name	Berlin
image photo	Berlin Montage.png
state coa	Coat of arms of Berlin.svg
coa size	70
map	Berlin in Germany and EU.png
map size	270
map text	Location within European Union and Germany
flag	Flag_of_Berlin.svg
area	891.85
population	3468900
pop ref
pop date	31 March 2011
pop metro	4,429,847
elevation	34 - 115
demonym	Berliner
gdp	94.7
gdp year	2010
Gdp ref
website	berlin.de
leader title	Governing Mayor
leader	Klaus Wowereit
leader party	SPD
ruling party1	SPD
ruling party2	The Left
votes	4
divisions	12 boroughs
nuts	DE3
state	Berlin
vorwahl	030
kfz	B (for earlier signs see note)
iso region	DE-BE
plz	10001–14199
coordinates display	displayinline, title
date	September 2010 }}

Berlin (; ) is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union. Located in northeastern Germany, it is the center of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has 4.4 million residents from over 190 nations. Located in the European Plains, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.

First documented in the 13th century, Berlin was the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945). Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world. After World War II, the city became divided into East Berlin—the capital of East Germany—and West Berlin, a West German exclave surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany, hosting 147 foreign embassies.

Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science. Its economy is primarily based on the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, media corporations, and convention venues. Berlin also serves as a continental hub for air and rail transport, and is a popular tourist destination. Significant industries include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, electronics, traffic engineering, and renewable energy.

Berlin is home to renowned universities, research institutes, orchestras, museums, and celebrities, as well as host of many sporting events. Its urban settings and historical legacy have made it a popular location for international film productions. The city is well renowned for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, public transportation networks and a high quality of living.

History

The origin of the name ''Berlin'' is unknown, but it may have its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and be related to the Old Polabian stem ''berl-''/''birl-'' "swamp".

The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin is a wooden beam dated from approximately 1192. The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920. The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a document from 1244. The former is considered to be the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties and eventually merged in 1307 and came to be known as ''Berlin''.

In 1435, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. His successor, Frederick II Irontooth, established Berlin as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1448, citizens rebelled in the "Berlin Indignation" against the construction of a new royal palace by Frederick II Irontooth. This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. In 1451 Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.

17th to 19th centuries

The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and the city lost half of its population. Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots. More than 15,000 Huguenots went to Brandenburg, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. By 1700, approximately 20 percent of Berlin's residents were French, and their cultural influence on the city was immense. Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.

With the coronation of Frederick I in 1701 as king (in Königsberg), Berlin became the new capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (instead of Königsberg); this was a successful attempt to centralize the capital in the very outspread Prussian Kingdom, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power. Under the rule of Frederick II Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment. Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city. In 1815 the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.

The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main rail hub and economic center of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, outlying suburbs including Wedding, Moabit, and several others were incorporated into Berlin. In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire. On 1 April 1881 it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.

20th century

At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed in Berlin. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. This new area encompassed Spandau and Charlottenburg in the west, as well as several other areas that are now major municipalities. After this expansion, Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin became internationally renowned as a center of cultural transformation, at the heart of the Roaring Twenties.

On 30 January 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power through the Machtergreifung. Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 170,000 before 1933. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp or, in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz. During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1943–45 air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. Among the hundreds of thousands who died during the Battle for Berlin, an estimated 125,000 were civilians. After the end of the war in Europe in 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the occupation zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin.

All four allies shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from 24 June 1948 to 11 May 1949. In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but politically it was very closely aligned with Federal Republic of Germany despite Berlin's geographic location within East Germany. West Berlin issued its own postage stamps, which were often the same as West German postage stamps but with the additional word 'Berlin' added. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines.

The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory and East Germany proclaimed East Berlin (described as "Berlin") as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the western powers. Although only half the size and population of West Berlin, East Berlin included most of the historic center of the city. The West German government, meanwhile, established itself provisionally in Bonn.

As a result of the political and economical tensions brought on by the Cold War, on 13 August 1961, East Germany began building of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin and similar barriers around West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie on 27 October 1961. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany.

Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other only through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners, travel to West Berlin or West Germany was no longer possible. In 1971, a Four-Power agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany and ended the potential for harassment or closure of the routes.

In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November 1989, and was subsequently mostly demolished, with little of its physical structure remaining today; the East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain near the ''Oberbaumbrücke'' over the Spree preserves a portion of the Wall.

On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became the official German capital. In June 1991, the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the seat of the (West) German capital back from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999.

Geography

Berlin is located in eastern Germany, about west of the border with Poland in an area with marshy terrain, and is surrounded by the federal state of Brandenburg. The Berlin–Warsaw ''Urstromtal'' (ice age melt water flow), between the low Barnim plateau to the north and the Teltow plateau to the south, was formed by water flowing from melting ice sheets at the end of the last ice age. The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree meets the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.

Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim plateau, while most of the boroughs Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow plateau.

The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin ''Urstromtal'' and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg and the Müggelberge. Both hills have an elevation of about . The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.

Climate

Berlin has a humid continental climate according to the Köppen climate classification system. The city features a temperate climate.

Summers are warm with average high temperatures of and lows of . Winters are cold with average high temperatures of and lows of . Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.

Annual precipitation is with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Light snowfall mainly occurs from December through March, but snow cover does not usually remain for long. The recent winter of 2009/2010 was an exception as there was a permanent snow cover from late December till early March.

Cityscape

Berlin's history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings. The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin—the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany—initiated ambitious (re-)construction programs, with each adding its own distinctive style to the city's architecture. Berlin was devastated by bombing raids during World War II, and many of the buildings that had remained after the war were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s in both West and East Berlin. Much of this demolition was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads.

The eastern parts of Berlin have many ''Plattenbauten'', reminders of Eastern Bloc ambitions to create complete residential areas that had fixed ratios of shops, kindergartens and schools to the number of inhabitants.

Architecture

The Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz in Mitte is among the tallest structures in the European Union at . Built in 1969, it is visible throughout most of the central districts of Berlin. The city can be viewed from its high observation floor. Starting here the Karl-Marx-Allee heads east, an avenue lined by monumental residential buildings, designed in the Socialist Classicism Style of the Joseph Stalin era. Adjacent to this area is the Rotes Rathaus (City Hall), with its distinctive red-brick architecture. In front of it is the Neptunbrunnen, a fountain featuring a mythological group of Tritons, personifications of the four main Prussian rivers and Neptun on top of it.

The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division. It has recently undergone a restoration.

The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. It also appears on German euro coins (10 cent, 20 cent, and 50 cent). The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, renovated in the 1950s after severe World War II damage. The building was again remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.

The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin whose name dates back to the quarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the Französischer Dom with its observation platform and the German Cathedral. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.

The Berlin Cathedral, emperor William II.'s ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, is located on the Spree Island across from the site of the Stadtschloss and adjacent to the Lustgarten. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. Like many other buildings, it suffered extensive damage during the Second World War. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.

Unter den Linden is a tree lined east-west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Roaring Twenties. It combines 20th century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.

Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down. To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.

The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. Oranienburger Straße and the nearby New Synagogue were the center of Jewish culture before 1933. Although the New Synagogue is still an anchor for Jewish history and culture, Oranienburger straße and surrounding areas are increasingly known for the shopping and nightlife.

The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.

The Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Nearby on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.

West of the center, Schloss Bellevue is the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg, which was burnt out in the Second World War and largely destroyed, has been rebuilt and is the largest surviving historical palace in Berlin.

The Funkturm Berlin is a tall lattice radio tower at the fair area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators, and has a restaurant and an observation deck above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.

Politics

Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany and is the seat of the President of Germany, whose official residence is Schloss Bellevue. Since German reunification on 3 October 1990, it has been one of the three city states, together with Hamburg and Bremen, among the present 16 states of Germany.

The Bundesrat ("federal council") is the representation of the Federal States (''Bundesländer'') of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords. Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. The European Union invests in several projects within the city of Berlin. Infrastructure, education and social programs are co-financed with budgets taken from EU cohesion funds.

City state

The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives (''Abgeordnetenhaus''), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (''Senat von Berlin''). The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor (''Regierender Bürgermeister'') and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (''Bürgermeister'') as deputy to the Governing Mayor. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election.

The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the city (''Oberbürgermeister der Stadt'') and Prime Minister of the Federal State (''Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes''). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2001 this office has been held by Klaus Wowereit of the SPD. The city's government is based on a coalition between the Social Democratic Party and Die Linke.

The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded €20.5 ($28.7) billion including a budget surplus of €80 ($112) million. The figures indicate the first surplus in the history of the city state. Due to increasing growth rates and tax revenues, the Senate of Berlin calculates an increasing budget surplus in 2008. The total budget includes an estimated amount of €5.5 ($7.7) bn, which is directly financed by either the German government or the German Bundesländer. Mainly due to reunification-related expenditures, Berlin as a German state has accumulated more debt than any other city in Germany, with the most current estimate being €60 ($84)bn in December 2007. In 2011, the very high level of public sector debt prompted the Stabilitätsrat von Bund und Ländern (Council for Fiscal Stability of the Federal and Local States) to declare a possible fiscal emergency for the city.

Boroughs

Berlin is subdivided into twelve boroughs (''Bezirke''), down from 23 boroughs before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform. Each borough contains a number of localities (''Ortsteile''), which often have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 and became urbanized and incorporated into the city. Many residents strongly identify with their localities or boroughs. At present Berlin consists of 95 localities, which are commonly made up of several city neighborhoods—called ''Kiez'' in the Berlin dialect—representing small residential areas.

Each borough is governed by a borough council (''Bezirksamt'') consisting of five councilors (''Bezirksstadträte'') and a borough mayor (''Bezirksbürgermeister''). The borough council is elected by the borough assembly (''Bezirksverordnetenversammlung''). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities, however. The power of borough governments is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the council of mayors (''Rat der Bürgermeister''), led by the city's governing mayor, which advises the senate.

The localities have no local government bodies, and the administrative duties of the former locality representative, the ''Ortsvorsteher'', were taken over by the borough mayors.

Sister cities

Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities. Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification and later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships had previously been restricted to the borough level. During the Cold War era, the partnerships had reflected the different power blocs, with West Berlin partnering with capitals in the West, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the Warsaw Pact and its allies.

