Native name	مملكة البحرين''''
Conventional long name	Kingdom of Bahrain
Common name	Bahrain
Image coat	Coat of arms of Bahrain.svg
Symbol type	Emblem
National anthem	''Bahrainona''
Royal anthem
Other symbol type
Other symbol
Alt map
Map caption
Alt map2
Capital	Manama
Largest city	capital
Official languages	Arabic
Regional languages
Languages type
Languages
Ethnic groups
Ethnic groups year
Demonym	Bahraini
Government type	Constitutional Monarchy
Leader title1	King
Leader name1	Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Leader title2	Crown Prince
Leader name2	Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
Leader title3	Prime Minister
Leader name3	Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa
Sovereignty type	Independence
Legislature	National Assembly of Bahrain
Established event1	From Persia
Established date1	1783
Established event2	Termination of special treaty with the United Kingdom
Established date2	15 August 1971
Area rank	184th
Area km2	750
Area sq mi	290
Percent water	0
Population estimate	1,234,596
Population estimate rank	158th
Population estimate year	2010
Population density km2	1,646.1
Population density sq mi	4,257.2
Population density rank	10th
Gdp ppp	$29.712 billion
Gdp ppp year	2010
Gdp ppp per capita	$26,852
Gdp nominal	$22.656 billion
Gdp nominal year	2010
Gdp nominal per capita	$20,474
Hdi	0.801
Hdi rank	39th
Hdi year	2010
Hdi category	very high
Currency	Bahraini dinar
Currency code	BHD
Time zone	AST
Utc offset	+3
Utc offset dst
Drives on	Right
Cctld	.bh
Calling code	973
Footnotes
Footnote2	}}

Bahrain (, ''''), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain ( '''' , ), is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.

Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at long by wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain by the King Fahd Causeway. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of Bahrain. The planned Qatar Bahrain Causeway will link Bahrain and Qatar and become the world's longest marine causeway.

Known for its oil and pearls, Bahrain is also home to many large structures, including the Bahrain World Trade Center and the Bahrain Financial Harbour, with a proposal in place to build the high Murjan Tower. The ''Qal’at al-Bahrain'' (the harbour and capital of the ancient land of Dilmun) was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit.

History

Pre-Islamic

Bahrain means "two seas" in Arabic. As the island is in the middle of a bay, the two seas referred to lie to the east and west. Other authors cite alternate meanings for the name. “The name of Bahrein, which means ‘Two Seas’. Is derived, according to the natives of the country, from the existence of two strata of water located there. The higher film is extremely salty, whereas the deeper consists of sweet water with a very pleasant taste.” So wrote Masoudi, the famous Arabian author. Ibn Khallakan has a different explanation. He cites the Persian lexicographer Al-Ahsa as follows: “Al Bahrein (“The Two Seas”) is so named because in the region where the towns are situated, near the gate of Al-Ahsa and the village of Hajar, there is a lake ten parsangs distance from the Great Green Ocean (The Persian Gulf). The lake is three miles long and as many broad. It does not overflow, and the waters are tranquil and salt. According to Al-Jawahari, the author of Sahab, the inhabitants are called Bahrani rather than the more formal form Bahri, because “the latter term might be misunderstood, having as it does another meanings, namely, “Belonging to the Sea.”

However, al-Bahrayn, "the Two Seas", is a cosmographical and cosmological concept appearing five times in the Qu'ran. This did not apply to the country of Bahrain. "The variety of explanations, none of them convincing, of the name al-Bahrayn in the Arabic sources indicates its origins remain unknown. In pre-Islamic and early Islamic times the name applied to the mainland of Eastern Arabia, embracing the oases of al-Katif and Hadjar (now al-Hasa); later it was restricted to the archipelago offshore." Inhabited since ancient times, Bahrain occupies a strategic location in the Persian Gulf that has been ruled and influenced by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and the Arabs, under whom the island became Islamic. Bahrain may have been associated with ''Dilmun'', an important Bronze age trade centre linking Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley.

Prior to Alexander the Great's arrival in the Persian Gulf in the 4th century BC, there are no historical references to Bahrain. From the 6th to 3rd century BC, Bahrain was added to the Persian Empire by the Achaemenian dynasty. By about 250 BC, the Parthian dynasty brought the Persian Gulf under its control and extended its influence as far as Oman. From the 3rd century BC until the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD, Bahrain was controlled by two other Persian dynasties, the Parthians and the Sassanids. In order to control trade routes, the Parthians established garrisons along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf. In the 3rd century AD, the Sassanids succeeded the Parthians, holding the area until the rise of Islam four centuries later. Ardashir I, first ruler of the Sassanian dynasty, marched on Oman and Bahrain, where he defeated Sanatruq II. At this time, Bahrain comprised the southern Sassanid province along the Persian Gulf's southern shore as well as the archipelago of the present day country.

The Sassanid Empire divided their southern province into the three districts of Haggar (now al-Hafuf province, Saudi Arabia), Batan Ardashir (now al-Qatif province, Saudi Arabia) and Mishmahig (which in Middle-Persian/Pahlavi means "ewe-fish"). Until Bahrain adopted Islam in 629 AD, it was a centre of Nestorian Christianity. Early Islamic sources describe the country as inhabited by members of the Abdul Qais, Tamim and Bakr tribes who worshipped the idol Awal.

Islamic conversion and Portuguese control

In 899 AD, the Qarmatians, a millenarian Ismaili Muslim sect seized Bahrain, seeking to create a utopian society based on reason and redistribution of property among initiates. Thereafter, the Qarmatians demanded tribute from the caliph in Baghdad, and in 930 AD sacked Mecca and Medina, bringing the sacred Black Stone back to their base in Ahsa, in medieval Bahrain, for ransom. According to historian Al-Juwayni, the stone was returned 22 years later in 951 under mysterious circumstances. Wrapped in a sack, it was thrown into the Great Mosque of Kufa in Iraq, accompanied by a note saying "By command we took it, and by command we have brought it back." The theft and removal of the Black Stone caused it to break into seven pieces.

Following a 976 AD defeat by the Abbasids, the Quarmations were overthrown by the Arab Uyunid dynasty of al-Hasa, who took over the entire Bahrain region in 1076. The Uyunids controlled Bahrain until 1235, when the archipelago was briefly occupied by the Iranian ruler of Fars. In 1253, the Bedouin Usfurids brought down the Uyunid dynasty, thereby gaining control over eastern Arabia, including the islands of Bahrain. In 1330, the archipelago became a tributary state of the rulers of Hormuz, though locally the islands were controlled by the Shi'ite Jarwanid dynasty of Qatif.

Until the late Middle Ages, "Bahrain" referred to the larger historical region of Bahrain that included Al-Ahsa, Al-Qatif (both now within the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia) and the Awal Islands (now the Bahrain Islands). The region stretched from Basra in Iraq to the Strait of Hormuz in Oman. This was Iqlīm al-Bahrayn's "Bahrayn Province". The exact date at which the term "Bahrain" began to refer solely to the Awal archipelago is unknown. In the mid-15th century, the archipelago came under the rule of the Jabrids, a Bedouin dynasty also based in Al-Ahsa that ruled most of eastern Arabia.

In 1521, the Portuguese allied with Hormuz and seized Bahrain from the Jabrid ruler Migrin ibn Zamil, who was killed during the takeover. Portuguese rule lasted for nearly 80 years, during which time they depended mainly on Sunni Persian governors. The Portuguese were expelled from the islands in 1602 by Abbas I of the Safavid dynasty of Iran, who declared Shia Islam the official religion of Bahrain. For the next two centuries, Iranian rulers retained control of the archipelago, interrupted by the 1717 and 1738 invasions of the Ibadhis of Oman. During most of this period, they resorted to governing Bahrain indirectly, either through the city of Bushehr or through immigrant Sunni Arab clans. The latter were tribes returning to the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf from Persian territories in the north who were known as ''Huwala'' (literally: those that have changed or moved). In 1753, the Huwala clan of Al Madhkur invaded Bahrain on behalf of the Iranians and restored direct Iranian rule.

Rise of the Bani Utbah

In 1783, Nasr Al-Madhkur, ruler of Bahrain and Bushire, lost the islands of Bahrain following his defeat by the Bani Utbah tribe at the 1782 Battle of Zubarah. Bahrain was not new territory to the Bani Utbah; they had been a presence there since the 17th century. During that time, they started purchasing date palm gardens in Bahrain. A document belonging to Shaikh Salama Bin Saif Al Utbi, one of the shaikhs of the Al Bin Ali tribe (an offshoot of the Bani Utbah), states that Mariam Bint Ahmed Al Sindi, a Shia woman, sold a palm garden on the island of Sitra to Shaikh Salama Bin Saif Al Utbi in the year 1699–1111 Hijri calendar, preceding the arrival of the Al-Khalifa to Bahrain by more than 90 years.

The Al Bin Ali were the dominant group controlling the town of Zubarah on the Qatar peninsula, originally the center of power of the Bani Utbah. After the Bani Utbah gained control of Bahrain, the Al Bin Ali had a practically independent status there as a self-governing tribe. They used a flag with four red and three white stripes, called the Al-Sulami flag in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the Eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It was raised on their ships during wartime, in the pearl season and on special occasions such as weddings and during Eid as well as in the "Ardha of war". The Al Bin Ali were known for their courage, persistence, and abundant wealth.

Later, different Arab family clans and tribes, mostly from Qatar, moved to Bahrain to settle after the fall of the Zand Dynasty of Persia. These families and tribes included the Al Khalifa, Al-Ma'awdah, Al-Fadhil, Al-Mannai, Al-Noaimi, Al-Sulaiti, Al-Sadah, Al-Thawadi, and other families and tribes.

Most of these tribes settled in Muharraq, the capital of Bahrain and center of power at that time since the Al Bin Ali lived there. The oldest and largest neighborhood in Muharraq city is called Al Bin Ali. Members of this tribe lived in this area for more than three centuries.

Al Khalifa ascendancy to Bahrain and their treaties with the British

In 1797, fourteen years later after gaining the power of the Bani Utbah, the Al Khalifa family moved to Bahrain and settled in Jaww, later moving to Riffa. They were originally from Kuwait having left in 1766. Al-Sabah family traditions relates that the ancestors of their tribe and those of the Al-Khalifa tribe came to Kuwait after their expulsion from Umm Qasr upon Khor Zubair by the Turks, an earlier base from which they preyed on the caravans of Basra and pirated ships in the Shatt Al Arab waterway.

In the early 19th century, Bahrain was invaded by both the Omanis and the Al Sauds. In 1802 it was governed by a twelve year old child, when the Omani ruler Sayyid Sultan installed his son, Salim, as Governor in the Arad Fort.

In 1820, the Al Khalifa tribe came to power in Bahrain and entered a treaty relationship with Great Britain, by then the dominant military power in the Persian Gulf. This treaty granted the Al Khalifa the title of Rulers of Bahrain.

After Egyptian Mohammad Pasha took the Arabian Peninsula from the Wahhabis on behalf of the Ottoman Empire in 1830, Sheikh Abdul Al Khalifeh declared allegiance to the Iranian Government to avoid the Egyptians taking control of Bahrain.

In 1860, the Government of Al Khalifeh used the same tactic when the British tried to overpower Bahrain. Sheikh Mohammad Ben Khalifeh wrote a letter to Nasseredin Shah of Iran declaring himself, his brother and all of members of Al Khalifeh and the people of Bahrain Iranian subjects. In another letter to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Sheikh Mohammad demanded that the Government of Iran provide direct guidance and protection from British pressure.

Later on, under pressure from Colonel Sir Lewis Pelly, Sheikh Mohammad requested military assistance from Iran, but the Government of Iran at that time had no ability to protect Bahrain from British aggression. As a result the Government of British India eventually overpowered Bahrain. Colonel Pelly signed an agreement with Sheikh Mohammad in May 1861 and later with his brother Sheikh Ali that placed Bahrain under British rule and protection. In 1868, British representatives signed another agreement with the rulers of Al Khalifeh making Bahrain part of the British protectorate territories in the Persian Gulf. This treaty was similar to those entered into by the British Government with the other Persian Gulf principalities. It specified that the ruler could not dispose of any of his territory except to the United Kingdom and could not enter into relationships with any foreign government without British consent. In return the British promised to protect Bahrain from all aggression by sea and to lend support in case of land attack. More importantly the British promised to support the rule of the Al Khalifa in Bahrain, securing its unstable position as rulers of the country. Other agreements in 1880 and 1892 sealed the protectorate status of Bahrain to the British.

According to School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) academic, Nelida Fuccaro:

Unrest amongst the people of Bahrain began when Britain officially established complete dominance over the territory in 1892. The first revolt and widespread uprising took place in March 1895 against Sheikh Essa Ben Ali, then ruler of the Al Khalifeh. Sheikh Essa was the first of the Al Khalifeh to rule a land without Iranian relations. Sir Arnold Wilson, Britain's representaive in the Persian Gulf and author of ''The Persian Gulf'', arrived in Bahrain from Masghat at this time. The uprising developed further with some protesters killed by British forces.

