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Automotive industry in Iran

Iran’s automotive industry is the third most active industry of the country, after its oil and gas industry, accounting for 10% of Iran's GDP and 4% of the workforce (700,000 person).

Iran developed a significant automotive industry with annual production of up to 200,000 units under the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi's regime. But after the Iranian Revolution of 1979 production drastically decreased due to Iran–Iraq War and international sanctions. Since the early 2000s, automobile production in Iran has grown exponentially. Iran's automobile production crossed the 1 million mark in 2007/2008. Today, Iran is the 20th largest automaker in the world and one of the largest in Asia, with annual production of more than 1.6 million. In 2009, Iran ranked fifth in car production growth standing next to China, Taiwan, Romania and India. According to OICA statistics, production dropped dramatically to under 750,000 automobiles and commercial vehicles in 2013.

As of 2001, there were 13 public and privately owned automakers in Iran, of which two—Iran Khodro and Saipa—accounted for 94% of the total domestic production. Iran Khodro, which produced the most prevalent car brand in the country—the Paykan, which has been replaced in 2005 by the Samand—was still the larger with 61% of the market in 2001, while Saipa contributed 33% of Iran's total production in the same year. Iran Khodro is one of the largest car manufacturers in Asia. It has established joint-ventures with foreign partners on 4 continents.

The Iranian manufacturers currently produces Several types of vehicles, including cars, 4WD, trucks, buses, minibuses, and pickup trucks. The sector directly employs about 500,000 people (roughly 2.3% of the workforce), and many more in related industries. About 75% of local output is passenger cars, with pick-ups the next largest category, accounting for around 15%.

In 2024 July Iran started allowing importing second hand Japanese, Korean and European cars limited to 1 exclusive vehicle purchase per citizen National id card number.

Historical development

In the 1960s, lacking the technical know-how and unable to produce its own automobiles, Iran invited Western firms in order to start a domestic automobile industry. Since then, Iran has developed its domestic industry where it can design and assemble cars on its own, including a new car factory in Kashan. The average operating margin of the five major Iranian automakers dropped by 1% from 13% to 12% in 2011. The seven development phases of Iran's automotive industry have been:

Historical production by year
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Market and domestic production

In 2008, IDRO reported that SAIPA accounts for 54 percent and Iran Khodro for 46 percent of the output. Although carmakers are listed on the stock exchange, the government still owns about 40 percent of both companies. In July 2010, the government sold a further 18% stake in both Iran Khodro and Saipa for about $2 billion in total, bringing down its participation in both companies to about 20%. In August, both deals were cancelled by the Iranian Privatization Organization. No clear reason was given for the cancellation of the deals, but analysts believe that discontent over the prices at which the blocks were traded is the most likely reason. Unofficial estimates put the sector’s debt to Iranian banks as high as 100 trillion rials ($4 billion).

The other car manufacturers, such as Azhitechs, Bahman Group, Rakhsh Khodro, Kerman Motors, Kish Khodro, Raniran, Traktorsazi, Shahab Khodro, and others together produced only 6%. These automakers produce a wide range of automobiles including motorbikes, passenger cars, vans, mini trucks, medium-sized trucks, heavy duty trucks, minibuses, large size buses and other heavy automobiles used in commercial and private activities in the country. Iran Khodro Diesel has a dominant market share (+70%) in bus, truck and van production.

Iran with having a fleet of 7 million passenger cars, buses and trucks ranked the world’s 16th biggest automaker and one of the largest in Asia in 2006 with annual production above 1 million units and 1.3 million in 2009, resulting in almost 1.5 percent of total world production of vehicles and 1 car per 10 person. Iran's fleet reached 11.5 million cars by 2020 and 14 million by 2014 (half of which are dilapidated).

Sixty percent of passenger cars produced in 2008 will use natural gas as fuel or will be dual-fuel, and the remaining 40 percent will run on regular gasoline (2008). Some problems faced by the industry are slow deliveries of cars, lack of after sales services and low quality in the production of some cars. Car production in Iran has increased 445% between 1998 and 2008. In July 2013, sanctions imposed by the USA prevented Iranian companies from importing the vehicle parts upon which domestic cars rely; this caused Iran to cede its place to Turkey as the region’s top vehicle manufacturer. Because of sanctions on spare parts by France's Peugeot and Renault, car production in Iran dropped by as much as 40% in 2012 before recovering somewhat in 2014 following the Geneva interim agreement.

More than half of the vehicles in Iran are over 10 years old (2009). The government has sought to upgrade the local fleet and the authorities aim to pull some 200,000 outmoded vehicles off the road each year, underpinning demand. According to estimates the demand stood at 1.5 million vehicles in 2007, which could not be met by the local producers. Auto manufacturing industry's share in gross national product is two percent and Iran's auto production rate in the global markets is 1.7 percent (2008). Previously buyers had been purchasing vehicles outright in cash, but now over half of all new car sales are through finance companies or on lease purchase schemes.

Motorcycles
There were more than 8 million motorcycles in Iran by 2010 and 1,500 motorcycles receive registration number plates each day. Motorcycles account for 30% of air pollution in Tehran. Domestically manufactured motorcycles conform to Euro 2 standard and they don't even use catalyst transducers while the world has now considered Euro 5 standard for motorcycles.

