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Azerbaijan (Iran)

Azerbaijan or Azarbaijan, also known as Iranian Azerbaijan, is a historical region in northwestern Iran that borders Iraq and Turkey to the west, and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan proper to the north.

Iranian Azerbaijan includes three northwestern Iranian provinces: West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan and Ardabil. Some authors also include Zanjan in this list, some in a geographical sense, others only culturally (due to the predominance of the Azeri Turkic population there). The region is mostly populated by Azerbaijanis, with minority populations of Kurds, Armenians, Tats, Talysh, Assyrians and Persians.

Iranian Azerbaijan is the land originally and historically called Azerbaijan; the Azerbaijani-populated Republic of Azerbaijan appropriated the name of the neighbouring Azerbaijani-populated region in Iran during the 20th century. Historic Azerbaijan was called Atropatene in antiquity and Aturpatakan (Adurbadagan) in the pre-Islamic Middle Ages. Some people refer to Iranian Azerbaijan as South (or Southern) Azerbaijan and the Republic of Azerbaijan as Northern Azerbaijan, although others believe that these terms are irredentist and politically motivated.

Following military defeats at the hands of the Russian Empire, Qajar Persia ceded all of its territories in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia to Russia via the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813 and the Treaty of Turkmenchay of 1828. The territories south of the Aras River, which comprised the region historically known as Azerbaijan, became the new north-west frontier of the Persian Empire and later Iran. The territories north of the Aras River, which were not known by the name Azerbaijan at the time of their capture by Russia, were absorbed into the Russian Empire, renamed the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic during the country's short-lived independence from 1918 to 1920, incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, and finally became the independent Republic of Azerbaijan when the Soviet Union dissolved.

Etymology and usage
The name Azerbaijan itself is derived from Atropates, the Persian  Satrap (governor) of Medea in the Achaemenid Empire, who ruled a region found in modern Iranian Azerbaijan called Atropatene. Atropates's name is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire." The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide which translates literally to: "We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata." According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam: "In Middle Persian the name of the province was called Āturpātākān, older new-Persian Ādharbādhagān (آذربادگان/آذرآبادگان), Ādharbāyagān, at present Āzerbāydjān/Āzarbāydjān, Greek Atropatēnḗ (Ἀτροπατηνή), Byzantine Greek Adravigánon (᾿Αδραβιγάνων), Armenian Atrpatakan (Ատրպատական), Syriac Adhorbāyghān." The name Atropat in Middle Persian was transformed to Adharbad and is connected with Zoroastrianism. A famous Zoroastrian priest by the name Adarbad Mahraspandan is well known for his counsels. Azerbaijan, due to its numerous fire-temples has also been quoted in a variety of historic sources as being the birthplace of the prophet Zoroaster although modern scholars have not yet reached an agreement on the location of his birth.

In the early 19th century, Qajar Iran was forced to cede to Imperial Russia its Caucasian territories north of the Aras River (modern-day Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan), through the treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828). Following the disintegration of the Russian Empire in 1917, as well as the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, in 1918, the leading Musavat government adopted the name "Azerbaijan" for the newly established Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which was proclaimed on May 27, 1918, for political reasons, even though the name of "Azerbaijan" had always been used to refer to the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran. Thus, until 1918, when the Musavat regime decided to name the newly independent state Azerbaijan, this designation had been used exclusively to identify the Iranian province of Azerbaijan.

Pre-Islamic period
The oldest kingdom known in Iranian Azerbaijan is that of the Mannea who ruled a region south-east of Lake Urmia centered around modern Saqqez. The Manneans were a confederation of Iranian and non-Iranian groups. According to Professor Zadok:

The Mannaeans were conquered and absorbed by an Iranian people called Matieni, and the country was called Matiene, with Lake Urmia called Lake Matianus. Matiene was later conquered by the Medes and became a satrapy of the Median empire and then a sub-satrapy of the Median satrapy of the Persian Empire.

According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Medes were an:

After Alexander the Great conquered Persia, he appointed (328 BC) as governor the Persian general Atropates, who eventually established an independent dynasty. The region, which came to be known as Atropatene or Media Atropatene (after Atropates), was much disputed. In the 2nd century BC, it was liberated from Seleucid domination by Mithradates I of Arsacid dynasty, and was later made a province of the Sassanid Empire of Ardashir I. Under the Sassanids, Azerbaijan was ruled by a marzubān, and, towards the end of the period, belonged to the family of Farrokh Hormizd.

Large parts of the region were conquered by the Kingdom of Armenia. Large parts of the region made up part of historical Armenia. The parts of historical Armenia within what is modern-day Azerbaijan comprise; Nor Shirakan, Vaspurakan, and Paytakaran. Vaspurakan, of which large parts were located in what is modern-day Iranian Azerbaijan is described as the cradle of Armenian civilization.

On 26 May 451 AD, a very important battle was fought that would prove immensely pivotal in Armenian history. On the Avarayr Plain, at what is modern-day Churs (modern-day West Azerbaijan Province), the Armenian Army under Vardan Mamikonian clashed with Sassanid Persia. Although the Persians were victorious on the battlefield itself, the battle proved to be a major strategic victory for Armenians, as Avarayr paved the way to the Nvarsak Treaty (484 AD), which affirmed Armenia's right to practice Christianity freely.

Heraclius, the Byzantine emperor, briefly held the region in the 7th century until peace was made with the Sassanids. After the Islamic Conquest of Iran, Arab invaders converted most of its people to Islam and made it part of the caliphate.

Sasanian and early Islamic period
During the Arab invasion of Iran, the Spahbed of Iran was Rostam Farrokhzad, the son of Farrukh Hormizd, who was the son of Vinduyih, the uncle of Khosrau I and brother of the Sasanian usurper Vistahm. Rustam himself was born in Azerbaijan and led the Sasanian army into battle. He is also mentioned in the Shahnameh.

The Sasanian army was defeated at the battle of al-Qādisiyyah and Rostam Farrokhzad, along with many other Sasanian veterans, was killed. In 642, Piruz Khosrow, one of the Sasanian survivors during the battle of al-Qādisiyyah, fought against the Muslims at Nahavand, which was a gateway to the provinces of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Caucasian Albania. The battle was fierce, but the Sasanian troops lost during the battle. This opened the gateway for the Muslims to enter Azerbaijan. The Muslims then invaded Azerbaijan and captured Isfandiyar, the son of Farrukhzad. Isfandiyar then promised, in return for his life, that he would agree to surrender his estates in Azerbaijan and aid the Muslims in defeating his brother, Bahram. Bahram was then defeated and sued for peace. A pact was drawn up according to which Azerbaijan was surrendered to Caliph Umar on usual terms of paying the annual Jizya.

Muslims settled in Azerbaijan as they did in many parts of Iran. According to the Iranian Azerbaijani historian Ahmad Kasravi, more Muslims settled in Azerbaijan compared to other provinces due to the province's plentiful and fertile pastures. Local revolts against the Caliphate were common and the most famous of these revolts was the Persian Khurramite movement.

Abbasids and Seljuks
After the revolt of Babak Khorramdin, who was a Zoroastrian of neo-Mazdakite background, the Abbasid caliphate's grip on Azerbaijan weakened, allowing native dynasties to rise in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan was taken over by the Kurdish Daisam and the Sallarid Marzuban, the latter united it with Arran, Shirvan, and most of Eastern Armenia. After confrontations with the local Dailamite and Kurdish populations who had already established their own dynasties and emirates in different parts of Azerbaijan, the Seljuks dominated the region in the 11th and early 12th centuries, at which point the linguistic Turkification of the native Iranian populations began. In 1136, Azerbaijan fell to the Atabakan-e-Azerbaijan and Atabakan-e-Maragheh. It was later invaded by the Khwarizm Shah Jalal ad-din who held Azerbaijan until the advent of the Mongol invasions.

In the early years of the 13th century, large parts of Azerbaijan were conquered by the Kingdom of Georgia, at the time led by Tamar the Great. Under the command of the brothers Zakaria and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli, the Georgians conquered Ardabil and Tabriz in 1208, and Qazvin and Khoy in 1210.

Mongols and Turkmens
The Mongols under Hulagu Khan established their capital at Maragheh. The book Safina-yi Tabriz describes the general state of Tabriz during the Ilkhanid period. After being conquered by Timur in the 14th century, Tabriz became an important provincial capital of the Timurid empire. Later, Tabriz became the capital of the Kara Koyunlu empire.

Safavid, Afshars and Qajars and loss of the adjacent Caucasian territories
It was out of Ardabil (ancient Artavilla) that the Safavid dynasty arose to renew the state of Persia and establish Shi'ism as the official religion of Iran. Around the same time, the population of what is now Azerbaijan and Iran were converted to Shiism, and both nations remain the only nations in the world with a significantly Shia majority, with Iran having the largest Shia population by percentage, with the Republic of Azerbaijan having the second-largest Shia population by percentage.

After 1502, Azerbaijan became the chief bulwark and military base of the Safavids. It was the chief province from which the various Iranian empires would control their Caucasian provinces, all the way up to Dagestan in the early 19th century. In the meantime, between 1514 and 1603, the Ottomans sometimes occupied Tabriz and other parts of the province during their numerous wars with their Safavid ideological and political archrivals. The Safavid control was restored by Shah Abbas but during the Afghan invasion (1722–8) the Ottomans recaptured Azerbaijan and other western provinces of Iran, until Nader Shah expelled them. At the beginning of the reign of Karim Khan Zand, the Azad Khan Afghan unsuccessfully revolted in Azerbaijan and later the Dumbuli Kurds of Khoy and other tribal chiefs ruled various parts of the territory. Azad Khan was defeated however by Erekle II. With the advent of the Qajars, Azerbaijan became the traditional residence of the heirs-apparent. Even until then Azerbaijan remained the main area from where the high-ranked governors would control the various territories and Khanates of the Caucasus while the main power stayed in Tehran.

Though the first Qajar Iranian ruler, Agha Mohammad Khan, had reconquered the Caucasus and all of Iran in several swift campaigns, such as the harsh re-subjugation of Georgia in 1795, Iran would eventually irrevocably lose all of the Caucasus region to neighbouring Imperial Russia during the course of the 19th century, which had a crucial impact on the region of modern-day Iranian Azerbaijan. Shortly after the reconquest of Georgia, Agha Mohammad Shah was assassinated while preparing a second expedition in 1797 in Shusha. The reassertion of Iranian hegemony over Georgia did not last long; in 1799 the Russians marched into Tbilisi, which would mark the beginning of the end of the Iranian-ruled domains in the Caucasus, comprising modern-day Georgia, Armenia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Dagestan thanks to the 19th century Russo-Persian Wars.

