title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Although Mahayana Buddhism has some texts against homosexuality (from later Abhidharma texts and Buddhist apocrypha), the majority of its teachings assert that all beings who correctly practice the dharma may reach enlightenment, since all possess an innate Buddha nature. Enlightenment being achievable even in a single life. Some Mahayana Buddhist leaders were active in the movement for same-sex marriage rights in Taiwan which legalized same-sex marriages in 2019.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Well known Zen Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh, notes the spirit of Buddhism is inclusiveness and states "when you look at the ocean, you see different kinds of waves, many sizes and shapes, but all the waves have water as their foundation and substance. If you are born gay or lesbian, your ground of being in the same as mine. We are different, but we share the same ground of being."


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: The capacity of Buddhism to reform itself and its great variety of distinct beliefs and schools, provide many liberal streams of Buddhism, which are accepting of all sexual orientations. Reformists of Buddhism are mainly predominant in cosmopolitan cities. In global traditions, there is a widescale support for LGBT rights including the European Buddhist Union, the Buddhist Churches of America, many Shin Buddhist groups, and Zen leaders such as Thich Nhat Hanh. The Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils (FABC), representing Buddhist laypeople, and the Australian Sangha Association vocally supported same-sex marriage in Australia. Soka Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) is the most diverse Buddhist community in the United States with more than 500 chapters and some 100 centers throughout the country supports LGBT rights. In a PEW research poll, 88% of American Buddhists stated that homosexuality should be accepted. This was a higher level of support than any other religious group studied.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Sikhism has no written view on the matter, but in 2005, a Sikh religious authority described homosexuality as "against the Sikh religion and the Sikh code of conduct and totally against the laws of nature," and called on Sikhs to support laws against gay marriage. Many Sikhs are against this view, however, and state that the Sikh Scriptures promote equality and do not condemn homosexuality.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: In Guru Granth Sahib, marriage is seen as a union of souls. In Sikhism, the soul is seen as genderless, and the outward appearance of human beings (man, woman) is a temporary state. Same-sex marriage advocates refer to this fact.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: The Vendidad, one of the later Zoroastrian texts composed in the Artificial Young Avestan language, has not been dated precisely. It is thought that some concepts of law, uncleanliness, dualism, and salvation were shared between the religions, and subsequent interactions between the religions are documented by events such as the release of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity by Zoroastrian Cyrus the Great in 537 BC, and the Biblical account of the Magi visiting the infant Jesus.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: The Vendidad generally promotes procreation: "the man who has a wife is far above him who lives in continence; he who keeps a house is far above him who has none; he who has children is far above the childless man; he who has riches is far above him who has none." It details the penance for a worshipper who submits to sodomy under force as "Eight hundred stripes with the Aspahe-astra, eight hundred stripes with the Sraosho-charana." (equal to the penalty for breaking a contract with the value of an ox), and declares that for those participating voluntarily "For that deed there is nothing that can pay, nothing that can atone, nothing that can cleanse from it; it is a trespass for which there is no atonement, for ever and ever". However, those not practicing the Religion of Mazda were pardoned for past actions upon conversion. It has been argued that, in ancient times, those prohibitions against sodomy didn't apply to eunuchs.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Among the Taoic religions of East Asia, such as Taoism, passionate homosexual expression is usually discouraged because it is believed to not lead to human fulfillment.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Confucianism, being primarily a social and political philosophy, focused little on sexuality; whether homosexual or heterosexual. However, the ideology did emphasize male friendships, and Louis Crompton has argued that the "closeness of the master-disciple bond it fostered may have subtly facilitated homosexuality". Homosexuality is not mentioned in the Analects of Confucius.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: There is no single official position on homosexuality in Taoism, as the term Taoism is used to describe a number of disparate religious traditions encompassing a variety of views. Although Taoist alchemy generally emphasized that ejaculation in heterosexual relationships represented a draining of the male's "life essence," this concept was not generally extended to non-heterosexual sex.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: In a similar way to Buddhism, Taoist schools sought throughout history to define what would be sexual misconduct. Broadly speaking, the precept against "sexual misconduct" in Taoism relates to extramarital sex. The term for a married couple (夫婦) usually in Chinese suggests a male with a female, though Taoist scripture itself does not explicitly say anything against same-sex relations. Many sorts of precepts mentioned in the Yunji Qiqian (), The Mini Daoist Canon, does not explicitly say anything against same-gender relations as well.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Homosexuality is not unknown in Taoist history, such as during the Tang dynasty when Taoist nuns exchanged love poems. As a sexual misconduct however would depend on what sect or school they were from as some traditions considered homosexuality to be misconduct and others did not mention it at all. There are also certain talismans recorded in different traditions that claim to "cure" a person of the "homosexual disease/desire". Attitudes about homosexuality within Taoism often reflect the values and sexual norms of broader Chinese society and what region of China the sect resided in (see Homosexuality in China).


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: The Wiccan "Charge of the Goddess", one of the most famous texts in Neopaganism, states in the words of the Goddess, "all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals". In traditional forms of Wicca, such as Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, magic is often performed between a man and a woman, and the "Great Rite" is a sex ritual performed between a Priest and Priestess representing the God and Goddess; however, this is not generally seen as excluding homosexuals or magic between same-sex couples. Most groups still insist, however, that initiations be conferred from man to woman or woman to man.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Both major Satanic traditions, The Satanic Temple and the Church of Satan, emphasise the right of the individual to free sexual expression. Lucien Greaves, spokesperson of The Satanic Temple, has stated the Temple "will always fight… to the death to ensure that there are equal rights for the gay community."


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: The first ordained minister of a major religious sect in the U.S. or Canada to come out as gay was the UU Minister James Stoll in 1969. There have been denominational resolutions supporting LGBTQ people since 1970, when a resolution was passed that condemned discrimination against homosexuals. Unitarian Universalism was the first denomination to accept openly transgender people as full members with eligibility to become clergy; in 1988 the first openly transgender person was ordained by the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: The UUA has supported the marriage equality since 1996 and compared those who resisted such equality to the resistance to the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and the end of anti-miscegenation laws. Three-quarters of all UU congregations have undertaken a series of organizational, procedural, and practical steps to become acknowledged as a "Welcoming Congregation": a congregation that is intentionally welcoming and inclusive of LGBTQ members. On June 29, 1984, the UUA became the first major denomination "to approve religious blessings on homosexual unions." Unitarian Universalists were in the forefront of the work to make same-sex marriages legal in their local states and provinces, as well as on the national level. In May 2004, Arlington Street Church, Boston, was the site of the first state-sanctioned same-sex marriage in the United States. LGBTQ people are regularly ordained as ministers, and have also served at the highest levels of leadership in the denomination, including as president of the Canadian Unitarian Council, interim co-president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and co-moderator of the UUA.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Humanism is a non-religious, non-theistic approach to life that supports full equality for LGBTQ individuals, including the right to marry. "Humanism and Its Aspirations", a statement of humanist principles from the American Humanist Association, states that "humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views...work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature's integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner." The American Humanist Association provides a LGBT Humanist Pride award and has funded a LGBT-inclusive prom for Itawamba County Agricultural High School in Mississippi. The organisation LGBT Humanists UK "is a United Kingdom-based not-for-profit that campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality and human rights and promotes Humanism as an ethical worldview." It was formerly an independent group, but since 2012 has been a part of the charity Humanists UK. In 2009 they gave Stephen Fry an award "for his services to humanism and gay rights."


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson, who is gay, once wrote that "humanists have always been champions of LGBT rights" and cited his organisation's many years campaigning for decriminalisation and LGBT equality in the UK, including legal same-sex marriages. He pointed out the large number of LGBT people in the movement, including Stephen Fry, Christian Jessen, and Peter Tatchell, as well as historical associations with humanism like the writer Virginia Woolf and E M Forster. In a statement following the Orlando nightclub shooting for the International Humanist and Ethical Union, of which Copson is also President, he went further, saying "Humanism is the ultimate, long-standing and unfaltering ally of LGBTI people everywhere".


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: In Candomblé, homosexuality is usually accepted and explained by the sex of one's orisha. Homosexuality would be more probable in a man with a female orisha, a woman with a male orisha, or any of them with an androgynous orisha (such as Olokun).


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Unification Church views heterosexual marriage which becomes "fruitful" by raising their children as God's ideal. Any other sexual relationship, than between husband and wife, is considered a sin.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon opposed homosexuality and free sex and in some of his speeches compared such relationships to "dirty dung filled water" and that "Satan and dirty dung-eating dogs go after that". He prophesied that "gays will be eliminated" in a "purge on God's orders".


