document_title: Walking

question_text: how many miles does an elephant walk per hour

text: Walking

text: Difference from running[edit]

text: The word walk is descended from the Old English wealcan "to roll". In humans and other bipeds, walking is generally distinguished from running in that only one foot at a time leaves contact with the ground and there is a period of double-support. In contrast, running begins when both feet are off the ground with each step. This distinction has the status of a formal requirement in competitive walking events. For quadrupedal species, there are numerous gaits which may be termed walking or running, and distinctions based upon the presence or absence of a suspended phase or the number of feet in contact any time do not yield mechanically correct classification.[1] The most effective method to distinguish walking from running is to measure the height of a person's centre of mass using motion capture or a force plate at midstance. During walking, the centre of mass reaches a maximum height at midstance, while during running, it is then at a minimum. This distinction, however, only holds true for locomotion over level or approximately level ground. For walking up grades above 10%, this distinction no longer holds for some individuals. Definitions based on the percentage of the stride during which a foot is in contact with the ground (averaged across all feet) of greater than 50% contact corresponds well with identification of 'inverted pendulum' mechanics and are indicative of walking for animals with any number of limbs, although this definition is incomplete.[1] Running humans and animals may have contact periods greater than 50% of a gait cycle when rounding corners, running uphill or carrying loads.

text: Speed is another factor that distinguishes walking from running. Although walking speeds can vary greatly depending on many factors such as height, weight, age, terrain, surface, load, culture, effort, and fitness, the average human walking speed is about 5.0 kilometres per hour (km/h), or about 3.1 miles per hour (mph). Specific studies have found pedestrian walking speeds ranging from 4.51 kilometres per hour (2.80 mph) to 4.75 kilometres per hour (2.95 mph) for older individuals and from 5.32 kilometres per hour (3.31 mph) to 5.43 kilometres per hour (3.37 mph) for younger individuals;[2][3] a brisk walking speed can be around 6.5 kilometres per hour (4.0 mph).[4] Champion racewalkers can average more than 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph) over a distance of 20 kilometres (12 mi).

text: An average human child achieves independent walking ability at around 11 months old.[5]

text: Health benefits[edit]

text: Regular, brisk exercise of any kind can improve confidence, stamina, energy, weight control and life expectancy and reduce stress.[citation needed] It can also reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, diabetes, high blood pressure, bowel cancer and osteoporosis.[citation needed] Scientific studies have also shown that walking, besides its physical benefits, is also beneficial for the mind, improving memory skills, learning ability, concentration and abstract reasoning,[citation needed] as well as ameliorating spirits.[clarification needed] Sustained walking sessions for a minimum period of thirty to sixty minutes a day, five days a week, with the correct walking posture,[6] reduce health risks and have various overall health benefits, such as reducing the chances of cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, anxiety disorder and depression.[7] Life expectancy is also increased even for individuals suffering from obesity or high blood pressure. Walking also improves bone health, especially strengthening the hip bone, and lowering the harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and raising the useful high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.[8] Studies have found that walking may also help prevent dementia and Alzheimer's.[9]

text: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's fact sheet on the "Relationship of Walking to Mortality Among U.S. Adults with Diabetes" states that those with diabetes who walked for 2 or more hours a week lowered their mortality rate from all causes by 39 per cent. "Walking lengthened the life of people with diabetes regardless of age, sex, race, body mass index, length of time since diagnosis, and presence of complications or functional limitations."[10] It has been suggested that there is a relationship between the speed of walking and health, and that the best results are obtained with a speed of more than 2.5 mph (4 km/h).[11]

text: Governments now recognize the benefits of walking for mental and physical health and are actively encouraging it. This growing emphasis on walking has arisen because people walk less nowadays than previously. In the UK, a Department of Transport report[12] found that between 1995/97 and 2005 the average number of walk trips per person fell by 16%, from 292 to 245 per year. Many professionals in local authorities and the NHS are employed to halt this decline by ensuring that the built environment allows people to walk and that there are walking opportunities available to them. Professionals working to encourage walking come mainly from six sectors: health, transport, environment, schools, sport and recreation, and urban design.

text: One programme to encourage walking is "The Walking the Way to Health Initiative", organized by the British walkers association The Ramblers, which is the largest volunteer led walking scheme in the United Kingdom. Volunteers are trained to lead free Health Walks from community venues such as libraries and doctors' surgeries. The scheme has trained over 35,000 volunteers and have over 500 schemes operating across the UK, with thousands of people walking every week.[13] A new organization called "Walk England" launched a web site in June 2008 to provide these professionals with evidence, advice and examples of success stories of how to encourage communities to walk more. The site has a social networking aspect to allow professionals and the public to ask questions, post news and events and communicate with others in their area about walking, as well as a "walk now" option to find out what walks are available in each region. Similar organizations exist in other countries and recently a "Walking Summit" was held in the United States. This "assembl[ed] thought-leaders and influencers from business, urban planning and real estate, [along with] physicians and public health officials," and others, to discuss how to make American cities and communities places where "people can and want to walk".[14]

text: Origins[edit]

text: It is theorized that "walking" among tetrapods originated underwater with air-breathing fish that could "walk" underwater, giving rise to the plethora of land-dwelling life that walk on four or two limbs.[15] While terrestrial tetrapods are theorised to have a single origin, arthropods and their relatives are thought to have independently evolved walking several times, specifically in insects, myriapods, chelicerates, tardigrades, onychophorans, and crustaceans.[16]

text: Judging from footprints discovered on a former shore in Kenya, it is thought possible that ancestors of modern humans were walking in ways very similar to the present activity as many as 1.5 million years ago.[17][18]

text: Variants[edit]

