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Tsarina

Tsarina

A Tsarina (Russian and Bulgarian: цари́ца, tsaritsa), also spelled czarina, or czaritsa, was the title of Tsar's wife or a female autocratic ruler (monarch) of Russia or Bulgaria. Since 1721, the official titles of the Russian male and female monarchs were Emperor and Empress, respectively. Several Tsarinas were the rulers of Russia including Catherine I, Catherine the Great and Elizabeth I . Others who gained the title by marrying a Tsar were Elizabeth Alexeevna, Alexandra Fyodorovna (Charlotte of Prussia), Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse-Rhein), Marie Romanova and Eleonore, Princess Reuss-Köstritz, who became Tsarina of Bulgaria following her marriage to Tsar Ferdinand. The last Russian Tsarina was Princess Alix of Hesse who was married to Nicholas II of Russia. The last Bulgarian Tsarina was Giovanna of Bulgaria, the wife of Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria. Category:Imperial Russia Russia, Tsaritsa Category:Russian leaders Category:Titles

Russian language

Russian (Russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, ) is the most widely spoken language of Europe and the most widespread of the Slavic languages. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages, and is therefore related to Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin, as well as the modern Germanic, Romance, and Celtic languages, including English, French, and Irish, respectively. Written examples are attested from the 10th century onwards. While it preserves much of its ancient synthetic-inflexional structure and a Common Slavonic word base, modern Russian exhibits a large stock of the international vocabulary for politics, science, and technology. A language of great political importance in the 20th century, Russian is one of the official languages of the United Nations. NOTE. Russian is written in a non-Latin script. All examples below are in the Cyrillic alphabet, with transcriptions in IPA.

Classification

Russian is a Slavic language in the Indo-European family. From the point of view of the spoken language, its closest relatives are Belarusian and Ukrainian, the other two national languages in the East Slavic group. In many places in Ukraine and Belarus, these languages are spoken interchangeably. The basic vocabulary, principles of word-formation, and, to some extent, inflexions and literary style of Russian have been influenced by Church Slavonic, a developed and partly adopted form of the South Slavic Old Church Slavonic language used by the Russian Orthodox Church. Many words in modern literary Russian are closer in form to the modern Bulgarian language than to Ukrainian or Belarusian. However, the East Slavic forms have tended to remain in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with slightly different meanings. For details, see Historical Sound Changes and History of the Russian language. Outside the Slavic languages, the vocabulary and literary style of Russian have been greatly influenced by Greek, Latin, French, German, and English.

Geographic distribution

Russian is primarily spoken in Russia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics of the USSR. Until 1917, it was the sole official language of the Russian Empire. During the Soviet period, the policy toward the languages of the various other ethnic groups fluctuated in practice. Though each of the constituent republics had its own official language, the unifying role and superior status was reserved for Russian. Following the break-up of 1991, several of the newly independent states have encouraged their native languages, which has partly reversed the privileged status of Russian, though its role as the language of post-Soviet national intercourse throughout the region has continued. In Latvia, notably, its official recognition and legality in the classroom have been a topic of considerable debate in a country where more than third of the population is Russian-speaking, consisting mostly of post-World War II immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former USSR (Belarus, Ukraine). Similarly, in Estonia, the Soviet-era immigrants and their Russian-speaking descendants constitute about one quarter of the country's current population. A much smaller Russian-speaking minority in Lithuania has largely been assimilated during the decade of independence and currently represent less than 1/10 of the country's overall population. In the twentieth century it was widely taught in the schools of the members of the old Warsaw Pact and in other countries that used to be satellites of the USSR, especially in Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. However, younger generations are usually not fluent in it, because Russian is no longer mandatory in the school system. It was, and still is, widely taught in Asian countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Mongolia due to Soviet influence, and is still used as a lingua franca in Afghanistan by various tribes. Russian is also spoken in Israel by at least 750,000 ethnic Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union (1999 census). The Israeli press and websites regularly publish material in Russian. Sizeable Russian-speaking communities also exist in North America (especially in large urban centers of the US and Canada such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Miami, and Chicago). In the first two of them, Russian-speaking groups total over half a million. In a number of locations they issue their own newspapers, live in their self-sufficient neighborhoods (especially the generation of immigrants who started arriving in the early sixties). It is important to note, however, that only about a quarter of them are ethnic Russians. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union the overwhelming majority were Russian-speaking Jews. Afterwards the influx from the countries of the former Soviet Union changed the statistics somewhat. According to the United States 2000 Census, Russian was reported as language spoken at home by 1.50% of population, or about 4.2 million, placing it as #10 language in the United States. Significant Russian-speaking groups also exist in Western Europe. These have been fed by several waves of immigrants since the beginning of the twentieth century, each with its own flavour of language. Germany, Britain, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Greece have significant Russian-speaking communities totaling 3 million people. Two thirds of them are actually Russian-speaking descendants of Germans, Greeks, Jews, Armenians, or Ukrainians who either repatriated after the USSR collapsed or are just looking for temporary employment. But many are well-off Russian families acquiring property and getting education. Earlier, the descendants of the Russian émigrés tended to lose the tongue of their ancestors by the third generation. Now, when the border is more open, Russian is likely to survive longer, especially when many of the emigrants visit their homelands at least once a year and also have access to Russian websites and TV channels. Recent estimates of the total number of speakers of Russian:

Official status

Russian is the official language of Russia, and an official language of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine) and the unrecognized Moldovan Republic of Transnistria. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a popular choice for many of the both native and RSL (Russian as a second language) speakers in Russia and many of the former Soviet republics. 97% of the public school students of Russia, 75% in Belarus, 41% in Kazakhstan, 24% in Ukraine, 23% in Kyrgyzstan, 21% in Moldova, 7% in Azerbaijan, 5% in Georgia received their education only or mostly in Russian, although the corresponding percentage of ethnic Russians was 80% in Russia, 11% in Belarus, 27% in Kazakhstan, 17% in Ukraine, 9% in Kyrgyzstan, 6% in Moldova, 2% in Azerbaijan, 1.5% in Georgia.

