title: Land of the Dead

text: Despite having a bigger budget with him this time than most of his films, Romero still wanted to cast lesser-known actors for the lead roles like Simon Baker and Robert Joy with exceptions being actors like Dennis Hopper and John Leguizamo, the former of which Romero cast after being impressed by most of his films. Romero cast Asia Argento for the role of Slack after working with her father, Dario Argento, on some of his films like "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) and "Two Evil Eyes" (1990). He also cast his longtime makeup artist friend, Tom Savini and "Shaun of the Dead" crew members, Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright for zombie roles with Savini reprising his biker character, Blades, from "Dawn of the Dead", now as a zombie and with Pegg and Wright appearing as Phone Booth Zombies.


title: Land of the Dead

text: The film received positive reviews upon release. It was released one year and three months after the release of the remake "Dawn of the Dead". The film grossed over $40 million and is second behind "Dawn of the Dead" with the highest-grossing revenue (unadjusted for inflation) in the "Living Dead" series (not including the remakes), the two lowest being "Night of the Living Dead" (1968) and "Diary of the Dead" (2008). The film opened the MTV Saturday Horror block on February 27, 2010.


title: Land of the Dead

text: "Land of the Dead" is the first film in the series to receive an MPAA rating for its theatrical release. Romero had said for years that he would film two versions: an "R" rated cut for theatrical release and first DVD, and an unrated cut for the second DVD release. Both DVDs were released in the U.S. on October 18, 2005. Rumors suggested that Romero shot alternate, less explicit, gore scenes for the theatrical release, but this is not entirely accurate. The more extreme instances of gore (e.g. a woman having her navel piercing graphically torn out by a zombie) were obscured by foreground elements filmed on bluescreen, so that these overlaid elements could be easily removed for the unrated DVD. Other ways to obscure blood to get an R-rating were achieved by simply trimming the grislier shots by a few seconds, by digitally repainting blood so that it is more black than red, or by digitally painting the blood out altogether.


title: Land of the Dead

text: British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario gave both the theatrical version and DVD version a rating of "18A", though it was only given a 13+ rating in Quebec.


title: Land of the Dead

text: In the UK, the BBFC gave both the theatrical version and the unrated version a 15 certificate for "strong language, violence, horror and gore". Every UK release bar the UMD version were rated 18 overall due to a bonus feature (a highlights reel of the goriest moments called "Scenes of Carnage").


title: Land of the Dead

text: In Germany, both the theatrical and unrated versions were rated 18 anyway. As such, only the unrated version was widely available in Germany.


title: Land of the Dead

text: The film earned a 74% approval rating at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 179 reviews and an average rating of 6.70/10. The site's consensus says, "George A. Romero's latest entry in his much-vaunted "Dead" series is not as fresh as his genre-inventing original, "Night of the Living Dead". But "Land of the Dead" does deliver on the gore and zombies-feasting-on-flesh action." On Metacritic, which assesses film with a score out of 100, the film holds a rating of 71 based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Land of the Dead

text: Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four for what he considered its skillful and creative allusions, something that he argued was pervasive among Romero's previous three installments, which contained numerous satirical metaphors to American life. Ebert noted this installment's distinction between the rich and poor, those that live in Fiddler's Green and those that live in the slums. John Lutz, in "Zombies of the World, Unite: Class Struggle and Alienation in Land of the Dead", drew comparisons between the fireworks which were set off to distract the zombies in "Land of the Dead" to the US military 'shock and awe' displays seen in its military actions. Michael Wilmington of "Chicago Tribune" awarded the film four stars, writing, "It's another hard-edged, funny, playfully perverse and violent exercise in movie fear and loathing, with an increasingly dark take on a world spinning out of control. By now, Romero has become a classicist who uses character and dialogue as much as stomach-turning special effects to achieve his shivers." "The New York Sun" declared it "the American movie of the year".


title: Land of the Dead

text: Several filmmakers, including John Landis, Eli Roth, Clive Barker, and Guillermo del Toro, paid tribute to Romero in a "Land of the Dead" special. Guillermo del Toro said: "Finally someone was smart enough to realize that it was about time, and gave George the tools. It should be a cause of celebration amongst all of us that Michelangelo has started another ceiling. It's really a momentous occasion..."


title: Polydactyl cat

text: A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly), which causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Cats with this genetically inherited trait are most commonly found along the East Coast of North America (in the United States and Canada) and in South West England and Wales.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: Polydactyly is a congenital abnormality that can be inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Some cases of polydactyly are caused by mutations in the ZRS, a genetic enhancer that regulates expression of the sonic hedgehog (SHH) gene in the limb. The SHH protein is an important signalling molecule involved in patterning of many body elements, including limbs and digits.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: Normal cats have a total of 18 toes, with five toes on each fore paw, and four toes on each hind paw; polydactyl cats may have as many as nine digits on their front or hind paws. Both Jake, a Canadian polydactyl cat, and Paws, an American polydactyl cat, were recognised by Guinness World Records as having the highest number of toes on a cat, 28. Various combinations of anywhere from four to seven toes per paw are common. Polydactyly is most commonly found on the front paws only; it is rare for a cat to have polydactyl hind paws only, and polydactyly of all four paws is even less common.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: The condition seems to be most commonly found in cats along the East Coast of North America (in the United States and Canada) and in South West England, Wales and Kingston-upon-Hull. Polydactyl cats have been extremely popular as ship's cats. Although there is some controversy over whether the most common variant of the trait originated as a mutation in New England or was brought there from Britain, there seems to be agreement that it spread widely as a result of cats carried on ships originating in Boston, Massachusetts, and the prevalence of polydactyly among the cat population of various ports correlates with the dates when they first established trade with Boston. Contributing to the spread of polydactyl cats by this means, sailors were long known to value polydactyl cats especially for their extraordinary climbing and hunting abilities as an aid in controlling shipboard rodents. Some sailors thought they bring good luck at sea. The rarity of polydactyl cats in Europe may be because they were hunted and killed based on superstitions about witchcraft.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: Genetic work studying the DNA basis of the condition indicates that many different mutations in the same ZRS area can all lead to polydactyly.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: Author Ernest Hemingway became a famous aficionado of polydactyl cats after a ship captain gave him a six-toed cat that he named Snow White. Upon Hemingway's death in 1961, his former home in Key West, Florida became a museum and a home for his cats, and it currently houses approximately 50 descendants of his cats (about half of which are polydactyl). Because of his love for these animals, polydactyl cats are sometimes referred to as "Hemingway cats."


title: Polydactyl cat

text: Nicknames for polydactyl cats include "Hemingway cats", "mitten cats", "conch cats", "boxing cats", "mitten-foot cats", "snowshoe cats", "thumb cats", "six-fingered cats", and "Cardi-cats". Two specific breeds recognized by some cat fancier clubs are the American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: American Polydactyl cats are bred as a specific cat breed, with specific physical and behavioral characteristics in addition to extra digits.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: The American Polydactyl is not to be confused with the pedigree Maine Coon Polydactyl. The polydactyl form of the Maine Coon is being reinstated by some breeders.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: In the case of preaxial polydactyly of the Maine Coon cat (Hemingway mutant) a mutation of the cis-regulatory element ZRS (ZPA regulator sequence) is associated. ZRS is a noncoding element, 800 kilobasepairs (kb) remote to the target gene SHH. An ectopic expression of SHH is seen on the anterior side of the limb. Normally SHH is expressed in an organiser region, called the zone of polarizing activity (ZPA) on the posterior limb side. From there it diffuses anteriorly, laterally to the growth direction of the limb. In the mutant mirroring smaller ectopic expression in a new organiser region is seen on the posterior side of the limb. This ectopic expression causes cell proliferation delivering the raw material for one or more new digits. An identical sequence at this position serves the same function in human and mice and cause similar symptoms when mutated. Different mutations have different specific effects: for example, while the Hemingway ("Hw") mutant tends to mostly induce extra fingers in the fore limbs, many other mutations affect the posterior limbs too.


