right|thumb|250px|The House of Representatives Chamber of the Parliament of Australia in Canberra.

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modelled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of ''parler'' (to speak): a ''parlement'' is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which such a discussion took place. It acquired its modern meaning as it came to be used for the body of people (in an institutional sense) who would meet to discuss matters of state.

Parliament government

Legislatures called parliaments operate under a parliamentary system of government in which the executive is constitutionally answerable to the parliament. This can be contrasted with a presidential system, on the model of the United States' congressional system, which operate under a stricter separation of powers whereby the executive does not form part of, nor is appointed by, the parliamentary or legislative body.

Typically, congresses do not select or dismiss heads of governments, and governments cannot request an early dissolution as may be the case for parliaments. Some states have a semi-presidential system which combines a powerful president with an executive responsible to parliament.

Parliaments may consist of ''chambers'' or ''houses'', and are usually either bicameral or unicameral although more complex models exist, or have existed (''see Tricameralism).

A nation's prime minister ("P.M") is almost always the leader of the majority party in the lower house of parliament, but only holds his or her office as long as the "confidence of the house" is maintained. If members of the lower house lose faith in the leader for whatever reason, they can call a vote of no confidence and force the PM to resign.

This can be particularly dangerous to a government when the distribution of seats is relatively even, in which case a new election is often called shortly thereafter. However, in case of general discontent with the head of government, his replacement can be made very smoothly without all the complications that it represents in the case of a presidential system.

Proto-parliamentarian institutions

:''See History of Parliamentarism''

Since ancient times, when societies were tribal, there were councils or a headman whose decisions were assessed by village elders. This is called tribalism. Some scholars suggest that in ancient Mesopotamia there was a primitive democratic government where the kings were assessed by council. The same has been said about ancient India, where some form of deliberative assemblies existed, and therefore there was some form of democracy. However, these claims are not accepted by most scholars, who see these forms of government as oligarchies.

Ancient Athens was the cradle of democracy. The Athenian assembly (ἐκκλησία ekklesia) was the most important institution, and every citizen could take part in the discussions. However, Athenian democracy was not representative, but rather direct, and therefore the ekklesia was different from the parliamentary system.

The Roman republic had legislative assemblies, who had the final say regarding the election of magistrates, the enactment of new statutes, the carrying out of capital punishment, the declaration of war and peace, and the creation (or dissolution) of alliances. The Roman Senate controlled money, administration, and the details of foreign policy.

Some Muslim scholars argue that the Islamic shura (a method of taking decisions in Islamic societies) is analogous to the parliament. However, many other disagree, highlighting some fundamental differences between the shura system and the parliamentary system.

In Anglo-Saxon England,the Witenagamot was an important political institution. The name derives from the Old English ƿitena ȝemōt, or witena gemōt, for "meeting of wise men". The first recorded act of a witenagemot was the law code issued by King Æthelberht of Kent ca. 600, the earliest document which survives in sustained Old English prose; however, the witan was certainly in existence long before this time. The Witan, along with the folkmoots(local assemblies), is an important ancestor of the modern English parliament.

England

England has long had a tradition of a body of men who would assist and advise the King on important matters. Under the Anglo-Saxon Kings, there was an advisory council, the Witenagemot ("meeting of wise men"). As part of the Norman Conquest of England, the new King, William I, did away with the Witenagemot, replacing it with a Curia Regis ("King's Council"). Membership of the Curia was largely restricted to the tenants in chief, the few nobles who "rented" great estates directly from the King, along with certain senior ecclesiastics.

Most historians date the emergence of a parliament with some degree of power to which the throne had to defer no later than the rule of Edward I. (Kaeuper, Richard W., War Justice and Public Order: England and France in the Later Middle Ages, Oxford U. Press, 1988.) Like previous kings, Edward called leading nobles and church leaders to discuss government matters, especially finance. A meeting in 1295 became known as the Model Parliament because it set the pattern for later Parliaments. The significant difference between the Model Parliament and the earlier Curia Regis was the addition of the Commons, that is, elected representatives of rural landowners and of townsmen. In 1307, Edward I agreed not to collect certain taxes without consent of the realm. He also enlarged the court system.

William of Normandy brought to England the feudal system of his native Normandy, and sought the advice of the curia regis, before making laws. This body is the origin from which the Parliament, the higher courts of law, the Privy Council and Cabinet have sprung. Of these, the legislature is formally the High Court of Parliament; judges sit in the Supreme Court of Judicature; and only the executive government is no longer conducted in a royal court.

The tenants-in-chief often struggled with their spiritual counterparts and with the King for power. In 1215, they secured from John the Magna Carta, which established that the King may not levy or collect any taxes (except the feudal taxes to which they were hitherto accustomed), save with the consent of a council. It was also established that the most important tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics be summoned to the council by personal writs from the Sovereign, and that all others be summoned to the council by general writs from the sheriffs of their counties. Modern government has its origins in the Curia Regis; parliament descends from the Great Council later known as the ''parliamentum'' established by Magna Carta.

The English Parliaments during the reign of King Henry III in the 13th century incorporated elected representation from shires and towns, and is considered the forerunner of the modern parliament. In 1265, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, who was in rebellion against Henry III, summoned a parliament of his supporters without royal authorisation. The archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and barons were summoned, as were two knights from each shire and two burgesses from each borough. Knights had been summoned to previous councils, but the representation of the boroughs was unprecedented. De Montfort's scheme of representation and election was formally adopted by Edward I in the so-called "Model Parliament" of 1295. At first, each estate debated independently; by the reign of Edward III, however, Parliament had been separated into two Houses and was recognisably assuming its modern form.

Parliament under Henry VIII and Edward VI

The purpose and structure of parliament in Tudor England underwent a significant transformation under the reign of Henry VIII. Originally its methods were primarily medieval and the monarch still had inarguable dominion over the decisions. According to Elton, it was Cromwell who then initiated the beginnings of change within parliament.

The Reformation Acts gave parliament unlimited power over the country, and authority over every matter, be it social, economic, political or even religious; it legalised the Reformation, officially and indisputably. The King had to rule through the council, not over it, and there had to be mutual agreement when creating or passing laws, changing religions or adjusting taxes. The monarch no longer had sole control over the country. For instance, during the later years of Mary, the parliament originally rejected Mary's intent to revive Catholicism in the realm, and even later, denied Elizabeth her request for marriage. If parliament had had this power before Cromwell, during Wolsey's reign as Secretary, the reformation might never have happened as the king would have had to gain the consent of all parliament members before so drastically changing the country's religious laws.

The effectiveness of parliament considerably increased after Cromwell's adjustments. It gave the country an unprecedented stability when dealing with dynastic complications, such as a minor king or the lack of a suitable heir. When an acceptable monarch was not available, the changes in government meant that the country could still run efficiently through the parliament, without having to succumb to civil war. Management and organisation was also improved and parliamentary procedure was documented, statutes printed. The fact that the monarch was suddenly dependent on another political body meant that decisions were more thoroughly considered and the rash whims of Henry VIII were trivialised and reduced. He could not establish supremacy by proclamation; he needed the parliament to enforce statute, to add felonies and treasons. One of the main liberties of parliament was its freedom of speech; Henry allowed anything to be spoken openly within parliament and the speakers were not allowed to be arrested, a fact which they exploited incessantly. Despite this fact however, parliament held very little objection to the desires of the monarch, and under Henry and Edward's reign it complied willingly to the majority of the Kings' decisions.

As Williams described it, "King and parliament were not separate entities, but a single body, of which the monarch was the senior partner and the Lords and the Commons the lesser, but still essential, members."

The Parliament of England met until the Acts of Union merged the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England, creating the new Parliament of Great Britain in 1707.

France

Originally, there was only the Parliament of Paris, born out of the Curia Regis in 1307, and located inside the medieval royal palace, now the Paris Hall of Justice. The jurisdiction of the ''Parliament'' of Paris covered the entire kingdom. In the thirteenth century, judicial functions were added. In 1443, following the turmoil of the Hundred Years' War, King Charles VII of France granted Languedoc its own ''parliament'' by establishing the ''Parliament'' of Toulouse, the first ''parliament'' outside of Paris, whose jurisdiction extended over the most part of southern France. From 1443 until the French Revolution several other ''parliaments'' were created in some provinces of France (Grenoble, Bordeaux).

All the ''parliaments'' could issue regulatory decrees for the application of royal edicts or of customary practices; they could also refuse to register laws that they judged contrary to fundamental law or simply as being untimely. Parliamentary power in France was suppressed more so than in England as a result of absolutism, and parliaments were eventually overshadowed by the larger Estates General, up until the French Revolution, when the National Assembly became the lower house of France's bicameral legislature.

Scotland

From the 10th century the Kingdom of Alba was ruled by chiefs (''toisechs'') and subkings (''mormaers'') under the suzerainty, real or nominal, of a High King. Popular assemblies, as in Ireland, were involved in law-making, and sometimes in king-making, although the introduction of tanistry—naming a successor in the lifetime of a king—made the second less than common. These early assemblies cannot be considered "parliaments" in the later sense of the word, and were entirely separate from the later, Norman-influenced, institution.