Since the late 17th/early 18th century, the Russians were actively pursuing an expansionist policy towards its neighbouring empires to its south, namely the Ottoman Empire and the successive Iranian kingdoms. Agha Mohammad Khan's death and the Russian troops entering the Iranian possession of Tbilisi in 1799, led directly to the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813), the first of a number of Russo-Persian wars during the 19th century, and the most devastating and humiliating one. By the end of the war in 1813 and the resulting Treaty of Gulistan, Qajar Iran was forced to cede Georgia, most of the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan, and Dagestan to Russia. The only Caucasian territories remaining in Iranian hands were what is now Armenia, the Nakhichevan Khanate, and the Talysh Khanate. The next war, the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), resulted in an even more humiliating defeat, with Iran being forced to cede the remaining Caucasian regions, as well as having Russian troops temporarily occupying Tabriz and Iranian Azerbaijan. As Iran was unwilling to allow the Russians to gain possession over its Caucasian territories in the North Caucasus and South Caucasus, the millennia-old ancient ties between Iran and the Caucasus region were only severed by the superior Russian force of Russia through these 19th-century wars.

The area to the North of the river Aras, which included the territory of the contemporary republic of Azerbaijan, eastern Georgia, Dagestan, and Armenia, were Iranian territory until they were occupied by Russia during the 19th century.

Through the course of the 19th century Iran lost to Russia regions which had been part Iran for centuries. By the end of the 19th century, the border between Iran and Russia was set more southwards, at the Aras River, which is currently the border between Iran and Armenia – Azerbaijan.

Subsequently, the Russians were very influential in Northern Iran including Azerbaijan (as Northern Iran fell into Russia's sphere of influence for decades). After 1905, the representatives of Azerbaijan were very active in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution as a result to this Russian influence.

Contemporary age
The Russian (Tsarist) army occupied Iranian Azerbaijan in 1909 and again in 1912–1914 and 1915–1918, followed by Ottoman forces in 1914–1915 and 1918–1919; Bolshevik forces occupied Iranian Azerbaijan and other parts of Iran in 1920–1921, and Soviet forces occupied Iranian Azerbaijan in 1941, creating a very short-lived autonomous, Soviet-supported state from November 1945 to November 1946, which was dissolved after the reunification of Iranian Azerbaijan with Iran in November of the same year. The period roughly from the last major Russo-Persian War up to this date is so-called the period of high Russian influences in Iran. All of Northern Iran, including Iranian Azerbaijan, Gilan, Mazandaran, Qazvin, and many other places all the way up to Isfahan fell into the Russian sphere of influence. Russian armies were stationed in many regions of Iranian Azerbaijan, Russian schools were founded, and many Russians settled in the region, but less than in Gilan and Mazandaran. Also, Azerbaijan saw the large influx of the so-called White émigrées who fled to Iran following the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Iranian nationalism is partly the product of Azerbaijani intellectuals. Azerbaijani provinces have played a major in the cultural and economic life of Iran in both the Pahlavi era as well as the Iranian Constitutional and Islamic revolution.

Monuments
The Iranian provinces of Azerbaijan, both West and East, possess a large number of monuments from all periods of history.

Geography
Iranian Azerbaijan is generally considered the north-west portion of Iran comprising the provinces of East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, and Ardabil. It shares borders with the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, and Iraq. There are 17 rivers and two lakes in the region. Cotton, nuts, textiles, tea, machinery, and electrical equipment are the main industries. The northern, alpine region, which includes Lake Urmia, is mountainous, with deep valleys and fertile lowlands.

The region is bounded in the north by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan and in the West by Lake Urmia and Kurdish-inhabited areas of Iran, and in the East by Gilan.

Mountains

 * Sabalan is an inactive stratovolcano in Ardabil province of northwestern Iran. It is the third highest mountain in Iran and has a permanent crater lake formed at its summit. Sabalan has a ski resort (Alvares) and different tourist areas such as the Sarein spa. The mountain is known for its beautiful vistas, including the Shirvan gorge, where few climbers ever venture. Elevation of Sabalan is 4811 m.
 * Sahand is a massive, heavily eroded stratovolcano in northwestern Iran. At 3707 m, it is the highest mountain in the Iranian province of East Azerbaijan.
 * Eynali is a small mountain range in north of Tabriz, Iran. The range has a couple of peaks including Eynali (1800 m), Halileh (1850 m), Pakeh-chin (1945 m), Bahlul (1985 m) and the highest one Dand (2378 m).
 * Mount Bozgush and Ağ Dağ is a 3306 m volcanic mountain 20 km south of Sarab and north of Mianeh, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. Tulips are cultivated on the rich volcanic soil of Mount Bozgush, and medicinal herbs such as pennyroyal, thyme, borage, nettle and liquorice grow wild on the mountain's slopes. Mount Bozgush is a stratovolcano composed mostly of andesite.

Rivers

Most of the biggest rivers in Azerbaijan flow into either Urmia Lake or the Caspian Sea (both of which are endorheic). Some of the major rivers are:
 * Urmia Lake basin: Aji Chay (Quri Chay), Zarriné-Rūd, Gadar River and many small permanent and seasonal rivers.
 * Caspian Sea basin: Qizil Üzan, Sefīd-Rūd and Aras River (Zangmar River).

Biosphere reserve

Arasbārān, in the former Qaradagh, is a UNESCO registered biosphere reserve (since 1976) and an Iranian Dept. of Environment designated "Protected Area" in East Azarbaijan Province, Iran, with a varying altitude from 256 m in the vicinity of the Aras River to 2896 m and covers an area of 78560 ha. The biosphere is also home to some 23,500 nomads. Arasbaran is confined to Aras River in the north, Meshgin Shahr County and Moghan in the east, Sarab County in the south, and Tabriz and Marand counties in the west.

Lakes

 * Urmia Lake is a salt lake near Iran's border with Turkey. The lake is between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, west of the southern portion of the similarly shaped Caspian Sea. It is the largest lake in the Middle East.
 * Shorabil Lake is located in a hilly area south of Ardabil. Ardabil University is located near the lake.
 * Gori Lake is a small fresh to brackish lake in the uplands of East Azerbaijan Province. Together with the adjacent reed marshes it is an important breeding area for waterfowl. A 1.2 km2 site was designated as a Ramsar Convention wetland protection site on 23 June 1975.
 * Neor Lake is located in a hilly area south of the Province of Ardabil, on the Ardabil–Khalkhal road.

Plain
The Mugan plain is a plain located between Iran and the southern part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The highest density of irrigation canals is in the section of the Mugan plain which lies in the Republic of Azerbaijan. It is located on the bank of the Aras river extending to Iran.

The Urmia Plain is in the West Azerbaijan Province, situated on western side of Lake Urmia and the eastern side of Turkish border.

Assembly of Experts
Of the 86 members of Assembly of Experts, 11 are representative of the Azerbaijan region. Ali Meshkini from Meshgin Shahr in the Ardabil Province was Chairmen of the Assembly of Experts since 1983 to 2007.
 * 5 representative of East Azerbaijan.
 * 3 representative of West Azerbaijan.
 * 2 representative of Ardabil Province.
 * 1 representative of Zanjan Province.

Islamic Consultative Assembly
Of the 290 members of Islamic Consultative Assembly, 44 are representative of Azerbaijan region. in the Azerbaijan region 40/44 Azerbaijani are in parliament the members of the Fraction of Turkic regions.
 * Electorate According to County:

 * Electoral district of East Azerbaijan: 19
 * Tabriz, Osku and Azarshahr: 6
 * Mianeh: 2
 * Kaleybar, Khoda Afarin: 1
 * Marand and Jolfa: 1
 * Sarab: 1
 * Bostanabad: 1
 * Maragheh and Ajabshir: 1
 * Hashtrud and Charuymaq: 1
 * Bonab: 1
 * Varzaqan: 1
 * Ahar and Heris: 1
 * Shabestar: 1
 * Malekan: 1

 * Electoral district of West Azerbaijan: 12
 * Urmia: 3
 * Miandoab, Shahin Dezh, Takab: 2
 * Khoy, Chaypareh: 1
 * Mahabad: 1 (Kurd)
 * Bukan: 1 (Kurd)
 * Maku, Poldasht, Showt, Chaldoran: 1
 * Nagadeh, Oshnavieh: 1 (Kurd)
 * Salmas: 1
 * Piranshahr, Sardasht: 1 (Kurd)

 * Electoral district of Ardabil Province: 7
 * Ardabil, Nir, Namin and Sareyn: 3

 * Germi: 1
 * Meshginshahr: 1

 * Khalkhal and Kowsar: 1

 * Parsabad and Bilesavar: 1

 * Electoral district of Zanjan Province: 5
 * Zanjan, Tarom: 2

 * Abhar, Khorramdarreh: 1
 * Khodabandeh: 1

 * Ijrud, Mahneshan: 1

Cabinet of Iran

 * Mohammadreza Nematzadeh: Minister of Industries and Business
 * Hamid Chitchian: Minister of Energy
 * Shahindokht Molaverdi: vice president of Iran the section Women and Family Affairs.

Military
Several Iranian Army and Sepah divisions and brigades are based in Azerbaijan, including:

Economy
The economy in Iranian Azerbaijan is based on Heavy industries, food industries, agriculture, and handicraft. The biggest economic hub is Tabriz which contains the majority of heavy industries and food industries. Iranian Azerbaijan has two free trade zones designated to promote international trade: Aras Free Zone and Maku Free Zone. The agriculture industry in Iranian Azerbaijan is relatively better than many other parts of the country because of comparatively higher precipitation. Handicrafts are mostly a seasonal industry mostly in rural areas during wintertime when the agriculture season is finished. There are 500 important production and industrial unit in this area. in October 2016, 500 Regional economic giant was introduced in 5 areas and 19 groups.

Free trade zones and exhibition centers

 * Tabriz International Exhibition Center: which is a complex with vast exhibition infrastructures, is located in the eastern part of Tabriz. It holds over forty commerce exhibitions on a yearly schedule. The most famous fair is TEXPO, which is a general trade fair.
 * Aras Free Zone: is situated in East Azerbaijan province, in the north-west of Iran, adjacent to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Existence of the greenhouse town in the AFTZ, which has been built upon cooperation of Agricultural Jihad Ministry, has paved the ground for presence of investors in the arena of planting hydroponic products. The 500-megawatt combined cycle power plant project which is currently underway in AFTZ as a joint investment venture with foreign parties.
 * Maku Free Zone: is situated in West Azerbaijan province, in the north-west of Iran, adjacent to Turkey.

