text:
Tulu language

Tulu (Tuḷu Bāse, ) is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in Dakshina Kannada and in the southern part of Udupi of Karnataka in south-western India and also  in the northern parts of the Kasaragod district of Kerala. The native speakers of Tulu are referred to as Tuluva or Tulu people and the geographical area is unofficially called Tulu Nadu.

The Indian census report of 2011 reported a total of 1,846,427 native Tulu speakers in India. The 2001 census had reported a total of 1,722,768 native speakers. There is some difficulty in counting Tulu speakers who have migrated from their native region as they are often counted as Kannada speakers in Indian census reports.

Separated early from Proto-South Dravidian, Tulu has several features not found in Tamil–Kannada. For example, it has the pluperfect and the future perfect, like French or Spanish, but formed without an auxiliary verb.

Tulu is the primary spoken language in Tulu Nadu, consisting of the Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts in the western part of Karnataka and the northern part of Kasaragod district of Kerala. A significant number of native Tulu speakers are found in Kalasa and Mudigere taluks of Chikkamagaluru district and Tirthahalli, Hosanagar of Shimoga district. Non-native speakers of Tulu include those who are residents in the Tulunadu region but who speak the Beary language, the Havyaka language and also Konkani and Koraga as their mother tongues. Apart from Tulu Nadu, a significant emigrant population of Tulu speakers are found in Maharashtra, Bangalore, Chennai, the English-speaking world, and the Gulf countries.

The various medieval inscriptions of Tulu from the 15th century are in the Tulu script. Two Tulu epics named Sri Bhagavato and Kaveri from the 17th century were also written in the same script. The Tulu language is known for its oral literature in the form of epic poems called pardana. The Epic of Siri and the legend of Koti and Chennayya belong to this category of Tulu literature.

Classification
Tulu belongs to the southern branch of the family of Dravidian languages. It was the first branch to split from Proto-South Dravidian, which in turn descends from Proto-Dravidian. Tulu shares many features with the central Dravidian languages. Therefore, in earlier branchings, Tulu was sometimes grouped with them; later, it was confirmed that it is from South Dravidian and that it was the first to split from it.

Etymology
The etymology of the word Tulu remains uncertain. Linguist P. Gururaja Bhat mentions in the book Tulunadu, that originated from the word  (ತುರುವ), where  means 'cow' and refers to the place dominated by the  or cowherd  (ತುರುಗಳೇ ಪ್ರಧಾನವಾದ ನಾಡು ತುಳುನಾಡು). Linguist Purushottama Bilimale (ಪುರುಷೋತ್ತಮ ಬಿಳಿಮಲೆ) has suggested that the word means 'that which is connected with water'. (jackfruit) means 'watery' in Tulu. Other water-related words in Tulu include, , , , , and. In Kannada, there are words such as meaning 'that which has characteristics of water' and.

Official status
Tulu is not an official language of India or any other country. Efforts are being made to include Tulu in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. In December 2009, during the First Vishwa Tulu Sammelan organized at Ujire-Dharmastala, then Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa promised to send a fresh proposal on including the Tulu language in the eighth schedule of the constitution. In August 2017, an online campaign was organized to include Tulu in 8th schedule of constitution In October 2017, when prime minister Narendra Modi, visited Dharmasthala Temple the same demand was presented in front of him. Similarly, in 2018, a Member of Parliament from the Kasargod constituency, P. Karunakaran, also raised the same demand for inclusion of Tulu language in the 8th schedule of the constitution. On 19 February 2020, Vedavyas Kamath who is a member of the Mangaluru (south) segment of the Legislative Assembly, submitted a memorandum to chief minister B. S. Yediyurappa and to the minister for tourism, Kannada and culture, C. T. Ravi, seeking official status for the Tulu language. In February 2020, another MLA from Moodbidri Umanath Kotian urged the state government to put pressure on the union government to add the Tulu language to the eighth schedule during the assembly session. In July 2021, members of the three main parties in Karnataka politics: BJP, Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), lent their support to the idea.

History
The oldest available inscriptions in Tulu are from the period between 7th and 8th century AD. These inscriptions are in the Tulu script and are found in areas in and around Barkur which was the capital of Tulu Nadu during the Vijayanagar period. Another group of inscriptions is found in the Ullur Subrahmanya Temple near Kundapura. Many linguists like S.U. Panniyadi and L. V. Ramaswami Iyer as well as P.S. Subrahmanya suggested that Tulu is among the oldest languages in the Dravidian family which branched independently from its Proto-Dravidian roots nearly 2500 years ago. This assertion is based on the fact that Tulu still preserves many aspects of the Proto-Dravidian language.

This dating of Tulu is also based on the fact that the region where Tulu is natively spoken was known to the ancient Tamils as Tulu Nadu. Also, the Tamil poet Mamular who belongs to the Sangam Age (200 BCE) describes Tulu Nadu and its dancing beauties in one of his poems. In the poetical work "Akananuru," belonging to the Sangam literature (circa 300 BCE), there is a mention of Tulunad in its 15th poem. This indicates that the Tulu language is at least around 2,300 years old. In the Kannada Halmidi inscriptions, one finds mention of the Tulu country as the kingdom of the Alupas. The region was also known to the Greeks of the 2nd century as Tolokoyra (Tulu Country). The Charition mime, a Greek play belonging to the 2nd century BC, has its plot centered around the coastal Karnataka, where Tulu is mainly spoken. The play is mostly in Greek, but the Indian characters in the play are seen speaking a language different from Greek. There is considerable ambiguity regarding the Indian language in the play, though all scholars agree the Indian language is Dravidian, there is considerable dispute over which form of it. Noted German Indologist E. Hultzsch (1857–1927) was the first to suggest that the language was Dravidian. The dispute regarding the language in the play is yet to be settled, but scholars agree that the dispute arises from the fact that Old Kannada, Old Tamil, and Tulu during the time when the play was written were perhaps dialectical variations of the same proto-language, and that over the years they evolved into their present forms as separate languages.

Status
Found largely in Karnataka, it is spoken primarily within the Indian state. Dating back several hundred years, the language has developed numerous defining qualities. The Tulu people follow a saying which promotes leaving negative situations and finding newer, more positive ones. The language, however, is not as popular as others which means it could become endangered and extinct very soon. The influence of other mainstream languages is a present danger for the Tulu language. Today, it is spoken by nearly 1.8 million people around the globe. Large parts of the language are altered and changed constantly because it is commonly passed down through oral tradition. Oral traditions within Tulu have meant that certain phrases have not always maintained the same meaning or importance.

Geographic distribution
According to Malayalam works like the Keralolpathi, the region stretching from the Chandragiri river, now part of the Kasaragod district, Kerala, to Gokarna, now part of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, was ruled by the Alupas and was known as Alva Kheda. This kingdom was the homeland of the Tulu-speaking people. However, the present-day Tulu linguistic majority area is confined to the region of Tulu Nadu, which comprises the districts of part of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the Indian state of Karnataka and the northern part of Kasaragod district of Kerala up to the river Payaswani, also known as Chandragiri. The cities of Mangalore, Udupi and Kasaragod are the centres of Tulu culture.

Even today Tulu is widely spoken in the Dakshina Kannada, partially in Udupi district of Karnataka state and to some extent in Kasaragod of Kerala. Efforts are also being made to include Tulu in the list of official languages of India. As a whole, Tulu is largely contained to the southern part of India. The Indian state of Karnataka is where the language seems to thrive in the present day. Some of the major cities within the Tulu culture include Mangalore and Kasaragod.

Writing system

The various historical inscriptions of Tulu found around Barkur and Kundapura are in the Tigalari script. Historically, Brahmins of Tulu Nadu and Havyaka Brahmins used the Tigalari script to write Vedas and other Sanskrit works. The Tulu script is descended from the Brahmi through the Grantha script. It is a sister script of the Malayalam script. However, very few works written in vernacular languages like Kannada and Tulu are available. Hence, the Tulu script was employed by Tulu Brahmins to write Tulu and Kannada languages apart from the Kannada script. The National Mission for Manuscripts has conducted several workshops on this script with the help of a scholar, Keladi Gunda Jois. In the 18th century, the use of the Kannada script for writing Tulu and non-availability of print in the Tulu script contributed to the marginalization of the Ruling Tulu script. The script is studied by few scholars and manuscriptologists for research and religious purposes. The Kannada script has become the contemporary script for the Tulu language gradually. All contemporary works and literature are done in the Kannada script.

The Tulu characterset is approved by Central Institute of Indian Languages in 2021.

