query: Are sentences reduced for plea bargain cases?

title: Plea bargain

text: The plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty or nolo contendere to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of the several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.[1]

title: Plea bargain

text: Another argument against plea bargaining is that it may not actually reduce the costs of administering justice. For example, if a prosecutor has only a 25% chance of winning his case and sending the defendant away to prison for 10 years, he may make a plea agreement for a sentence of one year; but if plea bargaining is unavailable, a prosecutor may drop the case completely.[16]

title: Plea bargain

text: Plea bargaining is a significant part of the criminal justice system in the United States; the vast majority (roughly 90%)[17] of criminal cases in the United States are settled by plea bargain rather than by a jury trial.[18] Plea bargains are subject to the approval of the court, and different States and jurisdictions have different rules. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines are followed in federal cases and have been created to ensure a standard of uniformity in all cases decided in the federal courts. A two- or three-level offense level reduction is usually available for those who accept responsibility by not holding the prosecution to the burden of proving its case; this usually amounts to a complete sentence reduction had they gone to trial and lost.[19]

title: Plea bargain

text: On the other hand, the prosecutor may wish to maintain a high conviction rate and avoid losing high-profile trials; thus, settling a case by plea bargain may further his interests, even if the resulting sentence would not effectively deter crime.[15] As many crimes have very narrow sentencing bands, a prosecutor often has scope to propose whatever degree of "discounted" charges, or substitution of misdemeanor rather than felony charges, to whatever extent they believe would incentivise a defendant to make a guilty plea and accept a speedy conviction, regardless of actual guilt.

title: Plea bargain

text: Sometimes, the prosecutor agrees to reduce a charge or to drop some of multiple charges in exchange for the defendant's acceptance of the penalty. Defendant, in the request, could argue with the penalty and aggravating and extenuating circumstancing with the prosecutor, that can accept or refuse. The request could also be made by the prosecutor. The plea bargaining could be granted if the penalty that could be concretely applied is, after the reduction of one third, inferior to five-year imprisonment (so called "patteggiamento allargato", wide bargaining); When the penalty applied, after the reduction of one third, is inferior of two years imprisonment or is only a fine (so called "patteggiamento ristretto" limited bargaining), the defendant can have other advantages, like sentence suspended and the effacement of the crime if in five year of the sentence, the defendant doesn't commit a similar crime.

title: Rape by deception

text: In 2010, a conviction of rape by deception drew international attention when it was first reported that a man deceived a woman into consensual sex within ten minutes of their first meeting by, according to the amended indictment, lying about being Jewish, unmarried, and interested in a long-term relationship. (In later interviews, the man later denied the allegations that he lied, but such denials were not mentioned in his plea bargain.) However, it was later reported that the charge had actually been the result of a plea bargain with the defendant in what had originally been a rape-by-force case where the records were sealed by the judge to protect the identity of the victim and avoid the cross-examination of her. (The sex was consensual according to one of the judges.) The man was represented by the public defender's office, and the woman by the prosecution. Sabbar Kashur, an Israeli Arab Muslim resident of Jerusalem who was married with two children, accepted a plea bargain and an 18-month sentence on the reduced charge of rape by deception in 2010 after a period of incarceration and house arrest. Details later declassified showed that the initial charge was of violent rape, but the prosecution agreed to the reduced charge of rape by deception because of the victim's confused account and concern at facing another court appearance. They also indicated that the woman was emotionally disturbed and had a history of sexual abuse. The court sent the victim to a mental hospital for treatment and convicted Kashur on the lesser charge. Prosecutors agreed to the plea bargain in order to spare the woman a long cross-examination that might undermine her evidence. The public defender appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court, which postponed the sentence pending the appeal and freed Kashur from house arrest. In 2012 the sentence was cut to 9 months by the Supreme Court.

title: Plea bargain

text: In some common law jurisdictions, such as Singapore and the Australian state of Victoria, plea bargaining is practiced only to the extent that the prosecution and the defense can agree that the defendant will plead guilty to some charges and/or to reduced charges in exchange for the prosecutor withdrawing the remaining and/or more serious charges. In New South Wales, a 10-25% discount on the sentence is customarily given in exchange for an early guilty plea, but this concession is expected to be granted by the judge as a way of recognizing the utilitarian value of an early guilty plea to the justice system - it is never negotiated with a prosecutor.[37] The courts in these jurisdictions have made it plain that they will always decide what the appropriate penalty is to be. No bargaining takes place between the prosecution and the defence over criminal penalties.

title: Plea bargaining in the United States

text: Plea bargaining in the United States is very common; the vast majority of criminal cases in the United States are settled by plea bargain rather than by a jury trial. They have also been increasing in frequency—they rose from 84% of federal cases in 1984 to 94% by 2001. Plea bargains are subject to the approval of the court, and different States and jurisdictions have different rules. Game theory has been used to analyze the plea bargaining decision.

title: Plea bargain

text: A plea bargaining, also called a plea agreement or negotiated plea, is an alternative and consensual way of criminal case settlement. A plea agreement means settlement of case without main hearing when the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a lesser charge or for a more lenient sentence and/or for dismissal of certain related charges. (Article 209 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia)

title: Plea bargaining in the United States

text: Another argument against plea bargaining is that it may not actually reduce the costs of administering justice. For example, if a prosecutor has only a 25% chance of winning his case and sending the defendant away to prison for 10 years, he may make a plea agreement for a one-year sentence; but if plea bargaining is unavailable, he may drop the case completely.

title: Plea bargain

text: In 2009, in a case about whether witness testimony originating from a plea deal in the United States was admissible in a Danish criminal trial (297/2008 H), the Supreme Court of Denmark (Danish: Højesteret) unanimously ruled that plea bargains are prima facie not legal under Danish law,[43] but that the witnesses in the particular case would be allowed to testify regardless (with the caveat that the lower court consider the possibility that the testimony was untrue or at least influenced by the benefits of the plea bargain).[43] The Supreme Court did however point out that Danish law contains mechanisms similar to plea bargains, such as § 82, nr. 10 of the Danish Penal Code (Danish: Straffeloven) which states that a sentence may be reduced if the perpetrator of a crime provides information that helps solve a crime perpetrated by others,[44][43] or § 23 a of the Danish Competition Law (Danish: Konkurrenceloven) which states that someone can apply to avoid being fined or prosecuted for participating in a cartel if they provide information about the cartel that the authorities did not know at the time.[45][43]

title: Plea bargain

text: In 2007, Sakharam Bandekar case became the first such case in India where the accused Sakharam Bandekar requested lesser punishment in return for confessing to his crime (using plea bargaining). However, the court rejected his plea and accepted CBI's argument that the accused was facing serious charges of corruption.[34] Finally, the court convicted Bandekar and sentenced him to 3 years imprisonment.[35]

title: 2012 California Proposition 36

text:
Under the Three Strikes Laws, there were more than 7,400 second and third-strike cases filed statewide at the end of August 1994.
Historically, more than 90% of the defendants would plea bargain for more lenient sentence or dismissal of other charges. However, knowing the consequence of having three strikes, in 1995 plea bargaining with guilty pleas dropped to a frequency of 14% of defendants with second-strike cases and 6% of defendants with third-strike cases. As a result of the significant decrease in plea bargaining, prosecutors and public defenders face a high volume of jury trials, which are more expensive and which slow other business in the courts.

title: Criminal justice

text: Some cases can be disposed of without the need for a trial. In fact, the vast majority are. If the accused confesses his or her guilt, a shorter process may be employed and a judgment may be rendered more quickly. Some nations, such as America, allow plea bargaining in which the accused pleads guilty, nolo contendere or not guilty, and may accept a diversion program or reduced punishment, where the prosecution's case is weak or in exchange for the cooperation of the accused against other people. This reduced sentence is sometimes a reward for sparing the state the expense of a formal trial. Many nations do not permit the use of plea bargaining, believing that it coerces innocent people to plead guilty in an attempt to avoid a harsh punishment.

title: Plea bargain

text: Plea bargaining is extremely difficult in jurisdictions based on the civil law. This is because unlike common law systems, civil law systems have no concept of plea—if the defendant confesses; a confession is entered into evidence, but the prosecution is not absolved of the duty to present a full case. A court may decide that a defendant is innocent even though they presented a full confession. Also, unlike common law systems, prosecutors in civil law countries may have limited or no power to drop or reduce charges after a case has been filed, and in some countries their power to drop or reduce charges before a case has been filed is limited, making plea bargaining impossible. Since the 1980s, many civil law nations have adapted their systems to allow for plea bargaining.[38]

title: Justin Brooks

text: In the mid-1990's, Brooks read about the case of a 21-year-old Chicago women, Marilyn Mulero, who had been sentenced to death without a trial, based on a plea bargain. The situation made no sense to Brooks: virtually always, a defendant plea bargains for a lesser sentence, yet Mulero had received the harshest possible sentence.

title: Plea bargain

text: Certain aspects of the American justice system serve to promote plea bargaining. For example, the adversarial nature of the U.S. criminal justice system puts judges in a passive role, in which they have no independent access to information with which to assess the strength of the case against the defendant. The prosecutor and defense may thus control the outcome of a case through plea bargaining. The court must approve a plea bargain as being within the interests of justice.[22]

title: Evan Freed

text: Freed left the Los Angeles City Attorney's office in 1997 and is now a criminal defense lawyer in Redondo Beach, California. A notable case was Freed's defense of a young driver involved in a fatal accident. Freed contended that glare and not a dirty windshield was the cause of the accident. The case was settled with a plea bargain. In another case, Freed obtained a reduced federal court sentence for a man convicted of rhino horn trafficking. Freed represented one defendant in the 2015 Rowland Heights, California bullying incident, who received a 13-year sentence in a plea bargain.