text:
Scrambling is a method of ascending a hill or mountain that involves using both hands, because of the steepness of the terrain.[19] Of necessity it will be a slow and careful form of walking and with possibly of occasional brief, easy rock climbing. Some scrambling takes place on narrow exposed ridges where more attention to balance will be required than in normal walking.
Snow shoeing – A snowshoe is footwear for walking over the snow. Snowshoes work by distributing the weight of the person over a larger area so that the person's foot does not sink completely into the snow, a quality called "flotation". It is often said by snowshoers that if you can walk, you can snowshoe. This is true in optimal conditions, but snowshoeing properly requires some slight adjustments to walking. The method of walking is to lift the shoes slightly and slide the inner edges over each other, thus avoiding the unnatural and fatiguing "straddle-gait" that would otherwise be necessary. A snowshoer must be willing to roll his or her feet slightly as well. An exaggerated stride works best when starting out, particularly with larger or traditional shoes.
Beach walking is a sport that is based on walk on the sand of the beach. Beach walking can be developed on compact sand or non-compact sand. There are beach walking competitions on non-compact sand. And there are world records of beach walking on non-compact sand in Multiday distances. Beach walking has a specific technique of walk.
Nordic walking is a physical activity and a sport, which is performed with specially designed walking poles similar to ski poles. Compared to regular walking, Nordic walking (also called pole walking) involves applying force to the poles with each stride. Nordic walkers use more of their entire body (with greater intensity) and receive fitness building stimulation not present in normal walking for the chest, lats, triceps, biceps, shoulder, abdominals, spinal and other core muscles that may result in significant increases in heart rate at a given pace.[20] Nordic walking has been estimated as producing up to a 46% increase in energy consumption, compared to walking without poles.[21][22]
Pedestrianism is a sport that developed during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was a popular spectator sport in the British Isles. By the end of the 18th century, and especially with the growth of the popular press, feats of foot travel over great distances (similar to a modern ultramarathon) gained attention, and were labeled "pedestrianism". Interest in the sport, and the wagering which accompanied it, spread to the United States, Canada, and Australia in the 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, Pedestrianism was largely displaced by the rise in modern spectator sports and by controversy involving rules, which limited its appeal as a source of wagering and led to its inclusion in the amateur athletics movement. Pedestrianism was first codified in the last half of the 19th century, evolving into what would become racewalking, By the mid 19th century, competitors were often expected to extend their legs straight at least once in their stride, and obey what was called the "fair heel and toe" rule. This rule, the source of modern racewalking, was a vague commandment that the toe of one foot could not leave the ground before the heel of the next foot touched down. This said, rules were customary and changed with competition. Racers were usually allowed to jog in order to fend off cramps, and it was distance, not code, which determined gait for longer races. Newspaper reports suggest that "trotting" was common in events.[23]
Power walking or speed walking is the act of walking with a speed at the upper end of the natural range for walking gait, typically 7 to 9 km/h (4.5 to 5.5 mph). To qualify as power walking as opposed to jogging or running, at least one foot must be in contact with the ground at all times (see also fitwalking).
Racewalking is a long-distance athletic event. Although it is a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Stride length is reduced, so to achieve competitive speeds, racewalkers must attain cadence rates comparable to those achieved by Olympic 800-meter runners,[24] and they must do so for hours at a time since the Olympic events are the 20 km (12.4 mi) race walk (men and women) and 50 km (31 mi) race walk (men only), and 50 mile (80.5 km) events are also held. See also pedestrianism above.
Afghan walking: The Afghan Walk is a rhythmic breathing technique synchronized with walking. It was born in the 1980s on the basis of the observations made by the Frenchman Édouard G. Stiegler, during his contacts with Afghan caravaners, capable of making walks of more than 60 km per day for dozens of days.[citation needed]

text: Biomechanics[edit]

text: Human walking is accomplished with a strategy called the double pendulum. During forward motion, the leg that leaves the ground swings forward from the hip. This sweep is the first pendulum. Then the leg strikes the ground with the heel and rolls through to the toe in a motion described as an inverted pendulum. The motion of the two legs is coordinated so that one foot or the other is always in contact with the ground. The process of walking recovers approximately sixty per cent of the energy used due to pendulum dynamics and ground reaction force.[25][26]

text: Walking differs from a running gait in a number of ways. The most obvious is that during walking one leg always stays on the ground while the other is swinging. In running there is typically a ballistic phase where the runner is airborne with both feet in the air (for bipedals).

text: Another difference concerns the movement of the centre of mass of the body. In walking the body "vaults" over the leg on the ground, raising the centre of mass to its highest point as the leg passes the vertical, and dropping it to the lowest as the legs are spread apart. Essentially kinetic energy of forward motion is constantly being traded for a rise in potential energy. This is reversed in running where the centre of mass is at its lowest as the leg is vertical. This is because the impact of landing from the ballistic phase is absorbed by bending the leg and consequently storing energy in muscles and tendons. In running there is a conversion between kinetic, potential, and elastic energy.

text: There is an absolute limit on an individual's speed of walking (without special techniques such as those employed in speed walking) due to the upwards acceleration of the centre of mass during a stride – if it's greater than the acceleration due to gravity the person will become airborne as they vault over the leg on the ground. Typically however, animals switch to a run at a lower speed than this due to energy efficiencies.

text: A leisure activity[edit]

text: Many people enjoy walking as a recreation in the mainly urban modern world, and it is one of the best forms of exercise.[27] For some, walking is a way to enjoy nature and the outdoors; and for others the physical, sporting and endurance aspect is more important.

text: There are a variety of different kinds of walking, including bushwalking, racewalking, beach walking, hillwalking, volksmarching, Nordic walking, trekking and hiking. Some people prefer to walk indoors on a treadmill, or in a gym, and fitness walkers and others may use a pedometer to count their steps. Hiking is the usual word used in Canada, the United States and South Africa for long vigorous walks; similar walks are called tramps in New Zealand, or hill walking or just walking in Australia, the UK and the Irish Republic. Australians also bushwalk. In English-speaking parts of North America the term walking is used for short walks, especially in towns and cities. Snow shoeing is walking in snow; a slightly different gait is required compared with regular walking.

text: In terms of tourism the possibilities range from guided walking tours in cities, to organized trekking holidays in the Himalayas. In the UK the term walking tour also refers to a multi-day walk or hike undertaken by a group or individual. Well-organized systems of trails exist in many other European counties, as well as Canada, United States, New Zealand, and Nepal. Systems of lengthy waymarked walking trails now stretch across Europe from Norway to Turkey, Portugal to Cyprus.[28] Many also walk the traditional pilgrim routes, of which the most famous is El Camino de Santiago, The Way of St. James.

text: Numerous walking festivals and other walking events take place each year in many countries. The world's largest multi-day walking event is the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The "Vierdaagse" (Dutch for "Four day Event") is an annual walk that has taken place since 1909; it has been based at Nijmegen since 1916. Depending on age group and category, walkers have to walk 30, 40 or 50 kilometers each day for four days.[citation needed] Originally a military event with a few civilians, it now is a mainly civilian event. Numbers have risen in recent years, with over 40,000 now taking part, including about 5,000 military personnel.[citation needed] Due to crowds on the route, since 2004 the organizers have limited the number of participants. In the U.S., there is the annual Labor Day walk on Mackinac Bridge, Michigan, which draws over 60,000 participants; it is the largest single-day walking event;[citation needed] while the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk in Maryland draws over 50,000 participants each year.[citation needed] There are also various walks organised as charity events, with walkers sponsored for a specific cause. These walks range in length from two miles (3 km) or five km to 50 miles (80 km). The MS Challenge Walk is an 80 km or 50 mile walk which raises money to fight multiple sclerosis, while walkers in the Oxfam Trailwalker cover 100 km or 60 miles.

text: In Britain, The Ramblers, a registered charity, is the largest organisation that looks after the interests of walkers, with some 139,000 members.[citation needed] Its "Get Walking Keep Walking" project provides free route guides, led walks, as well as information for people new to walking.[29] The Long Distance Walkers Association in the UK is for the more energetic walker, and organizes lengthy challenge hikes of 20 or even 50 miles (30 to 80 km) or more in a day. The LDWA's annual "Hundred" event, entailing walking 100 miles or 160 km in 48 hours, takes place each British Spring Bank Holiday weekend.[30]

text: Walkability[edit]

text: There has been a recent focus among urban planners in some communities to create pedestrian-friendly areas and roads, allowing commuting, shopping and recreation to be done on foot. The concept of walkability has arisen as a measure of the degree to which an area is friendly to walking. Some communities are at least partially car-free, making them particularly supportive of walking and other modes of transportation. In the United States, the active living network is an example of a concerted effort to develop communities more friendly to walking and other physical activities.

