title: Radiology

text: Radiology is an extremely competitive speciality in the UK, attracting applicants from a broad range of backgrounds. Applicants are welcomed directly from the foundation programme, as well as those who have completed higher training. Recruitment and selection into training post in clinical radiology posts in England, Scotland and Wales is done by an annual nationally coordinated process lasting from November to March. In this process, all applicants are required to pass a Specialty Recruitment Assessment (SRA) test. Those with a test score above a certain threshold are offered a single interview at the London and the South East Recruitment Office. At a later stage, applicants declare what programs they prefer, but may in some cases be placed in a neighbouring region.


title: Radiology

text: The training programme lasts for a total of five years. During this time, doctors rotate into different subspecialities, such as paediatrics, musculoskeletal or neuroradiology, and breast imaging. During the first year of training, radiology trainees are expected to pass the first part of the Fellowship of the Royal College of Radiologists (FRCR) exam. This comprises a medical physics and anatomy examination. Following completion of their part 1 exam, they are then required to pass six written exams (part 2A), which cover all the subspecialities. Successful completion of these allows them to complete the FRCR by completing part 2B, which includes rapid reporting, and a long case discussion.


title: Radiology

text: After achieving a certificate of completion of training (CCT), many fellowship posts exist in specialities such as neurointervention and vascular intervention, which would allow the doctor to work as an Interventional radiologist. In some cases, the CCT date can be deferred by a year to include these fellowship programmes.


title: Radiology

text: UK radiology registrars are represented by the Society of Radiologists in Training (SRT), which was founded in 1993 under the auspices of the Royal College of Radiologists. The society is a nonprofit organisation, run by radiology registrars specifically to promote radiology training and education in the UK. Annual meetings are held by which trainees across the country are encouraged to attend.


title: Radiology

text: Currently, a shortage of radiologists in the UK has created opportunities in all specialities, and with the increased reliance on imaging, demand is expected to increase in the future. Radiographers, and less frequently Nurses, are often trained to undertake many of these opportunities in order to help meet demand. Radiographers often may control a "list" of a particular set of procedures after being approved locally and signed off by a consultant radiologist. Similarly, radiographers may simply operate a list for a radiologist or other physician on their behalf. Most often if a radiographer operates a list autonomously then they are acting as the operator and practitioner under the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposures) Regulations 2000. Radiographers are represented by a variety of bodies; most often this is the Society and College of Radiographers. Collaboration with nurses is also common, where a list may be jointly organised between the nurse and radiographer.


title: Radiology

text: After obtaining medical licensure, German radiologists complete a five-year residency, culminating with a board examination (known as "Facharztprüfung").


title: Radiology

text: Italian radiologists complete a four-year residency program after completing the six-year MD program.


title: Radiology

text: In India a medical graduate must obtain a bachelors degree which requires 4.5 year of training along with 1 year internship followed by NEET PG examination which is one of the hardest examination in India .Then on the merit basis one must get into Radio diagnosis .previous rank data shows only top rankers take radiology means if your score is less you might get other branches but not radiology.The radiology training course is a post graduate 3-year program (MD/DNB Radiology) or a 2-year diploma (DMRD).


title: Radiology

text: Radiologists in Singapore complete a five-year undergraduate medicine degree followed by a one-year internship and then a five-year residency program. Some radiologists may elect to complete a one or two-year fellowship for further sub-specialization in fields such as interventional radiology.


title: Radiology

text: After finishing a 6-year study of medicine and passing the emergency medicine internship, MDs can apply for radiology residency. Radiology is a 5-year post-graduate programme that involves all fields of radiology with final board exam.


title: Radiology

text: Training for interventional radiology occurs in the residency portion of medical education, and has gone through developments.


title: Radiology

text: In 2000, the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) created a program named "Clinical Pathway in IR", which modified the "Holman Pathway" that was already accepted by the American Board of Radiology to including training in IR; this was accepted by ABR but was not widely adopted. In 2005 SIR proposed and ABR accepted another pathway called "DIRECT (Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Enhanced Clinical Training) Pathway" to help trainees coming from other specialities learn IR; this too was not widely adopted. In 2006 SIR proposed a pathway resulting in certification in IR as a speciality; this was eventually accepted by the ABR in 2007 and was presented to the American Board of Medical Specialities (ABMS) in 2009, which rejected it because it did not include enough diagnostic radiology (DR) training. The proposal was reworked, at the same time that overall DR training was being revamped, and a new proposal that would lead to a dual DR/IR specialization was presented to the ABMS and was accepted in 2012 and eventually was implemented in 2014. By 2016 the field had determined that the old IR fellowships would be terminated by 2020.


title: Radiology

text: A handful of programs have offered interventional radiology fellowships that focus on training in the treatment of children.


title: Radiology

text: In Europe the field followed its own pathway; for example in Germany the parallel interventional society began to break free of the DR society in 2008. In the UK, interventional radiology was approved as a sub-specialty of clinical radiology in 2010. While many countries have an interventional radiology society, there is also the European-wide Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe, whose aim is to support teaching, science, research and clinical practice in the field by hosting meetings, educational workshops and promoting patient safety initiatives. Furthermore, the Society provides an examination, the European Board of Interventional Radiology (EBIR), which is a highly valuable qualification in interventional radiology based on the European Curriculum and Syllabus for IR.


title: Ovulation

text: Ovulation is the release of eggs from the ovaries. In women, this event occurs when the ovarian follicles rupture and release the secondary oocyte ovarian cells. After ovulation, during the luteal phase, the egg will be available to be fertilized by sperm. In addition, the uterine lining (endometrium) is thickened to be able to receive a fertilized egg. If no conception occurs, the uterine lining as well as the egg will be shed during menstruation.


title: Ovulation

text: Ovulation occurs about midway through the menstrual cycle, after the follicular phase. The days in which a person is most fertile can be calculated based on the date of the last menstrual period and the length of a typical menstrual cycle. The few days surrounding ovulation (from approximately days 10 to 18 of a 28-day cycle), constitute the most fertile phase. The time from the beginning of the last menstrual period (LMP) until ovulation is, on average, 14.6 days, but with substantial variation among females and between cycles in any single female, with an overall 95% prediction interval of 8.2 to 20.5 days.


title: Ovulation

text: The process of ovulation is controlled by the hypothalamus of the brain and through the release of hormones secreted in the anterior lobe of the pituitary gland, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). In the preovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle, the ovarian follicle will undergo a series of transformations called cumulus expansion, which is stimulated by FSH. After this is done, a hole called the stigma will form in the follicle, and the secondary oocyte will leave the follicle through this hole. Ovulation is triggered by a spike in the amount of FSH and LH released from the pituitary gland. During the luteal (post-ovulatory) phase, the secondary oocyte will travel through the fallopian tubes toward the uterus. If fertilized by a sperm, the fertilized secondary oocyte or ovum may implant there 6–12 days later.


title: Ovulation

text: The follicular phase (or proliferative phase) is the phase of the menstrual cycle during which the ovarian follicles mature. The follicular phase lasts from the beginning of menstruation to the start of ovulation.


title: Ovulation

text: For ovulation to be successful, the ovum must be supported by the corona radiata and cumulus oophorous granulosa cells. The latter undergo a period of proliferation and mucification known as cumulus expansion. Mucification is the secretion of a hyaluronic acid-rich cocktail that disperses and gathers the cumulus cell network in a sticky matrix around the ovum. This network stays with the ovum after ovulation and has been shown to be necessary for fertilization.


title: Ovulation

text: Estrogen levels peak towards the end of the follicular phase, around 12 and 24 hours. This, by positive feedback, causes a surge in levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). This lasts from 24 to 36 hours, and results in the rupture of the ovarian follicles, causing the oocyte to be released from the ovary.


title: Ovulation

text: Through a signal transduction cascade initiated by LH, which activates the pro-inflammatory genes through cAMP secondary messenger, proteolytic enzymes are secreted by the follicle that degrade the follicular tissue at the site of the blister, forming a hole called the "stigma". The secondary oocyte leaves the ruptured follicle and moves out into the peritoneal cavity through the stigma, where it is caught by the fimbriae at the end of the fallopian tube. After entering the fallopian tube, the oocyte is pushed along by cilia, beginning its journey toward the uterus.


title: Ovulation

text: By this time, the oocyte has completed meiosis I, yielding two cells: the larger secondary oocyte that contains all of the cytoplasmic material and a smaller, inactive first polar body. Meiosis II follows at once but will be arrested in the metaphase and will so remain until fertilization. The spindle apparatus of the second meiotic division appears at the time of ovulation. If no fertilization occurs, the oocyte will degenerate between 12 and 24 hours after ovulation. Approximately 1–2% of ovulations release more than one oocyte. This tendency increases with maternal age. Fertilization of two different oocytes by two different spermatozoa results in fraternal twins.


title: Ovulation

text: The follicle proper has met the end of its lifespan. Without the oocyte, the follicle folds inward on itself, transforming into the corpus luteum (pl. corpora lutea), a steroidogenic cluster of cells that produces estrogen and progesterone. These hormones induce the endometrial glands to begin production of the proliferative endometrium and later into secretory endometrium, the site of embryonic growth if implantation occurs. The action of progesterone increases basal body temperature by one-quarter to one-half degree Celsius (one-half to one degree Fahrenheit). The corpus luteum continues this paracrine action for the remainder of the menstrual cycle, maintaining the endometrium, before disintegrating into scar tissue during menses.


title: Ovulation

text: The start of ovulation may be detected by signs that are not readily discernible other than to the ovulating female herself, thus humans are said to have a concealed ovulation. In many animal species there are distinctive signals indicating the period when the female is fertile. Several explanations have been proposed to explain concealed ovulation in humans.


title: Ovulation

text: Females near ovulation experience changes in the cervical mucus, and in their basal body temperature. Furthermore, many females experience secondary fertility signs including Mittelschmerz (pain associated with ovulation) and a heightened sense of smell, and can sense the precise moment of ovulation. However, midcycle pain may also not be due to Mittelschmerz, but due to other factors such as cysts, endometriosis, sexually transmitted infections, or an ectopic pregnancy. Other possible signs of ovulation include tender breasts, bloating, and cramps, although these symptoms are not a guarantee that ovulation is taking place.


