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Khujand

Khujand, sometimes spelled Khodjent or Chudzjand, and formerly known as Leninabad from 1936 to 1991, is the second-largest city of Tajikistan and the capital of Tajikistan's northernmost Sughd province.

Khujand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, dating back about 2,500 years to the Persian Empire. Situated on the Syr Darya river at the mouth of the Fergana Valley, Khujand was a major city along the ancient Silk Road. After being captured by Alexander the Great in 329 BC, it was renamed Alexandria Eschate and has since been part of various empires in history, including the Umayyad Caliphate (8th century), the Mongol Empire (13th century) and the Russian empire (19th century). Today, the majority of its population are ethnic Tajiks and the city is close to the present borders of both Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Antiquity
Khujand may have been the site of Cyropolis (Κυρούπολις) which was established when king Cyrus the Great founded the city during his last expedition against the Saka tribe of Massagetae shortly before his death. Alexander the Great later built his furthest Greek settlement near Cyropolis in 329 BC and named it Alexandria Eschate (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἐσχάτη) or "Alexandria The Furthest". The city would form a bastion for the Greek settlers against the nomadic Scythian tribes who lived north of the Syr Darya River. According to the Roman writer Curtius, Alexandria Ultima (Alexandria the Furthest) retained its Hellenistic culture as late as 30 BC. The city became a major staging point on the northern Silk Road. It also became a cultural hub and several famous poets and scientists came from this city.

The Sheik Muslihiddin Mausoleum and Jami Masjidi Yami mosque, together with the fortress of Khujand, which was built over 2,500 years ago together and underwent several stages of complete destruction and renovation, were preserved by Khujand, as were some monuments from the 16th-17th century.

Post-classical
In the early eighth century AD, Khujand was captured by the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate, under Qutayba ibn Muslim. The city was incorporated into the Umayyad and subsequent Abbasid Caliphates, and a process of Islamicization began. In the late ninth century, however, it reverted to local rule and was incorporated into the Samanid Empire. It came under the rule of the Kara-Khanid Khanate in 999 and after the division of Kara Khanids in 1042, it was initially part of Eastern Kara Khanids, and then later passed to the western one. Molana Wajeeh-ud-Din Khujandi was a Muslim scholar of Khujand who migrated to Dilli. Hafiz Khawaja Sheikh Mehmood (Moena Doz) was his nephew. His daughter Bibi Qursam Khatoon was mother Of Baba Fareed ud Din Ganj e Shakr.

Karakhitans conquered it in 1137, but it passed to Khwarazmshahs in 1211. In 1220, it strongly resisted the Mongol hordes and was thus laid to waste. In the 14th century, the city was part of the Chagatai Khanate until it was incorporated into the Timurid dynasty' in the late 14th century, under which it flourished greatly. The Shaybanid dynasty of Bukhara next annexed Khojand, until it was taken over by the Kokand Khanate in 1802, however, Bukhara regained it in 1842 until it was lost a few decades later to Russia.

Russian Empire
In 1866, as most of Central Asia was occupied by Russian Empire, the city became part of the General Governorate of Turkestan, under Tsarist Russia. The threat of forced conscription during World War I led to protests in the city in July 1916, which turned violent when demonstrators attacked Russian soldiers.

Soviet Union
During the initial period of Soviet power in Central Asia, Khujand was part of the Turkestan ASSR that was created in 1918. When the latter was dismantled in 1924 on the principle of national delimitation, the city became a part of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1929, the previously created Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (contained within the Uzbek SSR) was upgraded to union-level republic as the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic, and in order to gain a sufficient number of inhabitants (preferably from the titular ethnic group) the city of Khujand and the surrounding area, inhabited mainly by ethnic Tajiks, was transferred by Soviets from the Uzbek SSR to the Tajik SSR.

The city was renamed Leninobad on 10 January 1936 and it remained part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Now a part of the Tajik SSR, Leninobad became the second-largest city in the republic, though the city's location within the historically more urban, prosperous, and commercially central Fergana Valley and a long history of being a densely populated urban centre meant that Khujand and its region were sometimes viewed as more developed and cosmopolitan than the newly designated capital and boom-town of Dushanbe/Stalinabad (the latter was a small town of 6,000 when the Tajik SSR was created in 1926 and had reached over 200,000 inhabitants ten years later).

Post-Soviet period and independence
It reverted to its original name in 1992 after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the independence of Tajikistan, and the city continued to be the second-largest city in the nation.

In 1996 the city experienced the Ashurov protests during which citizens called for the President, Emomali Rakhmonov to step down. The popular protests were followed by a protest from the city's prisoners, many of whom had been sentenced to long jail terms for minor crimes and who were living in poor conditions. The protest led to the Khujand prison riot in which between 24 and 150 prisoners were killed.

In the early 2000s many residents of Khujand had little to no access to water, and what water they did have was unsafe to drink and had to be boiled. In 2004, The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development joined to help improve the situation, providing 32,000 water meters for inhabitants and developing improved access to water. Residents pay for their water supply, which in turn helps Khujand's municipal water company to continue to renovate and improve their services. The project is in its third stage of development and was to be completed by 2017. In comparison to other Central Asian projects aiming to improve access to water, this project is considered a success and has been applied to Kyrgyz cities and towns such as Osh, Jalal-Abad, Karabalta, and Talas, with a possible extension into the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

On 3 September 2010, a suicide attack was committed in the city by the al-Qaeda linked Jamaat Ansarullah militant group, resulting in the deaths of 4 people.

In April 2017, Pastor Bakhrom Kholmatov was detained after a raid on Sunmin Sunbogym Protestant Church in Khujand. Kholmatov was accused of singing too loudly and "interfering with the comfort and rest" of people who lived nearby, and jailed for three years.

Transportation
Khujand Airport has regularly scheduled flights to Dushanbe as well as several cities in Russia. There is also a rail connection between Khujand and Samarkand in Uzbekistan on the way to Dushanbe. The city is connected by road to Panjakent in the Zeravshan River Valley as well as Dushanbe via the Anzob Tunnel.

The 5-km tunnel, located 80 km northwest of Dushanbe and built with assistance from Iran, is also a transit route between Dushanbe and the Uzbek capital of Tashkent. Previously, particularly during cold seasons, the lack of a direct link between northern and southern Tajikistan often led to disruptions of commercial activities in the region.

Education
The city is home to Khujand State University, Tajikistan State University of Law, Business, & Politics, Polytechnical Institute of Technical University of Tajikistan, and Khujand Medical College as well as 2-year technical colleges. Secondary education is funded by the state except when administered at private institutions. Higher education in universities and colleges is subsidized by the Tajik Ministry of Education.

Demographics
Khujand is mainly inhabited by ethnic Tajiks. Results of population census carried out in 2010: Tajiks – 84%, Uzbeks – 14%, Russians – 0.4%, and others – 1.6%. Sunni Islam is a mainly practiced religion in the city. The population of the city is 181,600 (Report of Statistical Agency 2019). The population in Khujand agglomeration is 931,900 people (2019).

Cultural sites
The city is home to the Historical Museum of Sughd located within the Khujand Fortress and having around 1200 exhibitions with most being open to the public. The Sheikh Muslihiddin mausoleum is located on the main square across the Panjshanbe Market (Бозори Панҷшанбе / Persian for "Thursday's Market"), one of the largest covered markets in Central Asia.

Climate
Khujand experiences a temperate semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk) with cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers. Precipitation is light, and it generally falls in winter and autumn.

Sister cities

 * 🇰🇿 Shymkent, Kazakhstan
 * 🇺🇿 Bukhara, Uzbekistan
 * 🇺🇿 Samarkand, Uzbekistan
 * 🇮🇷 Nishapur, Iran
 * 🇮🇷 Tabriz, Iran

Notable residents

 * Munzifa Gafarova (1924–2013), Tajikistani philosopher
 * Ashura Nosirova (1924–2011), Tajikistani dancer
 * Bakhtiyor Odinaev, Tajikistani stage manager, costume designer and artist
 * Manzura Uldjabaeva (born 1952), Tajikistani artist
 * Henri Weber (1944–2020), French politician

title: Khujand


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APOEL FC

APOEL FC (ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus. APOEL is the most successful football team in Cyprus with an overall tally of 29 national championships, 21 cups, and 13 super cups.

APOEL's greatest moment in European competition occurred in the 2011–12 season, when they advanced out of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (winning a group that included FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Zenit St. Petersburg), then eliminated Olympique Lyonnais in the last 16, to become the first Cypriot team to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. APOEL's European competitions highlights also include appearances in the group stages of the 2009–10 and 2014–15 UEFA Champions League and the group stages of the 2013–14, 2015–16, and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. They marked their most successful UEFA Europa League campaign during the 2016–17 season, when they managed to top their group (along with Olympiacos, Young Boys, and Astana) and eliminated Athletic Bilbao in the round of 32, to reach the last 16 of the competition for the first time in their history. APOEL is the only Cypriot club who have reached the group stages (and the knockout stages) of both major UEFA competitions (UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League). In the 2016–17 season, APOEL drew an average home league attendance of 7,126 and their highest league attendance was 15,462. Both were the highest in the league.

APOEL FC is part of the APOEL multi-sport club, which was founded in 1926 and maintains departments for several sports including football, basketball, volleyball, futsal, table tennis, bowling, cycling, archery, swimming and water polo. APOEL is one of the founding members of the Cyprus Football Association and also an ordinary member of the European Club Association, an organization that replaced the previous G-14 which consists of major football clubs in Europe.