The Parliament of Scotland evolved during the Middle Ages from the King's Council of Bishops and Earls. The unicameral parliament is first found on record, referred to as a ''colloquium'', in 1235 at Kirkliston (a village now in Edinburgh).

By the early fourteenth century the attendance of knights and freeholders had become important, and from 1326 burgh commissioners attended. Consisting of the Three Estates; of clerics, lay tenants-in-chief and burgh commissioners sitting in a single chamber, the Scottish parliament acquired significant powers over particular issues. Most obviously it was needed for consent for taxation (although taxation was only raised irregularly in Scotland in the medieval period), but it also had a strong influence over justice, foreign policy, war, and all manner of other legislation, whether political, ecclesiastical, social or economic. Parliamentary business was also carried out by "sister" institutions, before c. 1500 by General Council and thereafter by the Convention of Estates. These could carry out much business also dealt with by Parliament — taxation, legislation and policy-making — but lacked the ultimate authority of a full parliament.

The parliament, which is also referred to as the Estates of Scotland, the Three Estates, the Scots Parliament or the auld Scots Parliament (Eng: ''old''), met until the Acts of Union merged the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England, creating the new Parliament of Great Britain in 1707. After a referendum on devolution it was reconvened on 1 July 1999.

Poland

According to the ''Chronicles'' of Gallus Anonymus, the first legendary Polish ruler, Siemowit, who began the Piast Dynasty, was chosen by a ''wiec''. The ''veche'' (Russian: вече, Polish: wiec) was a popular assembly in medieval Slavic countries, and in late medieval period, a parliament. The idea of the ''wiec'' led in 1182 to the development of the Polish parliament, the ''Sejm''.

The term "sejm" comes from an old Polish expression denoting a meeting of the populace. The power of early sejms grew between 1146–1295, when the power of individual rulers waned and various councils and wiece grew stronger. The history of the national Sejm dates back to 1182. Since the 14th century irregular sejms (described in various Latin sources as ''contentio generalis, conventio magna, conventio solemna, parlamentum, parlamentum generale, dieta'' or Polish ''sejm walny'') have been called by Polish kings. From 1374, the king had to receive sejm permission to raise taxes. The General Sejm (Polish ''Sejm Generalny'' or ''Sejm Walny''), first convoked by the king John I Olbracht in 1493 near Piotrków, evolved from earlier regional and provincial meetings (''sejmiks''). It followed most closely the ''sejmik generally'', which arose from the 1454 Nieszawa Statutes, granted to the szlachta (nobles) by King Casimir IV the Jagiellonian. From 1493 forward, indirect elections were repeated every two years. With the development of the unique Polish Golden Liberty the Sejm's powers increased.

The Commonwealth's general parliament consisted of three estates: the King of Poland (who also acted as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russia/Ruthenia, Prussia, Mazovia, etc.), the Senat (consisting of Ministers, Palatines, Castellans and Bishops) and the Chamber of Envoys—circa 170 nobles (szlachta) acting on behalf of their Lands and sent by Land Parliaments. Also representatives of selected cities but without any voting powers. Since 1573 at a royal election all peers of the Commonwealth could participate in the Parliament and become the King's electors.

Nordic and Germanic development

A ''thing'' or ''ting'' (Old Norse and Icelandic: ''þing''; other modern Scandinavian: ''ting'', ''ding'' in Dutch) was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free men of the community and presided by lawspeakers. Today the term lives on in the official names of national legislatures, political and judicial institutions in the North-Germanic countries. In the Yorkshire and former Danelaw areas of England, which were subject to much Norse invasion and settlement, the wapentake was another name for the same institution.

The thing was the assembly of the free men of a country, province or a hundred ''(hundare/härad/herred)''. There were consequently, hierarchies of things, so that the local things were represented at the thing for a larger area, for a province or land. At the thing, disputes were solved and political decisions were made. The place for the thing was often also the place for public religious rites and for commerce.

The thing met at regular intervals, legislated, elected chieftains and kings, and judged according to the law, which was memorised and recited by the "law speaker" (the judge).

Later national diets with chambers for different estates developed, e.g. in Sweden and in Finland (which was part of Sweden until 1809), each with a House of Knights for the nobility. In both these countries, the national parliaments are now called riksdag (in Finland also ''eduskunta''), a word used since the Middle Ages and equivalent of the German word Reichstag.

Russia

The name of the parliament of Russian Federation is the Federal Assembly of Russia. The term for its lower house, Duma (which is better known than the Federal Assembly itself, and is often mistaken for the entirety of the parliament) comes from the Russian word ''думать'' (''dumat''), "to think". The Boyar Duma was an advisory council to the grand princes and tsars of Muscovy. The Duma was discontinued by Peter the Great, who transferred its functions to the Governing Senate in 1711.

Novgorod and Pskov

The ''veche'' was the highest legislature and judicial authority in the republic of Novgorod until 1478. In its sister state, Pskov, a separate veche operated until 1510.

Since the Novgorod revolution of 1137 ousted the ruling grand prince, the veche became the supreme state authority. After the reforms of 1410, the veche was restructured on a model similar to that of Venice, becoming the Commons chamber of the parliament. Аn upper Senate-like Council of Lords was also created, with title membership for all former city magistrates. Some sources indicate that veche membership may have became full-time, and parliament deputies were now called ''vechniks''. It is recounted that the Novgorod assembly could be summoned by anyone who rung the veche bell, although it is more likely that the common procedure was more complex. This bell was a symbol of republican sovereignty and independence. The whole population of the city—boyars, merchants, and common citizens—then gathered at Yaroslav's Court. Separate assemblies could be held in the districts of Novgorod. In Pskov the veche assembled in the court of the Trinity cathedral.

Spain

Although there are documented councils held in 873, 1020, 1050 and 1063, there was no representation of commoners. What is considered to be the first Spanish Parliament (with the presence of commoners), Cortes – was held in the Kingdom of León in 1188. Prelates, nobles and commoners met separately in the three estates of the Cortes. In this meeting new laws were approved to protect commoners against the arbitrarities of nobles, prelates and the king. This important set of laws is known as the "Carta Magna Leonesa"

Following this event, new Cortes would appear in the other different territories that would make up Spain: Catalonia in 1218, the Kingdom of Castile in 1250, Kingdom of Aragon in 1274, Kingdom of Valencia in 1283 and Kingdom of Navarre in 1300.

After the union of the Kingdoms of Leon and Castile under the Crown of Castile, their Cortes were united as well in 1258. The Castilian Cortes had representatives from Burgos, Toledo, León, Seville, Córdoba, Murcia, Jaén, Zamora, Segovia, Ávila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Toro, Valladolid, Soria, Madrid, Guadalajara and Granada (after 1492). The Cortes' assent was required to pass new taxes, and could also advise the king on other matters. The comunero rebels intended a stronger role for the Cortes, but were defeated by the forces of Habsburg Emperor Charles V in 1521. The Cortes maintained some power, however, though it became more of a consultative entity. However, by the time of King Philip II, Charles's son, the Castilian Cortes had come under functionally complete royal control, with its delegates dependent on the Crown for their income.

The Cortes of the Crown of Aragon kingdoms retained their power to control the king's spending with regard to the finances of those kingdoms. But after the War of the Spanish Succession and the arrival of another royal house – the Bourbons – in 1714 with Philip V, their Cortes were suppressed (as were those of Aragon and Valencia in 1707, Catalonia and Balearic islands in 1714).

The Roman Catholic Church

"Conciliarism" or the "conciliar movement", was a reform movement in the 14th and 15th century Roman Catholic Church which held that final authority in spiritual matters resided with the Roman Church as corporation of Christians, embodied by a general church council, not with the pope. In effect, the movement sought – ultimately, in vain – to create an All-Catholic Parliament. Its struggle with the Papacy had many points in common with the struggle of parliaments in specific countries against the authority of Kings and other secular rulers.

Parliaments of the United Kingdom

The British Parliament is often referred to as the ''Mother of Parliaments'' (in fact a misquotation of John Bright, who remarked in 1865 that "England is the Mother of Parliaments") because the British Parliament has been the model for most other parliamentary systems, and its Acts have created many other parliaments. Many nations with parliaments have to some degree emulated the British "three-tier" model. Most countries in Europe and the Commonwealth have similarly organised parliaments with a largely ceremonial head of state who formally opens and closes parliament, a large elected lower house and a smaller, upper house.

The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in 1707 by the Acts of Union that replaced the former parliaments of England and Scotland. A further union in 1801 united the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland into a Parliament of the United Kingdom.

In the United Kingdom, Parliament consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords, and the Monarch. The House of Commons is composed of 650 members who are directly elected by British and Northern Irish citizens to represent single-member constituencies. The leader of a Party that wins more than half the seats or less than half but can count on support of smaller parties to achieve enough support to pass law is invited by the Queen to form a government. Legally the Queen is the head of government and no business in Parliament can be taken without her authority. The House of Lords is a body of long-serving, unelected members: 92 of whom inherit their titles (and of whom 90 are elected internally by members of the House to lifetime seats), 26 bishops while they remain in office, and 588 of whom have been appointed to lifetime seats.