Dialects

Despite levelling after 1900, especially in matters of vocabulary, a large number of dialects exist in Russia. Some linguists divide the dialects of the Russian language into two primary regional groupings, "Northern" and "Southern", with Moscow lying on the zone of transition between the two. Others divide the language into three groupings, Northern, Central and Southern, with Moscow lying in the Central region. Dialectology within Russia recognizes dozens of smaller-scale variants. The dialects often show distinct and non-standard features of pronunciation and intonation, vocabulary, and grammar. Some of these are relics of ancient usage now completely discarded by the standard language. Also cf. Moscow pronunciation of "-чн-", e.g. "булошная" (buloshnaya - bakery) instead of "булочная" (bulochnaya). The northern dialects typically pronounce unstressed clearly (the phenomenon called okanye оканье); the southern palatalize the final and aspirate the into . It should be noted that some of these features are also present in modern Ukrainian, indicating a linguistic continuum or strong influence one way or the other. Among the first to study Russian dialects was Lomonosov in the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth, Vladimir Dal compiled the first dictionary that included dialectal vocabulary. Detailed mapping of Russian dialects began at the turn of the twentieth century. In modern times, the monumental Dialectological Atlas of the Russian Language (Диалектологический атлас русского языка ), was published in 3 folio volumes 1986-1989, after four decades of preparatory work. The standard language is based on the Moscow dialect.

Derived languages


- Fenia or Fenka, a criminal lingo of ancient origin, with Russian grammar, but with distinct vocabulary.
- Surzhyk is a Ukrainian-Russian pidgin spoken in some rural areas of Ukraine
- Trasianka is a Belarusian-Russian mix (sort of pidgin) used by a large portion of the rural population in Belarus.
- Russenorsk is an extinct pidgin language with Russian vocabulary and Norwegian grammar, used for communication between Russians and Norwegians in Svalbard and Kola Peninsula.
- Runglish: Russian-English pidgin.

Writing system

Alphabet

Runglish publication describing the "Slavonic" language.]] Russian is written using a modified version of the Cyrillic (кириллица) alphabet, consisting of 33 letters. The following table gives their majuscule forms, along with IPA values for each letter's typical sound: Old letters that have been abolished at one time or another but occur in this and related articles include or , і , and or . The yers ъ and ь were originally pronounced as ultra-short or reduced , (conventional transcription, not IPA). For information on an informal approach on transliterating Russian into English, see the article Transliteration of Russian into English.

Orthography

Russian spelling is reasonably phonetic in practice. It is in fact a balance among phonetics, morphology, etymology, and grammar, and, like that of most living languages, has its share of inconsistencies and controversial points. The current spelling follows the major reform of 1918, and the final codification of 1956. An update proposed in the late 1990's has met a hostile reception, and has not been formally adopted. The punctuation, originally based on Byzantine Greek, was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reformulated on the French and German models.

Sounds

The phonological system of Russian is inherited from Common Slavonic, but underwent considerable modification in the early historical period, before being largely settled by about 1400. The language possesses five vowels, which are written with different letters depending on whether or not the preceding consonant is palatalized. The consonants typically come in plain vs. palatalized pairs, which are traditionally called hard and soft. (The 'hard' consonants are sometimes said to be velarized, but this is only the case for /l/.) The standard language, based on the Moscow dialect, possesses heavy stress and moderate variation in pitch. Stressed vowels are somewhat drawled, while unstressed vowels (except /u/) tend to be reduced to an unclear schwa. Russian syllable structure can be quite complex with both initial and final consonant clusters of up to 4 consecutive sounds. Using a formula with V standing for the nucleus (vowel) and C for each consonant the stucture can be described as follows: (C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C)

Consonants

Russian is notable for its distinction based on palatalization of most of the consonants. While /k/, /ɡ/, /x/ do have palatalized allophones , only might be considered a phoneme, though it is marginal and generally not considered distinctive. It should be noted that palatalization is a phonological concept, and not all 'soft' consonants are phonetically palatalized. The velar and labial consonants are truly palatalized, which means that the center of the tongue is raised during and after the articulation of the consonant. The coronal stops, however, are phonetically laminal. In addition, in the case of /t/ and /d/, the tongue is raised enough to produce frication, thus making affricate-like. (There is no contrast between frication and no frication, though, as /ts/ is never palatalized.) are postalveolar with a flat tongue (laminal retroflex).

Grammar

Russian has preserved an Indo-European synthetic-inflexional structure, although considerable levelling has taken place. Russian grammar encompasses
- a highly synthetic morphology
- a syntax that, for the literary language, is the conscious fusion of three elements:
  - a polished vernacular foundation;
  - a Church Slavonic inheritance;
  - a Western European style. The spoken language has been influenced by the literary, but continues to preserve characteristic forms. The dialects show various non-standard grammatical features, some of which are archaisms or descendants of old forms since discarded by the literary language.

Vocabulary

Western European See History of Russian language for an account of the successive foreign influences on the Russian language. The total number of words in Russian is difficult to reckon because of the ability to agglutinate and create manifold compounds, diminutives, etc. (see Word Formation under Russian grammar). The number of listed words or entries in some of the major dictionaries published during the last two centuries, and the total vocabulary of Pushkin, are as follows: Philologists have estimated that the language today may contain as many as 350,000 to 500,000 words. (As a historical aside, Dahl was, in the second half of the nineteenth century, still insisting that the proper spelling of the adjective русский, which was at that time applied uniformly to all the Orthodox Eastern Slavic subjects of the Empire, as well as to its one official language, be spelled руский with one s, in accordance with ancient tradition and what he termed the "spirit of the language". He was contradicted by the philologist Grot, who distinctly heard the s lengthened or doubled.)

