The term was created in 1920 by Hans Winkler, professor of botany at the University of Hamburg, Germany. The Oxford Dictionary suggests the name to be a blend of the words gene and chromosome. However, see omics for a more thorough discussion. A few related -ome words already existed—such as biome, rhizome, forming a vocabulary into which genome fits systematically.


Some organisms have multiple copies of chromosomes: diploid, triploid, tetraploid and so on. In classical genetics, in a sexually reproducing organism (typically eukarya) the gamete has half the number of chromosomes of the somatic cell and the genome is a full set of chromosomes in a diploid cell. The halving of the genetic material in gametes is accomplished by the segregation of homologous chromosomes during meiosis. In haploid organisms, including cells of bacteria, archaea, and in organelles including mitochondria and chloroplasts, or viruses, that similarly contain genes, the single or set of circular or linear chains of DNA (or RNA for some viruses), likewise constitute the genome. The term genome can be applied specifically to mean what is stored on a complete set of nuclear DNA (i.e., the "nuclear genome") but can also be applied to what is stored within organelles that contain their own DNA, as with the "mitochondrial genome" or the "chloroplast genome". Additionally, the genome can comprise non-chromosomal genetic elements such as viruses, plasmids, and transposable elements.


When people say that the genome of a sexually reproducing species has been "sequenced", typically they are referring to a determination of the sequences of one set of autosomes and one of each type of sex chromosome, which together represent both of the possible sexes. Even in species that exist in only one sex, what is described as a "genome sequence" may be a composite read from the chromosomes of various individuals. Colloquially, the phrase "genetic makeup" is sometimes used to signify the genome of a particular individual or organism.[citation needed] The study of the global properties of genomes of related organisms is usually referred to as genomics, which distinguishes it from genetics which generally studies the properties of single genes or groups of genes.


Both the number of base pairs and the number of genes vary widely from one species to another, and there is only a rough correlation between the two (an observation known as the C-value paradox). At present, the highest known number of genes is around 60,000, for the protozoan causing trichomoniasis (see List of sequenced eukaryotic genomes), almost three times as many as in the human genome.


In 1976, Walter Fiers at the University of Ghent (Belgium) was the first to establish the complete nucleotide sequence of a viral RNA-genome (Bacteriophage MS2). The next year Fred Sanger completed the first DNA-genome sequence: Phage Φ-X174, of 5386 base pairs. The first complete genome sequences among all three domains of life were released within a short period during the mid-1990s: The first bacterial genome to be sequenced was that of Haemophilus influenzae, completed by a team at The Institute for Genomic Research in 1995. A few months later, the first eukaryotic genome was completed, with sequences of the 16 chromosomes of budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae published as the result of a European-led effort begun in the mid-1980s. The first genome sequence for an archaeon, Methanococcus jannaschii, was completed in 1996, again by The Institute for Genomic Research.


The development of new technologies has made it dramatically easier and cheaper to do sequencing, and the number of complete genome sequences is growing rapidly. The US National Institutes of Health maintains one of several comprehensive databases of genomic information. Among the thousands of completed genome sequencing projects include those for rice, a mouse, the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, the puffer fish, and the bacteria E. coli. In December 2013, scientists first sequenced the entire genome of a Neanderthal, an extinct species of humans. The genome was extracted from the toe bone of a 130,000-year-old Neanderthal found in a Siberian cave.


New sequencing technologies, such as massive parallel sequencing have also opened up the prospect of personal genome sequencing as a diagnostic tool, as pioneered by Manteia Predictive Medicine. A major step toward that goal was the completion in 2007 of the full genome of James D. Watson, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA.


Whereas a genome sequence lists the order of every DNA base in a genome, a genome map identifies the landmarks. A genome map is less detailed than a genome sequence and aids in navigating around the genome. The Human Genome Project was organized to map and to sequence the human genome. A fundamental step in the project was the release of a detailed genomic map by Jean Weissenbach and his team at the Genoscope in Paris.


Genome composition is used to describe the make up of contents of a haploid genome, which should include genome size, proportions of non-repetitive DNA and repetitive DNA in details. By comparing the genome compositions between genomes, scientists can better understand the evolutionary history of a given genome.


When talking about genome composition, one should distinguish between prokaryotes and eukaryotes as the big differences on contents structure they have. In prokaryotes, most of the genome (85–90%) is non-repetitive DNA, which means coding DNA mainly forms it, while non-coding regions only take a small part. On the contrary, eukaryotes have the feature of exon-intron organization of protein coding genes; the variation of repetitive DNA content in eukaryotes is also extremely high. In mammals and plants, the major part of the genome is composed of repetitive DNA.


Most biological entities that are more complex than a virus sometimes or always carry additional genetic material besides that which resides in their chromosomes. In some contexts, such as sequencing the genome of a pathogenic microbe, "genome" is meant to include information stored on this auxiliary material, which is carried in plasmids. In such circumstances then, "genome" describes all of the genes and information on non-coding DNA that have the potential to be present.


In eukaryotes such as plants, protozoa and animals, however, "genome" carries the typical connotation of only information on chromosomal DNA. So although these organisms contain chloroplasts or mitochondria that have their own DNA, the genetic information contained by DNA within these organelles is not considered part of the genome. In fact, mitochondria are sometimes said to have their own genome often referred to as the "mitochondrial genome". The DNA found within the chloroplast may be referred to as the "plastome".


Genome size is the total number of DNA base pairs in one copy of a haploid genome. The genome size is positively correlated with the morphological complexity among prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes; however, after mollusks and all the other higher eukaryotes above, this correlation is no longer effective. This phenomenon also indicates the mighty influence coming from repetitive DNA act on the genomes.


Since genomes are very complex, one research strategy is to reduce the number of genes in a genome to the bare minimum and still have the organism in question survive. There is experimental work being done on minimal genomes for single cell organisms as well as minimal genomes for multi-cellular organisms (see Developmental biology). The work is both in vivo and in silico.


The proportion of non-repetitive DNA is calculated by using the length of non-repetitive DNA divided by genome size. Protein-coding genes and RNA-coding genes are generally non-repetitive DNA. A bigger genome does not mean more genes, and the proportion of non-repetitive DNA decreases along with increasing genome size in higher eukaryotes.


It had been found that the proportion of non-repetitive DNA can vary a lot between species. Some E. coli as prokaryotes only have non-repetitive DNA, lower eukaryotes such as C. elegans and fruit fly, still possess more non-repetitive DNA than repetitive DNA. Higher eukaryotes tend to have more repetitive DNA than non-repetitive ones. In some plants and amphibians, the proportion of non-repetitive DNA is no more than 20%, becoming a minority component.


The proportion of repetitive DNA is calculated by using length of repetitive DNA divide by genome size. There are two categories of repetitive DNA in genome: tandem repeats and interspersed repeats.


Tandem repeats are usually caused by slippage during replication, unequal crossing-over and gene conversion, satellite DNA and microsatellites are forms of tandem repeats in the genome. Although tandem repeats count for a significant proportion in genome, the largest proportion in mammalian is the other type, interspersed repeats.


Interspersed repeats mainly come from transposable elements (TEs), but they also include some protein coding gene families and pseudogenes. Transposable elements are able to integrate into the genome at another site within the cell. It is believed that TEs are an important driving force on genome evolution of higher eukaryotes. TEs can be classified into two categories, Class 1 (retrotransposons) and Class 2 (DNA transposons).


Retrotransposons can be transcribed into RNA, which are then duplicated at another site into the genome. Retrotransposons can be divided into Long terminal repeats (LTRs) and Non-Long Terminal Repeats (Non-LTR).


DNA transposons generally move by "cut and paste" in the genome, but duplication has also been observed. Class 2 TEs do not use RNA as intermediate and are popular in bacteria, in metazoan it has also been found.


Genomes are more than the sum of an organism's genes and have traits that may be measured and studied without reference to the details of any particular genes and their products. Researchers compare traits such as chromosome number (karyotype), genome size, gene order, codon usage bias, and GC-content to determine what mechanisms could have produced the great variety of genomes that exist today (for recent overviews, see Brown 2002; Saccone and Pesole 2003; Benfey and Protopapas 2004; Gibson and Muse 2004; Reese 2004; Gregory 2005).


Duplications play a major role in shaping the genome. Duplication may range from extension of short tandem repeats, to duplication of a cluster of genes, and all the way to duplication of entire chromosomes or even entire genomes. Such duplications are probably fundamental to the creation of genetic novelty.


Horizontal gene transfer is invoked to explain how there is often extreme similarity between small portions of the genomes of two organisms that are otherwise very distantly related. Horizontal gene transfer seems to be common among many microbes. Also, eukaryotic cells seem to have experienced a transfer of some genetic material from their chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes to their nuclear chromosomes.