Exports
In 2007, Iran car exports stood at around $500 million. Iran car exports reached $1 billion by March 2009. Overall production is expected to rise to 1.13 million units by 2012 ($200 million in exports expected by 2010) and 60,000 units exported by 2013.

Auto parts

Sapco and Sazeh Gostar are the respective purchasing arms of Iran Khodro and Saipa (the two largest Iranian auto manufacturers). The Iranian automotive parts industry consists of approximately 1200 companies (15,000 factories), which include those affiliated to vehicle manufacturers as well as independent firms. The industry consists of two primary sectors: Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) suppliers, which produce parts for auto makers, and After-Market Parts Manufacturers (AMPM), which produce replacement parts for vehicles. Over 39 countries purchase Iranian auto parts (2008). As of 2014, 10 tire manufacturing units are operating across the country with a production capacity of 240,000 tons per annum. They meet 70 percent of the domestic tire demand (11 million tires per year). As of 2015, 60% of auto spare parts in the Iranian market are imported from foreign countries. Most cars are produced in Iran under licence from foreign manufacturers and it depends on them for critical imports, ranging from pistons, cylinder heads, valves, starters, alternators, airbags to computer chips (incl. engine control units and sensors). The media has reported that the IRGC is cooperating with the auto industry ( including 32 domestic part makers) to remedy these deficiencies.

Since 2020, Iranian manufacturers are also producing parts such as automotive immobilizers, electronic control units, oxygen sensors, electric seats, electric steering, six-speed automatic transmission, polymeric materials, modulators, injectors, airbags, multimedia, direct current (DC) motors, all types of electrical sensors and digital front amplifier.

Research and development
There are different ongoing R&D projects both at the governmental and private sectors. These projects research are mostly aimed at local market of Iran and its particular problems. New lines of locally designed and manufactured diesel, gasoline and dedicated CNG engines are being developed. There are also some research being done on hybrid and electric vehicles for the future Iranian market. In addition to this nanotechnology is being researched for introduction into production lines in order to improve the quality standards and customer satisfaction by offering anti-bacterial seats, anti-scratch paint, hydrophobic glass panes, maintenance-free air filters, anti-stain dashboards, nano-catalytic converters and nano-diamond containing lubricating oils.

In 2011, the Nanotechnology Initiative Council announced plans to export to Lebanon a series of ‘home-made’ nano-based engine oils manufactured by the Pishgaman–Nano-Aria Company (PNACO); these nano-based oils reduce engine erosion, fuel consumption and engine temperature. In 2009, researchers at Isfahan University of Technology developed a strong but light nanosteel as resistant to corrosion as stainless steel for use in road vehicles but also potentially in aircraft, solar panels and other products.

As of 2016, Iran had no known R&D project in the important field of autonomous cars.

Foreign direct investment and imports
There are over 25 automakers in Iran, actively producing both light and heavy vehicles. They are in joint venture with companies such as Dongfeng (China), Peugeot, Citroen (France), Volkswagen (Germany), Nissan (Japan), Toyota (Japan), Kia Motors (South Korea), Proton (Malaysia), Chery (China) and many other established producers of light and heavy vehicles such as Renault (France), BMW, Mercedes Benz (Germany), Daewoo and Hyundai (South Korea) have emerged since 1991. Italian carmaker Fiat has also announced of plans to begin production of its Siena sedan in Iran in 2008.

Chery Automobile (China) in August 2007 entered into a US$370m joint venture with Iran Khodro, Iran to produce cars for West and South Asian markets. Chery Automobile is to hold 30% of the venture, and Khodro will hold 49%. Solitac, a Canadian front company, is to hold the remaining 21% of the venture. The factory will be in the Iranian city of Babol. Anhui Ankai Automobile (also of China) signed a deal in January 2008 with ARG-Diesel Iran to supply it with 600 buses, valued at €51.35m. The deal is to be complete by October 2008.

Iran annually needs some 4,000 buses for its domestic transportation. Since the 1970s, Iran has been producing a number of different buses, such as German Mercedes and MAN as well as Swedish Scania and Volvo that it has exported throughout Asia. Daewoo Bus Corp. and an Iranian automaker Ardebil Sabalan Khodrow-Maywan have teamed up to build buses in Iran. The plant, which is slated to be completed by March 2010, would have a production capacity of 2,000 buses per year and would produce some 800 city and intercity buses in the 18 months after its inauguration. Based on the agreement, the engines and gearboxes would be manufactured in South Korea. Production would increasingly shift to Iran, where about 60 percent of the parts would be made.

Since 2016 and the lifting of the international sanctions, nearly 40 foreign automakers, including Peugeot, Mercedes, and Toyota, are considering using Iran as a hub for their ME and regional exports.

Imports
Car imports have risen, from $184 million in 2002 to $1.5 billion in 2007. In 2006, the government lowered the automotive import tariff levels to 90 percent for light weight vehicles and since then a huge influx of imported vehicles has been witnessed in the country. The tariff level for import of heavy vehicles is even lower at 20 percent, due to low levels of local production and high demand. As a result, various overseas brands are being presently imported into Iran.