Peace and trade brought a new prosperity to Bahrain. With the country no longer dependent upon pearling, by the mid-19th century it became the pre-eminent trading centre in the Persian Gulf, overtaking rivals Basra, Kuwait, and finally, in the 1870s, Muscat. At the same time, Bahrain's socio-economic development began to diverge from the rest of the Persian Gulf undergoing transformation from a tribal trading centre to a modern state. This process was spurred by the arrival of large numbers of Persian, Huwala, and Indian merchant families who set up businesses on the island, making it the hub of a web of trade routes across the Persian Gulf, Persia and the Indian sub-continent. A contemporary account of Manama in 1862 found:

Palgrave's description of Manama's coffee houses in the mid-19th century portrays them as cosmopolitan venues in contrast to what he describes as the ‘closely knit and bigoted universe of central Arabia’. Palgrave describes a people with an open – even urbane – outlook: "Of religious controversy I have never heard one word. In short, instead of Zelators and fanatics, camel-drivers and Bedouins, we have at Bahrain [Manama] something like 'men of the world, who know the world like men' a great relief to the mind; certainly it was so to mine."

The great trading families that emerged during this period have been compared to the Borgias and Medicis and their great wealth – long before the oil wealth the region would later be renowned for – gave them extensive power, and among the most prominent were the Persian Al Safar family, who held the position of Native Agents of Britain in 19th century. The Al Safar enjoyed an 'exceptionally close' relationship with the Al Khalifa clan from 1869, although the al-Khalifa never intermarried with them – it has been speculated that this was to limit the Safars' influence on the ruling family or because the Safars were Shia Muslims.

Bahrain's trade with India saw the cultural influence of the subcontinent grow dramatically, with styles of dress, cuisine, and education all showing a marked Indian influence. According to Exeter University's James Onley "In these and countless other ways, eastern Arabia's ports and people were as much a part of the Indian Ocean world as they were a part of the Arab world."

In 1911, a group of Bahraini merchants demanded restrictions on the British influence in the country. The group's leaders were subsequently arrested and exiled to India. In 1923, the British deposed Sheikh Issa Ben Ali who they accused of opposing Britain and set up a permanent representative in Bahrain. This coincided with renewal of Iran's claim over the ownership of Bahrain, a development that Sheikh Essa had been accused of welcoming. The preference shown by the people of Bahrain towards the renewal of Iran ownership's claim also caused concern for Britain. To remedy these problems, in 1926, Britain dispatched Sir Charles Belgrave, one of her most experienced colonial officers, as an advisor to the Emir of Bahrain. His harsh measures intensified the increasing aversion of people towards him and led to his eventual expulsion from Bahrain in 1957. Belgrave's colonial undertakings were not limited to violent deeds against the people of Bahrain but also included a series of initiatives that included removal of Iranian influence on Bahrain and The Persian Gulf. In 1937, Belgrave proposed changing the name of the Persian Gulf to the "Gulf of Arabia", a move that did not happen place but was implemnted by Abdul Karim Ghasim, the dictator of Baghdad.

In 1927, Rezā Shāh demanded the return of Bahrain in a letter to the Allied Nations Community. Britain believed that weakened domination over Bahrain would cause her to lose control all over the Persian Gulf, and decided to bring uprisings amongst the people of Bahrain under control at any cost. To achieve this they encouraged conflicts between Shiite and Sunni Muslims in Bahrain.

Bahrain underwent a period of major social reform between 1926 and 1957, under the ''de facto'' rule of Charles Belgrave, the British advisor to Shaikh Hamad ibn Isa Al-Khalifa (1872-1942). The country's first modern school, the Al-Hiddaya Boys School, was established in 1919, whilst the Arab Persian Gulf's first girls' school opened in 1928. The American Mission Hospital, established by the Dutch Reform Church, began work in 1903. Other reforms included the abolition of slavery. At the same time, the pearl diving industry developed at a rapid pace.

These reforms were often vigorously opposed by powerful groups within Bahrain including sections within the ruling family, tribal forces, the religious authorities and merchants. In order to counter conservatives, the British removed the Emir, Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa in 1923 and replaced him with his son. Some Sunni tribes such as the al Dossari left Bahrain to mainland Arabia, whilst clerical opponents of social reforms were exiled to Saudi and Iran. The heads of some merchant and notable families were likewise exiled. Britain's interest in Bahrain's development was motivated by concerns over the ambitions of the Saudi-Wahabbi and the Iranians.

The Dawsari Tribe in Bahrain

The Dosari tribe which originate from Wadi Al-Dawaser ( Valley of Dawaser (plural for Dosari)) in Saudi Arabia came to Bahrain in the second quarter of the 1700’s looking for new life. They arrived to Bahrain in sail boats from Al-Qatif and Al-Ogair Ports in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. They settled in the western side of the Island in two villages one in the north and called it Bodaia and one in the south and called it Zallq. “Bodaia” was called after a little town in Wadi Al-Dawaser where they were farmers and shepherds, skills that they brought with them from Wadi Al-Dawaser which was famous for date trees and herds. Upon their arrival Al-Khifa rule just started in Bahrain. Because farming was labor intensive, Al-Dawasir recruited labor from Al-Qatif, Taroot and Al-Hasa which was predominantly Shi’ite, to do the farming work. They settled them in areas near to the farms in Bodaia. These areas were named by the Shi’ite labor after the villages that they came from like Draz, Snabis, Samaheej, Al-Dair and Al-Jish. That’s how Shi'ite started their settlement in Bahrain. The other reason why Shi’ite exists in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain is because the Ottoman Empire imported Shi’ite farmers from Al Basra District in Iraq to farm the dates trees in Al-Qatif, Al-Hasa and Al-Madina Al-Monawarah. This was an important and strategic move by the Ottoman Empire to shorten the route of supplies for their army in the Arabian Gulf coast since Al-Basra was far from their posts on the Arabian Gulf . In the mid-1950s, Bahrain encountered demonstrations from the Arabian Sunni population asking for more political rights. The British advisor advised the Bahraini government to import Arab Shi’ite from Iran to balance the Sunnis population. The Bahraini government imported forty thousand of Arab Shi’ite from Iran whom in 2011 are calling for the fall of the government.

Later on the Dawaser tribe moved on to the business of diving for pearl and left the farming to the Shi’ite farmers. The Dawaser tribe was one of the most powerful tribes in Bahrain at the time (1770-1939) and lived in Bodaia town north and south sections. The north section was ruled by Ahmed Bin Abdullah Al-Dosari and south Bodaia was ruled by Essa bin Ahmed Al-Dosari. At that time (1910-1922) it was estimated that there were two thousand members belonging to the Dosari tribe living in Bodaia. The Dosari tribe exercised self-rule in the town of Bodaia. Sheikh Hamad Bin Essa Al-Khalifa was a close friend to the Dosari tribe and allowed them to rule their own matters and territory.

In 1921 the British advisor started to introduce political reforms to Bahrain including the centralization of the law which was opposed by the Dosari tribe and others. As a result, and to guarantee the British success in their reforms the British advisor to Bahrain called to deport all those whom stood up for the reforms to the island of Sri Lanka which was an exile used by the British. Since Sheikh Hamad bin Essa is close to both the British Advisor and Essa Bin Ahmed he wrote to Essa informing him of the advisor intentions and advised him to leave the country immediately till things calm down. This was the start of the tension between the Dawsar tribe and the English advisor in Bahrain.

On one day one of the Dosari tribesmen was in the Thursday Market in Manama checking out the goods where he accidently tripped and broke some clay vases belonging to a Shi’ite merchant; because it was an accident he apologized but the merchant asked him to pay for the vase. The tribesman did not have any money. As a result, the Shi’ite merchant and his friends beat the man badly. The man ran back to Bodaia and informed the heads of the tribe of what has happened. Essa Bin Ahmed and Ahmed Bin Abdullah did not take this instance easily and retaliated the same night by invading their neighboring Bani Jamra village who are Shi’ite immigrants. In the morning the Bani Jamra farmers went to court, which was near Bawabat al-Bahrain in Manama, where the judge is Sheikh Hamad Bin Essa himself and sitting next to him was the British advisor. Once the court received the Shi’ite complaint about the raid the British Advisor sent for the head of the Dosari tribe, Ahmed Bin Abdullah, whom was summoned to court because the Si'ite accused him of instigating his peole to attack them. He was imprisoned for 15,000 rupees bail which is equivalent to 1,500,000 Bahraini Dinars nowadays. Immediately all the Dosari tribesmen collected the money required for bail and Ahmed was released . Due to this instance Ahmed Bin Abdullah made his mind about leaving Bahrain to the Eastern shores of Saudi Arabia, and Essa bin Ahmed followed him as well. This was the break the British Advisor was looking for to get rid of the Dawaser tribe who were a thorn in his way for reforms. This took place in the summer of 1923. Once Sheikh Hamad Bin Essa Al-Khalifa heard of the intention of both Ahmed and Essa to leave to Saudi he called for Essa bin Ahmed and asked him to let Ahmed bin Abdullah leave and he stays, which was answered by Essa bin Ahmed that it is not right for him to leave the tribe behind. Immediately the British advisor gave the Dawaser tribe a choice ,either all leave or all stay. If they opted to leave, the Government will confiscate all their properties in Bahrain. The Dawasar left Bahrain in the summer of 1923. Upon their arrival in Saudi Arabia, King AbdulAziz bin Saud offered to settle them near to Al-Qatif but they elected not to, and they settled in other areas which are nowadays named Khobar and Dammam. They founded the two cities Dammam and Khobar. King Abdulaziz gave many lands to the Dawaser tribe in Al-Qatif, Taroot and Dhahran. In October of 1923 the British Advisor ordered his navy to bombard Dammam, however, this was not possible due to the shallow waters in those areas that hindered the movement of the navy ships ( Reference to the British Government Exterior Ministry Files). In 1926 part of the Dawaser tribe returned to Bodaia and stayed till today and the Bahraini government did not drop the Bahraini nationality from the Dawaser tribe because they were one of the pioneers of the country of Bahrain.

Discovery of petroleum

The discovery of oil in 1932 brought rapid modernization to Bahrain. Relations with the United Kingdom became closer, as evidenced by the British Royal Navy moving its entire Middle Eastern command from Bushehr in Iran to Bahrain in 1935. British influence continued to grow as the country developed, culminating with the appointment of Charles Belgrave as an advisor. He went on to establish a modern education system in Bahrain. After World War II, increasing anti-British sentiment spread throughout the Arab World and led to riots in Bahrain. The riots focused on the Jewish community, which included distinguished writers, singers, accountants, engineers and middle managers working for the oil company, textile merchants with business all over the peninsula, and free professionals.

In 1948, following rising hostilities and looting, most members of Bahrain's Jewish community abandoned their properties and evacuated to Bombay, later settling in Israel (Pardes Hanna-Karkur) and the United Kingdom. As of 2008, 37 Jews remained in the country. The issue of compensation was never settled. In 1960, the United Kingdom put forward Bahrain's future for international arbitration and requested that the United Nations Secretary-General take on this responsibility.

Separation of Bahrain from Iran

Iran's parliament passed a bill in November 1957 declaring Bahrain to be the Fourteenth province of Iran, with two empty seats allocated for its representatives. This action caused numerous problems for Iran in its international relations, especially with some United Nations bodies, Britain, Saudi Arabia, and a number of Arab countries. It also provided a major opportunity for Iraqi extremists to extend their anti-Iran campaign in the region.

At this time, Britain set out to change the demographics of Bahrain. The policy of “deiranisation” consisted of importing a large number of different Arabs and others from British colonies as labourers.

Demonstrations in 1956 forced the rulers of Al Khalifeh to leave Manama (the capital of modern Bahrain) for the village of Refae Al Gharbi where only Sunni Arabs serving as their bodyguards were allowed to live.

In 1965 Britain began dialogue with Iran to determine their borders in the Persian Gulf. Before long extensive differences over borders and territory came to light, including the dispute over the dominion of Bahrain. The two were not able to determine the maritime borders between the northern and southern countries of the Persian Gulf. At the same time King Faisal of Saudi Arabia arrived in Iran on a visit which included the creation of an Islamic Conference and the decision to determine the maritime borders of the two countries. In return, the Shah of Iran agreed to visit Saudi Arabia in 1967. A week before this visit, the Saudis received Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Emir of Bahrain as a head of state in the Saudi capital Riyadh. As a result the Shah's visit was cancelled, seriously damaging relations between the two countries. Following mediation by King Hassan II of Morocco the relationship was repaired.

Eventually Iran and Britain agreed that the matter of Dominion of Bahrain to put to international judgment and requested the United Nations General Secretary take on this responsibility.