Heavy industries
Industries include machine tools, vehicle factories, oil refineries, petrochemical complexes, food processing, cement, textiles, electric equipment, and sugar milling. Oil and gas pipelines run through the region. Wool, carpets, and metalware are also produced. In some factories and major companies in Azerbaijan include:
 * Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company (ITMCO), a producer of tractor, diesel engines, and other auto parts, and provider of industrial services with its headquarter and main site in Tabriz. ITMCO has manufacturing sites in several countries and it exports different products to ten countries. The company is ISO 9001 audited, and has received several awards of quality and exporting. ITMCO is listed as one of Iran's 100 fortune brands.
 * Goldstone Tires, operating under the brand Goldstone Tires is an Iranian manufacturer of tire for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, and heavy earth-mover machinery in Ardabil. Artawheel Tire is currently the largest non-government owned tire manufacturer in Iran by market share. The company currently has agreements with Iran Khodro Tabriz to develop tires for the Peugeot 206 models.
 * Mashin Sazi Tabriz (MST) is a manufacturer of industrial machinery and tools in Tabriz. The major products of the factory are turning machines, milling machines, drilling machines, grinding machines, and tools.
 * Rakhsh Khodro Diesel is an Iranian truck manufacturer established in 2005 and located in Tabriz. This company is a strategic partner of Kamaz of Russia, JAC and Jinbei of China and Maz-Man of Belarus, and produces Kamaz trucks, JAC light trucks, and its own designed minibus. Its headquarters is in Tabriz.
 * Amico is an Iranian truck manufacturer established in 1989 and located in Jolfa near Tabriz. This company produces light and heavy diesel vehicles.
 * Iran Khodro Tabriz, whose headquarters is in Tehran, is the leading Iranian vehicle manufacturer; it has the country's largest car factory in Tehran and five other vehicle factories. The company's original name was "Iran National". Until 2014, Iran Khodro Tabriz had a capacity of 520,000 vehicles, building 150 Samand Arisan cars per day instead of the Bardo Pick-up Paykan. The site also produces 100 IKCO Samands per day.
 * Other major petrochemical companies, oil refineries and industries include Machine works Company of Tabriz, Iranian Diesel Engine Manufacturing (IDEM), Tabriz Oil Refinery, Tabriz Petrochemical, and Copper Mine Songon.

Rugs and carpets
The Ardabil Carpet and Tabriz rug the best kind of Iranian carpet. Now 40 percent of Iranian carpet exports are carried through East Azarbaijan. Azerbaijani carpets and rugs are important:
 * Tabriz rug is a type in the general category of Iranian carpets  from the city of Tabriz.
 * Heriz rug are Persian rugs from the area of Heris, East Azerbaijan, northeast of Tabriz. Such rugs are produced in the village of the same name in the slopes of Mount Sabalan.
 * Ardabil rug and Ardabil carpet originate from Ardabil. Ardabil has a long and illustrious history of Azerbaijani carpet weaving. The reign of the Safavid dynasty in the 16th and 17th centuries represented the peak of Azerbaijani carpet making in the region.
 * Karadagh rug or Karaja rug is handmade in or near the village of Qarājeh (Karaja), in the Qareh Dāgh (Karadagh) region just south of the Azerbaijan border, northeast of Tabrīz. The best-known pattern shows three geometric medallions that are somewhat similar to those in Caucasian carpets. The central one has a latch-hooked contour and differs in colour from the others, which are eight-pointed stars.

Food industries
More than fifty percent of entire Iranian food exports are carried from Iranian Azerbaijan. The major hub for the food industry in the region is Tabriz which includes the Shirin Asal, Aydin, Shoniz, Anata, Baraka and Chichak manufacturers. Outside of Tabriz Minoo Industrial Group in Khorramdarreh is another nationally recognized food manufacturer.

Agriculture
The principle crops of the region are grains, fruits, cotton, rice, nuts, and tobacco.

People
Iranian Azerbaijanis, are a Turkic-speaking people, of which are largely of Iranian origin. They number between 16 and 24 percent  and between 15 and 16 million   of Iran's population, and comprise by far the second-largest ethnic group in the nation. In the Azerbaijan region, the population consists mainly of Azeris. Azeris are the largest group in Iranian Azerbaijan, while Kurds are the second largest group and a majority in many cities of West Azerbaijan Province. Iranian Azerbaijan is one of the richest and most densely populated regions of Iran. Many of these various linguistic, religious, and tribal minority groups, and Azeris themselves have settled widely outside the region. The majority Azeris are followers of Shi'a Islam. The Iranian Azeris mainly reside in the northwest provinces, including the Iranian Azerbaijan provinces (East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan and Ardabil), Zanjan, as well as regions of the North to Hamadan County and Shara District in the East Hamadan Province, some regions Qazvin Province and also Azerbaijani minorities living in Markazi, Kordestan, Gilan,  and Kermanshah.

Smaller groups, such as Armenians, Assyrians, Kurds, Tats, Talyshs, Jews, Circassians, (and other Peoples of the Caucasus), and Persians also inhabit the region.

Religion
The majority of Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan are followers of Twelver Shia Islam. Azerbaijanis commemorate Shia holy days (ten first days of the holy month of Muharram) minority Sunni Azerbaijani Turks (Shafi and Hanafi) who live in the Ardabil Province (Hashatjin and villages of Bileh Savar County) and West Azerbaijan province (near the cities of Urmia, Khoy and Salmas) and have population about 200,000 people in this area.

Immigration
Azerbaijani people mostly live in northwest parts of Iran, but large Azerbaijani populations can be found in Khorasan, mostly in Mashhad, as well as central Iran, due to internal migration to Tehran, Karaj, and Qum. Where they have settled, they have become prominent – not only among urban and industrial working classes – but also in commercial, administrative, political, religious, and intellectual circles. Azerbaijanis make up 25%–33% of Tehran and of Tehran Province's population. They are the largest ethnic groups after Persians in Tehran and the Tehran Province. The governor of Tehran is Hossein Hashemi from Sarab; he was born in East Azerbaijan; Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, was born in Mashhad and is of Azeri origin. The journals Varliq and Azari are printed by the Azerbaijani people in Tehran.

Population

According to the population census of 2012, the four provinces of East Azerbaijan (2012 pop. 3,724,620), West Azerbaijan (2012 pop. 3,080,576), Zanjan (2012 pop. 1,015,734), and Ardabil (2012 pop. 1,248,488) have a combined population of 9 million people.

Administrative divisions
Azerbaijan's major cities are Tabriz (the capital of East Azerbaijan), Urmia  (the capital of West Azerbaijan), Zanjan  (the capital of Zanjan Province), Ardabil  (the capital of Ardabil Province) and Major cities non-capital of Province's Azerbaijan are Khoy and Maragheh.

New 2014 administrative divisions
During Hassan Rouhani's government, the Ministry of Interior declared that the provinces of Iran would be organized into regions. Region 3 in Northwest Iran includes East Azerbaijan Province, West Azerbaijan Province, Ardabil Province, Zanjan Province, Gilan Province, and Kurdistan Province.

Culture
Azerbaijanis have influenced Iranian culture while also being influenced by their non-Iranian neighbors, particularly Caucasians and Russians. The majority of Azerbaijanis in both Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan are Shiite Muslims. They celebrate Nowruz, the Iranian new year, at the arrival of spring. Azerbaijan has a distinct music that is tightly connected to the music of other Iranian peoples such as Persian music and Kurdish music, and also the music of the Caucasian peoples. Although the Azerbaijani language is not an official language of Iran it is widely used, mostly orally, among the Iranian Azerbaijanis.

Literature
Many poets that came from Azerbaijan wrote poetry in both Persian and Azerbaijani. Renowned poets in Azerbaijani language are Nasimi, Shah Ismail I (who was known with the pen-name Khatai), Fuzuli, Nasimi, and Jahan Shah were probably born outside what is now Iranian Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani was the dominant language of the Turkish ruling dynasties of the area, such as Ak Koyunlu, Kara Koyunlu, and was later used in the Safavid court, until Isfahan became the capital, and by religious, military and state dignitaries. In the 16th century, Azerbaijani literature further flourished with the development of Ashik (Aşıq) poetic genre of bards. During the same period, under the pen-name of Khatāī (خطائی for sinner), Shah Ismail I wrote about 1,400 verses in Azerbaijani, which were later published as his Divan. A unique literary style known as qoshma (qoşma for improvisation) was introduced in this period, and developed by Shah Ismail and later by his son and successor, Shah Tahmasp and Tahmasp I. In the span of the 17th century, 18th and 19th century, Fizuli's unique genres as well Ashik poetry were taken up by prominent poets and writers such as Qovsi Tabrizi, Shah Abbas Sani, Khasta Qasim, Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Seyid Abulgasim Nabati, Ali Mojuz and others.

An influential piece of post-World War II Azerbaijani poetry, Heydar Babaya Salam (Greetings to Heydar Baba) was written by Azeri poet Mohammad Hossein Shahriar. This poem, published in Tabriz in 1954 and written in colloquial Azerbaijani, became popular among Iranians and the people of Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In Heydar Babaya Salam, Shahriar expressed his identity as an Iranian attached to his homeland, language, and culture. Heydar Baba is a hill near Khoshknab, the native village of the poet.

Azerbaijan is mentioned favorably on many occasions in Persian literature by Iran's greatest authors and poets. Examples:

گزیده هر چه در ایران بزرگان

زآذربایگان و ری و گرگان

All the nobles and greats of Iran,

Choose from Azerbaijan, Ray, and Gorgan.

—Vis o Ramin

از آنجا بتدبیر آزادگان

بیامد سوی آذرآبادگان

From there the wise and the free,

set off to Azerbaijan

—Nizami

به یک ماه در آذرآبادگان

ببودند شاهان و آزادگان

For a month's time, The Kings and The Free,

Would choose in Azerbaijan to be

—Ferdowsi

UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Nine historical sites in Azerbaijan have been designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
 * Bazaar of Tabriz: is one of the oldest bazaars in the Middle East and the largest covered bazaar in the world. The bazaar was declared to be a World Heritage Site in July 2010.
 * Sheikh Safi al-Din Khānegāh and Shrine Ensemble: is the tomb of Sheikh Safi-ad-din Ardabili located in Ardabil, Iran. In 2010, it was registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
 * Takht-e Soleymān: literally the Throne of Solomon, in earlier ancient periods known as Shiz or Adur Gushnasp, literally the Fire of the Warrior Kings) is an archaeological site in West Azerbaijan. It lies midway between Urmia and Hamadan, very near the present-day town of Takab.
 * Dome of Soltaniyeh: located near Zanjan, 240 km to the north-west of Tehran, used to be the capital of Mongol Ilkhanid rulers of Persia in the 14th century. Its name translates as The Imperial. In 2005, UNESCO listed Soltaniyeh as one of the World Heritage Sites. The road from Zanjan to Soltaniyeh extends until it reaches to the Katale khor cave.
 * The Armenian Monastic Ensemble: St. Thaddeus Monastery, Saint Stepanos Monastery, Church of the Holy Mother of God, Darashamb, Chapel of Dzordzor, and Church of Chupan are World Heritage Sites.

Colleges and universities
There are many universities in Azerbaijan, included units and centers: public university and private university, Islamic Azad University, Payame Noor University, Nonprofit educational institutions, University of Applied Science and Technology.

Some of the most prestigious public universities in the area are:

Architecture
Azeri style is a style (sabk) of architecture when categorizing Iranian architecture development in Azerbaijan history. Landmarks of this style of architecture span from the late 13th century (Ilkhanate) to the appearance of the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century CE.

