document_title: History of the Panama Canal

question_text: how did the us acquire the territory to build the panama canal

question_tokens: how did the us acquire the territory to build the panama canal

text: History of the Panama Canal

text: French project[edit]

text: The idea of a canal across Central America was revived during the early 19th century. In 1819, the Spanish government authorized the construction of a canal and the creation of a company to build it.

text: Although the project stalled for some time, a number of surveys were made between 1850 and 1875. They indicated that the two most-favorable routes were across Panama (then part of Colombia) and Nicaragua, with a third route across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico another option. The Nicaraguan route was surveyed.

text: Conception[edit]

text: After the 1869 completion of the Suez Canal, France thought that an apparently-similar project to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans could be carried out with little difficulty. In 1876 an international company, La Société internationale du Canal interocéanique, was created to undertake its construction; two years later, it obtained a concession from the Colombian government (since Panama was a Colombian province) to dig a canal across the isthmus.

text: Ferdinand de Lesseps, who was in charge of the Suez Canal construction, headed the project. His enthusiastic leadership and his reputation as the man who had built the Suez Canal persuaded speculators and ordinary citizens to invest nearly $400 million in the project.

text: However, despite his previous success de Lesseps was not an engineer. The Suez Canal, essentially a ditch dug through a flat, sandy desert, presented few challenges. Although Central America's mountainous spine has a low point in Panama, it is still 110 meters (360.9 ft) above sea level at its lowest crossing point. The sea-level canal proposed by de Lesseps would require a great deal of excavation through a variety of rock, rather than Suez' sand.

text: Less-obvious barriers were the rivers crossing the canal, particularly the Chagres (which flows strongly during the rainy season). Since the water would be a hazard to shipping if it drained into the canal, a sea-level canal would require the river's diversion.

text: The most serious problem was tropical disease, particularly malaria and yellow fever, whose methods of transmission were unknown at the time. The legs of hospital beds were placed in cans of water to keep insects from crawling up them, but the stagnant water was an ideal breeding place for mosquitoes (carriers of the diseases).

text: The project was plagued by a lack of engineering expertise. In May 1879, an international engineering congress led by de Lesseps convened in Paris. Of its 136 delegates, only 42 were engineers; the others were speculators, politicians and friends of de Lesseps.

text: He was convinced that a sea-level canal, dug through the mountainous spine of Central America, could be completed at least as easily as the Suez Canal. The engineering congress estimated the project's cost at $214 million; on February 14, 1880, an engineering commission revised the estimate to $168.6 million. De Lesseps reduced this estimate twice, with no apparent justification: on February 20 to $131.6 million and on March 1 to $120 million. The congress estimated seven or eight years as the time required to complete the canal; de Lesseps reduced this estimate to six years (the Suez Canal required ten).

text: The proposed sea-level canal would have a uniform depth of 9 meters (29.5 ft), a bottom width of 22 meters (72.2 ft) and a width at water level of about 27.5 meters (90.2 ft); the excavation estimate was 120,000,000 m3 (157,000,000 cu yd). A dam was proposed at Gamboa to control flooding of the Chagres River, with channels to drain water away from the canal. However, the Gamboa dam was later found impracticable and the Chagres River problem was left unsolved.

text: Construction[edit]

text: Construction of the canal began on January 1, 1881, with digging at Culebra beginning on January 22.[1] A large labor force was assembled, numbering about 40,000 in 1888 (nine-tenths of whom were afro-Caribbean workers from the West Indies). Although the project attracted good, well-paid French engineers, retaining them was difficult due to disease. The death toll from 1881 to 1889 was estimated at over 22,000, of whom as many as 5,000 were French citizens.[3]

text: By 1885 it had become clear to many that a sea-level canal was impractical, and an elevated canal with locks was preferable; de Lesseps resisted, and a lock canal plan was not adopted until October 1887. By this time increasing mortality rates, as well as financial and engineering problems coupled with frequent floods and mudslides, indicated that the project was in serious trouble. Work continued under the new plan until May 15, 1889, when the company went bankrupt and the project was suspended. After eight years the canal was about two-fifths completed, and about $234.8 million had been spent.

text: The company's collapse was a scandal in France, and the antisemitic Edouard Drumont exploited the role of two Jewish speculators in the affair. One hundred and four legislators were found to have been involved in the corruption, and Jean Jaurès was commissioned by the French parliament to conduct an inquiry which was completed in 1893.[2]

text: New Panama Canal Company[edit]

text: It soon became clear that the only way to recoup expenses for the stockholders was to continue the project. A new concession was obtained from Colombia, and in 1894 the Compagnie Nouvelle du Canal de Panama was created to finish the canal. To comply with the terms of the contract, work began immediately on the Culebra excavation while a team of engineers began a comprehensive study of the project. They eventually settled on a plan for a two-level, lock-based canal.

text: The new effort never gained traction, mainly because of US speculation that a canal through Nicaragua would render one through Panama useless. The most men employed on the new project was 3,600 (in 1896), primarily to comply with the terms of the concession and to maintain the existing excavation and equipment in saleable condition. The company had already begun looking for a buyer, with an asking price of $109 million.

text: In the US, a congressional Isthmian Canal Commission was established in 1899 to examine possibilities for a Central American canal and recommend a route. In November 1901, the commission reported that a US canal should be built through Nicaragua unless the French were willing to sell their holdings for $40 million. The recommendation became law on June 28, 1902, and the New Panama Canal Company was compelled to sell at that price.[3]

text: Results[edit]

text: Although the French effort was, to a large extent, doomed to failure from the beginning due to disease and a lack of understanding of the engineering difficulties, it was not entirely futile. The old and new companies excavated 59,747,638 m3 (78,146,960 cu yd) of material, of which 14,255,890 m3 (18,646,000 cu yd) was taken from the Culebra Cut. The old company dredged a channel from Panama Bay to the port at Balboa, and the channel dredged on the Atlantic side (known as the French canal) was useful for bringing in sand and stone for the locks and spillway concrete at Gatún.

text: Detailed surveys and studies (particularly those carried out by the new canal company) and machinery, including railroad equipment and vehicles, aided the later American effort. The French lowered the summit of the Culebra Cut along the canal route by five meters (17 ft), from 64 to 59 metres (210 to 194 ft). An estimated 22,713,396 m3 (29,708,000 cu yd) of excavation, valued at about $25.4 million, and equipment and surveys valued at about $17.4 million were usable by the Americans.[citation needed]

text: Nicaraguan canal[edit]

text: The 1848 discovery of gold in California and the rush of would-be miners stimulated US interest in building a canal between the oceans. In 1887, a United States Army Corps of Engineers regiment surveyed canal possibilities in Nicaragua. Two years later, the Maritime Canal Company was asked to begin a canal in the area and chose Nicaragua. The company lost money in the panic of 1893, and its work in Nicaragua ceased. In 1897 and 1899, the United States Congress charged a canal commission with researching possible construction; Nicaragua was chosen as the location both times.

text: Although the Nicaraguan canal proposal was made redundant by the American takeover of the French Panama Canal project, increases in shipping volume and ship sizes have revived interest in the project. A canal across Nicaragua accommodating post-Panamax ships or a rail link carrying containers between ports on either coast have been proposed.[citation needed]

text: United States[edit]

text: Theodore Roosevelt believed that a US-controlled canal across Central America was a vital strategic interest of the country. This idea gained wide circulation after the destruction of the USS Maine in Cuba on February 15, 1898. Reversing a Walker Commission decision in favor of a Nicaraguan canal, Roosevelt encouraged the acquisition of the French Panama Canal effort. George S. Morison was the only commission member who argued for the Panama location. The purchase of the French-held land for $40 million was authorized by the June 28, 1902 Spooner Act. Since Panama was then part of Colombia, Roosevelt began negotiating with that country to obtain the necessary rights. In early 1903 the Hay–Herrán Treaty was signed by both nations, but the Senate of Colombia failed to ratify the treaty.

text: Roosevelt implied to Panamanian rebels that if they revolted, the US Navy would assist their fight for independence. Panama declared its independence on November 3, 1903, and the USS Nashville impeded Colombian interference. The victorious Panamanians gave the United States control of the Panama Canal Zone on February 23, 1904, for $10 million in accordance with the November 18, 1903 Hay–Bunau-Varilla Treaty.

text: Takeover[edit]

text: The United States took control of the French property connected to the canal on May 4, 1904, when Lieutenant Jatara Oneel of the United States Army was presented with the keys during a small ceremony.[citation needed] The new Panama Canal Zone Control was overseen by the Isthmian Canal Commission (ICC) during construction.

text: The first step taken by the US government was to place all the canal workers under the new administration. The operation was maintained at minimum strength to comply with the canal concession and keep the machinery in working order. The US inherited a small workforce and an assortment of buildings, infrastructure and equipment, much of which had been neglected for fifteen years in the humid jungle environment. There were no facilities in place for a large workforce, and the infrastructure was crumbling.

text: Cataloguing assets was a large job; it took many weeks to card-index available equipment. About 2,150 buildings had been acquired,[4] many of which were uninhabitable; housing was an early problem, and the Panama Railway was in a state of decay. However, much equipment (such as locomotives, dredges and other floating equipment) was still serviceable.

