedrez. Por ellos llegó el juego, que solo por adaptación fonética se llama shatranj, a su primera época de gran esplendor. Como ajedrecistas de élite se nombra al-Adli (ca. 800-870), quien compuso el primer manual de ajedrez. Le siguen ar-Razi (ca. 825-860), Mawardi (en 900), as-Suli (880-946) y al-Lajlaj (en 970). Importantes fuentes literarias les debemos a Firdausi y a al-Mas'udi. Se desarrolló mediante una rica colección de aperturas (Tabjien) y situaciones finales (Mansuben). Un elemento clave del shatranj son el planteamiento y la resolución de problemas. Los árabes contribuyeron decisivamente a su expansión.

El juego entró en Europa a través de varios caminos. Uno de los primeros contactos se produjo a través del Imperio bizantino, especialmente en Constantinopla. El ajedrez bizantino o zatrikion, se distingue sin embargo del shatranj. Los varegos trajeron el juego de Constantinopla (Miklagard, para ellos) a Rusia, donde desde comienzos del  comenzó a jugarse. A través de los árabes llegó el ajedrez en el  a España. El texto europeo más antiguo, en el que se contienen las reglas del juego, es un libro del alto medioevo, titulado Versus de Scachis escrito en versos latinos por un compositor anónimo del . Procede probablemente de entre los años 900 y 950 y de Italia septentrional. Del siglo duodécimo procede un poemario compuesto en hebreo por el filósofo sefardí Abraham ibn Ezra (1089-1164). En el  se compuso bajo el patrocinio del rey Alfonso X un famoso manuscrito titulado Libro de los juegos y que trata sobre ajedrez, tablas reales (hoy backgammon) y dados.

Hacia finales del  comenzaron a cambiar las reglas de manera decisiva. Se regularían los movimientos del peón, el alfil y la dama. El peón podría ahora dar dos pasos en el primer movimiento (hasta entonces uno solo); el alfil, a cualquier distancia (hasta entonces solo saltaba dos escaques); y la dama, a discreción en cualquiera de las ocho direcciones (antes llamada alferza, avanzaba únicamente un escaque en dirección diagonal), con lo que de repente pasó de ser una figura relativamente débil a convertirse en la más fuerte del tablero y a dotar de gran espectacularidad al juego. 

Mediante estos ajustes se cambió el juego completamente, el nacimiento del ajedrez moderno. El nuevo juego exigía distintas tácticas y aperturas. El ejercicio ganó en velocidad y, al mismo tiempo, en popularidad. Estas novedades se introdujeron probablemente en Valencia entre los años 1470 y 1490 y se manifestaron en el poema valenciano Scachs d′amor, el documento más antiguo sobre el ajedrez moderno. Los compositores y a la vez famosos ajedrecistas fueron Francesc de Castellvi, Narcis Vinyoles y Bernat Fenollar. En el año 1495, Francesch Vicent publicó el primer libro de ajedrez con el título Libre dels Jochs Partits dels Schacs en Nombre de 100 ordenat e compost. En la actualidad no hay ningún ejemplar de este incunable, aunque existen razones para creer que debe conservarse algún ejemplar, de hecho  se ofrece una jugosa recompensa a quien encuentre uno. En el año 2005 el historiador José Antonio Garzón (Chelva, 1966) a través del estudio de unos manuscritos que se conservan en Italia consiguió recrear el libro, hecho que plasmó en su libro El regreso de Francesch Vicent: La historia del nacimiento y expansión del ajedrez moderno.

En el año 1497 apareció un libro de ajedrez del eclesiástico y ajedrecista español Luis Ramírez de Lucena: Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez, con 150 juegos de partido, publicado en Salamanca ese mismo año. Pero la caligrafía gótica con que está escrito solo surge hacia 1500, con lo que la autoría y la datación no están claras. Contiene doce aperturas según las nuevas reglas y treinta problemas de ajedrez. Hacia 1512 aparece en Roma el libro de aprendizaje de Pedro Damiano titulado Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de le partite. Esta primera edición marcó el comienzo del ajedrez moderno. Como consecuencia parece que surgieron círculos ajedrecistas especialmente en la península ibérica y en Italia. A finales del siglo décimo sexto era Ruy López de Segura el mejor jugador del mundo. Fue derrotado en 1575 en el primer torneo internacional de la historia organizado en la corte de Felipe II por el calabrés Giovanni Leonardo da Cutro, quien a continuación venció también al mejor jugador portugués, El Morro, y de regreso en Madrid, a su paisano Paolo Boi. De entre los mejores ajedrecistas de su tiempo destaca también Giulio Cesare Polerio. Estas personalidades fundaron la época dorada del ajedrez italiano, que finalizó en 1634 con Alessandro Salvio y la muerte de Gioacchino Greco.

Introducción al juego 

Una partida de ajedrez se disputa entre dos jugadores; cada uno posee 16 piezas, siendo las de un jugador de color claro, llamadas blancas, y las de su oponente de color oscuro, llamadas negras. Las piezas se mueven sobre un tablero de ajedrez cuadrado de 8×8 = 64 escaques o casillas también cuadradas, alternando colores claro y oscuro (32 y 32). Las piezas de cada jugador al principio de la partida son:

Cada tipo de pieza se mueve de una forma diferente, lo que determinará su potencia y su importancia en el desarrollo del juego.

El ajedrez no es un juego de azar, sino un juego racional y de estrategia, ya que cada jugador decidirá el movimiento de sus piezas en cada turno. El desarrollo del juego es tan complejo que ni siquiera los mejores jugadores (o los más potentes ordenadores existentes) pueden llegar a considerar todas las posibles combinaciones: aunque el juego solo pueda desarrollarse en un tablero con solo 64 casillas y 32 piezas al inicio, el número de diferentes partidas que pueden jugarse excede el número estimado de átomos en el universo observable (véase: Número de Shannon).

Comienza a jugar quien lleve las blancas, lo que le concede una ventaja pequeña pero esencial en los niveles altos de competición, por lo que el color de las piezas suele sortearse antes de la partida; y en el caso de los torneos se busca que un jugador tenga la misma cantidad de partidas con las piezas blancas que con las negras. A partir de entonces ambos jugadores se turnan para mover alguna de sus piezas. Cada jugador intentará obtener ventaja sobre su oponente, ya sea material o posicional; aunque el objetivo final es atacar al rey de modo que no pueda ser defendido, lo que es conocido como jaque mate.

La victoria puede obtenerse además, si el rival abandona o se le agota el tiempo. En los torneos también se declara perdedor a quien muestre conducta antideportiva, por ejemplo al negarse a saludar al comienzo de la partida o si suena el teléfono móvil durante esta.

Otro resultado posible es el empate o tablas, que se produce en cualquiera de los siguientes casos:

 Por acuerdo común
 Cuando ningún jugador tiene piezas suficientes para dar jaque mate
 Si se repite tres veces la misma posición de las piezas en el tablero
 Cuando un jugador, sin estar en jaque, no puede realizar en su turno ninguna jugada legal, lo que se denomina tablas por ahogado
 Cuando después de cincuenta jugadas consecutivas no se ha hecho ninguna captura o se ha avanzado un peón

Elementos del juego 

Para jugar, es preciso contar con el tablero de ajedrez y las piezas; si bien dos personas que sepan de memoria las posiciones, pueden jugar (a la ciega) simplemente diciendo los movimientos. Además, deben conocerse las reglas del juego. Opcionalmente, puede utilizarse un reloj de ajedrez, que es imprescindible en las competiciones.

También es necesario un espacio físico, donde los jugadores desarrollen sus partidas. En partidas de competición, estas suelen ser jugadas habitualmente dentro de un club de ajedrez y si la capacidad o aforo del club de acoger un máximo número de partidas al mismo tiempo es sobrepasada, suelen los organizadores habilitar un edificio, mediante permiso o negociación con sus propietarios, como el espacio abierto de juego de un estadio cubierto, adaptar una sala de reuniones o utilizar aulas de colegio como locales de juego.

Piezas del juego 

Para diferenciar un bando de otro, las piezas de un jugador son de color distinto, uno dirige las claras, llamadas «las blancas», y el otro las de color oscuro, llamadas «las negras». Cada jugador dispone de 16 trebejos (piezas) de seis tipos distintos, de los cuales cada jugador tiene: ocho peones, dos torres, dos caballos, dos alfiles, una dama y un rey. Cada pieza se mueve en el tablero de forma diferente:
 El rey se puede mover en cualquier dirección (vertical, horizontal y diagonales) avanzando o retrocediendo una sola casilla (excepto en el enroque, en el cual se mueve dos casillas).
 La dama, también conocida como reina, se puede mover en cualquier dirección (vertical, horizontal y diagonales) avanzando o retrocediendo en el tablero el número de casillas que se desee, hasta topar con otra pieza o el borde del tablero.
 El alfil solo se puede mover en dirección diagonal, tantas casillas como se desee.
 La torre solo se puede mover en las direcciones verticales y horizontales, no en diagonal, las casillas que se desee.
 El caballo, según la definición oficial, se puede mover a la casilla más cercana que no se encuentre en su propia fila, columna o diagonal, aunque para simplificar se dice que se mueve avanzando dos casillas en vertical y una en horizontal, o viceversa, realizando un movimiento de ‘L’, siendo la única pieza que puede saltar por encima de las demás piezas.
 El peón, en su primer movimiento puede avanzar una o dos casillas en dirección vertical; después de su por primer movimiento solo puede avanzar una casilla en cada movimiento en dirección vertical. A diferencia del resto de piezas no puede ir hacia atrás y no puede capturar las piezas contrarias que se encuentran en la misma columna en la que se mueve; solo podrá hacerlo si se encuentran a una casilla en diagonal respecto a él (excepto en la captura al paso). Un peón debe transformarse en un alfil, caballo, torre o dama del mismo color, a elección del jugador, si es capaz de alcanzar la última fila del tablero opuesta a la de su bando, por lo que un peón puede adquirir un enorme poder táctico en determinadas posiciones donde no tiene oposición para "coronar".

La palabra pieza, puede adoptar tres significados, dependiendo del contexto:

 Puede referirse a cualquiera de las 32 figuras.
 Puede hacer referencia solo a la dama, torre, alfil, caballo, y tal vez también al rey, para diferenciarlos de los peones.
 Puede referirse solo a una pieza menor (alfil o caballo).

Puesto que las blancas tienen la ventaja de realizar la primera jugada, el color de las piezas se asigna a cada jugador mediante sorteo. En los torneos se procura que un jugador tenga el mismo número de partidas con piezas blancas y con piezas negras, ya sea mediante la elaboración de un fixture, de la alternación de colores en cada ronda, o de la disputa de un número de rondas par.

El modelo estándar de piezas usado en competiciones recibe el nombre de modelo Staunton (que se ve en la imagen de arriba), diseñado en 1849 por Nathaniel Cook, y llamado así en nombre del campeón inglés del  Howard Staunton.

El tablero de ajedrez 

El tablero de ajedrez es un cuadrado subdividido en 64 casillas o escaques iguales (8×8), también cuadradas, alternativamente de color claro y de color oscuro. Cada jugador se sitúa de cara al ajedrecista contrincante, colocando el tablero de manera tal que cada jugador tenga una casilla blanca en su esquina derecha.

Los elementos básicos del tablero son:

 Fila. Es cada una de las ocho líneas de ocho casillas que se forman alineando estas horizontalmente respecto a los jugadores. Se nombran con números del 1 al 8, comenzando desde la primera fila con respecto al bando de las piezas blancas.
 Columna. Es cada una de las ocho líneas de ocho casillas que se forman alineando estas verticalmente respecto a los jugadores. Se nombran con letras minúsculas de la a hasta la h, comenzando desde la primera columna izquierda con respecto al bando de las piezas blancas.
 Diagonal. Es cada una de las 16 líneas que se forman agrupando las casillas diagonalmente. Las dos diagonales mayores tienen ocho casillas.
 Centro. El centro del tablero son los cuatro escaques centrales. Por extensión, a veces se incluyen los 12 que rodean a esos cuatro.
 Esquinas. Cada una de las cuatro casillas ubicadas en las esquinas del tablero.
 Bordes. Las dos columnas (a y h) y dos filas (1 y 8) situadas en los extremos del tablero.

Un tablero puede tener los números y letras para identificar las filas, columnas y casillas, con el fin de registrar el desarrollo de las partidas mediante la notación algebraica, que es la notación oficial. Es frecuente en el mundo del ajedrez utilizar este sistema para poder reproducir y comentar las partidas. Debe, sin embargo, dejarse constancia de que muchos autores y especialistas han empleado o prefieren continuar utilizando la llamada notación descriptiva.

El tablero de ajedrez también es utilizado para jugar a las damas (cuando es utilizado para este juego, al tablero se le dice damero).

El reloj de ajedrez 

El reloj de ajedrez consiste en un doble cronómetro que mide el tiempo que tiene cada jugador para realizar sus movimientos. Mientras que el reloj del jugador que tiene el turno está en marcha, el de su oponente permanece detenido, hasta cuando el primero efectúe su jugada y detenga su reloj, poniendo así en marcha el reloj del contrario.

Los relojes de ajedrez analógicos, están basados en un funcionamiento mecánico ya que para que funcionen, en su parte posterior hay una tuerca, la cual debe moverse en un sentido hasta que no se pueda mover más, llamado “darle cuerda al reloj” y que sirve para que el reloj funcione por un tiempo superior al de una partida. Antes de empezar una partida con este tipo de reloj, los jugadores se aseguran de darle cuerda al reloj, para que esté en su capacidad operativa al máximo y no se detenga en mitad de una partida. Estos relojes analógicos disponen de un elemento llamado “bandera”, el cual es sostenido por el minutero durante los últimos tres minutos del tiempo asignado a cada jugador. Cuando se excede ese tiempo, el minutero deja caer la bandera, y el primer jugador cuya bandera cae, pierde la partida si no ha completado las jugadas establecidas o excede el límite de tiempo.

Actualmente, los más utilizados son los relojes de ajedrez digitales basados en un funcionamiento electrónico, mediante pilas, que permiten configurar diferentes ritmos de juego, como por ejemplo el sistema Fischer (incremento de varios segundos por cada jugada) o el sistema Bronstein (igual que el sistema Fischer pero sin sobrepasar el tiempo inicial asignado); así como determinar con exactitud cuál jugador agota primero su tiempo.

Ritmos de juego 

Los controles de tiempo en ajedrez nacen de la necesidad de evitar que los jugadores tarden demasiado en reflexionar sus jugadas, algo muy común hasta finales del . En partidas amistosas, el ritmo de juego es normalmente acordado por los jugadores, que pueden decidir si utilizan un reloj o no. En cambio en torneos oficiales el tiempo disponible para cada jugador depende del tipo de torneo (normal, semirrápidas, ajedrez activo, etc.) y es establecido por la organización del torneo. Un jugador puede disponer de cierto tiempo para toda la partida, o para alcanzar un número de jugadas establecido; además puede recibir o no cierta bonificación en tiempo por cada jugada realizada. Si un jugador agota su tiempo o no es capaz de realizar el número de jugadas asignadas, pierde la partida.

De acuerdo con la duración de cada partida, esta puede ser:

 Partida Blitz o relámpago: aquella en la cual cada jugador dispone de un máximo de 15 minutos para toda la partida, o bien, todas aquellas partidas con incremento de tiempo por jugada en las que de la suma del incremento multiplicado por 60 y el tiempo inicial de reflexión no se obtenga una cantidad mayor de los 15 minutos.

 Partida rápida: aquella en la cual el tiempo para cada jugador está entre 15 y 60 minutos, o si se juega con incremento, aquella cuyo tiempo de reflexión inicial, más la suma del incremento multiplicado por 60, quede comprendida en ese intervalo. Normalmente este ritmo de juego se utiliza en desempates de torneos jugados con ritmo normal, y su tiempo se fija en 25 minutos.

 Partida estándar (ritmo clásico): aquella en la cual el tiempo de reflexión por jugador es mayor de 60 minutos. Este es el ritmo de juego más usado a nivel magistral. En torneos con gran cantidad de participantes, suele existir un control de 90 minutos por jugador más 30 segundos de incremento por jugada, mientras que en torneos de élite se asignan controles de tiempo para cierto número de jugadas, más un tiempo para el final de la partida. También se las denomina partidas de ritmo normal o lento.

Las partidas sin reloj no tienen un nombre específico, aunque popularmente en España se las llama partidas amistosas o también partidas de café. El nombre de partidas amistosas viene en contraposición a que no es una partida de competición, por tanto el resultado no puede afectar al Elo ni crear disputa por algún tipo de clasificación o premio, ni crear rivalidad debido a esto. El nombre de partidas de café es debido a la costumbre de jugar este tipo de partidas, que no son de competición, en las mesas de un bar-café, generalmente de un centro cultural.

Resumen de las reglas del juego 

Cuando el juego comienza, un jugador controla 16 piezas blancas y otro jugador controla 16 piezas negras. El color asignado a cada jugador suele sortearse, aunque en el caso de los torneos está en función del emparejamiento de los jugadores. El tablero es colocado de tal forma que ambos jugadores tengan un escaque blanco en la casilla de la esquina derecha respectiva. Las piezas se ubican de la forma en que se muestra en el diagrama adyacente. Las torres, caballos y alfiles más cercanos al rey suelen llamarse de rey (ejemplo: torre de rey) y las más alejadas, más próximas a la dama se llaman de dama (ejemplo: alfil de dama). Asimismo, el lado donde se encuentran en origen ambos reyes se suele llamar flanco rey y el otro flanco dama.

En el ajedrez tradicional, las piezas se colocan siempre en la forma descrita. Hay variantes (poco frecuentes en la práctica) en las que la situación de las piezas en la primera fila puede variar (Ajedrez aleatorio de Fischer o Ajedrez 960). 

Los jugadores mueven por turnos. En cada turno, un jugador solo puede mover una pieza (con la única excepción de una jugada especial llamada enroque, en la cual el rey mueve dos casillas hacia la derecha o hacia la izquierda y la torre se ubica a su lado opuesto). El jugador que juega con las piezas blancas es siempre el que mueve primero.

Cada tipo de pieza se mueve de una forma diferente, aunque las normas comunes al movimiento de las piezas son: (ver más en Reglas del ajedrez: Movimiento de las piezas).

 Las piezas no pueden saltar, en su movimiento, una por encima de la otra (a excepción del caballo, que puede saltar sobre otras, moviendo en ‘L’, y de la torre, en el enroque).
 Una pieza no puede ocupar una casilla ocupada por otra pieza del mismo color, pero sí una ocupada por otra del contrario, retirándola del tablero. Esta acción se conoce como “tomar” o “capturar”, y es voluntaria, a decisión del jugador.
 Las casillas a las cuales puede moverse una pieza, se dice que están controladas o con cobertura por esta. Si una pieza se encuentra dentro de las casillas controladas por una pieza de color contrario, se encuentra atacada por aquella.
 El rey es la única pieza que no puede moverse o pasar por casillas controladas por piezas contrarias.

Una jugada que ataque al rey se conoce como jaque; es obligatorio para el jugador cuyo rey esté atacado salir del jaque. Si no hay defensa posible contra un jaque, el rey está en jaque mate. Ese es el objetivo y quien lo inflige al rey rival, gana.

Una partida de ajedrez también termina cuando un jugador decide rendirse o abandonar, o si excede el tiempo establecido; en ambos casos el oponente gana el juego. También la partida termina cuando no es posible la victoria para ninguno de los jugadores, o si ambos acuerdan este resultado, conocido como tablas o empate. Igualmente la partida termina en tablas si se repite tres veces la misma posición sobre el tablero (por repetición de jugadas), cuando ninguno de los jugadores tiene piezas suficientes para dar jaque mate, o si el jugador que tiene el turno no puede realizar ninguna jugada reglamentaria, situación conocida como ahogado.

En torneos, y a efecto de computar los resultados, se otorga al ganador de una partida un punto, medio punto a cada jugador que ha hecho tablas, y cero puntos al perdedor de una partida. En algunos torneos se aplican 3 puntos al ganador; un punto a cada jugador si hay tablas y cero puntos al perdedor de una partida.

Resumen de las normas de notación ajedrecística 

Existen varios sistemas de notación de partidas de ajedrez, cuyo objetivo es registrar las partidas con propósitos documentales. El sistema algebraico es el utilizado y recomendado por la FIDE. También existen otros métodos, como la notación descriptiva (actualmente en desuso), o el sistema de Forsyth-Edwards para anotar posiciones particulares.

Las normas generales de la notación algebraica son:

 Las filas del tablero se nombran con los números del 1 al 8. Al principio de la partida, las piezas blancas ocuparán las filas 1 y 2 y las piezas negras las filas 7 y 8.
 Las columnas del tablero se nombran con las letras minúsculas de la ‘a’ hasta la ‘h’, comenzando por la izquierda del jugador con piezas blancas.
 Las casillas reciben el nombre de la columna y la fila correspondientes (e8, d5, c6, etc.).
 Las piezas son designadas por su inicial, excepto el peón: R (Rey), D (Dama), T (Torre), A (Alfil), C (Caballo).
 Una jugada se escribe combinando la inicial de la pieza y la casilla a la cual se mueve, excepto por el peón, del que se menciona solo la casilla. Ejemplos: 
 Ce4 significa que un caballo mueve a la casilla e4.
 d5 representa la jugada de un peón de la columna d a la quinta fila.
 Una captura se indica con una x entre la inicial de la pieza (o la columna del peón) y la casilla de la pieza capturada. Ejemplos:
 Txb5 indica que una torre captura una pieza en b5.
 dxe6 indica que el peón de la columna d captura en e6.
 Si dos piezas iguales pueden ir a una misma casilla, se indica la columna de la pieza que mueve; si ambas piezas están en la misma columna, se indica la fila. Ejemplos:
 Ced5 significa que, de entre dos caballos del mismo bando, el ubicado en la columna e mueve a la casilla d5.
 T3f6 significa que, de dos torres del mismo bando y situados en la misma columna, la que está ubicada en la tercera fila mueve a la casilla f6.
 El jaque se indica con un signo ‘+’, y el jaque mate con ‘++’ (o también ‘#’).
 El enroque corto se anota como 0-0 y el enroque largo se anota como 0-0-0.
 Una captura al paso se indica con: a.p.

Algunos símbolos utilizados para comentar partidas son:
 !: Buena jugada
 !!: Jugada brillante (muy buena)
 ?: Mala jugada
 ??: Muy mala jugada
 !?: Jugada interesante
 ?!: Jugada dudosa
 ±: Ventaja blanca
 +/= o ±: Ligera ventaja blanca 
 +–: Ventaja ganadora blanca
 –/+ o ∓ (símbolo ± invertido): Ventaja negra 
 =/+ o ∓ (símbolo ± invertido): Ligera ventaja negra 
 –+: Ventaja ganadora negra
 ∞: Posición incierta
 +: Jaque
 ++: Doble jaque
 #: Jaque mate

Fases de la partida 

En el juego del ajedrez se consideran habitualmente tres etapas: 

 La apertura, que comprende las primeras jugadas, donde las piezas van saliendo de sus casillas iniciales.
 El medio juego, cuando los dos bandos aún tienen muchas piezas y peones, y estos entran en intenso conflicto.
 El final, donde quedan pocas piezas y peones.

Cada fase de la partida requiere del jugador planteamientos tácticos y estratégicos generalmente distintos. Esto incrementa mucho la complejidad del juego. Se puede decir que el ajedrez es muchos juegos en uno: por ejemplo jugar bien la apertura y el final requiere de habilidades distintas y no es raro encontrar jugadores muy fuertes en una fase y considerablemente más débiles en otra.

Táctica y estrategia ajedrecísticas 

Normalmente una partida de ajedrez se gana bien por jaque mate, bien porque el contrario sepa que va a recibir inexorablemente jaque mate y, por ello, abandona.

Sin embargo, ganar una partida muchas veces no implica intentar dar mate al rey enemigo. Entre jugadores fuertes, basta en muchas ocasiones con pequeñas consideraciones inapreciables para un aficionado para estar seguros de la victoria. Se consideran posiciones ganadoras aquellas en las que se puede demostrar que un bando gana con juego perfecto. Muchas de estas posiciones distan mucho del mate. Un ejemplo muy simple sería el siguiente: si eliminamos la dama (o cualquier otra pieza) de uno de los jugadores al inicio de la partida, es seguro que con juego perfecto el bando que tiene la pieza extra tiene posición ganadora. Llevar la partida hasta jaque mate, sin embargo, puede requerir decenas de jugadas.

Por tanto, podemos concluir que el objetivo de un jugador, mucho antes que dar jaque mate, es alcanzar una posición ganadora. Esto puede conseguirse de muchos modos. Los más frecuentes pueden englobarse en unas cuantas clases, caracterizadas por el tipo de ventaja que posee el bando fuerte:

 Ganar material sin compensación (de largo el más habitual).
 Conseguir un ataque directo contra el rey.
 Conseguir ventajas posicionales sustanciales como la destrucción de la coordinación de los peones o piezas enemigos, debilitación de la posición del rey contrario, dejar al contrario con piezas muy limitadas en movilidad, etc. Estas ventajas se deberán convertir más adelante en alguna de las dos ventajas anteriores.

Entre jugadores novatos, las ventajas surgen espontáneamente por graves errores, tales como colocar una pieza en una casilla en donde puede ser capturado, o llevar el rey a una posición fácilmente atacable. Pero entre jugadores más avanzados, las ventajas solo pueden conseguirse de forma mucho más sutil. Los procedimientos que se han ido desarrollando para conseguir ventaja se han englobado en dos grandes tipos: procedimientos tácticos y procedimientos estratégicos.

Por tanto, todo jugador avanzado sabe que no basta conocer los elementos básicos del juego (tablero, piezas y reglas), sino que es necesario conocer y aplicar correctamente las tácticas y estrategias ajedrecísticas.

Valor relativo de las piezas 

En una partida de ajedrez, las piezas suelen tener un valor dependiendo de una situación determinada. En primer lugar, las piezas tienen un valor estático fijado por su movilidad, es decir la cantidad de casillas a las que puede mover sin tener en cuenta la presencia de otras piezas en el tablero. La movilidad de las piezas suele ser mayor cuanto más cerca estén del centro del tablero, y menor si están en los bordes o las esquinas. Por ejemplo, un caballo en una esquina puede moverse a un máximo de dos casillas y en un borde puede ir a tres o cinco, mientras que su movilidad máxima es de ocho casillas, cuando está lejos de los bordes del tablero.

Ya en la partida, las piezas tienen un valor dinámico de acuerdo con la situación de una posición en particular: la presencia de piezas propias y contrarias, las casillas controladas por piezas del oponente, las líneas controladas u ocupadas, y la posibilidad de llevar a cabo planes estratégicos o posicionales. Por ejemplo, un alfil casi siempre es más importante que un caballo, excepto en las posiciones en que haya peones inmóviles del mismo bando del alfil que ocupen las casillas que este controla, limitando su movilidad; por lo cual el caballo, al poder saltar por encima de los peones, es superior en estos casos.

El valor material de las piezas es una guía para evaluar una posición; el caballo y el alfil suelen denominarse piezas menores por su limitado alcance sobre el tablero (un alfil solo puede ir a las diagonales de casillas blancas y el otro a las diagonales de casillas negras, mientras que el caballo tiene que ir a una casilla de distinto color cada vez que mueve). La torre y la dama se conocen como piezas mayores por su movilidad superior respecto del caballo y el alfil. El rey tiene un valor absoluto: si se pierde el rey, se pierde la partida; aunque con respecto a su movilidad se le asigna un valor intermedio entre el del caballo y el alfil.

La forma más usual de determinar el valor material de las piezas es tomando el valor del peón como unidad. Así, el valor de las piezas se expresa en peones: el caballo y el alfil valen 3 peones, la torre 5 y la dama 9. Con esto se puede decir, por ejemplo, que dos torres valen más que una dama, o que sacrificar un caballo por tres peones es un cambio aceptable, desde el punto de vista del material. Generalmente se acepta que la pareja de alfiles es más fuerte que la pareja de caballos.

La táctica 

Se entiende por táctica ajedrecística, al conjunto de procedimientos, generalmente implicando una o unas pocas jugadas, por las que un jugador intenta ejecutar en el tablero una idea sencilla. El objetivo de una maniobra táctica es obtener algún tipo de ventaja, entre las cuales la más característica es ganar material.

Por la forma en la que se mueven las piezas, surgen maniobras tácticas características. Por ejemplo, el caballo es capaz de atacar dos casillas alejadas entre sí y sin que importe el que haya muchas piezas alrededor. Eso favorece el que esa pieza pueda realizar con frecuencia ataques dobles (llamados también horquillas). Como su nombre indica, un ataque doble es aquel en el que se ataca a la vez dos piezas, de forma que una de ellas será necesariamente capturada. Otro ejemplo es la maniobra conocida como clavada en donde se ataca cierta pieza por una fila o diagonal y resulta que esta no puede retirarse (“está clavada”), dado que si lo hace, otra pieza más valiosa que se encuentra tras la pieza atacada en esa fila o diagonal quedaría amenazada. También existe la desviación, en la que una pieza es obligada a abandonar su lugar, en el que ejercía una tarea defensiva. Existen muchas otras maniobras típicas semejantes, que se producen muy frecuentemente y con las que todos los jugadores se familiarizan pronto.

Un tipo particular de maniobra táctica se conoce como combinación en donde uno de los bandos, muchas veces sacrificando material, fuerza al otro a realizar una serie de jugadas con la consecuencia de perder la partida. El objetivo de una combinación es obtener a cambio del material sacrificado ventajas más importantes, tales como el jaque mate, o bien recuperar con creces el material más adelante. Algunas combinaciones requieren de un alto grado de originalidad y fantasía, por lo que son uno de los aspectos más espectaculares del ajedrez. Por ello, algunos jugadores, y muy especialmente el excampeón mundial Mijaíl Tal, se han hecho famosos principalmente por su capacidad de realizar combinaciones inesperadas y tremendamente complicadas.

La estrategia 

Se conoce como estrategia ajedrecística al conjunto de planes que realiza un jugador en una partida a medio o largo plazo. Las decisiones estratégicas pueden influir en el futuro de una partida durante muchas jugadas, o incluso en su totalidad.

Un ejemplo típico de decisión estratégica es la de eliminar piezas con el fin de alcanzar un final de partida. Esto puede ser ventajoso en diversas ocasiones. Por ejemplo, si se tiene ventaja material, dicha ventaja suele ser más fácil de explotar cuanto menos piezas existan. Por otro lado, si el contrario tiene la iniciativa o incluso un fuerte ataque, cambiar piezas puede también contribuir a que dicha iniciativa o ataque se disipe. La decisión estratégica de gran alcance debo cambiar piezas debe entonces llevarse a la práctica por medios concretos, tácticos.

En la estrategia ajedrecística se suelen definir dos tipos distintos de elementos. Por una parte, están los elementos estáticos, que influyen en la partida durante largos períodos. Por otro lado, están los elementos dinámicos, que influyen durante un periodo más breve. A menudo, las decisiones estratégicas consisten en elegir cuál entre todos los elementos es el más importante. Por ejemplo, a menudo es posible al principio de la apertura conseguir capturar un peón a cambio de un considerable retraso en el desarrollo de las piezas. La pregunta es cuándo la ventaja estática que supone el disponer de más material se verá compensada por la ventaja dinámica que confiere el tener un mejor desarrollo. Esta comparación entre ambas ventajas será lo que hará que un jugador se arriesgue o no a realizar la maniobra de captura.

Son típicas ventajas estáticas:

 Disponer de más material.
 Una mejor estructura de peones.
 Controlar más espacio, especialmente en el centro del tablero.
 Una mejor posición del rey.
 Piezas móviles y activas contra piezas constreñidas e inactivas por peones fijados.
 Pareja de alfiles contra alfil y caballo o dos caballos.

Mientras que son típicas ventajas dinámicas:

 Mejor desarrollo, en la apertura.
 Ganancia de tiempo.
 Disponer de la iniciativa o poder iniciar un ataque.
 Piezas mejor coordinadas.
 La seguridad del rey

Un concepto fundamental dentro de la estrategia ajedrecística es la formulación de un plan de juego en donde el jugador establece lo que desea obtener de una posición. Es en la ejecución del plan de juego, es decir, el paso de las ideas estratégicas generales a la ejecución táctica, donde surge el conflicto entre ambos jugadores.

A las decisiones estratégicas se las llama también decisiones posicionales, y al juego que se desarrolla sin obvios motivos tácticos, de forma lenta y progresiva, se le suele llamar juego posicional. Los jugadores también se suelen calificar como posicionales o tácticos, según cuál sea su punto más fuerte.

En la mayoría de los casos, puede determinarse según el conjunto de aperturas usadas por un jugador, según sean abiertas o cerradas, la tendencia a adoptar sistemas posicionales donde se resuelvan a largo plazo y planes menores o tácticos para los que usen aperturas abiertas.

Errores comunes del principiante 
Son errores frecuentes en el jugador bisoño sacar pronto la dama, que solo debe moverse fuera, como las torres, en el medio juego. Avanzar demasiados peones y no los del centro. No desarrollar todas las piezas y dejar alguna obstruida o sin actividad; mover en la apertura la misma pieza dos veces, perdiendo uno o más tiempos, y no proteger al rey con un enroque lo antes posible, o dejarlo desguarnecido en el centro. Ignorar algunas de las condiciones reglamentarias, como en qué condiciones no puede hacerse enroque corto o largo, o ignorar la captura al paso. Debilitar el enroque avanzando sus peones o no haciendo fianchetto o dejando peones doblados. Malbaratar y perder la iniciativa que da la ventaja de salir con blancas; permitir peones pasados del oponente, o no producir los nuestros. Incomunicar las torres. No seleccionar la mejor jugada. Y no activar al rey en los finales, cuando es pieza fuerte.

Los diez principios fundamentales de Wilhelm Steinitz 
Wilhelm Steinitz fue el primer campeón mundial de ajedrez oficial. Decía que el ajedrez era "demasiado para ser un juego, y muy poco para ser ciencia." Con el tiempo desarrolló diez principios generales y convenientes para el juego, usables en ataque o defensa.

1. Toda apertura tiene por fin desarrollar las piezas y ordenarlas consecuentemente. Y al mismo tiempo hay que contrarrestar o evitar que el oponente consiga lo mismo. Se hace de dos maneras: desarrollándose más rápido o frustrando eficazmente el desarrollo y planes del oponente mediante jugadas de profilaxis.

2. No solo es importante desarrollar con rapidez, sino también cuidar la seguridad del propio rey. Y si el oponente está atrasado en desarrollo, se debe retrasar aún más creando amenazas. Por esto conviene empezar a atacar lo antes posible en el lado del tablero donde es más vulnerable: el adversario tendrá que concentrarse en las amenazas que tú creas y no podrá completar su desarrollo.

3. El centro es también un lugar que observar preferentemente. De la posición depende que haya que ocuparlo con peones o piezas. Un centro de peones fuerte dará espacio. El centro dará buenas oportunidades de ataque. En él las piezas dominan más espacio o son más fuertes.

4. Pensar con cuidado los movimientos de peones. No retroceden, y sus movimientos innecesarios debilitan la posición de tu rey. Son las piezas más importantes del juego a la larga: conviene saber qué hacer con ellos y las cadenas que forman y no despreciarlos.

5. Desarrollar las piezas implica tener un plan de acción preciso en que sepas la función que desempeñará cada pieza y dónde debe colocarse. Un principiante se distingue de un maestro en que este último desarrolla las piezas con un propósito específico; el principiante las desarrolla sin tenerlo.

6. El bando con ventaja debe atacar, o se arriesga a perder la iniciativa y con ella esa ventaja. Desarrollar un plan de ataque eficaz implica identificar el punto más débil de la posición del adversario, y explotarlo.

7. La parte defensiva debe averiguar las amenazas, desvelar el plan del adversario, anticipar sus movimientos y buscar un contraataque eficaz. Y el juego defensivo es más difícil que el de ataque.

8. En posición igualada o casi, se debe maniobrar para obtener alguna ventaja, algún desequilibrio, y luego pasar al ataque. Pero si la defensa es correcta, la posición persiste en su equilibrio y se concluye en tablas.

9. En general, la ventaja puede consistir en una grande e indivisible o en un conjunto de varias pequeñas. El bando predominante en la lucha de posiciones debe acumular pequeñas ventajas y transformar las temporales en permanentes. Y cuando jugadores del mismo nivel juegan al ajedrez, su objetivo es obtener las pequeñas que conduzcan a ganar.

10. Hay dos tipos de ventajas en el ajedrez: las permanentes y las temporales.
Ventajas permanentes:
Ventaja material
Casillas débiles dominadas
Peón pasado
Peones débiles
Diagonal / columna abierta
Pareja de alfiles, en los juegos abiertos, y que no la tenga el oponente.
Ventajas temporales:
Desarrollo
Disposición de piezas
Centro
Espacio

Cuando se dispone de una ventaja permanente, si se toma tiempo y se juega con cuidado y sin errores se gana al final. Si se tiene temporal, es preciso atacar lo antes posible, pues el oponente puede recuperarse si se le dan tiempos. La tarea que tienen los jugadores posicionales es acumular ligeras ventajas sistemáticamente y procurar convertir las ventajas temporales en permanentes.

Relación entre táctica y estrategia 

Para jugadores poco avanzados, la partida es simplemente una sucesión de episodios tácticos, a menudo no relacionados entre sí. Las partidas parecen ganarse o perderse casi por azar, por ejemplo, al “hacer una mala jugada” que pierde material. Al avanzar en el juego, sin embargo, los jugadores adquieren un control tal que los errores más graves van desapareciendo. A partir de entonces, el juego a menudo se define a favor de quien posee una mejor comprensión de cómo jugar una determinada posición, un mayor entendimiento estratégico.

En general, puede decirse que la táctica es lo más importante para ser un jugador fuerte, dado que el cálculo de variantes concretas sin excesivos errores es esencial para poder jugar a un alto nivel. Sin embargo, la inmensa mayoría de posiciones de ajedrez son tan complicadas que el simple cálculo no basta para orientarse y por tanto, se debe recurrir en muchas ocasiones a evaluar las opciones existentes mediante una visión global de cómo va a desarrollarse la partida a medio-largo plazo. Normalmente un jugador que es muy fuerte estratégicamente y más débil tácticamente usará con frecuencia su intuición en sus decisiones. Los jugadores muy avanzados son capaces de desarrollar una intuición ajedrecística que les permite descartar rápidamente las jugadas erróneas sin apenas calcular.

Por tanto, un gran jugador será aquel que obtenga un buen equilibrio entre táctica y estrategia. Aun así, cada jugador tiene puntos fuertes y débiles. Incluso entre los campeones mundiales pueden señalarse algunos que poseían sobre todo una acertadísima y original visión posicional (José Raúl Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Mijaíl Botvinnik, Tigran Petrosian, Anatoly Karpov) y los que destacaron sobre todo por su extraordinaria capacidad táctica (Emanuel Lasker, Alexander Alekhine, Mijaíl Tal).

Clasificación de los jugadores atendiendo a su fuerza 

La fuerza de los jugadores de ajedrez oscila entre aquellos que apenas si saben cómo mover las piezas y los que son capaces de jugar partidas esencialmente sin errores y con una profundidad de ideas pasmosa. Para jugadores avanzados, se han establecido una serie de clasificaciones que en parte se basan en si un jugador es capaz de obtener una serie de resultados mínimos en ciertos torneos, contra jugadores de un nivel predeterminado, y en parte, y cada vez más comúnmente, en su fuerza evaluada de acuerdo con todos sus resultados y resumida en la puntuación Elo.

Esta es quizás la clasificación de los jugadores según su puntuación Elo más ampliamente aceptada:

 De 0 a 1400 puntos: Nivel Principiante. Estos jugadores tienen poca experiencia y su juego se caracteriza por mostrar numerosos errores evidentes y fácilmente detectables por un jugador habitual durante la partida, como por ejemplo situar piezas en casillas donde el oponente puede capturarlas sin más o realizar aperturas claramente defectuosas que no responden a ninguna estrategia ni coordinación. 
 Entre 1400 y 1600 puntos: Nivel Aficionado o de jugador de club medio. En este nivel los jugadores ya denotan tener ciertos conocimientos sobre la táctica y estrategia del ajedrez, aunque estos conocimientos han sido mayormente adquiridos por la propia experiencia obtenida durante las partidas y no por un estudio riguroso del juego, lo que les hace incurrir en errores fácilmente detectables para un jugador profesional. En las partidas entre aficionados aún es frecuente ver fallos graves como el olvido de proteger un peón atacado o la ejecución de jugadas sin ninguna finalidad. Las federaciones o clubes suelen asignar una puntuación Elo inicial de 1400 a los jugadores que ingresan por primera vez en su escalafón.
 Entre 1600 y 2100 puntos de Elo: Nivel semiprofesional o de jugador de club fuerte. Este intervalo engloba a la amplia mayoría de los jugadores de club no profesionales. Los jugadores de este nivel desarrollan un ajedrez correcto donde es raro encontrar errores graves. Incluso un Gran Maestro necesitará normalmente muchas jugadas para dar mate a un jugador de club pero probablemente no necesitará muchas para conseguir una posición ganadora. Los jugadores de club suelen haber leído uno o varios libros de ajedrez y están muy experimentados en todas las fases del juego, además suelen asistir a competiciones y entrenan e intentan mejorar su juego habitualmente. Sin embargo, no entienden las posiciones que se suceden en la partida tan profundamente como un maestro, y ni su táctica ni estrategia es tan acertada como la de este último.
 Entre 2100 y 2300 puntos de Elo: Candidato a Maestro (CM). Es el primero de los rangos reconocidos por la FIDE, aunque no constituye un título oficial. En muchos países las federaciones reconocen a los jugadores con Elo mayor a 2200 con el título de Maestro Nacional (MN).
 Entre 2300 y 2400 puntos de Elo: Maestro FIDE (MF). A partir de 1978, la FIDE reconoce como Maestros a los jugadores que alcanzan una puntuación Elo de 2300. En noviembre de 2010 existen en activo unos 5731 jugadores con rango de Maestro FIDE.
 Entre 2400 y 2500 puntos de Elo: Maestro Internacional (MI). Creado en 1950 junto con el título de Gran Maestro (GM), este título reconoce a los jugadores cuya fuerza de juego le permite enfrentarse al mismo nivel con jugadores de otros países. Aunque estos títulos se obtienen mediante resultados específicos en torneos, el de Maestro Internacional se puede conceder de otras formas específicas, por ejemplo, al Campeón Mundial Juvenil, o a quien obtenga el rendimiento (puntuación esperada) de un jugador de Elo 2400 en una Olimpiada de ajedrez. Actualmente hay 3258 jugadores activos con título de Maestro Internacional.
 Elo a partir de 2500 puntos: Gran Maestro (GM). Creado en 1950, este título es, después del título de Campeón Mundial, el mayor reconocimiento a los mejores jugadores de ajedrez. Actualmente unos 1419 jugadores tienen el rango de Gran Maestro. El jugador más joven en alcanzar el grado de Gran Maestro ha sido el indio-estadounidense Abhimanyu Mishra, a los 12 años, 4 meses y 25 días de edad, en el año 2021.
 Elo a partir de 2600 puntos: Super Gran Maestro (GM). A partir de 2600 puntos Elo, los jugadores que están por encima de la mayoría de Grandes Maestros reciben nombres no oficiales para distinguirse de los demás. Se llama comúnmente Super Gran Maestro (Super-GM) a los jugadores con Elo entre 2600 y 2700 puntos, y que suelen estar entre los 150 o 200 mejores jugadores del mundo.
 Elo a partir de 2700 puntos: Candidato a Campeón del Mundo. Desde que se estableció la lista Elo en 1970, durante los veinte años siguientes solo uno o dos jugadores tenían una puntuación igual o mayor a 2700 puntos; a finales del decenio de 1990 ya eran unos diez, y hoy en día son los cincuenta primeros del escalafón mundial. Estos jugadores son la élite del ajedrez mundial, y suelen ser los participantes de los torneos de más alto nivel, así como los ganadores y clasificados a torneos del ciclo del Campeonato Mundial, como la Copa del Mundo o el Torneo de Candidatos.
 Elo a partir de 2800: Campeón del Mundo. Puntuación que suele tener el campeón del mundo en los últimos tiempos. En mayo de 2014, el campeón Mundial Magnus Carlsen alcanzó un ELO de 2882, la mayor puntuación de todos los tiempos.

Esta clasificación permite determinar el nivel de los jugadores con base en sus resultados en torneos de ajedrez; aunque permiten establecer rangos de fuerza incluso superiores, aunque no aplicables ya a jugadores humanos. Por ejemplo, una puntuación Elo superior a 2900 solo es aplicable a programas de ajedrez de nivel medio o alto, mientras que una puntuación de 3000 o mayor es exclusiva del campeón del mundo de software.

Impacto cultural

Ordenadores y ajedrez 

El uso de búsquedas sistemáticas para diseñar programas de ajedrez por ordenador comenzó con los trabajos de Claude Elwood Shannon. Sin embargo, podríamos citar como precursor al ingeniero español Leonardo Torres Quevedo, que diseñó un autómata de estados finitos capaz de jugar finales de torre y rey. El campeón mundial Mijaíl Botvinnik participó también en diseños de programas de ajedrez. Sin embargo, no fue hasta los años 70 y 80 del  cuando los avances de la capacidad de cálculo y la mejora de los programas condujeron a una gran mejora en el juego de los ordenadores. Pronto comenzaron a ganar incluso a grandes maestros en partidas rápidas y luego en condiciones ordinarias de torneo. Este avance culminó con la derrota del campeón mundial Gari Kasparov por el superordenador de IBM Deep Blue, en 1997, con el tanteo 3,5 - 2,5. Más recientemente, en noviembre de 2006, el programa Deep Fritz, funcionando simplemente en un ordenador personal con procesador Intel Core 2 Duo, consiguió derrotar también al entonces campeón mundial Vladímir Krámnik por el tanteo de 4 - 2. Hoy en día, se asume que los mejores programas, implementados en paralelo sobre un ordenador con múltiples procesadores, son considerablemente más fuertes que los mejores grandes maestros.

En diciembre de 2017, Alphazero superó a Stockfish 8 y otros programas superiores de ajedrez, y Shōgi, después de solo veinticuatro horas de juego. Y después de cuatro horas de juego adquirió un nivel superhumano. A diferencia de otros programas, AlphaZero, la inteligencia artificial creada por Deep Mind, propiedad de Google desde 2014, no está basado en el conocimiento humano. Su comprensión sobre el ajedrez, más allá de las reglas básicas, proviene únicamente de su capacidad de autoaprendizaje. Tras jugar casi cinco millones de partidas durante cuatro horas contra sí mismo, AlphaZero obtuvo el mismo conocimiento que los humanos en casi 1400 años.

Modalidades especiales del juego 

Existen muchas variantes de ajedrez, obtenidas cambiando:

 el número de jugadores:
 ajedrez en consulta.
 ajedrez “pasapiezas”.
 la posición inicial de las piezas:
 posiciones aleatorias como el ajedrez aleatorio de Fischer.
 las reglas:
 ajedrez sin enroque.
 ajedrez marsellés con dos movimientos por turno.
 ajedrez pierde-gana, cuyo objetivo es ser el primero en perder todas las piezas.
 el tablero:
 ajedrez de Alicia con doble tablero.
 ajedrez hexagonal de Glinski con tablero hexagonal.
 ajedrez cilíndrico
 ajedrez tridimensional.
 el mecanismo de juego:
 ajedrez a la ciega.
 ajedrez postal.
 ajedrez de batalla.

Perfil psicológico de los ajedrecistas 

En la actualidad existe una importante investigación psicológica del ajedrez. Uno de los hechos mejor establecidos es que, aunque el ajedrez es ampliamente considerado el mejor ejemplo de actividad intelectual entre los juegos, existe muy poca evidencia entre capacidades cognitivas concretas y la pericia en el ajedrez. Aunque existe una débil correlación entre inteligencia y pericia en el ajedrez entre los niños que están aprendiendo, dicha correlación no existe cuando consideramos grandes maestros o niños altamente talentosos para el ajedrez. El factor que explica mejor el desempeño ajedrecístico es el número de horas de práctica. No obstante, es evidente que este es un juego destacadamente intelectual, debido a que requiere concentración, cálculo y capacidad de análisis, y es bien conocido que abundan altísimos cocientes intelectuales entre los jugadores de primera fila mundial. Algunos estudios sugieren que los grandes maestros son capaces de almacenar entre 10 000 y 100 000 «fragmentos» o posiciones de tablero ajedrecísticamente relevantes, aunque simulaciones por ordenador estiman este número en 300 000.

Otro aspecto, menos estudiado, es el de la personalidad de los ajedrecistas. Un estudio que comparaba 219 niños que jugaban al ajedrez con otros 50 que no lo hacían, cuyos rasgos de personalidad fueron clasificados de acuerdo con el test de personalidad de los cinco grandes («O»: Apertura a nuevas experiencias, «C»: Responsabilidad, «E»: Extroversión, «A»: Amabilidad, «N»: Neuroticismo), sugería que era más probable que los niños con alta puntuación en los factores «O» y «E» fueran jugadores de ajedrez. Los niños varones que puntúan más alto en el factor «A» están menos interesados en el juego. Eso podría explicar por qué las niñas, que generalmente puntúan más alto en el factor «A», están en general menos interesadas en el juego. Otro estudio realizado en estudiantes universitarios menciona que aquellas personas cuya personalidad les hace placenteras la búsqueda y experimentación de sensaciones nuevas y fuertes se sienten mucho más atraídas por el juego que aquellas que evaden esas sensaciones, sin importar el sexo. Sin embargo, los estudios no han detectado ninguna correlación entre los rasgos de personalidad y la pericia ajedrecística de un jugador.

Véase también 

 Ahogado (ajedrez)
 Ajedrez de la isla de Lewis
 Ajedrez infantil
 Anexo:Cronología del ajedrez
 Anexo: Términos relacionados con el ajedrez
 Apertura (ajedrez)
 Ataque a la descubierta
 Campeones del mundo de ajedrez
 Fianchetto
 Francesch Vicent (autor del primer tratado de ajedrez)
 Gambito

 Leyes del ajedrez
 Notación algebraica (ajedrez)
 Piezas de ajedrez mágicas
 Pincho (ajedrez)
 Problemas de Ajedrez
 Piezas Staunton
 Promoción (ajedrez)
 Sacrificio (ajedrez)
 Sistema suizo
 Tenedor (ajedrez)
Términos relacionados con el ajedrez
 Zeitnot

 Zugzwang
 Zwischenzug

Otros juegos de tablero abstractos

 Go
 Damas
 Damas chinas
 Backgammon
 Ludo
 Monopoly
 Dominó
 Halma
 Reversi
 Molino
 Alquerque
 Mahjong
 Rithmomachia
 Mancala
 Fanorona
 Chaturanga

Variantes del ajedrez 

 Xiangqi (ajedrez chino).
 Shōgi (ajedrez japonés).
 Janggi (ajedrez coreano).
 Makruk (ajedrez tailandés).
 Sittuyin (ajedrez birmano).
 Shatar (ajedrez mongol).
 Hiashatar (variante del ajedrez mongol).
 Grande Acedrex (variante del ajedrez).
 Shatranj (antigua forma del ajedrez).
 Chaturaji
 Ajedrez de Tamerlán (juego relacionado con el ajedrez).
 Ajedrez para tres jugadores (juego para tres jugadores).
 Ajedrez para cuatro jugadores (juego para cuatro jugadores).
 Ajedrez Cuatro Estaciones.
 Ajedrez del mensajero.

Referencias

Bibliografía 
, Ricardo: Tratado elemental de ajedrez. Madrid: Aguilera (Centro de Ajedrez Internacional), 2002. ISBN 84-7005-093-1. (solamente para principiantes).
 Aguilera López, Ricardo: Ajedrez hipermoderno (en dos volúmenes). Madrid: Aguilera, Centro de Ajedrez Internacional (Colección Club de Ajedrez), 2004. ISBN 84-7005-157-1.
 Ajedrez: curso completo. Barcelona (España): Planeta-De Agostini, 2004. ISBN 84-395-1530-8.
 J. Fernández, Francisco (2010): El ajedrez de la filosofía. Madrid: Plaza y Valdés Editores. ISBN 978-84-92751-86-0.
 Bartel, Rainer (et al.): Ajedrez por ordenador. Barcelona: Ferre-Moret (Colección Data Becker), 2001. ISBN 84-86437-91-1.
 Bird, Henry Edward (1893). Chess History and Reminiscences. Forgotten Books. ISBN 1-60620-897-7
 Burdio Serrano, María del Carmen: Reglamentos de ajedrez. Madrid: Aguilera (Centro de Ajedrez Internacional), 2001. ISBN 84-7005-223-3.
 Elo, Arpad E.: The rating of chessplayers. Past and present. Nueva York: Arco Publishing Group, 1978. ISBN 0-668-04721-6.
 Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992). The Oxford Companion to Chess, Second edition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-866164-9. OCLC 25508610
 Kasparov, Gary: Kasparov teaches chess. Londres: Batsford, 1986. ISBN 0-7134-5526-8
 Leibs, Andrew (2004). Sports and Games of the Renaissance. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-32772-6
 Murray, H.J.R. (1913). A History of Chess. Benjamin Press (originalmente publicado por Oxford University Press). ISBN 0-936317-01-9. OCLC 13472872
 Robinson, Dindy; Estes, Rebecca(1996). World Cultures Through Art Activities. Libraries Unlimited. ISBN 1-56308-271-3

Enlaces externos 
 Federación Internacional de Ajedrez 
 Federación Iberoamericana de Ajedrez (FIBDA) 
 ICCF - International Correspondence Chess Federation 
 FEDA - Federación Española de Ajedrez
 Las listas actuales de la FIDE  de los mejores jugadores con sus títulos "World Top Chess players" Federación Internacional de Ajedrez

 
Arabismos
Juegos relacionados con el chaturanga

Aleksandr Guénrijovich Beliavski (;  [Oleksandr Beliavski]) (Ucrania (antigua RSS Ucrania), 17 de diciembre de 1953) es un ajedrecista ucraniano.

En la actualidad reside en Eslovenia y defiende el primer tablero del equipo olímpico de ajedrez de ese país.
Es conocido entre los Grandes Maestros de Ajedrez como 'Satán'.
Venció en el Campeonato del Mundo Juvenil en 1973, y ha sido cuatro veces campeón de la antigua Unión Soviética.
Posiblemente sea el jugador de alto nivel que tiene un repertorio de aperturas más clásico de la actualidad. Él juega el gambito de dama, la apertura Ruy López y la defensa francesa, entre otras.

En agosto de 2006, participó en un Torneo celebrado en Países Bajos en el que se enfrentaban Grandes Maestros ya veteranos (el equipo estaba formado por Ljubojević, Andersson, Yusúpov, Nunn y el propio Beliavski) contra representantes de la nueva ola del ajedrez encabezados por Magnus Carlsen, al que acompañaban Kariakin, Wang Hao, Smeets y Stellwagen; Beliavski alcanzó 6'5 puntos sobre 10 posibles en sus enfrentamientos contra los jóvenes, siendo el GM del equipo veterano que mejor puntuación obtuvo.

En septiembre de 2012, Beliavsky participó y ganó el ITT Simón Bolívar sorprendiendo a los más de 600 participantes del evento. Este importante éxito lo consiguió a la edad de 58 años. Este evento fue realizado en la ciudad de San Cristóbal, Venezuela, siendo este el más importante evento realizado en Venezuela, tanto por la cantidad de jugadores como la presencia de más de 60 jugadores titulados, entre ellos 30 grandes maestros. Beliavsky terminó de manera invicta con una puntuación de 8.5/10.

Véase también 
 Ajedrez
 Campeonato del mundo de ajedrez

Referencias

Enlaces externos 
 

Judíos de Ucrania
Ajedrecistas de Ucrania
Competidores de las Olimpíadas de ajedrez
Grandes maestros internacionales de ajedrez
Compositores de ajedrez
Ajedrecistas de Eslovenia
Ajedrecistas de la Unión Soviética
Ajedrecistas del siglo XX
Personas con doble nacionalidad
Nacidos en Leópolis
Campeones mundiales juveniles de ajedrez

Los aldehídos 
son compuestos orgánicos caracterizados por poseer el grupo funcional -CHO (carbonilo). Un grupo carbonilo es el que se obtiene separando un átomo de hidrógeno del formaldehído. Como tal no tiene existencia libre, aunque puede considerarse que todos los aldehídos poseen un grupo terminal carbonilo.

Los aldehídos se denominan como los alcoholes correspondientes, cambiando la terminación -ol por -al. Etimológicamente, la palabra aldehído proviene del latín científico alcohol dehydrogarium (alcohol deshidrogenado).

 Estructura y enlace 
Los aldehídos presentan un carbono central que está unido por un doble enlace al oxígeno y un enlace sencillo al hidrógeno y un enlace sencillo a un tercer sustituyente, que es el carbono o, en el caso del formaldehído, el hidrógeno. El carbono central suele describirse como sp2-hibridado. El grupo aldehído es algo polar.  La longitud de enlace  es de unos 120-122 picómetros.
 Propiedades 
 Propiedades Físicas 
 La doble unión del grupo carbonilo dado que el grupo carbonilo está polarizado debido al fenómeno de resonancia.
 Los aldehídos con hidrógeno sobre un carbono sp³ en posición alfa al grupo carbonilo presentan isomería tautomérica. Los aldehídos se obtienen de la deshidratación de un alcohol primario con permanganato de potasio, la reacción tiene que ser débil, las cetonas también se obtienen de la deshidratación de un alcohol, pero estas se obtienen de un alcohol secundario e igualmente son deshidratados con permanganato de potasio y se obtienen con una reacción débil, si la reacción del alcohol es fuerte, el resultado será un ácido carboxílico respectivamente.

Los aldehídos tienen propiedades diversas que dependen del resto de la molécula. Los aldehídos más pequeños son más solubles en agua, formaldehído y acetaldehído completamente. Los aldehídos volátiles tienen olores penetrantes.

Los aldehídos pueden identificarse por métodos espectroscópicos. Mediante espectroscopia IR, muestran una banda CO fuerte cerca de 1700 cm-1. En sus espectros de 1H NMR, el centro de hidrógeno del formilo absorbe cerca de δH 9,5 a 10, que es una parte distintiva del espectro. Esta señal muestra el acoplamiento característico a cualquier protón del carbono α con una pequeña constante de acoplamiento típicamente inferior a 3,0 Hz. Los espectros 13C NMR de aldehídos y cetonas dan una señal suprimida (débil) pero distintiva en C 190 a 205.

 Propiedades Químicas 
 Se comportan como reductor, por oxidación el aldehído da ácidos con igual número de átomos de carbono.
 La reacción típica de los aldehídos y las cetonas es la adición nucleofílica.
 Aplicaciones y aparición 
 
Aldehídos importantes y compuestos relacionados. El grupo aldehído (o grupo formilo''') está coloreado en rojo. Desde la izquierda: (1) formaldehído y (2) su trímero 1,3,5-trioxano, (3) acetaldehído y (4) su enol alcohol vinílico, (5) glucosa (forma piranosa como α--glucopiranosa), (6) el saborizante cinamaldehído, (7) retinal, que se forma con opsinas fotorreceptores, y (8) la vitamina piridoxal.

Aldehídos naturales 
En los aceites esenciales se encuentran trazas de muchos aldehídos que a menudo contribuyen a sus olores favorables, por ejemplo, cinamaldehído, cilantro y vainillina. Posiblemente debido a la alta reactividad del grupo formilo, los aldehídos no son comunes en varios de los bloques de construcción naturales: aminoácidos, ácidos nucleicos, lípidos. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los azúcares son derivados de aldehídos. Estas aldosas existen como hemiacetales, una especie de forma enmascarada del aldehído original. Por ejemplo, en solución acuosa sólo una pequeña fracción de la glucosa existe como aldehído.

Nomenclatura 
Se nombran sustituyendo la terminación -ol del nombre del alcohol por -al. Los aldehídos más simples (metanal y etanal) tienen otros nombres que no siguen el estándar de la Unión Internacional de Química Pura y Aplicada (IUPAC) pero son más utilizados formaldehído y acetaldehído, respectivamente, estos últimos dos son nombres triviales aceptados por la IUPAC. La serie homóloga para los siguientes aldehídos es:  (n = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …)

Para nombrar aldehídos como sustituyentes

 

Si es sustituyente de un sustituyente

Los aldehídos son funciones terminales, es decir que van al final de las cadenas
Nomenclatura de ciclos

Si el ciclo presenta otros sustituyentes menos importantes se los nombre primeros, así:

Para mayores detalles consulte Nomenclatura de aldehídos

Reacciones de los aldehídos 

Los aldehídos aromáticos como el benzaldehído se dismutan en presencia de una base dando el alcohol y el ácido carboxílico correspondiente:

2  →  + 

Con aminas primarias dan las iminas correspondiente en una reacción exotérmica que a menudo es espontánea:

R-CH=O + ' → R-CH=N-R'

En presencia de sustancias reductoras como algunos hidruros o incluso otros aldehídos pueden ser reducidos al alcohol correspondiente mientras que oxidantes fuertes los transforman en el correspondiente ácido carboxílico.

Con cetonas que portan un hidrógeno sobre un carbono sp³ en presencia de catalizadores ácidos o básicos se producen condensaciones tipo aldol.

Con alcoholes o tioles en presencia de sustancias higroscópicas se pueden obtener acetales por condensación. Como la reacción es reversible y los aldehídos se recuperan en medio ácido y presencia de agua esta reacción se utiliza para la protección del grupo funcional.

Síntesis 

Existen varios métodos para preparar aldehídos, pero la tecnología dominante es la hidroformilación. Ilustrativa es la generación de butiraldehído por hidroformilación de propeno:
H2 + CO + CH3CH=CH2 -> CH3CH2CH2CHO
 Por oxidación de alcoholes primarios
Se pueden obtener a partir de la oxidación suave de los alcoholes primarios. Esto se puede llevar a cabo calentando el alcohol en una disolución ácida de dicromato de potasio (también hay otros métodos en los que se emplea Cr en el estado de oxidación +6). El dicromato se reduce a  (de color verde). También mediante la oxidación de Swern, en la que se emplea dimetilsulfóxido, (DMSO), dicloruro de oxalilo, , y una base. Esquemáticamente el proceso de oxidación es el siguiente:
[O] + CH3(CH2)9OH -> CH3(CH2)8CHO + H2O
 Por carbonilación.
 Por oxidación de halogenuros de alquilo (Oxidación de Kornblum)
 Por reducción de ácidos carboxílicos o sus derivados (ésteres, halogenuros de alquilo).

Rutas oxidativas 
Los aldehídos se generan comúnmente por oxidación de alcoholes. En la industria, el formaldehído se produce a gran escala por oxidación del metanol. El oxígeno es el reactivo de elección, por ser "verde" y barato. En el laboratorio, se utilizan agentes oxidantes más especializados, pero los reactivos de cromo(VI) son muy populares. La oxidación puede conseguirse calentando el alcohol con una solución acidificada de dicromato potásico. En este caso, el exceso de dicromato oxidará aún más el aldehído a un ácido carboxílico, por lo que o bien el aldehído es destilado tal como se forma (si volátil) o se utilizan reactivos más suaves como el PCC.
[O] + CH3(CH2)9OH -> CH3(CH2)8CHO + H2O

La oxidación de alcoholes primarios para formar aldehídos puede lograrse en condiciones más suaves y sin cromo empleando métodos o reactivos como ácido IBX, periodinano de Dess-Martin, oxidación de Swern, TEMPO o la oxidación de Oppenauer.

Otra ruta de oxidación significativa en la industria es el proceso Wacker, por el que el etileno se oxida a acetaldehído en presencia de catalizadores de cobre y paladio (el acetaldehído también se produce a gran escala por hidratación del acetileno).

A escala de laboratorio, los α-hidroxiácidos se utilizan como precursores para preparar aldehídos mediante escisión por oxidativa.

Síntesis de aldehídos aromáticos 
 Reacción de Gattermann-Koch
 Reacción de Hoesch
Reacción de Reimer-Tiemann
Reacción de Vilsmeier-Haack

Métodos de especialidad

Usos 
Los aldehídos se utilizan principalmente para la fabricación de resinas, plásticos, solventes, pinturas, perfumes, esencias.

Los aldehídos están presentes en numerosos productos naturales y grandes variedades de ellos son de la propia vida cotidiana. La glucosa por ejemplo existe en una forma abierta que presenta un grupo aldehído. El acetaldehído formado como intermedio en la metabolización se cree responsable en gran medida de los síntomas de la resaca tras la ingesta de bebidas alcohólicas.

El formaldehído es un conservante que se encuentra en algunas composiciones de productos cosméticos. Sin embargo esta aplicación debe ser vista con cautela ya que en experimentos con animales el compuesto ha demostrado un poder cancerígeno. También se utiliza en la fabricación de numerosos compuestos químicos como la baquelita, la melamina, etc.

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 

 
Grupos funcionales

Se llama alcaloides (de álcali, "carbonatos de alcalinos", y -oide, "parecido a", "en forma de") a aquellos metabolitos secundarios de las plantas sintetizados, generalmente, a partir de aminoácidos, que tienen en común su hidrosolubilidad a pH ácido y su solubilidad en solventes orgánicos a pH alcalino. Los alcaloides verdaderos derivan de un aminoácido; por lo tanto son nitrogenados. Todos los que presentan el grupo funcional amina o imina son básicos. La mayoría de los alcaloides poseen acción fisiológica intensa en los animales incluso a bajas dosis con efectos psicoactivos, por lo que se suelen emplear para tratar problemas de la mente y/o calmar el dolor. Ejemplos conocidos son la cocaína, la morfina, la atropina, la colchicina, la quinina, la cafeína o la nicotina.

Sus estructuras químicas son variadas. Se considera que un alcaloide es, por definición, un compuesto químico que posee un nitrógeno heterocíclico procedente del metabolismo de aminoácidos; de proceder de otra vía, se define como pseudoalcaloide.

Historia y evolución del término 
El nombre alcaloide fue acuñado por el químico alemán Carl Meissner en 1819 para referirse a productos naturales de origen vegetal que mostraban propiedades básicas similares a los álcalis. Dada la información estructural limitada en aquellos tiempos, la definición de Meissner resultaba vaga. Königs reservaba el nombre “alcaloide” a compuestos básicos relacionados con la piridina, y Guereschi consideraba el término como sinónimo de “base vegetal”. Winterstein y Trier (1910) consideraban alcaloides en sentido amplio a todos los compuestos provenientes de cualquier ser vivo que contienen nitrógeno básico. Estos autores distinguían entre un alcaloide verdadero y una base relacionada con los alcaloides. Un compuesto, de acuerdo con esta definición, debía cumplir los siguientes requisitos:
 Presentar un nitrógeno básico
 El nitrógeno debe estar incluido en un sistema heterocíclico
 Tener una estructura compleja
 Presentar actividad farmacológica potente
 Tener una distribución restringida a las plantas
A medida que avanzaron los estudios en productos naturales, se han ido descubriendo compuestos que son considerados alcaloides, pero no cumplen con alguno de estos requisitos: muchos alcaloides no presentan sistemas heterocíclicos, su nitrógeno no es básico (como los grupos nitro), pueden presentar estructuras simples (como el caso de la efedrina, muchas amidas —como la capsaicina—), pueden ser inertes farmacológicamente y muchos alcaloides han sido aislados de animales.

Hegnauer (1960) clasificó los alcaloides en tres tipos: alcaloides verdaderos, pseudoalcaloides y protoalcaloides. El término secoalcaloide se infiere de la nomenclatura de productos naturales y se considera aquí como una cuarta categoría:
 a) Alcaloides verdaderos: Metabolitos secundarios que poseen un nitrógeno heterocíclico, y su esqueleto de carbono proviene, parcial o totalmente, de un aminoácido proteínico.
 b) Pseudoalcaloides: Metabolitos secundarios que poseen un nitrógeno, pero que no han sido biosintetizados a partir de aminoácidos, sino que se forman por transferencia de nitrógeno en forma de amoniaco a un compuesto de origen terpénico, esteroide, policétido, monosacárido o a un ácido graso.

 c) Protoalcaloides: Metabolitos secundarios que no forman un sistema heterocíclico y se forman a partir de un aminoácido proteínico. Muchos de estos compuestos contienen un grupo amino, amida, etc.
 d) Secoalcaloides: Alcaloides que provienen de un alcaloide verdadero, pero en los que por escisión del anillo heterocíclico se forma un grupo nitrogenado de cadena abierta.
 e) Genalcaloides: —u óxidos aminados de alcaloide— son derivados por oxidación de los alcaloides que contienen el grupo R=(NO)-R, donde el nitrógeno tiene número de oxidación +5, en contraposición a los alcaloides normales, donde es trivalente (R=N-R). Su acción es la misma que la del alcaloide del cual provienen, pero es más pausada. Se nombran añadiendo el prefijo gen- al nombre del alcaloide. Algunos genoalcaloides se encuentran en la naturaleza, como la geneserina (derivado del alcaloide eserina (fisostigmina)) presente en el haba de Calabar.

Existen productos naturales cuya consideración como alcaloides se encuentra en debate:
 Las bases nitrogenadas (Adenina, timina, guanina, uracilo y citosina debido a su papel primario como componentes de nucleótidos y ácidos nucleicos.
 Los aminoácidos no proteínicos debido a que su actividad biológica no es por unión a un sitio receptor celular, sino porque reemplazan a los aminoácidos proteínicos y en consecuencia forman proteínas defectuosas.
 Los esfingolípidos, debido a que son componentes de membranas celulares.
 Las vitaminas (sobre todo las del complejo B) por ser consideradas metabolitos primarios con actividad catalítica.
 Los glucósidos cianogénicos debido a que su actividad biológica no es por unión a un sitio receptor celular, sino porque al hidrolizarse producen ácido cianhídrico, el cual es el que tiene la actividad biológica.
 Los glucosinolatos debido a que su actividad biológica no es por unión a un sitio receptor celular, sino porque al hidrolizarse producen isotiocianatos, los cuales son los que presentan la actividad biológica.
 Los aminoazúcares, tales como la glucosamina, por ser considerados más bien como glúcidos.
 Los tetrapirroles, tales como la porfirina y la corrina siguen en debate, ya que algunos de ellos son metabolitos secundarios (Como la turacina) y otros se consideran como primarios debido a que los metales como el hierro (Hemo) magnesio (Clorofilas) o cobre (Citocrominas) y funcionan como transportadores de oxígeno o electrones.
 Los péptidos no ribosomales, los anhidropéptidos y los antibióticos betalactámicos, siguen en debate, ya que se pueden referir como alcaloides o no. Se les considerará en este artículo solo como prototipos estructurales.

El aislamiento de los primeros alcaloides en el  coincidió más o menos con la introducción del proceso de percolación para la extracción de las drogas. El farmacéutico francés Charles Derosne probablemente aisló en 1803 el alcaloide denominado después narcotina, y el farmacéutico Friedrich Sertürner investigó sobre el opio y aisló la morfina. A ello siguió rápidamente el aislamiento de otros alcaloides como la estricnina, cafeína, entre otros.

La cocaína es el alcaloide más antiguo en cuanto al establecimiento de su estructura y de su síntesis, pero otros, como la colchicina, necesitaron más de un siglo para que se definieran sus estructuras.

En el área mesoamericana, desde tiempos muy antiguos se ha utilizado gran variedad de alcaloides en la medicina tradicional maya. Las substancias psicotrópicas tanto alcaloides como alcoholes, se han utilizado por más de dos mil años con fines medicinales y en rituales ceremoniales. Su uso lo regulan las mujeres mayores de 39 años (3x13 ciclos de evolución biológica según su propia aproximación científica), y normalmente se administran de una forma ceremonial en que la persona que los ingiere está rodeada de otros miembros especializados de la comunidad.

Actividad biológica 
Sus actividades biológicas son importantes por su mimetismo hormonal y su intervención en las reacciones principales del metabolismo celular. A pesar de ser sustancias poco similares entre ellas desde el punto de vista estructural, poseen propiedades fisiológicas análogas. Muchos alcaloides son la causa de intoxicaciones en humanos y animales. La forma más común es la intoxicación por infusiones con hierbas con fines medicinales, siendo esta una causa importante de muerte sobre todo en niños. Su presencia en vegetales hace posible su incorporación accidental en alimentos, creando una vía fácil de intoxicación.

Generalmente actúan sobre el sistema nervioso central, si bien algunos afectan al sistema nervioso parasimpático y otras al sistema nervioso simpático, por ejemplo, la cocaína actúa impidiendo la recaptación de dopamina de la terminal sináptica, lo que produce un mayor efecto de los receptores dopaminérgicos.

La actividad biológica de los alcaloides es muy diversa; la más estudiada es la acción euforizante que presentan algunos como la cocaína, si bien también existen alcaloides con efectos depresores del sistema nervioso central como la morfina.

Los alcaloides pirrolidínicos están asociados con estructuras de pirrolizidinas; son metabolitos secundarios de una gran variedad de plantas, que incluye especies que se encuentran en todo el mundo. Estas plantas son la causa de numerosos casos de envenenamiento de ganado, y ha causado grandes pérdidas económicas. También son causa de muerte en humanos, especialmente en países poco desarrollados, como consecuencia de la contaminación de cereales y semillas por lo que son de gran importancia en el campo de los alimentos. Se cree que la ingestión de hierbas y vegetales que contienen estos alcaloides, son causa de dolencias. La estructura de estos alcaloides consiste en dos anillos de 5 átomos unidos que comparten un átomo de nitrógeno. En la naturaleza por lo general los anillos tienen como sustituyentes grupos hidroximetileno en la posición c-1 y grupos hidroxilos en c-7; esta estructura se conoce como necina. Ejemplos típicos de esta base son la heliotridina y la retronecina.

Fitoquímica 
Los métodos de extracción son muy variados, pero últimamente está adquiriendo fuerza la purificación por medio de fluidos supercríticos, concretamente con dióxido de carbono.
Para obtener los alcaloides de los vegetales, se extraen de las partes de la planta que los contienen, con agua si están en forma de sales (solubles) o con ácido clorhídrico diluido si están en forma insoluble.

En cuanto a su detección, existen multitud de métodos: procedimientos cromatográficos, reacciones coloreadas (reacción de Mayer, de Dragendorff, de Bouchardat... si bien no son específicas de los alcaloides: puede obtenerse un resultado positivo en presencia, por ejemplo, de péptidos). Actualmente se utilizan métodos espectroscópicos tales como espectrometría de masas, resonancia magnética nuclear y espectroscopia infrarroja.

Clasificación por estructura química

Compuestos no heterocíclicos 
Dado que los pseudoalcaloides no heterocíclicos, los protoalcaloides y secoalcaloides no tienen una estructura heterocíclica, se puede considerar que presentan una estructura hidrocarbonada muy diversa. En esta sección se clasificarán estos compuestos por su grupo funcional:

Estructuras heterocíclicas 
A continuación se clasificarán los alcaloides y pseudoalcaloides de acuerdo con sus estructuras heterocíclicas.

{| Class = "wikitable"
|-
!Nombre
!Esqueleto
!Ejemplos
|-
|Aziridina
|
|Ácido 2,3-aziridindicarboxílico, disidazirina.
|-
|Azetidina
|
|Ácido azetidin-2-carboxílico, Ácido mugineico, 3-azetidinona, 3,3-azetidinodiol, SQ 26,180, nicotianamina, penaresidinas, penazetidinas, calidafninona, antibióticos betalactámicos.
|-
|Pirrol
|
|Pirrolidinas: Cuscohigrina, higrina, higrolina, estaquidrina, ficina, vochisina, eleocarpina, dendrocrisaninas, agaricona, pirrociclinas, chabamida F, equisetina, fomasetina, salinosporamidas, pseurotinas, ácido kainico, ruspolinona, gerrardina, ácidos aminopirrolodincarboxílicos, anfiasterina C1 y C2, anisomicinas, antibiótico GKK 1032A2, barmumicina, brousonetinas, codonopsina, anisomicina, cucubalactama, detoxinina, hidroxipirrolidinas, divaricataéster A, donaxaridina; disibetaína, fulvanina A, involucratina, irniina, lanopilinas, ácido morusímico, ácido neoselaginélico, piperciclamida, radicamina A, rafanusanina, sarmentamida B, escalusamida A, sesilina, escuamolona, traquinona, uncinina, villatamina A, peripentadenina.

Pirroles, pirrolonas y succinimidas: Ácidos pirrolocarboxílicos, ácido tenuazónico, porfirinas, porfibilinógeno, prodigiosinas, ryanodina, pirrolezantinas, ácido 3-pirrolacrílico, 2-cianopirrol, cistamidinas, farinomaleína, showdomicina, ácido pirrolo-2,3-dicarboxílico, ácido pirrolo-2,5-dicarboxílico, 5-(23-Ciano-23-hidroxi-6-tricosenil)-1H-pirrol-2-carboxaldehído, curvupálidos, batraciotoxina, himanimidas, paquidermina, policefalinas, ácido fisorubínico, variotina, pencólido, pirrolostatina, gliciapirroles, sarcotrinas, palinurinas, ircinamina, tambjaminas, kikumicinas, rumbrina, auxarconjugatinas, indanomicina, stawamicina, cafamicina, dioaxapirrolomicina.
|-
|Imidazol
|
|Ácido urocánico, histamina, murexina, diftamida, ergotionina, pilocarpina, dolicotelina, pilosina, nagelamidas, esceptrinas, clatrodina, oroidina, himenidina, keramadina, creatinina, policarpina, esteletazoles, crisofisarinas, lepidinas.
|-
|Pirazol
|
|β-pirazol-1-il alanina, pirazofurina
|-
|Oxazol
|
|Oxazolidinas: Goitrina, lipoxazolidinonas
Oxazoles: Muscazona, hennoxazoles, rizoxina, forboxazol, anulolina, halfordinol, texalina, texamina, vibriobactina, curromicina A, martefraginas, almazolona, clavosinas, quivosazoles.
|-
|Isoxazol
|
|Isoxazolidinas: Cicloserina
Isoxazoles: Ácido iboténico, ácido tricolómico, muscimol.
|-
|Tiazol
|
|Epotilonas, tiamina, micrococcina, mixotiazoles, nostociclamidas, tiostreptona, raocilamidas, dendroamidas, tenuacilamidas, yersiniabactina, curacinas, venturamidas.
|-
|1,2,4-oxadiazol
|
|Ácido quisquálico
|-
|Piridina
|
|Piperidinas: Coniina, coniceína, pinidina, lobelanina, ácido pipecólico, glutanimina, indigoidina, sedamina, lobelina, anaferina, piperina, nufamina, nufaramina, carpaína, estenusina, ácido evonínico, ácido wilfórdico, ácido edulínico, evonina, rohitukina, crotacuminas, capitavina, cassina, himbacina, astrofilina, arenosclerina, haliclonaciclaminas, batzelásidos, lactidomicinas, estreptimidina, adenocarpina, amnodendrina, prosopinina, criptoforina.
Piridinas: 4-Hidroxi-2-metilpiridina, Ácido nicotínico, ácido quinolínico, ácido picolínico, nicotina, miosmina, mimosina.hachijodinas, orellanina, anabasina, anabatina, trigonelina, ricinina, arecolina, homarina, guvacina, hermidina, ácido betalámico, betalaínas, gentianina, evonina, hipocrateína, wilfortrina, triptoninas, ácido fusárico, caripirina, nigrifactina, desmosina, xilopiridinas, euonimina, wilfordsina, cangorininas, maytenina, ebenifolina, wilfordconina, aspertinas, piericidinas, ácido evonínico, baikiaína.
|-
|Pirimidina
|
|Ectoína, capreomicidina, timina, citosina, uracilo, vicina, convicina, latirina, ácido barbitúrico
|-
|Pirazina
|
|Ácido pulcherrímico, ácido aspergílico, ligustrazina, riterazinas, anhidropéptidos, crotonina, dragmacidinas, sarcodoninas, sarcoviolinas, albornousina, picroroccelina, ácido rodotorúlico, equinulina, flavacol, micelianamida, barrenazinas.
|-
|Piridazina
|
|Piridazomicina, Piridazocidina
|-
|Tiomorfolina
|
|Condrina, ácido tiomorfolino-3-carboxílico, cicloaliina
|-
|Azepina
|
|Azepanos': Bengamidas, isobengamidas, muscaflavina, Ciliatamidas, ofiocordina, balanol, chalciporona, peritoxina A, ustalimida, amamistatina A, antibiótico A 500359A, balanol, calpinactama, capuramicina, carboximicobactinas, ciliatamida A, circinatina, drazepinona, formobactina, 4,8-difenil-5H-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-d]azepino-5,7(6H)-diona, montiporina E, nocardimicinas, peritoxina A, pestalactama A, solacina C.

|-
|Azocina
|
|Otonecina
|-
|Azacicloalcanos
|
|Motuporaminas, macrociclolactamas, Keramafidina C
|-
|7-azabiciclo[2.2.1]heptano
|
|Epibatidina
|-
|Tropano
|
| Atropina, escopolamina, hiosciamina, cocaína, ecgonina, calisteginas
|-
|9-Azabiciclo[3.3.1]nonano
|
|Pseudopeletierina, eufococcinina
|-
|Pirrolizidina
|
|Necinas: Retronecina, heliotridina, laburnina, indicina, lindelofina, sarracina, platifilina, tricodesmina, falenopsina, licopsamina, creatonotinas, calimorfina, supidina, rosmarinecina, danaiona, traquelantamidina, hastanecina, crotanecina, platinecina, turneforcidina, ipangulinas, minalobinas, pirrolamas,
|-
|Indolizidina
|
| Swainsonina, castanospermina, pumiliotoxinas, la lentiginosina, las poligonatinas, monomorina, eslaframina, serratinina.
|-
|Indol
|
|Ciclo-DOPA, oleraceínas, auxinas, glucobrassinina, escatol, triptamina, serotonina, aeruginascina, indol, indoxilo, isatina, camalexina, 5-(3’-metilbuten-2’-il)isatina, ascorbígenos, melosatinas, hipaforina, bufotenina, beocistina, plakohipaforinas, bromoindoles, indolmicina, Sinalexina, Convolutindol A, Petromindol, Brasilidinas, Dilemaonas, 5-MeO-DMT, 5,6-hidroxiindol, mesembrina, ésteres del triptofol, 1-(2-metilbut-3-en-2-il)-1H-indol-3-carboxilato de metilo, 1-(3,4-dihidroxi-2-metilbutan-2-il)-1H-indol-3-carboxilato de metilo, homolicorina, birnbauminas, cinereapirroles, fragilamida, martensinas, urdamicina D, violaceína, Convolutindol A.
|-
|Isoindol
|
|Citocalasinas, quetoglobosinas, cespitulactamas, hericerina, estereninas, clitocibinas.
|-
|Benzotiazol
|
|Luciferina
|-
|Benzoxazol
|
|Nakijinol, pseudopteroxazoles
|-
|Indazol
|
|Nigelidina, nigelicina, nigeglanina
|-
|Pirrolo[3,2-b]piridina
|
|Laccarina, agrocibenina, cortamidinas
|-
|Pirrolo[1,2-a]pirazina
|
|Vercapamida A
|-
|Imidazo[1,2-a]pirazina
|
|Coelenteracina, vargulina
|-
|Quinolina
|
|'Hidroquinolinas: Mirionina, tortuosamina
'Quinolinas: Ácido xanturénico, ácido quinurénico, 2-quinolinamina, quinolina, ácido quináldico, ácido cinconínico, lepidina, 4,8-Quinolinodiol, 2-quinolinametanotiol, 2-quinolinametanol, 4-quinolinametanol, 2,3,4,7,8-quinolinapentol, 2,3,4,7-quinolinatetrol, 2,3,4,8-quinolinatetrol, 2,4,6,8-quinolinatetrol, 2,4,7,8-quinolinatetrol, 3,4,5,8-quinolinatetrol, 2,3,4-quinolinatriol, 2,4,6-quinolinatriol, 2,4,8-quinolinatriol, 4,7,8-quinolinotriol, 2-quinolinol, 3-quinolinol, 4-quinolinol, 2(1H)-quinolinona, 4(1H)-quinolinona, viridicatina, cusparina, evocarpina, equinopsina, crispina E, dictamnina, fagarina, esterculinina.
|-
|Isoquinolina
|
|Tetrahidroisoquinolinas: canadalina, filocriptina, filocriptonina, velucriptina, ceratonicina, Policarpina (Isoquinolina), anocherinas, macrostomina, arenina, compostelina, sarcocapninas, la gouregina, aristoyagonina, aristocularinas, cularina, secocularinas, noyaína, quetaminas, hidrastina, autumnalina, pisopowetina, pisopowiaridina, dauricina, vanuatina, malekulatina, ambrinina, neferina, rodiasina, tiliacorina, berbamina, oxiacantina, talicberanos, talidasanos, talmanos, tubocuraranos trilobina, repandulina, auroramina, pennsylpavina, baluchistanamina, epiberbivaldina, cancentrina, punjabina, gilgitina, talcamina, jhelumina, chenabina, karakoramina, ipecósido, korupensaminas, michelamina, habropetalinas, dioncofilina, liensinina, bicuculinina, talifarapina, pakistanamina.
Isoquinolinas: Isoquinolina, salsolina, lofocerina, coridaldina, oxihidrastinina, ancistrocladinas, papaverina, laudanosina, sendaverina, papaveraldina, carcrisina B, fusarimida, cassiarinas, monascorubramina, fredericamicinas A y B, lagunamicina.
|-
|Quinolizidina
|
|Lupinina, nufaridina, nufarolutina, nufacristina, nufarpumilaminas.
|-
|quinazolina
|
|Febrifuguina, glicorina, arborina, glicosminina, glicoscimina, glicofimolina, glomerina, homoglomerina, equinozolinona, tetrodotoxina, 2-acetilquinazolin-4(3H)-ona, 7-bromoquinazolino-2,4-diona, 7-hidroxiequinozolinona, dictioquinazoles.
|-
|Quinoxalina
|
| Baimantuoluoamida B
|-
|3H-Pirrolo[1,2-a]azepina
|
|Estemoadina
|-
|3H-3-benzazepina
|
|Roeadina, papaverrubinas
|-
|2,7-Naftiridina
|
|Lofocladinas
|-
|Purina
|
|Xantosina, adenina, guanina, cordicepina, eritadeninas, nebularina, citoquininas, cafeína, teofilina, teobromina.
|-
|Pteridina
|
|Biopterinas, leucopterina, xantopterina
|-
|Pirimido[5,4-e][1,2,4]triazina
|
|Reumitsina, toxoflavina.
|-
|Pirazolo[4,3-e][1,2,4]triazina
|
|Fluvioles
|-
|Carbazol
|
|3-Metilcarbazol, 3-Formilcarbazol, Ácido 3-carbazolcarboxílico, 1-Hidroxi-3-metilcarbazol, clausinas, murrayafolinas, koenolina, murrayanina, ácido mukoénico, mukonina, 2-hidroxi-3-metilcarbazol, mukonal, mukonidina, 2-metoxi-3-metilcarbazol, glicosinina, heptafilina., currayanina, exozolina, carquinostatinas
|-
|Acridina
|
|Rutacridona, melicopidina, Xantevodina, eskimianina.
|-
|Fenazina
|
|Piocianina, aeruginosinas.
|-
|Fenoxazina
|
| Cinabarina, ácido cinabarínico, tramesanguina, polistictina, fenoxazona, α-aminofenoxazona, orceínas, picnoporina.
|-
|Benzo[g]isoquinolina
|
|Tolipocladina
|-
|Benzo[g]quinolina
|
|Cleistofolina
|-
|4H-1,4-benzoxazina
|
|DIMBOA
|-
|Quinuclidina
| 
| Quinina quinidina cinconina, cinchonidina.
|-
|1,2-Dihidroespiro[indol-3,3'-pirrolidina]
|
|Coerulescina, Horsfilina
|-
|β-Carbolina
|
|Harmano, harmina, harmalina, eleagnina, cecilina, tripargimina, bruneínas, flazina, flazinamida.
|-
|Benzo[g]pteridina
|
|Lumazina, Limicromo, isoaloxazinas, roseoflavina
|-
|7H-dibenzo[d,f]azonina
|
|Protostefanina
|-
|Benzo[h]isoquinolina
|
|Chiloenina, santiagonamina
|-
|Fenantridina
|
|Crinina
|-
|Benzo[c]cinolina
|
|Necatorina
|-
|Pirido[1,2-a]indol
|
|Gliotoxina, dioxopirazinoindoles
|-
|Pirido[2,1,6-de]quinolizina
|
|Coccinelina, mirrina, precoccinelina, hipodamina, convergina, poranterina, porantelidina, porantericina, propileína
|-
|11bH-pirido[2,1-a]isoquinolina
|
|Emetina
|-
|Pirrolo [2,1-a]isoquinolina
|
|Lamelarinas
|-
|Pirrolo[4,3,2-de]quinolina
|
|Micearubinas, makaluvaminas, damirona C, hematopodinas.
|-
|2H-1,8,8b-Triazaacenaftileno
|
|Cilindrospermopsina y sus derivados.
|-
|5H-5,6,8b-Triazaacenaftileno
|
|Ptilomicalinas, batzeladinas, cambrescidinas.
|-
|9aH-5,8-diazabenzo[cd]azuleno
|
|Aaptosamina
|-
|4H-benzo[de][1,6]-naftiridina
|
|Aaptaminas, isoaaptaminas
|-
|Pirido[2,1-j]quinolina
|
|Cilindricina B, fasicularina, policitorol A
|-
|1H-pirrolo[2,1-j]quinolina
|
|Cilindricinas A, K, D, E, J, I; Lepadiforminas A y B.
|-
|1,8-dihidropirrolo[2,3-b]indol
|
|Fisostigmina (eserina), eteramina, fisovenina, eptastigmina, flustraminas.
|-
|5H,10H-Dipirrolo[1,2-a:1',2'-d]pirazina
|
|Vercapamida C, pirocol, aranotina.
|-
|2-oxa-6-azatriciclo[4.2.1.03,7]nonano.
|
|Lolinas, temulina
|-
|Dibenzo[c,g]azecina
|
|Protopina, coricavamina, coricavidina.
|-
|Dibenzo[b,i]quinolizina
|
|Cohirsina, shaheenina, cohirsinina, cohirsitinina.
|-
|Pirrolo 2,1,5-cdindolizina
|
|Mirmicarinas
|-
|1H,10H-pirrolo[1,2-c]purina
|
|Saxitoxinas
|-
|Indolo[2,1-a]isoquinolina
|
|Criptowolidina, criptowolinol, criptowolina.
|-
|9H-Indeno[2,1-b]piridina
|
| Haouamina
|-
|Azepino[3,2,1-hi]indol
|
|Estenina, tuberostemonina, estemoamida, estemonina, neostemonina, croomina, estemonidina.
|-
|6,10-Metano-4,6-dihidropirido[1,2-a]azepina
|
|Securiniaminas, sufruticodina, securinoles, filocrisina
|-
|2,5-Metano-9H-pirido[1,2-b][1,2]oxazepina
|
|Filantidina, secuamamida D
|-
|4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinolina
|
|Alcaloides aporfinoides: Glaucina, boldina, bulbocapnina, nanteína, hernandialina, nuciferina, liriodenina, pukateína, laurotetamina, lauroscolzina, escolina, magnoflorina, duguenaína y pancoridina, talifaberina, urabaína, dehatrifina
|-
|7H-dibenzo[de,h]quinolina
|
|Menisporfina
|-
|Indeno[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina
|
|Rufescina, imeluteína
|-
|1,2-Epimino-3H-pirrolo[1,2-a]indol
|
|Mitomicinas
|-
|Eupolauridina
|
|Eupolauridina y sus derivados
|-
|Pirrolo[3,2,1-de]fenantridina
|
|Licorina
|-
|7H-Nafto[1,2,3-ij][2,7]naftiridina
|
|Sampangina, eupomatidinas
|-
|Espiro[2,5-ciclohexadieno-1,7'(1H)-ciclopenta[ij]isoquinolina]
|
|Orientalinona, glaziovina, estefarina, mecambrina, pronuciferina.
Dímero: Roehibridina
|-
|1,2-dihidrospiro[2-H-indeno-2,1'-isoquinolina]
|
|Lahorina
|-
|Benzo[d]-[4,5-g]pirido[4,3,2-jk][2]benzazepina
|
|Dragabina
|-
|Esparteína
|
|Esparteína
|-
|1H,4H,9H-Dipirido[2,1-b:3',2',1'-ij]quinazolina
|
|Sibiridina, schoberina
|-
|Morfinano
|
|Codeína, tebaína, salutarina, morfina, oripavina
|-
|Hasubanano
|
|Hasubanonina, cefaramina, cefasamina
|-
|(1S,9R)-7,11-diazatriciclo[7.3.1.02,7]tridecano
|
|Citisina, angustifolina
|-
|Dibenzo[f,h]pirrolo[1,2-b]isoquinolina
|
|Ficuseptinas, la criptopleurina y la tiloforina.
|-
|(6S,11bS)-6,11b-Metano-3a,6,11a,11b-tetrahidrofuro[2,3-c]pirido[1,2-a]azepina
|
| Securiniaminas, sufruticodina y los securinoles A-D
|-
|Dibenzo[a,g]-9aH-quinolizina
|
|Protoberberina, anisociclina, palmatina, coripalmina, discretamina, berlambina, lambertina, coreximina, talifaurina, coptisina, escoulerina, estilopina.
|-
|6,15-epimino-4H-isoquino[3,2-b][3]benzazocina.
|
|Saframicina, renieramicina, jorunamicinas
|-
|(1R,2R,7S,12R,13S,15S)-14-Oxa-6,8-diazapentaciclo[10.6.0.02,7.02,15.08,13]octadecano
(Nitraramida)
|
|Nitraramida, nitrabirina
|-
|3,5-o-fenilen-2,3,4,5-tetrahidro-1H-2-benzazepina
|
|Amurensina
|-
|3,6-Dihidropirrolo[3,2-e]indol
|
|Duocarmicinas, yatakemicina.
|-
|5,11-Epiminodibenzo[a,e][8]anuleno
|
|Pavinas, isopavinas
|-
|10H-azuleno[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina
|
|Imerubrina
|-
|5H-Indeno[1,2-b]piridina
|
|Oniquina
|-
|Dibenzo[6,5,4-cd:f]indol
|
|Cefaronas
|-
|5H-Isoindolo[1,2-b][3]benzazepina
|
|Lennoxamina
|-
|Benzo[6,7]ciclohept[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina
|
|Kreysigina,
|-
|9H-azuleno[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina
|
|Grandirubrina
|-
|Homoeritrinano ([4,5-h]indolo[7a,1-a][2]benzazepina)
|
|Schelhameridina, erimelantina, erisopinoforina.
|-
|Eritrinano
|
|β-Erytroidina, Erisotramidina.
|-
|3H-ciclopenta[b]pirrolo[1,2-a][3]benzazepina
|
|Cefalotaxina, harringtonina, isoharringtonina, cefalezominas
|-
|Dibenzo[5,6-a:4',5'-g]-4H-quinolizina
|
|Cavidina, Talictrifolina, apocavidina, isoapocavidina.
|-
|Quinolino[2',3':3,4]pirrolo[2,1-b]quinazolina
|
|Luotoninas
|-
|Benzo[c]fenantridina
|
|Quelidonina, sanguinarina, palmatina, queleritrina
|-
|Benzo[j,k]acridina
|
|Necatarona
|-
|Indolo[3,2-c]quinolina
|
|Isocriptolepina
|-
|Quindolidina
|
|Quindolidina, Criptolepina
|-
|Quinindolina
|
|Neocriptolepina
|-
|7H-Indolo[2',3':3,4]pirido[2,1-b]quinazolina
|
|Evodiamina
|-
|5H-indolo[2,3-a]pirrolo[3,4-c]carbazol
|
|Arciriaflavinas, estaurosporina
|-
|9H-Quino[4,3,2-de][1,10]fenantrolina
|
|Ascididemina
|-
|11,22-Diazatetraciclo[11.11.2.12,22.02,12]heptacosane
|
|Ircinales
|-
|}
  Alcaloides de núcleo pirídico: a este grupo pertenecen la nicotina, la pilocarpina y la esparteína. La nicotina se encuentra en el jugo del tabaco acompañada de otros alcaloides. Es un líquido incoloro, de olor semejante al tabaco y sabor ardiente y picante. Es muy tóxica en dosis altas.
 Alcaloides de núcleo isoquinoleico: se encuentran en las plantas papaveráceas y ranunculáceas. El más importante es la papaverina, que tiene propiedades hipnóticas (aunque no tan acentuadas como las de la morfina).
 Alcaloides de núcleo fenantrénico: el más importante es la morfina. Se encuentra en el opio en forma de sal. Se emplea en medicina en forma de clorhidrato y sulfato, como sedantes, analgésicos, anestésicos y calmantes.
 Alcaloides de núcleo tropánico: pertenecen a este grupo la atropina y la cocaína. La atropina se encuentra en el jugo de varias plantas como la belladona, la brugmansia, el floripondio, el toloache y el estramonio. La cocaína se extrae de las hojas de coca o Erytroxylium Coca, es de sabor amargo, insensibiliza la lengua, y se usa en medicina en forma de clorhidrato como anestésico local para curar el dolor y la epistaxis severa.
 Alcaloides de núcleo indólico: los más importantes son la estricnina y la brucina. La estricnina es uno de los alcaloides más enérgicos y tóxicos, se extrae de diversas plantas del género Strychnos, entre ellas el haba de San Ignacio y de la nuez vómica o Nux Vomica. Es de sabor amargo muy intenso y es una sustancia extremadamente tóxica. su ingestión produce convulsiones tetánicas.
 Alcaloides de núcleo no definido: son todos aquellos alcaloides cuya constitución aún no se ha establecido con claridad. Entre ellos se encuentra la aconitina (veneno muy violento, utilizado en terapéutica para combatir ciertas dolencias) y la ergotinina (uno de los principios activos del cornezuelo de centeno, que ejerce una acción específica sobre el útero).

 Clasificación por biosíntesis 
Los alcaloides se encuentran formando sales con los ácidos acético, oxálico, láctico, málico, tartárico y cítrico. A continuación se mostrará un resumen de la diversidad biosintética de los alcaloides.

 Protoalcaloides 
Muchos compuestos considerados pseudoalcaloides podrían incluirse en la categoría de protoalcaloides si se consideran todos aquellos que no forman sistemas heterocíclicos. Los más importantes que considerar son las aminas y las amidas.

 Aminas 
Cuando un aminoácido se descarboxila, se forman las aminas biógenas. La histidina y el triptófano, por poseer de por sí un anillo heterocíclico, serán contemplados en secciones aparte.

Muchas de estas aminas forman derivados posteriores, tales como las catecolaminas. Las efedrinas se forman a partir del ácido benzoico y el piruvato por acción de pirofostato de tiamina.

Muchas aminas pueden aceptar un segundo o hasta tercer grupo alquilo para formar aminas secundarias o terciarias. Cuando un aminoácido forma una sal de trimetilamonio se denomina betaína. Ejemplos de betaínas son la betaína glicínica, la trimetilserina (precursor de la colina) y la hipaforina. La muscarina es una sal de amonio de Amanita muscaria.

 Amidas 
Las amidas se forman por la conexión heteroatómica de una amina o el amoniaco con una acil-coenzima A.

 Guanidinas 
Existen aminas que reciben un grupo carbimino de la arginina, tales como la galegina y la creatina.

 Alcaloides verdaderos 
Poseen siempre un nitrógeno que forma parte de un heterociclo, tienen naturaleza básica, se encuentran normalmente en estado de sal y biogenéticamente proceden de aminoácidos.

 Alcaloides derivados de la serina, la cisteína y la glicina 

 Serina 
 La serina forma la cicloserina, una isoxazolidin-5-ona por oxidación intramolecular del nitrógeno.
 La serina puede formar el ácido 2,3-diaminopropiónico (DAP), que a su vez puede formar el ácido quisquálico, un aminoácido no proteínico con un anillo de 1,2,4-oxadiazolidina, aislado de la piscuala. El DAP también forma β-lactamas, las cuales son constituyentes de los antibióticos SP 26.

 La serina puede incorporarse como etanolamina al alcaloide azamacrólido epilacneno.

En varios péptidos no ribosomales, la serina puede formar oxazoles y estos pueden ser referidos como péptidos alcaloidales. Los oxazoles son el resultado de la ciclación y oxidación de péptidos no ribosómicos de serina o treonina

 Cisteína 
La cisteína puede formar diversos tiazoles:

 Un ejemplo es el ácido 2-metil-1,3-tiazol-4-carboxílico. Este ácido tiazólico es la unidad de iniciación de policétidos como las epotilonas.

Otro ejemplo de tiazoles de la cisteína son los mixotiazoles, los cuales fueron aislados por Höfle y sus colaboradores en los años 1970. El mixotiazol A fue descrito primero en 1978 en una patente y posteriormente fue descrito en los 80's. Los mixotiazoles son 2,4'-bi-1,3-tiazoles aislados de hongos que se forman a partir de un policétido con una unidad de iniciación de cisteína y otra molécula de cisteína.

 La cisteína puede formar también tiomorfolinas en organismos marinos, como la condrina.

 Glicina 
 La glicina puede formar anillos de imidazol, tales como el AIR y la creatinina.

 A partir de la glicina se forman las bases purínicas guanina y adenina. A partir de la adenina se forman varios compuestos purínicos, como la cordicepina, eritadeninas, nebularina, las citoquininas, cafeína, teofilina, teobromina, malonganenonas y nutinginas.

 A partir de la guanina se pueden sistetizar anillos de isoaloxazina y pteridinas. Muchos insectos pueden producir pigmentos a partir de pteridinas (p. ejemplo Drosofilina, Leucopterina, Drosopterina) u otros anillos derivados:

 La reumitsina y la toxoflavina son compuestos que presentan como esqueleto base la pirimido[5,4-e]-1,2,4-triazina (referidos también como Azapteridinas). Estos compuestos fueron aislados de bacterias del género Actinobacter. Estas triazinas pueden provenir biogenéticamente de una purina o pteridina.

 Ejemplos de azaguanidinas es la zarzisina.

 Alcaloides derivados del aspartato 
En esta sección se consideran los alcaloides de los aminoácidos biosintéticamente relacionados con el ácido aspártico: aspartato, asparragina, treonina y metionina.

 Aspartato y asparagina 
El aspartato puede formar otro aminoácido relacionado por reducción del carboxilo terminal y aminación reductiva: el ácido 2,4-diaminobutírico (DABA). Al descarboxilarse puede formar 1,3-diaminopropano. El aspartato puede aceptar un grupo carbamilo por medio de su nitrógeno amino para formar el ácido N-carbamoilaspártico. Además, el ácido aspártico puede condensarse con el fosfato de dihidroxiacetona para formar la vitamina ácido nicotínico.

 Pirimidinas: El precursor es el ácido orótico, el cual se forma por heterociclización del ácido N-carbamoilaspártico. Las bases pirimídicas (Uracilo, Timina, Citosina) surgen de este precursor. El ácido barbitúrico es producto del catabolismo de las pirimidinas. Ejemplos de alcaloides que provienen del ácido orótico son la vicina, la convicina, de Vicia faba y la clitocina de Pectinophora gossypiella. La latirina podría ser considerada como un aminoácido no proteínico o un alcaloide debido al anillo de pirimidina. La ectoína es una pirimidina 2-sustituida que no procede de la ruta del ácido orótico, sino que a partir del ácido 2,4-diaminobutírico acetilado en el nitrógeno del carbono 4.
 Pirazoles: Los anillos de pirazol no son abundantes en la naturaleza, y tienen valor quimiotaxonómico. Un caso es la β-pirazol-1-il alanina y la pirazofurina.

 Alcaloides pirido[1,2-a]azepínicos: Se forman en la esponja Niphates digitalis a partir del aldehído subérico y la 1,3-propanoamina (que proviene de la descarboxilación del ácido 2,4-diaminobutírico)

 Treonina 
Se cree que varios aminoácidos no proteínicos con actividad tóxica —como las hipoglicinas, la canalina y la canavalina—, provienen de la treonina.

 Metionina 
Los metabolitos secundarios nitrogenados de la metionina principalmente consisten en glucosinolatos de la metionina, homometionina y dihomometionina. La goitrina es una 1,3-oxazolidina formada del glucosinolato progoitrina. La S-Adenosil metionina es lo suficientemente reactiva para formar un sistema de azetidina, en forma de ácido azetidin-2-carboxílico, el cual es la base de los isopéptidos conocidos como ácidos mugineicos. Algunas azetidinas se presumen que provienen de este precursor, tales como la 3-azetidinona
y el 3,3-azetidinodiol.

 Nicotinato 
El ácido nicotínico se forma de novo en las plantas por condensación de una molécula de triosa y una molécula de iminoaspartato (el derivado imino del ácido aspártico), mientras que en animales y hongos se puede formar por catabolismo del triptófano. El ácido nicotínico (ácido piridino-3-carboxílico) es la base estructural de muchos alcaloides piridínicos. El ácido fusárico es un alcaloide piridínico que se forma bajo el mismo principio de condensación, pero a partir de aspartato y ácido triacético.
 Piridinas: Esta vitamina puede descarboxilarse para dar piridina, hidrogenarse para formar dihidropiridinas u oxidarse. Algunas piridinas relacionadas con el ácido nicotínico son los alcaloides de la palma Areca (Arecolina, guvacina), la ricinina de las semillas del ricino, la hermidina de Mercurialis annua y la trigonelina de la alholva. Varias plantas de la familia Celastraceae producen ésteres del ácido evonínico (ácido nicotínico enlazado con una molécula de ácido 2-metilbutírico) y sesquiterpenos tipo agarofurano. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la maytolina, maytina, acantotamina, evonina, neoevonina, euonimina, hipocratinas, emarginatinas.

 Bispiridinas: Las bis-piridinas se forman por acoplamiento de radicales libres (Crisohermidina) o por condensación (Anatabina). Los anillo de piridina se pueden acoplar con otros anillos como en el caso de la nicotina (Anillo pirrolidínico)o anabasina (Anillo piperidínico de la lisina)

 Hachijodinas: Son hidroxilaminas derivadas de ácidos grasos que se forman cuando el ácido nicotínico es utilizado como unidad de iniciación:

 Alcaloides derivados de aminoácidos de la familia del glutamato 

Varios alcaloides provienen de los aminoácidos de la familia del glutamato (glutamina, glutamato, prolina, ornitina y arginina.

 Glutamato y glutamina 
 Cuando la glutamina heterocicliza en sus extremos, forma la glutanimina, la cual tiene un esqueleto piperidínico. Cuando dimeriza forma la indigoidina (Estructura: 1,1',2,2',3,3',4,4'-octahidro-4,4'-bipiridina).

 El glutamato hidroxilado puede formar un isoxazol de una manera similar a la cicloserina para formar el ácido iboténico, un aminoácido no proteínico con un heterociclo de isoxazol. Este aminoácido es precursor de muchos isoxazoles del hongo Amanita muscaria, tales como el muscimol y el ácido tricolómico.

 El lascivol es una amida de la glutamina y un precursor policétido de los muchos compuestos de estructura indólica, tales como 2,4-dimetilindol, (2-metil-4-hidroximetilindol, (2-metil-4-metoximetilindol y 2,4-dimetil-5-metoxindol

 Prolina 
La prolina y la ornitina pueden formar alcaloides con núcleo pirrolizidínico; de hecho, la prolina por sí misma es una pirrolizidina. A partir de la prolina se pueden formar:
 Ácidos 2-pirrolocarboxílicos así como sus derivados bromados, aislados de esponjas.
 La estaquidrina, presente en la betónica, es la betaína de la prolina.
 Antibióticos beta-lactámicos tipo carbapenam.

 Muchos hongos clavicipitáceos producen alcaloides con esqueleto de 2-oxa-6-azatriciclo[4.2.1.03,7]nonano, tales como la lolina y la temulina, a partir de prolina y homoserina.

 Las prodigiosinas son pigmentos tripirrólicos producidos por bacterias del género Serratia. El primer anillo de pirrol se biosintetiza por la deshidrogenación de un tioéster de prolina con la enzima:Structure, Chemical Synthesis, and Biosynthesis of Prodiginine Natural Products Dennis X. Hu, David M. Withall, Gregory L. Challis, and Regan J. Thomson Chemical Reviews Article ASAP

Posteriormente, el residuo 2-pirrolcarbonílico se condensa con un nuevo anillo de pirrol de origen tipo policétido:

 Ornitina y arginina 
La ornitina y la arginina están relacionadas biosintéticamente, ya que la arginina proviene de la ornitina por adición de un grupo carbamilo al nitrógeno terminal de la ornitina con posterior adición de un nitrógeno de aspartato (primeras 3 reacciones del ciclo de la urea)

La ornitina forma alcaloides de dos tipos: los derivados de la putrescina y los derivados de las poliaminas espermina, homoespermina y espermidina

 Derivados de la putrescina: La putrescina puede heterociclizar para formar el catión N-metil-Δ1-pirrolinio. Este intermediario metabólico puede incorporarse a muchas rutas tales como:
a) Formación de 3-pirrolidin-2-il piridinas, como la nicotina
b) Formación de azaazulenos, tales como la (+)-5-epiindolizidina 167B.
c) Formación de dos unidades de acetilo: Por el mismo mecanismo de los policétidos (Solo que la unidad de iniciación es una imina, por lo que en lugar de una condensación de Claisen se lleva a cabo una condensación de Mannich. Así se forman la higrina, cuscohigrina y las dendrocrisaninas. Cuando el derivado tipo policétido heterocicliza forma el esqueleto de tropano. Muchos alcaloides tropánicos se forman en solanáceas y eritroxiláceas, tales como Datura, Atropa,Mandragora y Erythroxylon. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son cocaína, hiosciamina, tropina, las calisteginas, las esquizantinas, la litorina, meteloidina y escopolamina.

d) Alcaloides pirrolidinflavonoides: Los anillos de N-metil-Δ1-pirrolinio pueden incorporarse a estructuras de flavonoides. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la ficina, la vochisina y la eleocarpina

 Las dendrocrisaninas son anillos de pirrolidina con sustituyentes cinamoilo en el nitrógeno.

La agaricona es un pigmento producido por Agaricus xanthoderma.

-Derivados de poliaminas: La homoesperidina puede dar una doble ciclización para producir biosintéticamente alcaloides pirrozilidínicos. Las plantas del género Senecio, la mariposa monarca (Danaus plexippus y otros lepidópteros relacionados (los cuales consumen la planta) y varias orquídeas son los principales productores de alcaloides pirrolizidínicos:

Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la falenopsina, licopsamina, retronecina, creatonotinas, calimorfina, supidina, rosmarinecina, otonecina, danaiona, traquelantamidina, platafilina, sarracina, hastanecina, crotanecina, heliotridina, platinecina, turneforcidina, ipangulinas y minalobinas.

 Muchos alcaloides macrocíclicos provienen de la espermina, como en el caso de la lunarina (Aislada de Lunaria annua):

 La estructura de las motuporaminas sugiere un origen a partir de poliaminas y un ácido graso de cadena mediana:

 Alcaloides de la Stemona: Las especies de la familia Stemonaceae producen una gran clase de alcaloides diversos estructuralmente relacionados con el núcleo de 4-azaazuleno. Sus raíces han sido utilizadas para el tratamiento de tuberculosis, bronquitis y parasitosis. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la estenina, tuberostemonina, estemoamida, estemonina, neostemonina, croomina y estemonidina.

 Alcaloides de Elaeocarpus: Las especies del género Elaeocarpus producen una serie de alcaloides indolizidínicos, pero a diferencia de los que son tipo swansonina, estos alcaloides se presume que provienen de la espermidina. Se clasifican en:
- Alcaloides 8-acilindolizidínicos: Como ejemplos se pueden citar a las eleokaninas A-C, grandisinas E y D, la isoelaeocarpicina y la eleocarpenina.
- Alcaloides tipo eleokanidina: Presentan un esqueleto base de pirrolo[2,1-f][1,6]naftiridina o 1H-pirano[2,3-g]indolizina. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son las eleokanidinas A-C y las eleokaninas D y E.
- Alcaloides tipo eleocarpina: Presentan un esqueleto base de 12H-[1]benzopirano[2,3-g]indolizina, como por ejemplo la eleocarpina, la pseudoepiisoeleocarpilina, las grandisinas C y F, la rudrakina, la eleocarpilina, la aloeleocarpilina, epialoeleocarpilina, epiisoeleocarpilina, isoeleocarpilina, epieleocarpilina.

 Derivados de la arginina: La arginina es precursor de varios productos naturales, tales como el ácido clavulánico, la capreomicidina (una hexahidropirimidina), la tetrodotoxina y las saxitoxinas (Saxitoxina, neosaxitoxina, GTX1-7, C1-C4, dcSTX, dcneoSTX, dcGTX 1-4) las cuales presentan un esqueleto de 1H,10H-pirrolo[1,2-c]purina,

 Las verpacamidas y la peramida son anhidropéptidos de la arginina y la prolina:

 Derivados del porfibilinógeno 
El porfobilinógeno es el precursor de los bilanos, porfirinas, corrinas y bilinas. Algunos alcaloides cromóforos producidos por insectos que provienen de este compuesto son la pterobilina, sarpedobilina y la forcabilina.

 Alcaloides derivados de la lisina 
La lisina puede ser biosintetizada por la ruta del diaminopimelato (DAP) en hongos o por la ruta de α-aminoadipato (AAA). Durante su biosíntesis se pueden formar metabolitos tales como el ácido picolínico y ácido dipicolínico, los cuales son isómeros del ácido nicotínico y el ácido quinolínico, respectivamente.

Cuando la lisina heterocicliza, forma la lactama de la lisina (Esqueleto base: perhidroazepina). Esta lactama es la base de las bengamidas. La alisina el producto de transaminación del amino terminal de la lisina. La desmosina proviene de este intermediario. La alisina puede formar el ácido pipecólico, el cual es un componente de la ascomicina y la rapamicina.
La descarboxilación de la lisina produce la cadaverina, la cual por heterociclización produce Δ1-piperideína. Este anillo puede formar varios sistemas de alcaloides.

Los alcaloides de la lisina se pueden clasificar como derivados de la cadaverina y derivados del pipecolato.
 Los derivados de la cadaverina principalmente son los que proceden de la incorporación de una unidad de piperidina a diversos componentes, por ejemplo:
- La anaferina, la peletierina y la pseudopeletierina son derivados de acetilación de modo análogo a la biosíntesis de la higrina y los alcaloides del tropano.

- La estenusina es un derivado por condensación con isoleucina. Otros ejemplos son el ácido evonínico, ácido wilfórdico, el ácido edulínico y la evonina.

- Alcaloides piperidinflavonoides Un ejemplo es la rohitukina, las crotacuminas y los derivados de la capitavina.

- Alcaloides 1,3-diazepinflavonoides: Por ejemplo la aquiledina y la isoquiledina.
- Alcaloides quinolizidínicos: Se forman por dos unidades de piperideína. Se encuentran en varios miembros de la familia Fabaceae. Ejemplos típicos son la lupinina, la lusitanina y la castoramina.

- A partir de la peletierina y otros derivados se forman nuevos sistemas de anillos heterocíclicos, tales como citisina, esparteína, licodina, angustifolina, albina, fawcetimida, poranterina, cernuina, sofocarpina, criptopleurina, ormosamina, afilina, afilidina, lupanina, retamina, aloperina, baptifolina, multiflorina, camoensidina, matrina, soforidina, soforamina y serratinina.

- La anabasina, astrofilina y anabatina son bis-piridinas producto de la condensación de Mannich entre otras piperidinas de origen lisínico o nicotínico.

- La lobelanina, la lobelina y la sedamina se forman por la incorporación de derivados fenilpropanoides.

- La piperina, la nigramida R, la piperciclobutanamida C y las chabamidas H e I son ejemplos de alcamidas de la piperidina.

- Alcaloides indolizidínicos: La castanospermina proviene biosintéticamente del ácido pipecólico. Este se condensa con dos unidades de acetato por medio de condensaciones de Claisen de la misma manera que en los policétidos, generándose así la 1-indolizidinona, la cual es precursora de muchos alcaloides indolizidónicos. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la castanospermina, swainsonina, las pumiliotoxinas, la lentiginosina, las poligonatinas y la monomorina. Las mirmicarinas presentan un esqueleto de indolizidina fusionado con un pirrol (Pirrolo[2,1,5-cd]indolizina). Los alcaloides indolizidínicos pueden presentarse fusionados con anillos aromáticos (Dibenzo[f,h]pirrolo[1,2-b]isoquinolina) como en el caso de las ficuseptinas, la criptopleurina y la tiloforina.

 Alcaloides de litráceas: Estos alcaloides ciclofánicos se componen de un ciclo quinazolínico o piperidínico proveniente de la lisina, los cuales se esterifican con ácidos aromáticos fenilpropanoides o forman éteres entre anillos aromáticos.

 Alcaloides de Nitraria: Gerrit-Jan Koomen y Martin J. Wanner clasificaron los alcaloides de Nitraria, dos de los cuales proceden exclusivamente de la lisina: los espiroalcaloides (Por ejemplo, (+)-nitramina, (-)-isonitramina, (-)-sibirina, nitrabirina, N-óxido de nitrabirina, y sibirinina) y los alcaloides tripiperidínicos (Schoberina, deshidroschoberina, sibiridina y dihidroschoberina)

 Ácidos acromélicos: Aislados del hongo Clitocybe acromelalga. Están relacionados biogenéticamente con el ácido kainico y el ácido domoico. Lo que se asegura de todos estos alcaloides es la correlación con el ácido glutámico. El ácido fusárico se condensa en una manera similar, solo que formando un alcaloide piridínico.

 Alcaloides derivados de la fenilalanina y tirosina 
La fenilalanina y la tirosina se biosintetizan por la ruta del ácido shikímico, vía corismato, prefenato y arilpiruvatos. Plantas y bacterias sintetizan ambos aminoácidos por rutas separadas, mientras que los animales y los hongos pueden obtener tirosina por hidroxilación de fenilalanina.

Los alcaloides de los aminoácidos tirosina-fenilalanina son un grupo muy amplio y diverso, por lo que serán clasificados por su biosíntesis en los siguientes tipos:
 a) Alcaloides de Securinega
 b) Alcaloides azólicos
 c) Alcaloides isoquinolínicos
 d) Alcaloides mesembrenoides
 e) Alcaloides norbeladínicos
 f) Anhidropéptidos de aminoácidos aromáticos
 g) Alcaloides citocalasánicos
 h) Alcaloides de la ciclo-DOPA
 i) Alcaloides de las seco-DOPAs

 Alcaloides de la Securinega 
Las plantas del género Securinega producen alcaloides con el esqueleto base (6S,11bS)-6,11b-metano-3a,6,11a,11b-tetrahidrofuro[2,3-c]pirido[1,2-a]azepina. Este pequeño grupo de 30 alcaloides parece provenir biosintéticamente de la tirosina y la lisina, como el caso de la securinina. Otros ejemplos son las securiniaminas, sufruticodina y los securinoles A-D. La filantidina tiene la estructura metanofuro[2,3-d]pirido[1,2-b][1,2]oxazocina. Sankawa y colaboradores dedujeron que la securinina puede provenir de una molécula de tirosina y otra de cadaverina. Los precursores lisina, cadaverina, y tirosina fueron los que mostraron mayor incorporación. Los experimentos de degradación revelaron que la [1,5-14C]-cadaverina marcó específicamente el anillo de piperidina de securinina y la radioactividad de DL-tirosina-[2-14C] fue incorporado en el carbonilo C-11 de la lactona. Los experimentos con L-tirosina[U-14C] y L-tirosina-[3’,5’-³H;U-14C] prueba que el fragmento C6 – C2 es derivado del anillo aromático y los carbono C-2 y C-3 de la tirosina.

 Heterociclos formados por ensamblaje 
Los anhidropéptidos de la fenilalanina forman estructuras tipo 2,5-pirazinodiona. Estos metabolitos se encuentran ampliamente distribuidos en hongos. Los anhidropéptidos pueden ser diarílicos (se forman por condensación peptídica de dos arilalaninas, por ejemplo picroroccelina, albonoursina, anhídrido fenilalanínico, ciclopenina, viridicatina, Piperafizina B, emeheterona.
 

Los anhidropéptidos mixtos (se forman a partir de una arilalanina y otro aminoácido). Por ejemplo, la gliotoxina se forma a partir de la fenilalanina y la serina:

Varios hongos (Arachniotus, Aspergillus, Epicoccum) pueden realizar otras condensaciones y por medio de una electrociclización reversa de un epóxido de areno, se forman alcaloides policíclicos tales como al aranotina. En este caso se lleva a cabo una segunda ciclización, en la que se forma un compuesto policíclico. La aranotina presenta adicionalmente una electrociclización reversa a partir del epóxido de areno correspondiente para forma r un sistema de oxepina. 

Otros sistemas de ensamblaje heterocíclico de arilalaninas son las luciferinas de celenterados:

Diversos aminoácidos modificados son constituyentes de péptidos ribosomales y dépsidos, tales como la vancomicina, la tirocidina y la bauvericina:

Las fenetilaminas pueden incorporarse a anillos de imidazoles (como la Policarpina) y oxazoles, como la anulolina, el halfordinol, la texalina y la texamina:

Los fenoles simples producto de la degradación de arilalaninas también pueden ensamblarse sin formación de esqueletos de carbono nuevos por condensación intramolecular, formando sistemas heterociclos con dos heteroátomos. Por ejemplo, la luciferina de Lampyris noctiluca se forma por este mecanismo: 

 Alcaloides isoquinolínicos 
Los alcaloides isoquinolínicos y tetrahidroisoquinolínicos (THIQ) comprenden una diversa gama de compuestos ampliamente distribuidos principalmente en el reino vegetal. Cabe destacar que estas isoquinolinas tienen un sustituyente alquilo en la posición 1. Cualquier otro patrón de sustitución hace pensar en otra ruta biosintética. Biogenéticamente se pueden formar por una Reacción de Pictet-Spengler de una catecolamina con un aldehído o un ácido α-cetocarboxílico:

De acuerdo al aldehído utilizado, se pueden reconocer 4 grandes familias de este tipo de alcaloides:
a) Las isoquinolinas simples, las cuales se forman por condensación de una catecolamina con acetaldehído, glioxal, piruvato, formaldehído, etc.
b) La bencilisoquinolinas, que comprenden el grupo más amplio de todos se forman por condensación de una catecolamina con un fenilacetaldehído.
c) Las fenetilisoquinolinas, que se forman por condensación de una catecolamina con un fenilpropanal.
d) Los alcaloides tipo ipecósido, en donde el aldehído es un iridoide.

 Isoquinolinas y tetrahidroisoquinolinas simples: La isoquinolina se aisló de la planta Spigelia anthelmia (Spigeliaceae). Varios ejemplos son la anhalamina, anhalinina, iseluxina, calicotomina, laudanosina, coridaldina, salsolina, salsolidina, mimosamicina, renierona, talflavina, crispinas.

 El grupo de la saframicina y la renieramicina presenta la estructura de 6,15-epimino-4H-isoquino[3,2-b][3]benzazocina. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son las jorunamicinas.

- Alcaloides bencilisoquinolínicos y bencilquinolínicos: Se forman por reacción de Pictet-Spengler de una catecolamina con fenilacetaldehídos, provenientes de las rutas de los fenilpropanoides. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la papaverina, filocriptina, filocriptonina, velucriptina, papaveraldina y las anocherinas. La arenina y la macrostomina, así como sus derivados poseen adicionalmente un anillo de pirrolidinio acoplado al anillo aromático.

- Alcaloides bisbencilisoquinolínicos: Se producen por acoplamientos de radicales libres y se conectan por medio de uno, dos o tres enlaces éter o bifenilo. Las unidades monoméricas son principalmente bencilisoquinolinas hidroxiladas o metoxiladas. Las aporfinas pueden contener componentes de aporfina. Este gran grupo de alcaloides se pueden dividir en cinco categorías, de acuerdo a la clasificación de Shamma:

(a) Alcaloides que sólo presentan grupos arilo acoplados. De la corteza de Popowia pisocarpa se han aislado un grupo de 7 alcaloides que presentan enlaces entre C-11 y C-11'. Algunos ejemplos son la pisopowetina y la pisopowiaridina.

(b) Alcaloides que contienen sólo un enlace éter: Los enlaces éter comúnmente se encuentran en los carbonos C-11 y C-12', como la dauricina, C-11 y C-10', como en la vanuatina, entre C-10 y C-7' como la malekulatina y la ambrinina, C-11 y C-7', como en la neferina.

(c) Alcaloides que contienen un enlace con un aromático y uno o dos enlaces éter. Estos alcaloides están basados en el esqueleto de la rodiasina, por ejemplo la tiliacorina.

(d) Alcaloides que contienen 2 enlaces éter: El más grande subgrupo simple que contiene dos enlaces éter posee el esqueleto de berbamano, p. ejem. la berbamina. Otro grupo de alcaloides son los del tipo oxiacantano, como la oxiacantina, por ejemplo la oxiacantina, el cual se conecta en los carbonos C-8 y C-7' y entre C-12 y C-13'. Este grupo incluye el talicberano (C-8 a C-6' y C-11 a C-12'), talidasano (C-8 a C-5¢ y C-11 a C-12'), y talmano (C-7 a C-5' y C-11 to C-12'). Todos estos tipos contienen enlaces entre los anillos de bencilo y entre los anillos aromáticos del componente tetrahidroisoquinolínicos. El tubocurarano contiene enlaces éter entre el anillo de bencilo de una unidad y el anillo aromático del componente de isoquinolina de la otra unidad.

(e) Alcaloides con tres enlaces éter: Estos alcaloides incluyen a los grupos del 6',7-epoxioxiacantano (p. ejem.trilobina), 7,8'-epoxioxiacantano, y 8,12'-epoxitubocurarano.

- Alcaloides pseudobencilisoquinolínicos: Este término se utiliza para describir un esqueleto de isobenzoquinolina en la cual un esqueleto de bencilisoquinolina en el cual el anillo aromático se encuentra oxigenado en el carbono C-2', C-3' y C-4'. Estos alcaloides provienen biogenéticamente de sales protoberberínicos por la escisión del enlace C8-C8a. La policarpina, canadalina, Taxilamina y Ledecorina son ejemplos de este tipo de alcaloides.

- Alcaloides cularínicos: Los alcaloides derivados de la cularina ((12aS)-2,3,12,12a-Tetrahidro-6,9,10-trimetoxi-1-metil-1H-[1]benzoxepino[2,3,4-ij]isoquinolina) son tetrahidroisoquinolinas que contienen una oxepina o dihidrooxepina fusionada entre los carbonos C-8 y C-2'. Se forman por un acoplamiento oxidativo intramolecular. Ejemplos son compostelina, sarcocapninas, la gouregina, aristoyagonina, aristocularinas y la cularina.
- Alcaloides secocularínicos: Se pueden clasificar en dos grupos, las B- y C- secocularinas. Un ejemplo de las β-secocularinas (por ejemplo la secocularina, la secocularidina y la norsecocularina las cuales son estructuralmente relacionadas con alcaloides derivados del fenantreno derivados de aporfinas. Las C-secocularinas (p. ejem. la noyaína).
- Alcaloides tipo cancentrina: Son dímeros de una unidad de cularina y un morfinano a través de una unión espiro. Se encuentran en especies del género Dicentra.
- Alcaloides tipo quetamina: Solo se conocen tres compuestos relacionados: Quetamina, secoquetamina y la dihidrosecoquetamina. Estos alcaloides se encuentran en Berberis baluchistanica.

- Alcaloides tipo pavina: Estos alcaloides se forman por modos alternativos de ciclización oxidativa de precursores benzoquinolínicos. P. ejemplo Pavina, argemonina.
-Alcaloides tipo amurensina: Amurensina

- Benzopirrocolinas: Criptowolidina, criptowolinol, criptowolina.

- Alcaloides proaporfínicos: Este grupo de alcaloides representa una etapa intermedia en la conversión de las bencilisoquinolinas en ciertas aporfinas. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la orientalinona, glaziovina, estefarina, mecambrina, pronuciferina.

- Alcaloides aporfínicos:Este gran grupo de alcaloides contiene el sistema de anillo tetracíclico aporfínico (4H-dibenzo[de,g]quinolina)formado por acoplamiento oxidativo de un fenol precursor bencilisoquinolínico. 

Las variaciones estructurales incluyen:

(a) las aporfinas simples y las dioxoloaporfinas, por ejemplo la glaucina, la boldina, la bulbocapnina, la nantenina, la hernandialina, la nuciferina, la liriodenina y la pukateína. Laurotetamina, lauroscolzina, escolina, magnoflorina. También se incluyen derivados de insaturación generalmente entre el carbono C-6a y C-7.

(b) apoporfinoides tipo duguenaína y pancoridina. Su esqueleto base es la 9,10-dihidro-5H,7H-benzo[f][1,3]dioxolo[6,7]isoquino[8,1,2-hij][3,1]benzoxazina.

(c) oxoisoaporfinas (p. ejem. la menisporfina). Presentan la estructura de 7H-dibenzo(de,h)quinolina
(d) azafluorantenos (p. ejem. la rufescina y la imeluteína). Presentan la estructura de indeno[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina
(e) diazafluorantenos (p. ejem. eupolauridina).
(f) 1-azaoxoaporfinoides (p. ejem. sampangina). Presentan el esqueleto de 7H-Nafto[1,2,3-ij][2,7]naftiridina.
(g) azahomoaporfinas (p.ejem. la dragabina). Presenta la estructura de benzo[d]-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-g]pirido[4,3,2-jk][2]benzazepina

(h) aporfinoides oxidados (p. ejem. Andesina, chiloenina, santiagonamina).
(i) tropoloisoquinolinas (p. ejm. imerubrina). El esqueleto base es la 10H-azuleno[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina.
(j) alcaloides tipo benzo[g]quinolina, por ejemplo la cleistofolina
(k) alcaloides tipo lennoxamina (Esqueleto base: 5H-[1,3]dioxolo[4,5-h]isoindolo[1,2-b][3]benzazepina)
(l) alcaloides tipo 5H-Indeno[1,2-b]piridina, por ejemplo la oniquina
(m) compuestos en los cuales el heterociclo se ha abierto para dar derivados del fenantreno, como por ejemplo la taspina.
(n) alcaloides que contienen anillos de lactamas de 5-miembros, como las aristolactamas (como la cefaranona A) y la piperolactama. Las cefaronas tienen como esqueleto el benzo[f]-1,3-benzodioxolo[6,5,4-cd]indol. El ácido aristolóquico es un derivado de N oxidación a grupo nitro.

Dímeros de bencilisoquinolina-aporfina: Tienen un solo enlace éter. Un caso típico es la talicarpina.

- Limalongina
- Alcaloides morfinánicos: Estos alcaloides tienen como esqueleto base al morfinano. Se forman a partir del acoplamiento oxidativo de un precursor isoquinolínico hidroxilado. Algunos ejemplos de este grupo son la codeína, salutarina, morfina y oripavina.

- Alcaloides tipo hasubanano: Se forman de una manera similar a los morfinanos. Se aislaron de la planta Stephania japonica Hasubanonina, cefaramina, devalaína, glabradina, limalongina, longanina, longeterina, metafanina, miersina, periglaucinas A-D, prometafanina, prostefabisina, prostefanaberrina, runanina, estefabenina, estefadiamina, estefamiersina, estefavanina.

- Alcaloides tipo 7H-dibenzo[d,f]azonina: Se aislaron de la planta Stephania japonica. Protostefanina.

 Alcaloides benzo[c]fenantridínicos:- Alcaloides protoberberínicos: Son alcaloides tetracíclicos que tienen como esqueleto base a la protoberberina. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son anisociclina, palmatina, coripalmina, discretamina, berlambina, lambertina, coreximina, talifaurina, coptisina, escoulerina, estilopina,
cavidina, queilantifolina, corisolidina, coribulbina, coridalidzina, coridalina, coripalmina, corisamina, sinactina, capaurimina. Este grupo de alcaloides comprende:
(a) tetrahidroprotoberberinas, por ejemplo las tetrahidropalmatinas.
(b) protoberberinas, como la berberina;
(c) Derivados metilados en la posición 13 tal como la coridalina
(d) secoberberinas, las cuales tienen un anillo escindido. Algunos ejemplos son la aobamina, la macrantalina y la macrantoridina.
- Alcaloides tipo protopina Estos alcaloides tienen el esqueleto base bis[1,3]benzodioxolo[4,5-c:5',6'-g]azecina Protopina, coricavamina, coricavidina, argemexicaínas A y B, constrictosina, criptopina, fagarinas I - III, muramina, pseudoprotopina.

- Alcaloides tipo roeadina. El roeadano ([1,3]dioxolo[4,5-h][1,3]dioxolo[7,8]-1H-isocromeno[3,4-a][3]benzazepina) es el esqueleto base de estos alcaloides roeadina, papaverrubinas, alpinigenina, glaucamina, zangezurina.

- Alcaloides espirobencilisoquinolínicos: Tienen como esqueleto base la 1,2-dihidrospiro[2-H-indeno-2,1'-isoquinolina], por ejemplo la lahorina, africanina, coridaína, coristewartina, fumaricina fumarilinahiperectina, ocotensina, severzinina, radeanamina, radeanina.

- Alcaloides benzo[c]fenantridínicos: Pueden tener como esqueleto base a la [1,3]benzodioxolo[5,6-c]-1,3-dioxolo[4,5-i]fenantridina o a la bis[1,3]benzodioxolo[5,6-a:4',5'-g]-4H-quinolizina, tales como la Quelidonina, sanguinarina, coridamina, arnotianamida, corinolamina, arnotianamida, quelilutina, corinolina. Dímeros: Sanguidimerina

- Alcaloides tipo narceína. Bicuculinina, Peshawarina, narceína.

- Alcaloides ftalidoisoquinolínicos: α-Hidrastina.
- Alcaloides fenetilisoquinolínicos
- Alcaloides homoaporfínicos Tienen como esqueleto base a la benzo[6,7]ciclohept[1,2,3-ij]isoquinolina, p. ejem. kreysigina

- Alcaloides tipo colchicina: Son aminas de derivados de benzo[a]heptaleno, tales como la colchicina, O-Metilandrocimbina, autumnalina, alcaloide AM 3, colchicilina, colchifolina, cornigerina, lumicolchicinas, demecolcinona, especiosina.
- Alcaloides tipo homoeritrina: El homoeritrinano es un heterociclo con estructura base de [4,5-h]indolo[7a,1-a][2]benzazepina. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son schelhammeridina, erimelantina, erisopinoforina, cefalofortuneína, comosina, comosivina, dishomeritrina, fortuneína, holidina, homoerisotina, isofelibilidina, lucidinina, felibilina.

- Dibenzocicloheptilaminas: Estos alcaloides han sido encontrados en plantas del género Colchicum y Androcymbium. Por ejemplo la jerusalemina, la salimina, el alcaloide K4 y la colchibifenilina.

- Alcaloides eritrinánicos β-Erytroidina, Erisotramidina. La cefalotaxina presenta una estructura 4H-ciclopenta[a][1,3]dioxolo[4,5-h]pirrolo[2,1-b][3]benzazepina. La harringtonina y la isoharringtonina.

Alcaloides tipo aaptamina: La aaptamina y sus congéneres naturales son alcaloides marinos que contienen anillos de 4H-benzo[de][1,6]-naftiridina. Todas las aaptaminas han sido aisladas de Demospongiae (Porifera). Se podrían clasificar estos alcaloides en los siguientes grupos:
- Derivados de la aaptamina: por ejemplo la aaptamina y la isoaaptamina

- 1a,3,9-triazapirenos
- 8H-5,8-diazabenzo[cd]azulenos: Por ejemplo aaptosina y aaptosamina.
- Dímeros tipo dihouidina

-Alcaloides tipo lamelarina: Las lamelarinas son una familia de alcaloides pirrolo[2,1-a]isoquinolínicos relacionados con las ningalinas, estorniamidas y lukianoles. Biosintéticamente son alcaloides bencilisoquinolínicos condensados con un fenilpropanoide. Se han aislado más de 30 compuestos relacionados y derivados de las diversas lamelarinas. Las lamelarinas A-D fueron aisladas por Andersen en 1985,

-Alcaloides espiguetidínicos: Espiguetidina, dragabina.

 Existen diversos oligómeros de isoquinolinas tales como la repandulina, auroramina (p. ejem. la pennsylpavina y la baluchistanamina) y otros alcaloides como la epiberbivaldina y la cancentrina.

 Alcaloides de Isopyrum: Son éteres de una THIQ y una aporfina, por ejemplo la Isopirutaldina, isopitaldina e isotalmidina, talifina e isotalifina.

- Alcaloides secobisbencilisoquinolínicos: Son aquellos en los cuales una de las unidades de bencilisoquinolina se rompe entre el carbono C-1 y el átomo de carbono α. Se pueden formar así lactamas de aldehídos (como la Punjabina), ésters lactámicos (gilgitina, talcamina) o aminoaldehídos (Jhelumina, chenabina). La karakoramina carece del fragmento de la lactama, pero posee una función hidroximetilo en el carbono C'-aromático.

 Dímeros aporfinoides, tales como la talifaberina, coyhaiquina y hernandalina. Roemeridina y Ourabaína.

 Alcaloides tipo emetina: Estos alcaloides forman una unidad de tetrahidroisoquinolina a partir de un aldehído iridoide.El precursor de estos alcaloides es el ipecósido La emetina es el alcaloide típico de este grupo.

 Alcaloides tipo ecteinascidina: Trabectidina, ecteinascidinas

 Alcaloides fenantroindolizidínicos y fenantroquinolizidínicos 
- Alcaloides fenantroindolizidínicos y fenantroquinolizidínicos: Tiloforina, Criptopleurina.

 Alcaloides norbeladínicos y mesembrenoides 
La familia Amaryllidaceae produce un grupo de alcaloides cuyo precursor es la norbeladina, una amina formada por la reducción de la base de Schiff formada entre el aldehído protocatecuico y la tiramina. La norbeladina puede acoplar por radicales libres los dos anillos aromáticos que presenta. Así, pueden formarse distintas estructuras de acuerdo al patrón de acoplamiento de los anillos. Norbeladina, criptostilina I, cherilina, y nivalidina, galantamina, hemantidina, tazetina, y pancracina. Montanina. Licorina, Licorenina. Narciclasina. Principalmente se tienen los esqueletos tipo:
a) Licorina
b) Crinina
c) Galantamina

Los Alcaloides mesembrenoides son derivados de dos unidades de fenilalanina con pérdida de una de las cadenas laterales de etanamina, los cuuales proceden de un intermediario tipo lobeladínico. Este grupo de aproximadamente 20 alcaloides tiene tres tipos estructurales:
a) Tipo mesembrina: Tienen el esqueleto base de 3a-feniloctahidro-1H-indol.Mesembrina, mesembrol, crinafolidina.

b) Tipo joubertiamina: Se forman por la ruptura del anillo de indol, formando así una amina lineal.
c) Tipo tortuosamina: La amina formada en los alcaloides tipo joubertamina vuelve a ciclar para formar una estructura tipo 6-fenil-5,6,7,8-tetrahidroquinolina.

 Alcaloides dibenzoquinolizínicos y dibenzoindolizínicos 
Constituye una pequeña familia de alcaloides que constan de un residuo aromático proveniente de un derivado de un arilpropano y un ciclo condensado, formado probablemente como las cilindrinas. Han sido aisladas de las plantas menispermáceas Cocculus hirsutusAhmad, V.U. et al., Phytochemistry, 1991, 30, 1350-1351

 Citocalasinas y pseurotinas 
Las citocalasinas son alcaloides policétidos que consisten en una amida del extremo carboxílico del policétido con el grupo amino de la fenilalanina. Posteriormente este sistema condensa para formar una pirrolona y posteriormente se presenta una reacción de Diels Alder intramolecular.

Las pseurotinas son alcaloides policétidos espirofuropirrólicos producidos por un policétido precursor que forma una amida con la fenilalanina. Posteriormente se forma la heterociclización del pirrol y al final la espirolactama con oxidaciones posteriores. Las cefalimisinas son alcaloides con biosíntesis relacionada con las pseurotinas.

 Alcaloides de la ciclo-DOPA 
La dihidroxifenialanina (DOPA) puede formar el 2,3-dihidroindol denominado cicloDOPA. Este compuesto puede formar índoles intermedios. Cuando este compuesto polimeriza, se cicla o se condensa con cisteína forma las eumelaninas y las feomelaninas.

 Alcaloides de la seco-DOPA 
 Betalaínas.La base de estos pigmentos alcaloides es el ácido betalámico, el cual se forma por la escisión oxidativa de la DOPA. Cuando el ácido betalámico forma iminas con el nitrógeno de los aminoácidos, se forman las betalaínas. Se clasifican en dos tipos: las betacianinas, que son sales de iminio de la cicloDOPA, y las betaxantinas, que son iminas con aminoácidos o aminas biógenas. Estos metabolitos secundarios de las plantas nitrogenados actúan como pigmentos rojos y amarillos. Están presentes solamente en el taxón Caryophyllales excepto Caryophyllaceae y Molluginaceae (Clement et al. 1994). En contraste, la mayoría de las demás plantas poseen pigmentos que son antocianinas (que pertenecen al grupo de los flavonoides). Las betalaínas y las antocianinas son mutuamente excluyentes, por lo que cuando se encuentran betalaínas en una planta, estarán ausentes las antocianinas, y viceversa. Algunos hongos también presentan estos compuestos, llamados muscaaurinas. Cuando en lugar de formar un heterociclo de seis miembros (como el caso del ácido betalámico) se forma uno de siete, se denomina muscaflavina, y las iminas se denominan higroaurinas.

 Alcaloides derivados del antranilato 
El ácido antranílico se forma por eliminación concertada con una adición de un nitrógeno de la glutamina del ácido corísmico. Este compuesto es el precursor de múltiples metabolitos secundarios, los cuales pueden ser clasificados en las siguientes categorías:
 a) Protoalcaloides del antranilato.
 b) Alcaloides fenazínicos
 c) Policétidos mixtos con ácido antranílico
 d) Alcaloides quinazolínicos
 e) Alcaloides indólicos
 f) Alcaloides β-carbolínicos
 g) Alcaloides del ergot
 h) Anhidropéptidos del triptófano
 i) Dímeros del triptófano
 j) Derivados de la quinurenina
 k) Alcaloides quetoglobosánicos

 Protoalcaloides del antranilato 
 Protoalcaloides del ácido antranílico: Damascenina
 Dímeros del ácido antranílico: Bleniona, lilacinona
 2H-Benzo[c]pirano[2,3-h]cinolinas: Necatorina

 Alcaloides fenazínicos 
 Alcaloides fenazínicos: piocianina, aeruginosinas, esmeraldinas.

La piocianina  es un alcaloide fenazínico que constituye una de las muchas toxinas producidas y secretadas por la bacteria Gram negativa Pseudomonas aeruginosa. La piocianina es un metabolito secundario de coloración azul con la capacidad de oxidar y reducir otras moléculas y, por lo tanto, puede matar a los microbios que compiten contra P. aeruginosa así como a las células de los pulmones de los mamíferos a los cuales P. aeruginosa ha infectado durante la fibrosis quística. El ácido corísmico es el precursor de la piocianina, en la que se forma un intermediario aminado que al ensamblarse con dos unidades tautoméricas distintas, genera el ácido fenazino-1-carboxílico. Este compuesto es precursor de otras fenazinas.

 Alcaloides 1,4-benzoxazin-3-ónicos: DIMBOA

 Policétidos mixtos con ácido antranílico 
 Quinolonas y furo[2,3-b]quinolinas: equinopsina, dictamnina, platidesmina, flindersina, eskimianina, cusparina
 Alcaloides acridínicos: xantevodina, 4-hidroxi-2-quinolona, melicopicina, acronicina, rutacridona.Acrimarina.

 Alcaloides quindolínicos: Criptolepina 10H-Indolo[3,2-b]quinolina (Quindolina), criptospirolepina, criptolepinas, isocriptolepina, neocriptolepina, hidroxicriptolepina, criptoheptina, biscriptolepina, criptomisrina y criptoquindolina.
 Alcaloides carbazólicos: murrayafolinas, mukonina, koenolina, 3-metilcarbazol, clausinas, 1-hidroxi-3-metilcarbazol, ácido mukoeico, glicozolina, girinimbinol, furostifolina, clauszolinas, mahanimbinol, murrastifolinas, carbazomicina, koeniginaquinonas, Carbazomadurinas

 Alcaloides quinazolínicos 
 Alcaloides quinazolínicos y pirrolo[2,1-b]quinazolinas: Vasicina, luotonina, febrifuguina, triptoquivalina.Macrorina.

 Dictioquinazoles
 Alcaloides benzodiazepínicos: Ciclopenina, viridicatina.

 Alcaloides indólicos 
 Alcaloides indólicos e isatínicos: Provienen del indol o el triptófano como las Auxinas, glucobrassinina, escatol, triptamina, serotonina, indol, indoxilo, isatina, camalexina, 5-(3’-metilbuten-2’-il)isatina, melosatinas, hipaforina, bufotenina, plakohipaforinas, bromoindoles, Indolmicina, Sinalexina, Mitomicinas, Petromindol, Brasilidinas, Dilemaonas, 5-MeO-DMT, ésteres del triptofol, 1-(2-metilbut-3-en-2-il)-1H-indol-3-carboxilato de metilo y el 1-(3,4-dihidroxi-2-metilbutan-2-il)-1H-indol-3-carboxilato de metilo.

 Alcaloides pirimidilindólicos: Meridianinas, psamopeminas, isomeridianinas

 Alcaloides pirroloindólicos: Se forman por heterociclización de la triptamina para formar 1,8-dihidropirrolo[2,3-b]índoles tales como la Quimonantina, fisostigmina, flustraminas.

 Necataronas

 Alcaloides β-carbolínicos 
β-carbolínas simples: Se forman por condensación con formaldehído, piruvato, acetaldehído, etc.

β--Carbolina, Harmano, eleagnina, harmina, harmalina, Pseudofrinaminas A, 5-Bromo-6-hidroxi-β-carbolina, pseudofrinaminol, perlolirina, borrerina, eudistominas, cantin-6-ona, infractinas, flazina, cantinonas.
Picrasidinas: Bis-β-carbolinas producidas por condensación de triptamina con adipaldehído.
Eudistominas: Grupo de alcaloides que condensan con cisteína aislados de tunicados:
Carbolinas fusionadas con antranilato: Evodiamina

Alcaloides pirrolo[4,3,2-de]quinolínicos: Indoloquinonas con ciclización intramolecular de un enlace imino que forman estructuras de pirrolo[4,3,2-de]quinolina. Ejemplos: Makaluvaminas y micearrubinas. Las sanguinonas tienen otros 2 anillos fusionados, al igual que las hetatopodinas

Infractopicrinas: Alcaloides pentacíclicos aislados de Cortinarius infracta.

 Alcaloides indólicos de Nitraria: Se forman por la condensación de un anillo hidrolizado de piperideina proveniente de la lisina (Alcaloides β-carbolinmonopiperideínicos) o con dos unidades de piperideina (Alcaloides β-carbolindipiperideínicos). Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la nazlinina, schobericina, komaroidina, las komavinas, nitrarina, nitramidina, nitraricina, nitrarizina, tangutorina, nitraraína, komarovina, komarovicina, komaroína, komarovidina, isokomarovina, nitramarina

 Alcaloides estrictosidínicos: Estrictosidina

 Alcaloides tipo camptotecina: Presentan anillos de (1H,4H,12H)-pirano[3',4':6,7]indolizino[1,2-b]quinolina como la Rubescina, camptotecina.

 Alcaloides indoloquinolizidínicos: Angustina, Deplancheína

 Alcaloide tipo Corynanthe: Geissosquizina, sitsirikina, Ocrolifuaninas, Usambarinas

 Alcaloides tipo Ajmalicina: Ajmalicina, oxayohimbano, corinanteína

 Alcaloides oxindólicos: Rincofilina, Formosanina

 Alcaloides de Gelsemium: Gelsedina, gelsemina

 Alcaloides yohimbinoides: Yohimbina, reserpina, Alstonilina, rescinamina.

 Alcaloides tipo Akuammilina: Akuammilina, equitamina, eripina, aspidodasicarpina, alstofilina, narelina,

 Alcaloides tipo sarpagina: Sarpagina, vobasina, gardneramina, ervatamina, ervitsina y koumina.Ervatamina, tabernaemontanina

 Alcaloides tipo ajmalano: Perakina, Raucaffrinolina, ajmalina

 Alcaloides tipo pleiocarpamina: Pleiocarpamina

 Alcaloides tipo cincona: Este grupo de alcaloides incluye el antimalárico quinina, y contienen un anillo de quinuclidina. Este grupo se clasifica en dos grupos:
Quinina, cinconamina
(a) el grupo de la cinconamina, derivado de un precursor tipo corinantina por fisión de N-4 al enlace C-5, y por unión de N-4 a C-17,
(b) el grupo de la quinina, el cual contiene un anillo de quinolina generado por la fusión de los enlaces 2,7 seguido de una fusión de N-1 a C-5 del cinconaminal.

 Alcaloides tipo estricnina: Se forman a partir de la akuammicina y sufren una posterior condensación aldólica con una unidad de acetil coenzima A. Algunos ejemplos son la Estricnidina, prekuamicina, brucina, estemadenina, estricnina.

 Alcaloides condilofolánicos: Condilocarpina, goniomina

 Alcaloides tipo goniomina: Goniomina

 Alcaloides secodínicos: Secodina y andranginina.

 Alcaloides ibogamínicos: Consiste en una serie de alcaloides que provienen de la fisión de la prekuamicina, en donde se forma la estemadenina y por reacción de Dielsa-Alder se forma un nuevo anillo de ibogamina.

Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son la Catarantina, coronaridina, tabernoxidina.

 Alcaloides aspidospermidínicos: El esqueleto de los alcaloides aspidospermidínicos se forma por ciclización de la deshidrosecodina, obtenida de un precursor de deshidrosecodina.P. ejemplo la eburenina.

Los alcaloides de este grupo incluyen las siguientes variantes estructurales:
(a) alcaloides anilinoacrílicos, tales como la tabersonina, el cual contiene el grupo metoxicarbonilo en el carbono 16. Los dos sustituyentes de carbono en la posición 20 pueden ser un simple grupo etilo, o pueden estar funcionalizados.

(b) alcaloides que carecen del grupo metoxicarbonilo del carbono 16, como en la aspidospermina. C-18 y C-19 pueden ser un grupo etilo o C-18, el cual puede estar funcionalizado.

(c) alcaloides que contienen un puente éter o lactona entre C-18 y C-21;
(d) alcaloides que contienen un puente éter o lactona entre C-18 y C-15;
(e) alcaloides que contienen un puente lactona entre C-18 y C-17, y un anillo de dihidro-1,4-oxazina entre N-1 y C-12, como en la obscurinervidina:

(f) alcaloides que contienen un enlace adicional entre C-18 y C-2, como en la venalstonina;

(g) alcaloides que contienen un enlace adicional entre C-19 y C-2, como en la vindolinina;

(h) el grupo de la quebrachamina, la cual es derivada de la fisión del enlace 7,21. Estos alcaloides pueden haber perdido el grupo metoxicarbonilo del C-16 como en la quebrachamina o puede conservarse, como en la vincadina. Ejemplos de estos alcaloides son kopsiyunaninas.

(i) Dímeros tales como la vinblastina, la vinorebina y la vincristina. (V. Alcaloides de la vinca)
(j) alcaloides diversos formados por una gran variedad de procesos, p. ejem. aspidodispermina, banucina, vincatina, razinilama, tricofilina, meloscina, melonina, goniomitina

 Alcaloides kopsánicos: Kopsina, Fruticosina

 Alcaloides tipo lapidilectina y lundurina.

 Alcaloides tipo pandolina: Pandolina, Cleavamina, Pandina, Iboxifilina, Ibofilidina

 Alcaloides piridocarbazólicos: Estos alcaloides se forman por la escisión de la estemadenina y por ciclización sobre el anillo de indol. Ejemplos de estos compuestos son la Olivacina, Elipticina, guatambuina, janetina

 Alcaloides tipo uleína-dasicarpidano: Ngouniensina, vallesamina, uleína

Alcaloides tipo conofilidina.

 Alcaloides de Eburna: Eburnamina, cuanzina, Equizozigina, Andrangina y Vallesamidina
El esqueleto de estos alcaloides se generan por transposición del sistema de aspidospermidina, por migración del carbono 21 desde el carbono 7 al carbono 2, fisión del enlace 2,16 y por unión de C-16 a N-1.
Estos alcaloides se pueden clasificar en:
(a) Vincamina y sus derivados, los cuales retienen el grupo metoxicarbonilo;
(b) los alcaloides como la eburnamina y la eburnamenina, el cual tiene una pérdida del grupo éster en C-22;
(c) algunos derivados en donde C-18 o C-19 son oxidados como la cuanzina;
(d) El grupo de la esquizozigina, el cual contiene un enlace adicional entre C-2 y C-18;
(e) Alcaloides relacionados andrangina y vallesamidina, en donde C-21 ha migrado a C-2.

 Alcaloides tipo manzamina

 Alcaloides del ergot y otros indolterpénicos 
 Alcaloides ergolínicos: Chanoclavinas, elimoclavina, ácido ciclopiazónico, ergocristina, ergometrina, ergoclavina, ácido clavicipítico, ácido lisérgico, ergina, agroclavina, ácido paspálico, elimoclavina, ergocornina.

 Alcaloides tipo Lolitrem: Lolitrem

 Ácido nodulispórico
 Lolicinas

 Alcaloides indolo[2,3-a]carbazólicos:

Hapalindoles: Índoles prenilados aislados de Cyanophyta.

 Alcaloides de Aristotelia: Aristotelina

 Alcaloides de Borreria: Borrecapina, borrelina, borreverina.

 Alcaloides tipo notoamina

 Dímeros del triptófano 

 Alcaloides tipo Caulerpa: Caulerpina
 Alcaloides indoloflavonoides: Lotthanongina
 Alcaloides tipo arciriaflavina y estaurosporina
 
 Peroforamidinas
 Asterriquinonas

 Alcaloides derivados de la quinurenina 
Quinurenina, Ácido xanturénico, ácido quinurénico, Orellanina

 Alcaloides fenoxazínicos: Cinabarina, ácido cinabarínico, tramesanguina, polistictina, fenoxazona, α-aminofenoxazona. Son alcaloides típicos del hongo Pycnoporus.

 Alcaloides tipo dercitina y ciclodercitina. Kuanoniaminas.

 Anhidropéptidos del triptófano 
 Anhidropéptidos del triptófano, espirodesminas, imidazoloides y almazolonas:espirodesminas, almazolonas, equinulina, brevianamidas, roquefortina, verruculógeno, oxalina, indolactamas, esporidesminas, aranotina, hamacantinas, espongotinas, topsentinas, hirtadina, tardioxopiperazinas.
 Alcaloides indolil morfolínicos: oxazininas..
 Alcaloides tipo 4-fenil-[2,7]-naftiridina: Algunos ejemplos son las lofocladinas.

 Alcaloides quetoglobosánicos 
 Quetoglobosanos y esqueletos relacionados: Alcaloides policétidos con una unidad de triptófano esterificada y modificada por una cicloadición de Diels-Alder. Incluye a las quetoglobosinas, proquetoglobosinas, isoquetoglobosinas, penocalasinas y citoglobosinas.
 Alanditripinona, Alantrifenona, Alantripineno, Alantrileunona

 Alcaloides derivados de la histidina 
 Alcaloides imidazólicos
- Alcaloides derivados de la histidina: Histamina, ácido urocánico, murexina, diftamida, ergotionina
- Alcaloides del Jaborandi: Por ejemplo la pilocarpina, dolicotelina y pilosina

 Alcaloides clatrodínicos
- Amidas tipo clatrodina

- 6,8-dihidropirimido[4,5-c]pirrolo[3,2-e]azepinas: Latonduinas
- Alcaloides tipo agelaspongina y fakelina
- Alcaloides tipo agelastatina
- Dímeros de clatrodinas:

(a) Alcaloides tipo agelamida
(b) Alcaloides tipo ageliferina
(c) Alcaloides tipo esceptrina
(d) Alcaloides tipo estilisazol
(e) Policiclos de la macrofakelina:: Por ejemplo la palauamina, la masadina, axinelamina y la estiloguanidina.

 Alcaloides derivados de los aminoácidos ramificados 
 Pirroles: Ácido tenuazónico

 Pirazinas: Ácido aspergílico, flavacol, ácido pulcherímico, ácido neoaspergílico

 Sarcodoninas

 Genalcaloides 
Los genalcaloides —u óxidos aminados de alcaloide— son derivados por oxidación de los alcaloides que contienen el grupo R=(NO)-R, donde el nitrógeno tiene valencia V, en contraposición a los alcaloides normales, donde es trivalente (R=N-R). Su acción es la misma que la del alcaloide del cual provienen, pero es más pausada. Se nombran añadiendo el prefijo gen- al nombre del alcaloide.

Algunos genoalcaloides se encuentran en la naturaleza, como la geneserina (derivado del alcaloide eserina (fisostigmina)) presente en el haba de Calabar, así como las sarcoviolinas y sarcodoninas.

 Pseudoalcaloides 

Los pseudoalcaloides son metabolitos secundarios que poseen un átomo de nitrógeno incorporado como amoniaco a una biomolécula tal como un terpeno, un policétido, un ácido graso o un derivado del ácido shikímico.

 Quimiotaxonomía 
Se han encontrado alcaloides en gimnospermas como Cycas, Pinus, Ephedra y Podocarpus. Se han aislado alcaloides de muchos sistemas vivos distintos a las plantas, como Bacterias, cnidarios, esponjas, hongos verdaderos, vertebrados y artrópodos.

 Alcaloides de bacterias y arqueas 

 Alcaloides aislados de algas y protozoarios 

 Alcaloides aislados de hongos 

{| Class = "wikitable"
| Colspan = "4" align = "center" bgcolor = "# DADADA" |Phylum Ascomycota|-
!Clase
!Orden
!Familias
!Ejemplos
|-
|Saccharomycetes
|Saccharomycetales
|Familia Saccharomycetaceae: Alcaloides indoloquinazolínicos (Kingdainona, triptantrina; Candida)
 Alcaloides pirazínicos (Ácido pulcherrímico, Candida)
|
|-
|Incerta sedis
|Incerta sedis
|Familia Pseudeurotiaceae: Espirofuropirrolonas (Pseurotinas; Pseudeurotium)
|
|-
|Dothideomycetes
|Pleosporales
|Familia Pleosporaceae: Alcaloides quinazolínicos (Crisogina; Alternaria)
 Alcaloides pirazopirroloindólicos (Esporidesminas; Alternaria)Familia Corynesporascaceae Pseudoalcaloides policétidos benzo[g]isoquinolínicos (Escorpinona; Corynespora)Familia Incerta sedis Pseudoalcaloides policétidos benzo[g]quinolínicos (Fomazarina, isofomazarina; Pyrenochaeta; Phoma)
|
|-
|Rowspan = "4"|Sordariomycetes
|Hypocreales
|Familia Clavicipitaceae: Alcaloides prenilindólicos: alcaloides tipo ergolina (Ergometrina, ácido lisérgico; Claviceps), tipo lolitrem (Neotyphodium).
 Alcaloides epoxipirrolizidínicos (Lolinas, Epichloë).
 Alcaloides pirrolopirazínicos (Peramina, Neotyphidium)
 Pseudoalcaloides piridínicos (Tenelina; Beauveria).Familia Ophiocordycipitaceae: Pseudoalcaloides policétidos benzoquinolínicos (Tolipocladina; Tolypocladium)Familia Hypocreaceae Alcaloides pirazinoides (Gliotoxina, gliocládrido, gliocladina; Gliocladium)
 Pseudoalcaloides policétidos piperidínicos (Awajanomicina; Acremonium)
|Lolitrem BLolina|-
|Sordariales
|Familia Chaetomiaceae: Alcaloides pirazoquinazolínicos (Fiscalinas; Corynascus)
 Quetoglobosinas (Chaetomium)
 Alcaloides imidazolo-α-carbolínicos (Quetomininas; Chaetomium)
|Quetoglobosina A|-
|Xylariales
|Familia Xylariaceae: Citocalasinas (Xylaria)
|Citocalasina A|-
|Magnaporthales
|Familia Magnaportaceae: Alcaloides pirrolónicos (Ácido nortenuazónico; Pyricularia)
|-
|Rowspan = "3"|Eurotiomycetes
|Chaetothyriales
|Familia Herpotrichiellaceae: Alcaloides indolilcarbazólicos (Pitiriazol; Malassezia)
 Alcaloides indolocarbazólicos (Malasseziazoles; Malassezia)
|
|-
|Eurotiales
|Familia Trichocomaceae: Anhidropéptidos pirazinoides y sus derivados (Gliotoxina, ácido aspergílico, triprostatinas, azonazina, flavacol, micelianamida, nigerazinas, nigragillina, bilaínas; Aspergillus, Penicillium)
 Alcaloides quinazolínicos (Triptoquivalinas; notoamidas, estefacidinas, ardeemina, asperlicinas, aurantina, aurantiomidas, benzomalvinas, espiroquinazolina, fumiquinazolinas, cotoquinazolina, trihistatina, quinadolinas; Aspergillus, Penicillium)
 Pseudoalcaloides policétidos tipo talarotoxina (Talaromyces)
 Alcaloides α-carbolínicos (Meleagrinas; Penicillium)
 Alcaloides pirroloindólicos (Roquefortinas, Penicillium)
 Alcaloides sesquiterpénicos con un residuo de piridina (Piripiropeno; Aspergillus)
 Maleimidas (Pencólido; Penicillium)
 Alcaloides prenilindólicos con un sistema succinimídico (Ácido ciclopiazónico; Penicillium)
 Alcaloides policíclicos indoloterpénicos (β-aflatrem; aflavinina, paspalinina, paspalina, aflavazol, penitrem, jantitrem, shearininas; Aspergillus, Penicillium)
 Indolilterpenos (Emeniveol, tiersindoles; Emericella, Penicillium)
 Pirrolonas (Variotina; Paecilomyces)
 Alcaloides 4-fenilquinolínicos Viridicatina; Penicillium)
 Alcaloides benzodiazepínicos (Ciclopenina; Penicillium)
 Penicilinas (Penicillium)
 Alcaloides tipo comunensinas (Penicillium)
 Alcaloides tipo pseurotina (Aspergillus)
 Alcaloides bisindolilquinónicos (Asterriquinonas; Aspergillus)
 Pseudoalcaloides esteroidales isoindólicos (Ergosterimida; Aspergillus)
Familia Nectriaceae:
 Alcaloides pirrolidínicos y ácidos tetrámicos (Nectrisina; Nectria, Rigidiusculamidas; Albonectria)
 Alcaloides piridínicos (Ácido fusárico; Fusarium)
 Pirroles formados por la condensación de policétidos con serina (Equisetina; Fusarium)
 Pseudoalcaloides policétidos benzo[g]isoquinolínicos (Bostricoidina; Fusarium)
 Morfolinas (Lateritina; Fusarium)
Familia Elaphomycetaceae:
 Pseudoalcaloides policétidos isoquinolínicos (Monascorubramina, rubropunctamina; Monascus)
|
Ácido aspergílico

Gliotoxina

Talarotoxina
|-
|Onygenales
|Familia Onygenaceae:
 Pseudoalcaloides policétidos con un anillo de pirrol (Rumbrina, Auxarconjugatinas; Auxarthron)
Familia Gymnoascaceae:
 Pseudoalcaloides policétidos con un anillo de pirrol (Rumbrina, Auxarconjugatinas; Gymnoascus)
 Alcaloides pirazoindólicos (Aranotina; Arachniotus)
|
|-
|Arthoniomycetes
|Arthoniales
|Familia Roccellaceae:
 Alcaloides fenoxazínicos (Orceínas; Roccella)
|
α-Aminoorceína
|-
|}

 Alcaloides aislados de plantas 
Los alcaloides están ampliamente distribuidos en el reino vegetal (25 % de las plantas contienen alcaloides) y en algunas especies su concentración puede alcanzar el 10 % (flores). En las familias Amaryllidaceae, Fabaceae, Liliaceae, Papaveraceae y Rutaceae los alcaloides tienen gran valor quimiotaxonómico. La familia Solanaceae es rica en alcaloides, pero con diferencias a nivel de género. Así, en el tabaco (Nicotiana) hay derivados de la piridina (nicotina), en Solanum (patata, berenjena, tomate) se encuentran pseudoalcaloides espirosolánicos (tomatina) y Datura, Hyoscyamus, Atropa y Scopolia contienen derivados del tropano: hiosciamina, atropina, etc.

Las pirrolizidinas se encuentran principalmente en las familias Compositae, Boraginaceae, Leguminosae y Apocynaceae. Los géneros productores de estos alcaloides están distribuidos en diferentes regiones y climas y podrían representar hasta el 3 % de las plantas con flores. Algunas contienen una sola clase de pirrolizidina, pero la mayoría contienen entre cinco y ocho clases. El contenido varía con cada especie, pero puede llegar a ser un porcentaje importante del peso seco. La mayor concentración se encuentra en las raíces y es mayor en hojas jóvenes, inflorescencias y capullos que en hojas más viejas. En algunas especies se encontraron altas concentraciones en semillas, lo que implica un riesgo en los casos en que estas semillas se utilicen para la alimentación humana. Existen N-óxidos de estos alcaloides, que son más solubles en agua y se transportan más fácilmente dentro de la planta.

{| Class = "wikitable"
| Colspan = "4" align = "center" bgcolor = "# DADADA" |Phylum Pteridophyta|-
!Clase
!Orden
!Familias
!Ejemplos
|-
|Pteridopsida
|Polypodiales
|Familia Davalliaceae:
 Alcaloides flavonopiperidínicos (Davaliósidos; Davallia'')
|
Davaliósidos
|-

Plantas angiospermas:
 Monocotyledonae (Liliopsida;Cronquist): Muchos alcaloides provenientes de monocotiledóneas tienen origen en la fenilalanina y son exclusivos de este grupo taxonómico, tales como los alcaloides fenetilisoquinolínicos y los derivados de la norbeladina.

Alcaloides aislados de animales

Véase también 
 Pseudoalcaloide

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 Lista de alcaloides importantes en qbitácora (blog).

 
Farmacología

El adeudo por domiciliación o domiciliación bancaria es un tipo de transacción u operación bancaria por la que el banco carga o adeuda un recibo en la cuenta bancaria de un cliente sin la intervención de este. El adeudo por domiciliación se define por los siguientes parámetros:
 Corresponden habitualmente a abonos por servicios o usos de carácter periódico a cargo del consumidor final.
 Son pagaderos a su presentación.
 Debe constar como domicilio de pago el Código Cuenta Cliente (CCC)- IBAN, es decir entidad, Oficina, Domiciliaria, Dígitos de control y número de cuenta, aunque la carencia de este requisito es subsanable.
 Existe autorización previa expresa por parte del titular de la cuenta de cargo para que todas las órdenes de adeudo de iguales características puedan ser imputadas en cuenta sin preaviso.
 No implica financiación o anticipo de fondos para la Entidad Receptora, ni desplazamiento de valoración.

Mediante este método se le da permiso a una empresa normalmente de servicios (agua, ayuntamiento, teléfono, gas, etc.) para que cobre automáticamente de la cuenta sin mediación de cliente. Este método también puede ser usado por un banco para ingresarse una cantidad de dinero de otro banco sin ningún coste. Una vez cobrado el adeudo, si este es menor de 3000€, se dispone de 30 días naturales + 2 hábiles para deshacer el cobro.

Aunque la regulación lo permita en algunos países, normalmente la domiciliación no conlleva gastos ni comisiones para el consumidor final, pero sí para la entidad ordenante. La entrada en vigor de la Directiva sobre la Zona Única de Pagos en Euros (Directiva 2007/64/CE de 13 de noviembre), sobre servicios de pago en el mercado interior, supone una modificación sustancial del adeudo por domiciliación, tanto en forma como en plazos.

Véase también 
 Ingreso por domiciliación
 Transferencia bancaria
 Zona Única de Pagos en Euros (SEPA)

Referencias 

Banca

El alfabeto griego (en griego clásico, τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ ɣράμματα [tà Hĕllēniká grámmata]; en griego moderno, το Eλληνικό αλφάβητο [to Ellinikó alfávito]; en latín, Alphabetum Graecum) consta de veinticuatro letras utilizado para escribir la lengua griega. Desarrollado alrededor del , a partir del alfabeto consonántico fenicio, los griegos adoptaron el primer alfabeto completo de la historia, entendiéndolo como la escritura que expresa los sonidos individuales del idioma, es decir que prácticamente a cada vocal y cada consonante corresponde un símbolo distinto.

Puesto que el alfabeto griego es el origen del abecedario latino y del alfabeto cirílico, toda la escritura europea proviene de este y comparten la forma de sus letras. Respecto al alfabeto latino, 14 de las 24 letras griegas son homóglifas en sus formas mayúsculas (11 con valor similar y 3 con distinto valor: Η, Ρ, Χ); de las 10 restantes 5 tienen equivalente latino pero una forma más angulosa: Γ, Δ, Λ, Π, Σ y otras 5 no existen en el alfabeto latino: Θ, Ξ, Φ, Ψ, Ω.

Su uso continúa hasta nuestros días, tanto como alfabeto nativo del griego moderno como un modo de crear denominaciones técnicas para las ciencias, en especial la lógica, la matemática, la química, la física, la biología, la economía, la astronomía y la informática.

Historia

Antecedentes: lineal B 

Entre los siglos  y  de la Edad del Bronce, antes de la existencia del alfabeto griego, la civilización micénica griega empleaba la escritura lineal B, que era un silabario utilizado en la isla de Creta y zonas de Grecia continental como Micenas o Pilos. Las epigrafías en lineal B están escritas en griego micénico, que parece una versión antecesora del griego arcado-chipriota. Debido a que el lineal B proviene de un silabario anterior llamado Lineal A, empleado para escribir el idioma minoico que era la lengua hablada en Creta antes de la invasión griega de la isla, no representa del todo correctamente la fonética del griego micénico. Con el colapso de la Edad del Bronce acabó esta civilización, y con ella su escritura, sumiendo Grecia en la Edad Oscura.

Alfabetos griegos arcaicos 

Se cree que el alfabeto griego deriva de una variante del fenicio, introducido en Grecia por mercaderes de esa nacionalidad. El fenicio, como los alfabetos semíticos posteriores, no empleaba signos para registrar las vocales; para salvar esta dificultad, que lo hacía incompleto para la transcripción de la lengua griega, los griegos adaptaron algunos signos utilizados en fenicio para indicar aspiración para representar las vocales. Este aporte puede considerarse fundamental; la inmensa mayoría de los alfabetos que incluyen signos vocálicos derivan de la aportación original griega. Además de las vocales, el griego añadió tres letras nuevas al final del alfabeto: fi y ji, para representar sonidos aspirados que no existían en fenicio, y psi.

Originariamente existieron variantes del alfabeto griego, siendo las más importantes la occidental (calcídica) y la oriental (jónica). La variante occidental originó el alfabeto etrusco y de este procede el alfabeto romano. La escritura se realizaba a menudo de derecha a izquierda, que era como se hacía en su antecesor fenicio, y bustrofedon, que era la alternancia de líneas de izquierda a derecha y de derecha a izquierda, de manera que se empezaba por el lado donde se había concluido la línea anterior. Según la dirección en la que se escribiese, se invertían los caracteres en el proceso.

Letras obsoletas y numeración 

Las siguientes letras no forman parte del alfabeto griego común, pero estuvieron en uso en la época antigua (siglos  y ) en algunos dialectos.

Estas letras desaparecieron del alfabeto; la digamma, que adaptaba la wau fenicia, se utilizaba solo en algunos dialectos occidentales, y desapareció antes del período clásico; la san, homófona con la sigma, fue desplazada por esta última; la qoppa, una adaptación de la qop fenicia cuyo sonido —una explosiva uvular— no existía en el griego.

En la región de Jonia se desarrolló un sistema de numeración en el que cada letra representaba un número. Las letras que dejaron de usarse en el alfabeto (digamma, san y qoppa) se conservaron en el sistema de numeración, y para completar la serie de las centenas se introdujo además la letra sampi. Estas letras se volvieron obsoletas mucho antes de que se desarrollara la forma minúscula de escritura; las formas minúsculas de digamma, qoppa, san y sampi son inferencias reconstructivas a partir de formas manuscritas en su uso para la numeración. Si bien responden a hipótesis muy robustas sobre el uso de la grafía, están solo parcialmente basadas en el uso histórico; para el valor numérico de digamma (6) era mucho más común escribir la combinación στ o la forma ligada Ϛ (llamada stigma).

Las letras digamma, qoppa, y sampi permanecieron como signos exclusivos del sistema de numeración jónico, con los valores indicados en la tabla.

Alfabeto griego clásico 
Atenas adoptó en el año 403 a.C. la variante oriental, lo que dio lugar a que poco después desaparecieran las demás formas existentes del alfabeto. Ya para esta época el griego había adoptado la escritura de izquierda a derecha.

Desarrollo post-helenístico 
Tras la época clásica el alfabeto griego evoluciona de forma y se desarrollará la escritura uncial griega. La minúscula griega fue un estilo posterior que se usó como escritura libraria en manuscritos bizantinos desde los siglos  y .

Las diferencias entre las letras griegas mayúsculas y las minúsculas obedecen a los instrumentos con los que se escribían. Originalmente las mayúsculas se esculpían con cincel y martillo sobre piedra o mármol, quedando disparejos sus rasgos; los patines que rematan sus rasgos fueron una solución práctica y estética para este problema. Por su parte, las minúsculas surgieron de la escritura manuscrita, la cual se hacía con cálamos (plumas) o pinceles, de ahí sus trazos y adornos.

Letras 
Los sonidos corresponden a la pronunciación del griego antiguo, indicada con los signos usados por el Alfabeto Fonético Internacional; bajo el epígrafe mod. Los valores numéricos corresponden al sistema de numeración jónico. Nótese que el nombre de la letra en castellano no necesariamente corresponde con el sonido que tenía la letra en griego antiguo, algo de esperar debido a la evolución independiente que las dos lenguas han tenido a lo largo de su historia.

Consonantes

Alófonos y dígrafos 

 Ya que Β, Γ y Δ representan los fonemas [v], [ɣ] y [ð]; para representar los fonemas [b], [g] y [d] se utilizan los dígrafos ΜΠ ([mb] en posición media), ΓΚ ([ŋg] en posición media) y ΝΤ ([nd] en posición media), respectivamente.
 [ʝ], [c] y [ç] son considerados alófonos de [ɣ], [k] y [x], respectivamente, ante vocales anteriores (es decir, [e] y [i]).
 Dígrafos: ΓΓ [ŋg] (si este dígrafo precede a los fonemas [e] o [i], adopta el sonido [ɲʝ]), ΡΡ [r], ΤΣ [ʦ] y ΤΖ [ʣ].

Vocales 

El fenómeno por el que un alto número de sonidos tienden en griego moderno al fonema  se denomina iotacismo. Dicha evolución ya se había completado en griego bizantino.

Los diptongos de vocales largas e [i] (ᾱι, ηι, ωι) se transformaron en monoptongos (/aː/, /ɛː/, /ɔː/) y fueron escritos como ᾳ, ῃ, ῳ.

Mayúsculas y minúsculas 

Al igual que el latín y otras escrituras alfabéticas, el griego originalmente solo tenía una forma única de cada letra, sin distinción entre mayúsculas y minúsculas. Esta distinción es una innovación de la era moderna, que se basa en diferentes líneas de desarrollo de las formas de las letras en la escritura anterior.

Las formas más antiguas de las letras son las versiones mayúsculas. Además de las formas de inscripción verticales y rectas (capiteles) que se encuentran en tallas de piedra o cerámica incisa, también se desarrollaron durante la antigüedad estilos de escritura más fluidos adaptados para la escritura a mano en materiales blandos. Esta escritura se ha conservado especialmente de los manuscritos en papiro en Egipto desde el período helenístico. La escritura antigua desarrolló dos estilos distintos: escritura uncial, con letras mayúsculas redondeadas cuidadosamente dibujadas de aproximadamente el mismo tamaño, utilizada para manuscritos literarios y religiosos cuidadosamente producidos, y escritura cursiva, utilizada para fines cotidianos. Las formas cursivas se acercaron al estilo de las letras minúsculas, con ascendentes y descendentes, así como muchas líneas de conexión y ligaduras entre letras.

En los siglos  y , las manecillas unciales de los libros fueron reemplazadas por un estilo de escritura nuevo y más compacto, con formas de letras adaptadas en parte de la cursiva anterior. Este estilo en minúscula siguió siendo la forma dominante del griego escrito a mano en la era moderna. Durante el Renacimiento, los impresores occidentales adoptaron las formas de letras minúsculas, mientras modelaban letras mayúsculas en las formas de inscripción antiguas. La práctica ortográfica de utilizar la distinción entre mayúsculas y minúsculas para marcar nombres propios, títulos, etc., se desarrolló en paralelo a la práctica en latín y otros idiomas occidentales.

Alfabeto griego en física y matemáticas 
Es común la utilización del alfabeto griego en física y matemáticas, tanto como constantes, signos y operaciones:
 
 
 

Si bien es un alfabeto griego simplificado, es aconsejable conocer la correcta tipografía y el reconocimiento de este alfabeto.

Así como el tamaño relativo de cada letra y su posición respecto al renglón:

En mayo de 2021, la Organización Mundial de la Salud anunció que las variantes del virus SARS-CoV-2 se nombrarían usando letras del alfabeto griego. La finalidad de esta decisión buscó evitar el estigma y simplificar las comunicaciones para audiencias no científicas.

Codificación digital 
Durante los primeros años de escritura con computadora era difícil escribir el alfabeto griego. Hoy en día los sistemas más usados son: el juego de caracteres ISO-8859-7, que solo permite escribir griego monotónico (adecuado para el griego moderno), y el sistema Unicode, que permite escribir griego politónico (adecuado para el griego antiguo y moderno). Hay dos rangos de caracteres Unicode para el alfabeto griego: Griego y copto (U+0370 a U+03FF) y Griego extendido (U+1F00 a U+1FFF).

Véase también 
 Alfabeto
 Idioma griego
 Romanización del griego
 Sistema monotónico
 Sistema politónico
 Transliteración del griego

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 
 
 
 
 Diccionario de la lengua española (2014), 23.ª ed. Real Academia Española (RAE), et al. dle.rae.es

Enlaces externos 

 Cómo escribir griego clásico con ordenador La página más completa con información para saber cómo escribir griego antiguo con ordenador.
 Escribir griego, latín y otras lenguas indoeuropeas.
 Tablas Unicode de caracteres Griego y copto y Griego extendido en formato.pdf.
 
 Tecleador griego
 Escribir con letras griegas

 
Idioma griego
Sistemas de escritura con norma ISO 15924
Literatura del siglo IX a. C.
Grecia en el siglo IX a. C.

Un circo es un espectáculo artístico, normalmente itinerante, que puede incluir a acróbatas, contorsionistas, equilibristas, escapistas, forzudos, hombres bala, magos, malabaristas, mimos, monociclistas, payasos, titiriteros, tragafuegos, tragasables, trapecistas, ventrílocuos y zanqueros. Es presentado en el interior de una gran carpa que cuenta con pistas y galerías de asientos para el público.

En la actualidad, los circos con animales están prohibidos en los siguientes países y territorios: Austria, Bélgica, Bolivia, Bosnia y Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Chile, Chipre, Colombia, Costa Rica, Corea del Sur, Croacia, Dinamarca, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Eslovenia, Finlandia, Grecia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungría, India, Irán, Irlanda, Israel, Italia, Letonia, Líbano, Macedonia, Malta, México, Noruega, Países Bajos, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Polonia, Portugal, Reino Unido (únicamente Escocia e Inglaterra), República Checa, China, Taiwán, Rumania, Serbia, Singapur y Suecia.

En Argentina se dio una variante de este género artístico, denominada «circo criollo», surgida entre 1840 y 1866 en los alrededores de la ciudad de Buenos Aires, y donde se difundió principalmente el género gauchesco a través de danzas y canciones.