There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, and Vienna. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Berlin's official sister cities are:

* 1967 Los Angeles, United States

* 1987 Paris, France

* 1988 Madrid, Spain

* 1989 Istanbul, Turkey

* 1991 Warsaw, Poland

* 1991 Moscow, Russia

* 1991 Budapest, Hungary

* 1992 Brussels, Belgium

* 1993 Jakarta, Indonesia

* 1993 Tashkent, Uzbekistan

* 1993 Mexico City, Mexico

Beijing, People's Republic of China>China

* 1994 Tokyo, Japan

* 1994 Buenos Aires, Argentina

* 1995 Prague, Czech Republic

* 2000 Windhoek, Namibia

* 2000 London, United Kingdom

Economy

In 2009, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.7% (−3.5% in Germany) and totaled €90.1 (~$117) billion. Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate had steadily decreased over the past decade and reached a 13-year low in 2008; unemployment was at 14.2% (German average: 7.9%).

Fast-growing economic sectors in Berlin include communications, life sciences, and transportation, particularly services that use information and communication technologies, as well as media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, and medical engineering.

The Science and Business Park of Berlin-Adlershof is among the 15 largest technology parks worldwide. Research and development have high economic significance for the city, and the Berlin–Brandenburg region ranks among the top-three innovative regions in the EU.

2007 EUROSTAT	Area		Population	Nominal GDP in billion	Nominal GDP per capita

Companies

Siemens, a Fortune Global 500 company and one of the 30 German DAX companies, has a headquarter in Berlin. The state-owned railway, Deutsche Bahn, has its headquarters in Berlin as well. Many German and international companies have business or service centres in the city.

Among the 20 largest employers in Berlin are the Deutsche Bahn, the hospital provider, Charité, the local public transport provider, BVG, and the service provider, ''Dussmann and the Piepenbrock Group''. Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Schering Pharma and ''Berlin Chemie'' are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second largest German airline Air Berlin is also headquartered in Berlin.

Tourism

Berlin has 746 hotels with 112,400 beds as of the end of 2010. The city recorded 20.8 million overnight hotel stays and 9.1 million hotel guests in the same year. Berlin has a yearly total of approximately 135 million daily visitors, which puts it in third place among the most-visited city destinations in the European Union.

Berlin is among the top three convention cities in the world and is home to Europe's biggest convention center, the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC). Several large scale trade fairs like the IFA, Grüne Woche, InnoTrans, Artforum and the ITB are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.

Creative industries

Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software, TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18,6 billion Euro in total revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20% of Berlin's gross domestic product in 2005. The German headquarter of Universal Music is based in Berlin.

Infrastructure

Transport

Berlin's transportation infrastructure is highly complex, providing a very diverse range of urban mobility. A total of 979 bridges cross 197 kilometers of innercity waterways, of roads run through Berlin, of which are motorways ("Autobahn"). In 2006, 1.416 million motor vehicles were registered in the city. With 358 cars per 1000 residents in 2008 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a German state and as a major European city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.

Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest crossing station in Europe. Deutsche Bahn runs trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and others. It also runs an airport express rail service, as well as trains to international destinations like Moscow, Vienna, Amsterdam, and Malmö.

The and the Deutsche Bahn manage several dense urban public transport systems.

System	Stations/ Lines/ Net length	Passengers per year	Operator/ Notes
	166 / 15 /	376 million
	173 / 10 /	457 million	BVG/ Mainly underground rail system. 24hour-service on weekends.
	398 / 22 /	171 million	BVG/ Operates predominantly in eastern boroughs.
	2627 / 147 /	407 million	BVG/ Extensive services in all boroughs. 46 Night Lines
	6 lines		BVG/ All modes of transport can be accessed with the same ticket.

;Airports

Berlin has two commercial airports. Tegel International Airport (TXL), which lies within the city limits, and Schönefeld International Airport (SXF), which is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg. Both airports together handled 22,3 million passengers in 2010. In 2011, 88 airlines serve 164 destinations in 54 countries from Berlin. Tegel Airport is the European hub of Air Berlin, whereas Schönefeld services mainly low-cost airline travel.

Berlin's airport authority plans to transfer all of Berlin's air traffic in June 2012 to a newly built airport at Schönefeld, to be renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). City authorities want to establish a European aviation hub with a gateway to Asia.

;Cycling

Berlin is well known for its highly developed bike (cycle) lane system. It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13% of total traffic in 2009. Riders have access to of bike paths including approx. mandatory bicycle paths, off-road bicycle routes, of bike lanes on the roads, of shared bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, of combined pedestrian/bike paths and of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks.

Energy

Berlin's energy is mainly supplied by the Swedish firm Vattenfall, which relies more heavily than other electricity producers on lignite as an energy source. Because burning lignite produces harmful emissions, Vattenfall has announced its commitment to transitioning to cleaner sources, such as renewable energy. In the former West Berlin, electricity was supplied chiefly by thermal power stations. To facilitate buffering during load peaks, accumulators were installed during the 1980s at some of these power stations. These were connected by static inverters to the power grid and were loaded during times of low energy consumption and unloaded during periods of high consumption.

In 1993 the power grid connections to the surrounding areas, which had been cut in 1951, were restored. In the western districts of Berlin, nearly all power lines are underground cables; only a 380 kV and a 110 kV line, which run from Reuter substation to the urban Autobahn, use overhead lines. The Berlin 380-kV electric line was built when West Berlin's electrical grid was not connected to those of East or West Germany. This has now become the backbone of the city's energy grid.

Car maker Daimler AG and the electric utility, RWE AG, are going to begin a joint electric car and charging station test project in Berlin called "E-Mobility Berlin."

Health

Berlin has a rich history of discoveries in medicine and innovations in medical technology. The modern history of medicine has been significantly influenced by scientists from Berlin. Rudolf Virchow was the founder of cellular pathology, while Robert Koch developed vaccines for anthrax, cholera, and tuberculosis.

The Charité hospital complex is the largest university hospital in Europe, tracing back its origins to the year 1710. The Charité is spread over four sites and comprises 3,300 beds, around 14,000 staff, 8,000 students, and more than 60 operating theatres, and has a turnover of over one billion euros annually. It is a joint institution of the Free University of Berlin and the Humboldt University of Berlin, including a wide range of institutes and specialized medical centers.

Among them are the German Heart Center, one of the most renowned transplantation centers, the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine and the Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics. The scientific research at these institutions is complemented by many research departments of companies such as Siemens, Schering and Debis.

Demographics

As of March 2010, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,440,441 registered inhabitants in an area of . The city's population density was 3,848 inhabitants per km² (9,966/sq mi). The urban area of Berlin stretches beyond the city limits and comprises about 3.7 million people, while the metropolitan area of the Berlin-Brandenburg region is home to about 4.3 million in an area of . In 2004, The Larger Urban Zone was home to over 4.9 million people in an area of 17,385 km².

National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, the city responded with the Edict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. The Greater Berlin Act in 1920 incorporated many suburbs and surrounding cities of Berlin. It formed most of the territory that comprises modern Berlin. The act increased the area of Berlin from to and the population from 1.9 million to 4 million. Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, Berlin is home to about 250,000 Turks (especially in Kreuzberg, Neukölln and Wedding, a locality in the borough of Mitte), making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey.

In the 1990s the ''Aussiedlergesetze'' enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the former Soviet Union. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community. The current decade experiences an increasing influx from various Western countries. Especially young EU-Europeans are settling in the city. Additionally, Berlin has seen a rise of African immigrants during the last two decades.

In December 2010, 457,806 residents (13.5% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from 190 different countries. The largest groups of foreign nationals are those from Turkey (104,556), Poland (40,988), Serbia (19,230), Italy (15,842), Russia (15,332), France (13,262), Vietnam (13,199), the United States (12,733), Bosnia and Herzegovina (10,198), the United Kingdom (10,191), Croatia (10,104), and Israel (estimated 10,000) . An estimated 394,000 citizens (12.2%) are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany. All in all, about 25%–30% of the population is of foreign origin

As of 2010, there were approx. 900,000 (approx. 27%) persons with a migrant background resident in Berlin. However, there are significant differences in the distribution of minorities. For Instance, in the West-Berlin areas of Wedding, Neukölln and Berlin-Gesundbrunnen, foreign nationals and German nationals with a migrant background make up nearly 70% of the population, whereas areas and localities in former East Berlin have much lower percentages. The immigrant community is quite diverse, however, Middle Easterners (e.g. Turks, Arabs etc.), Eastern Europeans and smaller numbers of East Asians, Sub-Saharan Africans and other European immigrants form the largest groups.

Percentage of people with migrant background<
class="hintergrundfarbe5">Germans without migrant background	~73 % (2,500,000)
class="hintergrundfarbe5"	Germans with migrant background (including non-German nationals)	~27 % (900,000)
Muslim/Middle Eastern origin (Turkey, Arab League, Iran etc.)	~9,0 % (300,000)
Non-German European origin (Russia, Poland, Great Britain, Greece, Serbia, Spain, France etc.)	~9.0 % (300,000)
Others( East Asians, Afro-Germans, USA	Americans, Israelis, Sub-Saharan Africans, Latin Americans etc.)	~9,0 % (300,000)

This list is based on official statistics and not on ethnicity; hence, there might be a lower percentage of Germans without a migrant background/ethnic Germans. The percentage of children and teenagers who have a migrant background is 50%. In Neukölln it is nearly 80%.

Additionally, Berlin has up to 100,000 to 250,000 illegal immigrants mostly from Africa, Asia, the Balkan region and Latin America. Following the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union, there has been an influx of Romani people. Estimates vary, however, and there could have been up to 200,000 vagrant Romas in Berlin in recent years.

The most common foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Vietnamese, English, Serbian, Croatian, Greek and other Asian languages. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbian and Croatian can be heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle-Eastern and ex-Yugoslavian immigrant communities, whereas Vietnamese, Russian and Polish have more native speakers residing in the eastern part of Berlin.

Religion

More than 60% of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation and Berlin has been described as the ''atheist capital of Europe''. The largest denominations are the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (a united church within the Evangelical Church in Germany) with 19.4% of the population as of 2008, and the Roman Catholic Church with 9.4% of registered members. About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations and 8.8% are Muslims. Approximately 80% of the 12,000 Jews now residing in Berlin have come from the former Soviet Union.

Berlin is seat of a Roman Catholic bishop (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Berlin) and a also a Protestant bishop (Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia). The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.

There are 36 Baptist congregations, 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church and an Anglican church in Berlin. Berlin has 76 mosques, eleven synagogues, and two Buddhist temples. There are also a number of humanist and atheist groups in the city.

Education

Berlin has 878 schools that teach 340,658 children in 13,727 classes and 56,787 trainees in businesses and elsewhere. The city has a six-year primary education program. After completing primary school, students progress to the Sekundarschule (a comprehensive school) or Gymnasium (college preparatory school). Berlin has a special bilingual school program embedded in the "Europaschule". At participating schools, children are taught the curriculum in German and also in a foreign language, starting in primary school and continuing in high school. Throughout nearly all boroughs, nine major European languages can be chosen as foreign languages in 29 schools.