text: Although chief engineer John Findley Wallace was pressured to resume construction, red tape from Washington stifled his efforts to obtain heavy equipment and caused friction between Wallace and the ICC. He and chief sanitary officer William C. Gorgas were frustrated by delay, and Wallace resigned in 1905. He was replaced by John Frank Stevens, who arrived on July 26, 1905. Stevens quickly realized that serious investment in infrastructure was necessary and determined to upgrade the railway, improve sanitation in Panama City and Colón, renovate the old French buildings and build hundreds of new ones for housing. He then began the difficult task of recruiting the large labor force required for construction. Stevens' approach was to press ahead first and obtain approval later. He improved drilling and dirt-removal equipment at the Culebra Cut for greater efficiency, revising the inadequate provisions in place for soil disposal.

text: No decision had been made about whether the canal should be a lock or a sea-level one; the ongoing excavation would be useful in either case. In late 1905, President Roosevelt sent a team of engineers to Panama to investigate the relative merits of both types in cost and time. Although the engineers voted eight to five in favor of a sea-level canal, Stevens and the ICC opposed the plan; Stevens' report to Roosevelt was instrumental in convincing the president of the merits of a lock canal and Congress concurred. In November 1906 Roosevelt visited Panama to inspect the canal's progress, the first trip outside the United States by a sitting president.

text: Whether contract employees or government workers would build the canal was controversial. Bids for the canal's construction were opened in January 1907, and Knoxville, Tennessee-based contractor William J. Oliver was the low bidder. Stevens disliked Oliver, and vehemently opposed his choice. Although Roosevelt initially favored the use of a contractor, he eventually decided that army engineers should carry out the work[4] and appointed Major George Washington Goethals as chief engineer (under Stevens' direction) in February 1907. Stevens, frustrated by government inaction and the army involvement, resigned and was replaced by Goethals.[5]

text: Workforce[edit]

text: The US relied on a stratified workforce to build the canal. High-level engineering jobs, clerical positions, skilled labor and jobs in supporting industries were generally reserved for white Americans, with manual labor primarily by cheap immigrant labor. These jobs were initially filled by Europeans, primarily from Spain, Italy and Greece, many of whom were radical and militant due to political turmoil in Europe. The US then decided to recruit primarily from the British and French West Indies, and these workers provided most of the manual labor on the canal.[6]

text: Living conditions[edit]

text: The Canal Zone originally had minimal facilities for entertainment and relaxation for the canal workers apart from saloons; as a result, alcohol abuse was a great problem. The inhospitable conditions resulted in many American workers returning home each year.

text: A program of improvements was implemented. Clubhouses were built, managed by the YMCA, with billiard, assembly and reading rooms, bowling alleys, darkrooms for camera clubs, gymnastic equipment, ice cream parlors, soda fountains and a circulating library. Member dues were ten dollars a year, with the remaining upkeep (about $7,000 at the larger clubhouses) paid by the ICC. The commission built baseball fields and arranged rail transportation to games; a competitive league soon developed. Semimonthly Saturday-night dances were held at the Hotel Tivoli, which had a spacious ballroom.

text: These measures influenced life in the Canal Zone; alcohol abuse fell, with saloon business declining by 60 percent.[citation needed] The number of workers leaving the project each year dropped significantly.

text: US construction[edit]

text: The work done thus far was preparation, rather than construction. By the time Goethals took over, the construction infrastructure had been created or overhauled and expanded from the French effort and he was soon able to begin construction in earnest.

text: Goethals divided the project into three divisions: Atlantic, Central and Pacific. The Atlantic Division, under Major William L. Sibert, was responsible for construction of the breakwater at the entrance to Limon Bay, the Gatún locks and their 5.6 km (3.5 mi) approach channel, and the Gatun Dam. The Pacific Division (under Sydney B. Williamson, the only civilian division head) was responsible for the Pacific entrance to the canal, including a 4.8 km (3.0 mi) breakwater in Panama Bay, the approach channel, and the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks and their associated dams. The Central Division, under Major David du Bose Gaillard, was responsible for everything in between. It had arguably the project's greatest challenge: excavating the Culebra Cut (known as the Gaillard Cut from 1915 to 2000), which involved cutting 8 miles (13 km) through the continental divide down to 12 meters (40 ft) above sea level.

text: By August 1907, 765,000 m³ (1,000,000 cubic yards) per month was being excavated; this set a record for the rainy season; soon afterwards this doubled, before increasing again. At the peak of production, 2,300,000 m³ (3,000,000 cubic yards) were being excavated per month (the equivalent of digging a Channel Tunnel every 3½ months).[citation needed]

text: Culebra Cut[edit]

text: One of the greatest barriers to a canal was the continental divide, which originally rose to 110 metres (360.9 ft) above sea level at its highest point. The effort to cut through this barrier of rock was one of the greatest challenges faced by the project.

text: Goethals arrived at the canal with Major David du Bose Gaillard of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Gaillard was placed in charge of the canal's Central Division, which stretched from the Pedro Miguel locks to the Gatun Dam, and dedicated himself to getting the Culebra Cut (as it was then known) excavated.

text: The scale of the work was massive. Six thousand men worked in the cut, drilling holes in which a total of 27,000 t (60,000,000 lb) of dynamite were placed to break up the rock (which was then removed by as many as 160 trains per day). Landslides were frequent, due to the oxidation and weakening of the rock's underlying iron strata. Although the scale of the job and the frequent, unpredictable slides generated chaos, Gaillard provided quiet, clear-sighted leadership.

text: On May 20, 1913, Bucyrus steam shovels made a passage through the Culebra Cut at the level of the canal bottom. The French effort had reduced the summit to 59 metres (193.6 ft) over a relatively narrow width; the Americans had lowered this to 12 metres (39.4 ft) above sea level over a greater width, and had excavated over 76,000,000 m3 (99,000,000 cu yd) of material. About 23,000,000 m3 (30,000,000 cu yd) of this material in addition to the planned excavation, in the form of landslides. Dry excavation ended on September 10, 1913; a January slide had added 1,500,000 m3 (2,000,000 cu yd) of earth, but it was decided that this loose material would be removed by dredging when the cut was flooded.

text: Dams[edit]

text: Two artificial lakes are key parts of the canal: Gatun and Miraflores Lakes. Four dams were constructed to create them. Two small dams at Miraflores impound Miraflores Lake, and a dam at Pedro Miguel encloses the south end of the Culebra Cut (essentially an arm of Lake Gatun). The Gatun Dam is the main dam blocking the original course of the Chagres River, creating Gatun Lake.

text: The Miraflores dams are an 825-metre (2,707 ft) earth dam connecting the Miraflores Locks in the west and a 150-metre (492 ft) concrete spillway dam east of the locks. The concrete dam has eight floodgates, similar to those on the Gatun spillway. The earthen, 430-metre (1,411 ft) Pedro Miguel dam extends from a hill in the west to the lock. Its face is protected by rock riprap at the water level. The largest and most challenging of the dams is the Gatun Dam. This earthen dam, 640 metres (2,100 ft) thick at the base and 2,300 metres (7,546 ft) long along the top, was the largest of its kind in the world when the canal opened.[citation needed]

text: Locks[edit]

text: Building the locks began with the first concrete laid at Gatun on August 24, 1909. The Gatun locks are built into a cutting into a hill bordering the lake, requiring the excavation of 3,800,000 m3 (4,970,212 cu yd) of material (mostly rock). The locks were made of 1,564,400 m3 (2,046,158 cu yd) of concrete, with an extensive system of electric railways and cable cars transporting concrete to the lock-construction sites.

text: The Pacific-side locks were finished first: the single flight at Pedro Miguel in 1911, and Miraflores in May 1913. The seagoing tugboat Gatun, an Atlantic-entrance tug used to haul barges, traversed the Gatun locks on September 26, 1913. The trip was successful, although the valves were controlled manually; the central control board was not yet ready.

text: Opening[edit]

text: On October 10, 1913, the dike at Gamboa which had kept the Culebra Cut isolated from Gatun Lake was demolished; the detonation was made telegraphically by President Woodrow Wilson in Washington. On January 7, 1914, the Alexandre La Valley, an old French crane boat, became the first ship to make a complete transit of the Panama Canal under its own steam after working its way across during the final stages of construction.

text: As construction wound down, the canal team began to disperse. Thousands of workers were laid off, and entire towns were disassembled or demolished. Chief sanitary officer William C. Gorgas, who left to fight pneumonia in the South African gold mines, became surgeon general of the Army. On April 1, 1914 the Isthmian Canal Commission disbanded, and the zone was governed by a Canal Zone Governor; the first governor was George Washington Goethals.

text: Although a large celebration was planned for the canal's opening, the outbreak of World War I forced the cancellation of the main festivities and it became a modest local affair. The Panama Railway steamship SS Ancon, piloted by Captain John A. Constantine (the canal's first pilot), made the first official transit on August 15, 1914. With no international dignitaries in attendance, Goethals followed the Ancon's progress by railroad.

text: Summary[edit]

text: The canal was a technological marvel and an important strategic and economic asset to the US. It changed world shipping patterns, removing the need for ships to navigate the Drake Passage and Cape Horn. The canal saves a total of about 7,800 miles (12,600 km) on a sea trip from New York to San Francisco.

text: Its anticipated military significance of the canal was proven during World War II, when the canal helped restore the devastated United States Pacific Fleet.[7] Some of the largest ships the United States had to send through the canal were aircraft carriers, particularly Essex class; they were so large that although the locks could accommodate them, the lampposts along the canal had to be removed.

