title: Dacia Duster

text: Renault Design Central Europe presented a concept car named Dacia Duster at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show. This concept vehicle was a 5-door SUV with rear suicide doors for easy access, that addressed the needs of families, with a roomy cabin in a compact package and a large trunk. The engine emission level was 139 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer and it had a fuel consumption of . The Dacia Duster was the first concept car developed by Dacia, in collaboration with the Renault Design Technocentre. The Duster normally has four seats but can be converted into a two-seat car, the passenger seat slides under the driver's seat and the right back seat slides under the left back seat freeing an extra room of ideal for a bicycle.


title: Dacia Duster

text: The Duster concept car had a 1.5-litre inline-four diesel engine, equipped with Bosch Mono-Jetronic fuel injection producing at 5400 rpm and at 2000 rpm of torque. It was a front-engine, two-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive vehicle, based on the Nissan B platform. It could accelerate from 0 to in 9.6 seconds. If the model had been produced, its initial price would have been around 15,000 euro (US$18,750).


title: Dacia Duster

text: At the 2012 São Paulo Motor Show, Renault presented the DCross Concept, based on the production version of the Renault Duster. It was designed by Renault Design América Latina and was meant to "underline the robustness and all-terrains capability of the Duster". It featured a bright green and matte black paint scheme, a raised ride height, roof racks and a spare tire atop, but no other details were given.


title: Dacia Duster

text: Romania has demonstrated a combat version of the Duster, complete with armoring, a winch, and roof-mounted machine gun.


title: Dacia Duster

text: In October 2014, a double cab pick-up show car called Duster Oroch was presented by Renault at the São Paulo Motor Show. The concept car takes design clues from the DCross Concept, revealed at the previous edition of the event.


title: Dacia Duster

text: Dacia Duster was also the name used to sell the ARO 10 on some markets, such as the United Kingdom, during the 1980s and early 1990s. It was offered in soft-top roadster and 2-door estate variants.


title: Landscape

text: A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal. A landscape includes the physical elements of geophysically defined landforms such as (ice-capped) mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of land use, buildings, and structures, and transitory elements such as lighting and weather conditions. Combining both their physical origins and the cultural overlay of human presence, often created over millennia, landscapes reflect a living synthesis of people and place that is vital to local and national identity.


title: Landscape

text: The character of a landscape helps define the self-image of the people who inhabit it and a sense of place that differentiates one region from other regions. It is the dynamic backdrop to people's lives. Landscape can be as varied as farmland, a landscape park or wilderness. The Earth has a vast range of landscapes, including the icy landscapes of polar regions, mountainous landscapes, vast arid desert landscapes, islands, and coastal landscapes, densely forested or wooded landscapes including past boreal forests and tropical rainforests, and agricultural landscapes of temperate and tropical regions. The activity of modifying the visible features of an area of land is referred to as landscaping.


title: Landscape

text: There are several definitions of what constitutes a landscape, depending on context. In common usage however, a landscape refers either to all the visible features of an area of land (usually rural), often considered in terms of aesthetic appeal, or to a pictorial representation of an area of countryside, specifically within the genre of landscape painting. When people deliberately improve the aesthetic appearance of a piece of land—by changing contours and vegetation, etc.—it is said to have been landscaped, though the result may not constitute a landscape according to some definitions.


title: Landscape

text: The word "landscape" ("landscipe" or "landscaef") arrived in England—and therefore into the English language—after the fifth century, following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons; these terms referred to a system of human-made spaces on the land. The term "landscape" emerged around the turn of the sixteenth century to denote a painting whose primary subject matter was natural scenery. "Land" (a word from Germanic origin) may be taken in its sense of something to which people belong (as in England being the land of the English). The suffix "-scape" is equivalent to the more common English suffix "-ship." The roots of "-ship" are etymologically akin to Old English "sceppan" or "scyppan", meaning "to shape". The suffix "-schaft" is related to the verb "schaffen", so that "-ship" and "shape" are also etymologically linked. The modern form of the word, with its connotations of scenery, appeared in the late sixteenth century when the term "landschap" was introduced by Dutch painters who used it to refer to paintings of inland natural or rural scenery. The word "landscape", first recorded in 1598, was borrowed from a Dutch painters' term. The popular conception of the "landscape" that is reflected in dictionaries conveys both a particular and a general meaning, the particular referring to an area of the Earth's surface and the general being that which can be seen by an observer. An example of this second usage can be found as early as 1662 in the Book of Common Prayer:


title: Landscape

text: Geomorphology is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical or chemical processes operating at or near Earth's surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do, to understand landform history and dynamics and to predict changes through a combination of field observations, physical experiments and numerical modeling. Geomorphology is practiced within physical geography, geology, geodesy, engineering geology, archaeology and geotechnical engineering. This broad base of interests contributes to many research styles and interests within the field.


title: Landscape

text: The surface of Earth is modified by a combination of surface processes that sculpt landscapes, and geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence, and shape the coastal geography. Surface processes comprise the action of water, wind, ice, fire, and living things on the surface of the Earth, along with chemical reactions that form soils and alter material properties, the stability and rate of change of topography under the force of gravity, and other factors, such as (in the very recent past) human alteration of the landscape. Many of these factors are strongly mediated by climate. Geologic processes include the uplift of mountain ranges, the growth of volcanoes, isostatic changes in land surface elevation (sometimes in response to surface processes), and the formation of deep sedimentary basins where the surface of Earth drops and is filled with material eroded from other parts of the landscape. The Earth surface and its topography therefore are an intersection of climatic, hydrologic, and biologic action with geologic processes.


title: Landscape

text: Desert, Plain, Taiga, Tundra, Wetland, Mountain, Mountain range, Cliff, Coast, Littoral zone, Glacier, Polar regions of Earth, Shrubland, Forest, Rainforest, Woodland, Jungle, Moors, Steppe, Valley.


title: Landscape

text: Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and organizational levels of research and policy.


title: Landscape

text: Landscape is a central concept in landscape ecology. It is, however, defined in quite different ways. For example: Carl Troll conceives of landscape not as a mental construct but as an objectively given 'organic entity', a "harmonic individuum of space".


title: Landscape

text: Ernst Neef defines landscapes as sections within the uninterrupted earth-wide interconnection of geofactors which are defined as such on the basis of their uniformity in terms of a specific land use, and are thus defined in an anthropocentric and relativistic way.


title: Landscape

text: According to Richard Forman and Michael Godron, a landscape is a heterogeneous land area composed of a cluster of interacting ecosystems that is repeated in similar form throughout, whereby they list woods, meadows, marshes and villages as examples of a landscape's ecosystems, and state that a landscape is an area at least a few kilometres wide.


title: Landscape

text: John A. Wiens opposes the traditional view expounded by Carl Troll, Isaak S. Zonneveld, Zev Naveh, Richard T. T. Forman/Michel Godron and others that landscapes are arenas in which humans interact with their environments on a kilometre-wide scale; instead, he defines 'landscape'—regardless of scale—as "the template on which spatial patterns influence ecological processes".


title: Landscape

text: The discipline of landscape science has been described as "bring[ing] landscape ecology and urban ecology together with other disciplines and cross-disciplinary fields to identify patterns and understand social-ecological processes influencing landscape change". A 2000 paper entitled "Geography and landscape science" states that "The whole of the disciplines involved in landscape research will be referred to as landscape science, although this term was used first in 1885 by the geographers Oppel and Troll". A 2013 guest editorial defines landscape science as "research that seeks to understand the relationship between people and their environment, with a focus on land use change and data pertaining to land resources at the landscape scale". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia of 1979 defines landscape science as "the branch of physical geography that deals with natural territorial complexes (or geographic complexes, geosystems) as structural parts of the earth's geographic mantle" and states that "The basis of landscape science is the theory that the geographic landscape is the primary element in the physicogeo-graphical differentiation of the earth. Landscape science deals with the origin, structure, and dynamics of landscapes, the laws of the development and arrangement of landscapes, and the transformation of landscapes by the economic activity of man.", and asserts that it was founded in Russia in the early 20th century by L. S. Berg and others, and outside Russia by the German S. Passarge.


title: Landscape

text: Integrated landscape management is a way of managing a landscape that brings together multiple stakeholders, who collaborate to integrate policy and practice for their different land use objectives, with the purpose of achieving sustainable landscapes. It recognises that, for example, one river basin can supply water for towns and agriculture, timber and food crops for smallholders and industry, and habitat for biodiversity; the way in which each one of these sectors pursues its goals can have impacts on the others. The intention is to minimise conflict between these different land use objectives and ecosystem services. This approach draws on landscape ecology, as well as many related fields that also seek to integrate different land uses and users, such as watershed management.


title: Landscape

text: Proponents of integrated landscape management argue that it is well-suited to address complex global challenges, such as those that are the focus of the Sustainable Development Goals. Integrated landscape management is increasingly taken up at the national, local and international level, for example the UN Environment Programme states that "UNEP champions the landscape approach de facto as it embodies the main elements of integrated ecosystem management".


title: Landscape

text: Landscape archaeology or landscape history is the study of the way in which humanity has changed the physical appearance of the environment - both present and past. Landscape generally refers to both natural environments and environments constructed by human beings. Natural landscapes are considered to be environments that have not been altered by humans in any shape or form. Cultural landscapes, on the other hand, are environments that have been altered in some manner by people (including temporary structures and places, such as campsites, that are created by human beings). Among archaeologists, the term landscape can refer to the meanings and alterations people mark onto their surroundings. As such, landscape archaeology is often employed to study the human use of land over extensive periods of time.