The Französisches Gymnasium Berlin, which was founded in 1689 to teach the children of Huguenot refugees, offers (German/French) instruction. The John F. Kennedy School, a bilingual German–American public school located in Zehlendorf, is particularly popular with children of diplomats and the English-speaking expatriate community. In addition, four schools ("Humanistische Gymnasien") teach Latin and Classical Greek, and are renowned for highest academic standards. Two of them are state schools (Steglitzer Gymnasium in Steglitz and Goethe-Gymnasium in Wilmersdorf), one is Protestant (Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster in Wilmersdorf), and one is Jesuit (Canisius-Kolleg in the "Embassy Quarter" in Tiergarten).

Science

The Berlin-Brandenburg capital region is one of the most prolific centers of higher education and research in the European Union. The city has four universities and 27 private, professional and technical colleges (Hochschulen), offering a wide range of disciplines. 135,327 students were registered at the 31 universities and colleges in 2008/09. The three largest universities combined have approximately 100,000 enrolled students. They are the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with 35,000 students, the Freie Universität Berlin (Free University of Berlin) with ca. 35,000 students, and the Technische Universität Berlin with 30,000 students. The Universität der Künste has about 4,300 students.

The city has a high density of research institutions, such as the Fraunhofer Society, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and the Max Planck Society, which are independent of, or only loosely connected to its universities. A total number of 62,000 scientists are working in research and development. The city is one of the centers of knowledge and innovation communities (Future Information and Communication Society and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

In addition to libraries that are affiliated with the various universities, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is a major research library. Its two main locations are near Potsdamer Platz on Potsdamer Straße and on Unter den Linden. There are also 108 public libraries in the city.

Culture

Berlin is noted for its numerous cultural institutions, many of which enjoy international reputation. The diversity and vivacity of the ''Zeitgeist Metropolis'' led to a trendsetting image among major cities. The city has a very diverse art scene and is home to around 420 art galleries. Many young people and international artists continue to settle in the city, and Berlin has established itself as a center of youth and popular culture in Europe.

The expanding cultural role of Berlin is underscored by the 2003 announcement that the Popkomm, Europe's largest annual music industry convention—previously hosted for 15 years by Cologne—would move to Berlin. Shortly thereafter, the Universal Music Group and MTV also decided to move their European headquarters and main studios to the banks of the River Spree in Friedrichshain. In 2005, Berlin was awarded the title of "City of Design" by UNESCO.

Media

Berlin is home to many international and regional television and radio stations. The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, and N24. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city. American radio programming from National Public Radio is also broadcast on the FM dial.

Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (''Berliner Morgenpost'', ''Berliner Zeitung'', ''Der Tagesspiegel''), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as ''Die Welt'', ''Junge Welt'', ''Neues Deutschland'', and ''Die Tageszeitung''. The ''Exberliner'', a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarter of the two major German-language publishing houses Walter de Gruyter and Springer, each of which publishing books, periodicals, and multimedia products.

Berlin is an important center in the European and German film industry. It is home to more than 1000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year. The historic Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are located outside Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival. Founded in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978. With over 430,000 admissions it is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.

Nightlife and festivals

Berlin's nightlife is one of the most diverse and vibrant of its kind in Europe. Throughout the 1990s, people in their twenties from many countries, particularly those in Eastern and Central Europe, made Berlin's club scene the premier nightlife destination of Europe. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many historic buildings in Mitte, the former city center of East Berlin, were illegally occupied and re-built by young squatters and became a fertile ground for underground and counterculture gatherings. Mitte and surrounding boroughs are also home to many nightclubs, including Kunst Haus Tacheles, techno clubs Tresor, WMF, Ufo, E-Werk, KitKatClub and Berghain. The techno-music club, Linientreu, near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, has been in business since the late 1980s. The LaBelle discothèque in Friedenau became widely known as the location of the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing. Berlin is notable for the length of its parties. Clubs are not required to close at a fixed time on the weekends, and many parties last well into the morning, or all weekend. Berghain features the Panorama Bar, so named because the bar opens its shades at daybreak, allowing party-goers a panorama view of Berlin after dancing through the night.

The SO36 in Kreuzberg originally focused largely on punk music, but today has become a popular venue for many dances and parties. SOUND, located from 1971 to 1988 in Tiergarten and today in Charlottenburg, gained notoriety in the late 1970s for its popularity with heroin users and other drug addicts as described in Christiane F.'s book ''Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo''.

The Karneval der Kulturen, a multi-ethnic street parade celebrated every Pentecost weekend, and the Christopher Street Day are both supported by the city's government. Berlin is also well known for the cultural festival, Berliner Festspiele, which include the jazz festival JazzFest Berlin. Several technology and media art festivals and conferences are held in the city, including Transmediale and Chaos Communication Congress.

Gay life

Berlin has a long history of gay culture and influence on popular entertainment, and according to some authors, in the 1920s the city was the ''Gay Capital of Europe''. Today, the city has a huge number of gay clubs and festivals, such as Easter fetish week (Easter in Berlin), Christopher Street Day (Berlin Pride)—central Europe's largest gay-lesbian pride event celebrated on the last weekend of June—Folsom Europe and Hustlaball. Berlin is also leading Europe in the number of fetish clubs. "Easter in Berlin" and "Folsom Europe Berlin" are the biggest gay fetish festivals in Europe. Annual gay highlights in Berlin are also the gay and lesbian street festival in Berlin-Schöneberg (Lesbisch-schwules Stadtfest) and Kreuzberg Pride in June. The largest gay areas in Berlin are located in Schöneberg close to Nollendorfplatz and in Prenzlauer Berg at the Schönhauser Allee subway station.

Galleries and museums

Berlin is home to 153 museums. The ensemble on the Museum Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is situated in the northern part of the Spree Island between the Spree and the Kupfergraben. As early as 1841 it was designated a "district dedicated to art and antiquities" by a royal decree. Subsequently, the Altes Museum (Old Museum) in the Lustgarten displaying the bust of Queen Nefertiti, the Neues Museum (New Museum), Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), Pergamon Museum, and Bode Museum were built there. While these buildings once housed distinct collections, the names of the buildings no longer necessarily correspond to the names of their collections.

Apart from the Museum Island, there are many additional museums in the city. The Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery) focuses on the paintings of the "old masters" from the 13th to the 18th centuries, while the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery, built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) specializes in 20th century European painting. The Hamburger Bahnhof, located in Moabit, exhibits a major collection of modern and contemporary art. In spring 2006, the expanded Deutsches Historisches Museum re-opened in the Zeughaus with an overview of German history through the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Bauhaus Archive is an architecture museum.

The Jewish Museum has a standing exhibition on two millennia of German-Jewish history. The German Museum of Technology in Kreuzberg has a large collection of historical technical artifacts. The Museum für Naturkunde exhibits natural history near Berlin Hauptbahnhof. It has the largest mounted dinosaur in the world (a brachiosaurus), and a preserved specimen of the early bird Archaeopteryx.

In Dahlem, there are several museums of world art and culture, such as the Museum of Asian Art, the Ethnological Museum, the Museum of European Cultures, as well as the Allied Museum (a museum of the Cold War) and the Brücke Museum (an art museum). In Lichtenberg, on the grounds of the former East German Ministry for State Security ''(Stasi)'', is the Stasi Museum. The site of Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most renowned crossing points of the Berlin Wall, is still preserved and also has a museum, a private venture which exhibits comprehensive documentation of detailed plans and strategies devised by people who tried to flee from the East. The Beate Uhse Erotic Museum near Zoo Station claims to be the world's largest erotic museum.

Performing arts

Berlin is home to more than 50 theaters. The Deutsches Theater in Mitte was built in 1849–50 and has operated continuously since then, except for a one-year break (1944–45) due to the Second World War. The Volksbühne at Rosa Luxemburg Platz was built in 1913–14, though the company had been founded in 1890. The Berliner Ensemble, famous for performing the works of Bertolt Brecht, was established in 1949, not far from the Deutsches Theater. The Schaubühne was founded in 1962 in a building in Kreuzberg, but in 1981 moved to the building of the former Universum Cinema on Kurfürstendamm.

Berlin has three major opera houses: the Deutsche Oper, the Berlin State Opera, and the Komische Oper. The Berlin State Opera on Unter den Linden opened in 1742 and is the oldest of the three. Its current musical director is Daniel Barenboim. The Komische Oper has traditionally specialized in operettas and is located at Unter den Linden as well. The Deutsche Oper opened in 1912 in Charlottenburg. During the division of the city from 1961 to 1989 it was the only major opera house in West Berlin.

There are seven symphony orchestras in Berlin. The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the preeminent orchestras in the world; it is housed in the Berliner Philharmonie near Potsdamer Platz on a street named for the orchestra's longest-serving conductor, Herbert von Karajan. The current principal conductor is Simon Rattle. The Konzerthausorchester Berlin was founded in 1952 as the orchestra for East Berlin, since the Philharmonic was based in West Berlin. Its current principal conductor is Lothar Zagrosek. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents various exhibitions dealing with intercultural issues and stages world music and conferences.

Cuisine

Berlin is home to a diverse gastronomy scene reflecting the immigrant history of the city. Twelve restaurants in Berlin have been included into the Michelin guide, which ranks the city at the top for the number of its restaurants having this distinction in Germany.

Many local foods originated from north-German culinary traditions and include rustic and hearty dishes with pork, goose, fish, peas, beans, cucumbers or potatoes.

Typical Berliner fares include Currywurst, invented in 1949, Eisbein, the Berliner known as a , and ''Leber Berliner Art'' (Berlin-style liver).

Turkish and Arab immigrant workers brought their culinary traditions to the city; for example, the döner kebab, falafel and lahmacun, which have become common fast-food staples. The modern fast-food version of the döner was invented in Berlin in 1971.

Recreation

Zoologischer Garten Berlin, the older of two zoos in the city, was founded in 1844, and presents the most diverse range of species in the world. It was the home of the captive-born celebrity polar bear Knut, born in December 2006. The city's other zoo is Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, founded in 1955 on the grounds of Schloss Friedrichsfelde in the Borough of Lichtenberg.

Berlin's Botanischer Garten includes the Botanic Museum Berlin. With an area of and around 22,000 different plant species it is one of the largest and most diverse gardens in the world. Other gardens in the city include the Britzer Garten, site of the 1985 Bundesgartenschau, and the Erholungspark Marzahn, promoted under the name ''Gardens of the world''.