text: The Panama Canal cost the United States about $375 million, including $10 million paid to Panama and $40 million paid to the French company. Although it was the most expensive construction project in US history to that time, it cost about $23 million less than the 1907 estimate despite landslides and an increase in the canal's width. An additional $12 million was spent on fortifications.

text: A total of over 75,000 people worked on the project; at the peak of construction, there were 40,000 workers. According to hospital records, 5,609 workers died from disease and accidents during the American construction era.[citation needed]

text: A total of 182,610,550 m3 (238,845,582 cu yd) of material was excavated in the American effort, including the approach channels at the canal ends. Adding the work by the French, the total excavation was about 204,900,000 m3 (268,000,000 cu yd) (over 25 times the volume excavated in the Channel Tunnel project).[citation needed]

text: Of the three presidents whose terms spanned the construction period, Theodore Roosevelt is most associated with the canal and Woodrow Wilson presided over its opening. However, William Howard Taft may have given the canal its greatest impetus for the longest time. Taft visited Panama five times as Roosevelt's secretary of war and twice as president. He hired John Stevens and later recommended Goethals as Stevens' replacement. Taft became president in 1909, when the canal was half finished, and was in office for most of the remainder of the work. However, Goethals later wrote: "The real builder of the Panama Canal was Theodore Roosevelt".[citation needed]

text: The following words by Roosevelt are displayed in the rotunda of the canal's administration building in Balboa:[citation needed]

text: It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

text: David du Bose Gaillard died of a brain tumor in Baltimore on December 5, 1913, at age 54. Promoted to colonel only a month earlier, Gaillard never saw the opening of the canal whose creation he directed. The Culebra Cut (as it was originally known) was renamed the Gaillard Cut on April 27, 1915, in his honor. A plaque commemorating Gaillard's work stood over the cut for many years; in 1998 it was moved to the administration building, near a memorial to Goethals.

text: Third-lane plans[edit]

text: As the situation in Europe deteriorated during the late 1930s, the US again became concerned about its ability to move warships between the oceans. The largest US battleships already had problems with the canal locks, and there were concerns about the locks being incapacitated by bombing.[8][9]

text: These concerns led Congress to pass a resolution on May 1, 1936, authorizing a study of improving the canal's defenses against attack and expanding its capacity to handle large vessels. A special engineering section was created on July 3, 1937, to carry out the study. The section reported to Congress on February 24, 1939, recommending work to protect the existing locks and the construction of a new set of locks capable of carrying larger vessels than the existing locks could accommodate. On August 11, Congress authorized the work.

text: Three new locks were planned, at Gatún, Pedro Miguel and Miraflores, parallel to the existing locks with new approach channels. The new locks would add a traffic lane to the canal, with each chamber 1,200 ft (365.76 m) long, 140 ft (42.67 m) wide and 45 ft (13.72 m) deep. They would be 1⁄2 mi (805 m) east of the existing Gatún locks and 1⁄4 mi (402 m) west of the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks.

text: The first excavations for the new approach channels at Miraflores began on July 1, 1940, following the passage by Congress of an appropriations bill on June 24, 1940. The first dry excavation at Gatún began on February 19, 1941. Considerable material was excavated before the project was abandoned, and the approach channels can still be seen paralleling the original channels at Gatún and Miraflores.

text: In 2006, the Autoridad del Canal de Panamá (the Panama Canal Authority, or ACP) proposed a plan creating a third lane of locks using part of the abandoned 1940s approach canals. Following a referendum, work began in 2007 and the expanded canal began commercial operations on June 26, 2016. After a two-year delay, the new locks allow the transit of Panamax ships (which have a greater cargo capacity than the original locks can handle). The first ship to cross the canal through the third set of locks was a Panamax container ship, the Chinese-owned Cosco Shipping Panama. The cost of the expansion was estimated at $5.25 billion.[2]

text: Transfer to Panama[edit]

text:
Statement on the Panama Canal treaty signing

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Jimmy Carter's speech upon signing the Panama Canal treaty, September 7, 1977

Statement on the Panama Canal treaty signing

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text: After construction, the canal and the Canal Zone surrounding it were administered by the United States. On September 7, 1977, US President Jimmy Carter signed the Torrijos-Carter Treaty setting in motion the process of transferring control of the canal to Panama. The treaty became effective on October 1, 1979, providing for a 20-year period in which Panama would have increasing responsibility for canal operations before complete US withdrawal on December 31, 1999. Since then, the canal has been administered by the Panama Canal Authority (Autoridad de Canal de Panama, or ACP).

text: The treaty was controversial in the US, and its passage was difficult. The controversy was largely generated by contracts to manage two ports, at either end of the canal, which were awarded by Panama to Hong Kong-based conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. According to US Republicans, the company has close ties to the Chinese government and the Chinese military.[10] However, the United States Department of State said that it found no evidence of connections between Hutchison Whampoa and Beijing.[11] Some Americans were wary of placing the strategic waterway under the protection of Panamanian security forces.[12]

text: Although concerns existed in the US and the shipping industry about the canal after the transfer, Panama has exercised good stewardship.[13] According to ACP figures, canal income increased from $769 million in 2000 (the first year under Panamanian control) to $1.4 billion in 2006.[citation needed] Traffic through the canal increased from 230 million tons in 2000 to nearly 300 million tons in 2006. The number of accidents has decreased from an average of 28 per year in the late 1990s to 12 in 2005. Transit time through the canal averages about 30 hours, about the same as during the late 1990s. Canal expenses have increased less than revenue, from $427 million in 2000 to $497 million in 2006. On October 22, 2006, Panamanian citizens approved a referendum to expand the canal.

text: Former US Ambassador to Panama Linda Watt, who served from 2002 to 2005, said that the canal operation in Panamanian hands has been "outstanding". "The international shipping community is quite pleased", Watt added.[14]


document_title: Princess Leia

question_text: when does luke skywalker find out leia is his sister

question_tokens: when does luke skywalker find out leia is his sister

root

text: Princess Leia

text: Creation and casting[edit]

text: Leia was created by Star Wars creator George Lucas. In 1999, Lucas explained his early development of Leia, Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi:

tag: p

text: The first [version] talked about a princess and an old general. The second version involved a father, his son, and his daughter; the daughter was the heroine of the film. Now the daughter has become Luke, Mark Hamill's character. There was also the story of two brothers where I transformed one of them into a sister. The older brother was imprisoned, and the young sister had to rescue him and bring him back to their dad.[2]

text: Film historian Laurent Bouzereau notes in his 1997 book Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays that in the rough draft of Star Wars, Leia is the spoiled teenage daughter of King Kayos and Queen Breha of Aquilae, with two brothers, Biggs and Windy; Biggs returned to the fourth draft as a childhood friend of Luke.[3] According to Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas (1999), Luke Skywalker was originally Luke Starkiller and Leia was "the daughter of Owen Lars and his wife Beru and seems to be Luke's cousin–together they visit the grave of his mother, who perished with his father on a planet destroyed by the Death Star."[4] J. W. Rinzler explains in The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (2007) that a later story synopsis establishes Leia as "Leia Antilles", the daughter of Bail Antilles from the peaceful world of Organa Major. In the fourth draft it was established that "Leia Organa" came instead from Alderaan.[5]

text: Fisher was 19 when she was cast as Princess Leia,[6] with actresses including Amy Irving, Cindy Williams and Jodie Foster also up for the role.[7][8] In 2014, InkTank reported that the extended list of "more than two dozen actresses" who had auditioned for Leia included Glenn Close, Farrah Fawcett, Jessica Lange, Sissy Spacek, Sigourney Weaver, Cybill Shepherd, Jane Seymour, Anjelica Huston, Kim Basinger, Kathleen Turner, Geena Davis and Meryl Streep.[9][10][11] Asked about Streep in 2015, Fisher said, "I've never heard that one. But Jodie Foster was up for it... that one I knew the most. Amy Irving and Jodie. And I got it."[12]

text: The second draft of the Return of the Jedi screenplay contained dialogue in which Obi-Wan tells Luke he has a twin sister. She and their mother were "sent to the protection of friends in a distant system. The mother died shortly thereafter, and Luke's sister was adopted by Ben's friends, the governor of Alderaan and his wife."[13] Fisher explained in 1983: "Leia's real father left her mother when she was pregnant, so her mother married this King Organa. I was adopted and grew up set apart from other people because I was a princess."[14]

text: Composer John Williams created a musical leitmotif for Leia which recurs throughout the Star Wars saga. "Princess Leia's Theme" was recorded as a concert suite (4:18 length) for the score of the 1977 film.