Ashik
Ashik is a mystic bard, balladeer, or troubadour who accompanied his song be it a hikaye or a shorter original composition with a long-necked lute. The modern Azerbaijani ashiq is a professional musician who usually serves an apprenticeship, masters playing saz, and builds up a varied but individual repertoire of Turkic folk songs. and The Coffeehouse of Ashiks is a coffeehouse in cities of Azerbaijan where ashiks perform Turkish hikaye. In cities, towns, and villages of Iranian Azerbaijan ashiks entertain audiences in coffeehouses.

Azerbaijan Cultural and Literature Foundation
Azerbaijan Cultural and Literature Foundation, was founded for the purpose of research, study and promote the study of the culture, art, language, literature, and history of Azerbaijan in four provinces (East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil, and Zanjan) of Azerbaijan region.

Air
Iranian Azerbaijan is connected to other parts of Iran and the world via several air routes. There are seven civil airports in the region and the biggest Airport in the region is Tabriz International Airport located in north-west of Tabriz. The other Airports are:

Air lines
Ata Airlines is an airline based in Tabriz, Iran. Operates scheduled domestic services and international services in the Middle East, as well as charter services including Europe. Its main base is Tabriz International Airport. This airplane company is in Azerbaijan with Eram Air.

Bridge

 * Urmia Lake Bridge is a bridge in region. It crosses Lake Urmia and connects East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan.
 * Meshginshahr suspension bridge is Middle East's largest suspension bridge in height of 80 m.
 * Tabriz Cable Bridge is the biggest cable-stayed bridge in Iran.

Railway
Azerbaijan is connected to the rest of Iranian railways through a line that connects Tabriz to Tehran. This line continues from Tabriz to Jolfa city in the north of East Azerbaijan province and is connected to the railways of Nakhichevan. Tabriz–Jolfa railway is one of the oldest railways in Iran that was built between 1912 and 1916. This railway line is the only part of Iranian railways that has an electric line. Tabriz also connected to Turkey through Tabriz-Razi railways which were built 1960–1961. The most important railways station in Azerbaijan is Tabriz Railway Station which was founded in West of Tabriz in 1917; the current railway building of Tabriz railway station was built during the second Pahlavi era by Iranian architect Heydar Ghiaï-Chamlou. The first railroad arriving at Tabriz had been built by Russians. The railway started from Jolfa, a city on the border of Iran and the modern Republic of Azerbaijan.

Active lines this railway included: Tabriz–Tehran, Tabriz–Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and Tabriz–Turkey.

Metro
Tabriz Metro opened on 28 August 2015 with 7 km length and 6 stations. It will encompass 5 lines (4 lines are underground subway and 1 line is planned to connect Tabriz to Sahand) and the total planned length is 75 km. Line 1 is the first line under construction that connects Shah-Golu in the southeast to Laleh district in the southwest after passing through the city center of Tabriz.

Roads
A network of Iranian national roads connects cities and populated areas of Azerbaijan to each other and to other parts of Iran. The only freeway in Azerbaijan is Freeway 2 (Iran) which connects Tabriz to Tehran and it is planned to construct the rest of the freeway up to the Iran-Turkey border at Bazargan. Other roads and highways include Road 32 (Iran) which connects Tehran to Tabriz and continues to the Iran-Turkey border at Bazargan. Here is a list and map of roads that pass through Azerbaijan.

TV and radio

 * Sahand TV from Tabriz
 * Eshragh TV from Zanjan
 * Sabalan TV from Ardebil
 * Azerbaijan TV from Urmia

Native language instruction
Azerbaijani language is not taught in Iranian schools; but for the first time at the level of academic education since 2016, Azerbaijani language and literature launched in Azerbaijan for Tabriz University.

Newspapers

 * Ardabil Province
 * Ardabil Farda
 * Ardabil Hamshahri
 * West Azerbaijan
 * Araz Azerbaijan
 * Zanjan Province
 * Mardom -e- No
 * Zanjan Hamshahri

 * East Azerbaijan
 * Azerbaijan
 * Ark
 * Amin
 * Sorkhab
 * Saib Tabriz
 * Asr Azadi
 * Fajr Azerbaijan
 * Mahd Azadi

Sport Olympiad
For the first time, Sports Olympiad of northwest in 23 sports to host Ardabil city will be held the presence of West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, Ardabil and Zanjan provinces.

Major sport clubs
Representatives of Azerbaijani in the top two leagues:

 * Football
 * Tractor Sazi
 * Machine Sazi
 * Gostaresh Foolad
 * Shahrdari Tabriz

 * Futsal
 * Mes Sungun
 * Behrad Ardabil

 * Volleyball
 * Shahrdari Urmia
 * Shahrdari Tabriz

 * Basketball
 * Shahrdari Tabriz

 * Cycling Team

Major sport events

 * 2010 Asian Men's Cup Volleyball Championship Ghadir Arena in Urmia.
 * 2012 WAFF Futsal Championship Ghadir Arena in Urmia.
 * 2012 Asian Junior Men's Volleyball Championship Ghadir Arena in Urmia.
 * 16th Wrestle International Children's Day Shahid Poursharifi Arena in Tabriz.
 * 2014 Asian Men's Junior Handball Championship Shahid Poursharifi Arena in Tabriz.
 * 1976: Part of 1976 AFC Asian Cup's final tournament held in Bagh Shomal Stadium, Tabriz.
 * Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan) since 1986.

Sports facilities
Large and important stadiums:

 * Yadegar-e Emam Stadium
 * Ali Daei Stadium
 * Takhti Stadium
 * Gostaresh Foulad Stadium
 * Tabriz Cycling Track
 * Shahid Pour Sharifi Arena
 * Ghadir Arena
 * Rezazadeh Stadium
 * Marzdaran Stadium
 * Tractor Stadium
 * Sahand Ski Resort

title: Azerbaijan (Iran)


text:
Bernard Arnault

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (born 5 March 1949) is a French businessman, investor and art collector. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault is the third richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$194 billion, according to Forbes.

Arnault was raised in a devoutly Catholic household. He pursued engineering at École polytechnique, graduating in 1971. He began his career in his father's company, Ferret-Savinel, shifting its focus to real estate, which laid the groundwork for his future career in the luxury sector.

Arnault's entry into the luxury goods market was marked by his strategic acquisition of the financially-struggling textile and retail conglomerate Boussac Saint-Frères in 1984, which included the prestigious fashion house Christian Dior. His aggressive business strategies earned him the nickname "The Terminator," as he revitalized Dior and sold off other assets for profit. In 1987, he played a key role in the creation of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy), a global company in luxury goods, by merging Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy. Through a series of strategic acquisitions and investments, Arnault changed LVMH into a major company in the luxury industry, overseeing significant growth and expansion into various sectors, including fashion, jewelry, watches, and wine.

Arnault's influence extends beyond LVMH, with investments in web companies and philanthropic endeavors, particularly in the arts. He has been involved in notable real estate and yacht ventures. His leadership has led to LVMH becoming the largest company by market capitalization in the eurozone. Despite controversies, including his attempt to become a Belgian citizen, Arnault's business acumen have solidified his status as a key figure in the global luxury market.

Early life
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault was born on 5 March 1949 in Roubaix. His mother, pianist Marie-Josèphe Savinel, daughter of Étienne Savinel, had a "fascination for Dior skincare and perfume". His father, manufacturer Jean Léon Arnault, a graduate of École Centrale Paris, owned the civil engineering company Ferret-Savinel. Raised in a "strict Catholic-Auvergne" style by his devoutly Catholic grandmother, Arnault took classical piano lessons as a child and attended elite Catholic schools.

Career
Arnault was educated at the Lycée Maxence Van Der Meersch in Roubaix and the Lycée Faidherbe in Lille.

In 1971, he graduated from the École Polytechnique, France's leading engineering school, and began work for his father's company. Three years later, after he convinced his father to shift the focus of the company to real estate, Ferret-Savinel sold the industrial construction division and was renamed Ferinel. Following the acquisition of a textile company and relocation of its headquarters, the company renamed the real estate branch to the George V Group. The real estate assets were later sold to Compagnie Générale des Eaux (CGE), eventually becoming Nexity.

1971–1987: Professional start
Arnault began his career in 1971, at Ferret-Savinel, and was its president from 1978 to 1984. In 1984, Arnault, then a young real estate developer, heard that the French government was set to choose someone to take over the Boussac Saint-Frères empire, a textile and retail conglomerate that owned Christian Dior.

With the help of Antoine Bernheim, a senior partner of Lazard Frères, Arnault acquired the Financière Agache, a luxury goods company. He became the CEO of Financière Agache and subsequently won the bidding war for Boussac Saint-Frères, buying the group for a ceremonial one franc and effectively taking control of Boussac Saint-Frères. After Arnault bought Boussac, he laid off 9,000 workers in two years, after which he acquired the nickname "The Terminator". He sold nearly all of the company's assets, keeping only the Christian Dior brand and Le Bon Marché department store. By 1987, the company was profitable again and booked earnings of $112 million on a revenue stream of $1.9 billion.

1987–1989: Co-founding and acquisition of LVMH
He worked with Alain Chevalier, CEO of Moët Hennessy, and Henry Racamier, president of Louis Vuitton, to form LVMH in 1987.

In July 1988, Arnault provided $1.6 billion to form a holding company with Guinness that held 24% of LVMH's shares. In response to rumors that the Louis Vuitton group was buying LVMH's stock to form a "blocking minority", Arnault spent $600 million to buy 13.5% more of LVMH, making him LVMH's largest shareholder. LVMH had been created on the premise that the conglomerate would be too large for a single hostile raider. However, the premise failed to take into account internal takeover attempts. The fault became too large to ignore when Arnault had a differing strategic vision from Henry Racamier, Louis Vuitton's president.

In January 1989, he spent another $500 million to gain control of a total of 43.5% of LVMH's shares and 35% of its voting rights, thus reaching the "blocking minority" that he needed to stop the dismantlement of the LVMH group. He then turned on Racamier, stripped him of his power, and ousted him from the board of directors. On 13 January 1989, he was unanimously elected chairman of the executive management board.

1989–2001: LVMH's Initial expansion and growth
After assuming leadership, Arnault led the company through an ambitious development plan, transforming it into one of the largest luxury groups in the world, alongside Swiss luxury giant Richemont and French-based Kering. In eleven years, annual sales and profit rose by a factor of 5, and the market value of LVMH increased by a factor of 15. In July 1988, Arnault acquired Céline. That same year, he sponsored French fashion designer Christian Lacroix to advertise the company's luxury clothing line. LVMH acquired Berluti and Kenzo in 1993, the same year Arnault bought out the French economic newspaper La Tribune. La Tribune never achieved the desired success, despite his 150 million euro investment, and he sold it in November 2007 to buy a different French economic newspaper, Les Échos, for €240 million.

In 1994, LVMH acquired the perfume firm Guerlain. In 1996, Arnault bought out Loewe, followed by Marc Jacobs and Sephora in 1997. Five more brands were also integrated into the group: Thomas Pink in 1999, Emilio Pucci in 2000, and Fendi, DKNY, and La Samaritaine in 2001.

