document_title: Toronto Raptors

question_text: who is the captain of the toronto raptors

question_tokens: who is the captain of the toronto raptors

text: Toronto Raptors

text: Franchise history[edit]

text: Creation[edit]

text: The Toronto Raptors were established on November 4, 1993, when the NBA, as part of its expansion into Canada, awarded its 28th franchise to a group headed by Toronto businessman John Bitove for a then-record expansion fee of $125 million USD.[8][1] Bitove and Allan Slaight of Slaight Communications each owned 44%, with the Bank of Nova Scotia (10%), David Peterson (1%), and Phil Granovsky (1%) being minority partners.[1][9] Wagering on NBA games in Ontario nearly cost Toronto the expansion franchise, due to strict league rules at the time that prohibited gambling. However, an agreement was reached whereby the provincial lottery corporation agreed to stop offering wagering on all NBA games in exchange for a donation by the Raptors of $5 million in its first three years and $1 million annually afterwards to its charitable foundation to compensate the provincial lottery corporation for its loss of revenue.[10][11][12] The Raptors, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, played their first game in 1995, and were the first NBA teams based in Canada since the 1946–47 Toronto Huskies of the Basketball Association of America (BAA, a forerunner league to the present-day NBA),[1] though the Buffalo Braves had played a total of 16 regular season games at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto from 1971 to 1975.[13] The Raptors marked a return of professional basketball to the city after a 48-year absence.

text: Initial sentiment was in favour of reviving the Huskies nickname, but team management realized it would be nearly impossible to design a logo that did not substantially resemble that of the Minnesota Timberwolves.[14] As a result, a nationwide contest was held to help name the team and develop their colours and logo. Over 2,000 entries were narrowed down to eleven prospects: Beavers, Bobcats, Dragons, Grizzlies, Hogs, Raptors, Scorpions, T-Rex, Tarantulas, Terriers and Towers (the eventual runner-up).[1] The final selection—Toronto Raptors—was unveiled on Canadian national television on May 15, 1994:[1] the choice was influenced by the popularity of the 1993 film adaption of the 1990 science fiction novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. The name "Raptor" is a common informal name for the Velociraptor, a swift medium-sized dromaeosaurid theropod non-avian dinosaur. On May 24, 1994, the team's logo and first General Manager, Isiah Thomas were revealed at a press conference.[1] As part of the deal, Thomas received an option to purchase part of the team, reportedly for under market value.[15][16] He would purchase 4.5% in May 1995[17][18] and a further 4.5% in December 1995,[16][19] half each from Bitove and Slaight, decreasing their share to 39.5%.[1][20] The team's colours of bright red, purple, black, and silver were also revealed; "Naismith" silver was chosen as an ode to Canadian James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.[1] The team originally competed in the Central Division,[21] and before the inaugural season began, sales of Raptors merchandise ranked seventh in the league, marking a successful return of professional basketball to Canada.[1]

text: As General Manager, Isiah Thomas quickly staffed the management positions with his own personnel, naming long-time Detroit Pistons assistant Brendan Malone as the Raptors' head coach.[1] The team's roster was then filled as a result of an expansion draft in 1995. Following a coin flip, Toronto was given first choice and selected Chicago Bulls point guard and three-point specialist B. J. Armstrong. Armstrong refused to report for training, and Thomas promptly traded him to the Golden State Warriors for power forwards Carlos Rogers and Victor Alexander.[1] Thomas then selected a wide range of players in the expansion draft, including veterans Jerome Kersey, Willie Anderson and his former Pistons teammate John Salley.[1]

text: Subsequent to the expansion draft, the Raptors landed the seventh pick in the NBA draft lottery, behind their fellow 1995 expansion club, the Vancouver Grizzlies. Thomas selected Damon Stoudamire, a point guard out of Arizona, around whom the franchise would seek to construct its near future. Yet, the selection of Stoudamire was met with boos from fans at the 1995 NBA draft at SkyDome in Toronto, many of whom wanted Ed O'Bannon of UCLA, an NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Player.[1]

text: 1995–1999: Struggles of a new franchise[edit]

text: In the team's first official NBA game, Alvin Robertson scored the first NBA points in Raptors history,[22] while Stoudamire recorded 10 points and 10 assists in a 94–79 victory over the New Jersey Nets.[23] The Raptors concluded their inaugural season with a 21–61 win–loss record,[21] although they were one of the few teams to defeat the Chicago Bulls,[24] who set a then all-time NBA best 72–10 win–loss regular season record. With averages of 19.0 points and 9.3 assists per game, Stoudamire also won the 1995–96 Rookie of the Year Award.[25]

text: In November of the 1996–97 season, Bitove sold his ownership interest in the team to Slaight for $65 million after Slaight had activated a shotgun clause in their partnership agreement,[26][27][28] giving Slaight 79% control of the team,[29] and remaining minority partner of the Bank of Nova Scotia (10%), Thomas (9%) Peterson (1%) and Granovsky (1%).[30] Slaight subsequently acquired the 1% which had been owned by both Peterson and Granovsky, who had died a year earlier.[9][31][32] The team improved on its win record by nine games.[33] They selected centre Marcus Camby with the second overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft.[34] By the end of the season, Camby earned a berth on the NBA's All-Rookie Team while Stoudamire continued to play well, averaging 20.2 points and 8.8 assists per game.[1] As in the previous season, the Raptors were one of only 11 teams to topple the eventual 1997 Champions, the Chicago Bulls.[34][35] The Raptors also defeated the Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz and Miami Heat, all of which were eventual Conference finalists.[34][36] However, the Raptors struggled against teams who were not of championship calibre, including three losses to the 15–67 Boston Celtics.[36]

text: In the 1997–98 season, the team suffered numerous injuries and slid into a 17-game losing streak.[37] After Thomas' attempts to execute a letter of intent with Slaight to purchase the team failed, he resigned his position with the team in November and sold his 9% stake in the team to Slaight.[31][38][39] This left Slaight with 90% and the Bank of Nova Scotia with 10%.[38] Thomas was replaced by Glen Grunwald as GM.[40] With Thomas gone, Stoudamire immediately sought a trade.[41] On February 13, 1998, he was shipped to the Portland Trail Blazers along with Walt Williams and Carlos Rogers for Kenny Anderson, Alvin Williams, Gary Trent, two first-round draft choices, a second-round draft choice and cash.[37] Anderson refused to report to Toronto and was traded to the Celtics with Žan Tabak and Popeye Jones for Chauncey Billups, Dee Brown, Roy Rogers and John Thomas.[37] When the trading deadline was over, the Raptors became the youngest team in the league with an average age of 24.6 years.[37] They had five rookies on their roster, including the 18-year-old Tracy McGrady, who at the time was the youngest player in the NBA.[37] The inexperienced Raptors struggled throughout the season and their regular season record regressed to 16–66.[42]

text: On February 12, 1998, Maple Leaf Gardens Ltd., the owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs, purchased 100% of the Raptors and the arena the team was building, Air Canada Centre, from Slaight and the Bank of Nova Scotia.[39][43] MLSE paid a reported $467 million, made up of $179 million for the team and $288 million for the arena.[44][45][46] During the 1998 NBA draft, in what became a defining move for the franchise, Grunwald traded the team's 4th overall pick Antawn Jamison to the Golden State Warriors for Vince Carter, who was selected 5th overall.[47] To bring further credibility to the Raptors, Grunwald traded Marcus Camby to the New York Knicks for Charles Oakley,[48] a veteran with playoff experience. Kevin Willis, another veteran acquired from the trade, solidified the centre position, while the coaching staff temporarily rotated Brown, Williams and Doug Christie to play point guard. Both Christie and Williams became talented players in their own right; Christie developed into one of the elite defenders in the NBA,[48] while Williams improved his play on the offensive end. New coach Butch Carter was also credited with much of the team's turnaround during the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. Although the team did not make the playoffs, many were optimistic with the impressive performances of Rookie of the Year Carter[47] and a much improved McGrady.

text: 1999–2004: The Vince Carter era[edit]

text: During the 1999 NBA draft, believing that the Raptors still lacked a strong frontcourt presence, Grunwald traded first-round draft pick Jonathan Bender for power forward Antonio Davis of the Indiana Pacers. Davis quickly entered the Raptors starting lineup and he would develop into an All-Star in the coming years. Conversely, Bender would only play nine seasons and would be out of the league by age 29.[49] In the backcourt, Carter, Christie and Dell Curry played at the shooting guard position and Alvin Williams and Muggsy Bogues at point guard. The rotation of Davis, Oakley and Willis in the frontcourt and Carter's and McGrady's improvement helped the team make its first ever playoff appearance, fulfilling a promise Carter had made to fans in the previous season.[50] Lacking significant post-season experience, Toronto was defeated 3–0 by the New York Knicks in the first round.[50] Nonetheless, team improvements and the rise of Carter—who emphatically won the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest[47]—attracted many fans around Toronto, many of whom were previously not basketball fans. The season was also the first full year played at the Air Canada Centre, after having played four years at the cavernous SkyDome, which was better suited to baseball and Canadian football.[50] Overall, the Raptors concluded the season with a 45–37 record.[51]

text: Still, playoff failures and Butch Carter's media altercations surrounding Camby led Grunwald to replace Carter prior to the 2000–01 season with Lenny Wilkens, a Hall of Fame coach and player with more than 30 years of coaching experience.[52] The team roster was also largely revamped, including the signing of veteran playmaker Mark Jackson on a four-year contract.[53] When Alvin Williams later emerged as a clutch performer,[54] Jackson was traded to allow Williams more playing time.[53] In the 2000 off-season, free agent McGrady opted to leave the Raptors in a sign-and-trade deal worth $67.5 million over six years, while giving a conditional draft pick as part of the agreement to the Orlando Magic, for a first-round draft pick.[55]

text: As predicted by analysts, the team easily secured a berth in the 2001 NBA playoffs with a franchise high 47 wins. The Raptors won their first ever playoff series as they defeated New York 3–2, advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the first time in franchise history.[53][56] Wilkens was praised for having Williams defend shooting guard Allan Houston and Carter defend small forward Latrell Sprewell, the two major Knicks offensive threats. The series with Philadelphia 76ers was a landmark for the Raptors in terms of performance and entertainment value. The Sixers relied on Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo for their respective offensive and defensive abilities, along with steady help from Aaron McKie. Toronto was the more balanced team with Carter, Alvin Williams and Davis providing much of the offensive game and Chris Childs and Jerome Williams on defence. The series came down to the last few seconds of Game 7, when Carter's potential series-winning shot rolled off the rim.[57] Carter was later widely criticized for attending his graduation ceremony at the University of North Carolina on the morning of Game 7, as he scored only 20 points on 6-for-18 shooting, after a 39-point performance in Game 6.[58][59] Despite the loss, the season is generally considered a watermark for the franchise, given the Raptors' franchise high of 47 wins and advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs.[53][60]

text: The relocation of the Vancouver Grizzlies to Memphis, Tennessee in 2001, as the Memphis Grizzlies, left Toronto as the NBA's only Canadian team.[61] In the summer of 2001, long-term contracts were given to Alvin Williams, Jerome Williams and Davis, while former NBA MVP centre Hakeem Olajuwon was signed to provide Carter with good support.[62] The Raptors appeared to be on their way to another competitive season, with a 29–21 record going into the All-Star break[62] and with Carter the top vote-getter for the All-Star game for the third consecutive year.[47] Carter then suffered a bout of patellar tendinitis (also known as "jumper's knee")[63] forcing him to miss the All-Star game and the rest of the season,[62] and without their franchise player, Toronto lost 13 consecutive games.[62] However, they were able to win 12 of their last 14 games, clinching a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.[62] The comeback featured some of the Raptors' best defence of the season, along with inspired performances by Davis and Keon Clark.