text: An example of such efforts to make urban development more pedestrian friendly is the pedestrian village. This is a compact, pedestrian-oriented neighborhood or town, with a mixed-use village center, that follows the tenets of New Pedestrianism.[31][32] Shared-use lanes for pedestrians and those using bicycles, Segways, wheelchairs, and other small rolling conveyances that do not use internal combustion engines. Generally, these lanes are in front of the houses and businesses, and streets for motor vehicles are always at the rear. Some pedestrian villages might be nearly car-free with cars either hidden below the buildings or on the periphery of the village. Venice, Italy is essentially a pedestrian village with canals. The canal district in Venice, California, on the other hand, combines the front lane/rear street approach with canals and walkways, or just walkways.[31][33][34]

text: Walking is also considered to be a clear example of a sustainable mode of transport, especially suited for urban use and/or relatively shorter distances. Non-motorised transport modes such as walking, but also cycling, small-wheeled transport (skates, skateboards, push scooters and hand carts) or wheelchair travel are often key elements of successfully encouraging clean urban transport.[35] A large variety of case studies and good practices (from European cities and some worldwide examples) that promote and stimulate walking as a means of transportation in cities can be found at Eltis, Europe's portal for local transport.[36]

text: The development of specific rights of way with appropriate infrastructure can promote increased participation and enjoyment of walking. Examples of types of investment include pedestrian malls, and foreshoreways such as oceanways and also river walks.

text: The first purpose-built pedestrian street in Europe is the Lijnbaan in Rotterdam, opened in 1953. The first pedestrianised shopping centre in the United Kingdom was in Stevenage in 1959. A large number of European towns and cities have made part of their centres car-free since the early 1960s. These are often accompanied by car parks on the edge of the pedestrianised zone, and, in the larger cases, park and ride schemes. Central Copenhagen is one of the largest and oldest: It was converted from car traffic into pedestrian zone in 1962.

text: In robotics[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The first successful attempts at walking robots tended to have six legs. The number of legs was reduced as microprocessor technology advanced, and there are now a number of robots that can walk on two legs. One, for example, is ASIMO. Although robots have taken great strides in advancement, they still don't walk nearly as well as human beings as they often need to keep their knees bent permanently in order to improve stability.

text: In 2009, Japanese roboticist Tomotaka Takahashi developed a robot that can jump three inches off the ground. The robot, named Ropid, is capable of getting up, walking, running, and jumping.[37]

text: In child amputees[edit]

text: Walking for normal able bodied children is a lot different than walking for below-knee-amputees. Walking is less fluid and symmetrical for the children who are amputees. Research was conducted in order to find the best way to get the amputee children to develop a more symmetrical and fluid walking form like normal able bodied children. Because of the results of the study which showed that the normal bodied children can withstand a lot more external loading than the amputees, researchers are now looking into the manufacturing and design of the prosthetics that these amputees use. Potentially, they could come up a new idea or a model that can improve the walking capabilities of these amputee children.

text: Animals[edit]

text: Horses[edit]

text: The walk is a four-beat gait that averages about 4 miles per hour (6.4 km/h). When walking, a horse's legs follow this sequence: left hind leg, left front leg, right hind leg, right front leg, in a regular 1-2-3-4 beat. At the walk, the horse will always have one foot raised and the other three feet on the ground, save for a brief moment when weight is being transferred from one foot to another. A horse moves its head and neck in a slight up and down motion that helps maintain balance.[38]

text: Ideally, the advancing rear hoof oversteps the spot where the previously advancing front hoof touched the ground. The more the rear hoof oversteps, the smoother and more comfortable the walk becomes. Individual horses and different breeds vary in the smoothness of their walk. However, a rider will almost always feel some degree of gentle side-to-side motion in the horse's hips as each hind leg reaches forward.

text: The fastest "walks" with a four-beat footfall pattern are actually the lateral forms of ambling gaits such as the running walk, singlefoot, and similar rapid but smooth intermediate speed gaits. If a horse begins to speed up and lose a regular four-beat cadence to its gait, the horse is no longer walking, but is beginning to either trot or pace.

text: Elephants[edit]

text: Elephants can move both forwards and backwards, but cannot trot, jump, or gallop. They use only two gaits when moving on land, the walk and a faster gait similar to running.[39] In walking, the legs act as pendulums, with the hips and shoulders rising and falling while the foot is planted on the ground. With no "aerial phase", the fast gait does not meet all the criteria of running, although the elephant uses its legs much like other running animals, with the hips and shoulders falling and then rising while the feet are on the ground.[40] Fast-moving elephants appear to 'run' with their front legs, but 'walk' with their hind legs and can reach a top speed of 18 km/h (11 mph).[41] At this speed, most other quadrupeds are well into a gallop, even accounting for leg length.

text: Walking fish[edit]

text: Walking fish, sometimes called ambulatory fish, is a general term that refers to fish that are able to travel over land for extended periods of time. The term may also be used for some other cases of nonstandard fish locomotion, e.g., when describing fish "walking" along the sea floor, as the handfish or frogfish.


document_title: Voting age

question_text: when did 18 become the age to vote

question_tokens: when did 18 become the age to vote

root

text: Voting age

text: History[edit]

text: Before the Second World War, the voting age in almost all countries was 21 years or higher. Czechoslovakia was the first to reduce the voting age to 20 years in 1946, and by 1968 a total of 17 countries had lowered their voting age.[1] Many countries, particularly in Western Europe, reduced their voting ages to 18 years during the 1970s, starting with the United Kingdom (1969),[2] with the United States (26th Amendment) (1971), Canada, West Germany (1972), Australia (1974), France (1974), and others following soon afterwards. By the end of the 20th century, 18 had become by far the most common voting age. However, a few countries maintain a voting age of 20 years or higher. It was argued that young men could be drafted to go to war at 18, and many people felt they should be able to vote at the age of 18.[3]

tag: p

text: In the late 20th and early 21st centuries voting ages were lowered to 18 in India, Switzerland, Austria, and Morocco. Japan was due to make the change to 18 in 2016.[4] A dispute is continuing in the Maldives.[5][6]

text: Debate on lowering voting age to 16[edit]

text: Around the year 2000 a number of countries began to consider whether the voting age ought to be reduced further, with arguments most often being made in favour of a reduction to 16. The earliest moves came during the 1990s, when the voting age for municipal elections in some States of Germany was lowered to 16. Lower Saxony was the first state to make such a reduction, in 1995, and four other states did likewise.[7]

text: Arguments against lowering the voting age to sixteen include lack of political maturity. On the other hand one of the major arguments for lowering the voting age to 16 is that at this age in most countries a person has reached the legal working age for most jobs and is liable to pay taxes and therefore should not have to pay taxes without the right to political representation.[8]

text: During the 2000s several proposals for a reduced voting age were put forward in U.S. states, including California, Florida and Alaska,[9] but none was successful. A national reduction was proposed in 2005 in Canada[10] and in the Australian state of New South Wales,[11] but these proposals were not adopted. In May 2009, Danish Member of Parliament Mogens Jensen presented an initiative to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to lower the voting age in Europe to 16.[12]

text: Australia[edit]

text: A report suggesting that consideration be given to reducing the voting age to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory in Canberra, Australia was tabled in the territorial legislature on 26 September 2007 and defeated.[13]

text: In 2015, federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that the voting age should be lowered to 16.[14]

text: Austria[edit]

text: In 2007, Austria became the first member of the European Union to adopt a voting age of 16 for most purposes.[15] The voting age had been reduced in Austria from 19 to 18 at all levels in 1992. At that time a voting age of 16 was proposed by the Green Party, but was not adopted.[16]