title: Ovulation

text: Many females experience heightened sexual desire in the several days immediately before ovulation. One study concluded that females subtly improve their facial attractiveness during ovulation.


title: Ovulation

text: Symptoms related to the onset of ovulation, the moment of ovulation and the body's process of beginning and ending the menstrual cycle vary in intensity with each female but are fundamentally the same. The charting of such symptoms — primarily basal body temperature, mittelschmerz and cervical position — is referred to as the sympto-thermal method of fertility awareness, which allow auto-diagnosis by a female of her state of ovulation. Once training has been given by a suitable authority, fertility charts can be completed on a cycle-by-cycle basis to show ovulation. This gives the possibility of using the data to predict fertility for natural contraception and pregnancy planning.


title: Ovulation

text: Disorders of ovulation, also known as ovulatory disorders are classified as menstrual disorders and include oligoovulation (infrequent or irregular ovulation) and anovulation (absence of ovulation):


title: Ovulation

text: The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed the following classification of ovulatory disorders:


title: Ovulation

text: Ovulation induction is a promising assisted reproductive technology for patients with conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and oligomenorrhea. It is also used in in vitro fertilization to make the follicles mature before egg retrieval. Usually, ovarian stimulation is used in conjunction with ovulation induction to stimulate the formation of multiple oocytes. Some sources include ovulation induction in the definition of "ovarian stimulation".


title: Ovulation

text: A low dose of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) may be injected after completed ovarian stimulation. Ovulation will occur between 24–36 hours after the HCG injection.


title: Ovulation

text: By contrast, induced ovulation in some animal species occurs naturally, ovulation can be stimulated by coitus.


title: Ovulation

text: Combined hormonal contraceptives inhibit follicular development and prevent ovulation as a primary mechanism of action. The "ovulation-inhibiting dose" (OID) of an estrogen or progestogen refers to the dose required to consistently inhibit ovulation in women. Ovulation inhibition is an antigonadotropic effect and is mediated by inhibition of the secretion of the gonadotropins, LH and FSH, from the pituitary gland.


title: Ovulation

text: In assisted reproductive technology including in vitro fertilization, cycles where a transvaginal oocyte retrieval is planned generally necessitates ovulation suppression, because it is not practically feasible to collect oocytes after ovulation. For this purpose, ovulation can be suppressed by either a GnRH agonist or a GnRH antagonist, with different protocols depending on which substance is used.


title: Drive Angry

text: Drive Angry (alternatively titled Drive Angry 3D) is a 2011 American action horror film in the grindhouse cinema tradition, directed by Patrick Lussier, who co-wrote it with Todd Farmer. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Billy Burke, Charlotte Ross, Katy Mixon, and Tom Atkins. Photographed in 3D, the film was released on February 25.


title: Drive Angry

text: John Milton escapes from Hell and steals Satan's gun, the Godkiller, in order to kill Jonah King, a Satanistic cult-leader who murdered Milton's daughter and her husband, and plans to ritually sacrifice Milton's infant granddaughter, believing that it will unleash Hell on Earth.


title: Drive Angry

text: After interrogating and killing some of King's followers in Colorado, Milton discovers that the ritual will take place in Stillwater, an abandoned prison in Louisiana. On his way there, he stops by a diner, where he meets Piper Lee, a waitress. Milton abandons his damaged car and sabotages Piper's 1969 Dodge Charger, offering to fix it in exchange for a ride.


title: Drive Angry

text: Piper walks in on her boyfriend, Frank, cheating on her. Piper beats the woman and tosses her out and assaults Frank, who knocks Piper unconscious. Milton hears the commotion and comes to Piper's aid. Milton "borrows" Frank's car, taking Piper with him to Stillwater. Satan's supernatural operative, The Accountant, arrives on Earth with the mission to retrieve Milton and the gun. The Accountant interrogates Frank and discovers Milton's destination. After killing Frank, he poses as an FBI agent, and tricks a pair of state troopers into helping him.


title: Drive Angry

text: Stopping at a shady hotel, Milton is having sex with a waitress from a nearby bar when King and his men attack. Milton violently dispatches them with many rounds of gunfire, leaving the naked and terrified waitress completely traumatized. The Accountant appears with the police and chases Milton and Piper, who are now hotly pursuing King in his RV. Milton uses the Godkiller to shoot at the Accountant, causing him to drive off a bridge. They follow King to a former church, find it filled with King's Satan-worshipers, and they are ambushed and captured by the cult. They kidnap Piper and shoot Milton in the eye, leaving him for dead. He awakens, kills King's cult, and pursues the RV in the Charger. Piper breaks free, fights King, and jumps through the RV's shattered window onto Milton's car hood. King disables the Charger by shooting its engine.


title: Drive Angry

text: Milton and Piper meet Milton's friend, Webster, who gives them a 1971 red Chevrolet Chevelle SS. Piper discovers that Milton is undead and had to abandon his daughter in order to protect her, which allowed King to manipulate her into joining his cult. Webster reveals that Milton died 10 years earlier in a shootout and was a pallbearer at Milton's funeral. Piper also discovers that the Godkiller has the power to completely destroy a soul, preventing it from going to either Heaven or Hell. Meanwhile, one of King's surviving men tells the Accountant why Milton is chasing them.


title: Drive Angry

text: After arming himself, Milton tells Piper and Webster to leave, but Piper says that she has never before had a worthy cause to fight for and is with him regardless of the consequences. With the help of the now-intrigued Accountant, they evade a sheriff's troopers and arrive at Stillwater. The Accountant captures Piper and forces Milton to surrender the Godkiller before he can battle King. He allows Milton to attempt to save his granddaughter, however, noting that Satan despises the sacrifice of innocents in his name.


title: Drive Angry

text: While Milton slaughters King's men before they can sacrifice his grandchild, Piper escapes from The Accountant with the Godkiller. King eventually gets the upper hand on Milton and savagely beats him. Piper fires the Godkiller at King, but misses, knocking herself out. King is enraged when another follower refuses to sacrifice the infant. The Accountant attracts King's attention, allowing Milton to grab the Godkiller and obliterate King forever.


title: Drive Angry

text: The Accountant retrieves the infant and allows Milton to say goodbye to his granddaughter. Milton gives her to Piper, who promises to always care for her. Webster arrives and looks on as Milton "dies". After both Piper and Webster have left, Milton is revealed to not be fully dead. Milton makes good on his earlier promise to Webster and drinks a beer from the remains of King's skull. He agrees to return to Hell but threatens to escape again if his punishment remains too severe. The Accountant says that he looks forward to that escape. The Accountant then manifests a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and Milton drives them back into Hell.


title: Drive Angry

text: Cage stated that he was originally drawn to the project by a scene in which his character's eyes get shot out. In his previous film, "Season of the Witch", he had wanted to have such a scene but producers rejected the idea.


title: Drive Angry

text: The film was shot in 3D, and special effects were created by Gary Tunnicliffe. The cameras were rented from Paradise FX. One reason Cage chose this film was to be part of the new 3D technology.


title: Drive Angry

text: The three cars driven by Cage in the film are a 1964 Buick Riviera, a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T (440 Engine) and a 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454. Writer/director Patrick Lussier said the Riviera, used at the beginning and the end, "was the car we wished we had used the most, because it was a beautiful driving car", but "It was a shame to smack it up". Three Chargers and three Chevelles were used, with one made very safe for the stunts, and one intended to be shown close to being destroyed.


title: Drive Angry

text: Cage narrated the supernatural film at WonderCon 2010. Patrick Lussier wrote the film with Todd Farmer. Lussier filmed the movie in Minden, Plain Dealing and Shreveport, Louisiana.


title: Drive Angry

text: The film was released in the US on February 25, 2011. Footage premiered on July 23, 2010 as part of the San Diego Comic-Con International. It opened at ninth place within the box office rankings at $1.6 million on Friday, with a lower than expected $5 million weekend. "Drive Angry" box office performance made it the lowest-grossing opening of a 3D film released in more than 2,000 US theaters. The film was slightly more successful in international markets, earning $30.3 million.


title: Drive Angry

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 47% based on reviews from 122 critics, with an average rating of 5.3 out of 10. The website's "Critics Consensus" says: "It may deliver the over-the-top action pieces, but "Drive Angry" prefers to work safely within the grindhouse formula than do something truly unique". On Metacritic the film has a score of 44 out of 100, based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of C+ on a scale from A to F.


title: Drive Angry

text: Mark Jenkins from "The Washington Post" wrote, "Even at its most lurid, though, the movie is a little dull. And it only gets less compelling as the back story fills in". Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 2 out of 4 and called it "an exercise in deliberate vulgarity, gross excess, and the pornography of violence, not to forget garden variety pornography. You get your money's worth". Elizabeth Weitzman from the "New York Daily News" wrote, ""Drive Angry" is pure grindhouse, so committed to its own junkiness that it is, in its way, a pleasure to behold". Writing for "Variety", Rob Nelson called it "plenty watchable" but probably more of a draw to cult film fans than to mainstream audiences. In "The Hollywood Reporter", David Rooney called the film "a mindless exploitation entry that should have been appallingly awesome".


title: Norinco

text: China North Industries Group Corporation Limited, doing business internationally as Norinco Group (North Industries Corporation), and known within China as China Ordnance Industries Group Corporation Limited (), is a Chinese state-owned defense corporation that manufactures a diverse range of commercial and military products. Norinco Group is one of the world's largest defense contractors.


title: Norinco

text: The company's subsidiary, China North Industries Corporation (), or simply Norinco, markets Norinco Group's products internationally, and is also involved in domestic civil construction and military defense projects.