Following the lifting of international sanctions, French car manufacturer Renault imported over 93,000 cars (fully built and CKD units) to Iran in 2016.

PSA covers 30% of the Iranian market, while Renault's share is 5%.

Fuel rationing
, Iran has 3,200 gas stations for 1.5 million automobiles. Demand is supported by the fixing of fuel prices well below market levels. There are two pricing schemes for petrol, one subsidized the other not. Each month, qualified vehicle owners are allocated a specific number of subsidized liters of petrol (taxi's have a significantly higher allocation). The cost of regular unsubsidized petrol in Iran is IR7,000/liter (approximately 37 US cents/liter) and premium grade petrol IR3000/liter, whereas the subsidized equivalents go for IR4,000/liter and IR5,000/liter, respectively. The nation's abundant oil reserves have enabled the government to keep prices low (Iran is the second-largest exporter in OPEC). However, low prices have encouraged wasteful consumption and the smuggling of petrol into neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some 1.8 billion liters of oil products worth 10 trillion rials ($1 billion) are smuggled out of Iran per annum.

Given Iran's limited refining capacity, there has been a shortfall in petroleum products in recent years, requiring Iran to import an estimated 100000 oilbbl/d in 2006/07. As a result, there is a recognition among many policymakers of the need to raise prices, and gradual increases have been implemented. However, these have tended to lag the prevailing rate of inflation, and given that raising petrol prices is politically difficult the provision of cheap fuel is likely to persist in the medium term, encouraging the purchase of vehicles. The government was nevertheless forced to take action in June 2007 when it announced both a petrol increase to 12 cents/litre and the imposition of fuel rationing, much to the chagrin of vehicle owners. The policy, which allocates 120 litres maximum per month (following revisions in December) to private car owners, will run until end-2008/09.

CNG
In 2008 and 2009, Iranian government spent over 3 billion dollars on CNG infrastructure as part of its plan to convert its fuel policy from gasoline to CNG. Iran, with the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves after Russia, in 2011 became the world leader in natural gas vehicles with some 2.9 million on the road, narrowly edging Pakistan, which is trailed by Argentina, Brazil and India, respectively. (The United States, which does not subsidize and promote the fuel like other countries do, ranks 16th.) Iran has 1,262 vehicles per refueling station compared with 856 vehicles per refueling station in Pakistan.

Prospects

Like other sectors, the automotive industry is suffering from a lack of foreign direct investment (FDI) and capital imports. The privatization process is moving slowly (2008). Some 80% of state-owned firms were due to be privatized over the ten years to 2014, further to an amendment to Article 44 of the Constitution in 2004. In May 2014, Tasnim News Agency quoted Abdollah Pouri Hosseini, the head of the Iran Privatization Organization, as saying that Iran would be privatizing 186 state-run companies in the new year (beginning 21 March 2014 in Iran). He said that 27 of these companies had a market value each in excess of US$400 million. In 2010, the government reduced its participation in Iran Khodko and Saipa to about 20% but the deals were annulled the same year by the Iranian Privatization Organization.

International sanctions, high inflation, exacerbated by fuel price hikes, and dampened consumer demand have depressed growth in the passenger car segment, but industrial growth coupled with infrastructural development is spurring demand in the commercial vehicles segment. The sanctions have also created difficulties for the imports of spare parts and increased the cost for car manufacturers. To make matters worse, the factory sale prices of cars, which are set by the government every year, have changed very little since 2006. Experts also believe that the removal of subsidies is likely to have an adverse impact on the profitability of the automotive sector until 2013.

The sanctions imposed in 2013 hit exports particularly hard, which had doubled to about 50,000 cars between 2011 and 2012. This prompted IKCO to announce plans in October 2013 to begin selling 10 000 cars a year to the Russian Federation. Traditional export markets include Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Venezuela, Pakistan, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and Azerbaijan.

According to a 2015-survey, car production in Iran will increase by 28% increase following the conclusion of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

In 2015, the government made loans up to $7120 available for purchase of domestic cars (with an interest rate of between 16-18%). The payback period is a maximum seven years or 84 installments.

title: Automotive industry in Iran


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1843 in rail transport

January events

 * January 3 – The Great Western Railway of England officially opens its Swindon Works.
 * January 28 – Boston and Maine Railroad and Eastern Railroad reach an agreement to both lease the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad as a joint line to Portland, Maine.

February events

 * February 23 – Boston and Maine Railroad extends its line to Agamenticus.
 * February 25 – The Grand Duke of Hesse and Grand Duke of Baden in present-day Germany agree to construct the Main-Neckar-Eisenbahn from Heidelberg to a connection with the state railway in Baden.

July events

 * July – The Leeds and Bradford Railway, in West Yorkshire, England, obtains its Act of Parliament.

October events

 * October – Horatio Allen succeeds William Maxwell as president of the Erie Railroad.
 * October 15 – Official opening of first continuous international railway line between Antwerp, Belgium and Köln, Prussia (third day of the opening festivities, covering the Liège (Belgium)–Köln part), making Herbesthal railway station the first international border station in the world.

November events

 * November 1 – The earliest ancestor of the Rutland Railroad, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, is chartered by the state of Vermont.

Unknown date events

 * John Cooke, future founder of Cooke Locomotive Works, is promoted to superintendent at American steam locomotive manufacturing company Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works.