In the 1990s, Arnault decided to develop a center in New York to manage LVMH's presence in the United States. He chose Christian de Portzamparreke to supervise this project. The result was the LVMH Tower that opened in December 1999. That same year, Arnault turned his eyes to Gucci, an Italian leather goods company, which was run by Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole. He discreetly amassed a 5 percent stake in the company before being detected. Gucci responded hostilely and called it a "creeping takeover." Arnault then upped his stake to 34.4 percent while insisting he wanted to be a supportive and unassertive stakeholder. De Sole proposed that in return for board representation, Arnault would stop increasing his stake in Gucci. However, Arnault rejected this proposal. De Sole discovered a loophole that allowed him to issue shares with only board approval, and for every share LVMH bought, he created more for his employees, thus diluting Arnault's stake. The fight dragged on until a settlement in September 2001. After the legal ruling, LVMH sold its shares and walked away with $700 million in profit.

In 1998, with businessman Albert Frère, Arnault purchased Château Cheval Blanc in a personal capacity. LVMH acquired Arnault's share in 2009 to add to the group's other wine property Château d'Yquem.

From 1998 to 2001, Arnault invested in a variety of web companies such as Boo.com, Libertysurf, and Zebank through his holding Europatweb. Groupe Arnault also invested in Netflix in 1999.

2001–present: Increasing success and profitability
In 2007, Blue Capital announced that Arnault owned jointly with the California property firm Colony Capital 10.69% of France's largest supermarket retailer and the world's second-largest food distributor Carrefour.

In 2008, he entered the yacht business and bought Princess Yachts for 253 million euros. He subsequently took control of Royal van Lent shipyard for an almost identical amount.

From 2010 until 2013, Arnault was a member of the Board of Advisors of the Malaysian 1MDB fund.

On 7 March 2011, Arnault announced the acquisition of 50.4% of family-owned shares of the Italian jeweler Bulgari, to make a tender offer for the rest, which was publicly owned. The transaction was worth $5.2 billion. In 2011, Arnault invested $641 million in establishing LCapitalAsia. On 7 March 2013, National Business Daily reported that mid-priced clothing brand QDA would open stores with the assistance of Arnault's private equity firm LCapitalAsia and Chinese apparel company Xin Hee Co., Ltd. in Beijing. In February 2014, Arnault entered into a joint venture with the Italian fashion brand Marco De Vincenzo, taking a minority 45% stake in the firm. In 2016, LVMH sold DKNY to G-III Apparel Group. In April 2017, Arnault announced the acquisition of Christian Dior haute couture, leather, both men's and women's ready-to-wear, and footwear lines, which integrated the entire Christian Dior brand within LVMH.

By January 2018, Arnault had led the company to record sales of €42.6 billion in 2017, 13% over the previous year, as all divisions turned in strong performances. That same year, the net profit increased by 29%. In November 2019, Arnault planned to acquire Tiffany & Co. for approximately US$16.2 billion. The deal was expected to close by June 2020. LVMH then stated in September 2020 that the takeover would not proceed and that the deal was "invalid" because Tiffany handled the business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, Tiffany filed suit against LVMH, asking the court to compel the purchase or to assess damages against the defendant; LVMH planned to counter-sue, alleging that mismanagement had invalidated the purchase agreement. In mid-September 2020, a reliable source told  Forbes that the reason for Arnault's decision to cancel the Tiffany purchase was purely financial: Tiffany was paying millions in dividends to shareholders despite a financial loss of US$32 million during the pandemic. Upon examination of financial records, Arnault discovered that some US$70 million had already been paid out by Tiffany, with an additional US$70 million scheduled to be paid in November 2020. LVMH filed a counterclaim against the court action commenced by Tiffany; a statement issued by LVMH blamed Tiffany's mismanagement during the pandemic and claimed that it was "burning cash and reporting losses". In late October 2020, Tiffany and LVMH agreed to the original takeover plan, though at a slightly reduced price of nearly $16 billion, a minor reduction of 2.6% from the aforementioned deal. The new deal reduced the amount paid per share by LVMH from the original price of $135 to $131.50. LVMH completed the purchase of Tiffany in January 2021.

Under Arnault's leadership, LVMH has grown to become the largest company by market capitalization in the eurozone, with a record of 313 billion euros ($382 billion) as of May 2021. Arnault has promoted decisions toward decentralizing the group's brands as a business strategy. As a result of these measures, brands under the LVMH umbrella such as Tiffany are still viewed as independent firms with their history.

Arnault has said that brands like Louis Vuitton and Dior are successful because "they have these two aspects, which may be contradictory: They are timeless, [and] they are at the utmost level of modernity.”

Family
In 1973, Arnault married Anne Dewavrin. Together, they had two children, Delphine and Antoine. They separated in 1990. In 1991, he married Hélène Mercier, a Canadian concert pianist. They have three sons, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean. Arnault and Mercier live in Paris. Arnault has four grandchildren, two from his son Antoine and two from his daughter, Delphine.

All five children—Delphine, Antoine, Alexandre, Frédéric, and Jean—have official roles in brands controlled by Arnault, along with his niece Stephanie Watine Arnault. Alexandre is the EVP of Tiffany & Co., Frédéric is the CEO of LVMH Watches, and Jean is the Director of Watchmaking Marketing and Development at Louis Vuitton. Since 2010, Arnault's daughter Delphine has been with Xavier Niel, a French billionaire businessman active in the telecommunications and technology industry. Effective February 1, 2023, Delphine is the chief executive officer of the luxury brand Dior.

Wealth
In April 1999, Arnault was first considered to be the richest person in fashion, topping Zara's Amancio Ortega. That same year, he set up Pilinvest (Pilinvest Participations and Pilinvest Investissements), a holding company based in Belgium. Through Pilinvest, Arnault has been holding an 81% stake in Agache (former Groupe Arnault), the holding company that owns 48% of LVMH and 63% of its voting rights. In 2008, he established Protectinvest, a private foundation in Belgium set up to safeguard the integrity of the LVMH group until 2023; the foundation locked up the Arnault children's ability to sell shares in Pilinvest until 2023, by which time Arnault's youngest child turned 25, an age deemed old enough to assume responsibility for LVMH.

In December 2011, six months before Socialist François Hollande took office as President of France, he transferred a 31 percent stake in Groupe Arnault – at the time considered by the newspaper Libération worth €6.5 billion – to Pilinvest.

In 2016, Arnault was paid €7.8 million as the CEO of the LVMH group. In July 2019, Arnault became the second-richest man in the world, with a net worth of $103 billion. Arnault briefly surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the richest person in the world in December 2019, and again for a short time in January 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Arnault saw his wealth shrink by $30 billion as sales of luxury goods plummeted.

On 5 August 2021, Arnault regained the status of the wealthiest man in the world, with his net worth climbing to $198.4 billion. This occurred as sales of LVMH's luxury goods surged in China and other parts of Asia. He is listed as "Bernard Arnault & family" on the Forbes Billionaires list. Forbes estimated the Bernard Arnault & family fortune to be $158 billion in 2022, positioning him ahead of Bill Gates. In 2022, Arnault changed the legal structure of Agache from a Societas Europaea (SE) to a joint-stock partnership to ensure family control over LVMH in the long term.

Arnault and his family had an estimated peak net worth of US$240.7 billion in April 2023, according to Forbes. This made him the richest person in the world at the time, surpassing Elon Musk. Musk would surpass Arnaut in June 2023 in net worth with $240 billion, as Arnault's wealth dropped to $190 billion.

According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index Arnault was the wealthiest person in the world, with a net worth of about US $218 billion in May 2024. By 14 June 2024, according to Forbes, Musk had regained first place, with Bezos in second place, and Arnault, with US$194.2 billion, in third place.

Request for Belgian citizenship
In 2013, it was disclosed that Arnault planned to apply for Belgian citizenship and was considering moving to Belgium. In April 2013, Arnault said that he had been misquoted and that he never intended to leave France: "I repeatedly said that I would stay as a resident in France and that I would continue to pay my taxes... Today, I decided to remove any ambiguity. I withdraw my request for Belgian nationality. Requesting Belgian nationality was to better protect the foundation that I created with the sole purpose of ensuring the continuity and integrity of the LVMH group if I were to die."

On 10 April 2013, Arnault announced he had decided to abandon his application for Belgian citizenship, saying he did not want the move to be misinterpreted as a measure of tax evasion, at a time when France faced economic and social challenges. Arnault also stated several employees requested to leave France for tax purposes but he declined their requests, explaining "the 75% tax would not raise a lot of revenue but should prove less divisive, as now it was set to be levied on firms rather than people, and only due to stay in place for two years."

Transport
Arnault owned the 70 m converted research vessel Amadeus, which was sold in late 2015. His current 101.5 m yacht Symphony was built in the Netherlands by Feadship.

In October 2022, Arnault stated that LVMH sold its private jet after a Twitter user began to track its flights and stated he began renting private aircraft for his personal and business flights instead. The aircraft was a Bombardier Global 7500 which was registered F-GVMA.

Lifestyle
Arnault plays tennis weekly, watches his weight, and works continually.

Art collection
Arnault's collection includes works by Picasso, Yves Klein, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol. He was also instrumental in establishing LVMH as a significant patron of art in France. The LVMH Young Fashion Designer was created as an international competition open to students from fine arts schools. Every year, the winner is awarded a grant to support the creation of the designer's label and a year of mentorship.

From 1999 to 2003, he owned Phillips de Pury & Company, an art auction house, and bought out the first French auctioneer, Tajan. In 2006, Arnault started the building project of the Louis Vuitton Foundation. Dedicated to the creation and contemporary art, the building was designed by the architect Frank Gehry. The Foundation's grand opening at the Jardin d'Acclimatation Paris was held on 20 October 2014.

Political views
In the second round of the 2017 French presidential election, Arnault publicly supported Emmanuel Macron. Brigitte Macron was the French teacher of Arnault's sons Frédéric and Jean when they were students at the Lycée Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague.

Awards and honors

 * Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur (France, 31 December 2023)
 * Commandeur of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
 * Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy, 2006)
 * Medal of Pushkin (Russia, 2017)
 * Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (UK, 2012)
 * The Woodrow Wilson Award for Global Corporate Citizenship (2011)
 * The Museum of Modern Art's David Rockefeller Award (March 2014)

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

title: Bernard Arnault


text:
Donald Newhouse

Donald Edward Newhouse (born 1929) is an American businessman. He owns Advance Publications, founded by his father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., in 1922, whose properties include Condé Nast (publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Tatler, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker), dozens of newspapers across the US (including The Star-Ledger, The Plain Dealer, and The Oregonian), cable company Bright House Networks and a controlling stake in Discovery Communications. According to Forbes, he has an estimated net worth of $11 billion as of June 2024. He resides in New York City.

