Part of a series on theHistory of Berlin
Margraviate of Brandenburg (1157–1806)
Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918)
German Empire (1871–1918)
Free State of Prussia (1918–1947)
Weimar Republic (1919–1933)
1920s Berlin
Greater Berlin Act
Nazi Germany (1933–1945)
Welthauptstadt Germania
Bombing of Berlin in World War II
Battle of Berlin
West Germany and East Germany (1945–1990)
West Berlin and East Berlin
Berlin Wall
Berlin Blockade (1948–1949)
Berlin Crisis of 1961
"Ich bin ein Berliner" (1963)
"Tear Down This Wall" (1987)
Federal Republic of Germany (1990–present)
History of Germany and History of Europe
See also
Timeline of Berlin vt
The history of Berlin starts with its foundation in the 13th century. It became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1417, and later of Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia grew rapidly in the 18th and 19th century, and formed the basis of the German Empire in 1871. After 1900 Berlin became a major world city, known for its leadership roles in science, the humanities, music, museums, higher education, government, diplomacy and military affairs.  It also had a role in manufacturing and finance. During World War II, it was virtually destroyed by bombing, artillery, and ferocious street-by-street fighting. It was split between the victors, and lost its world leadership roles.  With the reunification of Germany in 1990, Berlin was restored as a capital and as a major world city.
Etymology

The origin of the name Berlin is uncertain. It may have roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp").[1] Folk etymology connects the name to the German word for bear, Bär. A bear also appears in the coat of arms of the city.[2] Also Albrecht der Bär may have given its name.
Prehistory
The oldest human traces, mainly arrowheads, in the area of later Berlin are dating to the 9th millennium BC. During neolithic times a large number of villages existed in the area. During the Bronze Age it belonged to the Lusatian culture. For the time around 500 BC the presence of Germanic tribes can be evidenced for the first time in form of a number of villages in the higher situated areas of today's Berlin. After the Semnones left around 200 AD, the Burgundians followed. A large part of the Germanic tribes left the region around 500 AD.
In the 6th century Slavic tribes, the later known Hevelli and Sprevane, reached the region. Today their traces can mainly be found at plateaus or next to waters. Their main settlements were today's Spandau and Köpenick. No Slavic traces could be found in the city center of Berlin.[3]
Emerging city  (1100 – 1400)
In the 12th century the region came under German rule as part of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, founded by Albert the Bear in 1157. At the end of the 12th century German merchants founded the first settlements in today's city center, called Berlin around modern Nikolaiviertel and Cölln, on the island in the Spree now known as the Spreeinsel or Museum Island. It is not clear which settlement is older and when they got German town rights. Berlin is mentioned as a town for the first time in 1251 and Cölln in 1261.
The year 1237 was later taken as the year of founding. Afterwards the two settlements merged into the town of Berlin-Cölln; they formally merged in 1432.[4] Albert the Bear also bequeathed to Berlin the emblem of the bear, which has appeared on its coat of arms ever since.  By the year 1400 Berlin and Cölln had 8,000 inhabitants.  A great town center fire in 1380 damaged most written records of those early years, as did the great devastation of the Thirty Years War 1618-1648.[5]
Margraviate of Brandenburg (1400 – 1700)

In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. Subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and finally as German emperors. When Berlin became the residence of the Hohenzollerns, it had to give up its Hanseatic League free city status. Its main economical activity changed from trade to the production of luxurious goods for the court.
1443 to 1451: The first Berliner Stadtschloss was built on the embankment of the river Spree.
At that time Berlin-Cölln had about 8,000 inhabitants. Population figures rose fast, leading to poverty.
1448: The inhabitants of Berlin rebelled in the "Berlin Indignation" against the construction of a new royal palace by Elector Frederick II Irontooth. This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges.
1451: Berlin became the royal residence of the Brandenburg electors, and Berlin had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city.
In 1510 100 Jews were accused of stealing and desecrating hosts. 38 of them were burned to death; others were banished, losing their possessions, only to be returned by later margraves.
1530: The Tiergarten park began when Elector Joachim I donated the property for use as a royal game preserve; it was opened to the public in the mid-17th century; it ceased being a hunting park in 1740 when the job of redesigning it in the English landscape style began.[6]
1539: The electors and Berlin officially became Lutheran.
1540: Joachim II introduced the Protestant Reformation in Brandenburg and secularized church possessions. He used the money to pay for his projects, like building an avenue, the Kurfürstendamm, between his hunting castle Grunewald and his palace, the Berliner Stadtschloss.
1576, Bubonic plague killed about 6,000 people in the city.
Around 1600: Berlin-Cölln had 12,000 inhabitants.
1618 to 1648: The Thirty Years' War had devastating consequences for Berlin. A third of the houses were damaged, and the city lost half of its population.
1640: Frederick William, known as the “Great Elector”,  succeeded his father George William as Elector of Brandenburg. Later he initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious toleration. Over the following decades, Berlin expanded greatly in area and population with the founding of the new suburbs of Friedrichswerder and Dorotheenstadt. During his government Berlin reached 20,000 inhabitants and became significant among the cities in Central Europe for the first time. He also developed a standing army
1647: The boulevard Unter den Linden with six rows of trees was laid down between the Tiergarten park and the Palace.
1671: Fifty Jewish families from Austria were given a home in Berlin. With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William invited the French Calvinist Huguenots to Brandenburg. More than 15,000 Huguenots came, of whom 6,000 settled in Berlin. By 1687 they comprise 20% of the population, and many were bankers, industrialists and investors.[7]
1674 and after: The Dorotheenstadt was built in a bow of the river Spree, north-west of the Spreeinsel (Spree Island), where the Palace was situated.
1688 and after: The Friedrichstadt was built and settled.
Around 1700: Many refugees from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg had arrived.
Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1871)

In 1701, Elector Frederick III (1688–1701) crowned himself as Frederick I (1701–1713), King in Prussia. He was mostly interested in decorum: he ordered the building of the castle Charlottenburg in the west of the city.[8]  He made Berlin the capital of the new kingdom of Prussia.
1709: Berlin counted 55,000 inhabitants, of whom 5,000 served in the Prussian Army. Cölln and Berlin were finally unified under the name of Berlin, including the suburbs of Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt, with 60,000 inhabitants. Berlin and Cölln are on both sides of the river Spree, in today's Mitte borough.
On 1 January 1710, the cities of Berlin, Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt, and Friedrichstadt were united as the “Royal Capital and Residence of Berlin”.
Prussian capital
As Prussia grew, so too did Berlin, and the Kings made it the centerpiece of culture and the arts, as well as the Army.  Under King Friedrich Wilhelm I (reigned 1713–40), Berlin’s growth was encouraged by his determination to build a great military power. More men were needed, so he promoted immigration of Protestants from across Germany as well as France and Switzerland. He introduced universal primary education so that his soldiers could read and write. In 1720 he built the city’s first major hospital and medical school, the Charité, now the largest teaching hospital in Europe. The city was now mainly a garrison and an armoury, for the crown heavily subsidised arms manufacturers in the capital, laying the foundations for the mechanics, engineers, technicians, and entrepreneurs who were to turn Berlin into an industrial powerhouse. The old defensive walls and moats were now useless, so they were turned down. A new customs wall (the Zoll- und Akzisemauer) was built further out, punctuated by 14 ornate gates. Inside the gates were parade grounds for Friedrich Wilhelm’s soldiers: the Karree at the Brandenburg gate (now Pariserplatz), the Oktagon at the Potsdam gate (now Leipzigerplatz), the Wilhelmplatz on Wilhelmstrasse (abolished in the 1980s) and several others.
In 1740, Frederick the Great (Frederick II)  began his 46-year reign.  He was an enlightened monarch, who patronized Enlightenment thinkers like Moses Mendelssohn. By 1755 the population reached 100,000, including 26,000 soldiers.
Stagnation followed under the rule of Frederick William II, 1786-97 He had no use for the Enlightenment, but did develop innovative techniques of censorship and repression of political enemies.