title: Polydactyl cat

text: Polydactyly is a spontaneous complex phenotypic variation, developed in one generation. In the concrete preaxial form of the Hemingway ("Hw") mutant the variation is induced by a single point mutation in a noncoding cis-regulatory element for SHH. In an extensive phenotypic variation like this, one or more complete digits at each single limb are developed including nerves, blood vessels, muscles and ligaments. The physiology of the digits can be perfect. This complex phenotypic result cannot be explained by the mutation alone. The mutation can only induce the variation. In the consequence of the mutation, thousands of events, each different from the wildtype, occur on different organisation layers, such as expression changes of other genes, cell-cell signal exchange, cell differentiation, cell and tissue growth. The summarized small random changes on all layers build the raw material and the process steps for the generation of the plastic variation. The mentioned form of polydactyly of the Hemingway mutant shows a biased variation. In a recent empirical study first the number of extra toes of 375 mutant Maine Coon cats were variable (polyphenism) and second, the number of extra toes followed a discontinuous statistical distribution. They were not equally distributed as one might expect of an identical single point mutation. The example demonstrates that the variation is not explained completely by the mutation alone.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The Eurovision Song Contest 2016 was the 61st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Stockholm, Sweden, following the country's victory at the with the song "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), the contest was held at the Globe Arena and consisted of two semi-finals on 10 and 12 May, and a final on 14 May 2016. The three live shows were presented by Petra Mede and previous year's winner Måns Zelmerlöw.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Forty-two countries participated in the contest. , , and returned after absences from recent contests, while also returned after debuting as a special guest in 2015. did not enter, largely due to their national broadcaster's insufficient promotion of their music-based media, while had planned to participate, but was disqualified due to repeated non-payment of debts by their national broadcaster to the EBU.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The winner was with the song "1944", performed and written by Jamala. , , and host country rounded out the top five. This was the first time since the introduction of professional jury voting in that the overall winner won neither the jury vote, which was won by Australia, nor the televote, which was won by Russia, with Ukraine placing second in both. "1944" is the first song containing lyrics in Crimean Tatar to win the contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The Czech Republic managed to qualify for the final for the first time in five attempts since its debut in , while both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Greece failed to qualify from the semi-finals for the first time ever, the latter being absent from the final for the first time since 2000. In the final, Australia's second-place finish was an improvement on its fifth-place finish in 2015, while finished fourth, its best result since its debut and first participation in a final since 2007.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The contest was the first to implement a voting system change since : each country's professional jury points were announced largely as before, while the results of each national televote were combined and announced in reverse order. It was also the first contest to be broadcast on live television in the United States, and the EBU recorded a record-breaking 204 million viewers worldwide for the contest, beating the 2015 viewing figures by over 5 million.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The contest took place in the Globe Arena in Stockholm, following Sweden's victory at the 2015 contest. The Globe Arena has a capacity of approximately 16,000 attendees, and this was the second time the contest has been staged at the venue, after the Eurovision Song Contest 2000.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Host broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT) announced on 24 May, the day after winning the 2015 contest, that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm was their first choice venue. However, other cities and arenas were invited to apply, and those making a bid had approximately three weeks to submit their offer to SVT.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: SVT announced on 1 June the conditions under which cities and venues could announce their interest in hosting the contest:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: An announcement regarding the venue was expected from SVT by midsummer, with the Ericsson Globe announced as the venue on 8 July.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The preliminary dates for the contest were announced on 16 March 2015 at a Heads of Delegation meeting in Vienna, with the semi-finals taking place on 10 and 12 May, and the final on 14 May 2016. These were subject to change depending on SVT, but were later confirmed when Stockholm was announced as the host city.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Discussions were held in 2014 between the EBU and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) regarding the inclusion of a guest performance from the ABU TV Song Festival at the contest. The EBU confirmed on 16 July 2015 that they would be looking into the possibility of the proposal, which was discussed at the ABU General Assembly in 2014.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: SVT proposed a change of start time of the contest from 21:00 CEST to 20:00 CEST on 9 September, arguing that such a change would help to promote family viewing of the contest, especially in eastern Europe when it would run late into the night. However, the EBU published the public rules of the contest on 28 October, which stated that the start time would remain at 21:00 CEST.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU announced on 23 September that rather than using clips from their respective music videos, extended clips from the dress rehearsals of the six acts who qualified directly to the final (the "Big Five" and host nation Sweden) would be shown as previews during the semi-final in which they were allocated to vote.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The core team for the contest was announced by SVT and the EBU on 26 October. Johan Bernhagen and Martin Österdahl were executive producers, while Tobias Åberg was head of production. The three live shows were directed by Sven Stojanović and the contest was produced by Christer Björkman.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU announced on 18 February 2016 that a new voting system would be implemented at the contest for the first time since 1975. The new system, inspired by the voting system of Melodifestivalen, involved each country awarding two sets of points from 1–8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting. Televoting votes from all the countries would be pooled. After viewers cast their votes, the results of each professional jury would be presented, with countries receiving 1–8 and 10 points being displayed on-screen, instead of 1–7 as had been the case since , and the national spokesperson announcing only the country to which they award 12 points. After the results of the professional juries were presented, the televoting points from all participating countries would be combined, providing one score for each song. The new voting system would also be used to determine the qualifiers from each semi-final, but, as before, the qualifiers are announced in a random order.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: As the new voting system would give equal weight to jury and televoting results, a national jury result could not be used as a backup result for the televoting or vice versa. Therefore, if a country could not deliver a valid televoting/jury result, a substitute result would be calculated by the jury/televoting result of a pre-selected group of countries approved by the contest's Reference Group. The Director General of Radiotelevisione della Repubblica di San Marino (SMRTV), Carlo Romeo, stated on 23 February that the use of a substitute televoting result discriminated against microstates like San Marino, which only used a professional jury due to their use of the Italian phone system and would therefore have its voting representation diminished under the new system, and criticised the EBU for not contacting its members before making the decision.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU announced on 14 March 2016 that the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm would host a live event running alongside the final of the contest on 14 May. "Eurovision The Party", hosted by Sanna Nielsen, allowed fans to watch the final on a big screen and featured backstage material from the Globe Arena such as Nielsen conducting exclusive interviews and appearing with hosts Petra Mede and Måns Zelmerlöw. The results of the Swedish jury vote was also announced live from the event by Gina Dirawi. A pre-party and after-party was also held and featured performances from former contest winners Carola and Loreen as well as Danny Saucedo, Panetoz and DJ Tim Henri. Executive producer Johan Bernhagen has stated that the event complements existing events being held at the Eurovision Village and the EuroClub, and it is hoped that "Eurovision The Party" would become an annual event in the host city of the contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: After his victory in the 2015 contest, Måns Zelmerlöw announced his interest in hosting the 2016 contest. His experience as a television presenter includes Melodifestivalen 2010 and SVT sing-along show "Allsång på Skansen". Christer Björkman told "Expressen" on 25 May that Gina Dirawi, Petra Mede and Sanna Nielsen were also being considered as hosts, but it was reported on 1 June that SVT was considering Zelmerlöw and Dolph Lundgren as co-hosts. "Expressen" reported on 19 August that Mede and Zelmerlöw were SVT's first choice of hosts, while it was announced at a press conference on 14 December that they would indeed co-host.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The press conferences were presented by Jovan Radomir and Catarina Rolfsdotter-Jansson, who also provided commentary from the red carpet event in front of the Stockholm Palace, before the official welcome party at Stockholm City Hall on 8 May 2016.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The draw to determine the allocation of the participating countries into their respective semi-finals took place at Stockholm City Hall on 25 January 2016, hosted by Alexandra Pascalidou and Jovan Radomir. The first part of the draw determined in which semi-final the "Big Five" and host country Sweden would have to vote. The second part of the draw decided in which half of the respective semi-finals each country would perform, with the exact running order determined by the producers of the show at a later date. The EBU originally announced that the running order would be revealed on 5 April, however for undisclosed reasons this was later put back to 8 April. Eighteen countries participated in the first semi-final, while nineteen countries were planned to participate in the second semi-final, but this was reduced to eighteen on 22 April due to the disqualification of . From each semi-final, ten countries joined the "Big Five" and Sweden in the final, where a total of twenty-six countries participated.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The thirty-seven semi-finalists were allocated into six pots, which were published by the EBU on 21 January, based on historical voting patterns as calculated by the contest's official televoting partner Digame. Drawing from different pots helps in reducing the chance of so-called neighbour voting and increasing suspense in the semi-finals. and were pre-allocated to vote and perform in the first and second semi-final respectively due to requests from their respective broadcasters, which were approved by the EBU.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU announced on 1 May 2016 that the opening act of the first semi-final would be a performance of "Heroes" by Måns Zelmerlöw, while the opening act of the second semi-final would be a musical theatre comedy song entitled "That's Eurovision", composed by Matheson Bayley and written by Bayley, Edward af Sillén and Daniel Réhn, and performed by Zelmerlöw and Mede. The opening act of the final was a parade of flags similar to final opening ceremonies since 2013, themed as a tribute to Swedish fashion design and dance music with artists being welcomed on stage in a catwalk fashion show with flags being projected onto 26 dresses designed by Bea Szenfeld.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The interval acts of both semi-finals were sketches choreographed by Fredrik Rydman: "The Grey People" in the first semi-final and "Man vs Machine" in the second semi-final respectively. The EBU announced on 9 May that one of the interval acts of the final would be a world premiere live performance of "Can't Stop the Feeling!" and "Rock Your Body" by Justin Timberlake. He was the first "global megastar" in the contest's 61-year-history to perform during the interval. Other interval acts in the final included a sketch called "Love Love Peace Peace", a pastiche of past entries which featured appearances from Lordi and Alexander Rybak, winners of the contest in and respectively and performed by Zelmerlöw and Mede, a sketch starring Lynda Woodruff, played by Sarah Dawn Finer, and a performance of "Fire in the Rain" and "Heroes" by Zelmerlöw, from his albums "Chameleon" and "Perfectly Damaged" respectively.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: During the live broadcast of the final on Logo TV in the United States, Timberlake's performance was replaced by a reprise of "The Grey People" from the first semi-final, with the Eurovision 2016 DVD cutting Timberlake completely. In an interview with "The Guardian", the contest's Executive Supervisor, Jon Ola Sand, revealed that this was due to rights restrictions.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Participating countries had until 15 September 2015 to submit their applications for participation in the contest, and until 10 October to withdraw their applications without facing financial sanctions. It had been initially announced on 26 November 2015 that 43 countries would participate in the contest, equalling the record number of participants set in and . However, were disqualified from participation on 22 April 2016, subsequently reducing the number of participating countries to 42.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Four countries returned after absences from recent contests: since , and since and since . also returned after debuting as a special guest in 2015, but by invitation of the EBU due to the associate membership status of the Special Broadcasting Service. However, instead of pre-qualifying for the final and voting in all three live shows, as was the case in 2015, Australia entered the second semi-final and voted only in that semi-final and the final. did not enter, largely due to their national broadcaster's insufficient promotion of their music-based media, as well as a poorly structured selection process, while Romania were disqualified from participation on 22 April 2016 due to repeated non-payment of debts by their national broadcaster to the EBU.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Deen returned after previously representing in , finishing ninth in the final with the song "In The Disco".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Kaliopi returned after previously representing in , finishing 13th in the final with the song "Crno i belo". She was also selected to represent Macedonia in with "Samo ti", but was eliminated in a non-televised pre-qualifying round.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Poli Genova returned after previously representing in , finishing 12th in the second semi-final with the song "Na inat".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Bojan Jovović returned for as part of Highway after previously representing in as part of No Name, finishing seventh in the final with the song "Zauvijek moja".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Ira Losco returned after previously representing in , finishing in second place with the song "7th Wonder".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Donny Montell returned after previously representing in , finishing 14th in the final with the song "Love Is Blind".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Greta Salóme returned after previously representing in with Jónsi, finishing 20th in the final with the song "Never Forget".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Armenian backing vocalist Monica previously represented Armenia in Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Sahlene, who represented Estonia in Eurovision Song Contest 2002, returned as a backing vocalist for Australia.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Martina Majerle, who represented Slovenia in 2009 and provided backing vocals numerous times for Croatia 2003, Montenegro 2008, 2014 and Slovenia 2007, 2011, 2012, returned as a backing vocalist for Croatia.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Eighteen countries participated in the first semi-final. , , and voted in this semi-final. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Eighteen countries participated in the second semi-final. , , and the voted in this semi-final. were originally planned to perform twelfth in this semi-final, but were disqualified due to repeated non-payment of debts to the EBU, resulting in countries originally planned to perform thirteenth or later to do so one place earlier. The highlighted countries qualified for the final.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: 26 countries participated in the final, with all 42 participating countries eligible to vote. The running order for the final was revealed after the second semi-final qualifiers' press conference on 13 May.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury and televote in the first semi-final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury and televote in the second semi-final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Below is a summary of the maximum 12 points awarded by each country's professional jury and televote in the final. Countries in bold gave the maximum 24 points (12 points apiece from professional jury and televoting) to the specified entrant.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The spokespersons announced the 12-point score from their respective country's national jury in the following order:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Eligibility for potential participation in the Eurovision Song Contest requires a national broadcaster with active EBU membership that would be able to broadcast the contest via the Eurovision network. The EBU issued an invitation to participate in the contest to all active members and associate member Australia.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Most countries sent commentators to Stockholm or commentated from their own country, in order to add insight to the participants and, if necessary, the provision of voting information.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: It was reported by the EBU that the contest was viewed by a worldwide television audience of over 200 million viewers, beating the 2015 record which was viewed by 197 million.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: SVT announced on 22 April 2016 that they would offer International Sign broadcasts of all three live shows for the hearing impaired. All three broadcasts were produced by Julia Kankkonen. The performances of competing entries were interpreted by ten sign language performers and the dialogue of hosts were interpreted by three sign language performers:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The international sign broadcasts was streamed online alongside the three live shows, with the following countries also televising the broadcasts:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Romania's participation was reported to be in danger on 19 April 2016 due to repeated non-payment of debts by Televiziunea Română (TVR) to the EBU, totalling CHF 16 million (€14.56 million) dating back to January 2007. The EBU had requested the Romanian government to repay the debt before 20 April or face exclusion from the contest. The EBU announced on 22 April that after the Romanian government had failed to repay the debt by the deadline, TVR were expelled from the EBU, consequently disqualifying Romania from the contest. The Director General of the EBU, Ingrid Deltenre, said that while "it is regrettable that we are forced to take this action […] The continued indebtedness of TVR jeopardizes the financial stability of the EBU itself".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: However, because the official album of the contest had been produced before the disqualification, the planned Romanian entry, "Moment of Silence", performed by Ovidiu Anton, would remain on both digital and physical copies of the album. The song had been written following the Colectiv nightclub fire in October 2015.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) announced on 19 November 2015 that Xavier Naidoo would represent Germany in the contest. However, his selection was criticised due to his history of expressing far-right political views in his actions and lyrics, including a speech made at a protest in 2014 supporting the assertion that the German Reich continues to exist within its pre-World War II borders, his propagation of conspiracy theories surrounding the September 11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis, and a song in which he referred to Baron Rothschild as "Baron Deadschild" and a "schmuck", as well as a collaboration with Kool Savas titled "Wo sind sie jetzt?", which contained homophobic lyrics which were interpreted as associating homosexuality with paedophilia. Critics of his selection included Johannes Kahrs, who branded the decision "unspeakable and embarrassing", the Amadeu Antonio Foundation and "Bild".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: In light of the negative response and the need to quickly decide a new selection process, NDR withdrew its proposal to send Naidoo on 21 November. ARD co-ordinator Thomas Schreiber stated that "Xavier Naidoo is a brilliant singer who is, according to my own opinion, neither racist nor homophobe. It was clear that his nomination would polarise opinions, but we were surprised about the negative response. The Eurovision Song Contest is a fun event, in which music and the understanding between European people should be the focus. This characteristic must be kept at all costs."


