document_title: Nile

question_text: where does the water from the nile come from

question_tokens: where does the water from the nile come from

text: Nile

text: Course[edit]

text: Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, a term also used in a limited sense to describe the section between Lake No and Khartoum. At Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia. Both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift.

text: The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers (1,256,591 sq mi), about 10% of the area of Africa.[17] The Nile basin is complex, and because of this, the discharge at any given point along the mainstem depends on many factors including weather, diversions, evaporation and evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow.

text: Sources[edit]

text: The source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. The Kagera River, which flows into Lake Victoria near the Tanzanian town of Bukoba, is the longest feeder, although sources do not agree on which is the longest tributary of the Kagera and hence the most distant source of the Nile itself.[18] It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi,[19] or the Nyabarongo, which flows from Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda.[20] The two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border.

text: In 2010, an exploration party[21] went to a place described as the source of the Rukarara tributary,[22] and by hacking a path up steep jungle-choked mountain slopes in the Nyungwe forest found (in the dry season) an appreciable incoming surface flow for many kilometres upstream, and found a new source, giving the Nile a length of 6,758 km (4,199 mi).

text: Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the "holy water" of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop.[23]

text: Lost headwaters[edit]

text: Formerly Lake Tanganyika drained northwards along the African Rift Valley into the White Nile, making the Nile about 1,400 kilometers (870 mi) longer, until it was blocked in Miocene times by the bulk of the Virunga Volcanoes.

text: In Uganda[edit]

text: The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza (Victoria) at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda, as the Victoria Nile. It flows north for some 130 kilometers (81 mi), to Lake Kyoga. The last part of the approximately 200 kilometers (120 mi) river section starts from the western shores of the lake and flows at first to the west until just south of Masindi Port, where the river turns north, then makes a great half circle to the east and north until Karuma Falls. For the remaining part it flows merely westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta. The lake itself is on the border of DR Congo, but the Nile is not a border river at this point. After leaving Lake Albert, the river continues north through Uganda and is known as the Albert Nile.

text: In South Sudan[edit]

text: The river flows into South Sudan just south of Nimule, where it is known as the Bahr al Jabal ("Mountain River"[24]). Just south of the town it has the confluence with the Achwa River. The Bahr al Ghazal, itself 716 kilometers (445 mi) long, joins the Bahr al Jabal at a small lagoon called Lake No, after which the Nile becomes known as the Bahr al Abyad, or the White Nile, from the whitish clay suspended in its waters. When the Nile floods it leaves a rich silty deposit which fertilizes the soil. The Nile no longer floods in Egypt since the completion of the Aswan Dam in 1970. An anabranch river, the Bahr el Zeraf, flows out of the Nile's Bahr al Jabal section and rejoins the White Nile.

text: The flow rate of the Bahr al Jabal at Mongalla, South Sudan is almost constant throughout the year and averages 1,048 m3/s (37,000 cu ft/s). After Mongalla, the Bahr Al Jabal enters the enormous swamps of the Sudd region of South Sudan. More than half of the Nile's water is lost in this swamp to evaporation and transpiration. The average flow rate of the White Nile at the tails of the swamps is about 510 m3/s (18,000 cu ft/s). From here it soon meets with the Sobat River at Malakal. On an annual basis, the White Nile upstream of Malakal contributes about fifteen percent of the total outflow of the Nile River.[25]

text: The average flow of the White Nile at Malakal, just below the Sobat River, is 924 m3/s (32,600 cu ft/s); the peak flow is approximately 1,218 m3/s (43,000 cu ft/s) in October and minimum flow is about 609 m3/s (21,500 cu ft/s) in April. This fluctuation is due the substantial variation in the flow of the Sobat, which has a minimum flow of about 99 m3/s (3,500 cu ft/s) in March and a peak flow of over 680 m3/s (24,000 cu ft/s) in October.[26] During the dry season (January to June) the White Nile contributes between 70 percent and 90 percent of the total discharge from the Nile.

text: In Sudan[edit]

text: Below Renk the White Nile enters Sudan, it flows north to Khartoum and meets the Blue Nile.

text: The course of the Nile in Sudan is distinctive. It flows over six groups of cataracts, from the sixth at Sabaloka just north of Khartoum northward to Abu Hamed. Due to the tectonic uplift of the Nubian Swell, the river is then diverted to flow for over 300 km south-west following the structure of the Central African Shear Zone embracing the Bayuda Desert. At Al Dabbah it resumes its northward course towards the first Cataract at Aswan forming the 'S'-shaped Great Bend of the Nile[27] already mentioned by Eratosthenes.[28]

text: In the north of Sudan the river enters Lake Nasser (known in Sudan as Lake Nubia), the larger part of which is in Egypt.

text: In Egypt[edit]

text: Below the Aswan High Dam, at the northern limit of Lake Nasser, the Nile resumes its historic course.

text: North of Cairo, the Nile splits into two branches (or distributaries) that feed the Mediterranean: the Rosetta Branch to the west and the Damietta to the east, forming the Nile Delta.

text: Tributaries[edit]

text: Atbara River[edit]

text: Below the confluence with the Blue Nile the only major tributary is the Atbara River, roughly halfway to the sea, which originates in Ethiopia north of Lake Tana, and is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) long. The Atbara flows only while there is rain in Ethiopia and dries very rapidly. During the dry period of January to June, it typically dries up. It joins the Nile approximately 300 kilometers (200 mi) north of Khartoum.

text: Blue Nile[edit]

text: The Blue Nile (Ge'ez ጥቁር ዓባይ Ṭiqūr ʿĀbbāy (Black Abay) to Ethiopians; Arabic: النيل الأزرق; transliterated: an-Nīl al-Azraq) springs from Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. The Blue Nile flows about 1,400 kilometres to Khartoum, where the Blue Nile and White Nile join to form the Nile.[30] Ninety percent of the water and ninety-six percent of the transported sediment carried by the Nile[31] originates in Ethiopia, with fifty-nine percent of the water from the Blue Nile (the rest being from the Tekezé, Atbarah, Sobat, and small tributaries). The erosion and transportation of silt only occurs during the Ethiopian rainy season in the summer, however, when rainfall is especially high on the Ethiopian Plateau; the rest of the year, the great rivers draining Ethiopia into the Nile (Sobat, Blue Nile, Tekezé, and Atbarah) have a weaker flow. In harsh and arid seasons and droughts the blue Nile dries out completely. [32]

text: The flow of the Blue Nile varies considerably over its yearly cycle and is the main contribution to the large natural variation of the Nile flow. During the dry season the natural discharge of the Blue Nile can be as low as 113 m3/s (4,000 cu ft/s), although upstream dams regulate the flow of the river. During the wet season the peak flow of the Blue Nile often exceeds 5,663 m3/s (200,000 cu ft/s) in late August (a difference of a factor of 50).

text: Before the placement of dams on the river the yearly discharge varied by a factor of 15 at Aswan. Peak flows of over 8,212 m3/s (290,000 cu ft/s) occurred during late August and early September, and minimum flows of about 552 m3/s (19,500 cu ft/s) occurred during late April and early May.

text: Bahr el Ghazal and Sobat River[edit]

text: The Bahr al Ghazal and the Sobat River are the two most important tributaries of the White Nile in terms of discharge.

text: The Bahr al Ghazal's drainage basin is the largest of any of the Nile's sub-basins, measuring 520,000 square kilometers (200,000 sq mi) in size, but it contributes a relatively small amount of water, about 2 m3/s (71 cu ft/s) annually, due to tremendous volumes of water being lost in the Sudd wetlands.

text: The Sobat River, which joins the Nile a short distance below Lake No, drains about half as much land, 225,000 km2 (86,900 sq mi), but contributes 412 cubic meters per second (14,500 cu ft/s) annually to the Nile.[33] When in flood the Sobat carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Nile's color.[34]

text: Yellow Nile[edit]

text: The Yellow Nile is a former tributary that connected the Ouaddaï Highlands of eastern Chad to the Nile River Valley c. 8000 to c. 1000 BC.[35] Its remains are known as the Wadi Howar. The wadi passes through Gharb Darfur near the northern border with Chad and meets up with the Nile near the southern point of the Great Bend.

text: History[edit]

text: The Nile (iteru in Ancient Egyptian) has been the lifeline of civilization in Egypt since the Stone Age, with most of the population and all of the cities of Egypt resting along those parts of the Nile valley lying north of Aswan. However, the Nile used to run much more westerly through what is now Wadi Hamim and Wadi al Maqar in Libya and flow into the Gulf of Sidra.[36] As sea level rose at the end of the most recent ice age, the stream which is now the northern Nile pirated the ancestral Nile near Asyut,[37] this change in climate also led to the creation of the current Sahara desert, around 3400 BC.[38]

text: Eonile[edit]

text: The present Nile is at least the fifth river that has flowed north from the Ethiopian Highlands. Satellite imagery was used to identify dry watercourses in the desert to the west of the Nile. An Eonile canyon, now filled by surface drift, represents an ancestral Nile called the Eonile that flowed during the later Miocene (23–5.3 million years before present). The Eonile transported clastic sediments to the Mediterranean; several natural gas fields have been discovered within these sediments.

text: During the late-Miocene Messinian salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea was a closed basin and evaporated to the point of being empty or nearly so, the Nile cut its course down to the new base level until it was several hundred metres below world ocean level at Aswan and 2,400 m (7,900 ft) below Cairo.[39] This created a very long and deep canyon which was filled with sediment when the Mediterranean was recreated. At some point the sediments raised the riverbed sufficiently for the river to overflow westward into a depression to create Lake Moeris.