The Tiergarten is Berlin's largest park located in Mitte and was designed by Peter Joseph Lenné. In Kreuzberg the Viktoriapark provides a good viewing point over the southern part of inner city Berlin. Treptower Park beside the Spree in Treptow has a monument honoring the Soviet soldiers killed in the 1945 Battle of Berlin. The Volkspark in Friedrichshain, which opened in 1848, is the oldest park in the city. Its summit is man-made and covers a Second World War bunker and rubble from the ruins of the city; at its foot is Germany's main memorial to Polish soldiers.

Berlin is known for its numerous beach bars along the river Spree. Together with the countless cafés, restaurants and green spaces in all districts, they create an important source of recreation and leisure time.

Sports

Berlin has established a high-profile reputation as a host city of international sporting events. Berlin hosted the 1936 Olympics and was the host city for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final. The IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in the Olympiastadion in August 2009. The annual Berlin Marathon and the annual ÅF Golden League event ISTAF for athletics are also held here. The FIVB World Tour has chosen an inner-city site near Alexanderplatz to present a beach volleyball Grand Slam every year.

Open Air gatherings of several hundred thousands spectators have become popular during international football competitions, like the World Cup or the UEFA European Football Championship. Many fans and viewers are coming together to watch the matches on huge video screens. The event is known as the ''Fan Mile'' and takes place at the Brandenburg Gate every two years.

Several major clubs representing the most popular spectator sports in Germany have their base in Berlin.

Club	Sport	Founded	League	Venue	Head Coach
Hertha BSC		1892
1. FC Union Berlin		1966		Alte Försterei
ALBA Berlin	Basketball	1991			Gordon Herbert
Eisbären Berlin	Ice hockey	1954
Füchse Berlin		1891		Max-Schmeling-Halle	D. Sigurdsson
	Volleyball	1911	DVL	Max-Schmeling-Halle	Mark Lebedew

Quotations

"Berlin ist eine Stadt, verdammt dazu, ewig zu werden, niemals zu sein" ("Berlin is a city condemned always to become, never to be.")(Karl Scheffler, author of ''Berlin: Ein Stadtschicksal, 1910'') "Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin" ("I still have a suitcase in Berlin")(Marlene Dietrich, 1951 song by the actress and singer born in Berlin-Schöneberg.) "Ich bin ein Berliner". ("I am a citizen of Berlin") (John F. Kennedy, President of the United States, 1963 while visiting Berlin) "The greatest cultural extravaganza that one could imagine."(David Bowie, singer, on 1970s Berlin) "Berlin wird leben und die Mauer wird fallen." ("Berlin will live and the wall will fall.")(Willy Brandt, Former Governing Mayor of West Berlin and chancellor of Germany, 10 November 1989) "Berlin ist arm, aber sexy." ("Berlin is poor, but sexy.") (Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor, in a press interview, 2003)

References

;Bibliography

External links

Official Website Berlin.de

Official Website of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area

Regional directory

Berlin Tourist Information

Dumont Restaurantguide Berlin

Monthly English-language magazine for Berlin

English-language city guide for Berlin

Berlin Travel Tips

Berlin photo gallery Images of Berlin and its most popular monuments.

Category:States of Germany Category:German state capitals Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games Category:Members of the Hanseatic League Category:States and territories established in 1237 Category:Populated places established in the 13th century Category:City-states Category:European Capitals of Culture Category:IOC Session Host Cities Category:Olympic Congress Host Cities

ace:Berlin kbd:Берлин af:Berlyn als:Berlin am:በርሊን ang:Berlin ar:برلين an:Berlín arc:ܒܪܠܝܢ roa-rup:Berlin frp:Bèrlin ast:Berlín gn:Berlin ay:Berlin az:Berlin bn:বার্লিন zh-min-nan:Berlin ba:Берлин be:Горад Берлін be-x-old:Бэрлін bi:Berlin bar:Berlin bo:པེར་ལིན​། bs:Berlin br:Berlin bg:Берлин bxr:Берлин ca:Berlín cv:Берлин cs:Berlín cbk-zam:Berlín tum:Berlin co:Berlinu cy:Berlin da:Berlin pdc:Berlin de:Berlin dsb:Barliń et:Berliin el:Βερολίνο myv:Берлин ош es:Berlín eo:Berlino ext:Berlín eu:Berlin fa:برلین hif:Berlin fo:Berlin fr:Berlin fy:Berlyn fur:Berlin ga:Beirlín gv:Berleen gag:Berlin gd:Berlin gl:Berlín - Berlin gan:柏林 ko:베를린 haw:Pelelina hy:Բեռլին hi:बर्लिन hsb:Berlin hr:Berlin io:Berlin ilo:Berlin, Alemania id:Berlin ia:Berlin ie:Berlin os:Берлин zu:IBerlin is:Berlín it:Berlino he:ברלין jv:Berlin kn:ಬರ್ಲಿನ್ pam:Berlin ka:ბერლინი ks:बर्लिन csb:Berlëno kk:Берлин kw:Berlin rw:Berlin rn:Berlin sw:Berlin kv:Берлин ht:Bèlen ku:Berlîn koi:Берлин la:Berolinum lv:Berlīne lb:Berlin lt:Berlynas lij:Berlin li:Berlien ln:Berlin jbo:berlin lg:Berlin lmo:Berlin hu:Berlin mk:Берлин mg:Berlin ml:ബെർലിൻ mt:Berlin mi:Pearīni mr:बर्लिन arz:بيرلين ms:Berlin mwl:Berlin mn:Берлин my:ဘာလင်မြို့ nah:Berlin mrj:Берлин na:Berlin nl:Berlijn nds-nl:Berlien ja:ベルリン nap:Berlino frr:Berlin pih:Berlin no:Berlin nn:Berlin nrm:Bèrlîn nov:Berlin oc:Berlin mhr:Берлин uz:Berlin pnb:برلن pap:Berlin ps:برلين pcd:Berlin pfl:Balin pms:Berlin tpi:Berlin nds:Berlin pl:Berlin pnt:Βερολίνον pt:Berlim crh:Berlin ty:Berlin ksh:Berlin ro:Berlin rmy:Berlin rm:Berlin qu:Berlin rue:Берлін ru:Берлин sah:Берлин se:Berlin sc:Berlino sco:Berlin stq:Berlin sq:Berlini scn:Birlinu simple:Berlin sk:Berlín cu:Бєрлинъ sl:Berlin szl:Berlin so:Baarliin ckb:بەرلین srn:Berlin sr:Берлин sh:Berlin fi:Berliini sv:Berlin tl:Berlin ta:பெர்லின் kab:Berlin roa-tara:Berline tt:Берлин te:బెర్లిన్ tet:Berlín th:เบอร์ลิน tg:Берлин tr:Berlin tk:Berlin udm:Берлин uk:Берлін ur:برلن ug:Bérlin vec:Berlin vi:Berlin vo:Berlin fiu-vro:Berliin zh-classical:柏林 vls:Berlyn war:Berlin wo:Berlin xmf:ბერლინი yi:בערלין yo:Berlin zh-yue:柏林 diq:Berlin bat-smg:Berlīns zh:柏林

name	Markus Schulz
landscape	yes
background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
origin	Eschwege, Germany
birth name	Markus Schulz
genre	Trance
years active	1990–present
label	Coldharbour Recordings, Armada Music, Ultra Records
associated acts	Dakota, Himmel
website	http://www.markusschulz.com }}

Markus Schulz born February 03, 1975 is a German trance music DJ and producer who resides in Miami, Florida, USA. He is best-known for his weekly radio show titled Global DJ Broadcast that airs on Digitally Imported radio, After Hours FM and other online stations. He is also the founder of the EDM label Coldharbour Recordings.

Producing

Schulz has released six mix compilations and three artist albums under his own name. He has also released productions and albums, Thoughts Become Things and Thoughts Become Things II, under the alias Dakota. Through his work with remixing tracks, he has had the opportunity to work with such artists as: Depeche Mode, Madonna, Everything But The Girl, Jewel, Oceanlab, Gabriel & Dresden, Télépopmusik, Fat Boy Slim, Miro, Book Of Love, Blue Amazon, and PQM. His remixes of "Intuition" and "Stand" by Jewel both hit #1 on the Billboard club chart.

Performing

When not in the studio working on new mixes, Schulz maintains an extensive international touring schedule. He originally held a seven-year residency at The Works in Phoenix, Arizona, where he developed his style. Since then, he has performed at clubs all over the world and has DJ'ed at some of the largest festivals and events, including: Electric Daisy Carnival, Electric Zoo, Monster Massive, Together As One, Ultra Music Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event, Nature One, Dance Valley, Love Parade, Global Gathering, ETD Pop, Trance Energy 2010, Bang Music Festival, Future Music Festival, Bal en Blanc and at the Episodes 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 of A State Of Trance.

On October 28, 2010, DJ Magazine announced the results of their annual Top 100 DJ Poll, placing Schulz at #8 DJ in the world.

Discography

Albums

''Without You Near'' (2005, Armada Music) ''Progression'' (2007, Armada Music)

''Progression Progressed - The Remixes'' (2008, Armada Music)

''Dakota - Thoughts Become Things'' (2009, Armada Music) ''Do You Dream?'' (2010, Armada Music)

''Do You Dream? - The Remixes (2011, Armada Music)''

''Markus Schulz presents Dakota – Thoughts Become Things II (1 July 2011, Armada Music)''

Compilations

''Coldharbour Sessions'' (2004, Armada Music) ''Miami '05'' (2005, Moist Music) ''Ibiza '06'' (2006, Moist Music) ''Amsterdam '08'' (2008, Armada Music) ''Toronto '09'' (2009, Armada Music) ''Las Vegas '10'' (2010, Armada Music) ''Prague '11'' (2011, Armada Music)