text: The voting age for municipal elections in some states was lowered to 16 shortly after 2000.[7] Three states had made the reduction by 2003 (Burgenland, Carinthia and Styria),[7] and in May 2003 Vienna became the fourth.[17] Salzburg followed suit,[18][19] and so by the start of 2005 the total had reached at least five states out of nine.[20] As a consequence of state law, reduction of the municipal voting age in the states of Burgenland, Salzburg and Vienna resulted in the reduction of the regional voting age in those states as well.[19]

text: After the 2006 election, the winning SPÖ-ÖVP coalition announced on 12 January 2007 that one of its policies would be the reduction of the voting age to 16 for elections in all states and at all levels in Austria.[21] The policy was set in motion by a Government announcement on 14 March,[22] and a bill proposing an amendment to the Constitution was presented to the legislature on 2 May.[23][24] On 5 June the National Council approved the proposal following a recommendation from its Constitution Committee.[15][16][25] During the passage of the bill through the chamber relatively little opposition was raised to the reduction, with four out of five parties explicitly supporting it; indeed, there was some dispute over which party had been the first to suggest the idea. Greater controversy surrounded the other provisions of the bill concerning the Briefwahl, or postal vote, and the extension of the legislative period for the National Council from four to five years.[16] A further uncontroversial inclusion was a reduction in the candidacy age from 19 to 18. The Federal Council approved the Bill on 21 June, with no party voting against it.[26] The voting age was reduced when the Bill's provisions came into force on 1 July 2007.[27] Austria thus became the first member of the European Union, and the first of the developed world democracies, to adopt a voting age of 16 for all purposes.[15] Lowering the voting age encouraged political interest in young people in Austria.  More sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds voted than eighteen-to-twenty-one-year-olds in Austria.

text: Brazil[edit]

text: Brazil lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 in the 1988 constitution. The presidential election of 1989 was the first with the lower voting age. People between the ages 18 and 70 are required to vote.

text: Iran[edit]

text: Iran had been unique in awarding suffrage at 15, but raised the age to 18 in January 2007 despite the opposition of the Government.[28] In May 2007 the Iranian Cabinet proposed a bill to reverse the increase.[29][30]

text: Luxembourg[edit]

text: Luxembourg has compulsory voting from the age of 18. A proposal by the government to introduce optional voting for those aged 16 and 17 was rejected by 81% of voters in a June 2015 referendum.

text: Malta[edit]

text: On 20 November 2013, Malta lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 for local elections starting from 2015. The proposal had wide support from both the government and opposition, social scientists and youth organizations.

text: On Monday 29 January 2018, the Maltese Parliament will be debated to lower the voting age to 16 for General Elections, European Parliament Elections and referenda.

text: On Monday, 5 March 2018, the Maltese Parliament unanimously voted in favour of amending the constitution, lowering the official voting age from 18 to 16, making Malta the second state in the EU to lower its voting age to 16.[31]

text: New Zealand[edit]

text: The New Zealand Green Party MP Sue Bradford announced on 21 June 2007 that she intended to introduce her Civics Education and Voting Age Bill on the next occasion upon which a place became available for the consideration of Members' Bills.[32] When this happened on 25 July Bradford abandoned the idea, citing an adverse public reaction.[33] The Bill would have sought to reduce the voting age to 16 in New Zealand and make civics education part of the compulsory curriculum in schools.

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text: The Representation of the People Act 1969 lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, with effect from 1970 and remained in force until the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013 which allowed 16 year olds to vote for the first time, but only in Scotland and only in that particular referendum. The Scottish Parliament reduced the voting age to 16 for its own and Scottish local elections in 2015.[34]

text: Men in military service who turned 19 during the first world war were entitled to vote in 1918 irrespective of their age as part of the Representation of the People Act 1918 which also allowed some women over the age of 30 to vote.  The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928[35] brought the voting age for women down to 21.

text: The reduction of the voting age to 16 in the United Kingdom was first given serious consideration on 15 December 1999, when the House of Commons considered in Committee an amendment proposed by Simon Hughes to the Representation of the People Bill.[36] This was the first time the reduction of a voting age below 18 had ever been put to a vote in the Commons.[37] The Government opposed the amendment, and it was defeated by 434 votes to 36.[37]

text: The Votes at 16 coalition, a group of political and charitable organisations supporting a reduction of the voting age to 16, was launched on 29 January 2003.[38] At that time a Private Member's Bill was also proposed in the House of Lords by Lord Lucas, and received a Second Reading on 9 January.[39]

text: In 2004, the UK Electoral Commission conducted a major consultation on the subject of the voting and candidacy ages, and received a significant response. In its conclusions it recommended that the voting age remain at 18.[40] On 29 November 2005 the House of Commons voted 136-128 (on a free vote) against a Private Member's Bill for a reduction in the voting age to 16 proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams. Parliament chose not to include a provision reducing the voting age in the Electoral Administration Act during its passage in 2006.

text: On 27 February 2006, the report of the Power Inquiry called for a reduction of the voting age, and of the candidacy age for the House of Commons, to 16.[41] On the same day the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, indicated in an article in The Guardian that he favoured a reduction provided it was made concurrently with effective citizenship education.[42]

text: The UK Ministry of Justice published on 3 July 2007 a Green Paper entitled The Governance of Britain, in which it proposed the establishment of a "Youth Citizenship Commission".[43] The Commission would examine the case for lowering the voting age. On launching the Paper in the House of Commons, PM Gordon Brown said: "Although the voting age has been 18 since 1969, it is right, as part of that debate, to examine, and hear from young people themselves, whether lowering that age would increase participation."[44]

text: During the Youth Parliament debates of 30 October 2009 in the House of Commons, Votes at 16 was debated and young people of that age group voted for it overwhelmingly as a campaign priority. Since that debate the issue has been raised in Prime Minister's Questions and has also gained the widespread support of the major political parties.[citation needed]

text: In April 2015, Labour announced that it would support the policy if it won an overall majority in the 2015 general election,[45] which it failed to do.

text: There was some criticism about not reducing the voting age to 16 years for the referendum on the membership in the European Union in 2016.[46][47]

text: Scotland[edit]

text: The Scottish National Party conference voted unanimously on 27 October 2007 for a policy of reducing the voting age to 16, as well as in favour of a campaign for the necessary power to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament.[48]

text: In September 2011, it was announced that the voting age was likely to be reduced from 18 to 16 for the Scottish independence referendum.[49] This was approved by the Scottish Parliament in June 2013.[50]

text: In June 2015, the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to reduce the voting age to 16 for elections for the Scottish Parliament and for Scottish local government elections.[34]

text: Crown dependencies[edit]

text: Moves to lower the voting age to 16 were successful in each of the three British Crown dependencies from 2006 to 2008. The Isle of Man was the first to amend its law, when in July 2006 it reduced the voting age to 16 for its general elections, with the House of Keys approving the move by 19 votes to 4.[51]

text: Jersey followed suit on 4 July 2007, when it approved in principle a reduction of the voting age to 16. The States of Jersey voted narrowly in favour, by 25 votes to 21,[52] and the legislative amendments were adopted on 26 September.[53] The law was sanctioned by Order in Council on 12 December,[54][55] and was brought into force on 1 April, in time for the general elections in late 2008.[56][57]

text: On 31 October 2007, a proposal[58][59] for a reduction made by the House Committee of the States of Guernsey, and approved by the States' Policy Committee, was adopted by the assembly by 30 votes to 15.[59][60] An Order in Council sanctioning the law was made on 12 December,[54] and it was registered at the Court of Guernsey on 19 December. It came into force immediately, and the voting age was accordingly reduced in time for the Guernsey general election, 2008.[61]

text: Alderney and Sark, each part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, have autonomy in deciding the question. Both have yet to favour a reduction to 16.