A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. About 90% of British secondary school pupils now attend comprehensive schools. They correspond broadly to the public high school in the United States and Canada and to the German Gesamtschule.[citation needed]


Comprehensive schools are primarily about providing an entitlement curriculum to all children, without selection whether due to financial considerations or attainment. A consequence of that is a wider ranging curriculum, including practical subjects such as design and technology and vocational learning, which were less common or non-existent in grammar schools. Providing post-16 education cost-effectively becomes more challenging for smaller comprehensive schools, because of the number of courses needed to cover a broader curriculum with comparatively fewer students. This is why schools have tended to get larger and also why many local authorities have organised secondary education into 11–16 schools, with the post-16 provision provided by Sixth Form colleges and Further Education Colleges. Comprehensive schools do not select their intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, but there are demographic reasons why the attainment profiles of different schools vary considerably. In addition, government initiatives such as the City Technology Colleges and Specialist schools programmes have made the comprehensive ideal less certain.


In these schools children could be selected on the basis of curriculum aptitude related to the school's specialism even though the schools do take quotas from each quartile of the attainment range to ensure they were not selective by attainment. A problem with this is whether the quotas should be taken from a normal distribution or from the specific distribution of attainment in the immediate catchment area. In the selective school system, which survives in several parts of the United Kingdom, admission is dependent on selection criteria, most commonly a cognitive test or tests. Although comprehensive schools were introduced to England and Wales in 1965, there are 164 selective grammar schools that are still in operation.[citation needed] (though this is a small number compared to approximately 3500 state secondary schools in England). Most comprehensives are secondary schools for children between the ages of 11 to 16, but in a few areas there are comprehensive middle schools, and in some places the secondary level is divided into two, for students aged 11 to 14 and those aged 14 to 18, roughly corresponding to the US middle school (or junior high school) and high school, respectively. With the advent of key stages in the National Curriculum some local authorities reverted from the Middle School system to 11–16 and 11–18 schools so that the transition between schools corresponds to the end of one key stage and the start of another.


In principle, comprehensive schools were conceived as "neighbourhood" schools for all students in a specified catchment area. Current education reforms with Academies Programme, Free Schools and University Technical Colleges will no doubt have some impact on the comprehensive ideal but it is too early to say to what degree.


Finland has used comprehensive schools since the 1970s, in the sense that everyone is expected to complete the nine grades of peruskoulu, from the age 7 to 16. The division to lower comprehensive school (grades 1–6, ala-aste, alakoulu) and upper comprehensive school (grades 7–9, yläaste, yläkoulu) has been discontinued.


Germany has a comprehensive school known as the Gesamtschule. While some German schools such as the Gymnasium and the Realschule have rather strict entrance requirements, the Gesamtschule does not have such requirements. They offer college preparatory classes for the students who are doing well, general education classes for average students, and remedial courses for those who aren't doing that well. In most cases students attending a Gesamtschule may graduate with the Hauptschulabschluss, the Realschulabschluss or the Abitur depending on how well they did in school.


The percentage of students attending a Gesamtschule varies by Bundesland. In the State of Brandenburg more than 50% of all students attended a Gesamtschule in 2007, while in the State of Bavaria less than 1% did.


Starting in 2010/2011, Hauptschulen were merged with Realschulen and Gesamtschulen to form a new type of comprehensive school in the German States of Berlin and Hamburg, called Stadtteilschule in Hamburg and Sekundarschule in Berlin (see: Education in Berlin, Education in Hamburg).


The "Mittelschule" is a school in some States of Germany that offers regular classes and remedial classes but no college preparatory classes. In some States of Germany, the Hauptschule does not exist, and any student who has not been accepted by another school has to attend the Mittelschule. Students may be awarded the Hauptschulabschluss or the Mittlere Reife but not the Abitur.


Comprehensive schools have been accused of grade inflation after a study revealed that Gymnasium senior students of average mathematical ability found themselves at the very bottom of their class and had an average grade of "Five", which means "Failed". Gesamtschule senior students of average mathematical ability found themselves in the upper half of their class and had an average grade of "Three Plus". When a central Abitur examination was established in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was revealed that Gesamtschule students did worse than could be predicted by their grades or class rank. Barbara Sommer (Christian Democratic Union), Education Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, commented that: Looking at the performance gap between comprehensives and the Gymnasium [at the Abitur central examination] [...] it is difficult to understand why the Social Democratic Party of Germany wants to do away with the Gymnasium. [...] The comprehensives do not help students achieve [...] I am sick and tired of the comprehensive schools blaming their problems on the social class origins of their students. What kind of attitude is this to blame their own students? She also called the Abitur awarded by the Gymnasium the true Abitur and the Abitur awarded by the Gesamtschule "Abitur light". As a reaction, Sigrid Beer (Alliance '90/The Greens) stated that comprehensives were structurally discriminated against by the government, which favoured the Gymnasiums. She also said that many of the students awarded the Abitur by the comprehensives came from "underprivileged groups" and sneering at their performance was a "piece of impudence".


Gesamtschulen might put bright working class students at risk according to several studies. It could be shown that an achievement gap opens between working class students attending a comprehensive and their middle class peers. Also working class students attending a Gymnasium or a Realschule outperform students from similar backgrounds attending a comprehensive. However it is not students attending a comprehensive, but students attending a Hauptschule, who perform the poorest.


According to a study done by Helmut Fend (who had always been a fierce proponent of comprehensive schools) revealed that comprehensive schools do not help working class students. He compared alumni of the tripartite system to alumni of comprehensive schools. While working class alumni of comprehensive schools were awarded better school diplomas at age 35, they held similar occupational positions as working class alumni of the tripartite system and were as unlikely to graduate from college.


Gibraltar opened its first comprehensive school in 1972. Between the ages of 12 and 16 two comprehensive schools cater for girls and boys separately. Students may also continue into the sixth form to complete their A-levels.


Comprehensive schools were introduced into Ireland in 1966 by an initiative by Patrick Hillery, Minister for Education, to give a broader range of education compared to that of the vocational school system, which was then the only system of schools completely controlled by the state. Until then, education in Ireland was largely dominated by religious persuasion, particularly the voluntary secondary school system was a particular realisation of this. The comprehensive school system is still relatively small and to an extent has been superseded by the community school concept. The Irish word for a comprehensive school is a 'scoil chuimsitheach.'


In Ireland comprehensive schools were an earlier model of state schools, introduced in the late 1960s and largely replaced by the secular community model of the 1970s. The comprehensive model generally incorporated older schools that were under Roman Catholic or Protestant ownership, and the various denominations still manage the school as patrons or trustees. The state owns the school property, which is vested in the trustees in perpetuity. The model was adopted to make state schools more acceptable to a largely conservative society of the time.


The introduction of the community school model in the 1970s controversially removed the denominational basis of the schools, but religious interests were invited to be represented on the Boards of Management. Community schools are divided into two models, the community school vested in the Minister for Education and the community college vested in the local Education and Training Board. Community colleges tended to be amalgamations of unviable local schools under the umbrella of a new community school model, but community schools have tended to be entirely new foundations.


The first comprehensives were set up after the Second World War. In 1946, for example, Walworth School was one of five 'experimental' comprehensive schools set up by the London County Council Another early comprehensive school was Holyhead County School in Anglesey in 1949. Other early examples of comprehensive schools included Woodlands Boys School in Coventry (opened in 1954) and Tividale Comprehensive School in Tipton.


The largest expansion of comprehensive schools in 1965 resulted from a policy decision taken in 1965 by Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for Education in the 1964–1970 Labour government. The policy decision was implemented by Circular 10/65, an instruction to local education authorities to plan for conversion. Students sat the 11+ examination in their last year of primary education and were sent to one of a secondary modern, secondary technical or grammar school depending on their perceived ability. Secondary technical schools were never widely implemented and for 20 years there was a virtual bipartite system which saw fierce competition for the available grammar school places, which varied between 15% and 25% of total secondary places, depending on location.[citation needed]


In 1970 Margaret Thatcher became Secretary of State for Education of the new Conservative government. She ended the compulsion on local authorities to convert, however, many local authorities were so far down the path that it would have been prohibitively expensive to attempt to reverse the process, and more comprehensive schools were established under Mrs Thatcher than any other education secretary.


By 1975 the majority of local authorities in England and Wales had abandoned the 11-plus examination and moved to a comprehensive system. Over that 10-year period many secondary modern schools and grammar schools were amalgamated to form large neighbourhood comprehensives, whilst a number of new schools were built to accommodate a growing school population. By the mid-1970s the system had been almost fully implemented, with virtually no secondary modern schools remaining. Many grammar schools were either closed or changed to comprehensive status. Some local authorities, including Sandwell and Dudley in the West Midlands, changed all of its state secondary schools to comprehensive schools during the 1970s.


