text:
Pelagic zone

The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word pelagic is derived. The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the surface of the sea and the bottom. Conditions in the water column change with depth: pressure increases; temperature and light decrease; salinity, oxygen, micronutrients (such as iron, magnesium and calcium) all change. In a manner analogous to stratification in the Earth's atmosphere, the water column can be divided vertically into up to five different layers (illustrated in the diagram), with the number of layers depending on the depth of the water.

Marine life is affected by bathymetry (underwater topography) such as the seafloor, shoreline, or a submarine seamount, as well as by proximity to the boundary between the ocean and the atmosphere at the ocean surface, which brings light for photosynthesis, predation from above, and wind stirring up waves and setting currents in motion. The pelagic zone refers to the open, free waters away from the shore, where marine life can swim freely in any direction unhindered by topographical constraints.

The oceanic zone is the deep open ocean beyond the continental shelf, which contrasts with the inshore waters near the coast, such as in estuaries or on the continental shelf. Waters in the oceanic zone plunge to the depths of the abyssopelagic and further to the hadopelagic. Coastal waters are generally the relatively shallow epipelagic. Altogether, the pelagic zone occupies 1,330 million km3 (320 million mi3) with a mean depth of 3.68 km and maximum depth of 11 km. Pelagic life decreases as depth increases.

The pelagic zone contrasts with the benthic and demersal zones at the bottom of the sea. The benthic zone is the ecological region at the very bottom, including the sediment surface and some subsurface layers. Marine organisms such as clams and crabs living in this zone are called benthos. Just above the benthic zone is the demersal zone. Demersal fish can be divided into benthic fish, which are denser than water and rest on the bottom, and benthopelagic fish, which swim just above the bottom. Demersal fish are also known as bottom feeders and groundfish.

Depth and layers
The pelagic zone is subdivided into five vertical regions. From the top down, these are:

Epipelagic (sunlight)
The illuminated zone at the surface of the sea with sufficient light for photosynthesis. Nearly all primary production in the ocean occurs here, and marine life is concentrated in this zone, including plankton, floating seaweed, jellyfish, tuna, many sharks and dolphins.

Mesopelagic (twilight)
The most abundant organisms thriving into the mesopelagic zone are heterotrophic bacteria. Animals living in this zone include swordfish, squid, wolffish and some species of cuttlefish. Many organisms living here are bioluminescent. Some mesopelagic creatures rise to the epipelagic zone at night to feed.

Bathypelagic (midnight)
The name stems. The ocean is pitch black at this depth apart from occasional bioluminescent organisms, such as anglerfish. No plants live here. Most animals survive on detritus known as "marine snow" falling from the zones above or, like the marine hatchetfish, by preying on other inhabitants of this zone. Other examples of this zone's inhabitants are giant squid, smaller squid and the grimpoteuthis or "dumbo octopus". The giant squid is hunted here by deep-diving sperm whales.

Abyssopelagic (abyssal zone)
The name is derived - a holdover from times when the deep ocean was believed to indeed be bottomless. Among the very few creatures living in the cold temperatures, high pressures and complete darkness here are several species of squid; echinoderms including the basket star, swimming cucumber, and the sea pig; and marine arthropods including the sea spider. Many species at these depths are transparent and eyeless.

Hadopelagic (hadal zone)
The name is derived from the realm of Hades, the Greek underworld. This is the deepest part of the ocean at more than 6000 m or 6500 m, depending on authority. Such depths are generally located in trenches.

Pelagic ecosystem
The pelagic ecosystem is based on phytoplankton. Phytoplankton manufacture their own food using a process of photosynthesis. Because they need sunlight, they inhabit the upper, sunlit epipelagic zone, which includes the coastal or neritic zone. Biodiversity diminishes markedly in the deeper zones below the epipelagic zone as dissolved oxygen diminishes, water pressure increases, temperatures become colder, food sources become scarce, and light diminishes and finally disappears.

Pelagic invertebrates
Some examples of pelagic invertebrates include krill, copepods, jellyfish, decapod larvae, hyperiid amphipods, rotifers and cladocerans.

Thorson's rule states that benthic marine invertebrates at low latitudes tend to produce large numbers of eggs developing to widely dispersing pelagic larvae, whereas at high latitudes such organisms tend to produce fewer and larger lecithotrophic (yolk-feeding) eggs and larger offspring.

Pelagic fish
Pelagic fish live in the water column of coastal, ocean, and lake waters, but not on or near the bottom of the sea or the lake. They can be contrasted with demersal fish, which do live on or near the bottom, and coral reef fish.

Pelagic fish are often migratory forage fish, which feed on plankton, and the larger predatory fish that follow and feed on the forage fish. Examples of migratory forage fish are herring, anchovies, capelin, and menhaden. Examples of larger pelagic fish which prey on the forage fish are billfish, tuna, and oceanic sharks.

Pelagic reptiles

Hydrophis platurus, the yellow-bellied sea snake, is the only one of the 65 species of marine snakes to spend its entire life in the pelagic zone. It bears live young at sea and is helpless on land. The species sometimes forms aggregations of thousands along slicks in surface waters. The yellow-bellied sea snake is the world's most widely distributed snake species.

Many species of sea turtles spend the first years of their lives in the pelagic zone, moving closer to shore as they reach maturity.

Pelagic birds
Pelagic birds, also called oceanic birds or seabirds, live on open seas and oceans rather than inland or around more restricted waters such as rivers and lakes. Pelagic birds feed on planktonic crustaceans, squid and forage fish. Examples are the Atlantic puffin, macaroni penguins, sooty terns, shearwaters, and Procellariiformes such as the albatross, Procellariidae and petrels.

title: Pelagic zone


text:
San Luis Province

San Luis is a province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja, Córdoba, La Pampa, Mendoza and San Juan.

History
The city of San Luis was founded in 1594 by Luis Jufré de Loaysa y Meneses, but was subsequently abandoned. It was refounded by Martín García Óñez de Loyola in 1596 under the name San Luis de Loyola.

Since the return of Argentina to democratic rule in 1983, in particular, the Rodríguez Saá family (of Peronist affiliation) has occupied the governor's seat. Governor (now Senator) Adolfo Rodríguez Saá has overseen investment by light manufacturers (mostly food-processors and bottling plants) and advances like the construction of Argentina's most extensive expressway network.

Economy
San Luis' economy has, over the past generation, been among the most improved in Argentina. Its 2006 output, estimated at US$3.386 billion, yielded a per capita income of US$9,203 (somewhat above the national average).

Demographics
Historical evolution of the population of the province:

Government
The provincial government is divided into three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoints the cabinet; the legislative; and the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court.

Political division
The province is divided into nine departments (departamentos).

Source for department names:

Villages

 * Desaguadero

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

title: San Luis Province


text:
Per stirpes

Per stirpes ("by roots" or "by stock") is a legal term from Latin, used in the law of inheritance and estates. An estate of a is distributed per stirpes if each branch of the family is to receive an equal share of an  estate. When an heir in the first generation of a branch predeceased the decedent, the share that would have been given to that heir would be distributed among that heir's issue in equal shares. It may also be known as strict per stirpes or the old English approach, and differs from distribution per capita, as members of the same generation may inherit different amounts. In section 33 of the Wills Act 1837 in England and Wales, it is called according to their stock.

Examples
Example 1A: The testator A, specifies in his will that his estate is to be divided among his descendants in equal shares per stirpes. A has three children, B, C, and D. B is already dead, but has left two children (grandchildren of A), B1 and B2. When A's will is executed, under a distribution per stirpes, C and D each receive one-third of the estate, and B1 and B2 each receive one-sixth. B1 and B2 constitute one "branch" of the family, and collectively receive a share equal to the shares received by C and D as branches (figure 1).

Example 1B: If grandchild B1 had predeceased A, leaving two children B1a and B1b, and grandchild B2 had also died leaving three children B2a, B2b, and B2c, then distribution per stirpes would give one-third each to C and D; one-twelfth each to B1a and B1b, who would constitute a branch; and one-eighteenth each to B2a, B2b, and B2c. Thus, the B, C, and D branches receive equal shares of the whole estate, the B1 and B2 branches receive equal shares of the B branch's share, B1a and B1b receive equal shares of the B1 branch's share, and B2a, B2b, and B2c receive equal shares of the B2 branch's share.

Per capita at each generation
Per capita at each generation is an alternative way of distribution, where heirs of the same generation will each receive the same amount. The estate is divided into equal shares at the generation closest to the deceased with surviving heirs. The number of shares is equal to the number of original members either surviving or with surviving descendants. Each surviving heir of that generation gets a share. The remainder is then equally divided among the next-generation descendants of the deceased descendants in the same manner.

Example 2A: In the first example, children C and D survive, so the estate is divided at their generation. There were three children, so each surviving child receives one-third. The remainder – Bs share – is then divided in the same manner among Bs surviving descendants. The result is the same as under per stirpes because B's one-third is distributed to B1 and B2 (one-sixth to each).

Example 2B: The per capita and per stirpes results would differ if D also pre-deceased with one child, D1 (figure 2). Under per stirpes, B1 and B2 would each receive one-sixth (half of Bs one-third share), and D1 would receive one-third (all of Ds one-third share). Under per capita, the two-thirds remaining after C 's one-third share was taken would be divided equally among all three children of B and D. (Two-thirds = six-ninths) Each would receive two-ninths: B1, B2, and D1 would all receive two-ninths.

Notes:
 * To give the effect indicated in these examples the clause should also include a provision that no beneficiary being a grandchild or more remote descendant will take a share if his or her parent is alive and takes a share.
 * The spouses of the children (that is, spouses of B, C, and D) are not considered. Spouses are not a part of the branch. Therefore, even if B, C, or, D died leaving a spouse as well as children, all (100%) of the assets pass to the children and (0%) nothing passes to the spouses of As children B, C, and D. From the example above, if As child B died before As death, As grandchildren B1 and B2 would each receive half of Bs share. Even if B had a living spouse at the time of As death, that person would receive nothing from A's estate.