Legislation can originate from either the Lords or the Commons. It is voted on in several distinct stages, called readings, in each house. First reading is merely a formality. Second reading is where the bill as a whole is considered. Third reading is detailed consideration of clauses of the bill.

In addition to the three readings a bill also goes through a committee stage where it is considered in great detail. Once the bill has been passed by one house it goes to the other and essentially repeats the process. If after the two sets of readings there are disagreements between the versions that the two houses passed it is returned to the first house for consideration of the amendments made by the second. If it passes through the amendment stage Royal Assent is granted and the bill becomes law as an Act of Parliament.

The House of Lords is the less powerful of the two houses as a result of the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949. These Acts removed the veto power of the Lords over a great deal of legislation. If a bill is certified by the Speaker of the House of Commons as a money bill (i.e. acts raising taxes and similar) then the Lords can only block it for a month. If an ordinary bill originates in the Commons the Lords can only block it for a maximum of one session of Parliament. The exceptions to this rule are things like bills to prolong the life of a Parliament beyond five years.

In addition to functioning as the second chamber of Parliament, the House of Lords was also the final court of appeal for much of the law of the United Kingdom—a combination of judicial and legislative function that recalls its origin in the Curia Regis. This changed in October 2009 when the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom opened and acquired the former jurisdiction of the House of Lords.

Since 1998, there has been a Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, which is a national, unicameral legislature for Scotland. However, the Scottish Parliament does not have complete power over Scottish Politics, as it only holds the powers which were devolved to it by Westminster in 1997. It cannot legislate on defence issues, currency, or national taxation (e.g. VAT, or Income Tax).

List of parliaments

Contemporary national parliaments

:''List is not exhaustive''

Parliaments of the European Union

European Parliament

Parliament of Austria

Belgian Federal Parliament

National Assembly of Bulgaria

House of Representatives of Cyprus

Parliament of the Czech Republic

Parliament of Denmark

Parliament of Estonia

Parliament of Finland

Parliament of France (''Parlement'')

Parliament of Germany – The Bundestag

Hellenic Parliament (Greece)

Parliamnet of Hungary (''Országgyűlés'')

Parliament of Ireland – the Oireachtas

Parliament of Italy (''Parlamento Italiano'')

Parliament of Latvia

Parliament of Lithuania

Parliament of Luxembourg

Parliament of Malta

Parliament of the Netherlands

National Assembly of the Republic of Poland

Assembleia da República (Portugal)

Parliament of Romania (consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate)

National Council of the Slovak Republic

Slovenian Parliament

Cortes Generales of Spain

Parliament of Sweden

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Others

Parliament of Albania

Croatian Parliament

Parliament of Australia

:* The federal (Commonwealth) government of Australia has a bicameral parliament, and each of Australia's six states has a bicameral parliament except for Queensland, which has a unicameral parliament.

Parliament of Bangladesh – Jatiyo Sangshad

Parliament of Barbados

Parliament of Canada

:* The federal government of Canada has a bicameral parliament, and each of Canada's 10 provinces has a unicameral parliament.

Parliament of the Faroe Islands (''Løgtingið'')

Legislative Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

Parliament of the Fiji Islands

Parliament of Iceland (The Icelandic Althing and the Manx Tynwald share the claim of the oldest parliaments in the world.)

Parliament of India consisting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha

Parliament of Iran

Council of Representatives of Iraq

National Diet of Japan

Parliament of Lebanon

Parliament of the Isle of Man – Tynwald (Manx: ''Tinvaal'') (The Icelandic Althing and the Manx Tynwald share the claim of the oldest parliaments in the world.)

Parliament of Israel – The Knesset

Parliament of Malaysia

Parliament of Montenegro

Parliament of Morocco

Parliament of Nauru

Parliament of New Zealand

Parliament of Norway (''Storting'')

Parliament of Pakistan

National Assembly of Serbia (''Narodna Skupština'')

National Assembly of Thailand

National Assembly of Wales

National People's Congress

:* Legislative Council of Hong Kong

Parliament of Singapore

Parliament of South Africa

Spanish Cortes

Parliament of Sri Lanka

Federal Assembly of Switzerland (''Bundesversammlung'', ''Assemblée fédérale'', ''Assemblea federale'')

Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago

Parliament of Nepal (recently reorganised)

Scottish Parliament

Sapmi Parliament

Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration8*

Parliament of Ukraine

Republic of Zimbabwe || Parliament

Contemporary supranational parliaments

:''List is not exhaustive''

Pan-African Parliament

Central American Parliament

Latin American Parliament

European Parliament

Equivalent national legislatures

Majlis, e.g. in Iran

in Afghanistan: Wolesi Jirga (elected, legislative lower house) and Meshrano Jirga (mainly advisory, indirect representation); in special cases, e.g. as constituent assembly, a Loya Jirga

in Indonesia: People's Consultative Assembly, consists of People's Representative Council (elected, legislative lower house) and Regional Representative Council (elected, legislative upper house with limited powers)

Defunct

National Assembly of the Republic of China (1913–2005)

Parliament of Ireland (1297–1801)

Parliament of Southern Ireland (1921–1922)

Parliament of Northern Ireland (1921–1973)

People's Parliament (1940s)

Silesian Parliament (1922–1945)

Subnational parliamentary government

Canada

''See: Legislative Assemblies of Canadian provinces and territories

Australia

''See: Parliaments of the Australian states and territories

Belgium

In the federal (bicameral) kingdom of Belgium, there is a curious asymmetrical constellation serving as directly elected legislatures for three "territorial" ''regions''—Flanders (Dutch), Brussels (bilingual, certain peculiarities of competence, also the only region not comprising any of the 10 provinces) and Wallonia (French)—and three cultural ''communities''—Flemish (Dutch, competent in Flanders and for the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Brussels), Francophone (French, for Wallonia and for Francophones in Brussels) and German (for speakers of that language in a few designated municipalities in the east of the Walloon Region, living alongside Francophones but under two different regimes)

Vlaams Parliament ("Flemish Parliament"; originally styled Vlaamse Raad "Flemish Council") served both the Flemish Community (whose same it uses) and, in application of a Belgian constitutional option, of the region of Flanders (in all matters of regional competence, its decisions have no effect in Brussels)

Parliament of the French Community

parliament of the German Community

parliament of the Walloon region

parliament of the Brussels 'capital' region;

: within the capital's regional assembly however, there also exist two so-called ''Community Commissions'' (fixed numbers, not an automatic repartition of the regional assembly), a Dutch-speaking one and a Francophone one, for various matters split up by linguistic community but under Brussels' regional competence, and even 'joint community commissions' consisting of both for certain institutions that could be split up but are not.

Denmark

Parliament of Greenland

Løgting

Finland

Parliament of Åland

The Netherlands

States-Provincial

Norway

:''see subnational parliamentary system in Norway''

Spain

:See: List of Spanish regional legislatures

United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland Assembly

Scottish Parliament

Welsh Assembly

See also

Congress

Delegated legislation

Global democracy

Government

History of democracy

Inter-Parliamentary Union

Legislation

Parliamentary procedure

Parliamentary records

Witan

Parliament of the World's Religions

References

See also

List of current presidents of assembly

External links

The International Association of Business and Parliament (IABP) Scottish Scheme

United Kingdom Parliament

Category:Legislatures Category:Westminster system Category:Old French loanwords Category:Forms of government

ar:برلمان ast:Parllamentu az:Məclis be:Парламент be-x-old:Парлямэнт bs:Parlament br:Parlamant bg:Парламент ca:Parlament cs:Parlament cy:Senedd da:Parlament de:Parlament et:Parlament es:Parlamento eo:Parlamento eu:Parlamentu fa:پارلمان fr:Parlement ga:Parlaimint gd:Pàrlamaid gl:Parlamento gan:議會 ko:의회 hy:Խորհրդարան hr:Parlament io:Parlamento id:Parlemen is:Þing it:Parlamento he:פרלמנט kn:ಸಂಸತ್ತು krc:Парламент ka:პარლამენტი kk:Парламент rw:Inteko ishinga amategeko sw:Bunge ku:Parleman lo:ສະພາ la:Parlamentum lv:Parlaments lb:Parlament lt:Parlamentas ln:Palemá hu:Parlament mk:Парламент mi:Pāremata arz:برلمان ms:Parlimen my:လွှတ်တော် nl:Parlement ja:議会 no:Parlament nn:Parlament nrm:Parlément oc:Parlament ps:ولسي جرګه pl:Parlament pt:Parlamento ro:Parlament qu:Rimana huñunakuy rue:Парламент ru:Парламент simple:Parliament sk:Parlament sl:Parlament so:Baarlamaan ckb:پارلەمان sr:Скупштина sh:Parlament fi:Parlamentti sv:Parlament tl:Batasan th:รัฐสภา tg:Парламент tr:Parlamento uk:Парламент ur:Parliament vi:Nghị viện wuu:议会 yi:פארלאמענט zh:议会

Name	Nigel Farage
Honorific-suffix	MEP
Office	Europe of Freedom and Democracy President
Term start	1 July 2009 (de facto)
Predecessor	(post established)
Office	Leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party
Term start	5 November 2010
Predecessor	Jeffrey Titford
Term start1	27 September 2006
Term end1	27 November 2009
Predecessor1	Roger Knapman
Successor1	Lord Pearson of Rannoch
Constituency mp2	South East England
Parliament2	European
Term start2	15 July 1999
Birth date	April 03, 1964
Birth place	Kent, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Party	UK Independence Party
Spouse	Gráinne Hayes (1988-?, divorced)Kirsten Mehr (1999-present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Dulwich College
Website	Nigel Farage MEP
Footnotes	}}

Nigel Paul Farage (; ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a position he previously held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a current Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage was a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.