Singles

1998 Markus Schulz - You Won’t See Me Cry

1999 Dakota - Swirl

2002 Dakota - Frozen Time

2002 Dakota - Lost in Brixton

2002 Dakota - Jah Powah

2002 Dakota - Zero Gravity

2002 Dakota - Sunshine Yellow

2003 Dakota - Abandoned in Queens

2003 Markus Schulz presents Elevation - Clear Blue

2004 Markus Schulz presents Elevation - Largo

2004 Markus Schulz presents Elevation - Somewhere

2005 Markus Schulz featuring Anita Kelsey - First Time

2005 Markus Schulz and Departure with Gabriel & Dresden - Without You Near

2006 Markus Schulz featuring Carrie Skipper - Never be the Same Again

2007 Markus Schulz vs. Chakra - I Am

2007 Markus Schulz - Fly to Colors

2007 Dakota - Amsterdam

2007 Dakota - Progression

2008 Dakota - Hypnotic

2008 Markus Schulz featuring Departure - Cause You Know

2008 Markus Schulz featuring Dauby – Perfect

2008 Markus Schulz vs. Andy Moor - Daydream

2008 Markus Schulz - The New World

2009 Dakota - Chinook

2009 Dakota - Johnny the Fox

2009 Dakota - Sin City

2009 Markus Schulz - Do You Dream

2009 Dakota - Roxy ’84

2009 Dakota - Koolhaus

2009 Dakota - Steel Libido

2009 Dakota - Mr. Cappuccino

2010 Markus Schulz featuring Khaz - Dark Heart Waiting

2010 Markus Schulz featuring Justine Suissa - Perception

2010 Markus Schulz - Rain

2010 Markus Schulz - Future Cities

2011 Dakota - Sinners

2011 Markus Schulz & Jochen Miller - Rotunda

2011 Dakota - Sleepwalkers

Remixes

1993 Sagat - Why Is It? Fuk Dat

1993 The Movement - Shake That

1994 Glenn "Sweet G" Toby - I Can Tell

1994 Sweet Sable - Old Times' Sake

1994 Transglobal Underground - Temple Head

1994 2 Unlimited - Throw The Groove Down

1994 Sandra Bernhard - You Make Me Feel

1995 Amber McFadden - Do You Want Me

1995 Truce - Pump It

1995 Real McCoy - Come And Get Your Love

1995 Bette Midler - To Deserve You

1995 Backstreet Boys - We've Got It Going On

1996 Lina Santiago - Feels So Good (Show Me Your Love)

1996 Backstreet Boys - Get Down (You're The One For Me)

1996 Technotronic - Move It To The Rhythm

1996 Madonna - Love Don't Live Here Anymore

1996 Liz Torres - Set Yourself Free

1996 Armand Van Helden - The Funk Phenomena

1996 James Newton Howard - Theme From ER

1996 Backstreet Boys - We've Got It Going On

1997 RuPaul - A Little Bit Of Love

1997 Groove Junkies -

1997 Poe - Hello

1997 e-N Feat. Ceevox - That Sound

1997 Tilly Lilly - Roller Coaster

1997 Electronic - Second Nature

1997 Blue Amazon - No Other Love

1997 LNR - Work It To The Bone

1998 Cynthia - If I Had The Chance

1998 Vertigo Deluxe - Out Of My Mind

1998 The B-52's - Debbie

1999 Everything But The Girl - Lullaby Of Clubland

1999 Dream Traveler - Time

2000 Himmel - Celebrate Life

2000 Masters Of Balance - Dreamworld

2000 Pablo Gargano - Eurogoal

2000 PQM - The Flying Song

2000 Aaron Lazarus - Your Time Will Come

2001 Pablo Gargano - Absolution

2001 Carissa Mondavi - Solid Ground

2001 Rouge - Jingalay

2001 Daniel Ash - Burning Man

2001 Fatboy Slim - Sunset (Bird Of Prey)

2001 Luzon - Manilla Sunrise

2001 Book Of Love - I Touch Roses

2002 Miro - By Your Side

2003 Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes

2003 Jewel - Intuition

2003 Karada - Last Flight

2003 Billy Paul Williams - So In Love

2003 Jewel - Stand

2004 Aly & Fila - Spirit Of Ka

2004 George Hales - Autumn Falls

2004 Solid Globe - Sahara

2004 Filterheadz - Yimanya

2004 Plastic Angel - Distorted Reality

2004 Clubbervision - Dream Off

2004 Kobbe & Austin Leeds - Fusing Love

2004 Airwave - Ladyblue

2004 Myth - Millionfold

2004 OceanLab - Satellite

2004 Piece Process - Solar Myth

2004 Space Manoeuvres - Stage One

2004 Deepsky - Talk Like A Stranger

2004 Whirlpool - Under The Sun

2004 Mark Otten – Tranquility

2005 Tomonari & Tommy Pi - C Sharp 2005

2005 Ridgewalkers - Find

2005 Departure - She Turns

2005 Nalin & Kane - Open Your Eyes (The Child You Are)

2006 Kyau & Albert - Are You Fine?

2006 Eluna - Severence

2006 Yoshimoto - Du What U Du

2007 Kamera - Lies

2007 Andrew Bennett - Menar

2007 Joop - The Future

2008 Destination X - Dangerous

2008 John O'Callaghan feat. Audrey Gallagher - Big Sky

2008 Rank 1 - Airwave

2008 Sia - Buttons

2008 Mike Foyle - Bittersweet Nightshade

2009 Dance 2 Trance - Power of American Natives

2009 Jester Music feat. Lavoie - Dressed In White

2009 Cosmic Gate - Sign Of The Times

2009 Ferry Corsten - Brain Box

2010 Cosmic Gate - The Drums

External links

Official Website

Markus Schulz Facebook Page

Markus Schulz MySpace Page

Markus Schulz Twitter Page

Markus Schulz YouTube Page

References

Category:Electronic music radio shows Category:German trance musicians Category:Remixers Category:Living people Category:Armada Music artists Category:1966 births

bg:Маркус Шулц cs:Markus Schulz de:Markus Schulz es:Markus Schulz fa:مارکوس شولتز fr:Markus Schulz it:Markus Schulz lt:Markus Schulz hu:Markus Schulz nl:Markus Schulz pl:Markus Schulz pt:Markus Schulz ru:Шульц, Маркус sl:Markus Schulz tr:Markus Schulz

honorific-prefix	The Honourable, C.D.
name	Usain Bolt
nickname	Lightning Bolt
honorific-suffix	OJ
nationality	Jamaican
sport	Track and field
event	100m, 200m, 400m, 4×100m
club	Racers Track Club
birth date	August 21, 1986
birth place	Trelawny, Jamaica
residence	Kingston, Jamaica
height
weight
pb	100m: 9.58 s (WR, Berlin 2009) 150m: 14.35 s (WB, Manchester 2009) 200m: 19.19 s (WR, Berlin 2009) 400m: 45.28 s (Kingston 2007)
medaltemplates	}}

}} The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. (; born 21 August 1986), is a Jamaican sprinter and a three-time World and Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and (along with his teammates) the 4×100 metres relay. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these three events.

Bolt distinguished himself with a 200 m gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, making him the competition's youngest-ever gold medalist. In 2004, at the CARIFTA Games, he became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in under 20 seconds with a time of 19.93 s, breaking the previous world junior record held by Roy Martin by two-tenths of a second. He turned professional in 2004, and although he competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he missed most of the next two seasons due to injuries. In 2007, he surpassed Don Quarrie's 200 m Jamaican record with a run of 19.75 s.

His 2008 season began with his first world record performance—a 100 m world record of 9.72 s—and culminated in world and Olympic records in both the 100 m and 200 m events at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. He ran 9.69 s for the 100 m and 19.30 s in the 200 m, and also set a 4×100 m relay record of 37.10 s with the Jamaican team. This made him the first man to win three sprinting events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man to set world records in all three at a single Olympics. The following year he further lowered his own 100 m and 200 m world records to 9.58 s and 19.19 s respectively at the 2009 World Championships. This made him the first man to hold both the 100 and 200 m world and Olympic titles at the same time.

His 2009 record breaking margin over 100 m is the highest since the start of digital time measurements. His achievements in sprinting have earned him the media nickname "Lightning Bolt", and awards including the ''IAAF World Athlete of the Year'', ''Track & Field Athlete of the Year'', and ''Laureus Sportsman of the Year''.

Early years

Bolt was born on 21 August 1986 in Sherwood Content, a small town in Trelawny, Jamaica, and grew up with his parents, Wellesley and Jennifer Bolt, his brother Sadeeki, and his sister Sherine. His parents ran the local grocery store in the rural area, and Bolt spent his time playing cricket and football in the street with his brother, later saying, "When I was young, I didn’t really think about anything other than sports".

As a child, he attended Waldensia Primary and All-age School, and it was here that he first began to show his sprinting potential, running in the annual national primary-schools' meeting for his parish. By the age of twelve, Bolt had become the school's fastest runner over the 100 metres distance.

Upon his entry to William Knibb Memorial High School, Bolt continued to focus on other sports, but his cricket coach noticed Bolt's speed on the pitch and urged him to try track and field events. Pablo McNeil, a former Olympic sprint athlete, and Dwayne Barrett coached Bolt, encouraging him to focus his energy on improving his athletic abilities. The school had a history of success in athletics with past students, including sprinter Michael Green. Bolt won his first annual high school championships medal in 2001, taking the silver medal in the 200 metres with a time of 22.04 seconds. McNeil soon became his primary coach, and the two enjoyed a positive partnership, although McNeil was occasionally frustrated by Bolt's lack of dedication to his training and his predisposition to practical jokes.

Early competitions

Performing for Jamaica in his first Caribbean regional event, Bolt clocked a personal best of 48.28 s in the 400 metres in the 2001 CARIFTA Games, winning a silver medal. The 200 m also yielded a silver as Bolt finished in 21.81 s.

He made his first appearance on the world stage at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. Running in the 200 m event, he failed to qualify for the finals, but he still set a new personal best of 21.73 s. Bolt still did not take athletics or himself too seriously, however, and he took his mischievousness to new heights by hiding in the back of a van when he was supposed to be preparing for the 200 m finals at the CARIFTA Trials. He was detained by the police for his practical joke, and there was an outcry from the local community, which blamed coach McNeil for the incident. However, the controversy subsided, and both McNeil and Bolt went to the CARIFTA Games, where Bolt set championship records in the 200 m and 400 m with times of 21.12 s and 47.33 s, respectively. He continued to set records with 20.61 s and 47.12 s finishes at the Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships.

Former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson recognised Bolt's talent and arranged for him to move to Kingston, along with Jermaine Gonzales, so he could train with the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association (JAAA) at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Rise to prominence

The 2002 World Junior Championships before a home crowd in Kingston, Jamaica, gave Bolt a chance to prove his credentials on the world stage. By the age of 15, he had grown to tall, and he physically stood out amongst his peers. He won the 200 m, in a time of 20.61 s, 0.03 seconds slower than his personal best of 20.58 s set in the 1st round. Bolt's 200 m win made him the youngest world-junior gold medalist ever. The expectation from the home crowd had made him so nervous that he had put his shoes on the wrong feet. However, it turned out to be a revelatory experience for Bolt as he vowed never again to let himself be affected by pre-race nerves. As a member of the Jamaican sprint relay team, he also took two silver medals and set national junior records in the 4×100 metres and 4×400 metres relay, running times of 39.15 s and 3:04.06 minutes respectively.