Per capita with representation
In many US states, a statute has modified the per stirpes approach and uses instead a per capita with representation approach (also known as modern American per stirpes). Under this approach, the number of branches is determined by reference to the generation nearest the testator which has a surviving descendant. Thus, in the first example, if C and D also are already dead, and each left one child, C1 and D1 respectively, then each of B1, B2, C1 and D1 would receive one quarter of the estate. This method is used in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, and West Virginia.

title: Per stirpes


text:
Indium phosphide

Indium phosphide (InP) is a binary semiconductor composed of indium and phosphorus. It has a face-centered cubic ("zincblende") crystal structure, identical to that of GaAs and most of the III-V semiconductors.

Manufacturing
Indium phosphide can be prepared from the reaction of white phosphorus and indium iodide at 400 °C., also by direct combination of the purified elements at high temperature and pressure, or by thermal decomposition of a mixture of a trialkyl indium compound and phosphine.

Applications
The application fields of InP splits up into three main areas. It is used as the basis for optoelectronic components, high-speed electronics, and photovoltaics

High-speed optoelectronics
InP is used as a substrate for epitaxial optoelectronic devices based other semiconductors, such as indium gallium arsenide. The devices include pseudomorphic heterojunction bipolar transistors that could operate at 604 GHz.

InP itself has a direct bandgap, making it useful for optoelectronics devices like laser diodes and photonic integrated circuits for the optical telecommunications industry, to enable wavelength-division multiplexing applications. It is used in high-power and high-frequency electronics because of its superior electron velocity with respect to the more common semiconductors silicon and gallium arsenide.

Optical Communications
InP is used in lasers, sensitive photodetectors and modulators in the wavelength window typically used for telecommunications, i.e., 1550 nm wavelengths, as it is a direct bandgap III-V compound semiconductor material. The wavelength between about 1510 nm and 1600 nm has the lowest attenuation available on optical fibre (about 0.2 dB/km). Further, O-band and C-band wavelengths supported by InP facilitate single-mode operation, reducing effects of intermodal dispersion.

Photovoltaics and optical sensing
InP can be used in photonic integrated circuits that can generate, amplify, control and detect laser light.

Optical sensing applications of InP include
 * Air pollution control by real-time detection of gases (CO, CO2, NOX [or NO + NO2], etc.).
 * Quick verification of traces of toxic substances in gases and liquids, including tap water, or surface contaminations.
 * Spectroscopy for non-destructive control of product, such as food. Researchers of Eindhoven University of Technology and MantiSpectra have already demonstrated the application of an integrated near-infrared spectral sensor for milk. In addition, it has been proven that this technology can also be applied to plastics and illicit drugs.

title: Indium phosphide


text:
User:Arpad~enwiki

ELO

title: User:Arpad~enwiki


text:
Wikipedia:Requests for comment/User conduct disputes archive/Wetman

First invited to "weigh-in" against me by Llywrch in November 2003 he immediately belittled my good-faith editing offering advice on how to distract my little brain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Wetman#Concerning_Tiresome_Behavior now posts warning messages against almost anything I contribute to. I try Wiki policy and Wikiquette but he promotes me as a "troll" to other users. The bones of contention seem to be in any article i write but specifically based upon disagreement with the existence of any evidence that may support the legitimate Jewish tradition that so-called "Shemites" were originally an eastern people of whom some settled amidst speakers of what are now called Afro-Asiatic languages. It seems the respect for religious (perhaps not just Jewish) traditions is annoying for him particularly if in conflict with the fact that certain Protestant views which have been found to be without any scientific basis. Is is so unbelieveable that nations might preserve 'certain' traditions which may become backed up as having some historical accuracy as science progresses? The accusation is that I try to synthesize biblical traditions with historical evidence any time I try to clarify historical data and add sections or links about Biblical perspectives which happen not to be in contrast to the historical data. The fact that I have also clarified pages erroneously linking to biblical figures is overlooked. Following in the line of earlier prejudices against User:Yeti and User:Levzur (which instead of attempting to understand their cultural positions and bring them round gently, soon rubbed the latter the wrong way leading into conflict with User:RickK) he has now accused me of being involved in some kind of nationalist Urrecht movement (I cannot imagine what the details of this might be).Zestauferov 10:02, 19 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * An excruciatingly careful rewrite of Habiru is now being assembled by User:Benwbrum/Hapiru. My record speaks for itself; so does User:Zestauferov's. A troll is a person whose primary interest is in creating dissention and attracting attention. A clever troll adds just enough content not to be banned. I will not encourage neurotic needs for aggrievement further. Wetman 00:45, 20 Feb 2004 (UTC)

 * Is calling me neurotic in line with Wikiquette? Well I would like to invite people to offer me constructive feed-back on my entries to see if I can do something to deflect this accusation. I thought a Troll is a monster that sits under a bridge and does not allow anyone to cross. Rather like someone who reverts any edits made to a page which they have written.Zestauferov 14:52, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Arpad~enwiki

Leave comments here

Hello Arpad, welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Looks like nobody greeted you :-).

Again, welcome! ugen64 21:23, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

User categorization
You were listed in the User:Grin/hu page as living in or being associated with Hungary. As part of the User categorisation project, these lists are being replaced with user categories. If you would like to add yourself to the category that is replacing the page, please visit Category:Wikipedians in Hungary for instructions. Adam78 00:10, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Arpad. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Arpad~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 22:09, 19 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 10:38, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Arpad~enwiki


text:
Susan Powter

Susan Powter (born 22 December 1957) is an Australian-born American motivational speaker, nutritionist, personal trainer, and author, who rose to fame in the 1990s with her catchphrase "Stop the Insanity!", the centerpiece of her weight-loss infomercial.

She hosted her own talk show The Susan Powter Show in the 1990s.

Early life
Born in Sydney in 1957 (some sources give her birthdate as 12 December and others as 22 December), Powter immigrated to the United States at age 10. She left school in 9th grade.

Television
In 1994, Powter starred in her own talk-show style television program called The Susan Powter Show, which ran for one season. On the show, she discussed nutrition and fitness as well as other topics with her guests. She was also a special guest on the first episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, titled "Spanish Translation".

It was planned for her to be a regular on the TV sitcom Women of the House in 1995. The series was cancelled before the single episode she appeared in was shown on TV.

Motivational speaker and nutritionist
Advocate of a whole-foods, organic, low-fat diet, and regular cardiovascular and strength-training exercise, Powter also condemned the diet industry.

Her platinum-white close cropped haircut, aggressive speaking manner, and habit of being barefoot while speaking in public became elements of her celebrity. She has since grown out her hair and has multiple tattoos.

Powter was originally based in Dallas, Texas, at the height of her fame. She eventually sold her studio in Dallas and moved to Seattle, Washington. In 2012, she was living in an Earthship in New Mexico. More recently, she lived in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Author and blogger
Powter is an author of several books, three of which became New York Times best-sellers in the 1990s. In 2002, she returned to writing with The Politics of Stupid, a stream-of-consciousness, self-published manifesto encouraging women to take control of their brains and bodies from food manufacturers, corrupt governments, and fitness/diet industries. She puts out The Monthly Flow, a subscription-based multi-media e-zine.

Personal life
On 3 January 1995, Powter filed for personal bankruptcy.

Powter has been married twice. She has two sons from her first marriage, Damien and Kiel. She adopted a third son Gabriel, after her second marriage. She later came out as a lesbian, and in a 2004 interview with Curve magazine, she described herself as a "radical feminist lesbian woman". She dated comedian Jessica Kirson in 2008.

Video cassettes

 * Moving With Susan (1992)
 * Shopping with Susan (1993)
 * Lean, Strong and Healthy with Susan Powter (1993)
 * Building Strength with Susan Powter (1994)
 * Burn Fat & Get Fit with Susan Powter (1994)

title: Susan Powter


text:
User talk:Troyrock

Hello, Troyrock, welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Drop us a note at the new user log so that we can meet you and help you get started. If you need editing help, visit How does one edit a page. For format questions, visit our manual of style. If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the village pump.

Again, welcome! ugen64 21:21, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

Hi Troy, welcome to Wikipedia. I've been doing some editing of the holographic storage section you added to Holography. Couple of questions:

 * I'm thinking of moving the bulleted section to photorefractive effect, which we don't yet have an article on. What do you think?
 * For the second bullet, you write and electrons can be promoted from the valence band to the conduction band of the material. I though electrons got promoted from impurity levels (inside the bandgap) to the c.b., but I'm no expert. Can you clear this up?

Thanks, and welcome again. -- DrBob 18:33, 25 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Verdet constant
You've given the Verdet constants in units of rad T-1 although it should be something like rad T-1 m-1. Please give us the correct units. 193.171.121.30 01:16, 4 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Troyrock


text:
Talk:2003 U.S.-Canada Blackout

Under 'Statements made in the aftermath, a group linked to al-Qaida is mentioned. The group is the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, who have also recently claimed responsibility for the Madrid March 11th bombings. An article for this group exists in Wikipedia. I ask for a link to that to be added to the 2003 U.S. Canada Blackout article.

While I am not advocating that we sound off on behalf of terrorists --actual or wannabes!--, I believe, for the sake of completeness-- that this link should be added.

Any thoughts?

title: Talk:2003 U.S.-Canada Blackout


text:
User talk:Trujaman

Hello Trujaman, welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Drop us a note at the new user log so that we can meet you and help you get started. If you need editing help, visit How does one edit a page. For format questions, visit our manual of style. If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the village pump.