title: Plea bargain

text: Plea bargaining is permitted in the legal system of England and Wales. The guidelines by the Sentencing Council require that the discount it gives to the sentence are determined by the timing of the plea and no other factors.[6] The guidelines state that the earlier the guilty plea is entered, the greater the discount to the sentence. The maximum discount permitted is one third, for a plea entered at the earliest stage. There is no minimum discount; a guilty plea entered on the first proper day of the trial would be expected provide a discount of one tenth. The discount can sometimes involve changing the type of punishment, such as substituting a prison sentence for community service.

title: Plea bargain

text: Another situation in which an innocent defendant may plead guilty is in the case of a defendant who cannot raise bail, and who is being held in custody in a jail or detention facility. Because it may take months, or even years, for criminal cases to come to trial or even indictment in some jurisdictions, an innocent defendant who is offered a plea bargain that includes a sentence of less time than he would otherwise spend in jail awaiting an indictment or a trial may choose to accept the plea arrangement and plead guilty.[14]

title: Plea bargain

text: [P]lea bargains are just as likely in strong and weak cases. Prosecutors only need to adjust the offer to the probability of conviction in order to reach an agreement. Thus, weaker cases result in more lenient plea bargains, and stronger ones in relative harshness, but both result in an agreement. [... W]hen the case is weak, the parties must rely on charge bargaining ... But [charge bargaining] is hardly an obstacle. Charge bargaining in weak cases is not the exception; it is the norm all around the country. Thus, even if the evidence against innocent defendants is, on average, weaker, the likelihood of plea bargains is not dependent on guilt.

title: Plea bargain

text: Italy has a form of bargaining, popularly known as "patteggiamento" but that has a technical name of penalty application under request of the parts. In fact, the bargaining is not about the charges, but about the penalty applied in sentence, reduced up to[51] one third.

title: Plea bargain

text: Plea bargaining[29] in Magistrates' Court trials is permitted only to the extent that the prosecutors and the defence can agree that the defendant will plead guilty to some charges and the prosecutor will drop the remainder. However, although this is not conducting a plea bargain, in cases before the Crown Court, the defence can request an indication from the judge of the likely maximum sentence that would be imposed should the defendant decide to plead guilty.[30][31]

title: Plea bargain

text: For instance, Robert Badinter argued that plea bargaining would give too much power to the public prosecutor and would encourage defendants to accept a sentence only to avoid the risk of a bigger sentence in a trial, even if they did not really deserve it. Only a minority of criminal cases are settled by that method: in 2009, 77,500 out of the 673,700 or 11.5% of the decisions by the correctional courts.[47]

title: Inquisitorial system

text: As a result of judicial investigation and defendants being able to have judicial proceedings dismissed on procedural grounds during the examining phase, cases where the evidence is weak tend not to reach the trial stage. Conversely, the guilty plea and plea bargaining were until recently unknown to French law, and now it only applies to crimes for which the prosecution seeks a sentence not exceeding one year imprisonment. Therefore, most cases go to trial, including cases where the prosecution is almost sure to gain a conviction, whereas, in countries such as the United States, these would be settled by plea bargain.

title: Plea bargain

text: According to Italian law, a bargain doesn't need a guilty plea (in Italy there is no plea declaration); for this reason, a bargaining sentence is only an acceptance of the penalty in exchange with the stop of investigation and trial and has no binding cogency in other trials, especially in civil trials in which parts argue of the same facts at the effects of civil liability and in other criminal trials in which are processed the accomplices of the defendant that had requested and got a bargaining sentence.[52]

title: Plea bargain

text: Largely unique to the Canadian justice system is that further negotiations concerning the final disposition of a criminal case may also arise even after a sentence has been passed. This is because in Canada the Crown has (by common law standards) a very broad right to appeal acquittals, and also a right to appeal for harsher sentences except in cases where the sentence imposed was maximum allowed. Therefore, in Canada, after sentencing the defence sometimes has an incentive to try and persuade the Crown to not appeal a case, in exchange for the defence also declining to appeal. While, strictly speaking, this is not plea bargaining, it is done for largely the same reasons.

title: Final Exit Network

text: In plea bargains, two of the defendants, senior exit guide Wye Hale-Rowe and case coordinator Roberta Massey, each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge of facilitation to commit manslaughter. Both women were elderly; the pleas ensured they would not run any risk of prison sentences. The trial of the other two began on April 4, 2011. After a two-week trial, Final Exit Network's medical director, Dr. Lawrence Egbert, was acquitted. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the case against exit guide Frank Langsner. Before his retrial, scheduled for August 4, 2011, Langsner accepted a plea bargain on one misdemeanor count of endangerment and was sentenced to one year probation, following which his record would be expunged.

title: Najibullah Zazi

text: On March 4, in a plea bargain he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of lying to U.S. federal agents, and said he was sorry. Afzali faced up to six months in prison, and as part of the plea arrangement the government agreed not to request any jail time. Brooklyn federal judge Frederic Block will sentence him on April 8. As part of his plea agreement, Afzali voluntarily left the U.S. in July 2010, within 90 days of his conviction. As a felon and under the terms of his plea bargain Afzali may not return to the U.S. unless given special permission.

title: Wilson v. State

text: Wilson received the 10-year sentence following a refusal to enter into a proposed plea bargain, stating his adamant belief that "It's all about doing what's right [...] And what's right is right, and what's wrong is wrong. And I'm just standing up for what I believe in." His decision to reject the plea agreement, as well as his continued fight to overturn his conviction, takes into account that sex offenders in Georgia must register themselves and are subject to penalty laws for life, and that the law was not intended to penalize teenage partners. As the law stands, Wilson would not even be able to return to his own family after an early release, as he has an 8-year-old sister Jiaya Bennett with whom he would be forbidden contact. The other young males involved (including one charged for the same oral sex acts as Wilson) accepted plea bargains with the possibility of parole; they are required to register as convicted sex offenders. Wilson had been offered a plea bargain for a five-year sentence with the possibility of parole before the trial but rejected the offer. After the jury had returned the guilty verdict, the prosecutor offered the same 5-year plea bargain again, and Wilson refused again. Another young man involved in the case had accepted a similar 5-year plea bargain and was paroled after two years.


query: What is the capital of Pakistan?

title: List of capitals in Pakistan

text: Islamabad officially became the capital of Pakistan on 14 August 1967, exactly 20 years after the country's independence.[1] Previously, Rawalpindi was the capital, designated in 1958.[1] The first capital of Pakistan was the coastal city of Karachi, which was selected by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. [1] Karachi was and still is the largest city and economic capital of Pakistan. It remained the seat of government until 1959, when the military president, Ayub Khan, decided to build a new capital in the north of Pakistan, near the general headquarters of the Pakistani Armed Forces at Rawalpindi.

title: Former administrative units of Pakistan

text: The western wing eventually included thirteen princely states, one union of states, Gwadar enclave, Gilgit agency and parts of Kashmir:Simmering tensions between the eastern and western wings of Pakistan led to the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra. The states and provinces of the western wing merged in 1955 to become divisions of the new province of West Pakistan with the provincial capital at Lahore. At the same time, East Bengal became the new province of East Pakistan with the provincial capital at Dhaka. West Pakistan annexed the former Omani enclave of Gwadar (on the Balochistan coast) in 1958 as part of Kalat division. In 1960 the federal government moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi (the provisional capital pending the completion of Islamabad), whilst the federal legislature moved to Dhaka. The Federal Capital Territory was merged with West Pakistan in 1961 to form the new division of Karachi. In 1963 the Trans-Karakoram Tract was transferred by treaty from Gilgit Agency to China under the provision that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Kashmir dispute. Thus from 1955 to 1970, Pakistan comprised two provinces:The One Unit policy was regarded as a rational administrative reform to reduce expenditure and eliminate provincial prejudices. However the military coup of 1958 signalled troubled times for the two-province system as the office of Chief Minister of West Pakistan was abolished by President Ayub Khan to be replaced by Governor's rule. Eventually, in 1970, the province of West Pakistan was dissolved by President Yahya Khan and four new provinces were created along with some changes in Pakistani Kashmir. These provinces combined most of the former provinces and states as follows:

title: Pakistan and state-sponsored terrorism

text: Critics had accused Pakistan's military and security establishment of protecting Osama bin Laden, until he was found and killed by US forces. This issue was expected to worsen US ties with Pakistan. Bin Laden was killed in what most feel was his residence for at least three years, in Abbottabad, in Pakistan. It was an expensive compound, less than 100 kilometres' drive from the capital, Islamabad, probably built specifically for Bin Laden. The compound is 0.8 miles (1.3 km) southwest of the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), a prominent military academy that has been compared to Sandhurst in Britain and West Point in the United States. Pakistan's President Zardari has denied that his country's security forces may have sheltered Osama bin Laden.

title: JS Group

text: JS Global Capital Limited was incorporated as a private limited company on 28 June 2000. JS Global Capital Limited is arguably the largest Broking and Investment Banking firm in Pakistan with a continued leadership position in the domestic capital markets. JS Global is listed at the domestic stock exchanges and JS Bank Limited and Global Investment House are the sponsor shareholders.JS Global Capital Limited is a Trading Right Entitlement Certificate Holder of Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited and member of Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited. The principal activities of the Company are share brokerage, money market, forex and commodity brokerage, advisory and consultancy services.