1806: French troops marched into Berlin. Berlin was granted self-government and a far reaching military reform was started.
1809: The first elections for the Berlin parliament took place, in which only the well-to-do could vote.
1810: The Berlin University (now the Humboldt University) was founded. Its first rector was the philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte.
1812: Jews were allowed to practice all occupations.
1814: The French were defeated in the Sixth Coalition. Economically the city was in good shape. The population grew from 200,000 to 400,000 in the first half of the 19th century, making Berlin the fourth-largest city in Europe.
1815: Battle of Waterloo with Prussian troops from Potsdam and Berlin participating. Berlin becomes part of the Province of Brandenburg.
1827: Berlin is the capital of the Province of Brandenburg from 1827-1843.
1848: As in other European cities, 1848 was a revolutionary year in Berlin. Frederick William IV (1840–1861) managed to suppress the revolution. One of his reactions was to raise the income condition to partake in the elections, with the result that only 5% of the citizens could vote. This system would stay in place until 1918.
1861: Wilhelm I (1861–1888) became the new king. In the beginning of his reign there was hope for liberalization. He appointed liberal ministers and built the city hall, Das Rote Rathaus. The appointment of Otto von Bismarck ended these hopes.
Economic growth

Prussian mercantilist policies supported manufacturing enterprises and Berlin had numerous small workshops. Lacking waterpower, Berlin entrepreneurs were early pioneers in the use of steam engines after 1815.  Textiles, clothing, farm equipment, railway gear, chemicals and machinery were especially important; electrical machinery became important after 1880.
Berlin's central position after 1850 in the fast-growing German railway network facilitated the supply of raw materials and distribution of manufactures. As the administrative role of the Prussian state grew, so did the highly efficient, well-trained civil service.  The bureaucracy and military expanded even faster when Berlin became the capital of unified Germany in 1871. the population grew rapidly, from 172,000 in 1800, to 826,000 in 1870. In 1861, outlying industrial suburbs such as Wedding, Moabit, and several others were incorporated into the city.
Religion
By 1900 about 85% of the people were classified as Protestants, 10% as Roman Catholics and 5% as Jews.  Berlin's middle and upper classes were generally devout Protestants. The working classes increasingly became secularized. When workers moved to Berlin the Protestants among them largely abandoned the religious practices of their old villages. The labor unions promoted anticlericalism, and denounced the Protestant churches as aloof from the needs of the working class. However, the Catholic workers remained somewhat closer to their traditional churches, which featured liturgies that were more appealing to workers than wordy intellectual sermons at the Protestant churches.  Adult attendance at Sunday church services in the early 20th century was 6% in Berlin, compared to 22% in London and 37% in New York.[9]
Berlin Romanticism
The phase of German Romanticism after Jena Romanticism is often called Berlin Romanticism (see also Heidelberg Romanticism). Notable representatives of the movement include Friedrich Schleiermacher, Wilhelm von Humboldt and Alexander von Humboldt.[10]
German Empire (1871–1918)
Imperial capital
After the quick victory of an alliance of German states over France in the 1870 war, the German Empire was established in 1871. Bismarck had fought and succeeded in leaving out Austria, Prussia's long standing competitor, and Prussia became the largest and by far most influential state in the new German Empire, and in turn Germany became the most powerful nation in Europe. Wilhelm I became emperor ("Kaiser"). Bismarck became Chancellor and made Berlin the center of European power politics. The imperial government and the military establishment expanded dramatically, bringing together the landed junker nobility, the rich bankers and industrialists, and the most talented scientists and scholars. In 1884 came the parliament building, the Reichstag.[11] Municipal government was handled in two parts.  The ministry of police reported to the Prussian government and took control of crime, markets, and fire fighting. The civil government had a mayor appointed by the city council. It comprised 144 members elected  in 48 wards by universal manhood suffrage.  It handled the water supply and sanitation, streets, hospitals and charitable operations and schools.[12]

In 1870, the sanitary conditions in Berlin were among the worst in Europe.  August Bebel recalled conditions before a modern sewer system was built in the late 1870s:
"Waste-water from the houses collected in the gutters running alongside the curbs and emitted a truly fearsome smell. There were no public toilets in the streets or squares. Visitors, especially women, often became desperate when nature called. In the public buildings the sanitary facilities were unbelievably primitive....As a metropolis, Berlin did not emerge from a state of barbarism into civilization until after 1870."[13]

The primitive conditions were intolerable for a world national capital, and the Imperial government brought in its scientists, engineers and urban planners to not only solve the deficiencies but to forge the world's model city.  A British expert in 1906 concluded that Berlin represented "the most complete application of science, order and method of public life," adding "it is a marvel of civic administration, the most modern and most perfectly organized city that there is."[14]
In the meantime, Berlin had become an industrial city with 800,000 inhabitants. Improvements to the infrastructure were needed; in 1896 the construction of the subway (U-Bahn) began and was completed in 1902. The neighborhoods around the city center (including Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Wedding) were filled with tenement blocks. The surroundings saw extensive development of industrial areas East of Berlin and wealthy residential areas in the South-West.
In terms of high culture, museums were being built and enlarged, and Berlin was on the verge of becoming a major musical city. Berlin dominated the German theater scene, with the government-supported Opernhaus and Schauspielhaus, as well as numerous private playhouses included the Lessing and the Deutsches theatres. They featured the modern plays of Ernst von Wildenbruch, Hermann Sudermann, and Gerhart Hauptmann. who managed to work around the puritanical censorship imposed by the Berlin police.[15]
Labour unions
Berlin, with its large numbers of industrial workers by 1871 became the headquarters for most of the national labor organizations, and the favorite meeting place for labor intellectuals. inside the city, the unions had a turbulent history.  The conservative aftermath of the Revolution of 1848 drained their strength, and internal bickering was characteristic of the 1850s and 1860s. Many locals were under the control of reformist, bourgeois leaders who competed with each other and had a negative view of Marxism and socialist internationalist. They concentrated on wages, hours and control the workplace, and gave little support to nationalist organizations such as the Allgemeine Deutsche Arbeiterverein (ADAV) founded in 1863. By the 1870s, however, the Lassallean ADAV finally gained strength; it joined together with the Social Democratic Worker's Party (SDAP) in 1874. Henceforth the city's labor movement supported radical socialism and gained preeminence within the German labor movement. Germany had universal manhood suffrage after 1871, but the government was controlled by hostile forces, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck tried to undermine or destroy the union movement.[16]
First World War
The "spirit of 1914" was the overwhelming, enthusiastic support of all elements of the population for war in 1914.  In the Reichstag, the vote for credits was unanimous, with all the Socialists joining in.  One professor testified to a "great single feeling of moral elevation of soaring of religious sentiment, in short, the ascent of a whole people to the heights."[17] At the same time, there was a level of anxiety; most commentators predicted the short victorious war– but that hope was dashed in a matter of weeks, as the invasion of Belgium bogged down and the French Army held in front of Paris. The Western Front became a killing machine, as neither army moved more than a ten thousand yards at a time. There had been no preparations before the war, and no stockpiles of essential goods. Industry was in chaos, unemployment soared while it took months to reconvert to munitions productions.  In 1916, the Hindenburg Program called for the mobilization of all economic resources to produce artillery, shells, and machine guns.  Church bells and copper roofs were ripped out and melted down.[18]
Conditions on the homefront worsened month by month, for the British blockade of Germany cut off supplies of essential raw materials and foodstuffs, while the conscription of so many farmers (and horses) reduced the food supply. Likewise, the drafting of miners reduced the main energy source, coal. the textile factories produced Army uniforms, and warm clothing for civilians ran short.  The device of using ersatz materials, such as paper  and cardboard for cloth and leather proved unsatisfactory.  Soap was in short supply, as was hot water.
Morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink but using the slogan of "sharing scarcity" the Berlin bureaucracy ran an efficient rationing system nevertheless.[19] The food supply increasingly focused on potatoes and bread as it was harder and harder to buy meat. Rationing was installed, and soup kitchens were opened. The meat ration in late 1916 was only 31% of peacetime, and it fell to 12% in late 1918.  The fish ration was 51% in 1916, and none at all by late 1917. The rations for cheese, butter, rice, cereals, eggs and lard were less than 20% of peacetime levels.[20]  In 1917 the harvest was poor, and the potato supply ran short, and Germans substituted almost inedible turnips; the "turnip winter" of 1917-18 was remembered with bitter distaste for generations.[21]
German women were not employed in the Army, but large numbers took paid employment in industry and factories, and even larger numbers engaged in volunteer services.  Housewives were taught how to cook without milk, eggs or fat; agencies helped widows find work.  Banks, insurance companies and government offices for the first time hired women for clerical positions.  Factories hired them for unskilled labor– by December 1917, half the workers in chemicals, metals, and machine tools were women.  Laws protecting women in the workplace were relaxed, and factories set up canteens to provide food for their workers, lest their productivity fall off. The food situation in 1918 was better, because the harvest was better, but serious shortages continued, with high prices, and a complete lack of condiments and fresh fruit. Many migrants had flocked into Berlin to work in industry and the government ministries, which made for overcrowded housing. Reduced coal supplies left everyone in the cold. Daily life involved long working hours, poor health, and little or no recreation, as well as increasing anxiety for the safety of loved ones in the Army and in prisoner of war camps.  The men who returned from the front were those who had been permanently crippled; wounded soldiers who recovered were sent back to the trenches.[22]
Weimar Republic (1918–1933)

