text:
Local government in Scotland

Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majority of their funding from the Scottish Government, but operate independently and are accountable to their local electorates. Councils raise additional income via the Council Tax, a locally variable domestic property tax, and Business rates, a non-domestic property tax.

Councils are made up of councillors who are directly elected by the residents of the area they represent. Each council area is divided into a number of wards, and three or four councillors are elected for each ward. There are currently 1,227 elected councillors in Scotland. Local elections are normally held every five years and use the single transferable vote electoral system. The most recent election was the 2022 Scottish local elections and the next election will be the 2027 Scottish local elections.

Council administrations typically comprise a group of councillors within the council who are able to command majority support. Minority administrations and majority administrations may be formed. Although coalition administrations are more typical, occasionally a majority administration is formed by a single political party, but this is uncommon due to the proportional voting system used in Scottish local elections. Despite being uncommon on the Scottish mainland, it is possible for independent politicians to form an administration.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is an umbrella organisation formed in 1975 to represent the views of Scotland's thirty-two councils to central government.

Origins
The history of Scottish local government mainly surrounds involves the counties of Scotland. The counties have their origins in the sheriffdoms or shires over which a sheriff (a contraction of shire reeve) exercised jurisdiction.

Malcolm III appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of replacing native "Celtic" forms of government with Anglo Saxon and French feudal structures. This was continued by his sons Edgar, Alexander I and in particular David I. David completed the division of the country into sheriffdoms by the conversion of existing thanedoms.

From the seventeenth century the shires started to be used for local administration apart from judicial functions. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each sheriffdom to collect the land tax. The commissioners eventually assumed other duties in the county. In 1858, police forces were established in each county under the Police (Scotland) Act 1857.

As a result of the dual system of local government, burghs (of which there were various types) often had a high degree of autonomy.

Modern history
Between 1890 and 1975 local government in Scotland was organised with county councils (including four counties of cities) and various lower-level units. Between 1890 and 1929, there were parish councils and town councils, but with the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, the functions of parish councils were passed to larger district councils and a distinction was made between large burghs (i.e. those with a population of 20,000 or more) and small burghs. This system was further refined by the passing of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947.

Effective from 1975, the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 passed by the Conservative government of Edward Heath introduced a system of two-tier local government in Scotland (see Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996), divided between large regional councils and smaller district councils. The only exceptions to this were the three island councils, Western Isles, Shetland and Orkney which had the combined powers of regions and districts. The Conservative government of John Major (1990–1997) decided to abolish this system and merge their powers into new unitary authorities. The new councils vary wildly in size – some are the same as counties, such as Clackmannanshire, some are the same as former districts, such as Inverclyde, and some are the same as the former regions, such as Highland. The changes took effect in 1996 with shadow councillors elected in 1995 to oversee the smooth transition of control.

In 2007, council elections moved to the single transferable vote system, with wards represented by either three or four councillors. The transition has resulted in no uncontested seats and has ended single-party controlled councils.

In 2016 there were ward boundary changes in 25 local authority areas, following the Scottish Government accepting some of the recommendations of Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland.

The Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 have given Boundaries Scotland increased flexibility to vary the size of wards. Mainland wards may now have between 2 and 5 councillors, and single councillor wards are permitted where such a ward includes an inhabited island.

Responsibilities

 * Council Tax
 * Non-domestic rates collection
 * Maintenance of all roads and pavements (except trunk roads which are the responsibility of Transport Scotland)
 * Primary and secondary schooling
 * The planning system, and Section 75
 * Parking
 * Bus stops
 * Supporting non-commercial bus services
 * Provides some Community Transport
 * Nurseries
 * Care of the elderly,
 * Protection of vulnerable children and adults
 * Refuse collection and disposal
 * Licensing of hours of sale for alcohol
 * Licensing of cultural music parades
 * Licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles
 * Licensing of window cleaners, market traders, scrap metal merchants, and street hawkers
 * Licensing of sexual entertainment venues
 * Food Hygiene inspections
 * Regulation of landlords
 * Council leisure centres and swimming baths
 * Public parks
 * Administering the Scottish Welfare Fund

Map of council areas
• # Inverclyde

• # Renfrewshire

• # West Dunbartonshire

• # East Dunbartonshire

• # Glasgow City

• # East Renfrewshire

• # North Lanarkshire

• # Falkirk

• # West Lothian

• # City of Edinburgh

• # Midlothian

• # East Lothian

• # Clackmannanshire

• # Fife

• # Dundee City

• # Angus

• # Aberdeenshire

• # Aberdeen City

• # Moray

• # Highland

• # Na h-Eileanan Siar

• # Argyll and Bute

• # Perth and Kinross

• # Stirling

• # North Ayrshire

• # East Ayrshire

• # South Ayrshire

• # Dumfries and Galloway

• # South Lanarkshire

• # Scottish Borders

• # Orkney

• # Shetland

Governance and administration
The power vested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors. There are currently 1,227 councillors, each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. In total, there are 32 unitary authorities, the largest being the Glasgow City with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest, Orkney, with just over 20,000 people living there (population of 21,670 in 2015).

Councillors are subject to a Code of Conduct instituted by the Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 and enforced by the Standards Commission for Scotland. If a person believes that a councillor has broken the code of conduct they make a complaint to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland (CESPLS). The Commissioner makes a determination on whether there is a need for an investigation, and then whether or not to refer the matter to the Standards Commission.

Convener (Provost)
Each council elects a convener from among the members of the council to chair meetings and to act as a figurehead for the area. A council may also elect a depute convener, though this is not required. In the four cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee the convener is called a Lord Provost, whilst in other councils the council may choose another title for their conveners. Most councils use the term 'provost', some use the term 'convener'.

The office of provost or convener is roughly equivalent to that of a mayor in other parts of the United Kingdom. Traditionally these roles are ceremonial and have no significant administrative functions. Lord provosts in the four city councils have the additional duty of acting as Lord Lieutenant for their respective city.

Leader of the Council
Since 2007 each council has been required to designate a "leader of the council" and a "civic head", who receive additional remuneration for holding those roles. The regulations direct that unless a council decides otherwise the leader is the convener and the civic head is the depute convener. In practice, most authorities appoint someone other than the convener as leader of the council, such that the political leader of the council is not also presiding over the debate at council meetings. The convener or provost usually takes the civic head role. The leader of the council is usually the leader of the largest political group, or in a coalition the leader of the largest party in that coalition. The Leader of the Council has no executive or administrative powers designated by statute. Prior to 2007 many authorities recognised the leader of the largest political group or coalition administration as being leader of the council, but there was no legislative basis for the role.

Officers
Officers of a council are administrative, non-political staff of the council. Generally the composition of the council's officers are a matter for the council, but there are a number of statutory officers whose roles are defined by the central government.

The most significant of these officers is the Head of Paid Service, usually titled the Chief Executive. The Chief Executive is similar in function to a city manager, though certain councillors have executive authority and there is no clear division of powers.

There is also a statutory Monitoring Officer, who usually heads the Legal Services division of the council, as well as a Chief Financial Officer.

2022 election results
! scope="col" colspan="2" rowspan=2 | Party ! scope="col" colspan="3" | First-preference votes ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Councils ! scope="col" colspan="2" | 2017 seats ! scope="col" colspan="3" | 2022 seats ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Of total (%) ! scope="col" | Change ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Change ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Of total (%) ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Of total (%) ! scope="col" | Change ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Total
 * - style="background-color:#E9E9E9;
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |No overall control
 * colspan=3 N/A
 * 27
 * style="background-color:#ffe8e8;"| 2
 * colspan=2 N/A
 * colspan=3 N/A
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |SNP
 * 633,252
 * 34.1%
 * 1.8%
 * 1
 * style="background-color:#dfd;"| 1
 * 431
 * 37.0%
 * 453
 * 35.1%
 * style="background-color:#dfd;"| 22
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Labour
 * 403,243
 * 21.7%
 * 1.6%
 * 1
 * style="background-color:#dfd;"| 1
 * 262
 * 21.4%
 * 281
 * 23.1%
 * style="background-color:#dfd;"| 19
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Conservative
 * 364,824
 * 19.6%
 * 5.7%
 * 0
 * 276
 * 22.5%
 * 214
 * 17.5%
 * style="background-color:#ffe8e8"| 62
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Liberal Democrats
 * 159,815
 * 8.6%
 * 1.7%
 * 0
 * 67
 * 5.5%
 * 87
 * 7.1%
 * style="background-color:#dfd;"| 20
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Independents
 * 156,815
 * 8.4%
 * 2.0%
 * 3
 * 168
 * 14.1%
 * 152
 * 12.2%
 * style="background-color:#ffe8e8;"| 15
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Green
 * 110,791
 * 6.0%
 * 1.9%
 * 0
 * 19
 * 1.6%
 * 35
 * 2.9%
 * style="background-color:#dfd"| 16
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Alba
 * 12,335
 * 0.7%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Family
 * 6,857
 * 0.4%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |West Dunbartonshire Community
 * 1,462
 * 0.1%
 * 0
 * 1
 * 0.1%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Socialist
 * 1,058
 * 0.1%
 * 0.1%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |TUSC
 * 1,022
 * 0.1%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |British Unionist
 * 859
 * 0.1%
 * 0
 * 1
 * 0.1%
 * style=background-color:#dfd|1
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Rubbish
 * 787
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 1
 * 0.1%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Independence for Scotland
 * 742
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Libertarian
 * 698
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Freedom Alliance
 * 555
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Volt UK
 * 421
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Socialist Labour
 * 381
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |UKIP
 * 372
 * 0.0%
 * 0.2%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Women's Equality
 * 228
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Social Democratic
 * 222
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Sovereignty
 * 154
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Communist
 * 119
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Pensioner's
 * 75
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Vanguard
 * 74
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Workers
 * 61
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Eco-Federalist
 * 24
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * 421
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Socialist Labour
 * 381
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |UKIP
 * 372
 * 0.0%
 * 0.2%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Women's Equality
 * 228
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Social Democratic
 * 222
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Sovereignty
 * 154
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Communist
 * 119
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Pensioner's
 * 75
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Vanguard
 * 74
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Workers
 * 61
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Eco-Federalist
 * 24
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Communist
 * 119
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Pensioner's
 * 75
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Vanguard
 * 74
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Workers
 * 61
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Eco-Federalist
 * 24
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Workers
 * 61
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Eco-Federalist
 * 24
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Eco-Federalist
 * 24
 * 0.0%
 * 0
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * 0.0%
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * New
 * - class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;"
 * 1,889,658
 * 100.0
 * ±0.0
 * 32
 * 1,223
 * 1,227
 * 1,227
 * 100.00
 * }
 * }
 * }