The language of abuse and invective

Main article: Mat (language) Apparently, the ability to curse effectively has always been recognized as a form of art not only in certain quarters of society, but even by the more conservative-minded literati. For example, as far back as in the nineteenth-century naval yarns of Staniukovich, "artistic invective" (артистическая ругань ) keeps coming out of the sailors' mouths, though it is never spelled out. The ability to agglutinate has produced the so-called "three-decker curse" (трёхэтажный мат ).

Proverbs and sayings

Main article: Russian proverbs, Russian sayings Russian language is replete with many hundreds of proverbs (пословица ) and sayings (поговоркa ). These were already tabulated by the seventeenth century, and collected and studied in the nineteenth and twentieth, with the folk-tales being an especially fertile source.

History and examples

See also: Reforms of Russian orthography The history of Russian language may be divided into the following periods.
- Origins
- The Kievan period (9th-11th centuries)
- Feudal breakup (12th-14th centuries)
- The Moscovite period (15th-17th centuries)
- Empire (18th-19th centuries)
- Soviet period and beyond (20th century) See also:
- Examples of literary language (12-20th century) Judging by the historical records, by approximately 1000 AD the predominant ethnic group over much of modern European Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus was the Eastern branch of the Slavs, speaking a closely related group of dialects. The political unification of this region into Kievan Rus, from which both modern Russia and Ukraine trace their origins, was soon followed by the adoption of Christianity in 988-9 and the establishment of Old Church Slavonic as the liturgical and literary language. Borrowings and calques from Byzantine Greek began to enter the vernacular at this time, and simultaneously the literary language began to be modified in its turn to become more nearly Eastern Slavic. Dialectal differentiation accelerated after the breakup of Kievan Rus' in approximately 1100, and the Mongol conquest of the thirteenth century. After the disestablishment of the "Tartar yoke" in the late fourteenth century, both the political centre and the predominant dialect in European Russia came to be based in Moscow. There is some consensus that Russian and Ukrainian can be considered distinct languages from this period at the latest. The official language remained a kind of Church Slavonic until the close of the seventeenth century, but, despite attempts at standardization, as by Meletius Smotrytsky c. 1620, its purity was by then strongly compromised by an incipient secular literature. The political reforms of Peter the Great were accompanied by a reform of the alphabet, and achieved their goal of secularization and Westernization. Blocks of specialized vocabulary were adopted from the languages of Western Europe. By 1800, a significant portion of the gentry spoke French, less often German, on an everyday basis. The modern literary language is usually considered to date from the time of Alexander Pushkin in the first third of the nineteenth century. The political upheavals of the early twentieth century and the wholesale changes of political ideology gave written Russian its modern appearance after the spelling reform of 1918. Political circumstances and Soviet accomplishments in military, scientific, and technological matters (especially cosmonautics), gave Russian a world-wide if occasionally grudging prestige, especially during the middle third of the twentieth century. Since the collapse of 1990-91, fashion for ways and things Western, economic uncertainties and difficulties within the educational system have made for inevitable rapid change in the language. Russian today is a tongue in great flux.

References

The following serve as references for both this article and the related articles listed below that describe the Russian language:

In English


- B. Comrie, G. Stone, M. Polinsky, The Russian Language in the Twentieth Century, 2nd. ed. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1996
- W.K. Matthews, Russian Historical Grammar, London, University of London, Athlone Press, 1960
- T.R. Carleton, Introduction to the Phonological History of the Slavic Languages, Columbus, Ohio : Slavica Publishers, 1991
- A. Stender-Petersen, Anthology of old Russian literature, New York, Columbia University Press, 1954

In Russian


- Иванов В.В. Историческая грамматика русского языка. "Просвещение", М., 1990.
- Цыганенко Г. П. Этимологический словарь русского языка. Киев, 1970.
- Т. Н. Михельсон, Рассказы русских летописей XV–XVII веков. М., 1978
- Н.М. Шанский, В.В. Иванов, Т.В. Шанская. Краткий этимологический словарь русского языка. М. 1961.
- А. Шицгал, Русский гражданский шрифт, "Исскуство", Москва, 1958, 2-e изд. 1983.
- Л. П. Жуковская, отв. ред. Древнерусский литературный язык и его отношение к старославянскому. М., «Наука», 1987. Many further references are listed in the books above.

See also

Language description


- Russian alphabet
- Russian grammar
- Russian orthography
- Russian phonetics
- History of Russian language

Related languages


- East Slavic languages
- Church Slavonic language
- Great Russian language
- Old Church Slavonic language
- Old Russian language

Other


- List of Russian language topics
- List of English words of Russian origin
- Russian literature
- Russian humour
- Russian proverbs
- Reforms of Russian orthography
- Transliteration of Russian into English
- Volapuk encoding
- Non-native pronunciations of English
- List of commonly confused homonyms in Russian
- Common phrases in different languages
- Runglish