text: Despite Toronto's improved defensive performances, Carter's offence was sorely missed in the first-round series against the second-seeded Detroit Pistons. In the first game, Detroit overwhelmed Toronto 83–65, largely due to Ben Wallace's strong performance of 19 points, 20 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals.[64] Detroit also won Game 2, but Toronto won the next two games at home to force a deciding and tightly contested Game 5 in Detroit.[62] With 10.7 seconds left in the game, and the Raptors down 85–82 with possession of the ball, Childs raced down the court and shot a three-pointer that missed badly, apparently trying to draw a foul on the play,[65] instead of passing to a wide-open Curry. In a post-game locker room interview, Childs repeatedly insisted that the Raptors had been down four points, not three. The Raptors' late-season surge was thus marred by a disappointing playoff exit; the Olajuwon experiment was also a bust, with the 39-year-old averaging career lows in minutes, points and rebounds.[66] Furthermore, Childs, Clark and Curry left the team, ensuring a new-look team for the next season.

text: 2002–2006: Another period of struggle[edit]

text: The 2002–03 season began with the same optimism that the Raptors exhibited in three consecutive playoff seasons, although it faded early. Carter, while voted as a starter in the 2003 All-Star Game,[47] suffered a knee injury, while Davis expressed disinterest in Toronto, and Wilkens' laissez-faire attitude created a team that lacked the motivation and spirit of the previous years' teams. The team was ravaged with injuries, losing an NBA record number of player games due to injury.[67] Furthermore, the Raptors recorded the dubious honour of being the only team in NBA history not to dress 12 players for a single game in a season.[67] Wilkens was criticized heavily by the Toronto media for his inability to clamp down on his players when necessary, especially given this was the year that Wilkens overtook Bill Fitch for the most losses by an NBA coach,[68] with his loss total getting dangerously close to his win total. The Raptors ended the season with a 24–58 record[69] and Wilkens was fired. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, when the Raptors were given the 4th overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft and brought another star to Toronto in Chris Bosh.

text: Canadian country singer Shania Twain helped launch the new red Raptors alternate road uniform at the start of the 2003–04 season,[70] and the jerseys made their debut in a 90–87 season-opening victory on October 29, 2003 against the defending Conference Champion New Jersey Nets.[70] Davis and Jerome Williams were traded early in the season for Jalen Rose and Donyell Marshall. After 50 games, Toronto was 25–25 and in a position to make the playoffs, but injuries to key players sent the Raptors plummeting down the standings. Rose, Carter and Alvin Williams all suffered injuries as the Raptors struggled to a record of 8–24 in their remaining games.[70] The notable individual season performances were Carter's 22.5 ppg, Marshall's 10.7 rpg, and rookie Bosh, a 6–10 forward-centre, averaging 11.5 ppg and 7.4 rpg and being named to the NBA All-Rookie Team.[71] Williams' knee injury turned out to be career-ending.

text: For the 2004–05 season, the team moved into the Atlantic Division and the Raptors decided to revamp the team. Raptors President and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Richard Peddie fired Grunwald on April 1, 2004, after the team ended the season three games short of the eighth and final playoff spot in the previous season.[70] Head coach Kevin O'Neill and his four assistant coaches were also dismissed immediately after Grunwald's termination. Toronto interim manager Jack McCloskey said: "While the blame for that certainly does not rest on O'Neill and his staff alone, we need a change."[72] Rob Babcock was named General Manager on June 7, 2004, alongside the appointments of Wayne Embry as senior advisor and Alex English as director of player development.[73] Sam Mitchell, a former NBA forward and assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, was hired as new head coach of the Raptors.[74]

text: Babcock's first move as GM was drafting centre Rafael Araújo—selected eighth overall—in the 2004 NBA draft, in a move that was criticized by fans and analysts, considering highly touted swingman Andre Iguodala was drafted with the next pick.[75] Babcock signed point guard Rafer Alston to a five-year deal. After Vince Carter's annual charity game, Babcock implicitly revealed to the media that Carter's agent had asked for a trade, confirming Carter's discontent. The Toronto Sun reported that Carter felt he was being misled by the Raptors' hierarchy during the General Manager search and had concluded that as long as the managerial structure at Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. remained intact, the Raptors would never be an elite team.[76] Carter was finally traded mid-season, ending his six-year tenure. Toronto received Alonzo Mourning, forwards Eric Williams and Aaron Williams and two mid-to-late future first round picks from the New Jersey Nets. Mourning chose not to report to Toronto, forcing Babcock to buy out the remainder of his contract[77] at a reported $10 million, leaving him free to sign with the Miami Heat. Eric and Aaron Williams were supposed to add defensive toughness and rebounding, but were generally under-utilized for the entire season. Analysts had predicted Babcock got the bad end of the deal,[78] and the trade eventually cost him his job.

text: Carter's departure heralded a new era for Toronto. Bosh stepped up to the role of franchise player[79] and performed well in his sophomore campaign, ranking tenth in the league in defensive rebounds.[71] In contrast to Bosh's emergence, Araújo struggled to keep a spot in the line-up, and became unpopular with fans and local media.[80] Although the ACC was often well-attended due to the Raptors' 22–19 home record,[81] their inability to win on the road (11–30) and poor defensive record made Mitchell's first year as head coach unimpressive. Additionally, Mitchell had problems dealing with Alston, who openly expressed his unhappiness with Mitchell in a post-game interview.[82] Later in the season, Alston was suspended two games for "conduct detrimental to the team" for reportedly walking out of a scrimmage during practice.[83] Notwithstanding the unrest, in their first season competing in the Atlantic Division, Toronto maintained the same regular season record of 33–49 as the previous season.[79]

text: The Raptors continued to rebuild during the 2005 NBA draft, selecting Charlie Villanueva, Joey Graham, Roko Ukić and Uroš Slokar, with Villanueva's selection being very controversial amongst basketball pundits and Raptors fans alike.[84] The Raptors started their training camp by trading Alston to the Houston Rockets for Mike James and signing free agent José Calderón as a backup for James. Despite the infusion of new players, Toronto's overall 2005–06 season was a disappointment; they set a franchise record by losing their first nine games[85] and 15 out of their first 16 games.[86] With losses mounting and media scrutiny intensifying, the Raptors hired ex-Purdue coach Gene Keady as an assistant off the bench to help develop the young Raptors team, as well as establish a defensive persona for the team. On January 15, 2006, the Raptors set a franchise points record in a 129–103 win over the Knicks when Villanueva hit a three-pointer late in the game.[87] But less than a week later, the Raptors gave up an 18-point lead against the Los Angeles Lakers and allowed Lakers star Kobe Bryant to score 81 points, the second highest single-game total in NBA history.[88] With media scrutiny intensifying once more and the Raptors entrenched at the bottom of the league in defensive field goal percentage,[89] CEO Richard Peddie fired Babcock.[90]

text: The 2005–06 season was not a total disaster. Villanueva's play impressed both fans and former critics as he came in second in NBA Rookie of the Year[91] and recorded 48 points in an overtime loss to Milwaukee Bucks, the most points scored by any rookie in franchise history and the most by a rookie in the NBA since 1997.[92] Bosh was also named a reserve forward for the Eastern All-Star Team in the 2006 game,[71] becoming the third Raptor after Vince Carter and Antonio Davis to appear in an All-Star Game. On February 27, 2006, the team named Bryan Colangelo, the 2004–05 NBA Executive of the Year, the President and General Manager of the Raptors.[93] Known for his success in transforming a lottery Phoenix team into a 62-win offensive juggernaut, his hiring gave hope to many fans. Still, Toronto ended the season weakly when Bosh suffered a season-ending thumb injury.[94] The Raptors lost ten in a row after Bosh's injury[95] and finished the season with the fifth worst record (27–55) in the NBA.[96]

text: 2006–2010: The Chris Bosh era[edit]

text: The 2006–07 season represented a watershed year for the Raptors franchise. The roster was overhauled, including the selection of 2006 NBA draft number one pick Andrea Bargnani, the acquisition of point guard T. J. Ford in exchange for Villanueva, and the signing of shooting guard Anthony Parker and small forward Jorge Garbajosa.[97] Bosh was given a three-year contract extension,[97] while Maurizio Gherardini of Benetton Treviso was hired as the club's vice-president and assistant general manager.[98]

text: The first half of the season produced mixed results as Toronto struggled towards the .500 mark.[99] After the All-Star break, Bargnani continued to work on his defence and shooting (averaging 14.3 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in 12 games for the month of February 2007), and he was selected as the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for the second straight time on March 1, 2007.[100] Bargnani became the third Raptor ever to win the award twice, joining Vince Carter and Damon Stoudamire.[100] Toronto ended the regular season with a 47–35 record, securing the third seed in the Eastern Conference for the 2007 NBA Playoffs along with the Atlantic Division title, as well as homecourt advantage for the first time in franchise history.[101][102] Bosh was voted to start in the 2007 NBA All-Star Game.[103] The Raptors were also praised for their improved defence, ball-sharing and tremendous team chemistry.[104] Colangelo, Gherardini and Mitchell were credited with Toronto's turnaround this season,[105] which was one of the best in NBA history in terms of league standing and defensive ranking.[106] Mitchell was subsequently named the 2006–07 NBA Coach of the Year, the first coach in Raptors history to receive the honour,[107] while Colangelo was named 2006–07 Executive of the Year.[108]

text: On April 24, 2007, the Raptors won their first playoff game in five seasons, with an 89–83 victory over the New Jersey Nets,[109] but lost the series 4–2.[110] The series was notable for pitting ex-Raptor Vince Carter against his former team. The Nets took home court advantage in Game 1, holding off a late Raptors rally in the fourth quarter. The Raptors pulled away in another tight game to even the series at one game apiece. When the series shifted to New Jersey, the Nets took charge of the series, winning games 3 and 4 in routs. New Jersey had a chance to win the series in game 5 in Toronto, but the Raptors took a 20-point lead after one quarter. Still, New Jersey managed to chip away and had a chance to win the game, but Boštjan Nachbar's three-pointer missed at the buzzer. Needing to win in New Jersey to force a game 7, Toronto held a one-point lead with under a minute to play in game 6, but Richard Jefferson hit a layup with eight seconds left to play. Toronto attempted to try for the game-winning shot, but Jefferson intercepted a pass to seal the series for the Nets.