At the 2010 General Election, Farage failed to unseat John Bercow and received only the third highest share of the vote in the constituency. Shortly after the polls opened on 6 May 2010, Nigel Farage was injured in an aircraft crash in Northamptonshire. The two-seated PZL-104 Wilga 35A had been towing a pro-UKIP banner when it flipped over and crashed shortly after takeoff. Both Farage and the pilot were hospitalised with non-life-threatening injuries.

In November 2010, Farage successfully stood in the 2010 UKIP leadership contest, following the resignation of its leader, Lord Pearson of Rannoch. Farage was also ranked 41st (out of 100) in ''The Daily Telegraph'''s Top 100 most influential right-wingers poll in October 2009, citing his media savvy and his success with UKIP in the European Elections. Farage was ranked 58th in the 2010 list compiled by Iain Dale and Brian Brivati for the Daily Telegraph.

Background

Farage was educated at Dulwich College before joining a commodity brokerage firm in London. He ran his own brokerage business from the early 1990s until 2002. In his early 20s Farage was diagnosed with testicular cancer but made a full recovery.

Farage has been married twice. He married Gráinne Hayes in 1988, with whom he had two children: Samuel (1989) and Thomas (1991). In 1999 he married Kirsten Mehr, a German national, by whom he has two more children, Victoria (born 2000) and Isabelle (born 2005).

Farage has also penned his own memoirs, entitled "Fighting Bull." It outlines the founding of UKIP and his personal and political life so far.

Political career

Conservative Party

Active in the Conservative Party from his school days, Farage left the party in 1992 when John Major's government signed the Treaty on European Union at Maastricht.

UKIP and the European Parliament

Farage became a founding member of UKIP in 1993.

He was elected to the European Parliament in 1999 and re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage is presently the leader of the thirteen-member UKIP contingent in the European Parliament, and co-leader of the multinational eurosceptic group, Europe of Freedom and Democracy.

UKIP party leadership

On 12 September 2006, Farage was elected leader of UKIP with 45% of the vote, 20% ahead of his nearest rival. He pledged to bring discipline to the party and to maximise UKIP's representation in local, parliamentary and other elections. In a PM programme interview on BBC Radio 4 that day he pledged to end the public perception of UKIP as a single-issue party and to work with allied politicians in the Better Off Out campaign, committing himself not to stand against the MPs who have signed up to that campaign (ten in all at this moment).

At his maiden speech to the UKIP conference on 8 October 2006, he told delegates that the party was "at the centre-ground of British public opinion" and the "real voice of opposition". Farage said: "We've got three social democratic parties in Britain — Labour, Lib Dem and Conservative are virtually indistinguishable from each other on nearly all the main issues" and "you can't put a cigarette paper between them and that is why there are nine million people who don't vote now in general elections that did back in 1992."

At 10pm on 19 October 2006, Farage took part in a three-hour live interview and phone-in with James Whale on national radio station talkSPORT. Four days later, Whale announced on his show his intention to stand as UKIP's candidate in the 2008 London Mayoral Election. Farage said that Whale "not only has guts, but an understanding of what real people think". However Whale later decided not to stand and UKIP was represented by Gerard Batten. He stood again for UKIP leadership in 2010 after his successor Lord Pearson stood down. On the 5th November 2010 it was announced Farage had won the leadership contest.

Westminster elections

Farage had unsuccessfully contested UK parliamentary elections for UKIP five times, both before and after his election as an MEP in 1999. Under the 2002 European Union decision to forbid MEPs from holding a dual mandate, if he was ever elected to the House of Commons, he would have to resign his seat as an MEP.

When he contested the Bromley & Chislehurst constituency in a May 2006 by-election, organised after the sitting MP representing it, eurosceptic Conservative Eric Forth, died, Farage came third, winning 8% of the vote, beating the Labour Party candidate. This was the second-best by-election result recorded by UKIP out of 25 results, and the first time since the Liverpool Walton by-election in 1991 that a party in government had been pushed into fourth place in a parliamentary by-election on mainland Britain.

2010 UK General election

On 4 September 2009 Farage resigned as leader of UKIP to concentrate on his campaign to become Member of Parliament for Buckingham at Westminster in the 2010 general election. He later told Times journalist Camilla Long that UKIP internal fights took up too much time.

He stood against Buckingham MP John Bercow, the newly elected Speaker of the House of Commons, despite a convention that the speaker, as a political neutral, is not normally challenged in his or her bid for re-election by any of the major parties.

On 6 May, on the morning the polls opened in the election, just before eight o'clock Farage was involved in a light aircraft crash, suffering injuries described as non-life-threatening. A spokesperson told the BBC that "it was unlikely Mr Farage would be discharged from hospital today [6 May] Although his injuries were originally described as minor, his sternum and ribs were broken, and his lung punctured. The Air Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) report said that the aeroplane was towing a banner, which caught in the tailplane, forcing the nose down.

Farage came third with 8,401 votes. Bercow was re-elected, and John Stevens, a former Conservative MEP (Defected to Lib-Dems), who campaigned with "Flipper the Dolphin" (a reference to MPs flipping second homes) came second with 10,331.

On 1 December 2010, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the accident was charged with threatening to kill Farage. He was also charged with threatening to kill an AAIB official involved in the investigation into the accident. In April 2011, Justin Adams was found guilty of making death threats. The judge said the defendant was "clearly extremely disturbed" at the time the offences happened adding "He is a man who does need help. If I can find a way of giving him help I will."

Alternative Vote referendum, May 2011

Farage declared himself personally in favour of the Alternative Vote system of May 2011, saying first-past-the-post is a "nightmare" for UKIP. However, the party's stance has to be decided by its central policy making committee.

Controversies and whistleblowing

Copyright infringement

In 1999 the BBC spent four months filming a documentary about his European elections campaign but didn't show it. Farage, then head of UKIP's South East office, asked for a video and got friends to make illegal copies which were sold for £5 through the UKIP magazine. Surrey Trading Standards investigated and Farage has admitted the offence.

Expenses disclosure

In May 2009, ''The Guardian'' reported that Farage had said in a speech to the Foreign Press Association that over ten years as a member of the European Parliament he received and spent nearly £2 million of taxpayers' money in expenses and allowances, on top of his £64,000 a year salary.

The former Europe Minister, Denis MacShane, said that this showed that Farage was "happy to line his pockets with gold". Farage called this a "misrepresentation", pointing out that the money had been used to promote UKIP's message, not salary, but he welcomed the focus on the issue of MEP expenses, claiming that "[o]ver a five year term each and every one of Britain's 78 MEPs gets about £1 million. It is used to employ administrative staff, run their offices and to travel back and forth between their home, Brussels and Strasbourg." He also pointed out the money spent on the YES campaign in Ireland by the European Commission was "something around 440 million", making the NO campaign's figure insignificant in comparison.

Jacques Barrot

On 18 November 2004, Farage announced in the European Parliament that Jacques Barrot, the French Commissioner designate, had been barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling £2 million from government funds and diverting it into the coffers of his party. He claimed that French President Jacques Chirac had granted Barrot amnesty. Although initial BBC reports claimed that, under French law, it was illegal even to mention the conviction, the prohibition in question only applies to French officials in the course of their duties. The president of the Parliament, Josep Borrell, enjoined him to retract his comments under threat of "legal consequences".However, the following day it was confirmed that Barrot had received an 8 month suspended jail sentence in the case, and that this had been quickly expunged by the amnesty decided by Chirac and his parliamentary majority. The Commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso admitted that he had not known of Barrot's criminal record when appointing him as a Commission vice-president. The Socialist and Liberal groups in the European Parliament then joined UKIP in demanding the sacking of Barrot for failing to disclose the conviction during his confirmation hearings.

José Manuel Barroso

During the spring of 2005, Farage requested that the European Commission disclose where the individual Commissioners had spent their holidays. The Commission did not provide the information requested, on the basis that the Commissioners had a right of privacy. The German newspaper ''Die Welt'' reported that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso had spent a week on the yacht of the Greek shipping billionaire Spiro Latsis. It emerged soon afterwards that this had occurred a month before the Commission under Barroso's predecessor Romano Prodi approved 10.3 million euro of Greek state aid for Latsis' shipping company. It also became known that Peter Mandelson, then a member of the Commission, had accepted a trip to Jamaica from an unrevealed source.

Farage persuaded around 75 MEPs from across the political divide to back a motion of no confidence in Barroso, which would be sufficient to compel Barroso to appear before the European Parliament to be questioned on the issue. The motion was successfully tabled on 12 May 2005, and Barroso appeared before Parliament at a debate on 26 May 2005. The motion was heavily defeated. A Conservative MEP, Roger Helmer, was expelled from his group, the European People's Party - European Democrats (EPP-ED) in the middle of the debate by that group's leader Hans-Gert Poettering as a result of his support for Farage's motion.