External links


- [http://www.declan-software.com/russian Russian language learning software]
- [http://www.russianlessons.net/ Online Russian language lessons]
- [http://www.dicts.info/dictlist1.php?k1=81 All free Russian dictionaries]
- [http://overstuffed-closet.net/russian The Russian Language Fanlisting]
- [http://www.speakrus.ru/dict/ Free downloadable vocabularies of the Russian language]
- [http://RusWin.net Cyrillic (Russian)]
- [http://www.masterrussian.com MasterRussian.com - vocabulary words and phrases, tips, hand-picked links]
- [http://www.ifstudio-translations.com/ Free Russian translations.]
- [http://tinyurl.com/5lhlp Vasmer's Etymological Dictionary of Russian language]
- [http://www.masterrussian.net/mforum Russian Language Forum. A large community interested in Russian]
- [http://www.gramota.ru "GRAMOTA". An educational/reference site on the Russian language, supported by the Russian government. (In Russian)]
- [http://www.lib.ru "Moshkov's library". A large collection of classical and modern Russian e-texts. (In Russian)]
- [http://www.languagehelpers.com/Russian/TheRussianAlphabet.html Russian alphabet with sound (languagehelpers.com)]
- [http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/russian/language/ Reference Grammar]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Russian-english/ Russian - English Dictionary]
- [http://www.lorem-ipsum.info/_russian Generator for Russian typographical filler text]
- [http://www.andaman.org/book/reprints/weber/rep-weber.htm G. Weber, "Top Languages"]
- [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=rus SIL Ethnologue Report for Russian]
- [http://www.linguarus.com Russian for Everybody (Self-Learning)]
- [http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/russian.php Russian courses]
- [http://dmoz.org/Science/Social_Sciences/Linguistics/Languages/Natural/Indo-European/Slavic/Russian/ ODP Russian Language category]
- [http://www.language-usa.com/ Russian Translation USA]
- [http://runglish1.narod.ru Runglish]
- [http://www.orlandorussians.com/ Russian Language Groups in America]
- [http://www.russki-mat.net/ Multilingual Russian slang dictionaries]
- [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Russian-english/ Russian English Dictionary] from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition Category:Languages of Belarus Category:Languages of Finland Category:Languages of Russia Category:Languages of Ukraine Category:Languages of Kazakhstan Category:Languages of Georgia Category:Languages of Armenia Category:Languages of Azerbaijan Category:Languages of Turkmenistan Category:Languages of Uzbekistan Category:Languages of Moldova Category:Languages of Tajikistan Category:Languages of Kyrgyzstan Category:Languages of Estonia Category:Languages of Latvia Category:Languages of Lithuania Category:Languages of China Category:Languages of Mongolia Category:Languages of Afghanistan Category:Languages of Bulgaria Category:Russian language Category:East Slavic languages ko:러시아어 ms:Bahasa Russia ja:ロシア語 simple:Russian language th:ภาษารัสเซีย

Tsar

:For the US community of Czar, see Czar, West Virginia. Tsar (Bulgarian цар, Russian царь, ; often spelled Czar or Tzar and sometimes Csar or Zar in English), was the title used for the autocratic rulers of the Bulgarian Empire in 913-1396/1422 and 1908-1946, in Serbia in the middle of the 14th century, and in Russia from 1547 to 1917 (although this usage is only technically correct until 1721).

History of usage

The title tsar was first adopted and used in Bulgaria by Simeon I following a decisive victory over the Byzantine Empire in 913. It was also used by all of Simeon I's successors until the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule in 1396. After Bulgaria's liberation from the Ottomans in 1878, its new monarchs adopted the title tsar again and used it between 1908 and 1946. In 1547, Ivan IV of Russia changed his title from "Veliki Kniaz (Grand Duke) of the whole Rus" to "tsar of the whole Rus" as a symbol of change in the nature of the Russian state. In 1721 Peter I adopted the title Emperor (Император [Imperator]), by which he and his heirs were recognised, and which came to be used interchangeably with Tsar. The title "Tsar" was also used by Serbian rulers in the middle of the 14th century. Often the word tsar is translated as emperor and vice versa, tsar was also used for other emperors; for example, the title of the Japanese emperor was translated as "tsar of Japan". However, in 1721, Tsar Peter the Great of Russia took the additional title of Imperator (Emperor), which, at least officially, superseded the older title of Tsar, which was henceforth formally used only for peripheral parts of the Empire. The word "tsar" is sometimes informally applied to earlier Russian and Bulgarian rulers which were not formally crowned as tsars. The domain or rule of a tsar is sometimes referred to as a tsardom. Rulers that were called tsars may be found in the following lists.
- List of Bulgarian monarchs
- List of Serbian monarchs
- List of Russian rulers

Etymology and spelling

The word tsar is derived from the Latin title Caesar by way of the Old Slavonic tsesar (цесарь). The word is cognate with German Kaiser and Gothic Káisar. The contraction of цесарь into царь occurred by the way of shorthand writing of titles in old Slavonic church manuscripts, see Titlo article. One may see the examples of this, e.g., in the older copies of the Slavic Primary Chronicle. The spelling tsar is the closest possible transliteration of the Russian using standard English spelling. Both czar and tsar have been accepted in English for the last century as a correct usage. French adopted the form tsar during the 19th century, and it became more frequent in English towards the end of that century, following its adoption by The Times. (see the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition). The spelling tzar with 'z' is also very common, and represents an alternative transliteration of the first letter ц. The spelling czar originated with the Austrian diplomat Baron Sigismund von Herberstein, whose Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii (1549) (literally Notes on Muscovite Affairs) was the main source of knowledge of Russia in early modern western Europe. It is not found in any of the Slavic languages, but is the primary spelling adopted by Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Edition, 2003), with tsar offered only as a variant. Modern usage seems to have standardized on the use of tsar to describe former rulers of Russia, while czar is used to informally describe an expert in charge of implementing policy (especially in the US): economics czar, drug czar, et cetera. The original Russian pronunciation of tsar is (in IPA notation) though many if not most English-speaking people pronounce it considerably differently: or . This is because although English has in words like cats it is unusual for this sound to start an English word.

Imperium maius

In Christian Europe the use of the title emperor is more than an affectation. A king recognises that the church is an equal or superior in the religious sphere, emperors do not. This was illustrated by Henry VIII of England who started to use the word imperium in his dispute with the Pope over his first divorce. By stating that they were emperors the Russian rulers claimed to be the head of the (Russian Orthodox) church and did not recognise any superior authority but God.