text: Several changes to the roster were made before the 2007–08 campaign as Toronto sought to reproduce the same form as the previous campaign. Most notably, the Raptors acquired Carlos Delfino in a trade with Detroit for two second round draft picks,[111] and signed Jamario Moon[112] and three-point specialist Jason Kapono as free agents.[113] On the other hand, veteran swingman Morris Peterson joined the New Orleans Hornets.[114] Despite being defending division champions, the Raptors were widely tipped as outside contenders for the division and conference titles.[115] However, Toronto quickly fell behind Boston in the division, as Bargnani's inability to play well consistently, along with injuries to Garbajosa (75 games), Bosh (15 games) and Ford (31 games), derailed the possibility of a smooth campaign.

text: The Raptors finished 41-41, six fewer wins than the previous season, but still good enough for a playoff spot as the 6th seed. They were pitted against Dwight Howard and the resurgent Orlando Magic. In Game 1, Dwight Howard gave the Magic their first playoff win since 2003 as they practically led the entire game.[116] Howard would put up a 29–20 in Game 2, as Hedo Türkoğlu scored the final four go-ahead points to give the Magic a 2–0 lead. The Raptors would respond with a strong Game 3 victory keyed by great point guard play from Ford and José Calderon. However, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and Keith Bogans keyed strong three point shooting in Game 4 and overcame Bosh's 39 points and 15 rebounds to bring the Magic out of Toronto with a 3–1 lead. Howard would finish off the series in Game 5 as impressively as he started: 21 points, 21 rebounds, 3 blocks.[117][118] Whereas the preceding season was considered a success, the 2007–08 campaign was considered a disappointment. Weaknesses in Toronto's game—rebounding, defence, and a lack of a swingman—were brought into sharp focus during the playoffs, and changes were expected to be made to the roster.[118]

text: As it turned out, a blockbuster trade was agreed in principle before the 2008–09 campaign: six-time All-Star Jermaine O'Neal was acquired from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Ford (who had become expendable with the emergence of Calderón), Rasho Nesterović, Maceo Baston, and Roy Hibbert, the 17th pick in the 2008 NBA draft, giving the Raptors a potential boost in the frontcourt.[119] Meanwhile, Bargnani, who had spent the summer working on his interior game, was projected to come off the bench. The Raptors also introduced a black alternate road jersey for the season similar to the earlier purple design that was dropped a few seasons ago. It had a maple leaf featured on the back neck of the jersey, symbolizing the Raptors as "Canada's team".[120] Despite the introduction of O'Neal, who brought home the rebounds and the blocks, and a much improved Bargnani, the Raptors were too inconsistent. Following an 8–9 start to the season, Mitchell was fired and replaced by long-time assistant Jay Triano.[121] Triano tweaked the starting line-up to no avail as the Raptors fell to 21–34 prior to the All-Star break. O'Neal and Moon were then traded to Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks,[122] but with the losses mounting, the Raptors soon fell out of the playoffs picture and were eliminated from contention with seven games of the regular season remaining.[123] The Raptors eventually finished with a 33–49 record[124] and headed into the next season with a potential overhaul of the core: Marion could become a free agent; Bosh could become one after 2009–10; Parker would soon turn 35; and Bargnani had his breakthrough season. On May 12, 2009, Triano was given a three-year term for the position of head coach.[125]

text: The inevitable roster shakeup for the 2009–10 season began when Kapono was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for the aggressive veteran forward Reggie Evans.[126] Toronto then drafted DeMar DeRozan with the ninth pick, enabling them to fill a spot on the wings.[127] This was followed by the signing of free agent Hedo Türkoğlu, which in turn led to a sign-and-trade agreement involving four teams, with Toronto landing wing players Devean George (later traded for Marco Belinelli) and Antoine Wright, while releasing Marion, Kris Humphries and Nathan Jawai.[128] Around the same time, Parker headed for the Cleveland Cavaliers,[129] while Indiana point guard Jarrett Jack was added and Nesterovič brought back to provide cover for the big men. Finally, Delfino and Ukić were moved to the Milwaukee Bucks for Amir Johnson and Sonny Weems.[130] It became increasingly clear that Colangelo, in securing a credible nucleus for the future, was doing this to persuade Bosh to stay beyond 2010.[131] While the Raptors were off to a sluggish start, they picked up the pace around the All-Star break, reaching a season-high seven games above .500 and standing fifth in the Eastern Conference.[132] Bosh was recording career-highs in points and rebounds per game.[71] However, a season-ending injury to Bosh after the break coincided with Toronto's descent down the standings from the fifth seed to the eighth, and they ultimately relinquished their spot to Chicago a few games before the regular season ended.[133]

text: 2010–2013: Rebuilding[edit]

text: Before the 2010–11 season began, there was much anticipation around the league over the fates of an elite pack of free agents, featuring the likes of Bosh, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Amar'e Stoudemire. Bosh and James eventually chose to converge in Miami with Wade, and the sign-and-trade transaction that ensued resulted in the Raptors receiving two first-round draft picks and a trade exception from Miami.[134] Prior to this, Toronto had drafted Ed Davis, also a left-handed power forward like Bosh. After Bosh left, Colangelo sought to trade Calderón, Evans and the disenchanted Türkoğlu for Tyson Chandler, Leandro Barbosa, and Boris Diaw,[135] but the trade involving Chandler collapsed at the last minute, as Chandler was traded to the Dallas Mavericks instead.[136] Belinelli was then traded to New Orleans Hornets for Julian Wright,[137] and 13 games into the season, Jack, David Andersen, and Marcus Banks to New Orleans for Peja Stojaković and Jerryd Bayless.[138] Bosh's first return to Toronto was received to a chorus of boos, but not as nearly as harsh as what former Raptors Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter received upon their respective returns.[139] Without Bosh, Toronto as a team regressed and were only able to secure 22 wins in the regular season.

text: Dwane Casey, an assistant coach with the Mavericks, was hired as the new head coach of Toronto before the 2011–12 season.[140] The Raptors used their number five pick to select Jonas Valančiūnas, a centre from Lithuania in the 2011 NBA draft. The season was shortened by 16 regular season games due to the 2011 NBA lockout, and the Raptors finished the season with a 23–43 record. During the 2012 off-season, Colangelo tried to lure Canadian free agent and two-time MVP Steve Nash, who had become a free agent after playing for the Phoenix Suns, to play for the Raptors. When Nash joined the Los Angeles Lakers instead, the Raptors acquired point guard Kyle Lowry from the Houston Rockets for a future first round pick. Lowry, combined with Valančiūnas and the 8th pick in the 2012 draft Terrence Ross, represented the next phase of the re-building process. On January 30, 2013, the Raptors acquired Memphis Grizzlies star Rudy Gay and centre Hamed Haddadi as well as Pistons player Austin Daye in a three-way deal that sent Calderón to the Detroit Pistons and Davis, along with Pistons veteran Tayshaun Prince and a second round pick to the Grizzlies. Haddadi was later traded, along with a second round pick, to Phoenix in exchange for guard Sebastian Telfair. The 2012–13 season was the first season since 2009–10 that the Raptors finished the season with a winning home record (21–20), despite their overall losing record (34–48).

text: 2013–present: The Lowry–DeRozan era[edit]

text: During the 2013 off-season, new General Manager Masai Ujiri traded Bargnani to the New York Knicks for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a future first-round draft pick, and two future second-round picks; Camby and Richardson were both waived shortly after the trade. The Raptors also added Tyler Hansbrough, D. J. Augustin, Dwight Buycks, and Austin Daye via free agency. On December 9, 2013, the Raptors traded Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy, and Aaron Gray to the Sacramento Kings for John Salmons, Greivis Vásquez, Patrick Patterson, and Chuck Hayes, and waived Augustin.[141]

text: During the 2013–14 season, the Raptors were 6–12 before the Rudy Gay trade; after the trade they went on a 10–3 run, as they maintained their lead in the division and rose above the .500 mark for the first time in almost three years. The Raptors entered the All-Star break with a 28–24 record, and DeRozan was also selected to play in the All-Star game, being only the fourth ever Raptor to do so. On March 28, 2014, the Raptors clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2008 after beating the Boston Celtics, 105–103.[142] On April 11, 2014, the Raptors lost to the New York Knicks, 108–100, but since the division rival Brooklyn Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks the same night, the Raptors became Atlantic Division champions for the first time since 2007.[143] They finished the regular season with a franchise-high 48 wins (.585), going 42–22 (.656) after the Gay trade, the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors faced the Nets in the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2007, when the Nets were located in New Jersey. Toronto nearly advanced to the next round, but Paul Pierce blocked a potential game-winner by Lowry in Game 7.[144]

text: During the 2014–15 season, the Raptors were off to their best start in franchise history: a then-Eastern Conference-leading 24–8 record by the end of 2014.[145] On March 27, 2015, the Raptors clinched the Atlantic division title with a 94–83 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. This was the second consecutive year that the Raptors clinched the Atlantic Division title.[146] On April 11, 2015, the Raptors beat the Miami Heat, Toronto's first road win over the Heat since November 19, 2008, ending a ten-game slide on Miami's home floor. The win was Toronto's 48th of the season and 22nd on the road, both tying franchise records.[147] Four days later, the Raptors broke their franchise record with their 49th win of the season. After the 2014–15 season, Louis Williams won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, becoming the first Raptor to do so. The Raptors faced the Washington Wizards in the first round of the 2015 playoffs, and lost four straight games as the Wizards swept the Raptors.[148]

text: On June 25, 2015, the Raptors selected Delon Wright with their first-round pick in the 2015 NBA draft, along with Norman Powell in the second round. On June 29, the Raptors announced their new NBA G League (then known as the NBA D-League) team, the Mississauga-based Raptors 905, which began play in the 2015–16 season.[149] The Raptors added DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Bismack Biyombo, and Luis Scola via free agency.