Council control
'' Last updated 10 March 2023. ''

2017 election results
Following boundary changes:

!colspan="2" rowspan="2" width="175"|Party !colspan="3" rowspan="2" width="175"| First-preference votes ! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Councils ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width: 30px;"| +/- ! colspan="2" | 2012 seats ! colspan="2" | 2017 seats ! colspan="2" | Seat change ! Seats won ! Notional ! Seats won ! Seat % ! vs Notional ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |Total
 * -style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish National Party
 * 610,454
 * 32.3%
 * 0.0
 * 0
 * 1
 * 425
 * 438
 * 431
 * 35.1%
 * 7
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Conservative
 * 478,073
 * 25.3%
 * 12.0%
 * 0
 * 115
 * 112
 * 276
 * 22.5%
 * 164
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Labour
 * 380,957
 * 20.2%
 * 11.4%
 * 0
 * 3
 * 394
 * 395
 * 262
 * 21.4%
 * 133
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Independents
 * 199,261
 * 10.5%
 * 1.3%
 * 3
 * 196
 * 198
 * 172
 * 14.1%
 * 26
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Liberal Democrats
 * 128,821
 * 6.8%
 * 0.2%
 * 0
 * 71
 * 70
 * 67
 * 5.5%
 * 3
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Greens
 * 77,682
 * 4.1%
 * 1.8%
 * 0
 * 14
 * 14
 * 19
 * 1.6%
 * 5
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |No Overall Control
 * 29
 * 4
 * 5
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |No Overall Control
 * 29
 * 4
 * 29
 * 4
 * 29
 * 4
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" | 1,889,658
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |100.0
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" | ±0.0
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |32
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |1,223
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |1,227
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |1,227
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" | 100.00
 * style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |
 * }

Note: There were boundary changes in many of these councils. Notional seats and seat change are based on a notional 2012 result calculated by the BBC. The methodology was officially revealed on 9 May 2017. The relevant explanation is available on the BBC Website. Comparisons with the actual results from 2012 are inconsistent, as the number of seats and seat changes will be different because of an increase in council seats across the country from 1,223 to 1,227 and the different boundaries.

! colspan="2" |Party ! 2012 seats ! 2012 notional ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" |Total
 * -style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;"
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish National Party
 * 425
 * 438
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Conservative
 * 115
 * 112
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Labour
 * 394
 * 395
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Liberal Democrats
 * 71
 * 70
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Scottish Greens
 * 14
 * 14
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Others
 * 204
 * 198
 * - style="text-align:right;"
 * style="background-color:"|
 * style="text-align:left;" |Others
 * 204
 * 198
 * 198
 * 1,223
 * 1,227
 * }
 * }

Council control
Political control may be held by minority governments (min), coalitions (co), joint leadership arrangements (j.l.) or partnership working arrangements (p.w.).

'' Last update 13 February 2022. ''

Council control
The 32 unitary authorities were controlled as follows. The figures incorporate the results from the 2012 local government election, plus gains and losses from subsequent local by-elections, and party defections.

2007 election results
Following the introduction of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 local elections are held using the single transferable vote, with this taking place for the first time in 2007. This change in voting system saw all but five councils end up with no one party in control. Labour retained control of Glasgow City and North Lanarkshire, while Orkney, Shetland and Na h-Eileanan Siar continue to be controlled by Independent councillors.

Council control
The 32 unitary authorities are controlled as follows. The figures incorporate the results from the 2007 local government election, plus gains and losses from subsequent local by-elections, and party defections.

Community councils
Community councils represent the interests of local people. Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult community councils on planning, development and other issues directly affecting that local community. However, the community council has no direct say in the delivery of services. In many areas they do not function at all, but some work very effectively at improving their local area. Elections for community councils are determined by the local authority but the law does state that candidates cannot stand on a party-political ticket.

title: Local government in Scotland


text:
Talk:French Foreign Legion

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the. —Community Tech bot (talk) 10:52, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Insigne du 2e régiment étranger du génie.png

Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 11:07, 1 March 2022 (UTC)
 * Insigne du 3e régiment étranger d'infanterie.jpg
 * Logotype Foreign Legion.png

Some of the rank insignia are using the wrong colors
The Legion Etranger corp color as colonial units is green. But some of the insignia like the sous officier adjutants are using RED the color of the French Army. I checked Wikimedia Commons, no one has made any foreign legion officer ranks or the one of the aspirant. As these images (I guess) are there for purely example reasons, that's not the problem, what is a problem is that the corp colors are wrong and there is nothing in that section to tell the reader that is the case. All rank and corp colors in the Legion are green, never red (the only time that might be seen is when army personnel are on brief secondment or temporary assignment with a legion unit). The rank images needs fixing with correct colors.146.199.128.197 (talk) 11:22, 26 April 2023 (UTC)

 * want to check on this? A lot of the linked units probably need some scrutiny also Elinruby (talk) 17:20, 13 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I'll check this out ASAP, thanks for the heads up Cukrakalnis (talk) 19:48, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

PUBLIC SERVICE NAVY DEFENSE
HI CAPTAIN I AM NOT OFFICER NO SERGIANT...I AM JUST LITTLE BIRD IN SHADOW OF COLORS CALLED ME STORK FROM OLDER LEGIONNAIRE UNIT...SOLDAT...L'ETRANGERE...I NEVERMIND TO LEFT MINE VISION OF TRUTH HONOR...I AM FRENCH CITIZENSHIP..THINKING OF ALL DEFENSE NOT IN SELF WAY BUT TOGHETHER WE ARE STRONGER NO ANY ANIMALS...TRUST YOU 109.245.225.62 (talk) 06:28, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

 * SALUT CAPITAINE, JE NE SUIS PAS OFFICIER, PAS DE SERGENT... JE SUIS JUSTE UN PETIT OISEAU DANS UNE OMBRE DE COULEURS M'APPELANT CIGOGNE DE L'ANCIENNE UNITÉ DE LÉGIONNAIRE... SOLDAT... L'ÉTRANGERE... JE NE GAUCHE PAS MA VISION DE LA VÉRITÉ L'HONNEUR. ..JE SUIS CITOYENNETÉ FRANÇAISE..Je PENSE À TOUTE DÉFENSE PAS À VOTRE MANIÈRE MAIS ENSEMBLE NOUS SOMMES PLUS FORTS AUCUN ANIMAL... FAITES-VOUS CONFIANCE.. 109.245.225.62 (talk) 06:32, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:French Foreign Legion


text:
Harvey S. Firestone

Harvey Samuel Firestone Sr. (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.

Family background
Firestone was born in 1868 in Columbiana, Ohio, and grew up on the farm built by his grandfather. The family name was originally Feuerstein; Nicholas Feuerstein, Firestone's paternal ancestor, immigrated from Alsace in 1752 and settled in Pennsylvania. He was the second of Benjamin and Catherine (née Flickinger) Firestone's three sons; Benjamin also had a son and a daughter by his first wife. In 1983 the original farm was disassembled and moved to Greenfield Village, a 90 acre historical site in Michigan founded by Henry Ford, and is now part of a larger outdoor museum.

On November 20, 1895, Firestone married Idabelle Smith. They eventually had seven children. Notable great–grandchildren include: Andrew Firestone, Nick Firestone, and William Clay Ford, Jr. (the son of Henry Ford's grandson and Harvey and Idabelle's granddaughter Martha).