Again, welcome! ugen64 21:24, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

Thank you for the updates. I appreciate it.Yosri 05:11, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Category:Wikipedians of Mexico
Hello Trujaman this message is a invitation to categorize your userpage in the category: Category:Wikipedians of Mexico or in the adecuate sub-category and erasing your name from the equivalent list since the lists of users are in process of being transformed into categories. Remember: You can categorize your user page in more than one category. example: your actual location and your origin country.

for more info see: User categorisation and Category:Wikipedians by location

Saludos. --Mnts 03:15, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

Bernardino of Siena
I saw you changed "sodomy" to "homosexuality". What do you base this on? Do you have a source? Debresser (talk) 20:42, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Dear Debresser:

I do not have a source. I did what I thought to be a justifiable elimination of inflamatory language in the pursuit of a NPOV.

If I have erred in so doing, I apologize.

Sincerely,

Trujaman.

 * No problem. It is just that not all "sodomy" is "homosexuality", so a source is needed to show that in this case that is what was meant. Not to mention that for some, yours truly included, homosexuality ia hardly less disgusting than bestiality e.g. (another category included often in "sodomy"). Debresser (talk) 12:00, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Don't edit the article on Carlos Monsiváis
Please don't edit the article with the in use template up. You cause me an edit conflict and loss of data. moreno oso (talk) 07:24, 20 June 2010 (UTC)

My WikiProject proposal for Interwiki and Translation
Dear Trujaman,

Greetings from Montevideo, Uruguay. From your username I guess that, apart from being a translator, you love translation. That is why I decided to write you. I have just published a WikiProject proposal, Proposal for Translation and Interwiki.

Maybe you have something to suggest, or you already know a better idea for my proposal. Thank you for your time and consideration, I hope to read your opinions soon. Best regards, --Fadesga (talk) 13:32, 28 November 2010 (UTC)

ArbCom elections are now open!
Hi, You appear to be eligible to vote in the current Arbitration Committee election. The Arbitration Committee is the panel of editors responsible for conducting the Wikipedia arbitration process. It has the authority to enact binding solutions for disputes between editors, primarily related to serious behavioural issues that the community has been unable to resolve. This includes the ability to impose site bans, topic bans, editing restrictions, and other measures needed to maintain our editing environment. The arbitration policy describes the Committee's roles and responsibilities in greater detail. If you wish to participate, you are welcome to review the candidates' statements and submit your choices on the voting page. For the Election committee, MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 22:14, 30 November 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Trujaman


text:
Zoo Diaries

Zoo Diaries is a Canadian documentary television series airing on Life Network. The series documents the live of animals and people at a zoo with a record of breeding endangered species. 74 episodes have been produced since 2000 by DocuTainment Productions. The final episode aired in 2007.

Each episode opens with a brief description of the show's contents. Events in the life of three or four animals are shown, cutting between stories every couple of minutes. Each story focuses on an animal in an interesting situation, and the zoo person responsible for handling the situation. Some situations are resolved over a number of episodes, for example, developing and performing an animal show designed to startle the audience. Topics vary from birth to death.

The series is candid about the zoo employees' behavior and opinions.

It is filmed at the Toronto Zoo in Toronto, Ontario and narrated by Vince Corazza.

Episodes 1-37 are available on DVD. In Canada, the show currently airs on National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild and Nickelodeon Canada.

title: Zoo Diaries


text:
BIA

BIA or Bia may refer to:

Organizations and companies

 * Board of Immigration Appeals, an American immigration appellate court
 * Bohemia Interactive Australia, a computer simulation software company
 * Border and Immigration Agency, a defunct British government agency
 * Braille Institute of America, a non-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles
 * Brazilian Intelligence Agency
 * Bridgeport International Academy, a U.S. high school
 * British Institute in Amman, a British research institute in Amman, Jordan
 * British Island Airways, a defunct British airline
 * Brunei Investment Agency, a corporation under the Government of Brunei
 * Bureau of Indian Affairs, an American government agency
 * Burma Independence Army, a name for the predecessor of the Burma National Army in World War II
 * Bus Industries of America
 * Security Intelligence Agency (Bezbednosno Informativna Agencija), Serbian intelligence agency
 * Beijing Institute of Aerodynamics, a former research organization in Beijing, China

Airports

 * Baghdad International Airport
 * Bahrain International Airport
 * Bandaranaike International Airport
 * Bangkok International Airport (disambiguation)
 * Bangor International Airport, Bangor, Maine
 * Bastia – Poretta Airport (IATA: BIA), on the island of Corsica
 * Beirut International Airport
 * Belfast International Airport
 * Bengaluru International Airport, Bangalore, India
 * Birmingham Airport, Birmingham, England
 * Birmingham–Shuttlesworth International Airport, Birmingham, Alabama, United States
 * Blackpool International Airport, Lancashire, England
 * Bristol Airport
 * Brussels International Airport

Other acronyms

 * Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the statute that regulates the law on bankruptcy and insolvency in Canada
 * Basic indicator approach, a set of operational risk measurement techniques for banking institutions
 * Behavioural investigative advisor, a British term for police psychologist
 * Bilateral Immunity Agreement, a type of treaty involving the United States
 * Bioelectrical impedance analysis, a way to measure body fat using electrical impulses
 * Burned-in address, a globally unique network address assigned to a device at time of manufacture
 * Business impact analysis, a component of business continuity planning
 * Business improvement area, a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the area
 * Business–IT alignment, a dynamic state in which a business organization is able to use information technology (IT) effectively to achieve business objectives

Places

 * Bīā, a village in Iran
 * Bia, Togo, a village
 * Bia District, a former district of western Ghana
 * Bia National Park, a national park in Ghana
 * Bia (Ghana parliament constituency)
 * Bia River in western Africa
 * Phou Bia, the highest mountain in Laos

People

 * Bïa, a Brazilian-born singer
 * Bia (Brazilian footballer)
 * Bia (rapper)
 * Maria Francisca Bia, 19th-century Dutch ballet dancer, opera singer and actress
 * Bia de' Medici (1536–1542), daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
 * Beatriz Haddad Maia (commonly known as Bia; born 1996), Brazilian tennis player
 * Beatriz Vaz e Silva (commonly known as Bia; born 1985), Brazilian soccer player

Other uses

 * Bia (butterfly), a genus of brush-footed butterflies
 * Bia (mythology), a Greek mythological figure
 * Bia (plant), a genus of plants
 * Bia, a synonym for a genus of beetles, Bius
 * Bia (TV series), an Argentine telenovela
 * Bia, a Filipino name for the Long-finned goby

title: BIA


text:
Islamic Human Rights Commission

The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is a non-profit organisation based in London. Its stated mission is to "work with different organisations from Muslim and non-Muslim backgrounds, to campaign for justice for all peoples regardless of their racial, confessional or political background." The group is based in London and was established in 1997. The organisation, since 2007, has consultative status with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Philosophy
The IHRC states its philosophy derives from: "Qur'anic injunctions that command believers to rise up in defence of the oppressed. 'And what reason have you that you should not fight in the way of Allah and of the weak among the men and the women and the children, (of) those who say: Our Lord! cause us to go forth from this town, whose people are oppressors, and give us from Thee a guardian and give us from Thee a helper.' Qur'an 4:75"

Jytte Klausen of Brandeis University writes that the IHRC forms part of the organized Muslim community in Europe.

However, according to the now defunct Awaaz, the IHRC is "a radical Islamist organisation that uses the language of human rights to promote an extremist agenda including the adoption of shariah law". In a report entitled "The Islamist Right – key tendencies", Awaaz also states the IHRC is part of a corpus of right-wing Islamist and neo-Khomeiniist organisations, a charge the IHRC denies. Awaaz's claims were echoed by journalist Melanie Phillips, who stated in The Spectator that the IHRC was, "the most conspicuous promoter of Khomeini jihadism in the UK, ... [and] is said to be close to Iran."

However, public intellectual and journalist Stuart Weir argues that IHRC are amongst the representative voices of Muslims in the UK stating:

"...the staff and voluntary workers of the Islamic Human Rights Commission – ... put the lie to the common idea that Islam and human rights are irreconcilable."

Activities
The organisation states it is a campaign, research and advocacy organisation. It also engages in ad hoc and one-off projects.

Campaigns
The campaigns section features heavily on the organisation's website.

Its current campaigns focus on anti-terrorism laws in the UK. The organisation is calling of their repeal. Other main campaigns include one for political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. During the 2014 summer war on Gaza, IHRC held a high-profile campaign to get people to show solidarity with Palestinians by flying a Palestinian flag.

Other campaigns include the Prisoners of Faith project, which has included campaigns to release various religious figures from imprisonment for their religious beliefs. Among these are Mu'allim Ibrahim Zakzaky released 1998, Gul Aslan released 1999, Nureddin Sirin, released 2004. The organisation also states the following have been released as a result of their campaigning: Mallam Turi, Zeenah Ibrahim from Nigeria; Sheikh Al-Jamri, Bahrain; Huda Kaya, Bekir Yildiz, Recep Tayyep Erdogan, Nurilhak Saatcioglu, Nurcihan Saatioglu, Turkey; Sheikh Ahmed Yassine, Abdul Aziz Rantissi, Rabbi Biton, Sheikh Abdulkareem Obeid, Mustafa Dirani from Israeli detention; Mohammed Mahdi Akef, Egypt; Dr. Muhammad Osman Elamin, Sudan; Cehl Meeah, Mauritius; Abbasi Madani and Ali Behadj, Algeria. Current campaigns for 'Prisoners of Faith' focus on US detainees and include Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman, his attorney Lynne Stewart (released December 2013), Ghassen Elashi and former Black Panther Imam Jamil Al-Amin, as well as Egyptian detainees including Khairet El-Shater (released in 2010 and reincarcerated in 2013 after the coup).

Other campaigns work include thematic and country based campaigns e.g. for release of detainees in Bahrain, against brutalisation of immigrant women in France, and against niqāb bans in France, Bosnia, Belgium and Spain.

In 2000 the IHRC "protested against a government-backed European directive, which, according to them, would force Muslim charities and schools to employ non-believers and homosexuals".