February births

 * February 3 – William Cornelius Van Horne, oversaw the major construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, youngest superintendent of Illinois Central Railroad (d. 1915).
 * February 27 – Thomas Lowry, president of Minneapolis Street Railway 1877–1892, president of Twin City Rapid Transit, president of Soo Line Railroad 1889–1890 and 1892–1909 (d. 1909).

July births

 * July 15 – Thomas Fletcher Oakes, president of Northern Pacific Railway 1888–1893 (d. 1919).

August births

 * August 25 – Inoue Masaru, Japanese bureaucrat, first Director of Railways (d. 1910).

November births

 * November 27 – Cornelius Vanderbilt II, president of New York Central railroad (d. 1899).

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

title: 1843 in rail transport


text: User talk:66.208.211.50

title: User talk:66.208.211.50


text: Category:1154 births

title: Category:1154 births


text: Category:1143 deaths

title: Category:1143 deaths


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Visigothic script

Visigothic script was a type of medieval script that originated in the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Its more limiting alternative designations littera toletana and littera mozarabica associate it with scriptoria specifically in Toledo and with Mozarabic culture more generally, respectively.

The script, which exists in book-hand and cursive versions, was used from approximately the late seventh century until the thirteenth century, mostly in Visigothic Iberia but also somewhat in the Catalan kingdom in current southern France. It was perfected in the 9th–11th centuries and declined afterwards. It developed from uncial script, and shares many features of uncial, especially an uncial form of the letter $⟨g⟩$.

Other features of the script include an open-top $⟨Ꝣ⟩$ (very similar to the letter $⟨Ç⟩$), similar shapes for the letters $⟨a⟩$ and $⟨u⟩$, and a long letter $⟨r⟩$ resembling the modern letter $⟨s⟩$. There are two forms of the letter $⟨i⟩$, one with a straight vertical ascender and another with an ascender slanting towards the left. The top stroke of the letter $⟨l⟩$, by itself, has a hook curving to the left; $⟨d⟩$ also has a number of other forms when used in ligatures, and there are two different ligatures for the two sounds of $⟨t⟩$ (“hard” or unassibilated and "soft" or sibilated) as spoken in Hispano-Latin during this period. The letters $⟨t⟩$ and $⟨ti⟩$ also have many different forms when written in ligature. Of particular interest is the special Visigothic z $⟨e⟩$, which, after adoption into Carolingian handwriting, eventually transformed into the c-cedilla $⟨r⟩$.

A capital-letter display script was developed from the standard script, with long slender forms. There was also a cursive form that was used for charters and non-religious writings, which had northern ("Leonese") and southern ("Mozarabic") forms. The Leonese cursive was used in the Christian north, and the Mozarabic was used by Christians living in the Muslim south. The cursive forms were probably influenced by Roman cursive, brought to Iberia from North Africa.

Visigothic script has many similarities with Beneventan script and Merovingian script.

title: Visigothic script


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Curonian colonization of the Americas

The Curonian colonization of the Americas was performed by the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (now Latvia), which was the second-smallest state to colonise the Americas, after the Knights of Malta. It had a colony on the island of Tobago from 1654 to 1659 and intermittently from 1660 to 1689.

History

Courland and Semigallia was located in present-day Latvia, and had a population of only 200,000, mostly of Latvian and Baltic German ancestry, and was itself a vassal of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at that time. Under Duke Jacob Kettler (ruled 1642-1682), a Baltic German, it established one of the largest merchant fleets in Europe, with its main harbours in Windau (today's Ventspils), and Libau (today's Liepāja). During his travels to Western Europe, Duke Jacob became an eager proponent of mercantilism. Metalworking and shipbuilding became much more developed. Trading relations were established not only with nearby countries, but also with England, France, the Netherlands, Portugal and others.

Courland and Tobago
The Duchy's ships started undertaking trade voyages to the West Indies at least as early as 1637, when a Couronian ship attempted to found a colony on Tobago with 212 settlers. An earlier European settlement on the island, a Dutch colony named New Walcheren, formed in 1628, had been wiped out a few months earlier by Spain. The first Curonian colony met a similar end, whilst a second attempt was essentially blockaded by Spain and strangled in infancy by 1639.

In 1642 two ships under Captain Caroon with about 300 settlers attempted to settle on the north coast near Courland Bay. This colony was again blockaded, but proved more successful. Jesuit missionaries among the Carib quickly agitated and armed the tribes to attack the settlement. In 1650 the colonists abandoned the colony, which was evacuated to Tortuga and later Jamaica. Under agreement with other Protestant powers who saw their various individual efforts insufficient to trade and/or colonise the Americas, Africa, and the Indies simultaneously, Courland's attention shifted to Africa. In 1651 the Duchy gained its first successful colony in Africa, on St. Andrews Island in the Gambia River and it established Fort Jacob there.

Soon afterwards the Protestant powers felt sufficiently organised and prepared to launch several colonial expeditions against Spanish interests in the Caribbean. The alliance between England and the Netherlands against Spain began to dissolve thanks to England's attempts to break Dutch monopolies. The Dutch were primary competitors to Courland, which decided to support the English in the brewing conflict. Therefore, Courland received permission from its Protestant English allies to make still another attempt at a colony on Tobago.