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU announced on 10 May 2016 that they were investigating reports of possible rule violations after Russian jury member Anastasia Stotskaya streamed footage of the Russian jury deliberation during the dress rehearsal of the first semi-final on 9 May on the live-streaming social media site Periscope. The video showed one jury member not paying attention to the Dutch performance, while another jury member was filmed during the Armenian performance stating that she will support Armenia "because [her] husband is Armenian". The video also shows jury members on their phones during other performances, as well as a glimpse of Stotskaya's voting result, which also included notes evaluating performances. The rules of the contest stipulate that all jury members are to evaluate performances individually, without discussing the results with other jury members, a stipulation that was clearly violated by the Russian jury.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU released a statement later on 10 May, stating that following talks with Russia-1, the broadcaster proposed to withdraw Stotskaya, declaring her voting results to be invalid, and provide a replacement judge for the final on 14 May. The statement also clarified that the other four jury members submitted a valid jury vote. The EBU also stated that while streaming a video online from the jury deliberation is not considered to be a breach of the rules of the contest, so long as individual rankings, combined rankings or jury points are kept confidential until after the final, it regards Stotskaya's actions "as not in keeping with the spirit of the contest and potentially prejudicial as it imposes a potential risk of accidentally revealing results".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: In ensuring the apolitical nature of the contest and the safety of attendees, the EBU released an official flag policy on 29 April 2016, which included a list of flags which would be banned from the three live shows. The President of the Basque Country, Iñigo Urkullu, and the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, José Manuel García-Margallo, protested at the specific inclusion of the flag of the Basque Country alongside other flags such as those of some unrecognised nations and the Islamic State, and called on the organisers of the contest to rectify the issue. Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) also expressed their concern to the EBU and requested a rectification, with the EBU responding, saying that while the flag of the Basque Country is not specifically forbidden, it is an example of a banned flag, adding that only the "official national flags of the 42 participating countries, or from one of the countries that have recently taken part", "official national flags of any of the other United Nations member states", the flag of Europe and the rainbow flag were permitted.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU issued a statement later on 29 April, clarifying that it was not their intention to publish such a document, while acknowledging that the decision to publish a selection of flags of organisations and territories, each of which were "of a very different nature", was an insensitive one, and apologised for any offence caused by the publication of the original flag policy. The EBU also called on both the Avicii Arena and the contest's official ticketing partner AXS to publish an updated flag policy which did not include examples of banned flags.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU released another statement on 6 May, stating that after discussing the matter with several participating delegations, the organisers of the contest had "agreed to relax the flag policy, and to allow national, regional and local flags of the participants" such as the Welsh flag (as Joe Woolford, representing the United Kingdom as part of Joe and Jake, is Welsh) and the Sami flag (as Agnete, representing Norway, is of Sami heritage), as well as the flags of all UN member states, the flag of the EU and the rainbow flag, as stated in the original flag policy. The EBU also proposed a more tolerant approach to other flags as long as attendees respect the apolitical nature of the contest and do not attempt to deliberately obstruct the camera views. Such a proposal was approved by the contest's Reference Group.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The Spanish Embassy in Stockholm filed a formal complaint to Swedish police on 15 May after a Spanish citizen carrying the flag of the Basque Country had his flag confiscated by security personnel and was asked along with two of his compatriots to leave the venue. After an urgent intervention by the Spanish Consul, who was present in the arena, the flag was returned to the attendees and they were permitted to return to the venue.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Despite the official flag policy published by the EBU allowing only "national, regional and local flags of the participants" and banning the flag of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, during the first voting recap of the first semi-final on 10 May, Armenian artist Iveta Mukuchyan was filmed in the green room holding the flag of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, sparking condemnation from the Azerbaijani press. The situation further escalated during the semi-final qualifiers' press conference afterwards, where a member of the Azerbaijani press criticised the Armenian delegation and the EBU for allowing the flag to be shown during the show. Responding to a question on the incident from a journalist from "Aftonbladet", Mukuchyan stated: "My thoughts are with my Motherland. I want peace everywhere." Commenting on the situation, Azerbaijani artist Samra Rahimli stated that "Eurovision is a song contest and it's all about music."