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: Opposition to same-sex marriage and LGBT rights is often associated with conservative religious views. The American Family Association and other religious groups have promoted boycotts of corporations whose policies support the LGBT community.


title: Homosexuality and religion

text: In conservative Islamic nations, laws generally prohibit same-sex sexual behaviour, and interpretation of Sharia Law on male homosexuality carries the death penalty. This has been condemned as a violation of human rights by human rights organisation Amnesty International and by the writers of the Yogyakarta principles. With the signature of the US in 2009, the proposed UN declaration on LGBT rights has now been signed by every European secular state and all western nations, as well as other countries—67 members of the UN in total. An opposing statement put forward by Muslim nations was signed by 57 member states, mostly in Africa and Asia. 68 out of the total 192 countries have not yet signed either statement. In 2011 the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a landmark resolution initiated by South Africa supporting LGBT rights ("See Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity at the United Nations")


title: Jedediah Bila

text: Jedediah Louisa Bila (born January 29, 1979) is an American television host and author. She is known for her time as a co-host on the daytime talk show "The View" from 2016 to 2017 and an anchor on the weekend edition of the morning news and talk program "Fox & Friends" from 2019 to 2021. She has also written two books. In June 2022 she was named the host of her own Podcast called "Jedediah Bila LIVE" on Valuetainment.


title: Jedediah Bila

text: Bila was born and raised in Brooklyn. She is of Italian descent. She is a graduate of Wagner College, and has a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University. In 2005, she began teaching in New York. She taught creative writing, Spanish, and improvisation to middle school, high school, and college students. She has also served as an academic dean at a private school in New York City.


title: Jedediah Bila

text: Bila's transition from education to politics came in 2009, when she reviewed radio host Mark Levin's book "Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto" on her blog. Levin later read the review on air, prompting television host Sean Hannity to invite her on his Fox News program, "Hannity". She joined Fox News as a contributor in 2013. In April 2014, she began appearing as a panelist on the daytime talk show "Outnumbered". She also appeared regularly on the talk show "The Five".


title: Jedediah Bila

text: In August 2016, Bila departed Fox News to join the ABC daytime talk show "The View" as a permanent co-host during its 20th season. While on the show, she served as the conservative voice to contrast the liberal co-hosts. In 2017, she interviewed television personality Abby Lee Miller for the special "Abby Tells All" on "Lifetime". That same year, Bila departed "The View" on September 18.


title: Jedediah Bila

text: She rejoined Fox News as a contributor in November 2018. In April 2019, she was named a permanent co-host of the morning news and talk program "Fox & Friends Weekend". Bila parted ways with Fox News in May 2021.


title: Jedediah Bila

text: A year after her departure from Fox, Bila started her own podcast on Valuetainment entitled "Jedediah Bila LIVE" on June 8, 2022.


title: Jedediah Bila

text: Bila published her first book, "Outnumbered: Chronicles of a Manhattan Conservative", in 2011. It is an autobiographical recounting of her experiences as a conservative living and teaching in Manhattan during the 2008 United States presidential election. In 2018, her second book, titled "#DONOTDISTURB: How I Ghosted My Cell Phone to Take Back My Life", was published by HarperCollins.


title: Jedediah Bila

text: Bila married Jeremy Scher in February 2018. They have one child together, a son. In April 2020, Bila revealed that she and her husband had contracted COVID-19 and that the two were recovering.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: The intimate parts ( ', , ') of the human body must, according to Islam, be covered by clothing. Exposing the intimate parts of the body is unlawful in Islam as the Quran instructs the covering of male and female genitals, and for adult females the breasts. Exposing them is normally considered sinful. Exposing intimate parts when needed, such as going to the toilet or bathing, falls under a specific set of rules. Precisely which body parts must be covered varies among different schools of Islamic thought.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: In Arabic, the term "'awrah" or "'awrat" () derives from the root ‘-w-r, usually meaning "nakedness".


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: In Persian and Kurdish as well as Urdu, the word" 'awrat" () derived from the Arabic" 'awrah", had been used widely to mean "woman". Consulting Mohammad Moin's dictionary of Persian," 'awrah" leads to three significations:


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Other derivatives range in meaning from blind in one eye, to false or artificial, among others. Traditionally the word "'awrat", alongside the word "za'ifeh" (which derives from Arabic "ḍa'īf" (), meaning weak) has been associated with femininity and women who lived under the protection of a man. In modern-day Iran, using the two words (" 'awrah" and "za'ifah") to refer to women is uncommon and is considered sexist language. Instead, the words "zan" and "xânom" are used. In Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the word "za'if" is still used in the Tajik dialect of Persian and its subdialects.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: The term "'awrah" as it is used in the Quran is confined neither to women nor to the body. The Quranic text reveals the use of the term in various passages Surah An-Nur and Surah Al-Ahzab.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: ... and let those among you who have not yet come to the age of puberty ask your permission (before they come to your presence) on three occasions; before the morning prayer, and while you put off your clothes for the noonday (rest), and after the late-night prayer. (These) three times are of privacy for you, other than these times there is no sin on you or on them to move about, attending (helping) each other.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Another passage in the Quran that uses the term "'awrah", is in Surah Al-Ahzab where it concerns fleeing from battle.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: It states: "A group of them ask the Prophet for leave, saying, "Our houses are 'awrah", even though their houses are not awrah. Their intent is to flee the battle." In this case, the term "'awrah" means "vulnerable".


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: There is another context that relates the story of creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden. In these two instances, the term "saw’ah" is used as an equivalent to " 'awrah".


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Another word which almost has the same meaning of " 'awrah", is the word "farj" () the plural is "furuj" (). Another quote concerning covering the " 'awrah" is:


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: "O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, and the believing women, to draw their cloaks (veils) over their bodies. That will be better that they should be known (as respectable woman) so as not to be annoyed. And Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." -Al-Ahzab:59 (Qur'an)


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: The Quran admonishes Muslim women to dress modestly and cover their private areas. The Quran explicitly states that "O wives of the Prophet, you are not like anyone among women" (Quran 33: 32) and as such has separate rules specifically for the wives of the Prophet. The Qur'an tells the male believers (Muslims) to talk to the wives of the Prophet Muhammad from behind a hijab (curtain or veil).


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: The khimār is a waist-length veil with a cutout for the face. It therefore conceals the entire shape of the upper body.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: In the following verse, the wives of the Prophet and believing women are asked to draw their "jilbab" (outer garments) over them (when they go out), as a measure to distinguish themselves from others (as Muslim women), so that they are not harassed. Surah 33:59 reads:


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: It was narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that Safwaan ibn al-Mu’attal al-Sulami al Dhakwaani was lagging behind the army. She said, "He came to where I had stopped and saw the black shape of a person sleeping. He recognized me when he saw me, because he had seen me before Hijāb was enjoined. I woke up when I heard him saying ‘Inna Lillaahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’oon (verily to Allaah we belong and unto Him is our return),’ and I covered my face with my Jilbāb." (Narrated by al-Bukhāri, kitāb al maghazi – bābu Hadīth ul ifk, 4141; Muslim, 2770)


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: The details are important, showing that Aisha was recognizable only because Safwaan knew her before the sura of the veil. If only Muhammad's wives had covered their faces, he would have known her regardless because she would have been the only woman on that journey whose face he didn't instantly recognize, as she was the only one of his wives on that trip. Therefore, when a woman left her house, she was enjoined to cover her entire body and also most of her face. Note that though the man would not have ordinarily seen a woman's face, it was not an act of indecency that Aisha's face was seen. She was not held to blame for this later.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Within the home, a head-veil alone seemed to be sufficient for a woman to be considered dressed. The most frequently cited passage was this:


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: "Asma, daughter of Abu Bakr, entered upon the Apostle of Allah (Peace be upon him) wearing thin clothes. The Apostle of Allah (Peace be upon him) turned his attention from her. He said: O Asma’, when a woman reaches the age of menstruation, it does not suit her that she displays her parts of body except this and this, and he pointed to her face and hands." Abu Dawud


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Asma was not mahram to Muhammad, and the fact that he did not order that her face be covered indicates face veiling was not obligatory indoors, at least, and therefore uncovering the face was not obscene even in other contexts. There are other ahadith that state that Muhammad said that the 'awrah of women included everything except the face and the hands, and possibly the feet as long as they were still in shoes.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Not only was it traditionally required that everything that is 'awrah be covered, but it was also required that the 'awrah be covered in such a way that the shape beneath cannot be discerned. These requirements are usually enforced today more often concerning women's 'awrah than men's.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: In Sunni interpretations, the" 'awrah" of a man refers to the part of the body from the navel to the knees. The Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi and Hanbali schools of thought observe that there is a difference on whether the belly button and the knee itself are included. In particular, these observations generally require that the cloth not be too thin, that it is not pale to the extent the color of the skin can be seen, that a man ensures extra covering if his genitals' shape is discernible, and that the modesty of adulthood applies once a boy becomes ten years old.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: However, these views above are only the dominant view and does not represent the whole of Islam, as there are alternative views, such as the view that covering every part of a woman's body except for the face and the hands only apply during salah and ihram and the view that a woman must cover every part of her body at any time except in front of her husband.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Whether a woman was obligated to cover her face is more controversial. Most contemporary scholars agree that women's covering of the face was not mandated by the Quran or by the traditions of Muhammad. However, many classical jurists held that such covering was nonetheless strongly recommended, or even required in times of fitnah. Al-Razi, for example, held that by covering her face a married woman made clear that she was not available. Notably, a man is permitted and even encouraged to look at the face of a woman he is considering marrying, even in countries where he normally would not be allowed to.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: In the contemporary world, some Muslims insist that a woman's awrah in front of unrelated men is her entire body including her face and hands, which must be covered at all times in front of non-mahram men. However this is incorrect it is permissible to show the face and hands. The practice of covering the face is common in several Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman and Afghanistan. It is not common in other majority Muslim countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, present-day Iran, present-day Turkey and the majority of South Asia. These differences reflect different interpretations and understanding of Sharia regarding wearing a niqab. However, when performing Hajj or Umrah it is actually forbidden for the woman to cover the face, the rest is covered as when performing prayers.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: There is a difference of opinion among scholars with regards to how much should be uncovered for a woman in front of other women and a man in front of another man. In one hadith narrated by Abu Saʽid al-Khudri, the prophet said, "A man should not look at the private parts of another man, and a woman should not look at the private parts of another woman. A man should not lie with another man without wearing lower garment under one cover; and a woman should not be lie with another woman without wearing lower garment under one cover." (Abu Dawud – authenticated by Sheikh Naseeruddeen-al-Albani.)