In 1976 the future Labour prime minister James Callaghan launched what became known as the 'great debate' on the education system. He went on to list the areas he felt needed closest scrutiny: the case for a core curriculum, the validity and use of informal teaching methods, the role of school inspection and the future of the examination system. Comprehensive school remains the most common type of state secondary school in England, and the only type in Wales. They account for around 90% of pupils, or 64% if one does not count schools with low-level selection. This figure varies by region.


Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, parents have a right to choose which school their child should go to or whether to not send them to school at all and to home educate them instead. The concept of "school choice" introduces the idea of competition between state schools, a fundamental change to the original "neighbourhood comprehensive" model, and is partly intended as a means by which schools that are perceived to be inferior are forced either to improve or, if hardly anyone wants to go there, to close down. Government policy is currently promoting 'specialisation' whereby parents choose a secondary school appropriate for their child's interests and skills. Most initiatives focus on parental choice and information, implementing a pseudo-market incentive to encourage better schools. This logic has underpinned the controversial league tables of school performance.


Scotland has a very different educational system from England and Wales, though also based on comprehensive education. It has different ages of transfer, different examinations and a different philosophy of choice and provision. All publicly funded primary and secondary schools are comprehensive. The Scottish Government has rejected plans for specialist schools as of 2005.


Education in Northern Ireland differs slightly from systems used elsewhere in the United Kingdom, but it is more similar to that used in England and Wales than it is to Scotland.


The Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo), also known as Congo, Congo Republic, West Congo[citation needed], or Congo-Brazzaville, is a country located in Central Africa. It is bordered by five countries: Gabon to the west; Cameroon to the northwest; the Central African Republic to the northeast; the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the east and south; and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda to the southwest.


The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. Congo-Brazzaville was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. Upon independence in 1960, the former colony of French Congo became the Republic of the Congo. The People's Republic of the Congo was a Marxist–Leninist one-party state from 1970 to 1991. Multi-party elections have been held since 1992, although a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War and President Denis Sassou Nguesso has ruled for 26 of the past 36 years.


The political stability and development of hydrocarbon production made Republic of Congo the fourth largest oil producer in the Gulf of Guinea and provided the country with a relative prosperity despite the poor state of its infrastructure and public services and an unequal distribution of oil revenues.


Bantu-speaking peoples who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions largely displaced and absorbed the earliest inhabitants of the region, the Pygmy people, about 1500 BC. The Bakongo, a Bantu ethnic group that also occupied parts of present-day Angola, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries. Several Bantu kingdoms—notably those of the Kongo, the Loango, and the Teke—built trade links leading into the Congo River basin.


The Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships quickly grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded various commodities, manufactured goods, and people captured from the hinterlands. After centuries as a major hub for transatlantic trade, direct European colonization of the Congo river delta began in the late 19th century, subsequently eroding the power of the Bantu societies in the region.


The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazza's treaty with Makoko of the Bateke. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903. In 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (the modern Central African Republic). The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural-resource extraction. The methods were often brutal: construction of the Congo–Ocean Railroad following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives.


During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of major reform in French colonial policy. Congo benefited from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville. It also received a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic.


Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, the AEF dissolved into its constituent parts, each of which became an autonomous colony within the French Community. During these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959. Antagonism between the pro-Opangault Mbochis and the pro-Youlou Balalis resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, which the French Army subdued.


The Republic of the Congo received full independence from France on August 15, 1960. Fulbert Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labour elements and rival political parties instigated a three-day uprising that ousted him. The Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat.


Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat was elected President for a five-year term. During Massamba-Débat's term in office the regime adopted "scientific socialism" as the country's constitutional ideology. In 1965, Congo established relations with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Korea and North Vietnam. Massamba-Débat's regime also invited several hundred Cuban army troops into the country to train his party's militia units and these troops helped his government survive a coup in 1966 led by paratroopers loyal to future President Marien Ngouabi. Nevertheless, Massamba-Débat was unable to reconcile various institutional, tribal and ideological factions within the country and his regime ended abruptly with a bloodless coup d'état in September 1968.


Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed the presidency on December 31, 1968. One year later, President Ngouabi proclaimed Congo Africa's first "people's republic", the People's Republic of the Congo, and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). Ngouabi survived an attempted coup in 1972 but was assassinated on March 16, 1977. An 11-member Military Committee of the Party (CMP) was then named to head an interim government with Joachim Yhombi-Opango to serve as President of the Republic. Two years later, Yhombi-Opango was forced from power and Denis Sassou Nguesso become the new president.


Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a twenty-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship.


Pascal Lissouba, who became Congo's first elected president (1992–1997) during the period of multi-party democracy, attempted to implement economic reforms with IMF backing to liberalise the economy. In June 1996 the IMF approved a three-year SDR69.5m (US$100m) enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) and was on the verge of announcing a renewed annual agreement when civil war broke out in Congo in mid-1997.


Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997 when Lissouba and Sassou started to fight for power in the civil war. As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted. On June 5, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. In early October, the Angolan socialist régime began an invasion of Congo to install Sassou in power. In mid-October, the Lissouba government fell. Soon thereafter, Sassou declared himself president.


In the controversial elections in 2002, Sassou won with almost 90% of the vote cast. His two main rivals, Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas, were prevented from competing and the only remaining credible rival, Andre Milongo, advised his supporters to boycott the elections and then withdrew from the race. A new constitution, agreed upon by referendum in January 2002, granted the president new powers, extended his term to seven years, and introduced a new bicameral assembly. International observers took issue with the organization of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum, both of which were reminiscent in their organization of Congo's era of the one-party state. Following the presidential elections, fighting restarted in the Pool region between government forces and rebels led by Pastor Ntumi; a peace treaty to end the conflict was signed in April 2003.


Sassou also won the following presidential election in July 2009. According to the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, the election was marked by "very low" turnout and "fraud and irregularities".


Congo-Brazzaville has had a multi-party political system since the early 1990s, although the system is heavily dominated by President Denis Sassou Nguesso; he has lacked serious competition in the presidential elections held under his rule. Sassou Nguesso is backed by his own Congolese Labour Party (French: Parti Congolais du Travail) as well as a range of smaller parties.


Internationally, Sassou's regime has been hit by corruption revelations despite attempts to censor them. One French investigation found over 110 bank accounts and dozens of lavish properties in France; Sassou denounced embezzlement investigations as "racist" and "colonial".


On March 27, 2015 Sassou Nguesso announced that his government would hold a referendum to change the country's 2002 constitution and allow him to run for a third consecutive term in office. On October 25 the government held a referendum to allow Sassou Nguesso to run in the next election. The government claimed that the proposal as approved by 92 percent of voters with 72 percent of eligible voters participating. The opposition, who had boycotted the referendum claimed that the government's statistics were false and that the vote was a sham.


In 2008, the main media were owned by the government, but many more privately run forms of media were being created. There is one government-owned television station and around 10 small private television channels.


Many Pygmies belong from birth to Bantus in a relationship many refer to as slavery. The Congolese Human Rights Observatory says that the Pygmies are treated as property the same way "pets" are. On December 30, 2010, the Congolese parliament adopted a law for the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. This law is the first of its kind in Africa, and its adoption is a historic development for indigenous peoples on the continent.


Congo is located in the central-western part of sub-Saharan Africa, along the Equator, lying between latitudes 4°N and 5°S, and longitudes 11° and 19°E. To the south and east of it is the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is also bounded by Gabon to the west, Cameroon and the Central African Republic to the north, and Cabinda (Angola) to the southwest. It has a short coast on the Atlantic Ocean.


The capital, Brazzaville, is located on the Congo River, in the south of the country, immediately across from Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.


The southwest of the country is a coastal plain for which the primary drainage is the Kouilou-Niari River; the interior of the country consists of a central plateau between two basins to the south and north. Forests are under increasing exploitation pressure.


Since the country is located on the Equator, the climate is consistent year-round, with the average day temperature being a humid 24 °C (75 °F) and nights generally between 16 °C (61 °F) and 21 °C (70 °F). The average yearly rainfall ranges from 1,100 millimetres (43 in) in south in the Niari Valley to over 2,000 millimetres (79 in) in central parts of the country. The dry season is from June to August while in the majority of the country the wet season has two rainfall maxima: one in March–May and another in September–November.


In 2006–07, researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society studied gorillas in heavily forested regions centered on the Ouesso district of the Sangha Region. They suggest a population on the order of 125,000 Western Lowland Gorillas, whose isolation from humans has been largely preserved by inhospitable swamps.


The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based largely on petroleum, support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy. In 2008, oil sector accounted for 65% of the GDP, 85% of government revenue, and 92% of exports. The country also has large untapped mineral wealth.


In the early 1980s, rapidly rising oil revenues enabled the government to finance large-scale development projects with GDP growth averaging 5% annually, one of the highest rates in Africa. The government has mortgaged a substantial portion of its petroleum earnings, contributing to a shortage of revenues. January 12, 1994 devaluation of Franc Zone currencies by 50% resulted in inflation of 46% in 1994, but inflation has subsided since.