text: United States[edit]

text: In the United States, the debate about lowering voting age from 21 to 18 began during World War II and intensified during the Vietnam War, when most of those subjected to the draft were too young to vote, and the image of young men being forced to risk their lives in the military without the privileges of voting successfully pressured legislators to lower the voting age nationally and in many states. By 1968, several states had lowered the voting age below 21 years: Alaska and Hawaii's minimum age was 20, Kentucky's was 19, and Georgia's was 18.[62] In 1970, the Supreme Court in Oregon v. Mitchell ruled that Congress had the right to regulate the minimum voting age in federal elections; however, not at local and state level.

text: The 26th Amendment (passed and ratified in 1971)[63] set the voting age for federal and state elections at 18 years, but does not prevent states from establishing a lower voting age.[64] Except for the express limitations provided for in Amendments XIV, XV, XIX and XXVI, voter qualifications for House and Senate elections are largely delegated to the States under Article I, Section 2 and Amendment XVII of the United States Constitution, which respectively state that "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." and "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures."[65]

text: 21 states permit 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections and caucuses if they will be 18 by election day: Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico,[66] North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington. Alaska, Kansas, North Dakota and Washington allow 17-year-olds to participate in Democrat caucuses, but not in the Republican caucus. Minnesota allows 17-year-olds to participate in presidential caucuses, but may not vote in primary elections for other offices.[67] New Hampshire allows anyone who will be 18 years old by the time of next election to register, meaning some 17-year-olds can register to vote in this state.[68]

text: Currently, the Maine Green Independent Party, the state branch of the Green Party of the United States, calls for the lowering of the voting age to 17.[69] Youth suffrage appears to be gaining ground in Massachusetts; three of the four Democratic United States Senate candidates in 2010 supported lowering the voting age.[70]

text: In 2013, the City of Takoma Park, Maryland became the first place in the United States to lower its voting age to 16, for local (but not general) elections and referendums.[71][72] As of 2018, three additional cities have lowered the voting age to 16: Hyattsville and Greenbelt in Maryland, and Berkeley in California (for school board elections only).[73] In 2018, a bill in the Council of the District of Columbia was proposed to lower the voting age to 16, which would make the federal district the first jurisdiction to lower the voting age for federal level elections.[74]

text: Venezuela[edit]

text: A request to lower the voting age to 16 was made during consideration of revisions to the Constitution of Venezuela in 2007. Cilia Flores, president of the National Assembly, announced that the Mixed Committee for Constitutional Reform had found the idea acceptable.[75] Following approval in the legislature[76] the amendment formed part of the package of constitutional proposals, and was defeated in the 2007 referendum.

text: Voting ages around the world[edit]

text: Eighteen is the most common voting age, with a small minority of countries differing from this rule. Those with a national minimum age of 17 include East Timor, Greece, Indonesia, North Korea, South Sudan and Sudan. The minimum age is 16 in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey (three self-governing British Crown Dependencies). People aged 16–18 can vote in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro if employed. The highest minimum voting age is 21 in several nations. Some countries have variable provision for the minimum voting age, whereby a lower age is set for eligibility to vote in state, regional or municipal elections.

text: The only known maximum voting age is in the Holy See, where the franchise for electing a new Pope is restricted to Cardinals under the age of 80.

text: Alphabetical list of countries[edit]

text: The following is an alphabetical list of voting ages in the various countries of the world.[77]

text: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

tag: ul

text: A[edit]

text:
Afghanistan: 18
Albania: 18
Algeria: 18
American Samoa: 18
Andorra: 18
Angola: 18
Anguilla: 18
Antigua and Barbuda: 18
Argentina: 16, 16 to 18 and 70+ optional.
Armenia: 18
Aruba:18
Australia: 18 (compulsory)
Austria: 16[27]
Azerbaijan: 18

text: B[edit]

text:
Bahamas: 18
Bahrain: 20[78]
Bangladesh: 18
Barbados: 18
Belarus: 18
Belgium: 18 (compulsory)
Belize: 18
Benin: 18
Bermuda: 18
Bhutan: 18
Bolivia: 18, universal and compulsory
Bosnia and Herzegovina: 18, 16 if employed
Botswana: 18
Brazil: 16, compulsory for 18 to 70; optional for illiterate citizens.
British Virgin Islands: 18
Brunei: 18 (village elections only)
Bulgaria: 18
Burkina Faso: 18
Burundi: 18

text: C[edit]

text:
Cambodia: 18
Cameroon: 21
Canada: 18
Cape Verde: 18
Cayman Islands: 18
Central African Republic: 18
Chad: 18
Chile: 18
China: 18
Cocos (Keeling) Islands: 18
Colombia: 18
Comoros: 18
Democratic Republic of the Congo: 18
Republic of the Congo: 18
Cook Islands: 18
Costa Rica: 18
Côte d'Ivoire: 18
Croatia: 18
Cuba: 16
Curaçao: 18
Cyprus: 18
Czech Republic: 18

text: D[edit]

text:
Denmark: 18
Djibouti: 18
Dominica: 18
Dominican Republic: 18, compulsory; married persons regardless of age (members of the armed forces and national police cannot vote)

text: E[edit]

text:
East Timor: 17
Ecuador: 16; universal, compulsory for literate persons ages 18–65, optional for other eligible voters
Egypt: 18
El Salvador: 18
England: 18
Equatorial Guinea: 18
Eritrea: 18
Estonia: 18; 16 for local elections
Ethiopia: 17
European Union: 18

text: F[edit]

text:
Falkland Islands: 18
Faroe Islands: 18
Fiji: 18, as of 2013 Constitution
Finland: 18
France: 18
French Polynesia: 18

text: G[edit]

text:
Gabon: 18
Gambia: 18
Georgia: 18
Germany: 18
Voting age 16 for state elections:  Brandenburg,  Bremen,  Hamburg and  Schleswig-Holstein.
Voting age 16 for municipal elections:  Baden-Württemberg,  Berlin,  Brandenburg,  Bremen,  Hamburg,  Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,  Lower Saxony,  North Rhine-Westphalia,  Saxony-Anhalt and  Schleswig-Holstein.[79]
Ghana: 18
Gibraltar: 18; universal, plus other British citizens who have been residents six months or more
Greece: 17 from 3 August 2016 onwards,[80] was 18 before 3 August 2016
Greenland: 18
Grenada: 18
Guadeloupe: 18
Guam: 18; US citizens, but do not vote in US presidential elections
Guatemala: 18; active-duty members of the armed forces may not vote and are restricted to their barracks on election day.
Guernsey: 16[81]
Guinea: 18
Guinea-Bissau: 18
Guyana: 18

text: H[edit]

text:
Haiti: 18
Honduras: 18
Hong Kong: direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies and a 1,200-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies
Hungary: 18

text: I[edit]

text:
Iceland: 18
India: 18
Indonesia: 17; no threshold for married persons, except for the military and police
Iran: 18 (changed from 15 to 18 in 2007, returned to 15 in 2009 and returned to 18 in 2011)[28][82][83][84]
Iraq: 18
Ireland: 18
Isle of Man: 16
Israel: 18 (17 for municipal elections)
Italy: 18 (25 for Senate elections)

text: J[edit]

text:
Jamaica: 18
Japan: 18 (changed from 20 in 2016)[4]
Jersey: 16
Jordan: 18

text: K[edit]