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Some Muslim women, particularly those living in some parts of the Middle East and South Asia wear the hijab headscarf. The type most commonly worn in the West is a rectangular scarf that covers the head and neck but leaves the face visible. Other styles also cover the hair, neck and shoulders completely, but the face and the hands are not covered, as they are not considered "awrah" for those Muslims who wear it.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: According to most scholars, the woman's voice is "not" (see quotation) "awrah" in principle, for according to the Hadith, women used to complain to the Prophet and ask him about Islamic matters.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Also, according to the tradition, in the ritual prayer, a woman should invite the attention of the Imam by clapping, instead of saying "Subhanallah" which is for men. There is a difference of opinion whether or not a woman can recite the Quran when in the presence of non-mahram men.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Certain scholars have concluded from the above differences that a woman's voice is also her "awrah" in some cases.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: Specially since modern times the concepts of awarah (Intimate parts), Haya (Modesty), various levels of seclusion of Muslim women, and about extent to which Muslim restrain their exposure of bodily aspects and association vis a vis Islamic clothing; not only were contested from non-Muslim and ex-Muslim but also continuously been matter of discussions, deliberations, debates, movements and also been part of advice literature, within Muslim societies including that of common Muslim individuals, various traditional schools scholars, intelligentsia, numerous political dispensations and also at times contested by individuals and groups of cultural Muslims; liberals and progressives, modernists and Islamic feminists.


title: Intimate parts in Islam

text: In the 1930s just after Turkish reformations under Kemal Atatürk, Malays (Malaysians) debated how far to stick to traditional Islamic social restraints over awrah – commonly referred as 'Aurat' in Indonesia and Malaysia – and modesty in contemporary Islamic clothing and whether western modernism is really essential and beneficial.


title: Sonam (actress)

text: Sonam Khan (born Bakhtavar Khan 2 September 1972) is an Indian actress and former model known for her works in Bollywood, and Telugu cinema. She is the niece of actor Raza Murad and granddaughter of veteran actor Murad. She was paired with actors such as Chunky Pandey, Govinda, Chiranjeevi, and Naseeruddin Shah. Some of her notable films include "Mitti Aur Sona", "Aakhri Ghulam", "Lashkar", "Kroadh", "Kodama Simham", "Ajooba" and "Vishwatma". She appeared in over 30 films during 1988 through to 1994.


title: Sonam (actress)

text: Sonam was named by her parents (Mushir Khan - father and Talat Khan- Mother) as "Bakhtavar". "Sonam" is her screen-name, which is reportedly coined by Yash Chopra to be more marketable in the Indian film industry. She first entered into the Bollywood industry after being launched by Yash Chopra in the 1988 film "Vijay". She shot to fame with the 1989 film "Tridev" where the popular song "Oye Oye...Tirchi Topi Wale" was picturised on her and established her as a sex symbol.


title: Sonam (actress)

text: In 1991, Sonam married director Rajiv Rai, who had directed her in two very successful films, "Tridev" and "Vishwatma." Rajiv was the son of successful film producer Gulshan Rai, founder of the banner Trimurti Films. Whereas Sonam was a Muslim, Rajiv and his family were Hindus from Punjab. After marriage, Sonam quit acting and devoted herself to her family. The couple soon had a son, Gaurav Rai. However they later divorced.


title: Sonam (actress)

text: During the period when bollywood was in the grip of the underworld mafia, Sonam came under pressure from gangster Abu Salem, who had previously had some dealings with her. In 1997, she had to leave India with her husband and son after an attempt was made on her husband's life by gunmen working for organized crime leader Abu Salem. The couple moved initially to Los Angeles and then settled in Switzerland for nearly two decades. However, the marriage deteriorated because of the troubles being faced by them from the underworld, and professional frustrations which both of them underwent because they could not pursue their respective careers in India. In 2016, after 15 years of separation, Sonam and Rajiv Rai finally divorced.


title: Slave rebellion

text: A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by enslaved people, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of enslaved people have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream of successful rebellion is often the greatest object of song, art, and culture amongst the enslaved population. Many of the events, however, are often violently opposed and suppressed by slaveholders.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The most successful slave rebellion in history was the 18th-century Haitian Revolution, led by Toussaint Louverture and later Jean-Jacques Dessalines who won the war against their French colonial rulers, which established the modern independent state of Haiti from the former French colony of Saint-Domingue. Another famous historic slave rebellion was led by the Roman slave Spartacus (c. 73–71 BC). In the ninth century, the poet-prophet Ali bin Muhammad led imported East African slaves in Iraq during the Zanj Rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate; Nanny of the Maroons was an 18th-century leader who rebelled against the British in Jamaica; and the Quilombo dos Palmares of Brazil flourished under Ganazumba (Ganga Zumba). The 1811 German Coast Uprising in the Territory of Orleans was the largest rebellion in the continental United States; Denmark Vesey rebelled in South Carolina, and Madison Washington during the " Creole" case in the 19th century the United States.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The Mamluk Sultanate reigned for centuries out of a slave rebellion in Egypt. It gave birth to both the Bahri dynasty and Burji dynasty and their countless artistic and scientific achievements. Among many accomplishments, the Mamluks were responsible for turning back the Mongol conquest.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Ancient Sparta had a special type of serf called "helots" who were often treated harshly, leading them to rebel. According to Herodotus (IX, 28–29), helots were seven times as numerous as Spartans. Every autumn, according to Plutarch ("Life of Lycurgus", 28, 3–7), the Spartan ephors would pro forma declare war on the helot population so that any Spartan citizen could kill a helot without fear of blood or guilt in order to keep them in line ("crypteia").


title: Slave rebellion

text: In the Roman Empire, though the heterogeneous nature of the slave population worked against a strong sense of solidarity, slave revolts did occur and were severely punished. The most famous slave rebellion in Europe was led by Spartacus in Roman Italy, the Third Servile War. This war resulted in the 6000 surviving rebel slaves being crucified along the main roads leading into Rome. This was the third in a series of unrelated Servile Wars fought by slaves against the Romans.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The English peasants' revolt of 1381 led to calls for the reform of feudalism in England and an increase in rights for serfs. The Peasants' Revolt was one of several popular revolts in late medieval Europe. Richard II agreed to reforms including fair rents and the abolition of serfdom. Following the collapse of the revolt, the king's concessions were quickly revoked, but the rebellion is significant because it marked the beginning of the end of serfdom in medieval England.


title: Slave rebellion

text: In Russia, the slaves were usually classified as kholops. A kholop's master had unlimited power over his life. Slavery remained a major institution in Russia until 1723, when Peter the Great converted the household slaves into house serfs. Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679. During the 16th and 17th centuries, runaway serfs and kholops known as Cossacks, ("outlaws") formed autonomous communities in the southern steppes. There were numerous rebellions against slavery and serfdom, most often in conjunction with Cossack uprisings, such as the uprisings of Ivan Bolotnikov (1606–1607), Stenka Razin (1667–1671), Kondraty Bulavin (1707–1709), and Yemelyan Pugachev (1773–1775), often involving hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions. Between the end of the Pugachev rebellion and the beginning of the 19th century, there were hundreds of outbreaks across Russia.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Numerous African slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. There is documented evidence of more than 250 uprisings or attempted uprisings involving 10 or more slaves. Three of the best known in the United States during the 19th century are the revolts by Gabriel Prosser in the Richmond, Virginia area in 1800, Denmark Vesey in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1822, and Nat Turner in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831. Slave resistance in the antebellum South did not gain the attention of academic historians until the 1940s, when historian Herbert Aptheker started publishing the first serious scholarly work on the subject. Aptheker stressed how rebellions were rooted in the exploitative conditions of the southern slave system. He traversed libraries and archives throughout the South, managing to uncover roughly 250 similar instances.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The Zanj Rebellion was the culmination of a series of small revolts. It took place near the city of Basra, in southern Iraq over fifteen years (869−883 AD). It grew to involve over 500,000 slaves, who were imported from across the Muslim empire.


title: Slave rebellion

text: In the 3rd century BCE, Drimakos (or Drimachus) led a slave revolt on the slave entrepot of Chios, took to the hills and directed a band of runaways in operations against their ex-masters.


title: Slave rebellion

text: On 9 July 1595, Rei Amador, and his people, the Angolars, allied with other enslaved Africans of its plantations, marched into the interior woods and battled against the Portuguese. It is said that day, Rei Amador and his followers raised a flag in front of the settlers and proclaimed Rei Amador as king of São Tomé and Príncipe, making himself as "Rei Amador, liberator of all the black people".


title: Slave rebellion

text: Between 1595 and 1596, part of the island of São Tomé was ruled by the Angolars, under the command of Rei Amador. On 4 January 1596, he was captured, sent to prison and was later executed by the Portuguese. Still today, they remember him fondly and consider him a national hero of the islands.


title: Slave rebellion

text: In the first decades of the 17th century, there were frequent slave revolts in the Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe, off the African shore, which damaged the sugar crop cultivation there.


title: Slave rebellion

text: December 25, 1521 rebellion in Diego Colón de Toledo's plantation in what is known today as Dominican Republic is the first known slave rebellion of the region. Despite the suppression of this revolt, many of the slaves successfully escaped, which led to the establishment of the first Maroon communities of the Americas. It would also open the doors for more slave revolts to transpire in the region. In 1532, Sebastián Lemba, of the Lemba tribe, rebelled against the Spanish colonists and for the next 15 years, attacked various other villages on the island liberating other slaves and ransacking from the Spaniards. Other leaders such as Juan Vaquero, Diego del Guzmán, Fernando Montoro, Juan Criollo, and Diego del Campo followed in Lemba's footsteps. Dominican slave revolts continued throughout the 18th and 19th century such as the slave insurrections of Hincha and Samaná in the spring of 1795, the revolt of Nigua in 1796, the Gambia revolt of 1802, and the revolt led by José Leocadio, Pedro de Seda, and Pedro Henríquez in 1812.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Between 1538 and 1542, a Guaraní slave from present-day Paraguay named Juliana killed her Spanish master and urged other indigenous women to do the same, ending up executed by order of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. Her rebellion is regarded as one of the earliest recorded indigenous uprisings against the Spanish colonization of the Americas.


