title: Tic-tac-toe

text: The second player, who shall be designated "O", must respond to X's opening mark in such a way as to avoid the forced win. Player O must always respond to a corner opening with a center mark, and to a center opening with a corner mark. An edge opening must be answered either with a center mark, a corner mark next to the X, or an edge mark opposite the X. Any other responses will allow X to force the win. Once the opening is completed, O's task is to follow the above list of priorities in order to force the draw, or else to gain a win if X makes a weak play.


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: When X plays 1 as their opening move, then O should take 5. Then X takes 9 (in this situation, O should not take 3 or 7, O should take 2, 4, 6 or 8):


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: or 6 (in this situation, O should not take 4 or 7, O should take 2, 3, 8 or 9. In fact, taking 9 is the best move, since a non-perfect player X may take 4, then O can take 7 to win).


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: If X is not a perfect player, X may take 2 or 3 as a second move. Then this game will be a draw, X cannot win.


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: Although O takes the only good position (5) as the first move, O takes a bad position as the second move:


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: Many board games share the element of trying to be the first to get "n"-in-a-row, including three men's morris, nine men's morris, pente, gomoku, Qubic, Connect Four, Quarto, Gobblet, Order and Chaos, Toss Across, and Mojo. Tic-tac-toe is an instance of an m,n,k-game, where two players alternate taking turns on an "m"×"n" board until one of them gets "k" in a row. Harary's generalized tic-tac-toe is an even broader generalization. The game can be generalised even further by playing on an arbitrary hypergraph, where rows are hyperedges and cells are vertices.


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: One can play on a board of 4x4 squares, winning in several ways. Winning can include: 4 in a straight line, 4 in a diagonal line, 4 in a diamond, or 4 to make a square.


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: Another variant, Qubic, is played on a 4×4×4 board; it was solved by Oren Patashnik in 1980 (the first player can force a win). Higher dimensional variations are also possible.


title: Tic-tac-toe

text: Sometimes, tic-tac-toe (where players keep adding "pieces") and three men's morris (where pieces start to move after a certain number have been placed) are confused with each other.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Six Feet Under is an American drama television series created and produced by Alan Ball. It premiered on the premium network HBO in the United States on June 3, 2001, and ended on August 21, 2005, spanning 63 episodes across five seasons. It depicts the lives of the Fisher family, who run a funeral home in Los Angeles, along with their friends and lovers.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The ensemble drama stars Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy, Lauren Ambrose, Freddy Rodriguez, Mathew St. Patrick, and Rachel Griffiths as the central characters. It was produced by Actual Size Films and The Greenblatt/Janollari Studio, and was shot on location in Los Angeles and in Hollywood studios.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: "Six Feet Under" received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting, and consistently drew high ratings for the HBO network. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. The show's finale has also been described as one of the greatest television series finales. The series won numerous awards, including nine Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Peabody Award.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The show stars Peter Krause as Nate Fisher, whose funeral director father (Richard Jenkins) dies and bequeaths ownership of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home to Nate and his other son David (Michael C. Hall). The Fisher clan also includes widow Ruth Fisher (Frances Conroy) and daughter Claire Fisher (Lauren Ambrose). Other regulars include mortician and family friend Federico Diaz (Freddy Rodriguez), Nate's on-again/off-again girlfriend Brenda Chenowith (Rachel Griffiths), and David's long-term boyfriend Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick).


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: On one level, the show is a conventional family drama, dealing with such issues as interpersonal relationships, dysfunction, infidelity, personal growth, and religion. At the same time, it is distinguished by its focus on the topic of death, which it explores on personal, religious, and philosophical levels. Each episode begins with a death, the cause of which ranges from heart attack to murder to accidental death or sudden infant death syndrome. That death usually sets the thematic tone for each episode, allowing the characters to reflect on their current fortunes and misfortunes in a way that is illuminated by the death and its aftermath. The show also uses dark humor and surrealism throughout its seasons.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: A recurring plot device consists of a character having an imaginary conversation with the deceased; for example, Nate, David, and Federico sometimes "converse" with the deceased at the beginning of the episode, while the corpse is being embalmed, or during funeral planning or the funeral itself. Sometimes, the characters converse with other deceased characters, most notably Nathaniel Fisher Sr. The show's creator Alan Ball said this represents the living characters' internal dialogues expressed in the form of external conversations.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, reports conflict on how the series was conceived. In one instance, Ball stated that he came up with the premise of the show after the deaths of his sister and father. However, in an interview on the series' DVD collection, he intimated that HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss had proposed the idea to him. In a copyright-infringement lawsuit, screenwriter Gwen O'Donnell asserted that she was the original source of the idea that later passed through Strauss to Ball; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, proceeding on the assumption that this assertion was true, rejected her claim.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Airing on a premium cable network allowed the series to explore darker themes than would have been possible on other networks. Ball stated in an interview:


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The show focuses on human mortality, the symbiotic nature of life and death feeding off each other, the death industry, and the lives of those who deal with it on a daily basis. When discussing the concept of the show, creator Ball elaborates on the foremost questions the show's pilot targeted:


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: "Six Feet Under" introduces the Fisher family as the basis on which to explore these questions. Throughout its five-season, 63-episode run, major characters experience crises which are in direct relation to their environment and the grief they have experienced. Alan Ball again relates these experiences, as well as the choice of the series' title, to the persistent subtext of the program:


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Cultural critic Sally Munt commented: "one might risk saying [the show] has an uncanny, or queer rendition of class positions and relations". "New York" magazine opined that the show "carefully avoided moralism" but there were times where it "felt like a message" that "death has a terrible timing" and it could also be a "karmic gift" for some. Creator Alan Ball refuted this claim by asserting that there was no message in the story but only a recognition that death comes in the middle of "messy things" and doesn't wait for us to sort our lives.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Exteriors for the Fisher home were shot at 2302 West 25th Street and the intersection of Arlington Avenue, in the West Adams neighborhood of Los Angeles. In season five, episode one, Rico mentions that he grew up "in West Adams, near where I work."


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Creator Alan Ball also served as executive producer and showrunner for the entire series run. Robert Greenblatt and David Janollari executive produced the series, as the Greenblatt Janollari Studio was one of the production companies. The other producers were Lori Jo Nemhauser and Robert Del Valle.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The writing staff included Ball, who wrote nine episodes over the series run, including the pilot episode and the series finale. Writers who were on staff for the entire series run included Rick Cleveland, who wrote eight episodes and became an executive producer in the fifth season; Kate Robin, who wrote eight episodes and became a supervising producer in the fifth season; and Bruce Eric Kaplan, who wrote seven episodes and became an executive producer in the fourth season. Christian Williams was just on staff for the first season, writing two episodes. Both Laurence Andries and Christian Taylor wrote three episodes each during their run on the series for the first two seasons, and they also served as producers. Scott Buck and Joey Soloway joined in the second season, staying on staff for the rest of the series, and each wrote seven episodes. Buck became a co-executive producer in the fourth season, and Soloway became a co-executive producer in the fifth season. The last set of writers to join the staff were Craig Wright and Nancy Oliver in the third season. Wright wrote six episodes and became a producer in the fifth season and Oliver wrote five episodes and became a co-producer in the fifth season.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Ball also directed the most episodes, directing the pilot and each of the season finales. Dan Attias also directed six episodes, from seasons two to five. Kathy Bates (who also played Bettina on the series), Michael Cuesta, Rodrigo García, and Jeremy Podeswa each directed five episodes. Michael Engler, Daniel Minahan, and Alan Poul (who also served as an executive producer for the series) each directed four episodes. Miguel Arteta directed three episodes and Nicole Holofcener directed two episodes. Single-episode directors included Peter Care, Alan Caso, Lisa Cholodenko, Allen Coulter, Adam Davidson, Mary Harron, Joshua Marston, Jim McBride, Karen Moncrieff, John Patterson, Matt Shakman, Alan Taylor, Rose Troche, and Peter Webber.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The series' main theme, written by composer Thomas Newman, won a 2002 Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music and two Grammy Awards in 2003 for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The production sound from seasons three through five was mixed by Bo Harwood, and was nominated in 2004 for a Cinema Audio Society Award.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Seasons two through five featured a promotional teaser trailer prior to the premiere of that season. The songs featured in each season's trailer were "Heaven" by Lamb for season two; "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay for season three; "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone for season four; and "Breathe Me" by Sia for season five, which is also used for montage in the series finale. All these songs are included in either of two soundtracks for the show.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The episode recaps for the first two seasons feature the song "Nothing Lies Still Long" by Pell Mell. The episode previews for the first and fifth seasons feature the "Six Feet Under" title theme, while the other seasons feature the Rae & Christian remix version of the title theme.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Music supervision for the entire run of the series was provided by Gary Calamar and Thomas Golubic, who were also credited as producers for the two soundtrack albums.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: "Six Feet Under" received widespread critical acclaim, particularly for its writing and acting. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, included on best-of lists by "Time", "The Guardian", and "Empire". The show's finale has also been described as one of the greatest television series finales.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: "Six Feet Under" received critical acclaim for most of its run, with the exception of the fourth season, which received more mixed reviews. The first season holds a rating of 74 out of 100 at Metacritic based on 23 reviews. Early reviews of the series were positive, prior to the screening of the pilot episode; Steve Oxman of "Variety" stated, ""Six Feet Under" is a smart, brooding, fanciful character-driven ensemble piece about a family in the funeral biz." Following the series premiere, Barry Garron of "The Hollywood Reporter" commented that the series' "examination of family life through the prism of a mortuary business, combines sardonic humor with poignant drama and comes up with a unique tone and style, in itself quite an accomplishment for any TV series. It is fearless in its approach to storytelling and, far more often than not, succeeds in the risks it takes" and "there is much to admire about this series, including top-notch performances, artful direction and creative storytelling that employs various techniques, including dream sequences and parody commercials. Best of all, though, is Ball’s introspection and the insight he provides about society, the funeral industry, and family relationships."