IHRC has promoted various boycott, divestment and sanctions actions, including a boycott of Israeli dates in the UK. In May 2010, IHRC organised and led a delegation of European Muslim organisations to Turkey to lobby the Turkish government to veto Israel's accession to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Other notable campaigns saw the campaign to have Mat Sah Satray and other ISA detainees in Malaysia released in 2009.

In 2006, IHRC began an emergency campaign against the imminent execution of British and Pakistani dual national Mirza Tahir Hussain. Other organisations, including Fair Trials Abroad and Amnesty International, joined the campaign.

After a BBC documentary broadcast on 15 July 2004 exposed very strong anti-Islamic opinions within the far-right British National Party, the IHRC has campaigned for the prohibition of that party.

Advocacy
The bulk of IHRC's advocacy work, it claims, is undertaken away from the public glare and involves helping individuals with discrimination cases involving Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism. Some public testimonies and case reports exist highlighting this section of IHRCs work. In 2004 PhD student Yasir Abdelmouttalib was viciously assaulted in a race hate attack and left severely disabled. His mother states: 'Fortunately... I got support from... Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), the only community group in London with case workers to help Muslim victims of hate crimes like Yasir, and that helped us to pull through'. On 3 August 2006, the IHRC asked for judicial review of its allegations that the British government assisted with military shipments to Israel, which was eventually denied.

In 2010, IHRC publicly advocated against the introduction of full body scanners at UK ports.

In 2013 it claimed victory in the case, after the British government made a U-turn on the introduction of the full naked body scanners, before the matter came to court. The case, which IHRC supported objected to the scanners on the grounds of:

"the dissolution of civil liberties, health issues, the explicit nature of the body scanners and storage of images, as well as the fact that the scanners could not detect plastics and liquids which was given as a reason for their introduction."

In 2014, IHRC Legal, a new section of IHRC was launched, quickly claiming a victory in a discrimination case featuring university lecturer who claimed indirect racial discrimination against his employers. His case was settled out of court.

The advocacy section is also involved in trial monitoring, with observer trips to Turkey, Mauritius and Bahrain featuring in this field.

Hate crimes and discrimination
The organisation produced several reports based on third party reporting of anti-Muslim hate crimes in the UK, including statistics the month after 9-11 and the year post-9-11.

Previously it had employed basic survey methods to generate statistics for 1999 and 2000.

In 2009–10 it launched a pilot project in the UK and France using a survey method, resulting in the publication of its findings in Getting the Message: The Recurrence of Hate Crimes in the UK (2011) and France and the Hated Society: Muslims Experiences (2012).

The project was refined and rerun in California, US and Canada resulting in the publication of Once Upon a Hatred: Anti-Muslim experiences in the USA (2013) and Only Canadian: The Experience of Hate Moderated Differential Citizenship for Muslims (2014).

In 2014, the organisation undertook data collection in the UK once more.

Its methodology involves surveying a sample of the Muslim population in each country and assessing the levels of negative experience encountered. It assesses levels of physical attack (hate crimes), verbal abuse, seeing negative depiction of Islam and Muslims in the media.

The statistics for physical assault in the various surveys showed that in the UK, nearly 14% had experienced a violent physical assault. In France, 11%, in the US (California) nearly 30% and in Canada, 11%. If the UK figures are extrapolated to the entire UK population of Muslims (nearly 3 million), it suggest that some 420,000 Muslims have experienced a physical hate attack.

Country reports
IHRC produces country reports on human rights abuses e.g. Nigeria. It also submits reports to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism at the United Nations. The list of countries it has submitted reports on in the period 2007–2010 are: Iraq, China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, Sri Lanka, The Philippines, Tunisia, Morocco, India, Bahrain, United Kingdom.

Thematic reports
It also produces thematic reports e.g. on hijab and freedom of religious expression, even submitting some of these to UN committees such as the Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Anti-terrorism laws
It has also produced several critical works overviewing anti-terrorism laws, particularly in the UK. Its 2006 report 'Anti-terrorism: A Modern day Witch-hunt' by Fahad Ansari was praised by Tony Benn and Bruce Kent. According to Benn:

"Scholarly work of this kind helps us by emphasising the importance of Civil Liberties to all communities."

Kent stated it was a: "... most interesting – and shocking – terrorism report... it will do much good."

Further reports, briefings and submissions to the government's consultations tackled various anti-terrorism laws and policies including the CONTEST and PREVENT strategies, moves to remove citizenship from terror suspects, stops and searches, and stops at ports and airports. They have also expressed the importance for 'reform' of Schedule 7 on the basis that it was 'discriminatory' towards Muslims.

In 2014 it produced a response to the UK government's Tackling Extremism in the UK report.

The organisation started 2015 by stating that it was pulling out of the consultative process on the anti-terror laws with the government, claiming that participation only legitimated the raft of unjust laws. It announced this move in conjunction with the launch of its briefing Proposed Counter Terrorism and Security Bill an Orwellian Possibility

Citizenship
In 2004, IHRC launched the British Muslims' Expectations of the Government (BMEG) research project. It culminated in six reports on citizenship, discrimination, education, hijab, law and media and representation. The focus on theoretical aspects of citizenship in this project has become a key theme in IHRC research work. According to Professor D. Ray Heisey, the project:

... examined 1125 responses to a questionnaire and the responses from 52 personal interviews of Muslims living in various cities within the UK. They included a range of respondents in age, education, gender, and economic class...

The strength of these studies is in the intercultural approach taken and the comprehensive nature of the investigation in looking at the topics as seen in the literature as well as the results of their extensive array of questions on numerous topics related to their perceptions of the consequences of living in a majority culture. Each volume ends with the views of leading citizens on the given topic and a list of recommendations for the British government to consider at the policy level as a result of the findings.

In addition to the BMEG project, IHRC's research section has used the idea of citizenship as a critical lens through which to discuss social issue. It looks both at the technical specificity of citizenship and its denial (in a crossover of concern with the advocacy and campaigns departments) e.g. on issues of citizenship stripping in countries as diverse as the UK, Bahrain, UAE and Kuwait. It also looks at the sociological implications and discriminatory aspects of citizenship tests as they have developed e.g. in the UK and Germany.

Human rights theory
Other theoretical work includes papers on human rights discourse, as well as Islam and human rights represented in reports, papers presented at seminars, participation in wider research projects e.g. Trust Building in Conflict Transformation with the Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Contemporary Political Violence.

Collaborative work
In 2006, IHRC issued a joint statement signed by various public figures calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Lebanon war, and calling on the British government to be evenhanded. Signatories included Vanessa Redgrave, various other MPs including David Gottlieb, Ann Cryer, Clare Short, Frank Dobson, Ian Gibson, John Austin and Jeremy Corbyn, as well as various Islamic, Christian and Jewish groups and individuals including Muslim Council of Britain, Jews Against Zionism, Rev Fr. Frank Gelli, Rev Steven Sizer, Roland Rance, and Lord Nazir Ahmed. This statement and IHRC's research work and participation in protest events during the war attracted controversy in the right-wing press (see Controversy and Criticism below).

The IHRC has on a number of occasions organised joint statements with various Islamic groups about British terror legislation, and has collaborated with prominent civil liberties lawyers Gareth Peirce and Louise Christian.

Institutional Islamophobia Conference
In December 2014, the organisation is organised the conference Institutional Islamophobia, subtitling it 'A conference to examine state racism and social engineering of the Muslim community'. Speakers slated to talk on the day were Hatem Bazian (co-founder of Zaytuna College, and Professor at UC Berkeley), Malia Bouattia – Black Students' Officer at the National Union of Students, author and academic Marie Breen Smyth from the University of Surrey, Ramon Grosfoguel a professor from UC Berkeley, Les Levidow from the Campaign Against Criminalising Communities and Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods, Richard Haley, the Chair of Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, Peter Oborne, the Chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph and associate editor of The Spectator, Salman Sayyid the author and academic bases at the University of Leeds, AbdoolKarim Vakil who is Chair of the Research and Documentation Committee of the Muslim Council of Britain, and an academic at King's College London, Lee Jasper, former adviser to the London Mayor, and co-chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts & National Black Members Officer for the Respect Party, and the organisation's Head of research Arzu Merali.

The conference was part of an initiative by Decoloniality Europe where several organised across Europe as part of the International Day Against Islamophobia Initiative, launched on 9 December in Brussels, Belgium.

Other conferences took place in Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.

Two days before the conference was scheduled to take place, Birkbeck, University of London, cancelled the organisation's booking for the conference (see Controversies below), forcing the event to be relocated to the P21 Gallery. Birkbeck were roundly criticised for the cancellation with academics and teaching unions protesting the move, claiming that the cancellation was itself evidence of Islamophobia and racism.

Annual Islamophobia Awards
The Annual Islamophobia Awards is the name of a spoof awards ceremony held by the organisation in 2003–2006 and again from 2014 onwards. The organisation seek nominations from the public and open a public voting system to find the 'Islamophobes' of the year from any sector of public life.

List of 'Negative' Winners of the Islamophobia Awards
In the Islamophobia Awards there are two divisions of awards given, one division is the spoof division given to the public vote for Islamophobes for being 'Islamophobic', the other is given to people who have dedicated their work to tackling Islamophobia and to recognize them.

2003
The First Annual Islamophobia Awards were hosted on 31 May 2003
 * Islamophobe of the Year – George Bush JR, President of the United States of America

2004
The second annual Islamophobia Awards took place on 26 June 2004
 * Islamophobe of the Year – George Bush JR, President of the United States of America

Al-Quds Day, UK
The commission is one of the organisers of the annual Al-Quds Day demonstration in London, initiated by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Against Zionism: Jewish Perspectives
In 2006, the organisation brought together leading Jewish activists in London, for an international conference. The papers from the conference were published in English and Turkish. Speakers at the conference included Michel Warschawski, Uri Davis, Rabbi Yisroel Weiss, Rabbi Ahron Cohen, Roland Rance, Les Levidow, Jeffrey Blankfort, Professor Yakov Rabkin, and John Rose.