text: Lake Tanganyika drained northwards into the Nile until the Virunga Volcanoes blocked its course in Rwanda. The Nile was much longer at that time, with its furthest headwaters in northern Zambia.

text: Integrated Nile[edit]

text: There are two theories about the age of the integrated Nile. One is that the integrated drainage of the Nile is of young age, and that the Nile basin was formerly broken into series of separate basins, only the most northerly of which fed a river following the present course of the Nile in Egypt and Sudan. Rushdi Said postulated that Egypt itself supplied most of the waters of the Nile during the early part of its history.[40]

text: The other theory is that the drainage from Ethiopia via rivers equivalent to the Blue Nile and the Atbara and Takazze flowed to the Mediterranean via the Egyptian Nile since well back into Tertiary times.[41]

text: Salama suggested that during the Paleogene and Neogene Periods (66 million to 2.588 million years ago) a series of separate closed continental basins each occupied one of the major parts of the Sudanese Rift System: Mellut rift, White Nile rift, Blue Nile rift, Atbara rift and Sag El Naam rift.[42] The Mellut Rift Basin is nearly 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) deep at its central part. This rift is possibly still active, with reported tectonic activity in its northern and southern boundaries. The Sudd swamps which form the central part of the basin may still be subsiding. The White Nile Rift System, although shallower than the Bahr el Arab rift, is about 9 kilometers (5.6 mi) deep. Geophysical exploration of the Blue Nile Rift System estimated the depth of the sediments to be 5–9 kilometers (3.1–5.6 mi). These basins were not interconnected until their subsidence ceased, and the rate of sediment deposition was enough to fill and connect them. The Egyptian Nile connected to the Sudanese Nile, which captures the Ethiopian and Equatorial headwaters during the current stages of tectonic activity in the Eastern, Central and Sudanese Rift Systems.[43] The connection of the different Niles occurred during cyclic wet periods. The River Atbara overflowed its closed basin during the wet periods that occurred about 100,000 to 120,000 years ago. The Blue Nile connected to the main Nile during the 70,000–80,000 years B.P. wet period. The White Nile system in Bahr El Arab and White Nile Rifts remained a closed lake until the connection of the Victoria Nile to the main system some 12,500 years ago.

text: Role in the founding of Egyptian civilization[edit]

text: The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that "Egypt was the gift of the Nile". An unending source of sustenance, it provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization. Silt deposits from the Nile made the surrounding land fertile because the river overflowed its banks annually. The Ancient Egyptians cultivated and traded wheat, flax, papyrus and other crops around the Nile. Wheat was a crucial crop in the famine-plagued Middle East. This trading system secured Egypt's diplomatic relationships with other countries, and contributed to economic stability. Far-reaching trade has been carried on along the Nile since ancient times.

text: Water buffalo were introduced from Asia, and Assyrians introduced camels in the 7th century BC. These animals were killed for meat, and were domesticated and used for ploughing—or in the camels' case, carriage. Water was vital to both people and livestock. The Nile was also a convenient and efficient means of transportation for people and goods. The Nile was an important part of ancient Egyptian spiritual life. Hapy was the god of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding. The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky. Thus, all tombs were west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they had to be buried on the side that symbolized death.

text: As the Nile was such an important factor in Egyptian life, the ancient calendar was even based on the 3 cycles of the Nile. These seasons, each consisting of four months of thirty days each, were called Akhet, Peret, and Shemu. Akhet, which means inundation, was the time of the year when the Nile flooded, leaving several layers of fertile soil behind, aiding in agricultural growth.[44] Peret was the growing season, and Shemu, the last season, was the harvest season when there were no rains.[44]

text: Search for the source of the Nile[edit]

text: Owing to their failure to penetrate the sudd wetlands of South Sudan, the upper reaches of the Nile remained largely unknown to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Various expeditions failed to determine the river's source. Agatharcides records that in the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, a military expedition had penetrated far enough along the course of the Blue Nile to determine that the summer floods were caused by heavy seasonal rainstorms in the Ethiopian Highlands, but no European of antiquity is known to have reached Lake Tana.

text: The Tabula Rogeriana depicted the source as three lakes in 1154.

text: Europeans began to learn about the origins of the Nile in the 15th and 16th centuries, when travelers to Ethiopia visited Lake Tana and the source of the Blue Nile in the mountains south of the lake. Although James Bruce claimed to be the first European to have visited the headwaters,[46] modern writers give the credit to the Jesuit Pedro Páez. Páez's account of the source of the Nile[47] is a long and vivid account of Ethiopia. It was published in full only in the early 20th century, although it was featured in works of Páez's contemporaries, including Baltazar Téllez,[48] Athanasius Kircher[49] and by Johann Michael Vansleb.[50]

text: Europeans had been resident in Ethiopia since the late 15th century, and one of them may have visited the headwaters even earlier without leaving a written trace. The Portuguese João Bermudes published the first description of the Tis Issat Falls in his 1565 memoirs, compared them to the Nile Falls alluded to in Cicero's De Republica.[51] Jerónimo Lobo describes the source of the Blue Nile, visiting shortly after Pedro Páez. Telles also used his account.

text: The White Nile was even less understood. The ancients mistakenly believed that the Niger River represented the upper reaches of the White Nile. For example, Pliny the Elder wrote that the Nile had its origins "in a mountain of lower Mauretania", flowed above ground for "many days" distance, then went underground, reappeared as a large lake in the territories of the Masaesyli, then sank again below the desert to flow underground "for a distance of 20 days' journey till it reaches the nearest Ethiopians."[52] A merchant named Diogenes reported that the Nile's water attracted game such as buffalo.

text: Lake Victoria was first sighted by Europeans in 1858 when the British explorer John Hanning Speke reached its southern shore while traveling with Richard Francis Burton to explore central Africa and locate the great lakes. Believing he had found the source of the Nile on seeing this "vast expanse of open water" for the first time, Speke named the lake after the then Queen of the United Kingdom. Burton, recovering from illness and resting further south on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, was outraged that Speke claimed to have proved his discovery to be the true source of the Nile when Burton regarded this as still unsettled. A very public quarrel ensued, which sparked a great deal of intense debate within the scientific community and interest by other explorers keen to either confirm or refute Speke's discovery. British explorer and missionary David Livingstone pushed too far west and entered the Congo River system instead. It was ultimately Welsh-American explorer Henry Morton Stanley who confirmed Speke's discovery, circumnavigating Lake Victoria and reporting the great outflow at Ripon Falls on the Lake's northern shore.

text: European involvement in Egypt goes back to the time of Napoleon. Laird Shipyard of Liverpool sent an iron steamer to the Nile in the 1830s. With the completion of the Suez Canal and the British takeover of Egypt in the 1870s, more British river steamers followed.

text: The Nile is the area's natural navigation channel, giving access to Khartoum and Sudan by steamer. The Siege of Khartoum was broken with purpose-built sternwheelers shipped from England and steamed up the river to retake the city. After this came regular steam navigation of the river. With British Forces in Egypt in the First World War and the inter-war years, river steamers provided both security and sightseeing to the Pyramids and Thebes. Steam navigation remained integral to the two countries as late as 1962. Sudan steamer traffic was a lifeline as few railways or roads were built in that country. Most paddle steamers have been retired to shorefront service, but modern diesel tourist boats remain on the river.

text: Since 1950[edit]

text: The Nile has long been used to transport goods along its length. Winter winds blow south, up river, so ships could sail up river, and down river using the flow of the river. While most Egyptians still live in the Nile valley, the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam ended the summer floods and their renewal of the fertile soil, fundamentally changing farming practices. The Nile supports much of the population living along its banks, enabling Egyptians to live in otherwise inhospitable regions of the Sahara. The rivers's flow is disturbed at several points by the Cataracts of the Nile, which are sections of faster-flowing water with many small islands, shallow water, and rocks, which form an obstacle to navigation by boats. The Sudd wetlands in Sudan also forms a formidable navigation obstacle and impede water flow, to the extent that Sudan had once attempted to canalize (the Jonglei Canal) to bypass the swamps.[54][55]

text: Nile cities include Khartoum, Aswan, Luxor (Thebes), and the Giza – Cairo conurbation. The first cataract, the closest to the mouth of the river, is at Aswan, north of the Aswan Dam. This part of the river is a regular tourist route, with cruise ships and traditional wooden sailing boats known as feluccas. Many cruise ships ply the route between Luxor and Aswan, stopping at Edfu and Kom Ombo along the way. Security concerns have limited cruising on the northernmost portion for many years.

text: A computer simulation study to plan the economic development of the Nile was directed by H. A. W. Morrice and W. N. Allan, for the Ministry of Hydro-power of the Republic of the Sudan, during 1955–1957[56][57][58] Morrice was their Hydrological Adviser, and Allan his predecessor. M.P. Barnett directed the software development and computer operations. The calculations were enabled by accurate monthly inflow data collected for 50 years. The underlying principle was the use of over-year storage, to conserve water from rainy years for use in dry years. Irrigation, navigation and other needs were considered. Each computer run postulated a set of reservoirs and operating equations for the release of water as a function of the month and the levels upstream. The behavior that would have resulted given the inflow data was modeled. Over 600 models were run. Recommendations were made to the Sudanese authorities. The calculations were run on an IBM 650 computer. Simulation studies to design water resources are discussed further in the article on hydrology transport models, that have been used since the 1980s to analyze water quality.

