document_title: Machine gun

question_text: when was the first fully automatic weapon made

text: Machine gun

text: Overview of modern machine guns[edit]

text: Unlike semi-automatic firearms, which require one trigger pull per round fired, a machine gun is designed to fire for as long as the trigger is held down. Nowadays the term is restricted to relatively heavy weapons, able to provide continuous or frequent bursts of automatic fire for as long as ammunition lasts. Machine guns are normally used against personnel, aircraft and light vehicles, or to provide suppressive fire, either directly or indirectly. They are commonly mounted on fast attack vehicles such as technicals to provide heavy mobile firepower, armored vehicles such as tanks for engaging targets too small to justify use of the primary weaponry or too fast to effectively engage with it, and on aircraft as defensive armament or for strafing ground targets, though on fighter aircraft true machine guns have mostly been supplanted by large-caliber rotary guns.

text: Some machine guns have in practice sustained fire almost continuously for hours; other automatic weapons overheat after less than a minute of use. Because they become very hot, practically all machine guns fire from an open bolt, to permit air cooling from the breech between bursts. They also usually have either a barrel cooling system, slow-heating heavyweight barrel, or removable barrels which allow a hot barrel to be replaced.

text: Although subdivided into "light", "medium", "heavy" or "general-purpose", even the lightest machine guns tend to be substantially larger and heavier than standard infantry arms. Medium and heavy machine guns are either mounted on a tripod or on a vehicle; when carried on foot, the machine gun and associated equipment (tripod, ammunition, spare barrels) require additional crew members.

text: Light machine guns are designed to provide mobile fire support to a squad and are typically air-cooled weapons fitted with a box magazine or drum and a bipod; they may use full-size rifle rounds, but modern examples often use intermediate rounds. Medium machine guns use full-sized rifle rounds and are designed to be used from fixed positions mounted on a tripod. Heavy machine gun is a term originating in World War I to describe heavyweight medium machine guns and persisted into World War II with Japanese Hotchkiss M1914 clones; today, however, it is used to refer to automatic weapons with a caliber of at least .50 in (12.7 mm)[2] but less than 20 mm. A general-purpose machine gun is usually a lightweight medium machine gun which can either be used with a bipod and drum in the light machine gun role or a tripod and belt feed in the medium machine gun role.

text: Machine guns usually have simple iron sights, though the use of optics is becoming more common. A common aiming system for direct fire is to alternate solid ("ball") rounds and tracer ammunition rounds (usually one tracer round for every four ball rounds), so shooters can see the trajectory and "walk" the fire into the target, and direct the fire of other soldiers.

text: Many heavy machine guns, such as the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun, are accurate enough to engage targets at great distances. During the Vietnam War, Carlos Hathcock set the record for a long-distance shot at 7,382 ft (2,250 m) with a .50 caliber heavy machine gun he had equipped with a telescopic sight.[3] This led to the introduction of .50 caliber anti-materiel sniper rifles, such as the Barrett M82.

text: Other automatic weapons are subdivided into several categories based on the size of the bullet used, whether the cartridge is fired from a closed bolt or an open bolt, and whether the action used is locked or is some form of blowback.

text: Fully automatic firearms using pistol-calibre ammunition are called machine pistols or submachine guns largely on the basis of size; those using shotgun cartridges are almost always referred to as automatic shotguns. The term personal defense weapon (PDW) is sometimes applied to weapons firing dedicated armor-piercing rounds which would otherwise be regarded as machine pistols or SMGs, but it is not particularly strongly defined and has historically been used to describe a range of weapons from ordinary SMGs to compact assault rifles. Selective fire rifles firing a full-power rifle cartridge from a closed bolt are called automatic rifles or battle rifles, while rifles that fire an intermediate cartridge are called assault rifles.

text: Assault rifles are a compromise between the size and weight of a pistol-calibre submachine gun and a full size battle rifle, firing intermediate cartridges and allowing semi-automatic and burst or full-automatic fire options (selective fire), sometimes with both of the latter present.

text: Operation[edit]

text: Many machine guns are of the locked breech type, and follow this cycle:

text:
Pulling (manually or electrically) the bolt assembly/bolt carrier rearward by way of the cocking lever to the point bolt carrier engages a sear and stays at rear position until trigger is activated making bolt carrier move forward
Loading fresh round into chamber and locking bolt
Firing round by way of a firing pin or striker (except for aircraft medium calibre using electric ignition primers) hitting the primer that ignites the powder when bolt reaches locked position.
Unlocking and removing the spent case from the chamber and ejecting it out of the weapon as bolt is moving rearward
Loading the next round into the firing chamber. Usually the recoil spring (also known as main spring)  tension pushes bolt back into battery and a cam strips the new round from a feeding device, belt or box.
Cycle is repeated as long as the trigger is activated by operator. Releasing the trigger resets the trigger mechanism by engaging a sear so the weapon stops firing with bolt carrier fully at the rear.

text: The operation is basically the same for all locked breech automatic firearms, regardless of the means of activating these mechanisms.  There are also multi-chambered formats, such as revolver cannon, and some automatic weapons, including many submachine guns, the Schwarzlose machine gun etc., that do not lock at all but instead use simple blowback or some type of delayed blowback.

text: Design[edit]

text: Most modern machine guns use gas-operated reloading, which taps off some of the propellant gas from the fired cartridge, using its mechanical pressure to unlock the bolt and cycle the action.  The Russian PK machine gun is an example. Another efficient and widely used format is the recoil actuated type, which uses the guns recoil energy for the same purpose. Machine guns such as the M2 Browning and MG42, are of this second kind. A cam, lever or actuator absorbs part of the energy of the recoil to operate the gun mechanism.

text: An externally actuated weapon uses an external power source, such as an electric motor or even a hand crank to move its mechanism through the firing sequence. Most modern weapons of this type are called Gatling guns or chain guns in reference to their driving mechanism. Gatling guns have several barrels each with an associated action on a rotating carousel and a system of cams that load, cock, and fire each mechanism progressively as it rotates through the sequence; essentially each barrel is a separate bolt-action rifle using a common feed source. The continuous nature of the rotary action allows for an incredibly high cyclic rate of fire, often several thousand rounds per minute. Rotary guns are less prone to jamming than a gun operated by gas or recoil, as the external power source will eject misfired rounds with no further trouble, but this is not possible in the rare cases of self-powered rotary guns. Rotary guns are generally used with large rounds, 20mm in diameter or more, offering benefits of reliability and firepower, though the weight and size of the power source and driving mechanism makes them impractical for use outside of a vehicle or aircraft mount.

text: Revolver cannons, such as the Mauser MK 213, were developed in World War II by the Germans to provide high-caliber cannons with a reasonable rate of fire and reliability. A recoil-operated carriage holds a revolving chamber with typically five chambers. As each round is fired, electrically, the carriage moves back rotating the chamber which also ejects the spent case, indexes the next live round to be fired with the barrel and loads the next round into the chamber. The action is very similar to that of the revolver pistols common in the 19th and 20th centuries, giving this type of weapon its name.

text: Firing a machine gun for prolonged periods produces large amounts of heat. In a worst-case scenario this may cause a cartridge to overheat and detonate even when the trigger is not pulled, potentially leading to damage or causing the gun to cycle its action and keep firing until it has exhausted its ammunition supply or jammed (this is known as cooking off, distinct from runaway fire where the sear fails to disengage when the trigger is released). To prevent this, some kind of cooling system is required. Early machine guns were often water-cooled; while very effective, the water also added considerable weight to an already bulky design. Air-cooled machine guns often feature quick-change barrels (often carried by a crew member), passive cooling fins, or in some designs forced-air cooling, such as that employed by the Lewis Gun. Advances in metallurgy and use of special composites in barrel liners allow for greater heat absorption and dissipation during firing. The higher the rate of fire, the more often barrels must be changed and allowed to cool. To minimize this, most air-cooled guns are fired only in short bursts or at a reduced rate of fire. Some designs – such as the many variants of the MG42 – are capable of rates of fire in excess of 1,200 rounds per minute.

text: In weapons where the round seats and fires at the same time, mechanical timing is essential for operator safety, to prevent the round from firing before it is seated properly. Machine guns are controlled by one or more mechanical sears. When a sear is in place, it effectively stops the bolt at some point in its range of motion. Some sears stop the bolt when it is locked to the rear. Other sears stop the firing pin from going forward after the round is locked into the chamber. Almost all machine guns have a "safety" sear,[citation needed] which simply keeps the trigger from engaging.

text: History[edit]

text: The first successful machine-gun designs were developed in the mid-19th century. The key characteristic of modern machine guns, their relatively high rate of fire and more importantly mechanical loading,[4] first appeared in the Model 1862 Gatling gun, which was adopted by the United States Navy. These weapons were still powered by hand; however, this changed with Hiram Maxim's idea of harnessing recoil energy to power reloading in his Maxim machine gun. Dr. Gatling also experimented with electric-motor-powered models; this externally powered machine reloading has seen use in modern weapons as well.

text: While technical use of the term "machine gun" has varied, the modern definition used by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute of America is "a fully automatic firearm that loads, fires and ejects continuously when the trigger is held to the rear until the ammunition is exhausted or pressure on the trigger is released."[4] This definition excludes most early manually operated repeating arms such as volley guns and the Gatling gun.