Russia

Full title of Russian tsars

The full title of Russian emperors started with By the Grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias (Божию Милостию, Император и Самодержец Всероссийский [Bozhiyu Milostiyu, Imperator i Samodyerzhets Vserossiysky]) and went further to list all ruled territories. For example, according to the art. 59 of the Russian Constitution of April 23, 1906, "the full title of His Imperial Majesty is as follows: We, ------ by the grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, of Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tauric Khersones, Tsar of Georgia, Lord of Pskov, and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, Prince of Estonia, Livonia, Courland and Semigalia, Samogitia, Białystok, Karelia, Tver, Yugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgaria, and other territories; Lord and Grand Duke of Nizhni Novgorod, Chernigov; Ruler of Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislav, and all northern territories ; Ruler of Iveria, Kartalinia, and the Kabardinian lands and Armenian territories - hereditary Ruler and Lord of the Cherkess and Mountain Princes and others; Lord of Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Oldenburg, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth." For example, Nicholas II of Russia was titled as follows (notice the archaic spelling): :Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію МЫ, НИКОЛАЙ ВТОРЫЙ ИМПЕРАТОРЪ и САМОДЕРЖЕЦЪ ВСЕРОССІЙСКІЙ :Московский, Кіевскій, Владимірскій, Новгородскій, :Царь Казанскій, Царь Астраханскій, Царь Польскій, Царь Сибирскій, Царь Херсониса Таврическаго, Царь Грузинскій, :Государь Псковскій, и :Великій Князь Смоленскій, Литовскій, Волынскій, Подольскій и Финляндскій; :Князь Эстляндскій, Лифляндскій, Курляндскій и Семигальскій, Самогитскій, Бѣлостокский, Корельскій, :Тверскій, Югорскій, Пермскій, Вятскій, Болгарскій и иныхъ; :Государь и Великій Князь Новагорода низовскія земли, Черниговскій, Рязанскій, Полотскій, :Ростовскій, Ярославскій, Бѣлозерскій, Удорскій, Обдорскій, Кондійскій, Витебскій, Мстиславскій и :всея Сѣверныя страны Повелитель; и :Государь Иверскія, Карталинскія и Кабардинскія земли и области Арменскія; :Черкасскихъ и Горскихъ Князей и иныхъ Наслѣдный Государь и Обладатель; :Государь Туркестанскій; :Наслѣдникъ Норвежскій, :Герцогъ Шлезвигъ-Голстинскій, Стормарнскій, Дитмарсенскій и Ольденбургскій, и прочая, и прочая, и прочая.

Titles for Russian Tsar's family

Tsaritsa (царица) is the term used for an Empress, though in English contexts this seems invariably to be altered to tsarina. In the Imperial Russia, the official title was Empress (Императрица). Tsaritsa (Empress) could be either the ruler herself or the wife (Empress consort) of tsar. Tsesarevich (Цесаревич) (literally, "son of the tsesar") is the term for a male heir apparent, the full title was Heir Tsesarevich ("Naslednik Tsesarevich", Наследник Цесаревич), informally abbreviated in Russia to The Heir ("Naslednik") (from the capital letter). Tsarevich (царевич) was the term for a son. In older times the term was used in place of "Tsesarevich" (Цесаревич). A son who was not a heir was formally called Velikii Kniaz (Великий Князь) (Grand Duke). The latter title was also used for grandsons (through male lines). Tsarevna (царевна) was the term for a daughter and a granddaughter of a Tsar or Tsaritsa. The official title was Velikaya Kniaginya (Великая Княгиня), translated as Grand Duchess or Grand Princess. See also Grand Duchess for more details on the Velikaya Kniaginya title. Tsesarevna (Цесаревна) was the wife of the Tsesarevich.

Notes

#When Nicholas II abdicated in 1917 he abdicated not just on his own behalf but also on behalf of his teenage son, who was too ill to take up the throne. He named as his heir his own brother Michael. Michael initially considered accepting the throne, conditional upon the people accepting him as their ruler. But a day or two later he decided against this course. He saw no need to formally abdicate a throne he had never formally accepted. He was never proclaimed as "Tsar Michael II". Historians and lists of tsars differ as to whether to regard Michael or Nicholas II as the last tsar. Nicholas II was undoubtedly the last tsar to rule Russia and so was the last effective tsar. Michael, if he can be said to have been tsar at all, exercised no governmental functions and merely reigned nominally for a very short time. Michael, like his brother Nicholas, was executed by the Bolsheviks in 1918. #In 1924 Grand Duke Cyril Romanov proclaimed himself Emperor in exile. #Moscow and Saint-Petersburg are the two tsar's capitals.

See also


- The following articles list tsars, among other rulers.
  - List of Bulgarian monarchs
  - List of Serbian monarchs
  - List of Russian rulers
- History of Bulgaria
- History of Russia
- History of Finland
- History of Belarus
- History of Ukraine
- History of Poland
- Lists of incumbents Category:Imperial Russia Russia, Tsar Category:Russian leaders Category:Titles Category:Slavic titles Category:Positions of authority ja:ツァーリ

Monarch

:For other senses, see monarch (disambiguation). A monarch (see sovereign) is a type of ruler or head of state. Monarchs almost always inherit their titles and are rulers for life. Historically monarchs have been more or less absolute rulers, though modern monarchs are typically figureheads with little power. Monarchs usually represent a larger monarchical system which has established rules and customs regarding succession, duties, and powers. A nation ruled by a monarch is called a monarchy. The word "monarch" derives from Greek monos archein, meaning "one ruler," and referred to an absolute ruler in ancient Greece. With time, the word has been succeeded in this meaning by others, like autocrat or dictator, and the word monarch in modern usage almost always refers to a traditional system of hereditary rulership (but see the discussion on elective monarchies below).

