The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. A number of European cities have used the City of Culture year to completely transform their cultural base and, in doing so, the way in which they are viewed internationally. The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. ...

History

Conceived as a means of bringing European citizens closer together, the European City of Culture was launched on June 13, 1985 by the Council of Ministers on the initiative of Greek Culture Minister Melina Mercouri. Since then, the initiative has been more and more successful amongst European citizens and has had a growing cultural and socio-economic impact on the numerous visitors it has attracted. June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Council of the European Union forms, along with the European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union (EU). ... Melina Mercouri on Never on Sunday Melina Mercouri (Μελίνα Μερκούρη; Athens,October 18, 1920 - New York, March 6, 1994) was a Greek actress and political activist. ...

The European Cities of Culture were designated on an intergovernmental basis until 2004; the Member States unanimously selected the cities most likely to welcome the event and the European Commission granted a subsidy to the selected city each year. As of 2005, the EU's institutions will take part in the selection procedure of the cities that will host the event. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive of the European Union. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...

In 1990, the Ministers of Culture launched the "European Cultural Month". This event is similar to the European City of Culture but goes on for a shorter period and is addressed to Central and Eastern European countries in particular. The Commission grants a subsidy for the European Cultural Month each year. 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... European Cultural Month is an event created by the European Union to promote culture. ...

As early as 1991, the organisers of the different European Cities of Culture created a network enabling the exchange and dissemination of information, also to the organisers of future events. This network also carried out in 1994 a study on the impact of the European City of Culture since its creation. 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Individual cities have looked to evaluate their own experience in different ways; it is not easy to track long term evaluations of city experiences in every case. Charles Landry of the UK-based cultural consultancy Comedia has recently published an interesting evaluation of the Helsinki Year of Culture in 2000. Helsinki (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable in Finnish: ), or Helsingfors in Swedish  listen?, is the capital of Finland. ...

In 1999, the European City of Culture was renamed the European Capital of Culture, and it is now financed through the Culture 2000 programme. The European Parliament and Council Decision of May 25, 1999 integrates this event into the Community framework and introduces a new selection procedure for the Capitals for the 2005–2019 period. This was done to avoid overly fierce competition to win the accolade; each EU member nation will be given the opportunity to "host" the capital in turn. Starting in 2005, two cities will now share this status each year. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... 2019 is a Common year starting on Tuesday. ...

European Cities of Culture

• 1985: Athens (Greece)
• 1986: Florence (Italy)
• 1987: Amsterdam (Netherlands)
• 1988: West Berlin (West Germany)
• 1989: Paris (France)
• 1990: Glasgow (United Kingdom)
• 1991: Dublin (Ireland)
• 1992: Madrid (Spain)
• 1993: Antwerp (Belgium)
• 1994: Lisbon (Portugal)
• 1995: Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
• 1996: Copenhagen (Denmark)
• 1997: Thessaloniki (Greece)
• 1998: Stockholm (Sweden)
• 1999: Weimar (Germany)
• 2000: Reykjavík (Iceland), Bergen (Norway), Helsinki (Finland), Brussels (Belgium), Prague (Czech Republic), Cracow (Poland), Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Avignon (France), Bologna (Italy)
• 2001: Rotterdam (Netherlands), Porto (Portugal)
• 2002: Bruges (Belgium), Salamanca (Spain)
• 2003: Graz (Austria)
• 2004: Genoa (Italy), Lille (France)