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: Bill Carter of "The New York Times" wrote, ""Six Feet Under" certainly got enthusiastic reviews, almost universally glowing notices about the rich characterizations and quirky humor shaped by the show's celebrated creator, Alan Ball, the Academy Award-winning writer of the film "American Beauty"." In an early response from HBO executive Chris Albrecht, he announced in regards to the viewers, that they are "totally thrilled with the series."


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a 90% approval rating with an average score of 8/10 based on 39 reviews, with a critical consensus of, ""Six Feet Under"s unusual setting provides a perfect backdrop for the macabre meditations on mortality made by its brilliant, brooding cast." The second season has a 79% approval rating with an average score of 9.33/10 based on 14 reviews, with a critical consensus of, ""Six Feet Under"s deliberately paced second season is less endearing than the first, but the engaging ensemble remain reason enough to watch." The third season has a 90% approval rating with an average score of 7.56/10 based on 20 reviews, with a critical consensus of, ""Six Feet Under"s third season dials down the comedy in favor of creepier narratives – a challenge its cast is more than up to." The fourth season has a 50% approval rating with an average score of 5.58/10 based on 10 reviews, with a critical consensus of, ""Six Feet Under" overreaches in its fourth season, with twists and story arcs that feel more contrived than compelling, though its willingness to venture boldly into the dark also proves occasionally exhilarating." The fifth season has a 97% approval rating with an average score of 8.86/10 based on 37 reviews, with a critical consensus of, ""Six Feet Under" offers a fitting end for the Fishers by concluding the way it began: an unexpectedly beautiful rumination on life, death and grief."


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The series finale is considered one of the greatest endings in television history. In a 2015 interview with Alan Ball, Peter Krause, Michael C. Hall, and Lauren Ambrose for "The Hollywood Reporter", to mark 10 years since the show's ending, they described it as the "finale that would not die". Megan Vick of "The Hollywood Reporter" said, "The idea of flashing forward to depict how each member of the Fishers and their loved ones would pass on seemed revolutionary in 2005, but Ball – who created the series and would write and direct its final episode – uses another word for it – inevitable."


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: At the 2002 Primetime Emmy Awards, the series received 23 nominations for its first two seasons, including a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. Series creator Alan Ball won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode and Patricia Clarkson won for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. The rest of the ensemble cast, including Michael C. Hall, Peter Krause, Frances Conroy, Rachel Griffiths, Freddy Rodriguez, and Lauren Ambrose all received acting nominations. Guest actors Lili Taylor and Illeana Douglas received nominations in the guest-acting category. The series received 16 nominations at the 2003 Primetime Emmy Awards for its third season, including a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series. Krause, Conroy, Ambrose, Griffiths, James Cromwell, and Kathy Bates all received acting nominations. Alan Poul was nominated for directing for the episode "Nobody Sleeps", and Craig Wright was nominated for writing for the episode "Twilight". The series received five nominations at the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards for its fourth season, including Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Frances Conroy. The series received nine nominations at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards for its fifth and final season. Patricia Clarkson won for the second time for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, and Krause, Conroy, and Joanna Cassidy received acting nominations. Ball was nominated for writing and directing for the series finale episode "Everyone's Waiting".


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: For the Golden Globe Awards, the series won for Best Drama Series in 2001, and received nominations in 2002 and 2003. Peter Krause was nominated for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2001 and 2002. Rachel Griffiths won for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Film in 2001, and received a nomination in 2002 in the Lead Actress category. Frances Conroy won for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2003.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: For the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the cast won for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2002 and 2003, and received nominations in 2001, 2004, and 2005. Peter Krause was nominated for Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series in 2001 and 2003. Frances Conroy won for Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series in 2003.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The series won a Peabody Award for general excellence in 2002 "for its unsettling yet powerfully humane explorations of life and death".


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The first season was released in a VHS box set. All five seasons are available on DVD in individual box sets and in a collected volume.


title: Six Feet Under (TV series)

text: The complete series is available from various streaming sites including HBO Max, Amazon Video and Disney+ Hotstar.


title: Limerence

text: Limerence is a state of mind which results from romantic or non-romantic feelings for another person, and typically includes intrusive, melancholic thoughts and/or tragic concerns for the object of one's affection as well as a desire to form or maintain a relationship with the object of love and to have one's feelings reciprocated. Limerence can also be defined as an involuntary state of intense desire.


title: Limerence

text: Psychologist Dorothy Tennov coined the term "limerence" for her 1979 book, "Love and Limerence: The Experience of Being in Love", to describe a concept that had grown out of her work in the mid-1960s, when she interviewed over 500 people on the topic of love.


title: Limerence

text: Limerence, which is not exclusively sexual, has been defined in terms of its potentially inspirational effects and relation to attachment theory. It has been described as being "an involuntary potentially inspiring state of adoration and attachment to a limerent object (LO) involving intrusive and obsessive thoughts, feelings and behaviors from euphoria to despair, contingent on perceived emotional reciprocation". Willmott and Bentley remark that limerence has received little attention in the scientific literature.


title: Limerence

text: Attachment theory emphasizes that "many of the most intense emotions arise during the formation, the maintenance, the disruption, and the renewal of attachment relationships". It has been suggested that "the state of limerence is the conscious experience of sexual incentive motivation" during attachment formation, "a kind of subjective experience of sexual incentive motivation" during the "intensive ... pair-forming stage" of human affectionate bonding.


title: Limerence

text: The concept of limerence "provides a particular carving up of the semantic domain of love", and represents an attempt at a scientific study of the nature of love. Limerence is considered as a cognitive and emotional state of being emotionally attached to or even obsessed with another person, and is typically experienced involuntarily and characterized by a strong desire for reciprocation of one's feelings—a near-obsessive form of romantic love. For Tennov, "sexual attraction is an essential component of limerence ... LO, in order to become LO, must stand in relation to the limerent as one for whom the limerent is a potential sex partner".


title: Limerence

text: Willmott and Bentley define limerence as an acute onset, unexpected, obsessive attachment to one person (the limerent object). Limerence is characterised by internal experiences such as ruminative thinking, anxiety and depression, temporary fixation, and the disintegration of the self, and Willmott and Bentley found in their case studies that these themes find relation to unresolved earlier experiences and attempts at self-actualization.


title: Limerence

text: Limerence is sometimes also interpreted as infatuation, or what is colloquially known as a "crush". However, in common speech, infatuation includes aspects of immaturity and extrapolation from insufficient information, and is usually short-lived. Tennov notes how limerence "may dissolve soon after its initiation, as in an early teenage buzz-centered crush", but she is more concerned with the point when "limerent bonds are characterized by 'entropy' crystallization as described by Stendhal in his 1821 treatise "On Love", where a new love infatuation perceptually begins to transform ... [and] attractive characteristics are exaggerated and unattractive characteristics are given little or no attention ... [creating] a 'limerent object'".


title: Limerence

text: According to Tennov, there are at least two types of love: "limerence", which she describes as, among other things, "loving attachment"; and "loving affection", the bond that exists between an individual and their parents and children. She notes that one form may evolve into the other: "Those whose limerence was replaced by affectional bonding with the same partner might say ... 'We were very much in love when we married; today we love each other very much'". The distinction is comparable to that drawn by ethologists "between the pair-forming and pair-maintaining functions of sexual activity", just as "the attachment of the attachment theorists is very similar to the emotional reciprocation longed for in Tennov's limerence, and each is linked to sexuality".


title: Limerence

text: Nicky Hayes describes limerence as "a kind of infatuated, all-absorbing passion" which is unrequited. Tennov equated it to the type of love Dante felt towards Beatrice—an individual he met twice in his life and who served as inspiration for "La Vita Nuova" and the "Divine Comedy". It is this unfulfilled, intense longing for the other person which defines limerence, where the individual becomes "more or less obsessed by that person and spends much of their time fantasising about them". Limerence may only last if conditions for the attraction leave it unfulfilled; therefore, occasional, intermittent reinforcement is required to support the underlying feelings. Hayes notes that "it is the unobtainable nature of the goal which makes the feeling so powerful", and that it is not uncommon for those to remain in a state of limerence over someone unreachable for months and even years. A famous literary example of limerence is provided by the unrequited love of Werther for Charlotte in the novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther" by Goethe.


title: Limerence

text: Limerence is characterized by intrusive thinking and pronounced sensitivity to external events that reflect the disposition of the limerent object towards the individual. It can be experienced as intense joy or as extreme despair, depending on whether the feelings are reciprocated. It is the state of being completely carried away by unreasoned passion or love, even to the point of addictive-type behavior. Usually, one is inspired with an intense passion or admiration for someone. Limerence can be difficult to understand for those who have never experienced it, and it is thus often dismissed by non-limerents as ridiculous fantasy or a construct of romantic fiction.