1926–1929: The early years
The club was formed as POEL (ΠΟΕΛ; Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia) on 8 November 1926. The club's formation came about when a group of forty people, with a common vision, met and set the foundations for creating a football club that would represent the Greek residents of the capital and express their deep desire for Cyprus' incorporation (enosis) into Greece. The meeting took place at a traditional confectionery, owned by Charalambos Hadjioannou, downtown in Ledra Street and the first president of the club was Giorgos Poulias. The first clubhouse was the "Athenians Club" (Λέσχη Αθηναίων) at the end of Ledra Street.

After a journey to the football club in Alexandria, Egypt in 1927 the General Assembly of 1928 decided the players showed that they were not just good footballers but also excellent track and field athletes. Hence it was decided to create a track and field team in addition to the football team. The name APOEL was adopted to reflect this, with the 'A' standing for 'Athletic'. Soon after a volleyball team and a table tennis team were established.

The 1930s : The first league titles
Cyprus did not have any country-wide league until 1932. Football clubs of the time played friendly matches only. In 1932, Pezoporikos Larnaca organised an unofficial league, the first island-wide league, and it was won by APOEL after defeating AEL Limassol in the final by 4–0. In 1934, there was a disagreement between Trust and Anorthosis Famagusta on the organisation of the fourth unofficial league. APOEL and AEL Limassol organised a meeting for the foundation of a country-wide governing body and an official country-wide league. The meeting took place in APOEL's clubhouse on 23 September and the establishment of the Cyprus Football Association was agreed. Two years later the APOEL football team celebrated its first championship title of the official Cyprus football league. APOEL also won the championship for the following four years, making this a very successful period for the club with 5 consecutive championships (1936–1940).

The 1948 conflicts
Politics, however, would soon spark conflict within the team. On 23 May 1948 the board of the club send a telegram to the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (Σ.Ε.Γ.Α.Σ.), with the opportunity of the annual Panhellenic Track and Field Competition, which included wishes that "the rebellion" is finished. Several leftist club members perceived the telegram as a political comment on the Greek Civil War and they distanced themselves from the club. A few days later, on 4 June 1948, they founded AC Omonia, which until today is the archrival of APOEL and there has been a traditional animosity between the fans of the two teams.

1955–59 period
More conflicts led to further struggles for APOEL. Athletes belonging to the club frequently participated in national clashes. During the 1955–59 national uprising against the British, many of APOEL's athletes and members of the club were active members of EOKA (the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), the most outstanding example being the club's track and field athlete Michalakis Karaolis who was hanged by the British colonial authorities. During this period the football team had their closest brush with relegation as most football players were actively taking part in the national struggle.

Triumph in the 1963–64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The football team were quickly back to full strength and made their debut in European Competitions (the first not only for APOEL but for any Cypriot team) in 1963, when they faced the Norwegian team SK Gjøvik-Lyn in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Two victories for APOEL over both legs (6–0, 1–0) marked APOEL's successful European debut, as they became the first Hellenic team to progress in a European Competition. The next round against the tournament winners Sporting Clube de Portugal met APOEL with their heaviest defeat ever (16–1) and put an end to APOEL's European debut.

The successful participation in pan-Hellenic Greek Championship
Other triumphs followed in the early 1970s. In 1973 the domestic double was achieved with coach Panos Markovic. The following year APOEL became the only Cypriot team to avoid relegation from the pan-Hellenic Greek Championship. That was also the last season that the Cypriot champion played in the Greek Football League the following year due to the volatile situation in Cyprus during 1974.

The 1980s: European Cup 1986–87 withdrawal
The 1980s were a relatively fruitless period for APOEL. They have only won two championships (1980,1986), one cup (1984) and two super cups (1984, 1986). In 1986 APOEL was drawn against Beşiktaş J.K. for the second round of the European Cup. This was the first time that a Cypriot team faced a Turkish team in a European football competition. The Cypriot government prohibited APOEL from playing against the Turkish team, so APOEL was punished with two years disqualification from any UEFA competition. This penalty was later reduced to one-year.

The 1990s: The unbeaten "double" in 1995–96
The 1990s were a successful decade for APOEL with 3 championships (1990, 1992, 1996), 5 cups (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999) and 4 super cups (1992, 1993, 1996, 1999). The most successful season in the 1990s was 1995–96 in which APOEL achieved a celebratory double while remaining undefeated in the league. The basketball team won a double on the same season, making this the ideal season for a 70th anniversary celebration.

The formation of APOEL FC Company
APOEL Football (Public) Ltd was established in May 1997, after the decision of APOEL committee. This had a significant effect on the club because it separated the activities of the football team from those of the sports club. The formation of the company was necessitated by the financial difficulties the team faced at the time. The company began its operations with a capital of CY £600,000.

2000s–2010s: Domestic domination
APOEL is the most successful football team in Cyprus since the 2000s. In seventeen years, the club won twelve championships (2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), four cups (2006, 2008, 2014, 2015) and seven super cups (2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2019). In the 2013–14 season, APOEL achieved a historical domestic treble by winning all the Cypriot competitions trophies, the league, the cup, and the super cup. The next season (2014–15), the club won their second consecutive double. In the 2016–17 season, APOEL managed to win their fifth consecutive league title and equalled the club's record which was set 77 years before (1936–1940).

2020s
The 2020–21 season marked the end of APOEL's dominance in Cyprus as they failed to make the championship playoffs for the first time in the club's history. The following season, APOEL finished third, missing out on Champions League qualification in the last matchday, and instead qualifying for the Europa Conference League. They missed out on the 2022–23 championship, finishing in second place, despite being first at the end of the regular season.

European ambitions
APOEL's first great run in European competitions came in 2002, when the team was knocked out on the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, entered the UEFA Cup and reached the second round of the competition. The following years, APOEL qualified four times for the UEFA Champions League group stages (2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2017–18), and managed to reach the quarter-finals in the 2011–12 season. The team also participated in the group stages of the 2013–14, 2015–16 & 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, managing to reach the last 16 of the competition in the 2016–17 season.

APOEL FC as a company
The football department of APOEL is legally owned by APOEL Football (Public) Ltd (ΑΠΟΕΛ Ποδόσφαιρο (Δημόσια) Λτδ), a public limited company, since 1997. The company's main activity is the management, operation and commercial exploitation of APOEL Football club. The company owns all the rights for the football department under an agreement with APOEL sports club and pays the club CY£100,000 annually for the privilege. The agreement between the company and the club is renewed every five years. The company has 1745 shareholders and besides the football club, also maintains a team boutique (Orange Shop), the APOELFC (ΑΠΟΕΛFC) magazine and the apoelfc.com.cy website among others.

Youth Academy
APOEL's youth academy is a separate legal entity from the football club. They are responsible for the under 21 teams for football, basketball and volleyball and they have their own board of directors and budget. The football academy has produced many quality Cypriot players over the years. Players started from the academy and had great contribution APOEL are: Marinos Satsias, Constantinos Charalambides, Nektarios Alexandrou, Michalis Morfis and Marios Antoniades. All of them have also competed at international level with the Cyprus national football team while Charalambides and Alexandrou have played for teams in the Greek Super League in the past.

UEFA Youth League participations
APOEL's U19 team participated for the first time in the UEFA Youth League group stage during 2014–15 season, drawn in Group F alongside Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax. APOEL managed to collect only one point after drawing 0–0 with Ajax at home and lost their other five Group F matches. They lost twice to Barcelona (2–3 at home, 0–3 away), lost twice to Paris Saint-Germain (0–3 at home, 0–6 away) and also lost to Ajax 1–4 away, finishing fourth in their group.

The next two seasons, APOEL's U19 team participated again in the UEFA Youth League. The 2015–16 season they competed in the first round of the Domestic Champions Path, being drawn to face Puskás Akadémia from Hungary. After a dramatic 3–3 draw in the first leg in Nicosia, APOEL U19 suffered a heavy 6–1 loss in Felcsút and were eventually eliminated. The 2016–17 season they competed in the first round of the Domestic Champions Path, being eliminated by Italian side A.S. Roma after losing 0–3 at home and 1–6 in Italy.

Colours and badge
APOEL's colours are blue and yellow. Blue symbolizes Greece and yellow symbolizes Byzantium. The logo is a blue and yellow shield with the name of the club written diagonally in blue. After the club won their 20th championship (2008–09 season), two stars were added above the logo to symbolize the 20 championship titles (one star for every ten championships won). Other than that, the badge has remained the same since the establishment of the club.

Stadium
APOEL's home ground since 23 October 1999, is the 22,859 seater GSP Stadium. It is the largest stadium in Cyprus and they share it with local rivals Omonia and Olympiakos Nicosia.

Before moving to GSP Stadium, APOEL used as home grounds the Makario Stadium (from 1978 until 1999) and the old GSP Stadium (prior to 1978).

Supporters
APOEL is one of the most popular teams in Cyprus. APOEL fans are right-wing in their majority but there are no strong ties between the organised fans and any political party. That wasn't always the case but during the past years they have actively avoided association with any political party.

The main supporter group is PAN.SY.FI (ΠΑΝ.ΣΥ.ΦΙ). PAN.SY.FI was founded in 1979 and has branches in all major cities in Cyprus and also in other countries. The PAN.SY.FI (and most ultras) wear orange jackets (or T-shirts). The first game they sported the orange jackets was during the first-round game of the 1992–93 championship against AEL Limassol in Makario Stadium. APOEL have reserved the shirt number 79 in honour of PAN.SY.FI. (APOEL Ultras), to denote the year the group was founded, 1979.

The club record for ticket sales in a single season is 141,268 (15 matches, home league games only) during the 2010–11 season. The club record for average league games attendance in a single season is 9,582 (13 matches, home league games only) during the 2012–13 season. The club's season tickets sales record was set on season 2014–15, in which more than 8,000 season tickets were sold.