text:
Kazakhstan: 18
Kenya: 18
Kiribati: 18
North Korea: 17; members of the military have the right to vote, regardless of age[85]
South Korea: 19
Kosovo (disputed): 18
Kuwait: 21 for those not in the military or police forces; all voters must have been citizens for 20 years; current proposal for reduction to 18[86]
Kyrgyzstan: 18

text: L[edit]

text:
Laos: 18
Latvia: 18
Lebanon: 21. Attempt to amend to 18 on 22 February 2010 failed to pass.[87]
Lesotho: 18
Liberia: 18
Libya: 18
Liechtenstein: 18
Lithuania: 18
Luxembourg: 18, compulsory until the age of 75. A proposal to lower the voting age to 16 was rejected in 2015 in a nationwide referendum (81% "no"-votes)

text: M[edit]

text:
Macau: direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (973 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies
Republic of Macedonia: 18
Madagascar: 18
Malawi: 18
Malaysia: 21
Maldives: 18
Mali: 18
Malta: 16
Marshall Islands: 18
Martinique: 18
Mauritania: 18
Mauritius: 18
Mayotte: 18
Mexico: 18
Federated States of Micronesia: 18
Moldova: 18
Monaco: 18
Mongolia: 18
Montenegro: 18
Montserrat: 18
Morocco: 18
Mozambique: 18
Myanmar (Burma): 18

text: N[edit]

text:
Namibia: 18
Nauru: 20
Nepal: 18
Netherlands: 18
New Caledonia: 18
New Zealand: 18
Nicaragua: 16
Niger: 18
Nigeria: 18
Niue: 18
Norfolk Island: 18
Northern Mariana Islands: 18; indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
Norway: 18; however, persons 17 years of age are permitted to vote in parliamentary elections if they will be 18 years of age in the year the election is held.

text: O[edit]

text: Oman: 21, except for members of the military and police.

text: P[edit]

text:
Pakistan: 18; joint electorates and reserved parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims
Palau: 18
Panama: 18
Papua New Guinea: 18
Paraguay: 18; universal and compulsory until the age of 75
Peru: 18; universal and compulsory until the age of 70; (members of the military and national police could not vote until a Constitutional Reform in 2005[88])
Philippines: 18
For youth councils: 18 to 30; previously from 15 to 18. Incumbents are allowed to keep their positions if they surpass the legal age.
Pitcairn Islands: 18; universal with three years' residency
Poland: 18
Portugal: 18
Puerto Rico: 18; island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections.

text: Q[edit]

text: Qatar: 18

text: R[edit]

text:
Réunion: 18
Romania: 18
Russia: 18
Rwanda: 18

text: S[edit]

text:
Saint Helena: 18
Saint Kitts and Nevis: 18
Saint Lucia: 18
Saint Pierre and Miquelon: 18
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines: 18
Samoa: 21
San Marino: 18
São Tomé and Príncipe: 18
Saudi Arabia: 18
Scotland: 16
Senegal: 18
Serbia: 18[89]
Seychelles: 18[90]
Sierra Leone: 18
Singapore: 21
Sint Maarten: 18
Slovakia: 18
Slovenia: 18
Solomon Islands: 21
Somalia: 18
South Africa: 18
South Sudan: 17
Spain: 18 (16 only for Catalonia's 9N Referendum)
Sri Lanka: 18
Sudan: 17
Suriname: 18
Swaziland: 18
Sweden: 18
Switzerland: 18 (16 for cantonal and municipal elections in the canton of Glarus[91][92] [1/26])
Syria: 18

text: T[edit]

text:
Taiwan: 20 (18 for referendums)
Tajikistan: 18
Tanzania: 18
Thailand: 18 (being a Thai citizen since birth, or at least 5 years)
Togo: 18
Tokelau: 21
Tonga: 21
Trinidad and Tobago: 18
Tunisia: 18 (with some exceptions)[93]
Turkey: 18
Turkmenistan: 18
Turks and Caicos Islands: 18
Tuvalu: 18

text: U[edit]

text:
Uganda: 18
Ukraine: 18[94]
United Arab Emirates: none[95] but at least 25 (the minimum age is decided by the ruler of each Emirate and may vary from one Emirate to another)[96]
United Kingdom: 18 (16 for the Scottish independence referendum, Scottish Parliament elections and Scottish local government elections.[34])
United States: 18; however, in many states, persons 17 years of age are permitted to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 years of age on or before the day of the general election.
Uruguay: 18
Uzbekistan: 18[97]

text: V[edit]

text:
Vanuatu: 18
Venezuela: 18
Vietnam: 18
Virgin Islands of the United States: 18; island residents are U.S. citizens but do not vote in U.S. presidential elections.

text: W[edit]

text:
Wallis and Futuna: 18
Western Sahara: none (18 for residents of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara in Moroccan elections) [95]

text: Y[edit]

text: Yemen: 18

text: Z[edit]

text:
Zambia: 18
Zimbabwe: 18

text: Chronology of lowering the voting age to 18[edit]

text: The following is a chronological list of the dates upon which countries lowered the voting age to 18; unless otherwise indicated, the reduction was from 21. In some cases the age was lowered decrementally, and so the "staging points" are also given. Some information is also included on the relevant legal instruments involved.

text:
Turkey: 20 April 1924 (Previously 25 per the 1876 constitution, reduced to 18 with the 1924 constitution. It was again raised to 22 on 5 December 1934 while granting full women's suffrage, and gradually lowered to 21 in 1961, 20 in 1987 and 18 in 1995)[98][99]
Czechoslovakia: 1946
Poland: 1952[citation needed]
South Africa: 1958 (white voters only; Electoral Law Amendment Act, 1958)[100]
United Kingdom: 1 January 1970 (Representation of the People Act 1969)
Canada: 26 June 1970[101][102] (federal elections, amendment to Canada Elections Act)

text:
Germany: 1970 [107]
Netherlands: 1971 (previous reduction from 23 to 21 in 1965)
United States: 1 July 1971, per the Twenty-sixth Amendment. Previously reduced on 1 January 1971 by the Voting Rights Act Amendments 1970, ss. 302, 305[108] (Prior reductions: Georgia in August 1943,[109] Kentucky in 1955,[110] Guam in 1954[111] and American Samoa in 1965.[111])
Finland: 1972 (from 20; previous reductions were 24 to 21 in 1944 and 21 to 20 in 1968/1969)[112][113]
Sweden: 1972 (from 20) [114]
Ireland: 5 January 1973 (4th Amendment of the Constitution). Women under 30 gained the vote in local elections in 1935[115] and in Dáil elections and referendums in 1922 (Constitution of the Irish Free State[116]). The only popular election (in 1925) to the Free State Seanad had a voting age of 30.[117] (See also History of the franchise in Ireland.)
Philippines: 17 January 1973, after the 1973 constitution was announced to have been approved in a plebiscite. Among other things, the new constitution lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
Australia: 1973 (New South Wales was the first state to do so, in 1970)
France: 5 July 1974 (Act No. 74-631)[118]
New Zealand: November 1974 (from 20; previous reduction from 21 to 20 in 1969)[119][120]
Dominica: 1974[121]
Italy: 1975 (voting age to elect the Senate remained at 25)
Trinidad and Tobago: 1976
Denmark: 19 September 1978 (from 20; 53.8% in referendum; previous reductions were 25 to 23 in 1953, 23 to 21 in 1961 and 21 to 20 in 1971)[122]
Spain: 29 December 1978 (1978 Constitution)[123]
Peru: 1979 Constitution
Belgium: 1981[124]
India: 28 March 1989 (61st Constitution Amendment Act, 1988 read with Act 21 of 1989)[125]
Switzerland: 1991 (from 20; referendum held on 3 March)[126]
Austria: 1992 (from 19; previous reductions were 21 to 20 in 1949 and 20 to 19 in 1970)[127]
Estonia: 29 July 1992 (from 22, according to the 1938 Constitution; was 18 during the Soviet Occupation since 1940 and 16 for the Congress of Estonia in 1990)[128][129]
Hong Kong: 1995 (from 21)[130]
Liechtenstein: 2000 (from 20; LGBl. 2000 No. 55)[131]
Jordan: July 2001 (from 19; Provisional Election Law No. 34/2001)[132]
Pakistan: 21 August 2002 (Legal Framework Order, 2002),[133][134] was 18 under 1973 Constitution, then increased to 21, then lowered back to 18.[135]
Morocco: 11 December 2002 (from 20)[136]
Uzbekistan: July 2012 (from 25)
Saudi Arabia: April 2015 (from 21)[137]
Japan: June 2016 (from 20)[138]