text: Early rapid-firing weapons[edit]

text: The first known ancestors of multi-shot weapons were medieval organ guns, while the first to have the ability to fire multiple shots from a single barrel without a full manual reload were revolvers made in Europe in the late 1500s. One is a shoulder-gun-length weapon made in Nuremberg, Germany, circa 1580. Another is a revolving arquebus, produced by Hans Stopler of Nuremberg in 1597.[5]

text: True repeating long arms were difficult to manufacture prior to the development of the unitary firearm cartridge; nevertheless, lever-action repeating rifles such as the Kalthoff repeater and Cookson repeater were made in small quantities in the 17th century.

text: Perhaps the earliest examples of predecessors to the modern machine gun are to be found in China. According to the Wu-Pei-Chih, a booklet examining Chinese military equipment produced during the first quarter of the 17th century, the Chinese army had in its arsenal the 'Po-Tzu Lien-Chu-P'ao' or 'string-of-100-bullets cannon'. This was a repeating cannon fed by a hopper which fired its charges sequentially.[6] Another repeating gun was produced by a Chinese commmoner in the late 17th century. This weapon was also hopper-fed and never went into mass production.[7]

text: Another early revolving gun was created by James Puckle, a London lawyer, who patented what he called "The Puckle Gun" on May 15, 1718. It was a design for a manually operated 1.25 in. (32 mm) caliber, flintlock cannon with a revolver cylinder able to fire 6-11 rounds before reloading by swapping out the cylinder, intended for use on ships.[8] It was one of the earliest weapons to be referred to as a machine gun, being called such in 1722,[9] though its operation does not match the modern usage of the term. According to Puckle, it was able to fire round bullets at Christians and square bullets at Turks.[8] However, it was a commercial failure and was not adopted or produced in any meaningful quantity.

text: In 1777, Philadelphia gunsmith Joseph Belton offered the Continental Congress a "new improved gun", which was capable of firing up to twenty shots in five seconds; unlike older repeaters using complex lever-action mechanisms, it used a simpler system of superposed loads, and was loaded with a single large paper cartridge. Congress requested that Belton modify 100 flintlock muskets to fire eight shots in this manner, but rescinded the order when Belton's price proved too high.[10][11]

text: In the early and mid-19th century, a number of rapid-firing weapons appeared which offered multi-shot fire, mostly volley guns. Volley guns (such as the Mitrailleuse) and double barreled pistols relied on duplicating all parts of the gun, though the Nock gun used the otherwise-undesirable "chain fire" phenomenon (where multiple chambers are ignited at once) to propagate a spark from a single flintlock mechanism to multiple barrels. Pepperbox pistols also did away with needing multiple hammers but used multiple manually operated barrels. Revolvers further reduced this to only needing a pre-prepared cylinder and linked advancing the cylinder to cocking the hammer. However, these were still manually operated.

text: In 1847 a short description of a prototype electrically-ignited mechanical machine gun was published in Scientific American by a J.R. Nichols. The model described is small in scale and works by rotating a series of barrels vertically so that it is feeding at the top from a 'tube' or hopper and could be discharged immediately at any elevation after having received a charge, according to the author.[12]

text: In 1854 a British patent for a mechanically operated machine gun was filed by Henry Clarke. This weapon used multiple barrels arranged side by side, fed by a revolving cylinder that was in turn fed by hoppers, similar to the system used by Nichols. The gun could be fired by percussion or electricity, according to the author. Unlike other mechanically operated machine guns of the era, this weapon didn't use any form of self-contained cartridge, with firing being carried out by separate percussion caps.[13] In the same year, water cooling was proposed for machine guns by Henry Bessemer, along with a water cleaning system, though he would later abandon this design. In his patent, Bessemer describes a hydropneumatic blowback-operated, fully automatic cannon. Part of the patent also refers to a steam-operated piston to be used with firearms but the bulk of the patent is spent detailing the former system.[14]

text: In America, a patent for a machine gun type weapon was filed by John Andrus Reynolds in 1855.[15] Another early American patent for a manually operated machine gun was filed by C. E. Barnes in 1856.[16]

text: In France and Britain, a mechanically operated machine gun was patented in 1856 by the Frenchman Francois Julien. This weapon was a cannon that fed from a type of open-ended tubular magazine, only using rollers and an endless chain in place of springs.[17]

text: The Agar Gun, otherwise known as a "coffee-mill gun" because of its resemblance to a coffee mill, was invented by Wilson Agar at the beginning of the US Civil War. The weapon featured mechanized loading using a hand crank linked to a hopper above the weapon. The weapon featured a single barrel and fired through the turning of the same crank; it operated using paper cartridges fitted with percussion caps and inserted into metal tubes which acted as chambers; it was therefore functionally similar to a revolver. The weapon was demonstrated to President Lincoln in 1861. He was so impressed with the weapon that he purchased 10 on the spot for $1,500 apiece. The Union Army eventually purchased a total of 54 of the weapons.  However, due to antiquated views of the Ordnance Department the weapons, like its more famous counterpart the Gatling Gun, saw only limited use.

text: The Gatling gun, patented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling, was the first to offer controlled, sequential fire with mechanical loading. The design's key features were machine loading of prepared cartridges and a hand-operated crank for sequential high-speed firing. It first saw very limited action in the American Civil War; it was subsequently improved and used in the Franco-Prussian war and North-West Rebellion. Many were sold to other armies in the late 19th century and continued to be used into the early 20th century, until they were gradually supplanted by Maxim guns.  Early multi-barrel guns were approximately the size and weight of contemporary artillery pieces, and were often perceived as a replacement for cannon firing grapeshot or canister shot.[18]  The large wheels required to move these guns around required a high firing position, which increased the vulnerability of their crews.[18]  Sustained firing of gunpowder cartridges generated a cloud of smoke, making concealment impossible until smokeless powder became available in the late 19th century.[19]  Gatling guns were targeted by artillery they could not reach, and their crews were targeted by snipers they could not see.[18]  The Gatling gun was used most successfully to expand European colonial empires, since against poorly equipped indigenous armies it did not face such threats.[18]

text: In 1870 a Lt. D. H. Friberg of the Swedish army patented a fully automatic recoil-operated firearm action and may have produced firing prototypes of a derived design around 1882: this was the forerunner to the 1907 Kjellman machine gun, though, due to rapid residue buildup from the use of black powder, Friberg's design was not a practical weapon.[20]

text: Maxim and World War I[edit]

text: The first practical self-powered machine gun was invented in 1884 by Sir Hiram Maxim. The Maxim machine gun used the recoil power of the previously fired bullet to reload rather than being hand-powered, enabling a much higher rate of fire than was possible using earlier designs such as the Nordenfelt and Gatling weapons. Maxim also introduced the use of water cooling, via a water jacket around the barrel, to reduce overheating. Maxim's gun was widely adopted, and derivative designs were used on all sides during the First World War. The design required fewer crew and was lighter and more usable than the Nordenfelt and Gatling guns. First World War combat experience demonstrated the military importance of the machine gun. The United States Army issued four machine guns per regiment in 1912, but that allowance increased to 336 machine guns per regiment by 1919.[21]

text: Heavy guns based on the Maxim such as the Vickers machine gun were joined by many other machine weapons, which mostly had their start in the early 20th century such as the Hotchkiss machine gun. Submachine guns (e.g., the German MP 18) as well as lighter machine guns (the first light machine gun deployed in any significant number being the Madsen machine gun, with the Chauchat and Lewis gun soon following) saw their first major use in World War I, along with heavy use of large-caliber machine guns. The biggest single cause of casualties in World War I was actually artillery, but combined with wire entanglements, machine guns earned a fearsome reputation.

text: Another fundamental development occurring before and during the war was the incorporation by gun designers of machine gun auto-loading mechanisms into handguns, giving rise to semi-automatic pistols such as the Borchardt (1890s), automatic machine pistols and later submachine guns (such as the Beretta 1918).

text: Machine guns were mounted in aircraft for the first time in World War I. Immediately this raised a problem. The most effective position for guns in a single-seater fighter was clearly, for the purpose of aiming, directly in front of the pilot; but this placement would obviously result in bullets striking the moving propeller. Early solutions, aside from simply hoping that luck was on the pilot's side with an unsychronized forward-firing gun, involved either aircraft with pusher props like the Vickers F.B.5, Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 and Airco DH.2, wing mounts like that of the Nieuport 10 and Nieuport 11 which avoided the propeller entirely, or armored propeller blades such as those mounted on the Morane-Saulnier L which would allow the propeller to deflect unsynchronized gunfire. By mid 1915, the introduction of a reliable gun synchronizer by the Imperial German Flying Corps made it possible to fire a closed-bolt machine gun forward through a spinning propeller by timing the firing of the gun to miss the blades. The Allies had no equivalent system until 1916 and their aircraft suffered badly as a result, a period known as the Fokker Scourge, after the Fokker Eindecker, the first German plane to incorporate the new technology.