Iran pressed hard for a referendum in Bahrain in the face of strong opposition from both the British and the Bahraini leaders. Their opposition was based on Al Khalifa's view that such a move would negate 150 years of his clan's rule in the country. In the end, as an alternative to the referendum, Iran and Britain agreed to request the United Nations conduct an opinion poll in Bahrain that would determine the political future of that territory. In reply to letters from the British and Iranians, U Thant, then Secretary General of the United Nations, declared that an opinion poll would take place on March 30, 1970. Vittorio Winspeare-Giucciardi, Manager of The United Nations office in Geneva was put in charge of the project. Report no. 9772 was submitted to the UN General Secretary and on May 11, 1970, the United Nations Security Council endorsed Winspeare's conclusion that an overwhelming majority of the people wished recognition of Bahrain's identity as a fully independent and sovereign state free to decide its own relations with other states. Both Britain and Iran accepted the report and brought their dispute to a close.

The oil boom of the 1970s benefited Bahrain greatly, although the subsequent downturn hurt the economy. The country had already begun diversification of its economy and benefited further from the 1970s Lebanese Civil War, when Bahrain replaced Beirut as the Middle East's financial hub after Lebanon's large banking sector was driven out of the country by the war. Following the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, in 1981 Bahraini Shī'a fundamentalists orchestrated a failed coup attempt under the auspices of a front organization, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain. The coup would have installed a Shī'a cleric exiled in Iran, Hujjatu l-Islām Hādī al-Mudarrisī, as supreme leader heading a theocratic government. In 1994, a wave of rioting by disaffected Shīa Islamists was sparked by women's participation in a sporting event.

During the mid-1990s, the Kingdom was badly affected by sporadic violence between the government and the cleric-led opposition in which over forty people were killed. In March 1999, King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah succeeded his father as head of state and instituted elections for parliament, gave women the right to vote, and released all political prisoners. These moves were described by Amnesty International as representing an "historic period of human rights". As part of the adoption of the National Action Charter on February 14, 2002, Bahrain changed its formal name from the State (''dawla'') of Bahrain to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Politics

Bahrain is an Constitutional monarchy headed by the King, Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa; the head of government is the Prime Minister, Shaikh Khalīfa bin Salman al Khalifa. Bahrain has a bicameral National Assembly (''al-Jamiyh al-Watani'') consisting of the Shura Council (''Majlis Al-Shura'') with 40 seats and the Council of Representatives (''Majlis Al-Nuwab'') with 40 seats. The 40 members of the Shura are appointed by the king. In the Council of Representatives, 40 members are elected by absolute majority vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms.

The first round of voting in the 2006 parliamentary election took place on 25 November 2006, and in the second round Islamists hailed a huge election victory.

The opening up of politics has seen big gains for both Shīa and Sunnī Islamists in elections, which have given them a parliamentary platform to pursue their policies. This has meant parties launching campaigns to impose bans on female mannequins displaying lingerie in shop windows, and the hanging of underwear on washing lines.

Analysts of democratization in the Middle East cite the Islamists' references to respect for human rights in their justification for these programmes as evidence that these groups can serve as a progressive force in the region. Islamist parties have been particularly critical of the government's readiness to sign international treaties such as the United Nation's International Convention on Civil and Political Rights. At a parliamentary session in June 2006 to discuss ratification of the Convention, Sheikh Adel Mouwda, the former leader of salafist party, Asalah, explained the party's objections: "''The convention has been tailored by our enemies, God kill them all, to serve their needs and protect their interests rather than ours. This why we have eyes from the American Embassy watching us during our sessions, to ensure things are swinging their way''".

Both Sunnī and Shī'a Islamists suffered a setback in March 2006 when 20 municipal councillors, most of whom represented religious parties, went missing in Bangkok on an unscheduled stopover when returning from a conference in Malaysia. After the missing councillors eventually arrived in Bahrain they defended their stay at the Radisson Hotel in Bangkok, telling journalists it was a "fact-finding mission", and explaining: "''We benefited a lot from the trip to Thailand because we saw how they managed their transport, landscaping and roads''". Bahraini liberals have responded to the growing power of religious parties by organizing themselves to campaign through civil society in order to defend basic personal freedoms from being legislated away. In November 2005, al Muntada, a grouping of liberal academics, launched "''We Have A Right''", a campaign to explain to the public why personal freedoms matter and why they need to be defended.

Women's rights

Women's political rights in Bahrain saw an important step forward when women were granted the right to vote and stand in national elections for the first time in the 2002 election. However, no women were elected to office in that year's polls. Instead, Shī'a and Sunnī Islamists dominated the election, collectively winning a majority of seats. In response to the failure of women candidates, six were appointed to the Shura Council, which also includes representatives of the Kingdom's indigenous Jewish and Christian communities. Dr. Nada Haffadh became the country's first female cabinet minister on her appointment as Minister of Health in 2004. The quasi-governmental women's group, the Supreme Council for Women, trained female candidates to take part in the 2006 general election. When Bahrain was elected to head the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 it appointed lawyer and women's rights activist Haya bint Rashid Al Khalifa President of the United Nations General Assembly, only the third woman in history to head the world body. The King recently created the Supreme Judicial Council to regulate the country's courts and institutionalize the separation of the administrative and judicial branches of government; the leader of this court is Mohammed Humaidan.

On 11–12 November 2005, Bahrain hosted the Forum for the Future, bringing together leaders from the Middle East and G8 countries to discuss political and economic reform in the region. The near total dominance of religious parties in elections has given a new prominence to clerics within the political system, with the most senior Shia religious leader, Sheikh Isa Qassim, playing an extremely important role. According to one academic paper, "In fact, it seems that few decisions can be arrived at in Al Wefaq – and in the whole country, for that matter – without prior consultation with Isa Qassim, ranging from questions with regard to the planned codification of the personal status law to participation in elections". In 2007, Al Wefaq-backed parliamentary investigations were credited with forcing the government to remove ministers who had frequently clashed with MPs: the Minister of Health, Dr. Nada Haffadh and the Minister of Information, Dr Mohammed Abdul Gaffar.

1990s uprising in Bahrain

The "1990s Uprising in Bahrain" or "1990s Intifada" was a rebellion in Bahrain between 1994 and 2000 in which leftists, liberals and Islamists joined forces. The event resulted in approximately forty deaths and ended after Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa became the Emir of Bahrain in 1999. A referendum on 14–15 February 2001 massively supported the National Action Charter.

2011 Bahraini uprising

During the Arab Spring Revolutions of 2011, protestors began pouring into the Pearl Roundabout area. The protesters selected 14 February as a day of protest to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the National Action Charter. On 18 February five people were killed when police raided the Pearl Roundabout protests early in the morning. The Bahrain troops retreated within a week's time. They allowed the protestors to continue a festival type event at the Pearl Roundabout where different groups came and shared their views. The Salman Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa promised a dialogue during this period. Within this time, Robert Gates, Defense Secretary of the United States, visited Bahrain to discuss the situation along with a visit to the UAE on an arms deal. Historically, the 2nd line of defense against a Shia uprising has been to call the Saudi National Guard ever since the British army left in 1971. Due to the media attention on the protests, the idea to use the Saudi Arabian troops along with other GCC member states under the operating name of the Peninsula Shield was a plan. It was decided that if the protests could be moved to a financial district, based on the guidelines of the formation of this military body, it would be able to move legally into the country, even though it was the first time it was used internally against GCC citizens. Kuwait declined taking part on this ground operation based on this "misuse" of the organization, though it sent naval help later on.

Within a few days, the protestors were lured into the Financial Harbour, an area filled with exchanges and banks. On March 15, the government began a retaliatory "crackdown", a term used mainly by the Bahraini government. On March 14, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates entered Bahrain with the stated purpose of protecting essential facilities including oil and gas installations and financial institutions. The maneuver was carried out under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The following month was filled with alleged arrests, tortures, and deaths. The Saudi forces began using "night raids" as has been done in the Eastern Provinces for generations. Most of the protestors are from the Shia Islamic sect who make up the majority of Bahrainis but are disproportionately represented by the Sunni royal led government.

On June 23, 2011, Hasan Mushaima, Abdulhadi Khawaja, and several other opposition activists were sentenced to life in prison by a military court.

Governorates

;For further information, see from the Bahrain official website. Bahrain is split into five governorates. These governorates are:

! Map !! Governorates

Economy

According to a January 2006 report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, Bahrain has the fastest growing economy in the Arab world. Bahrain also has the freest economy in the Middle East and is tenth freest overall in the world based on the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation/''Wall Street Journal'', .

In 2008, Bahrain was named the world's fastest growing financial center by the City of London's Global Financial Centres Index. Bahrain's banking and financial services sector, particularly Islamic banking, have benefited from the regional boom driven by demand for oil. In Bahrain, petroleum production and processing account for about 60% of export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP.

Economic conditions have fluctuated with the changing price of oil since 1985, for example during and following the Persian Gulf crisis of 1990–91. With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain is home to a number of multinational firms and construction proceeds on several major industrial projects. A large share of exports consist of petroleum products made from imported crude oil. In 2004, Bahrain signed the US-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement, which will reduce certain trade barriers between the two nations.

Unemployment, especially among the young, and the depletion of both oil and underground water resources are major long-term economic problems. In 2008, the jobless figure was at 4%, with women over represented at 85% of the total. In 2007 Bahrain became the first Arab country to institute unemployment benefit as part of a series of labour reforms instigated under Minister of Labour, Dr. Majeed Al Alawi.

Geography

Bahrain is a generally flat and arid archipelago in the Persian Gulf, east of Saudi Arabia. It consists of a low desert plain rising gently to a low central escarpment with the highest point the Mountain of Smoke ''(Jabal ad Dukhan)''. Bahrain has a total area of , which is slightly larger than the Isle of Man, though it is smaller than the nearby King Fahd International Airport near Dammam, Saudi Arabia ().

As an archipelago of thirty-three islands, Bahrain does not share a land boundary with another country but does have a coastline. The country also claims a further of territorial sea and a contiguous zone. Bahrain's largest islands are Bahrain Island, Muharraq Island, Umm an Nasan, and Sitrah. Bahrain has mild winters and very hot, humid summers. The country's natural resources include large quantities of oil and natural gas as well as fish in the offshore waters. Arable land constitutes only 2.82% of the total area.

92% of Bahrain is desert with periodic droughts and dust storms the main natural hazards for Bahrainis. Environmental issues facing Bahrain include desertification resulting from the degradation of limited arable land, coastal degradation (damage to coastlines, coral reefs, and sea vegetation) resulting from oil spills and other discharges from large tankers, oil refineries, distribution stations, and illegal land reclamation at places such as Tubli Bay. The agricultural and domestic sectors' over-utilization of the Dammam Aquifer, the principal aquifer in Bahrain, has led to its salinization by adjacent brackish and saline water bodies.

Climate

The Zagros Mountains across the Persian Gulf in Iraq cause low level winds to be directed toward Bahrain. Dust storms from Iraq and Saudi Arabia transported by northwesterly winds cause reduced visibility in the months of June and July.

Due to the Persian Gulf area's low moisture, summers are very hot and dry. The seas around Bahrain are very shallow, heating up quickly in the summer to produce high humidity, especially at night. Summer temperatures may reach more than under the right conditions. Rainfall in Bahrain is minimal and irregular. Rainfalls mostly occur in winter, with a recorded maximum of .

Demographics

{{bar box |title=Religion in Bahrain |titlebar=#ddd |left1=religion |right1=percent |float=right |bars= }} In 2010, Bahrain's population grew to 1.234 million, of which more than 666,172 (54%) were non-nationals, up from 1.05 million (517,000 non-nationals) in 2008. Though a majority of the population is ethnically Arab, a sizable number of people from South Asia live in the country. In 2008, approximately 290,000 Indian nationals lived in Bahrain, making them the single largest expatriate community in the country.

The official religion of Bahrain is Islam, and a majority practise Shia Islam. However, due to an influx of immigrants and guest workers from non-Muslim countries, such as India, Philippines and Sri Lanka, the overall percentage of Muslims in the country has declined in recent years. According to the 2001 census, 81.2% of Bahrain's population was Muslim, 9% were Christian, and 9.8% practiced Hinduism or other religions. There are no official figures for the proportion of Shia and Sunni among the Muslims of Bahrain. Most academic analysts give the native Bahraini population a Shia majority of approximately 70 percent.