APOEL holds the record of the highest home attendance for Cyprus First Division in the game against Omonia with 23,043 tickets for 2002–03 season. The match was held at GSP Stadium on 7 December 2002 and ended in a goalless draw.

The club holds also the record of the highest attendance of a Cypriot team for a European Competition game with 22,701 tickets in the match against Olympique Lyonnais for the return leg of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League last 16. The match which was held on 7 March 2012 at GSP Stadium of Nicosia ended with a 1–0 win for APOEL after extra time and 4–3 win on penalties.

On 8 December 2009, APOEL fans created another impressive record. More than 6,000 fans of the team travelled to London at Stamford Bridge for the last match of the 2009–10 Champions League group D against Chelsea F.C. which ended in a 2–2 draw. This is the biggest number of fans of any Cypriot team that had ever travelled away from Cyprus. A similar record created on 14 February 2012, in APOEL's participation to the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League last 16, when more than 5,000 APOEL fans travelled in France to support their team against Olympique Lyonnais. The match was held at Stade de Gerland and Olympique Lyonnais took a slender advantage into the second leg by winning 1–0. Also, on 4 April 2012, about 4,000 APOEL fans travelled to Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, to support APOEL against Real Madrid for the return leg of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, in a match which Real Madrid won by 5–2.

During the 2009–10 season APOEL sold in total 244,977 tickets for its home matches in all competitions (Championship, Cup, Champions League), which is the biggest number of tickets sold by a Cypriot club in a single season.

Nicosia derby
The Nicosia derby (or the Derby of the eternal enemies) refers to the Nicosia's local derby, football matches played between APOEL and Omonia. It is the classic rivalry of the Cypriot football, as the two teams are the most successful and most popular football clubs of the island. The rivalry is also indicative of social, cultural and political differences and originates from 1948 when the board of APOEL sent a telegram to the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (Greek: Σ.Ε.Γ.Α.Σ.), with the opportunity of the annual Panhellenic Track and Field Competition stating its wish for the "communist mutiny" to be ended. Club's players considering this action as a political comment on the Greek Civil War distanced themselves or were expelled from APOEL and a month later they formed Omonia. The first derby was played on 12 December 1953 and ended in a goalless draw.

Board of directors
Source: apoelfc.com.cy

Personnel
Source: apoelfc.com.cy

Technical staff
Source: apoelfc.com.cy

Medical staff
Source: apoelfc.com.cy

Main sponsors

 * Official shirt sponsor – stoiximan
 * Official sport clothing provider – Macron
 * Official host broadcaster – Cablenet
 * Official back of shirt sponsor – 3CX
 * Official sponsor – Cyprus airways
 * Official sponsor – Hogar All Day
 * Official sponsor – Cyta
 * Official sponsor – Nurefen
 * Official sponsor – Relia
 * Official sponsor – Reanda

Source: apoelfc.com.cy

Managerial history
Last Update: 7 October 2022

 * 1931–1933 🇭🇺 Antone Jean
 * 1933–1951 🇭🇺 József Künsztler
 * 1951–1952 🇨🇾 Pambos Avraamides
 * 1952–1953 🇭🇺 Béla Guttmann
 * 1953–1954 🇨🇾 Pambos Avraamidis
 * 1954–1955 🇮🇱 Schwartz
 * 1955–1956 🇦🇹 Hanz
 * 1956–1958 🇨🇾 Kostas Talianos
 * 1958–1959 🇨🇾 Takis Tsigkis
 * 1959–1961 Vaggelis Choumis
 * 1961–1962 🇨🇾 Andreas Lazarides
 * 1962–1963 🏴 Jesse Carver
 * 1963–1964 🏴 Neil Franklin
 * 1964–1965 🇨🇾 Kostas Talianos
 * 1965–1966 🇭🇺 Gyula Zsengellér
 * 1966–1967 🇭🇺 Lajos Szendrödi
 * 1967 🇨🇾 Lykourgos Archontidis
 * 1967–1969 🇨🇾 Pambos Avraamides
 * 1969–1970 🏴 Jesse Carver
 * 1970–1971 🇨🇾 Andreas Lazarides
 * 1971–1972 🏴 Ray Wood
 * 1972–1974 Panos Markovic
 * 1974–1975 🇨🇾 Andreas Lazarides
 * 1975 Panos Markovic
 * 1975–1976 🇨🇾 Andreas Lazarides
 * 1976–1977 🇨🇾 Savvas Partakis
 * 1977–1978 🏴 Keith Spurgeon
 * 1978–1981 🇨🇾 Andreas Lazarides
 * 1981–1983 🏴 Mike Ferguson
 * 1983–1985 Panos Markovic
 * 1985–1989 Tommy Cassidy
 * 1989–1990 Giannis Matzourakis
 * 1990–1991 Stanko Poklepović
 * 1991–1993 🇵🇱 Jacek Gmoch
 * 1993–1994 🇨🇾 Takis Antoniou
 * 1994–1995 Giannis Matzourakis
 * 1995–1996 🇧🇬 Hristo Bonev
 * 1996 🇷🇸 Svetozar Šapurić
 * 1996–1997 🇵🇱 Jacek Gmoch
 * 1997 Nikos Alefantos
 * 1997–1998 🇦🇹 Kurt Jara
 * 1998 🇨🇾 Andreas Mouskallis
 * 1998 🇨🇾 Costas Georgiou
 * 1998–1999 Georgios Paraschos
 * 1999 🇷🇸 Slobodan Vučeković
 * 1999–2000 🇨🇾 Andreas Michaelides
 * 2000 🇷🇸 Svetozar Šapurić
 * 2000 🇨🇾 Markos Markou
 * 2000–2001 🏴 Mike Walker
 * 2001–2002 Eugène Gerards
 * 2002–2003 Takis Lemonis
 * 2003 🇨🇿 Dušan Uhrin
 * 2003–2005 🇷🇸 Ivan Jovanović
 * 2005 🇩🇪 Werner Lorant
 * 2005 🇨🇾 Marios Constantinou
 * 2005–2006 🇵🇱 Jerzy Engel
 * 2006–2008 Marinos Ouzounidis
 * 2008–2013 🇷🇸 Ivan Jovanović
 * 2013 Paulo Sérgio
 * 2013–2015 Giorgos Donis
 * 2015 🇩🇪 Thorsten Fink
 * 2015 Domingos Paciência
 * 2015–2016 Temur Ketsbaia
 * 2016–2017 Thomas Christiansen
 * 2017 Mario Been
 * 2017–2018 Giorgos Donis
 * 2018 Bruno Baltazar
 * 2018–2019 🇮🇹 Paolo Tramezzani
 * 2019 🇩🇪 Thomas Doll
 * 2019 🇨🇾 Loukas Hadjiloukas (interim)
 * 2019–2020 🇳🇴 Kåre Ingebrigtsen
 * 2020 Marinos Ouzounidis
 * 2020–2021 Mick McCarthy
 * 2021 Savvas Poursaitidis
 * 2021–2022 🇨🇾 Sofronis Avgousti
 * 2022–2023 🇷🇸 Vladan Milojević
 * 2023–2024 Ricardo Sá Pinto
 * 2024– 🇪🇸 David Gallego

Presidential history
APOEL has had numerous presidents over the course of their history. Since the establishment of APOEL Football Ltd, the presidents of the board of directors of the company (chairmen) have assumed all presidential duties for the football club. Here are complete lists of both:

Presidents:
 * 1926–1958 – Georgios Poulias
 * 1958–1967 – Εfthyvoulos Αnthoullis
 * 1967–1968 – Michalakis Triantafyllides
 * 1968–1969 – Takis Skarparis
 * 1969–1971 – Constantinos Loukos
 * 1971–1974 – Michalakis Zivanaris
 * 1974–1975 – Kikis Lazarides
 * 1975–1983 – Iakovos Filippou
 * 1983–1988 – Michalakis Zivanaris
 * 1988–1991 – Andreas Papaellinas
 * 1991–1992 – Kykkos Fotiades
 * 1992–1994 – Mike Ioannides
 * 1994–1996 – Christos Triantafyllides
 * 1996–1999 – Ouranios Ioannides
 * 1999–2000 – Dinos Palmas
 * 2002–2004 – Dinos Fisentzides
 * 2004–2007 – Yiannos Ioannou
 * 2007–2008 – Costas Schizas
 * 2008–2009 – Christodoulos Ellinas
 * 2009–2011 – Prodromos Petrides
 * 2011–2012 – Aris Vasilopoulos
 * 2012–2014 – Christoforos Potamitis
 * 2014–2016 – Marios Charalambous
 * 2016–present – Christoforos Potamitis

Chairmen:
 * 1997–1998 – Mike Ioannides
 * 1998–2000 – Christos Triantafyllides
 * 2000–2001 – Harris Papanastasiou
 * 2001–2006 – Prodromos Petrides
 * 2006–2008 – Kyriakos Zivanaris
 * 2008–2013 – Phivos Erotokritou
 * 2013–present – Prodromos Petrides

Former players
List of former players with national team appearances or having won multiple titles with the club:

 * Cyprus
 * 🇨🇾 Marios Agathokleous (2001–2003)
 * 🇨🇾 Takis Antoniou (1972–1986)
 * 🇨🇾 Aristos Aristokleous (1990–2001)
 * 🇨🇾 Constantinos Charalambides (1997–2004, 2008–2016)
 * 🇨🇾 Zacharias Charalambous (2001–2005)
 * 🇨🇾 Andreas Christodoulou (1966–1970)
 * 🇨🇾 Georgios Christodoulou (1995–2002)
 * 🇨🇾 Costas Costa (1989–1999)
 * 🇨🇾 Costas Fasouliotis (1990–2000)
 * 🇨🇾 Demetris Daskalakis (2000–2008)
 * 🇨🇾 Marios Elia (1998–2014)
 * 🇨🇾 Stavros Georgiou (2002–2007)
 * 🇨🇾 Loukas Hadjiloukas (1987–2000)
 * 🇨🇾 Yiannos Ioannou (1981–2000)
 * 🇨🇾 Nikakis Kantzilieris (1961–1972)
 * 🇨🇾 Constantinos Makrides (2004–2008, 2015)
 * 🇨🇾 Costas Malekkos (2001–2005)
 * 🇨🇾 Markos Markou (1973–1978)
 * 🇨🇾 Costas Miamiliotis (1977–1989, 1992–1994)
 * 🇨🇾 Chrysis Michael (2003–2011)
 * 🇨🇾 Michalis Morfis (1999–2010)
 * 🇨🇾 Marios Neophytou (2004–2007)
 * 🇨🇾 Stelios Okkarides (1997–1998, 2001–2007)
 * 🇨🇾 Nikodimos Papavasiliou (2002–2003)
 * 🇨🇾 Giorgos Pantziaras (1971–1978, 1985–1987)
 * 🇨🇾 Nicos Pantziaras (1972–1987)
 * 🇨🇾 Koullis Pantziaras (1976–1992)
 * 🇨🇾 Andros Petrides (1984–2000)
 * 🇨🇾 Marinos Satsias (1995–2014)
 * 🇨🇾 Georgios Savva (1949–1955, 1956–1961)
 * 🇨🇾 Athos Solomou (2009–2014)
 * 🇨🇾 Andreas Sotiriou (1986–1998, 2001)
 * 🇨🇾 Andreas Stylianou (1963–1978)
 * 🇨🇾 Pieros Sotiriou (2013–2017)
 * 🇨🇾 Diomidis Symeonidis (1926–1929, 1934–1935)
 * 🇨🇾 Nicos Timotheou (1992–1993, 1994–2001)
 * 🇨🇾 Yiasoumis Yiasoumi (1998–2001)

 * Albania
 * 🇦🇱 Altin Haxhi (2008–2010)

 * Algeria
 * Rafik Djebbour (2014–2015)

 * Argentina
 * 🇦🇷 Fernando Cavenaghi (2015–2016)
 * 🇦🇷 Esteban Solari (2005–2007, 2010–2012)
 * 🇦🇷 Tomás De Vincenti (2014–2016)

 * Armenia
 * 🇦🇲 Romik Khachatryan (2002–2003)

 * Australia
 * 🇦🇺 Paul Okon (2005–2006)

 * Austria
 * 🇦🇹 Alfred Hörtnagl (1997)
 * 🇦🇹 Christoph Westerthaler (1997)

 * Belarus
 * 🇧🇾 🇧🇷 Renan Bressan (2016–2017)

 * Bosnia and Herzegovina
 * 🇧🇦 🇫🇷 Sanel Jahić

 * Brazil
 * 🇧🇷 Aílton Almeida (2010–2012)
 * 🇧🇷 William Boaventura (2010–2012)
 * 🇧🇷 Carlão (2014–2017)
 * 🇧🇷 Zé Carlos (2007–2008)
 * 🇧🇷 João Guilherme (2013–2016)
 * 🇧🇷 Kaká (2011–2012, 2014–2015)
 * 🇧🇷 Gustavo Manduca (2010–2015)
 * 🇧🇷 Veridiano Marcelo (1998–2000)
 * 🇧🇷 Marcinho (2010–2012)
 * 🇧🇷 Emerson Moisés Costa (2007)
 * 🇧🇷 Marcelo Oliveira (2011–2014)
 * 🇧🇷 Jean Paulista (2008–2010)
 * 🇧🇷 César Santin (2014)
 * 🇧🇷 Marcos Tavares (2007)

 * Colombia
 * 🇨🇴 Hamilton Ricard (2004–2005)

 * Costa Rica
 * Rónald Gómez (2006–2007)

 * Croatia
 * Ardian Kozniku (1997)

 * Czech Republic
 * 🇨🇿 Tomáš Votava (2003–2004)

 * Denmark
 * Mikkel Beckmann (2013)

 * England
 * 🏴🇸🇱 Chris Bart-Williams (2004–2005)
 * 🏴 Dave Esser (1982–1983)
 * 🏴 Terry McDermott (1985–1987)
 * 🏴 Ian Moores (1983–1988)
 * 🏴 Gary Owen (1988–1989)

 * France
 * 🇫🇷 Bark Seghiri (2006–2009)

 * Germany
 * 🇩🇪 Martin Lanig (2015)

 * Ghana
 * 🇬🇭 Ebenezer Hagan (2005)

 * Greece
 * Georgios Amanatidis (2003–2004)
 * Dionisis Chiotis (2008–2015)
 * Giannis Gianniotas (2016–2017)
 * Alexandros Kaklamanos (2005–2006)
 * Michalis Kapsis (2007–2008)
 * Christos Karipidis (2012–2013)
 * Christos Kontis (2006–2011)
 * Nikos Machlas (2006–2008)
 * Spiros Marangos (2000–2002)
 * Marinos Ouzounidis (2001–2003)
 * Anastasios Papazoglou (2014–2015)
 * 🇨🇾 Savvas Poursaitides (2008–2012)
 * Miltiadis Sapanis (2007–2008)
 * Ilias Solakis (2001–2002)
 * Alexandros Tziolis (2012–2013)
 * Georgios Vakouftsis (2002–2005)

 * Hungary
 * 🇭🇺 József Kiprich (1995–1997)
 * 🇭🇺 Kálmán Kovács (1995–1996)
 * 🇭🇺 István Kozma (1995–1997)
 * 🇭🇺 Barnabás Sztipánovics (2002–2003)
 * 🇭🇺 Roland Sallai (2017–2018)
 * 🇭🇺 Norbert Balogh (2018–2019)

 * Ireland
 * Cillian Sheridan (2013–2015)

 * Israel
 * 🇮🇱 Dudu Biton (2013)
 * Jordan
 * 🇯🇴 Musa Al-Taamari (2018–2020)
 * North Macedonia
 * 🇲🇰 Boban Grnčarov (2009–2011)
 * 🇲🇰 Goran Lazarevski (2000–2001)
 * 🇲🇰 Jane Nikolovski (2007–2008)
 * 🇲🇰 Milan Stojanovski (2004–2005)
 * 🇲🇰 Ivan Tričkovski (2010–2012)

 * Morocco
 * 🇲🇦 Mohammed Chaouch (1999–2000)

 * Netherlands
 * Joost Broerse (2008–2011)
 * John van Loen (1998)

 * Nigeria
 * Michael Obiku (2000)
 * Benjamin Onwuachi (2008–2009)

 * Northern Ireland
 * Tommy Cassidy (1983–1985)

 * Norway
 * 🇳🇴 John Arne Riise (2014–2015)

 * Paraguay
 * Aldo Adorno (2011–2014)

 * Peru
 * 🇵🇪 Alfonso Dulanto (1997–1998)

 * Poland
 * 🇵🇱 Kamil Kosowski (2008–2010)
 * 🇵🇱 Wojciech Kowalczyk (2003–2004)
 * 🇵🇱 Marcin Żewłakow (2008–2010)

 * Portugal
 * Paulo Costa (2009)
 * Ricardo Fernandes (2005–2008)
 * Tiago Gomes (2013–2015)
 * Paulo Jorge (2009–2012)
 * Daniel Kenedy (2005)
 * Hélio Pinto (2006–2013)
 * Mário Sérgio (2012–2016)

 * Romania
 * Daniel Florea (2006–2009)

 * Serbia
 * 🇷🇸 Dragiša Binić (1993–1994)
 * 🇷🇸🇨🇾 Siniša Gogić (1989–1993, 2000–2002)
 * 🇷🇸 Saša Jovanović (2005–2006)
 * 🇷🇸 Vesko Mihajlović (1993–1994)
 * 🇷🇸 Nenad Mirosavljević (2008–2011)
 * 🇷🇸 Svetozar Šapurić (1989–1993, 1995–1996)

 * Slovakia
 * 🇸🇰 Mário Breška (2009–2010)
 * 🇸🇰 Branislav Rzeszoto (2004–2005)

 * Slovenia
 * 🇸🇮 Alfred Jermaniš (1996–1997)
 * 🇸🇮 Miran Pavlin (2004–2005)

 * Togo
 * Jean-Paul Abalo (2006)

 * Tunisia
 * 🇹🇳 Tijani Belaid (2011–2012)
 * 🇹🇳 🇫🇷 Selim Benachour (2012–2014)

Honours

 * Source:

 * Cypriot Championship
 * Winners (29) (record): 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1964–65, 1972–73, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2023–24
 * Cypriot Cup
 * Winners (21) (record): 1936–37, 1940–41, 1946–47, 1950–51, 1962–63, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2014–15
 * Cypriot Super Cup
 * Winners (14): 1963, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2019

Records
Last update: 16 March 2017

6–0 vs 🇫🇴 HB Tórshavn (28 August 1997) — UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Qualifying round 2nd leg, 1997–98
 * Record League win: 17–1 vs 🇨🇾 Aris Limassol (4 June 1967) — 1966–67
 * Record League defeat: 6–1 vs 🇨🇾 Nea Salamina (2 May 1998) — 1997–98
 * Record European competition win: 6–0 vs 🇳🇴 SK Gjøvik-Lyn (8 September 1963) — UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Preliminary round 1st leg, 1963–64
 * Record European competition defeat: 16–1 vs Sporting CP (13 November 1963) — UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, 1st round 1st leg, 1963–64
 * Most consecutive League games unbeaten: 34 — From 18 September 1946 to 23 November 1949
 * Most consecutive League games won: 16 — From 21 December 2008 to 11 April 2009
 * Most League points in a season:
 * 3 for win: 83, 2015–16 (full season) — 69, 2008–09 (regular season)
 * 2 for win: 51, 1976–77

 * Most League goals in a season: 91, 2015–16
 * Record average League home attendance: 9,582 — 2012–13
 * Record League home attendance: 23,043 vs 🇨🇾 Omonia (7 December 2002) — 2002–03
 * Record European competition home attendance: 22,701 vs 🇫🇷 Olympique Lyonnais (7 March 2012) — UEFA Champions League, Last-16 2nd leg, 2011–12
 * Most League appearances for club: 371 — 🇨🇾 Yiannos Ioannou
 * Most League goals for club : 191 — 🇨🇾 Yiannos Ioannou
 * Most European competitions appearances for club: 91 — Nuno Morais
 * Most European competitions goals for club : 9 — 🇧🇷 Aílton José Almeida

IFFHS Club world ranking
Last update: 7 January 2015

Source: IFFHS

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

title: APOEL FC


text:
Gorno-Badakhshan

Gorno-Badakhshan, officially the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region in eastern Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains. It makes up nearly forty-five percent of the country's land area but only two percent of its population.