The Tulu alphabet resembles the Malayalam script in many ways. It is also similar to many characters found in the Tulu alphabet. This is from the same region in the state of Karnataka. The Tulu and Kannada alphabets include a stress on vowels with "a" and "o" sounds. Other vowels include sounds such as "au" "am" and "ah". Numerous consonants have their own origin from the Dravidian languages like "kha" "gha" "dha" and "jha". These are derived from the Tulu alphabet.

Dialects
Tulu language has four dialects, which are broadly similar, with slight variations.

The four dialects are:
 * Common Tulu
 * Spoken by the majority includes the Bunts, Billava,Vishwakarma, Mogaveera, Tulu Madivala (Madialnakl), Tulu Gowda, Kulala, Devadiga, Jogi, Padmashali communities and others. This is the dialect of commerce, trade and entertainment and is mainly used for inter-community communication. It is further subdivided into eight groups:
 * Northwest Tulu: spoken in Udupi
 * Central Tulu: spoken in Mangalore
 * Northeast Tulu: spoken in Karkala and Belthangady
 * Northern Tulu: spoken in Kundapura, also known as KundaTulu because of Kundagannada dialect influence
 * Southwest Tulu: spoken in Manjeshwar and Kasaragod, known as Kasaragod Tulu influencing Malayalam
 * Southcentral Tulu: spoken in Bantwal
 * Southeast Tulu: Spoken in Puttur Sullia and in some villages/Taluks of Coorg (Kodagu).
 * Southern Tulu: spoken in South of Kasaragod and Payaswini (Chandragiri) river influencing Malayalam known as Thenkaayi Tulu

 * Brahmin Tulu
 * Spoken by the Tulu Brahmins who are subdivided into Shivalli Brahmins, Sthanika Brahmins and Tuluva Hebbars. It is more influenced by Sanskrit.

 * Jain dialect
 * Spoken by the Tulu Jains. It is a dialect where the initial letters 'T' and 'S' have been replaced by the letter 'H'. For example, the word is pronounced as,  is pronounced as.

 * Adivasi dialect
 * Spoken by the Koraga, Mansa, and other tribals of Tulu Nadu

Vowels
Five short and five long vowels (a, ā, e, ē, u, ū, i, ī, o, ō) are common in Dravidian languages. Like Kodava Takk (and also like Konkani and Sinhala), Tulu also has an like vowel, generally occurring word-finally which is from the old ai. The Kannada script does not have a symbol to specifically represent this vowel, which is often written as a normal e. For example, the first person singular form and the third person singular masculine of a verb are spelled identically in all tenses, both ending in e, but are pronounced differently: the terminating e in the former sounds nearly like ‘a’ in the English word ‘man’ (ಮಲ್ಪುವೆ, "I make"), while that in the latter like ‘e’ in ‘men’ (ಮಲ್ಪುವೆ  , "he makes").

In his grammar of 1932, S. U. Paniyadi used a special vowel sign to denote Tulu /ɛ/ in the Kannada script: according to Bhat, he used two s for this purpose (usually, a means the crest that a Kannada character like ಕ, ತ, ನ has), and the same convention was adopted by Upadhyaya in his 1988 Tulu Lexicon. The long counterpart of this vowel occurs in some words. In all dialects, the pair /e/ and /ɛ/ contrasts.

Additionally, like Kodava Takk and Toda, and like Malayalam and Tamil, Tulu has an -like vowel (or schwa ) as a phoneme, which is romanized as ŭ (ISO), ɯ, or u̥. Both J. Brigel and A. Männer say that it is pronounced like e in the French je. Bhat describes this phoneme as /ɯ/. However, if it is like Malayalam "half-u", or  may be a better description. /ɛ/ formed from previous ai and previous /u/ split into modern /u, ɯ/; long versions of /ɛ, ɯ/ are extremely restricted. In the Kannada script, Brigel and Männer used a virama (halant) (್) to denote /ɯ/ like in Malayalam. Bhat says a is used for this purpose, but apparently he too means a virama.

Tulu is characterized by its rounding of front vowels when between a labial and a retroflex consonants, e.g., PD. ∗peṇ > Tamil peṇ, Kannada heṇṇu, Tulu poṇṇu, this feature also occurs in Kodava and Spoken Tamil e.g. Kodava poṇṇï, Spoken Tamil poṇṇï.

Consonants
The following are consonant phonemes in Tulu:

The contrast between and  is preserved in the South Common dialect and in the Brahmin dialect, but is lost in several dialects. Additionally, the Brahmin dialect has and. Aspirated consonants are sometimes used in the Brahmin dialect, but are not phonemic. In the Koraga and Holeya dialects, s and ś  merge with c  (the Koraga dialect of the Tulu language is different from the Koraga language). Word-initial consonant clusters are rare and occur mainly in Sanskrit loanwords.

Tulu is characterized by its r/l and s/c/t alternation, for e.g. sarɛ, tarɛ across Tulu dialects compare with Kannada tale. The alveolar ṯ, ṯṯ, nṯ became post alveolar or dental, the singular ones usually becomes a trill in other Dravidian languages, e.g. Tamil oṉṟu, āṟu, nāṟu, nāṟṟam, muṟi, kīṟu; Tulu oñji, āji, nāduni, nāta, {mudipuni, muyipuni}, {kīruni, gīcuni}. The retroflex approximant mostly became a /ɾ/ and also /ɭ, ɖ/, e.g. Tamil ēẓu, puẓu, Tulu {ēḷŭ, ēlŭ, ēḍŭ}, puru.

Morphology
Tulu has five parts of speech: nouns (substantives and adjectives), pronouns, numerals, verbs, and particles.

Substantives have three grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter), two numbers (singular and plural), and eight cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, locative, ablative or instrumental, communicative, and vocative). According to Bhat, Tulu has two distinct locative cases. The communicative case is used with verbs like tell, speak, ask, beseech, inquire, and denotes at whom a message, an inquiry, or a request is aimed, as in "I told him." or "I speak to them." It is also used to denote the relationship with whom it is about, in a context like "I am on good terms with him." or "I have nothing against him." Bhat calls it the sociative case. It is somewhat similar to the comitative case, but different in that it denotes communication or relationship, not physical companionship. The plural suffix is -rŭ, -ḷu, -kuḷu, or -āḍḷu; as in ('table'),  ('tables'). The nominative case is unmarked, while the remaining cases are expressed by different suffixes.

The following table shows the declension of a noun, based on Brigel and Bhat (u̥ used by Brigel and ɯ used by Bhat are both shown as ŭ for clarity): when two forms are given, the one in parentheses is by Bhat, and the other is by Brigel. Some of these differences may be dialectal variations.

The personal pronouns are irregularly inflected: 'I' becomes yen- in oblique cases. Tulu makes the distinction between the inclusive and exclusive we (see Clusivity: Dravidian languages): 'we (including you)' as opposed to  'we (not including you)'. For verbs, this distinction does not exist. The personal pronouns of the second person are (oblique: ) 'you (singular)' and  'you (plural)'. Three genders are distinguished in the third person, as well as proximate and remote forms. For example, 'he (proximate)',  'he (remote)'. The suffix -rŭ makes a polite form of personal pronouns, as in 'you (respectfully)',  'he (remote; respectfully)'. Postpositions are used usually with a noun in the genitive case, as in 'on the hill'.

Tulu verbs have three forms: active, causative, and reflexive (or middle voice). They conjugate for person, number, gender, tense (present, past, pluperfect, future, and future perfect), mood (indicative, imperative, conditional, infinitive, potential, and subjunctive), and polarity (positive and negative).

Syntax
Each sentence is composed of a subject and a predicate and every sentence is a full speech or thought in words. There is both singular and plural while being expressed in first through third person. There are several exceptions to each of these depending on the instance. For example: the verb has to be in a plural style if there are numerous nominatives within a sentence or of different genders that agree with the previous sentence. The verb may also be omitted in some sentences. Present tense and past tense may change and their perception.

Written literature
The written literature of Tulu is not as large as the literature of other literary Dravidian languages such as Tamil. Nevertheless, Tulu is one of only five literary Dravidian languages, the other four being Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The earliest available Tulu literature that survives to this date is the Tulu translation of the great Sanskrit epic of Mahabharata called (ಮಹಾಭಾರತೊ). It was written by Arunabja (1657 AD), a poet who lived in Kodavur near Udupi around the late 14th to early 15th century AD. Other important literary works in Tulu are:
 * Devi Mahatmyam's (ಶ್ರೀ ದೇವಿ ಮಹಾತ್ಮೆ) 1200 AD – Tulu translation
 * Sri Bhagavata (ಶ್ರೀ ಭಾಗವತೊ) 1626 AD – written by Vishnu Tunga
 * Kaveri (1391 AD)

This script was mainly used to write religious and literary works in Sanskrit. Even today the official script of the eight Tulu monasteries (Ashta Mathas of Udupi) founded by Madhvacharya in Udupi is Tulu. The pontiffs of the monasteries write their names using this script when they are appointed.