The flow of medals continued as he won another gold at the 2003 World Youth Championships. He set a new championship record in the 200 m with a time of 20.40 s, despite a 1.1 m/s head wind. Michael Johnson, the 200 m world-record holder, took note of Bolt's potential but worried that the young sprinter might be over-pressured, stating, "It's all about what he does three, four, five years down the line". Bolt had also impressed the athletics hierarchy, and he received the IAAF Rising Star Award for 2002.

Bolt turned his main focus to the 200 m and equalled Roy Martin's world junior record of 20.13 s at the Pan-American Junior Championships. This performance attracted interest from the press, and his times in the 200 m and 400 m led to him being touted as a possible successor to Johnson. Indeed, at sixteen years old, Bolt had reached times that Johnson did not register until he was twenty, and Bolt's 200 m time was superior to Maurice Greene's season's best that year.

In his final Jamaican High School Championships in 2003, he broke both the 200 m and 400 m records with times of 20.25 s and 45.30 s, respectively. Bolt's runs were a significant improvement upon the previous records, beating the 200 m best by more than half a second and the 400 m record by almost a second.

Bolt was growing more popular in his homeland. Howard Hamilton, who was given the task of Public Defender by the government, urged the JAAA to nurture him and prevent burnout, calling Bolt "the most phenomenal sprinter ever produced by this island". His popularity and the attractions of the capital city were beginning to be a burden to the young sprinter. Bolt was increasingly unfocused on his athletic career and preferred to eat fast food, play basketball, and party in Kingston's club scene. In the absence of a disciplined lifestyle, he became ever-more reliant on his natural ability to beat his competitors on the track.

As the reigning 200 m champion at both the World Youth and World Junior championships, Bolt hoped to take a clean sweep of the world 200 m championships in the Senior World Championships in Paris. Bolt beat all comers at the 200 m in the World Championship trials, but he was pragmatic about his chances and noted that, even if he did not make the final, he would consider setting a personal best a success. However, he suffered a bout of conjunctivitis before the event, and it ruined his training schedule. Realising he would not be in peak condition, the JAAA refused to let him participate in the finals on the grounds that he was too young and inexperienced. Bolt was dismayed at missing out on the opportunity, but focused on getting himself in shape to gain a place on the Jamaican Olympic team instead. Even though he missed the World Championships, Bolt was awarded the IAAF Rising Star Award for the 2003 season on the strength of his junior record-equalling run.

Professional athletics career

Under the guidance of new coach Fitz Coleman, Bolt turned professional in 2004, beginning with the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda. He became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in under twenty seconds, taking the world junior record outright with a time of 19.93 s. A hamstring injury in May ruined Bolt's chances of competing in the 2004 World Junior Championships, but he was still chosen for the Jamaican Olympic squad. Bolt headed to the 2004 Athens Olympics with confidence and a new record on his side. However, he was hampered by a leg injury and was eliminated in the first round of the 200 metres with a disappointing time of 21.05 s. American colleges offered Bolt track scholarships on the strength of his performances, but the teenager from Trelawny refused them all, stating that he was content to stay in his homeland of Jamaica. Bolt instead chose the surroundings of the University of Technology, Jamaica, as his professional training ground, staying with the university's primitive track and weight room that had served him well in his amateur years.

The year 2005 signalled a fresh start for Bolt in the form of a new coach, Glen Mills, and a new attitude to athletics. Mills recognised Bolt's potential and aimed to cease the sprinter's unprofessional approach to the sport. Bolt began training with Mills in preparation for the upcoming athletics season, partnering with more-seasoned sprinters such as Kim Collins and Dwain Chambers. The year began well, and in July he knocked more than a third of a second off the 200 m CAC Championship record with a run of 20.03 s, then registered his 200 m season's best at London's Crystal Palace, running in 19.99 s. Misfortune awaited Bolt at the next major event, the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. Bolt felt that both his work ethic and athleticism had much improved since the 2004 Olympics, and he saw the World Championships as a way to live up to expectations, stating, "I really want to make up for what happened in Athens. Hopefully, everything will fall into place". Bolt qualified with runs under 21 s, but he suffered an injury in the final, finishing in last place with a time of 26.27 s. Injuries were preventing him from completing a full professional athletics season, and the eighteen-year-old Bolt still had not proven his mettle in the major world-athletics competitions. Bolt was involved in a car accident in November, and although he suffered only minor facial lacerations, his training schedule was further upset. His manager, Norman Peart, made Bolt's training less intensive, and he had fully recuperated the following week. Bolt had continued to improve his performances, and he reached the world top-5 rankings in 2005 and 2006. Peart and Mills stated their intentions to push Bolt to do longer sprinting distances with the aim of making the 400 m event his primary event by 2007 or 2008. Bolt was less enthusiastic, and demanded that he feel comfortable in his sprinting. He suffered another hamstring injury in March 2006, forcing him to withdraw from the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and he did not return to track events until May. After his recovery, Bolt was given new training exercises to improve flexibility, and the plans to move him up to the 400 m event were put on hold.

Upon his return to competition, the 200 m remained his primary event, and he beat Justin Gatlin's meet record in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Bolt had aspired to run under twenty seconds to claim a season's best but, despite the fact that bad weather had impaired his run, he was happy to end the meeting with just the victory. However, a sub-20-second finish was soon his, as he set a new personal best of 19.88 s at the 2006 Athletissima Grand Prix in Lausanne, Switzerland, finishing behind Xavier Carter and Tyson Gay to earn a bronze medal. Bolt had focused his athletics aims, stating that 2006 was a year to gain experience. Also, he was more keen on competing over longer distances, setting his sights on running regularly in both 200 m and 400 m events within the next two years. Bolt claimed his first major world medal two months later at the IAAF World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany. He passed the finishing post with a time of 20.10 s, gaining a bronze medal in the process. The IAAF World Cup in Athens, Greece, yielded Bolt's first senior international silver medal. Wallace Spearmon from the United States won gold with a championship record time of 19.87 s, beating Bolt's respectable time of 19.96 s. Further 200 m honours on both the regional and international stages awaited Bolt in 2007. The young Jamaican yearned to run in the 100 metres, but coach Mills diverted his attention, stating that he could run the shorter distance if he broke the 200 m national record. In the Jamaican Championships, he ran 19.75 s in the 200 m, breaking the 36-year-old Jamaican record held by Don Quarrie by 0.11 s.

Mills complied with Bolt's demand to run in the 100 m, and he was entered to run the event at the 23rd Vardinoyiannia meeting in Rethymno, Crete. In his debut tournament run, he set a personal best of 10.03 s, winning the gold medal and feeding his enthusiasm for the event.

He built on this achievement at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan, winning a silver medal. Bolt recorded 19.91 s with a headwind of 0.8 m/s but this paled in comparison with Tyson Gay's time of 19.76 s, which set a new championship record.

The Jamaican national record fell when Bolt partnered with Asafa Powell, Marvin Anderson, and Nesta Carter in the 4×100 metres relay. However, their finish in 37.89 s was not enough to beat the Americans' time of 37.78 s. Bolt did not win any gold medals at the major tournaments in 2007, but Mills felt that Bolt's technique was much improved, pinpointing improvements in Bolt's balance at the turns over 200 m and an increase in his stride frequency, giving him more driving power on the track.

World-record breaker

The silver medals from the 2007 Osaka World Championships boosted Bolt's desire to run, and he took a more serious, more mature stance towards his career. Bolt continued to develop in the 100 m, and he entered to run in the event at the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston. On 3 May 2008, Bolt ran a time of 9.76 s, aided by a tail wind of 1.8 m/s, considerably improving upon his previous personal best of 10.03 s. This was the second-fastest legal performance in the history of the event; second only to compatriot Asafa Powell's 9.74 s record set the previous year in Rieti, Italy. Rival Tyson Gay lauded the performance, praising Bolt's form and technique especially. Michael Johnson, who was observing the race, said that he was shocked at how quickly he had improved over the 100 m distance. The Jamaican surprised even himself with the time, but coach Glen Mills remained confident that there was more to come.

Mills' prediction came true before the end of the month when Bolt established a new 100 m world record on 31 May 2008. Pushed on by a tail wind of 1.7 m/s, Bolt ran 9.72 s at the Reebok Grand Prix held in the Icahn Stadium in New York City, breaking Powell's record. The record time was even more remarkable in light of the fact that it was only his fifth senior run over the distance. Gay again finished second and commended Bolt's physical superiority, stating, "It looked like his knees were going past my face". Commentators noted that Bolt appeared to have gained a psychological advantage over fellow Olympic contender Gay.

In June 2008, Bolt responded to claims that he was a lazy athlete, saying that the comments were unjustified, and he trained hard to achieve his potential. However, he surmised that such comments stemmed from his lack of enthusiasm for the 400 metres event, and chose to not make the effort to train for distance running. Turning his efforts to the 200 m, Bolt proved that he could excel in multiple events—first setting the world-leading time in Ostrava, then breaking the national record for the second time with a 19.67 s finish in Athens, Greece. Although Mills still preferred that Bolt focus on the longer distances, the acceptance of Bolt's demand to run in the 100 m worked for both sprinter and trainer. Bolt was more focused in practice, and a training schedule to boost his top speed and his stamina, in preparation for the Olympics, had improved both his 100 m and 200 m times. His confidence was building, and he was sure that he would perform well in the upcoming Olympics.

2008 Summer Olympics

Bolt announced that he would double-up with the 100 metres and 200 metres events at the Beijing Summer Olympics, and the new 100 m world-record holder was the favourite to win both. Michael Johnson, the 200 m and 400 m record holder, personally backed the sprinter, saying that he did not believe that a lack of experience would work against him. Bolt qualified for the 100 m final with times of 9.92 s and 9.85 s in the quarter-finals and semifinals, respectively.

In the Olympic 100 m final, Bolt broke new ground, winning in 9.69 s (unofficially 9.683 s) with a reaction time of 0.165 s. This was an improvement upon his own world record, and he was well ahead of second-place finisher Richard Thompson, who finished in 9.89 s. Not only was the record set without a favourable wind (+0.0 m/s), but he also visibly slowed down to celebrate before he finished and his shoelace was untied. Bolt's coach reported that, based upon the speed of Bolt's opening 60 m, he could have finished with a time of 9.52 s. After scientific analysis of Bolt's run by the Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Oslo, Hans Eriksen and his colleagues also predicted a sub 9.60 s time. Considering factors such as Bolt's position, acceleration and velocity in comparison with second-place-finisher Thompson, the team estimated that Bolt could have finished in 9.55±0.04 s had he not slowed to celebrate before the finishing line.