On 20 May 1654, the ship Das Wappen der Herzogin von Kurland ("The Arms of the Duchess of Courland") arrived carrying 45 cannon, 25 officers, 124 Curonian soldiers and 80 families of colonists to occupy Tobago. Captain Willem Mollens declared the island "New Courland" (Neu-Kurland). A fort was erected on the southwest of the island, also called Fort Jacobus (Fort James) with the surrounding town called Jacobsstadt (Jamestown). Other features were given Curonian names such as Great Courland Bay, Jacobs (James) Bay, Courland Estate, Neu-Mitau, Libau Bay and Little Courland Bay.

In their first year on the island the Curonians built an Evangelical Lutheran church. The colony was successful, but the Netherlands was not willing to accede to losing the West Indies and replied by establishing its own colony nearby a few months later. Thus, the small Curonian colony soon became overshadowed by a second Dutch colony. While 120 Curonian colonists had come in 1657, the Dutch colony reached a population of 1,200 by the next year, when 500 French Protestant refugees fleeing Catholic persecution joined them.

Goods exported to Europe included sugar, tobacco, coffee, cotton, ginger, indigo, rum, cocoa, tortoise shells, tropical birds and their feathers.

The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia became a focus of strategic interest for both Sweden and Poland–Lithuania. In 1655 the Swedish army entered the territory of the Duchy and the Northern Wars (1655–1660) began. The Swedish army held Duke Jacob captive from 1658 to 1660. During this period both colonies continued to thrive until they were taken by the more numerous Dutch settlers, who surrounded Fort James and forced Hubert de Beveren, Governor of the Curonians, to surrender. The merchant fleet and factories were destroyed. Courland and Semigallia officially yielded New Courland on 11 December 1659. However, this war ended with the Treaty of Oliwa (signed near Gdańsk) of 1660, on the basis of which Tobago was returned to Courland.

Although peace had been established between the Curonians and the Dutch, there still remained Spain. Following several attacks by buccaneers seeking new harbours, and an expeditionary fleet of Spanish vessels, the Curonians left Tobago in 1666. In 1668 a Curonian ship attempted to reoccupy Fort Jacobus and was driven off by the Dutch.

Tobago was regained again just for a short period at the end of Duke Jacob's rule with an attempt in July 1680 at a new colony which also later failed. He began to restore the fleet and factories, and the Duchy never again reached its previous level of prosperity. The island was abandoned except for visiting buccaneers from March 1683 to June 1686, before again being occupied by a collection of scattered Curonians from throughout the Dutch, French, and English West Indies, as well as by fresh settlers from the home country.

In May 1690, shortly after the island was sold by Courland and Semigallia the previous year, the Curonian government permanently left Tobago, and those who remained essentially joined the buccaneers or other Anglo-Dutch colonies. Absentee governors would continue to be appointed until 1795, thereby facilitating the continued use of covert privateering Letters of Marque and Reprisal in the region.

The Courland Monument near Courland Bay commemorates the Duchy's settlements.

Governors of New Courland
Jamaican buccaneers and English forces from Barbados invade by 1666 during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

French forces from Grenada then capture the island.

The Dutch recapture the island by 1667 and Dutch settlers re-establish the colony by 1668.

The Nepoyo (Arawakans) from Trinidad attack the settlement, but they were able to fend off the attacks with the help of the native Kalina (Carib) of Tobago, but were attacked again by the Kalinago (Island Caribs) from St. Vincent.

At the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674), the colony was captured and looted again by Barbadians, where in 1673 Adrian Lampsins and the late Cornelius' son Jan briefly again retook Tobago, but the island was recaptured by an English Barbadian force under Sir Tobias Bridge from Barbados, and Adrian was killed alongside his nephew when the fort was blown up.

A new Dutch colony was re-established in 1676.

The French attack again by March 1677, with the resulting naval battle resulted in serious losses on both sides, and the French forces withdrew, but returned the following year, captured the island, and destroyed the settlement.

Fresh Courlander attempts to establish a colony in Tobago in 1680 and 1681 were abandoned in 1683.

New Courland is abandoned from 1683 to 1686.

A final Courlander attempt to settle the island in 1686 was largely abandoned by 1687.

New Courland is finally sold to the British Empire by around 1690 to 1693, where last mention of the colony was a small group of settlers encountered by a Danish ship in 1693.

title: Curonian colonization of the Americas


text: Category:1167 births

title: Category:1167 births


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South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control

The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC or DHEC) was the government agency responsible for public health and the environment in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was created in 1973 from the merger of the South Carolina State Board of Health and the South Carolina Pollution Control Authority. It was dissolved into two agencies in July 1, 2024, the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Environmental Services. The states retail food program and milk and dairy lab moving to the South Carolina Department of Agriculture.

The agency's director managed the day-to-day operations of the agency, while the Board of Health and Environmental Control was responsible for supervising DHEC's operations. Each of the board's seven members were appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the South Carolina Senate.

Besides offices in Columbia, South Carolina, the state's capital, DHEC operated health and environmental regional offices, as well as local health departments and clinics, to ensure that the many programs and services the agency provided met the needs of local areas.