title: Governor's House (Karachi)

text: Following Pakistan's independence in August 1947 and Karachi's designation as the country's capital, the building became the residence of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan and its first Governor-General. From that point onward, the building became known as the "Governor-General's House" and was used as an official residence by all Governor-Generals of Pakistan who succeeded Jinnah. Jinnah had continued to reside in the house until his death in September 1948. In 1956, the post of Governor-General was abolished and replaced by the President of Pakistan, thus making the last governor-general of Pakistan, Iskandar Mirza, the country's first elected president. The building was thereafter referred to as the "President's House." By the 1970s, Karachi was no longer the capital of Pakistan; the federal government was shifted to Islamabad. With the dissolution of the One Unit scheme and revival of provinces, Karachi was designated the capital city of Sindh. The house eventually became the residence of the Governor of Sindh and continues to be so as of present.

title: General Debate of the seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly

text: Afghanistan responded to Pakistan in referring to "safe havens of terror in Pakistan. Pakistan diverts attention from [its] failure to take action against groups with sanctuaries in its territory. Those in Pakistan constitute the main source of instability to Afghanistan and the region. Efforts to this end, from this platform, have yielded nothing. Pakistan prevents a constructive approach to peace and stability in the region and the world. Where was Osama bin Laden killed? Near the capital, Islamabad. Where did Mullah Omar die? In an hospital in Karachi. Where was his successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour found and killed by foreign forces? Quetta in Pakistan. Which passport did he have to travel? Pakistan. From what country has almost every terrorist group entered Afghanistan? From Pakistan. Incessant support for extremist groups by Pakistan...[the] so-called civil war in Afghanistan has been so by the use of proxies for political purposes in Afghanistan. Now the time has come for Pakistan to adopt a constructive approach to promote peace in the region. Lastly Abbasi admitted in an interview a few days ago that the truck used in a bombing might have come from Pakistan to Afghanistan. We will use dialogue to ensure stability for our people. In this context, our resolve to defeat terrorism is unwavering, as is shown by our security forces everyday."

title: Gahkuch

text: Gahkuch () is the capital of Ghizer District in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. The town lies on the way to Ishkoman. It is covered by mountains. It is situated 72 kilometers northwest of Gilgit, the capital of Pakistan's autonomous Gilgit-Baltistan province. Pakistan's 1998 census recorded the population of Gahkuch as 10,142.

title: Federal Capital Territory (Pakistan)

text: Karachi was and still is the financial capital of Pakistan, accounting for the largest share of the nation's GDP and generating the largest share of the national revenue. The State Bank of Pakistan and most commercial banks had their headquarters in Karachi together with Pakistan's first and largest stock exchange - the KSE now PSX.

title: 1964 East Pakistan riots

text: The 1964 East Pakistan Riots refer to the massacre and ethnic cleansing of Bengali Hindus from East Pakistan in the wake of an alleged theft of what was believed to be the Prophet's hair from the Hazratbal shrine in Jammu and Kashmir in India. The salient feature of the pogroms was its urban nature and selective targeting of Bengali Hindu owned industries and merchant establishments in the capital city of Dhaka. This resulted in unending waves of Bengali Hindu refugees in neighbouring West Bengal. The refugee rehabilitation became a national problem in India, and hundreds of refugees were resettled in Dandakaranya in Madhya Pradesh (now in Chhattisgarh).

title: Capital punishment in Pakistan

text: However, although capital punishment may be allowed, the "Qur'an" predominantly teaches forgiveness and peace. Muslims believe that capital punishment is a most severe sentence but one that may be instructed by a court for crimes of suitable severity, as seen above this is a perfectly painted picture of what the Constitution does. Although murder is deemed as a big sin in most religion, it is also punishable by death in many countries including Pakistan.

title: Monis Rahman

text: It was the latest in a series of large venture capital investments in Pakistan over the previous year and a half. Managing director Per Brilioth said, "We are excited to partner with Naseeb Networks and impressed with what Rahman and his team have achieved in Pakistan and Saudi Arabia... We believe these markets present massive growth opportunities and are looking forward to working with the team to expand the reach of Naseeb Networks' world-class products and services." Michael Porter of AllWorld Network listed the company as one of Pakistan's fastest growing private companies. American writer Elmira Bayrasli visited Pakistan in 2010 to assess the entrepreneurial potential of the country and listed Rahman as an "example to entrepreneurs" in her 2015 book, "From the Other Side of the World". She claimed that the "next Silicon Valley could be in Lahore, Mumbai or Istanbul."

title: AKD Capital

text: In 2006, AKD Securities, a partner company of AKD Capital, hosted Pakistan's International Investor Conference in London. The conference was attended by many investors and corporations. The then Prime Minister of Pakistan addressed the audience to attract investors towards investing in Pakistan.

title: State Bank of Pakistan

text: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) () is the central bank of Pakistan. While its constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until January 1, 1974, when the bank was nationalized, the scope of its functions was considerably enlarged. The State Bank of Pakistan Act 1956, with subsequent amendments, forms the basis of its operations today. The headquarters are located in the financial capital of Pakistan, Karachi whereas the bank has a fully owned subsidiary with the name SBP Banking Services Corporation (SBP-BSC) which is the operational arm of the central bank and has branch offices in 15 cities across Pakistan, including the capital city, Islamabad and the four provincial capitals and has head office in Karachi. State bank has other fully owned subsidiaries as well namely, I) National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF) which is the training arm of the bank and also provides training to commercial banks, 2) Deposit Protection Corporation (DPC) and recently SBP was given ownership of 3) Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) as well.

title: List of diplomatic missions in Karachi

text: By the time of Pakistan's independence in 1947, Karachi had become a bustling metropolis with slightly under half a million people, and classical and colonial European styled buildings lining the city's thoroughfares. Karachi was capita of Sindh province was also chosen as the capital of Pakistan. In 1958, the capital of Pakistan was moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi. The foreign embassies in Karachi moved to the newly developed capital Islamabad, near Rawalpindi. There are Consulates and Honorary Consulates as Diplomatic missions in Karachi.

title: History of Karachi

text: Karachi was chosen as the capital city of Pakistan. After the independence of Pakistan, the city population increased dramatically when hundreds of thousands of Muslim Muhajirs from India fleeing from anti-Muslim pogroms and from other parts of South Asia came to settle in Karachi. As a consequence, the demographics of the city also changed drastically. The Government of Pakistan through Public Works Department bought land to settle the Muslim refugees. However, it still maintained a great cultural diversity as its new inhabitants arrived from the different parts of the South Asia. In 1959, the capital of Pakistan was shifted from Karachi to Islamabad and Karachi became the capital of Sindh.

title: AKD Capital

text: AKD Capital Limited operates in real estate activities in Pakistan. The company working includes projects financing and management services. AKD Capital invests in listed securities and engaged in leasing activities. The company was incorporated in 1936. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan.

title: List of capitals in Pakistan

text: In 1962, Dacca was made the legislative capital of the country due to East Pakistan's high population.[2]

title: Hellenistic influence on Indian art

text: After these events, the Greeks were able to maintain a structured presence at the door of India for about three centuries, through the Seleucid Empire and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, down to the time of the Indo-Greek kingdoms, which ended sometimes in the 1st century CE. During that time, the city of Ai-Khanoum, capital of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, and the capitals of the Indo-Greek Kingdom, the cities of Sirkap, founded in what is now Pakistan on the Greek Hippodamian grid plan, and Sagala, now located in Pakistan 10 km from the border with India, interacted heavily with the Indian subcontinent. It is considered that Ai-Khanoum and Sirkap may have been primary actors in transmitting Western artistic influence to India, for example in the creation of the quasi-Ionic Pataliputra capital or the floral friezes of the Pillars of Ashoka. Numerous Greek ambassadors, such as Megasthenes, Deimachus and Dionysius, stayed at the Mauryan court in Pataliputra.

title: West Pakistan

text: Under the One Unit policy announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad Ali on 22 November 1954, the four provinces and territories of western Pakistan were integrated into one unit to mirror the single province in the east. The state of West Pakistan was established by the merger of the provinces, states, and tribal areas of West Pakistan. The province was composed of twelve divisions and the provincial capital was established at Karachi. Later the state capital moved to Lahore, and it was finally established in Islamabad in 1965. The province of East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan with the provincial state capital at Dhaka (Dacca).

title: List of capitals in Pakistan

text: List of historical national capitals List of countries with multiple capitals Administrative units of Pakistan Former administrative units of Pakistan

title: Skardu Airport

text: Skardu Airport is a domestic civil airport and military airbase in Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It is connected with Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, and Gilgit, the provincial capital of Gilgit-Baltistan, through regular Pakistan International Airlines flights. It also serves as a forward operating base of the Pakistan Air Force.

title: Mirza Muzaffar Ahmad

text: Most of this contingent of highly able and trained civil servants who opted for service in Pakistan were to play important roles in establishing the state of Pakistan. Most of them went to Karachi, the country’s first capital. MM Ahmad was first posted in Lahore, the capital of the part of Punjab that was attached to Pakistan. Among the many positions MM Ahmad held in Lahore was that of secretary of finance. Later, he went to Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, where he served in a number of senior positions, including secretary of commerce, secretary of finance, and deputy chairman of the Planning Commission.