title: Limerence

text: Tennov differentiates between limerence and other emotions by asserting that love involves concern for the other person's welfare and feeling. While limerence does not require it, those concerns may certainly be incorporated. Affection and fondness exist only as a disposition towards another person, irrespective of whether those feelings are reciprocated, whereas limerence deeply desires reciprocation, but it remains unaltered whether or not it is returned. Physical contact with the object is neither essential nor sufficient to an individual experiencing limerence, unlike with one experiencing sexual attraction. Where early, unhealthy attachment patterns or trauma influence limerence, the limerent object may be construed as an idealization of the figure or figures involved in the original unhealthy attachment or trauma. Lack of reciprocation may in such instances serve to reinforce lessons learned in earlier, unhealthy bonding experiences, and hence strengthen the limerence.


title: Limerence

text: Limerence involves intrusive thinking about the limerent object. Other characteristics include acute longing for reciprocation, fear of rejection, and unsettling shyness in the limerent object's presence. In cases of unrequited limerence, transient relief may be found by vividly imagining reciprocation from the limerent object. Tennov suggests that feelings of limerence can be intensified through adversity, obstacles, or distance—'Intensification through Adversity'. A limerent person may have acute sensitivity to any act, thought, or condition that can be interpreted favorably. This may include a tendency to devise, fabricate, or invent "reasonable" explanations for why neutral actions are a sign of hidden passion in the limerent object.


title: Limerence

text: A person experiencing limerence has a general intensity of feeling that leaves other concerns in the background. In their thoughts, such a person tends to emphasize what is admirable in the limerent object and to avoid any negative or problematic attributes.


title: Limerence

text: During the height of limerence, thoughts of the limerent object (or person) are at once persistent, involuntary and intrusive. Such "intrusive thoughts about the LO ... appear to be genetically driven": indeed, limerence is first and foremost a condition of cognitive obsession. This may be caused by low serotonin levels in the brain, comparable to those of people with obsessive–compulsive disorder. All events, associations, stimuli, and experiences return thoughts to the limerent object with unnerving consistency, while conversely the constant thoughts about the limerent object define all other experiences. If a certain thought has no previous connection with the limerent object, immediately one is made. Limerent fantasy is unsatisfactory unless rooted in reality, because the fantasizer may want the fantasy to seem realistic and somewhat possible. At their most severe, intrusive limerent thoughts can occupy an individual's waking hours completely, resulting—like severe addiction—in significant or complete disruption of the limerent's normal interests and activities, including work and family. For serial limerents, this can result in debilitating, lifelong underachievement in school, work, and family life.


title: Limerence

text: Fantasies that are concerned with far-fetched ideas are usually dropped by the fantasizer. Sometimes fantasizing is retrospective: actual events are replayed from memory with great vividness. This form predominates when what is viewed as evidence of possible reciprocation can be re-experienced (a kind of selective or revisionist history). Otherwise, the long fantasy is anticipatory; it begins in the everyday world and climaxes at the attainment of the limerent goal. A limerent fantasy can also involve an unusual, often tragic, event.


title: Limerence

text: The long fantasies form bridges between the limerent's ordinary life and that intensely desired ecstatic moment. The duration and complexity of a fantasy depend on the availability of time and freedom from distractions. The bliss of the imagined moment of consummation is greater when events imagined to precede it are possible (though they often represent grave departures from the probable). It isn't always entirely pleasant, and when rejection seems likely the thoughts focus on despair, sometimes to the point of suicide. The pleasantness or unpleasantness of the state seems almost unrelated to the intensity of the reaction. Although the direction of feeling, i.e., happy versus unhappy, shifts rapidly, with 'dramatic surges of buoyancy and despair', the intensity of intrusive and involuntary thinking alters less rapidly, and only in response to an accumulation of experiences with the particular limerent object.


title: Limerence

text: Fantasies are occasionally dreamed by the one experiencing limerence. Dreams give out strong emotion and happiness when experienced, but often end with despair when the subject awakens. Dreams can reawaken strong feelings toward the limerent object after the feelings have declined.


title: Limerence

text: Along with an emphasis on the perceived exceptional qualities, and devotion to them, there is abundant doubt that the feelings are reciprocated: rejection. Considerable self-doubt is encountered, leading to "personal incapacitation expressed through unsettling timidity in the presence of the person", something which causes misery and galvanizes desire.


title: Limerence

text: In most cases, what destroys limerence is a suitably long period of time without reciprocation. Although it appears that limerence advances with adversity, personal discomfort may foul it. This discomfort results from a fear of the limerent object's opinions.


title: Limerence

text: Limerence develops and is sustained when there is a certain balance of hope and uncertainty. The basis for limerent hope is not in objective reality but in reality as it is perceived. The inclination is to sift through nuances of speech and subtleties of behavior for evidence of limerent hope. "Lovers, of course, are notoriously frantic epistemologists, second only to paranoiacs (and analysts) as readers of signs and wonders." "Little things" are noticed and endlessly analyzed for meaning. Such excessive concern over trivia may not be entirely unfounded, however, as body language can indicate reciprocated feeling. What the limerent object said and did is recalled with vividness. Alternative meanings for the behaviors recalled are sought. Each word and gesture is permanently available for review, especially those interpreted as evidence in favor of reciprocated feeling. When objects, people, places or situations are encountered with the limerent object, they are vividly remembered, especially if the limerent object interacted with them in some way.


title: Limerence

text: The belief that the limerent object does not and/or will not reciprocate can only be reached with great difficulty. Limerence can be carried quite far before acknowledgment of rejection is genuine, especially if it has not been addressed openly by the limerent object.


title: Limerence

text: Shaver and Hazan observed that those suffering from loneliness are significantly more susceptible to limerence, arguing that "if people have a large number of unmet social needs, and are not aware of this, then a sign that someone else might be interested is easily built up in that person's imagination into far more than the friendly social contact that it might have been. By dwelling on the memory of that social contact, the lonely person comes to magnify it into a deep emotional experience, which may be quite different from the reality of the event."


title: Limerence

text: The physiological effects of intense limerence can include shortness of breath, perspiration, and heart palpitations.


title: Limerence

text: If there is extensive anxiety, incorrect behaviour may torpedo the relationship, which may cause physical responses to manifest intensely. Some people keenly feel these effects either immediately upon or after contact with the limerent object. What gets emotionally blended is blissful ecstasy and acute despair, depending on the turn of events.


title: Limerence

text: Awkwardness, stuttering, shyness, and confusion predominate at the behavioral level. Sufferers complain of abandonment, despair, and diabolically humiliating disappointment. A sense of paralyzing ambiguity predominates, punctuated by pining. Intermittent or nonreciprocal responses lead to labile vacillation between despair and ecstasy. This limbo is the threshold for mental prostration.


title: Limerence

text: The sensitivity that stems from fear of rejection can darken perceptions of the limerent object's body language. Conflicted signs of desire may be displayed causing confusion. Often, the limerent object is involved with another or is in some other way unavailable.


title: Limerence

text: A condition of sustained alertness, a heightening of awareness and an enormous fund of energy to deploy in pursuit of the limerent aim is developed. The sensation of limerence is felt in the midpoint of the chest, bottom of the throat, guts, or in some cases in the abdominal region. This can be interpreted as ecstasy at times of mutuality, but its presence is most noticeable during despair at times of rejection.


title: Limerence

text: Awareness of physical attraction plays a key role in the development of limerence, but is not enough to satisfy the limerent desire, and is almost never the main focus; instead, the limerent focuses on what could be defined as the "beneficial attributes". Nevertheless, Tennov stresses that "the most consistent desired result of limerence is mating, not merely sexual interaction but also commitment".


title: Limerence

text: Limerence can be intensified after a sexual relationship has begun, and with more intense limerence there is greater desire for sexual contact. However, while sexual surrender at one time indicated the end of uncertainty felt by the limerent object – because in the past, a sexual encounter more often led to a feeling of obligation to commit – in modern times this is not necessarily the case.


title: Limerence

text: The sexual aspect of limerence is not consistent from person to person. Most limerents experience limerent sexuality as a component of romantic interest. Some limerents, however, may experience limerence as a consequence of hyperarousal. In such cases, limerence may form as a defense mechanism against the limerent object, who is not perceived initially as a romantic ideal, but as a physical threat to the limerent.


title: Limerence

text: Sexual fantasies are distinct from limerent fantasies. Limerent fantasy is rooted in reality and is intrusive rather than voluntary. Sexual fantasies are under more or less voluntary control and may involve strangers, imaginary individuals, and situations that could not take place. Limerence elevates body temperature and increases relaxation, a sensation of viewing the world with rose-tinted glasses, leading to a greater receptiveness to sexuality, and to daydreaming.


title: Limerence

text: People can become aroused by the thought of sexual partners, acts, and situations that are not truly desired, whereas every detail of the limerent fantasy is passionately desired actually to take place. Limerence sometimes increases sexual interest in other partners when the limerent object is unreceptive or unavailable.