Joseph Daul

In January 2007, the French farmers' leader Joseph Daul was elected the new leader of the European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP-ED), the European Parliamentary grouping which then included the British Conservatives. The UK Independence Party almost immediately revealed that Daul had been under judicial investigation in France since 2004 as part of an inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds worth €16 million (£10.6 million) by French farming unions." It was not suggested that Daul had personally benefited, but was accused of "complicity and concealment of the abuse of public funds." Daul accused Farage of publicising the investigation for political reasons and threatened to sue Farage, but did not do so though the court dropped all charges against him.

Prince Charles

Prince Charles gave a speech to the European Parliament on 14 February 2008, in which he called for EU leadership in the war against climate change. During the standing ovation that followed, Farage was the only MEP to remain seated and went on to describe the Prince's advisers as "naïve and foolish at best." Farage continued: "How can somebody like Prince Charles be allowed to come to the European Parliament at this time to announce he thinks it should have more powers? It would have been better for the country he wants to rule one day if he had stayed home and tried to persuade Gordon Brown to give the people the promised referendum [on the Treaty of Lisbon]." The leader of the UK Labour Party's MEPs, Gary Titley, accused Farage of anti-Royalism. Titley said: "I was embarrassed and disgusted when the Leader of the UK Independence Party, Nigel Farage, remained firmly seated during the lengthy standing ovation Prince Charles received. I had not realised Mr Farage's blind adherence to right wing politics involved disloyalty and discourtesy to the Royal Family. He should be thoroughly ashamed of himself and should apologise to the British people he represents."

Herman Van Rompuy

After the speech of Herman Van Rompuy on 24 February 2010 in the European parliament, Farage—to protests from other MEPs—addressed the first long-term President of the European Council saying that he has the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of low grade bank clerk", also asserting that Van Rompuy's "intention is to be the quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states." He also referred to Belgium as a "non-country", and that "nobody in Europe" knows who Van Rompuy is, nor how he was elected. Van Rompuy commented afterwards, "There was one contribution that I can only hold in contempt, but I'm not going to comment further." After refusing to apologise for behaviour that was, in the words of the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, "inappropriate, unparliamentary and insulting to the dignity of the House", Farage was reprimanded and had his right to ten days' allowance (expenses) rescinded. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said after his meeting with Farage:- 'I defend absolutely Mr Farage's right to disagree about the policy or institutions of the Union, but not to personally insult our guests in the European Parliament or the country from which they may come. [. . .] I myself fought for free speech as the absolute cornerstone of a democratic society. But with freedom comes responsibility - in this case, to respect the dignity of others and of our institutions. I am disappointed by Mr Farage's behaviour, which sits ill with the great parliamentary tradition of his own country. I cannot accept this sort of behaviour in the European Parliament. I invited him to apologise, but he declined to do so. I have therefore - as an expression of the seriousness of the matter - rescinded his right to ten days' daily allowance as a Member'. Questioned by Camilla Long in the article entitled "brimming over with bile and booze" in which she appeared to make light over his fight against cancer, Farage declared it wasn't abusive, it was right.

Views on the Euro

From taking office as a UKIP MEP in 1999 Farage has often voiced opposition to the "Euro project". His argument is that "a one size fits all interest rate" can not work for countries with structually different economies, often using the example of Greece and Germany to emphasise contrast. He predicted the need for 'bail outs' before European Commission and European Central Bank officials admit that these are necessary. Farage predicted that Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain would all require such assistance. To date Spain is the only predicted country that have not asked for a 'bail out' but Farage warns: "You can ignore the markets if you want to but in time the markets will not ignore you". Farage also reinforces Germany's argument that Italy "should never have joined the Euro" but has not explicitly predicted the need for similar assistance. Farage predicts that if the situation continues it will lead to violence due to the peoples inability to "determine their own futures through the ballot box" as it will become the only "logical" tool to enable them to escape from their "economic prison" i.e. The Eurozone. He proclaims "I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens." Farage strongly opposes the use of 'bail outs' and claims "buying your own debt with tax payers money" will not solve the problem and that "if we do the next debt crisis won't be a country" "it will be the European Central Bank its self".

Electoral performance

Nigel Farage has contested several elections under the United Kingdom Independence Party banner:

Itchen, Test and Avon, European Parliament Election 1994 - 12,423 votes, representing 5.2% of total votes cast

Eastleigh by-election, 1994 - 952, 1.4%

Salisbury, 1997 general election - 3,332, 5.7%

European Parliament election, 1999 - elected member for South East England from party list

Bexhill and Battle, 2001 general election - 3,474, 7.8%

European Parliament election, 2004 - elected member for South East England from party list

South Thanet, 2005 general election - 2,079, 5.0%

Bromley and Chislehurst by-election, 2006 - 2,307, 8.0%

European Parliament election, 2009 - elected member for South East England from party list.

Buckingham, 2010 general election - 8,410, 17.4%

Footnotes

References

2002 Amnesty law

Penal Code, articles L133-9, L133-10, L133-11

External links

UKIP profile

Profile at European Parliament website

Official website of the UK Independence Party in the European Parliament

Political group in the European Parliament

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:United Kingdom Independence Party politicians Category:Members of the European Parliament for English constituencies Category:Critics of the European Union Category:People from Farnborough, London Category:Old Alleynians Category:Leaders of the United Kingdom Independence Party Category:British libertarians Category:UK Independence Party MEPs Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 1999–2004 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2004–2009 Category:MEPs for the United Kingdom 2009–2014

br:Nigel Farage cs:Nigel Farage cy:Nigel Farage de:Nigel Farage et:Nigel Farage es:Nigel Farage fr:Nigel Farage it:Nigel Farage nl:Nigel Farage pl:Nigel Farage ro:Nigel Farage simple:Nigel Farage fi:Nigel Farage sv:Nigel Farage

name	The Greek
media	The Wire
portrayer	Bill Raymond
creator	David Simon
gender	Male
first	"Ebb Tide" ''(episode 2.01)''
last	"–30–" ''(episode 5.10)''
occupation	International smuggling/Organized Crime Boss
footnotes	}}

The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking. The Greek is a mysterious figure involved in numerous criminal activities. His given name is never mentioned on the show, and though he is known only as "The Greek", he has stated (in the episode Port in a Storm) that he is not actually Greek. A quiet and unassuming man, the Greek prefers to keep a low profile, operating all of his business through his lieutenant Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. His smuggling organization operated from a small diner in Baltimore for years, and while Vondas would conduct business the Greek would listen in quietly at the counter. Nick Sobotka, upon seeing the Greek identify himself, was amazed that the shadowy figure had been in plain sight the entire time.

Despite his calm appearance, the Greek is cunning and ruthless, and only interested in facts that make him more money. Series creator David Simon has said that The Greek is an embodiment of raw unencumbered capitalism. Anyone interfering in this process is eliminated immediately, and he prefers to leave victims headless and handless to hinder identification.

The Greek's smuggling operation includes importing sex trade workers, illicit drugs, stolen goods and chemicals for drug processing. He bribes union stevedores to move containers through the Baltimore port for him and uses his muscle, Sergei "Serge" Malatov, to run containers back and forth from the port to his warehouse, a front managed by "Double G" Glekas. The Greek supplies the major drug dealers in East Baltimore with pure cocaine and heroin, using Eton Ben-Eleazer to move his drugs. His chief client is Proposition Joe, but he is also affiliated with smaller drug dealing organizations like those run by "White Mike" McArdle. His sex trade interests in Baltimore include a brothel run by a madam named Ilona Petrovitch, bringing in girls from eastern Europe. He manages to avoid prosecution for his crimes because an FBI counter-terrorism agent named Kristos Koutris tips him off if a criminal investigation gets too close. It is suggested he and Vondas may serve as federal informants.

Biography

Season 2

thumb|right|250px|The Greeks The Greek began to draw police attention in Baltimore when his contact at the docks, Frank Sobotka, became the target of an investigation. At the same time a container of thirteen dead young women intended for the sex trade was discovered at the docks, triggering a high-profile homicide investigation. The container belonged to the Greek and the girls were killed by a crewman onboard the vessel that had delivered them. The ship's crew had been paying the girls for sex and when one of the girls refused, she was killed. The crewman responsible dumped her overboard and collapsed the air pipe to kill the remaining women. The Greek had Sergei track the crewman down, interrogated him personally, and had Vondas kill him.

As the investigation continued the police were able to link Eton and Sergei to the drug smuggling operation. When police began tracking containers as they left the port, The Greek and Vondas began to close down the operation temporarily by dumping their cell phones and stealing "clean" containers. Persuading Sobotka to keep the smuggling operation going he bought further protection from Agent Koutris by betraying a load of Colombian cocaine, giving him time to destroy incriminating evidence in the warehouse and Glekas' store.