text: Interwar era and World War II[edit]

text: As better materials became available following the First World War, light machine guns became more readily portable; designs such as the Bren light machine gun replaced bulky predecessors like the Lewis gun in the squad support weapon role, while the modern division between medium machine guns like the M1919 Browning machine gun and heavy machine guns like the Browning M2 became clearer. New designs largely abandoned water jacket cooling systems as both undesirable, due to a greater emphasis on mobile tactics and unnecessary, thanks to the alternative and superior technique of preventing overheating by swapping barrels.

text: The interwar years also produced the first widely used and successful general-purpose machine gun, the German MG 34. While this machine gun was equally able in the light and medium roles, it proved difficult to manufacture in quantity, and experts on industrial metalworking were called in to redesign the weapon for modern tooling, creating the MG 42. This weapon was simpler, cheaper to produce, fired faster, and replaced the MG 34 in every application except vehicle mounts, since the MG 42's barrel changing system could not be operated when it was mounted.

text: Submachine guns evolved during the war, going from complex and finely made weapons like the Thompson submachine gun to weapons designed for mass-production and easy replacement like the Sten gun. On the Eastern Front, entire Soviet divisions were equipped with nothing but the PPSh-41 submachine gun. Experience in close-range city combat led to the German military desiring a weapon representing a compromise between the high fire volume of the SMG and the accuracy of a full-size rifle; after a false start with the FG 42, this led to the development of the MP 44 select-fire assault rifle, the first weapon to be called such.

text: Cold War[edit]

text: Experience with the MG42 led to the US issuing a requirement to replace the aging Browning Automatic Rifle with a similar weapon, which would also replace the M1919; simply using the MG42 itself was not possible, as the design brief required a weapon which could be fired from the hip or shoulder like the BAR. The resulting design, the M60 machine gun, was issued to troops during the Vietnam War.

text: As it became clear that a high-volume-of-fire weapon would be needed for fast-moving jet aircraft to reliably hit their opponents, Gatling's work with electrically powered weapons was recalled and the 20 mm M61 Vulcan designed; a miniaturized 7.62 mm version initially known as the "mini-Vulcan" and quickly shortened to "minigun" was soon in production for use on helicopters, where the volume of fire could compensate for the instability of the helicopter as a firing platform.

text: Future[edit]

text: Conventional machine gun development has been slowed by the fact that existing machine gun designs are adequate for most purposes, although significant developments are taking place with regard to caseless ammunition, anti-armor and anti-missile weapons.[citation needed]

text: Human interface[edit]

text: The most common interface on machine guns is a pistol grip and trigger. On earlier manual machine guns, the most common type was a hand crank. On externally powered machine guns, such as miniguns, an electronic button or trigger on a joystick is commonly used. Light machine guns often have a butt stock attached, while vehicle and tripod mounted machine guns usually have spade grips. In the late 20th century, scopes and other complex optics became more common as opposed to the more basic iron sights.

text: Loading systems in early manual machine guns were often from a hopper of loose (un-linked) cartridges. Manual-operated volley guns usually had to be reloaded manually all at once (each barrel reloaded by hand, or with a set of cartridges affixed to a plate that was inserted into the weapon). With hoppers, the rounds could often be added while the weapon was firing. This gradually changed to belt-fed types. Belts were either held in the open by the person, or in a bag or box. Some modern vehicle machine guns used linkless feed systems however.

text: Modern machine guns are commonly mounted in one of four ways. The first is a bipod – often these are integrated with the weapon. This is common on light machine guns and some medium machine guns. Another is a tripod, where the person holding it does not form a 'leg' of support. Medium and heavy machine guns usually use tripods. On ships, vehicles and aircraft machine guns are usually mounted on a pintle mount – basically a steel post that is connected to the frame or body. Tripod and pintle mounts are usually used with spade grips. The last major mounting type is one that is disconnected from humans, as part of an armament system, such as a tank coaxial or part of aircraft's armament. These are usually electrically fired and have complex sighting systems, for example the US Helicopter Armament Subsystems.


document_title: Central America

question_text: the country in middle america with the largest population is

question_tokens: the country in middle america with the largest population is

root

text: Central America

text: Different definitions[edit]

text: "Central America" may mean different things to various people, based upon different contexts:

tag: p

text:
The United Nations geoscheme for the Americas defines the region as all states of mainland North America south of the United States and specifically includes all of Mexico.[4]
Middle America is usually thought to comprise Mexico to the north of the 7 states of Central America as well as Colombia and Venezuela to the south. Usually, the whole of the Caribbean to the northeast, and sometimes the Guyanas, are also included.
According to one source, the term "Central America" was used as a synonym for "Middle America" at least as recently as 1962.[5]
In Ibero-America (Latin America and Iberia), the Americas is considered a single continent, and Central America is considered a subcontinent separate from North America comprising the seven countries south of Mexico and north of Colombia.[6]
Mexico, in whole or in part, is sometimes included by British people.[7][8][9][not in citation given][10]
For the people living in the five countries formerly part of the Federal Republic of Central America there is a distinction between the Spanish language terms "América Central" and "Centroamérica". While both can be translated into English as "Central America", "América Central" is generally used to refer to the geographical area of the seven countries between Mexico and Colombia, while "Centroamérica" is used when referring to the former members of the Federation emphasizing the shared culture and history of the region.
In Portuguese as a rule and occasionally in Spanish and other languages, the entirety of the Antilles is often included in the definition of Central America (the Portuguese Wikipedia article for the Antilles offers, in fact, América Central Insular as an alternative name), which is its own region to be distinguished from North America and South America alike. Indeed, the Dominican Republic is a full member of the Central American Integration System.

tag: ul

text: History[edit]

text: In the Pre-Columbian era, the northern areas of Central America were inhabited by the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. Most notable among these were the Mayans, who had built numerous cities throughout the region, and the Aztecs, who had created a vast empire. The pre-Columbian cultures of eastern El Salvador, eastern Honduras, Caribbean Nicaragua, most of Costa Rica and Panama were predominantly speakers of the Chibchan languages at the time of European contact and are considered by some[11] culturally different and grouped in the Isthmo-Colombian Area.

text: Following Christopher Columbus's voyages to the Americas, the Spanish sent many expeditions to the region, and they began their conquest of Maya territory in 1523. Soon after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado commenced the conquest of northern Central America for the Spanish Empire. Beginning with his arrival in Soconusco in 1523, Alvarado's forces systematically conquered and subjugated most of the major Maya kingdoms, including the K'iche', Tz'utujil, Pipil, and the Kaqchikel. By 1528, the conquest of Guatemala was nearly complete, with only the Petén Basin remaining outside the Spanish sphere of influence. The last independent Maya kingdoms – the Kowoj and the Itza people – were finally defeated in 1697, as part of the Spanish conquest of Petén.[citation needed]

text: In 1538, Spain established the Real Audiencia of Panama, which had jurisdiction over all land from the Strait of Magellan to the Gulf of Fonseca. This entity was dissolved in 1543, and most of the territory within Central America then fell under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia Real de Guatemala. This area included the current territories of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Mexican state of Chiapas, but excluded the lands that would become Belize and Panama. The president of the Audiencia, which had its seat in Antigua Guatemala, was the governor of the entire area. In 1609 the area became a captaincy general and the governor was also granted the title of captain general. The Captaincy General of Guatemala encompassed most of Central America, with the exception of present-day Belize and Panama.

text: The Captaincy General of Guatemala lasted for more than two centuries, but began to fray after a rebellion in 1811 which began in the intendancy of San Salvador. The Captaincy General formally ended on 15 September 1821, with the signing of the Act of Independence of Central America. Mexican independence was achieved at virtually the same time with the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba and the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire, and the entire region was finally independent from Spanish authority by 28 September 1821.

text: From its independence from Spain in 1821 until 1823, the former Captaincy General remained intact as part of the short-lived First Mexican Empire. When the Emperor of Mexico abdicated on 19 March 1823, Central America again became independent. On 1 July 1823, the Congress of Central America peacefully seceded from Mexico and declared absolute independence from all foreign nations, and the region formed the Federal Republic of Central America.[citation needed]

text: The Federal Republic of Central America was a representative democracy with its capital at Guatemala City. This union consisted of the provinces of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Los Altos, Mosquito Coast, and Nicaragua. The lowlands of southwest Chiapas, including Soconusco, initially belonged to the Republic until 1824, when Mexico annexed most of Chiapas and began its claims to Soconusco. The Republic lasted from 1823 to 1838, when it disintegrated as a result of civil wars.[citation needed]

text:
Historic Coat of Arms of Central American Unions

The United Provinces of Central America

United Provinces of Central America

Federal Republic of Central America

Greater Republic of Central America

text:
Coat of Arms of modern Central America

Guatemala

El Salvador

Honduras

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Panama

Belize

text: The territory that now makes up Belize was heavily contested in a dispute that continued for decades after Guatemala achieved independence (see History of Belize (1506–1862). Spain, and later Guatemala, considered this land a Guatemalan department. In 1862, Britain formally declared it a British colony and named it British Honduras. It became independent as Belize in 1981.[citation needed]