title: Landscape

text: The concept of cultural landscapes can be found in the European tradition of landscape painting. From the 16th century onwards, many European artists painted landscapes in favor of people, diminishing the people in their paintings to figures subsumed within broader, regionally specific landscapes.


title: Landscape

text: The geographer Otto Schlüter is credited with having first formally used "cultural landscape" as an academic term in the early 20th century. In 1908, Schlüter argued that by defining geography as a "Landschaftskunde" (landscape science) this would give geography a logical subject matter shared by no other discipline. He defined two forms of landscape: the "Urlandschaft" (transl. original landscape) or landscape that existed before major human induced changes and the "Kulturlandschaft" (transl. 'cultural landscape') a landscape created by human culture. The major task of geography was to trace the changes in these two landscapes.


title: Landscape

text: It was Carl O. Sauer, a human geographer, who was probably the most influential in promoting and developing the idea of cultural landscapes. Sauer was determined to stress the agency of culture as a force in shaping the visible features of the Earth's surface in delimited areas. Within his definition, the physical environment retains a central significance, as the medium with and through which human cultures act. His classic definition of a 'cultural landscape' reads as follows:


title: Landscape

text: The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a cultural group. Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium, the cultural landscape is the result.


title: Landscape

text: A cultural landscape, as defined by the World Heritage Committee, is the "cultural properties [that] represent the combined works of nature and of man."


title: Landscape

text: The World Heritage Committee identifies three categories of cultural landscape, ranging from (i) those landscapes most deliberately 'shaped' by people, through (ii) full range of 'combined' works, to (iii) those least evidently 'shaped' by people (yet highly valued). The three categories extracted from the Committee's Operational Guidelines, are as follows:


title: Landscape

text: The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the Imperial Family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate gardens created by scholars, poets, former government officials, soldiers and merchants, made for reflection and escape from the outside world. They create an idealized miniature landscape, which is meant to express the harmony that should exist between man and nature.


title: Landscape

text: A typical Chinese garden is enclosed by walls and includes one or more ponds, scholar's rocks, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries. By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings.


title: Landscape

text: The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the 'English garden', is a style of parkland garden intended to look as though it might be a natural landscape, although it may be very extensively re-arranged. It emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical "jardin à la française" of the 17th century as the principal style for large parks and gardens in Europe. The English garden (and later French landscape garden) presented an idealized view of nature. It drew inspiration from paintings of landscapes by Claude Lorraine and Nicolas Poussin, and from the classic Chinese gardens of the East, which had recently been described by European travellers and were realized in the Anglo-Chinese garden, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 1778).


title: Landscape

text: The English garden usually included a lake, sweeps of gently rolling lawns set against groves of trees, and recreations of classical temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape. The work of Lancelot "Capability" Brown and Humphry Repton was particularly influential. By the end of the 18th century the English garden was being imitated by the French landscape garden, and as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia, in Pavlovsk, the gardens of the future Emperor Paul. It also had a major influence on the form of the public parks and gardens which appeared around the world in the 19th century.


title: Landscape

text: Landscape architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, incorporating aspects of botany, horticulture, the fine arts, architecture, industrial design, geology and the earth sciences, environmental psychology, geography, and ecology. The activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation of public parks and parkways to site planning for campuses and corporate office parks, from the design of residential estates to the design of civil infrastructure and the management of large wilderness areas or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills. Landscape architects work on all types of structures and external space – large or small, urban, suburban and rural, and with "hard" (built) and "soft" (planted) materials, while paying attention to ecological sustainability.


title: Landscape

text: For the period before 1800, the history of landscape gardening (later called landscape architecture) is largely that of master planning and garden design for manor houses, palaces and royal properties, religious complexes, and centers of government. An example is the extensive work by André Le Nôtre at Vaux-le-Vicomte and at the Palace of Versailles for King Louis XIV of France. The first person to write of making a landscape was Joseph Addison in 1712. The term landscape architecture was invented by Gilbert Laing Meason in 1828 and was first used as a professional title by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1863. During the latter 19th century, the term landscape architect became used by professional people who designed landscapes. Frederick Law Olmsted used the term 'landscape architecture' as a profession for the first time when designing Central Park, New York City, US. Here the combination of traditional landscape gardening and the emerging field of city planning gave landscape architecture its unique focus. This use of the term landscape architect became established after Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and others founded the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) in 1899.


title: Landscape

text: Possibly the earliest landscape literature is found in Australian aboriginal myths (also known as Dreamtime or Dreaming stories, songlines, or Aboriginal oral literature), the stories traditionally performed by Aboriginal peoples within each of the language groups across Australia. All such myths variously tell significant truths within each Aboriginal group's local landscape. They effectively layer the whole of the Australian continent's topography with cultural nuance and deeper meaning, and empower selected audiences with the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of Australian Aboriginal ancestors back to time immemorial.


title: Landscape

text: In the West pastoral poetry represent the earliest form of landscape literature, though this literary genre presents an idealized landscape peopled by shepherds and shepherdesses, and creates "an image of a peaceful uncorrupted existence; a kind of prelapsarian world". The pastoral has its origins in the works of the Greek poet Theocritus (c. 316 - c. 260 BC). The Romantic period poet William Wordsworth created a modern, more realistic form of pastoral with "Michael, A Pastoral Poem" (1800).


title: Landscape

text: An early form of landscape poetry, Shanshui poetry, developed in China during the third and fourth centuries A.D.


title: Landscape

text: Topographical poetry is a genre of poetry that describes, and often praises, a landscape or place. John Denham's 1642 poem "Cooper's Hill" established the genre, which peaked in popularity in 18th-century England. Examples of topographical verse date, however, to the Late Classical period, and can be found throughout the Medieval era and during the Renaissance. Though the earliest examples come mostly from continental Europe, the topographical poetry in the tradition originating with Denham concerns itself with the classics, and many of the various types of topographical verse, such as river, ruin, or hilltop poems were established by the early 17th century. Alexander Pope's "Windsor Forest" (1713) and John Dyer's "Grongar Hill' (1762) are two other familiar examples. George Crabbe, the Suffolk regional poet, also wrote topographical poems, as did William Wordsworth, of which "Lines written a few miles above Tintern Abbey" is an obvious example. More recently, Matthew Arnold's "The Scholar Gipsy" (1853) praises the Oxfordshire countryside, and W. H. Auden's "In Praise of Limestone" (1948) uses a limestone landscape as an allegory.


title: Landscape

text: Subgenres of topographical poetry include the country house poem, written in 17th-century England to compliment a wealthy patron, and the prospect poem, describing the view from a distance or a temporal view into the future, with the sense of opportunity or expectation. When understood broadly as landscape poetry and when assessed from its establishment to the present, topographical poetry can take on many formal situations and types of places. Kenneth Baker, in his "Introduction to "The Faber Book of Landscape Poetry", identifies 37 varieties and compiles poems from the 16th through the 20th centuries—from Edmund Spenser to Sylvia Plath—correspondent to each type, from "Walks and Surveys," to "Mountains, Hills, and the View from Above," to "Violation of Nature and the Landscape," to "Spirits and Ghosts."


title: Landscape

text: Common aesthetic registers of which topographical poetry makes use include pastoral imagery, the sublime, and the picturesque, which include images of rivers, ruins, moonlight, birdsong, and clouds, peasants, mountains, caves, and waterscapes.


title: Landscape

text: Though describing a landscape or scenery, topographical poetry often, at least implicitly, addresses a political issue or the meaning of nationality in some way. The description of the landscape therefore becomes a poetic vehicle for a political message. For example, in John Denham's "Cooper's Hill," the speaker discusses the merits of the recently executed Charles I.


title: Landscape

text: One important aspect of British Romanticism – evident in painting and literature as well as in politics and philosophy – was a change in the way people perceived and valued the landscape. In particular, after William Gilpin's "Observations on the River Wye" was published in 1770, the idea of the picturesque began to influence artists and viewers. Gilpin advocated approaching the landscape "by the rules of picturesque beauty," which emphasized contrast and variety. Edmund Burke's "A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful" (1757) was also an influential text, as was Longinus' "On the Sublime" (early A.D., Greece), which was translated into English from the French in 1739. From the 18th century, a taste for the sublime in the natural landscape emerged alongside the idea of the sublime in language; that is elevated rhetoric or speech. A topographical poem that influenced the Romantics, was James Thomson's "The Seasons" (1726–30).


title: Landscape

text: The changing landscape, brought about by the industrial and agricultural revolutions, with the expansion of the city and depopulation of the countryside, was another influences on the growth of the Romantic movement in Britain. The poor condition of workers, the new class conflicts, and the pollution of the environment all led to a reaction against urbanism and industrialisation and a new emphasis on the beauty and value of nature and landscape. However, it was also a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, as well a reaction against the scientific rationalisation of nature.


title: Landscape

text: The poet William Wordsworth was a major contributor to the literature of landscape, as was his contemporary poet and novelist Walter Scott. Scott's influence was felt throughout Europe, as well as on major Victorian novelists in Britain, such as Emily Brontë, Mrs Gaskell, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy, as well as John Cowper Powys in the 20th-century. Margaret Drabble in "A Writer's Britain" suggests that Thomas Hardy "is perhaps the greatest writer of rural life and landscape" in English.