At the end of World War I, monarchy and aristocracy was overthrown and Germany became a republic, known as the Weimar Republic. Berlin remained the capital, but faced a series of threats from the far left and far right.
In late 1918 politicians inspired by the Communist Revolution in Russia founded the Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, KPD). In January 1919 it tried to seize power in the Spartacist revolt). The coup failed and at the end of the month right-wing Freikorps forces killed the Communist leaders Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.
In March 1920 Wolfgang Kapp, founder of the right wing German Fatherland Party (Deutsche Vaterlands-Partei), tried to bring down the government. The Berlin garrison chose his side, and the government buildings were occupied (the government had already left Berlin). A general strike stopped the putsch being successful.
In October 1, 1920: The Greater Berlin Act created "Greater Berlin" (Groß-Berlin) by incorporating several neighboring towns and villages like Charlottenburg, Köpenick or Spandau from the Province of Brandenburg into the city; Berlin's population doubled overnight from about 2 to nearly 4 million inhabitants.
In 1922: The foreign minister Walther Rathenau was murdered in Berlin, and half a million people attended his funeral.
The economic situation was bad. Germany owed reparation money after the Treaty of Versailles. The sums were reduced and paid using loans from New York banks.  In response to French occupation, the government reacted by printing so much money that inflation was enormous. Especially pensioners lost their savings; everyone else lost their debts. At the worst point of the inflation one dollar was worth about 4.2 trillion marks. From 1924 onwards the situation became better because of newly arranged agreements with the allied forces, American help, and a sounder fiscal policy. The heyday of Berlin began. It became the largest industrial city of the continent. People like the architect Walter Gropius, physicist Albert Einstein, painter George Grosz and writers Arnold Zweig, Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Tucholsky made Berlin one of the major cultural centers of Europe. Brecht spent his last years in the Weimar-era Berlin (1930–1933) working with his ‘collective’ on the Lehrstücke. Night life bloomed in 1920s Berlin.
In 1922, the railway system, that connected Berlin to its neighboring cities and villages was electrified and transformed into the S-Bahn, and a year later Tempelhof airport was opened. Berlin was the second biggest inland harbor of the country. All this infrastructure was needed to transport and feed the over 4 million Berliners.
Before the 1929 crash, 450,000 people were unemployed. In the same year Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party won its first seats in the city parliament. Nazi Propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels became Gauleiter (party district leader) of Berlin in 1926. On July 20, 1932, the Prussian government under Otto Braun in Berlin was dismissed by presidential decree. The republic was nearing its breakdown, under attack by extreme forces from the right and the left. On January 30, 1933, Hitler became Chancellor of Germany.
Third Reich (1933–1945)
By 1931, the Great Depression had severely damaged the city's economy.  Politics were in chaos, as militias controlled by the Nazis and the Communists fought for control of the streets.  President Hindenburg made Hitler Chancellor in January 1933, and the Nazis quickly moved to take complete control of the entire nation. On February 27, 1933, a left-wing radical was alleged to have set afire the Reichstag building (a fire which was later believed to have been set by the Nazis themselves); the fire gave Hitler the opportunity to set aside the constitution. Tens of thousands of the political opponents fled into exile, or were imprisoned.  All civic organizations, except the churches, came under Nazi control.
Around 1933, some 160,000 Jews were living in Berlin: one third of all German Jews, 4% of the Berlin population. A third of them were poor immigrants from Eastern Europe, who lived mainly in the Scheunenviertel near Alexanderplatz. The Jews were persecuted from the beginning of the Nazi regime. In March, all Jewish doctors had to leave the Charité hospital. In the first week of April, Nazi officials ordered the German population not to buy from Jewish shops.
The 1936 Summer Olympics were held in Berlin and used as a showcase for Nazi Germany (though the Games had been given to Germany before 1933). In order to not alienate the foreign visitors, the "forbidden for Jews" signs were temporarily removed.
Nazi rule destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which numbered 160,000 before the Nazis came to power. After the pogrom of Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's Jews were imprisoned. Around 1939, there were still 75,000 Jews living in Berlin. The majority of German Jews in Berlin were taken to the Grunewald railway station in early 1943 and shipped in stock cars to death camps such as the Auschwitz, where most were murdered in the Holocaust. Only some 1200 Jews survived in Berlin by hiding. Approximately 800 Jews survived in Berlin's Jewish Hospital. Causes for their survival range from bureaucratic infighting to hospital director Dr. Walter Lustig's relationship with Adolf Eichmann, the Nazis' bizarre system for classifying persons of partly Jewish ancestry and German leader Adolf Hitler's ambivalence about how to handle Jews of German descent to the simple fact that the Nazis needed a place to treat Jews.[23]
Thirty kilometers (19mi) northwest of Berlin, near Oranienburg, was Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where mainly political opponents and Russian prisoners of war were incarcerated. Tens of thousands died there. Sachsenhausen had subcamps near industries, where the prisoners had to work. Many of these camps were in Berlin.
Nazi plans

In the late 1930s Hitler and his architect Albert Speer made plans for the new Berlin—a world city or Welthauptstadt Germania.[24]  All the projects were to be of gigantic size. Adjacent to the Reichstag, Speer planned to construct the Volkshalle (The People's Hall), 250 m high, with an enormous copper dome. It would be large enough to hold 170,000 people.  From the People's Hall, a southbound avenue was planned, the Avenue of Victory, 23 m wide and 5.6 kilometers (3.5mi) long. At the other end there would have been the new railway station, and next to it Tempelhof Airport. Halfway down the avenue there would have been a huge arch 117 m high, commemorating those fallen during the world wars. With the completion of these projects (planned for 1950), Berlin was to be renamed "Germania."[25]
The war postponed all construction, as the city instead built giant concrete towers as bases for anti-aircraft guns.  Today only a few structures remain from the Nazi era, such as the  Reichsluftfahrtministerium (National Ministry of Aviation), Tempelhof International Airport, Olympiastadion. Hitler's Reich Chancellery was demolished by Soviet occupation authorities.
Second World War