text: Panama, situated in the southernmost part of Central America on the Isthmus of Panama, has for most of its history been culturally linked to South America. Panama was part of the Province of Tierra Firme from 1510 until 1538 when it came under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Audiencia Real de Panama. Beginning in 1543, Panama was administered as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, along with all other Spanish possessions in South America. Panama remained as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until 1739, when it was transferred to the Viceroyalty of New Granada, the capital of which was located at Santa Fé de Bogotá. Panama remained as part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada until the disestablishment of that viceroyalty in 1819. A series of military and political struggles took place from that time until 1822, the result of which produced the republic of Gran Colombia. After the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830, Panama became part of a successor state, the Republic of New Granada. From 1855 until 1886, Panama existed as Panama State, first within the Republic of New Granada, then within the Granadine Confederation, and finally within the United States of Colombia. The United States of Colombia was replaced by the Republic of Colombia in 1886. As part of the Republic of Colombia, Panama State was abolished and it became the Isthmus Department. Despite the many political reorganizations, Colombia was still deeply plagued by conflict, which eventually led to the secession of Panama on 3 November 1903. Only after that time did some begin to regard Panama as a North or Central American entity.[citation needed]

text: By the 1930s the United Fruit Company owned 3.5 million acres of land in Central America and the Caribbean and was the single largest land owner in Guatemala. Such holdings gave it great power over the governments of small countries. That was one of the factors that led to the coining of the phrase Banana Republic.[12]

text: After more than two hundred years of social unrest, violent conflict and revolution, Central America today remains in a period of political transformation. Poverty, social injustice and violence are still widespread.[13] Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere (only Haiti is poorer).[14]

text: Geography[edit]

text: Central America is the tapering isthmus of southern North America, with unique and varied geographic features. The Pacific Ocean lies to the southwest, the Caribbean Sea lies to the northeast, and the Gulf of Mexico lies to the north. Some physiographists define the Isthmus of Tehuantepec as the northern geographic border of Central America,[7] while others use the northwestern borders of Belize and Guatemala. From there, the Central American land mass extends southeastward to the Isthmus of Panama, where it connects to the Pacific Lowlands in northwestern South America.

text: Of the many mountain ranges within Central America, the longest are the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, the Cordillera Isabelia and the Cordillera de Talamanca. At 4,220 meters (13,850 ft), Volcán Tajumulco is the highest peak in Central America. Other high points of Central America are as listed in the table below:

text: High points in Central America

text:
Country
Name
Elevation (meters)
Range

 Belize
Doyle's Delight
1124
Cockscomb Range

 Costa Rica
Cerro Chirripó
3820
Cordillera de Talamanca

 El Salvador
Cerro El Pital
2730
Sierra Madre de Chiapas

 Guatemala
Volcán Tajumulco
4220
Sierra Madre de Chiapas

 Honduras
Cerro Las Minas
2780
Cordillera de Celaque

 Nicaragua
Mogotón
2107
Cordillera Isabelia

 Panama
Volcán Barú
3474
Cordillera de Talamanca

tag: table

text: Between the mountain ranges lie fertile valleys that are suitable for the raising of livestock and for the production of coffee, tobacco, beans and other crops. Most of the population of Honduras, Costa Rica and Guatemala lives in valleys.[15]

text: Trade winds have a significant effect upon the climate of Central America. Temperatures in Central America are highest just prior to the summer wet season, and are lowest during the winter dry season, when trade winds contribute to a cooler climate. The highest temperatures occur in April, due to higher levels of sunlight, lower cloud cover and a decrease in trade winds.[16]

text: Biodiversity[edit]

text: Central America is part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, boasting 7% of the world's biodiversity.[17] The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Due to the funnel-like shape of its land mass, migratory birds can be seen in very high concentrations in Central America, especially in the spring and autumn. As a bridge between North America and South America, Central America has many species from the Nearctic and the Neotropic ecozones. However the southern countries (Costa Rica and Panama) of the region have more biodiversity than the northern countries (Guatemala and Belize), meanwhile the central countries (Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador) have the least biodiversity.[17] The table below shows recent statistics:

text: Biodiversity in Central America (number of different species of terrestrial vertebrate animals and vascular plants)

text:
Country
Amphibian
species
Bird
species
Mammal
species
Reptile
species
Total terrestrial
vertebrate species
Vascular plants
species
Biodiversity

 Belize[18]
46
544
147
140
877
2894
3771

 Costa Rica[19]
183
838
232
258
1511
12119
13630

 El Salvador[20]
30
434
137
106
707
2911
3618

 Guatemala[21]
133
684
193
236
1246
8681
9927

 Honduras[22]
101
699
201
213
1214
5680
6894

 Nicaragua[23]
61
632
181
178
1052
7590
8642

 Panama[24]
182
904
241
242
1569
9915
11484

text: Over 300 species of the region's flora and fauna are threatened, 107 of which are classified as critically endangered. The underlying problems are deforestation, which is estimated by FAO at 1.2% per year in Central America and Mexico combined, fragmentation of rainforests and the fact that 80% of the vegetation in Central America has already been converted to agriculture.[25]

text: Efforts to protect fauna and flora in the region are made by creating ecoregions and nature reserves. 36% of Belize's land territory falls under some form of official protected status, giving Belize one of the most extensive systems of terrestrial protected areas in the Americas. In addition, 13% of Belize's marine territory are also protected.[26] A large coral reef extends from Mexico to Honduras: the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System. The Belize Barrier Reef is part of this. The Belize Barrier Reef is home to a large diversity of plants and animals, and is one of the most diverse ecosystems of the world. It is home to 70 hard coral species, 36 soft coral species, 500 species of fish and hundreds of invertebrate species. So far only about 10% of the species in the Belize barrier reef have been discovered.[27]

text: Flora[edit]

text: From 2001 to 2010, 5,376 square kilometers (2,076 sq mi) of forest were lost in the region. In 2010 Belize had 63% of remaining forest cover, Costa Rica 46%, Panama 45%, Honduras 41%, Guatemala 37%, Nicaragua 29%, and El Salvador 21%. Most of the loss occurred in the moist forest biome, with 12,201 square kilometers (4,711 sq mi). Woody vegetation loss was partially set off by a gain in the coniferous forest biome with 4,730 square kilometers (1,830 sq mi), and a gain in the dry forest biome at 2,054 square kilometers (793 sq mi). Mangroves and deserts contributed only 1% to the loss in forest vegetation. The bulk of the deforestation was located at the Caribbean slopes of Nicaragua with a loss of 8,574 square kilometers (3,310 sq mi) of forest in the period from 2001 to 2010. The most significant regrowth of 3,050 square kilometers (1,180 sq mi) of forest was seen in the coniferous woody vegetation of Honduras.[28]

text: The Central American pine-oak forests ecoregion, in the tropical and subtropical coniferous forests biome, is found in Central America and southern Mexico. The Central American pine-oak forests occupy an area of 111,400 square kilometers (43,000 sq mi),[29] extending along the mountainous spine of Central America, extending from the Sierra Madre de Chiapas in Mexico's Chiapas state through the highlands of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras to central Nicaragua. The pine-oak forests lie between 600–1,800 metres (2,000–5,900 ft) elevation,[29] and are surrounded at lower elevations by tropical moist forests and tropical dry forests. Higher elevations above 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) are usually covered with Central American montane forests. The Central American pine-oak forests are composed of many species characteristic of temperate North America including oak, pine, fir, and cypress.

text: Laurel forest is the most common type of Central American temperate evergreen cloud forest, found in almost all Central American countries, normally more than 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) above sea level. Tree species include evergreen oaks, members of the laurel family, and species of Weinmannia, Drimys, and Magnolia.[30] The cloud forest of Sierra de las Minas, Guatemala, is the largest in Central America. In some areas of southeastern Honduras there are cloud forests, the largest located near the border with Nicaragua. In Nicaragua, cloud forests are situated near the border with Honduras, but many were cleared to grow coffee. There are still some temperate evergreen hills in the north. The only cloud forest in the Pacific coastal zone of Central America is on the Mombacho volcano in Nicaragua. In Costa Rica, there are laurel forests in the Cordillera de Tilarán and Volcán Arenal, called Monteverde, also in the Cordillera de Talamanca.

text: The Central American montane forests are an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund.[31] These forests are of the moist deciduous and the semi-evergreen seasonal subtype of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and receive high overall rainfall with a warm summer wet season and a cooler winter dry season. Central American montane forests consist of forest patches located at altitudes ranging from 1,800–4,000 metres (5,900–13,100 ft), on the summits and slopes of the highest mountains in Central America ranging from Southern Mexico, through Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, to northern Nicaragua. The entire ecoregion covers an area of 13,200 square kilometers (5,100 sq mi) and has a temperate climate with relatively high precipitation levels.[31]

text: Fauna[edit]

text: Ecoregions are not only established to protect the forests themselves but also because they are habitats for an incomparably rich and often endemic fauna. Almost half of the bird population of the Talamancan montane forests in Costa Rica and Panama are endemic to this region. Several birds are listed as threatened, most notably the resplendent quetzal (Pharomacrus mocinno), three-wattled bellbird (Procnias tricarunculata), bare-necked umbrellabird (Cephalopterus glabricollis), and black guan (Chamaepetes unicolor). Many of the amphibians are endemic and depend on the existence of forest. The golden toad that once inhabited a small region in the Monteverde Reserve, which is part of the Talamancan montane forests, has not been seen alive since 1989 and is listed as extinct by IUCN. The exact causes for its extincition are unknown. Global warming may have played a role, because the development of fog that is typical for this area may have been compromised. Seven small mammals are endemic to the Costa Rica-Chiriqui highlands within the Talamancan montane forest region. Jaguars, cougars, spider monkeys, as well as tapirs, and anteaters live in the woods of Central America.[30] The Central American red brocket is a brocket deer found in Central America's tropical forest.