title: Landscape

text: Among European writers influenced by Scott were Frenchmen Honoré de Balzac and Alexandre Dumas and Italian Alessandro Manzoni. Manzoni's famous novel "The Betrothed" was inspired by Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe".


title: Landscape

text: Also influenced by Romanticism's approach to landscape was the American novelist Fenimore Cooper, who was admired by Victor Hugo and Balzac and characterized as the "American Scott."


title: Landscape

text: Landscape in Chinese poetry has often been closely tied to Chinese landscape painting, which developed much earlier than in the West. Many poems evoke specific paintings, and some are written in more empty areas of the scroll itself. Many painters also wrote poetry, especially in the scholar-official or literati tradition. Landscape images were present in the early "Shijing" and the "Chuci", but in later poetry the emphasis changed, as in painting to the "Shan shui" ( lit. "mountain-water") style featuring wild mountains, rivers and lakes, rather than landscape as a setting for a human presence. Shanshui poetry developed in China during the third and fourth centuries AD and left most of the varied landscapes of China largely unrepresented. "Shan shui" painting and poetry shows imaginary landscapes, though with features typical of some parts of South China; they remain popular to the present day.


title: Landscape

text: Fields and Gardens poetry (), in poetry) was a contrasting poetic movement which lasted for centuries, with a focused on the nature found in gardens, in backyards, and in the cultivated countryside. Fields and Gardens poetry is one of many Classical Chinese poetry genres. One of the main practitioners of the Fields and Gardens poetry genre was Tao Yuanming (also known as Tao Qian (365–427), among other names or versions of names). Tao Yuanming has been regarded as the first great poet associated with the Fields and Gardens poetry genre.


title: Landscape

text: Many landscape photographs show little or no human activity and are created in the pursuit of a pure, unsullied depiction of nature devoid of human influence, instead featuring subjects such as strongly defined landforms, weather, and ambient light. As with most forms of art, the definition of a landscape photograph is broad, and may include urban settings, industrial areas, and nature photography. Notable landscape photographers include Ansel Adams, Galen Rowell, Edward Weston, Ben Heine, Mark Gray and Fred Judge.


title: Landscape

text: The earliest forms of art around the world depict little that could really be called landscape, although ground-lines and sometimes indications of mountains, trees or other natural features are included. The earliest "pure landscapes" with no human figures are frescos from Minoan Greece of around 1500 BCE. Hunting scenes, especially those set in the enclosed vista of the reed beds of the Nile Delta from Ancient Egypt, can give a strong sense of place, but the emphasis is on individual plant forms and human and animal figures rather than the overall landscape setting. For a coherent depiction of a whole landscape, some rough system of perspective, or scaling for distance, is needed, and this seems from literary evidence to have first been developed in Ancient Greece in the Hellenistic period, although no large-scale examples survive. More ancient Roman landscapes survive, from the 1st century BCE onwards, especially frescos of landscapes decorating rooms that have been preserved at archaeological sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum and elsewhere, and mosaics.


title: Landscape

text: The Chinese ink painting tradition of shan shui ("mountain-water"), or "pure" landscape, in which the only sign of human life is usually a sage, or a glimpse of his hut, uses sophisticated landscape backgrounds to figure subjects, and landscape art of this period retains a classic and much-imitated status within the Chinese tradition.


title: Landscape

text: Both the Roman and Chinese traditions typically show grand panoramas of imaginary landscapes, generally backed with a range of spectacular mountains – in China often with waterfalls and in Rome often including sea, lakes or rivers. These were frequently used to bridge the gap between a foreground scene with figures and a distant panoramic vista, a persistent problem for landscape artists.


title: Landscape

text: A major contrast between landscape painting in the West and East Asia has been that while in the West until the 19th century it occupied a low position in the accepted hierarchy of genres, in East Asia the classic Chinese mountain-water ink painting was traditionally the most prestigious form of visual art. However, in the West, history painting came to require an extensive landscape background where appropriate, so the theory did not entirely work against the development of landscape painting – for several centuries landscapes were regularly promoted to the status of history painting by the addition of small figures to make a narrative scene, typically religious or mythological.


title: Landscape

text: Dutch Golden Age painting of the 17th century saw the dramatic growth of landscape painting, in which many artists specialized, and the development of extremely subtle realist techniques for depicting light and weather. The popularity of landscapes in the Netherlands was in part a reflection of the virtual disappearance of religious painting in a Calvinist society, and the decline of religious painting in the 18th and 19th centuries all over Europe combined with Romanticism to give landscapes a much greater and more prestigious place in 19th-century art than they had assumed before.


title: Landscape

text: In England, landscapes had initially been mostly backgrounds to portraits, typically suggesting the parks or estates of a landowner, though mostly painted in London by an artist who had never visited the site. the English tradition was founded by Anthony van Dyck and other, mostly Flemish, artists working in England. By the beginning of the 19th century the English artists with the highest modern reputations were mostly dedicated landscapists, showing the wide range of Romantic interpretations of the English landscape found in the works of John Constable, J.M.W. Turner and Samuel Palmer. However all these had difficulty establishing themselves in the contemporary art market, which still preferred history paintings and portraits.


title: Landscape

text: In Europe, as John Ruskin said, and Sir Kenneth Clark confirmed, landscape painting was the "chief artistic creation of the nineteenth century", and "the dominant art", with the result that in the following period people were "apt to assume that the appreciation of natural beauty and the painting of landscape is a normal and enduring part of our spiritual activity"


title: Landscape

text: The Romantic movement intensified the existing interest in landscape art, and remote and wild landscapes, which had been one recurring element in earlier landscape art, now became more prominent. The German Caspar David Friedrich had a distinctive style, influenced by his Danish training. To this he added a quasi-mystical Romanticism. French painters were slower to develop landscape painting, but from about the 1830s Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and other painters in the Barbizon School established a French landscape tradition that would become the most influential in Europe for a century, with the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists for the first time making landscape painting the main source of general stylistic innovation across all types of painting.


title: Landscape

text: In the United States, the Hudson River School, prominent in the middle to late 19th century, is probably the best-known native development in landscape art. These painters created works of mammoth scale that attempted to capture the epic scope of the landscapes that inspired them. The work of Thomas Cole, the school's generally acknowledged founder, has much in common with the philosophical ideals of European landscape paintings — a kind of secular faith in the spiritual benefits to be gained from the contemplation of natural beauty. Some of the later Hudson River School artists, such as Albert Bierstadt, created less comforting works that placed a greater emphasis (with a great deal of Romantic exaggeration) on the raw, even terrifying power of nature. The best examples of Canadian landscape art can be found in the works of the Group of Seven, prominent in the 1920s. Emily Carr was also closely associated with the Group of Seven, though was never an official member. Although certainly less dominant in the period after World War I, many significant artists still painted landscapes in the wide variety of styles exemplified by Neil Welliver, Alex Katz, Milton Avery, Peter Doig, Andrew Wyeth, David Hockney and Sidney Nolan.


title: Landscape

text: The term neo-romanticism is applied in British art history, to a loosely affiliated school of landscape painting that emerged around 1930 and continued until the early 1950s. These painters looked back to 19th-century artists such as William Blake and Samuel Palmer, but were also influenced by French cubist and post-cubist artists such as Pablo Picasso, André Masson, and Pavel Tchelitchew. This movement was motivated in part as a response to the threat of invasion during World War II. Artists particularly associated with the initiation of this movement included Paul Nash, John Piper, Henry Moore, Ivon Hitchens, and especially Graham Sutherland. A younger generation included John Minton, Michael Ayrton, John Craxton, Keith Vaughan, Robert Colquhoun, and Robert MacBryde.


title: Black box

text: In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The term can be used to refer to many inner workings, such as those of a transistor, an engine, an algorithm, the human brain, or an institution or government.


title: Black box

text: To analyse an open system with a typical "black box approach", only the behavior of the stimulus/response will be accounted for, to infer the (unknown) "box". The usual representation of this "black box system" is a data flow diagram centered in the box.


title: Black box

text: The opposite of a black box is a system where the inner components or logic are available for inspection, which is most commonly referred to as a white box (sometimes also known as a "clear box" or a "glass box").


title: Black box

text: The modern meaning of the term "black box" seems to have entered the English language around 1945. In electronic circuit theory the process of network synthesis from transfer functions, which led to electronic circuits being regarded as "black boxes" characterized by their response to signals applied to their ports, can be traced to Wilhelm Cauer who published his ideas in their most developed form in 1941. Although Cauer did not himself use the term, others who followed him certainly did describe the method as black-box analysis. Vitold Belevitch puts the concept of black-boxes even earlier, attributing the explicit use of two-port networks as black boxes to Franz Breisig in 1921 and argues that 2-terminal components were implicitly treated as black-boxes before that.


title: Black box

text: In cybernetics, a full treatment was given by Ross Ashby in 1956. A black box was described by Norbert Wiener in 1961 as an unknown system that was to be identified using the techniques of system identification. He saw the first step in self-organization as being to be able to copy the output behavior of a black box. Many other engineers, scientists and epistemologists, such as Mario Bunge, used and perfected the black box theory in the 1960s.