title: Norinco

text: Established in 1980 with the approval of the State Council of China, Norinco is an enterprise group engaged in both products and capital operation, integrated with research and development, manufacturing, marketing and services. Norinco mainly deals with defense products, petroleum & mineral resources development, international engineering contracting, optronic products, civilian explosives and chemical products, sporting arms and equipment, vehicles and logistics operation, etc. Norinco has been ranked among the forefront of China's 500 largest state-owned enterprises in terms of total assets and revenue.


title: Norinco

text: In 1993, the import of most Norinco firearms and ammunition into the United States was blocked under new trade rules when China's permanent normal trade relations status was renewed. The prohibition did not apply to sporting shotguns or shotgun ammunition, however. In 1994, U.S. Customs agents conducted a sting operation named Operation Dragon Fire against Atlanta-based importers of Norinco firearms as well as Poly Technologies. Seven officials were arrested after agreeing to smuggle 2,000 fully automatic Chinese-made variants of AK-47s to undercover agents the officials believed may have been connected to the mafia. At least one official, Hammond Ku, attempted to sell Chinese-produced tanks and rocket launchers to the undercover agents.


title: Norinco

text: In August 2003, the Bush Administration imposed sanctions on Norinco for allegedly selling missile-related goods to Iran. These sanctions led to a prohibition on imports into the US of the remaining types of firearms and ammunition not covered by the 1993 ban.


title: Norinco

text: In November 2020, Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting any American company or individual from owning shares in companies that the United States Department of Defense has listed as having links to the People's Liberation Army, which included Norinco Group. In June 2021, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order 14032 expanding the scope of the national emergency declared in order 13959.


title: Norinco

text: Some of Norinco's international customers include Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Canada, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it negotiated arms-for-minerals deals, as well as Venezuela.


title: Madame X (album)

text: Madame X is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on June 14, 2019, by Interscope Records. The album was creatively influenced by her expatriate life in Lisbon, Portugal, after relocating there in summer 2017. Madonna co-wrote and co-produced the album with a number of musicians, including Mirwais, Mike Dean, and Jason Evigan. It also features guest appearances by Maluma, Quavo, Swae Lee, and Anitta.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The album includes the singles "Medellín", "Crave", "I Rise" and "I Don't Search I Find". All four singles reached the top spot on the Dance Club Songs in the United States, extending her record as the artist with the most number-one songs on a singular "Billboard" chart, with a total of 50. It also featured two promotional singles: "Future" and "Dark Ballet".


title: Madame X (album)

text: Music critics gave generally positive reviews for the album, praising its experimental composition. "Madame X" debuted atop the "Billboard" 200 chart, becoming her ninth number-one album in the United States. It also topped the charts in Argentina as well as Portugal and reached number-two in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Madame X Tour, an all-theatre tour in North America and Europe, began on September 17, 2019, and concluded on March 8, 2020. The tour was chronicled in the documentary of the same name.


title: Madame X (album)

text: In January 2018, Madonna announced on Instagram that she had begun working on her fourteenth studio album. Four months later, in May 2018, she performed at the Met Gala in New York. As part of her performance of her hit single "Like a Prayer", Madonna sang a brand new song "Dark Ballet" (then known as "Beautiful Game"). In October 2018, she was featured on the song "Champagne Rosé" by rapper Quavo, who in return became her collaborator on this album.


title: Madame X (album)

text: Madonna relocated to Lisbon, Portugal in 2017, seeking a top football academy for boys for her son David, who wanted to become a professional soccer player. However, she later found her life becoming relatively dull, so she decided to meet artists, painters, and musicians. One of the first musicians Madonna met in Lisbon was a man named Dino D'Santiago, who she said introduced her to a great many more musicians in the area, including the Batukadeiras, a collective of drummers who she collaborated with on the track "Batuka" on this album.


title: Madame X (album)

text: Believing "music is the soul of the universe", she felt connected to her new influences, so she then decided to record an album based on her musical experience in the Portuguese city, which she believed to be "a melting pot of culture musically, from Angola to Guinea-Bissau to Spain to Brazil to France to Cape Verde".


title: Madame X (album)

text: During the period while the album was being worked on, Madonna posted short video clips and images chronicling her work on the album. French producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï, who has previously co-produced three of Madonna's albums, "Music" (2000), "American Life" (2003) and "Confessions on a Dance Floor" (2005), was confirmed to be one of the key producers for "Madame X". Mike Dean, who co-produced "Rebel Heart" (2015), was also enlisted in the album's production. In February 2019, Maluma uploaded a picture on his Instagram account with Madonna in a studio. In her interview with "Vogue Italia", Madonna divulged that her album was due for release in 2019. On April 14, 2019, she posted a series of teaser clips on her Instagram account, revealing "Madame X" as the album title.


title: Madame X (album)

text: In a one-minute teaser uploaded to Madonna's official Instagram and YouTube accounts, Madonna declares herself as "Madame X", an alter-ego her album is named after, a title shared by a 1908 play written by Alexandre Bisson, as well as an infamous 1884 portrait by artist John Singer Sargent. The video opens with Madonna singing an excerpt of a song, soon identified via Shazam as being "Extreme Occident", as it follows, "The thing that hurt the most was that I wasn't lost...I wasn't lost..."


title: Madame X (album)

text: Madame X is a secret agent. Traveling around the world. Changing identities. Fighting for freedom. Bringing light to dark places. She is a dancer. A professor. A head of state. A housekeeper. An equestrian. A prisoner. A student. A mother. A child. A teacher. A nun. A singer. A saint. A whore. A spy in the house of love. I am Madame X.


title: Madame X (album)

text: Madonna claims she was given the nomenclature "Madame X", at the age of 19, by her then dance teacher Martha Graham. According to Madonna, Graham said "I'm going to give you a new name: Madame X. Every day, you come to school and I don't recognize you. Every day, you change your identity. You're a mystery to me."


title: Madame X (album)

text: The album artwork features a close-up of the Madame X persona, with the title etched across her ruby red lips to give the illusion of her mouth being sewn shut. Mike Wass from "Idolator" called it an "already-iconic artwork" and compared the imagery to that of Frida Kahlo, as Madonna's name is written across her eyebrows in a manner that echoes Kahlo's unibrow. In an interview with iHeartRadio's "The Box", Madonna disclosed that she is representing her mother, Madonna Fortin, as the photo depicts what she "look[ed] like". It is used in most digital and physical formats of the album, except the digital deluxe and box set, both of which feature another photograph of blonde Madonna.


title: Madame X (album)

text: According to AllMusic and "The Daily Telegraph", the album consists of three main sounds: Latin music, trap, and art pop. According to Rich Juzwiak of "Pitchfork", the album has a very diverse sound. He stated that it combines genres "as disparate as Portuguese fado, Brazilian baile funk, Cape Verdean batuque, and good old American trap to make a literal, at times clinical, rendering of world music." CJ Thorpe-Tracey of "The Quietus" deemed the record a "swirling fusion of trap, fado, dub, and disco", while Craig Mathieson of "The Sydney Morning Herald" classified it under the electronic pop genre. "Madame X" is Madonna's most linguistically diverse album, sung in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. When dissecting the purpose of this album, she explained that it's a love letter to multiculturalism. "Art belongs to everyone. It's not a question of appropriating what other people do and taking it as your own. For me, it's an homage to all the music that I've listened to – and giving a platform and a voice to all of this incredible music that the rest of the world doesn't really have the privilege to hear."


title: Madame X (album)

text: The album opens with "Medellín", a Latin pop duet with Colombian reggaeton singer Maluma that depicts the pair longing for a trip to the song's titular Colombian city while reflecting on their past struggles. Madonna revealed after "Madame X" was released that she decided to collaborate with Maluma after she realized that he loves horses, as she does. The following track, "Dark Ballet", is an experimental pop song, featuring heavy use of Daft Punk-like vocoder and orchestral music, structured similarly to that of "Bohemian Rhapsody". Additionally, the song features a sample of "The Nutcracker Suite: Dance of the Reed-Flutes" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In an interview, Madonna revealed that the concept behind the song was influenced by one of her favorite films, "A Clockwork Orange". She also revealed in the album's press release announcement that it was based on Joan of Arc's life. In Madonna's own words, "Joan of Arc fought the English and she won, still the French were not happy. Still they judged her. They said she was a man, they said she was a lesbian, they said she was a witch, and, in the end, they burned her at the stake, and she feared nothing. I admire that."


title: Madame X (album)