Former Responsibilities
DHEC staff:
 * respond to environmental emergencies 24 hours a day;
 * perform lab tests to identify viruses, hazardous chemicals and other health threats;
 * inspect restaurants;
 * counsel patients on family planning;
 * fund diagnostic exams and treatment for children with special needs;
 * oversee treatment of tuberculosis patients;
 * provide birth and death certificates;
 * inform the public about health and environmental issues;
 * immunize children for entry into school;
 * offer sickle cell testing and counseling;
 * advise industry on ways to minimize solid and hazardous waste;
 * help schools and restaurants provide low-fat menus;
 * monitor the quality of public water supplies;
 * provide home health care services;
 * advise legislators on health and environmental consequences of proposed laws;
 * monitor emissions from industrial sources;
 * counsel HIV/AIDS patients and staff the AIDS hotline;
 * inspect waste management and treatment facilities;
 * work to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases;
 * issue environmental permits;
 * inspect hospitals and nursing homes;
 * evaluate and issue Certificates of Need for new or expanding health care facilities;
 * identify infants and toddlers with developmental delays through BabyNet;
 * talk with students interested in health and environmental careers;
 * analyze data on births and deaths to assess the state's health status;
 * promote rabies clinics in cooperation with local veterinarians;
 * advocate health services for the needy;
 * educate children about cavities and other dental problems;
 * investigate pollution allegations;
 * patrol shellfish beds;
 * track underground storage tanks for possible pollution;
 * certify emergency medical services staff and their equipment;
 * authorize hazardous waste transport;
 * ensure attention to the health needs of minorities;
 * permit and inspect public pools, water parks, spas, and natural swimming areas;
 * implement programs to prevent tobacco use;
 * recruit health care workers for rural areas;
 * provide nutrition counseling and food supplements through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC);
 * evaluate compliance with air and water standards;
 * ensure access to health services for migrant health workers;
 * evaluate activities affecting wetlands;
 * provide education and injury prevention programs;
 * inspect for environmental lead if screening tests show elevated levels;
 * license facilities that use or store radioactive materials;
 * provide funding education and technical assistance for recycling programs;
 * inspect dairies and soft drink plants;
 * issue air quality advisories for specific areas of the state;


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Hiryu

Hiryū  (飛龍), meaning "Flying Dragon" may refer to:

 * Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryū
 * Mitsubishi Ki-67 Hiryū, Japanese Army bomber
 * Strider Hiryu, a ninja-like video game character
 * Flying Dragon, a video game series known as Hiryu no Ken in Japan
 * Trademark of Yomeishu that is the most traditional Japanese medical liquor. The trademark was given by the shōgun Ieyasu Tokugawa.

title: Hiryu


text:
Kuks

Kuks (Kukus) is a municipality and village in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 300 inhabitants. It lies on the Elbe river. Its main feature is a Baroque spa building with famous sculptures by Matthias Braun. The village with the Baroque complex is protected by law as a monument reservation.

Administrative parts
The village of Kašov is an administrative part of Kuks.

Etymology
The name is probably derived from the Old German word for share of mining revenue. According to another theory, the word meant ore smelting remains.

Geography
Kuks is located about 18 km south of Trutnov and 21 km north of Hradec Králové. It lies on the border of three geomorphological regions: the lowlands of East Elbe Table and Orlice Table, and the undulating landscape of the Jičín Uplands. The highest point is at 422 m above sea level. The Elbe River flows through the municipality.

History
Before any settlement was established here, the area was used for gold panning. The Kuks village was founded after the spa was founded here. In 1684, the estate was acquired by Count Franz Anton von Sporck.

On the slope of the Elbe in Kuks, there used to be mineral springs. In 1692–1696, Count Sporck directed three of them at one place and built a simple spa. When the healing effects of the water were proven by professors of the Charles-Ferdinand University and experts from Baden-Baden, Sporck enlarged the spa.

In 1696, he had built Chapel of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, followed by chateau in front of it in 1710. In 1707–1715, the hospital and the Church of the Holy Trinity with the crypt were built. The interiors and exteriors were decorated with Baroque sculptures by Matthias Braun, the most famous of which are the Virtues and Vices. Behind the hospital there was a garden, and the whole complex was closed by a cemetery.

Sporck died in 1738 and his heirs were not interested in maintaining the spa. A flood in 1740 destroyed most of the infrastructure and put the spa out of business. Kuks turned into a quiet village with mostly German population. In 1896, the uninhabited chateau burnt down and in 1901, its ruins were demolished.

In 1938, Kuks was annexed by Nazi Germany and administered as part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. After World War II, the German-speaking population was expelled and replaced by Czech settlers.

Transport
Kuks is located on the railway line Liberec–Jaroměř.

Sights
The hospital, church, and pharmacy buildings have been preserved, along with historic furnishings, and are considered masterpieces of the Baroque. The complex is nowadays owned by the state. Since 1946, the building of the hospital houses a museum of Baroque art and Czech pharmacy.

Braun's exterior sculptures also survive, but have been fast eroding due to the action of water, from rainfall and moisture rising from the ground. For this reason, the Kuks Forest Sculptures were listed in the 2000 World Monuments Watch by the World Monuments Fund. With the financial support of American Express, pump boxes were installed to drive groundwater away from the sculptures and low-lying vegetation was removed to enhance air circulation in the damp wooded environment.