Economic reform efforts continued with the support of international organizations, notably the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The reform program came to a halt in June 1997 when civil war erupted. When Sassou Nguesso returned to power at the end of the war in October 1997, he publicly expressed interest in moving forward on economic reforms and privatization and in renewing cooperation with international financial institutions. However, economic progress was badly hurt by slumping oil prices and the resumption of armed conflict in December 1998, which worsened the republic's budget deficit.


The current administration presides over an uneasy internal peace and faces difficult economic problems of stimulating recovery and reducing poverty, despite record-high oil prices since 2003. Natural gas and diamonds are also recent major Congolese exports, although Congo was excluded from the Kimberley Process in 2004 amid allegations that most of its diamond exports were in fact being smuggled out of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo; it was re-admitted to the group in 2007.


The Republic of the Congo also has large untapped base metal, gold, iron and phosphate deposits. The country is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA). The Congolese government signed an agreement in 2009 to lease 200,000 hectares of land to South African farmers to reduce its dependence on imports.


Transport in the Republic of the Congo includes land, air and water transportation. The country's rail system was built by forced laborers during the 1930s and largely remains in operation. There are also over 1000 km of paved roads and two major international airports (Maya-Maya Airport and Pointe Noire Airport) which have flights to Paris and many African cities. The country also has a large port on the Atlantic Ocean at Pointe-Noire and others along the Congo River at Brazzaville and Impfondo.


The Republic of the Congo's sparse population is concentrated in the southwestern portion of the country, leaving the vast areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. Thus, Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa, with 70% of its total population living in a few urban areas, namely in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire or one of the small cities or villages lining the 534-kilometre (332 mi) railway which connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial activity has declined rapidly in recent years, leaving rural economies dependent on the government for support and subsistence.


Ethnically and linguistically the population of the Republic of the Congo is diverse—Ethnologue recognises 62 spoken languages in the country—but can be grouped into three categories. The Kongo are the largest ethnic group and form roughly half of the population. The most significant subgroups of the Kongo are Laari in Brazzaville and Pool regions and Vili around Pointe-Noire and along the Atlantic coast. The second largest group are the Teke who live to the north of Brazzaville with 17% of the population. Boulangui (M’Boshi) live in the northwest and in Brazzaville and form 12% of the population. Pygmies make up 2% of Congo's population.


Before the 1997 war, about 9,000 Europeans and other non-Africans lived in Congo, most of whom were French; only a fraction of this number remains. Around 300 American expatriates reside in the Congo.


According to CIA World Factbook, the people of Republic of the Congo are largely a mix of Catholics (33.1%), Awakening Lutherans (22.3%) and other Protestants (19.9%). Followers of Islam make up 1.6%, and this is primarily due to an influx of foreign workers into the urban centers.


Public expenditure health was at 8.9% of the GDP in 2004, whereas private expenditure was at 1.3%. As of 2012, the HIV/AIDS prevalence was at 2.8% among 15- to 49-year-olds. Health expenditure was at US$30 per capita in 2004. A large proportion of the population is undernourished, with malnutrition being a problem in Congo-Brazzaville. There were 20 physicians per 100,000 persons in the early 2000s (decade).


As of 2010, the maternal mortality rate was 560 deaths/100,000 live births, and the infant mortality rate was 59.34 deaths/1,000 live births. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is rare in the country, being confined to limited geographic areas of the country.


Public expenditure of the GDP was less in 2002–05 than in 1991. Public education is theoretically free and mandatory for under-16-year-olds, but in practice, expenses exist. Net primary enrollment rate was 44% in 2005, much less than the 79% in 1991. The country has universities. Education between ages six and sixteen is compulsory. Pupils who complete six years of primary school and seven years of secondary school obtain a baccalaureate. At the university, students can obtain a bachelor's degree in three years and a master's after four. Marien Ngouabi University—which offers courses in medicine, law and several other fields—is the country's only public university. Instruction at all levels is in French, and the educational system as a whole models the French system. The educational infrastructure has been seriously degraded as a result of political and economic crises. There are no seats in most classrooms, forcing children to sit on the floor. Enterprising individuals have set up private schools, but they often lack the technical knowledge and familiarity with the national curriculum to teach effectively. Families frequently enroll their children in private schools only to find they cannot make the payments.


A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.


In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or the head of state's official representative (i.e. the monarch, president, or governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers.


The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of parliament[clarification needed] and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise executive powers (known as the royal prerogative) that are constitutionally vested in the crown and may be exercised without the approval of parliament.


As well as being head of government, a prime minister may have other roles or titles—the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, for example, is also First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service. Prime ministers may take other ministerial posts—for example, during the Second World War, Winston Churchill was also Minister of Defence (although there was then no Ministry of Defence), and in the current cabinet of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu also serves as Minister of Communications, Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation, Economy and Interior


The first actual usage of the term prime minister or Premier Ministre[citation needed] was used by Cardinal Richelieu when in 1625 he was named to head the royal council as prime minister of France. Louis XIV and his descendants generally attempted to avoid giving this title to their chief ministers.


The term prime minister in the sense that we know it originated in the 18th century in the United Kingdom when members of parliament disparagingly used the title in reference to Sir Robert Walpole. Over time, the title became honorific and remains so in the 21st century.


The monarchs of England and the United Kingdom had ministers in whom they placed special trust and who were regarded as the head of the government. Examples were Thomas Cromwell under Henry VIII; William Cecil, Lord Burghley under Elizabeth I; Clarendon under Charles II and Godolphin under Queen Anne. These ministers held a variety of formal posts, but were commonly known as "the minister", the "chief minister", the "first minister" and finally the "prime minister".


The power of these ministers depended entirely on the personal favour of the monarch. Although managing the parliament was among the necessary skills of holding high office, they did not depend on a parliamentary majority for their power. Although there was a cabinet, it was appointed entirely by the monarch, and the monarch usually presided over its meetings.


When the monarch grew tired of a first minister, he or she could be dismissed, or worse: Cromwell was executed and Clarendon driven into exile when they lost favour. Kings sometimes divided power equally between two or more ministers to prevent one minister from becoming too powerful. Late in Anne's reign, for example, the Tory ministers Harley and St John shared power.


In the mid 17th century, after the English Civil War (1642–1651), Parliament strengthened its position relative to the monarch then gained more power through the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and passage of the Bill of Rights in 1689. The monarch could no longer establish any law or impose any tax without its permission and thus the House of Commons became a part of the government. It is at this point that a modern style of prime minister begins to emerge.


A tipping point in the evolution of the prime ministership came with the death of Anne in 1714 and the accession of George I to the throne. George spoke no English, spent much of his time at his home in Hanover, and had neither knowledge of, nor interest in, the details of English government. In these circumstances it was inevitable that the king's first minister would become the de facto head of the government.


From 1721 this was the Whig politician Robert Walpole, who held office for twenty-one years. Walpole chaired cabinet meetings, appointed all the other ministers, dispensed the royal patronage and packed the House of Commons with his supporters. Under Walpole, the doctrine of cabinet solidarity developed. Walpole required that no minister other than himself have private dealings with the king, and also that when the cabinet had agreed on a policy, all ministers must defend it in public, or resign. As a later prime minister, Lord Melbourne, said, "It matters not what we say, gentlemen, so long as we all say the same thing."


Walpole always denied that he was "prime minister", and throughout the 18th century parliamentarians and legal scholars continued to deny that any such position was known to the Constitution. George II and George III made strenuous efforts to reclaim the personal power of the monarch, but the increasing complexity and expense of government meant that a minister who could command the loyalty of the Commons was increasingly necessary. The long tenure of the wartime prime minister William Pitt the Younger (1783–1801), combined with the mental illness of George III, consolidated the power of the post. The title was first referred to on government documents during the administration of Benjamin Disraeli but did not appear in the formal British Order of precedence until 1905.


By the late 20th century, the majority of the world's countries had a prime minister or equivalent minister, holding office under either a constitutional monarchy or a ceremonial president. The main exceptions to this system have been the United States and the presidential republics in Latin America modelled on the U.S. system, in which the president directly exercises executive authority.


Bahrain's prime minister, Sheikh Khalifah bin Sulman Al Khalifah has been in the post since 1970, making him the longest serving non-elected prime minister.


The post of prime minister may be encountered both in constitutional monarchies (such as Belgium, Denmark, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Malaysia, Morocco, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom), and in parliamentary republics in which the head of state is an elected official (such as Finland ,the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Pakistan, Portugal, Montenegro, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey). See also "First Minister", "Premier", "Chief Minister", "Chancellor", "Taoiseach", "Statsminister" and "Secretary of State": alternative titles usually equivalent in meaning to, or translated as, "prime minister".