title: Black box

text: In systems theory, the "black box" is an abstraction representing a class of concrete open system which can be viewed solely in terms of its "stimuli inputs" and "output reactions":


title: Black box

text: The understanding of a "black box" is based on the "explanatory principle", the hypothesis of a causal relation between the "input" and the "output". This principle states that "input" and "output" are distinct, that the system has observable (and relatable) inputs and outputs and that the system is black to the observer (non-openable).


title: Black box

text: An observer makes observations over time. All observations of inputs and outputs of a "black box" can be written in a table, in which, at each of a sequence of times, the states of the "box’s" various parts, input and output, are recorded. Thus, using an example from Ashby, examining a box that has fallen from a flying saucer might lead to this protocol:


title: Black box

text: Thus every system, fundamentally, is investigated by the collection of a long protocol, drawn out in time, showing the sequence of input and output states. From this there follows the fundamental deduction that all knowledge obtainable from a Black Box (of given input and output) is such as can be obtained by re-coding the protocol (the "observation table"); all that, and nothing more.


title: Black box

text: If the observer also controls input, the investigation turns into an experiment (illustration), and hypotheses about cause and effect can be tested directly.


title: Black box

text: When the experimenter is also motivated to control the box, there is an active feedback in the box/observer relation, promoting what in control theory is called a feed forward architecture.


title: Black box

text: The "modeling process" is the construction of a predictive mathematical model, using existing historic data (observation table).


title: Black box

text: A developed "black box model" is a validated model when "black-box testing" methods ensures that it is, based solely on observable elements.


title: Black box

text: With backtesting, out of time data is always used when testing the black box model. Data has to be written down before it is pulled for black box inputs.


title: Black box

text: "Black box theories" are those theories defined only in terms of their function. The term can be applied in any field where some inquiry is made into the relations between aspects of the appearance of a system (exterior of the black box), with no attempt made to explain why those relations should exist (interior of the black box). In this context, Newton's theory of gravitation can be described as a black box theory.


title: Black box

text: Specifically, the inquiry is focused upon a system that has no immediately apparent characteristics and therefore has only factors for consideration held within itself hidden from immediate observation. The observer is assumed ignorant in the first instance as the majority of available data is held in an inner situation away from facile investigations. The "black box" element of the definition is shown as being characterised by a system where observable elements enter a perhaps imaginary box with a set of different outputs emerging which are also observable.


title: Black box

text: In humanities disciplines such as philosophy of mind and behaviorism, one of the uses of black box theory is to describe and understand psychological factors in fields such as marketing when applied to an analysis of consumer behaviour.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: Mythri Movie Makers Pvt. Ltd is an Indian film production company established by Naveen Yerneni, Y. Ravi Shankar, and Mohan Cherukuri, in 2015. It mainly produces and distributes Telugu films.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: Notable films produced by the company include "Srimanthudu, Janatha Garage, Rangasthalam, Uppena, , Mathu Vadalara" and "Sarkaru Vaari Paata". In 2019, Mohan Cherukuri left the company and the production is now headed by Naveen Yerneni and Y. Ravi Shankar.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: The company's first production was "Srimanthudu" starring Mahesh Babu, Shruti Haasan, Jagapathi Babu, Rajendra Prasad, Mukesh Rishi, Sampath Raj, Harish Uthaman and directed by Koratala Siva. Set on a budget of 4070 crore with Koratala Siva both directing and writing its screenplay, Devi Sri Prasad composed the score and R. Madhi handled the cinematography.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: Their second production was Janatha Garage starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Mohanlal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Nithya Menon in lead roles. It was also directed by Koratala Siva. Devi Sri Prasad composed the score, and Tirru handled the cinematography.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: In 2018 the company produced 3 movies. "Rangasthalam", starring Ram Charan Teja, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Aadhi Pinisetty, Jagapathi Babu and Prakash Raj in lead roles, was directed by Sukumar. Devi Sri Prasad composed the score, and R. Rathnavelu handled the cinematography. Their next film was "Savyasachi" starring Naga Chaitanya, R. Madhavan, Nidhhi Agerwal and Bhumika Chawla. This was followed by "Amar Akbar Anthony" starring Ravi Teja and Ileana D'Cruz and directed by Srinu Vaitla.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: In 2019 the company produced 4 films. It first released "Chitralahari" starring Sai Dharam Tej and directed by Kishore Tirumala. Their next venture was "Dear Comrade" starring Vijay Deverakonda and Rashmika Mandanna. This was followed by Nani's Gang Leader starring Nani and Priyanka Arul Mohan. Their final release of the year was "Mathu Vadalara" starring Sri Simha and Naresh Agastya.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: In 2021 the production house released 2 movies; Uppena staring Panja Tej and Krithi Shetty and "". Both of these were blockbusters at the box office. Following the success of Pushpa, the house launched numerous high budget projects with multiple actors.


title: Mythri Movie Makers

text: In 2022, more of their films were released: "Sarkaru Vaari Paata", "Ante Sundaraniki, "Happy Birthday" and "Aa Ammayi Gurinchi Meeku Cheppali". Despite high expectations, all four films received a lukewarm response at the box office. The same year the production house announced projects with Chiranjeevi, Balakrishna, Vijay Deverkonda, Ram Charan, and Jr.NTR as well as announcing the second part of Pushpa.


title: AA battery

text: The AA battery (or double-A battery) is a standard size single cell cylindrical dry battery. The IEC 60086 system calls the size R6, and ANSI C18 calls it 15. It is named UM-3 by JIS of Japan. Historically, it is known as D14 (hearing aid battery), U12 – later U7 (standard cell), or HP7 (for zinc chloride 'high power' version) in official documentation in the United Kingdom, or a "pen cell".


title: AA battery

text: AA batteries are common in portable electronic devices. An AA battery is composed of a single electrochemical cell that may be either a primary battery (disposable) or a rechargeable battery. Several different chemistries are used in their construction. The exact terminal voltage, capacity and practical discharge rates depend on cell chemistry; however, devices designed for AA cells will usually only take 1.2–1.5 V unless specified by the manufacturer.


title: AA battery

text: Introduced in 1907 by The American Ever Ready Company, the AA battery size was standardized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1947, but it had been in use in flashlights and electrical novelties before formal standardization. ANSI and IEC Battery nomenclature gives several designations for cells in this size, depending on cell features and chemistry. Due to their popularity in small flashlights, they are often called "penlight batteries".


title: AA battery

text: An AA cell measures in length, including the button terminal—and in diameter. The positive terminal button should be a minimum 1 mm high and a maximum 5.5 mm in diameter, the flat negative terminal should be a minimum diameter of 7 mm. 14500 Lithium Batteries are longer if they feature a protection circuit up to 53 mm.


title: AA battery

text: Alkaline AA cells have a weight of roughly , lithium AA cells around , and rechargeable Ni-MH cells around .


title: AA battery

text: Primary (non-rechargeable) zinc–carbon (dry cell) AA batteries have around 400–900 milliampere hours capacity, with measured capacity highly dependent on test conditions, duty cycle, and cut-off voltage. Zinc–carbon batteries are usually marketed as "general purpose" batteries. Zinc-chloride batteries store around 1,000 to 1,500 mAh are often sold as "heavy duty" or "super heavy duty". Alkaline batteries from 1,700 mAh to 2,850 mAh cost more than zinc-chloride batteries, but hold additional charge. AA size alkaline batteries are termed as LR06 by IEC, and AM-3 by JIS.


title: AA battery

text: Non-rechargeable lithium iron disulfide batteries are manufactured for devices that draw more current, such as digital cameras, where their high cost is offset by longer running time between battery changes and more constant voltage during discharge. The capacity of alkaline batteries is greatly reduced as the discharge current increases, however the capacity of a Li-FeS2 battery is not affected by high discharge currents nearly as much as alkaline batteries. Another advantage of lithium disulfide batteries compared to alkaline batteries is that they are less prone to leak. This is particularly important in expensive equipment, where a leaking alkaline battery can damage the equipment due to the corrosive electrolyte coming into contact with sensitive electronics. Lithium iron disulfide batteries are intended for use in equipment compatible with alkaline zinc batteries. Lithium-iron disulfide batteries can have an open-circuit voltage as high as 1.8 volts, but the closed-circuit voltage decreases, making this chemistry compatible with equipment intended for zinc-based batteries. A fresh alkaline zinc battery can have an open-circuit voltage of 1.6 volts, but a lithium iron disulfide battery with an open-circuit voltage below 1.7 volts is entirely discharged.


title: AA battery

text: nickel–cadmium (NiCd) with a capacity of roughly 600–1,000 mAh, nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) in various capacities of 600–2,750 mAh and lithium-ion.


title: AA battery

text: Lithium-ion chemistry has a nominal voltage of 3.6–3.7 volts, and are referred to as 14500 Li-ion batteries rather than AA.


title: AA battery

text: NiMH and Lithium-ion AA/14500 cells can supply most of their capacity even when under a high current drain (0.5A and higher), unlike Alkaline and Zinc-chloride ("Heavy Duty"/"Super Heavy Duty") cells which drop to a small fraction of their low current capacity before even reaching 1 C.


title: AA battery

text: A variant of the 14500 Li-ion batteries, sold by the Chinese company Kentli as "Kentli PH5" since 2014, comes with an internal buck converter at the positive electrode to downstep the output voltage from the normal 3.7 V to a very consistent (compared to alkaline, NiCd, or even NiMH cells) 1.5 V AA standard voltage. It exposes the normal 3.7 V Li-ion electrode in a ring around the AA electrode for charging. Its more regular voltage provides better drop-in compatibility for alkaline AA devices, and its lithium-ion chemistry provides a lower self-discharge at 3% per month. It holds a mediocre capacity of 1,600 mAh (1.5 V) at 50 mA drain, limited by the low efficiency of the step-down converter.


title: AA battery

text: In 2011, AA cells accounted for approximately 60% of alkaline battery sales in the United States. In Japan, 58% of alkaline batteries sold were AA, known in that country as "tansan" (単三). In Switzerland, AA batteries totaled 55% in both primary and secondary (rechargeable) battery sales.


title: Fala Chen

text: Fala Chen (; born 24 February 1982) is a Chinese American actress. She is known for her roles in Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" and HBO miniseries "Irma Vep" and "The Undoing".