text: "God Control" is an experimental disco song that blends a gospel choir, gunshots and vocodered vocals. While describing the inspiration behind the song, Madonna stated that she wanted to incorporate elements of disco music from the late '70s, as it reminded her of when she first moved to New York City and would frequently hang out at Studio 54 – a place where she felt liberated. It talks about standing up against authoritarianism and America's gun-control laws. Madonna further recounted the song's theme as how "Nowhere is safe any more – places where we used to go to dance and escape and have fun... or pray, or go to school... No public gathering is safe. I was thinking about Studio 54, because I caught the end of that wave – I moved to New York in 1979 that was the last year that Studio 54 was sort of in existence before [co-founders] Ian [Schrager] and Steve [Rubel] got arrested. And so, just the idea that those kinds of places, that used to bring people together, are no longer safe, is a really scary thought to me. And sad. People feel like gods when they have guns in their hands." Controversy arose in November 2019 when Casey Spooner alleged that he wrote "God Control" with Mirwais and was subsequently not credited nor paid for his work.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The fourth track, "Future", is a dancehall song featuring American rapper Quavo. Lyrically, it discusses how one's viewpoint regarding the poor and underprivileged affects us on the long run. "Batuka" is heavily inspired by the music of Cape Verde, specifically Batuque. It features background vocals by The Batukadeiras Orchestra, a collective of all-female drummers, and its narrative is about commencing a revolution in an effort to defeat oppression. The sixth track, "Killers Who Are Partying", is heavily inspired by fado and it features a Portuguese guitar accompanied by a minimal beat. According to Madonna, this was the first track she wrote for the record. While elaborating its topic, Madonna specified that it's about her carrying the burden of all marginalized people. She further elucidated that "we have all these powerful men positioned in places all around the world who are celebrating and abusing their power while minorities are suffering, being degraded. The civil rights that we fought for the LGBTQ community, women's rights, everything started to go backwards and I felt that it was really important to reflect my rage, my sense of betrayal." Madonna also sings a few verses in Portuguese.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "Crave", is a midtempo pop and trap ballad featuring acoustic guitar, hand-clap beat, and guest vocals by American rapper and singer Swae Lee. Madonna stated in an interview backstage at the 2019 "Billboard" Music Awards that it was one of the first songs she wrote for the album and that she wanted to sing with a man on the track. On working with Swae Lee, Madonna said: "He's really talented...I think he's a great writer, a great singer and he's so cute. Cute's important." It paints the pair singing about an unreciprocated lover. The eighth track, "Crazy", is a soul-inflected track featuring a Portuguese accordion. Lyrically, it portrays Madonna as a woman madly in love who refuses to get consumed by her feelings. This is the second song on the record to feature verses sung in Portuguese. "Come Alive" pays homage to the music of North Africa, specifically that of the Gnawa tribe. In the track, Madonna further unfolded that "there's an interesting story [about] the shackles that the slaves wore so they couldn't escape. Once they were free, they turned what enslaved them into music – and they made those krakebs. I wanted to bring that instrument back into the story." The tenth track, "Extreme Occident", features elements of morna and Indian music. Madonna is once more heard singing a few lines in Portuguese. Its subject matter centres around Madonna's travels around the world searching for her own identity.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "Faz Gostoso", is a cover of the Brazilian-born Portuguese singer Blaya's signature hit. It features guest vocals by Brazilian singer Anitta and it remains faithful to the original version's baile funk style. Madonna felt it was pivotal to pay tribute to her Brazilian fans by singing in Brazilian Portuguese. According to the singer, it felt very different than Portugal's Portuguese, so she had to relearn the language. Lyrically, it's about engaging in an extramarital affair. The twelfth track, "Bitch I'm Loca", is a reggaeton song, and the second duet on the record with Maluma. It features Madonna singing most of her verses in Spanish. "I Don't Search I Find", is a house-inflected EDM and deep house, track that heavily draws influence from Madonna's own work with Shep Pettibone, namely "Vogue". The fourteenth track, "Looking for Mercy", displays Madonna at her most autobiographical – in which she admits to feeling isolated. "I Rise", described as a "powerful and uplifting anthem", deconstructs surviving and rising up from the adversities from the modern world. It contains a spoken intro taken from the speech of social activist, advocate for gun control Emma González, survivor from the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and co-founder of committee Never Again MSD, during an interview in February 2018.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The bonus disc of the deluxe 2-CD release and the box set edition of the album feature 3 additional songs: "Funana", "Back That Up to the Beat" and "Ciao Bella". In "Funana", an electropop track, she sings about idealizing a scenario of union and while name-dropping several musical icons, such as Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, Whitney Houston, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, David Bowie, Tupac Shakur, Freddie Mercury and Prince. In addition to these, she mentions Swedish DJ and former collaborator Avicii and Mac Miller. "Back That Up to the Beat" is a reworked version of a leaked demo from Madonna's previous album "Rebel Heart". "Ciao Bella" features uncredited vocals from Bissau-Guinean musician Kimi Djabate.


title: Madame X (album)

text: Interscope Records released "Madame X" on June 14, 2019. A 23-minute documentary titled "World of Madame X" was released on June 29 on paid streaming service Amazon Prime. Directed by Nuno Xico, the short film breaks down the album production and the inspiration behind the music, as well as featuring sneak peaks of album photoshoot and behind the scenes of music videos. An exclusive Madame X Radio channel was launched on Sirius XM Satellite Radio on July 1. It showcased music spanning her career, especially "Madame X" songs and the background stories behind them. On March 24, 2020, Madonna announced via her Instagram page and her Twitter account that she would release her third fragrance, subsequent to Truth or Dare, called Madame X Eau De Parfum. The perfume was announced on Twitter and released on her official store on the 13th October 2020, described as a limited edition fragrance, "made up of fresh and floral scents from the Mediterranean coast, mystical flavours of the Orient, all transcended by Madame X's sensuality and rebellious spirit." The flavours include: orange blossom, raspberry, rose, patchouli, musk and amber.


title: Madame X (album)

text: With the release of "Madame X", Madonna completed her three-album contract with Interscope. In 2021, Madonna announced her return to her original record label Warner Music Group. Under the new career-spanning deal, "Madame X" and her other two Interscope albums will be transferred to Warner's catalog in 2025.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The album's lead single, "Medellín", was released on April 17, 2019, coinciding with the album becoming available to pre-order. The music video premiered on April 24, during a live MTV special broadcast simultaneously around the world. It aired across numerous MTV networks and digital channels. Spanish director Diana Kunst and multi-disciplinary artist Mau Morgó, directed the video. "Medellín" reached the top-ten of the charts in several countries, including Colombia, Croatia, Hungary, Israel, and Venezuela. In the United States, the song charted at number 18 on the Hot Latin Songs and number 1 on the Hot Dance Club Songs.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "Crave" was released as the second single on May 10. It officially impacted Hot/Modern/AC radio in the United States on May 20. The music video, directed by Nuno Xico, was released two days later. The song achieved her highest debut on the US Adult Contemporary chart, launching at number 19 and reaching number 11. It was her 37th entry on the chart and her second appearance for the 2010s after "Ghosttown" in 2015 and became her best-charting AC hit since "Frozen" in 1998. The official remixes for "Crave" were released 26 October 2019.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "I Rise" was first released as a promotional single on May 3, 2019. Madonna partnered with Time Studios to create the music video for "I Rise", released on June 19, 2019. It was directed by Peter Matkiwsky and includes footage of Parkland shooting survivors, LGBTQ supporters, women's rights protesters, Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman's testimony about sexual abuse and other social justice movements. The song's remixes, produced by Tracy Young, were commercially released on July 19, 2019, as part of Worldpride 2019. This remix won a Grammy award for Best Remixed Recording at the 62nd annual ceremony. The song peaked at number 1 on the US Dance Club Songs chart, becoming Madonna's 65th entry on the chart. It also reached number 37 on the US Dance/Mix Show Airplay chart.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "I Don't Search I Find" was released as the fourth single to Italian radio stations on May 22, 2020. Two remixes EPs were released featuring remixes from Honey Dijon, Chris Cox, Offer Nissim and other producers on December 6, 2019, and May 1, 2020.


title: Madame X (album)

text: In the lead up to the full release of "Madame X", "Future" and "Dark Ballet" were released as promotional singles on May 17 and June 7, respectively. The music video of "Dark Ballet" stars a Joan of Arc-inspired story-line featuring Mykki Blanco, where several heads of the church arrest and execute him. Within the video, Blanco is shown to be interpretative dancing in the iconic conical bra. The Honey Dijon remix of "I Don't Search I Find" was released on download and streaming services as of December 6, 2019. On February 14, 2020, the song became Madonna's record-breaking 50th number 1 on the Hot Dance Club Songs, the first artist to achieve this on any chart as well as in the span of 5 decades.


title: Madame X (album)

text: A music video for "God Control" was released on June 26, 2019. The video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund and depicts a shooting scene in a nightclub that resembles the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, and contains a call to action in favor of gun control.


title: Madame X (album)

text: A music video for the track "Batuka", directed by Emmanuel Adjei (who also had directed "Dark Ballet"), premiered on July 19, 2019. The video is very simple and revolves around Madonna and the Orquestra Batukadeiras dancing and playing Batuque. Near the end of the video, they stand together in a line, holding hands, watching the sunset and waves. The video's final shot shows what appears to be ghost sailing ships fading away as a storm forms over the ocean.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The track "Faz Gostoso", featuring Anitta, peaked at number 53 on the Portuguese Singles Chart and 47 on the monthly streaming chart published by Pro-Música Brasil.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The track "Bitch I'm Loca", featuring "Maluma", was used for Madonna and Maluma's "Rolling Stone" photoshoot and interview. A video containing the ItsMiggs Remix and the behind-the-scenes recording of the shoot was uploaded both onto Madonna's Instagram and YouTube channel.


title: Madame X (album)

text: Madonna and Maluma performed "Medellín" together at the 2019 "Billboard" Music Awards on May 1, 2019. Madonna appeared as an interval act during the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 18, 2019. She performed "Like a Prayer", a portion of "Dark Ballet", and "Future", accompanied by Quavo as a guest performer.


title: Madame X (album)

text: On June 30, Madonna included "God Control" and "I Rise" during her mini concert for Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 at Pier 97, Hudson River Park, New York City. On May 6, 2019, the Madame X Tour was officially announced, with concerts in theatres between September 2019 and March 2020.


title: Madame X (album)

text: On 8 October, alongside the release of the film "Madame X" on streaming platforms, Madonna performed a surprise concert at the Red Rooster in Harlem. She performed a stripped version of "Dark Ballet", "Crazy", "Sodade", "La Isla Bonita", and then proceeded to sing "Like A Prayer" down the streets of the city in the night.


title: Madame X (album)

text: On 24 June 2021, Madonna hosted a live performance and club event in New York, titled "Boom x Pride", at the top of The Standard, High Line, in honor of Pride Month, where she performed both "Hung Up" and "I Don't Search I Find". As part of the event, she auctioned three polaroids with the proceeds going to The Ali Forney Center, Haus of Us and The Door, which are three New York based organisations dedicated to created safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ youth. Additionally, Madonna recorded a Pride-themed video entitled "No fear, Courage, Resist", which was being shown in Times Square to encourage donations to the three charities.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "Madame X" was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 21 reviews. Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album 6.9 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.


title: Madame X (album)

text: The more positive reviews of the album generally praised its unique and experimental nature. Kitty Empire of "The Guardian" hailed it as being a "splendidly bizarre return to form" for Madonna, describing the production as "fluid... but one tempered by Madonna's solid confidence in her own aesthetic decisions". Similarly, Nick Smith of "musicOMH" praised the album, calling it "bold, bizarre, brazen and beguiling". In his "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau viewed "Madame X" as an indication that Madonna remains a "colorful" professional who releases solid records, even the songs "about forswearing dope and feeling the oppressed … well-intended ideas executed with the appropriate brio and calm, respectively".