A ''Financial Times'' article published on 31 May 1983 found that "''Bahrain is a polyglot state, both religiously and racially. Discounting temporary immigrants of the past ten years, there are at least eight or nine communities on the island''". These may be classified as:

Community !! Description
Afro-Arabs	Descendants of Africans, primarily from East Africa and of mostly Sunni faith
	Persian people>Persians from Shia and Sunni faith
Baharna	Shia Arabs divided between those indigenous to the islands, and the Hassawis hailing from the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.
Banyan (Bania (caste)	Bania)	Bania (caste)>traded with Bahrain and settled before the age of oil (formerly known as the ''Hunood'' or ''Banyan'', ), of mostly Hindu faith
Tribals	Sunni Arab Bedouin tribes allied to the Al-Khalifa including the Utoob tribes, Dawasir, Al Nuaim, Al Mannai etc.
Huwala	Persia and later returned, although some are originally Persian people>Persians
Najdis (also called ''Hadhar'')	Non-tribal urban Sunni Arabs from Najd in central Arabia. These are families whose ancestors were pearl divers, traders, etc. An example is the Al Gosaibi family.

Culture

Bahrain is sometimes described as "Middle East lite" due to its combination of modern infrastructure with a Persian Gulf identity. While Islam is the main religion, Bahrainis are known for their tolerance towards the practice of other faiths.

It is too early to say whether political liberalization under King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has augmented or undermined Bahrain's traditional pluralism. The new political space for Shia and Sunni Islamists has meant that they are now more able to pursue programs that often seek to directly confront this pluralism. At the same time, political reforms have encouraged an opposite trend whereby society becomes more self-critical and shows a greater willingness to examine previous social taboos.

In common with the rest of the Muslim world, though Bahrain has take strong strides for women's rights, it does not recognize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights.

Another facet of the new openness is Bahrain's status as the most prolific book publisher in the Arab world, with 132 books published in 2005 for a population of 700,000. In comparison, the 2005 average for the entire Arab world was seven books published per one million people, according to the United Nations Development Programme. Ali Bahar is the most famous singer in Bahrain. He performs his music with his Band Al-Ekhwa (''The Brothers'').

Language and religion

Arabic is the official language of Bahrain though English is widely used. Bahrani Arabic is the most widely spoken language. Bahrain's primary religion is Islam. Muslims belong to the Shi'a and Sunni branches of Islam. The Shi'a constitute over 70 percent of the Muslim population.

Formula One and other motorsports events

Bahrain has a Formula One race-track, which hosted the inaugural Gulf Air Grand Prix on 4 April 2004, the first in an Arab country. This was followed by the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2005. Bahrain hosted the opening Grand Prix of the 2006 season on 12 March of that year. Both the above races were won by Fernando Alonso of Renault. The 2007 event took place on April 13, 14th and 15th.

In 2006, Bahrain also hosted its inaugural Australian V8 Supercar event dubbed the "''Desert 400''". The V8s will return every November to the Sakhir circuit. The Bahrain International Circuit also features a full length drag strip where the Bahrain Drag Racing Club has organised invitational events featuring some of Europe's top drag racing teams to try and raise the profile of the sport in the Middle East.

Holidays

On 1 September 2006, Bahrain changed its weekend from being Thursdays and Fridays to Fridays and Saturdays, in order to have a day of the weekend shared with the rest of the world. Other non-regular holidays are listed below:

Labour DayNational DayAccession DayIslamic New YearDay of AshuraMawlidEid ul-FitrDay of ArafatEid ul-Adha

Date !! English name !! Local (Arabic Language	Arabic) name !! Description
1 January	New Year's Day
1 May	|	يوم العمال
16 December	|	اليوم الوطني	National Day, Accession Day for the late Amir ''Sh. Isa Bin Salman Al Khalifa''
17 December	|	يوم الجلوس
1st ''Muharram''	|	رأس السنة الهجرية	Islamic Calendar>Islamic New Year (also known as: ''Hijri New Year'').
9th, 10th ''Muharram''	Day of ''Ashura'' ||	عاشوراء	Commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein.
12th ''Rabi' al-awwal	Rabiul Awwal''	Prophet Muhammad's birthday ||	المولد النبوي	Commemorates Prophet Muhammad's birthday, celebrated in most parts of the Muslim world.
1st, 2nd, 3rd ''Shawwal''	Little Feast ||	عيد الفطر	Commemorates end of Ramadan.
9th ''Dhu al-Hijjah	Zulhijjah''	Arafat Day ||	يوم عرفة
10th, 11th, 12th ''Dhu al-Hijjah	Zulhijjah''	Feast of the Sacrifice ||	عيد الأضحى	Abraham>Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son. Also known as the ''Big Feast'' (celebrated from the 10th to 13th).

Military

The kingdom has a small but well equipped military called the Bahrain Defence Force (BDF). The BDF is primarily equipped with United States equipment, such as the F16 Fighting Falcon, F5 Freedom Fighter, UH60 Blackhawk, M60A3 tanks, and the ex-, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate renamed the RBNS ''Sabha''. The Government of Bahrain has a cooperative agreement with the United States Military and has provided the United States a base in Juffair since the early 1990s. This is the home of the headquarters for Commander, ''United States Naval Forces Central Command'' (COMUSNAVCENT) / ''United States Fifth Fleet'' (COMFIFTHFLT), and about 1500 United States and coalition military personnel.

Education

At the beginning of the 20th century, Qur'anic schools (''Kuttab'') were the only form of education in Bahrain. They were traditional schools aimed at teaching children and youth the reading of the Qur'an. After World War I, Bahrain became open to western influences, and a demand for modern educational institutions appeared. 1919 marked the beginning of modern public school system in Bahrain when the Al-Hidaya Al-Khalifia School for boys opened in Muharraq. In 1926, the Education Committee opened the second public school for boys in Manama, and in 1928 the first public school for girls was opened in Muharraq.

In 2004 King Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa introduced the "King Hamad Schools of Future'' project that uses Information Communication Technology to support K–12 education in Bahrain. The project's objective is to connect all schools within the kingdom with the Internet. In addition to British intermediate schools, the island is served by the Bahrain School (BS). The BS is a United States Department of Defense school that provides a K-12 curriculum including International Baccalaureate offerings. There are also private schools that offer either the IB Diploma Programme or United Kingdom A-Levels.

In 2007, St. Christopher's School Bahrain became the first school in Bahrain to offer a choice of International Baccalaureate or A-Levels for students. Numerous international educational institutions and schools have established links to Bahrain. A few prominent institutions are DePaul University, Bentley College, the Ernst & Young Training Institute, NYIT and the Birla Institute of Technology International Centre Schooling is paid for by the government. Primary and secondary school attendance is high even though it is not compulsory.

Bahrain also encourages institutions of higher learning, drawing on expatriate talent and the increasing pool of Bahrain Nationals returning from abroad with advanced degrees. The University of Bahrain was established for standard undergraduate and graduate study, and the King Abdulaziz University College of Health Sciences, operating under the direction of the Ministry of Health, trains physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and paramedics. The 2001 National Action Charter paved the way for the formation of private universities such as the Ahlia University in Manama and University College of Bahrain in Saar. The Royal University for Women (RUW), established in 2005, was the first private, purpose-built, international University in Bahrain dedicated solely to educating women. The University of London External has appointed MCG as the regional representative office in Bahrain for distance learning programs. MCG is one of the oldest private institutes in the country. Institutes have also opened which educate Asian students, such as the Pakistan Urdu School, Bahrain and the Indian School, Bahrain.

Tourism

As a tourist destination, Bahrain receives over eight million visitors per annum. Most of these are from the surrounding Arab states although an increasing number hail from outside the region due to growing awareness of the kingdom's heritage and its higher profile as a result of the Bahrain International F1 Circuit. The Lonely Planet Guide describes Bahrain as "''an excellent introduction to the Persian Gulf''", because of its authentic Arab heritage and reputation as a liberal and modern country. The kingdom is also home to the popular tourist attraction, the Bahrain City Center.

The kingdom combines modern Arab culture and the archaeological legacy of five thousand years of civilization. The island is home to castles including Qalat Al Bahrain which has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The Bahrain National Museum has artifacts from the country's history dating back to the island's first human inhabitants some 9000 years ago.

See also

Bahrain World Trade Center

LGBT rights in Bahrain (Gay rights)

Manama

Utub

List of towns and villages of Bahrain

List of tallest buildings and structures in Bahrain

References

External links

Kingdom of Bahrain ''official government portal''

Category:Member states of the Arab League Category:Arabian Peninsula Category:Arabic-speaking countries and territories Category:Constitutional monarchies Category:English-speaking countries and territories Category:Island countries Category:Middle Eastern countries Category:Member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Category:Persian Gulf countries Category:Western Asian countries Category:States and territories established in 1971 Category:Western Asia Category:Member states of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Category:Member states of the United Nations

kbd:Бахрейн

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colour	#B31B1B
colour text	#FFFFFF
name	Scrooge McDuck
first	"Christmas on Bear Mountain" (1947)
creator	Carl Barks
voice	Dallas McKennon (1960)Bill Thompson (1967)Will Ryan (1987)Alan Young (1974-present)
nickname	Uncle Scrooge
species	Pekin duck
family	Clan McDuck
relatives	Donald Duck (nephew)Ludwig Von Drake (brother-in-law)
nationality	Scottish
noinfo	yes }}

Scrooge McDuck is a cartoon character created in 1947 by Carl Barks and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Scrooge is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a red or blue frock coat, top hat, pince-nez glasses, and spats. Named after Ebenezer Scrooge from the 1843 novel ''A Christmas Carol'', Scrooge is a wealthy Scottish American business magnate who is characterized as a greedy miser. He is the maternal uncle of Donald Duck.

Scrooge was created as a comic book character, first appearing in the 1947 ''Four Color'' story "Christmas on Bear Mountain" (#178). Initially a supporting character in Donald Duck stories, he soon became a major figure of the Duck universe. In 1952 he was given his own comic book series, called ''Uncle Scrooge'', with still runs today. Scrooge was most famously drawn by his creator Carl Barks, and later by Don Rosa. Comics have remained Scrooge's primary medium, although he has also appeared in animated cartoons, most extensively in the television series ''Duck Tales'' (1987-1990).

Along with several other characters in the Disney franchise, Scrooge has enjoyed international popularity, particularly in Europe, and books about him are frequently translated into other languages.

Although never confirmed by Barks, it is possible that Scottish industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who left his country for America at age 13, served as a model for Scrooge who also immigrated at 13. Another possible inspiration is an unnamed character in the 1943 ''Donald Duck'' short film ''The Spirit of '43'' who was a representation of Donald's thrifty conscience. The character had many of Scrooge's characteristics including sideburns, pince-nez glasses, and a Scottish accent.

Comics history

First appearance

Scrooge, maternal uncle of previously established character Donald Duck, made his first named appearance in ''Christmas on Bear Mountain'' in December 1947, a story written and drawn by artist Carl Barks. His appearance may have been based on a similar-looking, nameless Scottish character from the 1943 propaganda short ''The Spirit of '43''.

In ''Christmas on Bear Mountain'', Scrooge was a bearded, bespectacled, reasonably wealthy old duck, visibly leaning on his cane, and living in isolation in a "huge mansion". Scrooge's misanthropic thoughts in this first story are quite pronounced: ''"Here I sit in this big lonely dump, waiting for Christmas to pass! Bah! That silly season when everybody loves everybody else! A curse on it! Me—I'm different! Everybody hates me, and I hate everybody!"''

Barks later reflected, "Scrooge in 'Christmas on Bear Mountain' was only my first idea of a rich, old uncle. I had made him too old and too weak. I discovered later on that I had to make him more active. I could not make an old guy like that do the things I wanted him to do."

Recurring character

Barks would later claim that he originally only intended to use Scrooge as a one-shot character, but then decided Scrooge (and his fortune) could prove useful for motivating further stories. Barks continued to experiment with Scrooge's appearance and personality over the next four years.

Scrooge's second appearance, in ''The Old Castle's Secret'' (first published in June 1948), had Scrooge recruiting his nephews to search for a family treasure hidden in Dismal Downs, the McDuck family's ancestral castle, built in the middle of Rannoch Moor in Scotland. ''Foxy Relations'' (first published in November, 1948) was the first story where Scrooge is called by his title and catchphrase "The Richest Duck in the World".

First hints of Scrooge's past

''Voodoo Hoodoo'', first published in August 1949, was the first story to hint at Scrooge's past with the introduction of two figures from it. The first was Foola Zoola, an old African sorcerer and chief of the Voodoo tribe who had cursed Scrooge, seeking revenge for the destruction of his village and the taking of his tribe's lands by Scrooge decades ago.

Scrooge privately admitted to his nephews that he had used an army of "cutthroats" to get the tribe to abandon their lands, in order to establish a rubber plantation. The event was placed by Carl Barks in 1879 during the story, but it would later be by Don Rosa retconned to 1909 to fit with Scrooge's later-established personal history.

The second figure was Bombie the Zombie, the organ of the sorcerer's curse and revenge. He had reportedly sought Scrooge for decades before reaching Duckburg, mistaking Donald for Scrooge. Bombie was not really undead and Foola Zoola did not practice necromancy.