title: Slave rebellion

text: St. John, 1733, in what was then the Danish West Indies. The St. John's Slave Rebellion is one of the earliest and longest lasting slave rebellions in the Americas. It ended with defeat, however, and many rebels, including one of the leaders Breffu, committed suicide rather than being recaptured.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The most successful slave uprising was the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791 and was eventually led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, culminating in the independent black republic of Haiti.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Panama also has an extensive history of slave rebellions going back to the 16th century. Slaves were brought to the isthmus from many regions in Africa, including the modern day countries of the Congo, Senegal, Guinea, and Mozambique. Immediately before their arrival on shore, or very soon after, many enslaved Africans revolted against their captors or participated in mass maroonage or desertion. The freed Africans founded communities in the forests and mountains, organized guerrilla bands known as Cimarrones. They began a long guerrilla war against the Spanish Conquistadores, sometimes in conjunction with nearby indigenous communities like the Kuna and the Guaymí. Despite massacres by the Spanish, the rebels fought until the Spanish crown was forced to concede to treaties that granted the Africans a life without Spanish violence and incursions. The leaders of the guerrilla revolts included Felipillo, Bayano, Juan de Dioso, Domingo Congo, Antón Mandinga, and Luis de Mozambique.


title: Slave rebellion

text: In the 1730s, the militias of the Colony of Jamaica fought the Jamaican Maroons for a decade, before agreeing to sign peace treaties in 1739 and 1740, which recognised their freedom in five separate Maroon Towns.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Tacky's War (1760) was a slave uprising in Jamaica, which ran from May to July before it was put down by the British colonial government.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The Suriname slave rebellion was marked by constant guerrilla warfare by Maroons and in 1765-1793 by the Aluku. This rebellion was led by Boni.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Cuba had slave revolts in 1795, 1798, 1802, 1805, 1812 (the Aponte revolt), 1825, 1827, 1829, 1833, 1834, 1835, 1838, 1839–43 and 1844 (the La Escalera conspiracy and revolt).


title: Slave rebellion

text: Vincent Brown, a professor of History and of African and African-American Studies at Harvard, has made a study of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. In 2013, Brown teamed up with Axis Maps to create an interactive map of Jamaican slave uprisings in the 18th century called, “Slave Revolt in Jamaica, 1760-1761, A Cartographic Narrative.” Brown's efforts have shown that the slave insurrection in Jamaica in 1760-61 was a carefully planned affair and not a spontaneous, chaotic eruption, as was often argued (due in large part to the lack of written records produced by the insurgents). Tacky's War was a widespread slave uprising across Jamaica in the 1760s.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Later, in 1795, several slave rebellions broke out across the Caribbean, influenced by the Haitian Revolution:


title: Slave rebellion

text: Many slave rebellions occurred in Brazil, most famously the Malê Revolt of 1835 by the predominantly Muslim West African slaves at the time. The term "malê" was commonly used to refer to Muslims at the time from the Yoruba word "imale".


title: Slave rebellion

text: Numerous slave rebellions and insurrections took place in North America during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. There is documentary evidence of more than 250 uprisings or attempted uprisings involving ten or more slaves. One of the first was at San Miguel de Gualdape, the first European settlement in what would become the United States. Three of the best known in the United States during the 19th century are the revolts by Gabriel Prosser in Virginia in 1800, Denmark Vesey in Charleston, South Carolina in 1822, and Nat Turner's Slave Rebellion in Southampton County, Virginia, in 1831.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness invented by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851 that allegedly caused black slaves to run away. Today, drapetomania is considered an example of pseudoscience, and part of the edifice of scientific racism.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Slave resistance in the antebellum South did not gain the attention of academic historians until the 1940s, when historian Herbert Aptheker started publishing the first serious scholarly work on the subject. Aptheker stressed how rebellions were rooted in the exploitative conditions of the Southern slave system. He traversed libraries and archives throughout the South, managing to uncover roughly 250 similar instances.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The 1811 German Coast Uprising, which took place in rural southeast Louisiana, at that time the Territory of Orleans, early in 1811, involved up to 500 insurgent slaves. It was suppressed by local militias and a detachment of the United States Army. In retaliation for the deaths of two white men and the destruction of property, the authorities killed at least 40 black men in a violent confrontation (the numbers cited are inconsistent); at least 29 more were executed (combined figures from two jurisdictions, St. Charles Parish and Orleans Parish). There was a third jurisdiction for a tribunal and what amounted to summary judgments against the accused, St. John the Baptist Parish. Fewer than 20 men are said to have escaped; some of those were later caught and killed, on their way to freedom.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Although only involving about seventy slaves and free blacks, Turner's 1831 rebellion is considered to be a significant event in American history. The rebellion caused the slave-holding South to go into a panic. Fifty-five men, women, and children were killed, and enslaved blacks were freed on multiple plantations in Southampton County, Virginia, as Turner and his fellow rebels attacked the white institution of plantation slavery. Turner and the other rebels were eventually stopped by state militias (Aptheker, 1993). The rebellion resulted in the hanging of about 56 slaves, including Nat Turner himself. Up to 200 other blacks were killed during the hysteria which followed, few of whom likely had anything to do with the uprising. Fears afterwards led to new legislation passed by Southern states prohibiting the movement, assembly, and education of slaves, and reducing the rights of free people of color. In addition, the Virginia legislature considered abolishing slavery to prevent further rebellions. In a close vote, however, the state decided to keep slaves.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The abolitionist John Brown had already fought against pro-slavery forces in Bleeding Kansas for several years when he decided to lead a raid on a Federal arsenal in Harpers Ferry, Virginia. This raid was a joint attack by freed blacks and white men who had corresponded with slaves on plantations in order to create a general uprising among slaves. Brown carried hundreds of copies of the constitution for a new republic of former slaves in the Appalachians. But they were never distributed, and the slave uprisings that were to have helped Brown did not happen. Some believe that he knew the raid was doomed but went ahead anyway, because of the support for abolition it would (and did) generate. The U.S. military, led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee, easily overwhelmed Brown's forces. But directly following this, slave disobedience and the number of runaways increased markedly in Virginia.


title: Slave rebellion

text: The historian Steven Hahn proposes that the self-organized involvement of slaves in the Union Army during the American Civil War composed a slave rebellion that dwarfed all others. Similarly, tens of thousands of slaves joined British forces or escaped to British lines during the American Revolution, sometimes using the disruption of war to gain freedom. For instance, when the British evacuated from Charleston and Savannah, they took 10,000 slaves with them. They also evacuated slaves from New York, taking more than 3,000 for resettlement to Nova Scotia, where they were recorded as Black Loyalists and given land grants.


title: Slave rebellion

text: In 1808 and 1825, there were slave rebellions in the Cape Colony, newly acquired by the British. Although the slave trade was officially abolished in the British Empire by the Slave Trade Act of 1807, and slavery itself a generation later with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, it took until 1850 to be halted in the territories which were to become South Africa.


title: Slave rebellion

text: There are 485 recorded instances of slaves revolting on board slave ships. A few of these ships endured more than one uprising during their career.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Most accounts of revolts aboard slave ships are given by Europeans. There are few examples of accounts by slaves themselves. William Snelgrave reported that the slaves who revolted on the British ship "Henry" in 1721 claimed that those who had captured them were "Rogues to buy them" and that they were bent on regaining their liberty. Another example that Richardson gives is that of James Towne who gives the account of slaves stating that Europeans did not have the right to enslave and take them away from their homeland and "wives and children".


title: Slave rebellion

text: Richardson compares several factors that contributed to slave revolts on board ships: conditions on the ships, geographical location, and proximity to the shore. He suggests that revolts were more likely to occur when a ship was still in sight of the shore. The threat of attack from the shore by other Africans was also a concern. If the ship was hit by disease and a large portion of the crew had been killed, the chances of insurrection were higher. Where the slaves were captured also had an effect on the number of insurrections. In many places, such as the Bight of Benin and the Bight of Biafra, the percentage of revolts and the percentage of the slave trade match up. Yet ships taking slaves from Senegambia experienced 22 percent of shipboard revolts while only contributing to four and a half percent of the slave trade. Slaves coming from West Central Africa accounted for 44 percent of the trade while only experiencing 11 percent of total revolts.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Lorenzo J. Greene gives many accounts of slave revolts on ships coming out of New England. These ships belonged to Puritans who controlled much of the slave trade in New England. Most revolts on board ships were unsuccessful. The crews of these ships, while outnumbered, were disciplined, well fed, and armed with muskets, swords, and sometimes cannons, and they were always on guard for resistance. The slaves on the other hand were the opposite, armed only with bits of wood and the chains that bound them.


title: Slave rebellion

text: However, some captives were able to take over the ships that were their prisons and regain their freedom. On October 5, 1764 the New Hampshire ship "Adventure" captained by John Millar was successfully taken by its cargo. The slaves on board revolted while the ship was anchored off the coast and all but two of the crew, including Captain Millar, had succumbed to disease. Another successful slave revolt occurred six days after the ship "Little George" had left the Guinea coast. The ship carried ninety-six slaves, thirty-five of which were male. The slaves attacked in the early hours of the morning, easily overpowering the two men on guard. The slaves were able to load one of the cannons on board and fire it at the crew. After taking control of the ship they sailed it up the Sierra Leone River and escaped. After having defended themselves with muskets for several days below decks the crew lowered a small boat into the river to escape. After nine days of living on raw rice they were rescued.