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The EBU and the contest's Reference Group released a joint statement on 11 May, strongly condemning Mukuchyan's actions during the first voting recap of the first semi-final and considering it "harmful" to the overall image of the contest. The Reference Group consequently sanctioned Public Television of Armenia (AMPTV), citing a breach of the rule stating that "no messages promoting any organisation, institution, political cause or other causes shall be allowed in the shows". Furthermore, the Reference Group has pointed out that a further breach of the rules of the contest could lead to disqualification from the contest or future contests. The spokesman for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hikmet Hajiyev, called Mukuchyan's actions "provocative" and unacceptable, claiming that "the Armenian side deliberately resorts to such steps to encourage and promote the illegal formation created in the occupied Azerbaijani territories".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: "BT" revealed on 15 May 2016 that Danish professional jury member Hilda Heick, wife of Keld Heick who co-wrote eight Danish entries, had submitted her ranking for the final and the semifinal 2 the wrong way round, ranking her favourite entry 26th while ranking her least-favourite entry first, in direct opposition to what she had intended to do. As a result of Heick's mistake, the points of the Danish jury would have been different:


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The United Kingdom and Ukraine both would have failed to receive any points from the Danish jury. While the overall result was not affected, the margin between second-placed Australia and first-placed Ukraine would have been reduced from 23 points to 9 points.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The Ukrainian winning song, "1944" by Jamala, is about the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 and particularly about the singer's great-grandmother, who lost her daughter while being deported to Central Asia. Jamala's song was considered by Russian media and lawmakers to be critical of the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the ongoing war in Donbas.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: A petition was started on Change.org on 15 May 2016, which called on the EBU to void the final results in view of the fact that the overall winner only placed second in both the jury and televote. The EBU responded that Ukraine "is, and will remain, the winner" of the contest, and that the result was "valid in accordance with the rules".


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Later on, a video surfaced depicting Jamala performing "1944" four months before the eligibility date for commercial releases. However, the EBU concluded that "the song was eligible to compete", citing past relaxations of the rule.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: In addition to the main winner's trophy, the Marcel Bezençon Awards and the Barbara Dex Award were contested during the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest. The OGAE, "General Organisation of Eurovision Fans" voting poll also took place before the contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The Marcel Bezençon Awards, organised since 2002 by Sweden's then-Head of Delegation and 1992 representative Christer Björkman, and 1984 winner Richard Herrey, honours songs in the contest's final. The awards were divided into three categories: Artistic Award, Composers Award, and Press Award. The winners were revealed shortly before the final on 14 May.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: OGAE, an organisation of over forty Eurovision Song Contest fan clubs across Europe and beyond, conducts an annual voting poll first held in 2002 as the Marcel Bezençon Fan Award. The 2016 poll ran from 4 April to 2 May with votes from 45 clubs while Bulgaria and Moldova's ones abstained, and after all votes were cast, the top-ranked entry was France's "J'ai cherché" performed by Amir; the top five results are shown below.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: The Barbara Dex Award is a humorous fan award given to the worst dressed artist each year. Named after Belgium's representative who came last in the 1993 contest, wearing her self-designed dress, the award was handed since 1997. After twenty editions, this was the final poll organised by the fansite House of Eurovision, as they handed the reins to the fansite "Songfestival.be" not long after the 2016 contest.


title: Eurovision Song Contest 2016

text: Eurovision Song Contest: Stockholm 2016 is the official compilation album of the contest, put together by the European Broadcasting Union and was released by Universal Music Group digitally on 15 April and physically on 22 April 2016. The album features all 42 participating entries, including the semi-finalists that fail to qualify for the final. The album also features the disqualified Romanian entry, meaning that the tracks on the CD are actually 43.


title: Scapegoat

text: In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designated to be cast into the desert to carry away the sins of the community.


title: Scapegoat

text: Some scholars have argued that the scapegoat ritual can be traced back to Ebla around 2400 BC, from where it spread throughout the ancient Near East.


title: Scapegoat

text: The Brown–Driver–Briggs Hebrew Lexicon gives () as a reduplicative intensive of the stem , "remove", hence , "for entire removal". This reading is supported by the Greek Old Testament translation as "the sender away (of sins)". The lexicographer Gesenius takes to mean "averter", which he theorized was the name of a deity, to be appeased with the sacrifice of the goat.


title: Scapegoat

text: Alternatively, broadly contemporary with the Septuagint, the pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch may preserve Azazel as the name of a fallen angel.


title: Scapegoat

text: Early English Christian Bible versions follow the translation of the Septuagint and Latin Vulgate, which interpret as "the goat that departs" (Greek , "goat sent out", Latin , "emissary goat"). William Tyndale rendered the Latin as "(e)scape goat" in his 1530 Bible. This translation was followed by subsequent versions up through the King James Version of the Bible in 1611: "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat." Several modern versions however either leave it as the proper noun Azazel, or footnote "for Azazel" as an alternative reading.


title: Scapegoat

text: Jewish sources in the Talmud (Yoma 6:4,67b) give the etymology of as a compound of , strong or rough, and , mighty, that the goat was sent from the most rugged or strongest of mountains. From the Targums onwards the term was also seen by some rabbinical commentators as the name of a Hebrew demon, angelic force, or pagan deity. The two readings are still disputed today.


title: Scapegoat

text: The scapegoat was a goat that was designated () ; "for absolute removal" (for symbolic removal of the people's sins with the literal removal of the goat), and outcast in the desert as part of the ceremonies of the Day of Atonement, that began during the Exodus with the original Tabernacle and continued through the times of the temples in Jerusalem.


title: Scapegoat

text: Once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Cohen Gadol sacrificed a bull as a sin offering to atone for sins he may have committed unintentionally throughout the year. Subsequently he took two goats and presented them at the door of the tabernacle. Two goats were chosen by lot: one to be "for YHWH", which was offered as a blood sacrifice, and the other to be the scapegoat to be sent away into the wilderness and pushed down a steep ravine where it died. The blood of the slain goat was taken into the Holy of Holies behind the sacred veil and sprinkled on the mercy seat, the lid of the ark of the covenant. Later in the ceremonies of the day, the High Priest confessed the intentional sins of the Israelites to God placing them figuratively on the head of the other goat, the Azazel scapegoat, who would symbolically "take them away".


title: Scapegoat

text: In Christianity, this process prefigures the sacrifice of Christ on the cross through which God has been propitiated and sins can be expiated. Jesus Christ is seen to have fulfilled all of the biblical "types"—the High Priest who officiates at the ceremony, the Lord's goat that deals with the pollution of sin and the scapegoat that removes the "burden of sin". Christians believe that sinners who admit their guilt and confess their sins, exercising faith and trust in the person and sacrifice of Jesus, are forgiven of their sins. The sacrifice of these two goats foretells to a degree of what happened when Jesus and Barabbas were presented by Pontius Pilate to the people in Jerusalem. Barabbas (which means son of the father in Aramaic) who was guilty (burdened with sin) was released while Jesus (also the Son of the Father) who was innocent of Sin was presented by the High Priest and was sacrificed by the Romans through crucifixion.


title: Scapegoat

text: Since the second goat was sent away to perish, the word "scapegoat" has developed to indicate a person who is blamed and punished for the actions of others.


title: Scapegoat

text: A concept superficially similar to the biblical scapegoat is attested in two ritual texts of the 24th century BC archived at Ebla. They were connected with ritual purification on the occasion of the king's wedding. In them, a she-goat with a silver bracelet hung from her neck was driven forth into the wasteland of "Alini"; "we" in the report of the ritual involves the whole community. Such "elimination rites", in which an animal, without confession of sins, is the vehicle of evils (not sins) that are chased from the community are widely attested in the Ancient Near East.


title: Scapegoat

text: Ancient Greeks practiced scapegoating rituals in exceptional times based on the belief that the repudiation of one or two individuals would save the whole community. Scapegoating was practiced with different rituals across ancient Greece for different reasons but was mainly used during extraordinary circumstances such as famine, drought, or plague. The scapegoat would usually be an individual of lower society such as a criminal, slave, or poor person and was referred to as the , or .


title: Scapegoat

text: There is a dichotomy, however, in the individuals used as scapegoats in mythical tales and the ones used in the actual rituals. In mythical tales, it was stressed that someone of high importance had to be sacrificed if the whole society were to benefit from the aversion of catastrophe (usually a king or the king's children). However, since no king or person of importance would be willing to sacrifice himself or his children, the scapegoat in actual rituals would be someone of lower society who would be given value through special treatment such as fine clothes and dining before the sacrificial ceremony.


title: Scapegoat

text: Sacrificial ceremonies varied across Greece depending on the festival and type of catastrophe. In Abdera, for example, a poor man was feasted and led around the walls of the city once before being chased out with stones. In Massilia, a poor man was feasted for a year and then cast out of the city in order to stop a plague. The scholia refer to the being killed, but many scholars reject this and argue that the earliest evidence (the fragments of the iambic satirist Hipponax) show the being only stoned, beaten, and driven from the community.


title: Scapegoat

text: The scapegoat, as a religious and ritualistic practice and a metaphor for social exclusion, is one of the major preoccupations in Dimitris Lyacos's "Poena Damni" trilogy. In the first book, , the narrator sets out on a voyage in the midst of a dystopian landscape that is reminiscent of the desert mentioned in Leviticus (16, 22). The text also contains references to the ancient Greek . In the second book, "With the People from the Bridge", the male and female characters are treated apotropaically as vampires and are cast out from both the world of the living and that of the dead. In the third book, The First Death, the main character appears irrevocably marooned on a desert island as a personification of miasma expelled to a geographical point of no return.


title: Solid

text: Solid is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount of kinetic energy. A solid is characterized by structural rigidity and resistance to a force applied to the surface. Unlike a liquid, a solid object does not flow to take on the shape of its container, nor does it expand to fill the entire available volume like a gas. The atoms in a solid are bound to each other, either in a regular geometric lattice (crystalline solids, which include metals and ordinary ice), or irregularly (an amorphous solid such as common window glass). Solids cannot be compressed with little pressure whereas gases can be compressed with little pressure because the molecules in a gas are loosely packed.