text: Character[edit]

text: Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly describes Leia as a "diplomat, spy, warrior, undercover agent".[15] Mark Edlitz calls her "a smart, feisty, brave diplomat and warrior" in The Huffington Post.[16] Fisher told Rolling Stone in 1983:

text: There are a lot of people who don't like my character in these movies; they think I'm some kind of space bitch. She has no friends, no family; her planet was blown up in seconds ... so all she has is a cause. From the first film [Star Wars], she was just a soldier, front line and center. The only way they knew to make the character strong was to make her angry. In Return of the Jedi, she gets to be more feminine, more supportive, more affectionate.[14]

text: She said in 2014:

text: I would rather have played Han Solo. When I first read the script I thought that's the part to be, always wry and sardonic. He's always that. I feel like a lot of the time Leia's either worried or pissed or, thank God, sort of snarky. But I'm much more worried and pissed than Han Solo ever was, and those aren't fun things to play ... I had a lot of fun killing Jabba the Hutt. They asked me on the day if I wanted to have a stunt double kill Jabba. No! That's the best time I ever had as an actor. And the only reason to go into acting is if you can kill a giant monster.[6]

text: Appearances[edit]

text: Feature films[edit]

text: Star Wars[edit]

text: Introduced in the original 1977 film Star Wars, Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan is a member of the Imperial Senate. She is captured by Darth Vader on board the ship Tantive IV, where she is acting as a spy for the Rebel Alliance. Leia has secretly hidden the plans for the Death Star, the Empire's moon-sized battle station, inside the astromech droid R2-D2 and has sent it to find one of the last remaining Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi, on the nearby planet of Tatooine. Vader arrests Leia and has her tortured, but she resists revealing anything. Death Star commander Grand Moff Tarkin threatens to destroy her home planet Alderaan with the Death Star unless she reveals the location of the hidden Rebel base. She provides the location of an old, abandoned base, but Tarkin orders Alderaan to be destroyed anyway. Leia is rescued by Obi-Wan, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, the Wookiee Chewbacca and the two droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, and they escape aboard Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon. After analyzing the Death Star's plans, the Rebels find a tiny weakness in the battle station, which Luke uses to destroy it in his X-wing fighter. The battle won, Leia bestows medals on its heroes at the hidden Rebel base on Yavin 4.

text: Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post writes of Leia in the film:

text: Leia’s nerves as a revolutionary are clear from the moment she arrives on screen ... She takes shots at the Storm Troopers boarding her ship, gets stunned with a blaster in her hand, then has the audacity to try to make Darth Vader feel ashamed of himself ... She has enough energy left over after a nasty session of torture to insult Grand Moff Tarkin. And while she grieves when her home planet, Alderaan, is destroyed by the Death Star, Leia’s not paralyzed: when her unexpected rescuers show up, she’s ready to go, and to gripe about their operational sloppiness.[17]

text: Rosenberg also notes that, though Han is almost immediately attracted to Leia, they conflict because she insists on asserting command and he automatically resists, even as she proves herself to be worthy of it.[17] And despite her initial disdain for the smuggler, whom she sees as selfish, Leia later acknowledges "I knew there was more to you than money" when Han comes through for the Rebellion.[17]

text: Fisher told Rolling Stone in 1980 that in the original script, when Luke and Han come to rescue a captured Leia, "I was hanging upside down with yellow eyes, like in The Exorcist ... Some form of radar torture was done to me and I was in a beam, bruised and beaten up, suspended in midair. The reason it was cut from the film was because I was unconscious and the Wookiee would have had to carry me for, like, the next fifteen minutes."[18]

text: The Empire Strikes Back[edit]

text: In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Leia is at the Rebel base on Hoth. She leads its evacuation during an Imperial attack, and then flees with Han, Chewbacca and C-3PO on Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon. They dodge pursuing Imperial TIE fighters by flying into an asteroid field when the Falcon's hyperdrive breaks down, with Leia piloting the ship at one point. Romance blossoms between Leia and Han during their flight from the Empire; while hiding in the stomach of a space slug, they finally share a kiss. With his ship needing repairs, Han seeks out his old friend Lando Calrissian in Cloud City, the floating city over Bespin. Though he welcomes them graciously, Lando soon turns them over to a newly arrived Darth Vader, who hopes to use them as bait to capture Luke. Leia confesses her love for Han as he is frozen in carbonite and then handed over to bounty hunter Boba Fett, who is charged with bringing him to gangster Jabba the Hutt. Lando helps Leia, Chewbacca and the two droids escape. Leia senses that Luke is in trouble, and goes back to save him after he is nearly killed during a lightsaber duel with Vader.

text: Rosenberg notes:

text: Yes, it’s slightly ridiculous ... that [Han] tries to pry a confession of affection out of her on Hoth, as Leia is trying to manage an evacuation with just an ion cannon for defense. But Han’s not wrong that if Leia doesn't figure out that she’s a person with needs, she's going to burn out ... In a way, it’s an early confession of love: Han’s anxious about the bounty hunters who are still pursuing him ... But he would stay and give his love and support to Leia if she could just acknowledge that she needs him.[17]

text: Return of the Jedi[edit]

text: In Return of the Jedi (1983), Leia infiltrates Jabba's palace on Tatooine disguised as the Ubese bounty hunter Boushh, and brings a captive Chewbacca with her as part of the ruse. She frees Han from the carbonite, but they are recaptured by Jabba. Leia is now chained to Jabba as his slave, outfitted in a metal bikini. After Luke arrives and kills Jabba's Rancor, Jabba sentences Luke, Han and Chewbacca to be fed to the Sarlacc. Lando (disguised as a guard) helps them overpower their captors, and Leia seizes the moment to strangle Jabba with her chain. Luke and Leia swing to safety, blowing up Jabba's barge behind them. Later, the heroes go to the forest moon of Endor to prepare for a battle with the Empire. There, Luke reveals to Leia that she is his twin sister and that Vader is their father. Leia joins Han in leading the Rebels in battle with Imperial troops as the Rebel Fleet attacks the second Death Star. Leia is slightly injured, but the Rebels, with help from the Ewoks, defeat the forces of the Empire.

text: Fisher told Rolling Stone in 1983, "In Return of the Jedi, [Leia] gets to be more feminine, more supportive, more affectionate. But let's not forget that these movies are basically boys' fantasies. So the other way they made her more female in this one was to have her take off her clothes."[14] Rosenberg writes of Han and Leia:

text: And we know those two crazy kids are locked for life in Return of the Jedi when it turns out that Han has accepted a Generalship in the Rebellion, keeping it a secret from Leia. In A New Hope, Leia was grumbling about the quality of Han as a rescuer ... But when she finds out what Han’s done, accepting a rank he once found insulting and a mission she knows to be dangerous, Leia is the first person to volunteer to join his strike team. In Star Wars, that’s what love looks like: trusting your partner’s commitment to the cause and respecting his strategic and technical judgement.[17]

text: In the film, Leia says that she has vague memories of her real mother, who she describes as "kind... but sad". Bouzereau quoted Lucas in 1997:

text: The part that I never really developed is the death of Luke and Leia's mother. I had a backstory for her in earlier drafts, but it basically didn't survive. When I got to Jedi, I wanted one of the kids to have some kind of memory of her because she will be a key figure in the new episodes I'm writing. But I really debated whether or not Leia should remember her.[19]

text: Revenge of the Sith[edit]

text: In the prequel film Revenge of the Sith (2005), Padmé Amidala is pregnant with Anakin Skywalker's twins near the end of the Clone Wars. After Anakin turns to the dark side of the Force and becomes Darth Vader, Padmé gives birth to Luke and Leia on Polis Massa and then dies. Leia is adopted by Senator Bail Organa and his wife Queen Breha of Alderaan.

text: Film critic Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote, "As we watch Anakin nearly melt in the lava, only to be put together, Frankenstein style, in a lab while Lucas intercuts scenes of Padme giving birth to the twins Luke and Leia, a link to genuine feeling is established at last."[20]

text: The Force Awakens[edit]

text: In March 2013, Fisher confirmed that she would reprise her role as Leia in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.[21] Set 32 years after Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens reintroduces a Leia who is "a little more battle weary, a little more broken hearted".[15] In November 2015, director J.J. Abrams said of Leia, "She’s referred to as General but ... there's a moment in the movie where a character sort of slips and calls her 'Princess.'"[22] Commenting on the story he added, "The stakes are pretty high in the story for her, so there’s not much goofing around where Leia’s concerned."[22] Asked how Leia is handling things in the film, Fisher said, "Not easily ... [she is] solitary. Under a lot of pressure. Committed as ever to her cause, but I would imagine feeling somewhat defeated, tired, and pissed."[22]

text: In the film, Leia is the leader of the Resistance, a group formed by the New Republic to fight a proxy war with the First Order and trying to find Luke, who disappeared years earlier. When her forces foil a First Order attack searching for the Resistance astromech droid BB-8, Leia is reunited with Han, who has helped the renegade stormtrooper Finn and orphaned scavenger Rey bring the droid this far. Han and Leia have been estranged for many years; their marriage fell apart after their son, Ben, fell to the dark side and became the First Order commander Kylo Ren. Leia believes Ben can still be brought back to the light side. Han volunteers for a mission to infiltrate the First Order's Starkiller Base to disable its defensive shields. Confronting Ren, Han tries to convince his son to leave the First Order, but Ren instead impales his father on his lightsaber.[23] Leia senses Han's death through the Force, and later shares a moment of grief with Rey, who had thought of Han as a mentor. Leia sees Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 off when they depart to locate Luke, saying, "may the Force be with you".