This contrasts with the presidential system, in which the president (or equivalent) is both the head of state and the head of the government. In some presidential or semi-presidential systems, such as those of France, Russia or South Korea, the prime minister is an official generally appointed by the president but usually approved by the legislature and responsible for carrying out the directives of the president and managing the civil service. The head of government of the People's Republic of China is referred to as the Premier of the State Council and the premier of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is also appointed by the president, but requires no approval by the legislature.


Appointment of the prime minister of France requires no approval by the parliament either, but the parliament may force the resignation of the government. In these systems, it is possible for the president and the prime minister to be from different political parties if the legislature is controlled by a party different from that of the president. When it arises, such a state of affairs is usually referred to as (political) cohabitation.


Bangladesh's constitution clearly outlines the functions and powers of the Prime Minister, and also details the process of his/her appointment and dismissal.


The People's Republic of China constitution set a premier just one place below the National People's Congress in China. Premier read as (Simplified Chinese: 总理; pinyin: Zŏnglĭ) in Chinese.


Canada's constitution, being a 'mixed' or hybrid constitution (a constitution that is partly formally codified and partly uncodified) originally did not make any reference whatsoever to a prime minister, with her or his specific duties and method of appointment instead dictated by "convention". In the Constitution Act, 1982, passing reference to a "Prime Minister of Canada" is added, though only regarding the composition of conferences of federal and provincial first ministers.


Czech Republic's constitution clearly outlines the functions and powers of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, and also details the process of his/her appointment and dismissal.


The United Kingdom's constitution, being uncodified and largely unwritten, makes no mention of a prime minister. Though it had de facto existed for centuries, its first mention in official state documents did not occur until the first decade of the twentieth century. Accordingly, it is often said "not to exist", indeed there are several instances of parliament declaring this to be the case. The prime minister sits in the cabinet solely by virtue of occupying another office, either First Lord of the Treasury (office in commission), or more rarely Chancellor of the Exchequer (the last of whom was Balfour in 1905).


Most prime ministers in parliamentary systems are not appointed for a specific term in office and in effect may remain in power through a number of elections and parliaments. For example, Margaret Thatcher was only ever appointed prime minister on one occasion, in 1979. She remained continuously in power until 1990, though she used the assembly of each House of Commons after a general election to reshuffle her cabinet.


Some states, however, do have a term of office of the prime minister linked to the period in office of the parliament. Hence the Irish Taoiseach is formally 'renominated' after every general election. (Some constitutional experts have questioned whether this process is actually in keeping with the provisions of the Irish constitution, which appear to suggest that a taoiseach should remain in office, without the requirement of a renomination, unless s/he has clearly lost the general election.) The position of prime minister is normally chosen from the political party that commands majority of seats in the lower house of parliament.


In parliamentary systems, governments are generally required to have the confidence of the lower house of parliament (though a small minority of parliaments, by giving a right to block supply to upper houses, in effect make the cabinet responsible to both houses, though in reality upper houses, even when they have the power, rarely exercise it). Where they lose a vote of confidence, have a motion of no confidence passed against them, or where they lose supply, most constitutional systems require either:


The latter in effect allows the government to appeal the opposition of parliament to the electorate. However, in many jurisdictions a head of state may refuse a parliamentary dissolution, requiring the resignation of the prime minister and his or her government. In most modern parliamentary systems, the prime minister is the person who decides when to request a parliamentary dissolution.


Older constitutions often vest this power in the cabinet. In the United Kingdom, for example, the tradition whereby it is the prime minister who requests a dissolution of parliament dates back to 1918. Prior to then, it was the entire government that made the request. Similarly, though the modern 1937 Irish constitution grants to the Taoiseach the right to make the request, the earlier 1922 Irish Free State Constitution vested the power in the Executive Council (the then name for the Irish cabinet).


In Australia, the Prime Minister is expected to step down if s/he loses the majority support of his/her party under a spill motion as have many such as Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.


In the Russian constitution the prime minister is actually titled Chairman of the government while the Irish prime minister is called the Taoiseach (which is rendered into English as prime minister), and in Israel he is Rosh HaMemshalah meaning "head of the government". In many cases, though commonly used, "prime minister" is not the official title of the office-holder; the Spanish prime minister is the President of the Government (Presidente del Gobierno).


Other common forms include president of the council of ministers (for example in Italy, Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri), President of the Executive Council, or Minister-President. In the Scandinavian countries the prime minister is called statsminister in the native languages (i.e. minister of state). In federations, the head of government of subnational entities such as provinces is most commonly known as the premier, chief minister, governor or minister-president.


The convention in the English language is to call nearly all national heads of government "prime minister" (sometimes modified to the equivalent term of premier), regardless of the correct title of the head of government as applied in his or her respective country. The few exceptions to the rule are Germany and Austria, whose heads of government titles are almost always translated as Chancellor; Monaco, whose head of government is referred to as the Minister of State; and Vatican City, for which the head of government is titled the Secretary of State. In the case of Ireland, the head of government is occasionally referred to as the Taoiseach by English speakers. A stand-out case is the President of Iran, who is not actually a head of state, but the head of the government of Iran. He is referred to as "president" in both the Persian and English languages.


In non-Commonwealth countries the prime minister may be entitled to the style of Excellency like a president. In some Commonwealth countries prime ministers and former prime ministers are styled Right Honourable due to their position, for example in the Prime Minister of Canada. In the United Kingdom the prime minister and former prime ministers may appear to also be styled Right Honourable, however this is not due to their position as head of government but as a privilege of being current members of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.


In the UK, where devolved government is in place, the leaders of the Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh Governments are styled First Minister. In India, The Prime Minister is referred to as "Pradhan Mantri", meaning "prime minister". In Pakistan, the prime minister is referred to as "Wazir-e-Azam", meaning "Grand Vizier".


The Prime Minister's executive office is usually called the Office of the Prime Minister in the case of the Canada and other Commonwealth countries, it is called Cabinet Office in United Kingdom. Some Prime Minister's office do include the role of Cabinet. In other countries, it is called the Prime Minister's Department or the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet as for Australia.


Institute of technology (also: university of technology, polytechnic university, technikon, and technical college) is a designation employed for a wide range of learning institutions awarding different types of degrees and operating often at variable levels of the educational system. It may be an institution of higher education and advanced engineering and scientific research or professional vocational education, specializing in science, engineering, and technology or different sorts of technical subjects. It may also refer to a secondary education school focused in vocational training.[citation needed] The term institute of technology is often abbreviated IT and is not to be confused with information technology.


The English term polytechnic appeared in the early 19th century, from the French École Polytechnique, an engineering school founded in 1794 in Paris. The French term comes from the Greek πολύ (polú or polý) meaning "many" and τεχνικός (tekhnikós) meaning "arts".


While the terms "institute of technology" and "polytechnic" are synonymous, the preference concerning which one is the preferred term varies from country to country.[citation needed]


The institutes of technology and polytechnics have been in existence since at least the 18th century, but became popular after World War II with the expansion of engineering and applied science education, associated with the new needs created by industrialization. The world's first institution of technology, the Berg-Schola (today its legal successor is the University of Miskolc) was founded by the Court Chamber of Vienna in Selmecbánya, Kingdom of Hungary in 1735 in order to train specialists of precious metal and copper mining according to the requirements of the industrial revolution in Hungary. The oldest German Institute of Technology is the Braunschweig University of Technology (founded in 1745 as "Collegium Carolinum"). Another exception is the École Polytechnique, which has educated French élites since its foundation in 1794. In some cases, polytechnics or institutes of technology are engineering schools or technical colleges.


In several countries, like Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Turkey, institutes of technology and polytechnics are institutions of higher education, and have been accredited to award academic degrees and doctorates. Famous examples are the Istanbul Technical University, ETH Zurich, İYTE, Delft University of Technology and RWTH Aachen, all considered universities.[citation needed]


In countries like Iran, Finland, Malaysia, Portugal, Singapore or the United Kingdom, there is often a significant and confused distinction between polytechnics and universities. In the UK a binary system of higher education emerged consisting of universities (research orientation) and Polytechnics (engineering and applied science and professional practice orientation). Polytechnics offered university equivalent degrees from bachelor's, master's and PhD that were validated and governed at the national level by the independent UK Council for National Academic Awards. In 1992 UK Polytechnics were designated as universities which meant they could award their own degrees. The CNAA was disbanded. The UK's first polytechnic, the Royal Polytechnic Institution (now the University of Westminster) was founded in 1838 in Regent Street, London. In Ireland the term institute of technology is the more favored synonym of a regional technical college though the latter is the legally correct term; however, Dublin Institute of Technology is a university in all but name as it can confer degrees in accordance with law, Cork Institute of Technology and another of other Institutes of Technology have delegated authority from HETAC to make awards to and including master's degree level—Level 9 of the National Framework for Qualifications (NFQ)—for all areas of study and Doctorate level in a number of others.