title: Solid

text: The branch of physics that deals with solids is called solid-state physics, and is the main branch of condensed matter physics (which also includes liquids). Materials science is primarily concerned with the physical and chemical properties of solids. Solid-state chemistry is especially concerned with the synthesis of novel materials, as well as the science of identification and chemical composition.


title: Solid

text: The atoms, molecules or ions that make up solids may be arranged in an orderly repeating pattern, or irregularly. Materials whose constituents are arranged in a regular pattern are known as crystals. In some cases, the regular ordering can continue unbroken over a large scale, for example diamonds, where each diamond is a single crystal. Solid objects that are large enough to see and handle are rarely composed of a single crystal, but instead are made of a large number of single crystals, known as crystallites, whose size can vary from a few nanometers to several meters. Such materials are called polycrystalline. Almost all common metals, and many ceramics, are polycrystalline.


title: Solid

text: In other materials, there is no long-range order in the position of the atoms. These solids are known as amorphous solids; examples include polystyrene and glass.


title: Solid

text: Whether a solid is crystalline or amorphous depends on the material involved, and the conditions in which it was formed. Solids that are formed by slow cooling will tend to be crystalline, while solids that are frozen rapidly are more likely to be amorphous. Likewise, the specific crystal structure adopted by a crystalline solid depends on the material involved and on how it was formed.


title: Solid

text: While many common objects, such as an ice cube or a coin, are chemically identical throughout, many other common materials comprise a number of different substances packed together. For example, a typical rock is an aggregate of several different minerals and mineraloids, with no specific chemical composition. Wood is a natural organic material consisting primarily of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of organic lignin. In materials science, composites of more than one constituent material can be designed to have desired properties.


title: Solid

text: The forces between the atoms in a solid can take a variety of forms. For example, a crystal of sodium chloride (common salt) is made up of ionic sodium and chlorine, which are held together by ionic bonds. In diamond or silicon, the atoms share electrons and form covalent bonds. In metals, electrons are shared in metallic bonding. Some solids, particularly most organic compounds, are held together with van der Waals forces resulting from the polarization of the electronic charge cloud on each molecule. The dissimilarities between the types of solid result from the differences between their bonding.


title: Solid

text: The bulk of the elements in the periodic table, those to the left of a diagonal line drawn from boron to polonium, are metals.


title: Solid

text: The strength and reliability of metals has led to their widespread use in construction of buildings and other structures, as well as in most vehicles, many appliances and tools, pipes, road signs and railroad tracks. Iron and aluminium are the two most commonly used structural metals. They are also the most abundant metals in the Earth's crust. Iron is most commonly used in the form of an alloy, steel, which contains up to 2.1% carbon, making it much harder than pure iron.


title: Solid

text: Because metals are good conductors of electricity, they are valuable in electrical appliances and for carrying an electric current over long distances with little energy loss or dissipation. Thus, electrical power grids rely on metal cables to distribute electricity. Home electrical systems, for example, are wired with copper for its good conducting properties and easy machinability. The high thermal conductivity of most metals also makes them useful for stovetop cooking utensils.


title: Solid

text: The study of metallic elements and their alloys makes up a significant portion of the fields of solid-state chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering.


title: Solid

text: Metallic solids are held together by a high density of shared, delocalized electrons, known as "metallic bonding". In a metal, atoms readily lose their outermost ("valence") electrons, forming positive ions. The free electrons are spread over the entire solid, which is held together firmly by electrostatic interactions between the ions and the electron cloud. The large number of free electrons gives metals their high values of electrical and thermal conductivity. The free electrons also prevent transmission of visible light, making metals opaque, shiny and lustrous.


title: Solid

text: More advanced models of metal properties consider the effect of the positive ions cores on the delocalised electrons. As most metals have crystalline structure, those ions are usually arranged into a periodic lattice. Mathematically, the potential of the ion cores can be treated by various models, the simplest being the nearly free electron model.


title: Solid

text: Minerals are naturally occurring solids formed through various geological processes under high pressures. To be classified as a true mineral, a substance must have a crystal structure with uniform physical properties throughout. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very complex silicates with thousands of known forms. In contrast, a rock sample is a random aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and has no specific chemical composition. The vast majority of the rocks of the Earth's crust consist of quartz (crystalline SiO), feldspar, mica, chlorite, kaolin, calcite, epidote, olivine, augite, hornblende, magnetite, hematite, limonite and a few other minerals. Some minerals, like quartz, mica or feldspar are common, while others have been found in only a few locations worldwide. The largest group of minerals by far is the silicates (most rocks are ≥95% silicates), which are composed largely of silicon and oxygen, with the addition of ions of aluminium, magnesium, iron, calcium and other metals.


title: Solid

text: Ceramic solids are composed of inorganic compounds, usually oxides of chemical elements. They are chemically inert, and often are capable of withstanding chemical erosion that occurs in an acidic or caustic environment. Ceramics generally can withstand high temperatures ranging from 1000 to 1600 °C (1800 to 3000 °F). Exceptions include non-oxide inorganic materials, such as nitrides, borides and carbides.


title: Solid

text: Traditional ceramic raw materials include clay minerals such as kaolinite, more recent materials include aluminium oxide (alumina). The modern ceramic materials, which are classified as advanced ceramics, include silicon carbide and tungsten carbide. Both are valued for their abrasion resistance, and hence find use in such applications as the wear plates of crushing equipment in mining operations.


title: Solid

text: Most ceramic materials, such as alumina and its compounds, are formed from fine powders, yielding a fine grained polycrystalline microstructure that is filled with light-scattering centers comparable to the wavelength of visible light. Thus, they are generally opaque materials, as opposed to transparent materials. Recent nanoscale (e.g. sol-gel) technology has, however, made possible the production of polycrystalline transparent ceramics such as transparent alumina and alumina compounds for such applications as high-power lasers. Advanced ceramics are also used in the medicine, electrical and electronics industries.


title: Solid

text: Ceramic engineering is the science and technology of creating solid-state ceramic materials, parts and devices. This is done either by the action of heat, or, at lower temperatures, using precipitation reactions from chemical solutions. The term includes the purification of raw materials, the study and production of the chemical compounds concerned, their formation into components, and the study of their structure, composition and properties.


title: Solid

text: Mechanically speaking, ceramic materials are brittle, hard, strong in compression and weak in shearing and tension. Brittle materials may exhibit significant tensile strength by supporting a static load. Toughness indicates how much energy a material can absorb before mechanical failure, while fracture toughness (denoted K ) describes the ability of a material with inherent microstructural flaws to resist fracture via crack growth and propagation. If a material has a large value of fracture toughness, the basic principles of fracture mechanics suggest that it will most likely undergo ductile fracture. Brittle fracture is very characteristic of most ceramic and glass-ceramic materials that typically exhibit low (and inconsistent) values of K.


title: Solid

text: For an example of applications of ceramics, the extreme hardness of zirconia is utilized in the manufacture of knife blades, as well as other industrial cutting tools. Ceramics such as alumina, boron carbide and silicon carbide have been used in bulletproof vests to repel large-caliber rifle fire. Silicon nitride parts are used in ceramic ball bearings, where their high hardness makes them wear resistant. In general, ceramics are also chemically resistant and can be used in wet environments where steel bearings would be susceptible to oxidation (or rust).


title: Solid

text: As another example of ceramic applications, in the early 1980s, Toyota researched production of an adiabatic ceramic engine with an operating temperature of over 6000 °F (3300 °C). Ceramic engines do not require a cooling system and hence allow a major weight reduction and therefore greater fuel efficiency. In a conventional metallic engine, much of the energy released from the fuel must be dissipated as waste heat in order to prevent a meltdown of the metallic parts. Work is also being done in developing ceramic parts for gas turbine engines. Turbine engines made with ceramics could operate more efficiently, giving aircraft greater range and payload for a set amount of fuel. Such engines are not in production, however, because the manufacturing of ceramic parts in the sufficient precision and durability is difficult and costly. Processing methods often result in a wide distribution of microscopic flaws that frequently play a detrimental role in the sintering process, resulting in the proliferation of cracks, and ultimate mechanical failure.


title: Solid

text: Glass-ceramic materials share many properties with both non-crystalline glasses and crystalline ceramics. They are formed as a glass, and then partially crystallized by heat treatment, producing both amorphous and crystalline phases so that crystalline grains are embedded within a non-crystalline intergranular phase.


title: Solid

text: Glass-ceramics are used to make cookware (originally known by the brand name CorningWare) and stovetops that have both high resistance to thermal shock and extremely low permeability to liquids. The negative coefficient of thermal expansion of the crystalline ceramic phase can be balanced with the positive coefficient of the glassy phase. At a certain point (~70% crystalline) the glass-ceramic has a net coefficient of thermal expansion close to zero. This type of glass-ceramic exhibits excellent mechanical properties and can sustain repeated and quick temperature changes up to 1000 °C.


title: Solid

text: Glass ceramics may also occur naturally when lightning strikes the crystalline (e.g. quartz) grains found in most beach sand. In this case, the extreme and immediate heat of the lightning (~2500 °C) creates hollow, branching rootlike structures called fulgurite via fusion.


title: Solid

text: Organic chemistry studies the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation by synthesis (or other means) of chemical compounds of carbon and hydrogen, which may contain any number of other elements such as nitrogen, oxygen and the halogens: fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine. Some organic compounds may also contain the elements phosphorus or sulfur. Examples of organic solids include wood, paraffin wax, naphthalene and a wide variety of polymers and plastics.