Name
The official English name of the autonomous region is the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region. The name "Badakhshan" (Бадахшан; Бадахшон) is derived from the Sasanian title or. "Gorno-Badakhshan" literally means "mountainous Badakhshan" and is derived from the Russian name of the autonomous region,. The Russian abbreviation "GBAO" is also commonly used in English-language publications by national and international bodies such as the government of Tajikistan and the United Nations.

History
Borders and political authority in the Western Pamir had always been contested by imperial powers. Between the 17th and 19th century, several semi-self governing statelets, including Darwaz, Shughnun-Rushan and Wakhan, ruled over the territories that are today a part of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region in Tajikistan and Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. In the late 19th century, the emirates of Kokand and then Bukhara held political authority over the region until the Western Pamir was colonized by Russia, completed in 1896. Although Russia and the British empire in 1896 denominated their shared border through the Pamir, which resulted in the creation of the Wakhan corridor, other regional powers like China and Afghanistan, but also the ruling elites of Badakhshan, Bukhara, Kashgaria and Kashmir equally worked for expending their influence in the Pamir. So, the Sarykol range has been demarked de facto as Eastern border in 1894 between the Qing empire and the Russian empire. This imperial history still has relevance nowadays as it determined contemporary southeastern borders of the present-day autonomous region.

Soviet Union
The Tajikistani Badakhshan as distinctive polity with its contemporary Western borders and the Russian designation GBAO was created as autonomous republic in 1925. Later in 1929, this was changed to autonomous oblast, of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic (Tajik SSR). The Soviet Orientalists' obsession with categorization of peoples led to the fixation of among others the identity category of Pamiris, or 'Mountain Tajiks' in the Soviet ethnogenesis. During the Soviet Union years, a lot of resources had been allocated to Gorno Badakhshan as borderland of the Soviet Union, for instance through privileged access to higher education and the construction of infrastructure like the Pamir highway in 1935, which is still remembered nowadays as a time of modernity. Therefore, people from the Pamirs used to have facilitated upwards mobility and access to political offices in the Tajik SSR. In scholarly discourse, this is regarded as a measure to safeguard loyalty to state socialism of the subjects at the strategically important Soviet 'frontier'.

Since Independence
When the Tajikistani Civil War broke out in 1992, the local government in Gorno-Badakhshan declared independence from Tajikistan. Many politically active Pamiris later joined the democratic political movement La’al-e Badakhshan during the Tajik Civil war, which demanded autonomy and democratic rule for the region. Regionalism was an important structuring factor in the Tajik Civil war, so that the Ismaili identity became a key marker of mobilization. La'al-e Badakhsan joined the United Tajik Opposition in 1997. Because of that, they were subsequently targeted by the popular front, which constituted the later government and then excluded from the political sphere of independent Tajikistan. The Gorno-Badakhshan government later backed down from its calls for independence.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Ismaili development organization AKDN delivered supplies to Gorno-Badakhshan from Kyrgyzstan, which prevented the starvation of the population during the civil war. While the AKDN itself frames this engagement as temporary measure, many of the inhabitants demand a permanent presence of humanitarian aid. Many see it as continuation from the provisioning of goods during the Soviet times. This shared experience of Soviet and Ismaili development aid together with the neglect and crackdown by the Tajik state led to people perceiving themselves as Pamiri rather than Tajik.

In 2011, Tajikistan ratified a 1999 treaty to cede 1000 km2 of land in the Pamir Mountains to the People's Republic of China (PRC), from the Chinese state perspective ending a 130-year-old border dispute and China's claims to over 28000 km2 of Tajik territory. At other instances Chinese scholars claimed control over the entire Pamir Mountains. However, the government of the Republic of China (ROC) based in Taipei does not recognize this treaty and continues to claim the territory, as reflected in its official maps. Whereas the government of Tajikistan celebrates the ceding of land as diplomatic victory, many Tajikistani scholars, opposition and parts of the population contest the existence of a 'dispute' altogether, seeing Badakhshan's territory in its entirety belonging to Tajikistan. Instead, the ceding of land belonging to Kuhistani Badakhshan in 2011 to China by some, especially in Gorno-Badakhshan was perceived as territorial loss and sparked anxieties about further encroachments of the Chinese state.

21st century civil unrest
A number of violent clashes and demonstrations have occurred in the region since the end of the civil war, with major incidences of civil unrest in 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021, and 2022. Clashes erupted on 24 July 2012 between the Tajik military and militants loyal to the former warlord Tolib Ayombekov, after Ayombekov was accused of murdering a Tajik general. On 18 May 2022, around 200 anti-government demonstrators, led by Mamadboqir Mamadboqirov, blocked a road in Rushon which led to the regional capital Khorog. The violent clashes between Tajiikistani military and the GBAO population in 2012, 2014, 2018, 2021 and in 2022 are peaks in the steady militarization of the region. Spectators assess these actions by the government as strategy to gain full political control over the formerly autonomous Gorno-Badakhshan, as well as over the informal opium trade, culminating in the assassination of several influential local leaders. This violates the Tajik peace accord.

In May 2022, Tajik government forces killed 40 civilians protesting against the torture and murdering of the youth representative Gulbiddin Ziyobekov. The Tajik interior ministry stated that the protestors attempted to "destabilise the social and political situation" in the region. Many of the protestors, but also journalists and human rights activists were detained in the subsequent cover-up. Additionally, the government seized properties and kidnapped even oppositional Pamiris abroad. Some human rights activists describe the situation as 'ethnic cleansing'. Genocide watch is stressing the polarization and the persecution of Pamiris through the government.

Districts and geography

Darvoz District is the western "beak" of the province. West-central Gorno-Badakhshan is mostly a series of east–west mountain ranges separated by valleys of rivers that flow into the Panj. The districts correspond to the river valleys. Murghob District occupies the eastern half of the province and is mostly a desolate plateau with high mountains on the west. The districts of Gorno-Badakhshan are:
 * Darvoz District (westernmost, north)
 * Vanj District (west, north)
 * Rushon District (west, center)
 * Shughnon District (west, center)
 * Roshtqal'a District (west, south)
 * Ishkoshim District (west, southernmost)
 * Murghob District (eastern two-thirds)

Gorno-Badakhshan covers the entire eastern part of Tajikistan and borders China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to the east, Afghanistan's Badakhshan Province to the south, and Kyrgyzstan's Osh Region to the north. Within Tajikistan, Gorno-Badakhshan's western border is with the Districts of Republican Subordination (DRP) and the tip of its southwestern finger (Darvoz District) borders Khatlon Region. The highest elevations in the region are in the Pamir Mountains (notably Mount Imeon), nicknamed "the roof of the world" by locals. Three of the five 7,000 meter summits in Central Asia are located here, including Ismoil Somoni Peak (formerly Communism Peak, and, before that, Stalin Peak; 7,495 m), Ibn Sina Peak (formerly Lenin Peak, and still known by that name on its Kyrgyz flank; 7,134 m), and Peak Ozodi (formerly Korzhenevskoi Peak, 7,105 m).

Demographics
The population living in Gorno-Badakhshan as of 2019 is estimated at 226,900. The largest city in Gorno-Badakhshan is Khorog, with a population of 30,300 (2019 est. ); Murghob is the second largest, with about 4,000 residents.

According to the State Statistical Committee of Tajikistan, most inhabitants of Gorno-Badakhshan identify as Pamiris. The remainder of the population perceive themselves as either Kyrgyz or of other nationalities.

Most people living in the Pamir are multilingual, as different languages are used in different situations. Gorno-Badakhshan is home to a number of distinct languages and dialects of the Pamir languages group. The Pamiri language speakers represented in Gorno-Badakshan are speakers of Shughni, Rushani, Wakhi, Ishkashimi, Sarikoli, Bartangi, Khufi, Yazgulyam, and Oroshani. Vanji, formerly spoken in the Vanj River valley, became extinct in the 19th century. There is a sizable population of Kyrgyz speakers in the Murghab district. Russian and Tajik are also widely spoken throughout Gorno-Badakhshan. Many Eastern-Iranian languages spoken in Gorno-Badakhshan are on the endangered list of the UNESCO.

The majority religion in Gorno-Badakhshan is Ismaili Shi'ite and adherence to the Aga Khan is widespread. Still, there are also Sunnis Muslims in Gorno-Badakhshan. The Tablighi Jama’at, a fundamentalist Sunni missionary movement conducted da'wa in the 2000s. The government banned and persecuted this movement among others as part of their wider campaign against non-state Islam.