title: Capital Dynamos

text: Capital Dynamos is the domestic field hockey team for the Islamabad Capital Territory in Pakistan. It is part of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

title: Afghans in Pakistan

text: Afghans have migrated from Afghanistan to what is now Pakistan since at least the times of the Ghaznavids in the 10th century. Before the mid-19th century, Afghanistan was recognized as the Durrani Empire and ruled by a succession of Afghan kings with their capitals in Kandahar, Kabul, and Peshawar. In his 1857 review of John William Kaye's "The Afghan War", Friedrich Engels described Afghanistan as:

title: Paratarajas

text: The Pāratarajas was a dynasty of Parthian kings, and ruling family from what is now Pakistan, from the 1st century to the 3rd century. The seat of their capital was Balochistan.

title: Federal Capital Territory (Pakistan)

text: The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) around Karachi was the original capital territory of Pakistan. The FCT was created in 1948 from the city of Karachi and surrounding areas as the location for Pakistan's capital following independence. The FCT was bordered by the province of Sind to the northeast and the princely state of Las Bela to the northwest with the Arabian Sea to the south.

title: Islamabad

text: Islamabad (; ) is the capital city of Pakistan, and is federally administered as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Built as a planned city in the 1960s to replace Karachi as Pakistan's capital, Islamabad is noted for its high standards of living, safety, and abundant greenery.

title: Faletti's Hotel

text: Faletti's is situated in Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city and the provincial capital of Pakistan's Punjab province. Lahore is also known as the cultural and literary capital of Pakistan.

title: Capital punishment in Pakistan

text: Finally on 10 March 2015, Pakistan lifted the moratorium on the use of capital punishment in the country entirely.

title: Administrative units of Pakistan

text: In 1960, the federal capital moved from Karachi to Rawalpindi and in 1961, the Federal Capital Territory was merged into West Pakistan. In 1966, the capital was again moved to Islamabad. In 1962, Dacca was made the legislative capital of the country due to East Pakistan's high population.[3]


query: Do whales live in the Indian Ocean?

title: Killer whale

text: Information for offshore regions and warmer waters is more scarce, but widespread sightings indicate the killer whale can survive in most water temperatures. They have been sighted, though more infrequently, in the Mediterranean, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean.[72] Over 50 individual whales have been documented in the northern Indian Ocean, including two individuals that were sighted in the Persian Gulf in 2008 and off Sri Lanka in 2015.[76] Those orcas may occasionally enter the Red Sea through the Gulf of Aden.[77] The modern status of the species along coastal mainland China and its vicinity is unknown. Recorded sightings have been made from almost the entire shoreline.[78] A wide-ranging population is likely to exist in the central Pacific, with some sightings off Hawaii.[79][80] Distinct populations may also exist off the west coast of tropical Africa,[81] and Papua New Guinea.[82] In the Mediterranean, killer whales are considered "visitors", likely from the North Atlantic, and sightings become less frequent further east. However, a small year-round population is known to exist in the Strait of Gibraltar, mostly on the Atlantic side.[83][84] Killer whales also appear to regularly occur off the Galápagos Islands.[85]

title: Whaling in Madagascar

text: Madagascar lies entirely in the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary, a whale sanctuary that covers the Indian Ocean south to 55º S. The sanctuary prohibits commercial whaling and aims to facilitate the recovery of whale populations, allow whales to do their jobs within the ecosystem, and foster public awareness. This sanctuary’s conservation efforts are uniquely important for several reasons. The sanctuary allows for the Sperm whale and the Oman Humpback whale to recover their population which has been diminished by illegal soviet whaling operations in the 70’s. The sanctuary also allows the population recovery of the Bryde’s whale from Japanese whaling operations which still continue to this day as Japan does not respect the sanctuary and continues its operations claiming that their operations are purely scientific. Approximately 600 whales are killed each year by Japanese scientific whaling operations.

title: Cetacea

text: Many species inhabit specific latitudes, often in tropical or subtropical waters, such as Bryde's whale or Risso's dolphin. Others are found only in a specific body of water. The southern right whale dolphin and the hourglass dolphin live only in the Southern Ocean. The narwhal and the beluga live only in the Arctic Ocean. Sowerby's beaked whale and the Clymene dolphin exist only in the Atlantic and the Pacific white-sided dolphin and the northern straight dolphin live only in the North Pacific.

title: Whale watching

title: Blue whale

text: Authorities classify the species into three or four subspecies: "B. m. musculus", the northern blue whale consisting of the North Atlantic and North Pacific populations, "B. m. intermedia", the southern blue whale of the Southern Ocean, "B. m. brevicauda", the pygmy blue whale found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, and the more problematic "B. m. indica", the great Indian rorqual, which is also found in the Indian Ocean and, although described earlier, may be the same subspecies as "B. m. brevicauda".

title: Sei whale

text: Sei whales have been recorded from northern Indian Ocean as well such as around Sri Lanka and Indian coasts.

title: Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

text: The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area of 50 million square kilometres surrounding the continent of Antarctica where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. To date, the IWC has designated two such sanctuaries, the other being the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

title: Southern right whale

text: In oceanic islands and offshore waters other than the above-mentioned areas, very little about the presence and recovery status of southern right whales is known. Right whales' historical ranges were much greater than today as whales were known to occur in lower latitude areas such as around Pacific Islands during the whaling era such as catches off Kiribati, and also frequented lower latitudes of the central Indian Ocean.

title: Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary

text: The status of the Whale Sanctuaries is reviewed by the IWC every 10 years, and the Indian Ocean Sanctuary has so far been reviewed (and extended) three times, in 1989, 1992 and 2002.

title: Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary

text: The Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary extends south to 55°S latitude with a western boundary of 20°E longitude by Africa and an eastern boundary of 130°E longitude by Australia. To the south it borders the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

title: Cetacean stranding

text: Body size does not normally affect the frequency, but both the animals' normal habitat and social organization do appear to influence their chances of coming ashore in large numbers. Odontocetes that normally inhabit deep waters and live in large, tightly knit groups are the most susceptible. This includes the sperm whale, oceanic dolphins, usually pilot and killer whales, and a few beaked whale species.

title: Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary

text: The northern boundary of the sanctuary follows the 40°S parallel of latitude except in the Indian Ocean sector where it joins the southern boundary of the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary at 55°S, and around South America and into the South Pacific where the boundary is at 60°S.

title: Pilot whale

text: The short-finned pilot whale is less populous. It is found in temperate and tropical waters of the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its population overlaps slightly with the long-finned pilot whale in the temperate waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Oceans. About 150,000 individuals are found in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. More than 30,000 animals are estimated in the western Pacific, off the coast of Japan. Pilot whales are generally nomadic, but some populations stay year-round in places such as Hawaii and parts of California. They prefer the waters of the shelf break and slope. Once commonly seen off of Southern California, short-finned pilot whales disappeared from the area after a strong El Niño year in the early 1980s, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In October 2014, crew and passengers on several boats spotted a pod of 50–200 off Dana Point, California.

title: Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary

text: The Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area in the Indian Ocean where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. The IWC has at present designated two such sanctuaries, the other being the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Repeated proposals at the IWC for a South Atlantic Sanctuary and a South Pacific Sanctuary have never reached the 75% majority needed to pass.

title: Whaling in Madagascar

text: Whaling in Madagascar is currently banned on a commercial level in compliance with sanctuary regulations. Despite erratic weather conditions, there is a history of overhunting sperm whales, humpback whales, and Bryde's whales within the surrounding waters of Madagascar. In an attempt to allow native populations to recuperate from these operations, the region about Madagascar was included within the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary by the International Whaling Commission.

title: Whale

text: The IWC has designated two whale sanctuaries: the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary, and the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary. The Southern Ocean whale sanctuary spans and envelopes Antarctica. The Indian Ocean whale sanctuary takes up all of the Indian Ocean south of 55°S. The IWC is a voluntary organization, with no treaty. Any nation may leave as they wish; the IWC cannot enforce any law it makes.

title: Pygmy blue whale

text: The pygmy blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda") is a subspecies of the blue whale ("Balaenoptera musculus") found in the Indian Ocean and the southern Pacific Ocean.

title: Antarctic minke whale

text: On 20 January 1972, a broken-off bill of a marlin ("Makaira" sp.) was found embedded in the rostrum of a minke whale caught in the Southern Ocean at , providing indirect evidence of migration to the warmer tropical or subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean.

title: Blue whale

text: In addition, the population of blue whales occurring off Chile and Peru may also be a distinct subspecies. Some Antarctic blue whales approach the eastern South Atlantic coast in winter, and occasionally, their vocalizations are heard off Peru, Western Australia, and in the northern Indian Ocean. In Chile, the Cetacean Conservation Center, with support from the Chilean Navy, is undertaking extensive research and conservation work on a recently discovered feeding aggregation of the species off the coast of Chiloe Island in the Gulf of Corcovado (Chiloé National Park), where 326 blue whales were spotted in 2007. In this regions, it is normal for blue whales to enter Fiords. Whales also reach southern Los Lagos, such as off Caleta Zorra, live along with other rorquals.

title: Deraniyagala's beaked whale

text: Deraniyagala's beaked whale is known from only seven individuals that have stranded themselves on beaches of various islands in the Indian and South Pacific Oceans: Seychelles, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Gilbert Islands, Kiribati and Line Islands. It is thought that, like Cuvier's beaked whale, they live in insular populations (isolated communities).

title: Blue whale

text: Long and slender, the blue whale's body can be various shades of bluish-grey dorsally and somewhat lighter underneath. There are at least three distinct subspecies: "B. m. musculus" of the North Atlantic and North Pacific, "B. m. intermedia" of the Southern Ocean and "B. m. brevicauda" (also known as the pygmy blue whale) found in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. "B. m. indica", found in the Indian Ocean, may be another subspecies. As with other baleen whales, its diet consists almost exclusively of small crustaceans known as krill.