1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Acropolis in central Athens, one of the most important landmarks in world history. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Location within Italy Giglio di Firenze - symbol of the city Florence (Italian, Firenze) is a city in the center of Tuscany, in central Italy at 43°46′ N 11°15′ E. The city on the Arno River has a population of around 400,000, plus a suburban population in excess... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Amsterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province North Holland Population 739,295 (1 January 2005) Coordinates 4°89E - 52°37N Website www. ... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Boroughs of West Berlin West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Glasgows location in Scotland Glasgow (or Glaschu in Gaelic) is Scotlands largest city, on the River Clyde in west central Scotland. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath1),is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Ireland, located2 near the midpoint of Irelands east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin region3. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Coat of arms Plaza de España (Spain square) Madrid, the capital of Spain, is located in the center of the country at 40°25′ N 3°45′ W. Population of the city of Madrid proper was 3,093,000 (Madrilenes, madrileños) as of 2003 estimates. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... For other uses, see Antwerp (disambiguation). ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Pedro Santana Lopes PSD Area 84. ... 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... City nickname: none Location in Denmark Area  - Total  - Water 526 km² xxx km² xx% Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density 502,204 1,116,979 954/km2 [including water] xxx/km2 [land only] Time zone Eastern: UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 55°43 N 12°34 W Copenhagen (Danish: København) is... 1997 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Thessaloníki (Θεσσαλονίκη; pronounced IPA /θɛ.sa. ... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Stockholm  listen? is the capital and the largest city of Sweden. ... 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Weimar is a city in Germany. ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: Reykjavík, Manitoba in Canada Reykjavík is the capital of Iceland, its largest city and the northernmost capital city of a nation. ... County Hordaland Landscape Midhordland Municipality NO-1201 Administrative centre Bergen Mayor (2004) Herman Friele (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 215 465 km² 445 km² 0. ... Helsinki (pronounced with the stress on the first syllable in Finnish: ), or Helsingfors in Swedish  listen?, is the capital of Finland. ... Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, French: Bruxelles, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium and is considered by many to be the headquarters of the European Union, as two of its three main institutions have their headquarters in the... Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... Motto: none Voivodship Lesser Poland Municipal government Rada miasta Kraków Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area 326,8 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 757,500 (2004 est. ... Santiago de Compostela (2003 pop. ... Coat of arms of Avignon Avignon (pronounced in IPA, Provençal: Avignoun) is a commune in southern France with some 88,300 inhabitants in the city itself and 155,500 in the Greater Avignon area. ... Bologna (from Latin Bononia, Bulaggna in the local dialect) is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, between the Po River and the Apennines. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Rotterdam Location Country The Netherlands Province South Holland Population 604,819 (2005) Coordinates 51° 55 N.; 4° 30 E. Website www. ... A modern view of the ancient city of Porto, the city that gave the name to the country. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bruges - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Salamanca: Plaza Mayor Salamanca (population 156,006 (2002)) is a city in central Spain, the capital of the province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Graz [graːts] (Slovenian: Gradec, pronounced grah-dets), with a population of 305,000 (council census 2000) is the second-largest city in Austria and the capital of the federal state of Styria (Steiermark in German). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alternate uses, see Genoa (disambiguation). ... City motto: – City proper (commune) Région Nord-Pas de Calais Département Nord (59) Mayor Martine Aubry (PS) (since 2001) Area 39. ...

European Capitals of Culture

• 2005: Cork (Ireland)
• 2006: Patras (Greece)
• 2007: Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Sibiu (Romania)
• 2008: Liverpool (United Kingdom), Stavanger, (Norway)
• 2009: Vilnius (Lithuania), Linz, (Austria)

2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... Cork (Corcaigh in Irish) is the second city of the Republic of Ireland. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs cleanup. ... 2007 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sibiu (Hungarian: Nagyszeben, German: Hermannstadt) is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 170,000. ... 2008 is a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Liverpools skyline, as seen from the River Mersey. ... County Rogaland Landscape Jæren Municipality NO-1103 Administrative centre Stavanger Mayor (2004) Leif Johan Sevland (H) Official language form BokmÃ¥l Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 406 71 km² 68 km² 0. ... 2009 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Vilnius Old Town Vilnius (sometimes also Vilna in English, Belarusian Вільня, Polish Wilno, Russian Вильнюс, German Wilna, see also Cities alternative names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania with population in excess of 540 thousand (in 2003). ... Map of Austria, locating Linz Linz is a city and Statutarstadt in northeast Austria, on the Danube river. ...

See also

• American Capital of Culture – a similar initiative among the American countries

The NGO American Capital of Culture Organization selects one American city annually to serve as the American Capital of Culture for a period of one year. ...

External links

Current Official Site

• Cork, European Capital of Culture 2005

Capital/Cities of Culture Sites

• http://www.krakow2000.pl/
• http://www.salamancaciudaddecultura.org/
• http://www.graz03.at/
• http://www.lille2004.com/
• http://www.genova-2004.it/
• http://www.italiantourism.com/genova04.htm
• http://www.cork2005.ie/
• http://www.patra2006.gr/
• http://www.sibiu2007.ro/
• http://www.luxembourg2007.org/
• Information in English about Stavanger, the European Capital of Culture 2008
• http://www.liverpoolculture.com/

Others

• Culture in European Union
• Comedia, a workshop for new ideas about urban policy and culture