title: Madame X (album)

text: However, mixed reviews of the album criticized its production aspects, as well as the nature of the singer's artistic direction. Neil McCormick of "The Daily Telegraph" summarized "Madame X" as being "a mad mishmash of an album" and criticized its lack of cohesiveness, stating that Madonna was "fighting on too many fronts at the same time". Similarly, Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" described the album as being "admirably bizarre", remarking that its "strongest songs" were buried beneath "disasters". In a more critical review, Rich Juzwiak from "Pitchfork" denounced the album as being "muddled and convoluted", calling it "lyrically inarticulate".


title: Madame X (album)

text: Various publications listed "Madame X" in their year-end lists of the best 2019 albums, including winning a poll hosted by "Billboard".


title: Madame X (album)

text: The documentary "World of Madame X" won at the "Best Documentary" category during the (BAMV Fest) in 2020.


title: Madame X (album)

text: "Madame X" debuted at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 with 95,000 album-equivalent units, of which 90,000 were pure album sales. It became Madonna's ninth number-one album in the United States. Madonna also topped the "Billboard" Artist 100 chart for the first time since its launch in 2014. Due to lack of sales and streaming, the album fell to number 77 on the next week's "Billboard" 200, and dropped out of that chart on its third week (the shortest American performance for a Madonna studio album), but it remained for nine weeks on the Top Album Sales chart. In February 2022, almost three years after its release, the album was certified Silver in the UK. In France, it started at number four on the album chart with 15,900 traditional units. It also entered the Sales Albums Chart at number five. In Germany, "Madame X" became Madonna's lowest charting studio album since 1992's "Erotica", peaking at number five.


title: Arón Piper

text: Arón Julio Manuel Piper Barbero (; ; born 29 March 1997) is a Spanish actor, best known for playing Ander Muñoz in the Netflix teen drama "Elite".


title: Arón Piper

text: Arón Julio Manuel Piper Barbero was born on 29 March 1997 in Berlin, Germany. His father is German and his mother is Spanish. When Piper was five years old, they moved to Spain. After residing in Catalonia for some years, his family relocated to Asturias, where he lived in Avilés and Luarca. He has studied acting and directing. He is fluent in both German and Spanish as well as in English and Catalan.


title: Khalsa

text: Khalsa (, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith, as well as a special group of initiated Sikhs. The "Khalsa" tradition was initiated in 1699 by the Tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh. Its formation was a key event in the history of Sikhism. The founding of Khalsa is celebrated by Sikhs during the festival of Vaisakhi.


title: Khalsa

text: Guru Gobind Singh started the "Khalsa" tradition after his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was beheaded during the Islamic sharia rule of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Guru Gobind Singh created and initiated the Khalsa as a warrior with a duty to protect the innocent from religious persecution. The founding of the "Khalsa" started a new phase in the Sikh tradition. It formulated an initiation ceremony ("amrit sanskar", nectar ceremony) and rules of conduct for the "Khalsa" warriors. It created a new institution for the temporal leadership of the Sikhs, replacing the earlier "masand" system. Additionally, the "Khalsa" provided a political and religious vision for the Sikh community.


title: Khalsa

text: Upon initiation, a "Khalsa" Sikh is given the titles of Singh (male) meaning "lion" and Kaur (female) meaning "princess". The rules of life, include a behavioral code called "Rahit." Some rules are no tobacco, no intoxicants, no adultery, no Kutha meat, no modification of hair on the body, and a dress code (Five Ks).


title: Khalsa

text: ""Khalsa"", is derived from the Arabic word "Khalis" which means "to be pure, to be clear, to be free from, to be sincere, to be true, to be straight, to be solid.".


title: Khalsa

text: Sikhism emerged in the northwestern part of Indian subcontinent (now parts of Pakistan and India). During the Mughal empire rule, according to professor Eleanor Nesbitt, "Khalsa" originally meant the land that was possessed directly by the emperor, which was different from "jagir" land granted to lords in exchange for a promise of loyalty and annual tribute to the emperor. Prior to “Guru Gobind Singh Ji”, the religious organization was organized through the "masands" or agents. The "masands" would collect revenue from rural regions for the Sikh cause, much like "jagirs" would for the Islamic emperor. The "Khalsa", in Sikhism, came to mean pure loyalty to the Guru, and not to the intermediary "masands" who were increasingly becoming corrupt, states Nesbitt.


title: Khalsa

text: The Sikhs faced religious persecution during the Mughal Empire rule. Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru, was arrested and executed by Mughal Emperor Jahangir in 1606. The following Guru, Guru Hargobind formally militarised the Sikhs and emphasised the complementary nature of the temporal power and spiritual power. In 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs and the father of Guru Gobind Singh was executed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for resisting religious persecution of non-Muslims, and for refusing to convert to Islam. Guru Gobind Singh’s sons were killed since they refused to convert to Islam.


title: Khalsa

text: In 1699, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh asked Sikhs to gather at Shri Anandpur Sahib on 13 April 1699, the day of Vaisakhi (the annual harvest festival). Guru Gobind Singh addressed the congregation from the entryway of a tent pitched on a hill (now called Shri Kesgarh Sahib). He drew his sword, according to the Sikh tradition, and then asked for a volunteer from those who gathered, someone willing to sacrifice his head. One came forward, whom he took inside a tent. The Guru returned to the crowd without the volunteer, but with a bloody sword. He asked for another volunteer and repeated the same process of returning from the tent without anyone and with a bloodied sword four more times. After the fifth volunteer went with him into the tent, the Guru returned with all five volunteers, all safe. Rather, the Guru had slaughtered 5 goats from which the blood had appeared. He called the volunteers the "Panj Pyare" and the first Khalsa in the Sikh tradition. These five volunteers were : Daya Ram (Bhai Daya Singh), Dharam Das (Bhai Dharam Singh), Himmat Rai (Bhai Himmat Singh), Mohkam Chand (Bhai Mohkam Singh), and Sahib Chand (Bhai Sahib Singh).


title: Khalsa

text: Guru Gobind Singh then mixed water and sugar into an iron bowl, stirring it with a double-edged sword while reciting gurbani to prepare what he called Amrit ("nectar"). He then administered this to the "Panj Pyare", accompanied with recitations from the Adi Granth, thus founding the "khanda ki pahul" (baptism ceremony) of a Khalsa – a warrior community. After the first five Khalsa had been baptized, the Guru asked the five to baptize him as a Khalsa. This made the Guru the sixth Khalsa, and his name changed from Guru Gobind Rai to Guru Gobind Singh.


title: Khalsa

text: He introduced ideas that indirectly challenged the discriminatory taxes imposed by Islamic authorities. For example, Aurangzeb had imposed taxes on non-Muslims that were collected from the Sikhs as well, for example the jizya (poll tax on non-Muslims), pilgrim tax and "Bhaddar" tax – the last being a tax to be paid by anyone following the Hindu ritual of shaving the head after the death of a loved one and cremation. Guru Gobind Singh Ji declared that Khalsa do not need to continue this practice, because "Bhaddar" is not dharam, but a "bharam" (illusion). Not shaving the head also meant not having to pay the taxes by Sikhs who lived in Delhi and other parts of the Mughal Empire. However, the new code of conduct also led to internal disagreements between Sikhs in the 18th century, particularly between the Nanakpanthi and the Khalsa.


title: Khalsa

text: “Guru Gobind Singh Ji” had a deep respect for the Khalsa, and stated that there is no difference between the True Guru and the "Sangat" (panth). Before his founding of the Khalsa, the Sikh movement had used the Sanskrit word "Sisya" (literally, disciple or student), but the favored term thereafter became Khalsa. Additionally, prior to the Khalsa, the Sikh congregations across India had a system of "Masands" appointed by the Sikh Gurus. The "Masands" led the local Sikh communities, local temples, collected wealth and donations for the Sikh cause. “Guru Gobind Singh Ji” concluded that the "Masands" system had become corrupt, he abolished them and introduced a more centralized system with the help of Khalsa that was under his direct supervision. These developments created two groups of Sikhs, those who initiated as Khalsa, and others who remained Sikhs but did not undertake the initiation. The Khalsa Sikhs saw themselves as a separate religious entity, while the Nanak-panthi Sikhs retained their different perspective.


title: Khalsa

text: The Khalsa warrior community tradition started by “Guru Gobind Singh Ji” has contributed to modern scholarly debate on pluralism within Sikhism. His tradition has survived into the modern times, with initiated Sikh referred to as Khalsa Sikh, while those who do not get baptized referred to as Sahajdhari Sikhs.


title: Khalsa

text: He also announced a code of discipline for Khalsa warriors. Tobacco, eating meat slaughtered according to Muslim ritual and sexual intercourse with any person other than spouse were forbidden. The Khalsas also agreed to never interact with those who followed rivals or their successors. The co-initiation of men and women from different castes into the ranks of Khalsa also institutionalized the principle of equality in Sikhism regardless of one's caste or gender. According to Owen and Sambhi, Guru Gobind Singh Ji's significance to the Sikh tradition has been very important, as he institutionalized the Khalsa, resisted the ongoing persecution by the Mughal Empire, and continued "the defense of Sikhism and Hinduism against the Muslim assault of Aurangzeb".


title: Khalsa

text: According to the Sikh Code of Conduct (Sikh Rehat Maryada), Amritdhari Khalsa Sikh men must wear a turban and the 5 K's. Baptized women are not required to tie a turban, and it remains a personal choice. It also clearly states that it is not appropriate for Sikh women to cover their face with any type of veil as practiced in the Indian, Islamic, or Judeo-Christian traditions. Piercing of the nose or ears for wearing ornaments is forbidden for Sikh men and women. Sikhs cannot wear any token of any other faith. Sikhs must not have their head bare or wear caps. They also cannot wear any ornaments piercing through any part of the body.