In a number of countries, although being today generally considered similar institutions of higher learning across many countries, polytechnics and institutes of technology used to have a quite different statute among each other, its teaching competences and organizational history. In many cases polytechnic were elite technological universities concentrating on applied science and engineering and may also be a former designation for a vocational institution, before it has been granted the exclusive right to award academic degrees and can be truly called an institute of technology. A number of polytechnics providing higher education is simply a result of a formal upgrading from their original and historical role as intermediate technical education schools. In some situations, former polytechnics or other non-university institutions have emerged solely through an administrative change of statutes, which often included a name change with the introduction of new designations like institute of technology, polytechnic university, university of applied sciences, or university of technology for marketing purposes. Such emergence of so many upgraded polytechnics, former vocational education and technical schools converted into more university-like institutions has caused concern where the lack of specialized intermediate technical professionals lead to industrial skill shortages in some fields, being also associated to an increase of the graduate unemployment rate. This is mostly the case in those countries, where the education system is not controlled by the state and everybody can grant degrees.[citation needed] Evidence have also shown a decline in the general quality of teaching and graduate's preparation for the workplace, due to the fast-paced conversion of that technical institutions to more advanced higher level institutions. Mentz, Kotze and Van der Merwe (2008) argues that all the tools are in place to promote the debate on the place of technology in higher education in general and in Universities of Technology specifically. The aspects of this debate can follow the following lines: • To what degree is technology defined as a concept? • What is the scope of technology discourse? • What is the place and relation of science with technology? • How useful is the Mitcham framework in thinking about technology in South Africa? • Can a measure of cooperation as opposed to competition be achieved amongst higher education institutions? • Who ultimately is responsible for vocational training and what is the role of technology in this?


During the 1970s to early 1990s, the term was used to describe state owned and funded technical schools that offered both vocational and higher education. They were part of the College of Advanced Education system. In the 1990s most of these merged with existing universities, or formed new ones of their own. These new universities often took the title University of Technology, for marketing rather than legal purposes. AVCC report The most prominent such university in each state founded the Australian Technology Network a few years later.


Since the mid-1990s, the term has been applied to some technically minded technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. A recent example is the Melbourne Polytechnic rebranding and repositioning in 2014 from Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE. These primarily offer vocational education, although some like Melbourne Polytechnic are expanding into higher education offering vocationally oriented applied bachelor degress. This usage of the term is most prevalent historically in NSW and the ACT. The new terminology is apt given that this category of institution are becoming very much like the institutes of the 1970s–1990s period.


In Tasmania in 2009 the old college system and TAFE Tasmania have started a 3-year restructure to become the Tasmanian Polytechnic www.polytechnic.tas.edu.au, Tasmanian Skills Institute www.skillsinstitute.tas.edu.au and Tasmanian Academy www.academy.tas.edu.au


In the higher education sector, there are seven designated Universities of Technology in Australia (though, note, not all use the phrase "university of technology", such as the Universities of Canberra and South Australia, which used to be Colleges of Advanced Education before transitioning into fully-fledged universities with the ability - most important of all - to confer doctorates):


Fachhochschule is a German type of tertiary education institution and adopted later in Austria and Switzerland. They do not focus exclusively on technology, but may also offer courses in social science, medicine, business and design. They grant bachelor's degrees and master's degrees, and focus more on teaching than research and more on specific professions than on science.


Hogeschool is used in Belgium and in the Netherlands. The hogeschool has many similarities to the Fachhochschule in the German language areas and to the ammattikorkeakoulu in Finland.


Hogeschool institutions in the Flemish Community of Belgium (such as the Erasmus Hogeschool Brussel) are currently undergoing a process of academization. They form associations with a university and integrate research into the curriculum, which will allow them to deliver academic master's degrees.


In the Netherlands, four former institutes of technology have become universities over the past decades. These are the current three Technical Universities (at Delft, Eindhoven and Enschede), plus the former agricultural institute in Wageningen. A list of all hogescholen in the Netherlands, including some which might be called polytechnics, can be found here.


In Cambodia, there are Institutes of Technology/Polytechnic Institutes, and Universities that offer instruction in a variety of programs that can lead to: certificates, diplomas, and degrees. Institutes of Technology/Polytechnic Institutes and Universities tend to be independent institutions.


In Canada, there are Affiliate Schools, Colleges, Institutes of Technology/Polytechnic Institutes, and Universities that offer instruction in a variety of programs that can lead to: engineering and applied science degrees, apprenticeship and trade programs, certificates, and diplomas. Affiliate Schools are polytechnic divisions belonging to a national university and offer select technical and engineering programs. Colleges, Institutes of Technology/Polytechnic Institutes, and Universities tend to be independent institutions.


Credentials are typically conferred at the undergraduate level, however university-affiliated schools like the École de technologie supérieure and the École Polytechnique de Montréal (both of which are located in Quebec), also offer graduate and postgraduate programs, in accordance with provincial higher education guidelines. Canadian higher education institutions, at all levels, undertake directed and applied research with financing allocated through public funding, private equity, or industry sources.


Some of Canada's most esteemed colleges and polytechnic institutions also partake in collaborative institute-industry projects, leading to technology commercialization, made possible through the scope of Polytechnics Canada; a national alliance of eleven leading research-intensive colleges and institutes of technology.


China's modern higher education began in 1895 with the Imperial Tientsin University which was a polytechnic plus a law department. Liberal arts were not offered until three years later at Capital University. To this day, about half of China's elite universities remain essentially polytechnical.


In Croatia there are many polytechnic institutes and colleges that offer a polytechnic education. The law about polytechnic education in Croatia was passed in 1997.


EPN is known for research and education in the applied science, astronomy, atmospheric physics, engineering and physical sciences. The Geophysics Institute  monitors over the country`s seismic, tectonic and volcanic activity in the continental territory and in the Galápagos Islands.


One of the oldest observatories in South America is the Quito Astronomical Observatory. Founded in 1873 and located 12 minutes south of the Equator in Quito, Ecuador. The Quito Astronomical Observatory is the National Observatory of Ecuador and is located in the Historic Center of Quito and is managed by the National Polytechnic School.


The Nuclear Science Department at EPN is the only one in Ecuador and has the large infrastructure, related to irrradiation factilities like cobalt-60 source and Electron beam processing.


Its mission is to provide high quality education, training and research in the areas of science and technology to produce qualified professionals that can apply their knowledge and skills in the country's development.


MIT raises funds from non-governmental organizations and individuals who support the mission and objectives of the Institute. Tigray Development Association, its supporters, and REST have provided the initial funds for the launching of the Institute. As a result of the unstinting efforts made by the Provisional Governing Board to obtain technical and financial assistance, the Institute has so far secured financial and material support as well as pledges of sponsorship for 50 students, covering their tuition fees, room and board up to graduation. The MIT has also been able to create linkages with some universities and colleges in the United States of America, which have provided manpower and material support to MIT. The institute is governed by a provisional governing board.


Universities of Technology are categorised as universities, are allowed to grant B.Sc. (Tech.), M.Sc. (Tech.), Lic.Sc. (Tech.), Ph.D. and D.Sc.(Tech.) degrees and roughly correspond to Instituts de technologie of French-speaking areas and Technische Universität of Germany in prestige. In addition to universities of technology, some universities, e.g. University of Oulu and Åbo Akademi University, are allowed to grant the B.Sc. (tech.), M.Sc. (tech.) and D.Sc. (Tech.) degrees.


Universities of Technology are academically similar to other (non-polytechnic) universities. Prior to Bologna process, M.Sc. (Tech.) required 180 credits, whereas M.Sc. from a normal university required 160 credits. The credits between Universities of Technology and normal universities are comparable.


Polytechnic schools are distinct from academic universities in Finland. Ammattikorkeakoulu is the common term in Finland, as is the Swedish alternative "yrkeshögskola" – their focus is on studies leading to a degree (for instance insinööri, engineer; in international use, Bachelor of Engineering) in kind different from but in level comparable to an academic bachelor's degree awarded by a university. Since 2006 the polytechnics have offered studies leading to master's degrees (Master of Engineering). After January 1, 2006, some Finnish ammattikorkeakoulus switched the English term "polytechnic" to the term "university of applied sciences" in the English translations of their legal names. The ammattikorkeakoulu has many similarities to the hogeschool in Belgium and in the Netherlands and to the Fachhochschule in the German language areas.


Collegiate universities grouping several engineering schools or multi-site clusters of French grandes écoles provide sciences and technology curricula as autonomous higher education engineering institutes. They include :


In addition, France's education system includes many institutes of technology, embedded within most French universities. They are referred-to as institut universitaire de technologie (IUT). Instituts universitaires de technologie provide undergraduate technology curricula. 'Polytech institutes', embedded as a part of eleven French universities provide both undergraduate and graduate engineering curricula.