text: Despite the development of many reservoirs, drought during the 1980s led to widespread starvation in Ethiopia and Sudan, but Egypt was nourished by water impounded in Lake Nasser. Drought has proven to be a major cause of fatality in the Nile River basin. According to a report by the Strategic Foresight Group around 170 million people have been affected by droughts in the last century with half a million lives lost.[59] From the 70 incidents of drought which took place between 1900 and 2012, 55 incidents took place in Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Tanzania.[59]

text: Water sharing dispute[edit]

text: The Nile's water has affected the politics of East Africa and the Horn of Africa for many decades. Countries including Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya have complained about Egyptian domination of its water resources. The Nile Basin Initiative promotes a peaceful cooperation among those states.[60][61]

text: Several attempts have been made to establish agreements between the countries sharing the Nile waters. It is very difficult to have all these countries agree with each other given the self-interest of each country and their political, strategic, and social differences. On 14 May 2010 at Entebbe, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda signed a new agreement on sharing the Nile water even though this agreement raised strong opposition from Egypt and Sudan. Ideally, such international agreements should promote equitable and efficient usage of the Nile basin's water resources. Without a better understanding about the availability of the future water resources of the Nile River, it is possible that conflicts could arise between these countries relying on the Nile for their water supply, economic and social developments.[5]

text: Modern achievements and exploration[edit]

text: The White Nile Expedition, led by South African national Hendrik Coetzee, became the first to navigate the White Nile's entire length of approximately 3,700 kilometres (2,300 mi). The expedition began at the White Nile's source, Lake Victoria in Uganda, on 17 January 2004 and arrived safely at the Mediterranean in Rosetta, four and a half months later.[62]

text: The Blue Nile Expedition, led by geologist Pasquale Scaturro and his partner, kayaker and documentary filmmaker Gordon Brown became the first people to descend the entire Blue Nile, from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to the beaches of Alexandria on the Mediterranean. Their approximately 5,230 kilometres (3,250 mi) journey took 114 days: from 25 December 2003 to 28 April 2004. Though their expedition included others, Brown and Scaturro were the only ones to complete the entire journey.[63] Although they descended whitewater manually the team used outboard motors for much of their journey.

text: On 29 January 2005 Canadian Les Jickling and New Zealander Mark Tanner completed the first human powered transit of Ethiopia's Blue Nile. Their journey of over 5,000 kilometres (3,100 mi) took five months. They recount that they paddled through two war zones, regions notorious for bandits, and were arrested at gunpoint.[64]

text: On 30 April 2005 a team led by South Africans Peter Meredith and Hendrik Coetzee became the first to navigate the major remote source of the White Nile, the Akagera river that starts as the Ruvyironza in Bururi Province, Burundi, and ends at Lake Victoria, Uganda.

text: Crossings[edit]

text: Crossings from Khartoum to the Mediterranean Sea[edit]

text: [clarification needed] The following bridges cross the Blue Nile and connect Khartoum to Khartoum North:

text:
Mac Nimir Bridge
Blue Nile Road & Railway Bridge
Burri Bridge
Elmansheya Bridge
Soda bridge

text: The following bridges cross the White Nile and connect Khartoum to Omdurman:

text:
White Nile Bridge
Fitayhab Bridge
Al Dabbaseen Bridge (under construction)[when?]
Omhuraz Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]

text: the following bridges cross from Omdurman: to Khartoum North:

text:
Shambat Bridge
Halfia Bridge

text: The following bridges cross to Tuti from Khartoum states three cities

text:
Khartoum-tuti Bridge
Omdurman-Tuti Suspension Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]
Khartoum North-tuti Bridge (proposed)[citation needed]

text: Other bridges

text:
Shandi Bridge, Shendi
Atbarah Bridge, Atbarah
Merowe Dam, Merowe
Merowe Bridge, Merowe
Aswan Bridge, Aswan
Luxor Bridge, Luxor
Suhag Bridge, Suhag
Assiut Bridge, Assiut
Al Minya Bridge, Minya
Al Marazeek Bridge, Helwan
First Ring Road Bridge (Moneeb Crossing), Cairo
Abbas Bridge, Cairo
University Bridge, Cairo
Qasr al-Nil Bridge, Cairo
6th October Bridge, Cairo
Abu El Ela Bridge, Cairo (removed in 1998)
New Abu El Ela Bridge, Cairo
Imbaba Bridge, Cairo
Rod Elfarag Bridge, Cairo
Second Ring Road Bridge, Cairo
Banha Bridge, Banha
Samanoud Bridge, Samanoud
Mansoura 2 Bridges, Mansoura
Talkha Bridge, Talkha
Shirbine high Bridge
Shirbine Bridge
Kafr Sad - Farscor Bridge
International Coastal Road Bridge
Damietta high Bridge, Damietta
Damietta Bridge, Damietta
Kafr El Zayat Bridges, Kafr El Zayat
Zefta Bridge, Zefta

text: Crossings from Rwanda to Khartoum[edit]

text:
Nalubaale Bridge, Jinja, Uganda (Formerly Owen Falls Bridge)
Karuma Bridge, Karuma, Uganda
Pakwach Bridge, Uganda

text: Images and media of the Nile[edit]

text:
Riverboat on the Nile, Egypt 1900

Marsh along the Nile

A river boat crossing the Nile in Uganda

Murchison Falls in Uganda, between Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga

The Nile in Luxor

The river Nile flows through Cairo, here contrasting ancient customs of daily life with the modern city of today.

text: Annotated bibliography[edit]

text: The following is an annotated bibliography of key written documents for the Western exploration of the Nile.

text: 17th century

text: Historia da Ethiopia, Pedro Páez (aka Pero Pais), Portugal, 1620

text: Voyage historique d'Abissinie, Jerónimo Lobo (aka Girolamo Lobo), Piero Matini, Firenze; 1693

text: 18th century

text: Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile in the Years – 1768, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773, James Bruce of Kinnaird. J. Ruthven for G. GJ. and J. Robinson et al., Edinburgh, 1790 (5 Volumes)

text: Egypt And Mohammed Ali, Or Travels In The Valley of The Nile, James Augustus St. John, Longman, London, 1834

text:
Travels in Ethiopia Above the Second Cateract of the Nile; Exhibiting the State of That Country and Its Various Inhabitants Under the Dominion of Mohammed Ali; and Illustrating the Antiquities, Arts, and History of the Ancient Kingdom of Meroe, G. A.Hoskins. Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman, London; 1835.
Modern Egypt and Thebes: Being a Description of Egypt; Including Information Required for Travelers in That Country, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, John Murray, London, 1843

text: Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa, with Notices of The Lunar Mountains and the Sources of the White Nile; being The Results of an Expedition Undertaken under the Patronage of Her Majesty's Government and the Royal Geographical Society of London, In the Years 1857–1859, Sir Richard Burton. W. Clowes, London; 1860

text: Travels, researches, and missionary labours, during eighteen years' residence in eastern Africa. Together with journeys to Jagga, Usambara, Ukambani, Shoa, Abessinia, and Khartum; and a coasting voyage from Mombaz to Cape Delgado. With an appendix respecting the snow-capped mountains of eastern Africa; the sources of the Nile; the languages and literature of Abessinia And eastern Africa, etc. etc., Rev Dr. J. Krapf, Trubner and Co, London; 1860; Ticknor and Fields, Boston; 1860

text: Egypt, Soudan and Central Africa: With Explorations From Khartoum on the White Nile to the Regions of the Equator, Being Sketches from Sixteen Years' Travel, John Petherick. William Blackwood, Edinburgh; 1861

text: Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile, John Hanning Speke. William Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1863; Harper & Brothers, New York; 1864


document_title: Official (basketball)

question_text: what do nba referees wear on their belt

question_tokens: what do nba referees wear on their belt

root

text: Official (basketball)

text: Uniforms[edit]

text: In American high school and college basketball, officials wear black-and-white-striped shirts with black side panels, black pants, and black shoes. Some state high school association allow officials to wear grey shirts with black pin-stripes instead of black-and-white-striped shirts.

tag: p

text: NBA officials wear light grey shirts with black slacks and black shoes. The NBA shirt is light grey with one black colored stripe on either shoulder, a black stripe on either side, the official's number in the center at the top on the back, and the NBA logo above the breast. NBA officials sometimes wear alternate uniforms consisting of a white shirt with light gold shoulders and black stripes. NBA Summer League officials wear the same light grey shirt but with blue shoulders. The WNBA referee shirt is similar to the NBA referee shirt except that its shoulder and sleeve colors are orange, and the WNBA logo takes the place of the NBA logo.[2]

text: FIBA officials wear a grey (torso) and black (sleeves) shirt, black trousers, black socks, and black shoes. Officials in competitions organized by Euroleague Basketball – the Euroleague and Eurocup – wear an orange shirt. Officials in the Israel Basketball Association wear the Euroleague's orange shirt but sometimes wear royal blue shirts for contests between two Israeli teams. NBL officials wear grey shirts with black shoulders and orange stripes on the sides. The NBL logo is atop the breast and a sponsor's name is on the back. Shirts are V-neck, without a collar, and pants lack belts.

text: All officials wear a whistle that is used to stop play as a result of a foul or a violation on the court. Hand signals are used to indicate the nature of the infraction or to administer the game.