text: Asked why Leia is not shown to be a Jedi in The Force Awakens (as she is in the Star Wars expanded universe works), Abrams told IGN, "It was a great question, and one that we talked about quite a bit, even with Carrie [Fisher]. Why did she not take advantage of this natural Force strength that this character had. And one of the answers was that it was simply a choice that she made, that her decision to run the Rebellion, and ultimately this Resistance, and consider herself a General, as opposed to a Jedi. It was simply a choice that she took". He also added, "I would like to think that there really isn't much of a ticking clock, and it's never too late ... clearly we've seen, and we do again, that she still is Force strong. And it's something that I think is an intrinsic piece of her character.[24]

text: Fisher was nominated for a 2016 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal.[25]

text: The Last Jedi[edit]

text: In December 2015, producer Kathleen Kennedy confirmed that Fisher would reprise the role of Leia in the next installment, then known as Star Wars: Episode VIII,[26] but later named Star Wars: The Last Jedi.[27] Fisher died on December 27, 2016, after going into cardiac arrest. It was confirmed that she had completed filming her role in the film shortly before her death.[28]

text: Episode IX[edit]

text: Following Fisher's death, Variety reported that she was slated to appear in Star Wars: Episode IX and speculated that Lucasfilm would need to find a way to address her death and what would become of her character. Filming is expected to begin in 2018.[29][30][31] Lucasfilm announced in January 2017 that they had "no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher's performance as Princess or General Leia Organa".[32] In April 2017, Fisher's family granted Disney and Lucasfilm the rights to use recent footage of the late actress in Episode IX.[33] However, Kennedy subsequently said that Fisher would not appear in the film.[34][35]

text: Anthology films[edit]

text: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story[edit]

text: Leia makes a brief appearance in the final scene of the 2016 film Rogue One, receiving the plans for the Death Star as a lead-up to the beginning of A New Hope. Since this movie takes place prior to the original Star Wars trilogy, a very young Leia was required.[36] To achieve that effect, a computer-generated image of a young Carrie Fisher was superimposed over Norwegian actress Ingvild Deila's face; archival audio of Fisher saying "Hope" was used to voice the character.[36][37][38]

text: Novels[edit]

text: Leia makes her first literary appearance in Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker, the novelization of the original 1977 film Star Wars, which was released six months before the film in November 1976. Credited to Lucas but ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, the novel was based on Lucas' screenplay.[39] Leia later appeared in the novelizations The Empire Strikes Back (1980) by Donald F. Glut and Return of the Jedi (1983) by James Kahn. She is also a point of view character in the 2015 novelization of The Force Awakens by Foster.[40]

text: Foster's 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye was commissioned by Lucas as the basis for a potential low-budget sequel to Star Wars should the film prove unsuccessful.[41] In the story, Luke and Leia seek a crystal on a swampy planet and eventually face Vader in combat.

text: Leia also appears in the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens line of novels and comic books, introduced in conjunction with The Force Awakens to connect the film with previous installments.[42] She is the lead character in the young adult novel Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure (2015) by Cecil Castellucci and Jason Fry, which is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi,[43][44] and Claudia Gray's 2016 novel Star Wars: Bloodline, set several years before The Force Awakens.[45][46]

text: Comics[edit]

text: Also part of Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens are the five-part comic limited series Star Wars: Princess Leia (2015), set between Episode IV: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and the four-part comic limited series Star Wars: Shattered Empire (2015), set immediately after Return of the Jedi.[47] In Princess Leia #2 and Shattered Empire, Leia is seen using her Force sensitivities to sense the past,[48][49] and in Star Wars #12, she uses a lightsaber as a weapon for the first time canonically.[50] Princess Leia reveals Leia to have had royal training in martial arts and explores her reaction to the destruction of Alderaan, while Shattered Empire also portrays her as a skilled pilot who undertakes a dangerous mission alongside Poe Dameron's mother.[48][49]

text: Television[edit]

text: Star Wars Holiday Special[edit]

text: Leia appears briefly in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special TV film as a leader and administrator of the new Rebel Alliance base. She and C-3PO contact Chewbacca's wife Mallatobuck for assistance in finding Chewbacca and Han. Leia also appears in the cartoon segment at a different Rebel Base, located in an asteroid field, and at the Life Day ceremony at the end of the film.[51] Fisher also appeared in and hosted the November 18, 1978 episode of Saturday Night Live that aired one day after the holiday special.[52] The Summer 1983 issue of Rolling Stone magazine poked fun at this appearance.[53][54]

text: Star Wars Rebels[edit]

text: A teenage version of Princess Leia, voiced by Julie Dolan, appears in a 2016 episode of the animated series Star Wars Rebels, which is set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.[55] In the episode, Leia is sent on a secret mission to assist the titular rebels.[55] Executive producer Dave Filoni said of the appearance:

text: We thought we had an opportunity to show her learning to be a leader, experimenting with the personality that becomes the stronger more resolute character you see in A New Hope. One of the complex challenges of depicting Leia in Rebels is that we have to remind the audience that at this point she is part of the Empire. She doesn't believe in the Empire, but she is acting the part, almost a double agent.[55]

text: Star Wars: Forces of Destiny[edit]

text: Leia appears in the animated series Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, voiced by Shelby Young.[56]

text: Legends works[edit]

text: The original three Star Wars films have spawned a large franchise of works that include novels, comic books, video games and animated television series. Leia appears in much of this material. In April 2014 (with the sequel film The Force Awakens in production), Lucasfilm separated the Star Wars expanded universe (rebranded as Star Wars Legends) from official Star Wars canon.[57]

text: Novels[edit]

text: The 1991 New York Times bestselling novel Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn began what would become a large collection of works set before, between and especially after the original films.[58]

text: Post-Return of the Jedi[edit]

text: The bestselling Thrawn trilogy (1991–93) by Timothy Zahn begins five years after the events of Return of the Jedi.[58] In Heir to the Empire (1991), Leia is married to Han and three months pregnant with twins. Noghri commandos repeatedly attempt to kidnap her as part of Grand Admiral Thrawn's plan to restore the Empire and crush the New Republic.[59] In Dark Force Rising (1992), Leia realizes that Darth Vader and the Empire deceived the Noghri to secure their allegiance, and by revealing the truth she turns the alien race to the side of the New Republic.[60] In The Last Command (1993), Leia gives birth to the twins Jaina and Jacen on Coruscant during Thrawn's siege.[61] Leia, now the Chief of State of the New Republic, is a minor character in the Jedi Academy trilogy (1994) by Kevin J. Anderson, set after the Thrawn trilogy. Next in the timeline is the Callista trilogy: Children of the Jedi (1995) by Barbara Hambly, Darksaber (1995) by Anderson and Planet of Twilight (1997) by Hambly. In The Crystal Star (1994) by Vonda McIntyre, young Jacen, Jaina and their three-year-old brother Anakin are kidnapped in a plot to restore the Empire, but are rescued by Leia and Chewbacca. Leia struggles with the responsibilities of her position in The Black Fleet Crisis trilogy (1996) by Michael P. Kube-McDowell. In The New Rebellion (1996) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, she avoids an assassination attempt and then aids in the defeat of the Dark Jedi Kueller, whom she shoots to death. The Corellian trilogy (1995) by Roger MacBride Allen finds Han and Leia swept up in a civil war while visiting his homeworld of Corellia with their children. In the two Hand of Thrawn novels by Timothy Zahn (1997's Specter of the Past and 1998's Vision of the Future), Leia tries to hold the New Republic together as Moff Disra conspires for its volatile factions to destroy each other. Leia appears periodically in the Young Jedi Knights series (1995–98) by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. The 14-volume young adult fiction series covers the Jedi training of Jacen and Jaina.[62][63][64][65]

text: In The Truce at Bakura (1993) by Kathy Tyers, set one day after the ending of Return of the Jedi, Leia establishes New Alderaan, a sanctuary for the destroyed planet's surviving inhabitants. The spirit of Anakin Skywalker appears to Leia and pleads for her forgiveness, but she angrily banishes him. The six-volume Jedi Prince series (1992–93) by Paul Davids and Hollace Davids, later contradicted by other novels, is set within a year after Return of the Jedi. In The Glove of Darth Vader (1992), the self-proclaimed son of the defeated Emperor Palpatine, Trioculus, seeks the titular glove to cement himself as the new Emperor. Entranced by Leia's beauty in The Lost City of the Jedi (1992), Trioculus vows to make her his queen. He captures her in Zorba the Hutt's Revenge (1992), but Jabba the Hutt's vengeful father, Zorba, offers to trade his own prisoner Ken—Palpatine's real grandson whom Trioculus has been seeking—for Leia, his son's killer. But Leia and Ken are rescued and Trioculus is frozen in carbonate by Zorba. Mission from Mount Yoda (1993) finds Ken's father Triclops alive and willing to join the Rebels against the Empire. Leia, now engaged to Han, is captured by Zorba in Queen of the Empire (1993). Trioculus is revived and seizes Leia before Zorba can kill her. Leia is rescued and replaced with a lookalike droid decoy, which kills Trioculus. In Prophets of the Dark Side (1993), Leia looks forward to her wedding to Han and has a vision of their two children. Matthew Stover's 2008 standalone novel Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor picks up the story soon after, as Luke, Leia and the Rebels fight the Sith Lord Shadowspawn.

text: In The Courtship of Princess Leia (1994) by Dave Wolverton, set immediately before the Thrawn trilogy, Leia is presented with an advantageous political marriage to Prince Isolder of the planet Hapes. A jealous Han abducts Leia and takes her to the planet Dathomir; Luke and Isolder follow, and there they all find the hidden forces of the Imperial warlord Zsinj.[66] Defeating him, Han and Leia marry.[67] The 2003 novels A Forest Apart and Tatooine Ghost by Troy Denning are set immediately after The Courtship of Princess Leia. The newly married Leia fears that any children she has may succumb to the dark side like her father. During an adventure on Tatooine in Tatooine Ghost, she discovers the diary of her grandmother Shmi Skywalker and meets some of young Anakin's childhood friends. When she learns of Anakin's childhood as a slave and the traumatic death of his mother, Leia learns to forgive her father.