Education and career
After graduating from Columbiana High School, Firestone worked for the Columbus Buggy Company in Columbus, Ohio before starting his own company in 1890, making rubber tires for carriages. In 1900 he soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles and then founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass production of tires. In 1926 he published a book, Men and Rubber: The Story of Business, which was written in collaboration with Samuel Crowther.

Death
Firestone died of coronary thrombosis at Harbel Villa, the beach front estate he acquired in Miami Beach, Florida. He was 69 years old.

The Vagabonds
Firestone, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison were generally considered the three leaders in American industry at the time, and often worked and vacationed together, calling themselves the Vagabonds, along with naturalist John Burroughs and, sometimes, President Herbert Hoover.

Legacy
The main library of Princeton University is named Firestone Library in his honor. It is among the largest university libraries in the world. On August 3, 1950, The Harvey S. Firestone Memorial, a large sculpture ensemble dedicated to Firestone, created by sculptors James Earle Fraser and Donald De Lue was dedicated at the old Firestone Tire and Rubber Company Headquarters at 1200 Firestone Parkway. It currently located at the Bridgestone Americas Technology Center in Akron, Ohio.

In 1974, Firestone was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio, is named in his honor. There is a Harvey S. Firestone Park in Columbiana, Ohio. The Links at Firestone Farms, a golf course in Columbiana that opened in 2003, sits on the site of the former family homestead. The town of Harbel in Liberia, home to Firestone's rubber farm, the largest in the world, is named after Firestone and his wife Idabelle.

He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2013.

title: Harvey S. Firestone


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Talk:Online analytical processing

OLAP
Voice 202.179.86.214 (talk) 09:19, 23 August 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Online analytical processing


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Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

The presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament (Oifigear-Riaghlaidh, Preses ) is the presiding officer and speaker of the Scottish Parliament. The office of presiding officer was established by the Scotland Act 1998, and the elected presiding officer is a member of the Scottish Parliament who is elected by the Scottish Parliament by means of an exhaustive ballot, and is ex officio the head of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The presiding officer is considered a figurehead of the Scottish Parliament and has an office in Queensberry House.

Appointments to the Privy Council are made by the monarch, although in practice they are made only on the advice of the UK government. To date all presiding officers have been appointed members of the Privy Council, and therefore entitled to use the style 'Right Honourable'.

The current presiding officer is Alison Johnstone, who was elected on 13 May 2021, following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. A member of the Scottish Greens, she was sworn in as presiding officer at the opening of the 6th session of the Scottish Parliament and is the second woman to hold the office and the first former member of the Scottish Greens to do so.

Parliamentary responsibilities
The presiding officer presides over the Parliament's debates, determining which members may speak, and maintains order during debate. The presiding officer is expected to be strictly non-partisan, with some similarities in this respect to the tradition of the Speaker of the House of Commons. For this reason, they renounce all affiliation with their former political party for the duration of their term. They do not take part in debate, or vote except to break ties. Even then, the convention is that when the presiding officer uses their tie-breaking vote, they do so in favour of advancing debate, but on final ballots, retaining the status quo. The presiding officer is also assisted in their duties by 2 deputies. They have the same powers as the presiding officer; they keep their party affiliation but remain impartial when presiding.

In 2006 the St Andrews Fund for Scots Heraldry commemorated the hosting of the Heraldic & Genealogical Congress in Scotland by commissioning a ceremonial robe for the presiding officer to wear, however as of May 2017, it appears no presiding officer has worn the robe.

Governmental responsibilities
As well as being the presiding officer and speaker of the Scottish Parliament, the Presiding Officer represents Scotland and the Scottish Government and parliament within Scotland and during international visits. The Presiding Officer welcomes dignitaries from other national parliaments to study policy issues of the Scottish Government, share information on ways of working as well as exchanging ideas and knowledge. The Presiding Officer, along with other members of the Scottish Parliament, may visit other national parliaments in order to improve understanding on shared interests and developing and strengthening good working relationships.

Legal responsibilities
The overall responsibilities and functions of the office of the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament were detailed in the passing of the Scotland Act 1998. The act set out the responsibilities of the office in four areas; Purpose and Effect, General, Parliamentary Consideration and Details of Provisions.

Purpose and effect
The purpose and effect section under Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 provides for the election of a Presiding Officer to the Scottish Parliament and requires two deputies to preside over the parliament. It outlines the details for the term of office of the Presiding Officer and deputies; the exercise of the Presiding Officer's functions by a deputy if the Presiding Officer is unable to act or the office of Presiding Officer is vacant, the delegation of the Presiding Officer’s functions to a deputy and participation of the Presiding Officer and deputies in proceedings of the Parliament.

General
The General section of Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 highlight the general functions and responsibilities of the office of Presiding Officer. The Scotland Act 1998 highlights the general responsibilities of the Presiding Officer as being:

 * Sections 2, 3 and 9 - recommending to the monarch the date for holding general elections and fixing the dates of by-elections;
 * Sections 10 and 14 - receiving notification of a member’s resignation and of the filling of a vacancy in a regional seat;
 * Section 21 - membership of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body;
 * Section 26 - administering oaths to witnesses before the Parliament;
 * Sections 31 to 35 - scrutiny of Bills and submission of Bills for Royal Assent; and
 * Sections 45 and 46 - recommending to the monarch the Parliament's choice of First Minister and the appointment of another member to exercise the First Minister's functions in certain circumstances.
 * The Standing Orders of the Parliament also provide that the Presiding Officer shall have such other functions as may be conferred upon him or her by the Parliament or by the Standing Orders.

Details of provision
Subsection (1) of Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 requires the Parliament following its first meeting after a general election to the Scottish Parliament has taken place, to elect from amongst its membership a Presiding Officer and two deputies. The elections have to take place after members take their oath of allegiance due to the fact that the members cannot take part in any proceedings until they have done so under section 84(2) of the Scotland Act 1998.

Subsection (2) of the Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 provides for the office holder of either the Presiding Officer or Deputy Presiding Officer to hold office until:

 * a new Presiding Officer is elected;
 * the Presiding Officer resigns;
 * the Presiding Officer ceases to be a member otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution; or
 * the incumbent Presiding Officer is removed from office by resolution of the Parliament.

In Law, the Presiding Officer and the deputies will not cease to hold the office of Presiding Officer merely because of the dissolution of the Parliament before a general election. The incumbent office holders will continue to serve office until such time as the new Parliament elects a Presiding Officer (and the deputies) under subsection (1).

Subsection (3) requires members of the Scottish Parliament to elect a replacement for the Presiding Officer or a deputy who ceases to hold office for any reason before dissolution of the Parliament that may result in the Presiding Officer or a deputy leaving or being removed from the office. Subsection (4) highlights that the Presiding Officer’s functions may be exercised by a deputy if the office is vacant for whatever reason, or alternatively if the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act and fulfil the duties of office. Subsection (5) empowers the Presiding Officer, subject to standing orders, to authorise any deputy to exercise functions on their behalf.

Subsection (6) gives the presiding officer the power through standing orders to regulate the participation of the Presiding Officer and deputies in proceedings of the Parliament. They may cover any constraints on the way in which the Presiding Officer and deputies may vote in proceedings which they chair. Subsection (7) provides that the validity of any act of the Presiding Officer or a deputy is not affected by any defect in the election.

Future of the role
The Scottish National Party proposes that in the event of independence, the presiding officer's post be replaced with that of chancellor of Scotland. In addition to presiding over the Scottish Parliament, the chancellor would possess additional constitutional powers during the absence of the monarch from Scotland; chiefly, the chancellor should act in a role similar to a governor-general in the other Commonwealth realms.


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User:Sockpuppet~enwiki

I am a sockpuppet username for a sysop (Cimon Avaro on a pogo-stick) who wants a nonsysop username to use when demonstrating the system. There should be very few edits made outside the sandbox by this user (except perhaps editing from a public terminal when away from home).

title: User:Sockpuppet~enwiki


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Talk:He-Man

Queer stuff overblown
Why is like of half of this article devoted to these theories about the supposed/purported gayness/queerness of the character? This is NOT and has never been a main aspect of this character (and most certainly not in official/canon materials). It is just a theory/interpretation apparently pushed by certain theorists of the gay subculture for their own agendas. So it looks to me to be completely unwarranted to grant such an overblown emphasis and representation to this fringe theory here, instead of talking about the actual canon/official stuff regarding this character and about its enormous impact in ʼ80s popular culture, which reached far beyond the gay subculture. 92.178.80.48 (talk) 22:58, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