Historia

Antigüedad 
La historia del circo se remonta al legado cultural dejado por las civilizaciones antiguas, desde el lejano oriente (China, Mongolia, India, etc.), hasta el occidente próximo (Grecia, Roma, Egipto, etc.). También las americanas pero como de costumbre son dejadas de lado por cualquier tipo de historia convencional. En estas sociedades, al menos desde milenios atrás, algunas de las actividades que hoy se relacionan con el contenido circense, como la acrobacia, el contorsionismo o el equilibrismo, tenían una utilidad altamente relacionada con la preparación de guerreros, con los rituales religiosos y con las prácticas festivas.

De acuerdo con los antropólogos Blanchard y Cheska (1986: 67), la práctica de la acrobacia se remonta a la cultura mesopotámica, con un pasado de más de 3000 años. En ese momento, según estos autores, el acróbata competía «consigo mismo, con las fuerzas de la naturaleza y con sus propios compañeros de tribu» (op. cit.: 87).

Paralelamente, en China, el «arte acrobático», o simplemente la acrobacia, «tiene una historia milenaria», superior a los 2000 años, conforme prueban hallazgos arqueológicos. Según los apuntes de David Marfil (2004), unas de las pruebas más antiguas de la existencia del circo es un grafiti encontrado en Egipto en la tumba de Ben Hassan, con fecha aproximada de 2040 a. C.

Tal y como señalan De Blas y Mateu (2000), en el antiguo oriente (3000 años atrás aprox.), los malabaristas y acróbatas ya viajaban juntos en troupes, utilizando todo tipo de objetos, tales como armas (instrumentos típicos de las artes marciales), juguetes infantiles (diábolo, bastón del diablo) y utensilios domésticos (jarrones de porcelana), que lanzaban y recibían con diferentes partes del cuerpo, por ejemplo.

Por otro lado, en Grecia, los atletas, en su búsqueda particular por demostrar gran fuerza, realizaban juegos de malabares con objetos de gran porte (en su mayoría pesados), como las ruedas de los carros, por ejemplo. En la cultura griega, y en otras del mismo período, las mujeres también «malabareaban», como se puede apreciar en algunas ánforas y jarrones griegos o en los grabados de las tumbas egipcias. Además, en otras civilizaciones antiguas, como la China y otras de la América Central y del Pacífico Sur, las mujeres también participaban de este tipo de actividades, como bien ilustra el famoso caso de las islas Tonga (en el Pacífico Sur), donde las niñas (solamente mujeres) hacían, y todavía hacen, malabarismos con grandes nueces denominadas tui tui, y donde el éxito de su acto malabarístico tiene consecuencias sociales importantes, respecto al matrimonio, a las posibilidades de ascensión social, etc. (op. cit.). Con los primeros viajes a América llegaron noticias de las costumbres aborígenes, como en el caso de los Aztecas, especializados en el antipodismo (malabares con los pies), y los Shoshoni del Sur de California, donde los malabares eran parte de los juegos de los niños, como por ejemplo en carreras de velocidad mientras manipulaban tres pelotas (op. cit.).

Con todo, fueron los romanos quienes, en la antigüedad, dieron el nombre «circo» a las actividades de entretenimiento, o mejor dicho, a los espectáculos públicos. Según el diccionario de la Real Academia Española (1992: 480), el circo era «el lugar reservado entre los romanos para algunos espectáculos, especialmente para las carreras de carros y caballos. Tenía comúnmente forma de paralelogramo prolongado, redondeado en uno de sus extremos, con gradas alrededor para los espectadores». Además de las carreras, en el circo romano los desafíos concentraban los duelos de vida y muerte entre hombres y animales.

Edad media hasta la actualidad 

Tras la decadencia de estas civilizaciones antiguas, principalmente las occidentales, las artes corporales (teatro gestual, danza, gimnasia y circo) se «eclipsaron», perdiendo su interés entre la población. Posteriormente, en la Europa de la Edad Media, las artes corporales empezaron a recobrar su espacio, volviendo poco a poco a la realidad ciudadana. Pero fue en el Renacimiento cuando los artistas circenses volvieron a tomar los pueblos y las calles de muchos países europeos, ampliando el estatus social de dicha cultura. De acuerdo con Soares (1998: 55), el circo en el Renacimiento deslocava os habitantes das vilas e cidades das rotinas binárias do trabalho e do descanso, consolidando en una práctica que rompía con el orden institucional, divergía del concepto utilitario y visaba sobre todo la "divercion", la risa descomprometida de la función educativa, buscando encantar y entretener el público. Era un arte del entretenimiento.

En este período las «troupes de saltimbanquis» ya incluían en sus espectáculos la música, el baile, los cuentos populares, las narraciones épicas y los títeres, además de las habilidades clásicas como la acrobacia y los malabares (De Blas y Mateu, 2000). En este momento imperaba una forma «libre» de exploración de las posibilidades corporales (Annie Fratellini en Unesco, 1988: 27). En muchos pueblos se llegaba a acoger a los artistas itinerantes, ofreciéndoles un lugar para presentar sus espectáculos, como atracción de los acontecimientos públicos importantes. De forma lenta, pero sólida, se pudieron formalizar itinerarios, caminos por los cuales miles de artistas solían pasar durante todo el año.

El circo contemporáneo se caracteriza por una mezcla de prácticas, de las cuales se pueden destacar la música, el teatro, la pantomima, la acrobacia, la gimnasia, etc. Se trata de un modelo artístico de circo, en el que la técnica está al servicio del arte y de la expresión.

El primer circo moderno fue inaugurado por Philip Astley en Londres, Inglaterra, el 9 de enero de 1768.

Maltrato animal
Históricamente, se ha utilizado una variedad de animales en los actos. Si bien los tipos de animales utilizados varían de un circo a otro, los grandes felinos (leones , tigres y leopardos ) , zorros , lobos , hurones , visones , comadrejas , camellos , llamas , elefantes , jirafas, cebras , caballos , burros , pájaros ( como loros , palomas y cacatúas ),los leones marinos , osos pardos, chimpancés,  monos y animales domésticos como gatos y perros son los más comunes.

La primera participación de animales en el circo fue solo la exhibición de criaturas exóticas en una colección de animales salvajes . Desde principios del siglo XVIII, los animales exóticos fueron transportados a América del Norte para exhibirlos, y las casas de fieras eran una forma popular de entretenimiento. [44] Los primeros actos de animales verdaderos en el circo fueron actos ecuestres. Pronto también se exhibieron elefantes y grandes felinos. Isaac A. Van Amburgh entró en una jaula con varios grandes felinos en 1833 y, en general, se le considera el primer entrenador de animales salvajes en la historia del circo estadounidense. [30] Mabel Stark fue una famosa domadora de tigre

Controversia 

Las deformaciones o condiciones especiales en animales o en humanos eran parte de un espectáculo mórbido al que, peyorativamente, se refería como "show de fenómenos" (freak show, en inglés). Un caso famoso fue el del «Hombre elefante» (Joseph Merrick; 1862-1890). Aunque vetados en muchas partes del mundo, en algunas otras estos espectáculos continúan de forma separada y paralela a algunas ferias o carnavales.

Respecto a los derechos de los animales, son numerosas las ONG de defensa de los derechos de los animales, ciudadanos y colectivos sensibilizados en el tema, como el de veganos que no solo critican duramente el trato que se le da a los animales que son empleados en algunos circos, sino que desaprueban el hecho de sacar a los animales de su hábitat natural contra su voluntad, encerrarlos y usarlos como objetos para entretener. Por ello, hacen campaña para pedir a la gente que no vaya a circos en los que se haga uso de animales. En España, dicha polémica cobró protagonismo al denunciarse el estado de los animales en el circo del domador Ángel Cristo.

También se denuncia que conductas que en muchos circos se ven habitualmente, como los animales enjaulados que no paran de dar vueltas o los elefantes que mueven la cabeza de lado a lado continuamente, son muestras de los trastornos psicológicos acarreados a estos animales por la vida en el circo. Por ello, en algunos países se ha prohibido el uso de determinadas especies, como en la India, donde en 2009 se prohibió el uso de elefantes tanto en circos como en zoológicos, o en otros, como Canadá, Suecia, Dinamarca, Bolivia y México, además de en diversas ciudades de otros estados, donde está prohibido el uso de cualquier animal en los circos.

En México, en los últimos años ha permeado en sectores de las sociedades urbanas una nueva concepción del lugar que ocupan los animales en su relación con el ser humano. Movimientos y organizaciones no gubernamentales pro animales, así como los “eco filósofos”, han recuperado parte de la visión de las comunidades campesinas sobre la importancias de la preservación de todas las especies en su espacio natural. Así, intentan revertir la posición de superioridad del ser humano frente a todas las especies, lo que ha llevado, incluso, a utilizarlos para el simple regocijo y entretenimiento, dejando de lado las necesidades de los propios animales.

Es por esto que recientemente se promulgaron nuevas leyes y se realizaron adecuaciones a las ya existentes, que prohíben, bajo penas fuertes, la crueldad y el maltrato hacia los animales. Una de las reformas con más repercusión fue la Ley General de Vida Silvestre.

Reformas a la Ley General de Vida Silvestre

"En diciembre de 2014, la Cámara de Diputados de México aprobó la reforma a la Ley General de Vida Silvestre, la cual prohíbe el uso de animales silvestres, tales como felinos, elefantes o primates, en espectáculos en todo el país, particularmente en circos". "La reforma modifica algunos artículos de las leyes generales de Equilibrio Ecológico y la Protección al Ambiente y de Vida Silvestre para establecer expresamente la prohibición de que los circos usen animales silvestres".

La Ley General de Vida Silvestre contempla que:
 El artículo 78 es el que establece la prohibición para que los circos usen animales en sus espectáculos.
 La fracción XXIV del Artículo 122 considera como infracción la realización de actos que contravengan las disposiciones de conservación de vida silvestre fuera de su hábitat natural establecidas en la ley.
 El artículo 127 plantea que quien cometa dicha infracción se hará acreedor a una multa de 50 a 50 mil veces el salario mínimo, lo que equivale actualmente a entre tres mil 364 pesos y hasta tres millones 364 mil.

El 8 de julio de 2015 dicha reforma entró en vigor, obligando a los dueños de los circos a reubicar a los animales usados en los espectáculos. Esto significó un problema adicional: la nueva ley no contemplaba la creación de refugios para los animales ya presentes en los circos, ni obligaba a las instituciones gubernamentales a protegerlos. A partir de las críticas surgidas en medios de comunicación, el gobierno dio respuestas parciales e insuficientes, a decir de las organizaciones. El precio de venta puesto a los animales y la gran cantidad de ejemplares explotados rebasaron la capacidad de santuarios y zoológicos para protegerlos.

Festivales de circo y premiaciones 

Chile
 Festival de Circo Chileno: Sindicato de artistas circenses crea la primera versión de la entrega de premios a los artistas Chilenos, así con ella reconociendo a los valuartes que tiene el Circo en Chile. Este evento pretende llevarse a cabo todos los años en un gran evento.

España
 Festival Internacional de Circo de Albacete, se celebra anualmente en la ciudad de Albacete desde 2008.
 FIRCO: Festival Iberoamericano de Circo, se celebra anualmente en el Teatro Circo Price de Madrid desde el año 2018.
 Feria de Circo Trapezi: Festival de Circo Internacional que se celebra anualmente durante el mes de mayo desde el año 1997 en Barcelona.

Argentina

En mayo de 2014 se celebró la sexta edición de Buenos Aires Polo Circo. Dicho evento se celebra a través de diversas funciones y espectáculos, realizados por compañías nacionales e internacionales del arte circense. Dicho evento tiene su sede en Combate de Los Pozos y Av. Juan de Garay, Distrito Federal, Buenos Aires. A su vez se realizan funciones en diferentes plazas, centros culturales, teatros, museos y escenarios montados en la ciudad porteña. Durante dicho evento se realizan también talleres, charlas y capacitaciones a cargo de diversos formadores nacionales e internacionales.

Lista de artes circenses 

 Acróbata.
 Anillas.
 Aro.
 Balancín.
 Báscula.
 Contorsionismo.
 Cama elástica.
 Cuerda floja.
 Cuadro aéreo.
 Domador.
 Bastón.
 Diábolo.
 Domadores
 Ecuestre.
 Equilibrismo.
 Escapismo.
 Forzudos.
 Funambulismo.
 Globo de la muerte
 Hombre bala.
 Magia.
 Malabarismo.
 Mentalismo.
 Mimo.
 Monociclo.
 Payaso.
 Péndulo de la muerte.
 Rola Bola.
 Swing.
 Tela acrobática.
 Titiritero.
 Torsión de globos.
 Tragafuegos.
 Trapecista.
 Tragasables.
 Ventriloquía.
 Volatinero.
 Zancos.

Véase también 

 Carpas (teatro).
 Freak show.
 Espectáculo de variedades.
 Vodevil.

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

 "El Teatro-Circo en España", por Genís Matabosch i Eiximenis (marzo-abril de 2009). Consultado en julio de 2014
 Malabart: revista digital de circo.
 Zirkolika: revista de las artes circenses.
 Igualdadanimal.org; sitio web crítico con el uso de animales en circos
 Para Todos La 2 - El Circo disponible en RTVE play.
 El Circo: un espectáculo del mundo, publicado por la Unesco.
 Colección digital fotografías de circo disponible en la Biblioteca Nacional de España.

Año bisiesto es una expresión que deriva del latín "bis sextus dies ante calendas martii" ("repetido el sexto día antes del primer día del mes de marzo"), que correspondía a un día extra intercalado entre el 23 y el 24 de febrero por Julio César.

El 24 de febrero era el sexto día antes de las calendas (primer día del mes) de marzo. Los romanos no contaban los días del mes del 1 al 31, sino que tomaban tres fechas de referencia: "calendas", "nonas" e "idus" (véase calendario romano). Para contar se incluía el día de referencia (en este caso, el 1 de marzo).

En el calendario gregoriano, que es el que se emplea en la actualidad, y que fue instaurado por el papa Gregorio XIII a partir de 1582, este día extra se situó al final del mes de febrero 29 de febrero.

Razón y definición del año bisiesto 
Se añade para corregir el desfase que existe entre la duración del año trópico: 365 días 5 h 48 min 45,10 s (365,242189 días) y el año calendario de 365 días. Esto requiere que cada cuatro años se corrija el año calendario por una acumulación no contabilizada de aproximadamente 1/4 de día por año que equivale a un día extra.

En el calendario juliano se consideraban bisiestos los años divisibles entre cuatro, resultando años de 365,25 días. Esto supone un adelanto de unos 11,25 minutos por año respecto al año trópico. Puede no parecer mucho, pero solo en 500 años supondría un desfase de casi cuatro días. Se hacía necesario acortar el año, y así el calendario gregoriano establece:

Es decir, se determinan dos grupos de años: los no seculares y los seculares. Los primeros han de ser múltiplos de 4, mientras que los segundos habrán de serlo de 400. De esta manera se eliminan como bisiestos a 3 de cada 4 años seculares. De esta forma, los años 1800 y 1900 pese a ser divisibles por 4, no lo son por 400, por lo que fueron años comunes. Por su parte, el año 2000 es divisible tanto por 4 como por 400, por lo tanto sí fue un año bisiesto.

El ciclo juliano de 4 años da paso a uno gregoriano de 400 en el que hay 97 bisiestos y 303 comunes, resultando años de 365,2425 días. La diferencia con el año trópico queda ahora reducida a menos de medio minuto por año (26,9 segundos aproximadamente).

Origen del año bisiesto

Calendario egipcio y romano 
Transcurría el año 49 a. C., cuando Julio César llegó a Egipto. Hasta entonces el calendario romano cargaba con siglos de desfases debido a su imprecisión. Entre otras cosas, Julio encontró un excelente calendario en las tierras de la faraona egipcia Cleopatra. Fue entonces cuando delegó a Sosígenes de Alejandría, astrónomo, matemático y filósofo, la tarea de diseñar un nuevo calendario a la altura y exactitud que el imperio necesitaba. Sosígenes entregó a César su calendario entre el 48 y el 46 a. C., basado principalmente en el calendario egipcio, pero conservando los nombres de los meses romanos. Este calendario poseía una duración de 365 días y un día adicional inicialmente cada cuatro años, para compensar un desfase natural producido por la revolución no sincrónica de la Tierra en torno al Sol.

La compensación de los desfases que tenía acumulados el calendario romano obligó a que el año 46 a. C. se convirtiera en el año más largo de la historia, con 445 días de duración para compensar e iniciar nuevamente de cero. A este inusual año se le llamó "año juliano" o el "año de la confusión".

Ya los egipcios sabían que cada cuatro años la salida helíaca de la estrella Sothis (Sirius) se retrasaba un día, dando inicio al año nuevo. Sin embargo, doscientos años antes, en el concilio de Cánope, cuando pudieron hacer la reforma, los egipcios no la hicieron debido a pugnas entre las castas sacerdotales y la clase política.

Aproximadamente seis siglos antes, el rey Numa Pompilio había agregado los meses de januarius y februarius al ya maltratado año romano, y fue a este último, a februarius, al que se sumó el día adicional. Los romanos solían llamar calendas (o kalendas) al primer día de cada mes y contaban hacia atrás los días que hacían falta. El día primero de marzo se llamaba "calendas de marzo" o kalendas martias. En el calendario gregoriano, utilizado actualmente, el 28 de febrero sería el día anterior (el segundo día antes, con el cómputo inclusivo, a las calendas de marzo y el 27 de febrero sería el tercer día antes de estas calendas (téngase en cuenta que hay que contar tanto las calendas como el propio día, pues los romanos y los judíos practicaban el cómputo inclusivo de los días) y así sucesivamente, de modo que el 24 de febrero sería el sexto día antes de las calendas de marzo (ante diem sextum kalendas martias). La reforma de Julio César añadió un día tras el 24 de febrero el ante diem bis sextum kalendas martias. Con el tiempo continuó llamándose Bi-sextum o bisiesto, aunque se añadiera el día extra tras el último día de febrero.

Este calendario fue oficial en Roma durante los siguientes siglos, incluso en el Concilio de Nicea I se advirtió que había un error de Sosígenes, pero no hicieron nada por corregirlo, hasta 1582, cuando se adoptó el calendario gregoriano.

Reforma gregoriana 

El papa Gregorio XIII, asesorado por el astrónomo jesuita Christopher Clavius, el 24 de febrero de 1582 promulgó la bula Inter Gravissimas, en la que establecía que tras el jueves 4 de octubre de 1582 seguiría el viernes 15 de octubre de 1582.

Con la eliminación de estos diez días desapareció el desfase con el año solar. Para que no volviera a ocurrir, en el nuevo calendario se eliminaron tres años bisiestos cada cuatro siglos. Con lo anterior, el 4 de octubre de 1582 fue el último día del calendario juliano y el 15 de octubre de 1582 constituyó el primer día del calendario gregoriano. Por tal razón no existieron las fechas del 5 al 14 de octubre de dicho año.

Si se usan métodos actuales, el cálculo de fechas anteriores al 15 de octubre de 1582 siempre será erróneo, ya que se deben utilizar exclusivamente en retrospectiva hasta esta fecha y cambiar a cálculo de fechas julianas a partir del 4 de octubre de 1582, sin olvidar estos 10 días inexistentes.

Algoritmo computacional 
Un año es bisiesto si es:
 Divisible entre 4.
 No divisible entre 100.
 Divisible entre 400. (2000 y 2400 son bisiestos pues aún siendo divisibles entre 100 lo son también entre 400. Pero los años 1900, 2100, 2200 y 2300 no lo son porque solo son divisibles entre 100).

Desde un enfoque algorítmico, se consideran las proposiciones o enunciados lógicos siguientes:
 p: Es divisible entre 4
 q: Es divisible entre 100 (¬q entonces significa no divisible entre 100)
 r: Es divisible entre 400
Entonces se utiliza la fórmula lógica  para establecer si un año dado es bisiesto: es bisiesto si es divisible entre cuatro y (no es divisible entre 100 o es divisible entre 400).

Comienzo de cada mes

En los años bisiestos, los meses que empiezan en el mismo día de la semana son:
 Enero, abril y julio
 Febrero y agosto
 Marzo y noviembre
 Septiembre y diciembre

Calendarios 
 Año bisiesto comenzado en lunes
 Año bisiesto comenzado en martes
 Año bisiesto comenzado en miércoles
 Año bisiesto comenzado en jueves
 Año bisiesto comenzado en viernes
 Año bisiesto comenzado en sábado
 Año bisiesto comenzado en domingo

Véase también 
 30 de febrero

Notas

Referencias

Bibliografía

Enlaces externos 
 Búsqueda de años bisiestos
 Algoritmo en C++ para determinar si un año es bisiesto 
 El 30 de febrero, el día que solo existió una vez en la historia

Calendarios
Año bisiesto
Fechas irregulares o ficticias

América es el segundo continente más grande de la Tierra, después de Asia. Ocupa gran parte del hemisferio occidental del planeta. Se extiende desde el océano Ártico por el norte hasta las islas Diego Ramírez por el sur, en la confluencia de los océanos Atlántico y Pacífico, los cuales a su vez delimitan al continente por el este y el oeste, respectivamente.

Con una superficie de más de 43316000km², es la segunda masa de tierra más grande del globo (la primera es la parte no insular de Eurafrasia), cubriendo el 8% de la superficie total del planeta y el 28.4% de la tierra emergida, y además concentrando cerca del 12.5% de la población humana. Las mayores aglomeraciones urbanas de América son Ciudad de México, Nueva York, São Paulo, Los Ángeles, Río de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Lima y Bogotá.

Debido a su gran tamaño y sus características geográficas, en algunas culturas, América se divide tradicionalmente en América del Norte, América Central, y América del Sur. Algunos geógrafos consideran a América Central como una subregión dentro de América del Norte. Atendiendo a sus características culturales, se distinguen América Anglosajona y América Latina.

América fue poblada desde el Asia oriental y evolucionó durante miles de años sin tener contacto con otros continentes, estableciéndose diversas culturas a lo largo de todo su territorio y generando sus propias revoluciones neolíticas. A partir de la llegada de los españoles en 1492, el continente estableció un intercambio social y ecológico significativo con Eurafrasia.

Toponimia 

Generalmente se acepta que el nombre deriva del navegante y cosmógrafo florentino Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512), para referirse a las costas de la actual Sudamérica, consideradas como un Nuevo Mundo desconocido por los antiguos. Vespucio, navegante de origen florentino que realizó algún viaje al servicio de España, fue probablemente el primer europeo en sugerir que esas tierras eran en realidad un continente nuevo y no parte de Asia como pensaba Cristóbal Colón. Con el tiempo, este topónimo se aplicó al resto del continente.

La primera vez que se utilizó el nombre «América» en Europa para designar las tierras a las que llegó Colón fue en un tratado titulado Cosmographiae Introductio, redactado por Mathias Ringmann y otros para acompañar al planisferio mural Universalis Cosmographia, dibujado por el cartógrafo alemán Martín Waldseemüller en Saint-Dié-des-Vosges (noreste de Francia), en dicho mapa el nombre «América» aparecía sobre América del Sur, todavía separada de América del Norte por un estrecho paso interoceánico. El continente aparecía rodeado por el mar y perfectamente diferenciado de Asia, con banderas castellanas y leyendas que indicaban que aquellas tierras habían sido descubiertas per mandatum regis Castelle. En el texto se corregían las concepciones ptolemaicas incorporando los descubrimientos de españoles y portugueses, y titulaba al nuevo continente América en honor a Américo Vespucio a quien tanto el tratado como el mapa atribuían el descubrimiento. Siguiendo la línea de los otros continentes con nombre femenino, se latinizó el nombre del explorador y se feminizó, resultando América.
Gracias al desarrollo de la imprenta, las denominaciones de Waldseemüller se divulgaron rápidamente en los círculos científicos de Europa.

Para referirse a las islas y toda la masa continental del hemisferio occidental, el geógrafo de origen flamenco Gerardus Mercator usó la misma palabra América por primera vez en sus trabajos cartográficos con un mapa del mundo editado en el año 1538. Por otro lado, la Monarquía Española denominó jurídicamente a sus posesiones americanas como Reinos castellanos de Indias. La Corona británica las llamó Indias Occidentales.

Etimología de Américo 
En cuanto al nombre Américo, en italiano Amerigo, es una variante del nombre germánico Emmerich, de etimología incierta. Su segundo lexema ric, «poder», es común a otros nombres y no plantea dudas: El primer elemento puede ser ermen «entero», en este caso sería una forma de Ermenrico, «el poderoso» o bien, amal «trabajo», una variante de Amalarico, «poderoso en su trabajo» o, incluso heim, «hogar», «patria», en cuyo caso es otra forma del nombre Enrique, «el jefe del hogar» (o «de la patria»).

Otras hipótesis 
Se han propuesto otros orígenes para el nombre América, pero carecen de evidencia y resultan improbables desde el punto de vista histórico o filológico.

Las dos hipótesis más difundidas son que el nombre proviene de un mercader de Bristol, Richard Ap Meryk, o Amerike, es decir «el hijo de Meurig», quien habría financiado el viaje de Juan Caboto, a Terranova en 1497 o de una región llamada Amerrique, originalmente Amerristiquiqque «lugar de viento» en la lengua mayense de la región, ubicada en el interior de la actual Nicaragua, la cual poseía grandes recursos de oro que habrían descubierto tanto Colón como Américo Vespucio, y que incluso este último habría cambiado su nombre en honor a dicha zona ya que dicho nombre no figura en ningún registro antes del año 1500.

La creencia de que Richard Amerike fue uno de los principales financiadores del viaje de Caboto se difundió desde finales del , sin embargo no existe ninguna evidencia en tal sentido. Por el contrario, la investigación actual no posee un solo dato que lo relacione con el viaje o el barco de Caboto.

En cuanto al nombre Amerrisque, parece ser posterior al mapa de Waldseemüller, no habiendo registro del mismo hasta el .

Nombre indígena 
Los indígenas americanos carecieron de un nombre para el continente, modernamente se han reivindicado antiguos nombres nativos como denominaciones autóctonas, entre ellos el mencionado Amerrisque en lengua quiché Abya Yala, usado por la etnia Kuna y Cem Ānáhuac por los aztecas.

En otros idiomas 

Desde el  en la literatura y la prensa de habla inglesa, comenzó a ser usado para designar a las Trece Colonias británicas de América y, desde 1776, a los Estados Unidos de América. En inglés es frecuente distinguir entre America, la mencionada nación estadounidense, y Americas (plural) el continente en su conjunto. Este uso incorrecto se ha difundido desde el  a otras lenguas e incluso a publicaciones en español.

La ASALE, en su «Diccionario panhispánico de dudas», recomienda evitar el uso de «americano» como sinónimo de «estadounidense».

Historia 

Hasta las últimas décadas predominaba la teoría del poblamiento tardío que sostiene que el ser humano llegó a América desde Siberia hace unos 12-14 mil años ingresando a través del Puente de Beringia durante las glaciaciones wurmienses. Sin embargo, más recientemente científicos de distintas áreas han cuestionado cada vez con mayores evidencias la teoría anterior dando forma a una nueva teoría del poblamiento temprano que sostiene no solo un poblamiento muy anterior (probablemente entre 20000 y 50000 añosa.C.), sino la utilización de otras rutas alternativas a Beringia para ingresar desde Siberia, Mongolia e incluso otros lugares de origen.

En América se produjeron dos revoluciones neolíticas independientes de las sucedidas en África y Asia; una en Mesoamérica alrededor del año 8000a.C., y otra en la región andina de Sudamérica en el 3500a.C. Entre el 4000 y el 3000a.C. se formaron los grandes grupos lingüísticos indoamericanos.

En América se desarrollaron importantes civilizaciones, como Caral (la civilización más antigua de América, la cual se desarrolló en la zona central de Perú), los anasazi, los indios pueblo, quimbaya, nazca, chimú, chavín, paracas, moche, huari, lima, zapoteca, mixteca, totonaca, tolteca, olmeca y chibcha, y las avanzadas civilizaciones correspondientes a los imperios de Teotihuacán, Tiahuanaco, maya, azteca e inca, entre muchos otros.

Existen constancias de la llegada y asentamiento de la cultura vikinga en L'Anse aux Meadows, en la actual Terranova alrededor del año 1000. Fue la primera proveniente del actual territorio europeo, aunque existen teorías que sostienen presencia anterior. Erik el Rojo habría establecido las primeras colonias en Groenlandia en el año 985.

A partir de la llegada de Cristóbal Colón, la introducción de nuevas enfermedades como la viruela produjo una catástrofe demográfica que algunos investigadores estiman hasta en la muerte de un 93% de la población. En ese marco, algunos imperios europeos conquistaron y colonizaron una parte del continente ocupada por culturas y civilizaciones ya asentadas. España derrotó a las grandes civilizaciones Azteca e Inca y estableció su Imperio a lo largo de toda la costa del Pacífico y la cuenca del Río de la Plata, mientras Portugal colonizaría la franja costera de lo que hoy es Brasil. Francia estableció algunas colonias en la franja costera atlántica desde la actual Canadá hasta el norte de Brasil. El Reino Unido se estableció en la costa oriental de Norteamérica y en algunos sectores de la costa caribeña. Países Bajos y Dinamarca establecieron colonias en pequeñas islas del Caribe y Rusia finalmente conquistó la zona de Alaska. Los jesuitas organizaron en la región del Alto Paraná una red de misiones-ciudades, habitadas exclusivamente por sacerdotes e indígenas guaraníes con uso exclusivo del idioma guaraní, de gran autonomía, que fueron consideradas como un Estado dentro del Imperio Español.

Hay que señalar también que la conquista europea fue rechazada en diversas partes del continente. Varios pueblos originarios resistieron exitosamente las invasiones europeas sobre vastos territorios, y mantuvieron el dominio sobre ellos hasta fines del . La Araucanía, la Patagonia, la llanura pampeana, el Mato Grosso, la región Amazónica y las grandes praderas del oeste norteamericano, permanecieron bajo el dominio de naciones como la Mapuche, Uros, Het, Ranquel, Wichí, qom, amazónicos, algonquinos, Hopi, Comanche, Inuit, etc.

Las enfermedades introducidas por los europeos, como la viruela, causaron la mortandad masiva de las poblaciones originarias y un colapso demográfico que según algunos investigadores superó el 90% de la población total.

También se instalaron en América del Sur repúblicas de pueblos de origen africano que lograron huir de la esclavitud a la que habían sido reducidos por los portugueses, como el Quilombo de los Palmares o el Quilombo de Macaco.

Después de tres siglos de dominio colonial, los pueblos americanos comenzaron a declarar su independencia reclamando su derecho para organizarse como estados nacionales, enfrentando militarmente a las potencias europeas, abriendo de ese modo el proceso mundial de descolonización. Las primeras en hacerlo fueron las Trece Colonias británicas mediante la Revolución estadounidense que dio origen a los Estados Unidos de América, en 1776, organizando un nuevo tipo de sociedad a partir de conceptos políticos novedosos como independencia, constitución, federalismo y derechos del Hombre.

En 1804, los esclavos de origen africano de Haití se sublevaron contra los colonos franceses, declarando la independencia de este país y creando el primer estado moderno con gobernantes afroamericanos.

A partir de 1809, los pueblos bajo dominio de España llevaron adelante una Guerra de Independencia Hispanoamericana, de alcance continental, que llevó, después de complejos procesos, al surgimiento de varias naciones: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panamá, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay y Venezuela. En 1844 y 1898 el proceso se completaría con la independencia de República Dominicana y Cuba, respectivamente.

En 1816, se conformó un enorme estado independiente sudamericano, denominado Gran Colombia, y que abarcó los territorios de los actuales Panamá, Colombia, Venezuela y Ecuador y zonas de Brasil, Costa Rica, Guyana, Honduras, Nicaragua y Perú. La República se disolvió en 1830.

En 1822, Brasil se organizó como monarquía independiente, el Imperio del Brasil, al disolverse el Reino Unido de Portugal, Brasil y Algarve, hasta 1889 cuando la monarquía fue abolida para establecer una república. Por su parte, Estados Unidos y Gran Bretaña negociaron en 1867 un proceso de independencia con restricciones para Canadá, que se fue consolidando durante el .

En la segunda mitad del , debido a la presión del proceso de descolonización impulsado por las Naciones Unidas, varios pueblos del Caribe obtuvieron su independencia de Gran Bretaña: Belice, Antigua y Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Granada, Jamaica, San Cristóbal y Nieves, San Vicente y las Granadinas, Santa Lucía, Trinidad y Tobago. Simultáneamente, se independizaron Surinam de los Países Bajos y Guyana del Reino Unido. En la actualidad, aún existen varios pueblos y territorios bajo dominio colonial británico, francés, neerlandés y danés.

Tras su emancipación los países de América han seguido un desarrollo dispar entre sí. Durante el , Estados Unidos se afianzó como una potencia de carácter mundial y reemplazó a Europa como poder dominante en la región.

El  vio incrementarse la diferencia en el desarrollo de Norteamérica con respecto al resto del continente. Así, mientras Estados Unidos se convirtió en superpotencia mundial desde mediados de siglo, América Latina y el Caribe se conformó como la región con mayor desigualdad social del mundo, incluyendo países, como Haití o Bolivia, que registran índices de desarrollo que se encuentran entre los más bajos del planeta.

Entre los acontecimientos políticos más importantes de la historia contemporánea de América se encuentran la Revolución Mexicana (1910-1917), la Guerra Fría (1945-1991) que opuso frontalmente a Estados Unidos y la Unión Soviética y llevó a una sucesión de dictaduras en América Latina, y la Revolución Cubana (1959). En las décadas de 1960 y 1970 la aparición del rock and roll, como resultado de la fusión de culturas afroamericanas y su difusión mundial, y de movimientos juveniles radicales, llevaron a un profundo cambio cultural. A partir de la década de 1980 la concentración de empresas y universidades y las innovaciones tecnológicas producidas en el Silicon Valley en California, convirtió a la región en eje de la Sociedad de la Información.

Desde fines del , los países de América buscaron conformar un sistema de unidad panamericana resultando en la creación de la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) en 1948. Por otra parte, desde fines del , los países de América han intensificado esfuerzos para integrarse subregionalmente en diversas instancias como la UNASUR, el Mercosur (Mercado Común del Sur), la Comunidad Andina de Naciones (CAN), el Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América-Tratado de Comercio de los Pueblos (ALBA), el Caricom (Comunidad Caribeña) y el Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (TLCAN).

Geografía física 

El continente americano corresponde a la segunda masa de tierra más grande del planeta, después de Eurasia. Tiene una extensión aproximada de 42978000km². Se extiende de norte a sur desde el cabo Columbia (87°N, Canadá) en el océano Glacial Ártico hasta las islas Diego Ramírez (57°S, Chile), ubicadas en el paso de Drake que separa al continente americano de la Antártida. Su punto más oriental corresponde a la Punta de Seixas en Brasil (34°W) mientras que el más occidental corresponde a la islas comendador bering en las islas Aleutianas (178°E), junto al estrecho de Bering que separa a Alaska del continente asiático.

Está compuesta por tres subcontinentes: América del Norte, América Central y América del Sur y un arco insular conocido como las Antillas. De acuerdo a las teorías de la deriva continental y de tectónica de placas, lo que sería América del Norte y América del Sur habrían permanecido durante millones de años separadas. Después de la división de Gondwana y Laurasia ambos subcontinentes habrían viajado hasta sus actuales posiciones quedando unidos por Centroamérica, un puente de tierra surgido entre ellos por acción de las placas tectónicas, que fuera primero un arco insular y más tarde se convirtiera en tierra continua. El punto más delgado de esta unión lo constituye el istmo de Panamá, formado hace tres millones de años. Otro arco insular, las Antillas, constituyen una segunda conexión entre los subcontinentes.

Relieve 

En el territorio americano, las placas de la corteza terrestre (Norteamericana, del Caribe y Sudamericana) en su desplazamiento desde el centro del atlántico hacia el oeste, forman el cordón montañoso del borde occidental de América producto del proceso de subducción de la placa del Pacífico. Está compuesta básicamente por una serie de altas cordilleras en la costa occidental (principalmente las Montañas Rocosas, la Sierra Madre Occidental y los Andes, todas parte del Cinturón de fuego) producto del choque de las placas continentales con la oceánica y llanuras en las zonas orientales donde se ubican las dos cuencas fluviales más grandes del mundo: la del río Misisipi en Norteamérica y la del río Amazonas en Sudamérica.

La costa, aunque en gran parte es regular, presenta tramos desmembrados principalmente en sus extremos dando origen a las islas del Ártico canadiense y Groenlandia en el norte, y Chile y Tierra del Fuego en la zona austral. Otros grupos de islas importantes corresponden a las islas Aleutianas en el extremo noroccidental, las Antillas en el mar Caribe, las islas Galápagos en medio del océano Pacífico y las islas Malvinas en el Atlántico Sur.

Aparte del macizo brasileño y el escudo guayanés, el macizo montañoso, separado de una franja de relieve montañoso como es la cordillera de los Andes, el complejo montañoso de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta es considerado el macizo montañoso más grande del mundo ubicado cerca de un litoral costero, el cual se eleva abruptamente desde las costas del mar Caribe hasta alcanzar una altura de 5.775 metros en sus picos nevados, ubicados a tan solo 42 kilómetros de este.

Hidrografía 

La mayoría de los ríos de América discurren de los sistemas montañosos de occidente y se distribuyen en las vertientes de los océanos Glacial Ártico, océano Atlántico y Pacífico. En la vertiente del Atlántico fluyen los ríos más largos formando importantes cuencas que favorecen en todas las maneras a los habitantes de esas zonas.

En América del Norte se pueden identificar ríos de las tres vertientes existentes: el río Mackenzie que desemboca en la vertiente ártica, los ríos Yukón, Colorado y Columbia son los ríos más largos de la vertiente del océano Pacífico, mientras en la vertiente del Atlántico destacan el río Bravo del Norte, el sistema Misisipi-Misuri y el río San Lorenzo. De todos ellos destaca el Misisipi por ser el más largo y con la cuenca más grande en esta zona del continente, siendo el principal río de los Estados Unidos. En los lagos, sobresalen los de la región de los Grandes Lagos donde se encuentran los lagos Superior, Hurón, Míchigan, Ontario y Eire. Todos los lagos anteriores comparten un sistema lacustre de origen glacial, cuyas aguas se acumulan principalmente debido a los deshielos invernales. Estos lagos están comunicados por ríos, canales y esclusas, desembocando en el Atlántico a través del río San Lorenzo.

En América Central, los ríos son cortos y corresponden principalmente a la vertiente atlántica. Estos ríos cumplen varias funciones, sirviendo incluso como fronteras; tal es el caso de los ríos Segovia o Coco (entre Honduras y Nicaragua), el río Lempa (Guatemala, El Salvador y Honduras) y el río San Juan (entre Costa Rica y Nicaragua). En esta zona, los lagos también son de menor extensión, destacando los lagos Nicaragua, Managua y Gatún, este último, construido por el hombre, ubicado en el Canal de Panamá, al cual le proporciona el agua necesaria para que los barcos salven las diferencias de nivel.

Ya en América del Sur, reaparece la vertiente del Pacífico, aun cuando los ríos de la vertiente del Atlántico son más largos e importantes. Destacan en la parte sur del continente los ríos Orinoco, el sistema Paraná-Río de la Plata y el Amazonas. El río Amazonas es el río más caudaloso y más largo del mundo, y forma la cuenca hidrográfica más grande del planeta. Dentro de los lagos más importantes de América del Sur se cuenta con el lago de Maracaibo, el Titicaca, el Poopó y el Buenos Aires/General Carrera.

Las Cataratas del Iguazú constituyen el sistema de cataratas más grande del mundo. El 80% de los saltos, incluida la Garganta del Diablo, se encuentran en territorio argentino. El 20% restante pertenece a Brasil.

El acuífero guaraní es la reserva de agua subterránea de mayor superficie en todo el planeta, ubicado en grandes porciones territoriales de Brasil, Argentina, Paraguay y Uruguay.

Flora y fauna 

La flora y la fauna de América es muy variada y diversa por su gran extensión territorial y diversos ecosistemas, climas y biodiversidad, siendo así el continente con mayor biodiversidad del planeta.

América del Norte

En cuanto a la flora de América del Norte, espacio en el cual se encuentran los Estados Unidos, Canadá y México, podemos encontrar pino, caoba, cedro, conífera, cactus, agave, en fin, más de 17000 especies de plantas vasculares y más de 1,800 especies de plantas con flores.

En lo que concierne a la fauna de América del Norte, en este continente cuenta con una gran diversidad, en él se encuentran más de 400 especies de mamíferos, casi 1000 especies de aves, más de 500 especies de reptiles y anfibios y unas 100000 especies de insectos. cabe destacar los osos, águilas, pavos, focas, bisontes americanos, lobos, serpientes, entre otros.

América Central Continental

En América Central, la flora está representada por representaciones de especies de América del Norte y de América del Sur, además de especies endémicas y exclusivas del territorio, con más de 44000 especies de plantas, sus principales especies representadas en la flora son Annona macroprophyllata, Gliricidia sepium, Mammea americana, Manilkara zapota, Pithecellobium dulce, Myrciaria floribunda, pinos, caoba, aguacate, guayaba, tamarindo, palmeras, Guineos, cereza, piñas, Couma macrocarpa, Lepanthes guatemalensis y Tithonia rotundifolia.

La fauna de América Central cuenta con grandes cantidades de mamíferos que son más comunes en Guatemala (230 especies), Panamá (229 especies), Nicaragua (225 especies), Costa Rica (211 especies), El Salvador (210 especies) y Honduras (207 especies). Principalmente se encuentran venados, jaguares, pumas, colibríes, torogozes, quetzales (ave símbolo de Guatemala), zopilotes, tapires y guacamayas. Los animales más comunes en América Central son Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), Rana verde (Agalychnis callidryas), Armadillo de nueve bandas (Dasypus novemcinctus), Cocodrilo americano (Crocodylus acutus), Mono aullador negro (Alouatta palliata), jaguar, Tapirus, oso hormiguero, águila harpía (Harpia harpyja), el puma y el tapir.

El Caribe o Las Antillas

En el Mar Caribe donde está ubicada la Isla de La Española (República Dominicana y Haití), Cuba, La Bahamas, Dominica, Granada, Trinidad y Tobago, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, San Martín y otras islas. En cuanto a la flora del Caribe se encuentran especies de árboles y plantas que pasan los más de 13000 especies distintas, de los que 6500 son endémicas de la zona, las más conocidas son Olea europaea, el Chrysophyllum cainito, el guayacán, la ceiba, la caoba (Árbol Nacional de la República Dominicana). Originariamente Cuba se encontraba llena de una espesa vegetación, que ha sido degradada para desarrollar la agricultura. No obstante existen muchos programas para el cuidado y mantenimiento de estos bosques, que albergan gran diversidad. Las maderas preciosas de Cuba son muy cotizadas.

La fauna del Caribe o las Antillas está compuesta por 450 especies de peces, 600 especies de aves, 500 especies de reptiles, 170 especies de anfibios y 90 especies de mamíferos. Los más conocidos son la barracuda, el mero, la morena, las cortacubas, el canario del manglar y la garcita verde, la amazona puertorriqueña, la yacutinga y la paloma sabanera, la iguana verde y la iguana azul, la iguana de Mona, la iguana rinoceronte, la carey, el coquí dorado, el delfín, el manatí, el almiquí (endémico de las Antillas) y diversas especies de murciélagos, y la ballena jorobada como especie migratoria. Otras especies como la foca monje del Caribe se han extinguido durante los últimos siglos por la acción directa del hombre.

América del Sur

En la zona del Sur de América, se ubican los Andes y la Costa, la sierra de Perijá y el macizo de Guayana dentro de la cuenca del río Orinoco, las amazonas y Gran Chaco. Esta zona del continente es sumamente rica en floras, cuenta con bosques seco, tropical, templado, árido y húmedos. Las especies más conocidas en Sudamérica son el alerce, ciprés de la cordillera, ciprés de las guaitecas, el huililahuán, el lleuque, Saxegothaea, y la araucaria, Nothofagus, entre ellos el coigüe, el lenga y el ñire, la Picea, el ciprés, el pino, la ceiba, el yagrumo, el guamo, el caobo, bejucos, especies de bromelias y otras de epifitas. En fin existen más de 44000 especies de plantas diferentes.

También existen, en las zonas andinas del norte subcontinental (Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela) zonas de páramo que albergan especies vegetales nativas únicas en el mundo (como el frailejón —también conocido como espeletia—), bromeliáceas, criptógamas, arbustos como los sietecueros, helechos y otros, que favorecen la conformación de cuerpos de agua, como lagos y lagunas, que sirven de ricos nacimientos de agua y alimentan cuencas y ríos tan importantes como la del Orinoco y el Amazonas.

América del Sur alberga especies como pingüinos, zorro colorado, hornero, flamenco, ballena flanca austral, Yaguareté, puma, tucan, Otaria flavescens, cóndor andino, chigüires, osos hormigueros, báquiros, nutria gigante, serpientes de cascabel, cuaima-piña, a la vez que iguanas, morrocoy, toninas, grandes reptiles como la anaconda verde, el cocodrilo del Orinoco, el caimán de anteojos, otros mamíferos como el manatí, manatí amazónico, oso frontino, ocelote, zorro vinagre, zorros, tapires, perezosos, zarigüeyas, armadillos y los venados.

Clima 

Debido a la extensión considerable de norte a sur, este a oeste, América cuenta con casi la totalidad de los climas existentes. Entre las costas de México, el oeste de Nicaragua y el sur de Brasil, se desarrolla el clima cálido en las llanuras costeras y laderas de montaña. El clima intertropical lluvioso y la selva son característicos de gran parte de Centroamérica, de la llanura amazónica y de las islas del Caribe, mientras en la costa atlántica de Colombia, Venezuela y Guyana se desarrolla una zona de sabana.

En las zonas subtropicales cercanas a la latitud 30° se ubican zonas áridas, de características desérticas como el desierto de Sonora (sur de Estados Unidos y norte de México) y el de Atacama (en el norte de Chile), mientras en la Patagonia se desarrolla un clima desértico frío.

El clima templado se extiende en las latitudes medias y subidas de montaña, principalmente en la vertiente atlántica. El clima templado con lluvias a lo largo del año se extiende en las franjas costeras de Canadá, Alaska y sur de Chile, produciendo zonas de bosque mixto, mientras el templado con lluvias en verano es el clima más extendido sobre el continente, principalmente en la porción sudeste de Estados Unidos, centro de México y sudeste de Brasil. El clima mediterráneo se encuentra en California y el Valle Central chileno, generando un estilo de vegetación conocido como chaparral.

Por último los climas fríos se extienden a lo largo de los extremos del continente en las cercanías de los polos, especialmente en Norteamérica. La tundra se encuentra a lo largo de gran parte de Alaska y Canadá, y en el extremo sur sudamericano; por efecto de altura en la Puna andina y gran parte de las zonas montañosas. Finalmente, el clima polar se encuentra en Groenlandia y el clima frío por la altura en las zonas montañosas de las Rocosas y de los Andes.

Geografía humana 

Atendiendo a sus características culturales y económicas, el continente se puede dividir en América Latina y América Anglosajona. A su vez, América Latina se puede dividir entre Hispanoamérica, Brasil y la América francófona.

América Anglosajona, ubicada al norte, está conformada por dos grandes países: Estados Unidos y Canadá. En ellos que se habla principalmente el idioma inglés y se profesan mayoritariamente religiones protestantes, con la excepción de algunas regiones de habla francesa y religión católica en Canadá. Ambos tienen alto porcentaje de población urbana. En el aspecto económico son países con grandes valores de producto interno bruto total y por habitante, una economía tempranamente industrializada y muy altos índices de desarrollo humano (dentro de los 10 más altos del mundo). En esta zona se puede incluir Groenlandia, relacionada con Dinamarca, de lengua también germánica que comparte algunas de las características mencionadas.

América Latina, ubicada al sur, con países donde se hablan principalmente castellano y portugués y se profesa mayoritariamente la religión católica. Tiene mayores porcentajes de población rural que EE.UU. y Canadá. En sus economías tiene un mayor peso el sector primario o extractivo (agricultura, ganadería, etc). La mayoría de los país está escasamente industrializado o solo recientemente industrializado salvo en los casos de México, Brasil y Argentina con una industria pujante y en desarrollo que en el resto de los países de la zona, menores valores PIB per cápita y menores índice de desarrollo humano (algunos países, con índices muy bajos).

La ubicación los pequeños países y dependencias de lengua y tradición no latina del Caribe y la zona tropical es un asunto en discusión. Por sus características lingüísticas y culturales, países como Bahamas, Belice, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad y Tobago y otros países de las Pequeñas Antillas pueden incluirse en América Anglosajona. Sin embargo hay la posibilidad de incorporación del Caribe al concepto de América Latina por sus relaciones históricas comunes, por formas de desarrollo cultural similares. Así se incluiría al Caribe inglés y neerlandés. Estos países y dependencias comparten la realidad económica del resto de América Latina. Desde este último criterio habría un límite claro entre las dos Américas que sería la frontera entre EE.UU. y México y el estrecho de Florida que separa EE.UU. de Cuba.

Demografía 

Es el tercer continente más poblado después de Asia y África, también es uno de los menos densamente poblados, ello debido a su gran superficie. Tres cuartas partes de la población vive en ciudades.

Características de la población 

La población en América varía según las condiciones de vida. La mayor parte de los habitantes de Latinoamérica son jóvenes de entre los 15 y 24 años de edad, y la esperanza de vida varía entre los 70 y 80 años de edad. Además, más de la mitad de la población en la mayoría de los países es rural. Cuba, Chile, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay y Puerto Rico son los países de América Latina con una estructura demográfica relativamente envejecida, pues la población de 60 años o más es cercana, igual o superior al 13%. En países como Bolivia, Guatemala, Haití, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay y República Dominicana, existe una mayor población juvenil, predominando los jóvenes de entre los 15 y 25 años de edad. Mientras en Brasil, Colombia, El Salvador, Ecuador, Panamá, México, Perú y Venezuela, también una mayoría simple de sus habitantes son jóvenes, aunque en las últimas décadas se ha experimentado un progresivo envejecimiento poblacional relacionado con la disminución de la natalidad y el aumento de la esperanza de vida. Lo mismo ocurre en los departamentos ultramarítimos de Guadalupe, Guayana Francesa y Martinica (pertenecientes a Francia) y en países no latinos como Bahamas, Belice, Guyana, Jamaica, Surinam, las Pequeñas Antillas, Trinidad y Tobago, incluyendo las dependencias europeas como las Antillas Neerlandesas, Aruba, Bermudas etc. En Estados Unidos y Canadá la mayor parte de sus habitantes es adulta, superando a la población juvenil, asemejándose al proceso ocurrido en Europa, si bien en Canadá la situación es más pronunciada.

Diversidad de género 

En América se presenta un equilibrio positivo entre hombres y mujeres, siendo la tasa de mujeres un 3 o 5 % más que los hombres en la mayoría de los países. En cuanto a la orientación sexual, América presenta un panorama de opiniones y puntos de vista que en unos países difieren de otros; por ejemplo, en muchos de los países de las Antillas, y algunos no latinos como Belice, Surinam y Guyana se manejan políticas donde los homosexuales son condenados a prisión, la única excepción es Puerto Rico que se halla dentro de los países más liberales y favorables en ese sentido, también en algunas dependencias de ultramar y en República Dominicana la homosexualidad es legal sin embargo este último no tiene leyes que los protejan. En el caso de Latinoamérica, en todos los países si es legal la diversidad sexual, aunque por un lado, en Perú, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Bolivia, El Salvador, Paraguay y Honduras existen todavía actitudes homofóbicas y es aún considerado un tema tabú principalmente en los últimos, en cambio por otro lado en Uruguay, Argentina, Brasil, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia, México, Panamá, Ecuador y Venezuela hay una mayor aceptación de la homosexualidad principalmente en los primeros; a nivel continental Canadá y la región norte de los Estados Unidos (donde los estados son más liberales) tienen la mayor diversidad de orientación sexual y aceptación de esta. Actualmente, el matrimonio igualitario es legal en Canadá, Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Uruguay, Puerto Rico, Estados Unidos, Ecuador, Colombia y Costa Rica, y también en algunos estados de México.

Etnografía 

La población americana está constituida por mil millones de habitantes aproximadamente, descendientes de tres grandes grupos étnicos, así como por el mestizaje entre estos: amerindios y esquimales (que constituyeron los habitantes autóctonos de América); europeos (mayoritariamente de origen español, portugués, británico, francés, italiano, alemán, neerlandés, danés, eslavo e irlandés, entre otros, los cuales suman aproximadamente 573 millones de personas, equivalentes a un poco más del 50% de la población americana) y suponiendo a su vez, el mayor grupo étnico americano; y africanos subsaharianos descendientes de esclavos. Hay también descendientes de otros inmigrantes, más recientes, sobre todo asiáticos, tanto del Medio como del Extremo Oriente.

Si bien es cierto, en mayor o en menor medida todos los países del continente poseen ascendencia europea, esta es mayoritaria en países como Canadá, Estados Unidos, Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica y Brasil. En algunos de estos países, cuyos habitantes fenotípicamente tienen rasgos europeos predominantes, se ha observado que bajo pruebas genéticas poseen porcentajes pequeños de sangre amerindia y africana. Los problemas raciales en América han ido descendiendo a lo largo de la historia, especialmente en forma legal, ya que la esclavitud ha sido totalmente abolida en todos los países. No obstante, existe racismo hacia minorías de origen amerindio, africano o asiático en varios países de poblaciones predominantemente blancas.

Por otro lado, los países donde la población mayoritaria es de ascendencia mixta o mestiza (entre europeos e indígenas y en menor medida africana) serían Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Panamá, Nicaragua, Ecuador, México, Chile y Colombia; en el caso de México y Honduras se suele tomar a la población indígena hispanizada o de ascendencia predominantemente indígena como mestizo. En Venezuela la población mestiza es casi la mitad de ese país, en otros países como Belice, República Dominicana, Perú, Guatemala y Bolivia los mestizos alcanzan dos quintos de la población de esos países.

Los países donde el porcentaje de amerindios tienen una importante influencia en la población son de mayor a menor Bolivia, Perú, Guatemala, Ecuador y México. En naciones como Uruguay, Cuba, República Dominicana y Haití casi no existen grupos indígenas nativos actualmente: el aporte indígena fue absorbido por la mayoría étnica de cada país en el momento de haber perdido la lengua materna. Por su parte, el aporte africano se encuentra presente con mayor fuerza en Haití, Jamaica, Trinidad y Tobago, Cuba, República Dominicana, Belice, Brasil, Colombia, Ecuador y Estados Unidos. Mientras tanto, en países como Chile, El Salvador, México, Guatemala, Paraguay y Argentina el aporte africano fue absorbido por la mayoría étnica de cada país, sin embargo conservan minorías importantes.

Países como Estados Unidos, Canadá, Perú y Brasil poseen comunidades poblacionales de ascendencia asiática considerables (principalmente chinos y filipinos), así ciudades como San Francisco, Los Ángeles, Nueva York, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Lima y San Pablo tienen barrios enteros donde esta comunidad se consolida étnicamente. Por último países como Estados Unidos, Brasil, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela y Argentina poseen comunidades de origen árabe importantes, principalmente las que provienen de Líbano, Siria, Jordania y comunidades sefardíes.

Idiomas 

El número total de idiomas de América sobrepasa con creces las cinco centenas, entre idiomas, dialectos y patois. Los principales idiomas son los correspondientes a los instaurados por los colonizadores europeos, seguidos por los idiomas de las principales culturas indígenas americanas.

 El español es hablado por más de 400 millones de personas, concentrándose principalmente en México, Centroamérica y Sudamérica. Existen además importantes comunidades hispanohablantes en Estados Unidos, Canadá y un poco en Brasil y algunas islas del Caribe. (Véase distribución geográfica del idioma español).
 El inglés es hablado como lengua materna por más de 350 millones de personas. Es el idioma más hablado en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Jamaica, Trinidad y Tobago, Guyana, y otras antiguas colonias o dependencias británicas en las Antillas Menores y el Atlántico sur. Es oficial en Belice (hablado por solo un 3% de la población, pues el 50% de la misma es de habla española) y Puerto Rico donde está presente como segundo idioma oficial. En la costa caribeña de América Central es común encontrar dialectos de origen inglés, principalmente criollo, que son conocidos como patois o lenguas costeñas, algunos ejemplos son el mekatelyu costarricense, el kriol nicaragüense y el beliceño.
 El portugués en América es el idioma oficial únicamente de Brasil, con más de 200 millones de hablantes. Existen colonias importantes de inmigrantes brasileños y portugueses en Estados Unidos, Canadá y Venezuela aunque muy minoritarios.
 El francés es hablado en América por más de 20 millones de francófonos (menos numerosos que en Europa o África pero distribuidos en las tres Américas). En Norteamérica se habla en Canadá en donde es idioma oficial, hablado principalmente en las provincias de Quebec (donde es mayoritario) y en Nuevo Brunswick; en las islas San Pedro y Miguelón en donde también es idioma oficial (colectividad territorial francesa); y en parte de los Estados Unidos (Estados de Maine y Luisiana). En la región de Centroamérica y el Caribe: es oficial en Haití y en varias islas de las Antillas Menores como en los departamentos franceses de Guadalupe y Martinica, y en las islas de San Martín y San Bartolomé (colectividades territoriales francesas), y además se habla en Dominica y Santa Lucía. En Sudamérica: es oficial en el departamento francés de la Guayana Francesa.
 El quechua es la lengua indígena más hablada, con más de doce millones de personas. También es la más "internacional" de las lenguas originarias americanas, pues se habla en media docena de países. Es oficial en Bolivia y en el Perú, en las zonas en que esta lengua predomina. También lo habla una considerable minoría en Ecuador (donde también es oficial a nivel territorial, junto al shuar), el sur de Colombia, todo el norte de Argentina y el norte de Chile.
 Junto al quechua, el aimara es también oficial en Bolivia, mientras que en el Perú solo lo es donde prevalece. Asimismo, el aimara constituye la primera lengua de un 18% de la población de Bolivia, y es el principal idioma amerindio del sur peruano y el norte chileno. También hay hablantes de esta lengua en el norte de Argentina.
 El creole es una lengua criolla basada principalmente en el francés, que es hablada en Haití. En Estados Unidos, República Dominicana, Bahamas y Turcas y Caicos hay un número considerable de inmigrantes haitianos que lo hablan.
 El guaraní es hablado por más de siete millones de personas, principalmente en Paraguay, donde es idioma oficial.
 Diversos idiomas nativos se hablan en la zona de Mesoamérica, como el náhuatl (hablado por 1,5 millones de personas en México), el quiché (hablado por 1,8 millones de personas en Guatemala y México), las lenguas mayenses (en conjunto habladas por cinco millones de personas en México y Centroamérica), el zapoteco (hablado en Oaxaca por unas 800 mil personas, sobre todo del Istmo de Tehuantepec, incluso muchas de ellas de origen europeo y árabe), el mixteco (hablado en Oaxaca y Guerrero por más de 500 mil personas) y el purépecha (el cual es hablado en Michoacán y es la lengua aislada de mayor número de hablantes en México, además de haber sido la lengua del antiguo imperio Tarasco), entre otras.
 El neerlandés es hablado en Surinam y es lengua oficial en las islas de Aruba, Bonaire, Curazao, San Martín (Países Bajos), San Eustaquio e Saba.
 En el territorio de Groenlandia es oficial el groenlandés.

Algunas otras lenguas poseen un importante peso demográfico sin ser oficiales, entre ellas:

 El mapudungún es la lengua nativa hablada por cerca de 440 mil mapuches en Chile y Argentina.
 El wayú o guajiro es una lengua indígena hablada por algo más de 400 mil personas en Colombia y Venezuela.
 El papiamento es una lengua criolla hablada en las islas de Aruba, Bonaire y Curazao.
 Diversos idiomas, como el alemán y el italiano, son aún hablados por los inmigrantes que llegaron a América durante fines del  y a lo largo del . El alemán es hablado predominantemente en la Región Sur de Brasil, sur de Chile y en algunas regiones de la Argentina, Costa Rica Perú, Paraguay, México y Venezuela, entre otras. El bajo alemán es hablado en Paraguay, Costa Rica, México, Estados Unidos, Argentina, Canadá, Belice y Bolivia. El italiano es hablado en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brasil, Perú, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, México y Ecuador.
 El véneto es hablado principalmente en México y Brasil.
 El portuñol es un pidgin hablado en las zonas fronterizas de los países hispanohablantes con Brasil. La mezcla de los idiomas español y portugués dan lugar a la variante llamada Portuñol.
 El japonés es hablado, en mayor grado, en Estados Unidos, en el Brasil y en el Perú, que son los países que albergan a la mayor cantidad de inmigrantes japoneses, aunque también lo hablan en los países con pequeñas colonias japonesas.
 El chino es hablado, principalmente, en el Perú, Estados Unidos, Canadá, Panamá, Costa Rica y Venezuela (que son los países con mayor cantidad de inmigrantes) y, en menor medida, en otros países del continente, como Colombia, Chile, México y Argentina.
 El galés es hablado en la patagónica provincia argentina de Chubut.
 El croata es hablado en Chile por la gran comunidad de inmigrantes que habitan en las regiones de Antofagasta y Magallanes.
 El idioma auxiliar esperanto es hablado por unas 300 mil personas en países de todo el continente, con concentraciones notables en Brasil, Argentina, Perú, Chile, Costa Rica, México, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Estados Unidos, Canadá y Cuba.

En América, los idiomas más estudiados como segunda lengua son: El inglés, en los países hispanófonos y francófonos; y, el español y francés, en los países anglófonos.

Religión 

Históricamente, antes de la llegada de la colonización europea, la totalidad de la población era politeísta, con importantes rituales de origen maya, quechua, azteca, olmeca, etc. Con la llegada de los europeos, el cristianismo fue introducido en América, mientras el paganismo precolombino fue poco a poco desapareciendo, existen todavía Pequeñas minorías practicantes en países como México, Perú, Bolivia y Guatemala. No obstante a medida que los europeos traían esclavos africanos, se incorporaban otros rituales paganos como la santería, el vudú, etc., que tienen fuerte presencia en países como Estados Unidos, Brasil, Haití, República Dominicana, Cuba, Colombia y Panamá. Desde las últimas décadas del  la mayoría de los países no tienen religión oficial.

Hoy en día, el cristianismo es la religión mayoritaria en todos los países del continente americano, pero con diferente manifestación. La religión principal dentro del cristianismo y de todo el contexto religioso de América, es el catolicismo. Históricamente, los países católicos han sido América Latina y del Caribe, mientras la América Anglosajona eran protestantes. Sin embargo, Canadá, pese a ser un país autodenominado «anglosajón», la religión católica es la mayoritaria porcentualmente. De mayor a menor, los países donde el catolicismo es profesado por más de un 60% de la población serían Paraguay, Ecuador, México y Perú (con más de 80%), Bolivia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Colombia y Panamá (con más de 70%) República Dominicana, Brasil y Costa Rica (con más de 60%), los países donde entre un 50-59% de su población es católica serían de mayor a menor Nicaragua, Chile, El Salvador, Honduras, y Haití, si bien los países donde es la creencia más grande pero menos del 50% serían Guatemala, Cuba, Uruguay, Belice, y Canadá. En el caso de Estados Unidos, la población católica representa un cuarto de la población de ese país.

El segundo grupo cristiano más grande es el protestantismo, y es la religión mayoritaria en Estados Unidos, Jamaica y Guyana. En Estados Unidos los estados del suroeste pertenecen a la Iglesia Bautista, mientras Nueva Inglaterra a la Iglesia Anglicana, los estados de Dakota del Norte y Dakota del Sur a la Iglesia Metodista y el noroeste tiene presencia de Iglesias neopentecostales. Canadá fue en décadas anteriores un país protestante para la primera mitad del , aunque el catolicismo volvió a agarrar auge en la década de 1960, volviendo a ser un país católico como lo fue en el . Sin embargo, el protestantismo en ese país representa casi el 30%. En el caso de América Latina, la población protestante es minoría, aunque es creciente y agarra fuerza en esos países. Por ejemplo, Guatemala cuenta con un 40% de protestantes, seguido por Honduras con un 35%, Belice 33,2%, El Salvador 30% (países con más del 30% de protestantes) mientras países que superan el 20% serían Nicaragua 26,5%, Puerto Rico 24%, Haití 23%, Brasil 22,2% y Colombia 21%, caso contrario los países menos protestantes son Argentina con 9%, Paraguay 8%, México 7,4%, Ecuador 6% y Cuba 5%.

En países como Brasil, Haití, Colombia, Cuba y Panamá se suele mezclar los rituales del vudú y de la santería con el catolicismo, así como en México, Ecuador, Guatemala, Perú y Bolivia se mezclan rituales indígenas junto con el catolicismo, denominando a cada uno un sincretismo religioso. Cabe mencionar que la secularización ha avanzado en la sociedad, principalmente en los países más desarrollados de la región o con alta democracia. Los países donde la población que se declara atea o agnóstica esta elevada por más del 40% son Cuba 45% y Uruguay 40,5%, en Canadá alrededor del 30,7% se declara sin religión, mientras en Chile van casi por la cuarta parte de ese país. Otro país donde hay un incremento notable de número de ateos o no creyentes es Estados Unidos con un 18% seguido de cerca por Argentina donde una encuesta nacional (CONICET) dice que el 15% no tiene religión siendo el segundo grupo más grande después de los católicos. En contraste, los países donde casi toda su población (arriba del 95%) es religioso son Paraguay 98%, Puerto Rico 97%, Haití 96%, Bolivia 96%, Ecuador 95,5% y Perú 94,9%. Debido a la inmigración de Oriente Medio y Asia Oriental, existen minorías de practicantes del islamismo, judaísmo, budismo, confucianismo, la Fe Baha'i, entre otras religiones.

Geografía política 

América políticamente se divide en 35 países independientes y 23 dependencias de países europeos (Dinamarca, Reino Unido, Francia y Países Bajos) y de Estados Unidos. Además hay 4 territorios integrados en Francia y que por tanto son parte de la Unión Europea. Los estados americanos nacen a finales del  (Estados Unidos) y principios del  (Iberoamérica y Haití) como resultado del proceso bélico de descolonización de potencias como Reino Unido, Francia, España y Portugal. Finalmente el territorio caribeño logró la independencia entre finales del  (Cuba y República Dominicana) y el  (resto de islas caribeñas).

Organizaciones internacionales y regionales 

Los estados americanos se hallan integrados en la ONU, siendo casi todos los estados americanos (salvo algunos estados del Caribe) miembros fundadores de dicha organización. En el ámbito económico los estados americanos son miembros del Fondo Monetario Internacional, salvo Cuba, y de la Organización Mundial del Comercio, aunque Bahamas tiene estatus de país observador. Ecuador (1973-1992, readmitida en 2007) y Venezuela (1960) forman parte de la Organización de Países Exportadores de Petróleo (OPEP)

En materia de justicia y seguridad todos los países americanos están integrados en la INTERPOL. En el caso de la Justicia internacional tres países (Estados Unidos, Nicaragua y Cuba) no han firmado ni ratificado el Estatuto de Roma de la Corte Penal Internacional. Mientras son tres (República Dominicana, Bahamas y Jamaica) los firmantes que aún no lo han ratificado. En el resto de países acepta la jurisdicción de la Corte Penal Internacional para juzgar casos de crímenes contra la humanidad.

En caso del Movimiento de Países No Alineados (1961), son 26 naciones americanas las que forman parte de esta organización en favor de la neutralidad.

Como organizaciones transcontinentales entre América y Europa encontramos la Organización para la Seguridad y la Cooperación en Europa (1975) para fomentar la democracia, los derechos humanos, el control de armas y la seguridad. También la organización militar OTAN (1949), en ambos casos los países americanos miembros son Canadá y los Estados Unidos. Existen otras organizaciones de tipo transcontinental como la OCDE en 1961 (países americanos, europeos y asiáticos) a la que se adhirieron países como Estados Unidos y Canadá (1961), México (1994), Chile (2010) y recientemente Colombia (2020) y Costa Rica (2021) o el Foro de Cooperación Económica Asia-Pacífico (1989) que aglutina a Estados Unidos, Canadá, México, Perú y Chile por América. Así mismo, en este ámbito transcontinental destaca el Plan Colombo (1950) para fomentar el desarrollo económico y social de 27 países (Estados Unidos).

Durante la Guerra Fría (1986) se creó la Zona de Paz y Cooperación del Atlántico Sur, bajo el auspicio de Naciones Unidas, con el objetivo de mantener la seguridad y la paz en el Atlántico Sur, así por iniciativa de Brasil se unieron 3 sudamericanos (Argentina, Brasil y Uruguay) y 21 estados africanos más.

En 1975 se creó Estados de África, del Caribe y del Pacífico (ACP) para, a través de varios acuerdos (el más reciente Acuerdo de Cotonú del año 2000) luchar contra la pobreza junto a la Unión Europea que trabaja por medio del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo. Forman parte de esta organización todos los estados de la Comunidad del Caribe más República Dominica y Cuba. La Unión Europea trabaja a través de la firma de acuerdos económicos con el CARIFORUM exceptuando a Cuba.

A nivel regional los estados americanos se agrupan en la Organización de los Estados Americanos (1948) con el objetivo de ser un foro político para la toma de decisiones, el diálogo multilateral y la integración de América. Cuba fue expulsada de la organización en 1962, tras el triunfo de la Revolución cubana, en 2009 fue readmitida.

En el aspecto económico existe dos instituciones regionales financieras importantes. Por un lado el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (1950) y por otra parte el Banco de Desarrollo del Caribe (1969).

América se caracteriza por múltiples organismos regionales que buscan la integración económica, social y política; el problema radica en que muchos de esos organismos terminan por superponerse en las actividades que realizan y en los objetivos que persiguen:

Destaca la CELAC (2010) que promueve la integración y el desarrollo de los países de América Latina y del Caribe, siendo interlocutor internacional en sus relaciones con la Unión Europea en las Cumbres CELAC-EU. También el continente cuenta con la Asociación Latinoamericana de Integración (Sudamérica más México y Cuba) fundada en 1980 con el objetivo de crear un mercado común. El Sistema Económico Latinoamericano y del Caribe (1975) para coordinar una política económica común frente a otros organismos internacionales. En 1964 se creó el Parlamento Latinoamericano para representar a todas las tendencias políticas democráticas del continente, está compuesto por todos los estados salvo los estados caribeños (menos Cuba y República Dominicana que si forman parte), Estados Unidos, Canadá y Guyana.

Existen también dos organizaciones que se contraponen tanto en los principios económicos rectores como también podemos hablar de los principios políticos. Por un lado esta la Alianza del Pacífico (2011) formada por México, Chile, Perú y Colombia que buscan la vigencia del Estado de derecho, de la democracia, del orden constitucional y del libre mercado. En contraposición esta la Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América-Tratado de Comercio de los Pueblos (ALBA-TCP) que es una organización internacional fundada en 2004, y formada por países de América Latina y el Caribe que pone énfasis en la lucha contra la pobreza y la exclusión social con base en doctrinas de izquierda. Forman parte de esta organización Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Antigua y Barbuda, Dominica, Ecuador, Granada, San Cristóbal y Nieves, Santa Lucía, Surinam y San Vicente y las Granadinas.

En América podemos hablar de varios grupos regionales según el área geográfica. En América del Norte esta Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte (1994) entre los tres estados más importantes de la zona: Canadá, Estados Unidos y México. En América Central existe un importante desarrollo de integración con la Organización de Estados Centroamericanos (1951) que fue ampliada al Mercado Común Centroamericano (1960) y al Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (1993), incluida la República Dominicana, con mecanismos como el Parlamento Centroamericano (1986).

El área caribeña esta centralizada por la Comunidad del Caribe (1973) que engloba a 15 naciones caribeñas cuyo objetivo es fomentar la creación de un mercado único y cooperación con otros estados vecinos. También existe una Asociación de Estados del Caribe (1994) al que pertenecen los 31 estados ribereños con el objetivo de fomentar la integración económica, la conservación natural del Caribe y el desarrollo de sus miembros. Finalmente esta la Organización de Estados del Caribe Oriental (1981) integrando a varios países antillanos que comparten el Dólar del Caribe Oriental. En América del Sur destaca principalmente Unasur (2011), que pretende conseguir una integración similar a la alcanzada en Europa en América del Sur, y que engloba a todos los estados suramericanos. También se halla Mercosur (1991) con el objetivo de crear un arancel común y una zona de libre comercio entre sus miembros: Brasil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina y Venezuela (suspendida en 2016). Así mismo, está la Comunidad Andina (1969) que engloba a países con vínculos culturales andinos (Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Bolivia) y que busca coordinar políticas económicas y sociales.

Finalmente podemos hablar de organizaciones que comparten afinidades culturales como la Organización de Estados Iberoamericanos (1949) que engloba a los países iberoamericanos más España y Portugal. La relación de esta Comunidad Iberoamericana de Naciones viene definida por las Cumbres Iberoamericanas que se celebran anualmente a partir de 1991, aunque desde 2014 son bianuales. O de desarrollo sostenible como la Organización del Tratado de Cooperación Amazónica (1995).

Estados soberanos 

Datos de superficie y población consultados en The World Factbook .

Dependencias 

Los territorios aquí expuestos dependen de otra nación en áreas como defensa, relaciones exteriores o comerciales. Los territorios dependientes de países de la Unión Europea están catalogados como países y territorios de ultramar, que no forman parte de la Unión, sino que tienen un estatuto de asociados a los Estados miembros desde el Tratado de Lisboa.

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  actualizados 1 junio de 2016.

Territorios americanos integrados en estados no americanos 

Los territorios asignados a este grupo pertenecen a la Región Ultraperiférica de la Unión Europea como parte indivisible de un estado de la Unión Europea.

Datos de superficie y población consultados en  actualizados 1 junio de 2016.

Economía 
En exportaciones e importaciones, en 2020, Estados Unidos fue el segundo exportador más grande del mundo (US $ 1,64 billones) y el mayor importador (US $ 2,56 billones). México fue el décimo mayor exportador e importador. Canadá fue el duodécimo exportador e importador más grande. Brasil fue el 24.º mayor exportador y el 28.º mayor importador. Chile fue el 45.º mayor exportador y el 47.º mayor importador. Argentina fue el 46.º mayor exportador y el 52.º mayor importador. Colombia fue el 54.º mayor exportador y el 51.º mayor importador; entre otros.

La agricultura del continente es muy fuerte y variada. Países como Estados Unidos, Brasil, Canadá, México y Argentina se encuentran entre los mayores productores agrícolas del planeta. En 2019, el continente dominó la producción mundial de soja (casi el 90% del total mundial, con Brasil, Estados Unidos, Argentina, Paraguay, Canadá y Bolivia entre los 10 más grandes del planeta), caña de azúcar (cerca del 55% del total mundial, con Brasil, México, Colombia y Guatemala entre los 10 más grandes del planeta), café (cerca del 55% del total mundial, con Brasil, Colombia, Honduras, Perú y Guatemala entre los 10 más grandes del planeta) y maíz (cerca del 48% del total mundial, con Estados Unidos, Brasil, Argentina y México entre los 10 más grandes del planeta). El continente también produce casi el 40% de naranja (con Brasil, EE. UU. Y México entre los 10 mayores productores), cerca del 37% de piña (con Costa Rica, Brasil, México y Colombia entre los 10 mayores productores), cerca del 35% de limón (con México, Argentina y Brasil entre los 10 mayores productores) y cerca del 30% de algodón (con EE. UU., Brasil, México y Argentina entre los 10 principales productores), entre varios otros productos.

En ganadería, América también tiene producciones gigantes. En 2018, el continente produjo alrededor del 45% de la carne de vacuno del mundo (con EE. UU., Brasil, Argentina, México y Canadá entre los 10 mayores productores del mundo); aproximadamente el 36% de la carne de pollo del mundo (con EE. UU., Brasil y México entre los 10 mayores productores del mundo), y aproximadamente el 28% de la leche de vaca del mundo (con EE. UU. y Brasil entre los 10 mayores productores del mundo), entre otros productos.

En términos industriales, el Banco Mundial enumera los principales países productores cada año, sobre la base del valor total de la producción. Según la lista de 2019, Estados Unidos tiene la segunda industria más valiosa del mundo (US $ 2,3 billones), México tiene la 12.ª industria más valiosa del mundo (US $ 217,8 mil millones), Brasil tiene la 13.ª industria más valiosa en del mundo (US $ 173,6 mil millones), Canadá tiene la 15a industria más valiosa del mundo (US $ 151,7 mil millones), Venezuela la 30 más grande (US $ 58,2 mil millones, pero depende del petróleo para obtener esta cantidad), Argentina fue la 31 más grande ($ 57.7 mil millones), Colombia el 46o más grande ($ 35.4 mil millones), Perú el 50o más grande ($ 28.7 mil millones) y Chile el 51o más grande ($ 28, 3 mil millones), entre otros.

En la producción de petróleo, el continente tuvo 8 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2020: Estados Unidos (1 °), Canadá (4 °), Brasil (8 °), México (14 °), Colombia (20 °), Venezuela (26 º), Ecuador (27 º) y Argentina (28 º).

En la producción de gas natural, el continente tuvo 8 de los 32 mayores productores mundiales en 2015: Estados Unidos (1.º), Canadá (5.º), Argentina (18.º), Trinidad y Tobago (20.º), México (21.º), Venezuela (28.º), Bolivia (31.º) y Brasil (32.º).

En la producción de carbón, el continente tuvo 5 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2018: Estados Unidos (3.º), Colombia (12.º), Canadá (13.º), México (24.º) y Brasil (27.º).

En la producción de vehículos, el continente tuvo 5 de los 30 mayores productores mundiales en 2019: Estados Unidos (2 °), México (7 °), Brasil (9 °), Canadá (12 °) y Argentina (28 °).

En la producción de acero, el continente tuvo 5 de los 31 mayores productores mundiales en 2019: Estados Unidos (4.º), Brasil (9.º), México (15.º), Canadá (18.º) y Argentina (31.º).

En minería, el continente tiene grandes producciones de oro (principalmente en Estados Unidos, Canadá, Perú, México, Brasil y Argentina); plata (principalmente en México, Perú, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina y EE. UU.) cobre (principalmente en Chile, Perú, EE. UU., México y Brasil); platino (Canadá y EE. UU.) mineral de hierro (Brasil, Canadá, EE. UU., Perú y Chile); zinc (Perú, EE. UU., México, Bolivia, Canadá y Brasil); molibdeno (Chile, EE. UU., Perú, México y Canadá); litio (Chile, Argentina, Brasil y Canadá); plomo (Perú, EE. UU., México y Bolivia); bauxita (Brasil, Jamaica, Canadá y EE. UU.) estaño (Perú, Bolivia y Brasil); manganeso (Brasil y México); antimonio (Bolivia, México, Guatemala, Canadá y Ecuador); níquel (Canadá, Brasil, República Dominicana, Cuba y EE. UU.) niobio (Brasil y Canadá); renio (Chile y EE. UU.) yodo (Chile), entre otros.

Posición económica por país 

Ranking hecho por el Banco Mundial.

* entre 2011 y 2016.

Monedas

Población extranjera por país

Países por Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH)

Véase también

Notas y referencias

Enlaces externos

Un agujero negro de Schwarzschild o agujero negro estático es aquel que se define por un solo parámetro, la masa M, más concretamente el agujero negro de Schwarzschild es una región del espacio-tiempo que queda delimitada por una superficie imaginaria llamada horizonte de sucesos. Esta frontera describe un espacio del cual ni siquiera la luz puede escapar, de ahí el nombre de agujero negro. Dicho espacio forma una esfera perfecta en cuyo centro se halla la singularidad; su radio recibe el nombre de radio de Schwarzschild. La fórmula de dicho radio como se ha dicho depende únicamente de la masa del agujero:

Donde G es la constante gravitatoria, M es la masa del agujero y c la velocidad de la luz. Cuanto mayor es la masa del agujero negro, la cual determina el grado de curvatura espacio-temporal, mayor es el radio de Schwarzschild. La geometría del espacio-tiempo alrededor de un agujero u hoyo de Schwarschild viene dada por la métrica de Schwarzschild:

Esta fue una de las primeras soluciones exactas de las ecuaciones de campo de Einstein de la relatividad general debida al físico alemán Karl Schwarzschild. Además las peculiaridades de la métrica para r < 2GM/c2 dieron lugar al concepto de agujero negro mismo.

Descripción fenomenológica 
La teoría de la relatividad predice que, dentro de un agujero negro de Schwarzschild, aparecerá una hipersuperficie límite teórica, tal que al acercarnos a ella el tensor de curvatura crece y crece sin límite. Ese tipo de objeto geométrico se conoce como singularidad espaciotemporal, y puede entenderse como un límite a partir del cual el espacio-tiempo no puede ser modelizado dentro de la teoría (se supone que cerca de la singularidad los efectos cuánticos son importantes). 

Además el espacio-tiempo dentro de la región de agujero de Schwarzschild es geodésicamente incompleto para cualquier geodésica temporal dentro del agujero, lo cual significa que una partícula en caída libre dentro del agujero pasado un tiempo finito alcanzará la singularidad indefectiblemente. Actualmente no disponemos de ninguna teoría que nos diga qué pasa exactamente cuando una partícula alcanza la singularidad.

En el caso de Schwarzschild esta singularidad es de tipo temporal, si resultara que el hecho de llegar a una distancia suficientemente pequeña de la singularidad supusiera la destrucción de la partícula misma, como se supone a veces, entonces las partículas que se mueven a mayor velocidad dentro del agujero desaparecerían "volatizadas" más tarde y las más lentas antes. Ese hecho encaja con el carácter temporal de la singularidad, a diferencia de una singularidad espacial que puede entenderse más bien como un lugar geométrico.

Otros tipos de agujero negro 
Sin embargo, existen otros modelos más complicados de agujeros negros:

 El agujero negro de Kerr es un agujero negro en rotación definido no solo por su masa sino también por su momento angular. Dicho agujero tiene una dirección privilegiada en el espacio y, por tanto, deja de ser isótropo. Este es el modelo que más se ajusta al tipo de agujeros negros que se pueden observar fruto del colapso de estrellas supermasivas.

 El agujero negro de Reissner-Nordström es un agujero con carga eléctrica y estático, que posee unas propiedades especiales ya que no solo se forma una singularidad gravitacional sino también una singularidad en el campo eléctrico generado por el agujero. Dicho agujero está sujeto también a dos parámetros: masa y carga. La existencia de tales agujeros no ha sido observada pero se podría concebir la posibilidad de crearlos en condiciones controladas tales como las de los aceleradores de partículas.

 Finalmente está el agujero negro de Kerr-Newman. Este tercer tipo de agujeros son el resultado de la combinación de los dos anteriores. Se trataría de los agujeros negros con carga y en rotación. Estos agujeros dependerían de los tres parámetros: masa, momento angular y carga. Además, al rotar se provocaría un movimiento de cargas en su seno que conllevaría a la generación también de un campo magnético.

Véase también 
agujero blanco
agujero negro
agujero negro de Kerr
agujero negro de Reissner-Nordström
agujero negro de Kerr-Newman
diagrama de Penrose-Carter
ergosfera
singularidad desnuda
singularidad gravitacional
Anexo:Glosario de relatividad

Schwarzschild,Agujero negro de
Soluciones de la ecuación de Einstein
Epónimos relacionados con la astronomía y astrofísica

En física, un agujero de gusano, también conocido como puente de Einstein-Rosen, es una estructura hipotética asociada a un espacio-tiempo cuya topología es múltiplemente conexa. Dicha estructura es una solución posible de las ecuaciones de campo de Einstein de la relatividad general, que esencialmente consiste en un puente a través del espacio y el tiempo. Un agujero de gusano tiene por lo menos dos extremos conectados a una única garganta, a través de la cual podría desplazarse la materia. Hasta la fecha no se ha hallado ninguna evidencia de que el espacio-tiempo conocido contenga estructuras de este tipo, por lo que en la actualidad es solo una posibilidad teórica en la física. 

Cuando una estrella supergigante roja explota, arroja materia al exterior, de modo que acaba siendo de un tamaño inferior y se convierte en una estrella de neutrones. Pero también puede suceder que se comprima tanto que absorba su propia energía en su interior y desaparezca dejando un agujero negro en el lugar que ocupaba. Este agujero tendría una gravedad tan grande que ni siquiera la radiación electromagnética podría escapar de su interior. Estaría rodeado por una frontera esférica, llamada horizonte de sucesos. La luz traspasaría esta frontera para entrar, pero no podría salir, por lo que el agujero visto desde grandes distancias debería ser completamente negro (aunque Stephen Hawking postuló que ciertos efectos cuánticos generarían la llamada radiación de Hawking). Dentro del agujero los astrofísicos conjeturan que se forma una especie de cono sin fondo. En 1994, el telescopio espacial Hubble detectó la presencia de uno muy denso en el centro de la galaxia elíptica M87, pues la alta aceleración de gases en esa región indica que debe haber un objeto 3500 millones de veces más masivo que el Sol. Finalmente, este agujero podría terminar por absorber a la galaxia entera.

La hipótesis sugiere que, de un lado, hay un agujero negro que absorbe la materia, pero, por el otro lado, habría un agujero blanco que expulsaría todo lo que traga el negro. 

El primer científico en advertir de la existencia de agujeros de gusano fue el austríaco Ludwig Flamm, en 1916. En este sentido, la hipótesis del agujero de gusano es una actualización de la decimonónica teoría de una cuarta dimensión espacial que suponía —por ejemplo—, dado un cuerpo toroidal en el que se podían encontrar las tres dimensiones espaciales comúnmente perceptibles, una cuarta dimensión espacial que abreviara las distancias y, de esa manera, los tiempos de viaje. Esta noción inicial fue planteada de manera más científica en 1921 por el matemático alemán Hermann Weyl, sin embargo, no usó el término "agujero de gusano" (habló de "tubos unidimensionales"), cuando este relacionó sus análisis de la masa en términos de la energía de un campo electromagnético con la teoría de la relatividad de Albert Einstein publicada en 1916.

En la actualidad, la teoría de cuerdas admite la existencia de más de tres dimensiones espaciales (ver hiperespacio), pero esas dimensiones extra estarían compactadas a escalas subatómicas (según la teoría de Kaluza-Klein), por lo que parece muy difícil (si no imposible) aprovecharlas para emprender viajes en el espacio y el tiempo.

Origen del nombre 
El término «agujero de gusano» fue introducido por el físico teórico estadounidense John Wheeler en 1957 (inspirado en la obra de Hermann Weyl) y mediante un artículo coescrito con Charles Misner:

Proviene de la siguiente analogía usada para explicar el fenómeno: si el universo es la piel de una manzana, y un gusano viaja sobre su superficie, la distancia de un punto de la manzana a su antípoda es igual a la mitad de la circunferencia de la manzana, siempre que el gusano permanezca sobre la superficie de ésta. Pero si en vez de esto, el gusano cavara un agujero directamente a través de la manzana, la distancia que tendría que recorrer sería considerablemente menor, ya que la distancia más cercana entre dos puntos es una línea recta que une a ambos.

Tipos de agujero de gusano 
 Los agujeros de gusano del intrauniverso conectan una posición de un universo con otra posición del mismo universo en un tiempo diferente. Un agujero de gusano debería poder conectar posiciones distantes en el universo por plegamientos espaciotemporales, de manera que permitiría viajar entre ellas en un tiempo menor que el que tomaría hacer el viaje a través del espacio normal. 
 Los agujeros de gusano del interuniverso asocian un universo con otro diferente y se denominan «agujeros de gusano de Schwarzschild». Esto permite especular sobre si tales agujeros de gusano podrían usarse para viajar de un universo a otro paralelo. Otra aplicación de un agujero de gusano podría ser el viaje en el tiempo. En ese caso, sería un atajo para desplazarse de un punto espaciotemporal a otro. En la teoría de cuerdas, un agujero de gusano es visto como la conexión entre dos D-branas, donde las bocas están asociadas a las branas y conectadas por un tubo de flujo. Se cree que los agujeros de gusano son una parte de la espuma cuántica o espaciotemporal.

Otra clasificación:
 Los agujeros de gusano euclídeos, estudiados en física de partículas.
 Los agujeros de gusano de Lorentz, principalmente estudiados en relatividad general y en gravedad semiclásica. Dentro de estos destacan los agujeros de gusano atravesables, un tipo especial de agujero de gusano de Lorentz que permitiría a un ser humano viajar de un lado al otro del agujero.

Hasta el momento se ha teorizado sobre diferentes tipos de agujeros de gusano, principalmente como soluciones matemáticas a la cuestión. Esencialmente, estos tipos de agujero de gusano son:
 El agujero de gusano de Schwarzschild supuestamente formado por un agujero negro de Schwarzschild, que se considera infranqueable.
 El agujero de gusano supuestamente formado por un agujero negro de Reissner-Nordstrøm o Kerr-Newman, que resultaría franqueable, pero en una sola dirección, y que podría contener un agujero de gusano de Schwarzschild.
 El agujero de gusano de Lorentz, que posee masa negativa y se estima franqueable en ambas direcciones (pasado y futuro).

Agujeros de gusano de Schwarzschild 

Los agujeros de gusano de Lorentz, conocidos como agujeros de gusano de Schwarzschild o puentes de Einstein-Rosen, son nexos que unen áreas de espacio que puede ser modeladas como soluciones de vacío en las ecuaciones de campo de Einstein por unión de un modelo de agujero negro y uno de agujero blanco. Esta solución fue hallada por Albert Einstein y su compañero Nathan Rosen, que publicó primero el resultado en 1935. Sin embargo, en 1962, John A. Wheeler y Robert W. Fuller publicaron un artículo en el que divulgaban la demostración de que este tipo de agujero de gusano es inestable y se desintegraría instantáneamente tan pronto como se formase.

Antes de que los problemas de estabilidad de los agujeros de gusano de Schwarzschild se hiciesen evidentes, se propuso que los cuásares podían ser agujeros blancos, de modo que formaban las zonas terminales de los agujeros de gusano de este tipo. Sin embargo, investigaciones recientes descartan que los cuásares sean equiparables a los agujeros blancos.

Los agujeros de gusano de Schwarzschild inspiraron a Kip Thorne a imaginar el tránsito por ellos mediante la sujeción de su garganta y su apertura por medio de materia exótica (de masa y energía negativas).

Agujeros de gusano practicables 

Los agujeros de gusano practicables de Lorentz, también llamados atravesables, permitirían viajar no solo de una parte del universo a otra, sino incluso de un universo a otro. Los agujeros de gusano conectan dos puntos del espacio-tiempo, por lo que permitirían el viaje tanto en el espacio como en el tiempo. En la teoría de la relatividad general, la posibilidad de atravesar agujeros de gusano fue demostrada por primera vez por Kip S. Thorne y su graduado Mike Morris en un artículo publicado en 1988. El tipo de agujero de gusano atravesable que ellos descubrieron se mantendría abierto por una especie de concha esférica de materia exótica denominada agujero de gusano de Morris-Thorne. Posteriormente se han descubierto otros tipos de agujeros de gusano atravesables, como uno que se mantiene abierto por cuerdas cósmicas, ya hipotetizado antes por Matt Visser en un artículo publicado en 1989.

Base teórica

Definición 

La definición topológica de agujero de gusano no es nada intuitiva. Se dice que en una región compacta del espacio-tiempo existe un agujero de gusano cuando su conjunto frontera es trivial desde el punto de vista topológico, pero su interior no es simplemente conexo. Formalizar esta idea conduce a definiciones como la siguiente, tomada del Lorentzian Wormholes, de Matt Visser:

Si un espacio-tiempo de Lorentz contiene una región compacta Ω y si la topología de Ω es de la forma Ω ~ R x Σ, donde Σ es una 3-variedad de topología no trivial, cuya frontera tiene topología de la forma dΣ ~ S², y si además las hipersuperficies Σ son de tipo espacial, entonces la región Ω contiene un agujero de gusano intrauniversal cuasipermanente.

Caracterizar agujeros de gusano del interuniverso es más difícil. Por ejemplo, podemos imaginar un universo recién nacido conectado a su progenitor por un ombligo estrecho. Cabría considerar el ombligo como la garganta de un agujero de gusano, por la cual el espacio-tiempo está conectado.

Plausibilidad 

Se sabe que los agujeros de gusano de Lorentz son posibles dentro de la relatividad general, pero la posibilidad física de estas soluciones es incierta. Incluso, se desconoce si la teoría de la gravedad cuántica, que se obtiene al condensar la relatividad general con la mecánica cuántica, permitiría la existencia de estos fenómenos. La mayoría de las soluciones conocidas de la relatividad general que permiten la existencia de agujeros de gusano atravesados requieren la existencia de materia extraña, una sustancia teórica que contiene energía de densidad negativa. Sin embargo, no ha sido matemáticamente probado que este sea un requisito absoluto para este tipo agujeros de gusano atravesados ni se ha establecido que la materia exótica no puede existir.

Aún no se sabe empíricamente si existen agujeros de gusano. Una solución a las ecuaciones de la relatividad general (tal como la que encontrara L. Flamm) que hiciera posible la existencia de un agujero de gusano sin el requisito de una materia exótica —sustancia teórica que poseería una densidad de energía negativa— no ha sido todavía verificada. Muchos físicos, incluido Stephen Hawking (con su conjetura de protección cronológica), consideran que a causa de las paradojas (¿o acaso aporías?) un viaje en el tiempo a través de un agujero de gusano implicaría que existiera algo fundamental en las leyes de la física que impida tales fenómenos (ver censura cósmica).

En marzo de 2005, Amos Ori visualizó un agujero de gusano que permitía viajar en el tiempo sin requerir materia exótica y satisfaciendo todas las condiciones energéticas. La estabilidad de esta solución es incierta, por lo que sigue sin quedar claro si se requeriría una precisión infinita para que se formase y permitiese el viaje en el tiempo y si los efectos cuánticos protegerían la secuencia cronológica del tiempo en este caso.

Métrica de los agujeros de gusano 

Las teorías sobre la métrica de los agujeros de gusano describen la geometría del  espacio-tiempo de un agujero de gusano y sirven de modelos teóricos para el viaje en el tiempo. Un ejemplo simple de la métrica de un agujero de gusano atravesado podría ser el siguiente:

Un tipo de métrica de agujero de gusano no atravesado es la solución de Schwarzschild:

representado por primera vez por Ellis como un caso especial de drenaje de Ellis.

El puente de Einstein-Rosen se describió en un artículo publicado en julio de 1935.

Para la solución estática simétricamente esférica de Schwarzschild.

( = momento apropiado,  = 1)

Si uno reemplaza  por  según

El espacio de cuatro dimensiones se describe matemáticamente mediante dos partes congruentes u "hojas", que corresponden a  > 0 y  < 0, que están unidas por un hiperplano  o  = 0 en el que  desaparece. Llamamos a tal conexión entre las dos hojas un "puente" (autores=A. Einstein, N. Rosen, "The Particle Problem in the General Theory of Relativity")

Para la combinación gravedad y electricidad, Einstein y Rosen derivaron la solución esférica simétrica de Schwarzschild

( = carga eléctrica)

Las ecuaciones de campo sin denominadores en el caso en que  = 0 se pueden escribir

Para eliminar las singularidades, si se reemplaza  por  según la ecuación:

y con  = 0 se obtiene

La solución está libre de singularidades para todos los puntos finitos en el espacio de las dos hojas (autores=A. Einstein, N. Rosen, "The Particle Problem in the General Theory of Relativity")

Agujeros de gusano y viajes en el tiempo 

En teoría, un agujero de gusano podría permitir viajar en el tiempo a través del espacio-tiempo. Esto podría llevarse a cabo acelerando el extremo final de un agujero de gusano a una velocidad relativamente alta respecto de su otro extremo. La dilatación de tiempo relativista resultaría en una boca del agujero de gusano acelerada envejeciendo más lentamente que la boca estacionaria, visto por un observador externo, de forma parecida a lo que se observa en la paradoja de los gemelos. Sin embargo, el tiempo pasa diferente a través del agujero de gusano respecto del exterior, por lo que los relojes sincronizados en cada boca permanecerán sincronizados para alguien viajando a través del agujero de gusano, sin importar cuanto se muevan las bocas. Esto quiere decir que cualquier cosa que entre por la boca acelerada del agujero de gusano podría salir por la boca estacionaria en un punto temporal anterior al de su entrada si la dilatación de tiempo ha sido suficiente.

Por ejemplo, supongamos que dos relojes en ambas bocas muestran el año 2000 antes de acelerar una de las bocas y, tras acelerar una de las bocas hasta velocidades cercanas a la de la luz, juntamos ambas bocas cuando en la boca acelerada el reloj marca el año 2017 y en la boca estacionaria marca el año 2013. De esta forma, un viajero que entrara por la boca acelerada en este momento saldría por la boca estacionaria cuando su reloj también marcara el año 2013, en la misma región del espacio pero cuatro años en el pasado. Tal configuración de agujeros de gusano permitiría a una partícula de la Línea de universo del espacio-tiempo formar un circuito espacio-temporal cerrado, conocido como curva cerrada de tipo tiempo. El curso a través de un agujero de gusano a través de una curva cerrada de tipo tiempo hace que un agujero de gusano tenga características de hueco temporal.

Se considera que es prácticamente imposible convertir a un agujero de gusano en una «máquina del tiempo» de este modo. Algunos análisis usando aproximaciones semiclásicas que incorporan efectos cuánticos en la relatividad general señalan que una retroalimentación de partículas virtuales circularían a través del agujero de gusano con una intensidad en continuo aumento, destruyéndolo antes de que cualquier información pudiera atravesarlo, de acuerdo con lo que postula la conjetura de protección cronológica. Esto ha sido puesto en duda, sugiriendo que la radiación se dispersaría después de viajar a través del agujero de gusano, impidiendo así su acumulación infinita. Kip S. Thorne mantiene un debate al respecto en su libro Agujeros negros y tiempo curvo (Black Holes and Time Warps). También se ha descrito el denominado Anillo Romano, una configuración formada por más de un agujero de gusano. Este anillo parece permitir una línea de tiempo cerrado con agujeros de gusano estables cuando es analizado bajo el prisma de la gravedad semiclásica, pero sin una teoría completa de la gravedad cuántica aún no se puede saber si dicha aproximación semiclásica es aplicable en este caso.

Viajes a velocidades superiores a la de la luz 

La relatividad especial solo tiene aplicación localmente. Los agujeros de gusano — si en efecto existiesen—  permitirían teóricamente el viaje superluminal (más rápido que la luz) asegurando que la velocidad de la luz no es excedida localmente en ningún momento. Al viajar a través de un agujero de gusano, las velocidades son subluminales (por debajo de la velocidad de la luz). Si dos puntos están conectados por un agujero de gusano, el tiempo que se tarda en atravesarlo sería menor que el tiempo que tarda un rayo de luz en hacer el viaje por el exterior del agujero de gusano. Sin embargo, un rayo de luz viajando a través del agujero de gusano siempre alcanzaría al viajero. A modo de analogía, rodear una montaña por el costado hasta el lado opuesto a la máxima velocidad puede tomar más tiempo que cruzar por debajo de la montaña a través de un túnel a menor velocidad, ya que el recorrido es más corto.

Subatómicamente se hipotetiza la existencia de una espuma cuántica o de una espuma de espacio-tiempo, avanzando con la conjetura, se hipotetiza la posibilidad de existencia de agujeros de gusano en la misma, aunque si estos existieran serían altamente inestables y solo se podrían estabilizar invirtiendo enormes cantidades de energía (por ejemplo con aceleradores de partículas gigantescos que puedan crear un plasma de quarks-gluones).

Viaje interuniversal 

Una posible resolución de las paradojas resultantes de los viajes en el tiempo a través de los agujeros de gusano se basa en la interpretación de la mecánica cuántica muchos mundos.

En 1991, David Deutsch demostró que la teoría cuántica es totalmente coherente (en el sentido de que la llamada matriz de densidad puede estar libre de discontinuidades) en períodos de tiempo con curvas cerradas de tiempo. Sin embargo, más tarde se demostró que dicho modelo de curva de tiempo cerrado puede tener inconsistencias internas, ya que conducirá a fenómenos extraños como la distinción de estados cuánticos no ortogonales y la distinción de la mezcla adecuada e inadecuada. Por consiguiente, se evita el bucle de retroalimentación positiva destructiva de partículas virtuales que circulan a través de una máquina de tiempo de agujero de gusano, un resultado indicado por cálculos semi-clásicos. Una partícula que regresa del futuro no regresa a su universo de origen sino a un universo paralelo. Esto sugiere que una máquina de tiempo de agujero de gusano con un salto de tiempo extremadamente corto es un puente teórico entre universos paralelos contemporáneos.

Debido a que una máquina del tiempo de agujero de gusano introduce un tipo de no linealidad en la teoría cuántica, este tipo de comunicación entre universos paralelos es consistente con la propuesta de Joseph Polchinski de un teléfono Everett (llamado así por Hugh Everett) en la formulación de Steven Weinberg de la mecánica cuántica no lineal.

La posibilidad de comunicación entre universos paralelos se ha denominado viajes interuniversales.

Véase también 
 Agujero negro
 Agujero negro supermasivo
 Microagujero negro
 Agujero negro de Schwarzschild
 Agujero negro en rotación
 Agujero blanco
 Espuma cuántica
 John Wheeler
 Kip S. Thorne
 Kepler 452b
 Gravastar
 Conjetura de protección cronológica
 Multiverso
Espacio-Tiempo

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 
 
 Einstein, Albert and Rosen, Nathan. The Particle Problem in the General Theory of Relativity. Physical Review 48, 73 (1935).
 Fuller, Robert W. and Wheeler, John A.. Causality and Multiply-Connected Space-Time. Physical Review 128, 919 (1962).
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 Morris, Michael S., Thorne, Kip S., and Yurtsever, Ulvi. Wormholes, Time Machines, and the Weak Energy Condition. Physical Review Letters 61, 1446–1449 (1988).
 Morris, Michael S. and Thorne, Kip S.. . American Journal of Physics 56, 395-412 (1988).
 
 
 
 
  A more concise review.
 Visser, Matt. Traversable wormholes: Some simple examples. Physical Review D 39, 3182–3184 (1989).

Enlaces externos 
 La Física de los Viajes en el Tiempo a través de un Agujero de gusano  por Raúl Isea.
 Creating a Traversable Wormhole por Mohammad Mansouryar .
 ¿Qué es exactamente un agujero de gusano? respuesta de Richard F. Holman, William A. Hiscock y Matt Visser .
 ¿Por qué agujeros de gusano? por Matt Visser .
 Agujeros de gusano en la relatividad general por Soshichi Uchii .
 Nuevos agujeros de gusano mejorados por John G. Cramer .
 Tiempo, viaje en el tiempo y agujeros de gusano atravesados incluye un foro de discusión .
 Agujeros blancos y agujeros de gusano presenta una descripción de los agujeros de gusano de Schwarzschild con gráficos y animaciones, por Andrew J. S. Hamilton .
 Wormhole on arxiv.org
 Scientific American Magazine (December 2005 Issue) Wormhole Un juego sobre agujeros de gusano .
 Wormhole MUD - A Sci-Fi Multi-User Dungeon

Materia exótica
Objetos astronómicos hipotéticos
Recursos de la ciencia ficción
Viaje en el tiempo

El axón, cilindroeje o neurita es una prolongación de las neuronas especializadas en conducir el impulso nervioso desde el cuerpo celular o soma hacia otra célula. En la neurona adulta se trata de una prolon AMENn, Leonard K. Kaczmarek. 632 pag. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195145232,
ISBN 978-0195145236 </ref> Amen

Características
El axón es una prolongación larga y delgada de las neuronas que se origina en una región especializada llamada eminencia axónica o cono axónico, a partir del soma, o a veces de una dendrita. El axón tiene la forma de un cono que se adelgaza hacia la periferia. En su superficie se observan constricciones circulares periódicas llamadas nódulos de Ranvier. La membrana celular del axón recibe el nombre de axolema.

El axoplasma es el citoplasma contenido dentro del axón y de la eminencia axónica. Es un fluido viscoso dentro del cual se encuentran neurotúbulos, neurofilamentos, mitocondrias, gránulos y vesículas, que se diferencian del citoplasma soma y las dendritas proximales, porque carecen de retículo endoplasmático rugoso, de ribosomas libres y de aparato de Golgi.

Los axones pueden estar o no recubiertos por una vaina, denominada vaina de mielina. En el sistema nervioso central los axones que se encuentran mielinizados están cubiertos por prolongaciones citoplasmáticas de los oligodendrocitos. En el sistema nervioso periférico los axones están siempre recubiertos por las células de Schwann —que también son células gliales al igual que los citados oligodendrocitos— las cuales forman una capa múltiple a partir de la membrana citoplasmática de estas células que rodean a un axón de mayor calibre y que también constituyen la vaina de mielina. Los axones de menor calibre de las neuronas del sistema nervioso periférico no se encuentran rodeadas por dicha vaina pero están embutidas en células bonitas liberador

Tipos de neuronas según la longitud del axón
Las neuronas se pueden clasificar en dos tipos de acuerdo al largo de su axón: 
 Neuronas Golgi tipo I: Poseen un axón largo
 Neuronas Golgi tipo II: Poseen un axón corto, similar a una dendrita que termina cerca del soma. 
Las células piramidales de la corteza cerebral.
Las voluminosas células de Purkinje de la corteza cerebelosa.

La mayoría de los axones de las neuronas no miden más de unos pocos milímetros de longitud, mientras que las que se extienden desde la médula espinal hasta los pies pueden llegar a medir un metro de longitud.

Funciones del axón 
Las funciones del axón son el transporte de orgánulos y sustancias, y la conducción del impulso nervioso.

Transporte de orgánulos e información 
El transporte de orgánulos, enzimas, macromoléculas y metabolitos, es una función de axoplasma en el que intervienen directamente los microtúbulos. El transporte axoplásmico es necesario para el mantenimiento del axón y de las células asociadas a él, y para permitir la llegada al pericarion de factores reguladores que regulan su función. 

El transporte en el interior de axón puede ser en dos direcciones:

 Transporte anterógrado o centrífugo: Es el que ocurre desde el soma neuronal hacia el telodendrón.
 Transporte retrógrado o centrípeto: Es el que ocurre desde los botones terminales hacia el soma neuronal.

La velocidad del transporte varía entre:
 Flujo lento de 0,5 µm/min, velocidad a la que se desplazan agregados moleculares como las subunidades proteicas que forman al citoesqueleto axonal.
 Flujo rápido anterógrado al que los orgánulos se desplazan a velocidades de unos 300 µm/min. La molécula de kinesina o cinesina, unida a un receptor en la membrana del orgánulo transportado se desplaza, a expensas de  ATP, desde el extremo negativo del microtúbulo, situado en el pericarion o soma hacia su extremo positivo.
 Flujo rápido retrógrado al que las vesículas membranosas procedentes de los botones terminales, son transportados hacia el pericarion o soma a unos 200 µm/min. La molécula de dineína citoplasmática (MAP1C) unida a un receptor en la membrana del orgánulo transportado se desplaza interactuando con la tubulina a expensas de ATP, desde el extremo positivo del microtúbulo, ubicado en el terminal axónico o arborización terminal hacia su extremo negativo.

Conducción del impulso nervioso 
Los axones constituyen las fibras nerviosas siendo la rama larga eferente, que transmite, el potencial de acción, ya sea de excitación o de inhibición a través de una o más sinapsis. Los axones también pueden recibir entradas a través de sinapsis axoaxónicas, que se realizan entre dos axones, pero las funciones de salida de axones es predominante.

La conducción del impulso nervioso es el desplazamiento del potencial de acción generado por cambios en la permeabilidad a iones a lo largo del axolema (membrana del axón) de las fibras nerviosas, ayudado por las células de sostén que rodean como una vaina al axón.

En el sistema nervioso central los axones están rodeados por la mielina de los oligodendrocitos, mientras que en el sistema nervioso periférico pueden estar rodeados, ya sea, por prolongaciones citoplasmáticas de las células de Schwann (fibras amielínicas) o por la mielinas de las células de Schwann (fibras nerviosas mielínicas del sistema nervioso periférico).

Los impulsos nerviosos son ondas transitorias de inversión del voltaje que existe a nivel de la membrana plasmática, que se inician en el lugar en que se produce el estímulo. Cada una de estas ondas corresponde a un potencial de acción.

 
Este proceso es posible gracias a las macromoléculas que, como proteínas integrales, ocupan todo el espesor del axolema como:
 La bomba de sodio-potasio, capaz de transportar activamente sodio hacia el medio extracelular intercambiándolo por potasio. 
 Canales para sodio sensibles a voltaje, que determinan la inversión del voltaje de la membrana ya que al abrirse y permitir la entrada de sodio hacen que el interior de la membrana se vuelva positiva.
 Canales para potasio sensibles a voltaje, cuya activación contribuye al retorno a la polaridad inicial, por salida de iones potasio desde el interior del axoplasma.

En las fibras nerviosas amielínicas el impulso se conduce, como una onda continua de inversión de voltaje hasta los botones terminales de los axones a una velocidad que es proporcional al diámetro del axón y varía de uno a cien metros por segundo.

En las fibras nerviosas mielínicas, el axón está cubierto por una vaina de mielina formada por la superposición o enrollamiento de una serie de capas de membrana celular, que actúa como un aislante eléctrico del axón. A lo largo del axón, la mielina está formada por células sucesivas y en cada límite intercelular existe un anillo sin mielina que corresponde al nodo de Ranvier.

En los nodos de Ranvier se produce el flujo de iones a través de la membrana axonal. El axolema de los nodos de Ranvier tiene una alta concentración de canales de sodio sensibles a voltaje. La consecuencia es una conducción saltatoria del potencial de acción ya que la inversión del voltaje inducido a nivel de un nódulo de Ranvier se continúa por propagación pasiva rápida de la corriente por el interior del axón y por el extracelular hasta el nódulo siguiente donde produce la inversión del voltaje. 

La consecuencia de esta estructura es que en los axones mielínicos la conducción del impulso nervioso es más rápida. La velocidad de conducción del impulso nervioso es proporcional al diámetro del axón y a la distancia entre los nodos de Ranvier en los axones mielínicos.

La primera medición de la velocidad del impulso nervioso se atribuye a Hermann von Helmholtz , que en 1853 estableció un valor promedio de 27,25 m/s.

Véase también 
Neurona
Tejido nervioso
Lesiones de nervio
Neuropatía
Neuralgia
Sistema nervioso
Mielina

Referencias

Enlaces externos 

Términos médicos
Neuronas
Neuroanatomía

Las asteráceas (Asteraceae), también llamadas compuestas (Compositae Giseke, nom. cons.), reúnen 32 913 especies repartidas en unos 1911 géneros, por lo que son la familia de Angiospermas con mayor riqueza y diversidad biológica.
La familia se caracteriza por presentar las flores dispuestas en una inflorescencia compuesta denominada capítulo la cual se halla rodeada de una o más filas de brácteas (involucro).

El nombre "Asteraceae" deriva del género tipo de la familia Aster, término que —a su vez— proviene del griego ἀστήρ que significa «estrella» y hace alusión a la forma de la inflorescencia. Por otro lado, el nombre "compuestas", más antiguo, pero válido, hace referencia al tipo particular de inflorescencia compuesta que caracteriza a la familia y que solo se halla en muy pocas familias de Angiospermas.

Las compuestas presentan una considerable importancia ecológica y económica. Los miembros de esta familia se distribuyen desde las regiones polares hasta los trópicos, conquistando todos los hábitats disponibles, desde los desiertos secos hasta los pantanos y desde las selvas hasta los picos montañosos. En muchas regiones del mundo las compuestas llegan a integrar hasta el 10% de la flora vernácula. La familia contiene algunos géneros con una gran cantidad de especies, como es el caso de Eupatorium s.l. (1200 especies), Senecio (con 1000 especies) y Helichrysum (500-600 especies).

Descripción

Hábito 
La mayoría de las especies de compuestas son plantas herbáceas, raramente árboles, arbustos o lianas. Muchas especies presentan látex y también aceites esenciales. Pueden o no ser resinosas. Las hojas, en general, están bien desarrolladas, en algunos casos se hallan muy reducidas. En general no son plantas suculentas, si bien hay algunos ejemplos de compuestas con esa característica.
Pueden ser anuales, bienales o perennes, con una agregación basal de hojas (una "roseta" basal) o sin ella. Existen especies hidrofíticas (ciertas especies de Bidens o Cotula), que presentan hojas sumergidas y emergentes. Por otro lado, existen especies heliofíticas, mesofíticas y xerofíticas.

Hojas 

Las hojas de las compuestas son usualmente alternas y espiraladas, menos frecuentemente opuestas, raramente verticiladas. Con respecto a su consistencia, las hojas pueden ser herbáceas, carnosas, coriáceas o membranosas y estar más o menos modificadas en espinas. Pueden ser pecioladas o sésiles, con o sin glándulas, aromáticas, fétidas o sin olor marcado. En relación con la morfología, las hojas pueden ser simples o compuestas, ocasionalmente peltadas. La lámina foliar puede ser entera o disectada, pinnatífida o palmatífida, a veces espinosa. En general carecen de estípulas. Los márgenes de la lámina foliar pueden ser enteros, crenados, serrados o dentados; planos, revolutos o involutos. Las hojas no presentan un meristema basal persistente. En la mayoría de las compuestas la nerviación foliar comprende una nervadura media y nervaduras laterales más o menos similares. Tales hojas se describen como "de nerviación pinnada". La venación en otras compuestas frecuentemente consiste en una nervadura media y nervaduras laterales pronunciadas. Tales hojas se describen como 3-nervadas, 5-nervadas, etc. dependiendo del número de nervaduras laterales presentes.

Anatomía 
Las compuestas, principalmente los miembros de Cichorieae, pueden presentar estructuras especializadas para segregar látex denominadas laticíferos. Estos laticíferos pueden encontrarse en uno o varios órganos de la planta. Ocasionalmente pueden presentar estructuras foliares para la eliminación de agua líquida llamadas hidátodos. Las láminas foliares pueden presentar cavidades secretoras, con resinas o con látex.

Las venas menores de la hoja pueden presentar células especializadas en el transporte de fotoasimilados desde el mesófilo hacia el elemento criboso del floema, denominadas células de transferencia. Tal tipo de célula fue detectado en 58 géneros de compuestas. Ciertos géneros no las presentan, tales como Eupatorium y Barnadesia.

Con respecto a la anatomía del tallo, los nudos pueden ser uni, tri o multilacunares. El engrosamiento secundario del tallo puede no producirse o desarrollarse a partir de un anillo cambial convencional. A veces este crecimiento secundario es anómalo, en el sentido que se produce a partir de anillos cambiales concéntricos.

Las compuestas frecuentemente tienen pelos glandulares sésiles o subsésiles, que consisten de bases multicelulares que sustentan elementos globulares que contienen sustancias resinosas o pegajosas. Tales estructuras reciben el nombre de glándulas, pelos glandulares o tricomas glandulares. Estas glándulas pueden ser translúcidas, amarillentas a marrones, o anaranjadas.

Flor 

Las flores son pequeñas, hermafroditas o, en ocasiones, funcionalmente unisexuales o estériles (en este último caso se denominan neutras). Por su simetría pueden ser tanto actinomorfas como zigomorfas, es decir que pueden presentar simetría radial o bilateral, respectivamente. Por el número de piezas que componen cada ciclo, las flores de las compuestas son pentámeras. Hipanto ausente.

El cáliz es nulo o bien los sépalos están profundamente modificados, formando un papus o vilano, de dos a muchas escamas, cerdas o pelos, persistentes, a veces connadas. El papus puede ser piloso, diminutamente barbado, o plumoso.

La corola es gamopétala, los cinco pétalos pueden unirse entre sí formando un tubo con 4 o 5 lóbulos (la flor se denomina tubulosa o flósculo), o dos grupos de pétalos unidos (en el caso de las flores bilabiadas, con un labio superior formado por 2 pétalos y un labio inferior formado por 3 pétalos), o pueden presentar un tubo corto y el limbo prolongado lateralmente en una lígula con 3 o 5 dientes (flores liguladas).

El androceo presenta usualmente 5 estambres, los cuales alternan con los lóbulos de la corola. Los filamentos, casi siempre libres, se hallan insertos lateralmente en el tubo de la corola y las anteras, basifijas y de dehiscencia longitudinal e introrsa, están usualmente soldadas entre sí (raramente los filamentos están connatos y las anteras libres: por ejemplo en los Ambrosiinae de la tribu Heliantheae), formando así un tubo alrededor del estilo en el cual el polen, usualmente tricolporado (con 3 aperturas), es liberado, y el estilo entonces crece a través de este tubo, empujando hacia afuera o tomando el polen (con pelos variadamente desarrollados) y presentándoselo a los visitantes florales, después de lo cual los estigmas se vuelven receptivos (es decir, con un émbolo o mecanismo de polinización por cepillado).

El gineceo es de 2 carpelos connados, ovario ínfero, unilocular. Presentan un solo óvulo anátropo, con 1 tegumento y un delgado megasporangio. La placentación es basal. El pistilo presenta un estilo que usualmente posee en su ápice un nectario. El estilo se halla dividido distalmente en dos ramas (ramas estilares) que presentan papilas estigmáticas en su cara adaxial dispuestas en dos líneas separadas o bien, en una sola banda continua.

Inflorescencia 

El capítulo es un tipo de inflorescencia racimosa o abierta en la que el pedúnculo se ensancha en la extremidad formando un disco algo grueso, llamado receptáculo común o clinanto, que puede ser plano, cóncavo, convexo o cónico. Este receptáculo común se halla rodeado por una o más series de brácteas, comúnmente referidas como brácteas involucrales y que constituían el involucro. Sobre este órgano se disponen las flores sésiles acompañadas o no por sus correspondientes brácteas (generalmente descritas como brácteas, pelos o escamas axilantes y que de hecho son asimilables a las bracteolas de, por ejemplo, las umbelliferae). Es la inflorescencia típica de las compuestas y de algunos otros géneros como Scabiosa.

Los capítulos pueden tener solo flores tubulosas, pueden tener flores tubulosas en el centro y bilabiadas hacia afuera, las últimas femeninas o estériles y las primeras masculinas o bisexuales, o pueden tener solo flores liguladas, con los lóbulos de la corola valvados. Si tienen solo flores tubulosas, estas pueden ser todas bisexuales, o puede ser una mezcla de flores femeninas estériles con bisexuales estaminadas, en el mismo capítulo o en capítulos diferentes.

Los capítulos, a su vez, pueden agruparse en inflorescencias compuestas diversas, determinadas, terminales o axilares.

Fruto 

Usualmente, el fruto de las compuestas se describe como un aquenio debido a su parecido con los aquenios verdaderos. No obstante, por definición los aquenios son frutos secos, uniseminados, derivados de ovarios unicapelares y súperos. Los ovarios de las compuestas, por el contrario, son bicarpelares e ínferos. Por esa razón los frutos de las compuestas se describen correctamente como cipselas, un término acuñado por C. de Mirbel en 1815. La morfología de un ovario de compuesta durante la floración es marcadamente diferente de la morfología del fruto maduro que deriva de tal ovario. Las formas de las cipselas han sido utilizadas por los taxónomos para distinguir especies, géneros e incluso subtribus. En la mayoría de las especies de la familia las cipselas son más o menos isodiamétricas en sección transversal, mientras que en algunas especies es lenticular a elíptica. Tales frutos se dicen comprimidos si el eje mayor de la sección transversal es más o menos paralelo a un radio del capítulo (como por ejemplo en Verbesina) o aplanados radialmente si el eje menor de la sección transversal del fruto es paralelo a un radio del capítulo (como en el caso de Coreopsis).

Como se mencionó previamente, el cáliz en las compuestas se halla modificado y, además, es persistente en el fruto (se dice que es acrescente) y recibe la denominación de papus o vilano. Este órgano muestra una gran diversidad morfológica (aristas, pelos, coronas, brácteas, etc.) y es frecuentemente usado como carácter diagnóstico para el reconocimiento de géneros y especies de compuestas. En algunos taxones se forma un pico elongado entre el fruto y el papus.
La semilla es exalbuminada y el endosperma es escaso o inexistente.

Fitoquímica 
Las compuestas almacenan carbohidratos como oligosacáridos, incluyendo a la inulina. Usualmente en las especies de la familia están presentes los poliacetilenos y los aceites aromáticos terpenoides. Frecuentemente se presentan lactonas sesquiterpénicas (no obstante, sin iridoides).

Números cromosómicos 

Las especies de la familia presentan números cromosómicos básicos desde x=2 hasta x=19. Se supone que el número básico de la familia es x=9.
Brachicome lineariloba es un efimerófito nativo de Australia que, con solo 4 cromosomas de 6 a 8µm de longitud en sus células somáticas, es la compuesta con el menor número cromosómico conocido.

Modos de reproducción 

La diversidad de modos de reproducción de las compuestas solo tiene paralelo con su heterogeneidad morfológica. Existen especies dioicas (o sea, con plantas femeninas y plantas masculinas, como por ejemplo Baccharis articulata) y otras en las cuales coexisten individuos unisexuales con hermafroditas en la misma población (Bidens sandvicensis, por ejemplo). No obstante, la mayoría de las compuestas son hermafroditas, es decir que los dos sexos se presentan en la misma flor. Estas especies hermafroditas, a su vez, pueden ser autógamas o alógamas, según puedan o no producir semillas por autofecundación, respectivamente. En el caso de las compuestas alógamas, se ha determinado que la autopolinización se evita debido a un mecanismo de autoincompatibilidad particular llamado autoincompatibilidad esporofítica homomórfica. Las particularidades del mismo son que la reacción de incompatibilidad entre el polen y el pistilo está gobernada por el genotipo de la planta que da origen a los granos de polen (es decir, por el esporófito) y no por el genotipo de cada grano de polen individual. En este sistema de autoincompatibilidad, determinado por un único gen llamado S, la detención del crecimiento de los tubos polínicos ocurre en el estigma, apenas se inicia su germinación.
Un modo de reproducción bastante distribuido en esta familia es la apomixis. La apomixis se define como la reproducción asexual a través de semillas. En este sistema reproductivo los embriones se desarrollan por mitosis a partir de una oósfera no reducida sin que tenga lugar la fecundación. En otras palabras, cada embrión producido es genéticamente idéntico a la planta madre. La apomixis se halla ampliamente distribuida en ciertas familias de plantas, tales como las Poáceas, las Rosáceas y las Compuestas. En estas últimas la apomixis es un tipo de reproducción obligada en muchas especies, mientras que en las otras dos familias la apomixis y la reproducción sexual pueden tener lugar, lado a lado, en el mismo individuo (apomixis facultativa).
La reproducción apomíctica se ha detectado en varios géneros de compuestas, tales como Achillea, Crepis, Hieracium, Taraxacum,  Conyza,  Eupatorium,
 Erigeron, Brachycome, Parthenium, y Árnica.

Buena parte de las especies apomícticas de las compuestas son estériles debido a autopoliploidía (las especies triploides Taraxacum officinale y  Erigeron annuus, por ejemplo) y a hibridación interespecífica (tal es el caso de Arnica gracilis, una especie híbrida entre A. latifolia y A. cordifolia). Los híbridos interespecíficos frecuentemente presentan problemas de segregación cromosómica durante la meiosis debido a un inadecuado apareamiento cromosómico. Debido a esto son altamente estériles. La ventaja selectiva de la reproducción apomíctica se hace evidente considerando que en estos individuos, de otro modo estériles, se asegura su reproducción y dispersión por medio de semillas. Desde un punto de vista ecológico, las especies apomícticas se distribuyen frecuentemente en hábitats disturbados y son muy exitosos colonizadores, ya que no dependen de la presencia de individuos de la misma especie en las inmediaciones para dejar descendencia.

La genética de la apomixis en las compuestas ha sido investigada por lo menos para la especie triploide Erigeron annuus, y se halla determinada por dos genes con segregación independiente.

Ecología 

La familia es cosmopolita, sus especies habitan desde zonas frías hasta los trópicos, pasando por las zonas templadas y subtropicales. Son especialmente frecuentes en número de especies o número de individuos en las regiones áridas o semiáridas abiertas y las regiones montañosas, de latitudes subtropicales o templadas.

Las pequeñas flores de Asteraceae no son fáciles de ver, los capítulos usualmente funcionan como (y de golpe de vista hasta pueden parecer) una única flor. En los capítulos con flores tubulosas en el centro y bilabiadas hacia afuera, las flores bilabiadas son las que atraen a los polinizadores y las tubulosas maduran centrípetamente. Los polinizadores usualmente aterrizan en las flores bilabiadas y depositan el polen de otras plantas en los estigmas de las flores tubulosas marginales, más antiguas. Los filamentos de muchas Asteraceae responden al tacto contrayéndose abruptamente forzando el polen a salir hacia el cuerpo del polinizador. El color de la corola es variable. Las inflorescencias de las compuestas generalmente se entrecruzan y atraen una amplia variedad de polinizadores generalistas (como por ejemplo, mariposas, abejas, moscas y escarabajos), pero la polinización por abejas solitarias es especialmente común. Algunos géneros tienen flores reducidas que son polinizadas por el viento (anemofilia, como Ambrosia y Baccharis), y algunos tienen capítulos reducidos a una única flor, pero estos capítulos reducidos son después agregados en cabezas compuestas (como en Echinops).

Los frutos de la mayoría de los miembros de Asteraceae son dispersados por viento, con el papus funcionando como un paracaídas. El fruto aplanado y muchas veces alado ayuda a la dispersión por viento. El transporte externo sobre pájaros o mamíferos es facilitado por modificaciones del papus como las cerdas con barbas retrorsas, crecimientos del fruto como ganchos o espinas, o brácteas involucrales especializadas.

Evolución, filogenia y taxonomía

Evolución 
Las astéridas y las campanúlidas basales aparentemente se originaron en el período cretácico temprano, y las asterales en el cretácico tardío. Se ha hipotetizado un origen en el cretácico tardío para Asterales en Gondwana oriental (Australasia) con una expansión posterior hacia Gondwana occidental (América del Sur y Antártida), donde se habrían originado las asteráceas antes de la separación de América y Antártida.

Por otro lado, se ha sostenido que la estrecha relación existente entre las asteráceas con las familias Goodeniaceae y Calyceraceae, además de la posición basal de la subfamilia de compuestas Barnadesioideae, indican que el complejo se ha originado en Sudamérica, Antártida y Australia.
Los datos del polen fósil parecen indicar un origen sudamericano de las Asteráceas en el Eoceno, con una migración posterior hacia Norteamérica en el Eoceno tardío o en el Oligoceno. No obstante, recientemente se informó el hallazgo de polen de Asteraceae (asignable a Mutisioideae) del Paleoceno-Eoceno de Sudáfrica, lo que indicaría un origen más temprano de la familia en Gondwana oriental.

Filogenia 

Asteraceae ha sido el foco de numerosos análisis filogenéticos.

Las asteráceas forman un grupo monofilético bastante obvio y fácilmente reconocible. Las sinapomorfías tanto morfológicas como moleculares son numerosas.

La familia está dividida en numerosas tribus que, hasta hace poco tiempo, se ordenaban en 3 subfamilias (K.Bremer 1987, 1994, Bremer y Jansen 1992).

Barnadesioideae, un pequeño grupo sudamericano comprendido principalmente por árboles y arbustos, es hermano del resto de la familia (Jansen y Palmer 1987). A este grupo le falta la inversión de ADN del cloroplasto que caracteriza al resto de las especies de la familia (Jensen y Palmer 1987). El resto de las tribus están divididas en mitades más o menos iguales entre las "Cichorioideae" y las "Asteroideae" (K. Bremer 1987, 1994, Carlquist 1976, Thorne 1992). "Cichorioideae" es parafilética, pero las relaciones filogenéticas dentro del complejo aún no están del todo comprendidas. "Cichorioideae" se caracteriza por ramas del estilo con la superficie interna estigmática. Sus cabezas son usualmente discoides, excepto en la tribu Lactuceae, que tiene cabezas liguladas. En esta subfamilia hay canales resiníferos y laticíferos, y el sistema de látex está especialmente bien desarrollado en Lactuceae. Lactuceae es bastante diferente del resto y a veces ha sido ubicado en su propia subfamilia (Cronquist 1955, 1977, 1981), pero está cercanamente emparentado a Vernonieae. Las monofiléticas Asteroideae pueden ser diagnosticadas por tener el tejido estigmático restringido a 2 líneas en cada rama del estilo, la falta de laticíferos, la presencia de flores bilabiadas (y cabezas de flores bilabiadas, aunque perdidas en algunos géneros), las flores tubulosas con lóbulos cortos (pero secundariamente alargados en algunas), y caracteres de ADN.

La familia ha sido clasificada recientemente en al menos 11 subfamilias (Panero y Funk 2002). Se añadió después una subfamilia más: Wunderlichioideae, con 8 géneros y 24 especies en Suramérica y China.

Taxonomía 
Las Asteráceas han sido por mucho tiempo reconocidas como un grupo natural y su circunscripción nunca ha sido controvertida (a pesar de que algunos taxónomos han subdividido a la familia en 2 o 3 familias). Arthur Cronquist dispuso a las Asteráceas como la única familia en el orden Asterales dentro de la subclase Asteriidae, asociado con los órdenes Gentianales, Rubiales, Dipsacales y Calycerales y relativamente distante de Campanulales. Los métodos de la sistemática molecular utilizados por el Grupo para la Filogenia de las Angiospermas (APG por su acrónimo en inglés) han permitido comprender más cabalmente las relaciones filogénéticas entre los grupos de plantas. En su publicación del año 2003, el APG sugirió que las Asteráceas forman parte de un orden Asterales más ampliamente definido, dentro del clado informal Astéridas II (o, clado de las campanúlidas, ver Judd y Olmstead, 2004).

En su definición actual, el orden Asterales incluye a las siguientes familias con pétalos valvados, que almacenan inulina y que presentan ácido elágico: Alseuosmiaceae, Argophyllaceae, Calyceraceae, Campanulaceae (incluyendo opcionalmente a Lobeliaceae), Goodeniaceae, Menyanthaceae, Pentaphragmataceae, Phellinaceae, Rousseaceae y Stylidiaceae.

La familia más estrechamente relacionada con las Compuestas es Calyceraceae, distribuida en Suramérica, con la que comparte la presencia de un cáliz altamente modificado y acrescente, gineceo unicarpelar y uniseminado, polen con surcos entre los colpos y fruto especializado. La agregación de las flores en capítulos aparentemente fue un fenómeno de evolución paralela en ambas familias, ya que se trata de una inflorescencia determinada en Calyceraceae mientras que la misma es indeterminada en Asteraeae.

Las sinapomorfias de las compuestas incluyen: el cáliz modificado en una estructura denominada papus, las anteras connadas formando un tubo y los estigmas modificados para funcionar como cepillos en un mecanismo especializado de polinización, los ovarios que contienen un solo óvulo de placentación basal y la producción de lactonas sequiterpénicas.

La familia, entonces, ha sido universalmente reconocida y dispuesta en el orden Asterales de las dicotiledóneas o eudicotiledóneas. Desde el punto de vista de la taxonomía intrafamiliar, tradicionalmente se han reconocido dos subfamilias: Asteroideae (o 'Tubuliflorae') y Cichorioideae (o 'Liguliflorae'), desde que en 1894 Hoffmann reconoció a las mismas como dos linajes diferentes. Asteroideae se caracteriza por la presencia de capítulos radiados y la ausencia de látex. La subfamilia Cichorioideae, en cambio, se caracteriza por la presencia de látex y por sus capítulos con flores liguladas.

Los intentos de ordenar la diversidad de las compuestas en categorías taxonómicas inferiores, tales como tribus, comenzaron con H. Cassini, quien en 1826 subdividió a la familia en 19 tribus y sugirió sus relaciones naturales y fueron continuadas por las contribuciones de G. Bentham en 1873 y Arthur Cronquist en 1955. El estudio filogenético llevado a cabo por R.K. Jensen y J.D. Palmer sobre el ADN cloroplástico y publicado en 1987 fue central para establecer que, además de Cichoroideae y Asteroideae, existía otro clado (más tarde denominado Barnadesioideae) distribuido por Sudamérica y que el mismo era basal dentro de la familia. Los datos morfológicos sumados a los análisis cladísticos permitieron a K. Bremer sugerir una clasificación de las compuestas que incluía tres subfamilias y 17 tribus, cuya sinopsis se provee más adelante.

Los estudios filogenéticos que se han llevado a cabo durante las dos últimas décadas sobre las secuencias del ADN han permitido concluir que las Cichorioideae son parafiléticas. Más recientemente, los estudios moleculares de J.L. Panero y V.A. Funk reconocen 12 subfamilias cada una monofilética, las cuales se describen brevemente a continuación.

Subfamilias y tribus 

1. Barnadesioideae (D. Don) Bremer & Jansen

Usualmente arbóreas, notablemente pobres en compuestos flavonoides. Además las espinas o aguijones axilares son muy comunes. Las flores y las cipselas presentan largos pelos tricelulares. La corola es bilabiada (4+1), el polen no es espinoso y presenta depresiones entre los colpos, el estilo es glabro o con papilas, el estigma es lobado. La cipsela presenta espinas. Comprende 9 géneros y 94 especies que se distribuyen en Sudamérica, especialmente en Los Andes. La edad del "stem" de este clado es entre 42 y 36 millones de años antes del presente (K. J. Kim et al. 2005). Algunos de los géneros de esta subfamilia, que incluye una sola tribu (Barnadesieae), son: Arnaldoa, Barnadesia, Chuquiraga, Dasyphyllum, Doniophyton, Fulcadea y Schlechtendalia.

2. Mutisioideae Lindley (sinonimia: Mutisiaceae Burnett, Nassauviaceae Burmeister, Perdiciaceae Link)

Esta subfamilia presenta flores con corola bilabiada, pero, a diferencia de Barnadesioideae, los pétalos forman dos grupos, uno conformado por tres miembros y el otro por dos. Los lóbulos del estigma son cortos. El número cromosómico básico es n=6 a 9.

La subfamilia presenta 44 géneros y aproximadamente 630 especies que se distribuyen en Sudamérica. Los 44 géneros se agrupan en las siguientes tribus: Onoserideae (Onoseris, Lycoseris), Nassauvieae (Nassauvia, Criscia), Mutisieae (ejemplo Gerbera, Mutisia)
Los géneros con mayor número de especies son Acourtia (65), Chaptalia (60),
Mutisia (50) y Trixis (50).

3. Stifftioideae Panero

Es una subfamilia recientemente propuesta. Incluye cerca de 10 géneros y 40 especies distribuidas principalmente en Venezuela y Guyana, aunque también tiene representantes en los Andes y el noreste de Sudamérica. Algunos de los géneros que componen esta subfamilia, que incluye una única tribu llamada Stifftieae,
son Hyaloseris, Dinoseris, Duidaeae, Gongylolepis y Stifftia.

4. Wunderlichioideae Panero & Funk

Subfamilia que incluye 8 géneros y aproximadamente 24 especies que se distribuyen especialmente en Venezuela y Guyana, aunque también presenta especies en el este de Sudamérica y en el sudoeste de China. La característica más sobresaliente de los miembros de esta subfamilia es la de presentar estilos y ramas estilares glabras y una deleción en el gen rpoB. En esta subfamilia se reconocen dos tribus: Wundelichieae y Hyalideae.

5. Gochnatioideae Panero & Funk

Con 4 o 5 géneros y unas 90 especies que se distribuyen por América del Sur y América Central, especialmente el Caribe. Esta subfamilia, que incluye una sola tribu denominada Gochnatieae, está caracterizada por sus flores con ramas estilares cortas, glabras y con los ápices redondeados. Los números cromosómicos básicos son n = 22, 23 y 27. El género más representado es Gochnatia que incluye cerca de 70 especies. Los otros géneros de la subfamilia son Richterago, Cnicothamnus y Cyclolepis.

6. Hecastocleidoideae Panero & Funk

Subfamilia caracterizada por sus capítulos unifloros, las flores polisimétricas con corolas pentalobadas, los brazos estilares cortos con ápice redondeado y el papus escamoso. Esta subfamilia, cuyo número cromosómico básico es x=8, comprende una sola tribu (Hecastocleideae) y una sola especie: Hecastocleis shockleyi distribuida en el sudoeste de Estados Unidos.

7. Carduoideae Sweet (sin.: Acarnaceae Link, Carduaceae Dumortier, Centaureaceae Martynov, Cynaraceae Durande, Echinopaceae Dumortier, Serrulataceae Martynov)

Es una subfamilia que comprende un centenar de géneros y unas 2850 especies de distribución cosmopolita, pero con una marcada concentración de especies en el Hemisferio Norte (Eurasia y norte de África). El hábito bienal es muy común. Presentan hojas disectas, laticíferos y las flores son usualmente zigomorfas. Las ramas estilares son cortas, con un anillo de pelos por debajo de las ramas estilares. El número cromosómico básico es n=12.

Los géneros de esta subfamilia se reparten en 4 tribus:
Cynareae (=Cardueae), Dicomeae, Oldenburgieae  y Tarchonantheae. Los taxones genéricos con mayor número de especies son Centaurea (695), Cousinia (655), Saussurea (300), Cirsium (250), Echinops (120), Carduus (90), Serratula (70), Dicoma (65), Onopordum (60).

8. Pertyoideae Panero & Funk

Subfamilia que comprende 5 o 6 géneros y unas 70 especies incluidas en una sola tribu (Pertyeae) y distribuidas en Asia (Afganistán hacia el sudeste del continente). Las flores presentan la corola profunda y desigualmente dividida, los brazos estigmátcos son cortos, pilosos a papilosos en su cara abaxial. El número cromosómico básico es x=12 a 15. El género más grande es Ainsliaea con aproximadamente 50 especies.

9. Gymnarrhenoideae Panero & Funk

Es otra subfamilia monotípica, compuesta por una sola tribu (Gymnarrheneae) que incluye a una única especie, Gymnarrhena micrantha distribuida en el norte de África. Los capítulos se hallan agrupados en inflorescencias. Las ramas estilares son largas y con los ápices redondeados. El número cromosómico básico es x=10.

10. Cichorioideae Chevalier (sin.: Aposeridaceae Rafinesque, Arctotidaceae Bessey, Cichoriaceae Jussieu, nom. cons., Cnicaceae Vest, Lactucaceae Drude, Picridaceae Martynov, Vernoniaceae Burmeister)

Es una subfamilia con un número importante de géneros (224) y especies (3600) de distribución cosmopolita. Presentan látex, las flores del disco son profundamente lobadas, los ápices de los brazos estilares son agudos y los pelos también son agudos. Los números cromosómicos básicos más frecuentes son 9 o 10, más raramente 7 o 13. Los géneros con mayor riqueza de especies son: Vernonia (800-1000), Crepis (200), Jurinea (200), Scorzonera (175), Lepidaploa (115), Tragopogon (110), Lessinganthus (100), Hieracium (90-1000), Lactuca (75), Vernonanthura (65), Hypochaeris (60), Sonchus (60) y Taraxacum (60-500). Esta subfamilia ha sido subdividida en las siguientes tribus: Gundelieae, Cichorieae, Arctotideae, Liabeae y Vernonieae.

11. Corymbioideae Panero & Funk

Esta subfamilia con una sola tribu (Corymbieae) comprende un solo género (Corymbium) con 7 especies oriundas de Sudáfrica. Presenta hojas con nervaduras paralelas, capítulos con una flor encerrados por dos brácteas involucrales. La corola con lóbulos anchos y conspicuos. El número cromosómico básico es x= 16.

12. Asteroideae Lindley

Con 1135 géneros y más de 16 000 especies, esta es la subfamilia con mayor riqueza de las Compuestas. Sus miembros, de distribución cosmopolita, no presentan látex, los capítulos son heterógamos, con flores tubulosas con lóbulos inconspicuos y flores liguladas frecuentemente con tres lóbulos. Las áreas estigmáticas se hallan dispuestas en dos candas marginales. Los géneros con mayor riqueza de especies son Senecio (1000), Eupatorium sensu lato (1200, 40 en sentido estricto), Helichrysum (600), Artemisia(550), Mikania (430), Baccharis (400), Verbesina (300), Ageratina (290), Bidens (235), Stevia (235), Anthemis (210), Erigeron (200), Pentacalia (200), Aster (180), Viguiera (180), Chromolaena (165), Gnaphalium (150), Solidago (150), Tanacetum (150), Olearia (130), Seriphidium (130), Ligularia (125), Achillea (115), Coreopsis (115), Anaphalis (110), Brickellia (110), Calea (110), Blumea (100), Koanophyllum (110), Euryops (100), Pectis (100) y Wedelia (100). Se reconocen 3 supertribus dentro de esta subfamilia: Senecionodae, Asterodae y Helianthodae.

Incluye 20 tribus: Anthemideae, Astereae, Athroismeae, Bahieae, Calenduleae, Chaenactideae, Coreopsideae, Eupatorieae, Feddeae, Gnaphalieae, Helenieae, Heliantheae, Inuleae, Madieae, Millerieae, Neurolaeneae, Perityleae, Polymnieae, Senecioneae, Tageteae.

Sinopsis de la clasificación tradicional 
A continuación se provee una sinopsis de la clasificación más tradicional de las compuestas basada en el análisis cladístico de datos morfológicos. Muchas floras de todo el mundo suscriben a esta sinopsis publicada por Bremer en 1994, la cual divide a las Compuestas de 3 subfamilias, de las cuales las de mayor importancia en número de especies son Cichorioideae y Asteoideae. Adviértase que muchas de las tribus de la clasificación de Bremer (tales como Mutiseae o Cardueae) han sido elevadas al rango de subfamilias en la clasificación más reciente.

Barnadesioideae
Tribu Barnadesieae
Cichorioideae
Tribu Arctotideae
Tribu Cardueae
Tribu Cichorieae
Tribu Liabeae
Tribu Mutisieae
Tribu Vernonieae
Asteroideae
Tribu Anthemideae
Tribu Astereae
Tribu Calenduleae
Tribu Eupatorieae
Tribu Gnaphalieae
Tribu Helenieae
Tribu Heliantheae
Tribu Inuleae
Tribu Plucheae
Tribu Senecioneae

Géneros y especies principales 
Debido al gran número de géneros y especies que engloban en el mundo, el listado de los géneros y de las principales especies de la familia se ha editado en el siguiente anexo: Géneros y especies de Asteraceae.

Los géneros más representados son Senecio (1000 spp.), Vernonia (1000), Cousinia (650), Eupatorium s.l. (1200), Centaurea (600), Artemisia (550), Hieracium (500-600), Helichrysum (500), Baccharis (400), Mikania (400), Saussurea (300), Verbesina (300), Cirsium (250), Jurinea (250), Bidens (200), Crepis (200), Aster (180, excluyendo a segregados como Symphyotrichum, Sericocarpus), Gnaphalium (150), Tragopogon (110), y Solidago (100). Los límites genéricos son muchas veces problemáticos, y muchos de estos grandes géneros son frecuentemente divididos en numerosos segregados (ver Bremer 1994).

Sinonimia 
Los siguientes nombres se consideran sinónimos de Asteraceae:

Importancia económica 
Las compuestas comprenden más de 40 especies de importancia económica, las cuales incluyen plantas alimenticias (lechuga, topinambur), oleaginosas (girasol, cártamo), medicinales (manzanilla) y ornamentales (dalia, zinia, crisantemo). También otras especies de Helianthus, Cichorium, Cynara, Taraxacum, Artemisia que contiene especias.

Los aceites comestibles de alta calidad del girasol y del cártamo tienen bajo contenido de ácidos grasos saturados y alta concentración de ácidos grasos insaturados. Además, se han desarrollado por mutagénesis otros tipos de aceites, tales como los girasoles con alto contenido de ácido oleico. Además, muchos ácidos grasos noveles para la industria se hallan en los aceites de muchas compuestas, tales como los ácidos grasos dienólicos conjugados de Dimorphoteca, los ácidos grasos acetilénicos de Crepis y los ácidos grasos epoxi en Vernonia y Stokesia.

Las diversas especies de la familia son una rica fuente de insecticidas y otras sustancias químicas de uso industrial, tales como el piretro (Tanacetum, o en Crisantemum), la Pulicaria, la goma (en el guayule).

Muchas otras compuestas se cultivan como plantas medicinales o como hierbas aromáticas.

Ambrosia es la mayor causa de la fiebre del heno.

Se encuentran ornamentales en Calendula, Dendranthema, Argyranthemum, Leucanthemum (el crisantemo), Dahlia, Tagetes, Senecio, Spaghenticola, Gaillardia, Helianthus, Zinnia, y muchas otras.

Finalmente, las compuestas también incluyen una gran cantidad de especies de malezas (cardos por ejemplo) que ocasionan pérdidas económicas a muchos cultivos. En la siguiente tabla se sintetizan varios de los usos de las compuestas y se ejemplifica cada uno de ellos.

Glosario de Asteraceae
Un glosario general y específico de Asteraceae se encuentra en Glosario de Asteraceae.

Notas

Referencias

Bibliografía 
 

 

 

 

 Panero, J. L., & V. A. Funk. 2008. The value of sampling anomalous taxa in phylogenetic studies: major clades of the Asteraceae revealed. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 47: 757-782

Enlaces externos 

 Los géneros de Compositae. Listado de los más de 1600 géneros de compuestas con sus respectivos autores, ordenados por tribus en TICA - The International Compositae Alliance. Advertencia: Esta lista está totalmente desactualizada a fecha de 4 de enero de 2018. Mejor ir a Compositae en The Plant List, vers. 1.1, 2013 (también desactualizada, pero menos).
 Flann, C. (ed.) 2009+, The Global Compositae Checklist  - Advertencia: Está también bastante desfasada.  

 
Plantas descritas por Berchtold
Plantas descritas por J.Presl
Plantas descritas en 1820

Las alismatáceas (nombre científico Alismataceae Vent.) son una familia de plantas monocotiledóneas del orden Alismatales. Es utilizada por sistemas de clasificación modernos como el sistema de clasificación APG III (2009) y el APWeb (2001 en adelante). Su circunscripción ha cambiado en los últimos años, el antiguo APG II en el 2003 la definió de forma estricta, ahora tanto el APG III como el APWeb la definen en forma amplia ("Alismataceae sensu lato") incluyendo los géneros antes comprendidos en Limnocharitaceae, para que la familia se mantenga monofilética. 

Como aquí definida comprende 15 géneros ampliamente distribuidos, especialmente en áreas templadas del Hemisferio Norte. Son hierbas perennes, palustres o acuáticas, laticíferas. Poseen hojas flotantes o aéreas, pecioladas con una vena media prominente, pero las especies son muchas veces dificultosas de determinar porque hay mucha variación en la morfología de la hoja, que tiene que ver con parámetros ambientales como la profundidad del agua, su composición química y su caudal, incluso suelen aparecer muchas morfologías de hoja dentro de una misma planta (por ejemplo, las hojas sumergidas son usualmente lineales, mientras que las flotantes o emergentes son pecioladas). Las flores son de monocotiledóneas, con sépalos y pétalos, los pétalos abigarrados en el pimpollo. Cuando los sexos están separados, las flores femeninas tienen 6 o más carpelos, libres o soldados en la base, y las flores masculinas tienen muchas anteras extrorsas. Muchas veces las inflorescencias están constituidas por verticilos bracteados de flores. En las semillas se observa claramente que el embrión está fuertemente curvado.

Descripción 
Introducción teórica en Terminología descriptiva de las plantas

Hierbas perennes (raramente anuales), rizomatosas, acuáticas (entonces flotantes o emergentes) o de marismas, con laticíferos, el látex blanco. Tejidos más o menos aerenquimatosos. El tallo es un cormo o rizoma, el último a veces portando tubérculos.

Usualmente sin pelos.

Hojas alternas, espirales o dísticas, usualmente más o menos basales, simples, de margen entero, usualmente pecioladas (raramente sésiles), usualmente con una lámina bien desarrollada, con venación paralela, o a veces palmada según Judd 2007 (reticulada según Simpson 2005), envainadoras en la base. A veces polimórficas, con las sumergidas más angostas, y las flotantes o emergentes más amplias, lineales a ovadas a triangulares sagitadas o hastadas. Sin estípulas. Pequeñas escamas presentes en el nodo dentro de la vaina de la hoja.

Las especies son muchas veces dificultosas de identificar debido a la extensiva variación en la morfología de la hoja, que se correlaciona con parámetros ambientales como la intensidad de la luz, la profundidad del agua, la química del agua, y el caudal (Adams y Godfrey 1961). Las hojas sumergidas son usualmente lineales, mientras que las flotantes o emergentes son pecioladas con lámina elíptica a ovada con una base aguda a sagitada. Muchas formas de hojas diferentes pueden aparecer en la misma planta.

Inflorescencias determinadas, pero muchas veces pareciendo indeterminadas, con ramas o flores muchas veces más o menos verticiladas, terminales, en el ápice de un escapo, siendo un racimo o una panícula (a veces como una umbela). Sin espata.

Flores bisexuales o unisexuales (plantas entonces monoicas), radiales, subsésiles a pediceladas, bracteadas, hipóginas, el receptáculo es chato o expandido y convexo.

El perianto en dos verticilos y diferenciado en cáliz y corola ("diclamídeo"), trímero, sin hipanto.

3 sépalos, separados, imbricados.

3 pétalos, separados, imbricados y arrugados, usualmente blancos o rosas, caducos.

Estambres usualmente 6, 9, o numerosos (raramente 3), filamentos separados, libres de otras partes de la flor, en un verticilo o en dos verticilos (muchas veces en pares). Las anteras son longitudinales, de dehiscencia extrorsa o latrorsa.

Polen usualmente de 2 a poliporado.

Carpelos 3, 6, o numerosos, separados, ovario súpero, con placentación más o menos basal (raramente marginal). 1 estilo y 1 estigma diminuto, los dos terminales. Óvulos pocos a más comúnmente 1 por carpelo (raramente numerosos), anátropos, bitégmicos.

Nectarios en la base de los carpelos, estambres, o piezas del perianto.

El fruto es un agregado de aquenios (o folículos que se abren basalmente).

Semillas sin albúmina. Embrión fuertemente curvado, sin endosperma.

Ver Haynes et al. (1998) para más información de la familia.

 Ecología 

Ampliamente distribuidas, especialmente en regiones templadas del Hemisferio Norte.

Plantas de marismas de agua dulce, pantanos, lagos, ríos y corrientes de agua.

Las vistosas flores de Alismatacae son polinizadas por varios insectos colectores de polen (muchas veces abejas y moscas).

En Alisma y Echinodorus las flores son bisexuales, mientras que usualmente son unisexuales en Sagittaria.

Los aquenios son muchas veces dispersados por agua, flotan debido a la presencia de tejido esponjoso y son resinosos en la superficie exterior. También son comidos y así dispersados por aves acuáticas.

 Filogenia 

Alismataceae se define en sentido amplio (incluyendo Limnocharitaceae, ver Pichon 1946, Thorne 1992) y se considera monofilética sobre la base de caracteres morfológicos y de ADN (Dahlgren et al. 1985, Les y Haynes 1995, Soros y Les 2002). Los géneros con aquenios y solo un óvulo basal por carpelo (por ejemplo Alisma, Sagittaria, y Echinodorus) pueden formar un subgrupo monofilético (Chase et al. 1993, 1995b).

Alismataceae (y Butomaceae) fueron alguna vez consideradas monocotiledóneas primitivas (Cronquist 1981, Hutchinson 1973), debido a sus estambres separados y numerosos y sus carpelos, en flores que son superficialmente como las de Ranunculaceae. Sin embargo, los estudios del desarrollo y anatómicos han indicado que estos numerosos estambres son en realidad un aumento secundario.

 Taxonomía 

La familia fue reconocida por el APG III (2009), el Linear APG III (2009) le asignó el número de familia 32. La familia ya había sido reconocida por el APG II (2003).

Sinónimos (según el APWeb): Damasoniaceae Nakai, Limnocharitaceae Cronquist

15 géneros, 100 especies. Los géneros más representados son Echinodorus (45 especies), y Sagittaria (35 especies). La lista de géneros, a enero de 2009:
 Alisma L., Sp. Pl.: 342 (1753).
 Astonia S.W.L.Jacobs, Telopea 7: 140 (1997).
 Baldellia Parl., Nuov. Gen. Sp. Monocot.: 57 (1854).
 Burnatia Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 3: 81 (1881).
 Caldesia Parl., Fl. Ital. 3: 598 (1860).
 Damasonium Mill., Gard. Dict. Abr. ed. 4 (1754).
 Echinodorus Rich., Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. 1: 365 (1815).
 Limnophyton Miq., Fl. Ned. Ind. 3: 242 (1856).
 Luronium Raf., Autik. Bot.: 63 (1840).
 Ranalisma Stapf, Hooker's Icon. Pl. 27: t. 2652 (1900).
 Sagittaria Rupp. ex L., Sp. Pl.: 993 (1753).
 Wiesneria Micheli in A.L.P.P.de Candolle & A.C.P.de Candolle, Monogr. Phan. 3: 82 (1881).

Géneros de Limnocharitaceae, incluidos en Alismataceae sensu lato por el APWeb:
 Butomopsis Kunth, Enum. Pl. 3: 164 (1841).
 Hydrocleys Rich., Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. 1: 368 (1815). (nota: Hydrocleis es sinónimo)
 Limnocharis Humb. & Bonpl., Pl. Aequinoct. 1: 116 (1808).

 Importancia económica Sagittaria, Alisma, Echinodorus e Hydrocleys proveen ornamentales de estanques y acuarios.

Los rizomas de Sagittaria'' son comestibles.

Algunos taxones de esta familia son utilizados como alimento por pueblos indígenas.

Referencias

Referencias citadas

Enlaces externos

Las agavóideas (nombre científico Agavoideae) forman una subfamilia de plantas monocotiledóneas distribuidas más o menos por todo el mundo y especialmente diversas en México, donde Agave tiene importantes usos económicos (por ejemplo es utilizado para elaborar tequila y mezcal). Muchos miembros de esta subfamilia son arborescentes, como el árbol de Josué (una especie de Yucca). Las hojas son muchas veces grandes, xeromórficas, fibrosas o raramente suculentas, en rosetas en la base o el final de las ramas. Las flores presentan 6 tépalos y 6 estambres, y el ovario es súpero o ínfero. La subfamilia fue reconocida por sistemas de clasificación modernos como el sistema de clasificación APG III (2009) y el APWeb (2001 en adelante), y ya había sido reconocida por el APG II que dejaba como opción excluirla de un Asparagaceae sensu stricto como la familia Agavaceae (ver Asparagales para una discusión sobre estos clados).

Descripción 
Usualmente hierbas grandes arrosetadas, o árboles, o arbustos, o subarbustos. Rizomatosas, algunas con tallos con crecimiento secundario anómalo. Presentan cristales de oxalato de calcio de tipo rafidio y saponinas esteroideas. Pelos simples. Son acaulescentes (carecen de tallo salvo el que da las flores y frutos), o poseen rizoma, o bulbo, o son arborescentes. En los taxones con tallos, son ramificados simpodiales.

Hojas muchas veces grandes, xeromórficas, fibrosas o raramente suculentas, alternas y espirales, en rosetas en la base o el final de las ramas, simples, de margen entero a espinoso-serrado, y usualmente con una espina aguda en el ápice, con venación paralela, los haces vasculares asociados con fibras gruesas y fuertes, envainadoras en la base, sin estípulas.

La inflorescencia es una panícula, un racimo, o una espiga en algunas que producen plántulas vegetativas.

Flores usualmente bisexuales, radiales a ligeramente bilaterales, muchas veces vistosas, bracteadas, hipóginas o epíginas. 

El perianto es biseriado (posee dos verticilos), homoclamídeo (6 tépalos iguales dispuestos en dos verticilos de 3 piezas cada uno), separados a connados, y perianto entonces tubular a acampanado, imbricado, petaloideos, no punteados, y usualmente blancos a amarillos. Hipanto presente en algunas.

6 estambres, filamentos separados, a veces adnatos al perianto, filamentos largos y delgados a cortos y gruesos. Anteras dorsifijas, versátiles, de dehiscencia longitudinal e introrsa, tetrasporangiadas, ditecas.

Polen monosulcado.

3 carpelos, connados, 3 lóculos, ovario súpero o ínfero, con placentación axilar, estilo solitario, estigma diminuto, capitado a 3-lobado. Óvulos más o menos numerosos en cada lóculo y en 2 filas por carpelo, anátropos, bitégmicos.

Presentan nectarios en los septos del ovario.

El fruto es una cápsula loculicida o septicida, o indehiscente, pero a veces es carnoso y de tipo baya.

Las semillas son aplanadas, la cubierta seminal con una costra negra (con fitomelaninas) y las capas interiores más o menos colapsadas.

El cariotipo es usualmente de 5 cromosomas grandes y 25 cromosomas pequeños.

Ver Verhoek (1998) para información adicional sobre la familia.

Ecología 

Ampliamente distribuidas en regiones templado-cálidas a tropicales del Nuevo Mundo, y especialmente diversas en México, pero introducidas en el Viejo Mundo.

Características de hábitats áridos y semiáridos. Muchas veces tienen fotosíntesis de tipo CAM.

Las vistosas flores de Yucca y Hesperoyucca son visitadas por pequeñas polillas del género Tegeticula que tienen una relación simbiótica con estas plantas, las polillas hembra transportan el polen y oviponen en los ovarios (las larvas que se desarrollan dentro se comen algunas semillas). Otros géneros son polinizados por pájaros (muchas especies de Beschornea) o murciélagos (muchas especies de Agave) o abejas. 

Las semillas negras son típicamente dispersadas por viento, y las especies de frutos carnosos son dispersadas por animales.

Filogenia 

Agavoideae está relacionada con Scilloideae (Hyacinthaceae) y Brodiaeoideae (Themidaceae), y la posición filogenética de algunos géneros es problemática. Sin embargo, tanto los caracteres fenotípicos como del ADN sostienen la monofilia de la subfamilia (Bogler y Simpson 1995, 1996, Bogler et al. 2006, Chase et al. 2000, Pires et al. 2004). 

Camassia, Hastingsia, y Chlorogalum (usualmente tratadas en Hyacinthaceae, como la subfamilia Chlorogaloideae) y Hosta (usualmente ubicada en Hostaceae) están incluidas aquí (ver Chase et al. 1995a, 2000, Bogler y Simpson 1995, 1996, Bogler et al. 2006, Pfosser y Speta 1999). Hosta es un género de hierbas rizomatosas con hojas de lámina ancha con venas paralelas prominentes, racimos de un solo lado de flores de tipo lirio, y cápsulas con semillas negras. Estos 4 géneros también tienen un cariotipo distintivo bimodal.

Los datos moleculares (Chase et al. 1995a, 2000, Rudall et al. 1997b) también sostienen la inclusión aquí de Anthericum, Chlorophytum y afines (usualmente ubicados en Anthericaceae), un grupo de hierbas rizomatosas con hojas en roseta basal, lo que lleva a un Agavoideae "en sentido amplio", que no es fácil de caracterizar.

Las agavóideas leñosas son usualmente divididas entre el clado de Yucca (que contiene por ejemplo a Yucca, Hesperaloe, Hesperoyucca) con un ovario súpero y anteras pequeñitas, y el clado de Agave (que contiene por ejemplo a Agave, Furcraea, Manfreda, Polianthes), con un ovario ínfero y anteras elongadas (Dahlgren et al. 1985). Los dos son monofiléticos (Bogler y Simpson 1995, 1996). 

La subfamilia muchas veces ha sido circunscripta de una forma más amplia (Cronquist 1981), incluyendo géneros que aquí son incluidos en Nolinoideae (antes Ruscaceae, Nolina, Dasylirion, Beaucarnea, Dracaena, y Sansevieria), y Cordyline (en Lomandroideae, antes Laxmanniaceae). Una subfamilia así definida es morfológicamente heterogénea, unificada solo por el hábito leñoso, y claramente polifilética (Dahlgren et al. 1985, Chase et al. 1995a, b, Bogler y Simpson 1995, 1996, Rudall et al. 1997a).

Taxonomía 

La subfamilia fue reconocida por el APG III (2009). La subfamilia ya había sido reconocida por el APG II (2003) que dejaba como opción excluirla de un Asparagaceae sensu stricto como la familia Agavaceae.

La subfamilia consta de 25 géneros y 637 especies (Judd et al. 2007). Los géneros más representados son

제임스 얼 카터 주니어(, 1924년 10월 1일~)는 민주당 출신 미국의 제39대 대통령(1977년~1981년)이다.

생애

어린 시절 
지미 카터는 조지아주 섬터 카운티 플레인스 마을에서 태어났다.

조지아 공과대학교를 졸업하였다. 그 후 해군에 들어가 전함·원자력·잠수함의 승무원으로 일하였다. 1953년 미국 해군 대위로 예편하였고 이후 땅콩·면화 등을 가꿔 많은 돈을 벌었다. 그의 별명이 "땅콩 농부" (Peanut Farmer)로 알려졌다.

정계 입문 
1962년 조지아주 상원 의원 선거에서 낙선하였으나, 그 선거가 부정선거 였음을 입증하게 되어 당선되고, 1966년 조지아 주지사 선거에 낙선하지만, 1970년 조지아 주지사 선거에서 당선됐다. 대통령이 되기 전 조지아주 상원의원을 두번 연임했으며, 1971년부터 1975년까지 조지아 지사로 근무했다. 조지아 주지사로 지내면서, 미국에 사는 흑인 등용법을 내세웠다.

대통령 재임 

1976년 미합중국 제39대 대통령 선거에 민주당 후보로 출마하여 도덕주의 정책으로 내세워서, 많은 지지를 받았는데 제럴드 포드 대통령을 누르고 당선되었다.

카터 대통령은 에너지 개발을 촉구했으나 공화당의 반대로 무산되었다.

외교 정책 
카터는 이집트와 이스라엘을 조정하여 캠프 데이비드에서 안와르 사다트 대통령과 메나헴 베긴 수상과 함께 중동 평화를 위한 캠프데이비드 협정을 체결했다. 이것은 공화당과 미국의 유대인 단체의 반발을 일으켰다. 그러나 1979년, 양국 간의 평화조약이 백악관에서 이루어졌다.

소련과 제2차 전략 무기 제한 협상(SALT II)에 조인했다.

카터는 1970년대 후반 당시 대한민국 등 인권 후진국의 국민들의 인권을 지키기 위해 노력했으며, 취임 이후 계속해서 도덕정치를 내세웠다.

임기 말, 소련의 아프가니스탄 침공 사건으로 인해 1980년 하계 올림픽에 반공국가들의 보이콧을 하였다.

그는 주이란 미국 대사관 인질 사건의 인질 구출 실패로 인한 원인으로, 1980년 제40대 대통령 선거에서 공화당의 로널드 레이건에게 패하며 재선에 실패하였다.

대한민국과의 관계

지미 카터는 한국과의 관계에서도 중요한 영향을 미쳤던 대통령 중 하나다. 인권 문제와 주한미군 철수 문제로 한때 한미 관계가 불편하기도 했다. 1978년 대한민국에 대한 북한의 위협에 대비해 한미연합사를 창설하면서, 1982년까지 3단계에 걸쳐 주한미군을 철수하기로 했다. 그러나 주한미군사령부와 정보기관·의회의 반대에 부딪혀 주한미군은 완전철수 대신 6,000명을 감축하는 데 그쳤다. 또한 박정희 정권의 인권 문제 등과의 논란으로 불협화음을 냈으나, 1979년 6월 하순, 대한민국을 방문했는데 관계가 다소 회복되었다.
1979년~1980년 대한민국의 정치적 격변기 당시의 대통령이었던 그는 이에 대해 애매한 태도를 보였고, 이는 후에 대한민국 내에서 고조되는 반미 운동의 한 원인이 됐다. 10월 26일, 박정희 대통령이 김재규 중앙정보부장에 의해 살해된 것에 대해 그는 이 사건으로 큰 충격을 받았으며, 사이러스 밴스 국무장관을 조문사절로 파견했다. 12·12 군사 반란과 5.17 쿠데타에 대해 초기에는 강하게 비난했으나, 미국 정부가 신군부를 설득하는데, 한계가 있었고 결국 묵인하는 듯한 태도를 보이게 됐다.

퇴임 이후 

퇴임 이후 민간 자원을 적극 활용한 비영리 기구인 카터 재단을 설립한 뒤 민주주의 실현을 위해 제 3세계의 선거 감시 활동 및 기니 벌레에 의한 드라쿤쿠르스 질병 방재를 위해 힘썼다. 미국의 빈곤층 지원 활동, 사랑의 집짓기 운동, 국제 분쟁 중재 등의 활동도 했다.

카터는 카터 행정부 이후 미국이 북핵 위기, 코소보 전쟁, 이라크 전쟁과 같이 미국이 군사적 행동을 최후로 선택하는 전통적 사고를 버리고 군사적 행동을 선행하는 행위에 대해 깊은 유감을 표시 하며 미국의 군사적 활동에 강한 반대 입장을 보이고 있다.

특히 국제 분쟁 조정을 위해 북한의 김일성, 아이티의 세드라스 장군, 팔레인스타인의 하마스, 보스니아의 세르비아계 정권 같이 미국 정부에 대해 협상을 거부하면서 사태의 위기를 초래한 인물 및 단체를 직접 만나 분쟁의 원인을 근본적으로 해결하기 위해 힘썼다. 이 과정에서 미국 행정부와 갈등을 보이기도 했지만, 전직 대통령의 권한과 재야 유명 인사들의 활약으로 해결해 나갔다.

1978년에 채결된 캠프데이비드 협정의 이행이 지지부진 하자 중동 분쟁 분제를 해결하기 위해 1993년 퇴임 후 직접 이스라엘과 팔레인스타인의 오슬로 협정을 이끌어 내는 데도 성공했다.

1993년 1차 북핵 위기 당시 북한에 대한 미국의 군사적 행동이 임박했으나, 미국 전직 대통령으로는 처음으로 북한을 방문하고 미국과 북 양국의 중재에 큰 기여를 해 위기를 해결했다는 평가를 받았다. 또한 이 때 김영삼 대통령과 김일성 주석의 만남을 주선했다. 하지만 그로부터 수주일 후 김일성이 갑자기 사망하였는데 김일성과 김영삼의 정상회담은 이루어지지 못했다.

미국의 관타나모 수용소 문제, 세계의 인권문제에서도 관심이 깊어 유엔에 유엔인권고등판무관의 제도를 시행하도록 노력하여 독재자들의 인권 유린에 대해 제약을 하고, 국제형사재판소를 만드는데 기여하여 독재자들 같은 인권유린범죄자를 재판소로 회부하여 국제적인 처벌을 받게 하는 등 인권 신장에 크나 큰 기여를 했다.
2011년 4월 26일부터 29일까지 북한을 3일간 방문했다.

평가 
경제문제를 해결하지 못하고 주 이란 미국 대사관 인질 사건에 발목이 잡혀 실패한 대통령으로 평가를 받지만 이란 사태는 미국 내 이란 재산을 풀어주겠다는 조건을 내세워서 사실상 카터가 해결한 것이었고, 사랑의 집짓기 운동 등으로 퇴임 후에 훨씬 더 존경받는 미국 대통령 중에 특이한 인물로 남았다.

그는 2002년 말 인권과 중재 역할에 대한 공로를 인정받아 노벨 평화상을 받게 되었다.

이외에도, 그는 대통령 재임 시절은 물론 퇴임 후에도 지속적으로 여러 장기 집권중인 독재자들을 만나왔는데, 그와 만난 독재자들 중 절대 다수가 얼마 되지 않아 최후를 맞이하게 되며 '독재자의 사신'이라는 별명이 붙기도 했다.

같이 보기 
 주한 미군의 철수
 한반도 평화협정

역대 선거 결과

각주

참고 문헌 
 《진정한 리더는 떠난 후에 아름답다》 저자 : 지미 카터
 《지미 카터》 저자 : 지미 카터(지식의날개, 2018)

외부 링크 
 
 

 
1924년 출생
1976년 미국 대통령 후보
1980년 미국 대통령 후보
그래미상 수상자
노벨 평화상 수상자
미국 해군의 장교
미국의 침례교도
미국의 노벨상 수상자
미국의 농부
미국의 대통령
미국의 역사 (1964-1980)
미국의 외교관
미국의 인도주의자
미국의 제2차 세계 대전 참전 군인
미국의 진보주의
민주당 (미국)의 정치인
살아있는 사람
스코틀랜드계 미국인
아일랜드계 미국인
잉글랜드계 미국인
영국계 미국인
네덜란드계 미국인
스위스계 미국인
프랑스계 미국인
조지아 공과대학교 동문
조지아주의 정치인
조지아주지사
미국의 회고록 작가
에모리 대학교 교수
미국 해군사관학교 동문
미국 버지니아 종합군사학원 동문
미국 미주리 종합군사학원 동문
타임 올해의 인물
군사 기술자
이란 혁명 관련자
미국의 민주주의 운동가
주이란 미국 대사관 인질 사건
조지아주의 민주당 당원
조지아주 출신 작가
소련-아프가니스탄 전쟁 관련자
20세기 미국 사람
21세기 미국 사람

수학(數學, , 줄여서 math)은 수, 양, 구조, 공간, 변화 등의 개념을 다루는 학문이다. 널리 받아들여지는 명확한 정의는 없으나 현대 수학은 일반적으로 엄밀한 논리에 근거하여 추상적 대상을 탐구하며, 이는 규칙의 발견과 문제의 제시 및 해결의 과정으로 이루어진다. 수학은 그 발전 과정에 있어서 철학, 과학과 깊은 연관을 맺고 있으며, 엄밀한 논리와 특유의 추상성, 보편성에 의해 다른 학문들과 구별된다. 특히 수학은 과학의 여느 분야들과는 달리 자연계에서 관측되지 않는 개념들에 대해서까지 이론을 추상화시키는 특징을 보이는데, 수학자들은 그러한 개념들에 대한 추측을 제시하고 적절하게 선택된 정의와 공리로부터 엄밀한 연역을 거쳐 그 진위를 파악한다.

수학의 개념들은 기원전 600년 경에 활동하며 최초의 수학자로도 여겨지는 탈레스의 기록은 물론, 다른 고대 문명들에서도 찾아볼 수 있으며 인류의 문명과 함께 발전해 왔다. 오늘날 수학은 자연과학, 사회과학, 공학, 의학 등 거의 모든 학문에서도 핵심적인 역할을 하며 다양한 방식으로 응용된다.

수학을 의미하는 매스매틱스(mathematics)라는 단어는 '아는 모든 것', '배우는 모든 것'이라는 뜻의 고대 그리스어 'máthēma'(μάθημα) 및 그 활용형 mathēmatikós(μαθηματικός)에서 유래되었다.

역사 

역사적으로 고대부터 현대에 이르기까지 문명에 필수적인 건축, 천문학, 정치, 상업 등에 수학적 개념들이 응용되어 왔다. 교역·분배·과세 등 인류의 사회 생활에 필요한 모든 계산에 수학이 관여해 왔고, 농경 생활에 필수적인 천문 관측과 달력의 제정, 토지의 측량 또한 수학이 직접적으로 사용된 분야이다. 고대 수학을 크게 발전시킨 문명으로는 메소포타미아, 이집트, 인도, 중국, 그리스 등이 있다.

특히 고대 그리스 문명에서는 처음으로 방정식에서 변수를 문자로 쓰는 등 추상화가 발전하였고 유클리드의 원론에서는 최초로 엄밀한 논증에 근거한 수학이 나타난다. 수학의 발전은 이후로도 계속되어 16세기의 르네상스에 이르러서는 과학적 방법과의 상호 작용을 통해 수학과 자연과학에 있어서 혁명적인 연구들이 진척되었고, 이는 인류 문명 발달에 큰 영향을 미치게 되었다.

세부 분야 

수학의 각 분야들은 상업에 필요한 계산을 하기 위해, 숫자들의 관계를 이해하기 위해, 토지를 측량하기 위해, 그리고 천문학적 사건들을 예견하기 위해 발전되어왔다. 이 네 가지 목적은 대략적으로 수학이 다루는 대상인 양, 구조, 공간 및 변화에 대응되며, 이들을 다루는 수학의 분야를 각각 산술, 대수학, 기하학, 해석학이라 한다. 또한 이 밖에도 근대 이후에 나타난 수학기초론과 이산수학 및 응용수학 등이 있다.

산술 

산술은 자연수와 정수 및 이에 대한 사칙연산에 대한 연구로서 시작했다. 수론은 이런 주제들을 보다 깊게 다루는 학문으로, 그 결과로는 페르마의 마지막 정리 등이 유명하다. 또한 쌍둥이 소수 추측과 골드바흐 추측 등을 비롯해 오랜 세월 동안 해결되지 않고 남아있는 문제들도 여럿 있다.

수의 체계가 보다 발전하면서, 정수의 집합을 유리수의 집합의 부분집합으로 여기게 되었다. 또한 유리수의 집합은 실수의 집합의 부분집합이며, 이는 또다시 복소수 집합의 일부분으로 볼 수 있다. 여기에서 더 나아가면 사원수와 팔원수 등의 개념을 생각할 수도 있다. 이와는 약간 다른 방향으로, 자연수를 무한대까지 세어나간다는 개념을 형식화하여 순서수의 개념을 얻으며, 집합의 크기 비교를 이용하여 무한대를 다루기 위한 또다른 방법으로는 기수의 개념도 있다.

대수학 

수 대신 문자를 써서 문제해결을 쉽게 하는 것과, 마찬가지로 수학적 법칙을 일반적이고 간명하게 나타내는 것을 포함한다. 고전대수학은 대수방정식 및 연립방정식의 해법에서 시작하여 군, 환, 체 등의 추상대수학을 거쳐 현대에 와서는 대수계의 구조를 보는 것을 중심으로 하는 선형대수학으로 전개되었다. 수의 집합이나 함수와 같은 많은 수학적 대상들은 내재적인 구조를 보인다. 이러한 대상들의 구조적 특성들이 군론, 환론, 체론 그리고 그 외의 수많은 대수적 구조들을 연구하면서 다루어지며, 그것들 하나하나가 내재적 구조를 지닌 수학적 대상이다. 이 분야에서 중요한 개념은 벡터, 벡터 공간으로의 일반화, 그리고 선형대수학에서의 지식들이다. 벡터의 연구에는 산술, 대수, 기하라는 수학의 중요한 세개의 분야가 조합되어 있다. 벡터 미적분학은 여기에 해석학의 영역이 추가된다. 텐서 미적분학은 대칭성과 회전축의 영향 아래에서 벡터의 움직임을 연구한다. 눈금없는 자와 컴퍼스와 관련된 많은 고대의 미해결 문제들이 갈루아 이론을 사용하여 비로소 해결되었다.

기하학 

공간에 대한 연구는 기하학에서 시작되었고, 특히 유클리드 기하학에서 비롯되었다. 삼각법은 공간과 수들을 결합하였고, 잘 알려진 피타고라스의 정리를 포함한다. 현대에 와서 공간에 대한 연구는, 이러한 개념들은 더 높은 차원의 기하학을 다루기 위해 비유클리드 기하학(상대성이론에서 핵심적인 역할을 함)과 위상수학으로 일반화되었다. 수론과 공간에 대한 이해는 모두 해석 기하학, 미분기하학, 대수기하학에 중요한 역할을 한다. 리 군도 공간과 구조, 변화를 다루는데 사용된다. 위상수학은 20세기 수학의 다양한 지류속에서 괄목할만한 성장을 한 분야이며, 푸앵카레 추측과 인간에 의해서 증명되지 못하고 오직 컴퓨터로만 증명된 4색정리를 포함한다.

해석학 

변화에 대한 이해와 묘사는 자연과학에 있어서 일반적인 주제이며, 미적분학은 변화를 탐구하는 강력한 도구로서 발전되었다. 함수는 변화하는 양을 묘사함에 있어서 중추적인 개념으로써 떠오르게 된다. 실수와 실변수로 구성된 함수의 엄밀한 탐구가 실해석학이라는 분야로 알려지게 되었고, 복소수에 대한 이와 같은 탐구 분야는 복소해석학이라고 한다. 함수해석학은 함수의 공간(특히 무한차원)의 탐구에 주목한다. 함수해석학의 많은 응용분야 중 하나가 양자역학이다. 많은 문제들이 자연스럽게 양과 그 양의 변화율의 관계로 귀착되고, 이러한 문제들이 미분방정식으로 다루어진다. 자연의 많은 현상들이 동역학계로 기술될 수 있다. 혼돈 이론은 이러한 예측 불가능한 현상을 탐구하는 데 상당한 기여를 한다.

수학기초론 관련 분야 

수학의 기초를 확실히 세우기 위해, 수리논리학과 집합론이 발전하였고, 이와 더불어 범주론이 최근에도 발전되고 있다. “근본 위기”라는 말은 대략 1900년에서 1930년 사이에 일어난, 수학의 엄밀한 기초에 대한 탐구를 상징적으로 보여주는 말이다. 수학의 엄밀한 기초에 대한 몇 가지 의견 불일치는 오늘날에도 계속되고 있다. 수학의 기초에 대한 위기는 그 당시 수많은 논쟁에 의해 촉발되었으며, 그 논쟁에는 칸토어의 집합론과 브라우어-힐베르트 논쟁이 포함되었다.

이산수학

응용수학

영향 
오늘날 수학은 자연과학, 공학뿐만 아니라, 경제학 등의 사회과학에서도 중요한 도구로 사용된다. 예를 들어, 정도의 차이는 있으나, 미적분학과 선형대수학은 자연과학과 공학, 경제학을 하는데에 필수적 과목으로 여겨지며, 확률론은 계량경제학에 응용된다. 통계학은 사회과학 이론에 근거를 마련하는데 필수적이다. 16세기에 갈릴레오 갈릴레이가 "자연이라는 책은 수학이라는 언어로 기록되어 있다."는 주장과 함께 물리학에 수학적 방법을 도입하였고, 17세기에 아이작 뉴턴이 고전 역학의 기본 물리학 법칙들을 수학적으로 기술하고 정립하여 물리학 이론에서 수학적 모델링은 필수적 요소가 되었다. 또한 이 시기는 과학적 방법이 정립되는 시기이기도 한데, 많은 과학적 현상들이 수학적 관계가 있음이 드러나면서 과학적 방법에도 수학은 중요한 역할을 하고 있다. 노벨 물리학상 수상자 유진 위그너는 그의 에세이 "The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in natural sciences"에서 인간 세상과 동떨어져있고 현실과 아무 관련이 없다고 여겨지던 수학 중 극히 일부는 뜻밖에도 자연과학과 연관성이 드러나고 과학이론에 효과적인 토대를 마련해 주는데에 대한 놀라움을 표현하였다. 예를 들어, 비유클리드 기하학과 3차원 이상의 임의의 차원에서 기하학을 탐구했던 미분 기하학은 당시에는 현실과 연관성을 가지지 않았으나 먼 훗날 일반상대성이론이 4차원 기하학을 필요로 함에 따라, 물리적 세상과 연관이 있음이 밝혀졌다. 또한 게이지이론, 양자장론 등에도 미분 기하학은 필수적이다.

또한 수학은 음악이나 미술 등 예술과도 관련이 있다. 피타고라스는 두 정수의 비율이 듣기 좋은 소리가 난다는 점을 가지고 피타고라스 음계를 만들었다. 중세시대에도 음악과 수학을 밀접하게 연관시켰으며 성 빅토르의 후고는 “음악은 조화다”라고 했고, 성 트론드의 루돌프는 “음악은 조화의 토대(ratio)다”라고 쓴 바 있다. 조화가 반드시 소리로 표현될 필요는 없고 소리의 음악은 음악의 형식 중 하나에 불과했다. 소리에 대해 다루었던 중세의 저술가들이 있는가 하면, 조화와 비례의 추상적 이론만을 다루고 소리에는 거의 관심을 보이지 않았던 저술가들도 있었다. 청각적인 면과 추상적인 면이라는 음악의 이런 이중적 측면은 고대의 음악이론보다는 중세의 음악이론에서 큰 특징이 되었다. 또한 현대 음악을 군(群,group)같은 수학적 대상을 이용해 분석하기도 한다. 원근법은 사영 기하학에 해당한다. 미술 사조 중 하나인 입체파도 기하학의 영향을 받았다.

같이 보기 
 정수론
 기하학
 대수학
 해석학
 산학
 대한민국의 고등학교 수학 교과목
 이산수학
 응용수학
 수학자

참고 문헌 

 Eves, Howard, An Introduction to the History of Mathematics, Sixth Edition, Saunders, 1990, .
 Jourdain, Philip E. B., The Nature of Mathematics, in The World of Mathematics, James R. Newman, editor, Dover, 2003, .
 Peterson, Ivars, Mathematical Tourist, New and Updated Snapshots of Modern Mathematics, Owl Books, 2001, .</div>

외부 링크 
 
 
 대한수학회(KMS)
  Mathworld
  The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive

수학에서 상수란 그 값이 변하지 않는 불변량으로, 변수의 반대말이다. 물리 상수와는 달리, 수학 상수는 물리적 측정과는 상관없이 정의된다.