Modern-day Tulu literature is written using the Kannada script. Mandara Ramayana is the most notable piece of modern Tulu literature. Written by Mandara Keshava Bhatt, it received the Sahitya Akademi Award for best poetry. Madipu, Mogaveera, Saphala and Samparka are popular Tulu periodicals published from Mangalore. The Tulu Sahitya Academy, established by the state government of Karnataka in 1994, as also the Kerala Tulu Academy established by the Indian State Government of Kerala in Manjeshwaram in 2007, are important governmental organisations that promote Tulu literature. Nevertheless, there are numerous organisations spread all over the world with significant Tulu-migrated populations that contribute to Tulu literature. Some notable contributors to Tulu literature are Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, M. K. Seetharam Kulal, Amruta Someshwara, B. A. Viveka Rai, Kedambadi Jattappa Rai, Venkataraja Puninchathaya, Paltadi Ramakrishna Achar, Dr. Sunitha M. Shetty, Dr. Vamana Nandavara, Sri. Balakrishna Shetty Polali.

Oral traditions
The oral traditions of Tulu are one of the major traditions that greatly show the finer aspects of the language. The following are various forms of Tulu oral tradition and literature.

 * Paddanas: A form of oral epic poem sung in a highly stylised manner during the Hindu rituals of Bhuta Kola and Nagaradhane, which are peculiar to the Tulu people. These Paddanas are mostly legends about gods or historical personalities among the people. The longest of them being Siri Paddana, which is about a woman called Siri who shows strength and integrity during adverse times and in turn attains divinity. The Paddana greatly depicts the independent nature of the Tulu womenfolk. The entire Paddana was written down by Finnish scholar Lauri Honko of the University of Turku and it falls four lines short of Homer's Iliad.
 * Riddles: They are another important aspect of Tulu oral traditions. These riddles are largely tongue twisting and mostly deal with kinship and agriculture.
 * Bhajans: Bhajans sung in numerous temples across the Tulu region are varied and are dedicated to various gods and goddesses. Most of these are of the Hindu tradition, others being Jain. They are sung in both the Carnatic style as well a style similar to what is used in Yakshagana.
 * Kabitol: Songs sung during the cultivation of crops, the traditional occupation of the people. O Bele is considered the finest among them.

Theatre
Theatre in the form of the traditional Yakshagana, prevalent in coastal Karnataka and northern Kerala has greatly preserved the finer aspects of the Tulu language. Yakshagana which is conducted in Tulu is very popular among the Tuluva people. It can also be seen as a form of temple art, as there are many Yakshagana groups that are attached to temples, for example that of Kateel Durga Parameshwari Temple as also the Udupi Krishna Temple.

Presently, eight professional Yakshagana troupes perform Tulu-language Yakshagana not only during the Yakshagana season but also during the off-season in various places in Karnataka and outside. In Mumbai, Tulu Yakshagana is very popular among the Tulu audiences. More than 2,000 Yakshagana artistes take part in the performance in various places in Mumbai annually. Notable performers include Kalladi Koraga Shetty, Pundur Venkataraja Puninchathaya, Guru Bannanje Sanjiva Suvarna and Pathala Venkatramana Bhat.

Tulu plays are among the major entertainment for admirers of art and culture in Tulu Nadu. Tulu plays, generally centered on the comic genre, are very popular in Mumbai and Bangalore outside Tulu Nadu.

Tulu cinema
The Tulu cinema industry is fairly small; it produces around five films annually. The first film, Enna Thangadi, was released in 1971. Usually these films are released in theatres across the Tulu Nadu region and on DVD. The critically acclaimed film Suddha won the award for Best Indian Film at the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema in New Delhi in 2006. As of 2015, Oriyardori Asal (2011) has been the most commercially successful Tulu film. Chaali Polilu is the longest-running film in Tulu film history, as well as the highest-grossing film in the Tulu film industry. It has successfully completed 470 days at PVR Cinemas in Mangalore. The 2014 film Madime was reported to be remade in Marathi, thereby becoming the first Tulu film to be remade in another language. Shutterdulai was the first remake in Tulu cinema. Eregla Panodchi is the second remake in Tulu cinemas. A suit for damages of Rs. 25 lakh was filed against the makers of the Telugu film Brahmotsavam for copying the first 36 seconds of the song by Dr. Vamana Nandaavara found in the Deepanalike CD composed for the Siri channel. Prajavani reported that with its dubbing rights sold to Hindi for Rs. 21 lakh, the 2018 movie Umil became the first Tulu movie to achieve the feat. Ashwini Kotiyan (Chaya Harsha) became the first female director in the Tulu industry after directing and releasing her first movie Namma Kudla. Brahmashree Narayana Guruswamy released on 2 May 2014 was the 50th Tulu film. Panoda Bodcha marked the 75th release anniversary of a Tulu film. The 100th Tulu movie Karne was released on 16 November 2018.

Guddada Bhootha, a television series aired in 1990, was one of the successful ventures of Tulu entertainment. This mini-series has a suspense storyline based on a Tulu drama, showing the country life of Tulu Nadu region of India. It was one of the popular TV series of that time. This series has a very famous title song Dennana Dennana sung by B. R. Chaya. This song along with the music were used in Rangitaranga, a Kannada movie.

Centres of Tulu study and research
Tulu as a language continues to thrive in coastal Karnataka and Kasaragod in Kerala. Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, an institute established by the state government of Karnataka in 1994, has introduced Tulu as a language in schools around coastal Karnataka, including Alva's High School, Moodbidri; Dattanjaneya High School, Odiyoor; Ramakunjeshwara English-medium High School, Ramakunja; and Vani Composite Pre-University College, Belthangady. Initially started in 16 schools, the language is now taught in over 33 schools, of which 30 are in Dakshina Kannada district. More than 1500 students have opted to study this language.

The Government of Kerala established the Kerala Tulu Academy in 2007. The academy focuses on the retrieval and propagation of Tulu language and culture in Kerala through various activities such as organising seminars and publishing Tulu periodicals, etc. The academy is based in Hosangadi, Manjeshwar in Kasaragod. Tulu is also taught as a language at the post-graduate level in Mangalore University, and there is a dedicated department for Tulu studies, translation and research at Dravidian University in Kuppam Andhra Pradesh.The Government Degree College at Kasaragod in Kerala also introduced a certificate course in Tulu for the academic year 2009–2010. It has also introduced Tulu as an optional subject in its Kannada post-graduation course. It has adopted syllabi from the books published by the Tulu Sahitya Academy.

German missionaries Kammerer and Männer were the first people to conduct research on the language. Kammerer collected about 3,000 words and their meanings before his death. Later his work was carried on by Männer, who completed the research and published the first dictionary of the Tulu language in 1886 with the help of the then-Madras government. The effort was incomplete, as it did not cover all aspects of the language. The Govinda Pai Research Centre at MGM College, Udupi started an 18-year Tulu lexicon project in the year 1979.

Different dialects, special vocabularies used for different occupational activities, rituals, and folk literature in the forms of Paād-danāas were included in this project. The Centre has also released a six-volume, trilingual, modestly priced Tulu-Kannada-English lexicon. The Tulu lexicon was awarded the Gundert Award for the best dictionary in the country in 1996. In September 2011, the Academic Council of Mangalore University accepted a proposal, to allow the university and the colleges affiliated to it to offer certificates, diplomas and postgraduate diploma courses in Tulu, both in regular and correspondence modes.

title: Tulu language


text:
Increase A. Lapham

Increase Allen Lapham (c. 1811 – September 14, 1875) was an American writer, scientist, and naturalist, whose work focused primarily on the what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He made maps of the area and published numerous books on the archaeology, biology, and geology of the region, and discovered both the Panther Intaglio Effigy Mound and Milwaukee Formation. He founded the Wisconsin Natural History Association, and served as the state's Chief Geologist for two years. He also lobbied Congress and the Smithsonian Institution to establish an agency to predict the weather around the Great Lakes and this became the National Weather Service.

Biography
Born in Palmyra, New York, his family moved to Pennsylvania, back to New York, to Ohio then to Louisville, Kentucky (1827–1830) then back to Ohio while his father, Seneca Lapham, worked on the canals in various locations. Lapham was of entirely English ancestry, all of which had been in what is now the United States since the early 1600s. His ancestors were among the first English colonists to establish Rhode Island. He displayed a talent for scientific observation early on while working on the canals and their locks, producing drawings that he could sell at the age of thirteen.