Initially Berlin was at the extreme range of British bombers and attacks had to be made in clear skies during summer, increasing the risk to the attackers. Better bombers came into service in 1942 but most of the British bombing effort that year was spent in support of the Battle of the Atlantic against German submarines.
1940: A token British air-raid on Berlin; Hitler responds by ordering the Blitz on London.
1943: Polish resistance group Zagra-Lin successfully carries out a series of small bomb attacks.[26]
1943: The USAAF strategic bombing force began operations against Berlin. The RAF focused their strategic bombing efforts on Berlin in their "Battle of Berlin" from November. It was halted at the end of March 1944, after 16 mass bombing raids on the capital, due to unacceptable losses of aircraft and crew. By that point about half a million had been made homeless but morale and production was unaffected. About a quarter of the city's population was evacuated. Raids on major German cities grew in scope and raids of over 1,000 4-engined bombers were not uncommon by 1944. (On March 18, 1945 alone, for example, 1,250 American bombers attacked the city).
1944: USAAF bombing switched to forcing encounters with the German air force so that it could be defeated by the bombers' fighter escorts. Attacks on Berlin ensured a response from the Luftwaffe, drawing it into a battle where their losses could not be replaced at the same rate as the Allies. RAF focus switched to preparations for the invasion of France but Berlin was still subjected to regular nuisance and diversionary raids by the RAF.
March 1945: The RAF begins 36 consecutive nights of bombing by its fast de Havilland Mosquito medium bombers (from around 40 to 80 each night). British bombers dropped 46,000 tons of bombs; the Americans dropped 23,000 tons. By May 1945, 1.7 million people (40%) had fled.[27]
April 1945: Berlin was the main objective for Allied armies. The Race to Berlin refers to the competition of Allied generals during the final months of World War II to enter Berlin first. U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower halted Anglo-American troops on the Elbe River, primarily because the Soviets made their capture of the city a high national priority in terms of prestige and revenge.  The Red Army converged on Berlin with several Fronts (Army Groups). Hitler remained in supreme command and imagined that rescue armies were on the way; he refused to consider surrender.
The  Battle of Berlin  itself has been well chronicled.[28]
April 30, 1945: Hitler committed suicide in the Führerbunker underneath the Reich Chancellery. Resistance continued, though most of the city was in Soviet hands by that point.
May 2, 1945: Berlin finally capitulated.
Hundreds of thousands of women were subjected to rape by Soviet soldiers.[29]
Destruction of buildings and infrastructure was nearly total in parts of the inner city business and residential sectors. The outlying sections suffered relatively little damage. This averages to one fifth of all buildings, and 50% in the inner city.
West and East Germany (1945–1990)

By war's end up to a third of Berlin had been destroyed by concerted Allied air raids, Soviet artillery and street fighting. The so-called Stunde Null—zero hour—marked a new beginning for the city. Greater Berlin was divided into four sectors by the Allies under the London Protocol of 1944, as follows:

the American sector (210.8 sq. km[30]), consisting of the Boroughs of Neukölln, Kreuzberg, Tempelhof, Schöneberg, Steglitz and Zehlendorf; (see: commandants of Berlin American Sector)
the British sector (165.5 sq.km[30]), consisting of the Boroughs of Tiergarten, Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf and Spandau; (see: commandants of Berlin British Sector)
the French sector (110.8 sq. km)[30], consisting of the Boroughs of Wedding and Reinickendorf; (See: commandants of Berlin French Sector)
the Soviet sector (402.8 sq. km) [30]), consisting of the Boroughs of Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Pankow, Weißensee, Friedrichshain, Lichtenberg, Treptow, and Köpenick; (see: commandants of Berlin Soviet Sector).
The Soviet victors of the Battle of Berlin immediately occupied all of Berlin. They handed the American, British and French sectors (later known as West Berlin) to the American and British Forces in July 1945: the French occupied their sector later. Berlin remained divided until reunification in 1990.[31]
The Soviets used the period from May 1945 to July 1945 to dismantle industry, transport and other facilities in West Berlin, including removing railway tracks, as reparations for German war damage in the Soviet Union. This practice continued in East Berlin and the Soviet occupation zone after 1945. Conditions were harsh, and hundreds of thousands of refugees from the East kept pouring in. Residents depended heavily on the black market for food and other necessities.[32]
Berlin's unique situation as a city half-controlled by Western forces in the middle of the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany made it a natural focal point in the Cold War after 1947. Though the city was initially governed by a Four Power Allied Control Council with a leadership that rotated monthly, the Soviets withdrew from the council as East-West relations deteriorated and began governing their sector independently. The council continued to govern West Berlin, with the same rotating leadership policy, though now only involving France, Great Britain, and the United States.
East Germany chose East Berlin as its capital when the country was formed out of the Soviet occupation zone in October 1949; however, this was rejected by Western allies, who continued to regard Berlin as an occupied city that was not legally part of any German state. In practice, the government of East Germany treated East Berlin as an integral part of the nation. Although half the size and population of West Berlin, it included most of the historic center.
West Germany, formed on 23 May 1949 from the American, British, and French zones, had its seat of government and de facto capital in Bonn, although Berlin was symbolically named the de jure West German capital in West German Basic Law (Grundgesetz).
West Berlin de jure remained under the rule of the Western Allies, but for most practical purposes was treated as a part of West Germany; the residents held West German passports.
Blockade and airlift

In response to Allied efforts to fuse the American, French, and British sectors of western Germany into a federal state, and to a currency reform undertaken by Western powers without Soviet approval, the Soviets blocked ground access to West Berlin on 26 June 1948, in what became known as the "Berlin Blockade". The Soviet goal was to gain control of the whole of Berlin. The American and British air forces engaged in a massive logistical effort to supply the western sectors of the city through the Berlin Airlift, known by West Berliners as "die Luftbrücke" (the Air Bridge). The blockade lasted almost a year, ending when the Soviets once again allowed ground access to West Berlin on 11 May 1949. The Blockade and Airlift were iconic events in the early history of the Cold War, and made a profound impression on Berliners as to who their friends and their enemies were.[33]
As part of this project, US Army engineers expanded Tempelhof Airport. Because sometimes the deliveries contained sweets and candy for children, the planes were also nicknamed "Candy Bombers".[34]
The June 17 Uprising

With Stalin dead, the KGB chief  Lavrenti Beria jockeyed for power in the Kremlin, putting forth the goal of German reunification. His plan was to set up a workers' demonstration that would allow the Kremlin to remove hardliner Walter Ulbricht and begin a program of economic concessions to the workers. The plan failed when the demonstrations assumed a mass character.  The strike against poor wages and working conditions overnight became a workers' revolution for democratic rights. On 17 June, Soviet tanks had to restore order. This failure delayed German unification and contributed to the fall of Beria.  It started when 60 construction workers building the showpiece Stalin-Allee in East Berlin went on strike on 16 June 1953, to demand a reduction in recent work-quota increases. They called for a general strike the next day, 17 June. The general strike and protest marches turned into rioting and spread throughout East Germany. The East German police failed to quell the unrest. It had to be suppressed by Soviet troops, who encountered stiff resistance from angry crowds across East Germany, and responded with live ammunition. At least 153 people were killed in the suppression of the uprising.[35][36]
The continuation of the street "Unter den Linden" on the western side of the Brandenburg Gate was renamed Straße des 17. Juni in honor of the uprising, and 17 June was proclaimed a national holiday in West Germany.  The 50th anniversary of 17 June 1953 in 2003 was marked by reflection on the role of memory in creating a national identity for a unified Germany.
Berlin Wall