수학 상수는 대개 실수체나 복소수체의 원소이다. 우리가 이야기할 수 있는 상수는 (거의 대부분 계산 가능한) 정의가능한 수이다.

특정 수학 상수, 예를 들면 골롬-딕맨 상수, 프랑세즈-로빈슨 상수, , 레비 상수와 같은 상수는 다른 수학상수 또는 함수와 약한 상관관계 또는 강한 상관관계를 갖는다.

수학 상수표

관련 상수들

e 관련 
 레비 상수
 라플라스 극한
 알라디-그린스테드 상수
 뤼로스 상수

감마함수 관련 
 오일러-마스케로니 상수
 프랑세즈-로빈슨 상수
 번스타인 상수
 아페리 상수
 시에르핀스키 상수
 가우스 상수
 란다우 상수

소수 관련 
 브룬 상수
 밀스 상수
 골롬-딕맨 상수
 빽하우스 상수
 니븐 상수
 로크스 상수
 르장드르 상수
 해프너-사낙크-맥컬리 상수
 에르되시-보어와인 상수
 마이셀-메르텐스 상수
 쌍둥이 소수 상수
 알틴 상수

리만제타함수 관련
 드 브루인-뉴먼 상수
 글레이셔-킨켈린 상수
 포터 상수
 가우스-쿠즈민-비어징 상수
 킨친 상수

피보나치 수 관련 
 뤼카 수
 역 피보나치 상수(Reciprocal Fibonacci constant)
 비슈바나트 상수
 엠브리-트레페텐 상수

특정 대수방정식 관련 
 플라스틱 수
 콘웨이 상수
 바르가 상수(Varga constant)
 체비쇼프 상수

기타 상수들
 카앵 상수(Cahen's constant)
 오메가 상수(Omega constant)
 립의 4각 얼음 상수
 유니버설 파라볼릭 상수(Universal parabolic constant)

같이 보기 
 함수
 수학 기호
 오일러의 곱셈 공식

문학(文學, )은 언어를 예술적 표현의 제재로 삼아 새로운 의미를 창출하여, 인간과 사회를 진실되게 묘사하는 예술의 하위분야이다. 간단하게 설명하면, 언어를 통해 인간의 삶을 미적(美的)으로 형상화한 것이라고 볼 수 있다. 문학은 원래 문예(文藝)라고 부르는 것이 옳으며, 문학을 학문의 대상으로서 탐구하는 학문의 명칭 역시 문예학이다. 문예학은 음악사학, 미술사학 등과 함께 예술학의 핵심분야로서 인문학의 하위범주에 포함된다.

일반적으로 문학의 정의는 텍스트들의 집합이다. 각각의 국가들은 고유한 문학을 가질 수 있으며, 이는 기업이나 철학 조류, 어떤 특정한 역사적 시대도 마찬가지이다. 흔히 한 국가의 문학을 묶어서 분류한다. 예를 들어 고대 그리스어, 성서, 베오울프, 일리아드, 그리고 미국 헌법 등이 그러한 분류의 범주에 들어간다. 좀 더 일반적으로는 문학은 특정한 주제를 가진 이야기, 시, 희곡의 모음이라 할 수 있다. 이 경우, 이야기, 시, 그리고 희곡은 민족주의적인 색채를 띨 수도 아닐 수도 있다. 문학의 한 부분으로서 특정한 아이템을 구분 짓는 일은 매우 어려운 일이다. 어떤 사람들에게 "문학"은 어떠한 상징적인 기록의 형태로도 나타날 수 있는 것이다. (이를테면 이미지나 조각, 또는 문자로도 나타날 수 있다.) 그러나 또다른 사람들에게 있어 문학은 오직 문자로 이루어진 텍스트로 구성된 것만을 포함한다. 좀 더 보수적인 사람들은 그 개념이 꼭 물리적인 형태를 가진 텍스트여야 하고, 대개 그러한 형태는 종이 등의 눈에 보이는 매체에서 디지털 미디어까지 다양할 수 있다.

더 나아가 보면, "문학"과 몇몇 인기있는 기록형태의 작업들, 소위 대중문학 사이에는 인식가능한 차이점이 존재한다. 이때 "문학적인 허구성"과 "문학적인 재능"이 종종 개별적인 작품들을 구별하는 데에 사용된다. 예를 들어, 찰스 디킨즈의 작품들은 대부분의 사람들에게 "문학적인 것"으로 받아들여지지만, 제프리 아처의 작품들은 영문학이라는 일반적인 범주 아래 두기에는 다소 가치가 떨어지는 것으로 생각된다. 또한 예를 들어 문법과 어법에 서투르거나, 이야기가 혼란스러워 신뢰성을 주지 않거나, 인물들의 성격에 일관성이 없을 경우에도 문학에서 제외될 수 있다. 로맨스, 범죄소설, 과학소설 등의 장르 소설도 때로 "문학"이 아닌 것으로 간주되는 경우도 있다. 이들은 대부분 대중문학의 범주에 포함된다.

일반적인 문학의 분류 

문학은 분류하는 방법에 따라 다음과 같이 구분한다.
 전달(傳達) 수단이 말인 구전문학(口傳文學)과 문자에 의한 기재문학(記載文學)
 문체가 틀에 박힌 율문(律文)과 그렇지 않은 산문(散文).
 내용이 현재형으로서, 주관적 내용인 서정문학(抒情文學), 과거형으로서 객관적 내용인 서사문학(敍事文學), 과거의 사건이 현재형으로 표현되며 동작과 회화에 의한 극문학(劇文學), 서정적과 서사적의 중간에 위치하며 일기·수필·시론(詩論)·비평 등을 가리키는 자조문학(自照文學).
 문학 활동에서, 자기의 상상을 기초로 하는 창작과 창작된 작품의 가치를 논하는 평론
이 외에도 편의에 따라 발생적으로 대별하기도 한다.

문학은 처음은 유일한 종류, 즉 노래하고, 말하고, 춤춘다는 것이 분화되지 않은 것이었다. 이 춤추는 것을 중심으로 발달한 것이 연극(演劇)이며, 노래하는 것이 발달하여 시(詩), 말하는 것이 발달하여 산문(散文)의 이야기가 되었다. 시는 정형시·자유시·산문시로, 또한 서사시와 서정시로 나뉜다. 산문은 사건을 중심으로 그려진 이야기, 근대 리얼리즘의 수법 이후 인물의 성격을 묘사하는 것을 중심으로 한 소설이 있다. 이야기나 소설과 같이 특별한 구상에 의하지 않고, 작자의 흥미에 의해서 씌어지는 것이 잡문(雜文) 또는 수필이며, 이것이 날짜에 따라 씌어지는 것이 일기, 여행의 과정에 따라 씌어지는 것이 기행문이다. 일기와 마찬가지로 발표의 의도가 작은 것에 서간(書簡)이 있다. 이 밖에 사건의 경험에 따른 회고록, 사건 등의 특정시(特定時)에 한정되지 않는 자서전, 제삼자에 의해서 씌어지는 전기(傳記)가 있다. 또한 이것들을 포함하는 예술작품의 가치평가를 시도하는 것이 평론(評論)이다.

 산문
 소설
 주제별 소설
 대상별 소설
 동화
 수필
 수필
 편지
 기록문학
 전기
 일기
 기행문
 실록
 평론 : 다만 수필의 일부로 보기도 한다.
 운문
 시
 부
 극문학 : 다만 산문의 일부로 보기도 한다.
 희곡
 시나리오

대중문학의 분류 
대중문학이란 상업성을 띠며 대중을 겨냥하여 그들의 통속적인 흥미와 욕구를 채워주는 문학을 말한다. 대중문학의 하위장르에는 여러가지가 있다.

 에세이
 연애소설
 판타지 소설
 무협소설
 공상과학소설
 추리소설
 공포 소설
 인터넷소설
 시나리오
 방송극
 인터넷 시
 만화
 팬픽

문학 사조 
 바로크 (Baroque)
 고전주의 (古典主義, Classic)
 낭만주의 (浪漫主義, Romantic)
 계몽주의 (啓蒙主義, Enlightenment)
 자연주의 (自然主義, Naturalism)
 사실주의 (寫實主義, Realism)
 표현주의 (表現主義, Expressionism)
 허무주의 (虛無主義, Nihilism)
 실존주의 (實存主義, Existentialism)
 모더니즘 (Modernism)
 초현실주의 (超現實主義, Surrealism)
 포스트모더니즘 (Post-modernism)

문학과 관련된 직업 
문학을 창작하는 예술가를 문예가라고 부른다. 문예학을 연구하는 사람을 문예학자라고 부른다. 문학을 창작하는 사람을 따로 저술가라고 한다. 문예학자와 언어학자를 합쳐 어문학자로 칭하기도 한다. 그러나 언어와 언어를 사용한 예술인 문학은 차이가 있다.

 문예가
 번역가
 수필가
 언론인
 소설가
 시인
 문예학자

세계의 문학

동양문학 
 한국 문학
 중국 문학
 일본 문학
 인도 문학

서양문학 

 고대 그리스문학
 고대 라틴어문학
 영어 문학
 영국 문학
 미국 문학
 아일랜드 문학
 오스트레일리아 문학
 프랑스 문학
 독일 문학
 이탈리아문학
 스페인 문학
 러시아 문학

 스칸디나비아 문학
 스웨덴 문학
 노르웨이 문학
 핀란드 문학
 덴마크 문학
 중남미문학
 멕시코 문학
 베네수엘라 문학
 브라질리아 문학
 아르헨티나 문학
 칠레 문학

 유대 문학
 아라비아 문학
 터키 문학
 이집트 문학
 남아프리카 문학

문학의 감상 
반영론적 관점에 의한 감상은 작품을 창작된 당시 시대 정황과 연결시켜 감상하는 입장이고, 내재적 관점의 감상은 작품의 형식, 내용에 국한하여 감상하는 것이다. 표현론적 관점의 감상은 작가의 전기적 사실과 작품을 연결시켜 감상하는 것이고, 수용론적 관점의 감상은 독자와 작품을 연결시켜 감상하는 것을 말한다.

같이 보기 

 문학자
 문학상
 데우스 엑스 마키나

참고 문헌

각주

외부 링크

이 목록에 실린 국가 기준은 1933년 몬테비데오 협약 1장을 참고로 하였다. 협정에 따르면, 국가는 다음의 조건을 만족해야 한다.
 (a) 영속적인 국민
 (b) 일정한 영토
 (c) 정부
 (d) 타국과의 관계 참여 자격

특히, 마지막 조건은 국제 공동체의 참여 용인을 내포하고 있기 때문에, 다른 나라의 승인이 매우 중요한 역할을 할 수 있다. 이 목록에 포함된 모든 국가는 보통 이 기준을 만족하는 것으로 보이는 자주적이고 독립적인 국가이다. 하지만 몬테비데오 협약 기준을 만족하는지의 여부는 많은 국가가 논쟁이 되고 있는 실정이다. 또한, 몬테비데오 협약 기준만이 국가 지위의 충분한 자격이든 아니든, 국제법의 견해 차이는 존재할 수 있다. 이 물음에 대한 다른 이론에 대한 고리는 아래에서 볼 수 있다.

기준
위 기준에 논거하여 이 목록은 다음 208개 국가를 포함하고 있다.
 일반 국제 승인을 받은 198개 자주 국가.
 유엔 가입 국가 193개
 유엔에서 국제 승인을 받은 2개 국가 : 바티칸 시국, 팔레스타인
 유엔의 가입국이 아니며, 국제 승인을 받지 않았으나 일반적으로 나라로 통치는 3개 국가 : 사하라 아랍 민주 공화국, 중화민국, 코소보
 유엔의 가입국이 아니며, 국제 승인을 받지 않았고 일반적으로 나라로 통치지 않는 10개 자주 국가.
 유엔 회원국으로부터 승인을 받은 5개 국가: 남오세티야, 니우에, 북키프로스, 압하지야, 쿡 제도
 유엔 비회원국으로부터 승인을 받은 3개 국가: 아르차흐 공화국, 트란스니스트리아, 소말릴란드
 유엔 회원국이나 비회원국으로부터 승인받지 않은 2개 국가: 서토골랜드, 암바조니아

남극
 남극 대륙 전체는 정부와 영속 인구가 없다. 7개 국가가 남극 대륙 일부를 차지하고 있으며, 이중 5개 국가가 서로의 영유권을 인정하고 있다. 남극 조약에 따라서 규제되는 이 권리는 어떤 나라에서도 승인을 받지 않았다.

EU
  유럽 연합은 27개 가입 국가를 보유한 독특한 초국가 기구이다. 가입 국가는 입법권, 행정권, 사법권 기준을 유럽 연합 위원회로 이양하며, 유럽 연합은 엄밀히 말해 일반적인 주권 국가 간주와 관계 없이 주권 국가로의 특징을 가지고 있다. 유럽 연합은 주권 국가를 주장하지 않으며, 다른 나라와의 관계에서 제한된 지위를 가지고 있다.

참고
 미국과 오스트레일리아, 기타 국가에서 주 (State)라고 칭하는 행정 구역은 주 (행정 구역)을 참고하라. 이러한 하부 국가 개념의 행정 구역은 일부를 제외하고는 다른 나라와 관계를 형성하지 않는다. 예를 들어서 독일 제국의 주는 해외 영사관을 가졌으며, 소비에트 연방의 한 부분이었던 우크라이나 소비에트 사회주의 공화국 (현재의 우크라이나)과 벨로루시 소비에트 사회주의 공화국 (현재의 벨라루스)는 유엔 가입국이었다. 무엇보다 중요한 것은, 이러한 주들은 자주적이고 독립적임을 주장하지 않는다는 것이다.

몰타 기사단
  몰타 기사단은 "총회에 유효 참관국 자격으로 참여할 수 있으며, 본부에서 영속적인 지위를 유지하는 기타 국가" 분류에 속하는 유엔 참관 국가이다. 이 단체는 104개 국가와 쌍방 외교 관계를 맺고 있으나, 로마 내의 치외 법권 영역 이외에는 일정한 영토가 없다. 단체의 웹사이트에서는 "항상 국가에게 국제법의 독립 주체로 인정 받는다."고 선언하고 있다. 기사단의 헌법 에서는 다음과 같이 설명하고 있다. "기사단은 국제법의 주체이며, 주권 기능을 행사한다." 기사단은 자주 주권을 주장하고 있지만, 이름에서 볼 수 있듯이 주권 국가라고 주장하지는 않는다. 다른 대사관처럼 이탈리아는 이론상 기사단과 외교 관계를 파기할 수 있으며, 이탈리아 국민이 아닌 단원을 이탈리아 영토에서 강제로 추방할 수 있다. 기사단의 단원은 모두 다른 나라의 국민이기 때문에, 사실상 이들은 모두 자신의 국가에서 살고 있으며, 로마에서 기사단의 치외 법권 영역에 거주하는 단원은 오직 공식 직무에만 연관하여 활동한다. 따라서, 기사단은 영속적인 국민의 특성이 부족하다고 볼 수 있다.

마이크로네이션
 마이크로네이션으로 여겨지는 국가는 자주적이고 독립적이라고 주장하고, 다른 나라와 외교 관계를 맺고자 시도하여도 포함하지 않았다. 마이크로네이션이 정말로 점유한 영토를 지배하는지, 마이크로네이션의 '인구' 감소 빈도가 낮은 지의 여부는 논쟁이 되고 있다.

이라크 레반트 이슬람 국가
 이라크 레반트 이슬람 국가 등은 다른 나라들 못지 않은 영역을 두고 있으며 스스로를 "나라"라고 자처하지만, 국제법상 주권이 결여되어 있으며 국제법에 위배되는 테러리즘을 일삼아 '나라'로 간주되지도 않는다. 다만 준국가로 분류한다.

국제적으로 승인 받은 국가

미승인 국가 

이 목록은 주권을 주장하고 점유한 영토를 실제로 관리하고 있으나, 많은 국가와 외교관계를 맺지 못한 나라를 설명하고 있다. 마이크로네이션는 이 목록에 포함하지 않는다.

같이 보기 
 대륙별 나라 목록
 국기 목록
 국장 목록
 국가 목록
 나라 표어 목록

각주

참고 문헌 
 
 
 영토 목록 (2004). 유엔 지도 제작 단락.  2006년 1월 17일 확인.
 Countries or areas, codes and abbreviations (2006). 유엔 통계학 분할. 2006년 10월 18일 확인.
 국가와 화폐 (2006). 유럽 위원회. 2006년 10월 27일 확인.
 더 월드 팩트북  (2006). 미국 중앙 정보국. 2006년 1월 17일 확인.
 ISO 3166 국가 코드 목록  (2006) ISO 3166-1 2006년 10월 18일 확인
 이 세상에는 몇 개의 나라가 있을까? 데이비드 매도어 논설
 국가의 평균 위도 및 경도
 ISO 국가 세계 목록

화학(化學)은 물질의 성질, 조성, 구조, 변화 및 그에 수반하는 에너지의 변화를 연구하는 자연과학(自然科學)의 한 분야이다. 물리학(物理學)도 역시 물질을 다루는 학문이지만, 물리학이 원소(元素)와 화합물(化合物)을 모두 포함한 물체의 운동과 에너지, 열적·전기적·광학적·기계적 속성을 다루고 이러한 현상으로부터 통일된 이론을 구축하려는 것과는 달리 화학에서는 물질 자체를 연구 대상으로 한다. 화학은 이미 존재하는 물질을 이용하여 특정한 목적에 맞는 새로운 물질을 합성하는 길을 제공하며, 이는 농작물(農作物)의 증산, 질병의 치료 및 예방, 에너지 효율 증대, 환경오염(環境汚染)  감소 등 여러 가지 이점을 제공한다.

어원 
화학은 연금술사들이 물질을 섞으며 발전시켰기 때문에 화학을 뜻하는 영어 ‘케미스트리(chemistry)’는 연금술을 뜻하는 단어 ‘알케미(alchemy)’에서 비롯하였다. 이는 다시 아랍어 ‘알 키미야(, al-kīmiyāʾ)’에서 왔는데, 이 단어의 어원에 대해서는 여러 가지 설이 있다.

‘화학(化學)’이란 단어는 물질의 변화를 다루는 학문이라는 점에 착안한 번역어이다. 이 번역어는 의 《항해술기(航海述奇)》(1866), 의 자연과학 교과서 《격물입문(格物入門)》(1866) 등에서 처음 쓰였다.

역사 

고대 화학(古代化學)

*초기 야금 (冶金, 야금: 금속을 광석으로부터 추출하고 정련하는 기술)

인간에 의해 발견된 최초의 기록된 금속은 금(金)인 것으로 보이며 구석기(舊石器) 후기(BC 40,000)에 스페인 동굴에서 소량의 천연 금이 발견되었다고 한다.

은(銀), 구리(銅), 주석(朱錫) 및 유성 철(鐵) 또한 고대 문화에서 일부 제한된 양의 금속 가공을 허용하면서 고대문화로 발견 될 수 있었다. 기원전 3000년경 유성 철제로 만든 이집트 무기는 "천국의 단검(天國短劍)"으로 높이 평가 받았다.

아마도 통제 된 방식으로 사용된 최초의 화학 반응은 불이였다. 그러나 천년 동안 불은 단순히 열과 빛을 생성하면서 한 물질을 다른 물질 (타는 나무 또는 끓는 물)로 변형시킬 수 있는 신비한 힘으로만 알려졌다. 불은 초기 사회의 여러 측면에 영향을 미쳤다. 이들은 요리 및 서식지(棲息地) 조명과 같은 일상 생활의 가장 단순한면에서 도기, 벽돌 및 금속을 녹여 도구를 만드는 것과 같은 고급 기술(高級技術)에 이르기까지 다양했다.

유리(琉璃)의 발견과 금속(金屬)의 정화로 이어지는 불로 인해 야금이 부상했다. 야금의 초기 단계에서 금속의 정화 방법이 요구되었고, 금은 BC 2900년 초기의 고대 이집트의 귀중한 금속이되었다.

17 세기와 18 세기 : 초기 화학(初期化學)

*로버트 보일

영국계 미국인 화학자(化學者) 로버트 보일 (Robert Boyle, 1627-1691)은 연금술(鍊金術)에 대한 현대의 과학적 방법을 정제하고 화학을 연금술과 분리한 것으로 생각된다. 그의 연구가 연금술 전통에 뿌리를 두고 있음에도 불구하고, 보일은 오늘날 현대의 화학자이자 현대화학(現代化學)의 창시자이자 현대 실험 과학 방법의 선구자(先驅者) 중 한 사람으로 불리고 있다. 보일이 원래 발견자가 아님에도 보일은 1662년에 제시한 보일의 법칙으로 가장 잘 알려져있다. 보일의 (法則)은 온도(溫度)만 폐쇄(閉鎖)된 시스템 내에서 일정하게 유지된다면 가스의 절대 압력과 부피가 반비례함을 의미한다. 보일은 또한 화학 분야의 초석으로 간주되는 1661년의 《의심 많은 화학자》 에 대한 획기적인 저서로 인정받고 있다. 작품에서 보일은 모든 현상이 움직이는 입자의 충돌의 결과라는 가설을 제시한다. 보일 (Boyle)은 화학자들에게 실험을 호소했으며 실험은 지구, 화염, 공기 및 물과 같은 고전적인 4 가지 원소만으로 화학 원소를 제한한다는 것을 부인했다. 그는 또한 화학이 의학이나 연금술에 종속되어 과학의 지위로 부상하는 것을 중단해야 한다고 촉구했다. 중요한 것은 과학 실험에 대한 엄격한 접근 방식이라고 주장했다. 그는 모든 이론이 사실로 간주되기 전에 실험적으로 입증되어야 한다고 믿었다. 이 작품은 원자, 분자 및 화학 반응의 가장 초기의 현대적인 아이디어를 포함하고 있으며 현대 화학의 역사의 시작을 나타낸다. 보일은 또한 화학 물질을 정제하여 재현 가능한 반응을 얻으려고 시도했다. 그는 재료 물질의 물리적 특성(物理的特性)과 상호 작용(相互作用)을 설명하고 정량화(定量化)하기 위해 르네 데카르트가 제안한 기계 철학(機械哲學)의 공개적인 지지자였다. 보일은 원자핵론자(原子核論者)였지만 원자보다 더 많은 입자를 선호했다. 그는 속성이 유지되는 물질의 가장 정밀한 부분은 미립자(微粒子)의 수준에 있다고 논평했다. 그는 또한 공기 펌프로 수 많은 조사를 수행했으며, 공기가 펌프로 퍼져 나감에 따라 수은이 떨어지는 것으로 나타났다. 그는 또한 컨테이너에서 공기를 펌핑하면 화염을 없애고 내부에 있는 작은 동물을 죽일 수 있음을 관찰했다.

주요 개념

원자와 원소 

과거 화학에서 더 이상 나뉘지 않는 기초적인 요소가 존재한다고 했는데, 이 기초적인 요소를 원자(原子)라 한다. 원자란 물질을 구성하는 기본적인 입자(粒子)로 고대 그리스의 데모크리토스에서부터 그 존재가 주장되었는데, 1803년 존 돌턴에 의해서 원자론(原子論)으로 정리되었다. 20세기 초, 화학자들은 원자를 구성하는 더 작은 입자들, 즉 전자(電子), 양성자(陽性子), 중성자(中性子)가 존재한다는 사실을 발견하였다. 전자는 음전하를 띠고 있고, 양성자는 양전하를 띠고 있으며, 중성자는 전하를 띠지 않고 있다. 원자는 양성자와 중성자로 구성되어 있는 원자핵(原子核)을 가지고 있으며 전자는 이 주변에 원자 궤도(原子軌道)을 이루며 분포되어 있다.

원소(元素)는 일반적인 화학적, 물리학적 방법으로는 분해되지 않는 물질을 의미한다. 원소는 원자핵에 존재하는 양성자 수로 정의되는 원자 번호(原子番號)로 구별된다. 산소(酸素), 황(黃), 주석(朱錫), 철(鐵) 등은 원소이다. 19세기 중엽까지 약 80가지의 원소가 발견되었는데, 이들은 주기율(週期律)에 따라 배열(配列)될 수 있다.

동위 원소 

동위원소(同位元素)는 아이소토프 또는 동위체(同位體)라고도 한다. 서로 화학적으로는 거의 구별하지 못하지만 그것을 구성하고 있는 원자(原子)의 질량(質量)이 서로 다른 원소를 동위원소라고 한다. 영어의 isotope는 그리스어인 isos(같은)와 topos(장소)의 합성어(合成語)인데, 질량은 서로 달라도 원소의 주기율표(週期律表)에서 같은 장소에 배열되는 데서 1901년 영국의 화학자 F. 소디가 isotope라는 명칭을 붙였다. 대부분의 원소는 동위 원소를 가진다. 동위 원소는 원자 번호는 같으나, 중성자수가 다른 원소를 뜻한다. 동위 원소는 화학적인 성질(化學的性質)은 동일하나, 원자량의 차이를 이용하여 분리할 수 있다. 자연에서도 발견되는 92개의 원소 중 88개는 동위 원소가 지표면 상에 존재한다. 자연에서 발견되지 않더라도 동위 원소는 핵반응(核反應)을 이용하여 만들어낼 수 있다. 어떤 동위 원소는 방사능을 가지기도 하는데, 이 경우 동위 원소의 원자핵은 불안정하고 방사선(放射線)을 방출하며 자연적으로 붕괴된다.

동중 원소 

동중 원소(同重元素)는 원자 질량(原子質量)은 같으나, 양성자수(陽性子數)가 다른 원소를 뜻한다. 동중 원소는 화학적, 물리적 성질이 다르며 40S, 40Cl, 40Ar, 40K, 40Ca등이 있다.

분자와 화학 반응 

분자(分子)란 원자의 결합체(結合體) 중 독립 입자(獨立粒子)로서 작용하는 단위체(單位體)이다. 일정한 개수의 원자가 특정하게 정렬되어 서로 결합해 분자가 형성된다. 원자가 원소(元素)의 최소단위(最小單位)이듯, 분자(分子)는 화합물(化合物)의 최소단위가 된다. 원자가 결합(結合)될 때 전자의 재배치(再配置)가 일어나는데, 이는 화학에서의 중요한 관심사중 하나이다.

화학 반응은 원자 혹은 분자가 화학적인 변화를 겪는 일을 말한다. 화학 반응은 원자간의 결합이 끊어지는 일과 다시 이어지는 일을 포함한다. 결합이 끊어질 때는 에너지가 흡수되고, 결합이 이어질 때는 에너지가 방출된다. 화학 반응의 간단한 예로는 수소와 산소가 반응하여 물이 되는 것을 들 수 있다. 반응식(反應式)은 다음과 같다.
2 H2 + 2 O → 2 H2O
ΔH = - 572kJ
반응식(反應式)에서 알 수 있듯이, 화학 반응에서는 원자가 새로 생성되거나 나타나는 일이 일어나지 않는다. ΔH는 에너지 또는 엔탈피 변화를 뜻한다. 반응은 발열반응(發熱反應)일 수도 있고, 흡열반응(吸熱反應)일 수도 있다. 발열반응은 주위로 열을 방출(放出)하는 반응으로 엔탈피 변화가 음수(陰數)로 나타난다. 반면에 흡열반응은 주위 열을 흡수하는 반응으로 엔탈피 변화가 양수(陽數)로 나타난다. 위 반응의 경우는 발열반응인데, 이는 계(界)로부터 주위(周圍)로 열이 이동(移動)하였다는 의미이다.

화학 결합 

화학 결합(化學結合)을 주된 세 가지 부류로 나누어보면 이온 결합(ion結合), 공유 결합(共有結合) 그리고 금속결합(金屬結合)으로 나눌 수 있다. 이온이란 전하(電荷)를 띤 원자 또는 분자를 뜻한다. 이온 결합은 양전하(陽電荷)와 음전하(陰電荷)의 전기적인 인력(電氣的引力)에 의해서 생성되는 화학 결합이다. 예를 들면 염화 나트륨은 양전하를 띤 나트륨 이온(Na+)과 음전하를 띤 염화 이온(Cl-) 사이의 전기적인 결합으로 이루어진 이온 화합물(化合物)이다. 이러한 물질을 물에 녹이면 이온은 물 분자에 의해 수화되고 이렇게 해서 만들어진 수용액(水溶液)은 전기전도도(電氣傳導度)를 가진다.

공유 결합(共有結合)은 원자 궤도(原子軌道)이 겹쳐진 결과 두 원자가 전자쌍(電子雙)을 공유하게 되어 생성되는 결합을 의미한다. 공유 결합이 형성되는 결합은 발열반응(發熱反應)인데, 이때 방출되는 에너지의 양이 그 결합의 결합 에너지이다. 결합 에너지만큼의 에너지를 그 결합에 가해주면 결합은 끊어질 수 있다.

금속 결합(金屬結合)은 금속 원자에서 전자(電子)들이 떨어져 나와 자유전자(自由電子)를 생성하게 되어 생성되는 결합을 의미한다. 금속의 특성인 연성(延性)과 전성(轉成)이 생성되는 이유이기도 하다.

화합물 

화합물(化合物)은 구성하고 있는 원자의 종류, 수, 배치에 의해서 그 특성이 결정된다. 자연에서 찾을 수 있거나 인공적으로 합성(合成)할 수 있는 화합물의 수는 엄청나고, 이들 중 대부분은 유기 화합물(有機化合物)이다. 유기 화합물을 이루는 주된 화학 원소(化學元素)인 탄소(炭素)는 다른 화학 원소와는 다르게 매우 긴 사슬 형태로 정렬될 수 있으며, 같은 수많은 이성질체(異性質體)를 형성할 수 있다. 예를 들어, 분자식(分子式) C8H16O는 약 천 개의 서로 다른 화합물을 뜻할 수 있다.

분과  
화학은 취급 대상(取扱對象) 및 대상의 취급 방법에 따라서 몇 가지 분과(分科)로 구분될 수 있다. 물질을 분석하는 분석화학(分析化學)은 크게 물질의 존재를 취급하는 정성 분석과 물질의 양을 결정하는 정량 분석으로 나눌 수 있다. 탄소를 포함한 유기 화합물(有機化合物)을 다루는 유기화학(有機化學)과 유기 화합물을 제외한 무기 화합물(無機化合物)을 다루는 무기화학(無機化學)도 있다. 물리학(物理學)과 화학의 경계에는 물리화학(物理化學)이 있고 생물학(生物學)과의 경계에는 생화학(生化學)이 있다. 물리화학에서 특히 분자의 구조와 성질과의 관계를 다루는 부분을 구조화학(構造化學)이라고 부르기도 한다. 제2차 세계 대전(第2次世界大戰) 이후에는 방사성 물질을 다루는 방사화학(放射化學)이 발전하였고 화학 공업을 다루는 공업화학(工業化學)도 있다. 이 외에도 화학의 분과는 매우 다양하다.

화학의 분과는 전통적으로 다음과 같은 5가지로 나눌 수 있으며, 각각의 분과는 더욱 세분화될 수 있다.

무기화학 

무기화학(無機化學)은 유기화학에서 다루지 않는 물질을 다루며 주로 금속이나 준금속(準金屬)이 포함된 물질에 대해서 연구한다. 따라서 무기화학에서는 매우 넓은 범위의 화합물을 다루게 된다. 초기에는 광물(鑛物)의 구성이나 새 원소의 발견이 주요 관심사였고 여기서부터 지구화학(地球化學)이 분기되었다. 주로 전이 금속(轉移金屬) 등을 이용한 촉매(觸媒)나 생물에서 산소 수송(酸素輸送), 광합성(光合成), 질소 고정(窒素固定) 등의 과정에서 중요한 역할을 하는 금속 원자들에 대해 연구하며 이 외에도 세라믹, 복합재료(複合材料), 초전도체(超傳導體)등에 대한 연구를 한다.

물리화학 

물리화학(物理化學)은 화학적 현상(化學的現象)에 대한 해석과 이를 설명하기 위한 물리적 원리들에 대해 다루는 분과이다. 화학반응(化學反應)에 관련된 열역학적 원리와 물질의 물리학적 성질에 대한 설명은 물리화학이 다루는 고전적인 주제이다. 물리화학은 양자화학(量子化學)의 발전에도 큰 기여를 하였다. 분광계(分光計)나 자기 공명(磁氣共鳴), 회절(回折) 기기 등 물리화학에서 사용하는 실험 장비나 실험 방법(實驗裝備)들은 다른 화학의 분과에서도 매우 많이 사용된다. 물리화학이 다루는 대상은 유기 화합물, 무기 화합물, 혼합물(混合物)을 모두 포함한다.

분석화학 

분석화학(分析化學)은 물질의 조성이나 혼합물(混合物)의 구성요소(構成要素)  등을 결정하는 방법에 대해서 연구하는 화학의 분과이다. 혼합물을 이루고 있는 성분의 탐색(探索), 분리(分離), 정량(定量)과 분자를 이루고 있는 원자의 비율을 측정하여 분자식을 결정하는 일 등이 분석화학에서 행해진다. 1950년대의 분석화학의 발전은 많은 질량 분석기를 포함한 분석 기구의 등장을 불러일으켰다. 이 외에도 고해상도(高解像度) 크로마토그래피, 전기화학(電氣化學)에서의 많은 실험방법(實驗方法) 등은 분석화학에 있어서 중요한 분석법이다. 분석화학에 있어서 최종 목표는 더 정확한 측정법(測定法)이나 측정기기(測定機器) 등을 개발하는 것이다. 분석화학의 발전으로 인해 환경오염 물질(環境汚染物質) 등을 피코그램의 수준에서도 감지하는 것이 가능해졌다.

생화학 

생화학(生化學)에서는 이와 같이 생물체에서 기능하는 물질들을 다룬다.화학의 관점(觀點)에서 다루는 학문이다. 식물(植物)이나 동물(動物)의 세포(細胞)에서 발견되는 물질이나 일어나는 화학 반응들이 주 관심사이다. 생명체(生命體)에서 발견되는 탄수화물(炭水化物), 지방(脂肪), 단백질(蛋白質), 핵산(核酸), 호르몬 등은 유기 화합물이라서 유기화학에서도 다루어지기도 하나, 이들 화합물에 관련된 물질대사(物質代謝) 과정이나 조절 과정에 대한 연구는 생화학의 고유 분야이다. 효소(酵素)와 조효소(助酵素), 그리고 이들의 작용 과정에 대해서도 연구하며, 세포막(細胞膜)을 통과하는 이온과 분자, 신경전달물질(神經傳達物質)과 다른 조절 물질들의 작용에 대해서도 연구한다. 생화학은 내분비학(內分泌學), 유전학(遺傳學), 면역학(免疫學), 바이러스학의 발전에 큰 영향을 끼쳤다.

유기화학 

유기화학(有機化學)은 탄소(炭素)로 이루어진 화합물(化合物)을 연구하는 분과이다. 원래 유기 화합물은 식물이나 동물로부터 추출해낸 화합물을 뜻하였으나 지금은 유기 화합물의 범위가 크게 넓어져 탄소 사슬 또는 탄소 고리를 가진 모든 화합물을 뜻한다. 유기화학의 오랜 관심사는 유기 화합물의 합성 메커니즘이다. 현대에 들어서 핵자기 공명법(核磁氣共鳴法)과 X선 결정학(X線結晶學) 등이 개발되어 유기 화합물 분석에 있어서 매우 중요한 방법으로 자리잡았다. 플라스틱, 합성섬유(合成纖維)등의 고분자물질(高分子物質) 등도 유기화학에서 다루어진다.

참고 문헌 
 Oxtoby, D. W. et al., Principles of Modern Chemistry, 6th edition, Belmont: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2007.
 Parker, S. P. et al., McGraw-Hill encyclopedia of chemistry, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993.
 東亞出版社 百科事典部 편, 《東亞原色 世界大百科事典》, 서울: 東亞出版社, 1982~1983.
 學園出版公社 事典編纂局 편, 《學園世界大百科事典》, 서울: 學園出版公社, 1993.
 化學大辭典編集委員會 편, 성용길, 김창홍 역, 《화학대사전》, 서울: 世和, 2001.

같이 보기 
 주기율표(週期律表)
 화합물 목록(化合物目錄)
 국제순수·응용화학연합(國際純粹應用化學聯合)
 대한화학회(大韓化學會)

각주

외부 링크 
 
 네이버 캐스트 - 효도하는 화학
 대한화학회
 네이버 지식 백과
 화학공학연구정보(化學工學硏究情報)센터 용어 검색

 
자연과학

체첸 공화국(, , ), 또는 줄여서 체첸(, , )은 연방국가인 러시아를 이루는 러시아의 공화국이다. 북캅카스 지역에 위치하여 있으며, 인구 다수는 체첸인으로 구성되어 있다.

언어와 주민 
거의 대부분이 체첸인이다. 일부는 러시아인, 인구시인과 기타 북코카서스계 민족도 섞여있다. 체첸에서는 체첸인들의 토착 언어인 체첸어와 러시아어가 모두 사용된다. 체첸어는 캅카스 제어 중 북동 캅카스어족으로 불리는 그룹에 속하는데 인근의 인구시인들이 쓰는 인구시어와 밀접한 관계에 있다.

1989년에 행해진 체첸-인구시 자치공화국의 통계에서는 체첸인이 956,879명, 인구시인이 237,438명으로, 269,000명의 러시아인은 인구의 약 23%로 상당한 수의 소수 민족이 있었다. 그 후 서부가 인구시 공화국으로 분리되었기 때문에 인구시인들의 수가 절반 가까이 감소하고, 내전과 사회불안, 민족 대립으로 거의 대부분의 러시아인은 체첸 공화국에서 떠나며 현재 체첸인이 인구 대다수를 차지하게 된 것이다. 1990년대 기준 체첸 공화국에 남아 있던 러시아인은 약 6만 명이었다.

체첸 공화국은 일반적으로 러시아 연방 중에서도 젊은 층이 가장 많은 인구 구성을 가진다. 1990년대에는 몇몇 지방에서 인구증가가 있었다.

종교 
16세기에서 19세기를 기점으로 다게스탄 지역을 통해 이슬람교가 전해져, 체첸인들은 절대다수가 수니파 이슬람교를 믿는데 러시아 정교회 신자도 소수 존재한다.

역사 

크게 체첸인과 인구시인으로 구분되는 바이나흐족은 오래 전부터 캅카스 지역에 거주하던 토착 민족으로, 그 기원에 관해서는 다양한 학설이 있으나 다게스탄의 민족들과 언어가 가깝다는 것 외에 확실히 밝혀진 바가 없다.

중세에 몽골 제국의 침략으로 이들이 속해있던 알라니야 연맹체는 크게 파괴되었으나 일부 부족들은 계속해서 저항하였는데 그 중에 체첸인들이 있었다. 이후 저지대의 일부 부족들은 몽골 제국에 복속하였으나 다른 체첸 부족들은 고지대에서 성과 벽을 쌓고 농성하며 끝까지 침략에 저항하였다. 티무르와 토흐타미시 등 몽골-타타르 세력과의 빈번한 충돌은 15세기까지도 이어졌다. 러시아와의 접촉은 16세기에 시작되었으며 17세기에는 카바르디인과 아바르인의 침략에 대항하였는데 이 시기에 이슬람교로의 대대적인 개종이 이루어졌다.

1722년에서 1723년 표트르 1세가 카스피해와 캅카스 지역의 지배권을 확립하기 위해 페르시아와 전쟁을 일으켰고, 이때 캅카스와 다게스탄 지역을 점령하게 되면서 체첸인들과 본격적인 충돌이 시작되었다. 1830년에서 1859년에 이르는 동안, 러시아 제국은 오스만 제국과의 접경지역 안보를 이유로 체첸에 진주했고, 캅카스 전쟁이 일어나 체첸인은 주변 민족들과 함께 이에 맞서싸웠으나 1859년 러시아군에 항복하며 완전히 병합되었다.

1917년 러시아의 혼란기에 인근 민족들과 함께 북캅카스 산악공화국을 선포하였으나 1921년 소련에 의해 병합되었고, 이후 체첸인과 인구시인의 자치 정부인 체첸-인구시 자치 소비에트 사회주의 공화국이 수립되었다. 제2차 세계 대전 말기인 1944년 스탈린은 체첸인들이 전쟁 중에 나치군과 협력하여 반란을 꾀했다는 구실을 들어 체첸과 인구셰티야 국민 전체에게 중앙아시아로의 강제이주를 명령했다. 전쟁과 강제이주를 거치며 바이나흐족 인구는 수십만 명이 사망하였다. 스탈린이 사망한지 4년이 지난 1956년에 이르러서야 흐루쇼프의 탈스탈린 정책 하에 이들의 귀환이 허용되었다. 그러나 체첸-인구시 공화국의 영토가 변화하였을 뿐 아니라 이들의 버려진 고향에 러시아인들이 들어와 살면서 민족구성도 상당히 달라졌다.

체첸 전쟁 

소련 붕괴 이후 체첸인들의 분리주의 운동이 벌어져 조하르 두다예프를 지도자로 하여 이치케리야 체첸 공화국이 수립되었다. 제1차 체첸 전쟁에서 분리주의 반군이 승리하며 사실상 독립을 얻었으나 전쟁의 여파로 치안이 악화되고 심각한 경제난과 난민 문제가 발생하여 사회 혼란이 이어졌으며 여러 군벌 조직이 난립하였다. 대선을 거쳐 아슬란 마스하도프 대통령이 취임하였으나 이러한 내부적 혼란을 잠재우지 못하였다. 1999년 통제를 벗어난 샤밀 바사예프 치하 이슬람주의 군벌이 다게스탄을 침공하고 곧 모스크바 등지에서 일어난 러시아 아파트 폭탄 테러의 사건의 배후로 체첸 세력이 지목되면서 다시 러시아가 체첸을 침공, 제2차 체첸 전쟁이 벌어졌다. 이 때 블라디미르 푸틴 대통령의 강경 대응 명령 하에 러시아군의 엄청난 공세로 체첸 전역은 초토화되었으며, 2000년 그로즈니가 함락되고 반군은 산악 지대로 패퇴하였다.

전후 
이치케리야 정부가 무너진 이후에도 반군의 러시아군에 대한 공격과 테러 공격이 계속되었다. 2002년 10월에는 수십 명의 체첸 반군이 모스크바 극장 인질극을 일으켰고, 진압 과정에서 러시아 특수부대가 살포한 독가스 등으로 117명의 민간인이 사망하는 결과를 내었다. 2003년 러시아는 친러 정권을 수립하고 체첸을 안정화시키기 위해 친러파 군벌을 이끌던 아흐마트 카디로프를 정부수반으로 하여 러시아 연방 소속의 체첸 공화국을 수립시켰다.

2004년 9월 분리주의 반군이 북오세티야 베슬란의 한 학교를 점령하고 777명의 아동을 포함한 1100명을 인질로 삼은 채 체첸의 독립 승인과 러시아군 철수를 요구하며 농성을 벌인 베슬란 학교 인질사건이 발생하였다. 이는 3일 동안 이어져 최소 331명의 사망자를 내었으며 그 중 과반수가 어린이였다. 이후 푸틴은 반군에 대한 완전한 소탕을 명령하였고 2005년 아슬란 마스하도프, 2006년 샤밀 바사예프가 암살당하며 점차 반군은 세력이 와해되어 갔다.

2007년부터 아흐마트 카디로프의 아들로서 마찬가지 친러 군벌 출신인 람잔 카디로프가 2대 대통령으로 취임하였다. 카디로프 정부 하의 체첸은 연방으로부터 연 수백억 루블에 달하는 원조금을 받으며 빠른 정치적 안정과 경제 발전을 이루었으나, 한편으로 인권 탄압과 독재정치가 강화되었다.

2009년 러시아 정부는 반테러 작전의 종결을 선포하고 군대를 철수하였다. 이후로도 이슬람 지하드주의 무장단체들에 의한 북캅카스 반란이 발생하였으나 2013년 지도자 도카 우마로프가 사살당하고 2017년 사실상 진압되었다.

인구

행정 구역

군 
 나우르스키 군 (Наурский)
 셸콥스코이 군 (Шелковской)
 낫테레치니 군 (Надтеречный)
 그조젠스키 군 (Грозненский)
 구데르메스키 군 (Гудермесский)
 순젠스키 군 (Сунженский)
 아치호이마르타놉스키 군 (Ачхой-Мартановский)
 우루스마르타놉스키 군 (Урус-Мартановский)
 샬린스키 군 (Шалинский)
 쿠르찰로예프스키 군 (Курчалоевский)
 이툼칼린스키 군 (Итум-Калинский)
 샤토이스키 군 (Шатойский)
 베덴스키 군 (Веденский)
 노자이유르토프스키 군 (Ножай-Юртовский)
 샤로이스키 군 (Шаройский)
 알 쿼틸라 군

주요 도시 
 그로즈니
 구데르메스
 즈나멘스코예
 나우르스카야
 아치호이마르탄
 우루스마르탄
 샬리
 이툼-샬레
 샤토이
 베데오
 노자이유르트

외부 링크 
 
  체첸 공화국 정부 홈페이지 
 체첸 공화국 정보

 
미승인 국가
분단된 지역
북캅카스

맥스웰 방정식(-方程式, s)은 전기와 자기의 발생, 전기장과 자기장, 전하 밀도와 전류 밀도의 형성을 나타내는 4개의 편미분 방정식이다. 맥스웰 방정식은 빛 역시 전자기파의 하나임을 보여준다. 각각의 방정식은 가우스 법칙, 가우스 자기 법칙, 패러데이 전자기 유도 법칙, 앙페르 회로 법칙으로 불린다. 각각의 방정식을 제임스 클러크 맥스웰이 종합한 이후 맥스웰 방정식으로 불리게 되었다.

전자기역학은 맥스웰 방정식과 로런츠 힘 법칙으로 요약된다. 로랜츠 힘은 맥스웰 방정식으로부터 유도될 수 있다.

개요 

맥스웰의 방정식은 네 개의 법칙을 모아 종합하여 구성한 것이다. 맥스웰의 방정식은 빛과 같은 전자기파의 특성을 설명한다. 각 방정식의 수학적 표현은 공식 부분에서 다루기로 하고 우선은 방정식의 의미를 살펴보면 다음과 같다.

 가우스 법칙 : 가우스 법칙은 전하에 의해 발생된 전기장의 크기를 설명한다. 따라서 가우스 법칙은 본질적으로 쿨롱 법칙과 같은 의미를 지닌다. 다만, 쿨롱 법칙이 공간에 놓인 두 점전하 사이에서 발생하는 힘을 설명하는데 반해 가우스 법칙은 하나의 전하로부터 발생하는 전기장의 세기가 거리에 따라 반감되는 이유를 설명한다. 실제 회로 이론이나 전자공학에서는 계산이 편리하고 직관적으로 이해 하기 쉬운 가우스 법칙을 일반적으로 사용한다.

 가우스 자기 법칙 : 가우스 자기 법칙에 따르면, 폐곡면의 총 자기 선속은 0이다. 즉, 전기와 달리 자기는 홀극이 없고, N극과 S극이 언제나 함께 존재한다. 이러한 자기의 성질 때문에 일정한 공간으로 들어오는 자기력선과 나가는 자기력선의 크기는 언제나 같고, 따라서 서로 정반대의 방향으로 작용하는 같은 크기의 힘의 합계는 언제나 0이다.

 패러데이 전자기 유도 법칙 : 패러데이 전자기 유도 법칙은 자기 선속이 변화하면 그 주변에 전기장 이 발생한다는 것이다. 고리 모양으로 만들어진 전선 가운데서 자석을 위 아래로 움직이면 전류가 발생하는 것을 예로 들 수 있다. 발전소는 이러한 원리를 이용하여 교류 전류를 만들어 낸다.

 앙페르-맥스웰 회로 법칙 : 앙페르 회로 법칙은 전류가 흐르는 전선에 따라 자기장이 발생한다는 것이다. 맥스웰은 앙페르 회로 법칙을 확장하여 전기장의 강도가 변화하면 자기장이 발생하는 것으로 파악하였고, 축전기를 이용한 실험을 통해 이를 입증하였다. 즉, 축전기 자체는 전류를 이동시키지 못하지만 전계의 변화를 전달한다. 맥스웰은 축전기에서 전계가 변화할 때 자기장이 발생하는 것을 측정하였고 이로써 전선뿐만 아니라 전계의 강도가 변화하는 모든 곳에서 자기장이 발생함을 증명하였다. 전류 변화로 자기장이 발생하는 것을 이용한 도구로는 전자석, 전동기와 같은 것이 있다.

역사 
맥스웰의 방정식에 나타난 각 식은 오랜 시간에 걸쳐 연구된 전기와 자기의 특성을 종합한 것이다. 인류는 고대 시대부터 이미 정전기에 의한 인력과 방전 현상을 알고 있었고 자석의 특징을 이용한 나침반을 만들어 사용해 왔다. 근대에 이르러 전기와 자기에 대한 많은 연구가 진행되었으며 그 결과 쿨롱 법칙, 패러데이 전자기 유도 법칙, 앙페르 회로 법칙과 같은 법칙들이 발견되었다. 맥스웰은 이러한 기존의 연구 성과를 종합하여 전기와 자기가 하나의 상호작용, 즉 전자기력에 의한 것임을 증명하면서 빛역시 전자기파라는 것을 밝혔고, 전자기 복사의 발견을 예언하였다.

맥스웰 이전의 연구 성과

쿨롱 힘 

앞서 밝힌 바와 같이 두 전하 사이에 인력과 척력이 작용한다는 것은 고대 이후 잘 알려진 사실이었다. 그러나 이렇게 두 전하 사이에 작용하는 힘의 관계와 크기는 측정하기 매우 어려웠는데, 그 까닭은 작용하는 힘의 크기가 매우 작기 때문이었다. 1784년 샤를 드 쿨롱은 비틀림 저울을 이용한 실험장치를 고안하여 대전된 두 전하 사이에 작용하는 힘의 크기를 측정할 수 있었다.

샤를 드 쿨롱은 금속공과 비틀림 저울을 이용하여 두 점전하 사이에 작용하는 힘을 측정하고, 두 전하 사이에서 작용하는 힘은 두전하 크기의 곱에 비례하고 거리의 제곱에 반비례한다는 쿨롱 법칙을 발견하였다.

쿨롱 법칙을 식으로 나타내면 다음과 같다.

 F=힘, Ke=쿨롱 상수, q_1 q_2=전하의 크기, r=두 전하 사이의 거리

 위 식에서 Ke는 쿨롱 상수로 이 상수의 크기는 다음과 같다.

   N m2 C−2

한편, 쿨롱 힘은 전하 사이의 작용뿐만 아니라 자계에도 적용될 수 있다. 두 자극의 세기를 각각 mA, mB라 할 때, 이 두 자극 사이에 작용하는 힘은 다음과 같이 정리된다.

 F=힘, m_A m_B=자극의 세기, r=두 전하 사이의 거리

자극의 세기 단위는 웨버(Wb)로 쿨롱은 세기가 같은 두 개의 자극을 1m 떨어뜨려 놓았을 때 작용하는 힘의 세기가 인 경우를 1Wb로 정의했다. 따라서 상수 k의 값은 다음과 같다.
/

자극 사이에 작용하는 힘의 크기는 전하 사이에 작용하는 힘의 크기와 같은 방식으로 계산할 수 있으나 둘 사이에는 분명한 차이가 있다. 즉, 전하는 양전하이든 음전하이든 단독으로 존재할 수 있는 데 반해 자극은 홀극으로 존재할 수 없고, N극과 S극이 언제나 쌍으로 존재하여야 한다는 것이다.

패러데이의 실험

전자기 유도

맥스웰의 연구 

제임스 클러크 맥스웰은 각각 독립적으로 다루어져 오던 전기와 자기의 법칙들을 종합하여 맥스웰 방정식을 수립하였다. 맥스웰은 마이클 패러데이의 "역선"(力線) 개념과 앙드레마리 앙페르의 회로 이론을 근간으로 방정식을 정리하였다.

1861년 맥스웰은 논문 《물리적인 역선에 대해》를 발표하여 모두 4개의 방정식으로 구성된 맥스웰 방정식을 소개하였다. 이 방정식은 1865년 발표된 논문 《전자기장의 역학 이론》과 1873년 출간된 《전기와 자기에 관한 논문집》제2권의 9장에서 다시 소개되었다.

물리학자 리처드 파인먼은 "이 방정식에 비하면 남북전쟁조차 큰 의미없는 지엽적인 사건이라고 할 수 있다"라고 맥스웰 방정식의 중요성을 강조하였다.

맥스웰 방정식의 정리 
1865년 맥스웰 자신에 의해 발표된 맥스웰 방정식의 원래 형태는 8개의 방정식으로 이루어진 것이었다. 그러나, 오늘날에는 1884년 올리버 헤비사이드가 4개의 방정식으로 정리한 형태가 일반적으로 사용된다. 조사이어 윌러드 기브스와 하인리히 루돌프 헤르츠 역시 헤비사이드와 동일한 작업을 한 바 있다. 이 때문에 맥스웰 방정식은 헤르츠-헤비사이드 방정식으로 불리기도 한다. 그러나 "맥스웰 방정식"이란 이름이 더 폭넓게 쓰이고 있다.

1861년 맥스웰은 《물리적인 역선에 대해》에서 앙페르 회로 법칙을 설명하기 위해 방정식들을 열거하였다. 맥스웰은 이 논문에서 앙페르 회로 법칙에 치환 전류를 덧붙였다. 1865년 발표한 《전자기장의 역학 이론》에서는 전자기파 방정식을 기술하면서 빛이 전자기파임을 제시하였다. 맥스웰의 이론은 1887년 하인리히 루돌프 헤르츠의 실험에 의해 증명되었다.

"장"(場)이란 개념은 마이클 패러데이가 도입하였다. 알베르트 아인슈타인은 맥스웰이 장 개념을 도입한 것에 대해 다음과 같이 평가하였다.

당시 이 방정식은 헤르츠-헤비사이드 방정식 또는 멕스웰-헤비사이드 방정식이라고 불렸다. 그러나 아인슈타인은 사이언스에의 기고문에서 이를 "맥스웰 방정식"이라 부르며, 이 방정식들이 이론물리학의 기초라고 설명하였다. 맥스웰은 방정식을 정리하면서 헤비사이드의 전위와 벡터 위치 등 위치 요소를 중요한 개념으로 도입하였다. 1884년 맥스웰은 전자기파의 전달을 중력과 같이 원격에서 상호작용하는 힘이 아닌 전자기장에서 빛의 속도로 전파되는 전위로 파악하였다. 라디오 안테나에 대한 현대의 분석에서도 맥스웰의 백터와 스칼라 위키에 대한 수식만으로 서로 떨어져 있는 안테나 사이에 작용하는 전파의 영향을 모두 설명할 수 있다.

맥스웰 방정식과 관련한 헤비사이드의 업적은 맥스웰이 여러 논문과 책에서 서술한 맥스웰 방정식을 오늘날과 같은 4개의 방정식으로 정리하였다는 것이다.

《물리적 역선에 대해》 (1861년) 
오늘날 4개의 방정식으로 정리된 맥스웰의 방정식은 1861년 발표된 논문인 《물리적 역선에 대해》에 기반한 것이다. 이 논문에는 전자기장에 대한 다수의 방정식이 실려있다.

방정식 56번 .
방정식 112번은 멕스웰이 앙페르 회로 법칙을 확장하여 전류와의 거리에 따른 자기력선의 세기를 표현한 것이다. 이 방정식에서 표현된 원격 전류의 개념은 전자기학의 핵심 개념이 되었다. 맥스웰은 1865년 《전자기장의 역학 이론》에서 전자기 파장 방정식을 정립하여 이를 보충하였다. 구스타프 키르히호프는 특히 이 방정식에서 원격 전류의 개념을 제거한 방정식을 수립한 뒤 이를 전신수 방정식이라고 불렀는데, 이 방정식이 전신의 이론적 기반이 되었기 때문이다. 당시에는 전자기 복사가 발견되지 않은 상태였기 때문에 키르히호프는 자신의 방정식이 전선 안에서 일어나는 자기 유도에 국한된다고 생각하였다. 
방정식 115번은 가우스 법칙을 정리하고 있다.
방정식 54번을 올리버 헤비사이드는 "패러데이 법칙"이라 불렀다. 그러나, 패러데이 법칙의 원형이 자기장과 전류의 변화를 모두 반영하는데 비해 54번 방정식은 자기장의 변화에 따른 전류의 변화를 반영하지는 않는다. 맥스웰은 자기장의 변화만을 고려하여 v × B로 표기한 대신, 방정식 77번에서 오늘날 로런츠 힘 법칙으로 알려진 F  = q ( E + v × B ) 을 제시하였다. 맥스웰이 이 방정식을 발표한 때에 헨드릭 로런츠는 아직 어린아이였다.

1855년 맥스웰은 케임브리지 철학 학회에서 《패러데이의 역선》을 발표하면서 와  벡터의 차이점을 설명하였다. 이 논문은 오늘날에도 패러데이 전자기 유도 법칙에 대한 가장 간결한 모형으로 인정받고 있다. 여기서 맥스웰은 전류에 관한 모든 지식을 미분 방정식으로 나타내었다.

1855년 맥스웰이 제안한 분자 와동의 바다란 개념은 1861년 《물리 역선에 대해》에서 보다 분명하게 소개되었다. 이 논문에서는 자기장이 형성되는 분자 규모의 와동에서 의 밀도에 따라 의 순 와동 운동이 결정된다고 보았다. 맥스웰은 와동의 밀도를 측정하기 위한 값으로 투자율 µ 을 정의하였다. 이 논문에서 밝힌 맥스웰의 개념은 다음과 같다.

 자기 유도 전류는 자기 전류 밀도에 의해 발생된다. 
 대류 전류는 선형 전류의 회전 분석에 핵심 개념이다. 

이 때 는 전하 밀도이다. 는 축을 이루어 회전하는 자기 전류이고 는 그 주위를 돌게 되는 자기력선의 자기 선속이다. 투자율 µ는 결국 자기장 에 의해 유도되는 자기 선속 의 비가 된다.

전류 방정식은 전하의 대류 전류가 선형적으로 움직이는 것을 보여준다. 한편, 자기 방정식은 유도 전류의 회전에 의해 발생하는 자기를 나타내는 것으로  벡터의 방향성으로 인해 비선형 방정식이 된다. 따라서 자기 유도 전류는 역선으로 표현된다. 자기력선은 역제곱 법칙에 의해 전류에서 멀어질수록 약해지게 된다.

《전자기장의 역학이론》 (1864년) 
1864년 맥스웰은 《전자기장의 역학이론》을 출간하였다. 맥스웰은 이 책에서 빛이 전자기파임을 제시하였다. 이 책에서 맥스웰은 8개의 방정식을 전자기장에 대한 일반적인 방정식으로 제시하였다. 이 때문에 훗날 "맥스웰 방정식"이라는 표현이 오늘날의 4개의 방정식을 가리키는 것인지 1864년 제시된 8개의 방정식을 가리키는 것인지를 혼동하기도 한다. 따라서 오늘날의 4개로 구성된 방정식을 분명히 하기 위해 헤비사이드가 정리한 맥스웰 방정식(맥스웰-헤비사이드 방정식)이라는 표현이 사용된다.

현대 벡터 표기를 사용하여 정리한 멕스웰의 8개 방정식은 다음과 같다.

(A) 총 전류의 법칙

(B) 자기장 방정식 (벡터 퍼텐셜의 정의)

(C) 앙페르 회로 법칙

(D) 대류 전하, 유도 전류 및 정전기에 의해 생성된 기전력 (로런츠 힘)

(E) 전기 탄성 방정식

(F) 옴의 법칙

(G) 가우스 법칙

(H) 연속 방정식 (전하 보존 법칙)

 또는

주
 는 맥스웰이 자기 강도라고 표현한 자기장이다.
 는 전류 밀도로 원격 전류가 갖는 총 전류를 뜻한다.
 는 맥스웰이 원격 전류라고 표현한 전기 변위장이다.
 는 자유 전하 밀도로 맥스웰은 이를 자유 전하의 양이라고 표현하였다.
 는 자기 퍼텐셜로 맥스웰은 이를 각 임펄스로 표현하였다.
 는 맥스웰이 기전력이라고 표현한 것으로 오늘날 볼트를 단위로 사용하는 기전력과 달리 전기장을 의미한다.
 는 도전율이다. (그 역수는 비저항인데, 오늘날 영어명은 ""이고, 맥스웰은 이를 ""라 불렀다.)

이 책에서 표현된 방정식 D는 로런츠 힘의 효과를 나타낸 것으로 1861년 논문의 방정식 77번을 보다 간략하게 표현한 것이다. 또한, 맥스웰은 1865년 논문에서 전자기파 방정식을 정의하였는데 이 책의 방정식 D를 전자기 유도를 설명하기 위해 사용하였다. 오늘날에는 방정식 D 대신 패러데이 전자기 유도 법칙이 쓰인다. 맥스웰은 전자기파 방정식을 연구하는 과정에서 방정식 D의 를 버렸다.

《전기와 자기에 관한 논문집》 (1873년) 
1873년 맥스웰이 출간한 《전기와 자기에 관한 논문집》에서 방정식은 두 개의 묶음으로 나뉘었다.

첫 번째 묶음

두 번째 묶음

수식 
다음은 국제단위계를 사용하여 수식으로 표현한 맥스웰 방정식이다.

발산정리와 스토크스의 정리를 이용하면 미분형과 적분형 방정식이 같음을 알 수 있다.

아래 표는 각 기호의 뜻과 단위를 나타낸다.

는 발산 연산자(단위: 1 / 미터), 는 회전 연산자(단위: 1 / 미터)이다. 두 번째 방정식은 자기 홀극이 없음을 뜻한다. 전기장과 자기장이 대전된 입자에 미치는 힘은 리엑턴스 힘에 따라 국제단위계에서 다음과 같다.
 .
여기서 는 입자의 전하량이고 는 입자의 속도다. (CGS 단위계에서는 자기장을 다르게 정의하므로,  대신 를 쓴다.)

CGS 단위계 

위의 수식은 국제단위계로 표현되었지만, 다른 단위계에서도 맥스웰 방정식은 변하지 않거나, 약간의 상수 변화만이 있을 뿐이다. 물리학과 공학에서 일반적으로 가장 널리 쓰이는 국제단위계 이외에도 특수한 경우 CGS 단위계가 쓰인다.

같이 보기 
 변압기
 안테나
 앙페르 회로 법칙
 로런츠 힘
 레이저
 발전기
 자기 홀극

주해

각주

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 
 네이버 캐스트 - 맥스웰 방정식

 
동전기학
물리학 개념
사람 이름을 딴 낱말
전자기학
제임스 클러크 맥스웰
편미분방정식
물리학 방정식

초월수(超越數, )는 수학에서 대수학적이지 않은 수, 즉 유리수 계수를 가지는 0이 아닌 유한 차수 다항 방정식의 해가 될 수 없는 수를 의미한다. 가장 잘 알려진 초월수는 (원주율)과 (자연로그의 밑)이다.

현재까지는 적은 양의 초월수들만 알려져 있다. 이는 어떤 주어진 수가 초월수인지 보여주는 것은 극히 어려울 수 있기 때문이다. 그러나 초월수들은 드물지 않다. 실제로 대수적 수들이 가산 집합을 구성하는 반면 실수의 집합, 복소수의 집합은 모두 비가산 집합이므로 거의 모든 실수들과 복소수들은 초월적이다. 또한 모든 유리수가 대수학적이기 때문에 모든 초월실수("실제 초월수" 또는 "초월무리수"라고도 함)는 무리수이다. 그러나 모든 무리수가 초월적인 것은 아니다. 따라서 실수의 집합은 겹치지 않는 유리수, 대수적인 무리수, 초월적인 실수로 구성된다. 예를 들어 제곱근 2는 무리수이지만 다항식 의 근인 만큼 초월수는 아니다. 황금비( 또는 로 표시됨)은 다항식 의 근으로서 초월적이지 않은 또다른 무리수이다.

역사 
"초월적"이라는 이름은 라틴어로 "넘어오거나 넘어서거나"를 뜻하는 '트란스켄데레'(transcendĕre)에서 유래되었다. 고트프리트 빌헬름 라이프니츠는 1682년에 발표한 자신의 논문에서 수학적 개념을 처음 사용했는데 가 의 대수함수가 아니라는 것을 증명했다. 레온하르트 오일러는 18세기에 "초월수"를 현대적 의미로 정의한 최초의 수학자로 여겨지고 있다.

요한 람베르트는 1768년에 발표한 자신의 논문에서 (자연로그의 밑)와 (원주율) 둘 다 초월수라고 추측했고 무리수인 의 초월수 증명에 대한 대략적인 구성을 제안했다. 조제프 리우빌은 1844년에 초월수의 존재를 처음으로 증명했고 1851년에 리우빌 수와 같은 초월수의 사례를 제시했다.

이  ( 계승)인 경우에는 소수점 뒤의 번째 자리가 이고 그렇지 않은 경우에는 이다. 즉 이 숫자 등일 경우에만 이 숫자의 번째 자릿수가 이다. 리우빌은 이 숫자가 특정한 무리수인 대수적 수보다 유리수에 의해 보다 가깝게 근사할 수 있는 초월수의 종류에 속한다는 것을 보여주었고 이 종류의 숫자는 그의 이름을 따서 리우빌 수라고 불린다. 리우빌은 모든 리우빌 수가 초월수라는 것을 증명했다. 1873년에는 샤를 에르미트가 초월수의 존재를 증명하기 위해 가 특별히 구성되지 않은 초월수임을 증명했다.

1874년에는 게오르크 칸토어가 대수적 수들은 셀 수 있고 실수는 셀 수 없다는 사실을 증명했다. 그는 또한 초월수를 구성하는 새로운 방법을 제시했다. 비록 이것이 대수적 수의 계산 가능성에 대한 그의 증명에 의해 이미 암시되었지만 칸토어는 실수들만큼 초월적인 숫자들이 있다는 것을 증명하는 구성을 공개했다. 칸토어의 연구는 초월수의 보편성을 확립했다.

1882년에는 페르디난트 폰 린데만이 의 초월성에 대한 최초의 증명을 담은 책을 출판했다. 그는 먼저 가 0이 아닌 대수적 수일 경우 가 초월수라는 것을 증명했다. 그렇다면 은 대수적이므로(오일러의 항등식 참조), 는 초월수이어야 한다. 그러나 가 대수적 수이기 때문에 는 초월수이어야 한다. 이러한 접근 방식은 카를 바이어슈트라스에 의해 일반화되었는데 오늘날에는 린데만-바이어슈트라스 정리로 알려져 있다. 의 초월은 원적문제와 같이 가장 유명한 것을 포함하여 컴퍼스와 자 작도를 포함한 여러 고대 기하학 구조들이 갖고 있던 불가능성의 증거를 가능하게 했다.

1900년에는 다비트 힐베르트가 힐베르트의 7번째 문제인 초월수에 대해 영향력 있는 질문을 던졌다. "가 0이나 1이 아닌 대수적 수이고 가 무리수인 대수적 수라면 반드시 은 초월수인가?" 이에 대한 해답은 1934년에 겔폰트-슈나이더 정리를 통해 제공되었다. 이 연구는 1960년대에 앨런 베이커가 진행한 (대수 수) 로그에서 선형 형태의 하한에 대한 연구를 통해 확장되었다.

특성 
초월수의 집합은 셀 수 없이 무한하다. 유리수인 계수를 갖는 다항식은 셀 수 있고 각각의 다항식은 유한한 근을 가지기 때문에 대수적 수도 셀 수 있어야 한다. 그러나 칸토어는 대각선 논법을 통해 실수가 (그리고 복소수또한) 셀 수 없다는 것을 증명했다. 그리고 실수 집합은 대수적 수 집합과 초월수 집합의 합집합이기 때문에, 초월수 집합은 셀 수 없다.

어떠한 유리수도 초월적이지 않고 모든 초월실수는 무리수이다. 무리수는 2차 무리수 및 그 외의 형태를 가진 대수적 무리수를 포함하여 모든 실제 초월수와 대수적 수의 부분집합을 포함한다. 단일 변수의 일정하지 않은 대수함수는 초월 인수에 적용될 때 초월 값을 산출한다.

단일 변수의 대수함수에서 초월수는 다른 초월수에 대응된다. 예를 들어 가 초월적이라는 것을 아는 것으로부터 과 같은 숫자들이 초월수임을 수 있다. 도 초월수이다.

그러나 여러 변수의 대수함수는 초월수에 적용될 때 대수적 수를 산출할 수 있다. 예를 들어 와 는 둘 다 초월적이지만 은 그렇지 않다. 예를 들어 가 초월적인지는 알 수 없지만, 와  가운데 적어도 하나는 초월적인 것이어야 한다. 보다 일반적으로 어떤 2가지 초월수 와 의 경우 적어도 와  가운데 하나는 초월수여야 한다. 그 이유는 다항식 을 고려해보면 알 수 있다. 만약 와 가 둘 다 대수적이라면 이것은 대수적 계수를 갖는 다항식이 될 것이다. 대수적 수는 대수적으로 닫힌 체를 형성하기 때문에 다항식인 와 의 근은 대수적이어야 한다는 것을 의미한다. 하지만 이때 모순이 생긴다. 따라서 적어도 하나의 계수가 초월적이라는 것을 알 수 있다.

계산 불가능한 수는 초월수의 진부분집합이다. 모든 리우빌 수는 초월적이지만 그 반대는 아니다. 모든 리우빌 수는 지속적인 연분수에서 제한 없는 부분적인 몫을 가져야 한다. 계산 인수를 사용하면 제한된 부분적인 몫을 가진 초월수가 존재하므로 리우빌 수가 아니라는 것을 증명할 수 있다.

의 지속적인 연분수를 사용하여 가 리우빌 수가 아니라는 것을 보여줄 수 있다(비록 지속적인 분수의 부분적인 몫은 무한대이다). 쿠르트 말러는 1953년에  또한 리우빌 수가 아니라는 것을 증명했다. 결국 주기적이지 않은 경계 항을 갖는 모든 무한 연분수는 초월적(결국 주기적인 연분수는 2차 무리수에 해당함)이라고 추측된다.

초월수로 입증된 수 
초월수로 입증된 수:

 에서 가 대수적 수이고 0이 아닌 경우 (린데만-바이어슈트라스 정리).
  (원주율, 린데만-바이어슈트라스 정리).
 , 겔폰트 상수, 또는  (겔폰트-슈나이더 정리에 따름).
 , 여기서 는 대수적이지만 0이나 1은 아니며 는 대수적 무리수이다 (겔폰트-슈나이더 정리에 따름). 특히 다음과 같다.
 , 겔폰트-슈나이더 상수 (또는 힐베르트 수)
 , , , , ,  및 이들의 쌍곡선 상대는 0이 아닌 대수적 수 에 의해 라디안(린데만-바이어슈트라스 정리)에 따름)으로 표현한다.
 코사인 함수의 고정점.  방정식에 대한 실근. 여기서 는 라디안이다.
 에서 로그 함수의 경우에 대해 가 대수적 수이고 0 또는 1이 아닌 경우 (린데만-바이어슈트라스 정리에 따름).
 에서 와 가 동일한 정수가 아닌 경우 (겔폰트-슈나이더 정리에 따름).
 의 모든 경우에 대해 가 대수적 수이고 0이 아닌 경우 (린데만-바이어슈트라스 정리에 따름), 특히 오메가 정수의 .
 , 자연수의 제곱 초근은 정수이거나 초월이다 (겔폰트-슈나이더 정리에 따름)
 , ,, .
 0.64341054629..., 카앵 상수.
 모든 양의 정수의 표현을 연결하여 형성된 무리수인 챔퍼나운 수.
 , 차이틴 상수 (계산 불가능한 숫자임).
 이른바 프레드홀름 상수,

또한 10을 대수적 수 로 대체해도 유지된다.
 가우스 상수.
 2개의 렘니스케이트 상수인  (때로는 라고 표시하기도 함)과 .
 앞에서 언급한 에 대한 리우빌 상수.
 프루에-튀에-모르스 상수.
 코모르니크-로레티 상수.
 고정 베이스와 관련된 수가 스튀름 단어를 형성하는 임의의 수.
 의 경우
 
여기서 는 바닥 함수이다.
 3.300330000000000330033...과 그 역수인 0.30300000303...는 모저-더 브라윈 수열에 의해 0이 아닌 위치가 주어지는 2개의 소수 자릿수만 가지는 2개의 숫자이다.
 수 ,에서 와 는 베셀 함수이고 는 오일러-마스케로니 상수이다.

초월수일 가능성이 있는 수 
초월수 또는 대수적 수로 아직 입증되지 않은 수:
 , , , , , , , ,  등과 같은 (원주율)과 (자연로그의 밑) 사이의 사칙연산, 거듭제곱은 유리수인지 무리수인지, 대수적 수인지 초월수인지 알려져 있지 않다.  주목할 만한 예외는 초월성이 입증된 (모든 양의 정수 에 대해이다.
 오일러-마스케로니 상수 : M. 램 머티와 N. 사라다는 2010년에 를 포함하는 무한한 수의 목록을 고려했고 이 가운데 하나를 제외하고 모두 초월적이어야 한다는 것을 증명했다. 2012년에는 와 오일러-곰페르츠 상수  가운데 적어도 하나가 초월성이라는 것이 입증되었다.
 카탈랑 상수 무리수로 입증되지도 않았다.
 킨친 상수 또한 무리수로 입증되지도 않았다.
 아페리 상수  (로제 아페리는 무리수임을 증명했다.)
 리만 제타 함수의 다른 홀수 정수인 , 등 (무리수인지도 입증되지 않았다.)
 파이겐바움 상수 와 도 무리수로 입증되지 않았다.
 밀스 상수 또한 무리수로 입증되지도 않았다.
 코플랜드 에르되시 상수는 소수점 표기를 연결하여 형성된다.

같이 보기 
 겔폰트-슈나이더 정리

각주

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 
 
 
 
  Proof that e is transcendental
  Proof that the Liouville Constant is transcendental 
  가 초월수임을 증명한 것 (PDF)
  가 초월수임을 증명한 것 (PDF)

음계(音階)는 음악에서 음높이(pitch) 순서로 된 음의 집합을 말한다. 악곡을 주로 구성하는 음을 나타낸 것이며 음계의 종류에 따라 곡의 분위기가 달라진다.

음계의 각각의 음에는 위치에 따라 도수가 붙는다.

음계의 종류 

음계는, 음계가 포함하고 있는 음정(interval)에 따라서 이름을 붙일 수 있다.
 예시: 온음계, 반음계, 온음음계
또는 음계가 포함하고 있는 서로 다른 피치 클래스의 수에 따라서 이름을 붙일 수 있다.
 팔음 음계
 칠음 음계
 육음 음계와 오음 음계
 사음 음계, 삼음 음계와 이음 음계
 모노토닉 음계

"음계의 음정(interval) 뿐만 아니라 음계를 만드는 음(note)의 수가, 한 문화권의 음악에 독특한 음악적 특징을 지니게 한다" "어떤 음계의 음의 수보다, 음의 거리(interval, pitch distance)가 음악의 소리에 대해서 더 많은 것을 알려준다."

온음계와 반음계 

온음계와 반음계(半音階)는 서양 음악에서 쓰이는 용어이다. 자체로는 음계에 관한 말이지만, 온음계적·반음계적인 선율, 화음, 화성 진행 등의 표현으로도 쓰인다. 대부분의 경우 온음계는 7개 음으로 이루어진 장음계를 말한다. 20세기 음악론에서는 반음계가 아닌 모든 음계(이를테면 팔음음계)를 말할 때 쓰이기도 한다.

반음계는 12개의 반음으로 이루어진 음계를 말한다.

계이름 
계이름은 음계를 기준으로 한 음의 이름이다. 장음계를 이루는 음의 계이름은 으뜸음부터 위로 올라가면서 각각 도, 레, 미, 파, 솔(), 라, 시(), 도가 된다.

한국과 중국의 전통 음계 

서양 음악에서는 도·레·미·파·솔·라·시로 된 7음계가 많이 쓰이지만 한국 전통 음악에는 황종(黃鍾)-미♭·태주(太蔟)-파·중려(仲呂)-라♭·임종(林鍾)-시♭·무역(無射)-레♭으로 된 5음계가 많이 쓰이고, 중국 전통 음악에는 궁-도·상-레·각-미·변치(變徵)-올림화(Fa )·치-솔·우-라·변궁(變宮)-시로 7음계를 많이 쓴다.

한국 전통 음악에서는 5음계 외에도 3음계 또는 악계통에서는 7음계 등이 쓰인다.

각주

대한민국 제16대 대통령 선거는 2002년 12월 19일 목요일 치뤄진 대통령 선거로, 21세기에 처음으로 치뤄진 대한민국 대통령 선거이다. 제15대 김대중 대통령의 차기 대통령을 뽑기 위한 선거이다.

16대 대선은 지난 15대 대선에서 간발의 차로 낙선하고 재도전한 이회창 한나라당 후보와 사상 최초의 국민 참여 경선을 통해 여당의 대통령 후보가 된 해양수산부 장관 출신 노무현 새천년민주당 후보의 양강 구도로 진행되었다.

대선 재수생인 이회창 후보는 경험이나 세력 면에서 노무현 후보보다 대권 고지에 좀 더 유리할 것으로 점쳐졌으나, 이전 대선부터 불거진 이회창 후보의 두 아들의 병역기피 논란, 노사모를 비롯한 네티즌들의 열성적인 노무현 지지, 정몽준 후보와의 단일화 성공 등에 힘입어 노무현 후보가 당선되었다.

선거 정보

선거권 
만 20세 이상의 대한민국 국민은 선거권이 있었다. 즉, 1982년 12월 19일 이전에 태어난 사람은 투표를 할 자격이 있었다.

피선거권 
만 40세 이상의 대한민국 국민은 피선거권을 가졌다. 즉, 1962년 12월 19일 이전에 태어난 사람은 후보자가 될 자격이 있었다.

후보

새천년민주당 

새천년민주당은 3월 9일부터 4월 27일까지 한국 정당 역사상 최초로 국민 참여 경선을 실시하고 과반 득표자인 노무현 전, 판사, 변호사 해양수산부 장관을 대통령 후보로 선출하였다.

한나라당 

한나라당은 4월 13일부터 5월 9일까지 국민 참여 경선을 실시하고 최다 득표자인 이회창 전 당 총재를 대통령 후보로 선출하였다.

민주노동당 

민주노동당은 9월 8일 당원들에 의한 단일 후보 찬반 투표를 통해 권영길 당 대표를 대통령 후보로 선출하였다.

국민통합21 
통합21은 11월 5일 창당대회를 열고 정몽준 의원을 당 대표 및 대통령 후보로 추대하였다.

기타

사회당 
사회당은 10월 27일 전당대회를 열고 김영규 전 인하대학교 교수를 당 대표 및 대통령 후보로 선출하였다. 김영규 후보는 대의원 찬반투표 결과 전체 투표수의 95%를 득표하였다. 이온규 이엽규 이천규 이상규 이인규 이일근

하나로국민연합 
하나로국민연합은 11월 15일 재적 대의원 8,500명 중 8,125명이 참석한 가운데 창당대회를 열고 이한동 전 자유민주연합 총재를 당 대표 및 대통령 후보로 추대하였다.

개혁국민정당 추진위원회 
개혁당 추진위는 독자 후보를 내는 대신 노무현 민주당 후보를 지지하기로 하고 이를 10월 12일부터 18일까지 창당 발기인 28,500여명을 대상으로 한 인터넷·모바일 찬반 투표에 부친 결과 총투표수 16,733표 중 15,723표가 찬성으로 나와 노무현 새천년민주당 대통령 후보와의 대선 연대가 결정되었다. 개혁당 추진위는 10월 20일 창당 발기인 대회에서 이를 발표하였으며, 대회에 참석한 노무현 후보는 수락을 선언하였다.

한국미래연합 
박근혜 한나라당 부총재는 2001년 12월 11일 한나라당 대선 후보 경선 출마를 공식 선언하였다. 그러나 박근혜 부총재는 2월 28일 이회창 총재의 리더십을 비판하며 한나라당을 탈당하였으며, 이후 신당을 창당하여 독자적으로 대선에 출마할 뜻을 밝혔다. 결국 5월 17일 박근혜 대표가 이끄는 미래연합이 창당되기에 이르렀다. 그러나 한미련은 6·13 지방선거에서 대참패를 당한 뒤 동력을 잃었으며, 그 후 별다른 움직임을 보이지 못하다가 대선 한 달 전 한나라당에 흡수 합당되었다.

장세동 무소속 후보 
장세동 전 국가안전기획부장은 10월 21일 무소속 대선 출마를 선언하였다. 그러나 장세동 후보는 12월 18일 당선 가능성이 없다며 사퇴를 선언하였다.

국태민안호국당 
호국당은 11월 25일 재적 대의원 645명 중 539명이 참석한 가운데 창당대회를 열고 김길수 법륜사 주지를 당 총재 및 대통령 후보로 추대하였다.

경과

선거 전 상황 
제16대 대선은 민주당의 노무현 후보와 한나라당의 이회창 후보, 두 후보의 양자 대결 구도로 진행되어, 1971년 제7대 대선 이후 최초로 3자, 4자가 아닌 양자 구도로 치러진 대선이 되었다. 그러나 제15대 대선에서 패한 후 차근차근 대권 재도전을 준비해오던 이회창 후보가 한나라당을 완전히 장악하고 있었던 것과 달리, 진보 성향 인사이면서 보수 정당 민주당의 후보가 된 노무현 후보는 끊임없이 당 내부에서 공격을 받고 있었다.

이같은 상황에서 이회창의 당선이 유력시되고 있었으나, 제15대 대선과 마찬가지로 아들 병역기피 의혹에 시달리며 난관에 봉착한데다 노무현후보가 이른바 '노풍'을 일으키며 선풍적 인기를 끌어 승패를 예측할 수 없게 되었다. 또한 노무현 후보는 정몽준 통합21 후보와 극적으로 단일화에 성공, 이를 발판 삼아 이회창 후보의 지지율을 맹추격했다.

민주당 후보 재신임 
5월 들어 김대중 대통령의 두 아들인 김홍업과 김홍걸의 비리가 불거지며 민주당의 지지율이 하락함과 더불어, 노무현의 지지율도 본격적인 내림세로 돌아서기 시작했다. 이에 노무현은 6.13 지방선거에서 영남권 광역 단체장을 한 명도 당선시키지 못할 경우 재신임을 받겠다고 공약했다.

선거 결과 새천년민주당은 호남과 제주의 광역단체장만 당선되는 등 참패를 기록했다. 노무현은 선거 전 약속한 대로 후보 재신임을 물었고, 민주당 당무회의는 만장일치로 재신임을 의결했다. 민주당 내 최대 계파 모임인 중도개혁 포럼은 이를 인정할 수 없다며 ‘후보·지도부 즉각 사퇴론’을 주장했다.

지방 선거 참패를 계기로 이인제 등 민주당 내 반노무현 세력의 후보 흔들기는 더욱 노골화되는 모습을 보였다.

정몽준 의원 출마 
대한축구협회장이던 정몽준 무소속 의원은 2002년 한일 월드컵을 유치해내고 성공적으로 개최함으로써 국민들 사이에 선풍적 인기를 얻어 유력 대권 주자가 되었다. 정몽준이 대선에 출마하자 노무현 후보의 지지율은 토막났고, 안 그래도 노무현 후보와 갈등이 있던 당내 상당수 의원들은 노무현 후보를 더 적극적으로 배척하기 시작했다. ‘노무현 흔들기’는 더욱 노골화되었고, ‘후보 단일화론’은 물론이거니와 ‘후보 교체론’까지 나왔다. 노무현은 경쟁력이 없는 만큼 정몽준을 수혈해 대선 새판 짜기에 나서야 하지 않느냐는 정치공학적 판단이었다.

10월 들어서는 아예 노무현의 낙마를 바라는 의원들이 탈당하여 후보 단일화 추진 협의회(후단협)를 만들고 후보 단일화를 주장했는데, 이들은 노무현으로 후보 단일화가 되면 함께 할 수 없다고 발언하였고 정몽준 지지의 속내를 감추지 않았다. 11월 19일 후단협은 정몽준에 대한 공개 지지를 밝혔으며, 심지어 후단협 소속 의원이 정몽준 대표 측에 돈을 요구하기도 했다. 후단협 해체 후 일부 의원은 한나라당에 입당했고, 12명은 민주당에 복당했다.

그러던 10월 17일 김민석 전 민주당 최고위원이 민주당 탈당 및 통합21 합류를 선언했는데, 노무현에게 큰 타격이 되리라는 관측과 달리 오히려 이는 노무현 후보에게 호재로 작용했다. 일반 국민들 사이에서 노무현 후보에 대한 동정론이 불었고, 결국 답보 상태였던 그의 지지율은 20%대를 회복하고 후원금도 크게 늘어난 것으로 드러났다.

노무현·정몽준 단일화 
단일화 방안으로는 크게 3가지가 제시되었는데, 국민 경선과 여론 조사, 협상 담판이었다. 정몽준 캠프는 11월 1일 양 캠프가 협상·담판을 통해 단일 후보를 정할 것을 제안했고, 노무현 캠프는 11월 3일 국민 참여 50%, 당원 참여 50%로 국민 경선을 실시하는 방식을 제안했다. 또한 여론조사상 노무현 후보에 우위를 점하고 있던 정몽준 후보 측은 여론조사로 단일 후보를 정하는 방안도 긍정적으로 보고 있었다. 통합21은 노무현 캠프의 국민경선 실시 주장에 대해 “국민 경선을 할 시간적 여유가 없다”는 이유로 반대를 표했다. 그러나 노무현 후보의 지지율이 꾸준히 회복해 이미 판세는 이회창 후보가 독주하고 노·정 두 후보가 2위 싸움을 벌이는 1강 2중 구도로 재편되고 있었으므로, 정몽준 캠프로서도 하루 빨리 단일화를 성사시키지 않으면 안 되는 상황이었다.

노무현 후보는 11월 11일, 자신에게 불리한 것으로 여겨지던 여론조사를 통한 단일화를 정식으로 제의하였다. 또한 여론조사 결과 이회창 후보의 지지율이 일정 수준에 미달할 시 그 여론조사는 무효 처리하자는 정몽준 캠프의 주장을 수용하였다. 이에 따라 11월 23일부터 25일까지 주요 언론사에서 실시한 여론조사 결과 중 이회창 후보의 지지율이 가장 낮게 나온 결과보다 단일화 여론조사에서 이회창 후보의 지지율이 더 낮게 나올 시 그 결과는 한나라당 지지자들이 역선택을 했을 가능성이 있는 것으로 보고 무효 처리하기로 하였다. 11월 23일부터 25일까지 실시된 여론조사 중 이회창 후보의 지지율이 가장 낮게 나온 것은 국민일보-월드리서치가 11월 25일 실시한 결과에서의 30.4%였다. 따라서 단일화 여론조사에서 이회창 후보의 지지율이 30.4%보다 낮을 시 그 조사 결과는 무효 처리하도록 했다.

단일화 협의 과정에서 노무현 후보가 단일화 방식 등 쟁점 사항에 있어 통큰 양보를 하는 모습은 국민들에게 좋은 인상을 주었고, 이는 노무현 후보의 지지율이 상승하는 효과로 이어지기도 하였다.

단일화의 방식은 합의되었으나, 여론조사의 설문 내용을 두고도 논란이 일었는데, '노무현 후보와 정몽준 후보 중 누가 더 마음에 드느냐'는 지지도 질문에는 노무현 후보의 지지율이 높게 나오는 반면, '어느 후보가 이회창 후보를 이길 수 있겠느냐'는 경쟁력 질문에는 정몽준 후보의 지지율이 높게 나오는 경우가 많았다. 결국 양 캠프는 조율을 거친 결과 지지도 질문과 경쟁력 질문을 조금씩 섞은 "한나라당 이회창 후보와 견주어 경쟁력 있는 단일후보로 노무현·정몽준 후보 중 누구를 지지하십니까"를 사용하기로 결정하였다.

두 후보는 여론조사 실시에 앞서 텔레비전 토론을 가지기로 했는데, 이에 대해 한나라당은 사전 선거 운동이 될 수 있다며 텔레비전 토론을 허용해선 안 된다고 주장하였다. 결국 중앙선거관리위원회는 한 차례에 한해 텔레비전 토론을 허용하였고, 두 후보 간 토론은 11월 22일 실시되었다.

후보 단일화를 위한 여론조사는 11월 24일 오후 1시부터 8시 30분까지 7시간 반에 걸쳐 실시되었다. 여론조사는 월드리서치와 리서치앤리서치, 2개 업체에 의해 실시되었으며, 한 업체가 각각 2,000명, 총 4,000명을 상대로 실시되었다.

민주당과 통합21은 11월 24일 자정 공동으로 여론조사 결과를 발표하였다. 리서치앤리서치 조사는 응답자 중 이회창 후보 지지율이 32.1%가 나와, 무효 처리되지 않았다. 그러나 월드리서치 조사는 이회창 후보의 지지율이 28.7%로 무효화 기준인 30.4%에 미달하여 무효 처리되었다. 리서치앤리서치 조사 결과 노무현 후보가 46.8%, 정몽준 후보가 42.2%를 얻음으로써 노무현 후보의 승리가 확정되었다. 무효 처리된 월드 리서치 조사 결과 또한 노무현 후보가 38.8%, 정몽준 후보가 37.0%를 얻은 것으로 나타났다.

정몽준 후보는 단일화 여론조사 결과에서 패배함에 따라 사퇴를 선언하고 노무현 후보 지지를 선언하였다. 노무현 후보는 정몽준 후보와의 단일화를 계기로 각종 여론조사에서 이회창 후보를 역전하였다.

이인제와 정몽준의 노무현 지지 철회 
민주당 대선 후보 경선 당시 2위를 했던 이인제 전 민주당 최고위원은 12월 1일 민주당 탈당을 선언한 데 이어 이틀 뒤인 12월 3일 자유민주연합에 입당하였으며, 입당과 동시에 김종필 자민련 총재의 지명을 받아 총재 권한대행으로 취임하였다. 이인제는 이회창 후보 지지를 선언할 계획으로 자민련에 입당했으나, 김종필 총재의 강력한 의지로 자민련은 12월 12일 당 차원에서 특정 후보를 지지하지 않기로 선언하였다. 다만 당원 및 당직자들이 개별적인 지지를 하는 것은 막지 않기로 해, 이인제는 다수 자민련 의원들과 함께 이회창 지지를 선언하고 이회창 후보 지원 활동에 나섰다.

정몽준 역시 대선 전날인 12월 18일 밤 10시 긴급 발표를 통해 민주당과의 선거 공조 파기, 노무현 후보 지지 철회를 선언하였다. 정몽준은 지지 철회 발표문에서 그 날 유세에서 노무현 후보가 ‘미국과 북한과 싸우면 우리가 말린다’는 표현을 한 것에 노무현 후보의 외교안보 의식에 문제를 느껴 지지를 철회했다고 밝혔다. 노무현 후보와 정대철 민주당 선대위원장 등은 정몽준을 만나기 위해 정몽준의 자택 앞까지 찾아갔으나, 정몽준 대표는 끝내 만나주지 않았다. 하지만 이 모습이 전파를 타며 당시 진보 진영이 민노당 권영길 후보 대신 민주당 노무현 후보로 결집하는 의외의 효과가 일어났다는 분석도 있었다.

여론 조사

KBS 출구조사

통계 
 선거인수 34,991,529명
 총투표자수 24,784,963명
 무효 투표자수 223,047명
 투표율 70.8%

선거 결과

지역별 결과

선거 이후 
이 선거는 대한민국 정치를 이끈 3김 시대의 종식과 대한민국 정치계의 본격적인 세대 교체론의 대두와 함께 노사모의 등장 등 인터넷 정치 시대의 개막을 알렸다는 점에서 많은 의미를 담고 있다.

한나라당 이회창 후보는 선거 이후 정계 은퇴를 선언하였으나, 2007년 전격적으로 정계에 복귀하게 된다.

노무현 후보의 당선으로 새천년민주당은 정권 연장에 성공하였다. 하지만 노무현 대통령을 위시한 신주류 소장파와 구주류파가 중심인 민주당의 관계는 썩 좋지 않았고, 결국 임기 중이던 2003년 9월 30일 노무현 대통령이 새천년민주당을 탈당함으로써 민주당은 야당으로 전락하게 된다. 그리고 새천년민주당은 2004년 한나라당, 자유민주연합과 함께 노무현 대통령 탄핵안을 가결시키지만, 오히려 민심의 역풍을 맞고 총선에서 참패하며 몰락하고 만다.

열린우리당은 탄핵 역풍의 수혜를 맞고 2004년 제17대 국회의원 총선거에서 압승, 192석을 차지하며 여대야소 구도를 이루게 된다. 노무현 대통령은 탄핵 기각 6일 뒤인 2004년 5월 20일 열린우리당에 공식적으로 입당하였다.

반면 제1야당 한나라당는 선거에서 패배하며 정권 교체를 실패하며 계속 야당시절을 보내게 된다. 이회창 은퇴와 참여정부의 출범 이후 원내 의석수을 악용해 압박하여 참여정부에게 향한 견제를 하기 시작했지만 그러나 2003년 11월 한나라당이 대기업들부터 선거 자금을 받았다는 의혹로 인해 16대 대선 차떼기 사건으로 역풍을 맞게되고 한나라당는 창당 이래 최악의 위기를 맞게된다. 하지만 2004년 3월 17대 총선를 한달 앞두고 제2야당 새천년민주당, 소수야당 자민련와의 공조하여 노무현 대통령의 탄핵을 일으켜 민심의 역풍을 맞게되었지만 17대 총선에서 16년 만에 원내 1당 지위를 상실했지만 개헌 저지선 100석 이상 사수을 하며 선전하는데 만족했다. 이회창 은퇴와 한나라당의 실질적 뿌리 민정계 인사들의 퇴장 이후 박정희 대통령의 차녀 박근혜 대표와 이명박 서울시장의 등장으로 친박계과 친이계이란 거대한 파벌이 등장했다. 이후 두 사람는 17대 대선과 18대 대선에서 나란히 승리하여 대통령이 되었다.

각주

외부 링크 
 

 
대한민국 제6공화국
노무현
이회창
노무현 정부
2002년 12월
2002년 대한민국

함석헌(咸錫憲, 1901년 3월 13일 ~ 1989년 2월 4일)은 대한민국의 독립운동가, 종교인, 언론인, 출판인이며 기독교운동가, 시민사회운동가였다.

주요 이력 
광복 이후 비폭력 인권 운동을 전개한 인권운동가, 언론인, 재야운동가, 문필가로 활약한 그의 본관은 강릉(江陵)이며 호는 신천(信天), 씨알, 바보새이다.

1919년 3.1 운동에 참여했다가 퇴학 당한 후, 사무원과 소학교 교사 등을 전전하다가 1928년부터 1938년까지 오산학교의 교사를 역임했다. 이후 교육, 언론 활동 등에 종사하다가 해방 후, 1947년 월남하였다. 이후에는 성서 강해 등을 하다가 1956년부터는 장준하의 사상계에 참여하여 정치, 시사 등에 대한 평론 활동, 신앙 활동, 반독재 민주화운동 등을 하였다.

그의 종교는 초기에는 일본 유학 중에 우치무라 간조의 영향을 받아 무교회주의자였다가 중기에는 기독교였으나 후기에는 장로회로 바꾼것이다,

학력 
 평안북도 용천 덕일소학교 수료
 평안북도 용천 양시보통학교 졸업
 평안남도 평양고등보통학교 중퇴(1955년 명예 졸업)
 평안북도 정주 오산고등보통학교 졸업
 일본 도쿄 고등사범학교 역사교육학과 전문학사

생애

가족 및 친인척 관계 
 부모: 함형택(부, 1880-1941), 김형도(모)
 배우자: 황득순(1902-1978)
 자녀
 함국용(장남)(1919북한)
 함은수(장녀)(1921북한)
 함은삼(차녀)(1926- )
 사위: 정승림(1924-2012)
 외손: 정광필,정현필
 함은자(3녀)(1929-2017)
 사위: 최진삼(1921-)
 외손: 최응일
 함우용(차남)(1931-)
 자부: 양영호
 친손: 함정해
 함은화(4녀)(1933-)
 사위: 서완근
 외손: 서천희
 함은선(5녀)(1940-)
 사위: 장기홍(1934-)
 외손: 장수범
 형제
 함석혜(누나)
 함석란(누이동생)
 함석창(남동생)
 함석보(누이동생)(1910-2002)
 직계 친인척
 함일형(5촌 숙부)
 함석은(6촌 형)(1892-1928)

초기 활동

생애 초기 
함석헌은 1901년 평안북도 용천에서 출생했다. 어려서 당숙 함일형(咸一亨)이 세운 한학 서당인 삼천재(三遷齋)에서 한학을 수학하다가 덕일소학교(德一小學校)에 입학, 1914년에 덕일소학교를 수료하고 그 해에 양시공립소학교에 편입하였다가 1916년 양시공립소학교를 졸업했다.

그해 평양고등보통학교에 진학하였으며 1917년에 황득순과 결혼하고, 1919년 평양 고등보통학교 3학년 재학 중에 숭실학교 교사로 있었던 6촌 형 함석은 등의 영향으로 학업을 중단하고 3·1 운동에 참가한 후, 3.1운동에 대한 반성문을 쓰면 복학시켜 준다는 일본인 교장의 제의를 거부하고 퇴학되어 2년간 학업을 중단한다. 이 시기에 함석헌은 수리조합 사무원과 소학교 선생 등을 하게 된다.

청소년기 

1921년 함석규 목사의 권유로 평안북도 정주(定州)에 있는 오산학교(五山學校) 3학년에 편입하여 수학했으며, 그곳에서 류영모를 만나 평생 스승으로 삼았다. 또한 이때 안창호, 이승훈, 이광수, 조만식 등과도 알게되어 그들로부터 민족주의 사상과 실력 양성론의 영향을 받게 된다. 그러나 후일 그는 맹목적인 민족주의와 국가주의에 비판적인 성향으로 돌아서게 된다.

1923년 오산학교를 졸업하고, 1924년 일본 동경고등사범학교 문과 1부에 입학하여, 우치무라 간조의 성서 집회에 참가하여 그의 무교회주의를 접했다.

동경고등사범학교 재학 중에 일본인 무교회주의자 우치무라(內村鑑三)의 성서연구에 깊이 영향을 받고 김교신(金敎臣), 송두용(宋斗用), 정상훈(鄭相勳), 유석동(柳錫東), 양인성(楊仁性)등과 함께 교회에 다니지 않고도 신앙을 유지하는 무교회주의 신앙클럽을 결성하였다. 1927년 동인지 《성서조선 聖書朝鮮》 창간에 참여하고 논객으로 글을 발표하기 시작하였다.

1928년 동경고등사범학교 졸업(역사과 수석)과 동시에 귀국하여 오산학교에서 역사와 수신을 가르쳤다. 1934년~1935년에 동인지 《성서조선》에서 그의 주저인 〈성서적 입장에서 본 조선역사(뜻으로 본 한국역사)〉를 연재한다. 1940년 계우회 사건으로 일본 당국에 의해 투옥되어 평양 대동경찰서에서 1년간 구치되었다.

이후 1938년 3월까지 오산학교의 교사로 있다가 사임하였다.

언론, 문필 활동 

1940년 평안남도 송산(松山)에서 김혁(金赫)이 운영하는 송산학원의 이사로 참여하여 활동하다가 계우회 사건(鷄友會事件)에 연루되어 평안남도 대동경찰서에 체포, 유치장에서 1년간 수감 생활을 하다가 1942년 초 풀려났다. 그러나 1942년 5월 《성서조선》(聖書朝鮮) 제 158호(폐간호)에 실린, 김교신의 〈조와〉(弔蛙)라는 우화로 관련자가 모두 투옥되는 성서조선 사건이 발생했다. 이로 인해 성서조선은 폐간되고, 함석헌은 서대문형무소에 미결수로 1943년 4월 1일까지 1년간 복역하였다(수형번호1588번).

1945년 혈맹의 친구였던, 김교신이 흥남에서 장티푸스로 별세하고, 그 해 8월 15일 해방을 맞이한다. 해방이 되자 그는 해방이 ‘도둑같이(아무도 모르게) 왔다’고 평하였다.

광복 이후 활동

해방 직후 
해방 후에는 반공 시위인 신의주 학생시위의 배후로 지목되어 조선민주주의인민공화국 당국에 의해 투옥되었다가 소련군에게서 풀려난 후 1947년 3월 17일 월남하였다. 조선민주주의인민공화국 탈출 전 그는 조만식을 만나고 오기도 했다.

1947년 3월부터 YMCA에서 성서강해를 계속하고, 이후 성서 강해와 신학, 종교적 강연 활동을 하였다. 또한 조만식의 추모 활동에도 참여하였다.

정부 수립 이후 

1950년 한국 전쟁 때는 대전을 거쳐 부산으로 피난갔다가 휴전 후 상경하였다. 이후 1956년부터 장준하 등의 천거로 《사상계》를 통해 논객으로 활약하였다. 1958년 '생각하는 백성이라야 산다'는 견해를 발표하면서 정부의 정책에 비평을 가하기 시작하였고, 1958년 5월 잡지 <사상계>에 발표한 칼럼 하나는 화제가 되었다.

이 일로 그는 우익 인사들로부터 비판을 받았다. 그는 또 1959년 6.25 전쟁 관련자들에 대한 훈장 서훈 이야기가 나오자 "형제를 죽이고도 무슨 훈장이냐"라고 비판하였다. 이 사건을 계기로 국가보안법 위반으로 수감되었다가 풀려났다. "한국전쟁에 대해 비판하고 전쟁하는 국가와 거리를 두어보려는 목사를 한 번도 만나지 못한 것이 놀라운 일"이라고 일갈하기도 했다.

제2공화국 시절 

1961년 장면이 국토건설단을 창설하고 강사를 초빙할 때, 국토건설요원 정신교육 담당 강사로 초빙되었다. 그러나 5·16 군사 정변으로 제2공화국이 붕괴되자 다시 야인으로 되돌아갔다. 1961년 5·16 군사 정변이 있자 모두가 침묵하고 있는 그해 7월 사상계에 발표한 정치평론인 '5·16을 어떻게 볼까'라는 글을 통해 신랄한 비판을 하여 군정 인사들과 갈등을 빚기도 했다.

1962년 미국 국무성내 기독교 신자 정치인들의 특별 초청으로 미국을 방문하고 돌아왔다. 방미하였을 때 퀘이커교파(Quaker敎派) 인사들과 만나 친분관계를 형성하고 돌아왔다. 이후 1989년까지 매년 미국 정계의 기독교인사들의 초청을 받고 미국을 방문하기도 했다.

생애 후반

좌익 민주화 운동 
제3공화국 출범 후에는 종교인으로서 한일회담에 반대하는 등 사회운동에 참여했다.

1967년 장준하의 국회의원 총선거 옥중출마를 지원하기도 하였다. 그는 이승만 정권 즉, 자유당 정권 시절부터 좌익 운동에 참여하여 3선 개헌에 반대하였으며 이후 10월 유신 이후 민주화 운동에 앞장서서 수차례 투옥되었다. 1969년 4월 19일에는 4.19 10주년 기념 강연을 마친 뒤 침묵 시위에 들어가기도 했다.

1970년에는 정치, 시사평론을 실은 월간잡지 《씨알의 소리》를 창간하였으나 정권의 탄압을 받기도 했다. 이후 씨알의 소리의 발행인, 편집인, 주간 등으로 있으면서, 장준하 등 재야 언론인들을 필진으로 영입하고 1980년 1월 폐간당할 때까지 신진 문인들을 발간하였으며, 글과 강연 등을 통해 민중 계몽운동을 폈다.

1974년 7월 인혁당 사건 관련자에 대한 탄원서에 서명하였다.

10·26 사건 이후 통일주체국민회의에서 대통령 간선제를 고수하자 윤보선 등과 함께 대통령 직선제를 요구하기도 했다.
11월 24일 YWCA 위장 결혼식에 참석하였다가 사건에 연루되어 윤보선과 함께 재판정에 섰다. 1980년 1월 YWCA 위장결혼식 사건 선고 공판에 출석하였다. 1980년 1월 25일 수경사 보통군법회의의 최종상고심에서 윤보선은 징역 2년, 함석헌은 징역 1년을 선고받았으나 후에 복권되었다. 1980년 신군부 즉 전두환 정권의 탄압으로 《씨알의 소리》는 강제 폐간되었다가, 1988년 12월 복간되어 2011년 7월 현재 217호까지 출간되어오고 있다.

제5공화국 시절 
제5공화국을 거치면서도 민주화운동을 계속하다가 1984년에는 민주통일 국민회의 고문을 지냈다. 1985년 민주쟁취 국민운동본부 고문이 되었다.

그는 국가주의와 민족주의에 반대하였다. 한 인터뷰에서 그는 '민족통합을 참으로 하려면 우리의 대적이 누군가부터 분명히 알아야 합니다. 우리를 분열시킨 도둑이 누구입니까? 일본? 미국? 소련? 중공? 아닙니다. 어느 다른 민족이나 이데올로기 때문이 아닙니다. 국민을 종으로 만드는 국가지상주의 때문입니다. 이제 정치는 옛날처럼 다스림이 아닙니다. 통치가 아닙니다. 군국주의 시대에조차 군림은 하지만 통치는 아니한다는 말이 있었습니다. 참 좋은 군주는 그래야 한다 말입니다. 그런데 이 민주주의 시대에, 나라의 주인이 민중이라면서 민중을 다스리려해서 되겠습니까? 분명히 말합니다. 남북을 구별할 것 없이 지금 있는 정권들은 다스리려는 정권이지 주인인 민중의 심부름을 하려는 충실한 정부가 아닙니다. 그런 것들이 설혹 통일을 한다해도 그것은 정복이지 통일이 아닙니다. 민중의 불행이 더해질 뿐입니다. 나는 그래서 반대합니다.'라고 밝히기도 했다. 국가주의와 민족지상주의는 개인으로 하여금 권리와 자유를 스스로 반납하는 주요한 근거가 된다는 것이 그의 견해였다.

1984년 민주쟁취국민운동본부 고문에 위촉됐다. 또한 동아일보로부터 제1회 인촌상을 수여받았다.

말년 
성서뿐만 아니라 동서양의 각 고전을 섭렵하여 자신의 사상으로 소화하여, 씨알사상이라는 비폭력, 민주, 평화 이념을 제창하였다. 비폭력주의 신조로 말미암아 “한국의 간디”라는 별명을 가지고 있기도 하다. 사회 평론뿐만 아니라 《도덕경》 등의 각종 동양 고전 주해도 행하였고, 그리고 시를 창작하기도 했다. 1989년 서울대학교 병원에서 입원, 그해 서울대 병원에서 별세하였다(향년 87세).

사후 
장지는 경기도 연천군 전곡읍 간파리의 가족산에 매장되었다가, 2002년 독립유공자로 선정되어 건국포장 수훈 이후 묘소가 대전 현충원(애국지사 제3-329 묘역)으로 이장되었다.

일본 유학 시절 우치무라 간조의 제자였던 함석헌은 김교신, 송두용 등과 함께 초창기 한국 무교회주의 기독교 운동을 하였고, 퀘이커 모임(1961년과 1967년)을 계기로 퀘이커 신자가 되었다. 상훈으로 1987년 제1회 인촌상과 2002년 건국포장을 받았다.

일대기로 《내가 본 함석헌》, 《함석헌 평전》이 있다.

사상과 신념

무교회주의 
그는 김교신 등과 함께 무교회주의 운동을 하기도 했다. 이는 일본 유학 시절, 동경고등사범학교 재학 중에 일본인 무교회주의자 우치무라 간조(內村鑑三)의 성서연구에 깊이 영향을 받고 김교신(金敎臣), 송두용(宋斗用), 정상훈(鄭相勳) 양인성(梁仁性), 유석동(柳錫東)등과 함께 교회에 다니지 않고도 신앙을 유지하는 무교회주의 신앙클럽을 결성하였다.

귀국 후에도 무교회주의에 대한 신념을 버리지 않았다. 일본인 신학자 우치무라 간조의 성서집회의 영향을 받은 그는 이후 줄곧 무교회주의를 주장하게 되었다.

논란

사회진화론 추종자 논란 
2010년 함석헌이 사회진화론 추종자인가 아닌가 하는 내용을 두고 관련 학계에서 논란이 일고 있다. 2009년 3월 함석헌평화포럼 공동대표인 김영호 인하대 명예교수는 한길사에서 30권으로 발간한 ’함석헌 저작집’에 실은 글 '함석헌 저작집 발간에 부치는 말'에서 그가 사회진화론자라고 주장했다. 당시 함석헌씨알사상연구원장이던 김영호는 함석헌을 사회진화론자로 소개하며, 함석헌 사상에서 거듭 반복되는 일관된 주제 가운데 하나로 사회진화론을 들었다.

반론 
이에 대해 함석헌이 창간한 잡지 ’씨알의 소리’ 편집위원인 김상봉 전남대 교수는 '씨알의 소리' 2010년 1~2월호에 반론인 '함석헌과 사회진화론의 문제'를 실어 “함석헌의 철학과 사회진화론은 물과 기름처럼 양립할 수 없는 사상”이라고 반박했다. 김상봉 교수는 “사회진화론은 전쟁으로 열등한 종족이 도태되고 상대적으로 우수한 종족들만이 살아남아 인류가 발전했다는 것”이라며 “사회진화론자들은 약자가 도태되는 것은 자연적인 필연이므로 이를 인위적으로 막는 것은 자연법칙을 거스르는 일이라고 본다”고 설명했다.

이어 그는 “만물을 짓고, 만물을 유지하고, 뜻을 이뤄가는 것은 힘이 아니라 사랑”이라고 말한 함석헌의 글을 인용하며 함석헌 사상은 ’힘의 철학’이 아니라 '사랑의 철학'이기 때문에 사회진화론과 양립할 수 없다고 반박했다. 김상봉은 이어 함석헌이 ’생명은 나와 남을 구별하지 않는 하나’라고 지적하였다. 김상봉은 함석헌이 평소 민족이기주의와 국가지상주의를 비판했다는 점을 지적하며 “(함석헌에게) 사회진화론이라는 이름표를 붙이는 것이 가능하지 않다”고 강조했다.

2010년 김영호는 3월 16일 열린 함석헌학회 창립총회 기념 학술발표에서 ’함석헌과 사회진화론’이라는 제목의 글을 통해 김상봉 교수의 주장을 재반박하고 나섰다. 김영호 교수는 ’함석헌은 사회/전체의 진화를 주장하지 않았는가’라는 부제가 달린 이 글을 통해 "김상봉 교수의 주장은 자신이 쓴 '사회 진화론'을 '사회다윈주의(Social Darwinism)'로 오해한 것'이라고 반박하였다. 그에 따르면 ’사회진화론’에는 김상봉 교수가 받아들인 '사회다윈주의' 말고도 여러 가지 다른 일반론이 있다고 하였다. 그는 함석헌이 쓴 “지금까지 생각의 주체는 개인이었지만 앞으로는 커뮤니티이다. 그런 역사의 진화단계가 지금이다”라는 글을 인용하며 함석헌이 전체사회, 곧 인류공동체로서의 사회의 진화를 통찰했다고 강조하였다.

투사론에 대한 반론 
함석헌은 '누가 나처럼 수줍은 놈을 미친놈을 만들어 놓았느냐'라고 하기도 했다.

고려대학교 화학공학과 교수를 역임한 철학자 김용준은 함석헌이 철학자라고 하였다. 그는 "나는 화학 빼고는 다 함선생님한테 배웠다고. 요즘 사람들은 함석헌하면 마치 주먹질만 하는 사람으로 아는데 그것은 넌센스야. 그건 함선생님의 일부분이고 80퍼센트는 도를 찾아 헤맸던 구도자"라고 하였다.

기타 
 그는 한국 전쟁 직전 전쟁을 예상하였다 한다. 김용준에 의하면 '6.25 바로 일주일 전에 함석헌이 “이 백성들이 왜 이러지. 지금 밑에서는 용암이 이글이글 타오르는데 그 위에 살짝 덮힌 암반을 마치 만세반석처럼 여기고 까불고 있으니 이게 언제 터질지 몰라” 하고 말씀을 하시더라'는 것이다.
 1979년, 1985년 등 2차례에 걸쳐 미국 퀘이커 세계 봉사회가 함석헌을 노벨 평화상 후보로 추천했다. AFSC는 1947년 노벨 평화상을 수상한 이래로, 노벨 평화상 후보추천규정에 따라, 해마다 후보를 추천해오고 있다.
 박노자는 자신의 칼럼 '국가의 살인'에서 "20세기 한반도의 유일하다 싶은 기독교적 평화주의 사상가"로 불렀다.

방송 출연 
 1988년 4월 13일 KBS 《11시에 만납시다》씨알의 편에 서서 함석헌

같이 보기 

 함석헌기념사업회
 사상계
 씨알의 소리
 류영모
 조만식
 이광수
 안창호
 윤치호
 이윤영
 장면
 김용준

 김교신
 무교회주의
 퀘이커
 최남선
 장준하
 정일형
 리영희
 선우휘
 선우기성
 계훈제
 한근조

저작

저서 
 성서적 입장에서 본 조선역사, 1948
 인간혁명, 1961
 역사와 민족, 1964
 뜻으로 본 한국역사, 1967
 통일의 길, 1984
 한국 기독교는 무엇을 하려는가, 1984
 <함석헌 저작집> , 2009
 시집, 수평선 너머, 2009.

번역서 
 간디 자서전 - 마하트마 간디
 예언자 - 칼릴 지브란
 바가바드 기타

사진

각주

외부 링크 
 함석헌 기념 사업회
 바보새 함석헌
 
 “어려움에 처할수록 씨알은 더 옹골차진다”
 '함석헌이 사회진화론자?' 학계 논란, 연합뉴스 2010.04.16
 [월요인터뷰] '내가 본 함석헌' 펴낸 김용준 고려대 명예교수, 중앙일보 2006.03.19
 

 
1901년 출생
1989년 사망
대한민국의 수감자
일제강점기의 철학자
일제강점기의 신학자
일제강점기의 교육인
일제강점기의 기독교운동가
일제강점기의 작가
한국의 군정기
대한민국의 철학자
대한민국의 종교 지도자
대한민국의 신학자
대한민국의 개신교 신학자
대한민국의 자유주의 신학자
대한민국의 반전 운동가
월남자
대한민국의 교육인
대한민국의 사회 운동가
대한민국의 수필가
대한민국의 저술가
대한민국의 작가
기독교 철학자
고문 피해자
인촌상 수상자
우치무라 간조
조만식
윤보선
장준하
대한민국 제1공화국
대한민국 제2공화국
대한민국 제3공화국
대한민국 제4공화국
문익환
무교회주의
한국 전쟁 관련자
한국의 기독교운동가
평양고등보통학교 동문
오산고등학교 (서울) 동문
쓰쿠바 대학 동문
대한민국의 사상가
신민당

대한민국의 반공주의자
대한민국의 사회민주주의자
명동 3·1 민주 구국선언
룡천군 출신
강릉 함씨
대한민국의 개신교도
대한민국의 민주주의 운동가

백남준(白南準, 1932년 7월 20일 ~ 2006년 1월 29일, 서울 출생, )은 한국 태생의 세계적인 비디오 아트 예술가, 작곡가, 전위 예술가이다. 본관은 수원(水原).

생전에 뉴욕, 쾰른, 도쿄, 마이애미와 서울에 주로 거주한 그는 여러 가지 매체로 예술 활동을 하였다. 특히 비디오 아트라는 새로운 예술의 범주를 발전시켰다는 평가를 받는 예술가로서 '비디오 아트의 창시자'로 알려져 있다.

생애 

현 서울특별시 종로구 서린동 (구 일제 강점기 경기도 경성부 서린정) 출신이다. 친일파인 아버지 백낙승과 어머니 조종희 사이의 3남 2녀 중 막내로 태어났다. 그후 종로구 창신동 197번지 소위 "큰대문집"에서 18세까지 살았다. 수송국민학교와 경기제1고등보통학교를 다니면서 피아니스트 신재덕에게 피아노 연주를, 이건우에게 작곡을 각각 배웠다. 이때 한국이 낳은 작곡가 김순남을 사사했다. 1949년 그는 홍콩 로이덴 스쿨로 전학했으며, 한국 전쟁이 발발하기 이전 가족이 일본으로 이주했다. 그 후 일본으로 건너가 1952년 도쿄 대학교 문과부에 입학했다. 2년 후 미술사학 및 미학으로 전공을 정했지만, 실제로는 일본 당대의 작곡가 모로이 사부로, 미학자 노무라 요시오 등에게서 작곡과, 음악사학을 공부했다. 졸업 논문은 ‘아르놀트 쇤베르크 연구’이다.

1956년 백남준은 졸업과 함께 독일로 유학을 떠나 뮌헨 대학교 및 쾰른 대학교 등에서 서양의 건축, 음악사, 철학 등을 공부하였다. 뮌헨 대학교 입학 1년 후에는 프라이부르크 국립 음악 대학교로 옮겨 볼프강 포르트너 교수에게 배우지만, 곧 쇤베르크 이후 현대음악의 실험이 활발히 진행되던 다름슈타트 하기 강좌에 참여했다. 1958년 그 곳에서 현대음악가 존 케이지를 만나 그의 음악에 대한 파괴적 접근과 자유정신으로부터 깊은 영감을 얻었다. 이 영감은 "세계의 역사는 우리에게 알려준다. 주어진 게임에서 이길 수 없다면 규칙을 바꿔라"라는 것으로 규정된다. 이후 1950년대부터 활발해지기 시작한 독일 라인 지역의 액션뮤직의 현장에서 백남준은 ‘아시아에서 온 문화테러리스트’(앨런 카프로)라고 불릴 정도의 탁월한 퍼포먼스 아티스트로 활약했다. 1959년 ‘존 케이지에게 보내는 경의’에서 음악적 콜라주와 함께 피아노를 부수는 퍼포먼스를 선보이는 것을 시작으로, 바이올린을 단숨에 파괴하거나(바이올린 솔로) 존 케이지가 착용한 넥타이를 잘라버리는 퍼포먼스(피아노 포르테를 위한 연습곡)가 특히 유명하다. 이 초기 퍼포먼스에 대해 백남준은 스스로 "충격, 표현주의, 낭만주의, 클라이맥스, 놀라움, 기타 등등을 보여준 것"이라고 표현한 바 있다. 1961년 카를하인츠 슈토크하우젠의 음악 퍼포먼스 ‘오리기날레’에서 머리와 넥타이로 잉크를 묻혀 두루마리에 흔적을 남기는 독특한 퍼포먼스 심플 머리를 위한 선율을 보여주기도 했다. 1960년대 초반 조지 마키우나스, 요셉 보이스 등과 의기투합하여 플럭서스 활동을 함께 전개했다. 다다이즘에 영향을 받은 플럭서스는 헤라클레이투스가 주장한 ‘변화 생성의 흐름’이라는 개념을 받아들여 "목적이 없는 자유, 실험을 위한 실험"이라는 명목 하에 이벤트와 퍼포먼스 그리고 전위음악에 주력했고, 곧 유럽과 아시아 및 미국 등 세계로 퍼져나갔다.

1961년 백남준은 작곡가 슈토크하우젠이 중심이 된 쾰른의 WDR 전자음악 스튜디오에 출입했으며, 이때 1950년대부터 노버트 위너에 의해 제안된 '사이버네틱스' 개념 하에서 전자공학을 공부한 것으로 알려져 있다. 특히 레이다와 TV 작업에 몰두했던 독일 작가 칼 오토 괴츠의 실패를 거울 삼아서 2년여 동안 홀로 TV를 활용한 미디어 아트로서의 가능성을 탐문하고 실험했다. 그 성과를 바탕으로 1963년 독일 부퍼탈 파르나스 갤러리에서 자신의 첫 번째 전시 ‘음악의 전시-전자 텔레비전’을 열었으며, 13대의 실험적인 TV를 통해 훗날 비디오 아트라고 불리게 되는 초기 형태를 보여주었다. 이 전시는 백남준이 자신의 즉흥음악 또는 무음악의 발상에 기초한 실제 퍼포먼스, 그 흔적과 결과물처럼 유럽에서 자신이 진행해온 작업의 성과와 함께 TV를 비롯한 미디어로 새로운 예술의 형태를 시도하는 작업이 공존하고 있었다. ‘적분된 피아노’, ‘랜덤 액세스 뮤직’, ‘레코드 샤슐릭’같은 20세기 전위음악에 젖줄을 대고 있는 실험적 음악의 시도와 ‘잘린 소머리’, ‘파괴된 누드 마네킹’, ‘보이스의 피아노 파괴 퍼포먼스’'걸음을 위한 선' '바람을 위한 선' 같은 우상파괴적 설치 작업 및 참여예술 형태의 퍼포먼스가 함께 펼쳐졌다. 청년 백남준은 이러한 전시 내용을 ‘동시성’, ‘참여’, ‘임의접속’ 등등에 관한 16개의 테마로써 정리하는 종합적인 큐레이팅 전시로 보여주었기 때문에 최근 독일, 오스트리아 등지의 연구자들 사이에서 이 전시의 중요성을 재평가하면서 아카이빙 작업과 연구가 점차 활발해지는 추세에 있다.

1964년 백남준은 일본으로 건너가 '로봇 K-456'을 제작했으며, 곧 세계 예술의 중심지 뉴욕으로 이주했다. 뉴욕 언더그라운드 필름 운동의 중심지 중 하나였던 시네마테크 필름메이커스에 관여했으며, 스스로 영상 작업을 진행하기도 했다. 1965년 소니의 포타팩(세계 최초의 휴대용 비디오카메라)으로 미국 뉴욕을 첫 방문 중이던 교황 요한 바오로 6세를 촬영하여 곧바로 그 영상을 ‘카페 오 고고’에서 방영했다. 이것이 미술사에서는 한동안 공식적인 비디오 아트의 시작으로 기록되어 있었다. 지금은 1963년 첫번째 전시를 비디오아트의 기점으로 보고 있다. 또한 첼로 연주자이자 뉴욕 아방가르드 페스티벌의 기획자였던 샬럿 무어먼과 함께 비디오 아트와 음악을 혼합한 퍼포먼스 작업을 활발히 펼쳤다. 특히 1967년 음악에 성적인 코드를 집어넣은 백남준의 ‘오페라 섹스트로니크’에서 샬럿 무어먼은 누드 상태의 첼로 연주를 시도하다가 뉴욕 경찰에 체포되어 큰 사회적 파장을 불러일으켰다. 그 결과로 인해 예술 현장에서 누드를 처벌할 수 없다는 뉴욕의 법 개정이 이루어지는 획기적인 진전이 일어난다. 이후에도 미디어 아트가 미국 뉴욕을 중심으로 서서히 득세해가는 시대적 조류 속에서 두 사람은 ‘살아있는 조각을 위한 TV 브라’, ‘TV 첼로’, ‘TV 침대’ 등등 미디어 테크놀로지와 퍼포먼스를 결합한 많은 예술활동을 전개했다.

1974년부터 백남준은 영상으로서의 비디오 아트를 새로운 미술적 방법인 설치 미술로 변환하여 다양하게 진행했으며, 그에 따라 ‘TV 붓다’, ‘달은 가장 오래된 TV다’, ‘TV 정원’, ‘TV 물고기’ 등등 많은 대표작을 선보였다. 이 작품들은 비디오 아트와 생명의 상징을 전자적으로 결합하여 테크놀로지로 물든 현대 사회의 새로운 합성적 생명력을 추구했다는 평판을 얻었다. 특히 'TV 붓다'는 그의 초기 비디오 설치의 경향을 잘 보여주는 대표작으로서 가장 널리 알려졌다. 1960년대 후반부터 미국의 문화적 환경이 미디어 테크놀로지에 호의적으로 변화하면서 폭발적인 수준의 미디어 전시가 빈발했고, 백남준의 비디오 아트는 그룹전 형태로 수많은 전시에 활발하게 참여했다. 1974년 뉴욕 에버슨 미술관 개인전과 함께 비데아 앤 비디올로지: 1959-1973이라는 예술과 기술을 교차시키는 하이브리드에 관한 저작을 내놓아 미디아 아트의 이해를 도왔으며, 1982년 뉴욕 휘트니 미술관에서 개최된 ‘백남준 회고전’을 통해 그의 예술 세계가 뉴욕을 중심으로 미국 사회에 많이 알려지는 계기가 되었다.

1970년대 중반부터는 뉴욕 WNET 방송국, 보스턴 WGBH 방송국과 협력하여 자신의 비디오 아트를 공중파 TV에서 방송했고, 이는 네트워크 방송을 끌어들여 예술 세계의 영역 확장을 꾀한 놀라운 시도였다. 나아가 1984년 1월 1일 ‘굿모닝 미스터 오웰’은 세계적인 아티스트들의 퍼포먼스를 뉴욕 WNET 방송국과 파리 퐁피두 센터를 연결한 실시간 위성 생중계로 방송하여 전 세계적 반향을 불러일으켰다. 샌프란시스코와 서울까지 연결된 이 국제적인 규모의 위성 아트에는 로리 앤더슨, 피터 가브리엘, 오잉고 보잉고, 존 케이지, 요셉 보이스, 앨런 긴즈버그, 이브 몽탕 등의 예술가과 대중문화의 스타가 다수 참여했으며, 전 세계 2천 5백만명(재방송 포함)이 시청하였다. 이로써 전세계적인 차원의 대중적 각인이 이루어졌고, 마치 대중스타처럼 성가를 높였다. 이후에도 ‘위성 아트’ 3부작으로 명명된 ‘바이 바이 키플링’(1986), ‘손에 손잡고’(1988) 등이 이어져 위성 연결을 통한 전세계의 네트워크가 어떻게 새로운 부족사회를 낳는지 실감시켰다.

1984년 일본 도쿄 소게쓰[草月]홀에서 백남준과 요셉 보이스가 공동으로 참여한 퍼포먼스 '코요테 콘서트 II'가 펼쳐졌으며, 이들이 각각 몽골의 늑대 울음소리와 초원의 달빛을 음악적으로 표현한 것을 통해 1961년 첫 만남부터 계속 이어온 공동의 관심사가 무엇인지 알려지기 시작했다. 그러나 이들의 이후 퍼포먼스 계획은 요셉 보이스의 죽음과 함께 미완으로 끝났다.

1992년 '비디오 때, 비디오 땅' 전시는 독일 쿤스트 할레와 스위스 쮜리히에서 진행된 전시의 서울 투어전시로서 당시 과천 막계동에 자리잡은 지 몇 년 되지 않았던 국립현대미술관 과천관에 총 관람 인원 20만명이 찾은 첫번째 전시로 기록되었다. 이 전시의 주요한 작품은 '나의 파우스트' 시리즈이다. 1993년 백남준은 독일 작가 한스 하케와 함께 베니스 비엔날레 독일관 작가로 초대되어 국가전시관 부문에서 황금사자상을 수상했다. '문명의 동서남북'이라는 주제의 이 전시에서 그는 북방 유라시아의 유목 문화를 배경으로 전자적 소통을 시도하는 비디오 로봇 형태의‘칭기스칸의 복권’, ‘마르크폴로’, ‘훈족의 왕 아틸라’,‘스키타이의 왕 단군’, ‘로봇 전사’, ‘고대기마인물상’ 같은 작품들을 중심으로 다수의 작품을 내놓았다.

1995년 백남준은 제1회 광주 비엔날레 태동의 산파 역할을 하며, 한국 미술이 국제적으로 진출할 수 있도록 조력자 역할을 수행했다. 제1회 광주 비엔날레는 국내외 총 관람객이 160만 명에 달하는 성공을 거두었고, 특히 백남준이 직접 관여한 ‘INFO Art’전이 주목받았다. 또한 백남준은 같은 해 베니스 비엔날레 국가전시관 부문에 한국관을 설치하는 일에 결정적인 역할을 했다. 이로써 한국 미술이 세계 미술계에 진출하는 교두보가 마련되었다고 하겠다. 같은 해 그의 예술적 정수가 담긴 일렉트로닉 수퍼하이웨이 전시를 진행했다. 1996년 4월 9일 뇌졸중으로 쓰러졌으며, 6개월만인 그해 10월에 재기했다. 2000년 뉴욕 구겐하임 미술관에서 ‘백남준의 세계’ 라는 대규모 회고전이 열렸으며, 이때 백남준은 레이저 아트 ‘야곱의 사다리’, ‘삼원소’ 등을 전시한 바 있다.

2006년 1월 29일, 미국 마이애미의 자택에서 노환으로 75세로 별세, 유해가 서울, 뉴욕, 독일에 나눠서 안치되었다..
.

학력 
 경성 수송국민학교 졸업
 경성제1고등보통학교 수료
 영국령 홍콩 로이든(Royden) 고등학교 졸업
 일본 도쿄 대학교 미술사학과 졸업 (부전공: 음악사학)
 서독 프라이부르크 고등음악원 졸업
 서독 뮌헨 루트비히 막시밀리안 대학교 인문대학원 철학과 졸업 (철학석사)
 서독 뮌헨 루트비히 막시밀리안 대학교 대학원 음악사학과 졸업 (음악학 석사)
 명예 박사 학위 미국 프랫 대학교 명예 미술학 박사

가계 

 조부 : 윤수(白潤洙, 1855년 ~ 1921년) 대창무역주식회사 설립자, 초대 사장
 부 : 백낙승(白樂承) 1896년 ~ 1956년) 태창직물 2대 사장
 형 : 남일(南一, 1925년 ~ ? ) 태창방직 3대 사장, 1962년 일본 귀화.
 조카 : 건(健, 1951년 ~ ) (일본명 하쿠다 켄. 현재 일본 국적이며 뉴욕 백남준 스튜디오의 대표로서 백남준의 저작권 및 법적 권리 승계자)
 형 : 남헌
 누나 2명
 본인 : 남준(白南準, 1932년 ~ 2006년)
 초배 진안 이씨 부인(사별)
 재혼 : 구보타 시게코 부인
 외조카손녀
 '''외조카손자: 지누 (힙합 가수이며 힙합 음악 그룹의 지누션의 보컬리스트 겸 래퍼.

수상 
 1989년 쿠르트 슈비터스 상 수상
 1993년 베니스 비엔날레 국가전시관 부문 황금사자상 수상
 1995년 후쿠오카 아시아문화상 수상
 1996년 제5회 호암상 예술부문 수상
 1997년 미국 뉴욕 괴테연구소가 수여하는 괴테상 수상
 1999년 일본 교토그룹에서 수여하는 교토상 수상
 2000년 금관문화훈장(1등급)
 2001년 Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award, International Sculpture Center.

광고 
 1986년 삼성전자 칼라TV
 1995년 롯데칠성 칠성사이다

주요 작품

퍼포먼스 
 《피아노 포르테를 위한 연습곡 》(1959년)
백남준의 첫 번째 음악 퍼포먼스였으며, 피아노를 파괴하는 장면이 포함되어 있었다.
 《존 케이지에게 보내는 경의 》(1960년)
존 케이지의 넥타이를 자른 소동으로 유명한 퍼포먼스이다.
 《오리기날레》(1961년)
슈토크하우젠의 작곡작품 'Kontakte'를 발표한 퍼포먼스에 백남준이 참여하여 '머리를 위한 선' 등을 발표하였다.
 《작은 여름축제-존 케이지 이후》(1962년)
<플럭서스>의 퍼포먼스로서 '플럭서스 선언'이 발표되기도 했다.
 《바이올린 솔로》(1962년)
<음악에서의 네오다다> 행사에 참여하여 바이올린을 단숨에 파괴하여 유명한 퍼포먼스이다.
 《페스툼 플럭소룸 플럭서스》(1963년)
뒤셀도르프 미술아카데미에서 펼쳐진 플럭서스 그룹의 퍼포먼스이다.
 《오페라 섹스트로니크》(1967년)
뉴욕의 시네마테크 필름메이커스에서 첼리스트 샬럿 무어먼이 연주 도중 옷을 벗었고, 뉴욕 경찰에 체포되었던 퍼포먼스이다. 이후 법정에서 유죄 판결을 받지만, 당시 주지사 록펠러는 뉴욕 예술계의 여론을 반영하여 "예술 행위에서 누드를 처벌할 수 없다" 라고 법 개정에 사인한다. 이 퍼포먼스는 뉴욕을 예술하기 좀 더 좋은 환경으로 만든 계기가 되었다.
 《살아있는 조각을 위한 TV브라》(1969년)
첼리스트 샬럿 무어먼에게 3kg짜리 소형 TV 모니터로 만든 브래지어를 채우고 연주하게 했던 퍼포먼스이다. 1969년 7월 20일 코코란 갤러리에서 당시 아폴로 11호의 달착륙 장면을 이 TV브라를 통해 내보내어 반향을 얻기도 했다.

전시 작품 

 《적분된 피아노》(1958년)
존 케이지의 영향을 받은 '장치된 피아노'로서 타악기 음색이 난다.
 《임의접속 음악》(1963년)
즉석에서 마음 가는 대로 음악을 혼합할 수 있는 개방된 테이프 설치 작품이다.
 《로봇 K-456》(1964년)
백남준이 제작한 휴머노이드형 로봇으로서 걷는 기능, 배설 기능이 있다.
 《비디오 신시사이저》(1969년)
음악 대신에 영상을 '신시사이징'하는 기계로서 백남준과 엔지니어 아베 슈야가 만들었다. ㅇ
 《TV 붓다》(1974년)
고요한 정신의 아이콘 붓다를 전자 테크놀로지로 표현한 걸작. 백남준의 작품 중 최초로 팔렸으며, 네덜란드 슈테델릭 미술관에서 구입.
 《TV 물고기》(1975년)
24대의 TV와 어항이 마주보게 설치되어 있다.
 《TV 침대》(1975년)
침대 바닥이 TV로 구성된 작품으로 첼리스트 샬럿 무어먼의 퍼포먼스에서 자주 사용되었다.
 《달은 가장 오래된 TV다》(1975년)
13대의 TV 주사선을 조작하여 TV 모니터 속에 인공의 달 이미지를 보여준다.
 《TV 정원》(1975년)
식물과 비디오 영상이 어우러진 작품이다.
 《TV 시계》(1976년)
십자 교차로 형태로 TV가 설치된 것을 실시간 캠코더로 찍고 있는 작품이다.
 《물고기가 하늘을 날다》(1976년)
전시장 천정에 물고기 영상이 나오는 TV 수상기를 설치하여 그 바닥에 누워서 보는 작품이다.
 《다다익선》(1988년)
국립현대미술관에 설치되어 있다.
1003개의 텔레비전을 쌓아 만든 탑이다.
높이 18.5 미터, 지름 7.5 미터, 무게 16 톤
 《나의 파우스트》(1989년 ~ 1991년)
농업, 환경, 경제, 자서전 등등의 제목을 가진 연작 시리즈로서 총 13개로 설치된 작품이다.
 《전자 초고속도로:미국 대륙》(1995년)
313대의 TV 모니터, 네온과 철구조물 등등으로 설치된 작품이다.
 《라이트 형제》(1995년)
비행기를 발명한 라이트 형제를 TV로 상징화한 작품이다. 2011년 홍콩 크리스티 경매에서 거래되었다.

음악 작품 
 《영 페니스 심포니》
보기: 
 《20개의 방을 위한 교향곡》
보기:  
 《교향곡 제5번》
보기:  
 《존 케이지에게 보내는 경의》
듣기: 
 《압쉬츠심포니》
듣기: A면·B면
 《인 메모리암 조지 마키우나스, 1931-1978》
듣기
 《TV 첼로》
듣기: 1부·2부
 《TV 첼로와 비디오테이프를 위한 콘서트》(1982년)
듣기 : 1부·2부·3부

비디오 아트 
 《버튼 해프닝》(1965년)
현존하는 초기 비디오 아트 작품으로 손꼽히며, 자켓의 단추를 잠갔다 풀었다 하는 동작이 반복된다.
 《전자 오페라 No.1》(1969년)
4분 30초짜리 싱글채널 비디오 작품이다.
 《비디오 코뮌》(1970년)
1969년 제작된 비디오 신시사이저로 제작한 작품이다.
 《글로벌 그루브》(1973년)
28분 30초의 싱글채널 비디오로서 비디오 신시사이저로 제작한 작품이다.
 《머스 바이 머스 바이 백》(1975년)
미국 무용가 머스 커닝엄의 춤을 소재로 한 작품이다.
 《조곡 212》(1977년)
뉴욕의 마천루를 배경으로 여러 영상을 편집한 작품이다.
 《과달카날 진혼곡》(1977년)
태평양 전쟁의 격전지에서 동서의 화해를 구하는 퍼포먼스 필름과 전쟁 다큐멘터리 필름을 교차편집한 작품이다.
 《백팔번뇌》(1998년)
제1회 경주세계문화엑스포 국제멀티미디어 아트쇼에서 108개의 TV를 통해 동양과 서양의 문화와 역사를 불교의 108번뇌로 표현된 작품이다.

위성 아트 
 《굿모닝 미스터 오웰》(1984년)
조지 오웰의 소설 《1984년》에 나오는 어두운 미래의 전망에 대한 반박이다.
 《바이 바이 키플링》(1986년)
동서양은 서로 소통할 수 없다는 키플링의 주장에 대한 반박이다.
 《손에 손잡고》(1988년)
글로벌 수준에서 전세계가 함께 평화를 생각하고 실행하는 것이 중요하다.
 《호랑이는 살아있다》(2000년)
호랑이라는 신화적 동물에 의탁하여 백남준 자신과 한국의 생명력을 고양하다.

전시회 
 음악의 전시-전자 텔레비전
장소 : 독일 부퍼탈 파르나스 갤러리
일시 : 1963년 3월 11일~20일
대표작 : 《임의접속 음악》, 《총체 피아노》, 《13대의 실험 TV》, 《TV를 위한 선》

 백남준: 비데아 앤 비디올로지
장소 : 뉴욕 에버슨미술관
일시 : 1974년
대표작 : 《TV 바다》

 백남준 회고전
장소 : 뉴욕 휘트니 미술관
일시 : 1982년 4월 30일~6월 27일
대표작 : 《비라미드》

 Nam June Paik: Mostly Video
장소 : 도쿄 메트로폴리탄 미술관
일시 : 1984년
대표작 : 《굿모닝 미스터 오웰》

 백남준.비디오때.비디오땅.
장소 : 국립 현대미술관
일시 : 1992년 7월 30일~9월 6일
대표작 : 《나의 파우스트》

 베니스 비엔날레 국가전시관 전시
장소 : 베니스 비엔날레
일시 : 1993년
대표작 : 《칭기스칸의 복권》《마르코폴로》《스키타이의 왕 단군》

 백남준 '95 예술과 통신
장소 : 갤러리 현대
일시 : 1995년 9월 1일~9월 24일
대표작 : 《커뮤니케이션 타워》

 백남준의 세계
장소 : 뉴욕 구겐하임 미술관
일시 : 2000년
대표작 : 《야곱의 사다리》, 《삼원소》

 백남준 비디오 광시곡
장소 : KBS 신관
일시 : 2007년 7월 27일~12월 30일
대표작 : 《자라》

 백남준 상설전
장소 : 백남준아트센터
일시 : 2009년 3월~ 현재
대표작 : 《코끼리 마차》, 《TV 정원》, 《TV 부처》, 《메모라빌리아》

 신화의 전시 - 전자 테크놀로지
장소 : 백남준아트센터
일시 : 2009년 6월 12일~11월 8일
대표작 : 《호랑이는 살아있다》《TV를 위한 선》《적분된 피아노》

 Nam June Paik: Global Visionary
장소 : 워싱턴 스미스소니언 뮤지엄
일시 : 2012년-2013년
대표작 : 백남준 아카이브

 Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot
장소 : 뉴욕 아시아 소사이어티
일시 : 2014년-2015년
대표작 : 《로봇 K-456》

같이 보기 
 백남준아트센터
 강석희
 테라한
 존 케이지

관련 저작 
 《백남준 Video》
연구자 에디트 데커의 박사논문을 단행본으로 번역 출간.
 《백남준, 그 치열한 삶과 예술》
동아일보 기자였던 이용우(전 광주비엔날레 이사장) 씨가 자신의 취재 내용을 바탕으로 단행본 출간.
 《굿모닝 미스터 백!: 해프닝 플럭서스 비디오아트》
큐레이터 김홍희(현 서울리십미술관장) 씨의 연구서로서 단행본 출간.
 《백남준 이야기》
백남준의 유치원 친구 이경희(수필가) 선생이 집필한 단행본 출간.
 《나의 사랑 백남준》
백남준의 부인 구보타 시게코 여사의 인터뷰를 바탕으로 한 회고록 출간.
 《달나라 백남준》
백남준아트센터에서 집필한 어린이 청소년용 도서. 2009년 출간.
 《백남준: 말에서 크리스토까지》
백남준 자신이 쓴 에세이를 편집한 앤솔로지 북. 2010년 출간.
 《백남준의 귀환》
백남준아트센터 이영철 초대관장과 김남수 연구원이 공동집필한 리소스 북. 2010년 출간.
 《청년, 백남준: 초기 예술의 융합 미학》
연구자 임산(현 동덕여대 큐레이터학과 교수) 씨의 연구서로서 단행본 출간.
 《백남준을 말하다》
국내의 백남준 지인들이 각자 얽힌 인연을 바탕으로 나름의 해석을 담은 책 출간.
 박정진. 《(eBOOK)굿으로 보는 백남준 비디오아트 읽기》. 한국학술정보. 2014년.

관련 영상 
 백남준의 위성예술 1부 (1984년 방송)
 백남준의 위성예술 2부 (1984년 방송)
 백남준의 비디오아트세계 (1984년 방송)
 백남준, 예술로 미래를 말하다 (2006년 방송) - 백남준 추모특집

각주

외부 링크 

  백남준아트센터
 ARTCYCLOPEDIA에서 백남준 항목
 백남준의 세계 (출처:Guggenheim.org)
 백남준 간략한 일대기와 주요 작품 설명 (출처:Electronic Arts Intermix)
 백남준 일대기 (출처:@ MedienKunstNetz)}
 백남준 부고 "Father of Video Art Paik Nam-june Dies", (출처:조선일보, 2006년 1월 30일자 신문)
 백남준 부고 "Video artist Nam June Paik dead at 74", (출처:뉴욕 타임즈, 2006년 1월 30일 보도)
 백남준 공식 블로그

1932년 출생
2006년 사망
서울특별시 출신
한국계 미국인
서울수송초등학교 동문
경성제일고등보통학교 동문
도쿄 대학 동문
뮌헨 대학교 동문
대한민국의 예술가
대한민국의 작곡가
수원 백씨
현대 예술
미디어 아트 예술가
현대 예술가
미국의 예술가
미국의 미술 평론가
미국의 음악 평론가
미국의 시사 평론가
미국의 스포츠 평론가
대한민국의 미술 평론가
대한민국의 음악 평론가
대한민국의 시사 평론가
대한민국의 스포츠 평론가
미디어 이론가
비디오 아티스트
플럭서스
호암상 예술상 수상자
금관문화훈장 수훈자
20세기 대한민국 사람
21세기 대한민국 사람

2002년은 화요일로 시작하는 평년이며, 이 해는 21세기의 첫 대규모 행사의 해이다.

사건 
 1월 1일
 김대중 대통령은 신년사에서 2002년을 '국운융성의 해'로 만들자고 강조하였다.
 EU, 공식적으로 유로화 사용을 시작하다.
 프랑스가 징병제를 폐지하고 모병제로 병역 제도를 바꾸다.
 1월 3일 - 유로화 발행 3일만에 독일과 아일랜드 등에서 위조된 유로화가 대량 발견되었다.
 1월 29일 - 조지 W. 부시 미국 대통령, 2002년 첫 국정연설에서 조선민주주의인민공화국과 이라크, 이란을 '惡(악)의 軸(축)'으로 지목하다.
 2월 2일 - 가수 유승준(미국명 스티브 유), 미국 시민권 취득에 따른 병역기피 의혹으로 대한민국 입국이 거부되다.
 2월 25일 - 철도, 가스, 발전공동파업 요구안으로 민영화저지, 3조2교대제 쟁취, 해고자 복직 등의 파업을 시작하고 2월 28일까지 열차 운행이 중단되다.
 4월 15일 - 경상남도 김해시 지내동 부근의 한 야산에서 중국국제항공 129편 추락 사고가 일어나다.
 4월 21일 - 고이즈미 준이치로 일본 총리가 야스쿠니 신사를 참배하다.
 4월 30일 - 독일계 대한민국 방송인 겸 저술가 이참 前 대학 교수가 부인 이미주 여사와 결혼 15년여만에 이혼하였다.
 5월 5일 - 프랑스 대통령 선거 결선 투표에서 현직의 자크 시라크가 당선됐다.
 5월 6일 - 김대중 대통령이 새천년민주당을 탈당하였다.
 5월 9일 - 이날 개최된 한나라당 서울 경선/전당대회에서 이회창이 차기 대통령 후보로 선출되었다.
 5월 12일 - 지미 카터 전 미국 대통령이 33년만에 처음으로 쿠바를 찾았다.
 5월 20일 - 동티모르가 독립하다.
 5월 25일 - 중화항공 611편 추락 사고 발생.
 6월 4일 - 영국의 엘리자베스 2세 여왕이 즉위 50주년을 맞다.
 6월 13일
 여중생 장갑차 압사 사건이 일어나다.
 대한민국, 제3회 지방선거가 실시되다.
 6월 29일 - 제2연평해전 : 서해 해상에서 남북 간에 교전이 벌어져 남측에서 6명이 전사하고 18명이 부상했다.
 8월 1일 - 동남아시아 국가 연합(아세안) 회원국, 미국과 반테러협정 체결되다.
 8월 2일 - 앙골라 반군 군대 해산으로 27년 앙골라 내전 완전 종결되다.
 8월 3일 - 중화인민공화국 베이징 주재 한국총영사관에 진입했던 탈북자 11명 대한민국으로 입국하다.
 8월 4일 - 남북실무접촉 대표, 남북장관급회담(제7차) 재개와 조선민주주의인민공화국 선수단의 아시안게임 참가 논의하다.
 8월 7일 - 콜롬비아 신임대통령 취임식장 인근서 폭탄테러 17명 사망하다.
 8월 9일 - 새 총리서리에 장대환(張大煥) 매일경제신문 사장 지명되다.
 8월 10일 - 부산 실로암 요양원 산사태로 4명 사망하다.
 8월 12일 - 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국, 서울에서 제7차 남북장관급회담이 열리다.
 8월 14일 - 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국, 제7차 남북장관급회담 합의안 공동보도문 발표하다.
 8월 18일 - 조선민주주의인민공화국 주민 21명, 어선타고 서해 공해상 경유 귀순하다.
 8월 20일 - 대한민국 군의문사진상규명위원회, 84년 의문사 허원근 일병 사건 진상 발표하다.
 8월 22일 - 대한민국, 위암과 대장암을 동시 절제 복강경 수술 대한민국 내에서 첫 성공하다.
 8월 23일 - 김정일 조선민주주의인민공화국 국방위원장과 블라디미르 푸틴 러시아 대통령 블라디보스토크에서 정상회담하다.
 8월 26일 - 대한민국 국회, 장대환 총리서리에 대한 인사청문회 개최되다.
 8월 29일 - 대한민국의 헌법재판소, 부부자산소득 합산과세 위헌 결정하다.
 8월 30일 - 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국, 제2차 남북경제협력추진위원회, 경의선. 동해선 철도 및 도로 연결 착공 관련 8개 항목 합의하다.
 8월 31일 - 대한민국, 태풍 루사의 북상으로 사망·실종 246명의 인명 피해와 5조 원이 넘는 재산 피해를 냈다.
 9월 1일 - 중화인민공화국, '한가정 한자녀' 정책 법제화, 공식 시행하다.
 9월 3일
 탈북자 16명 베이징 소재 독일대사관 직원 숙소에 진입하여 망명 요청하다.
 대법원은 부녀자를 연쇄살해한 혐의로 기소된 김종근(30세)의 상고심에서 사형을 선고한 원심을 확정하다.
 9월 8일 - 남북적십자사, 금강산 지역에 이산가족면회소 공동설치 등 6개항 합의사항 발표하다.
 9월 10일
 대한민국, 국무총리서리에 김석수 전 중앙선거관리위원회 위원장 임명되다.
 스위스가 유엔에 가입하다. (190번째 가입국).
 9월 12일
 대한민국 의문사진상규명위원회, 1974년 인혁당재건위원회사건이 중앙정보부 조작이라고 발표하다.
 주한미군, 조선민주주의인민공화국과 비무장지대(DMZ) 공사 관련 관리권 이양 합의문에 서명하다.
 9월 13일 - 제5차 남북 이산가족 상봉 행사 참가한 남측가족, 조선민주주의인민공화국 장전항 도착하다.
 9월 14일 - 중국 난징에서 독극물 중독으로 245명 사망, 1천여 명 중독되다.
 9월 16일 - 대한민국 국방부, 한반도 비무장 지대(DMZ) 군 핫라인 개통에 합의하다.(24일부터 개통하였다.)
 9월 17일 - 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국, 제7차 남북군사실무회담 남북철도, 도로 연결 실무협의회 종료, DMZ 군사보장합의서 공식 발효되다.
 9월 18일 - 남북 경의선 및 동해선의 철도와 도로 연결공사 동시 착공하다.
 9월 19일 - 조선민주주의인민공화국, 신의주를 특별행정구(경제특구)로 지정하다.
 9월 24일
 조선민주주의인민공화국, 신의주 특별행정구역 초대 행정장관에 양빈(楊斌) 임명하다.
 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국, 군사 핫라인 분단 이후 처음 개통하다.
 9월 26일 - 대구 달서구 와룡산에서 실종되었던 성서 초등학생 5명의 유골이 11년 만에 발견되다.
 9월 27일 - 동티모르가 유엔에 가입하다.
 9월 30일 - 강원도 화천군 평화의 댐 2단계 증축공사 개시하다.
 10월 7일
 집단 안보 조약 기구가 창설되다.
 서울에서 제7차 해외한민족경제공동체대회 개막하다.
 10월 10일 - 한국노동조합총연맹, 한국민주사회당 창당 결의하다.
 10월 11일 - 미국 의회, 이라크에 대한 군사작전을 승인하다.
 10월 12일 - 2002년 발리 폭탄 테러로 202명이 죽고 209명이 다쳤다.
 10월 14일 - 신승남 검찰총장, 동생 신승환의 이용호게이트 연루로 도의적 책임 지고 사퇴하다.
 10월 16일 - 정몽준 의원 주도 푸른정치국민통합21 발기인대회 개최하다.
 10월 20일 - 개혁국민정당 발기인대회 개최하다.
 10월 23일 - 체첸 반군에 의한 러시아 모스크바 극장 점거 사건이 발발하다 - 129명이 사망하였다.
 10월 25일 - 북한은 미국의 선 핵개발 프로그램 포기 요구를 거부했다.
 12월 18일 - 대한민국의 대통령 선거 투표 8시간을 앞둔 오후 10시 정몽준은 노무현과의 선거 공조를 파기하다.
 12월 19일 - 대한민국 대통령 선거에서 노무현 후보가 당선되다.

문화 
 1월 1일 - KBS 제2FM이 광고방송(상업광고방송)을 재개 및 개시를 하였다.
 2월 25일 - 울산극동방송이 개국하였다.(주파수: FM 107.3MHz, 호출부호 및 출력: HLQR 3KW)
 2월 27일 - KBS KOREA가 개국하고 (현재 KBS N 라이프)스카이KBS, KBS 스포츠, KBS 드라마 (현재 KBS N, KBS N Sports, KBS 드라마)로 구성된 케이블TV 3개 채널이 개국하다.
 3월 1일 - 대한민국의 CBS 기독교방송, 시민방송, 제3영화채널(현 엠플렉스), SKY바둑(현K-바둑) 등의 디지털위성방송 스카이라이프 개국.
 4월 2일 - 양양국제공항 개항.
 4월 3일 - 서울 지하철 9호선이 착공되었다.
 4월 23일 - 장나라의 팡팡 동요나라/ABC나라가 출시되다.
 5월 6일
 프로골퍼 최경주가 한국인 최초로 미국 PGA 투어에서 우승하였다.
 미국에서 스페이스X가 설립되었다.
 5월 10일 - 대구 도시철도 1호선 마지막 구간 대곡역에서 구간이 개통되었다.
 5월 15일 - TBN 전주교통방송 개국하다.
 5월 19일 - 대한민국의 미스코리아 실황중계를 지상파가 아닌 케이블TV에서 첫 방영하게 되었다.
 5월 31일
 과 에서 공동으로 2002년 FIFA 월드컵이 개막하였다. (~ 6월 30일) 그리고, 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 개막전에서 세네갈이 1998 FIFA 월드컵 우승국인 프랑스를 상대로 1:0으로 승리하는 이변을 일으켰다.
 대한민국에서 제주방송(JIBS) 텔레비전이 개국하다.
 6월 3일 - KBS 미디어 하나언니의 율동동요가 출시되다.
 6월 4일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 D조 1차전에서 황선홍의 선제골과 유상철의 추가골로 폴란드에 2:0으로 승리하여, FIFA 월드컵에 출전한지 48년만에 첫 승을 거두다.
 6월 10일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 D조 2차전 미국과의 경기에서 안정환의 동점골로 1:1로 비겼다.
 6월 11일 - 1998 FIFA 월드컵 우승국 프랑스가 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 A조 최종전에서 덴마크에 0:2로 패배해 1무 2패(무득점, 3실점)로 탈락하다.
 6월 12일 - 아르헨티나가 2002년 FIFA 월드컵에서 스웨덴과 비겨 1승 1무 1패(2득점, 2실점) F조 3위로 1970년 지역예선 탈락 이후 처음으로 16강 진출이 좌절되었다.
 6월 14일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 D조 3차전에서 후반 25분에 터진 박지성의 결승골로 포르투갈을 1:0으로 이기며 D조 1위를 차지해 월드컵 출전 48년 만에 처음으로 16강에 진출하였다. 한편, 미국은 폴란드에 1:3으로 패배했지만 대한민국이 포르투갈을 1:0으로 이긴 덕에 D조 2위로 16강에 진출하였다.
 6월 18일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 16강전에서 이탈리아를 2:1로 역전승하고 8강에 진출하였다(설기현 동점골, 안정환 골든골)
 6월 22일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 8강전에서 스페인을 승부차기에서 5:3으로 꺾고 준결승에 진출하였다.
 6월 25일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 준결승전에서 독일에 0:1로 석패하여 3·4위전으로 밀려났다.
 6월 29일 - 대한민국이 2002년 FIFA 월드컵 3·4위전에서 튀르키예에 2:3으로 패배하며 4위를 차지하였고 이 경기에서 하칸 수쿠르 선수가 가장 빠른 선취골을 기록되었다.
 6월 30일 - 2002년 FIFA 월드컵에서 브라질이 독일을 꺾고 통산 5번째 우승을 차지하고 폐막하였다.
 8월 6일 - 김유정문학촌 개관.
 9월 8일 - 이창동 감독 영화 《오아시스》가 제59회 베니스 국제 영화제에서 감독상, 신인배우상 수상하다.
 9월 21일 - 평양에서 추석맞이 남북교향악 합동연주회 개최되다.
 9월 23일 - 제14회 아시안 게임 참가 조선민주주의인민공화국 선수단 부산 도착하다.
 9월 29일~10월 14일 - 제14회 아시안 게임이 대한민국 부산에서 개최하였다.
 10월 2일 - 주식회사 이요TV가 주식회사 아이TV로 바뀌었다.
 10월 9일 - K리그 최초의 시민구단 대구 FC 창단되었다.
 10월 11일 - 한국어 위키백과 프로젝트가 시작되다. (한국어 위키백과의 최초의 문서, 지미 카터)
 10월 24일 - 중국어 위키백과 프로젝트가 시작되다.
 10월 26일~11월 1일 - 제8회 아시아 태평양 장애인 경기대회가 대한민국 부산에서 개최하였다.
 10월 27일 - 프로골퍼 박세리가 CJ 나인브릿지 클래식에서 시즌 5연승을 거두었다.
 10월 28일 - 기존 대우자동차를 인수한 외국계 자동차 기업인 GM대우(현 한국지엠)가 공식 출범하였다.
 11월 1일
 대한민국에서 시청 가능 연령을 표시하는 드라마 등급 제도가 6개월 간의 유예 기간을 거친 후에, 일제히 시행되다.
 춘천불교방송 6번째 개국.
 11월 6일 - 대한민국, 2003학년도 대학수학능력시험을 실시하다.
 11월 10일 - KBO 리그 삼성 라이온즈 팀이 2002년 한국시리즈 우승을 차지했다. MVP:마해영
 11월 11일 - 제4대 천주교 마산교구장으로 안명옥 주교가 착좌하였다.
 12월 7일 - SBS 생방송 브라보 나눔로또 방송을 개시하였고, 로또 6/45가 첫 회를 시작했다.
 12월 16일 - 유관순 열사 탄신 100주년.
 12월 23일 - 논산천안고속도로 개통.
 교수신문이 정한 2002년의 사자성어로 '이합집산(離合集散)'이 채택되다.

탄생

1월 
 1월 1일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 김휘집.
 1월 2일
 미국의 배우 제이든 리버허.
 대한민국의 기업인 방정식의 아들 방태빈.
 1월 5일 - 대한민국의 가수 가린 (엘리스).
 1월 6일 
 일본의 아이돌 가수 야나가와 나나미.
 중국의 배우, 가수 린모.
 1월 10일 - 대한민국의 가수, 작곡가 김준욱. 
 1월 11일 - 대한민국의 가수 서기.
 1월 14일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 손성빈.
 1월 17일
 대한민국의 치어리더 정희정.
 미국의 가수 사무엘.
 1월 21일 - 대한민국의 배우 신이준.
 1월 22일 - 대한민국의 가수 람다.
 1월 23일  
 대한민국의 배우 이주연.
 대한민국의 가수 아이사. (스테이씨)
 1월 29일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 김형욱.
 1월 30일 
 대한민국의 가수 유키.
 대한민국의 배우 최현욱.
 1월 31일 - 대한민국의 배우 홍예지.

2월 
 2월 4일 
 대한민국의 래퍼 릴타치.
 아일랜드의 축구 선수 트로이 패럿.
 2월 5일
 대한민국의 가수 지성 (엔시티).
 대한민국의 가수 강태현 (투모로우바이투게더).
 대한민국의 배우 정찬비.
 미국의 배우 데이비스 클리블랜드.
 대한민국의 배드민턴 선수 안세영.
 2월 6일 - 대한민국의 리그 오브 레전드 프로게이머 이민형.
 2월 8일 - 대한민국의 가수 lona.
 2월 10일 - 일본의 아이돌 가수 오제키 마이.
 2월 12일 - 대한민국의 배우 이한울.
 2월 13일
 미국의 배우 소피아 릴리스.
 대한민국의 유튜버 비디오 빌리지 차진혁.
 2월 15일
 대한민국의 야구 선수 나승엽.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 안재석.
 2월 16일 - 대한민국의 기업인 이광호.
 2월 19일 - 대한민국의 가수 해나.
 2월 20일
 대한민국의 체조 선수 여서정.
 대한민국의 프로게이머 조성용.
 2월 21일
 대한민국의 가수 전도염 (원더나인)
 미국의 가수 마이클 잭슨의 아들 프린스 마이클 잭슨 2세.
 2월 22일 
 대한민국의 가수 원혁 (E'LAST).
 대한민국의 치어리더 하지원.
 2월 25일 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 윤석주.
 2월 28일 - 러시아의 체조 선수 이반 쿨랴크.

3월 
 3월 2일 
 미국의 가수 베비스 소르비앙.
 대한민국의 축구 선수 이지훈.
 대한민국의 가수 신지윤.
 3월 4일 - 대한민국의 배우 최하호.
 3월 5일 - 대한민국의 배우 박서연.
 3월 7일 - 일본의 가수 하가 아카네 (모닝구무스메).
 3월 8일 - 대한민국의 가수 이원준 (E'LAST).
 3월 13일 
 대한민국의 가수 채린. (체리블렛)
 대한민국의 쇼트트랙 선수 서휘민.
 3월 14일 - 대한민국의 배우 방준서.
 3월 20일 - 대한민국의 가수 남승민.

4월 
 4월 1일 
 미국의 배우 세이디 싱크.
 대한민국의 축구 선수 정상빈.
 4월 2일 
 대한민국의 방송인 손상연.
 일본의 배우 오바라 유이토.
 4월 3일 - 중국의 가수, 걸그룹 우안치.
 4월 4일 
 대한민국의 야구 선수 조형우.
 대한민국의 가수 김윤희.
 4월 7일 - 대한민국의 가수 재현.
 4월 8일 
 대한민국의 배우 김혜진.
 대한민국의 축구 선수 강윤구.
 4월 9일 - 대한민국의 가수 류정운.
 4월 10일 - 대한민국의 가수 하연.
 4월 11일 - 대한민국의 피겨 스케이팅 선수 김하늘.
 4월 13일 - 대한민국의 가수 종형 (동키즈).
 4월 17일 - 대한민국의 가수 레나 (공원소녀).
 4월 18일 - 대한민국의 배우 주한띠.
 4월 20일 - 대한민국의 가수 제이.
 4월 21일 - 대한민국의 배우 박수연.
 4월 23일
 대한민국의 배우 차재돌.
 대한민국의 배우 겸 가수 웅기 (티오원).
 4월 26일 - 대한민국의 가수 김채현.
 4월 27일 - 대한민국의 가수 김도연.
 4월 28일 - 대한민국의 가수 유 (온앤오프).
 4월 29일 - 대한민국의 배우 송수현.
 4월 30일 
 대한민국의 가수 이레 (퍼플키스).
 대한민국의 축구 선수 이수인.

5월 
 5월 2일 - 대한민국의 배구 선수 서유경.
 5월 5일 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 강영석.
 5월 6일 - 미국의 배우 에밀리 앨린 린드
 5월 7일
 대한민국의 가수 방예담 (트레저).
 대한민국의 가수 유채 (네이처).
 5월 9일 - 대한민국의 농구 선수 문지영.
 5월 10일
 일본의 가수 후나키 무스부 일본의 아이돌 그룹 (컨트리걸즈), (안주루무)
 대한민국의 가수 하선호.
 대한민국의 가수 먼데이.
 5월 14일 - 대한민국의 가수 곽태풍.
 5월 17일 - 대한민국의 가수 아이리스.
 5월 18일 
 대한민국의 가수 유시온.
 러시아의 피겨 스케이팅 선수 알리나 자기토바.
 5월 19일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 이승현.
 5월 20일 - 대한민국의 가수 루비.
 5월 23일 - 대한민국 걸그룹 야부키 나코 (아이즈원).
 5월 25일 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 양현준.
 5월 27일 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 문하연.
 5월 29일 - 대한민국의 작가 남보미.
 5월 30일 
 대한민국의 바둑 기사 허서현.
 태국의 가수 나띠.

6월 
 6월 3일 - 대한민국의 배우 강한별.
 6월 5일 - 영국의 배우 루이스 맥두걸.
 6월 8일 - 네덜란드의 공주 엘로이스 판 오라녜나사우.
 6월 11일 - 대한민국의 가수 위시.
 6월 12일 - 대한민국의 작가 장예은.
 6월 13일 
 대한민국의 배우 남다름.
 대한민국의 가수 영서.
 6월 15일 - 대한민국의 방송인 세나.
 6월 16일
 대한민국의 야구 선수 이의리.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 강현구.
 콩고 민주 공화국의 방송인 파트리샤 욤비.
 6월 17일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 이영빈.
 6월 20일 
 대한민국의 야구 선수 장재영.
 대한민국의 가수 선샤인.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 장재영.
 6월 22일 - 대한민국의 가수 예령.
 6월 26일
 대한민국의 배우 이지우.
 대한민국의 배우 안은정.

7월 
 7월 1일 
 대한민국의 가수 최수호.
 중화인민공화국의 바둑 기사 저우훙위.
 7월 3일 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 손호준.
 7월 5일 
 대한민국의 야구 선수 김진욱.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 이주형.
 7월 8일 - 대한민국의 배우 조혜련의 아들 김우주.
 7월 9일 - 대한민국의 가수 차준호 (엑스원).
 7월 12일 
 대한민국의 야구 선수 김준형.
 스페인의 축구 선수 니코 윌리암스.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 김건우.
 7월 14일 - 대한민국의 가수 김태래.
 7월 19일 - 일본의 쇼기기사 후지이 소타.
 7월 20일 - 대한민국의 배우 박하영.
 7월 21일 - 덴마크의 왕자 펠릭스.
 7월 23일 - 대한민국의 배우 이은수.
 7월 25일 - 일본의 배우, 아이돌 미치에다 슌스케.
 7월 28일 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 이태석.
 7월 30일 
 대한민국의 가수 한유아.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 김주원.
 대한민국의 야구 선수 황동하.
 7월 31일 - 대한민국의 가수 휘서.

8월 
 8월 1일 - 대한민국의 가수 도희.
 8월 2일 - 미국의 배우 우나 로런스.
 8월 7일 - 미국의 배우 게이튼 매터래조.
 8월 14일 
 미국의 가수 휴닝카이 (투모로우바이투게더).
 대한민국의 전직 카트라이더 프로게이머 장건. 
 8월 16일 - 대한민국의 배우 김소연.
 8월 18일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 김영현.
 8월 19일 - 미국의 배우 브라이튼 샤비노.
 8월 20일 - 대한민국의 배우 홍하나임.
 8월 23일
 대한민국의 배우 천보근.
 대한민국의 가수 예준 (엘라스트)
 8월 25일 
 대한민국의 배우 김환희.
 대한민국의 리그 오브 레전드 프로게이머 쿼드.
 8월 30일  
 잉글랜드의 배우 래피 캐시디.
 대한민국의 가수 우경준.
 8월 31일 - 대한민국의 가수, 뮤지컬 배우 루시 (위키미키).

9월 
 9월 4일 - 미국의 배우 털리사 베이트먼.
 9월 8일 - 크로아티아의 축구 선수 루카 수치치.
 9월 9일 - 대한민국의 가수 손동표 (엑스원).
 9월 10일
 대한민국의 래퍼 이영지.
 일본의 성우 타카오 카논.
 9월 13일 - 일본의 배우 겸 가수 와타나베 리온(STARRY PLANET☆ 멤버).
 9월 14일 - 대한민국의 배구 선수 김수빈.
 9월 17일 - 대한민국의 가수 강민희 (엑스원).
 9월 18일 - 대한민국의 배우 문하연.
 9월 19일 - 대한민국의 전 농구 선수 강주은.
 9월 21일 - 일본의 가수 츠키.
 9월 25일 - 대한민국의 래퍼 플루마.
 9월 27일 - 미국의 배우 제나 오르테가.
 9월 28일 - 대한민국의 골퍼 김민주.
 9월 30일
 오스트레일리아의 배우 리바이 밀러.
 미국의 댄서, 모델 겸 배우 매디 지글러.

10월 
 10월 2일 - 미국의 가수 제이컵 사토리어스.
 10월 7일 - 대한민국의 모델 이채은.
 10월 9일 - 대한민국의 배우 최민영.
 10월 10일 - 대한민국의 가수 성민지.
 10월 12일 - 미국의 배우 아이리스 애퍼타우.
 10월 14일
대한민국의 야구 선수 강효종.
대한민국의 리그 오브 레전드 프로게이머 케리아.
대한민국의 래퍼 요보이.
 10월 16일 - 대한민국의 가수 김한비.
 10월 17일 - 오스트레일리아의 가수 릴리 머로우.
 10월 21일 - 대한민국의 래퍼 플리키뱅.
 10월 22일 - 대한민국의 기계체조 선수 류성현.
 10월 23일 - 대한민국의 배우 신은수.
 10월 24일 - 일본의 가수 Ado.
 10월 26일 
 대한민국의 가수 이은상 (엑스원).
 대한민국의 가수 정사강.
 대한민국의 가수 박소은.
 10월 27일 - 대한민국의 배우 현석준.
 10월 29일 - 오스트레일리아의 싱어송라이터 Ruel.
 10월 31일 - 스페인의 축구 선수 안수 파티.

11월 
 11월 2일 - 대한민국의 래퍼 에피.
 11월 6일 - 일본의 가수 유키.
 11월 9일 - 대한민국의 가수 기현.
 11월 10일 - 프랑스의 축구 선수 에두아르도 카마빙가.
 11월 11일 - 대한민국의 가수 여진 (이달의 소녀).
 11월 13일 - 대한민국의 가수 셔츠.
 11월 16일 - 대한민국의 야구 선수 김기중.
 11월 19일 - 일본의 배우 코미야 리오.
 11월 22일 - 대한민국의 배우 김민기.
 11월 24일 - 미국의 가수 스카일라 스테커
 11월 25일 
 대한민국의 배우 조민아.
 스페인의 축구 선수 페드리.
 11월 26일 - 네팔의 수영 선수 가우리카 싱.
 11월 27일 - 대한민국의 카트라이더 프로게이머 이명재.
 11월 28일 
 대한민국의 가수 채랑.
 대한민국의 리그 오브 레전드 프로게이머 제카.
 11월 29일 - 미국의 축구 선수 유누스 무사.
 11월 30일 - 대한민국의 가수 송형준 (엑스원).

12월 
 12월 3일 - 대한민국의 수영 선수 문승우.
 12월 6일 - 대한민국의 가수 초이.
 12월 8일 - 대한민국의 가수 겸 前 피겨스케이팅 선수 박성훈 (엔하이픈).
 12월 10일 - 대한민국의 가수 김부경.
 12월 16일 - 덴마크의 축구 선수 빅토르 크리스티안센.
 12월 17일 - 일본의 가수, 배우 사토 류가.
 12월 19일 - 일본의 배우 이시이 모모카.
 12월 22일 - 대한민국의 가수 원채.
 12월 23일 - 캐나다의 배우 핀 울프하드.
 12월 24일 - 대한민국의 리그 오브 레전드 프로게이머 오너.
 12월 26일 - 대한민국의 배우 조준영.
 12월 27일 - 대한민국의 치어리더 최석화.
 12월 29일 - 대한민국의 골퍼 이지현.
 12월 30일 - 대한민국의 탁구 선수 이다은.

사망 

 1월 12일 - 미국의 정치인, 전 국무장관 사이러스 번스. (1917년~)
 1월 13일 - 쿠바의 어부 그레고리오 푸엔테스. (1897년~)
 1월 28일 - 스웨덴의 동화작가 아스트리드 린드그렌. (1907년~)
 2월 9일 - 영국의 엘리자베스 2세의 여동생 영국 왕녀 마거릿. (1930년~)
 2월 14일 - 헝가리의 축구 선수, 축구 감독 히데그쿠티 난도르. (1922년~)
 3월 17일 - 독일의 작가 루이제 린저. (1911년~)
 3월 27일 - 미국의 영화감독, 영화제작자 빌리 와일더. (1906년~)
 3월 30일 - 영국의 엘리자베스 2세의 어머니 엘리자베스 보우스-라이언. (1900년~)
 4월 1일 - 핀란드의 군인, 저격수 시모 해위해. (1905년~)
 4월 13일 - 대한민국의 원로 가수 현인. (1919년~)
 4월 25일 - 미국의 가수 레프트 아이. (1971년~)
 4월 28일 - 러시아의 군인, 정치인 알렉산드르 레베디. (1950년~)
 4월 28일 - 미국의 교육심리학자 로버트 가네. (1916년~)
 5월 13일 - 우크라이나의 축구 선수, 축구 감독 발레리 로바놉스키. (1939년~)
 5월 20일 - 미국의 고생물학자 스티븐 제이 굴드. (1941년~)
 6월 17일 - 독일의 전 축구 선수 프리츠 발터. (1920년~)
 6월 29일 - 대한민국의 군인, 참수리 357호 정장 윤영하. (1973년~)
 7월 4일 - 프랑스의 수학자, 필즈상 수상자 로랑 슈바르츠. (1915년~)
 7월 6일 - 미국의 영화 감독 존 프랭컨하이머. (1930년~)
 7월 13일 - 일본의 아나운서 하야시 요시오. (1943년~)
 8월 6일 - 네덜란드의 컴퓨터과학자 에츠허르 데이크스트라. (1930년~)
 8월 26일 - 대한민국의 지휘자 임원식. (1919년~)
 8월 27일 - 대한민국의 코미디언 이주일. (1940년~)
 10월 6일 - 네덜란드의 클라우스 왕자. (1926년~)
 10월 18일 - 대한민국의 배우 남성훈. (1945년~)
 10월 25일 - 프랑스의 수학자, 필즈상 수상자 르네 톰. (1923년~)
 아일랜드의 영화배우 리처드 해리스. (1930년~)
 11월 9일 - 대한민국의 군인 겸 외교관 김성룡. (1926년~)
 11월 13일 - 우루과이의 축구 선수, 축구 감독 후안 알베르토 스치아피노. (1925년~)
 11월 15일 - 대한민국의 마라톤 선수 손기정. (1912년~)
 11월 17일 - 대한민국의 기업인 조중훈 (1920년~)
 11월 24일 - 미국의 철학자, 하버드 대학교 교수 존 롤스. (1921년~)
 12월 2일 - 오스트리아의 철학자 이반 일리치. (1926년~)
 12월 9일 - 일제강점기 독립운동가 엄기선. (1929년~)
 12월 12일 - 대한민국의 정치인 황낙주. (1928년~)

노벨상 
 경제학상: 다니엘 카너먼, 버논 스미스
 문학상: 임레 케르테스
 물리학상: 레이먼드 데이비스 주니어, 코시바 마사토시, 리카르도 지아코니
 생리학 및 의학상: 시드니 브레너, 로버트 호비츠, 존 설스턴
 평화상: 지미 카터
 화학상: 다나카 고이치, 존 펜, 쿠르트 뷔트리히

74회 아카데미상 수상 
 작품상: (뷰티풀 마인드)
 감독상: 론 하워드(뷰티풀 마인드)
 남우주연상: 덴절 워싱턴(트레이닝 데이)
 여우주연상: 핼리 베리(몬스터 볼(영화))
 남우조연상: 짐 브로드벤트(아이리스(영화))
 여우조연상: 제니퍼 코널리(뷰티풀 마인드)

달력

음양력 대조 일람

외부 링크

12월 19일은 그레고리력으로 353번째(윤년일 경우 354번째) 날에 해당한다.

사건 
 1963년 - 잔지바르가 독립했다.
 2002년 - 대한민국 제16대 대통령 선거에서 노무현 후보가 당선되다.
 2007년 - 대한민국 제17대 대통령 선거에서 이명박 후보가 당선되다.
 2011년 - 조선민주주의인민공화국의 김정일 국방위원장이 이틀 전(12월 17일) 사망했다는 소식이 보도되었다.
 2012년 - 대한민국 제18대 대통령 선거에서 박근혜 후보가 당선되다.
 2014년 - 헌법재판소가 법무부의 청구를 받아들여 통합진보당 해산을 선고했고, 통합진보당 소속 지역구 의원 3명과 비례대표 의원 2명의 의원직도 모두 박탈되었다.

문화 
 1843년 - 영국의 소설가 찰스 디킨스, 《크리스마스 캐럴》 출간.
 1909년 - 독일의 축구 클럽 보루시아 도르트문트 창단.
 2009년 - 소녀시대가 《Into The New World》라는 타이틀로 첫 번째 단독 콘서트를 개최함.
 2015년 - 서해안고속도로 서해대교 송악 나들목 ~ 서평택 나들목 구간이 개통되었다.
 2022년 - 2022년 FIFA 월드컵이 에서 폐막하였고 가 를 3대 3으로 승부차기를 통해 4대 2로 꺾고 1986년 이후 36년만에 통산 3번째 우승을 달성하였다.

탄생 
 1683년 - 스페인 부르봉 왕가의 초대 국왕 펠리페 5세. (~1746년)
 1742년 - 스웨덴의 화학자 칼 빌헬름 셸레. (~1786년)
 1778년 - 루이 16세의 딸 마리 테레즈 샤를로트. (~1851년)
 1899년 - 미국의 인권 운동가 마틴 루터 킹 주니어. (~1968년)
 1906년 - 소련의 정치인 레오니트 브레즈네프. (~1982년)
 1915년 - 프랑스의 작곡가이자 샹송가 에디트 피아프. (~1963년)
 1922년 - 네덜란드의 정치인 크리스 판 베인. (~2009년)
 1931년 - 대한민국의 경제학자, 대학교수, 윤석열 대통령의 부친 윤기중. (~2023년)
 1935년 - 대한민국의 언론 출신 정치인 최영철.
 1936년 - 대한민국의 기업인 김우중. (~2019년)
 1941년 - 대한민국의 제17대 대통령 이명박.
 1944년 - 미국의 수리물리학자 미첼 파이겐바움. (~2019년)
 1952년 - 미국의 작가 린다 울버턴
 1953년 - 대한민국의 축구인 허정무.
 1958년 - 대한민국의 언론 출신 수필가 김상운.
 1963년 - 대한민국의 정치인 우범기.
 1965년 - 대한민국의 경찰 공무원, 제21대 경찰청장 민갑룡.
 1967년 - 대한민국의 정치인 김민철.
 1970년 - 일본의 소설가 타니가와 나가루.
 1972년 - 미국의 배우 앨리사 밀라노.
 1980년  
 대한민국의 래퍼 버벌진트.
 미국의 배우 제이크 질런홀.
 1981년 - 대한민국의 배우 김윤성.
 1985년 - 한국계 일본의 축구선수 이충성.
 1987년 - 프랑스의 축구선수 카림 벤제마.
 1988년
 칠레의 축구 선수 알렉시스 산체스.
 스웨덴의 축구 선수 엠마 베릴룬드.
 대한민국의 레이싱 모델 이지민.
 1989년 - 대한민국의 래퍼 용준형 (비스트, 하이라이트).
 1990년 - 대한민국의 쇼트트랙선수 김성일.
 1991년
 대한민국의 아나운서 박철규.
 일본의 여성 성우 우에사카 스미레.
 1992년 - 스페인의 축구 선수 이케르 무니아인.
 1993년 - 대한민국의 밴드 데이식스 멤버인 가수 Young K.
 1994년 - 대한민국의 양궁 선수 최용희.
 1996년 - 이탈리아 축구팀 AC밀란 리빙레전드 프랑크 케시에.
 1997년 - 일본의 펜싱 선수 가노 고키.
 2011년 - 대한민국의 아역배우 박규림.

사망 
 1370년 - 교황 우르바노 5세, 200대 로마 교황.
 1741년 - 덴마크 출신 러시아의 항해사이자 탐험가 비투스 베링.
 1848년 - 영국의 소설가 에밀리 브론테.
 1851년 - 영국의 화가 터너.
 1882년 - 일본 군인 겸 귀족 정치가 나카야마 다다요시.
 1932년 - 한국의 독립운동가 윤봉길.
 2012년 - 맨발의 겐의 저자 나카자와 케이지.
 2015년 - 독일의 지휘자 쿠르트 마주어.
 2018년 - 대한민국의 가수 이성우.
 2021년 - 대한민국의 법조인 김주수.
 2021년 - 대한민국의 정치인 김문기.
 2021년 - 스페인의 바리톤 카를로스 마린.
 2021년 - 미국의 화학자 로버트 그럽스.
 2021년 - 인도네시아의 정치인 프란스 르부 라야.

기념일 
 남남 협력의 날
 해방의 날(Liberation day): 인도 고아 주
 성 니콜라스 데이(Saint Nicholas Day): 동방 기독교

같이 보기 
 
 전날: 12월 18일 다음날: 12월 20일 - 전달: 11월 19일 다음달: 1월 19일
 음력: 12월 19일
 모두 보기

5월 31일은 그레고리력으로 151번째(윤년일 경우 152번째) 날에 해당한다.

사건 
 1933년 - 탕구 협정의 체결에 의해서 만주사변이 종결.
 1945년 - 타이베이 대공습.
 1970년 - 페루 북부에서 앙카슈 지진이 발생했다.
 2004년 - 대한민국의 무역인 김선일이 피랍됐다.
 2005년 - 마크 펠트가 자신이 딥 스로트임을 언론과의 인터뷰에서 밝혔다.