text: The Raptors opened a new practice facility, the BioSteel Centre in Exhibition Place, on February 10, 2016. The Raptors hosted the 2016 NBA All-Star Game on February 14, 2016 and its associated weekend for the first time in its history. With a 105–97 win at home against the Atlanta Hawks on March 30, 2016, the Raptors attained their first ever 50-win season.[150] The following day the Raptors clinched the Atlantic Division title for the third consecutive season as a result of a Boston Celtics loss against the Portland Trail Blazers.[151] The 56–26 record became the best Raptors regular season ever, fourth overall in the league and second only to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference. Entering the 2016 playoffs as the East's second seed,[152] the Raptors were pushed to seven games by the Indiana Pacers, but managed to win their first playoff series in 15 years.[153] Another seven-game series against the Miami Heat ensued, which Toronto also won. The Raptors, who were one of the four teams that never reached the NBA Conference Finals in their histories, appeared in the third round for the first time in their twenty-first season, facing the Cleveland Cavaliers,[154] in which they ultimately lost the series 4–2.[155] The Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals and became champions.

text: In preparation for their title push, the Raptors conducted a series of trades, including on February 14, 2017, when Terrence Ross and a first-round pick were traded for Serge Ibaka from the Orlando Magic,[156] and on February 23, 2017, when Jared Sullinger and two second-round picks were traded for PJ Tucker.[157] During the 2017 NBA Playoffs, the third-seeded Raptors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks during the first round 4–2, but lost to the Cavaliers in the second round 4–0.

text: During On January 1, 2018, DeMar DeRozan scored a franchise-record 52 points to help the Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks 131–127 in overtime, matching the team record with their 12th consecutive home victory. DeRozan became the third player in Raptors history to score 50 or more in a single game—the others being Vince Carter and Terrence Ross, who each had 51.[158]

text: Logos and uniforms[edit]

text: Logos[edit]

text: Fueled by the success of the Jurassic Park film and the popularity of non-avian dinosaurs with younger audiences, who would grow up to be fans of the franchise, the team's first logo originally featured an aggressive-looking, red Velociraptor dribbling a basketball (albeit reminiscent of Jurassic Park's featherless depiction of the creatures, rather than the actual, believed to be feathered dromaeosaurid since the mid-2000s). The team's original colours were purple, bright red, black and "Naismith silver" (in honour of the Canadian inventor of basketball, James Naismith). The logo proved to be very popular among fans, as by the end of 1994, the Raptors were seventh in the league in merchandise sales.[1] For the 2008−09 season, the franchise dropped the colour purple from the original logo, making bright red the predominant colour in both the logo and the team's jerseys.

text: On December 19, 2014, the Toronto Raptors unveiled a new primary logo, which the team described as "a circular shield with a ball torn by the unmistakable attack of a Raptor".[4]

text: Wordmark logo (2015–present)

text: Uniforms[edit]

text: Uniform evolution[edit]

text: The first, iconic uniforms the Raptors wore back in 1995 were extraordinarily busy, as they featured black and white tears as pin stripes, edgy asymmetric lettering, a raptor claw on one side of the shorts, a raptor biting the ‘T’ of the ‘TR’ franchise acronym on the other side, and were rounded up with a giant, aggressive-looking raptor dribbling a basketball (as depicted on the franchise logo) in the middle of the jersey. The Raptors unveiled new jerseys in 1999−00, launching a unique road jersey which had a purple front and a black back. In 2003−04, the Raptors introduced a solid red alternate that would become the main road jersey in 2006−07 onward, as purple was dropped from the team's colour scheme. From 2008−09 through 2014−15, the Raptors unveiled their alternate black road uniforms, which were actually worn as often as the primary red ones.

text:
1995

1999

2003

2008

Since 2015

text: 2015 redesign[edit]

text: On August 3, 2015, the Toronto Raptors unveiled four new uniforms. The uniforms were released in partnership with 2K Sports' NBA 2K16 video game. The team said in a press release the new uniform designs were intended to pay tribute to the city of Toronto and to Canada as a whole, noting that the Raptors were the sole Canadian club in the NBA since the Grizzlies' move to Memphis. The main colours would remain centred on Canada's national colours of red and white, whereas black and silver will continue to be used for trim on the white home and red road uniforms. The uniforms themselves underwent changes. Most notably, the chevrons on the side panels now point up, which the team said aligns with its current slogan of "We The North". Since being introduced as a uniform accent in 1999, the chevrons had pointed downward, the team said. In addition, at the waist-level hem of the jersey is an upside-down tag with the team's "We The North" slogan. The team said the slogan on the tag will be visible to players when they tuck in their jersey. Additionally, the shorts now feature a maple leaf logo on the front of the waistband, and the letter "T" is now on the sides of the shorts, with the Raptors' basketball claw logo below it. This is a reference to the city of Toronto's "T-Dot" nickname.[159]

text: Jersey sponsors[edit]

text: In the 2017 off-season, Raptors announced that Toronto-based Sun Life Financial is the jersey sponsor for the Raptors, starting in the 2017–18 season.[160]

text: Throwback jerseys[edit]

text: On December 8, 2009, the Raptors introduced a blue-and-white throwback jersey to commemorate the Toronto Huskies, regarded by many as the unofficial, geographical predecessor of the Raptors.[161] The uniforms were the same as those worn by the Huskies during the 1946–47 season, with the exception of the nickname and length of the shorts. These uniforms were worn in six games in the 2009–10 season and have since been used as "retro" jerseys, worn during special "Huskies Nights".

text: In the 2016–17 NBA season, the Raptors not only unveiled the season's "retro" uniforms in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Toronto Huskies, but also revealed a Huskies-themed throwback court.[162] The franchise also launched a special red Chinese New Year jersey in celebration of the event. The Chinese New Year jersey features a stylized rendering of "Toronto" in white traditional Chinese characters (多倫多, Pinyin: Duōlúnduō), with the head of a leftward-facing Chinese dragon replacing the upper half of the first 多 character and the Raptors slashed basketball logo replacing much of the bottom half of the 倫 character.[163]

text: Other throwback jerseys worn by the Raptors include a green uniform worn from the 2007−08 season through to the 2011−12 season on St. Patrick's Day, as well as a camouflage uniform based on CADPAT (Canadian Disruptive Pattern) during special events involving the Canadian Armed Forces.

text: Arenas[edit]

text:
Arenas

Arena
Games played
Tenure

SkyDome
117
1995–1999

Maple Leaf Gardens
6
1995–1999

Copps Coliseum
3
1995–1999

Air Canada Centre
710
1999–present

text: BioSteel Centre (Practice facility: 2016–present)

text: Personnel[edit]

text: Current roster[edit]

text:
Toronto Raptors roster

v
t
e

Players
Coaches

Pos.
No.
Name
Height
Weight
DOB (YYYY-MM-DD)
From

4.0 !F
7000300000000000000♠3
Anunoby, OG
7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
1997–07–17
Indiana

1.5 !G
7000400000000000000♠4
Brown, Lorenzo (TW/GL)
7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
189 lb (86 kg)
1990–08–26
North Carolina State

1.5 !G
7001100000000000000♠10
DeRozan, DeMar (C)
7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
1989–08–07
Southern California

4.0 !F
7000900000000000000♠9
Ibaka, Serge
7000208279999999999♠6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
235 lb (107 kg)
1989–09–18
Spain

1.5 !G
7000700000000000000♠7
Lowry, Kyle (C)
7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
1986–03–25
Villanova

4.0 !F
7001340000000000000♠34
McKinnie, Alfonzo (GL)
7000203200000000000♠6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
1992–09–17
Green Bay

2.5 !G/F
5000000000000000000♠0
Miles, C. J.
7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
225 lb (102 kg)
1987–03–18
Skyline HS (TX)

4.0 !F
7001130000000000000♠13
Miller, Malcolm  (TW/GL)
7000200659999999999♠6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
210 lb (95 kg)
1993–03–06
Holy Cross

6.0 !C
7001920000000000000♠92
Nogueira, Lucas
7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
220 lb (100 kg)
1992–07–26
Brazil

6.0 !C
7001420000000000000♠42
Pöltl, Jakob
7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
1995–10–15
Utah

2.5 !G/F
7001240000000000000♠24
Powell, Norman
7000193040000000000♠6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
1993–05–25
UCLA

1.5 !G
7001220000000000000♠22
Richardson, Malachi (GL)
7000198120000000000♠6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
205 lb (93 kg)
1996–01–05
Syracuse

4.0 !F
7001430000000000000♠43
Siakam, Pascal
7000205740000000000♠6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
230 lb (104 kg)
1994–02–04
New Mexico State

6.0 !C
7001170000000000000♠17
Valančiūnas, Jonas
7000213360000000000♠7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
255 lb (116 kg)
1992–05–06
Lithuania

1.5 !G
7001230000000000000♠23
VanVleet, Fred
7000182880000000000♠6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
195 lb (88 kg)
1994–02–25
Wichita State

1.5 !G
7001550000000000000♠55
Wright, Delon
7000195580000000000♠6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
190 lb (86 kg)
1992–04–26
Utah

Head coach

Dwane Casey

Assistant coach(es)

Rex Kalamian
Eric Khoury
Alex McKechnie
Jama Mahlalela
Patrick Mutombo
Nick Nurse
Jim Sann

Legend

(C) Team captain
(DP) Unsigned draft pick
(FA) Free agent
(S) Suspended
(GL) On assignment to G League affiliate
(TW) Two-way affiliate player
 Injured

Roster • Transactions
Last transaction: 2018-02-08

text: Retained draft rights[edit]

text: The Raptors hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player, either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA team. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends.[164] This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams.

text:
Draft
Round
Pick
Player
Pos.
Nationality
Current team
Note(s)
Ref

text: Management[edit]

text: General managers

text:
GM history

GM
Tenure

Isiah Thomas
1995 – March 1998

Glen Grunwald
March 1998 – April 2004

Jack McCloskey
April 2004 – June 2004 (Interim)

Rob Babcock
June 2004 – January 2006

Wayne Embry
January 2006 – February 2006 (Interim)