text: Works set between films[edit]

text: In Shadows of the Empire (1996) by Steve Perry, the only Star Wars novel set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Leia is searching for Boba Fett to find a captive Han. She is bewitched by the crime lord Prince Xizor using pheromones, but Chewbacca helps her elude the seduction.[68]

text: Allegiance (2007) and Choices of One (2011) by Timothy Zahn are set between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, and feature Leia and her cohorts seeking new allies for their Rebellion against the Empire. Razor's Edge (2013) by Martha Wells and Honor Among Thieves (2014) by James S. A. Corey take place in the same time period and also chronicle the adventures of Leia and Han.

text: New Jedi Order[edit]

text: In the New Jedi Order series (1999–2003), Leia resigns as Chief of State, and on the heels of her warnings before the Senate, the alien Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy. They destroy system after system and defeat both the Jedi and the New Republic forces in countless battles. Chewbacca dies in Vector Prime (1999) by R.A. Salvatore, which sends Han into a deep depression that causes a rift between him and Leia. They reunite after Leia is gravely wounded at the Battle of Duro in Kathy Tyers' Balance Point (2000). She is targeted by a deadly Voxyn slayer in Troy Dennings' Star By Star (2001), and though she manages to evade death, her son Anakin is later killed during a mission to prevent more Voxyn from being cloned. The Vong are finally defeated in The Unifying Force (2003) by James Luceno.

text: In Denning's The Dark Nest trilogy (2005), Leia, Han and several Jedi become involved in an escalating border dispute between the Chiss and the insidious insectoid Killiks, and Leia makes a bitter enemy in the Twi'lek warrior Alema Rar. In The Joiner King (2005), Leia asks Saba Sebatyne to train her as a Jedi Knight. R2-D2 malfunctions in The Unseen Queen (2005) and shows Luke a holoclip of his father Anakin and a pregnant woman, whom Luke learns is his and Leia's biological mother, Padmé Amidala. Anakin and Padmé are discussing a dream of Anakin's in which Padmé dies in childbirth; later, Luke and Leia watch a clip in which Padmé is talking to Obi-Wan Kenobi about Anakin. Tenel Ka, Queen Mother of the Hapes Consortium, has a daughter, Allana, secretly fathered by Jacen. In The Swarm War (2005), Luke and Leia view holoclips of their mother's death, and Leia is promoted to Jedi Knight.

text: Legacy of the Force[edit]

text: The bestselling Legacy of the Force series (2006–08) chronicles the crossover of Han and Leia's son Jacen to the dark side of the Force while the Jedi, Solos and Skywalkers fight against his growing power.[62][63][64][65] In Betrayal (2006) by Aaron Allston, Jacen turns to the dark side, believing that it is the only way to save the galaxy from the chaos brewing among the member systems of the Galactic Alliance. Jacen realizes in Bloodlines (2006) by Karen Traviss that the Sith discipline will require him to kill one of his loved ones, which he decides is an acceptable sacrifice to save the galaxy. In Troy Denning's Tempest (2006), Han and Leia thwart the assassination of Tenel Ka and Allana, but become caught up in a Corellian conspiracy. They are almost killed when the Millennium Falcon is attacked by a Star Destroyer controlled by an increasingly powerful Jacen—who knows that his parents are on board. With Han injured, Leia and Lando further investigate the Corellians in Aaron Allston's Exile (2007), but Alema reappears to exact her vengeance on Leia. Sacrifice (2007) by Karen Traviss finds Leia and Han on the run, hunted by Jacen as traitors to the Galactic Alliance. He kills Luke's wife Mara Jade as his final sacrifice to become Darth Caedus, the new ruler of the Sith. In Inferno (2007) by Troy Denning, Han and Leia are faced with the reality that their son, now Joint Chief of State, is the enemy. Leia attempts unsuccessfully to manipulate Jacen in Aaron Allston's Fury (2007) so that the Jedi can both thwart him and neutralize Alema. Finally, in Invincible (2008) by Troy Denning, Jaina kills Jacen in lightsaber duel. At Tenel Ka's request, Leia and Han adopt Allana, disguised with the name "Amelia" to protect her from any future vengeance against Cadeus or the Hapes Consortium. Multiple novels in the series made the New York Times Best Seller list.[69][70][71][72][73]

text: The nine-volume Fate of the Jedi series (2009–12) by Aaron Allston, Troy Denning and Christie Golden finds Han and Leia become caught up in the intensifying conflict between the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi. In the wake of Darth Cadeus' death, the now-peaceful Galactic Alliance harbors a growing mistrust toward the Jedi, and the situation is worsened by a Force-induced psychosis that begins afflicting individual Jedi, sending them on violent rampages.

text: In Millennium Falcon (2008) by James Luceno, set between Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi, a mysterious device hidden inside the eponymous spacecraft sends Han, Leia and Allana on an adventure to investigate the ship's past before it came into Han's possession. Troy Denning's Crucible (2013), set after Fate of the Jedi and the last novel to date in the Star Wars Legends chronology, reunites Leia, Han and Luke with Lando as they aid him to thwart a vast criminal enterprise threatening his asteroid mineral refinery in the Chilean Rift nebula.

text: Comics[edit]

text: Dark Empire[edit]

text: During the events of the comic series Dark Empire (1991–92), Palpatine has been resurrected in a young clone body and seduces Luke to the dark side of the Force as part of his plan to restore the Empire. A captive Leia, resisting Palpatine's attempts to turn her as well, escapes with an artifact he needs to secure his power, the Jedi Holocron. Luke pursues her, and Leia manages to turn him back. Brother and sister then fight Palpatine with the light side of the Force, turning his own Force-generated storm against him and destroying Palpatine and his Star Destroyer. In Dark Empire II (1994–95), Leia gives birth to a third child by Han, whom she names Anakin. Palpatine is reborn in an inferior, rapidly deteriorating clone body in Empire's End (1995), and seeks to possess the body of the infant Anakin.

text: Cultural impact[edit]

text: Princess Leia has been called a 1980s icon,[74] a feminist hero[75] and "an exemplary personification of female empowerment".[16] In 2008, Leia was selected by Empire magazine as the 89th greatest film character of all time,[76] and IGN listed her as their 8th top Star Wars hero.[77] UGO Networks listed Leia as one of their best heroes of all time in 2010.[78]

text: The character has been referenced or parodied in several TV shows and films,[79] and celebrated in cosplay.[80] Fisher appeared in the Leia metal bikini on the cover of the Summer 1983 issue of Rolling Stone,[53][54] and a painting of Leia and other characters surrounding Lucas appeared on the cover of the May 25, 1983 issue of Time announcing Return of the Jedi.[81][82] In 2013, cartoonist Jeffrey Brown published the bestselling Star Wars: Vader's Little Princess, a comic strip-style book featuring Darth Vader and a young Leia in humorous father-daughter situations.[83][84][85] Princess Leia appears on a 2007 US postage stamp[86][87] and a 2015 UK stamp.[88][89][90]

text: Leia has also been used in a wide range of Star Wars merchandise,[91] including statuettes, action figures and other toys, household items and clothing,[92] office supplies, food products,[93] and bubble bath and shampoo in Leia-shaped bottles with her head as the cap.[94][95][96] In her one-woman show Wishful Drinking, Fisher called the Princess Leia Pez dispenser one of the "merchandising horrors" of the series.[97] In a 2011 interview, Fisher said:

text: I signed away my likeness for free. In those days, there was no such thing as a “likeness" ... There was no merchandising tied to movies. No one could have known the extent of the franchise. Not that I don’t think I’m cute or anything, but when I looked in the mirror, I didn’t think I was signing away anything of value. Lately I feel like I’m Minnie Mouse—the identity of Princess Leia so eclipses any other identity that I’ve ever had.[91]

text: After the 2012 acquisition of LucasFilm by the Walt Disney Company, the Disney Store stated in May 2014 that the company had "no plans for Leia products".[98] After public criticism, Disney told Time in June 2014 that it would be releasing several Leia products.[98] Funko has since produced several versions of Leia (at least one for each film) in their POP! line of 4.5 inch vinyl figures in the Japanese super deformed style. Hasbro is set to release an action figure of Leia as she appears in the Star Wars Rebels animated series.[99]

text: "Cinnamon buns" hairstyle[edit]

text: Leia's unique hairdo in 1977's A New Hope has come to be known as the "doughnut" or "cinnamon buns" hairstyle,[100] and is iconic of the character and series.[79] A February 1978 cover story for the British teen magazine Jackie included step-by-step instructions on how to replicate Leia's hair buns.[101][102] In the 1978 short film parody Hardware Wars, Princess Anne-Droid has actual cinnamon buns on the side of her head.[103] Miss Piggy of The Muppet Show copied the hairdo in a Star Wars-themed episode of the series in February 1980.[104] In the 1987 Mel Brooks comedy film Spaceballs, Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) appears to have the hairstyle, which is soon revealed to in fact be a large pair of headphones.[79] In the parody film Thumb Wars, the role of Leia was filled by a character named Princess Bunhead, who has two cinnamon rolls for hair. In 2015, Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd's character in the horror-comedy TV series Scream Queens, a rich and disaffected sorority girl known as Chanel No. 3, wears earmuffs in every scene as an homage to Fisher's iconic Leia hairstyle.[105][106] Lourd also has a cameo in The Force Awakens (2015) in which she wears Leia's distinctive hair buns.[107][108][109]