title: Slave rebellion

text: Mariana P. Candido notes that enslaved Africans worked on the ships that transported other Africans into slavery. These men, 230 in all, were used onboard slave ships for their ability to communicate with the slaves being brought on board and to translate between Captain and slaver. Enslaved sailors were able to alleviate some of the fears that newly boarded slaves had, such as fear of being eaten. This was a double-edged sword. The enslaved sailors sometimes joined other slaves in the revolts against the captain they served. In 1812 enslaved sailors joined a revolt on board the Portuguese ship "Feliz Eugenia" just off the coast of Benguela. The revolt took place below decks. The sailors, along with many of the children who were on board, were able to escape using small boats.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: Airbus Helicopters SAS (formerly Eurocopter Group) is the helicopter manufacturing division of Airbus. It is the largest in the industry in terms of revenues and turbine helicopter deliveries. Its head office is located at Marseille Provence Airport in Marignane, France, near Marseille. The main facilities of Airbus Helicopters are at its headquarters in Marignane, France, and in Donauwörth, Germany, with additional production plants in Brazil (Helibras), Australia, Spain, Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company was renamed from Eurocopter to Airbus Helicopters on 2 January 2014. In 2018, Airbus delivered 356 helicopters, a 54% share of the civil or parapublic market over five seats.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: Airbus Helicopters was formed in 1992 as Eurocopter Group, through the merger of the helicopter divisions of Aérospatiale and DASA. The company's heritage traces back to Blériot and Lioré et Olivier in France and to Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf in Germany.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: Airbus Helicopters and its predecessor companies have established a wide range of helicopter firsts, including the first production turboshaft-powered helicopter (the Aérospatiale Alouette II of 1955); the introduction of the Fenestron shrouded tail rotor (on the Gazelle of 1968); the first helicopter certified for full flight in icing conditions (the AS332 Super Puma, in 1984); the first production helicopter with a Fly-by-wire control system (the NHIndustries NH90, first flown in full FBW mode in 2003); the first helicopter to use a Fly-by-light primary control system (an EC135 testbed, first flown in 2003); and the first ever landing of a helicopter on Mount Everest (achieved by an AS350 B3 in 2005).


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: As a consequence of the merger of Airbus Helicopters' former parents in 2000, the firm is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus. The creation of what was then called EADS in 2000 also incorporated CASA of Spain, which itself had a history of helicopter-related activities dating back to Talleres Loring, including local assembly of the Bo105.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: Today, Airbus Helicopters has four main plants in Europe (Marignane and La Courneuve in France, and Donauwörth and Kassel in Germany), plus 32 subsidiaries and participants around the world, including those in Brisbane, Australia, Albacete, Spain and Grand Prairie, USA.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: Since approximately 2006, Eurocopter has been involved in the planning for the proposed pan-European Future Transport Helicopter project.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: As of 2014, more than 12,000 Airbus Helicopters were in service with over 3,000 customers in around 150 countries.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: Eurocopter sold 422 helicopters in 2013 and delivered 497 helicopters that year. In 2014, AH built a concrete cylinder for testing helicopters before first flight.


title: Airbus Helicopters

text: When the division changed its name from Eurocopter Group to Airbus Helicopters in 2014 the trade names of the products were changed (applied by 1 January 2016) to reflect this. Suffixes, as well as the differentiation for single or twin engines, were no longer to be used. Military versions were to be symbolized by the letter M. The only exceptions to this new branding were the AS365, the AS565, the Tiger and the NH90, which will keep their current names.


title: Empty Sky

text: Empty Sky is the debut studio album by British singer-songwriter Elton John, released on 6 June 1969. It was not issued in the United States until January 1975 (on MCA), with different cover art, well after John's fame had been established internationally.


title: Empty Sky

text: Recorded during the winter of 1968 and spring of 1969 in a DJM Records 8-track studio, "Empty Sky" is the only album in the early part of Elton John's career not produced by Gus Dudgeon, instead helmed by friend and DJM staffer Steve Brown. The album was released in the UK in both stereo and mono, the latter now being a rare collector's item.


title: Empty Sky

text: John plays harpsichord on several tracks, including "Skyline Pigeon", which John has described as being "the first song Bernie and I ever got excited about that we ever wrote."


title: Empty Sky

text: John used musicians who were friends either of him or of Brown. Guitarist Caleb Quaye and drummer Roger Pope, both at the time members of the band Hookfoot, played on many of the tracks. (Quaye and Pope would rejoin John a few years later as part of his studio and touring band behind "Rock of the Westies" in 1975 and "Blue Moves" in 1976.) Tony Murray from The Troggs played bass. "Empty Sky" is the first appearance with John of then Plastic Penny and Spencer Davis Group member Nigel Olsson, who played drums on "Lady What's Tomorrow?" (Olsson and fellow Spencer Davis bandmate, bassist Dee Murray, would soon join John as his early 1970s touring band.) Also listed in the production credits is Clive Franks, who would later produce John's live sound in concert for a tremendous amount of his touring career, as well as occasionally co-produce with John on albums such as "A Single Man" and "21 at 33". The original sleeve design was done by David Larkham (billed as "Dave"), who would go on to create designs for John and other artists.


title: Empty Sky

text: "Skyline Pigeon" is the most popular and best-known song on the album, and the only one which John, albeit infrequently, still performs as part of his live shows. The more definitive version of "Skyline Pigeon" featuring an orchestra and piano backing in place of harpsichord was recorded for 1973's "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player", and initially appeared as the B-side of "Daniel" in 1973. Another appearance of the song was in 1974, when a version recorded in London was featured as the opening track on the "Here and There" live LP and its 1995 CD reissue. A version of the title track, "Empty Sky", was also included at various stops on John's 1975 tour.


title: Empty Sky

text: Although John has since called the album naive, he does have fond memories of making the record. These include walking home from recording at 4 a.m. and lodging at the Salvation Army HQ in Oxford Street, which was run by Steve Brown's father. "I remember when we finished work on the title track – it just floored me. I thought it was the best thing I'd ever heard in my life," John recalled. He later recalled that he was "unsure what style I was going to be ... [maybe what] Leonard Cohen sounds like."


title: Empty Sky

text: A contemporary review from "Disc & Music Echo" said, "Can't help feeling that the lyrics could still do with a little more intensity, a little less youthful pretension. But that's just carping because the music is so nice and pretty that you can't really put it down. Well worth a good, deep listen." AllMusic's retrospective review showed a subdued reaction to the material, concluding "There aren't any forgotten gems on "Empty Sky", but it does suggest John's potential."


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatra Mountains (), Tatras, or Tatra ("Tatry" either in Slovak () or in Polish () - "plurale tantum"), are a series of mountains within the Western Carpathians that form a natural border between Slovakia and Poland. They are the highest mountains the Carpathians. The Tatras are distinct from the Low Tatras (), a separate Slovak mountain range further south.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatra Mountains occupy an area of , of which about (77.7%) lie within Slovakia and about (22.3%) within Poland. The highest peak, called Gerlachovský štít, at 2,655 m (8710 ft), is located north of Poprad, entirely in Slovakia. The highest point in Poland, Rysy, at 2,499 m (8200 ft), is located south of Zakopane, on the border with Slovakia.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatras' length, measured from the eastern foothills of the "Kobylí vrch" (1109 m) to the southwestern foot of "Ostrý vrch" (1128 m), in a straight line, is (or according to some), and strictly along the main ridge, . The range is only wide. The main ridge of the Tatras runs from the village of Huty at the western end to the village of Ždiar at the eastern end.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatras are now protected by law by the establishment of the Tatra National Park, Slovakia and the Tatra National Park, Poland, which are jointly entered in UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: In 1992, UNESCO jointly designated the Polish and Slovak parks a transboundary biosphere reserve in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves, under its Man and the Biosphere Programme.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The first written record of the name is from 999, when the Bohemian Duke Boleslaus II, on his deathbed, recalled when the Duchy of Bohemia extended to the "Tritri montes". Another mention is in the 1086 document from Henry IV, wherein he referred to the Diocese of Prague with "Tritri" mountains. Still another is in 1125, where the Kosmas chronicles ("Chronica Boemorum)" mention the name "Tatri".


title: Tatra Mountains

text: Machek in 1931 favored the theory of the Polish linguist Rozwadowski with a syllabic "r" like in the words "chrt" (Czech hound), "smrt" (Czech death)"." In Czech this syllabic is sometimes with vowels "i", "e" or "u" for example "črný" – "černý", so the Czech reconstruction from Tritri/Tritry would be "Trtry." In Polish, the term "Tatry" is firstly mentioned in 1255. Syllabic "r" often has vowels on both sides in Polish, so in case of "Tarty" we can reconstruct the name to "Tartry", where the vowel "a" originated before the syllabic "r" which dissimilated. This theory is supported by Hungarian forms of term "Turtur", "Turtul", "Tortol" from 12th to 14th centuries. It is unknown how the Slovak term looked like until the 17th century when the form "Tatry" is firstly mentioned and was probably taken from Polish and later found its way into Czech and Hungarian. The term "Tatra" also appears as a general term in Slovak for barren or stony land, and also in Little Russia for rocks and little stones in a river. Machek stresses that the name has no Slavic origin and mentions Rozwadowski's theory of an Illyrian origin because of a connection with a Herzegovian highland called "Tatra", thus taken from local inhabitants. The name is also close to the Ukrainian word for gravel, "toltry".