title: Khalsa

text: The four prohibitions or mandatory restrictions of the Khalsa or life of Khalsa at time of Guru Gobind Singh Ji are:


title: Khalsa

text: A Khalsa who breaks any code of conduct is no longer a Khalsa and is excommunicated from the Khalsa Panth and must go and 'pesh' (get baptized again). Guru Gobind Singh Ji also gave the Khalsa 52 hukams or 52 specific additional guidelines while living in Nanded in 1708.


title: Khalsa

text: A Khalsa is enjoined, to be honest, treat everyone as equal, meditate on God, maintain his fidelity, resist tyranny and religious persecution of oneself and others.


title: Khalsa

text: One of the duties of the Khalsa is to practice arms. This has been deemed necessary due to the rising persecution of the rulers. Before joining the Khalsa, most of the people were from professions like farming, pottery, masonry, carpenters, Labanas, etc.


title: Khalsa

text: Guru Gobind Singh Ji in Oct 1708 deputed his disciple Banda Singh Bahadur Ji to lead the Khalsa in an uprising against the Mughals. Banda Singh Bahadur Ji first established a Sikh kingdom and then brought in the Land reforms in the form of breaking up large estates and distributing the land to peasants. He and his comrades were eventually defeated and executed, but he became an icon among the Sikhs. After a long exile the Khalsa regrouped under Nawab Kapur Singh, who gathered local Khalsa leaders and created "Dal Khalsa", a coalition army. The Dal Khalsa fought against the Mughals and the Afghans, eventually resulting in the establishment of a number of small republics called misls (autonomous confederacies) and later in the formation of the Sikh Empire.


title: Khalsa

text: After the fall of the Mughal empire and the later establishment of the Sikh Empire in Punjab, the Khalsa was converted into a strong, multireligious and multinational fighting force, modernized according to European principles: the Sikh Khalsa Army which had a huge role in the expansion of the empire. Led by generals like: Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji himself, Misr Diwan Chand and Hari Singh Nalwa. It successfully defeated all its adversaries, including the Afghan tribals and army, Hill Chiefs, Misldars, Chinese, Tibetan and Gurkhas. By the time of death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji in 1839, the whole army of Sikh Empire was assessed at 120,000 men, with 250 artillery pieces. The irregular levies were included.


title: Khalsa

text: The official name of the state (Sikh Empire) of Sikhs was "Sarkar-i-Khalsa": Government of the Khalsa. The boundaries of this state stretched from Tibet to Afghanistan and from Kashmir to Sutlej in the south and included regions of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Ladakh, etc. The "Sarkar-i-Khalsa" was dissolved during two wars fought against the British between 1846 and 1849.


title: Khalsa

text: Initiation into the Khalsa is referred to as Amrit Sanchar (water of immortality life-cycle rite) or Khande di Pahul (Initiation with the double edged sword). Anyone from any previous religion, age, or knowledge group can take Amrit (Amrit Chhakh) when they are convinced that they are ready. This baptism is done by the Panj Pyare in front of the Guru Granth Sahib. The devotee must arrive at the place of baptism, usually a Gurdwara, in the morning after bathing completely including having washed their hair and must be wearing the 5 articles of the Khalsa uniform. After baptism, the new Singh or Kaur must abide by the four restrictions or must get re-baptised if they break any of them. Jasjpit Singh in Lucinda Mosher book describes taking Amrit as a huge commitment, "You are making a commitment to God, to God's creation, to yourself – and you're giving up yourself. It is like giving up your own ego and accepting God into your life – and accepting yourself as one with the entire creation."


title: Khalsa

text: With the creation of Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh Ji had abolished all existing social divisions in line with the teachings of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. In their new order, the former lowest of the low would stand with the former highest; all would become one and drink from the same vessel. All previous beliefs relating to family, occupation, customs and ceremonies were declared useless by the Guru. This caused discomfort to the conservative followers of the Guru and they protested. Many departed from the ceremony, but the Guru declared that the low castes should be raised and would dwell next to him.


title: Khalsa

text: Sri Gur Sobha (18th century) by Senapati contains two sections ("adhyays") on the controversies that arose, when Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji's disciples in Delhi heard the news of his new order. Much of the controversy stated in "Sri Gur Sobha" revolves around "bhaddar", the ritual shaving of head after death of a close relative, which was discouraged by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. According to Sainapti, while creating the Khalsa, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji said that "bhaddar" is "bharam" (illusion), and not "dharam".


title: Khalsa

text: Tensions developed between the Punjabi Khatri disciples of the Guru in Delhi, and members of the newly formed Khalsa. A prominent Khatri disciple was expelled from the place of worship ("dharmasala") for refusing to join the Khalsa. Another disciple was expelled for eating with him, starting a chain of further expulsions. The expelled disciples convened a community gathering, at which two wealthy Khatris demanded that the Khalsa produce a written order from the Guru that a new mandatory code of conduct had been promulgated. A Khatri family that refused to follow the "bhaddar" ritual was boycotted by the Khatri community. The Khatri council (panch) closed the bazaar to pressure the Khalsa. The Khalsa petitioned the state officials to intervene, who forced reopening of the shops. Later, peace was established between the two groups in a "sangat" (congregation). However, hostility between some Khatris and the Khalsa persisted in the later years.


title: Khalsa

text: In contrast to the "Khalsa" Sikh, a "Sahajdhari" Sikh is one who reveres the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, but has not undergone the initiation. Sahajdhari Sikhs do not accept some or all elements of the dress and behavioral codes of the Khalsa Sikhs.


title: Khalsa

text: Today, the Khalsa is respected by the entire gamut of Sikhs; however, not all Sikhs are Amritdharis The issue of Khalsa code of conduct has led to several controversies. In the early 1950s, a serious split occurred in the Canadian Sikh community, when the Khalsa Diwan Society in Vancouver, British Columbia elected a clean-shaven Sikh to serve on its management committee. Although most of the early Sikh immigrants to Canada were non-Khalsa, and a majority of the members of the society were clean-shaven non-Khalsa Sikhs, a faction objected to the election of a non-Khalsa to the management committee. The factions in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia broke away from the Khalsa Diwan Society and established their own gurdwara society called Akali Singh.


title: Khalsa

text: The Khalsa has been predominantly a male institution in Sikh history, with "Khalsa" authority with the male leaders. In the contemporary era, it has become open to women but its authority remains with Sikh men.


title: Khalsa

text: 3HO is a western sect that emerged in 1971, founded by Harbhajan Singh Khalsa also known as Yogi Bhajan. It requires both men and women to wear turbans, and adopt the surname Khalsa.


title: Khalsa

text: Each year the Khalsa display their military skills around the world at a festival called Hola Mohalla. During Hola Mohalla, military exercises are performed alongside mock battles followed by kirtan and valor poetry competitions. The Khalsa also lead the Sikhs in the annual Vaisakhi parade.


title: Khalsa

text: Worldwide there are nearly 25-30 million Khalsa Sikhs who follow the 5 Ks strictly and tied turban having long hair with moustache and beard.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Although the term is Latin, the phrase was not used by the ancient Romans, and first appeared in a thesis written in Germany in 1689.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Today's best known examples of "damnatio memoriae" from antiquity concern chiselling stone inscriptions or deliberately omitting certain information from them.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: According to Stefan Zawadzki, the oldest known examples of such practices come from around 2000-3000 BC. He cites the example of Lagash (an ancient city-state founded by the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia), where preserved inscriptions concerning a conflict with another city-state, Umma, do not mention the ruler of Umma, but describe him as "the man of Umma", which Zawadzki sees as an example of deliberate degradation of the ruler of Umma to the role of an unworthy person whose name and position in history the rulers of Lagash did not want to record for posterity.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Egyptians also practiced this, as seen in relics from pharaoh Akhenaten’s tomb and elsewhere. Akhenaten’s sole worship of the god Aten, instead of the many gods prior to the time, was considered heretical. During his reign, Akhenaten endeavoured to have all references to the god Amun chipped away and removed. After his reign, temples to the Aten were dismantled and the stones reused to create other temples. Images of Akhenaten had their faces chipped away, and images and references to Amun reappeared. The people blamed their misfortunes on Akhenaten's shift of worship to Atenism, away from the gods they served before him.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Another Egyptian victim of this practice was pharaoh Ay. The campaign of "damnatio memoriae" against Akhenaten and Ay's was initiated by the latter's successor, Horemheb, who decided to erase from history all pharaohs associated with the unpopular Amarna Period; this process was continued by Horemheb's successors.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Another example of as a punishment in Ancient Greece was the one meted out by the peoples of Ephesus after Herostratus set fire to the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of antiquity. Felons would be erased from history for the crimes they had committed.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: In ancient Roman society, "a Roman's house was perceived as an extension of the self, signalling piety to divine protectors and social and genealogical status to the world outside." Similarly, just as the domus would have been seen as an extension of the self, memory was thought of as one of the best ways to understand the self. In a society without much written documentation, memory training was a big part of Roman education. Orators, leaders, and poets alike used memory training devices or memory palaces to help give speeches or tell long epic poems. In "Natural History", Pliny writes:It would be far from easy to pronounce what person has been the most remarkable for the excellence of his memory, that blessing so essential for the enjoyment of life, there being so many that were celebrated for it. King Cyrus knew all the soldiers of his army by name: L. Scipio the names of all the Roman people.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Memory palaces provided an aid for remembering certain key ideas. By assigning locations in their homes for different ideas, poets or the like could walk back and forth through their house, recalling ideas with every step. Memory training often involved assigning ideas to wall paintings, floor mosaics, and sculptures that adorned many ancient Roman homes. The punishment of involved altering the rooms, many times destroying or tampering with the art in their homes as well, so the house would no longer be identifiable as the perpetrator's home. This would in turn, erase the perpetrator's very existence.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: In ancient Rome, the practice of was the condemnation of emperors after their deaths. If the Senate or a later emperor did not like the acts of an emperor, they could have his property seized, his name erased and his statues reworked (normally defaced). Because there is an economic incentive to seize property and rework statues, historians and archaeologists have had difficulty determining when official actually took place, although it seems to have been quite rare.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Compounding this difficulty is the fact that a completely successful results—by definition—in the full and total erasure of the subject from the historical record. In the case of figures such as emperors or consuls it is unlikely that complete success was possible, as even comprehensive obliteration of the person's existence and actions in records and the like would continue to be historically visible without extensive reworking. The impracticality of such a cover-up could be vast—in the case of Emperor Geta, for example, coins bearing his effigy proved difficult to entirely remove from circulation for several years, even though the mere mention of his name was punishable by death.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Difficulties in implementation also arose if there was not full and enduring agreement with the punishment, such as when the Senate's condemnation of Nero was implemented—leading to attacks on many of his statues—but subsequently evaded with the enormous funeral he was given by Vitellius. Similarly, it was often difficult to prevent later historians from "resurrecting" the memory of the sanctioned person.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: In the Middle Ages, heresiarchs could have their memory condemned. The Council of Constance decreed the of John Wycliffe.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: The practice of replacing pagan beliefs and motifs with Christian, and purposefully not recording the pagan history, has been compared to as well.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: While complete has not been attempted in modern times—naming or writing about a person fallen from favour is not subject to formal punishment—less total examples of in modern times include numerous examples from the Soviet Union, retouching photos to remove individuals such as Leon Trotsky, Nikolay Yezhov, and even Stalin. After Stalin ordered the murder of Grigory Kulik's wife Kira Kulik-Simonich, all images of the woman disappeared, and historians have no idea of what she looked like. Following their fall from favour, Lavrentiy Beria and others were removed from articles in the "Great Soviet Encyclopedia". Following the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, many communist statues, particularly of Lenin and Stalin, were removed from former Soviet satellite states. Following a 2015 decision, Ukraine successfully dismantled all 1,320 statues of Lenin after its independence, as well as renaming roads and structures named under Soviet authority.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: The graphic designer David King had a strong interest in Soviet art and design, and amassed a collection of over 250,000 images. His most striking examples of before-and-after alterations were published as "The Commissar Vanishes".