title: Solid

text: Wood is a natural organic material consisting primarily of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin. Regarding mechanical properties, the fibers are strong in tension, and the lignin matrix resists compression. Thus wood has been an important construction material since humans began building shelters and using boats. Wood to be used for construction work is commonly known as "lumber" or "timber". In construction, wood is not only a structural material, but is also used to form the mould for concrete.


title: Solid

text: Wood-based materials are also extensively used for packaging (e.g. cardboard) and paper, which are both created from the refined pulp. The chemical pulping processes use a combination of high temperature and alkaline (kraft) or acidic (sulfite) chemicals to break the chemical bonds of the lignin before burning it out.


title: Solid

text: One important property of carbon in organic chemistry is that it can form certain compounds, the individual molecules of which are capable of attaching themselves to one another, thereby forming a chain or a network. The process is called polymerization and the chains or networks polymers, while the source compound is a monomer. Two main groups of polymers exist: those artificially manufactured are referred to as industrial polymers or synthetic polymers (plastics) and those naturally occurring as biopolymers.


title: Solid

text: Monomers can have various chemical substituents, or functional groups, which can affect the chemical properties of organic compounds, such as solubility and chemical reactivity, as well as the physical properties, such as hardness, density, mechanical or tensile strength, abrasion resistance, heat resistance, transparency, color, etc.. In proteins, these differences give the polymer the ability to adopt a biologically active conformation in preference to others (see self-assembly).


title: Solid

text: People have been using natural organic polymers for centuries in the form of waxes and shellac, which is classified as a thermoplastic polymer. A plant polymer named cellulose provided the tensile strength for natural fibers and ropes, and by the early 19th century natural rubber was in widespread use. Polymers are the raw materials (the resins) used to make what are commonly called plastics. Plastics are the final product, created after one or more polymers or additives have been added to a resin during processing, which is then shaped into a final form. Polymers that have been around, and that are in current widespread use, include carbon-based polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, nylons, polyesters, acrylics, polyurethane, and polycarbonates, and silicon-based silicones. Plastics are generally classified as "commodity", "specialty" and "engineering" plastics.


title: Solid

text: Composite materials contain two or more macroscopic phases, one of which is often ceramic. For example, a continuous matrix, and a dispersed phase of ceramic particles or fibers.


title: Solid

text: Applications of composite materials range from structural elements such as steel-reinforced concrete, to the thermally insulative tiles that play a key and integral role in NASA's Space Shuttle thermal protection system, which is used to protect the surface of the shuttle from the heat of re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. One example is Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (RCC), the light gray material that withstands reentry temperatures up to 1510 °C (2750 °F) and protects the nose cap and leading edges of Space Shuttle's wings. RCC is a laminated composite material made from graphite rayon cloth and impregnated with a phenolic resin. After curing at high temperature in an autoclave, the laminate is pyrolized to convert the resin to carbon, impregnated with furfural alcohol in a vacuum chamber, and cured/pyrolized to convert the furfural alcohol to carbon. In order to provide oxidation resistance for reuse capability, the outer layers of the RCC are converted to silicon carbide.


title: Solid

text: Domestic examples of composites can be seen in the "plastic" casings of television sets, cell-phones and so on. These plastic casings are usually a composite made up of a thermoplastic matrix such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) in which calcium carbonate chalk, talc, glass fibers or carbon fibers have been added for strength, bulk, or electro-static dispersion. These additions may be referred to as reinforcing fibers, or dispersants, depending on their purpose.


title: Solid

text: Thus, the matrix material surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions. The reinforcements impart their special mechanical and physical properties to enhance the matrix properties. A synergism produces material properties unavailable from the individual constituent materials, while the wide variety of matrix and strengthening materials provides the designer with the choice of an optimum combination.


title: Solid

text: Semiconductors are materials that have an electrical resistivity (and conductivity) between that of metallic conductors and non-metallic insulators. They can be found in the periodic table moving diagonally downward right from boron. They separate the electrical conductors (or metals, to the left) from the insulators (to the right).


title: Solid

text: Devices made from semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, including radio, computers, telephones, etc. Semiconductor devices include the transistor, solar cells, diodes and integrated circuits. Solar photovoltaic panels are large semiconductor devices that directly convert light into electrical energy.


title: Solid

text: In a metallic conductor, current is carried by the flow of electrons, but in semiconductors, current can be carried either by electrons or by the positively charged "holes" in the electronic band structure of the material. Common semiconductor materials include silicon, germanium and gallium arsenide.


title: Solid

text: Many traditional solids exhibit different properties when they shrink to nanometer sizes. For example, nanoparticles of usually yellow gold and gray silicon are red in color; gold nanoparticles melt at much lower temperatures (~300 °C for 2.5 nm size) than the gold slabs (1064 °C); and metallic nanowires are much stronger than the corresponding bulk metals. The high surface area of nanoparticles makes them extremely attractive for certain applications in the field of energy. For example, platinum metals may provide improvements as automotive fuel catalysts, as well as proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Also, ceramic oxides (or cermets) of lanthanum, cerium, manganese and nickel are now being developed as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). Lithium, lithium-titanate and tantalum nanoparticles are being applied in lithium ion batteries. Silicon nanoparticles have been shown to dramatically expand the storage capacity of lithium ion batteries during the expansion/contraction cycle. Silicon nanowires cycle without significant degradation and present the potential for use in batteries with greatly expanded storage times. Silicon nanoparticles are also being used in new forms of solar energy cells. Thin film deposition of silicon quantum dots on the polycrystalline silicon substrate of a photovoltaic (solar) cell increases voltage output as much as 60% by fluorescing the incoming light prior to capture. Here again, surface area of the nanoparticles (and thin films) plays a critical role in maximizing the amount of absorbed radiation.


title: Solid

text: Many natural (or biological) materials are complex composites with remarkable mechanical properties. These complex structures, which have risen from hundreds of million years of evolution, are inspiring materials scientists in the design of novel materials. Their defining characteristics include structural hierarchy, multifunctionality and self-healing capability. Self-organization is also a fundamental feature of many biological materials and the manner by which the structures are assembled from the molecular level up. Thus, self-assembly is emerging as a new strategy in the chemical synthesis of high performance biomaterials.


title: Solid

text: Physical properties of elements and compounds that provide conclusive evidence of chemical composition include odor, color, volume, density (mass per unit volume), melting point, boiling point, heat capacity, physical form and shape at room temperature (solid, liquid or gas; cubic, trigonal crystals, etc.), hardness, porosity, index of refraction and many others. This section discusses some physical properties of materials in the solid state.


title: Solid

text: The mechanical properties of materials describe characteristics such as their strength and resistance to deformation. For example, steel beams are used in construction because of their high strength, meaning that they neither break nor bend significantly under the applied load.


title: Solid

text: Mechanical properties include elasticity and plasticity, tensile strength, compressive strength, shear strength, fracture toughness, ductility (low in brittle materials), and indentation hardness. Solid mechanics is the study of the behavior of solid matter under external actions such as external forces and temperature changes.


title: Solid

text: A solid does not exhibit macroscopic flow, as fluids do. Any degree of departure from its original shape is called deformation. The proportion of deformation to original size is called strain. If the applied stress is sufficiently low, almost all solid materials behave in such a way that the strain is directly proportional to the stress (Hooke's law). The coefficient of the proportion is called the modulus of elasticity or Young's modulus. This region of deformation is known as the linearly elastic region. Three models can describe how a solid responds to an applied stress:


title: Solid

text: Many materials become weaker at high temperatures. Materials that retain their strength at high temperatures, called refractory materials, are useful for many purposes. For example, glass-ceramics have become extremely useful for countertop cooking, as they exhibit excellent mechanical properties and can sustain repeated and quick temperature changes up to 1000 °C.


title: Solid

text: In the aerospace industry, high performance materials used in the design of aircraft and/or spacecraft exteriors must have a high resistance to thermal shock. Thus, synthetic fibers spun out of organic polymers and polymer/ceramic/metal composite materials and fiber-reinforced polymers are now being designed with this purpose in mind.


title: Solid

text: Because solids have thermal energy, their atoms vibrate about fixed mean positions within the ordered (or disordered) lattice. The spectrum of lattice vibrations in a crystalline or glassy network provides the foundation for the kinetic theory of solids. This motion occurs at the atomic level, and thus cannot be observed or detected without highly specialized equipment, such as that used in spectroscopy.


title: Solid

text: Thermal properties of solids include thermal conductivity, which is the property of a material that indicates its ability to conduct heat. Solids also have a specific heat capacity, which is the capacity of a material to store energy in the form of heat (or thermal lattice vibrations).


title: Solid

text: Electrical properties include both electrical resistivity and conductivity, dielectric strength, electromagnetic permeability, and permittivity. Electrical conductors such as metals and alloys are contrasted with electrical insulators such as glasses and ceramics. Semiconductors behave somewhere in between. Whereas conductivity in metals is caused by electrons, both electrons and holes contribute to current in semiconductors. Alternatively, ions support electric current in ionic conductors.


title: Solid

text: Many materials also exhibit superconductivity at low temperatures; they include metallic elements such as tin and aluminium, various metallic alloys, some heavily doped semiconductors, and certain ceramics. The electrical resistivity of most electrical (metallic) conductors generally decreases gradually as the temperature is lowered, but remains finite. In a superconductor, however, the resistance drops abruptly to zero when the material is cooled below its critical temperature. An electric current flowing in a loop of superconducting wire can persist indefinitely with no power source.