Bryan Colangelo
February 2006 – May 2013

Masai Ujiri
May 2013 – September 2016

Jeff Weltman
September 2016 – May 2017

Bobby Webster
June 2017 – present[165]

text: Presidents of basketball operations

text:
Presidents of basketball operations history

President
Tenure

Richard Peddie
1999 – February 2006

Bryan Colangelo
February 2006 – May 2013

Masai Ujiri
May 2013 – present

text: Owners

text:
Ownership history

Owner
Tenure

John Bitove, Allan Slaight, Isiah Thomas
1995–1998

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment
1998–present

text: Head coaches

text:
#[a]
Name
Term
Regular season
Playoffs
Awards won

Games coached
Wins
Losses
Win–loss %
Games coached
Wins
Losses

1
Brendan Malone[166]
1995–96
82
21
61
.256
—
—
—

2
Darrell Walker[167]
1996–98
131
41
90
.313
—
—
—

3
Butch Carter[168][b]
1998–2000
165
73
92
.442
3
0
3

4
Lenny Wilkens[169][c]
2000–03
246
113
133
.459
17
8
9

5
Kevin O'Neill[170][b]
2003–04
82
33
49
.402
—
—
—

6
Sam Mitchell[171]
2004–08
345
156
189
.452
11
3
8
2007 NBA Coach of the Year

7
Jay Triano
2008–11
229
87
142
.380
—
—
—

8
Dwane Casey
2011–present
476
261
215
.548
41
17
24

text: Notes:

text:
a A running total of the number of coaches of the Raptors and thus any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once
b Spent entire coaching career with the Raptors while in the NBA
c Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

text: Basketball Hall of Famers[edit]

text:
Toronto Raptors Hall of Famers

Players

No.
Name
Position
Tenure
Inducted

34
Hakeem Olajuwon
C
2001–2002
2008

1
Tracy McGrady
G/F
1997–2000
2017[172]

Coaches

Name
Position
Tenure
Inducted

Lenny Wilkens1
Coach
2000–2003
1998

Contributors

Name
Position
Tenure
Inducted

Wayne Embry
GM
2006
1999

text: Notes:

text: 1 In total, Wilkens was inducted into the Hall of Fame thrice — as player, as coach and as a member of the 1992 Olympic team.

text: FIBA Hall of Famers[edit]

text:
Toronto Raptors Hall of Famers

Players

No.
Name
Position
Tenure
Inducted

34
Hakeem Olajuwon
C
2001–2002
2016

text: Awards and records[edit]

text: Since their inception in 1995, the Raptors have made the playoffs nine times (2000–2002, 2007, 2008, and 2014–2017, all inclusive), advancing past the first round three times (2001, 2016, and 2017). The Raptors have won the Atlantic Division four times (2007, and 2014-2016), and the franchise record number of wins in the regular season is 56 (2016). The Raptors advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals only once (2016). Five Raptors have been selected to play in the All-Star game: Vince Carter, Antonio Davis, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

text: Broadcasters[edit]

text: Raptors games are primarily broadcast on television by TSN and Sportsnet. Through MLSE, the Raptors also operate the Canadian version of NBA TV (formerly known as Raptors NBA TV), which airs reruns of Raptors telecasts along with other news and analysis programs focusing on the team and the rest of the NBA.[173]

text:
Television

John Saunders (Play-by-play, 1995–2001)
Dan Shulman (Play-by-play, 1995–2001, TSN)
Rod Black (Play-by-play, 1995–2005, CTV, and TSN)
Chuck Swirsky (Play-by-play, 2001–2008)
Jack Armstrong (Colour, 1998–present, TSN)
Leo Rautins (Colour, 1995–present, Sportsnet)
Matt Devlin (Play-by-play, 2008–present)
Sherman Hamilton (Colour, 2008–present, NBA TV Canada)

Radio

Mike Inglis (Play-by-play, 1995–1998, CFRB 1010)
Earl Cureton (Colour, 1997–1998, CFRB 1010)
Chuck Swirsky (Play-by-play, 1998–2001, Fan 590; TV simulcast of play-by-play, 2001–2004)
Jack Armstrong (Colour, 1998–2001, Fan 590; 2013–present, TSN Radio 1050)
Leo Rautins (TV simulcast of colour, 2001–2004, Fan 590)
Paul Romanuk (Play-by-play, 2004–2005, Fan 590)
Paul Jones (Colour, 1995–1997, CFRB 1010; 2004–2005, 2015–present, Fan 590; Play-by-play, 2005–2015, Fan 590; 2013–present TSN Radio 1050)
Eric Smith (Colour, 2005–2015, Fan 590; Play-by-play, 2015–present, Fan 590)
Matt Devlin (TV simulcast of play-by-play, 2013–present, TSN Radio 1050)
Sherman Hamilton (Colour, 2013–present, TSN Radio 1050)

text: Fanbase and marketing[edit]

text: The Raptors have enjoyed a consistent fanbase throughout their history. The Toronto Raptors set NBA attendance records in their 2000, 2001, 2002 seasons when they made the playoffs. Attendance dipped slightly between 2003 and 2006. This improved during the 2006–07 regular season to an average of 18,258 fans (13th in the league), 92.2% of capacity at the ACC.[174] Following the success of the 2006–07 season, Toronto became one of the league leaders in season ticket sales for the 2007–08 season.[175] Their television ratings, however, are considerably lower than other more established Toronto sports teams and most other sporting events shown on Canadian television.[173]

text: Another successful run starting in 2013–14 led to a spike in the Raptors' support. For the 2014–15 season, the team sold out the 12,500 season tickets, the first time it occurred since 2011.[176] Public watchings of the Raptors games, particularly during the playoffs, started being held at Maple Leaf Square, which the fans nicknamed "Jurassic Park". MLSE decided to endorse this practice by setting up concession stands and branded sponsorships at the square, along with increased security. At times, footage from the square is broadcast to the Raptors locker room.[177][178] The victorious Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers on the 2016 playoffs was the most watched Raptors broadcast ever, as well as the biggest television audience in Canada that day, averaging 1.53 million viewers with a peak of 2.63 million.[179]

text: The value of the Raptors franchise has risen over the years. In 1998, the franchise was bought for US$125 million. With the continued popularity of the Raptors, the value of the franchise doubled from US$148 million in 2000 to $297 million in 2004. The value of the franchise grew again from $315 million in 2006 to $373 million in 2007, and $400 million in 2008. By 2018, Forbes estimated the Raptors were worth $1.4 billion, 12th in the NBA.[180][181][182][183][184][185]

text: On game day, the fans are usually entertained by the Raptor mascot, the Raptors Dance Pak, and the 4 Korners Raptors Soundcrew during pre-game, time-outs, and intervals. During the 2013–14 season, a new "Drake Zone" was created in the lower bowl. Limited edition shirts were given away to fans sitting in the Drake Zone. Giveaways are sometimes bundled with tickets to encourage attendance. Further, whenever Toronto scores more than 100 points in a home game and wins, fans can redeem their ticket for a cheese or pepperoni pizza slice at standalone Pizza Pizza locations throughout Ontario for the business day after the game that was played. This is part of a promotion made by the Raptors' official pizza sponsor.[186]

text: "We The North" re-branding[edit]

text: In the lead-up to the team's 20th anniversary season in 2015 and its hosting of the 2016 All-Star Game, the Raptors began the process of re-branding itself. On September 30, 2013, Toronto-based rapper Drake was announced as the new "global ambassador" for the Toronto Raptors, thereby joining the executive committee of his hometown's NBA team.[187] In April 2014, the Raptors unveiled a new imaging campaign developed by the agency Sid Lee, "We The North", built around a manifesto that was meant to embrace the team's trait of being an "outsider" from the "north side", and the accompanying feelings of players and fans.[188]

text: The "We The North" campaign was originally to be launched during the 2015–16 season; however, the launch was hastened so it would be ready in time for the 2014 playoffs, taking into account the poor performance of Canada's other pro sports teams at the time. An introductory commercial was quickly filmed, which featured the manifesto as narration, scenes of local basketball players in various outdoor locations around the city, and ended with a scene displaying a black, waving flag with the motto written on it. The campaign was immediately embraced by fans during the playoffs and following season; the launch commercial was viewed over 500,000 times in the two days following its release, "We The North"-branded shirts and flags became a common sight at games, while Ryerson University sports marketing professor Cheri Bradish compared the campaign to Molson's former "I Am Canadian" alcohol advertising campaign in how it resonated with the country.[188][189]

text: On December 19, 2014, the Raptors soft-launched a new logo also designed by Sid Lee, which features a basketball with claw marks. The new logo was officially implemented during the 2015–2016 season.[190] The logo's introduction was marred by a disorganized launch, which saw a black and white version initially shown before the eventual unveiling of colored versions later in the day, mixed reviews for the design itself, with some (especially on the black and white version) comparing it to that of the Brooklyn Nets, and despite teasing merchandise with the new logo, not releasing any until at least mid-2015.[191] There were also alleged tensions between MLSE staff and Drake surrounding the new design—in particular, the performer had pushed for the team to change its primary colour from red to gold (a colour seen in one of the official variants of the logo unveiled that day). In a response on Twitter, Drake distanced himself from the "execution" of the new logo.[192]

text: Rivalries[edit]

text: New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets[edit]

text: The New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets and the Raptors have been minor rivals since the trade of Vince Carter to the Nets during the 2004–05 season. The rivalry began to heat up as the two teams faced each other in the opening round of the 2007 NBA Playoffs, with the Nets winning the series, 4–2, after a go-ahead shot by Richard Jefferson with 8 seconds left in Game 6 ensuring a 98–97 defeat for the Raptors.[193] The rivalry was rekindled during the 2013–14 season when the Nets and Raptors battled for the Atlantic Division. The Raptors won the division final but then faced the Nets in the opening round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs. Prior to Game 1 of the series, Raptors GM Masai Ujiri spoke at a Raptors rally outside Air Canada Centre's Maple Leaf Square. During the rally, Ujiri yelled "Fuck Brooklyn!" which found its way onto various social media platforms within minutes. Masai was fined $25,000 by the NBA for the quote and later apologized for the excessive language.[194] The hard-fought series lasted seven games, and was decided in the final seconds when Paul Pierce blocked Kyle Lowry's shot giving the Nets the 104–103 victory.[195][196]

text: New York Knicks[edit]

text: The New York Knicks and the Raptors had a playoff rivalry in 2000 and 2001. The Raptors made their first-ever playoff appearance during the 1999–2000 season, in which they were swept by the Knicks in the first round, 3–0. The following season, the Raptors redeemed themselves, defeating the Knicks in the first round 3–2; this effectively ended the Knicks' run as perennial NBA championship contenders, which began in the early 1990s.[195][197]

text: Community service[edit]

text: The Raptors Foundation was the charitable arm of the Raptors, dedicated to assisting Ontario's registered charities that support programs and sports initiatives for at-risk children and youth. The Foundation strove to lift spirits and change lives for young people by supporting local and provincial organizations that provide recreational, educational and other youth-oriented activities. Through its community ties and with the help of its corporate partners, donors, Raptors players and volunteers, the Foundation had successfully raised more than $14 million between 1995 and 2007, and reached out to thousands of other charities.[198] The Raptors Foundation was one of three parts of the Raptors' community service program. The other projects were Raptors Community Relations and Raptors Basketball Development, both of which focus on providing basketball development programs. The Toronto Raptors lead the NBA for amount of money donated to the community. In 2009, the Raptors Foundation merged with the other charitable arms of MLSE's other sports franchises to form the Team Up Foundation.[199][200]


document_title: Asia

question_text: how many countries are there in asian continent

question_tokens: how many countries are there in asian continent

root

text: Asia

text: Definition and boundaries

text: Asia-Africa boundary

text: The boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal.[citation needed] This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia and the remainder of the country in Africa.