Loshitzky depicts the role of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of the Cold War, détente, and the collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. She divides the history of the Wall into six major stages: the erection of the Wall (1961); the period of the "geography of fear" from the Cold War; the period of détente; the short period of glasnost and perestroika; the fall of the Wall (1989); and after the Wall.[37]
On August 13, 1961 the Communist East German government started to build a wall, physically separating West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany, as a response to massive numbers of East German citizens fleeing into West Berlin as a way to escape. The wall was built overnight with no warning. This separated families for as long as the wall was up. The East German government called the Wall the "anti-fascist protection wall". The tensions between east and west were exacerbated by a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie on 27 October 1961. West Berlin was now a de facto part of West Germany, but with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was a de facto part of East Germany.

The eastern and western sectors of Berlin were now completely separated. 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. During the Wall's existence there were around 5,000 successful escapes into West Berlin; 136 people were officially killed trying to cross (see Deaths at the Berlin Wall) and around 200 were seriously injured. The sandy soil under the Wall was both a blessing and a curse for those who attempted to tunnel their way to West Berlin and freedom. Although it was easy to dig through quickly, it was also more prone to collapse.

When the first stone blocks were laid down at Potsdamer Platz in the early hours of August 13, US troops stood ready with ammunition and watched the wall being built, stone by stone. The US Military with West Berlin police kept Berliners 300 meters away from the border. President Kennedy and the United States Congress decided not to interfere and risk armed conflict, but sent protest notes to Moscow. Massive demonstrations took place in West Berlin.
John F. Kennedy gave a speech about the Berlin Wall in which he said, "Ich bin ein Berliner"– "I am a Berliner"– which meant much to a city that was a Western island in Soviet satellite territory.
Much Cold War espionage and counter-espionage took place in Berlin, against a backdrop of potential superpower confrontation in which both sides had nuclear weapons set for a range that could hit Germany. In 1971, the Four-Power Agreement on Berlin was signed. While the Soviet Union applied the oversight of the four powers only to West Berlin, the Western Allies emphasized in a 1975 note to the United Nations their position that four-power oversight apply to Berlin as a whole. The agreement guaranteed access across East Germany to West Berlin and ended the potential for harassment or closure of the routes.
As many businesses did not want to operate in West Berlin due to its physical and economic isolation from the outside, the West German government subsidized any businesses that did operate in West Berlin.
Student movement

In the 1960s, West Berlin became one of the centers of the German student movement. West Berlin was especially popular with young German left-wing radicals, as young men living in West Berlin were exempted from the obligatory military service required in West Germany proper: the Kreuzberg district became especially well known for its high concentration of young radicals.
The Wall afforded unique opportunities for social gatherings. The physical wall was set some distance behind the actual sector border, up to several meters behind in some places. The West Berlin police were not legally allowed to enter the space between the border and the wall, as it was technically in East Berlin and outside their jurisdiction: many people took the opportunity to throw loud parties in this space, with the West Berlin authorities powerless to intervene.  In 1968 and after, West Berlin became one of the centers of the student revolt; in particular, the Kreuzberg borough was the center of many riots.[38]
750th anniversary

Logo commemorating Berlin's 750th anniversary.
Fireworks over Berlin on January 1, 1987, in recognition of the city's 750th anniversary.
 U.S. President Ronald Reagan, speaking before Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987, demands the Kremlin free Berlin and "Tear down this wall!"
Communist leader Erich Honecker speaks on October 23, 1987, in commemoration of the city's 750th anniversary.

Federal Republic of Germany (1990–today)

Reunification
The Fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 marks the end of the Cold War. On 9 November 1989, border guards allowed crowds from East Berlin to cross the frontier at the Bösebrücke. The guards believed that the authorities had decided to open the wall, but in reality no firm decision was taken and events gathered steam on their own.
People of East and West Berlin climbed up and danced on the wall at the Brandenburg Gate in scenes of wild celebration broadcast worldwide. This time no Soviet tanks rolled through Berlin. The wall never closed again, and was soon on its way to demolition, with countless Berliners and tourists wielding hammers and chisels to secure souvenir chunks.
On Christmas Day December 25, 1989, the American conductor Leonard Bernstein shared with East and West Berliners and the world his Berlin Celebration Concert in order to celebrate the Fall of the Berlin Wall. "Ode to Joy", which Bernstein had reworded "Ode to Freedom", was performed.
Capital and world city
After the fall of Communism in Europe, on 3 October 1990 Germany and Berlin were both reunited. By then the Wall had been almost completely demolished, with only small sections remaining.
In June 1991 the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the (West) German capital back from Bonn to Berlin. The decision was reached after 10 hours of debate. In the voting Berlin won by a narrow margin: 338 for, 320 against.  Berlin once more became the capital of a unified Germany.
In 1999 federal ministries and government offices moved back from Bonn to Berlin, but most employees in the ministries still work in Bonn. Also in 1999, about 20 government authorities moved from Bonn to Berlin, as planned in the compensation agreement of 1994, the Berlin/Bonn Act.
In the 21st century Berlin has become a global city for international affairs, young business founders, creative industries, higher education services, corporate research, popular media and diverse cultural tourism.[39] Population-wise, Berlin became one of the most rapidly growing urban centers in Europe after 2010.

Reconstructed Reichstag becomes seat of Bundestag in 1999
The 2006 FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin.
 A. Merkel & J. Barroso in 2007
 Humboldt University wins the German Excellence Initiative in 2012
 Skyline of the global city in 2013

Historical population
Population since 1400:

1400: 8,000 inhabitants (Berlin and Kölln)
1600: 16,000
1618: 10,000
1648: 6,000
1709: 60,000 (union with Friedrichswerder, Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichstadt)
1755: 100,000
1800: 172,100
1830: 247,500
1850: 418,700
1880: 1,124,000
1900: 1,888,000
1925: 4,036,000 (1920 enlargement of the territory)
1942: 4,478,102
2003: 3,388,477
2007: 3,402,312
2012: 3,543,000
2018: 3,605,000

See also
Timeline of Berlin
History of Germany
List of Commandants of Berlin Sectors
List of films set in Berlin
List of people from Berlin

Bibliography

Published before 1945
Vizetelly, Henry. Berlin Under the New Empire: Its Institutions, Inhabitants, Industry, Monuments, Museums, Social Life, Manners, and Amusements  (2 vol. London, 1879)
; famous guidebook

Published Since 1945
Broadbent, Philip, and Sabine Hake, eds. Berlin: Divided City, 1945-1989 (Berghahn Books; 2010), 211 pages. Essays by historians, art historians, literary scholars, and others on perceptions and representations of the city.
Colomb, Claire. Staging the New Berlin: Place Marketing and the Politics of Urban Reinvention Post-1989 (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011) 368 pp.
Davis, Belinda J. Home Fires Burning: Food, Politics, and Everyday Life in World War I Berlin (2000)
Friedrich, Thomas. Hitler's Berlin: Abused City (2012)
Gehler, Michael. Three Germanies: West Germany, East Germany and the Berlin Republic (2011)
Hake, Sabine. Topographies of Class: Modern Architecture and Mass Society in Weimar Berlin (2008)
Kellerhoff, Sven Felix. Hitlers Berlin (2005)
Large, David Clay. Berlin (2000) 736pp , general history since 1870
Lees, Andrew. "Berlin and Modern Urbanity in German Discourse, 1845–1945," Journal of Urban History (1991) 17#2 pp 153–78.
Moorhouse, Roger . Berlin at War: Life and Death in Hitler's Capital 1939-1945 (2011)
MacDonogh, Giles . Berlin: A Portrait of Its History, Politics, Architecture, and Society (1999)
Richie, Alexandra. Faust's Metropolis: A History of Berlin (1998), 1168 pp by scholar; ; emphasis on 20th century