The Pamiris are increasingly being marginalilzed in linguistic and religious terms, as they deviate from the vision for nationhood of the Tajik state. In 2009 the year of I'mam Hanafi Islam was celebrated, but a majority of Pamiris are followers of Ismaili Shia Islam. Subsequently, religious institutions had to be reregistered leaving all institution ousted not fitting the state's religious beliefs. The 2010 law on language requires all documents to be made in Tajik. This creates difficulties for the many inhabitants of Gorno Badakhshan who do not speak Tajik to access state services. Facing this marginalization Pamiris express their distinctive identity against western Tajiks along secterian lines, even though there is considerable difference in ethnicity, religion and language amongst themselves.

Soviet era
The First Secretary of the Gorno–Badakhshan Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Tajikistan was the highest position in the region during the Soviet era.

Since independence
The chairman of the Badakhshan Mountainous Autonomous Region is the head of the regional government. They are appointed by the president of Tajikistan.

Transport
During the 20th century, the Soviet modernity project to establish roads connections in the Pamir led to the communities becoming part of a transit district between Osh, Khorog and Dushanbe. Nowadays, the routes Khorog–Osh and Khorog–Dushanbe are both segments of the Pamir Highway. A third road was constructed through the Kulma Pass in 2004 by China in order to connect Khorog to Tashkurgan. Gorno-Badakhshan is separated from the Pakistani territories of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan by the narrow, but nearly impassable, Wakhan Corridor. Another road leads from Khorog to Wakhan and across the Afghan border.

Even though connectivity is promoted in Gorno-Badakhshan, as the "Golden gate of Tajikistan" local traders largely do not profit from the rise of trade. Instead logistic companies and elites from Dushanbe dominate the long-distance trade, as the Pamiris are increasingly excluded from central posts and have to obtain visas from Dushanbe to travel to China, which is very costly. In June 2022, after local protesters blocking the road were imprisoned, some even killed, a Chinese company started the modernization of a Pamir highway section at the cost of US$200 million.

Energy
In 2019, the European Union and Germany, in coordination with Tajikistan, committed 37 million euros to finance the construction of an 11 MW run-of-the-river hydro power plant along the Shokhdara river. The project is intended to also supply energy to Badakhshan, Afghanistan.

Sports
Khorog is the highest location where bandy has been played.

Notable individuals

 * Qimmatgul Aliberdiyeva
 * Savsan Bandishoeva
 * Nobovar Chanorov
 * Nazarsho Dodkhudoev
 * Akbarsho Iskandrov
 * Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov
 * Davlat Khudonazarov
 * Mirsaid Mirshakar
 * Muboraksho Mirzoshoyev
 * Qozidavlat Qoimdodov
 * Nuqra Rahmatova
 * Shodi Shabdolov
 * Sabzajon Shoismoilova
 * Shirinsho Shotemur
 * Khudoyor Yusufbekov
 * Gurminj Zavkibekov
 * Muhammadboqir Muhammadboqirov
 * Tolibbek Ayyombekov

title: Gorno-Badakhshan


text:
J. Howard McGrath

James Howard McGrath (November 28, 1903 – September 2, 1966) was an American politician and attorney from Rhode Island. McGrath, a Democrat, served as U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island before becoming governor, U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Senator, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Attorney General of the United States.

Early life
Born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. McGrath was the son of James J. McGrath and the former Ida E. May. He graduated from the La Salle Academy in 1922, attended Providence College, and went to the Boston University Law School in 1929. McGrath married Estelle A. Cadorette on November 28, 1929; they adopted a son. David.

From 1930 to 1934, he was the city solicitor of Central Falls, Rhode Island. During this time he was also interested in the real estate, insurance, and banking industries. He served as United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island from 1934 to 1940.

Governor of Rhode Island
From 1941 to 1945, McGrath was Governor of Rhode Island, reorganizing the juvenile court system while sponsoring a workers' compensation fund and a labor relations board, but he resigned in the middle of his third term to accept appointment as Solicitor General of the United States (1945–1946). As governor, McGrath presided over a limited-purpose state constitutional convention in 1944.

"... convention convened at the Rhode Island College of Education auditorium in Providence, March 28, 1944 for the purpose of amending the State constitution to eliminate voting registration requirements by members of the armed forces, merchant marines or persons absent from the state performing services connecting with military operations. Delegate continent totaled 200 with Governor J. Howard McGrath serving as president & William A. Needham of Providence as Secretary. Proposal put before the voters at a special election held April 11, 1944.  Amendment passed with 7,122 voting for & 119 against." McGrath was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate from Rhode Island in 1946 to join a Congress (the Eightieth, 1947 to 1949), where the opposition Republican Party had just replaced Democratic majorities in both houses. (See United States elections, 1946.)

He was briefly chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on the District of Columbia for the 81st Congress (to which the 1948 election had returned Democratic majorities). In the Senate, McGrath opposed reducing wartime economic controls and taxes, wishing to spend the latter instead on Social Security, national health insurance, and education.

Chairman of Democratic National Committee
He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1947 to 1949. In managing President Harry Truman's successful 1948 election campaign, McGrath alienated white Southerners but won over crucial black constituencies by integrating the Democratic national headquarters staff.

Attorney General
Truman appointed McGrath Attorney General of the United States on August 24, 1949. After McGrath had refused to co-operate in a corruption investigation initiated by his own department, Truman asked for and received McGrath's resignation on April 3, 1952.

Alternative accounts have contradictorily suggested that after a meeting of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at Truman's "Little White House" in Key West, the Secretary of the Navy, along with other members, had threatened to resign if they, too, were forced to comply with Special Assistant Attorney General Newbold Morris's request for the personal records of all members who might have received gifts under the scope of the corruption investigation. Under pressure to follow through with the Justice Department corruption investigation, along with the threats of resignation, McGrath agreed that Morris's request was asking too much and that the best thing to do was to clean up the department from that point forward and leave the past alone. Truman had been backed into a corner, and the only way out was to ask for McGrath's resignation. That account was corroborated by a letter from Truman to McGrath, which hung in the hallway of McGrath's summer home in Narragansett, Rhode Island up to the time of his death in 1966.

McGrath entered the private practice of law in Washington, D.C. and Providence. In 1960, he was an unsuccessful candidate to succeed the retiring U.S. Sen. Theodore Francis Green (Democrat of Rhode Island), losing the Democratic primary (also contested by former governor Dennis J. Roberts) to Claiborne Pell.

McGrath died of a heart attack in Narragansett, Rhode Island on September 2, 1966, at the age of 62. His body was buried at the St. Francis Cemetery in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

There is a bust of Senator McGrath outside the House chamber in the Rhode Island State House.

title: J. Howard McGrath


text:
AC Sparta Prague

Athletic Club Sparta Praha, commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague.

It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning the central European Cup (also known as the Mitropa Cup) three times as well as having reached the semi-finals of the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) in 1992 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1973.

Sparta have won a record 38 domestic league titles, the Czech Cup (and its predecessor Czechoslovak Cup) 16 times, also a record, and the Czech Supercup twice. Sparta was long the main source for the Czech Republic national football team, however lately this has ceased to be the case, as the best Czech players almost exclusively play in foreign leagues.

Sparta play at Prague's Epet Arena, also known as Letná Stadium.

Early years
At the close of 1893, a small group of young people based around three brothers – Václav, Bohumil and Rudolf Rudl – had the idea of setting up a sports club. On 16 November, the founders' meeting approved the club's articles of association and one month later, on 17 December, the first annual general meeting took place. Soon after that, the Athletic Club Sparta came up with its tricolour, in which blue symbolises Europe, red and yellow being the symbols of the (then) Royal City of Prague.

At the very beginning of the club's football history, the players used to wear black jerseys with a big "S" on the front. They then played for two years in black-and-white striped jerseys, which they returned to, wearing them as a reserve strip, for two years in 1996. In 1906, club president Dr. Petřík was in England where he saw the famous Woolwich Arsenal play with their red jerseys and decided to bring one set to Prague. At that time, he did not realise he was setting up one of the club's greatest traditions. Together with the red jerseys, Sparta players wear white shorts and black socks.

Shortly after World War I, a team was put together that triggered off the famous period of the 1920s and '30s referred to as "Iron Sparta". A football league in Czechoslovakia was established in the mid-twenties and the club collected title after title. To this day, the fans still recall the names of the players of that period with admiration: Peyer, Hojer, Perner, Káďa, Kolenatý, Červený. A few years later, some no less famous names appeared, such as Hochmann, Burgr, Hajný, Šíma, Silný, Čtyřoký, Košťálek and in particular Oldřich Nejedlý, the top scorer at the 1934 FIFA World Cup. Shortly before this most famous era kicked off, Vlasta Burian, the man who later became the king of Czech comedians, played in goal for the club.

The milestones of the first golden period of the club's history are two Central European Cup titles, which in the '20 and the '30s enjoyed the same recognition as that of today's Champions League. Sparta's three titles are important milestones in the cup's history. After two triumphs in 1927 and 1935, the third came in 1964, at a time when the cup's importance was gradually falling behind that of other European cups.

In 1946, AC Sparta toured Great Britain opening with a 2–2 draw against Arsenal on 2 October.

Golden years
Golden periods alternated with years when Sparta fans only nostalgically remembered the "good old times". After substantial changes driven by the socialist regime, bringing frequent changes of the club's name rather than achievements to be proud of, the title in 1954 was the last one before a long period of misery. Only the great era of the team around Andrej Kvašňák in the 1960s brought back memories of the club's golden years.