Possible definitions of the term

Which rulers are considered monarchs today is partially a matter of tradition, so there are no hard and fast rules. There are, however, a number of characteristics that are commonly, though not universally, distinguishing for monarchs:
- Most monarchs hold their office for life, while most other rulers do not. A monarch may chose to resign his position through abdication, though this is a rare and dramatic practice.
  - Exceptions to this include the French co-prince of Andorra, who is not appointed for life (he is the French President, elected for a five year period by the French people), but still generally considered a monarch because of the use of a traditionally monarchical title. (Though, a purist might regard Andorra as a diarchy.) Similarly, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia is considered a monarch although only holding the office five years at a time. On the other hand, several life-time dictators around the world have not been considered monarchs.
- Most monarchs are raised within a royal family where they are taught to expect and obey their future "duties," and they are, formally or informally, succeeded upon their death or abdication by members of their own family, usually their eldest son or eldest child. As a result, most stable monarchies have a long legacy of rule by a single family or bloodline.
  - Once again, Malaysia is an exception, as is the Vatican City (the Pope bears the title "Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City"). Also, the practice is not totally uncommon in systems which are not considered monarchical, such as family dictatorships.
- Most monarchs hold titles that are traditional among monarchs (see below). While this is a fairly arbitrary characteristic, it might just be the best distinction between monarchs and non-monarchs at the moment.

Different types of monarchs

Monarchy is the form of government involving a monarch. It can be either absolute or constitutional, and constitutional monarchies may even restrict the powers of the monarch to the point where he is little more than a near-powerless figurehead, which is a common modern practice. The word monarchy can also be used about a country which has such a system. Normally however, such countries identify themselves more narrowly depending on the actual title used by the monarch – e.g., as a kingdom, grand duchy, or principality. Elective monarchies were once common, although only a very small portion of the population was eligible to vote. As the impact of the feudal system diminished, many monarchs were eventually allowed to introduce hereditary succession, guaranteeing that the title and office will stay within the family. Today, almost all monarchies are hereditary monarchies in which the monarchs come from one royal family with the office of sovereign being passed from one family member to another upon the death or abdication of the incumbent. Existing elective monarchies include Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the Holy See. The former system of the election of the doge in Venice is also widely known. A sovereign is the monarch of a sovereign state. Although non-sovereign states have often had monarchs historically (not least within the Holy Roman Empire), all European monarchs since 1918 have been sovereigns. Outside Europe there still exist several monarchs of subnational entities however, most notably in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates. A more obscure example is that of Kings of the French Wallis and Futuna territory. In a few cases a monarch is associated with a particular group (or nation) within a state, such as Te Arikinui Te Atairangikaahu of the Maori (the Maori Queen) and Osei Tutu II of the Ashanti.

European monarchical titles

In Europe, a monarch may traditionally bear any of several titles. Although monarchs have normally been male, each of these titles also has a female counterpart. This is used not only in the (historically rare) case that the monarch is female, but also for wives of monarchs (when there is need to distinguish between the two cases, terms like Queen regnant and Queen consort are used). The converse is not true however: the husband of a queen regnant is not automatically a king (e.g., the Duke of Edinburgh is not King Philip of the United Kingdom). The more frequent use of the word monarch in recent years arises from this possibility of a male or female ruler. Formerly, the ruler was expected to be male, therefore a terminology of masculine words developed, the feminine words expressing a different role. The word monarch covers both sexes so is more acceptable in a general discussion in a gender-conscious culture. The normal monarch title in Europe – i.e., the one used if the monarch has no higher title – is Prince. It was a common title within the Holy Roman Empire, along with a number of higher titles listed below. Such titles were granted by the Emperor, while the titulation of rulers of sovereign states was generally left to the discretion of themselves, most often choosing King. Such titulations could cause diplomatic problems, and especially the elevation to Emperor was seen as an offensive action. During the 19th and 20th centuries most small monarchies in Europe disappeared to form larger entities, and so King has become the most common title today.
- As popes are usually Catholic priests (technically not a requirement, see Pope - Election), a celibate office forbidden to women, there is no female equivalent. Legends of female popes (see Pope Joan) refer to them as "pope." Some European languages have a feminine form of the word pope, such as the French papesse (to pape) or German Päpstin (to Papst), used, among other things, for the High Priestess tarot card. Note that some of these titles have several meanings and do not necessarily designate a monarch. A Prince can be a person of royal blood (some languages uphold this distinction, see Fürst). A Duke can be a British peer. In Imperial Russia, a Grand Duke was a son or grand-son of the Tsar. Holders of titles in these alternative meanings did not enjoy the same status as actual monarchs of the same title. Within the Holy Roman Empire, there were even more titles that were occasionally used for monarchs although they were normally noble; Margrave, Count Palatine, Landgrave. An actual monarch with such low titles still outranked a noble Duke. Today, there are seven kingdoms, one grand duchy, and two principalities in Europe, excluding the peculiar case of Andorra.

Monarchical titles in use by non-monarchs

It is not uncommon that people who are not generally seen as monarchs nevertheless use monarchical titles. There are three cases of this:
- Claiming an existing title, challenging the current holder. This has been very common historically. For centuries, the British monarch used, among his other titles, the title King of France, despite the fact that he had no authority over French territory. There have also been numerous antipopes.
- Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy. This can be coupled with a claim that the monarchy was in fact never, or should never have been, extinct. An example of the first case is the Prince of Seborga. Examples of the second case are several deposed monarchs or otherwise pretenders to thrones of abolished monarchies, e.g., Leka, Crown Prince of Albania who is styled by some as the "King of Albania." Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy can, however, be totally free of claims of sovereignty, as when Juan Carlos I of Spain includes "King of Jerusalem" in his full title. When it comes to deposed monarchs, it is customary to continue the usage of their monarchical title (e.g., Constantine II, King of the Hellenes) as a courtesy title, not a constitutional office, for the duration of their lifetime. However the title then dies with them and cannot be used by anyone else unless the crown is restored constitutionally. (Some republicans take offence at this custom.) Monarchs who have freely abdicated lose their right to use their former title. However where a monarch abdicated under duress (e.g., Michael I of Romania), it is customary to see the abdication as invalid and to treat them as deposed monarchs entitled to use their monarchical style for their lifetime.
- Inventing a new title. This is common by founders of micronations, and also may or may not come with a claim of sovereignty. When it does, it is most often disregarded by state leaders. A notable example is Paddy Roy Bates, styling himself the "Prince of Sealand," but not recognized as such by any national government, thus failing at least the constitutive condition for statehood (see Sealand for a fuller discussion of his claims).