In July 1836, Lapham moved to Kilbourntown (which soon incorporated into the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and worked closely with Byron Kilbourn in his business and development endeavors. The two had worked together previously on the Miami Canal and Lapham considered him a loyal friend and mentor. Before the end of the year, Lapham had published a Catalogue of Plants and Shells, Found in the vicinity of Milwaukee, on the West Side of Lake Michigan, perhaps the first scientific work published west of the Great Lakes.

In 1848, Lapham founded the Wisconsin Natural History Association, a predecessor of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, of which he also was a charter member.

Many of his works and early maps were used for various civil projects such as canal and railroad development. In 1844 Lapham published the first substantial book on the geography of the Wisconsin Territory. His first map of Wisconsin was made in 1846. He published many more papers and books through his life, particularly on geology, archaeology and history, and flora and fauna of Wisconsin, including publication by the Smithsonian Institution.

In 1850, he discovered the Panther Intaglio Effigy Mound, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lapham was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1853, and he was Chief Geologist of the State of Wisconsin from 1873 to 1875. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1874.

Lapham was one of the first people to recognize the cement potential of certain rock strata seen along the banks of the Milwaukee River. Those strata, now known as belonging to the Milwaukee Formation, were later mined for high quality natural hydraulic cement. Milwaukee thus went on to become the country's leading producer of natural hydraulic cement from 1876 to 1910.

He was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.

Honors
Lapham is considered "Wisconsin's first great scientist" and the "Father of the U.S Weather Service," based upon his lobbying to Congress and the Smithsonian Institution to create such an agency to forecast storms on the Great Lakes and both coasts. When the agency was created through the U.S. Secretary of War, Lapham made the first such accurate Great Lakes storm warning from Chicago.

Since his death, numerous landmarks throughout the southeastern Wisconsin area have been named after him, including Lapham Peak, the highest point in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, a major University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee building, and streets. In Madison, Wisconsin, he currently has an elementary school named after him.

A genus of North American plants, Laphamia, was named for him by Asa Gray. Several species of invertebrates from the Paleozoic rocks of Wisconsin, such as Nuculites laphami (Cleland, 1911) and Ekwanoscutellum laphami (Whitfield, 1877), were also named in honor of him. Certain markings found on iron meteors were designated by J. Lawrence Smith as Laphamite markings. A formerly existing glacial lake was provisionally named Lake Lapham. The Wisconsin Archeological Society awards the Lapham Research Medal, first doing so in 1926. The U.S. Navy named a ship SS Increase A. Lapham during World War II. The University of Wisconsin has an Increase A. Lapham Professorship. Lapham was inducted in 1992 into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame and in 2003 into the Wisconsin Forestry Hall of Fame.

The centennial of Lapham's birth was celebrated in 1911. In 2011, celebration of the bicentennial was planned, including an Increase A. Lapham Day at Aztalan State Park.

Lapham Junction (44.2975°N, -90.47806°W) in Knapp, Jackson County, Wisconsin, is now defunct railroad junction on the Goodyear branch of the Milwaukee Road which branch ran to Zeda, where lumbering operations took place, and was named for Lapham.

Selected works
Some works of Increase A. Lapham:

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

title: Increase A. Lapham


text:
Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands

Same-sex marriage has been legal in the Netherlands since 1 April 2001. A bill for the legalisation of same-sex marriage was passed in the House of Representatives by 109 votes to 33 on 12 September 2000 and by the Senate by 49 votes to 26 on 19 December 2000. The law received royal assent by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on 21 December 2000 and took effect on 1 April 2001. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage. Polling suggests that a significant majority of Dutch people support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, special municipalities of the Netherlands, since 10 October 2012, and in the constituent countries of Aruba and Curaçao since 12 July 2024. The final constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Sint Maarten, does not perform or fully recognize same-sex marriages.

Unregistered partnerships
Unregistered partnerships or informal cohabitation (samenwonen) occur when a same-sex or opposite-sex couple cohabits but chooses to keep the legal status of their relationship unregistered or informal. This means all worldwide assets that belong to a single party remain the sole property of the party with no legal entitlement by the other party, whether owned before or acquired during the relationship. The couple can record a contract (samenlevingscontract) with a notary to receive some limited financial benefits, including for tax and pension purposes. However, the benefits are limited, e.g. the father or non-biological mother is not automatically recognized as a parent after the birth of a child, and upon the death of one of the partners, the other partner is not considered an heir. This legal status of unregistered partnerships is respected by Dutch courts.

The Netherlands was one of the first countries in the world to recognise cohabiting same-sex couples by law. The first law recognising the cohabitation of same-sex couples was passed in 1979 for the purposes of rent law. Further legislation was passed in 1981 to recognise cohabiting couples for the purposes of inheritance tax.

Registered partnerships
On 1 January 1998, registered partnerships (geregistreerd partnerschap, ) were introduced in Dutch law. The partnerships were meant for same-sex couples as an alternative to marriage, though they can also be entered into by opposite-sex couples, and in fact about one third of the registered partnerships between 1999 and 2001 were of opposite-sex couples. In law, registered partnerships and marriage convey the same rights and duties, especially after some laws were changed to remedy inequalities with respect to inheritance and some other issues.

Partnerships have become particularly common among Dutch couples, with about 18,000 new partnerships registered every year.

Legislative action
As early as the mid 1980s, a group of gay rights activists, headed by Henk Krol – then editor-in-chief of the Gay Krant – asked the government to allow same-sex couples to marry. The States General of the Netherlands decided in 1995 to create a special commission to investigate the possibility of recognizing same-sex marriages. At that time, the Christian Democratic Appeal was not part of the ruling coalition for the first time since the introduction of full democracy. The special commission finished its work in 1997 and concluded that civil marriage should be extended to include same-sex couples. After the 1998 general election, the Second Kok Cabinet promised to tackle the issue. In September 2000, the legislation was debated in the Dutch Parliament.

The marriage bill passed the House of Representatives by 109 votes to 33 on 12 September 2000.

 * a. Was originally a member of the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF).
 * b. Was originally a member of the Reformed Political League (GPV).

The Senate approved the bill on 19 December 2000 by 49 to 26 votes. Only the Christian parties, which held 26 of the 75 seats at the time, voted against the bill. Although the Christian Democratic Appeal would form the next government, they did not indicate any intention to repeal the law.

 * a. Was originally a member of the Reformed Political League (GPV).
 * b. Was originally a member of the Reformatory Political Federation (RPF).

Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands gave her royal assent to the legislation on 21 December 2000. The main article of the law changed article 1:30 of the Civil Code to read as follows:

 * Een huwelijk kan worden aangegaan door twee personen van verschillend of van gelijk geslacht.

 * (A marriage can be entered into by two persons of different or the same sex)

The law came into effect on 1 April 2001, and on that day four same-sex couples were married by the Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, who became a registrar specifically to officiate at the weddings. A few months earlier, Mayor Cohen had been junior Minister of Justice of the Netherlands and was responsible for putting the new marriage and adoption laws through Parliament.

In Dutch, same-sex marriage is known as huwelijk tussen personen van gelijk geslacht or commonly homohuwelijk.

Requirements and rights
Dutch law requires that either partner have Dutch nationality or have residency in the Netherlands. The marriageable age in the Netherlands is 18. The law is only valid in the European territory of the Netherlands and on the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, but does not apply to the other constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The single legal difference between same-sex marriages and heterosexual marriages was that, in the former case, parentage by both partners was not automatic. The legal mother of a child is its biological mother (article 1:198 of the civil law) and the father is (in principle) the man she is married to or in a registered partnership with when the child is born. Moreover, the father must be a man (article 1:199). The other partner could thus become a legal mother only through adoption. Only in the case when a biological father did not become a parent (e.g. in case of artificial insemination by lesbian couples) would both female spouses obtain parental authority automatically (article 1:253sa). In December 2013, the Dutch Parliament changed this and allowed automatic parenthood for lesbian couples. The new law, which came into effect on 1 April 2014, allows the co-mother who is married to or in a registered partnership with the biological mother to be automatically recognized as a legal mother if the sperm donor was initially anonymous. In the case of a known donor, the biological mother decides whether the donor or the co-mother is the child's second legal parent.

On 6 April 2016, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bert Koenders and Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur confirmed the Dutch position that, like other couples, same-sex couples who are not Dutch residents or nationals cannot marry in the country. The ministers argued that it might lead to "practical and legal problems" and could even be "dangerous" to some participants. The move came after the Liberal Democratic Party had asked the ministers to look into allowing non-resident foreigners to take advantage of the Netherlands' same-sex marriage law.

Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten
Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten have separate civil codes from the Netherlands proper, and it only became possible to perform a same-sex marriage in Aruba and Curaçao following a 12 July 2024 ruling from the Supreme Court. This makes Sint Maarten the only constituent country where same-sex marriages cannot be performed.

All territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands register same-sex marriages performed in the Netherlands proper as a result of a Dutch Supreme Court ruling. In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that all vital records recorded in the Kingdom of the Netherlands are valid throughout the Kingdom; this was based on its interpretation of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, subsequent rulings have established that same-sex marriages are not automatically entitled to the same privileges (e.g. social security) extended to married couples of the opposite sex. On 12 July 2024, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that the same-sex marriage bans in Aruba and Curaçao were discriminatory, effectively legalising same-sex marriages in those two constituent countries.

Aruba has also recognised registered partnerships offering several of the rights and benefits of marriage for same-sex and opposite-sex couples since September 2021.

Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Same-sex marriage became legal in the Caribbean Netherlands—Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba—following the entry into force of a law enabling same-sex couples to marry on 10 October 2012.

Opposition
In 2007, controversy arose when the new Fourth Balkenende Cabinet announced in its policy statement that officials who object to same-sex marriage on principle may refuse to marry such couples. Some Labour and GroenLinks dominated municipal councils opposed this policy, claiming that the job of a registrar is to marry all couples, not only opposite-sex couples. The opposition parties stated that if a registrar opposed same-sex marriages, they should not hold that post. The municipality of Amsterdam announced that they would not comply with this policy, and that registrars there would still be obliged to marry same-sex couples. In reaction to this, many other municipalities announced their rejection of this proposal as well. The cabinet claimed that this issue lay solely within the remit of the central government. In practice, municipalities could decide whether or not to hire registrars who object to marrying same-sex couples.

Before 2014, civil servants could refuse to marry same-sex couples as long as the municipality ensured that other civil servants were available to solemnize the marriage. In 2014, a law was passed that made it illegal for all marriage officiants to refuse their services to same-sex couples.

Royal same-sex weddings
In October 2021, Prime Minister Mark Rutte confirmed that members of the Dutch royal family may enter into a same-sex marriage without having to forfeit the crown or lose their royal title and privileges or their place in the line of succession. Previously, the government had held that if an heir wanted to marry a partner of the same sex, they would have to forfeit their right to the throne.

Impact
A 2021 study by economists Shuai Chen and Jan van Ours showed that from 2001 onwards levels of anxiety and depression fell drastically among individuals in same-sex relationships and largely converged to those of heterosexuals. Chen and van Ours found that the legalisation of same-sex marriage, as well as supportive societal attitudes, significantly improved the mental health of LGBT people. They concluded, "We find a significant improvement in the mental health of sexual minorities following the legislation. We also find that marriage itself was only partially responsible for the amelioration of mental health among sexual minorities. More importantly, the legal recognition of same-sex marriage improved mental health for both male and female sexual minorities irrespective of their own marital status."

Statistics
According to provisional figures from Statistics Netherlands, for the first six months, same-sex marriages made up 3.6% of the total number of marriages: a peak of around 6% in the first month followed by around 3% in the remaining months, about 1,339 male couples and 1,075 female couples in total. By June 2004, more than 6,000 same-sex marriages had been performed in the Netherlands.

In March 2006, Statistics Netherlands released estimates on the number of same-sex marriages performed each year: 2,500 in 2001, 1,800 in 2002, 1,200 in 2004, and 1,100 in 2005.

From 2001 to 2011, 14,813 same-sex marriages were performed in the Netherlands; 7,522 between two women and 7,291 between two men. In the same period, there were 761,010 heterosexual marriages. There were also 1,078 same-sex divorces. By 2015, approximately 21,330 same-sex couples had married in the Netherlands; 11,195 female couples and 10,135 male couples.

On 1 April 2021, 20 years after same-sex marriage was legalized in the Netherlands, Statistics Netherlands reported that over 28,000 same-sex couples had married in the country by that time. Roughly 20,000 of these couples were still together; the remaining having divorced, moved abroad or one or both of the spouses died. Female couples were more likely to divorce, at around 26%, than heterosexual couples at 16%, and male couples at 14%.

Religious performance
Since the mid-1960s, religious solemnizations of same-sex relationships have taken place in some Dutch churches. The Dutch Remonstrants were Europe's first Christian denomination to officially allow such solemnizations in 1986. The Mennonite Church in the Netherlands also allows solemnizations of same-sex marriages. The Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands has allowed its ministers to perform same-sex marriages in its places of worship since 2006.

The Protestant Church in the Netherlands, the largest Protestant denomination in the Netherlands, has allowed its congregations to perform same-sex marriages as a union of love and faith before God since 2004, and in practice many churches now conduct such ceremonies.

The Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage and does not allow its priests to officiate at such marriages. In December 2023, the Holy See published Fiducia supplicans, a declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless couples who are not considered to be married according to church teaching, including the blessing of same-sex couples. Several bishops welcomed the declaration. The Bishops' Conference of the Netherlands also expressed its support, stating that the church is "a welcoming church which will not deny anyone the support and succour of God", but emphasised its views that marriage is "only possible between a man and a woman".

Public opinion
According to an Ifop poll conducted in May 2013, 85% of the Dutch population supported allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 91% of the Dutch population thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 7% were opposed. A Pew Research Center poll, conducted between April and August 2017 and published in May 2018, showed that 86% of Dutch people supported same-sex marriage, 10% were opposed and 4% did not know or had refused to answer. When divided by religion, 95% of religiously unaffiliated people, 90% of non-practicing Christians and 60% of church-attending Christians supported same-sex marriage. Opposition was also 10% among 18–34-year-olds.

The 2019 Eurobarometer found that 92% of Dutch people thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 8% were opposed. A Pew Research Center poll conducted between February and May 2023 showed that 89% of Dutch people supported same-sex marriage, 10% were opposed and 1% did not know or had refused to answer. When divided by political affiliation, support was highest among those on the left of the political spectrum at 94%, followed by those at the center at 92% and those on the right at 85%. Women (92%) were also more likely to support same-sex marriage than men (86%). The 2023 Eurobarometer found that support had increased to 94%, while 5% were opposed. The survey also showed that 94% of Dutch people thought that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex", while 6% disagreed.

title: Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands


text:
Continental climate

Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents ( North America, Europe, and Asia), typically in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 or 60 degrees north), often within large landmasses, where prevailing winds blow overland bringing some precipitation, and temperatures are not moderated by oceans. Continental climates occur mostly in the Northern Hemisphere due to the large landmasses found there. Most of northeastern China, eastern and southeastern Europe, much of Russia south of the Arctic Circle, central and southeastern Canada, and the central and northeastern United States have this type of climate. Continentality is a measure of the degree to which a region experiences this type of climate.

In continental climates, precipitation tends to be moderate in amount, concentrated mostly in the warmer months. Only a few areas—in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest of North America and in Iran, northern Iraq, adjacent Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia—show a winter maximum in precipitation. A portion of the annual precipitation falls as snowfall, and snow often remains on the ground for more than a month. Summers in continental climates can feature thunderstorms and frequent hot temperatures; however, summer weather is somewhat more stable than winter weather. Continental climates are considered as temperate climate varieties due to their location in the temperate zones, but are classified separately from other temperate climates in the Köppen climate classification system where they are identified by their first letter, a capital D. In the Trewartha climate classification, they are identified as Dc.

Köppen climate classification
Continental climate has at least one month averaging below 0 °C and at least one month averaging above 10 °C.
 * Dfa = Hot-summer humid continental climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C), at least one month's average temperature above 22 °C, and at least four months averaging above 10 °C. No significant precipitation difference between seasons (neither the abovementioned set of conditions fulfilled).
 * Dfb = Warm-summer humid continental climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C), all months with average temperatures below 22 °C, and at least four months averaging above 10 °C. No significant precipitation difference between seasons (neither the abovementioned set of conditions fulfilled).
 * Dfc = Subarctic climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C) and one–three months averaging above 10 °C. No significant precipitation difference between seasons (neither the abovementioned set of conditions fulfilled).
 * Dfd = Extremely cold subarctic climate; coldest month averaging below −38 °C and one–three months averaging above 10 °C. No significant precipitation difference between seasons (neither the abovementioned set of conditions fulfilled).
 * Dwa = Monsoon-influenced hot-summer humid continental climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C), at least one month's average temperature above 22 °C, and at least four months averaging above 10 °C. At least ten times as much rain in the wettest month of summer as in the driest month of winter.
 * Dwb = Monsoon-influenced warm-summer humid continental climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C), all months with average temperatures below 22 °C, and at least four months averaging above 10 °C. At least ten times as much rain in the wettest month of summer as in the driest month of winter.
 * Dwc = Monsoon-influenced subarctic climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C) and one–three months averaging above 10 °C. At least ten times as much rain in the wettest month of summer as in the driest month of winter.
 * Dwd = Monsoon-influenced extremely cold subarctic climate; coldest month averaging below −38 °C and one–three months averaging above 10 °C. At least ten times as much rain in the wettest month of summer as in the driest month of winter.
 * Dsa = Mediterranean-influenced hot-summer humid continental climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C), average temperature of the warmest month above 22 °C and at least four months averaging above 10 °C. At least three times as much precipitation in the wettest month of winter as in the driest month of summer, and the driest month of summer receives less than 30 mm.
 * Dsb = Mediterranean-influenced warm-summer humid continental climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C), average temperature of the warmest month below 22 °C and at least four months averaging above 10 °C. At least three times as much precipitation in the wettest month of winter as in the driest month of summer, and the driest month of summer receives less than 30 mm.
 * Dsc = Mediterranean-influenced subarctic climate; coldest month averaging below 0 °C (or -3 °C) and one–three months averaging above 10 °C. At least three times as much precipitation in the wettest month of winter as in the driest month of summer, and the driest month of summer receives less than 30 mm.
 * Dsd = Mediterranean-influenced extremely cold subarctic climate; coldest month averaging below −38 °C and one–three months averaging above 10 °C. At least three times as much precipitation in the wettest month of winter as in the driest month of summer, and the driest month of summer receives less than 30 mm.