title: Limerence

text: The limerent reaction is a composite reaction – that is, it is composed of a series of separate reactions. These reactions occur only where misperceptions meet adversity in the context of a romance. Perhaps because of this unique specificity, limerent reactions can be uniquely quantified and predicted according to the schema described below.


title: Limerence

text: Involvement increases if obstacles are externally imposed or if the limerent object's feelings are doubted. Only if the limerent object were to be revealed as highly undesirable might limerence subside. The presence of some degree of doubt causes the intensity of the feelings to increase further. The stage is reached at which the reaction is virtually impossible to dislodge. This adversity may be superficial or deep, internal or external, so that an individual may sometimes generate deep adversity where none exists. Also "romance", as it were, need not be present in any genuine way for a limerent reaction to occur.


title: Limerence

text: The course of limerence results in a more intrusive thinking pattern. This thinking pattern is an expectant and often joyous period with the initial focusing on the limerent object's admirable qualities: crystallization. Then, under appropriate conditions of hope and uncertainty, the limerence intensifies further.


title: Limerence

text: With evidence of reciprocation (real or imagined) from the limerent object, a state of extreme pleasure, even euphoria, is enjoyed. Thoughts are mainly occupied with considering and reconsidering what is attractive in the limerent object, replaying whatever events may have thus far transpired with the limerent object, and appreciating personal qualities perceived as possibly having sparked interest in the limerent object. At peak crystallization, almost all waking thoughts revolve around the limerent object. After this peak, the feelings eventually decline.


title: Limerence

text: Fantasies are preferred to virtually any other activity with the exception of activities that are believed to help obtain the limerent object, and activities that involve actually being in the presence of the limerent object. The motivation to attain a "relationship" continues to intensify so long as a proper mix of hope and uncertainty exist.


title: Limerence

text: Tennov estimates, based on both questionnaire and interview data, that the average limerent reaction duration, from the moment of initiation until a feeling of neutrality is reached, is approximately three years. The extremes may be as brief as a few weeks or as long as several decades. When limerence is brief, maximum intensity may not have been attained. According to David Sack, M.D., limerence lasts longer than romantic love, but is shorter than a healthy, committed partnership.


title: Limerence

text: Others suggest that "the biogenetic sourcing of limerence determines its limitation, ordinarily, to a two-year span", that limerence generally lasts between 18 months and three years; but further studies on unrequited limerence have suggested longer durations. In turn, a limerent may only experience a single limerent episode, or may experience "serial" episodes, in which nearly one's entire mature life, from early puberty through late adulthood, can be consumed in successive limerent obsessions.


title: Limerence

text: Once the "limerent reaction" has initiated, one of three varieties of bonds may form, defined over a set duration of time, in relation to the experience or non-experience of limerence. The constitution of these bonds may vary over the course of the relationship, in ways that may either increase or decrease the intensity of the limerence.


title: Limerence

text: The basis and interesting characteristic of this delineation made by Tennov, is that based on her research and interviews with people, all human bonded relationships can be divided into three varieties being defined by the amount of limerence or non-limerence each partner contributes to the relationship.


title: Limerence

text: With an affectional bond, neither partner is limerent. With a limerent–nonlimerent bond, one partner is limerent. In a limerent–limerent bond, both partners are limerent.


title: Limerence

text: Affectional bonding characterize those affectionate sexual relationships where neither partner is limerent; couples tend to be in love, but do not report continuous and unwanted intrusive thinking, feeling intense need for exclusivity, or define their goals in terms of reciprocity. These types of bonded couples tend to emphasize compatibility of interests, mutual preferences in leisure activities, ability to work together, and in some cases a degree of relative contentment.


title: Limerence

text: The bulk of relationships, however, according to Tennov, are those between a limerent person and a nonlimerent other, i.e. "limerent–nonlimerent bonding". These bonds are characterized by unequal reciprocation.


title: Limerence

text: Lastly, those relationship bonds in which there exists mutual reciprocation are defined as "limerent–limerent bondings". Tennov argues that since limerence itself is an "unstable state", mutually limerent bonds would be expected to be short-lived; mixed relationships probably last longer than limerent-limerent relationships. Some limerent-limerent relationships evolve into affectional bondings over time as limerence declines. Tennov describes such couples as "old marrieds" whose interactions are typically both stable and mutually gratifying.


title: Limerence

text: Tennov's research was continued in 2008 by Albert Wakin, who knew Tennov at the University of Bridgeport but did not assist in her research, and Duyen Vo, a graduate student. They intended to refine the term limerence so that it refers mostly to the negative aspects.


title: Limerence

text: The term "limerence" has been invoked in many popular media, including self-help books, popular magazines, and websites. However, according to a paper by Wakin and Vo, "In spite of the public's exposure to limerence, the professional community, particularly clinical, is largely unaware of the concept." In 2008, Wakin and Vo presented their updated research to the American Association of Behavioral and Social Sciences. They reported that more research must be gathered before the condition is suitable for inclusion in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" ("DSM").


title: Limerence

text: Critics point out that Tennov's account "is based on interviews rather than on direct observation", but conclude that "despite its shortcomings, Tennov's work may constitute a basis for informed hypothesis formulation".


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Dejan Kulusevski (; born 25 April 2000) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a winger or midfielder for club Tottenham Hotspur, on loan from club Juventus, and the Sweden national team.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Coming through from the youth system, Kulusevski made his senior debut for Atalanta in 2019, before joining Parma on loan at the beginning of the 2019–20 season. He joined Juventus during the winter transfer window for €35 million, and was sent back to Parma on loan for the rest of the season. In January 2022, Kulusevski was sent on loan to Tottenham Hotspur in England.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Kulusevski was born in Sweden to a Swedish Macedonian father and a Macedonian mother.<ref name="Hjorter/TT 2020"></ref> He represented both Macedonia and Sweden internationally at youth level, before opting to play for his birth country at senior level, making his full debut in 2019.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Kulusevski was born in Stockholm and joined the youth academy of IF Brommapojkarna at the age of six.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: He joined the Atalanta youth system on 7 July 2016 from Brommapojkarna, before making any senior appearance for the club. He made his Serie A debut on 20 January 2019, coming on as a substitute for Marten de Roon in a 5–0 away win against Frosinone. He made a total of three appearances for the club throughout the 2018–19 season, each as a substitute.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: On 18 July 2019, Kulusevski signed to Serie A club Parma on loan until 30 June 2020. He scored his first Serie A goal in a 3–2 home win against Torino, on 30 September.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Following his form while on loan with Parma during the first part of the 2019–20 Serie A season, during which he scored four goals and provided seven assists in 17 league appearances, on 2 January 2020, Kulusevski joined fellow Serie A club Juventus on a four-and-a-half year deal, for €35 million, which could possibly rise to €44 million with variables.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Kulusevski was sent back on loan to Parma for the remainder of the season. He finished the season with 10 goals and nine assists, and was awarded the Serie A Best Young Player for the season.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Kulusevski scored on his Juventus debut on 20 September 2020 in a 3–0 league win at home against Sampdoria. On 19 May 2021, he scored the opening goal and later set-up Federico Chiesa's match-winning goal in a 2–1 victory over Atalanta in the 2021 Coppa Italia Final. In the next season, Kulusevski scored the winning goal in the Champions League match against Zenit Saint Petersburg with a header in the 86th minute on 20 October. Kulusevski's playing time was reduced under Massimiliano Allegri, making 20 appearances and scoring two goals.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: On 31 January 2022, Kulusevski was sent on an 18-month loan to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur; the loan deal was worth €10 million, and included an option for purchase, which would become an obligation under certain conditions for an additional fee of €35 million. He made his first appearance for Spurs on 5 February in the FA Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, coming on a substitute in a 3–1 win. On 19 February, Kulusevski scored his first goal for Tottenham in the fourth minute of the match which Tottenham eventually won 3–2 against Manchester City. In his first season, Kulusevski managed 13 goal involvements (five goals and eight assists) in 18 Premier League matches.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Born in Sweden to Macedonian parents from Ohrid, Kulusevski played for all Swedish youth national teams, as well as the Macedonia under-17 national team. He was called up to the Sweden national team for the first time in November 2019 for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying games against Romania and the Faroe Islands. For the senior national team, Kulusevski has said that his choice of allegiance was 'an easy one' since it was always his preference to represent Sweden.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Kulusevski made his senior international debut for Sweden on 18 November 2019, coming on as a substitute for Ken Sema in a 3–0 win against the Faroe Islands in the last game of the Euro 2020 qualifying stage. On 8 September 2020, he made his first start for Sweden, playing for 90 minutes before being substituted for Albin Ekdal in a 0–2 loss to Portugal in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League. On 14 November 2020, Kulusevski scored his first international goal against Croatia in a 2–1 home win in the Nations League.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: On 8 June 2021, Kulusevski tested positive for COVID-19 amid its pandemic in Sweden, and was ruled out of Sweden's opening UEFA Euro 2020 match against Spain on 14 June.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: A tall, physically strong, and versatile player, Kulusevski is capable of playing in several midfield and attacking roles, and has been deployed as an attacking midfielder, as a box-to-box midfielder, as a winger on either flank, or even as an offensive-minded central midfielder, known as the "mezzala" role in Italian (literally "half-winger"); his main position is playing as an attacking midfielder behind the striker. He has also been deployed as a makeshift centre-forward on occasion. His main qualities are his acceleration, speed, stamina, and his ability to switch the play or provide assists and through balls to teammates, courtesy of his vision and passing ability. He also possesses good technique, dribbling skills, and striking ability, which enables him to score goals, in addition to creating chances for teammates.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: Regarded as a promising and hard-working player in the media, his manager at Parma, Roberto D'Aversa, has compared Kulusevski to Mohamed Salah. He noted how the player "is always among the players who cover the most distance in every game", and "has the right mentality". Kulusevski himself named compatriot Zlatan Ibrahimović as an influence. Regarding his own playing style, he commented in a 2019 interview with "Sportbladet": "I like to have the ball at my feet. I used to dribble a lot when I was a kid but I have got better at moving the ball more quickly. I have developed my defensive game, that was a weakness before, and that has made me a more complete player." He has also cited Belgian footballers Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard as players he admires and seeks to emulate.


title: Dejan Kulusevski

text: "Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kulusevski goal."