Notable people

 * Johann Balzer (1738–1799), engraver

title: Kuks


text:
Exsecant

The external secant function (exsecant, symbolized exsec) is a trigonometric function defined in terms of the secant function:

$$\operatorname{exsec} \theta = \sec\theta - 1 = \frac{1}{\cos\theta} - 1.$$

It was introduced in 1855 by American civil engineer Charles Haslett, who used it in conjunction with the existing versine function, $$\operatorname{vers}\theta = 1 - \cos\theta,$$ for designing and measuring circular sections of railroad track. It was adopted by surveyors and civil engineers in the United States for railroad and road design, and since the early 20th century has sometimes been briefly mentioned in American trigonometry textbooks and general-purpose engineering manuals. For completeness, a few books also defined a coexsecant or excosecant function (symbolized coexsec or excsc), $$\operatorname{coexsec} \theta = {}$$$$\csc\theta - 1,$$ the exsecant of the complementary angle, though it was not used in practice. While the exsecant has occasionally found other applications, today it is obscure and mainly of historical interest.

As a line segment, an external secant of a circle has one endpoint on the circumference, and then extends radially outward. The length of this segment is the radius of the circle times the trigonometric exsecant of the central angle between the segment's inner endpoint and the point of tangency for a line through the outer endpoint and tangent to the circle.

Etymology
The word secant comes from Latin for "to cut", and a general secant line "cuts" a circle, intersecting it twice; this concept dates to antiquity and can be found in Book 3 of Euclid's Elements, as used e.g. in the intersecting secants theorem. 18th century sources in Latin called any non-tangential line segment external to a circle with one endpoint on the circumference a secans exterior.

The trigonometric secant, named by Thomas Fincke (1583), is more specifically based on a line segment with one endpoint at the center of a circle and the other endpoint outside the circle; the circle divides this segment into a radius and an external secant. The external secant segment was used by Galileo Galilei (1632) under the name secant.

History and applications
In the 19th century, most railroad tracks were constructed out of arcs of circles, called simple curves. Surveyors and civil engineers working for the railroad needed to make many repetitive trigonometrical calculations to measure and plan circular sections of track. In surveying, and more generally in practical geometry, tables of both "natural" trigonometric functions and their common logarithms were used, depending on the specific calculation. Using logarithms converts expensive multiplication of multi-digit numbers to cheaper addition, and logarithmic versions of trigonometric tables further saved labor by reducing the number of necessary table lookups.

The external secant or external distance of a curved track section is the shortest distance between the track and the intersection of the tangent lines from the ends of the arc, which equals the radius times the trigonometric exsecant of half the central angle subtended by the arc, $$R\operatorname{exsec}\tfrac12\Delta.$$ By comparison, the versed sine of a curved track section is the furthest distance from the long chord (the line segment between endpoints) to the track – cf. Sagitta – which equals the radius times the trigonometric versine of half the central angle, $$R\operatorname{vers}\tfrac12\Delta.$$ These are both natural quantities to measure or calculate when surveying circular arcs, which must subsequently be multiplied or divided by other quantities. Charles Haslett (1855) found that directly looking up the logarithm of the exsecant and versine saved significant effort and produced more accurate results compared to calculating the same quantity from values found in previously available trigonometric tables. The same idea was adopted by other authors, such as Searles (1880). By 1913 Haslett's approach was so widely adopted in the American railroad industry that, in that context, "tables of external secants and versed sines [were] more common than [were] tables of secants".

In the late-19th and 20th century, railroads began using arcs of an Euler spiral as a track transition curve between straight or circular sections of differing curvature. These spiral curves can be approximately calculated using exsecants and versines.

Solving the same types of problems is required when surveying circular sections of canals and roads, and the exsecant was still used in mid-20th century books about road surveying.

The exsecant has sometimes been used for other applications, such as beam theory and depth sounding with a wire.

In recent years, the availability of calculators and computers has removed the need for trigonometric tables of specialized functions such as this one. Exsecant is generally not directly built into calculators or computing environments (though it has sometimes been included in software libraries), and calculations in general are much cheaper than in the past, no longer requiring tedious manual labor.

Catastrophic cancellation for small angles
Naïvely evaluating the expressions $$1 - \cos \theta$$ (versine) and $$\sec \theta - 1$$ (exsecant) is problematic for small angles where $$\sec \theta \approx \cos \theta \approx 1.$$ Computing the difference between two approximately equal quantities results in catastrophic cancellation: because most of the digits of each quantity are the same, they cancel in the subtraction, yielding a lower-precision result.

For example, the secant of $exsec x = sec x − 1$ is $vers x = 1 − sec x$$1°$, with the leading several digits wasted on zeros, while the common logarithm of the exsecant of $sec 1° ≈$ is $1$$1°$, all of whose digits are meaningful. If the logarithm of exsecant is calculated by looking up the secant in a six-place trigonometric table and then subtracting $log exsec 1° ≈$, the difference $-3.817$$1$ has only 3 significant digits, and after computing the logarithm only three digits are correct, $sec 1° − 1 ≈$$0$. For even smaller angles loss of precision is worse.