Barks, with a note of skepticism often found in his stories, explained the zombie as a living person who has never died, but has somehow gotten under the influence of a sorcerer. Although some scenes of the story were intended as a parody of Bela Lugosi's ''White Zombie'', the story is the first to not only focus on Scrooge's past but also touch on the darkest aspects of his personality.

Later stories

''Trail of the Unicorn'', first published in February 1950, introduced Scrooge's private zoo. One of his pilots had managed to photograph the last living unicorn, which lived in the Indian part of the Himalayas. Scrooge offered a reward to competing cousins Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander, which would go to the one who captured the unicorn for Scrooge's collection of animals.

This was also the story that introduced Scrooge's private airplane. Barks would later establish Scrooge as an experienced aviator. Donald had previously been shown as a skilled aviator, as was Flintheart Glomgold in later stories. In comparison, Huey, Dewey, and Louie were depicted as only having taken flying lessons in the story ''Frozen Gold'' (published in January 1945).

''The Pixelated Parrot'', first published in July 1950, introduced the precursor to Scrooge's money bin; in this story, Scrooge's central office building is said to contain "three cubic acres of money." Two nameless burglars who briefly appear during the story are considered to be the precursors of the Beagle Boys.

Scrooge as a major character

''The Magic Hourglass'', first published in September 1950, was arguably the first story to change the focus of the Duck stories from Donald to Scrooge. During the story, several themes were introduced for Scrooge.

Donald first mentions in this story that his uncle practically owns Duckburg, a statement that Scrooge's rival John D. Rockerduck would later put in dispute. Scrooge first hints that he was not born into wealth, as he remembers buying the Hourglass in Morocco when he was a member of a ship's crew as a cabin boy. It is also the first story in which Scrooge mentions speaking another language besides his native English and reading other alphabets besides the Latin alphabet, as during the story, he speaks Arabic and reads the Arabic alphabet.

The latter theme would be developed further in later stories. Barks and current Scrooge writer Don Rosa have depicted Scrooge as being fluent in Arabic, Dutch, German, Mongolian, Spanish, Mayan, Bengali, Finnish, and various dialects of Chinese. Scrooge acquired this knowledge from years of living or traveling to the various regions of the world where those languages are spoken. Later writers would depict Scrooge having at least working knowledge of several other languages.

Scrooge was shown in ''The Magic Hourglass'' in a more positive light than in previous stories, but his more villainous side is present too. Scrooge is seen in this story attempting to reacquire a magic hourglass that he gave to Donald, before finding out that it acted as a protective charm for him. Scrooge starts losing one million dollars each minute, and comments that he will go bankrupt within 600 years. This line is a parody of Orson Welles's line in ''Citizen Kane'' “You know, Mr. Thatcher, at the rate of a million dollars a year, I'll have to close this place in... 60 years”. To convince his nephews to return it, he pursues them throughout Morocco, where they had headed to earlier in the story. Memorably during the story, Scrooge interrogates Donald by having him tied up and tickled with a feather in an attempt to get Donald to reveal the hourglass's location. Scrooge finally manages to retrieve it, exchanging it for a flask of water, as he had found his nephews exhausted and left in the desert with no supplies. As Scrooge explains, he intended to give them a higher offer, but he just could not resist having somebody at his mercy without taking advantage of it.

Final developments

''A Financial Fable'', first published in March 1951, had Scrooge teaching Donald some lessons in productivity as the source of wealth, along with the laws of supply and demand. Perhaps more importantly, it was also the first story where Scrooge observes how diligent and industrious Huey, Louie and Dewey are, making them more similar to himself rather than to Donald. Donald in Barks's stories is depicted as working hard on occasion, but given the choice often proves to be a shirker. The three younger nephews first side with Scrooge rather than Donald in this story, with the bond between granduncle and grandnephews strengthening in later stories. However, there have been rare instances where Donald proved invaluable to Scrooge, such as when the group traveled back in time to Ancient Egypt to retrieve a pharaoh's papyrus. Donald cautions against taking it with him, as no one would believe the story unless it was unearthed. Donald then buries it and makes a marking point from the Nile River, making Scrooge think to himself admiringly "Donald must have swallowed the Encyclopedia Britannica!"

''Terror of the Beagle Boys'', first published in November 1951, introduced the readers to the Beagle Boys, although Scrooge in this story seems to be already familiar with them. ''The Big Bin on Killmotor Hill'' introduced Scrooge's money bin, built on Killmotor Hill in the center of Duckburg.

By this point, Scrooge had become familiar to readers in the United States and Europe. Other Disney writers and artists besides Barks began using Scrooge in their own stories, including Italian writer Romano Scarpa. Western Publishing, the then-publisher of the Disney crafty comics, started thinking about using Scrooge as a protagonist rather than a supporting character, and then decided to launch Scrooge in his own self-titled comic. ''Uncle Scrooge'' #1, featuring the story ''Only a Poor Old Man'', was published in March 1952-1953. This story along with ''Back to the Klondike'', first published a year later in March 1953, became the biggest influences in how Scrooge's character, past, and beliefs would become defined.

After this point, Barks produced most of his longer stories in ''Uncle Scrooge'', with a focus mainly on adventure, while his ten-page stories for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories continued to feature Donald as the star and focused on comedy. In Scrooge's stories, Donald and his nephews were cast as Scrooge's assistants, who accompanied Scrooge in his adventures around the world. This change of focus from Donald to Scrooge was also reflected in stories by other contemporary writers. Since then, Scrooge remains a central figure of the Duck comics' universe, thus the coining of the term "Scrooge McDuck Universe".

Later stories

After Barks's retirement, the character continued under other artists. In 1972, Barks was persuaded to write more stories for Disney. He wrote Junior Woodchuck stories where Scrooge often plays the part of the villain, closer to the role he had before he acquired his own series. Under Barks, Scrooge always was a malleable character who would take on whatever persona was convenient to the plot.

The Italian writer and artist Romano Scarpa made several additions to Scrooge McDuck's universe, including characters such as Brigitta McBridge, Scrooge's self-styled fiancée, and Gideon McDuck, a newspaper editor who is Scrooge's brother. Those characters have appeared mostly in European comics. So is also the case for Scrooge's rival John D. Rockerduck (created by Barks for just one story) and Donald's cousin Fethry Duck, who sometimes works as a reporter for Scrooge's newspaper.

Another major development was the arrival of writer and artist Don Rosa in 1987. Rosa considers Scrooge to be his favorite Disney character. Unlike most other Disney writers, Don Rosa considered Scrooge as a historical character whose Disney adventures had occurred in the fifties and sixties and ended (in his undepicted death) in 1967 when Barks retired. He considered only Barks' stories canonical, and fleshed out a timeline as well as a family tree based on Barks' stories. Eventually he made ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'', a full history in twelve chapters which received an Eisner Award in 1995. Later on he included additional chapters. Under Rosa, Scrooge became more ethical, he never cheats. He owes his fortune to his hard work and his money bin is "full of souvenirs" since every coin reminds him of a specific circumstance. Although his work is scarce, Rosa remains the foremost contemporary duck artist and was nominated for five 2007 Eisner Awards. His work is regularly reprinted by itself as well as along with Barks stories for which he created a sequel.

Daan Jippes, who can mimic Barks's art to a close extent, repenciled all of Barks's 1970s Junior Woodchucks stories, as well as Barks' final Uncle Scrooge stories, from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Other notable Disney artists who have worked with the Scrooge character include Marco Rota, William Van Horn, and Tony Strobl.

In an interview with the Norwegian "Aftenposten" from 1992 Don Rosa says that "in the beginning Scrooge earned his existence to his nephew Donald, but that has changed and today it's Donald that earns his existence to Scrooge" and he also says that this is one of the reasons why he is so interested in Scrooge.

Characterization

Wealth

Scrooge had worked his way up the financial ladder from humble immigrant roots. Firstly, he took up a job polishing and shining boots, and was enraged when a ditchdigger paid him with an 1875 US dime, which was useless as currency in 19th century Glasgow. However, the coin inspired him to take a position as cabin boy on a Clyde cattle ship to the United States to make his fortune at the age of 13. In 1898, after many adventures he finally ended up in Klondike. There he found a golden rock the size of a goose's egg. The next year he had made his first $1,000,000 and bought the deed for Killmule Hill from Casey Coot, the son of Clinton Coot and grandson of Cornelius Coot. He finally ended up in Duckburg in 1902. After some dramatic events where he faced both the Beagle Boys and president Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" at the same time, he tore down the rest of the old fort Duckburg and raised his famous Money Bin at the same site. In the years to follow, Uncle Scrooge traveled all around the world in order to increase his fortune. During these and earlier travels he learned many different languages from all parts of the world. Meanwhile his family ran the Money Bin. When Scrooge finally returned to Duckburg, he found himself the richest duck in the world, rivaled only by Flintheart Glomgold, John D. Rockerduck and, less prominently, the maharaja of the fictional country Howdoyoustan (play on Hindustan). He had however changed. His newly developed uptight, hostile, abusive and harsh behavior made his own family leave him. 12 years later, he closed his empire down, but eventually returned to a public life 5 years later and started his business.

He keeps a portion of his wealth, money he has personally earned himself, in a massive Money Bin overlooking the city of Duckburg. In the short Scrooge McDuck and Money, he remarks to his nephews that this money is "just petty cash". In the Dutch and Italian version he regularly forces Donald and his nephews to polish the coins one by one in order to pay off Donald's debts—Scrooge will not even pay them much for this lengthy, tedious, hand-breaking work. As far as he is concerned, even 5 cents an hour is too much expenditure.

A shrewd businessduck and noted tightwad, he is fond of diving into his money like a porpoise, burrowing through it like a gopher, and throwing coins into the air to let them fall upon his head—all without injury, much to the bafflement of others. He is also the richest member of The Billionaires Club of Duckburg, a society which includes the most successful businessmen of the world and allows them to keep connections with each other. Glomgold and Rockerduck are also influential members of the Club. His most famous prized possession is his Number One Dime.

The sum of Scrooge's wealth is very controversial. According to Barks' ''The Second Richest Duck'' as noted by a ''TIME'' article, Scrooge is worth ''one multiplujillion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred twenty-three dollars and sixty-two cents.'' In the DuckTales episode ''Liquid Assets'', Fenton Crackshell (Scrooge's accountant) notes that McDuck's money bin contains ''607 tillion 386 zillion 947 trillion 522 billion dollars and 36 cents''. Don Rosa's the ''Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'' notes that Scrooge amounts to ''five multiplujillion, nine impossibidillion, seven fantasticatrillion dollars and sixteen cents''. ''Forbes'' has occasionally tried to estimate McDuck's wealth in real terms; in 2007, Forbes estimated his wealth at $28.8 billion; in 2011, it rose to $44.1 billion due to the rise in gold prices. One website used the size of Scrooge's Money Bin as a basis and calculated that it could contain over $27 trillion. Barks himself has said that the fortune is five billion quintiplitilion unptuplatillion multuplatillion impossibidillion fantasticatrillion dollars. Whatever the amount, Scrooge never considers it enough: he has to continue to earn money by any means possible.

Education

Scrooge is a school drop-out, and thus is not completely educated at all. However, he has a sharp mind and is always ready to learn new skills. Because of his secondary occupation as a treasure hunter, Scrooge has become something of a scholar and an amateur archaeologist. Starting with Barks, several writers have explained how Scrooge becomes aware of the treasures he decides to pursue. This often involves periods of research consulting various written sources in search of passages that might lead him to a treasure. Often Scrooge decides to search for the possible truth behind old legends, or discovers obscure references to the activities of ancient conquerors, explorers and military leaders that he considers interesting enough to begin a new expedition.

As a result of his research, Scrooge has built up an extensive personal library, which includes many rare tomes. In Barks's and Rosa's stories, among the prized pieces of this library is an almost complete collection of Spanish and Dutch naval logs of the 16th and 17th centuries. Their references to the fates of other ships have often allowed Scrooge to locate sunken ships and recover their treasures from their watery graves. Mostly self-taught as he is, Scrooge is a firm believer in the saying "knowledge is power". Scrooge is also an accomplished linguist and entrepreneur, having learned to speak several different languages during his business trips around the world, selling fridges to eskimos, wind to windmill manufacturers in the Netherlands etc.

Morality and beliefs

Both as a businessman and as a treasure hunter, Scrooge is noted for his drive to set new goals and face new challenges. As Carl Barks described his character, for Scrooge there is "always another rainbow". The phrase later provided the title for one of Barks's better-known paintings depicting Scrooge. Periods of inactivity between adventures and lack of serious challenges tend to be depressing for Scrooge after a while; some stories see these phases take a toll on his health. Scrooge's other motto is "Work smarter, not harder."

As a businessman, Scrooge often resorts to aggressive tactics and deception. He seems to have gained significant experience in manipulating people and events towards his own ends. As often seen in stories by writer Guido Martina and occasionally by others, Scrooge is noted for his cynicism, especially towards ideals of morality when it comes to business and the pursuit of set goals. This has been noted by some as not being part of Barks's original profile of the character, but has since come to be accepted as one valid interpretation of Scrooge's way of thinking.