In the French-speaking part of Switzerland exists also the term haute école specialisée for a type of institution called Fachhochschule in the German-speaking part of the country. (see below).


Higher education systems, that are influenced by the French education system set at the end of the 18th century, use a terminology derived by reference to the French École polytechnique. Such terms include Écoles Polytechniques (Algeria, Belgium, Canada, France, Switzerland, Tunisia), Escola Politécnica (Brasil, Spain), Polytechnicum (Eastern Europe).


Fachhochschulen were first founded in the early 1970s. They do not focus exclusively on technology, but may also offer courses in social science, medicine, business and design. They grant bachelor's degrees and master's degrees, and focus more on teaching than research and more on specific professions than on science.


Technische Universität (abbreviation: TU) are the common terms for universities of technology or technical university. These institutions can grant habilitation and doctoral degrees and focus on research.


The nine largest and most renowned Technische Universitäten in Germany have formed TU9 German Institutes of Technology as community of interests. Technische Universitäten normally have faculties or departements of natural sciences and often of economics but can also have units of cultural and social sciences and arts. RWTH Aachen, TU Dresden and TU München also have a faculty of medicine associated with university hospitals (Klinikum Aachen, University Hospital Dresden, Rechts der Isar Hospital).


There are 17 universities of technology in Germany with about 290,000 students enrolled. The four states of Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein are not operating a Technische Universität. Saxony and Lower Saxony have the highest counts of TUs, while in Saxony three out of four universities are universities of technology.


Niedersächsische Technische Hochschule is a joint-venture of TU Clausthal, TU Braunschweig and University of Hanover. Some universities in Germany can also be seen as institutes of technology due to comprising a wide spread of technical sciences and having a history as a technical university. Examples are


In Greece, there are 2 "Polytechnics" part of the public higher education in Greece and they confer a 5-year Diplom Uni (300E.C.T.S – I.S.C.E.D. 5A), the National Technical University of Athens and the Technical University of Crete. Also, there are Greek Higher Technological Educational Institutes (Ανώτατα Τεχνολογικά Εκπαιδευτικά Ιδρύματα – Α.T.E.I). After the N.1404/1983 Higher Education Reform Act (Ν.1404/1983 - 2916/2001 - Ν. 3549/2007 - N. 3685/2008 - N. 4009/2011) the Technological Educational Institute constitute, a parallel and equivalent with universities part of the public higher education in Greece. They confer 4-year bachelor's degree (Diplom FH) (240E.C.T.S – I.S.C.E.D. 5A).


The first polytechnic in Hong Kong is The Hong Kong Polytechnic, established in 1972 through upgrading the Hong Kong Technical College (Government Trade School before 1947). The second polytechnic, the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, was founded in 1984. These polytechnics awards diplomas, higher diplomas, as well as academic degrees. Like the United Kingdom, the two polytechnics were granted university status in 1994, and renamed The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the City University of Hong Kong respectively. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a university with a focus in applied science, engineering and business, was founded in 1991.


The world's first Institute of Technology the Berg-Schola (Bergschule) established in Selmecbánya, Kingdom of Hungary by the Court Chamber of Vienna in 1735 providing Further education to train specialists of precious metal and copper mining. In 1762 the institute ranked up to be Academia providing Higher Education courses. After the Treaty of Trianon the institute had to be moved to Sopron.


There are 16 autonomous Indian Institutes of Technology in addition to 30 National Institutes of Technology which are Government Institutions. In addition to these there are many other Universities which offer higher technical courses. The Authority over technical education in India is the AICTE.


In India there are many polytechnic institutes and collages that offer a polytechnic education. In India a Diploma in Engineering is a specific academic award usually awarded in technical or vocational courses e.g. Engineering, Pharmacy, Designing, etc. These Institutions offer three year diploma in engineering post Tenth class. These institutes have affiliation from state bord of technical education of respective state governments. after which one can apply for post of junior engineer or continue higher studies by appearing for exams of AMIE to become an engineering graduate.


There are four public institutes of technology in Indonesia that owned by the government of Indonesia. Other than that, there are hundreds other institute that owned by private or other institutions.


However, in Bahasa Indonesia, Politeknik carries a rather different meaning than Institut Teknologi. Politeknik provides vocational education and typically offers three-year Diploma degrees, which is similar to associate degrees, instead of full, four-year bachelor's degree and the more advanced Master's and doctoral degrees being offered by an Institut Teknologi.


Ireland has an "Institute of Technology" system, formerly referred to as Regional Technical College (RTCs) system. The terms "IT" and "IT's" are now widely used to describe an Institute(s) of Technology. These institutions offer sub-degree, degree and post-graduate level studies. Unlike the Irish university system an Institute of Technology also offers sub-degree programmes such as 2-year Higher Certificate programme in various academic fields of study. Some institutions have "delegated authority" that allows them to make awards in their own name, after authorisation by the Higher Education & Training Awards Council.


Dublin Institute of Technology developed separately from the Regional Technical College system, and after several decades of association with the University of Dublin, Trinity College it acquired the authority to confer its own degrees.


In higher education, Politecnico refers to a technical university awarding degrees in engineering. Historically there were two Politecnici, one in each of the two largest industrial cities of the north:


In 2003, the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research and the Ministry of Economy and Finance jointly established the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (Italian Institute of Technology), headquartered in Genoa with 10 laboratories around Italy, which however focuses on research and does not offer undergraduate degrees.


In Japan, an institute of technology (工業大学, kōgyō daigaku?) is a type of university that specializes in the sciences. See also the Imperial College of Engineering, which was the forerunner of the University of Tokyo's engineering faculty.


Polytechnics in Malaysia has been operated for almost 44 years. The institutions provide courses for bachelor's degree & Bachelor of Science (BSc) (offer at Premier Polytechnics for September 2013 intake & 2014 intake), Advanced Diploma, Diploma and Special Skills Certificate. It was established by the Ministry of Education with the help of UNESCO in 1969. The amount of RM24.5 million is used to fund the pioneer of Politeknik Ungku Omar located in Ipoh, Perak from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).


At present, Malaysia have developed 32 polytechnic at all over states in engineering, agriculture, commerce, hospitality and design courses with 60,840 students in 2009 to 87,440 students in 2012.


The only technical university in Mauritius is the University of Technology, Mauritius with its main campus situated in La Tour Koenig, Pointe aux Sables. It has a specialized mission with a technology focus. It applies traditional and beyond traditional approaches to teaching, training, research and consultancy. The university has been founded with the aim to play a key role in the economic and social development of Mauritius through the development of programmes of direct relevance to the country’s needs, for example in areas like technology, sustainable development science, and public sector policy and management.


New Zealand polytechnics are established under the Education Act 1989 as amended, and are considered state-owned tertiary institutions along with universities, colleges of education, and wānanga; there is today often much crossover in courses and qualifications offered between all these types of Tertiary Education Institutions. Some have officially taken the title 'institute of technology' which is a term recognized in government strategies equal to that of the term 'polytechnic'. One has opted for the name 'Universal College of Learning' (UCOL), and another 'Unitec New Zealand'. These are legal names but not recognized terms like 'polytechnic' or 'institute of technology'. Many if not all now grant at least bachelor-level degrees.


Since the 1990s, there has been consolidation in New Zealand's state-owned tertiary education system. In the polytechnic sector: Wellington Polytechnic amalgamated with Massey University. The Central Institute of Technology explored a merger with the Waikato Institute of Technology, which was abandoned, but later, after financial concerns, controversially amalgamated with Hutt Valley Polytechnic, which in turn became Wellington Institute of Technology. Some smaller polytechnics in the North Island, such as Waiarapa Polytechnic, amalgamated with UCOL. (The only other amalgamations have been in the colleges of education.)


The Auckland University of Technology is the only polytechnic to have been elevated to university status; while Unitec has had repeated attempts blocked by government policy and consequent decisions; Unitec has not been able to convince the courts to overturn these decisions.


The Polytechnic institutes in Pakistan, offer a diploma spanning three years in different branches. Students are admitted to the diploma program based on their results in the 10th grade standardized exams. The main purpose of Polytechnic Institutes is to train people in various trades.


After successfully completing a diploma at a polytechnic, students can gain lateral entry to engineering degree (under graduate) courses called BE, which are conducted by engineering colleges affiliated to universities or University of Engineering & Technology or University of Engineering Sciences.


University of Engineering & Technology or University of Engineering Sciences are the recognized universities that grant Bachelor's and master's degrees in undergraduate and graduate studies respectively. The Bachelor of Science degree awarded by Universities of Engineering & Technology or University of Engineering Sciences are 4 years full-time program after finishing 13 years of education (international high school certificate) in Pakistan known as F.Sc equivalent to British system A-Level.