Seasons
Annual precipitation in this zone is usually between 600 mm and 1200 mm, The timing of intermediate spring-like or autumn-like temperatures in this zone vary depending on latitude and/or elevation. For example, spring may arrive as soon as March (in Northern hemisphere, September in Southern hemisphere) in the southern (in Northern hemisphere, northern in Southern hemisphere), parts of this zone or as late as May (November) in the north (south). Summers are warm or hot while winters are below freezing and sustain lots of frost.

Climatology
Continental climates exist where cold air masses infiltrate during the winter from shorter days and warm air masses form in summer under conditions of high sun and longer days. Places with continental climates are as a rule either far from any moderating effect of oceans or are so situated that prevailing winds tend to head offshore. Such regions get quite warm in the summer, achieving temperatures characteristic of tropical climates but are colder than any other climates of similar latitude in the winter.

Neighboring climates
In the Köppen climate system, these climates grade off toward temperate climates equator-ward where winters are less severe and semi-arid climates or arid climates where precipitation becomes inadequate for tall-grass prairies and shrublands. In Europe these climates may grade off into oceanic climates (Cfb) or subpolar oceanic climates (Cfc) in which the influence of cool oceanic air masses is more marked toward the west. In western and eastern Asia, and the central United States these climates grade off toward humid subtropical climates (Cfa/Cwa), subtropical highland climates (Cwb), or Mediterranean climates (Csa/Csb) to the south.

List of locations with a continental climate
The climate is continental if the 0°C coldest-month isotherm is used, but it is temperate if the -3°C isotherm is used.

Morocco

 * Imilchil (bordering Cfb)

Asia

 * Afghanistan: Fayzabad (Dsa bordering Csa), Ghazni (Dsa bordering BSk), Puli Alam (Dsa)
 * Armenia: Gyumri, Jermuk (Dsb bordering Dfb), Kapan, Sisian, Vanadzor, Yerevan (bordering BSk)
 * Azerbaijan: Qabala (bordering Cfa), Shamakhi (bordering Cfa)
 * China: Beijing, Biru County, Changchun, Dalian, Harbin, Jinan (bordering Cwa), Lhasa (bordering BSk/Cwb), Qiqihar, Shenyang, Shigatse, Suihua, Ulanhot, Ürümqi (bordering BSk), Yantai, Yichun
 * Georgia: Akhaltsikhe
 * India: Dras (Dsb bordering Dfb), Kargil
 * Iran: Abali (Dsb), Arak (Dsa bordering BSk), Ardabil (bordering BSk), Hamadan (Dsa bordering BSk), Saqqez (Dsa), Sardasht (Dsa), Tabriz (Dsa bordering BSk), Urmia (bordering BSk)
 * Japan: Aomori, Asahikawa, Hakodate, Kushiro, Mount Aso, Nagano (bordering Cfa), Nichinan (bordering Cfa), Sapporo, Tendō
 * Kazakhstan: Aktobe, Almaty, Astana, Karaganda, Oskemen, Pavlodar, Semey, Shymkent (Dsa), Taraz (Dsa bordering BSk)
 * Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek (Dsa), Jalal-Abad (Dsa), Osh (Dsa)
 * Mongolia: Baruunturuun (bordering Dwc), Darkhan, Kharkhorin
 * North Korea: Haeju, Kaesong, Nampo, Pyongyang, Rason
 * Russia: Barnaul, Blagoveshchensk, Irkutsk, Khabarovsk, Kurilsk (bordering Dfc), Novosibirsk, Omsk, Orenburg, Tomsk, Vladivostok, Yekaterinburg, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
 * South Korea: Cheongju, Chuncheon, Chupungnyeong, Daejeon, Incheon, Seoul, Wonju, Yeongcheon (bordering Cfa)
 * South Ossetia: Tskhinvali (disputed with Georgia)
 * Tajikistan: Isfara (Dsa), Konibodom (Dsa), Panjakent (Dsa), Roghun (Dsb)
 * Turkey: Ardahan, Erzurum, Hakkâri (Dsa), Kars, Muş (Dsa)
 * Uzbekistan: Chirchiq (Dsa bordering Csa)

Europe

 * Andorra: Canillo, El Pas de la Casa (bordering Dfc)
 * Austria: Baden bei Wien (bordering Cfb), Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Neukirchen bei Lambach
 * Belarus: Brest, Gomel, Minsk, Pinsk
 * Bosnia and Herzegovina: Goražde, Istočno Sarajevo, Livno
 * Bulgaria: Pazardzhik (bordering Cfa), Pernik, Pleven, Ruse (bordering Cfa), Smolyan (Dsb), Sofia (bordering Cfb), Veliko Tarnovo, Vratsa
 * Croatia: Gospić
 * Czech Republic: Brno, České Budějovice, Liberec, Olomouc, Ostrava, Plzeň
 * Estonia: Hiiumaa, Pärnu, Saaremaa, Tallinn, Tartu
 * Finland: Åland, Hämeenlinna, Helsinki, Kouvola, Lappeenranta, Pori, Turku
 * France: Chamonix, Mouthe, Saint-Véran (bordering Dfc)
 * Germany: Ansbach, Augsburg (bordering Cfb), Bayreuth, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Görlitz (bordering Cfb), Ingolstadt, Kempten, Weiden in der Oberpfalz
 * Greece: Aetomilitsa, Kato Vermio, Samarina
 * Hungary: Debrecen, Kecskemét (bordering Cfa/Cfb), Miskolc, Szeged (bordering Cfa/Cfb), Szombathely (bordering Cfb)
 * Italy: Bruneck, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Rhêmes-Notre-Dame, Rocca di Mezzo (Dsb bordering Cfb/Csb), Toblach
 * Kazakhstan: Oral (bordering BSk)
 * Kosovo: Pristina (disputed with Serbia)
 * Latvia: Daugavpils, Jelgava, Liepāja, Riga
 * Liechtenstein: Schaan (bordering Cfb)
 * Lithuania: Kaunas, Klaipėda, Šiauliai, Vilnius
 * Moldova: Bălți, Chișinău, Comrat
 * Montenegro: Žabljak
 * North Macedonia: Berovo
 * Norway: Bodø (bordering Dfc), Drammen, Hamar, Lillehammer (bordering Dfc), Oslo, Steinkjer, Trondheim
 * Poland: Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Gdańsk, Katowice, Kraków, Łódź, Lublin, Poznań (bordering Cfb), Suwałki, Toruń, Warsaw
 * Romania: Brașov, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași, Ploiești, Sibiu, Timișoara
 * Russia: Chelyabinsk, Grozny, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Moscow, Nalchik, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Smolensk, Taganrog, Ufa, Vladikavkaz, Voronezh
 * Serbia: Nova Varoš, Subotica
 * Slovakia: Banská Bystrica, Košice, Pezinok, Prešov, Žilina
 * Slovenia: Lendava (bordering Cfb), Murska Sobota
 * Spain: Puerto de Navacerrada (Dsb bordering Csb)
 * Sweden: Härnösand, Jönköping, Kalmar (bordering Cfb), Norrköping, Stockholm, Sundsvall, Uppsala, Visby (bordering Cfb)
 * Switzerland: Gstaad, La Brévine (bordering Dfc), La Chaux-de-Fonds, Poschiavo
 * Transnistria: Tiraspol (disputed with Moldova)
 * Ukraine: Dnipro, Donetsk (occupied by Russia), Izmail (bordering Cfa), Kharkiv, Kherson, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Luhansk (occupied by Russia), Lviv, Mariupol (occupied by Russia), Odesa (bordering BSk/Cfa), Uzhhorod, Zaporizhzhia, Zhytomyr