Scrooge seems to have a personal code of honesty that offers him an amount of self-control. He can often be seen contemplating the next course of action, divided between adopting a ruthless pursuit of his current goal against those tactics he considers more honest. At times, he can sacrifice his goal in order to remain within the limits of this sense of honesty. Several fans of the character have come to consider these depictions as adding to the depth of his personality, because based on the decisions he takes Scrooge can be both the hero and the villain of his stories. This is one thing he has in common with his nephew Donald. Scrooge's sense of honesty also distinguishes him from his rival Flintheart Glomgold, who places no such self limitations. During the cartoon series ''DuckTales'', at times he would be heard saying to Glomgold, "You're a cheater, and cheaters ''never'' prosper!"

Scrooge has a nasty temper and rarely hesitates to use violence against those who provoke his ire; however, he seems to be against the use of lethal force. On occasion, he has even saved the lives of enemies who had threatened his own life but were in danger of losing their own. According to Scrooge's own explanation, this is to save himself from feelings of guilt over their deaths; he generally awaits no gratitude from them. Scrooge has also opined that only in fairy tales do bad people turn good, and that he is old enough to not believe in fairy tales. Scrooge believes in keeping his word—never breaking a promise once given. In Italian-produced stories of the 1950s to 1970s, however, particularly those written by Guido Martina, Scrooge often acts differently than in American or Danish comics productions.

Carl Barks gave Scrooge a definite set of ethics which were in tone with the time he was supposed to have made his fortune. The robber barons and industrialists of the 1890–1920s era were McDuck's competition as he earned his fortune. Scrooge proudly asserts "I made it by being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties! And I made it square!" It is obvious that Barks's creation is averse to dishonesty in the pursuit of wealth. When Disney filmmakers first contemplated a Scrooge feature cartoon in the fifties, the animators had no understanding of the Scrooge McDuck character and merely envisioned Scrooge as a duck version of Ebenezer Scrooge—a very unsympathetic character. In the end they shelved the idea because a duck who gets all excited about money just was not funny enough.

In an interview, Barks summed up his beliefs about Scrooge and capitalism:

''DuckTales''

In the ''DuckTales'' series, Scrooge has adopted the nephews, and as a result his rougher edges are smoothed out somewhat. While most of his traits remain from the comics, he is notably more jovial and less irritable in the cartoon. In an early episode, Scrooge credits his improved temperament to the nephews and Webby, saying that "for the first time since I left Scotland, I have a family." Though Scrooge is far from heartless in the comics, he is rarely so openly sentimental. While he still hunts for treasure in Ducktales, many episodes focus on him attempting to thwart villains. He remains, however, just as tightfisted with money as he has always been. Scrooge displays a strict code of honor, insisting that the only valid way to acquire wealth is to "earn it square", and he goes to great lengths to thwart those (sometimes even his own nephews) who gain money dishonestly. This code also prevents him from ever being dishonest himself, saying that "Scrooge McDuck's word is as good as gold." He also expresses great disgust at being viewed by others as a greedy liar and cheater. The show fleshed out his upbringing depicting his life as an individual who worked hard his entire life to earn his keep and fiercely defend it against those who were truly dishonest: a value he teaches his nephews. Also it was shown that money is no longer the most important thing in his life. For one episode he was under a love spell, which caused him to lavish his time on a goddess, over everything else. The nephews find out that the only way to break the spell, is make the person realize that the object of their love will cost them something they truly love. The boys make it appear that Scrooge's love is allergic to money; however, he simply decides to give up his wealth so he can be with her. Later, when he realizes he will have to give up his nephews to be with her, the spell is immediately broken, showing that family is the most important thing to him. On occasion he demonstrates physical fitness by single-handedly beating bigger guys.

Europe

Many of the European comics based on the Disney Universe have created their own version of Scrooge McDuck, usually involving him in slapstick adventures. This is particularly true of the Italian comics which were very popular in the 1960s, 70s and 80s in most parts of Western continental Europe. In these, Scrooge is mainly an anti-hero dragging his long-suffering nephews into treasure hunts and shady business deals. Donald is a reluctant participant in these travels, only agreeing to go along when his uncle reminds him of the debts and back-rent Donald owes him, threatens him with a sword or blunderbuss or offers a share of the loot. When he promises Donald a share of the treasure, Scrooge will add a little loophole in the terms which may seem obscure at first but which he brings up at the end of the adventure to deny Donald his share, keeping the whole for himself. After Donald risks life and limb—something which Scrooge shows little concern for—he tends to end up with nothing.

On other occasions the treasure is lost but Scrooge uses some equally obscure reason for taking it out on Donald. Donald need not be at fault; he simply has to make a suggestion that Scrooge acts upon, then uses to blame Donald for everything that has gone wrong—even though it was unforeseen and unintentional. The resulting punishment can be Donald being chased all over the place by Scrooge, who is using the most threatening language imaginable, or having to work for Scrooge for endless hours on measly pay, which means that Scrooge will not be compensated for years (something he is probably counting on). It should be noted that this version of the character, and generally most of the Europe-produced Disney comics, are meant for comedic effect, and for that purpose Scrooge, and sometimes Donald, are portrayed as more malicious than they truly are. His actions are mainly hot air, and as such, he would never go through with any of his threats.

Another running joke is Scrooge reminiscing on his adventures while gold prospecting in the Klondike much to Donald and the nephews' chagrin at hearing the never-ending and tiresome stories.

Impact

Scrooge McDuck universe

The popularity of Scrooge McDuck comics spawned an entire mythology around the character, including new supporting characters, adventures, and life experiences as told by numerous authors. Based on writer Don Rosa's ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'', a popular timeline chronicling Scrooge's adventures was created consisting of the most important "facts" about Scrooge's life. ''See Scrooge McDuck Timeline according to Don Rosa''.

In addition to the many original and existing characters in stories about Scrooge McDuck, authors have frequently led historical figures to meet Scrooge over the course of his life. Most notably, Scrooge has met U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt and Scrooge would meet each other at least three times: in the Dakotas in 1883, in Duckburg in 1902, and in Panama in 1906. ''See Historical Figures in Scrooge McDuck stories''.

In other media and popular culture

The character of Scrooge has appeared in various mediums aside from comic books. Scrooge's first appearance in animated form (save for a brief ''Mickey Mouse Club'' television series cameo) was in Disney's 1967 theatrical short ''Scrooge McDuck and Money'', in which he teaches his nephews basic financial tips.

He later appeared as Ebenezer Scrooge in ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'' (1983), an animated version of the Dickens classic. In this adaptation Scrooge's character is voiced by co-writer Alan Young. He also appeared as himself in the television special ''Sport Goofy in Soccermania'' (1983) (the only time when he was voiced by Will Ryan).

Scrooge's biggest role outside of comics would come in the 1987 animated series ''DuckTales'', a series loosely based on Carl Barks's comics, and where Alan Young returned to voice his character. In this series, premiered over two-hours on September 18, 1987, while the regular episodes began three days later, Scrooge becomes caretaker of Huey, Dewey and Louie when Donald joins the United States Navy. Scrooge's ''DuckTales'' persona is considerably softer than in most previous appearances; his ruthlessness is played down considerably and his often abrasive personality is reduced in many episodes to that of a crotchety but lovable old uncle. Still, there are flashes of Barks' Scrooge to be seen, particularly in early episodes of the first season. After the series Scrooge also appeared in ''DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp''. He was mentioned in Darkwing Duck episode "Tiff of the Titans", but never really seen.

He has appeared in some episodes of ''Raw Toonage'', two shorts of ''Mickey Mouse Works'' and some episodes (specially "House of Scrooge") of ''Disney's House of Mouse'', as well as the direct-to-video films ''Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas'' and ''Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas''. His video game appearances include the three ''DuckTales'' video (''DuckTales'', ''DuckTales 2'', and ''DuckTales - the Quest for Gold''), and in Toontown Online as the accidental creator of the Cogs. Additionally, he is a secret playable character in 2008 quiz game, Disney TH!NK Fast.

Scrooge also makes an appearance in Disney's and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series, in a role where he helps Mickey Mouse set up a world transit system. He first appears in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' as a minor non-playable character in Hollow Bastion, where he is trying to recreate his favorite ice cream flavor—sea-salt. Scrooge later appears in the prequel, ''Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep'', this time with a speaking role. He's working on establishing an ice-cream business in Radiant Garden and gives Ventus three passes to the Dream Festival in Disney Town. Young reprises the role in the English version of ''Birth by Sleep''.

Scrooge has appeared in the Boom! Studios Darkwing Duck comic, playing a key role at the end of its initial story, The Duck Knight Returns.

''Forbes'' magazine routinely lists Scrooge McDuck on its annual "Fictional 15" list of the richest fictional characters by net worth: {| |- valign ="top" | 2002: #4 with $8.2 billion 2005: #6 with $8.2 billion 2006: #3 with $10.9 billion 2007: #1 with $28.8 billion (₤17.6 billion) | 2008: #2 with $29.1 billion 2010: #2 with $33.5 billion 2011: #1 with $44.1 billion |}

In tribute to its famous native, Glasgow City Council added Scrooge to its list of "Famous Glaswegians" in 2007, alongside the likes of Billy Connolly and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

In Italy, the character's Italian name, ''Paperone'', is used as a metaphor meaning "very wealthy person".

In 2008 ''The Weekly Standard'' parodied the bailout of the financial markets by publishing a memo where Scrooge applies to the TARP program.

See also

Clan McDuck

List of fictional ducks

''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'' – with a timeline

''Uncle Scrooge'' comic book

Further reading

''Uncle Scrooge McDuck'', Carl Barks, Edward Summer, Walt Disney Productions 1981 ISBN 0-89087-290-2

''Carl Barks Library'', Another Rainbow Publishing 1984

''Scrooge McDuck Capitalist and Proud of it!'', Goldbrick & Bond, USA-International Publications 2004

''How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic'', Dorfman & Mattelart, International General 1975

''Carl Barks and the Disney Comic Book'', University Press of Mississippi, Thomas Andrae 2006

Notes

External links

An index of historical figures appearing in Scrooge McDuck stories

Who's who in Duckburg: profiles of Scrooge McDuck and the Billionaires Club

Duckstories Carl Barks and Don Rosa's stories and characters database

The Loves of Scrooge McDuck, as they have appeared in comics by various artists

Scale model of Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin

Virtual tour in McDuck Mansion

Category:Donald Duck universe characters Category:Disney comics characters Category:Kingdom Hearts characters Category:Scottish comics characters Category:Fictional anthropomorphic characters Category:Fictional businesspeople Category:Fictional ducks Category:Fictional immigrants to the United States Category:Fictional people from Glasgow Category:Fictional American people of Scottish descent Category:Fictional Scottish people Category:Comics characters introduced in 1947

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name	Ebenezer Scrooge
series	A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas
creator	Charles Dickens
portrayer	See below
species	Human
gender	Male
occupation	Moneylender
family	Fred (nephew) Fan/Fran (sister)
ex-fiance	Belle or Emily
nationality	British }}

Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, ''A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness. Dickens describes him thus: "The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice ..." His last name has come into the English language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy, traits displayed by Scrooge in the exaggerated manner for which Dickens is well-known. The tale of his redemption by the three Ghosts of Christmas (Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) has become a defining tale of the Christmas holiday. Scrooge's catchphrase, "Bah, humbug!" is often used to express disgust with many of the modern Christmas traditions.

Origins

Several theories have been put forward as to where Dickens got the inspiration for the character. One school of thought believes that it stems from a grave marker for an Ebenezer Lennox Scroggie. The marker identified Scroggie as a "meal man" (corn merchant), but Dickens misread this as "mean man". Still more claim that Dickens based Scrooge's views on the poor on those of demographer and political economist Thomas Malthus. Yet others that the minor character Gabriel Grub from ''The Pickwick Papers'' was worked up into a more mature characterization (his name stemming from an infamous Dutch miser, Gabriel de Graaf.) Jemmy Wood, owner of the Gloucester Old Bank and possibly Britain’s first millionaire, was nationally renowned for his stinginess, and may have been another. The man whom Dickens eventually mentions in his letters and who strongly resembles the character portrayed by Dickens's illustrator, John Leech, was a noted British eccentric and miser named John Elwes (1714–1789).

Story

The story of ''A Christmas Carol'' starts on Christmas Eve in 1840, with Scrooge at his place of business. The book says that Scrooge lives in London, England. Charles Dickens refers to Scrooge as "...a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!" It is usually assumed that he is a banker or professional money lender. Some recent versions portray him as a solicitor. Whatever his main business is, he seems to have usurious relationships with people of little means. These relationships, along with his lack of charity and shabby treatment of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, seem to be his major vices.