text: Geology[edit]

text: Central America is geologically very active, with volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occurring frequently, and tsunamis occurring occasionally. Many thousands of people have died as a result of these natural disasters.

text: Most of Central America rests atop the Caribbean Plate. This tectonic plate converges with the Cocos, Nazca, and North American plates to form the Middle America Trench, a major subduction zone. The Middle America Trench is situated some 60–160 kilometers (37–99 mi) off the Pacific coast of Central America and runs roughly parallel to it. Many large earthquakes have occurred as a result of seismic activity at the Middle America Trench.[32] For example, subduction of the Cocos Plate beneath the North American Plate at the Middle America Trench is believed to have caused the 1985 Mexico City earthquake that killed as many as 40,000 people. Seismic activity at the Middle America Trench is also responsible for earthquakes in 1902, 1942, 1956, 1982, 1992, 2001, 2007, 2012, 2014, and many other earthquakes throughout Central America.

text: The Middle America Trench is not the only source of seismic activity in Central America. The Motagua Fault is an onshore continuation of the Cayman Trough which forms part of the tectonic boundary between the North American Plate and the Caribbean Plate. This transform fault cuts right across Guatemala and then continues offshore until it merges with the Middle America Trench along the Pacific coast of Mexico, near Acapulco. Seismic activity at the Motagua Fault has been responsible for earthquakes in 1717, 1773, 1902, 1976, 1980, and 2009.

text: Another onshore continuation of the Cayman Trough is the Chixoy-Polochic Fault, which runs parallel to, and roughly 80 kilometers (50 mi) to the north, of the Motagua Fault. Though less active than the Motagua Fault, seismic activity at the Chixoy-Polochic Fault is still thought to be capable of producing very large earthquakes, such as the 1816 earthquake of Guatemala.[33]

text: Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, was devastated by earthquakes in 1931 and 1972.

text: Volcanic eruptions are also common in Central America. In 1968 the Arenal Volcano, in Costa Rica, erupted killing 87 people as the 3 villages of Tabacon, Pueblo Nuevo and San Luis were buried under pyroclastic flows and debris. Fertile soils from weathered volcanic lava have made it possible to sustain dense populations in the agriculturally productive highland areas.

text: Demographics[edit]

text: The population of Central America is estimated at 47,448,333 as of 2016.[34] With an area of 523,780 square kilometers (202,230 sq mi),[2] it has a population density of 81 per square kilometer (210/sq mi).

text:
Countries of Central America

Name of territory,
with flag
Area
(km²)[35]
Population
(2016 est.)[34]
Population
density
(per km²)
Capital
Official
language
Human Development Index

 Belize
7004229660000000000♠22,966
366,954
7001130000000000000♠13
Belmopan
English
0,715 High

 Costa Rica
7004511000000000000♠51,100
4,857,274
7001820000000000000♠82
San José
Spanish
0,766 High

 El Salvador
7004210400000000000♠21,040
6,344,722
7002292000000000000♠292
San Salvador
Spanish
0,666 Medium

 Guatemala
7005108890000000000♠108,890
16,582,469
7002129000000000000♠129
Guatemala City
Spanish
0,627 Medium

 Honduras
7005112090000000000♠112,090
9,112,867
7001670000000000000♠67
Tegucigalpa
Spanish
0,606 Medium

 Nicaragua
7005130373000000000♠130,373
6,149,928
7001440000000000000♠44
Managua
Spanish
0,631 Medium

 Panama
7004782000000000000♠78,200
4,034,119
7001440000000000000♠44
Panama City
Spanish
0,780 High

Total
7005523780000000000♠523,780
7007474483330000000♠47,448,333
7001800000000000000♠80
-
-
-

text:
Largest metropolitan areas in Central America

City
Country
Population
Census Year
% of National
population

(1) Guatemala City
 Guatemala
5,700,000
2010
26%

(2) San Salvador
 El Salvador
2,415,217
2009
39%

(3) Managua
 Nicaragua
1,918,000
2012
34%

(4) Tegucigalpa
 Honduras
1,819,000
2010
24%

(5) San Pedro Sula
 Honduras
1,600,000
2010
21%+4

(6) Panama City
 Panama
1,400,000
2010
37%

(7) San José
 Costa Rica
1,275,000
2013
30%

text: Languages[edit]

text: The official language majority in all Central American countries is Spanish, except in Belize, where the official language is English. Mayan languages constitute a language family consisting of about 26 related languages. Guatemala formally recognized 21 of these in 1996. Xinca and Garifuna are also present in Central America.

text:
Languages in Central America (2010)

Pos.
Countries
Population
% Spanish
% Mayan languages
% English
% Xinca
% Garifuna

1
Guatemala
17,284,000
64.7%
34.3%
0.0%
0.7%
0.3%

2
Honduras
8,447,000
97.1%
2.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.9%

3
El Salvador
6,108,000
99.0%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%
0.0%

4
Nicaragua
6,028,000
87.4%
7.1%
5.5%
0.0%
0.0%

5
Costa Rica
4,726,000
97.2%
1.8%
1.0%
0.0%
0.0%

6
Panamá
3,652,000
86.8%
9.2%
4.0%
0.0%
0.0%

7
Belize
334,000
52.1%
8.9%
37.0%
0.0%
2.0%

text: Ethnic groups[edit]

text: This region of the continent is very rich in terms of ethnic groups. The majority of the population is mestizo, with sizable Mayan and White populations present, including Xinca and Garifuna minorities. The immigration of Arabs, Jews, Chinese, Europeans and others brought additional groups to the area.

text:
Ethnic groups in Central America (2010)

Country
Population1
% Amerindian
% White
% Mestizo/Mixed
% Black
% Other

 Belize
324,528
6.3%
5.0%
49.6%
32.0%
4.1%

 Costa Rica
4,301,712
4.0%
65.8%
13.8%
7.2%
9.0%

 El Salvador
6,340,889
1.0%
12.0%
86.0%
0.0%
1.0%

 Guatemala
15,700,000
38.5%
18.5%
40.0%
1.0%
2.0%

 Honduras
8,143,564
6.0%
5.5%
82.0%
6.0%
0.5%

 Nicaragua
5,815,500
5.0%
17.0%
69.0%
9.0%
0.0%

 Panama
3,474,562
6.0%
10.0%
65.0%
14.0%
5.0%

Total
42,682,190
16.24%
20.18%
58.05%
4.43%
1.17%

text: Religious groups[edit]

text: The predominant religion in Central America is Christianity (95.6%).[36] Beginning with the Spanish colonization of Central America in the 16th century, Roman Catholicism became the most popular religion in the region until the first half of the 20th century. Since the 1960s, there has been an increase in other Christian groups, particularly Protestantism, as well as other religious organizations, and individuals identifying themselves as having no religion.[37]

text:
Countries
% Roman Catholicism
(2010)
% Protestantism
(2010)
% Non-affiliated
(2010)
% Other
(2010)

 Belize
40%
31%
15%
14%

 Costa Rica
69%
17%
11%
3%

 El Salvador
46%
29%
24%
1%

 Guatemala
47%
39%
12%
2%

 Honduras
52%
35%
10%
3%

 Nicaragua
58%
23%
13%
4%

 Panama
77%
14%
6%
3%

text: Culture[edit]

text:
Central American music
Central American cuisine
List of cuisines of the Americas – Central American cuisine

text: Sport[edit]

text:
Central American Games
Central American and Caribbean Games

1926 Central American and Caribbean Games – the first time this event occurred

Central American Football Union
Surfing

text: Politics[edit]

text: Central American Integration[edit]

text:
Central American
Integration System
Sistema de
Integración Centroamericana

Coat of arms

Motto(s): "Peace, Development, Liberty and Democracy"

Anthem: La Granadera

Countries

 Belize
 Costa Rica
 El Salvador
 Guatemala
 Honduras
 Nicaragua
 Panama
 Dominican Republic

Area

 • Total
560,988 km2 (216,599 sq mi)

Population

 • Total
50,807,778

 • Density
91/km2 (230/sq mi)

text: Central America is currently undergoing a process of political, economic and cultural transformation that started in 1907 with the creation of the Central American Court of Justice.

text: In 1951 the integration process continued with the signature of the San Salvador Treaty, which created the ODECA, the Organization of Central American States. However, the unity of the ODECA was limited by conflicts between several member states.

text: In 1991, the integration agenda was further advanced by the creation of the Central American Integration System (Sistema para la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA). SICA provides a clear legal basis to avoid disputes between the member states. SICA membership includes the 7 nations of Central America plus the Dominican Republic, a state that is traditionally considered part of the Caribbean.

text:
Central American flags

Guatemala

El Salvador

Honduras

Nicaragua

Costa Rica

Panama

Belize

text: On 6 December 2008 SICA announced an agreement to pursue a common currency and common passport for the member nations.[38] No timeline for implementation was discussed.