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatras are a mountain range of a corrugated nature, originating from the Alpine orogeny, and therefore characterized by a relatively young-looking lie of the land, quite similar to the landscape of the Alps, although significantly smaller. It is the highest mountain range within the Carpathians.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The overall nature of the Tatras, together with their easy accessibility, makes them a favorite with tourists and researchers. Therefore, these mountains are a popular winter sports area, with resorts such as Poprad and the town Vysoké Tatry (The Town of High Tatras) in Slovakia created in 1999, including former separate resorts: Štrbské Pleso, Starý Smokovec, and Tatranská Lomnica or Zakopane, called also "winter capital of Poland". The High Tatras, with their 24 (or 25) peaks exceeding 2,500 m above sea level, together with the Southern Carpathians, represent the only form of alpine landscape in the entire length of arc of the Carpathians.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: By the end of the First Polish Republic, the border with the Kingdom of Hungary in the Tatras was not exactly defined. The Tatras became an unoccupied borderland. On 20 November 1770, under the guise of protection against the epidemic of plague in the Podolia, an Austrian army entered into Polish land and formed a cordon sanitaire, seizing Sądecczyzna, Spiš and Podhale. Two years later, the First Partition of Poland allocated the lands to Austria. In 1824, Zakopane region and area around Morskie Oko were purchased from the authorities of the Austrian Empire by a Hungarian Emanuel Homolacs. When Austria-Hungary was formed in 1867, the Tatra Mountains have become a natural border between the two states of the dual monarchy, but the border itself still has not been exactly determined. In 1889, a Polish Count Władysław Zamoyski purchased at auction the Zakopane region along with the area around Morskie Oko. Due to numerous disputes over land ownership in the late 19th century, attempts were made at the delimitation of the border. They were fruitless until 1897, and the case went to an international court which determined on 13 September 1902 the exact course of the Austro-Hungarian border in the disputed area.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: A new round of border disputes between Poland and Czechoslovakia started immediately after the end of the First World War, when these two countries were established. Among other claims, Poland claimed ownership of a large part of the Spiš region. This claim also included additional parts of the Tatra Mountains. After several years of border conflicts, the first treaty (facilitated by the League of Nations) was signed in 1925, with Poland receiving a small northernmost part of the Spiš region, immediately outside (to the north-east of) the Tatra Mountains, thus not changing the border in the mountains themselves. During the Second World War there were multiple attempts by both sides of the conflict to occupy more land, but the final treaty signed in 1958 (valid until present day) preserved the border line agreed in 1925.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: With the collapse of the Austrian Empire in 1918 and the creation of Poland and Czechoslovakia, the Tatra Mountains started to be divided by international border. This brought considerable difficulties to hikers, as it was illegal to cross the border without passing through an official border checkpoint, and for many decades there were no checkpoints for hikers anywhere on the border ridge. The nearest road border crossings were Tatranská Javorina - Łysa Polana and Podspády - Jurgów in the east, and Suchá Hora - Chocholów in the west. Indeed, those who did cross elsewhere were frequently fined or even detained by border police of both countries. On the other hand, the permeable border in the Tatra Mountains was also heavily used for cross-border smuggling of goods such as alcohol, tobacco, coffee, etc. between Poland and Czechoslovakia. Only in 1999, more than 80 years after the dissolution of the Austrian Empire, the governments of Poland and Slovakia signed an agreement designating several unstaffed border crossings (with only irregular spot checks by border police) for hikers and cyclists on the 444 km-long Slovak-Polish border. One of these border crossings was created in the Tatra Mountains themselves, on the summit of the Rysy peak. However, there were still many other peaks and passes where hiking trails ran across the border, but where crossing remained illegal. This situation finally improved in 2007, with both countries accessing the Schengen Area. Since then, it is legal to cross the border at any point (i.e. no further official checkpoints were designated). Rules of the national parks on both sides of the border still apply and they restrict movement to official hiking trails and (especially on the Slovak side) mandate extensive seasonal closures in order to protect wildlife.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatras lie in the temperate zone of Central Europe. They are an important barrier to the movements of air masses. Their mountainous topography causes one of the most diverse climates in that region.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The highest precipitation figures are recorded on the northern slopes. In June and July, monthly precipitation reaches around . Precipitation occurs from 215 to 228 days a year. Thunderstorms occur 36 days a year on average.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: Extreme temperatures range from in the winter to in warmer months. Temperatures also vary depending on the altitude and sun exposure of a given slope. Temperatures below last for 192 days on the summits.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: On 19 November 2004, large parts of the forests in the southern Slovak part of the High Tatras were damaged by a strong wind storm. Three million cubic metres of trees were uprooted, two people died, and several villages were totally cut off. Further damage was done by a subsequent forest fire, and it will take many years until the local ecology is fully recovered.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatra Mountains have a diverse variety of plant life. They are home to more than 1,000 species of vascular plants, about 450 mosses, 200 liverworts, 700 lichens, 900 fungi, and 70 slime moulds. There are five climatic-vegetation belts in the Tatras.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Tatra Mountains are home to many species of animals: 54 tardigrades, 22 turbellarians, 100 rotifers, 22 copepods, 162 spiders, 81 molluscs, 43 mammals, 200 birds, 7 amphibians and 2 reptiles.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The most notable mammals are the Tatra chamois, marmot, snow vole, brown bear, wolf, Eurasian lynx, red deer, roe deer, and wild boar. Notable fish include the brown trout and alpine bullhead.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: In 1683, an anonymous author published a book of adventures and excursions in the Tatras. It became very popular in Europe and contributed to the growth of tourism in the Tatras. As it later turned out, its author was Daniel Speer, born in Wrocław, who for a time lived in the sub-Tatra region.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: A popular tourist destination in Poland is Zakopane but the developed tourist base also includes Kościelisko, Poronin, Biały Dunajec, Bukowina Tatrzańska, Białka Tatrzańska, Murzasichle, Małe Ciche, Ząb, Jurgów, Brzegi.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: In Slovakia, the most important tourist base is the city Vysoké Tatry, consisting of three parts: Štrbské Pleso, Starý Smokovec and Tatranská Lomnica.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Polish "national mountain" (featured prominently in myths and folklore) is Giewont, while the Slovak one is Kriváň.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: Orla Perć is considered the most difficult and dangerous mountain trail in the Tatras, a suitable destination only for experienced tourists and climbers. It lies exclusively within the Polish part of the Tatras, was conceived in 1901 by Franciszek Nowicki, a Polish poet and mountain guide, and was built between 1903-1906. Over 100 individuals have lost their lives on the route since it was established. The path is marked with red signs. The death of Polish philosopher Bronisław Bandrowski is often used by guides as a cautionary tale for tourists. He committed suicide after he was trapped for days on a rocky ledge in one of the trails near Zakopane.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: Most of the peaks in the Western Tatras (on both sides of the border), including the main ridge are freely accessible by hiking trails. In the Slovak part of the Eastern Tatras, only seven peaks (out of 48 with prominence of at least 100 m) are accessible by hiking trails ("Rysy", "Svinica/Świnica", "Slavkovský štít", "Kriváň", "Kôprovský štít", "Východná Vysoká", and "Jahňací štít"). Two of these ("Rysy" and "Svinica/Świnica") are located on the border with Poland and accessible from the Polish side. The rest of the peaks on the Slovak side (including the highest one, Gerlachovský štít) can only be accessed when accompanied by a certified mountain guide. UIAA members can climb them without a certified guide, but not using the normal (easiest) routes (from the III degree of difficulty).


title: Tatra Mountains

text: In the Slovak part most of the hiking trails in the Tatras are closed from 1 November to 15 June. Only trails from settlements up to the mountain huts are open. In Poland, the trails are open year-round.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: In the 18th and 19th centuries, the mountains were used for sheep grazing and mining. Many trees were cut down to make way for humans. Although these activities were stopped, the impact is still visible. Moreover, pollution from the industrialized regions of Kraków in Poland or Ostrava in Czech Republic, as well as casual tourism, cause substantial damage. Volunteers however initiate litter removal events frequently, on both sides of the border.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: The Slovak Tatra National Park ("Tatranský národný park"; TANAP) was founded in 1949 (), and the contiguous Polish Tatra National Park ("Tatrzański Park Narodowy") in 1954 (). The two parks were added jointly to the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve list in 1993.


title: Tatra Mountains

text: In 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature threatened to cancel the Slovak TANAP's status of a national park because of the large investments (mainly in skiing infrastructure) in the park, which seriously interfere with the landscape and nature.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus (5 March 1833 – 9 April 1915) was a French investor and grain trader, founder of the Louis Dreyfus Group, and patriarch of the Louis-Dreyfus family.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: He was born Léopold Dreyfus to a Jewish family in Sierentz in Alsace in north-eastern France. His parents were Louis Lemlé Dreyfus (1798–1879), a farmer, and Jeannette Victoire ("née" Hildenfinger; 1803–1837).


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: As a youth, the younger Dreyfus made frequent trips to nearby Basel, Switzerland, delivering grain for sale from the family farm. In 1851, he began trading wheat from neighbouring farms. He founded a company under his father's name, as he was too young to use his own. The younger Dreyfus later changed his surname to Louis-Dreyfus, but kept the company name without the hyphen.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: In 1858, after rapid growth, he moved the company to Berne, Switzerland, where it expanded its operations throughout Europe by purchasing grain from the "breadbaskets" of Eastern Europe and transporting it to the hungry markets in Western Europe. In 1864, the company moved to Zurich, Switzerland and in 1872, after the Franco-Prussian War when France ceded Alsace to Germany, Louis Dreyfus chose French citizenship. He moved to the shipping port of Marseille and by 1875 had moved his company's headquarters to Paris.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: The development of a transcontinental railroad in Europe combined with a more reliable shipping network and better access to market information – after the development of the telegraph and telephone – enabled the Louis Dreyfus Group to grow rapidly via arbitrage: the taking advantage of price differentials between locations. In 1883, the Louis Dreyfus Group was one of the first companies to engage in futures trading at the Liverpool Corn Trade Association, allowing it to both buy and sell commodities simultaneously. By 1900, the Louis Dreyfus Group was the world's largest grain trader.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: In 1905, the Banque Louis-Dreyfus was founded to help finance the company's operations in grain markets. Thereafter, the company expanded internationally: in 1909, it opened an office in Duluth, Minnesota and began exporting durum wheat; in 1911, it started trading cotton in Brazil; and in 1913, it set up operations in Melbourne. In 1915 Léopold Louis-Dreyfus died, turning over the family company to sons Louis and Charles.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: In 1860, Léopold Louis-Dreyfus married Émilie Lang (1840–1918), daughter of Isaac Lang and Rosalie ("née" Aron) Lang. They had three sons: Louis Louis-Dreyfus (1867–1940), Charles Louis-Dreyfus (1870–1929), and Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1877–1907).