text: In higher levels of college and professional basketball, officials wear a timing device on the belt-line called PTS (Precision Timing System). The device is used by on court officials to start and stop the game clock in a timely manner, rather than waiting for the scoreboard operator (timekeeper) to do so.

text: Positions and responsibilities[edit]

text: The officials must ensure that the game runs smoothly, and this encompasses a variety of different responsibilities, from calling the game to player and spectator management. They also carry a duty of care to the players they officiate and to ensure that the court and all equipment used is in a safe and usable condition. Should there be an issue that inhibits the safe playing of the game, then it is the job of the officials to rectify the problem. Quite often, the job of an official surpasses that of the game at hand, as they must overcome unforeseen situations that may or may not have an influence on the game.

text: There are two standard methods for officiating a basketball game, either "two-person" or "three-person" mechanics depending on how many officials are available to work the game. In "two-person" mechanics, each official works either the lead or the trail position. The lead position is normally along the baseline of the court, with the trail position having its starting point at the free throw line extended on the left side of the court facing the basket. Officials change position often during the game to cover the area in the best possible way. As the game transitions from one end of the court to the other, the lead becomes the trail and vice versa. Between the two positions, each is responsible for a specific part of the court as well as two each of the side, base or back court lines. Officials change position after certain calls (mostly when the lead official calls a defensive foul). This allows officials to alternate between positions to increase the speed of play; one official will approach the bench whilst another, usually the closest to the bench at that time, will move to occupy his position. This also prevents one official from always working one particular team's basket throughout the course of the game.

text: In "three-person" mechanics, the court is further divided among three officials, with the lead (baseline) official determining the position of the other two officials. Normally, the lead official will move to the side of the court in which the ball is located (strong side), particularly if there is a "post-up" player in that position. The official that is on the same sideline as the lead official then takes up a position approximately level with the top of the three-point line and becomes the "trail" official, while the third official will stand across the court near the free throw line in what is called the center position. This creates a triangle coverage of the court. Often, the lead will switch sides of the baseline during a play, requiring the trail to move down to be level with the free-throw line and become the new center, while the center will move up and become the trail. As the ball moves to the other end of the court in transition, the lead will become the trail, the trail will become the lead, and the center official will remain in the center (unless the new "lead" moves across the baseline to cover the strong side, in which case the center official and trail would then switch positions.)

text: Difficulty[edit]

text: Basketball is regarded by many fans as among the most difficult sports to officiate.[citation needed] Usually basketball officials have only a brief moment to determine if an infraction has occurred, due to the speed of play of the game and the officials' proximity to the action. Especially difficult is the "charge/block" call as to which player is responsible for contact. Officials often rely on instant replay to review plays.

text: Despite the misconception that basketball is a non-contact sport, officials often let a large amount of marginal or incidental contact pass uncalled. An official must always be wary of not just what is happening around the ball, but the roughness of play going on around the whole court, adding to the job of the official.

text: Further complicating the job of an official is the proximity to the crowds. Unlike football or baseball, the crowd is nearly always located within a few feet of the official, as are coaches and other players on the bench. To combat this, officials are able to remove a fan from the arena with an ejection.

text: Duties[edit]

text: Violations[edit]

text: When a violation occurs, game action is immediately stopped. These include traveling, illegal dribbles, out-of-bounds, and other violations. The official is required to blow the whistle and immediately stop play and award the ball over to the opposing team.


document_title: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (song)

question_text: who sang who wants to be a millionaire in high society

text: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (song)

text: This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" is a song written by Cole Porter for the 1956 film High Society, where it was introduced by Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm.

text: Whilst looking at expensive wedding presents, the singers decide that they in fact have little desire to be fabulously wealthy.

text: The song also appeared in the 1973 Christmas special of The Goodies television series, The Goodies and the Beanstalk. It later inspired the title, and title music, of the popular game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?[citation needed]

text: Notable recordings[edit]

text:
Susannah McCorkle - Easy to Love—The Songs of Cole Porter (1996)
Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm - High Society (1956)
Thompson Twins for the AIDS benefit release Red Hot + Blue. (1990)

tag: ul


document_title: The Very Best of The Smiths

question_text: who is on the cover of the very best of the smiths album

text: The Very Best of The Smiths

text: About the album[edit]

text: After Singles (1995), the previous Smiths compilation album that WEA (now the Warner Music Group) had issued, went out of print in Europe, Australia and Taiwan, the record company decided to revamp the package slightly and release it under the name The Very Best of The Smiths. WEA scrambled the running order and added five tracks, and enticed the record buyers with the incentive of digital remastering.

text: The album was widely criticised by the British music press, who, after stopping to praise the actual music, went on to condemn what they saw as a money grabbing exercise. They were quickly joined by singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr, who distanced themselves from the album, stating they had had no input whatsoever and that it should be ignored by fans. Both ridiculed the cover design and Marr additionally denounced the sound quality.[3]

text: In the tradition of other Smiths compilations which largely overlapped except for a few songs, this album does contain two versions not available on any other of The Smiths' albums: a new edit of "Ask" and the original 7" version of "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me". The Singles compilation used the album versions of these songs.

text: Cover[edit]

text: The sleeve for The Very Best of The Smiths features Charles Hawtrey of Carry On fame, one of Morrissey's favourite actors (he wrote an obituary of him in the NME). The band members had no say in the cover,[citation needed] which has been described as "an adman's approximation of a Smiths cover" by Mojo magazine.[citation needed]

text: Track listing[edit]

text: All songs written by Morrissey/Marr. Songs marked "*" are exclusive to this compilation.

text:
"Panic" – 2:20
"The Boy with the Thorn in His Side" (single version) – 3:17
"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" – 3:35
"Ask" (new mix)* – 3:09
"Bigmouth Strikes Again" – 3:13
"How Soon Is Now?" (album version) – 6:45
"This Charming Man" – 2:42
"What Difference Does It Make?" – 3:51
"William, It Was Really Nothing" – 2:12
"Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others" – 3:17
"Girlfriend in a Coma" – 2:02
"Hand in Glove" (album version) – 3:24
"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" – 4:04
"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" – 1:53
"That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" (album version) – 4:59
"I Know It's Over" – 5:49
"Sheila Take a Bow" – 2:41
"I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" – 3:47
"Still Ill" – 3:22
"Shakespeare's Sister" – 2:09
"Shoplifters of the World Unite" – 2:58
"Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me" (single version)* – 3:10
"Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before" – 3:33

tag: ol

text:
Tracks 7,8,12 and 19 - The Smiths
Tracks 3,6,9 and 14 - Hatful of Hollow
Tracks 6 and 15 - Meat Is Murder
Tracks 5,10,13 and 16 - The Queen Is Dead
Tracks 1,3,4,14,17,20 and 21 - Louder Than Bombs
Tracks 1,2,3,9,14,17,20 and 21 - The World Won't Listen
Tracks 11,18 and 23 - Strangeways, Here We Come

text: Personnel[edit]

text:
Morrissey – vocals
Johnny Marr – guitars, keyboard instruments, harmonica, mandolins, synthesized saxophone, string and flute arrangements
Andy Rourke – bass guitar, cello on "Shakespeare's Sister"
Mike Joyce – drums

text: Additional musicians[edit]

text:
Craig Gannon – rhythm guitar on "Panic" and "Ask"
Kirsty MacColl – backing vocals on "Ask"
John Porter – slide guitar on "Sheila Take a Bow"
Stephen Street – drum machine on "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish" and synthesized string arrangements on "Girlfriend in a Coma"

text: Production[edit]

text:
John Porter – producer (1, 3-4, 6-9, 14, 19), remixer (12)
The Smiths – producers (12, 15, 20)
Morrissey and Marr – producers (2, 5, 10, 13, 16)
Johnny Marr – producer (21)
Johnny Marr, Morrissey and Stephen Street – producers (11, 17-18, 22-23)
Steve Lillywhite – remixer (4)


document_title: Heritage Day (South Africa)

question_text: when did heritage day start in south africa

text: Heritage Day (South Africa)

text:
Heritage Day

Heritage Day is a day to remember and celebrate the various South African cultures and their heritage.