 * "So it looks to me to be completely unwarranted to grant such an overblown emphasis and representation to this fringe theory here, instead of talking about the actual canon/official stuff regarding this character and about its enormous impact in ʼ80s popular culture, which reached far beyond the gay subculture". So you do agree that He-Man had an impact on gay subculture? Because if He-Man had such a huge impact on 80s pop culture, in a general sense, then this means that mutliple subcultures from this period would have been influenced by it.
 * Because regardless of whether it is a fringe theory or not, and whether the people making these queer analyses have their own agenda or not, does not change the fact that He-Man did have an impact on gay culture. Nor does it change the fact that—irrespective of agendas—a variety of sources have analyzed He-Man through queer lenses. Furthermore, given the fact these type of analyses have been going on since at least 2001, and include online publications, as well as newspapers, and scientific journals, they're not all that "fringe". One of the key traits of fringe theories is that they are pseudo-scholarly by nature. The fact that various peer-reviewed journal and academic publications have published such queer analyses of He-Man goes to show that this isn't a fringe theory.
 * Lastly, couldn't one also point out that the people arguing that He-Man isn't gay are equally guilty of having an "agenda"? --PanagiotisZois (talk) 11:47, 9 December 2021 (UTC)
 * How is there an agenda of "isn't gay", when the creator did NOT create a gay character & never once implied him to be gay later? That is the source material right? The creator didn't have an agenda other than making a cool barbarian looking figure. Everything else from there is a subculture taking to the extreme to DOMINATE this wiki. There is nothing wrong with being gay, no one is trying to refute or deny what some gay people looked up or saw something in the character, but gay folks only represents about 6% of the population, so having a whole section dedicated to it is enough to cover the demographic. The constant re-injection of the topic in the intro paragraphs is not needed. You could go to other parts of the WIKI and take stuff from there and put it in the intro and someone would say "hey this is already covered here or there", but under this "gay" topic, it is suddenly is a great idea to re-hash everywhere possible on the WIKI. It is common sense to see that is what a few people are trying to do. There is more discussion on being gay in this WIKI than that of characters or the influence on children, the moral ending re-caps and how it was marketed as "giving kids the power". Those are critical things, not hardly if at all touched on, by everything coming and going regarding gay theory is stamped all over this thing. 208.38.246.41 (talk) 23:42, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
 * You do realize that after becoming the new Sorceress, Teela would eventually marry King He-Man, and give birth to a son named Dare. So why is the WIKI so dedicated to all the gay stuff when that is just fan theories and not actually the facts of the storyline? Bereasonabledude (talk) 14:50, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * I completely agree, not only it's emphatic, it lacks sources. This must be edited out. Gianmariot2 (talk) 09:03, 13 April 2023 (UTC)
 * I've made some reading on the sources for some of the claims in the article and flagged the ones I think are dubious, unreliable, or opinionated. It's not a complete review though, I'd appreciate if more people could verify the remaining references. I also tagged the article with an "unreliable sources" template until we figure out a better way of presenting the LGBTQ+ hypothesis. I don't mean to remove the section, but it's exaggerated and clearly biased as it is. We need to tone it down a bit and treat it for what it is: a hypothesis and an opinion. With some interesting points, yes, but an opinion nonetheless. Gianmariot2 (talk) 09:48, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Also, some statements made in relation/support of these theories are factually incorrect, as any well-versed MotU fan should know. It is said, for example, that He-Man “never dated” as if betraying heʼs a gay character. But Prince Adam has been portrayed very explicitly flirting with girls, and in the Filmation series there is a well-known, much talked-about, running subtext and romantic tension between him and Teela, plus he is also shown as attracted to the female character Sweet Bee in the notorious Filmation She-Ra episode  Sweet Beeʼs Home (this being a significant and much talked-about aspect of that episode, as Frosta becomes noticeably jealous during the episode because she is very much attracted to He-Man but notices He-Man is attracted to Sweet Bee instead of her). 92.178.80.48 (talk) 23:23, 8 December 2021 (UTC)

"much talked-about" Could you provide sources for it? Dimadick (talk) 07:03, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

 * After becoming the new Sorceress, Teela would eventually marry King He-Man, and give birth to a son named Dare. How about that Canon? Is that enough to point out that all tension between the two in the cartoon was a love interest? So I agree that the Gay stuff is overblown, but a few of you just ignore it because obviously there is an agenda to keep the article about 50% on that subject. You guys are not being reasonable. Bereasonabledude (talk) 14:49, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

Queer section needs to be reduced
The edited section needs to be tidied up and reduced dramatically. It doesn't conform to wikipedias guidelines of "appropriate length" or "completely neutral or unbiased" commentary. There can absolutely be a sentence or two in the opening section of the page on He-mans impact on the queer community, but it should be general and kept in context with the larger impact of the character. There is already a subpage on the Queer interpretation and impact of the character so the bottom section of the page which speaks at length (in fact, it is just the sub-page copy/pasted back into the main article) needs to be dramatically reduced, again, to be kept in context with the broader impact of the character. There should be one or two footnoted paragraphs which refer the reader to an outline of arguments, similar to the other sections of the page under their respective subheadings. It looks like this isn't the first time this issue has come up. I will continue to edit the page until this is addressed or if not addressed here, I will open the page up to another peer review. Billdenbrough501 (talk) 00:14, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

The queer parts of this article are still dominating, they make up almost half the page... As the previous person said, it doesn't feel neutral or unbiased. LeComicBookGuy (talk) 10:51, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

Do it yourself. If you feel like the queer section is too big, then find reliable sources to enlarge the other sections of the article, such as the character's creation. --PanagiotisZois (talk) 12:51, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

 * WP:DIY would also apply to trimming, though. Some articles (though not necessarily this one) might benefit from being trimmed and not expanded. Pyrrho the Skipper (talk) 15:37, 24 May 2022 (UTC)

Why do they keep adding Gayness to the intro?
There's a whole section DEDICATED to it? Isn't that enough Gay coverage? Jesus H Christ. 208.38.246.41 (talk) 23:16, 23 May 2022 (UTC)
 * The lede in articles is meant to act as a summary of the main body. Considering the substantial coverage He-Man has received regarding homoerotic subtext and whatnot, it warants inclusion in the intro. --PanagiotisZois (talk) 11:56, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * According to wordcounter.com this WIKI has about 5000 words and you will find almost 2300 of them are dedicated to Gay subject matter. People are trying to be reasonable pointing out this is WAY TOO MUCH, you don't think that taking a He-Man WIKI and makinig 48% about this one subject matter in the entire scope of Masters of the Universe He-Man is unbalanced? 208.38.246.41 (talk) 14:15, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * It might be a bit long, but it's really not that much. I think some condensing, removal of redundancies, and a review of sources might help, just like any article, but I've seen much worse. I think other areas of the article could be expanded, and the queer section condensed a bit, but it's not all that bad, IMO. Pyrrho the Skipper (talk) 15:56, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Well, first of all, Wikipedia isn't a He-Man Wiki; this isn't Fandom. Now, as to balance. Maybe yes, one could argue that a large section of He-Man's character article focuses on the application of queer theory and whatnot. I'm sure there's a lot more ways that one can look at He-Man, and as you described, there's probably sources out there talking about how "good of a role model he is", or something along the lines of that. But the thing is, Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that people contribute to as a hobby. It's not anyone's job or obligation to improve an article based on what someone else thinks or wants. If you feel like the article focuses too much on the character's queerness, you're always welcome to find sources that expand other sections of the article. Maybe some sources dealing with the character's creation or portrayal in the "Development" section. Alternatively, sections that focus on the character through feminist or post-structuralism lenses. Hell, if there are any specific sources you'd like to have access to, I could probably send them to you; if that's possible for me to do. --PanagiotisZois (talk) 16:14, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * I can't speak for the IP user but it seems like their concerns are that they DID attempt to edit the article by trimming, but that those edits are being reverted. Not all edits have to be additions. Editors should be free to be bold and trim content, if it's in good faith and they believe it's improving the article. If their edits are reverted, then they should come here, which it seems they did. Pyrrho the Skipper (talk) 17:37, 24 May 2022 (UTC)
 * Hey, I agree with you. I have toned down a little the text in the intro. (Hopefully people can agree in keeping it simple.) Gianmariot2 (talk) 09:55, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

User:OldSkool01
you've reverted three different editors, each of whom have given reasons why your edits should not be allowed to stand. Please discuss your changes here instead. Seasider53 (talk) 18:46, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

 * Are you serious? I was told to include links to reliable sources, specifically from an official Mattel site. And that’s exactly what I did on my last edit. I included a link to MattyCollector.com. So why was it reverted? OldSkool01 (talk) 18:49, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

 * Still not a reliable source. Have read of WP:RS. Seasider53 (talk) 18:56, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

 * Lol. Then why was I told to use an official Mattel website? So now we‘re just moving the goal posts? How is an official Mattel website not reliable? Mattel is the company that created He-Man. I have a feeling that no matter what site I use, it’s gonna be reverted for being “not reliable”, right? This is unreal. OldSkool01 (talk) 19:00, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

 * See here. He-Ro was an idea from Filmation which Mattel rejected. Seasider53 (talk) 19:17, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
 * You're also using an "official Mattel website" that is no long active. So the information that you're trying to add may or may not still be accurate.  Add to that, your description of this as "official canon" was speculative at best, given how often various He-Man products and productions have changed the character and backstory. Rcarter555 (talk) 19:23, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
 * And then in 2012, Mattel themselves, not Filmation, created a He-Ro action figure, complete with a bio. OldSkool01 (talk) 19:25, 29 June 2023 (UTC)
 * Fine. Then just remove the words official canon. As for the MattyCollector site, it shut down because they no longer sell figures on there. OldSkool01 (talk) 19:27, 29 June 2023 (UTC)