Politechnika (translated as a "technical university" or "university of technology") is a main kind of technical university name in Poland. There are some biggest Polytechnic in Poland:


The designation "Institute of Technology" is not applied at all, being meaningless in Portugal. However, there are higher education educational institutions in Portugal since the 1980s, which are called polytechnics. After 1998 they were upgraded to institutions which are allowed to confer bachelor's degrees (the Portuguese licenciatura). Before then, they only awarded short-cycle degrees which were known as bacharelatos and did not provide further education. After the Bologna Process in 2007, they have been allowed to offer 2nd cycle (master's) degrees to its students. The polytechnical higher education system provides a more practical training and is profession-oriented, while the university higher education system has a strong theoretical basis and is highly research-oriented.


Polytechnics in Singapore provides industry oriented education equivalent to a junior college or sixth form college in the UK. Singapore retains a system similar but not the same as in the United Kingdom from 1970–1992, distinguishing between polytechnics and universities. Unlike the British Polytechnic (United Kingdom) system Singapore Polytechnics do not offer bachelors, masters or PhD degrees. Under this system, most Singaporean students sit for their O-Level examinations after a four or five years of education in secondary school, and apply for a place at either a technical school termed ITE, a polytechnic or a university-preparatory school (a junior college or the Millennia Institute, a centralized institute). Polytechnic graduates may be granted transfer credits when they apply to local and overseas universities, depending on the overall performance in their grades, as well as the university's policies on transfer credits. A few secondary schools are now offering six-year program which leads directly to university entrance.


Polytechnics offer three-year diploma courses in fields such as information technology, engineering subjects and other vocational fields, like psychology and nursing. There are 5 polytechnics in Singapore. They are namely:


The world's first institution of technology or technical university with tertiary technical education is the Banská Akadémia in Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia, founded in 1735, Academy since December 13, 1762 established by queen Maria Theresa in order to train specialists of silver and gold mining and metallurgy in neighbourhood. Teaching started in 1764. Later the department of Mathematics, Mechanics and Hydraulics and department of Forestry were settled. University buildings are still at their place today and are used for teaching. University has launched the first book of electrotechnics in the world.


South Africa has completed a process of transforming its "higher education landscape". Historically a division has existed in South Africa between Universities and Technikons (polytechnics) as well between institutions servicing particular racial and language groupings. In 1993 Technikons were afforded the power to award certain technology degrees.


Beginning in 2004 former Technikons have either been merged with traditional Universities to form Comprehensive Universities or have become Universities of Technology, however the Universities of Technology have not to date acquired all of the traditional rights and privileges of a University (such as the ability to confer a wide range of degrees).


Most of Thailand's institutes of technology were developed from technical colleges, in the past could not grant bachelor's degrees; today, however, they are university level institutions, some of which can grant degrees to the doctoral level. Examples are Pathumwan Institute of Technology (developed from Pathumwan Technical School), King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (Nondhaburi Telecommunications Training Centre), and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok (Thai-German Technical School).


There are two former institutes of technology, which already changed their name to "University of Technology": Rajamangala University of Technology (formerly Institute of Technology and Vocational Education) and King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi (Thonburi Technology Institute).


Institutes of technology with different origins are Asian Institute of Technology, which developed from SEATO Graduate School of Engineering, and Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology, an engineering school of Thammasat University. Suranaree University of Technology is the only government-owned technological university in Thailand that was established (1989) as such; while Mahanakorn University of Technology is the most well known private technological institute. Technology/Technical colleges in Thailand is associated with bitter rivalries which erupts into frequent off-campus brawls and assassinations of students in public locations that has been going on for nearly a decade, with innocent bystanders also commonly among the injured and the military under martial law still unable to stop them from occurring.


In Turkey and the Ottoman Empire, the oldest technical university is Istanbul Technical University. Its graduates contributed to a wide variety of activities in scientific research and development. In 1950s, 2 technical universities were opened in Ankara and Trabzon. In recent years, Yildiz University is reorganized as Yildiz Technical University and 2 institutes of technology were founded in Kocaeli and Izmir. In 2010, another technical university named Bursa Technical University was founded in Bursa. Moreover, a sixth technical university is about to be opened in Konya named Konya Technical University.


Polytechnics were tertiary education teaching institutions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since 1970 UK Polytechnics operated under the binary system of education along with universities. Polytechnics offered diplomas and degrees (bachelor's, master's, PhD) validated at the national level by the UK Council for National Academic Awards CNAA. They particularly excelled in engineering and applied science degree courses similar to technological universities in the USA and continental Europe. The comparable institutions in Scotland were collectively referred to as Central Institutions. Britain's first Polytechnic, the Royal Polytechnic Institution later known as the Polytechnic of Central London (now the University of Westminster) was established in 1838 at Regent Street in London and its goal was to educate and popularize engineering and scientific knowledge and inventions in Victorian Britain "at little expense." The London Polytechnic led a mass movement to create numerous Polytechnic institutes across the UK in the late 19th Century. Most Polytechnic institutes were established at the centre of major metropolitan cities and their focus was on engineering, applied science and technology education.


In 1956, some colleges of technology received the designation College of Advanced Technology. They became universities in the 1960s meaning they could award their own degrees. The designation "Institute of Technology" was occasionally used by polytechnics (Bolton), Central Institutions (Dundee, Robert Gordon's), and postgraduate universities, (Cranfield and Wessex), most of which later adopted the designation University, and there were two "Institutes of Science and Technology": UMIST and UWIST, part of the University of Wales. Loughborough University was called Loughborough University of Technology from 1966 to 1996, the only institution in the UK to have had such a designation.


Polytechnics were granted university status under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. This meant that Polytechnics could confer degrees without the oversight of the national CNAA organization. These institutions are sometimes referred to as post-1992 universities.


Schools called "technical institute" or "technical school" that were formed in the early 20th century provided further education between high school and University or Polytechnic. Most technical institutes have been merged into regional colleges and some have been designated university colleges if they are associated with a local university.


Polytechnic Institutes are technological universities, many dating back to the mid-19th century. A handful of world-renowned Elite American universities include the phrases "Institute of Technology", "Polytechnic Institute", "Polytechnic University", or similar phrasing in their names; these are generally research-intensive universities with a focus on engineering, science and technology. The earliest and most famous of these institutions are, respectively, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI, 1824), New York University Tandon School of Engineering (1854) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, 1861). Conversely, schools dubbed "technical colleges" or "technical institutes" generally provide post-secondary training in technical and mechanical fields, focusing on training vocational skills primarily at a community college level—parallel and sometimes equivalent to the first two years at a bachelor's degree-granting institution.


Institutes of technology in Venezuela were developed in the 1950s as an option for post-secondary education in technical and scientific courses, after the polytechnic French concepts. At that time, technical education was considered essential for the development of a sound middle class economy.


Most of these institutes award diplomas after three or three and a half years of education. The Institute of technology implementation (IUT from Instituto universitario de tecnologia on Spanish) began with the creation of the first IUT at Caracas, capital city of Venezuela, called IUT. Dr. Federico Rivero Palacio adopted the French "Institut Universitaire de Technologie"s system, using French personnel and study system based on three-year periods, with research and engineering facilities at the same level as the main national universities to obtain French equivalent degrees. This IUT is the first and only one in Venezuela having French equivalent degrees accepted, implementing this system and observing the high-level degrees some other IUT's were created in Venezuela, regardless of this the term IUT was not used appropriately resulting in some institutions with mediocre quality and no equivalent degree in France. Later, some private institutions sprang up using IUT in their names, but they are not regulated by the original French system and award lower quality degrees.


The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web and other information on the Internet created by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization, based in San Francisco, California, United States. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a "three dimensional index."


Since 1996, they have been archiving cached pages of web sites onto their large cluster of Linux nodes. They revisit sites every few weeks or months and archive a new version if the content has changed. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who are offered a link to do so. The intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. Their grand vision is to archive the entire Internet.


The name Wayback Machine was chosen as a droll reference to a plot device in an animated cartoon series, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. In one of the animated cartoon's component segments, Peabody's Improbable History, lead characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman routinely used a time machine called the "WABAC machine" (pronounced way-back) to witness, participate in, and, more often than not, alter famous events in history.


In 1996 Brewster Kahle, with Bruce Gilliat, developed software to crawl and download all publicly accessible World Wide Web pages, the Gopher hierarchy, the Netnews (Usenet) bulletin board system, and downloadable software. The information collected by these "crawlers" does not include all the information available on the Internet, since much of the data is restricted by the publisher or stored in databases that are not accessible. These "crawlers" also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached. To overcome inconsistencies in partially cached web sites, Archive-It.org was developed in 2005 by the Internet Archive as a means of allowing institutions and content creators to voluntarily harvest and preserve collections of digital content, and create digital archives.