text: Central America already has several supranational institutions such as the Central American Parliament, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration and the Central American Common Market.

text: On 22 July 2011 President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador became the first president pro tempore to SICA. El Salvador also became the headquarters of SICA with the inauguration of a new building.[39]

text: Foreign relations[edit]

text: Until recently, all Central American countries have maintained diplomatic relations with Taiwan instead of China. President Óscar Arias of Costa Rica, however, established diplomatic relations with China in 2007, severing formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.[40] After breaking off relations with the Republic of China in 2017, Panama established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.[41]

text: Central American Parliament[edit]

text: The Central American Parliament (also known as PARLACEN) is a political and parliamentary body of SICA. The parliament started around 1980, and its primary goal was to resolve conflicts in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Although the group was disbanded in 1986, ideas of unity of Central Americans still remained, so a treaty was signed in 1987 to create the Central American Parliament and other political bodies. Its original members were Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras. The parliament is the political organ of Central America, and is part of SICA. New members have since then joined including Panama and the Dominican Republic. Costa Rica is not a member State of the Central American Parliament and its adhesion remains as a very unpopular topic at all levels of the Costa Rican society due to existing strong political criticism towards the regional parliament, since it is regarded by Costa Rican as a menace to democratic accountability and effectiveness of integration efforts. Excessively high salaries for its members, legal immunity of jurisdiction from any member State, corruption, lack of a binding nature and effectiveness of the regional parliament's decisions, high operative costs and immediate membership of Central American Presidents once they leave their office and presidential terms, are the most common reasons invoked by Costa Ricans against the Central American Parliament.

text: Economy[edit]

text: Signed in 2004, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is an agreement between the United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. The treaty is aimed at promoting free trade among its members.

text: Guatemala has the largest economy in the region.[42][43] Its main exports are coffee, sugar, bananas, petroleum, clothing, and cardamom. Of its 10.29 billion dollar annual exports,[44] 40.2% go to the United States, 11.1% to neighboring El Salvador, 8% to Honduras, 5.5% to Mexico, 4.7% to Nicaragua, and 4.3% to Costa Rica.[45]

text: Economic growth in Central America is projected to slow slightly in 2014–15, as country-specific domestic factors offset the positive effects from stronger economic activity in the United States.[9]

text:
Economy size for Latin American countries per Gross domestic product

Country
GDP (nominal)[42][a]
GDP (nominal) per capita[46][47]
GDP (PPP)[43][a]

 Belize
1,552
$4,602
2,914

 Costa Rica
44,313
$10,432
57,955

 El Salvador
24,421
$3,875
46,050

 Guatemala
50,303
$3,512
78,012

 Honduras
18,320
$2,323
37,408

 Nicaragua
7,695
$1,839
19,827

 Panama
34,517
$10,838
55,124

text: Tourism[edit]

text: Tourism in Belize has grown considerably in more recent times, and it is now the second largest industry in the nation. Belizean Prime Minister Dean Barrow has stated his intention to use tourism to combat poverty throughout the country.[48] The growth in tourism has positively affected the agricultural, commercial, and finance industries, as well as the construction industry. The results for Belize's tourism-driven economy have been significant, with the nation welcoming almost one million tourists in a calendar year for the first time in its history in 2012.[49] Belize is also the only country in Central America with English as its official language, making this country a comfortable destination for English-speaking tourists.[50]

text: Costa Rica is the most visited nation in Central America.[51] Tourism in Costa Rica is one of the fastest growing economic sectors of the country,[52] having become the largest source of foreign revenue by 1995.[53] Since 1999, tourism has earned more foreign exchange than bananas, pineapples and coffee exports combined.[54] The tourism boom began in 1987,[53] with the number of visitors up from 329,000 in 1988, through 1.03 million in 1999, to a historical record of 2.43 million foreign visitors and $1.92-billion in revenue in 2013.[51] In 2012 tourism contributed with 12.5% of the country's GDP and it was responsible for 11.7% of direct and indirect employment.[55]

text: Tourism in Nicaragua has grown considerably recently, and it is now the second largest industry in the nation. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has stated his intention to use tourism to combat poverty throughout the country.[56] The growth in tourism has positively affected the agricultural, commercial, and finance industries, as well as the construction industry. The results for Nicaragua's tourism-driven economy have been significant, with the nation welcoming one million tourists in a calendar year for the first time in its history in 2010.[57]

text: Transport[edit]

text: Roads[edit]

text: The Inter-American Highway is the Central American section of the Pan-American Highway, and spans 5,470 kilometers (3,400 mi) between Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Panama City, Panama. Because of the 87 kilometers (54 mi) break in the highway known as the Darién Gap, it is not possible to cross between Central America and South America in an automobile.

text: Waterways[edit]

text: Ports and harbors[edit]

text: Airports[edit]

text: Railways[edit]

text: Education[edit]

text:
List of Architecture schools in Central America
List of universities in Belize
List of universities in Costa Rica
List of universities in El Salvador
List of universities in Guatemala
List of universities in Honduras
List of universities in Nicaragua
List of universities in Panama


document_title: Charles Durning

question_text: who is the priest on everybody loves raymond

text: Charles Durning

text: Early life[edit]

text: Durning was born in Highland Falls, New York, the ninth of ten children. His three brothers James (Roger) (1915–2000), Clifford (1916–1994), Gerald (1926–2000) and his sister Frances (born 1919) survived to adulthood, but five sisters lost their lives to scarlet fever and smallpox as children.[1] He was the son of Louise (née Leonard; 1894–1982), a laundress at West Point, and James E. Durning (1883 – c. 1939).[2] His father was an Irish immigrant.[4][5] and his mother was also of Irish descent.[6] Durning was raised Catholic.[7][8]

text: In 1959, Durning married his first wife, Carole Doughty. They divorced in 1972. A Declaration of Separation was filed in 2010 from his second wife, Mary Ann (Amelio) Durning. He had three children from his first marriage.

text: Military service[edit]

text: Charles Durning served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was drafted at age 20, participated in the D-Day landings at Omaha Beach in Normandy. He was discharged with the rank of Private First Class on January 30, 1946.[9]

text: Durning was known for participating in various functions to honor American veterans, including serving as Chairman of the U.S. National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans.[10] He was an honored guest speaker for 17 years at the National Memorial Day Concert televised by PBS every year on the Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend.

text: Durning was paid a special tribute at the May 26, 2013 National Memorial Day Concert when "Taps" was sounded in his honor.

text: Military awards and decorations[edit]

text: For his valor and the wounds he received during the war, Durning was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and 3 Purple Heart Medals.[11] Additional awards included the Army Good Conduct Medal, the American Campaign Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with one bronze service star, and the World War II Victory Medal.[12] His badges included the Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Badge with Rifle Bar, and Honorable Service Lapel Pin.[9]

text: Durning received the French National Order of the Legion of Honor from the French Consul in Los Angeles in April 2008.

text:
Badges and pins

Combat Infantryman Badge
Expert Badge with Rifle Bar
Honorable Service Lapel Button

text:
Ribbons

Silver Star
Bronze Star

Purple Heart
Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal

EAME Campaign Medal (2x)
World War II Victory Medal
Legion of Honour – Chevalier

text: Acting career[edit]

text: While pursuing an acting career, Durning, a professional ballroom dancer, taught at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in New York City.

text: Durning began his career in 1951. While working as an usher in a burlesque theatre, he was hired to replace a drunken actor on stage. Subsequently, he performed in roughly 50 stock company productions and in various off-Broadway plays, eventually attracting the attention of Joseph Papp, founder of The Public Theater and the New York Shakespeare Festival. Beginning in 1961, he appeared in 35 plays as part of the Shakespeare Festival. "That time in my life was my best time," Durning told Pittsburgh's Post Gazette in 2001. "I had no money at all, and he (Joseph Papp) didn't pay much. You were getting a salary for performance plus a rehearsal salary. We would do three plays in Central Park for the summer. And then you'd do three to six plays every year down on Lafayette Street -- new plays by new writers: Sam Shepard, David Mamet, David Rabe, John Ford Noonan, Jason Miller."

text: During this period, he segued into television and movies. He made his film debut in 1965, appearing in Harvey Middleman, Fireman. He appeared in John Frankenheimer's I Walk the Line (1970) starring Gregory Peck, and three Brian De Palma movies, Hi, Mom! (1970), credited as Charles Durnham, with Robert DeNiro, Sisters (1973) and The Fury (1978). He also appeared in Dealing: or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972) with Barbara Hershey and John Lithgow.

text: Durning's performances in Broadway productions include Drat! The Cat! (1965), Pousse-Café (1966), The Happy Time (1968), Indians (1969), That Championship Season (1972), In the Boom Boom Room (1973), The au Pair Man (1973), Knock Knock (1976), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1990), Inherit the Wind (1996), The Gin Game (1997), and The Best Man (2000).

text: In 2002, he performed in Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Al Pacino, produced by Tony Randall. He played the role of Jack Jameson in Wendy Wasserstein's final play, Third (2005), with Dianne Wiest at Lincoln Center's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre.

text: Durning won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for his powerful performance in The Westwood Playhouse's 1977 production of David Rabe's Streamers. In 1980, he won critical acclaim for his performance as Norman Thayer, Jr. in Los Angeles's Ahmanson Theater's production of On Golden Pond opposite Julie Harris.