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen got to recognition through her roles in Hong Kong TVB drama series including "Steps", "No Regrets", "Triumph in the Skies II", and "Lives of Omission". She also starred in the Hong Kong films "Tales from the Dark 2" (2013) and "Turning Point" (2009), as well as "Despicable Me 3" (2017 – Cantonese). On stage, she portrayed Kyra Hollis in "Skylight" by David Hare (2016). In 2018, Chen wrote, directed and starred in the short film "Passinger", which was a finalist for the Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong Short Film Competition. She made her first Hollywood appearance in the HBO miniseries "The Undoing" in 2020 and starred in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" in 2021.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen was born on 24 February 1982, and raised in Chengdu, Sichuan, China until the age of 14, when she immigrated to Atlanta, Georgia, United States with her parents. Graduating from high school within the top 10 of her cohort, she went on to pursue a course in Marketing and International Business in Emory University's Goizueta Business School in May 2005.


title: Fala Chen

text: During her college term breaks, Chen took part in several pageants as a means to pay for her tuition fees. Amongst them was the Miss Chinese International Pageant 2005 hosted in Hong Kong by TVB where she represented New York City after winning Miss New York Chinese 2004. She won 1st runner-up, kicking off her career in entertainment.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2014, Chen began a 4-year Master of Fine Arts in Drama (MFA) Program at the Juilliard School in New York City. She graduated in May 2018.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2005, Chen began her professional acting career when she signed an 8-year contract with TVB. She started out as a host on numerous variety shows on TVB's Mandarin channel TVB8, before making her acting debut in the TVB series "Forensic Heroes" guest starring as a murderess.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2007, after starring in "Heart of Greed", "The Family Link", and "Steps", Chen won her first acting award in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role in "Steps". Additionally, she was also nominated for "My Favorite Female Character" and "Most Improved Actress" categories for the same role. She also received a nomination in the "Most Improved Actress" category for her roles in "Heart of Greed" and "The Family Link" in 2007.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen's breakthrough came in 2008, when her notable work was for the character of Gam Wing Hing (a mute girl) in TVB series "Moonlight Resonance", an indirect sequel to "Heart of Greed", as she had to learn sign language for the role. The role landed her nominations in the "Best Supporting Actress" and "My Favorite Female Character" categories for the second year in a row.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2009, Chen was nominated again for the "Best Supporting Actress" and "My Favorite Female Character" categories for her role in "The Stew of Life".


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2010, Chen was cast in TVB's grand production series "No Regrets" as second female lead, securing her position as one of Hong Kong's celebrated new actresses, alongside Tavia Yeung, Linda Chung, Myolie Wu, and Kate Tsui. The role won her the Best Supporting Actress Award at the TVB Anniversary Awards and Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 16th Asian Television Awards.


title: Fala Chen

text: She later took on roles as the first female lead in productions including "Lives of Omission", "Queens of Diamonds and Hearts", and "Triumph in the Skies II". "Lives of Omission" (2011) was a distant sequel to the 2009 film "Turning Point" in which Chen had also acted in as the sister of a triad boss. "Queens of Diamonds and Hearts" (2012) allowed Chen to experiment with looking 'ugly' on screen as her character Chung Mo Yim, based on historical figure Zhongli Chun, was born with a prominent birth mark on her face. Chen played the role of Holiday Ho in "Triumph in the Skies II" —a free-spirited punk girl who aspires to fly—who became emotionally entangled between two male leads, Captain Samuel Tong played by Francis Ng and Captain Jayden Koo played by Julian Cheung. Chen also starred in 2013's "Will Power" alongside veteran actors Wayne Lai and Moses Chan where she played the role of Sam Yuet Kan, a junior barrister with a tough personality.


title: Fala Chen

text: Her contract with TVB ended in mid 2013 and Chen became a self-managed artiste. Having more freedom to choose and ever so determined to become a better actress, Chen would like to direct her focus on filming more movies and dramas, and she is not afraid to take up new challenges.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen acted in her first mainland Chinese drama series, "Sound of the Desert", where she played the role of Li Yan. It aired in 2014 and was based on the historical romance novel "Ballad of the Desert" by "Tong Hua".


title: Fala Chen

text: Shortly after graduating from the Juilliard School, Chen was cast as Jolene in "The Undoing" alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2009, Chen took her chance at her first female lead role in the movie "Turning Point" as Michael Tse's girlfriend and Francis Ng's sister. "Turning Point" is a spin-off from the 2009 TVB crime drama "E.U.", where the character "Laughing Gor", played by Michael Tse, became a household name.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen was nominated for the Best New Performer category at the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in "Turning Point".


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2010, Chen starred in two movies, "Black Ransom" and "72 Tenants of Prosperity". In "Black Ransom", she acted as a superintendent, alongside internationally acclaimed Hong Kong actor and film producer, Simon Yam. "72 Tenants of Prosperity" on the other hand, was a light-hearted Hong Kong comedy film directed by Eric Tsang, involving a star-studded cast of Hong Kong stars.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen took to the movie scene again in 2011, acting in the first installment of the heartwarming I Love Hong Kong film series, directed and produced by Eric Tsang. She too worked together with Eric Tsang again who produced and acted in The Fortune Buddies, another Hong Kong comedy film which also co-stars Louis Yuen, Wong Cho-lam and Johnson Lee who are better known as "Fuk Luk Sau" ().


title: Fala Chen

text: "Tales from the Dark 2" (2013) was her first shot at the horror movie scene, and acting with her is Gordon Lam. Chen's story revolves around pillow demons, where her character Chow Jing Ee is seen to suffer from serious insomnia after her break-up with her boyfriend Yuen Hao Hong, played by Gordon Lam. Chen delivered a stellar performance, and was commended for the preparation work she did prior to filming, by staying a few nights alone in the cold apartment they filmed at to get into character and understand the loneliness and insomnia that the character suffered. The media had focused on the scene where Chen's character accidentally killed her boyfriend and tried to get rid of the corpse by taking off all of his garments and putting him into a vacuum bag. This is the first time that Gordon Lam has gone fully nude in a film. Owing to the explicit scenes, the movie has received a Category III rating.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen starred in the Cantonese version of "Despicable Me 3" as the voice of Lucy Wilde, an Anti-Villain League agent, Gru's wife and the girls' adoptive mother. Doing voiceover for an animation film for the first time, Chen commented that it requires a lot of energy and precision to sync with the character's lip movement and it takes capturing the unique sounds and myriad of nuances in personality to bring the character to life.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen made her US film debut after being cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feature film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" as Ying Li. The movie is directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, and opened in theaters on 3 September 2021.


title: Fala Chen

text: Ever since Chen's contract with Television Broadcasts Limited (TVB) concluded in 2013, she went on to pursue a 4-year Master of Fine Arts in Drama (MFA) Program at Juilliard School with the passion and determination to better herself as a professional artiste. The MFA Program only accepts 8 to 10 students each year, and encompasses areas such as production, directing, playwriting, pedagogy, and current trends in American and World Theater.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen's debut on the theatre stage came in 2016 with "Skylight" – the premiere of Chinese adaptation of the 1995 British play written by David Hare that debuted in West End and Broadway. The play was scheduled to run for 24 shows at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, but due to overwhelming responses, 11 additional shows were added, making that a total of 35 shows running across 1 July 2016 to 14 August 2016. Starring alongside Dayo Wong and Terrance Lau, "Skylight" was a sold-out show within a few hours, and it received plenty of raving positive reviews including praises for Chen's performance as a theatre actor.


title: Fala Chen

text: Starting in 2009, Chen has been sporadically participating in the music scene, singing theme songs for "The Stew of Life", "Links to Temptation", and "Queens of Diamonds and Hearts".