문화 
 1935년 - 미국 캘리포니아주 로스앤젤레스에서 20세기 폭스가 설립되었다.
 1982년 - 대한민국의 첫 인터넷 개설되었다.
 1996년
 FIFA는 2002년 축구 월드컵을 대한민국과 일본에서 공동 개최하도록 결정했다.
 1998년 FIFA 월드컵 예선 경기에서 부르키나파소가 모리타니와 0대 0으로 비겼다.
 2002년
 2002년 FIFA 월드컵이 서울 월드컵 경기장에서 개막했다. 그리고 여기서 치러진 개막전에서 처녀 출전국인 세네갈이 전 대회 우승국인 프랑스를 1:0으로 꺾는 파란을 일으켰다.
 대한민국에서 제주방송(JIBS) 텔레비전이 개국하다.
 2017년
 수도권에서 지상파 UHD 방송이 개시되었다.
 서울메트로와 서울특별시 도시철도공사가 서울교통공사로 통합 출범하였다.
 2023년 - 수도권제2순환고속도로 조안 나들목 ~ 양평 나들목 구간이 개통되었다.

탄생 
 1162년 - 칭기즈 칸, 몽골 제국 초대 대칸. (~1227년)
 1469년 - 포르투갈왕 마누엘 1세. (~1521년)
 1819년 - 미국의 시인 겸 수필가 월트 휘트먼. (~1892년)
 1835년 - 일본 막부 말기 신센구미 부장 히지카타 도시조. (~1869년)
 1857년 - 교황 비오 11세, 259대 로마 교황. (~1939년)
 1887년 - 프랑스의 외교관 겸 시인 생존 페르스. (~1975년)
 1892년 - 나치 독일의 정치가 그레고어 슈트라서. (~1934년)
 1923년 - 모나코 공국의 레니에 3세. (~2005년)
 1930년 - 미국의 배우 클린트 이스트우드.
 1936년 - 대한민국의 작곡가·가야금 연주자 황병기. (~2018년)
 1945년
 독일의 영화감독 라이너 베르너 파스빈더. (~1982년)
 코트디부아르의 정치인 로랑 그바그보.
 1954년 - 대한민국의 가수 박일준.
 1956년 - 대한민국의 정치인, 現 경기도 의정부시장 안병용.
 1958년 - 대한민국의 가톨릭 신부 차동엽. (~2019년)
 1962년 - 일본의 성우 히다카 노리코.
 1964년 - 일본의 정치인 에다노 유키오.
 1965년 - 미국의 배우 브룩 실즈.
 1967년
 프랑스의 배우 상드린 보네르.
 일본의 가수 타무라 아키히로. (스피츠)
 1973년 - 한화 이글스의 작전수비 코치 임수민.
 1976년 - 아일랜드의 배우 콜린 패럴.
 1984년
 대한민국의 아나운서 유혜영.
 대한민국의 야구선수 김종호.
 대한민국의 방송인 김정은.
 1987년 - 대한민국의 야구선수 차우찬.
 1988년
 대한민국의 배우, 모델 이수혁.
 대한민국의 펜싱 선수 허준.
 1989년
 대한민국의 축구 선수  조영철 (경남 FC).
 독일의 축구 선수 마르코 로이스 (보루시아 도르트문트).
 네덜란드의 축구 선수 바스 도스트.
 1992년 - 대한민국의 가수 기태. 
 1994년
 대한민국의 배우 심은경.
 대한민국의 축구 선수 장슬기.
 1996년 - 대한민국의 골프 선수 장승보.
 1997년 - 대한민국의 가수 정세운.
 2000년 - 대한민국의 수영 선수 백인철.
 2001년 - 폴란드의 테니스 선수 이가 시비옹테크.
 2004년 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 강상윤.
 2005년 - 대한민국의 가수 조아.

사망 
 1408년 - 일본 무로마치 막부의 3대 쇼군 아시카가 요시미쓰. (1358년~)
 1607년 - 조선 중기의 관료, 인문학자, 의학자, 저술가 류성룡. (1542년~)
 1801년 - 중국인 천주교 신부, 조선 천주교 순교자 주문모. (1572년~)
 1809년 - 오스트리아 작곡가 요제프 하이든. (1732년~)
 1832년 - 프랑스의 수학자 에바리스트 갈루아. (1811년~)
 1960년 - 나치 전범 발터 풍크. (1890년~)
 1977년 - 브라질의 축구 선수, 축구 감독 네쿠. (1895년~)
 1978년 - 헝가리의 축구 선수, 축구 감독 보지크 요세프. (1925년~)
 1986년 - 미국의 물리학자 제임스 레인워터. (1917년~)
 2020년 - 불가리아의 미술가 크리스토 자바체프. (1935년~)
 2020년 - 독일의 영화배우 단 반 후센. (1945년~)
 2021년 - 미국의 야구선수 마이크 마셜. (1943년~)
 2022년 - 대한민국의 행정학자 안병만. (1941년~)
 2023년 - 대한민국의 신학자 유광웅. (1943년~)

기념일 
 바다의 날 (대한민국)
 세계 금연의 날
 카스티야 라만차 데이(Castile–La Mancha Day): 스페인 카스티야라만차 지방
 로얄 브루나이말레이 연대의 기념일: 브루나이
 마리아의 엘리사벳 방문

같이 보기 
 
 전날: 5월 30일 다음날: 6월 1일 - 전달: 4월 30일 다음달: 6월 30일
 모두 보기

6월 30일은 그레고리력으로 181번째(윤년일 경우 182번째) 날에 해당하며, 6월의 마지막 날이다.

사건 
 350년 - 게르만족 출신의 마그넨티우스가 네포티아누스의 봉기를 진압해서 죽이고 로마의 황제가 되었다.
 763년 - 안키알루스 전투: 동로마 제국의 콘스탄티누스 5세가 불가르족의 텔레츠 칸과 싸워서 이겼다.
 1521년 - 프랑스의 왕 앙리 2세가 왕실의 결혼을 축하하는 마상 창시합에서 몽고메리 백작 가브리엘의 창에 치명적인 부상을 당하다.
 1862년 - 조지 매클렐런 장군의 북부 동맹군이 화이트오크 스웜프(White Oak Swamp) 남쪽에 도착하다. 미국 남북 전쟁 칠일 전투 중 여섯 번째인 글렌데일 전투가 벌어지다.
 1863년 - 미국 남북전쟁 중 게티즈버그 전역: 하노버 전투
 1894년 - 타워 브리지가 완공되다.
 1908년 - 러시아 시베리아 포트카멘나야퉁구스카 강에서 거대한 폭발이 일어나다.
 1936년 - 마거릿 미첼의 소설 바람과 함께 사라지다가 출판되다.
 1937년 - 최초의 응급 전화번호인 999번이 영국에서 생기다.
 1949년 - 대한민국 정부를 수립하고 미군정도 끝낸 미국이 비로소 한반도에서 정식으로 철수한 날이다.
 1950년 - 한국 전쟁으로 영등포역 역사 소실.
 1960년 - 민주 콩고가 벨기에로부터 독립했다.
 1972년 - UTC에 윤초가 도입되다.
 1989년 - 임수경이 세계청년학생축전에 참가하기 위해 평양을 방문하다.
 1991년 - 안기부에서 전노협 탈퇴를 거부한다는 이유로 고문했던 노동운동가 박창수가 사망했다.
 1997년 - 영국이 156년간 다스렸던 홍콩을 중화인민공화국이 반환받다.
 1999년 - 씨랜드 청소년수련원 화재 사건이 일어나다.
 2014년 - 투애니원(2NE1)의 멤버 박봄의 마약 밀수입 논란.
 2019년 - 일본이 국제포경위원회(IWC)를 공식 탈퇴하였다.

문화 
 1983년 - KBS 1TV에서 이산가족을 찾기 위한 특별 생방송 '이산가족을 찾습니다'가 처음으로 방영되었다.
 1997년 - SBS TV에서 1시간 빠른 SBS 8 뉴스 첫 방송.
 2002년 
 2002년 FIFA 월드컵이 폐막되었다. 결승전에서 브라질이 독일을 2-0으로 꺾고 5번째 우승을 차지한다.
 하지만 6월 30일 6월 29일에 발생한 태풍 라마순이 7월 1일까지 대한민국에 피해를 주어 월드컵 행복 시대에서 피해를 주게 되어 한달간 불행의 시대가 열렸다.
 2003년 - iTV iFM 경인방송 FM라디오 개국.
 2004년 - 마이크로소프트에서 윈도우 NT 4.0과 인터넷 익스플로러 3의 모든 지원을 종료하였고, 서비스팩이 설치되지 않은 윈도우 2000에 대한 지원을 종료하였으며, 이와 동시에 마이크로소프트 오피스 2000의 메인스트림 지원을 종료했다.
 2006년 - 서울외곽순환고속도로 송추 나들목 ~ 일산 나들목, 퇴계원 나들목 ~ 의정부 나들목 구간 개통.
 2008년
 유로2008 결승전에서 스페인이 독일을 1:0으로 꺾고 44년만에 유럽최강의 자리에 올랐다.
 울산불교방송 개국.
 2010년 - 만화 "신의 탑", 네이버 웹툰에서 연재 시작.
 2012년 - 수인선이 복선 전철 수도권 전철로 운행 재개되다.(오이도 - 송도 구간)
 2014년 - 인천국제공항역을 바로 잇는 KTX 노선이 개통되었다.
 2015년 - 평택제천고속도로 동충주 나들목 ~ 제천 분기점 구간이 개통되었다.
 2016년 - 동해고속도로 남경주 나들목 ~ 동경주 나들목 구간이 개통되었다.
 2017년 - 서울양양고속도로 동홍천 나들목 ~ 양양 분기점 구간이 개통되었다.
 2021년 - 대한민국에서 유일하게 2G 이동통신 서비스를 시행하는 LG U+의 2G 및 3G 서비스가 완전히 종료되고 이후에는 01X 번호를 계속 사용하는 것이 불가능해졌다.
 2023년 - 2G 통신 서비스가 완전히 종료되었다.

탄생 
 1470년 - 프랑스의 왕 샤를 8세. (~1498년)
 1884년 - 독일 군인 프란츠 할더. (~1972년)
 1913년 - 미국의 사회주의 운동가 리처드 S. 프레이저. (~1988년)
 1917년 - 미국의 배우 수전 헤이워드. (~1975년)
 1926년 - 미국의 생화학자 폴 버그. (~2023년)
 1929년 - 홍콩의 법조인 양톄량. (~2023년)
 1944년 - 미국의 프로레슬링 선수 테리 펑크. (~2023년)
 1952년 - 대한민국의 물리학 교수 이성익. (~2010년)
 1955년 - 대한민국의 정치인 김동철.
 1965년 - 대한민국의 배우 조재현.
 1966년 - 미국의 권투선수 마이크 타이슨.
 1975년 - 대한민국의 바둑 기사 윤성현.
 1976년 - 대한민국의 축구 선수 김영철.
 1981년 - 대한민국의 미스코리아 출신 아나운서 김주희.
 1983년  
 영국의 배우 구구 음바타로.
 우크라이나의 전 육상 높이뛰기 선수 드미트로 데미야뉴크.
 영국의 가수 셰릴.
 1985년 - 미국의 올림픽 최초 7관왕, 수영선수 마이클 펠프스.
 1986년 - 대한민국의 배우 홍수아.
 1988년 - 대한민국의 희극인 백두현.
 1989년
 대한민국의 축구 선수 김진야.
 스웨덴의 축구 선수 율리아 스페츠마르크.
 1990년 - 대한민국의 가수 엔 (빅스).
 1991년 - 일본의 영화 배우, 모델 카호.
 1992년 - 대한민국의 모델 나하나.
 1994년 - 대한민국의 배우 송세현. 
 1995년 - 일본의 성우 카스가 노조미. 
 1996년 - 미국 출신 필리핀의 축구 선수 서리나 볼든.
 1998년 - 일본의 배우 아오이 와카나.

사망 
 1670년 - 오를레앙 공작부인 헨리에타 앤. (1644년~)
 1913년 - 대한제국의 기업인 서상돈. (1850년~)
 1919년 - 영국의 물리학자 존 윌리엄 스트럿 레일리. (1842년~)
 1930년 - 대한민국의 독립지사 장진홍. (1895년~)
 1974년 - 미국의 컴퓨터 과학자 버니바 부시. (1890년~)
 1986년 - 헝가리의 추기경 레커이 라슬로. (1910년~)
 1991년 - 대한민국의 노동운동가 박창수. (1960년~)
 1996년 - 대한민국의 작곡가 박시춘. (1913년~)
 2001년 - 미국의 음악가 쳇 앳킨스. (1924년~)
 2010년 - 대한민국의 배우 박용하. (1977년~)
 2017년 - 프랑스의 정치인 시몬 베유. (1927년~)
 2019년 - 대한민국의 공학자 김영길. (1939년~)
 2019년 - 미국의 물리학자 미첼 파이겐바움. (1944년~)
 2020년 - 영국의 바이올리니스트 이다 헨델. (1928년~)
 2021년 - 일본의 야구선수 오시마 야스노리. (1950년~)
 2022년 - 미국의 유튜버 테크노블레이드. (1999년~)
 2023년 - 오스트레일리아의 영화배우 주디 파. (1938년~)
 2023년 - 이란의 영화배우 파리마 파르자미. (1950년~)

기념일 
 국군의 날(Día del Ejército): 과테말라
 독립기념일: 콩고 민주 공화국
 필리핀-스페인 우정의 날: 필리핀
 기도의 날(General Prayer Day): 중앙아프리카 공화국
소셜 미디어의 날

같이 보기 
 전날: 6월 29일 다음날: 7월 1일 - 전달: 5월 30일 다음달: 7월 30일
 음력: 6월 30일
 모두 보기

우크라이나()는 동유럽 국가다. 남쪽과 남동쪽으로는 흑해와 아조프해, 동쪽과 북동쪽으로는 러시아, 북쪽과 북서쪽으로는 벨라루스, 서쪽으로는 폴란드, 슬로바키아, 헝가리, 남서쪽으로는 루마니아, 몰도바와 접한다. 키이우가 수도이며 가장 큰 도시다. 동유럽 평원과 이어져 있으며 기후는 비교적 온화한 편이다. 법적 공용어는 우크라이나어이고, 인구 대부분은 우크라이나어를 사용하지만, 대부분 동부 인구(주로 동부 지역과 동남부 지역, 오데사 지역)는 러시아어 사용자이기도 하다. 주요 도시로는 키이우, 도네츠크, 드니프로, 하르키우, 르비우, 오데사, 자포리자가 있다. 2014년 3월 18일 러시아가 크림반도를 합병함에 따라 행정력이 크림반도에 미치지 못하지만, 국제사회는 대체로 크림반도를 우크라이나의 일부라는 태도를 견지하고 있다.

중세 초 루스 카간국으로부터 키예프 루스로 이어진 우크라이나는 오랫동안 투르크족·몽골족 등 지배를 받았다. 19세기까지 대다수 우크라이나 영토가 러시아 제국에 통합되었고, 나머지 부분은 오스트리아-헝가리 통제 아래 있었다. 우크라이나는 러시아 혁명 후 혼란과 끊임 없는 전쟁 속에서 여러 차례 독립을 시도하여 1917년에 민족국가를 건설했으나, 1922년에 소비에트 연방에 강제 합병되었다. 1923년 소비에트 연방 헌법 적용을 받으며 우크라이나 소비에트 사회주의 공화국이란 이름의 구성국으로 존재했다, 1991년 소련 해체와 함께 독립하였다.

지하 자원이 풍부하여 도네츠 탄전의 석탄, 크리보이로그의 철광석, 카르파티아 유전과 천연가스, 그 밖에 망간, 우라늄, 식염, 칼리염, 석회석 등을 산출한다. 산업으로는 석탄·철광·선철 생산에서 중요성 있다. 풍부한 수력 전기를 이용하여 기계 제조 공업·화학 공업이 크게 발달했으며 유수 공업 지대를 이루고 있다. 석탄업, 철강업, 기계 제조업, 화학 공업 중심은 돈바스·드니프로 주이며, 드니프로 강 하구에서 키이우 사이 6개 수력 발전소가 단계상(段階狀)으로 건설되어 있다. 우크라이나 경지율은 약 70%에 이르고 있어, 겨울밀·옥수수·보리·사탕무·해바라기·포도의 재배, 가축 사양 등에서는 구 소련 시절 매우 중요한 지위를 차지하고 있었다. 온난한 크림 반도 남단과 광천이 솟는 카르파트 지방은 중요한 관광·보양지다. 러시아 작가 니콜라이 고골의 작품 〈타라스 부리바〉 배경으로도 알려졌다. 공용어는 우크라이나어를 쓰고, 우크라이나인 대다수는 우크라이나 정교회를 믿는다.

국호 
우크라이나(Україна)라는 국호는 고대 동슬라브어 표현인 Оукраина/Oukraina에서 유래하였다. 우(Оу)는 전치사, 크라이(краи)는 땅 또는 변경, 경계를, 나(на)는 접미사에 해당되는 단어이며, 크라이나(країна)는 러시아어에서 파생된 크라이(край)와 비슷한 어원을 가지며, 우크라이나의 국명 뜻을 풀이하면, "변방의 지대", "변방의 땅"이라는 의미가 있으며, 동슬라브어로 국가, 땅, 영토, 변방, 끝자락 등의 의미를 뜻한다.

역사

기원
우크라이나 역사는 중앙아시아에서부터 건너와 동유럽을 정복한 튀르크 민족들의 관계를 빼 놓을 수 없다. 3세기부터 시작한 중앙아시아 투르크 민족들의 유럽 침공과 동슬라브족 정복 그리고 이주는 5세기부터 10세기까지 사바르 카간국에 이어 아바르 카간국 그리고 하자르 카간국까지 이어진다. 동유럽 동슬라브 원주민들은 사바르 카간국에 정복당해 프랑크족들과 대립하기도 하였고 하자르 카간국의 우크라이나 초원 정복으로 인해 동슬라브 문화는 서유럽의 문화와는 조금 이질적인 특징을 가지게 되었다. 하자르 카간국의 영향에 따라 동슬라브족으로서의 정체성이 생기기 시작하였고 8세기에서 9세기에 루스 카간국이라는 고대 투르크어인 군주 칭호인 카간을 자칭하는 북게르만족 루스인의 첫 국가가 등장하였다. 그 전까지는 벨라루스와 우크라이나를 지배했던 중앙아시아 투르크 민족들이 카간을 자칭하였으나 그 지배 아래 동슬라브인들도 완전히 종속과 동화되어 동슬라브인의 정체성이 확립되었고 그 후 동슬라브인들이 카간을 자칭하였다.

키예프 루스는 10세기까지 중앙아시아 투르크 민족의 영향을 받았고 이에 따라 류리크 왕조의 시조인 류리크 또한 위대한 카간이자 왕으로 불렸다는 기록이 존재한다. 862년경 전까지는 확실히 카간이라 칭한 루스인들이 페르시아 사서와 동, 서 로마 기록에 남아 있다. 여기에 원초연대기의 기록에서는 루스인들의 카간으로 알려진 류리크가 동슬라브족 지역에 정착하면서 류리크 왕조와 키예프 루스가 나타나며 카간이라는 호칭보다는 크냐지 또는 벨리키 크냐지라는 호칭이 자주 쓰이게 된다.
동슬라브인들은 튀르크계 카간국인 하자르 카간국의 지배하에 오랫동안 있었다. 루스인들의 첫 국가인 루스 카간국이 키예프 루스로 발전하였고 그 남쪽이 현재 우크라이나 영토이다. 이 중세 국가의 수도는 현 우크라이나의 수도인 키이우였다. 키예프 루스는 현재의 북게르만족 계통의 루스인들이 세웠다고 하나 동유럽 학자들은 이에 부정적이다. 루스인들은 강력한 류리크 왕조를 세웠다. 그리하여 10세기와 11세기에는 키예프 루스가 유럽에서 가장 중요한 국가 중 하나가 되어 후의 우크라이나, 벨라루스, 러시아 3국의 국가 정체성 형성의 바탕이 되었다.

키예프 루스는 내부 분열과 몽골의 침략으로 멸망하였다. 우크라이나 땅에는 갈리치아(Galicia, Halych)와 볼히니아(Volhynia, Volodymyr-Volynskii) 두 공국이 그 뒤를 이었다. 갈리치아와 볼히니아는 갈리치아-볼히니아 왕국으로 합쳐졌다 분열되고 결국은 폴란드-리투아니아 연방에 의해 정복되었다.

근대
17세기 중반에는 우크라이나 중부에 카자크 수장국이 세워져 백년 이상 러시아 차르국의 압력을 견뎠으나 결국 폴란드와 러시아에 의해 분할되었다. 그 후 18세기 후반의 폴란드 분할을 통해 우크라이나의 중부와 동부는 러시아 제국에 합병되고 서부는 오스트리아-헝가리 제국에 합병되었다.

1917년  러시아 혁명 이후 오스트리아 지배 하의 서부 우크라이나와 러시아 지배 하의 동부 우크라이나가 각각 독립을 선언, 1920년에는 동서 통일을 선언했으나 외부 군대의 침략으로 신생 독립국 우크라이나는 오래 가지 못하였다. 결국 1922년에 서쪽은 폴란드, 동쪽은 소비에트 연방의 영토가 되었다. 소비에트 연방령 우크라이나는 1921년~1922년, 1932년~1933년 두 차례에 걸쳐 큰 기근을 겪었다. 둘째 기근은 스탈린이 집단 농장 체제에 저항이 심했던 우크라이나에 대해 인위적으로 부른 기근으로 홀로도모르라 불린다. 이로 인한 사망자 수는 적게는 8백만 명에서 많게는 1천만 명 이상으로 추산되고 있다.

1939년 제2차 세계 대전이 발발하자 소비에트 연방은 폴란드를 침공, 우크라이나 서부를 우크라이나 소비에트 사회주의 공화국의 일부로 만들었다. 1941년에는 독일군과 추축군이 소비에트 연방의 적군을 쳐부수었다. 소비에트 연방이 '영웅 도시'라 칭한 키예프 전투에서는 66만 여명이 넘는 소비에트 연방군이 포로로 잡혔다. 처음에는 우크라이나인들이 독일군을 '해방군'으로 환영했다. 그러나 나치 독일은 곧 대량 학살을 시작하여 유대인들과 우크라이나인 민간인들을 죽이거나 강제 추방하였다. 마을 전체를 태워 없애기도 하여  우크라이나인들은 독일의 지배가 소비에트 연방의 지배처럼 포악하다고 판단하게 되었다. 전쟁 중과 독일 치하의 민간인 사망자 수는 50여만 명이 넘는 유대인들을 포함하여 7백만 명 정도로 추산된다. 갈리치아 지방에서는 폴란드인들과 우크라이나인들끼리 서로 집단 학살을 저지르기도 한 끔찍한 시기였다. 독일과의 전투로 소련군은 약 1천 100만 명의 사망자를 냈는데 그 가운데 270만 명이 우크라이나계였다. 우크라이나 민족은 추축국을 상대로 전투를 벌인 첫 민족이 되었고(카르파티아 우크라이나에서) 전쟁으로 인한 피해도 매우 컸다.

현대 
제2차 세계 대전이 끝난 뒤에 소비에트 연방령 우크라이나는 서쪽으로 확장되어 우크라이나인들이 사는 땅을 거의 대부분 포함하게 되었다. 1954년에는 우크라이나에 의해 러시아 본토와 단절되어 있던 크림 반도가 러시아에서 우크라이나령으로 넘어가게 되었다. 니키타 흐루쇼프가 우크라이나와 러시아의 우애를 과시하기 위해 페레야슬라프 조약(코자크 헤티만국이 러시아 차르국의 보호를 요청)의 300주년을 맞아 우크라이나에 크림 반도를 할양한 것이다. 이는 우크라이나 독립 후 양국 간의 분쟁 소지가 된다.

1991년 우크라이나는 모스크바에서 소비에트 연방 공산당의 쿠데타 시도가 실패로 돌아간 후의 혼란 속에서 독립을 선언하고, 이는 결국 소비에트 연방의 해체를 촉진시켰다. 우크라이나는 독립국가연합의 창립 회원국이다.

현재 우크라이나의 국기는 스텝 지방의 금빛 밀밭 위 푸른 하늘의 모습을 상징한다고 한다. 청색과 황색은 우크라이나인들이 전통적으로 깃발에 많이 쓰던 색이다.

2005년 1월 23일, 빅토르 유셴코가 대통령으로 선출되었으며, 율리야 티모셴코는 2, 3차례나 총리로 선출되었다.

2010년 2월 7일에 치러진 대통령 선거가 실시 되었을 때, 빅토르 야누코비치가 율리아 티모셴코를 꺾고 대통령으로 당선되었다. 2012년 7월 4일에 우크라이나 의회에서 러시아어를 지역공용어로 인정하는 법을 통과하고 준 공용어로 인정하는 것을 둘러싸고 충돌이 일어났다. 하지만 그 이전에는 러시아어를 공공기관에서 사용하는 것을 허용하는 법안으로 인해 충돌이 일어났다. 그리고 2012년 8월 8일에 야누코비치가 동남부에서 러시아어를 공식언어로 하는 법안에 서명하면서 러시아어는 우크라이나 동남부의 공식언어가 되었다. 우크라이나는 총선을 치른지 2주만인 2012년 11월 11일에 여당이 총선에서 승리했다. 우크라이나는 2013년에 EU와의 협정이 무산되자 친EU시위가 발생되었고, 시위진압과정에서 부상자가 발생되었다. 2013년 12월 8일에는 반정부 시위대에 의해 레닌상이 철거되었다.

유로마이단 시위가 발생한 결과, 친러 대통령이었던 빅토르 야누코비치가 러시아로 도망하였다. 이로 인해서 친러 성향이 강했던 크림 반도의 크림 자치 공화국이 우크라이나로부터 독립선언과 함께 러시아로의 편입을 추진하였으며, 그 후 합병을 위한 주민 투표가 실시되었고 2014년 3월 18일 합병 조약이 체결되었다.

유럽 연합과 미국 등 서방 진영은 이 합병을 불법으로 간주하였으며, 러시아에 제재를 가하였다. 또한, 도네츠크와 루한시크주는 우크라이나에서 독립을 선언하였으나, 국제 사회의 대부분의 국가들은 이 독립 결정을 승인하지 않고 있으며, 러시아의 지원을 받아 전쟁을 벌이고 있다. 우크라이나 정부는 크림 반도의 러시아 합병을 인정하지 않으며, 돈바스 지역을 비롯한 동부 지방에 대해선 강력한 군사적 행동을 추구하고 있다. 현대에도, 미국과 유럽 연합은 러시아의 우크라이나에 대한 군사적 개입을 경계하고 있으며, 결국 2022년 2월 24일에 러시아의 일방적 침공으로 러시아와 우크라이나의 전쟁이 발발하여 현재까지도 진행 중이다.

정치 

우크라이나는 입법, 사법, 행정 등 3권이 분리된 의회민주주의 국가이다. 대통령은 직접 선거를 통해 선출되며, 임기는 5년 중임제인데, 1번의 중임이 가능해 최대 임기는 10년이다. 대통령이 총리와 내각을 지명하는데, 의회의 승인을 받아야 하며 야당이 의회가 절대다수일 경우 총리가 대신 권력을 독점한다.

의회 

우크라이나 의회는 단원제 최고회의(Verkhovna Rada)이며, 총 450석 중 225석은 전체 유권자의 4% 이상 지지를 얻은 정당에게 비례로 배정된다. 나머지 225석은 선거구에서 직접선거로 결정된다. 모든 의원들의 임기는 5년이다. 의회는 총리를 뽑고, 법률을 발의하고, 국제 협정을 비준하며 예산안을 승인한다. 2020년 6월 현재의 구성은 다음과 같다(정렬은 2019년 7월 21일  총선거의 결과 순).

국회(최고회의)구성
 인민의 종 254석, 43.16%
 인생을 위한 야권연단 43석, 13.05%
 전우크라이나 연합 "조국" 26석, 8.18%
 유럽연대 25석, 8.10%
 목소리 20석, 5.82%

대통령 
우크라이나는 금융위기와 정국불안으로 2010년 1월 17일 대통령 선거가 치러져 빅토르 야누코비치가 승리했는데, 과반 득표가 나오지 않자, 같은 해 2월 7일 결선 투표를 통해, 빅토르 야누코비치가 승리를 확정하였다. 율리아 티모셴코는 패배를 맞이하였다. 이로써, 오렌지 혁명의 과정은 물거품이 되어버리고 말았다. 2014년 대선에서  페트로 포로셴코가 승리하여 대통령이 취임했으며, 2019년 선거에서 전직 대통령인 페트로 포로셴코를 이기고 희극인, 배우 출신의 정치인 볼로디미르 젤렌스키가 정식 대통령이 되었다.

행정 구역 

우크라이나는 24개 주와 1개 자치 공화국, 주와 같은 지위를 갖는 2개 특별시로 이루어져 있다. 이 가운데 크림 자치 공화국과 세바스토폴은 2014년 이후부터 러시아의 실질적인 지배 상태에 있다.

 주
 체르카시주
 체르니히우주
 체르니우치주
 드니프로페트로우스크주
 도네츠크주
 이바노프란키우스크주
 하르키우주
 헤르손주
 흐멜니츠키주
 키로보흐라드주
 키이우주
 루한스크주
 르비우주
 미콜라이우주
 오데사주
 폴타바주
 리우네주
 수미주
 테르노필주
 빈니차주
 볼린주
 자카르파탸주
 자포리자주
 지토미르주

 자치 공화국
 크림 자치 공화국

 특별시
 키이우 (Kyiv)
 세바스토폴

대외 관계 

유즈노예 로켓엔진 설계업체는 액체부분 세계 최고 로켓 엔진 설계 업체이다. 소련 시절 전략 로켓군의 지상 발사 전략 탄도탄은 모두 여기서 설계되었다. 2022년 러시아와 전쟁 중에 있다.

경제 

우크라이나의 경제 규모는 독립국가연합 국가 중 2위이다. 하지만, 정치와 사실상 마찬가지로 경제도 불안 상태라고 할 수 있다. 우크라이나의 경제는 유럽 연합이나 러시아, 미국 등에 의존하고 있다. 밀의 총생산량은 22,323,600톤(2011년, 세계11위)이다.

사회

주민 

2001년 국세조사에 따르면 우크라이나의 민족 구성 비율은 우크라이나인이 77.8%, 러시아인이 17.3%이다. 약 12,000명의 고려인이 거주하며, 벨라루스인 역시 거주한다. 종교는 대부분 우크라이나 정교회를 믿는 기독교인이며 가톨릭교회이지만, 동방정교회 전례 즉, 예배방식을 따르는 동방 가톨릭 교회인 우크라이나 그리스 가톨릭교회와 선교사들에 의해 들어온 개신교가 있다.

2001년 국제조사에 따른 모어분포를 보면 67.5%가 '법적' 공용어인 키릴 문자를 사용하는 우크라이나어를, 29.6%가 '실제적' 공식어인 러시아어를 쓴다. 루마니아어·폴란드어·헝가리어 등 소수민족어도 쓰인다. 러시아어는 하르키우와 도네츠크, 루한스크 등의 동부, 오데사 등의 남부, 크림 반도 전역에서 주로 쓰이며, 동부와 남부의 지역 공식어로도 지정되어 있다. 하지만 2014년 2월 23일에 최고 라다가 러시아어 등 소수민족어를 지역 공식어로 인정하는 법률을 다수결로 폐지하는 것을 결정하면서 지역공식어 지위를 박탈당했다. 하지만, 2014년 5월 20일에 의회에서 러시아어를 제2 국어로 인정하는 법안을 가결했다. 르비우 등 서부는 우크라이나어만 쓰인다. 수도 키이우는 러시아어와 우크라이나어가 모두 쓰인다. 거의 대부분의 우크라이나인들이 우크라이나어와 러시아어를 모두 이해한다. 우크라이나어, 러시아어는 둘 다 동슬라브어군에 속하지만 우크라이나어는 폴란드어나 체코어 등 서슬라브어와도 가까운 면이 있으며, 벨라루스어와의 문법도 유사하다. 벨라루스어도 약간은 사용되며, 북부 지방에서 주로 사용된다.

한편, 우크라이나는 2006년부터 프랑코포니의 참관국이 되었다.

문화 

우크라이나 문화는 우크라이나 내 절대적 우위를 점하고 있는 기독교의 영향을 많이 받았다. 혼인 생활 역시 전통에 따르는 경향이 있었으며, 서유럽에 비해 조부모가 아이들 양육에 있어 더 큰 역할을 담당했다. 우크라이나의 문화는 건축, 음악, 미술에서 반영되듯이 동/서 인접국들의 영향을 받았다.
소비에트 연방의 우크라이나 지배는 1932년 스탈린이 '문학과 미술 조직 재건'이라는 법령을 공표하면서, 소련 내 공산주의 리얼리즘을 표방하는 정책을 펼침으로서 우크라이나의 미술과 문학에 영향을 끼쳤다. 이러한 정책은 사실상 독창성을 무참히 짓밟는 것과 다름없었다. 1980년대 글라스노스트(개방) 정책이 일어나면서, 소련의 예술가들과 작가들은 그들의 표현의 자유를 되찾는데 성공하게 된다.

건축 양식 
키이우에 있는 성 미하일 황금 돔 수도원은 우크라이나 건축 양식의 예로 들 수 있다. '피산키'라고 불리는 부활절 달걀의 전설은 우크라이나에서 유래한다. 부활절 달걀은 일정한 패턴을 따라 왁스(또는 촛농)로 그림을 그리며, 염색을 함으로써 달걀에 산뜻한 색을 불어넣으며, 염색은 그 전 왁스칠한 부분에 영향을 끼치지 않는다. 달걀이 완전히 염색된 후에는 왁스칠 한 흔적이 완전히 사라지고 색깔 패턴만 남게 되었다고 한다

이 전통은 수천 년 전부터 존재했으며, 이는 우크라이나의 기독교 수용보다도 선행한다. 2000년에는 카르파티야 산맥 근처에 있는 코로먀라는 도시에 우크라이나 7대 불가사의로서 현대 우크라이나의 상징으로 선별된 피산카 박물관이 세워졌다고 한다.

음식 

우크라이나 전통음식은 닭고기, 돼지고기, 쇠고기, 생선, 버섯요리 등이 있다. 또한 우크라이나인들은 다량의 감자, 곡물, 신선하거나 절인 야채도 많이 섭취한다. 유명한 전통음식으로는 바례니키(밀가루 경단에 버섯, 감자, 독일식 양배추 김치, 신 치즈 또는 체리를 넣고 끓인 음식), 보르쉬(사탕무와 양배추와 버섯 또는 고기를 넣고 끓인 빨간 수프), 그리고 홀룹찌(양배추에 쌀, 당근, 고기를 채워넣고 말은 음식) 등이 있다. 우크라이나의 명물로서 키이우 치킨도 있다. 우크라이나 인들은 끓인 과일, 주스, 우유, 우락유(우크라이나인들은 우락유로 코타치 치즈를 만든다.), 생수, 차와 커피, 맥주, 와인, 호릴카를 마신다.

자연 환경

지리 

국토 면적 603,700km2에 576,700km2 (크림 공화국과 세바스토폴 제외시) 해안선 길이는 2,782km로, 우크라이나는 세계에서 44번째로 큰 국가(중앙아프리카 공화국보다는 작고, 마다가스카르보다는 크다.)이다. 또한, 유럽에서는 두 번째로 큰 나라이다. 어떤 사람들은 유럽의 중심이 우크라이나 서쪽의 라키브 마을 인근이라고 한다. 하지만 여전히 유럽의 지리적 중심을 보는 관점에 대해 논쟁이 있다.

우크라이나는 비옥한 평원, 스텝, 고원이 있으며, 그들을 지나가는 강이 흑해로 흘러들어간다. 거의 남쪽 만으로 강이 빠져나가고 남동부 지방에는 다뉴브 삼각지가 루마니아와 국경을 접하고 있다. 우크라이나의 대표적인 산은 카르파티아 산맥으로서 우크라이나 서부에 위치한다. 우크라이나에서 가장 높은 산은 호베를라 산으로 높이는 2,061m이다. 크림 반도를 따라서 넓은 해안선이 펼쳐진다.

우크라이나에 분포하고 있는 초르노젬(흑토) 지대는 비옥한 토양으로 유명하다. 그 밖에 아스팔트, 무연탄, 철, 망가니즈, 크롬, 타이타늄, 납, 아연, 알루미늄, 수은, 니켈, 천연 가스, 석유 등 70여 가지의 종류에 달하는 천연 자원이 매장되어 있다.

기후 
대개 온화한 대륙성 기후를 보이는데 남쪽의 크림반도 인근에서는 온난 습윤 기후가 나타나기도 한다. 비는 북서부 지방에 가장 많이 내리고 동부와 남동부 지역은 덜 오는 편이다. 겨울은 흑해 인근 지방이라면 따뜻하지만 내륙으로 들어갈수록 대체로 추워진다. 여름에는 전반적으로 따뜻하지만 남쪽 지방은 무덥다.

국기 

우크라이나의 국기는 밀과 하늘을 상징하는 것으로 하늘색과 노란색으로 구성되어 있다.
인민 공화국 시절에는 문장이 들어간 국기를 사용하였고, 소비에트 연방의 지배를 받은 시절에는 낫과 망치가 들어간 국기를 사용하였다.

국장 

우크라이나의 국장은 일명 '트리주브'라고도 불리며, 우크라이나를 상징하는 문장이다.
이 문장은 키예프 루스 시절부터 쓰여 왔으며, 문장에 총을 든 남자가 들어가 있기도 하였고, 소비에트 연방의 지배를 받은 시절에는 낫과 망치가 들어간 문장을 사용하기도 했다.

각주

외부 링크

우크라이나 
  우크라이나 정부 홈페이지
  우크라이나 최고 라다
  우크라이나 외무부

대한민국 
 우크라이나 주재 대한민국 대사관 
 우크라이나
 우크라이나 정보
 해외정보(우크라이나편)
 우크라이나 개요
 우크라이나에 대하여 
 우크라이나 이야기
  주한 우크라이나 대사관

해외 
 
 

  우크라이나의 언어, 문화, 관광정보
  론리플래닛의 정보(우크라이나편)
  CIA의 국가 정보(우크라이나편) 
  러시아정보스테이션(우크라이나편)
  키이우 포스트
  우크라이나 여행가이드

 
러시아어권
우크라이나어권
슬라브어권
아제르바이잔어권
유엔 회원국
유럽 평의회 회원국

가위()는 손으로 잡아 종이 등을 쉽게 자를 수 있게 하는 도구이다. 두 장의 얇은 금속 날을 결리지 않도록 엇갈리게 나사로 엮어, 그 두 날이 지레의 원리로 움직이면서 서로 부딪치면 절단력이 발생한다. 플라스틱 판, 얇은 철판, 머리카락, 끈, 종이, 옷감, 강삭 등을 자를 때 쓰인다.

종류

핑킹가위 

핑킹가위는 무늬를 내며 자를 때 사용하는 가위이다. 무늬의 종류는 여러가지이며 물결무늬 지그재그 톱니모양 등이 있다.

쪽가위 

쪽가위는 실 따위를 자를 때 사용하는 가위이다. 발견된 가위 중 가장 오래된 가위가 쪽가위 형태로 제작되었다. 16세기까지 유럽에서 사용되었으며, 오늘날에도 쪽가위의 형태를 변형한 가위를 찾을 수 있다.

X자형 가위 

X자 형태의 날을 지닌 가위이다. 서기 100년경 고대 로마에서 쪽가위 디자인을 각색하면서 발명되었다.

지렛대의 원리로 구분 
지렛대의 원리에 바탕을 둔 것으로 지레의 작용점 · 받침점 · 힘점의 상호관계에 의하여, 힘점이 작용점과 받침점 사이에 있는 원지점식(元支點式), 지레의 받침점이 힘점과 작용점의 사이에 있는 중간지점식, 작용점이 힘점과 받침점 사이에 있는 선(先)지점식의 3가지로 구별된다.

따라서 이것을 응용한 가위도 3종으로 대별된다. 원지점식에 속하는 것으로서 손자수용 가위 · 잎따기가위 · 망(綱)베기가위 등이 있고, 중간지점식에 속하는 것으로는 재단가위 · 꽃가위 · 전정가위 · 전지가위 · 잔디가위 · 양철가위 · 버튼홀가위 · 의료가위 · 이용(理容)가위 등이 있다. 선지점식에 속하는 것은 눌러서 자르는 가위와 과일따기 가위 등이 있다.

유래와 역사 
지금까지 발견된 세상에서 가장 오래된 가위는 기원전 1000년경 메소포타미아에서 만들어진 가위다. 특히 로마 시대의 유물로 가위가 많이 발견되었으며, 이 시대 가위는 라틴 문화 중기에 중부 및 북유럽 등으로 전해졌다. 라틴 문화의 가위는 남자의 무덤에 부장되어 있는 것으로 보아, 알려져있던 양모를 깎기 위한 것이 아니고 수염을 깎는 데 쓰인 것으로 추측된다. 그리고 로마 시대의 유물에서 발견된 날이 짧고 튼튼하게 만들어진 가위는 철사나 튼튼한 실, 얇은 철판등을 자르는 데 사용된 것으로 보인다.

한국에서 발견된 가장 오래된 가위는 경주 분황사 모전석탑에서 발견된 가위이며, 모양이나 쓰임새가 중국에서 발견된 것과 같은 걸로 보아 중국에서 건너왔을 것이라고 학자들은 말한다. 전 세계에서 발견된 유물을 비교해볼 때 가위는 서양에서 처음 만들어져 사용되다가 중국에 전해졌을 거라고 추측할 수 있다.

같이 보기 

 가위 바위 보
 칼

각주 

수공구
공구
도구

위키(,  )는 불특정 다수가 협업을 통해 직접 내용과 구조를 수정할 수 있는 웹사이트를 말한다.

또한 일반적인 위키에서 텍스트는 단순화된 마크업 언어(위키 마크업)을 이용하여 작성되며, 리치 텍스트 에디터의 도움을 받아 편집하기도 한다. 위키는 지식경영이나 기록 등 다양한 용도로 이용된다. 공동체용 웹사이트나 조직 내 인트라넷에 쓰이기도 한다. 그러나 주로 개인적인 용도로 이용되는 위키도 있는데, 이를 개인 위키라고 한다.

최초의 위키 소프트웨어인 위키위키웹(WikiWikiWeb)을 만든 워드 커닝엄은 위키를 "동작하는 가장 단순한 온라인 데이터베이스"라고 설명했다. "위키"는 "빠른"을 뜻하는 하와이어 "wiki"(발음은 위티[ˈwiti]나 비티[ˈviti])에서 따왔다.

특징 
워드 커닝엄이 보 뢰프와 같이 쓴 《위키 방식: 웹 상의 빠른 협업(The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web)》이라는 책에서, 위키의 가장 핵심적인 개념을 다음과 같이 꼽았다.
 사이트를 방문한 누구나 위키 웹사이트 내의 문서를 고치거나 새로 만들 수 있다. 이를 위해 기본적인 웹브라우저만 있으면 되며, 추가적인 확장 기능을 요구하지 않는다.
 위키는 서로다른 문서들을 단순히 링크하는 것만으로도 의미있는 주제간의 연계를 만들어내고 해당 문서가 존재하는지 아닌지까지도 보여줄 수 있다.
 위키는 가벼운 방문자를 위해 잘 만들어진 사이트가 아니다. 하지만, 지속적으로 웹사이트의 풍경을 변화시켜 방문자가 그 변화와 협력의 지속적인 과정에 참여하도록 한다.

위키는 간단한 마크업 언어와 웹 브라우저를 이용, 함께 문서를 작성하는 공동체를 가능케 한다. 위키 웹사이트의 한 문서는 "위키 문서"라 부르며, 하이퍼링크로 서로 연결된 전체 문서를 "위키"라 한다. 위키는 본질적으로 정보를 만들고, 찾아보고, 검색하기 위한 데이터베이스다. 위키는 비선형적인, 진화하는, 복잡하게 얽힌 문서, 토론, 상호 작용을 할 수 있게 돕는다.

위키 기술을 정의하는 특징은 문서를 간단히 만들고 고칠 수 있다는 점이다. 일반적으로 수정이 반영되기 전에 승인이나 검토의 과정이 없다. 대부분의 위키는 사용자 등록을 요구하지 않고, 일반에게 공개되어 있다. 많은 편집자가 실시간으로 만들며, 즉시 온라인으로 배포된다. 단 이는 시스템의 남용을 유발할 수 있지만 주로 장점이 더 많다. 개인 위키는 문서를 고치거나 읽기 위해 사용자 인증을 요구하기도 한다.

위키 문서 편집하기 
일반적으로 위키 문서는 위키 마크업이라 불리는 간단한 마크업 언어로 이뤄져 있다. 예를 들어 별표(*)로 시작하는 줄은 목록을 표시하는데 사용된다. 위키 마크업의 문법은 위키 소프트웨어마다 다르며, 일부는 HTML을 직접 사용할 수 있도록 하기도 한다.

점차 사용자가 위지위그(WYSIWYG) 편집을 할 수 있도록 지원하는 위키가 늘고 있다. 위지위그 편집은 위키 마크업의 모든 기능을 제공하지 못하므로, 이들 사이트에서는 편집자가 위키 문서를 직접 수정하는 방법을 제공하기도 한다.

대부분의 위키는 위키 문서의 변경 이력을 보존하고 있다. 편집자는 쉽게 문서를 예전 판의 내용으로 되돌릴 수 있으며, 이는 사용자의 실수나 고의적 훼손 때문에 필요한 기능이기도 하다. 미디어위키를 비롯한 많은 위키 소프트웨어는 문서를 편집할 때, "편집 요약"을 남길 수 있도록 한다. 이 편집 요약은 문서 본문에는 남지 않으나, 문서의 이력에서 편집 이유를 설명할 수 있도록 지원한다.

둘러보기 
대부분의 문서는 다른 문서를 가리키는 수많은 하이퍼링크를 포함하고 있다. 사용자는 필요에 따라 다른 문서의 목차나 색인을 따로 구축할 수도 있다. 여러 편집자가 임의로 문서를 만들고 삭제하기 때문에 수동으로 이런 목차나 색인을 유지하는 것은 쉬운 일은 아니다. 위키 소프트웨어는 이를 돕기 위해 분류나 태그 기능을 제공한다.

대부분의 위키는 현 문서를 가리키는 다른 문서를 찾는 백링크 기능을 제공한다.

위키에서 존재하지 않는 문서를 가리키는 링크를 만드는 것은 일반적인 일로, 다른 사용자가 자신이 아는 내용을 채울 수 있도록 유도한다.

위키의 문서는 문서의 제목과 표기는 다르지만 발음이 같은 등의 경우에 해당되면 그 문서의 제목과 거의 같은 명칭, 혹은 그 문서의 제목과 같은 명칭이 아니지만 그 문서가 설명하는 대상을 가리키는 또 다른 명칭이 있는 경우 넘겨주기를 이용해서 넘겨주기 문서를 만들어 그 명칭으로도 그 문서가 설명하는 대상의 원래 제목과 같은 내용의 문서에 들어갈 수 있다.

문서를 연결하고 만들기 
다른 문서에 대한 링크는 "링크 패턴"이라는 문법을 통해 지원된다. 원래 대부분의 위키는 낙타 표기법(CamelCase) 방식으로 문서를 만들고 연결했다. 단어의 첫 글자를 대문자로 하고, 사이의 공백을 지워서 만들 수 있다. 이 방식은 로마자를 쓰는 경우, 쉽게 링크를 만들 수 있다. 한 단어로 되어 있는 문서를 만들 경우, 단어 중간의 한 글자를 임의로 대문자로 만들어서 이용한다. (예를 들어 "wiki"라는 문서를 "WiKi"로 표기한다거나 한다.) 낙타 표기법을 쓰는 위키는 "TableOfContents" 등을 링크로 사용하므로 쉽게 알아챌 수 있다.

일부 소프트웨어는 두 단어 사이에 다시 공백을 넣어서 사용자가 보기 좋게 표시해주기도 한다. 그러나 대문자 표기를 되돌리는 건 쉽지 않다. 예를 들어 "RichardWagner"는 "Richard Wagner"처럼 각 단어가 대문자로 표시되어야 하나, "PopularMusic"은 소문자인 "popular music"로 표시되어야 한다. 일부 위키는 괄호를 이용한 자유 링크 기능을 지원하기도 하며, 일부는 낙타 표기법 링크 기능을 막기도 한다.

검색 

대부분의 위키는 문서 제목을 이용한 검색을 지원하며, 일부 위키는 본문 검색을 지원하기도 한다. 검색의 확장성은 위키 엔진이 사용하는 데이터베이스에 따라 좌우된다. 일부 위키는 일반 파일을 사용하기도 한다. 미디어위키도 초기 버전에서는 일반 파일을 저장용으로 사용하기도 했으나, 2000년대 초에 데이터베이스를 사용하도록 다시 작성되었다. 데이터베이스의 색인 기능은 대형 위키에서 빠른 검색을 위해 필요하다. 대안으로 일부 위키는 구글 검색 등 외부의 웹 검색 엔진을 이용하기도 한다.

역사 

최초의 위키 소프트웨어는 위키위키웹(WikiWikiWeb)으로, 워드 커닝엄이 창안했다. 커닝엄은 1995년에 위키위키웹을 만들기 시작하면서 처음으로 위키의 개념을 고안했고, 위키라는 이름도 지었다. 또한 최초의 위키 서버를 만들기까지 했다. 위키 소프트웨어는 디자인 패턴 모임에서 패턴 언어를 쓰면서 생겼으며, Portland Pattern Repository(PPR)가 최초의 위키였었다.

공동체

참가자 
위키에 참가하는 사용자에는 4가지 종류가 있다: 독자, 저자, 위키 관리자, 시스템 관리자. 시스템 관리자는 위키 엔진과 컨테이너 웹 서버의 설치와 유지보수를 책임지는 일을 맡는다. 위키 관리자는 위키의 내용을 유지보수하며 문서에 관한 추가 기능(문서 생성 및 삭제)을 제공받으며 사용자의 접근 권한을 조정(예: 편집 차단)할 수 있다.

같이 보기 

 한국어 위키위키
 위키 소프트웨어
 집단지성
 RSS
 컨서버피디아
 위키백과
 위키위키웹
 하이퍼링크
 미디어위키

각주

외부 링크 
 WikiIndex - 위키 디렉터리

하이퍼텍스트
인간-컴퓨터 상호 작용
자기조직화
하와이어 낱말
사회적 정보 처리

지구과학(地球科學, )은 행성인 지구와 그 주위의 천체를 연구하는 학문들을 묶어 부르는 이름이다. 지구의 환경은 크게 육지, 바다, 대기로 나누어지며, 이러한 환경들은 각각 지구과학의 주요 분야라고 할 수 있는 지질과학, 수문과학, 대기과학 분야의 주요연구대상이 된다. 일반적으로 지구과학으로 불리는 학문들은 대기에서 일어나는 현상을 대상으로 하는 기상학, 지구 표면의 물질을 주로 대상으로 하는 지질학, 바다 현상을 대상으로 하는 해양학, 지구의 깊은 속에서 일어나는 현상을 대상으로 하는 지구물리학과 실용적인 응용분야로서 환경공학 등이 있다.

지구과학에는 많은 전문 분야가 포괄되지만 대체로 여섯 가지로 나뉜다.
 지표면과 지표면 위에 있는 물과 공기 연구
 고체로 구성된 지구의 조성에 대한 연구
 지형에 대한 연구
 지구의 역사에 관련된 연구
 외계행성의 지질 연구
 실용적인 응용 분야

분야 
 자연지리학 (physical geography)
 지형학 (geomorphology, topography)
 수문학 (hydrology)
 기후학 (climatology)
 지역지리학
 측지학 (geodesy)
 토양학 (pedology, soil science)
 지질학 (geology)
 지사학 (historical geology)
 고생물학 (paleontology)
 층서학 (층위학, stratigraphy)
 퇴적학 (sedimentology)
 구조지질학 (structural geology)
 암석학 (petrology)
 광물학 (mineralogy)
 광상학 (economic geology, science of mineral deposit)
 지구화학 (geochemistry)
 지구물리학 (geophysics)
 지구전자기학
 지진학 (seismology)
 화산학 (volcanology)
 해양학 (oceanography)
 물리해양학 (physical oceanography)
 해양화학 (chemical oceanography)
 해양생물학 (biological oceanography, marine biology)
 해양지질학 (marine geology)
 기상학 (meteorology)
 대기물리학
 대기화학
 설빙학 (glaciology)
 지구환경과학
 지구공학
 행성과학 (planetology)

관련 분야 
 천문학 (astronomy) - 우주 물리학(천체 물리학, astrophysics) - 우주 과학 (space science)
 토목공학 (civil engineering)

외부 링크 
 
 한국지질자원연구원
 자원용어사전
 광물자원용어사전

 
자연과학

아오조라 문고()는 ‘일본어판 구텐베르크 프로젝트’로 불리는 일본의 인터넷 전자도서관으로, 저작권이 풀린 문학작품을 수집, 전자문서화해서 인터넷에 공개하고 있다. 저자 사후 50년이 지난 메이지, 쇼와 시대 초기의 일본 문학 작품이 그 대부분을 차지하고 있고, 일본어 외 문학 작품의 일본어 번역 작품도 다수 있다. 1997년 2월 도미타 미치오, 노구치 에이치, 야마키 미에, 란무로 사테이 등 4명이 창설하여 시작되었다. 2016년 연간 방문객수는 940만 건 이상이다.

아오조라 문고에 수록된 작품은 JIS X 0208에 해당되는 한자 범위 내에서 자원봉사자에 의해 아오조라 문고 형식 텍스트파일이나 HTML 파일로 전자화된다. 또 아오조라 문고 수록파일 취급기준에 따라 자유롭게 이용할 수 있기 때문에, 수록된 작품을 PC는 물론 PDA와 휴대전화로도 볼 수 있다. 텍스트 파일을 큰 글자로 인쇄하거나 전용 소프트웨어에 불러들여 시각장애인용으로 이용하는 방안도 기대되고 있다. 아오조라 문고의 열람 소프트웨어는 따로 개발 및 제공되고 있는 것은 없지만, 전자사전이나 아이폰용 어플리케이션 등은 타사에서 개발하여 출시되어 있다.

개요 
저자 사망 이후 50년이 지나 저작권이 소멸한 메이지 시대부터 쇼와 시대 초기까지의 서적 대부분이 존재한다. 외국 번역작품이나 저자가 무료보기를 인정한 현대작품도 포함된다. 장르는 정치부터 취미까지 다양하지만, 비교적 문학작품(시대소설, 추리소설등의 오락작품 포함)이 많다. 유명작가의 작품이 모두 갖춰져있진 않지만 그래도 일본어작품에 관련해서는 충실하게 갖춰진 편이다. (번역작품의 경우 번역저작권을 문제로 수가 많지 않다.)

잘 알려지지 않은 작품을 보존, 소개하는 장점도 있다. 작품 텍스트화는 지금도 현재진행형이며 2011년 3월 15일 현재 등록작품수가 1만권이 넘었다.
고전작가인 모리 오가이, 나츠메 소세키, 아쿠타가와 류노스케, 최근의 작가로는 나카지마 아츠시, 다자이 오사무, 하야시 후미코, 미야모토 유리코, 호리 다쓰오, 사카구치 안고, 다카무라 고타로, 나가이 가후, 요시카와 에이지 등 인물의 작품이 있다.

운영 
아오조라 문고는 자원봉사로 운영되며 열람 역시 무료이다. 서비스 개시 초반에는 보이저 사에서 서버를 제공하였다. 1998년부터 1999년까지는 토미타가 작업 수칙과 매뉴얼을 만들었다.

자원봉사로 운영되기 때문에 작품의 입력과 교정 역시 자원봉사자가 한다. 입력은 원본을 보면서 타자입력이나 스캐너로 입력하는 방법으로 이뤄진다. 또 작품을 입력하는 '입력자'와 입력된 작품을 교정하는 '교정자'는 별도의 자원봉사자가 담당한다. 따라서 작품이 공개되기 전까지는 작품을 입력한 뒤 교정자가 교정을 예약할 때까지 '교정대기' (校正待ち)가 되고, 작업을 멈추게 된다. 즉, 입력하는 자원봉사자가 작품을 입력해 교정을 맡은 자원봉사자가 교정예약을 해서, 교정작업을 완료하기 전까지는 작품을 공개할 수 없다. 때문에 입력이 완료되어도 작업 상태가 '교정대기' 상태인 작품이 증가하고
있다. 이는 입력에 비해 교정 작업이 부족하기 때문으로, 아오조라 문고 출범 당시부터 안고 있는 문제점이기도 하다. 이 문제에 대해서는 작품의 교정작업을 하지 않고 공개하는 방안과 입력자가 교정한 것도 인정하자는 방안이 제기된 적이 있지만 현재까지도 이 방안은 채택되지 못하고 있다. 대신 2011년 12월 16일 공개분부터는 기부금을 재원으로 삼은 '유상교정' 서비스가 진행되고 있다.

2013년 8월 아오조라 문고의 설립자인 토미타가 사망한 것을 계기로, 아오조라 문고에 지속적인 지원을 해줄 '책의 미래 기금' (本の未来基金)이 설립됐다. 하지만 2015년부터는 엔지니어가 없는 상태로 서버를 강제로 돌리고 있으며, 서버 자체도 노후화되고 있다는 점이 문제되고 있다. 이 때문에 2015년 5월 "'Code for 아오조라 문고' 아이디어 송"이 개최되어 향후 시스템 운용에 대한 의견 교환이 이뤄졌다. 그 이후에는 해당 모임을 바탕으로 시스템 관리와 코드수정 등을 맡는 'aozorahack' 프로젝트가 진행되고 있다.

형식
텍스트 파일을 아오조라 문고에 수록할 때, 텍스트 파일이 갖추어야 할 서식을 '아오조라 문고' 형식이라 부른다.

아오조라 문고 형식은 텍스트 파일로서 많은 환경에서 읽을 수 있도록 규격화되어있다. 때문에 가능한 한 원본의 충실한 재현을 목표로 삼고 있지만, 줄 바꿈이나 삽화 등의 정보는 원칙적으로 포함되지 않는다.

아오조라 문고 형식에 대응하는 텍스트 뷰어와 텍스트 편집기도 존재하며, 올림문자와 방점 등도 재현할 수 있다. 또 이러한 텍스트 뷰어에서는 본래 아오조라 문고 형식에 포함되지 않았던 삽화 정보를 삽입하거나 세로쓰기로 표시할 수 있으며, 텍스트를 읽기 쉽도록 만드는 다양한 기능이 포함되어 있다. 이러한 소프트웨어는 유료와 무료를 불문하고 종류가 다양하다.

올림문자 
일본어 표기에 많이 쓰이는 올림문자 (후리가나)는 그대로 올려쓰지 않고 '｜'나 '《》'로 표시한다. 올림문자를 《》 로 묶거나 ｜로 올릴 문자열을 특정하는 방식은 일본 시각장애인 독서지원협회 (BBA)의 원문입력 수칙에 따른 것이다.

이 같은 방식을 예시로 들자면 다음과 같다.
青空｜文庫《ぶんこ》 
라고 표기했다면 'ぶんこ' (분코)라는 올림표기가 '文庫' 부분에 걸려 있는 것이다. 다만,
本日は晴天《せいてん》なり。 
처럼 올림표기를 쓸 한자가 가나로 충분히 구분된다면 ｜를 써서 분리할 필요가 없으므로 쓰지 않는다. 또한,
｜ブルースカイ《青空》 
처럼 가나에 올림표기를 강제로 쓰는 것도 가능하다.

각주

외부 링크 
 https://www.aozora.gr.jp/ ; https://web.archive.org/web/20180623141418/https://www.aozora.gr.jp/aozorablog/

전자 도서관

프로젝트 구텐베르크(Project Gutenberg,PG)는 인류의 자료를 모아서 전자정보로 저장하고 배포하는 프로젝트로, 1971년 미국인 마이클 하트(Michael Hart)가 시작했다.

인쇄술을 통해 지식의 전달을 급속도로 확장시킨 요하네스 구텐베르크의 이름에서 따온 것으로, 인터넷에 전자화된 문서(e-text)를 저장해 놓고 누구나 무료로 책을 받아 읽을 수 있는 가상 도서관을 만드는 것을 목표로 한다. 수많은 자원봉사자들이 인터넷을 이용해 기여하여 만들어지는 프로젝트로 수많은 고전의 원문이 모여 있다.

2006년 3월 프로젝트 구텐베르크 발표에 따르면, 프로젝트는 18,000개 항목 이상의 전자문서를 보유하고 있으며, 매주 50여개의 새로운 전자책이 새롭게 등록되고 있다고 한다.

프로젝트에 등록된 전자책은 대부분이 서구의 문학작품으로 이루어져 있다. 소설, 시, 단편소설, 드라마 등의 문학작품 외에 요리책, 사전류, 정기간행물이 포함되어 있다. 또한 일부 오디오 파일과 음악 악보 파일도 갖고 있다.

대부분은 영문 서적이지만, 독일어, 프랑스어, 이탈리아어, 에스파냐어, 네덜란드어, 핀란드어, 중국어, 포르투갈어, 라틴어, 스웨덴어, 라틴어, 에스페란토로 된 책도 있으며, 여타 언어 문서도 꾸준히 증가하고 있다.

문서는 주로 아스키 문자 집합, 때때로 ISO-8859-1 문자 집합으로 인코딩된 텍스트문서를 언제나 내려받을 수 있으며, HTML등의 다른 형식의 문서도 받을 수 있다. 편집이 어려운 PDF 등의 문서형식은 프로젝트가 지향하는 바와 맞지 않는 것으로 여겨지지만, PDF형식을 이용할 수 있는 문서도 있다. 최근 수년동안 XML형식을 도입할지에 대한 토론이 있었지만, 토론은 지지부진하다.

기술의 발전
1990년대 들어 스캐닝과 OCR기술에 힘입어 마이클 하트는 컴퓨터 제조회사에서 스캐닝장비를 기증받아 문서를 스캐닝한후 OCR소프트웨어로 이를 텍스트화하는 작업을 구축하였다. 이러한 형태의 발전된 프로세스는 현재 주요한 작업기술이다. 한편 PG는 다중원본제공을 지원하며 또한 사용자 제공 콘텐츠 절차를 지원한다. 이는 셀프 출판을 의미한다.

라이선스
프로젝트 구텐베르크 라이선스(The Project Gutenberg License,PGL)는 아래와 같은 2개의 큰 맥락을 갖는다.

 구텐베르크 프로젝트에 영구적, 전 세계적, 비 독점, 철회 불가능한 저작권 라이선스를 부여하고, 무제한적인 재배포를 허용함.
 작품은 플레인 텍스트 또는 HTML버전, 또는 두 가지 버전으로 제공되어야 함.

이러한 프로젝트 구텐베르크 라이선스는 이후 몇몇 추가된 라이선스를 도입했으며 이전의 라이선스와 추가변형된 라이선스는 '프로젝트 구텐베르크'의 공식웹사이트에서 전문을 확인할 수 있다.

같이 보기 
 직지 프로젝트 - 대한민국에서 프로젝트 구텐베르크의 모티브를 얻어 진행되는 프로젝트.
 아오조라 문고

각주

외부 링크 
 
 

미국의 도서관
미국의 웹사이트
전자 도서관
책 웹사이트
미디어위키 웹사이트
다언어 웹사이트
오픈 액세스
퍼블릭 도메인
요하네스 구텐베르크
1971년 설립된 단체
교육 프로젝트

《겐지모노가타리》()는 일본 헤이안 시대 중기에 성립한 일본의 모노가타리계 장편이야기이자 소설이다. 문헌 처음으로 나온 것은 1008년 (간코 5년)이다. 작가는 무라사키 시키부로, 그녀 생애 유일한 모노가타리 작품이다. 주인공인 히카루 겐지를 통해, 연애, 영광과 몰락, 정치적 욕망과 권력투쟁 등 헤이안 시대의 귀족사회를 그렸다.

하급 귀족 출신인 무라사키 시키부는 20대 후반에 후지와라노 노부타카와 결혼해 1녀를 두었으나, 결혼 후 3년만에 남편과 사별하면서 현실을 잊기 위해 이야기를 쓰기 시작했다. 이것이 《겐지모노가타리》의 시작이다. 당시에는 종이가 귀했기 때문에, 종이 제공자가 있으면, 그때마다 쓰고, 동료들끼리 서로 비평하는 등 즐거워했는데, 그 이야기의 평판에 후지와라노 미치나가의 딸인 중궁 후지와라노 쇼시(아키코)의 가정교사로 무라사키 시키부를 불렀다. 이를 계기로 궁중에 들어간 무라사키 시키부는 궁에서 근무하면서, 후지와라노 미치나가의 지원 아래에 이야기를 계속 써, 54첩으로 구성된 《겐지모노가타리》가 완성됐다.

또한, 겐지모노가타리는 문헌이 처음 나온지 약 150년 만인 헤이안 시대 말기에, 〈겐지모노가타리 에마키〉로 회화화되었다. 현존하는 에마키 중, 도쿠가와 미술관과 고토 미술관 소장품은 국보로 지정되어있다. 또, 현재 《겐지모노가타리》는 일본 뿐아니라, 20개 언어 이상의 번역을 통해, 세계 각국에서 읽히고 있다.

제목 
고사본은 제목이 적혀 있지 않은 것도 많고, 기록되어 있는 경우에도 내용은 다양하다. 《겐지모노가타리》의 경우에는 책자의 표제로써 《겐지모노가타리》 내지 그에 해당하는 이야기 전체의 표제가 적혀 있는 경우보다 각각의 첩명이 적혀 있는 경우가 적지 않다. 이러한 경위로 보아, 현재 일반적으로 《겐지모노가타리》라고 불리는 이 이야기가 쓰여질 당시의 제목이 무엇이었는지는 분명치 않다. 옛 사본이나 주석서 등의 문헌에 나와 있는 명칭은 크게 다음과 같은 계통으로 나뉜다.

 「源氏の物語」, 「光源氏の物語」, 「光る源氏の物語」, 「光源氏」, 「源氏」「源氏の君」 등으로 하는 계통

 「紫の物語」, 「紫のゆかり」, 「紫のゆかりの物語」 등으로 하는 계통

이들은 모두 겐지(源氏 (光源氏) 또는 무라사키노우에(紫の上)라는 주인공의 이름을 그대로 이야기 제목으로 한 것이어서 이야기의 고유한 명칭이라고 보기는 어렵다. 또한, 집필 시 저자가 명명했다면 이처럼 다양한 제목이 생겨날 것으로 보기 어렵기 때문에, 이들이 작자에 의한 것이 아닐 가능성이 높다고 본다.

『무라사키 시키부 일기』, 『사라시나 일기』, 『미즈가카미』 등, 이 이야기의 성립 시기에 가까운 주요 문헌에 《겐지모노가타리》라고 되어 있는 점 등으로 말미암아, 이야기의 성립 초기부터 이 이름으로 불렸다고 생각되지만, 작가의 일반적인 통칭인 「무라사키 시키부」가 《겐지모노가타리》 (=《무라사키노모노가타리》)의 작자라는 데서 유래한다면, 그 바탕이 된 《무라사키노모노가타리》나 《무라사키노유카리노모노가타리》라는 명칭은 상당히 이른 시기부터 존재했을 것으로 보이며, 「겐지(源氏)」를 표제로 내세운 제목보다 오래되었다는 견해도 있다. 《무라사키노모노가타리》라고 부르는 경우에는, 현재의 《겐지모노가타리》 54첩 전체를 가리키는 것이 아니라, 「와카무라사키(若紫)」를 비롯한 무라사키노우에가 등장하는 권 (이른바 《무라사키노우에모노가타리》)만을 지칭한다는 설도 있다.

『카카이쇼(河海抄)』 등의 고전승에는 「源氏の物語」라고 불리는 이야기가 여러 개 존재하고, 그 중에서 가장 뛰어난 것이 「光源氏物語」라고 하는 것이 있다. 그러나, 현재 《겐지모노가타리》라고 불리는 이야기 이외의 《겐지모노가타리》의 존재를 확인할 수 없기 때문에, 이케다 키칸 등은 이 전승을 다루기에 부족한 기괴한 설에 불과하다며, 사실이 아니라고 밝혔다. 이에 대해 와츠지 테츠로는 현재의 《겐지모노가타리》에는 독자들에게 현재 알려지지 않은 히카루 겐지에 대한 모종의 주지의 이야기가 존재하는 것을 전제로 처음 이해할 수 있는 부분이 존재한다며, "이것은 갑자기 척척 해야할 설이 아닐라고 생각한다"고 말했다.

이 밖에, 「원어 (源語/げんご)」, 「자문 (紫文/しぶん)」, 「자사 (紫史/しし)」 등의 한자어풍 명칭으로 불리기도 하지만, 이들은 한어의 영향을 받은 것으로, 그다지 오래된 것은 아닌 것으로 보인다. 이케다에 의하면, 그 사용은 에도 시대를 거슬러 올라가지 않는다고 여겼다.

평가 
헤이안 시대 중기 11세기 초에 성립된 장편 소설(모노가타리, 物語)이다. ≪겐지 모노가타리(源氏物語)≫는 오랫동안 특정한 명칭 없이 ≪源氏の物語≫, ≪光源氏物語≫, ≪紫の物語≫, ≪光源氏≫, ≪源氏≫, ≪源語≫, ≪紫文≫ 등으로 불려 오다가, 오늘날에는 일반적으로 ≪源氏物語≫라는 서명으로 불리게 되었다. 전체 54권으로 나뉘어 있으며 200자 원고지 5000매가 넘는 세계 최고(最古), 최장(最長)의 고전 소설로 치밀한 구성과 인간의 심리 묘사, 표현의 정교함과 미의식 등으로 일본 문학사상 최고 걸작으로 평가된다.

당시의 전형적인 이야기가 보통 ‘옛날에 남자가 있었다’라고 시작되는 것과는 달리, ≪겐지 모노가타리≫는 ‘어느 천황의 치세 때였는지’라는 독창적인 서두로 시작된다. 작품 전체는 400여 명의 등장인물과 기리쓰보(桐壷), 스자쿠(朱雀), 레이제이(冷泉), 금상(今上)에 이르는 4대 천황에 걸친 70여 년간의 이야기로, 히카루겐지(光源氏, 이하 겐지)라고 하는 주인공의 비현실적이라 할 만큼 이상적인 일생과 그 후손인 가오루(薫)와 니오미야(匂宮) 등의 인간관계를 그리고 있다. 또한 본문은 수많은 전기(伝奇)적 화형(話型)과 함께 795수의 와카(和歌)가 산재되어 있어 긴장감 있는 문체를 이루고 있다.

등장 인물 
 히카루 겐지
제1부·제2부의 주인공. 기리쓰보 천황과 기리쓰보 갱의 사이의 아들로 천황의 제2황태자. 신적 강하하여 겐지 성을 받는다. 아내는 아오이노 우에, 온나산노미야이며 사실상의 정실부인은 무라사키노우에이다. 아들로는 유기리(어머니는 아오이노우에),레제인(어머니는 후지쓰보 중궁, 공식상은 기리쓰보 천황의 아이), 아카시 중궁(긴조 천황의 중궁.어머니는 아카시노기미). 그외 양녀로는 아키코노무 중궁(레이제이 천황의 후궁이자 로쿠조노 미야스도코로의 딸) 법적인 아들인 가오루(가시와기와 온나산노미야의 아이)이 있다.
 기리쓰보 천황
히카루 겐지의 아버지. 총애했던 기리쓰보 갱의의 아들 겐지의 장래를 위해 그를 신하의 신분을 만들었다. 기리쓰보 천황의 막내아이라고 알려진 레이제이 천황은 사실 겐지의 아들이다.
 기리쓰보 갱의
기리쓰보 천황의 후궁. 천황의 총애를 한몸에 받았지만 그로 인해 다른 후궁들의 질투와 시기를 샀고, 마음의 병을 얻어 겐지가 세 살 때 요절한다.
 후지쓰보 중궁
선황의 황녀. 기리쓰보노 갱의를 빼닮은 외모 때문에 후궁이 되었으나 겐지와 밀통해 레이제이를 낳는다.
 아오이노우에
태정관의 딸로 겐지의 첫 번째 정실부인로 겐지보다 연상이다. 오랫동안 부부 사이가 화목하지 않았지만 회임하여 유기리를 낳는다. 로쿠조노 미야스도코로에게 원한을 사 생령에게 빙의되어 죽는다.
 도노추조 (내대신)
태정관의 아들이며 아오이노우에의 동복형제. 겐지의 친구이자 라이벌로 연애·승진등에서 항상 겐지에 앞선다.
 로쿠조노 미야스도코로
前동궁(기리쓰보 천황의 형)의 미야스도코로(후궁)이자 겐지의 애인. 겐지에게 강한 집착을 보이고 그의 냉담함을 원망하여 아오이노 우에를 죽이기에 이른다. 전남편과의 사이에서 태어난 딸은 후에 겐지의 양녀가 되어 레이제이의 후궁에 들어가, 아키요시 중궁이 된다. 겐지는 미야스도코로의 사후, 그 저택을 물려받아 장대하게 개축한다. (로쿠조인의 명칭은 여기에서 나왔다.).
 무라사키노우에
후지쓰보 중궁의 조카딸. 소녀 시절부터 겐지에게 양육되었고 아오이노우에가 죽은 후 사실상의 정실이 된다. 겐지와의 사이에 아이가 없어 아카시 중궁을 양녀로 삼는다. 온나산노미야와 겐지의 결혼으로 인생무상을 느낀게 된다.
 아카시노기미
겐지의 애인이며 아카시 중궁을 낳는다. 본의 아니게 딸을 무라사키노우에의 양녀로 보내지만, 입궁후 다시 만나 그녀의 후견인이 된다.
 스에쓰무하나 
히타치노미야의 딸. 겐지의 애인이 되지만, 심하게 야윈데다가 길고 붉은 코를 가진 추녀. 작품 중 가장 보기 흉하게 그려져 있다.

 온나산노미야
겐지의 이복형 스쟈쿠인의 제3황녀로 겐지의 조카딸이다. 스쟈쿠인의 바램도 있어 겐지 만년의 두 번째 정실이 된다. 유약한 성격으로 가시와기와 정을 통하여 가오루를 낳는다.
 가시와기
내대신의 장남. 겐지와 결혼한 온나산노미야와 밀통한다. 이후 사실이 드러날 것을 두려워하다가 그 걱정으로 인하여 병사한다.
 유기리
겐지의 장남. 어머니는 아오이노우에. 2살 연상의 사촌인 내대신의 딸인 구모이노 카리를 아내로 맞는다. 가시와기의 미망인인 오치바노미야를 사랑하게 되어 억지로 제2부인으로 맞는다.

 가오루
제3부의 주인공. 겐지(친부는 가시와기)와 온나산노미야의 아이. 선천적으로 몸에서 좋은 향기가 나서 가오루라는 별명을 얻었다. 우지에 사는 하치노미야의 장녀 오이기미를 사랑했고, 그녀의 죽음 후에는 우키후네를 사모하게 된다.
 니오노미야
긴조 천황과 아카시 중궁의 아들. 제3 황태자라는 신분을 내세워 방탕하게 생활한다. 가오루에 대한 경쟁심으로 향에 열중하였기 때문에 니오노미야라고 불린다. 우지에 사는 하치노미야의 딸 나카노기미를 주위의 반대를 무릅쓰고 아내로 삼지만 아내의 이복여동생인 우키후네에게도 관심을 나타보여 가오루의 집착을 알면서도 빼앗는다.
 우키후네
오이기미와 나카노기미의 이복여동생. 가오루와 니오노미야와 사이에서 고민하다가 자살을 시도하지만 요코와의 승려에게 구조받는다.

같이 보기 
 겐지 이야기를 읽는 요령
 겐지모노가타리의 등장인물
 겐지모노가타리 에마키
 겐지모노가타리 권명가
 겐지모노가타리의 사본
 무라사키 시키부
 무라사키 시키부 일기
 무라사키 시키부 일기 에마키
 후지와라노 미치나가
 어당관백기 (후지와라노 미치나가의 일기)
 국풍 문화
 일본의 중고문학사 (모노노아와레)
 모노가타리 / 츠쿠리모노가타리 / 왕조모노가타리
 풍속박물관 - 교토시에 있는 사립 전문박물관
 우지시 겐지모노가타리뮤지엄
 일본고전문학전집
 홍루몽

각주

외부 링크 
 
 김현정 교수의 겐지 이야기

 
무라사키 시키부
11세기 책
11세기 소설
일본의 로맨스 소설
왕자를 주인공으로 한 작품
교토부를 배경으로 한 작품
교토시를 배경으로 한 작품
효고현을 배경으로 한 작품
고베시를 배경으로 한 작품
긴키 지방을 배경으로 한 작품
친족 연애를 소재로 한 작품

귄터 그라스(, 1927년 10월 16일 ~ 2015년 4월 13일)는 독일의 소설가이자 극작가다.

생애 
독일 단치히 자유시(오늘날 폴란드의 그단스크)에서 식료품 상인이었던 독일계 아버지와 슬라브계 어머니 사이에서 태어났다. 하버드 대학에서 명예박사학위를 받았다. 1999년에 노벨 문학상을 수상하였다.

제2차 세계 대전과 그라스 
제2차 세계 대전 당시 독일 제국노동봉사대(RAD)에서 근무하던 중, 1944년에 무장친위대에 입대하여 10 SS기갑사단 프른즈베르크로 발령받아 참전했다. 징집당한 것이라는 얘기도 있으나, 당시 친위대의 독일인 대원들은 징집 대상이 아니라 자원 입대가 기본이었다(국방군 육군은 징병제였다). 종전후 부상당한 채 미군 포로로 잡혀 1946년까지 포로 수용소에 수감되었다. 이런 사실은 그라스 자신이 최근 발간한 자서전에서 인정했다.

전쟁 후의 그라스 
전후 1947~48년에는 광산에서 일하며 석공 기술 과정을 마친다. 이어 1948년부터 1952년까지는 뒤셀도르프 미술대학에서 그래픽과 조각을, 1953년부터 1956년까지는 베를린 예술대학에서 조각을 배웠다.

작품 활동 
1955년 슈투트가르트 방송국의 서정시 경연대회에 입상하고, 1956~57년에 예술 작품 전시와 별도로 작가 활동을 시작했다. 1958년까지 단문, 시, 희곡 등을 발표한다. 1954년에 결혼을 하고, 1960년부터 계속 베를린에 산다. 1959년에 매우 묘사적인 언어로 나중에 영화화 되기까지 한 《양철북》을 발표했다. 이 작품으로 그는 제2차 세계 대전 후 처음으로 세계 문학계에 이름을 날린 독일 작가가 된다. 이어 <고양이와 쥐> <개의 해>에서도 전쟁 전과 전쟁 후에 걸친 시대의 과오와 대결하고 있으며, 무대는 다같이 단치히이다. 이밖의 작품에 <달팽이의 일기에서> <넙치> 등이 있다. 1996년 유럽문화공로상을 받았다.

희곡 
그는 소설가로 활약하는 한편, 부조리극적인 소품(小品)인 <요리사> <홍수> <버팔로까지 앞으로 10분> 등을 발표한 바 있는데, 현대정치에도 직접 행동으로 참가하여 동·서 독일의 분열이라는 가장 현실적인 문제에 대담하게 도전한 <천민의 폭동연습>(1965)을 발표했다. 1953년 동독의 폭동 당시 브레히트를 모델로 하여 예술과 정치의 관련을 추구한 작품으로 <독일의 비극>이 있다.

주요 작품 
 단치히 삼부작(Danziger Trilogie)
 《양철북》(Die Blechtrommel, 1959년)
 《고양이와 쥐》(Katz und Maus, 1961년)
 《개들의 시절》(Hundejahre, 1963년)
 《넙치》(Der Butt, 1979년)
 《암쥐》(Die Rättin, 1986년)
 《광야》(Ein weites Feld, 1995년)
 《게 걸음으로 가다》(Im Krebsgang, 2002년)

사회 활동 
그라스는 전후 독일 사회민주당의 주요 지지자가 되어 외국인 혐오증, 신나치주의 등에 반대하는 사회활동에 적극 참여하였다.

각주

외부 링크 

 
1927년 출생
2015년 사망
노벨 문학상 수상자
독일의 소설가
독일의 극작가
무장친위대원
독일의 노벨상 수상자
쿤스트아카데미 뒤셀도르프 동문
독일의 자서전 작가
독일의 회고록 작가
독일의 사회주의자
독일의 로마 가톨릭교도
20세기 시인
21세기 시인
20세기 조각가
독일의 수필가
독일의 조각가
게오르크 뷔히너상 수상자
20세기 수필가
21세기 수필가

일반 상대성이론(一般相對性理論, , ) 또는 일반상대론(一般相對論, )은 마르셀 그로스만, 다비드 힐베르트, 알베르트 아인슈타인 등에 의해 발전되고 아인슈타인과 힐베르트가 1915년에 발표한, 중력을 상대론적으로 다루는 물리학 이론이다. 핀란드의 이론물리학자 노르드스트룀도 일반 상대론의 많은 부분을 논문으로 발표했었다. 일반 상대론은 현재까지 알려진, 중력을 다루는 이론 가운데 가장 정확하게 실험적으로 검증되었다.

특수 상대성 이론에서 수학자 헤르만 민코프스키가 민코프스키 공간을 도입하여 평평한 시공간을 기하학적으로 다루었다. 일반 상대성 이론은 중력의 영향을 시공간의 휘어짐으로 기술한다. 일반상대론에서 시공간의 수학적 구조는 특별한 종류의 준 리만 다양체이며 국소적(locally)으로 민코프스키 공간이다. 시공간의 휘어짐은 수학적으로 준 리만 다양체의 곡률에 해당한다(더 정확히는 준 리만 다양체 중에서도 특수한 로런츠 다양체의 곡률). 즉, 일반상대론은 1850년대에 만들어진 수학인 리만 기하학으로 기술된다. 시공의 곡률(아인슈타인 텐서)은 (우주 상수를 무시하면) 4차원 운동량 밀도에 비례하는데, 이를 아인슈타인 방정식이라고 한다. 일반 상대성 이론에서는 관성계뿐만 아니라 비관성계를 포함한 임의의 좌표계에 대해 물리 법칙이 동등한 형태를 유지하여야 한다.

중력 시간지연

중력 적색편이 
자유낙하하는 승강기와 승강기 바닥에서 승강기 천장으로 쏘여진 빛을 떠올려보면, 승강기 안에서 승강기와 같이 자유낙하하는 관찰자는 빛에서 어떠한 도플러 효과도 보지 못할 것이다. 왜냐하면 등가원리를 따르면, 중력장 내에서 자유낙하하는 관찰자는 중력장이 없는 관성계의 관찰자와 같으며, 중력장이 없는 관성계에서는 빛에 어떠한 변형도 일어나지 않기 때문이다. 따라서 자유낙하하는 관찰자는 승강기 천장에 설치된 빛 감지기에서 어떠한 도플러 효과도 나타나지 않을 것이라고 결론짓는다. 하지만 승강기 밖에서 땅 위에 서있는 관찰자는 빛에서 도플러 효과를 기대한다. 왜냐하면, 승강기가 자유낙하를 시작할 때 빛이 출발했다고 가정하면, 빛이 승강기 바닥에서 승강기 천장으로 가는 시간  동안 승강기 천장은 만큼 빠르게 되고, 이 속도에 따라 빛에 대한 청색편이를 감지해야 하기 때문이다. 여기서 청색편이는 느린 속도 근사식 만큼 일어났다고 가정한다.

감지기가 어떤 관찰자에게는 도플러 효과가 없다고 감지하고, 어떤 관찰자에게는 청색편이의 도플러 효과가 있다고 감지할 수는 없으므로, 우리는 청색편이의 결과를 상쇄시켜 자유낙하하는 관찰자의 결과와 일치시킬 어떤 것을 필요로 한다. 다행히, 중력장이란 존재가 있으므로, 중력장이 청색편이를 상쇄시키는 적색편이를 일으켰다고 할 수 있다. 중력 적색편이는 만큼 일어나며, 여기에 빛이 감지되었을 때의 승강기 천장의 속도와, 빛이 승강기 천장으로 가는 시간을 대입하면 라는, 중력 퍼텐셜의 차이 에 따른 적색편이의 식을 얻을 수 있다. 그러므로 승강기에서처럼 빛 방출기와 빛 감지기가 서로 상대적인 운동에 있는 상황이 아니라, 서로에 대해서 정지해있는 상황이라면, 빛의 감지기는 청색편이로 상쇄되지 않는 중력 적색편이를 감지할 것이다.

중력 시간지연 
빛의 감지기가 빛의 방출기에 대해서 정적인 상황에서, 어떻게 서로 다른 진동수를 얻을 수 있을까? 다시 말해, 빛의 감지기와 빛의 방출기가 단위 시간 당 서로 다른 개수의 파면을 받아들일까? 아인슈타인은 여기에 대해서 파면의 개수는 동일하지만, 빛의 감지기와 빛의 방출기가 서로 다른 시간 단위를 갖는다고 지적했다. 즉, 서로 다른 중력 퍼텐셜에 위치한 시계에서는 서로 다른 빠르기로 시침이 움직인다는 뜻이다. 진동수는 그 곳의 고유 시간에 반비례 하므로, 이며, 이를 중력 적색편이 식에 집어넣으면, 의 식을 얻을 수 있다.

전개 
일반 상대성 이론에서는 시공을 특수 상대성 이론의 민코프스키 공간에서 임의의 (로런츠 계량 부호수 −+++를 가진) 준 리만 다양체로 확장한다. 다양체의 계량 텐서 로서 시공간의 곡률을 정의하고, 이 곡률을 중력으로 재해석한다. 뉴턴 역학에서 중력은 (중력적) 질량의 밀도에 의하여 결정된다. 질량의 밀도를 자연스럽게 상대화하면 에너지-운동량 텐서를 얻는다. 아인슈타인과 다비트 힐베르트는 아인슈타인-힐베르트 작용을 통해 다음과 같은 장 방정식을 얻었으며, 이는 오늘날 아인슈타인 방정식으로 알려져 있다.

여기서 기호는 다음과 같다.
 : 에너지-운동량 텐서
 : 아인슈타인 텐서 = 
 : 리치 텐서
 : 스칼라 곡률
 : 우주 상수
이 식으로부터, 중력장이 약하다고 가정하면 뉴턴의 역제곱 법칙을 비상대론적 극한으로 얻는다.

공간 좌표를 으로 하고 시간 좌표를 로 하면, 세계선의 선소 는  로 표시된다.

와 는 시간과 공간의 좌표를 나타내는 인덱스로 0은 시간, 1,2,3은 공간 성분을 표시한다. 는 시공간 사이의 변환을 나타내는 계량 텐서이다. 예를 들어 가장 평탄한 시공간을 나타내는 민코프스키 계량 텐서의 경우

이다.
일반 상대성 이론에서, 중력 밖의 다른 힘이 작용하지 않고, 그 무게가 무시할 만큼 작은 입자는 시공간의 측지선을 따라 움직인다. 측지선은 시공에서 고유 시간을 극대화하는 경로이다. 즉, 이다.

일반적으로 중력에 의해 시공간이 휘어지는 것을 알 수 있다. 질량이 큰 물체는 시공간을 휘게 할 수 있고 그것이 중력을 제공하는 역할을 한다

관련 이론 
일반 상대성 이론은 실험적으로 성공적이나, 이를 주로 양자장론과 관련하여 여러 가지로 확장할 수 있다. 일반상대론에 비틀림을 더한 이론은 아인슈타인-카르탕 이론이고, 중력상수를 스칼라장으로 승진시키면 브랜스-딕 이론을 얻는다. 일반 상대성 이론에 추가 차원을 도입하여 다른 상호작용을 포함시키는 이론은 칼루차-클라인 이론이며, 초대칭을 도입하면 초중력 이론을 얻는다. 또한 초끈이론에서는 아인슈타인-힐베르트 작용을 자연스럽게 얻을 수 있으며, 고리 양자 중력에서는 아인슈타인-힐베르트 작용을 가지고 이를 양자화 한다는 것에서 시작한다.

같이 보기 
 일반상대론의 수학적 형식화
 상대성 이론
 특수 상대성 이론
 아인슈타인 방정식
 필바인
 칼루차-클라인 이론
 아인슈타인-카르탕 이론
 중력
 중력장

참고 문헌

원 논문 
 Nordström,Gunnar (1912). Relativitätsprinzip und Gravitation, in Physikalische Zeitschrift
 Nordström,Gunnar (1913). Träge und Schwere Masse in der Relativitätsmechanik, in Annalen der Physik
 Nordström,Gunnar Über die Möglichkeit, das Elektromagnetische Feld und das Gravitationsfeld zu vereiningen, in Physikalische Zeitschrift
 Nordström,Gunnar (1914). Zur Elektrizitäts- und Gravitationstheorie, in the series Öfversigt
 Grossmann, Marcel (1913). Entwurf einer verallgemeinerten Relativitatstheroie und einer Theorie der Gravitation: II. Mathematischer Teil (I. Physikalischer Teil von A. Einstein), B. G Teubner, Leipzig and Berlin 1913, p. 36.
  English translate(수학적인 부분은 마르셀 그로스만, 물리적 부분은 알버트 아인슈타인이 작성했다.)
 
  (점입자는 측지선을 따라 움직임)
 
 
 
  (수성의 세차 운동의 설명)
  (아인슈타인 방정식)
 
 Hilbert, D. (1915)  Die Grundlagen der Physik (German original for free) (English translation for $25), Konigl. Gesell. d. Wiss. Göttingen, Nachr. Math.-Phys. Kl. 395-407

교재

각주 

 
중력
물리학 개념
알베르트 아인슈타인
1915년 과학

데니스 매캘리스터 리치(, 1941년 9월 9일~2011년 10월 12일)는 미국의 저명한 컴퓨터과학자이자 현대 컴퓨터과학의 선구자이다. C와 유닉스의 개발자로 알려져 있다.

생애 
미국의 뉴욕주 브롱크스빌(Bronxville)에서 태어났으며, 1968년 하버드 대학교에서 응용수학 박사학위를 얻었다. 1968년부터 벨 연구소 컴퓨터 연구 센터에서 일했다. 2007년 루슨트 테크놀로지의 시스템 소프트웨어 연구부장으로 은퇴했다. 홀로 살고 있던 그는 미국 시각으로 2011년 10월 12일 뉴저지주 버클리 헤이츠의 자택에서 사망한 채로 발견되었다 (향년 71세).

업적 
켄 톰슨(Ken Thompson) 등과 함께 최초의 유닉스(Unix) 시스템을 개발했고, 1971년 최초의 〈Unix Programmer's Manual〉을 썼다. 또한 C 언어를 개발한 후 브라이언 커니핸과 함께 〈C 프로그래밍 언어〉(The C Programming Language)를 기술했다. 커니핸과 〈C 프로그래밍 언어〉책을 썼기에 커니핸이 C 언어 개발에 참여한 것으로 종종 오해받으나 커니핸의 말에 따르면 자신은 C언어 개발에 참여하지 않았다고 한다.

ALTRAN, B언어, BCPL, Multics 등의 개발에도 영향을 끼친 것으로도 알려져 있다.

1983년에 켄 톰프슨과 "범용 운영체제 이론개발, 특히 유닉스 운영체제의 구현에 대한 공로"로 튜링상을 수상했다.

미국의 경제 전문지 '비즈니스 인사이더'에서는 '현재의 애플 컴퓨터는 거의 모두 데니스 리치의 업적에 기반하고 있다'이라며 그의 업적을 평가했다. 현재 애플 매킨토시의 macOS와 아이폰의 iOS는 모두 유닉스 운영체제를 기반으로 만들어져 있다.

저서 
 〈C 프로그래밍 언어〉 (The C Programming Language) (1978년 브라이언 커니핸과 공저)
 〈Unix Programmer's Manual〉 (1971년)

각주

외부 링크 

 

1941년 출생
2011년 사망
미국의 컴퓨터 과학자
튜링상 수상자
하버드 대학교 동문
뉴욕주 출신
컴퓨터 선구자
프로그래밍 언어 설계자
유닉스 관계자
서밋 (뉴저지주) 출신
국립 기술혁신 메달 수상자

주기율표(週期律表, , ) 또는 주기표(週期表)는 원소를 구분하기 쉽게 성질에 따라 배열한 표로, 러시아의 드미트리 멘델레예프가 처음 제안했다. 1915년 헨리 모즐리는 멘델레예프의 주기율표를 개량시켜서 원자번호순으로 배열했는데, 이는 현대의 원소 주기율표와 유사하다. 원자 번호가 커짐에 따라 성질이 비슷한 원소가 주기적으로 나타나는 성질인 주기성을 기준으로 원소들을 배열하였다. 주기율표의 가로행은 주기라 부르고, 세로열은 족이라 부른다. 주기마다 같은 성질의 원소가 반복적으로 나타나기 때문에, 같은 족의 원소들은 서로 유사한 화학적 특성을 보인다. 전자를 가지고 있으려 하는 비금속성은 대체로 오른쪽이 더 높으며, 반대로 전자를 주려고 하는 금속성은 대체로 왼쪽이 더 높다. 이러한 화학적 성질은 각 원소의 전자 배치에 기인한다.

1869년 러시아의 화학자 드미트리 멘델레예프가 원자 질량에 따라 원소의 화학적 성질이 주기적으로 변화하는 것에 착안하여 주기율표를 처음으로 만들었다. 당시에는 모든 원소가 발견되지 않았기 때문에 원소 사이에 공백이 남아있었는데, 멘델레예프는 원소의 주기성에 착안하여 원소를 새로 발견하기도 하였다. 원소의 주기성은 19세기 후반에 사실로 인식되었으며, 원자 번호가 발견되고 20세기 초에 양자역학을 통해 원자의 내부 구조를 탐구하며 재확인되었다. 글렌 T. 시보그가 1945년에 악티늄족이 d-블록 원소가 아닌 f-블록 원소라는 사실을 발견함으로써 현대의 주기율표 틀이 완성되었다.

주기율표는 과학의 발전에 따라 계속 개정되고 있다. 자연계에서는 원자 번호 94까지 존재하는 원소들만 존재하는데, 과학자들은 실험실에서 원자번호 94보다 더 무거운 원소들을 합성하고 있다. 현재에는 118개의 원소들이 알려져 있으며 표의 처음 일곱 주기를 빈틈 없이 채우고 있다. 이 일곱 줄을 넘어서 표가 얼마나 뻗어나갈지, 표의 알려진 부분의 주기율이 언제까지 이어질지는 아직 알려지지 않았다. 또한 일부 원소가 주기율표에 올바르게 배치되었는지에 대한 과학적 논의가 계속되고 있다.

역사

되베라이너의 세 쌍 원소 
주기율표의 역사는 요한 볼프강 되베라이너의 "세 쌍 원소"로부터 시작된다. 그는 실험을 통해 세 개의 원소로 이루어진 무리 중 어떤 원소들은 첫 번째 원소와 세 번째 원소의 물리량 평균이 두 번째 원소의 물리량과 같음을 확인했다. 그 구체적인 예로는 '칼슘(Ca), 스트론튬(Sr), 바륨(Ba)'의 세 원소가 있다 여기서 스트론튬(Sr)의 물리량은 칼슘(Ca)과 바륨(Ba) 원소의 물리량을 합하여 2로 나눈 평균값과 비슷하거나 같다. 되베라이너는 이들을 세 쌍의 원소라고 불렀다. 이러한 세 쌍 원소 관계를 만족하는 원소들은 칼슘-스트론튬-바륨, 염소-브로민-아이오딘, 그리고 리튬-나트륨-칼륨이 대표적인데 이를 만족하는 원소수가 적어 인정받지 못하였다. 세 쌍 원소는 현대 주기율표에서 같은 족에 해당된다.

뉴랜즈의 옥타브 설 
영국의 과학자 존 뉴랜즈는 원소들을 원자량의 순으로 배열하면 8번째 원소마다 비슷한 성질의 원소가 나타나는 것을 발견하였고, 이를 피아노의 개념에 대입하였지만 이 대응성은 3번째 줄에서부터 어긋나기 시작했고, 처음 이 이론이 발표되었을 때만 해도 그는 웃음거리가 되었으나 이후 여러 가지 실험이 뉴랜즈의 법칙의 중요성을 보였다. 현대 주기율표에서 주기개념의 시초가 되었다.

드미트리 멘델레예프(1834~1907)

드미트리 멘델레예프는 화학 교수였다. 멘델레예프는 원소의 규칙을 밝히기 위해 이런저런 시도를 하다가 결국 원소들을 원자량순으로 나열하면 되베라이너의 세쌍원소, 뉴랜즈의 옥타브 법칙을 만족하게 된다는 것을 알게 되었다. 그는 원소가 어떤 함수의 결과라는 것을 확실히 믿었지만 비활성 기체가 발견되면서 그의 주기율표는 바뀌기 시작했다. 멘델레예프가 만든 주기율표에는 빈자리가 있었다. 그리고 그 빈자리에 언젠가는 빈 칸을 채울 원소가 발견될 것이라고 주장했다. 멘델레예프의 주기율표는 양성자의 수의 순서로 첫 칸부터 118번째 칸까지 채워지게 된다.

모즐리의 법칙 

멘델레예프의 문제는 영국의 모즐리에 의해 풀렸다. 그는 음극선관을 이용하여 생성되는 X선의 파장을 연구하여 양성자 수에 따라 화학적 성질이 달라진다는 것을 밝혀냈다. 이를 모즐리의 법칙이라하며, 이것을 기본으로 현대적 의미의 주기율표가 탄생하였다.

원소의 분류 
유사한 성질을 가지는 원소들의 집합을 일컫는 용어가 여럿 있다. 그중 IUPAC이 인정하는 것은 알칼리 금속, 알칼리 토금속, 질소족, 칼코젠, 할로젠, 비활성 기체가 있다. 원소의 성질이 주기적으로 반복되기 때문에, 각 집합은 각각 하나의 족에 대응된다. 대응되는 이름이 없는 족의 경우, 가장 첫 번째 원소의 이름을 따 부르기도 한다. 예를 들어 6족 원소의 경우 크롬으로부터 따와 크롬족(chromium group)이라고 부르기도 한다. 이와는 반대로 IUPAC이 깔끔히 정의내리지는 않았지만 통용되는 원소의 분류로는 금속, 비금속, 준금속의 분류가 있다. 이에 대해 일치된 견해는 없다. 전이 금속의 뒤를 잇는 금속들을 부르는 용어 역시 제대로 된 합의가 이루어지지 않았기 때문에 전이후(post-transition) 금속 또는 불량(poor) 금속이라고 불린다. 일부 논문에서는 상당히 다른 화학적 특성을 간혹 보인다는 이유로 12족 원소를 전이 금속에서 제외하지만, 보편적인 인식은 아니다.

란타넘족은 란타넘 (57번, La)에서 루테튬 (71번, Lu)까지의 희토류 원소이다. 란타넘족은 원자번호가 늘어나면서 4f 오비탈을 채운다. 과거에는 세륨(Ce)부터 루테늄까지를 한묶음으로 분류했지만, 현대에는 란타넘까지 묶는 표기가 일반적으로 사용되고 있다. 여기에 스칸듐과 이트륨을 더해 희토류 원소라고 부른다.
이와 마찬가지로 악티늄족은 악티늄(89번, Ac)에서 로렌슘(103번, Lr)까지의 원소를 가리킨다. 악티늄족은 원자번호가 늘어나면서 5f 오비탈을 채운다. 이 역시 과거에는 토륨(Th)부터 로렌슘까지를 한묶음으로 분류했지만, 현대에는 악티늄까지 묶는 표기가 일반적으로 사용되고 있다. 란타넘족 원소보다는 같은 족 원소끼리의 성질차이가 훨씬 크다. IUPAC는 -ide 접미사가 일반적으로 음이온을 나타내므로 모호성을 피하기 위해 란타노이드와 액티노이드라 부를 것을 권고한다. 루테튬과 로렌슘을 3족 원소로 생각하는 일부 학자들은 란타넘족 원소를 란타넘에서 이터븀(Yb)까지로 정의하고, 악티늄족 원소를 악티늄에서 노벨륨(No)까지로 정의하여 f-블록과 일치시키기도 한다.

위에 나열한 분류 외에도 분야에 따라서 여러 분류를 사용한다. 천체물리학에서는 원자 번호가 2보다 큰 원소, 즉 수소와 헬륨을 제외한 모든 원소를 금속이라 부른다. 반금속이라는 분류도 물리학에서 화학에서 서로 다르게 분류한다. 예를 들어 비스무트는 물리학의 정의에서는 반금속이지만, 대부분의 화학자들은 금속으로 간주한다. 중금속처럼 널리 사용되지만, 실제로는 엄밀하게 정의되지 않은 분류도 존재한다.

학자들마다 사용하는 용어에도 차이가 있다. 예를 들어, IUPAC는 매우 방사성이 강한 초중금속 오가네손을 포함한 모든 18족 원소를 비활성 기체로 분류한다. 그러나 오가네손의 실제 화학적 성질을 계산한 결과는, 오가네손이 상대론적 효과로 인해 비활성이 아닐 것이며 심지어는 상온에서 기체도 아닐 수 있다고 예측한다. 일본의 학자들은 알칼리 토금속에 베릴륨과 마그네슘을 포함시키지 않는 경우가 있는데, 이는 마그네슘보다 더 무거운 2족 원소들과 성질에 차이가 있기 때문이다.

논쟁거리 
주기율표에는 현대에도 여러 논쟁거리가 남아있다.

수소의 위치 
수소와 헬륨의 위치에 대한 논쟁이 이어지고 있다. 현재의 주기율표에서는 수소를 알칼리 금속과 마찬가지로 가장 바깥쪽 껍질에 전자를 하나 가진 리튬 위에 배열한다. 그러나 일부에서는 수소는 금속 원소가 아니며 수소가 전자의 구조 면에서는 알칼리 금속이 아닌 할로겐에게 가깝고 할로젠 원소와 성질이 비슷하다고 주장하며, 수소의 위치를 17족 원소로 옮겨야 한다고 주장한다.

마찬가지로 생각해서, 수소가 1족 원소라면 헬륨도 베릴륨 위에 2족 원소로 배치해야 한다는 설이 있다. 그러나 헬륨은 비활성 기체이므로 현재처럼 네온 위인 18족 원소가 가장 적당하다고 한다.

관련 문서 
 주기율표 (표준)
 확장 주기율표
 원소
 주기율표 (표준 원자량)

각주 

 내용주

외부 링크 
 IUPAC 웹사이트의 주기율표
 대한화학회 웹사이트의 주기율표
 

 

러시아의 발명품
1869년 작품

아미노산()은 아미노기(생물학적 조건에서 양성자화된 −NH3+ 형태), 카복실기(생물학적 조건에서 탈양성자화된 −COO− 형태), 특정한 곁사슬(R기)를 가지고 있는 유기 화합물이다. 모든 아미노산에 존재하는 원소는 탄소(C), 수소(H), 산소(O), 질소(N)이다. 또한 황(S)은 시스테인과 메티오닌의 곁사슬에 존재하고, 셀레늄(Se)은 덜 일반적인 아미노산인 셀레노시스테인의 곁사슬에 존재한다. 2020년을 기준으로 500가지 이상의 자연적으로 생성되는 아미노산들이 존재한다. 이 중 일부는 단백질을 비롯한 펩타이드의 단량체 단위를 구성하는 것으로 알려져 있지만 유전 부호에는 22가지의 α-아미노산만 나타나며 그 중 20가지는 고유한 지정된 코돈을 가지고 있고, 나머지 2가지(모든 진핵생물에 존재하는 셀레노시스테인과 일부 원핵생물에 존재하는 피롤리신)는 특수 코딩 메커니즘을 가지고 있다.

아미노산은 핵심적인 구조 작용기의 위치에 따라 알파-아미노산(α-아미노산), 베타-아미노산(β-아미노산), 감마-아미노산(γ-아미노산) 또는 델타-아미노산(δ-아미노산)으로 분류할 수 있다. 다른 분류 범주는 극성, 이온화 및 곁사슬 작용기의 유형(지방족, 비고리형, 방향족, 하이드록실기 또는 황의 함유 여부 등)과 관련된다. 사람의 근육 및 기타 조직에서 단백질의 형태로서의 아미노산 잔기들은 두 번째로 큰 구성 성분(물이 가장 큼)을 차지한다. 아미노산은 단백질의 잔기로서의 역할 외에도 신경전달물질, 생합성과 같은 여러 과정들에 관여한다. 이는 지구상의 생명체의 출현을 가능하게 하는 데 핵심적인 역할을 한 것으로 생각된다.

아미노산은 그림에 표시된 가상의 "중성" 구조의 관점에서 IUPAC-IUBMB 생화학 명명 공동 위원회에 의해 공식적으로 명명되었다. 예를 들어 알라닌의 계통명은 화학식 에 기반한 2-아미노프로판산이다. IUPAC-IUBMB 생화학 명명 공동 위원회는 이러한 접근 방식을 다음과 같이 정당화했다.

역사 
1800년대 초에 몇몇 아미노산들이 최초로 발견되었다. 1806년에 프랑스의 화학자 루이니콜라 보클랭과 피에르 장 로비케는 아스파라거스로부터 화합물을 분리하였는데, 이 화합물은 최초로 발견된 아미노산이었으며 아스파라긴으로 명명되었다. 시스틴은 1810년에 발견되었지만 시스틴의 단량체인 시스테인은 1884년에 이르러서야 발견되었다. 1820년에는 글리신과 류신이 발견되었다. 20가지 표준 아미노산들 중 마지막으로 발견된 아미노산은 트레오닌으로 1935년에 윌리엄 커밍 로즈가 발견하였다. 로즈는 또한 필수 아미노산을 결정하고 최적의 생장을 위한 모든 아미노산들의 최소 일일 요구량을 설정했다.

아미노산들의 화학적 범주의 단일성은 1865년에 샤를 아돌프 뷔르츠에 의해 인식되었지만 그는 이것에 대해 특별한 명칭을 부여하지 않았다. 영어에서 "아미노산()"이라는 용어가 처음으로 사용된 것은 1898년부터이며 독일어에서 "아미노산()"이라는 용어는 영어에서보다 더 일찍 사용되었다. 단백질이 효소적으로 소화되거나 산성 가수분해되면 아미노산으로 분해된다는 것이 밝혀졌다. 1902년에 에밀 피셔와 프란츠 호프마이스터는 각각 독립적으로 단백질이 많은 아미노산들로부터 형성되며, 이 과정에서 한 아미노산의 아미노기와 다른 아미노산의 카복실기 사이에 결합이 형성되어 선형 구조를 생성한다고 제안했다. 피셔는 이 선형 구조를 "펩타이드"라고 명명했다.

일반 구조 

그림에 표시된 구조에서 R은 각 아미노산의 특정한 곁사슬을 나타낸다. 카복실기 옆에 있는 탄소 원자를 α-탄소라고 한다. α-탄소에 직접적으로 결합된 아미노기를 가지고 있는 아미노산을 α-아미노산이라고 한다. 여기에는 2차 아민인 프롤린과 하이드록시프롤린이 포함된다. 과거에는 종종 이미노산이라고 불렸는데 이는 이민 부분()을 포함하지 않기 때문에 부적절한 명칭이다.

이성질체 
일반적인 천연 형태의 아미노산은 아미노기(, 프롤린의 경우 )와 카복실기()가 동일한 α-탄소 원자에 결합되어 있기 때문에 α-아미노산이다. 비카이랄성인 글리신을 제외하고 천연 아미노산은 L-입체배치를 가지고 있으며 리보솜에서 번역되는 동안 단백질에서 발견되는 형태는 L-아미노산이다.

아미노산의 입체배치에 대한 L 및 D 규칙은 아미노산 자체의 광학 활성을 따른 것이 아니라 이론산 그 아미노산이 합성될 수 있는 글리세르알데하이드의 이성질체의 광학 활성을 따른 것이다. D-글리세르알데하이드는 우선성, L-글리세르알데하이드는 좌선성이다.

다른 규칙은 (S) 및 (R) 지정자를 사용하여 절대배치를 지정하는 것이다. 단백질의 거의 모든 아미노산은 α-탄소에 (S)가 있고, 시스테인은 (R)이며, 글리신은 카이랄성이 아니다. 시스테인은 다른 아미노산들과 동일한 기하학적 위치에 곁사슬을 가지고 있지만, R/S 용어는 칸-인골드-프렐로그 순위 규칙에 의해 곁사슬에 더 높은 우선 순위를 부여하는 카복실 산소에 비해 황의 원자 번호가 더 높디 때문에 반대이다. 대부분의 다른 곁사슬에 있는 원자들은 카복실기에 비해 우선 순위가 낮다.

드물게 D-아미노산 잔기가 단백질에서 발견되며 번역 후 변형으로 L-아미노산으로부터 전환된다.

곁사슬 
아미노산은 아미노기의 질소 원자가 카복실기 탄소 옆의 탄소 원자인 α-탄소에 결합될 때 α-아미노산으로 지정된다. 아미노산을 분류하는 방법에는 여러 가지가 있다. 그러나 이들은 종종 이 섹션의 머리 부분에 있는 그래픽에 묘사된 것처럼 곁사슬의 극성에 따라 분류된다.

이 단락 아래의 모든 경우에서 값(있는 경우)은 단백질의 아미노산 잔기로서 작용기의 이온화를 나타낸다. 이는 유리 아미노산(생화학적 중요성이 거의 없음)에 대한  값이 아니다.

지방족 곁사슬 

여러 곁사슬들은 H와 C만 가지고 있으며 이온화되지 않는다. 해당하는 아미노산들은 다음과 같다(괄호 안에 세 문자 약어 및 한 문자 약어 포함).

 글리신 (Gly, G): 
 알라닌 (Ala, A): 
 발린 (Val, V): 
 류신 (Leu, L): 
 아이소류신 (Ile, I): 
 프롤린 (Pro, P): , 아민이 고리화됨

극성 중성 곁사슬 
두 가지 아미노산은 곁사슬에 하이드록실기를 포함하고 있다. 이들은 정상적인 조건에서 이온화되지 않지만 세린은 세린 프로테에이스에 의한 촉매 작용 동안 탈양성자화된다. 이것은 심하게 교란되는 예이며 일반적인 세린 잔기의 특징은 아니다.
 세린 (Ser, S, 심하게 교란되지 않은 경우 값이 없음): 
 트레오닌 (Thr, T, 값 없음): 

트레오닌은 2개의 카이랄 중심을 가지고 있는데 이는 카이랄성이 아닌 글리신을 제외한 모든 아미노산들이 공유하고 있는 α-탄소의 L(2S) 카이랄 중심 뿐만 아니라 β-탄소의 (3R) 카이랄 중심을 가지고 있다. 전체 입체화학적 사양은 L-트레오닌(2S,3R)이다.

아마이드 곁사슬 
다음의 2가지 아미노산은 아마이드 곁사슬을 가지고 있다.
 아스파라긴 (Asn, N): 
 글루타민 (Gln, Q): 

이러한 곁사슬은 정상 범위의 pH에서 이온화되지 않는다.

황 함유 곁사슬 
다음의 2가지 아미노산의 곁사슬에는 황 원자가 포함되어 있으며, 그 중 하나는 정상 범위(로 표시됨)에서 이온화되고 다른 하나는 이온화되지 않는다.
 시스테인 (Cys, C, ): 
 메티오닌 (Met, M, 값 없음):

방향족 곁사슬 

다음의 세 가지 아미노산은 곁사슬에 방향족 고리를 가지고 있다. 이 중 티로신은 정상 범위에서 이온화되며, 다른 2가지는 이온화되지 않는다.
 페닐알라닌 (Phe, F, 값 없음): 그림에서 왼쪽에 표시되어 있다.
 티로신 (Tyr, Y, ): 그림에서 가운데에 표시되어 있다.
 트립토판 (Trp, W, 값 없음): 그림에서 오른쪽에 표시되어 있다.

음이온 곁사슬 
두 가지 아미노산은 보통의 pH에서 음이온인 곁사슬을 가지고 있다. 이러한 아미노산은 보통 카복실산으로 같이 지칭되지만 가장 적절한 pH 값에서 탈양성자화되기 때문에 보다 정확하게는 카복실산염()이라고 한다. 음이온성 카복실산염 작용기는 포유류의 위에서와 같이 pH가 매우 낮은 환경에서 작용하는 펩신과 같은 효소를 제외하고 모든 환경에서 브뢴스테드 염기로 작용한다.
 아스파르트산 (Asp, D, ): 
 글루탐산 (Glu, E, ):

양이온 곁사슬 

중성  pH에서 양이온인 곁사슬을 가지고 있는 3가지 아미노산이 있다(히스티딘에는 양이온 및 중성 형태가 모두 존재한다.). 이들은 일반적으로 염기성 아미노산이라고 불리지만, 이 용어는 오해의 소지가 있다. 히스티딘은 중성 pH에서 브뢴스테드산과 브뢴스테드 염기로 작용할 수 있으며, 리신은 브뢴스테드 산으로 작용하며, 아르기닌은 고정된 양전하를 가지며 중성 조건에서 이온화되지 않는다. 히스티디늄(histidinium), 리스늄(lysinium), 아르기니늄(argininium)이라는 명칭이 구조에 대한 더 정확한 명칭이지만 기본적으로 통용되지 않는다.
 히스티딘 (His, H, ): 평형 상태에서의 양성자화된 형태 및 탈양성자화된 형태는 그림의 왼쪽에 표시되어 있다.
 리신 (Lys, K, ): 그림에서 가운데에 표시되어 있다.
 아르기닌 (Arg, R, ): 그림에서 오른쪽에 표시되어 있다.

β-아미노산 및 γ-아미노산 
 구조의 아미노산들, 예를 들어 β-알라닌, 카르노신 및 몇 가지 다른 펩타이드들의 구성 성분은 β-아미노산이다. 의 구조를 갖는 것은 γ-아미노산이고, 여기서 X와 Y는 2개의 치환기(그 중 하나는 일반적으로 H임)이다.

양쪽성 이온 

수용액의 적당한 pH에서 아미노산은 양쪽성 이온으로 존재하는데, 즉 하전된 상태에서  –와 –가 둘 다 있는 쌍극자 이온으로 존재하므로 전체 구조는 이다. 생리학적 pH에서 소위 "중성 형태"인 는 측정 가능한 정도로 존재하지 않는다. 실제 구조에서 두 개의 전하를 합하면 0이 되지만 순 전하가 0인 화학종을 "하전되지 않았다"라고 하는 것은 잘못된 것이다.

매우 낮은 pH(pH 3 미만)에서 카복실기는 양성자화되고 구조는 이 된다. 이것은 포유류의 위 및 리소좀과 같은 산성 환경에서 활성인 펩신과 같은 효소와 관련이 있지만 세포 내 효소에는 크게 적용되지 않는다. 매우 높은 pH(pH 10 초과, 생리학적 조건에서는 일반적으로 볼 수 없음)에서 아미노기는 탈양성자화되어 를 생성한다.

산과 염기에 대한 다양한 정의가 화학에서 사용되지만 수용액에서 유용한 유일한 정의는 브뢴스테드의 정의이다. 브뢴스테드의 정의에 따르면 산은 다른 화학종에게 양성자를 줄 수 있는 화학종이고 염기는 양성자를 받을 수 있는 화학종이다. 이 기준은 위의 그림에서 그룹에 라벨을 지정하는데 사용된다. 아스파르트산과 글루탐산은 브뢴스테드 염기로 작용하는 주요 그룹이며, 이들을 산성 아미노산(C 말단과 함께)이라고 언급하는 것은 완전히 잘못된 것이며 오해의 소지가 있다. 마찬가지로 소위 염기성 아미노산(이 역시 잘못된 것이며, 오해의 소지가 있다)으로 불리는 아미노산에는 브뢴스테드 산과 염기로 둘 다 작용하는 하나(히스티딘), 주로 브뢴스테드 산으로 작용하는 하나(리신), 고정된 양전하를 가지고 있어서 일반적으로 산-염기 거동과 관련이 없는 하나(아르기닌)가 포함된다. 또한 중성 pH에서 주로 산으로 작용하는 티로신과 시스테인은 보통 일반적인 분류에서 잊혀진다.

등전점 

전하를 띠지 않는 곁사슬이 있는 아미노산의 경우 두 pKa 값 사이의 pH 값에서 양쪽성 이온이 우세하지만 소량의 순 음이온 및 순 양이온과 평형 상태로 공존한다. 두 pKa 값 사이의 중간 지점에서 미량의 순 음이온과 미량의 순 양이온은 균형을 이루기 때문에 존재하는 모든 형태의 평균 순 전하는 0이 된다. 이 pH는 등전점(pI)로 알려져 있으며, pI = (pKa1 + pKa2)로 계산할 수 있다.

하전된 곁사슬이 있는 아미노산의 경우 곁사슬의 pKa가 관련된다. 따라서 음전하로 하전된 곁사슬을 갖는 아스파르트산 또는 글루탐산의 경우 말단 아미노기는 본질적으로 완전히 하전된 형태인 이지만, 이 양전하는 C 말단의 카복실기가 음으로 하전된 상태에 의해 균형을 이룰 필요가 있다. 이것은 두 카복실기의  pKa 값의 중간에서 일어나며, pI = (pKa1 + pKa(R)), 여기서 pKa(R)은 곁사슬의 pKa이다.

글루탐산(아스파르트산과 유사) 뿐만 아니라 양전하로 하전된 곁사슬을 가지고 있는 시스테인, 히스티딘, 리신, 티로신, 아르기닌을 포함한 이온화가 가능한 곁사슬을 가지고 있는 다른 아미노산에도 유사한 고려 사항이 적용된다.

아미노산은 전기영동시 등전점에서 이동성이 0이지만, 이러한 움직임은 단일 아미노산에서 보다 펩타이드와 단백질에서 더 일반적으로 이용된다. 양쪽성 이온은 등전점에서 최소 용해도를 가지며 일부 아미노산들(특히 비극성 곁사슬을 가지고 있는 아미노산 포함)은 pH를 필요한 등전점으로 조정하여 물에 침전시켜 분리할 수 있다.

물리화학적 특성 
20가지의 표준 아미노산은 특성에 따라 분류할 수 있다. 특성을 결정하는 중요한 요소로는 전하, 친수성, 소수성, 크기, 작용기 등이 있다. 이러한 특성은 단백질의 구조와 단백질-단백질 상호작용에 영향을 미친다. 수용성 단백질은 소수성 잔기(류신, 아이소류신, 발린, 페닐알라닌, 트립토판)가 단백질의 중간에 묻혀 있는 경향이 있는 반면, 친수성 곁사슬은 수용성 용매에 노출되어 있다. 생화학에서 잔기는 다당류, 단백질, 핵산의 중합체 사슬 내의 특정 단량체를 나타낸다. 내재성 막 단백질은 지질 이중층에 자신을 고정시키는 노출된 소수성 아미노산의 외부 고리를 갖는 경향이 있다. 일부 외재성 막 단백질은 표면의 막에 자신을 고정시키는 소수성 아미노산 부분이 있다. 유사한 방식으로 양전하를 띤 분자에 결합하는 단백질은 글루탐산 및 아스파르트산과 같은 음전하를 띤 아미노산이 풍부한 표면을 가지고 있는 반면, 음전하를 띤 분자에 결합하는 단백질은 리신 및 아르기닌과 같은 양전하를 띤 아미노산이 풍부한 표면을 가지고 있다. 예를 들어 리신과 아르기닌은 핵산 결합 단백질의 복잡성이 낮은 영역에 매우 풍부하다. 아미노산 잔기에 대한 다양한 소수성 척도가 있다.

일부 아미노산은 다른 시스테인 잔기에 대한 공유 결합인 이황화 결합을 형성할 수 있는 시스테인, 폴리펩타이드 골격에 대한 고리형 구조를 형성하는 프롤린, 다른 아미노산들보다 더 유연한 글리신과 같은 특별한 특성을 가지고 있다.

또한 글리신과 프롤린은 진핵생물 및 원핵생물 단백질의 복잡성이 낮은 영역 내에서 매우 풍부한 반면 시스테인, 페닐알라닌, 트립토판, 메티오닌, 발린, 류신, 아이소류신과 같은 반응성이 높거나 복잡하거나 소수성 아미노산의 경우 반대(과소 표현됨)가 관찰되었다.

많은 단백질들은 다양한 번역 후 변형을 거치면서 추가적인 작용기들이 아미노산의 곁사슬에 부착된다. 일부 번역 후 변형에서 소수성 지질단백질, 또는 친수성 당단백질이 생성될 수 있다. 이러한 유형의 변형을 통해 단백질을 막에 가역적으로 표적화할 수 있다. 예를 들어 일부 신호전달 단백질의 시스테인 잔기에 지방산인 팔미트산을 첨가 및 제거하면 단백질을 세포막에 부착시켰다가 분리시킬 수 있다.

표준 아미노산의 약어 및 특성에 관한 표 

비록 한 문자 약어가 표에 표시되어 있지만 IUPAC-IUBMB는 "한 문자 약어의 사용은 긴 서열을 비교할 때로 제한되어야 함"을 권장하고 있다.

일부 생물종에서는 일반적으로 종결 코돈으로 해석되는 코돈에 의해 암호화되는 두 가지 추가적인 아미노산이 있다.

특정 아미노산 코드 외에도 플레이스홀더는 펩타이드 또는 단백질의 화학적 또는 결정학적 분석이 잔기의 정체를 확실하게 결정할 수 없는 경우에 사용된다. 이들은 또한 보존된 단백질 서열 모티프를 요약하는 데 사용된다. 유사한 잔기의 세트를 나타내는 단일 문자의 사용은 축퇴 염기에 대한 약어 코드의 사용과 유사하다.

Unk는 때때로 Xaa 대신 사용되지만 덜 표준적이다.

Ter 또는 * (종결에서)는 종결 코돈이 존재할 때 단백질의 돌연변이 표기법으로 사용된다.

또한 많은 비표준 아미노산에는 특정 코드가 있다. 예를 들어 보르테조밉 및 MG132와 같은 여러 펩타이드 약물들은 인공적으로 합성되며 특정 코드가 있는 보호기를 유지한다. 보르테조밉은 Pyz–Phe–boroLeu이고 MG132는 Z–Leu–Leu–Leu–al이다. 단백질 구조의 분석을 돕기 위해 광반응성 아미노산 유사체를 사용할 수 있다. 여기에는 포토류신(pLeu)과 포토메티오닌(pMet)이 포함된다.

생화학에서의 생성 및 기능 

카복실기 옆의 α-탄소 원자에 아미노기가 부착된 아미노산은 단백질 합성에 참여하기 때문에 생물체에서 중요한 역할을 한다. 이들은 2-아미노산 알파-아미노산 또는 α-아미노산으로 알려져 있다. 대부분의 경우 일반식이 이며, 여기서 R기는 곁사슬로 알려진 유기 치환기이다. 보통 아미노산이라는 용어는 이들을 구체적으로 언급하는 데 사용된다. 여기에는 22가지의 단백질생성성 아미노산이 포함되며, 이 아미노산들은 펩타이드 사슬(폴리펩타이드)로 결합하여 방대한 단백질 배열의 빌딩 블록을 형성한다. 이들은 모두 L-입체 이성질체("왼손" 거울상 이성질체)이지만 일부 D-아미노산("오른손" 거울상 이성질체)는 세균 피막, 신경조절물질(D-세린) 및 일부 항생제에서 발견된다.

많은 단백질생성성 아미노산 및 단백질비생성성 아미노산은 생물학적 기능을 가지고 있다. 예를 들어 사람의 뇌에서 글루탐산(표준 아미노산) 및 γ-아미노뷰티르산(GABA, 비표준 γ-아미노산)은 각각 주요 흥분성 신경전달물질 및 억제성 신경전달물질이다. 결합 조직인 콜라겐의 주성분인 하이드록시프롤린은 프롤린으로부터 합성된다. 글리신은 적혈구에서 사용되는 포르피린 생합성의 전구체이다. 카르니틴은 지질 수송에 사용된다. 9가지의 단백질생성성 아미노산은 인체에서 다른 화합물로부터 생성할 수 없어서 음식물을 통해 섭취해야 하기 때문에 필수 아미노산이라고 불린다. 다른 아미노산들은 특정 연령이나 의학적 상태에 대해 조건부로 필수적일 수 있다. 필수 아미노산도 생물종에 따라 다를 수 있다. 생물학적 중요성 때문에 아미노산은 영양에 중요하며 일반적으로 영양 보충제, 비료, 사료 및 식품 산업에 사용된다. 산업적 용도로는 약물, 생분해성 플라스틱 및 카이랄성 촉매 생산 등이 있다.

단백질생성성 아미노산 

아미노산은 단백질의 전구체이다. 아미노산들은 탈수 축합 반응에 의해 서로 결합하여 펩타이드라고 하는 짧은 중합체 사슬이나 폴리펩타이드 또는 단백질이라고 하는 더 긴 중합체 사슬을 형성한다. 이들 사슬은 선형이고 가지가 없으며 각 아미노산 잔기들이 서로 펩타이드 결합에 의해 연결되어 있다. 자연에서 유전 물질인 DNA 및 RNA에 의해 암호화된 단백질을 만드는 과정을 번역이라고 하며, 리보솜이라고 하는 리보자임에 의해 신장되는 단백질에 아미노산이 단계적으로 첨가된다. 아미노산이 첨가되는 것은 생물의 유전자 중 하나의 RNA 사본인 mRNA 주형의 유전 부호에 따른다.

22가지 아미노산은 폴리펩타이드에 자연적으로 통합되며 단백질생성성 아미노산 또는 천연 아미노산이라고 불린다. 이 중 20가지는 보편적인 유전 부호에 의해 암호화된다. 나머지 2가지인 셀레노시스테인과 피롤리신은 독특한 합성 메커니즘에 의해 단백질에 통합된다. 셀레노시스테인은 번역되는 mRNA에 SECIS 요소가 포함될 때 단백질에 통합되며 UGA 코돈은 종결 코돈 대신 셀레노시스테인을 암호화하게 된다. 피롤리신은 일부 메테인생성 고세균에 의해 메테인을 생성하는 데 사용하는 효소에서 사용된다. 피롤리신은 다른 생물에서 일반적으로 종결 코돈으로 사용되는 UAG 코돈에 의해 암호화된다. 이 UAG 코돈은 PYLIS 하류 서열의 뒤를 따른다.

여러 독립적인 진화 연구들에 따르면 글리신, 알라닌, 아스파르트산, 발린, 세린, 프롤린, 글루탐산, 류신, 트레오닌은 초기 유전 부호를 구성하는 아미노산의 부류에 속할 수 있는 반면 시스테인, 메티오닌, 티로신, 트립토판, 히스티딘, 페닐알라닌은 유전 부호에 나중에 추가된 아미노산의 부류로 구분할 수 있다.

표준 아미노산 및 비표준 아미노산 
보편적인 유전 부호의 코돈에 의해 직접적으로 암호화되어 있는 20가지의 아미노산들을 표준 아미노산이라고 한다. 메티오닌의 변형된 형태인 N-폼일메티오닌은 보통 세균, 미토콘드리아 및 엽록체에서 단백질의 맨 첫 번째 아미노산으로 메티오닌 대신에 사용된다. 이 외의 다른 아미노산들은 비표준 아미노산이라고 한다. 대부분의 비표준 아미노산은 단백질비생성성 아미노산(즉, 번역 중에 단백질에 통합될 수 없음)이지만, 그 중 2가지는 단백질생성성 아미노산이다. 이 두 가지 아미노산은 보편적인 유전 부호에 의해 암호화되지 않은 정보를 이용하여 번역 과정에서 단백질에 통합될 수 있다.

이 두 가지 비표준 단백질생성성 아미노산은 셀레노시스테인(대부분의 진핵생물 뿐만 아니라 많은 원핵생물에 존재하지만 DNA에 의해 직접적으로 암호화되어 있지는 않음)과 피롤리신(일부 고세균 및 적어도 하나의 세균에서만 발견됨)이다. 이러한 비표준 아미노산의 단백질로의 통합은 드물다. 예를 들어 사람의 25가지 단백질은 1차 구조에 셀레노시스테인을 포함하며 구조적으로 특성화된 효소(셀레노효소)는 활성 부위의 촉매 부분에 셀레노시스테인을 사용한다. 피롤리신과 셀레노시스테인은 변이 코돈을 통해 암호회된다. 예를 들어 셀레노시스테인은 종결 코돈과 SECIS 요소에 의해 암호화된다.

N-폼일메티오닌(세균, 미토콘드리아, 엽록체에서 단백질의 맨 첫 번째 아미노산인 경우가 많음)은 일반적으로 별도의 단백질생성성 아미노산이 아난 메티오닌의 한 형태로 간주된다. 자연에서 발견되지 않는 코돈-tRNA 조합은 또한 유전 부호를 확장하고 단백질비생성성 아미노산을 포함하는 알로단백질로 알려진 새로운 단백질을 형성하는 데 사용될 수 있다.

단백질비생성성 아미노산 

22가지의 단백질생성성 아미노산 외에도 많은 단백질비생성성 아미노산들이 알려져 있다. 이들은 단백질(예: 카르니틴, GABA, 레보티록신)에서 발견되지 않거나 세포의 번역 체계에 의해 직접적으로 분리되어 생성되지 않는다(예: 하이드록시프롤린 및 셀레노메티오닌).

단백질에서 발견되는 단백질비생성성 아미노산은 번역 후 변형에 의해 형성된다. 이러한 변형은 보통 단백질의 기능이나 조절에 필수적이다. 예를 들어 글루탐산의 카복실화는 칼슘 양이온과 더 잘 결합하게 하고, 콜라겐에는 프롤린의 하이드록실화에 의해 생성된 하이드록시프롤린이 포함되어 있다. 또 다른 예는 리신 잔기의 변형을 통한 번역 개시인자 EIF5A에서 하이퓨신의 형성이다. 이러한 변형은 또한 단백질의 국재화(局在化, localization)를 결정할 수 있으며, 예를 들어 긴 소수성 작용기를 추가하면 단백질이 인지질 막에 결합할 수 있다.

일부 단백질비생성성 아미노산은 단백질에서 발견되지 않는다. 예로는 2-아미노아이소뷰티르산 및 신경전달물질인 γ-아미노뷰티르산이 있다. 단백질비생성성 아미노산은 표준 아미노산의 대사 경로에서 대사 중간생성물로 종종 생성된다. 예를 들어 오르니틴과 시트룰린은 아미노산 분해 대사의 일부인 요소 회로에서 생성된다(아래 참조). 생물학에서 α-아미노산의 우세에 대한 드문 예외는 β-아미노산인 β-알라닌(3-아미노프로판산)이며, 이는 식물과 미생물에서 조효소 A의 구성 요소인 판토텐산(비타민 B5)의 합성에 사용된다.

사람의 영양에서 

20가지 표준 아미노산은 음식물로부터 인체로 흡수되면 단백질, 기타 생체분자들을 합성하는 데 사용되거나 에너지원으로 사용되기 위해 암모니아와 이산화 탄소로 산호된다. 산화 경로는 아미노기전이효소에 의한 아미노기의 제거로부터 시작된다. 그런 다음 아미노기는 요소 회로로 들어간다. 아미노기 전이반응의 다른 산물은 시트르산 회로로 들어가는 케토산이다. 포도당생성성 아미노산은 또한 포도당신생합성을 통해 포도당으로 전환될 수 있다. 20가지 표준 아미노산들 중 9가지(히스티딘, 아이소류신, 류신, 리신, 메티오닌, 페닐알라닌, 트레오닌, 트립토판, 발린)는 인체가 정상적인 성장에 필요한 수준으로 다른 화합물로부터 합성할 수 없기 때문에 필수 아미노산이라고 불리며, 따라서 이들은 음식물로부터 섭취해야 한다. 또한 시스테인, 티로신, 아르기닌은 준필수 아미노산으로 간주되며, 타우린은 어린이에게 준필수 아미노설폰산으로 간주된다. 이러한 단량체를 합성하는 대사 경로는 완전히 밝혀지지 않았다. 필요한 양은 또한 개인의 나이와 건강에 따라 다르기 때문에 일부 아미노산에 대한 식이 요구량에 대해서 일반적인 설명을 하기는 어렵다. 비표준 아미노산인 β-메틸아미노-L-알라닌(BMAA)에 대한 식이 노출은 근위축성 측삭경화증을 포함한 사람의 신경퇴행성 질환과 관련이 있다.

비단백질 기능 

사람에서 단백질비생성성 아미노산은 신경전달물질인 γ-아미노뷰티르산(GABA)의 생합성과 같은 대사 중간생성물로서 중요한 역할을 한다. 많은 아미노산들이 다음의 예와 같은 다른 분자들을 합성하는 데 사용된다.
 트립토판은 신경전달물질인 세로토닌의 전구체이다.
 티로신(및 그 전구체인 페닐알라닌)은 카테콜아민 신경전달물질인 도파민, 에피네프린, 노르에피네프린 및 다양한 미량 아민의 전구체이다.
 페닐알라닌은 사람에서 펜에틸아민과 티로신의 전구체이다. 페닐알라닌은 식물에서 식물 대사에 중요한 다양한 페닐프로파노이드의 전구체이다.
 글리신은 헴과 같은 포르피린의 전구체이다.
 아르기닌은 산화 질소의 전구체이다.
 오르니틴과 S-아데노실메티오닌은 폴리아민의 전구체이다.
 아스파르트산, 글리신, 및 글루타민은 뉴클레오타이드의 전구체이다. 그러나 다른 비표준 아미노산들의 모든 기능들이 알려진 것은 아니다.

일부 비표준 아미노산은 식물의 초식동물에 대한 방어 수단으로 사용된다. 예를 들어, 카나바닌은 많은 콩류에서 발견되는 아르기닌의 유사체이며, 특히 카나발리아 글라디아타(Canavalia gladiata)에서 다량으로 발견된다. 이 아미노산은 곤충과 같은 포식자로부터 식물을 보호하고 일부 유형의 콩류는 가공하지 않고 먹으면 사람에게 질병을 유발할 수 있다. 단백질비생성성 아미노산인 미모신은 다른 콩과 식물, 특히 은자귀나무(Leucaena leucocephala)에서 발견된다. 이 화합물은 티로신의 유사체이며, 이러한 식물을 뜯어먹는 동물을 독살시킬 수 있다.

산업에서의 용도 
아미노산은 산업에서 다양한 용도로 사용되지만 주요 용도는 동물 사료의 첨가제이다. 대두와 같은 이러한 사료의 많은 벌크 성분은 수준이 낮거나 일부 필수 아미노산이 부족하기 때문에 아미노산을 필요로 한다. 리신, 메티오닌, 트레오닌, 트립토판은 이러한 사료의 생산에서 상당히 중요하다. 이러한 산업에서 아미노산은 또한 보충제에서 무기 염류 흡수를 개선하기 위해 금속 양이온을 킬레이트화하는 데 사용되며, 이는 이러한 동물의 건강이나 생산성을 향상시키는 데 필요할 수 있다.

식품 산업은 또한 아미노산, 특히 향미 증강제로 사용되는 글루탐산과 저칼로리 인공 감미료로 사용되는 아스파르탐(아스파르틸페닐알라닌 1-메틸 에스터)의 주요 소비처이다. 동물의 영양에 사용되는 것과 유사한 기술이 무기 염류의 흡수를 개선하고 무기 염류 보충의 부정적인 부작용을 줄임으로써 빈혈과 같은 무기 염류 결핍 증상을 완화시키기 위해 사람을 대상으로 한 영양 산업에서 사용된다.

아미노산의 킬레이트화 능력은 철 황백증과 같은 무기 염류 결핍을 개선하기 위해 식물에 무기 염류 전달을 촉진하기 위한 용도로 농업용 비료에 사용되었다. 이 비료는 또한 결핍이 발생하는 것을 방지하고 식물의 전반적인 건강을 개선하는 데 사용된다. 나머지 아미노산들은 의약품 및 화장품의 합성에 사용된다.

유사하게 일부 아미노산 유도체들은 제약 산업에서 사용된다. 예로는 우울증의 실험적 치료에 사용되는 5-하이드록시트립토판(5-HTP), 파킨슨병 치료에 사용되는 L-다이하이드록시페닐알라닌(L-DOPA), 오르니틴 탈카복실화효소를 저해하여 수면병 치료에 사용되는 에플로르니틴 등이 있다.

확장된 유전 부호 

2001년부터 40가지의 비천연 아미노산들이 단백질에 추가되어 고유한 코돈(리코딩)을 생성하고 이에 상응하는 다양한 물리화학적 및 생물학적 특성을 지닌 tRNA와 아미노아실-tRNA 합성효소의 쌍을 생성하여 단백질의 구조 및 기능을 탐색하거나 신규 또는 강화된 단백질을 생성하는 도구로 사용된다.

널로머 

널로머는 이론상 아미노산을 암호화하고 있는 코돈이지만 자연에서 이 코돈을 사용하여 다른 아미노산을 사용하는 것에 대한 선택적 편향이 있다. 예를 들어 세균은 아르기닌에 대한 코돈으로 AGA 대신 CGA를 사용하는 것을 선호한다. 이것은 게놈에 나타나지 않는 일부 서열을 생성한다. 이러한 특성을 활용하여 새로운 선택적 항암제를 만들고 범죄 현장 조사에서 DNA 샘플의 교차 오염을 방지하는 데 사용할 수 있다.

화학적 빌딩 블록 

아미노산은 저비용 공급 원료로서 중요하다. 이들 화합물은 거울상 이성질체의 순수한 빌딩 블록으로서 카이랄 풀 합성에 사용된다.

아미노산은 비대칭 수소화 반응과 같은 전구체 카이랄 촉매로 조사되었지만 상업적 응용은 존재하지 않는다.

생분해성 플라스틱 

아미노산은 환경 친화적인 포장재와 약물 전달 및 보철 임플란트에 활용되는 생분해성 고분자의 구성 요소로 간주되어 왔다. 이러한 재료의 흥미로운 예는 일회용 기저귀 및 농업에 활용될 수 있는 수용성 생분해성 중합체인 폴리아스파르트산이다. 용해도와 금속 이온을 킬레이트화하는 능력으로 인해 폴리아스파르트산은 생분해성 스케일링 방지제 및 부식 방지제로도 사용되고 있다. 또한 방향족 아미노산인 티로신은 폴리카보네이트 제조에서 비스페놀 A와 같은 페놀을 대체할 수 있는 것으로 간주되었다.

합성

화학 합성 
아미노산의 상업적 생산은 일반적으로 탄소원으로 포도당을 사용하여 개별 아미노산을 과잉 생산하는 돌연변이 세균에 의존한다. 일부 아미노산은 합성 중간생성물의 효소적 전환으로 생성된다. 예를 들어 2-아미노싸이아졸린-4-카복실산은 L-시스테인의 산업적 합성에서의 중간생성물이다. 아스파르트산은 분해효소를 사용하여 푸마르산에 암모니아를 첨가하여 생성된다.

생합성 
식물에서 질소는 먼저 미토콘드리아에서 α-케토글루타르산과 암모니아로부터 형성된 글루탐산 형태의 유기 화합물로 동화된다. 다른 아미노산의 경우 식물은 아미노기를 글루탐산에서 다른 α-케토산으로 전이시키기 위해 아미노기전이효소를 사용한다. 예를 들어 아스파르트산 아미노기전이효소는 글루탐산과 옥살로아세트산을 α-케토글루타르산과 아스파르트산으로 전환시킨다. 다른 생물들도 아미노산 합성을 위해 아미노기전이효소를 사용한다.

비표준 아미노산은 일반적으로 표준 아미노산의 변형을 통해 형성된다. 예를 들어 호모시스테인은 황전환 경로를 통해 또는 대사 중간생성물인 S-아데노실메티오닌을 통한 메티오닌의 탈메틸화에 의해 형성되는 반면, 하이드록시프롤린은 프롤린의 번역 후 변형에 의해 만들어진다.

미생물과 식물은 흔하지 않는 많은 아미노산들을 합성한다. 예를 들어 일부 미생물들은 2-아미노아이소뷰티르산 및 알라닌의 황화물 가교 유도체인 란티오닌을 생성한다. 이 두 가지 아미노산은 모두 알라메티신과 같은 펩타이드성 란티바이오틱스에서 발견된다. 식물에서 1-아미노사이클로프로페인-1-카복실산은 식물 호르몬인 에틸렌 생성에서의 대사 중간생성물인 작은 이치환된 고리형 아미노산이다.

반응 
아미노산은 구성 작용기의 예상되는 반응을 겪는다.

펩타이드 결합의 형성 

한 아미노산의 아미노기와 다른 아미노산의 카복실기가 반응하여 펩타이드 결합을 형성하여 결합될 수 있다. 이러한 아미노산들의 중합 반응을 통해 단백질이 생성된다. 두 개의 아미노산이 펩타이드 결합으로 연결될 때 물이 생성된다. 세포에서 이 반응은 직접적으로 일어나지 않는다. 대신에 아미노산은 먼저 에스터 결합을 통해 tRNA 분자에 부착되어 활성화된다. 이 아미노아실-tRNA는 아미노아실-tRNA 합성효소에 의해 수행되는 ATP 의존성 반응으로 생성된다. 이 아미노아실-tRNA는 리보솜의 기질이 되며, 이는 에스터 결합에서 신장되는 단백질 사슬의 아미노기의 공격을 촉매한다. 이러한 메커니즘의 결과로 리보솜에 의해 만들어지는 모든 단백질들은 N-말단에서 시작하여 C-말단 쪽으로 합성된다.

그러나 모든 펩타이드 결합들이 이런 방식으로 형성되는 것은 아니다. 몇몇 경우에 펩타이드는 특정 효소에 의해 합성된다. 예를 들어 트라이펩타이드인 글루타티온은 산화 스트레스에 대한 세포 방어의 필수적인 부분이다. 이 펩타이드는 유리 아미노산으로부터 두 단계로 합성된다. 첫 번째 단계에서 γ-글루타밀시스테인 합성효소는 글루탐산의 곁사슬에 있는 카복실기(이 곁사슬의 γ 탄소)와 시스테인의 아미노기 사이에 펩타이드 결합을 형성하게 하여 글루탐산과 시스테인을 축합한다. 이 다이펩타이드는 글루타티온 합성효소에 의해 글리신과 축합되어 글루타티온을 형성한다.

화학에서 펩타이드는 다양한 반응에 의해 합성된다. 고체상 펩타이드 합성에서 가장 많이 사용되는 것 중 하나는 아미노산의 방향족 옥심 유도체를 활성화 단위로 사용하는 것이다. 이들은 고체 수지 지지체에 부착된 신장되는 펩타이드 사슬에 순서대로 첨가된다. 펩타이드 라이브러리는 고속대량 스크리닝을 통한 약물 발견에 사용된다.

작용기의 조합은 아미노산이 금속-아미노산 킬레이트에 대한 효과적인 다좌 리간드가 될 수 있도록 한다. 또한 아미노산의 다양한 곁사슬들은 화학 반응을 겪을 수 있다.

이화작용 

아미노산 분해는 보통 아미노기를 α-케토글루타르산으로 전이시켜 글루탐산을 생성하는 과정에서 탈아미노화를 수반한다. 이 과정에는 보통 아미노산 합성 동안 아미노화에 사용되는 것과 동일한 아미노기전이효소가 사용된다. 많은 척추동물에서 아미노기는 요소 회로를 통해 제거되고 요소의 형태로 배설된다. 아미노산 분해에서 요소 대신에 요산이나 암모니아를 생성할 수도 있다. 예를 들어 세린 탈수효소는 세린을 피루브산과 암모니아로 전환한다. 하나 이상의 아미노기를 제거한 후 아미노산의 나머지 부분은 때때로 새로운 아미노산을 합성하는 데 사용되거나 또는 오른쪽 그림에서 자세히 설명된 대로 해당과정이나 시트르산 회로로 들어가 에너지로 사용될 수 있다.

착물 형성 
아미노산은 전이 금속 아미노산 착물을 형성하는 두 자리 리간드이다.

화학적 분석 
유기물의 총 질소 함량은 주로 단백질의 아미노기에 의해 결정된다. 총 켈달 질소(total Kjeldahl nitrogen, TKN)는 일반적으로 폐수, 토양, 식품, 사료 및 유기물의 분석에 널리 사용되는 질소 측정법이다. 이름에서 알 수 있듯이 켈달법이 적용된다. 더 민감한 방법을 사용할 수도 있다.

같이 보기 

 단백질생성성 아미노산
 단백질비생성성 아미노산
 포도당생성성 아미노산
 케톤체생성성 아미노산
 필수 아미노산
 방향족 아미노산
 가지사슬 아미노산
 이차 아미노산
 D-아미노산
 이미노산
 아미노산 연대 측정
 β-펩타이드
 데그론
 에렙신
 호모카이랄성
 고아미노산혈증
 류신류
 밀러와 유리의 실험
 염기서열
 DNA 및 RNA 코돈표

주해

각주

더 읽을거리

외부 링크 
 

 
질소 대사
양쪽성 이온

히라가나(, )는 일본어에서 사용하는 두 가지 가나 가운데 하나다. 가타카나는 주로 외래어 표기 등에 쓰고, 히라가나는 다음과 같은 용도로 쓴다.

 동사의 활용 어미, 조사, 조동사
 일본 고유어로서 해당 한자가 없는 단어, 또는 해당하는 한자가 잘 쓰지 않는 어려운 글자일 때.
 어린이가 사용하는 일본어의 뉘앙스를 보여 주고 싶을 때

히라가나는 여성이 많이 썼다고 한다. 그래서 온나데()라고 불린 적도 있다. 이런 이유로 히라가나는 여자들만 쓰는 글이라 하여, 오랫동안 일본의 공용 문서에선 가타카나와 한자(칸지)만이 사용되었다. 현재 일본 철도의 역명판에는 히라가나와 칸지가 적혀 있다. 히라가나는 헤이안 시대부터 쓰인 것으로 알려져 있다. 일본의 유아들도 가나를 배울 때는 히라가나를 먼저 배우고 가타카나를 나중에 배우기 때문에 유아용 그림책 등에는 가타카나로 쓰인 단어 위에 히라가나를 후리가나로 덧붙이기도 한다. 음절문자이다.

한영 자판 상태에서 히라가나를 입력할 경우 ㄸ+한자 키를 누르면 된다. 가타카나의 경우 장음 등 일부 문자를 제외하면, 꼭 ㅃ+한자 조합을 해야 한다.

히라가나 50음도

탁음

반탁음

로마자 표기는 헵번 방식을, 한글 표기는 국립국어원 외래어 표기법의 어중/어말 표기법을 따랐다.
회색으로 표시한 와 는 현대 일본어에서는 고유명사 등을 제외하면 사용되지 않는다.
은 한글의 받침 ㅇ, ㅁ, ㄴ 등에 해당한다.

역사 
히라가나는 만요가나에서 왔다.

메이지 시대 이전에는 히라가나의 모양이 확실히 정해지지 않고, 여러 형태의 문자가 사용되었다. 메이지 시대의 학제 시행 후에야 위와 같은 자형이 표준화되어 쓰이기 시작했다. 위 이외의 구식 자형은 헨타이가나(変体仮名)라고 부른다.

같이 보기 
 가타카나
 초서

외부 링크 
 
 히라가나 듣기 테스트
 일본어 히라가나 - 50음도
 히라가나 유니코드 차트

 히라가나
한자파생문자

국

ㄱ 

 가나 - 아크라 
 가봉 - 리브르빌
 가이아나 - 조지타운
 감비아 - 반줄
 괌 - 하갓냐
 과테말라 - 과테말라
 그레나다 - 세인트조지스
 그리스 - 아테네
 그린랜드 - 누크
 기니 - 코나크리
 기니비사우 - 비사우

ㄴ 

 나미비아 - 빈트후크
 나우루 - 야렌
 나이지리아 - 아부자
 남수단 - 주바
 남아프리카 공화국 - 프리토리아(행정), 블룸폰테인(사법), 케이프타운(입법)
 남오세티야 - 츠힌발리
 네덜란드 - 암스테르담(헌법 상), 헤이그(행정)
 네팔 - 카트만두
 노르웨이 - 오슬로
 뉴질랜드 - 웰링턴
 니우에 - 알로피
 니제르 - 니아메
 니카라과 - 마나과

ㄷ 

 대한민국 - 서울특별시(사실상), 세종특별자치시(행정)
 덴마크 - 코펜하겐
 도미니카 연방 - 로조
 도미니카 공화국 - 산토도밍고
 독일 - 베를린
 동티모르 - 딜리

ㄹ 

 라오스 - 비엔티안
 라이베리아 - 몬로비아
 라트비아 - 리가
 러시아 - 모스크바
 레바논 - 베이루트
 레소토 - 마세루
 루마니아 - 부쿠레슈티
 룩셈부르크 - 룩셈부르크
 르완다 - 키갈리
 리비아 - 트리폴리
 리투아니아 - 빌뉴스
 리히텐슈타인 - 파두츠

ㅁ 

 마다가스카르 - 안타나나리보
 마셜 제도 - 마주로
 마케도니아 공화국 - 스코페
 말라위 - 릴롱궤
 말레이시아 - 쿠알라룸푸르, 푸트라자야(행정)
 말리 - 바마코
 멕시코 - 멕시코시티
 모나코 - 모나코
 모로코 - 라바트(입법), 카사블랑카(행정)
 모리셔스 - 포트루이스
 모리타니 - 누악쇼트
 모잠비크 - 마푸투
 몬테네그로 - 포드고리차
 몰도바 - 키시너우
 몰디브 - 말레
 몰타 - 발레타
 몽골 - 울란바토르
 미국 - 워싱턴 D.C.
 미얀마 - 네피도
 미크로네시아 연방 - 팔리키르

ㅂ 

 바누아투 - 포트빌라
 바레인 - 마나마
 바베이도스 - 브리지타운
 바티칸 시국 - 바티칸
 바하마 - 나소
 방글라데시 - 다카
 베냉 - 포르토노보
 베네수엘라 - 카라카스
 베트남 - 하노이
 벨기에 - 브뤼셀
 벨라루스 - 민스크
 벨리즈 - 벨모판(행정), 벨리즈시티(사실상)
 보스니아 헤르체고비나 - 사라예보
 보츠와나 - 가보로네
 볼리비아 - 수크레(헌법 상), 라파스(행정)
 부룬디 - 기테가
 부르키나파소 - 와가두구
 부탄 - 팀푸
 북마리아나 제도 - 사이판섬(주장)
 북키프로스 - 니코시아
 불가리아 - 소피아
 브라질 - 브라질리아
 브루나이 - 반다르스리브가완

ㅅ 

 사모아 - 아피아
 사우디아라비아 - 리야드
 사하라 아랍 민주 공화국 - 엘아이운
 산마리노 - 산마리노
 상투메 프린시페 - 상투메
 서토골란드 - 호
 세네갈 - 다카르
 세르비아 - 베오그라드
 세이셸 - 빅토리아
 세인트루시아 - 캐스트리스
 세인트빈센트 그레나딘 - 킹스타운
 세인트키츠 네비스 - 바스테르
 소말리아 - 모가디슈
 소말릴란드 - 하르게이사
 솔로몬 제도 - 호니아라
 수단 - 하르툼
 수리남 - 파라마리보
 스리랑카 - 스리자야와르데네푸라코테(사실상), 콜롬보(행정)
 스웨덴 - 스톡홀름
 스위스 - 베른
 스페인 - 마드리드
 슬로바키아 - 브라티슬라바
 슬로베니아 - 류블랴나
 시리아 - 다마스쿠스
 시에라리온 - 프리타운
 싱가포르 - 싱가포르

ㅇ 

 아랍에미리트 - 아부다비(입법), 두바이(행정)
 아르메니아 - 예레반
 아르차흐 공화국 - 스테파나케르트
 아르헨티나 - 부에노스아이레스
 아이슬란드 - 레이캬비크
 아이티 - 포르토프랭스
 아일랜드 - 더블린
 아제르바이잔 - 바쿠
 아프가니스탄 - 카불
 안도라 - 안도라라벨랴
 알바니아 - 티라나
 알제리 - 알제
 압하지야 - 수후미
 앙골라 - 루안다
 앤티가 바부다 - 세인트존스
 에리트레아 - 아스마라
 에스와티니 - 음바바네(행정), 로밤바(입법)
 에스토니아 - 탈린
 에콰도르 - 키토(행정), 과야킬(입법)
 에티오피아 - 아디스아바바
 엘살바도르 - 산살바도르
 영국 - 런던
 예멘 - 사나
 오만 - 무스카트
 오스트리아 - 빈
 온두라스 - 테구시갈파
 요르단 - 암만
 우간다 - 캄팔라
 우루과이 - 몬테비데오
 우즈베키스탄 - 타슈켄트
 우크라이나 - 키이우
 웨일즈 - 카디프
 이라크 - 바그다드
 이란 - 테헤란
 이스라엘 - 텔아비브(사실상), 예루살렘(주장)
 이집트 - 카이로
 이탈리아 - 로마
 인도 - 뉴델리(입법), 뭄바이(행정)
 인도네시아 - 자카르타(경제), 보르네오섬 동부 칼리만탄(행정)
 일본 - 도쿄
 아프리카

ㅈ 

 자메이카 - 킹스턴
 잠비아 - 루사카
 적도 기니 - 말라보
 조선민주주의인민공화국 - 평양
 조지아 - 트빌리시
 중앙아프리카 공화국 - 방기
 중화민국 - 타이베이
 중화인민공화국 - 베이징
 지부티 - 지부티
 지브롤터 - 웨스트사이드
 짐바브웨 - 하라레

ㅊ 

 차드 - 은자메나
 체코 - 프라하
 칠레 - 산티아고

ㅋ 

 카메룬 - 야운데
 카보베르데 - 프라이아
 카자흐스탄 - 아스타나
 카타르 - 도하
 캄보디아 - 프놈펜
 캐나다 - 오타와
 케냐 - 나이로비
 코모로 - 모로니
 코소보 - 프리슈티나
 코스타리카 - 산호세
 코트디부아르 - 야무수크로
 콜롬비아 - 보고타
 콩고 공화국 - 브라자빌
 콩고 민주 공화국 - 킨샤사
 쿠바 - 아바나
 쿠웨이트 - 쿠웨이트시티
 쿡 제도 - 아바루아
 크로아티아 - 자그레브
 키르기스스탄 - 비슈케크
 키리바시 - 타라와
 키프로스 - 니코시아

ㅌ 

 타지키스탄 - 두샨베
 탄자니아 - 도도마
 태국 - 방콕
 튀르키예 - 앙카라
 토고 - 로메
 통가 - 누쿠알로파
 투르크메니스탄 - 아슈하바트
 투발루 - 푸나푸티
 튀니지 - 튀니스
 트란스니스트리아 - 티라스폴
 트리니다드 토바고 - 포트오브스페인

ㅍ 

 파나마 - 파나마시티
 파라과이 - 아순시온
 파키스탄 - 이슬라마바드
 파푸아뉴기니 - 포트모르즈비
 팔라우 - 응게룰무드
 팔레스타인 - 라말라(사실상) / 예루살렘(주장), 요르단 강 서안 지구 / 가자 지구
 페루 - 리마
 포르투갈 - 리스본
 폴란드 - 바르샤바
 푸에르토리코 - 산후안
 프랑스 - 파리
 피지 - 수바
 핀란드 - 헬싱키
 필리핀 - 마닐라

ㅎ 

 헝가리 - 부다페스트
 호주 - 캔버라

각주

같이 보기 
 수도 이름순 수도 목록

나라 목록
수도 목록

토마스 만(, 1875년 6월 6일 ~ 1955년 8월 12일)은 독일의 평론가이자 소설가이다. 사상적인 깊이, 높은 식견, 연마된 언어 표현, 짜임새 있는 구성 등에 있어서 20세기 독일 제일의 작가로 알려져 있다. 1929년 노벨 문학상을 비롯, 괴테 상 등 많은 상을 받았다.

토마스 만의 형은 급진적인 작가 하인리히 만이다. 그리고 6명의 자식 중 3명인 Erika Mann, 클라우스 만, Golo Mann들도 또한 독일의 중요한 작가로 성장했다.

생애

문학입문 
토마스 만은 평의원이며 곡물 상인이었던 토마스 요한 하인리히 만과 율리아 다 실바 브룬스 부부 사이에서 두 번째 아들로 독일의 뤼베크에서 태어났다. 어머니 율리아는 7살 때 독일로 망명한 부분적 독일계 브라질리안이다. 토마스 만의 아버지가 1891년에 돌아가시면서 회사는 청산되었다. 1893년 뮌헨으로 이주하여 보험 회사의 견습 사원이 되었다. 이때 첫 작품 <호의>가 잡지에 실리면서 문단에 데뷔하였다.

첫 번째 소설 
토마스 만은 뤼베크 체육관 기술 분야에 참가하면서, 뮌헨 대학과 기술대학에서 시간을 보내게 된다. 그 당시 그는 역사, 경제학, 미술역사, 문학등을 공부하게 되면서 언론계로 커리어를 준비하게 된다. 그는 이탈리아 팔레스트리나에서 살았던 1년을 제외하면 1891년부터 1933년까지 형이자 소설가인 하인리히와 함께 뮌헨에 거주하게 된다. 토마스 만은 보험회사에서 1894년에서 1895년까지 일을 하게 된다. 그가 Simplicissimus에서 글을 쓰기 시작하면서 작가로서의 커리어를 시작하게 된다. 토마스 만의 첫 번째 소설은 1898년에 출판된 "꼬마 프리데만 씨"이다.

1901년 부유한 상인의 집안이 4대에 걸쳐 몰락하는 과정을 그린 장편 <부덴브로크스 가의 사람들>을 발표하여 문단에서의 자리를 굳혔다.

그가 동성애 관계를 가졌다는 여러 정황이 있으나 종국에는 카티아 프링스하임과 사랑에 빠졌다. 1905년, 그는 그녀와 결혼을 하며, 6명의 아이들을 낳았다.

제1차 세계대전 
제1차 세계 대전이 일어나자 <프리드리히와 대동맹> <비정치적 인간의 고찰> <독일 공화국에 대하여> 등 정치적 논설을 발표하고, 점차 구낭만주의적인 반지성주의를 벗어나, 새로운 휴머니즘을 품기 시작하였다. 1924년 12년간의 노력의 결정인 장편소설 <마의 산>을 발표하였는데, 이 소설은 손꼽히는 발전 소설로서 독일 문학사상 중요한 위치를 차지하고 있다.

요셉과 그 형제들 
1929년 토마스 만은 Nidden(Nida, 리투아니아)에 있는 어촌에 오두막을 가진다. 그 곳에는 독일 예술 공동체가 있었으며, 1930년에서 1932년 여름에는 "요셉과 그의 형제들(Joseph and his Brothers)"을 집필한다. 현재 이 오두막은 소규모 전시를 하면서 토마스 만에 대한 문화적인 중심이 됐다.

나치의 박해 
1933년 나치스 정권 성립으로 조국을 떠나, 남프랑스·스위스 등을 거쳐, 1938년 미국에 이르렀다. 그 곳에서 프린스턴 대학에서 수업을 한다. 제2차 세계 대전 때는 높은 휴머니즘의 입장에서 민주주의 옹호를 위해 싸웠다.

스위스 
1942년 그의 가족들은 캘리포니아 로스엔젤레스에 있는 Pacific Palisades로 이사를 한다. 그 곳에서 제2차 세계 대전이 끝날 때까지 살게 된다. 1944년 6월 23일, 토마스 만은 미국 시민권을 받게 된다. 1952년에 스위스, 취리히 근처에 있는 Kilchberg에서 살게 된다.

그는 독일을 규칙적으로 여행하긴 했지만, 그 후로 살지 않았다. 가장 유명한 독일 방문은 1949년 요한 볼프강 폰 괴테의 200주년이다.

별세 
1955년 취리히에 있는 한 병원에서 아테롬선 동맥 경화증으로 죽고, Kilchberg에 묻힌다. 많은 협회들이 그의 이름을 기린다.

토마스 만의 작품은 처음으로 H. T. Lowe-Porter가 번역했다. 그녀는 토마스 만의 작품을 영어권 사회에 크게 전파시켰다.

자녀들

정치적인 관점 
제1차 세계 대전 동안, 토마스 만은 카이저의 (독일의 빌헬름 2세) 보수주의를 지지하고 진보주의를 공격한다.

1930년 토마스 만은 베를린에서 "An Appeal to Reason"라는 연설을 한다. 그는 강하게 나치중심 사회주의를 비난하고 운동권들에 의한 반대를 격려한다. 이것은 그가 집필한 수많은 평론과 문학에서 나치를 공격한 것에서 알 수 있다. 동시에 그는 사회주의자들의 생각에 대해서 늘어나는 동정을 표현했다. 1933년 나치가 집권을 했을 당시, 토마스 만과 아내는 스위스에서 주말을 보냈다. 나치 정책에 대한 그의 매우 강력한 비난 때문에, 아들 클라우스는 돌아가지 말자고 권했다. 하지만 토마스 만의 책은 하인리히나 클라우스의 책들과는 달리, 히틀러 정권에 의해서 태워지지 않았다. 물론 그것은 그가 1929년 노벨상을 받았기 때문이다. 결국 1936년 나치 정권이 공식적으로 토마스 만의 독일 시민권을 빼앗아간다. 몇 달 후, 그는 캘리포니아로 이사를 가게 된다.

그러나 1933년 8월 26일이라고 기록된 개인적인 편지(그러나 2007년 8월 30일에 공개됐다)에서, 이미, 토마스 만은 나치즘에 대한 견해를 표현하고 있었고, 이것은 후에 "파우스투스 박사(Doktor Faustus)"와 일치한다. 이 소설에서, 토마스 만은 2차 대전에서 모든 잔인함에 대한 독일 국민에 대한 역사적인 책임감을 가진 몇몇 지역들을 언급한다.

전쟁 동안, 토마스 만은 반-나치 라디오 연설 시리즈([[:en:Listen, Germany!|Deutsche Hörer! ("German listeners!")]])를 만든다. 이것은 미국에서 녹음돼서 영국에 전해지고, BBC가 방송을 하게 되면서 독일 청취자들이 듣기를 원한다.

사회 비판가 Michael Harrington의 컬렉션 The Accidental Century''에 있는 "Images of Disorder"는 토마스 만의 정치적 성형이 바뀌는 것을 설명한다.

주요 작품 
 《꼬마 프리데만 씨 (Der kleine Herr Friedmann)》 (1898년)
 《부덴브로크가(家)》(Buddenbrooks) (1901년): 토마스 만과 그의 형인 소설가 하인리히 만(Heinrich Mann)의 출생지인 북독일 뤼벡의 한 상인 가문의 가족사이다.
 《토니오 크뢰거 (Tonio Kröger)》 (1903년)
 《대공전하 (Königliche Hoheit)》 (1909년)
 《베네치아에서의 죽음 (Der Tod in Venedig)》 (1912년)
 《마의 산 (Der Zauberberg)》 (1924년)
 《요셉과 그의 형제들 (Joseph und seine Brüder)》 (1933년-43년)
 《Das Problem der Freiheit》 (1937년)
 《바이마르의 로테 (Lotte in Weimar)》 (1939년)
 《Die vertauschten Köpfe - Eine indische Legende》 (1940년)
 《파우스투스 박사 (Doktor Faustus)》 (1947년)
 《거룩한 죄인 (Der Erwählte)》 (1951년)
 《사기꾼 펠릭스 크룰의 고백 (Bekenntnisse des Hochstaplers Felix Krull. Der Memoiren erster Teil)》 (1922년/1954년)
 《바그너와 우리 시대 (Wagner und unsere Zeit》(S. Fischer Verlag, GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, 1963) (안인희 역, 포노, 2022)

각주

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 
 

 
1875년 출생
1955년 사망
스위스의 소설가
독일의 소설가
독일의 평론가
독일의 망명자
독일의 수필가
독일의 노벨상 수상자
독일의 자서전 작가
노벨 문학상 수상자
뮌헨 공과대학교 동문
뮌헨 대학교 동문
뤼베크 출신
프린스턴 대학교 교수
푸르 르 메리트 민사훈장 수훈자
포르투갈계 독일인
브라질계 독일인
유대계 독일인
양성애자 작가
성소수자 대학 교수
독일의 성소수자 작가
19세기 성소수자 사람
20세기 성소수자 사람

하인리히 뵐(Heinrich Böll , 쾰른, 1917년 12월 21일 - 랑엔브로이히(Langenbroich) 1985년 7월 16일)은 독일의 남성 소설가다.

삶 
1917년 쾰른에서 목공예 가문의 여섯 번째 아들로 태어났다. 전후 가장 먼저 두각을 나타낸 독일작가들 중 하나. 청소년기 나치 하에서 히틀러 유겐트의 유혹을 뿌리치고, 참여하지 않는다. 서점의 견습공으로 있다가, 카이저 빌헬름 김나지움을 졸업하고 1939년 쾰른대학교 독문학과에 입학하나 곧 제2차 세계대전에 징집되었다. 프랑스, 루마니아, 헝가리, 러시아 등지에서 복무한다. 4차례 부상당한 후 1945년 4월 미군에게 포로로 잡혀 2년이 지나 그의 나이 30에 전업작가가 된다. 전후 귀향하여 ‘전쟁에서 본 것’과 전후의 ‘폐허’에 대해서 쓰기 시작했다.

1949년 병사들의 절망적인 삶을 묘사한 『열차는 정확했다』를 시작으로, 참혹한 참전 경험과 전후 독일의 참상을 그린 작품들을 주로 발표했다. 1951년 '47그룹 문학상'을 받으면서 문인으로서의 위치를 다졌고, 1953년에 출간한 『그리고 아무 말도 하지 않았다』로 비평가와 독자들 모두로부터 찬사를 받으며 작가로서의 대성공을 거두었다. 이외에도 사회적으로 엄청난 반향을 일으킨 문제작 『카타리나 블룸의 잃어버린 명예』를 비롯해 『9시 반의 당구』, 『어느 광대의 견해』, 『신변 보호』 등의 작품을 집필했다. 1967년에는 독일 최고 권위의 문학상인 '게오르크 뷔흐너 상'을 수상했다.

1970년대에는 사회 참여가 더욱 적극적이 되었고 이에 따라 독일 사회와의 갈등도 심화되었다. 특히 1969년과 1972년 뵐은 귄터 그라스와 함께 사회민주당으로의 정권교체를 위해 선거 유세에 직접 참여하며 빌리 브란트를 적극 지지했다. 또한 1971년 독일인으로서는 최초로 국제 펜클럽 회장으로 선출되어 세계 곳곳에서 탄압받고 있는 작가와 지식인들의 석방을 위해 노력했다. 1971년에는 성취 지향 사회에 대한 저항을 담은 ≪여인과 군상≫을 발표하고 이듬해 노벨문학상을 수상했다. 1929년의 토마스 만 이후 독일이 이 상을 받은 것은 43년 만이었다. 그의 작품은 30개 이상의 언어로 번역되었고, 그는 아직까지 독일에서 가장 많이 읽히는 작가로 알려져 있다. 문학 작품뿐만 아니라 행동으로도 보다 나은 사회를 위한 활동에 진력했던 뵐은 1985년 동맥경화로 세상을 떠났다.

그의 죽음 이후 독일 녹색당은 그의 저항적 삶을 기리기 위하여 당의 정책 연구소 이름을 '하인리히 뵐 연구소'라고 짓기로 결정하였다.

주요 작품 
 열차는 정확했다 (Der Zug war pünktlich) (1947)
 유언(Das Vermächtnis) (1948)
 방랑자여, 그대 스파르타로 가거든…… (Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa…) (1950)
 검은 양들 (Die schwarzen Schafe) (1951)
 아담, 너는 어디 있었는가? (Wo warst du, Adam?) (1951)
 천사는 말이 없었다 (Der Engel schwieg) (1952)
 성탄절 시기에는 안 된다 (Nicht zur Weihnachtszeit) (1952)
 그리고 아무 말도 하지 않았다 (Und sagte kein einziges Wort) (1953)
 문지기 없는 건물 (Haus ohne Hüter) (1954)
 어린시절의 빵 (Das Brot der frühen Jahre) (1955)
 아일랜드의 일기 (Irisches Tagebuch) (1957)
 흔적 없이 사라진 사람들 (Die Spurlosen) (1957)
 무르케 박사의 누적된 침묵과 기타 풍자적 이야기들 (Dr. Murke's gesammeltes Schweigen und andere Satire) (1958)
 9시 반의 당구 (Billard um halb zehn) (1959)
 한 움큼의 흙 (Ein Schluck Erde) (1962)
 어느 어릿 광대의 견해 (Ansichten eines Clowns) (1963)
 군대에서부터의 이탈 (Entfernung von der Truppe) (1964)
 어떤 공무여행의 끝 (Ende einer Dienstfahrt) (1966)
 여인과 군상 (Gruppenbild mit Dame) (1971)
 카타리나 블룸의 잃어버린 명예 (Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum) (1974)
 사려깊은 포위 (Fürsorgliche Belagerung) (1979)
 그 소년이 어떻게 될 것인가?：책들과 관계 있는 어떤 것 (Was soll aus dem Jungen bloss werden? Oder: Irgendwas mit Büchern) (1981)
 지뢰밭 (Vermintes Gelände) (1982)
 치명적 부상 (Die Verwundung) (1983)
 강 풍경을 마주보고 있는 여인 (Frauen vor Flusslandschaft) 1985 (사후 출간) (1985)

외부 링크 

  하인리히 뵐 재단
 한국 하인리히 뵐 학회

 
1917년 출생
1985년 사망
독일의 소설가
노벨 문학상 수상자
쾰른 대학교 동문
독일의 노벨상 수상자
쾰른 출신
독일의 로마 가톨릭교도
게오르크 뷔히너상 수상자

방정식(方程式, )은 미지수가 포함된 식에서 그 미지수에 특정한 값을 주었을 때만 성립하는 등식이다. 의 값에 따라 참이 되기도 하고, 거짓이 되기도 하는 등식을 에 관한 방정식이라고 한다.

이때, 방정식을 참이 되게 하는(성립하게 하는) 특정 문자의 값을 해 또는 근이라 한다. 방정식의 해는 없을 수도 있고, 여러 개일 수도 있고, 모든 값일 수도 있다. 첫번째의 경우는 불능이라고 하고, 두번째의 경우는 방정식, 마지막 세번째의 경우는 항등식(부정)이라 한다. 

예를 들어

은 문자 가 어떤 값이든 항상 등호가 성립하므로 항등식인 반면,

은 방정식이고, 그 해는 와 이다. 또한,
은 가 어떤 값이든 항상 등호가 성립하지 못하므로, 이 경우는 방정식 중에서도 불능의 경우이다.

방정식의 방정(方程)은 고대 중국의 산학서인 구장산술의 여덟 번째 장의 제목인 方程에서 유래하였다. 여기서 方은 연립방정식의 계수를 직사각형 모양으로 배열한다는 뜻이고, 程은 이렇게 배열한 계수를 조작하여 해를 구하는 과정을 뜻한다. 이 해법은 약 1500년 뒤에 등장하는 가우스 소거법에 해당한다. 고대 중국의 수학자들은 이 과정에서 음수의 계산도 자유자재로 할 수 있었다.

방정식에서 해를 구하려는 문자, 즉 미지수로는 보통 를 사용한다. 미지수로 알파벳의 뒤쪽 문자 를 사용하는 것은 프랑스의 수학자겸 철학자인 데카르트로부터 비롯되었다.

유리방정식

무리 방정식 
방정식의 항에 무리식(루트)을 포함하는 다항식으로 이루어진 방정식을 무리 방정식이라 한다.

인수분해하면,

주의: 무리 방정식에는 무연근이란 것이 있다. 분수방정식에서는 분모를 0으로 만드는 해 , 무리방정식에는 대입해봤을 때 성립하지 않는 근이다. 이 근들은 해집합에서  제외된다. 자세한 내용은 무연근  참조.

그러니, 무리방정식은 해에 대해서 무연근 검사로 마무리검산을 해야하므로,

위의 두 근인 을
원래의 식인 에 대입해보면,

우선 양변으로 놓으면, 

이어서, 일때,
이므로 방정식이 성립되므로, 무연근이 아니고,
일때,

은 무연근이다.

따라서,  방정식의 근은 이다.

그러나, 무리방정식은 해에 대해서 무연근 검사로 마무리검산을 해야하므로,

따라서 루트안의 는 보다 커야하므로,

 이므로,
위의 두 근인 는 1보다 작지 않으므로 무연근이다.

기타 

 연립 방정식
연립 방정식은 서로 다른 2개의 미지수가 주어진 방정식들에 모두 적합할 때 이 방정식의 쌍을 의미한다. 연립 방정식도 미지수의 차수에 따라 연립 일차 방정식, 연립 이차 방정식 등으로 나뉜다. 연립 일차 방정식에선 와 같이 한 미지수를 어떠한 값으로 나타내어 이 값을 그 미지수에 대입하는 방법인 대입법과 미지수의 계수를 같게 곱하여 둘을 더하거나 빼서 그 미지수를 없애는 가감법, 그리고 행렬을 이용한 가우스 소거법이 주로 사용된다.

방정식은 과 같이 (미지수)의 값에 따라 등식이 참이 되기도 하고 거짓이 되기도 한다. 방정식은 중국의 구장산술이라는 산학서에서부터 유래되었다고 한다. 이 방정식에도 원 방정식, 직선의 방정식, 미분 방정식 등 여러가지가 있고, 또, 미지수의 차수에 따라 일차 방정식, 이차 방정식, 삼차 방정식, 고차 방정식... 등으로 나뉜다. 특히 이차 방정식에는 미지수의 값을 구하는 근의 공식이라는 식이 있다. 이차방정식 의 근의 공식은 -b±√b^2-4ac/2a 이고, ax^2+2b'x+c=0(a≠0)의 근의 공식은 -b'±√b'^2-ac/a이다. 삼차 방정식과 사차 방정식은 특수한 경우에 성립하는 근의 공식이 있다. 오차 방정식부턴 근의 공식이 존재하지 않는다. (아벨이 증명) 갈루아  이론을 이용하면 아벨과는 다른  방법으로 증명 이 가능하다.

같이 보기 
 디오판토스 방정식
 다항식
 수식
 항등식
 부등식
 연립방정식
 가우스 소거법
 소거법
 근 (수학)
 무연근

외부 링크 

 
초등대수학

수학에서 삼각함수 항등식(三角函數恒等式, )은 삼각함수가 나오는 항등식을 말한다. 이 공식들은 삼각함수가 나오는 복잡한 식을 간단히 정리하는 데 유용하며, 특히 치환적분에서 매우 자주 쓰이기 때문에 중요하다.

참고로 아래에서 ,  등의 함수는 와 같이 정의된다.

삼각함수의 정의에서

주기성, 대칭성, 이동(Shifts) 

다음 관계는 단위원을 사용하면 쉽게 보일 수 있다.

다음 식은 삼각함수의 주기성을 나타낸다.

 

 

다음 식은 삼각함수의 대칭성을 나타낸다.

다음은 삼각함수의 이동 성질을 나타낸다.

또한, 주기가 같지만, 상(phase)이 다른 사인파들의 선형결합은 또 다른 상의 동일주기의 사인파가 된다. 즉, 다음과 같다.

여기서

피타고라스 정리 
다음 식들은 삼각함수의 정의와 피타고라스 정리를 이용하면 쉽게 보일 수 있다.

덧셈 정리 

다음의 삼각함수의 덧셈정리를 증명하는 가장 쉬운 방법은 오일러의 공식을 이용하는 것이다. 탄젠트 공식은 위의 둘을 결합하여 얻는다.

(좌변에 "+" 기호가 있는 경우, 우변에는 "−" 기호를 사용함. 복부호 동순임)

여기서

두배각 공식 

다음 공식은 바로 위 덧셈 공식에서 로 놓으면 바로 얻어진다. 피타고라스의 식을 쓰면 변형을 얻는다. 또한 드무아브르의 공식에서 로 놓아도 된다.

세배각 공식 

아래 공식들은 덧셈정리에서 한 각을 2x, 다른 한 각을 x로 놓고 전개하면 얻을 수 있다.

네배각 공식 
아래 공식들은 배각의 공식에서 x를 2x로 두고 전개하여 풀면 얻을 수 있다.

다섯배각 공식

여섯배각 공식

n배각 공식 
이 번째 체비쇼프 다항식일 때,

드무아브르의 공식:

디리클레 핵 은 다음의 항등식의 양변에서 도출되는 함수이다. :

디리클레 핵을 갖는 2n차의 어떤 제곱적분 가능함수의 합성곱(convolution)은 함수의 n차 푸리에 근사와 함께 동시에 일어난다.

차수 줄이기 

n차 제곱한 삼각함수를 일차식의 삼각함수 식으로 바꾼다.

이차식 공식 

두배각 공식의 코사인 공식을  과 으로 푼다.

삼차식 공식

사차식 공식

오차식 공식

반각 공식 

차수 줄이기 이차식 공식에서 에 을 대입하고,  과 으로 푼다.

또한, 는 과 같고, 여기에 분자 분모에 같은 을 곱한다. 그러면, 분자는 사인의 두배각 공식에 의해 이 되고, 분모는  이므로 코사인 두배각 공식을 쓰면  이 된다. 두 번째 식은 분자와 분모에 다시 를 곱하고, 피타고라스 공식으로 간단히 하면 얻어진다.

곱을 합으로 바꾸는 공식 

우변을 덧셈정리로 전개하면 증명된다.

합을 곱으로 바꾸는 공식 

위 식의 를 로, 를  로 바꾼다.

 

 

 

 

그리고 또 다른 식들로 다음과 같이 있다.

삼각함수의 역함수 

역삼각함수라고도 한다.

 이면

만약  이면, 등식 우변이 가 된다.

피타고라스 정리로부터 다음과 같은 몇 가지 항등식을 얻는다.

변수 없는 항등식 
리처드 파인만은 소년 시절에 다음의 기묘한 식을 배우고 언제나 기억했다고 알려져 있다.

그러나, 이 식은 다음의 변수를 포함한 일반적인 식의 특수한 경우이다. (을 넣고, 를 이용 우변을 정리한다.)

다음 식들은 아마 변수가 있는 일반화된 식을 찾기가 위 보다 어려울 것이다.

21을 택해서 각을 나누면, 도로 표현한 각이 더이상 깔끔하지 않다. 다음 식을 보자.

1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10 이란 인자를 보면 차츰 답이 드러난다. 이 수들은 모두 보다 작고, 21과의 공약수가 1인 수 들이다. 사실 위 세 가지 예는 더 인수분해되지 않는 원분다항식(cyclotomic polynomial)에 대한 기본정리의 따름정리이다. 코사인값은 다항식의 영(zero)들의 실수부이고, 그들의 합은 21(가장 마지막 예)의 뫼비우스 함수값이다. (식에선 값의 반만이 나타난다.)

미적분학 

미적분학의 삼각함수에선 각을 라디안(radian)으로 써야 한다. 그렇지 않으면, 다음 관계식들은 성립하지 않는다. 우선 삼각함수가 기하학적으로 정의된 후에 함수들의 미분을 구하기 위해선 우선:

과

을 증명한다. 그리고, 미분의 극한 정의와 덧셈정리를 이용한다. 삼각함수가 테일러 급수로 정의되었다면, 각 항을 미분하여 알아낼 수 있다.
(참고 

 

나머지 삼각함수의 미분은 위 항등식과 미분법칙으로 얻어진다.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

적분식은 적분표를 참고하라.

참고 문헌 
 Abramowitz, Milton; Stegun, Irene A., eds. (1972), Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, New York: Dover Publications, 

미적분학
기하학
삼각법
항등식

노무현(盧武鉉, 1946년 9월 1일~2009년 5월 23일)은 대한민국의 제16대 대통령이다. 판사로 재직 후 부산에서 변호사로 활동하다가 제13·15대 국회의원직을 역임했고, 김대중 정부에서 제6대 해양수산부 장관을 역임했다.

본관은 광주(光州)이며 경상남도 김해 출생이다. 부산상업고등학교를 졸업하고 막노동에 뛰어들었다가 독학으로 1975년 3월 30세에 제17회 사법시험에 합격하였다. 대전지방법원 판사로 1년을 재직하다가 그만두고 부산에서 변호사 사무실을 개업하여 여러 인권 사건을 변호하였다. 통일민주당 총재 김영삼의 공천을 받아 제13대 총선에 출마하여 부산 동구에서 당선되며 5공비리특별위원으로 활동했다. 1990년 3당 합당에 반대하면서 김영삼과 결별한다. 김대중 정부에서 해양수산부 장관을 지냈고 국민경선제에서 새천년민주당 소속으로 제16대 대선에서 대통령으로 당선되었으나 2003년 말에 새천년민주당을 탈당하고 2004년 초 새천년민주당을 탈당한 개혁 세력들이 주축이 되어 창당한 열린우리당에 입당하였다.