title: Solid

text: A dielectric, or electrical insulator, is a substance that is highly resistant to the flow of electric current. A dielectric, such as plastic, tends to concentrate an applied electric field within itself, which property is used in capacitors. A capacitor is an electrical device that can store energy in the electric field between a pair of closely spaced conductors (called 'plates'). When voltage is applied to the capacitor, electric charges of equal magnitude, but opposite polarity, build up on each plate. Capacitors are used in electrical circuits as energy-storage devices, as well as in electronic filters to differentiate between high-frequency and low-frequency signals.


title: Solid

text: Piezoelectricity is the ability of crystals to generate a voltage in response to an applied mechanical stress. The piezoelectric effect is reversible in that piezoelectric crystals, when subjected to an externally applied voltage, can change shape by a small amount. Polymer materials like rubber, wool, hair, wood fiber, and silk often behave as electrets. For example, the polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) exhibits a piezoelectric response several times larger than the traditional piezoelectric material quartz (crystalline SiO). The deformation (~0.1%) lends itself to useful technical applications such as high-voltage sources, loudspeakers, lasers, as well as chemical, biological, and acousto-optic sensors and/or transducers.


title: Solid

text: Many materials will transmit some wavelengths while blocking others. For example, window glass is transparent to visible light, but much less so to most of the frequencies of ultraviolet light that cause sunburn. This property is used for frequency-selective optical filters, which can alter the color of incident light.


title: Solid

text: For some purposes, both the optical and mechanical properties of a material can be of interest. For example, the sensors on an infrared homing ("heat-seeking") missile must be protected by a cover that is transparent to infrared radiation. The current material of choice for high-speed infrared-guided missile domes is single-crystal sapphire. The optical transmission of sapphire does not actually extend to cover the entire mid-infrared range (3–5 µm), but starts to drop off at wavelengths greater than approximately 4.5 µm at room temperature. While the strength of sapphire is better than that of other available mid-range infrared dome materials at room temperature, it weakens above 600 °C. A long-standing trade-off exists between optical bandpass and mechanical durability; new materials such as transparent ceramics or optical nanocomposites may provide improved performance.


title: Solid

text: Guided lightwave transmission involves the field of fiber optics and the ability of certain glasses to transmit, simultaneously and with low loss of intensity, a range of frequencies (multi-mode optical waveguides) with little interference between them. Optical waveguides are used as components in integrated optical circuits or as the transmission medium in optical communication systems.


title: Solid

text: A solar cell or photovoltaic cell is a device that converts light energy into electrical energy. Fundamentally, the device needs to fulfill only two functions: photo-generation of charge carriers (electrons and holes) in a light-absorbing material, and separation of the charge carriers to a conductive contact that will transmit the electricity (simply put, carrying electrons off through a metal contact into an external circuit). This conversion is called the photoelectric effect, and the field of research related to solar cells is known as photovoltaics.


title: Solid

text: Solar cells have many applications. They have long been used in situations where electrical power from the grid is unavailable, such as in remote area power systems, Earth-orbiting satellites and space probes, handheld calculators, wrist watches, remote radiotelephones and water pumping applications. More recently, they are starting to be used in assemblies of solar modules (photovoltaic arrays) connected to the electricity grid through an inverter, that is not to act as a sole supply but as an additional electricity source.


title: Solid

text: All solar cells require a light absorbing material contained within the cell structure to absorb photons and generate electrons via the photovoltaic effect. The materials used in solar cells tend to have the property of preferentially absorbing the wavelengths of solar light that reach the earth surface. Some solar cells are optimized for light absorption beyond Earth's atmosphere, as well.


title: Jayasudha

text: Jayasudha Kapoor (born Sujatha Nidudavolu) is an Indian actress and politician known for her works predominantly in Telugu cinema. She has also worked in few Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi films. Known as natural actress, she received five state Nandi Awards for her acting in works such as "Jyothi" (1976), "Idi Katha Kaadu" (1979), "Premabhishekam" (1981), "Meghasandesam" (1982), and "Dharmaatmudu" (1983).


title: Jayasudha

text: She has garnered five Filmfare Awards South, for her performances in "Jyothi" (1976), "Aame Katha" (1977), "Gruha Pravesam" (1982), "Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi" (2004), and "Kotha Bangaru Lokam" (2008). In 2008, she received the ANR National Award, and in 2010, she won the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award - South for her contributions to Indian cinema. Jayasudha served as Member, Legislative Assembly, from Secunderabad constituency during 2009-2014 in the erstwhile combined Government of Andhra Pradesh.


title: Jayasudha

text: Jayasudha was born as Sujatha Nidudavolu in Madras, Tamil Nadu on 17 December 1958 to a Telugu-speaking family of Nidudavolu Rameshwara Rao, and actress Joga Bai known for films such as "Balanandam" (1954), and "Kalahasti Mahatyam" (1954). Telugu film actress and director Vijaya Nirmala is the first cousin of her father. Jayasudha's paternal grandfather is eminent scholar and literary historian, Nidudavolu Venkatarao. Her first marriage was to film producer Vadde Ramesh. However, the marriage ended in divorce. She then married Nitin Kapoor, cousin to actor Jeetendra, in 1985 and they have two children, sons Nihar (born in 1986) and Shreayan (born in 1990).


title: Jayasudha

text: She was elected as MLA from the Secunderabad constituency in 2009 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections from Indian National Congress.She later joined the Telugu Desam Party in 2016.Later in 2019 she quit the Telugu Desam Party and joined YSR Congress Party.


title: Jayasudha

text: Jayasudha made her film debut when she was twelve years old with the Telugu film "Pandanti Kapuram" (1972). Director K. Balachander gave her a small role in the Tamil film "Arangetram" where she shared space with Kamal Haasan. She acted in a number of films in Telugu and Tamil mostly under Balachander's direction—"Sollathaan Ninaikkiren" (1973), "Naan Avanillai" (1974) and "Apoorva Raagangal" and in Idi Katha Kaadu with Chiranjeevi. She also changed her name to Jayasudha, since there was already another actress named Sujatha. Her fame quickly spread, where Telugu film producers were offering her good film roles.


title: Jayasudha

text: While her debut role as heroine in the Telugu film "Lakshmana Rekha" (1975) got her attention, it was really the title role in "Jyothi" (remake of the Hindi film Mili starring Jaya Bhaduri) that made her a big star in Telugu films. She was now called a successor to the great Telugu actress Savitri and performed many strong roles and showed excellent range.


title: Jayasudha

text: Her roles varied from the cute looking teeny bopper who wore minis in "Nomu" (1974), to that of a tortured wife of a sadist husband in K. Balachander's film "Idi Katha Kaadu" (1979) to that of a comedian who discovers that her husband wants to murder her for her wealth in "Money" (1993). She performed showy roles in Telugu remakes of Hindi films, such as "Yugandhar" (1979) (the fighter role that Zeenat Aman originated in Don), "Illalu" (Reena Roy's dark-shaded role from "Apnapan" (1977)).


title: Jayasudha

text: In commercial cinema, she received a huge break when she starred in "Adavi Ramudu" (1977), which broke box office records. She also showed innovativeness and lack of vanity in original Telugu films like "Premabhishekam" (1981) where she played a supporting role as a deglamorised prostitute, while Sridevi played the female lead.


title: Jayasudha

text: She has acted in 300 plus feature films in a variety of roles, and in one year, she had 24 film releases.


title: Gagauz people

text: The Gagauz () are a Turkic people living mostly in southern Moldova (Gagauzia, Taraclia District, Basarabeasca District) and southwestern Ukraine (Budjak). Gagauz are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians. The term Gagauz is also often used as a collective naming of Turkic people living in the Balkans, speaking Gagauz language, a language seperated from Balkan Gagauz Turkish.


title: Gagauz people

text: "Gagauz" is the most widely accepted singular and plural form of the name, and some references use "Gagauzy" (from Ukrainian) or "Gagauzi". Other variations including "Gagauzes" and "Gagauzians" appear rarely.


title: Gagauz people

text: Before the Russian Revolution they were commonly referred to as "Turkish speaking Bulgars". Gagauz agricultural settlers in Uzbekistan called themselves "Eski Bulgars" (meaning Old Bulgars) in the 1930s.


title: Gagauz people

text: Outside Moldova, a minority of Gagauz people live in the Ukrainian regions of Odessa and Zaporizhzhia. They are also in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Brazil, Turkmenistan, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Turkey, and the Russian region of Kabardino-Balkaria.


title: Gagauz people

text: The origin of the Gagauz is obscure. In the beginning of the 20th century, a Bulgarian historian counted 19 different theories about their origin. A few decades later the Gagauz ethnologist M. N. Guboglo increases the number to 21. In some of those theories the Gagauz people are presented as descendants of the Pechenegs, the Cumans-Kipchaks or a clan of Seljuk Turks or a mix of all. The fact that their confession is Eastern Orthodox Christianity may suggest that their ancestors already lived in the Balkans prior to the Ottoman conquest in the late 14th century.


title: Gagauz people

text: According to the 15th-century "Oghuzname" narrative, in 1261 Turkoman dervish Sari Saltuk accompanied a group of Turkomans into Dobruja, where they were settled by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII to protect the northern frontier of the empire. However, Dobruja was occupied by Tatars in the same period. The same source places him in Crimea after 1265, among the Turkomans transferred there by Tatar khan Berke, and after 1280 mentions him leading the nomads back to Dobruja. After the death of Sari Saltik, part of the Turkomans returned to Anatolia and became the Ancestors of the Karamanlides, while other remained and became Christians, becoming the ancestors of the Gagauz people. The name Gagauz may be a reminiscence of the name Kaykaus II.