tag: p

text: Asia–Europe boundary

text: The border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics.[13] The Don River became unsatisfactory to northern Europeans when Peter the Great, king of the Tsardom of Russia, defeating rival claims of Sweden and the Ottoman Empire to the eastern lands, and armed resistance by the tribes of Siberia, synthesized a new Russian Empire extending to the Ural Mountains and beyond, founded in 1721. The major geographical theorist of the empire was actually a former Swedish prisoner-of-war, taken at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and assigned to Tobolsk, where he associated with Peter's Siberian official, Vasily Tatishchev, and was allowed freedom to conduct geographical and anthropological studies in preparation for a future book.[citation needed]

text: In Sweden, five years after Peter's death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia. The Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg. The latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century. The border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects.[14] The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, although it is sometimes placed further north.[13]

text: Asia–Oceania boundary

text: The border between Asia and the region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The Maluku Islands in Indonesia are often considered to lie on the border of southeast Asia, with New Guinea, to the east of the islands, being wholly part of Oceania. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several vastly different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the colonial possessions of the various empires there (not all European). Lewis and Wigen assert, "The narrowing of 'Southeast Asia' to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process."[15]

text: Ongoing definition

text: Geographical Asia is a cultural artifact of European conceptions of the world, beginning with the Ancient Greeks, being imposed onto other cultures, an imprecise concept causing endemic contention about what it means. Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe.[16] It does not exactly correspond to the cultural borders of its various types of constituents.[17]

text: From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system (Europe, Africa, Asia) on the grounds that there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them.[12] For example, Sir Barry Cunliffe, the emeritus professor of European archeology at Oxford, argues that Europe has been geographically and culturally merely "the western excrescence of the continent of Asia".[18]

text: Geographically, Asia is the major eastern constituent of the continent of Eurasia with Europe being a northwestern peninsula of the landmass. Asia, Europe and Africa make up a single continuous landmass - Afro-Eurasia (except for the Suez Canal) and share a common continental shelf. Almost all of Europe and the better part of Asia sit atop the Eurasian Plate, adjoined on the south by the Arabian and Indian Plate and with the easternmost part of Siberia (east of the Chersky Range) on the North American Plate.

text: Etymology

text: The English name "Asia" was originally a concept of Greek civilization.[19] The place name "Asia" in various forms in a large number of modern languages is of unknown ultimate provenience. Its etymology and language of origin are uncertain. It appears to be one of the most ancient of recorded names. A number of theories have been published. English Asia can be traced through the formation of English literature to Latin literature, where it has the same form, Asia. Whether all uses and all forms of the name derive also from the Latin of the Roman Empire is much less certain. One of the first classical writers to use Asia as a name of the whole continent was Pliny.[20] This metonymical change in meaning is common and can be observed in some other geographical names, such as Skandinavia (from Scania).

text: Bronze Age

text: Before Greek poetry, the Aegean Sea area was in a Greek Dark Age, at the beginning of which syllabic writing was lost and alphabetic writing had not begun. Prior to then in the Bronze Age the records of the Assyrian Empire, the Hittite Empire and the various Mycenaean states of Greece mention a region undoubtedly Asia, certainly in Anatolia, including if not identical to Lydia. These records are administrative and do not include poetry.

text: The Mycenaean states were destroyed about 1200 BCE by unknown agents although one school of thought assigns the Dorian invasion to this time. The burning of the palaces baked clay diurnal administrative records written in a Greek syllabic script called Linear B, deciphered by a number of interested parties, most notably by a young World War II cryptographer, Michael Ventris, subsequently assisted by the scholar, John Chadwick. A major cache discovered by Carl Blegen at the site of ancient Pylos included hundreds of male and female names formed by different methods.

text: Some of these are of women held in servitude (as study of the society implied by the content reveals). They were used in trades, such as cloth-making, and usually came with children. The epithet, lawiaiai, "captives," associated with some of them identifies their origin. Some are ethnic names. One in particular, aswiai, identifies "women of Asia."[21] Perhaps they were captured in Asia, but some others, Milatiai, appear to have been of Miletus, a Greek colony, which would not have been raided for slaves by Greeks. Chadwick suggests that the names record the locations where these foreign women were purchased.[22] The name is also in the singular, Aswia, which refers both to the name of a country and to a female of it. There is a masculine form, aswios. This Aswia appears to have been a remnant of a region known to the Hittites as Assuwa, centered on Lydia, or "Roman Asia." This name, Assuwa, has been suggested as the origin for the name of the continent "Asia".[23] The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia, defeated by the Hittites under Tudhaliya I around 1400 BCE.

text: Alternatively, the etymology of the term may be from the Akkadian word (w)aṣû(m), which means 'to go outside' or 'to ascend', referring to the direction of the sun at sunrise in the Middle East and also likely connected with the Phoenician word asa meaning east. This may be contrasted to a similar etymology proposed for Europe, as being from Akkadian erēbu(m) 'to enter' or 'set' (of the sun).

text: T.R. Reid supports this alternative etymology, noting that the ancient Greek name must have derived from asu, meaning 'east' in Assyrian (ereb for Europe meaning 'west').[19] The ideas of Occidental (form Latin Occidens 'setting') and Oriental (from Latin Oriens for 'rising') are also European invention, synonymous with Western and Eastern.[19] Reid further emphasizes that it explains the Western point of view of placing all the peoples and cultures of Asia into a single classification, almost as if there were a need for setting the distinction between Western and Eastern civilizations on the Eurasian continent.[19] Ogura Kazuo and Tenshin Okakura are two outspoken Japanese figures on the subject.[19]

text: Classical antiquity

text: Latin Asia and Greek Ἀσία appear to be the same word. Roman authors translated Ἀσία as Asia. The Romans named a province Asia, which roughly corresponds with modern-day central-western Turkey. There was an Asia Minor and an Asia Major located in modern-day Iraq. As the earliest evidence of the name is Greek, it is likely circumstantially that Asia came from Ἀσία, but ancient transitions, due to the lack of literary contexts, are difficult to catch in the act. The most likely vehicles were the ancient geographers and historians, such as Herodotus, who were all Greek. Ancient Greek certainly evidences early and rich uses of the name.[24]

text: The first continental use of Asia is attributed to Herodotus (about 440 BCE), not because he innovated it, but because his Histories are the earliest surviving prose to describe it in any detail. He defines it carefully,[25] mentioning the previous geographers whom he had read, but whose works are now missing. By it he means Anatolia and the Persian Empire, in contrast to Greece and Egypt. Herodotus comments that he is puzzled as to why three women's names were "given to a tract which is in reality one" (Europa, Asia, and Libya, referring to Africa), stating that most Greeks assumed that Asia was named after the wife of Prometheus (i.e. Hesione), but that the Lydians say it was named after Asies, son of Cotys, who passed the name on to a tribe at Sardis.[26] In Greek mythology, "Asia" (Ἀσία) or "Asie" (Ἀσίη) was the name of a "Nymph or Titan goddess of Lydia."[27]

text: In ancient Greek religion, places were under the care of female divinities, parallel to guardian angels. The poets detailed their doings and generations in allegoric language salted with entertaining stories, which subsequently playwrights transformed into classical Greek drama and became "Greek mythology." For example, Hesiod mentions the daughters of Tethys and Ocean, among whom are a "holy company", "who with the Lord Apollo and the Rivers have youths in their keeping."[28] Many of these are geographic: Doris, Rhodea, Europa, Asia. Hesiod explains:[29]

text: "For there are three-thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean who are dispersed far and wide, and in every place alike serve the earth and the deep waters."

text: The Iliad (attributed by the ancient Greeks to Homer) mentions two Phrygians (the tribe that replaced the Luvians in Lydia) in the Trojan War named Asios (an adjective meaning "Asian");[30] and also a marsh or lowland containing a marsh in Lydia as ασιος.[31]

text: History

text: The history of Asia can be seen as the distinct histories of several peripheral coastal regions: East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, linked by the interior mass of the Central Asian steppes.

text: The coastal periphery was home to some of the world's earliest known civilizations, each of them developing around fertile river valleys. The civilizations in Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley and the Yellow River shared many similarities. These civilizations may well have exchanged technologies and ideas such as mathematics and the wheel. Other innovations, such as writing, seem to have been developed individually in each area. Cities, states and empires developed in these lowlands.

text: The central steppe region had long been inhabited by horse-mounted nomads who could reach all areas of Asia from the steppes. The earliest postulated expansion out of the steppe is that of the Indo-Europeans, who spread their languages into the Middle East, South Asia, and the borders of China, where the Tocharians resided. The northernmost part of Asia, including much of Siberia, was largely inaccessible to the steppe nomads, owing to the dense forests, climate and tundra. These areas remained very sparsely populated.

text: The center and the peripheries were mostly kept separated by mountains and deserts. The Caucasus and Himalaya mountains and the Karakum and Gobi deserts formed barriers that the steppe horsemen could cross only with difficulty. While the urban city dwellers were more advanced technologically and socially, in many cases they could do little in a military aspect to defend against the mounted hordes of the steppe. However, the lowlands did not have enough open grasslands to support a large horsebound force; for this and other reasons, the nomads who conquered states in China, India, and the Middle East often found themselves adapting to the local, more affluent societies.

text: The Islamic Caliphate took over the Middle East and Central Asia during the Muslim conquests of the 7th century. The Mongol Empire conquered a large part of Asia in the 13th century, an area extending from China to Europe. Before the Mongol invasion, Song dynasty reportedly had approximately 120 million citizens; the 1300 census which followed the invasion reported roughly 60 million people.[34]

text: The Black Death, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, is thought to have originated in the arid plains of central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road.[35]

text: The Russian Empire began to expand into Asia from the 17th century, and would eventually take control of all of Siberia and most of Central Asia by the end of the 19th century. The Ottoman Empire controlled Anatolia, most of the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans from the mid 16th century onwards. In the 17th century, the Manchu conquered China and established the Qing dynasty. The Islamic Mughal Empire and the Hindu Maratha Empire controlled much of India in the 16th and 18th centuries respectively.[36]

text: Geography and climate

text: Asia is the largest continent on Earth. It covers 8.8% of the Earth's total surface area (or 30% of its land area), and has the largest coastline, at 62,800 kilometres (39,022 mi). Asia is generally defined as comprising the eastern four-fifths of Eurasia. It is located to the east of the Suez Canal and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma–Manych Depression) and the Caspian and Black Seas.[5][37] It is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean and on the north by the Arctic Ocean. Asia is subdivided into 48 countries, three of them (Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey) having part of their land in Europe.