2004년 무렵 공직선거 및 선거부정방지법이 정한 중립의무 및 헌법 위반을 시유로 야당에 국회로부터 대한민국 헌정 사상 최초로 대통령직 재임 중 탄핵 소추를 당해 대통령 직무가 정지되었다. 하지만 이후 탄핵을 주도했던 새천년민주당과 한나라당, 자유민주연합은 여론의 역풍에 휩싸여 제17대 총선에서 참패하였고 얼마 후 헌법재판소에서 소추안을 기각하며 노무현은 다시 대통령 직무에 복귀하였다.

주요 업적으로는 권력층에 만연해 있던 권위주의와 정경유착을 타파하고 기존 정권이 하지 못했던 각종 재벌 개혁을 시행한 것이 꼽힌다. 상속증여세의 포괄주의를 도입해 대기업 총수의 탈세 여지를 좁힌 것, 증권 관련 집단소송제를 시행한 것, 대기업 간 불공정 담합에 대한 적발과 처벌을 강화한 것 등이 높게 평가받는다. 임기 중 경제성장률은 4.42%로 OECD 평균성장률을 항상 상회했지만 역대 대한민국 정부 중 OECD의 성장률을 하회한 정부는 존재하지 않는다. 이러한 수치는 이후 이명박 정부의 2.9%와 박근혜 정부의 2.8%를 크게 상회하는 것이나, IMF의 발표 자료에 따르면 세계 경제성장률 대비 국내 경제성장률이 노무현 정부 -0.7%, 이명박 정부 +0.0%, 박근혜 정부 -0.5%로 나타났다. 노무현 정부는 골디락스 호황에도 불구하고 세계 경제성장률을 상회하지 못했고 도리어 이를 가장 크게 하회한 대한민국 정부로 기록되었다.

주요 실책으로는 정치적으로 친인척 및 측근비리, 사회적으로 교육 정책 및 부동산 정책의 실패, 경제적으로 양극화 심화에 따른 민생경제 파탄, 외교적으로 햇볕정책의 실패 등이 꼽힌다. 부동산 정책은 전반적으로 실패했다는 평가를 받았고, 1997년 IMF 외환위기 이후 노무현 정부에서 소득 분배 지표가 더욱 악화되어 서민경제의 파탄을 초래했다는 비판도 있다. 게다가 반미적 입장, 편협한 국수주의, 친북적 정책으로 인한 외교적 모순으로 국제사회에서 신뢰를 잃었다는 분석도 존재한다. 이렇듯 서민 생활과 직결되는 분야에서의 정책적 과오와 외교·안보에서의 실책으로 인해, 대통령 직무수행에 대한 여론 조사가 정례화 된 제6공화국 이래 노태우를 제치고 임기 평균 국정 지지율 최하위를 차지할 정도로 대중적인 지지가 부족했던 대통령으로, "이게 다 노무현 때문이다" 같은 유행어가 나올 정도로 재임 시 국민들에게 많은 원성을 듣고 대중적 인기가 부족했으며 적이 많았던 대통령으로 평가받는다.

정계 입문 초기에 직설적인 화법으로 청문회 스타 자리에 오르기도 하였으며, 이는 대중적 인지도를 크게 끌어올려 대통령 당선의 밑바탕이 되었다. 그러나 임기 중에는 "대통령 못 해먹겠다", "미국 엉덩이 뒤에 숨어서" 등 그의 화법이 논란이 되며 보수 언론으로부터 비판을 받기도 했다. 한국대학총학생회연합(한총련) 합법화, 국가보안법 폐지 검토, 2007년 10월 4일 남북정상회담 당시 김정일과의 회담에서 NLL에 관한 발언이 오해를 불러 일으켜 보수 언론의 공격을 받았다. 보수 언론들은 노무현을 반미주의자이며 좌파로 규정하고 공격을 가했으나, 실제 임기 중에 펼친 정책은 그러한 노선과는 거리가 멀었으며, 진보 진영으로부터는 한미 FTA 추진과 이라크 파병 등 노무현 정부의 정책이 신자유주의 우파에 가깝다는 비난을 받기도 했다. 진보 언론으로부터는 신자유주의자라고, 보수 언론에게는 반미주의자라며 양측 진영에서 모두 비판받은 대통령으로 평가받는다. 행정수도 이전과 혁신도시 등 지방 균형 발전을 추진하였으나 세종특별자치시의 수도 이전은 헌법재판소에서 관습헌법이라는 이유로 위헌 결정을 내려 행정도시로 선회하였다.

퇴임 후 고향 김해의 봉하마을로 귀향하였다. 2009년 검찰의 정관계 로비 수사가 전방위로 확대되면서 노무현의 측근 세력들이 수사 대상에 오르게 되었고, 노무현과 개인적 친분이 있던 박연차로부터 노무현 일가가 금전을 수수했다는 포괄적 뇌물죄 혐의를 받아 조사를 받았으며, 노무현 또한 검찰 조사를 받기에 이르렀다. 아내가 받았다는 노무현의 주장과는 달리, 박연차는 검찰 조사에서 노무현이 직접 전화를 걸어 자녀들의 집 장만을 위한 100만달러를 요구했다고 일관되게 진술하였고, 비서관을 통해 요청을 받고 차명계좌에서 노무현의 아들 노건호와 조카사위 연철호가 동업하는 기업에 500만 달러를 송금한 사실도 밝혀졌다. 이러한 노무현 일가의 640만 달러 수수 의혹은 현재까지도 해소되지 않고 있다.

이같은 뇌물 수수 직접 개입 의혹이 수면으로 부상하면서 궁지에 몰리게 되자, 노무현은 그 해 5월 23일 자택 뒷산인 봉화산 부엉이 바위에서 투신자살하였다. 양산부산대학교병원에서는 기자회견을 통해 두부 외상과 다발성 골절 등을 사망 이유로 결론내렸다. 노무현이 사망하면서 법무부는 노무현의 뇌물 수수 의혹에 대한 검찰 수사를 공소권 없음으로 종결시켰다. 사후 봉하마을에는 전국에서 노무현 재단의 주장에 따르면 500만여 명의 추모객들의 발길이 이어졌고, 노무현의 장례는 국민장으로 치러졌다.

대통령이 되기 이전

생애 초반 
노무현은 1946년 9월 1일에 경상남도 김해에서 아버지 노판석과 어머니 이순례 사이에서 3남 2녀 중 막내로 태어났다. 그의 위로 있는 형 2명 중 맏형 영현은 교통사고로 세상을 떠났고, 작은 형 건평은 현재까지 살아있다. 노건평은 1968년 세무직 9급 공무원이 되어 10년간 지방 세무서에서 근무하였다. 노무현은 광주 노씨 광주군파 31대 손으로 광주 노씨는 광주광역시 일곡동에 집성촌을 이루고 있는 가문이다.

1953년에 진영대창국민학교에 입학하였고 학업 성적은 우수했으나 가난으로 결석이 잦았다고 한다. 6학년 때 담임교사의 권유로 전교 학생회장을 맡았다. 1959년 3월에 진영중학교에 진학했다. 중학교 재학 당시 노무현은 입학금이 없어 중학교는 외상으로 입학하였다고 한다. 1학년 말 제4대 정·부통령 선거를 앞두고 당시 이승만 대통령의 생일을 기념하는 교내 글짓기 대회가 열리자 노무현은 백지동맹을 일으키다가 정학을 당하였다. 집안 형편이 어려워져 중학교를 1년간 휴학한 뒤 부일장학회의 장학금을 얻어 가까스로 중학교에 다니다가 1963년에 가까스로 졸업하고 부산상고에 진학하여 1966년에 졸업하였다.

청년기 
고등학교 졸업 후 농업협동조합의 입사 시험에 응시했으나 낙방하고, 한 어망 제조업체에 취직하였으나 최저 생계비에도 미치지 못하는 임금과 다쳐도 치료비조차 주지 않는 고용주의 비정함에 실망하여 결국 그만두었다. 이후 막노동과 사시 공부를 병행하였다.

1968년 군에 입대하여 제12사단 을지부대에서 육군 상병으로 만기전역하였다. 1972년 27세에 권양숙과 결혼하였고 1973년에 아들 건호를, 1975년에 딸 정연을 낳았다. 1975년 3월 30세에 제17회 사법시험에 합격하였다. 이는 4번째 도전에서 이루어진 성과였고 노무현은 제17회 사법시험에서 유일하게 고졸 출신 합격자였다. 이후 1977년 대전지방법원의 판사로 임용되었으나 5개월 만에 사직하였다.

인권 변호사 시절 
1978년 5월 무렵 판사를 그만두고 부산에서 변호사로 개업하였다. 이후 세무·회계 전문 변호사로 명성을 쌓았다. 주로 조세 및 회계 사건 등을 통해 높은 수임료를 받았다. 당시 평범한 동료 변호사들처럼 지역의 경제인과 어울리며 요트를 즐기는 등 여유롭게 생활하였다.

그러나 민청학련 사건 변론으로 이름이 높았던 김광일 변호사가 1981년 부림 사건의 변호에 참여하라고 권유했고, 이를 수락함으로써 본격적인 인권 변호사 활동을 시작하는 계기가 되었다. 노무현은 나중에 이 사건을 통해 자신의 인생이 바뀌었다고 회고하며, 당시 학생들이 "얼마나 고문을 당하고 충격을 받았는지 처음엔 변호사인 나조차 믿으려 하질 않았다. 공포에 질린 눈으로 슬금슬금 눈치를 살피는 모습을 보자 피가 거꾸로 솟는 듯했다."라고 밝혔다.

1982년에는 부산 미국문화원 방화사건의 변론에 참여하였고 1984년 부산 공해문제 연구소 이사를 거쳐서,1985년에는 부산 민주시민 협의회 상임위원장을 맡게 되면서 시민운동에 발을 들여놓게 되었다. 그해 자신의 사무실에 노동법률 상담소를 열기도 했다. 또 1987년에는 민주헌법쟁취 국민운동본부 부산 본부 상임 집행위원장을 맡아 6월 민주항쟁에 앞장섰다. 그 해 8월 22일의 거제도 대우조선 사건에서 경찰이 쏜 최루탄에 맞아 대우조선 노동자 이석규가 사망하자 이상수 등과 함께 사인 규명 작업을 하다가 9월에 제삼자 개입, 장식(葬式) 방해 혐의로 경찰에 구속되었다. 이어 1987년 11월에는 변호사 업무정지 처분을 받았다.

1987년 부산 추도회에서 연행된 노무현에 대해 부산지방법원 한기춘 판사가 도주 및 증거인멸의 우려가 없다는 이유로 기각하자 검찰은 한밤 중에 기각된 영장기록 보따리를 들고 3명의 부장판사를 찾아다니며 영장불부를 중용하다 사회적 물의를 일으키기도 했다.

안기부 직원을 가르치다 
한편 노무현은 자신을 감시하던 안기부 직원에게 광주항쟁 비디오와 노동운동 관련 자료들을 보여주면서 강의하였다. 안기부 직원 이화춘은 이러면 우리가 당신을 잡아가야 된다면서 오히려 놀라는 반응을 보였다. 그러나 노무현은 안기부 직원들에게 민중, 노동운동 관련 비디오, 자료들을 태연히 보여주었다.

안기부에 들어와 8년 동안 미국 자료를 수집하는 내근 업무를 하던 이화춘은 85년 5월 안기부 부산지부로 파견돼 법조를 담당하게 됐다. 전임자는 "'문제 변호사'가 네 명 있는데 이들의 동향을 파악하는 것이 당신의 주요 임무"라고 말했다. 이들 네 명은 노무현, 김광일, 문재인, 이흥록이었다. 인사차 찾아간 이화춘과 점심을 같이하던 노무현은 4시간 동안 노동.학생운동 사태 등 시국을 논했다. 8년간 미국 자료만 들여다봤던 이화춘은 제대로 말을 잇지 못했다. 이에 노무현은 "당신같이 무지한 정보 요원은 처음 봤다. 당신 큰일났다"고 걱정했다. 이씨가 "내가 어떻게 해야 하나"라고 묻자 노변호사는 "교육을 받아야겠다"며 밤에 집으로 오라고 했다.

노무현이 보여준 자료들을 보고 안기부의 직원들은 당황해했다. 이화춘 등은 "이러면 내가 당신을 잡아가야 한다"며 뿌리치자 노무현은 "나중에 잡아가더라도 일단은 읽어보라"고 했다. 다음날 아침 노변호사가 전화를 걸어 독후감을 물었다. 이화춘은 "광주사태의 참혹상에 충격을 받아 밤을 꼬박 새웠다"고 답했다. 이화춘과 안기부 직원들은 노무현과 문재인 변호사가 같이 운영하는 '노동문제연구소' 겸 변호사 사무실을 출입했다. 사무실은 늘 학생.노동자로 붐볐다. 이씨의 '기관원 의식'은 무뎌져 갔고, 그와 노무현은 서로의 애환을 챙기는 관계로 발전했다고 한다.

정치 입문

정계 입문 초기 

재야 활동을 하던 노무현은 통일민주당 총재 김영삼과의 인연으로 1988년 4월 26일 제13대 총선에 출마하여 부산 동구에서 통일민주당 후보로서 제13대 국회의원에 당선됐다.

국회 노동위원회에서 활발한 활동을 벌여 이해찬, 이상수 의원 등과 함께 '노동위원회의 3총사'로 불렸다. 한편, 1987년 12월에 있었던 현대중공업 파업 현장에서 강연 중에 "사람을 위해 법이 있는 것이지 법을 위해 사람이 있는 것이 아니다"라고 했던 구절이 문제가 되어 언론의 공세를 받았다.

청문회 스타로 등극 
1988년 11월에 제5공화국 비리 특별조사위원회 청문회에서 전 국가안전기획부장 장세동, 전 청와대 경호실장 안현태, 전 법무부장관 이종원, 현대그룹 회장 정주영 등을 상대로 한 증인 신문에서 차분하고 논리적인 질의와 치밀한 추궁으로 '청문회 스타'가 되었다. 이어 최초로 텔레비전으로 중계된 5공 청문회에서 죄가 없다고 주장하는 전두환 전 대통령에게 명패를 던지는 등의 언동으로 국민의 관심을 받았다. 1989년 초 국회 5공 비리·광주 사태 특별위원회의 증인 출석 여부를 둘러싼 정부·여당의 집요한 방해 책동에 항의해 의원직 사퇴서를 냈다가 이를 번복하고 사퇴서를 거둬들이기도 했다. 한편 이 무렵 김영삼은 그를 상도동 자택으로 수시로 불러서 면담도 하고 용돈도 넉넉히 지원해 주었다.

3당 합당 거부와 야당 정치인 
1990년 1월 12일, 통일민주당 김영삼 총재, 민주정의당 총재인 대통령 노태우, 신민주공화당 총재 김종필이 민주자유당을 창당하기로 하는 3당 합당 선언을 하였다. 이에 노무현은 3당 합당을 '밀실야합'이라고 규정하였다. 이후 노무현은 민자당에 합류하지 않고 통일민주당 잔류 세력 등과 함께 민주당 (대한민국, 1990년)을 창당하였다. 김영삼 총재가 3당 합당 당시 "구국의 차원에서 통일민주당을 해체합니다. 이의 없습니까? 이의가 없으므로 통과됐음을…."이라고 말하는 순간 갑자기 노무현이 일어나 오른손을 번쩍 들며 "이의 있습니다. 반대 토론을 해야 합니다"라고 외쳤다. 이후 그는 김영삼의 3당 합당 참여를 민주화 운동에 대한 배신으로 규정해 자신의 후원자였던 김영삼과 결별하였다. 1990년 7월 5일 민주당 중앙당 기획조정실장이 되었다.

한편 노무현은 노태우 정부 하에서 국군 보안사령부의 사찰 대상 중 한 사람이 되어 감시당했다. 이는 1990년 10월 4일 한국외국어대학교에 재학 중 민학투련 출신으로 보안사로 연행돼 프락치로서 수사에 협조해 오다 탈영한 윤석양 이병의 폭로로 밝혀졌다.

1991년 10월 14대 총선을 코앞에 둔 시점에서 '주간조선'이 게재한 ‘노 의원은 과연 상당한 재산가인가’라는 제목의 기사를 보도했다. 이 기사는 인권 변호사로 알려진 당시 노무현 의원이 부동산 투기의 전력이 있고 호화 요트를 소유하고 있다는 등 재산 규모 및 형성 과정의 의혹을 보도했다. 노무현 의원은 명예훼손 소송을 제기했고 1년여 만에 승소 판결을 받아냈다. 이 기사가 선거에 어느 정도 영향을 미쳤는지는 계량할 수 없으나 결국 노무현은 1992년 민주당 후보로 부산 동구 선거구에 출마하였다가 2위로 낙선하면서 재선에 실패했다. 1993년 민주당 최연소 최고위원이 되었다. 1995년에는 민주당 후보로서 부산광역시장 선거에 출마하여 36.7%의 득표율을 얻었으나 결국 낙선했다.

정치 활동

새정치국민회의 입당 
14대 대선에서 패한 후 정계 은퇴를 선언한 김대중이 1995년에 정계 복귀하면서 새정치국민회의를 창당했고, 노무현은 이를 '전근대적 정치 행태'라고 비난하면서 합류하지 않았다. 많은 의원들이 민주당(1991년)를 탈당하여 새정치국민회의로 가면서 민주당(1991년)은 제2야당으로 전락하였다. 이후 민주당(1991년)은 개혁신당과 통합하여 통합민주당을 창당하는데, 노무현도 이 통합민주당(1995년)에 합류하였다.

정계에 복귀한 김대중이 지역등권론을 주장하자 노무현은 이부영 등과 함께 김대중의 지역등권론을 비판하였다.

1995년 노무현은 민주당 부산시장 경선에 출마하여 황백현 부산진을 위원장을 13표 차로 누르고 민주당 부산시장 후보로 출마했으나 지역감정의 벽을 넘지 못하고 낙선했다.

1996년 4월 11일에 시행된 15대 총선에서 노무현은 서울 종로구에 통합민주당(1995년) 후보로 출마했으나 신한국당의 이명박 후보, 새정치국민회의의 이종찬 후보에 밀려 3위로 낙선했다. 이후 노무현은 이부영, 박계동, 김원기, 이철 등과 함께 국민통합추진회의(약칭 통추)를 결성하여 활동하였다. 통추 활동기간 동안 노무현은 대선 출마를 선언하기도 하였는데, 이에 대해 노무현 후보는 "3김 정치에 한 번도 저항하지 않은 이인제 후보는 세대교체를 논할 자격도 없다"라며 이인제가 주장한 세대교체에 대해 강력 비판하는 뜻으로 대선 출마를 선언했다. 그러나 일주일이 흐른 후 노무현은 대선 출마를 철회하게 되는데, 이는 통추의 '노무현 대선 출마'에 대한 강력한 비토로 인한 것이었다.

15대 대선을 앞두고 통합민주당(1995년)의 대통령 후보 조순이 신한국당의 이회창과 연대 및 합당을 결정하면서 통추 내에서는 격론이 벌어졌다. 이부영·이철 등은 "3김 정치를 청산해야 한다"라며 신한국당을 선택하자고 주장하였고, 노무현·김원기·김정길 등은 "군사정권과 그 후예들을 심판하여 50년 만의 정권교체를 이룩해야 한다"라며 새정치국민회의 입당을 주장하였다. 결국 1997년 11월 노무현은 김정길, 김원기 등의 집행위원들과 함께 새정치국민회의에 입당하여 김대중을 지지하였다. 입당 후 김대중은 노무현을 비롯한 통추 집행위원들을 독대한 자리에서 1995년 야권 분열에 대해 "오늘은 매우 기쁜 날입니다. 단순히 여러분과 다시 일하게 된 데 대한 기쁨뿐만이 아니라, 그동안 여러분에게 지고 있었던 마음의 짐을 풀었다는 것이 가장 기쁩니다"라는 말로 과거의 일을 반성했다. 그리고 그 해 12월 18일, 김대중이 15대 대통령에 당선되면서 노무현은 사상 처음으로 여당에 몸담게 되었다.

국민의 정부 시절 
1998년 2월, 한나라당 의원 이명박이 선거법 위반으로 의원직 상실형을 최종 선고 받기 직전 서울특별시장 경선 출마를 선언하며 의원직을 자진 사퇴하였다. 이에 따라 치러진 7월 21일 국회의원 재선거에서 노무현은 새정치국민회의 소속으로 서울 종로구에 출마하여 한나라당의 정인봉 후보를 물리치고 6년 만에 국회에 복귀하게 되었다.

2000년 4월, 16대 총선에서 상대적으로 당선 가능성이 높았던 서울시 종로구 공천을 거절하고, "지역주의 벽을 넘겠다"라는 의지를 표명하면서 부산 북·강서을 지역구에서 새천년민주당 후보로 출마하였으나 결국 낙선하였다. 이를 안타깝게 여긴 네티즌들이 인터넷을 통해 노사모를 조직하였고, 이후 노무현은 '바보'라는 별명을 얻었고, 노사모는 노무현의 중요한 정치적 자산이 되었다.

국회의원에 낙선이 된 후 그는 2000년 8월부터 2001년 3월까지 김대중 정부의 해양수산부 장관을 지냈다.

2002년 대통령 선거

국민경선제 
일명 16부작 정치 드라마로 불렸던 국민 경선제는 2002년 3월 9일부터 제주를 필두로 전국 16개 시도를 돌면서 당원(50%)들과 국민(50%)들이 직접 투표하는 방식으로 진행됐다. 국민 경선제에는 노무현을 비롯해 김근태, 김중권, 유종근, 이인제, 정동영, 한화갑 등이 후보로 출마하였다.

국민 경선이 도입되기 이전에 민주당 부동의 1위는 이인제였고, 노무현은 군소 후보로 지지율은 10% 미만이었다. 경선 국면이 시작되면서 노무현은 "영남 후보론" 및 이인제 후보를 겨냥한 "정체성 시비"로 20%대 지지율에 진입하기 시작했다. 첫 번째 지역이었던 제주에서 한화갑 후보가 의외의 1위를 차지했고, 노무현은 득표 3위를 기록했다. 두 번째 울산에서는 인상적인 연설을 한 노무현이 예상대로 1위를 차지했다.

한편 여론조사에서는 대선 판도에 큰 변화가 나타나기 시작했다. 3월 13일 문화일보와 SBS가 공동으로 실시한 조사에 따르면, 노무현과 이회창이 양자 대결을 벌일 경우 노무현이 41.7%로 40.6% 지지율을 기록한 이회창을 앞서는 것으로 조사되었다. 대선 주자 지지도 여론 조사에서 이회창이 민주당 후보에 뒤처지는 결과가 나온 것은 대선 구도가 형성된 이후 처음 있는 일이었다.

예비 후보 지명전에서 승리 
관건은 3월 16일에 실시한 광주 경선이었다. 무엇보다도 광주는 김대중 대통령의 정치적 기반이자 새천년민주당의 근거지로서 이곳의 결과가 사실상 새천년민주당 대선후보를 결정짓는다고 해도 과언이 아닐 정도로 최대의 승부처였다. 당시 이인제 대세론이 있었고, 호남 출신으로 오랫동안 김대중을 보좌해온 한화갑의 기세가 만만치 않아 당시의 분위기는 노무현에게 결코 우호적이지 않았다. 무엇보다도 영남 출신인데다 새천년민주당 내에서는 이렇다 할 조직이 없었다. 그러나 결과는 노무현의 승리였다. 이회창을 이길 수 있는 유일한 카드라는 여론 조사 결과가 유리하게 작용했다. 거세게 불 것으로 예상했던 지역주의 투표 성향이 무너지면서 광주 경선은 지역주의 극복이라는 의미를 지니게 되었다. 정작 1위를 장담했던 호남 출신인 한화갑 후보는 3위를 기록했고, 영남 출신 후보가 1위를 기록했기 때문이다.

노무현은 당시 연단에 서서 "광주시민 여러분들의 위대한 승리, 민주당의 승리, 한국 민주주의 승리로 이어질 수 있도록 최선을 다하겠습니다"라면서 감격적인 소감을 밝혔고, 이후 노무현은 단숨에 지지율이 급상승하며 '노풍(盧風, 노무현 바람)'의 주인공이 되었다. 광주 경선 직후 이인제의 지역 기반인 대전· 충청권에서 일격을 당해 노풍이 꺾이는 듯싶었지만 대구광역시 경선 결과, 종합 1위가 확정되었다. 노무현 후보는 연단에서 "동서화합의 큰 가능성이 열린 것으로 평가한다"며 "선전해 준 두 후보께 감사한다"고 소감을 밝혔다. 이후 강원도와 전남, 전북, 경남, 대구를 비롯한 거의 전 지역을 석권해 나갔고, 2002년 4월 26일, 서울 경선에서 새천년민주당의 제16대 대통령 선거 후보로 공식 선출됐다.

경선이 끝난 4월 말 노무현의 지지율은 당시 역대 대통령 후보 가운데 사상 최고치라는 60%를 기록했다.

민주진보세력 대통합론과 위기 
노무현은 대선 후보로 선출된 직후 대선 승리를 위한 계획으로 '민주 세력 대통합론'(대통합론)을 내놓았다. 1987년 대선에서 양김이 분열되면서 쪼개졌던 민주화 세력을 하나로 묶어내 한국의 미래를 함께 열어젖히겠다는 포부였다. 이를 위해 노무현은 상도동 자택에서 김영삼 전 대통령을 만나 대통합론의 취지를 전달하고 김영삼에게 지방 선거 후보 추천을 제안하기도 했다. 이 자리에서 노무현은 김영삼에게 통일민주당 시절 김영삼으로부터 손수 받은 손목시계를 내보이기도 했다. 그러나 노무현의 '민주 세력 대통합론'은 국민들에게 대선 승리를 위한 정략으로 보이면서 진정성을 인정받지 못했다. 게다가 5월 들어 김대중 대통령의 두 아들인 김홍업과 김홍걸의 비리가 불거지며, 새롭고 신선한 이미지의 노무현에게 큰 타격을 줬고, 지지율은 본격적인 내림세로 돌아서기 시작했다.

한편 노무현은 영남권 광역 단체장을 한 명도 당선시키지 못할 경우 재신임을 받겠다고 말했다.

새천년민주당은 지방 선거에서 광역 단체장에서 호남과 제주의 4석만 건지며 참패했다. 노무현은 선거 전 약속한 대로 후보 재신임을 물었고, 민주당 당무 회의는 만장일치로 재신임을 의결했다. 이에 대해 민주당 내 최대 계파 모임인 중도 개혁 포럼은 불복하고 ‘후보, 지도부 즉각 사퇴론’을 주장했다.

민주당 내분 사태 
친(親)이인제 성향의 반노(反盧), 노무현의 집권 가능성에 회의적이던 비노(非盧) 의원들은 지방 선거에 참패하자 집단으로 신당 창당, 후보 사퇴를 주장하며 '노무현 흔들기'에 나서기 시작했다. 노무현은 신당 창당과 재경선 수용 입장을 밝혔다. 한때 정몽준, 박근혜, 이한동 의원과 자민련 등이 신당 참여 대상으로 거론되기도 했으나 무산되었고, 정몽준과 이한동은 각자 독자적으로 당을 만드는 것으로 정리되었다. 당시 천정배 의원은 8월 16일 국회의원, 지구당 위원장 연석회의에서 반노 진영의 행동은 '경선 불복 행위'라고 말했다.

2002년 한일 월드컵 바람을 타고 대통령 출마를 선언한 정몽준이 거센 돌풍을 일으키자 노무현은 지지율도 토막이 나고 당내 의원들로부터도 배척받기 시작했다. '노무현 흔들기'는 더욱 노골화되었고, '후보 단일화론'은 물론이거니와 '후보 교체론'까지 나왔다. 노무현은 경쟁력이 없는 만큼 정몽준을 수혈해 대선 새판 짜기에 나서야 하지 않느냐는 정치공학적 판단이었다.

10월 들어서 상황이 악화되었다. 노무현의 낙마를 바라는 의원들이 탈당하여 후보 단일화 추진 협의회(후단협)를 만들고 후보 단일화를 주장했는데, 이들은 노무현으로 후보 단일화가 되면 함께 할 수 없다고 발언하였고 정몽준 지지의 속내를 감추지 않았다. 11월 19일 후단협은 정몽준에 대한 공개 지지를 밝혔으며, 심지어 후단협 소속 의원이 정몽준 대표 측에 돈을 요구하기도 했다. 후단협 해체 후 일부 의원은 한나라당에 입당했고, 12명은 민주당에 복당했다.

이때 정몽준의 국민통합21에 입당하기 위한 김민석의 탈당은 노무현에게 반전의 계기가 되었다. 그의 탈당은 노무현에게 악재가 되지 않겠느냐는 관측이 있었으나, 답보 상태였던 그의 지지율은 20%대를 회복하고 후원금 액수도 크게 늘었다.

정몽준과의 후보 단일화 
후보 단일화는 정 대표로의 단일화를 염두에 둔 민주당 내 반(反)노무현, 비(非)노무현 측의 요구에서 비롯하였다. 단일화 방안으로는 크게 3가지가 있었는데, 국민 경선과 여론 조사, 협상 담판이었다. 이 중 협상 담판은 정몽준의 후보의 주장으로 11월 1일에 정식 제안했고, 국민 경선안은 국민 참여 50%, 당원 참여 50%의 민주당 안을 노무현 후보가 11월 3일 정식 제안했다. 여론 조사안은 단일화 여론 조사를 실시했을 때 우위를 점하는 정몽준 후보가 유리한 안으로 정몽준 후보가 선호하는 안이었다.

국민통합21은 노무현 진영 측의 제안을 반대하며 "국민 경선을 할 시간적 여유가 없다"라는 이유를 들었다. 그러나 판세는 1강(이회창) 2중(노무현-정몽준)의 구도로 바뀌고 있던 차였다. 국민통합21도 더는 단일화 방안을 놓고 입씨름을 벌일 만한 상황이 아니었다.

노무현 후보는 11월 11일 자신에게 불리한 여론 조사를 통한 단일화를 제의하였고, 단일화 재협상에서도 마지막 쟁점인 '무효화 조항'을 전격 수용하면서 양보하는 모습을 보였다. 민주당으로서는 받아들이기 힘든 설문 내용 변경도 단일화를 위해 수용했다. 민주당 김원기 고문은 노무현의 결단은 "이기고 지는 것을 초월한 것"이라고 말했다. 이로 인해 노무현 후보의 지지도는 더욱 반등하기 시작했다.

텔레비전 토론을 거쳐 2002년 11월 24일 노무현 후보는 극적으로 단일화 여론 조사에서 승리했다. 24일 시행된 2군데 여론 조사 중 리서치 앤드 리서치 경쟁력 조사에서 46.8%를 얻어 42.2%를 얻은 정 후보를 제쳤고, 월드 리서치 조사에서는 이회창 후보 지지율이 조사 유효화 조건인 31.1%에 미치지 못한 28.7%가 되어 무효가 되긴 했지만, 38.8%를 얻어 37%를 얻은 정몽준 후보를 앞섰다. 노 후보 측은 이날 승리 원인에 대해 '성실하게 원칙과 정도를 지켜온 것이 국민을 감동시킨 것'이라고 말했다.

단일화가 되고 나서 여론 조사에서 노무현이 이회창 후보를 역전한 직후 이인제가 탈당하여 자유민주연합에 입당한 후 이회창을 지지하는 선언을 하는 등 새로운 갈등을 야기하기도 하였다. 2002년 11월 새천년민주당 후보였던 그는 서울 여의도에서 열린 '전국 농민대회'에 참석했다가 성난 농부들이 던진 달걀에 얼굴을 정면으로 맞았다.

정몽준의 후보 단일화 파기 
정몽준은 대선 투표 전날인 12월 18일 저녁 10시 민주당과의 선거 공조를 파기했다. 지지 철회 발표문에 따르면, 노무현 후보가 '미국과 북한과 싸우면 우리가 말린다'라는 표현을 했는데, 국민통합21은 "미국은 우리를 도와주는 우방이고, 미국이 북한과 싸울 이유가 없다는 시각을 가지고 있다"면서 이 발언을 문제 삼았다.

노무현 후보는 설득을 위해 심야에 정몽준 국민통합21 대표의 자택을 방문하였다. 노무현은 정대철 선대위원장 등과 함께 자택 앞에서 기자들에 둘러싸여 기다렸으나 정몽준 대표는 만나주지 않았고, 심야 회동은 결렬되었다. 그러나 정몽준의 지지철회로 위기감을 느낀 진보 진영이 민주노동당을 지지하지 않고 노무현에게 표를 몰아주는 의외의 효과가 나타난다.

제16대 대통령 당선 
2002년 12월 19일 대통령 선거 본투표가 시작되었고, 개표 초반에는 뒤지고 있었으나 막판 역전에 성공하면서 한나라당의 이회창 후보를 57만 표 차이로 이기고 당선됐다. 통신사 KT에 의하면 대통령 선거 당일 오후 12시부터 3시까지 집전화 및 휴대전화 사용, 문자메시지 사용률이 폭증하였는데 이는 오후에 접어들어 젋은 층들의 투표를 이끌어내기 위한 캠프 측의 독려를 위한 행동이었다. 노무현은 선거 기간동안 인터넷을 중심으로 선거운동을 이어가며 젊은 층들의 표심을 이끌어냈고, 노사모 등 팬클럽들의 온라인화도 큰 주목을 받았다. 이에 영국 일간지 가디언에서는 노무현의 취임을 두고 "세계 최초의 인터넷 대통령이 로그온(Log-on) 했다"는 논평을 내놓기도 했다.

인수위 과정에서 정해진 노무현 정부의 공식 명칭은 참여정부이다. 2003년 1월 14일 열린 인수위 회의에서 노무현은 "토론을 국정운영 방법으로 정했으면 한다"라면서 "토론공화국이라 말할 정도로 토론이 일상화되면 좋겠다"라고 덧붙였다.

대통령 취임식 
취임식은 2003년 2월 25일, 국회의사당 앞마당에서 거행되었으며 총 48,500명이 참석하였다. 선거 과정에서 인터넷을 사용했던 것처럼 취임식 티켓 역시 온라인을 통해 응모를 받아 배포하여 화제를 모았다. 노무현은 취임식 참석 전 자신이 6년간 거주하던 명륜동 자택을 떠나면서 "종로구 국회의원이 되면서 처음 명륜동에 왔는데 이 집에서 해양수산부 장관을 거쳐 대통령까지 됐다"는 말을 남기며 주민들에게 짧은 작별인사를 했다. 자택을 떠난 뒤 국립서울현충원에서 참배를 하고, 취임식장으로 향했다. 취임식 단상에 입장할 때는 사전 선정된 국민대표 8인과 함께 입장했는데, 국민대표 8인은 장경숙 푸드뱅크 소장, 안철수 안철수연구소 사장, 최일도 목사, 약사 권혜숙 씨와 딸 이지은 양, 여군조종사 박지연 씨, 오규민 상병이었다.

취임식에는 김대중 전 대통령을 비롯해 김영삼, 전두환, 노태우, 최규하 전 대통령 등 전직 대통령 전원이 참석하였다. 대통령 비서실장으로 내정된 문희상 의원과 민정수석비서관 내정자였던 문재인도 참석했다. 김석수 국무총리, 박관용 국회의장, 최종영 대법원장, 유지담 중앙선거관리위원장, 고건 국무총리 내정자 등 5부 요인도 참석했다. 이 외에도 전국 광역단체장 전원이 취임식에 초청되었으며, 김종필 자민련 총재도 참석하여 삼김 전원이 참석한 마지막 대통령 취임식이 되었다. 문화계 인사로는 배우 문성근과 방송인 홍석천이 초청되었다. 외국 사절로는 콜린 파월 미 국무장관, 첸지천 중국 부총리, 고이즈미 준이치로 일본 총리, 나카소네 야스히로 전 일본 총리, 모리 요시로 전 일본 총리, 세르게이 미느로프 전 러시아 연방평의회 의장, 알렉산드르 로스큐프 외무차관, 리하르트 폰 바이츠제커 전 독일 대통령, 수파차이 파닛팍디 WHO 사무총장, 도널드 존스턴 OECD 사무총장이 초대되었으며 2002년 FIFA 월드컵에서 한국 국가대표팀 감독으로 4강 신화를 이뤄낸 거스 히딩크 감독도 특별초청되었다.

본 취임식에서 국기에 대한 경례가 전통 악기로 연주되었으며, 애국가 제창은 팝페라 가수 임형주가 맡았다. 순국 선열을 위한 묵념에 앞서 대구 지하철 화재 참사로 희생된 피해자들을 기리는 추모 멘트와 묵념이 이루어졌다. 안숙선 명창과 합창단이 《우리가 원하는 우리나라》를 합창으로 불렀으며 남성 바리톤 김남두, 김영환, 김세원, 최승원이 《오 솔레미오》와 《희망의 나라로》를 합창했다. 한편 식전행사에서는 가수 양희은이 참석해 《상록수》를 불렀는데 《상록수》는 노무현이 대선 광고에서 직접 기타를 치며 불렀던 인연이 있다.

대통령 취임식은 MBC/SBS/KBS 지상파 3사와 YTN, MBN에서 생중계되었으며 11시 정각에 마무리되었다. 취임식 당일 저녁 열린 만찬에는 전두환 내외와 김종필 자민련 총재 부부가 참석하였다.

대통령 재임시

국정 방향 

취임 초 노무현은 노무현 정부, 즉 참여정부의 주요 정책은 크게 12개의 국정 과제로 제시됐다. 외교안보 분야와 정치행정 분야의 기조로 부패 없는 사회 봉사하는 행정, 지방 분권과 국가 균형 발전, 참여와 통합의 정치 개혁이 경제 분야에는 자유롭고 공정한 시장경제 확립, 동북아 경제 중심국가 건설, 과학기술 중심사회 구축, 미래를 열어가는 농어촌이 제시되었다. 사회 문화 여성 보건 분야로는 참여복지와 삶의 질 향상, 교육 개혁과 지식문화 강국 실현, 국민 통합과 양성평등의 구현, 사회 통합적 노사관계 구축 등을 제시하였다.

외교 정책 

외교 방식은 동북아 균형자론을 표방하였다.

그는 대표적으로 그리스, 루마니아, 핀란드, 영국, 스페인 국빈 방문과 동남아시아, 남미, 러시아, 프랑스, 폴란드, 이탈리아, 바티칸 순방을 위한 23차례에 걸쳐 총 49개국을 방문했다. 한국 대통령 가운데 처음으로 공식 방문한 국가는 이집트, 나이지리아, 알제리, 아제르바이잔, 아랍에미리트, 스페인 등 6개국이다.

대미 관계 
그는 대선 전부터 반미주의자로 여겨졌는데, 2002년 대한민국 제16대 대통령 선거 당시 이는 약점보다는 강점으로 작용했다. 당시 대한민국 국민들은 미군 장갑차 여중생 압사 사건, 불평등 SOFA 협정 등 때문에 미국에 대해 우호적이지 않았다. 노무현은 "미국에 할 말은 한다"며 대미 관계에 있어 독자노선을 갈 것처럼 보였다.

당시 미국은 조지 W. 부시를 위시한 네오콘이 장기 집권하고 있었다. 이로 인해 참여정부와 미국 정부와의 정책적 충돌이 자주 일어났다. 취임 후 부시 행정부와 대북 정책의 입장 차이가 발생하자 미국의 공화당 보수파는 그를 의심스럽게 쳐다보았고, 당시 야당인 한나라당은 이에 가세하여 그를 좌파라고 강력하게 비난했다. 그러나 실제로 노무현 정부가 미국에 대해 대북 정책 이외엔 독자노선을 걸었던 흔적은 드러나지 않고, 반대로 부시 행정부의 요청에 따른 이라크 전쟁 파병, 주한미군 용산 기지 이전 문제, 한미 FTA의 추진 등에서 오히려 부시 행정부의 요구를 받아들이면서도 실리는 챙기지 못했다.

2007년 9월 호주에서 아시아·태평양 경제협력체(APEC) 정상회담이 열렸을 때, 당시 노무현은 부시에게 "평화조약에 대해 더 분명히 말해 달라"고 여러 차례 외교적 결례에 해당하는 요구를 하자, 부시가 짜증내는 사태까지 발생했다. 워싱턴 정가의 소식을 전하는 넬슨리포트는 "노 대통령의 의전상 결례에 대해 부시 대통령뿐 아니라 현장의 (미국) 기자들도 놀란 것 같았다"라고 전했다. 양국의 외교관들이 서둘러 진화에 나섰지만 두 정상 간의 껄끄러운 궁합을 보여주는 상징적 사건이 되었다.

2008년 2월 마이클 그린 전 미 NSC 선임보좌관은 인터뷰에서 "노무현 대통령의 한미동맹에 대한 그의 기여는 전두환·노태우 이상이다. 그가 퇴임하는 2008년 2월 현재 한미 동맹은 훨씬 강하고 좋아졌다. 노 대통령은 미국·영국 다음 가는 대규모 이라크 파병에다 한미 자유무역협정(FTA)체결, 주한미군 용산기지 이전 등 정책적으로 한미 동맹에 크나큰 기여를 했다"라고 평가하였다.

대일 관계 

고이즈미 준이치로 정권 출범 이후 일본의 우경화 추세에 맞물려서 일본과의 관계는 악화일로를 걸었다. 2004년 3·1절 치사에서 그는 제2차 세계 대전 당시 전쟁을 일으켰던 A급 전범들의 위패가 안치된 야스쿠니 신사 참배와 관련하여 일본의 지도자(구체적으로 적시하지 않았지만 문맥상 고이즈미를 가리킨다고 판단됨)를 강하게 비판했다. 이는 야스쿠니 신사 참배에 대한 국민 감정을 대변하려는 것이었지만, 보수 언론 및 야당으로부터 감정적 대응이라는 비판을 듣기도 했다.

2005년 야치 쇼타로 일본 외무성 사무차관이 한국의 야당 의원들과의 대담에서 북핵 문제와 관련하여 대북 유화 정책을 지속하려는 노무현 행정부를 비판하자 김만수 청와대 대변인이 외교적 결례로서 공식 항의하는 일도 벌어졌다. 2006년 일본의 시마네현이 "다케시마의 날"을 제정하는 등 독도 문제에 관해 일본과의 긴장이 높아가자 4월 25일에는 특별 담화를 발표하여 일본에 대해 강하게 경고했다. 아베 정권 출범 이후로도 점점 우경화되는 일본과 마찰을 빚는 일이 빈번해졌다. 그는 또 3월 23일에 일본의 행태를 "더 이상 묵과할 수 없는 사태"로 규정하고 독도 문제에 대해서는 "지난 날 침략을 정당화하고 대한민국의 광복을 부인하는 것"이라고 성토하면서 외교적 갈등이 시작되었다.

2006년 11월 APEC 정상회의와는 별도로 열린 아베 신조 총리와의 양자 회담에서 동해를 예를 들어 '평화의 바다' 또는 '우의의 바다'로 부르면 어떻겠느냐고 제안했다고 청와대가 확인했다. 그러나 청와대측은 정식으로 제안한 것이 아니라 "발상의 전환의 한 예로 든 것을 언론이 전격 제안으로 보도했다"라고 해명했다.

미국의 UPI 통신은 '한국, 동해를 놓고 제안을 했다'란 제목의 기사에서 "한국과 일본 사이의 바다(명칭)에 대한 타협안으로 노무현 대통령이 '평화의 바다'로 바꿔 부를 것을 제안했다"라고 보도했다. 이 같은 제의는 외교ㆍ안보 라인과 사전 협의도 거치지 않은 돌출 발언이었던 것으로 알려졌으며, 전문가들은 국제무대에서 국가 수장의 돌출 발언은 국익에 적잖은 문제를 초래할 수 있다고 지적했다. 노 대통령의 일관성 없는 대일 영유권 시각도 문제가 있다는 지적이다. 한나라당은 "노 대통령은 국민의 자존심과 역사의식에 상처를 입혔다"며 "반역사적 발언에 대해 깊이 반성하라"고 지적했다. 네티즌들도 "한 국가의 최고 통치권자로서 적절치 못한 역사관 표명이었다"며 노 전 대통령을 비난했었다. 2007년 10월 발행한 '2007 방위백서'의 한글 번역본에는 독도를 다케시마로 표기하고 있다.

이와는 별개로 2003년 한일 정상회담 후에 가진 기자회견에서 '일본에서는 다케시마라고 하지요?'라며 독도를 '다케시마'라는 표현을 써 파문이 일었다. 일본 언론들이 이를 "한국 대통령이 일본의 견해를 용인?"했다는 식의 보도를 했다. 민주노동당 박용진 대변인도 논평에서 "일제 강점기 만행을 정부가 공식적으로 제기하지 않으면 누가 하겠는가"라고 반문했다. 그러나 청와대 대변인은 "기자가 '다케시마 문제'라고 질문에 언급해서 이를 받아서 설명하는 과정에서 '다케시마'라는 언급이 한 번 있었다"면서 기자의 질문을 받아 대답하는 과정에서 '독도'를 '다케시마'라고 표현했다고 이를 왜곡하는 것은 문제가 있다"고 불쾌감을 드러냈다.

취임 1년차 (2003년 2월 25일 ~ 2004년 2월 24일) 

2003년 2월 25일 노무현은 제16대 대통령으로 취임하였다. 이로써 참여정부가 출범하였다. 이튿날에는 고건 총리 임명 동의안이 국회에서 통과되었고, 또 이튿날에는 참여정부 조각 발표로 새 내각을 출범시켰다.

취임식 당일인 2003년 2월 25일에는 고이즈미 준이치로 일본 총리와의 정상회담, 5월 15일에 미국을 방문하여 부시 대통령과 백악관에서 정상회담을 하였다.

한편 3월 9일, 검찰 개혁의 향배와 검찰 인사를 놓고 검찰이 일선 검사들과 마찰을 빚자 노무현은 강금실 법무부 장관과 일선 검사들이 함께하는 '대통령과 전국 검사와의 대화'(토론회 명칭)라는 제목의 토론회가 방송 3사를 통해 전국에 생중계되었다. 이 자리에서 검사들은 검찰 개혁을 외치면서 대통령이 인사위원회도 거치지 않고 인사 개입을 하는 것은 검찰 개혁이 아니라며 대통령 검찰 인사의 부당성을 지적했으나, 노무현은 "지금 인사위원회에 앉아 있는 사람들이 모두 인사 대상"이라며 "여기서 인사하지 않으면 낡은 검찰로 몇 달 더 가자는 것"이라며 검찰 인사의 불가피성을 강조했다. 검사들의 친인척 의혹 등 부적절한 발언이 거론되자 대통령이 "이쯤 되면 막 하자는 거죠”라는 발언을 하였는데, 보수 언론은 이를 "이쯤 되면 막가자는 거죠"라고 구설수에 올렸다. 검사들은 토론회의 의도에 대해 "대통령께서 토론의 달인으로 알고 있는데, 토론의 아마추어인 검사들을 말로써 제압하려 한다면 무의미하다"는 비판을 했다. 당시 이 토론회는 권위적이고 군림하는 대통령이 아닌, 탈권위적인 '토론하는 대통령'을 보여준 모습으로 평가받았다.

취임 초기 
2003년 3월 20일 미국이 이라크를 침공하고 한국을 비롯한 동맹국에 파병을 요청하자 그는 "국익을 위해 파병해야 한다"라며 이라크 파병이 '전략적 선택'이라고 표현한 대국민 담화문을 발표했다.

한편 3월 24일에는 원칙대로 운용되지 못하고 자의적으로 운용되거나 국회의원들이 유용해 온 특별 교부금에 대해 폐지 또는 보통 교부금에 통합하는 등 개선을 명령했다. 그러나 2008년 12월까지 이러한 관행은 개선되지 않았다. 4월 18일에는 노무현의 지시에 따라 청남대가 개방되고 모든 관리권이 충청북도로 이관하였으며 현재는 관광지로 이용되고 있다.

그러나 노무현은 초기 어려움을 겪에 되었다. 5월 21일 각종 사회적 갈등이 봇물 터지듯 쏟아져 나오자 그는 "이러다가 대통령직 못해 먹겠다는 생각이, 위기감이 생긴다" 며 국정 운영의 어려움을 호소했다. 한편 2003년 9월에는 새천년민주당을 탈당하였다.

2004년 2월 25일 민주당은 참여정부 출범 1주년을 맞아 실패한 1년, 잃어버린 1년이라는 제목의 국정평가 보고서를 배포했다. 보고서에는 참여정부의 7대 비리의혹을 꼽았으며, 또한 노무현 대통령의 11가지 자질부족 사례를 꼽았다.

불법 관권선거 개입 사례로는 노무현의 양강구도 언급 등 총선관련 발언들과 군복무기간 추가단축 검토를 비롯한 행정부의 총선용 선심성 공약 남발 사례, 민주당 파괴공작, 총선 올인 등을 꼽았으며 이와함께 장관임기 보장 약속 파기, 대북송금 특검 수용과 정몽헌 현대아산 회장의 자살을 비롯한 사례 21가지 등 총 43가지 예를 들어 노무현 정부 1년을 혹평했다.

위기돌파와 신행정 수도론 
10월 청와대 총무비서관인 최도술이 SK그룹으로부터 비자금을 수수했다는 의혹이 터지고,10월 10일에는 대통령 측근 비리 의혹에다가 김두관 행정자치부 장관 해임 건의안 가결되었고, 윤성식 감사원장 임명 동의안 부결 등의 문제가 계속해서 발생하자 노무현은 청와대에서 열린 기자 회견에 "국민에게 재신임을 묻겠다"고 선언했다.

2003년 12월 29일 국회는 여야의 합의로 신행정수도법을 통과시켰다. 이후 2004년 1월 14일 그는 연두 기자 회견에서 "지난 수십 년간 끊어내지 못했던 정치와 권력, 언론, 재계 간 특권적 유착 구조는 완전히 해체될 것이며, 투명하고 공정한 사회로 성큼 다가설 것이다."라고 말했다. 그해 1월 16일에는 2003년 말에 국회에서 여야 합의로 통과된 신행정수도법을 공포했다.

2004년 1월에 노무현의 며느리인 배정민이 개인 홈페이지에 "150만 원짜리 유모차가 사고 싶은데 엄마 아빠(노무현, 권양숙 추정)에게 사 달라고 졸라야겠다."라는 글을 올린 이른바 유모차 해프닝이 벌어졌다. 그 뒤 항의가 일자 배정민은 결국 홈페이지를 폐쇄했다.

취임 2년차 (2004년 2월 25일 ~ 2005년 2월 24일) 

2004년 노무현은 위기를 맞이하였다. 한나라당이 다수를 차지하던 국회는 새천년민주당의 주도 하에 그를 탄핵하였고, 이로써 헌정 이후 사상 처음으로 탄핵된 대통령으로 낙인찍혔다. 그러나 이 여파로 좌파진영이 국회의 다수를 차지하게 되었다.

탄핵 

2004년 3월 3일 중앙선거관리위원회는 민주당이 고발한 노무현의 열린우리당 지지발언에 대해 노무현 대통령이 선거중립 의무 위반이 있다고 인정하고 선거중립의무 준수요청을 했다. 민주당은 이 조치를 근거로 노무현이 선거법 위반에 대해 사과하지 않으면 탄핵을 발의하겠다며 야3당과 함께 노무현 대통령 탄핵 소추를 추진하기 시작했다.

같은 달 그의 형인 노건평이 대우건설 사장 남상국으로부터 청탁성 명목으로 뇌물을 수수한 사실이 언론에 보도되었다. 노무현은 언론 브리핑에서 "대우건설의 사장처럼 좋은 학교 나오시고 크게 성공하신 분들이 시골에 있는 별 볼일 없는 사람에게 가서 머리 조아리고 돈 주고 그런 일 이제는 없었으면 좋겠다"면서 남상국을 질타했고, 2004년 3월 11일 남상국은 한강에서 투신했다. 이 사건으로 노건평은 유죄가 인정되어 집행유예 판결을 받았다. 이와 관련해 일각에서는 남상국의 자살이 노무현에서 비롯됐다는 주장을 펴면서 노무현이 사과해야 한다고 주장했다. 민주당 송영길 최고위원은 국회에서 열린 최고위원회의에서 이 사건의 본질에 상관없이 무조건적으로 노무현 대통령을 마녀사냥하는 언론의 태도에 대해 비판하였고, 노무현 대통령이 기자회견을 통해 자신의 형에 대한 인사청탁에 대해서 관련된 당사자의 실명을 거론하며 공개적으로 비난한 부분에 대해서 적절치 못한 행동이라는 의견을 제시했다. 그 당시 송영길 의원은 열린우리당 소속으로 탄핵반대투쟁에 참가하였다.

3월 12일, 대한민국 국회가 찬성 193표, 반대 2표로 노무현 대통령 탄핵 소추안을 가결시켰다. 그로 말미암아 노무현의 대통령 직무 수행이 정지되고, 고건 국무총리가 직무 권한 대행의 역할을 맡았다.

그러나 노무현의 탄핵은 국민들의 불만을 키우는 요인으로 적용되었다. 탄핵 당일인 3월 12일부터 3월 27일 보름 동안 서울을 중심으로 전국 각지에서 '탄핵무효 부패정치 척결을 위한 범국민행동'(약칭 탄핵무효 국민행동)이 주도하는 노무현 대통령 탄핵 소추 무효를 주장하는 촛불 집회가 열린다. 3월 13일에는 가장 많은 인파가 촛불을 들고 탄핵 무효를 주장했는데, 주최 측 추산 10만, 경찰 추산 5만 명의 인파가 모였다. 한편 80여 개의 보수 단체로 이루어진 '바른선택 국민행동'이 주도하는 탄핵 찬성 집회도 3월 27일에 2000여 명(경찰 추산)이 운집한 가운데 이루어졌다.

이후 한나라당을 비롯한 보수세력들은 국민들의 반감을 사고 말았다. 이 영향으로 '정신적인 여당'인 열린우리당이 탄핵 후폭풍으로 지지도가 크게 상승하였고, 4월 15일에 치러진 17대 총선에서 단숨에 152석을 차지해 제1당이 되었다. 이로써 헌정 이후 사상 처음으로 진보세력이 중심이 되는 국회가 출범하였고, 국민들의 큰 기대를 얻었다. 이후 5월 14일 헌법재판소는 노무현 대통령 탄핵 심판 사건을 기각했다. 그러나 헌법재판관들의 개별 의견은 공개되지 않았다.

새로운 여당의 탄생 
같은 해 5월 20일 노무현은 1당이 된 열린우리당에 "수석 당원"으로 입당하여 열린우리당은 공식적인 여당이 되었다. 같은 해 8월 11일에는 1월에 공포한 신행정수도법에 따라 국회는 신행정수도를 연기군과 공주시의 일부를 신행정수도의 입지로 정했다.

한편 8월에는 노무현에게 숨겨놓은 딸이 있다는 악성 댓글을 인터넷에 올린 혐의로 기소된 H(49세) 씨에 대해 징역 1년 3개월을 선고했다. 재판부의 증거 조사 결과 그런 사실은 없는 것으로 확인됐다.

2004년 10월 21일 헌법재판소는 "신행정수도특별법은 서울을 수도로 보아온 관습헌법에 어긋나는 일"이라며 수도 이전은 위헌이라는 판결을 내렸다. 수도는 서울이라는 것이 관습 헌법에 해당하므로, 수도 이전을 위해서는 헌법 개정을 통해 수도의 위치를 삽입하거나, 수도가 서울이라는 법적 확신이 소멸해야 한다는 것이다. 헌법재판소는 8:1로 위헌 판결을 내렸지만 '관습 헌법'이라는 일반에 생소한 개념까지 동원하며 헌법재판소에서 기각되자 수긍할 수 없다는 일부 여론이 있기도 했다. 어쨌든 이에 따라 그가 선거 공약으로 내걸었던 행정수도 이전이 차질을 빚게 된다.

같은 해 12월 16일 FTA 추진 지시를 내렸다.

취임 3년차 (2005년 2월 25일 ~ 2006년 2월 24일) 

 2005년 3월 2일, 행정도시 특별법이 국회에서 가결되었다. 행정도시 특별법은 신행정수도특별법이 헌법재판소에서 위헌 판결이 나자, 몇몇 부분을 수정한 뒤 입안한 법이다.
 2005년 2월 14일, 그가 직접 고안한 청와대 업무관리시스템 'e지원'이 노무현과 청와대 업무 혁신 비서관인 강태영 등 시스템 구축에 관여한 5명 명의로 특허를 출원해 특허를 취득했다. 2005년 7월 행정자치부에 시범 도입됐다.
 2005년 3월 7일, 중국과 일본의 역사 왜곡과 영유권 주장 등 일본과 중국의 역사 왜곡에 체계적으로 대응하기 위한 동북아 역사재단을 지시, 설립하였다.

 2005년 3월 13일 새로 개관한 리움 미술관을 방문하여 이건희 회장 내외와 함께 부부 동반으로 건물 입구에서 취재진들을 향해 사진 촬영을 하고 미술관을 관람하였다.
 2005년 6월 29일, 헌법재판소법 개정안이 통과되어 탄핵 심판에서도 소수 의견 공개가 의무화되었다.
 2005년 8월 3일, 국가보훈처는 광복 60주년을 맞아 사회주의 계열 독립운동가 47명을 포함한 214명의 순국선열과 애국지사에게 서훈이 추서되었다. 지난 3·1절 여운형 등 54명의 사회주의 계열 독립투사 서훈에 이어 주요한 사회주의 활동가에 대해 재조명해 뒤늦게 서훈이 추서되었다. 하지만 보수파의 반대와 훈격 논란이 일기도 했다..

취임 4년차 (2006년 2월 25일 ~ 2007년 2월 24일) 

 2006년 3월 23일, 노무현은 청와대 영빈관에서 네티즌들과 "국민과의 인터넷 대화"를 갖고 포털 사이트를 통해 온라인 생중계로 대국민 토론회를 진행했다. 사회 양극화 문제와 주요 국정 현안에 대한 입장을 밝혔다. '양극화, 함께 풀어갑시다' 등의 주제로 이날 오후 1시부터 네이트, 다음, 야후, 엠파스, 파란 등 5개 포털사이트가 생중계했다. 세계 최초로 시도된 인터넷을 통한 전자 민주주의 구현에 초석을 쌓은 '사건'이다.
 2006년 5월 8일 스승의 날을 앞두고 SBS-리얼미터가 조사한 결과에 따르면 우리나라 전·현직 대통령 가운데 담임 선생님으로 모시고 싶은 사람으로 노무현이 3위를 차지했다. 1위는 박정희(36.6%)로 꼽혔고 2위는 김대중(25%), 4위 전두환(6.5%), 5위 김영삼(4.3%) 순이었고 꼴찌는 노태우로 0.8%를 기록했다. 한편 학창시절 선생님 속을 가장 썩였을 것으로 생각되는 대통령 1위는 노무현(30.5%)이 차지했고, 전두환(27.4%), 김영삼(15.7%), 김대중(7.8%), 노태우(7.2%) 순으로 그 뒤를 이었다.
 2006년 6월 3일, 미국에서 4월에 귀국한 딸 노정연이 딸을 출산했다. 이로써 노무현은 친손녀 1명, 외손녀 2명 등 손녀 3명의 할아버지가 됐다. 청와대 관계자는 "원정출산에 대한 사회적 시각이 곱지 않은 점을 감안해 노정연 씨가 곽 변호사와 상의해서 한국에서 출산키로 결정한 것으로 알고 있다"라고 말했다.
 2006년 11월 30일, 노무현은 여당 내 신당 창당 움직임에 대해 "나는 신당을 반대한다. 말이 신당이지 지역당을 만들자는 것이기 때문이다"라며 신당 창당에 반대했다. 이어 "당적을 유지하는 것이 당을 지키는 데 도움이 된다면 그렇게 할 것이고, 탈당을 하는 것이 당을 지키는 데 도움이 된다면 그렇게 할 것이다"라고 말해 열린우리당 사수 의지를 피력했다. 그는 "다시 지역당 시대로 돌아갈 수는 없다. 지역당으로는 어떤 시대적 명분도 실리도 얻을 것이 없다"라고 지적했다.
 2006년 12월 6일 5.7%대의 낮은 지지도를 기록하였다. 이는 당시까지 재임했던 대한민국의 대통령 가운데 최저치였다. 이는 그 당시까지 역대 최저치였던 임기 말 김영삼 전 대통령의 8.4%보다 2.7%포인트 낮은 수치였다. 2006년 12월 헤럴드 경제는 여론조사기관인 '케이엠조사연구소'에 의뢰하여 노무현 정부에 대한 '최근 국정현안에 대한 국민의식 조사'를 설문 실시했다. 이 조사에서 '노 대통령의 국정운영에 대해 어떻게 평가하느냐'는 질문에 대해 '매우 잘한다'는 1.0%, '잘한다'는 4.7%로 집계돼 국정운영 지지도는 5.7%에 불과했다. 반면 '못한다'(37.0%), '매우 못한다'(27.7%)는 부정적인 답이 주류를 이뤘으며 '보통이다'(29.6%)는 응답도 많았다. 이번 조사와 유사하게 시행된 한국사회여론연구소 조사에 따르면 노무현의 지지도는 지난 5월 9일 31.0%로 정점에 달한 후 8월 16일 20.6%, 10월 24일 12.9%, 11월 14일 11.0%로 하락 추세를 보여왔다.
 2006년 12월 8일, 기자 회견에서 북한이 "미국이 한국 내 핵무기를 배치하고 있다"고 거듭 주장하고 있는 것과 관련, "북한은 미국이 한국에 핵무기를 배치하고 있다고 믿고 있기 때문에 핵개발을 포기하지 않는다는 언론 보도에 대한 의견을 말해 달라"는 질문에 "한국에 미국의 핵무기는 없다"며 "미국의 핵우산이라는 것은 한반도에 핵무기를 두는 것을 전제로 하는 것이 아니라는 점은 공지의 사실"이라고 말했다.
 2007년 1월 9일, 노무현은 그간 5년 단임제에서 4년 연임제로 헌법 개정을 제안했다.
 2007년 2월 22일, 그는 집권 여당인 열린우리당 탈당을 선언, 이와 함께 한명숙 국무총리가 3월 초순께 총리직에서 물러나 당으로 복귀하기로 했다. 한편 노무현은 이날 당을 떠나겠다는 의사를 표시하면서 '탈당' 대신 '당적 정리'라는 표현을 썼다.

취임 5년차 (2007년 2월 25일 ~ 2008년 2월 24일) 

 2007년 1월 23일, 신년 연설에서 그는 "권력형 비리는 없고 밀실, 측근 가신 이런 말도 사라졌다"라고 말했다.
 2007년 2월 28일, 열린우리당을 탈당했다.
 2007년 6월 3일, 참여정부 평가포럼(약칭 참평포럼) 특강이 열린 서울 양재동 교육문화회관에서 강연하였다. 참여정부와 역대 정부의 성장률, 수출 증가, 주가 추이 등에 대한 지표를 조목조목 들면서 "어느 정부와 비교해서 실패라는 얘기냐"라고 반박했다. 이어 "아무런 전략도 없이 참여정부의 성과를 파탄이니, 실패니 공격하는 것만으로 우리 경제를 일류로 만들 수 없다"라며 한나라당과 이명박, 박근혜 대선 주자를 비판하였다.
 2007년 6월 8일, 참여정부 평가포럼에서 한나라당 후보들에 대한 내용을 발언하였고, 한나라당은 노무현을 선거법 위반으로 선거관리위원회에 고발하였다. 이에 선거관리위원회는 선거 중립 위반이라고 결정했다. 노무현은 그 결정에 대해 선거 중립 의무에서 "어디까지가 선거운동이고 정치중립인지 모호한 구성요건은 위헌"이며, "세계에 유례가 없는 위선적 제도"라고 주장했다.
 2007년 6월 10일, 6월 민주항쟁 기념일로 지정한 이래 처음으로 열리는 공식 기념식에서 노무현은 6월 민주항쟁은 국민의 정의와 민주주의가 승리했다는 점과 군사 독재의 시대를 끊어내었다는 점을 강조했다. 또 민주 세력의 분열과 수구 세력의 기회주의가 6월 민주항쟁의 성과를 반으로 깎아내리고 있음을 덧붙였다. 이어 기득권 세력과 수구 언론이 개혁을 반대하고 진보를 가로막고 있음을 말하면서, "민주 세력 무능론까지 들고 나와 민주적 가치와 정책이 아니라 지난날 개발 독재의 후광을 빌려 정권을 잡으려 하고 있다"라고 지적했다. 과거 언론 보도와 관련하여 수구 언론이 지난날 독재 권력의 앞잡이에서 지금은 그들 스스로 권력으로 등장해 민주 세력을 흔들고, 수구의 가치를 수호하는 데 앞장서고 있다고 말하며 "1987년 이후 숙제로 남아 있는 지역주의 정치, 기회주의 정치를 청산해야 한다"라고 강조했다. 그러나 "수구 세력에게 이겨야 한다는 명분으로 다시 지역주의를 부활시켜서는 안 될 것이고 기회주의를 용납해서도 안 된다"라고 말했다.
 2007년 9월 12일, 노무현은 제주도 서귀포에서 열린 '제주 혁신도시 기공식'에 참석하여 축사를 통해 "균형 발전 정책은 참여정부의 상징적인 국가 발전 전략"이라고 소개하였다. "균형 발전 정책이 국가의 정의로운 목표로 뿌리 내려 어떤 정부도 이를 흔들 수 없도록 해야 한다"라고 말하면서 수도권 규제 완화 등 과거로의 회귀를 주장하는 세력이 있고, 그에 따라 2단계 균형 발전 정책으로 세제 혜택 등 유인책을 제공하고 있음을 강조했다. 한편으로는 성공 여부는 그 지방의 역량에 달려 있음을 아울러 강조하면서 국토균형 발전 정책의 지속적이고 자발적인 추진을 강조했다.
 2007년 10월 2일 TV방송으로 생중계 되는 가운데 차량 행렬이 청와대를 아침에 출발하여 시청 앞을 지나 강변북로, 통일로를 쉬지 않고 달려 군사분계선에 도착하였다. 도로 위에 그어 놓은 노란색 표시선 20여m 전에서 차량을 하차 후 국가 원수로는 처음으로 도보로 군사분계선을 넘었다. 북측 지역으로 들어가서는 다시 차량에 탑승하여 평양으로 출발하였다.
 2007년 10월 4일, 평양에서 남북 정상 회담을 개최하여 조선민주주의인민공화국 김정일 국방위원장과 함께 남북 관계 발전 및 평화 번영을 위한 선언을 발표하였다. 흔히 10·4 남북정상선언 또는 2007 남북정상선언으로 불린다.
 2007년 11월 8일, 노무현은 무안공항 개항식 후 나주 중흥리조트에서 열린 광주-전남 주요 인사 오찬 간담회에서 "호남 뭉치자는 말만 하며 저급한 말만 쓰는 호남지역 국회의원들과는 답답해서 일을 못해먹겠다"라고 말해 한동안 논란을 일으켰다.
 2007년 11월 12일, 서울대 등 서울지역 7개 대학 학생의 노무현 임기 5년에 대한 설문조사에서 대학생의 65.4%가 노무현이 국정수행을 잘못했다고 답했으며 그 중 14%는 매우 잘못했다고 지적했다. 아주 잘했다는 평가는 0.9%에 그쳤다.

대통령직 퇴임 이후

퇴임 직후 

2008년 2월 25일, 차기 대통령인 이명박의 취임식에 참석한 후 KTX를 타고 밀양을 거쳐 고향인 경상남도 김해 봉하 마을로 귀향했다. 그는 퇴임 후 고향으로 내려간 첫 대통령으로 꼽혔으며, 봉하 마을에 대한 관심이 누리꾼들에게 화제가 되었다. 노무현의 귀향으로 김해시 봉하 마을에 지지자 및 관광객들의 발길이 끊이질 않아 관광지로 급부상했다. 언론에 비친 모습을 통해 특정 누리꾼들에게 친근한 대통령으로 다가왔다. 또한 특정 네티즌들은 '노간지'라는 애칭을 붙여 줬다. 노무현이 봉하 마을 귀향 이후 관심을 갖고 추진한 사업으로 오리쌀 농법과 화포천 정화, 생태숲 조성 등 친환경·친농촌 생태사업이 있다.

원세훈 전 국정원장은 2009년 3월 노무현 전 대통령이 자신의 홈페이지에 한 토론글을 게시하자 곧바로 심리전단에 적극적인 대응을 하라고 지시한 것으로 드러났습니다.

2009년 3월 1일 홈페이지 '사람세상'에서 김수환 추기경의 선종 이후 추기경의 행적을 둘러싼 평가를 놓고 네티즌 사이에 논쟁이 일자 '민주주의와 관용과 상대주의'라는 제목으로 "민주주의 원리에서 가장 중요한 것은 관용"이라며 "서로 다름을 존중하고 대화와 타협을 통해 다름을 상호수용하고 통합할 줄 아는 사고와 행동이 필요하다 ... 우리가 국가보안법을 반대하는 이유는 그것이 관용이라는 민주주의의 원리를 훼손하고 있기 때문이고 우리가 강정구 교수의 처벌을 부정적으로 생각하는 이유는 그의 주장이 옳다고 생각해서가 아니라 민주주의 사회라면 그 정도의 발언은 용납돼야 할 자유이기 때문"이라는 내용을 게시하였다. 2009년 3월 3일 원세훈 국가정보원장은 내부 회의에서 심리전단에 해당 글을 언급하면서 적극적인 대응 심리전을 펼치라고 지시했다.

기록물 이관 논란 

그는 대통령 임기를 마치고 자신의 사저인 봉하 마을로 귀향하였다. 이명박이 대통령으로 취임한 첫날에 노무현 정권 인사들이 고의적으로 청와대의 컴퓨터 시스템에 보안 장치를 걸어 새 정권이 시스템을 사용 못하게 막아 놓았다는 뉴스가 나왔고, 그 후 약 2주간 시스템을 사용하지 못했다고 한다. 알고 보니 단순히 화면 보호기에 암호가 걸렸으며, 이는 남아 있는 'e-지원' 담당자에게 물어보면 충분히 알 수 있는 일이었다고 한다.
 2007년 12월 20일, 남상국의 처 김선옥과 동생 등 유가족이 남상국의 명예훼손 혐의로 소송을 제기하였다. 이는 노무현의 당시 그의 실명을 언급하며 "대우건설 사장처럼 좋은 학교 나오시고 크게 성공하신 분들이 시골에 있는 별 볼일 없는 사람에게 가서 머리 조아리고 돈 주고 그런 일 이제는 없었으면 좋겠다"라고 한 것이 원인이 됐다. 당시 노무현의 공개적인 발언 직후 남상국은 자살했다.

2008년 4월 20일, 그는 광주광역시 북구 오치동에 위치한 노씨 문중 선산에서 열린 종친회 삼릉단 제종회 대제에 참석해 제관인 초헌관 자격으로 제를 지냈다. 같은 날 오후에는 국립 5·18 민주묘지를 참배했다.

2008년 7월, 국가기록원과 뉴라이트 전국연합에서 대통령 기록물을 사사로이 봉하 마을로 옮긴 건에 대하여 검찰에 불법적인 '무단 유출'로 기록물에 관련된 전 비서관과 행정관들을 고발하여 수사가 진행되었다. 기록원의 고발 조치에 대해 노무현 측 비서관인 김경수는 "청와대와 정부의 목적이 기록 회수가 아닌 참여정부 흠집 내기였음이 분명해진 것"이라고 밝히며 "참모진과 향후 대응 방안을 논의하겠다"라고 말했다. 검찰이 대통령 기록물 유출 실체 규명에 나서게 됨에 따라 신·구 정권 간 대립과 갈등이 격해질 것이라는 시각도 있다. 한편 회수 조치를 하는 와중에 기록이 담긴 하드디스크(데이터)뿐만 아니라 노무현이 개인 자금으로 구매한 e-지원 시스템 서버(하드웨어)까지 반환하라고 요구했고, 노무현 측은 개인 재산이라는 이유로 거부했다. 이때 대통령기록물 관리에 관한 법률 제17조 5항에 따르면, 전직 대통령 및 전직 대통령이 지정한 대리인은 대통령 기록물을 열람할 수 있고, 그것이 비밀로 지정되어 있지 않다면, 그것을 출판하거나 언론매체에 공표할 수 있다고 규정되어 있다(다만 이 조항은 2010년 2월 4일 개정되었다). 그러나 법률 내용에도 불구하고 외부로 반출하여 지정되지 않은 장소에 보관하는 것은 기록물의 관리 및 보안상 유출 우려가 있어 인정할 수 없다는 것이 법학자들의 다수 견해가 있었다.

2008년 9월 18일, 그는 건전한 토론 문화 조성을 취지로 인터넷 토론 사이트 '민주주의 2.0'을 개설했다. 노무현 측은 사용자 참여 중심의 인터넷 환경인 '웹 2.0'에서 착안한 이름으로 체계적 토론을 통해 더 나은 민주주의 공동체를 만들어 가자는 뜻을 담고 있다고 설명했다.

2008년 10월 17일, 한국 정치학회와의 인터뷰에서 자신에게 위협이 되는 보수주의를 비판하였다. 2008년 10월 21일, 보수적 성향의 시민단체인 자유시민연대(대표회장 이강욱)는 노무현을 국가보안법 및 대통령 기록물 관리에 관한 법률 위반 혐의로 서울중앙지검 첨단범죄수사부에 소송을 제기하였다.

노무현과 관련한 기록물 유출 의혹 사건은 훗날 2009년 10월 29일 노무현의 자살로 인하여 검찰에서 불기소 종결했다.

뇌물 수수 혐의 검찰 수사

배경 
2007년 12월 이명박은 대통령 당선 직후, 문재인 당시 청와대 비서실장에게 전임자가 존중받는 전통을 만들겠다고 피력하여 전임 대통령에 대한 정치보복 가능성을 배제하였고, 복수의 정관계 관계자들은 이 시기 전임자와 후임자의 관계는 나쁘지 않았다고 증언하였다. 그러나 2008년 5월부터 미국산 쇠고기 협상 반대 시위와 광우병 괴담 파동으로 이명박 정부 출범 초기 국정에 큰 차질을 빚게 되자 상황은 바뀌게 된다. 청와대 관계자들의 증언에 의하면, 이명박 정부는 정황상 이 사태의 배후의 중심에 친노세력이 있다고 판단하였고, 2008년 7월 한상률 국세청장으로 하여금 박연차를 비롯한 노무현 주변의 측근들에 대한 강도 높은 세무조사를 진행하도록 하여, 전임자에 대한 방침을 급선회하였다.

이후 노무현은 부인과 자녀 등이 노무현의 퇴임 후 금품을 수수한 혐의가 드러나 검찰 수사를 받게 되었다.

수사 과정 
2008년 10월, 박연차가 정관계 인사 등에게 로비를 벌였다는 의혹이 제기되었다. 이때 이명박의 친형 이상득 의원이 로비 상대로 거론되었다. 2008년 12월 4일, 노무현의 친형 노건평은 세종증권 매각비리 의혹과 관련, 농협의 인수 청탁과 함께 29억여 원을 받은 혐의로 영장 실질 심사를 거쳐 구속 수감되었다.

2008년 12월 5일, 자신의 친형인 노건평의 비리 사건에 대해 "내가 사과하면 형님의 죄를 인정하는 것"이라며 대(對)국민 사과를 거부하였다.

2009년 3월 26일, 이호철 전 민정수석과 정윤재 전 비서관이 금품을 수수했다는 오보를 문화일보 등에서 보도하였다. 이때 노무현 게이트라는 말을 문화일보에서 처음으로 사용했고, 이로 말미암아 이호철 및 정윤재로부터 명예훼손에 따른 손해배상 소송에 휘말렸다. 그해 4월 7일, 노무현은 검찰이 정상문 전 청와대 비서관을 체포하자 자신의 개인 공식 홈페이지에 부인 권양숙이 박연차로부터 돈을 받아 사용했다는 내용의 사과문을 게재했다. 그러나 사과문에 대해 한나라당 최고위원 박순자는 같은 날 기자 회견에서 "석고대죄를 해도 시원찮을 판에 노회한 승부수를 던지는 모습에 국민들은 참담한 배신감을 느끼고 있다"라며 비판하였다.

2009년 4월 9일 대검찰청 중앙수사부(검사장 이인규)는 박연차가 정상문 전 대통령비서실 총무비서관을 거쳐 10억여원(달러 포함)을 노무현의 부인 권양숙에게 전달한 사실을 확인했다. 해당 돈은 차용증이 포함되지 않았고, 박연차는 빌려준 것이 아니라고 진술했다. 검찰은 정상문에 대해 구속영장을 청구했으나, 4월 10일 새벽 법원은 영장 청구를 기각했다. 2009년 4월 10일 오전 9시, 검찰은 박연차의 홍콩 비자금 500만 달러를 송금받은 혐의로 노무현의 조카사위인 연철호를 체포했다.

2009년 4월 12일, 뇌물 수수 관련 혐의로 그의 부인인 권양숙이 검찰 소환 조사를 받았다. 이때 문재인은 변호인 자격으로 동행하였다. 같은 날 아들 노건호가 소환 조사 받았다. 4월 19일, 권양숙 여사가 빌려 썼다는 3억 원에 대해 ‘검찰이 거짓임을 확인’했다고 보도했다. 당시 권양숙 여사가 정상문 비서관에게 말해 박연차로부터 돈을 빌렸다고 진술했다. 그러나 12월 18일 정상문 유죄 판결문에서는 노무현이 3억 원을 빌렸다는 사실을 적시했다.

2009년 4월 22일, 검찰이 노무현에게 박연차의 정관계 로비 의혹 수사와 관련된 서면 질의서 7장을 발송했다. 그에 대한 답변서(진술서)를 4월 25일 노무현이 검찰에 전자 우편으로 먼저 제출했고, 검찰은 이것을 검토하였다.

2009년 4월 30일 오전 8시 노무현은 김해 봉하마을 사저를 출발, 오후 1시 20분 경 대검찰청에 피의자 신분으로 출석해 대검찰청 중앙수사부 1120호 특별조사실에서 오후 11시 20분 경까지 조사를 받았다. 노무현은 진술조서를 검토한 뒤 익일 오전 2시 10분쯤 청사를 나와 귀가했다. 노무현은 박연차로부터 2007년 6월 말 정상문 전 총무비서관을 통해 100만 달러를 받고, 2008년 2월 말 조카사위 연철호를 통해 500만 달러를 받은 혐의를 받았다. 또한 검찰은 정상문 전 총무비서관이 횡령한 대통령 특수활동비 12억 5천만원에 대해 보고를 받았는지, 박연차의 명품 시계 선물과 15억원의 차용증을 쓰게 된 경위에 대해서도 조사했다. 노무현의 조사는 주임검사인 우병우 중수1과장이 신문을 하였고, 직무관련성 부분은 김형욱 검사가, 100만달러 수수 혐의에 대해서는 이주형 검사가 조사했다. 또한 500만달러 수수 혐의와 특수활동비 12억 5000만원 수수 혐의에 대해서는 이선봉 검사가 조사했고, 이인규 중수부장과 홍만표 수사기획관은 조사 상황을 모니터로 지켜보며 실시간으로 지휘했다. 임채진 검찰총장은 자정까지 청사에 남아 수사 내용을 보고 받았으며, 노무현의 변호인 측은 문재인과 전해철 변호사가 번갈아 가며 변호했다. 수사팀은 오후 1시 40분 경부터 4시 10분까지 대통령의 직무와 권한, 박연차와의 관계에 대해 조사하였으며, 10분간 휴식한 뒤 박연차로부터 100만달러를 수수한 혐의에 대해 오후 6시 30분까지 조사를 진행했다. 저녁 식사 후 오후 7시35분부터 박연차로부터 500만 달러를 수수한 혐의, 정상문 전 대통령 총무비서관이 횡령한 대통령 특수활동비 12억5천만원, 박연차가 노무현 측에게 선물한 명품시계 등에 대해 조사했다. 검찰은 박연차의 베트남 화력발전소 사업 등에 도움을 준 대가로 600만 달러를 받은 게 아니냐고 신문했으나, 노무현은 대통령이 한국 기업의 해외 사업에 도움을 준 게 문제가 될 수 없다고 주장했다. 노무현은 2007년 박연차로부터 받은 100만 달러에 대해 채무를 갚는데 자신의 배우자 권양숙이 쓴 것이며, 대통령 재임 중 이같은 사실을 몰랐다고 진술했다. 100만 달러의 구체적인 사용처에 대해서는 서면 답변과 마찬가지로 밝힐 수 없다고 진술했다. 2008년 500만 달러를 받은 사실에 대해서는 대통령 퇴임 후에 알게 된 사실이며, 호의적인 투자일 뿐 자신과는 무관하다고 주장했다. 정상문이 횡령한 12억 5000만원에 대해서도 몰랐다고 진술했다. 검찰은 노무현의 조사에 앞서 금융정보분석원(FIU)에서 외화송금 거래 내역을 건네받아 2006∼2007년 권양숙이 다른 사람을 시켜 30만 달러 이상을 미국에 체류하던 장남 노건호와 딸 노정연에게 송금한 사실을 확인했다. 노무현은 기존 서면 답변과 같이 사실이 아니며 기억이 나지 않는다는 입장을 유지했으나, 검찰이 확보한 금융정보분석원 자료 앞에서는 흔들리는 모습을 보인 것으로 전해졌다. 노무현이 전반적으로 혐의를 부인함에 따라 검찰은 오후 11시경 노무현과 박연차의 대질 조사를 시도했으나, 노무현과 변호사 문재인은 전직 대통령에 대한 예우가 아니며 시간이 너무 늦었다고 거부해 11시 20분 경 조사를 종료했다.

2009년 5월 13일, 노무현의 부인 권양숙이 노무현의 회갑 선물로 받은 1억 원짜리 시계 두 개를 논두렁에 버렸다고 검찰에 진술하였다고 언론에 보도되었다. 이에 "부인·아들에 딸까지 돈을 받고 이제는 증거 인멸 시도까지 하느냐"며 강하게 비판하는 여론이 형성되었다. 검찰은 노무현이 검찰 조사에서 "논두렁"”이라는 말은 없었고, "집에서(권양숙 여사로부터) 버렸다는 말을 들었다"라고 진술했다고 확인했다. 2009년 5월 14일, 노무현의 딸 노정연이 받은 40만 달러를 놓고 검찰과 노무현 측이 진실 공방을 벌였으며, 검찰은 권양숙을 5월 16일 재소환하기로 했다.

2009년 5월 23일, 노무현이 자살함으로써 노무현에 대한 검찰 수사를 종료하였다.

사후 수사 결과 
2009년 6월 12일, 검찰은 23일 박연차 사건과 관련하여 노무현을 조사하던 부분을 '공소권 없음' 처분을 하고, 관련된 수사를 종결하기로 결정했다. 또한 박연차의 정·관계 로비에 관한 수사도 노무현의 장례가 마무리될 때까지 당분간 중단하기로 했다.

2009년 9월 9일, 해운회사로부터 비자금과 관련해 세무 조사를 무마해 달라는 청탁과 함께 거액을 받은 혐의로 기소됐던 정상문 전 청와대 총무비서관이 3심 모두 무죄 판결을 받았다. 2009년 9월 17일, 박연차가 여러 정치인에게 뇌물을 준 뇌물공여죄의 혐의로 1심에서 유죄 판결을 받았다. 그러나 노무현 및 그 가족과 관련해서는 뇌물 수수 혐의가 확인되었다고 발표했으나 기소하지 않았다. 이에 대해 보수 언론은 "노무현이 재판을 받았다면 유죄"라고 추정했다.

2009년 12월 16일, 이호철 전 민정수석과 정윤재 전 비서관이 금품을 수수했다는 문화일보의 기사 내용이 오보이므로 손해배상 및 정정 보도를 하라고 판결했다. 2009년 12월 18일, 박연차로부터 금품을 받은 정상문 전 청와대 총무비서관이 항소심에서도 유죄 판결을 받았다. 그러나 "(노무현을 위해) 15억 원이나 관리하면서 박연차로부터 노무현이 3억 원이나 빌릴 때에도 그 돈을 내놓지 않고 차명 계좌에 은닉하고 있었다는 것을 믿을 국민은 없다"라고 판시하였다.

2009년 12월 18일, 박연차로부터 금품을 받은 정상문의 재판 판결문에서 노무현이 박연차로부터 돈을 빌렸다는 내용이 포함되었다.

2010년 1월 8일, 세종증권 비리와 관련하여 관련자 가운데 다수가 무죄 판결을 받았다. 1월 14일, 세종증권 비리와 관련하여 노건평이 유죄 판결을 받았다. 2013년 1월 11일, 창원지검 결심공판에서 노건평은 변호사법 위반·업무상 횡령 혐의로 징역 5년에 추징금 13억5000만원을 구형 받았다.

2013년 1월 23일, 서울중앙지방법원은 노정연에게 외화 100만 달러를 불법 송금한 혐의로 유죄 판결을 내리고 징역 4월과 집행유예 1년의 형을 선고했다.

2013년 2월 20일 노무현이 자살한 것은 전날 거액의 차명계좌가 발견됐기 때문이라는 취지의 발언을 했다가 노무현재단에 의해 고소된 조현오 전 경찰청장이 징역 10월을 선고받고 법정구속됐다.

2013년 3월 29일 외화 밀반출 혐의로 재판을 받아온 노정연이 항소를 취하해 집행유예가 확정됐다. 항소가 취하됨에 따라 이 재판은 1심 선고인 징역 4월에 집행유예 1년이 확정됐다.

2013년 9월 4일 노무현의 딸 노정연의 '13억원 불법송금' 사건에 연루된 재미교포 경연희가 1심에서 벌금 1500만원을 선고 받았다.

검찰 수사에 대한 평가 
검찰 수사가 형평성을 잃었다는 비판이 제기되었으며, 여론 조사에서도 검찰 책임론이 대두되었으나, 검찰은 원칙대로 수사하였을 뿐이라 주장하였다. 사망 이후 '노무현 정권에 대한 정치 보복'이라는 말은 공공연해졌다. 또한 노무현의 죽음에 대해 민주당 천정배 의원은 "노무현 전 대통령의 서거는 권력기관의 사유화와 보수언론의 탐욕이 만들어낸 재앙이다"라고 말하여 보수 언론과 함께 검찰에게 책임이 있음을 강조하였다.

박연차 태광그룹 회장으로부터 시작된 검찰 수사는 노무현의 일가와 주변 인물에만 집중됐다는 지적이 있다. 정상문 전 비서관 구속으로 이어졌고, 대부분의 언론은 봉하 마을에 있는 노무현의 사저 앞에서 24시간 대기에 들어갔다. 노무현은 자신의 홈페이지에 "저의 집은 감옥입니다"라고 괴로운 심경을 드러냈다. 검찰이 박연차 회장으로부터 세무 조사 무마 청탁을 받은 것으로 알려진 이명박 대통령의 친형인 이상득 의원에 대해서는 혐의가 없어 수사 초기 단계에서 제외됐다는 점을 문제 삼았다. 이번 검찰 수사는 2008년 7월 '태광실업 특별 세무 조사'에 대한 한상률 당시 국세청장의 청와대 보고 후 시작됐다.  그리고 검찰이 수사 과정을 언론에 피의사실을 공표하여 피의 사실 공표 금지법을 검찰 스스로 위반하였으며, 그 뒤 수사 과정에서 노무현 및 그 가족의 피의 사실 입증에 실패하자 스스로 '빨대' 논쟁을 일으키는 등의 무리수를 두었다는 지적이 있다. 검찰의 수사에 대한 비판은 한나라당 내부에서도 제기되었다. 한나라당 홍준표 의원은 "나는 가장 큰 실수가 노 대통령에 대한 신병처리 결정을 빨리 하지 않은 거라고 본다. 구속 여부를 신속하게 했어야지. 전직 대통령 수사를 하면서 이래저래 모욕감을 주는 행동을 한 셈"이라며 검찰을 비판했다.

그러나 이는 노무현 측근들의 지속된 거짓 증언 및 증거 인멸로 의심되는 행위를 하는 등 노무현 측근들이 스스로 자초한 측면도 있다는 지적이 있다. 한편에서는 그 물품 자체를 받은 사람이 노무현 부처가 아니라 노건평이었다는 주장도 있었다.

이후 검찰 책임론이 거세지자 임채진 검찰총장은 모든 책임을 지고 사표를 제출해 퇴임했고, 이인규 대검찰청 중수부장도 사표를 내 퇴임했다.

야당과 진보 성향의 시민 단체들은 검찰 수사에 대한 노골적인 비판을 가했으며, 검찰 수사와 관련된 시국 선언도 줄을 이었다. 대검찰청 홈페이지에는 검찰을 비하하는 '떡검'이라는 표현이 넘치며, 검찰을 견제하기 위한 공직자 부패 수사처를 신설해야 한다는 주장과 비판이 제기되었다. 그러나 보수 언론 및 시민단체에서는 전직 대통령이라도 법 위에 군림할 수 없고 죄를 지으면 누구나 처벌받을 수 있다는 원칙을 다시 세움으로써 대한민국이 법치국가임을 재확인했다고 주장했다. 그럼에도 불구하고 검찰은 노무현과 관련한 인물에 대해 그가 죽었다는 이유로 기소하지 않은 데 대해 이의가 제기되었다. 이는 예전에 노건평과 남상국 사이에 벌어졌던 뇌물 수수 사건에서 남상국이 자살했음에도 노건평을 기소한 예 와도 모순이 된다는 의견도 있으며, 검찰이 노무현과 관련한 사항에서 유죄가 확실하지 않았기 때문에 기소하지 않았다는 비판이 있다. 이와 별개로 검찰은 노무현의 아내인 권양숙의 거짓 증언이 사법 방해에 해당한다고 주장하면서 이를 근거로 뇌물 수수 혐의로 기소하려 했으나 노무현의 자살에 따른 동정 여론으로 인해 기소조차 하지 못했다는 비판도 있다. 앞서의 남상국 예와 같이 과거에 자살한 사람에 대해 그 상대방을 기소한 전례가 있기 때문이다. 다만 박연차와 권양숙이 관련된 자금에 대해서는 뇌물이 아닌 빌린 돈이라고 정상문 유죄 판결문에서 적시했다.

2015년 1월, 당시 수사를 담당했던 이인규는 그 당시 시계를 논두렁에 버렸다고 한 진술은 국정원의 조작이었으며, 피의사실을 과장하여 언론에 흘린 주체가 국정원이었다고 기자들에게 밝혔다. 이인규의 증언에 의하면 당시 검찰은 구속 수사를 염두에 두고 있었으나 국정원이 망신주기 여론전을 제안하였으며 이에 수사권 침해라며 검찰이 국정원 직원의 멱살까지 잡은 일이 있었다고 한다. 이인규는 그 당시 국정원의 행태는 공작 수준이었다고 주장했다.

입장 표명 
 "저희 집(권양숙 여사)이 박 회장의 돈을 받아 빚을 갚았다. 퇴임 직후 이 사실을 알았다"
 "해명과 방어가 필요하다. 사건의 본질이 엉뚱한 방향으로 간다"
 "강금원 모진 놈 옆에 있다 벼락 맞아"
 "한 사람의 인간으로서 호소합니다. 저희 집 안뜰을 돌려 주세요"
 2009년 4월 7일, 개인 홈페이지인 '사람사는세상'에 "저와 제 주변의 돈 문제로 국민 여러분의 마음을 불편하게 해 드리고 있습니다. 송구스럽기 짝이 없습니다. 더욱이 지금껏 저를 신뢰하고 지지를 표해주신 분들께는 더욱 면목이 없습니다. 깊이 사과드립니다"라고 글을 올렸다.
 2009년 4월 22일, '사람사는세상'을 폐쇄하고 '절필'을 선언, "나를 버려라"고 호소했다. "더 이상 노무현은 여러분이 추구하는 가치의 상징이 될 수가 없습니다. 저는 이미 민주주의, 진보, 정의, 이런 말을 할 자격을 잃어버렸습니다. 저는 이미 헤어날 수 없는 수렁에 빠져 있습니다. 여러분은 이 수렁에 함께 빠져서는 안 됩니다. 여러분은 저를 버리셔야 합니다"라고 글을 올렸다.

죽음 

2009년 5월 23일 11시 양산 부산대학교 병원 측은 노무현 전 대통령 사망의 직접 원인은 두부외상으로 판단된다고 말했다. 공식 발표에 의하면 23일 8시 13분 경 인공호흡을 시행하며 양산부산대병원 응급센터로 이송됐다. "도착 당시 의식과 자발 호흡이 없었으며, 심전도 모니터 상 박동이 없었다"라고 백승완 원장은 밝혔다. 백 원장은 "두개골 골절 등이 관찰됐으며 두부의 외상이 직접 사망원인으로 판단되고 늑골골절, 척추골절 등 다발성 골절도 관찰됐다"라고 말했다.
경남지방경찰청장은 "노무현은 수행 중이던 경호원 이병춘을 인근 정토사로 심부름을 보낸 후 자리를 비운 사이에 투신한 것으로 추정된다"라고 밝혔다. 그러나 경호원은 자책감 때문에 노무현이 "담배 있나? 저기 사람이 지나가네"라고 한 후 뛰어내렸다고 거짓 진술을 하기도 하였다. 하지만 이병춘이 진술을 번복하고, 경호관 사이에 있었던 휴대 전화 교신 기록이 발견되면서 이 같은 사실이 밝혀졌다. 경호관이 초기 수사에서 사망 당시 곁에 있지 않았다는 사실을 감추고 진술을 계속 번복한 것에 대해 경찰은 "경호 실패에 대한 문책을 두려워한 때문으로 보인다"고 설명했다. 노무현이 정확하게 언제 투신했는지는 알 수 없다. 사후 인터넷을 통해 일부 네티즌이 타살설과 유서 조작설 등 음모론을 언급하자 노무현의 유족과 측근은 이에 대해 불편한 기색을 드러냈다.

경찰은 노무현 전 대통령이 오전 8시50분께 사망한 것으로 밝혀진 가운데, 사망 원인이 '투신 자살'로 최종 확인했다. 노무현 전 대통령은 오전 6시 40분께 경호원과 함께 간단한 복장으로 사저 인근 뒷산으로 등산하던 중 10분 뒤 벼랑에 떨어져 크게 다쳤다. 노 전 대통령은 7시 인근 김해 세영 병원과 양산 부산대 병원(오전 8시10분)으로 호송됐으나 이미 상태가 다발성 골절로 소생할 수 없는 상황이어서 사망했다. 경찰은 노무현 대통령의 사망 원인을 실족사에 무게를 두고 조사했으나 집을 나설 당시 평소와 달리 권양숙 여사, 보좌관 등 측근에게 알리지 않고 경호원만을 대동한 점, 뒷산의 경사가 완만하다는 점 등을 종합해 투신 자살로 최종 공식 확인했다.

문재인 전 청와대 비서실장은 노무현 전 대통령의 사망 원인과 관련, 유서를 남겼다고 밝힘에 따라 자살 가능성이 거의 확실시 되고 있다. 문 전 실장은 기자들과 만나 "노 전 대통령은 봉하마을 뒷산에서 뛰어내렸다"면서 "가족 앞으로 유서를 남겼다"라고 확인했다. 김경수 비서관도 노 전 대통령이 유서를 남겼다고 밝혔다.

노무현이 5월 22일 검찰 소환 조사를 응하면서 '정치적 자살'을 선택했다고 평가했다. 또한 그가 극단적인 선택을 한 것은 결벽증에 가까운 정치적 자산이자 무기인 '도덕성'이 상처를 입고, 검찰의 수사 내용이 실시간으로 중계되면서 견디기 힘들 정도로 인간적인 모욕을 당했기 때문이면서 이와 함께 노무현은 자신으로 인해 자신들의 참모와 가족들까지 고초를 당하고 있는 것이 대해 부담을 느낀 것으로 보인다고 평가했다. 그의 극단적인 선택은 전직 대통령의 오욕과 비운의 역사를 끊어내려는 몸부림으로 해석할 수 있다면서 정권이 바뀌면 전 정권에 대한 '먼지털이식' 수사가 반복되는 현대사의 비극이라는 평도 있으며 '정치적 타살'이라는 비판도 있다.

각계 반응 및 애도 
이명박 대통령은 "참으로 믿기 어렵고 비통한 일"이라고 애도의 뜻을 표하고 "전직 대통령에 대한 예우에 어긋남이 없도록 정중하게 모시라"라고 지시했다. 정계나 학계, 시민단체는 보수와 진보를 가리지 않고 잇따라 공식 논평을 발표하고 애도의 뜻을 나타냈다. 서울에서는 네티즌과 시민들이 서울 도심에 분향소를 마련해 추모의 발길이 이어졌다.

후진타오 중화인민공화국 주석은 조문에서 "노 전 대통령은 나의 오래된 친구"라며 "재임 기간에 중국과 한국의 전면적 협력 동반자 관계 수립 및 발전을 위해 중요한 기여를 했다"라고 밝혔다. 원자바오 총리는 애도하면서 노무현의 대(對)중국 관계의 중시, 노무현의 솔직함과 성실함이 깊은 인상을 받았다며 한중 관계의 전면적 발전 추진을 위해 기울인 공헌을 기억하겠다는 소회를 덧붙였다. 미국의 버락 오바마 대통령은 긴급 애도 성명을 발표하였다. 이 성명에서 노무현 재임 기간에 한국과 미국 간의 '강력하고 활기찬'(strong and vital) 관계를 형성하는 데 기여했다며 애도의 뜻을 전했다. 아소 다로 일본 총리는 외상 시절 노 전 대통령을 만났던 기억을 떠올리며 애도했다. 영국의 엘리자베스 2세 여왕도 청와대에 애도 조문을 보내어, "지난 2004년 노 전 대통령의 영국 공식 방문은 한·영 양국 관계 증진에 중요한 이정표였다"라고 전했다. 반기문 국제 연합 사무총장은 사망 관련 성명을 발표하고 애도의 뜻을 표명하면서, "노 전 대통령은 민주주의 촉진을 위해 여러 가지 노력을 기울였다"라고 노 전 대통령을 칭송했다. 고든 브라운 영국 총리 역시 애도의 뜻을 전했다.

유서 

아래는 그가 투신 자살하기 전에 남긴 것으로 보이는 유서 전문이다. 이 유서는 사저의 컴퓨터에 "나로 말미암아 여러 사람의 고통이 너무 크다"라는 제목의 한/글 파일로 저장되어 있었다고 한다. 김경수 비서관에 따르면 이 유서 파일이 저장된 시간은 투신 1시간 19분 전인 오전 5시 21분이었다고 밝혔다. 한편 이 유서에는 돈 문제와 관련된 일부분이 누락되었다는 주장도 있으나 경찰은 조작설을 일축했다. 연합뉴스는 "유서 조작 의혹은 노 전 대통령의 측근이 유서에 담긴 내용이라며 전한 이야기를 일부 매체가 제대로 확인하지 않고 보도하면서 비롯된 혼선 때문이었던 것으로 확인되고 있다"면서 "삭제됐다고 주장하는 내용이 경찰의 공식 발표 이전에 일부 매체들이 보도한 내용과 거의 동일하기 때문이다"라며 평했다.

언론 책임론 공방 
그의 사망은 또한 '언론 책임론'을 불러 일으켰다. 검찰의 몰아붙이기식 수사도 문제였지만, 이를 "받아쓰기"하듯이 그대로 전달하거나, 한발 앞서 검찰 수사의 방향까지 제시한 언론 은 여론 조사에서 "노 전 대통령의 사망에 언론의 책임이 크다"는 쓴소리를 들어야 했다. 또한 천정배 의원은 "노무현 전 대통령의 서거는 권력기관의 사유화와 보수언론의 탐욕이 만들어낸 재앙이다"라고 말하여 검찰과 함께 보수 언론에게 책임이 있음을 강조하였다.

보수 신문은 "일부 세력은 신문과 방송이 노 전 대통령의 혐의를 중계하듯 보도해 억울한 죽음으로 몰고 갔다"라고 주장하지만, 2009년 9월 17일 판결이 나오자 "이번 판결을 보더라도 노 전 대통령이 근거 없는 모함을 당한 것은 아니다"라고 단정했다. 또 "언론이 신속 정확한 보도를 위해 노력하는 것은 당연하다"라며 자신들을 비롯한 언론이 검찰의 모욕 주기 수사·흘리기 수사를 받아쓰고, '아니면 말고' 식의 보도를 했던 것을 정당화했다.

한겨레는 보수지의 노무현과 관련된 보도를 "비판 대신 증오, 죽은 권력 물어뜯기"라고 평가하며 사망의 책임이 보수 언론에 있다고 주장했다. 동아일보는 "한겨레, 경향신문 만평도 달라져"란 제목의 기사에선 검찰 수사가 한창이던 때 진보 신문이 박연차 태광실업 회장과 노무현을 비판하고 희화화해 이전의 우호적 분위기를 찾아볼 수 없을 정도였지만, 사망 전후 확연히 다른 보도 행태를 보였다며 '일관성이 없다'고 비판했다.

한겨레신문에서 조사한 여론 조사에서 누가 가장 큰 책임이 있는지에 대한 여론 조사 결과 "56.3%는 검찰, 49.1%는 언론을 꼽았다"라고 보도했다. 이에 빅뉴스는 한겨레 여론 조사는 응답 1순위에서 노 전 대통령 자신(27.9%)을 꼽은 응답이 가장 많았는데도 여론 조사 항목을 자의적으로 배치하고 1,2,3순위를 합산하여 결과를 왜곡했다며 비난했다.

이렇듯 언론 책임론이 나오자 신문들은 즉각 보수·진보 양쪽으로 헤쳐 모여서 상대편의 책임이 더 크며, 상대편의 사망 전·후 보도 행태가 완전히 상반된다는 식의 공격을 퍼붓기 시작했다.

장례 
노무현의 서거일 이틀 후인 2009년 5월 25일에 위원회가 결성된 뒤, 5월 29일까지 거행되었다. 당초 유족들은 가족장을 추진하였으나 전직 대통령에 대한 예우와 전 국민적인 추모열기로 국민장으로 치러졌다.

노무현의 영결식은 국민장으로 치러져 전국적으로 500만(봉하 마을 장례 위원회 추산)이 넘는 인파가 각지에 시민들이 마련한 분향소에 조문을 했다. 봉하 마을을 찾은 조문객의 수는 100만으로 사망 직후부터 전국에 분향소가 설치되기 시작하여 총 301곳 이 설치되었다. 일주일간의 추도 기간 동안 인터넷 포털, 언론사, 기업의 로고는 검은색으로 바뀐 추도배너가 내걸렸고, 대다수의 방송사 오락 프로그램의 방송이 결방 하였으며, 지지 세력들이 이웃처럼 느껴지던 서민 출신 전 대통령의 안타까운 자결에 충격과 슬픔과 정부가 그를 죽음으로 내몰았다는 생각에 따른 분노가 함께 표출되었고, 여론 조사에서도 60%가 넘는 사람들이 이명박과 검찰의 책임이라고 응답하였다. 한편으로는 위법 행위에 대해 끝까지 책임을 지지 않고 자살을 택한 것에 대해 전직 대통령으로서의 도리가 아니라는 비판이 제기되며, 한나라당에서는 추모 열기가 정치적으로 이용되는 것을 우려하는 목소리도 나왔다.

덕수궁 앞 대한문 앞에 마련된 장례 기간 동안 시민 분향소에서는 2킬로미터가 넘는 장례 행렬이 밤새 이어졌다. 임시 분향소가 차려진 서울 덕수궁 대한문 일대에 경찰이 출입을 통제하고, 시청 앞 서울 광장을 원천 봉쇄하여 전의경 버스가 시민들의 추모발길을 막는 등 노무현 전 대통령에 대한 조문행렬을 잠재적 폭력 시위대로 간주하고 있다는 비판이 있다. 정부는 "애석하고 비통하다"라고 조의를 표할 때와 말과 행동이 다르다며 진정성과 이중성에 대한 비판이 있다. 이처럼 정부가 국민장으로 치르기로 결정하고도 서울 광장과 청계 광장의 민간 분향소 설치를 막으면서 ‘과잉 통제’ 논란이 일었다. 정부와 경찰 측은 장례식 참석자들의 돌출 행동으로 인한 폭력 사태가 우려되어 부득이한 통제였다고 주장하였다. 이렇게 노무현 수사에 대한 책임론이 대두되고, 과잉 통제 논란이 지속되는 상황에서 이명박 정부에 대한 국정 운영 지지율이 이명박이 집권한 이후 가장 낮은 20%대까지 폭락하였다.

이날 영결식에 직접 참석하지는 않았지만 앞서 세계 150여 해외 공관에 설치된 분향소에도 각국 주요 인사가 추모 행렬에 동참했다. 미국 백악관의 제임스 존스 국가안보 보좌관과 성 김 대북 특사가 분향소가 차려진 주미 한국 대사관을 찾아 조문했다. 힐러리 클린턴 국무장관이 미국 정부를 대표해 조문했다. 아소 다로 일본 총리와 하토야마 유키오 민주당 대표, 나카소네 야스히로, 고이즈미 준이치로 전 총리 등 일본 정·관계 주요 인사들이 주일 한국 대사관으로 찾아가 분향했다. 중국의 후진타오 주석과 원자바오 총리는 노무현의 사망을 애도하는 메시지를 장례위원회에 보냈다.

영결식은 장례는 국민장으로 엄수되었으며 시신은 봉하 마을에서 새벽 5시에 출발, 5월 29일 오전 11시 서울 경복궁 흥례문 앞뜰에서 가족, 정부, 종교단체 인사들이 참석한 가운데 치러졌다.

일본에서는 후쿠다 야스오 전 총리, 미국은 스티븐스 주한 대사를 단장으로 알렉스 아비주 국무성 동아태 부차관보, 마이클 그린 국가 안보회의(NSC) 선임보좌관, 빅터차 전 NSC 보좌관이 영결식에 참석했다.

빈소 및 분향소 설치 
5월 23일 서거한 노무현 제16대 대통령의 시신은 당일 오후 6시 30분 봉하마을 마을회관으로 옮겨져 빈소가 마련되었다. 임시 분향소에서 5월 23일 오후 10시부터 조문객을 맞았으며, 이튿날 마을회관 앞 광장에 공식 분향소가 세워졌다. 노무현 전 대통령의 서거 소식이 전해진 뒤 곳곳에서 추모객이 몰려 들었으며 5월 29일 국민장 기간이 끝날 때까지 100만명 이상의 추모객이 봉하마을 분향소를 방문하였다.

정부에서 세운 공식 분향소는 서울역사박물관을 비롯해 102개소에 마련되었으며 총 조문인원은 5월 29일 18시까지 98만 5331명에 달하였다.

시민들이 자발적으로 세운 분향소는 대한문 앞을 비롯해 알려진 것만 150여곳에 달하였다. 5월 29일 새벽까지 조문객은 500만여명에 달하였다.

장의위원회 구성 
정부는 5월 23일 관계 국무위원 간담회를 개최해 국민장을 거행하기로 뜻을 모았고, 5월 24일 국무총리 주재로 임시 국무위원회의를 개최하여 국민장 거행을 의결하였다. 장의위원장은 관례에 따라 국무총리인 한승수가 선정되기로 하였으나 유가족 측이 공동위원장을 제의, 5월 25일 현직 국무총리 한승수와 전 국무총리 한명숙이 선정되었다. 장의위원은 전·현직 고위공무원, 사회지도층 인사, 유족이 추천한 친지 및 친분이 있는 인사 총 1,383명으로 구성되어 역대 최대 규모이다. 이와 함께 정부는 5월 27일 국민장 영결식을 5월 29일 경복궁 흥례문 앞 뜰에서 거행하기로 공고하였다.

추도사 

한명숙 전 총리의 추도사와 김대중 전 대통령의 추도사가 영결식 동안 진행되었다.

발인 
2009년 5월 29일 오전, 많은 주민들과 지지자들의 애도 속에서 운구차량이 출발하였다. 주민들과 지지자들은 고 노무현 전 대통령을 대표하는 색깔인 노란 풍선과 종이 비행기를 운구차량에 날렸다. 주민들의 슬픔을 뒤로하고 고속도로를 5시간을 달려 경복궁 영결식장에 도착하였다.

화장 
노무현의 시신은 당초 예정보다 약 2시간여 늦게 경기도 수원 연화장에 도착해 화장되었다. 화장 후 수습된 유골은 고향인 경남 김해 봉화산의 정토원에 49재가 끝나고 매장되기 전까지 안치되었다. 당초 작은 비석을 세워달라고 유언하였으며, 한때 국립묘지 안장 여론이 제기되기도 하였으나 바로 고인돌 형태의 묘소에 납골당 형태로 안장되었다.

경찰의 분향소 강제 철거 논란 
경찰은 덕수궁 분향소에 조문가는 일반 시민들이 촛불을 켜 들고 이동하는 것을 '(사전에 신고되지 않은 불법) 시위로 발전할 우려가 있다'면서 제지하기도 하여 시민들의 지탄을 받았다. 또한 한편 시민분향소 주변을 시청 앞 서울광장을 전경 및 의경 버스로 둘러 막아 이곳에서의 추모 행사를 원천봉쇄하는 등 노무현 전 대통령에 대한 조문행렬을 잠재적 폭력시위대로 간주하여 시민들과 충돌을 벌이기도 했다.

국민행동본부의 분향소 파괴와 영정 강탈(절도) 
6월 24일 오전 5시 30~40분경 국민행동 본부 50여명이 비공식 분향소를 파괴 및 강제철거하고 영정사진을 강탈(절도)했다. 국민행동본부는 고엽제 전우회와 함께 분향소를 철거했다고 밝혔다. 서정갑 본부장은 연합뉴스와의 전화통화에서 불법 시설물을 치운 것이라 잘못이 없다는 입장을 밝히고, 경찰이 이를 방치한 것은 직무유기라고 주장했다. 시민분향소 운영진은 오전 10시 30분 기자회견을 열어 분향소 파괴 및 철거와 영정 강탈을 규탄했으며, 49재가 끝나는 날까지 분향소를 운영할 것이라고 밝혔다. 서울특별시 중구청은 직원 30여명을 동원해 오후 2시 20분부터 50여분간 파괴된 분향소 잔해를 철거하였으며, 이 과정에서 시민 5명이 연행되었다. 그리고 이날 오후 8시 30분쯤 분향소 철거에 항의하는 시민들 28명이 연행되었다. 경찰은 분향소 파괴 관련자를 수사하겠다고 밝히고 서정갑을 불구속 입건했다. 한편 분향소를 파괴한 애국기동단 측은 경찰의 조사를 받은 뒤 표창장을 받아야 한다고 주장했다. 국민행동본부 등이 절도한 영정은 당일 오후 서울역 광장에서 열린 북핵도발 총궐기대회에서 서정갑의 연설도중 등장하였으며, 이후 영정은 택배편으로 봉하마을에 보내졌다. 서정갑은 한겨레21과의 인터뷰에서 '쓰레기를 청소한 것'이라는 입장을 밝히며 '공권력이 완수하지 못한 것을 우리가 한 것'이라고 주장했다. 또한 분향소 철거를 위해 사전답사를 하고 파트별 임무를 부여하는 등 계획적으로 추진하였다는 사실도 밝혔다.

사후 
2009년 9월 23일 《사람사는세상 노무현재단》(약칭 노무현재단)이 출범했다.

2009년 9월 24일 노무현의 생가가 복원과 함께 일반인에게 공개됐다.

2009년 10월 1일 노무현의 회고록인 《성공과 좌절》은 출간한 지 열흘 만에 베스트셀러로 판매량 1위를 기록하기도 했다.

2009년 12월 2일 전국 7개 도시의 대학생을 대상으로 "멘토로 삼고 싶은 대통령"에 대한 설문조사에 41.1%로 노무현이 1위를 기록했다. 서울 41.4%, 경기도 39.5%, 경상도 41.5%, 전라도 36.7%, 충청도 47.2%, 강원도 30%, 제주도 45%로 전국적으로 고른 인기를 얻었다. 또한 '2009년 대한민국을 대표하는 인물'에는 12%로 2위를 기록했다. 2009년 12월 19일 중국의 반관영 통신사인 중국 신문사가 선정한 《2009년 세계 10대 뉴스인물》 중 노무현이 3위에 선정됐다. 선정한 이유로 "그의 자살 사건은 한국 정치에 깊은 생각거리를 남겼다"라면서 "노 전 대통령은 많은 공헌을 남긴 평민정치가였지만 재임 기간의 공적, 특히 햇볕정책에 대해서는 평가가 크게 엇갈린다"라고 전했다. 2010년 1월 1일 G세대 505명을 대상으로 한 《지난 100년간 우리나라에서 훌륭한 인물》 조사에서 1위를 기록했다.

2010년 5월 23일 노무현 사망 1주기를 맞아 광주, 대구, 대전, 창원, 인천, 대전, 충남 등 전국 각지에서 추모행사가 열렸다. 김제동이 사회를 보기도 했으며, 봉하마을에 7만명, 서울에도 2만 5천명의 추모객들의 발길이 이어졌다. 또한 2010년 6월 2일에는 전국 제5회 전국동시지방선거가 있는 날인데 노무현 추모 열기로 인해 지지율 하락을 걱정하던 한나라당의 이른바 '천안함 사건 대응 문건'에는 "노풍(노무현 바람)이 확산되지 않도록 재빨리 세간의 관심을 다른 이슈로 전환시키기 위한 정책이슈개발 등이 필요하다"는 내용이 공개되기도 하였다.

노무현 묘소 배설물 투척 문제 
2010년 11월 14일 오후 1시경 봉하마을 노무현 묘소에 인분이 투척되는 사건이 발생했다. 62세의 정모씨는 노무현 묘소에 인분을 투척하고 유인물 22장을 살포하였는데 그가 뿌린 유인물은 노무현 그대 무덤에 똥물을 부으며"라는 제목으로, "전교조·전공노·민주노총 같은 좌파세력들이 생성되도록 도와 청소년들의 정신을 세뇌시키고, 국가 정체성을 혼돈에 빠뜨렸으며, 국민을 불안하게 했다"는 내용이었다. 정모씨는 인분 투척후 현장에서 바로 경찰에 붙잡혔으며 경찰 진술에서 "고 노무현 전 대통령이 재직 중 좌익세력이 판을 치는 데 대해 불만을 품고 범행을 계획했다" 고 밝혔다. 한편 경찰은 정모씨의 단독범행으로 결론 짓고 재물손괴 등의 혐의로 입건하고, 인분이 투척된 봉분을 세척 조치했다. 이에 대해 민주당 차영 대변인은 "믿기지 않는 이번 사건에 대해 민주당은 국민과 함께 분노하며 유감의 뜻을 밝힌다. 아울러 경찰은 철저한 수사를 통해 사건의 전말을 밝혀야 하고, 만약 배후가 있다면 철저히 가려내 엄벌해야 할 것"이라고 밝혔으며, 소설가 이외수는 자신의 트위터에서 "이런 사람들일수록 국격 자주 들먹거리면서 애국자 행세를 한다. 단세포적인 구토유발자들"이라고 맹비난했다. 한나라당 안상수 대표도 "이번 불상사는 깊이 개탄할 수 밖에 없는 상황"이라며 "법에 따라 엄정처리해야 한다"고 주장했다.

2016년 7월 21일에도 노무현 묘소에 소변이 투척되는 사건이 발생했다. 41세의 최모씨는 노무현 묘역에서 "노무현 대통령이 한 게 무엇이 있느냐"며 500ml 페트병 2통에 담긴 소변을 너럭바위 위로 뿌리고, 묘역에서 경비를 서던 의무경찰이 제지를 하자 들고 있던 페트병으로 의경을 폭행하였다. 경찰은 최씨를 재물손괴, 사체모욕, 공무집행방해 등의 혐의로 구속하였다. 계속되는 배설물 투척 사건에 대해 묘역을 관리하는 노무현재단 측은 경비와 시설 강화는 노무현 생전의 뜻과 배치되기 때문에 현실적으로 어려운 문제라고 토로하였다.

평가와 비판 
1980년대 인권과 민주주의를 위해 인권 변호사로서 활동하다 정치에 입문하였다. 그의 정치 인생은 원칙을 굽히지 않으면서 권위주의와 지역주의 정치 타파를 위해 애쓴 노력의 연속이었다. 재임 중에는 대연정 제안과 사법 개혁 등을 통해 한국 사회의 지역주의와 권위주의를 탈피하려고 애쓴 것으로 평가되고 있다. 또한 그는 지지 정당으로부터도 비판받으면서 원칙과 소신에 입각해서 당정 분리라는 성과를 이루어내었다. 일각에서는 대한민국의 역대 대통령 중 가장 민주적이고 서민적인 대통령이라는 평가가 있다.

하지만 재임 기간 중에 보수적인 시각에서는 사회주의적이고 반미와 친북적인 설화가 많다는 이유로 비판을 받았으며, 진보적인 시각에서는 기업의 요구를 많이 반영된 비정규직 보호법으로 정규직 전환을 가로막고 대량 해고로 이어져 실직자를 양산한 점(이랜드 사태 등)과 같은 노동 환경의 악화와 한미 FTA의 추진, 이라크 전쟁 파병, 부실한 부동산 개혁 및 친재벌적이라고 비판을 받아 진보, 보수 어느 진영에게서도 명확한 지지를 얻지 못했다. 보수주의자에 따르면 '친북좌파'라는 비판과 진보 진영에서는 '친미신자유주의자'라는 비판 이 양립하고 있다. 이런 파병결정에 대해 훗날 문재인은 미국 부시 행정부의 네오콘들이 대북 제한폭격을 거론했고 그것을 막기 위해 파병을 했다고 털어놓았다.

2010년 9월에 시행된 "역대 대통령중에 가장 뛰어난 사람은 누구인지" 묻는 여론조사에서 박정희의 지지율이 떨어지면서 노무현에 대한 평가가 상대적으로 가장 많이 올랐다. 전체 지지율은 25.3%로 나타났으며 특히 20~30대 젊은층과, 화이트칼라 직종, 대학재학 이상의 고학력층에서는 박정희를 능가하는 지지율을 보이기도 했다.

긍정적 평가

법치주의 확립을 위한 노력 
노무현은 대통령 취임 뒤 국정원장의 독대 보고를 없앴고, 사법 고시 23회인 강금실을 법무부 장관에 임명함으로써 사법부에 뿌리 깊은 권위주의를 타파하기 위해 노력했다는 평가가 있다. 2003년 구태의연한 대법관 선발 관행에 제동을 걸었고, 사법 사상 최초로 여성 헌법재판관(전효숙)과 서열을 무시한 여성 대법관(김영란)을 탄생시켰다. 또 사법 개혁 위원회를 통해 법조 일원화, 국민의 사법 참여 등의 사법부 개혁을 위한 밑거름을 쌓았다. 일각에서는 지나친 의전 등으로 문제가 되던 법원들의 재판 사무 감사가 2006년 폐지된 이유가 김영란 대법관이 기수를 파괴하며 올라갔기 때문이라는 견해도 있다. 언론인 강준식은 "선거공영제를 확대하여 돈이 들지 않는 선거제를 확립한 것이라든지, 부작용은 있었지만 시민단체의 활발한 정치참여를 유도한 것이라든지, 시장 개입을 없앰으로써 정경유착의 고리를 상당 부분 끊은 것이라든지, 인권을 신장시킨 것이라든지, 권위까지 함께 버리는 우를 범했지만 권위주의를 청산한 것이라든지 하는 것 등은 다 그의 공이다."라고 말했다.

어족자원 복원 
해양수산부 장관 출신으로 연안 어족자원 복원에 노력했다. 당시 문제가 되고 있던 저인망식 불법어로를 근절하기 위해 촘촘한 그물을 제조하는 업체에 영업정지를 가하는 등 강경책을 사용했으며 연안에 인공 어초를 대량 투입하는 등의 대책을 시행하였다.

노무현 벙커 명명 
문민정부 출범 이후로 군생활을 제대로 한 최초의 대통령으로 국민들에게 대접을 받았다. 참여정부 당시에 김대중은 해안경비대 대원으로 군생활을 하였다고 알려졌었고 학도병 김영삼의 이야기는 전혀 대중에게 알려지지 못하였다. 최전방에서 초병 근무를 하였다는 진지가 '노무현 벙커'로 명명이 되었다고 유명해지며, 그 진지에서 근무를 서며 자랑스러워하는 초병들이 언론에 주목을 받기도 하였다.

UN 평화유지군으로 지속적인 해외 파병은 있었으나 미군에 항구적 자유 작전과 관련하여 이라크전이 발발함에 따라 추가적으로 자이툰부대의 이라크 파병이 결정되었다. 파병 동의 기간에는 국회에서 전투병 파병이냐 비전투병 파병이냐는 뜨거운 논란이 있었다. UN군이 아닌 국군으로서 해외 파병을 군사 정권이 아닌 행정부에서 최초로 결정한 수장이 되었다.

부정적 평가 
재임 기간 중에 보수적인 시각에서는 사회주의적이고 반미와 친북적인 설화가 많다는 이유로 비판을 받았으며, 진보적인 시각에서는 기업의 요구를 많이 반영된 비정규직 보호법으로 정규직 전환을 가로막고 대량 해고로 이어져 실직자를 양산한 점(이랜드 사태 등)과 같은 노동 환경의 악화와 한미 FTA의 추진, 이라크 전쟁 파병, 부실한 부동산 개혁 및 친재벌적이라고 비판을 받아 진보, 보수 어느 진영에게서도 명확한 지지를 얻지 못했다. 보수주의자에 따르면 ‘친북좌파’라는 비판과 진보 진영에서는 ‘친미신자유주의자’라는 비판 이 양립하고 있다. 이런 파병결정에 대해 훗날 문재인은 미국 부시 행정부의 네오콘들이 대북 제한폭격을 거론했고 그것을 막기 위해 파병을 했다고 털어놓았다.

정치

취약한 정치 기반 
그는 스스로 지역주의에 반대하며 민주자유당과 새천년민주당의 주류의 그늘에서 벗어나 개혁 정당인 열린우리당에 참여하였다. 하지만 국회에서의 그는 자신의 지지 정당인 열린우리당의 정치적 기반의 취약성과 새천년민주당, 한나라당, 자유민주연합과 같은 기존 정치 세력과의 타협이 부족해 다수당의 횡포로 탄핵 사태에 이르러 정치적 리더십이 부족하다는 비판을 받기도 한다.

국회의원 김경재는 그의 정치력 자체를 의심하였다. 2004년 김경재는 노무현을 가리켜 "미국은 노 대통령이 다중인격자처럼 행동해 대통령으로 인정하지 않는다"며 "노대통령은 임시정부 김구 주석을 실패한 정치인이라고 말하는 등 기본적인 상식이 없는 지도자"라고 지적하였다. 김근태는 "한미 정상회담이 성공적이라는 평을 받는 것은 노 대통령이 미국에 가서 그들이 하라는 대로 다 했기 때문"이라면서 "어떻게 현충일에 일본에 가서 '김구(金九) 선생은 실패한 정치인'이라는 말을 할 수 있느냐"라고 지적하기도 했다.

측근 · 친인척 비리 논란 
노무현은 대선 당시 깨끗한 정치, 낡은 정치 타파를 기치로 내걸어 집권에 성공했으며, 재임 중에도 기회 있을 때마다 도덕성을 강조했다. 참여정부가 내건 제일의 기치 또한 도덕성이었다. 그러나 친형인 노건평을 비롯하여 안희정, 이광재 등의 측근 비리에 연루되었다. 항상 도덕성을 토대로 정치적 정당성을 주장하던 노무현이었지만 측근과 친인척의 비리를 막지는 못했다는 평가가 있다.

이러한 언급에도 불구하고 취임 첫 해부터 대선 자금 문제로 안희정, 최도술 등 주변 인사들이 줄줄이 사법 처리되는 상황에 몰리지만 특유의 공세적 대응으로 불법 대선 자금 규모가 한나라당의 10분의 1을 넘으면 정계를 은퇴하겠다는 발언이 논란을 일으키기도 했다. 이 밖에 2004년 3월에는 전 대우건설 사장 남상국에게서 3000만 원을 받은 혐의로 형 노건평이 불구속 기소되자 기자 회견을 열어 "좋은 학교 나오시고 크게 성공하신 분이 시골에 있는 별 볼일 없는 사람에게 가서 머리 조아리고 돈 주고…."라고 형을 두둔하였고, 이 발언 이후 남 전 사장은 스스로 목숨을 끊었다.

또한 변양균-신정아 의혹이 터졌을 때는 "요즘 깜도 안 되는 의혹들이 많이 춤을 추고 있습니다"라는 발언을 하는 등 참여정부의 도덕적 우위를 지키기 위해 정치 상대를 비난하는 발언으로 논란이 되었다. 결국 2007년 11월 "대통령 취임 후 새살림을 꾸리려고 했는데…. 구시대의 막내 노릇, 마지막 청소부 노릇을 할 수밖에 없었다. 참여정부는 설거지 정부"라고 평가하면서 참여정부 시절 불거나온 비리 의혹들에 대해서 유감을 표하기도 했다.

국회의원 이종걸은 "'청년 노무현'은 대통령 되기 이전까지가 끝"이라며 "권력의 맛을 본 대통령 이후의 노무현은 더 이상 '청년 노무현'이 아니다"라며 비판했다. 2009년 5월 그는 일부 기자들과 만난 자리에서 이 같이 밝히면서도 "'청년 노무현'은 남에게 빚을 졌다고 하면, 갚지 않아도 될 빚까지 갚는 그런 사람이었다"고 밝히며, 노 전 대통령에 대한 애증(愛憎)을 피력했다.

그는 노 전 대통령의 사법처리 여부를 묻는 질문에는 "민정수석도 구속됐다"면서 "법의 형평성 차원에서, 임채진 검찰총장 입장에서 본다면 노무현 전 대통령을 구속시킬 수도 있다"고 말했다. 그러면서 포괄적 뇌물죄 적용과 관련, "돈의 액수가 적다는 게 문제는 안 된다. 대통령 위치에서도 돈을 받았다면 포괄적 뇌물죄가 적용될 수 있다"고 말했다. 그는 하지만 "전직 대통령을 사법처리까지 하는 것은 잘못된 것"이라고 지적했다.

김지태와 인연 논란 
노무현은 60년 김해 진영중학교 2학년 재학중 친일 부정축재 의혹이 있는 김지태가 설립한 부일장학회 시험에 합격해 1년 동안 장학금을 받았다고 한다. 부산상고에 입학해서도 동문회장인 김지태가 교내에 만든 '백양장학회'에서 3년 동안 장학금을 받아 학업을 마쳤다고 한다. 78년에는 김지태가 설립한 삼화그룹 고문 변호사로 일했으며 자신의 자전 에세이 '여보, 나 좀 도와줘'에서 이 과정을 언급하기도 하였는데 "나는 장학금만 바라보고 부산상고에 입학해 김지태 선생의 후배가 되었다"면서 "나의 오늘은 그 분(김지태)이 디딤돌을 놓아준 셈"이라며 고마움을 표시했다고 한다. 또한 1984년엔 김지태 회장의 유족들이 부탁한 117억원 짜리 상속세 소송을 맡아 전액을 취소 시키는 승소판결을 이끌어낸 바 있으며 그는 착수금 2000만원, 승소 사례금 4000만원을 포함 총 6000만원을 김지태 유족으로부터 받았다고 한다.

정수장학회 논란이 한창이던 2012년 10월 22일, 이정현 새누리당 공보단장은 노무현과 부일장학회(정수장학회의 원래 명칭)의 원소유자인 김지태와의 이와 같은 인연을 들어 논란을 촉발 시켰다. 이정현은 "김지태씨는 친일 부정축재 의혹이 있는데, 민주당이 언제부터 그런 의혹이 있는 사람들의 대변자가 됐냐"라고 말했다. 같은 날 박용진 민주당 대변인은 이정현의 발언을 비판하며 "민주당이 '왜 강압과 부당한 방법으로 남의 재산을 강탈하고 그 위에서 온갖 혜택을 누렸냐'고 묻자 느닷없이 새누리당 이 단장이 '너도 한패냐'고 윽박지르고 나섰다"라고 말했다.

경제

실패한 부동산 정책 
참여정부 5년간 가장 실패한 정책으로 부동산 정책이 꼽힌다. 참여정부 시절 전국 미분양 주택은 2003년 3월 2만 3000여 가구에 불과했 것이 참여정부 말기 2007년 12월 11만여 가구로 약 4.7배 이상 증가하였다. 또한 참여정부 5년 동안 신도시 집값은 56% 상승했으며 전국 집값은 36%나 상승했다.

참여정부의 부동산정책이 실패한 가장 큰 원인은 부동산시장의 해법을 경제문제로 접근하지 않고 소득 계층간 갈등구조로 파악했다는 점이다. 이로 인해 서울 강남권 등 일부 부유층을 향해 반 시장적 규제를 가했고 이는 결국 주변집값마저 끌어올리는 부작용을 낳았다. 또한 동시다발적으로 전국토의 난개발로 인해 토지가격 급등과 저금리 기조에 따른 과잉 유동성에 대한 대처 등 부동산시장의 근본적인 원인을 제대로 해결하지 못했다. 수요가 몰리는 곳에 공급을 확대하는 정책이 아닌 단순히 투기적 수요를 근절해 부동산 시장을 잡겠다는 수요측면에서만 접근함으로써 불씨를 키웠다. 정상적인 수요도 투기로 간주해 수요를 차단시켰고 공급은 지나친 가격 규제를 도입해 공급을 더욱 줄어들게 만들었다.

빈부 격차 및 소득 양극화 심화 
노무현 정부 때는 임기 내내 소득 분배가 악화됐다. 지니계수는 2002년 0.293에서 노무현 정부 첫해인 2003년 0.283으로 낮아졌다가 이후 2004년 0.293, 2005년 0.298, 2006년 0.305, 2007년 0.316으로 올랐다. 반면 이명박 정부가 들어선 2008년 0.319에서 2009년 0.320으로 올랐으나 2010년 0.315, 2011년 0.313, 2012년 0.310으로 내려 소득 분배가 소폭이지만 개선됐다. 박근혜 정부에선 2013년 0.307, 2014년 0.308, 2015년 0.305로 비슷했다.[*https://www.hankyung.com/politics/article/2017043091677] 성장보다 분배를 강조했던 참여정부 시절에는 오히려 지니계수가 증가하면서 소득 불평등이 악화되었고, 참여정부보다 성장을 강조했던 이명박 정부 시절에는 오히려 지니계수가 감소하면서 소득 불평등이 개선되는 모습이 나타났다.

2018년 8월 23일 통계청이 발표한 2분기 가계동향조사(소득 부문) 결과에 따르면, 노무현정부(2004~2007년·2003년은 통계 작성 시작연도로 전년과 비교 불가)에서의 1분위 가구 연평균 소득성장률은 4.0%였으며, 5분위 가구는 5.0%를 기록해 큰 차이를 보이지 않았다. 보수정권으로 분류되는 이명박·박근혜정부에서는 오히려 1분위 가구의 소득성장률이 높게 나타났다. 이명박정부에서 1분위 가구의 가계소득은 연평균 6.6%나 오른 반면 5분위 가구 성장률은 4.6%에 그쳤다. 박근혜정부는 1분위 가구가 2.5%, 5분위 가구는 2.0%의 성장률을 보였다. 보수 정권기에는 소득 5분위 배율과 지니계수가 개선되었으나 진보 정권기에는 도리어 악화된 것으로 나타났다. 이두원 연세대 경제학과 교수는 "보수정권에서 양극화가 심해질 것이란 통념과 달리 2000년대 이후로는 보수·진보 정권을 가리지 않고 사회보장성 제도가 대폭 확대돼 왔다"며 "오히려 높은 경제성장을 통해 분배도 개선시키는 방식이 효율적임을 보여주는 지표"라고 말했다. 문재인 정부가 추진 중인 소득주도성장은 이번 2분기 가계소득 통계를 통해 그 실상이 적나라하게 드러났다고 평가된다. 그동안 정부는 최저임금 인상을 통해 취약계층의 소득을 올려주는 방식으로 새로운 성장 모델을 만들어낼 수 있다고 주장했으나 지난 1분기에 이어 이번 2분기에도 저소득층의 소득이 절대적으로는 물론 상대적으로도 큰 폭으로 감소한 게 확인됐기 때문이다.

2003년 7.23배였던 소득 5분위 배율은 해마다 증가해 2006년 7.64배까지 벌어졌고, 지니계수는 2003년 0.341에서 2006년 0.351로 증가해 소득 불평등이 심화됐다. 소득 5분위 배율은 상위 20% 소득을 하위 20% 소득으로 나눈 값이고, 지니계수는 1에 가까울수록 불평등하고 0에 가까울수록 평등함을 나타낸다. 양극화를 해소할 참여정부의 정책이 없었다는 비판이 있으며, 관료들이 주도한 정책은 양극화를 더 심화시켰다는 비판 역시 존재한다. 유종일 한국개발원(KDI) 국제정책대학원 교수(경제학)는 “참여정부는 출범 초기에 ‘국민소득 2만불론’이라는 성장우선주의 담론을 내걸었고, 집권하자마자 법인세 인하 조치를 취했다고 비판했다.

사회 문화

나이스 도입 논란 
2003년 4월 교육행정정보시스템(NEIS)의 논쟁이 뜨거웠다. 토론회, 집회 등에 여러 가지 양상으로 도입 반대 의견들이 쏟아졌다. 결국 출결, 성적만 관리하는 형태인 호주의 경우와 달리 모든 업무를 관리하는 초기 설계로 관철 되었다. 반대측에 우려대로 운영 초기 시스템 부하 문제 등이 발생하였으나 일선 교사들은 전산화로 업무가 편해졌다고 찬사를 보낸다. 산간 벽지에 폐교 위기의 학교가 아닌 부촌에 사립 학교 조차 IoT, Cloud 등을 도입하여 전산 시스템을 증설하기 힘든 결함이 존재한다.

황우석 사건 
황우석 사건에서의 태도 또한 비판의 대상이 되고 있다. 2005년 11월 27일, 청와대 홈페이지에 "PD수첩이 황당한 취재를 한다는 이야기를 들었다. 심지어 협박과 위협도 한다고 한다. 말도 안 된다고 생각한다"라는 글을 올리면서 PD수첩의 줄기세포에 진위에 대한 취재에 대해 부정적인 언급을 했으며, 이후 줄기세포가 가짜로 판명된 후에도 "자, 이걸로 정리를 하자"라는 말로 상황을 무마시키려 했다는 비판이 있다.

이후 2006년 12월 28일에는 황우석 사건을 통해 대통령에게 제대로 보고하지 않은 책임을 지고 같은 해 1월에 물러난 박기영 전 대통령 정보과학기술 보좌관이 정책기획위원으로 발탁되었는데, "박 전 보좌관이 정책기획위원을 맡을 수 없을 정도로 심각한 도덕적 문제를 일으켰다고 판단하지는 않는다"라고 발언을 해 논란이 되기도 하였다.

노동 정책 
한편 2007년 12월 노동운동계에서는 노무현 정권에서 구속되거나 희생당한 노동자 수가 김영삼 정권의 두 배라며 비판하였다. 일부 노동단체는 노무현 정권에게 인권을 유린당했다고 주장하였으며 20여 명의 구속 노동자가 무기한 단식 농성에 돌입한 일도 있었다. 단식 농성에 참여한 구속 노동자들은 "하중근 사망 사건" 관련 싸움을 진행했던 포항건설 노조의 9명, 타워크레인 노동자 5명, 뉴코아-이랜드 관련 2명, 비정규직 철폐와 한미 FTA 반대 집회에서 연행 구속된 3명, 노사관계 로드맵 야합에 반대하며 한국노총 점거 농성을 진행한 2명의 노동자 등이다. 언론에서는 이렇게 많은 수가 감옥에서 단식 농성에 돌입한 것은 독재 타도를 외치던 80년대 이후 처음이라는 주장도 나왔다.

한편 언론지 '참세상'의 조사에 따르면, 구속 노동자 후원회가 집계한 2007년 11월 30일 당시 구속 노동자는 총계 62명으로 집계하였으며, 노무현 정권에만 1천 37명의 노동자가 구속된 바 있다고 주장했다. 그중 2007년 11월에만 17명이 구속되었다. 이는 문민정부가 들어섰다는 김영삼 정권 때 632명보다 두 배에 가까운 수치이다. 구속 노동자들은 그 외에 "강제 구금당한 이주 노동자의 수는 너무 많아서 집계가 불가능할 정도"라고 주장하기도 했다.

외교 
노무현은 2003년 6월의 일본 방문에서 한 "김구는 실패한 정치인" 발언과, 2004년 7월의 한일 정상회담에서 독도를 다케시마라 발언한 것을 두고 비판 여론이 제기되었다. 당시 한나라당에서는 그의 외교 정책을 "굴종 외교"로 규정하였다.

2004년 한일정상회담 직후에는 한나라당 이상배 정책위의장이 그의 외교를 '등신외교'라고 비판하자 청와대와 민주당이 강력 반발, 국회 본회의를 거부하는 등 여야가 정면 충돌하기도 했다. 이때문에 국회 의사 진행이 중단되는 등의 파행이 벌어지기도 했다.

대북 안보관 논란 
2007년 남북정상회담에서 NLL을 포기했다는 주장이 있었다. 이에 따르면 노무현 대통령이 "실질적으로는 거의 아무 이해관계가 없는 문제를 놓고 괜히 어릴 적 땅따먹기.할 때 땅에 줄 그어놓고 니 땅 내 땅 그러는 것 같다"면서 NLL이 안보상의 실질적 문제가 아닌 정서적인 문제라고 발언했다고 한다. 이어 "대강 그려도 아무 문제가 없는데 어느 쪽도 대강그릴 수 없는 심리적 상태, 이것이 우리의 비극"이라고 덧붙였다고 한다. 그리고 NLL이 '영토선'이라는 시각에 대해서도 "내가 NLL이 무슨 영토선이냐고 했더니 '목숨 걸고 지킨 우리의 영토선이고 방위선'이라고 하던데 일리가 있지만 한편으로는 그 선 때문에 아까운 목숨을 잃은 것이니까 그 선이 합의가 되어있는 선이라면 목숨을 잃지 않아도 되는 거 아니냐"면서 NLL에 대한 새로운 합의 필요성을 역설적으로 설명했다고 한다.

이에 송대성 세종연구소 수석연구위원은 노무현의 민주평통 NLL발언에 대해 "어떻게 국군통수권자로서 농담처럼 NLL문제를 얘기할 수 있냐"고 반문하면서 "영토문제에 대해 통수권자가 이렇게 말하는 경우는 세계에 유례가 없을 것"이라고 비판했다. 이어 "북측은 NLL이 일방적으로 그어졌다고 주장하면서도 70년대 중반까지 실제적인 영토선으로 준수해왔으나 대북햇볕정책이 실시되면서부터 북한이 본격적으로 시비를 걸기 시작했다"고 지적했다.

김영호 성신여자대학교 정치외교학과 교수는 "대한민국을 수호해야 하는 대통령으로서 대단히 부적절한 발언"이라고 말했다. 이어 "NLL이 무너질 경우 수도권 방어가 어렵고, 국익과 안보에 위해가 올 것이기 때문에 NLL 준수가 바람직하다고 생각하는데 대통령은 국민들보다도 안보의식이 해이한 것 같다"면서 "노 대통령이 임기말 대북관계에서 억지 성과를 내려는 데 집착해 누가 봐도 납득이 안 되는 이상한 망언들을 하고 있다"고 비판했다.

이렇게 보수적인 색채를 띄는 사람들이 NLL(북방한계선)에 대하여 기본적으로 영토선적인 인식을 가지고 노무현 정부를 비판하지만, 이런 문제는 김영삼 정부 시절 국방부 장관이 국회에서 한 발언을 볼 때 단순히 '트집잡기'에 지나지 않으므로 건설적인 대안을 마련해야 한다는 시각도 있다.

한편 대북低(저)자세 외교라는 비판과 함께 민간 차원의 북한 반대 운동을 탄압하여 표현의 자유를 억압하였다는 주장이 있었다. 민간단체의 인공기 소각 퍼포먼스에 대해 대통령이 직접 북한에 사과한 것에 대해서도 대북 굴종 외교 논란이 있다.

이런 태도에 대하여 반론도 있다. 대한민국 헌법에 의하여 조국의 평화적 통일을 위한 성실한 의무(헌법 제66조 제3항)를 다하여야 하는 대통령 입장에서 대북 적대를 하여 괜히 국익에 이로울 것이 없다고 판단하여 남북관계개선의 기반이 된다고 할 수 있는 남북신뢰를 다지기 위한 전략적 발언이라고 볼 수 있으며, 그 결과 2007년 남북 정상 회담을 통한 2007 남북정상선언문을 이끌어낼 수 있었다.

기타

서민 대통령 
진보적 가치 실현, 사회적 약자에 대한 관심 등등을 노무현 정신으로 이야기하는 사람들이 많다. 하지만 노무현 정신의 핵심을 한마디로 정리하면 바보 노무현
의 삶처럼 사람 냄새 나는 삶의 실현이었던 듯하다. '대통령의 언어'가 아닌 '서민의 언어'로 말하고 서민의 몸짓으로 행동하던 노무현 전 대통령의 언행은 오해를 불러일으키는 일도 많았고, 그로 인해 안티도 많았다. 이 모든 해프닝은 노무현 전 대통령이 청와대에 입성한 뒤에도 털어내지 못한 서민적 언행에서 비롯된 것들이었다. 노무현 전 대통령의 서민적 풍모는 전직 대통령으로는 처음으로 낙향해 살면서 보여준 봉하마을 생활에서도 그대로 드러났다.

여론 조사 
2011년, 미국의 폭로 전문 웹사이트 위키리크스는 노무현에 대한 미국 대사관의 평가를 공개했다. 이 문서에서는 노무현을 "고졸 출신의 대통령으로서 국제 무대에서는 신인이지만 주관이 뚜렷하고 신념이 확고하다"고 평가했다.

2010년 10월, 30여개 분야 전문가 1,500여명을 대상으로 시행된 조사에서 응답자 가운데 가장 많은 11.1%가 노무현 전 대통령을 '우리 시대 영웅'으로 꼽았다. 이어 김대중 전 대통령과, 박정희 전 대통령이었다. 또한 정치, 통일, 국제, 외교 분야에서 가장 존경받는 인물로는 김대중 전 대통령에 이어 2위를 기록했다. 이어 12월 4일 중앙일보가 실시한 여론조사에서도 정치발전에 대한 긍정 평가가 67.9%에 달해 박정희 전 대통령에 이어 2위를 차지했다. 특히 남북 화해 부분에서는 80% 이상이 긍정적인 평가를 내렸다.

2011년 5월 12일에 더 좋은 민주주의 연구소가 리서치뷰에 의뢰해 실시한 여론조사에 따르면 노무현 전 대통령은 다시 대선에 출마할 경우 다시 뽑겠다는 응답이 47.4%로 나타나 박정희 전 대통령에 이어 2위를 기록했다. 또한 전현직 대통령들 중 가장 호감 가는 인물을 묻는 단순 호감도 조사에서도 30.3%로, 31.9%를 기록한 박정희 전 대통령에 이어 2위를 차지했다.

논란과 의혹

한미 FTA 추진 

2006년 1월 18일 그는 2006년도 대국민 신년연설을 통해 한미 FTA 협상 의지를 발표 하였다. 2월 3일 당시 미국시각으로는 2월 2일 그는 미국으로 간 통상교섭본부장 김종훈을 통해 미국 의회에서 협상 출범을 선언했다. 이후 노무현이 대통령에 재임 중인 2007년 4월 2일 한미 FTA가 타결되었다.

6월 5일부터 6월 9일 미국 워싱턴 D.C.에서 한미 자유무역협정(FTA) 1차 협상이 개최되었다.

2006년부터 그는 한미 FTA 추진을 강행한다. 그러나 한미 FTA 반대운동에 적극 참여하던 허세욱은 결국 협상이 타결 직전에 이르러 가자 2007년 4월 1일 협상장인 서울 하얏트 호텔 정문 부근에서 분신하였다. 그는 의식이 혼미한 상태로 실려 가면서까지 한미FTA 중단과 노무현 정권 퇴진을 요구하였다.

4월 3일 민주노동당은 지역위원회별로 모금운동을 시작했다고 언론에 밝혔고, 4월 4일 참여연대 등도 '병원비가 많이 나올 텐데 조금이라도 힘이 되어주자'며 성금 모금 활동이 있었다. 참여연대 게시판 등에도 많은 네티즌들의 격려와 후원이 있었다. 그러나 그는 사망하면서 모두가 비정규직이니 모금성금은 하지 말아달라는 유언을 남기기도 했다. 2007년 3월 8일부터 3월 12일 한미 FTA 8차 협상이 서울에서 개최되었다. 협상은 1개월만에 체결된다.

2007년 4월 2일 한미 FTA가 최종 타결된다. 그러나 6월 16일 미국 측에서 노동, 환경 등 7개 분야 수정안 제의하여 6월 21일부터 6월 22일 FTA 추가협상 1차 협상을 개최하여 6월 29일 추가협상도 최종타결되었다.

한편 분신자살기도로 입원중인 허세욱을 문병왔다가 허세욱으로부터 입당 권유를 받은 경제학자이자 노무현 정부의 청와대 경제비서관 출신정태인(鄭泰仁)은 그의 뜻에 따라 민주노동당에 입당했다. 정태인은 이후 노무현 정부와 결별했고, 더불어 그의 30년 친구인 유시민 등과도 결별을 선언하기도 했다. 2008년 진보신당 창당 이후 정태인은 진보신당에 입당하였다.

사돈 배병렬의 권력형 비리 의혹 
노무현 전 대통령의 사돈인 배병렬(62) 전 NH-CA자산운용(구 농협CA투자신탁운용, 이하 CA자산운용) 상임감사가 검찰의 조사를 받았다. 2005년 자신의 삼촌이 회장으로 있던 회사가 농협에서 수십억원대의 대출을 받는 과정에서 개입, 압력을 행사했다는 의혹이 불거졌기 때문이다.

경남 김해시 소재 농협 내외동지점 부지점장을 역임한 김모 씨 주장에 따르면, 배씨는 자신의 삼촌 배OO이 회장으로 일하던 T개발이 아파트를 짓는 과정에서 농협 대출이 원활히 이뤄지지 않자 농협 김해 내외동지점과 심사를 맡은 농협중앙회 등에 압력을 행사해 대출이 가능토록 했다. 김 전 부지점장은 당시 대출을 진행하는 과정에서 여러 차례 배 전 감사를 만났고 압력에 가까운 지시를 받았다고 주장하였다.

당시 T개발에 대한 대출이 문제가 있었음은 이 대출에 직간접적으로 관여한 농협 인사들을 통해서도 확인된다.

북방한계선 포기 논란 

2007년 남북정상회담에서 서해상 북방한계선을 포기하겠다는 발언을 했다고 새누리당 서상기, 정문헌 의원이 주장하여 논란이 일었다. 당시 공세를 주도했던 윤상현 새누리당 의원은 2007년 남북정상회담 당시 노무현 대통령이 서해 북방한계선(NLL) 포기 발언을 하지 않았다고 훗날 밝혔다.

언론과 노무현 
노무현이 3당 합당을 거부하고 통합민주당 대변인이 된 직후인 1991년 10월 조선일보는 주간조선 보도를 통해 이력과 재산을 문제 삼았다. 노무현은 주변의 만류에도 불구, 정치인으로는 이례적으로 조선일보를 상대로 명예훼손 소송에 나서 승소했다. 국민의 정부 때 해양수산부 장관으로서 언론사 세무조사를 앞장서 지지하고 2002년 민주당 대선 후보 경선 당시 언론사 소유 지분 제한에 공개 찬성했다. 보수 언론과의 적대적 관계가 고착화되기 시작했다.

처음 '이인제 대세론'에 묻혀 있다가 2002년 3월 16일 광주 지역 경선부터 본격적인 노풍(盧風)을 일으켰고, 언론들은 이 현상을 신기한 듯 부쩍 관심을 보였다. 그러나 노무현 바람에 심상치 않은 무게가 실리자 보수 언론의 견제가 본격화됐다. 대선 당일 조선일보가 사설에서 "지금 시점에서 분명한 것은 후보 단일화에 합의했고, 유세를 함께 다니면서 노무현 후보의 손을 들어줬던 정몽준 씨마저 '노 후보는 곤란하다'고 판단한 상황"이라며 "이제 최종 선택은 유권자들의 몫"이라고 방점을 찍은 일은 두고두고 회자되었다.

대권을 잡은 이후에는 집권 1년 만에 보수 언론의 포화 속에 헌정 사상 유례없는 탄핵을 당하기도 했다. 탄핵 반대 촛불 여론으로 권좌를 되찾은 후에도 보수 언론의 공격은 그치지 않았으며, 여기에 이라크 파병과 한미 FTA 협정 추진, 대연정 구상 등으로 인해 진보 언론도 노무현에게 칼을 겨누기 시작했다. 임기 말에는 취재 지원 시스템 선진화 방안이 기자실 폐쇄로 이어지면서 보수와 진보를 가리지 않은 모든 언론이 비판을 퍼부었다.

'박연차 회장 비리 사건'에 연루된 정황이 드러나면서 진보 언론마저 완전히 등을 돌리고 말았다. 언론들은 검찰발로 노무현의 가족과 관련된 비리를 낱낱이 보도하며 노무현을 부도덕과 비리의 몸통인 양 매도했다고 해도 과언이 아니었다.

사망으로 노무현의 생애가 역사의 뒤안길로 넘어가면서 언론의 긍정적인 평가들이 등장했다. 한국 정치사에서 언론과의 관계가 가장 순탄치 않았던 정치인으로 평가되었다.

종교

천주교 관련 
1986년 당시 천주교 부산교구 당감 본당의 주임신부였던 송기인 신부로부터 영세를 받아 '유스토'라는 세례명을 얻었지만 열심히 신앙생활도 못하고 성당도 못 나가 프로필의 종교란에는 무교로 쓴다고 밝힌 적이 있다.

대통령 후보 시절인 2002년 6월 20일에 서울 종로구 혜화동 가톨릭대 주교관이던 김수환 추기경을 방문했다. 서로 이야기를 주고받다가 노무현이 먼저 신앙 문제를 화제로 꺼냈다. 노무현은 "1986년 부산에서 송기인 신부로부터 영세를 받아 '유스토'라는 세례명을 얻었다."라고 소개하고 "하지만 열심히 신앙생활도 못하고 성당도 못 나가 프로필 쓸 때 종교란에 '무교'로 쓴다."라고 고백했다.

이에 김수환은 "하느님을 믿느냐."고 물었고, 노무현은 "희미하게 믿는다."라고 답했다. 김수환이 "어려울 때 하느님께 모든 것을 맡기라."고 말하자 노무현은 "앞으로는 종교란에 '방황'이라고 쓰겠다."고 대답했다.

불교 관련 
노무현은 자택 옆에 있던 정토원이라는 사찰에서 사시 공부를 하였다. 이후에는 김해시 장유면 대청리 장유암에 머무르면서 사시를 준비했으며, 틈틈이 불교 경전을 탐독했다. 9년간 사시 공부를 하여 1975년 3월 30세에 제17회 사법시험에 합격하였다. 평소 불심이 깊은 것으로 알려진 아내 권양숙은 2002년 10월 1일 당시 대선을 앞두고 합천 해인사에 머물고 있는 조계종 종정인 법전 스님으로부터 보살계와 '대덕화'(大德花)라는 법명을 받았는데, '대덕화'는 대한민국 제5·6·7·8·9대 대통령 박정희의 아내 육영수가 받은 법명과 같은 것이었다. 이러한 법명 수계는 불교계의 민심이 실린 것으로 볼 수 있으며, 불교계의 기대를 받고 있음을 보여주는 것이다. 이후 노무현은 재임 기간 동안 해인사를 무려 세 차례나 방문해 현직 대통령으로서는 최다 방문을 하였다. 2003년 12월 22일에 노무현은 아내와 함께 경남 합천 해인사를 불시 방문해 조계종 종정 법전스님, 총무원장 법장스님과 환담한 뒤 오찬을 함께 했다. 사패산 터널 문제에 대한 공약을 지키게 못하게 되었다면서 양해를 구했다.

또한 노무현은 2005년 8월 30일에 T-50 골든이글 양산 1호기 출고식에 참석했다. 그리고 대한민국 최고 목조 불상인 쌍둥이 비로자나불이 발견되었다는 소식에 해인사에 들러 비행기 사고 없이 잘 날아다니고 잘 팔아 달라고 부처님께 기도를 했다. 취임 이래 2번째로 해인사를 방문했고 해인사 대비로전 건립에 30여억 원의 국고 지원을 즉석에서 약속했다. 2007년 11월 24일 해인사 대비로전(大毘盧殿) 낙성 대법회에 참석하면서 축사를 하였는데 3번째로 해인사를 방문했다.

2009년 5월 23일에 과거 사시 공부를 했던 정토원의 법당에 모셔진 부모와 장인의 위패에 예를 표한 뒤 그 옆의 부엉이 바위에서 투신자살하였다.봉하마을 뒤편 봉화산에 자리 잡은 정토원은 그가 투신한 부엉이 바위에서 약 200M 거리에 위치한 사찰이다.2009년 5월 24일 해인사의 승려 300여 명이 분향소를 찾아 노무현의 죽음을 애도했다.

학력 
 1959년 진영대창국민학교 졸업
 1963년 진영중학교 졸업
 1966년 부산상업고등학교 졸업

비학위 수료 
 1998년 고려대학교 노동대학원 노동정책과정 수료
 1999년 고려대학교 정책대학원 최고위정책과정 수료

명예 박사 학위 
 2004년 모스크바 대학교 명예정치학 박사
 2006년 알제대학교 명예정치학 박사
 2007년 원광대학교 명예정치학 박사

경력 
 1975년 제17회 사법시험 합격
 1977년 대전지방법원 판사
 1978년 변호사 개업
 1981년 부림 사건 변론 이후 인권변호사 활동
 1985년 부산민주시민협의회 상임위원장
 1987년 민주헌법쟁취국민운동본부 상임집행위원장, 6월민주항쟁 주도로 인해 구속, 변호사 업무 정지 처분
 1988년 민변 창립회원
 1988년 제13대 국회의원(통일민주당, 부산 동구, 5공비리특별위원회 활동)
 1990년 3당합당 반대, 민주당 창당 활동에 합류
 1991년 민주당 창당 주도(통합협상 대표), 민주당 대변인
 1992년 민주당 제14대 대통령선거 청년특위위원장 겸 물결유세단 단장으로서 대통령 후보 김대중 지원
 1993년 민주당 최연소 최고위원, 지방자치실무연구소 개소
 1995년 부산 시장 선거 출마, 통합민주당 창당 활동에 합류
 1997년 새정치국민회의 입당, 새정치국민회의 부총재, 제15대 대통령선거 찬조 연설과 파랑새유세단 단장으로서의 활동 등으로 대통령 후보 김대중 지원
 1998년 서울 종로구 국회의원 보궐선거 당선, 현대자동차 파업 중재
 1999년 국회 동남아특위 위원장
 제6대 해양수산부 장관
 새천년민주당 당무위원
 새천년민주당 상임고문
 2002년 새천년민주당 제16대 대통령 후보
 2003년 ~ 2008년 제16대 대한민국 대통령

방송 출연

TV 
 SBS 《뉴스추적》 (1997년 9월 30일)
 KBS 1TV 《TV내무반 신고합니다》 (1999년)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 21세기 한국정치, 희망은 있는가》 (2000년 1월 6일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 4.13 총선, 또 지역선거인가?》 (2000년 3월 2일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 2000년 한국 희망은 있는가》 (2000년 9월 21일)
 KBS 2TV 《체험 삶의 현장》 (2000년 10월 15일)
 MBC 《손석희의 미디어비평》 (2001년 6월 2일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 편 가르기 사회, 해법은 없나》 (2001년 7월 26일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 (2001년 12월 14일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 7인후보 합동대토론 - 민주당》 (2002년 3월 8일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 3인후보 쟁점토론 - 민주당》 (2002년 4월 4일)
 itv 《봉두완의 진단 2002》 (2002년 7월 5일)
 BBS불교방송 《유창선의 아침저널》 (2002년 7월 9일)
 MBN 《MBN 특별대담》 (2002년 7월 31일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 노무현 후보에게 듣는다》 (2002년 10월 3일)
 KBS 1TV 《심야토론》 (2002년 10월 12일)
 YTN 《YTN포커스》 (2002년 10월 16일)
 SBS 《특별기획 2002 대선후보 토론회 - 민주당 노무현 후보》 (2002년 10월 18일)
 MBC 《미디어 비평》 (2002년 11월 1일)
 SBS 《2002 국민의 선택 새 시대를 연다》 (2002년 12월 20일)
 SBS 《한선교, 정은아의 좋은 아침 - 노무현 대통령 당선자 부부》 (2003년 1월 31일)
 KBS 1TV 《노무현 대통령 - 검사와의 대화》 (2003년 3월 9일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 노무현 대통령 초청 토론, 참여정부 두 달을 말한다》 (2003년 5월 1일)
 TBS-KBS 1TV 《노무현 대통령 - 일본 국민과의 대화》 (2003년 6월 8일)
 MBC 《느낌표 책을 읽읍시다 - 노무현 대통령 내외분》 (2003년 7월 19일)
 KBS 1TV 《KBS 특별대담- 도올이 만난 대통령》 (2004년 2월 20일)
 MBC 《시사매거진 2580 - 노무현 대통령과의 대담》 (2004년 9월 5일)
 KBS 1TV 《사랑의 리퀘스트》 (2004년 12월 25일)
 MBC 《어린이날 특집 - 대통령과 함께 하는 드림! 드림! 드림!》 (2005년 5월 5일)
 KBS 1TV 《KBS 특별토론 - 국민과의 대화》 (2005년 8월 25일)
 KBS 2TV 《도전 골든벨 - 300회 특집》 (2005년 11월 27일)
 MBC 《성탄특집 MBC 희망콘서트》 (2005년 12월 25일)
 KTV-YTN 《국민과의 인터넷 대화》 (2006년 3월 23일)
 KBS 《KBS 어린이날 특집생방송 - 우리는 꿈꾸러기》 (2006년 5월 5일)
 MBC 《100분 토론 - 노무현 대통령에게 듣는다》 (2006년 9월 28일)
 MBC 《어린이날 특집 - 대통령의 특별한 초대》 (2007년 5월 5일)
 MBC 《정치 다큐멘터리 2부작 대한민국 대통령》 (2008년 2월 14일 ~ 15일)
 KBS 2TV 《생방송 세상의 아침 - 표영호의 세상읽기》 (2008년 4월 4일)
 tvN 《tvN E News - 퇴임 후, 노무현 전 대통령은 지금?》 (2008년 4월 9일)
 YTN 《돌발영상 - 말을 하다》 (2008년 4월 11일)
 KBS 1TV 《다큐멘터리 3일 - 대통령의 귀향, 봉하마을 3일간의 기록》 (2008년 5월 3일)
 KBS 2TV 《30분 다큐 - 노무현 전 대통령 검찰소환 12시간의 기록》 (2009년 4월 30일)
 KBS 1TV 《다큐멘터리 3일 - 바보 노무현, 봉하마을에서의 두 번째 만남 / 추모다큐》 (2009년 5월 30일)

라디오 
 1997년 6월 30일 ~ 1997년 9월 26일 : SBS 러브FM 792 뉴스대행진 1, 2부
 2002년 6월 20일 : MBC 표준FM 손석희의 시선집중
 2002년 10월 17일: 평화방송 《열린세상오늘》

기타 출연 
 MBC 시트콤 《안녕 프란체스카》 (2005년 10월 3일 / 까메오 출연)
 MBC 시트콤 《거침없이 하이킥》 (2006년 11월 29일 / 까메오 출연)

별명 
노짱은 노무현의 애칭이다. 노무현 짱의 줄임말로, 한국어 '짱'이 아닌 을 붙인 것으로 오해하는 경우도 있다. 다만 사용하는 의미는 (친하게 부르는 접미사)와 같아서 큰 문제는 되지 않는다.

2000년대 초, 노사모의 사람들은 노무현을 노무현 짱이라는 말을 줄인 '노짱'으로 친근하게 불렀다. 또한 노무현 자신도 자신을 노짱이라고 언급한 적이 있다.

또한 언론에서도 사용된다.
 '노사모' 명계남 "이재명, 강인함 배짱은 '노짱' 닮아…지지 당연", 메일경제
 노짱의 추억 : 22년 전, 그에게 받았던 답장, 딴지일보
 ‘노짱’ 노무현 떠난지 벌써 10년...전국 곳곳에 추모 물결, 한겨레

하지만 일베저장소와 같은 곳에서 사용되기 시작하며 나쁜 뜻인 줄 오해하는 사람들도 있다.

상훈 
 2004년 - 영국 최고 훈장 배스 대십자훈장(GCB)
 2004년 - 폴란드 흰 독수리 훈장(Order Orła Białego)
 2005년 - 미국 조지 부시 전 대통령 ‘밴 플리트’ 수상
 2007년 - 카타르 독립대훈장
 2007년 - 스페인 시민 훈장
 2007년 10월 8일 - 덴마크의 코끼리의 기사 수훈
 2008년 - 무궁화대훈장

저작물

저서 

 생전에 출간된 저서
 《사람 사는 세상》 (1989.09.19)
 《여보, 나좀 도와줘》 (새터, 1994.09.01) 
 《의원님들 요즘 장사 잘돼요?》 (공저 노무현 외 10인, 1997.09.25)
 《마음 먹었을 때 시작해라》 (공저 노무현 외 54인, 우민OK논술교실, 2000.06.01) 
 《노무현이 만난 링컨》 (학고재, 2001.11.30) 
 《노무현: 상식, 혹은 희망》 (공저 노무현 외 13인, 행복한책읽기, 2002.02.28) 
 《노무현의 리더십 이야기》 (행복한책읽기, 2002.10.15) 
 《성공하고 싶다면 군대에 가라 2》 (공저 노무현 외 48인, 국방일보, 중앙M&B, 2003.12.12) 
 《로마의 논리와 감성》 (공저 노무현 외 81인, 우민OK논술교실, 2005.12.01) 
 사후 출간된 저서
 《성공과 좌절 (노무현 대통령 못 다 쓴 회고록)》 (노무현 저, 학고재, 2009.09.22) 
 《진보의 미래 (다음 세대를 위한 민주주의 교과서)》 (노무현 저, 동녘, 2009.11.27) 
 《운명이다 (노무현 자서전)》 (노무현 저, 유시민 정리, 노무현재단 엮음, 돌베개, 2010.04.26) 
 《봉하일기 (그곳에 가면 노무현이 있다)》 (공저 노무현 외 11인, 부키, 2012.01.12) 
 《노무현의 사람 사는 세상》 (2018.05.21)
 《그리하여 노무현이라는 사람은》 (2019.05.03)

어록 
 "제가 생각하는 이상적인 사회는 더불어 사는 사람 모두가 먹는 것 입는 것 이런 걱정 좀 안 하고 더럽고 아니꼬운 꼬라지 좀 안 보고 그래서 하루하루가 좀 신명나게 이어지는 그런 세상이라고 생각합니다. 만일 이런 세상이 좀 지나친 욕심이라면 적어도 살기가 힘이 들어서 아니면 분하고 서러워서 스스로 목숨을 끊는 그런 일은 좀 없는 세상, 이런 것이라고 생각합니다." (1988년 13대 국회 대정부질의)
 남북대화 하나만 성공시키면 나머지는 깽판쳐도 괜찮다. (2002년 5월 인천 부평 정당연설회)
 인공기, 그리고 김정일 위원장의 초상을 불사르고 이런 것은 좀 적절치 못했던 것 같다, 유감스럽고 앞으로 이런 일이 없었으면 좋겠다. (2003년 8월 19일 청와대 수석 보좌관 회의)
 인민의 행복이 나오는 인민주권의 전당 (2007년 10월 2일 조선민주주의인민공화국의 만수대의사당)
 TV 토론 등에서 "맞습니다, 맞고요"라는 발언을 하여, 이 발언이 대통령 취임 초기 한동안 유행어로 회자되기도 했다. 당시 KBS의 예능 프로그램인 《개그콘서트》에서 출연하고 있는 개그맨 김상태를 비롯한 여러 연예인들이 그를 흉내내기도 했다. 넷피아의 한글인터넷 도우미를 설치한 컴퓨터에서 "맞습니다맞고요"라는 한글 주소를 입력하면 청와대 홈페이지에 연결되었다. 그러나, 노무현이 퇴임한 현재는 그의 개인 사이트인 '사람사는 세상'으로 연결된다.
 민주평화통일자문회의에 참석해 연설하던 도중 전직 국방부 장관 등의 군 인사들이 전시작전통제권 환수에 반대하는 것에 대해 격하게 말한 "부끄러운 줄 알아야지!"라는 발언이 플래시, UCC 등으로 편집되어 누리꾼들 사이에서 많은 인기를 누렸다.

기타 사항

유행어 
 집권 당시 네티즌 사이에서 노무현과 전혀 무관한 인터넷 기사에 대해서도 '이게 다 노무현 때문이다'라는 댓글을 다는 것이 유행했다. 진담과 농담이 섞인 이러한 풍조의 발생은 각종 정책과 사건마다 대통령을 비판하는 데 주력했던 주요 언론사의 논조에 힘입은 바 크다.
 참여정부 시기에 삼성의 경제적 비중이 확대되고, 삼성의 전방위 로비활동이 일부 드러나면서 '삼성공화국' 이란 말이 유행했다.
 후보 시절 그의 말버릇으로 '맞습니다 맞고요' 가 유행을 타기도 하였다. 특히 KBS2 《개그콘서트》 코너 '봉숭아 학당' 에서 개그맨 김상태가 노무현을 패러디해 연기한 노통장 캐릭터의 주된 대사 역시 '맞습니다 맞고요' 였다. 한 검색엔진에서는 사이트 URL에 '맞습니다 맞고요' 를 검색하면 청와대 홈페이지로 리다이랙트 되도록 설정해놓기도 하였다.

발명품 
노무현은 청와대 온라인 행정업무 처리 표준화 시스템인 'e지원'을 개발하게 하였다. e지원 시스템으로 청와대에서 종이 서류를 없애고 대신, 대통령의 모든 지시가 'e지원' 을 통해 이뤄지고 있다고 설명했다. 또한 e지원으로 인해 행정관이나 비서관의 업무 기안이 온라인에서 이뤄지고 대통령을 비롯해 간부들은 실시간으로 추진 중인 업무에 대해 댓글로 지시, 보완하고 결재까지 해서 간소화되었다. 노무현은 임기 후 e지원의 복사본을 제작해 봉하 마을에 설치하였는데, 국가정보 보안과 관련하여 문제가 제기되었고, 복사본을 제작하여 사유하는 것에 대하여 법적 근거가 없다는 법제처의 해석이 나오기도 했다. 차후 국가기록원에 반납 처리되었다.

사법 시험 준비생 시절 그는 '개량 독서대'를 고안해 특허받기도 했다. 아울러 민주당 최고위원 시절인 지난 1994년에는 정치인을 위한 인명록 통합 관리 프로그램인 '한라 1.0'을 개발했고, 이는 버전 업을 거쳐 몇 년 후 '노하우(KnowHow) 2000'으로 업그레이드하기도 했다. 또한 의자 등받이를 높게 해 윗부분을 옷걸이 모양으로 해 웃옷을 걸어놓은 '옷걸이 의자'도 발명했지만 큰 빛을 보지 못했다. 퇴임 후에는 인터넷 토론 사이트 《민주주의 2.0》을 개설했다.

사람사는세상 노무현재단 
2009년 9월 23일, 참여정부 시절 인사들로 구성된 재단준비위원회는 사람사는세상 노무현재단을 출범시켰다. '사람사는세상' 은 노무현의 정치 슬로건 중 하나였으며, 1989년 통일민주당 소속으로 국회의원에 당선됐을 때부터 사용했다. '사람사는세상' 의 어원은 노무현이 생전 즐겨부르던 민중가요 《어머니》의 가사 첫 줄인 '사람사는세상이 돌아와~'이다. 2000년 총선에서 낙선한 뒤 노무현은 개인 인터넷 홈페이지를 개설했고, 홈페이지의 이름 역시 '사람사는세상' 이었다. 이 홈페이지는 2003년 2월 노무현이 대통령으로 취임한 이후 일시 폐쇄되었다가, 노무현이 임기를 마치고 봉하마을로 낙향한 뒤 다시 개설하여 서거 직전까지 사용하였다. 노무현의 서거 이후 노무현재단이 출범한 뒤에는 노무현재단의 홈페이지로 개편되었다.

사람사는세상 노무현재단은 전직 대통령에 대한 예우 관련 법률에 의거, 전직 대통령 기념사업 및 민주당계 정치세력의 싱크탱크 역할을 한다. 초대 이사장은 한명숙이 맡았으며, 이 후 문재인, 이병완, 유시민 등이 이사장직을 거쳐갔다. 2022년 9월 정세균이 이사장으로 취임하였다. 본사는 서울특별시 종로구 창덕궁길 73에 있으며, 노무현시민센터 건물 내에 위치해있다.

한편 '재단법인 봉하' 는 부인 권양숙이 이사장을 맡아 출범시켰다. 재단법인 봉하는 봉하마을 내 대통령 묘역 및 시설 관리 등을 주된 업무로 두고 있으며, 재단의 성격상 노무현재단과 분리되어 운영된다.

노래와 음악 
노무현은 생전 노래를 즐겨불렀고, 대중문화에 큰 관심을 가진 정치인으로 평가받았다. 그가 생전 자주 즐겨부르던 노래는 양희은의 《상록수》, 해바라기의 《사랑으로》, 민중가요 《어머니》, 《바위처럼》, 《작은 연인들》, 문성재의 《부산갈매기》 등이었다. 2002년 대통령 선거 당시 노무현은 대선 광고에서 직접 기타를 치며 《상록수》를 불렀고, 《사랑으로》는 연주자의 피아노 연주에 맞춰 불렀다. 또한 부산에서 열린 유세에서는 《부산갈매기》를 직접 부르며 지지를 호소하기도 하였다.

또한 2002년 11월 9일 서울극장에서 열린 '문화예술인의 밤' 에 참석하여 직접 문화융성정책을 발표하고 《상록수》를 부르기도 했다.

가족 관계 
 아버지 : 노판석 (盧判石, 1900년 ~ 1976년)
 어머니(전모) : 조영희 (趙英希)
 누나 : 노명자 (盧明子, 1928년 ~ 2013년 5월 19일)
 어머니(친모) : 이순례 (李順禮, 1914년 ~ 1998년)
 형 : 노영현 (盧英賢, 1932년 ~ 1972년)
 조카 : 노지원 (1965년 ~ )
 누나 : 노영옥 (盧英玉, 1938년 ~ )
 조카사위 : 정재성 (1960년 ~ )
 형 : 노건평 (盧建平, 1942년 1월 30일 ~ )
 형수 : 민미영 (1945년 ~ )
 조카 : 노은정 (1972년 ~ )
 조카 : 노상욱 (1975년 ~ )
 조카 : 노희정 (1981년 ~ )
 배우자 : 권양숙 (權良淑, 1948년 2월 2일 ~ )
 아들 : 노건호 (盧建昊, 1973년 ~ )
 자부 : 배정민 (裵晶旻, 1976년 ~ )
 손녀 : 노서은 (盧敍銀, 2004년 ~ )
 손자 : 노하진 (盧荷蓁, 2008년 ~ )
 딸 : 노정연 (盧靜姸, 1975년 ~ )
 사위 : 곽상언 (郭相彦, 1971년 ~ )
 장인 : 권오석 (權五錫, 1918년 12월 22일 ~ 1971년 8월 30일)
 장모 : 박덕남 (朴德南, 1922년 4월 29일 ~ 2017년 2월 24일)
 처형 : 권창좌 (權昌左, 1945년 ~ )
 처제 : 권진애 (權珍愛, 1950년 ~ )
 처남 : 권기문 (權奇文, 1952년 ~ )

같이 보기 
 참여정부
 대한민국의 대통령
 제6공화국
 해양수산부 장관
 새천년민주당
 열린우리당
 대한민국 제16대 대통령 선거
 권양숙
 노건평
 문재인
 이해찬
 김대중
 김영삼
 전두환
 노태우
 이명박
 고건
 반기문
 이회창
 이인제
 권영길
 문희상
 김원기
 이기택
 신상우
 이철
 김근태
 유인태
 정동영
 유시민
 한명숙
 사람사는세상 노무현재단
 강금실
 강금원
 정몽준
 안희정
 이광재
 천호선
 김경수
 노건호
 노정연
 곽상언
 친노
 친문
 노사모
 통일민주당
 민주당 (대한민국, 1990년)
 민주당 (대한민국, 1991년)
 민주당 (대한민국, 1995년)
 새정치국민회의

노무현을 연기한 배우들 
 배칠수 - 2002년 MBC TV 코미디 하우스 삼자 토론
 김상태 - 2003년 KBS 2TV 개그콘서트 봉숭아학당
 송강호 - 2013년 영화 《변호인》 (영화에서 실제로 맡은 역할은 노무현을 모티브로한 "송우석"이라는 가상의 캐릭터)
 김대성 - 2014년 KBS 2TV 개그콘서트 우리동네 청문회 (영화 《변호인》'송우석' 패러디)
 서진원 - 2022년 영화 《하로동선》(영화에서는 김경백이라는 이름으로 등장한다.)
 남명렬 - 2023년 영화 《교섭》 (영화에서는 현직 대통령으로 등장한다.)

참고 서적 
 《여보, 나 좀 도와줘》(새터, 1994) : 자전적 일대기
 《노무현은 배신자인가(강준만의 정치비평집)》(강준만, 인물과사상사, 2003.12.16) : 인물 비평
 《노무현은 왜 조선일보와 싸우는가》(유시민, 개마고원, 2002.08.26)
 《노무현 죽이기》(강준만, 인물과사상사, 2003.07.21)
 《노무현과 국민 사기극('인질'로 잡힌 한국인은 개혁을 원치 않는다)》(강준만, 인물과사상사, 2001.04.01)
 《조선 바보 노무현(바다에 빠져죽은 명계남이 토해내는 이야기)》(명계남, 원칙과상식, 2007.03.03)
 《노무현, 반DJ 신드롬을 넘어서(2002 대선 코드 읽기 - 왜 노무현 대통령인가)》(장신기, 시대의창, 2002.10.28)
 《노무현의 亂》(김성욱, 조갑제닷컴, 2007.03.01) : 노무현 비판서 ()
 《노무현의 정체 - 신혜식의 패러디》(신혜식, 조갑제닷컴, 2006.07.14) : 노무현 패러디 ()

역대 선거 결과

노무현 관련 영화 
 《변호인》(2013)
 《무현, 두 도시 이야기》(2016)
 《노무현입니다》(2017)
 《노무현과 바보들》(2019)
 《물의 기억》(2019)
 《시민 노무현》(2019)
 《하로동선》(2022)

각주 
 내용주

 인용주

외부 링크 
 
 
 
 노무현 대통령 , 청와대 브리핑
 
 사람사는 세상 노무현 재단
 노무현이 걸어온 길 : 가난·역경 딛고 인권 변호사로, 《한겨레》, 2002년 12월 19
 변호사들이 들려준 '변호사 노무현'의 좌충우돌 법정 비화, 《신동아》, 2006.10.1.
 '노무현 혐오증' 대중들의 속내 뭘까 한겨레 2008.02.21.
 (盧 전 대통령 서거 닷새째)② ′타살 의혹 증폭′ 아시아투데이 2009년 5월 27일자
 청와대 웹사이트 
 사람사는 세상
 노사모 
 

 
1946년 출생
2009년 사망
광주 노씨
김해시 출신
진영대창초등학교 동문
진영중학교 동문
부산상업고등학교 동문
사법연수원 수료자
대한민국의 판사
대한민국의 변호사
대한민국의 해양수산부 장관
김대중 정부의 국무위원
대한민국의 대통령
민주당 (대한민국)
통일민주당 당원
평화민주당 (1987년)
민주당 (대한민국, 1991년) 당원
민주당 (대한민국, 1995년) 당원
새정치국민회의
새천년민주당 당원

열린우리당의 정치인
대한민국 제16대 대통령 후보
노무현 정부
대한민국의 자서전 작가
탄핵 절차가 진행된 공직자
투신자살한 사람
대한민국의 자살한 정치인
무궁화대훈장 수훈자
백수리 훈장 (폴란드) 수훈자
대한민국의 발명가
대한민국의 불교도
20세기 대한민국 사람
21세기 대한민국 사람
부산광역시의 국회의원
서울특별시의 국회의원
2009년 자살

수론에서 곱셈적 함수(-的函數, ) 또는 곱산술 함수(-算術函數)는 서로소인 두 정수의 곱셈을 보존하는 수론적 함수이다.

정의 
함수 가 다음 조건을 만족시키면, 곱셈적 함수라고 한다.
 임의의 에 대하여, 만약 이라면, 이다.

함수 가 다음 조건을 만족시키면, 완전 곱셈적 함수(完全-的函數, )라고 한다.
 임의의 에 대하여, 이다.

(완전) 곱셈적 함수의 정의역은 의 곱셈에 대하여 닫혀있는 부분 집합일 수도 있다.

성질

연산에 대한 닫힘 
곱셈적 함수 에 대하여, 다음과 같은 함수들 역시 곱셈적 함수이다.

항등식 
곱셈적 함수 에 대하여, 만약 의 소인수 분해가

일 경우, 다음이 성립한다.

만약 추가로 가 완전 곱셈적 함수일 경우, 다음이 성립한다.

즉, 곱셈적 함수는 소수의 거듭제곱의 상에 의하여 결정되며, 완전 곱셈적 함수는 소수의 상에 의하여 결정된다.

곱셈적 함수 에 대하여, 다음과 같은 항등식이 성립한다.

여기서 는 뫼비우스 함수이다.

곱셈적 함수 의 정의역 이 를 만족한다면,

이다.

디리클레 합성곱 
곱셈적 함수는 디리클레 합성곱에 대하여 아벨 군을 이룬다. 즉, 곱셈적 함수 의 디리클레 합성곱

와 디리클레 역원

은 곱셈적 함수이다.

곱셈적 함수 에 대하여, 만약 의 소인수 분해가

일 경우, 다음이 성립한다.

만약 추가로 가 완전 곱셈적 함수일 경우, 다음이 성립한다.

예 
다음과 같은 수론적 함수들은 완전 곱셈적 함수이다.
  (는 음이 아닌 정수): 거듭제곱 함수
 : 1을 값으로 하는 상수 함수. 거듭제곱의 지수가 인 경우이다.
 : 항등 함수. 거듭제곱의 지수가 인 경우이다.
 : 이 1인지 여부에 따라 1 또는 0을 취한다.
  (는 소수): 르장드르 기호. 이 에 대한 제곱 잉여일 경우 1을, 제곱 비잉여일 경우 −1을, 의 배수일 경우 0을 취한다.

다음과 같은 수론적 함수들은 곱셈적 함수이나, 완전 곱셈적 함수가 아니다.
 : 오일러 피 함수. 보다 작고 과 서로소인 양의 정수의 개수
 : 뫼비우스 함수. 이 제곱 인수가 없는 정수일 경우, 의 소인수의 개수의 홀짝성에 따라 ∓1을 취한다. 이 제곱 인수가 없는 정수가 아닐 경우, 0을 취한다.
  (는 음이 아닌 정수): 약수 함수. 의 모든 양의 약수의 제곱의 합
 : 의 모든 양의 약수의 개수. 약수 함수에서 인 경우이다.
 : 의 모든 양의 약수의 합. 약수 함수에서 인 경우이다.

양의 정수를 두 정수의 제곱의 합으로 나타내는 방법의 (더하는 순서를 고려한) 가짓수를 구하는 함수

는 곱셈적 함수가 아니다. 예를 들어, 1을 제곱수로 나타내는 방법은 다음과 같이 4가지가 있다.

즉,

이다.

폰 망골트 함수

는 이 어떤 소수 의 양의 정수 제곱일 경우 를, 소수의 거듭제곱이 아닐 경우 0을 값으로 취한다.

이므로, 이는 곱셈적 함수가 아니다.

각주

외부 링크 
 
 

수론적 함수

수학에서 체비쇼프 다항식(Чебышёв多項式, )은 삼각 함수의 항등식에 등장하는 직교 다항식열이다.

정의 
(실수 차 일계수 다항식의 집합을 로 적자.)