text: Chronology of lowering the voting age to 16[edit]

text: This is a further list, similar to the above but of the dates upon which countries lowered the voting age to 16; unless otherwise indicated, the reduction was from 18.

text:
Nicaragua: November 1984 (from 21)[139][140]
Brazil: 5 October 1988 (Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, 1988)[141]
Estonia: 24 February 1990 (from 22 according to the 1938 Constitution, from 18 during the Soviet occupation); only for the Congress of Estonia, was raised to 18 according to the 1992 Constitution
Isle of Man: 11 July 2006; legislation brought into force in time for general election held on 23 November 2006[142]
Austria: 1 July 2007 (BGBl. No. 1/1930, as amended)[27]
Guernsey: 19 December 2007 (Reform (Guernsey) (Amendment) Law, 2007)[61][81]
Jersey: 1 April 2008 (Public Elections (Amendment No. 2) (Jersey) Law 2008)[55]
Ecuador: 28 September 2008 (New constitution accepted by referendum) for general election on 26 March 2009.
Argentina: 1 November 2012. Voting for teenagers between 16 and 18 years of age became optional.[143]
Malta: 20 November 2013. Motion passed in parliament to lower the voting age to 16 at local council elections starting from 2015.[144]
Scotland: 18 September 2014. 16 & 17 years old were given the vote for the Independence Referendum. This was subsequently extended permanently as of the 2016 parliament election.[145]
Estonia: 6 May 2015 in local elections only; 5 March 2018 for all elections.

text: Organizations in favour of lowering the voting age[edit]

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: The following are political parties and other campaigning organisations that have either endorsed a lower voting age or who favour its removal.

text: Alphabetical list of countries[edit]

text: Australia[edit]

text:
Australian Democrats
Australian Greens
Australian Labor Party[14]

text: Austria[edit]

text:
The Greens – The Green Alternative
Liberal Forum[146]
Social Democratic Party of Austria[147]
vote4future.at Austrian National Youth Council[148]

text: Belgium[edit]

text:
Ecolo[149]
Groen[149]
Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten[149]

text: Canada[edit]

text:
Communist Party of Canada
Green Party of Canada[150]
Parti Québécois[151]
voteto16.ca[152]
Ontario Liberal Party [153]

text: Denmark[edit]

text:
Social Democrats
Socialist People's Party
Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd[154]

text: Estonia[edit]

text:
Estonian National Youth Council
Young Social Democrats

text: France[edit]

text: La France Insoumise[155]

text: Germany[edit]

text:
Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations[156]
K.R.Ä.T.Z.Ä. (demanding abolition of any age-based voting restrictions)[157]

text: Greece[edit]

text: Ecologist Greens[158]

text: Ireland[edit]

text:
Green Party[159]
Labour Party[160]
Sinn Féin[161]
Socialist Party[162]

text: In 2013, the Constitutional Convention was asked to consider reducing the voting age to 17 and recommended lowering it to 16.[163] The then government agreed to hold a referendum,[164] but in 2015 postponed it indefinitely to give priority to other referendums.[165]

text: Italy[edit]

text: Five Star Movement[166]

text: Malaysia[edit]

text: No political party had decreed that its members should all follow the party line about lowering voting age policy, resulting in public differences of view. Most parties had splits in their members and supporters, taking different sides.[167]

text:
Malaysian civil societies' demands (to 18)[168]
Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (BERSIH) (to 18)[169]
Democratic Action Party (to 18)[170]
National Trust Party (to 18)[171]
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (to 18)
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (to 18)[172]
Parti Sosialis Malaysia (to 18)[173]
People's Justice Party (to 18)

text: Netherlands[edit]

text: GroenLinks

text: New Zealand[edit]

text:
Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
New Zealand Labour Party

text: Norway[edit]

text:
Liberal Party[174]
Socialist Left Party[175]

text: Portugal[edit]

text:
Left Bloc
LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar
Socialist Party

text: Romania[edit]

text:
National Liberal Party[176]
National Union for the Progress of Romania[177]

text: Spain[edit]

text: Izquierda Unida

text: Sweden[edit]

text: Green Party[178]

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text:
Green Party of England and Wales[179]
Green Party in Northern Ireland[180]
Liberal Democrats[181]
Liberal Party[182]
National Health Action Party[183]
Plaid Cymru[184]
Scottish Conservative Party
Scottish Green Party
Scottish National Party
Scottish Socialist Party[185]
Social Democratic Labour Party
Ulster Unionist Party
Votes at 16

text: United States[edit]

text:
Americans for a Society Free from Age Restrictions (supports full elimination of voting age)
Future Voters of America[186]
Green Party of Texas[187]
National Youth Rights Association
Rock the Vote
Socialist Party USA (to 15)
FairVote
Vermont Libertarian Party


document_title: Fruit of the Loom

question_text: where are fruit of the loom t shirts made

text: Fruit of the Loom

text: Company profile[edit]

text: Fruit of the Loom is one of the largest manufacturers and marketers of men's and boys' underwear, women's and girls' underwear, printable T-shirts and fleece for the activewear industry, casualwear, women's jeanswear and childrenswear. The company employs more than 32,400 people worldwide.

text: Fruit of the Loom also controls another long-known underwear brand, B.V.D. (Bradley, Voorhees, and Day). Other brands also manufactured and sold by the company are Funpals/FunGals, Screen Stars and Underoos. Brands once owned or marketed by Fruit of the Loom include Gitano, Munsingwear, Salem Sportswear, and Pro Player, which once had the naming rights to what is now Hard Rock Stadium (originally Joe Robbie Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida from 1996 to 2005, despite bankruptcy by the parent company in 1999.[citation needed]

text: Hanes and Jockey are the main competitors of Fruit of the Loom.

text: The company's familiar logo comprising a red apple, leaves, green grapes, currants, and purple grapes forms a widely recognizable trademark. The company is a vertically integrated manufacturer. In TV commercials for the brand, actors play the roles of only four of the logo's parts: the apple, green grapes, purple grapes, and leaves. The role of "Apple" is played by Rad Daly, and the "Leaf" was at one time played by Academy Award-winning actor F. Murray Abraham, and has been played by Gene Steichen since the Fruit Guys were re-introduced to the public in 2001. "Green Grapes" is played by Richard Steven Horvitz. "Purple Grapes" is played by Wayne Wilderson.