Canada

 * Calgary (higher areas are Dfc)
 * Castlegar, BC (Dsb bordering Dfb)
 * Charlottetown
 * Edmonton
 * Fredericton
 * Gander, NL
 * Goose Bay, NL (bordering Dfc)
 * Halifax
 * Hamilton, ON
 * Kelowna, BC
 * Marystown, NL
 * Moncton
 * Montreal
 * Moose Factory
 * Murdochville, QC
 * Ottawa
 * Penticton, BC (bordering BSk)
 * Prince George, BC
 * Quebec City
 * Regina (bordering BSk)
 * Rimouski, QC
 * Sable Island (bordering Cfb)
 * St. John's, NL
 * Saskatoon (bordering BSk)
 * Stewart, BC
 * Sudbury
 * Sydney, NS
 * Thunder Bay
 * Toronto
 * Windsor
 * Winnipeg
 * Yarmouth, NS

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

 * Bordering Dfc

Midwest

 * Bismarck, ND
 * Cahokia Heights, IL (bordering Cfa)
 * Chicago
 * Cincinnati (downtown is Cfa)
 * Cleveland
 * Columbus, OH
 * Des Moines
 * Detroit
 * Duluth, MN
 * Fargo, ND
 * Grand Rapids, MI
 * Green Bay, WI
 * Indianapolis
 * Kansas City
 * Milwaukee
 * Minneapolis
 * North Platte, NE
 * Omaha
 * Rapid City, SD (bordering BSk)
 * Sioux Falls, SD
 * Springfield, IL
 * Toledo, OH
 * Topeka

Northeast

 * Albany
 * Allentown, PA
 * Boston
 * Bridgeport, CT (bordering Cfa)
 * Buffalo
 * Burlington, VT
 * Cape Cod (east side is Cfb)
 * Erie, PA
 * Harrisburg (downtown and riverfront (including City Island) are Cfa)
 * Hartford
 * Lancaster, PA (bordering Cfa)
 * Manchester, NH
 * New Haven
 * Newport, RI (bordering Cfa/Cfb)
 * Paterson, NJ (bordering Cfa)
 * Pittsburgh
 * Portland, ME
 * Poughkeepsie, NY
 * Princeton, NJ (bordering Cfa)
 * Providence, RI
 * Riverhead, NY (north side facing Long Island Sound is Cfa)
 * Rochester
 * Scranton, PA
 * Southampton, NY
 * Springfield, MA
 * Syracuse
 * White Plains, NY
 * Worcester, MA

South

 * Beech Mountain, NC
 * Boone, NC (bordering Cfb)
 * Brasstown Bald, GA (bordering Cfb)
 * Buckhannon, WV (bordering Cfa)
 * Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (bordering Cfa)
 * Clifton Forge, VA (bordering Cfa)
 * Clingmans Dome, NC/TN
 * Cumberland, MD
 * Ebright Azimuth, DE (bordering Cfa)
 * Elkins, WV
 * Mount Mitchell, NC
 * Romney, WV (bordering Cfa)
 * Wheeling, WV
 * White Sulphur Springs, WV
 * Winchester, VA (bordering Cfa)

West

 * Alturas, CA (Dsb bordering BSk/Csb)
 * Aspen, CO
 * Billings, MT (bordering BSk)
 * Cambridge, ID (Dsa)
 * Cheyenne, WY (bordering BSk)
 * Coeur D'Alene, ID (Dsb bordering Csb)
 * Fairbanks (bordering Dfc)
 * Flagstaff, AZ (bordering BSk)
 * Government Camp, OR (Dsb bordering Dsc)
 * Idaho Falls (bordering BSk)
 * Jackson, WY (bordering Dfc)
 * Joseph, OR
 * Juneau (bordering Dfc)
 * Klamath Falls, OR (Dsb)
 * Kodiak, AK (bordering Cfb/Cfc/Dfc)
 * Logan, UT
 * Los Alamos, NM (bordering BSk)
 * Loveland, CO (bordering BSk)
 * Mammoth Lakes, CA (Dsb)
 * Missoula, MT
 * Mountain City, NV (bordering BSk)
 * Nenana, AK (bordering Dfc)
 * Ogden, UT
 * Orofino, ID (Dsb bordering Dsa)
 * Park City, UT
 * Petersburg, AK
 * Salt Lake City (Dsa bordering BSk/Csa)
 * Santa Fe, NM (bordering BSk)
 * Skagway, AK (Dsb bordering Dsc)
 * Spokane, WA (Dsb bordering Csa/Csb/Dsa)
 * Tahoe City, CA (Dsb)
 * Taos, NM (bordering BSk)
 * Telluride, CO
 * Tusayan, AZ (bordering BSk)
 * Winthrop, WA (Dsb)

Australia

 * Falls Creek, Victoria (bordering Dfc)
 * Kiandra, New South Wales (bordering Cfb)
 * Mount Buller, Victoria (bordering Cfb/Cfc/Dfc)

Argentina

 * Alto Río Senguer, Chubut Province (Dsb bordering BSk/Csb/Csc/Dsc)
 * Puente del Inca, Mendoza Province (Dsb bordering Csb)

Chile

 * Lonquimay, Araucanía Region (bordering Cfb)
 * Sewell, O'Higgins Region (Dsb bordering Dsc)

title: Continental climate


text:
Portoro Buono

Porto Buono is a decorative stone from Porto Venere, near Spezia, Liguria, Italy. A cretaceous golden veined black marble.

title: Portoro Buono


text:
System of equations

In mathematics, a set of simultaneous equations, also known as a system of equations or an equation system, is a finite set of equations for which common solutions are sought. An equation system is usually classified in the same manner as single equations, namely as a:

 * System of linear equations,
 * System of nonlinear equations,
 * System of bilinear equations,
 * System of polynomial equations,
 * System of differential equations, or a
 * System of difference equations

title: System of equations


text:
Same-sex marriage in Belgium

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Belgium since 1 June 2003. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was passed by the Senate on 28 November 2002, and by the Chamber of Representatives on 30 January 2003. King Albert II granted his assent, and the bill entered into force on 1 June. Polling indicates that a significant majority of Belgians support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Belgium was the second country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands.

"Statutory cohabitation", a form of civil union open to any two legally consenting cohabiting persons, has been available since 1 January 2000.

Statutory cohabitation
In 1995, a bill was introduced in the Federal Parliament to provide for a legal framework of "cohabitation agreements". It was mostly intended as a response to the lowering marriage rates rather than giving rights to same-sex couples. In 1998, the bill was changed to "statutory cohabitation", and finally voted on. The Chamber of Representatives approved it by a 98–10 vote with 32 abstentions and the Senate by a 39–8 vote with 19 abstentions. The Act establishing statutory cohabitation, also known as the Act of 23 November 1998, amended certain provisions of the Belgian Civil Code and the Belgian Judicial Code to give limited rights to registered same-sex and opposite-sex couples. However, being a couple is not a requirement to make a declaration of statutory cohabitation; relatives can do so too. The law was legally published on 12 January 1999 but would not go into effect until 1 January 2000.

Statistics
Since 2010, the number of newly-established statutory cohabitations has remained relatively constant at around 38,000 new unions per year. In 2019, 40,801 new unions were registered (compared to 44,270 marriages) and 26,301 unions were dissolved (compared to 22,435 divorces). In 2022, same-sex couples accounted for about 4% of all unions.

History
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Belgium since 1 June 2003, making it the second country in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples, after the Netherlands, and 9 days ahead of the Canadian province of Ontario. Legislation to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples was passed by both chambers of the Federal Parliament in November 2002 and January 2003 with the support of most political parties, and received royal assent on 13 February 2003. In Belgian public discourse, same-sex marriage is commonly known as "marriage for all" or as "homomarriage".

In the late 1990s, gay rights organisations in Belgium lobbied for the legalization of same-sex marriage. Belgian civil law did not explicitly require that two people be of opposite gender to be able to marry, as this was considered self-evident. Private member's bills in the 1990s by Flemish Block senators to add this as an explicit requirement were never considered.

Verhofstadt Government
The election programmes of the SP (Flemish Social Democrats), Agalev (Flemish Greens) and VLD (Flemish Liberals) for the 13 June 1999 elections included the aim of legalising same-sex marriage. The Verhofstadt I Government formed after the elections was made up of a coalition of liberal, socialist and green parties and excluded the long-dominant Christian Democrats, who lost the elections due to the Dioxin Affair. The coalition agreement included "implementing a full legal partnership scheme" as well as "immediately making the Act of 23 November 1998 enter into force", which had not been done yet. A royal order signed on 14 December and published on 23 December 1999 made the law on statutory cohabitation go into effect on 1 January 2000.