실수 차 다항식 에 대하여, 다음 네 조건이 서로 동치이며, 이를 만족시키는 을 차 체비쇼프 다항식이라고 한다.
 (재귀적 정의) 이며, 이며, 이다.
 (삼각 함수 정의) 항등식 가 성립한다.
 은 에서 서로 다른 개 실근을 가지며, 에서 절댓값이 서로 같은 개 극값을 갖는다.
 (최소 상한 노름)
드무아브르의 공식의 실수부를 비교하면 가 의 차 다항식으로 표현된다는 것을 알 수 있다. 좌변의 실수부는 , 우변의 실수부는, 와 의 다항식이다.

성질

직교성 
체비쇼프 다항식들은 다음의 무게 함수에 대해, 구간 에서 직교한다.

즉, 다음이 성립한다.

대칭 
짝수 차수의 체비쇼프 다항식은 짝함수이며, 홀수 차수의 체비쇼프 다항식은 홀함수이다.

근 
차 체비쇼프 다항식 은 닫힌구간  속에서 개의 서로 다른 근을 가지며, 이들은 다음과 같다.

분지점 
체비쇼프 다항식을 복소수 함수

로 여길 때, 의 경우 다음이 성립한다.
 분지점에서의 값들은 모두  또는 이다.
 값이 인 분지점들의 경우, 분지 지표는 항상 2이다. (다시 말해, 데생당팡에서 모든 꼭짓점의 차수는 2이다.)
 의 원상은 하나 밖에 없다. (다시 말해, 데생당팡은 나무이다.)
예를 들어,

의 경우, 이는 분지 지표 2의 두 분지점 를 가지며, 그 값은  및 이다. 마찬가지로,

의 경우, 분지 지표 2의 두 분지점  및 분지 지표 3의 분지점 를 가지며, 그 값은 각각  및 이다.

이에 따라, 는 벨리 사상을 이루며, 이에 대응하는 데생당팡은 개의 꼭짓점을 갖는 선형 그래프이다.

예 
낮은 차수의 체비쇼프 다항식들은 다음과 같다.

역사 
파프누티 체비쇼프가 1854년에 도입하였다.

체비쇼프 다항식의 통상적인 기호 Tn는 체비쇼프의 이름의 프랑스어 표기 () 또는 독일어 표기 ()에서 딴 것이다.

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

직교 다항식
특수 초기하함수
근사 이론

파이의 날()은 원주율을 기념하는 날이다. 파이의 날은 원주율의 근삿값이 3.14이어서 3월 14일에 치러진다. 보통 3.14159에 맞추기 위해 오후 1시 59분에 기념하는데, 오후 1시 59분은 엄밀히 말하면 13시 59분이기 때문에 오전 1시 59분 혹은 15시 9분(오후 3시 9분)에 치러야 한다고 주장하는 사람도 있다. 세계 각국의 수학과에서 기념행사를 연다.

3월 14일은 알베르트 아인슈타인의 생일이면서 스티븐 호킹의 기일이기도 하다. 이 날은 여러 방법으로 기념된다. 사람들이 모여서 원주율이 생활에서 어떤 역할을 했는지 이야기하고 원주율이 없는 세상을 상상해 본다. 모임에서는 보통 파이를 먹는다. 또한 많은 행사에서 원주율을 소수점 아래의 숫자를 얼마나 많이 외우는지 겨루는 대회가 열린다.

분수 3과 7분의 1을 가분수로 나타내면 7분의 22가 되는데, 이를 무한소수로 나타내면 3.142857...로 π의 근삿값이 되므로  7월 22일을 파이 근삿값의 날로 부르기도 한다.

같이 보기 
 몰의 날
 타우의 날

외부 링크 
 
  Exploratorium's Pi Day Web Site
  Pi Day
  Professor Lesser's Pi Day page
  Pi Day in France

원주율
비공식 기념일
3월의 기념일
수학과 문화
과학 기념일

기하학에서 코사인 법칙(cosine法則, )은 삼각형의 세 변과 한 각의 코사인 사이에 성립하는 정리이다. 이에 따르면, 삼각형의 두 변의 제곱합에서 사잇각의 코사인과 그 두 변의 곱의 2배를 빼면, 남은 변의 제곱과 같아진다. 삼각형의 두 변의 직각 삼각형에 대한 피타고라스의 정리에 대한 일반화이다. 코사인 법칙은 삼각형의 두 변과 그 사잇각을 알 때 남은 한 변을 구하거나, 세 변을 알 때 세 각을 구하는 데 사용될 수 있다.

정의 

삼각형 의 세 각 가 마주하는 변이 각각 라고 하면, 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 은 삼각 함수의 하나인 코사인이다. 이를 코사인 법칙이라고 한다.

코사인 법칙을 통해 삼각형의 두 변과 그 사잇각으로부터 제3의 변을 구할 수 있다. 또한, 삼각형의 세 변으로부터 세 각을 다음과 같이 구할 수 있다.

코사인 법칙에서 가 직각일 경우, 이므로, 다음과 같은 피타고라스의 정리를 얻는다.

역사 
유클리드의 《원론》 2권 명제12 및 명제 13은 코사인 법칙과 동치인 명제를 서술한다.

레기오몬타누스는 1462~3년에 작성한 《삼각형에 대하여》()에서 (제1) 구면 코사인 법칙을 제시하였다. 프랑수아 비에트는 1579년 저서 《표준 수학》()에서 제2 구면 코사인 법칙을 제시하였다.

증명

유클리드의 《원론》에서의 증명 

그림과 같이, 를 둔각으로 하는 둔각 삼각형 의 높이선 를 긋자. 그렇다면, 는 를 직각으로 하는 직각 삼각형이므로, 피타고라스의 정리에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

또한, 이므로, 다음이 성립한다.

마지막 두 항을 직각 삼각형 에 대한 피타고라스의 정리를 통해 정리하면 다음을 얻는다.

이로써 유클리드의 《원론》 2권 명제12가 증명된다. 코사인의 정의에 따라

이므로, 코사인 법칙

이 가 둔각일 경우 성립함을 알 수 있다. 가 예각일 경우의 증명은 이와 비슷하다.

삼각법을 통한 증명 

삼각형의 세 변을 각각 높이선으로 안에서 또는 밖에서 나누면 다음을 얻는다.

세 등식의 양변에 각각 를 곱하면 다음을 얻는다.

이제 첫째 등식에 둘째 등식을 더한 뒤 셋째 등식을 빼면 다음을 얻는다.

이로써 코사인 법칙이 증명된다.

벡터와 스칼라곱을 사용한 증명 
다음과 같은 세 벡터를 정의하자.

그렇다면, 벡터 의 길이는 각각 이며, 벡터 와  사이의 각도는 이다. 따라서, 코사인 법칙을 벡터의 스칼라곱의 성질에 따라 다음과 같이 간단히 증명할 수 있다.

비유클리드 기하학의 경우

구면 코사인 법칙 

단위 구면 위의 구면 삼각형 의 세 각 가 마주하는 세 변이 각각 라고 하면, 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 은 각각 코사인, 사인이다. 이를 (제1) 구면 코사인 법칙(第一球面cosine法則, )이라고 한다. 이에 대한 쌍대 명제는 다음과 같다.

이를 제2 구면 코사인 법칙(第二球面cosine法則, )이라고 한다.

이 둘은 각각 다음과 같이 쓸 수 있다.

제1 구면 코사인 법칙의 증명 (법벡터 사용) 
다음과 같은 벡터들을 정의하자.

즉, 는 각각 에서 를 향하는 구면의 단위 접벡터이다. 그렇다면,  사이의 각도는 이다. 또한, 는 각각 평면 의 정규 직교 기저를 이루므로, 를 각각 다음과 같이 분해할 수 있다.

따라서, 다음이 성립한다.

제1 구면 코사인 법칙의 증명 (비네-코시 항등식 사용) 
단위 구면의 중심을 라고 하자. 또한, 다음과 같은 세 벡터를 정의하자.

그렇다면, 의 길이는 모두 1이며,  사이의 각도는 이며,  사이의 각도는 이며,  사이의 각도는 이다. 따라서, 벡터곱 , , 의 길이는 각각 , , 이다. 또한, 와  사이의 각도는 이며, 와  사이의 각도는 이며, 와  사이의 각도는 이다. 이제, 비네-코시 항등식에 따라 다음이 성립함에 주의하자.

여기에 위의 결과들을 대입하면 다음을 얻는다.

이로써 제1 구면 코사인 법칙이 증명된다.

제2 구면 코사인 법칙의 증명 
구면 삼각형 의 극삼각형을 라고 하자. 그렇다면, 다음이 성립한다.

따라서 제1 구면 코사인 법칙을 극삼각형 에 적용하면, 구면 삼각형 에 대한 제2 구면 코사인 법칙을 얻는다.

쌍곡 코사인 법칙 
가우스 곡률 -1의 쌍곡면 위의 쌍곡 삼각형 의 세 각 이 마주하는 변이 각각 라고 하면, 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 는 각각 쌍곡 코사인, 쌍곡 사인이다. 이를 (제1) 쌍곡 코사인 법칙((第一)雙曲cosine法則, )이라고 한다. 마찬가지로, 다음이 성립한다.

이를 제2 쌍곡 코사인 법칙(第二雙曲cosine法則, )이라고 한다.

이 두 법칙은 각각 다음과 같이 다시 쓸 수 있다.

특히, 가 직각일 경우의 제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙은 쌍곡 피타고라스 정리가 된다.

제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙의 증명 
복소 평면  위의 열린 단위 원판  위에서 푸앵카레 원판 모형을 취하자. 쌍곡 삼각형 의 세 각의 크기를 , 세 변의 길이를 라고 하자.  위에 적절한 등거리 변환을 가하여 을 각각 원점 0, 양의 실수 , 허수부 가 0보다 큰 복소수 로 옮길 수 있다. 등거리 변환의 성질에 따라 새로운 삼각형 의 세 변 및 세 각은 원래의 삼각형 와 같으므로, 새로운 삼각형 에 대하여 증명하는 것으로 족하다. 쌍곡 거리의 정의에 따라, 세 변은 다음과 같다.

여기서 은 자연 로그이며, 은 복소수의 절댓값이다. 이 셋을 다음과 같이 변형할 수 있다.

여기서 는 쌍곡 탄젠트이다. 쌍곡선 함수의 항등식을 사용한 뒤 위의 결과를 대입하여 정리하면 다음을 얻는다.

넷째 등호에서 분자 부분은 평면 삼각형 에 대한 평면 코사인 법칙에 따르며, 분모 부분은 절댓값이 실수부와 허수부의 제곱합임에 따라 계산할 수 있다. 이제, 여기에 다음을 대입하면 제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙의 증명이 완성된다.

제2 쌍곡 코사인 법칙의 증명 
쌍곡 사인 법칙에 나오는 비율의 구체적인 값은 다음과 같다.

이에 따라 각 의 사인 값은 다음과 같다.

또한, 제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙에 따라 의 코사인 값은 다음과 같다.

따라서, 다음이 성립한다.

마지막 등호에는 항등식 이 사용되었다. 이로써 제2 쌍곡 코사인 법칙이 증명된다.

평면 코사인 법칙과의 관계 
평면 코사인 법칙은 제1 구면 및 쌍곡 코사인 법칙의 극한이다. 예를 들어, 평면 코사인 법칙이 제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙의 극한임을 다음과 같이 보일 수 있다. 푸앵카레 원판의 반지름이 일 경우, 제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙은 다음과 같이 된다.

이 경우, 일 때 쌍곡 거리 는 유클리드 거리의 2배 로 수렴하며, 쌍곡각 은 유클리드 각 로 수렴한다. 테일러 정리에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

이를 법칙에 대입하면 다음을 얻는다.

다음에 주의하여, 양변에 을 곱한 뒤 극한 을 취하고 다시 양변에 4를 나누자.

그러면 평면 코사인 법칙을 얻는다.

제2 쌍곡 코사인 법칙

에 극한 을 취하면 다음과 같은 자명한 항등식이 된다.

이는 이므로 자명하다. 따라서 유클리드 기하학에는 제2 코사인 법칙이 존재하지 않는다.

같이 보기 

 사인 법칙
 탄젠트 법칙
 코탄젠트 법칙
 삼각함수

각주

외부 링크 
 

삼각법
평면기하학 정리

기하학에서 사인 법칙(-法則, ) 혹은 라미의 정리는 삼각형의 변의 길이와 각의 사인 사이의 관계를 나타내는 정리이다. 이에 따라 삼각형의 두 각의 크기와 한 변의 길이를 알 때 남은 두 변의 길이를 구할 수 있다.

정의 
삼각형 의 각 을 마주보는 변을 라고 하자. 사인 법칙에 따르면 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 은 삼각형 의 외접원의 반지름이다.

증명

삼각형의 넓이를 통한 증명 

삼각형 의 변  위의 높이를 라고 하자. 삼각법에 따라 이므로, 삼각형 의 넓이 는 다음과 같다.

자모를 치환하면 다음과 같은 등식을 얻는다.

양변에 를 나누면 사인 법칙을 얻는다.

외접원을 통한 증명 

삼각형 의 외접원을 그리자. 를 지나는 지름을 라고 하자. 따라서 는 직각 삼각형이며, 빗변은 이다. 삼각법에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

만약 가 예각일 경우, 와 는 같은 호의 원주각이므로 이다. 따라서 다음이 성립한다.

만약 가 직각일 경우, 와 는 같은 점이므로, 이며 이다. 따라서 역시 위와 같은 식이 성립한다. 만약 가 둔각일 경우, 와 는 내접 사각형의 두 마주보는 각이므로, 이다. 따라서 역시 위와 같은 식이 성립한다. 남은 두 각 에 대한 식 역시 마찬가지로 증명할 수 있다.

코사인 법칙을 통한 증명 
코사인 법칙에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

결과가 에 대하여 대칭적이므로, 변의 선택에 의존하지 않는다. 또한, 세 변과 세 각의 사인은 모두 양수이므로, 사인 법칙이 성립한다.

구면 사인 법칙 
단위 구면 위의 구면 삼각형 의 각 가 마주보는 변을 라고 하자. 구면 사인 법칙(球面-法則, )에 따르면 다음이 성립한다.

구면 사인 법칙의 증명

순수 기하 증명 
구의 중심을 라고 하자. 에서 아무 점 를 취하자. 를 지나는 평면 의 수선을 라고 하자. 를 지나는 직선 의 수선을 각각 라고 하자. 삼수선 정리에 따라 는 각각 와 수직이다. 삼각법에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

두 식에서 를 소거하면 다음을 얻는다.

남은 한 등식 역시 같은 방법으로 증명하면 구면 사인 법칙을 얻는다.

벡터를 통한 증명 
구의 중심과 세 꼭짓점 를 잇는 벡터를 각각 라고 하자. 삼중곱의 정의에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

따라서 다음이 성립한다.

여기에 다음을 대입하면 구면 사인 법칙을 얻는다.

구면 코사인 법칙을 통한 증명 
제1 구면 코사인 법칙을 사용하여 구면 사인 법칙을 다음과 같이 증명할 수 있다.

쌍곡 사인 법칙 
가우스 곡률이 -1인 쌍곡면 위의 쌍곡 삼각형 의 각 가 마주보는 변을 라고 하자. 쌍곡 사인 법칙(雙曲-法則, )에 따르면 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 는 쌍곡 사인이다.

쌍곡 사인 법칙의 증명

쌍곡 코사인 법칙을 통한 증명 
제1 쌍곡 코사인 법칙을 사용하여 쌍곡 사인 법칙을 다음과 같이 증명할 수 있다.

같이 보기 
 코사인 법칙
 탄젠트 법칙
 코탄젠트 법칙

각주

외부 링크 

 

삼각법
각
평면기하학 정리

선형대수학에서 벡터 공간(vector空間, , ) 또는 선형 공간(線型空間, )은 원소를 서로 더하거나 주어진 배수로 늘이거나 줄일 수 있는 공간이다. 체에 대한, 가군의 특수한 경우다. 벡터 공간의 원소를 벡터(, )라고 하며, 이는 직관적으로 방향 및 길이의 비가 정의된 대상을 나타낸다. 그러나 노름이 주어지지 않은 일반적인 벡터 공간에서는 벡터의 길이 자체는 정의되지 않는다.

정의 
체  위의 벡터 공간 은 에 대한 가군이다. 즉, 다음과 같은 튜플이다.
 는 집합이다. 이 집합의 원소를 벡터라고 한다.
 는 함수이다. 이 연산을 벡터 덧셈이라고 한다.
 는 함수이다. 이 연산을 스칼라 곱셈이라고 한다.
이 데이터는 다음과 같은 공리들을 만족시켜야 한다.
 는 아벨 군을 이룬다. 즉, 다음 성질들이 성립한다.
 (벡터 덧셈의 결합 법칙) 임의의 에 대하여, 
 (벡터 덧셈의 교환 법칙) 임의의 에 대하여, 
 (벡터 덧셈의 항등원) 임의의 에 대하여 인 원소 가 존재한다.
 (역원의 존재) 임의의 에 대하여, 인 원소 가 존재한다.
 는 의 가군을 이룬다. 즉, 다음 성질들이 성립한다.
 임의의  및 에 대하여, 
 임의의 에 대하여, . 여기서 는 의 곱셈 항등원이다.
 (분배 법칙) 임의의  및 에 대하여, 

실수체 에 대한 벡터 공간을 실수 벡터 공간(實數vector空間, )이라고 하며, 복소수체 에 대한 벡터 공간을 복소수 벡터 공간(複素數vector空間, )이라고 한다.

부분 공간과 기저 
체  위의 벡터 공간 의 부분 집합 가 다음 조건을 만족시키면, 가 의 부분 벡터 공간(部分vector空間, )이라고 한다.
 
 임의의 에 대하여, 
 임의의  및 에 대하여, 
즉, 부분 벡터 공간은 의 연산들을 제한시켜 새로운 더 작은 벡터 공간을 이룰 수 있는 부분 집합이다.

벡터 공간 의 부분 집합 에 대하여, 의 생성() 는 를 포함하는 모든 부분 공간들의 교집합이다. 만약 에서, 인 원소 가 존재하지 않는다면, 가 선형 독립 집합이라고 한다. 생성이 벡터 공간 전체인 선형 독립 집합을 기저라고 한다.

선택 공리를 가정하면, 모든 벡터 공간은 하나 이상의 기저를 가지며, 모든 기저들은 항상 같은 크기를 갖는다. 벡터 공간 의 기저의 크기를 벡터 공간의 차원(次元, ) 이라고 한다.

선형 변환 

두 벡터 공간 사이의 선형 변환은 벡터 덧셈과 스칼라 곱셈을 보존하는 사상이다. 만약 두 벡터 공간 사이에 가역 선형 변환이 존재한다면, 그 두 벡터 공간이 서로 동형이라고 한다. 주어진 두 벡터 공간 사이의 선형 변환의 집합은 점별 벡터 덧셈과 점별 스칼라 곱셈에 의하여 벡터 공간을 이룬다. 두 유한 차원 벡터 공간 사이의 선형 변환은 주어진 기저에 대한 행렬로 나타낼 수 있다.

분류 
선택 공리를 가정하자. 체 에 대한 벡터 공간 에 대하여 다음이 성립한다.

즉, 주어진 체에 대한 벡터 공간은 그 차원에 따라서 완전히 분류된다. 이는 선택 공리를 필요로 하며, 선택 공리가 없으면 모든 벡터 공간이 차원을 갖는다는 것을 보일 수 없다. 여기서 는 의 개의 직합이며, 인 경우 이는 곱집합과 다르다.

연산 
같은 체  위의 벡터 공간들이 주어졌을 때, 다음과 같은 연산들을 정의할 수 있다.

몫공간 
체  위의 벡터 공간 와 그 임의의 부분 공간 가 주어졌다고 하자. 그렇다면  위에 다음과 같은 동치 관계를 정의할 수 있다.

이 동치 관계에 대한 동치류는 다음과 같다.

몫공간(몫空間, ) 는 집합으로서 이 동치 관계에 대한 몫집합(=동치류들의 집합)이다.

그 위의 벡터 공간 연산은 다음과 같다.

이 정의는 동치류의 대표원을 선택하는 방식과 무관하다. 또한, 이들 연산은 집합으로서의 연산과 일치하지 않는다.

직접곱 

 위의 벡터 공간들의 집합 이 주어졌을 때, 이들의 직접곱

은 집합으로서 들의 곱집합이다. 이 위에는 자연스러운 -벡터 공간의 구조가 존재한다. 즉,

이는 벡터 공간의 범주에서의 곱이며, 대수 구조로서의 직접곱이다. 즉, 자연스러운 사영 사상

이 존재하며, 이는 선형 변환을 이룬다.

직합 

 위의 벡터 공간들의 집합 이 주어졌을 때, 이들의 직합은 다음과 같다.

즉, 직접곱에서, 오직 유한 개의 성분만 0이 아닌 원소들로 구성된 부분 집합이다. 이는 벡터 공간의 범주에서의 쌍대곱이며, 가군의 직합의 특수한 경우이다. 즉, 자연스러운 포함 사상

가 존재하며, 따라서 각 는 의 부분 공간을 이룬다.

유한 직합은 직접곱과 같으나, 무한 직합은 일반적으로 직접곱의 부분 공간이다. 만약 가 의 기저라면,

는 의 기저를 이룬다. 따라서,

이다. 여기서 우변은 기수의 합이다.

텐서곱 
 위의 벡터 공간들의 집합 이 주어졌을 때, 이들의 텐서곱

이 존재한다. 이는 자연스러운 다중 선형 사상

을 가지며, 또한 임의의 다른 다중 선형 사상

이 주어졌을 때, 유일한 선형 사상

가 존재한다. 텐서곱은 이 보편 성질로부터 유일하게 정의되며, 또 항상 존재한다. 그러나 무한 개의 벡터 공간들의 텐서곱은 직접 정의하기 힘들다.

임의의 두 벡터 공간 , 에 대하여, 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 은 기수의 곱셈이다.

성질 
체  위의 벡터 공간 는 다음 성질들을 만족시킨다.
 사영 가군이다.
 평탄 가군이다.
 자유 가군이다.
즉, 체 위에서는 모든 가군이 자유 가군이 된다.

집합론적 성질 
체  위의 벡터 공간 의 집합의 크기는 다음과 같다.

범주론적 성질 
체 에 대한 벡터 공간들과 이들 사이의 선형 변환들은 범주를 이루며, 라고 쓴다. 이는 아벨 범주의 대표적인 예이다. 에서의 대표적 범주론적 연산들은 다음과 같다.
 완비 범주이며, 쌍대 완비 범주이다.
 곱은 (아벨 군으로서의) 직접곱이며, 쌍대곱은 (아벨 군으로서의) 직합이다.
 (유한) 곱과 쌍대곱이 일치한다.
 영 대상은 0차원 벡터 공간 이다.
 직합 말고도, 텐서곱 을 가지며, 이에 따라 는 대칭 모노이드 범주를 이룬다. 텐서곱의 항등원은 1차원 벡터 공간 이다.
 집합으로의 망각 함자 , 가 존재하며, 이에 따라서 구체적 범주를 이룬다. 망각 함자는 왼쪽 수반 함자 를 갖는데, 은 집합 를 차원 벡터 공간으로 대응시킨다.

모형 이론적 성질 
모형 이론의 관점에서, 체 에 대한 벡터 공간의 개념은 대수 구조로 나타낼 수 있다. 이 경우, 벡터 공간의 언어는 다음과 같은 연산을 갖는다.
 0항 연산  (영벡터)
 각 에 대하여, 1항 연산 
 2항 연산 
즉, 만약 가 무한 집합일 경우, 벡터 공간의 언어는 무한 개의 연산을 갖는다. 벡터 공간을 정의하는 공리들은 모두 항등식으로 적을 수 있으므로, 벡터 공간들의 모임은 대수 구조 다양체를 이룬다. 벡터 공간의 준동형은 선형 변환이며, 벡터 공간의 부분 대수는 부분 벡터 공간이다. 합동 관계는 부분 벡터 공간과 일대일 대응하며, 주어진 합동 관계에 대응하는 부분 공간은 0과 합동인 벡터들의 집합이다. 특이하게도, 모든 벡터 공간은 자유 대수이다.

예 
 유클리드 공간 은 차원 실수 벡터 공간이다.
 체  위의  행렬의 집합은 차원 -벡터 공간을 이룬다.
 임의의 위상 공간  위의 모든 연속 실함수의 집합 는 실수 벡터 공간을 이룬다.
 체  위의 벡터 공간 V 와 어떤 집합 가 주어졌을 때, 에서 로의 함수 들의 집합은  위의 벡터 공간을 이룬다. 이는 의 개 직접곱 과 동형이다.
 체 에 대하여, 다항식환  및 형식적 거듭제곱 급수환 는  위의 벡터 공간이다.
 임의의 체의 확대 의 경우, 은  위의 벡터 공간을 이루며, 벡터 공간으로서의 차원은 체의 확대의 차수이다.
 유한체 은  위의 차원 벡터 공간이다.
 는  위의 2차원 벡터 공간이다.
 는  위의 차원 벡터 공간이다.
 모든 대수적 수체는  위의 벡터 공간이다.

관련 개념 
벡터 공간에 성질을 추가하여 만든 구조로는 거리의 개념을 준 노름 공간 · 바나흐 공간, 각의 개념을 준 내적 공간 · 힐베르트 공간, 위상적 성질을 가진 위상 벡터 공간 · 국소 볼록 공간 · 프레셰 공간, 벡터 곱을 준 체 위의 대수 등이 있다.

벡터 공간은 임의의 환 위의 가군의 개념의 특수한 경우이다. 그러나 일반적인 환 위의 일반적인 가군은 벡터 공간과 매우 다른 성질을 보인다. 벡터 공간과 비슷한 성질을 보이는 가군을 자유 가군이라고 한다.

같이 보기 
 사원수
 행렬식

각주

참고 문헌

외부 링크

펜로즈 삼각형( 또는 )는 불가능한 물체의 일종이다. 1934년 스웨덴의 화가 오스카르 레우테르스베르드가 처음 쓰기 시작했고, 1950년대에 영국의 수학자 로저 펜로즈가 그와는 독자적으로 고안하여, 널리 알렸다. 그 후에도 펜로즈 삼각형은 마우리츠 코르넬리스 에셔의 판화에서 쓰이기 시작하여, 그의 작품 속에 등장하는 불가능한 물체에 영향을 주었다.

이 삼각형은 단면이 사각형인 입체인 것처럼 보이지만, 2차원 그림으로만 가능하다. 왜냐하면, 삼각형의 각 변을 이루는 평행한 면들은 각 꼭짓점에 이르면, 서로 다른 위치에서 본 직각의 모서리이기 때문이다. 각 변을 이루는 막대는 모두 서로 직각을 이루며, 그럼에도 불구하고 삼각형을 만든다.

이 방법을 일반화 시켜서 펜로즈 다각형으로 확대할 수 있다. 하지만 펜로즈 사각형은 그 시각적 효과가 삼각형만큼 충격적이진 않다.

펜로즈 삼각형처럼 보이는 입체를 만들 수는 있다. 하지만 이 때에 각 변은 꼬이거나, 끊어져야 한다.

같이 보기 
 로저 펜로즈
 착시

외부 링크 

착시
위상수학
기하학
불가능한 물체

정수론에서 수론적 함수(數論的函數, )는 모든 양의 정수에 대해 정의된 함수이며 복소수 함수값을 가질 수도 있다. 다시 말하면 수론적 함수는 복소수의 수열에 지나지 않는다.

중요한 수론적 함수로 덧셈적 함수와 곱셈적 함수가 있으며, 수론적 함수 사이의 연산으로는 디리클레 합성곱이 중요하다.

예시 
곱셈적 함수와 덧셈적 함수에 몇몇 수론적 함수의 예가 수록되어 있다. 아래 예들은 곱셈적이지도, 덧셈적이지도 않은 함수들이다.

 c4(n) - n을 음수가 아닌 정수로 표현하는 방법의 가지수. 덧셈의 순서도 구분한다. 예를 들어 다음과 같다.

1 = 12+02+02+02 = 02+12+02+02 = 02+02+12+02 = 02+02+02+12,

그러므로 c4(1)=4.

 P(n), 분할수 - n을 양의 정수의 합으로 나타내는 방법의 수. 여기선 덧셈의 순서를 구분하지 않음. 예를 들어, P(2 · 5) = P(10) = 42 그리고 P(2)P(5) = 2 · 7 = 14 ≠ 42 따 라서 곱셈적 함수가 아님.
 π (n), 소수 계량 함수 - 주어진 n과 같거나 작은 소수의 개수. π(1) = 0 그리고 π(10) = 4 (10 이하의 소수는 2, 3, 5, 7).
 a0(n) - n을 나누는 소수의 합. 또한 sopfr(n)(Sum of the prime factors with repetition)라고도 불림. a0(20) = a0(22 · 5) = 2 + 2+ 5 = 9. 
 a1(n) - n의 서로 다른 소인수의 합. sopf(n)라고도 불림. a1(1) = 0, a1(20) = 2 + 5 = 7.

같이 보기 
 폰 망골트 함수

외부 링크

물리 상수(物理常數, )는 물리학에 나오는 값이 변하지 않는 물리량을 말한다. 물리 상수는 실제적인 물리적 측정과는 관계없이 고정된 값을 갖는 수학 상수와 대비되어, 대부분 그 값이 실험을 통한 측정을 통해 얻어진다.

물리 상수들 중에 특히 유명한 것으로는 플랑크 상수, 중력 상수, 아보가드로 상수 등이 있다.

물리 상수는 여러 가지 양을 의미한다. 플랑크 길이는 자연의 기본적인 거리, 광속은 가능한 최고 속력, 미세 구조 상수는 차원이 없는 양으로 전자와 광자 사이의 상호작용의 정도를 각각 의미한다.

물리 상수 일람 
유효자리는 굵게 표시했다.

참고 문헌 
aPeter J. Mohr and Barry N. Taylor, "CODATA Recommended Values of the Fundamental Physical Constants: 1998," Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, Vol. 28, No. 6, 1999 and Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 72, No. 2, 2000. 

 
과학 법칙
측정
경험적 법칙

대수학의 기본 정리(代數學의 基本 定理 ; fundamental theorem of algebra)란 상수가 아닌 복소계수 다항식은 적어도 하나의 영점을 갖는다는 정리이다.

즉, 복소계수 다항식

에 대해  인 복소수  가 적어도 하나는 존재한다는 것이다.

이 정리는 복소수체가 실수체와는 달리 대수적으로 닫힌 체임을 뜻한다.

역사 

수학자들은 17세기에 이미 이 정리가 옳으리라 생각하였으나 증명에는 성공하지 못하였다. 복소수의 개념이 없던 당시에는 “모든 실계수 다항식은 실계수 일차식들과 실계수 이차식들의 곱으로 나타낼 수 있다”라는 예상이었다. 장 르 롱 달랑베르와 레온하르트 오일러 등이 증명하였으나 보충적인 정리의 증명을 필요로했으며 이러한 맥락에서 모두 불완전하였고, 보다 엄밀한 증명에 성공한 수학자는 19세기 초의 카를 프리드리히 가우스, 장-로버트 아르간드 등이였다. 그 이후 이 정리는 복소수 계수 다항식으로 확장되었다. 한편 가우스는 추후 생애 동안 몇 가지의 다른 증명을 발표했다. 또한 장-로버트 아르간드의 증명은 오귀스탱 루이 코시가 그의 저술  Cours d'Analyse(Cours d'Analyse de l’École Royale Polytechnique; I.re Partie. Analyse algébrique)에서 이를 언급한바있다.  현재까지 순수하게 대수적인 증명은 아무도 발견하지 못했으며, 약간의 해석학 또는 위상수학을 도입해야 증명할 수 있다.

증명 

다음은 복소해석학을 이용한 증명이다.

복소 다항식

가 영점을 갖지 않는다고 가정하자. 즉 모든 복소수 에 대해  라고 가정하자. 그러면 는 전해석함수이다. 이제 삼각 부등식을 이용하여

를 얻고, 라 하면, 양수 에 대해 이면

이다. 여기서 을 충분히 큰 값으로 선택하여 가 되도록 하면 부등식

이 성립하므로 식 (a)로부터

을 얻는다. 즉, 는 유계인 전해석함수이다. 따라서 리우빌 정리에 의해 는 상수함수이다. 그러나 가정에서 는 상수가 아니라고 하였으므로  도 상수함수가 될 수 없다.(모순) 그러므로 는 적어도 하나의 영점을 갖는다.

따름정리 
대수학의 기본 정리로부터 다음의 유용한 따름정리를 얻을 수 있다. 이 따름정리를 대수학의 기본정리로 부르는 경우도 있다.

모든 차 복소 다항식은 중근까지 고려하여 개의 근을 갖는다.
따름정리는 다음과 같이 기술할 수 있다. 복소 다항식

에 대해 (서로 다를 필요는 없는) 복소수 이 존재하여

와 같이 쓸 수 있다.

증명 

대수학의 기본 정리에 의해 인 점 이 존재하므로

와 같이 쓸 수 있다. 그런데 은 차의 다항식이므로, 다항식의 차수에 대한 귀납법을 사용하면(대수학의 기본 정리 이용) 증명이 끝난다.

실계수 다항식의 표현 
실계수 차 다항식의 경우, 위의 따름정리를 적용하면 이 역시 복소수체 위에서 중근을 고려할 경우 개의 근을 갖는다. 이 표현 형식은 곱하는 순서를 고려하지 않을 경우 유일하므로, 만약 허수부가 0이 아닌 근을 갖는다면 실수체 위에서는 그 근을 표현할 수 없다. 즉 실수체 위에서는 반드시 개의 근을 갖지 않을 수도 있다.

실수체 위에서 실계수 다항식을 기약다항식들로 인수분해할 때, 기약다항식이 갖는 최대의 차수는 이다. 이는 실계수 다항식의 근이 갖는 켤레성, 즉 가 실계수 다항식의 근이면 이의 복소켤레 도 그 다항식의 근이 되는 성질 때문이다. 두 개의 복소계수 일차식의 곱은

와 같이 (는 실수) 실계수 이차식으로 환원된다.

실계수 다항식의 근의 켤레성 
만일가 실계수 다항식

의 복소수 근이면 즉, 이면 이다.

복소켤레 

복소켤레 연산의 성질에 의해

이다.

응용 
대수학의 기본정리에 의해  차의 실계수 다항식은 반드시 복소수의 범위에서 개의 근을 가져야 한다. 그런데 실계수 다항식의 근의 켤레성에 의해 (실수가 아닌)복소수 근을 갖지 않거나, 갖는다면 짝수개이어야 하므로 차수가 홀수인 다항식은 적어도 하나의 실근을 가져야함을 알 수 있다.

같이 보기 
 드무아브르의 정리

외부 링크 
 네이버 캐스트 - 대수학의 기본 정리

참고

(Demonstratio nova theorematis omnem functionem algebraicam RATIONALEM INTEGRAM,google books,Carl Friedrich Gauss · 1799)https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=g3VaAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Demonstratio+nova+theorematis++inauthor:%22Carl+Friedrich+Gauss%22&hl=ko&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidt_CI2bnwAhVUJaYKHS5xCAEQ6AEwAHoECAIQAg#v=onepage&q=Demonstratio%20nova%20theorematis%20%20inauthor%3A%22Carl%20Friedrich%20Gauss%22&f=false
(Demonstratio nova ALTERA theorematis omnem FVunctionem algebraicam RATIONALEM INTEGRAM VNIVS VARIABILIS IN FACTORES REALES PRIMI VEL SECVNDI GRADVS RESOLVI POSSE, google books,Carl Friedrich Gauss(CAROLO FRIDERICO GAVSS) · 1816)https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=Svc7AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Demonstratio+nova+theorematis++inauthor:%22Carl+Friedrich+Gauss%22&hl=ko&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidt_CI2bnwAhVUJaYKHS5xCAEQ6AEwAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=Demonstratio%20nova%20theorematis%20%20inauthor%3A%22Carl%20Friedrich%20Gauss%22&f=false

(Cours d'Analyse de l'Ecole Royale Polytechnique - 1권,google books , Augustin Louis Cauchy · 1821)https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=wwAHAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Cours+d%27analyse&hl=ko&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjevMquz7nwAhWFCIgKHavhAP0Q6AEwB3oECAkQAg#v=onepage&q=Cours%20d'analyse&f=false
(Cours d'Analyse de l'Ecole Royale Polytechnique : I.re Partie. Analyse algébrique)https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OlxT3B6EjykC/page/n7/mode/2up

기본 정리
체론
대수학 정리
복소해석학 정리

확률론과 통계학에서 정규 분포(正規 分布, ) 또는 가우스 분포(Gauß 分布, )는 연속 확률 분포의 하나이다. 정규분포는 수집된 자료의 분포를 근사하는 데에 자주 사용되며, 이것은 중심극한정리에 의하여 독립적인 확률변수들의 평균은 정규분포에 가까워지는 성질이 있기 때문이다.

정규분포는 2개의 매개 변수 평균 과 표준편차 에 대해 모양이 결정되고, 이때의 분포를 로 표기한다. 특히, 평균이 0이고 표준편차가 1인 정규분포 을 표준 정규 분포(standard normal distribution)라고 한다.

역사 
정규분포는 아브라암 드무아브르가 1733년 쓴 글에서 특정 이항 분포의 이 클 때 그 분포의 근사치를 계산하는 것과 관련하여 처음 소개되었고 이 글은 그의 저서 《우연의 교의》(The Doctrine of Chances) 2판(1738년)에 다시 실렸다. 피에르시몽 라플라스는 그의 저서 《확률론의 해석이론》(Théorie analytique des probabilités)(1812년)에서 이 결과를 확장하였고 이는 오늘날 드무아브르-라플라스의 정리로 알려져있다.

라플라스는 실험 오차를 분석하면서 정규분포를 사용했다. 1805년에는 아드리앵마리 르장드르가 매우 중요한 방법인 최소제곱법을 도입했다. 카를 프리드리히 가우스는 이 방법을 1794년부터 사용해왔다고 주장했는데 1809년에는 실험 오차가 정규분포를 따른다는 가정하에 최소제곱법을 이론적으로 엄밀히 정당화했다.

성질 
 정규분포에서는 기댓값, 최빈값, 중앙값이 모두 이다. 정규분포의 기댓값은 다음과 같이 계산할 수 있다.

위에서 첫 번째 적분은 홀함수의 적분으로 0이고 두 번째 적분은 가우스 적분으로 적분값이 로 잘 알려져 있다. 따라서 기댓값은 다.

 정규분포는 절대근사한다.
 정규분포는 평균과 표준편차가 주어져 있을 때 엔트로피를 최대화하는 분포이다.
 정규분포곡선은 좌우 대칭이며 하나의 꼭지를 가진다.
 정규분포는 중앙치에 사례 수가 모여있고, 양극단으로 갈수록 X축에 무한히 접근하지만 X축에 닿지는 않는다.

표준 정규 분포 
정규 분포 밀도 함수에서 를 통해 X(원점수)를 Z(Z점수)로 정규화함으로써 평균이 0, 표준편차가 1인 표준정규분포를 얻을 수 있다.

z-분포라고도 부른다. z-분포로 하는 검정(test)을 z검정(z-test)이라고 한다.

불확실성 
에서 k값이 변화함에 따라 구해지는 값을 불확실성(uncertainty)이라고 한다. 예를 들어 를 90% 불확실성, 는 95% 불확실성, 은 99% 불확실성이다. 특히, 를 50% 불확실성이라고 하며, 확률오차(probable error)라고도 한다. 이는 관측값이 전체 관측값의 50%에 있을 확률을 의미한다.

같이 보기 
 가우스 함수
 표본 크기
 F 분포
 표준정규분포표

각주

참고 문헌 
 
 (구글북스, Pierre Simon marquis de Laplace, Théorie analytique des probabilités 1812)https://books.google.co.kr/books?id=nQwAAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&hl=ko&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
 (구글북스,The Doctrine of Chances , 1st edition ,Abraham de Moivre 1718)https://books.google.com/books?id=3EPac6QpbuMC

외부 링크 
 
 
 

 
연속분포

공각기동대(攻殻機動隊, Ghost in the Shell)는 시로 마사무네의 원작 만화로부터 파생된 포스트사이버펑크 작품군을 가리킨다. 극장판 영화, 텔레비전 애니메이션, 소설, 비디오 게임 등 다양한 매체로 만들어졌다.

작품 목록

만화 
 공각기동대: 최초의 작품.
 공각기동대 1.5 Human Error Processor: 셋째 만화.
 공각기동대 2 ManMachine Interface: 둘째 만화. 속편.

애니메이션 영화 
 공각기동대: 시로 마사무네의 만화를 바탕으로 1995년에 만들어진 영화.
 이노센스: 2004년에 만들어진 영화.
 공각기동대 ARISE
 공각기동대 신극장판

애니메이션 시리즈 
 공각기동대 Stand Alone Complex (SAC): 첫 TV 시리즈.
 공각기동대 S.A.C. 2nd GIG: SAC의 둘째 시즌.
 공각기동대 S.A.C. Solid State Society: SAC의 셋째 작품. TV 시리즈가 아닌 OVA 한 편으로 제작되었다.
 공각기동대 ARISE ALTERNATIVE ARCHITECTURE: ARISE를 TV 시리즈 형식으로 재편집한 것.
 공각기동대: SAC 2045

실사 영화 
 공각기동대: 고스트 인 더 쉘

외부 링크 
 공각기동대 - 미만부

 
미디어 프랜차이즈 
포스트사이버펑크

수론에서의 뫼비우스 반전 공식(Möbius inversion formula)은 19세기 수학자 아우구스트 페르디난트 뫼비우스의 이름을 딴 공식이다.

공식 
g(n) 과 f(n)이 수론적 함수(arithmetic function)이며 1보다 큰 모든 에 대해 다음이 성립한다고 하자.
 
이 때, 1보다 큰 모든 에 대해 다음이 성립한다.

여기서 는 뫼비우스 함수(Möbius function)이고, 덧셈은 n의 양의 약수 d 전체에 대해 이루어진다.

수론적 함수 는 의 누적으로 이루어지는데, 역으로 를 통해 를 꺼내는 공식이므로 반전 공식이라 불린다.

f와 g가 자연수에서 어떤 아벨 군으로의 함수일 때에도 공식은 성립한다.

디리클레 합성곱과의 관계 

디리클레 합성곱(Dirichlet convolution)을 사용하여 공식을 써 보면 다음과 같다.

여기서 * 는 디리클레 합성곱이고, 1은 모든 에 대해 항상 1인 수론적 함수이다. 이 경우,

가 성립한다. 즉, 뫼비우스 함수는 모든 함수값이 1인 수론적 함수의 역원이기 때문이다. 당연하게도

이 성립한다. 여기서 은 일 때만 1이고 나머지는 모두 0인 수론적 함수이다.
다양한 수론적 함수의 계산의 예는 Apostol의 책을 참조하면 좋다.

일반화 
조합론(combinatorics)에서 자주 쓰이는 동치의 진술은 다음과 같다.

F(x)와 G(x)가 구간 [1,∞)에서 복소수로의 함수이고, 1보다 크거나 같은 모든 에 대해
 
을 만족하면, 1보다 크거나 같은 모든 에 대해
 
이 성립한다.

여기서 합은 x보다 작거나 같은 모든 양의 정수 n에 대해서 이루어진다.

각주 

수론적 함수
열거조합론
수론 정리
수학 정리

수학에서 푸리에 급수(Fourier級數, )는 주기 함수를 삼각함수의 가중치로 분해한 급수다. 대부분의 경우, 급수의 계수는 본래 함수와 일대일로 대응한다.

함수의 푸리에 계수는 본래 함수보다 다루기 쉽기 때문에 유용하게 쓰인다. 푸리에 급수는 전자 공학, 진동 해석, 음향학, 광학, 신호 처리와 영상 처리, 데이터 압축 등에 쓰인다. 천문학에서는 분광기를 통해 별빛의 진동수를 분해하여 별을 이루는 화학 물질을 알아내는 데 쓰이고, 통신 공학에서는 전송해야 하는 데이터 신호의 스펙트럼을 이용하여 통신 시스템 설계를 최적화하는 데 쓰인다.

역사 
프랑스의 과학자이자 수학자인 조제프 푸리에가 열 방정식을 풀기 위하여 도입하였다.

정의 
푸리에 급수는 주기함수를 기본적인 조화함수인 삼각함수 또는 복소 지수 함수의 급수로 나타낸 것이다. 주기함수 가 의 주기를 가진다고 하자. 즉,

라고 하자. 또한, 가 모든 유한 구간()에서 제곱적분 가능하다고 하자. 즉, 임의의 에 대하여,

가 유한한 값으로 존재한다고 하자. 그렇다면 의 푸리에 계수() 을 다음과 같이 정의한다.

그렇다면 다음이 성립한다. 임의의 에 대하여, 다음 식이 성립하지 않는 의 집합은 르베그 측도 0을 가진다.

.

만약 가 연속미분가능 () 함수라면 (즉, 의 도함수가 존재하고 연속적인 경우) 의 푸리에 급수는 모든 에서 로 수렴한다.

각주

참고 문헌 
 
 
 재판: 
 영역 (역자 Alexander Freeman): 
 
 
 Felix Klein, Vorlesungen über die Entwicklung der Mathematik im 19 Jahrhundert, Springer, Berlin, 1928.
 영역: Development of mathematics in the 19th century. Mathsci Press Brookline, Mass, 1979. (역자 M. Ackerman)

같이 보기 
 푸리에 변환
 조화 해석학
 장 밥티스트 조제프 푸리에

외부 링크 

 
 
 
 

 
푸리에 해석학
급수
디지털 신호 처리

수학에서 감마 함수(Γ函數, )는 계승 함수의 해석적 연속이다.

감마 함수의 기호는 감마(Γ)라는 그리스 대문자를 사용한다.

양의 정수 n에 대하여 이 성립한다.

정의 

감마 함수는 다음과 같이 여러 가지로 정의할 수 있으며, 이들은 모두 동치임을 보일 수 있다.

오일러 적분 
감마 함수는 다음과 같은 적분으로 정의된다. 이 적분을 오일러 적분이라고 한다.

오일러 적분은 상반평면  인 영역에서 절대수렴한다. 여기에 해석적 연속을 사용해 이 함수의 정의역을 위의 단순극을 제외한 전 복소평면으로 확장할 수 있다. 이 확장된 함수를 감마 함수라 부른다.

가우스 극한 

이 정의는 오일러의 이름을 따 오일러 극한 형태라고도 불리기도 한다.

바이어슈트라스 무한곱 

여기서 는 오일러-마스케로니 상수이다. 이 정의는 카를 바이어슈트라스의 이름을 따 바이어슈트라스 무한곱 형태라고도 불리기도 한다.

계승의 일반화에서 주의점 

만약 감마함수를 자연수 에 대해

을 만족하는 함수로 정의하면 감마 함수는 유일하지 않다. 예를 들어

또한 위 성질을 만족함을 확인할 수 있다. 감마 함수는 이중 유일하게 가 양의 실수축상에서 볼록함수이다.

성질 
감마 함수는 정의역에서 정칙 함수이다. 즉, 다음이 성립한다.

특이점 

감마 함수는 복소평면에서 유리형 함수이며, 양이 아닌 정수 에서 단순극을 가진다. 단순극 에서 유수의 값은 이다.
감마 함수는 영점을 갖지 않는다. 즉, 그 역수 는 전해석 함수이다.

함수 방정식 
감마 함수는 다음과 같은 함수 방정식을 만족시킨다.

두 번째 공식은 오일러 반사 공식()이라고 불린다.

곱의 정리

특히, 이 정리의 특수한 경우로 다음과 같은 두 배 공식을 유도할 수 있다.

미분과 적분 
감마 함수의 미분은 다음과 같이 폴리감마 함수 로 주어진다.

특별히, 양수 m에서의 감마 함수의 미분은 아래와 같이 오일러-마스케로니 상수 γ를 사용해 나타낼 수 있다.

일반적으로, 감마 함수의 n차 미분은 다음과 같다.

감마 함수의 극, z가 음수인 경우에서의 유수의 값은 다음과 같다.

특별한 값 
반정수에서 감마 함수는 다음과 같다. 음이 아닌 정수 n에 대하여,

이 공식들은 로부터 수학적 귀납법으로 유도할 수 있다.

몇몇 경우의 감마 함수의 값은 다음과 같다.

 가우스 상수

응용 
감마 함수는 확률 분포를 비롯한 여러 확률과 통계, 조합론, 그 외 여러 공학 분야들에서 유용하게 사용된다.

초구의 부피 

반지름이 인 차원 초구의 부피는 다음과 같이 주어진다.

감마분포 

감마 함수의 피적분 함수를 감마 함수의 적분값으로 나눈 함수를 실수의 양수축에서 적분을 하면 1이 된다. 따라서 이를 이용해 새로운 분포를 정의할 수 있다. 이 분포를 감마분포라 하고, 그 확률 밀도 함수 는 다음과 같다.

여기서 는 감마 함수의 매개 변수로 양수이다.

큐-감마 함수(q-gamma function) 
큐-감마 함수는 감마 함수가 큐-아날로그화 된것이다.

 구간 예약

 큐-포흐하머 기호
:::

같이 보기 
 불완전 감마 함수
 베타 함수
 가우스 적분
 가우스 상수
 블로흐 상수
 란다우 상수

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 
 
 
 
 

특수 함수
유리형 함수
특수 초기하함수

아쿠타가와 류노스케(, 1892년 3월 1일~1927년 7월 24일)는 일본의 소설가이다. 호는 징강당주인(澄江堂主人)이며 하이쿠 작가로서의 호는 가키(我鬼)이다.

그의 작품은 대부분이 단편 소설이다. 「참마죽」, 「덤불 속」, 「지옥변」 등 주로 일본의 《곤자쿠 이야기집》·《우지슈이 이야기》 등 전통적인 고전들에서 제재를 취하였다. 또한 「거미줄(원제: 蜘蛛の糸)」, 「두자춘(杜子春)」 등 어린이를 위한 작품도 남겼으며, 예수를 학대한 유대인이 예수가 세상에 다시 올 때까지 방황한다는 상상력을 발휘한 「방황하는 유대인」도 있다.

생애

유년 시절 
1892년(메이지 25년) 3월 1일 도쿄에서 우유 판매업자였던 아버지 니하라 도시조(新原敏三)와 어머니 후쿠(フク) 사이의 아들로 태어났다(아쿠타가와라는 성은 원래 그의 어머니쪽 성씨였다). 이때 태어난 시간이 공교롭게도 진년(辰年) 진월(辰月) 진일(辰日) 진시(辰時)였기 때문에 '용(龍)' 자를 이름에 넣어 류노스케(龍之介)라 짓게 되었다고 전하나, 실제 그가 태어난 1892년 3월 1일은 간지로는 임진년·임인월·임진일에 해당하며, 출생 시각에 대해서는 자료가 없기 때문에 확실한 것이 없다. 이름도 호적상으로는 '龍之介'이지만 그가 양자로 들어갔던 아쿠타가와 집안이나 졸업한 학교의 명단 등의 문서에는 '龍之助'로 되어 있다(아쿠타가와 자신은 '龍之助' 표기를 싫어했다).

가족 
원래 류노스케의 위로는 하쓰(はつ)와 히사(ひさ)라는 두 명의 누나가 있었는데, 큰누나였던 하쓰는 류노스케가 태어나기 1년 전에 여섯 살의 나이로 요절했고, 어머니는 그 충격으로 정신장애를 겪어서 류노스케를 양육할 수 없었다. 생후 7개월 된 류노스케는 도쿄시 혼죠구 고이즈미쵸에 있던 외가 아쿠타가와 집안에 맡겨졌고, 백모 후키(フキ)가 양육을 맡았다. 11살 때인 1902년에 어머니가 끝내 사망하자 이듬해에 그는 외삼촌으로 도쿄시의 토목과장을 지내기도 했던 아쿠타가와 미치아키(芥川道章)의 양자가 되어 아쿠타가와 성을 쓰게 된다. 아쿠타가와 집안은 에도 시대에는 사족(士族)으로서 대대로 도쿠가와(德川) 집안을 섬겨 다도와 관련된 업무를 담당하던 스키야호즈(數寄屋坊主) 집안이었고, 예술·연예를 애호하던 에도의 문인적 취미가 집안에 남아 있었다.

학교 
도쿄부립 제3중학교를 졸업할 때는 성적우수자라는 상장을 받기도 했고, 덕분에 제1고등학교는 시험 없이 입학할 수 있었다(1910년부터 일본에서는 중학교 때의 성적 우수자에게는 고등학교 입학시 시험 없이도 입학을 허가하는 제도가 시행되고 있었다). 제1고등학교 제1부 을류(乙類)에 입학한 류노스케의 동기 가운데는 기쿠치 간도 있었다. 2학년으로 오르면서 기숙사로 들어갔는데, 기숙사 생활에 제대로 적응하지는 못했지만 그곳에서 한 방을 쓰던 이가와 쿄(井川恭)와는 평생의 친구가 된다.

문학활동

동인지 
고등학교를 졸업하고 1913년 동경제국대학 영문과에 입학하였다(이 당시 도쿄제국대학의 영문학과는 1학년 가운데 합격자가 불과 몇 사람밖에 나오지 않는 어려운 곳으로 유명했다). 대학 재학 중이던 1914년(다이쇼 3년) 2월에 고등학교 동창이던 기쿠치 간·구메 마사오(久米正雄) 등과 함께 동인지 『신사조(新思潮)』(제3차)을 간행하여, 우선 '야나가와 다카노스케(柳川隆之助)'라는 필명으로 아나톨 프랑스의 「바르타자알」, 이에이트의 「봄의 심장」의 일역을 기고한 뒤, 10월에 『신사조』가 폐간될 때까지 그의 초기작 「노년」을 동잡지에 발표하는데, 이것이 그의 작가 활동의 시작이었다.

라쇼몽 발표 
1915년 10월, 『데이코쿠 분가쿠』(帝國文學)에 그의 대표작 「라쇼몬」(羅生門)을 본명으로 발표했고, 급우였던 스즈키 미에키치(鈴木三重吉)의 소개로 나쓰메 소세키 문하에 들어간다. 1916년에는 제4차 『신사조』(멤버는 제3차와 거의 같다)을 발간하는데, 그 창간호에 실었던 「코(원제: 鼻)」는 "문단에 유례없는 작가가 될 것"이라는 나쓰메 소세키의 격찬을 받아 문단 진출의 기회를 얻었다. 이 해에 대학을 20인 중 2등의 성적으로 졸업했는데, 이때 그의 졸업 논문은 「윌리엄 모리스 연구」였다. 12월에 해군기관학교 영어 교관을 맡아왔던 아사노 가사부로(浅野和三郎)가 황도대본(皇道大本)이라는 신종교에 입신하기 위해 사직하면서 구로야나기 가이슈(畔柳芥舟)나 이치카와 산키(市河三喜)등의 영문학자의 추천으로(나쓰메 소세키의 조언이 있었다고도 한다) 아쿠타가와는 아사노의 후임으로서 해군기관학교의 촉탁 교관(담당은 영어)으로서 근무하였다. 그 틈틈이 창작에 힘써 이듬해 5월에는 첫 단편집 『라쇼몽』을 간행했다. 그 후로도 단편 작품을 하나씩 발표해, 11월에는 이미 두 번째 단편집 『담배와 악마(원제: 煙草と悪魔)』를 발간하고 있다.

마이니치 신문 입사 
1916년의 가을, 『미타문학』(三田文学)의 동인으로서 친하게 지내던 고지마 마사지로(小島政二郎)의 알선으로 게이오기주쿠 대학 문학부 취직 제의를 받고 이력서도 제출했지만 실현되지는 않았다. 1917년 3월에, 해군 기관 학교의 교직을 물러나 오사카 마이니치 신문사에 입사(신문에 기고하는 것이 그의 주된 일로 출근 의무는 없다)해 본격적인 창작 활동에 전념한다(덧붙여서 스승의 소세키도 10년 전인 1907년에 똑같이 아사히 신문사에 입사했다). 1916년부터 1917년까지 아쿠타가와는 가마쿠라의 유이가하마(由比ガ浜)에서 하숙생활을 했으며, 1918년부터 1919년까지 오오 정(大町)에 거주했다.

결혼 

1919년 3월 12일에 친구 야마모토 기요시(山本喜誉司)의 조카(누나의 딸)이었던 쓰카모토 후미와 결혼하였고, 이듬해 3월 30일에 장남 히로시가 태어났다. 1921년 2월에 요코스카카이(横須賀海) 해군 대학교를 퇴직하고, 기쿠치 간과 함께 오사카 마이니치의 객외(客外) 사원이 되어, 본래 거주하던 가마쿠라에서 도쿄부 기타토시마 군 다키노가와초로 돌아온다. 동년 5월에는 기쿠치와 함께 나가사키를 여행했고, 친구인 화가 곤도 고이치로(近藤浩一路)로부터 극작가 나가미 도쿠타로(永見徳太郎)를 소개받기도 했다.

질병 
또한 이 해에 해외 특파원으로서 중화민국을 방문하였고, 베이징을 방문했을 때는 후스를 만나 그와 검열의 문제에 대해서 토론하기도 했다. 7월에 귀국한 그는 「상해유기(上海遊記)」 등의 기행문을 지었다. 1922년(다이쇼 11년) 11월 8일에는 차남 다카시(多加志)가 태어났다. 그런데 중화민국을 방문한 1921년 이후로 아쿠타가와는 신경쇠약, 장카타르 등의 병을 얻는 등 점차 심신이 쇠약해지기 시작해, 1923년(다이쇼 12년)에는 유가와라마치(湯河原町)로 온천 치료를 떠나기도 했다. 작품수도 줄어들기 시작하여 이른바 '호키모노(保吉もの)' 등의 사소설적 경향의 작품이 나타나게 되는데, 이러한 흐름은 만년작 「톱니바퀴(원제: 歯車)」, 「갓파(河童)」 등으로 이어지게 된다(이 해에 일본을 강타했던 관동 대지진 당시, 조선인 학살의 주동 세력인 자경단의 단원으로 활약했다는 이야기도 있다).

문화학원 문학부 강사 
1925년경에 아쿠타가와는 문화학원 문학부 강사로 취임하였는데, 1926년부터 위궤양에 신경쇠약과 불면증이 다시 심해져 유가와라에서 요양해야 했다. 한편 아내 후미도 남동생 쓰카모토 핫슈(塚本八洲)와 함께 요양을 위해 구게누마(鵠沼)에 있던 친가 소유의 별장으로 이주했다. 2월 22일, 류노스케도 구게누마의 여관 아즈마야(東屋)에 머무르며 그곳으로 처자를 불러온다. 7월 12일에 3남 야스시(也寸志)가 태어났고, 20일에는 아즈마야의 대별장 「이-4호」를 빌려 아내와 새로 태어난 아들 야스시와 살았다(여름방학이 되면서는 히로시나 다카시도 불러왔다). 그 사이에 「집을 빌리고 나서(원제: 家を借りてから)」, 「구게누마 잡기(鵠沼雑記)」, 나아가 「점귀부(點鬼簿)」 등의 작품을 탈고하였고, 또한 구게누마의 개업 의사 후지 다카시(富士山)의 병원에 통원치료를 다녔다. 9월 20일에 류노스케 일가는 「이-4호」의 서쪽에 있던 '시바 씨의 이층 집(柴さんの二階家)'를 연말까지 빌려 옮긴다. 여기서 구게누마를 무대로 한 「유유장(悠々荘)」을 탈고한다. 이는 간토대지진이 있기 전에는 기시다 류세(岸田劉生)가 살았고 지진 후에 재건되어 시인 구니키다 도라오(国木田虎雄)가 빌리고 있던 대별장을 돌아봤을 때의 경험에서 힌트를 얻은 것으로 류노스케 일가가 구게누마에 정착하려는 의도가 있었다고도 생각할 수 있다. 또 이곳에 머무르는 동안 사이토 모키지(斎藤茂吉)나 쓰치야 분메이(土屋文明), 쓰네토 야스시(恒藤恭), 가와바타 야스나리, 기쿠치 간 등이 찾아오기도 했다. 연호가 쇼와로 바뀐 뒤 류노스케는 「이-4호」로 돌아왔다. 조카이자 문예평론가였던 구즈마키 요시토시(葛巻義敏)와 가마쿠라에서 섣달 그믐을 지새고 나서 처자가 가있던 다바타(田端)로 돌아오지만, 구게누마에서 살던 집은 4월까지 빌려두고서 때때로 방문하고 있다.

문예평론 
1927년 1월, 의형 니시카와 유타카(西川豊)가 방화와 보험금 사기 혐의로 철도에 뛰어들어 자살하는 바람에 아쿠타가와는 니시카와가 남긴 빚이나 가족을 떠맡아야 했다. 4월부터 「문예적인, 너무 문예적인(원제: 文芸的な、余りに文芸的な)」이라는 문예평론에서 '이야기의 재미'를 주장하는 다니자키 준이치로에 맞서 '이야기의 재미'가 소설의 질을 결정하지는 않는다고 반론해, 훗날 패전 뒤에 일본에서 벌어질 이야기 비판적인 문단의 메인 스트림을 예견한 일본문학사상 유명한 논쟁을 펼친다. 여기서 아쿠타가와는 「이야기다운 이야기가 없다」 순수한 소설의 명수로서 시가 나오야를 칭찬했다.

자살 
1927년 4월 7일, 부인의 동창생으로 아쿠타가와 자신의 비서로 있던 히라마쓰 마쓰코(平松麻素子)와 데이코쿠(帝國) 호텔에서 함께 동반 자살을 약속하였으나 여자가 변심하는 바람에 실패하였다. 7월 24일 새벽, 「속(續) 서방의 사람(원제: 続西方の人)」를 모두 쓴 뒤, 아쿠타가와 류노스케는 사이토 모키지로부터 받아온 치사량의 수면제를 먹고 자살했다. '막연한 불안(ぼんやりとした不安)'이 그가 밝힌 자살 이유였다. 그의 계명(戒名)은 의문원용지개일숭거사(懿文院龍之介日崇居士). 묘소는 지금의 도쿄 도 도시마구(豊島区) 스가모(巣鴨)에 있는 자안사(慈眼寺)이다. 그가 죽은 지 8년 후인 1935년 친구이며 문예춘추사 사주였던 기쿠치 간에 의해 그의 이름을 딴 아쿠타가와 상이 제정되었다. 이 상은 현재 일본의 가장 권위있는 문학상으로 신인 작가의 등용문이다.

작품의 특징 
아쿠타가와의 초기 작품에서는 서양의 문학을 일역한 것도 존재하며(「발타자알」등) 영어과 출신의 특성으로서 번역문학 특유의 논리적으로 정리된 간결하고 공정한 영문학적인 필치가 특징이다. 작가의 생애 경험이 많이 드러나며 화자와 자신을 분리하지 않은 풍의 작품이 많다.

그는 주로 단편소설을 썼으며, 오늘날 아쿠타가와 류노스케의 걸작으로 알려진 작품 또한 대부분 단편소설이다. 그런 반면에 장편은 그렇게 많이 남아있지 않다(미완성 소설로 「사종문邪宗門」이나 「노상」이 있다). 또한 생활과 예술은 서로 반대되는 것이라고 생각하여 자연주의류의 자기 고백에 대해서 알몸뚱이를 사람 앞에 내놓는 것과 같다고 하여 멀리하고 진실한 자기는 허구의 세계에서만 분명히 할 수 있다고 생각했고, 삶과 예술을 분리한다는 이상으로 작품을 집필했다고 한다. 다른 작가보다 표현이나 시점이 생생하다. 말년엔 시가 나오야의 "이야기다운 이야기가 없다"는 심경소설을 긍정하고 스토리성이 있던 자신의 문학을 완전히 부인하였다(그때의 작품이 "신기루"이다).

초기와 중기, 후기로 작품의 시기를 나누며, 각 시기에 따라 특성이 두드러진다. 대부분 초기의 작품이 좋은 평가를 얻고 있다. 중기 이후에는 아동용 작품의 집필이 늘어 폭넓은 장르의 작품을 다루었다. 후기, 특히 말년에는 사람의 생사에 대해 다룬 작품이 늘어나, 자살 직전 어떻게 죽음을 마주하며 집필했는지 알 수 있다.

「두자춘」(杜子春)(원래 이야기는 태평광기에 실린 당대의 소설 『두자춘전』) 등 고전을 참조한 것이나 스즈키 미에키치(鈴木三重吉)가 창간한 『붉은 새』에 발표한 것과 같은 동화적인 작품도 많다. 일반적으로는 기독교물이나 헤이안 시대를 무대로 한 왕조물로 분류된다. 또한 고전(설화문학)에서 구상을 얻은 작품이 많은데, 「라쇼몽」(羅生門)이나 「코」(鼻)　등은 《곤자쿠 이야기집》을, 「모모타로」(桃太郎)는 《모모타로》，「지옥변」 등은 《우지슈이 이야기》에서 제재를 얻었다. 또한 아포리즘의 제작이나 한문에도 뛰어났다.

좌익, 반군부적인 자기 주장을 펼쳤고 실제로 그런 작품도 다수 발표하고 있는데, 군인의 계급 투쟁을 「유치원생 장난 같다」고 자신의 저서에서 혹평하기도 했지만, 당시에는 군부에서 저작물에 대한 검열을 하는 것이 보통이었고 이 검열 때문에 정정되거나 가필, 삭제를 면치 못한 부분도 많다. 그러한 한편으로 해군에 대해서는 어느 정도 호의를 품은 듯, 육군 유년학교 교관이던 도요시마 요시오(豊島与志雄)에게 「좋은 직장이 있다」며 해군 기관학교로 초정하여 도요시마가 프랑스어 촉탁 교관으로 근무하게도 주선하였다. 우치다 햣켄(内田百間)도 아쿠타가와 류노스케의 추천으로 해군 독일어 촉탁 교관이 되었고, 훗날 우치다는 1934년(쇼와 9년)에 쓴 「죽장기」(竹杖記)에서 아쿠타가와가 자신의 강사직 알선 및 협상에 어느 정도 역할을 맡았던 것을 적고 있다.

작품에서 아마테라스 오미카미를 등장시킬 때는 별명인 "오히루메무치"(大日孁貴)을 이용했는데, 이는 "아마테라스"라는 호칭이 당시 일본 천황가의 조상신이기도 했던 아마테라스를 그대로 글 속에 등장시키는 것이 되어 불경하다는 비판을 받을 수 있었기에, 태양신, 그것도 자연신의 성격을 가진 신으로써 "오히루메무치"를 이용해야 했기 때문이다.

담배를 몹시 좋아해서 하루 180개피씩 피웠다고 하며, 『바다 주변』, 『교토 일기』, 『겐가쿠 산보』에도 시키시마 종목의 담배가 등장한다.

간토 대지진 
간토 대지진 조선인 학살 당시 조선인을 학살한 자경단으로 활동하였다. 그러나 무자비한 학살 첫날 밤 후 그 경험이 너무나도 잔인하고 공포스러워서 자경단 활동을 접었다고 한다.

주요 작품 
 《라쇼몬》(羅生門) - 1915
 《코》(鼻) - 1916
 〈참마죽〉(芋粥) - 1916
 《지옥변》(地獄変) - 1918
 《무도회》(舞踏會)
 《덤불 속》(藪の中)
 《갓파》(河童) -1927
 《하구루마/톱니바퀴》(歯車) - 1927

저작

각주

외부 링크 
 

 
 
  아오조라 문고 작품 리스트 (현재 저작권이 풀려 무료로 배포 중인 글들)

 
1892년 출생
1927년 사망
19세기 일본 사람
20세기 일본 사람
일본 제국 사람
일본의 소설가
도쿄도 구부 출신
도쿄 대학 동문
약물에 의해 죽은 사람
일본의 자살한 사람
1927년 자살

장국영(, , , 1956년 9월 12일~2003년 4월 1일)은 홍콩의 배우이자 가수이다.

하카계의 중산층 집안에서 10남매 중 막내로 출생하였으며, 홍콩을 떠나 중국 광둥성 메이저우 시에서 잠시 유아기를 보낸 적도 있다. 영국 북부의 리즈 대학교에서 섬유직물관리학(textile management)을 공부했으나 알콜중독으로 인한 아버지의 건강 악화로 졸업하지는 못했다. 홍콩으로 귀국한 후 우연히 나간 노래 콘테스트에서 〈AMERICAN PIE〉를 불러 2위로 입상하며 데뷔했다.

1980년대와 1990년대 홍콩 느와르를 대표하는 배우로 손꼽히며, 아시아권을 넘어 전 세계에서 폭넒은 인기를 얻은 배우였다. 대표작으로는 영웅본색, 패왕별희, 아비정전, 해피투게더, 천녀유혼, 종횡사해, 이도공간 등이 있으며 가수로서도 <영웅본색>의 주제가인 <당년정>과 1995년 발매한 싱글 앨범 <Thousand Dreams of You> 등의 히트곡을 보유하고 있다. 대한민국에서는 영웅본색의 히트로 주목받기 시작했으며 주윤발, 성룡, 양조위, 장학우, 유덕화, 매염방, 장만옥 등과 함께 폭발적인 인기를 누렸다. 한국에서의 인기 때문에 장국영은 1977년, 1989년, 1995년, 1998년, 1999년, 2002년 총 6차례 방한하였다.

2002년까지 가수와 배우로 활발히 활동하고 있던 장국영은 2003년 4월 1일, 자신이 묵고 있던 홍콩 만다린 오리엔탈 호텔 24층 객실에서 투신자살해 향년 46세의 나이로 사망했다. 한 시대를 풍미한 홍콩 영화계 스타배우의 죽음은 전 세계적으로 큰 충격을 안겼으며, 특히 사망한 당일이 만우절이었기에 일부 대중들은 이를 믿지 못하는 현상이 일어나기도 했다. 장국영이 투신자살한 당일 그의 팬이었던 9명이 장국영과 똑같이 투신자살을 시도해 6명이 사망하는 등 베르테르 효과로 인한 충격현상이 발생하기도 했다.

장국영이 사망한 이후에도 그에 대한 추모열기는 여전히 뜨겁다. 2005년 중국영화 100주년 기념 설문조사에서 가장 사랑받는 남자배우 1위로 선정되기도 하였으며, 매년 4월 1일이 되면 팬들은 그가 사망한 만다린 오리엔탈 호텔 앞에서 추모식을 열고 큰 백합을 놓는 등 추모를 이어가고 있다. 장국영 사망 10주기였던 2013년에는 홍콩 IFC 몰에 그를 기리는 거대한 흉상이 설치되는 등, 장국영이 가진 홍콩 사회에서의 영향력은 사망 후 오랜 시간이 지난 현재까지도 유지되고 있다.

연기 활동 
1970년대에 홍콩 RTV (現 ATV/亞洲電視)에 가입하여, 《악어루(鰐魚淚)》, 《완화세검록(浣花洗劍錄)》, 《정인전 (情人箭)》 등에 출연했지만 평가는 전무했다. 그러다가 《영웅본색》, 《패왕별희》 등으로 아시아권을 넘어 세계적으로 이름을 알렸다. 한국에서도 주윤발과 함께 출연한 《영웅본색》이 엄청난 인기를 끌면서 이름을 알리기 시작했다.

출연 작품

가수 활동 

1976년 홍콩 ATV의 Asian Music Contest에서 2등상을 수상. 가수 활동으로 슈퍼스타가 된 후 TV 브라운관으로 시작해서 영화와 가요계를 넘나들어 활동했다. 그러다 1990년 고별콘서트를 끝으로 가수 생활을 은퇴하고 캐나다에서 1년간 휴식 후 귀국하여 영화배우 활동에만 전념하였다. 그 후로 영화속 O.S.T.제작 등에 한하여 음악활동을 해오다 1995년 앨범 총애 (寵愛)를 발매함으로 다시 가수로 재개, 2000년까지 중화인민공화국, 일본, 싱가포르, 말레이시아 등 여러 아시아 지역에서 콘서트를 개최했다. 그러나 2000년에 가수 분야에서 다시 은퇴하고 2003년 사망할 때까지 영화배우 활동에만 전념하였다.

다음은 그의 앨범목록이다.

정규 음반과 EP

라이브 음반

컴필레이션 음반

리믹스 음반

한정 발매

개인사 
《타임》지와의 인터뷰에서 양성애자라고 커밍아웃했다. 22세 쯤에 여배우 모순균과 교제했었으며, 1981년 영화 Agency 24를 촬영하면서 만난 여배우 예시배(倪詩蓓)와도 2년 동안 교제한 바 있다

1997년 콘서트에서 남자 애인이자 무명 시절 그의 매니지먼트를 담당했던 당학덕와 함께 나타났으며, 당학덕은 장국영이 사망할 때까지 꾸준히 그를 방문하며 관계를 지속했다. 당학덕은 장국영이 죽은 이후 장국영의 화장한 유골을 직접 인계하였으며 장국영과 단 둘이 살던 집에서 홀로 거주하다가 2011년 초 장국영과 자신이 키우던 개가 죽은 이후 그 집을 매각했다.

사망 
2003년 4월 1일 홍콩 만다린 오리엔탈 호텔 24층에서 투신 자살로 생을 마감했다. 장국영이 투신한 이후 홍콩에서만 그의 팬 9명이 투신자살을 시도했고 이 중 6명이 사망했다. 4월 5일 열린 추도식에는 많은 팬들이 SARS의 위험에도 불구하고 세계 곳곳에서 홍콩으로 찾아와 화제가 되기도 했다. 영웅본색에 함께 출연했던 주윤발, 성룡, 유덕화, 매염방, 이연걸 등 동료 배우들 역시 장례식에 참석해 그의 죽음을 기렸다. 공교롭게도 장국영이 죽은 4월 1일은 만우절이었고 많은 사람들이 언론사들의 만우절 거짓말 이벤트라고 의심하기도 하였다. 장국영의 시신은 화장되어 위패는 홍콩 근교에 위치한 보선사에 안치되었고, 유골은 연인이었던 당학덕이 직접 인계하였다.

2004년 홍콩 문화의 거리에 그의 핸드프린팅 석판이 설치되었으나, 설치 전 사망했기에 빈 석판으로 설치되었다. 사망 2년 후인 2005년 중국영화 100주년 기념 가장 사랑받는 남자배우 1위로 선정되었고, 2013년 10주기 추모식 때는 홍콩 IFC 몰에 장국영의 대형 추모 석판이 설치되었다. 매년 4월 1일이 되면 장국영의 팬들은 장국영이 생을 마감한 만다린 오리엔탈 호텔 앞에 모여 추모식을 거행하고 있으며, 매년 추모식 참석 인파가 수백 명에 임박할 정도로 그의 영향력은 사후 20년이 지난 2023년까지도 이어지고 있다.

자살 관련 논란 

홍콩 경찰은 장국영이 24층에서 투신하여 자살하였다고 밝혔는데 여러 가지 부분에서 논란이 있으며 가장 유력한 용의자로 장국영의 전 재산 460억을 상속받은 애인 당학덕(탕허더, 통혹딱)이 지목된다.
 사망 시각 - 병원측은 장국영이 '병원으로 이송 도중 사망'했다고 밝혔는데, 24층에서 투신했다면 무조건 즉사했을 것이라는 의료진들의 주장이 제기되었다.
 빌딩의 형태 - 호텔 건물은 아랫층으로 갈수록 넓어지는 형태이다. 이 때문에 장국영이 투신 하였다면 중간층에 떨어지거나, 중간층에 부딪히고 추락하게 될 것이라 추정되는데, 그러한 흔적이 없다는 의문이 제기되었다.
 자살 직전 통화 내역 - 장국영은 자살 10분 전 주차장에서 지인과 통화를 했는데 이 이야기가 맞으려면 장국영은 주차장에서 24층까지 전속력으로 뛰어 올라가 투신해야 한다.
 경찰의 유서 비공개 - 수사를 담당했던 경찰은 이유도 밝히지 않은 채 유서를 공개하지 않았다. 또한 유서에 '전재산을 탕허더에게 상속한다'라고 써있었던 부분이 공개되지 않아 논란이다.
 정상적인 스케줄 - 자살 당일 지인들과 식사를 했으며, 팬미팅 등 모든 스케줄을 무리 없이 소화했으며 평소와 다른점이 없었다고 한다.
 시신의 사진과 쏟아진 피의 양 - 장국영의 시신이 수습되는 사진이 공개되었다. 24층에서 떨어질 정도라면 신체가 크게 훼손되어야 하는데 사진 속의 시신은 전체적으로 너무 온전한 상태였다. 또한 거리에 흘린 피도 매우 적은 수준에 그쳐 투신한 것이 아니라, 누군가에게 살해되었다는 의혹이 제기되었다.
 발견한 사람 - 장국영의 시신은 최초 지나가던 행인이 발견하였는데 24층에서 떨어지면 엄청난 소리가 나기 때문에 근처에서 근무하던 경비나 시민들이 바로 발견했어야 하지만 아무도 눈치채지 못했다.
 당시 당학덕과의 사이 - 장국영이 투신하기 전 당학덕과 장국영이 심한 말다툼을 하는 것을 보았다는 증언이 나왔으며 그의 재산을 상속받기 위해 살해했을 것이라는 주장이 제기되었다.

수상 내역 
 1977년 제2회 아시아 송 콘테스트 2위
 1982년 영화평론활동부문 남우조연상 - 실업생
 1991년 제10회 홍콩 영화 금상장 최우수 남우주연상 - 아비정전
 1993년 중국영화 표연예술학회 특별공헌상
 1993년 제30회 대만 영화 금마장 최우수 영화 주제가상 - 홍안백발
 1994년 일본 영화 평론가협회 외국영화 최우수 남우주연상 - 패왕별희
 1994년 제1회 홍콩 영화 평론가협회 최우수 남우주연상 - 동사서독
 1995년 홍콩영화비평가협회 최고배우상
 1995년 홍콩영화제 최우수영화주제가상
 2002년 연예동력대장 최우수 남우주연상 - 이도공간
 2003년 20세기 중국 10대 문화우상 선정
 2004년 제23회 홍콩 영화 금상장 연예광휘영항대장
 2005년 중국영화 100주년 기념 가장 사랑받은 남자배우 1위 선정

각주

외부 링크 
 

 장국영사랑 http://cafe.daum.net/leslie
 12956.com (http://12956.com)
 有心人 https://web.archive.org/web/20170621041412/http://leslie.co.kr/
 공식 홈페이지
 
 

 
1956년 출생
2003년 사망
20세기 홍콩 사람
21세기 홍콩 사람
20세기 성소수자 사람
21세기 성소수자 사람
홍콩의 남자 영화 배우
홍콩의 남자 가수
캐나다의 남자 영화 배우
캐나다의 남자 가수
홍콩의 성소수자 인물
양성애자 배우
양성애자 음악가
하카계 홍콩인
홍콩계 캐나다인
중국계 캐나다인
캐나다로 귀화한 사람
잉글랜드에 거주한 캐나다인
불교를 이탈한 사람
투신자살한 사람
자살한 배우
자살한 음악가
성소수자의 자살
홍콩의 성소수자 음악가
2003년 자살

방법을 기초로 하여, 주로 다량의 데이터를 관찰하고 정리 및 분석하는 방법을 연구하는 수학의 한 분야이다. 근대 과학으로서의 통계학은 19세기 중반 벨기에의 케틀레가 독일의 "국상학(國狀學, Staatenkunde, 넓은 의미의 국가학)"과 영국의 "정치 산술(政治算術, Political Arithmetic, 정치 사회에 대한 수량적 연구 방법)"을 자연과학의 "확률 이론"과 결합하여, 수립한 학문에서 발전되었다.

개요 
통계학은 관찰 및 조사로 얻을 수 있는 데이터로부터, 응용 수학의 기법을 이용해 수치상의 성질, 규칙성 또는 불규칙성을 찾아낸다. 통계적 기법은, 실험 계획, 데이터의 요약이나 해석을 실시하는데 있어서의 근거를 제공하는 학문이며, 폭넓은 분야에서 응용되어 실생활에 적용되고 있다. 통계학은 실증적인 뿌리를 가지고 있으며 실질적 활용에 초점을 맞추고 있기 때문에, 흔히 순수수학과는 다소 구분되는 응용수학의 일종으로 여겨진다. 통계학의 방법을 통해, 실제의 수치들을 왜곡하여 해석하는 것을 막고 연구를 바탕으로 합리적인 의사결정을 할 수 있다.
통계학은 과학, 산업, 또는 사회의 문제에 적용되며 모집단을 연구하는 과정이 우선시된다. 모집단은 "한나라 안에 사는 모든 사람" 또는 "크리스탈을 구성하는 모든 원자"와 같이 일정한 특성을 지닌 집단이면 어느 것이든 가능하다. 통계학자들은 전체인구(인구조사를 하는 기업)에 대한 데이터를 편집한다. 이것은 정부의 통계관련 법률요약집같은 조직화된 방법으로 수행될 수도 있다. 기술통계학은 모집단의 데이터를 요약하는데 사용된다. 도수 및 비율 (경주 등) 범주 형 데이터를 설명하는 측면에서 더 유용할 동안 수치 기술자는 연속적인 데이터 유형 (소득 등)에 대한 평균과 표준 편차를 포함한다. 데이터 분석 방법 엄청난 자료가 연구되는 현대 사회에서 경제지표연구, 마케팅, 여론조사, 농업, 생명과학, 의료의 임상연구 등 다양한 분야에서 응용되고 있는 통계는 단연 우리 사회에서 가장 필요하고 실용적인 학문이라고 할 수 있다.

수리통계학 
수리통계학은 수학의 방법을 통계학에 적용한 것이다. 통계학은 원래 국가에 대한 과학으로 생각되었는데 즉, 국가의 땅, 경제, 군력, 인구 등에 관한 사실을 수집하고 분석하는 것이었다. 사용되는 수학적 방법은 해석학, 선형 대수학, 확률분석, 미분 방정식과 측도 이론적 확률이론 등을 포함한다.

어원 
영어의 스태티스틱스(statistics ← 통계학, 통계)는 ‘확률’을 뜻하는 라틴어의 statisticus(확률) 또는 statisticum(상태), 이탈리아어의 statista(나라, 정치가) 등에서 유래했다고 한다. 특히 ‘국가’라는 의미가 담긴 이탈리아어 statista의 영향을 받아, 국가의 인력, 재력 등 국가적 자료를 비교 검토하는 학문을 의미하게 되었다. 근대에서의 통계학은 벨기에의 천문학자이자 사회학자이며 근대 통계학을 확립한 인물로 평가 받는 케틀레가 벨기에의 브뤼셀에서 통계학자들로 구성된 9개의 회의를 소집한 것을 기원으로 하고 있다.
수집되고 분류된 숫자 데이터"라는 의미로 사용된 것은 1829년부터이고, 약자로 stats가 처음 기록된 것은 1961년부터이다. 또, 통계학자의 의미인 statistician이 사용된 것은 1825년부터이다.

한자 문화권에서 사용되는 통계(統計)라는 단어의 기원은 명확하게 알려진 바는 없지만, 막부 말기에서 메이지 천황 초년에 걸쳐 양학자인 야나가와 슌친(柳川春三)이 현재의 의미로 이 단어를 처음 사용했다고 여겨진다. 그가 1869년에 편찬한 책자에서 통계가 현재의 용법으로 사용되었다는 기록이 남아있다. 그 후 1871년에는 대장성에 통계사(統計司)와 통계요(統計寮)가 설치되면서 통계라는 단어의 사용이 대중화되었다.

역할 
매우 다양한 분야의 연구에서 주어진 문제에 대하여 적절한 정보를 수집하고 분석하여 해답을 구하는 과정은 아주 중요하다. 이런 방법을 연구하는 과학의 한 분야가 통계학이다. 통계학을 필요로 하는 연구분야는 농업, 생명과학, 환경과학, 산업연구, 품질보증, 시장조사 등 매우 많다. 또한 이러한 연구방식은 기업체와 정부의 의사결정과정에서 현저하게 나타난다. 주어진 문제에 대하여 필요한 자료의 형태, 자료를 수집하는 방법, 문제에 대한 최선의 답을 구하기 위한 분석방법을 결정하는 것이 통계학자의 역할이다.

자료는 어떤 특정한 현상(주제, 사실)을 조사하기 위하여 설계하고 계획한 실험에서 나온다. 이런 종류의 자료, 즉 실험자료는 농업연구와 같은 분야에 흔히 있다. 통계학자들은 이미 나온 실험자료를 분석하는데만 관심이 있지않고, 자원을 효과적으로 사용하고 주어진 문제를 실험으로 해결하기 위하여 처음부터 실험을 계획하는데 관심이 있다.또 다른 형태의 자료를 관측으로부터 얻는다. 조사자들은 연구실 밖으로 나가서 실제로 존재하는 것을 조사한다. 이런 예로는 인구 및 주택센서스와 같은 전수조사, 여론조사, 교통량조사 등등이 있다. 이 경우 조사방법과 설문지 작성은 매우 중요한 문제가 된다.
설문지 조사에 있어서 가장 핵심적인 부분은 설문지 작성 요령이다. 묻고자 하는 질문을 짧고 명확하게 물어야 하고 응답자가 고민을 하지 않고 바로 대답할 수 있도록 구성해야 한다. 설문지는 묻고자 하는 질문이면 무엇이든지 다 물을 수 있는 것이 아니라 문제의 핵심적 내용을 담고 있어야 한다.

기본 용어 
 모집단(母集團, population)은 관측 대상이 되는 전체 집단이다. 조사의 대상이 되는 자료 전체이다. 모집단과 관련해서 기호는 그리스문자를 사용하는 것이 관례이다.
 표본(標本, sample) 또는 표본집단(標本集團)은 모 집단에서 일부만 조사한 것이다. 모집단에서 추출된 자료의 집합이다. 표본과 관련해서 기호로는 영어 알파벳이 관례로 사용된다.
 대푯값(代表값, representative value)은 어떤 데이터를 대표하는 값이다. 평균, 중앙값, 최빈(最頻)값이 있다.
 평균(平均, mean)은 데이터를 모두 더한 후 데이터의 개수로 나눈 값이다.
 중앙값(中央값, median)은 전체 데이터 중 가운데에 있는 수이다. 직원이 100명인 회사에서 직원들 연봉 평균은 5천만원인데 사장의 연봉이 100억인 경우, 회사 전체의 연봉 평균은 1억 4,851만원이 된다. 이처럼 극단적인 값이 있는 경우 중앙값이 평균값보다 유용하다.
 최빈값(最頻값, mode)은 가장 자주 나오는 값이다.
 기댓값(期待값, expected value)은 통계에서는 평균과 같다고 생각하면 된다. 가능한 값마다 확률을 곱해서 모두 더한 것이다.
 산포도(散布度, degree of scattering) 또는 변산성(variability)은 자료가 흩어져 있는 정도를 나타낸다. 범위, 분산, 표준편차 등.
 편차(偏差, deviation)는 관측값에서 평균 또는 중앙값을 뺀 것이다. 즉, 자료값들이 특정값으로부터 떨어진 정도를 나타내는 수치이다.
 분산(分散, variance)은 관측값에서 평균을 뺀 값 즉 편차(deviation)를 제곱하고, 그것을 모두 더한 후 전체 개수로 나눠서 구한다. 즉, 편차들(deviations)의 제곱합(SS,sum of square)에서 평균값이다. 관측값들에서 평균을 뺀 값인 편차를 모두 더하면 0이 나오는 평균의 속성으로 인해서 편차제곱들을 더하게 된다.
 표준 편차(標準偏差, standard deviation)는 분산(分散)을 제곱근한 것이다. 제곱해서 얻은 값이 된 분산의 성질로부터 이를 제곱근해서 다시 원래 크기의 단위로 표준화되도록 만들어준다.
 절대 편차(絶對偏差, absolute deviation)는 관측값에서 평균 또는 중앙값을 빼고, 그 차이에 절대값을 취하고 그 값들의 대푯값을 구한 것이다.
 범위(範圍): 가장 큰 측정값에서 가장 작은 측정값을 뺀 값이다.
 모평균(母平均, population mean) μ는 모집단의 평균이다. 모두 더한 후(後) 전체 데이터 수 n으로 나눈다. 확률 변수의 기댓값이다. 표집분포(標集分布)에서 평균으로 를 사용할 수(數)  있다.
 표본 평균(標集平均, sample mean) 는 표본의 평균이다. 모두 더한 후 n으로 나눈다.
 모분산(母分散, population variance) σ2은 모집단의 분산이다. 관측값에서 모평균을 빼고 그것을 제곱한 값을 모두 더하여 전체 데이터 수 n으로 나눈 것이다.
 표본분산(標本分散, sample variance) s2은 표본의 분산이다. 관측값에서 표본평균을 빼고 제곱한 값을 모두 더한 것을 n-1로 나눈 것이다.
 모표준편차(母標準偏差, population standard deviation) σ는 모집단의 표준편차이다. 모분산 σ2에 제곱근을 씌워서 구한다. 표집분포에서 표준편차로 를 사용할 수 있다.
 표본표준편차(標本標準偏差, sample standard deviation) s는 표본의 표준편차이다. 표본분산 s2에 제곱근을 씌워서 구한다.
 평균 절대 편차((平均絶對偏差, average absolute deviation 또는 mean absolute deviation)는 관측값에서 평균을 빼고, 그 차이값에 절대값을 취하고, 그 값들을 모두 더하여 전체 데이터 개수로 나눠준 것이다. 절대값 편차의 평균이라고 생각하면 된다.
 중앙값 절대 편차(中央값絶對偏差, median absolute deviation)는 관측값에서 중앙값을 빼고, 그 차이에 절대값을 취한 값들의 중앙값을 구한다.
 최소 절대 편차(最小絶對偏差, least absolute deviation)는 회귀 분석(回歸分析, regression analysis)에 사용된다.
 상관관계(相關關係, correlation 또는 correlation analysis)는 두 개의 변량이 어느 정도 규칙적으로 동시에 변화되어 가는 성질이다. 모집단의 상관관계는 ρ , 표본의 상관관계는 r 을 기호로 사용한다.
 신뢰도(信賴度, reliability) : 통계에서 어떠한 값이 알맞은 모평균이라고 믿을 수 있는 정도.
 신뢰 구간(信賴區間, confidence interval, CI) 또는 신뢰 수준(水準, confidence interval level): 1-α나 100(1-α)%의 신뢰 구간.
 유의 수준(有意水準, significance level): 보통 α로 표시한다. 95%의 신뢰도를 기준으로 하면 1-0.95인 0.05가 유의 수준 값이다.
 p-값(p-value, probability value) 또는 유의 확률(significance probability, asymptotic significance): 귀무 가설 H0를 기각할 수 있는 최소한의 유의 수준이다.
 임계 값(臨界값, critical value, threshold value): 검정 통계량의 분포에서 유의 수준 α값에 해당하는 선 위의 값이다.

변인 
변인(變因, variable): 변수(變數)라고도 부르며, 연구의 대상이 되고 있는 일련의 개체를 말한다.
 독립 변인(獨立變因): 다른 변인에게 작용하거나 다른 변인을 예언하거나 설명해 주는 변인. 실험연구의 경우는 독립변인은 실험자에 의하여 임의로 통제되고 조작된다. 따라서 실험변인(experimental variable) 또는 처치변인(處置變因, treatment variable)이라고도 한다.
 종속 변인(從屬變因): 독립변인의 조작결과(操作結果)에 의존하며 이의 효과를 판단하는 준거가 되는 변인.
실험의 기본적인 형태는 어떤 변인이 다른 어떤 변인에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지를 알아보고자 한다.
 매개 변인(媒介變因): 종속변인에 영향을 주는 독립변인 이외의 변인으로서 연구에 통제되어야 할 변인
 양적 변인(量的變因): 양의 크기를 나타내기 위하여 수량으로 표시되는 변인
 질적 변인(質的變因): 변인이 가지고 있는 속성을 수량화 할 수 없는 변인
 연속 변인(連續變因): 주어진 범위 내에서는 어떤 값도 가질 수 있는 변인
 비연속 변인(非連續變因): 특정 수치만을 가진 변인

조사와 척도 
조사대상을 기준으로하면 대상이 되는 통계 집단의 단위를 하나하나 전부 조사하는 관찰 방법인 전수조사(全數調査)와 모집단의 일부를 표본으로 추출하여 조사한 결과로써 모집단 전체의 성질을 추측하는 통계 조사 방법인 표본조사(標本調査)가 대표적인 조사 방법이다.

 전수조사(全數調査): 조사의 대상이 되는 자료 전체를 빠짐없이 조사하는 것이다.(모집단 전체를 조사).
 표본조사(標本調査): 조사의 대상이 되는 자료의 일부만을 택하여 조사함으로써 전체를 추측하는 조사이다. 의식적으로 표본을 추출하는 유의 추출법과 확률론에 입각하여 표본을 추출하는 임의 추출법이 있다.

이러한 조사를 통해 자료를 수집할 때에는 자료의 양질이 측정수준(測定水準)에 따라 분류된다. 자료의 측정수준은 다음과 같이 분류된다. 측정수준에 따라 통계에 이용해야 할 요약 통계량이나 통계 검정법이 다르게 된다.

 분류 자료(分類資料): 수치로 측정이 불가능한 자료이다. 질적 자료라고도 한다.
 명목척도(名目尺度, nominal scale)： 단순한 번호로 차례(次例)의 의미는 없다. (예: 전화번호, 등번호, 성별, 혈액형(血液型), 주소 등.)
 순서척도(서열척도)(順序尺度, ordinal scale)： 순서가 의미를 가지는 번호. (예: 계급, 순위(順位), 등급(等級) 등.)
 수량 자료(數量資料): 수치로 측정이 가능한 자료이다. 양적 자료라고도 한다.
 구간척도(區間尺度, 등간척도(燈竿尺度), interval scale)： 순서뿐만 아니라 그 간격에도 의미가 있으나, 0에 절대적인 의미는 없다. (예: 온도, 지능지수(知能指數) 등.)
 비율척도(比率尺度, ratio scale)： 0을 기준으로 하는 절대적 척도로, 간격뿐만이 아니라 비율에도 의미가 있다. (예: 절대온도(絶對溫度), 금액, 몸무게, 키 등.)

리커트법 
리커트법(Likert法) 또는 리커트 척도(Likert scale)는 1932년 리커트(Likert, R.)가 고안한 태도 측정법이다. 응답자가 동의나 반대의 정도를 나타내도록 질문을 하는 형태이다.

통계적 방법

실험 계획 
조직적인 통계 조사가 이뤄지기 전까지는 질문서를 만들어 선정된 가구에 배포하는 방식을 이용했다. 실험계획은 자료수집전에 미리 어떻게 실험할것인지 계획하여, 원하는 자료를 정확하게 수집하고 기록할 수 있도록 하는 과정이다. 자료 수집의 규모와 대상, 할당 방법을 바르게 결정하고 정당한 자료를 수집할 수 있도록 검토한다. 설문지 작성법 등도 여기에 포함된다.

설문지 작성 
설문지 작성은 실험계획의 일부이기도 하지만, 대개 별개의 실습을 통해 체득하여야 한다. 설문지는 "앙케이트(Enquete)"라고도 하며 통계 자료에 필요한 자료를 수집하기 위해 필요한 질문들을 기록하는 하나의 서식이다. 이를 이용해 설문지 작성자, 응답자들의 객관적인 생각, 각자의 가치와 신념, 태도 등과 같은 여러 정보를 수집할 수 있다. 설문지는 가능한 표준화 되도록 작성해야한다. 필요한 정보를 더욱 포괄적으로 획득하기 위해 설문지는 다섯 가지 요소 응답자에 대한 협조요청, 식별자료, 지시사항, 설문문항, 응답자의 분류를 위한 자료로 구성된다. 설문지는 여러 번 수정, 검토 과정을 거쳐야 의도한 자료의 수집이 가능하다. 설문지를 이용한 통계자료 수집은 비교적 비용이 적게들고 큰 표본에도 쉽게 적용이 가능하다는 장점이 있다. 그러나 다른 자료수집 방법에 비해 무응답률이 높은 편이며 응답에 대한 보충설명의 기회가 주어지지 않는다는 단점이 있다.

추론 통계 
추론 통계(statistical inference)는 기술통계로 어떤 모집단에서 구한 표본정보를 가지고 그 모집단의 특성 및 가능성 등을 추론해내는 통계적 방법이다. 보통 수집된 자료는 어떻게 분석해야 할지 미리 정해져 있기도 하지만, 대부분 획득한 자료(모집단)을 가지고 여러 그래프를 그려보는 와중에 또다른 별개의 분석방법을 추가로 채택할 필요성을 느끼게 된다. 이러한 모집단에 대한 전체적 조감을 해보고 또다른 분석방향을 모색해 보는 과정에 해당한다. 추론 통계는 바탕인 기술 통계량이 있어야 한다. 이 추론 통계를 하는 이유는 모든 사람을 대상으로 검사를 하는 것은 비합리적이고 대규모 집단을 가지고 연구하는 것이 소수의 집단을 가지고 연구하는 것보다 훨씬 경제적이고 효율적이기 때문이다. 추론 통계는 기술 통계량의 정확성을 유지하는 작업으로서 사용한다. 보통 일반적인 추론은 실험 결과가 기존의 방식, 또는 다른 품종간 비교 등에서 차이점이 유의한지를 검증하는 것이다.

기술 통계 
기술통계(記述統計,descriptive statistics)는 측정이나 실험에서 수집한 자료의 정리, 표현, 요약, 해석 등을 통해 자료의 특성을 규명하는 통계적 방법이다. 기술통계에는 분석방향에 따라 여러가지가 있다. 단순한 평균 분산 등의 기초적인 분석 이외에, 모집단에서 어떤인자들이 있는지 뽑아내보는 인자분석과, 특정표본이 어떤모집단에 속하는지(원 모집단을 어떻게 여러 집단으로 나눠야 하는지) 판단하는 판별분석, 두 인자간의 상호관계에 대한 정준상관분석, 인자들의 숫자를 줄여 단순화하는 주성분분석, 그 외 군집분석 등, 다양한 분석방법이 존재한다.

통계분석 소프트웨어 
 SAS(Statistical Analysis System) - 기업체에서 주로 쓰는 대표적 프로그램이다. 큰 규모의 자료를 편리하게 다룰 수 있으나 각종 통계 분석 결과를 왜곡해서 보여준다는 비판을 받기도 한다.
 R은 무료 공개 통계 프로그래밍 및 개발환경이다. S 언어에 바탕을 두고 개발되었으며, 학술적 목적으로 널리 사용된다. 새로 개발된 분석 방법들이 확장 패키지를 통해 공개되고 있다.
 SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences)는 1995년 윈도 버전이 출시되었다. IBM에서 개발하고있다.
다양한 통계분석을 할 수 있고 사회과학, 의학 등 전 분야에서 다양하게 쓰이는 프로그램이나 계산 속도가 느려 큰 규모의 자료를 다루기에는 편리하지 않다.
 PSPP - 샘플 데이터 분석 및 통계(統計)를 위한 무료 및 공개 소프트웨어 애플리케이션으로 IBM SPSS와 대부분 호환된다
 MINITAB - 학교와 기업에서 품질관리와 통계학 교육용으로 많이 사용되는 프로그램이다.
 RevMan - 코크란 리뷰 메니저(Cochrane Review Manager)인 RevMan은 코크란(Cochrane)에서 제공하는 의료보건분야의 무료 메타분석 프로그램이다.

통계학 관련 학문 
통계학은 컴퓨터 과학, 프로그래밍 언어, 선형대수학, 해석학, 분포론, 수치해석, 확률론 등 여러 학문과 관련되어 있다.

통계학과 사회과학의 발전에 따라 분산분석, 회귀분석, 요인분석 등과 같은 평가모형들이 발전되고, 이들이 정책평가에 응용됨으로써 정책영향의 평가에 공헌을 하고 있으며, 아직도 계속 발전되어 가는 과정에 있다.

특히 정보화사회와 빅데이터 시대를 맞아 다양한 사회정보의 수집·분석·활용을 담당하는 새로운 직종으로 기업, 정당, 지방자치단체, 중앙정부 등 각종 단체의 시장조사 및 여론조사 등에 대한 계획을 수립하고 조사를 수행하며 그 결과를 체계적으로 분석, 보고서를 작성하는 관련 학문이 필요하게 되어 사회조사분석학이 등장하게 된다.

사회조사분석사란 기업이나 정당, 지자체, 중앙정부 등 각종 단체가 필요로 하는 조사를 수행해 분석, 보고하는 전문 인력군이다. 주로 경영, 조사기획, 자료분석, 마케팅 분야에서 일하므로 조사방법론, 사회통계, SPSS 통계분석 실무 등의 지식을 필요로 한다.

통계학의 변화 
현대에 들어와 데이터 과학자들로 구성된 통계 조직은 기관과 단체 그리고 기업의 수익에 영향을 미치는 다양한 데이터를 입체적으로 분석하고 결론을 얻어낸다. 미래를 예측해 더 나은 결과물을 처방한다. 수많은 데이터 가운데 의미 있는 데이터를 찾아냄으로써 더 나은 의사결정을 돕는 작업이 있는데 데이터 클리닝, 데이터 마이닝 등이다.

기업과 기관마다 부르는 이름은 다르지만, 생산·판매와 서비스 등 핵심 직무에서 영업력 개선과 사원 복지 등 전 영역에 걸쳐 이같은 데이터 과학 조직의 역할은 전방위로 확대되고 있다. 업계에서는 주요 데이터에 대한 분석과 통계가 이뤄지는 비즈니스인텔리전스(BI) 조직이라 부른다. 데이터 분석 조직을 운영하는 IT 조직은 시스템에서 나오는 각종 데이터를 분석해 기업의 핵심 영역에 가치를 더하는 조직으로 변모 중이다.

전사자원관리(ERP)고객관계관리(CRM)생산관리시스템(MES)경영 정보 시스템(MIS)전략적 기업 경영(SEM) 등 각종 시스템에서 쏟아지는 수많은 데이터에 대한 분석능력이 미래를 예측하는 핵심 경쟁력인 시대, 이른바 `데이터 경영` 시대의 개막이 시작되었다. 이러한 시대를 ‘빅 데이터’ 기술의 시대라고 하는데 미국의 유명 경제 출판 및 미디어 기업인 포브스도 미래의 유망직업 중 하나로 '데이터 마이너(정보수집 분석가)'를 선정하기도 했다.

포브스에 의하면 빅 데이터(Big Data) 데이터 마이닝이란 기존 데이터베이스 관리도구의 데이터 수집·저장·관리·분석의 역량을 넘어서는 대량의 정형 또는 비정형 데이터 세트 및 이러한 데이터로부터 가치를 추출하고 결과를 분석하는 기술로되는 ‘빅 데이터’를 보완, 마케팅, 시청률조사, 경영 등으로부터 체계화해 분류, 예측, 연관분석 등의 데이터 마이닝을 거쳐 통계학적으로 결과를 도출해 내고 있다.

대한민국에서는 2000년부터 정보통신부의 산하단체로 사단법인 한국BI데이터마이닝학회가 설립되어 데이터 마이닝에 관한 학술과 기술을 발전, 보급, 응용하고 있다. 또한 국내·외 통계분야에서 서서히 빅 데이터 활용에 대한 관심과 필요성이 커지고 있는 가운데 국가통계 업무를 계획하고 방대한 통계자료를 처리하는 국가기관인 통계청이 빅 데이터를 연구하고 활용방안을 모색하기 위한 '빅 데이터 연구회'를 발족하였다.
하지만 업계에 따르면, 미국과 영국, 일본 등 선진국들은 이미 빅 데이터를 다각적으로 분석해 조직의 전략방향을 제시하는 데이터과학자 양성에 사활을 걸고 있다. 그러나 한국은 정부와 일부 기업이 데이터과학자 양성을 위한 프로그램을 진행 중에 있어 아직 걸음마 단계인 것으로 알려져 있다.

같이 보기 
 통계역학
 통계적 유의성
 통계적 가설
 통계적 추론
 통계청
 통계교육원
 통계개발원
 빅 데이터
 구조방정식 모델링(SEM)
 개념적 모형
 연구설계
 Z테스트

각주

외부 링크 
 
 
  통계청 홈페이지
  한국통계학회 홈페이지
  한국조사연구학회 홈페이지
  통계분석연구회

 
형식과학

컴퓨터 과학(, 컴퓨터 사이언스) 또는 전산학(電算學)은 계산(computation), 정보(information) 그리고 자동화(automation)에 대한 학문이다.

컴퓨터 과학은 알고리즘, 계산 및 정보에 대한 이론적 연구에서부터 하드웨어와 소프트웨어의 계산 시스템 구현에 대한 실질적인 문제에 이르기까지 다양한 주제에 걸쳐 있다.

전산 이론 및 시스템 설계를 다루는 전문가를 컴퓨터 과학자 또는 전산학자라 부른다.

외국에서는 컴퓨터 공학()을 컴퓨터과학(, 컴퓨터 사이언스) 분야 중에서 하드웨어를 다루는 세부 영역의 명칭으로 사용하는데 대한민국에서는 컴퓨터과학과 같은 뜻으로 자리 잡았다. Stanford의 경우 Computer Science전공에서 Computer Engineering트랙을 제공한다.[]

Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)이라는 이름으로 교육 프로그램을 운영하는 대학도 존재한다.

컴퓨터 과학의 분야는 (알고리즘, 계산 이론, 정보 이론 같은 )이론적인 분야와 (하드웨어와 소프트웨어 설계 및 구현을 포함한 )실용적인 분야로 나눌 수 있다. 예를 들어, 컴퓨터 그래픽스나 계산 기하학은 보다 구체적인 응용을 강조하는 반면, 계산 이론은 추상적인 계산 모델과 그것들을 사용하여 해결할 수 있는 일반적인 종류의 문제에 관한 것이다. 알고리즘과 데이터 구조는 컴퓨터 과학의 심장이라고 불려왔다. 프로그래밍 언어론은 계산 프로세스의 설명에 대한 접근 방식을 고려하는 반면, 컴퓨터 프로그래밍은 복잡한 시스템을 만들기 위해 그것들을 사용하는 것을 포함한다. 컴퓨터 구조는 컴퓨터 구성요소와 컴퓨터 작동원리를 설명한다. 인공지능은 인간과 동물에게서 발견되는 문제 해결, 의사결정, 환경 적응, 계획, 학습과 같은 목표 지향적인 과정을 종합하는 것을 목표로 한다. 디지털 컴퓨터는 다양한 정보 과정을 시뮬레이션할 수 있다. 컴퓨터 과학의 근본적인 관심사는 자동화할 수 있는 것과 없는 것을 결정하는 것이다. 컴퓨터 과학자들은 보통 학술 연구에 집중한다. 튜링상은 일반적으로 컴퓨터 과학에서 가장 뛰어난 상으로 인정받고 있다.

컴퓨터 과학은 정보 및 전산의 이론적 기초와 그것의 구현 및 응용을 위한 실용적인 기술을 다룬다.

컴퓨터의 이용 
1960년 전만 하더라도 컴퓨터는 이 세상에 존재하지 않았고 몇몇 선각자의 상상 속에서만 자리하고 있었다. 1946년 최초의 컴퓨터인 ENIAC이 출현한 이래 EDSAC·UNIVAC·MARK 등의 진보를 거쳐 작금에 이르러서는 정보화 사회·정보산업의 시대가 도래하였다. 폭발적인 수요확대로 초고속성장·진보를 거듭한 컴퓨터는 이용범위도 확대되어 산업사회의 다양한 분야에서 이용됨은 물론 일반 가정에서도 이용되고 있다. 제2차 대전 후 처음으로 산업에 이용되기 시작한 컴퓨터는 단순한 계산대체기능(計算代替機能)에서, 의사결정기능(意思決定機能)에 참여할 가능성을 보여주는 비약적인 발전을 보였고, 경영행동(經營行動)의 본질조차도 바꾸고 있다. 이러한 사실은 경영정보시스템(MIS) 지향(志向)의 많은 예에서 볼 수 있듯이, 기업에 있어서 컴퓨터 이용의 최종 목표로서의 전략적 의사결정으로의 효과적 이용을 다할 수 있는 가능성을 증대시키고 있음을 알 수 있다. 즉 커뮤니케이션 기술의 병행적 개발·이용의 진전과 더불어 컴퓨터는 직접 라인 업무의 일부로 되어 있고, 더욱이 수치제어(數値制御：numerical control) 등에서 실증되는 바와 같이 프로세스 제어의 활용분야를 확대하고 있다. 공정자동화, 사무자동화, 혁명으로 지칭되는 경영구조의 개선은 퍼스털 컴퓨터의 보급확대로 나타난 가정의 정보화와 연결되어 공공·금융·유통 서비스가 일체화된 사회·정보통신시스템을 구축하게 되어 원재료의 구매에서 판매시점에 이르는 총체적 관리와 EFTS(전자식 동시결제시스템)의 구축이 가능해진다. 이것은 프로그래밍의 개발의 가속화(加速化) 또는 문제 해결 기술의 진보로 컴퓨터가 기업경영에의 정착을 확고히 했다는 반증이다. 그러나 역시 계산기 개발상에서 애로가 되는 것은 소프트웨어(software)의 문제이며, 이와 같은 소프트웨어(software)·하드웨어(hardware) 또는 여러 인자간의 발전에 있어서 갭을 어떻게 메우느냐 하는 문제가 야기되어 결국 계산기를 독립적인 학문으로 연구·개발시키려는 계산기 과학이라는 새로운 학문이 태동되는 것이다.

용어 
이 말은 새크먼(H. Sackman)에 의하면 '컴퓨터 과학이란 수학·논리학·언어분석·프로그래밍·컴퓨터디자인·정보시스템·시스템스 엔지니어링 등의 공헌과 컴퓨터 개발과 이것의 응용에 관한 이론적·응용적인 훈련교육(訓練敎育)을 중심으로 광범위하게 걸친 연구분야이다'라고 정의한다. 그는 제2차 세계대전 후의 컴퓨터에 상관되는 모든 활동은 '컴퓨터 과학'이라고 하는 학제간연구(interdisciplinary) 영역을 형성하고, 급속한 발전을 가져온 것이라 하고, 1964년에 애치슨(W. H. Atchison) 및 햄블렌(G.W. Hamblen) 등이 개발한 상관영역도(相關領域圖)를 소개하였다. 컴퓨터 과학이라는 하나의 체계의 학문적 인정은 별문제로 하고 그것이 나날이 기성과학에의 참획(參劃), 공헌을 확대하여 인터디스플리너리한 특질을 급속히 변화시키고 있는 것은 명백하다. 애치슨 및 햄블렌은 '컴퓨터 과학'에 대해서 미국·캐나다·멕시코의 93개 대학을 대상으로 해서 앙케트 조사를 하였다. 그 결과로서 거의 모든 대학이 '정보과학'이나 '시스템 엔지니어링'보다 '컴퓨터 과학'이라는 용어를 더 선호하는 것으로 나타났다. 또 1965년 미국의 컴퓨팅기기협회(Association of Computer Machinery)는 이 협회가 조직한 컴퓨터 과학에 관한 커리큘렴(curriculum) 위원회의 권고서(勸告書)를 공개하고 컴퓨터 과학이 단지 컴퓨팅 디바이스나 수치계산의 기술(art)이 아니고, 물리학이 에너지에 관련되는 것과 같은 의의 이상으로 정보문제를 보다 광의(廣義)로 다루는 과학체계임을 논증하고 있다. 이에 관해서 1965년 9월에 캐나다의 서(西)온트리오 대학이 주최한 '시스템과 컴퓨터 과학 콘퍼런스'가 열렸다. 여기서 캐나다의 모든 대학에서의 컴퓨터 과학교육의 방향을 설정하는 토론이 있었고, 새로운 과학의 정의를 비롯해서 경계영역·교수방법 등의 연구·개발결과가 발표되었다. 그 성과의 일단으로서 컴퓨터 과학이 수치분석·응용통계·OR·데이터 처리 등의 여러 영역에 있어서 순수연구보다는 오히려 응용과학으로서의 프레임워크제에 서서의 설정을 목표로 하는 것이 명백해졌다. 또 이러한 전제에서 정보과학(information science)과 컴퓨터 과학의 상관성(相關性)에 관한 이론적 분석, 또는 컴퓨터 연구에 있어서의 이론과 응용간의 불균형 문제가 논구되었다. 이 콘퍼런스는 세계적으로 최초의 시도인 것으로 생각되는데 캐나다의 대학교육에서 '컴퓨터 과학'의 커리큘럼에의 편입은 다른 나라에 앞서는 것으로 보인다.

컴퓨터 과학의 정의의 문제점 
컴퓨터가 미국의 산업 사회에서도 불가결한 존재로서 실제로 많이 쓰이고 있는 것은 부정할 수 없는 사실이지만, '컴퓨터 과학'의 본질에 관한 학계의 논쟁은 아직도 활발하다. 이러한 논쟁과는 별도로 '컴퓨터 과학'에 관한 출판물은 그 정의(定義) 확립 이전에 많이 나와 있고, 이 현상은 MIS의 경우와 많은 유사점을 지닌다고 하겠다. 맥그로 힐(McGraw－Hill Book Co.)의 '컴퓨터 과학 문헌 안내'를 비롯해서 각 출판사가 컴퓨터 과학도서의 선전에 힘을 기울이고 있는 것도 사실이다. 그러면 '컴퓨터 과학'이라는 학문체계가 과연 존재하는가, 존재한다면 그 본질은 어떠한 것인가에 대한 문제점이 거론된다.

컴퓨터 과학의 본질 
1967년 사이먼(H. A. Simon) 교수는 이와 같은 기본적 의문에 대해서 뉴웰(A. Newell)·펠리스(A.G. Pelris)와의 연명으로 『사이언스』지의 공개장(公開狀)에서 다음과 같이 말했다. 그 내용을 요약하면, 현상(現象)이 있는 곳에는 이 현상을 기술하는 과학이 존재한다. 예컨대 식물학이 식물연구의 과학이고, 또 천문학이 별 연구를 목적으로 하는 과학인 것처럼 모든 과학은 현상에 의해서 창조된다. 따라서 컴퓨터가 있는 한, 컴퓨터를 연구하는 과학으로서의 '컴퓨터 과학'이 있어야 할 것이다. 컴퓨터를 둘러싼 환경,현상이 여러 갈래고 복잡하며 문제점이 다수 존재하는 오늘날, 그런 것의 과학적인 추구의 중요성은 다른 모든 과학의 그것에 비해 다름이 없음을 명백히 하고, 회의론자(懷疑論者)에 의해서 제기된 반론(反論)에 대해서, 논리적인 6가지 점을 열거하여 과학으로서의 정당성을 주장하고 있다. 우선, 자연현상만이 과학을 창조하며, 컴퓨터는 인위(人爲) 인공적인 데다 그에 대한 불변의 법칙이 없다. 따라서 과학적인 논거가 불비하다는 반론에 대해서는, 컴퓨터나 컴퓨터 프로그램은 나날이 발전하고 있고, 또한 컴퓨터의 정의(定義)는 명확하지 않으며, 그 뜻이 새로운 개발에 의해서 변화한다고 해도 과학의 현상, 영역은 모두 항상 변화하는 것이며, 컴퓨터 과학만이 그러한 것은 아니라고 하였다. 천문학도 당초에는 천체 사이의 가스는 그 영역 밖에 있었고, 물리학에도 방사선이 포함되지 않았으며, 심리학도 동물행동의 연구를 범위 외로 하였던 시대가 있었음을 지적하고, 또 수학이 지난날에는 '수량의 과학'이라고 정의되었던 사실을 예증(例證)하고 있다. '컴퓨터 과학'은 어디까지나 컴퓨터를 둘러싼 현상의 연구를 하려는 과학이지 컴퓨터를 온도계와 같이 단지 기기(機器)로서 파악하는 것을 부정한다. 그리고 과학을 일렉트로닉스나 수학·심리학 등의 분지과학(分枝科學)이라고 하는 반론에 대해서, 컴퓨터의 연구에는 위에 든 기존과학의 연구도 필요하다는 것을 긍정하면서도 현상이 과학의 중심(中心)을 정의하고 타과학과의 경계를 정의하는 것이 아니며, 그 예증(例證)으로서 생화학(生化學)이 동물학·화학의 어느 것의 존재도 부정하는 것이 아니라는 것을 지적하고 있다. 또 컴퓨터가 공학에 귀속하며, 과학의 대상이 될 수 없지 않은가라는 의문에 대해서는, 전기가 물리학과 공학, 식물(植物)이 식물학과 농학(農學)에 각각 상관되는 것과 같이 컴퓨터도 공학과 과학의 양자에 상관한다. '컴퓨터 과학'은 그것의 전문적인 과학으로서의 발전과정에서 더욱 더 분석(分析)과 가설(假設)과의 조합(組合), 순수연구와 애플리케이션 분석의 통합적(統合的) 그리고 상관적 전개를 통해서 학문적 체계의 특성을 명확히 할 필연성을 갖는다고 말하고 있다. 여하간 '컴퓨터 과학'이 생명력을 갖춘 컴퓨터의 추구를 목적으로 한 과학체계로서 발전할 것은 사실이며, 컴퓨터 과학자의 과제는 여러 인접과학자와의 상관활동을 활발히 하고, '컴퓨터 과학'으로 하여금 인간사회 진보를 위해 유효한 과학체계로서 공헌할 수 있도록 하는 데 있다고 할 수 있다.

역사 
컴퓨터 과학의 역사는 현대의 디지털 컴퓨터의 역사만을 가리키는 것이 아니다. 주판과 같이 계산을 수행하는 기계는 오래전부터 있었다. 1623년에는 최초의 계산기계가 만들어졌고, 찰스 배비지는 19세기 초에 차분기관을 만들었다. 1900년대에 들어서 IBM사가 펀치카드 시스템(PCS)을 개발하여 회계에 관련된 일을 하도록 보급하였다. 하지만 이들 모두는 주어진 한 가지의 일만 수행할 수 있었다.

1920년 이전까지 '컴퓨터'(computer)는 계산(compute)을 담당하는 사무관을 일컫는 용어였다. 쿠르트 괴델, 알론조 처치, 앨런 튜링과 같은 컴퓨터 과학 초기의 학자들은 계산 가능성 문제(종이와 연필만을 가진 사무관이 철저하게 어떠한 지시에 따라 행동하여 계산할 수 있는 것들은 어떤 것들인가?)에 흥미를 느꼈다. 이러한 흥미는 계산이라고 하는, 지겨울 수도 있고 오류율이 높은 작업을 자동화하고자 하는 욕구로부터 비롯되었다. 그들은 이리하여 한 가지의 종류의 작업만 수행할 수 있었던 기존의 기계들과는 다른, 이론적으로 어떠한 계산도 가능한 기계를 만들고자 했다. 이러한 노력이 현대 컴퓨터 과학의 지평을 열었다.

1940년대에 들어서자 더욱 강력한 기능을 지닌 계산기들이 등장했고, 이때부터 '컴퓨터'는 사람이 아닌 이들 기계를 부르는 용어로 굳어졌다. 컴퓨터가 단순한 숫자 계산보다 더 다양한 기능을 할 수 있는 것들이 알려지면서 컴퓨터 과학이라는 분야가 더욱 넓어지기 시작했다. 1960년대부터 여러 대학에 컴퓨터 과학 학과와 전공 과정이 생기면서 컴퓨터 과학이 학문으로 인정받기 시작하였으며, 학문의 쓰임새에 따라 세분되었다.

미국의 컴퓨터 과학 
컴퓨터는 이제 '컴퓨터 만능'으로까지 지칭될 만큼 시대의 총아이며 미래의 청사진이기도 하다. 이미 독립적인 사고능력을 가진 컴퓨터가 나타나고 있는데, 미국의 경우에는 일리노이대학에서 컴퓨터와 인간간의 대화에 의해서 학습을 진행하는 CAI(Computer Aided Instruction) 시스템이 시도되고 있다. 특히 미국은 정부 민간기업체 차원에서 컴퓨터 과학연구개발을 위해 대학 또는 민간연구단체에 막대한 재정지원과 프로젝트를 추천해 오고 있다. 이에 따라 미국의 학계에서 커리큘럼 속에 인터디시플리너리적 과학으로서의 컴퓨터 과학 강좌를 설치할 것을 검토하였으며, 컴퓨터 시대에 대응하기 위한 대학의 역할에 적극적인 자세를 보이고, 이 몇 해 동안에 유명한 대학의 경영대학원에서 컴퓨터 강좌를 병설하는 곳이 증가하고 있다. 또한 많은 컴퓨터 사이언스 담당교수가 있다고 한다. 예컨대 사이먼(H.A. Simon) 교수는 1966년 이후 컴퓨터 사이언스 심리학담당 교수로 활약하고 있다. 또한 OR의 세계적 권위자이며 파이어니어인 스탠포드대학의 단치히(G.H. Dantzig) 박사도 컴퓨터 사이언스를 강의하고 있다. 경영과학(managment science)의 여러 기법(技法)과 컴퓨터와의 연동(連動)을 전제로 한 문제해결법(problem solving)의 발전이 컴퓨터 효과의 증대에 기여할 가능성을 크게 나타내고 있는데도 불구하고 '컴퓨터 과학'의 침투가 늦어지고 있는 이유로서는 ① 경영과학의 응용성의 결여, ② 인터디시플리너리한 어프로치에 있어서의 통합이론(統合理論), 또는 기술상의 미(未)발달 등을 들 수 있다 다시 말해서 경영관리의 환경 적응성의 이론적 프레임워크의 설정 곤란, 교육시스템의 개발 지체에 있는 것이다. 이 문제를 고려함에 있어 정보과학 또는 MIS의 발달과정을 정사(精査)하는 것도 중요하다. 즉 MIS의 조속한 이용을 기대한 경영자의 실망에 비추어 보아 컴퓨터 사이언스에 대한 의문이나 재고(再考)의식이 나온 것도 부정할 수 있다. 컴퓨터 과학을 둘러싼 논의가 활발해졌지만, 그 전체로서 컴퓨터 과학이 경영관리의 혁신에 있어서 진실로 가치 있는 과학체계임을 명백히 할 필요가 있다. 따라서 캐나다의 컴퓨터 교육의 발전을 논하기 이전에 미국에서의 논쟁을 추적함으로써 그 본질과 방향에 대해 고찰하는 것도 중요한 일이 되겠다.

다른 분야와의 관계 
컴퓨터 과학은 오늘날 많은 사람들이 사용하는 컴퓨터라는 기계에 대한 학문으로 한정되지 않는다. 유명한 컴퓨터 과학자 에츠허르 데이크스트라는 "컴퓨터 과학에서 컴퓨터란, 천문학에서 망원경 이상의 것이 아니다."라고 하였다.

컴퓨터 과학 연구는 수학, 인지 과학, 물리학, 그리고 언어학과 같은 학문과 공생한다.

많은 과학 분야와 비슷하게 컴퓨터 과학도 수학과 가장 밀접한 관계를 가지고 있을뿐만 아니라, 수학에 기초를 둔 과학의 한 분야이다. 컴퓨터 과학의 기초에 큰 영향을 미친 수학이 조지 불의 불 대수이다. 불 대수는 이진법을 기반으로 한 대수학으로, 그 외에 체론과 환론 또한 중요한 영향을 미쳤다. 초기의 컴퓨터 과학은 쿠르트 괴델과 앨런 튜링 등의 수학자들이 큰 영향을 끼쳤고, 수리논리학, 범주론, 도메인 이론, 대수학과 같은 수학 분류들은 컴퓨터 과학과 함께 발전하고 있다.

스탠 켈리-부틀은 "과학과 컴퓨터 과학의 관계는 유체동력학과 납공업의 관계와 같다"라고 말하였다. 이는 컴퓨터 과학이 과학의 특성을 충분히 갖지 않는다는 오해에 기인한다. 

컴퓨터 과학과 소프트웨어 공학의 관계에 대해서는 논란이 많다. 컴퓨터 과학과 소프트웨어 공학의 용어 정의가 많은 사람들에게 다소 모호하게 보이기 때문이다. 소프트웨어 공학은 컴퓨터 과학의 한 분야에 불과하다고 말하는 사람들이 있는 반면, 소프트웨어 공학은 다른 분야에 대한 응용이나 자원을 운용하는 방법 등 실용적인 특징에서 컴퓨터 과학의 다른 분야와 잘 구분된다.

컴퓨터 과학과 경영 관리 
사이먼은 컴퓨터와 사상의 관계에 대해서 '컴퓨터가 인간의 이미지에 따라서 조직되는 것이라면, 컴퓨터는 명백히 인간행동에 대한 택일적(擇一的) 조직상(組織上)의 가설에서 생기는 결과를 개발하는 기기(機器)이다'라고 말하고, 인간행동의 깊은 이해를 얻기 위한 수단으로서의 컴퓨터 시뮬레이션(computer simulation)의 중요한 역할과 의의를 밝히고 있다. 이 뜻을 경영관리의 향상이라는 관점에서 파악할 경우, 맨머신 시스템(man-machine system)의 원의(原義)가 밝혀질 것으로 생각되지만, 컴퓨터의 본질과 적용분야의 과학적 추구를 적극화하고, 컴퓨터에 대한 투자의 최적 효과의 창출에 체계적으로 노력함이 경영관리의 도전적 과제라고 이해할 수 있다. 또 이와 같은 방향설정이 긍정된다면, 경영교육 커리큘럼 편성에 있어서의 '컴퓨터 과학'의 위치 설정도 명백해질 것으로 생각되지만, 교육기간은 말할 것도 없고, 기업조직에서 과학으로서의 컴퓨터 사고(思考)는 가속적(加速的) 보편화를 이룰 것이 명확하다. 경영관리에 대한 컴퓨터의 임팩트(impact)의 본질적 이해와 대응책도 컴퓨터의 과학적 추구에 크게 의존할 것이라는 점을 강조함과 동시에 '컴퓨터 과학'이 경영학 혁신의 에이전트(agent)적 기능을 다할 것이라는 점을 지적해야 한다.

분야 
컴퓨터 과학은 그 이론의 적용법에 따라 여러 분야로 나뉜다. 일반적인 분류는 다음과 같다.

인접 학문 

 정보철학
 정보심리학
 인지과학
 언어학
 사이버네틱스

바탕이 되는 이론 
 이산수학
 정보이론
 수리논리학
 도메인 이론
 확률론과 통계학
 암호학

이론 컴퓨터 과학 
 계산 이론
 그래프 이론
 최적화 이론
 오토마타 이론
 유형 이론
 정보 이론
 부호 이론
 양자 컴퓨팅
 계산 가능성 이론
 형식언어
 람다 대수

알고리즘과 자료 구조 
 알고리즘
 알고리즘 분석
 확률적 알고리즘
 자료 구조
 계산기하학
 조합 최적화

프로그래밍 언어론과 정형 기법 
 프로그래밍 언어
 유형이론
 컴파일러
 자동 정리 증명

병행·병렬·분산 컴퓨팅 
 병렬 컴퓨팅
 그리드 컴퓨팅
 병행 컴퓨팅
 병행성
 분산 컴퓨팅

소프트웨어 공학 

 소프트웨어 공학
 컴퓨터 프로그래밍

컴퓨터 시스템 

 컴퓨터 공학
 컴퓨터 아키텍처
 마이크로아키텍처
 명령어 집합 구조
 다중 처리
 운영 체제
 실시간 컴퓨팅
 프로세서 디자인

네트워크 
 컴퓨터 네트워크

인공지능 
 자동 추론
 로보틱스
 컴퓨터 비전
 기계 학습
 진화 연산
 자율 컴퓨팅
 패턴 인식
 지식 표현
 강화 학습
 심층 학습
 인공 신경망
 떼 지능
 게임이론
 Algorithmic game theory
 인공생명

데이터베이스 
 데이터베이스
 데이터 마이닝
 검색 엔진

컴퓨터 그래픽스와 시각화 
 2차원 컴퓨터 그래픽스
 3차원 컴퓨터 그래픽스
 계산기하학
 컴퓨터 애니메이션
 렌더링
 혼합 현실
 가상 현실
 솔리드 모델링

이미지 처리와 음향 처리 

 FFT 알고리즘
 이미지 처리
 음성 인식
 데이터 압축
 음성 합성

소셜 컴퓨팅과 인간과 컴퓨터 상호 작용 

 소셜 컴퓨팅
 인간과 컴퓨터 상호작용

계산과학 

 수치해석학
 계산생물학
 계산물리학
 계산화학
 생물정보학
 신경정보학
 계산신경과학
 기호계산

프로그래밍 패러다임 

 함수형 프로그래밍
 명령형 프로그래밍
 선언형 프로그래밍
 객체지향 프로그래밍
 절차적 프로그래밍

같이 보기 
 컴퓨터과학자
 컴퓨터과학자 목록
 튜링상
 ACM 
 컴퓨터 공학

각주

외부 링크 

 
 루치아노 플로리디, 정보철학(The Philosophy of Information)

 
응용과학
컴퓨터 공학
형식과학

위키백과(위키百科, ) 또는 위키피디아(, )는 누구나 자유롭게 쓸 수 있는 다언어판 인터넷 백과사전이다. 개방된 협업을 통해 위키 기반 편집 시스템을 사용하여 자발적인 위키백과 사용자 공동체가 작성하고 관리하고 있다. 위키백과는 대표적인 집단 지성의 사례로 평가받고 있으며 사상 최대의, 가장 많이 읽힌 참고서이기도 하다. 시밀러웹과 (과거) 알렉사 인터넷에서 가장 인기있는 웹사이트 10곳 중 하나로 꾸준히 순위를 올리고 있다. 2022년 기준으로 위키백과는 세계에서 5번째로 인기있는 사이트로 순위를 올렸다. 위키백과는 자유 저작물을 보유하고 상업적인 광고가 없으며 주로 기부금을 통해 지원을 받는 비영리 단체인 위키미디어 재단이 소유하고 지원하고 있다.

2001년 1월 15일 지미 웨일스와 래리 생어가 창립하였다. 생어는 위키(wiki)와 백과사전(encyclopedia)이라는 두 이름을 섞어서 '위키피디아'라는 이름을 만들어냈다. 웨일스는 프리드리히 하이에크와 오스트리아 경제학파와 관련된 자생적 질서의 영향을 받았으며 이 개념들은 자유지상주의 경제학자 마크 손턴을 통해 노출되었다. 처음에는 영어판만 제공되다가 빠르게 다른 언어판들의 개발이 이루어졌다. 2023년을 기준으로 영어판 약 660만여 개, 한국어판 개를 비롯하여 300여 언어판을 합하면 전체 위키백과의 일반 문서(넘겨주기와 막다른 문서 제외) 수는 5,500만 개를 넘으며, 한 달 순수 방문자 수는 약 17억명이다. 2006년 타임지는 누구나 편집하도록 허용하는 정책이 위키백과를 세계 최대의 백과사전으로 만들었다고 기술했다.

위키백과는 를 달성하고 다양한 분야, 고유한 구조와 문화를 갖춘 것 외에도 상업적 편향의 정도를 줄였다는 점에서 좋은 평가를 받아왔다. 그러나 여성에 대한 젠더 편향, 이념적 편향 등 구조적 편향을 노출했다는 점에서는 비판을 받았다. 위키백과의 신뢰도는 2000년대에 종종 비판을 받았으나 시간이 지남에 따라 개선되어 2010년대 말과 2020년대 초에 대체로 좋은 평가를 받았다. 코로나19 범유행, 러시아의 우크라이나 침공 등 이 웹사이트에서 논란이 많았던 주제들은 상당한 미디어 집중을 받았다. 특정 페이지들에서부터 사이트 전체에 이르기까지 세계의 몇몇 정부들에 의해 검열되고 있다.

위키백과의 저작권은 크리에이티브 커먼즈 라이선스(CCL)와 GNU 자유 문서(GFDL)의 2중 라이선스를 따른다. 두 라이선스 모두 자유 콘텐츠를 위한 것으로 일정한 요건을 갖추면 사용에 제약을 받지 않는다.

역사

누피디아 

위키백과 이전에도 온라인 백과사전을 운영하려는 여러 시도들이 있었으나 실패하였다. 위키백과 영어판은 전문가들이 작성했던 백과사전인 누피디아(지금은 존재하지 않음)에서 비롯하였다. 누피디아는 웹 포털 회사인 보미스가 2000년 3월 9일에 개시하였다. 보미스의 CEO였던 지미 웨일스와 편집장 래리 생어는 누피디아의 글들을 오픈 콘텐츠로 제시하기로 하였고 리처드 스톨먼이 주도한 GNU 자유 문서 라이선스로 제공하였다. 누피디아는 그리 성공적이지 않았고, 지미 웨일스와 래리 생어는 누구나 참여할 수 있는 백과사전으로 위키백과를 개설하였다. 생어는 모두의 백과사전이라는 목표를 분명히 하기 위해 이름에 위키를 넣었다. 2001년 1월 10일, 생어는 누피디어 메일링 리스트를 통해 누피디아 프로젝트를 보완하기 위해 위키를 도입했다고 밝혔다.

출범과 성장 

위키백과는 2001년 1월 15일 서비스를 개시하였다. 도메인은 www.wikipedia.com을 사용하였고 사용 언어는 영어 하나뿐이었다. 래리 생어는 위키백과의 출범 소식 역시 누피디아 메일링 리스트를 통하여 알렸다. 위키백과가 시작한지 한 달 안에 중립성 정책이 수립되었다. 이후 몇 가지 정책이 수립되면서 위키백과는 누피디아와는 별개인 서비스가 되었다. 애초에 보미스는 위키백과를 영리 목적으로 운영하려고 하였다.

위키백과의 초기 편집자들은 누피디아, 슬래시닷, 그리고 웹 검색 엔진을 통해 유입되었다. 2001년 8월 8일 위키백과의 문서수는 약 8,000개가 되었다. 2001년 말이 되자 위키백과는 18개 언어판으로 늘었고, 문서 수는 2만여 개까지 늘어났다. 위키백과를 서비스 하는 언어는 2002년 말에는 26개, 2003년 말에는 46개, 2004년 말에는 161개로 늘어났다. 누피디아는 위키백과와 병립하여 운영되다가 컨텐츠를 위키백과로 넘기고 2003년 서버를 다운시켜 마감하였다.

2002년 사용자 사이에서 위키백과의 광고 수주와 그에 따른 상업적 운용에 대한 우려가 커졌고, 이에 따라 스페인어 위키백과 사용자들은 위키백과 소스를 포크하여 별도의 위키백과인 엔시클로페디아 리브레(Enciclopedia Libre Universal en Español)를 개설하였다. 이에 자극받은 지미 웨일스는 위키백과에 광고를 도입하지 않겠다고 선언하였고 도메인을 wikipedia.com에서 wikipedia.org로 변경하였다.

영어 위키백과의 증대 속도는 2007년 초 정점을 찍었고, 2009년 8월 3백만 문서를 넘겼다. 위키백과 전체의 문서수는 2006년 가장 빠르게 늘어 매일 약 1,800 개의 문서가 새로 생겨났다. 그 뒤로 문서 증가 속도는 둔화되어 2013년의 경우 연평균으로 보았을 때 매일 약 800개의 문서가 새로 생겨났다. 위키백과의 성장 둔화 원인에 대해 팰로앨토 연구소는 프로젝트의 품질이 고급화되면서 변화에 대한 저항이 있다고 분석한 바 있다. 성장 둔화에 대한 다른 분석으로는 "낮은 가지에 달린 열매"처럼 주제나 가치가 분명하여 쉽게 만들 수 있는 문서는 이미 다 만들어졌기 때문이라는 설명이 있다.

2009년 11월 스페인 마드리드의 후안 카를로스 국왕 대학교의 연구자는 2009년 1분기 동안 영어 위키백과가 49,000여 명의 기여자를 잃었다는 분석을 내놓았다. 2008년의 같은 기간에 줄어든 기여자 수가 4,900여 명이었던 것에 비해 열 배나 더 많은 수치였다. 《월스트리트 저널》은 까다로워진 편집 지침의 증가가 이러한 경향을 이끌었다고 보도하였다. 지미 웨일스는 이러한 연구가 잘못된 방법론에 의한 것이라며 분석 결과를 거부하였다. 2년 뒤인 2011년 지미 웨일스는 한 인터뷰에서 기여자 감소를 인정하였지만, 2010년 6월의 "최소 36,000 명의 편집자"에서 2011년 6월 당시의 35,800 명의 편집자 사이의 격차는 그리 크지 않다고 주장하면서 위키백과 편집자의 수는 "안정적이고 지속적"이라고 말하였다. 2013년 매사추세츠 공과대학교의 《테크놀로지 리뷰》에 실린 〈위키백과의 하락〉(The Decline of Wikipedia)은 지미 웨일스의 이러한 주장을 반박하고 있다. 이 글의 분석에 따르면 위키백과는 2007년 이후 위키백과 문서를 업데이트하고 교정하던 자원 편집자 가운데 3분의 1을 잃었으며, 편집자의 상당수는 사소한 편집만을 하는 것으로 나타났다.《디 애틀랜틱》 2012년 7월호는 관리자의 수 역시 줄어들었다고 보도하였다. 2013년 11월 25일 《뉴욕》의 캐서린 워드는 “여섯 번째로 많이 사용되는 웹사이트인 위키백과가 내부 비판에 휩싸였다”는 기사를 내보냈다.

주요 이력 

2007년 1월 위키백과는 처음으로 가장 인기있는 웹사이트 리스트 Top10에 이름을 올렸다. 컴스코어는 위키백과의 연간 방문자를 4,290만 명으로 집계하며 9위로 올렸고, 《뉴욕타임즈》는 10위로 올렸다. 애플은 11위로 집계하였다. 2006년도의 순위가 33위였던 것에 비하면 놀라운 부상이었다. 2015년 3월 위키백과는 5위를 기록하였다. 이 시기 순위는 알렉사 인터넷의 조사에 의한 것으로, 위키백과는 2014년 내내 매 월 8억 이상의 페이지 뷰를 기록하였다.

2012년 1월 영어 위키백과는 미국 의회의 온라인 저작권 침해 금지 법안(SOPA)와 지적 재산권 보호 법안(PIPA)의 제정 시도에 맞서 SOPA와 PIPA 반대 시위의 일환으로 24시간 블랙아웃 시위를 벌였다.

2014년 1월 20일 수보드 바르마(Subodh Varma)는 《이코노믹 타임즈》에 투고한 글을 통해 위키백과가 2012년 12월에서 2013년 12월 사이에 전체적으로 페이지 뷰가 10퍼센트에 달하는 2억 번 이상의 페이지뷰를 잃었다고 발표하였다. 주요 언어판에 따라 나누면 영어 위키백과의 페이지뷰 감소율은 12%, 독일어가 17%, 일본어는 9%였다. 바르마는 "만일 위키백과 운영자들이 통계 집계에 오류가 있다고 주장한다면 지난해 도입된 구글의 지식 그래프가 그 입을 다물게 할 것"이라고 덧붙였다. 뉴욕 대학교의 부교수 클레이 셔키는 지식 그래프가 다른 사이트들의 페이지뷰를 잠식하고 있는 것에 대해 "검색 페이지에서 당신의 질문에 대한 답을 바로 볼 수 있는데 굳이 그 사이트를 방문하겠는가?"라고 반문하였다.

2016년 12월 위키백과는 가장 인기있는 웹사이트 리스트에 5위로 기록되었다.

특징

개방성 

위키백과의 가장 큰 특징은 누구나 편집과 관리에 참여할 수 있다는 점이다. 인터넷을 통해 누구나 글을 고칠 수 있는 체계인 위키로 만들어져 있어 집단 지성적 특성을 가진다. 개방성은 위키백과의 가장 큰 특징 가운데 하나로, 원칙적으로 사용자들은 누구든 거의 모든 문서를 새로 만들고 수정할 수 있다. 하지만 장기인증 사용자만 편집하고 수정할 수 있는 문서도 있다.

그러나 이러한 강점은 동시에 악의적인 문서의 훼손이나 부정확한 내용의 수록에 취약하다는 약점이 되기도 한다. 위키백과 커뮤니티는 이러한 약점을 보완하기 위해 편집 규칙을 정하고 일부 문서에 대한 생성과 편집을 규제하고 있다. 2009년 이후 여러 언어마다 위키백과 편집에 대한 커뮤니티의 규제가 강화되었다. 영어 위키백과는 대중적 관심이 높은 문서에 대한 편집을 위해서는 로그인이 필요하도록 하였고, 독일어 위키백과는 모든 문서에 대해 로그인 된 사용자만이 편집할 수 있도록 하였다.

과도한 편집 규제는 위키백과 성장의 걸림돌이라는 지적이 있고, 위키백과 커뮤니티 내에서도 과감한 편집은 위키백과의 기본 원칙 가운데 하나로 새로운 사용자를 포용하기 위해서라도 지켜져야 한다는 의견들이 있다.

한편, 위키백과 커뮤니티 내에 존재하는 편향으로 인해 여성을 비롯한 다양한 집단에 대한 개방이 부족하다는 지적도 있다. 2014년 8월 게이머게이트 논쟁에서 영어 위키백과의 중재위원회가 내린 5명의 여성주의 운동가 차단 결정은 위키백과의 개방성에 대한 많은 논란을 불러오기도 하였다.

수정과 검토 
위키백과의 문서들은 끊임없이 누군가에 의해 수정된다. 위키백과의 편집 시스템인 미디어위키는 다양한 방법으로 문서의 수정 사항을 사용자에게 알려주어 검토할 수 있도록 한다. 사용자는 문서의 역사를 확인하여 누가 언제 어떤 내용을 수정했는지 확인할 수 있다. 만약 변경 내용이 악의적인 문서 훼손이라면 사용자는 이를 손쉽게 되돌릴 수 있다. 또한 사용자는 시스템이 제공하는 "최근 바뀜"과 "주시문서 목록" 등의 기능을 통해 문서의 변경 사항을 쉽게 파악할 수 있다. 이러한 기능은 위키백과가 반달리즘으로부터 문서 훼손을 보호할 수 있도록 돕는다.

위키백과는 시작과 함께 문서의 신뢰성에 대한 의문이 따라다녔다. 누군가 보다 전문가적인 입장에서 사용자의 편집을 검토하고 제한할 수 있어야 한다는 주장이 늘 있다. 위키백과의 공동창립자인 래리 생어는 결국 이 문제로 인해 위키백과를 떠나 전문가의 검토를 거치는 시티즌디움을 창립하였다. 위키백과 역시 몇 차례의 명백한 오류와 특정 집단의 의도적인 개입으로 완전한 개방 정책을 수정하지 않을 수 없었다. 오랫동안 《USA 투데이》의 편집장을 역임했던 존 시겐설러가 존 F. 케네디의 암살에 연루되었다는 거짓 정보가 위키백과에 올라온 사례는 오랫동안 위키백과 문서의 오류에 대한 사례로 거론되었고, 2016년 1월에는 스위스의 정보 기관 공무원이 수년에 걸쳐 약 5,500건에 달하는 문서를 악의적으로 편집하였다가 아이피가 차단되는 일이 벌어지기도 하였다.

위키백과의 문서 품질은 사용자들의 지속적인 수정과 검토에 의해서 유지되고 향상된다. 2003년 안드레 시포릴리는 위키백과 컨텐츠의 유지는 파괴적 활동보다 창조적 활동량이 훨씬 많기 때문에 가능한 것이라는 분석을 내놓았다. 그러나 교묘한 거짓 정보는 매우 오랜 기간 검토되지 못한 채 남아있는 경우도 있다. 영어 위키백과에서는 2005년 1월 31일 등재된 연쇄 강간범 잭 로비쇼라는 문서가 완전히 허구의 인물을 서술한 것이라는 것을 2015년이 되어서야 발견한 일도 있었다. 이 문서는 2015년 9월 3일 삭제되었다.

커뮤니티 

위키백과의 콘텐츠는 사용자들의 자발적인 참여로 이루어지기 때문에 사용자 간의 소통이 매우 중요하다. 이를 위해 위키백과는 사랑방과 같은 커뮤니티 공간을 제공하고 있다. 또한 위키백과의 모든 문서에는 "토론" 탭이 있어서 사용자들 사이에 문서 개선을 위한 토론이 이루어지도록 하고 있다.

위키백과 사용자들은 위키컨퍼런스와 같은 오프라인 모임을 통해 관심사를 공유하기도 한다. 위키백과를 운영하고 있는 위키미디어 재단은 매년 세계적인 컨퍼런스인 위키마니아 행사를 갖고 있다. 2016년 위키마니아는 이탈리아의 에시노라리오에서 열렸다. 위키마니아에서는 위키백과뿐만 아니라 위키미디어 재단이 운영하고 있는 위키미디어 공용, 위키데이터, 위키책, 위키문헌, 위키낱말사전과 같은 여러 자매 프로젝트의 주요 관심사도 함께 논의된다. 위키미디어 재단은 이들 여러 프로젝트의 활성화를 위해 세계 각지의 지부나 사용자 모임을 지원하는 사업도 하고 있다. 대한민국에서는 한국위키미디어협회가 자발적 사용자 모임으로 활동중이다. 한국위키미디어협회는 2016년 1월 15일 위키백과 15주년 기념행사를 가졌다.

위키백과 커뮤니티는 종종 컬트 문화적인 것으로 묘사되지만, 그것이 늘 부정적인 면을 부각하는 것은 아니다. 위키백과 사용자들은 훌륭한 활동에 대해 반스타를 부여하여 서로의 동기 유발을 지원하기도 한다.

위키백과는 사용자의 익명성을 보장한다. 다중이 익명으로 참여한다고 하더라도 커뮤니티가 활력을 띄면 정보의 질은 꾸준히 향상된다. 위키백과의 이러한 작업 방식은 크라우드 소싱이라는 이름으로 다른 분야에서도 시도되고 있다. 그러나 실제로 위키백과에 정보를 추가하는 사람들은 전체 사용자 가운데 극히 소수라는 연구가 있고, 로그인 하지 않은 사용자에 대해서는 위키백과 커뮤니티가 이등시민 취급을 한다는 비판도 있다. 다트머스 대학교 연구진은 이를 검증하기 위한 2007년 연구에서 "로그인 하지 않은 익명의 편집자나 기여 횟수가 적은 편집자의 활동 역시 로그인 사용자와 동등한 신뢰성을 보인다"고 밝혔다. 2009년 《비지니스 인사이더》의 편집인 헨리 블라젯은 위키백과 문서에 대한 표집 조사 결과 대다수의 문서가 "아웃사이더"에 의해 생성된 뒤 "인사이더"에 의해 완성된다고 분석하였다.

몇몇 언어의 위키백과 커뮤니티는 자체적으로 문서를 엮어서 출판물을 제작하기도 하는데, 독일어 위키백과의 경우 독일어 위키백과의 문서를 모아 2004년에 CD로, 2005년와 2006년에는 DVD와 책으로 제작하였다.

라이선스 
위키백과의 내용은 처음에는 GNU 자유 문서 사용 허가서 아래 배포되었으나 2009년 6월, 크리에이티브 커먼즈 저작자표시-동일조건변경허락 3.0 Unported 라이선스로 변경되었다. 2023년 6월부터는 크리에이티브 커먼즈 저작자표시-동일조건변경허락 4.0 국제 라이선스로 변경되었다.

관리 
위키백과는 특별한 위계가 없는 사용자들의 집단 활동이라는 점에서 아나키즘의 요소를 갖는 민주주의 체계로 평가되기도 한다. 위키백과 내의 모든 문서는 직접 내용 편집에 참여한 사용자를 포함하여 어느 누구도 소유권을 주장할 수 없다. 위키백과의 이러한 규칙은 커뮤니티가 공동으로 소유하는 가치에 대한 사적 이익 추구를 억제함으로써 공유지의 비극을 방지하고자 만들어졌다.

위키백과의 관리는 다섯 원칙의 정신과 이를 구현하기 위한 정책과 지침에 따라 이루어진다. 정책과 지침은 커뮤니티의 총의에 의해 수립되거나 수정된다. 총의의 개념은 2005년 찰스 메튜의 위키미디어 메일링 리스트에서 설명된 바와 같이 단순한 만장일치가 아닌 현시점에서 커뮤니티가 내릴 수 있는 최선의 타협이다. 위키백과의 커뮤니티는 각각의 언어마다 독립되어 있기 때문에, 언어판마다 총의는 다를 수 있다. 위키백과 초창기 가장 큰 논란은 문서의 중립성 확보였고, 이에 따라 위키백과가 시작된지 한 달 만에 중립적 시각이 정책으로 지정되었다. 한국어 위키백과 역시 2004년 중립적 시각 정책을 도입하였다. 문서와 커뮤니티의 성장에 따라 지침이 필요한 다양한 사안이 발생하였기 때문에 위키백과의 정책과 지침 역시 이에 대응할 수 있도록 다양하게 늘어났다.

위키백과 사용자들 사이의 논쟁 또는 분쟁은 모두 위키백과 커뮤니티 안에서 해결된다. 사용자들 사이의 문제는 서로간의 토론을 통해 해결하는 것이 가장 바람직하지만, 문서의 훼손이나 악의적인 행위 등으로부터 선의의 편집 활동을 보호하기 위한 조치도 필요하다. 문서를 삭제하거나 악의적인 사용자를 차단하는 것과 같은 활동은 커뮤니티 안에서 충분히 신뢰할 수 있다고 평가받아 관리자로 선출 된 사용자가 실행한다. 한편 사용자 사이의 논쟁은 중재위원회와 같은 기구를 통해 상호 조정을 이루기도 한다.

운영 
위키백과는 위키미디어 재단이 운영하는 위키미디어 프로젝트 가운데 하나이다. 위키미디어 프로젝트에는 위키백과 외에도 위키낱말사전, 위키책, 위키미디어 공용, 위키문헌, 위키인용집, 위키데이터 등이 있다. 모든 위키미디어 프로젝트는 자발적으로 참여하는 사용자들의 커뮤니티에 의해 운영되며 위키미디어 재단은 이들 프로젝트의 유지, 소프트웨어와 하드웨어의 관리, 사용자 커뮤니티에 대한 지원과 같은 일들을 담당한다.

위키미디어 재단 

위키미디어 재단은 미국 캘리포니아주 샌프란시스코에 본부를 둔 비영리 기구로 위키백과를 비롯한 위키미디어 프로젝트의 유지를 위한 기금을 조성하고 호스팅하고 있다. 위키백과가 시작된 지 2년 후인 2003년 6월 20일 플로리다주 법인으로 설립되었으며 2007년 본부를 샌프란시코로 이전하였다. 2013년 귀속분 국세청 신고서에 따르면 재단의 기금 수익은 3천9백7십만 달러이고 지출된 경비는 2천9백만 달러이다. 또한 총 자산은 3천7백2십만 달러로 이 가운데 부채는 230만 달러이다.

2014년 5월 위키미디어 재단은 초대 사무국장 슈 가드너가 퇴임하고 2대 사무국장으로 라일라 트레티코프를 지명하였다. 《월스트리트 저널》은 2014년 5월 1일자 보도를 통해 새로운 사무국장의 취임을 소개하면서 트레티코프의 “정보는 공기와 같이 자유를 좋아한다.”는 말을 인용하였다. 2016년 6월 3대 사무국장으로 캐서린 마허가 취임하였다. 마허는 위키미디어 프로젝트의 운영 방향에 대해 커뮤니티 내에서 상호 공감을 형성하는 것이 무엇보다 중요하다는 입장을 밝혔다.

소프트웨어 

위키백과의 운영 프로그램은 미디어위키이다. 오픈 소스로 배포되는 자유 소프트웨어인 미디어위키는 PHP 기반의 위키 소프트웨어로 MySQL 데이터베이스를 이용한다. 위키백과 초기에는 펄로 작성된 유스모드위키를 사용하였으나 2002년 1월에 마그누스 만스커가 개발한 PHP와 MySQL 기반의 위키가 도입되었고, 다시 2002년 7월 리 다니엘 크로커가 개발한 미디어위키를 3세대 소프트웨어로 도입하였다. 미디어위키는 이후로도 여러차례 업데이트되어 위키백과를 비롯한 여러 위키미디어 프로젝트를 운영하는 소프트웨어가 되었다.

하드웨어 
위키백과는 낮 시간을 기준으로 1초에 25,000~60,000페이지 요청을 수신한다. 페이지 요청은 먼저 스퀴드 캐시 서버의 프론트엔드 계층으로 내보낸다. 스퀴드 캐시가 처리할 수 없는 요청은 리눅스 가상 서버 소프트웨어를 실행하고 있는 부하 제어 서버로 내보낸다. 즉, 데이터베이스로부터 렌더링한 페이지를 보여 주기 위해 아파치 웹 서버들 가운데 하나로 요청을 내보낸다는 뜻이다. 웹 서버는 요청한 페이지를 전달하여 모든 언어판의 위키백과에 대한 페이지 렌더링을 수행한다. 속도를 더 빠르게 하기 위해 렌더링 된 페이지는 만료될 때까지 분산 메모리 캐시에 캐시 처리되며 이로써 동일한 페이지 접근에는 대부분 페이지 렌더링을 완전히 생략할 수 있다.

현재 사용되고 있는 위키백과의 서버는 주로 우분투로 이루어진 리눅스 서버들의 컴퓨터 클러스터로 운영되고 있다. 2009년을 기준으로 위키미디어 재단은 미국 플로리다주에 300대, 네덜란드 암스테르담에 44대의 서버를 운영하였다. 2013년 1월 22일 위키백과는 중요 데이터를 미국의 데이터 센터 공기업인 에퀴닉스로 이전하였다.

자동 편집 
위키백과에서는 단순 반복적인 활동을 위해 봇이라고 불리는 프로그램이 운영된다. 봇은 자주 혼동되는 오탈자를 바로잡거나 자동으로 생성될 수 있는 반복적인 문구의 삽입과 같은 일을 담당한다. 봇 역시 위키백과 커뮤니티의 사용자들이 작성하여 운영하며 잘못된 사용을 막기 위해 별도의 등록 절차를 거친다.

평가

긍정적 평가 
2005년에 영국의 네이처 지는 브리태니커 백과사전과 위키백과의 42가지 난해한 과학 기사를 비교한 평가 리뷰를 발표하였다. 그 결과는 위키백과의 정확도 수준이 브리태니커 백과사전에 근접한다는 것이었다. 다만 비평가들은 모든 범위의 기사에 대해 무작위로 표본을 추출한 경우 혹은 사회과학이나 논쟁적인 사회 문제에 중점을 둔 유사한 연구의 경우 그렇게 긍정적인 결과가 나오지 못했을 수도 있다고 여겼다. 또 2006년 기사에서 타임 지는 위키백과는 누구나 편집할 수 있는 개방 정책을 갖고 있으며 이로써 위키백과가 세계에서 가장 큰 백과사전으로 만들어질 수 있도록 하고 지미 웨일즈의 비전을 실현한다고 밝혔다.

부정적 평가 

위키백과는 누구나 참여할 수 있기 때문에 편집자의 시각에 따라 누군가가 악의적인 의도 등으로 잘못된 정보를 입력할 수 있고 이에 따라 잘못된 정보가 퍼져나갈 수 있다는 문제점이 제기되어 왔다. 예를 들어 2005년 영어 위키백과에서는 존 시겐설러라는 미국의 전직 언론인이 존 F. 케네디 대통령의 암살에 관여했다는 잘못된 정보가 올려져 있었다는 점이 밝혀졌으며 한 익명 사용자가 신바드라는 미국의 코미디언이 사망했다는 거짓 정보를 올려 인터넷 전반에 잘못된 소문이 퍼지기도 했다.

또한 위키백과는 미국 내의 보수주의자들로부터 자유주의적이라는 비판을 받아왔다. 이로 인해 컨서버피디아가 2006년에 개설되었다.

미 연구팀에 의하면 영어판 위키백과에 등록된 문서 중 회사 관련 내용의 약 60% 정도가 잘못된 사실을 담고 있다는 연구결과가 나왔다. 연구팀의 교수는 이를 특정 회사들이 이미지를 긍정적으로 만들기 위해 위키백과에 회사에 유리한 내용을 삽입하기 때문인 것으로 추정하고 있다.

같이 보기 
 한국어 위키백과
 언어별 위키백과 목록
 집단 지성
 274301 위키피디아
 지미 웨일스
 래리 생어
 백괴사전

각주 
 내용주

 참조주

외부 링크 

  (위키백과 초기 화면)

 
온라인 백과사전
하이퍼텍스트
인간-컴퓨터 상호 작용
가상 사회
웹 2.0
위키미디어 프로젝트
위키
다언어 웹사이트
미국의 웹사이트
사회적 정보 처리

광자(光子, photon) 또는 빛알은 기본입자의 일종으로, 가시광선을 포함한 모든 전자기파를 구성하는 양자이자 전자기력의 매개입자이다. 기호는 그리스 문자 이다. 전자기력의 효과는 미시적, 거시적인 수준에서 쉽게 관찰할 수 있는데, 광자가 질량을 가지지 않기 때문에 장거리에서의 상호작용이 가능하다. 다른 기본입자들과 같이 광자는 양자역학과 입자-파동 이중성 이론을 통해 가장 잘 설명된다. 하나의 현상임에도 파동과 양자라는 두 가지 관측 가능한 모습을 가진 광자의 진짜 성질은 어떤 역학적 모델로도 설명할 수 없다. 이러한 빛의 이중성의 묘사, 전자기파에서의 에너지의 위상을 파악하는 것 또한 불가능하다. 전자기파의 양자의 위치는 공간적으로 국한되지 않기 때문이다.
광자 한 개의 에너지는 플랑크 상수()에 빛의 진동수()를 곱한 값, 즉  이고, 운동량은 (는 광속)이다.

역사 
아이작 뉴턴은 빛이 입자로 이뤄져 있다고 주장하였다. 그러나 고전적인 입자론은 빛의 파동적인 성질, 특히 간섭을 설명하지 못한다. 따라서 18세기에 와서는 이중 슬릿 실험을 설명할 수 있는 토머스 영의 파동설이 우세하였고, 제임스 맥스웰의 고전전자기학의 완성으로 파동설은 정설로 인정되었다. 그러나 20세기 초에 와서 고전적인 파동설로 설명할 수 없는 현상이 발견되기 시작하였다. 자외선 파탄이 그중 한 예인데, 이에 따르면 열적 평형에 있고 유한한 온도를 가진 고전적 흑체는 무한한 양의 전자기파를 방출하여야 한다. 이 문제를 해결하기 위해, 막스 플랑크는 전자기파가 양자화되었다는 가설을 도입하였다 (1901). 그러나 그는 실제로 빛이 입자로 구성되었다기보다는, 어떤 알 수 없는 현상에 의해 파동의 에너지가 양자화되었다고 해석하였다. 알베르트 아인슈타인은 힐베르트의 가설에서 시작하여, 빛이 실제로 입자로 구성되었다고 가정하면서 광전효과를 설명할 수 있다는 사실을 보였다 (1905). 이후 양자역학의 발전과 양자전기역학의 도입으로, 빛이 양자화되었다는 사실을 이론적으로 설명할 수 있게 되었다.

광자에너지 

빨간색의 광자에너지는 

아보가드로 상수는

이다. 따라서 단위물질량당 광자에너지는

각주

외부 링크 
 
 네이버 캐스트 - 광자는 홍길동
 네이버 캐스트 - 빛의 이중성

광학
보손
광자학
물리학 개념
게이지 보손
기본 입자
스핀이 1인 아원자 입자

보손()는 스핀이 정수고, 보스-아인슈타인 통계를 따르는 매개 입자다. 인도의 물리학자 사티엔드라 나트 보스의 이름을 땄다. 페르미온의 반대말이다. 모든 입자는 스핀이 정수이거나 반정수이다. 스핀-통계 법칙에 따라 (유령입자나 애니온 따위의 예외적 경우를 제외하고) 전자(前者)의 경우는 보스-아인슈타인 통계를 따르고, 후자는 페르미-디랙 통계를 따른다. 전자를 보손, 후자를 "페르미온"이라고 부른다. 보손은 보스-아인슈타인 통계를 따르므로, 파울리 배타 원리를 따르지 않는다. 즉, 여러 입자가 동일한 상태에 있을 수 있다.

예를 들면, 광자는 스핀이 1인 보손이다. 따라서, 들어온 빛을 완전히 흡수하는 흑체가 복사하는 전자기파의 파장 분포는 보스 통계를 따른다. 또 응집물질물리에 나오는 준입자 포논도 보스 통계를 따른다.

자연계의 보손

기본 보손 
현재 알려진 기본 입자 가운데 보손은 다음과 같다.
 게이지 보손은 양-밀스 이론에 등장하는 스핀 1의 입자이다. 이들은 게이지 상호작용을 매개시킨다.
 광자는 전자기파의 양자이다. 질량과 전하가 0이다.
 글루온은 강한 핵력의 양자이다. 색가둠에 따라 독립적으로 존재하지 않고, 쿼크와 함께 강입자를 이루거나 아니면 글루볼로 존재한다. 다만 아직 글루볼은 실험적으로 관측되지 못하고 있다.
 W와 Z보손은 약한 핵력을 매개하는 게이지 보손이다. 힉스 메커니즘에 따라 이들은 매우 큰 질량을 가지며, 따라서 약한 핵력은 단거리에서만 작용한다.
 힉스 보손은 힉스 메커니즘을 매개하는 스핀 0의 입자이다. 이는 최근에 발견되었다.
 중력자는 중력자의 양자이며, 중력을 매개하는 스핀 2의 입자이다. 다만, 실험에서는 중력자의 존재는 중력파로 인한 효과로 간접적으로만 확인되었다.
초대칭이나 각종 대통일 이론 등, 표준 모형을 확장하는 모형들은 대부분 추가 보손을 예측하나, 이들은 아직 발견되지 않았다.

합성 보손 
짝수개의 페르미온으로 구성된 합성 보손이 구성될 수 있다. 예를 들어, 중간자는 쿼크와 반쿼크로 구성된 합성 보손이다. 이 밖에도, 보손들로도 합성 보손이 구성될 수 있다.

성질

스핀 
양자장론의 스핀-통계 정리에 따라, 로런츠 대칭이 깨지지 않는 이상 모든 보손은 항상 정수의 스핀을 갖는다. 즉, 가능한 스핀은 0, 1, 2, … 따위다. 기본 보손의 경우, 와인버그-위튼 정리에 따라 보통 0, 1, 2만이 가능하다고 여겨지며, 스핀 2인 입자는 중력자, 스핀 1인 입자는 벡터 보손, 스핀 0인 입자는 스칼라 보손으로 불린다.

통계역학 

페르미온과 달리, 보손은 파울리 배타 원리를 따르지 않는다. 즉, 한 양자 상태에 임의의 수의 보손이 존재할 수 있다. 따라서 보손은 낮은 온도에서 보스-아인슈타인 응축 등의 특이한 성질을 보인다.

외부 링크 

 
물리학 개념
양자장론
원자물리학
통계역학

디리클레 합성곱(Dirichlet convolution) 혹은 디리클레 포갬은 수론적 함수(arithmetic function)의 집합에서 정의되는 이항연산(binary operation)으로, 수론에서 중요하게 다뤄진다. 독일 수학자 르죈 디리클레의 이름에서 유래하였다.

정의 
f, g가 수론적 함수 (즉, 자연수에서 복소수로의 함수)일 때, f, g의 디리클레 포갬 f * g는 다음과 같이 정의되는 수론적 함수이다.

여기서 덧셈은 n의 모든 양의 약수 d에 대해 이루어진다.

성질 

이 연산의 일반적인 성질을 몇가지 나열해 보면:
 닫혀있다: f와 g가 모두 곱셈적이라면, f * g도 곱셈적이다. (주의: 그러나 두 완전 곱셈적인 함수의 포갬은 완전 곱셈적이 아닐 수 있다.)
 교환법칙: f * g = g * f
 결합법칙: (f * g) * h = f * (g * h)
 분배법칙: f * (g + h) = f * g + f * h
 항등원: f * ε = ε * f = f, 여기서 ε은 n = 1에서 ε(n) = 1, n > 1에서 ε(n) = 0으로 정의되는 함수.
 역원: 모든 곱셈적 함수 f에 대해, 어떤 곱셈적 함수 g가 존재하여 f * g = ε를 만족한다.

덧셈과 디리클레 포갬으로 수론적 함수의 전체집합은 ε을 곱셈에 대한 항등원으로 하는 가환환(commutative ring)을 이루고, 이를 디리클레 환(dirichlet ring)이라 부른다. 이 환의 unit은 f(1) ≠ 0 을 만족하는 f들이다.

나아가, 곱셈적 함수의 집합은 디리클레 포갬과 ε을 항등원으로 하는 가환군(abelian group)을 이룬다. 

곱셈적 함수에서 몇가지 중요한 곱셈적 함수들간의 포갬에의한 관계식의 예를 찾아볼 수 있다.

역원의 계산 
주어진 수론적 함수 에 대해 디리클레 합성곱을 연산으로 하는 역원 이 존재한다. 이 역원을 계산하는 계산식은 다음과 같다. 맨 첫 번째 항은 다음과 같다.
 
그리고 일 경우는 다음과 같다.

예를 들어, 모든 에 대해 1 인 수론적 함수의 역원은 뫼비우스 함수가 된다. 더 일반적인 관계는 뫼비우스 반전 공식에 의해 유도된다.

디리클레 급수와의 관계 

f가 수론적 함수이면, L-급수(L-series)는 다음과 같이 정의된다.
급수가 수렴하는 복소수 s에 대해,

L-급수의 곱은 디리클레 포갬과 다음 관계가 있다.
좌변이 존재하는 모든 s에 대해,

위 관계식은 L-급수를 푸리에 변환과 비교해 보면, 포갬 정리(convolution theorem)과 긴밀하다.

수론적 함수의 미분과의 관계 
물론 수론적 함수는 연속함수가 아니므로 통상적인 의미로서의 미분은 불가능하다. 그러나 산술함수에서 따로 미분을 정의하여 디리클레 합성과 연계하여 사용한다.

주어진 산술함수 의 미분은 다음과 같이 정의한다. 여기서 물론 는 망골트 함수(Mangoldt function)이다.

예를 들어, 모든 에 대해 1 인 수론적 함수 이 있다고 할 때, 관계식  때문에 다음이 성립한다

위와 같이 미분을 정의할 경우 다음과 같은 성질들이 성립한다.

각주 

수론
수론적 함수

수학에서 동치관계(同値關係, )는 논리적 동치와 비슷한 성질들을 만족시키는 이항관계이다.

정의 
집합  위의 동치관계 는 반사관계이자 대칭관계이자 추이관계인 이항관계이다. 즉, 다음 조건들이 성립하여야 한다.
 (반사관계) 임의의 에 대하여, 
 (대칭관계) 임의의 에 대하여, 만약 라면, 
 (추이관계) 임의의 에 대하여, 만약 이고 라면

동치류와 상집합 
집합  위에 동치관계 이 주어졌을 때, 원소 의, 동치관계 에 대한 동치류(同値類, ) 는 그 원소와 동치인 원소들의 집합이다 즉,

집합 의 에 대한 상집합(-集合, ) 은 에 대한 동치류들의 집합이다. 즉,

예 
 임의의 집합 위의 등호 관계
 도형 집합 위의 닮음 관계
 사람들의 집합 위의, 같은 생일을 갖는 관계

반례 
 공집합이 아닌 집합  위의 공관계는 (유일한 유형의) 반사관계가 아닌 대칭관계이자 추이관계이다.
 실수 집합 위의 순서 관계 는 대칭관계가 아닌 반사관계이자 추이관계이다.
 실수 집합 위의 이항관계 은 추이관계가 아닌 반사관계이자 대칭관계이다.

성질

표준 사상 
집합 위의 동치관계로부터, 표준사상을 구성할 수 있다. 즉, 집합  위의 동치관계 에 대하여, 함수

를 표준사상이라고 한다.

반대로, 전사함수 에 대하여, 이항관계

는 동치관계이며, 그 상집합은

이다.

집합의 분할 
집합 위의 동치관계와 그 집합의 분할 사이에는 자연적인 일대일 대응이 존재한다. 즉, 다음과 같다.

집합  위의 동치관계 에 대하여, 그 상집합 은 의 분할이다. 즉,
 임의의 에 대하여, 만약 이면, 이다.
 임의의 에 대하여, 만약 이면, 이다.
반대로, 집합 의 분할 에 대하여, 이항관계

는 동치관계이다.

같이 보기 
 집합의 분할

외부 링크 
 
 

관계 (수학)

《자연철학의 수학적 원리》(自然哲學- 數學的原理, )는 서양의 과학 혁명을 집대성한 책의 하나이다. 줄여서 '프린키피아'()라고 불리기도 한다. 1687년에 나온 아이작 뉴턴의 세 권짜리 저작으로, 라틴어로 쓰여졌다.

이 책에서 뉴턴은 고전 역학의 바탕을 이루는 뉴턴의 운동 법칙과 만유인력의 법칙을 기술하고 있다. 당시 요하네스 케플러가 천체의 운동에 대한 자료를 바탕으로 알아낸 케플러의 행성운동법칙을 뉴턴은 자신의 위 두 법칙들로써 증명해 낸다. 그는 이러한 일련의 작업을 통해서 코페르니쿠스에서 시작되어 케플러, 갈릴레오를 거치면서 이루어져 온 천문학의 혁명을 완성하는 한편, 갈릴레오 이후 데카르트, 하위헌스 등을 통해서 이루어져 온 근대 역학의 성공을 눈부시게 보여주고 있다.

에드먼드 핼리도 이 책을 바탕으로 1530년, 1607년, 1682년에 나타났던 혜성들의 궤도를 계산해, 이 혜성 모두가 동일한 하나의 천체일 가능성이 높다는 사실을 발견했고 일정한 주기에 따라 1750년대 말에 다시 나타나리라고 예견했다. 뉴턴도 핼리도 죽은 뒤인 1758년에 수수께끼 같은 천체가 발견되었는데 그것이 다름 아닌 핼리 혜성이다.

제1편은 운동에 관한 일반적 명제를 논술하였고, 제2편은 매질 속에서의 물체의 운동을 다루고, 마지막 제3편은 코페르니쿠스의 지동설, 케플러의 행성의 타원궤도 등의 행성의 운동을 증명하였다.

뉴턴은 그의 이론을 기술하기 위해 미적분학을 역학에 적용하였지만, 이 책에서는 주로 기하학적인 증명 방법을 사용하고 미적분을 거의 사용하지 않고 있는데, 이는 당시의 사람들의 이해를 고려해서라고 한다.

1687년에 초판, 1712년 증보 개정판, 그리고 1726년 제3판이 출간되었다.

각 권별 내용

제 1권 
 진공 중에서 물질 입자가 어떻게 운동하는지를 다루고 있다. 이 논의는 지금도 우리들이 유용하게 사용하고 있는 세 가지 운동 법칙에 근거하고 있다. 이 운동 법칙들은 관성 기준계, 즉 정지 상태나 일정한 속도로 움직이는 기준계에서 운동을 기술할 때 적용된다.
 물체의 운동에 대한 일반적 논의를 펴고 있다. 이 논의를 통해서 여러 가능한 힘들이 어떤 수학적 형태를 띠게 될 것인지를 가정하고, 또 그런 힘에 의해서 생기는 운동을 역시 수학적인 방식으로 추론한다.
 거리의 제곱에 반비례하는 만유 인력과 같은 힘들을 포함해서 다른 여러 가지 형태의 가상적인 힘에 의한 운동이 함께 취급되고 있다. 뉴턴은 케플러의 제 3법칙을 일반화시켰다. 그래서 모든 물체와 물체 사이에는 그 두 물체의 질량의 곱에 비례하고 거리의 제곱에 반비례하는 힘, 즉 만유 인력이 작용한다는 사실을 입증한 것이었다.

제 2권 

저항이 있는 공간 속에서 물질의 입자가 어떻게 운동하는지에 대한 문제를 취급하고 있다. 이 내용은 오늘날의 소위 「유체역학」에 해당한다. 이것은 주로 당시에 널리 퍼져 있던 데카르트의 「소용돌이」우주관에 케플러의 행성 운동 법칙과 어울리지 않는다는 사실을 밝히기 위한 목적에 맞추어져 있다.

제 3권 
가장 성과가 많은 부분이다. 태양과 다른 행성들의 질량이 추론되고, 순전히 수량적인 방식을 이용해서 지구의 평평한 모습이 설명되며, 조수의 이론 등이 상세히 제시되고 있다.

유클리드의 ‘기하학 원론’과의 비교 

 『기하학 원론』이 1권에서 점, 선, 면, 평면, 각, 도형에 대한 몇 개의 기본적인 정의와 공리, 상식으로 시작하듯이 『프린키피아』의 처음에서도 물질의 양, 운동의 양, 구심력에 대한 간단하고 명료한 몇 개의 정의와 공리, 운동법칙으로 시작하고 있다. 그리고『기하학 원론』에서는 초기 가정으로 출발해서 앞에서 말한 정의와 공리들을 이용해서 논리적으로 법칙들을 정의하고 있다.
 『기하학 원론』과 『프린키피아』의 틀은 유사성을 보이고 있지만 그 증명하는 방식에는 여러 가지 차이점을 보이고 있다.
 『프린키피아』에서는 눈에 보이지 않는 체계에 관한 설명이 없다. 2권의 6장에서 진자를 이용한 실험 데이터와 7장에서 매질속에서의 투사체 운동을 많은 사례와 실험을 통해 분석한 것, 3권에서 천문학적 데이터를 사용한 것처럼 눈에 보이는 물체의 운동만을 엄밀한 계량적 방법으로 다루고 있다.
 그리고 1권과 2권에서 물체에 운동에 대한 일반적인 원리를 제시한다. 그 후에 3권에서 만유인력을 예를 들어 만유인력의 법칙이 천체 현상을 어떻게 설명하는가를 구체적으로 보여주었다. 일반법칙에 만유인력이라는 특수한 경우를 적용함으로써 자유낙하 현상, 지구의 타원궤도 운동, 달이나 혜성과 같은 천체의 운동, 조수 간만 및 계절의 변화와 같은 현상들이 어떻게 그리고 왜 일어나는지를 잘 설명하고 있다.
 『기하학 원론』은 정의와 유클리드의 가정이라고 불리는 공리 개념으로 시작하여 논리적 순서로 정리나 문제의 해를 유도하는 공리적 체계의 전형적인 모습을 보여주고 있다. 『기하학 원론』 은 엄밀하고 정확한 논리적 증명을 확립하는데 기초를 다진 점이 높이 평가되었고, 그 구성상의 뛰어난 특징 때문에 유클리드 이후의 많은 저명한 학자들이 책을 쓸 때 『기하학 원론』의 구성 양식을 참고할만했다.
 『기하학 원론』은 그리스인들의 추상적이고 정적인 사고의 영향을 받아, 현실을 설명하는데 도움을 주기보다는 명상과 사색 그리고 논리적인 두뇌 훈련을 위한 학문으로서의 역할이 강조되었다. 그 결과 구체적인 양의 계산에 대한 언급이 전혀 없고 도형을 움직인다던가 변형시킴으로써 쉽게 해결할 수 있는 문제들을 어렵게 해결하는 경우가 있다.
 반면에 『프린키피아』는 상업 자본과 제조업이 발전하던 중세말기의 현실적이고 동적인 사고의 영향을 받아 물체의 운동과 천체 현상에 대한 구체적인 설명을 하고있다. 1권과 2권에서 물체의 운동에 대한 일반적인 원리들을 많은 사례와 실험데이터를 통해 설명한 뒤 3권예서 천문학적 데이터를 적절히 사용함으로써 실제 천체 현상을 잘 설명하고 있다.

사회적, 경제적 배경 

 뉴턴이 살았던 시대는 봉건제가 붕괴하고 상업 자본과 제조업이 발달하기 시작한 때였다. 이 시기에는 상업이 발달하면서 더 안정적으로 많은 양의 상품을 운반해야 할 필요가 생겨났다. 그러나 장원 제도와 봉건 경제의 폐쇄성으로 인해 육상 수송의 발전은 이루어지지 못한 반면, 바다와 강을 이용한 수상 수송은 빠른 발전을 이룩하여 이의 요구에 응하였다. 그러나 이 시기의 해상수송은 먼 바다배의 위치를 확인할 방법을 찾지 못해 연안을 따라서 운행할 수밖에 없었다.
 발전을 계속하던 상업자본은 속도의 증가, 배의 적재능력 및 항해능력, 해상서의 배의 위치결정 방법 그리고 운하와 수문의 건설에 대한 기술적 문제들을 제기하게 되는데 이 문제들은 유체 정역학, 유체 동역학 그리고 천체 역학의 연구를 통해 해결할 수 있었다.
 한편 상업의 발달로 교환수단인 금과 은의 수요가 늘어나게 되고 군수 산업의 발전으로 철과 동의 수요도 늘어나게 됨에 따라 중세 말기 무렵 채광업은 더욱 발전하여 거대한 산업이 된다. 이것은 새로운 광산의 개발과 함께 기존 광산의 체굴에 대한 새로운 기술을 요구하게 된다. 이리하여 교역과 군수 산업의 발달은 광산업앞에 광석인양, 갱도의 환기, 배수 및 펌프, 송풍 그리고 광석선별에 관한 기술적 문제를 제기하게 되는데 이 문제들은 기본적인 역학과 기체 정역학, 유체 정역학을 연구함으로써 해결할 수 있었다.
 또한 군사기술의 발전도 경제적 발전에서 상당히 중요한 역할을 하였다. 화약이 중국에서 유럽으로 알려지게 된 이후 화기의 급속한 증가를 가져왔고 여러 전투들을 통해 무기의 개량과 전투와 관련된 여러 가지 문제들에 대한 연구가 이어졌다. 군사의 발전은 화기의 최소중량, 안정성 그리고 탄환궤도에 관한 기술적 문제들을 제기하게 되고, 많은 학자들이 이 문제를 해결하기 위해 역학 연구에 몰두하였다.
 상업자본과 제조업의 발전시기인 16세기 초반부터 17세기 후반까지 물리학자들이 다룬 연구테마를 살펴보면 교통수단, 산업 그리고 전쟁에서 기술상의 여러 요구를 분석하여 찾아낸 문제들이 대부분 역학에 관한 문제였다. 물론 이 시기에 광학, 정전기와 전기에 관한 발전도 있었지만 이러한 문제들은 모두 부차적인 의의를 가지며 연구 수준에 있어서도 역학에 훨씬 못 미쳤다.
 생산제력의 발전은 상업자본 시기의 과학 앞에 일련의 실질적 과제들을 제시하고 무조건적인 필요성을 들어 그 해결을 요구하였다.
 중세의 대학들은 이러한 과제들을 해결하려 하지 않았으며 해결할 수도 없었고 오히려 발전해가는 여러 자연과학에 반대하며 적극적으로 이와 대립하였다. 구체적인 기술상의 문제들을 해결하는 과학과 기술은 영국혁명 이후 생산 제력의 발전에 강력한 자극을 주었고 이의 영향을 받아 과학계에서는 여러 물리학상의 문제들을 일반적인 방법으로 해결하기 위해 종합적인 개관을 제공하는 견고한 기본적인 기초를 쌓을 필요가 생겨났다.
 뉴턴 『프린키피아』의 소개가 그러한 필요를 풍족시키게 된다. 위에서 분석한 이시대의 물리학상의 테마가 제기한 문제들이 『프린키피아』의 핵심으로 되어있고, 뉴턴의 관심 범위를 조사해 보면 그 시대의 상업교통, 산업 그리고 군사에서의 문제들을 남김없이 수용하려 한 것을 지적할 수 있다.
 『프린키피아』의 내용은 바로 그 시대 사회 경제적인 토대를 이루었던 과학과 기술의 반영이라는 점을 알 수 있고, 『프린키피아』의 올바른 이해를 위해서는 『프린키피아』가 저술된 그 시기의 과학과 기술사에 대한 이해와 연구가 선행되어야 한다.

같이 보기 
 아이작 뉴턴
 《원론》

각주

외부 링크 

1687년 책
1687년 과학
물리학 책
영국의 책
코페르니쿠스 혁명
아이작 뉴턴의 책
1687년 잉글랜드
1713년 책
1726년 책

슈뢰딩거 방정식(-方程式, )은 비상대론적 양자역학적 계의 시간에 따른 진화를 나타내는 선형 편미분 방정식이다. 오스트리아의 물리학자 에르빈 슈뢰딩거가 도입하였고, 그가 발명한 파동역학의 기본 방정식이다.

정의 
파동 함수 에 대한 슈뢰딩거 방정식은 다음과 같다.

해밀토니언 연산자 는 고전적 해밀토니언에 해당하는 연산자로, 후자를 양자화하여 얻는다. 는 폴 디랙의 브라-켓 표기를 사용해 나타낸, 슈뢰딩거 묘사에서의 힐베르트 공간의 상태 벡터이다. 이를 파동 함수 로 나타낼 수 있다. (파동 함수에 대한 해석은 코펜하겐 해석을 참조하라.)