text: Asia has extremely diverse climates and geographic features. Climates range from arctic and subarctic in Siberia to tropical in southern India and Southeast Asia. It is moist across southeast sections, and dry across much of the interior. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in western sections of Asia. The monsoon circulation dominates across southern and eastern sections, due to the presence of the Himalayas forcing the formation of a thermal low which draws in moisture during the summer. Southwestern sections of the continent are hot. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere, and can act as a source of arctic air masses for North America. The most active place on Earth for tropical cyclone activity lies northeast of the Philippines and south of Japan. The Gobi Desert is in Mongolia and the Arabian Desert stretches across much of the Middle East. The Yangtze River in China is the longest river in the continent. The Himalayas between Nepal and China is the tallest mountain range in the world. Tropical rainforests stretch across much of southern Asia and coniferous and deciduous forests lie farther north.

text:
Kerala backwaters

Mongolian steppe

South China Karst

Altai Mountains

Hunza Valley

tag: ul

text: Climate change

text: A survey carried out in 2010 by global risk analysis farm Maplecroft identified 16 countries that are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Each nation's vulnerability was calculated using 42 socio, economic and environmental indicators, which identified the likely climate change impacts during the next 30 years. The Asian countries of Bangladesh, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were among the 16 countries facing extreme risk from climate change. Some shifts are already occurring. For example, in tropical parts of India with a semi-arid climate, the temperature increased by 0.4 °C between 1901 and 2003. A 2013 study by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) aimed to find science-based, pro-poor approaches and techniques that would enable Asia's agricultural systems to cope with climate change, while benefitting poor and vulnerable farmers. The study's recommendations ranged from improving the use of climate information in local planning and strengthening weather-based agro-advisory services, to stimulating diversification of rural household incomes and providing incentives to farmers to adopt natural resource conservation measures to enhance forest cover, replenish groundwater and use renewable energy.[38]

text: Economy

text:
Rank
Country
GDP (PPP, Peak Year)
millions of USD
Peak Year

1
 China
23,122,027
2017

2
 India
9,446,789
2017

3
 Japan
5,405,072
2017

4
 Russia
4,000,096
2017

5
 Indonesia
3,242,966
2017

6
 Turkey
2,132,717
2017

7
 South Korea
2,026,651
2017

8
 Saudi Arabia
1,789,264
2017

9
 Iran
1,630,859
2017

10
 Thailand
1,228,941
2017

tag: table

text:
Rank
Country
GDP (nominal, Peak Year)
millions of USD
Peak Year

1
 China
11,937,562
2017

2
 Japan
6,203,213
2012

3
 India
2,439,008
2017

4
 Russia
2,297,125
2013

5
 South Korea
1,529,743
2017

6
 Indonesia
1,010,937
2017

7
 Turkey
950,328
2013

8
 Saudi Arabia
756,350
2014

9
 Iran
577,214
2011

10
 Taiwan
571,453
2017

text: Asia has the second largest nominal GDP of all continents, after Europe, but the largest when measured in purchasing power parity. As of 2011, the largest economies in Asia are China, Japan, India, South Korea and Indonesia.[39] Based on Global Office Locations 2011, Asia dominated the office locations with 4 of the top 5 being in Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai. Around 68 percent of international firms have office in Hong Kong.[40]

text: In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the economies of China[41] and India have been growing rapidly, both with an average annual growth rate of more than 8%. Other recent very-high-growth nations in Asia include Israel, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Cyprus and the Philippines, and mineral-rich nations such as Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

text: According to economic historian Angus Maddison in his book The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, India had the world's largest economy during 0 BCE and 1000 BCE.[42][43] China was the largest and most advanced economy on earth for much of recorded history,[44][45][46][47] until the British Empire (excluding India) overtook it in the mid-19th century. For several decades in the late twentieth century Japan was the largest economy in Asia and second-largest of any single nation in the world, after surpassing the Soviet Union (measured in net material product) in 1986 and Germany in 1968. (NB: A number of supernational economies are larger, such as the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or APEC). This ended in 2010 when China overtook Japan to become the world's second largest economy.

text: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japan's GDP was almost as large (current exchange rate method) as that of the rest of Asia combined.[citation needed] In 1995, Japan's economy nearly equaled that of the USA as the largest economy in the world for a day, after the Japanese currency reached a record high of 79 yen/US$. Economic growth in Asia since World War II to the 1990s had been concentrated in Japan as well as the four regions of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore located in the Pacific Rim, known as the Asian tigers, which have now all received developed country status, having the highest GDP per capita in Asia.[48]

text: It is forecasted that India will overtake Japan in terms of nominal GDP by 2020.[49] By 2027, according to Goldman Sachs, China will have the largest economy in the world. Several trade blocs exist, with the most developed being the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

text: Asia is the largest continent in the world by a considerable margin, and it is rich in natural resources, such as petroleum, forests, fish, water, rice, copper and silver. Manufacturing in Asia has traditionally been strongest in East and Southeast Asia, particularly in China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, India, the Philippines, and Singapore. Japan and South Korea continue to dominate in the area of multinational corporations, but increasingly the PRC and India are making significant inroads. Many companies from Europe, North America, South Korea and Japan have operations in Asia's developing countries to take advantage of its abundant supply of cheap labour and relatively developed infrastructure.

text: According to Citigroup 9 of 11 Global Growth Generators countries came from Asia driven by population and income growth. They are Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.[50] Asia has four main financial centers: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. Call centers and business process outsourcing (BPOs) are becoming major employers in India and the Philippines due to the availability of a large pool of highly skilled, English-speaking workers. The increased use of outsourcing has assisted the rise of India and the China as financial centers. Due to its large and extremely competitive information technology industry, India has become a major hub for outsourcing.

text: In 2010, Asia had 3.3 million millionaires (people with net worth over US$1 million excluding their homes), slightly below North America with 3.4 million millionaires. Last year Asia had toppled Europe.[51] Citigroup in The Wealth Report 2012 stated that Asian centa-millionaire overtook North America's wealth for the first time as the world's "economic center of gravity" continued moving east. At the end of 2011, there were 18,000 Asian people mainly in Southeast Asia, China and Japan who have at least $100 million in disposable assets, while North America with 17,000 people and Western Europe with 14,000 people.[52]

text: Tourism

text: With growing Regional Tourism with domination of Chinese visitors, MasterCard has released Global Destination Cities Index 2013 with 10 of 20 are dominated by Asia and Pacific Region Cities and also for the first time a city of a country from Asia (Bangkok) set in the top-ranked with 15.98 international visitors.[53]

text: Demographics

text:
Historical populations

Year
Pop.
±%

1500
243,000,000
—

1700
436,000,000
+79.4%

1900
947,000,000
+117.2%

1950
1,402,000,000
+48.0%

1999
3,634,000,000
+159.2%

2016
4,462,676,731
+22.8%

Source: "UN report 2004 data" (PDF).
The figure for 2016 is provided by the 2017 revision of the World Population Prospects[2].

text:
East Asia had by far the strongest overall Human Development Index (HDI) improvement of any region in the world, nearly doubling average HDI attainment over the past 40 years, according to the report's analysis of health, education and income data. China, the second highest achiever in the world in terms of HDI improvement since 1970, is the only country on the "Top 10 Movers" list due to income rather than health or education achievements. Its per capita income increased a stunning 21-fold over the last four decades, also lifting hundreds of millions out of income poverty. Yet it was not among the region's top performers in improving school enrollment and life expectancy.[54]
Nepal, a South Asian country, emerges as one of the world's fastest movers since 1970 mainly due to health and education achievements. Its present life expectancy is 25 years longer than in the 1970s. More than four of every five children of school age in Nepal now attend primary school, compared to just one in five 40 years ago.[54]
Japan and South Korea ranked highest among the countries grouped on the HDI (number 11 and 12 in the world, which are in the "very high human development" category), followed by Hong Kong (21) and Singapore (27). Afghanistan (155) ranked lowest amongst Asian countries out of the 169 countries assessed.[54]

text: Languages

text: Asia is home to several language families and many language isolates. Most Asian countries have more than one language that is natively spoken. For instance, according to Ethnologue, more than 600 languages are spoken in Indonesia, more than 800 languages spoken in India, and more than 100 are spoken in the Philippines. China has many languages and dialects in different provinces.

text: Religions

text: Many of the world's major religions have their origins in Asia, including the five most practiced in the world (excluding irreligion), which are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Chinese folk religion (classified as Confucianism and Taoism), and Buddhism respectively. Asian mythology is complex and diverse. The story of the Great Flood for example, as presented to Christians in the Old Testament in the narrative of Noah, is first found in Mesopotamian mythology, in the Epic of Gilgamesh. Likewise, the same story of Great Flood is presented to Muslims in the Holy Quran, again in the narrative of Noah, Who according to Islamic mythology was a Prophet and Built an Ark on Allah's Command to save the True Believers from the Great Flood (Great Calamity).[55] Hindu mythology also tells about an Avatar of the God Vishnu in the form of a fish who warned Manu of a terrible flood. In ancient Chinese mythology, Shan Hai Jing, the Chinese ruler Da Yu, had to spend 10 years to control a deluge which swept out most of ancient China and was aided by the goddess Nüwa who literally fixed the broken sky through which huge rains were pouring.

text: Abrahamic

text: The Abrahamic religions including Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Bahá'í Faith originated in West Asia.

text: Judaism, the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, is practiced primarily in Israel, the birthplace and historical homeland of the Hebrew nation which today consists equally of those Israelites who remained in Asia/North Africa and those who returned from diaspora in Europe, North America, and other regions,[56] though sizable communities continue to live abroad. Jews are the predominant ethnic group in Israel (75.6%) numbering at about 6.1 million,[57] although the levels of adherence to Jewish religion are unspecified. Outside of Israel there are small ancient communities of Jewish still live in Turkey (17,400),[58] Azerbaijan (9,100),[59] Iran (8,756),[60] India (5,000) and Uzbekistan (4,000).[61]

text: Christianity is a widespread religion in Asia with more than 286 million adherents according to Pew Research Center in 2010,[62] and nearly 364 million according to Britannica Book of the Year 2014.[63] Constituting around 12.6% of the total population of Asia. In the Philippines and East Timor, Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion; it was introduced by the Spaniards and the Portuguese, respectively. In Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia and Asian Russia, Eastern Orthodoxy is the predominant religion. Various Christian denominations have adherents in portions of the Middle East, as well as China and India. Saint Thomas Christians in India trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.[64]

text: Islam, which originated in Saudi Arabia, is the largest and most widely spread religion in Asia with at least 1 billion Muslims constituting around 23.8% of the total population of Asia.[65] With 12.7% of the world Muslim population, the country currently with the largest Muslim population in the world is Indonesia, followed by Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran and Turkey. Mecca, Medina and to a lesser extent Jerusalem are the holiest cities for Islam in all the world. These religious sites attract large numbers of devotees from all over the world, particularly during the Hajj and Umrah seasons. Iran is the largest Shi'a country.