Merge proposal
The Power Sword is pretty much synonymous with He-Man. I propose merging the two. 2605:B40:13E7:F600:A0A5:D7A8:85CC:1EBC (talk) 21:42, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Oppose: Absolutely not. The Power Sword has independent notability as proved in this AfD discussion in 2022. The Power Sword is not just notable in-universe; it's also notable as a best-selling toy. Toughpigs (talk) 21:52, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
 * And why was it such a success? Because it was He-Man's weapon, and people could buy a super popular character's weapon. In some ways, it wouldn't exist without him. 2605:B40:13E7:F600:A0A5:D7A8:85CC:1EBC (talk) 23:30, 4 May 2024 (UTC)
 * In other words, notability is WP:NOTINHERITED. 2605:B40:13E7:F600:7DF8:B5FB:97BB:71F6 (talk) 21:14, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

LGBT or gay section need to be taken out
Leave to LGBT to make something out of nothing!! ^##^#^ LGBT community 174.214.16.97 (talk) 05:31, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:He-Man


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Whale shark

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving, filter-feeding carpet shark and the largest known extant fish species. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 18.8 m. The whale shark holds many records for size in the animal kingdom, most notably being by far the most massive living non-cetacean animal. It is the sole member of the genus Rhincodon and the only extant member of the family Rhincodontidae, which belongs to the subclass Elasmobranchii in the class Chondrichthyes. Before 1984 it was classified as Rhiniodon into Rhinodontidae.

Whale sharks inhabit the open waters of all tropical oceans. They are rarely found in water below 21 C. Whale sharks' lifespans are estimated to be between 80 and 130 years, based on studies of their vertebral growth bands and the growth rates of free-swimming sharks. Whale sharks have very large mouths and are filter feeders, which is a feeding mode that occurs in only two other sharks, the megamouth shark and the basking shark. They feed almost exclusively on plankton and small fishes and pose no threat to humans.

The species was distinguished in April 1828 after the harpooning of a 4.6 m specimen in Table Bay, South Africa. Andrew Smith, a military doctor associated with British troops stationed in Cape Town, described it the following year. The name "whale shark" refers to the animal's appearance and large size; it is a fish, not a mammal, and (like all sharks) is not closely related to whales. In addition, its filter feeding habits are similar to baleen whales.

Description
Whale sharks possess a broad, flattened head with a large mouth and two small eyes located at the front corners. Unlike many other sharks, whale shark mouths are located at the front of the head rather than on the underside of the head. A 12.1 m whale shark was reported to have a mouth 1.55 m across. Whale shark mouths can contain over 300 rows of tiny teeth and 20 filter pads which it uses to filter feed. The spiracles are located just behind the eyes. Whale sharks have five large pairs of gills. Their skin is dark grey with a white belly marked with an arrangement of pale grey or white spots and stripes that is unique to each individual. The skin can be up to 15 cm thick and is very hard and rough to the touch. The whale shark has three prominent ridges along its sides, which start above and behind the head and end at the caudal peduncle. The shark has two dorsal fins set relatively far back on the body, a pair of pectoral fins, a pair of pelvic fins and a single medial anal fin. The caudal fin has a larger upper lobe than the lower lobe (heterocercal).

Whale sharks have been found to possess dermal denticles on the surface of their eyeballs that are structured differently from their body denticles. The dermal denticles, as well as the whale shark's ability to retract its eyes deep into their sockets, serve to protect the eyes from damage.

Evidence suggests that whale sharks can recover from major injuries and may be able to regenerate small sections of their fins. Their spot markings have also been shown to reform over a previously wounded area.

The complete and annotated genome of the whale shark was published in 2017.

Rhodopsin, the light-sensing pigment in the rod cells of the retina, is normally sensitive to green and used to see in dim light, but in the whale shark (and the bottom-dwelling cloudy catshark) two amino acid substitutions make the pigment more sensitive to blue light instead, the light that dominates the deep ocean. One of these mutations also makes rhodopsin vulnerable to higher temperatures. In humans, a similar mutation leads to congenital stationary night blindness, as the human body temperature makes the pigment decay. This pigment becomes unstable in shallow water, where the temperature is higher and the full spectrum of light is present. To protect from this instability, the whale shark deactivates the pigment when in shallow water (as otherwise the pigment would hinder full color vision). In the colder environment at 2,000 meters below the surface where the shark dives, it is activated again. The mutations thus allow the shark to see well at both ends of its great vertical range. The eyes have also lost all cone opsins except LWS.

Size
The whale shark is the largest non-cetacean animal in the world. Evidence suggests that whale sharks exhibit sexual dimorphism with regards to size, with females growing larger than males. A 2020 study looked at the growth of whale shark individuals over a 10-year period. It concluded that males on average reach 8 to 9 m in length. The same study predicted females to reach a length of around 14.5 m on average, based on more limited data. However, these are averages and do not represent the maximum possible sizes. Previous studies estimating the growth and longevity of whale sharks have produced estimates ranging from 14 to 21.9 m in length. Limited evidence, mostly from males, suggests that sexual maturity occurs around 8 to 9 m in length, with females possibly maturing at a similar size or larger. The maximum length of the species is uncertain due to a lack of detailed documentation of the largest reported individuals. Several whale sharks around 18 m in length have been reported.

Large whale sharks are difficult to measure accurately, both on the land and in the water. When on land, the total length measurement can be affected by how the tail is positioned, either angled as it would be in life or stretched as far as possible. Historically, techniques such as comparisons to objects of known size and knotted ropes have been used for in-water measurements, but these techniques may be inaccurate. In 2011, laser photogrammetry was proposed to improve the accuracy of in-water measurements.

Reports of large individuals
Since the 1800s, there have been accounts of very large whale sharks. Some of these are as follows:

In 1868, the Irish natural scientist Edward Perceval Wright obtained several small whale shark specimens in the Seychelles. Wright was informed of one whale shark that was measured as exceeding 45 ft. Wright claimed to have observed specimens over 50 ft and was told of specimens upwards of 70 ft.

Hugh M. Smith described a huge animal caught in a bamboo fish trap in Thailand in 1919. The shark was too heavy to pull ashore, and no measurements were taken. Smith learned through independent sources that it was at least 10 wa (a Thai unit of length measuring between a person's outstretched arms). Smith noted that one wa could be interpreted as either 2 m or the approximate average of 1.7 to(-), based on the local fishermen. Later sources have stated this whale shark as approximately 18 m, but the accuracy of the estimate has been questioned.

In 1934, a ship named the Maunganui came across a whale shark in the southern Pacific Ocean and rammed it. The shark became stuck on the prow of the ship, supposedly with 15 ft on one side and 40 ft on the other, suggesting a total length of about 55 ft.

Scott A. Eckert & Brent S. Stewart reported on satellite tracking of whale sharks from between 1994 and 1996. Out of the 15 individuals tracked, two females were reported as measuring 15 m and 18 m respectively. A 20.75 m long whale shark was reported as being stranded along the Ratnagiri coast in 1995. A female individual with a standard length of 15 m and an estimated total length at 18.8 m was reported from the Arabian Sea in 2001. In a 2015 study looking into the size of marine megafauna, McClain and colleagues considered this female as being the most reliable and accurately measured.

On 7 February 2012, a large whale shark was found floating 150 km off the coast of Karachi, Pakistan. The length of the specimen was said to be between 11 and 12 m, with a weight of around 15000 kg.

Distribution and habitat
The whale shark inhabits all tropical and warm-temperate seas. The fish is primarily pelagic, and can be found in both coastal and oceanic habitats. Tracking devices have shown that the whale shark displays dynamic patterns of habitat utilization, likely in response to availability of prey. Whale sharks observed off the northeast Yucatan Peninsula tend to engage in inshore surface swimming between sunrise and mid-afternoon, followed by regular vertical oscillations in oceanic waters during the afternoon and overnight. About 95% of the oscillating period was spent in epipelagic depths (<200 m), but whale sharks also took regular deep dives (>500 m), often descending in brief "stutter steps", perhaps for foraging. The deepest recorded dive was 1,928 m, making the whale shark the deepest diving fish to be recorded. Whale sharks were also observed to remain continuously at depths of greater than 50 m for three days or more.

The whale shark is migratory and has two distinct subpopulations: an Atlantic subpopulation, from Maine and the Azores to Cape Agulhas, South Africa, and an Indo-Pacific subpopulation which holds 75% of the entire whale shark population. It usually roams between 30°N and 35°S where water temperatures are higher than 21 C but have been spotted as far north as the Bay of Fundy, Canada and the Sea of Okhotsk north of Japan and as far south as Victoria, Australia.

Seasonal feeding aggregations occur at several coastal sites such as the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, Darwin Island in the Galápagos, Quintana Roo in Mexico, Mafia Island of Pwani Region in Tanzania, Inhambane province in Mozambique, the Philippines, around Mahe in the Seychelles, the Gujarat and Kerala coasts of India, Taiwan, southern China and Qatar.