In 1999, the PS (French-speaking Social Democrats) and Ecolo (French-speaking Greens) also announced their support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage. At that point, the only remaining party in government that opposed same-sex marriage was the French-speaking liberal PRL (later merged into MR), mainly because it was opposed to adoption rights for same-sex couples. PRL agreed not to block same-sex marriage if adoption rights were excluded. As the first same-sex marriage in the Netherlands was performed on 1 April 2001, the Belgian Government, mostly under the lead of Minister of Health Magda Aelvoet (Agalev), began considering it as well. On 22 June, the Council of Ministers formally approved opening marriage to same-sex couples. In September, the largest opposition party, the Christian People's Party (CVP), held a party convention where they rebranded into Christian Democratic & Flemish (CD&V), with a renewed party platform, including the aim of legalising same-sex marriage, put forward by their youth wing.

On 30 November 2001, however, the Council of State gave a negative legal opinion on the bill, saying that "marriage is defined as the union of a man and a woman". LGBT organisations and government ministers criticised the opinion and said they would proceed with the legislation. The Council of Ministers formally approved the government bill on 8 December 2001 and in second reading on 30 January 2002, and submitted it to the Chamber of Representatives on 14 March 2002, where it faced a Justice Committee overloaded with bills to consider. In May 2002, the government bill was withdrawn from the Chamber and instead introduced as a private member's bill (which does not require opinions by the Council of State) in the Senate by the group leaders of the majority parties, Jeannine Leduc (VLD), Philippe Mahoux (PS), Philippe Monfils (MR), Myriam Vanlerberghe (SP.A-Spirit), Marie Nagy (Ecolo) and Frans Lozie (Agalev).

As Minister Aelvoet resigned on 28 August 2002 and elections were to be held in June 2003, the fate of the bill was unclear. Some politicians also accused Philippe Monfils of deliberately stalling the bill. Nevertheless, new momentum was gained at the start of the new parliamentary year in October 2002. The Senate Justice Committee held hearings and voted 11–4 to approve the bill. It passed in the full Senate on 28 November 2002, with 46 votes to 15 (and 4 abstentions), and on 30 January 2003 the bill passed the Chamber of Representatives by 91 votes to 22 (and 9 abstentions). The Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Christian Democratic and Flemish, the (Francophone) Socialist Party, the (Flemish) Socialist Party, Ecolo, Agalev and the People's Union voted generally in favour except for several abstentions, whereas the Flemish Block and National Front voted against, the Humanist Democratic Centre voted against with several abstentions and the Reformist Movement voted mostly against.

 * * Coalition of the 1999–2003 Verhofstadt I Government.
 * ** The party had recently split, but was still technically together as a parliamentary group.

King Albert II signed and promulgated the bill on 13 February 2003. It was published in the Belgian Official Journal on 28 February and came into force on 1 June.

The first paragraph of article 143 of the Belgian Civil Code (Book I, Title V, Chapter I) now reads as follows:
 * in Dutch: Een huwelijk kan worden aangegaan door twee personen van verschillend of van hetzelfde geslacht.
 * in French: Deux personnes de sexe différent ou de même sexe peuvent contracter mariage.
 * in German: Zwei Personen verschiedenen oder gleichen Geschlechts können eine Ehe eingehen.
 * (Two persons of different sex or of the same sex may contract marriage.)

The first female couple married on 6 June 2003 and the first male couple on 13 June 2003, both in Kapellen near Antwerp.

In November 2003, opponents of same-sex marriage petitioned the Arbitration Court to invalidate the law as unconstitutional. Their main argument held that treating fundamentally different situations the same way violated the equality principle of the Constitution. In October 2004, the Arbitration Court, nowadays known as the Constitutional Court, rejected the request.

Subsequent changes
Originally, Belgium allowed the marriages of foreign same-sex couples only if their country of origin also allowed these unions. A circulaire by Minister of Justice Laurette Onkelinx (PS) of 23 January 2004, however, permits any couple to marry in Belgium if at least one of the spouses has lived in the country for a minimum of three months. This was codified into the Code of Private International Law, which took effect on 1 October 2004.

The same-sex marriage law did not permit adoption by same-sex partners, and as birth within a same-sex marriage did not imply affiliation, the same-sex spouse of the biological parent had no way to become the legal parent. A proposal to permit adoption was approved 77–62 (with 7 abstentions) by the Chamber of Representatives on 1 December 2005, and 34–33 (with 2 abstentions) by the Senate on 20 April 2006. It received royal assent on 18 May and went into force on 30 June 2006.

A legal inequality compared to heterosexual couples still existed with regard to children: the husband of the biological mother is automatically legally recognised as the father (by article 135 of the Civil Code), but this was not the case in a same-sex union for the wife of the mother. To be recognised as the co-mother, she had to complete an adoption procedure. This accounted for the large majority of adoption cases in Belgium. The Di Rupo Government promised to fix this, and in 2014, as the Netherlands had recently passed similar legislation, LGBT organisations pressured the government about their promise. Subsequently, legislators worked to agree on a solution. A bill to this end was approved by the Senate on 3 April 2014 on a 48–2 vote (with one abstention), and by the Chamber of Representatives on 23 April on a 114–10 vote (with one abstention). The bill received royal assent by King Philippe of Belgium on 5 May and went into effect on 1 January 2015. Since this change, female same-sex couples are treated equally to heterosexual couples: the co-mother married to the mother is automatically recognised as a parent, and an unmarried partner can formally recognise the child at the civil registry. An equivalent solution for male same-sex couples has not been agreed upon, due to the controversy surrounding surrogacy.

Statistics

According to the Belgian Official Journal, approximately 300 same-sex couples were married between June 2003 and April 2004 (245 in 2003 and 55 in 2004). This constituted 1.2 percent of the total number of marriages in Belgium during that period. Two-thirds of the couples were male and one-third female. On 22 July 2005, the Belgian Government announced that a total of 2,442 same-sex marriages had taken place in the country since the extension of marriage rights two years earlier. The following table summarizes the number of people who have married a partner of the same sex in Belgium per year.

The odd numbers are due to the fact that certain partners are not officially inscribed in the National Register or are the result of an incorrect registration. Figures for 2020 are lower than previous years because of the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of same-sex marriages by region:

Consequently, the share of same-sex marriages among all marriages also differs from region to region. In 2022, almost 3.7% of marriages in Brussels, 2.9% in Flanders and 3.1% in Wallonia were same-sex marriages. The province with the lowest rate is Walloon Brabant (2.0%) and the one with the highest rate is Hainaut (3.5%).

Religious performance
The United Protestant Church in Belgium has allowed its congregations to perform same-sex marriages since 2007.

The Catholic Church opposes same-sex marriage and does not allow its priests to officiate at such marriages. In September 2022, Roman Catholic bishops in Flanders issued a document permitting same-sex unions to be blessed in their churches. The document allows for a ritual which includes a prayer and a final benediction in front of family and friends. It emphasised that while such blessings did not alter the Catholic doctrine on "sacramental marriage," the move would allow the Church to be "pastorally close to homosexual persons" and a "welcoming [place] that excludes no one." In December 2023, the Holy See published Fiducia supplicans, a declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless couples who are not considered to be married according to church teaching, including the blessing of same-sex couples. Bishop of Antwerp Johan Bonny welcomed the declaration, saying, "It helps us move forward."

Public opinion
The 2006 Eurobarometer found that 62% of Belgian respondents thought same-sex marriages should be allowed in Europe. A 2008 survey by Delta Lloyd Life found that 76% of Belgians supported same-sex marriage and 46% thought that same-sex couples could raise children just as well as opposite-sex couples.

A May 2013 Ipsos poll found that 67% of respondents were in favour of same-sex marriage and another 12% supported another form of recognition for same-sex couples. According to an Ifop poll conducted that same month, 71% of Belgians supported allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

The 2015 Eurobarometer found that 77% of Belgians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 20% were opposed. A Pew Research Center poll, conducted between April and August 2017 and published in May 2018, showed that 82% of Belgian people supported same-sex marriage, 10% were opposed and 8% did not know or had refused to answer. When divided by religion, 88% of religiously unaffiliated people, 83% of non-practicing Christians and 66% of church-attending Christians supported same-sex marriage. Opposition was 9% among 18–34-year-olds.

The 2019 Eurobarometer found that 82% of Belgians thought same-sex marriage should be allowed throughout Europe, while 17% were opposed. The 2023 Eurobarometer found that support was 79%, while 19% were opposed. The survey also showed that 80% of Belgians thought that "there is nothing wrong in a sexual relationship between two persons of the same sex", while 18% disagreed.

title: Same-sex marriage in Belgium