title: Southern right whale

text: Historical populations which summered in the Crozet Islands and the Kerguelen Islands, and migrated to La Roche Godon and Île Saint-Paul, Île Amsterdam, and Central Indian Ocean once existed, and that might be distinct from whales seen on Mozambique coasts. Repopulation these whales among these areas in Indian Ocean is likely to be even at lower rates than other areas. Sightings have been fewer in modern periods among Crozet, Réunion, Mauritius, Marion Islands, Île Amsterdam, and Kerguelen.

title: Northern fin whale

text: The northern fin whale ("Balaenoptera physalus physalus") is a subspecies of fin whale that lives in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean. It is possible that the population in each ocean represents a separate subspecies. At least one other subspecies of fin whale, the southern fin whale ("B. p. quoyi"), exists in the southern hemisphere.

title: Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary

text: The Indian Ocean Sanctuary was established by the IWC in 1979 after being proposed by the tiny island nation of the Seychelles, in its first meeting as an IWC member, partly in order to protect whales in their breeding grounds.

title: Ocean Alliance

text: The Patagonia Right Whale program is one of the longest continually running studies on great whales: as of 2014 the program entered its 44th year. Ocean Alliance founder Dr. Roger Payne set up the program in 1970, on realizing that he could identify individual whales based on the patterns of cyamids (whale lice) on their heads. This opened up an enormous opportunity to gain far more information on the life-history of individual whales than had previously been possible. Roger also recognized its significance as it enabled him to learn far more from a live whale than the whaling community was learning from dead whales.

title: Bryde's whale

text: "B. brydei" occurs throughout the Indian Ocean north of about 35°S. Those of the southern Indian Ocean appear to correspond to "B. brydei", as do the individuals illegally caught by the Soviets in the 1960s in the northwest Indian Ocean, as well as the Maldives. Individuals sighted in the Red Sea may or may not be "B. brydei". Bryde's whales are considered to be more common in Red Sea than previously thought, and possibly a local resident group exists within the sea. Whales still migrate through coastal areas nearby such as in Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Aquaba, and in Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz.

title: Pygmy blue whale

text: The pygmy blue whale is the only one of the three identifiable subspecies to be found regularly in tropical waters. It occurs from the sub-Antarctic zone to the southern Indian Ocean and southwestern Pacific Ocean, breeding in the Indian and South Atlantic oceans, and travelling south to above the Antarctic to feed, although they very rarely cross the Antarctic Convergence.

title: Blue whale

text: In the Southern Hemisphere, there appear to be two distinct subspecies, "B. m. intermedia", the Antarctic blue whale, and the little-studied pygmy blue whale, "B. m. brevicauda", found in Indian Ocean waters. The most recent surveys (midpoint 1998) provided an estimate of 2,280 blue whales in the Antarctic (of which fewer than 1% are likely to be pygmy blue whales). Estimates from a 1996 survey show that 424 pygmy blue whales were in a small area south of Madagascar (the Madagascar Plateau) alone, thus it is likely that numbers in the entire Indian Ocean are in the thousands. If this is true, the global numbers would be much higher than estimates predict. However, slower reproduction rate of the species, along with the impacts of whaling, may affect population recoveries as the total population size is predicted to be at less than 50% of its pre-whaling state by 2100.

title: Rorqual

text: Distribution is worldwide: the blue, fin, humpback, and the sei whales are found in all major oceans; the common (northern) and Antarctic (southern) minke whale species are found in all the oceans of their respective hemispheres; and either of Bryde's whale and Eden's whale occur in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, being absent only from the cold waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.

title: Whale vocalization

text: Two groups of whales, the humpback whale and the subspecies of blue whale found in the Indian Ocean, are known to produce a series of repetitious sounds at varying frequencies known as whale song. Marine biologist Philip Clapham describes the song as "probably the most complex in the animal kingdom."

title: Whale watching in Australia

text: In Western Australia, whales are watched near Cape Naturaliste in the south-east Indian Ocean and at Cape Leeuwin where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet. Whale watching cruises operate along the west coast around Perth and Fremantle and as far north as Broome.


query: Do frogs breathe through their skin?

title: Cutaneous respiration

text: The skin of amphibians is a major site of respiration in all species for which measurements are available.[1] Cutaneous respiration is the sole respiratory mode of lungless salamanders (family Plethodontidae) which lack lungs entirely yet constitute the largest family of salamanders. Cutaneous respiration in frogs and other amphibians may be the primary respiratory mode during colder temperatures.[2]

title: Australian green tree frog

text: Although frogs have lungs, they absorb oxygen through their skin; for this to occur efficiently, the skin must be moist. A disadvantage of moist skin is that pathogens such as molds and bacteria can thrive on it, increasing the chance of infection. To counteract this, frogs secrete peptides that destroy these pathogens. The secretion from the paratoid gland of the green tree frog contains 25 caerins, a group of peptides with antibacterial and antiviral properties. The caerins produced by frogs of this species from different geographical localities have subtle but reproducible differences. The secretions also contain caeruleins, which have the same physiological effects as CCK-8, a digestive hormone and hunger suppressant. These caeruleins now have a number of clinical applications. Several peptides from the skin secretions of the green tree frog have been found to destroy HIV without harming healthy T cells.

title: Tetrapod

text: Skin breathing, known as cutaneous respiration, is common in fish and amphibians, and occur both in and out of water. In some animals waterproof barriers impede the exchange of gases through the skin. For example, keratin in human skin, the scales of reptiles, and modern proteinaceous fish scales impede the exchange of gases. However, early tetrapods had scales made of highly vascularized bone covered with skin. For this reason, it is thought that early tetrapods could engage some significant amount of skin breathing.

title: Amphibian

text: Frog larvae are known as tadpoles and typically have oval bodies and long, vertically flattened tails with fins. The free-living larvae are normally fully aquatic, but the tadpoles of some species (such as "Nannophrys ceylonensis") are semi-terrestrial and live among wet rocks. Tadpoles have cartilaginous skeletons, gills for respiration (external gills at first, internal gills later), lateral line systems and large tails that they use for swimming. Newly hatched tadpoles soon develop gill pouches that cover the gills. The lungs develop early and are used as accessory breathing organs, the tadpoles rising to the water surface to gulp air. Some species complete their development inside the egg and hatch directly into small frogs. These larvae do not have gills but instead have specialised areas of skin through which respiration takes place. While tadpoles do not have true teeth, in most species, the jaws have long, parallel rows of small keratinized structures called keradonts surrounded by a horny beak. Front legs are formed under the gill sac and hind legs become visible a few days later.

title: Northern leopard frog

text: Northern leopard frogs are preyed upon by many different animals, such as snakes, raccoons, other frogs, and even humans. They do not produce distasteful skin secretions and rely on speed to evade predation.

title: Hairy frog

text: The hairy frog is also notable in possessing retractable "claws" (though unlike true claws, they are made of bone, not keratin), which it may project through the skin, apparently by intentionally breaking the bones of the toe. In addition, the researchers found a small bony nodule nestled in the tissue just beyond the frog's fingertip. When sheathed, each claw is anchored to the nodule with tough strands of collagen, but, as Gerald Durrell discovered firsthand, when the frog is grabbed or attacked, the frog breaks the nodule connection and forces its sharpened bones through the skin.

title: Hoplosternum littorale

text: "H. littorale" can breathe both with gills and through its intestines. However, intestinal respiration is not exhibited upon hatching, and the development of the respiratory intestine occurs throughout the juvenile period (up to 32 days old). Newly hatched larvae do not have the ability to breathe air through their intestines; however, it is possible that they absorb oxygen through their skin at this point, before the armor plates have developed. Soon after, between about 12–23 days of age, young have the capacity to breathe air, but their respiratory intestine has not finished developing. The respiratory intestine is well-developed between days 24 and 32.

title: Fauna of Belize

text: There are many species of salamanders, toads, and frogs found in the tropical forests of Belize such as the Rufescent Salamander, Red-Eyed Tree Frog, Maya Rain Frog, Marine Toad, and Mexican Burrowing Toad. Out of 450 different species of salamanders found in the world, only 6 different types are found in Belize, all of which belong to the Family Plethodontidae group. This group of salamanders are the lungless salamanders, meaning they do not breath through lungs, but instead through the pores of their moist skin. There are 3 different species of toads living in Belize, out of more than 300 species. The largest known toad can be found in Belize, the Marine Toad. It can grow up to 20 cm (8 in), and weight as much as 1.2 kg (2.5 lb.). These toads are more commonly found in human settlements rather than wildlife, so they are easily seen by tourists. They have adapted to human settlements, so they will eat cat or dog food left out for house pets.

title: Megalodiscus temperatus

text: The reproduction of "Megalodiscus temperatus" are displayed in the stomach and rectum of frogs and tadpoles. The snails that are diffused with miracidia releases cercariae into the water to penetrate the skin of frogs. The frogs regularly cast off the outer layers of the skin which results in their exposure to metaceriae. The metaceriae remains in the rectum of the frog and matures in the time span of four months. Tadpoles are less commonly infected, but when infected they are infected by the ingestion of cercaria. Through the process of metaphorphosis, "Megalodiscus temperatus" travels primarily from the anterior to the posterior of the rectum.

title: Corroboree frog

text: Corroboree frogs are the first vertebrates discovered that are able to produce their own poisonous alkaloids, as opposed to obtaining it via diet as many other frogs do. The alkaloid is secreted from the skin as a defence against predation, and potentially against skin infections by microbes. It has been described as potentially lethal to mammals if ingested. The unique alkaloid produced has been named pseudo-phrynamine (Daly et al. 2002).