Towards a New Liberation Theology: Reflections on Palestine
In 2005, the IHRC brought Christian, Muslim and Jewish scholars, clerics and activists together for an international conference discussing Liberation Theology in the context of Palestine. The papers were published as a book of the same name in 2009.

Genocide Memorial Day
In 2010, IHRC inaugurated an annual event commemorating genocides from modern history. The event, held in London in January included a Holocaust survivor speaking about his experiences during the period and his support for the Palestinian struggle. Other genocides that were commemorated, included the  by the British in the decade after the Indian Mutiny in the 19th century; the transatlantic slave trade; Srebrenica; and the genocide of Native Americans. Speakers at the event included Imam Achmad Cassiem, Lee Jasper, Randeep Ramesh, Rabbi Beck, Rabbi Ahron Cohen, Sameh Habeeb. Messages were also sent from Ward Churchill and Hasan Nuhanovic.

The event has been held every year since then on the third Sunday of January, a date associated with the cessation of the Israeli war against Gaza in 2009, known as Operation Cast Lead.

Human Rights and Israel at 60
In 2008, IHRC organised the international conference 'Human Rights and Israel at 60'. Speakers included: Michael Warschawski (Alternative Information Center); Yehudit Keshet (Checkpoint Watch); Daud Abdullah (Palestinian Return Centre); Jennifer Loewenstein (University of Wisconsin); Michael Bailey (Oxfam); Meir Margalit (Israeli Committee against House Demolitions).

Convivencia Alliance
In 2022, IHRC, alongside the Jewish Network for Palestine and the Peacemakers Trust, setup the Convivencia Alliance, an interfaith group setup to help bring about a "just peace in Palestine". The alliance is supported by organisations including Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission, Decolonial International Network, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, One Democratic State, The Palestinian Forum in Britain, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Simon Bolivar Institute.

It counts as individual supporters:

Dr. Daud Abdullah, UK, founder British Muslim Initiative, Deputy Secretary General of Muslim Council of Britain and their Chair of Europe & International Affairs Committee

Tariq Ali, UK

The Right Revd. Riah Abu El Assal, retired Bishop in Jerusalem

Dr. Anas Altikriti – CEO and Founder of The Cordoba Foundation – London

The Most Revd. Dr. Mouneer Hanna Anis, Bishop of Egypt & North Africa

Revd. Alex Awad, retired Pastor, Jerusalem East Baptist Church

Prof. Ramzy Baroud

Zaher Birawi – Chairman of the Palestinian Forum in Britain

Prof. Allan Aubrey Boesak, University of Pretoria, and President, The Sankofa Institute for Pan African Leadership and Prophetic Ministry

Prof. Tony Booth, Centre for Commonwealth Education, University of Cambridge

Prof. Hagit Borer, Queen Mary University of London

Mogamat Crayaanstein, UK

Prof. Enrique Dussel, Universidad Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM)

Dr. Abdullah Faliq, Managing Director of the Cordoba Foundation, UK

Awad Abed al Fatah, One Democratic State, Israel

Prof. Ramón Grosfoguel, University of California, Berkeley

Revd. Canon Garth Hewitt, Founder, Amos Trust, UK, and Canon of St. Georges’s Anglican Cathedral, Jerusalem

Prof. Jeff Halper ICAHD, Israel

Archbishop Theodosios Atallah Hanna, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Sandew Hira, (DIN)

Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens, UK

Mohideen Abdul Kader (Citizens International)

Rifat Odeh Kassis, Director, Kairos Palestine, Jerusalem

Prof. Ronit Lentin, Trinity College, Dublin

Ken Loach, UK

Prof. Nur Masalha, SOAS, University of London

Revd. Dr. Duncan McPherson, retired Principal Lecturer, St Mary’s University

Prof. David Miller, UK

Bishop Dr Bill Musk, retired Anglican Bishop and was the first “Area Bishop for North Africa” covering Algeria, Tunisia and Libya based in Tunis

Prof. Ilan Pappe, Exeter University

Prof. Yakov Rabkin, University of Montreal

Patriarch Emeritus Michel Sabbah, retired Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and President of Kairos Palestine

Alexei Sayle, UK

Prof. Avi Shlaim, Oxford University

Prof. Ella Shohat, New York University, New York

Clare Short, former Secretary of State for International Development, UK

Ahdaf Soueif, UK and Egypt

Imam Dawud Walid, Executive Director of the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and senior fellow at Auburn Seminary, New York, USA

Jackie Walker, UK

Roger Waters, US

Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, UK

Prof. Aminurraasyid Yatiban, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM)

Mark Braverman, Executive Director Kairos, USA.

2006 Lebanon War
During the 2006 Lebanon War, IHRC undertook various actions in opposition to the war and called on the British government to be evenhanded in its treatment of the parties. It issued a briefing entitled The Blame Game: International Law and the Current Crisis in the Middle East.

Melanie Phillips wrote of the briefing in The Spectator that IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh asked "his followers" and "British Muslims" to provide financial assistance to Hezbollah, and called for the occupation of Israel and "regime change" by Hezbollah on self-defence grounds. She also highlighted that banners were seen at IHRC demonstrations saying "We are all Hezbollah now". Ilan Pappe supported the IHRC and its briefing in a letter to The Editor of The Spectator, asserting that it was accurate and similar to those "one can find in the annual reports of Amnesty international and the Israeli human rights societies reports", describing Philips' accusations as "vicious and unfounded".

In a 2008 essay, "Brixton, Berkley and Other Roads to Radicalisation", Shadjareh states: "The primary slaughter was of a people of another nation, and for that reason, back in '68, 'We were all Ho Chi Minh', and for the same reason in 2006, aside from any other affiliations the authors may have, we authorised IHRC to add its name to the posters of dead and injured Lebanese children during the 33-day war, because then and now, 'We are All Hizbullah.' The Spectator and various parts of the right wing press declared that this was a sign that an Iranian backed spate of terror attacks on the UK were imminent, citing in particular the posters and IHRC. They failed to note that Hizbullah flags at said demonstrations were sported by many including orthodox Rabbis, and the now infamous banners held by amongst others middle class English women appalled at the slaughter."

Threats from far-right groups
Far-right groups threatened to demonstrate against the Institutional Islamophobia Conference in December 2014, and SOAS Anarchist Society stated they would hold a counter-demonstration. Birkbeck University of London, where the conference was scheduled to be held cancelled the booking, reportedly citing concerns about the presence of the SOAS Anarchist Society. The move by Birkbeck was heavily criticised.

Apology from The Sunday Times
On 2 December 2007, in The Sunday Times, Shiraz Maher wrote an article entitled "A failure to confront radical Islam". The article claimed that IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh, whilst appearing on the Today programme, made moral equivalents between Muslims in Guantanamo Bay and the fate of Gillian Gibbons in Sudan. The Sunday Times subsequently issued a correction, which held that this and other suggestions that Shadjareh had condoned the Sudanese government's actions were "totally untrue", and that he had in fact "condemned outright" Gibbons' treatment by the Sudanese government. Shadjareh brought a libel complaint against the newspaper which he won. The newspaper published an apology and agreed to pay Shadjareh "substantial damages".

2015 Charlie Hebdo award
In March 2015, IHRC gave the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo their "International Islamophobe of the Year" award, less than two months after 12 members of staff at the magazine had been killed by Islamist extremists. The group was also criticised for giving counter extremism campaigner and Muslim Maajid Nawaz its "UK Islamophobe of the Year" award.

Nazim Ali
In June 2017 after the Grenfell Tower fire, Nazim Ali, a director of the IHRC, was videotaped telling a group of protestors that "It is the Zionists who give money to the Tory party, to kill people in high rise blocks" and "Careful, careful, careful of those rabbis who belong to the Board of Deputies, who have got blood on their hands." Ali later said that The Sunday Telegraph had "not presented what I said accurately in the wider context of what was said in the prelude to the minute's silence for Grenfell. As presented it sounds somewhat inelegant... To say that some of Theresa May or the Tory party's supporters are Zionists is hardly controversial." An attempt by the Campaign Against Antisemitism to bring a private prosecution for inciting racial or religious hatred, was blocked by the Crown Prosecution Service as they determined there was no "realistic prospect of conviction".

Hezbollah support
According to Melanie Phillips, the organisation supports Hezbollah. Phillips made her claim in reference to the court case brought by the organisation against arms flights to Israel during the 2006 war, when IHRC, according to the BBC News website, sought:

"permission to bring proceedings against the Civil Aviation Authority, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Defence Secretary Des Brown, to stop 'grave and serious violations' of international humanitarian law and 'crimes' against the Geneva Convention."

In response to Phillips' article, Ilan Pappé wrote to The Spectator wherein the claims were made stating:

"I read with great bewilderment and astonishment the accusations made by Melanie Philips against the IHRC (The Spectator, 3 August 2006). I have been a severe critique of Israel and Zionism for many years. As a Jew born in Israel my point of departure was both universal and Jewish. I felt, as I still do today, that Israel and present Zionism abuse and distort the basic humanist and universal values Judaism has given the world. This cultural legacy that has placed Jews at the forefront in the struggle for civil rights in the USA and against the Apartheid regime in South Africa."

"The same legacy and concern has led Jews like myself around the world to stand alongside Muslim victims wherever they were, even when the victimizers were Jews and Israelis. This is how I came to know the IHRC. I read the same documents Philips mentions before I decided to be part of the campaign in Britain for human rights for everyone regardless of their race, religion or nationality."

"As this is a letter and not an article I do have the space to refute all the vicious and unfounded accusations made by Philips. Let me refer only to the direct reference in the article to the IHRC's legal briefing. This briefing is a succinct and accurate description of the war crimes Israel commits in the occupied territories. Similar descriptions and analysis one can find in the annual reports of Amnesty international and the Israeli human rights societies reports."