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: By the early 20th century, the Louis-Dreyfus family was described as one of the "five great fortunes of France".


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: Louis-Dreyfus also served as Consul-General for the Kingdom of Romania in Paris. He was awarded the title of Commander of the Legion of Honour () on 19 April 1912.


title: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus

text: Léopold Louis-Dreyfus died in 1915 and was succeeded at the Louis Dreyfus Group by his sons Louis and Charles, who expanded the company in the Americas and in the Russian Empire (prior to the 1917 Revolution). In 2013, the Louis Dreyfus Group is considered to be one of the "big four" global food trading companies in the world competing with Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge Limited, and Cargill Inc.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The gentoo penguin ( ) (Pygoscelis papua) is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus "Pygoscelis", most closely related to the Adélie penguin ("P. adeliae") and the chinstrap penguin ("P. antarcticus"). The earliest scientific description was made in 1781 by Johann Reinhold Forster with a type locality in the Falkland Islands. The species calls in a variety of ways, but the most frequently heard is a loud trumpeting, which the bird emits with its head thrown back.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The application of "gentoo" to the penguin is unclear. "Gentoo" was an Anglo-Indian term to distinguish Hindus from Muslims. The English term may have originated from the Portuguese "gentio" ("pagan, gentile"). Some speculate that the white patch on the bird's head was thought to resemble a turban.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: It may also be a variation of another name for this bird, "Johnny penguin", with Johnny being in Spanish and sounds vaguely like gentoo. The Johnny rook, a predator, is likely named after the Johnny penguin.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The specific name "papua" is a misnomer; in the original description, Johann Reinhold Forster, a naturalist who had circumnavigated the world with Captain James Cook, mistakenly assumed that the species occurred in Papua (New Guinea), the closest gentoos actually being over 6000 km to the south (on Macquarie Island). No penguins are found in New Guinea. Others trace the error to a "possibly fraudulent claim" in 1776 by French naturalist Pierre Sonnerat, who also alleged a Papuan location for the king penguin despite never having been to the island himself.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The gentoo penguin is one of three species in the genus "Pygoscelis". Mitochondrial and nuclear DNA evidence suggests the genus split from other penguins around 38 million years ago (Mya), about 2 million years after the ancestors of the genus "Aptenodytes". In turn, the Adélie penguins split off from the other members of the genus around 19 Mya, and the chinstrap and gentoo finally diverged around 14 Mya.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Although the population on the Kerguelen Islands is tentatively included in "taeniata", it may also be a distinct subspecies.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Prior to 2021, only two subspecies of the gentoo penguin were recognised: "P. p. papua" (subantarctic gentoo) and the smaller "P. p. ellsworthi" (Antarctic gentoo). However, a 2020 study suggested that the gentoo penguin be split into a species complex of four morphologically similar but separate species: the northern gentoo penguin ("P. papua sensu stricto"), the southern gentoo penguin ("P. ellsworthi"), the eastern gentoo penguin ("P. taeniata") and the newly described South Georgia gentoo penguin ("P. poncetii"). The International Ornithological Congress incorporated the results of this study in 2021, but relegated the newly-recognized or newly-described species to being subspecies of "P. papua".


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The gentoo penguin is easily recognized by the wide, white stripe extending like a bonnet across the top of its head and its bright orange-red bill. It has pale whitish-pink, webbed feet and a fairly long tail – the most prominent tail of all penguin species. Chicks have grey backs with white fronts. As the gentoo penguin waddles along on land, its tail sticks out behind, sweeping from side to side, hence the scientific name "Pygoscelis", which means "rump-tailed".


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Gentoo penguins can reach a height of , making them the third-largest species of penguin after the emperor penguin and the king penguin. Males have a maximum weight around just before molting and a minimum weight of about just before mating. For females, the maximum weight is just before molting, but their weight drops to as little as when guarding the chicks in the nest. Birds from the north are on average heavier and taller than the southern birds. Southern gentoo penguins reach in length. They are the fastest underwater swimmers of all penguins, reaching speeds up to . Gentoos are well adapted to extremely cold and harsh climates.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The breeding colonies of gentoo penguins are located on ice-free surfaces. Colonies can be located directly on the shoreline or considerably inland. They prefer shallow coastal areas and often nest between tufts of grass. In South Georgia, for example, breeding colonies are 2 km inland. In colonies farther inland, where the penguins nest in grassy areas, they shift location slightly every year because the grass becomes trampled over time.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Gentoos breed on many subantarctic islands. The main colonies are on the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and Kerguelen Islands; smaller colonies are found on: Macquarie Island, Heard Islands, Crozet Islands, South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula. The total breeding population is estimated to be over 600,000 birds. Gentoos breed monogamously and infidelity is typically punished with banishment from the colony. Nests are usually made from a roughly circular pile of stones and can be quite large, high and in diameter. The stones are jealously guarded, and their ownership can be the subject of noisy disputes and physical attacks between individuals. They are also prized by the females, even to the point that a male penguin can obtain the favors of a female by offering her a choice stone.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Two eggs are laid, both weighing around . The parents share incubation, changing duty daily. The eggs hatch after 34 to 36 days. The chicks remain in the nests for around 30 days before joining other chicks in the colony and forming "crèches". The chicks molt into subadult plumage and go out to sea at around 80 to 100 days.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Gentoos mainly live on crustaceans, such as krill and shrimp, with fish and cephalopods making up only about 15% and 10% of the diet respectively. They are, however, opportunistic feeders and around the Falklands are known to take roughly equal proportions of fish ("Patagonotothen" sp., "Thysanopsetta naresi", "Micromesistius australis"), squat lobsters ("Munida gregaria") and squid ("Loligo gahi", "Gonatus antarcticus", "Moroteuthis ingens"). Other prey include "Lepidonotothen squamifrons", "Channichthys rhinoceratus" and octopuses.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The gentoos' diet is high in salt, as they eat organisms with relatively the same salinity as sea water, which can lead to complications associated with high sodium concentrations in the body, especially for gentoo chicks. To counteract this, gentoos, as well as many other marine bird species, have a highly developed salt gland located above their eyes that takes the high concentration of sodium within the body and produces a highly saline-concentrated solution that drips out of the body from the tip of the beak.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: Gentoo penguins do not store as much fat as Adélie penguins, their closest relative; gentoos require less energy investment when hunting because the net gain of energy after hunting is greater in gentoos than Adélies. As embryos, gentoos require a lot of energy to develop. Oxygen consumption is high for a developing gentoo embryo. As the embryo grows and requires more oxygen, consumption increases exponentially until the gentoo chick hatches. By then, the chick is consuming around 1800 ml O per day.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: In the sea, leopard seals, sea lions and killer whales are all predators of the gentoo. On land, no predators of full-grown, healthy gentoo penguins exist. Skuas and giant petrels regularly kill many chicks and steal eggs; petrels kill injured and sick adult gentoos. Various other seabirds, such as the kelp gull and snowy sheathbill, also snatch chicks and eggs. Skuas on King George Island have been observed attacking and injuring adult gentoo penguins in apparent territorial disputes.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: , the IUCN Red List lists the gentoo as least concern with a stable population trend, although rapid declines in some key areas are believed to be driving a moderate overall decline in the species population. Examples include Bird Island, South Georgia, where the population has fallen by two-thirds over 25 years. Many threats to this species still exist, including: pollution, hunting, fishing and human recreational activities that continue to affect them.


title: Gentoo penguin

text: The Linux distribution Gentoo Linux is named after the gentoo penguin. This is a nod to the fact that the penguin is the fastest swimming penguin, as Gentoo Linux aims to be a high-performance operating system.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Valley of Flowers National Park is an Indian national park which was established in 1982. It is located in Chamoli in the state of Uttarakhand and is known for its meadows of endemic alpine flowers and the variety of flora. This richly diverse area is also home to rare and endangered animals, including the Asiatic black bear, snow leopard, musk deer, brown bear, red fox and blue sheep. Birds found in the park include Himalayan monal pheasant and other high altitude birds.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: At 3352 to 3658 meters above sea level, the gentle landscape of the Valley of Flowers National Park complements the rugged mountain wilderness of Nanda Devi National Park to the east. Together, they encompass a unique transition zone between the mountain ranges of the Zanskar and Great Himalaya. The park stretches over an expanse of 87.50 km and it is about 8 km long and 2 km wide. The park lies completely in the temperate alpine zone. Both parks are encompassed in the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (223,674 ha) which is further surrounded by a buffer zone (5,148.57 km). Nanda Devi National Park Reserve is in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The park is open only during summer from June to October and it is covered by heavy snow for the rest of the year.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The place was little known to the outside world due to its inaccessibility. In 1931, Frank S. Smythe, Eric Shipton and R. L. Holdsworth, all British mountaineers, lost their way while returning from a successful expedition to Mt.Kamet and happened upon the valley, which was full of flowers. They were attracted to the beauty of the area and named it the "Valley of Flowers." Frank Smythe later authored a book of the same name.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: In 1939, Joan Margaret Legge, (21 February 1885 – 4 July 1939) a botanist deputed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, arrived at the valley to study flowers and while traversing some rocky slopes to collect flowers, she slipped off and died. Her sister later visited the valley and erected a memorial near the spot.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Prof. Chandra Prakash Kala, a botanist deputed by the Wildlife Institute of India, carried out a research study on the floristics and conservation of the valley for a decade, beginning in 1993. He made an inventory of 520 alpine plants exclusively growing in this national park and authored two important books – "The Valley of Flowers – Myth and Reality" and "Ecology and Conservation of the Valley of Flowers National Park, Garhwal Himalaya.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1931: The valley visited by the climber Frank S. Smythe who wrote a book publicising the "Valley of Flowers";