title: Phyllobates sp. aff. aurotaenia

text: All "Phyllobates" species are highly toxic, and "P." sp. aff." aurotaenia" is no exception. Its skin contains batrachotoxins, extremely potent neurotoxic alkaloids. When in contact with the skin, batrachotoxins seep through open wounds and, in some cases, skin pores, and prevent nerves from transmitting impulses, leaving the muscles in an inactive state of contraction. This can lead to heart failure or fibrillation. Some native people use this poison to hunt by coating darts with the frogs' poison. Alkaloid batrachotoxins can be stored by frogs for years after the frog is deprived of the food-based source, and such toxins do not readily deteriorate, even when transferred to another surface. Chickens and dogs have died from contact with a paper towel on which the more toxic "P. terribilis" had walked.

title: Pickerel frog

text: In case of attack, pickerel frogs have an excellent defense mechanism: they emit skin secretions which are irritating to people and toxic to some predators; making the pickerel frog the only poisonous frog native to the United States. Due to its poison, most mammals, birds, snakes and other frogs will leave the pickerel frog alone. The skin secretions of a stressed pickerel frog are known to be toxic to other frogs, as many a novice frog catcher has found when he finds only the pickerel frog still alive in his bucket. These secretions can also be moderately irritating if they come in contact with the eyes, mucous membranes, or broken skin.

title: Fish gill

text: Fish from multiple groups can live out of the water for extended time periods. Amphibious fish such as the mudskipper can live and move about on land for up to several days, or live in stagnant or otherwise oxygen depleted water. Many such fish can breathe air via a variety of mechanisms. The skin of anguillid eels may absorb oxygen directly. The buccal cavity of the electric eel may breathe air. Catfish of the families Loricariidae, Callichthyidae, and Scoloplacidae absorb air through their digestive tracts. Lungfish, with the exception of the Australian lungfish, and bichirs have paired lungs similar to those of tetrapods and must surface to gulp fresh air through the mouth and pass spent air out through the gills. Gar and bowfin have a vascularized swim bladder that functions in the same way. Loaches, trahiras, and many catfish breathe by passing air through the gut. Mudskippers breathe by absorbing oxygen across the skin (similar to frogs). A number of fish have evolved so-called accessory breathing organs that extract oxygen from the air. Labyrinth fish (such as gouramis and bettas) have a labyrinth organ above the gills that performs this function. A few other fish have structures resembling labyrinth organs in form and function, most notably snakeheads, pikeheads, and the Clariidae catfish family.

title: List of amphibians of Guatemala

text:
Glass frogs (Centrolenidae) are a family of generally small frogs, ranging from in length, distributed from southern Mexico, through Central America and South America. While the general background coloration of most glass frogs is primarily lime green, the abdominal skin of some members of this family is transparent. The internal viscera, including the heart, liver, and gastrointestinal tract are visible through this translucent skin, hence the common name. There is one species in Guatemala.Order: Anura.
Family: Microhylidae

title: Fletcher's frog

text: This is medium-sized frog, getting to about 50mm in length. It is brown on the dorsal surface, however can range from light tan to dark or red brown. Its skin is rough in texture and feels like sandpaper. There are raised skin folds that run down the frogs back and a distinct triangle of lighter brown on the frogs head (between the eyes and snout). There is a dark line that starts at the nostril, extends through the eye and curves around the tympanum. There are crossbands on the legs, this may cause confusion with similar looking "Mixophyes" frogs. The toes and fingers are both free of webbing.

title: Poison dart frog

text: Many poison dart frogs secrete lipophilic alkaloid toxins such as allopumiliotoxin 267A, batrachotoxin, epibatidine, histrionicotoxin, and pumiliotoxin 251D through their skin. Alkaloids in the skin glands of poison frogs serve as a chemical defense against predation, and they are therefore able to be active alongside potential predators during the day. About 28 structural classes of alkaloids are known in poison frogs. The most toxic of poison dart frog species is "Phyllobates terribilis". It is argued that dart frogs do not synthesize their poisons, but sequester the chemicals from arthropod prey items, such as ants, centipedes and mites – the diet-toxicity hypothesis. Because of this, captive-bred animals do not possess significant levels of toxins as they are reared on diets that do not contain the alkaloids sequestered by wild populations. In fact, new studies suggest that the maternal frogs of some species lay unfertilized eggs, which are laced with trace amounts of alkaloids, to feed the tadpoles. This behavior shows that the poisons are introduced from a very young age. Nonetheless, the captive-bred frogs retain the ability to accumulate alkaloids when they are once again provided an alkaloid-containing diet. Despite the toxins used by some poison dart frogs, some predators have developed the ability to withstand them. One is the snake "Leimadophis epinephelus", which has developed immunity to the poison.

title: Frog

text: Many frogs are able to absorb water and oxygen directly through the skin, especially around the pelvic area, but the permeability of a frog's skin can also result in water loss. Glands located all over the body exude mucus which helps keep the skin moist and reduces evaporation. Some glands on the hands and chest of males are specialized to produce sticky secretions to aid in amplexus. Similar glands in tree frogs produce a glue-like substance on the adhesive discs of the feet. Some arboreal frogs reduce water loss by having a waterproof layer of skin, and several South American species coat their skin with a waxy secretion. Other frogs have adopted behaviours to conserve water, including becoming nocturnal and resting in a water-conserving position. Some frogs may also rest in large groups with each frog pressed against its neighbours. This reduces the amount of skin exposed to the air or a dry surface, and thus reduces water loss. Woodhouse's toad ("Bufo woodhousii"), if given access to water after confinement in a dry location, sits in the shallows to rehydrate. The male hairy frog ("Trichobatrachus robustus") has dermal papillae projecting from its lower back and thighs, giving it a bristly appearance. They contain blood vessels and are thought to increase the area of the skin available for respiration.

title: Frog Skin

text: Frog Skin is a battledress camouflage pattern with mottle and disruptive coloration to blend into the environment similar to a frog's crypsis skin.

title: Bornean flat-headed frog

text: Djoko Iskandar, an Indonesian zoologist, first described the Bornean flat-headed frog based on a single specimen. However, he did not know the frog was lungless until he was in the field with David Bickford's expedition. Bickford "et al." were able to dissect some of the specimens and discovered for the first time that the frogs had no lungs. The frog breathes entirely through its skin, and its internal organs (the stomach, spleen and the liver) take up much of the space which normally would be filled by the lungs. By retaining the lunglessness of their tadpole stage, the frogs are much flatter than typical frogs, which might help absorb oxygen and avoid being swept away in fast streams.

title: New England tree frog

text: The male New England tree frog reaches a snout-to-vent length of while the females reach . The upper parts are green or greenish-brown often flecked with black. A white line runs along the upper lip and a straw-coloured line runs from the snout, through the eyes and tympani to the groin. The lower parts of the sides and the back of the thighs are bright orange-red. There are enlarged pads on the digits enabling the frog to climb. This frog is very similar in appearance to the Blue Mountains tree frog ("Litoria citropa") but as their ranges do not overlap, there is little chance of confusion. The skin is smooth whereas in the closely related and similar-looking Davies' tree frog ("Litoria daviesae") the skin usually has small raised bumps.

title: Green-eyed tree frog

text: Frogs are born with legs that are good for hopping and special pads on their toes to help them climb. In comparison, toads have shorter legs, drier skin, and are less likely to live near water. Most frogs and toads are responsible for controlling the Earth's insect population, since their diet consists mostly of insects and spiders. However, the green eyed-tree frog is also a carnivore. As a tadpole, the frogs mostly consume algae and plants. Frogs have a moist and permeable skin layer covered with mucous glands, which enables them to breathe through their skin, not just their lungs. The layer of mucus that covers them also acts as a shield, protecting them from scratches. The reason frogs have large and protruding eyes is to make up for their lack of a neck. This eye feature allows them to see everything around them. The color scheme of the green-eyed tree frog is to camouflage them from predators. Frogs with bright colors are alerting predators of their poisonous nature.

title: Allopumiliotoxin

text: As stated previously, these alkaloids were first discovered in the skins of frogs. They can be isolated from the frog’s skin by mincing the skin and extracting the compounds by trituration. A series of extractions involving an acid-base extraction are needed to isolate the allopumiliotoxins. The skins of the frogs may contain a number of different allopumiliotoxins. For example, the skin of Dendrobates tricolor was found to contain alkalkoids 251D, 271, 341A, and 323B. Also, different frogs contain different alkaloids in their skin. Dendrobates auratus, for example, was found to contain (+)-allopumiliotoxin 339A (a compound not present in the skin of Dendrobates tricolor).

title: Desert rain frog

text: The desert rain frog is a small, plump species with bulging eyes, a short snout, short limbs, spade-like feet and webbed toes. On the underside it has a transparent area of skin through which its internal organs can be seen. The size of this frog can span between . Its colour is yellowish-brown and often has sand adhering to its skin.