text: Fruit of the Loom acquired Russell. Brands includes Russell Athletic, Brooks Running and Spalding among other names in athletic wear.

text: History[edit]

text: The Fruit of the Loom brand dates back to 1851 in Rhode Island[1][2] when Robert Knight, a textile mill owner, visited his friend, Rufus Skeel. Skeel owned a small shop in Providence that sold cloth from Knight's mill. Skeel's daughter painted images of apples and applied them to the bolts of cloth. The ones with the apple emblems proved most popular. Mr. Knight thought the labels would be the perfect symbol for his trade name, Fruit of the Loom – an expression referring to clothes, paralleling the phrase "fruit of the womb" meaning "children", which can be traced back to use in the Bible (Psalm 127:3).

text: In 1871, just one year after the first trademark laws were passed by Congress, Knight received trademark number 418 for the brand "Fruit of the Loom".

text: Much of its athletic outerwear was sold under the "Pro Player" label, a now defunct division.

text: The company was part of Northwest Industries, Inc., until NWI was purchased by William F. Farley in 1985 and renamed Farley Industries, Inc.[3] Farley served as president, chief executive officer (CEO), and majority shareholder for 15 years. Fruit of the Loom's sales revenue rose from approximately $500 million at the time of NWI's purchase to roughly $2.5 billion nearly 15 years later. Debt financing, once seen as brilliant, proved difficult to manage even as sales revenue quintupled.[citation needed]

text: On March 23, 1987, it sold its subsidiary General Battery to Exide Corporation.[4]

text: Fruit of the Loom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1999 shortly after posting a net loss of $576.2 million.[5] Its 66 million shares of outstanding common stock dropped in value from about $44 per share in early 1997 to just more than $1 by spring 2000. Reasons for the bankruptcy are varied. A large debt load which was assumed in the 1980s, a common practice at the time, did not help. William F. Farley, the company's former chairman, CEO, and chief operating officer (COO), was forced out prior to bankruptcy in late 1999, after having piloted the company into massive debt and unproductive business ventures, including structuring the company into an off-shore entity in the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes.[citation needed]

text: The company was bought from bankruptcy by Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, controlled by investor Warren Buffett, who wanted the valuable brand. He agreed in January 2002 to purchase the company for approximately $835 million in cash. The deal was concluded on April 29, 2002. A condition of the purchase required that former COO and then interim CEO John Holland remain available to be the CEO for the company.[6]

text: The company purchased Russell Corporation, effectively taking the former competitor private, in a deal valued at $598.3 million that was completed August 1, 2006.[7]

text: The company announced the purchase of VF Corporation's intimate apparel company named Vanity Fair Intimates for $350 million in cash on January 23, 2007.[8]

text: In 2010, Rick Medlin was named president and CEO of Fruit of the Loom. Longtime CEO John Holland became the company's chairman.[9]

text: In 2014, the company closed its Jamestown (Kentucky) plant, which had once been the second manufacturing plant in the state, and laid off all 600 employees.[10] The company said it was moving the plant's operations to Honduras to reduce production costs.[11]


document_title: They Can't Take That Away from Me

question_text: who wrote you can't take that away from me

question_tokens: who wrote you ca n 't take that away from me

text: They Can't Take That Away from Me

text: "They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a 1937 jazz song (see 1937 in music) written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin and introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film Shall We Dance.

text: Overview[edit]

text: The song is performed by Astaire on the foggy deck of the ferry from New Jersey to Manhattan. It is sung to Ginger Rogers, who remains silent listening throughout. No dance sequence follows, which was unusual for the Astaire-Rogers numbers. Astaire and Rogers did dance to it later in their last movie The Barkleys of Broadway (1949) in which they played a married couple with marital issues. The song, in the context of Shall We Dance, notes some of the things that Peter (Astaire) will miss about Linda (Rogers). The lyrics include "the way you wear your hat, the way you sip your tea", and "the way you hold your knife, the way we danced till three." Each verse is followed by the line "no, no, they can't take that away from me." The basic meaning of the song is that even if the lovers part, though physically separated the memories cannot be forced from them. Thus it is a song of mixed joy and sadness.

text: The verse references the song "The Song Is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)" by Irving Berlin:

text: George Gershwin died two months after the film's release, and he was posthumously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1937 Oscars.

text: The song is featured in Kenneth Branagh's musical version of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (2000), in Stephen Herek's Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), and in Barry Levinson's Rain Man (1988). The melodic hardcore band Strung Out also sampled the song for the intro of "Analog", the opening track on their 2004 album Exile in Oblivion.

text: Notable recordings[edit]

text:
Fred Astaire – recorded March 18, 1937 with Johnny Green and His Orchestra, LA 1272-B – 3:06
Billie Holiday – recorded in New York on June 30, 1937, Columbia C3L 37 – 3:03
Bing Crosby (recorded November 12, 1947)[1] – included in the album Bing Crosby Sings Songs by George Gershwin.
Charlie Parker – Charlie Parker with Strings (1949)
Frank Sinatra – Songs for Young Lovers (1954 EP, 1962), Sinatra and Swingin' Brass (1962)
Sarah Vaughan – Sarah Vaughan with Clifford Brown (1954), Swingin' Easy (1957), Gershwin Live! (1982)
Erroll Garner – Concert by the Sea (1955)
Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis (1956)
Perry Como – We Get Letters (1957)
Anita O'Day – Anita Sings the Most (1957)
Lester Young – Laughin' to Keep from Cryin' (1958)
Shirley Bassey – The Fabulous Shirley Bassey (1959)
Ella Fitzgerald – Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook (1959)
Julie London – Your Number Please (1959), By Myself (1965)
Nancy Walker performed the song on The Muppet Show (1977/78)
June Christy – A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening (1986)
Mel Torme - Mel Torme sings Fred Astaire (1956)
Patti Austin – The Real Me (1988)
Tuck & Patti – Love Warriors (1989)
Harry Connick, Jr. – The New York Big Band Concert (1992)
Harry Groener – Crazy for You (1992)
Tony Bennett – Steppin' Out (1993), MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett (1995)
Frank Sinatra and Natalie Cole – Duets (1993)
Lisa Stansfield – The Glory of Gershwin (1994), Live at Ronnie Scott's (2005)
John Pizzarelli – After Hours (1996)
Diana Krall – Love Scenes (1997)
Susannah McCorkle – Someone to Watch Over Me—Songs of George Gershwin (1998)
Smoke City – Red Hot + Rhapsody (1998)
Jamie Cullum – Heard It All Before (1999)
Stacey Kent – Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire (1999), Dreamer in Concert (2011)
Robbie Williams and Rupert Everett – Swing When You're Winning (2001)
Rod Stewart – It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (2002)
Eliane Elias – Bossa Nova Stories (2008)
Sal Viviano – The Standards of Love (2008)
Alison Balsom (trumpet) and Sarah Connelly (mezzo-soprano) – arrangement by Barry Forgie performed at the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London on 12 September 2009
Johnny Dankworth – Too Cool for the Blues (2010)
Brian Wilson – Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (2010)
Gloria Estefan – The Standards (2013)
Uri Caine – Rhapsody in Blue (2013)
Matt Dusk and Margaret – Just the Two of Us (2015)
Kristin Chenoweth – The Art of Elegance (2016)