text: Asked about his inspiration for the hairstyle, George Lucas told Time in 2008, "In the 1977 film, I was working very hard to create something different that wasn't fashion, so I went with a kind of Southwestern Pancho Villa woman revolutionary look, which is what that is. The buns are basically from turn-of-the-century Mexico."[110] However, in 2015 Linda Rodriguez McRobbie of Mental Floss recounted research suggesting that while female Mexican revolutionaries of that time did not have such elaborate hairstyles, young marriageable Hopi women did, and their "squash blossom whorls" superficially resemble Leia's hair buns.[111][112][113][114] McRobbie also relates Michael Heilemann's theory that Leia's hairstyle was likely also inspired by that of two earlier characters: Queen Fria in the 1939 Flash Gordon comic strip "The Ice Kingdom of Mongo", and scientist Barnes Wallis’ wife Molly (played by Ursula Jeans) in the 1955 war film The Dam Busters.[111][112] Lucas was influenced by the Flash Gordon serials, and the Battle of Yavin in Star Wars is an homage to the penultimate bombing sequence in The Dam Busters.[115][116] Comparisons have also been made to the 4th century BC Iberian sculpture Lady of Elche,[111][112][117] as well as the 1920s "earphones" hairstyle.[111][118]

text: Feminist analysis[edit]

text: Leia has been the subject of feminist analysis. Mark Edlitz wrote for The Huffington Post in 2010 that "Leia is an exemplary personification of female empowerment."[16] David Bushman, television curator at the Paley Center for Media, said in 2012, "From the male perspective ... Princess Leia was a very creditable character for her time—not perfect, but certainly defiant, assertive, and strong."[74] Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post wrote in 2015, "Leia wasn't just the first great heroine of science fiction and fantasy to capture my imagination. She was one of the first characters I encountered whose power came from her political conviction and acumen."[17] In her 2007 article "Feminism and the Force: Empowerment and Disillusionment in a Galaxy Far, Far Away", Diana Dominguez cited Leia as a welcome change from the previous portrayals of women in film and TV.[100] She wrote:

text: Here was a woman who could play like and with the boys, but who didn't have to become one of the boys and who could, if and when she wanted to, show she liked the boys, a woman who is outspoken, unashamed, and, most importantly, unpunished for being so. She isn't a flirty sex-pot, tossing her hair around seductively to distract the enemy ... She doesn't play the role of "Maternal caretaker", although she does display caring and compassion, or "the sweet innocent damsel" who stands passively by while the men do all the work, but does step aside to let them do what they're good at when it is wise to do so ... Leia is a hero without losing her gendered status; she does not have to play the cute, helpless sex kitten or become sexless and androgynous to get what she wants. She can be strong, sassy, outspoken, bossy, and bitchy, and still be respected and seen as feminine.[100][119]

text: Rosenberg writes that, though at first Luke is an apolitical innocent in search of adventure and Han is a detached opportunist in search of money, both are "influenced by Leia’s passion [and] take their places as full participants in the Rebellion".[17] She notes, "Everyone else eventually comes around to Leia’s view of the world."[17] Leia herself, singularly dedicated to her political movement against the Empire, "finds a partner in Han, acknowledging that personal happiness can help her sustain her commitment to building a better galactic order".[17] Rosenberg cites "Leia's willingness to see the best in him, and Han's desire to live up to her belief in him" as a foundation of their relationship, also pointing out his attempts to make her recognize that she has needs like anyone else and should acknowledge that she needs him.[17]

text: In their 2012 essay "Lightsabers, Political Arenas, and Marriages", Ray Merlock and Kathy Merlock Jackson cite Leia as the successor of earlier science fiction heroines Wilma Deering of Buck Rogers and Dale Arden of Flash Gordon, and the embodiment of "a new stage in the ongoing presentation of the fairy-tale princess in jeopardy". Writing that "after Leia, no longer would princesses be passive and salvaged simply with a kiss," they note the reflection of the character in later Disney Princess animated films and in woman warriors such as Ellen Ripley from the Alien franchise and Xena of the adventure TV series Xena: Warrior Princess.[100] A. O. Scott of The New York Times described Leia as "a foremother of Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen and of countless latter-day Disney princesses. She also foretold the recent, somewhat belated feminist turn in the Star Wars cycle itself".[120]

text: Fisher herself described Leia as a "huge" feminist icon, dismissing the suggestion that the character was ever a "damsel in distress". Fisher said of Leia, "She bossed them around. I don't know what your idea of distress is, but that wasn't it! And I wasn't some babe running through the galaxy with my tits bouncing around. So I wasn't threatening to women",[121] adding "I like Princess Leia. I like how she was feisty. I like how she killed Jabba the Hutt".[120]

text: Metal bikini[edit]

text: Leia's slave costume when she is held captive by Jabba the Hutt at the beginning of Return of the Jedi—made of brass and dubbed Leia's "Metal Bikini" or "Gold Bikini"—immediately made the character (and Fisher) a "generational sex symbol" celebrated by pin-up posters,[74][122] and later merchandising and cosplay.[75][92][93][123] The outfit has gained a cult following of its own.[123]

text: Rosenberg noted that "the costume has become culturally iconic in a way that has slipped loose from the context of the scenes in which Leia wore it and the things she does after she is forced into the outfit."[75] Philip Chien of the website Wired wrote in 2006, "There's no doubt that the sight of Carrie Fisher in the gold sci-fi swimsuit was burned into the sweaty subconscious of a generation of fanboys hitting puberty in the spring of 1983."[124] Acknowledging the opinion of some that the "Slave Leia" iconography tarnishes the character's position as "feminist hero",[75] Rosenberg argues:

text: Leia may be captive in these scenes, but she’s not exactly a compliant fantasy. Instead, she’s biding her time for the moment when she can put that fury into action, carrying out a carefully laid plan to rescue her lover. And when that moment comes, the bikini doesn’t condemn Leia to passivity. She rises, and uses the very chains that bind her to strangle the creature who tried to take away her power by turning her into a sex object.[75]

text: Science fiction filmmaker Letia Clouston concurs, saying "Sci-fi has had a long history of strong female characters. Yes, Princess Leia was in a gold bikini, but she was also the one who single-handedly killed Jabba. When you take into account movies and TV shows like Terminator, Aliens, Battlestar Galactica, and even video games like Metroid, you can see sci-fi has consistently promoted the strength of women more than any other genre."[74]

text: Family tree[edit]

text:
This Star Wars-related article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (November 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

[hide]

v
t
e

Skywalker family tree

Aika
Lars[a]

Cliegg
Lars[b]

Shmi
Skywalker[c]

Jobal
Naberrie[d]

Ruwee
Naberrie[d]

Beru
Whitesun[e]

Owen
Lars[f]

Anakin
Skywalker[g][h]

Padmé
Amidala[i]

Bail
Organa[j][k]

Breha
Organa[l]

Luke
Skywalker[m][n]

Leia
Organa[o]

Han
Solo[p]

Ben
Solo[p][q]

References:

Jump up ^ Hidalgo, Pablo (2016). Star Wars Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Cliegg Lars". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Shmi Skywalker Lars". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Jump up ^ "Databank: Beru Lars". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Owen Lars". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Anakin Skywalker". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Darth Vader". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Padmé Amidala". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
Jump up ^ Adopted father of Leia Organa, as established in Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Jump up ^ "Databank: Bail Organa". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
Jump up ^ Adopted mother of Leia Organa, as established in Revenge of the Sith (2005).
Jump up ^ "Databank: Luke Skywalker". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
Jump up ^ In the alternate Star Wars expanded universe (Legends), Luke is married to Mara Jade and has a son, Ben Skywalker.
Jump up ^ "Databank: Princess Leia Organa". StarWars.com. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b The Force Awakens. 2015.
Jump up ^ In the alternate Star Wars expanded universe (Legends) continuity, Han and Leia have three children: Jaina, Jacen and Anakin Solo.

tag: table


document_title: Hallelujah

question_text: in which book of the bible does the word alleluia appear 4 times

text: Hallelujah

text: In the Bible[edit]

text: הַלְלוּיָהּ is found in 23 verses in the Book of Psalms (104–106, 111–117, 135, 145–150), but twice in Psalm 150:6. It starts and concludes a number of Psalms.

text: The Greek transliteration ἀλληλούϊα (allēlouia) appears in the Septuagint version of these Psalms, in Tobit 13:17 and 3 Maccabees 7:13, and four times in Revelation 19:1–6, the great song of praise to God for his triumph over the Whore of Babylon.[5][6] It is this usage that Charles Jennens extracted for the Hallelujah Chorus in Handel's Messiah.