Abu Hamza
IHRC's chairman, Massoud Shadjareh criticised the prosecution of Abu Hamza in 2006, his extradition in 2012 to the US, and his conviction in 2014 in the US.

IHRC has been deeply critical of the treatment of Abu Hamza al-Masri on various counts. It has highlighted what it calls "double standards" in his treatment by the press, politicians and the legal system, arguing that the case of al-Masri highlighted societal and judicial double standards averring to the failure to convict British National Party leader Nick Griffin and his colleague in the same week as convicting al-Masri of similar crimes. IHRC's chair, Massoud Shadjareh stated:

"Notwithstanding Abu Hamza's controversial character and views, it seems astounding that this week Nick Griffin and his co-defendant from the BNP walked free from court and Abu Hamza has been convicted."

"At a time when we are witnessing free speech mania directed at Muslims who have been told to put up with any insult, offence and abuse in the name of free speech, this verdict sends yet another signal that Muslims are not equal in the eyes of the law of this country."

Al-Masri's extradition, along with four other men on unrelated cases, to the US in 2012 was described by IHRC as evidence of 'justice shopping' by the UK government:

"in which officials seek out countries where lower evidence thresholds apply or where defendant's rights are not as robust. Today's remarks by the PM David Cameron appearing to criticise our commitment to the European Convention on Human Rights for making deportations difficult confirms this belief."

Omar Abdel-Rahman
The group has campaigned for the release of Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, citing criticisms of the judgment including the use of laws not used since the American Civil War to convict Abdel-Rahman. The organisation also campaigned for the release of Abdel-Rahman's lawyer Lynne Stewart, who was convicted of supporting terrorists. Stewart was released on 31 December 2013. IHRC presented her with an awards for her fight against Islamophobia in February 2014.

Selectivity
There is disagreement over the organisation's stance on Muslim countries. Its supporters, including British MPs, US academics and others claim it to be a source of good and reliable information for abuses in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia. Anthony McRoy, in his 2006 book From Rushdie to 7/7: The Radicalisation of Islam in Britain writes that ".. an interesting aspect of IHRC radicalism is that the group does not restrict criticism of human rights abuses to Western governments... it also condemns 'militant' Islamic regimes, such as Sudan for human rights abuses in Darfur..."

However, in a 2008 article published in the Harvard Human Rights Journal, Eric Heinze claims that: "On the whole, the more oppressive an Islamic state is, and the more it officially propagates pro-Islamic doctrines or institutions, the less likely the Islamic Human Rights Commission has been to criticize it. That approach offends any concept of fairness in the application of human rights."

Another contradictory critique comes from pro-Israel groups like the Stephen Roth Institute, who critique IHRC's opposition to the Saudi Arabian regime, including links it claims the organisation has with UK based Saudi dissident Muhammad al-Mas'ari. The institute also criticises IHRC for working with Imam Muhammad al-'Asi (whom they incorrectly refer to as an American convert), who was the elected Imam of the Washington D.C. Mosque but who was locked out of the premises and banned by the Saudi Embassy.

Additionally the Institute accuses IHRC of anti-Semitism and conspiricsim in the manner of its pro-Palestine stance.

2003 Award to Ariel Sharon for Islamophobia
During the 2003 Annual Islamophobia Awards, Ariel Sharon was announced as the "winner" of the "Most Islamophobic International Politician of the Year'", for an interview allegedly given in 1956. The interview's authenticity has never been verified and it is believed by many to be a hoax.

Alcohol investment
On 23 August 2013, an article in The Independent reported that the IHRC held shares in the Baa Bar Group, a Liverpool-based bar chain that sells alcoholic beverages. The article contrasted this with the IHRC's own publication that warned against the use of alcohol, considering that "the greatest underminer and saboteur of discipline and confidence is alcohol and so-called social drinking", and that "alcohol is the curse of the oppressed people and a boon for the oppressors. Not only is the oppressor making enormous profits from liquor but it also totally immobilizes and paralyses the critical faculties of the oppressed". The IHRC responded to the article four days later, explaining that the shares were a gift from a supporter, who told the Commission that they were shares in property. It pointed out that "some considerable time later, we came to know that the company was related to a company that dealt in alcohol, by which time the company had been delisted from the stock exchange, and the shares were deemed almost worthless". It stated that the commission has "sought advice as to how best to dispose of these shares without financially benefiting from this trade".

title: Islamic Human Rights Commission


text:
Fischer projection

In chemistry, the Fischer projection, devised by Emil Fischer in 1891, is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional organic molecule by projection. Fischer projections were originally proposed for the depiction of carbohydrates and used by chemists, particularly in organic chemistry and biochemistry. The use of Fischer projections in non-carbohydrates is discouraged, as such drawings are ambiguous and easily confused with other types of drawing. The main purpose of Fischer projections is to show the chirality of a molecule and to distinguish between a pair of enantiomers. Some notable uses include drawing sugars and depicting isomers.

Conventions
All bonds are depicted as horizontal or vertical lines. The carbon chain is depicted vertically, with carbon atoms sometimes not shown and represented by the center of crossing lines (see figure below). The orientation of the carbon chain is so that the first carbon (C1) is at the top. In an aldose, C1 is the carbon of the aldehyde group; in a ketose, C1 is the carbon closest to the ketone group, which is typically found at C2.

The proper way to view a Fischer projection is to vertically orient the molecule in relation to the carbon chain, have all horizontal bonds point toward the viewer, and orient all vertical bonds to point away from the viewer. Molecules with a simple tetrahedral geometry can be easily rotated in space so that this condition is met (see figures). Fischer projections are commonly constructed beginning with a sawhorse representation. To do so, all attachments to main chain carbons must be rotated such that resulting Newman projections show an eclipsed configuration. The carbon chain is then positioned vertically upward with all horizontal attachments pointing toward the viewer. Finally, attachments to main chain carbons that face away from the viewer are placed in the vertical position of the Fischer projection, and those that face toward the viewer are placed in the horizontal position of the Fischer projection. Each intersection between a horizontal and vertical line on the Fischer projection represents a carbon in the main carbon chain.

Fischer projections are effective representations of 3D molecular configuration in certain cases. For example, a monosaccharide with three carbon atoms (triose), such as the D-Glyceraldehyde depicted above, has a tetrahedral geometry, with C2 at its center, and can be rotated in space so that the carbon chain is vertical with C1 at the top, and the horizontal bonds connecting C2 with the Hydrogen and the Hydroxide are both slanted toward the viewer.

However, when creating a Fischer projection for a monosaccharide with more than three carbons, there is no way to orient the molecule in space so that all horizontal bonds will be slanted toward the viewer. After rotating the molecule so that both the horizontal bonds with C2 are slanted toward the viewer, the horizontal bonds with C3 will be typically slanted away. So, after drawing the bonds with C2, before drawing the bonds with C3 the molecule must be rotated in space by 180° about its vertical axis. Further similar rotations may be needed to complete the drawing.

This implies that in most cases a Fischer projection is not an accurate representation of the actual 3D configuration of a molecule. It can be regarded as a projection of a modified version of the molecule, ideally twisted at multiple levels along its backbone. For instance, an open-chain molecule of D-glucose rotated so that the horizontal bonds with C2 are slanted toward the viewer, would have the bonds with C3 and C5 slanted away from the viewer, and hence its accurate projection would not coincide with a Fischer projection. For a more accurate representation of an open-chain molecule, a Natta projection may be used.

According to IUPAC rules, all hydrogen atoms should preferably be drawn explicitly; in particular, the hydrogen atoms of the end group of carbohydrates should be present. In this regard Fischer projection is different from skeletal formulae.

Chirality
Chiral molecules can be described as ones with a set of stereoisomers or left and right-handed enantiomers. As defined by Lord Kelvin, a molecule has chirality “if its image in a plane mirror, ideally realized, cannot be brought to coincide with itself.” In other words, a chiral molecule is asymmetrical in the sense that its mirror image will not be an exact copy of itself. Chirality is key to understand in many fields such as drug development as one enantiomer of a drug may cause severe adverse effects while the other provides relief from an ailment. This is significant in terms of Fischer Projections as chirality is an important factor to consider when both drawing and reading them. A great benefit of the model is the ability to interpret chirality with ease based on the orientation of the substituents. Slight changes in the formatting of these models can cause the stereochemistry to be interpreted differently thereby meaning that the molecule has been depicted incorrectly. Fischer Projections provide aid in visualizing chirality as well as where substituents are oriented within space which is why their application can be useful to many.

Chirality from projection
Determining chirality based on Fischer Projections is effectively the same as the standard method. The primary difference is the benefit that Fischer Projections provide in depicting the orientation of substituents with the vertical and horizontal lines. Considering that orientation of these molecules is already known, it may be properly depicted with wedges and dashes if needed. After this, the priority of each of the groups bonded to the carbon are ranked and the chirality is determined in the standard fashion. While there is no significant difference in the actual process of determining chirality, Fischer Projections allow one to better visualize where substituents are in space making it convenient to assign S or R chirality based on this model. In certain cases, it can be helpful to draw a Fischer Projection from a larger molecule to visualize and determine the chirality of a specific carbon.

Other Models
Haworth projections are a related chemical notation used to represent sugars in ring form. The groups on the right hand side of a Fischer projection are equivalent to those below the plane of the ring in Haworth projections. Fischer projections should not be confused with Lewis structures, which do not contain any information about three dimensional geometry. Newman projections are another system that can be used as they showcase the structure of a molecule in the staggered or eclipsed conformation states. The wedge and dash notation will help to showcase the stereochemistry within a specific molecule.

title: Fischer projection


text:
User talk:Newbie~enwiki

Hello Newbie, welcome to Wikipedia! I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Drop us a note at the new user log so that we can meet you and help you get started. If you need editing help, visit How does one edit a page. For format questions, visit our manual of style. If you have any other questions about the project then check out Help or add a question to the village pump.