The Greek recognized that the investigation was too extensive to stop and made plans to leave, sending Vondas to assure Proposition Joe that supply of drugs would continue albeit with new faces. He attempted to buy Sobotka's silence with promised legal aid for his son, but when he learned from Koutris that Frank was planning to turn informant he had the union man killed. Although Frank's nephew Nick Sobotka was able to identify The Greek in a photo and Sergei was pressured to give up the location of his hotel suite, Vondas and the Greek had already boarded a flight to Chicago. Aware that the Greek and Vondas were gone, the police left the investigation behind and moved on to the drug dealers he supplied.

Seasons 4 & 5

The Greek continued to supply "Proposition Joe" Stewart, who formed an organization with other drug dealers called the New Day Co-Op to provide The Greek's product to them in exchange for reduced violence and sharing of territory. When Omar Little steals an entire shipment of heroin from the Greek's men as it is being delivered to Stewart's people, Marlo Stanfield demands a meeting with Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos in order to allay his fears that Stewart was responsible. Once Stanfield is satisfied, he waits for the Major Crimes Unit's investigation into his activities to cease and then moves to establish a direct relationship with Vondas and the Greek. After getting in communication with Vondas through former soldier Sergei, Marlo eventually sells himself as Joe's replacement by convincing the Greek that he requires an insurance policy in the form of a replacement for Proposition Joe, in the event that anything should happen to him. Realizing that Stanfield will move against Stewart regardless of his approval, the Greek accepts Marlo's proposal to act as an "insurance policy," knowing that it will mean Joe's death.

After Stewart's murder, Stanfield meets with Vondas to initiate their new business relationship. Stanfield's tenure proves short lived when he is forced into retirement by an investigation, and the other Co-Op members purchase the connection from Stanfield. In the closing scenes of the series finale, Slim Charles and Fat-Face Rick take over meeting with Vondas while the Greek listens quietly in the background.

References

Category:The Wire (TV series) characters Category:Fictional American people of Greek descent

Group	Italians''Italiani''
Population	c. 130 million
Regions	56,000,000
Region1
Pop1	30,000,000 (Italian ancestry)
Ref1
Region2
Pop2	20,000,000 (Italian ancestry)
Ref2
Region3
Pop3	17,800,000 (Italian ancestry mostly)
Ref3
Region4
Pop4	1,500,000 (Italian ancestry)
Ref4
Region5
Pop5	1,445,335
Ref5
Region6
Pop6	900,000
Ref6
Region7
Pop7	852,418
Ref7
Region8
Pop8	800,000
Ref8
Region9
Pop9	611,000
Ref9
Region10
Pop10	500,000
Ref10
Region11
Pop11	340,000
Ref11
Region12
Pop12	290,000
Ref12
Region13
Pop13	153,700
Ref13
Region14
Pop14	150,000
Region15
Pop15	133,500
Ref15
Region16
Pop16	100,000
Region17
Pop17	90,000
Ref17
Region18
Pop18	40,000
Ref18
Region22
Pop22	1,500
Ref22
Region19
Pop19	35,000
Ref19
Region20
Pop20	19,636
Ref20
Region21
Pop21	18,996
Ref21
Region22
Pop22	15,000
Ref22
Region23
Pop23	10,000
Ref23
Languages	historically Latin, nowdays Italian and other languages(Sicilian Southern Italian languages Corsican Sardinian Northern Italian languages Friulan)languages of resident countries
Religions	predominantly Roman Catholic, others
Footnotes	Italians by birth, not including an indeterminable number of Frenchmen of Italian ancestry numbering as much as five million. includes 291,200 permanent residents; not including about 500.000 Italian-speaking Swiss people, Italian citizens, many of which are Latin American nationals with Italian citizenship. }}

The Italian people () are a people that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence (though the principle of jus sanguinis is used extensively and arguably more favorably in the Italian nationality law), and are distinguished from people of Italian descent and, historically, from ethnic Italians living in the unredeemed territories adjacent to the Italian Peninsula.

In addition to the 60 million Italians in Italy and 28,000 in San Marino, Italian-speaking, autochthonous groups are found in neighbouring countries: about 500,000 in Switzerland, a large, but undefined population in France (Nice, Corsica), and smaller groups in Slovenia and Croatia, primarily in Istria.

Because of wide-ranging and long-lasting diaspora, about 4 million Italian citizens and over 70 million people of full or part Italian ancestry live outside of Italy, most notably in South America, North America, and other parts of Europe.

Italians have greatly influenced and contributed to science, the arts, technology, culture, cuisine, sport and banking abroad and worldwide. Italian people are generally known for their regionalism, attention to clothing, family values and devoutness to the Christian faith and association with the Catholic Church. Their greatest contribution to Western civilization was writing and the Latin script.

Genetics

Following recent scientific research carried out by geneticists, Italy has proven to be one of the last genetic barriers across Europe (along with Finland and Ireland), this due to the presence of the Alpine mountain chain that, over the centuries, has prevented large migration flows aimed at colonizing the Italian lands. Another 2008 study based on 3,000 European individuals genotyped at over half a million variable DNA sites found that despite low average levels of genetic differentiation among Europeans, a close correspondence existed between genetic and geographic distances.

In addition to the indegenous Italic peoples, other groups have left traces. Proto-Celts had yet infiltrated and settled down in the western Po Valley area in the 13th century BC. The Etruscans, despite difficulty in tracing their true origins, had major influence in Etruria (modern Tuscany) and Central Italy. The ancient Greeks have left genetic traces in the South part of the peninsula dating back to the age of the Magna Graecia. The Central Italy population also were found to correspond with Greece and other Mediterranean groups, and were relatively similar to Southern Italians. Averages for the country as a whole clustered with Spain and Portugal.

A Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore study found that while Greek colonization left little significant genetic contribution, data analysis sampling 12 sites in the Italian peninsula supported a male demic diffusion model and Neolithic admixture with Mesolithic inhabitants.

Although Sardinians do not constitute a homogeneous population, Sardinia has unique genetic composition, when compared to other Italian, European and Mediterranean populations; having Italian, Greece and Phoenician input.

History

The Italian people have somewhat varied European origins apart from the original Ancient Italic peoples: Northern Italy had a Celtic presence in the area the Romans would temporarily refer to as Cisalpine Gaul (until its unification with the rest of Italia); the area of which they conquered from the Etruscans, Ligurians, and from the possibly Etruscan Raeti tribe. Their ubiety lasted until the Romans conquered and colonized the area in the 2nd century BC; the central portion of the Italian Peninsula was inhabited by the Etruscans and Italic people; and parts of the coasts of southern Italy and Sicily were settled by Greeks (see Magna Graecia) before being colonized by the Romans.

The Romans romanized the entire peninsula and preserved common unity until the 5th century AD. In the later centuries of the Western Roman Empire, the militarily-weakened Italian Peninsula was infiltered by Germanic peoples crossing the Alps, establishing settlements in north-central Italy and to a lesser degree in the south. These Germanic tribes; however, were of a notably fewer number than the existing Roman population in Italy (numbering from around five to possibly ten million Italians, while the lombard migrations for instance numbered around 200,000 ), and thus, underwent rapid Romanization.

The Byzantine Greeks were an important power in Central and southern Italy for five centuries, forming the Byzantine Empire. Greek speakers were fairly common throughout Southern Italy and Sicily until the 11th century when Byzantine rule ended: a few small Greek-speaking communities (the Griko people) still exist in Calabria and Apulia. See also Ancient Greece.

In 827 AD, the island of Sicily was invaded starting a period of Arab influence in Sicily. Arabs controlled Sicily until the Norman Christians conquered much of southern Italy and all of Sicily in 1091 AD.

For almost 400 years (12th to 15th centuries) after Norman rule, Swabian (German) and Angevin (French) swapped control of regions in Italy, predominately southern Italy and Sicily. During the 11th through 16th century the majority of city-states from Northern and Central Italy remained independent, nurturing the era now known as the Renaissance. Habsburg Spain and Bourbon Spain dominated in southern Italy. From the 16th Century right through to unification, most of the Italian states were controlled by the emerging European political powers, most notably the Austrian Habsburgs, Spain, and by the 19th century, Napoleonic France and in the case of Veneto, Austria-Hungary.

In 1720, Sicily came under Austrian Habsburg rule and was swapped between various European powers until Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and southern Italy, allowing for the annexation of the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies into the new Italian state in 1860 (see Risorgimento).

Since the 19th century, the economic conditions of the agrarian southern and north-eastern regions resulted in mass migration from these regions to the Americas, industrial parts of northern Italy, and to other parts of Western Europe such as France and Belgium. By the 1970s economic conditions in the poorer regions of Italy improved to the point that even the less-developed regions of South Italy received more immigrants than it sent outwards.

Today, the population of Italy is less concentrated in large cities than in other European countries, with 67% of Italians living in a major urban area- compared to 76% of French, 88% of Germans and 90% of Britons. The vast majority of Italians live outside of the large (over 1,000,000 population) cities.

Culture

From the Lombard invasion until the mid-19th century, Italy was not the nation-state it is today. The Italian regions were fractured into various kingdoms, duchies, and domains. As a result, Italian dialects or regional minority languages and customs evolved independently. While all Italian states were similar and they retained basic elements of Roman language and culture, each developed its own regional culture and identity. As a result, even to this day, Italians define themselves primarily by their home region, province or city, and many still speak a local dialect or regional language in addition to standard Italian. Regional diversity is important to many Italians, and some regions also have strong local identities.