There are still many people who recollect the era of Andrej Kvašňák, Jiří Tichý and Václav Mašek. Those were the days when Sparta hosted the biggest number of fans in its history, with the stadium at that time accommodating almost 40,000. All three of the above-mentioned heroes were part of the national team that finished second at the 1962 World Cup in Chile. Other important players in these "golden years" were Josef Vojta, Vladimír Táborský and Ivan Mráz.

Relegation and comeback
Up until 1975, Sparta was the only Czech club that had never been relegated to the second division. In this year, however, due to a number of circumstances, the team dropped to division two. The club only spent one year in this division, with the crucial matches for the club's comeback to the elite being sold out.

Nevertheless, the club did not win another league title until the early 1980s. Built around Chovanec, Berger, Hašek, Skuhravý and Griga, the team regained its former status and won five league titles in a row between 1986 and 1991. In 1983–84, the team got as far as the UEFA Cup quarter-finals, falling to Hajduk Split. In the early 1990s, this successful era was continued by the next generation of players, such as Siegl, Horňák, Němeček, Frýdek, Němec and Kouba.

1990s to present
Sparta has achieved a number of international successes, including two Central European Cup titles in the period of "Iron Sparta". More recent high points include Sparta's performance in the first year of the UEFA Champions League, in 1991–92. Sparta defeated Rangers, then Marseille and reached the semi-final group. Playing Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica, Sparta finished second. Unlike today's system, only the group winner reached the final. Being second in the group, Sparta was unofficially Europe's third or fourth best team.

Sparta participated in the group stage of Champions League between 1997 and 2006. The club enjoyed their best Champions League performances in the 1999–2000 and 2001–02 seasons, reaching the now-defunct second group stage on both occasions. In 1999–2000, it won its initial group under the management of Ivan Hašek, and was then third in the quarter-final group. In that group, Sparta came up against a Barcelona squad which went on to reach the semi-finals.

In the 2001–02 season, Sparta was drawn against the eventual winners of both the European competitions during the course of its run. Feyenoord lost twice to Sparta in the champions league group stage and managed to qualify for the UEFA Cup, which it went on to win. Sparta went on to meet Real Madrid in the quarter-final that year. Sparta did not qualify for the group stage in 2002–03, when it was beaten by the Belgian club Genk in the third round of qualifying. 2003–04 saw Sparta take on two Italian giants; initially, the club beat Lazio in the group stage, but after an initial draw Sparta failed to get into the quarter-finals past Milan. The group stage in 2004–05 did not work out at all well for Sparta. After drawing with Manchester United at the sold-out Toyota Arena, the other matches were lost and the club finished last in the group with the club achieving their worst-ever return of just one point from the six matches.

 * 1997–98 – 3rd place in the group stage (Borussia Dortmund, Parma, Galatasaray)
 * 1998–99 – knocked-out in the qualification round by Dynamo Kyiv
 * 1999–00 – 1st place in the group stage (Bordeaux, Willem II, Spartak Moscow), 3rd place in the second round group (Barcelona, Porto, Hertha BSC)
 * 2000–01 – 4th place in the group stage (Arsenal, Lazio, Shakhtar Donetsk)
 * 2001–02 – 2nd place in the group stage (Bayern Munich, Feyenoord, Spartak Moscow), 3rd place in the second round group (Real Madrid, Panathinaikos, Porto)
 * 2002–03 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by Genk
 * 2003–04 – 2nd place in the group stage (Chelsea, Lazio, Beşiktaş), knocked-out in the eight-finals by Milan
 * 2004–05 – 4th place in the group stage (Manchester United, Lyon, Fenerbahçe)
 * 2005–06 – 4th place in the group stage (Arsenal, Ajax, Thun)
 * 2007–08 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by Arsenal
 * 2008–09 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by Panathinaikos
 * 2009–10 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by Panathinaikos
 * 2010–11 – knocked-out in the play-off round by Žilina
 * 2014–15 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by Malmö FF
 * 2015–16 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by CSKA Moscow
 * 2016–17 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by Steaua București
 * 2021–22 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by AS Monaco FC
 * 2023–24 – knocked-out in the 3rd qualification round by F.C. Copenhagen

Sparta, usually along with Slavia, has always been a base for the national team; Sparta players contributed to the biggest achievements of the Czechoslovak and Czech national teams. It all started in 1934, when Oldřich Nejedlý was the top scorer at the World Cup in Rome; four years later, seven Sparta players were part of the national team at the World Cup in France. In 1962, Kvašňák and Tichý played for the "silver" team in Chile. In 1990 in Italy, where the national team got as far as the quarterfinal, the team's play was mainly created by Chovanec, Bílek, Hašek and other Sparta players, such as Skuhravý, who went on to become a star of the Italian league. Sparta players also contributed to the last big achievement of the already independent Czech Republic team in 1996. Kouba, Frýdek and Horňák returned to Letná from England with silver medals. On top of that, the team was coached by Dušan Uhrin, who had spent his best years at Sparta, and Pavel Novotný came to Sparta two years later. Sparta players also featured in more recent qualification and tournament games of the Czech national team. Miroslav Baranek, Tomáš Votava, Vratislav Lokvenc, Milan Fukal, Martin Hašek, Libor Sionko, Jiří Novotný, Jaromír Blažek and the outstanding talent of Tomáš Rosický helped the team in its UEFA Euro 2000 campaign in Belgium and the Netherlands.

The next era culminating in the bronze medal in the Euro 2004 in Portugal saw Sparta players leaving their unmistakable mark in the national team successes. Zdeněk Grygera, Tomáš Hübschman, Jaromír Blažek, Karel Poborský and academy products Petr Čech and Tomáš Rosický helped Czech football to become recognised as being amongst the elite in Europe and most have played for elite European clubs. Currently, Sparta is one of only two teams in the domestic league which supplies players to the national side. It goes without saying that the club also supplies players to the country's various youth teams.

Historical names:
 * 1893 — Athletic Club Královské Vinohrady
 * 1894 — Athletic Club Sparta
 * 1948 — Athletic Club Sparta Bubeneč
 * 1949 — Sokol Bratrství Sparta
 * 1951 — Sparta ČKD Sokolovo
 * 1953 — TJ Spartak Praha Sokolovo
 * 1965 — TJ Sparta ČKD Praha
 * 1990 — TJ Sparta Praha
 * 1991 — AC Sparta Praha
 * 1993 — AC Sparta Praha fotbal, a.s.

Club symbols
The name Sparta was inspired by the fighting spirit and courage of the people from the ancient city of Sparta. From the very beginning, the colours of Sparta were blue (symbolizing speed, athletics and sport in general), red and yellow (the official colours of Royal City of Prague). In 1906, one of the members of the committee brought (from his trip to England) jerseys of the London club Arsenal. From that time, Sparta has typically played in their red (or, to be more precise, dark red or maroon) colours.

Another symbol of Sparta is the big "S"; thus, Sparta and Slavia Prague are usually collectively called the Prague "S" and contest the Prague derby. Sparta Prague has three stars above its crest to signify winning 30–39 national league championships, adding a new star for every ten league titles.

The Czech films Why?, Up and Down and Non Plus Ultras take the culture of Sparta fandom as one of their subjects.

Supporters
The supporters of Sparta Prague are called Letenští, meaning "From Letná". They sit in the sectors D33-D36, which is behind the goal in the southern stand. The fans have good relations with those of FC Nitra and FC Košice in Slovakia.

Stadium
Sparta play their home matches at epet ARENA in the Letná district of Prague. For training Sparta use a football centre at Strahov Stadium (formerly the second largest stadium in the world) whose space was rebuilt to eight football pitches (six fields of standard sizes and two futsal-sized). These are currently used as a training facility by first team, youth academy and reserve squad.

Player records in the Czech First League
. Highlighted players are in the current squad.

Coaches

 * Karel Maleček (1907–11)
 * František Malý (1911–18)
 * Johny Dick (1919–23)
 * Václav Špindler (1924–27)
 * Johny Dick (1928–33)
 * František Sedlaczek (1933–38)
 * Josef Kuchynka (1939–44)
 * František Sedlaczek (1945–47)
 * Erich Srbek (1948–53, 1957–58)
 * Vlastimil Preis
 * Karel Senecký
 * Jiří Šimonek
 * Karel Kolský (1959–63)
 * Jaroslav Štumpf
 * Václav Ježek (1964–69)
 * Milan Navara
 * Karel Kolský (1970–71)
 * Tadeusz Kraus (1971–74)
 * Ivan Mráz
 * Zdeněk Roček
 * Štefan Čambal (1975–76)
 * Zdeněk Roček (1976)
 * Dušan Uhrin (1976)
 * Arnošt Hložek (1977–78)
 * Antonín Rýgr (1978)
 * Jiří Rubáš (1978–81)
 * Dušan Uhrin (1981–82)
 * Václav Ježek (1982–84)
 * Vladimír Táborský (1984–85)
 * Ján Zachar (1985–86)
 * Václav Ježek (1986–88)
 * Jozef Jarabinský (1988–90)
 * Václav Ježek (1990–91)
 * Dušan Uhrin (1991–93)
 * Karol Dobiáš (1993–94)
 * Jozef Chovanec (1994)
 * Vladimír Borovička (1994)
 * Jürgen Sundermann (October 1994 – March 1995)
 * Jozef Jarabinský (March 1995 – December 1995)
 * Vlastimil Petržela (1996)
 * Jozef Chovanec (August 1996 – June 1998)
 * Zdeněk Ščasný (July 1998 – June 1999)
 * Ivan Hašek (July 1999 – June 2001)
 * Jaroslav Hřebík (2001–02)
 * Vítězslav Lavička (April–June 2002)
 * Jozef Jarabinský (July–December 2002)
 * Jiří Kotrba (February 2003 – March 2004)
 * František Straka (March 2004 – December 2004)
 * Jaroslav Hřebík (December 2004 – December 2005)
 * Stanislav Griga (December 2005 – August 2006)
 * Michal Bílek (September 2006 – June 2008)
 * Jozef Chovanec (June – July 2008)
 * Vítězslav Lavička (July – October 2008)
 * Jozef Chovanec (October 2008 – December 2011)
 * Martin Hašek (December 2011 – May 2012)
 * Vítězslav Lavička (July 2012 – April 2015)
 * Zdeněk Ščasný (April 2015 – September 2016)
 * David Holoubek (September 2016 – December 2016)
 * Tomáš Požár (December 2016 – March 2017)
 * Petr Rada (March 2017 – May 2017)
 * Andrea Stramaccioni (May 2017 – March 2018)
 * Pavel Hapal (March 2018 – July 2018)
 * Zdeněk Ščasný (August 2018 – April 2019)
 * Michal Horňák (April 2019 – June 2019)
 * Václav Jílek (June 2019 – February 2020)
 * Václav Kotal (February 2020 – February 2021)
 * Pavel Vrba (February 2021 – May 2022)
 * Michal Horňák (May 2022)
 * Brian Priske (June 2022 – June 2024)
 * Lars Friis (June 2024 – present)