Again, welcome! by the way, I love your name... =P ugen64 21:31, Mar 12, 2004 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Newbie. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Newbie~enwiki that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name. If you think you might own all of the accounts with this name and this message is in error, please visit Special:MergeAccount to check and attach all of your accounts to prevent them from being renamed.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 01:46, 20 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 16:54, 22 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Newbie~enwiki


text:
Talk:Hymn of the Pearl

Lord of the Rings
I took out the Lord of the Rings reference. It may be cogent on the Aragorn page or something, but not here. --ESP 21:35, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Date?
This wants for a bit of textual filling in. What manuscripts, where are they, when are they dated to, and what are the comparanda, if any, between them? Thanks--Dellaroux (talk) 02:01, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

title: Talk:Hymn of the Pearl


text:
MS Estonia

MS Estonia was a cruiseferry built in 1980 for the Finnish shipping company Rederi Ab Sally by Meyer Werft, in Papenburg, West Germany. She was employed on ferry routes between Finland and Sweden by various companies (first Viking Line, then EffJohn) until in the end of January 1993, when she was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on Estline's Tallinn–Stockholm route. The ship's sinking on 28 September 1994, in the Baltic Sea between Sweden, Finland and Estonia, was one of the worst peacetime maritime disasters of the 20th century, claiming 852 lives.

Construction
The ship was originally ordered the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany by a Norwegian shipping company led by Parley Augustsen with intended traffic between Norway and Germany. At the last moment, the company withdrew their order and the contract went to Rederi Ab Sally, one of the partners in the Viking Line consortium (SF Line, another partner in Viking Line, had also been interested in the ship).

Originally the ship was conceived as a sister ship to Diana II, built in 1979 by the same shipyard for Rederi AB Slite, the third partner in Viking Line. When Sally took over the construction contract, the ship was lengthened from the original length of approximately 137 m to approximately 155 m and the superstructure of the ship was largely redesigned.

Viking Line received a total of four new ships in 1980 alone, three of which were built for Rederi AB Sally. In addition to the Viking Sally, the Viking Saga and her sister ship Viking Song also entered service in 1980, having been built by Wärtsilä (now Aker Finnyards) in Turku, Finland.

Meyer Werft had constructed a large number of ships for various Viking Line partner companies during the 1970s. The construction of the ship's bow consisted of an upwards-opening visor and a car ramp that was placed inside the visor when it was closed. An identical bow construction had also been used in Diana II.

Service history
Estonia previously sailed as Viking Sally (1980–1990), Silja Star (1990–1991), and Wasa King (1991–1993).

Viking Line

On 29 June 1980, Viking Sally was delivered to Rederi Ab Sally, Finland and was put into service on the route between Turku, Mariehamn and Stockholm (during summer 1982 on the Naantali–Mariehamn–Kapellskär route). She was the largest ship to serve on that route at the time. As with many ships, Viking Sally suffered some mishaps during her Viking Line service, being grounded in the Åland Archipelago in May 1984 and suffering some propeller problems in April of the following year. In 1985 she was also rebuilt with a "duck tail". In 1986, a passenger was murdered on board. In 1987, another murder and attempted murder took place. The latter remains unsolved. Rederi Ab Sally had been experiencing financial difficulties for most of the 1980s. In late 1987, Effoa and Johnson Line, the owners of Viking Line's main rivals Silja Line, bought Sally. As a result of this, SF Line and Rederi AB Slite forced Sally to withdraw from Viking Line. Viking Sally was chartered to Rederi AB Slite to continue on her current traffic for the next three years.

Silja Line
When her charter ended in April 1990, Viking Sally had an unusual change of service. She was painted in Silja Line's colours, renamed Silja Star and placed on the same route that she had plied for Viking Line: Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm. The reason for this was that Silja's new ship for Helsinki–Stockholm service was built behind schedule and one of the Turku–Stockholm ships, Wellamo, was transferred to that route until the new ship was complete in November 1990. Also in 1990 Effoa, Johnson Line and Rederi Ab Sally merged into EffJohn.

The following spring Silja Star began her service with Wasa Line, another company owned by EffJohn. Her name was changed to Wasa King and she served on routes connecting Vaasa, Finland to Umeå and Sundsvall in Sweden. It has been reported that the Wasa King was widely considered to be the best behaving ship in rough weather to have sailed from Vaasa.

Estline
In January 1993, at the same time when EffJohn decided to merge Wasa Line's operations into Silja Line, Wasa King was sold to Nordström & Thulin for use on Estline's Tallinn–Stockholm traffic under the name Estonia. The actual ownership of the ship was rather complex, in order for Nordström & Thulin to get a loan to buy the ship. Although Nordström & Thulin was the company which bought the ship, her registered owner was Estline Marine Co Ltd, Nicosia, Cyprus, which chartered the ship to E.Liini A/S, Tallinn, Estonia (daughter company of Nordström & Thulin and ESCO), which in turn chartered the ship to Estline AB. As a result, the ship was actually registered in both Cyprus and Estonia. As the largest Estonian-owned ship of the time, the Estonia symbolized the independence that her namesake regained after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Decks and facilities
MS Estonia consisted of 11 decks, counting from the lowest (0) to the highest (10). Passenger facilities were located on decks 6, 5, 4, and 1, while the crew members occupied decks 8 and 7. Decks 2 and 3 were dedicated to cargo.

Sinking
Estonia sank on Wednesday, 28 September 1994, between about 00:50 and 01:50 (UTC+2) as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden.

The official report concluded that the bow door had separated from the vessel, pulling the ramp ajar. The ship was already listing because of poor cargo distribution, and the list increased rapidly, flooding the decks and the cabins. Power soon failed altogether, inhibiting search and rescue, and a full-scale emergency was not declared for 90 minutes. Of the 989 on board, 137 were rescued. The report criticised primarily the ship's construction, as well as the passive attitude of the crew, failing to notice that water was entering the vehicle deck, delaying the alarm, and providing minimal guidance from the bridge.

The sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th-century. It is one of the deadliest peacetime sinkings of a European ship, after the RMS Titanic (1912) and the RMS Empress of Ireland (1914), and the deadliest peacetime shipwreck to have occurred in European waters, with 852 lives lost. There is a memorial for the event in Tallinn and Sweden.

title: MS Estonia


text:
Dahir Riyale Kahin

Dahir Riyale Kahin  (Daahir Riyaale Kaahin, ظاهر ريالي كاهن; born 12 March 1952) is a Somaliland politician who was President of Somaliland from 2002 to 2010. He previously served as a senior officer in the National Security Service in Somalia, and he was Vice President of Somaliland from 1997 to 2002

Personal life
Kahin was born in the town of Quljeed, situated in the northwestern Awdal region of Somaliland. He hails from the Jibreel Younis sub-clan of the Gadabuursi clan. He was educated in Amoud, and was later trained in Mogadishu.

Early career
Kahin's previous posts included a diplomatic position at the Somali Embassy in Djibouti.

In the last years of the Siad Barre government, during the 1980s, Kahin was the highest-ranking National Security Service (NSS) officer in Berbera. He was stationed in Las Anod in 1981 to 1982.

From 1997 to 2002, Kahin served as the Vice President of Somaliland.

President of Somaliland
On 3 May 2002, Kahin became the third President of Somaliland, after the death of the self-declared republic's President Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal. Kahin later won the elections on 14 April 2003, representing the Ururka Dimuqraadiga Umada Bahawday (UDUB), or United Democratic People's Party. He was sworn into office on 16 May, the day after Egal's funeral.

In 2008, Kahin established by decree new regions and districts, which drew criticism. Regions and districts in Somaliland are not just an instrument for the organisation of local government, they are also used as electoral districts. Kahin's move was considered by several to have motives rooted in electoral and clan-politics. Moreover, as these new regions and districts were never geographically delimitated, they argued that he saddled the region with a legacy that hampers the efficient organisation of local government to this day.

Throughout his tenure as President of Somaliland, Kahim sought to maintain peace and tranquility in the region. His administration contributed to various state-building and institutional development initiatives. In terms of democratization, his government also successfully organized local council elections, parliamentary elections, and two presidential elections. Additionally, Kahin is noted for having peacefully transferred power to his successor in office, President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud.

title: Dahir Riyale Kahin


text:
San Juan Province, Argentina

San Juan Province is a province of Argentina, located in the western part of the country. Neighbouring provinces are, moving clockwise from the north, La Rioja, San Luis and Mendoza. It borders with Chile to the west.

The province has an area of 89,651 km2, covering a mountainous region with scarce vegetation, fertile oases and turbulent rivers. Throughout the entire province there are an important number of paleontological sites.

Similar to other regions in Argentina, agriculture is one of the most important economic activities, highlighting wine production and olive oil. Additionally, a variety of fruits and vegetables are produced in the fertile valleys irrigated by artificial channels in the western part, close to the Andes mountain range. This is the second province in volume of wine production at the national level and in South America, and possesses outstanding varietal wines. It is also an important center of mining and oil production.

History

Before the arrival of Spanish conquistadores, different tribes like Huarpes, Diaguitas, Capazanes, Olongastas and Yacampis, highly influenced by the Inca empire, inhabited the area.

The city of San Juan de la Frontera was founded by Juan Jufré y Montesa in 1562 and relocated 2 kilometres south in 1593 due to the frequent flooding of the San Juan River.

In 1776, San Juan was annexed to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, becoming one of the cities of the Province of Cuyo. In the same year, the first recorded earthquake caused massive damage to the city.

The father of Argentine independence, Gen. Jose de San Martin, was appointed Governor of the Province of Cuyo in 1814. From there, San Martin began his legendary crossing of the Andes, one of military history's great tactical decisions. San Juan, then a small town, was a great supporter of the expedition supplying gold, men and mules.

In 1820, San Juan was granted autonomy from the Province of Cuyo, thereby becoming an autonomous province. The remainder of Cuyo region became Mendoza Province.