Tusa, Ann. The Last Division: A History of Berlin, 1945-1989 (1997)
Winter, Jay, and Jean-Louis Robert, eds. Capital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919 (2 vol. 1999, 2007), 30 chapters  1200pp; comprehensive coverage by scholars ;
Guidebooks
Maik Kopleck: PastFinder Berlin 1933-1945. Traces of German History– A Guidebook (Pastfinder). Ch. Links Verlag; 2nd Ed. 2007, 978-3861533634 (Original title: Stadtführer zu den Spuren der Vergangenheit. Also available in French: Guide touristique sur les traces du passé)
Maik Kopleck: PastFinder Berlin 1945 - 1989. 2011, 978-9889978839

 - slideshow by Life magazine
 A website about Berlin during the Weimar years (1919-1933)


The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering 70,560,000km2 (27,240,000sqmi) (approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface).[3] It is bounded by Asia on the north, on the west by Africa, on the east by Australia, and on the south by the Southern Ocean or, depending on definition, by Antarctica.[4]
Etymology

The Indian Ocean is named after India.[5][6]
Called the Sindhu Mahasagara or the great sea of the Sindhu by the Ancient Indians, this ocean has been variously called Hindu Ocean, Indic Ocean, etc. in various languages. The Indian Ocean was also known earlier as the Eastern Ocean.[5] The term was still in use during the mid-18th century.
Geography

The borders of the Indian Ocean, as delineated by the International Hydrographic Organization in 1953 included the Southern Ocean but not the marginal seas along the northern rim, but in 2000 the IHO delimited the Southern Ocean separately, which removed waters south of 60°S from the Indian Ocean, but included the northern marginal seas.[7][8] Meridionally, the Indian Ocean is delimited from the Atlantic Ocean by the 20° east meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas, and from the Pacific Ocean by the meridian of 146°49'E, running south from the southernmost point of Tasmania. The northernmost extent of the Indian Ocean (including marginal seas) is approximately 30° north in the Persian Gulf.[8]
The Indian Ocean covers 70,560,000km2 (27,240,000sqmi), including the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf but excluding the Southern Ocean, or 19.5% of the world's oceans; its volume is 264,000,000km3 (63,000,000cumi) or 19.8% of the world's oceans' volume; it has an average depth of 3,741m (12,274ft) and a maximum depth of 7,906m (25,938ft).[9]
The ocean's continental shelves are narrow, averaging 200 kilometres (120mi) in width. An exception is found off Australia's western coast, where the shelf width exceeds 1,000 kilometres (620mi). The average depth of the ocean is 3,890m (12,762ft). Its deepest point is Sunda Trench at a depth of 7,450m (24,442ft); Diamantina Deep has a depth of 7,079m (23,225ft). North of 50° south latitude, 86% of the main basin is covered by pelagic sediments, of which more than half is globigerina ooze. The remaining 14% is layered with terrigenous sediments. Glacial outwash dominates the extreme southern latitudes.[1]
The major choke points include Bab el Mandeb, Strait of Hormuz, the Lombok Strait, the Strait of Malacca and the Palk Strait. Seas include the Gulf of Aden, Andaman Sea, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Great Australian Bight, Laccadive Sea, Gulf of Mannar, Mozambique Channel, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, Red Sea and other tributary water bodies. The Indian Ocean is artificially connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, which is accessible via the Red Sea. All of the Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere and the centre of the Eastern Hemisphere, the 90th meridian east, passes through the Ninety East Ridge.
Marginal seas
Marginal seas, gulfs, bays and straits of the Indian Ocean include:[8]

Andaman Sea
Arabian Sea
Bay of Bengal
Great Australian Bight
Gulf of Mannar
Gulf of Aden
Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf of Tadjoura
Gulf of Bahrain
Gulf of Carpentaria
Gulf of Kutch
Gulf of Khambat
Gulf of Oman
Indonesian Seaway (including the Malacca, Sunda and Torres Straits)
Laccadive Sea
Mozambique Channel
Palk Strait connecting Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal
Persian Gulf
Red Sea
Guardafui Channel
Sea of Zanj
Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb connecting Arabian Sea
Strait of Hormuz connecting Persian Gulf
Climate
The climate north of the equator is affected by a monsoon climate. Strong north-east winds blow from October until April; from May until October south and west winds prevail. In the Arabian Sea the violent Monsoon brings rain to the Indian subcontinent. In the southern hemisphere, the winds are generally milder, but summer storms near Mauritius can be severe. When the monsoon winds change, cyclones sometimes strike the shores of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.[1]
The Indian Ocean is the warmest ocean in the world. Long-term ocean temperature records show a rapid, continuous warming in the Indian Ocean, at about 0.7–1.2°C (1.3–2.2°F) during 1901–2012.[10] Indian Ocean warming is the largest among the tropical oceans, and about 3 times faster than the warming observed in the Pacific. Research indicates that human induced greenhouse warming, and changes in the frequency and magnitude of El Niño events are a trigger to this strong warming in the Indian Ocean.[10]
Oceanography
Among the few large rivers flowing into the Indian Ocean are the Zambezi and Jubba in Africa; the Shatt al-Arab in the Persian Gulf; the Indus and Ganges-Brahmaputra, Godavari, Krishna, and Narmada on the Indian Subcontinent; and Irrawaddy in Myanmar.
The ocean's currents are mainly controlled by the monsoon. Two large gyres, one in the northern hemisphere flowing clockwise and one south of the equator moving anticlockwise (including the Agulhas Current and Agulhas Return Current), constitute the dominant flow pattern. During the winter monsoon (November–February), however, circulation is reversed north of 30°S and winds are weakened during winter and the transitional periods between the monsoons.[11]
Deep water circulation is controlled primarily by inflows from the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea, and Antarctic currents. North of 20° south latitude the minimum surface temperature is 22°C (72°F), exceeding 28°C (82°F) to the east. Southward of 40° south latitude, temperatures drop quickly.[1]
Precipitation and evaporation leads to salinity variation in all oceans, and in the Indian Ocean salinity variations are driven by: (1) river inflow mainly from the Bay of Bengal, (2) fresher water from the Indonesian Throughflow; and (3) saltier water from the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.[12]
Surface water salinity ranges from 32 to 37 parts per 1000, the highest occurring in the Arabian Sea and in a belt between southern Africa and south-western Australia. Pack ice and icebergs are found throughout the year south of about 65° south latitude. The average northern limit of icebergs is 45° south latitude.[1]
Geology