Also called
Shaka's Day

Observed by
Republic of South Africa

Date
24 September

Next time
24 September 2018 (2018-09-24)

First time
24 September 1995

text: Heritage Day is a South African public holiday celebrated on 24 September. On this day, South Africans across the spectrum are encouraged to celebrate their culture and the diversity of their beliefs and traditions, in the wider context of a nation that belongs to all its people.

text: History of Heritage Day before 1995[edit]

text: In KwaZulu-Natal, 24 September Heritage Day was known as Shaka Day, in commemoration of the Zulu King, Shaka.[1] Shaka was the Zulu King who played an important role in uniting disparate Zulu clans into a cohesive nation. Each year people gather at King Shaka's grave to honour him on this day. The Public Holidays Bill presented to the new democratic Parliament of South Africa in 1995 did not have 24 September included on the list of proposed public holidays. As a result of this exclusion, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), a South African political party with a large Zulu membership, objected to the bill. Parliament and the IFP reached a compromise and the day was given its present title and seen as a public holiday.

text: ...when South Africans celebrate the diverse cultural heritage that makes up a "rainbow nation". It is the day to celebrate the contribution of all South Africans to the building of South Africa(sic)

text: Celebration of Heritage Day[edit]

text: South Africans celebrate Heritage Day by remembering the cultural heritage of the many cultures that make up the population of South Africa. Various events are staged throughout the country to commemorate this.

text: Former Western Cape Provincial Premier Ebrahim Rasool addressed the public at a Heritage Day celebration at the Gugulethu Heritage trail in 2007 in Gugulethu. In Hout Bay, there is an army procession and a recreation of the battle fought there.

text: In 2005, a media campaign sought to "re-brand" the holiday as National Braai Day,[3] in recognition of the South African culinary tradition of holding informal backyard barbecues, or braais.

text: On 5 September 2007, Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrated his appointment as patron of South Africa's Braai (Barbecue) Day,[4] affirming it to be a unifying force in a divided country (by donning an apron and tucking into a boerewors sausage).[5] At the end of 2007 National Braai Day changed its name to Braai4Heritage and the initiative received the endorsement of South Africa's National Heritage Council (NHC).[citation needed]

text: Organiser Jan Scannell (known as "Jan Braai") announced that the aim is not to have a mass braai, but with little ones, friends and family. Some have commented that this is a ploy to make people forget the history and the original meaning of why the day was created.[6]


document_title: Tola (unit)

question_text: how many grams are in 1 tola gold

question_tokens: how many grams are in 1 tola gold

text: Tola (unit)

text:
British Indian
units of mass

Mughal Empire[show]

1 maund
=
40 seers

1 seer
=
30 dams

1 dam
=
5 tanks

1 tank
=
3 mashas

1 masha
=
8 ruttees

Bengal Presidency[show]

1 maund
=
8 passerees

1 passeree
=
5 seers

1 seer
=
16 chitaks

1 chitak
=
5 tolas

1 tola
=
12 mashas

1 masha
=
8 rattis

1 ratti
=
4 dhans

Regulation VII 1833 fixed the mass of one tola as 180 troy grains
(11.663 8038 grams)

Bombay Presidency[show]

1 candy
=
20 maunds

1 maund
=
40 seers

1 seer
=
72 tanks

The maund was fixed at 28 pounds avoirdupois (¼ hundredweight)
(12.700 586 36 kilograms)

Madras Presidency[show]

1 candy
=
20 maunds

1 maund
=
8 vis

1 vis
=
5 seers

1 seer
=
8 pollums

1 pollum
=
10 pagodas

The maund was fixed at 25 pounds avoirdupois
(11.339 809 25 kilograms)

text: The tola (Hindi: तोला; Urdu: تولا; Bengali: তোলা; tolā. from Sanskrit: तोलकः; tolaka) Punjabi ਤੋਲਾ, also transliterated as tolah or tole, is a traditional Ancient Indian and South Asian unit of mass, now standardised as 180 troy grains (11.663 8038 grams) or exactly 3/8 troy ounce. It was the base unit of mass in the British Indian system of weights and measures introduced in 1833, although it had been in use for much longer.[1] It was also used in Aden and Zanzibar: in the latter, one tola was equivalent to 175.90 troy grains (0.97722222 British tolas, or 11.33980925 grams).[2]

text: The tola is a Vedic measure, with the name derived from the Sanskrit tol (तोलः root तुल्) meaning "weighing" or "weight".[3] One tola was traditionally the weight of 100 ratti (ruttee) seeds,[4] and its exact weight varied according to locality. However, it is also a convenient mass for a coin: several pre-colonial coins, including the currency of Akbar the Great (1556–1605), had a mass of "one tola" within slight variation.[1][5] The very first rupee (Urdu: رپيا; rupayā), minted by Sher Shah Suri (1540–45), had a mass of 178 troy grains, or about 1% less than the British tola.[6] The British East India Company issued a silver rupee coin of 180 troy grains, and this became the practical standard mass for the tola well into the 20th century.[7]

text: The British tola of 180 troy grains (from 1833) can be seen as more of a standardisation than a redefinition: the previous standard in the Bengal Presidency, the system of "sicca weights", was the mass of one Murshidabad rupee, 179.666 troy grains.[1] For the larger weights used in commerce (in the Bengal Presidency), the variation in the pre-1833 standards was found to be greater than the adjustment.[1]

text: The tola formed the base for units of mass under the British Indian system, and was also the standard measure of gold and silver bullion.[1] Although the tola has been officially replaced by metric units since 1956,[8] it is still in current use, and is a popular denomination for gold bullion bars in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Singapore, with a ten tola bar being the most commonly traded.[9] In Nepal, minting of tola size gold coins continue up to the present, even though the currency of Nepal is called rupee and has no official connection to the tola. It is also used in most gold markets (bazars/souks) in the United Arab Emirates and in all the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) countries.

text: Tola is still used as a measure of charas. (Indian hashish)[10]


document_title: The Case for Christ

question_text: who plays lee strobel in case for christ

text: The Case for Christ

text: Plot summary[edit]

text: In 1980, former atheist and award-winning investigative journalist Lee Strobel applies his journalistic and legal skills to attempt to disprove his wife Leslie's newfound Christian faith, which causes problems within his marriage. After completing a thorough investigation for almost two years he finds the historical evidence for Jesus, and then finds a new faith in Christ.[4][5][6]

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Mike Vogel as Lee Strobel[7]

Michael Provost as young Lee Strobel

Erika Christensen as Leslie Strobel

Kelly Lamor Wilson as young Leslie Strobel

Faye Dunaway as Dr. Roberta Waters
Robert Forster as Walter Strobel
Frankie Faison as Joe Dubois
L. Scott Caldwell as Alfie Davis
Mike Pniewski as Kenny London
Tom Nowicki as Dr. Alexander Metherell
Kevin Sizemore as Dr. Gary Habermas
Rus Blackwell as Dr. William Lane Craig
Jordan Cox as Bill Hybels
Renell Gibbs as James Hicks
Haley Rosenwasser as Alison Strobel[8]
Brett Rice as Ray Nelson
Grant Goodeve as Mr. Cook

text: Release[edit]

text: In the United States and Canada, The Case for Christ was released on April 7, 2017 alongside Going in Style and Smurfs: The Lost Village, and was projected to gross $5 million in its opening weekend from 1,174 theaters.[9] It ended up debuting to $3.9 million, finishing 10th at the box office.[10] In its second weekend the film grossed $2.8 million, dropping 30.5% and finishing 9th at the box office.[11]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a critic's approval rating of 55% based on 22 reviews, and an average rating of 5.6/10.[12] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score 50 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[13]


document_title: An Officer and a Gentleman

question_text: who played paula in an officer and a gentleman

text: An Officer and a Gentleman

text: Plot[edit]

text: Zachary "Zack" Mayo is preparing to report to Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS). As he is doing so, he has brief flashbacks of his childhood. After the death of his mother, who committed suicide, an adolescent Zack was sent to live with his only living relative, his father Byron Mayo, who is stationed in US Naval Base Subic Bay in the Philippines. The elder Mayo, a Navy Chief Petty Officer/Chief Boatswain's Mate, made no attempt to hide his heavy drinking and hiring of prostitutes from a young Zack. When Zack said he needed help, Byron said he did not ask to get married nor be a father, because he is always out on sea all the time. But seeing the look on his face, he decides to let him stay with him. Mostly Zack became a Navy brat and travelled with his father.

text: The flashbacks advance to the present, where Zack has just graduated from college and informs his father he will be going to AOCS. Byron, who hates officers, tells Zack that his dream of becoming an officer is as unrealistic as hoping to become President. Despite his father's discouragement, Zack is determined to go through with his childhood dreams of becoming a Navy pilot as well as prove to him that he can make it and in the end Byron would have to "salute" Zack. Upon arrival at AOCS, Zack and his fellow AOCs are shocked by the harsh treatment they receive from their head drill instructor, Marine Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley. Foley makes it clear that the 13-week program is designed to eliminate OCs who are found to be mentally or physically unfit for commission as an ensign in the U.S. Navy, which will earn them flight training worth over $1,000,000. Foley warns the male candidates about the "Puget Sound Debs"—young women in the area who dream of marrying a Naval Aviator to escape their dull, local lives. Foley claims they scout the regiment for OCs, and will feign pregnancy or even stop using birth control to become pregnant to trap the men.

text: Zack becomes friends with fellow candidates Topper Daniels, Sid Worley, Emiliano Santos Della Serra, Lionel Perryman, and Casey Seeger. Zack and Sid meet two local young women—factory workers—at a Navy Ball. Zack begins a romantic relationship with Paula Pokrifki, and Sid with Lynette Pomeroy. Meanwhile, Daniels drops out of the program after he almost drowns in the dunker crash-escape exercise.

text: Foley rides Zack mercilessly, believing he lacks motivation and is not a team player, though Foley also sees potential in Zack. When Zack's side business of selling pre-shined shoes and belt buckles is discovered, Foley hazes him for a weekend in an attempt to make him DOR, "Drop on Request", a Navy term for requesting termination of training, but Zack refuses. Foley states Zack will be declared unfit, which frightens Zack into admitting he has no options in civilian life. Satisfied that Zack has come to a crucial self-realization and realizing what he's made of, Foley decides to let him stay. He punishes Zack by making him clean all the urinals, but does not recommend attrition. Henceforth, Zack starts behaving like a team player.

text: Zack and Paula spend the next weekend together, and she takes him home for dinner to meet her family. Her stepfather behaves strangely, and when Zack asks why, Paula shows him an old picture of her biological father. He was an AOC who had an affair with her mother but deserted her following his commissioning and refused to marry her when she became pregnant with Paula.