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2010, Chen signed under Stars Shine International and subsequently launched her first Canto-pop debut album, "Beautiful Life", released on 31 July 2012. Some of the highlights from the album are "", "", and "Beautiful Life". Among these songs, "" was the first plugged song which garnered her awards in the Best Newcomer category across various music platforms such as "2012 TVB8 Golden Music Awards" for the Bronze Award, 2012 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation, and "2013 IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Awards".


title: Fala Chen

text: Within a week from the launch of her album, it had climbed up to first place on HMV's 'Asian Album Top Sales Chart'.


title: Fala Chen

text: Chen was the spokesperson for Olay in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. She was also Hong Kong Cancer Fund’s Pink Ambassador for the Pink Revolution Campaign, held every October to promote breast cancer awareness and raise funds to support free services for patients and their families.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2008, Chen married Hong Kong businessman (later actor) Daniel Sit. In 2011, she brought Sit to attend a church sermon delivered by friend and "No Regrets" costar Sheren Tang, hoping to expose him to the Christian faith. The couple divorced in 2013.


title: Fala Chen

text: In 2019, Chen married French entrepreneur Emmanuel Straschnov. In February 2021, she announced that she had given birth to a daughter.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the state's most populous city.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County is one of three Washington counties that are included in the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan statistical area. (The others are Snohomish County to the north, and Pierce County to the south.) About two-thirds of King County's population lives in Seattle's suburbs.


title: King County, Washington

text: When Europeans arrived in the region that would become King County, it was inhabited by several Coast Salish groups. Villages around the site that would become Seattle were primarily populated by the Duwamish people. The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe occupied the area that would become eastern King County. The Green River and White River were home for the Muckleshoot tribal groups. In the first winter after the Denny Party landed at Alki Point, the settlement at the point consisted of a few dozen settlers and over a thousand Native Americans. The local tribes provided the settlers with construction labor, domestic service, and help with subsistence activities.


title: King County, Washington

text: The county was formed out of territory within Thurston County on December 22, 1852, by the Oregon Territory legislature and was named after Alabamian William R. King, who had just been elected Vice President of the United States under President Franklin Pierce. Seattle was made the county seat on January 11, 1853. The area became part of the Washington Territory when it was created later that year.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County originally extended to the Olympic Peninsula. According to historian Bill Speidel, when peninsular prohibitionists threatened to shut down Seattle's saloons, Doc Maynard engineered a peninsular independence movement; King County lost what is now Kitsap County but preserved its entertainment industry.


title: King County, Washington

text: Coal was discovered in 1853 by Dr. M. Bigelow along the Black River, and in subsequent decades several companies formed to mine coal around Lake Washington and deliver it to Seattle. The Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad started servicing the Renton coal fields in 1877, and the Newcastle fields in 1878. By 1880, King County produced 22% of the coal mined on the West Coast, most of that coal being found within the Renton Formation's Muldoon coal seam.


title: King County, Washington

text: On February 24, 1986, the King County Council approved a motion to rename the county to honor civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. (no relation to William R. King), preserving the name "King County" while changing its namesake. The motion stated, among other reasons for the change, that "William Rufus DeVane King was a slaveowner" who "earned income and maintained his lifestyle by oppressing and exploiting other human beings," while Martin Luther King's "contributions are well-documented and celebrated by millions throughout this nation and the world, and embody the attributes for which the citizens of King County can be proud, and claim as their own."


title: King County, Washington

text: Because only the state can charter counties, the change was not made official until April 19, 2005, when Governor Christine Gregoire signed into law Senate Bill 5332, which provided that "King county is renamed in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr." effective July 24, 2005.


title: King County, Washington

text: The County Council voted on February 27, 2006, to adopt the proposal sponsored by Councilmember Larry Gossett to change the county's logo from an imperial crown to an image of Martin Luther King Jr. On March 12, 2007, the new logo was unveiled. The new logo design was developed by the Gable Design Group and the specific image was selected by a committee consisting of King County Executive Ron Sims, Council Chair Larry Gossett, Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Sheriff Sue Rahr, District Court Judge Corrina Harn, and Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey. The same logo is used in the flag.


title: King County, Washington

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (8.3%) is water. King County has nearly twice the land area of the state of Rhode Island. The highest point in the county is Mount Daniel at above sea level.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County borders Snohomish County to the north, Kitsap County to the west, Kittitas County to the east, and Pierce County to the south. It also shares a small border with Chelan County to the northeast. King County includes Vashon Island and Maury Island in Puget Sound.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County Metro is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in the United States. Sound Transit manages Link light rail, Sounder commuter rail, and Sound Transit Express buses in King County that provide connections to adjacent counties.


title: King County, Washington

text: The center of population of the state of Washington in 2010 was located in eastern King County (). King County's own center of population was located on Mercer Island ().


title: King County, Washington

text: As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the median home value in King County was $817,547, an increase of 19.6% from the prior year.


title: King County, Washington

text: As of the 2010 census, there were 1,931,249 people, 789,232 households, and 461,510 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 851,261 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 68.7% White (64.8% Non-Hispanic White), 6.2% African American, 14.6% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 0.8% Native American, 3.9% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 8.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 17.1% were German, 11.6% were English, 11.1% were Irish, 5.5% were Norwegian, and 2.9% were American.


title: King County, Washington

text: Of the 789,232 households, 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.3% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 41.5% were non-families, and 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.05. The median age was 37.1 years.


title: King County, Washington

text: The median income for a household in the county was $68,065 and the median income for a family was $87,010. Males had a median income of $62,373 versus $45,761 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,211. About 6.4% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County is home two federally-recognized tribes, the Muckleshoot tribe and the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe tribe, and other unrecognized groups. The Muckleshoot Indian Reservation is located southeast of Auburn and is home to a resident population of 3,606 as of the 2000 census.


title: King County, Washington

text: The Snoqualmie tribe's casino property was federally recognized as their reservation in 2006, however few tribe members live near the reservation.


title: King County, Washington

text: The King County Executive heads the county's executive branch; the position has been held by Dow Constantine since 2009. The King County Prosecuting Attorney (Dan Satterberg since 2007), Elections Director, and the King County Assessor are elected executive positions. The King County Sheriff is appointed by the county executive and approved by the county council. It was previously was an elected position from 1996 until 2020 and has been held by Patti Cole-Tindall since 2022. Judicial power is vested in the King County Superior Court and the King County District Court. Seattle houses the King County Courthouse.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County is represented in the United States Congress through a near-entirety of the population in the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts, a majority of the population in the 8th Congressional District and a plurality of the population in the 1st Congressional District. In the state legislature, King contains the entirety of the 5th, 11th, 33rd, 34th, 36th, 37th, 41st, 43rd, 45th, 46th, 47th, and 48th legislative districts as well as the near-entirety of the 30th legislative district, about one-half of the 32nd legislative district, about one-third of the 1st and 31st legislative district, and a mere 627 people in the 39th legislative district. The only legislative districts represented by Republicans that include any part of King County are the 31st and 39th districts.


title: King County, Washington

text: The people of King County voted on September 5, 1911, to create a Port District. King County's Port of Seattle was established as the first Port District in Washington State. The Port of Seattle is King County's only Port District. It is governed by five Port Commissioners, who are elected countywide and serve four-year terms. The Port of Seattle owns and operates many properties on behalf of King County's citizens, including Sea-Tac International Airport; many seaport facilities around Elliott Bay, including its original property, publicly owned Fishermen's Terminal, home to the North Pacific fishing fleet and the largest homeport for fishermen in the U.S. West Coast; four container ship terminals; two cruise ship terminals; the largest grain export terminal in the U.S. Pacific Northwest; three public marinas; 22 public parks; and nearly 5,000 acres of industrial lands in the Ballard-Interbay and Lower Duwamish industrial centers.


title: King County, Washington

text: King County and Seattle are strongly liberal; the area is a bastion for the Democratic Party. No Republican presidential candidate has garnered the majority of the county's votes since Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection victory in 1984. In the 2008 election, Barack Obama defeated John McCain in the county by 42 percentage points, a larger margin for the Democrats than that seen in any previous election. Slightly more than 29% of Washington state's population reside in King County, making it a significant factor for the Democrats in a few recent close statewide elections. In the 2000 Senate elections, King County's margin of victory pushed Maria Cantwell's total over that of incumbent Republican Slade Gorton, winning her a seat in the United States Senate. In 2004, King County gave a lead to Democrat Christine Gregoire in her 2004 victory gubernatorial election, pushing her ahead of Republican Dino Rossi, who led by 261 votes after the initial count. Rossi resided in the county at the time of the election, in Sammamish. In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by earning 75% of King County votes. Governor Jay Inslee also defeated Republican challenger Loren Culp with 74% of the King County vote in the concurrent gubernatorial election. These were the largest margins by any candidate in a presidential race and a gubernatorial race since the county's creation.


title: King County, Washington

text: In 2004, voters passed a referendum reducing the size of the County Council from 13 members to 9. This resulted in all council seats ending up on the 2005 ballot.


title: King County, Washington

text: Some residents of eastern King County have long desired to secede and form their own county. This movement was most vocal in the mid-1990s (see "Cedar County, Washington"). It has recently been revived as Cascade County. According to a map published by the "Seattle Times", four different geographic borders are being considered. Additional plans (see "Skykomish County, Washington") also exist or have existed.


title: King County, Washington

text: In 2010 statistics, the largest religious group in King County was the Archdiocese of Seattle, with 278,340 Catholics worshipping at 71 parishes, followed by 95,218 non-denominational adherents with 159 congregations, 56,985 LDS Mormons with 110 congregations, 25,937 AoG Pentecostals with 63 congregations, 25,789 ELCA Lutherans with 68 congregations, 24,909 PC-USA Presbyterians with 54 congregations, 18,185 Mahayana Buddhists with 39 congregations, 18,161 UMC Methodists with 50 congregations, 14,971 TEC Episcopalians with 35 congregations, and 12,531 ABCUSA Baptists with 42 congregations. Altogether, 37.6% of the population was claimed as members by religious congregations, although members of historically African-American denominations were underrepresented due to incomplete information. In 2014, King County had 944 religious organizations, the 8th most out of all US counties.