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: 19th century Polish writers often omitted mentioning two kings from the list of Polish monarchs, Bezprym and Wenceslaus III of Bohemia, which has resulted in their being omitted from many later works as well.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: The treatment of Chinese politician Zhao Ziyang following his fall from grace inside the Chinese Communist Party is regarded as another modern case of .


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: The destruction of all copies of "The Victory of Faith" in order to erase Ernst Röhm is considered an act of National Socialist "damnatio memoriae". In the end, two copies survived: one preserved in London and one preserved by the Communist government of East Germany.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: The term is used in modern scholarship to cover a wide array of official and unofficial sanctions through which the physical remnants and memories of a deceased individual are destroyed.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Looking at cases of in modern Irish history, Guy Beiner has argued that iconoclastic vandalism only makes martyrs of the "dishonored," thus ensuring that they will be remembered for all time. Nonetheless, Beiner goes on to argue that the purpose of —rather than being to erase people from history—was to guarantee only negative memories of those who were so dishonored. Pointing out that did not erase people from history but in effect kept their memory alive, Beiner concluded that those who partake in the destruction of a monument should be considered agents of memory.


title: Damnatio memoriae

text: Author Charles Hedrick proposes that a distinction be made between (the condemnation of a deceased person) and (the actual erasure of another from historical texts).


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Columbus is a 2017 American drama film written, directed, and edited by Kogonada in his feature directorial debut. The film follows the son of a renowned architecture scholar (John Cho) who gets stranded in Columbus, Indiana and strikes up a friendship with a young architecture enthusiast (Haley Lu Richardson) who works at the local library. Michelle Forbes, Rory Culkin, and Parker Posey appear in supporting roles. The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was released in the United States on August 4, 2017, by the Sundance Institute, receiving acclaim from critics.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: In Columbus, Indiana, Jin Lee arrives from South Korea to watch over his estranged father who, while visiting the town to give a lecture about architecture, has fallen into a coma and is now in a local hospital. One day Jin meets Casey, a young woman who works in a library near the hospital. Casey lives with and takes care of her mother, a recovering drug addict.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Casey and Jin quickly build a rapport as she guides him around Columbus for several days. The two discuss the local architecture while simultaneously opening up about themselves to each other. Jin reveals his feelings of resentment toward his father, whom Jin believes to have cared more about work than for him. Casey also opens up about her dream of getting a job in the architecture industry. However, she confesses that she cannot leave her mother in order to pursue it. Jin advises that it is her life and that Casey is holding herself back.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: One night, Casey and Jin are wandering around Columbus when Casey discovers that her mother had been lying to her and has perhaps relapsed. Following this incident, Casey comes to the conclusion that it is in her best interest to move on and decides to leave Columbus in order to pursue her dream. Jin and Casey share a tender hug goodbye and Casey leaves, while Jin stays behind to watch over his ailing father.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: The film was shot on location in Columbus, Indiana, over 18 days. The film began shooting on July 31, 2016, and concluded on August 20, 2016.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Kogonada was inspired by director Yasujirō Ozu, particularly his 1951 film "Early Summer", incorporating elements of his style and shot selection into "Columbus". He notes the similar use of negative space in Columbus, explaining that "architecture is the structuring of emptiness", which he compares to that of human emotion.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Among the famous Modernist buildings that feature in the film are the First Christian Church by Eliel Saarinen, the Irwin Union Bank, Miller House, and North Christian Church by Eliel's son Eero Saarinen, and the Cleo Rogers Memorial Library by I. M. Pei. For more information see Columbus, Indiana.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Kogonada visited Columbus on holiday. Inspired by the city's architecture, he stated that he "deeply wanted it to be a part of the first film I made". He describes the buildings there as having "an extraordinary premise for drama" and that the architecture of which forms the common ground between Jin and Casey when they are first introduced.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Kogonada sought out Hammock to create the soundtrack for Columbus after reading an interview with the band, claiming "they were talking about the relationship between absence and presence in their music – which was a mind-blowing moment – and I thought, ‘They have to be the music for this film.’"


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: The film premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2017. The film was released on August 4, 2017, by the Sundance Institute The film was later released in the United Kingdom and Ireland, on October 5, 2018.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: "Columbus" had a domestic opening weekend gross of $28,800 from two theaters, one located in New York City and the other located in Los Angeles, averaging $14,400 per theater. In its second weekend of release, "Columbus" grossed $44,460 from seven theaters, averaging $6,351 per theater. In its third weekend of release, "Columbus" grossed $44,450 from twelve theaters, averaging $3,705 per theater.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: In Columbus, Indiana, the setting of the film, "Columbus" sold a record breaking 8,953 tickets over the course of a six-week local run playing at the "YES Cinema". The previous record holder was "The King's Speech" with 3,700 tickets sold over a nine-week run.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Internationally, the film grossed $75,970 following release; $13,824 gross total in Portugal; $6,671 gross total in the United Kingdom; $55,475 gross total in South Korea.


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 97% based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Wonderfully acted and artfully composed, "Columbus" balances the clean lines of architecture against the messiness of love, with tenderly moving results." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100, based on reviews from 27 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" wrote, "How do you make a ravishing romance about architecture? You'll find the answer with Kogonada, the video essayist and critic whose debut feature, "Columbus", is a spellbinder." Wrapping up his review, Travers concluded that ""Columbus" is a whisper-soft debut from Kogonada that nonetheless results in something unique and unforgettable. It's pure cinema." In his review for "The Hollywood Reporter", Boyd van Hoeij called the film a "quietly masterful feature debut" for Kogonada and wrote, "One of the film's chief pleasures is how it keeps the conversation between the various characters flowing while gently avoiding falling into any of the possible romantic-entanglement traps that viewers used to more conventional romantic works might be expecting. The fact it is accessible for people without any prior knowledge of either Modernism or architecture in general is another plus, though the film's clearly too thoughtful and quietly masterful to ever qualify as a real crowd-pleaser."


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Many critics praised the leading pair of Cho and Richardson. Geoff Berkshire of "Variety" wrote that "Together they form an unexpected, but perfectly constructed, pair." A.A. Dowd said "The two have a laid-back chemistry, an easy melancholy communion, that stops Columbus from ever feeling too academic. Come for the breathtaking architectural scenery, stay for the likable pair staring up at it." Kate Erbland from "IndieWire" stated that Cho and Richardson were "perfect" for their roles and went onto to write "The pair have prodigious chemistry, but the real pleasure of "Columbus" is watching that bond deepen, and the comfort that Casey and Jin ultimately find in each other."


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Cho's performance was praised, and the recurring question from critics was why had Cho not yet become a leading man in Hollywood. Chris Nashawaty of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that "Cho gives Jin a real warmth and empathy". A.A. Dowd from "The A.V. Club" said "Cho, in a too-rare leading role, delivers the kind of sensitive performance that's always banged at the lid of his franchise work." Justin Chang of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote that Cho's performance contained "whip-smart charisma [that] has long warranted more leading roles like this one." Katie Walsh from "The Providence Journal" declared that Cho's performance was "fantastic" and described it as "subtle, specific and quietly stirring."


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Richardson's performance was also acclaimed. Brian Formo of "Collider" wrote "Richardson puts the story on her shoulders and elevates the film into a beguiling, thin air. She lends the beautiful but empty buildings a beating heart." Oliver Jones of "The New York Observer" commended Richardson's "naturalism". Berkshire said of Richardson's performance "relative newcomer proving her ability of holding the screen with maximum soulfulness in a minimalist drama." Tara Brady of "The Irish Times" wrote of Richardson's performance "the blazing Haley Lu Richardson, wrings everything from her best-written role since "The Edge of Seventeen"."


title: Columbus (2017 film)

text: Ben Nicholson of "Sight and Sound" magazine considered the auteurist tendencies of the director, Kogonada, which are demonstrated in the film; "It is perhaps unsurprising to those familiar with Kogonada’s acclaimed video-essay work, which often observes the subtle details and recurring motifs of auteurist vision, that his feature debut would be equally meticulous." Sheila O’Malley noted; "What Kogonada has done with 'Columbus' (along with cinematographer Elisha Christian) is to blend the background into the foreground and vice versa, so that you see things through the eyes of the two architecture-obsessed main characters. Watching the film is almost like feeling the muscles in your eyes shift, as you look up from reading a book to stare out at the ocean. From the very first shot, it's clear that the buildings will be essential. They are a part of the lives unfolding in their shadows. Sometimes it almost seems like they are listening. There is a story in 'Columbus'. What is remarkable is how intense it is, given the stillness and quiet of Kogonada's style, and the focus with which he films the buildings."