text: Zack is close to breaking the record time for negotiating the obstacle course, but Casey faces disqualification when she cannot negotiate the 12-foot-high wall (3.7 m). Zack abandons his attempt to break the course record in order to coach Casey over the wall, and she makes it.

text: Zack attends dinner with Sid and his parents and learns that Sid has a long-time girlfriend back home. Sid plans to marry her after he receives his commission. Meanwhile, Lynette has been dropping hints to Sid that she may be pregnant. Sid agonizes over this possibility, especially when Lynette tells him she will not have an abortion. After having a severe anxiety attack during a high-altitude simulation in a pressure chamber, Sid realizes he joined the officer training program out of a sense of obligation to his family, especially to the older brother who died as a Naval officer, and he Drops On Request, "DOR"s meaning he voluntarily resigns. He leaves the base without saying goodbye, so Zack and Paula go out to look for him.

text: Sid goes to Lynette's house and proposes marriage. She is elated until he tells her he DORed, and she would not be marrying a Naval Aviator after all. Disgusted, Lynette turns him down and admits she was never pregnant with his child. She says she thought he understood she wants to marry an aviator, escape from her small town, and live an exciting life overseas with the status of an aviator's wife. She berates him for dropping out and gives back the engagement ring he bought her. Crushed, Sid goes to the motel where he and Lynette spent his free weekends, asks for their old room, and begins drinking.

text: Zack and Paula arrive at Lynette's shortly after Sid leaves, and ask about Sid's whereabouts. Zack curses Lynette for trying to trick Sid, and he and Paula rush off to search for him. Zack goes to the motel and is heartbroken when he finds Sid has committed suicide out of grief. Paula tries to comfort Zack, admitting she loved him from day one and her guilt over failing to stop Lynette's scheme, but he rejects her and heads back to base with the intent to DOR himself. Foley will not let him quit so close to graduation and feels bad about what happened to Sid. Zack challenges Foley to an unofficial martial arts bout. Although Zack eventually appears to take control of the fight, Foley wins by kicking Zack in the groin and then tells him he can quit now if he still wishes to do so.

text: Zack shows up for graduation and is sworn into the Navy with his class. Following naval tradition, he receives his first salute from Foley in exchange for a US silver dollar. While tradition calls for the drill instructor to place the coin in his left shirt pocket, Foley places the coin in his right pocket, acknowledging that Zack was a special candidate. Zack thanks him for not giving up on him and tells him he would never have made it without the hardships Foley delivered. While leaving the base, he sees Foley initiating a set of new AOCs who are in the same position he was 13 weeks prior.

text: Zack, now Ensign Mayo with orders to undertake flight training, seeks out Paula at the factory where she works and declares his love to her. He picks her up and walks out with her in his arms to the applause of her co-workers, including a still-dismayed Lynette.

text: Cast[edit]

text: (in credits order)

text:
Richard Gere as Aviation Officer Candidate Zack Mayo
Debra Winger as Paula Pokrifki
David Keith as AOC Sid Worley
Robert Loggia as Chief Petty Officer Byron Mayo (Zack's father)
Lisa Blount as Lynette Pomeroy
Lisa Eilbacher as AOC Casey Seeger
Louis Gossett Jr. as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley, USMC
Tony Plana as AOC Emiliano Della Serra
Harold Sylvester as AOC Lionel Perryman
David Caruso as AOC Topper Daniels
Victor French as Joe Pokrifki (Paula's stepfather)
Grace Zabriskie as Esther Pokrifki (Paula's mother)
Tommy Petersen as Young Zack
Elizabeth Rogers as Betty Worley
John Laughlin as Troy
Ed Begley Jr. as Altitude Chamber Instructor (voice)

text: Production[edit]

text: Locations[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. (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The film was shot in late 1981 on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, at Port Townsend and Fort Worden. The U.S. Navy did not permit filming at NAS Pensacola in the Florida panhandle, the site of the actual Aviation Officer Candidate School[4] in 1981. Deactivated U.S. Army base Fort Worden stood in for the location of the school, an actual Naval Air Station in the Puget Sound area, NAS Whidbey Island. However, that installation, which is still an operating air station today, was and is a "fleet" base for operational combat aircraft and squadrons under the cognizance of Naval Air Force Pacific, not a Naval Air Training Command installation.

text: A motel room in Port Townsend, The Tides Inn on Water Street (48°06′38″N 122°45′54″W / 48.1105°N 122.765°W / 48.1105; -122.765), was used for the film.[5] Today, there is a plaque outside the room commemorating this (although the room has been extensively refurbished in the interim). Some early scenes of the movie were filmed in Bremerton, with ships of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in the background.

text: The "Dilbert Dunker" scenes were filmed in the swimming pool at what is now Mountain View Elementary School (Port Townsend Jr High School during filming).[5] According to the director's commentary on the DVD, the dunking machine was constructed specifically for the film and was an exact duplicate of the actual one used by the Navy. As of 2010, Mountain View Elementary is closed and is now home to the Mountain View Commons, which holds the police station, food bank and the YMCA, the latter of which holds the pool.

text: The filming location of Paula Pokrifiki's house was 1003 Tremont in Port Townsend.[5] As of 2009, the house was shrouded by a large hedge, and the front porch had been remodeled. The neighboring homes and landscape look identical to their appearance in the film, including the 'crooked oak tree' across the street from the Pokrifiki home. This oak tree is visible in the scene near the end of the film in which Richard Gere returns to the home to request Paula's help in finding his friend Sid. In the film, the plot has Paula living a ferry ride away from the naval base. In reality, Paula's home is located approximately 8 blocks from Fort Worden.

text: Lynette Pomeroy's house was located on Mill Road, just west of the main entrance of the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill. The house no longer exists, but the concrete driveway pad is still visible.

text: The interior of the USO building at Fort Worden State Park was used for the reception scene near the beginning of the film.

text: The concrete structure used during the famous Richard Gere line "I got nowhere else to go!" is the Battery Kinzie located at Fort Worden State Park. The scene was filmed on the southwest corner of the upper level of the battery. The 'obstacle course' was constructed specifically for the film and was located in the grassy areas just south and southeast of Battery Kinzie.

text: The decompression chamber was one of the only sets constructed for the film and as of 2013, it is still intact in the basement of building number 225 of the Fort Worden State Park. It can be seen through the windows of the building's basement.

text: Building 204 of Fort Worden State Park was used as the dormitory and its porch was used for the film's closing 'silver dollar' scene.

text: The blimp hangar used for the famous fight scene between Louis Gossett Jr. and Richard Gere is located at Fort Worden State Park and as of 2013 is still intact, but has been converted into a 1200-seat performing arts center called the McCurdy Pavilion.

text: The filming location for the exterior of 'TJ's Restaurant' is located at the Point Hudson marina in Port Townsend. The space is now occupied by a company that makes sails. The fictional "TJ's" is an homage to the Trader Jon's bar in Pensacola, Florida, as a naval aviator hangout until it closed later in November 2003. For years, it was traditional for graduating Aviation Officer Candidate School classes to celebrate their commissioning at "Trader's."[citation needed]

text: Casting[edit]

text: Originally, folk music singer and occasional actor John Denver was signed to play Zack Mayo. But a casting process eventually involved Jeff Bridges, Christopher Reeve, and Richard Gere.[6][7] Gere eventually beat all the other actors for the part. John Travolta had turned down the role, as he did with American Gigolo (another Richard Gere hit).[7][8]

text: The role of Paula was originally given to Sigourney Weaver,[9] then to Anjelica Huston[9] and later to Jennifer Jason Leigh, who dropped out to do the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High instead.[10] Eventually, Debra Winger replaced Leigh for the role of Paula. Rebecca De Mornay,[10] Meg Ryan,[9] and Geena Davis[9] auditioned for the role of Paula.

text: In spite of the strong on-screen chemistry between Gere and Winger, the actors didn't get along during filming. Publicly, she called him a "brick wall" while he admitted there was "tension" between them. Thirty years later, Gere was complimentary towards Winger when he said that she was much more open to the camera than he was, and he appreciated the fact that she presented him with an award at the Rome Film Festival.[11]

text: Taylor Hackford kept Louis Gossett Jr. in separate living quarters from other actors during production so Gossett could intimidate them more during his scenes as drill instructor.[12] In addition, Gossett was advised by US Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Buck Welscher.[12]

text: Props[edit]

text: Richard Gere rides a 750cc T140E Triumph Bonneville. Two T140E Bonnevilles were supplied by Dewey's Cycle Shop in Seattle. One had Receipt no.16787 dated April 8, 1981, as sold to Paramount Pictures. In the United Kingdom, Paramount successfully linked with Triumph Motorcycles (Meriden) Ltd to do a mutual promotion. Triumph's then-chairman, John Rosamond, in his book Save The Triumph Bonneville! (Veloce 2009), states it was agreed cinemas showing the film would be promoted at their local Triumph dealer, and T140E Triumph Bonnevilles supplied by the dealer would be displayed in the cinema's foyers.

text: Ending[edit]

text: Richard Gere balked at shooting the ending of the film, in which Zack arrives at Paula's factory wearing his naval dress whites and carries her off the factory floor. Gere thought the ending would not work because it was too sentimental. Director Taylor Hackford agreed with Gere until, during a rehearsal, the extras playing the workers began to cheer and cry. When Gere saw the scene later, with a portion of the score (that was used to write "Up Where We Belong") played at the right tempo, he said it gave him chills. Gere is now convinced Hackford made the right decision.[13] Screenwriter Michael Hauge, in his book Writing Screenplays That Sell, echoed this opinion: "I don't believe that those who criticized this Cinderella-style ending were paying very close attention to who exactly is rescuing whom."