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play their home games at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, a suburb northwest of Phoenix.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The team was established in Chicago in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club, and joined the NFL as a charter member on September 17, 1920. The Cardinals are the oldest continuously run professional football franchise in the United States, as well as one of only two NFL charter member franchises still in operation since the league's founding, the other also from Chicago, the Chicago Bears (the Green Bay Packers were an independent team and did not join the NFL until a year after its creation in 1921). The team moved to St. Louis in and played there until . The team in St. Louis was commonly referred to as the "Football Cardinals", the "Gridbirds" or the "Big Red" to avoid confusion with the Major League Baseball's (MLB) St. Louis Cardinals. Before the season, the team moved west to Tempe, Arizona, a suburb east of Phoenix and played their home games for the next 18 seasons at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. In , the team moved to their current home field in suburban Glendale, although their executive offices and training facility remain in Tempe. From 1988 to 2012 (except 2005, when they trained in Prescott), the Cardinals conducted their annual summer training camp at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. The Cardinals moved their training camp to State Farm Stadium (then University of Phoenix Stadium) in 2013.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals have won two NFL championships, both while the team were in Chicago. The first occurred in , but is the subject of controversy, with supporters of the Pottsville Maroons believing that Pottsville should have won the title. Their second, and the first to be won in a championship game, came in , nearly two decades before the first Super Bowl. They returned to the title game to defend in 1948, but lost the rematch 7–0 in a snowstorm in Philadelphia.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: Since winning the championship in 1947, the team suffered many losing seasons, and currently holds the longest active championship drought of North American sports at 75 consecutive seasons. In 2012, the Cardinals became the first NFL franchise to lose 700 games since its inception. The team's all-time win–loss record (including regular season and playoff games) at the conclusion of the 2021 season is ( in the regular season, in the playoffs). They have been to the playoffs eleven times and have won seven playoff games, three of which were victories during their run in the 2008–09 NFL playoffs. During that season, they won their only NFC Championship Game since the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, and reached Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, losing 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team has also won five division titles (, , , and ) since their 1947–48 NFL championship game appearances. The Cardinals are the only NFL team who have never lost a playoff game at home, with a 5–0 record: the 1947 NFL Championship Game, two postseason victories during the aforementioned 2008–09 NFL playoffs, one during the 2009–10 playoffs, and one during the 2015–16 playoffs.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The franchise's inception dates back to 1898, when a neighborhood group gathered to play on the South Side of Chicago, calling themselves the Morgan Athletic Club. Chicago painting and building contractor Chris O'Brien acquired the team, which he relocated to Normal Field on Racine Avenue. The team was known as the Racine Normals until 1901, when O'Brien bought used jerseys from the University of Chicago. After he described the faded maroon clothing as "Cardinal red", the team became the Racine Street Cardinals. Eventually in 1920, the team became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was rechristened the National Football League (NFL) two years later. The team entered the league as the Racine Cardinals, but changed their name to the Chicago Cardinals in 1922 to avoid confusion with the Horlick-Racine Legion, who entered the league two years earlier.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: In 1925, the Cardinals were awarded the NFL Championship after the Pottsville Maroons were suspended for playing a game in what was deemed "another teams ". Having beat the Cardinals in a head-to-head game earlier in the season, the Pottsville Maroons won their extra game against the University of Notre Dame, helping them finish the year with the same record as the Cardinals. The Cardinals were also guilty of breaking NFL rules when they had scheduled two additional games, playing against the Hammond Pros and the Milwaukee Badgers, both of whom had already disbanded for the season. The game against the Badgers spurred a scandal when the Badgers filled out their roster with four high school players, in violation of NFL rules. The Cardinals experienced some success on the playing field during their first 26 seasons in the league.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: During the post-World War II years, the team reached two straight NFL finals against the Philadelphia Eagles, winning in 1947 (eight months after Charles Bidwill's death) but losing the following year. In the late 1950s, after years of bad seasons and losing fans to their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Bears, the Cardinals were almost bankrupt, and owner Violet Bidwill Wolfner became interested in a relocation.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: Due to the formation of the rival American Football League, the NFL allowed Bidwill to relocate the team to St. Louis, Missouri, where they became the St. Louis Cardinals (they were locally called the "Big Red", the "Gridbirds" or the "Football Cardinals" to avoid confusion with the baseball team of the same name). During the Cardinals' 28-year stay in St. Louis, they advanced to the playoffs just three times (1974, 1975 and 1982), never hosting or winning in any appearance. The overall mediocrity of the Cardinals, combined with a then-21-year-old stadium, caused game attendance to dwindle, and owner Bill Bidwill decided to move the team to Arizona.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: Not long after the 1987 NFL season, Bidwill agreed to move to Phoenix on a handshake deal with state and local officials, and the team became the Phoenix Cardinals (the franchise has never played in the city of Phoenix proper; however, there are several NFL teams which do not play in their market's central cities). The team changed their geographic name to the Arizona Cardinals on March 17, 1994. The 1998 NFL season saw the Cardinals break two long droughts, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. The team got their first postseason win since 1947 by defeating the Dallas Cowboys 20–7 in the .


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: In , the Cardinals, led by quarterback Kurt Warner, won the against the Philadelphia Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time in their history. They lost Super Bowl XLIII 27–23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the final seconds of the game.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: After their historic 2008 season, the Cardinals posted a 10–6 record in , their first season with 10 wins in Arizona. The Cardinals clinched their second consecutive NFC West title, but were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champion, the New Orleans Saints, 45–14 in the divisional playoffs. The next time they would make the playoffs would be in , when they ended up as a wild card. They set the best regular-season record in their history in Arizona at 11–5, but were defeated by the 7–8–1 NFC South champions, the Carolina Panthers.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The next year, the Cardinals set a franchise-best 13–3 record, and clinched their first-ever first-round playoff bye as the NFC's second seed. They defeated the Green Bay Packers , giving quarterback Carson Palmer his first playoff victory. The Cardinals then advanced to their second in their history, but were blown out by the top-seeded 15–1 Panthers 49–15, committing seven turnovers.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals then fell to 7–8–1 in and 8–8 in before ultimately dropping to 3–13 in , tying the franchise record set in for the worst record in a 16-game season. The team improved to 5–10–1 in and 8–8 in . In , the Cardinals went 11–6, posting a winning record and returning to the postseason for the first time since 2015.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals moved to Arizona in , and the flag of Arizona was added to the sleeves the following year. In , the team began wearing red pants with their white jerseys, as new coach Joe Bugel wanted to emulate his former employer, the Washington Redskins, who at the time wore burgundy pants with their white jerseys (the Redskins later returned to their 1970s gold pants with all their jerseys).