title: Frog

text:
Camouflage is a common defensive mechanism in frogs. Most camouflaged frogs are nocturnal; during the day, they seek out a position where they can blend into the background and remain undetected. Some frogs have the , but this is usually restricted to a small range of colours. For example, White's tree frog ("Litoria caerulea") varies between pale green and dull brown according to the temperature, and the Pacific tree frog ("Pseudacris regilla") has green and brown morphs, plain or spotted, and changes colour depending on the time of year and general background colour. Features such as warts and skin folds are usually on ground-dwelling frogs, for whom smooth skin would not provide such effective camouflage. Certain frogs change colour between night and day, as light and moisture stimulate the pigment cells and cause them to expand or contract.
The skin of a frog is permeable to oxygen and carbon dioxide, as well as to water. There are blood vessels near the surface of the skin and when a frog is underwater, oxygen diffuses directly into the blood. When not submerged, a frog breathes by a process known as buccal pumping. Its lungs are similar to those of humans, but the chest muscles are not involved in respiration, and no ribs or diaphragm exist to help move air in and out. Instead, it puffs out its throat and draws air in through the nostrils, which in many species can then be closed by valves. When the floor of the mouth is compressed, air is forced into the lungs. The fully aquatic Bornean flat-headed frog ("Barbourula kalimantanensis") is the first frog known to lack lungs entirely.

title: Orbiting Frog Otolith

text: Both flight frogs had electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes implanted in their thoracic cavities and microelectrodes implanted in their vestibular nerves. The frogs were demotorized by cutting their limb nerves to prevent them from dislodging their implanted electrodes, and to reduce their metabolic rates. With this lowered metabolic activity, the frogs could survive in good health without being fed for as long as one month. Immersion in water allowed the frogs to breathe through their skin. The water medium also helped to move carbon dioxide and heat away from the animals.

title: Golfodulcean poison frog

text: Like all members of the genus "Phyllobates", Golfodulcean poison frogs have highly potent neurotoxic alkaloid poisons in their skin. While it is only the fourth-most toxic of the genus, the Golfodulcean poison frog is still a highly toxic animal. Its poison causes severe pain, followed by tonic-clonic seizures and paralysis if a large enough dose of the toxin is administered. The frog, for protection, advertises its toxin with its multi-coloured body. Because it is of comparatively large size for a poison dart frog, the Golfodulcean poison frog can store a large amount of poison in its skin. Captive examples lack the toxin, which suggests they do not manufacture the poison themselves, but instead acquire it from a species of insect or other small invertebrate on which they feed.

title: Fish physiology

title: Fish

text: Fish from multiple groups can live out of the water for extended periods. Amphibious fish such as the mudskipper can live and move about on land for up to several days, or live in stagnant or otherwise oxygen depleted water. Many such fish can breathe air via a variety of mechanisms. The skin of anguillid eels may absorb oxygen directly. The buccal cavity of the electric eel may breathe air. Catfish of the families Loricariidae, Callichthyidae, and Scoloplacidae absorb air through their digestive tracts. Lungfish, with the exception of the Australian lungfish, and bichirs have paired lungs similar to those of tetrapods and must surface to gulp fresh air through the mouth and pass spent air out through the gills. Gar and bowfin have a vascularized swim bladder that functions in the same way. Loaches, trahiras, and many catfish breathe by passing air through the gut. Mudskippers breathe by absorbing oxygen across the skin (similar to frogs). A number of fish have evolved so-called accessory breathing organs that extract oxygen from the air. Labyrinth fish (such as gouramis and bettas) have a labyrinth organ above the gills that performs this function. A few other fish have structures resembling labyrinth organs in form and function, most notably snakeheads, pikeheads, and the Clariidae catfish family.

title: Cryobiology

text: For the wood frog ("Rana sylvatica"), in the winter, as much as 45% of its body may freeze and turn to ice. "Ice crystals form beneath the skin and become interspersed among the body's skeletal muscles. During the freeze, the frog's breathing, blood flow, and heartbeat cease. Freezing is made possible by specialized proteins and glucose, which prevent intracellular freezing and dehydration." The wood frog can survive up to 11 days frozen at -4 °C.

title: Frog

text: Frogs have no tail, except as larvae, and most have long hind legs, elongated ankle bones, webbed toes, no claws, large eyes, and a smooth or warty skin. They have short vertebral columns, with no more than 10 free vertebrae and fused tailbones (urostyle or coccyx). Like other amphibians, oxygen can pass through their highly permeable skins. This unique feature allows them to remain in places without access to the air, respiring through their skins. The ribs are poorly developed, so the lungs are filled by buccal pumping and a frog deprived of its lungs can maintain its body functions without them. For the skin to serve as a respiratory organ, it must remain moist. This makes frogs susceptible to various substances they may encounter in the environment, some of which may be toxic and can dissolve in the water film and be passed into their bloodstream. This may be one of the causes of the worldwide decline in frog populations.

title: Batrachotoxin

text: The frogs do not produce batrachotoxin themselves. Just as in the birds, it is believed that these frogs gain the toxin from batrachotoxin-containing insects that they eat, and then secrete it through the skin. Beetles in the genus Choresine are not found in Colombia, but it is thought that the frogs might get the toxin from beetles in other genera within the family Melyridae, which could be found in Colombia.


query: What is the major ethnic group in Norway?

title: Demographics of Norway

text: Ethnically, the residents of Norway are predominantly Norwegians, a North Germanic ethnic group descent. In Northern Norway live the Sami, who claim descent from people who settled the area around 8,000 years ago, probably from continental Europe through the Norwegian coast and through Finland along the inland glaciers. As of 2012, an official government study shows that 86.2% of the total population are ethnic Norwegians.[10] The national minorities of Norway include Scandinavian Romani, Roma, Jews, and Kvener, as well as a small Finnish community.

title: Ethnic groups in Baltimore

text: The majority of the Norwegian immigrants to Baltimore worked in the shipping industry. The Baltimore chapter of the Sons of Norway, Lodge Nordkap, No. 215, was established in 1921 and is now located in Freeland, Maryland. These settlers also established the Norwegian American Club of Maryland.

title: List of ethnic groups in Myanmar

text: Myanmar (also known as Burma) is an extremely ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinct ethnic groups officially recognised by the Burmese government. These are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races":

title: List of ethnic groups in Myanmar

text: The "major national ethnic races" are grouped primarily according to region rather than linguistic or ethnic affiliation, as for example the Shan Major National Ethnic Race includes 33 ethnic groups speaking languages in at least four widely differing language families.

title: Norwegians

text: In Norway the Church of Norway and state are not separated. When baptised, children are registered in the Church of Norway's member register, leading to a large membership, although many people do not remain observant as adults. A majority of both ethnic Norwegians and Sámi are nominally Christian, but not necessarily observant. In Norway as of 2013, 76.1% of the population are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

title: African-American history

text: Most African Americans are descended from Africans brought directly from Africa to America to become slaves. Originally captured in African wars or raids and transported in the Atlantic slave trade. African Americans are descended from various ethnic groups, mostly from western and central Africa, including the Sahel. A smaller number came from eastern and southeastern Africa. The major ethnic groups that the enslaved Africans belonged to included the Hausa, Bakongo, Igbo, Mandé, Wolof, Akan, Fon, Yoruba, and Makua, among many others. Although these different groups varied in customs, religious theology and language, what they had in common was a way of life that was different from the Europeans. However, since a majority of the slaves came from these villages and societies, once sent to the Americas these different peoples had European standards and beliefs forced upon them, causing them to do away with tribal differences and forged a new history and culture that was a creolization of their common pasts, present, and European culture . Slaves from specific African ethnic groups were more sought after and more dominant in numbers than others in certain regions of what later became the United States.

title: Ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union

text: There are many different ethnic groups present in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union today. This diversity has been the source or instigator of conflict for centuries, and remains a major part of Russian political life today. While the Russian Empire, the USSR, and the Russian Federation were each made up of a majority of ethnic Russians, the minority groups have always been present to fight for their own languages, cultures, and religions. There are many different types of ethnic conflict, and the vast majority can only be understood with the help of a historical context.

title: Race and ethnicity in censuses

text: In the most recent census in 2002, 64.2% of the population declared themselves to be ethnic Macedonians. The second-largest ethnic group in the country was the ethnic Albanians with 25.2%. Other major ethnic groups were Turks (3.9%), Romani (2.7%), and Serbs (1.8%).

title: Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement

text: The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (; abbreviated NCA) was a landmark ceasefire agreement between the government of Myanmar and representatives of various ethnic insurgent groups, officially known as "ethnic armed organisations" (EAOs) by the government. The draft was agreed upon by a majority of the invited parties on 31 March 2015, and the agreement was signed by President Thein Sein on 15 October 2015. The signing was witnessed by observers and delegates from the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and the United States. A ceremony is held by the government annually on the anniversary of the signing of the agreement.

title: Ethnic succession theory

text: Segregation has played a major part in the limitations on socioeconomic ascension of an ethnic group, whether by self-selection in settlement together or pressure to be confined by a majority group. In some cases, immigrants have been limited to small areas of rundown housing which they could afford. After reaching economic parity, high-income earners of a traditional low-status group may still not achieve integration in the majority culture. Some suburbs of cities have come to be dominated by different ethnic and cultural groups.

title: Ethnic majority

text: An ethnic majority describes the numerical dominance of individuals of an ethnic group within the total population of a particular political or geographical entity. Ethnicity refers to genealogy, language, culture, identification with a historical social group and behavioral practices inherited from ancestors, among others, such as diet, art and religion.

title: Ethnic minorities in China

text: "Undistinguished" ethnic groups are ethnic groups that have not been officially recognized or classified by the central government. The group numbers more than 730,000 people, and would constitute the twentieth most populous ethnic group of China if taken as a single group. The vast majority of this group is found in Guizhou Province.

title: Overseas Vietnamese

text: An estimated 21,700 ethnic Vietnamese live in Norway as of 2014, and the country has hosted a Vietnamese community since refugee arrivals after the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. The Vietnamese are considered one of the best integrated non-western immigrant groups in Norway, with high rates of Norwegian citizenship among immigrants and success rates in education on par with those of ethnic Norwegians.