In 2011, more than 400 whale sharks gathered off the Yucatan Coast. It was one of the largest gatherings of whale sharks recorded. Aggregations in that area are among the most reliable seasonal gatherings known for whale sharks, with large numbers occurring in most years between May and September. Associated ecotourism has grown rapidly to unsustainable levels.

Growth and reproduction
Growth, longevity, and reproduction of the whale shark are poorly understood. There was uncertainty as to whether vertebrae growth bands are formed annually or biannually, which is important in determining the age, growth, and longevity of whale sharks. A 2020 study compared the ratio of Carbon-14 isotopes found in growth bands of whale shark vertebrae to nuclear testing events in the 1950-60s, finding that growth bands are laid down annually. The study found an age of 50 years for a 10 m female and 35 years for a 9.9m male. Various studies looking at vertebrae growth bands and measuring whale sharks in the wild have estimated their lifespans from ~80 years and up to ~130 years.

Evidence suggests that males grow faster than females in the earlier stages of life but ultimately reach a smaller maximum size. Whale sharks exhibit late sexual maturity. One study looking at free-swimming whale sharks estimated the age at maturity in males at ~25 years.

Pupping of whale sharks has not been observed, but mating has been witnessed twice in St Helena. Mating in this species was filmed for the first time in whale sharks off Ningaloo Reef via airplane in Australia in 2019, when a larger male unsuccessfully attempted to mate with a smaller, immature female.

The capture of a ~10.6 m female in July 1996 that was pregnant with ~300 pups indicated that whale sharks are ovoviviparous. The eggs remain in the body and the females give birth to live young which are 40 to 60 cm long. Evidence indicates the pups are not all born at once, but rather the female retains sperm from one mating and produces a steady stream of pups over a prolonged period.

On 7 March 2009, marine scientists in the Philippines discovered what is believed to be the smallest living specimen of the whale shark. The young shark, measuring only 38 cm, was found with its tail tied to a stake at a beach in Pilar, Sorsogon, Philippines, and was released into the wild. Based on this discovery, some scientists no longer believe this area is just a feeding ground; this site may be a birthing ground, as well. Both young whale sharks and pregnant females have been seen in the waters of St Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean, where numerous whale sharks can be spotted during the summer.

In a report from Rappler last August 2019, whale sharks were sighted during WWF Philippines' photo identification activities in the first half of the year. There were a total 168 sightings – 64 of them “re-sightings” or reappearances of previously recorded whale sharks. WWF noted that “very young whale shark juveniles" were identified among the 168 individuals spotted in the first half of 2019. Their presence suggests that the Ticao Pass may be a pupping ground for whale sharks, further increasing the ecological significance of the area.

Diet
The whale shark is a filter feeder – one of only three known filter-feeding shark species (along with the basking shark and the megamouth shark). It feeds on plankton including copepods, krill, fish eggs, Christmas Island red crab larvae and small nektonic life, such as small squid or fish. It also feeds on clouds of eggs during mass spawning of fish and corals. The many rows of vestigial teeth play no role in feeding. Feeding occurs either by ram filtration, in which the animal opens its mouth and swims forward, pushing water and food into the mouth, or by active suction feeding, in which the animal opens and closes its mouth, sucking in volumes of water that are then expelled through the gills. In both cases, the filter pads serve to separate food from water. These unique, black sieve-like structures are presumed to be modified gill rakers. Food separation in whale sharks is by cross-flow filtration, in which the water travels nearly parallel to the filter pad surface, not perpendicularly through it, before passing to the outside, while denser food particles continue to the back of the throat. This is an extremely efficient filtration method that minimizes fouling of the filter pad surface. Whale sharks have been observed "coughing", presumably to clear a build-up of particles from the filter pads. Whale sharks migrate to feed and possibly to breed.

The whale shark is an active feeder, targeting concentrations of plankton or fish. It is able to ram filter feed or can gulp in a stationary position. This is in contrast to the passive feeding basking shark, which does not pump water. Instead, it swims to force water across its gills.

A juvenile whale shark is estimated to eat 21 kg (46 pounds) of plankton per day.

The BBC program Planet Earth filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish. The same documentary showed footage of a whale shark timing its arrival to coincide with the mass spawning of fish shoals and feeding on the resultant clouds of eggs and sperm.

Whale sharks are known to prey on a range of planktonic and small nektonic organisms that are spatiotemporally patchy. These include krill, crab larvae, jellyfish, sardines, anchovies, mackerels, small tunas, and squid. In ram filter feeding, the fish swims forward at constant speed with its mouth fully open, straining prey particles from the water by forward propulsion. This is also called ‘passive feeding’, which usually occurs when prey is present at low density.

Due their mode of feeding, whale sharks are susceptible to the ingestion of microplastics. As such, the presence of microplastics in whale shark scat was recently confirmed.

Behavior toward divers
Despite its size, the whale shark does not pose any danger to humans. Younger whale sharks are gentle and can play with divers. Underwater photographers such as Fiona Ayerst have photographed them swimming close to humans without any danger. Although whale sharks are docile fish, touching or riding the sharks is strictly forbidden and fineable in most countries , as it can cause serious harm to the animal.

The shark is seen by divers in many places, including the Bay Islands in Honduras, Thailand, Indonesia (Bone Bolango, Cendrawasih Bay), the Philippines, the Maldives close to Maamigili (South Ari Atoll), the Red Sea, Western Australia (Ningaloo Reef, Christmas Island), Taiwan, Panama (Coiba Island), Belize, Tofo Beach in Mozambique, Sodwana Bay (Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park) in South Africa, the Galapagos Islands, Saint Helena, Isla Mujeres (Caribbean Sea), La Paz, Baja California Sur and Bahía de los Ángeles in Mexico, the Seychelles, West Malaysia, islands off eastern peninsular Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Oman, Fujairah, Puerto Rico, and other parts of the Caribbean. Juveniles can be found near the shore in the Gulf of Tadjoura, near Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.

Conservation status
There is currently no robust estimate of the global whale shark population. The species is considered endangered by the IUCN due to the impacts of fisheries, by-catch losses, and vessel strikes, combined with its long lifespan and late maturation. In June 2018 the New Zealand Department of Conservation classified the whale shark as "Migrant" with the qualifier "Secure Overseas" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.

It is listed, along with six other species of sharks, under the CMS Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks. In 1998, the Philippines banned all fishing, selling, importing, and exporting of whale sharks for commercial purposes, followed by India in May 2001 and Taiwan in May 2007.

In 2010, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill resulted in 4900000 oilbbl of oil flowing into an area south of the Mississippi River Delta, where one-third of all whale shark sightings in the northern part of the gulf have occurred in recent years. Sightings confirmed that the whale sharks were unable to avoid the oil slick, which was situated on the surface of the sea where the whale sharks feed for several hours at a time. No dead whale sharks were found.

This species was also added to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2003 to regulate the international trade of live specimens and its parts.

Hundreds of whale sharks are illegally killed every year in China for their fins, skins, and oil.

In captivity

The whale shark is popular in the few public aquariums that keep it, but its large size means that a very large tank is required and it has specialized feeding requirements. Their large size and iconic status have also fueled an opposition to keeping the species in captivity, especially after the early death of some whale sharks in captivity and certain Chinese aquariums keeping the species in relatively small tanks.

The first attempt at keeping whale sharks in captivity was in 1934 when an individual was kept for about four months in a netted-off natural bay in Izu, Japan. The first attempt of keeping whale sharks in an aquarium was initiated in 1980 by the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (then known as Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium) in Japan. Since 1980, several have been kept at Okinawa, mostly obtained from incidental catches in coastal nets set by fishers (none after 2009), but two were strandings. Several of these were already weak from the capture/stranding and some were released, but initial captive survival rates were low. After the initial difficulties in maintaining the species had been resolved, some have survived long-term in captivity. The record for a whale shark in captivity is an individual that, as of 2021, has lived for more than 26 years in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium from Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium. Following Okinawa, Osaka Aquarium started keeping whale sharks and most of the basic research on the keeping of the species was made at these two institutions.

Since the mid-1990s, several other aquariums have kept the species in Japan (Kagoshima Aquarium, Kinosaki Marine World, Notojima Aquarium, Oita Marine Palace Aquarium, and Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise), South Korea (Aqua Planet Jeju), China (Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Dalian Aquarium, Guangzhou Aquarium in Guangzhou Zoo, Qingdao Polar Ocean World and Yantai Aquarium), Taiwan (National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium), India (Thiruvananthapuram Aquarium) and Dubai (Atlantis, The Palm), with some maintaining whale sharks for years and others only for a very short period. The whale shark kept at Dubai's Atlantis, The Palm was rescued from shallow waters in 2008 with extensive abrasions to the fins and after rehabilitation it was released in 2010, having lived 19 months in captivity. Marine Life Park in Singapore had planned on keeping whale sharks but scrapped this idea in 2009.

Outside Asia, the first and so far only place to keep whale sharks is Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, United States. This is unusual because of the comparatively long transport time and complex logistics required to bring the sharks to the aquarium, ranging between 28 and 36 hours. Georgia keeps two whale sharks: two males, Taroko and Yushan, who both arrived in 2007. Two earlier males at Georgia Aquarium, Ralph and Norton, both died in 2007. Trixie died in 2020. Alice died in 2021. Georgia's whale sharks were all imported from Taiwan and were taken from the commercial fishing quota for the species, usually used locally for food. Taiwan closed this fishery entirely in 2008.