As the youngest of the major oceans,[13] the Indian Ocean has active spreading ridges that are part of the worldwide system of mid-ocean ridges.  In the Indian Ocean these spreading ridges meet at the Rodrigues Triple Point with the Central Indian Ridge, including the Carlsberg Ridge, separating the African Plate from the Indian Plate; the Southwest Indian Ridge separating the African Plate from the Antarctic Plate; and the Southeast Indian Ridge separating the Australian Plate from the Antarctic Plate. The Central Ridge runs north on the in-between across of the Arabian Peninsula and Africa into the Mediterranean Sea.[14]
There are only two trenches in the Indian Ocean: the 6,000km (3,700mi)-long Java Trench between Java and the Sunda Trench and the 900km (560mi)-long Makran Trench south of Iran and Pakistan.[14]
A series of ridges and seamount chains produced by hotspots pass over the Indian Ocean.  The Réunion hotspot (active 70–40 million years ago) connects Réunion and the Mascarene Plateau to the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the Deccan Traps in north-western India; the Kerguelen hotspot (100–35 million years ago) connects the Kerguelen Islands and Kerguelen Plateau to the Ninety East Ridge and the Rajmahal Traps in north-eastern India; the Marion hotspot (100–70 million years ago) possibly connects Prince Edward Islands to the Eighty Five East Ridge.[15] These hotspot tracks have been broken by the still active spreading ridges mentioned above.[14]
The opening of the Indian Ocean began c. 156Ma when Africa separated from East Gondwana. The Indian Subcontinent began to separate from Australia-Antarctica 135-125 Ma and as the Tethys Ocean north of India began to close 118-84Ma the Indian Ocean opened behind it.[14]
Marine life
Among the tropical oceans, the western Indian Ocean hosts one of the largest concentration of phytoplankton blooms in summer, due to the strong monsoon winds. The monsoonal wind forcing leads to a strong coastal and open ocean upwelling, which introduces nutrients into the upper zones where sufficient light is available for photosynthesis and phytoplankton production. These phytoplankton blooms support the marine ecosystem, as the base of the marine food web, and eventually the larger fish species. The Indian Ocean accounts for the second largest share of the most economically valuable tuna catch.[16] Its fish are of great and growing importance to the bordering countries for domestic consumption and export. Fishing fleets from Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also exploit the Indian Ocean, mainly for shrimp and tuna.[2]
Research indicates that increasing ocean temperatures are taking a toll on the marine ecosystem. A study on the phytoplankton changes in the Indian Ocean indicates a decline of up to 20% in the marine phytoplankton in the Indian Ocean, during the past six decades. The tuna catch rates have also declined abruptly during the past half century, mostly due to increased industrial fisheries, with the ocean warming adding further stress to the fish species.[17]
Endangered marine species include the dugong, seals, turtles, and whales.[2]
An Indian Ocean garbage patch was discovered in 2010 covering at least 5million square kilometres (1.9million square miles). Riding the southern Indian Ocean Gyre, this vortex of plastic garbage constantly circulates the ocean from Australia to Africa, down the Mozambique Channel, and back to Australia in a period of six years, except for debris that get indefinitely stuck in the centre of the gyre.[18]
The garbage patch in the Indian Ocean will, according to a 2012 study, decrease in size after several decades to vanish completely over centuries.  Over several millennia, however, the global system of garbage patches will accumulate in the North Pacific.[19]
In 2016, UK researchers from Southampton University identified six new animal species at hydrothermal vents beneath the Indian Ocean. These new species were a "Hoff" crab, a "giant peltospirid" snail, a whelk-like snail, a limpet, a scaleworm and a polychaete worm.[20]
History
First settlements
The history of the Indian Ocean is marked by maritime trade; cultural and commercial exchange probably date back at least seven thousand years.[21]  During this period, independent, short-distance oversea communications along its littoral margins have evolved into an all-embracing network.  The début of this network was not the achievement of a centralised or advanced civilisation but of local and regional exchange in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and Arabian Sea.  Sherds of Ubaid (2500–500BCE) pottery have been found in the western Gulf at Dilmun, present-day Bahrain; traces of exchange between this trading centre and Mesopotamia.  The Sumerians traded grain, pottery, and bitumen (used for reed boats) for copper, stone, timber, tin, dates, onions, and pearls.[22]
Coast-bound vessels transported goods between the Indus Valley Civilisation (2600–1900BCE) in the Indian subcontinent (modern-day Pakistan and Northwest India) and the Persian Gulf and Egypt.[21]
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, an Alexandrian guide to the world beyond the Red Sea— including Africa and India— from the first century CE, not only gives insights into trade in the region but also shows that Roman and Greek sailors had already gained knowledge about the monsoon winds.[21]  The contemporaneous settlement of Madagascar by Austronesian sailors shows that the littoral margins of the Indian Ocean were being both well-populated and regularly traversed at least by this time.  Albeit the monsoon must have been common knowledge in the Indian Ocean for centuries.[21]
The world's earliest civilizations in Mesopotamia (beginning with Sumer), ancient Egypt, and the Indian subcontinent (beginning with the Indus Valley civilization), which began along the valleys of the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile and Indus rivers respectively, all developed around the Indian Ocean.[1] Civilizations soon arose in Persia (beginning with Elam) and later in Southeast Asia (beginning with Funan).
During Egypt's first dynasty (c. 3000BCE), sailors were sent out onto its waters, journeying to Punt, thought to be part of present-day Somalia. Returning ships brought gold and slaves. The earliest known maritime trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley (c. 2500 BCE) was conducted along the Indian Ocean. Phoenicians of the late 3rd millennium BCE may have entered the area, but no settlements resulted.[1]
The Indian Ocean's relatively calmer waters opened the areas bordering it to trade earlier than the Atlantic or Pacific oceans. The powerful monsoons also meant ships could easily sail west early in the season, then wait a few months and return eastwards. This allowed ancient Indonesian peoples to cross the Indian Ocean to settle in Madagascar around 1CE.[23]
Age of Discovery

In the 2nd or 1st century BCE, Eudoxus of Cyzicus was the first Greek to cross the Indian Ocean.  The probably fictitious sailor Hippalus is said to have learnt the direct route from Arabia to India around this time.[24]  During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD intensive trade relations developed between Roman Egypt and the Tamil kingdoms of the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas in Southern India. Like the Indonesian peoples above, the western sailors used the monsoon to cross the ocean. The unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes this route, as well as the commodities that were traded along various commercial ports on the coasts of the Horn of Africa and India circa 1CE. Among these trading settlements were Mosylon and Opone on the Red Sea littoral.[25]
Unlike the Pacific Ocean where the civilization of the Polynesians reached most of the far flung islands and atolls and populated them, almost all the islands, archipelagos and atolls of the Indian Ocean were uninhabited until colonial times. Although there were numerous ancient civilizations in the coastal states of Asia and parts of Africa, the Maldives were the only island group in the Central Indian Ocean region where an ancient civilization flourished.[26] Maldivian ships used the Indian Monsoon Current to travel to the nearby coasts.[27]
From 1405 to 1433 admiral Zheng He said to have led large fleets of the Ming Dynasty on several treasure voyages through the Indian Ocean, ultimately reaching the coastal countries of East Africa.[28]
In 1497 Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and became the first European to sail to India (with the help of an Indian sailor) and later the Far East. The European ships, armed with heavy cannon, quickly dominated trade. Portugal achieved pre-eminence by setting up forts at the important straits and ports. Their hegemony along the coasts of Africa and Asia lasted until the mid 17th century. Later, the Portuguese were challenged by other European powers.
The Dutch East India Company (1602–1798) sought control of trade with the East across the Indian Ocean. France and Britain established trade companies for the area. From 1565 Spain established a major trading operation with the Manila Galleons in the Philippines and the Pacific. Spanish trading ships purposely avoided the Indian Ocean, following the Treaty of Tordesillas with Portugal. By 1815, Britain became the principal power in the Indian Ocean.[1]
Modern era
The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 revived European interest in the East, but no nation was successful in establishing trade dominance. Since World War II the United Kingdom was forced to withdraw from the area, to be replaced by India, the USSR, and the United States. The last two tried to establish hegemony by negotiating for naval base sites. Developing countries bordering the ocean, however, seek to have it made a "zone of peace" so that they may use its shipping lanes freely. The United Kingdom and United States maintain a military base on Diego Garcia atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean.[1]
On 26 December 2004 fourteen countries around the Indian Ocean were hit by a wave of tsunamis caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The waves radiated across the ocean at speeds exceeding 500km/h (310mph), reached up to 20m (66ft) in height, and resulted in an estimated 236,000 death.[29]
In the late 2000s the ocean evolved into a hub of pirate activity. By 2013, attacks off the Horn region's coast had steadily declined due to active private security and international navy patrols, especially by the Indian Navy.[30]
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 airliner with 239 persons on board, disappeared on 8 March 2014 and is alleged to have crashed into the southeastern Indian Ocean about 2,000km (1,200mi) from the coast of southwest Western Australia. Despite an extensive search, the whereabouts of the remains of the aircraft are unknown.[31]
Trade