His nephew however, has great regard for Christmas and we are introduced to him early in the story where he unsuccessfully attempts to invite Scrooge to his Christmas dinner party only to be rebuffed by Scrooge with a repeatedly said sentence: "Good afternoon"

Scrooge has only disgust for the poor, thinking the world would be better off without them, "decreasing the surplus population," and praise for the Victorian era workhouses. He has a particular distaste for the merriment of Christmas; his single act of kindness is to give his clerk, Bob Cratchit, the day off with pay. Done more as a result of social mores than kindness, Scrooge sees the practice akin to having his pocket picked on an annual basis.

After introducing Scrooge and showing his shabby treatment of his employee, business men, and only living relative, the novel resumes with Scrooge at his residence, intent on spending Christmas Eve alone. While he is preparing to go to bed, he is visited by the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. Marley (who had died seven years earlier on Christmas Eve) spent his life exploiting the poor and as a result is damned to walk the Earth for eternity bound in chains of his own greed. Marley warns Scrooge that he risks meeting the same fate, and that as a final chance of escape he will be visited by three spirits: Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The rest of the novel acts as a biography and psychological profile, showing his evolution to his current state, and the way he is viewed by others.

As promised, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge first and takes him to see his time as a schoolboy many years earlier. Here it is suggested that his father abandoned young Scrooge at his boarding school, even during Christmas. This is relevant to Scrooge, because it shows the beginnings of his lack of socialization and empathy. He does not socialize because he never experienced steady growth in a strong family unit. He does not empathize thanks to the way he was treated: as a child, he was the least of his father's concerns, and this in turn taught him not to feel for fellow humans. In some versions of the story, his father goes to jail for not paying debt – it is hinted that he may have died while in prison. Later the ghost shows how his success in business made him become obsessive and develop a workaholic tendency. His money and work-obsessed personality traits eventually compel Scrooge's fiancée, Belle, to leave him, which further hardens his heart. The death of his younger sister Fran, the one relative who had a close relationship with him, also injures him greatly enough that he loses any love he had for the world. Scrooge has only his nephew left but doesn't particularly care for him, likely due to Scrooge blaming him for his sister's death following childbirth; in some versions Scrooge's father blames Ebenezer for causing his wife's death in childbirth with Fran as the older sibling.

The visit by the Ghost of Christmas Past also reveals the origin of Scrooge's neurotic hatred of Christmas; most of the events that negatively affected Scrooge's character occurred during the Christmas holiday season.

One of the sources of his negative ways is the pain he feels for losing his love, Belle. Engaged to be married to her, he keeps pushing back the wedding until his finances are as healthy as he would like; something that, given his insatiable lust for money, he would probably never have. Realizing this, Belle calls off the engagement and eventually marries someone else, causing Scrooge to further withdraw from society and relationships.

Scrooge is then visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the happiness of his nephew's middle-class social circle and the impoverished Cratchit family. The latter have a young son (Tiny Tim) who is lame, yet the family still manages to live happily on the pittance Scrooge pays his clerk. When Scrooge asks if Tim will die, the ghost – quick to use Scrooge's past unkind comments to two charitable solicitors against him – suggests "they had better do it now, and decrease the surplus population".

The ghost also warns him of the evils of Ignorance and Want. As the spirit's robe is drawn back Scrooge is shocked to see these two aspects of the human psyche suddenly manifest before him as vicious, terrifying, little children, who are more animal than human in appearance.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge the final consequences of his actions. Tiny Tim has died from his illness, leaving the entire Cratchit family in mourning. In addition, Scrooge's solitary life and disdain for those in need will ultimately lead others to find comfort and happiness from his own death. No one will mourn his passing and his money and possessions will be stolen by the desperate and corrupt, the very people he condemned in life. The only people who feel any emotion are a young couple Scrooge was about to ruin financially. His death, however, allows them the small amount of extra time (while Scrooge's affairs were being settled) to raise the funds to pay off their debt to his estate. His final legacy will be that of a cheap tombstone in an unkept graveyard. Scrooge then weeps over his own grave, begging the ghost for a chance to change his ways before awakening to find it is Christmas morning. He has been given an opportunity to repent after all. Scrooge does so and becomes a model of generosity and kindness. "Many laughed to see this alteration in him, but he let them laugh and little heeded them. His own heart laughed and that was quite enough for him. And it was always said of him that he knew how to keep Christmas well if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

Actors portraying Ebenezer Scrooge

Scrooge has been portrayed by:

Tom Ricketts in 1908

Marc McDermott in 1910

Seymour Hicks in 1913 and again in 1935

Rupert Julian in 1916

Russell Thorndike in 1923

Lionel Barrymore on radio throughout the 1930s and 1940s

John Barrymore on radio, for ailing brother Lionel 1930s

Reginald Owen in 1938

John Carradine in 1947

Malcolm Keen in 1947

Taylor Holmes in 1949

Bransby Williams in 1950

Alastair Sim in 1951, and again in 1971 (voice)

Fredric March in 1954

Basil Rathbone in 1956 and 1958

Jim Backus (as Quincy Magoo) in ''Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol'', 1962

Cyril Ritchard in 1964

Wilfrid Brambell in a 1966 radio musical version (adapted from his Broadway role)

Sid James in the ''Carry On Christmas Specials'', 1969

Albert Finney in 1970

Marcel Marceau in 1973

Michael Hordern in 1977

Walter Matthau (voice) in ''The Stingiest Man in Town'', 1978

Henry Winkler as Benedict Slade in ''An American Christmas Carol'', 1979

Alan Young (as Scrooge McDuck) in ''Mickey's Christmas Carol'', 1983

George C. Scott in 1984

Bill Murray as Frank Cross in ''Scrooged'', 1988

* Buddy Hackett (as himself) played Scrooge in the film-within-a-film.

Rowan Atkinson as Ebenezer Blackadder in ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'', 1988

Michael Caine in ''The Muppet Christmas Carol'', 1992

James Earl Jones in ''Bah, Humbug'', 1994

Henry Corden (as Fred Flintstone) in ''A Flintstones Christmas Carol'', 1994

Susan Lucci as Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge in ''Ebbie'', 1995

Beavis as Beavis Scrooge, 1995

Cicely Tyson as Ebenita Scrooge in ''Ms. Scrooge'', 1997

Tim Curry (voice) in 1997

Jack Palance in ''Ebenezer'', 1997

Patrick Stewart in 1999

Vanessa Williams as Ebony Scrooge in ''A Diva's Christmas Carol'', 2000

Ross Kemp as Eddie Scrooge in 2000

Dean Jones in ''Scrooge and Marley'', 2001

Tori Spelling as "Scroogette" Carol Cartman in ''A Carol Christmas'', 2003

Kelsey Grammer in 2004

Bill Bourne in ''The Carol Project'', 2006

Joe Alaskey (as Daffy Duck) in ''Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas'', 2006

Helen Fraser as Sylvia Hollamby in ''Bad Girls 2006 Christmas Special

Morwenna Banks as Eden Starling in ''Barbie in a Christmas Carol'', 2008

Jim Carrey in 2009 (Carrey also played the three spirits haunting Scrooge).

Catherine Tate as Nan in "Nan's Christmas Carol", 2009

Christina Milian as Sloane Spencer in "Christmas Cupid," December 2010

Eric Braeden as Victor Newman in "Victor's Christmas Carol" on ''The Young and the Restless'', December 2010

Michael Gambon as Kazran Sardick in "A Christmas Carol" on ''Doctor Who'', December 2010.

Scrooge and the English language

The name "Scrooge" is used even outside of the UK and the US as a word for a person who is always complaining. Interestingly, it is almost always used in that context, and not as a person who changes from bad to good, despite the fact that his unpleasant side is only shown in its entirety within the first chapter, or "stave".

The character is most often noted for exclaiming "Bah! Humbug!" in spite of uttering this phrase only twice in the entire book. The word "Humbug" he uses on its own seven times, although on the seventh we are told that he "stopped at the first syllable" after realising Marley's ghost is real. The word is never used again after that in the book.

The word "Ebenezer" comes from Hebrew and is actually two words pronounced together: Even Haezer. It is usually transliterated as a proper name by dropping the definite article (Ha) from the Hebrew word for "help" (Ezer) and putting it together with the Hebrew word for "stone" (Even) to create: "Ebenezer." The etymological roots of the word, thus defined, should demonstrate that an "Ebenezer" is, literally, a "Stone of Help." The Biblical Scripture reads as follows:

''“Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah, and named it Ebenezer; for he said, ‘Thus far the Lord has helped us.’ So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel; the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. The towns that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath; and Israel recovered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.”'' (1 Samuel 7:12-14 NRSV)

A species of snail is named ''Ba humbugi'' after Scrooge's catchphrase.

Scrooge appears in Louis Bayard's 2003 novel ''Mr. Timothy,'' which is told from Tim Cratchit's perspective.

See also

Grinch

Scrooge McDuck

References

External links

Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1843 Category:Christmas characters Category:A Christmas Carol characters Category:Fictional accountants Category:Fictional businesspeople Category:Fictional English people

es:Ebenezer Scrooge id:Ebenezer Scrooge it:Ebenezer Scrooge nl:Ebenezer Scrooge pl:Ebenezer Scrooge pt:Ebenezer Scrooge ru:Скрудж (персонаж)

name	Teena Marie
background	solo_singer
alias	Lady Tee, Ivory Queen Of Soul
birth name	Mary Christine Brockert
born	March 05, 1956Santa Monica, California, U.S.
died	December 26, 2010Pasadena, California, U.S.
instrument	Vocals, keyboard instruments, electric guitar, congas
genre	R&B;, soul, funk, jazz
occupation	Singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger
years active	1964–2010
label	Motown Records (1976–1982)Epic/CBS Records (1983–1990) Ca$h Money Classics/Universal Records (2004–2007) Stax/Concord Records (2009–2010)
associated acts	Rick James, Ozone, Q.T hush, Bernadette Cooper, Eve }}

Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter and producer. She was known as Tina before taking the stage name Teena Marie; she later acquired the nickname of Lady Tee (sometimes spelled Lady T) given to her by mentor, collaborator, and friend Rick James. She was known for her distinctive soulful vocals which initially caused many listeners to believe she was African-American. Her success in R&B; and soul and loyalty to these genres would earn her the title Ivory Queen of Soul. She played rhythm guitar, keyboards and congas. She also wrote, produced, sang and arranged virtually all of her songs since her 1980 release, ''Irons in the Fire'', which she later said was her favorite album.

Biography

Early life (1956–1978)

Mary Christine, or Tina as she was called, was the fourth of five children born in Santa Monica to construction worker Thomas Leslie Brockert and his wife, home renovator Mary Anne. She spent her early childhood in Mission Hills. Her ethnic heritage was Portuguese, Italian, Irish and Native American ancestry. In 2005, while visiting Louisiana, she had discovered that her paternal ancestors once lived in New Orleans. Brockert took to singing naturally, performing Harry Belafonte's ''Banana Boat Song'' by age two. She also developed a fondness for singing the songs of Motown, and her self-professed “gift from God” would become fine-tuned as the years progressed.

Brockert's parents began sending her out on auditions when she was eight years old, which netted an acting role on ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', credited as Tina Marie Brockert. She also sang at the wedding of actor Jerry Lewis' son when she was 10 years old. Reared in a Roman Catholic household, she learned to play the piano under the tutelage of two nuns and later taught herself the guitar, bass, and congas. She would go on to form a semi-professional R&B; band with younger brother Anthony and their cousin.

In the early 1970s, after the family moved to Venice, Los Angeles, Brockert spent her adolescent years in the historically black Venice enclave of Oakwood, nicknamed "Venice Harlem". There, she would acquire a strong spiritual influence from neighborhood matriarch Berthalynn Jackson, an African American who would become her godmother.

While attending Venice High School, Brockert joined the Summer Dance Production, and also had the female lead in the school's production of ''The Music Man''.

After graduating, Brockert juggled auditioning for various record companies with studying English Literature at Santa Monica College. She credited her love of reading with helping her to write the lyrics she's known for.

Motown era (1979–1982)

thumb|Teena Marie, 1979In 1976, Brockert (as the lead singer member of a band she assembled which included long time friend Mickey Boyce) gained an introduction to Motown Records staff producer Hal Davis (best known for his work with Brenda Holloway and the Jackson 5). This led to an audition for a film about orphans being developed by Motown. The project was shelved, but label boss Berry Gordy decided to sign her as a solo act, impressed with her singing but having no need for a musical group. She recorded unreleased material with a number of different producers over the next few years, before being spotted by labelmate Rick James who was immediately impressed with her sound. (Some of the earlier unreleased material has since been made available on the compilation album ''First Class Love: Rare Tee''.) At the time, James, already established as a successful recording artist, was on tap to produce for Diana Ross but changed his mind and decided to work with Brockert. The result was debut album release, ''Wild and Peaceful''. The album was, at one point, due to be credited to "Teena Tryson", but ultimately was put out under ''Teena Marie'', the name by which she would be known throughout her career. It scored Teena Marie her first top-ten R&B; hit, "I'm Just a Sucker for Your Love" (#8 Black Singles Chart), a duet with James. Neither the album nor its packaging had her picture on it, and many radio programmers assumed she was African-American during the earliest months of her career. This myth was disproved when she performed her debut hit with James on ''Soul Train'' in 1979, becoming the show's first white female guest (she would appear on the show eight more times, more than any other white act).