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: Carpathian Ruthenia (; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast, with smaller parts in eastern Slovakia (largely in Prešov Region and Košice Region) and the Lemko Region in Poland.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: From the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin (in the 10th century) to the end of World War I (Treaty of Trianon in 1920), most of this region was part of the Kingdom of Hungary. In the interwar period, it was part of the First and Second Czechoslovak Republic. Before World War II the region was annexed by the Kingdom of Hungary once again. After the war, it was annexed by the Soviet Union and became part of Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: It is an ethnically diverse region, inhabited mostly by people who regard themselves as ethnic Ukrainians, Rusyns, Lemkos, Boykos, Hutsuls, Hungarians, Romanians, Slovaks and Poles. It also has small Jewish and Romani minorities. The most commonly spoken languages are Rusyn, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, and Polish.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: The name Carpathian Ruthenia is sometimes used for the contiguous cross-border area of Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland inhabited by Ruthenians. The local Ruthenian population self-identifies in different ways: some consider themselves to be Ukrainians; some consider themselves to be Russians; and some consider themselves to be a separate and unique Slavic group of Rusyns. To describe their home region, most Rusyns use the term "Zakarpattia" (Trans-Carpathia; literally "beyond the Carpathian mountains"). This is contrasted implicitly with "Prykarpattia" (Ciscarpathia; "Near-Carpathia"), an unofficial region in Ukraine, to the immediate north-east of the central area of the Carpathian Range, and potentially including its foothills, the Subcarpathian basin and part of the surrounding plains.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: From a Hungarian, Slovak and Czech perspective the region is usually described as Subcarpathia (literally "below the Carpathians"), although technically this name refers only to a long, narrow basin that flanks the northern side of the mountains.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: During the period in which the region was administered by the Hungarian states it was officially referred to in Hungarian as Kárpátalja (literally: "the base of the Carpathians") or the north-eastern regions of medieval "Upper Hungary", which in the 16th century was contested between the Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: The Romanian name of the region is Maramureș, which is geographically located in the eastern and south-eastern portions of the region.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: During the period of Czechoslovak administration in the first half of the 20th century, the region was referred to for a while as "Rusinsko" (Ruthenia) or "Karpatske Rusinsko", and later as Subcarpathian Rus (Czech and Slovak: "Podkarpatská Rus") or Subcarpathian Ukraine (Czech and Slovak: "Podkarpatská Ukrajina"), and from 1928 as Subcarpathian Ruthenian Land. (Czech: "Země podkarpatoruská", Slovak: "Krajina podkarpatoruská").


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: Alternative, unofficial names used in Czechoslovakia before World War II included Subcarpathia (Czech and Slovak: "Podkarpatsko"), Transcarpathia (Czech and Slovak: Zakarpatsko), Transcarpathian Ukraine (Czech and Slovak: "Zakarpatská Ukrajina"), Carpathian Rus/Ruthenia (Czech and Slovak: "Karpatská Rus") and, occasionally, Hungarian Rus/Ruthenia (; ).


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: The region declared its independence as Carpatho-Ukraine on March 15, 1939, but was occupied and annexed by Hungary on the same day, and remained under Hungarian control until the end of the World War II. During this period the region continued to possess a special administration and the term "Kárpátalja" was locally used.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: In 1944–1946, the region was occupied by the Soviet Army and was a separate political formation known as Transcarpathian Ukraine or Subcarpathian Ruthenia. During this period the region possessed some form of quasi-autonomy with its own legislature, while remaining under the governance of the Communist Party of Transcarpathian Ukraine. After the signing of a treaty between Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union as well as the decision of the regional council, Transcarpathia joined the Ukrainian SSR as the Zakarpattia Oblast.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: The region has subsequently been referred to as "Zakarpattia" () or "Transcarpathia", and on occasions as "Carpathian Rus’" (), "Transcarpathian Rus’" (), or "Subcarpathian Rus’" ().


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: Carpathian Ruthenia rests on the southern slopes of the eastern Carpathian Mountains, bordered to the east and south by the Tisza River, and to the west by the Hornád and Poprad Rivers. The region borders Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania, and makes up part of the Pannonian Plain.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: The region is predominantly rural and infrastructurally underdeveloped. The landscape is mostly mountainous; it is geographically separated from Ukraine, Slovakia, and Romania by mountains, and from Hungary by the Tisza river. The two major cities are Uzhhorod and Mukachevo, both with populations around 100,000. The population of the other five cities (including Khust and Berehovo) varies between 10,000 and 30,000. Other urban and rural populated places have a population of less than 10,000.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: During the Late Bronze Age in the 2nd millennium BCE, the region was characterized by Stanove culture, however, it only gained more advanced metalworking skills with the arrival of Thracians from the South with Kushtanovytsia culture in the 6th-3rd century BCE. In the 5th-3rd century BCE, Celts arrived from the West, bringing iron-melting skills and La Tène culture. A Thracian-Celtic symbiosis existed for a time in the region, after which appeared the Bastarnae. At that time, the Iranian-speaking Scythians and later a Sarmatian tribe called the Iazyges were present in the region. Proto-Slavic settlement began between the 2nd-century BCE and 2nd century CE, and during the Migration Period, the region was traversed by Huns and Gepids (4th century) and Pannonian Avars (6th century).


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: By the 8th and 9th century, the valleys of the Northern and Southern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains were "densely" settled by Slavic tribe of White Croats, who were closely related to East Slavic tribes who inhabited Prykarpattia, Volhynia, Transnistria and Dnieper Ukraine. Whereas some White Croats remained behind in Carpathian Ruthenia, others moved southward into the Balkans in the 7th century. Those who remained were conquered by Kievan Rus' in the late 10th century.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: In 896 the Hungarians crossed the Carpathian Range and migrated into the Pannonian Basin. Nestor's Chronicle wrote that Hungarian tribes had to fight against the Volochi and settled among Slavs when on their way to Pannonia. Prince Laborec fell from power under the efforts of the Hungarians and the Kievan forces. According to Gesta Hungarorum, the Hungarians defeated a united Bulgarian and Byzantine army led by Salan in the early 10th century on the plains of Alpár, who ruled over territory that was finally conquered by Hungarians. During the tenth and for most of the eleventh century the territory remained a borderland between the Kingdom of Hungary to the south and the Kievan Rus' Principality of Halych to the north.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: Slavs from the north (Galicia) and east – who actually arrived from Podolia via the mountain passes of Transylvania – continued to settle in small numbers in various parts of the Carpathian borderland, which the Hungarians and other medieval writers referred to as the Marchia Ruthenorum – the Rus' March. These new immigrants, from the north and east, like the Slavs already living in Carpathian Ruthenia, had by the eleventh century come to be known as the people of Rus', or Rusyns. Local Slavic nobility often intermarried with the Hungarian nobles to the south. Prince Rostislav, a Ruthenian noble unable to continue his family's rule of Kiev, governed a great deal of Transcarpathia from 1243 to 1261 for his father-in-law, Béla IV of Hungary. The territory's ethnic diversity increased with the influx of some 40,000 Cuman settlers, who came to the Pannonian Basin after their defeat by Vladimir II (Monomakh) in the 12th century and their ultimate defeat at the hands of the Mongols in 1238.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: During the early period of Hungarian administration, part of the area was included into the Gyepű border region, while the other part was under county authority and was included into the counties of Ung, Borsova and Szatmár. Later, the county administrative system was expanded to the whole of Transcarpathia, and the area was divided between the counties of Ung, Bereg, Ugocsa, and Máramaros. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century, during the collapse of the central power in the Kingdom of Hungary, the region was part of the domains of semi-independent oligarchs Amadeus Aba and Nicholas Pok. From 1280 to 1320, the north-western part of Carpathian Ruthenia was part of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: Between the 12th and 15th centuries, the area was probably colonized by Eastern Orthodox groups of Vlach highlanders with accompanying Ruthenian populations. All the groups, including local Slavic population, blended together, creating a distinctive culture from the main Ruthenian-speaking areas. Over time, because of geographical and political isolation from the main Ruthenian-speaking territory, the inhabitants developed distinctive features.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: In 1526 the region was divided between the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary and the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom. Beginning in 1570 the latter transformed to the Principality of Transylvania, which soon fell under Ottoman suzerainty. The part of Transcarpathia under Habsburg administration was included into the Captaincy of Upper Hungary, which was one of the administrative units of the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary. During this period, an important factor in the Ruthenian cultural identity, namely religion, came to the forefront. The Unions of Brest-Lytovsk (1595) and Ungvár (Uzhorod) (1646) were instituted, causing the Byzantine Orthodox Churches of Carpathian and Transcarpathian Rus' to come under the jurisdiction of Rome, thus establishing the so-called "Unia" of Eastern Catholic churches, the Ruthenian Catholic Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: In the 17th century (until 1648) the entire region was part of the Principality of Transylvania and between 1682 and 1685 its north-western part was administered by the Ottoman vassal state of Upper Hungary, while the south-eastern parts remained under the administration of Transylvania. From 1699 the entire region eventually became part of the Habsburg monarchy, divided between the Kingdom of Hungary and the Principality of Transylvania. Later, the entire region was included into the Kingdom of Hungary. Between 1850 and 1860 the Habsburg Kingdom of Hungary was divided into five military districts, and the region was part of the Military District of Kaschau.


title: Carpathian Ruthenia

text: After 1867, the region was administratively included into Transleithania or the Hungarian part of Austria-Hungary.