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: In , the Cardinals participated in the NFL's 75th-anniversary throwback uniform program. The jerseys were similar to those of the 1920s Chicago Cardinals, with an interlocking "CC" logo and three stripes on each sleeve. The uniform numbers were relocated to the right chest. The pants were khaki to simulate the color and material used in that era. The Cardinals also stripped the logos from their helmets for two games: at Cleveland and home vs. Pittsburgh.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinal head on the helmet also appeared on the sleeve of the white jersey from 1982 to 1995. In 1996, the state flag of Arizona was moved higher on the sleeve after the Cardinal head was eliminated as sleeves on football jerseys became shorter, and black was removed as an accent color, instead replaced with a blue to match the predominant color of the state flag. In 2002, the Cardinals began to wear all-red and all-white combinations, and continued to do so through 2004, prior to the team's makeover.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: In , the team unveiled its first major changes in a century. The cardinal-head logo was updated to look sleeker and meaner than its predecessor. Numerous fans had derisively called the previous version a "parakeet". Black again became an accent color after an eight-year absence, while trim lines were added to the outside shoulders, sleeves, and sides of the jerseys and pants. Both the red and white jerseys have the option of red or white pants.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: Hoping to break a six-game losing streak, the Cardinals wore the red pants for the first time on October 29, 2006, in a game at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers won 31–14, and the Cards headed into their bye week with a 1–7 mark. Following the bye week, the Cardinals came out in an all-red combination at home against the Dallas Cowboys and lost, 27–10. Arizona did not wear the red pants for the remainder of the season and won four of their last seven games. However, the following season, in , the Cardinals again wore their red pants for their final 3 home games. They wore red pants with white jerseys in games on the road at the Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks. They paired red pants with red jerseys, the all-red combination, for home games against the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and St. Louis Rams. The red pants were not worn at all in , but they were used in home games vs. Seattle, Minnesota, and St. Louis in . The red pants were paired with the white road jersey for the first time in three years during a 2010 game at Carolina, but the white jersey/red pants combination was not used again until 2018, when they broke out the combination against the Kansas City Chiefs.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals' first home game in Arizona, in 1988, saw them play in red jerseys. Thereafter, for the next 18 years in Arizona, the Cardinals, like a few other NFL teams in warm climates, wore their white jerseys at home during the first half of the season—forcing opponents to suffer in their darker jerseys during Arizona autumns that frequently see temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C). However, this tradition did not continue when the Cardinals moved from Sun Devil Stadium to State Farm Stadium in 2006, as early-season games (and some home games late in the season) were played with the roof closed. With the temperature inside at a comfortable 70 °F (21 °C), the team opted to wear red jerseys at home full-time. The Cardinals wore white jerseys at home for the first time at State Farm Stadium on August 29, 2008, in a preseason game against the Denver Broncos.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals wore white at home for the first time in a regular-season game at State Farm Stadium against the Houston Texans on October 11, . In October 2009, the NFL recognized Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and players wore pink-accented items, including gloves, wristbands, and shoes. The team thought the pink accents looked better with white uniforms than with red.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: From 1970 through 1983, and again in many seasons between 1989 and 2002, the Cardinals would wear white when hosting the Dallas Cowboys in order to force the Cowboys to don their "jinxed" blue jerseys. They have not done this since moving into State Farm Stadium, however.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The season saw the Cardinals debut a new, alternate black jersey. In , the Cardinals debuted an all-black set for the NFL Color Rush program. While the regular black alternates featured white lettering and are paired with white pants, the Cardinals' Color Rush alternates used red lettering and black pants for the occasion. Starting in 2022, both black uniforms would be paired with an alternate black helmet.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: One of the newer rivalries in the NFL, the Cardinals and Seahawks became divisional rivals after both were relocated to the NFC West as a result of the league's realignment in 2002. This rivalry has become one of the NFL's more bitter in recent years, as the mid-to-late 2010s often saw the Seahawks and Cardinals squaring off for NFC West supremacy. Many Cardinals fans see the Seahawks as their top rival due to their 2010s dominance under quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll, although Seattle shares more intense rivalries with the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams, and even the Green Bay Packers. Seattle leads the series 23–22–1, and the two teams have yet to meet in the playoffs.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: One of the oldest matchups for the Cardinals as both teams first met during the 1937 NFL Season whilst the Rams played in Cleveland, and the Cardinals were still originally located in Chicago. Their Rivalry with the Los Angeles Rams has resurged in recent years as both teams found playoff success, despite the Cardinals' best efforts; the Rams have been 9-1 since hiring head coach Sean McVay in 2017. The Week 17 matchup of the 2020 season saw both teams playing for a playoff berth; despite the injury to Rams quarterback Jared Goff, the Cardinals lost 18-7 and were eliminated from the postseason. The Cardinals' streak ended against the Rams the following season. They took the lead in the NFC over the Rams and started the season 7-0. In the following matchup, the Rams won on Monday Night Football; the Cardinals lost 6 of 10 games after their 7-0 start. The Cardinals would clinch a wild card berth after a week 17 win over the Dallas Cowboys. They played the Rams in Los Angeles and lost 34-11 as Kyler Murray threw 2 interceptions with one returned for a touchdown.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals' rivalry with the Bears features the only two teams that remain from the league's inception in 1920. At that time, the Bears were known as the Decatur Staleys, and the Cardinals were the Racine Cardinals. In 1922, both teams moved to Chicago, and the matchup between the teams became known as "The Battle of Chicago" for 38 years, making it the first true rivalry in the league's history. The Bears lead the all-time series 59–28–6.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: Dierdorf, Smith, Wehrli and Wilson were members of the St. Louis Football Ring of Fame in The Dome at America's Center when the Rams played there from 1995 to 2015.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals' Ring of Honor was started in to mark the opening of State Farm Stadium. It honors former Cardinal greats from all eras of the franchise's history. Following is a list of inductees and the dates that they were inducted.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals have had 42 head coaches throughout their history. Their first head coach was Paddy Driscoll, who compiled a 17–8–4 record with the team from 1920 to 1922. Jimmy Conzelman, Jim Hanifan and Ken Whisenhunt are tied as the longest-serving head coaches in Cardinals history. On April 14, 2022, Mark Ahlemeier, the Cardinals equipment manager retired after working with the organization for 41 seasons.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: The Cardinals' flagship radio station is KMVP-FM; Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley, and Paul Calvisi handle the radio broadcast. Spanish-language radio broadcasts are heard on the combo of KQMR/KHOV-FM "Latino Mix" under a contract with Univisión, signed in 2015. Prior to 2015, they were heard on KDVA/KVVA-FM "José FM", as well as co-owned KBMB AM 710. The Cardinals were the first NFL team to offer all 20 preseason and regular season games on Spanish-language radio, doing so in 2000. Luis Hernandez and Rolando Cantú are the Spanish broadcast team. The Cardinals have the most extensive Mexican affiliate network in the NFL, with contracts with Grupo Larsa (in the state of Sonora) and Grupo Radiorama (outside Sonora) and stations in 20 cities, including Hermosillo, Guadalajara and Mexico City.


title: Arizona Cardinals

text: As of the 2017 season, NBC affiliate KPNX broadcasts the team's preseason games on television (which, that year, included the Hall of Fame Game broadcast by NBC), called by Pasch and Wolfley, with station anchor Paul Gerke as sideline reporter. The broadcasts are syndicated regionally to KTTU and KMSB-TV in Tucson, and KVVU-TV in Las Vegas.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe (; (); English: "Saint Thomas and Prince"), officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (), is a Portuguese-speaking island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, about apart and about off the north-western coast of Gabon. With a population of 201,800 (2018 official estimate), São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest and second-least populous African sovereign state after Seychelles.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The islands were uninhabited until their discovery by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century. Gradually colonized and settled throughout the 16th century, they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade centre for the Atlantic slave trade. The rich volcanic soil and proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation, followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa; the lucrative plantation economy was heavily dependent upon African slaves. Cycles of social unrest and economic instability throughout the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in peaceful independence in 1975. São Tomé and Príncipe has since remained one of Africa's most stable and democratic countries.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The people of São Tomé and Príncipe are predominantly of African and "mestiço" descent, with most practicing Catholicism. The legacy of Portuguese rule is also visible in the country's culture, customs, and music, which fuse European and African influences. São Tomé and Príncipe is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The islands making up São Tomé and Principe were formed around approximately 30 million years ago due to volcanic activity in deep water along the Cameroon Line. Over time, interactions with seawater and periods of eruption have engendered a wide variety of different igneous and volcanic rocks on the islands with complex assemblages of minerals.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe were uninhabited when the Portuguese arrived sometime around 1470. The first Europeans to put ashore were João de Santarém and Pêro Escobar. Portuguese navigators explored the islands and decided that they would be good locations for bases to trade with the mainland.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The dates of European arrival are sometimes given as 21 December (St Thomas's Day) 1471, for São Tomé; and 17 January (St Antony's Day) 1472, for Príncipe, though other sources cite different years around that time. Príncipe was initially named "Santo Antão" ("Saint Anthony"), changing its name in 1502 to "Ilha do Príncipe" ("Prince's Island"), in reference to the Prince of Portugal to whom duties on the island's sugar crop were paid.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The first successful settlement of São Tomé was established in 1493 by Álvaro Caminha, who received the land as a grant from the crown. Príncipe was settled in 1500 under a similar arrangement. Attracting settlers proved difficult, however, and most of the earliest inhabitants were "undesirables" sent from Portugal, mostly Jews. 2,000 Jewish children, eight years old and under, were taken from the Iberian peninsula for work on the sugar plantations. In time, these settlers found the volcanic soil of the region suitable for agriculture, especially the growing of sugar.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: By 1515, São Tomé and Príncipe had become slave depots for the coastal slave trade centered at Elmina.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The cultivation of sugar was a labour-intensive process and the Portuguese began to enslave large numbers of Africans from the continent. In the sugar boom's early stages, property on the islands had little value, with farming for local consumption while the economy relied mainly on the transit of slaves, though already many foodstuffs were imported. When the local landowner Álvaro Borges died in 1504, his cleared land and domesticated animals were sold for only 13,000 réis, about the price of three slaves. According to Valentim Fernandes around 1506, São Tomé had more sugarcane fields than Madeira "from which they already produce molasses," but the island lacked facilities for industrial sugar production.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé would only become economically noteworthy with the introduction of a water-powered sugar mill in 1515, which soon led to the mass cultivation of sugar: "The fields are expanding and the sugar mills, too. At this time, only two sugar mills are here and another three are being built, counting the mill of the contractors, which is large. Similarly, the necessary conditions exist, such as streams and timber, to be able to build many more. And the [sugar] canes are the biggest I have ever seen in my life." Sugar plantations were organized with slave labor, and by the mid-16th century, the Portuguese settlers had turned the islands into Africa's foremost exporter of sugar.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Slaves in São Tomé were bought from the Slave Coast of West Africa, the Niger Delta, the island of Fernando Po, and later from the Kongo and Angola. In the 16th century, the enslaved were imported from and exported to Portugal, Elmina, the Kingdom of Kongo, Angola, and the Spanish Americas. In 1510, reportedly 10,000 to 12,000 slaves were imported by Portugal. In 1516, São Tomé received 4,072 slaves with the purpose of re-exportation. From 1519 to 1540, the island was the center of the slave trade between Elmina and the Niger Delta. Throughout the early to mid sixteenth century, São Tomé traded in slaves intermittently with Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo. In 1525 São Tomé began trafficking slaves to the Spanish Americas, mainly to the Caribbean and Brazil. From 1532 to 1536, São Tomé sent an annual average of 342 slaves to the Antilles. Prior to 1580, the island accounted for 75 percent of Brazil's imports, mainly slaves. The slave trade remained a cornerstone of São Tomé's economy until after 1600.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The power dynamics of São Tomé in the 16th century were surprisingly diverse with the participation of free mulatto[s] and black citizens in governance. Voluntary colonists shunned São Tomé for its disease and food shortages, so the Portuguese crown deported convicts to the island and encouraged interracial relationships to secure the colony. Slavery was also not permanent, as demonstrated through the 1515 royal decree granting the manumission of African wives of white settlers and their mixed-race children. In 1517, another decree freed the male slaves who had originally arrived on the island with the first colonists. After 1520, a royal charter allowed for property-owning, married, free mulattos to hold public offices. This was followed by a decree in 1546 establishing civil equality between these qualified mulattos and the white settlers, allowing free mulattos and black citizens opportunities for upward mobility and participation in local politics and business. Social divisions led to frequent disputes within the colony's town councils and with the governor and bishop, with constant political unstability.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: At first, slavery in São Tomé was less strict. In the mid-16th century, an anonymous Portuguese pilot noted that the slaves were employed as couples, built their own accommodations, and worked autonomously once a week on the cultivation of their own food supply. However, this more relaxed slave system did not last long following the introduction of plantations. Throughout, slaves frequently ran away to the inhospitable mountain forests of the island's interior. Between 1514 and 1527, five percent of slaves that were imported to São Tomé escaped, often to starve, though 1531-1535 saw major food shortages even in the plantations. Eventually, the Maroon people developed settlements in the interior known as" macambos".