Other monarchical titles

In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang, which designated the sovereign before the Qin dynasty and during the Ten Kingdoms period. During the early Han dynasty, China had a number of small kingdoms, each about the size of a county and subordinate to the Emperor of China. When a difference exists, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.

By region


- Africa
  - Chieftain - Leader of a "primitive" people
  - Pharaoh - early Egypt
  - Negus - Ethiopia
  - Oba - Yoruba people of Nigeria
- Americas
  - Cacique - Aboriginal Hispaniola
  - Hueyi Tlatoani - Aztec Empire
  - Ajaw - Maya
  - Inca - Tahuantinsuyu (Inca Empire)
- Asia
  - Druk Gyalpo —heriditary title given to the king of Bhutan
  - Chogyal — "Divine Ruler" — ruled Sikkim till 1975
  - Hwangje - States that unified Korea
  - Wang - States of Korea that do not have control over all of Korea
  - Badshah - India (emperor)
  - Huangdi - Imperial China
  - Maharaja/Maharani - India
  - Nawab, Wali - Muslim rulers of principalities or princes under Mughal (Mogul) or British Indian Empires
  - Nizam - Hyderabad, India
  - Susuhanan - the Indonesian princely state of Surakarta until its abolition
  - Sultan - Aceh, Brunei Darussalam
  - Meurah -Aceh before Islam
  - Yang Dipertuan Agong - king of Malaysian Federations, elected each 5 years among the reining monarch in Malaysia.
  - Tenno or Mikado - Japan
  - Wang - pre-Imperial China
- Europe
  - Arqa / Thagavor - Armenian king
  - Germanic king
  - Βασιλεύς-Greek
  - Vezér - Ancient Hungarian
  - Fejedelem - Ancient/Medieval Hungarian
  - Vojvod (Serbian) / Vajda (Hungarian) - Serbian / Hungarian / Romany Title
  - Rí and Ard Rí - Respectively King and High King in Ireland.
  - Kniaz'/Knyaginya (generally translated as "prince") - Kievan Rus'
  - Tsar/Tsaritsa - Imperial Russia
  - Kunigaikshtis (Kunigaikštis) - Lithuanian,duke as in Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- Middle East
  - Bei
  - Caliph - Islamic holy title
  - Emir - Arabic holy title
  - Khan - Mongol Emperor or Turkish, Afghan, Pashtun or other Central Asian chieftain
  - Malik/Malika - Arabic leader
  - Pharaoh - Ancient Egypt
  - Shah - Persia/Iran, Afghanistan
  - Shahenshah - Persia/Iran, "King of Kings" or emperor
  - Shaikh - Arabic leader
  - Sultan/Sultana - Arabic King
- Oceania
  - Chieftain - Leader of a "primitive" people
  - King - there were/are also kings in Oceania (i.e. Tonga,Wallis and Futuna, Nauru)
  - Houeiki - Chief status in the Tongan traditional system.

General monarch titles


- Autocrat - General term for absolute monarch.
- Emperor/Empress - Empire
- Grand Duke/Grand Duchess - Grand Duchy
- King/Queen - Kingdom
- Prince/Princess - Sovereign Principality
- Sovereign Duke/Count/Baron - Sovereign Duchy/County/Barony - (Grand)Children have the title Princely-, like Princely-Lord

Succession

Succession from one monarch to another varies from country to country. Traditionally, hereditary succession within members of one family has been most common. The usual hereditary succession has based on some cognatic principles and on seniority, though also merits have influenced. Thus, the most common hereditary system in feudal Europe was based on cognatic primogeniture, where a lord was succeeded by his eldest son, and failing sons, by either daughters or by sons of daughters. The system of tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight also to merits and capability. The Quasi-Salic succession provided firstly male members of the family to succeed, and secondarily males also from female lines. In most feudal fiefs, females (such as daughters and sisters) were allowed to succeed, brothers failing, but usually the husband of the heiress became the real lord and most often also got title, iure uxoris. Great Britain and Spain are today continuing this old model of succession law, in form of cognatic primogeniture. In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of proximity and primogeniture battled, and outcomes could have been idiosyncratic. As the average life span increased (lords limited their own participation in dangerous battles, and society's more wealthy had increasingly better sustenance and living conditions, which improved general health among princes), primogeniture began to win the battle against proximity, tanistry, seniority and election. Later, when lands were strictly divided among noble families and tended to remain fixed, agnatic primogeniture (practically the same as Salic Law) became the most usual: succession going to the eldest son of the monarch; if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative through male line. Some countries however accepted female rulers early on, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter. (This, cognatic primogeniture, was the rule that let Elizabeth II become Queen.) In 1980, Sweden became the first European monarchy to abolish this preference for males altogether, declaring equal primogeniture or full cognatic primogeniture, so that the eldest child of the monarch now ascends to the throne, be that child male or female. Other kingdoms (Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991 and the Netherlands) have followed. In some monarchies, e.g. Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne has passed to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only to the monarch's children after that (= agnatic seniority). In some other monarchies (e.g. Jordan), the monarch chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son.

Current monarchs

NOTE: The table comprises all sovereign monarchs of the world today, but is severely incomplete with regard to the non-sovereign monarchs.

See also


- List of monarchs by country
- Relative Power of Current Monarchs
- Archontology
- WikiProject Monarchs

External links


- [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm A Glossary of European Noble, Princely, Royal and Imperial Titles]
- [http://www.archontology.org Archontology]
- Monarch Monarch Category:Titles zh-min-nan:Ông ko:군주 ja:君主

Bulgaria

The Republic of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Република България) is a republic in the southeast of Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the east, Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north along the river Danube. It is one of Europe's oldest countries.