해밀토니언 연산자 는 보통 미분 연산자이다. 예를 들어, 퍼텐셜  속에 있는, 질량이 인 비상대론적 입자의 경우 해밀토니언은 다음과 같은 2차 미분 연산자이다.

즉, 슈뢰딩거 방정식은 다음과 같은 2차 편미분 방정식이 된다.

라그랑지언과 이차 양자화 
슈뢰딩거 방정식은 다음과 같은 라그랑지언으로부터 유도할 수 있다.

예를 들어, 퍼텐셜  속에 있는, 질량이 인 비상대론적 입자의 경우 슈뢰딩거 라그랑지언은 다음과 같다.

여기서 두 번째 표현은 전미분항(total derivative)을 무시하고 쓴 것이다.

이 라그랑지언을 고전적 가환 또는 반가환 장의 라그랑지언으로 여겨, 양자장론으로 이차 양자화시킬 수 있다. 이 경우, 외부 배경장 속에서 움직이는, 임의의 수의 비상대론적 보손 또는 페르미온을 나타내는 양자장론을 얻는다. 또한, 이 경우 비선형 상호작용항을 추가할 수 있다. 예를 들어, 그로스-피타옙스키 방정식이 이러한 꼴이다.

역사 
1905년, 알베르트 아인슈타인은 광전 효과를 설명하기 위해서 광자의 에너지 E와 진동수 ν 및 플랑크 상수 h 사이의 관계를

로 나타내었다. 1924년 루이 드 브로이는 광자 뿐만 아니라 모든 입자가 대응되는 파동함수 를 가진다는 드 브로이 가설을 발표하고, 파동의 파장 λ와 입자의 운동량 p에 대해

의 관계식을 제안했으며, 이 관계식이 특수상대론 및 위의 아인슈타인이 제안한 식과 일관됨을 보였다. 즉, E = hν는 광자 뿐만 아니라 모든 입자에 대해 성립한다는 것이다.

위 식들을 각진동수 와 파수  및 를 이용해 표현하면,
 및
p와 k를 벡터로 표현하면

에르빈 슈뢰딩거는 슈뢰딩거 방정식을 1925년 발표하였다. 슈뢰딩거는 평면파의 위상을 복소 위상인자로 나타내었다.

그리고 그는

이므로

이며, 마찬가지로

이므로

이고, 따라서

및 각 방향의 부분들을 더하면

이 성립함을 알았다. 이제 이를 총 에너지 E와 질량 m 및 위치에너지에 대한 고전역학적 공식
 (단순히 총 에너지를 운동 에너지와 위치 에너지의 합으로 나타낸 것)
에 대입하여, 당시에 슈뢰딩거가 얻었던 위치에너지가 주어진 3차원 공간 상의 단일입자에 대한 공식에 도달한다.

관련 방정식 
슈뢰딩거 방정식은 비상대론적이므로, 특수상대론과 불합한다. 슈뢰딩거 방정식을 상대론적으로 일반화하면 스핀에 따라 클라인 고든 방정식이나 디랙 방정식 따위를 얻는다. 이들은 비상대론적인 극한에서 슈뢰딩거 방정식으로 수렴한다.

또한, 슈뢰딩거 방정식에 비인 항을 추가할 수도 있다. 예를 들어, 응집물질물리학에서 보스-아인슈타인 응축을 나타내기 위해 사용하는 그로스-피타옙스키 방정식은 슈뢰딩거 방정식에 사승 상호작용을 추가한 것이다.

같이 보기 
 파동 방정식

각주

외부 링크 
 
 
 

편미분방정식
양자역학
사람 이름을 딴 낱말
오스트리아의 발명품
물리학 개념
에르빈 슈뢰딩거
물리학 방정식

엔트로피(, )는 열역학적 계의 유용하지 않은 (일로 변환할 수 없는) 에너지의 흐름을 설명할 때 이용되는 상태 함수다. 통계역학적으로, 주어진 거시적 상태에 대응하는 미시적 상태의 수의 로그로 생각할 수 있다. 엔트로피는 일반적으로 보존되지 않고, 열역학 제2법칙에 따라 시간에 따라 증가한다. 독일의 물리학자 루돌프 클라우지우스가 1850년대 초에 도입하였다. 대개 기호로 라틴 대문자 S를 쓴다.

정의 
엔트로피에는 열역학적 정의와 통계학적인 정의, 두 가지의 관련된 정의가 있다. 역사적으로, 고전 열역학적 정의가 먼저 발전하였다. 고전 열역학적인 관점에서, 그 이론은 원자나 분자 같은 수많은 성분들로 이루어져 있고, 학설의 안정성은 그러한 성분들의 평균적인 열특성으로 설명된다.
이론을 구성하는 성분의 세부적인 성분들은 직접적으로 보이지 않는다. 그러나 그 특성은 온도, 압력, 엔트로피, 열용량과 같은 눈으로 볼 수 있는 평균적인 지표들에 의해 설명된다. 그 이론의 특성에 관한 고전적인 정의는 평형 상태임을 가정하였다. 엔트로피의 고전 열역학적 정의는 최근 비평형 열역학의 영역으로까지 확대되었다. 이후 엔트로피를 포함한 열특성은 눈으로 볼 수 없는 미시세계에서의 움직임에 대한 정역학적인 관점에서 새롭게 정의되었다. 그 예로 처음에는 기체로 여겨졌지만 시간이 지난 후에 광자, 음자, 스핀과 같은 양자 역학적으로 생각되는 뉴턴 입자가 있다. 이 이론의 특성에 대한 통계학적 설명은 고전적인 열역학을 사용하여 이론의 특성을 정의하는 것이 몇몇 변수의 영향을 받는 이론의 최종적인 상태를 예측하는데 있어서 점점 신뢰할 수 없는 예측 기술이 되어감으로 인하여 필수적인 것이 되었다.

열역학적 정의 
고전적 열역학에서는 엔트로피 S의 절대적 값은 정의할 수 없고, 대신 그 상대적 변화만 정의한다. 열적 평형을 이뤄 온도가 인 계에 열 를 가하였다고 하자. 이 경우 엔트로피의 증가는 다음과 같이 정의한다.
.
이 식을 적분하여 유한한 엔트로피 차이를 정의한다.
.

엔트로피는 온도의 함수로써, 주어진 열이 일로 전환될 수 있는 가능성을 나타낸다. 예를 들어 같은 크기의 열량이라도 고온의 계에 더해졌을 때보다 저온의 계에 더해졌을 경우에 계의 엔트로피가 크게 증가한다. 따라서 엔트로피가 최대일 때 열에너지가 일로 전환될 수 있는 가능성은 최소이고, 반대로 엔트로피가 최소일 때 열에너지가 일로 전환될 수 있는 가능성이 최대가 된다.
실제로 외부적인 일을 할 수 있는 에너지를 "유용한 에너지", 존재하지만 외부적인 일을 하는 데에 쓰일 수 없는 에너지를 "사용불가능한 에너지"라고 한다. 계의 총 에너지를 "유용한 에너지"와 "사용불가능한 에너지"의 합으로 정의 할 때, 엔트로피는 전체 에너지에서 차지하는 비율이 주어진 계의 절대 온도에 반비례하는 "사용불가능한 에너지"의 일종으로 볼 수 있다. 깁스 자유 에너지 또는 헬름홀츠 자유 에너지와의 관계식에서 "TS" 로 나타나는 것을 생각해 보라.

엔트로피는 계의 자유 에너지를 결정짓는 요소 가운데 하나이다. 온도는 평형 상태에 있는 계에서만 정의되는 값이므로, 이와 같은 엔트로피의 열역학적인 정의는 오직 평형 상태에 있는 계에서만 성립한다. 반면 통계역학적인 엔트로피의 정의는 모든 계에 적용된다 (아래 참고). 따라서 엔트로피의 보다 근본적인 정의로는 통계역학적인 정의를 꼽을 수 있다. 엔트로피의 증가는 흔히 분자들의 무질서도의 증가로 정의되어 왔으며, 최근들어 엔트로피는 에너지의 "분산"으로 해석되고 있다.

통계역학적 정의 
통계역학에서는 엔트로피의 차 뿐만 아니라 엔트로피의 절대적 값을 정의할 수 있다. 확률적 상태 분포를 가지는 어떤 계의 앙상블을 생각하자. 여기서 단일계의 상태(미시적 상태) 의 확률을 라고 하자. 이 경우, 앙상블의 엔트로피는 다음과 같이 정의한다.

고립된 계의 경우, 통상적으로 모든 미시적 상태의 확률이 같다고 가정한다. 즉  (여기서 는 가능한 미시적 상태의 수)다. 이 경우

다. 여기서 kB는 볼츠만 상수다. 이 식은 루트비히 볼츠만이 처음 발견하였다.

열저장고와 열적 평형을 이룬 계의 미시상태는 볼츠만 분포 를 따른다. 이 경우 엔트로피는 다음과 같다.

여기서 는 분배함수다. 를 헬름홀츠 자유 에너지로 정의하여, 로 쓰기도 한다.

양자역학적 정의 
양자역학적 앙상블은 밀도행렬 로 나타내어진다. 이 경우, 폰노이만 엔트로피()를 다음과 같이 정의한다.

밀도행렬을 대각화하면 그 각 원소는 확률 가 되므로, 이는 위의 통계역학적 정의와 동등하다. 이 정의는 존 폰 노이만이 발견하였다.

블랙홀의 엔트로피 

블랙홀은 고전적으로 털없음 정리에 의하여 미시상태가 없다. 그러나 반고전으로 마치 어떤 유한한 엔트로피를 가진 것처럼 행동한다. 이 엔트로피는

다. 여기서 는 블랙홀의 사건 지평선의 넓이다. 이를 베켄슈타인-호킹 엔트로피()라고 부른다. 이는 야콥 베켄슈타인(, )이 가설을 세웠고, 스티븐 호킹이 반고전적으로 유도하였다. 또한, 특수한 경우 끈 이론이나 루프 양자 중력 등으로 미시적으로 유도할 수도 있다. 블랙홀을 포함하는 계의 경우, 베켄슈타인-호킹 엔트로피를 무시하고 계산하면 일반적으로 열역학 제2법칙이 성립하지 않고, 이를 포함하여 계산하여야만 성립한다.

성질 
은 특정 온도 에서 시스템의 에너지 중에서 일로 변환할 수 없는 에너지를 나타낸다. 따라서 전체 에너지에서 을 뺀 양이 자유 에너지가 된다.

열 엔트로피와 위치 엔트로피 
엔트로피란 우주 내부 어떤 시스템에서 생기는 유용한 에너지가 무용한 에너지로 변화하는 량의 척도이다. 엔트로피를 계를 구성하는 성분들의 배열의 관점에서 바라보게 된다면, 위치 엔트로피와 열 엔트로피로 분류할 수 있다. 여기서 열 엔트로피는 분자들 사이에서의 에너지 양자의 분포들에 의한 구별가능한 배열을 기준으로 하여 계산된 엔트로피를 말한다.

위와 같이 분류한 엔트로피를 계의 관점에서 본 알짜엔트로피 변화를 나타낼 때 이용할 수 있다.

계와 주위가 갖는 엔트로피는 다음과 같이 표현할 수 있다

여기서 열 엔트로피는 계와 주위 모두에 존재하지만, 계를 제외한 모든 곳을 지칭하는 주위에서 위치 엔트로피의 변화는 너무 광범위하게 이루어지므로 그 변화를 무시할 수 있고, 주위가 갖는 엔트로피 변화에 가장 큰 영향을 미치는 것은 온도, 즉 열 엔트로피이다. 이 때문에 주위의 엔트로피 변화를 열 엔트로피 변화라고 할 수 있다. 그리고 이와 같은 관점에서 계에서 열 엔트로피변화는 분명 존재하긴 하지만 위치 엔트로피의 변화가 더욱 계의 엔트로피변화에 큰 영향을 주기 때문에 계의 엔트로피 변화를 위치 엔트로피의 변화라 할 수 있다.

엔트로피에 관한 작품 
 아이작 아시모프의 단편 소설 《최후의 질문》.
 제레미 리프킨의 책 《엔트로피》. 비록 자연과학적 시선과는 일치하지 않으나 엔트로피 법칙을 사회학적으로 해석하였다. 만물은 유용에서 무용으로의 한가지 방향으로만 흐르며 결국에는 세계는 무질서에 휩싸일 것이라고 경고하며 새로운 세계관을 역설하고 있다. [Rifkin, Jeremy, and Ted Howard. Entropy: A New World View. New York: Viking, 1980. Print.]

같이 보기 
 
 혼돈 이론
 맥스웰의 도깨비
 스털링 근사
 기브스 자유 에너지
 잔여 엔트로피
 정보 엔트로피

주해

각주

외부 링크 
 
 Postech - 과학사개론 > 엔트로피 개념에 대한 이해, 저자 - 임경순
 네이버 캐스트 - 엔트로피는 증가한다, 엔트로피 증가의 법칙

 
그리스어계 외래어
물리학 개념
상태 함수
비대칭

라플라스 방정식(Laplace's equation)은 2차 편미분 방정식의 하나로, 고윳값이 0인 라플라스 연산자의 고유함수가 만족시키는 방정식이다. 전자기학, 천문학 등에서 전위 및 중력 퍼텐셜을 다룰 때 쓰인다. 피에르시몽 라플라스의 이름을 땄다. 라플라스 방정식의 해를 조화함수라고 한다.

정의 
차원 리만 다양체에서 가 라플라스-벨트라미 연산자라고 하자. 그렇다면 라플라스 방정식은 다음과 같은 2차 편미분방정식이다.
.
3차원 유클리드 공간에서는

이므로,

이 된다.

관련된 편미분 방정식 
우변을 주어진 함수 로 바꾼 경우

는 푸아송 방정식이라고 한다. 즉, 라플라스 방정식은 인 푸아송 방정식의 특수한 경우다.

우변을 다음과 같이 바꾸면

헬름홀츠 방정식을 얻는다. 라플라스 방정식은 인 경우다.

코시-리만 방정식의 해의 두 성분 모두 각각 라플라스 방정식을 만족한다. (즉, 정칙함수의 실수 또는 허수 성분은 조화함수다.)

경계 조건 
라플라스 방정식의 디리클레 문제란 어떤 영역 의 경계에서의 φ가 특정 함수로 주어졌을 때, 영역 위의 해 φ를 구하는 것이다. 열전도에서 등장하는 라플라스 방정식을 빗대어 보면, 이 문제는 다음과 같이 해석할 수 있다. 경계면의 온도를 특정한 온도로 일정하게 유지하고 내부의 온도가 더 이상 변화하지 않을 때까지 기다린 후 내부의 온도 분포를 찾는 것이 디리클레 문제에 해당한다.

라플라스 방정식의 노이만 경계 조건은 경계 D에서 함수  자신이 아니라 법선 도함수를 조건으로 가진다. 물리학에서는 경계에서만 벡터장의 효과를 알고 있을 때 그 벡터장의 퍼텐셜을 구하는 데 사용한다.

라플라스 방정식의 해를 조화 함수라고 한다. 조화 함수는 방정식의 해가 되는 영역에서는 항상 해석적이다. 만일 두 함수가 각각 라플라스 방정식(또는 선형 동차 미분방정식)의 해라면, 두 함수의 선형 결합도 해이다. 이 성질을 중첩의 원리라고 하며 복잡한 문제의 해를 간단한 해들로 나타낼 수 있기 때문에 유용하게 쓰인다.

2차원 라플라스 방정식 
2차원에서 라플라스 방정식은 두 개의 의존변수

의 형태로 나타난다.

2차원 라플라스 방정식의 차분방정식 

는 격하게 (mesh size)

푸아송 방정식의 차분방정식은 다음과 같다.

해석적 함수 
복소 범위의 해석적 함수 의 실수부와 허수부는 모두 라플라스 방정식을 만족한다.
이고
 
라 하자. 가 해석적이려면
 
를 만족해야 한다(코시-리만 방정식). 여기서
 
이다. 따라서 는 라플라스 방정식을 만족한다. 도 비슷한 방법으로 라플라스 방정식을 만족함을 보일 수 있다.

2차원 라플라스 방정식과 푸리에 급수 
극좌표계 에서 라플라스 연산자는 다음과 같다.
.
따라서 그 일반해는 변수분리법으로 구할 수 있고, 다음과 같다.
.
이는 함수 의 푸리에 급수임을 알 수 있다. 이는

으로 나타낼 수 있다. 즉, 푸리에 급수의 계수는 로랑 급수의 계수와 같다.

3차원 라플라스 방정식 
3차원 공간에서, 구면좌표계 에서 변수분리법을 적용하면 라플라스 방정식의 일반해는 다음과 같다.
.
여기서 는 구면 조화 함수이고, 와 은 임의의 계수다. 물론, 가 원점에서 연속적이려면 이다.

방정식
조화해석학
타원 편미분 방정식
푸리에 해석학
피에르시몽 라플라스
조화 함수

적분은 미적분학의 두 기본연산 중의 하나이다. 적분은 미분처럼 복잡한 함수를 보다 간단한 함수들로 분해하여 계산할 수는 없기 때문에, 여러 함수에 대한 적분을 모아 놓은 적분표는 유용하게 사용된다.

아래의 식들에서 C는 적분 상수이다.

일반적인 적분 규칙

적분표 
아래 문서들에서 다양한 적분 공식들을 찾아볼 수 있다.
 유리함수 적분표
 무리함수 적분표
 삼각함수 적분표
 역삼각함수 적분표
 쌍곡선함수 적분표
 역쌍곡선함수 적분표
 지수함수 적분표
 로그함수 적분표
 가우스함수 적분표

간단한 함수의 적분

유리함수

무리함수

로그함수

지수함수

삼각함수

쌍곡선함수

정적분 
어떤 함수의 적분은 원시 함수로 나타낼 수 없지만, 특정 구간에서의 적분값을 계산할 수는 있다. 다음은 그들 중 유용한 몇 정적분이다.

외부 링크 
 Paul's Online Math Notes
 A. Dieckmann, Table of Integrals: Indefinite Integrals Definite Integrals
 Math Major: A Table of Integrals
 
 Rule-based Integration
 
 Victor Hugo Moll, The Integrals in Gradshteyn and Ryzhik
 울프럼 알파의 적분 예시

 
적분

수학에서 삼각함수(三角函數, )는 각의 크기를 삼각비로 나타내는 함수이다. 예각 삼각함수는 직각 삼각형의 예각에 직각 삼각형의 두 변의 길이의 비를 대응시킨다. 임의의 각의 삼각함수 역시 정의할 수 있다. 삼각함수는 복소수의 지수 함수의 실수 · 허수 부분이며, 따라서 복소수를 다룰 때 핵심적인 역할을 한다. 가장 근본적인 주기 함수이며, 각종 주기적 현상을 다룰 때 푸리에 급수의 형태로 등장한다.

삼각함수에는 3개의 기본적인 함수가 있으며, 이들은 사인(, , 기호 ) · 코사인(, , 기호 ) · 탄젠트(, , 기호 )라고 한다. 이들의 역수는 각각 코시컨트(, 기호 ) · 시컨트(, 기호 ) · 코탄젠트(, 기호 )라고 한다.

정의

직각 삼각형을 통한 정의  

C가 직각인 삼각형 ABC에서, 각 A, B, C의 대변(마주보는 변)의 길이를 라고 할 때, 사인, 코사인, 탄젠트의 정의는 다음과 같다.
사인: 
코사인: 
탄젠트: 
또한, 코시컨트, 시컨트, 코탄젠트는 위 세 함수의 역수가 되며, 다음과 같이 정의한다.
코시컨트: 
시컨트: 
코탄젠트:

단위원을 통한 정의 

좌표평면에서 원점을 중심으로 하고 반지름 r의 길이가 1인 원을 단위원이라고 한다. 이 단위원 위의 점 A 에 대해, 축과 점 A와 원점을 잇는 직선간의 각을  라고 하면, 다음과 같이 정의한다.

복소 삼각함수 
오일러의 공식 에 를 대입하면,

를 대입하면,

연립하여 풀면, 쌍곡선함수,

성질

주기성과 특이점 
사인 · 코사인 · 코시컨트 · 시컨트는 주기가 인 주기함수이다. 즉, 임의의 복소수 에 대하여,

탄젠트 · 코탄젠트는 주기가 인 주기함수이다. 즉, 임의의 복소수 에 대하여,

사인과 코사인은 실수선 위에서 해석함수이며, 복소 평면 위에서 정칙함수이다. 이들은 복소 무한대 에서 본질적 특이점을 갖는다.

탄젠트는 실수선의  ()에서 정의되지 않는다.

특별한 값 

특별한 각에서의 삼각 함수의 값은 다음과 같다.
(라디안)

부호 
각 사분면에 따른 삼각함수의 부호는 다음과 같다.

항등식 

삼각함수 사이에는 많은 항등식이 존재한다. 그중 가장 자주 쓰이는 것은 피타고라스 항등식으로, 어떤 각에 대해서도 사인의 제곱과 코사인의 제곱의 합은 1이다. 이는 반지름의 길이가 인 빗변이고 밑변이  각 의 대변인 높이 에 대하여 를 만족한다는 피타고라스의 정리로 설명할 수 있다. 이를 삼각함수로 나타내면 다음과 같다.

이것은 다음과 같다.

따라서, 이것은 또한 단위원에서 다음과 같다.

삼각함수의 덧셈정리
서로 다른 삼각함수의 관계는 삼각함수의 덧셈정리이다. 두 각의 합과 차의 사인과 코사인은 x, y에 대한 사인과 코사인으로 구할 수 있다. 이는 제2 코사인 법칙과 두 점 사이의 거리 공식을 연립해 유도할 수 있고, 제1 코사인 법칙과 사인 법칙을 연립해 유도할 수 있고, 오일러의 공식을 이용해 유도할 수도 있다.

 (복부호 동순)
두 각의 크기가 같을 경우에는 덧셈정리를 간단하게 배각공식을 이용할 수 있다.

모든 삼각 함수는 다른 삼각 함수를 사용하여 다음과 같이 나타낼 수 있다.

미분과 적분 

다음은 6개의 기본 삼각함수에 대한 도함수와 부정적분이다.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! 함수  !! 도함수  || 부정적분 
|-
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
| 
|-
| 
| 
| 
|}

응용

사인 법칙 

사인 법칙은 임의의 삼각형 ABC에서 각 A, B, C의 대변 a, b, c에 대해 다음과 같은 관계를 만족함을 나타낸다.

마찬가지로,

도 성립한다. 여기서 R은 삼각형의 외접원의 반지름의 길이를 나타낸다.

코사인 법칙 

코사인 법칙에는 총 두 가지의 법칙이 있다.

코사인 제 1 법칙에 따르면,

양변의 길이와 알고자 하는 변 사이의 두 각의 크기를 알 경우, 다른 한 변의 길이를 알아낼 때 사용할 수 있다.

코사인 제 2 법칙은 피타고라스의 정리를 확장한 것이다.

가 성립하고, 위의 식을 변형하면

와 같이 나타낼 수 있다.

코사인법칙은 두 변의 길이와 끼인각의 크기를 알 때 삼각형의 나머지 한 변의 길이를 구할 때 유용하게 쓸 수 있다. 또한 모든 변의 길이를 알고 있을 때 각의 코사인값을 구할 때에도 사용할 수 있다.

탄젠트 법칙 

탄젠트법칙은 임의의 삼각형 ABC에서 각 A, B의 대변 a, b에 다음과 같은 식을 만족시킨다.

역사 

기원전 2~1세기 그리스의 히파르코스와 프톨레마이오스 등은 각도에 대해 달라지는 현의 길이를 다룬 적이 있다.

현재 쓰는 것과 같은 삼각함수의 원형은 굽타 시대 인도 천문학에서 찾아볼 수 있다. 기원후 4~5세기 인도의 천문학 책이 산스크리트어에서 아랍어를 통해 라틴어로 번역되면서 유럽에 전해졌다. 5세기 초 발간된 인도의 천문학 서적 『수우르야 싯단타(Sūrya Siddhānt, 태양에 관한 지식)』에는 세계 최초로 삼각함수에 관해 정확하고 자세하게 표현된 설명이 기록되어 있다.

삼각함수가 동아시아에 전해진 것은 16~17세기 때이다.

어원 

영어 ‘사인()’은 라틴어 에서 왔는데, 이는 12세기의 유럽 번역가들이 아랍어 ()를 ‘옷의 목부분, 옷깃’으로 보고 라틴어로 번역한 것이다. 하지만 이 단어는 실제로는 ‘활시위’를 뜻하는 산스크리트어 (, 베다 )를 음차한 것이다.

‘탄젠트()’는 ‘접한다’는 뜻의 라틴어 에서 왔고, ‘시컨트()’는 ‘자른다’는 뜻의 라틴어 에서 왔다. 각각 원에 접하는 선과 자르는 선에 빗대어 붙인 이름이다.

코사인, 코탄젠트, 코시컨트의 ‘코(co-)’가 처음 쓰인 책으로는 의 (1620년)이 있는데, ‘여각의 사인’()을 ‘코사인()’으로 줄여 부른 것이다.

한자 문화권에서는 독일의 선교사·과학자인 이 명나라에서 저술한 《대측(大測)》(1631) 등의 책에서 사인·코사인·탄젠트를 각각 정현(正弦)·여현(餘弦)·정절(正切)이라고 번역했다. 코탄젠트·시컨트·코시컨트는 각각 여절(餘切)·정할(正割)·여할(餘割)이라 한다. 이 이름은 근대화되기 전의 조선·일본에서 쓰였고, 지금도 중국에서 쓰인다.

참고로, 삼각함수의 동의어는 원함수이다.

같이 보기 

 싱크함수
 e
 테일러 급수
 오일러의 등식
 원뿔
 헤론의 공식
 체비셰프 다항식
 베르누이 수
 역삼각함수

각주

외부 링크 

 
 Visionlearning Module on Wave Mathematics
 GonioLab: Visualization of the unit circle, trigonometric and hyperbolic functions
 Dave's draggable diagram. (Requires java browser plugin)
 sinusoidal wave shape 

 
초등 특수 함수
단항 연산

르장드르 다항식() 는 르장드르 미분 방정식()이라고 불리는 다음 미분 방정식의 해가 되는 함수들이다.

스튀름-리우빌 형식으로 쓰면,

이다. 이 함수와 미분 방정식의 이름은 프랑스의 수학자 아드리앵마리 르장드르의 이름을 따 명명되었다. 이 상미분 방정식은 물리와 공학의 여러 분야에서 자주 등장한다. 특히, 구면좌표계에서 라플라스 방정식을 풀 때 등장한다.

르장드르 다항식 
구체적인 몇몇 르장드르 다항식의 형태는 다음과 같다.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto;background:white;"
|-----
! width="10%" align="center" | 
! align="center" | 
|-----
| align="center" | 0 || 
|-----
| align="center" | 1 || 
|-----
| align="center" | 2
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 3
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 4
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 5
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 6
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 7
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 8
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 9
| 
|-----
| align="center" | 10

|}

인 경우의 구간 [-1,1]사이에서의 르장드르 다항식의 그래프는 다음과 같다.

성질

간단한 성질 
르장드르 다항식에는 다음과 같은 몇몇 간단한 성질이 있다.
 
 
 
 
 이 홀수이면 
 이 짝수이면

수직 관계 
르장드르 다항식 끼리 구간 [-1,1]에서  내적을 취하면 다음과 같은 결과를 얻는다.
.
여기서 은 크로네커 델타를 의미한다. 따라서, 르장드르 다항식은 구간 [-1,1]에서 서로 수직함을 알 수 있다. 이는 르장드르 방정식이 스튀름-리우빌 문제에 속하기 때문이다. 즉, 르장드르 미분 방정식을 다음과 같이 스튀름-리우빌 형식으로 놓을 수 있다.

여기서 고윳값 이다. 스튀름-리우빌 문제의 해의 집합은 일반적으로 함수 공간의 정규 직교 기저를 이루므로, 르장드르 다항식도 마찬가지로 직교 기저를 이룬다. (다만, 통상적으로 그 노름이 1이 아니게 정의한다.)

르장드르 다항식의 계산 및 표현 
르장드르 다항식은 점화식이나 선적분, 생성 함수 등 여러 방법으로 표현할 수 있다.

로드리게스 공식 
로드리게스 공식()은 르장드르 다항식의 일반식이며, 다음과 같다.

점화식 
르장드르 다항식은 다음과 같은 점화식을 만족한다.

생성 함수 
르장드르 다항식은 다음과 같은 생성 함수를 가진다.
.

선적분을 통한 표현 
르장드르 다항식은 유수적분을 통해 다음과 같은 적분 형태로 표현될 수 있다.

여기서 적분 경로는 원점을 중심으로 하는 임의의 반시계방향의 폐곡선이다.

직교 다항식
다항식
특수 초기하함수

소수에는 다음과 같은 뜻이 있다.

수학 
 소수(素數, [소쑤])는 수학에서 1과 그수 자신 이외의 자연수로는 나눌 수 없는, 1보다 큰 자연수이다.
 소수(小數, [소수]) 수학에서 소수점을 찍어 나타낸 실수이다.
 소수(小數)는 수학에서 0보다 크고 1보다 작은 수이다.

제도 
 소수(少守)는 신라의 관직이다.

지리 
 소수(瀟水)는 중국의 강이다.

인물 
 소수(疏受, ?~?)는 전한 후기의 관료·유학자이다.
 소수(蕭秀, 475~518)는 양나라의 황족이다.
 소수(蘇遂, 1517~1592)는 조선 중기의 문신이다.

같이 보기

로봇(, )은 어떠한 작업이나 조작을 자동적으로 수행하는 기계장치다. 

인간하고 유사한 모습과 기능을 가진 기계 또는 한 개의 프로그램으로 작동하고(programmable), 자동적으로 복잡한 일련의 작업(complex series of actions)을 수행하는 기계적 장치를 말한다. 

또한 제조공장에서 조립, 용접, 핸들링(handling) 등을 수행하는 자동화된 로봇을 산업용 로봇이라 하고, 환경을 인식해 스스로 판단하는 기능을 가진 로봇을 '지능형 로봇'이라 부른다. 사람과 닮은 모습을 한 로봇을 '안드로이드'라 부르기도 한다. 

다른 뜻은 형태가 있으며, 자신이 생각할 수 있는 능력을 가진 기계라고도 한다. 인공의 동력을 사용하는 로봇은 사람 대신 또는 사람과 함께 일을 하기도 한다. 통상 로봇은 제작자가 계획한 일을 하도록 설계된다. 

로봇'이란 용어는 체코슬로바키아의 극작가 카렐 차페크(Karel Čapek)가 1920년에 발표한 희곡 "R.U.R"에 쓴 것이 퍼져 일반적으로 사용되게 되었다. 또한 로봇의 어원은 체코어로 "노동", "노예", "힘들고 단조로운 일"을 의미하는 robota이다.

비유적으로는 남의 지시대로 움직이는 사람을 이르는 이르기도 한다.

우리가 아는 장난감 로봇은 사실 로봇이 아니라 장난감이다. 수동으로 움직이기 때문이다.

어원 및 정의

어원 
Robot이라는 말은 1920년 체코슬로바키아의 극작가 카렐 차페크(Karel Čapek)의 희곡 R.U.R.(Rosuum' s Universal Robots)에서 처음 사용되었다. 

로봇의 어원은 체코어의 노동을 의미하는 단어 'robota'에서 나왔다고 알려지고 있다. 

차페크는 R.U.R.에서 모든 작업능력에서 인간과 동등하거나 그 이상이면서 인간적 “감정”이나 “혼”을 가지고 있지 않은 로봇이라고 불리는 인조인간을 등장시키고 있다. 로봇은 언젠가 쇠조각으로 변하여 반항하는 정신을 발달시킴으로써 자신들의 창조주인 인간을 전부 죽여 버린다고 하는 비극을 인상적으로 나타내고 있다.

로보틱스(Robotics)라는 말은 로봇의 활용과 로봇 공학을 의미한다. 이 말은 미국 과학자이면서 작가인 아이작 아시모프(Issac Asimov; 1920년 1월 2일 ~ 1992년 4월 6일)가 1942년에 발간한 단편 Runaround에서 최초로 사용하였다.

정의 
명사로서 로봇(robot)은 다음의 의미를 지닌다.
 『기계』 인간과 유사한 형태를 가지고 걷기도 하고 말도 하는 기계 장치.
 『기계』 어떤 작업이나 조작을 자동적으로 하는 기계 장치.
 남의 지시대로 움직이는 사람을 비유적으로 이르는 말.

카렐 차페크 
일할 수 있는 능력은 있어도 생각할 수 있는 능력이 없는 인간을 닮은 것.

역사 
 1921년 체코의 극작가 카렐 차페크가 자신의 형 요세프 차페크의 아이디어를 소설 'R.U.R', <로숨의 유니버설 로봇>에서 사용 처음 '로봇'이란 용어가 등장
 1959년 Unimate사에서 Joseph Engelber 등에 의해 최초의 산업용 로봇 개발
 1974년 신시내티사에서 최초의 컴퓨터로 제어되는 산업용 로봇 T3개발
 1979년 일본의 야마나시 대학교에서 SCARA(Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm)로봇 개발
 1997년 일본의 혼다에서 최초로 계단을 오르는 인간형 로봇 P2(아시모의 전신) 발표
 1999년 일본 소니에서 최초의 애완로봇 AIBO(Artificial Intelligence Robot) 출시
 2003년 미국 NASA에서 이동로봇 '스피릿'이 화성에서 탐사활동
 2006년 미국 보스톤 다이내믹스사의 빅 독 개발

로봇의 3원칙 

아이작 아시모프가 1950년 발간한 소설인 'I'Robot'에서 제안된 로봇의 행동에 관한 3가지 원칙이다.

 제1법칙:로봇은 인간에게 해를 끼쳐서는 안 되며, 위험에 처해 있는 인간을 방관해서도 안 된다.
 제2법칙:로봇은 인간이 내리는 명령들에 복종해야만 하며, 단 이러한 명령들이 첫 번째 법칙에 위배될 때에는 예외로 한다.
 제3법칙:로봇은 자기 자신을 보호해야만 한다. 단, 제1법칙과 제2법칙을 걸러버릴경우는 예외다.

군사용 로봇이 공격의 기능을 갖출 경우, 첫 번째 원칙에 위배되게 된다. 하지만 3원칙만 듣게되면 만약 예시로 로봇에게 지구에 있는 나무를 다 없애주라고 할 때 나무를 없애는 것이기 때문에 실행을 할 수가 있어 인간에게 위험할 수 있다. 그래서 몇몇 사람들은 이를 바꾸려한다

로봇의 이용 
그동안 인간이 해 오던 많은 일들을 지금은 로봇이 대신하고 있다. 산업 현장에는 단조로운 반복 작업이나 따분한 작업, 불쾌한 작업들이 많은데, 이와 같은 작업은 특히 로봇에게 맡기기에 적합하다. 조립 공장에서 리벳 박는 일, 용접, 자동차 차체를 칠하는 일 등은 그 좋은 예이다. 이런 종류의 작업은 로봇 쪽이 인간보다 더 잘 해낼 수 있다. 왜냐하면 로봇은 언제나 일정한 수준의 정밀도와 정확도로 작업을 계속할 수 있으며, 결코 지칠 줄 모르기 때문이다. 따라서 제품의 품질은 항상 일정하며 게다가 휴식을 취할 필요가 없기 때문에 많은 양의 제품을 만들 수 있다.

또한 로봇은 위험한 작업을 대신할 수가 있다. 방호복을 입지 않고 원자력 공장에서 방사성 물질을 취급하거나, 유독 화학 물질을 취급할 수가 있으며, 인간에게는 너무 덥거나 추운 환경에서도 일할 수가 있다. 인간의 생명이 위험에 노출될 수 있는 곳에서도 로봇을 사용할 수 있다. 예를 들면 폭발물을 수색하거나 폭탄의 뇌관을 제거하는 일, 그리고 우주 공간에서의 작업도 그중의 하나이다.

로봇은 우주 공간에서의 작업에 특히 이상적이다. 지구를 돌고 있는 인공위성을 수리하거나 유지하는 데 사용되기도 하고, 보이저호와 같이 탐사와 발견을 목적으로 먼 천체까지 비행하는 데도 로봇이 사용된다.

한편 가정에서도 점점 많은 로봇이 가사를 돕기 위해 사용되고 있다. 그리고 육체적인 장애를 가진 사람들을 돌보는 일에도 많이 이용될 것으로 기대된다. 로봇 간호보조자는 장애자나 노령으로 인해 체력이 약해진 사람들이 가족들에게서 독립하여 혼자서도 살 수 있도록 해주며, 병원에 입원하지 않아도 될 수 있도록 도와 주게 될 것이다.

로봇이 사용되는 분야의 예를 들면 다음과 같다.

산업 및 의료용 
주로 힘이나 정밀도를 요하는 작업 담당
 자동차 조립 
 전자제품 조립
 자동 운반 로봇
 수술 보조 로봇
 바다 탐사 로봇
 배달 로봇

수치 제어 공작 기계 
공장에서 제품을 생산할 때 컴퓨터를 이용하면, 제품의 생산 계획이나 설계·제조·보관·출고에 이르기까지 거의 모든 일을 처리할 수 있다. 기계 공업에서 가장 많이 사용하는 공작 기계는 금속 등을 가공할 때 사용된다. 과거에는 이 기계를 사용하기 위해 고도의 숙련된 기술이 필요했다. 그러나 최근에는 수치 제어 공작 기계가 개발되어 기술이 없어도 금속을 가공할 수 있게 되었다. 수치 제어 공작 기계는 가공하는 작업의 순서와 내용을 수치 정보로 만들어 기계에 입력시키면 기계가 자동적으로 가공 작업을 하는 것이다. 이 수치 제어 공작 기계와 자료의 입력 관리를 맡는 컴퓨터가 결합하여 만들어진 것이 컴퓨터 수치 제어 공작 기계이다. 이 수치 제어 기계에서 더 발전하여 복잡한 가공을 할 수 있도록 만든 장치가 공작 로봇이다.

가정용 
주로 인내심을 요하는 작업 담당
 로봇 청소기
 애완용 로봇
 간병 로봇
 세탁 로봇

군사 및 탐사용 
주로 위험한 환경에서의 작업 담당
 우주탐사선
 무인 정찰기
 폭발물 제거 로봇
 해저탐사선

각국의 로봇

미국 
미국에서는 로봇이 생활에 도움을 주는 기계라기보다 앞으로 인류를 위협할지도 모른다는 생각이 있어서 주로 터미네이터 등 영화에서 로봇이 인류를 위협하는 존재로 나와 있다. 또 무인 조종 비행기 등 군사에서 쓰는 군사 로봇이 가장 잘 발달되어 있다.

2015년, 미국의 로봇 제조사인 한슨 로보틱스(Hanson Robotics)에서 일상을 위한 최신 인공지능 로봇 , '(Han)'을 공개하였다. 한은 사람과 대화를 할 수 있는 건 물론, 사람의 표정, 성, 나이 등을 캐치할 수 있다. 한의 가장 놀라운 점은 인간같은 표정을 지을 수 있다는 것이다.

일본 
일본 에도 시대에는 자동인형에 해당되는 가라쿠리 인형이 있었으며, 1929년에는 근대기술을 이용한 동양 최초의 로봇인 가쿠텐소쿠를 처음 제작하였다. 

2000년대 들어 아시모 등과 같은 휴머노이드형 로봇이나 소니의 AIBO와 같은 애완용 로봇 그리고 산업용 로봇 이외에도 인간의 모습에 가까운 로봇 개발에 힘쓰고 있다. 아톰, 건담 같은 로봇 애니메이션이 대중적인 인기를 얻고 있다.

중국 
중국에서는 로봇을 산업이나 가정에 도움을 주는 기계라보다는 사람이 조종하는 꼭두각시라고 생각한다. 그러나 중국은 미국과 일본, 심지어는 대한민국까지도 로봇공학에 힘을 쏟고 있다는 것을 인식하자 이들에게 뒤떨어지지 않기 위해 2000년에 선행자(先行者)라는 이름의 직립보행형 로봇을 개발하기도 했으나 선행자의 양 다리 사이에 설치된 파이프 모양의 부속으로 인하여 일본에서 '최종중화병기 선행자'라는 애니메이션이 발표되는 등 개그캐릭터로서 폭발적인 인기를 끌기도 했다. 

중국에서는 최근 중국 로봇산업의 발전을 위해 많은 노력을 기울이고 있다.

한국 
조선시대에 물의 힘으로 여러 인형이 작동하는 물시계 자격루와 옥루를 제작한 적이 있으나, 현대적인 개념의 로봇이 들어온 것은 1978년 현대자동차 울산 제2공장에 일본에서 수입한 스풋용접용 로봇이 설치된 것이 처음이다.

1984년 6월 대우중공업 인천연구소에서 다관절형 아크용접 로봇 NOVA-10과 제어장치를 처음 국산화하였으며, 1980년대 후반 LG산전 등의 대기업들이 산업용 로봇을 본격적으로 생산하기 시작하였다. 1988년에는 10여개의 로봇 생산업체가 약 1,200여대의 산업용 로봇을 생산하는 수준까지 성장하였으나, 1997년 IMF 사태를 계기로 빈약한 로봇 관련 내수시장과 기술의 취약 등으로 인해 산업용 로봇을 제품화하는 것은 사실상 중단되었다.

1990년대부터는 로봇청소기를 비롯한 서비스 로봇과 휴머노이드형 로봇이 개발 생산되기 시작하였다. 1997년 한국과학기술연구원(KIST)에서 제작한 '센토'가 비록 반인반마의 형태였으나 한국 최초의 휴머노이드 로봇으로 공개되었으며, 2002년에는 한국과학기술원 (KAIST)에서 'KHR-1'을, 2004년에는 '휴보 (KHR-2)'를 개발했다.

물리적인 움직임 없이 사람과 의사소통하며 감정을 교류하는 소셜 로봇도 있다. 예를 들면, 2015년 5월 글로벌 크라우드 펀딩 사이트인 인디고고(Indiegogo)를 통해 처음으로 세상에 소개된 뮤지오가 있다.

같이 보기 

 로켓
 군사용 로봇
 iRobot
 
 지능형 로봇
 로봇공학 (로보틱스)
 로봇수술
 사이버네틱스
 컴퓨터
 휴보
 인공지능
 인공생명
 휴머노이드
 
 뮤지오
 하디맨

각주 및 참고 문헌 

 로봇의 목록

외부 링크 
 

 
1920년대 신조어

깊은 생각()은 더글러스 애덤스의 과학소설 《은하수를 여행하는 히치하이커를 위한 안내서》에 등장하는 상상의 컴퓨터이다.

줄거리
소설 속에서 깊은 생각은 '삶과 우주, 그리고 모든 것에 대한 궁극적인 답'을 찾기 위해 만들어졌다. 결국 컴퓨터는 750만 년 동안 계산을 한 결과 42라는 답을 계산해 내지만, 깊은 생각의 제작자들은 정작 이 답에 대한 질문이 무엇인지 모르고 있었다는 것을 깨닫는다. 깊은 생각 자신도 궁극의 질문이 무엇인지에 대한 대답은 내놓지 못한 채, 결국 42라는 답에 대한 질문이 무엇인지를 계산하기 위해 더욱 강력한 컴퓨터(지구)를 제작할 것을 제안한다. 천만 년 동안 계산을 하고 결과를 내어 놓기 5분을 남겨놓고 지구는 보곤 공병함대에 의해 파괴된다.

원작 라디오 시리즈에선, Geoffrey McGivern이 그 목소리를 담당했고, 후의 LP 녹음과 TV 시리즈에선 Valentine Dyall가 목소리를 연기했다.

체스 세계 챔피언 개리 카스파로프를 꺾었던 컴퓨터 딥 블루의 이전 모델도 이 소설 속의 컴퓨터의 이름을 따라 딥 소트(Deep Thought)라 명명되었다. 이후 세대 체스 컴퓨터들의 이름은 딥 프리츠, 딥 주니어 등으로 이어진다.

은하수를 여행하는 히치하이커를 위한 안내서

소립자 물리학의 표준 모형(標準模型, )은 자연계의 기본 입자와, 중력을 제외한 그 상호작용 (강한 상호작용, 약한 상호작용, 전자기 상호작용)을 다루는 게이지 이론이다. 강력을 다루는 양자 색역학과, 약력과 전자기력을 다루는 와인버그-살람 이론으로 이루어진다. 표준 모형에 따르면, 전자와 중성미자 및 기타 렙톤은 기본 입자이나, 강입자는 쿼크로 이루어진다. 이들은 게이지 보손에 의하여 상호작용한다. 게이지 보손은 이론의 대칭을 나타낸다. 표준 모형의 대칭 가운데 강한 상호작용의 대칭은 색가둠으로 인하여 간접적으로만 관찰할 수 있고, 약한 상호작용의 대칭은 힉스 메커니즘으로 인하여 깨진다. 따라서 거시적으로는 전자기 상호작용의 대칭만 쉽게 관찰할 수 있다.
표준 모형은 실험적으로 힉스 메커니즘을 제외하고 1980년대에 완성되었다. 힉스 메커니즘은 2010년대 초에 실험적인 증거가 발견되었다.

현상론

표준 모형의 페르미온 
표준 모형에서는 중성미자와 게이지 보손, 힉스 보손을 제외한 모든 입자를 디랙 입자로 나타낸다. 이들 입자는 스핀 ½(즉 페르미온)을 가지며, 질량과 전하를 가지고, 그 반입자와 서로 다르다. 표준 모형은 이들 입자의 질량을 예측하지 못하나, 대체로 세대가 높을 수록 더 무겁다. 표준 모형의 디랙 입자 중, 강하게 상호작용하는 입자는 쿼크, 그렇지 않는 입자는 중성미자와 함께 렙톤으로 분류한다. 쿼크는 ±⅓ 혹은 ±⅔의 전하를 가지고, 중성미자가 아닌 렙톤은 ±1의 전하를 가진다. 이들 입자는 힉스 메커니즘으로 질량을 얻는다. 중성미자는 바일 입자(손지기 페르미온)으로 나타낸다. 즉 스핀 ½(즉 페르미온)을 가지며, 질량과 전하가 없고, 그 반입자와 다른 손지기(chirality)를 가진다.

6종의 쿼크 맛깔은 시간이 지나면서 서로 다른 맛깔의 쿼크로 변할 수 있는데, 이를 쿼크 섞임이라고 한다. 쿼크가 섞이는 정도는 CKM행렬이라는 수학적 개체로 나타낸다. 이는 이탈리아의 니콜라 카비보(Nicola Cabbibo)와 일본의 고바야시 마코토와 마스카와 도시히데가 도입하였다. 예를 들어, 중성자는 양성자로 붕괴할 수 있다 (베타 붕괴). 이 과정에서 아래 쿼크는 위 쿼크로 바뀐다. 쿼크 섞임 때문에 표준 모형은 CP 대칭을 보존하지 않는다.

렙톤의 경우, 표준 모형에서는 렙톤이 섞이지 않는다. 즉, 표준모형은 세 종류의 렙톤 수 (전자 수, 뮤온 수, 타우온 수)를 개별적으로 보존한다.

표준모형의 페르미온은 다음과 같이 세 세대로 나뉜다. 각 세대의 서로 대응되는 입자는 질량을 제외하고는 정확히 같은 성질을 지닌다. 표준 모형은 왜 세대 구조가 존재하는지 설명하지 못한다.

표준 모형의 게이지 보손 
표준 모형은 게이지군이 SU(3)C×SU(2)W×U(1)Y인 게이지 이론이다. 이 중 강력은 SU(3)C, 약전자기력은 SU(2)W×U(1)Y에 해당한다. 낮은 에너지에서, 약전자기력의 대칭은 힉스 메커니즘에 의해 자발적으로 깨져 전자기력의 U(1)EM만 남고, 나머지는 약력을 이룬다. 이 과정으로 인해 힉스 보손과 약력의 게이지 보손은 질량을 얻는다. (여기서 U(1)Y와 U(1)EM은 서로 다른 군이다.)

강력의 게이지 보손은 글루온이다. SU(3)가 8차원이므로, 글루온은 총 여덟가지의 색을 지닌다. 강력은 오직 쿼크에만 작용하고, 렙톤에는 작용하지 않는다. 쿼크는 세가지의 색을 지닌다. 이를 가시광선의 삼원색을 따서 통상적으로 빨강, 초록, 파랑으로 부른다. 이 때문에 강한 상호작용을 기술하는 양자장론을 양자 색역학이라고 일컫는다.
글루온을 통하여 쿼크의 색이 바뀔 수 있다. 따라서 글루온의 색을 3가지의 색을 다른 색으로 바꾸는 조합 (초록→빨강, 빨강→파랑 등)으로 볼 수 있다. 3가지의 색을 다른 3가지로 바꾸는 조합은 총 3×3=9가지이나, 그중 모든 색을 그대로 두는 (빨강→빨강, 초록→초록, 파랑→파랑) 변환을 제외하여 8가지의 색이 남는다.

전약력의 게이지 보손은 SU(2)×U(1)이 4차원이므로 4종인데, 이는
대칭 깨짐 이전의 W+, W-, W0 (약한 아이소스핀, SU(2)), B (약한 초전하, U(1))에 해당한다.
대칭 깨짐 이후, W0과 B는 광자와 Z보손으로 섞인다.
전약력의 게이지 군 가운데 SU(2)의 전하는 약한 아이소스핀, U(1)의 전하는 약한 초전하이다. 대칭이 깨지면서, 약한 아이소스핀의 한 성분과 약한 초전하가 섞여 양자전기역학의 대칭군 U(1)을 이룬다.

표준 모형의 이론적 구성

대칭 
표준 모형은 대부분의 양자장론처럼 많은 수의 대칭을 지닌다. 대칭은 다음과 같이 분류할 수 있다.
 이산대칭: 연속적이지 않은 대칭. 대표적으로 C 대칭, P 대칭, T 대칭과 그 조합이 있다.
 연속적 대칭: 이들을 리 군을 이룬다. 연속적 대칭은 뇌터 정리에 의하여 해당하는 보존량을 가진다.
 전반적 대칭: 모든 곳의 마당 전체를 변환하는 대칭.
 시공간 대칭: 시공의 대칭군. 특수상대성이론에서는 푸앵카레 군이고, 뉴턴역학에서는 갈릴레이 군.
 우연한 대칭: 이론에서 가정하지 않았으나 "우연히" 생겨난 대칭. 비(非)건드림이론 차원에서 깨질 수 있다.
 게이지 대칭 (국소적 대칭): 특정한 구역의 마당만 변환하는 대칭. 이런 대칭을 가진 이론을 게이지 이론이라고 한다.

이산대칭 
자연계에서 약력은 C 대칭과 P 대칭을 최대로 깬다. 따라서 표준 모형은 이들을 따르지 않는다. 강력의 경우 이론적으로 C 대칭을 깰 수 있으나 (강력 CP 문제), 이는 관측 불가능할 정도로 작다. 약력은 2세대 이하에서는 CP 대칭을 보존하지만 3세대 이상으로는 CP 대칭을 깬다 (CP 위반). 표준 모형은 다른 모든 특수상대론적 이론과 같이 푸앵카레 대칭을 따르므로 CPT 정리에 따라 CPT 대칭을 따른다. CPT는 이산대칭이기 때문에 뇌터 정리에 해당하지 않고,연관된 보존량도 없다.

게이지 대칭 
표준 모형은 SU(3)×SU(2)×U(1)의 대칭군을 가진 게이지 이론이다. 여기서 SU(3)은 색력에 해당하고, SU(2)×U(1)은 전약력에 해당한다. SU(2)를 약한 아이소스핀, U(1)을 약한 초전하라고 부른다. 이 중 SU(2)×U(1)은 U(1)으로 깨지게 된다. 여기서 깨진 후 남은 U(1)은 전자기 대칭으로, 약한 초전하의 U(1)과는 다르다. 이에 따라 표준 모형은 색전하, 약한 아이소스핀, 약한 초전하를 보존한다.

우연한 대칭 
표준 모형은 건드림이론 수준에서 네 가지의 전반적 (global) 우연대칭 (accidental symmetry)을 가진다. 이는 쿼크 위상 회전, 전자 위상 회전, 뮤온 위상 회전, 타우온 위상 회전이다. 이에 따라, 표준 모형은 바리온 수, 전자 수, 뮤온 수, 타우온 수를 보존한다. 이들은 우연대칭이기 때문에, 대통일 이론에서 깨질 수 있다. 실제로 전자 수, 뮤온 수, 타우온 수의 개별적인 보존은 중성미자 진동에 의하여 반증되었다. 또한, 우연대칭은 건드림이론에서는 성립하지만 비(非)건드림적인 효과로 인해 깨질 수 있다. 실제로 표준 모형에서는 비건드림적 효과로 인하여 바리온 수와 렙톤 수가 개별적으로 보존되지 않는다. 즉 B+L은 보존되지 않을 수 있다. 이를 스팔레론(sphaleron)이라고 부른다. 그러나 B−L은 비건드림적으로도 보존된다. 물론 모든 비건드림이론적 효과는 대부분의 경우 극히 미미하고, 빅뱅 초기 (바리온 생성 및 렙톤 생성)를 제외하고는 관측하기 힘들다. 이 밖에도, 표준 모형은 각종 근사적인 맛깔 대칭을 지닌다. 가장 기본적으로 아이소스핀의 SU(2)와 이를 초전하로 확장한 SU(3)이 있고, 이를 다른 쿼크를 도입하여 더 확장할 수 있다. 맛깔 대칭은 쿼크의 질량에 의하여 깨진다. 질량이 클 수록 깨지는 정도도 더 심하다.

장 
아래의 표는 표준 모형에 등장하는 모든 마당을 정리한 것이다. 이 가운데 페르미온 장 (스핀 ½)은 질량을 제외하고 모든 성질이 같은 두 개의 세대가 더 존재하지만, 생략하였다.

이 표는 왼손 바일 스피너 대신에 오른손 바일 스피너로 적을 수도 있다. 그렇게 하면, 모든 쿼크를 반쿼크로 바꾸어야 한다. 이는 약력은 전반성 (P) 대칭을 최대로 불복하기 때문이다. 또한, 표준 모형에서 중성미자는 오직 왼손만 존재한다. 즉 모든 중성미자는 왼손잡이며, 반중성미자는 오른손잡이다.

페르미온의 경우, 왼손 입자(, )는 SU(2)L의 기본표현(fundamental representation)을 따르나, 왼손 반입자(, , )는 SU(2)L에 따라 변환하자 않는다. (반)쿼크(, , )는 SU(3)c의 (반)기본표현을 따르나, 렙톤(, )은 SU(3)c에 따라 변환하지 않는다.
게이지 장(, , )은 해당 게이지 대칭에 대하여 딸림표현을 따르고, 로렌츠 벡터이며, 다른 게이지 대칭에는 변환하지 않는다.

상수 
표준 모형은 19개의 상수를 포함한다.

표준 모형의 결함 
표준 모형은 이론적으로 여러가지의 결함을 가지고 있고, 또 현상론적으로 관측된 일부 현상을 설명하지 못한다.
이 때문에 학자들은 표준모형이 더 기본적인 이론을 근사하는 유효 이론이며, 더 높은 에너지에서는 표준모형이 다루지 않는 새 현상이 나타나리라고 기대한다. 거대 하드론 충돌기에서 행해지는 여러 실험은 표준모형의 한계를 드러낼 것이다.

이론적 결함 
표준 모형은 이론적으로 여러 자연스러움 (naturality) 문제를 안고 있다. 이는 표준 모형에 등장하는 몇몇 상수가 너무나 큰 값 또는 작은 값을 가지는 것이다. 이런 문제를 해결하려면 대개 더 강력한 대칭을 도입하여 상수가 왜 그렇게 크거나 작은 값을 가지는지 설명해야한다. 이런 종류의 이론은 대통일 이론이나 초대칭 따위가 있다.

<dt>계층 문제
<dd>전약력의 자발 대칭 깨짐이 일어나는 눈금은 플랑크 눈금보다 터무니없이 작다. 표준 모형에서는 전약력 대칭 파괴는 스칼라 힉스 보손으로 일으켜지나, 스칼라 입자의 질량은 (초대칭이 없는 이상) 방사 보정에 대하여 안정하지 못하다. 따라서 일반적으로 새로운 물리가 나타나는 눈금(대통일 눈금이나 플랑크 눈금) 정도이여야 하는데, 힉스 보손의 질량은 플랑크 질량보다 훨씬 작다.
<dt>CP 위반 문제
<dd>강력이 CP대칭을 위반하는 정도는 지나치게 작다.
<dt>우주 상수 문제
<dd>진공의 에너지 밀도는 플랑크 에너지 밀도에 비하여 지나치게 작다. 이론적으로는 진공에너지(우주상수)는 무한대이거나 중력을 고려하면 플랑크 에너지 눈금에 있어야 하는데, 관측된 값은 이보다 훨씬 작다.

또한, 표준 모형은 여러가지로 임의적인 면이 있다. 표준 모형은 3세대로 구성되어 있지만, 왜 3세대로 구성되었는지 설명하지 않는다. 2세대가 발견되었을 때, 이지도어 아이작 라비는 "누가 그걸 주문했어?"라고 외칠 정도로, 세대의 존재와 그 수는 언뜻 보면 불필요한 구조다.

표준 모형은 전하의 양자화를 설명하지 않는다. 폴 디랙은 전하의 양자화를 설명하려면 자기 홀극이 필요하다는 사실을 보였으나 표준 모형은 자기 홀극을 포함하지 않는다.

또한 표준 모형은 19개의 자유 변수를 가진다. 이 자유 변수의 수는 기본 이론이라고 보기에는 너무 많다.

현상론적 결함 
표준 모형은 입자 물리학의 거의 모든 실험 결과를 오차 범위 안으로 설명한다. 그러나 표준모형은 중력을 다루지 않는다. 또 표준 모형은 중성미자를 무질량 입자로 다루지만, 실제로 중성미자는 아주 작지만 영이 아닌 질량을 가진다 (중성미자 진동). 이 질량이 어떤 종류인지 (즉 중성미자가 디랙 입자인지 마요라나 입자인지) 아직 확실하지 않다.

또한 표준 모형은 아무런 암흑 물질 입자를 포함하지 않는다. 표준 모형에서 암흑 물질로 간주할 수 있는 입자는 중성미자밖에 없는데, 중성미자는 이론적으로 전체 암흑 물질 양의 소량만을 차지한다.

각주

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 The Review of Particle Physics(英)(소립자 물리학의 총론) -- 2002년까지의 소립자 실험과 이론을 정리한 논문)
 네이버 캐스트 - 물리학의 표준 모형

 
입자물리학
양자장론
물리학 개념

쿼크()는 경입자와 더불어 물질을 이루는 가장 근본적인 입자다. 경입자가 아닌, 색전하를 띤 기본 페르미 입자이다. 중입자와 중간자를 이룬다. 이론 물리학자 머리 겔만은 자신이 발견한 우주의 기본 미립자를 '쿼크'(quark)로 명명했는데 이것은 제임스 조이스의 소설 《피네간의 경야》 12장 '신부선(新婦船)과 갈매기'에서 갈매기가 외치는 무의미한 조롱의 울음소리에서 따온 것이다. 우연의 일치로, 우주 속의 입자들을 구성하는 쿼크는 세 개씩 같이 다닌다.

종류 
쿼크는 총 6가지의 종류가 있으며, 다음과 같다.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-----
! 이름 !! 영명 !! 기호 !! 전하량 !! 정지 질량 (MeV/c2)
|-----
| 위 쿼크 ||  || u || +⅔ || 1.5 - 5
|-----
|아래 쿼크|| || d || −⅓ || 17 - 25
|-----
| 맵시 쿼크 ||  || c || +⅔ || 1100 - 1400
|-----
| 기묘 쿼크 ||  || s || −⅓ || 60 - 170
|-----
| 꼭대기 쿼크 ||  || t || +⅔ || 165000 - 180000
|-----
| 바닥 쿼크 ||  || b || −⅓ || 4100 - 4400
|}

각 쿼크에는 이에 대응되는 반입자인 반쿼크()가 존재한다. 반쿼크는 대응하는 쿼크와 질량이 같지만 전하와 색전하가 반대다. 각 쿼크는 빨강, 초록, 파랑 세 개의 색깔을 가질 수 있다. 쿼크는 3세대가 있는데 1세대는 위·아래(up·down) 쿼크, 2세대에 맵시·기묘(charm·strange) 쿼크, 3세대에 꼭대기·바닥(top·bottom) 쿼크로 나눈다.

성질 
쿼크는 기본 전하의 −⅓ 또는 +⅔의 전하를 갖는다. 기본 전하의 정수배가 아닌 전하를 가진 입자는 쿼크가 유일하다. 전하량 외에도 쿼크는 색전하(色電荷, )란 물리량을 갖는데, 이 양은 '빨강', '초록', 혹은 '파랑'으로 나타낸다. 이 물리량에 대한 보존법칙은 합쳐진 입자는 언제나 '무색'이어야 한다고 말한다. 반쿼크는 '반빨강', '반초록', '반파랑'의 색전하를 갖는다.(색전하는 가시광선의 색과는 아무런 관련이 없고, 단지 양자 색역학의 대칭군인 SU(3)의 3차원 표현의 기저를 나타내는 통상적인 용어일 뿐이다.)

양자 색역학의 색가둠 현상에 의하여, 일상적인 에너지에서 쿼크는 홀로 존재하지 않고 언제나 중간자나 중입자를 이룬다. 중간자는 쿼크와 반쿼크로 이루어진 입자이고, 중입자는 세 개의 쿼크로 이루어진 입자다. 중간자와 중입자를 통틀어 강입자라고 부른다. 이에 따라, 홑 쿼크는 관측할 수 없으며, 관측 가능한 강입자는 항상 기본 전하의 정수배의 전하를 가지고, 항상 무색이다. 쿼크를 따로 관측할 수 없으므로, 위 표의 쿼크 질량은 정확한 값이 아니라 참값이 놓여 있을 것으로 여겨지는 범위다.

어원 
"쿼크"라는 이름은 제임스 조이스의 소설 《피네간의 경야()》에 나오는 다음 구절에서 인용한 것이다.
{|
|-
| 마크 왕을 위해 세 번 쿼크! ||
|-
| 물론 그는 변변한 돛단배가 없고 || 
|-
| 물론 있긴 있는 것도 다 얼토당토않다네. || 
|}
여기서 "쿼크"()는 액체의 단위인 쿼트를 변형한 것으로, 등장 인물인 마크에게 술을 권하는 대목이다.

각주

외부 링크 
 쿼크란 무엇인가? - 입자물리학자 이강영 교수. YTN 사이언스. 2014년 7월 2일.
 CosmicVoyage 초은하단에서 쿼크까지. 2015년 7월 2일.
 빛의 물리학 6부 빛과 끈 #003 쿼크와 랩톤 그리고 끈이론. 2015년 6월 10일.

 
기본 입자
페르미 입자
양자색역학
피네간의 경야

중력 상수(重力常數, , 기호 G), 만유인력 상수 또는 뉴턴 상수는 중력의 세기를 나타내는 기초 물리 상수다. 중력을 다루는 모든 이론, 예를 들어 뉴턴의 만유인력의 법칙과 아인슈타인의 일반 상대성 이론에 등장한다. 과학 기술 데이터 위원회 2010년 자료
에 따르면, 국제단위계에서의 값은 다음과 같다.
{|
|-
|
|= (6.673 84 ± 0.000 0080)  N m2 kg−2
|-
|
|= (6.673 84 ± 0.000 0080)  m3 kg−1 s<sup>−2</sub>
|}
그 밖에 국제 천문 연맹에서 제공하는 자료도 권위가 있다.

정의 

만유인력의 법칙에 따르면, 두 물체 사이의 중력적 인력은 그 두 질량의 곱에 비례하며 거리의 제곱에 반비례한다. 식으로 쓰면 다음과 같다.

이 식에서 비례 상수 를 중력 상수라고 일컫는다.

중력은 자연의 다른 세 상호작용보다 상대적으로 약하다. 예를 들어 두 대의 3000 kg의 자동차가 각각의 질량 중심에 대해 3 m 떨어져 있을 때 두 자동차에 작용하는 중력은 약 67 µN밖에 되지 않는다. 이는 모래 알갱이의 무게 정도의 힘에 해당한다.

중력 상수의 측정 

중력 상수는 헨리 캐번디시가 캐번디시 실험을 통해 정교하게 처음으로 측정하였다. 실험을 위해 막대의 양 끝에 납으로 된 공을 매달고 이를 줄에 매달아 수평 방향으로만 회전하게 한다. 막대의 관성 모멘트는 막대가 복원력에 의해 진동하는 주기를 측정하여 알아낼 수 있다. 막대의 한쪽 끝에 다른 공을 가까이 대면 중력에 의해 서로 끌어당기게 되고 막대가 회전한 각도를 측정하여 이 힘을 알아낼 수 있다. (캐번디시의 실험의 본 목적은 중력 상수의 측정이 아니라, 지구의 질량을 측정하는 것이었다. 지구 표면의 중력장은 쉽게 측정할 수 있기 때문에, 지구의 크기와 중력 상수를 알면 지구의 질량을 계산할 수 있다.)

중력 상수의 측정은 캐번디시의 실험 이후로 점차 정확도가 향상되어 왔다. 중력이 다른 기본 상호 작용에 대해 매우 약하고, 다른 물체의 영향을 없애기 어렵기 때문에 중력 상수 를 측정하는 것은 여러 모로 어렵다. 게다가 중력과 다른 상호 작용 사이에 알려진 상관 관계가 없기 때문에 간접적으로 이를 측정할 수 없다. 최근의 리뷰(Gilles, 1997)에 따르면, 중력 상수의 측정값은 크게 변해 왔고, 최근의 몇몇 측정값은 실제로는 서로 배타적이라고 한다.

"GM" 곱 

 곱 또는 표준 중력 변수는 여러 가지 중력과 관계된 수식을 간단히 표현하는 데 자주 활용된다. 특히 태양계에 대해 중력 법칙을 이용할 때 매우 높은 정확도로 측정할 수 있기 때문에 빈번하게 사용된다. 중력 상수의 정확도가 높지 않은 데 반해 행성의 위치나 중력 가속도와 같은 양은 매우 정확하게 측정할 수 있다. 따라서 중력 상수와 질량의 곱은 매우 정확하게 알아낼 수 있다(따라서 지구나 태양의 질량의 측정값의 정확도는 중력 상수의 정확도에 의존한다.). 태양계에서의 중력을 계산할 때 거의 대부분의 계산에서 GM 값이 함께 붙어서 나오며, 대부분의 계산에서 이 둘을 따로 대입할 필요가 없어 정확도를 높일 수 있다. 표준 중력 변수의 값은 로도 표시하며 국제단위계에서 다음과 같은 값을 갖는다.

 

천체 역학에서는 주로 국제단위계의 킬로그램보다 태양 질량을 기준으로 한 단위계를 사용하는 것이 계산에 편하다. 이 단위계로 쓴 중력 상수를 가우스 중력 상수() 라 부르며,그 값은 다음과 같다.

여기서 는 천문 단위, 는 평균 태양일, 그리고 는 태양의 질량이다.

플랑크 단위계 

중력 상수를 플랑크 상수와 광속을 이용하여, 임의적인 기본 단위가 전혀 없는 단위계를 만들 수 있다. 이를 막스 플랑크의 이름을 따 플랑크 단위계라고 부른다. 플랑크 단위계에서 중력 상수는 플랑크 상수와 진공에서의 빛의 속도와 함께 모두 1로 맞추어진다.

같이 보기 
 중력 가속도

각주 

중력
물리 상수

변형력(變形力) 또는 스트레스()은 역학에서 단위면적당 작용하는 힘을 뜻한다. 응력(應力)이라고도 한다. 오귀스탱 루이 코시가 1822년 처음 고안했다.

사실상 응력의 개념은 연속체(Continuum)라는 가정 아래 성립할 수 있다. 물체 내부의 경우, 가상의 단위부피를 설정해서 그 가상의 표면 바깥에 작용하는 힘을 계산하기 때문이다. 여기서 '가상의 힘'은 크게 두 종류가 있는데, 표면힘(Surface Force)과 몸체힘(Body Force)이다. 표면힘은 표면에 평행한 힘이며, 몸체힘은 표면에 대하여 수직 방향인 힘이다.

응력의 SI단위는 파스칼(Pa)이다. 압력과 같은 단위지만, 압력과 응력은 전혀 다른 개념이다.

일반적인 단면봉(Prismatic Bar)의 경우, 수직응력(Normal Stress)은 바깥쪽(Tension) 또는 안쪽(Compression)으로 작용한다. 변형률(Strain)과의 연관성 때문에, 보통 바깥쪽 응력을 양으로, 안쪽 응력을 음으로 본다. 이 경우, 보통은 계산의 편리성을 위해 모든 단면적에 고르게 힘이 작용한다라고 가정하고 평균값을 사용하는 경우가 많다. 즉,

실제로는 모든 지점마다 작용하는 응력의 값이 다르다. 때문에 코시는 이를 표현하기 위해 텐서를 사용했다.

이 방식은 축이 변할 경우 값이 어떻게 바뀌는지 계산하는 것이 힘들다는 단점을 가지고 있다. 이를 보완하기 위해 Mohr's Circle을 사용한다. 또한 코시 텐서는 작은 변형에 맞는 방식이기 때문에, 큰 변형의 경우 다른 방식을 사용한다.

응력 
응력(應力)은 물체가 외부 힘의 작용에 저항하여 원형을 지키려는 힘을 말하며 전단응력과 깊은 관계를 가지있으며 고체역학, 유체역학과도 연관있다. 한편 응력(凝力)은 원자, 분자 또는 이온 사이에 작용하여 고체나 액체 따위의 물체를 이루게 하는 서로 끌어당기는 힘을 통틀어 이르는 말로 응력(應力)과 연관있다.

같이 보기 

 연속체 역학

참고 

연속체역학
고전역학
텐서

대수학(代數學, )은 일련의 공리들을 만족하는 수학적 구조들의 일반적인 성질을 연구하는 수학의 한 분야이다. 이렇게 일련의 추상적인 성질들로 정의되는 구조들을 대수 구조라고 하며, 그 예시로 반군, 군, 환, 가군, 체, 벡터 공간, 격자 등이 있다. 대수학은 취급하는 구조에 따라서 반군론, 군론, 환론, 선형대수학, 격자론, 정수론 등으로 분류된다.

기하학, 해석학, 정수론과 함께 대수학은 수학의 대분야 중 하나로 볼 수 있다. 대수학이란 용어는 단순한 산술적 수학을 가리키기도 하나, 수학자들은 군, 환, 불변량 이론과 같이 수 체계 및 그 체계 내에서의 연산에 대한 추상적 연구에 대해서 "대수학"이라는 용어를 자주 사용한다.

어원 

algebra라는 명칭은 페르시아의 저명한 수학자인 콰리즈미(783~850)가 쓴 《》()에서 비롯되었다. 책의 원 제목에 있는 ‘자브르()’는 (흩어진 것을) 묶는다는 뜻으로, 이 책에서는 방정식에서 항들을 묶어서 소거하는 것을 부르는 말로 쓰였다.

‘대수(代數)’라는 말은 수를 대신한다는 뜻으로, 수 대신 문자를 쓴다는 점에 착안한 번역어이다. ‘대수’라는 번역어는 드 모르간의 《Elements of Algebra》(1835)를 1859년 와 이선란이 번역한 《대수학》에서 처음 쓰였다.

역사 

고대의 대수학에 대한 주요 저서로는 에우클레이데스의 원론(기원전 3세기)이나 구장산술(3세기), 디오판토스의 (3세기) 등이 있다. 9세기에 페르시아의 수학자 콰리즈미는 《》(820년)를 통해 대수학을 하나의 독립적인 분야로 정립했다. 이 책은 1145년 가 《알게브라와 알무카발라의 서(書)》()란 제목으로 라틴어로 번역한 뒤 다섯 세기에 걸쳐서 유럽의 대학에서 사용되었다. 여기서 "알게브라"()와 "알무카발라"()는 해당하는 아랍어 단어를 음역한 것이다. 또한 콰리즈미의 저서인 "인도 수의 계산법"이 라틴어로 번역되면서 2차 방정식, 사칙연산, 십진법, 0 등의 개념이 소개되었다.

19세기 이후에는 에바리스트 갈루아가 대수 방정식을 연구하기 위해서 군이라는 대수적 구조를 도입하였고, 조지 불은 논리학을 연구하기 위해서 불 대수라는 대수적 구조를 정의하였다. 이후 현대 수학에서는 다비트 힐베르트의 공리 주의나 니콜라 부르바키 스타일에서 찾아볼 수 있듯이, 고전적인 대수학에서 상당히 거리가 추상화되어 있으며, 방정식의 해법은 "방정식론"(대수방정식론)이라는 대수학의 일부분에 불과하다.

대수학의 연구 분야 
 군론
 환론
 체론
 정수론
 대수기하학
 추상대수학
 선형대수학

같이 보기 

 대수 구조
 대수학의 기본 정리
 수학

각주

군론(群論, )은 군에 대해 연구하는 대수학의 한 분야이다. 수학의 여러 분야의 기초가 되며, 대칭성을 다루는 특성 탓에 물리학이나 화학 분야에서도 응용된다.

발전 배경 
4차 방정식까지는 대수적인 풀이, 즉 근의 공식이 존재한다는 것이 알려져 있었지만(카르다노, 페라리), 5차 이상의 방정식의 근의 공식이 있는지는 밝혀지지 않고 있었다. 5차 방정식의 근의 공식이 존재하지 않는다는 것은 아벨에 의해 증명되었으나, 어떤 경우에 방정식이 대수적으로 풀어지고 어떤 경우에 방정식이 대수적으로 풀어지지 않는지를 일반적으로 연구하는 것은 극히 어려운 문제였다. 군론은 이 물음에 대한 답을 하려는 과정에서 갈루아(Galois)에 의해 도입된 접근방식이었다. 갈루아는 군론을 이용해서, 다항 방정식의 대수적 해법에 대한 일반적인 관계를 증명하였다. 갈루아 이론으로 불리는 이 이론은 수학의 여러 분야 가운데에서도 극히 아름다운 이론으로 손꼽힌다.

군의 종류 
 아벨 군 (또는 가환군)
 리 군(연속군)
 로런츠 군
 공간군
 갈루아 군
 격자군
 자기공간군
 자기점군
 회색군

같이 보기 

 수학
 대수학
 물성물리

선형 결합(線型 結合, ) 또는 일차 결합(一次 結合)은 수학에서 각 항에 상수를 곱하고 결과를 더함으로써 일련의 항으로 구성된 표현식이다(예: x와 y의 선형 결합은 ax + by 형식인데 여기서 a와 b는 상수이다). 선형 결합의 개념은 선형대수학과 수학 관련 분야의 중심이다. 이 글의 대부분은 체 위의 벡터 공간의 맥락에서 선형 결합을 다루며 글의 끝에 주어진 일부 일반화를 다룬다.

정의 
V를 체 K 위의 벡터 공간이 되도록 한다. 우리는 평소와 같이 V 벡터 공간의 원소를 부르고 K 스칼라의 원소를 부른다. 만약 v1,...,vn이 벡터이고 a1,...,an이 스칼라인 경우에는 해당 스칼라와 계수의 선형 결합은 이라고 표현한다.

"선형 결합"이라는 용어가 표현식을 참조하는지 또는 그 값을 참조하는지 여부에 대해서는 다소 애매한 점이 있다. 대부분의 경우 "v1,...,vn은 항상 하위 공간을 형성한다"는 주장에서처럼 값이 강조된다. 그러나 "두 개의 서로 다른 선형 결합이 동일한 값을 가질 수 있다"고 말할 수 있으며 이 경우에는 표현식에 대한 참조가 된다. 이러한 용도들 사이의 미묘한 차이는 선형 종속 집합의 본질이다. 벡터족 F는 값으로서 F의 벡터의 선형 결합이 고유하게 식과 같은 경우 정확하게 선형 독립적이다. 어떤 경우든 표현식으로 볼 때조차 선형 결합에 대해 중요한 것은 각 vi의 계수 뿐이다. 항을 허용하거나 영점 계수를 갖는 항을 추가하는 것과 같은 사소한 수정은 뚜렷한 선형 결합을 생성하지 않는다.

주어진 상황에서 K와 V는 명시적으로 지정되거나 문맥상 명백할 수 있다. 이 경우 우리는 종종 계수 v1,...,vn의 선형 결합(반드시 K에 속해야 한다는 점 제외)을 언급한다. 또는 S가 V의 부분집합인 경우 벡터가 집합 S에 속해야 한다는 점을 제외하고 계수와 벡터가 모두 지정되지 않은 S에서 벡터의 선형 결합에 대해 말할 수 있다. 마지막으로 우리는 벡터가 V에 속해야 하고 계수가 K에 속해야 한다는 것을 제외하면 아무것도 지정되지 않은 선형 결합에 대해 간단히 말할 수 있다. 이 경우 V의 모든 벡터는 확실히 어떤 선형 결합의 값이기 때문에 한 가지는 아마도 식을 참조할 것이다.

선형 결합은 정의상 매우 많은 벡터만 포함한다(아래와 같이 언급된 일반화인 경우는 제외). 그러나 벡터가 하나를 언급할 경우에는 추출된 집합 S는 여전히 무한할 수 있다. 각각의 개별 선형 결합은 단지 많은 벡터를 포함할 뿐이다. 또한 n이 0이 될 수 없는 이유는 없다. 이 경우 우리는 관례에 따라 선형 결합의 결과가 V의 제로 벡터(zero vector)라고 선언한다.

선형생성 

임의의 체 K, 임의의 벡터 공간 V를 사용하고 v1,...,vn을 벡터(V 단위)로 설정합니다. 이러한 벡터의 모든 선형 결합 집합을 고려하는 것은 흥미로운 편이다. 이 집합을 벡터의 선형생성(예: S = {v1, ..., vn})이라고 부른다. 우리는 S의 생성 범위인 span(S) 또는 sp(S)를 다음과 같이 표현한다.

선형 독립 

일부 벡터 v1,...,vn의 경우 단일 벡터는 2 가지 다른 방법으로 선형 결합으로 쓸 수 있다.

이와 마찬가지로 ()를 빼면 중요하지 않은 결합은 영점이 된다.

이 경우 v1,...,vn는 선형 종속이 되지만 그렇지 않으면 선형 독립(일차 독립 집합)이라고 부른다. 마찬가지로 우리는 벡터의 임의 집합 S의 선형 종속 또는 독립에 대해 말할 수 있다.

S가 선형 독립적이고 S의 범위가 V와 같으면 S는 V의 기저가 된다.

다양한 종류의 선형 결합 
선형 결합에 사용되는 계수를 제한함으로써 아핀 결합, 원뿔 결합 및 볼록 결합의 관련 개념과 이러한 연산에 따라 닫힌 집합의 관련 개념을 정의할 수 있다.

이들은 보다 제한된 연산이기 때문에 더 많은 부분집합들이 그들 아래쪽에서 닫힐 것이기 때문에 아핀 부분집합, 볼록 원뿔, 볼록 집합은 벡터 하위 공간의 일반화이다. 또한 벡터 부분공간은 아핀 부분 공간, 볼록 원뿔, 볼록 집합이지만 볼록 집합은 벡터 하위 공간, 아핀 또는 볼록 원뿔일 필요가 없다.

이러한 개념은 물체의 특정한 선형 결합을 취할 수 있을 때에 종종 발생하지만 어떤 것도 발생하지 않는다. 예를 들어 확률 분포는 볼록 결합(볼록 집합을 형성함)에서는 닫히지만 원뿔 또는 아핀 결합(또는 선형)에서는 닫히지 않으며 양의 측정은 원뿔 결합에서는 닫히지만 아핀 또는 선형은 되지 않는다. 따라서 하나의 정의라고 표현할 수 있는데 선형 폐쇄로 서명된 측정값을 나타냅니다.

선형 및 아핀 결합은 모든 체(또는 환)에 대해 정의될 수 있지만 원뿔 및 볼록 결합은 "양수"의 개념을 필요로 하므로 정렬된 체(또는 정렬된 환), 일반적으로 실수에 대해서만 정의될 수 있다. 덧셈이 아니라 스칼라 곱셈만 허용하면(꼭 볼록하지는 않은) 원뿔을 얻을 수 있다. 종종 양수인 스칼라에 의한 곱셈만 허용하도록 정의를 제한한다. 이러한 모든 개념은 일반적으로 독립적으로 공리화되기 보다는 주변 벡터 공간의 부분 집합(아핀 공간, "원점을 잊은 벡터 공간"이라고도 간주되는 공간 제외)으로 정의된다.

일반화 
V가 위상 벡터 공간이라면 V의 위상수학을 사용하여 특정 무한 선형 결합을 이해할 수 있는 방법이 있을 수 있다. 예를 들어 우리는 a1v1 + a2v2 + a3v3 + ⋯가 영원하다고 말할 수 있다. 그러한 무한 선형 결합은 항상 이치에 맞는 것은 아니다. 우리는 이 결합을 융합이라고 부른다. 이 경우 더 많은 선형 결합을 허용하면 생성, 선형 독립 및 기저의 다른 개념으로 이어질 수도 있다.

만약 K가 체 대신에 가환환이라면 선형 결합에 대해 위에서 말한 모든 것은 변하지 않고 이 경우에 일반화된다. 유일한 차이점은 벡터 공간 대신에 이러한 V 가군과 같은 공간을 부른다는 것이다. K가 비가환환인 경우에도 개념은 여전히 일반화되며 한 가지 주의 사항은 다음과 같다. 비가환환 위에 있는 모듈들은 왼쪽과 오른쪽 버전으로 나오기 때문에 선형 결합은 주어진 모듈에 적절한 어떤 것이든 이러한 버전들 가운데 하나에서도 나올 수 있다. 이는 단순히 스칼라 곱셈을 올바른 측면에서 수행하는 문제이다.

더 복잡한 반전은 V가 KL과 KR 2개의 환 위에 있는 쌍가군일 때에 발생한다. 이 경우에 가장 일반적인 선형 결합은 다음과 같다.

여기서 a1,...,an은 KL, b1,...,bn은 KR, v1,…,vn은 V에 속한다.

각주

참고 문헌

교과서

웹

외부 링크 
 Linear Combinations and Span: Understanding linear combinations and spans of vectors, khanacademy.org.

선형대수학

물리학과 수학에서 파동 방정식(波動方程式, )은 일반적인 파동을 다루는 2차 편미분 방정식이다. 음파와 전자기파, 수면파 등을 다루기 위하여 음향학, 전자기학, 유체역학 등 물리학의 여러 분야에 등장한다. 양자역학에서 위치 에너지가 없는 경우 파동 함수는 파동 방정식을 따른다.

개요 
파동 방정식은 에 대한 선형 쌍곡 편미분 방정식으로, 다음과 같다.

여기서 는 파동의 속도를 나타내는 매개변수다. 공기중을 진행하는 음파의 경우에는 대략 300 m/s이고, 이 속도를 음속(音速)이라 부른다. 현의 진동의 경우 는 다양한 값을 가질 수 있다.
는 시각 , 위치 에서의 파동의 진폭을 나타내는 함수다. 음파의 경우 진폭은 그곳에서의 공기의 압력이며, 진동하는 현의 경우엔 기준 위치에서부터의 변위를 나타낸다. 파동의 종류에 따라 는 스칼라 또는 벡터일 수 있다. 는 위치 에 대한 라플라스 연산자이다.

기본적인 파동 방정식은 선형 미분 방정식이다. 따라서 서로 다른 두 파동의 결합은 단순히 두 파의 더한 것과 같다. 또한 파동을 분석하기 위해 파를 성분별로 나누어도 된다. 푸리에 변환을 이용해 파동은 사인함수들로 쪼개어질 수 있고, 이 방법은 파동방정식을 분석하는 데 유용하다.

축 방향으로 늘어선 1차원 (현)의 경우, 위 식은 다음과 같다.

2차원에선 다음과 같다.

식의 상수를 주파수에 따른 변수로 생각해 더 복잡하고 실제적인 파동방정식을 만들 수 있다. 이때의 방정식은 비선형이 된다.

역사 
현악기의 떨리는 현의 파동의 문제를 연구하기 위해 장 르 롱 달랑베르, 레온하르트 오일러, 다니엘 베르누이, 조제프루이 라그랑주 등이 연구하였다.

편미분방정식
파동
물리학 개념

비오-사바르 법칙(Biot-Savart法則, )은 전자기학에서 주어진 전류가 생성하는 자기장이 전류에 수직이고 전류에서의 거리의 역제곱에 비례한다는 물리 법칙이다. 또한 자기장이 전류의 세기, 방향, 길이에 연관이 있음을 알려준다. 비오-사바르 법칙은 전자기학에서 유효하며 앙페르 회로 법칙과 가우스 자기 법칙과 일맥상통한다. 이 법칙의 이름은 이 법칙을 발견한 장바티스트 비오와 펠릭스 사바르()의 이름을 땄다.

정의 
원점 에 전류 가 무한소의 길이의 전선 을 따라 흐른다고 하자. 그렇다면 이 무한소의 전선에 흐르는 전류에 의하여 발생하는 무한소의 자기장 은 다음과 같다.
.
여기서 은 의 방향의 단위벡터이고, 은 진공의 투자율이다.

유한한 길이의 전선을 따라 흐르는 전류의 경우, 양변을 적분하면 전류로 인하여 발생하는 총 자기장을 알 수 있다.

활용 
직선 전류에 의한 자기장과 솔레노이드 내부의 자기장은 앙페르 법칙을 이용해 구할 수 있고, 비오-사바르 법칙은 원형 전류 중심에서의 자기장의 세기를 구하는 데 이용된다.

원형 도선 중심에서의 자기장

원형 도선이 있을 때, 전류 요소 Idl은 지면 앞으로 나오는 방향이고, r에 수직이다. 또 dB의 방향도 r에 수직인 방향이 된다.

r2=x2+R2이므로 비오-사바르 법칙에서 다음과 같다.

원형 전류의 각 전류 요소 Idl에 의한 자기장 dB를 그 회로에 따라 모두 합하면 회로축에 수직인 dB의 y성분은 상쇄되므로 dB의 x성분만 계산하면 된다.

이므로 x=0일 때  가 된다.

같이 보기 
 쿨롱 법칙
 앙페르 회로 법칙
 자기
 소용돌이도

외부 링크 
 Science World - Biot-Savart Law
 

공기역학
전자기학
사람 이름을 딴 낱말

구골(googol)은 10의 100제곱을 가리키는 숫자이다. 즉 1 뒤에 0이 백 개 달린 수이다. 구골은 관측 가능한 우주의 모든 소립자의 개수(약 10^80개)보다 더 많다.

 =  = 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 </small>

이 수의 이름은 1920년 미국의 수학자 에드워드 캐스너(Edward Kasner)의 9살짜리 조카 밀턴 시로타(Milton Sirotta)에게서 지어졌다. 캐스너는 이 개념을 저서 《Mathematics and the Imagination》(수학과 상상)에 수록했다.

이 수의 학문적 중요성은 그리 크지 않고 주로 수학 수업에서 거론될 뿐이다. 캐스너는 이 수를 매우 큰 수와 무한대의 차이를 보이기 위해 고안했다. 칼 세이건은 그의 저서 '코스모스'에서 마치 무한대처럼 느껴지는 우주의 크기를 무한대와 비교하기 위하여 구골보다도 더 큰 수인 구골플렉스(역시 밀턴 시로타가 명명)를 활용하여 "구골플렉스와 1이 무한대보다 작은 정도는 서로 정확히 같다."라고 했다. 그리고 구골은 무량대수보다 더 큰 수이다. 구골은 1뒤에 0이 100개 있어서, 10의 100제곱이다.

구골에서 유래한 수 
 구골플렉스(googolplex) 10의 구골제곱이다.
 =  = 1010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000</small>

구골플렉시안(googolplexian) 10의 구골플렉스 제곱(10구골플렉스)이다. 1 다음에 0이 구골플렉스 개 붙는다.()
 =  = 101010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000</small>

회사명 구글의 유래 
인터넷 검색엔진 업체 구글(Google)은 처음에 구골(Googol)로 등록하려다가 실수로 사명을 잘못 표기한 것에서 구글로 등록하여 지금까지 쓰이고 있다.
마운틴 뷰에 있는 구글 본사도 구골플렉스를 변형시켜 구글플렉스라고 부른다.

같이 보기 
 구골플렉스
 그레이엄 수: 수학적 의미가 있는 수 중에서 가장 큰 수. 너무 거대해서 지수표기로 나타낼 수 없다.(커누스 표기법 참고.)
 무한대

각주 

큰 수
1920년대 신조어

구글()은 구글 검색을 중심으로 스마트폰 운영체제인 안드로이드와 유튜브 사업, 클라우드 사업을 하는 미국의 기업이다. 다양한 구글 서비스들(메일, 크롬, 지도, 어스, 포토 등)과 함께 '전 세계의 모든 정보들을 체계화하여 모든 사용자가 유익하게 사용할 수 있도록 한다'라는 사명을 가지고 사업을 하고 있다. 인터넷을 사용하여 정보를 공유하는 산업의 가장 큰 기업이며 세계에서 가장 많은 데이터센터, 통신 네트워크와 함께 매일 수십억 명의 사람들에게 수백억 번의 서비스를 제공하고 있다. 2022년 7월 현재 전 세계 검색엔진, 검색량의 90% 이상의 점유율을 가지고 있다.

역사 

1998년에 스탠포드 대학교 학생들을 대상으로 하여 백럽(BackRub)이라는 이름으로 검색 서비스를 시작하였다. 이후 구글(Google)로 이름을 변경하였는데, 이는 회사 설립 문서 종이에 회사 이름을 10100을 뜻하는 구골(Googol)의 철자를 몰라 실수로 Google인 구글로 써서 이렇게 구글이 탄생하게 되었다. 10을 100번 곱한 숫자, 1 뒤에 0이 100개인 수를 의미하는 이 단어는 세계의 모든 정보를 모아 검색엔진을 만들겠다는 래리와 세르게이의 뜻으로 탄생한 이름이다.

구글은 세계 최대의 검색엔진으로 현재 나스닥에 상장된 기업이다. 특히 영미권에서는 독보적인 점유율을 보인다.

2006년, 구글은 YouTube라는 세계 최대의 동영상 공유 및 스트리밍 사이트를 인수합병했다. 같은 해 11월, 유튜브의 하루 방문자는 2,500만 명으로 추정되었다. 2007년, google은 최고의 디지털 마케팅 회사인 더블클릭을 인수했고, 같은해 더블클릭은 하루 170,000개의 광고를 집행했다. 그리하여 구글은 2008년, 증권거래위원회에 보낸 공개문서에서 구글은 "우리는 기술회사로 시작해서 Software, 기술, Internet, advertisement, Media 회사가 모두 하나로 합해진 기업으로 진화했다" 고 말했다. 230억 달러에 달하는 미국 온라인 광고 시장과 540억 달러에 달하는 전 세계 Online advertisement 시장의 40%를 독식했다.

구글은 PDF, 포스트스크립트,  Micro software, 어도비 플래시 문서들을 포함한 Web 문서 검색 Service를 제공한다. 이 외에 google 이미지 검색, Google news KOREA, 구글 뉴스그룹, 구글 웹 디렉토리, 구글 비디오, Froogle 서비스에서 이름이 변경된 상품 검색, 구글 맵, 구글 어스 등의 주요 검색 서비스가 있다.

또한 검색 서비스 외에 추가적인 서비스들을 제공하는데 이에는 2004년 시작된 이메일 서비스인 Gmail 과 YouTube, 피카사, Google 사전, Google 리더, iGoogle, 기업 사용자를 위해서 각종 웹 애플리케이션을 제공하는 구글 앱스  등이 있다.

2010년 세계 포털 사이트에 야후(Yahoo)로 제쳤고, 구글에 앞질렀다.

2011년, 모토로라 인코퍼레이티드는 휴대전화사업과 본사의 사업부분이 불안정적으로 운영됨에 대한 걱정과 사업부 실적의 부진으로 인해 사업부가 모토로라 인코퍼레이티드의 자회사로 분리하기로 결정하였다.

2011년 모토로라는 더 발전적이고 공격적인 사업을 위해 새로운 모기업을 찾게 되고, 대상기업이 된 구글은 인수할 때 각 주당 63%의 경영권 프리미엄을 얹어 총 125억 달러(당시 한화 약 13조5천125억 원)에 인수하기로 하였다. 구글의 인수에도 불구하고, 모토로라는 여전히 기존 장치의 안드로이드 버전 업그레이드 서비스와 신제품을 출시하기 위해 노력하고 있다.

2014년, 구글은 모토로라의 분리된 사업부 중 '스마트폰 제조분야'를 매각하기로 결정하였고, 레노버에게 총 29억 1천만 달러(당시 한화 약 3조100억 원)를 매각하기로 결정하였다.

닌텐도와 구글이 콜라보로 슈퍼마리오 런을 개발했다.

검색의 원리

크롤링 
구글봇이라는 이름의 웹 크롤러는 사용자가 검색하기 전에 수천억 개에 달하는 웹페이지에서 정보를 모아 이를 검색 색인에 정리한다.

웹 크롤러(web crawler)는 조직적, 자동화된 방법으로 월드 와이드 웹을 탐색하는 컴퓨터 프로그램이다. 크롤러는 과거 크롤링으로 만들어진 웹 주소 목록과 웹사이트 소유자가 제공한 사이트맵에서 크롤링을 시작한다. 웹사이트를 방문한 크롤러는 사이트에 있는 링크를 사용하여 다른 Page를 찾는다. Crawling하는 동안 새로운 사이트, 기존 사이트의 변경사항, 깨진 링크를 주의 깊게 살핀다. 크롤링할 사이트, 크롤링 횟수 및 각 사이트에서 가져올 페이지 수는 컴퓨터 프로그램이 결정한다. 검색 엔진과 같은 여러 사이트에서는 데이터의 최신 상태 유지를 위해 웹 크롤링한다. 웹 크롤러는 대체로 방문한 사이트의 모든 페이지의 복사본을 생성하는 데 사용되며, 검색 엔진은 이렇게 생성된 페이지를 보다 빠른 검색을 위해 인덱싱한다. 또한 크롤러는 링크 체크나 HTML 코드 검증과 같은 웹 사이트의 자동 유지 관리 작업을 위해 사용되기도 하며, 자동 이메일 수집과 같은 웹 페이지의 특정 형태의 정보를 수집하는 데도 사용된다.

웹 크롤러는 봇이나 소프트웨어 에이전트의 한 형태이다. 웹 크롤러는 대개 시드(seeds)라고 불리는 URL 리스트에서부터 시작하는데, 페이지의 모든 하이퍼링크를 인식하여 URL 리스트를 갱신한다. 갱신된 URL 리스트는 재귀적으로 다시 방문한다.

검색 알고리즘 
사용자에게 수십억 개의 웹페이지가 아닌 질문에 대한 답을 제공하기 위해, 구글의 검색 알고리즘은 크게 여섯 가지 방법을 활용한다. 검색어의 의미를 이해하기 위해 단어 분석하기, 검색어와 일치하는 정보가 포함된 웹페이지 검색하기, 페이지의 유용성을 평가하여 순위 매기기, 사용자의 위치나 이전 검색 기록과 같은 맥락을 고려하여 사용자에게 알맞은 검색 결과 제공하기, 검색 결과가 사용자의 검색 유형에 유용한지 고려하여 최상의 결과를 제공한다.

광고 

구글은 광고주에게 구글 애즈 프로그램을 제공한다. 이 프로그램을 통해 입찰함으로써 검색 결과 옆에 뜨는 텍스트 광고를 구매할 수 있다. 희소성이 높은 키워드는 클릭당 광고비가 더 비싸게 책정된다.

애드센스를 통해서 광고를 하고 싶어하는 회사와 관련 사이트를 연결하는 역할을 한다. 애드워즈와 유사한 자동화 프로그램을 통해 둘을 연결해 준다.

구글은 클릭당 지불 데이터를 가지고 해당 광고를 클릭할 때만 비용을 내도록 한다.

구글 애널리틱스(Google Analytics)는 광고주에게 해당 광고의 효과를 즉시 확인 할 수 있는 무료 툴을 제공한다. 이 프로그램은 매시간 클릭수와 판매량, 해당 키워드의 트래픽, 클릭이 판매로 이어진 비율 등 광고 효과를 즉각 확인 할 수 있게 해준다.

미디어 업체로 하여금 광고 판매에 들어가는 비용을 줄임으로써 롱테일(long tail)이라는 형태로 변화하도록 한다. 그렇게 한다면 기존에는 광고를 잘 하지 않던 이들까지도 타킷팅이 잘 된 저렴한 광고를 구매하도록 끌어들일 수 있다는 것이다.

구글은 사용자들에게 신문이나 책, 잡지를 자유롭게 검색하도록 권장한다. 해당 발행물들 역시 검색 트래픽을 활용해서 무료로 자신들을 홍보하고 광고를 판매해 수익을 창출한다. TV 방송사나 영화사들은 유튜브를 홍보 채널 겸 온라인 배급시스템으로 활용하도록 권장한다. 광고주들에게는 구글이 2007년에 인수한 디지털 광고 서비스 업체 더블클릭(Doubleclick)을 통해 온라인 광고를 하도록 권한다.

구글의 수입은 2004년 32억 달러이던 것이 2007년에는 166억 달러로 뛰었다. 세계적 불황을 비웃기라도 하듯, 구글은 2008년에 42억 달러의 수익을 거두었고 매출은 218억 달러로 상승했다. 그리고 그 가운데   97%가 광고 수입이었다.

2008년, 구글의 광고 수입은 5개 방송사(CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW)의 광고 수입을 합한 것에 맞먹었다. 2011년에 이르면 미국 내 웹 광고는 600억 달러(전체 13%)에 달할 것으로 전망된다. 게다가 구글은 TV, 라디오, 신문에 광고를 판매함으로써 시장점유율을 가일층 확대할 사업구상을 이미 개시했다.

사용자가 텍스트 광고를 클릭할 때만 광고료를 부과해서 광고주들 중에서 우군을 확보했고, 무료이자 2009년 초반까지 광고가 붙지 않았던 구글 뉴스로 뉴스독자들 중에서 우군을 확보했으며, 광고 수익과 신규 고객을 발생시켜 줌으로써 웹사이트와 소규모 사업자들 중에서 우군을 확보했다. 구글은 두 번째 경매 프로그램 애드센스 때부터 수입의 20%만 자기 주머니에 넣고 나머지는 웹사이트들에게 돌려 주었다. 2008년에 구글은 총 50억 달러가 넘는 돈을 수십만에 달하는 '파트너들'에게 제공했다.

제품 

Gmail, 구글 뉴스, 구글 어스, 구글 맵스, 구글 비디오, 구글 번역, 피카사(Picasa-디지털 사진 공유), 구글 클래스룸, 구글 북스(발행된 모든 책 검색), 구글 트렌드 (검색량 통계 제공), 오컷(Orkut-인맥, 친목 사이트), 여기에 데스크톱(Desktop)이나 문서도구(Docs), 구글 플레이같은 '클라우드 컴퓨팅(cloud computing)' 응용 프로그램까지 제공한다.

구글에서 사용하는 컴퓨터는 보통 PC들로 구성된 컴퓨터 클러스터들인데, 이 클러스터들은 일을 병렬적으로 처리하여 방대한 양의 데이터베이스를 처리한다. 특히 여러 대의 PC를 운영하면서 계속적인 데이터베이스를 처리하기 위해 한 컴퓨터에 오류가 났을 경우 그 컴퓨터는 꺼지고, 다른 컴퓨터가 일을 계속 처리하도록 한다. 구글은 이러한 방식이 거대하고 비싼 컴퓨터(서버)를 대신하는 대안이 될 수 있음을 증명했고 이러한 방식을 지금도 사용하고 있다.

최근에는 인공지능 사업에도 투자를 하여 알파고나 무인자동차의 영역에서 활발히 활동하고 있다.

구글의 문화 

구글의 철학은 "You can make money without doing evil."(악해지지 않고도 돈을 벌 수 있다.)와, "You can be serious without a suit."(정장 없이도 진지해질 수 있다) 그리고 "Work should be challenging and the challenge should be fun."(일은 도전이어야 하고 도전은 재미가 있어야 한다)이다. 'Don't Be Evil' (나쁜 짓을 하지 말자)이라는 철학에도 불구하고 오랜 기간 사용자 컴퓨터 내에 살아 있는 쿠키에 대한 비난으로, 미국의 인권단체 'Public Information Research'에 의해, 구글은 빅브라더 상(Big Brother Awards)의 후보가 되기도 했다.

구글은 형식을 따지지 않는 자유롭고 재미있는 기업 문화로 잘 알려져 있다. 2007, 2008 구글은 가장 일하기 좋은 장소로 뽑혔다.
구글 엔지니어들은 '직감'으로 결정을 내리지 않는다. 인간관계나 판단력 같은 것은 정량화 할 수 없기 때문이다. 그들은 경험보다는 효율을 중시한다. 그들은 사실과 베타 테스트와 수학적 논리를 추구한다.

구글은 지구 온난화 문제에도 관심을 보인다. 구글은 사옥 지붕에 미국 기업 캠퍼스 가운데 가장 큰 태양광 패널을 설치하여 1천 가구에 전력을 공급할 만한 전기를 생산한다. 외부 주차장에 태양발전소를 두어 하이브리드 자동차를 충전할 수 있게 했고, 연비가 좋은 하이브리드 자동차를 구매하는 직원에게는 장려금 (처음에는 5천 달러, 현재는 3천 달러)을 제공한다. 구글은 수익의 1%를 때어내 자선사업 부문인 구글 파운데이션에 보낸다. 넓은 캠퍼스 부지 내에서의 건물 간 이동을 위해 신청에 의해 차량을 제공하기도 하지만, 온실가스 배출을 최소화하고 직원들의 건강에도 이바지하기 위해 구글이 제공하는 자전거가 도처에 배치되어 있다.

구글이 1999년 8월 처음 구글플렉스로 이주했을 때, 거기에는 '직원들이 내부 일에만 집중하게 하겠다'는 결의가 반영되어 있었다. 구글플렉스에는 2~3층짜리 나지막한 건물이 모여있고, 건물 밖에는 야외테이블과 벤치, 울창한 나무들, 채소 정원, 사람과 자전거로 활기 넘치는 산책로가 있다. 직원들은 무료 식사와 다과를 즐기고 (매년 구글은 여기에만 7천만 달러 정도를 쓴다), 트레이너가 대기하는 체육관과 마사지실이 붙어 있는 건물들 사이로 이동할 자전거를 지급받는다. 직원들은 커다란 카페테리아 탁자에서 식사하고, 당구대와 에스프레소 기계가 있는 라운지에서 쉰다. 세차나 오일 교환 때문에 캠퍼스를 떠날 필요도 없다. 목요일이면 검진 차량이 찾아오고 뿐만 아니라 이발사, 세탁업자, 보모, 애완동물 도우미, 치과의사, 그리고 무료 검진 담당의도 5명이나 있다. 편안한 좌석에 무선인터넷이 완비된 바이오 디젤 통근 버스가 직원들을 멀게는 샌프란시스코까지 늦은 밤까지 실어 나른다. 노트북 컴퓨터도 살 필요가 없다. 그저 마음에 드는 모델을 고르기만 하면 된다. 여성은 출산 휴가를 5개월간 유급으로 낼 수 있고, 신생아 아빠는 마찬가지로 유급으로 7주 휴가를 낼 수 있다.

"20%" 시간 
모든 구글 엔지니어들은 업무 시간중 20%(주 5일 근무 기준으로 일주일중 하루)를 그들이 흥미로워하는 프로젝트에 사용하도록 권장된다. 몇몇 구글의 새로운 서비스들, 예를 들어 Gmail, 구글 뉴스, Orkut, AdSense는 이러한 직원들의 독립적인 프로젝트들에 의해서 시작되었다. 구글의 검색 제품 및 고객 경험 파트의 부사장인 매리싸 마이어는 스탠퍼드 대학에서의 연설에서 새로 론칭되는 서비스의 50%가 이러한 20% 시간을 통해 시작되었다고 말한 바 있다.

기업모토 "Don't be evil" 

간단히 요약하면 돈을 벌때 나쁜일이 아닌 좋은 일을 통해 돈을 벌자는 의미이다.

구글 코리아 

구글 코리아()는 2003년 3월부터 한국 시장에 진출하기 시작했다. 2005년에 한국 진출을 선언하였고 2006년에 설립한 기업이다.

비판

고객센터의 부재 
구글은 한국의 포털사이트인 다음, 네이버와 다르게 고객센터를 두고 있지 않다. 따라서, 구글직원과 직접 연락하는 방법은 없다. 그러나 포럼을 통하여 google employee와 의견 공유가 가능하다.

개인정보 유출 
블로그, 카페, 웹페이지에서 적었던 글은 구글로봇이 수집하여 보관한다. 이를 삭제하려면 웹마스터도구를 이용해야 하는데, 구글의 삭제조건에 들지 않으면 삭제되지 않는다. 하지만 최근 유럽연합에서 잊힐수 있는 권리에 대해서 인정함에 따라, 이에 맞추어 구글도 지울 수 있도록 구글로봇을 수정하고 있다.

블로그 검색 
블로그 검색을 통해 블로거의 글을 검색할 수 있다. 다만, 블로그를 폐쇄했어도 자신이 작성했던 글에 대해선 계속 검색이 되어 삭제할 방법이 없다. 설사 웹마스터를 통해 삭제를 했어도 블로그 검색에 있던 글은 영구적으로 삭제가 불가능하며, 글을 재발행하는 방법밖엔 없다.

구글링

정보통신망 이용촉진 및 정보보호 등에 관한 법률 위반 
2014년 3월 20일, 구글 메인페이지에 이와 관련한 내용이 게시되었다. 이에 따르면 구글은 2009년 10월 5일부터 2010년 5월 10일까지 스트리트 뷰 서비스와 관련하여 사용자의 동의 없이 개인정보를 수집하였다고 한다. 이는 정보통신망 이용촉진 및 정보보호 등에 관한 법률을 위반한 것으로 방송통신위원회로부터 시정명령을 받았다.

나치의 학살 행위인 홀로코스트 희화화 논란 
한국어판 구글 어시스턴트에서 재밌는 얘기를 해달라고 하자 나치의 만행인 홀로코스트를 재밌는 이야기랍시고 유머로서 소비하여 국내에서 논란이 일기도 했다.
이에 분노한 네티즌들은 한국어 어시스턴트를 설계한 담당자를 당장 구글로부터 해고하라는 등의 분노를 표출 했으며, 트위터나 여러 SNS에선 구글 어시스턴트 삭제 인증을 하거나 아예 사용도 안 했으며, 더 나아가 아예 안드로이드 스마트폰을 쓰지 말고 아이폰을 쓰자며 불매운동까지 일어났다.
결국 이 사건은 독일을 비롯한 해외에도 퍼졌으며 당장 시정하고 사과할 것을 구글에 요구했다. 다행히도 문제가 되는 회화는 어시스턴트에서 지워졌으나 이에 대한 해명은 하지 않았다.

사건사고

2020년 12월 14일 서버 장애

구글 계정 연령 조건

구글 계정 나이 요구 사항 
구글에 가입하려면 대부분의 국가에서는 13세 이상이어야 한다. 다만 대한민국, 스페인에서는 14세 이상, 베트남에서는 15세 이상, 네덜란드에서는 16세 이상 가입할 수 있다.

만약 위 나이 미만인 경우는 부모님의 감독을 받아야 가입 할 수 있다.

제품별 연령 요구 사항 
일부 구글 서비스는 특정 연령 요건이 있다.
 유튜브: 동영상이 연령 제한되는 경우 경고 메시지가 표시되고 19세 이상 사용자는 그것을 볼 수 있다.
 구글 페이 센드(Google Pay Send): 19세 이상
 구글 애드센스(Google AdSense): 19세 이상
 구글 애즈(Google Ads): 19세 이상

같이 보기 

 구글의 제품 목록
 구글 검색
 구글 체크아웃
 구글 크롬
 구글 번역
 elgooG
 울프럼 알파
 안드로이드
 유튜브
 모토로라 모빌리티

각주

외부 링크 
 
 
 

 
인터넷 검색 엔진
1998년 설립된 기업
미국의 웹사이트
미국의 인터넷 기업
미국의 다국적 기업
다언어 웹사이트
클라우드 컴퓨팅 제공자
인공지능
휴대 전화 제조사
온라인 광고
포털 사이트
월드 와이드 웹
마운틴뷰 (캘리포니아주)의 기업
AI 기업

코리올리 효과(Coriolis effect)는 전향력 또는 코리올리 힘(Coriolis force)이라고도 하며, 회전하는 계에서 느껴지는 관성력으로, 1835년 프랑스의 과학자 코리올리가 처음 설명해 냈다.

굵은 글꼴은 그 물리량이 벡터라는 점을 나타내고, m은 질량, v는 물체의 계에서의 속도를, Ω는 계가 돌고 있는 각속도를 나타낸다.

정의

코리올리 효과 

코리올리 힘의 발생원인은 각운동량 보존법칙에 의해 발생한다. 각운동량 보존법칙은 각운동량이 시간에 대해 일정하다는 것을 말한다.
만약 어떤 원점을 기준으로 계에 돌림힘이 작용하지 않으면

이 되어 각운동량이 보존되게 된다. 이를 각운동량 보존법칙 또는 간단히 각운동량보존이라고 부른다.

회전하는 좌표계 내에서 물체가 운동을 하는 경우 회전축에 대해 반지름이 줄어드는 경우에는 줄어드는 반지름에 대해 속도가 변화하게 된다. 이 결과 회전좌표계는 코리올리힘과, 가로힘이 발생한다.

발생원인

회전 좌표계

회전좌표계 
좌표계 x, y, z와 좌표계 x', y', z'을 보자 두 좌표계의 원점은 같다. 각각의 경우에 대해 벡터 .은 두 좌표계에서 다음과 같이 표시된다.

. (x, y, z 좌표)

. (x', y', z' 좌표계)

벡터의 내적을 이용해 x, y, z를 (.), (.), (.)으로 표현할 수 있다. 내적의 방법은 다음과 같다.

.

.

.

으로 표현되는 것을 확인할 수 있다.

회전하는 벡터의 속도 

벡터 .가 축 ox를 기준으로 .의 각속도로 회전하고 있다고 하자.
그런경우 벡터 .의 속도 . 는 다음과 같이 표현된다.

회전하는 좌표계에서 벡터의 속도와 가속도

회전하는 좌표계에서 벡터의 속도 
회전좌표계의 경우에는 원점을 기준으로 좌표축 x', y', z' 이 회전하는 것으로 생각할 수 있다. 좌표계가 서로 다른 경우 두 좌표계에서 상대적인 속도는 다음과 같다.

이를 바탕으로 회전좌표계에서 x', y', z'의 단위벡터의 회전을 적용하여 표현하면 다음과 같다.

회전하는 좌표계에서 벡터의 가속도 
축의 회전에 따른 속도는 이다. 이를 한번 더 시간에 대해 미분을 하면 다음과 같다.

코리올리 정리 및 코리올리 힘

코리올리 힘 
뉴턴의 운동방정식이 x, y, z 좌표계에서 성립한다고 가정하면 x', y', z' 좌표계에서 아래의 식을 만족한다.

우변의 둘째, 셋째 그리고 넷째 항을 왼쪽으로 옮기면 뉴턴의 운동 방정식과 비슷한 꼴의 운동방정식이 된다.

오른쪽 둘째 항은 코리올리 힘(Coriolis Force)이라고 부른다. 그리고 오른쪽 셋째 항은 원심력(Centripetal Force)이라고 한다. 마지막 항은 가로 힘(Transverse Force)이며 회전 각속도가 일정하지 않은 경우에만 나타난다. 원심력과 코리올리 힘을 도입한다면, 회전하고 있는 좌표계에 대한 운동방정식은 고정된 좌표계에 대해서 같다. 그리고 원심력과 코리올리 힘은 실제 힘이 아니라 회전하고 있는 좌표계에서 나타나는 가상의 힘(Fictitious Force)이다.

코리올리 힘의 예

북반구에서의 바람의 우측편향 

적도에서 북풍이 부는 경우에도 바람은 코리올리 힘을 받게 된다. 코리올리 힘은 다음과 같은 공식에 의해 계산된다.

지구는 자전 축을 중심으로 의 각속도로 회전하고 있고, 바람은  북쪽으로 이동한다고 할 수 있지만 실제 지구는 둥글기 때문에 기울어져서 고위도쪽을 향하게 된다. 이때 코리올리 정리를 통해 바람이 받는 힘의 방향을 알 수 있다. 이 때의 코리올리 힘의 방향은 동쪽을 향하게 된다. 즉 운동방향에 대해 오른쪽으로 편향하게 된다는 것을 확인할 수 있다. 수식의 결과가 아니라 각운동량 보존법칙을 적용해보아도 쉽게 우측편향된다는 것을 확인할 수 있다. 적도를 중심으로 바람이 고위도 쪽으로 바람이 부는 경우 지구가 타원형이기 때문에 고위도쪽으로 이동할수록 자전축에 대해 거리가 줄어들게 된다. 이 때에도 각운동량은 보존되어야 한다. 회전축을 중심으로 거리가 줄어들었기 때문에 각속도가 그만큼 증가해야 할 것이다. 이렇게 생각한다면 고위도로 바람이 불면 불수록 반지름이 더더욱 줄어들기 때문에 상대적으로 각속도는 증가하게 된다. 그결과 바람은 우측편향하여 불게 된다.

푸코의 진자 

코리올리의 힘이 적용되는 또 다른 예는 푸코의 진자이다. 푸코의 진자는 어떤 수직면에서 자유롭게 흔들리는 줄에 매단 추이다. 진자는 정확한 수직면에서 흔들리기 시작하는데, 진동하는 수직축에 대해 몇 시간의 주기 동안 천천히 옆돌기를 한다. 진자가 긴 시간의 주기동안에 자유로이 계속하여 흔들릴 수 있도록, 추는 무거운 것으로 하고 줄은 아주 길게 한다.
질량 m인 흔들이 추의 운동의 중심을 원점으로 택하고, 이때 벡터 은 진자의 작은 진동에 대해 거의 수평이다. 북반구에서
는 수직과 예각을 이룬다. 줄의 장력을  라고 쓰고, 회전좌표계에서 발생하는 원심력과 중력을  라고 생각하면 추의 운동방정식은 다음과 같이 전개 된다.

코리올리 힘에 의해 진자는 수평방향으로 일정한 각속도로 진동을 하게 된다. 그리고  을 회전축을 삼고, 로 회전하는 좌표계를 새로 도입하면 이 계에 대한 시간 도함수는  로 나타날 것이다. 그러므로 를 로 나타낸 것은 다음과 같다.

이를 추의 운동방정식에 적용하면 다음과 같은 식이 된다.

각속도로 회전을 하는 좌표계를 중심으로 나타내면 다음과 같다.

 

 
위의 식에서 오른쪽에 있는 모든 벡터는 마지막 항을 빼고는 진자가 있는 수직면에 있다. 하지만 작은 진동에 대해  이 실제로 수평이므로, 를 수평으로 만들어 마지막 항도 이 수직면에 있도록 할 수 있다.

 

 

는 돌고있는 지구의 각속도이고, 는 지구에 대해 돌고있는 좌표계의 각속도이다. 는 지구 축과 수직사이의 각이다. 수직은  방향을 따른다.
위의 식을 보면 결과적으로 지구에서 푸코의 진자는 각속도  로 옆으로 회전한다는 것을 말한다. 북반구에서 내려다 볼 때 그 회전은 시계방향이 된다.

같이 보기 
 세차운동
 관성력
 고전역학

참고 자료 
 Marion, B. Stephen Thornton. 『고전 동역학』. 전일동 역. 서울 : 홍릉과학출판사, 2002.
 Symon. 『역학』 안동환 외 역. 서울 : 대웅출판사, 1999.
 문희태. 『고전역학』. 서울 : 서울대학교출판부, 2006.

지구물리학
고전역학
힘
회전
대기역학

선형대수학에서 벡터곱(vector곱, ) 또는 가위곱()은 수학에서 3차원 공간의 벡터들간의 이항연산의 일종이다. 연산의 결과가 스칼라인 스칼라곱과는 달리 연산의 결과가 벡터이다. 물리학의 각운동량, 로런츠 힘 등의 공식에 등장한다.

정의 
두 벡터  와 의 벡터곱은 라 쓰고(쐐기곱과 연관지어 라고 쓰기도 한다.), 다음과 같이 정의된다.

식에서 는 와 가 이루는 각을 나타내며, 은 와 에 공통으로 수직인 단위벡터를 나타낸다.

위 정의에서의 문제점은 와 에 공통으로 수직인 방향이 두개라는 점이다. 즉, 이 수직이면, 도 수직이다.

어느 것을 두 벡터의 벡터곱으로 할 것인가는 벡터 공간의 방향()에 따라 달라진다. 오른손 좌표계에서는 는, 가 오른손 좌표계 방향을 따르도록 정의되고, 왼손좌표계에선 마찬가지로 이 순서의 세 벡터가 왼손 좌표계 방향을 따르도록 정의된다. 이와 같이 좌표계의 방향성에 의존하기 때문에, 두 (참) 벡터의 벡터곱은 참 벡터가 아니라 유사벡터다. (반대로, 참 벡터와 유사벡터의 벡터곱은 참 벡터다, 하지만 유사벡터와 유사벡터의 벡터곱은 슈도벡터다.)

벡터곱을 그림으로 표현해 보면, 다음과 같다.

성질 
a, b, c ∈ R3, α ∈ R이라 하자.

 반대칭성 : a×b = -b×a
교환법칙이 성립하지 않음에 주의하자.

 스칼라곱에 대한 선형성: (αa)×b = a×(αb) = α(a×b).

 벡터의 덧셈에 대한 분배법칙: a×(b + c) = a×b + a×c

 스칼라 삼중곱 : 

 벡터 삼중곱 또는 라그랑주 공식: a×(b×c) = b(a∙c)-c(a∙b)

 벡터곱의 크기: ||a×b||2 = (a·a)(b·b)-(a·b)2
 ||a×b|| = ||a|| ||b|| sin θ
 여기서 θ는 a로부터 b까지의 각도이다. 위 성질 때문에 벡터곱의 크기는 두 벡터로 만들어지는 평행사변형의 면적으로 생각할 수 있다.

 야코비 항등식: a×(b×c) + b×(c×a) + c×(a×b) = 0

 수직성
 a×b ⊥ a 이고 a×b ⊥ b이다.

 두 벡터의 평행성 확인
 a와 b가 모두 0벡터가 아닐 때, a×b = 0인 것은 a와 b가 서로 평행인 것과 동치이다.

 유클리드 공간의 단위벡터의 벡터곱
 유클리드 공간의 단위벡터 i, j, k는 주어진 직교좌표계에서 다음 관계를 만족한다.
 i×j = k, j×k = i, k×i = j

이 식을 이용해, 벡터곱의 좌표는 일부러 벡터 사이의 각을 계산할 필요 없이 다음과 같이 대수적으로 구할 수 있다.
 
 
로 표기할 때,
 

위에 쓰인 좌표는 다음과 같이 행렬식을 이용하여 간단히 쓸 수 있다.

따라서 세 (열,행)벡터로 이루어진 행렬의 행렬식은 다음과 같이 세 벡터의 스칼라곱과 벡터곱으로 쓸 수 있다.
det(a,b,c) = a·(b×c).

사원수와 벡터곱
 벡터곱은 또한 사원수의 연산을 이용해 관찰할 수 있다. 위에 나온 벡터곱에 대한 i, j, k에 대한 관계가 사원수의 연산에서 i, j, k가 만족하는 법칙과 같다는 것을 염두에 두면 다음 결과를 알 수 있다. 3차원 벡터 가 사원수 를 나타낸다고 하면, 두 벡터가 나타내는 두 사원수 간의 연산결과에서 실수부를 떼어낸 부분이 바로 두 벡터의 벡터곱과 일치하게 된다. (실수부는 두 벡터의 스칼라곱값 × −1과 같게 된다.)

 리 대수
분배성, 선형성, 야코비 항등식이 성립함으로써, R3에서의 벡터의 합과 벡터곱은 리 대수 를 이룬다. 즉, 그 구조 상수는 레비치비타 기호 이다.

응용 
벡터곱은 벡터 미분 연산인 회전 (∇×)의 정의에 등장하고, 자기장에서 움직이는 전하가 받는 힘을 기술하는 로런츠 힘의 공식에 등장하며, 돌림힘과 각운동량의 정의에도 나온다.

고차원에서의 벡터곱 
7차원 벡터 공간의 벡터곱도 사원수의 방법을 팔원수에 적용하여 얻어질 수 있다.

7차원 공간의 벡터곱은 다음과 같은 성질을 3차원 공간의 벡터곱과 공유한다.

 다음과 같은 의미에서 겹선형(bilinear)이다.
 x×(a y + b z) = a x × y + b x × z and (a y + b z) × x = a y × x + b z × x
 반가환성 (anti-commutative)
 x×y + y×x = 0
 x와 y 모두에 수직
 x·(x×y) = y·(x×y) = 0
 야코비 항등식이 성립한다.
x×(y×z) + y×(z×x) + z×(x×y) = 0
 ||x×y||2 = ||x||2||y||2-(x·y)2

외부 링크

같이 보기 
 오른손 법칙
 스칼라곱

선형대수학
이항연산
해석기하학

빅토르 로베르토비치 초이(, 1962년 6월 21일 ~ 1990년 8월 15일)는 소련의 록 가수이자, 싱어송라이터 겸 배우이며, 소련 록 음악 밴드 키노(КИНО)의 리더였다.

생애

데뷔 이전 
빅토르 초이는 1962년 6월 21일, 소련 레닌그라드에서 아버지 로베르트 막시모비치 초이(최동열)와 우크라이나계 러시아인 출신 어머니 사이에서 슬하 무녀독남 외동아들로 출생하였다. 친조부 막심 초이(최승준)는 본래 대한제국 함경북도 성진 출생이었고 후일 일제 강점기 초기에 러시아 제국으로 건너간 고려인 출신이었다. 소련 레닌그라드에서 출생하였으며 지난날 한때 소련 카자흐스탄 사회주의 자치공화국 키질로르다에서 잠시 유아기를 보낸 적이 있는 그는 17세 때부터 노래를 작곡하기 시작했으며, 초기 곡들은 레닌그라드 거리에서의 삶, 사랑과 친구들과의 어울림 등을 다루고 있다. 노래의 주인공은 주로 한정된 기회만이 주어진 채 각박한 세상을 살아나가려는 젊은이였다. 이 시기에 록은 레닌그라드에서만 태동하고 있던 언더그라운드의 한 움직임이었으며, 음악 차트 등의 대중 매체들은 모스크바의 팝 스타들이 장악하고 있었다. 더군다나 소련 정부는 자신들의 입맛에 맞는 가수들에게만 허가를 내 주었고, 집과 녹음실 등 성공이 필요한 많은 것들을 제공하여 길들였다. 그러나 록 음악은 그 당시 소련 정부에게 너무도 마땅치 않은 음악이었다. 록은 자본주의 진영의 록 그룹의 영향을 받았다는 것 외에도 젊은이들을 반항적으로 만들었으며, 의사 표현의 자유 등 표현 관련 가치를 중시했다. 따라서 록 밴드들은 정부로부터 거의 원조를 받지 못했고 관영 매체에 의해 마약 중독자나 부랑자라는 편견으로 그려지는 수준이었다.

빅토르 초이는 레닌그라드에 있는 세로프 미술전문학교에 입학였으나, 결국 낮은 성적 때문에 1977년에 퇴학 처분을 받았다. 그 후 레닌그라드 기술전문학교에서 목공업을 공부하였으나, 적성에 맞지 않아 또 중퇴하였다(이와 같은 사항들로 인하여 그의 학력은 전문대학 중퇴이기도 하다.). 그러나 그는 이럼에도 불구하고 계속 록 음악에 열성적으로 참여한다. 이 시기에 이르러 그는 보일러 수리공으로 일을 하면서 파티 등의 장소에서 자신이 만든 곡을 연주하기 시작한다. 그러던 중 한 연주를 록 그룹 아쿠아리움의 멤버였던 보리스 그레벤시코프가 보게 되어, 그레벤시코프의 도움으로 그는 자신의 밴드를 시작하게 된다.

데뷔 초기 
레닌그라드의 록 클럽은 록 밴드들이 연주할 수 있던 소수 장소에 속했다. 이곳의 연중 록 콘서트에서 빅토르 초이는 처음 무대에 데뷔하게 된다. 그는 두 명의 아쿠아리움의 멤버들이 연주를 맡은 가운데 솔로로 연주한다. 그의 혁신적인 가사와 음악은 청중을 사로잡았다. 그가 유명해지기 전에 그는 음악하는 사람들이 도전하려고 하지 않는다고 말했다. 그는 아무도 하지 않았던 새로운 것을 창조하기 위해 실험적으로 가사와 음악을 만들었다. 이런 시도는 성공을 거두고, 데뷔 이후 얼마 지나지 않아 멤버들을 모아 키노(러시아어로 영화, 극장이라는 뜻이다)를 결성한다. 그들은 빅토르 초이의 아파트에서 데모 테이프를 만들고, 이 음반(데모 테이프)은 애초, 그 처음엔 레닌그라드, 그리고 나중에는 전국의 록 매니아들에게 퍼지게 된다.

데뷔 이후 
1982년 키노는 첫 앨범인 45(소로크 피아트; 러시아어로 45라는 뜻)를 발표한다. 이 앨범의 이름이 45로 정해진 것은, 이 앨범의 재생시간이 총 45분이었기 때문이다. (후에 46(쏘록 쉐스찌)라는 앨범도 냈다.) 이 앨범에서 빅토르 초이는 음악에 정치적 목소리를 내려는 의지를 내비친다. "엘렉트리치카(Elektrichka, 소련의 광역 전철)"이란 노래는 원치 않은 곳으로 가는 전차에 끼여 끌려가고 있는 사람의 이야기를 다룬다. 이런 가사는 분명히 당시의 소련에서의 삶을 은유한 것이었으며, 이 노래는 공연이 금지된다. 이 노래의 메시지로 노래는 반항운동을 하던 젊은이들 사이에 유명해지며 키노와 빅토르 초이는 그들의 우상으로 떠오른다. 제2회 레닌그라드 록 클럽 콘서트에서 키노는 자신의 정치색을 더욱 분명히 드러낸다. 키노는 빅토르 초이의 반전음악 작품인 "내 집을 비핵화지대로 선포한다."으로 1등을 차지하고, 이 노래는 당시 수만의 소련 젊은이들의 목숨을 빼앗고 있던 소련의 아프가니스탄 침공으로 더욱 더 유명해진다.

전성기 
1987년은 키노의 해였다. 7집 앨범 《혈액형(Gruppa krovi)》은 "키노마니아"로까지 불리는 사회현상을 불러일으킨다. 글라스노스트로 조금 더 개방적이 된 정치상황은 그의 가장 정치색이 짙은 앨범인 "혈액형"을 만들 수 있게 했다. 그러나 앨범의 메시지만이 청중을 사로잡은 것이 아니었고, 앨범에 담긴 음악 또한 이전에는 듣지 못하던 것이었다. 대부분의 곡은 소련의 젊은이들을 향한 외침이었으며, 능동적으로 나가서 국가를 변화시키라고 호소했다. 몇 개의 노래는 소련을 옥죄고 있던 사회문제들을 다루고 있다. 이 앨범은 빅토르 초이와 키노를 러시아 젊은이들의 영웅으로 등극시켰다. 1988년에는 영화 《이글라》의 주연으로 영화배우 데뷔를 하기도 하였다. 이후 몇 년간 그는 몇 편의 성공적인 영화를 찍었으며 영화제에 그의 영화를 홍보하기 위해 미국을 다녀오기도 했다.

이후 몇 개의 앨범이 더 나왔으며, 대부분이 정치적 메시지를 담았으며 밴드는 인기를 유지했다. 그는 당시 소련 젊은이 모두의 우상이었지만, 그런 것에 비하여 그는 소위 비교적 보통 수준의 삶을 살았다. 그는 계속 아파트 빌딩의 보일러 실에서 살며 일했다. 그는 자신의 직업을 즐기고 있으며 정부의 보조를 받지 못하고 있고, 자신들의 앨범은 공짜로 복제되어 퍼지기 때문에 밴드를 유지하기 위하여서라도 금액이 필요하다고 밝혔다. 이런 소박한 삶의 방식은 대중들이 그와 더욱 친밀감을 느끼기에 매우 충분했다.

갑작스러운 사망, 그리고 음모론 

1990년 키노는 모스크바의 레닌 스타디움에서 콘서트를 열어 관중 약6만 2천여의 팬들을 모았다. 1990년 8월 14일 다음 앨범의 녹음을 마쳤으며, 레닌그라드에서 다른 멤버들이 녹음을 위해 기다리고 있었다. 그러나 초이는 결국, 다음날(8월 15일), 레닌그라드로 행선지를 바꾸어 행선길을 행보하려던 찰나에, 당일(8월 15일) 아침 소련 라트비아 소비에트 사회주의 공화국 리가를 경유하여 행선하던 가운데 투쿰스에서 빅토르 초이가 운전하던 차가 마주오던 트럭과 충돌하였고 결국 하여금 그 사고로 인하여 죽고 말았다. 그가 운전하였던 차는 형체를 알아볼 수 없도록 망가졌으며, 타이어 하나는 결국 찾지 못했다.

음모론에 따르면, KGB가 의도적으로 초이를 살해했다고 한다. 평소 반전과 평화 사상을 주장하던 초이가 러시아 권력자들의 눈 밖에 났다는 것이다. 실제로 트럭 기사가 종적을 감추고, 초이에게 유리한 목격자들의 증언이 기각되었으며(초이는 졸지도 않았음은 더 말할 것도 없고, 운전 규칙을 어기지도 않았으며, 오히려 트럭 기사가 그에게 돌진했다는 사실), 시체가 봉인된 관에 담겨 서둘러 매장되었다는 사실 등 의문스러운 점이 한두 곳이 아니지만, 현재 러시아 경찰과 정부는 27년 동안 이 사안에 대해 철저히 침묵하고 있다.

1990년 8월 17일 소련의 유력 잡지인 콤소몰스카야 프라우다는 다음과 같이 그의 의미를 간추린다.

놀랍게도 교통사고에서 온전하게 건질 수 있었던 유일한 것은 다음 앨범에 쓰일 그의 목소리를 담은 테이프이었다. 목소리는 남은 멤버들의 나머지 녹음과 합쳐져 현재는 "블랙 앨범"으로 불리는 앨범으로 남아 있다. 이 유작 앨범은 밴드의 가장 인기있는 작품이며 러시아 록 역사에 있어서 키노의 자리를 확고하게 했으며, 빅토르 초이를 최고의 영웅이자 전설로 만들었다.

키노가 소비에트 음악과 사회에 미친 영향은 지대하다. 그들은 이전의 다른 어떤 그룹도 시도조차 하지 않았던 음악과 가사로 노래를 만들었다. 키노는 모던 러시아 록에게 문을 열어주었다. 키노는 아직도 러시아 전역에서 흔적을 남기고 있다. 레닌그라드 벽에는 그들에 대한 그라피티가 그려지고 있으며, 모스크바의 아르바트 가에는 한 벽 전체가 그들에게 헌정되었으며, 그곳에는 그를 기리기 위한 팬들이 모인다. 사망 10주기였던 2000년에는 러시아의 록 밴드들이 모여 빅토르 초이의 38번째 생일을 맞아 빅토르 초이의 헌정 음반을 만들었다.

최근 
2010년 8월 16일은 그의 20주기로써, 러시아 곳곳에서 추도식이 있었다고 보도되었다. 또한 2018년에는 그와 그 주변의 일대기를 다룬 영화인 《레토》가 개봉하였으며, 대한민국에는 2019년 1월 개봉하였다. 《레토》는 칸 영화제에서 사운드트랙 필름어워드 상을 수상하는 등 쾌거를 거두었으며, 감독 키릴 세레브렌니코프가 가택 연금 중 만든 작품이라는 특징이 있다.

같이 보기 
 미하일 안
 최건

각주

외부 링크 

 두산대백과사전
 Boshetunmai, a Tsoi fan site, in English
 Kinoman, a Tsoi fan site, in Russian
 혈액형 - 빅토르 최 작곡,윤도현밴드 번안 & 편곡
 빅토르 최, 그는 살아 있다 - 내 마음속의 굴렁쇠

1962년 출생
1990년 사망
소련의 남자 가수
소련의 남자 싱어송라이터
소련의 남자 영화 배우
러시아의 남자 싱어송라이터
러시아의 남자 가수
러시아의 록 가수
상트페테르부르크 출신
고려인
한국계 소련인
한국계 러시아인
카자흐스탄계 러시아인
우크라이나계 러시아인
자동차 사고로 죽은 사람
의문사한 사람

무리수(無理數, irrational number)는 두 정수의 비의 형태로 나타낼 수 없는 실수를 말한다. 즉 분수로 나타낼 수 없는 소수이다. 

이에 반해 두 정수의 비에 의해 나타낼 수 있는 수를 유리수(분수)라 한다. 이것도 소수이다. 

유리수의 집합은 로 정의하고,
무리수의 집합은 로 정의한다.

무리수는 소수점 이하로 같은 수의 배열이 반복적으로 나타나지 않는(순환하지 않는) 무한소수이다.

무리수는 다시 와 같은 대수적 수와  등의 초월수로 나뉜다.

역사와 어원 

무리수가 존재한다는 것을 처음 증명한 것은 고대 그리스 피타고라스 학파로 전해진다. 히파소스는 이등변 직각삼각형의 밑변과 빗변의 비는 정수의 비율로 표현할 수 없다는 것을 증명했다. 이는 우주가 완벽하여 모든 것이 정수의 비로 표현될 수 있다고 믿었던 피타고라스 학파에 충격을 주었다. 전설에 따르면 피타고라스 학파의 동료들이 ‘우주의 섭리에 거스르는 요소를 만들어낸’ 히파소스를 살해했다고 하며, 죽이진 않고 추방했다는 이야기도 있다.

에우클레이데스의 원론 10권을 포함한 고대 그리스 수학책에서는 유리수를 비로 나타낼 수 있는 길이를 ‘말할 수 있는()’ 길이, 그렇지 못한 것을 ‘말할 수 없는()’ 길이라고 불렀다. 알로고스는 글자 그대로 로고스가 없다는 뜻의 단어로, 말 없음·이성 없음 등을 뜻한다. 이것이 라틴어 로 번역되어 지금에 이른다.

몇 가지 무리수의 증명

특수한 로그 꼴의 수 
가장 간단히 무리수임이 증명되는 수는 과 같은 꼴의 수일 것이다. 증명은 귀류법을 사용하며, 다음과 같다:
 을 유리수라 하자. 그러면 어떤 자연수 에 대해, 을 만족한다.
 따라서 이 되고.
 변형하면 이다.
 그런데 은 짝수이고, 은 홀수이므로 위 등식은 성립할 수 없다.
 따라서 가정이 틀렸다. 즉 은 무리수이다.

2의 제곱근 

무리수를 최초로 발견한 것은 일반적으로, 2의 제곱근이 유리수가 아님을 발견한 피타고라스와 그 제자들로 알려져 있다.

이에 대한 증명의 한 가지 방법은 다음처럼 귀류법을 사용하는 것이다.
 가 유리수라 하자.
 그러면, 는 기약분수 로 쓸 수 있다. 다시 말해, 서로소인 정수 에 대해, .
 위 식을 풀면
 
 이다.
 따라서, 은 짝수이다.
 짝수가 아닌 수, 즉 홀수의 제곱은 홀수이므로, 는 짝수여야 한다.
 따라서, 는 4의 배수이다.(이것은 가 값에 상관없이 항상 가 되기 때문이다.)
 즉, 는 짝수이다.
 (3)에서, 이다.
 (7)과 (8)로부터, 가 짝수임을 알 수 있다.
 (4), (5)과 같은 방법으로, 는 짝수이다.
 (5)와 (10)에 의해, 와 는 모두 짝수. 이는 가 기약분수라는 (2)의 가정에 위배된다. 모순에 의해 (1)의 가 유리수라는 가정이 틀렸다는 걸 알 수 있다.

이 방법을 일반화하여, 제곱수가 아닌 자연수의 제곱근은 무리수임을 증명할 수 있다.

원주율 

1761년 요한 람베르트는 탄젠트 함수를 다음과 같은 연분수로 나타낼 수 있음을 증명했다.

또한 가 0이 아닌 유리수일 때, 위 연분수는 무리수가 된다는 것도 증명했다. 그런데 tan(π/4) = 1 이므로, π/4는 무리수가 된다. 따라서 π는 무리수라는 것이 증명된다.
다른 수학자들의 증명은 이 문서에 나와 있다.

무리수+유리수 
 을 유리수라 가정하자.
 위의 식이 유리수라면 를 만족하는 유리수 가 있을 것이다.
 두 번째 식에서 3을 이항시키면 이 된다.
 그런데 유리수는 뺄셈에 대하여 닫혀 있으므로 유리수 에서 3을 뺀 값은 유리수이다.
 위의 소제목에서 가 유리수가 아니라는 것이 증명되었다. 이는 이 유리수라는 가정과 위배된다.
 모순에 의해 이 유리수가 아니라는 것이 증명되었다.
 따라서, 무리수와 유리수의 합은 무리수이다.

각주

같이 보기 
 소수점 표기
 분수 (수학)
 유리수
 실수

무리수
수 체계

플랑크 상수(Planck常數, , 기호 h)는 입자의 에너지와 드브로이 진동수의 비 ()이다. 양자역학의 기본 상수 중 하나다. 이 상수를 도입한 물리학자 막스 플랑크의 이름을 땄다. 기호는 라틴 문자 ""이다. 유니코드 기호 ()가 있다.

2018년 11월 16일 제26차 국제도량형총회(CGPM)에서 아래의 값으로 정의되었다.

새로운 정의는 2019년 5월 20일 세계 측정의 날부터 발효되었다.

외에, 다음과 같이 정의되는 가 대신 쓰이기도 한다. (양자역학에서 보다 더 많이 사용되는 형태이다.)

식에서 는 원주율을 나타낸다. 이 기호는 영어에서는 '( 에이치 바)', 독일어에서는 '')(하 크베어)로 읽는다. 이 상수 는 폴 디랙의 이름을 따 디랙 상수(Dirac's constant)라고도 부른다. 유니코드 기호 가 있다.

는 각운동량의 양자이다. 계의 임의의 축에 대한 각운동량은 언제나 의 정수배의 값으로 양자화한다.

는 또 불확정성 원리를 기술하는 식에도 등장한다.

그래서 가 보다 더 기본적이라고 주장한다.

그 밖에 는 플랑크 단위의 정의에 사용된다.

역사 
처음에 고전물리는 뉴턴의 역학 이론에서 시작되었지만 재능있는 수많은 학자들이 물리에 뛰어들어 그 영역을 전자기까지 확장을 시켜 모든 영역에서 승승장구하였었다. 막스 플랑크가 물리를 하던 19세기 후반, 물리는 더 이상 발전이 없을 것이며 소소한 몇몇 문제만 해결되면 완벽한 학문이 될 것이라는 의견이 매우 팽배하였다. 하지만 고전물리는 흑체 복사와 관련된 부분에서 문제에 부딪히게 되었다. 그것은 고전물리가 예측하는 결과와 흑체 복사의 실험 결과가 일치하지 않는 문제가 발생한 것이다. 긴 파장에서는 잘 일치하지만 짧은 파장에서는 일치하지 않는 문제가 생긴 것이다. 이에 대한 사고 실험은 다음과 같다.

아주 잘 밀폐된(외부와 에너지 교류가 없는) 한 용기 안에 흑체와 한 줄기 빛을 집어넣고 용기를 다시 밀폐한다고 하자. 이 경우 흑체는 빛을 흡수하여 파장의 형태로 다시 방출을 하게 되는데 고전물리의 등분배법칙에 의하면 흑체가 방출하는 에너지는 모든 파장에 골고루 나뉘어야 한다. 이 말은 아주 작은 빛을 넣게 되더라도 상자를 열게 되면 엑스선이나 감마선이 나오게 되는 현실에서는 불가능한 모순이 생기게 된다.

이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해 몇몇의 물리학자들이 매달리게 되었다. 막스 플랑크는 이러한 문제를 해결하기 위해 다음과 같은 혁명적인 착상을 하였다. 그것은 '에너지는 주파수에 비례한다'라는 가정이었다. 즉 에너지가 양자화되어 있다는 것이었다. 이 가정에서 에너지와 주파수를 연결해주는 비례상수가  인 것이다. 물론 플랑크는 가정을 통해서 흑체 복사에 관한 문제를 정리하였고 그 식은 실험과 잘 일치하는 결과를 가지고 왔다. 하지만 플랑크는 저 식에 대해서 큰 의미를 두기보다는 실험결과와 일치시키기 위해 어쩔 수 없이 도입시킨 것이라는 입장을 취하였다.

상수 개정 
역사적으로, CODATA 플랑크 상수 권장값은 지수부를 제외하고 다음과 같다. CODATA 권장값은 새로운 측정 결과를 반영하여 몇 년마다 개정된다.
 2002년에 6.626 069 3(11)로 발표되었다.
 2006년에 6.626 068 96(33)로 정정되었다.
 2010년에 6.626 069 57(29)로 정정되었다.
 2014년에 6.626 070 040(81)로 정정되었다.
 2018년에 6.626 070 15로 정의되었다.

같이 보기 
 슈뢰딩거 방정식
 불확정성 원리
 플랑크 단위

각주 

양자역학
물리 상수
막스 플랑크
플랑크 단위계
1900년 과학

막스 카를 에른스트 루트비히 플랑크 왕립학회 외국인 회원 (, ; , 1858년 4월 23일 - 1947년 10월 4일)는 독일의 이론물리학자로 에너지 양자의 발견으로 1918년 노벨 물리학상을 수상한 과학자이다.

플랑크는 이론 물리학에 상당히 많은 기여를 했지만 물리학자로서의 명성은 주로 양자 이론의 창시자로서의 역할에 있다. 이는 원자 및 아원자 과정에 대한 인간의 이해에 혁명을 일으켰다. 1948년 독일의 과학 기관인 카이저 빌헬름 협회(플랑크가 두 번 회장을 역임함)는 막스 플랑크 협회(MPG)로 이름이 변경되었다. 이 협회에는 현재 광범위한 과학적 동향을 나타내는 83개의 기관이 포함되어 있다.

생애와 경력 

플랑크는 전통적이고 지적인 가족 출신이다. 그의 부계 증조부와 할아버지는 모두 괴팅겐의 신학 교수였다. 그의 아버지는 킬 대학교와 뮌헨 대학교의 법학 교수였다. 그의 삼촌 중 한 명은 판사였다.

플랑크는 1858년 홀슈타인의 킬에서 요한 율리우스 빌헬름 플랑크Johann Julius Wilhelm Planck와 그의 두 번째 부인 엠마 파치히Emma Patzig 사이에서 태어났다. 그는 카를 에른스트 루트비히 마르크스 플랑크Karl Ernst Ludwig Marx Planck라는 이름으로 세례를 받았다. 그의 이름 중 마르크스Marx(지금은 사용되지 않는 마르쿠스Markus의 변형이거나 실제로 막시밀리안Maximilian의 약자인 막스Max의 오류일 수 있음)는 "명칭 이름(appellation name)"으로 표시되었다. 그러나 10살이 되었을 때 그는 막스Max라는 이름으로 서명하고 그후 이것을 평생동안 사용했다.

그의 형제 중 두 명이 아버지의 첫 번째 결혼에서 태어났지만 그는 가족의 6번째였다. 전쟁은 플랑크의 초기 몇 년 동안 일반적이었고 그의 가장 초기 기억 중 하나는 1864년 제2차 슐레스비히 전쟁 동안 킬로의 프로이센과 오스트리아 군대의 행군이었다. 1867년 가족은 뮌헨으로 이사했고 플랑크는 막시밀리안 김나지움(Maximilians gymnasium)에 등록했고 그곳에서 그는 젊은이들에게 관심을 가진 수학자  헤르만 뮐러Hermann Müller는 그에게 수학뿐만 아니라 천문학과 역학을 가르쳤다. 플랑크가 에너지 보존의 원리를 처음 배운 것은 뮐러로부터였다. 플랑크는 17세에 일찍 졸업했다. 이것이 플랑크가 물리학 분야와 처음 접한 방법이다.

플랑크는 음악에 재능이 있었다. 그는 노래 수업을 듣고 피아노, 오르간, 첼로를 연주하고 노래와 오페라를 작곡했다. 그러나 그는 음악 대신 물리학을 선택했다.

뮌헨의 물리학 교수인 필립 폰 욜리Philipp von Jolly는 플랑크에게 "이 분야에서는 거의 모든 것이 이미 발견되었고 남은 것은 몇 개의 구멍을 채우는 것뿐"이라며 플랑크에게 물리학에 입문하지 말라고 조언했다. 플랑크는 새로운 것을 발견하기를 바라는 것이 아니라 그 분야의 알려진 기초를 이해하기를 원한다고 대답했고, 1874년 뮌헨 대학교에서 연구를 시작했다. 욜리의 감독하에 플랑크는 가열된 백금을 통한 수소의 확산을 연구하는 그의 과학 경력의 유일한 실험을 수행했지만 이론물리학으로 옮겼다.

1877년 그는 베를린의 프리드리히 빌헬름 대학교에서 물리학자 헤르만 폰 헬름홀츠, 구스타프 키르히호프, 수학자 카를 바이어슈트라스와 함께 1년 동안 연구했다. 그는 헬름홀츠는 준비가 제대로 된 적이 없고, 천천히 말하고, 끝없이 잘못 계산되어 청중을 지루하게 하는 반면, 키르히호프는 주의깊게 준비되었지만 건조하고 단조로운 강의를 했다고 썼다. 그는 곧 헬름홀츠와 가까운 친구가 되었다. 그곳에 있는 동안 그는 클라우지우스의 저작에 대한 대부분의 독학 프로그램에 수행하여서, 열역학을 자신의 분야로 선택하도록 되었다.

1878년 10월에 플랑크는 자격 시험에 합격했고 1879년 2월에 자신의 학위논문인 "열역학 제2법칙에 관하여(Über den zweiten Hauptsatz der mechanischen Wärmetheorie)"를 방어했다. 그는 잠시 뮌헨에 있는 이전 학교에서 수학과 물리학을 가르쳤다.

1880년까지 플랑크는 유럽에서 제공되는 가장 높은 두 개의 학위를 취득했다. 첫 번째는 열역학 연구와 이론을 자세히 설명하는 논문을 마친 후 박사학위였다. 그런 다음 그는 "서로 다른 온도에서 등방성 물체의 평형 상태(Gleichgewichtszustände isotroper Körper in verschiedenen Temperaturen)"라는 논문을 발표하여 하빌리타치온을 획득했다.

교육 경력 
그의 하빌리타치온 논문이 완성되자 플랑크는 뮌헨에서 무급 프리바트도첸트(Privatdozent)(독일 대학에서 강사/조교수에 해당하는 지위)가 되어 학업 제안을 받을 때까지 기다렸다. 처음에는 학계에서 무시 당했지만 열 이론 분야에서 그의 작업을 더욱 발전시켜 기브스와 같은 열역학적 형식론을 자신도 모르게 차례로 발견했다. 엔트로피에 대한 클라우지우스의 아이디어는 그의 작업에서 중심적인 역할을 했다.

1885년 4월 킬 대학교는 플랑크를 이론물리학 부교수로 임명했다. 특히 물리화학에 적용되는 엔트로피와 그 처리에 대한 추가 연구가 뒤따랐다. 그는 1897년에 "열역학에 관한 논문"을 출판했다. 그는 스반테 아레니우스의 전해질 해리 이론에 대한 열역학적 기초를 제안했다.

1889년에 그는 베를린 프리드리히-빌헬름스-대학교에서 키르히호프의 직위를 계승하는 사람으로 임명되었으며 - 아마도 헬름홀츠의 중재 덕분에 - 1892년에는 정교수가 되었다. 1907년, 플랑크는 빈에서 볼츠만의 자리를 제안받았으나 베를린에 남으려고 거절했다. 1909년에 베를린 대학교 교수로 재직하면서 뉴욕시 컬럼비아 대학교 이론물리학의 어니스트 켐프턴 아담스 강사(Ernest Kempton Adams Lecturer)로 초빙되었다.  그의 강의 시리즈는 컬럼비아 대학교 교수 A. P. 윌리스<sub>A. P. Wills에 의해 번역 및 공동 출판되었다. 그는 1914년 미국국립과학원 회원으로 선출되었다. 1926년 1월 10일 베를린에서 은퇴했고, 에르빈 슈뢰딩거가 그의 뒤를 이었다. 그는 1926년 미국국립과학원 회원으로, 1933년 미국 철학 협회 회원으로 선출되었다.

가족 
1887년 3월 플랑크는 학교 친구의 여동생인 마리 머르크Marie Merck(1861-1909)와 결혼하여 키엘에 있는 작은 아파트로 이사했다. 그들은 카를Karl(1888~1916), 쌍둥이 엠마Emma(1889~1919)와 그레테Grete(1889~1917), 에르빈Erwin(1893~1945) 등 5명의 자녀를 두었다.

베를린에 있는 아파트 이후, 플랑크 가족은 반겐하임 거리(Wangenheimstrasse) 21의
베를린-그루네발트(Berlin-Grunewald)에 있는 빌라에서 살았다. 베를린 대학교의 다른 여러 교수가 근처에 살았으며 그 중에는 플랑크의 절친한 친구가 된 신학자 아돌프 폰 하르낙Adolf von Harnack도 있었다. 곧 플랑크의 집은 사회적, 문화적 중심지가 되었다. 알베르트 아인슈타인, 오토 한, 리제 마이트너와 같은 수많은 저명한 과학자들이 자주 방문했다. 공동 연주 음악의 전통은 이미 헬름홀츠의 고향에서 확립되었다.

행복한 몇 년 후인 1909년 7월에 마리 플랑크는 아마도 결핵으로 사망했다. 1911년 3월 플랑크는 두 번째 부인인 마르가 폰 회슬린Marga von Hoesslin(1882–1948)과 결혼했다. 12월에는 다섯 번째 아이 헤르만Hermann이 태어났다.

제1차 세계대전 중 플랑크의 차남 에르빈은 1914년 프랑스군에게 포로로 잡혀갔고, 그의 장남 카를은 베르됭 전투에서 전사했다. 그레테는 1917년 첫 아이를 낳다가 세상을 떠났다. 그녀의 여동생인 엠마는 그레테의 홀아비와 결혼했는데 2년 후 같은 방식으로 사망했다. 두 손녀 모두 생존했으며 어머니의 이름을 따서 명명되었다. 플랑크는 이러한 상해들을 꿋꿋하게 견뎌냈다.

1945년 1월, 그가 특히 가까웠던 에르빈은 1944년 7월 히틀러 암살 시도 실패에 가담했다는 이유로 나치 인민법정에 의해 사형을 선고받았다. 에르빈은 1945년 1월 23일 처형되었다.

베를린 대학교의 교수 
베를린의 프리드리히 빌헬름스 대학교(Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität) 교수로서 플랑크는 지역 물리학회에 가입했다. 그는 나중에 이 시기에 대해 쓰기를: "그 당시에 나는 본질적으로 그곳에서 유일한 이론 물리학자였으며, 엔트로피에 대해 언급하기 시작했기 때문에 일이 그렇게 쉽지는 않았는데, 이것은 수학적인 유령으로 간주되었기 때문에 그다지 유행하지 않았다." 그의 이니셔티브 덕분에 독일의 다양한 지역 물리 학회들이 1898년에 통합되어 독일 물리학회(Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft, DPG)를 형성했으며; 1905년부터 1909년까지 플랑크는 회장이었다.

플랑크는 리제 마이트너에 따르면 "건조하고 다소 비인간적인", 영국 참가자인 제임스 R. 파팅톤James R. Partington에 의하면 "노트를 사용하지 않고, 실수하지 않고, 흔들리지 않는; 그는 내가 들어본 최고의 강사"라는 6학기 이론물리학 강의를 시작햤으며, R. 파팅톤은 계속하기를 "강의실 주변에는 항상 많은 사람들이 서 있었다. 강의실은 난방이 잘 되고 다소 가까웠기 때문에 청취자 중 일부가 때때로 바닥에 쓰러지기도 했지만 강의에 방해가 되지는 않았다." 플랑크는 실제 "학파"를 설립하지 않았다. 그의 대학원생 수는 약 20명에 불과했지만 아래와 같은 이들이 포함되어 있다.

 1897 막스 아브라함 (1875–1922)
 1903 막스 폰 라우에 (1879–1960)
 1904 모리츠 슐리크 (1882–1936)
 1906 발터 마이스너 (1882–1974)
 1907 프리츠 라이헤Fritz Reiche (1883–1960)
 1912 발터 쇼트키Walter Schottky (1886–1976)
 1914 발터 보테 (1891–1957)

흑체 복사 
1894년 플랑크는 흑체 복사 문제에 관심을 돌렸다. 문제는 1859년 키르히호프에 의해 언급되었다. "흑체(완벽한 흡수체, 공동 복사체라고도 함)에서 방출되는 전자기 복사의 강도는 복사의 주파수 (즉, 빛의 색깔)와 그 물체의 온도에 의존하는가?"라는 질문은 실험적으로 탐구되었지만 실험 값과 일치하는 이론적 취급은 없었다. 빌헬름 빈은 빈의 법칙을 제안했는데, 이는 고주파에서는 거동을 정확하게 예측했지만 저주파에서는 실패했다. 문제에 대한 또 다른 접근 방식인 레일리–진스 법칙은 저주파에서의 실험 결과에 일치했지만 나중에 고주파에서 "자외선 파탄"으로 알려진 현상을 만들었다. 그러나 많은 교과서와 달리, 이것이 플랑크를 위한 동기는 아니었다.

1899년 플랑크가 이 문제에 대해 처음으로 제안한 해법은 플랑크가 "기본 무질서의 원리"라고 부른 것에서 따랐는데, 이를 통해 그는 이상적인 진동자의 엔트로피에 대한 여러 가정으로부터 빈의 법칙을 유도하여 빈-플랑크 법칙이라고 하는 것을 만들었다. 곧 실험적 증거가 새로운 법칙을 전혀 확인하지 못했다는 것이 발견되어 플랑크는 좌절했다. 플랑크는 접근 방식을 수정하여, 실험적으로 관찰된 흑체 스펙트럼을 잘 설명하는 유명한 플랑크 흑체 복사 법칙의 첫 번째 버전을 유도했다. 그것은 1900년 10월 19일 물리학회(DPG) 회의에서 처음 제안되었고 1901년에 출판되었다. 이 첫 번째 유도는 에너지 양자화를 포함하지 않았으며 통계 역학을 사용하지 않았기 때문에, 그는 그것을 거부했다. 1900년 11월 플랑크는 열역학 제2법칙에 대한 볼츠만의 통계적 해석에 의거하여 이 첫 번째 접근 방식을 수정했다. 플랑크는 볼츠만의 접근 방식에 대한 그러한 해석의 철학적, 물리적 의미에 대해 깊은 의심을 품고 있었기 때문에, 나중에 그가 말했듯이 "그것은 절망의 행위 ... 나는 물리학에 대한 나의 이전 신념을 희생할 준비가 되어 있었다."

1900년 12월 14일 물리학회(DPG)에 제출된 그의 새로운 유도의 중심 가정은 이제 플랑크 가설로 알려진 가정은 전자기 에너지가 양자화된 형태로만 방출될 수 있다는 것으로, 다시 말해, 에너지는 기본 단위의 배수일 뿐으로:

여기서 h는 플랑크 상수이며 플랑크의 작용 양자라고도 하며 (1899년에 이미 도입됨), ν는 복사의 주파수이다. 여기서 논의된 에너지의 기본 단위는 단순히 ν 가 아니라 hν 로 표시된다. 물리학자들은 이제 이러한 양자 광자를 부르고 주파수 ν의 광자는 고유한 에너지를 갖는다. 그러면 해당 주파수의 총 에너지는 해당 주파수의 광자 수를 곱한 hν 와 같다.

처음에 플랑크는 양자화가 "순전히 형식적인 가정으로 ... 실제로는 그것에 대해 많이 생각하지 않았다 ..."라고 생각하였지만, 오늘날 고전 물리학과 양립할 수 없는 이 가정은 양자 물리학의 탄생이자 플랑크 경력의 가장 위대한 지적 성취로 간주된다 (루트비히 볼츠만은 1877년 이론 논문에서 물리 시스템의 에너지 상태가 이산적일 수 있다는 가능성에 대해 논의했다.). 플랑크 상수의 발견으로 그는 양자 이론의 대부분이 기반으로 하는 기본적인 물리적 상수를 기반으로 하는 새로운 보편적인 물리적 단위 집합(플랑크 길이 및 플랑크 질량과 같은)을 정의할 수 있었다. 플랑크는 새로운 물리학 분야에 대한 근본적인 공헌을 인정받아 1918년에 노벨 물리학상을 수상했다 (실제로는 1919년에 수상했다).

그 후 플랑크는 에너지 양자의 의미를 파악하려고 노력했지만 소용이 없었다. "행동 양자를 고전 이론으로 어떻게든 재통합하려는 나의 무익한 시도는 몇 년에 걸쳐 연장되었고 나에게 많은 문제를 일으켰다." 몇 년 후에도 존 레일리, 제임스 진스, 헨드릭 로런츠와 같은 다른 물리학자들은 고전 물리학에 맞추기 위해 플랑크 상수를 0으로 설정했지만, 플랑크는 이 상수가 0이 아닌 정확한 값을 갖는다는 것을 잘 알고 있었다. "나는 진스의 완고함을 이해할 수 없다. 그는 결코 존재해서는 안 되는 이론가의 한 예이다. 헤겔이 철학에 대해 그랬었다. 사실들이 맞지 않으면 그것들은 더욱 나빠진다."

막스 보른은 플랑크에 대해 쓰기를: "그는, 천성이, 보수적인 마음이며; 그는 전혀 혁명적아지 않았고 사색에 대해서는 철저히 회의적이었다. 그런데도 사실로부터 논리적 추론의 설득력 있는 힘에 대한 그의 믿음이 너무나 강해서 물리학을 뒤흔든 가장 혁명적인 아이디어를 발표하는 데 주저하지 않았다."

아인슈타인과 상대성 이론 
1905년 알베르트 아인슈타인의 세 편의 획기적인 논문이 《물리학 연보》 저널에 발표되었다. 플랑크는 특수 상대성이론의 중요성을 즉시 인식한 몇 안 되는 사람 중 하나였다. 그의 영향 덕분에 이 이론은 곧 독일에서 널리 받아들여졌다. 플랑크는 또한 특수 상대성이론을 확장하는 데 상당한 기여를 했다. 예를 들어, 그는 고전적 작용의 관점에서 이론을 재구성한다.

광전 효과에 대한 하인리히 헤르츠의 1887년 발견(및 필리프 레나르트에 의한 추가 조사)에 기반한 아인슈타인의 빛 양자(광자) 가설은 처음에 플랑크에 의해 거부되었다. 그는 맥스웰의 전자기학 이론을 완전히 폐기하는 것을 꺼려했다. "빛의 이론은 수십 년이 아니라, 수 세기에 걸쳐, 크리스티안 하위헌스가 감히 아이작 뉴턴의 강력한 방출 이론에 맞서 싸웠던 시대로 되돌아갈 것이다..."

1910년에 아인슈타인은 고전 물리학으로는 설명할 수 없는 현상의 또 다른 예로서 저온에서 비열용량의 변칙적 거동을 지적했다. 플랑크와 네른스트는 커지는 모순들을 명확히 하기 위해 제1차 솔베이 회의를 조직했다 (브뤼셀 1911). 이 회의에서 아인슈타인은 플랑크를 설득할 수 있었다.

한편, 플랑크는 베를린 대학의 학장으로 임명되어 아인슈타인을 베를린으로 불러 새로운 교수직을 만들 수 있었다 (1914). 곧 두 과학자는 가까운 친구가 되었고 함께 음악을 연주하기 위해 자주 만났다.

제1차 세계대전 
제1차 세계대전이 시작되자 플랑크는 대중의 일반적인 흥분을 다음과 같이 썼다. "끔찍한 것 외에도 예기치 않게 위대하고 아름다운 것, 모든 정당의 통합(그리고) ... 선하고 고귀한 모든 것에 대한 찬사와 같은 것도 많다." 플랑크는 또한 논쟁적인 전쟁 선전의 소책자인 악명 높은 "93인의 성명서"에 서명했다 (반면에 아인슈타인은 엄격한 평화주의적 태도를 유지하여 거의 투옥에 이르게 되었으나, 그의 스위스 시민권 덕분에 면책되었다).

1915년, 이탈리아가 아직 중립국이었던 때에 그는 이탈리아에서 과학 논문에 기고를 했는데, 이 논문은 플랑크가 네명의 영구 회장 중 한 명으로 있던 프로이센 과학 아카데미에서 상을 받았다.

전후 그리고 바이마르 공화국 
격동의 전후 몇 년 동안, 현재 독일 물리학의 최고 권위자인 플랑크는 동료들에게 "인내하고 계속 일하라"는 슬로건을 발표했다.

1920년 10월, 그와 프리츠 하버는 과학 연구를 위한 재정 지원을 제공하기 위해 독일 과학 비상기구(Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft)를 설립했다. 조직이 분배할 자금의 상당 부분은 해외에서 모금되었다.

또한 플랑크는 베를린 대학교, 프로이센 과학 아카데미, 독일 물리학회 및 카이저 빌헬름 협회(1948년 막스 플랑크 협회가 됨)에서 주요 직책을 역임했다. 이 기간 동안 독일의 경제 상황은 그가 연구를 거의 수행할 수 없는 상황이었다. 1926년 플랑크는 네덜란드 왕립 예술 과학 아카데미의 외국인 회원이 되었다.

전후 기간 동안 플랑크는 노벨 평화상 수상자 구스타프 슈트레제만의 정당인 독일 인민당(Deutsche Volks-Partei)의 당원이 되었으며, 이 당은 국내 정책에 대한 자유주의적 목표와 전 세계 정치에 대한 수정주의적 목표를 열망했다.

플랑크는 보통선거의 도입에 동의하지 않았으며 나중에 나치 독재가 "대중 지배의 상승"에서 비롯되었다는 견해를 표명했다.

양자역학 

1920년대 말 보어, 하이젠베르크와 파울리는 양자역학에 대한 코펜하겐 해석을 수행했지만 플랑크와 슈뢰딩거, 라우에, 아인슈타인도 이를 거부했다. 플랑크는 파동역학이 곧 양자 이론-자신의 아이-을 불필요하게 만들 것이라고 예상했다. 그러나 이것은 사실이 아니었다. 그와 아인슈타인의 철학적 반감에도 불구하고 더 이상의 작업은 양자 이론을 확고히 했을 뿐이다. 플랑크는 젊은 시절에 오래된 견해와 투쟁하면서 "새로운 과학적 진리는 반대자를 설득하고 빛을 보게 함으로써 승리하는 것이 아니라, 반대자가 결국 죽기 때문에 승리한다. 새로운 세대는 그것에 익숙하게 자란다."는 자신의 초기 관찰의 진리를 경험했다.

나치 독재와 제2차 세계대전 
1933년 나치가 집권했을 때 플랑크는 74세였다. 그는 많은 유대인 친구와 동료들이 직위에서 추방되어 굴욕을 당하는 것을 목격했으며 수백 명의 과학자들이 나치 독일에서 이주하는 것을 목격했다. 그는 다시 "인내하고 계속 일하려고" 노력했고, 이민을 고려하고 있는 과학자들에게 독일에 남을 것을 요청했다. 그럼에도 불구하고 그는 조카인 경제학자 헤르만 크라놀트Hermann Kranold가 체포된 후 런던으로 이주하는 것을 도왔다. 그는 위기가 곧 진정되고 정치적 상황이 개선되기를 희망했다.

오토 한은 플랑크에게 유태인 교수 처우에 대한 공개 선언을 하기 위해 독일의 저명한 교수들을 모아달라고 요청했지만, 플랑크는 "오늘 그런 신사 30명을 모을 수 있다면 내일 150명이 와서 반대할 것이다. 그들은 다른 사람들의 지위를 물려받기를 열망하기 때문이다." 플랑크의 지도하에 카이저 빌헬름 협회(KWG)는 유대인 프리츠 하버에 관한 것 외에는 나치 정권과의 공개적인 충돌을 피했다. 1933년 5월 플랑크는 최근 임명된 독일 총리 아돌프 히틀러에게 이 문제를 논의하기 위해 인터뷰를 요청하고 받았고, 그에게 "유대인의 강제 이민은 독일 과학을 죽이고 유태인은 좋은 독일인이 될 수 있다"고 말했다. "그러나 우리는 유대인에 대해 아무것도 가지고 있지 않고 공산주의자에 대해서만 있다." 따라서 플랑크는 이 답변이 "추가 협상을 위한 모든 근거를 그에게서 빼앗았기" 때문에 성공하지 못했는데, 히틀러에게 "유대인은 모두 공산주의자이고 이들은 나의 적"이기 때문이었다. 이듬해인 1934년에, 하버는 망명 중에 사망했다.

1년 후, 1930년부터 협회(KWG)의 회장을 맡은 플랑크는 다소 도발적인 스타일로 하버에 대한 공식 기념 회의를 조직했다. 그는 또한 비밀리에 많은 유대인 과학자들이 협회(KWG) 연구소에서 몇 년 동안 계속 일할 수 있도록 하는 데 성공했다. 1936년에 그의 협회(KWG) 회장 임기가 끝났고 나치 정부는 그에게 연임하지 않도록 압력을 가했다.

독일의 정치 환경이 점차 더 적대적으로 변하면서, 도이치 물리학의 저명한 대표자인 요하네스 슈타르크는 플랑크, 조머펠트, 하이젠베르크가 아인슈타인의 이론을 계속 가르친다고 공격하며, 그들을 "백인 유대인"이라고 불렀다. "나치 과학 정부 사무소(Hauptamt Wissenschaft)"는 플랑크가 "1/16 유태인"이라고 주장하면서 플랑크의 가계에 대한 조사를 시작했지만 플랑크 자신은 이를 부인했다.

1938년 플랑크는 80세 생일을 맞았다. 물리학회(DPG)는 축하 행사를 열었고, 이 기간 동안 막스 플랑크 메달(DPG가 1928년에 설립한 최고 메달)이 프랑스 물리학자 루이 드 브로이에게 수여되었다. 1938년 말, 프로이센 아카데미는 남아 있던 독립성을 상실하고 나치에 의해 인수되었다(일체화(Gleichschaltung)). 플랑크는 회장직을 사임하면서 항의했다. 그는 계속해서 자주 여행을 다니며 종교와 과학에 관한 연설을 비롯한 수많은 공개 강연을 했으며, 5년후에 그는 알프스의 3,000미터 봉우리들을 오를 정도로 충분히 건강했다.

제2차 세계대전 중에 베를린에 대한 연합군의 폭격 임무가 늘어나면서 플랑크와 그의 아내는 일시적으로 도시를 떠나 시골에 살게 되었다. 1942년에 그는 "내 안에 이 위기를 견디고 새로운 도약의 시작인 전환점을 목격할 수 있을 만큼 오래 살고 싶은 열망이 커졌다."고 기록하였다. 1944년 2월 베를린에 있는 그의 집은 공습으로 완전히 파괴되어 그의 모든 과학 기록과 서신이 소실되었다. 그의 시골 은퇴는 양측에서 연합군의 급속한 진격으로 위협을 받았다.

1944년 플랑크의 아들 에르빈은 7월 20일 히틀러 암살을 시도한 7·20 음모로 게슈타포에 의해 체포되어 재판을 받고 1944년 10월 인민법정에서 사형을 선고받았다. 에르빈은 1945년 1월 베를린의 플뢰첸제 감옥에서 교수형을 당했다. 그의 아들의 죽음으로 플랑크는 삶에 대한 의지를 상당부분 상실했다. 전쟁이 끝난 후 플랑크의 두 번째 아내와 그의 아들은 괴팅겐에 있는 친척에게 갔는데 플랑크는 1947년 10월 4일 그곳에서 사망했다. 그의 무덤은 괴팅겐의 '구 시립묘지(Stadtfriedhof)'에 있다.

종교적 견해 
플랑크는 독일 루터교 교인이었다. 그는 대안적인 견해와 종교에 대해 매우 관대했다. 1937년 "종교와 자연과학(Religion und Naturwissenchaft)"이라는 제목의 강의에서 그는 이러한 상징과 의식의 중요성은 신자가 하나님을 예배할 수 있는 능력과 직접적으로 관련되나, 상징은 신성의 불완전성을 제공한다는 점을 명심해야 한다고 제안했다. 그는 무신론이 그러한 상징에 대한 조롱에 초점을 맞추고 있다고 비판했으며, 한편 신자들이 그러한 상징의 중요성을 과대 평가한다고 경고했다.

플랑크는 모든 종교에 관대하고 호의적이었다. 그는 루터교에 남아 있었지만 기독교나 성경적 견해를 옹호하지 않았다. 그는 "기적에 대한 믿음은 과학의 사실이 꾸준하고 확고하게 전진하기 전에 단계적으로 양보해야 하며, 그 완전한 패배는 의심할바 없이 시간 문제이다."라고 믿었다.

"종교와 자연과학"에서 플랑크는 신이 어디에나 존재한다는 견해를 표현했으며 "이해할 수 없는 신격의 거룩함은 상징의 거룩함으로 전달된다"고 주장했다. 그는 무신론자들이 단순한 상징에 너무 많은 중요성을 부여한다고 생각했다. 그는 1920년부터 죽을 때까지 교회 관리인이었고 전능하고 전지전능하며 자비로운 하나님을 (반드시 인격적인 신은 아니더라도) 믿었다. 과학과 종교는 모두 "신을 향하여!"라는 목표를 가지고 "회의론과 독단주의, 불신과 미신에 대한 지칠 줄 모르는 싸움"을 벌이고 있다.

1944년 플랑크는 "가장 명석한 과학, 즉 물질 연구에 평생을 바친 사람으로서 원자에 대한 연구 결과를 다음과 같이 말할 수 있다. 물질은 없다. 모든 물질은 원자 입자를 진동시키고 원자의 이 가장 미세한 태양계를 하나로 묶는 힘에 의해서만 발생하고 존재한다. 우리는 이 힘 뒤에 의식적이고 지적인 정신(geist)이 존재한다고 가정해야 한다. 이 정신은 모든 물질의 모체이다."

플랑크는 신의 개념이 종교와 과학 모두에 중요하지만 다른 방식으로 다음과 같이 주장했다. "종교와 과학 모두 신에 대한 믿음을 요구한다. 신자들에게 신은 시작에 있고 물리학자들에게는 신이 모든 것의 고려의 끝에 있다. ... 전자에게 그분은 기초가 되고, 후자에게 모든 일반화된 세계관의 구성체의 왕관이 된다."

나아가 플랑크는 이렇게 썼다.
..."믿는다"는 것은 "진리로 인식하는" 것을 의미하며, 의심의 여지 없이 안전한 길로 계속하여 발전하는 자연에 대한 지식은, 자연 과학에 대하여 어느 정도 훈련을 받은 사람이, 자연의 법칙과 모순되는 이례적인 사건과, 종교적 교리에 대한 필수적인 뒷받침과  확인으로 여전히 일반적으로 간주되며 이전에는 의심이나 비판 없이 순수하고 단순한 사실로 받아들여졌던 기적에 관한 다수의 보고가, 사실에 기초한 것으로 인정하는 것을 절대적으로 불가능하게 만들었다. 기적에 대한 믿음은 중단없이 믿음직스럽게 진보하는 과학 앞에서 점차적으로 물러나야 하며, 우리는 이것이 조만간 완전히 사라질 것이라는 것을 의심할 수 없다.

저명한 과학사가 존 L. 헤일브론은 신에 대한 플랑크의 견해를 이신론적이라고 규정했다. 하일브론은 나아가 자신의 종교적 계열에 대해 물었을 때 플랑크는 자신이 항상 깊이 종교적이었지만 "기독교 신은 말할 것도 없고 인격적 신"은 믿지 않는다고 대답했던 것을 관련짓는다.

출판물 
 Translated in 
 Translated in 

 Translated in

같이 보기 
 막스 플랑크의 이름을 딴 것들의 목록(List of things named after Max Planck)
 독일 발명가 맟 발견자들의 목록(German inventors and discoverers)
 광자 편광(Photon polarization)
 막스 플랑크의 조각상(Statue of Max Planck)
 영점 에너지

각주

출처 
 Aczel, Amir D. Entanglement, Chapter 4. Penguin, 2003.
 Heilbron, J. L. The Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck and the Fortunes of German Science. Harvard University Press, 2000.
 Clifford A. Pickover Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them. Oxford University Press, 2008.
 Medawar, Jean; Pyke, David (2012). Hitler's Gift: The True Story of the Scientists Expelled by the Nazi Regime. Arcade Publishing, 2012.
 Rosenthal-Schneider, Ilse Reality and Scientific Truth: Discussions with Einstein, von Laue, and Planck. Wayne State University, 1980.

외부 링크 

 
 Works by Max Planck at Faded Page (Canada)
 
 
 Annotated bibliography for Max Planck from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
 Max Planck – Encyclopædia Britannica article
 Max Planck Biography – www.nobel-prize-winners.com
 Max Planck Institutes of Natural Science and Astrophysics
 Max Planck – Selbstdarstellung im Filmportrait (1942), [Cinematic self-portrait of Max Planck], Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1942
  including the Nobel Lecture, 2 June 1920 The Genesis and Present State of Development of the Quantum Theory
 Life–Work–Personality – Exhibition on the 50th anniversary of Planck's death

추가 링크 
 막스 플랑크 전기 from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
 노벨 재단 전기
 
 

 
1858년 출생
1947년 사망
19세기 독일 사람
20세기 독일 사람
19세기 물리학자
20세기 물리학자
독일의 물리학자
독일의 대학 교수
양자물리학자
이론물리학자
열역학자
이신론자
독일의 노벨상 수상자
노벨 물리학상 수상자
코플리 메달 수상자
막스 플랑크 메달 수상자
푸르 르 메리트 민사훈장 수훈자
프로이센 과학 아카데미의 회원
교황청 과학원의 회원
네덜란드 왕립 예술 과학 아카데미 회원
킬 출신
뮌헨 대학교 동문
베를린 훔볼트 대학교 동문
베를린 훔볼트 대학교 교수
루터교 이탈자

포인팅 벡터()는 전자기장이 가진 에너지와 운동량을 나타내는 벡터로, 전기장과 자기장의 벡터곱이다.

역사 
영국의 존 헨리 포인팅()이 1883년에 유도하였다.

정의 
포인팅 벡터 S는 국제단위계에서 다음과 같다.

CGS 단위계에서는  대신 를 쓴다.

성질 
포인팅 벡터의 크기는 전자기장의 에너지 선속 밀도(, 단위 시간 및 단위 면적 당 에너지)의 크기와 같다. 포인팅 벡터의 방향은 에너지가 전달되는 방향과 같으며 항상 전기장 및 자기장과 수직이다.

전자기장의 운동량과 각운동량 
포인팅 벡터는 전자기장의 에너지뿐만 아니라 운동량 와 각운동량 과도 다음과 같이 연관되어 있다.

포인팅 정리 
포인팅 정리()는 전자기장을 포함한 계에서의 에너지 보존 법칙이다. 즉, 전자기장이 한 일의 양은 전자기장이 잃게 되는 에너지의 양과 같다는 정리다. 식으로 쓰면 다음과 같다.

우변의 첫 번째 적분은 부피 안에 저장된 전자기장의 에너지이며, 두 번째 적분은 표면의 수직 방향의 전자기파로 방출되는 에너지다. 즉, 포인팅 정리에 따르면, 전자기력에 의하여 전하가 받은 일의 양은 전자기장에 저장된 에너지의 양의 감소량과 표면의 수직 방향의 전자기파로 방출되는 에너지량과 같다.

역학적 에너지 밀도, 전자기장의 에너지 밀도 식을 이용하여 포인팅 정리 식과 발산정리를 이용하면 포인팅 정리의 미분형을 얻을 수 있다.

각주 

전자기학
벡터
광학

미세 구조 상수(微細構造常數, , 기호 α) 또는 조머펠트 미세 구조 상수(Sommerfeld -)는 전자기력의 세기를 나타내는 물리상수다. 원자물리학과 입자물리학에서 자주 나타난다. 1916년 아르놀트 조머펠트가 발견하였다. 원래 조머펠트가 원자 방출 스펙트럼의 미세 구조를 연구할 때 발견하였으므로 이런 이름이 붙었다.

2020년 4월에, 130억 광년 떨어진 곳에서 미세구조상수가 다른 곳이 관측되었다는 논문이 발표되었다. 이는 전자기법칙이 전 우주에서 같지는 않을 수 있다는 점을 시사한다.

정의 
미세 구조 상수 는 국제단위계에서는 다음과 같이 정의한다.
 
여기서 는 기본 전하, 는 원주율, 는 디랙 상수, 는 빛의 속도, 은 진공의 유전율이다. 이 값은 두 전자가 (전자의 컴프턴 파장)의 거리를 두고 떨어져 있을 때, 그 전기적 위치 에너지와 전자의 정지 에너지 의 비로 해석할 수 있다.

유도 
CGS 단위계에서는  인자가 전하량에 포함되므로 식이 다음과 같이 바뀐다.
 

는 차원이 없는 상수이기 때문에, 그 값은 단위계에 상관없이 같다. 여기에 들어가는 기본 상수값을 대입해보면
  =0.007 292 31
  = 137.131
이 나온다. 이 값은 실제 측정값과는 차이가 있다. 여기에 양자 전기역학에서 예견하는 전자들의 상호작용을 통한 보정을 고려할 수 있다. 이는 전자의 자기 모멘트와 미세 구조 상수와의 관계를 통해 구해진 것으로, 다음과 같다.
  =0.007 297 352 5698(24)
  = 137.035 999 074(44)

각주

외부 링크 
  CODATA 미세 구조 상수 권장값
  Eric Weisstein's World of Physics — Fine Structure Constant

물리 상수
물리학 개념

선형대수학에서 크라메르 법칙(Cramer法則, ) 또는 크라메르 공식은 유일한 해를 가지며 변수와 방정식의 수가 같은 연립 일차 방정식의 해를 구하는 공식이다. 계수 행렬과 그 한 열을 상수항으로 대신하여 얻는 행렬들의 행렬식의 비를 통해 해를 나타낸다. 둘 또는 셋 이상의 방정식으로 이루어진 연립 일차 방정식의 경우, 크라메르 법칙에 의한 알고리즘은 가우스 소거법에 의한 알고리즘보다 훨씬 비효율적이다.

정의 
연립 일차 방정식

에서, 가 정사각 행렬이며, 행렬식이 0이 아니라고 하자. 그렇다면, 그 유일한 해는 다음과 같이 나타낼 수 있으며, 이를 크라메르 법칙이라고 한다.

여기서 는 의 번째 열을 로 대신하여 얻는 행렬이다.

증명 
연립 일차 방정식

의 계수 행렬 의 -여인자를 라고 하자. 그렇다면, 라플라스 전개에 따라 다음이 성립한다.

이에 따라, 각 번째 방정식에 을 곱한 뒤 모두 합하면

를 얻는다. 이므로, 양변을 로 나누면

를 얻는다.

예

2개의 방정식의 경우 
연립 일차 방정식

이 유일한 해를 갖는다면, 그 해는 다음과 같다.

3개의 방정식의 경우 
연립 일차 방정식

이 유일한 해를 갖는다면, 그 해는 다음과 같다.

응용

미분기하학 
크라메르 법칙은 미분기하학에서 매우 유용하다. 두 개의 방정식 , 이라 가정한다. 여기서, u와 v는 독립 변수이고, , 라 정의한다.

여기서 의 방정식을 찾는 것은 크라메르 법칙으로 해결할 수 있다.

먼저, F,G,x,y의 미분을 계산한다.

dF, dG에 dx와 dy를 대입하면

u와 v는 독립적이므로, du와 dv의 계수는 0이다. 따라서 계수에 대한 방정식을 다음과 같이 쓸 수 있다.

따라서, 크라메르 법칙을 적용하면 다음과 같다.

이것은 두 개의 야코비안 항이다.

유사하게 , , 의 공식들도 유도할 수 있다.