Human culture
In Madagascar, whale sharks are called marokintana in Malagasy, meaning "many stars", after the appearance of the markings on the shark's back.

In the Philippines, it is called butanding and balilan. The whale shark is featured on the reverse of the Philippine 100-peso bill. By law snorkelers must maintain a distance of 4 ft from the sharks and there is a fine and possible prison sentence for anyone who touches the animals.

Whale sharks are also known as in Japan (because the markings resemble patterns typically seen on ); gurano bintang in Indonesia; and ca ong (literally "sir fish") in Vietnam.

The whale shark is also featured on the latest 2015–2017 edition of the Maldivian 1000 rufiyaa banknote, along with the green turtle.

title: Whale shark


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Michael Bevan

Michael Gwyl Bevan (born 8 May 1970) is a former Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left arm wrist-spin bowler. He has been credited for initiating the art of finishing matches. For several years, he was considered the world's finest ODI batsman, and topped the ICC ODI batting rankings on numerous occasions. He was the first Canberra-born player to represent Australia at international level. He was known for his ability to run between the wickets, score at a quick rate, rotate the strike, and for his ability to play shots down the ground with ease. He played 232 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for Australia, and was a part of the Australian squads which won the 1999 Cricket World Cup and the 2003 Cricket World Cup. He represented Australia at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, where cricket was included in the Commonwealth Games for the first time, and won a silver medal with his national side.

He was an Australian Cricket Academy scholarship holder in 1989.

Bevan amassed 15,103 runs in List A cricket at an average of 57.86, which is the highest average by any player to have scored 10,000 runs in List A cricket. He was named as a batsman in Australia's "greatest ever ODI team."

Domestic career
Michael Bevan's first senior club was Weston Creek Cricket Club in Canberra. He made his first-class debut in 1989-90 domestic season for New South Wales and scored a century in the first innings of the match.

Although Bevan played most of his domestic career for the New South Wales Blues, he moved to the Tasmanian Tigers for the 2004–05 season, where he continued his successes up until his retirement in January 2007. He also played for South Australia and in England for Yorkshire, Leicestershire and Sussex. In the 2004/05 Sheffield Shield season, he scored a then-record 1464 runs in the season for Tasmania. Despite this form, he missed Australian selection.

ODI career
He made his ODI debut on 14 April 1994 against Sri Lanka in the 1994 Austral-Asia Cup atv Sharjah and was not required to bat as Australia chased down 155 comfortably with nine wickets to spare. By the 1995–96 season, he became a regular in the side. He proved a reliable anchor at the bottom of the middle order, and he would often patiently guide Australia to victory following a rare top-order collapse – leading to him being nicknamed "The Finisher". By the end of his ODI career, Bevan was known as the "Pyjama Picasso". During his ODI career, he managed to hit just 21 sixes in 232 ODI matches. He batted 45 times in successful ODI run chases for Australia and out of those 45 outings, he remained unbeaten at the crease on 25 occasions.

One of his most famous "anchor" innings was in the New Year's Day One Day International at the Sydney Cricket Ground against the West Indies in 1996 during the Benson & Hedges World Series. With the Australians at one stage 6/38 chasing 173, his unbeaten 150-minute 78 got the Australians over the line with a four on the last ball of the innings. He was the second leading run scorer in the 1995/96 Benson & Hedges World Series only behind Mark Taylor with an aggregate of 389 runs in 10 innings at an impressive mind boggling average of 194.5, bolstered by eight not-outs out of the 10 innings striking at 83.65 throughout the tournament.

He featured in his first World Cup tournament during the 1996 Cricket World Cup and played a crucial role to help Australia to reach the final of the tournament by scoring 69 runs in the semi-final clash against the West Indies, a match which is highly remembered and known due to the dramatic collapse of the West Indies in a low scoring run chase of 208. He also played an important cameo of unbeaten 36 off 49 balls in the 1996 World Cup final which propelled Australia to a decent total of 241/7 on the board. However, his efforts went in vain as Sri Lanka chased down 242 to win their maiden World Cup title.

He was selected to the Australian squad for the 50 over cricket tournament at the 1998 Commonwealth Games where Australia became runners-up in the competition to South Africa. He was a key member of the Australian side which lifted the 1999 Cricket World Cup.

On 8 April 2000, he played arguably the best knock of his career where he steered the mammoth epic run chase of 321 by scoring an unbeaten 185 off just 132 deliveries in an unofficial ODI held in Dhaka which almost guaranteed Rest of the World XI for an unlikely victory against the Asia XI. Rest of the World XI at one stage were reeling at 7/196 in the 37th over and was staring at a big defeat before Bevan came to the rescue who smashed 19 fours and five sixes to provide a glimmer of hope. He alongside Andy Caddick put on a 119 run partnership for the eighth wicket which led to a great recovery for the chasing side. However, Rest of the World XI lost by just one run in the end despite the heroics of Bevan. Caddick was involved in a brainfade moment in the critical juncture of the match as he was run out on the penultimate delivery effectively denying Rest of the World XI a famous win given the circumstances on how the game had panned out. However, his knock of 185 not out could not be realised as Bevan's highest ODI or even List A score due to the fact that the match did not have any status as it was deemed as an unofficial ODI meaning the match does not even count as a List A match.

In January 2002, he scored a crucial unbeaten 95 ball 102 in a match against New Zealand in a modest run chase of 246 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. He arrived to the crease as he once again had to do the bulk of scoring runs after all familiar Aussie top-order collapse as Australia were reeling at 82/6 at one point to then reduced to 143/7. His knock guaranteed Australia a thrilling two wicket win over New Zealand with three balls to spare.

Bevan entered the 2003 Cricket World Cup injured. He played his first game in the group stage against India. He didn't bat until the fifth group game against Namibia and he registered a rusty 17 before being caught and bowled by Louis Burger. In the final group game against England, he came in with Australia struggling at 48–4. He then was joined by Andy Bichel at 135–8 with 70 runs still required to win. Bevan finished on 74 not out and Bichel 34 not out as Australia won in the final over. An unbeaten group stage was followed by an unbeaten Super Six stage. He made 56 against New Zealand helping Australia recover from 84–7 again batting with Bichel to help Australia win. His last knock was an unfortunate golden duck in the semi-final against Sri Lanka and he was not required to bat in the final which Australia won.

Test career
Despite his ODI success, Bevan's Test career was not nearly as successful. Thought to be susceptible to short-pitched deliveries, he had limited success as a Test batsman, with an average of only 29. He ended up his topsy-turvy Test career without a career century to his name. However he scored heavily in domestic first-class cricket for New South Wales, averaging almost 60 with the bat. He performed well during his limited time as a bowler in Test matches, with his bowling style of left-arm unorthodox spin, which included taking ten wickets in a Test match against the West Indies at the Adelaide Oval.

The retirement of Allan Border opened doors for his arrival to international cricket. He made his Test debut against Pakistan on 28 September 1994 as the 360th Test cap for Australia. He had a promising start to his Test career scoring 82 batting at no 5 on his debut in Australia's first innings and just fell short of 18 runs which would have brought him in an elite list of Test centurions on debut. He continued his momentum in his debut Test series which was against Pakistan by making two more half-centuries. During the Test series against the West Indies in 1997-98, he showed his all-round prowess both with the bat and ball scoring two unbeaten 80s when batting down the order and often ran out of partners during the course of those knocks while also picking up 15 wickets.

He admitted that the reason why his Test career never really took off is mainly due to the psychological reasons and not the technical reasons.

Retirement
On 17 January 2007, due to injuries Bevan announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. "It got to the stage where injuries and pain were holding back my motivation, and it got to the stage where I was finding it hard to get up for matches and that was probably a pretty clear indication that it was time to move on," Bevan said.

Coaching
Apart from coaching the Chennai Superstars in the Indian Cricket League, Bevan participated in the Beach Cricket Tri-Nations series for Australia. In January 2011, Bevan was announced the coach for Indian Premier League team Kings XI Punjab.

Television
In 2020, Bevan was revealed to be the 'Hammerhead' in the second season of The Masked Singer Australia and was the second contestant eliminated, placing 11th overall.