The sea lanes in the Indian Ocean are considered among the most strategically important in the world with more than 80 percent of the world's seaborne trade in oil transits through Indian Ocean and its vital choke points, with 40 percent passing through the Strait of Hormuz, 35 percent through the Strait of Malacca and 8 percent through the Bab el-Mandab Strait.[32]
The Indian Ocean provides major sea routes connecting the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia with Europe and the Americas. It carries a particularly heavy traffic of petroleum and petroleum products from the oil fields of the Persian Gulf and Indonesia. Large reserves of hydrocarbons are being tapped in the offshore areas of Saudi Arabia, Iran, India, and Western Australia. An estimated 40% of the world's offshore oil production comes from the Indian Ocean.[2] Beach sands rich in heavy minerals, and offshore placer deposits are actively exploited by bordering countries, particularly India, Pakistan, South Africa, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Chinese companies have made investments in several Indian Ocean ports, including Gwadar, Hambantota, Colombo and Sonadia.  This has sparked a debate about the strategic implications of these investments.[33]
See also

Iranrud
List of islands in the Indian Ocean
List of ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean
List of sovereign states and dependent territories in the Indian Ocean
Piracy in Somalia
Indian Ocean literature
Indian Ocean Research Group
Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

Sources

Which countries does the Indus River cross?


This is a List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes. A total of 33 recorded tropical cyclones have reached Category5 strength on the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale in the Atlantic Ocean north of the equator, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico. Hurricanes of such intensity occur once every three years in this region on average.
Only in six seasons—1932, 1933, 1961, 2005, 2007, and 2017—has more than one Category5 hurricane formed. Only in 2005 have more than two Category5 hurricanes formed, and only in 2007 and 2017 did more than one make landfall at Category5 strength.[1]
Background

Saffir–Simpson scaleTDTSC1C2C3C4C5

A Category5 Atlantic hurricane is one that is considered by the United States National Hurricane Center (NHC), to have had sustained wind speeds greater than 136 knots (157mph; 252km/h; 70m/s) on the Saffir–Simpson scale. The NHC considers sustained wind speeds to be those that occur over a one-minute period at 10 metres (32.8ft) above ground. These wind speeds are estimated by using a blend of data from a variety of sources, which include observations from nearby ships, reconnaissance aircraft, or automatic weather stations and pictures from various satellites.

Officially, from 1924 to 2017, 33 Category5 hurricanes have been recorded. No Category5 hurricanes were observed officially before 1924. It can be presumed that earlier storms reached Category5 strength over open waters, but the strongest winds were not measured. The anemometer, a device used for measuring wind speed, was invented in 1846. However, during major hurricane strikes, the instruments as a whole were often blown away, leaving the hurricane's peak intensity unrecorded. For example, as the Great Beaufort Hurricane of 1879 struck North Carolina, the anemometer cups were blown away when indicating 138mph (222km/h).[2]
As of May2018, a reanalysis of weather data was ongoing by researchers who may upgrade or downgrade other Atlantic hurricanes currently listed at Categories 4 and 5.[3]  For example, the 1825 Santa Ana hurricane is suspected to have reached Category 5 strength.[4] Furthermore, paleotempestological research aims to identify past major hurricanes by comparing sedimentary evidence of recent and past hurricane strikes. For example, a "giant hurricane" significantly more powerful than Hurricane Hattie (Category 5) has been identified in Belizean sediment, having struck the region sometime before 1500.[5]

Officially, the decade with the most Category5 hurricanes is 2000–2009, with eight Category5 hurricanes having occurred: Isabel (2003), Ivan (2004), Emily (2005), Katrina (2005), Rita (2005), Wilma (2005), Dean (2007), and Felix (2007).
The previous decades with the most Category5 hurricanes were the 1930s and 1960s, with six occurring between 1930 and 1939 (before naming began).[1]
Nine Atlantic hurricanes—Camille, Allen, Andrew, Isabel, Ivan, Dean, Felix, Irma and Maria—reached Category5 intensity on more than one occasion; that is, by reaching Category5 intensity, weakening to a Category4 status or lower, and then becoming a Category5 hurricane again. Such hurricanes have their dates shown together. Camille, Andrew, Dean, Felix, Irma, and Maria each attained Category 5 status twice during their lifespans. Allen, Isabel, and Ivan reached Category 5 intensity on three separate occasions. However, no Atlantic hurricane has reached Category5 intensity more than three times during its lifespan. The 1932 Cuba hurricane holds the record for the most time spent as a Category5 hurricane (although it took place before satellite or aircraft reconnaissance, so this record may be somewhat suspect). Irma holds the record for the longest continuous span as a Category 5 storm in the satellite era.[1][6]
Thirty-three Category5 hurricanes have been recorded in the Atlantic basin since 1851, when records began. Only one Category 5 has been recorded in July, eight in August, nineteen in September, five in October, and one in November. There have been no officially recorded June or off-season Category5 hurricanes.[1]
The July and August Category5 hurricanes reached their high intensities in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. These are the areas most favorable for tropical cyclone development in those months.[1][7]
September sees the most Category5 hurricanes. This coincides with the climatological peak of the Atlantic hurricane season, which occurs in early September.[8]  September Category5s reached their strengths in any of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and open Atlantic. These places are where September tropical cyclones are likely to form.[7] Many of these hurricanes are either Cape Verde-type storms, which develop their strength by having a great deal of open water; or so-called Bahama busters, which intensify over the warm Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico.[9]
All six Category5 hurricanes in October and November reached their intensities in the western Caribbean, a region that Atlantic hurricanes strongly gravitate toward late in the season.[7]  This is due to the climatology of the area, which sometimes has a high-altitude anticyclone that promotes rapid intensification late in the season, as well as warm waters.
Systems

Listed by month

Landfalls

All Atlantic Category5 hurricanes have made landfall at some location at hurricane strength. Most Category5 hurricanes in the Atlantic make landfall because of their proximity to land in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, where the usual synoptic weather patterns carry them towards land, as opposed to the westward, oceanic mean track of Eastern Pacific hurricanes.[49] Sixteen of the storms made landfall while at Category5 intensity;[1] 2007 and 2017 are the only years in which two storms made landfall at this intensity.[1]
Many of these systems made landfall shortly after weakening from a Category5 hurricane. This weakening can be caused by dry air near land, shallower waters due to shelving, interaction with land, or cooler waters near shore.[34] In southern Florida, the return period for a Category5 hurricane is roughly once every 50 years.[50]
The following table lists these hurricanes by landfall intensity.

See also

List of Atlantic hurricanes
List of Atlantic hurricane seasons
List of Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes
List of Category 3 Atlantic hurricanes
List of Category 5 Pacific hurricanes
List of Category 4 Pacific hurricanes
List of F5 and EF5 tornadoes

What is the most powerful hurricane to hit the US?