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The first signs of slave rebellion began in the 1530s, when the maroon gangs organized to attack plantations, some of which were abandoned. A formal complaint was lodged by local Portuguese authorities in 1531 lamenting that too many settlers and black citizens were being killed in the attacks, and that the island would be lost if the problem remained unresolved. In a 1533 'bush war', a 'bush captain' led militia units to suppress the maroons. A significant event in the maroon fight for freedom occurred in 1549, when two men claiming to be free-born were taken in from the "macambos "by a wealthy mulatto planter named Ana de Chaves. With the support of de Chaves, the two men petitioned the king to be declared free, and the request was approved. The largest population of maroons coincided with the sugar boom of the mid-16th century, as the plantations teemed with slaves. Between 1587 and 1590, many of the runaway slaves were defeated in another bush war. By 1593, the governor declared the maroon forces almost completely extinguished. Nevertheless, maroon populations kept settlers away from the southern and western regions.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The greatest slave revolt occurred in July 1595, when the government was weakened by disputes between the bishop and the governor. A native slave named Amador recruited 5000 slaves to raid and destroy plantations, sugar mills, and settler houses. Amador's rebellion made three raids on the town and destroyed 60 of the island's 85 sugar mills, but they were defeated by the militia after three weeks. Two hundred slaves were killed in combat, and Amador and the other rebel leaders were executed, while the rest of the slaves were granted amnesty and returned to their plantation. Smaller slave rebellions followed in the 17th and 18th centuries.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Eventually, competition from sugar-producing colonies in the Western Hemisphere began to hurt the islands. The large enslaved population also proved difficult to control, with Portugal unable to invest many resources in the effort. Sugar cultivation thus declined over the next 100 years, and by the mid-17th century, São Tomé had become primarily a transit point for ships engaged in the slave trade between continental Africa and the Americas.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In the early 19th century, two new cash crops, coffee and cocoa, were introduced. The rich volcanic soils proved well suited to the new crops, and soon extensive plantations (known as "roças"), owned by Portuguese companies or absentee landlords, occupied almost all of the good farmland. By 1908, São Tomé had become the world's largest producer of cocoa, which remains the country's most important crop.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The "roças" system, which gave the plantation managers a high degree of authority, led to abuses against the African farm workers. Although Portugal officially abolished slavery in 1876, the practice of forced paid labour continued. "Scientific American" documented in words and pictures the continued use of slaves in São Tomé in its 13 March 1897 issue.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Observations of the solar eclipse of 29 May 1919 in Príncipe by Sir Arthur Eddington provided one of the first successful tests of Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In the early 20th century, an internationally publicized controversy arose over charges that Angolan contract workers were being subjected to forced labour and unsatisfactory working conditions. Sporadic labor unrest and dissatisfaction continued well into the 20th century, culminating in an outbreak of riots in 1953 in which several hundred African laborers were killed in a clash with their Portuguese rulers. The anniversary of this "Batepá Massacre" remains officially observed by the government.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: By the late 1950s, when other emerging nations across the African continent demanded their independence, a small group of São Toméans formed the Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe (MLSTP), which eventually established its base in nearby Gabon. Picking up momentum in the 1960s, events moved quickly after the overthrow of the Caetano dictatorship in Portugal in April 1974.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The new Portuguese regime was committed to the dissolution of its overseas colonies. In November 1974, their representatives met with the MLSTP in Algiers and worked out an agreement for the transfer of sovereignty. After a period of transitional government, São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence on 12 July 1975, choosing as the first president the MLSTP Secretary General Manuel Pinto da Costa.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In 1990, São Tomé became one of the first African countries to undergo democratic reform, and changes to the constitution – the legalization of opposition political parties – led to elections in 1991 that were nonviolent, free, and transparent. Miguel Trovoada, a former prime minister who had been in exile since 1986, returned as an independent candidate and was elected president. Trovoada was re-elected in São Tomé's second multiparty presidential election in 1996.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The Party of Democratic Convergence won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, with the MLSTP becoming an important and vocal minority party. Municipal elections followed in late 1992, in which the MLSTP won a majority of seats on five of seven regional councils. In early legislative elections in October 1994, the MLSTP won a plurality of seats in the assembly. It regained an outright majority of seats in the November 1998 elections.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In the 2001 presidential elections the candidate backed by the Independent Democratic Action party, Fradique de Menezes, was elected in the first round and inaugurated on 3 September. Parliamentary elections were held in March 2002. For the next four years, a series of short-lived opposition-led governments was formed.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In July 2003 the army seized power for one week, complaining of corruption and that forthcoming oil revenues would not be divided fairly. An accord was negotiated under which President de Menezes was returned to office. in March 2006, the cohabitation period ended, when a propresidential coalition won enough seats in National Assembly elections to form a new government.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In the 30 July 2006 presidential election, Fradique de Menezes easily won a second five-year term in office, defeating two other candidates Patrice Trovoada (son of former President Miguel Trovoada) and independent Nilo Guimarães. Local elections, the first since 1992, took place on 27 August 2006 and were dominated by members of the ruling coalition. On 12 February 2009, a" coup d'état "was attempted to overthrow President Fradique de Menezes. The plotters were imprisoned, but later received a pardon from President de Menezes.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Evaristo Carvalho was the President of São Tomé and Príncipe since 2016 elections, after winning over the incumbent President Manuel Pinto da Costa. President Carvalho is also Vice president of the Independent Democratic Action party (ADI). Patrice Emery Trovoada was Prime Minister since 2014 and he is the leader of Independent Democratic Action party (ADI). In December 2018, Jorge Bom Jesus, the leader of the Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe-Partido Social Democráta (MLSTP-PSD), was sworn in as new prime minister.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In September 2021, the candidate of the centre-right opposition Independent Democratic Action (ADI), Carlos Vila Nova, won the presidential election.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In September 2022, the opposition Independent Democratic Action (ADI), led by former Prime Minister Patrice Trovoada, won the election over the ruling Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe/Social Democratic Party (MLSTP/PSD) of Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus. In November of the same year, the government and military thwarted an attempted coup d'état. On 11 November 2022, Patrice Trovoada was appointed Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe by the President of the Republic of São Tomé, Carlos Vila Nova.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The two islands that make up what is called São Tomé and Príncipe were formed 30 million years ago during the Oligocene era, due to volcanic activity beneath deep water along the Cameroon Line. The volcanic soils of basalts and phonolites, dating to 3 million years, have been used for plantation crops since colonial times.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, situated in the equatorial Atlantic and Gulf of Guinea about , respectively, off the northwest coast of Gabon, constitute Africa's second-smallest country. Both are part of the Cameroon volcanic mountain line, which also includes the islands of Annobón to the southwest, Bioko to the northeast (both part of Equatorial Guinea), and Mount Cameroon on the coast of Gulf of Guinea.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé is long and wide and the more mountainous of the two islands. Its peaks reach – Pico de São Tomé. Príncipe is about long and wide. Its peaks reach – Pico de Príncipe. Swift streams radiating down the mountains through lush forest and cropland to the sea cross both islands. The Equator lies immediately south of São Tomé Island, passing through the islet Ilhéu das Rolas.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The Pico Cão Grande (Great Dog Peak) is a landmark volcanic plug peak, at in southern São Tomé. It rises over above the surrounding terrain and the summit is above sea level.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The climate of S. Tomé and Príncipe is essentially conditioned by its geographic location, subject to the seasonal translation of low equatorial pressures, the monsoon winds from the south, the warm Guinea Current and the relief.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: At sea level, the climate is tropical—hot and humid with average yearly temperatures of about and little daily variation. The temperature rarely rises beyond . At the interior's higher elevations, the average yearly temperature is , and nights are generally cool. Annual rainfall varies from in the highland cloud forests to in the northern lowlands. The rainy season is from October to May.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The country's territory is part of the São Tomé, Príncipe, and Annobón moist lowland forests ecoregion. It had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.64/10, ranking it 68th globally out of 172 countries.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe does not have a large number of native mammals (although the São Tomé shrew and several bat species are endemic). The islands are home to a larger number of endemic birds and plants, including the world's smallest ibis (the São Tomé ibis), the world's largest sunbird (the giant sunbird), the rare São Tomé fiscal, and several giant species of "Begonia".