Language

In Italy, a standardised Italian language has steadily replaced the numerous dialects and Italic languages such as Gallo-Italic, Sicilian, Venetian, Sardinian, Friulan, Ladin, Franco-Provençal and Neapolitan. The standardised Italian language originated in literature of the 12th to 15th centuries, and was based on the dialects of Tuscany, along with influences of Sicilian and Venetian. In the 19th century, Italian became more common and helped unify the country.

Some non-Italian speaking minorities live in Italy and are Italian citizens. Around 360,000 German Bavarian speakers live in the extreme northern province of South Tyrol. Portions of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region have a small Slovene-speaking minority of Slavic origin. A small cluster of French-speaking people live in the region of Aosta Valley and a small Catalan-speaking enclave in Sardinia goes back five centuries after first settled by Catalans from Catalonia in Spain. In addition, two minor Italic languages are spoken outside of modern Italy—Corsican in Corsica, France and Romansh in eastern Switzerland. In Istria and Dalmatia there are significant Italian speaking communities. There are Greek-speaking communities known as the Griko people found in various regional clusters of Calabria (Province of Reggio Calabria) and Puglia (peninsula of Salento), (the old Magna Graecia region). There are several clusters of Albanian-speaking (Arbëreshë) communities in southern Italy, the language which belong to the 15th century Skanderbegians who fled Albania. The Maltese language is also spoken.

Religion

The most common religion practised by the Italian people of Italy is Roman Catholicism. This reflects the enormous influence the Catholic Church has had over the Italian Peninsula. Such influence developed gradually beginning in the 1st century AD when according to local tradition and archaeological evidence, many towns of Roman Italy were evangelized. The bishops of Rome themselves trace their lineage back to Jesus Christ's apostle Peter. Moreover, Paul the Apostle's letter to the church in Rome is even one of the canonical books of the New Testament. During intermittent persecutions by the Roman authorities, the number of Christians among the Italian population increased, but especially after Emperor Constantine I granted toleration to Christianity in 313 and the Emperor Theodosius I with the Edict of Thessalonica made Catholicism the official religion of the Roman Empire in 380. After the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West in 476, the bishops of Rome gradually acquired civil authority over central Italy in the Papal States, a vestige of which is preserved in the Vatican City, today an independent state within Rome. A minority of Italians belong to other Christian denominations such as Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy, or belong to other religions such as Judaism.

Arts

The people of Italy have contributed significantly to world culture and scientific, and technological, progress continuously since ancient times. In the arts, Italy gave birth to some of the most widely known sculptors, painters, architects, and the historically remarkable movement of Renaissance. Notable examples of Italian artists include Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Caravaggio. In literature, poet Dante, writer Boccaccio and playwright and novelist Pirandello made cornerstone contributions to their fields. Italian composers, such as Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini, contributed to the evolution of western music, in whose context Italians are credited for the creation of the opera. Some of the most famous luthiers are Italians, like Andrea Amati, Antonio Stradivari, and the Guarneri family.

Science

Famous Italian scientists include Leonardo da Vinci, who made scientific investigations into anatomy, geology, botany, mechanics, hydraulics and aerodynamics; Galileo, the first to describe the laws of movement and use explicitly the experimental method; Evangelista Torricelli, inventor of the barometer and first to explain the cause of wind; Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery; Antonio Meucci, inventor of the telephone (though his role in the invention was long disputed in the United States); Antonio Pacinotti, inventor of the direct-current electrical generator, or dynamo, and of the electric engine; Galileo Ferraris, inventor of the alternating-current motor; Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci, who patented the first working efficient internal combustion engine; Guglielmo Marconi, the first to develop the wireless broadcasting, known as radio; Enrico Fermi the discoverer of neutron chain reaction and builder of the first atomic pile; Giulio Natta for his research in the polymerization of alkenes; Rita Levi-Montalcini, who identified the nerve growth factor; Riccardo Giacconi, pioneer of X-ray astronomy.

Italian contributions to architecture and engineering are numerous since ancient times. Renowned architects include Brunelleschi, Alberti, Michelangelo, Vasari, Palladio and Bernini.

The rise of humanism and modern commerce can be attributed to conditions found in Italy during the Renaissance. This ambience also lead to the rise of the "universal man", of which Leonardo da Vinci often is considered as the prime example.

Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, also known as Fibonacci was a mathematician whose system is used in the analysis of financial markets.

Cuisine

The Italian people are well-known for their contribution to cuisine; several of the world's most well-known dishes, including pasta, pizza, lasagne, minestrone, risotto, tiramisu, panettone and polenta, to name a few, are Italian dishes.

Ingredients and dishes vary by region (for example in Apulia there are "taralli", "frise", "pizzarieddi and orecchiette"; in Emilia Romagna there are "ravioli"). There are many significant regional dishes that have become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different variations across the country in the present day, like "lasagne". Cheese and wine (Primitivo di Manduria and Brunello di Montalcino are some of the best wines in the world) are also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) (regulated appellation) laws. Coffee, and more specifically espresso, has become highly important to the cultural cuisine of Italy.

Italian diaspora

Over 70 million people of full or partial Italian descent live outside of Europe, with nearly 50 million living in South America (primarily Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay), about 19 million living in North America (United States and Canada) and 850,000 in Australia. Millions of others live in other parts of Europe (primarily France, Germany and Switzerland). Most Italian citizens living abroad live in other nations of the European Union. Small Italian neighborhoods can be found in urban centers throughout Europe such as Great Britain (see Italian Scots and Welsh Italians), as well small waves of pre-WWI ethnic Italian Austria-Hungary subjects in factory towns of Poland and post-WWII guest workers from southern Italy arrived in Sweden.

There is a history of Italians working and living outside of the Italian Peninsula since ancient times. Italian bankers and traders expanded to all parts of Europe and the Mediterranean, sometimes creating outposts. In medieval times, there was a significant permanent presence in Flanders, Lyon, Paris, Prague, Vienna and outposts were created throughout the Mediterranean and the Middle East, such as Egypt had ethnic Italian residents. Since the Renaissance, the services of Italian architects and artists were sought by many of Europe's royal courts, as far as Russia (i.e. the Venetian Italian communities of Taganrog, Russia and Odessa, Ukraine). This migration, though generally small in numbers, and sometimes ephemeral, pre-dates the unification of Italian states.

Italy became an important source for emigrants after about 1870. More than 10 million Italians emigrated between 1870 and 1920. In the beginning (1870–1880), the main destination of the migrants were other European countries (France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Luxembourg), where most Italians worked for some time and then returned to Italy. During this time many Italians also went to the Americas, especially to Brazil, Argentina and the United States. From about 1880 until the end of the early 1900s, the main destinations for Italian immigrants were Brazil, Argentina as well to Uruguay. Smaller migration patterns of Italians went to Mexico, the United States, and Corsicans constituted a large proportion of immigrants to Puerto Rico (see Corsican immigration to Puerto Rico). Substantial early 20th century Italian immigration to Chile, Costa Rica, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela is also mentioned.

New World

Italian immigration to Argentina began in the 19th century, just after Argentina won its independence from Spain. There are many reasons explaining the Italian immigration to Argentina: Italy was enduring economic problems caused mainly by the unification of the Italian states into one nation.

Italians arrived in Australia most prominently in the decades immediately following the Second World War, and they and their descendents have had a significant impact on the culture, society and economy of Australia. Italian migration to Australia prior to the Second World War was strongly influenced by the application of Australia's White Australia Policy which favoured Northern Italian migrants over Southern Italians. The 2006 Census counted 199,124 persons who were born in Italy, and Italian is the fifth most identified ancestry in Australia with 852,418 responses, excluding interfamily marriages . Italian Australians experienced a relatively low rate of return migration to Italy.

Brazil is home to 30 million Italian Brazilians, the largest number of people with full or partial Italian ancestry outside of Italy. The country was in need of workers to embrace the vast coffee plantations, and Italian immigrants became a main source of manpower for its agriculture and industry.

A substantial influx of Italian immigrants to Canada began in the early 20th century when over a hundred thousand Italians moved to Canada. In the post-war years (1945-early 1970s) another influx of Italians emigrated to Canada, again from the south but also from Veneto and Friuli and displaced Italians from Istria.

Starting in the late 19th century until the 1950s, the United States became a main destination for Italian immigrants, most settling originally in the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, New Orleans and Chicago. Many Italian Americans still retain aspects of their culture. In movies that deal with cultural issues, Italian American words and lingo are sometimes spoken by the characters. Although many do not speak Italian fluently, over 1 million speak Italian at home according to the 2000 US Census.