Bolt stated that setting a record was not a priority for him, and that his goal was just to win the gold medal, Jamaica's first of the 2008 Games. Olympic medalist Kriss Akabusi construed Bolt's chest slapping before the finish line as showboating, noting that the actions cost Bolt an even faster record time. IOC president Jacques Rogge also condemned the Jamaican's actions as disrespectful. Bolt denied that this was the purpose of his celebration by saying, "I wasn't bragging. When I saw I wasn't covered, I was just happy". Lamine Diack, president of the IAAF, supported Bolt and said that his celebration was appropriate given the circumstances of his victory. Jamaican government minister Edmund Bartlett also defended Bolt's actions, stating, "We have to see it in the glory of their moment and give it to them. We have to allow the personality of youth to express itself".

Bolt then focused on attaining a gold medal in the 200 m event, aiming to emulate Carl Lewis' double win in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Michael Johnson felt that Bolt would easily win gold but believed that his own world record of 19.32 s set at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta would remain intact at the Olympics. Bolt eased through the first and second rounds of the 200 m, jogging towards the end of his run both times. He won his semifinal and progressed to the final as the favourite to win. Retired Jamaican sprinter Don Quarrie praised Bolt, saying he was confident that Johnson's record could be beaten. The following day, at the final, he won Jamaica's fourth gold of the Games, setting a new world and Olympic record of 19.30 s. Johnson's record fell despite the fact that Bolt was impeded by a 0.9 m/s headwind. The feat made him the first sprinter since Quarrie to hold both 100 m and 200 m world records simultaneously and the first since the introduction of electronic timing. Furthermore, Bolt became the first sprinter to break both records at the same Olympics. Unlike in the 100 m final, Bolt sprinted hard all the way to the finishing line in the 200 m race, even dipping his chest to improve his time. Following the race, "Happy Birthday" was played over the stadium's sound system as his 22nd birthday would begin at midnight.

Two days later, Bolt ran as the third leg in the Jamaican 4x100 metres relay team, increasing his gold medal total to three. Along with teammates Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, and Asafa Powell, Bolt broke another world and Olympic record, their 37.10 s finish breaking the previous record by three tenths of a second. Powell, who anchored the team to the finishing line, lamented the loss of his 100 m record to Bolt but showed no animosity towards his Jamaican rival, stating that he was delighted to help him set his third world record. Following his victories, Bolt donated US$50,000 to the children of the Sichuan province of China to help those harmed by the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Bolt's record-setting runs caused commentators not only to praise his achievements but also to speculate about his potential to become one of the most successful sprinters ever. Critics hailed his Olympic success as a new beginning for a sport that had long suffered through high-profile drug scandals. The previous six years had seen the BALCO scandal, Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin stripped of their 100 m world records, and Marion Jones returning three Olympic gold medals. All three sprinters were disqualified from athletics after drugs tests detected banned substances in their systems. Bolt's record-breaking performances caused suspicion among some commentators, including Victor Conte, and the lack of an independent Caribbean anti-doping federation raised more concerns. The accusations of drug use were vehemently rejected by Glen Mills (Bolt's coach) and Herb Elliott (the Jamaican athletics team doctor). Elliott, a member of the IAAF anti-doping commission, urged those concerned about the issue to "come down and see our programme, come down and see our testing, we have nothing to hide". Mills had been equally ardent that Bolt was a clean athlete, declaring to the ''Jamaica Gleaner'': "We will test any time, any day, any part of the body...[he] doesn't even like to take vitamins". Bolt stated that he had been tested four times prior to the Olympics, and all had tested negative for banned substances. He also welcomed anti-doping authorities to test him to prove that he was clean, stating, "We work hard and we perform well and we know we're clean".

}}

After the Olympics

The end of the 2008 athletics season saw Bolt compete in the ÅF Golden League, beginning in Weltklasse Zürich. Despite having the slowest start among his competitors in the 100 m race, he still crossed the finishing line in 9.83 s. Even though the time was slower than both his newly set world record and Asafa Powell's track record, it was still among the top-fifteen 100 m finishes by any sprinter to that date. Bolt admitted that he was not running at full strength, suffering from a cold, but he had concentrated on both winning the race and finishing the season in good health. At the Super Grand Prix final in Lausanne, Bolt ran his second-fastest 200 m with a time of 19.63 s, equalling Xavier Carter's track record. However, it was the 100 m final, featuring Asafa Powell, that drew the most interest. Powell had moved closer to Bolt's world record after setting a new personal best of 9.72 s, reaffirming his status as Bolt's main contender. Bolt's final event of the season came three days later at the Golden League final in Brussels. This was the first 100 m race featuring both Bolt and Powell since the final in the Olympics. Both Jamaicans broke the track record, but Bolt came out on top with a time of 9.77 s, beating Powell by 0.06 s. Victory, however, did not come as smoothly as it had in Beijing. Bolt made the slowest start of the nine competitors and had to recover ground in cold conditions and against a 0.9 m/s headwind. Yet the results confirmed Jamaican dominance in the 100 m, with nine of the ten-fastest legal times in history being recorded by either Bolt or Powell. On his return to Jamaica, Bolt was honoured in a homecoming celebration and received an Order of Distinction in recognition of his achievements at the Olympics.

He was selected as the IAAF Male Athlete of the year and won a Special Olympic Award for his performances. However, Bolt turned his attention to future events, suggesting that he could aim to break the 400 metres world record in 2010 as no major championships were scheduled that year.

2009 Berlin World Championships

Bolt started the season competing over 400 metres in order to improve his speed, winning two races and registering 45.54 s in Kingston, and windy conditions gave him his first sub-10 second finish of the season in the 100 m in March. In late April Bolt suffered minor leg injuries in a car crash. However, he quickly recovered following minor surgery and (after cancelling a track meet in Jamaica) he stated that he was fit to compete in the 150 metres street race at the Manchester Great City Games. Bolt won the race in 14.35 s, the fastest time ever recorded for 150 m. Despite not being at full fitness, he took the 100 and 200 m titles at the Jamaican national championships, with runs of 9.86 s and 20.25 s respectively. This meant he had qualified for both events at the 2009 World Championships. Rival Tyson Gay suggested that Bolt's 100 m record was within his grasp, but Bolt dismissed the claim and instead noted that he was more interested in Asafa Powell's return from injury. Bolt defied unfavourable conditions at the Athletissima meet in July, running 19.59 seconds into a 0.9 m/s headwind and rain, to record the fourth fastest time ever over 200 m, one hundredth off Gay's best time.

At the 2009 World Championships in August, Bolt eased through the 100 m heats, clocking the fastest ever pre-final performance of 9.89 seconds. The final was the first time Bolt and Gay had met in the season, and Bolt improved his world record with a time of 9.58 s to win his first World Championship gold medal. Gay finished with a time of 9.71 s, 0.02 s off Bolt's 9.69 s world-record run in Beijing. Taking over a tenth of a second off the previous best mark, this was the largest ever margin of improvement in the 100 m world record since the beginning of electronic timing.

Although Gay withdrew from the second race of the competition, the Jamaican once again produced world record-breaking form in the 200 metres final. He broke his own record by 0.11 seconds, finishing with a time of 19.19 seconds. He won the 200 m race by the biggest margin in World Championships history, even though the race had three other athletes running under 19.90 seconds, the greatest number ever in the event. Bolt's pace impressed even the more experienced of his competitors; third-placed Wallace Spearmon complimented his speed, and former Olympic champion Shawn Crawford said "Just coming out there...I felt like I was in a video game, that guy was moving – fast". Bolt pointed out that an important factor in his performance at the World Championships was his improved start to the races: his reaction times in the 100 m (0.146) and 200 m (0.133) were significantly faster than those he had produced in his world record runs at the Beijing Olympics. However, he, together with other members of Jamaican 4x100 m relay team, fell short of their own world record of 37.10 s set at 2008 Summer Olympics by timing 37.31 s, which is, however, a championship record and the second fastest time in history at that date.

On the last day of the Berlin Championships, the governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, presented Bolt with a 12-foot high section of the Berlin Wall in a small ceremony, saying Bolt had shown that “one can tear down walls that had been considered as insurmountable.” The nearly three-ton segment will be delivered to Bolt's training camp in Jamaica.

Several days after Bolt broke the world records in 100 and 200 metres events, Mike Powell, the world record holder in long jump (8.95 metres set in 1991) argued that Bolt could become the first man to jump over 9 metres, the long jump event being "a perfect fit for his speed and height". At the end of the season he was selected as the IAAF World Athlete of the Year for the second year running.

2010: Diamond League and broken streak

Early on in the 2010 outdoor season, Bolt ran 19.56 seconds in the 200 m in Kingston, Jamaica for the fourth-fastest run of all-time, although he stated that he had no record breaking ambitions for the forthcoming season. He took to the international circuit May with wins in East Asia at the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting and then a comfortable win in his 2010 IAAF Diamond League debut at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. Bolt made an attempt to break Michael Johnson's best time over the rarely competed 300 metres event at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava. He failed to match Johnson's ten-year-old record of 30.85 and suffered a setback in that his 30.97-second run in wet weather had left him with an Achilles tendon problem.

On his return from injury a month later, he asserted himself with a 100 m win at the Athletissima meeting in Lausanne (9.82 seconds) and a victory over Asafa Powell at Meeting Areva in Paris (9.84 seconds). Despite this run of form, he suffered only the second loss of his career in a 100 m final at the DN Galan. Tyson Gay soundly defeated him with a run of 9.84 to Bolt's 9.97 seconds, and the Jamaican reflected that he had slacked off in training early in the season while Gay had been better prepared and in a better condition. This marked Bolt's first loss to Gay over 100 m, which coincidentally occurred in the same stadium where Powell had beaten Bolt for the first time two years earlier.

2011 Daegu World Championships

Considered the overwhelming favourite to win in the 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, Bolt was eliminated from the final for a false start. Usain Bolt's countryman, Yohan Blake won in a season best of 9.92 seconds.

