世界百科：关于世博会的英语详细介绍

        What is the World Expo?

　　The World Expo is a large-scale, global, non-commercial Expo. The hosting of the World Expo must be applied for by a country and approved by the international World Expo committee. Expo aims to promote the exchange of ideas and development of the world economy, culture, science and technology, to allow exhibitors to publicise and display their achievements and improve international relationships. Accordingly, the World Expo with its 150-year history is regarded as the Olympic Games of the economy, science and technology.

　　Universal Exposition or Expo (short for "exposition", and also known as World Fair and World’s Fair) is the name given to various large public exhibitions held since the mid-19th century. They are the third largest event in the world in terms of economic and cultural impact after the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.[citation needed] They have been organized for more than one and a half centuries — longer than both the (modern) Olympic Games and the World Cup. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, in 1851 under the title “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations”. “The Great Exhibition”, as it is often called, was an idea of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, and was the first international exhibition of manufactured products. As such, it influenced the development of several aspects of society including art and design education, international trade and relations, and even tourism . Also, it was the precedent for the many international exhibitions, later called “World’s Fairs”, which were subsequently held to the present day. In Acapulco, New Spain (Mexico), annual fairs took place for several centuries where countries from Asia exhibited their products brought to the New World by the Spanish Royal Navy Nao de China.

　　The main attractions at World’s Fairs are the national pavilions, created by participating countries. At Expo 2000 Hanover, where countries created their own architecture, the average pavilion investment was around 13 million.[citation needed] Given these costs, governments are sometimes skeptical about participation as benefits are often assumed not to outweigh the costs. Tangible effects are difficult to measure; however, an independent study for the Dutch pavilion at Expo 2000 estimated the pavilion (which cost around 35 million) generated around 350 million of potential revenues for the Dutch economy. It also identified several key success factors for world exposition pavilions in general.

　　Since the signing of the 1928 Convention on International Exhibitions, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE; English: International Exhibitions Bureau) has served as an international sanctioning body. BIE-approved fairs are divided into a number of types: universal, international or specialized. They usually last between three and six months.

　　Brief history of the World’s Fair

　　World’s Fairs originated in the French tradition of national exhibitions, a tradition that culminated with the French Industrial Exposition of 1844 held in Paris. It was soon followed by other national exhibitions in continental Europe, and finally came to London where the first real international exhibition was held.

　　Since their inception in 1851, the character of world expositions has evolved. Three eras can be distinguished:[citation needed] the era of industrialization, the era of cultural exchange, and the era of nation branding.[original research?]

　　Industrialization (1851–1938)

　　The first era could be called the era of ’industrialization’ and covered, roughly, the period from 1800 to 1938. In these days, world expositions were especially focused on trade and famous for the display of technological inventions and advancements. World expositions were the platform where the state of the art in science and technology from around the world was brought together. The world expositions of 1851 London, 1889 Paris, World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893, 1900 Paris, 1904 St. Louis and 1915 San Francisco exhibitions can be called landmarks in this respect.[citation needed] Inventions such as the telephone were first presented during this era. An important part of the image of World’s Fairs stems from this first era.