title: King County, Washington

text: Most of King County is served by the King County Library System, while the city of Seattle is served by its own system.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Pakistan after Islam. While Hinduism was the dominant faith in the region a few centuries back, today Hindus account for 2.14% of Pakistan's population or 4.4 million people according to the 2017 Pakistan Census, although Pakistan Hindu Council has claimed that there are 8 million Hindus living in Pakistan, making up 4% of the country's population. The Umerkot district has the highest percentage of Hindu residents in the country at 52.2%, while Tharparkar district has the most Hindus in absolute numbers at 714,698.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Before the partition, according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14% of the population in West Pakistan (which is now Pakistan) and 28% of the population in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). After Pakistan gained independence from the British Raj, 4.7 million of West Pakistan's Hindus and Sikhs moved to India as refugees. And in the first census afterwards in 1951, Hindus made up 1.6% of the total population of West Pakistan (now Pakistan), and 22% of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Hindus in Pakistan are primarily concentrated in Sindh, where the majority of Hindu enclaves are found in Pakistan. They speak a variety of languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Sansi, Vaghri, and Gujarati. Many Hindus, especially in the rural areas, follow the teachings of local Sufi "pīrs" (Urdu: "spiritual guide") or adhere to the 14th-century saint Ramdevji, whose main temple Shri Ramdev Pir temple is located in Tando Allahyar. A growing number of urban Hindu youth in Pakistan associate themselves with ISKCON society. Other communities worship manifold "Mother Goddesses" as their clan or family patrons. A different branch, the Nanakpanth, follows the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib, also known as the holy book of the Sikhs. This diversity, especially in rural Sindh, often thwarts classical definitions between Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Though the Constitution of Pakistan provides equal rights to all citizens and is not supposed to discriminate between anyone on the basis of caste, creed or religion, Islam remains the State religion giving more privileges to Muslims than to Hindus and other religious minorities. There have been numerous cases of violence and discrimination against Hindus, along with other minorities. There have also been cases of violence and ill-treatment of Hindus, due to strict Blasphemy laws.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: One of the most important places of worship for Hindus in Pakistan is the shrine of Shri Hinglaj Mata temple in Balochistan. The annual Hinglaj Yatra is the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan. Out of 365 Hindu temples in Pakistan, 13 are being managed by the Evacuee Trust Property Board, leaving the responsibility of 65 to the Hindu community.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Pakistan was the fulcrum of Indus Valley Civilization, one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It is assumed that the Pashupati image of Mohenjo-daro evolved to be worshipped as Shiva and the Mother Goddess as Shakti. Various archaeological finds such as the Swastika symbol and Yogic postures from Indus Valley Civilization also point to early influences that may have shaped Hinduism. The religious beliefs and folklore of the Indus valley people have become a major part of the Hindu faith that evolved in this part of the South Asia.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Later, during the Vedic period, the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu text, is believed to have been composed in the Punjab region of modern-day Pakistan (and India) on the banks of the Indus River around 1500 BCE.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The Sindh kingdom and its rulers play an important role in the Indian epic story of the Mahabharata. In addition, a Hindu legend states that the Pakistani city of Lahore was first founded by Lava, while Kasur was founded by his twin Kusha, both of whom were the sons of Lord Rama of the Ramayana. The Gandhara kingdom of the northwest, and the legendary Gandhara people, are also a major part of Hindu literature such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Many Pakistani city names (such as Peshawar and Multan) have Sanskrit roots.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The Vedic period (1500–500 BCE) was characterised by an Indo-Aryan culture; during this period the Vedas, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism, were composed, and this culture later became well established in the region. Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in the Punjab, which was founded around 1000 BCE. Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian Achaemenid Empire (around 519 BCE), Alexander's empire in 326 BCE and the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BCE) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BCE), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world, which was established during the late Vedic period in 6th century BCE. The school consisted of several monasteries without large dormitories or lecture halls where the religious instruction was provided on an individualistic basis. The ancient university was documented by the invading forces of Alexander the Great and was also recorded by Chinese pilgrims in the 4th or 5th century CE.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty (489–632 CE) of Sindh ruled this region and the surrounding territories. The Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharmapala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: After the conquest of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim and the loss of Raja Dahir, Islamization in Pakistan started and the population of Hindus started declining. After that many other Islamic conquests in Indian subcontinent entered through the Pakistan's region, including that of Ghaznavids, Ghurids and Delhi Sultanate, due to which the Buddhists and Hindus were converted to Islam. In the era of Mughal Empire, the land of Pakistan became a Muslim-majority area.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: At the time of Pakistan's creation the 'two nation theory' had been espoused. According to this theory the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in Pakistan in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, stated in an address to the constituent assembly of Pakistan, "You will find that in course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the State." However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan stated:


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, over 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs from West Pakistan left for India, and 6.5 million Muslims chose to migrate to Pakistan. The reasons for this exodus were the heavily charged communal atmosphere in British Raj, deep distrust of each other, the brutality of violent mobs and the antagonism between the religious communities. That over 1 million people lost their lives in the bloody violence of 1947 should attest to the fear and hate that filled the hearts of millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs who left ancestral homes hastily after independence.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Before partition, according to the 1941 census, Hindus constituted 14% of the population in West Pakistan (currently Pakistan) and 28% of the population in East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh). In 1947, Hindus constituted 12.9% of Pakistan, which made Pakistan (including present day Bangladesh) the second-largest Hindu-population country after India. After Pakistan gained independence from Britain on 14August 1947, 4.7 million of the country's Hindus and Sikhs migrated to India. In the 1951 census, West Pakistan (now Pakistan) had 1.3% Hindu population, while East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had 22.05%. After 1971, Bangladesh separated from Pakistan and the population of Hindus and other Non-Muslims declined in Pakistan as Bangladesh population was no longer part of the census conducted in Pakistan. The 1998 census of Pakistan recorded 2,443,614 Hindus, which (includes 332,343 scheduled caste Hindus), which constitutes to 1.85 percentage of the total population of Pakistan. and about 7.5% in the Sindh province. The 2017 census recorded 4,444,870 Hindus (includes 849,614 scheduled caste Hindus) which constituting 2.14% of the total population of Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Hindu Council claims the Hindu population to be around 8 million as of 2020.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In 1956, the government of Pakistan declared 32 castes and tribes, the majority of them Hindus, to be scheduled castes, including Kohlis, Meghawars, and Bheels. The Pakistan Census separates the members of scheduled castes from Hindus and has assessed that they form 0.41% of the national population in 2017 census (up from 0.25% in 1998 census).


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: However, the actual population of Scheduled Caste Hindus is expected to be much higher, as the Scheduled Caste Hindus categorise themselves as Hindus in the census rather than as Scheduled Castes.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: As per the data from the Election Commission of Pakistan, as of 2018 there were a total of 1.77 million Hindu voters. Hindu voters were 49% of the total in Umerkot and 46% in Tharparkar. According to estimates in religious minorities in Pakistan's elections, the Hindus have a population of 50,000 or more in 11 districts. All of these are in Sindh except the Rahim Yar Khan District in Punjab.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The percent of population of Hindus (separating the scheduled castes from other Hindus) in the provinces in Pakistan, according to the 2017 census:


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Umerkot district (52.15%) is the only Hindu majority district in Pakistan. Tharparkar district has the highest population of Hindus in terms of absolute terms. The four districts- Umerkot, Tharparkar, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar hosts more than half of the Hindu population in Pakistan.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: All districts with a Hindu population greater than 1%, according to the 2017 census. In other districts the population of Hindus is less than 1%.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The official number of Hindus living in Pakistan is about 4.5 million or approx. 2.15% as per 2017 census conducted by Pakistan government authority. However, at different time some of the demographic experts of Pakistan Hindu council as well as various Hindu politicians have given numbers based on their estimation research which have led to various controversies.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: One of the biggest issues the Hindu community faces in Pakistan is the forced conversion of minor Hindu girls to Islam; the number of such conversions, according to one highest estimate, is up to 1,000 per year.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Each year, many Pakistani girls of minority religions, Hindus in particular, are forcibly converted to Islam. Which according to the Highest estimate is up to 1000 per year. The girls are usually kidnapped by complicit acquaintances and relatives or men looking for brides. Sometimes they are taken by powerful landlords as payment for outstanding debts by their farmhand parents, and the authorities often look the other way. In one case, a landlord abducted a Hindu daughter from a farm worker and falsely claimed the teen was compensation for a $1,000 debt that the family owed him. Religious institutions and persons like Abdul Haq (Mitthu Mian) politician and caretaker of Bharachundi Sharif Dargah in Ghotki district and Pir Ayub Jan Sirhindi, the caretaker of Dargah pir sarhandi in Umerkot District support forced conversions and are known to have support and protection of ruling political parties of Sindh. According to the National Commission of Justice and Peace and the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) around 1000 non-Muslim minority women are converted to Islam and then forcibly married off. This practice is being reported increasingly in the districts of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpur Khas in Sindh.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In November 2016, a bill against forced conversion was passed unanimously by the Sindh Provisional Assembly. However, the bill failed to make it into law as the Governor returned the bill. The Bill was effectively blocked by political parties like the Council of Islamic Ideology and Jamaat-e-Islami.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In 2019, a bill against forced conversion was proposed by Hindu politicians in the Sindh assembly, but was turned down by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party lawmakers.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: There are also Irish Christian missionaries and Ahmadiyya missionaries operating in the Thar region. The Christian and Ahmadi missionaries offer impoverished Hindus schools, health clinics etc. as an inducement for those who convert. Korean Christian missionaries are also very active in Sindh, who have built schools from Badin to Tharparkar.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Korean Christian missionaries have converted more than 1,000 Hindu families in 2012 alone. According to the Sono Kangharani, a member of the Pakistan Dalit Network, the Korean missionaries have been active in the area since 2011 and these missionaries don't focus on individuals but they convert entire villages. According to him, about 200 to 250 Hindu villages were converted in the last two and a half years between 2014 and 2016.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Many Hindus are induced to convert to Islam for easily getting Watan Cards and National Identification Cards. These converts were also given land and money. For example, 428 poor Hindus in Matli were converted between 2009 and 2011 by the Madrassa Baitul Islam, a Deobandi seminary in Matli, which pays off the debts of Hindus converting to Islam. Another example is the conversion of 250 Hindus to Islam in Chohar Jamali area in Thatta. Conversions are also carried out by Baba Deen Mohammad Shaikh mission which converted 108,000 people to Islam since 1989.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The Pakistan Hindu Panchayat, Pakistan Hindu Council, Pakistan Hindu Youth Council and the "Pakistani Hindu Welfare Association" are the primary civic organizations that represent and organise Hindu communities on social, economic, religious and political issues in most of the country, with the exception of the Shiv Temple Society of Hazara, which especially represents community interests in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in addition to being the special guardians of the Shiva temple, at Chitti Gatti village, near Mansehra. The Pakistan Hindu Council runs 13 schools across Tharparkar and also conducts mass wedding of poor Hindu couples. The Dalit Sujag Tehreek is a Scheduled Caste Hindu movement representing the scheduled caste Hindu communities like Kolhi, Bheel, Meghwar, Oad, Bhagri etc.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: ISKCON also has a presence in Pakistan. It is involved in preaching and distributing Urdu translated Bhagavad Gita. It has a large following among the Scheduled Caste Hindus in Urban areas of Pakistan. There is a significant increase in the influence of Iskcon due to its rejection of caste system. Iskcon has been conducting Rathayatras since 2015.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: There was a Ministry of Minority Affairs in the Government of Pakistan which looked after specific issues concerning Pakistani religious minorities. In 2011, the Government of Pakistan closed the Ministry of Minority Affairs. And a new ministry "Ministry for National Harmony" was formed for the protection of the rights of the minorities in Pakistan. But in 2013, the Ministry of National Harmony was merged with the Ministry of Religious Affairs despite opposition from the minorities.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The Constitution's Article 51(2A) provides 10 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the National Assembly, 23 reserved seats for non-Muslims in the four provincial assemblies under Article 106 and four seats for non-Muslims in the Senate of Pakistan. Conventionally, Hindus were allotted 4 or 5 seats.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The number of national Assembly seats were increased from 207 in 1997, to 332 in 2002. But the number of non-Muslim reserved seats were not increased from 10. Similarly, the number of seats in Provincial Assembly of Sindh and Punjab were increased from 100 to 159 and 240 to 363 respectively, but the non-Muslim reserved seats were not increased. Although a bill for increasing minorities' seats was introduced by Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, it was not passed. Political parties Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) party is against giving reserved seats for minorities.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In 1980s Zia ul-Haq introduced a system under which non-Muslims could vote for only candidates of their own religion. Seats were reserved for minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. Government officials stated that the separate electorates system is a form of affirmative action designed to ensure minority representation, and that efforts are underway to achieve a consensus among religious minorities on this issue, but critics argued that under this system Muslim candidates no longer had any incentive to pay attention to the minorities. Hindu community leader Sudham Chand protested against the system but was murdered. In 1999, Pakistan abolished this system.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Hindus and other minorities achieved a rare political victory in 2002 with the removal of separate electorates for Muslims and non-Muslims. The separate electorate system had marginalized non-Muslims by depriving them of adequate representation in the assemblies. The Pakistan Hindu Welfare Association was active by convening a national conference on the issue in December 2000. And in 2001, Hindus, Christians, and Ahmadis successfully conducted a partial boycott of the elections, culminating in the abolishment of the separate electorate system in 2002. This allowed religious minorities to vote for mainstream seats in the National and Provincial assemblies, rather than being confined to voting for only minority seats. Despite the victory, however, Hindus still remain largely disenfranchised.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In 2006, Ratna Bhagwandas Chawla became the first Hindu woman elected to the Senate of Pakistan. Although there is reservation of seats for women in Pakistan National Assembly, not a single seat was allotted for non-Muslim women till 2018. In 2018, Krishna Kumari Kohli, a Hindu woman became the first non-Muslim woman to win a women's reserved seat in Senate of Pakistan.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In 2018, Pakistan general election Mahesh Kumar Malani became the first Hindu candidate who won a general seat in Pakistan National Assembly 2018. He won the seat from Tharparkar-II and thus became the first non-Muslim to win a general seat (non-reserved) in Pakistan national assembly. In the Sindh provincial assembly election which took place along with the Pakistan National Assembly election 2018, Hari Ram Kishori Lal and Giyan Chand Essrani were elected from the Sindh provincial assembly seats. They became the first non-Muslims to win a general seat (non-reserved) in a provincial assembly election.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Some Tamil Hindu families migrated to Pakistan in the early 20th century, when Karachi was developed during the British Raj, and were later joined by Sri Lankan Tamils who arrived during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The Madrasi Para area is home to around 100 Tamil Hindu families. The Maripata Mariamman Temple, which has been demolished, was the biggest Tamil Hindu temple in Karachi. The Drigh Road and Korangi also have a small Tamil Hindu population.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The Kalasha people practice a religion which is based on an older set of mountain beliefs, but which has some vedic influence, alongside animism and shamanism. Though having some cultural and religious similarities to the Hindus, they are considered a separate ethnic religion people by the government of Pakistan. They reside in the Chitral District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: Nanakpanthi are Hindus who revere Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism along with Hindu gods. Today, a large fraction of Sindhi Hindus consider themselves Nanakpanthi.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The Valmiki or Balmikis are Hindu worshippers of Valmiki, the author of The Ramayana. Most Valmiki Hindus converted to either Christianity or Islam after the partition. However, many of those who converted still worship Valmiki and celebrate Valmiki Jayanti. The most important centre for worship of Valmikis in Pakistan is Valmiki Mandir in Lahore. Most of the Balmikis (or Valmikis) belonged to the Schedule Caste.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In the early times, before the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan, most of the modern-day Pashtun people belonged to the Hindu Religion. Though due to the repeated Islamic invasion in the Pakhtun areas, most of them have converted to Islam or migrated to other parts of the Asia. Still, there is a small Pashtun Hindu community, known as the "Sheen Khalai" meaning 'blue skinned' (referring to the color of Pashtun women's facial tattoos), migrated to Unniara, Rajasthan, India after partition. Prior to 1947, the community resided in the Quetta, Loralai and Maikhter regions of the British Indian province of Baluchistan. They are mainly members of the Pashtun Kakar tribe. Today, they continue to speak Pashto and celebrate Pashtun culture through the Attan dance.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: There is a small population of Punjabi Hindus living in the Punjab province of Pakistan, most notably in Lahore where there are some 200 Hindu families. Though most of the Punjabis were Hindu in the 1900s and many migrated to India after the partition of the India and Pakistan in 1947. In the modern times most of the Punjabi Hindus are settled in United States, Germany, England, Canada and Australia due to their mass migration (or diaspora). A small proportion of Afghan Punjabis are also there in Pakistan in Balochistan and Punjab, majority of them are Hindus who migrated from Afghanistan mainly after conflict due to the persecution of Taliban and religious fanatics.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: According to a study, the majority of the scheduled caste Hindus (79%) in Pakistan have experienced discrimination. The discrimination is higher in Southern Punjab (86.5%) compared to the rest of the country. The study found that majority (91.5% ) of the respondents in Rahimyar Khan, Bahawalpur, Tharparkar and Umerkot districts believed that political parties are not giving importance to them.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In Balochistan province, Hindus are relatively more secure and face less religious persecution. The tribal chiefs in Balochistan, particularly the Jams of Lasbela and Bugti of Dera Bugti, consider non-Muslims like Hindus as members of their own extended family and allows religious freedom. They have never forced Hindus to convert. Also, in Balochistan Hindu places of worship are proportionate to their population. For example, between Uthal and Bela jurisdiction in Lasbela District, there are 18 temples for 5,000 Hindus living in the area, which is an indicator of religious freedom. However, in Khuzdar District and Kalat District, Hindus face discrimination.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: In Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Hindus enjoy religious freedom and live peacefully alongside the Muslims.


title: Hinduism in Pakistan

text: The city of Peshawar today is home to four Hindu tribes– the Balmiks, the Rajputs, the Heer Ratan Raths and the Bhai Joga Singh Gurdwara community. Since partition, the four tribes have lived in harmony with all religious communities including Muslims. However, there is the lack of upkeep of the dilapidated Hindu temples in the city. The local government always fails to assign caretakers and priests at temples. But in other parts of Kyber Pakhtunkhwa like Buner, Swat and Aurakzai Agencies, Hindu and Sikh families, have been targeted by Taliban for failing to pay Jizya (religious tax) and due to this more than 150 Sikhs and Hindu families in Pakistan's have moved to Hasan Abdal and Rawalpindi in Punjab in 2009