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1934: The upper Nanda Devi Sanctuary was reached and described by mountaineers Eric Shipton & Bill Tilman;


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1939: The basin established as the Nanda Devi Game Sanctuary by Government Order 1493/XIV- 28 of 7/01;


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1974–82: The sanctuary was opened to mountaineering, but the ensuing degradation led to its closure to all users;


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1980: The park was established as Sanjay Gandhi National Park by Notification 3912/ XIV 3-35-80; grazing and mountaineering stopped;


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1980: The Valley of Flowers was declared a national park by Government Order 4278/XIV-3-66-80 under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, for the conservation of its flora;


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 1988: The Nanda Devi National Biosphere Reserve established (223,674 ha) with the national park as core zone (62,462 ha) and a 514,857 ha buffer area surrounding both sites; restrictions were imposed on the rights of nearby villagers. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site;


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: 2000: The Biosphere Reserve extended by the government to 586,069 ha and the Valley of Flowers National Park was added as the second core zone (62,462 ha+ 8,750 ha, totalling core areas of 71,212 ha);


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Getting to the Valley of Flowers requires a trek of about 17 km (10.5 mi). The nearest major town is Joshimath in Garhwal, which has convenient road connections from Haridwar and Dehradun, both about 270 km (168 mi) south of Joshimath. From Delhi, one can take the train to Haridwar and then travel by bus to Govindghat via Rishikesh. Govindghat is approximately 24 km before another important destination of Badrinath. It is also possible to drive from Delhi to Govindghat, a distance of about 500 km.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Govindghat is a small place close to Joshimath (around one hour driving distance), where the trek begins. From Govindghat, shared taxis up to 4 km and then a trek of less than 11 km (8.6 mi) brings trekkers to Ghangaria, a small settlement located about 3 km (about 2 mi) from the valley. One can also hire a porter, mule or helicopter to reach Ghangaria. The trek from Govindghat to Ghangaria is common to the Gurudwara Shri Hemkund Sahib Sikh Temple at Hemkund and a trekker is likely to find many Sikh pilgrims on the route. As one nears Ghangaria, one is greeted by fields of perfumed wild flowers, wild rose bushes and wild strawberries by the sides of the path. Visitors to the Valley of Flowers need to get a permit from the Forest Department, at Ghangaria. The permit is valid for three days. Only visiting and trekking are allowed during the day time.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Visitors are not allowed to stay inside the National park and accommodation can be obtained at Ghangaria. The best time to visit is between July and early September, when the valley is full of flowers, just after the outbreak of monsoon.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The Valley of Flowers is nestled in the Pushpawati river valley which is in the upper expanses of Bhyundar Ganga river near Joshimath in Garhwal region. The lower reaches of Bhyundar Ganga near Gobindghat are known as Bhyundar Valley. The Valley of Flowers, which lies between 30° 41' to 30° 48'N and 79° 33' to 79° 46'E, in the Pushpawati valley is 20 km northwest of Nanda Devi National Park across the wide valley of the Bhyundar Ganga. It is one of two hanging valleys lying at the head of the Bhyundar valley, the other being the shorter Hemkund valley which runs parallel to Valley of Flowers some 10 km south. Valley of Flowers runs east-west approximately 15 km in length with average width of 6 km. A small tributary of Pushpawati river originates from Tipra glacier from Gauri Parbat in the east and flows through the Valley of Flowers.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The area lies on the Zanskar range of the Himalayas with the highest point in the national park being Gauri parbat at 6,719 m above sea level.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Being an inner Himalayan valley, the Nanda Devi Basin has a distinctive micro-climate. Conditions are generally dry with low annual precipitation, but there is heavy monsoon rainfall from late June to early September. Prevailing mist and low cloud during the monsoon keeps the soil moist, hence the vegetation is lusher than is usual in the drier inner Himalayan valleys. From mid April to June temperatures are moderate to cool (19 °C maximum). The Valley of Flowers also has the micro-climate of an enclosed inner Himalayan valley, and is shielded from the full impact of the southwest summer monsoon by the Greater Himalaya range to its south. There is often dense fog and rain especially during the late summer monsoon. Both Basin and Valley are usually snow-bound for six to seven months between late October and late March, the snow accumulating deeper and at lower altitudes on the shadowed southern than on the northern side of the valleys.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The Valley of Flowers is a high-altitude Himalayan valley that has long been acknowledged by renowned mountaineers, botanists, and in literature. It has been recognized internationally for over a century and is referenced in the Hindu religion. Local people have visited the valley since ancient times. Indian yogis are known to have visited the valley for meditation. The Valley of Flowers has many different colourful flowers, taking on various shades of colours as time progressed.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The Valley of Flowers has gained importance as a region containing a diversity of alpine flora, representative of the Western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows ecoregion. The rich diversity of species reflects the valley's location within a transition zone between the Zanskar and Great Himalayas ranges to the north and south, respectively, and between the Eastern Himalaya and Western Himalaya flora. A number of plant species are considered threatened. Several have not been recorded outside of Uttarakhand. Two have not been recorded in Nanda Devi National Park. The diversity of threatened species of medicinal plants is higher than has been recorded in other Indian Himalayan protected areas. The entire Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve lies within the Western Himalayas Endemic Bird Area (EBA). The Valley of Flowers National Park is the second core zone of the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. Seven restricted-range bird species are endemic to this part of the EBA.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The valley has three types of sub-alpine zones as follows: foothills alpine between 3,200 m and 3,500 m which is the upper height limit for trees, lower alpine between 3,500 m and 3,700 m, and higher alpine above 3,700 m. The habitats include valley bottom, river bed, small forests, meadows, eroded, scrubby and stable slopes, moraine, plateau, bogs, stone desert and caves. The lower surrounding hills in the buffer zone are thickly forested. The Forest Research Institute in 1992 recorded 600 species of angiosperms and 30 pteridophytes in the valley and surroundings, discovering 58 new records for the valley of which 4 were new for Himalayan state. Of these plants, 5 out of 6 species globally threatened are not found in Nanda Devi National Park or elsewhere in Uttarakhand: "Aconitum falconeri", "A. balfouri", Himalayan maple ("Acer caesium"), the blue Himalayan poppy ("Meconopsis aculeata") and "Saussurea atkinsoni". 31 species of rare and endangered categories were observed within the national park in 1998. Further his studies report that the dominant family in Valley of Flowers is Asteraceae with 62 species. 45 medicinal plants are used by local villagers and several species, such as "Saussurea obvallata" (brahmakamal) are collected as religious offerings to goddesses Nanda Devi and Sunanda Devi. The site is designated a Centre of Plant Diversity.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Characteristic of the sub-alpine zone are high altitude forests which help to retain moisture and snow and support a large number of floral and faunal communities. It is dominated by the uncommon Himalayan maple "Acer caesium" (VU), west Himalayan fir "Abies pindrow", Himalayan white birch "Betula utilis", and "Rhododendron campanulatum" with Himalayan yew "Taxus wallichiana", "Syringa emodi" and "Sorbus lanata". Some of the common herbs are "Arisaema jacquemontii", "Boschniakia himalaica", "Corydalis cashmeriana", "Polemonium caerulium", "Impatiens sulcata", "Geranium wallichianum", "Galium aparine", "Morina longifolia", "Inula grandiflora", "Nomochoris oxypetala", "nemone rivularis", "Pedicularis pectinata", "P. bicornuta", "Primula denticulate" and "Trillidium govanianum". In trampled areas where past livestock congregated, Himalayan knotweed "Polygonum polystachium" is a rampant weed.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The flowers were surveyed and inventoried in 1987 by the Botanical Survey of India, in 1992 by the Forest Research Institute and in 1997 by the Wildlife Institute of India which found five species new to science.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: Flowers mostly orchids, poppies, primulas, marigold, daisies and anemones carpet the ground. Sub-alpine forests of birch and rhododendron cover parts of the park's area. A decade long study by C.P. Kala from 1993 onward concludes that the Valley of Flowers is endowed with 520 species of higher plants (angiosperms, gymnosperms and pteridophytes), of these 498 are flowering plants. The park has many species of medicinal plants including "Dactylorhiza hatagirea", "Picrorhiza kurrooa", "Aconitum violaceum", "Polygonatum multiflorum", "Fritillaria roylei" and "Podophyllum hexandrum".


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: The density of wild animals in the valley is not high, but all the animals found are rare or endangered. Prior to 2004, a total 13 species of mammals are recorded for the park by CP Kala and its vicinity although only he sighted 9 species directly: northern plains gray langur "Semnopithecus entellus", red giant flying squirrel "Petaurista petaurista", Himalayan black bear "Ursus thibetanus (VU)", red fox "Vulpes vulpes", Himalayan weasel "Mustela sibirica", and Himalayan yellow-throated marten "Martes flavigula", Himalayan goral "Naemorhedus goral", Himalayan musk deer "Moschus leucogaster", Indian spotted chevrotain "Moschiola indica", Himalayan tahr "Hemitragus jemlahicus (VU)" and serow "Capricornis sumatraensis (VU)". The tahr is common, the serow, goral, musk deer and bharal, blue sheep are rare.


title: Valley of Flowers National Park

text: A October 2004 faunal survey established the presence of snow leopard "Panthera uncia" (EN) in the national park. The common leopard "Panthera pardus" is reported from lower parts of the valley closer to the villages. Local people have also reported evidence of brown bear "Ursus arctos" and bharal or blue sheep "Pseudois nayaur".