Emerging Flux Regions

All active regions are born as Emerging Flux Regions (EFRs) which appear in H alpha as two small plages of opposite polarity connected by parallel dark arches. After a brief review of the properties of EFRs, new observations of the birth of an EFR and apparent subsequent field reconnection are reported. Fluxrope theories are reviewed, the appearance of EFRs is predicted, and this picture is then modified on the basis of high resolution observations. One arrives at a model of this phenomenon that encompasses relevant aspects such as the axial tilt of spot groups, the observed 'rotation' of EFRs as they emerge, and the fact that EFR fluxtubes are made up of many discrete strands.