text: In 1972, director George Roy Hill, impressed by Durning's performance in the Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play That Championship Season, offered him a role in The Sting (1973). In the Best Picture-winner, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, Durning won distinction as the crooked cop, Lt. Wm. Snyder, who polices and hustles professional con artists. He doggedly pursues the young grifter, Johnny Hooker (Redford), only to become the griftee in the end. Other film credits include Dog Day Afternoon with Al Pacino; When A Stranger Calls; The Final Countdown; The Hindenburg; Twilight's Last Gleaming with Burt Lancaster; True Confessions with Robert DeNiro. Some television credits include The Connection; Queen of the Stardust Ballroom, the made-for-television musical in which he played the mailman who reaches out to Maureen Stapleton's lonely widow on the dance floor; Attica; PBS's Dancing Bear with Tyne Daly; the PBS production I Would Be Called John as Pope John XXIII; Hallmark Hall of Fame: Casey Stengel, in which Durning played the legendary baseball manager Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel; NBC's mini-series Studs Lonigan with Harry Hamlin and Colleen Dewhurst; The Best Little Girl in the World with Jennifer Jason Leigh. In 1976, he received both an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the television mini-series Captains and the Kings.

text: In 1979, he played Doc Hopper, a man who owns a frog leg restaurant and the main antagonist in The Muppet Movie. In Tootsie, he played a suitor to Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing lead character. The two actors worked together again in a 1985 TV production of Death of a Salesman.

text: In 1993, he guest-starred in the Sean Penn-directed music video "Dance with the One That Brought You" by Shania Twain.

text: Other film roles include Henry Larson, the benevolent father of Holly Hunter's character in Home for the Holidays (1995) and Waring Hudsucker in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994). He worked with the Coen Brothers again playing "Pappy" O'Daniel, a cynical governor of Mississippi (a character loosely based on the Texas politician and showman W. Lee O'Daniel) in the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).

text: Prior to appearing in the Burt Reynolds's TV series, Evening Shade, as the town doctor Harlan Eldridge (1990-1994), Durning appeared with Reynolds in five films, beginning with 1979's Starting Over, followed by 1981's Sharky's Machine, 1982's Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, 1985's Stick and 1999's "Hostage Hotel."

text: On TV, Durning had a recurring role on Everybody Loves Raymond as the Barone family's long-suffering parish priest, Father Hubley. He also played the voice of recurring character Francis Griffin in the animated series Family Guy. He appeared on the FX television series Rescue Me, playing Mike Gavin, the retired firefighter father of Denis Leary's character.

text: In 2005, he was nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of a Marine veteran in "Call of Silence," an episode in the television series NCIS, first broadcast November 23, 2004. Durning's character turns himself in to authorities, insisting that he must be prosecuted for having murdered his buddy during ferocious combat on Iwo Jima six decades earlier.[13] The real truth of the incident only becomes known for certain when the guilt-stricken veteran goes through a cathartic reliving of the battlefield events.

text: For his numerous roles on television, he earned nine Emmy Award nominations. He also received Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nominations for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas in 1982 and To Be or Not to Be in 1983. He won a Golden Globe in 1990 for his supporting role in the television miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts, having had three previous nominations. That same year, he won a Tony Award for his performance as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He received two Drama Desk Awards for his performances in That Championship Season and Third.

text: In 1999, Durning was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame on Broadway. He was honored with the Life Achievement Award at the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Award Ceremony on January 27, 2008. On July 31, 2008 he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame adjacent to one of his idols, James Cagney.

text: “There are many secrets in us, in the depths of our souls, that we don’t want anyone to know about,” he told Parade. “There’s terror and repulsion in us, the terrible spot that we don’t talk about. That place that no one knows about — horrifying things we keep secret. A lot of that is released through acting.”

text: The Charles Durning Collection is held at the Academy Film Archive. Along with films he appeared in, his collection consists mainly of films he admired as well as a small collection of family home movies.[14]

text: Death[edit]

text: Durning died of natural causes at his home in Manhattan on December 24, 2012, aged 89[15][16] and was subsequently buried at Arlington National Cemetery.[17] On December 27, 2012, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights to honor him. The New York Times, which commented on Durning's more than 200 credited roles, referred to him and actor Jack Klugman, who died the same day, as "extraordinary actors ennobling the ordinary".[18] The Huffington Post compared the two men, calling them "character actor titans".[19]

text: Filmography[edit]

text: Film[edit]

text:
Year
Title
Role
Notes

1962
The Password Is Courage
American GI
Uncredited

1965
Harvey Middleman, Fireman
Dooley

1969
Stiletto
Cop
Uncredited

1970
Hi, Mom!
Superintendent
(as Charles Durnham)

I Walk the Line
Hunnicutt

1971
The Pursuit of Happiness
2nd Guard

1972
Doomsday Voyage
Jason's First Mate

Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston
Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
Murphy

Sisters
Joseph Larch

1973
Deadhead Miles
Red Ball Rider

The Sting
Lt. Wm. Snyder

1974
The Front Page
Murphy

1975
Queen of the Stardust Ballroom
Alvin "Al" Green
TV movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Dog Day Afternoon
Det. Sgt. Eugene Moretti
National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Breakheart Pass
O'Brien

The Hindenburg
Capt. Pruss

1976
Harry and Walter Go to New York
Rufus T. Crisp

1977
Twilight's Last Gleaming
President David Stevens

The Choirboys
Spermwhale Whalen

1978
The Fury
Dr. Jim McKeever

An Enemy of the People
Peter Stockmann

The Greek Tycoon
Michael Russell

1979
Tilt
Harold 'The Whale' Remmens

The Muppet Movie
Doc Hopper
Doc Hopper is a frog legs restaurant owner

North Dallas Forty
Coach Johnson

Starting Over
Michael Potter

When a Stranger Calls
John Clifford

1980
Attica
Russell Oswald
TV movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Die Laughing
Arnold

The Final Countdown
Senator Samuel Chapman

1981
Crisis at Central High
Principal Jess Matthews
TV movie

True Confessions
Jack Amsterdam

Dark Night of the Scarecrow
Otis P. Hazelrigg
TV movie

Sharky's Machine
Friscoe

1982
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Governor
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Tootsie
Leslie 'Les' Nichols

1983
Scarface
Immigration Officer
Voice, Uncredited

Two of a Kind
Charlie

To Be or Not to Be
Col. Erhardt
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

1984
Mister Roberts
The Captain

Mass Appeal
Monsignor Thomas Burke

1985
Stick
Chucky

The Man with One Red Shoe
Ross

Death of a Salesman
Charley
TV movie
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Stand Alone
Louis Thibadeau

1986
Big Trouble
O'Mara

Where the River Runs Black
Father O'Reilly

Tough Guys
Deke Yablonski

Meatballs III: Summer Job
Pete
Uncredited

Solarbabies
The Warden

1987
The Rosary Murders
Father Ted Nabors

Happy New Year
Charlie

A Tiger's Tale
Charlie Drumm

Hadley's Rebellion
Sam Crawford

The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains
Warden Hardy
TV movie
Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

1988
Cop
Dutch Peltz

Far North
Bertrum

Case Closed
Detective Les

1989
Étoile
Uncle Joshua

Brenda Starr
Editor Francis I. Livright

Cat Chaser
Jiggs Scully

Dinner at Eight
Dan Packard
TV movie

1990
Dick Tracy
Chief Brandon

Fatal Sky
Colonel Clancy

1991
V.I. Warshawski
Det. Lt. Bobby Mallory

1993
The Music of Chance
Bill Flower

When A Stranger Calls Back
John Clifford

1994
The Hudsucker Proxy
Waring Hudsucker

I.Q.
Louis Bamberger

1995
The Last Supper
Reverend Gerald Hutchens

The Grass Harp
Reverend Buster

Home for the Holidays
Henry Larson

1996
Spy Hard
The Director

Recon
Chief

The Land Before Time IV:
Journey Through the Mists
Archie the Archelon
Voice

Mrs. Santa Claus
Santa Claus

One Fine Day
Lew

1997
The Secret Life of Algernon
Norbie Hess

1998
Shelter
Capt. Robert Landis

Jerry and Tom
Vic

Hi-Life
Fatty

Hard Time
Detective Charlie Duffy

2000
Lakeboat
Skippy

O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Pappy O'Daniel

Very Mean Men
Paddy Mulroney

The Last Producer
Syd Wolf

State and Main
Mayor George Bailey
Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Cast
National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Never Look Back
N/A