In 1980, her second album, ''Lady T'', would have her portrait on the cover upon its release. It's also noted for having production from Richard Rudolph (husband of R&B; singer Minnie Riperton, who died a year earlier). Teena Marie had asked Berry Gordy to contact Rudolph and secure his input as Rick James was unavailable and she felt unprepared to be sole producer of her own material. Rudolph intended for the song he penned, "Now That I Have You", to be sung by his wife, but it was later given to Teena Marie. Rudolph also co-composed the single "Behind The Groove", which reached number 21 on the black singles chart and reaching #6 on the U.K. singles chart in 1980. The song would also be included on the soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the Fever 105 soundtrack. Another notable track, "Too Many Colors," featured Rudolph and Riperton's then 7-year-old daughter, Maya Rudolph, who became Teena Marie's god-daughter.

Also in 1980, Teena Marie released her third LP, ''Irons in the Fire'', for which she handled all writing and production herself, including the horn and rhythm arrangements of her band and all backing vocals, all considered rare at the time for a female artist. The single "I Need Your Lovin'" (#37 Pop, #9 Black Singles) brought Teena Marie her first top 40 hit. This single also peaked at #28 in the UK chart. That same year, Teena Marie appeared on James' hugely successful album, ''Street Songs'', with the duet "Fire and Desire". In an interview, Teena Marie said she had a fever at the time yet managed to record her vocals in one take. After the session, she was driven to a hospital. The two would perform the single at the 2004 BET Awards, which would be their last TV appearance with one another as Rick James died later that year.

Teena Marie continued her success with Motown in 1981, with the release of ''It Must Be Magic'' (#2 Black Albums Chart), her first gold record, which included her then biggest hit on R&B;, "Square Biz" (#3 Black Singles). Other notable tracks include "Portuguese Love" (featuring a brief, uncredited cameo by James, #54 Black Singles), the title track "It Must be Magic" (#30 Black Singles), and album only track "Yes Indeed", which she cited as a personal favorite.

In 1982, Teena Marie got into a heated legal battle with Motown Records over her contract and disagreements about releasing her new material. The lawsuit resulted in "The Brockert Initiative", which made it illegal for a record company to keep an artist under contract without releasing new material for that artist. In such instances, artists are able to sign and release with another label instead of being held back by an unsupportive one. Teena Marie commented on the law in an ''LA Times'' article, saying, "It wasn't something I set out to do. I just wanted to get away from Motown and have a good life. But it helped a lot of people, like Luther Vandross and the Mary Jane Girls, and a lot of different artists, to be able to get out of their contracts." She left Motown as the label's most successful white solo act.

Epic era (1983–1990)

Contacted by Epic Records in the Fall of 1982 after expressing dismay over her Motown contract, Teena Marie signed a worldwide deal with the Columbia Records' subsidiary that also allowed her to establish her own publishing company, Midnight Magnet. Epic released the concept album ''Robbery'', which featured the hit "Fix It" (#21 R&B;), as well as "Shadow Boxing" and "Casanova Brown." The latter was one of a number of tracks Teena Marie would write over the years about her real-life romance with one-time mentor Rick James. The relationship had ended by that point, but the two would continue a sometimes tempestuous friendship, until James' death in August 2004. In 1984, Teena Marie released her biggest-selling album, ''Starchild''. It yielded her biggest hit "Lovergirl", which peaked at #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1985. It also peaked at #9 on the R&B; chart. The label also released the moderate R&B; hit "Out on a Limb", which peaked at #56 on the R&B; chart, but didn't break the Hot 100. "14k" was featured on the soundtrack of the film ''Goonies'' (1985) but was not a hit (only making the U.S. R&B; charts at #87).

In 1986, Teena Marie released a rock music-influenced concept album titled ''Emerald City''. It was controversial with her established fan base and not as successful as its predecessors. She also recorded another rock-influenced track, "Lead Me On", co-produced by Giorgio Moroder, for the soundtrack of the box office hit film, ''Top Gun'' (1986). In 1988, however, she returned to her R&B; and funk roots, releasing the critically acclaimed album ''Naked to the World''. That album contained the hit "Ooo La La La", which reached the top of Billboard's Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart and was her only #1 single on that chart. During her 1988 ''Naked to the World'' concert tour, she suffered a fall and was hospitalized for six months.

Teena Marie released ''Ivory'' in the fall of 1990 and it scored no pop hits, but it did experienced two R&B; hits: "Here's Looking at You" (#11 R&B;) and "If I Were a Bell" (#8 R&B;).

Hiatus, ''Passion Play'' and ''Black Rain'' (1991–2003)

During the 1990s, Teena Marie's classic R&B;, soul, and funk records were either sampled by hip-hop artists or covered by R&B; divas. Teena Marie herself is regarded as something of a pioneer in helping to bring hip-hop to the mainstream by becoming one of the first artists of her time to rap one of her singles—the aforementioned "Square Biz". In the hip-hop portion of that song, she mentions some of her inspirations: Sarah Vaughn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Shakespeare, Maya Angelou, and Nikki Giovanni, "just to name a few". In 1996, the Fugees paid tribute to her by interpolating the chorus of her 1988 hit, "Ooo, La, La, La", into its own "Fu-Gee-La".

In the fall of 1994, Teena Marie released ''Passion Play'' on her independent label, Sarai Records. Lacking the backing of a major label, this album sold less well than her earlier work, but was well received by fans.

Subsequently, Teena Marie devoted most of her time to raising her daughter Alia Rose (who has since adopted the stage name "Rose Le Beau" and is pursuing her own singing career). During the late 1990s, Teena Marie made appearances (as herself) on the TV sitcoms, ''The Steve Harvey Show'' and ''The Parkers''. She also began work on a new album, titled ''Black Rain''. She was unable to secure a major label deal for this, and did not want to put it out on her own Sarai label in light of the modest sales of ''Passion Play''. However, a version pressed for promotional purposes was widely bootlegged among fans. This contained the tracks, "The Mackin' Game", "I'll Take the Pressure", "Baby, I'm Your Fiend", "My Body's Hungry", "Ecstasy", "I'm on Fire", "Watcha Got 4 Me", "Black Rain", "1999", "Butterflies", "Spanish Harlem", "Blackberry Playa", "The Perfect Feeling", and "Rainbow Outro". Some of these tracks resurfaced on the later albums: ''La Doña'', ''Sapphire'', and ''Congo Square''; in some cases (e.g. "The Mackin Game") in significantly reworked versions.

''La Doña'' to ''Congo Square'', and her final years (2004–2010)

After a 14-year sabbatical from the national spotlight, Teena Marie returned to her musical career by signing with the Classics sub-label of the successful hip-hop label, Cash Money Records. She released her comeback album, ''La Doña'', in 2004, and follow up ''Sapphire'', in 2006. ''La Doña'' became a gold-certified success (and the highest-charting album of her career, peaking at #6 on the Billboard 200 chart) on the basis of the Al Green-sampled "I'm Still In Love" (#23 R&B;, #70 Pop) and a duet with the late Gerald Levert, "A Rose by Any Other Name". Teena Marie was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B; Vocal Performance for "Still in Love". Teena Marie quickly followed this success with the release of ''Sapphire'' in 2006. While sales were not as great this time around (the album peaked at #24 on the Pop Chart), the release did give her yet another R&B; Top-40 hit, "Ooh Wee" (#32); it also reunited her (on "God Has Created" and "Cruise Control") with Smokey Robinson, the early Motown mentor whose style she had emulated on early hits such as "Young Love". Teena Marie parted ways with Ca$h Money records after the release of ''Sapphire''.

On September 19, 2008, Teena Marie performed in concert at B.B. King's Blues Club in New York City. Teena took this time to play a couple of finished tracks from her upcoming album, ''Congo Square'', and she received a positive response from the crowd. ''Congo Square'' was released on June 9, 2009 on Stax/Concord Records. She has described the album as "personal and spiritual" and indicated that it was more jazz-influenced than most of her previous work. "Can't Last a Day", a duet with Faith Evans, leaked to the Internet in March 2009. Teena Marie says of Evans, "It was after I had recorded the song ("Can't Last a Day") I got the idea to put Faith on it. I’ve always loved Faith and her vocal style. She reminds me of me. Her correlation with Biggie — having a career with him and without him — reminds me of me and Rick. I feel like she’s a younger me. Of the younger ladies, she’s the one I love most.”

Meanwhile, with regard to her early-life inspirations for ''Congo Square'', in January 2010 Teena Marie told Lee Tyler, editor of ''Blues & Soul'' magazine: "I wanted to do songs that reflected the things that I loved when I was growing up. Every single song on the record is dedicated to someone, or some musical giant that I loved. 'The Pressure' is dedicated to Rick James; 'Can't Last a Day' is dedicated to the Gamble & Huff sound - the Philly International sound'. Then 'Baby I Love You' and 'Ear Candy' are dedicated to Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield - with memories of riding down Crenshaw in LA in jeeps and bumping to music on ``the 808'' i.e. Roland TR-808 drum machine. While 'Miss Coretta' is, of course, dedicated to Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the late wife of Dr. Martin Luther King."

Sales-wise, the album proved another success, reaching the Top 20 on Billboard's Top 200, and giving Teena Marie yet another Top 10 R&B; chart entry. In 2010, Teena Marie continued to be a headliner on the Las Vegas Strip, appearing regularly at the Las Vegas Hilton and other venues until just before her death.

At the time of her death, Teena Marie had completed her 14th CD and was also working on jazz and inspirational CDs. In addition, she was in the midst of her writing her memoir.

Personal life

Teena Marie, who never wed, gave birth to a daughter in 1991, named Alia Rose. As of 2009, Alia Rose sang under the name Rose LeBeau.

Throughout her career, Teena Marie had lived in Inglewood, California and Encino before settling in Pasadena in the mid-1980s.

In addition to Maya Rudolph, Teena Marie was godmother to Marvin Gaye's daughter Nona Gaye. She also cared for Rick James' son, Rick Jr. and family friend Jeremiah O'Neal. Lenny Kravitz posted a video in which he revealed that Teena Marie had taken him into her home and helped him when he was struggling early in his career. Teena's hobbies included archery, drawing, and writing poetry.

Death and memorials

Around 2004, Teena Marie lay sleeping in a hotel room when a large picture frame fell and struck her in the head. The blow caused a serious concussion that would result in momentary seizures for the rest of her life. She had suffered a Grand mal seizure just one month before her death.

On the afternoon of December 26, 2010, Teena Marie was found unresponsive by daughter Alia Rose at her home in Pasadena, California.

On December 30, 2010, an autopsy was performed by the Los Angeles County coroner, who found no signs of apparent trauma or discernible cause of death and concluded she had died from natural causes.

A memorial service was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery on January 10, 2011. Among the luminaries who attended were Smokey Robinson, LisaRaye, Sinbad (entertainer), Tichina Arnold, Stevie Wonder, Shanice Wilson and Tata Vega.

Discography

Studio albums

''Wild and Peaceful'' (1979)

''Lady T'' (1980)

''Irons in the Fire'' (1980)

''It Must Be Magic'' (1981)

''Robbery'' (1983)

''Starchild'' (1984)

''Emerald City'' (1986)

''Naked to the World'' (1988)

''Ivory'' (1990)

''Passion Play'' (1994)

''La Doña'' (2004)

''Sapphire'' (2006)

''Congo Square'' (2009)

'' First Class Love: Rare Tee (2011)

References

External links

Teena Marie – official website

Teena Marie at BBC Music

Teena Marie discography at Discogs

Teena Marie at Billboard

Teena Marie at Find A Grave

Teena Marie 2010 interview with DJ Soulswede

Category:1956 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American dance musicians Category:American record producers Category:American female singers Category:American rhythm and blues singers Category:Cash Money Records artists Category:Disease-related deaths in California Category:Songwriters from California Category:Musicians from California Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Motown artists Category:Epic Records artists Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:American rhythm and blues guitarists Category:American rhythm and blues keyboardists Category:Freestyle musicians

da:Teena Marie de:Teena Marie es:Teena Marie fr:Teena Marie io:Teena Marie it:Teena Marie nl:Teena Marie ja:ティーナ・マリー pl:Teena Marie pt:Teena Marie ru:Тина Мари simple:Teena Marie fi:Teena Marie sv:Teena Marie