역사 
스위스 수학자 가브리엘 크라메르(Gabriel Cramer, 1704년 - 1752년)에게서 유래한다.

같이 보기 
 사다리꼴 행렬

외부 링크 
 
 
 

선형대수학 정리
행렬식
대수학 정리
1750년 과학

선형대수학에서 행렬식(行列式, )은 정사각 행렬에 스칼라를 대응시키는 함수의 하나이다. 실수 정사각 행렬의 행렬식의 절댓값은 그 행렬이 나타내는 선형 변환이 초부피를 확대시키는 배수를 나타내며, 행렬식의 부호는 방향 보존 여부를 나타낸다.

정의 
가환환  위의  정사각 행렬 의 행렬식 는

또는

으로 표기하며, 다음 방법들을 통하여 정의할 수 있다.

다중 선형 형식을 통한 정의 
행렬식은 행 또는 열에 대한 표준적인 교대 다중 선형 형식으로 정의할 수 있다.

가환환  위의  정사각 행렬의 -가군을 행벡터를 통하여 다음과 같이 나타내자.

즉, 행렬 은 행벡터 의 튜플 으로 여기자.

가환환  위의  정사각 행렬의 -가군  위의 행렬식 는 단위 행렬에서의 값이 1인 유일한 교대 -다중 선형 형식이다. 즉, 다음 세 조건을 만족시키는 유일한 함수이다.
 ㈀ -다중 선형 형식이다. 즉, 임의의  및 행벡터  및 스칼라 에 대하여, 
 ㈁ 교대 -다중 선형 형식이다. 즉, 임의의  및 행벡터 에 대하여, 만약 를 만족하는 가 존재한다면, 
 ㈂ 단위 행렬 의 행렬식은 이다.
조건 ㈀ 아래, 조건 ㈁은 다음 조건을 함의하며, 만약 가 표수가 2가 아닌 체일 경우 조건 ㈁은 이 조건과 동치이다.
 ㈁’ 임의의  및 행벡터 에 대하여, 이다. 즉, 1회 열 교환을 한 행렬의 행렬식은 부호가 바뀐다.
조건 ㈁’은  대신  ()를 사용한 조건과 동치이다. 또한, 조건 ㈁ 아래, 조건 ㈀은 그 인 경우와 동치이다.

마찬가지로, 행렬식은 열벡터를 사용하여 같은 조건으로 정의할 수 있으며, 이는 위 정의와 동치이다.

다항식 정의 
행렬식은 행렬의 성분에 대한 특수한 다항식으로서 정의할 수 있다.

가환환  위의  정사각 행렬 의 행렬식은 다음과 같다 (라이프니츠 공식, ).

여기서
 은 의 순열의 집합이다.
 는 순열의 부호수이다. 즉, 가 짝순열일 경우 1, 홀순열일 경우 −1이다.
등식의 우변은 개 항을 갖는 차 동차 다항식이며, 일 경우 반은 더하는 항, 반은 빼는 항이다.

재귀적 정의 
행렬식은 행 또는 열에 대한 라플라스 전개를 통해 작은 크기의 행렬부터 시작하여 재귀적으로 정의할 수 있다.

가환환  위의 정사각 행렬 에 대하여, 의 번째 행과 번째 열을 제거한 부분 행렬을 로 표기하자.

가환환  위의 정사각 행렬 의 행렬식은 다음과 같다.

이는 모든 행 에 대하여 같은 함수를 정의하며, 다른 정의들과 동치이다. 마찬가지로, 열 에 대한 라플라스 전개를 사용하여 정의할 수도 있다.

성질

항등식 
가우스 소거법은 정사각행렬을 일련의 기본행연산을 통해 상삼각행렬로 변환한다. 행렬식의 선형성과 교대성에 따라, 기본행연산은 행렬식을 보고 알아낼 수 있는 배수만큼 변화시킨다. 또한, 상삼각행렬의 행렬식은 자명하게 모든 대각항의 곱이다. 따라서, 가우스 소거법을 통해 행렬식을 계산할 수 있다.

가환환  위의  정사각 행렬 에 대하여, 다음 항등식들이 성립한다.
 
 
 스칼라 에 대하여, 
 만약 이 가역 행렬일 경우, 
 
 만약 가 복소수체일 경우, 
특히, 행렬식 는 환 준동형이며, 일반적으로 -결합 대수 준동형이 아니다.

점화식 

가환환  위의  정사각 행렬  및 행의 집합 에 대하여, 행렬식은 다음과 같은 점화식을 갖는다.

마찬가지로, 열의 집합 에 대한 점화식은 다음과 같다.

다중선형대수학 
가환환 에 대하여, 교대 다중 선형 형식 의 집합은 1차원 -자유 가군을 이루며, 행렬식은 이 -자유 가군의 한 기저를 이룬다. 즉, 모든 교대 다중 선형 형식 는 다음과 같은 꼴로 유일하게 나타낼 수 있다.

가역성과의 관계 
가환환  위의  정사각 행렬 에 대하여, 가역 행렬은 행렬식이 의 가역원인 것과 동치이다. 특히, 만약 가 체일 경우, 가역 행렬은 행렬식이 0이 아닌 것과 동치이다.

크라메르 공식 

가환환  위의  정사각 행렬 에 대하여, 연립 일차 방정식 의 해 은

을 만족시킨다. (여기서 는 의 번째 열이다.) 특히, 만약 이 가역 행렬일 경우, 그 유일한 해는

이다.

고윳값과의 관계 
체  위의 정사각 행렬 의 행렬식은 (중복도를 감안한) 모든 고윳값의 곱이자 특성 다항식의 상수항이다.

측도론적 성질 
실수 정사각 행렬 에 대하여, 실수 선형 변환

가 가측 집합 의 초부피를 확대시키는 배수는 행렬식의 절댓값 이다.

보다 일반적으로, 실수 행렬 에 대하여, 실수 선형 변환

가 가측 집합 의 차원 초부피를 확대시키는 배수는

이다.

예

작은 크기의 행렬 

0×0, 1×1, 2×2, 3×3, 4×4 행렬의 행렬식은 각각 1, 1, 2, 6, 24개의 항을 갖는 다항식으로 나타낼 수 있으며, 이는 다음과 같다.

3×3 행렬의 행렬식 공식은 사뤼스 도식()을 통해 기억할 수 있다. 즉, 3×3 행렬의 행렬식은 첫 번째와 두 번째 열을 행렬의 오른쪽에 옮겨 적었을 때, 첫 행의 세 성분을 지나는 대각선의 위의 원소의 곱의 합과 마지막 행의 세 성분을 지나는 대각선 위의 원소의 곱의 합 사이의 차와 같다. 그러나 이는 4×4 이상의 행렬에서 더 이상 성립하지 않는다.

실수 3×3 행렬의 행렬식은 그 행벡터 또는 열벡터의 스칼라 삼중곱과 같다. 즉, 이는 행벡터 또는 열벡터로 구성된 평행 육면체의 부피를 절댓값으로 하며, 방향을 보존할 경우 양수, 반전시킬 경우 음수가 된다. 반대로, 실수 3차원 벡터의 스칼라 삼중곱은 정규 직교 기저에 대한 좌표 성분에 대한 3×3행렬식과 같다.

삼각 행렬 
가환환  위의 삼각 행렬 의 행렬식은 대각 성분들의 곱이다.

특히, 대각 행렬의 행렬식은 대각 성분들의 곱이다.

방데르몽드 행렬 

가환환  위의 방데르몽드 행렬

의 행렬식은

이다.

역사 
역사적으로 행렬식은 행렬보다 앞서 등장하였다. 행렬식은 원래는 연립 선형방정식의 성질을 결정하기 위해 정의되었고, 행렬식의 영어 이름 "디터미넌트"()는 "디터민"()(결정하다)에서 유래하였다. 행렬식이 0이 아닌지 여부는 연립방정식이 유일한 해를 갖는지를 결정한다. 16세기에 지롤라모 카르다노가  행렬식을, 17세기에는 고트프리트 라이프니츠가 일반적인 행렬식의 크기를 정의하였다.

같이 보기 
 퍼머넌트
 파피안
 판별식

각주

참고 문헌 

 
 .
 
 
 
 
 G. Baley Price (1947) "Some identities in the theory of determinants", American Mathematical Monthly 54:75–90

외부 링크 

 
 
 
 Determinant Interactive Program and Tutorial
 Linear algebra: determinants.  Compute determinants of matrices up to order 6 using Laplace expansion you choose.
 Matrices and Linear Algebra on the Earliest Uses Pages
 Determinants explained in an easy fashion in the 4th chapter as a part of a Linear Algebra course. 
 Instructional Video on taking the determinant of an nxn matrix (Khan Academy)
 

 
 

 
행렬론
선형대수학
다항식
대수학

정수론에서 리만 제타 함수() 는 소수들의 정수론적 성질을 해석적으로 내포하는 유리형 함수이다. 해석적 수론에서 소수의 분포를 연구할 때 핵심적인 역할을 하며, 또한 L-함수 이론의 모태이다.

정의 

리만 제타 함수는 실수부가 1보다 큰 임의의 복소수 에 대해, 다음과 같은 디리클레 수열로 정의된다.

이 무한급수는 의 영역에서 수렴하고, 위 식은 정칙함수를 정의한다. 리만은 제타 함수가 s ≠ 1인 모든 점에서 정의된 유리형 함수로 유일하게 해석적 연속이 가능하다는 것을 알았으며, 리만 가설에 등장하는 제타 함수는 확장된 리만 제타 함수를 뜻한다.

성질

해석적 연속과 함수 방정식 
야코비 세타 함수

를 쓰자.

이므로,

자이 함수( function)를 얻을 수 있다.
오른쪽의 적분은 모든 복소수 에 대하여 수렴하지 않으나, 다음 식의 적분은 모든 에 대하여 수렴한다.

한편 여기서 세타 함수의 성질

를 사용하면,

를 보일 수 있다.
이로부터 제타 함수의 해석적 연속과 함수 방정식

를 얻는다.

특수한 값들 
다음은 작은 수에 대한 제타 함수의 값이다.

 ; ()
 ; 이것은 조화급수이다.
 ; () 보스-아인슈타인 응축에서 임계 온도를 계산하는데 사용된다.
 ; () 이것은 원주율의 근사값을 구하기 위해 종종 사용된다.
 ; () 이것은 아페리 상수이다.
 () 이것은 플랑크 법칙으로부터 슈테판-볼츠만 법칙을 도출하는 적분 과정에서 사용된다.

현재 리만 제타 함수가 실수부가 짝수()인 실수에서는 의 유리수배, 즉 초월수임이 알려졌다. 홀수일 때에는 3의 제타 함수 값은 무리수이며, 5, 7, 9, 11의 제타 함수 값 중 적어도 하나가 무리수라는 것만이 알려져 있다.

오일러 곱셈과 디리클레 덧셈 

레온하르트 오일러는 리만 제타 함수가 소수와 다음과 같은 관계가 있다는 것을 알아냈다.

위와 같은 절차를 거쳐서 우변의 모든 소수의 배수를 없애주면
특정 합성수는 항상 소수의 곱으로써 나타낼 수 있다는 산술의 기본 정리에 따라서 분모가 합성수 또는 소수인 수가 모두 사라지고
마지막에는 1만이 남는다. 즉

위에서 제시되는,
 는,
이다.
이것은 디리클레 급수(디리클레 덧셈)이다.

따라서,

리만 제타 함수는 규칙적으로 모든 자연수에 대한 무한급수로 정의되어 있기 때문에 많은 방법으로 성질을 탐구할 수 있다. 그리고 이 리만 제타 함수는 오일러 곱을 통해 소수와 연결된다. 따라서, 이 식을 이용하면 소수의 비밀을 수학적으로 파헤칠 수 있으며, 그렇기 때문에 이 식은 중요하게 이용된다.

즉 리만 제타 함수는 모든 소수 에 대해 위와 같은 무한 곱으로 나타낼 수 있다. 위 식은 오일러의 곱셈 공식이라 불리며, 등비급수의 식과 산술의 기본 정리로부터 유도해낼 수 있다. 그 간단한 증명은 다음과 같다.

 
  이고, 양변에 를 곱하고나서
 
 를 곱하기 전의 식과 곱하고 나서의 식을 서로  빼주면,
 
 과 같이

우변의 분모에서 2의 배수가 모두 사라지는 것을 관찰할 수 있다. 또한 계속해서 반복하면,

 위와

동일한 절차로 우변의 분모에서 3의 배수가 모두 사라진다.

영점 

함수 방정식에 따라, 리만 제타 함수는 음의 짝수 에서 영점을 가진다. 이 영점들을 자명한 영점()이라고 한다. 리만 제타 함수의 자명하지 않은 영점들은 다음과 같은 임계 구역()에 존재한다.

임계 구역에서 다음과 같은 부분집합을 임계 직선()이라고 한다.

임계 직선 위에는 무한히 많은 영점들이 존재한다는 사실이 알려져 있다. 현재까지 계산된 모든 비자명 영점들은 임계 직선 위에 존재하고 있지만, 모든 영점들이 실제로 임계 직선 위에 있는지 여부는 아직 증명되거나 반증되지 못했다. 이는 리만 가설로 일컬어지는 문제로, 현대 수학의 주요 난제로 꼽힌다.

리만 제타 함수의 영점들은 해석적 수론에서 소수의 분포에 대한 연구에 대해 매우 중요한 역할을 한다. 예를 들어, 소수 정리는 리만 제타 함수의 영점들에 대한 동치인 명제로 바뀌어 증명될 수 있다.

일반화 
리만 제타 함수를 일반화한 몇 가지 제타 함수가 있다. 그중 가장 간단한 것은 후르비츠 제타 함수이며 다음과 같이 정의된다.

이 함수는 일 때 리만 제타 함수가 된다.

참고 문헌

같이 보기 
 리만 가설
 소수 정리
 베른하르트 리만
 레온하르트 오일러
 소수와 오일러의 곱셈공식
 바젤 문제
 니븐 상수
 제타 함수
 L-함수

각주

외부 링크 
 
 

해석적 수론
유리형 함수
베른하르트 리만

좌표계(座標系, coordinate system) 혹은 자리표계는 유클리드 공간과 같은 다양체의 점이나 기타 기하학적 요소를 고유하게 결정하기 위해 하나 이상의 숫자인 좌표를 사용하는 체계이다. 스칼라 튜플을 이용해 n차원 공간의 각 지점을 표현하는 방법을 말한다. 여기서 스칼라는 보통 실수, 경우에 따라서는 복소수나 다른 일반적인 환(ring)의 원소를 말하기도 한다. 복잡한 우주에서 스칼라는 우주 전체에 대해 효과적인 좌표계를 산출하지 못하기도 한다. 좌표를 나타내는 방법 중 하나인 직교좌표계는 프랑스의 철학자이자 수학자인 르네 데카르트가 발명했다. 그는 천장에 붙어 있는 파리의 위치를 나타내는 방법에 대해 고민하다가 직교좌표계를 발명해 냈다고 한다.

대표적인 좌표계 
 수직선
 직교 좌표계
 복소평면
 극좌표
 원통 좌표계
 구면 좌표계
 지리 좌표계
 천구 좌표계
 지평 좌표계
 은하 좌표계
 적도 좌표계
 황도 좌표계
 관성 좌표계

기하학적 객체의 좌표
좌표계는 점의 위치를 지정하는 데 자주 사용되지만 선, 평면, 원 또는 구와 같은 더 복잡한 도형의 위치를 지정하는 데에도 사용될 수 있다. 예를 들어, 플러커 좌표는 공간에서 선의 위치를 결정하는 데 사용된다. 필요한 경우 설명되는 그림의 유형은 좌표계의 유형을 구별하는 데 사용된다. 예를 들어 선 좌표라는 용어는 선의 위치를 지정하는 모든 좌표계에 사용된다.

두 개의 서로 다른 기하학적 도형 세트에 대한 좌표계가 분석 측면에서 동일할 수 있다. 이에 대한 예는 투영 평면의 점과 선에 대한 동차 좌표계이다. 이와 같은 경우의 두 시스템은 이원적이라고 한다. 이원론적 시스템은 한 시스템의 결과가 다른 시스템으로 전달될 수 있는 특성을 가지고 있다. 왜냐하면 이러한 결과는 동일한 분석 결과에 대한 서로 다른 해석일 뿐이기 때문이다. 이것이 쌍대성의 원리로 알려져 있다.

같이 보기 
 갈릴레이 변환
 기준틀
 갈릴레이 군

참고 문헌

각주

외부 링크 

  Hexagonal Coordinate Systems

 
해석기하학

함수해석학에서 힐베르트 공간(Hilbert空間, )은 완비 내적 공간이다. 유클리드 공간을 일반화한 개념이다.

정의 
가  또는 라고 하자. -힐베르트 공간 은 완비 거리 공간을 이루는 -내적 공간이다. 내적 공간으로서, 힐베르트 공간은 표준적인 위상 공간 및 거리 공간 및 벡터 공간 및 노름 공간의 구조를 갖는다.

이와 동치로, -힐베르트 공간을 다음과 같은 평행사변형 항등식(平行四邊形恒等式, )을 만족시키는 -바나흐 공간 으로 정의할 수 있다.

이 경우, 내적 구조는

가 된다.

분류 
힐베르트 공간 의 정규 직교 기저 는 다음과 같은 두 성질을 만족시키는 부분집합이다.
 모든 에 대하여,
 다음 집합은  속의 조밀 집합이다.
초른 보조정리에 의하여, 모든 힐베르트 공간은 정규 직교 기저를 갖는다. 주어진 힐베르트 공간 의 모든 정규 직교 기저의 크기는 항상 같은 기수임을 보일 수 있으며, 이 기수를 힐베르트 공간의 차원 이라고 한다.

일반적으로, 힐베르트 공간의 정규 직교 기저는 벡터 공간의 기저를 이루지 않으며, 힐베르트 공간의 차원은 벡터 공간으로서의 차원보다 작거나 같다. 이는 벡터 공간의 경우 를 필요로 하지만, 힐베르트 공간의 경우 가 오직 조밀 집합임이 족하기 때문이다.

두 -힐베르트 공간 ,  사이에 다음 두 조건이 서로 동치이다.
 
 와  사이에 유니터리 변환 이 존재한다. 즉, 두 힐베르트 공간은 서로 동형이다.
따라서, 힐베르트 공간들은 차원에 따라 완전히 분류된다. 또한, -힐베르트 공간 에 대하여 다음 두 조건이 서로 동치이다.
 는 분해 가능 공간이다.
 이다.
즉, 분해 가능 힐베르트 공간의 차원은 음이 아닌 정수이거나 아니면 가산 무한 이다.

성질 
리스 표현 정리에 따라서, 힐베르트 공간 는 스스로의 연속 쌍대 공간 와 동형이며, 만약 일 경우 이는 표준적() 동형이다.

예 
가  또는 라고 하고, 가 측도 공간이라고 하자. 그렇다면 그렇다면 L2 공간 는 -힐베르트 공간을 이룬다.

만약 가 셈측도가 부여된 집합이라면

이며, 함수

는 의 정규 직교 기저를 이룬다.

만약 가 분해가능 시그마 대수(로 정의한 거리 공간이 분해 가능 공간인 경우)이며, 또한 가 시그마 유한 공간(가산개의 유한 측도 부분집합들의 합집합)이라면, 는 분해 가능 공간이다.

응용 
힐베르트 공간은 해석학의 다양한 분야에 응용되며, 특히 편미분 방정식 이론에서 널리 쓰인다. 힐베르트 공간 중 하나인 소볼레프 공간이 편미분 방정식을 다룰 때 주로 등장한다.

푸리에 해석이 힐베르트 공간에서 이뤄진다.

양자역학에서, 양자계의 상태 공간은 분해 가능 사영 힐베르트 공간으로 나타내어진다.

역사 
1907년에 리스 프리제시와 에른스트 지그스문트 피셔가 독립적으로 힐베르트 공간 중 하나인 가 완비 거리 공간임을 증명하였다. 1907년에 힐베르트 공간론에서 핵심적 정리 중 하나인 리스 표현 정리가 증명되었다.
1908년에 다비트 힐베르트와 에르하르트 슈미트가 발표한 적분방정식에 대한 논문에서 제곱 적분 가능한 두 함수의 내적 이 등장한다. 이 공간은 힐베르트 공간인 공간이 된다.
다비트 힐베르트가 1912년에 힐베르트 공간 을 정의하였다. 이는 유클리드 공간이 아닌 최초의 힐베르트 공간으로 여겨진다. 이후 1929년에 존 폰 노이만 이 힐베르트 공간을 추상적으로 정의하였다.

각주

참고 문헌

외부 링크 
 
 
 
 

 
선형대수학
양자역학
연산자 이론
다비트 힐베르트

양자역학(量子力學, )은 분자, 원자, 전자, 소립자 등 미시적인 계의 현상을 다루는 즉, 작은 크기를 갖는 계의 현상을 연구하는 물리학의 분야이다. 또는 아원자 입자 및 입자 집단을 다루는 현대 물리학의 기초 이론이다. '아무리 기이하고 터무니없는 사건이라 해도, 발생 확률이 0이 아닌 이상 반드시 일어난다'는 물리학적 아이디어에 기초한다. 양자역학의 양자는 물리량에 기본 단위가 있으며,  그 기본 단위에 정수배만 존재한다는 뜻을 담고 있다. 현대 물리학의 기초인 양자역학은 컴퓨터의 주요 부품인 반도체의 원리를 설명해 주고, "물질의 운동이 본질적으로 비결정론적인가?" 라는 의문을 제기하며 과학기술, 철학, 문학, 예술 등 다방면에 중요한 영향을 미쳐 20세기 과학사에서 빼놓을 수 없는 중요한 이론으로 평가된다.

19세기 중반까지의 실험은 뉴턴의 고전역학으로 설명할 수 있었다. 그러나, 19세기 후반부터 20세기 초반까지 이루어진 전자, 양성자, 중성자 등의 아원자 입자와 관련된 실험들의 결과는 고전역학으로 설명을 시도할 경우 모순이 발생하여 이를 해결하기 위한 새로운 역학 체계가 필요하게 되었다. 이 양자역학은 플랑크의 양자 가설을 계기로 하여 슈뢰딩거, 하이젠베르크, 디랙 등에 의해 만들어진 전적으로 20세기에 이루어진 학문이다. 양자역학에서 플랑크 상수를 0으로 극한을 취하면 양자역학이 고전역학으로 수렴하는데, 이를 대응 원리라 한다.

미시세계를 탐구하는 양자역학에서 물리량은 기본적으로 불연속적이다. 이와는 반대로 거시세계를 탐구하는 고전역학에서 물리량은 연속적이였다.  다루는 이는 관찰 기준의 차이이다. 이해를 돕기 위한 간단한 비유로 우리가 모래사장을 멀리서 바라본다고 하면 이는 우리가 물리현상을 거시세계에서 보는 것이라고 할 수 있다. 이 관찰에서 모래사장의 표면은 연속적으로 보인다. 이는 거시세계에서 우리가 관찰하는 물리현상에서 물리량이 연속적으로 관찰된다는 것에 비유된다. 만약 우리가 점점 모래사장에 가까이 다가가 모래사장을 관찰한다면 이는 거시세계에서 미시세계로 관찰의 단위를 줄인 것이다. 모래사장 가까이서 모래사장을 관찰한다면 모래사장의 표면은 불연속적으로 관찰 될 것이다. 이는 미시세계에서 물리현상에 물리량이 불연속적으로 관찰 된다는 것과 비슷하다.
즉, 거시세계에서 특정 물리량을 관찰하면 그 물리량의 불연속성이 미시세계의 관찰 기준에 비해 너무 미세해 마치 그것이 연속적인 것처럼 보이지만, 관찰 단위가 거시세계보다 작은 미시세계에서 대상을 관찰하면 그 불연속성이 보이더라'라는 것이다.

양자역학은 모든 역학, 전자기학(일반 상대성 이론은 제외)을 포함하는 고전 이론을 일반화한다. 양자역학은 고전역학으로 설명되지 않는 현상에 대한 정확한 설명을 제공한다. 양자역학의 효과는 거시적으로는 관측이 어렵지만 고체의 성질을 연구하는 과정에서 양자역학 개념이 필수적이다. 예를 들어 드하스-판알펜 효과는 양자역학을 통해서만 설명이 가능하다. 물론, 원자 또는 그보다 작은 영역에서는 분명해진다.

양자역학이라는 용어는 독일의 물리학자 막스 보른(Max Born, 1882~1970)이 처음 제시했다. 독일어 'Quantenmechanik(퀀텐메카닉)'이 영어 'Quantum mechanics'로 번역되었고 일본에서 이를‘量子力學(료오시리키가쿠)’라 번역했는데 이것이 한국에 그대로 들어와 ‘양자역학'이라 부르게 되었다.

양자역학이란 말을 이해하려면 ‘양자’와 ‘역학’을 각각 살펴보는 것이 좋다. ‘양자(量子)’로 번역된 영어의 quantum은 양을 의미하는 quantity에서 온 말로, 무엇인가 띄엄띄엄 떨어진 양으로 있는 것을 가리키는 말이다. ‘역학(力學)’은 말 그대로는 ‘힘의 학문’이지만, 실제로는 ‘이러저러한 힘을 받는 물체가 어떤 운동을 하게 되는지 밝히는 물리학의 한 이론’이라고 할 수 있다. 간단히 말해 ‘힘과 운동’의 이론이다. 이렇듯 양자역학이란 띄엄띄엄 떨어진 양으로 있는 것이 이러저러한 힘을 받으면 어떤 운동을 하게 되는지 밝히는 이론이라고 할 수 있다.

역사

연혁 
 1900년 실험으로 알고 있는 흑체 복사의 자외선 파탄을 해결하여 에너지 밀도의 주파수에 대한 함수를 도출하기 위해 플랑크가 에너지 양자(양자화)의 개념을 도입했다. 양자역학의 기본 상수 중 하나인 플랑크상수(Planck constant)가 h라는 표시로 등장하였다.
 1905년 아인슈타인은 빛의 에너지가 양자(광자)로 구성되었다는 가설을 세우고, 이로써 광전 효과를 설명하였다.
 1907년 아인슈타인은 양자 가설을 사용하여 고체 비열의 온도 의존성을 설명하였다 (아인슈타인 모형).
 1912년 앙리 푸앵카레가 "양자론의 측면에서(Sur la théorie des quanta)"라는 논문에서 양자화의 엄밀한 정의를 논의 하였다.
 1913년에는 보어가 고전 역학으로는 설명할 수 없었던 수소의 불연속적인 스펙트럼을 양자화를 이용해 설명하는 이론을 세상에 내놓았다.
 1924년에 드브로이는 드브로이파(물질파)의 개념을 주장했다.
 1926년경엔 양자역학의 수학적 기초가 슈뢰딩거와 하이젠베르크에 의해 파동역학과 행렬역학이라는 두 가지 형식이 제안되었고, 슈뢰딩거는 이 두 형식이 동일한 물리학의 다른 표현임을 보였다.
 1927년 하이젠베르크는 불확정성 원리를 도입하였고, 거의 같은 시기에 보른에 의해 파동함수가 명확하게 해석되었다. 이즈음, 디랙은 양자역학과 특수상대성이론을 통합하여 디랙 방정식을 만들었고, 또 브라-켓 표기법을 도입하였다.
 1932년 폰노이만은 양자역학의 수학적 공식화를 하였다.
 1940년대엔 파인먼, 다이슨, 슈윙거, 도모나가에 의해 양자전기역학이 성립되었다. 비슷한 시기에, 폴링의 양자화학을 필두로 양자역학이 여러 실용적인 문제와 미시계의 시뮬레이션에 활용되기 시작했다. 이는 코펜하겐 해석의 완성자인 폴링, 원자 폭탄의 아버지인 오펜하이머 등의 학자들의 노력으로 발전하였다. 최근 밀도범함수이론이 발전하여, 슈뢰딩거의 방정식과는 다른 각도에서 문제를 근사적으로 풀이할 수 있게 되면서, 양자역학의 미시계 모사는 성공적으로 자리잡았다.
 양자 색역학의 역사는 1960년대 초부터 시작했다. 현재 알려진 것과 같은 이론은 폴리처, 그로스, 윌첵과 같은 사람들에 의해 1975년에 완성되었다. 슈윙거, 힉스, 골드스톤 등과 다른 많이 선구적인 연구에 기초해서, 글래쇼, 와인버그, 살람 등은 약한 핵력과 양자전기역학이 하나의 전기·약 작용으로 나타나는 것을 각각 증명했다.

형성기 
제1차 세계 대전의 종료와 평화의 회복과 더불어 물리학의 발전이 시작되었다. 1918년도의 노벨상은 패전국 독일의 물리학자인 막스 플랑크에게 수여되었으며(알베르트 아인슈타인 1921년, 닐스 보어 1922년), 독일을 중심으로 하여 양자론이 진전되었다. 그 주요 중심지는 1921년 이론물리학 연구소가 개설된 코펜하겐(닐스 보어)을 비롯하여 뮌헨(아르놀트 조머펠트), 괴팅겐(막스 보른, 막스 플랑크), 레이던(파울 에렌페스트)이며, 그 밖에 취리히의 에르빈 슈뢰딩거, 베를린의 알베르트 아인슈타인이 가담하였다. 이 형성기는 또한 젊은 세대의 활약이 특징적이었다.

양자역학 형성의 길은 두 갈래로 되어 있다. 한쪽은 보어의 원자 모형에서 출발하여 대응원리(對應原理)에서 행렬 역학으로 통한 길이다. 또 한쪽은 아인슈타인의 광자로 비롯하며, 루이 드브로이의 물질파를 거쳐서 도달하는 파동역학의 길이었다. 이 둘은 그 형성과정이나 수립된 이론이 전혀 달랐지만 얼마 안 가서 실은 같은 내용이라는 것이 판명되고, 통일체로서의 양자학으로 간추려졌다. 그리하여 양자역학의 형성이 일단락될 무렵, 물리학은 재차 새로운 단계에 이르렀다.

성립기 
행렬역학과 파동역학은 다른 관점에서 출발하였고, 전혀 다른 형태를 갖추고 형성되었으나, 그 이룩한 결과는 일치했다. 이것을 우연이 아니라고 생각한 에르빈 슈뢰딩거는 파동역학에서 행렬역학의 유도를 시도하여 양자의 동등성(同等性)을 증명하는 데 성공하였다. 폴 디랙과 파스쿠알 요르단()은 변환이론(變換理論)을 수립하였으며, 이것으로 두 개의 이론은 하나로 통합되어 1926년경에는 양자역학이 성립되었다.

양자역학의 형식은 성립되었어도, 그 물리적 해석에는 아직도 많은 문제가 남아 있었다. 예컨대 파동의 개념에 대하여서도 파동역학의 창시자 슈뢰딩거는 이것을 실재(實在)하는 것으로 보았지만 아인슈타인의 반론을 받고, 보른의 확률해석이 이에 대체되었으나, 마침내 이것도 불충분하여 많은 모순으로 유도되는 것이 판명되었다. 이리하여 결국 낡은 물리학의 사고방식으로는 양자론의 개념은 어떻게도 설명할 수 없음이 차차 확실해졌고, 드디어 1927년에 베르너 하이젠베르크의 불확정성 원리가 등장하였다. 파와 입자의 두개의 상(像)을 결부시킴으로써 발생하는 이 관계는, 미시적 세계에서는 일상경험에서 만들어진 관념은 이미 통용되지 않는다는 것을 강조하는 것이다. 보어는 이 생각을 다시 자연인식 일반에 펼쳐 양자역학의 일관된 해석을 수립하려고 하여, 같은 해 상호보완성 원리를 제창하였다. 현상의 시공적(時空的)인 기술과 인과적 관계와는 서로 보충하는 동시, 서로 배제한다는 것이 골자이다.

아인슈타인은 이와 같은 새로운 양자론의 해석에 찬성하지 않고 일관하여 EPR 역설 등 의문을 계속 제출하였지만, 한편으로는 기묘한 양자역학의 주장은 당시의 사상계에도 큰 영향을 주어, 물질의 부정이나 주관주의·실증주의 경향의 세력이 증가하는 기초가 되기도 하였다.

철학적 함의 

양자역학(量子力學)의 결론들은 당시 과학자(및 일반인)들이 가진 고전역학적 직관으로는 이해하기 힘든 것이었기에, 이 이론이 실재에 대해서 무엇을 말해주는지에 대해 많은 해석과 철학적 논쟁이 있었다.

많은 수의 물리학자들은 보어 등이 개발한 코펜하겐 해석을 받아들이고 있다. 이 해석에서 양자역학의 확률적 측면들은 우리의 지식의 부족함을 말해주는 것이 아닌 실재 그 자체이며, 따라서 결정론적 이론에 의해 설명될 수 없다.

양자역학을 개발한 이들 중 한 명인 아인슈타인은 이 이론의 무작위성을 좋아하지 않았고, 양자역학의 현상인 도깨비 원격현상등을 강력히 부정하면서 "신은 주사위놀이를 하지 않는다"라고 말했다. 그는 양자역학의 근본에는 보다 깊은 국소적 숨은 변수 이론이 있을 거라고 주장했다. 아인슈타인은 양자역학에 대해 여러 가지 반박을 제시했는데, 그중 가장 유명한 것은 EPR 역설이라 불린다. 벨은 EPR 역설을 이용해, 조건법적 명확성()을 가정한 경우 양자역학과 국소적 이론 사이에 실험적으로 확인 가능한 차이가 있음을 증명했다. 실험을 통해서, 실제 세계는 조건법적으로 명확하지 않거나 비국소적이라는 것이 증명되었다.

영문학 교수이자 작가인 루이스는 비결정론이 그의 철학적 신념에 어긋난다는 이유로 양자역학을 불완전한 이론으로 보았다. 그는 하이젠베르크의 불확정성 원리가 존재론적 비결정성이 아닌 인식론적 한계를 보여줄 뿐이라고 생각했으며, 다른 많은 이들과 마찬가지로 이런 이유에서 숨은 변수 이론을 지지했다. 코펜하겐 해석을 둘러싼 보어-아인슈타인 논쟁은 당시의 양자역학을 둘러싼 논쟁 중에서 가장 대표적인 것이었다.

현재 표준적인 양자역학의 해석은 코펜하겐 해석이나, 그 외에도 다음과 같은 해석들이 존재한다.

 숨은 변수 이론 이 해석은 아인슈타인이 주장한 것이었는데, 후에 실험을 통해 완벽히 반박되었다.
 봄 해석 (Bohm interpretation)
 다세계 해석 이 해석은 (제한적 의미에서) 국소적이지만 조건법적 명확성을 포기한다.

파동함수·불확정성 원리 등장- 앎의 한계 지적

양자역학이라는 새 이론은 원자와 관련된 거의 모든 것을 설명할 수 있는 탁월한 이론이었다. 학자들은 이 이론을 토대로 점점 더 많은 문제들을 풀어나갔다. 하지만 또 한편으로 이 새로운 이론은 ‘우리가 안다는 것은 도대체 무엇인가’라는 아주 근본적이고 철학적인 문제를 새로 꺼내기 시작했다.

원자와 관련된 것을 설명하기 위해 양자역학은 ‘파동함수’라고도 하고 ‘상태함수’라고도 하는 수학적인 장치를 사용한다. 파동함수는 우리가 알고자 하는 양자역학적 계의 모든 양자역학적 정보를 담고 있다. 양자역학이 제안된 초창기부터 많은 물리학자들은 파동함수의 의미를 둘러싸고 논쟁을 벌였다. 이로 인해 파동함수가 정확히 무엇인지 도무지 알 수 없는 상황이 돼 버렸다. 다시 말하면, 파동함수가 우리가 가진 거시세계에 대한 직관 중 어떤 것에 대응하는지 알 수가 없다. 그전까지 물리학에서는 대체로 수학을 이용해 물리학 방정식이나 공식을 만들면, 그 의미는 인간이 경험하는 거시계로부터 얻은 직관과 잘 대응된다고 생각해 왔다.  그런데 양자역학에서는 가장 핵심이 되는 파동함수가 정확히 무엇인지 아무도 제대로 대답할 수 없는 듯 보였다. 게다가 하이젠베르크는 이 양자역학이라는 이론 안에 소위 ‘불확정성 원리’가 있음을 밝혔는데, 이는 입자가 어떤 속도로 어디에서 움직이고 있는가, 특정 시간에 얼마나 많은 에너지를 가지고 있는가 등을   안다는 것에 근본적인 한계가 있음을 말해 주었다. 실용적으로 물리현상을 아주 잘 설명해 주는 이론이 있는데, 정작 그 이론은 고전적으로 통용되던 우리가 안다는 것에 대해 회의적인 관점을 제시하고 있었던 셈이었다. 그보다 불과 100여 년 전에 프랑스의 수학자 피에르 시몽 라플라스(Pierre Simon de Laplace, 1749~1827)는 라플라스의 악마라는 개념을 통해, 원칙적으로는 물리학을 통해 물질계의 모든 것을 예측 할 수 있다고 제안했지만, 파동함수와 불확정성 원리의 등장으로 인해 우리가 원자에 대해 무엇을 알고 있는지, 그 개념마저 흔들리기 시작했다.

양자역학의 영향 
플랑크와 보어의 초기 양자역학은 전자의 궤도가 점프하는 현상을 강조한 반면 후기의 슈뢰딩거, 하이젠베르크의 이론은 전자의 위치가 확률적 분포로밖에 알 수 없다는 점을 강조했다고 볼 수 있다. 초기의 양자역학은 원자폭탄, 반도체 등에 이론적 배경을 제공했고 후기의 양자역학은 물질에 대한 인간의 인식에 큰 변화를 주었다는 것에 큰 의의가 있다. 특히 후기 양자역학은 인간의 인식의 한계성을 인정함으로써 현대철학에도 큰 영향을 주었다.

한편으로는 19세기 말부터 20세기 초반까지의 실험가능한 물리학의 혁명적 발전이 실험이 불가능한 한계에 다다랐다는 점을 내포하기도 했다. 물리학은 실제로 20세기 후반부터 지금의 21세기 초반까지 끈 이론, 통일장 이론 등 여러 이론을 내놓았으나 실험이 불가능한 가설에 그치는 경우가 많았다.

같이 보기 
 양자장론
 슈뢰딩거 방정식
 양자역학의 수학적 공식화
 양자역학의 해석
 양자전기역학
 양자색역학

각주

참고 문헌 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 한스 라이헨바흐 저. 강형구 역. 《양자역학의 철학적 기초》. 지식을만드는지식. 2014년.

참고 자료

외부 링크 

 네이버 캐스트 - 양자 역학
 네이버 캐스트 - 양자물리학의 의미는?
 양자역학, 보어의 원자모형
 물리량의 양자화
 
 공개토크쇼 과학같은 소리하네 10 함 찔러보는 양자역학. 파토의 과학하고 앉아있네. 2014년 4월 13일.
 공개토크쇼 과학같은 소리하네 13-1 좀 더 찔러보는 양자역학. 파토의 과학하고 앉아있네. 2014년 7월 27일.  공개토크쇼 과학같은 소리하네 13-2 좀 더 찔러보는 양자역학. 파토의 과학하고 앉아있네. 2014년 7월 27일.
 (원종우의 과학같은 소리하네)갑자기 친숙해진 나라 덴마크의 여전히 안 친숙한 양자역학 - 원종우 대표(과학과 사람들). 김어준의 뉴스공장. 2017년 1월 4일.

 
물리학
물리학 개념

양자역학의 수학적 공식화()는 양자역학에 등장하는 개념들과 공식을 수학적으로 엄밀하게 서술하는 것이다. C* 대수 이론, 스튀름-리우빌 이론 등이 쓰일 수 있지만, 보통은 힐베르트 공간중 하나인 L2 공간에 작용하는 선형 연산자를 통해 기술한다. 이는 존 폰 노이만이 1930년대에 완성한 것으로, 20세기 이전에 개발된 물리학의 수학적 모형들과는 큰 차이를 보인다. 

여기에 나타나는 구조들 중 상당수는 함수해석학에서 나온 것이다. 에너지와 운동량 등의 물리적 관측량은 더 이상 위상 공간상의 함수의 값이 아닌 선형 연산자의 고윳값으로 다루어진다.

전개 
편의상 브라-켓 표기법과 슈뢰딩거 묘사를 쓰자. 양자역학의 공준은 다음과 같다.

 계의 상태는 분해가능 복소 힐베르트 공간 의 1차원 부분공간 으로 나타낸다. 이 부분공간은 힐베르트 공간의 단위벡터 (정확하게 말하면, 단위벡터의 위상을 무시한 동치류)로 나타낼 수 있는데, 이를 계의 상태 벡터()라고 한다. 좀 더 일반적으로, 일련의 계의 앙상블은 양준정치이고, 대각합류 작용소이며, 대각합이 1인 에르미트 연산자 로 나타낸다. 이 연산자를 밀도 연산자라고 부른다.
 관측가능량은 그 힐베르트 공간의 자기수반() 선형 연산자 로 나타낸다. 여기서  (의 정의역)는 힐베르트 공간 의 조밀 선형 부분공간이다.
 계 와 관측가능량 가 주어지면, 그 기댓값은 이다. 대신 밀도 연산자 로는 이다.
 계의 시간 변화를 나타내는 특별한 관측가능량 가 있다. 이를 해밀토니언이라고 부른다. 상태 벡터의 시간 변화는 다음과 같다.

여기서 는 플랑크 상수다. 이를 슈뢰딩거 방정식이라고 부른다. 대신 밀도 연산자 를 쓰면, 그 시간 변화는 다음과 같다.

이 수학적 틀에서 베르너 하이젠베르크의 불확정성 원리는 비가환 연산자에 대한 정리가 된다.

각주

참고 문헌 
 

양자역학
수리물리학

베르너 카를 하이젠베르크(, ; ; 1901년 12월 5일 ~ 1976년 2월 1일)는 독일의 이론물리학자이자 양자역학의 주요 선구자 중 하나이다. 그는 1925년에 획기적인 논문을 발표했다. 막스 보른과 파스쿠알 요르단과 함께 쓴 후속 논문에서는 양자역학의 행렬역학이 더욱 정교해졌다. 그는 1927년에 발표한 불확정성 원리로 유명하다. 하이젠베르크는 1932년 "양자역학의 창안에 대한 공로로" 노벨 물리학상을 받았다.

하이젠베르크는 또한 난류의 유체동역학 이론, 원자핵, 강자성, 우주선, 그리고 아원자 입자에 중요한 공헌을 했다. 하이젠베르크는 제2차 세계 대전 도중 나치 독일의 핵무기 개발 프로그램 우란프로옉트의 총책임자이기도 하였다. 그는 또한 1957년 뮌헨의 연구용 원자로와 함께 카를스루에에 최초의 원자로를 계획하는데 도움을 주었다.

제2차 세계대전 후, 그는 카이저 빌헬름 협회(곧 막스 플랑크 협회로 개명됨)의 소장으로 임명되어, 1958년 뮌헨으로 옮겨지기 전까지 그 연구소의 소장이었다. 그리고 나서 그는 1960년부터 1970년까지 막스 플랑크 물리학 및 천체물리학 연구소(Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics)의 소장이 되었다.

하이젠베르크는 또한 독일 연구협회의 회장, 원자력 물리학 위원(Commission for Atomic Physics) 위원장, 핵 물리학 연구 그룹(Nuclear Physics Working Group)의 의장, 그리고 알렉산더 폰 훔볼트 재단(Alexander von Humboldt Foundation)의 회장이었다.

어린 시절과 학업

어린 시절 
베르너 하이젠베르크는 독일 뷔르츠부르크에서 카스파 에른스트 아우구스트 하이젠베르크Kaspar Ernst August Heisenberg와 아내인 애니 베클레인Annie Wecklein 사이에서 태어났다. 그의 아버지는 대학 시스템에서 중세와 현대 그리스어 연구에 대한 독일의 유일한 오르덴틀리헤르ordentlicher 교수 (일반 교수)가 된 고전 언어의 중등학교 교사였다.

하이젠베르크는 루터교 기독교인으로 자랐다. 하이젠베르크는 십대 후반에 바이에른 알프스에서 하이킹을 하면서 플라톤의 《티마이오스》를 읽었다. 그는 뮌헨, 괴팅겐 및 코펜하겐에서 과학 교육을 받는 동안 동료 학생 및 교사와 원자 이해에 대한 철학적 대화를 나누었다. 하이젠베르크는 나중에 "철학, 플라톤 등을 연구함으로써 내 마음이 형성되었다." 그리고 "현대 물리학은 확실히 플라톤에게 유리하게 결정되었다. 사실 물질의 가장 작은 단위는 일반적인 의미의 물리적 대상이 아니라; 그것들은 오직 수학적 언어로만 명확하게 표현될 수 있는 아이디어인 형태들이다."라고 표명했다.

하이젠베르크는 1년 전 수립된 바이에른 평의회 공화국과 싸우기 위해 1919년 자유군단의 일원으로 뮌헨에 도착했다. 50년 후 그는 그 시절을 "경찰, 강도 등의 놀이; 그것은 전혀 심각하지 았았던 것"과 같은 젊음의 즐거움으로 회상했다; 그의 임무는 "'빨간색' 행정 건물에서 자전거나 타자기를 압수"하고 "빨간색" 죄수로 의심되는 사람들을 보호하는 것으로 제한되었다.

대학교 학업 

1920년부터 1923년까지 그는 루트비히-막시밀리안 뮌헨 대학교에서 아르놀트 조머펠트와 빌헬름 빈에게, 게오르그-아우구스트 괴팅겐 대학교에서 막스 보른과 제임스 프랑크에게 물리학과 수학을 그리고 다비트 힐베르트에게 수학을 공부했다. 1923년 뮌헨에서 좀머펠트 밑에서 박사학위를 받았다.

괴팅겐에서, 보른 아래에서, 그는 1924년에 변칙적인 제이만 효과에 대한 하빌리타치온 논문(Habilitationsschrift)으로 그의 하빌리타치온을 완료했다.

1922년 6월 조머팰트는 하이젠베르크를 괴팅겐으로 데려가 '보어 축제'에 참가했는데, 조머펠트는 그의 학생들에게 진지한 관심을 가지고 있었고 원자 물리학에 대한 닐스 보어의 이론에 대한 하이젠베르크의 흥미를 알고 있었기 때문이었다. 그 행사에서 보어는 객원 강사였고 양자 원자 물리학에 대한 일련의 포괄적인 강의를 했으며 그리고 하이젠베르크는 보어를 처음으로 만났는데, 이는 그에게 지속적인 영향을 미쳤다.

조머펠트 제안한 주제인 하이젠베르크의 박사학위 논문은 난류에 관한 것이었는데; 그 논문은 층류의 안정성 과 난류의 성질 둘다를 논의했다. 안정성 문제는 층류로부터의 작은 교란을 위하여 4차 선형 미분방정식인 오르-조머팰트 방정식(Orr–Sommerfeld equation)을 사용하여 조사되었다. 그는 제2차 세계대전 후에 잠시 이 주제로 돌아왔다.

그는 젊은 시절에 독일 스카우트 협회이자 독일 청년 운동의 일원인 '노이파드핀데르(Neupfadfinder)'의 회원이자 스카우트 리더였다. 1923년 8월 로베르트 혼젤Robert Honsell과 하이젠베르크는 뮌헨에서 이 협회의 스카우트 그룹과 함께 핀란드 여행을 계획했다.

개인적 생활 
하이젠베르크는 클래식 음악을 즐겼고 뛰어난 피아니스트였다. 음악에 대한 그의 관심은 미래의 아내를 만나는 것으로 이어졌다. 1937년 1월, 하이젠베르크는 개인 음악 발표회에서 엘리자베스 슈마허Elisabeth Schumacher (1914–1998)를 만났다. 엘리자베트는 유명한 베를린 경제학 교수의 딸이었고, 그녀의 오빠는 《작은 것이 아름답다》의 저자인 경제학자 에른스트 프리드리히 슈마허였다. 하이젠베르크는 4월 29일 그녀와 결혼했다. 1938년 1월에 이란성 쌍둥이 마리아Maria와 볼프강Wolfgang이 태어났으며, 이에 따라 볼프강 파울리는 하이젠베르크의 "쌍 창조"-기본 입자 물리학에서 쌍생성의 과정에 대한 단어 놀이-를 축하했다. 그들은 이후 12년 동안 다섯 명의 자녀를 더 두었다; 바바라Barbara, 크리스틴Christine, 요헨Jochen, 마르틴Martin, 베레나Verena. 1936년 그는 독일 남부 우르펠트 암 발첸제(Urfeld am Walchensee)에 가족을 위한 여름 별장을 구입했다.

교육 경력

괴팅겐, 코펜하겐, 라이프치히 
하이젠베르크는 1924년부터 1927년까지 괴팅겐의 프리바트도젠트(Privatdogent)였는데, 이것은 그가 교수직이 없이 독립적으로 가르칠 자격이 있다는 것을 의미한다. 1924년 9월 17일부터 1925년 5월 1일까지, 국제 교육 위원회 록펠러 재단 연구비로써, 그는 코펜하겐 대학교의 이론물리학 연구소 소장인 닐스 보어와 연구하러 갔다. 1925년 9월 그의 세미나 논문인 "운동학과 역학 관계의 양자 이론적인 재해석(Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen)"이 출판되었다. 그는 괴팅겐으로 돌아와 막스 보른과 파스쿠알 요르단과 함께 약 6개월에 걸쳐 양자역학의 행렬 역학을 개발했다. 1926년 5월 1일, 하이젠베르크는 코펜하겐에서 대학 강사와 보어의 조교가 되었다. 1927년 코펜하겐에서 하이젠베르크는 양자역학의 수학적 기초를 연구하면서 불확정성 원리를 발전시켰다. 2월 23일, 하이젠베르크는 동료 물리학자 볼프강 파울리에게 편지를 써서 처음으로 그의 새로운 원리를 설명했다. 하이젠베르크는 그 원리에 관한 논문에서, 불확정성이 아닌 "부정확성(Ungenauigkeit)"이라는 단어를 사용했다.

1927년, 하이젠베르크는 라이프치히 대학교의 이론물리학 일반 교수(ordentlicher Professor-professor ordinarius)이자 물리학부의 학부장으로 임명되었고; 1928년 2월 1일 그곳에서 취임 강의를 했다. 라이프치히에서 출판된 그의 첫 번째 논문에서, 하이젠베르크는 강자성의 수수께끼를 풀기 위해 파울리 배타 원리를 이용했다.

재임 기간 동안, 그와 함께 공부하고 일했던 박사과정 학생들과 대학원생 맟 연구 동료들의 높은 자질은 후에 찬사를 받는다. 여러 기간 동안에 그들은 에리히 바게Erich Bagge, 펠릭스 블로흐, 우고 파노Ugo Fano, 지그프리드 플뤼게Siegfried Flügge, 윌리엄 버밀리언 휴스턴William Vermillion Houston, 프리드리히 훈트, 로버트 멀리컨, 루돌프 파이얼스, 조지 플라제크George Placzek, 이지도어 아이작 라비, 프리츠 자우터Fritz Sauter, 존 C. 슬레이터John C. Slater, 에드워드 텔러, 존 해즈브룩 밴블렉, 빅토어 바이스코프, 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커, 그레고르 벤첼Gregor Wentzel, 그리고 클라렌스 제너Clarence Zener 등을 포함했다.

1929년 초, 하이젠베르크와 파울리는 상대론적 양자장론의 기초를 닦는 두 논문 중 첫 번째 논문을 제출했다. 또한 1929년에 하이젠르크는 중국, 일본, 인도, 미국을 순회 강연했다. 1929년 봄, 그는 시카고 대학교의 객원강사으며, 거기서 양자역학을 강의했다.

1928년, 영국의 수리물리학자 폴 디랙이 양자역학의 상대론적 파동 방정식을 도출했는데, 이것은 양극의 전자의 존재를 암시했고, 나중에 양전자로 명명되었다. 1932년, 우주선의 안개 상자 사진을 통해, 미국의 물리학자 칼 데이비드 앤더슨은 양전자에 의해 만들어진 자취(track)임을 확인했다. 1933년 중반, 하이젠베르크는 양전자 이론을 발표했다. 디랙의 이론과 그 이론의 추가 전개에 대한 그의 생각은 두 개의 논문에 제시되었다. 첫 번째인 "양전자에 관한 디랙의 이론에 관한 언급(Bemerkungen zur Diracschen Theorie des Positrons)"은 1934년에, 두 번째인 "양전자에 관한 디랙 이론의 결과(Folgerungen aus der Diracschen Theorie des Positrons)"는 1936년에 출판되었다. 그는 디랙 방정식을 비-교환자(anti-commutators)를 포함하는 양자화 조건에 따라 스핀 ħ/2의 모든 점 입자에 대해서 "고전적" 장 방정식으로 재해석한 최초의 사람이었다. 이와같이 하이젠베르크는 그것을 전자들을 정확하게 기술하는 (양자) 장 방정식으로 재해석하여, 물질을 입자 생성과 파괴의 가능성을 허용하는 상대론적 양자 장 방정식에 의해 기술되는 전자기학과 같은 기초 위에 놓았다. (헤르만 바일은 이미 1929년 알베르트 아인슈타인에게 보낸 편지에서 이것을 기술했다.)

행렬 역학과 노벨상 
양자역학을 확립한 하이젠베르크의 논문은 물리학자와 역사가들에게는 수수께끼였다. 그의 방법은 독자가 크라머르스-하이젠베르크 전이 확률 계산에 친숙하다고 가정한다. 주요 새로운 아이디어인 비가환 행렬은 관찰할 수 없는 양을 거부함으로써 정당화된다. 그가 당시에 행렬 수학적 이론에 익숙하지 않았음에도 불구하고, 대응 원리에 기초한 물리적 추론에 의한 행렬의 '비가환 곱셈'을 도입한다. 이러한 결과로 이어지는 경로는 1977년 매키논MacKinnon에서 재구성되었으며, 자세한 계산은 아이치슨Aitchison 등에서 수행되었다.

코펜하겐에서 하이젠베르크와 헨드릭 크라머르스는 원자보다 파장이 큰 복사선 원자의 분산 혹은 산란에 관한 논문을 공동으로 작성했다. 그들은 이전에 크라머르스가 개발한 성공적인 공식이 보어 궤도를 기반으로 할 수 없다는 것을 보여주었다. 그 이유는 전이 주파수가 일정하지 않은 레벨 간격을 기반으로 하기 때문이다. 대조적으로, 정확한 고전 궤도의 푸리에 변환에서 발생하는 주파수는 동일한 간격이다. 그러나 이 결과는 들어오는 복사선이 원자가(valence), 또는 외곽에서는, 전자를 붕괴되는 가상 상태로 들뜨게 하는 반(semi)-고전적 가상 상태(virtual state) 모형에 의해서 설명될 수 있었다. 후속 논문에서 하이젠베르크는 이 가상 진동자(virtual oscillator) 모형이 형광 복사의 편광도 설명할 수 있음을 보여주었다.

이 두 성공과, 보어-조머펠트 모형이 비정상적인 지만 효과의 뛰어난 문제를 설명하는 데에서의 계속적 실패는 하이젠베르크로 하여금 가상 진동자(virtual oscillator) 모형을 사용하여 스펙트럼 주파수를 계산하도록 했다. 하지만 이 방법은 현실적인 문제에 즉시 적용하기에는 너무 어려워서, 그는 더 간단한 예인 비조화 진동자(anharmonic oscilator)로 방향을 바꾸었다.

쌍극자 진동자(dipole oascillator)는 외부 전하와 같은 외력에 의해 섭동을 일으키는 스프링 상의 하전 입자로 생각되는 단순 조화 진동자(simple harmonic oscilator)로 구성된다. 진동하는 전하의 운동은 그 진동자의 주파수에서 푸리에 급수로 표현될 수 있다. 하이젠베르크는 두 가지 다른 방법으로 양자 거동을 해결했다. 첫째, 그는 가상 진동자 방법으로 시스템을 처리하여 외부 소스에 의해 생성될 레벨 간의 전환을 계산했다.

그리고 그는 비조화(anharmonic) 포텐셜 항을 조화 진동자에 대한 섭동으로 취급하여 그와 보른이 개발한 섭동 방법을 사용하여 동일한 문제를 해결했다. 두 방법 모두 1차 및 매우 복잡한 2차 수정 항에 대해 동일한 결과를 가져왔다. 이것은 매우 복잡한 계산 뒤에 한 일관된 설계(consistent scheme)가 있음을 시사했다.

그래서 하이젠베르크는 가상 진동자 모형에 대한 명시적인 의존 없이 이러한 결과를 공식화하기 시작했다. 이를 위해서, 그는 공간 좌표에 대한 푸리에 확장을, 가상 진동자 방법의 전이 계수에 해당하는 행렬로 대체했다. 그는 양자역학은 관찰 가능한 것으로 제한되어야 한다는 보어의 대응 원리와 양자역학은 관측 가능한 것으로 제한되어야 한다는 파울리의 학설(doctrine)에 호소함으로써 이러한 대체를 정당화했다.

7월 9일, 하이젠베르크는 보른에게 이 논문을 검토를 위해 주었고 또한 출판을 위해 제출했다. 보른이 그 논문을 읽었을 때, 그는 공식이 그가 브레슬라우 대학교의 수학자 야콥 로자네스Jakob Rosanes에게 배운 행렬의 체계적인 언어로 옮겨지고 확장될 수 있는 공식임을 알았다. 보른은 그의 조수이자 전 학생이었던 파스쿠알 요르단의 도움으로 즉시 전사 및 전개을 시작했고 출판을 위해서 결과를 제출했는데; 이 논문은 하이젠배르크의 논문이 발표된 지 60일 만에 접수되었다. 3명의 저자 모두가 연내 발표를 위해서 후속(follow-on) 논문을 제출했다.

이때까지 물리학자들은 행렬을 거의 사용하지 않았다. 그들은 순수수학의 영역에 속하는 것으로 간주되었다. 구스타프 미에Gustav Mie는 1912년 전기역학에 관한 논문에서 그것들을 사용했고 보른은 1921년 결정의 격자 이론에 관한 연구에서 그것들을 사용했다. 이러한 경우에 행렬이 사용되었지만, 행렬의 곱셈이 있는 행렬의 대수학은 양자 역학의 행렬 공식화에서 같은 묘사(picture)에는 들어가지 않았다.

1928년, 알베르트 아인슈타인은 하이젠베르크, 보른, 요르단을 노벨 물리학상 후보로 지명했다. 1932년 노벨 물리학상 발표는 그해 11월로 연기되었다. 하이젠베르크가 "양자역학, 그중에서도(inter alia), 수소의 동소체(allotropic) 형태의 발견으로 인도한 그 적용의 양자역학의 창안으로" 1932년 수상자로 발표된 것은 그 때였다.

양자 이론의 해석 
양자역학의 발전과 무엇이 "실재"인지에 대한 명백한 모순적 함의는 과학적 관찰이 진정으로 의미하는 바를 포함하여 심오한 철학적 함의를 가졌다. 알베르트 아인슈타인과 루이 드 브로이는 입자가 항상 객관적으로 참된 운동량과 위치를 가지고 있다고 믿었던 실재론자들이었으나 (둘 다 측정할 수는 없더라도), 하이젠베르크는 "실재"의 직접적인 지식은 과학의 범위를 벗어난다는 반실재론자(anti-realist)였다. 하이젠베르크는 그의 《책 물리학자의 자연 개념(The Physicist's Conception of Nature)》에서 쓰기를, 궁극적으로 우리는 입자에 대한 무엇인가(something)를 기술하지만 입자 자체에 대한 "진정한" 접근은 결코 가질 수 없는 '지식'(표에서의 숫자)에 대해서만 말할 수 있다고 주장하기를:
우리는 더 이상 관찰 과정과 독립적으로 입자의 거동에 대해 말할 수 없다. 최종 결과로 양자 이론에서 수학적으로 공식화된 자연 법칙은 더 이상 기본 입자 자체가 아니라 기본 입자에 대한 우리의 지식을 다루고 있다. 이 입자들이 시공간에 존재하는지 객관적으로 묻는 것도 더 이상 불가능하다... 우리 시대의 엄밀한 과학에서 자연의 그림을 말할 때 우리는 자연의 그림을 말하는 것이 아니라 '자연과 우리의 관계의 그림'을 말한다. ... 과학은 더 이상 객관적인 관찰자로서 자연을 대면하지 않고 인간과 자연 사이의 이러한 상호 작용에서 스스로를 행위자로 본다. 분석하고, 설명하고 및 분류하는 과학적 방법은 개입에 의해 조사 대상을 변경하고 재창조한다는 사실에서 발생하는 한계를 인식하게 되었다. 다른 말로, 방법과 객체는 더 이상 분리될 수 없다.Heisenberg, Werner (1958). The Physicist's Conception of Nature. Harcourt, Brace. pp. 15, 28–29.

친위대(SS) 조사 
1932년 제임스 채드윅이 중성자를 발견한 직후, 하이젠베르크는 핵의 중성자-양성자 모형에 대한 세 개의 논문 중 첫 번째 논문을 제출했다. 1933년 아돌프 히틀러가 집권한 후 하이젠베르크는 언론에서 "백인 유대인"이라는 공격을 받았다. 도이체 물리학(Deutsche Physik) 또는 독일 물리학(또한 아리안 물리학(Aryan Physics)으로 알려짐)의 지지자들은 아르놀트 조머펠트와 하이젠베르크를 포함한 주요 이론 물리학자들에 대한 악의적인 공격을 시작했다. 1930년대 초반부터 반유대주의 및 반이론물리학 운동인 도이체 물리학은 양자역학과 상대성이론에 관심을 기울였다. 대학 환경에서 적용되었듯이, 가장 두드러진 두 지지자가 노벨 물리학상 수상자 필리프 레나르트와 요하네스 슈타르크였음에도 불구하고 정치적 요인이 학문적 능력보다 우선했다.

하이젠베르크를 많은 독일 대학의 교수로 임명하려는 시도는 여러 번 실패했다. 아르놀트 조머펠트의 후계자로 임명받으려는 그의 시도는 도이체 물리학 운동의 반대 때문에 실패했다. 1935년 4월 1일, 루트비히-막시밀리안 뮌헨 대학교에서 하이젠베르크의 박사학위 고문인 저명한 이론 물리학자 조머펠트는 명예교수(emeritus) 지위를 취득했다. 그렇지만, 조머펠트는 1939년 12월 1일까지 걸린 후임자 선출 과정 동안 그의 자리를 유지했다. 뮌헨 교수단의 선택과 독일 교육부와 도이체 물리학의 지지자들 사이의 학문적, 정치적 차이로 인해서 그 과정은 오래 걸렸다.

1935년 뮌헨 교수단 이론물리학의 일반 교수이자 뮌헨 대학의 이론물리학 연구소 소장인 조머펠트를 대신할 후보자 목록을 작성했다. 세 명의 후보자는 모두 조머펠트의 이전 학생이었는데: 노벨 물리학상을 수상한 하이젠베르크; 1936년 노벨 화학상을 수상한 피터 디바이; 그리고 리처드 베커Richard Becker였다. 뮌헨 교수단은 이 후보자들을 확고하게 지원했으며 하이젠베르크가 첫 선택이었다. 그러나 도이체 물리학의 지지자들과 교육부(REM)의 요원들은 그들만의 후보자 목록을 가지고 있었고, 그 싸움은 4년 이상 계속되었다. 이 시기에 하이젠베르크는 도이체 물리학의 지지자들의 맹렬한 공격을 받았다. 한 공격은 하인리히 힘러가 이끄는 친위대(SS)의 신문인 《검은 군단(The Black Corps)》에 실렸다. 여기서 하이젠베르크는 "사라져야" 마땅한 "백인 유대인"(즉, 유태인처럼 행동하는 아리아인)이라고 불렸다. 유대인들이 폭력적인 공격을 받고 투옥됨에 따라서 이러한 공격은 심각하게 받아들여졌다. 하이젠베르크는 문제를 해결하고 명예를 되찾기 위해 한 사설과 힘러에게 보내는 편지와 더불어 반격했다.

어느 날, 하이젠베르크의 어머니는 힘러의 어머니를 방문하였다. 두 여성은 하이젠베르크의 외할아버지와 힘러의 아버지가 바이에른 하이킹 클럽의 목사이자 회원이었기 때문에 서로를 알고 있었다. 결국, 힘러는 1938년 7월 21일 친위대 집단지도자 라인하르트 하이드리히와 하이젠베르크에게 두 통의 편지를 보내서 하이젠베르크 사건을 진정시켰다. 하이드리히에게 보낸 편지에서 힘러는 하이젠베르크가 한 세대의 과학자들을 가르치는데 유용하기 때문에 독일은 그를 잃거나 침묵시킬 이유가 없다고 말했다. 힘러는 하이젠베르크에게 이 편지가 가족의 추천으로 보내졌다며 하이젠베르크에게 전문적인 물리학 연구 결과와 관련 과학자들의 개인적이고 정치적인 태도를 구별하라고 경고했다.

빌헬름 뮐러Wilhelm Müller가 루트비히-막시밀리안 뮌헨 대학교에서 조머펠트의 자리를 꿰찼다. 그러나 뮐러는 이론물리학자도 아니었고, 물리학 저널에 논문을 발표하지 않았으며, 독일 물리학회 회원도 아니었다. 그의 임명은 조롱거리로 여겨졌고 이론물리학자들을 교육하는데 악영향을 끼쳤다.

하이젠베르크의 친위대(SS) 수사를 이끈 세 명의 조사관은 물리학 교육을 받았다. 실제로 하이젠베르크는 라이프치히 대학교에서 그들 중 한 명의 박사 시험에 참여했었다. 세 명 중 가장 영향력 있는 사람은 요하네스 줄프스Johannes Juilfs였다. 그들은 하이젠베르크뿐만 아니라 이론물리학 및 학계에서 '도이체 물리학' 운동의 이념 정책에 반대하는 지지자가 되었다.

독일 핵무기 프로그램

전쟁전 물리학 연구 
1936년 중반, 하이젠베르크는 두 개의 논문에서 우주선의 샤워 이론을 발표했다. 그 후 2년 동안 4편의 논문<ref>Heisenberg, W. (1937) Theoretische Untersuchungen zur Ultrastrahlung, Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges. Volume 18, 50, as cited by Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 244</ref>Heisenberg, W. (1938) Der Durchgang sehr energiereicher Korpuskeln durch den Atomkern, Nuovo Cimento Volume 15, 31–34; Verh. Dtsch. Phys. Ges. Volume 19, 2, as cited by Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 244이 더 나왔다.Cassidy 1992, p. 231

1938년 12월 독일의 화학자 오토 한과 프리츠 슈트라스만은 《자연과학(The Science of Nature)》에 우라늄에 중성자들로 충돌시킨(bombarding) 후에 바륨 원소를 검출했고 오토 한은 우라늄의 '폭발(bursting)'로 결론짓는 원고를 보냈고; 동시에 그해 7월에 네덜란드로 피신하여 그후 스웨덴으로 간 친구 리제 마이트너에게 이 결과들을 연락했다. 마이트너와 조카 오토 로버트 프리쉬Otto Robert Frisch는 한과 슈트라스만의 결과를 핵분열로 올바르게 해석했다. 프리쉬는 1939년 1월 13일 실험적으로 이것을 확인했다.

1939년 6월과 7월에 하이젠베르크는 앤아버에 있는 미시간 대학교에서 사무엘 구드스미트Samuel Goudsmit를 방문하기 위하여 미국으로 여행했다. 그렇지만, 하이젠베르크는 미국으로 이주하는 초청을 거절했다. 그는 6년 후 구드스미트가 제2차 세계대전 끝무렵에 알소스 작전(Alsos Mission)의 수석 과학 조언자가 될 때까지 그를 다시 보지 못했다.Hentschel & Hentschel 1996, p. 387

 우란베라인의 멤버쉽 
'우란베라인(Uranverein)'으로 알려진 독일의 핵무기 프로그램은 1939년 9월 1일 제2차 세계대전이 발발한 날 형성되었다. '육군 병기청(Heereswaffenamt, HWA)'은 '제국 교육부(Reichserziehungsministerium, REM'에서 '제국 연구위원회(Reichsforschungsrat, RFR'를 만들어서 군사 후원 하에 공식적인 독일 원자력 프로젝트를 시작했다. 이 프로젝트는 1939년 9월 16일 첫 회의를 가졌다. 이번 회의는 쿠르트 디브너Kurt Diebner HWA 고문이 주관하고 베를린에서 열렸다. 초청인으로는 발터 보테, 지크프리트 플뤼게Siegfried Flügge, 한스 가이거, 오토 한, 폴 하텍Paul Harteck, 게르하르트 호프만Gerhard Hoffmann, 요제프 마타우치Josef Mattauch, 게오르그 슈테터Georg Stetter가 포함되었다. 곧이어 하이젠베르크, 클라우스 클라우시우스Klaus Clusius, 로베르트되펠Robert Döpel, 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커 등이 두 번째 회의를 열었다. 베를린-달렘(Dahlem)에 위치한 카이저-빌헬름 물리학 연구소(KWIP)는 다이브너가 관리소장이 되어 HWA의 권한에 속하게 되었고, 핵 연구에 대한 군사 통제가 시작되었다.Macrakis 1993, pp. 164–169 디브너가 HWA 프로그램 하에서 KWIP를 관리하던 시기에, 디브너와 카를 비츠Karl Wirtz와 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커를 포함한 하이젠베르크의 내부 서클 사이에 상당한 개인적, 직업적 적대감이 발전하였다.Walker 1993, pp. 19, 94–95

1942년 2월 26~28일 카이저 빌헬름 물리학 연구소에서 열린 육군 무기 사무국이 소집한 과학 회의에서 하이젠베르크는 독일 제국 관리들에게 핵분열을 통한 에너지 획득에 관한 강의를 했다. "우라늄 핵분열로부터 에너지 생성을 위한 이론적 토대(Die theoretischen Grundlagen für die Energiegewinning aus der Uranspaltung)"라는 제목의 강의는 제2차 세계대전 후 하이젠베르크가 사무엘 구드스미트에게 보낸 편지에서 고백한 바와 같이 "제국 장관의 지적 수준에 맞추었다." 하이젠베르크는 핵분열의 엄청난 에너지 잠재력에 대해 강의하면서 원자핵의 분열을 통해 2억 5천만 전자볼트가 방출될 수 있다고 말했다. 하이젠베르크는 연쇄 반응을 달성하기 위해 순수한 U-235를 얻어야 한다고 강조했다. 그는 동위원소 를 순수한 형태로 얻는 우라늄 농축과 기계 속에서 일반 우라늄과 감속재의 대체 적층 방법 및 포함한 다양한 방법을 탐구했다. 그는 이 기계가 차량, 선박 및 잠수함에 연료를 공급하는 데 실용적인 방법으로 사용될 수 있다고 언급했다. 하이젠베르크는 이러한 과학적 노력에 대한 육군 무기 사무소의 재정적, 물질적 지원의 중요성을 강조했다. 두 번째 과학 회의가 이어졌다. 국방과 경제에 결정적으로 중요한 현대물리학의 문제들에 대한 강의가 들렸다. 회의에는 베른하르트 루스트 제국 과학교육문화부 장관이 참석했다. 회의에서 루스트 장관은 카이저 빌헬름 협회에서 핵개발 계획을 철회하기로 결정했다. 제국 연구위원회가 그 프로젝트를 맡기로 되었다. 1942년 4월, 육군은 물리학 연구소를 카이저 빌헬름 협회(KWIP)에 반환하고, 하이젠베르크를 연구소장으로 임명했다. KWIP에서 이 직책을 맡으면서 하이젠베르크는 첫 번째 교수직을 얻었다. 피터 디바이는 여전히 연구소의 소장이었지만, HWA가 KWIP의 관리권을 장악했을 때 독일 시민이 되는 것을 거부한 후 미국으로 떠났다. 하이젠베르크는 또한 아직 라이프치히 대학교에 로베르트되펠Robert Döpel과 그의 아내 클라라 되펠Klara Döpel에 의해 우란베라인을 위한 연구를 수행해온 그의 물리학과를 갖고 있었다.

1942년 6월 4일, 하이젠베르크는 독일의 군부수 장관인 알베르트 슈페어에게 우란베라인 연구룰 핵무기 개발로 전환할 가능성에 대해 보고하도록 소환되었다. 회의에서 하이젠베르크는 슈페어에게 상당한 자금력과 인력을 필요로 하기 때문에 1945년 이전에는 폭탄을 만들 수 없다고 말했다.Prof. Werner Carl Heisenberg (I662) Archived 15 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Stanford.edu

우란베라인 프로젝트는 제국 연구회의 지도 하에 배치된 후 원자력 생산에 중점을 두어 '전쟁의 중요성(kriegswichtig)' 지위를 유지했고; 따라서 출자는 군대에서 계속되었다. 원자력 프로젝트는 우라늄 및 중수 생산, 우라늄 동위원소 분리 및 원자로(Uranmaschine 우라늄 기계)의 주요 영역으로 분류되었다. 그 후 프로젝트는 본질적으로 여러 연구소로 나뉘었고, 이 곳에서는 감독이 연구를 주도하고 자신의 연구 의제를 설정했다.Hentschel & Hentschel 1996; see the entry for the KWIP in Appendix A and the entries for the HWA and the RFR in Appendix B. Also see p. 372 and footnote #50 on p. 372. 군대가 독일 핵무기 프로그램에 대한 통제를 포기한 1942년의 시점은 인원수로는 프로젝트의 절정이었다. 약 70명의 과학자가 이 프로그램을 위해 일했으며 약 40명의 과학자는 시간의 절반 이상을 핵분열 연구에 할애했다. 1942년 이후, 응용 핵분열을 연구하는 과학자의 수는 극적으로 감소했다. 주요 연구소와 함께 일하지 않는 많은 과학자들은 핵분열 연구를 중단하고 보다 시급한 전쟁 관련 연구에 노력을 기울였다.

1942년 9월, 하이젠베르크는 가본 입자 물리학의 산란 행렬 또는 S-행렬에 대한 3부작 시리즈의 첫 번째 논문을 제출했다. 처음 두 개의 논문은 1943년에 출판되었고,Heisenberg, W. (1943). "Die beobachtbaren Grössen in der Theorie der Elementarteilchen. II". Z. Phys. 120 (11–12): 673–702. Bibcode:1943ZPhy..120..673H. as cited in Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 245 세 번째 논문은 1944년에 출판되었다. S-행렬은 충돌 과정에서 입사 입자의 상태, 충돌에서 나오는 입자의 상태 및 안정적인 경계 상태만을 설명하고; 간섭 상태에 대한 참조는 없을 것이다. 이것은 그가 1925년에 관찰 가능한 것들만을 사용하여 양자역학의 행렬 공식화의 기초가 된 것으로 판명된 것과 같은 선례였다.

1943년 2월, 하이젠베르크는 프리드리히-빌헬름스-대학교(현재는 베를린 훔볼트 대학교)의 이론물리학 의장으로 임명되었다. 4월에는 프로이센 과학 아카데미의 선출이 승인되었다. 같은 달, 그는 베를린에서 연합군의 폭격이 증가함에 따라 가족을 우르패트(Urfeld)에 있는 은신처로 옮겼다. 여름에 그는 같은 이유로 카이저 빌헬름 물리학 연구소의 첫 번째 직원을 헤칭겐(Hechingen)과 슈바르츠발트 가장자리에 있는 그 이웃 마을인 하이겔로흐(Haigerloch)로 파견했다. 10월 18일부터 26일까지 그는 독일이 점령한 네덜란드를 여행했다. 1943년 12월, 하이젠베르크는 독일이 점령한 폴란드를 방문했다.Bernstein 2004, pp. 300–304

1944년 1월 24일부터 2월 4일까지 하이젠베르크는 독일군이 보어의 이론물리학 연구소를 몰수한 후 점령된 코펜하겐으로 여행했다. 그는 4월에 짧은 귀국 여행을 했다. 12월에 하이젠베르크는 중립국 스위스에서 강의했다. 미국 전략사무국은 모 버그 요원Moe Berg을 보내 권총을 갖고 강의에 참석하도록 했으며, 강의에서 독일이 원자폭탄 완성에 가까워졌다는 내용이 나오면 하이젠베르크를 사살하라는 명령을 내렸다.

1945년 1월, 하이젠베르크는 나머지 직원 대부분과 함께 카이저 빌헬름 물리학 연구소에서 슈바르트발트 내의 시설로 이사했다.

 제2차 세계대전 이후 
 1945: 알소스 임무 

알소스 임무(Alsos Mission)는 독일이 원자폭탄 프로그램을 가지고 있는지 확인하고, 미국의 이익을 위해 독일의 원자 관련 시설, 연구, 물자, 과학 인력을 이용하려는 연합군의 노력이었다. 이 작전에 투입된 병력은 일반적으로 연합군의 통제 하에 있던 지역으로 이동했지만, 때로는 여전히 독일군의 통제 하에 있는 지역에서 작전을 수행하기도 했다.Pash, Boris T. (1969) The Alsos Mission. Award. pp. 219–241 베를린은 많은 독일 과학 연구 시설의 위치였다. 사상자와 장비의 손실을 줄이기 위해, 전쟁 말기에 이 시설들 중 다수는 다른 지역으로 분산되었다. 카이저 빌헬름 물리학 연구소(KWIP)는 1943년과 1944년에 대부분 슈바르츠발트 끝자락에 있는 헤칭겐과 그 인근 마을인 하이겔로흐로 옮겨졌고, 결국 프랑스 점령 지역에 포함되었다. 이를 통해 알소스 임무의 미국 특수부대는 핵 연구와 관련된 많은 독일 과학자들을 구금할 수 있었다.Bernstein 2001, pp. 49–52

3월 30일, 알소스 임무단은 하이델베르크에 도착하여 발터 보테, 리하르트 쿤, 필리프 레나르트, 볼프강 거트너를 포함한 중요한 과학자들을 체포했다. 조사 결과 오토 한은 테일핑겐에 있는 그의 실험실에 있었고, 하이젠베르크와 막스 폰 라우에는 헤칭겐의 하이젠베르크의 실험실에 있었으며, 하이젠베르크 팀이 베를린에 건설한 천연 우라늄 원자로는 하이겔로흐로 옮겨졌다. 이후 알소스 임무의 주요 초점은 뷔르템베르크 지역의 핵 시설에 있었다. 하이젠베르크는 1945년 5월 3일 우르펠트에서 독일군이 장악하고 있는 영토에서 산악 작전을 벌이다 붙잡혀 체포되었다. 그는 하이델베르크로 옮겨져 1939년 앤아버 방문 이후 처음으로 5월 5일 구드스미트를 만났다. 독일은 이틀 만에 항복했다. 하이젠베르크는 프랑스와 벨기에를 가로질러 1945년 7월 3일 영국으로 이동하면서 8개월 동안 가족을 다시 보지 못했다.Bernstein 2001, p. 60

 1945: 히로시마에 대한 반응 우란베라인의 일원으로 《핵물리 연구보고서(Nuclear Physics Research Reports)》에 보고서를 발표한 저명한 독일 과학자 중 9명은 알소스 작전에 의해 체포되어 엡실론 작전(Operation Epsilon)아래 영국에서 투옥되었다. 하이젠베르크를 비롯한 10명의 독일 과학자들이 영국의 팜 홀(Farm Hall에 억류되었다. 그 시설은 영국의 해외 정보국 MI6의 안전가옥이였다. 구금된 동안 그들의 대화는 녹음되었다. 지적 가치가 있다고 생각되는 대화는 전사되어 영어로 번역되었다. 녹취록은 1992년에 발표되었다.[https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/베르너_하이젠베르크#참고_문헌 Bernstein 2001, pp. xvii–xix 1945년 8월 6일 팜 홀의 과학자들은 언론 보도를 통해 미국이 일본 히로시마에 원자폭탄을 떨어뜨렸다는 사실을 알게 되었다. 처음에는 폭탄이 만들어지고 떨어졌다는 사실이 믿기지 않았다. 그 후 몇 주 동안 독일 과학자들은 미국이 어떻게 폭탄을 만들 수 있었는지 논의했다.

팜 홀 기록에 따르면 하이젠베르크는 오토 한과 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커를 포함하여 팜 홀에 억류된 다른 물리학자들과 함께 연합군이 제2차 세계대전에서 승리한 것을 기뻐했다고 한다.Sartori, Leo. "Reviews". American Physical Society. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. 하이젠베르크는 다른 과학자들에게 자신은 폭탄을 생각해 본 적이 없으며 에너지를 생산하는 원자 파일만 생각했다고 말했다. 나치를 위한 폭탄 제작의 도덕성도 논의되었다. 소수의 과학자들만이 핵무기의 가능성에 대해 진정한 공포를 표했고, 하이젠베르크 자신도 이 문제에 대해 논의하는 데 신중했다. 독일의 핵무기 프로그램이 원자폭탄 제작에 실패하자, 하이젠베르크는 "우리는 1942년 봄에 정부에게 원자폭탄을 건설하기 위해서 120,000명을 고용해야 한다고 권고할 도덕적 용기가 없었을 것이다."라고 언급했다.

 전후 연구 경력 

 독일 연구 기관의 임원 직위 
1946년 1월 3일, 10명의 엡실론 작전 억류자들이 독일의 알스웨데로 이송되었다. 하이젠베르크는 연합군이 점령한 독일의 영국 지역인 괴팅겐에 정착했다. 하이젠베르크는 즉시 독일에서 과학 연구를 촉진하기 시작했다. 연합군 통제 위원회(Allied Control Council)에 의해 카이저 빌헬름 협회가 폐지되고 영국 지역에 막스 플랑크 협회가 설립된 후 하이젠베르크는 막스 플랑크 물리학 연구소(Max Planck Institute for Physics)의 소장이 되었다. 막스 폰 라우에가 부소장으로 임명되었고 칼 비르츠Karl Wirtz, 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커, 루트비히 비어르만Ludwig Biermann이 합류하여 하이젠베르크의 연구소 설립을 도왔다. 하인츠 빌링Heinz Billing은 전자 컴퓨팅 개발을 촉진하기 위해 1950년에 합류했다. 연구소의 핵심 연구 초점은 우주선이였다. 연구소는 매주 토요일 오전에 콜로키움을 개최했다.

하이젠베르크는 헤르만 라인Hermann Rei과 함께 포르슝스라트(Forschungsrat)(연구 위원회)를 설립하는 데 중요한 역할을 했다. 하이젠베르크는 새로 설립된 독일 연방 공화국과 독일에 기반을 둔 과학계 사이의 대화를 촉진하기 위해 이 포르슝스라트를 계획했다. 하이젠베르크는 포르슝스라트의 회장으로 임명되었으며. 그 기관은 1951년 독일 과학 비상 협회(Notgeminshaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft)와 통합되었고 같은 해 독일 연구협회(Deutschungsgemeinshaft)으로 이름을 바꾸었다. 합병에 이어서 하이젠베르크는 회장으로 임명되었다.

1958년에 막스 플랑크 물리학 연구소(Max Planck Institute for Physics)는 뮌헨으로 이전되어 확장되었으며 막스 플랑크 물리학 및 천체 물리학 연구소(Max-Planck-Institut für Physik und Astrophysik)(MPIFA)로 이름이 변경되었다. 그 사이에 하이젠베르크와 천체물리학자 루트비히 비어르만Ludwig Biermann은 MPIFA의 공동 책임자였다. 하이젠베르크는 또한 루트비히 막시밀리안 뮌헨 대학의 정교수가 되었다. 하이젠베르크는 1960년부터 1970년까지 MPIFA의 단독 책임자였다. 하이젠베르크는 1970년 12월 31일에 MPIFA의 책임자직을 사임했다.

 국제 과학 협력 촉진 
1951년 하이젠베르크는 유럽의 핵물리학 연구소 설립을 목표로 유네스코 회의에서 독일연방공화국의 과학대표가 되는 데 동의했다. 하이젠베르크의 목표는 서구권 과학자들의 자원과 기술을 활용하여 대형 입자 가속기를 만드는 것이었다. 1953년 7월 1일 하이젠베르크는 독일 연방 공화국을 대표하여 CERN을 설립하는 협약에 서명했다. CERN의 창립 과학 책임자가 되어 달라는 요청을 받았지만 그는 거절했다. 대신, 그는 CERN의 과학 정책 위원회 의장으로 임명되었고 CERN에서 과학 프로그램을 결정했다.

1953년 12월 하이젠베르크는 알렉산더 폰 훔볼트 재단의 회장이 되었다. 회장 재임 기간 동안 78개국에서 온 550명의 훔볼트 학자들이 과학 연구 보조금을 받았습니다. 하이젠베르크는 죽기 직전에 회장직을 사임했다.
 연구 관심사 
1946년에 오브닌스크의 제5연구소 소장인 독일 과학자 하인츠 포즈Heinz Pose는 하이젠베르크에게 소련에서 연구하도록 초대하는 편지를 썼다. 이 편지는 소련의 노동 조건과 가용 자원, 독일 과학자에 대한 소련의 호의적인 태도를 칭찬했다. 배달원이 1946년 7월 18일자 채용 편지를 하이젠베르크에게 전달했다. 하이젠베르크는 정중하게 거절했다.Oleynikov, Pavel V. (2000). "German Scientists in the Soviet Atomic Project" (PDF). The Nonproliferation Review. 7 (2): 1–30 [14]. 1947년에 하이젠베르크는 케임브리지, 에든버러, 브리스톨에서 강연을 했다. 하이젠베르크는 1947년과 1948년Heisenberg, W.; M.V. Laue (1948). "Das Barlowsche Rad aus supraleitendem Material". Z. Phys. 124 (7–12): 514–518. Bibcode:1948ZPhy..124..514H.  cited in Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 245에 두 개의 논문으로 초전도 현상의 이해에 기여했는데, 그 중 하나는 막스 폰 라우에와 함께 였다.Mott & Peierls 1977, pp. 238–239

제2차 세계 대전 직후의 기간에 하이젠베르크는 박사학위 논문의 주제인 난류로 잠시 돌아왔다. 1948년에 3편Heisenberg, W. (1948). "On the theory of statistical and isotropic turbulence". Proceedings of the Royal Society A. 195 (1042): 402–406. as cited in Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 245의 논문과 1950년에 1편Heisenberg, w. (1950). "On the stability of laminar flow". Proc. International Congress Mathematicians. II: 292–296., as cited in Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 245이 출판되었다. 전후 기간에 하이젠베르크는 중간자 다중 생성에 대한 고려와 함께 우주선 샤워(showers)에 대한 그의 관심을 계속했다. 그는 1949년에 3편의 논문Heisenberg, W. (1949). "Die Erzeugung von Mesonen in Vielfachprozessen". Nuovo Cimento. 6 (Suppl): 493–497. Bibcode:1949NCim....6S.493H. as cited in Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 245, 1952년에 2편의 논문Heisenberg, W. (1952). "Mesonenerzeugung als Stosswellenproblem". Z. Phys. 133 (1–2): 65–79. Bibcode:1952ZPhy..133...65H. as cited in Mott & Peierls 1977, p. 246, 1955년에 1편의 논문을 발표했다.

1955년 말에서 1956년 초 사이에 하이젠베르크는 스코틀랜드의 세인트 앤드류스 대학교에서 물리학의 지적 역사에 대해 기포드 강연을 했다. 강의는 나중에 《물리학과 철학: 현대 과학의 혁명(Physics and Philosophy: Revolution in Modern Science)》로 출판되었다. 1956년과 1957년 동안 하이젠베르크는 독일 원자력 위원회(Deutsche Atomkommission, DAtK)의 위원회 II "연구와 성장"(Fachkommission II "Forschung und Nachwuchs")의 핵물리학 실무그룹(Arbeitskreis Kernphysik) 의장이었다. 1956년과 1957년에 원자력 물리학 실무그룹의 다른 구성원은 다음과 같다: 발터 보테, 한스 코퍼만Hans Kopfermann</sub> (부의장), 프리츠 보프Fritz Bopp, 볼프강 겐트너Wolfgang Gentner, 오토 학셀Otto Haxel, 빌리발트 연트쉬케Willibald Jentschke, 하인츠 마리-라이프니츠Heinz Maier-Leibnitz, 요세프 마트아우흐Josef Mattauch, 볼프강 리즐러Wolfgang Riezler, 빌헬름 발허Wilhelm Walcher 및 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커. 볼프강 파울도 1957년 이 그룹의 멤버였다.

1957년, 하이젠베르크는 괴팅겐 선언문(Göttingen Manifesto)에 서명하여 핵무기로 무장한 독일 연방 공화국에 대해 공개적인 입장을 취했다. 하이젠베르크는 파스쿠알 요르단과 마찬가지로 정치인들이 핵 과학자들의 이 말을 무시할 것이라고 생각했다. 그러나 하이젠베르크는 괴팅거 선언이 정치인들이 고려해야 할 "여론에 영향을 미칠 것"이라고 믿었다. 그는 발터 게를라흐Walther Gerlach에게 다음과 같이 썼다. "여론이 느슨해질 위험 때문에 우리는 아마도 오랫동안 공개적으로 이 문제에 대해 계속 돌아와해야 할 것이다." 1961년 하이젠베르크는 카를 프리드리히 폰 바이츠제커와 루드비히 라이저Ludwig Raiser와 함께 튀빙겐 각서(Memorandum of Tübingen)에 서명했다. 과학자들와 정치인들 사이에 공개 토론이 이어졌다. 저명한 정치인, 작가, 사교계 명사들이 핵무기에 대한 논쟁에 참여하자 각서 서명자들은 "전업적 지적 불순응주의자들(nonconformists)"에 반대하는 입장을 취했다.

1957년부터 Heisenberg는 플라스마 물리학과 핵융합 과정에 관심을 보였다. 그는 또한 제네바에 있는 국제 원자 물리학 연구소와 협력했다. 그는 연구소의 과학 정책 위원회 위원이었고 몇 년 동안 위원회 위원장을 지냈다. 그는 오데르-나이세 선(Oder–Neiße line)을 독일과 폴란드의 공식 국경으로 인정할 것을 요구하고 서독의 핵무장 가능성에 반대하는 튀빙겐 각서(Memorandum of Tübingen)의 서명자 8명 중 하나였다.

1973년 하이젠베르크는 하버드 대학교에서 양자 이론 개념의 역사적 발전에 대해 강의했다. 1973년 3월 24일 하이젠베르크는 바바리아 가톨릭 아카데미(The Catholic Academy of Bavaria) 앞에서 연설을 하여 로마노 과르디니 상(Romano Guardini Prize)을 수상했다. 그의 연설을 영어로 번역한 것은 《과학적 및 종교적 진실 (Scientific and Religious Truth)》이라는 제목으로 출판되었으며, 그 인용문은 이 기사의 뒷부분에 나온다.

 철학과 세계관 
하이젠베르크는 동양 철학을 존경했고 동양 철학과 양자 역학 사이의 유사점을 보았고 자신을 《현대물리학과 동양사상(The Tao of Physics)》라는 책과 "완전히 일치"한다고 설명했다. 하이젠베르크는 인도 철학에 대해 라빈드라나트 타고르와 대화한 후 "너무 미친 것처럼 보였던 일부 아이디어가 갑자기 훨씬 더 이해가 되었다"고 말하기까지 했다.

루트비히 비트겐슈타인의 철학과 관련하여 하이젠베르크는 《논리철학 논고(Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus)》를 싫어했지만 "비트겐슈타인의 후기 사상과 언어에 대한 그의 철학"은 매우 좋아했다.

독실한 기독교인인 하이젠베르크Marganau, Henry (1985). "Why am I a Christian". Truth Journal, Vol. I가 알베르트 아인슈타인에게 보내는 마직막 편지에서 쓰기를: "우리는 선하신 주 하나님이 아원자 입자의 위치를 알고 계셔서 인과관계 원리가 계속 타당성을 가지도록 하신다고 스스로를 위로할 수 있다."라고 했다. 아인슈타인은 우주가 근본적인 수준에서 불확실하다는 것을 암시하기 때문에 양자 물리학은 불완전함에 틀림없다고 계속 주장했다.

하이젠베르크는 "자연과학이라는 잔을 한모금 마시면 당신은 무신론자가 될 것이지만, 그 잔 밑바닥에서 신은 당신을 기다리고 있다."라고 말했다.

1950년대에 행해진 강의에서 나중에 《물리학과 철학(Physics and Philosophy)》으로 출판된 하이젠베르크는 과학적 진보가 문화적 갈등으로 이어지고 있다고 주장했다. 그는 현대 물리학이 "현재 세계의 통합과 확장을 향한 경향이 있는 일반적인 역사적 과정의 일부"라고 표명했다.

하이젠베르크가 1974년 로마노 구아르디니 상(Romano Guardini Prize)을 받았을 때 그는 연설을 했고 나중에 《과학과 종교의 진리(Scientific and Religious Truth)》라는 제목으로 출판했다. 그는 숙고했다:

과학의 역사에서 유명한 갈릴레오의 재판 이후로, 과학적 진리는 세상의 종교적 해석과 조화될 수 없다고 반복해서 주장되어 왔다. 나는 이제 과학적 진리가 그 자신의 분야에서 공격할 수 없다고 확신하지만, 종교적 사고의 내용을 단순히 인류 의식의 시대에 뒤떨어진 단계의 일부, 우리가 포기해야 할 부분으로 일축할 수 있다는 것을 결코 발견하지 못했다. 지금. 따라서 나는 살아오면서 이 두 사고 영역의 관계에 대해 반복적으로 숙고하지 않을 수 없었다. 왜냐하면 그것들이 가리키는 것의 실재성을 결코 의심할 수 없었기 때문이다.

— 하이젠베르크 1974, 213

 자서전과 사망 

하이젠베르크의 아들인 마르틴 하이젠베르크는 뷔르츠부르크 대학교의 신경생물학자가 되었으며 그의 아들인 요헨 하이젠베르크는 뉴햄프셔 대학교의 물리학 교수가 되었다.

60대 후반에 하이젠베르크는 대중 시장(mass market)을 위해 자서전을 썼다. 1969년에 이 책은 독일에서 출판되었고, 1971년 초에는 영어로 출판되었고, 그 후 몇 년 동안 다른 언어로 출판되었다. 하이젠베르크는 1966년 그의 공개 강의가 철학과 종교의 주제로 점차 바뀌면서 이 프로젝트를 시작했다. 하이젠베르크는 출판을 위해 히르젤 베를라그(Hirzel Verlag)와 존 와일리 & 선즈(John Wiley & Sons)에게 통일장 이론에 관한 교과서의 원고를 보냈다. 그가 출판사 중 한 사람에게 쓴 이 원고는 그의 자서전을 위한 준비 작업이었다. 그는 자서전을 구성하기를: 1) 정확한 과학의 목표, 2) 원자 물리학에서 언어의 문제, 3) 수학과 과학에서의 추상화, 4) 물질의 가분성 또는 칸트의 이율배반, 5) 기본 대칭 6) 과학과 종교 등으로 하였다.

하이젠베르크는 회고록을 일련의 대화 형식으로 썼고, 그의 생애를 망라했다. 이 책은 대중적인 성공을 거두었지만 과학사가들에게는 골칫거리로 여겨졌다. 서문에서 하이젠베르크는 역사적 사건을 더 간결하게 만들기 위해 요약했다고 썼다. 출판 당시 파울 포르만Paul Forman은 《과학(Science)》 저널에서 "이제 합리적으로 재구성된 대화 형식의 회고록이 있다. 그리고 갈릴레오가 잘 알고 있는 대화는 그 자체로 가장 교활한 문학적 장치이라서: 활기차고, 재미있고, 특히 의견을 암시하는 데 적합하면서도 그에 대한 책임은 회피한다." 과학 회고록은 거의 출판되지 않았지만 콘라트 로렌츠와 아돌프 포르트만Adolf Portmann은 광범위한 청중에게 학문을 전달하는 대중적인 책을 저술했다. 하이젠베르크는 자서전을 작성하여 뮌헨의 피페르 베르라그(Piper Verlag)에서 출판했다. 하이젠베르크는 처음에 《원자 물리학에 대한 대화(Gespräche im Umkreis der Atomphysik)》라는 제목을 제안했다. 자서전은 결국 《부분과 전체(Der Teil und das Ganze)》라는 제목으로 출판되었다. 1971년 영어 번역은 《물리학 및 그 너머 (Physics and Beyond): 만남과 대화 (Encounters and Conversations)》라는 제목으로 출판되었다.

하이젠베르크는 1976년 2월 1일 자택에서 신장암으로 사망했다. 다음날 저녁, 그의 동료와 친구들은 물리학 연구소에서 그의 집까지 추모하기 위해 걸어가서 촛불을 켜고 그의 문 앞에 두었다. 하이젠베르크는 뮌헨 발트프리드호프(Waldfriedhof)에 묻혔다.

1980년 그의 아내인 엘리자베트 하이젠베르크는 《정치인의 정치 생활(De, Das politische Leben eines Unpolitischen)》을 출판했다. 그 책에서 그녀는 하이젠베르크를 "무엇보다도 자발적인 사람, 그 다음은 뛰어난 과학자, 그 다음은 매우 재능 있는 예술가, 그리고 네 번째로 의무감으로부터의 호모 폴리티쿠스(homo politicus)"로 묘사했다.

 서훈과 수상 
하이젠베르크는 많은 서훈을 받았다:
 브뤼셀 대학교, 카를스루에 공과대학교 및 외트뵈시 로란드 대학교에서 명예박사학위
 바이에른 공로 훈장
 로마노 구아르디니 상
 스타와 함께 연방 서비스를 위한 대십자(Grand Cross for Federal Service with Star)
 공로 기사단(Knight of the Order of Merit) (시민 계급)
 1937년 미국철학학회 국제 회원, 1955년 왕립학회 외국인회원(ForMemRS), 1958년 미국 예술 과학 아카데미 국제 명예 회원으로 선출되었다.
 괴팅겐, 바이에른, 작센, 프로이센, 스웨덴, 루마니아, 노르웨이, 스페인, 네덜란드(1939), 로마, 나투르포르셰르 레오폴디나 독일 아카데미(Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina)(할레), 린체이 아카데미(로마) 및 미국 과학 아카데미의 회원
 1932년 - 노벨 물리학상 "양자역학의 창안, 그중에서도(inter alia), 이 응용을 통해 수소의 동소체 형태를 발견한 공로로"
 1933년 - 독일 물리학회(Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft)의 막스 플랑크 메달

 핵물리학에 대한 연구 보고서 
다음 보고서는 독일 우란베라인의 내부 간행물인 《핵물리학 연구보고서 (Kernphysikalische Forschungsberichte)》에 게재되었다. 보고서는 극비로 분류되었고 배포가 매우 제한적이었고 저자는 사본을 보관할 수 없었다. 보고서는 연합군 알소스 작전에 따라 압수되었고 평가를 위해 미국 원자력 위원회로 보내졌다. 1971년에 보고서는 기밀 해제되어 독일로 반환되었다. 그 보고서는 카를스루에 핵연구 센터와 미국 물리학 연구소에서 볼 수 있다. Walker 1993, pp. 268–274
 Werner Heisenberg Die Möglichkeit der technischer Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung G-39 (1939년 12월 6일)
 Werner Heisenberg Bericht über die Möglichkeit technischer Energiegewinnung aus der Uranspaltung (II) G-40 (1940년 2월 29일)
 Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Bestimmung der Diffusionslänge thermischer Neutronen in schwerem Wasser G-23 (1940년 8월 7일)
 Robert Döpel, Klara Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Bestimmung der Diffusionslänge thermischer Neutronen in Präparat 38 G-22 (1940년 12월 5일)
 Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Versuche mit Schichtenanordnungen von D2O und 38 G-75 (1941년 10월 28일)
 Werner Heisenberg Über die Möglichkeit der Energieerzeugung mit Hilfe des Isotops 238 G-92 (1941년)
 Werner Heisenberg Bericht über Versuche mit Schichtenanordnungen von Präparat 38 und Paraffin am Kaiser Wilhelm Institut für Physik in Berlin-Dahlem G-93 (1941년 5월)
 Fritz Bopp, Erich Fischer, Werner Heisenberg, Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker, and Karl Wirtz Untersuchungen mit neuen Schichtenanordnungen aus U-metall und Paraffin G-127 (1942년 3월)
 Robert Döpel Bericht über Unfälle beim Umgang mit Uranmetall G-135 (1942년 7월 9일)
 Werner Heisenberg Bemerkungen zu dem geplanten halbtechnischen Versuch mit 1,5 to D2O und 3 to 38-Metall G-161 (1942년 7월 31일)
 Werner Heisenberg, Fritz Bopp, Erich Fischer, Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäcker, and Karl Wirtz Messungen an Schichtenanordnungen aus 38-Metall und Paraffin G-162 (1942년 10월 30일)
 Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Der experimentelle Nachweis der effektiven Neutronenvermehrung in einem Kugel-Schichten-System aus D2O und Uran-Metall G-136 (1942년 7월)
 Werner Heisenberg Die Energiegewinnung aus der Atomkernspaltung G-217 (1943년 5월 6일)
 Fritz Bopp, Walther Bothe, Erich Fischer, Erwin Fünfer, Werner Heisenberg, O. Ritter, and Karl Wirtz Bericht über einen Versuch mit 1.5 to D2O und U und 40 cm Kohlerückstreumantel (B7) G-300 (1945년 1월 3일)
 Robert Döpel, K. Döpel, and Werner Heisenberg Die Neutronenvermehrung in einem D2O-38-Metallschichtensystem G-373 (1942년 3월)

 기타 연구 출판물 
 Sommerfeld, A.; Heisenberg, W. (1922). "Eine Bemerkung über relativistische Röntgendubletts und Linienschärfe". Z. Phys. 10 (1): 393–398.
 Sommerfeld, A.; Heisenberg, W. (1922). "Die Intensität der Mehrfachlinien und ihrer Zeeman-Komponenten". Z. Phys. 11 (1): 131–154.
 Born, M.; Heisenberg, W. (1923). "Über Phasenbeziehungen bei den Bohrschen Modellen von Atomen und Molekeln". Z. Phys. 14 (1): 44–55.
 Born, M.; Heisenberg, W. (1923). "Die Elektronenbahnen im angeregten Heliumatom". Z. Phys. 16 (9): 229–243.
 Born, M.; Heisenberg, W. (1924). "Zur Quantentheorie der Molekeln". Annalen der Physik. 74 (4): 1–31.
 Born, M.; Heisenberg, W. (1924). "Über den Einfluss der Deformierbarkeit der Ionen auf optische und chemische Konstanten. I". Z. Phys. 23 (1): 388–410.
 — (1924). "Über Stabilität und Turbulenz von Flüssigkeitsströmmen (Diss.)". Annalen der Physik. 74 (4): 577–627.
 — (1924). "Über eine Abänderung der formalin Regeln der Quantentheorie beim Problem der anomalen Zeeman-Effekte". Z. Phys. 26 (1): 291–307.
 — (1925). "Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematischer und mechanischer Beziehungen". Zeitschrift für Physik. 33 (1): 879–893. 1925년 7월 29일 발행되었다. [영어 번역: 판 데르 베르덴van der Waerden 1968, 12 "운동과 기계적 관계의 양자이론적 재해석"] 이것은 양자역학의 행렬 역학 공식을 시작한 유명한 3부작 중 첫 번째 논문이다.
 Born, M.; Jordan, P. (1925). "Zur Quantenmechanik". Zeitschrift für Physik. 34 (1): 858–888. 1925년 9월 27일 발행되었다. [영어 번역: 판 데르 베르덴 1968, "양자역학에 대하여"] 이것은 양자역학의 행렬역학 공식을 시작한 유명한 3부작 중 두 번째 논문이다.
 Born, M.; Heisenberg, W.; Jordan, P. (1926). "Zur Quantenmechanik II". Zeitschrift für Physik. 35 (8–9): 557–615. 1925년 11월 16일 발행되었다. [영어 번역: 판 데르 베르덴 1968, 15 "양자역학에 대하여 II"] 이것은 양자역학의 매트릭스 공식을 시작한 유명한 3부작 중 세 번째 논문이다.
 — (1927~1928). 독일어 논문 2편
 —; Pauli, W. (1929). "Zur Quantendynamik der Wellenfelder". Z. Phys. 56 (1): 1–61.
 —; Pauli, W. (1930). "Zur Quantentheorie der Wellenfelder. II". Z. Phys. 59 (3–4): 168–190.
 — (1932~1936). 독알어 논문 5편
 —; Euler, H. (1936). "Folgerungen aus der Diracschen Theorie des Positrons". Z. Phys. 98 (11–12): 714–732.
 — (1936~1948). 독일어 논문 10편
 —; von Laue, M. (1948). "Das Barlowsche Rad aus supraleitendem Material". Z. Phys. 124 (7–12): 514–518.
 — (1948). "Zur statistischen Theorie der Tubulenz". Z. Phys. 124 (7–12): 628–657.
 — (1948). "통계 및 등방성 난류 이론에 대하여(On the theory of statistical and isotropic turbulence)". Proceedings of the Royal Society A. 195 (1042): 402–406.
 — (1948). "Bemerkungen um Turbulenzproblem". Z. Naturforsch. 3a (8–11): 434–7.
 — (1949). "중간자 샤워의 형성(Production of mesons showers)". Nature. 164 (4158): 65–67.
 — (1936 ~ 1948). 독일어 논문 10편
 — (1955). "매우 높은 에너지 충돌에서 중간자 생성(The production of mesons in very high energy collisions)". Nuovo Cimento. 12 (Suppl): 96–103.
 — (1949). 독일어 논문 2편
 — (1950). "층류 흐름의 안정성에 대하여(On the stability of laminar flow)". Proc. International Congress Mathematicians. II: 292–296.
 — (1952). 독일어 논문 2편
 — (1975). "양자 이론의 역사에서 개념의 발전(Development of concepts in the history of quantum theory)". American Journal of Physics. 43 (5): 389–394. 이 글의 내용는 하이젠베르크가 하버드 대학교 강연에서 제시한 것이다.

 출판 저서 
 — (1949) [1930]. The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory. Translators Eckart, Carl; Hoyt, F.C. Dover.
 — (1955). Das Naturbild der heutigen Physik. Rowohlts Enzyklopädie. 8. Rowohlt.
 — (1966). Philosophic Problems of Nuclear Science. Fawcett.
 — (1971). Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations. Harper & Row
 —; Busche, Jürgen (1979). Quantentheorie und Philosophie: Vorlesungen und Aufsätze. Reclam.
 — (1979). Philosophical problems of quantum physics. Ox Bow.
 — (1983). Tradition in Science. Seabury Press.
 — (1988). Physik und Philosophie: Weltperspektiven. Ullstein Taschenbuchvlg.
 — (1989). Encounters with Einstein: And Other Essays on People, Places, and Particles. Princeton University Press.
 —; Northrop, Filmer (1999). Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science (Great Minds Series). Prometheus
 — (2002). Der Teil und das Ganze: Gespräche im Umkreis der Atomphysik. Piper; (2005). 《부분과 전체》 김용준 옮김. 지식산업사; (2016). 유영미 옮김. 서커스.
 — (1992). Rechenberg, Helmut (ed.). Deutsche und Jüdische Physik. Piper.
 — (2007). Physik und Philosophie: Weltperspektiven. Hirzel.
 — (2007). Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. Harper Perennial Modern Classics (reprint ed.). HarperCollins. (full text of 1958 version); (2018). 《물리와 철학: 근대 과학의 혁명》 조호근 옮김. 서커스.

 대중 문화에서 
하이젠베르크의 성은 케이블 TV채널 AMC의 범죄 드라마 《브레이킹 배드》의 주인공인 월터 화이트Walter White가 고등학교 화학교사에서 메스 제조자와 마약왕으로 변신하는 동안 주요 가명으로 사용된다.

하이젠베르크는 실제 사건을 바탕으로 한 영화 《더 캐쳐 워즈 어 스파이》에서 스파이 모에 베르그의 암살 표적이었습니다.

하이젠베르크는 필립 K. 딕의 소설 《높은 성의 사나이》를 각색한 아마존 프라임(Amazon Prime) TV시리즈에서 액시스Axis가 사용한 원자폭탄을 만든 공로를 인정받는다. 이 우주에 있는 원자폭탄은 하이젠베르크 장치라고 불린다.

하이젠베르크는 게임 《레지던트 이블 빌리지》의 2차 적대자 칼 하이젠베르크과 동명이다. 하이젠베르크의 강자성에 대한 연구는 캐릭터의 자기 능력에 대한 영감으로 공헌했다.

 같이 보기 
 베르너 하이젠베르크의 이름을 딴 것들의 목록 (List of things named after Werner Heisenberg)
 독일 발명가 맟 발견자들의 목록(German inventors and discoverers)
 양자 이론의 물리적 원리(The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory)

 노트 

 각주 

 참고 문헌 

 Bernstein, Jeremy (2001). Hitler's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall. Copernicus.
 Bernstein, Jeremy (March 2004). "Heisenberg in Poland". Am. J. Phys. 72 (3): 300–304. • See also Gottstein, Klaus (2004). "Comment on 'Heisenberg in Poland' by Jeremy Bernstein [Am. J. Phys. 72 (3), 300–304 (2004)"] (PDF). LETTER TO THE EDITOR. Am. J. Phys. 72 (9): 1143–1145.
 Beyerchen, Alan D. (1977). Scientists Under Hitler: Politics and the Physics Community in the Third Reich. Yale.
 Carson, Cathryn (2010). Heisenberg in the Atomic Age: Science and the Public Sphere. Cambridge University Press.
 Cassidy, David C. (1992). Uncertainty: The Life and Science of Werner Heisenberg. Freeman.
 Cassidy, David C. (1992a). "Heisenberg, German Science, and the Third Reich". Social Research. 59 (3): 643–661.
 Cassidy, David C. (2009). Beyond Uncertainty: Heisenberg, Quantum Physics, and the Bomb. Bellevue Literary Press.
 Goudsmit, Samuel A. (1986). Alsos. Tomash Publishers.
 Heisenberg, W. (1927). "Über den anschaulichen Inhalt der quantentheoretischen Kinematik und Mechanik". Z. Phys. 43 (3–4): 172–198.
 Heisenberg, W. (1928). "Zur Theorie des Ferromagnetismus". Z. Phys. 49 (9–10): 619–636.
 Heisenberg, W.; Pauli, W. (1929). "Zur Quantendynamik der Wellenfelder". Z. Phys. 56 (1):
 Heisenberg, W.; Pauli, W. (1930). "Zur Quantentheorie der Wellenfelder. II". Z. Phys. 59 (3–4): 168–190.
 Heisenberg, W. (1932a). "Über den Bau der Atomkerne. I". Z. Phys. 77 (1–2): 1–11.
 Heisenberg, W. (1932b). "Über den Bau der Atomkerne. II". Z. Phys. 78 (3–4): 156–164.
 Heisenberg, W. (1933). "Über den Bau der Atomkerne. III". Z. Phys. 80 (9–10): 587–596.
 Heisenberg, W. (1934). "Bemerkungen zur Diracschen Theorie des Positrons". Zeitschrift für Physik. 90 (3–4): 209–231.
 Heisenberg, W. (1936a). "Über die 'Schauer' in der Kosmischen Strahlung". Forsch. Fortscher. 12: 341–342.
 Heisenberg, W. (1936b). "Zur Theorie der 'Schauer' in der Höhenstrahlung". Z. Phys. 101 (9–10): 533–540.
 Heisenberg, W.; Euler, H. (1936). "Folgerungen aus der Diracschen Theorie des Positrons". Z. Phys. 98 (11–12): 714–732.
 Hentschel, Klaus; Hentschel, Ann M., eds. (1996). Physics and National Socialism: An Anthology of Primary Sources. Birkhäuser.
 Macrakis, Kristie (1993). Surviving the Swastika: Scientific Research in Nazi Germany. Oxford University Press.
 Mott, N.; Peierls, R. (November 1977). "Werner Heisenberg". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 23: 213–251.
 Powers, Thomas (1993). Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb. Knopf. van der Waerden, B.L., ed. (1968). Sources of Quantum Mechanics. Dover.
 Walker, Mark (1993). German National Socialism and the Quest for Nuclear Power 1939–1949. Cambridge.

 외부 링크 

 Annotated Bibliography for Werner Heisenberg  from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
 MacTutor Biography: Werner Karl Heisenberg
 Heisenberg/Uncertainty  Archived 16 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine biographical exhibit by American Institute of Physics.
 Key Participants: Werner Heisenberg – Linus Pauling and the Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History''
 Nobelprize.org biography
 Werner Heisenberg: Atomic Physics Mentorees
 "Oral history interview transcript with Werner Heisenberg" . American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives. 16 June 1970.
 "Oral history interview transcript with Werner Heisenberg" . American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library & Archives. 30 November 1962.
 Newspaper clippings about Werner Heisenberg in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

추가 링크 
  노벨 재단 전기
 
 

 
1901년 출생
1976년 사망
독일의 물리학자
독일의 대학 교수
양자역학
과학철학자
이론물리학자
뷔르츠부르크 출신
뮌헨 대학교 동문
괴팅겐 대학교 동문
베를린 훔볼트 대학교 교수
노벨 물리학상 수상자
독일의 노벨상 수상자
프로이센 과학 아카데미의 회원
교황청 과학원의 회원
푸르 르 메리트 민사훈장 수훈자
대연방공로십자성현장 수훈자
20세기의 자유군단 관련자
신장암으로 죽은 사람
양자물리학자
20세기 물리학자
왕립학회 외국인 회원
막스 플랑크 메달 수상자
유체역학자

중국의 역사(中國史, )에 대한 최초의 기록은 기원전 1250년 무정의 통치기인 상나라(기원전 1600~1046년 경)로 거슬러 올라간다. 황하 문명은 여러 다른 문명의 영향을 받았으며 중국 본토에서는 하나라, 상나라, 기나라, 주나라 이래 약 5000년 동안 수많은 여러 왕조가 흥망을 반복해 왔다.

한나라 때는 현재 중국 민족의 대부분을 차지하는 한족이라는 개념이 생겨났고 당나라는 서방의 페르시아, 이슬람 제국, 동로마 제국과의 교류도 하였다. 그러던 중 위, 촉, 오의 연이어진 싸움으로 인해 한나라가 분열되고 합쳐지길 반복하다 한나라는 멸망하게 된다. 한나라의 멸망 이후 한족들이 취약해지고 서진의 멸망 이후로 북방 민족들이 화북 지역에 대대적으로 쳐들어온 뒤부터 수나라가 중국을 통일하기 전까지 화북은 이민족들의 무대가 된다. 한족들이 건국한 송나라 때는 중국 중세 문화가 전성기를 이루었으나 군사력이 너무 약해 주변 이민족들로부터 끊임없는 침략을 받다가 남송이 몽골족의 몽골제국에 의해 멸망함으로써 사라진다. 이후 몽골제국이 4개의 칸국하고 원나라로 분열되었으며 한족들이 몽골족을 몰아내고 명나라를 건국하게 된다. 명나라는 영락제 때 대대적인 영토 확장을 포함해 정화의 원정 등으로 큰 전성기를 맞게 된다. 임진왜란으로 인해 명나라가 약해지자 여진족은 이틈을 타서 후금을 건국한 이후 명나라를 멸망시키고 청나라를 건국하여 지배자로서 중국을 손에 넣고 통치한다. 그러나 19세기에 들어서 제1차 아편 전쟁과 제2차 아편 전쟁에서 청나라가 영국에 패배한 이후, 중국 본토는 "아시아의 병자" 서구 열강의 반식민지로 전락하고 말았고 대만과 만주는 일본 제국에 지배당하고 중국 한족의 남조의 수도로서 상징적이던 난징은 이민족에게 유린당했던 것처럼 현대에는 일본에 의해 난징 대학살과 강간으로 유린당한다. 홍콩은 영국이 지배했으며 마카오는 포르투갈이 지배하였다.

여진족이 건국한 청나라의 무능에 반발하여 태평 천국 운동이 일어났으나 진압되었다. 그 후 한족의 개혁파들에 의해 양무 운동과 변법 자강 운동이 차례로 일어났으나 반식민지로 전락한 중국은 힘이 없었고 열강의 지배와 간섭으로 실패했다. 한편 서태후 등 보수파의 사주로 반외세 운동인 의화단 운동을 일으켰으나 진압되었다. 그 후 신해혁명이 일어나 1912년에는 아시아 최초의 공화제 국가 중화민국이 탄생했다. 하지만 일본 제국에 의해 포섭되기도 하는 각지의 군벌에 의해 수많은 내전이 일어났고 몽골, 티베트의 독립 운동 등으로 말미암아 중화민국은 혼란에 싸여 분열되었다. 또한 일본 제국의 침략에 의해 중국 동부 지역을 잃고 난징이 유린을 당하며 중국 자체가 지배당할 뻔한 위험한 시기를 보냈다. 이 때 일본의 중국 정복에 대항하기 위해 러시아와 가까워졌으나 러시아 또한 중국에 조계지를 설치하고 중국 영토로 남하하며 영향력을 행사하였다. 1930년대에는 국공 내전(중국에서는 보통 “해방 전쟁”이라 칭함)과 중일 전쟁(중국에서는 보통 “항일전쟁”이라 칭함)이 발발하여 중국 각지가 전장이 되었다. 이 시기에는 중앙 정부가 2개 이상인 때에도 있었다.

많은 중국인 가난한 농민, 소작농 계급들로 구성된 중국공산당은 소련의 영향 아래에서 힘을 키웠고 그 후 중일 전쟁 중에 일본의 세력 아래에 있던 군벌들을 견제하기 위하여 소련의 영향력 아래에서 세력을 늘려 온 중국공산당은 계속되는 오랜 내전으로 군인들에 의해 반복되던 민간인에 대한 살인과 강간, 방화에 지친 중국인들의 민심을 얻었다. 1945년에 일본이 미국에 패망하고 나서 중국공산당은 중국 내에서 일어나던 국공 내전에서 승리를 거두고 1949년 10월 1일 중화인민공화국 정부를 세웠다. 중화인민공화국에서는 매년 10월 1일을 국경절로 정하고 이를 기념한다.

선사 시대

구석기 시대 

호모 에렉투스는 180만 년에서 130만 년 전 사이 유라시아에 도착했으며, 수많은 아종의 흔적이 현재 중국에서 발연된다. 이중 가장 오래된 것은 의 남서쪽의 위안머우 원인(; 윈난성에 살았다.)으로, 덤불과 숲이 혼합된 환경에서 칼리코테륨, 사슴, 스테고돈, 소, 돼지,  파키크로쿠타 등과 함께 살았다. 이보다 비교적 더 알려진 베이징 원인(; 기원전 70만 년 전에서 기원전 40만 년 전까지 베이징에서 살았다.)은 저우커우디안에서 긁개(scraper),  발부리(chopper)와 함께 발견되었으며, 조금 뒤 세대에는 새기개와 송곳도 발견되었다. 다른 호모 에렉투스 화석들은 북서쪽의 란톈 원인(; 산시성에서 살았다.)을  포함해서 여러 지역에서 널리 발견되고 있으며, 랴오닝성 북부와 광둥성 남부에도 작은 고대 인류의 흔적들이 발견됐다. 많은 구석기 유물들의 날짜들은 오랫동안 논쟁거리가 되었으나, 현대의 자기 층서학에 의해 더 확실히 확립되었다. 예컨데, 마주안고는 166만 년에서 150만 년 전, 란포는 160만 년, 샤오창량과 시안타이는 136만 년 전, 반샨은 132만 년 전, 페이량은 120만 년 전, 그리고 동구투오는 110만 년 전에 형성되었다. 또한, 호모 에렉투스가 불을 썼다는 증거들은 180만 년 전에서 100만 년 전쯤 산시성 시후두의 유적에서 발생했다.

호모 에렉투스의 진화를 둘러싼 사건들에 대해서 여러 가지 가설들이 있다. 이 중 세가지 주요 이론들은 각각 아프리카 기원설, 다지역 기원설, 그리고 다른 가설들이 혼합되어 변형된 아프리카 기원설이 있다. 이와 별개로, 중국에서 최초의 현대인류는 후난성 다오현의 푸옌 동굴의 화석화된 이빨이 발견되었다는 것에 근거하여 12만 년 전에서 8만 년 전 사이에  살았다는 것으로 연대가 측정됐다. 이들과 같이 살았던 동물들로는 멸종된 아이루포다 바코니 판다, 크로쿠타 울티마 하이에나, 스테고돈, 거대 맥 등이 있다. 그리고 중기 구석기 시대 르발루아 기법의 흔적이 17만 년 전에서 8만 년 전 사이의 중국 남서부 관인동 동굴 유적지의 석기 유물군에서 발견되었다.

신석기 시대

청동기 시대

신대 

삼황오제(三皇五帝)는 중국 신화에 나오는 고대의 전설적 제왕들이다. 삼황(三皇)은 복희씨(伏羲氏), 신농씨(神農氏), 여와씨(女媧氏)를 말하며, 오제(五帝)는 황제헌원(黃帝軒轅), 전욱고양(顓頊高陽), 제곡고신(帝嚳高辛), 제요방훈(帝堯放勳:陶唐氏), 제순중화(帝舜重華:有虞氏)를 지칭한다.

중국 문명 
 장강 문명(長江文明)
 황하 문명(黄河文明)

선진 시대 
중국에서는 이 시기를 ‘선진 시기’(先秦時期)라고도 한다. 하(夏) (기원전 21세기 - 기원전 17세기)의 경우 논란의 여지는 남아 있으나, 대체로 실존했던 국가로 받아들여지고 있다. 하를 무너뜨리고 세운 상(商) (기원전 17세기 - 기원전 11세기 중반)은 은허로 수도를 옮긴 이후에 은(殷)이라고도 부르며, 한때 신화로 알려졌었다. 하지만, 은허의 유적 발굴 이후 실존했던 국가로 인정되었다.

주(周) (기원전 1050년 경 - 기원전 256년)는 본래 상(은)나라의 제후국이었으나, 상(은)나라 말기 주왕(紂王)의 폭압으로 상(은)나라를 무너뜨리고 패권을 잡은 나라다. 이 때 주의 왕을 처음으로 ‘천자’(天子)라고 불렀다. 주의 패권은 춘추 전국 시대(春秋戰國時代) (기원전 770년 - 기원전 221년)가 되면서 약해지기 시작한다. 춘추 시대에는 여러 주나라의 제후국들이 주의 천자를 존중하고 각자의 세력을 다투던 시기로, 세력이 강한 제후국들 중에 주 왕실의 이름으로 천하를 호령한 제(齊)-환공(桓公), 진(晉)-문공(文公), 초(楚)-장왕(莊王), 오(吳)-합려(闔閭), 월(越)-구천(勾踐)의 5제후를 춘추 오패라고 부른다. 전국 시대로 들어서면서 천자에 대한 충성마저 약화되기 시작한 시기로, 진(秦), 한(韓), 제(齊), 위(魏), 조(趙), 연(燕), 초(楚)라는 전국 칠웅이 차례로 왕을 칭하고 오로지 천하 통일을 위해 질주하였다.

중화 제국 

진 시황제는 기원전 221년에 스스로를 "황제"(황제)라고 선언했고 통치자들은 기원후 1911년 청나라의 마지막 황제가 퇴위할 때까지 이 용어를 계속 사용했기 때문에 이 기간을 전통적으로 중화 제국(Imperial China)이라고 부른다. 때로는 초기, 중기 및 후기의 세 하위 기간으로 나뉜다. 초기에는 진(秦)의 통일과 한(漢)으로의 교체, 제1분열(삼국시대) 후 진(晉)의 통일, 북중국의 상실 등이 있다. 중기에는 수(隋)의 통일과 당(唐), 제2분열(오대십국)이 포함된다. 후기 기간에는 송(宋), 원(元), 명(明), 청(淸)이 포함된다.

그러나 중화 제국이라는 용어와 이를 통한 초기, 중기, 후기 시대구분법은 구미학계에서 고안된 것으로, 절대적인 시대구분법은 아니라는 것에 주의할 필요가 있다. 또한 후기 중화 제국은 경우에 따라 송과 원을 포함하지 않고 명과 청만 넣기도 한다.

초기 중화 제국(Early Imperial China)

진한 시기 
진(秦) (기원전 221년 - 기원전 207년)은 한(韓), 제(齊), 위(魏), 조(趙), 연(燕), 초(楚)를 무너뜨리고 중국 본토를 통일하였다. 진은 이어 모든 제후국을 폐지하고 조정에서 직접 다스리는 군현제를 처음 실시하였다. 이어 진왕 영정은 처음으로 ‘황제’(皇帝)의 칭호를 사용하였다. 진(秦)나라의 무리한 통치와 폭압으로 각지에서 반란이 일어났다. 진나라는 진 이세황제의 치세에 몰락하여, 그 뒤 멸망하였고, 초한전을 거쳐 한나라가 중원을 통일한다. 한나라는 200년 넘게 유지된 중앙집권적 국가로 서양에 최초로 이름이 알려진 나라이기도 하다. 전한(前漢) (기원전 206년 - 서기 9년)은 한나라(전한)의 외척이었던 왕망이 황위를 찬탈하여 세운 신(新) (9년 - 23년)에 의해 잠시 명맥이 끊기나, 신나라는 급격한 개혁이 민중의 호응을 얻지 못하고 각지의 반란으로 망하였고, 한나라(전한)를 계승한 국가인 후한(後漢) (25년 - 220년)이 다시 통일 국가를 이루었으나, 화제 이후의 황권은 환관들과 외척들로 인하여 크게 약화되었다. 위에게 멸망당했다.

위진 남북조 시기 
대한민국에서는 삼국 시대(三國時代) (220년 - 280년)라고 하지만 중화민국과 중화인민공화국에서는 남북조 시대(南北朝時代) (439년 - 589년)까지 포괄하여 위진 남북조 시기라고 한다.

위(魏)는 조비가 후한의 황제로부터 직접 제위를 물려받은 국가로 중원 지역을 차지하였다. 촉(蜀) 후한 황실의 후예인 유비가 계승하였으나, 세력권은 서남 지방에 한정되었다. 한편 손권의 오(吳)는 독자적인 세력으로 장강 이남을 차지하였다. 위는 사마염의 서진(西晉) (265년 - 316년)에게 승계되며 서진이 삼국을 통일하게 되나, 초기부터 황실 분란인 팔왕의 난 등으로 혼란스럽다가, 흉노족의 전조에게 멸망당한다. 서진의 멸망 이후 서진이 있던 자리에 16개의 국가가 들어서 패권을 겨뤘으니 이를 십육국 시대(十六國時代) (316년 - 439년)라 한다. 비한족 국가인 전조(前趙)·후조(後趙)·전연(前燕)·후연(後燕)·남연(南燕), 관중(關中)에 있던 전진(前秦)·후진(後秦)·서진(西秦) 및 하투(河套)의 하(夏), 사천(四川)의 성한(成漢), 하서(河西)의 후량(後涼)·북량(北涼)·남량(南涼)과 한족 국가인 북연(北燕), 하서(河西)의 전량(前涼), 서량(西涼)이 있었으며, 전조, 후조, 전진(前秦) 등이 한때 큰 세력권을 과시했으나 결국 북조의 북위로 통합된다. 북위(北魏)는 선비족 탁발씨의 국가로, 3대 태무제의 시기에 화북을 통일하였다. 그러나 북위는 곧 동위(東魏)와 서위(西魏)로 분리되고, 동위는 북제(北齊), 서위는 북주(北周)로 이어진다. 북제는 이후 북주에 흡수되고, 북주는 왕실 외척인 양견에 의해 수(隋)로 국호를 바꾸게 된다.

한편 서진 황실의 계승을 천명한 동진(東晉)은 서진의 영토를 되찾으려 여러 차례 노력했으나 모두 실패한다. 세력권은 주로 장강 이남으로 한정되었다. 동진을 계승한 국가들이 이어진 왕조를 남조라고 하며, 송(宋)=유송(劉宋), 제(齊)=남제(南齊), 양(梁), 진(陳)이 있다. 수나라에게 멸망당한다.

중기 중화 제국(Mid-Imperial China)

수•당 시기 
수(隋) (581년 - 618년)는 북주의 외척인 양견에 의해 건국된 나라로, 남조의 진을 멸망시키고 통일하나, 무리한 원정과 과도한 세금 징수로 인해 건국한지 얼마 지나지 않아 멸망하였고, 당(唐) (618년 - 907년)으로 이어진다. 당나라는 비단길을 통한 유럽과의 교역을 활성화시켜 중국 고대 문화를 서양에 전파하였다. 한편 당나라의 황후이던 측천무후가 조정을 장악하고 아들인 당의 황제를 황태자로 격하시키고 국호를 잠시 주(周) (690년 - 705년)로 바꾼다. 측천무후의 반대파에 대한 대대적인 숙청으로 공포 정치를 펼쳤으나, 인재 중심의 정치 역시 펼쳐서 백성들의 삶이 어느 정도 안정되었다. 측천무후 이후 다시 국호를 당으로 바꾸게 된다. 후량에게 멸망당한다.

오대십국시기 
오대십국(五代十國) 시기 (907년 - 960년)는 화북의 정권을 다투던 5개의 대국과 나머지 10개의 소국이 혼재했던 시기이다.

후기 중화 제국(Late Imperial China)

송 
5대 10국의 혼란을 수습하고 송(宋) (960년 - 1279년)이 다시 중원을 통일하였다. 세계 최초로 지폐를 발행하였으며, 중국 역사상 최초로 상비 해군을 창설하였다. 또한 문화 정치를 펼친 왕조이기도 하다. 이 시기에는 쌀과 보리의 이모작이 확대되었으며, 예술, 사상 및 각종 실용기술의 발달이 두드러져, 문화적으로 풍요롭던 시기였다. 그러나 내몽골 지역과 만주 지역을 차지한 거란족이 세운 국가인 요(遼) (916년 - 1125년)에 의해 베이징 이북의 많은 지역을 빼앗기고, 요나라와 서하에 사실상의 조공을 납부하며 별 위세를 떨치지 못하다가, 요나라의 지배하에 있던 여진족이 요나라를 정복하고 세운 금(金) (1115년 - 1234년)에게 화북 지방을 빼앗기고 멸망한다. 이 때까지를 북송(北宋)시대라고 하고, 이후 북송의 황실을 계승한 왕조를 남송(南宋)이라고 한다. 몽골 제국과 함께 금나라를 멸망시키는 데에는 성공하지만, 몽골 제국을 계승한 원나라에 의해 멸망한다.

원 
원(元) (1271년 - 1368년)은 만주, 중앙아시아, 서남아시아, 동유럽까지 지배한 몽골 제국의 적장자인 쿠빌라이 칸이 몽골고원, 만주, 화북력들을 아우르는 지역의 한족식으로 세운 국가로, 남송을 멸망시키고 중국 본토를 장악하게 된다.

명 
그러나 주원장이 원나라를 몽골 고원으로 몰아내고 명(明) (1368년 -1644년)이라는 한족 왕조를 건국한다. 초기에는 외국과 교류하며 선진 문물을 과시했으나, 후기로 갈수록 임진왜란 등 외부 원정의 부담과 문화 침체로 쇠퇴하다가 사르후에서의 패배와 숭정제의 실책으로 멸망한다. 명나라의 몰락을 틈타 금나라의 후예인 만주족이 후금을 세워 중국을 다시 통일하였다.

한편 남명(南明) (1644년 - 1662년)은 멸망당한 명나라의 왕실을 계승한 나라로, 명의 부흥을 기도하였으나 청나라에 망하였다. 남명의 신하였던 정성공은 타이난으로 건너가 정씨왕국을 설립하여 청나라에 대항하지만 3대째에 복속당한다.

청 
청(淸) (1616년 - 1912년)은 후금을 계승한 왕조로, 초기에는 한족을 정책적으로 차별했으나, 전체적인 제도 및 왕조의 분위기는 명나라와 유사하였다. 양무 운동을 통해 근대 국가 진입을 시도하였으나 실패하고, 서구 열강 세력들의 이권침탈이 심화되면서 더욱 더 쇠퇴하고, 1912년에 신해 혁명으로 멸망한다. 청나라 소조정이 1912년부터 1924년까지 유지되었지만 결국 붕괴되었다. 그 사이에 청나라 복벽사건이 일어나서 1917년 7월 1일부터 청 황조가 복벽되었으나 1917년 7월 12일에 끝을 맺었다.

현대사 

중화민국(中華民國) (1912년 - 현재)은 신해혁명의 성공으로 수립된/ 아시아 최초의 공화제 국가이다. 이후 각 지방의 실력자들이 군벌로 등장하였다. 특히 위안스카이는 자신이 거느리는 북양 군벌을 이끌고 쑨원으로부터 대총통 자리를 넘겨받았다. 위안스카이가 1916년 사망하자, 이후 그의 부하들이 할거했는데, 대표적으로 안휘파의 돤치루이, 직예파의 펑궈장, 차오쿤, 오패부, 봉천파의 장쭤린, 산시파의 옌시산 등이 중국 각지에서 할거하였다. 한편 중화민국 최초의 공화정 체제인 북양 정부는 1928년까지 존속했다. 그 후 북벌이 재개되고 모든 세력이 장제스가 이끄는 중국국민당 수중으로 들어왔다. 이로써 난징을 수도로 하는 중국국민당 주도의 국민 정부가 집권하게 되었다.

한편 천두슈(陳獨秀)와 마오쩌둥(毛澤東)을 주축으로 하는 중국공산당이 농민들 사이에서 지지를 얻고 있었다. 중국국민당은 중국공산당과 제1차 국공 합작을 이루어냈으나, 북벌 과정에서 분열이 일어나, 국공 내전이 시작되었다. 국민 정부는 1931년 만주사변 이래 일본의 침략에 무저항주의를 택하고 오로지 '공산당 타도'에 중점을 두는 정책을 폈으나, 시안 사건을 계기로 제2차 국공합작이 성립되어 항일 민족 통일전선이 결성되었다. 중일전쟁 중에 수도 난징이 점령당하고 충칭을 임시 수도로 정해 옮겼지만, 끝내 일본 제국이 패망하자 난징으로 복귀하게 된다. 하지만 전후 처리 과정에서 내분이 생겨 제2차 국공 내전이 발발하였다. 한편 국공 내전 중에 정부는 새로운 중화민국 헌법을 통과시켜 국민 정부를 헌정 체제로 격상시킨다. 1949년 4월에 중국 인민해방군이 수도 난징을 점령하면서 중국공산당이 사실상 유리한 고지에 서게 된다. 기세를 몰아 중국공산당은 중국 대륙을 석권한 이후 공식적으로 중화인민공화국을 건국한다. 이 과정에서 중화민국 정부는 패닉 상태에 빠져, 국민당에 내분이 일어나 공산당 밑으로 들어가거나(중국국민당 혁명위원회) 타이완, 영국령 홍콩 또는 국외 등지로 피난하는 국민당 관계자도 속출했다. 한편 중국국민당은 장제스의 지도하에 현재의 타이베이 시로 정부를 이전하여 지금까지 중화민국의 법통이 계승되고 있다. 냉전 시대에 한국 전쟁 덕분에 중화민국은 영토의 대부분을 잃었어도 국제적 위상이 거의 변함없었다. 그러나 점차 탈냉전 시대에 들어서게 되면서 실리 외교를 선호하는 세계 다수의 국가들은 중화인민공화국 쪽으로 기울었다. 현재 중화민국을 중국의 합법 정부로 승인하고 있는 나라 수는 대폭 감소했지만, 서로 중국의 정통성을 계승하는 유일한 합법 정부임을 자처하며 하나의 중국 원칙을 내세우고 있기 때문에 ‘두 개의 중국’으로 정부가 병립된 분단 국가로서 동아시아의 정치외교적인 문제로 확대되고 있다.

한편 일본 제국이 세운 괴뢰 정부로 왕징웨이 정권, 몽강연합자치정부, 만주국이 있으나 국민 정부에 통합된다.

국공 내전으로 1949년 10월 중국공산당의 주도로 중국 대륙에 사회주의 국가인 중화인민공화국(中華人民共和國) (1949년 - 현재)이 건국되었다. 소비에트 연방과의 유대 관계를 통해 여러 가지 경제 개혁을 시도하였으나 실패하였고, 국경 분쟁을 일으키는 등 소련과의 관계도 소원해진다. 1971년 유엔 총회 결의 제2758호를 통해 중화민국을 제치고 유엔에 입성하였으며 국제 사회로부터 널리 인정받게 된다. 1971년 '핑퐁외교'로 불리던 리처드 닉슨의 베이징 방문을 계기로, 마침내 1979년 중화민국의 강력한 후원국이던 미국과도 수교하게 된다. 덩샤오핑() 이후 비약적인 경제 성장을 통해 경제 대국 반열에 진입하였다. 1990년대에 영국으로부터 홍콩을, 포르투갈로부터 마카오를 차례로 편입하였다. 2008년에는 베이징 하계 올림픽이, 2010년에는 상하이 엑스포가 개최되으며, 2022년에는 베이징 동계 올림픽이 개최되었다.

인구의 변천 
아래의 데이터는 양학통의 《計劃生育是我國人口史發展的必然》(1980년)에 의한다.

각주

브라-켓 표기법(영어:)은 양자역학에서 양자 상태를 표현하는 표준 표기법으로, 추상적인 벡터와 선형 범함수를 표현하는 데 사용된다.

이 표기법은 꺾쇠괄호 '⟨', '⟩'와 , 수직선 '|' 을 사용하여 표기한다.
오른꺾쇠괄호로 표기한 것을 켓이라고 하며, 주로 열벡터를 나타내고 다음과 같이 쓰인다.

왼꺾쇠괄호로 표기한 것을 브라라고 하며, 주로 행벡터를 나타내고, 다음과 같이 쓰인다.

여기에서 는 '켓-'로 읽고, 는 '브라-'로 읽는다.

유한차원벡터공간에 포함된 브라와 켓에 대하여 일반적으로 다음이 성립한다.

이때, 은 의 켤레 복소수이다.

브라와 켓, 그리고 연산자의 조합은 행렬 곱셈을 표현하는데 사용된다.

브라-켓 표기법은 복소벡터공간에서 벡터의 스칼라곱 또는 벡터 위로의 선형 범함수의 작용을 나타내기 위해 사용된다.
내적이나 작용은 브라-켓 표기법으로 다음과 같이 표현된다.

같은 레이블인(같은 내용물을 가진)브라와 켓은 서로에게 에르미트 수반이다.
쌍대공간의 각 브라 벡터에는 꼭 한 개의 켓벡터가 대응된다는 리스 표현 정리에 의해 〈ψ| 는 다음과 같이 켓벡터 |ψ〉 와 대응되며 잘 정의되어 있다.

브라-켓 표기법은 1939년에 폴 디랙에 의해 소개되었기 때문에 디랙 표기법이라고도 한다.

브라-켓 표기법이 생겨나기 100년 전쯤에 헤르만 그라스만이 내적을

으로 표기한 전례가 있다.

소개 
브라-켓 표기법은 선형 대수학의 표기법으로, 특히 유한/무한 차원의 복소 벡터 공간에서의 벡터, 내적, 선형 연산자, 에르미트 수반, 쌍대공간에 초점이 맞추어져있으며, 특히 양자역학에서 자주 사용되는 연산들을 쉽게 하기 위해 설계되었다.

양자역학에서 브라-켓 표기법은 매우 광범위하게 사용되고 있다. 또한 양자역학으로 설명되는 많은 현상들이 브라-켓 표기법을 사용하여 표현된다.

표기법에 대해 간단히 설명하자면, 켓 은 열벡터이며, 같은 레이블의 브라  의 켤레 전치(행벡터)이다. 그리고 브라, 켓, 선형 연산자를 나란히 쓰는 것은 행렬 곱셈을 의미한다. 그러나, 켓은 열벡터로 쓰여지기 어려운 불가산 무한차원 벡터 공간에서 나타날 수도 있다. 또한, 숫자들의 목록으로 열벡터를 쓰기 위해서는 기저가 필요한데, 이에 반해 ""이라고 쓰는것은 어떠한 특정한 기저를 정할 필요가 없다. 이러한 특성은 자주 다른 기저(예를 들자면 위치 기저, 운동량기저, 에너지 고유기저 등)로 바꿔야하는 양자역학에서의 계산에 유용하며, 그래서 브라-켓 표기법은 행렬로 쓰이기 어려운 기저벡터를 명시적으로 표현하기에 좋다. 심지어 어떤 상황에서는 중요한 두 기저 벡터가 단순히""와""로 표현될 때도 있다.

일부 물리학자들이 선호하는 내적에 대한 표준 수학적 표기법은 다음의 관계로 브라-켓 표기법과 정확히 같은 뜻을 나타낸다.

브라와 켓은 또한 다른 방법으로 구성되어 등의 다른 뜻을 나타낼 수도 있다. 다음의 구성은 외적을 나타낸다.

또한 행렬 곱셈(즉, 열벡터 곱하기 행벡터는 행렬)을 나타낼 수도 있다.

만약 켓이 벡터공간의 한 원소일 경우, 대응되는 브라는 쌍대공간의 원소이다. — 리스 표현 정리를 참고하라.

벡터 공간

벡터와 켓의 차이점 
수학에서 "벡터"라는 용어는 일반적으로 벡터 공간의 한 원소를 일컫는 데에 사용된다. 하지만 물리학에서 "벡터"라는 용어는 대부분 실세계의 세 차원과 직접적으로 연관되어있는 세 요소를 가지고 있는 물리량(변위, 속도 등)들을 일컫는 데에만 사용된다. 이러한 벡터는 일반적으로 화살표를 위에 표시하거나()또는 굵게 표시하여 () 쓰여진다.

양자역학에서 양자 상태는 일반적으로 추상복소벡터공간의 원소로 표현되는데, 예를 들어 모든 가능한 파동함수(삼차원 공간의 각 점에서 복소수로 대응되는 함수)의 유한 차원 벡터 공간 등이 있다. 그러나 "벡터"라는 용어가 이미 다른 것들을 가리키는데 사용되면서(이전 단락을 참고하라.) 이러한 추상복소수벡터공간의 원소들은 일반적으로 "켓"으로 불리게 되고 켓 표기법을 사용하여 표기하게 되었다.

켓 표기법 
디랙이 발명한 켓 표기법은 수직선과 꺽쇠괄호를 사용한다(예시: ). 켓 표기법이 사용된 것들은 "켓"이라고 불리며, 는 "켓-A"로 읽는다. 이러한 켓들은 선형대수학의 일반적인 법칙을 통해 만들어질 수 있다. 다음의 수식은 그 예시이다.

참고로, 어떠한 기호, 문자, 숫자, 심지어 단어라도 레이블로 적절하다면 무엇이든지 켓 안에 레이블로 쓰일 수 있다. 예를 들어, 위 수식의 마지막 줄은 각 실수 마다 있는 무한히 많은 켓들을 조합해서 만들어진다. 다시 말해서 기호""는 "" 자체의 의미와 관계 없이  구체적이고도 보편적인 수학적 의미를 가지고 있다. 예를 들어, 는 일 수도 있고, 아닐 수도 있다. 그러나 이해를 돕기 위해서 켓 안의 레이블은 논리적으로 일관성 있게 붙여진다. 예를 들어, 양자역학에서 에너지 고유켓은 일반적이고 관습적으로 양자수를 나열한 것으로 붙여진다.

내적과 브라 
내적은 일반화된 스칼라곱으로, 두 벡터의 내적은 스칼라이다. 중성 표기법(오로지 내적에만 사용되는 표기법)에서, 내적은  으로 쓰일 수 있다. 여기에서 와 는 모두 추상벡터공간의 원소, 즉, 둘 다 켓이다.

와 의 내적은 브라–켓 표기법으로 다음과 같이 표기할 수 있다.

브라–켓 표기법은 "브래킷(괄호)"으로 불리는 내적을 다음과 같이 "브라"와 "켓" 두 부분으로 나눌 수 있다.

여기에서 는 브라로 불리며, "브라-A"로 읽고, 는 위에서와 같이 켓이다.

내적을 브라와 켓으로 "나누는" 목적은 브라 와 켓 는 둘다 , 그 자체로 의미가 있으며, 내적 밖의 다른 맥락에서 사용될 수 있기 때문이다. 브라와 켓을 분리하는 의미는 크게 두가지가 있지만, 표현 는 아래에 있는 두번째 해석, 즉, 선형 범함수의 작용으로 해석된다.

브라와 켓을 행벡터와 열벡터로 해석 

고정된 정규 직교 기저를 사용하는 유한차원 벡터공간에서, 내적은 다음과 같이 행벡터와 열벡터의 행렬 곱셈으로 쓰일 수 있다.

이를 바탕으로 하면, 브라와 켓은 다음과 같이 정의될 수 있다.

그리고 이러한 정의에서는 브라 옆에 켓을 놓는 것이 행렬 곱셈의 의미를 갖는다는 것을 암시한다.

브라의 켤레 전치(에르미트 수반으로도 알려져 있다.)는 켓과 일치하고, 그 반대의 경우도 마찬가지이다.

왜냐하면 다음과 같은 브라,

가 있을 때, 켤레 복소수를 취하고 행렬을 전치하면 다음과 같은 켓이 되기 때문이다.

브라를 선형범함수로 해석 

무한차원공간으로 일반화하기에 더 쉬운, 동치의 추상적인 정의는 브라를 켓의 공간에서의 선형 범함수로, 즉, 켓을 입력으로 하고 복소수를 출력하는 선형 변환으로 정의하는 것이다. 브라로 표현되는 선형 범함수는 내적과 똑같이 정의된다. 따라서, 만약 가 리스 표현 정리 아래에서 와 상응하는 선형 범함수라면 다음과 같이 함수로 표시할 수 있다.

즉, 이것 또한 내적과 똑같은 복소수를 만들어낸다. 우변의 표현은 여전히 두개의 켓을 포함하지만 내적이 아니다. 이러한 내용이 혼란스러울 수는 있지만, 결국 같은 숫자가 만들어지므로 내적으로 계산해도 큰 문제는 없다.

수학 용어에서, 브라의 벡터 공간은 켓의 벡터공간의 쌍대 공간이며, 상응하는 브라와 켓은 리스 표현 정리에 따라 연관되어있다.

규격화 불가능 상태와 비힐베르트 공간에서의 브라-켓 표기법 
브라–켓 표기법은 힐베르트 공간이 아닌 벡터 공간에서도 사용될 수 있다.

양자역학에서, 무한의 노름을 가지고 있는 켓, 즉, 규격화 불가능 파동함수들은 관습적으로 쓰이고 있다. 예시로는 디랙 델타 함수나 무한 평면파가 파동 함수로 사용되는 상태 등이 있다. 기술적으로, 이러한 상태는 힐베르트 공간에 속하지 않는다. 그러나, "힐베르트 공간"의 정의는 이러한 상태들을 포함하도록 확장될 수 있다.(겔판트-나이마르크-세갈 구성과 조작된 힐베르트 공간을 참고하라.) 브라–켓 표기법은 이러한 넓은 맥락에서도 비유적으로 사용될 수 있다.

바나흐 공간은 힐베르트공간의 다른 정규화이다. 바나흐 공간 에서, 벡터는 켓으로, 선형 범함수는 브라로 표기될 수 있다. 사실, 위상 공간이 아닌 어떠한 벡터공간에서도 벡터를 켓으로 선형 범함수를 브라로 표기하는 것이 가능하다. 이러한 더 일반적인 맥락에서 꺾쇠괄호는 리스 표현 정리가 적용될 수 없기 때문에 더 이상 내적의 의미를 가질 수 없다.

양자역학에서의 사용 
양자역학의 수학적 구조들의 대부분은 선형대수학을 기반으로 한다.

 파동 함수 및 다른 양자상태는 복소수 힐베르트 공간의 벡터로 표현될 수 있다.(이 힐베르트 공간의 정확한 구조는 상황에 따라 다르다.) 브라-켓 표기법에서의 예를 들자면 하나의 전자는 "상태" 에 존재할 수 있다. (기술적으로, 양자상태는 힐베르트 공간위에서 벡터 방향으로의 반직선이기 때문에, 0이 아닌 복소수  에 대해  또한 같은 상태에 대응된다.)
 양자적 중첩상태는 중첩상태를 구성하는 상태들의 벡터 합으로 표현될 수 있다. 예를 들어, 전자가 인 상태에 있는 것은 상태  과 상태 가 중첩된 상태에 있다는 것이다.
 관측은 양자상태의 힐베르트 공간 위에서의 선형연산과 연관된다. 이는 관측가능량이라고도 불린다.
 동역학은 힐베르트 공간에서의 선형 연산자로 설명되기도 한다. 예를 들어, 슈뢰딩거 묘사에는 하나의 전자가 지금 상태 에 있을 때 모든 가능한 에 대해 적용되는 선형 시간 변화 연산자 U가 있어 약간의 시간 뒤의 상태를 로 표시한다.
 파동함수 규격화는 파동 함수의 노름을 1로 맞추는 작업이다.

벡터와 선형 연산자를 포함한 양자역학의 모든 계산은 사실상 브라-켓 표기법으로 표기될 수 있다. 아래는 그에 대한 몇가지 예시이다.

스핀이 없는 위치공간 파동함수 
  

스핀-0 점입자의 힐베르트 공간은 "공간기저" 위에 펼쳐져있으며, 이때 레이블 은 모든 점들의 위치 공간의 집합으로 확장된다. 이 레이블은 몇몇 기저 상태에서 작용하는 위치 연산자의 고유값, 이다. 불가산 무한한 수의 벡터의 원소는 기저에 있는, 이것은 불가산 무한 차원 힐베르트 공간. 힐베르트 공간의 차원(일반적으로 무한한) 그리고 위치 공간(보통 1,2,3)은 섞이지 않는다.

이러한 힐베르트 공간에서 시작하는 어느 켓  에 대해 다음과 같이 파동함수로도 알려져 있는 스칼라 함수 을 정의할 수 있다.

왼쪽의 은 공간상의 어느 점으로부터 복소수로의 대응이며, 오른쪽의 는 켓이다.

그 다음에는 관습적으로 파동함수(켓)에 작용하는 선형 연산자를 다음과 같은 방법으로 정의한다.

예를 들어, 운동량 연산자  는 다음과 같은 형태이다.

간혹 다음과 같은 표현을 만나게 될 때도 있다.

하지만 이것은 표기법의 남용이다. 미분 연산자는 반드시 위치기저

에 사영되는, 켓에 작용하는, 파동함수를 미분하는 효과를 가진 추상적인 연산자로 이해되어야한다.
그럼에도 불구하고, 운동량 기저에서, 연산자는  와 같이 단순한 곱셈 연산자에 해당한다.

상태의 중첩 
양자 역학에서 식 은 일반적으로 상태가 상태 으로 붕괴할 확률 진폭으로 해석된다. 수학적으로는 가 으로 사영될 때의 계수를 의미한다. 또한 그것은 상태 의 상태 로의 사영을 의미하기도 한다.

스핀- 입자에 대한 기저 변환 
정적인 스핀- 입자는 이차원 힐베르트 공간을 가진다. 그 공간의 정규 직교 기저 가운데 하나는 다음과 같다.

여기에서,  가 각운동량 연산자 Sz 의 값이 확실히 인 상태이고, 는  각운동량 연산자  의 값이 확실히 인 상태이다.

이러한 기저를 통해, 입자의 어떠한 양자 상태도 두 기저의 선형결합(즉, 양자 중첩)으로 다음과 같이 표현할 수 있다.

이때 aψ 와 bψ 는 복소수이다.

다음처럼 같은 힐베르트 공간에 대한 다른 기저도 존재한다.

이 상태들은 대신 의 관점에서 정의된 것이다.
또한, 입자의 어떠한 상태도 위의 두 기저의 선형 결합으로 다음과 같이 표현할 수 있다.

어떠한 기저를 사용하는지에 따라 다음과 같이 다른 벡터형식으로 다음과 같이 쓰일 수 있다.

다시 말해서, 벡터의 "좌표"는 사용된 기저에 의존한다.

이것은 , 와 , 의 수학적 관계이다. 자세한 내용은 기저 변환을 참고하라.

잘못된 사용 

표기법의 몇가지 관례와 오용이 물리학계에서 일반적으로 받아들여지고 있지만 이러한 표기법은 혼동을 일으킬 여지가 있다.

같은 방정식에서 레이블과 상수로 같은 기호를 사용하는 것은 일반적이다. 예를 들어, 에서 기호 는 동시에 연산자의 이름 , 고유벡터  그리고 연관된 고유값 로 사용되었다.

벡터의 요소를 표기할 때 이와 비슷한 일이 발생한다. 동  (대문자)는 전통적으로 파동함수와 연관되었고,  (소문자)는 같은 맥락에서 파동함수 또는 복소상수 레이블을 표시하는데 사용되며, 아래첨자에 의해서만 구분된다.

주된 남용은 벡터 레이블 안에 연산을 포함하는 것이다.  이러한 남용은 벡터의 크기변환을 빠르게 표기하기 위해 사용된다. 즉, 만약 벡터 가 배 크기변환될 때, 이것을 으로 표시하는 셈이다. 그러나 이러한 표기법은 말이 되지 않는다. 왜냐하면  가 함수나 숫자가 아닌 레이블(이름)이기 때문에 연산을 수행할 수 없기 때문이다.

이러한 오용은 와 같이 벡터를 텐서곱으로 표현할 때 레이블의 일부가 표기법의 바깥으로 나가는 경우가 일반적이다. 여기에서, 서로 다른 뜻을 갖고있는 세 벡터의 레이블의 일부분이 아래첨자 1, 2와 같이 켓의 바깥으로 이동했다. 그리고 가 첫번째 벡터의 노름(벡터의 크기)을 의미하는 것으로 오용되었다.

선형 연산자

켓에 작용하는 선형 연산자 
켓을 입력으로 하고 켓을 출력으로 하는 선형 연산자를 맵이라고 한다. ("선형"으로 불리기 위해서는 몇가지 속성이 요구된다.) 다시 말해서, 만약 가 선형 연산자이고 가 켓일 때, 은 또다른 켓이다.

-차원 힐베르트 공간에서,   는  열벡터로 쓰일 수 있으며, 는 복소수 항목을 포함한  행렬로 쓰일 수 있다. 켓 는 일반적인 행렬 곱셈으로 계산될 수 있다.

선형 연산자는 양자역학 이론의 어떠한 부분에도 존재한다. 예를 들어, 에너지나 운동량 같은 관측가능량은 자기 수반 연산자로 표현되며, 변화 과정은 회전이나 시간의 진행과 같은 유니터리 선형 연산자로 표현된다.

브라에 작용하는 선형 연산자 
연산자는 브라의 오른쪽에서 작용하는 것으로 표기된다. 특히, 만약 가 선형 연산자이고,  가 브라이면, 는 규칙에 따라 다음과 같이 정의되는 또 다른 브라이다.

(다른 말로 함수의 합성이다.) 이 표현은 일반적으로 다음과 같이 쓰인다.(에너지 내적을 참고하라.)
 

-차원 힐베르트 공간에서, 는   행벡터로 쓰일 수 있고,,(이전 단락에서와 같은)  는  행렬으로 쓰일 수 있다. 그러고 나면 브라  는 일반적인 행렬 곱셈으로 계산될 수 있다.

만약 같은 상태 벡터가 다음과 같이 브라와 켓쪽에 둘다 나타나면

이 표현은 상태 에 있는 물리학 계에 대해 관측 가능한 표현 연산자 의 기대값 또는 평균을 나타낸다.

외적 
힐베르트 공간  에서 선형 연산자를 정의하는 편리한 방법은 외적으로 정의하는 것이다. 만약 가 브라이고 이 켓이면, 외적

 

은 다음과 같은 규칙에 따라 계급-1 연산자를 나타낸다.

.

유한차원 벡터 공간에 대해, 외적은 간단한 행렬 곱셈으로 이해할 수 있다.

 

이때 외적은 선형 연산자로 볼 수 있는  행렬이다.

외적의 사용 용도 가운데 하나는 사영작용소를 구성하는 것이다. 노름이 1인 주어진 켓 에 대해, 에 펼쳐진 하위공간으로의 직교사영은 다음과 같다.

에르미트 수반 연산자 
브라와 켓이 서로 변환될 수 있는 것처럼(를 으로 만듦으로써), 에 상응하는 쌍대공간의 원소는 이다. 이때  는 연산자 의 에르미트 수반이다. 다시말해,

만약  가  행렬로 표현된다면,   는 의 켤레전치이다.

인 자기수반연산자는 양자역학에서 중요한 역할을 한다. 예를 들어, 관측가능량은 항상 자기수반연산자로 표현된다. 만약  가 자기수반연산자이면, 는 항상 실수이다(복소수가 아니다). 이것은 관측가능량의 기댓값이 실수임을 의미한다.

성질 
브라-켓 표기법은 선형대수 표현의 조작을 쉽게하기 위해 고안되었다. 여기에는 조작을 쉽게 하는 몇몇 특성들을 목록으로 정리해두었다. 무엇을 다음과 같이, 과  는 임의의 복소수이고,   는 의 켤레 복소수를 의미하며, 와 는 임의의 선형 연산자를 나타내고, 이러한 특성은 브라와 켓 어느것을 골라도 적용된다.

선형성 
 브라가 선형 범함수

 일 때, 덧셈의 정의와 쌍대공간에서의 선형 범함수의 스칼라곱의 정의에 따라 다음과 같다.

연관성 
브라-켓 표기법으로 쓰여진 복소수, 브라, 켓, 내적, 외적, 선형 범함수와 연관된 모든 주어진 식에서, 괄호로 묶는것은 어떠한 문제도 되지 않는다(즉, 연결결합법칙 속성을 갖고 있다.). 예를 들어:

등과 같다. 식의 오른쪽(어떠한 괄호도 없는)과 표현은 중의적이지만 표현되는 것이 허용된다. 왜냐하면 왼쪽의 표현과 같기 때문이다. 참고로 결합성은 물리의 비선형 시간 역전 연산자와 같은 비선형 연산자 표현까지 적용되지는 않는다.

에르미트 수반 
브라–켓 표기법은 특히 에르미트 수반(또는 데거라고 하며 으로 표시한다.)의 표현이다. 공식적인 규칙은 다음과 같다:

 브라의 에르미트 수반은 켓이고, 그 역도 성립한다.
 복소수의 에르미트 수반은 켤레 복소수이다.
 모든 것(선형 연산자, 브라, 켓, 숫자)의 에르미트 수반의 에르미트 수반은 그 자신이다. 즉,

 브라-켓 표기법으로 기술된 어떠한 조합의 복소수, 브라, 켓, 내적, 외적, 선형연산자에 대해, 그것의 에르미트 수반은 요소들의 순서를 뒤집고, 각각에 대해 에르미트 수반을 취함으로써 계산할 수 있다.

이러한 규칙은 어떠한 표현에 대해서라도 에르미트 수반을 구하기에 충분하다. 아래는 몇가지 예시이다.

 켓:

 내적:

 Note  가 스칼라,Hermitian 복합 단지는 복잡한 공액,즉

 행렬 원소:

 

 외적:

브라와 켓의 합성 
두 힐베르트 공간 와  는 텐서곱을 통해 또다른 공간  을 형성할 수 있는데, 이것은 양자역학에서 복합계를 설명하는데 사용된다. 만약 계가 각각  와  로 설명되는 두개의 부분계의 합성인 경우, 전체 계의 힐베르트 공간은 두 공간의 텐서곱이다. ( 두 부분계가 동일입자인 경우는 예외이며, 이러한 경우, 상황은 약간 더 복잡해진다.)

만약 가 에 속한 켓이고, 는 ,에 속한 켓일 때, 두 켓의 직접 곱은  에 속한 켓이다. 이것은 다음과 같이 다양한 표기법으로 쓰여진다.

이러한 곱의 적용은 양자 얽힘과 EPR 역설을 참고하라.

단위 연산자 
완비정규직교계(기저)이고,

인 노름이 내적인 힐베르트 공간를 고려하자.

기초적인 함수해석에서, 어떠한 켓 는 다음과 같이 쓰일 수 있다는 것은 알려진 사실이다.

이때 은 힐베르트 공간 위에서의 내적이다.

이것은 켓의 (복소)스칼라의 교환법칙에 따라 다음의.

는 반드시 각 벡터를 자기 자신으로 보내는 '항등 연산자'여야 한다.

수학자들에 의해 사용된 표기법 
브라-켓 표기법을 사용할 때 물리학자가 고려하는 대상은 힐베르트 공간 (완비 내적 공간)이다.

를 힐베르트 공간이라고 하고, 를 안의 벡터라고 하자. 물리학자들이 로 나타내고 싶은 것은 벡터 그 자체이다. 즉,

를 의 쌍대 공간이라고 하자. 이것은   위에서의 선형 범함수의 공간이다. 위상 동형 는 정의된 모든 에 대해  으로 정의된다.

,

이때, , , , 그리고, 는 단지 힐베츠트 공간의(또는 처음 세 표기법의 경우, 내적 공간에서도) 두 원소 사이의 내적을 표현하는 다른 표기법일 뿐이다.
표기의 혼동은 , 와 , 를 각각 식별하는데에서 발생한다. 이것은 문자 그대로 상징적 대체이기 때문이다. 라고 하고 라고 하자. 이러한 가정은 다음과 같은 식을 제공한다

괄호를 무시하고 두개의 세로선을 제거한 식을 얻게 된다.

참고 서적 
 니다. 또한 자신의 표준 텍스트, 양자 역학의 원리,IV edition Clarendon Press(1958년),

같이 보기 
 각 운동량 다이어그램(양자역학)
 n-틈새 간섭식
 양자 상태
 내적

각주 

정보 이론
선형대수학
수학 표기법
폴 디랙
양자정보과학
양자역학

대한민국(, , ROK), 약칭 한국(, ), 남한(, ), 남조선()은 동아시아의 한반도 군사 분계선 남부에 위치한 국가이다. 현정체제는 대한민국 제6공화국이다. 대한민국의 국기는 대한민국 국기법에 따라 태극기이며, 국가는 관습상 애국가, 국화는 관습상 무궁화이다. 공용어는 한국어와 한국 수어이다. 수도는 서울이다. 인구는 2023년을 기준으로 약 5,174만 명으로, 전체 인구 중 절반이(약 2,624만 명) 수도권에 살고 있다.

대한민국은 1948년 5월 10일 총선거를 통해 제헌국회를 구성하였고, 1948년 8월 15일 대한민국 정부를 수립하였다. 1948년 제헌 국회에서 대한민국의 국호를 계승하여 헌법에 명시하였고, 다시 1950년 1월 16일 국무원 고시 제7호 ‘국호 및 일부 지방명과 지도색 사용에 관한 건’에 의해 확정하였다.

대한민국은 20세기 후반 이후 급격한 경제 성장을 이루었다. 그 과정에서 1990년대 말 외환 위기 등의 부침이 있기도 했다. 대한민국의 2022년 1인당 국민 총소득 (GNI)은 명목 3만 4,994달러이다. 2020년 유엔개발계획 (UNDP)이 매년 발표하는 인간개발지수 (HDI) 조사에서 세계 22위를 기록하였다. 2021년 7월 2일 스위스 제네바 본부에서 열린 ‘제68차 무역개발이사회’ 마지막 회의에서 한국의 지위를 선진국 그룹으로 ‘의견 일치’로 변경하고 선진국으로 인정했다. 다만 높은 자살률, 장시간 근로 문화와 높은 산업 재해 사망률, 저출산 등의 사회 문제가 이 같은 성과와 병존하고 있다.

대한민국은 이코노미스트에서 발표하는 민주주의 지수 조사에서 2019년 기준 23위의 8.0점을 기록한 바와 같이 아시아에서 민주주의 수준이 가장 높은 국가 가운데 하나이다. 또한 대한민국은 주요 20개국 (G20), 경제 협력 개발 기구 (OECD), 개발 원조 위원회 (DAC), 파리 클럽 등의 회원국이다.

1948년 이후로 오늘날까지 한반도에는 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국이라는 두 개의 분단국가가 각각 남북에 위치하고 있다. 한반도와 부속도서의 면적은 약 22만 km2이며, 인구는 대한민국과 조선민주주의인민공화국을 합쳐 2019년을 기준으로 약 7,700만 명에 달한다.

국호 

대한민국(大韓民國)이란 국호 중 ‘한’ 또는 ‘대한’(大韓)의 어원은 삼국시대때 유래한 것으로 고구려, 백제, 신라를 통틀어서 삼한이라 칭했는데, 그 삼한이 통일되었다는 의미에서 대한이라 한다. 삼국시대 사람들은 한반도의 세 나라를 삼한이라 불렀고, 이것이 후대에 이어져서 삼한을 ‘삼국’이라 부르고 삼한일통의 하나의 '한(韓)'으로 자리잡은 것이다. 즉 ‘한(韓)’의 나라라는 뜻이다. 한(韓)이라는 말은 종교적 의미와 정치적 의미가 복합적으로 이루어져 고대부터 내려오던 낱말로서, "하나", "하늘", "크다", '칸(汗) 등 여러 해석이 있다. 나중에는 한(汗)이 군주를 뜻하는 말로 사용되었다. 

근대 국가의 국호로서의 ‘대한’(大韓)은 1897년 고종이 대한제국을 선포하면서 다시 선택하였다. 새 국호를 정한 이유를 ‘‘우리나라는 곧 삼한의 땅인데, 국초(國初)에 천명을 받고 한 나라로 통합되었다. 지금 국호를 ‘대한(大韓)’이라고 정한다고 해서 안 될 것이 없다. 또한 매번 각 나라의 문자를 보면 조선이라고 하지 않고 한(韓)이라 하였다. 이는 아마 미리 징표를 보이고 오늘이 있기를 기다린 것이니, 세상에 공표하지 않아도 세상이 모두 다 ‘대한’이라는 칭호를 알고 있을 것이다.’’ 고 밝혔다. 이후 여기에 민국(民國)을 더한 대한민국(大韓民國)이라는 국호는 이승만, 김구 등 대한민국 임시정부의 강력한 의지에 따라 결정되었다.

1948년 제헌 국회에서 이 국호를 계승하여 헌법에 명시하였고 다시 1950년 1월 16일 국무원 고시 제7호 "국호 및 일부 지방명과 지도색 사용에 관한 건"에 의해 확정하였다. 이에 20세기 전반까지도 널리 사용되던 지명으로서의 "조선"이라는 이름은 "대한(大韓)"이나 "한국(韓國)", "한(韓)"으로 대체하여 현재 대한민국 내에서는 거의 쓰이지 않는다. 이에 따라 대한민국의 국민은 자국의 국호를 "대한민국", "한국" 등으로 부르며, 자국을 호칭할 때는 흔히 "우리나라"라고 한다. "대한"이라는 칭호를 사용하기도 하며, 한반도 북부에 자리한 조선민주주의인민공화국과 대비해 한반도 남부에 있다 하여 "남한"으로도 불리는데, 특히 대한민국 한반도 북부를 점거하고 있는 조선민주주의인민공화국은 한국을 남조선(南朝鮮)이라고 부른다.

대한민국 내에서는 대한민국을 간단히 한국(韓國) 또는 남한(南韓) 등으로도 부른다. 조선민주주의인민공화국은 대한민국을 반국가단체로 보기 때문에 대한민국이라는 정식 명칭 대신에 남조선(南朝鮮)으로 부른다. 대한민국은 과거엔 구한국(舊韓國), 신한국(新韓國)이라고 부르기도 하였다. 국제사회에서는 관습상 대한민국을 간단히 코리아(Korea)라 부르며, 이 이름은 동아시아의 고대 국가인 고려에서 유래하였다.

코리아(Korea)란 영문 국호의 어원은 동아시아의 중세 국가인 고려에서 유래하였다.
고구려가 5세기 장수왕 때 국호를 고려(高麗)로 변경한 것을 918년 건국된 중세 왕조 고려(高麗)가 계승하여 '고려'라는 국명이 아라비아 상인등을 통해 전 세계에 알려졌다. 유럽인들이 '고려'를 코레(Core, Kore), 코리(Kori)로 불렀고, 이 명칭에 '~의 땅'을 의미하는 '-a'를 붙어 '고려인의 땅'이라는 '코레-아'(Corea), '코리-아'(Korea), '코리-아'(Koria)가 되어 프랑스어로 Corée, 스페인어로 Corea, 영어로 Korea라고 불리게 되었다. 현재 대한민국의 공식 영어 명칭은 Republic of Korea로서, 약칭 'R.O.K.'이며 관습상으로는 간단히 Korea라고 불리며 국제 표준화 기구에서는 약칭 'KOR'로 불린다.

공식 문서에는 'Corea' 또는 'Korea'가 혼용되어 사용되었고, 1900년대 초기부터 영어권에서는 'Korea'의 사용 빈도가 높았다. 1892년 외국인이 자주 보는 잡지 〈The Korean Repository 〉 5월 호에는 “미국 국무부와 영국의 왕립지리학회는 우리가 차용한 이 땅의 이름을 아주 조리 있게 Korea로 표기하기 시작했던 것”이라는 내용이 나온다.

중화인민공화국, 중화민국, 일본, 베트남 등 주로 동아시아에 있는 한자 문화권 국가들에서도 일상에서 대한민국을 간단히 한국(, , )이라 부른다. 다만 여전히 한반도 전체를 부를 때는 조선(, , )이라는 명칭을 사용한다.

지리

지형 

서쪽으로 중화인민공화국과 황해를 사이에 두고, 동쪽으로 일본과 동해를 사이에 두고, 북쪽으로 북한과 한반도 군사 분계선을 사이에 두고 맞닿아 있다.

한반도는 제3기 마이오세 이후에 일어난 단층과 요곡운동의 결과 동쪽으로는 높은 산지가 급경사로 동해안에 임박하고 서쪽으로는 서서히 고도가 낮아진다. 이를 동고서저의 경동지형이라 한다. 높은 산들은 대부분 동부 지방에 치우쳐서 한반도의 등줄기라 불리는 태백산맥에 자리한다. 태백산맥의 대표적인 산이 설악산이다. 태백산맥의 남서쪽으로 소백산맥이 이어지며 그중에는 지리산이 유명하다. 제주도에는 대한민국에서 가장 높은 산이자 사화산인 한라산이 있다.

하천의 유량은 극히 불규칙하여 여름에는 집중 호우로 연 강수량의 약 60% 이상이 홍수로 유출되며, 갈수기에는 강바닥을 거의 드러내는 하천이 많다. 대표적인 강은 위쪽부터 반시계 방향으로 한강, 금강, 영산강, 섬진강, 낙동강 등이다. 대다수의 강이 산지가 많은 동쪽에서 평평하고 낮은 구릉이 대부분인 서쪽으로 흐르며 중하류에 비교적 넓은 충적평야가 전개된다.

산맥은 교통에 적지 않은 제약을 주어, 산맥을 경계로 지역의 문화나 풍습이 크게 차이가 나기도 한다. 산맥으로 가로막힌 지방은 고개를 넘어 왕래했는데 영서 지방과 영동 지방을 연결하는 태백산맥의 대관령·한계령·진부령·미시령, 중서부와 영남 지방을 연결하는 소백산맥의 죽령·이화령·추풍령·육십령 등이 산맥을 넘는 주요한 교통로로 사용된다.

한반도의 서쪽은 황해, 동쪽은 동해, 남쪽은 남해와 맞닿아 있어 삼면이 바다로 둘러싸인 반도형이며, 가장 큰 부속 도서인 제주도 남쪽으로는 동중국해와 접한다. 황해와 남해 연안은 해안선이 복잡한 리아스식 해안으로 조수 간만의 차가 클 뿐만 아니라 해안 지형도 꽤 평탄하여 넓은 간석지가 전개된다. 또한 수많은 섬이 있어서 다도해라고도 불린다. 반면에 동해 연안은 대부분 해안선이 단조롭고 수심이 깊으며 간만의 차가 적다. 해안 근처에는 사구·석호 등이 형성되어 있고 먼 해상에 화산섬인 울릉도가 있으며 그보다 동쪽으로 약 87.4km 거리에 대한민국 최동단인 독도가 위치한다. 서쪽에는 평지가 발달됐다.

기후 

북위 33도~38도, 동경 126~132도에 걸쳐 있어 냉대 동계 소우 기후와 온대 하우 기후, 온난 습윤 기후가 나타난다. 겨울에 북부 지역은 편서풍으로 인해 시베리아와 몽골 고원의 영향을 받아 대륙성 기후를 띠어서 건조하고 무척 추우나 남부 지역은 이런 영향을 적게 받아 상대적으로 온난한 편이다. 여름에는 태평양의 영향을 받아 해양성 기후의 특색을 보여서 고온다습하다. 계절은 사계절이 뚜렷이 나타나며 대체로 북부 지역은 여름과 겨울이 길고 남부 지역은 봄과 가을이 길다.

3월 초에서 5월 초에 걸쳐 포근한 봄 날씨, 5월경에서 8월 초에는 무더운 여름이, 8월 말에서 10월 말까지는 화창하고 건조한 가을 날씨가 이어지고, 11월에 기온과 습도가 점차 낮아지기 시작하여 12월에서 2월까지는 춥고 건조한 겨울 날씨를 보인다. 중부 산간 지방을 제외하고 대체로 연 평균 기온은 10 ~ 16℃이며, 가장 무더운 달인 8월은 23 ~ 36℃, 5월은 16 ~ 19℃, 10월은 11 ~ 19℃, 가장 추운 달인 1월은 -6 ~ 3℃이다.

비는 주로 여름에 많이 내리는데 연 강수량의 50 ~ 60%가 이때 집중된다. 이를 장마라고 하며 특히 6월 말에서 7월 중순까지를 장마철이라 한다. 각 지역의 연 평균 강수량은 중부 지방이 1100 ~ 1400mm, 남부 지방이 1000 ~ 1800mm, 경북 지역이 1000 ~ 1200mm이다. 경상남도 해안 지역은 약 1800mm이며 제주도는 1450 ~ 1850mm이다.

습도는 7월과 8월이 높아서 전국에 걸쳐 80% 정도이고 9월과 10월은 70% 내외이다. 태풍은 북태평양 서부에서 연평균 28개 정도가 발생하여, 이 중 두세 개가 영향을 미친다.

본래 4계절이 뚜렷한 기후 환경이었으나 지구 온난화 등의 영향으로 봄, 가을의 기간이 급격히 줄어들며 게릴라성 폭우로 특징되는 열대성 호우가 잦아 아열대화가 진행되면서 어업이나 농업에 변화가 있다.

동식물 

한반도 전역에 동식물 10만 여 종이 분포한다. 호랑이 중에서 가장 큰 종인 백두산호랑이가 과거 살았었으나 현재는 보이지 않는다. 그 밖의 맹수로는 반달곰과 표범이 있으며 소수 개체군이 생존한다. 그 밖에도 멧돼지, 고라니, 너구리 등의 포유류와 까치, 꿩, 참새, 비둘기를 비롯한 텃새, 두루미, 기러기 같은 철새가 서식하며 지네나 거미, 수많은 곤충류도 서식한다. 삼면이 바다여서 난류와 한류에 서식하는 다양한 어패류와 고래도 존재한다. 또 최근에는 지구 온난화로 한류성 어류가 감소하고 불가사리나 해파리가 급증해서 큰 문제가 되고 있다.

산삼이나 진달래, 소나무 등 많은 식물은 약용이나 기타 여러 용도로 쓰인다. 제주도에는 열대림과 비슷한 야자수가 번육하며 지리산이나 태백산맥에는 북방계형의 특산 식물들이 자생한다. 백두산에는 시베리아나 만주에서만 볼 수 있는 침엽수림과 같은 북방계 식물류가 자란다. 중부 지방에는 높은 산지로 말미암아 고산형 식물과 약용 식물 여러 종이 자생한다.

천연자원 

시멘트 공업과 석회공업(石灰工業)의 원료인 석회암은 한국의 주요 자원으로 각지에 대량 분포한다. 다른 자원은 양이 적거나 품질이 낮아 채산성이 맞지 않으므로 거의 생산하지 않는다. 다만 21세기에 와서 국제 원자재 가격의 상승과 기술의 발전으로 재개장하는 광산이 있다. 석탄은 무연탄만이 있으며 삼척, 태백 일대에 주로 분포한다. 철광석은 양양, 충주 등지에서 주로 캤다. 텅스텐은 매장량이 매우 많으며 특히 영월에 대규모의 광산이 있다.

울산 앞바다에 천연가스층을 발견하고 개발중이며, 독도 부근 해저에서 메테인 하이드레이트 대규모 매장량을 발견했다. 석유는 제주도 남방 해역 대륙붕 제7광구에 천연가스와 함께 매장 가능성을 언급하나 실제로 탐사하지 않았다. 이곳은 1974년에 체결한 한일 대륙붕 협정에 따라 2028년까지 한일이 공동 관리한다.

역사

기원 

한반도에 두 발로 걷고 도구를 이용하는 사람들이 살기 시작한 시기는 기원전 약 70만 년 이전으로 추정되며, 현생인류는 후기 구석기 시대인 약 2만 5천 년 전부터 해안과 강가를 중심으로 거주하기 시작한 것으로 보인다. 인골 화석으로는 충청북도 단양군 상시굴과 두루봉동굴, 제천시 점말굴 등에서 현생인류로 추정되는 사람 뼈 화석이 발견된 바 있다. 이후 중석기 시대와 신석기 시대를 거치면서 여러 빗살무늬 토기인, 무문토기인등 여러 인종의 유입과 주변 세력들과의 상호작용을 통해 문명이 발전했다. 다만 초기 구성원들의 이동과 외부 세력 유입의 구체적 모습은 확실하지 않다.

한반도 일대의 최초의 국가는 고조선이다. 일연의 《삼국유사》에서는 현존하지 않는 《고기》를 인용하여 단군 왕검이 고조선을 세웠다고 기록하였고 《동국통감》에서 그 시기를 기원전 2333년이라 하였다. 날짜는 대종교에서 임의로 음력 10월 3일로 약속하고 개천절이라 불렀는데 대한민국 정부에서 그 날을 양력으로 고쳐 국경일로 지정하였다. 고조선 멸망을 전후하여 부여, 옥저, 동예, 진국, 삼한 등 여러 나라가 생겨났고, 이후 고구려, 백제, 신라의 삼국 시대로 이어졌으며 이 중 신라가 삼국을 부분적으로 통일하는 한편 북쪽의 발해와 함께 남북국 시대를 형성했다. 10세기 고려가 등장하면서 한민족 단일 국가의 시대를 시작했다. 14세기 조선이 이를 계승했다.

한국의 역사 

한반도의 국가로는 전설적으로 단군이 건국한 단군조선이 있다. 4세기에는 고구려, 신라, 백제, 가야가 한반도 내에서 대립하였다. 6세기에는 가야제국이 신라 등에 병합되어 고구려, 신라, 백제 삼국이 패권을 다툰 후 당나라와 동맹한 신라는 663년 백촌강 전투에서 백제를 멸망시켰다. 668년 고구려왕을 투항시켜 고구려를 멸망시켰다. 그러나 당나라의 최종 목표는 신라를 이용해 한반도를 장악하려는 것이었다. 이러한 당나라의 야심에 신라의 문무대왕은 고구려와 백제의 유민과 연합하여 당나라와 정면으로 대결하였다. 676년 나당 전쟁이 발발 하였고 금강 하구의 기벌포에서 당나라의 수군을 섬멸하여 당나라의 세력을 한반도에서 완전히 몰아내었다. 그후 당나라의 지배력이 쇠퇴함과 동시에 677년 통일신라를 세웠다. 그후 북쪽의 발해와 함께 남북국 시대를 형성했다. 이후 통일신라의 약체로 892년 후삼국시대가 시작된 후, 918년 건국된 고려가 936년 전국을 통일하였다.

13세기 초 중국 대륙의 정세는 급박하게 변화하고 있었다. 오랫동안 부족 단위로 유목 생활을 하던 몽골족이 통일된 국가를 형성하면서 몽골 제국을 세웠다. 그 후, 1231년 고려에 왔던 몽골 사신 일행 저고여가 귀국하던 길에 국경 지대에서 거란족에게 피살되자 이를 구실로 몽골군이 침입해 왔는데, 이른바 고려-몽고 전쟁의 시작이었다. 그러나 당시 집권자인 최우는 강화도로 도읍을 옮기고, 장기 항전을 위한 방비를 강화하였다. 이후 고려는 7차에 걸친 몽골 침략을 끈질기게 막아 내며, 약 30년간의 장기 항전에 들어갔다. 장기간의 전쟁으로 국토는 황폐해지고 백성들은 도탄에 빠지게 되었다. 고려는 몽골 제국의 침공으로 약화되었고, 1392년 고려의 장수 이성계가 고려 공양왕을 폐위하고 국왕으로 즉위하면서 조선이 성립되었다.

조선(朝鮮)은 계속되는 세도정치로 왕족들은 힘을 쓰지 못했고, 왕권도 매우 약해져 있었다. 조선은 흥선대원