Early life
Newhouse's father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr., was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and began the family media business. His mother, Mitzi Epstein, was an arts patron and philanthropist who grew up in an upper middle class family on the Upper West Side, the daughter of a silk tie importer. Donald Newhouse is Jewish, and was listed on the Jerusalem Post's list of the world's 50 richest Jews in 2010.

Philanthropy
In January 2020, Newhouse donated $75 million to Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The communications school is named after his father, Samuel Irving Newhouse Sr.

It was announced in March 2021 that Newhouse and his wife Susan would launch a fund at the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD) with a $20m donation, the largest donation in the charity's history.

Personal life
Newhouse married Susan Marley in 1955, just after she had graduated from Wellesley College.

 * Katherine Irene Newhouse - school teacher at the Town School in New York; married Dr. Joseph Patrick Mele in 1991.
 * Michael Andrew Newhouse - assistant publisher of the Times of Trenton; member of Associated Press board of directors since 2017; married Elyse Sue Applebaum in 1988. Elyse's brother, Scott Applebaum, is founder and CEO of Multispark, LLC. Elyse works as the president of global development at Advance's magazine company Conde Nast International.
 * Steven O. Newhouse (b. 1957) - editor of the Jersey Journal; married in 1993 to Gina Sanders, later publisher of Gourmet and Teen Vogue.

The couple's primary residence was in New York City, but they often spent weekends on their farm in New Jersey. They remained married until her death in 2015 of primary progressive aphasia, the same rare disorder that afflicted his brother, Si Newhouse.

title: Donald Newhouse


text:
Talk:The Last Poets

Scott-Heron
Hows about something on the connection between Last poets and Gil Scott Heron? I used to have an album called At last by the Last Poets that included a track called 'Niggers Are Scared of Revolution' which was I thought very much a precursor of "The Revolution Will Not B Televised". Can anybody develop this theme further?? quercus robur 00:09, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)

'Performance' film soundtrack
Actually, the track on the 'Performance' soundtrack is performed by Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Umar Bin Hassan, and Abiodun Oyewole, not Kain, Felipe, and Nelson as referenced in the article. Unless this was a way to reference both films together for the purpose of continuity, this should be corrected.

Dahveed Nelson
Dahveed Nelson appears to be performing with The Last Poets once again. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 03:46, 21 March 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:The Last Poets


text:
Talk:List of functional programming topics

Categories
Would anyone object if this were converted into a system of (wiki-)categories? —Ashley Y 00:10, 2004 Aug 7 (UTC)


text:
Danny Blanchflower

Robert Dennis Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a former Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. He was ranked as the greatest player in Spurs history by The Times in 2009. After a lengthy playing career, he retired at the age of 38. He became a respected football journalist and, later, a football manager.

Blanchflower said of football: "The great fallacy is that the game is first and last about winning. It is nothing of the kind. The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom."

Early years and family
Blanchflower was born on 10 February 1926 in the Bloomfield district of Belfast, the first of five children born to John and Selina Blanchflower. His mother had played as a centre-forward on a women's football team. He was educated at Ravenscroft public elementary school and was awarded a scholarship to Belfast College of Technology.

He left early to become an apprentice electrician at Gallaher's cigarette factory in Belfast. He also joined the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) and in 1943 lied about his age to join the RAF. As a trainee navigator he was sent on a course to St Andrews University (where he acquired a lifelong love of golf) and in the spring of 1945 was posted to Canada for further training. By 1946, aged 20, he was back in Belfast, back at Gallaher's, and building a reputation as an outstanding footballer. While at St Andrews Blanchflower played for the University College Dundee football team which was coached by former Celtic, Dundee United and Scotland trainer Jack Qusklay.

His younger brother Jackie (1933–1998) was also a Northern Irish international footballer and played for Manchester United before his playing career was ended by injuries sustained in the Munich air disaster of February 1958.

Playing career
Blanchflower signed for Glentoran in 1946, before crossing the Irish Sea and signing for Barnsley for £6000 in 1949, at the age of 23. He transferred from Barnsley to Aston Villa for a fee of £15,000, making his debut in March 1951. He made 155 senior appearances for Villa (148 in the League), before being sold during the 1954–55 season.

In 1954 Blanchflower was bought by Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £30,000, and during his ten years at White Hart Lane he made 337 League appearances, and 382 total appearances (scoring 21 goals). The highlight of his time at Spurs came with the 1960–61 season. With Blanchflower as captain Spurs won their first 11 games, a record for the top flight of English football and eventually won the league by 8 points. They then beat Leicester City in the final of the FA Cup to become the first team in the 20th century to win the League and Cup double, not achieved since Aston Villa in 1897.

Blanchflower was voted FWA Footballer of the Year in 1958 and 1961. In 1962 he helped Spurs win the FA Cup, scoring a penalty in the final against Burnley. In 1963 he captained his side to victory over Atlético Madrid in the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup.

During his time with Spurs he also had a short spell with Toronto City, alongside fellow Football League players Stanley Matthews and Johnny Haynes.

Making his debut in 1949, he earned 56 caps for Northern Ireland, and in 1958 captained his country when they reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup. He was the first Northern Irishman to achieve a half century of caps when he played against Wales in 1962.

On 4 December 1957 he captained the Northern Ireland team against Italy in Belfast, in a bad tempered game that came to be known as the "Battle of Belfast"; Blanchflower attempted to keep the peace as the game turned nasty.

He finally announced his retirement as a player of 5 April 1964 at the age of 38, having played nearly 400 games in all competitions for Spurs and captained them to four major trophies.

In 1965, Blanchflower briefly came out of retirement to play for Durban City. Blanchflower played three times for the club in South Africa's National Football League (NFL).

Style of play
Considered to be the brains of the great Tottenham team of the 60's, Blanchflower played as a defensive midfielder at right half and was known particularly for his accurate passing, his ability to dictate the tempo of the game and his inspiring leadership.

Career as manager
Following his retirement as a player, Blanchflower coached at Spurs for a number of years, and double-winning manager Bill Nicholson intended for Blanchflower to be his long-term successor. When Nicholson resigned from the club in 1974 however, Blanchflower found himself being passed over in favour of Terry Neill, and subsequently left the club himself. He became manager of Northern Ireland for a brief spell in 1978, and was then appointed as Chelsea boss. However, he won only five of his 32 games in charge and he left them in September 1979.

Off the field
He was one of only a handful of players to have been awarded the title of FWA Footballer of the Year on two occasions, winning in both 1958 and 1961. He was one of many signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958 opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'. On 6 February 1961, he also became the first person to turn down the invitation to appear on This Is Your Life, simply walking away from host Eamonn Andrews. Contrary to belief, this incident was not broadcast live on air, but was being recorded to be shown at the beginning of the live transmission. "I consider this programme to be an invasion of privacy", he explained. "Nobody is going to press gang me into anything."

Blanchflower commentated on a match for ITV as early as 3 January 1956 – the final of the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup between West Ham and Chelsea. He also hosted editions of the BBC's Junior Sportsview in 1959 and ITV's Junior Criss Cross Quiz in the mid 60s. He was the colour commentator for the CBS television network broadcasts of National Professional Soccer League (NASL) matches in the United States in 1967. His candour about the fledgling league's shortcomings distressed network executives, as he recounted in a 10 June 1968 Sports Illustrated article he authored. In the 1968–69 season he was the regular commentator for Yorkshire Television.

Later life and death
Anton Weinberg's 1985 Channel 4 documentary film The Keller Instinct featured an appearance by Blanchflower, who spoke approvingly of his late friend musicologist Hans Keller's advocacy of inventive, tactically creative football. He retired from his position as a writer for the Sunday Express in 1988.

On 1 May 1990, Tottenham held a testimonial match for him at White Hart Lane, but by this stage he was in the first stages of what would later be diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.

He was eventually placed in Woodlands Nursing Home, Staines. He died there from pneumonia on 9 December 1993, aged 67. He was buried nearby at St. Jude's Cemetery, Englefield Green.

Legacy
Blanchflower was honoured in his home city of Belfast with an Ulster History Circle plaque recognising his outstanding achievements in the world of sport. The blue plaque is located at 49 Grace Avenue, his childhood home.

The Danny Blanchflower Playing Fields in East Belfast, owned by Belfast City Council, was named after him. Plans to redevelop the site date to include more professional football facilities started in the mid-2000s and went through several revisions. By 2020, construction of a new stadium and grounds for Harland & Wolff Welders F.C. was underway in the park, to be followed by nature trails and community projects.

Honours
Tottenham Hotspur
 * Football League First Division: 1960–61
 * FA Cup: 1960–61, 1961–62
 * FA Charity Shield: 1961, 1962
 * European Cup Winners' Cup: 1962–63

Individual
 * FWA Footballer of the Year: 1958, 1961
 * FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1958
 * English Football Hall of Fame: 2003
 * World XI: 1961

Filmography

 * Those Glory Glory Days (1983)

title: Danny Blanchflower


text:
François Pinault

François Pinault (born 21 August 1936) is a French billionaire businessman, founder of the luxury group Kering and the investment holding company Artémis.

Pinault started his business in the timber industry in the early 1960s. Taken public in 1988, his company invested in specialty store chains and changed its name to Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). By the end of 1999, PPR shifted towards luxury and fashion. In 2003, he passed on the management of his companies to his elder son François-Henri to follow his passion for contemporary art.

Early life
François Pinault was born on 21 August 1936 in Les Champs-Géraux, a commune in the north of Brittany in the west of France. His father was a timber trader.

Pinault grew up in the rural French countryside, beginning his career working for his family's timber business. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 from the College Saint-Martin in Rennes. In 1956, he enlisted in the military during the Algerian war. Afterwards, he returned to the family business, which he sold following his father's death.

Career
François Pinault started his first business in 1963 as a wood-trading company. Pinault SA grew strongly and diversified its portfolio by acquiring several companies facing bankruptcy, including Chapelle Darblay, to restructure them. On 25 October 1988, Pinault SA was taken public in the Paris stock exchange and started to invest in specialty store chains. He acquired a majority stake in CFAO (specialized distribution in Africa), Conforama (furnishing retailer), Printemps (department store), La Redoute (mail order), and Fnac (books and electronics retailer). Pinault SA was renamed Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR) in 1993.

In 1992, Pinault set up the holding company Artémis to manage the Pinault family's investments. Controlled 100% by Pinault and his family, Artémis controls the vineyards Château Latour (Bordeaux), Clos de Tart (Bourgogne), Domaine d'Eugénie (Vosne-Romanée), Château Grillet (Rhône Valley), Eisele Vineyard (Napa Valley), and the champagne Jacquesson. Artémis bought the news magazine Le Point in 1997, the auction house Christie's in 1998, and the luxury cruise company Ponant in 2015. Pinault has been the owner of the Rennes football club since 1998. In September 2023, Artémis acquired 53% of Creative Artists Agency for $7 billion. By the end of the 1990s, François Pinault started to shift his business focus from retail to luxury. In March 1999, Pinault-Printemps-Redoute purchased a controlling 42% stake of the Gucci Group for $3 billion, and bought the Yves Saint Laurent company. Pinault then purchased the French jewelry company Boucheron in 2000, Balenciaga in 2001, and the British fashion house Alexander McQueen. In May 2003, he handed over the management of his companies to his son François-Henri who pursued the consolidation of the luxury group with new acquisitions (Brioni, Girard-Perregaux, Pomellato...) and changed the group's name to Kering in 2013.