text: The Bahá'í Faith originated in Asia, in Iran (Persia), and spread from there to the Ottoman Empire, Central Asia, India, and Burma during the lifetime of Bahá'u'lláh. Since the middle of the 20th century, growth has particularly occurred in other Asian countries, because Bahá'í activities in many Muslim countries has been severely suppressed by authorities. Lotus Temple is a big Baha'i Temple in India.

text: Indian and East Asian religions

text: Almost all Asian religions have philosophical character and Asian philosophical traditions cover a large spectrum of philosophical thoughts and writings. Indian philosophy includes Hindu philosophy and Buddhist philosophy. They include elements of nonmaterial pursuits, whereas another school of thought from India, Cārvāka, preached the enjoyment of the material world. The religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated in India, South Asia. In East Asia, particularly in China and Japan, Confucianism, Taoism and Zen Buddhism took shape.

text: As of 2012, Hinduism has around 1.1 billion adherents. The faith represents around 25% of Asia's population and is the second largest religion in Asia. However, it is mostly concentrated in South Asia. Over 80% of the populations of both India and Nepal adhere to Hinduism, alongside significant communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bali, Indonesia. Many overseas Indians in countries such as Burma, Singapore and Malaysia also adhere to Hinduism.

text: Buddhism has a great following in mainland Southeast Asia and East Asia. Buddhism is the religion of the majority of the populations of Cambodia (96%),[67] Thailand (95%),[68] Burma (80%–89%),[69] Japan (36%–96%),[70] Bhutan (75%–84%),[71] Sri Lanka (70%),[72] Laos (60%–67%)[73] and Mongolia (53%–93%).[74] Large Buddhist populations also exist in Singapore (33%–51%),[75] Taiwan (35%–93%),[76][77][78][79] South Korea (23%–50%),[80] Malaysia (19%–21%),[81] Nepal (9%–11%),[82] Vietnam (10%–75%),[83] China (20%–50%),[84] North Korea (1.5%–14%),[85][86][87] and small communities in India and Bangladesh. In many Chinese communities, Mahayana Buddhism is easily syncretized with Taoism, thus exact religious statistics is difficult to obtain and may be understated or overstated. The Communist-governed countries of China, Vietnam and North Korea are officially atheist, thus the number of Buddhists and other religious adherents may be under-reported.

text: Jainism is found mainly in India and in oversea Indian communities such as the United States and Malaysia. Sikhism is found in Northern India and amongst overseas Indian communities in other parts of Asia, especially Southeast Asia. Confucianism is found predominantly in Mainland China, South Korea, Taiwan and in overseas Chinese populations. Taoism is found mainly in Mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. Taoism is easily syncretized with Mahayana Buddhism for many Chinese, thus exact religious statistics is difficult to obtain and may be understated or overstated.

text:
Japanese wedding at the Meiji Shrine

Hindu festival celebrated by Singapore's Tamil community

Orthodox cross procession in Novosibirsk

Catholic procession of the Black Nazarene in Manila

Muslim men praying in Turkey

text: Modern conflicts

text: Some of the events pivotal in the Asia territory related to the relationship with the outside world in the post-Second World War were:

text:
The Chinese Civil War
The Kashmir conflict
The Insurgency in Northeast India
The Korean War
The French-Indochina War
The Vietnam War
The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
The Sino-Vietnamese War
The Bangladesh Liberation War
The Yom Kippur War
The Iranian Revolution
The Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Iran–Iraq War
The Indonesian occupation of East Timor
The Cambodian Killing Fields
The Insurgency in Laos
The Lebanese Civil War
The Sri Lankan Civil War
The Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The Gulf War
The Nepalese Civil War
The India-Pakistan Wars
The Nagorno-Karabakh War
The War in Afghanistan
The Iraq War
The 2006 Thai coup d'état
The Burmese Civil War
The Saffron Revolution
The Arab Spring
The Arab–Israeli conflict
The Syrian Civil War
The Sino-Indian War
The 2014 Thai coup d'état
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

text: Culture

text: This section needs expansion with: More information about general cultural topics other than Nobel prizes. You can help by adding to it. (June 2011)

text: Nobel prizes

text: The polymath Rabindranath Tagore, a Bengali poet, dramatist, and writer from Santiniketan, now in West Bengal, India, became in 1913 the first Asian Nobel laureate. He won his Nobel Prize in Literature for notable impact his prose works and poetic thought had on English, French, and other national literatures of Europe and the Americas. He is also the writer of the national anthems of Bangladesh and India.

text: Other Asian writers who won Nobel Prize for literature include Yasunari Kawabata (Japan, 1968), Kenzaburō Ōe (Japan, 1994), Gao Xingjian (China, 2000), Orhan Pamuk (Turkey, 2006), and Mo Yan (China, 2012). Some may consider the American writer, Pearl S. Buck, an honorary Asian Nobel laureate, having spent considerable time in China as the daughter of missionaries, and based many of her novels, namely The Good Earth (1931) and The Mother (1933), as well as the biographies of her parents of their time in China, The Exile and Fighting Angel, all of which earned her the Literature prize in 1938.

text: Also, Mother Teresa of India and Shirin Ebadi of Iran were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their significant and pioneering efforts for democracy and human rights, especially for the rights of women and children. Ebadi is the first Iranian and the first Muslim woman to receive the prize. Another Nobel Peace Prize winner is Aung San Suu Kyi from Burma for her peaceful and non-violent struggle under a military dictatorship in Burma. She is a nonviolent pro-democracy activist and leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma (Myanmar) and a noted prisoner of conscience. She is a Buddhist and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China" on 8 October 2010. He is the first Chinese citizen to be awarded a Nobel Prize of any kind while residing in China. In 2014, Kailash Satyarthi from India and Malala Yousafzai from Pakistan were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize "for their struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education".

text: Sir C. V. Raman is the first Asian to get a Nobel prize in Sciences. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics "for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery of the effect named after him".

text: Japan has won the most Nobel Prizes of any Asian nation with 24 followed by India which has won 13.

text: Amartya Sen, (born 3 November 1933) is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society's poorest members.

text: Other Asian Nobel Prize winners include Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Abdus Salam, Malala yousafzai, Robert Aumann, Menachem Begin, Aaron Ciechanover, Avram Hershko, Daniel Kahneman, Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabin, Ada Yonath, Yasser Arafat, José Ramos-Horta and Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Timor Leste, Kim Dae-jung, and 13 Japanese scientists. Most of the said awardees are from Japan and Israel except for Chandrasekhar and Raman (India), Abdus Salam and Malala yousafzai, (Pakistan), Arafat (Palestinian Territories), Kim (South Korea), and Horta and Belo (Timor Leste).

text: In 2006, Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the establishment of Grameen Bank, a community development bank that lends money to poor people, especially women in Bangladesh. Dr. Yunus received his PhD in economics from Vanderbilt University, United States. He is internationally known for the concept of micro credit which allows poor and destitute people with little or no collateral to borrow money. The borrowers typically pay back money within the specified period and the incidence of default is very low.

text: The Dalai Lama has received approximately eighty-four awards over his spiritual and political career.[88] On 22 June 2006, he became one of only four people ever to be recognized with Honorary Citizenship by the Governor General of Canada. On 28 May 2005, he received the Christmas Humphreys Award from the Buddhist Society in the United Kingdom. Most notable was the Nobel Peace Prize, presented in Oslo, Norway on 10 December 1989.

text: Political geography

text:
Flag
Name
Population[2]
(2016)
Area
(km²)
Capital

Afghanistan
34,656,032
647,500
Kabul

Armenia
2,924,816
29,743
Yerevan

Azerbaijan[89]
9,725,376
86,600
Baku

Bahrain
1,425,171
760
Manama

Bangladesh
162,951,560
147,570
Dhaka

Bhutan
797,765
38,394
Thimphu

Brunei
423,196
5,765
Bandar Seri Begawan

Cambodia
15,762,370
181,035
Phnom Penh

China (PRC)
1,403,500,365
9,596,961
Beijing

Cyprus
1,170,125
9,251
Nicosia

East Timor
1,268,671
14,874
Dili

Egypt[89]
95,688,681
1,010,408
Cairo

Georgia[89]
3,925,405
69,700
Tbilisi

India
1,324,171,354
3,287,263
New Delhi

Indonesia[89]
261,115,456
1,904,569
Jakarta

Iran
80,277,428
1,648,195
Tehran

Iraq
37,202,572
438,317
Baghdad

Israel
8,191,828
20,770
Jerusalem (disputed)

Japan
127,748,513
377,915
Tokyo

Jordan
9,455,802
89,342
Amman

Kazakhstan[89]
17,987,736
2,724,900
Astana

Kuwait
4,052,584
17,818
Kuwait City

Kyrgyzstan
5,955,734
199,951
Bishkek

Laos
6,758,353
236,800
Vientiane

Lebanon
6,006,668
10,400
Beirut

Malaysia
31,187,265
329,847
Kuala Lumpur

Maldives
427,756
298
Malé

Mongolia
3,027,398
1,564,116
Ulaanbaatar

Myanmar
52,885,223
676,578
Naypyidaw

Nepal
28,982,771
147,181
Kathmandu

North Korea
25,368,620
120,538
Pyongyang

Oman
4,424,762
309,500
Muscat

Pakistan
193,203,476
796,095
Islamabad

Palestine
4,790,705
6,220
Ramallah
(Jerusalem) (claimed)

Philippines
103,320,222
300,000
Manila

Qatar
2,569,804
11,586
Doha

Russia[89]
143,964,513
17,098,242
Moscow

Saudi Arabia
32,275,687
2,149,690
Riyadh

Singapore
5,622,455
697
Singapore

South Korea
50,791,919
100,210
Seoul

Sri Lanka
20,798,492
65,610
Colombo

Syria
18,430,453
185,180
Damascus

Tajikistan
8,734,951
143,100
Dushanbe

Thailand
68,863,514
513,120
Bangkok

Turkey[90]
79,512,426
783,562
Ankara

Turkmenistan
5,662,544
488,100
Ashgabat

United Arab Emirates
9,269,612
83,600
Abu Dhabi

Uzbekistan
31,446,795
447,400
Tashkent

Vietnam
94,569,072
331,212
Hanoi

Yemen
27,584,213
527,968
Sana'a

text: Within the above-mentioned states are several partially recognized countries with limited to no international recognition. None of them are members of the UN:

text:
Flag
Name
Population
Area
(km²)
Capital

Abkhazia
242,862
8,660
Sukhumi

Nagorno-Karabakh
146,573
11,458
Stepanakert

Northern Cyprus
285,356
3,355
Nicosia

South Ossetia
51,547
3,900
Tskhinvali

Taiwan (ROC)
23,556,706
36,193
Taipei