Following an era of international isolation for Argentina, the advent of new, more liberal government in 1853 attracted a number of exiled intellectuals back into San Juan. Among these, was a San Juan military officer and novelist named Domingo Sarmiento. Sarmiento was eventually elected governor in 1862, pursuing sorely needed public investments and enacting Argentina's first law mandating compulsory education (at that time about 80% of the adult population lacked any form of education). Once elected President of Argentina in 1868, those policies became national law.

In 1944 a moderate, yet highly destructive earthquake near the capital destroyed most of the city and killed 10,000 people. A fundraiser was organized to raise money for the victims of the quake where Colonel Juan Perón met his eventual wife and political companion Eva Duarte.

A more powerful earthquake stuck the same city in 1977; however new construction codes put in effect following the 1944 incident kept damage to a relative minimum. The most noteworthy loss following this event was the destruction of the Cathedral of San Juan (image, at top). A new, modernist house of worship was quickly put up in its place and inaugurated in 1979.

Among the most rapidly growing provinces in Argentina after 1945, the national government began the construction of the National University of San Juan, which opened its doors in 1973. Congress further responded to the needs of San Juan's growing agricultural sector by breaking ground in the mid '70s for the largest hydrostructural project in the province up to that point, the Ullum Dam and Reservoir. Inaugurated in 1980, it has contributed to the province's production of irrigated desert crops, like olives, figs and, most importantly, wine grapes.

In 2005, Barrick Gold Corporation, one of the world's largest gold-mining conglomerates, announced the purchase of large tracts in the San Juan Andes where a gold mine was started. These have, so far, been yielding over 11,000 ounces of gold yearly, though evidence suggests these activities may be having an adverse impact on San Juan's glaciers.

In 2007, the same company installed the world's highest-situated wind turbine at the Veladero mine in San Juan Province at nearly 4,200m elevation.

Geography
The province is part of the continental semi-desert Cuyo region. The arid plains start on the east, with a few low hills in the middle and swiftly turn into 6,000-meter-high mountain peaks towards the west. Both areas are subject to the dry hot Zonda (a kind of foehn wind). Most of the precipitations take place during the summer, often as electrical storms.

The hot wind has modeled the clay-rich red soil into Pampa del Leoncito (Reserva Natural Estricta El Leoncito) and Valle de la Luna (Parque Provincial Ischigualasto) 200-million-year-old geological formations.

The Jáchal and San Juan rivers, both part of Desaguadero River system, are the source of fertile valleys and centre of the province's economy. The San Juan River finishes in the Huanacache lagoons (sometimes called Guanacache), on the southeast.

The Andes of San Juan Province belong to the Dry Andes climatic province. Permafrost is widespread above 3000 masl in the Andes and rock glaciers are common.

The northern part of the province contain both intrusive rocks of the Colangüil Batholith and a large sedimentary basin known as Iglesia Basin. Within this basin there are hot springs.

Population
San Juan concentrates most of its population in the oases or central valleys, Tulum Valley, Zonda, Ullum and Jáchal, containing nearly 80% of this population. The remaining is located in the oasis located at the foot of the Andes in Iglesias and Calingasta. Another population concentration is in Fertile Valley.

Economy

San Juan focuses its economy in agriculture, specially wine production. Additionally, preserved foods production is highly developed. Mining is a growing activity, with the extraction of various minerals financed by multinational companies. Tourism is a relatively new and flourishing activity and it is becoming an important source of revenue for the province.

San Juan's is a somewhat underdeveloped, yet diversified, economy. Its output was estimated in 2006 at US$3.613 billion, or US$5,827 per capita (a third less than the national average).

Agriculture has, traditionally, played a small, though significant role in San Juan's economy. The province produces crops not widely grown in other regions of Argentina. San Juan is the second-largest producer of Argentine Wine, after neighboring Mendoza Province.

The winemaking industry reached San Juan between the years 1569 and 1589 carried by the Spanish conquistadors. Blessed by the optimal weather conditions and soil, the wine-making largely expanded and accelerated development in the province. Since the beginning, the inhabitants of the region understood that the arid climate required an advanced artificial irrigation system with dams and channels.

Viticulture is the main crop of the province's economy, with some 500 km2 (56% of the productive area), and the rest is reserved for wine production counting 90% of the crop. Other products include tomato, maize, potato, fig and peach.

Since 1980, San Juan has experienced an industrial expansion that now includes, in addition to the wineries, food processing plants, chemical, plastics, iron, auto parts and textiles factories. Manufacturing now accounts for nearly 20% of San Juan's production output.

In the year 2000, the province came into mineral development with the Veladero Project of Barrick Gold, which, on the first year of mining alone, yielded more than 11,000 ounces of gold. These efforts were intensified with more projects including the Easter Lama, with the particularity that it is shared with neighboring Chile. The more widespread mining products are gold, lead, graphite and clay.

Large-scale efforts began, in 2006, in the search for petroleum in the department of Jáchal.

Energy production is mainly hydroelectric, produced by a few dams such as Quebrada de Ullum, La Roza, San Emiliano and El Pinar Station, which also help to regulate the water level for irrigation of the arid lands. Electricity is also produced, in a lesser proportion, by thermal power stations.

San Juan has recently started to have a flourishing tourism industry. Remarkable places are the city of San Juan, the Ischigualasto Provincial Park, the Ullum Dam, San Guillermo National Park, the Pismanta hot springs, the Mercedario Mount and the pagan Difunta Correa shrine. These sites are specially suitable for ecotourism or adventure tourism. Furthermore, an increase in agrotourism has started recently, particularly, around the wine industry, creating the so-called "Wine Routes."

Government
The provincial government is divided into three branches: the executive, headed by a popularly elected governor, who appoints the cabinet; the legislative; and the judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court.

The Constitution of San Juan Province, Argentina forms the formal law of the province.

In Argentina, the most important law enforcement organization is the Argentine Federal Police but the additional work is carried out by the San Juan Provincial Police.

Political division

The province is divided into 19 departments (departamentos). They are formally considered to be a single municipality, and usually contain one or more population centers (i.e. towns and cities).

 * 1) Albardón (General San Martín)
 * 2) Angaco (Villa del Salvador)
 * 3) Calingasta (Tamberías)
 * 4) Capital (San Juan)
 * 5) Caucete (Caucete)
 * 6) Chimbas (Paula Alabarracín de Sarmiento)
 * 7) Iglesia (Rodeo)
 * 8) Jáchal (San José de Jáchal)
 * 9) Nueve de Julio (9 de Julio)
 * 10) Pocito (Villa Aberastain)
 * 11) Rawson (Villa Krause)
 * 12) Rivadavia (Rivadavia)
 * 13) San Martín (San Isidro)
 * 14) Santa Lucía (Santa Lucía)
 * 15) Sarmiento (Media Agua)
 * 16) Ullum (Villa Ibáñez)
 * 17) Valle Fértil (San Agustín)
 * 18) Veinticinco de Mayo (Santa Rosa)
 * 19) Zonda (Basilio Nievas)

Tourism
San Juan, known as The Land of the Sun, offers mountains, valleys and turbulent rivers of melting glacier water from the Andes. This features create a unique landscape that is beginning to be intensively exploited by tourism.

Tourism infrastructure has been also improved recently with the installation of a considerable number of hotels and other accommodation. Heavily developed areas are the northwest, in the town of Rodeo, where posts and countryside hotels have been installed. In the west, the towns of Calingasta Barreal and Tamberías, many projects are being develop to foster adventure tourism by with the practice of climbing the Mount Mercedario, which is one of the highest peaks in America. The northern zone, Jáchal, is known for its cultural tourism related to the gaucho tradition.

Nevertheless, San Juan is the economic center of the province and also the most visited place. It is known for its modern architecture that differentiates it from others cities in the rest of the country, with wide tree-lined streets as well as hardwood parks, plazas and walkways, in the middle of the desert of San Juan. This is the cause for which has the nickname of 'city oasis'. The city holds several attractions such as Sarmiento's birthplace and modern Cathedral, among others.

A number of joyful celebrations are held in the province, combining old and new traditions that pay homage to economic activities or natural events like Fiesta Nacional del Sol, which takes the form of annual parades carousel and various artistic performances.

The winter sports industry has a prosper future in the province. A ski resort is under development, located in the mountainous area of Calingasta, western part of the province, where the largest ski tracks in South America are being constructed. This will be the northernmost ski resort in Argentina and will be known as Manantiales'

Transportation
San Juan has a good transportation network, as most of the routes that connect with the rest of the country are in very good maintenance condition. The more important routes are the RN40, which crosses from north to south and joins the provinces of Mendoza and La Rioja, the RN20, which links San Juan with the city of Buenos Aires and Cordoba, the RN150, which allows a connection to the country of Chile. There are important projects under way that will allow a connection with the province of La Rioja, the entire northern Fertile Valley, Jáchal and Church, and with Chile, which will be a vital part of the strategic corridor Pacific-Atlantic.

This project for the construction of a communication path connecting the Pacific ports of (Coquimbo, Chile) and Atlantic (Porto Alegre, Brazil) by Paso de Agua Negra, has been under development for more than a decade. Its importance lies in the necessity of the Southern Cone countries to put their export production into the global market at lower costs. Long-distance transportation exists and allows weekly trips to almost all the other provinces and cities in the country. The main hub is the modern bus terminal of the city of San Juan. There are another important transportation centers in San José de Jáchal and in the city of Caucete, which is currently under construction. By bus, it takes around 18 hours to get Buenos Aires.

There are daily flight services to Buenos Aires from Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Airport.

The public transportation system in the city of San Juan and surrounding areas includes buses that connect downtown with other cities such as Villa Krause, Rivadavia, Santa Lucia, Villa Paula Sarmiento Albarracín and Aberastain. Private taxis (called Remis) and public taxis also exist. Rapid population growth has led to a number of projects for the construction of mass transit systems.

title: San Juan Province, Argentina