Art
Pinault bought his first significant painting, Cour de ferme by Paul Sérusier, in 1980. He collected art of the 20th century (Mondrian, Picasso, Man Ray, ...) before following contemporary artists (David Hammons, Rudolf Stingel, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Subodh Gupta, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Donald Judd, Robert Ryman, ...). In 2023, his art collection contained approximately 10,000 works.

In 2005, François Pinault bought the company Palazzo Grassi SpA which operated the Palazzo Grassi in Venice. The Japanese architect Tadao Ando renovated the historical building which housed the first exhibition of Pinault Collection in 2006. One year later, the Venice city council awarded the tender of the Punta della Dogana, which had been abandoned for 30 years, to Pinault Collection, adding 5,000 m2 to the Palazzo Grassi space in Venice. Tadao Ando also restored this historical site, which reopened to the public in June 2009. In 2013, Pinault achieved the third chapter of his cultural project in Venice with the renovation and transformation of the Teatrino, an open-air theater in ruins. Designed once again by Tadao Ando, the new Teatrino holds a 225-seat auditorium.

In 2016, Pinault and the city of Paris announced their plan to turn the Bourse de commerce in the center of Paris (1st arrondissement) into a new, Pinault Collection-branded contemporary art museum. Tadao Ando was put in charge of transforming the historic building. The museum opened in May 2021. In 2014, François Pinault launched, through the Pinault Collection, an artist residency program in Lens (Northern France) which opened in 2015. In 2015, in memory of his friend the writer (and Picasso biographer) Pierre Daix who died in 2014, Pinault created the Pierre Daix Prize to reward an outstanding book on modern and contemporary art every year.

Environment
In 1990, following a fire in the Paimpont forest in Brittany, Pinault immediately financed the reforestation project. In 2000, he provided a significant financial assistance to help the islands in Brittany affected by the oil spill following the sinking of the Erika. In 2022, he pledged to contribute 500,000 euros to restore the chapel Saint-Michel of Brasparts in Monts d'Arrée, and the butte on which it stands on, after it had been ravaged by fire.

Historical buildings
In 2000, Pinault bought the Théâtre Marigny which was fully renovated from 2013 to 2018. In 2012, he bought the Villa Greystones in Dinard, France, designed by Michel Roux-Spitz (monument historique in 2019 ). In 2018, Pinault made a significant contribution to the restoration of Victor Hugo's house, the Hauteville House, in Guernsey.

After the Notre Dame de Paris fire on 15 April 2019, the Pinault family pledged 100 million euros as a donation to the reconstruction works and repairs of the cathedral.

In 2021, he bought the hôtel particulier Hôtel de Cavoye in the 7th arrondissement of Paris for 80 million euros. He is also the owner of the château de la Mormaire (Yvelines), and of the Hôtel de Clermont-Tonnerre and the Hôtel Choiseul-Praslin (Paris). In 2022, he pledged to finance the restoration of the Chapelle Saint-Michel on top of the Monts d'Arrée that was deteriorated by a wildfire and bought the villa Bel-Esbat located a few hundred meters away from Villa Greystones in Dinard.

Wealth
As of 31 July 2023, according to Forbes, Pinault had a net worth estimated at $34.8 billion.

As of September 2023, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Pinault's wealth was estimated at US$39.1 billion, making him the 32nd richest person in the world.

Awards

 * 1958: Military Value Cross
 * 2006: Breton of the Year by Armor Magazine
 * 2006, 2007: Most influential personality in the art world by ArtReview
 * 2011: Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur
 * 2016: Grand Officer of the Ordine della Stella d'Italia
 * 2017: Grand Croix de la Légion d'honneur

Personal
In 1962, he married Louise Gautier. They had three children: François-Henri, Dominique, and Laurence Pinault. The couple divorced five years later, and in 1970, Pinault married Maryvonne Campbell, an antique trader in Rennes who introduced him to the world of art. His first art purchases date back to this period.

He is the father-in-law of the actress and producer Salma Hayek.

title: François Pinault


text:
English Footballer of the Year

The title English footballer of the year can refer to the winner of either:

or,
 * the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
 * the PFA Players' Player of the Year

英格兰足球先生

title: English Footballer of the Year


text:
United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (in case citations, M.D. Ala.) is a United States district court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The District was established on February 6, 1839.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. the United States attorney is Jonathan S. Ross.

Organization of the court
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama is one of three federal judicial districts in Alabama. Court for the District is held at Dothan, Montgomery, and Opelika.

Eastern Division comprises the following counties: Chambers, Lee, Macon, Randolph, Russell, and Tallapoosa.

Northern Division comprises the following counties: Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Elmore, Lowndes, Montgomery, and Pike.

Southern Division comprises the following counties: Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry, and Houston.

Court decisions
Browder v. Gayle (1956) – Court rules that bus segregation in Montgomery was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Decision upheld by U.S. Supreme Court six months later.

Gomillion v. Lightfoot (1958) – Court dismissed action, which was later affirmed by the Fifth Circuit. In 1960, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision, finding that electoral districts drawn in Tuskegee, with the purpose of disenfranchising black voters, violated the Fifteenth Amendment.

Lee v. Macon County Board of Education (1963) – Court rules segregation in schooling was unconstitutional under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. Decision upheld by U.S. Supreme Court.

United States v. Alabama (1966) – Court rules poll tax violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. U.S. Supreme Court concurred three weeks later in an unrelated case, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.

Glassroth v. Moore (2002) – Court rules that a display of the Ten Commandments, erected by Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore in the Alabama Judicial Building violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.


text:
Citation Star

The Citation Star was a Department of War personal valor decoration issued as a ribbon device which was first established by the United States Congress on July 9, 1918 (Bulletin No. 43, War Dept. 1918). When awarded, a 3/16 in silver star was placed on the suspension ribbon and service ribbon of the World War I Victory Medal to denote a Citation (certificate) for "Gallantry In Action" was awarded to a soldier, or to a marine or (Navy corpsman) attached to the Army's Second Division (2nd Infantry Division), American Expeditionary Forces. The Citation Star was replaced in 1932 with the introduction of the Silver Star Medal.

Authorization
To receive a Citation Star, an individual had to be officially cited in orders by a General Order Number. The Citation Star is authorized retroactively to denote being cited for gallantry in action back to the American Civil War. General Henry Jervey, Office of the Chief of Staff, in a letter dated February 26, 1926, wrote:

The Secretary of War directs as follows - The following is the amended version of paragraph 187 of Army Regulation: "No more than one Medal of Honor or one Distinguished Service Cross or one Distinguished Service Medal shall be issued to any one person, but for each succeeding or act sufficient to justify the award of a Medal of Honor or Distinguished Service Cross or Distinguished Service Medal, respectively, a bronze oak leaf cluster, shall be issued in lieu thereof; and for each citation of an officer or enlisted man for gallantry in action, published in orders from headquarters of a force commanded by a general officer, not warranting the issue of a Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross or Distinguished Service Medal, he shall wear a silver star, $3/16$ inch in diameter, as prescribed in Uniform Regulations."

Army Regulation 600-40 specified that the "Citation Star" would be worn above a campaign clasp on the suspension ribbon of the medal and to the wearer's right of the bronze service stars on the service ribbon. Authorized Army Citation Stars may be worn on the following service medals:

 * World War I Victory Medal
 * Civil War Campaign Medal
 * Indian Campaign Medal
 * Spanish Campaign Medal
 * Philippine Campaign Medal
 * China Campaign Medal
 * Mexican Service Medal

Silver Star Medal
On July 19, 1932, the United States Secretary of War approved the Silver Star Medal to replace the Citation Star ($3/16$ inch "Silver Star"). The Silver Star Medal is a large gold hue gilt-bronze star which displays a $3/16$" Silver Star in the center of the medal hung from a red, white, and blue ribbon. Recipients of the Citation Star could exchange the award for the medal. In August 1932, Douglas MacArthur received the first Silver Star Medal, with one silver and one bronze oak leaf cluster converted from seven Citation Stars he received for World War I.

An act of Congress authorized the Silver Star Medal for the Navy on 7 August and the Army on 16 December 1942 during World War II (retroactive to 7 December 1941). The Army referred to the award as the "Silver Star" and the Navy referred to the award as the "Silver Star Medal". Additional awards from the Navy are denoted by gold and silver $3/16$" stars. The Department of Defense (DoD) refers to the decoration as the "Silver Star Medal" (SSM).

Also during World War II, a silver $5/16$ inch "service star" began being worn on certain medals in lieu of five bronze $3/16$ inch service stars.

Navy Commendation Star
The Department of the Navy also authorized a $3/16$ inch "silver star" named the Navy Commendation Star (Navy Letter of Commendation Star) for those sailors and marines commended for performance of duty by the Secretary of the Navy which also was to be placed on the World War I Victory Medal for each citation. The Army and Navy $3/16$ inch Silver Stars were not considered equivalent awards, however, as the Navy Commendation Star could not be exchanged for the Silver Star Medal.

At the start of World War II, the Navy Commendation Star was declared obsolete and none were issued after 1941. In 1943, a Navy Commendation Ribbon was authorized. In the 1950s, the Department of the Navy began accepting applications from eligible World War I veterans who were authorized the Navy Commendation Star to be reissued the Navy Commendation Ribbon with Metal Pendant. In 1960 and 1994, this decoration was renamed the Navy Commendation Medal and Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal. Additional awards of this medal are also denoted by gold and silver $3/16$" stars.

title: Citation Star


text:
John Cassaday

John Cassaday (born 1971) is an American comic book artist, writer, and television director. He is best known for his work on the critically acclaimed Planetary with writer Warren Ellis, Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon, Captain America with John Ney Rieber, and Star Wars with Jason Aaron.

Both Marvel Comics and DC Comics include many of Cassaday's iconic images in their marketing, and in their art and poster book collections. Marvel Comics-based animated films have made extensive use of his art. He has received multiple Eagle and Eisner Awards and nominations for his work.

Early career
A self-taught illustrator, Cassaday has listed his influences as, among others, NC Wyeth, classic pulp magazine-culture iconography, and popular music.

He first attended film school and directed television news for five years. He spent one summer working a construction job while working on his portfolio.

Cassaday's first published work appeared in 1994–1995 in comics published by independent publishers Boneyard Press and Caliber Comics.

He showed his portfolio to popular comic book writer and editor Mark Waid at San Diego Comic-Con International 1996. Soon after, Cassaday began receiving job offers from bigger publishers. He quit his construction job and left Texas for New York.

In December 1996 he produced art for Dark Horse Comics' Ghost. Within a year, he was hired to be the regular artist on Homage Comics' Desperadoes.