text: Release[edit]

text: Two versions of the film exist. The original, an uncensored R-rated cut and edited-for-broadcast television cut (which first aired on NBC in 1986) are nearly identical. The main difference is that the nudity and a majority of the foul language are edited out when the film airs on regular television. However, the group marching song near the beginning of the film and Mayo's solo marching song are not voiceover edits; they are reshoots of those scenes for television. Also, the sex scene between Mayo and Paula is cut in half, and the scene where Mayo finds Sid's naked body hanging in the shower is also edited.

text: Reaction[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: An Officer and a Gentleman was an enormous box office success and went on to become the third-highest-grossing film of 1982, after E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Tootsie.[14] It grossed $3,304,679 in its opening weekend[15] and $129,795,554 overall at the domestic box office.[16] It sold an estimated 44 million tickets in the US.

text: Reception[edit]

text: An Officer and a Gentleman was well received by critics and is widely considered one of the best films of 1982.[17][18][19] The film holds an 81% "Fresh" rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 27 reviews, with the consensus: "Old-fashioned without sacrificing its characters to simplicity, An Officer and a Gentleman successfully walks the fine line between sweeping romance and melodrama".[20] It received rave reviews from critics, most notably from Roger Ebert, who gave it four stars. Ebert described An Officer and a Gentleman as "a wonderful movie precisely because it's so willing to deal with matters of the heart...it takes chances, takes the time to know and develop its characters, and by the time this movie's wonderful last scene comes along, we know exactly what's happening, and why, and it makes us very happy."[21]

text: Rex Reed gave a glowing review where he commented: "This movie will make you feel ten feet tall!" The British film critic Mark Kermode, an admirer of Taylor Hackford observed, "It's a much tougher film than people remember it being; it's not a romantic movie, it's actually a movie about blue-collar, down-trodden people."

text: The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

text:
2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions—#29[22]
2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

"Up Where We Belong"—#75[23]

2006: AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers—#68[24]

text: Awards[edit]

text: Film Award wins:

text:
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor—Louis Gossett Jr.
Best Music, Original Song—"Up Where We Belong", Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie (music), Will Jennings (lyrics). Producer Don Simpson complained, "The song is no good. It isn't a hit," and unsuccessfully demanded it be cut from the film. "Up Where We Belong" later became the number one song on the Billboard charts.
BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Song—"Up Where We Belong", Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie (music), Will Jennings (lyrics)
Award of the Japanese Academy for Best Foreign Language Film
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture

text: Academy Award nominations:

text:
Best Actress—Debra Winger
Best Music, Original Score
Best Film Editing
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

text: Other Award wins:

text: "Up Where We Belong" vocalists Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes earned a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Duo or Group [25]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: The soundtrack was released on August 13, 1982 and reached #38 on the Billboard 200, it stayed on the chart for 23 weeks and top 50 for one week.[26][27] The CD version doesn't include some of the instrumental selections that were available on the original record.[28]

text: "Up Where We Belong" was released as a single and became a global hit peaking at number one in the US, Canada, and Australia, and reaching the top 10 in many other countries.

text: Track Listing (Original Record)[edit]

text:
Song
Lyrics by
Performed by

"Up Where We Belong"
Will Jennings
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes

"Theme from 'An Officer and a Gentleman"
Jack Nitzsche and Buffy Sainte-Marie
Lee Ritenour

"Treat Me Right"
D. Lubahn and Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar

"Hungry for Your Love"
Van Morrison
Van Morrison

"Be Real"
D. Sahm
Sir Douglas Quintet

"Tush"
B. Gibbons, D. Hill and F. Beard
ZZ Top

"Tunnel of Love"
M. Knopfler
Dire Straits

"Feelings"
Morris Albert
Morris Albert

"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree"
Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown
Greg Pecknold

"Anchors Aweigh"
Charles A. Zimmerman, George D. Lottman and Alfred Hart Miles

"Moon River"
Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer

"Big Money Dollars"
John Thomas Lenox

"Gamelan Gong: Barong Dance"
David Lewiston

"The Plains of Mindanao"
Bayanihan 7

"Galan Kangin"
Gong Kebyar, Sebatu

"Love Theme From 'An Officer And A Gentleman"
Lee Ritenour
Lee Ritenour

"The Morning After Love Theme"
Jack Nitzsche
Jack Nitzsche

text: Adaptations[edit]

text:
The Takarazuka Revue adapted the movie as a musical in 2010 in Japan (Takarazuka Grand Theater; Tokyo Takarazuka Theater). The production was performed by Star Troupe and the cast included Reon Yuzuki as Zack Mayo, Nene Yumesaki as Paula Pokrifki and Kaname Ouki as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley.[29]
A stage musical, with book by Douglas Day Stewart and Sharleen Cooper Cohen and songs by Ken Hirsch and Robin Lerner, directed by Simon Phillips, opened on May 18, 2012 at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney, Australia.[30] The production received mixed reviews[31] and closed after six weeks.[32]


document_title: Papa a la Huancaína

question_text: where does papa a la huancaina come from

text: Papa a la Huancaína

text:
Papa a la Huancaína

Course
Hors d'oeuvre

Place of origin
Peru

Serving temperature
Cold

Main ingredients
Yellow potatoes, Huancaína sauce (Queso fresco, vegetable oil, aji amarillo, evaporated milk, salt)

 Cookbook: Papa a la Huancaína   Media: Papa a la Huancaína

text: Papa a la Huancaína (literally, Huancayo style potatoes) is a Peruvian appetizer of boiled yellow potatoes (similar to the Yukon Gold potatoes) in a spicy, creamy sauce called Huancaína sauce. Although the dish's name is derived from Huancayo, a city in the Peruvian highlands, this dish is from Lima - Perú. It has become a staple of everyday and holiday cuisine throughout the country.[1][2]

text: It is typically served cold as a starter over lettuce leaves and garnished with black olives, white corn kernels and hard boiled egg quarters.

text: The sauce is made of queso fresco (fresh white cheese), vegetable oil, aji amarillo (yellow Peruvian pepper), evaporated milk and salt mixed in a blender. Some recipes call for garlic, onion and crushed saltines.

text: In the south of Peru (Cuzco, Puno, Arequipa) it is served with ocopa rather than Huancaína sauce, made from freshly toasted peanuts, fried onions and tomatoes, aji amarillo, cream or condensed milk, crushed crackers or dried bread, salt, and huacatay (Tagetes minuta).

text: Because it is served cold, Papa a la Huancaina is a favorite food of Peruvians to take on picnics and trips.


document_title: U.S. News & World Report

question_text: is us news and world report conservative or liberal

text: U.S. News & World Report

text: History[edit]

text: United States News was founded in 1933 by David Lawrence (1888–1973), who also started World Report in 1946. The two magazines covered national and international news separately, but Lawrence merged them into U.S. News & World Report in 1948[1] and subsequently sold the magazine to his employees. Historically, the magazine tended to be slightly more conservative than its two primary competitors, Time and Newsweek, and focused more on economic, health, and education stories. It also eschewed sports, entertainment, and celebrity news.[2] Important milestones in the early history of the magazine include the introduction of the "Washington Whispers" column in 1934 and the "News You Can Use" column in 1952.[3][4] In 1958, the weekly magazine's circulation passed one million and reached two million by 1973.[3]

text: Since 1983, it has become known primarily for its influential ranking and annual reports of colleges and graduate schools, spanning across most fields and subjects. U.S. News & World Report is America's oldest and best-known ranker of academic institutions,[5] and covers the fields of business, law, medicine, engineering, education, social sciences and public affairs, in addition to many other areas.[6] Its print edition was consistently included in national bestseller lists, augmented by online subscriptions. Additional rankings published by U.S. News & World Report include hospitals, medical specialties and automobiles.

text: In October 1984, publisher and real estate developer Mortimer B. Zuckerman purchased U.S. News & World Report.[4] Zuckerman is also the owner of the New York Daily News. In 1993, U.S. News & World Report entered the digital world by providing content to CompuServe and in 1995, the website usnews.com was launched. In 2001, the website won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence Online.[7] In 2007, U.S. News & World Report published its first list of the nation's best high schools. Its ranking methodology includes state test scores and the success of poor and minority students on these exams, and schools' performance in Advanced Placement exams.