Europe

In a wave of temporary Italian migration, from 1920 to the early 1970s (peaking in the periods of WWI and WWII), Italian "guest workers" went mostly to Austria, Belgium, France, West Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Italian migration into what is today France has been going on, in different migrating cycles, for centuries, beginning in prehistoric times right to the modern age. In addition, Corsica passed from the Republic of Genoa to France in 1770, and the area around Nice and Savoy from the Kingdom of Sardinia to France in 1860. Initially, Italian immigration to modern France (late 18th to the early 20th C.) came predominantly from northern Italy (Piedmont, Veneto), then from central Italy (Marche, Umbria), mostly to the bordering southeastern region of Provence. It wasn't until after World War II that large numbers of immigrants from southern Italy immigrated to France, usually settling in industrialised areas of France, such as Lorraine, Paris and Lyon. Today, it is estimated that as many as 5 million French nationals have Italian ancestry going back three generations.

In Switzerland, Italian immigrants (not to be confused with a large autochthonous population of Italophones in Ticino and Grigioni) reached the country starting in the late 19th century, most of whom eventually came back to Italy after the rise of Italian Fascism. Future Fascist leader Benito Mussolini emigrated in Switzerland in 1902, only to be deported after becoming involved in the socialist movement. A new migratory wave began after 1945, favoured by the lax immigration laws then in force.

Africa

Italian communities once thrived in the former African colonies of Eritrea (50,000 Italian settlers in 1935), Somalia and Libya (150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting about 18% of the total population). A significant portion of the pied-noir community of French Algeria was also of Italian descent, though much of this population naturalized as French citizens, and most migrated to France after Algerian independence.

Today, there are still some Italian descendents remnant in African nations since colonial days, although most returned to Italy or moved elsewhere after the second world war. There is a significant post-colonial immigrant community, however, in South Africa.

Autochthonous communities outside Italy

In both the Slovenian and Croatian portions of Istria, as well as in the city of Rijeka (''Fiume''), Italian refers to autochthonous speakers of Italian and various Italo-Dalmatian languages, natives in the region since before the inception of the Venetian Republic, and also to descendants of Italians that migrated to the area in the early to mid 20th C. when it was a part of Italy. It can also refer to Istrian Slavs who adopted the Italian culture and language as they moved from rural to urban areas, or from the farms into the bourgeoisie, since the time of the Austrian Empire through to the period of annexation to Italy. In the aftermath of the Istrian exodus following the Second World War, most Italian speakers consider themselves ethnic Italian and are today located in the south and west of Istria, and number about 35,000. The number of inhabitants with Italian ancestry is likely much greater but undeterminable.

The Dalmatian cities retained their Romanic culture and language in cities such as Zadar (''Zara''), Split (city) (''Spalato'') and Dubrovnik (''Ragusa''). The 1816 Austro-Hungarian census registered 66,000 Italian-speaking people amongst the 301,000 inhabitants of Dalmatia, or 22% of the total Dalmatian population.

In France (County of Nice, parts of Savoy), autochthonous speakers of regional languages of Italy (Ligurian and Piedmontese), are natives in the region since before annexation to France in 1860, in addition to descendants of Italians that migrated to the areas when they were part of Italian states. The number of inhabitants with Italian ancestry is generally undeterminable, and the use of French language is now ubiquitous. In addition, Corsica was a part of the Republic of Genoa until 1770 and, until recently, most Corsicans spoke the Corsican language.

In figures

Italian citizens, any ethnicity

Population 582,111 rowspan=13

Country	|	References	Criterion	Primary source	Year
Italians in Germany	|		Italian citizenship	Italian Minister of the Interior	Italian Ministry of the Interior |>rowspan=13| 31-12-2007
Italian Argentine	Italians in Argentina			527,570
Italians in France	348,722
Italian Belgian	Italians in Belgium			235,673
Italian Brazilian	Italians in Brazil			229,746
Italian American	Italians in the US			200,560
Italian British	Italians in the UK			170,927
Italian Canadian	Italians in Canada			131,775
Italian Australian	Italians in Australia			120,239
Italo-Venezuelans	Italians in Venezuela			94,704
Italians in Spain	83,924
Italian settlement in Uruguay	Italians in Uruguay			71,115

Italian-born, any citizenship

Population 530,000 290,000

Country	|	References	Criterion	Primary source	Year
Italian immigration to Switzerland	Italians in Switzerland	|		?	?
Italians in Belgium	|		?	N.Perrin, M.Poulan, Italiens de Belgique. Analyses socio-démographiques et analyses d’appartenances	2002

Full or partial descent

Population (% of country) 17,829,184 (~6%) 20,000,000 (~60%) 852,421 (4%) 30,000,000 (18%) 1,445,330 (~4.5%) 150,000 (~5%) 5,000,000 (~9%) 500,000 (ca. 1.7%) 1,500,000 (~42%)

Country	|	References	Criterion	Primary source	Year
Italian American	American people of Italian descent	|		Self-description	US Census Bureau	2000
Italian Argentine	Argentines of Italian descent	|		?	FedItalia	?
Italian Australian	Australians of Italian descent	|		Self-description	Australian Bureau of Statistics	2006
Italian Brazilian	Brazilians of Italian descent	|		15% of 190 M. inhab.	Italian Embassy at Brasília	?
Italian Canadian	Canadian people of Italian descent	|		Self-description	Statistics Canada	2006
Italian Chilean	Chileans of Italian descent	|		→ Italian Chilean	?	1996
Italians in France	French people of Italian descent	|		?	?	?
Italian Peruvian	Peruvian people of Italian descent	|		?	?	?
Italian settlement in Uruguay	Uruguayans of Italian descent	|		?	?	?

See also

Anti-Italianism

List of Italians

Ethnic groups in Europe

Genetic history of Europe

Italian language

Italian nationality law

List of Sardinians

List of Sicilians

List of people from Veneto

References

*Italians Category:Ethnic groups in Croatia Category:Ethnic groups in Europe Category:Ethnic groups in Italy Category:Ethnic groups in Slovenia Category:Italian society Category:Romance peoples

ar:طليان an:Italians az:İtalyanlar be:Італьянцы bo:ཨི་ཏ་ལིའི་མི། bs:Italijani bg:Италианци cs:Italové de:Italiener es:Italianos eo:Italoj eu:Italiar fr:Italiens fur:Popul talian ko:이탈리아인 hr:Talijani id:Bangsa Italia os:Италиаг адæм it:Italiani he:איטלקים ka:იტალიელები lv:Itāļi lt:Italai hu:Olaszok mk:Италијанци nl:Italianen ja:イタリア人 pl:Włosi pt:Italianos ro:Italieni ru:Итальянцы sah:Италиалар sk:Taliani sl:Italijani ckb:ئیتاڵیایی sr:Italijani sh:Italijani fi:Italialaiset tl:Mga Italyano th:ชาวอิตาลี uk:Італійці ug:ئىتاليانلار vi:Người Ý zh:義大利人

name	Michael Allen Geist
birth date	July 11, 1968
residence	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
nationality	Canadian
education	University of Western Ontario, Osgoode Hall Law School, Cambridge University and the Columbia Law School
employer	University of Ottawa
occupation	Academic and Canada Research Chair
website	michaelgeist.ca
footnotes	}}

Michael Allen Geist (born 11 July 1968) is a Canadian academic, and the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. Geist was educated at the University of Western Ontario, Osgoode Hall Law School, Cambridge University and the Columbia Law School.

His weekly columns on new technology and its legal ramifications appear in the ''Vancouver Sun'', ''Toronto Star'' and the ''Ottawa Citizen''. He served on Canada's National Task Force on Spam and is the founder of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic. He is also a board member of the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which manages the dot-ca domain.

Geist was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2002.

2007 Canadian Copyright Legislation

Geist received widespread public attention from mainstream and citizen media in the winter of 2007 for leading the public response to proposed Canadian copyright changes.

According to Dr. Geist and many others the Canadian legislation included the worst aspects of the 1998 U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In December, 2007, Geist said the legislation will likely "mirror the DMCA with strong anti-circumvention legislation — far beyond what is needed to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties," and will likely contain no protection for "flexible fair dealing. No parody exception. No time shifting exception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision. Nothing."

Widespread online and offline support, from activist and author Cory Doctorow to over 30,000 Facebook users, led to the tabling of the copyright legislation by Industry Minister Jim Prentice until 2008.

ACTA

Michael Geist is considered an expert about the proposed international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) which he covers frequently on his blog, criticizing the negotiation process for lack of transparency and warning of possible negative consequences for Internet users.

Other activities

In 2008, Geist found that favourable edits to Jim Prentice's Wikipedia article were traced back to Industry Canada computers.

Books

''Internet Law in Canada''

''In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law'' (editor) -- a series of essays regarding Bill C-60

References

External links

Official Website

"30 Days of DRM" Wiki

imdb.com Entry

Videos

Speech at International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioner's conference 2007 Sept.

Copyright & The Internet: Is There A Canadian Way? Feb 10, 2005

Category:1968 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian bloggers Category:Canadian columnists Category:Lawyers in Ontario Category:Canadian legal scholars Category:Computer law Category:Copyright scholars Category:Canada Research Chairs Category:Canadian copyright law Category:University of Western Ontario alumni Category:York University alumni Category:Columbia Law School alumni Category:University of Ottawa faculty Category:Alumni of Wolfson College, Cambridge Category:Toronto Star people

de:Michael Geist fr:Michael Geist ru:Гейст, Майкл sc:Michael Geist