If a table or computer implementation of the exsecant function is not available, the exsecant can be accurately computed as $\operatorname{exsec} \theta = \tan \theta \, \tan \tfrac12\theta\vphantom\Big|,$ or using versine, $\operatorname{exsec} \theta = \operatorname{vers} \theta \, \sec \theta,$  which can itself be computed as $\operatorname{vers} \theta  = 2 \bigl({\sin \tfrac12\theta}\bigr)\vphantom)^2\vphantom\Big| = {}$ $\sin \theta \, \tan \tfrac12\theta\,\vphantom\Big Haslett used these identities to compute his 1855 exsecant and versine tables.

For a sufficiently small angle, a circular arc is approximately shaped like a parabola, and the versine and exsecant are approximately equal to each-other and both proportional to the square of the arclength.

Inverse function
The inverse of the exsecant function, which might be symbolized $log(sec 1° − 1) ≈$, is well defined if its argument $$y \geq 0$$ or $$y \leq -2$$ and can be expressed in terms of other inverse trigonometric functions (using radians for the angle):

$$ \operatorname{arcexsec}y = \arcsec(y+1) = \begin{cases} {\arctan}\bigl(\!{\textstyle \sqrt{y^2+2y}}\,\bigr) & \text{if}\ \ y \geq 0, \\[6mu] \text{undefined} & \text{if}\ \ {-2} < y < 0, \\[4mu] \pi - {\arctan}\bigl(\!{\textstyle \sqrt{y^2+2y}}\,\bigr) & \text{if}\ \ y \leq {-2}; \\ \end{cases}_{\vphantom.} $$

the arctangent expression is well behaved for small angles.

Calculus
While historical uses of the exsecant did not explicitly involve calculus, its derivative and antiderivative (for $x$ in radians) are:

$$\begin{align} \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}x}\operatorname{exsec} x &= \tan x\,\sec x, \\[10mu] \int\operatorname{exsec} x\,\mathrm{d}x &= \ln\bigl|\sec x + \tan x\bigr| - x + C,\vphantom{\int_|} \end{align}$$

where $−3.81 8 156$ is the natural logarithm. See also Integral of the secant function.

Double angle identity
The exsecant of twice an angle is:

$$\operatorname{exsec} 2\theta = \frac{2 \sin^2 \theta} {1 - 2 \sin^2 \theta}.$$

title: Exsecant


text:
Talk:Muixeranga

[Untitled]
I am struggling with the translation. What is the meaning of the following sentences?
 * 1) "It is a collection of plastic structures with representative intentionality".
 * 2) "Muixeranga is the name used in Algemesí, and has the same origin that the modern castellers". The end is missing here.

 * Avihu 20:29, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"Plastic structures" makes me think about some manufactured objects in plastics... It's not like that. It should be something like "plastic pictures" o "plastic exhibitions", where the plasticity is referred to the braveness, speed and precision of the figurants. Ciao, M7it 23:01, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * I am now starting to understand that we are not talking about plastic structures, are we really talking about figurines? the sort that get paraded around in religious processions in many parts of Spain and southern Italy?  Also, I'm a little stumped by this:  "...and looks to mean a plastic scene."  My apologies to all. Salutamu.  --pippudoz 06:16, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Sorry - but "...trying to find a plastic, figurative scene" is still not doing it for me. --pippudoz 10:39, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Nothing to do with figurines or with the material "plastic". They are just figures or shapes created by humans, solely by humans, nothing more. I used the adjective "plastic" because, it integrates many acceptions (see e.g. ): sculptural, pliable, creative, ... and its relation to Plastic arts: sculpture and dance. But we can remove the adjective 'plastic' and put something like 'choreographic'.--Arnadí 14:52, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * ok - I think I am starting to get it (finally!) - we're using plastic in the artistic, creative sense - it's like a malleable mass of men - so when you say "...trying to find a plastic, figurative scene" - it means that these pile of bodies are seeking to shape themselves into some identifiable or representative form - there is an unpredictable, creative process occurring - it's not always just the shape of a tower - is that what it means? My apologies to all, no disrespect intended, you can be assured that as a Sicilian I hold my Catalan cousins in the highest esteem.  Salutamu - --pippudoz 23:00, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * I think the English translation of this article could really be improved. It really isn't good practice to translate everything from Catalan so literally, such as the word "plastic".  Also, there's quite a lot of information on the Catalan page that has not been translated.  Sowelilitokiemu 11:11, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

 * Muixeranga is the name used in Algemesí, and has the same origin that the modern castellers". The end is missing here. — The end isn't missing.  The "that" in that sentence should have been translated as "as" instead (it has the same origin as the modern castellers)  — and refers to the practice, not the word.  I'll fix that.  [Nevermind, someone beat me to it. —Muke Tever 07:07, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)]

The English version of this article is much simpler than the Romance language versions. Is this because a) a simpler version than the detailed Romance versions was desired for translation of the week, b) more info was added to the Romance versions recently, or c) no one has been able to translate the information yet? I guess I'm basically asking if there is a reason not to try and translate the rest of the information in the Romance versions into English. Sowelilitokiemu 09:50, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Muixeranga