text: Interpretation[edit]

text: In the Hebrew Bible hallelujah is actually a two-word phrase, not one word. The first part, hallelu, is the second-person imperative masculine plural form of the Hebrew verb hillel.[1] However, "hallelujah" means more than simply "praise Jah" or "praise Yah", as the word hallel in Hebrew means a joyous praise in song, to boast in God. Hallel could also refer to someone who acts madly or foolishly.[9][10]

text: The second part, Yah, is a shortened form of YHWH, the name for the Creator.[5] The name ceased to be pronounced in Second Temple Judaism, by the 3rd century BC due to religious beliefs.[11] The correct pronunciation is not known, however, it is sometimes rendered by Christians as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah". The Septuagint translates Yah as Kyrios (the LORD), because of the Jewish custom of replacing the sacred name with "Adonai", meaning "the Lord".

text: In Psalm 150:6 the Hebrew reads kol han'shamah t'hallel yah halelu-yah;[12] the first "hallel" and "yah" in this verse are two separate words, and the word "yah" is translated as "the LORD", or "YHWH". In Psalm 148:1 the Hebrew says "הללו יה halelu yah". It then says "halelu eth-YHWH" as if using "yah" and "YHWH" interchangeably. The word "Yah" appears by itself as a divine name in poetry about 49 times in the Hebrew Bible (including halelu yah), such as in Psalm 68:4–5 "who rides upon the skies by his name Yah" and Exodus 15:2 "Yah is my strength and song". It also often appears at the end of Israelite theophoric names such as Isaiah "yeshayah(u), Yahweh is salvation" and Jeremiah "yirmeyah(u), Yahweh is exalted".[5]

text: The word hallelujah occurring in the Psalms is therefore a request for a congregation to join in praise toward God. It can be translated as "Praise Yah" or "Praise Jah, you people".[2][7][13]

text: Most well-known English versions of the Hebrew Bible translate the Hebrew "Hallelujah" (as at Psalm 150:1) as two Hebrew words, generally rendered as "Let us praise" and "the LORD", but the second word is given as "Yah" in the Lexham English Bible and Young's Literal Translation, "Jah" in the New World Translation, "Jehovah" in the American Standard Version, and "Hashem" in the Artscroll Tanach (Orthodox Jewish). Instead of a translation, the transliteration "Hallelujah" is used by JPS Tanakh, International Standard Version, Darby Translation, God's Word Translation, Holman Christian Standard Bible, and The Message, with the spelling "Halleluyah" appearing in the Complete Jewish Bible. The Greek-influenced form "Alleluia" appears in Wycliffe's Bible, the Knox Version and the New Jerusalem Bible.

text: In the great song of praise to God for his triumph over the Whore of Babylon[5] in chapter 19 of the New Testament book of Revelation, the Greek word ἀλληλούϊα (allēluia), a transliteration of the same Hebrew word, appears four times, as an expression of praise rather than an exhortation to praise.[6] In English translations this is mostly rendered as "Hallelujah",[14] but as "Alleluia" in several translations,[15] while a few have "Praise the Lord",[16] "Praise God",[17] "Praise our God",[18] or "Thanks to our God".[19]

text: Usage by Jews[edit]

text: The word "hallelujah" is sung as part of the Hallel Psalms (interspersed between Psalms 113–150).[20] In Tractate Shabbat of the Talmud, Rabbi Yose is quoted as saying that the Pesukei dezimra Psalms should be recited daily.[21] Psalms 145-150, also known as the Hallel of pesukei dezimra, are included to fulfill this requirement in the liturgy for the traditional Jewish Shacharit (morning) service.[22] In addition, on the three Pilgrimage Festivals, the new moon and Hanukkah, Psalms 113-118 are recited.[23] The latter psalms are known simply as Hallel with no additional qualification.

text: Psalms 146:10, ending with Halleluja, is the third and final biblical quotation in the Kedushah. This expanded version of the third blessing in the Amidah is said during the Shacharit and Mincha (morning and afternoon) services when there is a minyan present.[24]

text: Usage by Christians[edit]

text: For most Christians, "Hallelujah" is considered a joyful word of praise to God, rather than an injunction to praise him. "The Alleluia" refers to a traditional chant, combining the word with verses from the Psalms or other scripture. In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, and in many older Protestant denominations, the Alleluia, along with the Gloria in excelsis Deo, is not spoken or sung in liturgy during the season of Lent, instead being replaced by a Lenten acclamation, while in Eastern Churches, Alleluia is chanted throughout Lent at the beginning of the Matins service, replacing the Theos Kyrios, which is considered more joyful. At the Easter service and throughout the Pentecostarion, Christos anesti is used in the place where Hallelujah is chanted in the western rite expressing happiness.

text: In contemporary worship among many Protestants, expressions of "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord" are acceptable spontaneous expressions of joy, thanksgiving and praise towards God, requiring no specific prompting or call or direction from those leading times of praise and singing.[25]

text: Usage in informal language[edit]

text: In modern English, "Hallelujah" is frequently spoken to express happiness that a thing hoped or waited for has happened.[26] An example is its use in the song "Get Happy".


document_title: Polar ice cap

question_text: how deep is the ice at the north pole

question_tokens: how deep is the ice at the north pole

text: Polar ice cap

text: Earth[edit]

text:
Extent of the Arctic sea-ice in September 1978 – 2002

Extent of the Arctic sea-ice in February 1978 – 2002

The Blue Marble, Earth as seen from Apollo 17 with the southern polar ice cap visible (courtesy NASA)

tag: ul

text: North Pole[edit]

text: Earth's North Pole is covered by floating pack ice (sea ice) over the Arctic Ocean. Portions of the ice that do not melt seasonally can get very thick, up to 3–4 meters thick over large areas, with ridges up to 20 meters thick.  One-year ice is usually about 1 meter thick.  The area covered by sea ice ranges between 9 and 12 million km². In addition, the Greenland ice sheet covers about 1.71 million km² and contains about 2.6 million km³ of ice. When the ice breaks off (calves) it forms icebergs scattered around the northern Atlantic.[2]

text: According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, "since 1979, winter Arctic ice extent has decreased about 4.2 percent per decade". Both 2008 and 2009 had a minimum Arctic sea ice extent somewhat above that of 2007. At other times of the year the ice extent is still sometimes near the 1979–2000 average, as in April 2010, by the data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.[3]  Still, between these same years, the overall average ice coverage appears to have declined from 8 million km² to 5 million km².

text: South Pole[edit]

text: Earth's south polar land mass, Antarctica, is covered by the Antarctic ice sheet.  It covers an area of about 14.6 million km2 and contains between 25 and 30 million km3 of ice. Around 70% of the fresh water on Earth is contained in this ice sheet.

text: Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that the sea ice coverage of Antarctica has a slightly positive trend over the last three decades (1979–2009).[4]

text: Historical cases[edit]

text: Over the past several decades, Earth’s polar ice caps have gained significant attention because of the alarming decrease in land and sea ice. NASA reports that since the late 1970s, the Arctic has lost an average of 20,800 square miles (53,900 square kilometers) of ice per year while the Antarctic has gained an average of 7,300 square miles (18,900 km2) of ice per year. On September 19, 2014, for the first time since 1979, Antarctic sea ice extent exceeded 7.72 million square miles (20 million square kilometers), according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The ice extent stayed above this benchmark extent for several days. The average maximum extent between 1981 and 2010 was 7.23 million square miles (18.72 million square kilometers). The single-day maximum extent in 2014 was reached on Sept. 20, according to NSIDC data, when the sea ice covered  7.78 million square miles (20.14 million square kilometers). The 2014 five-day average maximum was reached on Sept. 22, when sea ice covered 7.76 million square miles (20.11 million square kilometers), according to NSIDC.[5]

text: The current rate of decline of the ice caps has caused many investigations and discoveries on glacier dynamics and their influence on the world’s climate. In the early 1950s, scientists and engineers from the US Army began drilling into polar ice caps for geological insight. These studies resulted in “nearly forty years of research experience and achievements in deep polar ice core drillings... and established the fundamental drilling technology for retrieving deep ice cores for climatologic archives.” [6] Polar ice caps have been used to track current climate patterns but also patterns over the past several thousands years from the traces of CO2 and CH4 found trapped in the ice. In the past decade, polar ice caps have shown their most rapid decline in size with no true sign of recovery.[7] Josefino Comiso, a senior research scientist at NASA, found that the “rate of warming in the Arctic over the last 20 years is eight times the rate of warming over the last 100 years.”[8] In September 2012, sea ice reached its smallest size ever. Journalist John Vidal stated that sea ice is "700,000 sq km below the previous minimum of 4.17m sq km set in 2007".[9] In August 2013, Arctic sea ice extent averaged 6.09m km2, which represents 1.13 million km2 below the 1981–2010 average for that month.[10]

text: Mars[edit]

text: In addition to Earth, the planet Mars also has polar ice caps.  They consist of primarily water-ice with a few percent dust.[11]  Frozen carbon dioxide makes up a small permanent portion of the Planum Australe or the South Polar Layered Deposits.  In both hemispheres a seasonal carbon dioxide frost deposits in the winter and sublimes during the spring.[12]

text: Data collected in 2001 from NASA missions to Mars show that the southern residual ice cap undergoes sublimation inter-annually.  The most widely accepted explanation is that fluctuations in the planet's orbit are causing the changes.[13]

text: Pluto[edit]

text: On April 29, 2015, NASA stated that its New Horizons missions had discovered a feature thought to be a polar ice cap on the dwarf planet Pluto.[14] The probe's flyby of Pluto in July 2015 allowed the Alice ultraviolet imaging spectrometer to confirm that the feature was in fact an ice cap composed of methane and nitrogen ices.[15]