Personal life

Bolt expresses a love for dancing and his character is frequently described as laid-back and relaxed. Bolt's Jamaican track and field idols include Herb McKenley and former Jamaican 100 m 200 m world record holder, Don Quarrie. Michael Johnson, the former 200 m world and Olympic record holder, is also held in high esteem by Bolt. The first sport to interest him was cricket and he said if he was not a sprinter he would be a fast bowler instead. As a child he was a supporter of Pakistan and admired the bowling of Waqar Younis. He is also a fan of Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, West Indian opener Chris Gayle and Australian opener Matthew Hayden. During a charity cricket match Bolt clean bowled West Indies captain and legendary batsman Chris Gayle. Gayle was complimentary of Bolt's pace and swing. Bolt also whacked a six as he showed off his batting skills as well. The six came off Chris Gayle's bowling. Another bowler complimentary of Bolt's pace was former West Indies fast-bowling great Curtly Ambrose. Bolt has also expressed his love for football and is a fan of Manchester United as well as Real Madrid. Bolt has also declared he is a fan of Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. Following a race in Manchester, he met the team at their training ground and offered Portuguese national Cristiano Ronaldo some sprinting advice. Bolt was a special guest of Manchester United at the 2011 UEFA Champions League final in London, where he stated he'd like to play for them after he retires.

In 2010, he also revealed his fondness of music, when he played a reggae DJ set to a crowd in Paris.

After winning the 200 m title in the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, Bolt signed a sponsorship deal with Puma. To promote Bolt's chase for Olympic glory in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, Puma released a series of videos including Bolt's then-world-record-setting run in Icahn Stadium and his Olympic preparations. After his world record breaking run in New York City, which was preceded by a lightning storm, the press frequently made puns on the Jamaican's name, nicknaming him "Lightning Bolt" and the "Bolt from the blue". During the Beijing 2008 100 m final, Bolt wore golden Puma Complete Theseus spikes that had "Beijing 100 m Gold" emblazoned across them. His athletics agent is PACE Sports Management.

In 2010, Bolt signed a lucrative publishing deal with HarperCollins for an autobiography, which was negotiated by Chris Nathaniel of NVA Management. This is scheduled for release in 2012. During a press conference in Paris on 15 July 2010, Bolt declined any comment on what would be contained within the book saying, "you can't really give away anything in your book ... should be exciting, it's my life, and I'm a cool and exciting guy".

Recognition

As a result of Bolt's successes in athletics, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 2009 and 2010.

IAAF World Athlete of the Year: 2008, 2009

Track & Field Athlete of the Year: 2008, 2009

Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: 2009, 2010

BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year: 2008, 2009

Statistics

}}

Personal bests

!Event	!Time (seconds)	!Venue	!Date	!Records	!Notes
100 metres	9.58	Berlin, Germany	16 August 2009
150 metres	14.35	Manchester, United Kingdom	17 May 2009	World best	He ran the last 100 m in 8.70, the fastest ever recorded time over a 100 m distance. This would equal an average speed of 41.38 km/h.
	19.19	Berlin, Germany	20 August 2009
300 metres	30.97	Ostrava, Czech Republic	27 May 2010		This is the second fastest time, behind Michael Johnson's 30.85.
400 metres	45.28		5 May 2007
	37.10	Beijing, China			Shared with Asafa Powell, Michael Frater and Nesta Carter. Also holds the second fastest time with 37.31.

Records

Bolt's personal best of 9.58 seconds in the 100 metres is the fastest ever legal time. Bolt also holds the second fastest time of 9.69 seconds (more precisely 9.683), the current Olympic record. Tyson Gay recorded a time of 9.68 s at the 2008 US Olympic Trials, but was aided with a tail wind of 4.1 m/s, exceeding the legal limit of 2.0 m/s set by the IAAF and nullifying its inclusion as a world record. Obadele Thompson's run of 9.69 s in 1996 is also not recognised as it was aided by a 5.0 m/s tail wind.

Bolt's personal best of 19.19 s in the 200 metres is the world record. This was recorded at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin against a headwind of −0.3 m/s. He has also broken the Olympic record with a time of 19.30 s (more precisely 19.296 s)

The Jamaican relay team including Bolt, set the 4x100 metres world and Olympic records at the 2008 Olympics with a time of 37.10 seconds. This is the only run in the IAAF top ten performances which was not set by an American team.

Bolt also holds the 200 metres world teenage best results for the age categories 15 (20.58 s), 16 (20.13 s, world youth record), 17 (19.93 s) and 18 (19.93 s, world junior record). He also holds the 150 metres world best set in 2009, during which he ran the last 100 metres in 8.70 seconds, the quickest timed 100 metres ever.

Average speed

From his record time of 9.58 s for the 100 m sprint Usain Bolt's average ground speed equates to: 37.58 km/h or 23.35 mph. However, once his reaction time of 0.15 s is subtracted, his time is closer to 9.43 s, making his average speed closer to 38.18 km/h or 23.72 mph.

Honours

{| |- |rowspan=3|2002 |rowspan=3|World Junior Championships |rowspan=3|Kingston, Jamaica | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 m |20.61 |- | style="background:silver;"| 2nd |4×100 m relay |39.15 NJR |- | style="background:silver;"| 2nd |4×400 m relay |3:04.06 NJR |- |2003 |World Youth Championships |Sherbrooke, Canada | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 m |20.40 |- |rowspan=2|2003 |rowspan=2|Pan American Junior Championships |rowspan=2|Bridgetown, Barbados | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 m |20.13 WYB |- | style="background:silver;"| 2nd |4×100 m relay |39.40 |- |2004 |CARIFTA Games |Hamilton, Bermuda | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 m |19.93 WJR |- |2005 |Central American and Caribbean Championships |Nassau, Bahamas | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 m |20.03 |- |2006 |World Athletics Final |Stuttgart, Germany | style="background:#c96;"| 3rd |200 m |20.10 |- |2006 |IAAF World Cup |Athens, Greece | style="background:silver;"| 2nd |200 m |19.96 |- |2007 |World Championships |Osaka, Japan | style="background:silver;"| 2nd |200 metres |19.91 |- |2008 |Reebok Grand Prix |New York City, United States | style="background:gold;"| 1st |100 m |9.72 |- |rowspan=3|2008 |rowspan=3|Olympic Games |rowspan=3|Beijing, China | style="background:gold;"| 1st |100 metres |9.69 |- | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 metres |19.30 |- | style="background:gold;"| 1st |4×100 metres relay |37.10 |- |rowspan=3|2009 |rowspan=3|World Championships |rowspan=3|Berlin, Germany | style="background:gold;"| 1st |100 metres |9.58 |- | style="background:gold;"| 1st |200 metres |19.19 |- | style="background:gold;"| 1st |4×100 metres relay |37.31 CR |}

See also

Men's 100 metres world record progression

Men's 200 metres world record progression

List of multiple Olympic gold medalists

List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games

Athletics in Jamaica

Jamaica at the Olympics

References

External links

Official website

Usain Bolt timeline via ''The Daily Telegraph''

Lightning Strikes Twice – slideshow by ''The First Post''

Asafa Powell}} |- |- Tyson Gay}} David Rudisha}} |- |- Roger Federer}} Rafael Nadal}} |- |- |- Asafa Powell}} Tyson Gay}} Tyson Gay}}

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1986 births Category:Living people Category:Male sprinters Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:Jamaican sprinters Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:Olympic athletes of Jamaica Category:Olympic gold medalists for Jamaica Category:People from Trelawny Parish Category:World record holders in athletics (track and field) Category:Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)

ar:يوسين بولت az:Useyn Bolt be:Усэйн Болт be-x-old:Усэйн Болт bs:Usain Bolt br:Usain Bolt bg:Юсейн Болт ca:Usain Bolt cs:Usain Bolt cy:Usain Bolt da:Usain Bolt de:Usain Bolt et:Usain Bolt el:Γιουσέιν Μπολτ es:Usain Bolt eo:Usain Bolt eu:Usain Bolt fa:اوسین بولت fr:Usain Bolt ga:Usain Bolt gl:Usain Bolt ki:Usain Bolt gu:યુસૈન બોલ્ટ ko:우사인 볼트 hi:उसैन बोल्ट hr:Usain Bolt id:Usain Bolt is:Usain Bolt it:Usain Bolt he:יוסיין בולט kn:ಯುಸೈನ್ ಬೋಲ್ಟ್ ka:უსაინ ბოლტი sw:Usain Bolt ht:Usain Bolt la:Usain Bolt lv:Useins Bolts lt:Usain Bolt hu:Usain Bolt mk:Јусејн Болт ml:ഉസൈൻ ബോൾട്ട് mr:युसेन बोल्ट ms:Usain Bolt mn:Усэйн Болт nl:Usain Bolt ja:ウサイン・ボルト no:Usain Bolt nn:Usain Bolt oc:Usain Bolt pl:Usain Bolt pt:Usain Bolt ro:Usain Bolt ru:Болт, Усэйн sc:Usain Bolt sq:Usain Bolt scn:Usain Bolt simple:Usain Bolt sk:Usain Bolt sl:Usain Bolt szl:Usain Bolt sr:Јусејн Болт sh:Usain Bolt fi:Usain Bolt sv:Usain Bolt tl:Usain Bolt ta:உசேன் போல்ட் te:ఉసేన్ బోల్ట్ th:ยูเซน โบลต์ tr:Usain Bolt uk:Усейн Болт vi:Usain Bolt wa:Usain Bolt yo:Usain Bolt zh:尤塞恩·博尔特

Jonathan Mendelsohn is the director of general election resources for the British Labour Party. He had previously been a spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company PartyGaming. He is the former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.

With Neal Lawson and Ben Lucas, he founded LLM Communications in 1997, a lobbying firm with notable access to the new Labour Government.

He had written to controversial Labour donor David Abrahams claiming he was one of Labour's "strongest supporters". In 1998 he was caught on tape along with Derek Draper boasting to Greg Palast, an undercover reporter posing as a businessman, about how they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients in a scandal that was dubbed "Lobbygate". Draper denied the allegations. In the same incident Mendelsohn was approached by an undercover journalist posing as a representative of American energy companies who were seeking to ignore environmental laws. Despite LLM's claim that "we believe that there will be a new breed of 'ethical winners' who will demonstrate that businesses no longer operate in a moral vacuum", Mendelsohn went on to advise the reporter to rephrase their plans into language that sounded "Earth-Friendly" going on to say "Tony [Blair] is very anxious to be seen as green. Everything has to be couched in environmental language - even if it's slightly Orwellian."

He donated money to the Peter Hain Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.

According to the Daily Telegraph, "Mr Mendelsohn is steeped in the north London Jewish community. He is a close friend of Lord Levy, who was at the heart of Labour’s cash for peerages affair."

He is married with four children. His wife, Nicola, was formerly deputy chairman of the advertising agency Grey London, he is also known to be well respected within his community and is generally a very liked man .

References

Category:Living people Category:Labour Party (UK) officials Category:British Jews Category:British lobbyists Category:Year of birth missing (living people)