title: Gagauz people

text: The Steppe hypothesis suggests that the Gagauz may be descendants of other Turkic nomadic tribes than Seljuks: Bulgars and Cumans-Kipchaks from the Eurasian steppes. In the 19th century, before their migration to Bessarabia, the Gagauz from the Bulgarian territories of the Ottoman Empire considered themselves Bulgarians. Ethnological research suggest that "Gagauz" was a linguistic distinction and not ethnic. The Gagauz at that time called themselves "Hasli Bulgar" (True Bulgarians) or "Eski Bulgar" (Old Bulgarians) and considered the term "Gagauz" to be demeaning, when applied to them by the Slavic-speaking Bulgarians (whom the Gagauz called "toukan"). The Gagauz called their language "Turkish" and claimed descent from then-Turkic-speaking Bulgars who in the 7th century established the First Bulgarian Empire on the Danube. Indeed, one modern Gagauz surname is "Qipcakli".


title: Gagauz people

text: The Russian Empire Census of 1897 did not distinguish the Gagauz as a specific group, but it reported the existence of 55,790 native speakers of a "Turkish language" (presumably the Gagauz language) in the Bessarabia Governorate.


title: Gagauz people

text: Between 1820 and 1846, the Russian Empire allocated land to the Gagauz and gave them financial incentives to settle in Bessarabia in the settlements vacated by the Nogai tribes. They settled in Bessarabia along with Bassarabian Bulgarians, mainly in Avdarma, Comrat (or "Komrat"), Congaz ("Kongaz"), Tomai, Cișmichioi and other former Nogai villages located in the central Budjak region. Originally, the Gagauz also settled in several villages belonging to boyars throughout southern Bessarabia and the Principality of Moldavia, but soon moved to join their kin in the Bugeac. Until 1869, the Gagauz in Bessarabia were described as Bulgarians. During the Romanian rule of southernmost Bessarabia (1856–1878), they supported Bulgarian schools in their settlements and participated in the Bulgarian national movement. Therefore, some ethnologists (Karel Škorpil, Gavril Zanetov (himself a Gagauz), Benyo Tsonev) claim Bulgarian origin for the Gagauz.


title: Gagauz people

text: In the 1860s some Gagauz resettled to the vicinity of Berdiansk on the Sea of Azov coast, and in 1908–1914 to Central Asia.


title: Gagauz people

text: With the exception of a six-day independence in the winter of 1906, when a peasant uprising declared the autonomous Comrat Republic, the Gagauz people have mainly been ruled by the Russian Empire, Romania, the Soviet Union, and Moldova.


title: Gagauz people

text: The wave of Stolypin agrarian policies carried some Gagauz to Kazakhstan between 1912 and 1914, and later yet another group settled in Uzbekistan during the very troubled years of initial collectivization. So as not to lose their civil rights, they called themselves Bulgarians in the 1930s; The Gagauz of the village of Mayslerge in the Tashkent District retain that designation to this day.


title: Gagauz people

text: In 1970 the total population of the Gagauz reached 156,600 in the USSR (26,400 of them lived in the Ukrainian SSR and 125,000 in the Moldavian SSR). In 1979, about 173,000 Gagauz lived in the USSR.


title: Gagauz people

text: Gagauz nationalism remained an intellectual movement during the 1980s but strengthened by the end of the decade as both elites and opposition groups in the Soviet Union began to embrace nationalist ideals. In 1988, activists from the local intelligentsia aligned with other ethnic minorities to create the movement known as the "Gagauz People" (Gagauz: "Gagauz halkı"). A year later, the "Gagauz People" held its first assembly which accepted the resolution to create an autonomous territory in the southern Moldavian SSR, with Comrat designated as capital. The Gagauz nationalist movement increased in popularity when Moldovan was accepted as the official language of the Republic of Moldova in August 1989.


title: Gagauz people

text: In August 1990, Comrat declared itself an autonomous republic, but the Moldovan government annulled the declaration as unconstitutional. The Gagauz were also worried about the implications for them if Moldova reunited with Romania, as seemed increasingly likely. Support for the Soviet Union remained high, with a local referendum in March 1991 yielding an almost unanimous "yes" vote to stay in the USSR; Moldovans in Gagauzia, however, boycotted the referendum. Many Gagauz supported the Moscow coup attempt, further straining relations with Chişinău. However, when the Moldovan parliament voted on whether Moldova should become independent, six of the twelve Gagauz deputies voted in favor.


title: Gagauz people

text: Gagauzia declared itself independent as the Gagauz Republic on 19 August 1991—the day of the Moscow coup attempt—followed by Transnistria in September. In February 1994, President Mircea Snegur, opposed to Gagauz independence, promised a Gagauz autonomous region. Snegur also opposed the suggestion that Moldova become a federal state made up of three "republics": Moldova, Gagauzia, and Transnistria. In 1994, the Moldovan parliament awarded "the people of Gagauzia" the right of "external self-determination" should the status of the country change. This means that in the event that Moldova decided to join another country (by all accounts this referred to Romania), the Gagauz would be entitled to decide whether to remain or not a part of the new state by means of a self-determination referendum.


title: Gagauz people

text: As a result of a referendum to determine Gagauzia's borders, thirty settlements (three towns and twenty-seven villages) expressed their desire to be included in the Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unit. In 1995, George Tabunshik was elected to serve as the Governor ("Bashkan") of Gagauzia for a four-year term, as were the deputies of the local parliament, "The People's Assembly" ("Halk Topluşu") and its chairman Peter Pashali.


title: Gagauz people

text: In DNA comparisons, the Gagauz were found to be more closely related genetically to neighboring southeastern European groups than to linguistically related Anatolian populations. More considerable distinctions in the distribution of Y chromosome components appeared between the Gagauz and other Turkic peoples.


title: Gagauz people

text: The similarity to neighboring populations may be due to the lack of social barriers between the local and the Turkic-Orthodox populations of the Balkan Peninsula. Another possibility is language shift in accordance with the dominant minority model, i.e. Turkification.


title: Gagauz people

text: Gagauz belong to Y-DNA haplogroups I2a (23.6%), R1a (19.1%), G (13.5%), R1b (12.4%), E1b1b1a1 (11.1%), J2 (5.6%) and Haplogroup N (2.2%). Finally, the phylogenetic analysis of Y-DNA situates Gagauz most proximal to Bulgarians, Macedonians, Romanians, Serbs and other Balkan populations, resulting in a high genetic distance from the Turkish people and other Turkic peoples. The analyses showed that Gagauz belong to the Balkan populations, suggesting that the Gagauz language represents a case of language replacement in southeastern Europe. According to a more detailed autosomal analysis of thousands of SNPs, not just of the sex chromosome, Gagauz are most proximal to ethnic Macedonians, followed by Greek Macedonians apart from Thessaloniki, and others such as Bulgarians, Romanians and Montenegrins.


title: Gagauz people

text: After a genetic comparison between the populations of the Balkans, Anatolia, and Central Asia, the results showed that the Gagauz are part of the Balkan genetic group.


title: Gagauz people

text: The Gagauz language belongs to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages, which also includes the Azerbaijani, Turkish, and Turkmen languages. The Gagauz language is particularly close to the Balkan Turkish dialects spoken in Greece, northeastern Bulgaria, and in the Kumanovo and Bitola areas of North Macedonia. The Balkan Turkic languages, including Gagauz, are a typologically interesting case, because they are closely related to Turkish and at the same time contain a North-Turkic (Tatar or Kypchak) element besides the main South-Turkic (Oghuz) element (Pokrovskaya, 1964). The modern Gagauz language has two dialects: central (or "Bulgar") and southern (or maritime).


title: Gagauz people

text: The traditional economy centered on animal husbandry (particularly sheep raising) and agriculture that combined grain and market gardening with viticulture. Even in the recent past, despite the cultural similarity of the Gagauz to the Bulgarians of Bessarabia, there were important differences between them: the Bulgarians were peasant farmers; although the Gagauz also farmed, they were essentially pastoralist in outlook.


title: Gagauz people

text: There have been a number of attempts from the 1930s into the 21st century to tie the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate with the ethnically Turkic, Greek Orthodox Gagauz minority in Bessarabia.


title: Gagauz people

text: For Gagauz, Moldova was characterized by the predominance of mono-ethnic marriages: out of 100 marriages prisonered in 1970, mono-ethnic were 73, and out of 100 marriages concluded in 2003 were 77. In 2003, Gagauz Men Moldova became marked with women of their nationality (78%), less often with Moldavians (9%), grinders (5%), Russians (4%) and Ukrainians (3%). For Gagauz women of Moldova in 2003, these indicators amounted to respectively: 75%, 8%, 5%, 4% and 5%. For Gagauz, Chisinau is characteristic, on the contrary, mainly national-mixed marriages, which in 2000 accounted for 97% of all marriages of the Gagauz of both sexes. For 2018, the number of mono ethnic marriages decreased.


title: Gagauz people

text: The Gagauz name consists of a personal name, patronymic and surname. The most recognizable form of a name usually consists of a given name and a surname. Such a system was established among the Gagauz in the second half of the 20th century. Modern personal Gagauz names belong to different eras. All names are Christian. Mostly the names are of Greek, Bulgarian, Latin origin. Recently, the Gagauz have been increasingly borrowing foreign names.