Professional career
Bevan later started a mortgage broking franchise and features on the Australian speaking circuit.

title: Michael Bevan


text:
Talk:Achaemenid Empire

Article Too Long
This article, likely would qualify as a B-class article, but it contains too much information, some of it which is quite irrelevant. There should be an increased use of summary style in the article. The article size is 178 thousand bytes, which I would think is too much for an article. PrathuCoder (talk) 14:47, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

 * I am especially referring to the content which is not about the article itself such as the future dynasties and rulers. The article about Ancient Egypt which is an FA-class article has a similar size of 144 thousand bytes. PrathuCoder (talk) 14:51, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The readable prose size is currently 73kb, which is not overly long per WP:TOOBIG, so I would avoid fixating on length, and focusing on what is due. Iskandar323 (talk) 15:05, 10 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Ok thanks for the info. PrathuCoder (talk) 15:03, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

Too many Primary sources
This article contains too many primary sources and should require more secondary sources. The same issue is pointed out in Page Issues. PrathuCoder (talk) 12:46, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

Rulers
Should the rulers in this article follow the numbering or use the suffix "the Great". The article previously had inconsistent use of this with Darius I and Xerxes I in some places and Darius the Great and Xerxes the Great in some places. I have fixed this by replacing both with Darius I and Xerxes I in all places. Should they have the suffix "the Great" in brackets? Or should they follow a naming policy such as Darius I the Great? Also, in many places the rulers have been referred to without numbering, causing confusion. Should the numbering be added? PrathuCoder (talk) 15:03, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

 * Another problem is that Cyrus the Great has been referred as the founder of the empire, where as Achaemenes is said to be the first ruler. PrathuCoder (talk) 15:06, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

 * Wikipedia generally prefers ruler numbers and avoids epithets such as 'the great' unless they are overwhelmingly the common name for the ruler. Cyrus the Great is referred to as the founder because he is the one that "overthrew, in turn, the Median, Lydian, and Neo-Babylonian Empires" and created a united empire from previously separate domains. Iskandar323 (talk) 16:15, 11 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the info, as I said I replaced the great with number for Darius I and Xerxes I. Note that I left Cyrus the Great as that is very common name for him. PrathuCoder (talk) 11:13, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * In the history section of the article, some paragraphs discussing about only 1 ruler do not have number nor epithets. Should this be fixed? Or is it ok for it continue as it is? PrathuCoder (talk) 11:15, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * If the ruler is the only one of their name, or if the context makes it totally unambiguous which individual of that name it is, numbers seems unnecessary. Iskandar323 (talk) 11:40, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * No, in cases such as Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, I have seen this a number of times. And sometimes in these cases, the ruler's number is not specified, making it quite confusing for the reader. In even more extreme cases which I have found in the Government and Culture sections, there is also no way to know which ruler number. PrathuCoder (talk) 11:45, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

Possible References
Hello, since this article contains a lot of primary sources and uncited information, I am creating this topic to include a list of possible references. If anybody finds it as reliable, they can post it and cite it in the page. Also, feel free to add any books or sources that you find on the internet by editing this page. Here is the list I have found:

Websites:

 * 1) The Achaemenid Empire | World Civilization (lumenlearning.com)
 * 2) Achaemenid dynasty (Egypt) | History & Persian conquest | Britannica
 * 3) Achaemenian Dynasty | Definition, Achievements, & Facts | Britannica
 * 4) The Achaemenid Empire in South Asia and Recent Excavations in Akra in Northwest Pakistan (brynmawr.edu)
 * 5) (PDF) Connectivity and Communication in the Achaemenid Empire (researchgate.net) (Note that this PDF consists of a number of citations itself which could be useful.
 * 6) Achaemenid Empire | Dynasty History, Region & Timeline | Study.com

Books:

 * 1) https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/A_Companion_to_the_Achaemenid_Persian_Em/qZA7EAAAQBAJ
 * 2) https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Ancient_Persia/__xGAgAAQBAJ

PrathuCoder (talk) 12:25, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

Could someone reformat the article?
The text should be divided into more chapters and there maybe should be less of it in general. Some of it seems to belong in other articles (is this really the place to go into detail about the story of the tomb of Kyros and Alexander?). I'm not knowledgeable enough to do it.

I came here for an overview of why they declined. There's a very long retelling of the countless rebellions, palace coups, civil wars, without much overview or conclusion offered. So was it like a time of troubles? Did it contribute to the decline? Seems to lose forest for the trees a bit.

For example, this is what ChatGPT gave for reasons for decline. I know 100% half of it is hallucinated or something, but I think it could serve as a good yardstick for an example:

''Overexpansion: The Achaemenid Empire grew too large and too fast, which made it difficult to govern effectively. The empire extended from modern-day Egypt to Central Asia and India, which made it challenging to control and defend its borders.

''Weak rulers: After the death of Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid Empire experienced a succession of weak rulers who were unable to maintain the empire's power and stability. Many of them were also known for their extravagance and opulence, which drained the empire's resources.

''Economic problems: The Achaemenid Empire relied heavily on tribute from its conquered territories to fund its military campaigns and government operations. However, the empire's economy suffered due to high taxes, corruption, and inflation, which led to widespread poverty and discontent among its subjects.

''Revolts and uprisings: The Achaemenid Empire faced several rebellions and uprisings from various regions, including Egypt, Greece, and Central Asia. These rebellions weakened the empire's hold on its territories and drained its military resources.

''External invasions: The Achaemenid Empire faced several external invasions from various armies, including those of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian armies in several battles and conquered the empire in the late 4th century BCE.

In summary, the Achaemenid Empire's fall was a result of a combination of internal and external factors, including overexpansion, weak rulers, economic problems, revolts and uprisings, and external invasions. MrThe1And0nly (talk) 19:17, 3 May 2023 (UTC)

Recent edits by
Firstly, you might want to apply WP:BRD instead of edit warring. Secondly, please take a look at WP:NCROY, especially the point number 2: "If there is an overwhelmingly common name, use it: William the Conqueror, John Balliol, Peter the Great, Henry the Fowler, Mary, Queen of Scots, Gustavus Adolphus, Eric of Pomerania, Charlemagne. This is in line with WP:COMMONNAME." (that's the case here ...) and at MOS:PREFIX which says that that kind of honorifics should be included in the infobox and the lead but not mandatory after. ---Wikaviani  (talk) (contribs)  20:18, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

 * Either "Cyrus the Great" or a plain "Cyrus" is better than "Cyrus II", which is not the common name and is fairly rarely used. Furius (talk) 20:57, 17 October 2023 (UTC)
 * Yep, agreed, and same goes for Darius the Great. ---Wikaviani  (talk) (contribs)  22:00, 17 October 2023 (UTC)

Image Issue:
The second image in the article shows Crimea not under the control of the Persian empire under Darius the Great. The other map, Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories, shows the opposite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1c0:5084:c340:d4ef:ab92:1e79:625b (talk • contribs) 16:18, July 19, 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Achaemenid Empire


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Talk:Deep Impact

If no one objects, I think that the Deep Impact page should be made into a disambiguation page. The current Deep Impact page should be called "Deep Impact (motion picture)" and another one should be created called "Deep Impact (space mission)" to cover the upcoming NASA mission called Deep Impact. Is that okay with everyone?

Fine by me. It seems like there is little else to say. I am a student conducting research for a paper on this subject. What is your opinion about it? What do you think about the woman in Moscow sueing Nasa?

title: Talk:Deep Impact


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Elspeth Cameron

Elspeth MacGregor Cameron (born 10 January 1943) is a Canadian writer best known for her biographies of noted Canadian literary figures such as Irving Layton and Earle Birney. She is also noted for her 1997 memoir No Previous Experience, a memoir of her process of self-discovery when, having previously identified as heterosexual, she began to develop a sexual and romantic attraction to historian Janice Dickin McGinnis. She has also published a volume of poetry.

She lives in St. Catharines, Ontario. Cameron has taught at Concordia University, the University of Toronto and Brock University.

Awards
Her biography of Hugh MacLennan, Hugh MacLennan: A Writer's Life, was nominated for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 1981 Governor General's Awards. No Previous Experience won the W. O. Mitchell Literary Prize.

title: Elspeth Cameron


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Sandgroper

Sandgroper may refer to:
 * Sandgroper (insect), a type of burrowing insect found in Western Australia
 * Sandgroper, nickname for an inhabitant or native of Western Australia
 * The Sandgropers, a nickname for the representative Australian rules football team from Western Australia
 * A beachcomber
 * A Louisiana (US) tent camper

title: Sandgroper


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Kildare Dobbs

Kildare Robert Eric Dobbs (10 October 1923 – 1 April 2013 ) was a Canadian short story and travel writer.

Born in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, he was educated in Ireland and later spent 5 years in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. After the war he worked in the British Colonial Service in Tanganyika. Dobbs came to Canada in 1952 and became a teacher, editor for Macmillan of Canada, managing editor of Saturday Night, and book editor of The Toronto Star Weekly.

In 2000, he was awarded the Order of Ontario. Dobbs lived in Toronto with his wife, Linda Kooluris Dobbs, a noted portrait artist, painter and photographer. In 2013, shortly before his death at age 89 following a period of ill health, Dobbs received the Order of Canada from the Right Honourable David Johnston, at his home in Toronto. He was cremated and his remains interred in the family grave in St Mary's (Church of Ireland) churchyard in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, Ireland.

title: Kildare Dobbs


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Jystrup

Jystrup is a small town with a population of 840 (1 January 2024) located in the middle of Zealand, Denmark. It is located in Ringsted municipality in Region Zealand.

Known for its nearby Danish Tramway Museum of Skjoldenæsholm, the town is also close to a camping site.

Notable people

 * Per Gundmann (1906 in Jystrup – 1967) a Danish stage and film actor

title: Jystrup