European statistics
The following is a list of the all-time statistics from Sparta's games in the three UEFA tournaments it has participated in, as well as the overall total. The list contains the tournament, the number of games played (Pld), won (W), drawn (D) and lost (L). The statistics include qualification matches.
 * As of 24 February 2022

Domestic

 * Bohemian Football Union Championship/Czechoslovak First League/Czech First League:
 * Winners (38): 1912, 1919, 1922, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1931–32, 1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1943–44, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1952, 1954, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2022–23, 2023–24
 * Czechoslovak Cup/Czech Cup:
 * Winners (16): 1963–64, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991–92, 1995–96, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2013–14, 2019–20, 2023–24
 * Czech Supercup:
 * Winners (2): 2010, 2014

Continental

 * UEFA Champions League/European Cup
 * Semi-final (1): 1991–92
 * UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
 * Semi-final (1): 1972–73
 * Mitropa Cup (Central European Cup)
 * Winners (3): 1927, 1935, 1964

Club records

 * Biggest home win: Sparta Prague 12–0 Galatasaray SK (1921–22)

Czech First League records

 * Best position: 1st (see Honours)
 * Worst position: 5th (2005–06, 2017–18)
 * Biggest home win: Sparta 7–0 České Budějovice (1999–2000)
 * Biggest away win: Žižkov 1–6 Sparta (1998–99), Hradec Králové 0–5 Sparta (2001–02), Most 0–5 Sparta (2007–08), Brno 0–5 Sparta (2010–11), Mladá Boleslav 0–5 Sparta (2023–24)
 * Biggest home defeat: Sparta 0–3 Jablonec (2006–07), Sparta 1–4 Slavia (2008–09), Sparta 0–3 Liberec (2011–12), Sparta 0–3 Mladá Boleslav (2011–12), Sparta 0–3 Plzeň (2015–16), Sparta 0–3 Slavia (2019–20)
 * Biggest away defeat: Plzeň 4–0 Sparta (2018–19, 2023–24), Slovácko 4–0 Sparta (2021–22)

title: AC Sparta Prague


text:
Talk:Navassa Island

Unofficial Flag
The unofficial flag of Navassa Island is an interesting bit of trivia, but it has never once flown over the island, including in the nearly a century that the Coast Guard operated a lighthouse there. It has, as far as I can tell, only been used once in real life, for a single ceremony held by the Park Service in Hawaii (see NAVA News 208). Since it has no official status, wasn't created by someone on the island, and has never flown over the island, does it really belong in the infobox?

I'm not necessarily advocating for deleting it entirely but IMO it should be moved to a place of lower importance in the article.Jbt89 (talk) 02:21, 15 June 2022 (UTC)

Status
The island is American. It does not have a claim over the island because it does not need to. Haiti has a claim. We should not make out there is any form of equality here. There are many areas of the world where a country has a claim over another country's land and that does not change the legal sovereignty status. There are very few genuinely unresolved areas. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 20:37, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Hi, Is this a general comment or a concern about a specific part of the text? I mentioned competing U.S. and Haitian claims in response to 82.74.197.160's edits to the infobox to help explain why the fields/values were the ones being used. As it stands, I think the infobox and text are both clear that the U.S. established a claim to the island under the Guano Act and that Haiti asserted its claim a decade or so later (but based on a preexisting claim). I don't think anyone disputes or that anything in the article the disputes that the U.S. has de facto control of the island and considers it an unincorporated part of the national territory. —Carter (Tcr25) (talk) 21:46, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

We should avoid terms like "The US has de facto control" because it strongly implies that the de jure sovereign is in doubt, which it is not. The island is American under international law. I think your edits are an improvement on what wad there before. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 22:08, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
 * The claim is disputed, so de jure sovereignty is in doubt, but de facto sovereignty (you're right a better phrase than "de facto control") is clear, especially since Navassa was claimed under the Guano Islands Act, which specifically says the U.S. has no obligation to maintain or defend a claim. Beyond that, it's an unincorporated territory, which implies the U.S. asserts control more than sovereignty, which is partially why Jones v. United States (1890) was decided based on U.S. authority to punish mutineers on the high seas. For what it's worth, to be encyclopedic, I think we properly have to recognize the U.S. authority over the island and the Haitian claim without inappropriately weighting one over the other. —Carter (Tcr25) (talk) 23:07, 12 September 2022 (UTC)

Just because one or two countes dispute US sovereignty does not make it in doubt, especially when one of those countries is the one claiming sovereignty. There needs to be a far greater weight of evidence. Having a claim over something does not automatically throw doubt on its current ownership status. The US has had uninterupted practical control over the island for nearly 200 years. The Haiti claim is nothing more than an ambiguously worded clause in an even older treaty and reference made to the island in its constitution, coming after the US took control. It is a US island claimed by Haiti, not a sovereignty-disputed island subject to two claims. A better example of the second description is the status of the Crimean peninsular where the weight of evidence backing Russia's claim is somewhat larger. I think in international law the length of effective control carries greater weight that an old treaty or law, especially when that treaty has not been adhered to or confirmed in some way since. Just my view of course. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 07:57, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

Project Leader's tenure
For future reference, the following tag contained a discussion on whether Silander was still in office: The second reply is mine, and contains a FederalPay source which may be helpful in maintaining the Project Leader infobox field (or verifying whether other US government employees are still serving, for that matter). Heavy Water (talk) 16:09, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Navassa Island


text:
User:Jengod/James P. McGranery

James Patrick McGranery (July 8, 1895–December 23, 1962) wasn an American lawyer and politician.

Born in Philadelphia, he served in World War I as an observation pilot with the United States Army Air Service. He graduated from Temple University Law School in 1928.

He was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 75th through the 78th Congresses.

In November 1943, he was appointed assistant to the Attorney General of the United States and was responsible for supervising the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Bureau of Prisons and various divisions.

He then served as a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In 1952, President Harry Truman appointed McGranery Attorney General and he served in that capacity until 1953. He returned to practicing law in Washington, D.C. in 1954.

He died in Palm Beach, Florida in 1962 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

title: User:Jengod/James P. McGranery


text:
Yakov Sannikov

Yakov Sannikov (dates of birth and death unknown) was a Russian promyshlennik and explorer of the New Siberian Islands.

In 1800, Sannikov discovered and charted Stolbovoy Island, and in 1805 Faddeyevsky Island. In 1809–1810, he took part in the expedition led by Matvei Gedenschtrom. In 1810, Sannikov crossed the island of New Siberia and a year later explored Faddeyevsky Island. He also discovered Bunge Land, and suggested that there was a vast land north of the Kotelny Island. This hypothetical island has become known as Sannikov Land.

A strait between Maly Lyakhovsky and the Kotelny islands bears Sannikov's name.

title: Yakov Sannikov


text:
Teuthology

Teuthology (from Greek τεῦθος, "cuttlefish, squid", and -λογία, -logia) is the study of cephalopods. Cephalopods are members of the class Cephalopoda in the Phylum Mollusca. Some common examples of cephalopods are octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. Teuthology is a large area of study that covers cephalopod life cycles, reproduction, evolution, anatomy and taxonomy.

Teuthology is a specific branch of malacology, the study of molluscs, in marine zoology. A teuthologist is a scientist who studies teuthology.

2023
The publication of the english translation of Albin O Ebersbach's thesis on the detailed descriptions of cirrate octopods marks an expansion of access to important taxonomical identifying information in teuthology.

The third paper in the series led by Tristian Joseph Verhoeff revisiting cirrate octopods is published.

2022
Several papers describing new species of cephalopods were published this year. Two of the papers were the beginning of the series led by Tristian Joseph Verhoeff describing new cirrate octopods discovered around Australia and New Zealand. The third paper describes two new sepioline squid species also discovered in Australian waters.

Organizations and Resources

 * Cephalopod International Advisory Council
 * A group founded by teuthologists for the development and growth of their field
 * The Octopus News Magazine Online (TONMO)
 * A forum founded for cephalopod enthusiasts
 * Podcast: Ologies with Alie Ward, Episode: Teuthology (SQUIDS) with Sarah Anulty
 * A teuthology focused podcast

title: Teuthology


text:
Sons of Dan

Sons of Dan may refer to:

 * Nine Sons Of Dan, an Australian band from the Gold Coast
 * Danite, a Mormon group

title: Sons of Dan