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe is an important marine turtle-nesting site, including the hawksbill turtles ("Eretmochelys imbricata").


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The president of the republic is elected to a five-year term by direct universal suffrage and a secret ballot, and must gain an outright majority to be elected. The president may hold up to two consecutive terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president, and the 14 members of cabinet are chosen by the prime minister.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The National Assembly, the supreme organ of the state and the highest legislative body, is made up of 55 members, who are elected for a four-year term and meet semiannually. Justice is administered at the highest level by the Supreme Court. The judiciary is independent under the current constitution.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe has functioned under a multiparty system since 1990. With regard to human rights, there are guarantees on freedom of speech and the freedom to form opposition political parties.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe finished 11th out of the African countries measured by the Ibrahim Index of African Governance in 2010, a comprehensive reflection of the levels of governance in Africa.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe is considered a free country, with very high freedom of speech, high political freedom and average economic freedom. In terms of corruption, São Tomé and Príncipe is a country with average corruption, although in recent years this level has been decreasing. In tourism terms, the risk is low, equivalent to the risk of visiting France.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe has embassies in Angola, Belgium, Gabon, Portugal, and the United States. It recognized the People's Republic of China in 2016. It also has a permanent mission to the UN in New York City and an International Diplomatic Correspondent Office.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe is a founding member state of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries, also known as the Lusophone Commonwealth, an international organization and political association of Lusophone nations across four continents, where Portuguese is an official language.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Portugal has historical ties with São Tomé and Príncipe, from the period of colonization by the Portuguese. Portugal is the largest investor in São Tomé and Príncipe, investing millions of euros in the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe. São Tomé and Príncipe maintains an embassy in Lisbon, a consulate in Porto and one in Coimbra. Portugal maintains an embassy in São Tomé. Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe signed an agreement, in which Portugal undertakes to patrol the coastal area of São Tomé and Príncipe, protecting it mainly from pirates. The Portuguese military ship NRP Zaire and some Portuguese patrol boats are permanently stationed on the coast of São Tomé and Príncipe. The economy of São Tomé and Príncipe is closely linked to that of Portugal, with Portugal accounting for more than 50% of exports from São Tomé and Príncipe. Portugal has also helped to develop education in São Tomé and Príncipe, financially helping to build and maintain the Public University of São Tomé and Príncipe. The Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa visited São Tomé and Príncipe in 2018 to demonstrate the strong economic and cultural ties between Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In September 2022, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe signed a new cooperation agreement for defence, bolstering training and maritime security.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Angola is a major business partner mainly in the area of natural energy resources; Angola is the major supplier of oil and natural gas to São Tomé and Príncipe. In addition, hundreds of Angolan tourists visit São Tomé and Príncipe every year, contributing to the local economy. There is a relatively large community of Angolans in São Tomé and Príncipe. São Tomé and Príncipe maintains an embassy in Luanda and Angola maintains an embassy in São Tomé.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The United States has had relations with São Tomé and Príncipe since 1975, and has offered millions of dollars in financial aid packages to São Tomé and Príncipe. The financial aid packages were designed to develop the country's infrastructure and improve its fiscal, tax and customs administration. In addition, in recent years, some US Coast Guard ships have visited São Tomé and Príncipe, providing medical and military training to soldiers from São Tomé and Príncipe. In 2002, the US had plans to establish a small military base on the island of São Tomé. São Tomé and Príncipe accepted the construction of the base, but the plan was canceled due to US political and financial issues. In 1992, the US federal government broadcaster, Voice of America, and the government of São Tomé signed a long-term agreement to establish a relay broadcasting station in São Tomé. Voice of America currently broadcasts to much of Africa from this facility.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Thousands of tourists from Cape Verde visit São Tomé and Príncipe, helping the local economy. Relations between Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe have improved over the years.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In recent years, Poland and Germany have been increasing commercial ties with São Tomé and Príncipe, buying more and more cocoa and other products from São Tomé and Príncipe.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: India also has very good relations with São Tomé and Príncipe, investing thousands of euros annually in the agricultural sector.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Brazil has contributed to improving the health and education system in São Tomé and Príncipe. Brazilian television channels and films are the most watched in São Tomé and Príncipe.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Neighboring Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo are important partners in São Tomé and Príncipe; many companies in these countries have establishments and businesses in São Tomé and Príncipe. Because these countries speak French, the language has become important in the business sector (together with Portuguese), in São Tomé and Príncipe.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Since 2013, China has invested in some road and sea port projects but investments have been stalling in recent years.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé and Príncipe's military is small and consists of four branches: the Army ("Exército"), Coast Guard ("Guarda Costeira" also called "Navy"), Presidential Guard ("Guarda Presidencial"), and the National Guard.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In 2017, São Tomé and Príncipe signed the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In 1977, two years after independence, the country was divided into two provinces (São Tomé Province and Príncipe Province) and six districts. Since the new constitution was adopted in 1990, the provinces have been abolished, and the districts are the only administrative subdivisions. Since 29 April 1995, the island of Príncipe is an autonomous region, coterminous with the district of Pagué. The larger island of São Tomé is divided into six districts and Príncipe island into one:


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Since the 19th century, the economy of São Tomé and Príncipe has been based on plantation agriculture. At the time of independence, Portuguese-owned plantations occupied 90% of the cultivated area. After independence, control of these plantations passed to various state-owned agricultural enterprises. The main crop on São Tomé is cocoa, representing about 95% of agricultural exports. Other export crops include copra, palm kernels, and coffee.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Domestic food-crop production is inadequate to meet local consumption, so the country imports most of its food. As of 1997, an estimated 90% of the country's food needs were met through imports. Efforts have been made by the government in recent years to expand food production, and several projects have been undertaken, largely financed by foreign donors.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Other than agriculture, the main economic activities are fishing and a small industrial sector engaged in processing local agricultural products and producing a few basic consumer goods. The scenic islands have potential for tourism, and the government is attempting to improve its rudimentary tourist industry infrastructure. The government sector accounts for about 11% of employment.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: Following independence, the country had a centrally directed economy, with most means of production owned and controlled by the state. The original constitution guaranteed a mixed economy, with privately owned cooperatives combined with publicly owned property and means of production.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In the 1980s and 1990s, the economy of São Tomé encountered major difficulties. Economic growth stagnated, and cocoa exports dropped in both value and volume, creating large balance-of-payments deficits. Plantation land was seized, resulting in the complete collapse of cocoa production. At the same time, the international price of cocoa slumped.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In response to its economic downturn, the government undertook a series of far-reaching economic reforms. In 1987, the government implemented an International Monetary Fund structural adjustment program, and invited greater private participation in management of the parastatals, as well as in the agricultural, commercial, banking, and tourism sectors. The focus of economic reform since the early 1990s has been widespread privatization, especially of the state-run agricultural and industrial sectors.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: The São Toméan government has traditionally obtained foreign assistance from various donors, including the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, the European Union, Portugal, Taiwan, and the African Development Bank. In April 2000, in association with the Banco Central de São Tomé e Príncipe, the IMF approved a poverty-reduction and growth facility for São Tomé aimed at reducing inflation to 3% for 2001, raising ideal growth to 4%, and reducing the fiscal deficit.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In late 2000, São Tomé qualified for significant debt reduction under the IMF–World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative. The reduction is being reevaluated by the IMF, due to the attempted "coup d'état" in July 2003 and subsequent emergency spending. Following the truce, the IMF decided to send a mission to São Tomé to evaluate the macroeconomic state of the country. This evaluation is ongoing, reportedly pending oil legislation to determine how the government will manage incoming oil revenues, which are still poorly defined, but in any case expected to change the economic situation dramatically.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: In parallel, some efforts have been made to incentivize private tourism initiatives, but their scope remains limited.


title: São Tomé and Príncipe

text: São Tomé also hosts a broadcasting station of the American International Broadcasting Bureau for the Voice of America at Pinheira.