title: Polyethnicity

text: In "The Political Demands of Isolated Indian Bands in British Columbia", Thomson points out the benefits in some level (albeit small) of separatist policies. He argues the benefits of allowing ethnic groups, like the Amish and the Hutterites in the United States and Canada or the Sami in Norway, to live on the edges of governance. These are ethnic groups that would prefer to retain their ethnic identity and thus prefer separatist policies for themselves, as they do not require them to conform to policies for all ethnicities of the nation.

title: Ethnic demography of Kazakhstan

text: Kazakhstan is multiethnic country where the indigenous ethnic group, the Kazakhs, comprise the majority of the population. According to the 2016 census there are two dominant ethnic groups in Kazakhstan: ethnic Kazakhs (66.48%) and ethnic Russians (20.61%) with a wide array of other groups represented, including Ukrainians, Uzbeks, Germans, Tatars, Uyghurs, Koreans, and Meskhetian Turks.

title: Ethnic Affairs Minister

text: Ministers are not elected for ethnicities that are a majority of their state/region, or where a state/region already has a self-administered district or self-administered zone dedicated to those ethnic groups. Groups represented by an Ethnic Affairs Minister in a particular state do not need to be a minority elsewhere in the country - the Bamar people have ministers in Shan, Kayin, Kachin, Kayah, and Mon States, despite forming a majority of approximately 68% of the population nationwide. Likewise, some minorities such as the Rakhine may have Ethnic Affairs Ministers in some regions of the country where they are a minority despite also having their own namesake state where they are a majority.

title: Ethnic groups in Houston

text: Since the late 20th century, new immigrants have arrived from Norway, Russia, and the Mideast. In addition, there are nationals from the UK and other countries who work here for a period of time. Lasse Sigurd Seim, the consul general of the Norwegian Consulate General, Houston, described the estimated 5,000–6,000 Norwegians in the Houston area around 2008 as the largest concentration of ethnic Norwegians outside of Scandinavia. Jenalia Moreno of the "Houston Chronicle" said during that year that the influx of Norwegians into Greater Houston was "relatively new" and related to Norway's also having a major oil industry.

title: Culture of the Philippines

text: There have been proposals to revive all indigenous ethnic scripts or "suyat" in the Philippines, where the ethnic script of the ethnic majority of the student population shall be taught in public and private schools. The proposal came up after major backlash came about when a bill declaring the Tagalog baybayin as the national script of the country. The bill became controversial as it focuses only on the traditional script of the Tagalog people, while dismissing the traditional scripts of more than 100 ethnic groups in the country. The new proposal that came after the backlash cites that if the ethnic majority is Sebwano, then the script that will be taught is badlit. If the ethnic majority is Tagalog, then the script that will be taught is baybayin. If the ethnic majority is Hanunuo Mangyan, then the script that will be taught is hanunu'o, and so on.

title: Azerbaijani ethnic groups

text:
There are several Azerbaijani ethnic groups, each of which has particularities in the economy, culture and everyday life. Some Azerbaijani ethnic groups continued in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Major Azerbaijani ethnic groups:

title: Philippine mythical creatures

text: Very few of the following mythical creatures are 'national' in coverage, as usually mythical creatures are endemic to the belief of specific ethnic groups in the Philippines. An example is the "amahanlig", which is only believed by the people of Western Visayas, while the "malakat" is endemic to Waray areas in Eastern Visayas. Other examples of ethnic-inclusiveness of mythical creatures in the Philippines is the "ragit-ragit" which is believed to live only on the islands of Romblon, while "sarangay" is only believed to thrive in Ibanag lands. Due to modern influences, some mythical creatures that were originally ethnically-endemic are now believed by other ethnic groups as well. An example is the "tiyanak" which used to be believed by the Tagalog people only. Today, a majority of Filipinos know what a "tiyanak" is, and therefore, its influence is national in scale.

title: Ethnic group

text:
Russia has over 185 recognized ethnic groups besides the 80% ethnic Russian majority. The largest group are the Tatars 3.8%.
Many of the smaller groups are found in the Asian part of Russia (see Indigenous peoples of Siberia).

title: Kajaji Settlement Town

text: Kajaji comprises many ethnic groups with about 956,699 in habitat of Kraches (major ethnic group), Basares and other ethnic groups.

title: Ethnic majority

text: In the context of genealogy, for example medical genetics or genealogical DNA tests, ethnicity is defined based on biological rather than cultural heritage. However, various genealogical DNA tests result in contradictory and insecure estimates of the ethnic mix of a person, since the result of each test depends on the reference group and how it is divided into ethnic groups. Thus, it is typically not possible to securely determine if a person belongs to the ethnic majority or not using genetic tests.

title: Freedom of religion in Myanmar

text: The country is ethnically diverse, with some correlation between ethnicity and religion. Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion among the majority Burman ethnic group and among the Shan, Arakanese, and Mon ethnic minorities of the eastern, western, and southern regions. Christianity is the dominant religion among the Chin ethnic group of the Western region and has some adherents amongst the Kachin and Naga ethnic groups, whom continue to practice traditional indigenous religions. Christianity is also practised widely among the Karen and Karenni ethnic groups of the southern and eastern regions, although many Karen and Karenni are Buddhist. In addition, some ethnic Indians are Christian. Hinduism is practised chiefly by Burmese of Indian origin, who are concentrated in major cities and in the south central region. Islam is practised widely in Rakhine State, where it is the dominant religion of the Rohingya minority, and in Rangoon, Ayeyarwady, Magway, and Mandalay Divisions. Some Burmans, Indians, and ethnic Bengalis also practice Islam. Chinese ethnic minorities generally practice traditional Chinese religions. Traditional indigenous beliefs are practised widely among smaller ethnic groups in the highland regions. Practices drawn from those indigenous beliefs persist widely in popular Buddhist rituals, especially in rural areas.

title: North West Province, Sierra Leone

text: The Temne people is by far the largest single ethnic group in the North West, especially in Port Loko and Karine Districts where the Temne is a large majority. The Temne also form the single largest ethnic group, though short of majority, in Kambia District in the North West. Kambia District is more ethnically diverse and home to a significant ethnic minorities population. Muslims make up the vast majority of the population of the North West province at over 87%. The North West province is home to a significant Christian minority at about 10%.

title: Autonomous administrative divisions of China

text: Of the five autonomous regions, only Tibet has an absolute majority (>50%) of the designated ethnic group, since Tibetans make up 90% of the population as of 2011. Xinjiang is more ethnically diverse, with the titular Uyghurs making up a plurality at 46%, Han making up 39%, and various other ethnic groups making up the remaining 15% as of 2015. The remaining three autonomous regions have absolute majorities of Han people, the majority ethnicity of China.

title: Ethnolinguistic group

text: An ethnolinguistic group (or ethno-linguistic group) is a group that is unified by both a common ethnicity and language. Most ethnic groups have their own language. Despite this, the term is often used to emphasise when language is a major basis for the ethnic group, especially with regards to its neighbours.

title: Scandinavia

text:
Whereas the term "Scandinavia" is relatively straightforward as traditionally relating to the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden there exists some ambiguity as regards the ethnic aspect of the concept in the modern era. Traditionally, the term refers specifically to the majority peoples of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, their states, their Germanic languages and their culture. In the modern era, the term will often include minority peoples such as the Sami and Meänkieli speakers in a political and to some extent cultural sense as they are citizens of Scandinavian countries and speak Scandinavian languages either as their first or second language. However, Scandinavian is still also seen as an ethnic term for the Germanic majority peoples of Scandinavia and as such the inclusion of Sami and Finnish speakers can be seen as controversial within these groups.
Scandinavia and Scania ("Skåne", the southernmost province of Sweden) are thought to go back to the proto-Germanic compound *"Skaðin-awjō", which appears later in Old English as "Scedenig" and in Old Norse as "Skáney". The earliest identified source for the name Scandinavia is Pliny the Elder's "Natural History", dated to the first century A.D.

title: Ethnic conflict

text: A major source of ethnic conflict in multi-ethnic democracies is over the access to state patronage. Conflicts over state resources between ethnic groups can increase the likelihood of ethnic violence. In ethnically divided societies, demand for public goods decreases as each ethnic group derives more utility from benefits targeted at their ethnic group in particular. These benefits would be less valued if all other ethnic groups had access to them.Targeted benefits are more appealing because ethnic groups can solidify or heighten their social and economic status relative to other ethnic groups whereas broad programmatic policies will not improve their relative worth. Politicians and political parties in turn, have an incentive to favor co-ethnics in their distribution of material benefits. Over the long run, ethnic conflict over access to state benefits is likely to lead to the ethnification of political parties and the party system as a whole where the political salience of ethnic identity increase leading to a self-fulfilling equilibrium: If politicians only distribute benefits on an ethnic basis, voters will see themselves primarily belonging to an ethnic group and view politicians the same way. They will only vote for the politician belonging to the same ethnic group. In turn, politicians will refrain from providing public goods because it will not serve them well electorally to provide services to people not belonging to their ethnic group. In democratizing societies, this could lead to ethnic outbidding and lead to extreme politicians pushing out moderate co-ethnics. Patronage politics and ethnic politics eventually reinforce each other, leading to what Chandra terms a "patronage democracy".

title: Norwegian statistics by ethnic group

text: The following selected statistics about ethnic groups living in Norway have been extracted from the results of the Norwegian census.