Comics
In late 1997 Cassay was hired by DC and Marvel as artist on the Teen Titans and Flash annuals, X-Men/Alpha Flight, and Union Jack. His work on X-Men made him one of its most popular artists.

Cassady quickly became an in-demand artist working on many top titles, including Gen13, Superman/Batman, The Hulk, and The Avengers.

Cassaday worked on multiple Captain America projects, including an issue of Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America written by Jeph Loeb, "Captain America Lives Again" and "Captain America: The New Deal".

He based his cover art on World War II propaganda posters. The art was popular with fans and critics alike and Marvel released the works in a series of poster art books. He has also created covers for comic books featuring The Phantom, for US publisher Moonstone Books and the European Egmont, as well as covers for Joss Whedon's Firefly spinoff comic Serenity: Those Left Behind, and Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper. He handled covers and art direction on Dynamite Entertainment's The Lone Ranger comic-book series. Books featuring his art include Wizard's PosterMania!, Women of Marvel Poster Book, Wolverine Poster Book, New Avengers Poster Book, three editions of the Captain America Poster Book, and DC Comics Covergirls.

From 2004 to 2008, Cassaday illustrated the graphic novel trilogy Je suis légion by Fabien Nury from Les Humanoïdes Associés. The English language edition was published as an eight issue comic series I Am Legion by Devil's Due Publishing. In July 2006, Humanoïdes announced a co-production deal with Pierre Spengler for a screen adaptation of the work. At the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, it was announced that the three picture series would be directed by Nacho Cerda with a screenplay by Richard Stanley.

Cassaday has written stories for Hellboy: Weird Tales, Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream, Rocketeer Adventures, X-Men: Alpha Flight, Bela Lugosi: Takes from the Grave, and Union Jack. He also wrote drawing instruction articles for Wizard Magazine's Wizard: How to Draw.

John Cassaday appeared in the Captain America 75th Anniversary television special on ABC in 2016. He is also the artist of the upcoming Captain America comics special anniversary issue. Cassaday and Joss Whedon will team up on a new story featuring Sam Wilson.

Cassaday headlined the highly successful 2015 Star Wars revival at Marvel Comics. The book became the #1 selling comic for 2015. According to Forbes magazine, it was the top-selling comic of the last 20 years. It sold approximately one million copies.

Work
Cassaday's art appeared in an episode of HBO First Look, a 2003 documentary about the making of the Daredevil film.

He worked as a concept artist on the film adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' classic graphic novel Watchmen.

In 2009, the Astonishing X-Men animated DVD series was adapted as a motion comic from Cassaday's art for the comic book series written by Joss Whedon.

Cassaday directed "The Attic", the December 18, 2009 episode of the television series Dollhouse, which aired as the tenth episode of that series' second season.

Cassaday's art was used extensively in the Futureal Studio documentary Adventures into Digital Comics (2010).

Onscreen appearances
Cassaday himself appeared in a Wizard World-sponsored documentary in 2002. He also appeared in Generation X: The Comic Book History of the X-Men, a 2006 DVD documentary about the X-Men franchise.

As an actor, Cassaday appeared in small roles in the 2012 horror film House on the Hill and ITV Playhouse.

Technique and materials
In addition to penciling and inking his interior comics pages, Cassaday does his cover work in ink and charcoal, and digitally colors most of his covers. He credits the challenges of working on complicated books like Planetary with making him a better artist.

Wins

 * 2005 Eisner Award for Best Penciller/Inker for Astonishing X-Men, Planetary, and I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (tied with illustrator Frank Quitely)
 * 2005 Wizard World Fan Award for Favorite Penciller (Astonishing X-Men, Planetary)
 * 2006 Eisner Award for Best Penciller/Inker for Astonishing X-Men and Planetary
 * 2006 Eisner Award for Best Ongoing Series for Astonishing X-Men (with Joss Whedon)
 * 2006 Eagle Award for Favourite Comics Artist: Pencils
 * 2007 Spike TV Scream Award for Best Comic-Book Artist

Nominations

 * 2000 Eisner Award Best Cover Artist for Planetary
 * 2002 Eisner Award Best Penciler/Inker for Planetary
 * 2004 Eagle Award Favourite Comics Artist: Pencils
 * 2007 Eisner Award Best Cover Artist Astonishing X-Men and Lone Ranger
 * 2008 Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist Astonishing X-Men and Lone Ranger
 * 2010 Eisner Award for Best Cover Artist Irredeemable and Lone Ranger

Boneyard Press

 * Bill the Bull: One Shot, One Bourbon, One Beer #1 ("Justin") (Boneyard Press, 1994)
 * Flowers on the Razorwire #5–6 (Boneyard Press, 1995)

Caliber Comics

 * Negative Burn #28 ("Juju Eyes") (Caliber Comics, 1995)

CFD Productions

 * No Profit for the Wise #5–6 (CFD Productions, 1996)

Dark Horse

 * Ghost #27 (June 1997)
 * Ghost: Black October, Dark Horse, 1999, ISBN 1-56971-377-4
 * Hellboy: Weird Tales, miniseries, #1–8 (among other artists) (2003–04)
 * Hellboy Weird Tales volumes 1 and 2, Dark Horse, 2003, ISBN 1-56971-622-6, 2004, ISBN 1-56971-953-5

DC

 * Just Imagine Stan Lee with John Cassaday creating Crisis (2002)
 * Flash, vol. 2, Annual #10 (1997)
 * I Am Legion: The Dancing Faun (2004)
 * Planetary #1–27 (1999–2009)
 * Planetary, vol. 2, #1–4 (2001–10)
 * Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth (2003)
 * Superman/Batman #26 (among other artists) (2006)
 * Teen Titans Annual #1 (1997)
 * Transmetropolitan: I Hate It Here (among other artists) (2000)
 * Action Comics #1000: Faster Than A Speeding Bullet (2018)

Image

 * C-23 #6 (1998)
 * Desperadoes: A Moment's Sunlight. miniseries #1–5 (Homage Comics/WildStorm, 1997–1998)
 * Desperadoes: A Moment's Sunlight tpb, 104 pages, Homage Comics/WildStorm, 1998, ISBN 1-58240-013-X
 * Desperadoes: Epidemic!. One-shot, Homage Comics/WildStorm, 1999 — artwork laid out by Cassady, drawn by John Lucas
 * Gen13 #33 (1998)
 * Reborn #1 (variant cover art, October 2016)

Marvel

 * Astonishing X-Men #1–24, Giant-Sized #1 (2004–2008)
 * Astonishing X-Men Omnibus (2009) ISBN 978-0785138013
 * Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday Ultimate Collection (2012) ISBN 978-0785161943
 * Astonishing X-Men Ultimate Collection Book 2 (2012) ISBN 978-0785161950
 * Captain America, #1–6 (2002)
 * Captain America: Marvel Knights Volume I (2016) ISBN 978-0785196334
 * Captain America: The New Deal (2010) ISBN 978-0785149644
 * Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America (Iron Man) #5 (2007)
 * Ka-Zar: Flashback #1 (1997)
 * Miracleman #1 (variant cover art, March 2014)
 * Secret War from the Files of Nick Fury (2005)
 * Star Wars #1–6 (2015)
 * Star Wars Volume I: Skywalker Strikes (2015) ISBN 978-0785192138
 * Uncanny Avengers #1–4 (2012–2013)
 * Uncanny Avengers Omnibus (2015) ISBN 978-0785193944
 * Uncanny X-Men #352 (1998)
 * Union Jack, miniseries, #1–3 (1998–99)
 * Union Jack, tpb, 96 pages, Marvel, 2002, ISBN 0-7851-0934-X
 * X-Men/Alpha Flight, miniseries, #1–2 (1998)

title: John Cassaday


text:
Talk:Nassau

The descriptions (and a couple red-links) could use some help from someone knowledgable about the history of Germany, Netherlands, and/or Prussia (esp 17th century). Niteowlneils 00:21, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Requested move
So that Nassau, Bahamas, can be moved here: the capital city of a present-day independent nation should get primary topic disambiguation. Please discuss on Talk:Nassau, Bahamas. –Hajor 01:18, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
 * I can see your point. However I oppose to rename the Nassau in Bahamas because when I hear "Nassau" the Bahamas is certainly not the first or second or even third thing that enters my mind. However I would support a move to rename it to "Nassau (disambiguation)" but only with the "Nassau" leading to this disamb. and not as the capital of Bahamas. Gryffindor  01:39, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Where are you from Gryffindor, so I can figure out your reaction to Naasau? --Commander Keane 05:59, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
 * Oppose. I think it's silly to have an article called "X (disambiguation)" if plain "X" redirects there. I don't think either Nassau, Bahamas or Nassau, Germany is sufficiently dominant to allow it to be called Nassau alone. --Angr/undefined 11:18, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it to be moved.

This is a very old problem, when two cities with the same name are: 1) very old (like the ancient German town) and 2) very prominent (like the capital city). I think Nassau is the Bahamian capital for everybody but Germans and residents of New York (which have Nassau County) nearby. When you see "Nassau" on T-shirts, Postcards etc it is always the Bahamian capital however, so on the page this should be listed first, not way down... Sadly Wikipedia is not democratic at all, a location in a large, wealthy western country will always be treated better. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.205.251.181 (talk) 11:06, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
 * well one is (indirectly) named after the other one. The German Nassau is the original one. and btw i think many people don't know any of them178.210.114.106 (talk) 18:08, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

Of all the many places named Nassau, the original Nassau after which all the others (with the exception of a small eastern German town) are named, is the most prominent by far, having given its name to a significant historical and geographical region in today's Germany, a sovereign state (until 1866), a modern administrative district, one of Europe's most prominent royal houses, and countless other entities in Germany and around the world. Several hundred thousand people live within the geographical region and former state in modern Germany called Nassau. Of all the places named for the original German Nassau, Nassau County, New York (population: 1,3 million) is far more prominent than the small and fairly obscure city in the Carrribean (population: 200,000). The primary topic, if any, would be the larger geographical region and former independent state of Nassau, which includes and evolved from the original namesake. Tadeusz Nowak (talk) 19:33, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Placename list order
Shouldn't the most populous or most significant places named Nassau be given priority or highlighting near the top of the list? If I read an article about a place named Nassau but didn't know which one it might be referring to, and looked up "Nassau" on Wikipedia, this list is currently entirely unhelpful. It's great that all of them are named after Nassau, Germany, but it's population is not even 5000. -- Renesis (talk) 16:10, 31 March 2009 (UTC)
 * but since it is the original Nassau it can be argued that it is the most significant/important one.178.210.114.106 (talk) 18:11, 3 December 2012 (UTC)
 * and ordering them by their population does not seem that helpful either178.210.114.106 (talk) 18:14, 3 December 2012 (UTC)

Nassau in Germany, that is, the geographical and historical region and former sovereign country, has several hundred thousand inhabitants. Tadeusz Nowak (talk) 19:44, 27 November 2014 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Nassau, Bahamas which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 03:14, 25 August 2014 (UTC)

title: Talk:Nassau