2001
L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve
Stuart Steele

2002
Turn of Faith
Philly Russo

Mother Ghost
George

Mr. St. Nick
King Nicholas XX

The Naked Run
Congressman Davenport
Short

The Last Man Club
John 'Eagle Eye' Pennell

Pride & Loyalty
Dylan Frier

2003
Dead Canaries
Jimmy Kerrigan

2004
Death and Texas
Marshall Ledger

One Last Ride
Mr. Orlick

A Boyfriend for Christmas
Santa Claus

2005
River's End
Murray Blythe

Resurrection: The J.R. Richard Story
Frank McNally

The L.A. Riot Spectacular
The Lawyer

Dirty Deeds
Victor Rasdale

Detective
Max Ernst
TV movie

Jesus, Mary and Joey
Teddy the Bartender

2006
Descansos
Innkeeper #2

Miracle Dogs Too
Capt. Pete Weaver

Unbeatable Harold
Harold's Father

Local Color
Yammi

Forget About It
Eddie O'Brien

2007
Polycarp
Alexander Hathaway
aka Kinky Killers

2008
Good Dick
Charlie

Deal
Charlie Adler

The Drum Beats Twice
Satan

Break
The Wise Man

iMurders
Dr. Seamus St. Martin

The Golden Boys
John Bartlett

A Bunch of Amateurs
Charlie Rosenberg

2009
Shannon's Rainbow
Floyd

2010
Three Chris's
Kris Kringle

Chronicle of Purgatory: The Waiter
Frank 'The Handler' Maro

An Affirmative Act
Man in the White Suit

2011
Naked Run
Congressman Davenport

The Great Fight
Judge Frier

The Life Zone
James Wise

2012
Rogue Assassin
Frank Maro

2014
Scavenger Killers
Dylan Frier

2015
Bleeding Hearts
Santa Claus
(final film role)

text: Television[edit]

text:
Year
Title
Role
Notes

1972
Another World
Gil McGowan (#1)
Unknown episodes

1973
All in the Family
Detective
Episode: "Gloria the Victim"

1975–1976
The Cop and The Kid
Officer Frank Murphy
13 episodes

1975
Barnaby Jones
Don Corcoran
Episode: "The Deadly Conspiracy: Part 2"

1976
Captains and the Kings
Ed Healey
3 episodes
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

1981
Great Performances
McMahon
Episode: "The Girls in Their Summer Dresses and Other Stories"

1982
American Playhouse
Retired Man
Episode: "Working"

1985
Amazing Stories
Assistant to the Boss
Episode: "Guilt Trip"

1985
Tall Tales & Legends
Uncle Doffue
Episode: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

1986
Amazing Stories
Earl
Episode: "You Gotta Believe Me"

1990–1994
Evening Shade
Dr. Harlan Elldridge
98 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (1991–92)

1990
The Kennedys of Massachusetts
John "Honey Fitz" Fitzgerald
3 episodes

1992
The Water Engine
Tour Guide
Television Movie

1996
Elmo Saves Christmas
Santa Claus
Television Special

1997
Orleans
Frank Vitelli
3 episodes

1997
Early Edition
Psychiatrist
Episode: "A Regular Joe"

1998
Homicide: Life on the Street
Thomas Finnegan
Episode: "Finnegan's Wake"
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

1998
Cybil
A.J. Sheridan
2 episodes

1998–2002
Everybody Loves Raymond
Father Hubley
6 episodes

1998–2000
The Practice
Stephen Donnell
2 episodes

1999–2009
Family Guy
Francis Griffin
5 episodes

1999–2000
Now and Again
Narrator
20 episodes

2000
The Hoop Life
Wes Connelly
Episode: "The Second Chance"

2000
Early Edition
Judge Steven Romick
Episode: "Time"

2001
Arli$$
N/A
Episode: "Fielding Offers"

2001
Citizen Baines
Clifford Connelly
Episode: "Three Days in November"

2002
First Monday
Justice Henry Hoskins
13 episodes

2003
Touched by an Angel
Father Madden
Episode: "The Root of All Evil"

2004–2011
Rescue Me
Michael Gavin
27 episodes
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

2004
NCIS
Corporal Ernie Yost
Episode: "Call of Silence"
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

2006
Everwood
Eugene Brown
2 episodes

2007
Monk
Hank Johansen
Episode: "Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital"

2010
No Clean Break
The Wise Man
Unsold TV pilot

text: Narrations[edit]

text: Normandy: The Great Crusade Discovery Channel Director-Christopher Koch - English (1994)


document_title: Where the Red Fern Grows (1974 film)

question_text: when was where the red fern grows filmed

text: Where the Red Fern Grows (1974 film)

text: Overview[edit]

text: 12-year-old Billy Colman is obsessed with coon dogs and coon hunting, but good dogs cost money his family can't afford. However, he sees several good dogs belonging to others, including a man named Mr. Kyle.

text: One day Billy's father mentions that there's a Bluetick pup for sale at his grandpa's store. Billy runs to see it, only to have the Pritchard boys talk their father into buying it just to spite Billy.

text: Billy's grandpa tells him that if he wants dogs he has to earn them. He begins working multiple jobs and finally earns the fifty dollars two puppies will cost. By that time, the price has dropped by ten dollars each.

text: Billy orders the dogs, but they arrive in Tahlequah, 30 miles away, because the mail stage won't carry live animals. Billy sneaks out of the house in the night and travels to Tahlequah.

text: He uses his leftover ten dollars to buy presents for his family; overalls for Papa, dress cloth for Mama and candy for his younger sisters.

text: Billy picks up the pups at the depot and carries them home in a gunny sack. He has to stop overnight and encounters a cougar which snarls at him until he makes a fire to scare it off.

text: The next day Billy passes a tree with the names Dan and Ann carved inside a heart on the trunk. He names the female puppy Little Ann and the male Old Dan.

text: Once Billy gets the puppies home he sets out to train them to be the best dogs in the Ozarks, using a coonskin to teach them to scent trail.

text: On the night of Billy's first hunt, the dogs get after a coon almost immediately but the coon foils them by crossing the river. Billy catches up with the dogs and tells them he's ashamed of them. He forces them to swim the river and pick up the track on the other bank.

text: The dogs tree the coon up an enormous tree, and Billy starts trying to chop it down with his small hatchet even though it seems impossible. Finally he calls on God to help him and a strong wind blows the tree over.

text: Billy's dogs become famous in that part of the country. One day, he runs into the Pritchard boys again down at Grandpa's store. They tell him about a ghost coon that runs on their land and which no dog has ever been able to tree. They then antagonize Billy until he bets them that Dan and Ann can tree the ghost coon.

text: On the hunt, Dan and Ann tree the coon in an old mill. Billy refuses to kill it, saying it deserves to live because it fooled every dog in the country. He and the Pritchards get into a fight. At the same time, the Pritchard dog, Old Blue, gets loose and begins fighting Dan and Ann.

text: Ruben Pritchard pulls Billy's hatchet out of his belt and runs toward the dogs. Billy trips him, and Ruben falls on the hatchet and dies.

text: After Ruben's funeral, Billy tells his family he's never going hunting again. A few days later, Grandpa invites the whole family over to Sunday dinner. At the dinner, he tells them about a championship coonhunt that will be held soon and convinces Billy to enter.

text: At the coonhunt, Billy wins the right to hunt in the championship round, along with two other hunters, one of whom is Mr. Kyle and his pair of Treeing Walker Coonhounds.

text: On the final night of the coonhunt, a blizzard blows up. Dan and Ann tree one coon and are on the way to another one when Grandpa trips and sprains his ankle. Nobody notices as they chase after the dogs.

text: Dan and Ann have three raccoons up a single tree. Just then, Billy notices that Grandpa is missing. He calls the dogs off the coons, even though Papa tells him it's impossible, and sends them to find Grandpa and they succeed.

text: The next day is the awards ceremony. Mr. Kyle is given the prize, but he gives it to Billy instead, saying that he earned it but not to get too cocky because he and his Walkers were going to whip Billy and his Redbones next year.

text: Not long after the championship hunt, Billy is out hunting with Dan and Ann when they start barking up a cliff. A mountain lion jumps off and the dogs attack him before he can get to Billy. During the fight, Billy manages to get out his hatchet and kill the lion, but not before it mortally injures Old Dan.

text: Billy carries Dan home but he dies on the kitchen table. They bury him down by the river. After Dan's death, Little Ann loses the will to live and dies on his grave a couple of weeks later. Billy buries her beside him.

text: Billy's parents decide to use the prize money from the coonhunt to move the whole family to Tulsa to operate a store. On the day they're leaving, Billy walks down by the river to Dan and Ann's graves. A red fern, which according to legend can only be planted by an angel, is growing between the two and Billy calls the family down to see it.

text: Seeing the red fern satisfies Billy that what happened is for the best and he goes to Tulsa with his family.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
James Whitmore as Grandpa
Beverly Garland as Mother
Jack Ging as Father
Lonny Chapman as Sheriff
Stewart Peterson as Billy
Bill Dunbar as Mr. Kyle
Marshall Edwards as The Preacher

text: Production[edit]

text: The film was produced by Lyman Dayton and filmed on location in Oklahoma.[4][5]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Where the Red Fern Grows received generally positive reviews.[6][7][8] The Nevada Daily Mail called the film "quite simply a wonderful story".[9]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: In 1992, a sequel entitled Where the Red Fern Grows: Part Two (alternately titled Where the Red Fern Grows 2: The Homecoming) was released by McCullough Family Media, Inc. and Red Fern II Ltd. In it, Billy returns home as a veteran from World War II, bitter and sad at having lost a leg. His ailing grandfather gives him two new puppies which he is reluctant to accept, but his sister Sarah convinces him to do so. Later, he befriends a neighbor boy named Wilson. The film starred Wilford Brimley, Doug McKeon, Chad McQueen and Lisa Whelchel.