text: Starting in June 2008, the magazine reduced its publication frequency in three steps. It switched in June 2008 from weekly to biweekly.[8] In November 2008 it decreased to monthly.[9] In November 2010, it was reported that U.S. News & World Report would be switched to an online-only format, effective after it published its December issue, with the exception of print publishing special issues on colleges, hospitals, and personal finance.[10] Moving forward, the publication expressed its plans to focus mainly on research and the provision of relevant information to students pursuing higher education. Its rankings and university guide books are available in print at the majority of bookstores and magazine vendors in the United States, selling millions of copies on an annual basis.[11] In June 2008, citing the decline overall magazine circulation and advertising, U.S. News & World Report announced that it would become a biweekly publication, starting January 2009.[12] It hoped advertisers would be attracted to the schedule, which allowed ads to stay on newsstands a week longer. However, five months later the magazine changed its frequency again, becoming monthly.[13] In August 2008, U.S. News expanded and revamped its online opinion section.[14] The new version of the opinion page included daily new op-ed content as well as the new Thomas Jefferson Street blog.[15] An internal memo was sent on November 5, 2010, to the staff of the magazine informing them that the "December issue will be our last print monthly sent to subscribers, whose remaining print and digital replica subscriptions will be filled by other publishers."[10] The memo went on to say that the publication would be moving to a primarily digital format but that it would continue to print special issues such as "the college and grad guides, as well as hospital and personal finance guides." Prior to going defunct, U.S. News was the lowest-ranking news magazine in the U.S., after Time and Newsweek.[16] A weekly digital magazine, U.S. News Weekly, introduced in January 2009,[17] continued to offer subscription content until it ceased at the end of April 2015.[18]

text: The company is owned by U.S. News & World Report, L.P., a privately held company based in the Daily News building in New York City. The editorial staff is headquartered in Washington, D.C.[3] The company's move to the Web made it possible for U.S. News & World Report to expand its service journalism with the introduction of several consumer-facing rankings products. The company returned to profitability in 2013.[19] The editorial staff of U.S. News & World Report is based in Washington, D.C. and Brian Kelly has been the chief content officer since April 2007. The company is owned by media proprietor Mortimer Zuckerman.

text: Rankings[edit]

text: Who Runs America?[edit]

text: The first of the U.S. News & World Report's famous rankings was its "Who Runs America?" surveys. These ran in the spring of each year from 1974 to 1986. The magazine would have a cover typically featuring persons selected by the USN & WR as being the ten most powerful persons in the United States. Every single edition of the series listed the President of the United States as the most powerful person, but the #2 position included such persons as Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (1974),[20] Federal Reserve Chairmen Paul Volcker and Arthur Burns (each listed multiple years) and US Senator Edward Kennedy (1979).[21] While most of the top ten each year were officials in government, occasionally others were included, including TV anchormen Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller, AFL-CIO leader George Meany, and consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The only woman to make the top ten list was First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1980.[22]

text: In addition to these overall top ten persons, the publication also included top persons in each of several fields, including Education, Business, Finance, Journalism, and many other areas. The survey was discontinued after 1986.

text: Best colleges[edit]

text: In 1983, U.S. News & World Report published its first "America's Best Colleges" report. [23] The rankings have been compiled and published annually since 1987. These rankings are based upon data that U.S. News & World Report collects from each educational institution from an annual survey sent to each school. The rankings are also based upon opinion surveys of university faculties and administrators who do not belong to the schools.

text: The popularity of U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges rankings is reflected in its 2014 release, which brought 2.6 million unique visitors and 18.9 million page views to usnews.com in one day.[24] Traffic came from over 3,000 sites, including Facebook and Google.[24] U.S. News & World Report continues to publish comprehensive college guides in book form.[25] Robert Morse created the U.S. News Best Colleges rankings methodology, and continues to oversee its application as chief data strategist at U.S. News. In 2014, The Washington Post featured a profile of Morse, exploring his 30-year career with the publication.[26]

text: Criticism[edit]

text: During the 1990s, several educational institutions in the United States were involved in a movement to boycott the U.S. News & World Report college rankings survey. The first was Reed College, which stopped submitting the survey in 1995. The survey was also criticized by Alma College, Stanford University, and St. John's College during the late 1990s.[27] SAT scores play a role in The U.S. News & World Report college rankings even though U.S. News is not empowered with the ability to formally verify or recalculate the scores that are represented to them by schools. Since the mid-1990s there have been many instances documented by the popular press wherein schools lied about their SAT scores in order to obtain a higher ranking.[28] An exposé in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that the elements in the methodology of U.S News & World Report's rankings are redundant and can be reduced to one thing: money.[29] On June 19, 2007, during the annual meeting of the Annapolis Group, members discussed the letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the "reputation survey" section of the U.S. News & World Report survey (this section comprises 25% of the ranking).

text: As a result, "a majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting said that they did not intend to participate in the U.S. News reputational rankings in the future."[30] The statement also said that its members "have agreed to participate in the development of an alternative common format that presents information about their colleges for students and their families to use in the college search process."[31] This database will be web-based and developed in conjunction with higher-education organizations including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and the Council of Independent Colleges.

text: On June 22, 2007, U.S. News & World Report editor Robert Morse issued a response in which he argued, "in terms of the peer assessment survey, we at U.S. News firmly believe the survey has significant value because it allows us to measure the 'intangibles' of a college that we can't measure through statistical data. Plus, the reputation of a school can help get that all-important first job and plays a key part in which grad school someone will be able to get into. The peer survey is by nature subjective, but the technique of asking industry leaders to rate their competitors is a commonly accepted practice. The results from the peer survey also can act to level the playing field between private and public colleges."[32] In reference to the alternative database discussed by the Annapolis Group, Morse also argued, "It's important to point out that the Annapolis Group's stated goal of presenting college data in a common format has been tried before [...] U.S. News has been supplying this exact college information for many years already. And it appears that NAICU will be doing it with significantly less comparability and functionality. U.S. News first collects all these data (using an agreed-upon set of definitions from the Common Data Set). Then we post the data on our website in easily accessible, comparable tables. In other words, the Annapolis Group and the others in the NAICU initiative actually are following the lead of U.S. News."[32]

text: Some higher education experts, such as Kevin Carey of Education Sector, have asserted that U.S. News & World Report's college rankings system is merely a list of criteria that mirrors the superficial characteristics of elite colleges and universities. According to Carey, the U.S. News ranking system is deeply flawed. Instead of focusing on the fundamental issues of how well colleges and universities educate their students and how well they prepare them to be successful after college, the magazine's rankings are almost entirely a function of three factors: fame, wealth, and exclusivity. He suggests that there are more important characteristics parents and students should research to select colleges, such as how well students are learning and how likely students are to earn a degree.[33]

text: The question of college rankings and their impact on admissions gained greater attention in March 2007, when Dr. Michele Tolela Myers (the former President of Sarah Lawrence College) shared in an op-ed[34] that the U.S. News & World Report, when not given SAT scores for a university, chooses to simply rank the college with an invented SAT score of approximately one standard deviation (roughly 200 SAT points) behind those of peer colleges, with the reasoning being that SAT-optional universities will, because of their test-optional nature, accept higher numbers of less academically capable students.

text: In a 2011 article regarding the Sarah Lawrence controversy, Peter Sacks of The Huffington Post criticized the U.S. News rankings' centering on test scores and denounced the magazine's "best colleges" list as a scam:[35]

text: In the U.S. News worldview of college quality, it matters not a bit what students actually learn on campus, or how a college actually contributes to the intellectual, ethical and personal growth of students while on campus, or how that institution contributes to the public good [...] and then, when you consider that student SAT scores are profoundly correlated [to] parental income and education levels – the social class that a child is born into and grows up with – you begin to understand what a corrupt emperor 'America's Best Colleges' really is. The ranking amounts to little more than a pseudo-scientific and yet popularly legitimate tool for perpetuating inequality between educational haves and have nots – the rich families from the poor ones, and the well-endowed schools from the poorly endowed ones.

text: Best global universities[edit]

text: In October 2014, the U.S. News & World Report published its inaugural "Best Global Universities" rankings.[36] Inside Higher Ed noted that the U.S. News is entering into the international college and university rankings area that is already "dominated by three major global university rankings," namely the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the Academic Ranking of World Universities, and the QS World University Rankings.[37] Robert Morse stated that "it's natural for U.S. News to get into this space."[37] Morse also noted that the U.S. News "will also be the first American publisher to enter the global rankings space."[37]

text: Best hospitals[edit]

text: Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report has compiled the Best Hospitals rankings.[38] The Best Hospitals rankings are specifically based on a different methodology that looks at difficult (high acuity) cases within 16 specialties, including cancer; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; gastroenterology; geriatrics; gynecology; heart and heart surgery; kidney disorders; neurology and neurosurgery; ophthalmology; orthopedics; psychiatry; pulmonology; rehabilitation; rheumatology; and urology.[39][40] In addition to rankings for each of these specialties, hospitals that excel in many U.S. News areas are ranked in the Honor Roll.[41]

text: Best cars[edit]

text: Since 2007, U.S. News has developed an innovative rankings system for new and used automobiles. The rankings span over 30 classes of cars, trucks, SUVs, minivans, wagons, and sports cars. Each automobile receives an overall score, as well as a performance, interior, and recommendation score to the nearest tenth on a 1-10 scale. Scores are based on the consensus opinion of America's trusted automotive experts, as well as reliability and safety data.[42] U.S. News also produces annual "Best Cars for the Money" and "Best Cars for Families" awards across approximately 20 classes of cars, trucks, SUVs, and minivans. Money award winners are derived by combining vehicle price and five-year cost of ownership with the opinion of the automotive press,[43] while family awards are tabulated by combining critics' opinions with the vehicle's availability of family-friendly features and interior space, as well as safety and reliability data. Money and family award winners are announced in February and March of each year, respectively.[44]

text: Best states[edit]

text: In 2017, U.S. News published its first ranking of all 50 U.S. states, incorporating metrics in seven categories: health care, education, crime and corrections, infrastructure, opportunity, economy, and government. The weighting of the individual categories in determining overall rank was informed by surveys on what matters most to residents. Massachusetts occupies the top rank of the 2017 list, with an overall #2 ranking in health care and #1 ranking in education.[45]