History

Main article: History of Bulgaria In the late 7th century a branch of the Bulgars led by Khan Asparuh migrated into the northern Balkans, where they merged with the local Slavic populaton and possibly remnants of the Thracian population to form the first Bulgarian state in 681 AD. This was the first Slavic nation-state in history. The Bulgarian empire was a significant European power in the 9th and the 10th century, while fighting with the Byzantine Empire for the control of the Balkans. The Bulgarian state was crushed by an assault by the Rus in 969 and completely subdued by a determined Byzantine assault under Basil II in 1018. It was re-established in 1185 and continued to be an important power in the European south-east for two more centuries by fighting to assert its place in the region with the Byzantine Empire, crushing the Crusader states in Greece, as well as Hungary. By the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Empire. A liberation attempt by the Polish-Hungarian forces under the rule of Wladislaus III of Poland was clashed in 1444 in the battle of Varna. An autonomous Bulgarian principality comprising Moesia and the region of Sofia was established in 1878 following the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78. After uniting with Eastern Rumelia in 1885, the principality was proclaimed a fully independent kingdom in 1908. During 1912 and 1913 it became involved in the Balkan Wars, a series of conflicts with its neighbours, during which Bulgarian territory varied in size. During World War I and later World War II, Bulgaria found itself fighting on the losing side. Despite that fact, Bulgaria saved the lives of its own 50,000 Jews from the Nazi death camps by refusing to comply with a 31 August 1943 resolution, which demanded their deportation to Auschwitz. Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence after World War II and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1989, when Bulgaria again held multiparty elections. Bulgaria joined NATO on 29 March, 2004 and is set to join the European Union on 1 January, 2007 after signing the Treaty of Accession on 25 April 2005.

Politics

Main article: Politics of Bulgaria

Executive

Politics of Bulgaria The president of Bulgaria (Georgi Purvanov since 22 January 2002) is directly elected for a 5-year term with the right to one re-election. The president serves as the head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. The president is the head of the Consultative Council for National Security and while unable to initiate legislation, the President can return a bill for further debate, though parliament can overturn the president's veto with a simple majority vote. The Council of Ministers is chaired by the Prime Minister (Sergey Stanishev since 17 August 2005), and is the principal body of the Executive Branch and presently consists of 20 ministers. The Prime Minister is nominated by the largest parliamentary group and is given a mandate by the President to form a cabinet. The current governmental coalition is made of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), National Movement Simeon II (NMS), and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (representing mainly the Turkish minority).

Legislative

The Bulgarian unicameral parliament, the National Assembly or Narodno Sabranie, consists of 240 deputies who are elected for 4-year-term stretches by popular vote. The votes are for party or coalition lists of candidates for each of the twenty-eight administrative divisions. A party or coalition must garner a minimum of 4% of the vote in order to enter parliament. Parliament is responsible for enactment of laws, approval of the budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection and dismissal of the prime minister and other ministers, declaration of war, deployment of troops outside of Bulgaria, and ratification of international treaties and agreements. The last elections took place on June 2005. The next elections are planned for summer 2009.

Judiciary

The Bulgarian judicial system consists of regional, district and appeal courts, as well as a Supreme Court of Cassation. In addition, there is a Supreme Administrative Court and a system of military courts. The Presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Supreme Administrative Court and the Prosecutor General are elected by a qualified majority of two thirds from all the members of the Supreme Judicial Council and are appointed by the President of the Republic. The Supreme Juicial Council is in charge of the self-administration and organisation of the Judiciary. The Constitutional Court is in charge of reviewing the constitutionality of laws and statutes brought before it, as well as the compliance of these laws with international treaties that the Government has signed. Parliament elects the 12 members of the Constitutional Court by a two-thirds majority, the members serve a nine-year term.

Regional and local government

The territory of the Republic of Bulgaria is divided into regions and municipalities. In all Bulgaria has 28 regions, each headed by a regional governor appointed by the government. In addition, there are 263 municipalties.

Regions

Main article: Regions of Bulgaria Regions of Bulgaria Since 1999 Bulgaria consists of 28 regions (oblasti, singular - oblast), after having been subdivided into 9 provinces since 1987. All are named after the regional capital, with the national capital itself forming a separate region:

Geography

Main article: Geography of Bulgaria Geography of Bulgaria Bulgaria is comprised of portions of the classical regions of Thrace, Moesia, and Macedonia. The southwest of the country is mountainous, containing the highest point of the Balkan Peninsula, peak Musala at 2,925 m, and the range of the Balkan mountains runs west-east through the middle of the country, north of the famous Rose Valley. Hilly country and plains are found in the southeast, along the Black Sea coast in the east, and along Bulgaria's main river, the Danube in the north. Other major rivers include the Struma and the Maritsa river in the south. The Bulgarian climate is temperate, with cold, damp winters and hot, dry summers. The Balkan peninsula derives its name from the Balkan or Stara Planina mountain range which runs through the center of Bulgaria into eastern Serbia. See also:
- List of cities in Bulgaria
- Rivers of Bulgaria
- Reservoirs and dams in Bulgaria

Economy

Main article: Economy of Bulgaria Bulgaria's economy contracted dramatically after 1989 with the loss of the market of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) member states, to which the Bulgarian economy had been closely tied. The standard of living fell by about 40%, but it regained pre-1990 levels in June 2004. In addition, UN sanctions against Yugoslavia and Iraq took a heavy toll on the Bulgarian economy. The first signs of recovery emerged in 1994 when the GDP grew and inflation fell. During 1996, however, the economy collapsed due to lack of international economic support and an unstable banking system. Since 1997 the country has been on the path to recovery, with GDP growing at a 4-5% rate, increasing FDI, macroeconomic stability and EU membership set for 2007. The former government, elected in 2001, pledged to maintain the fundamental economic policy objectives adopted by its predecessor in 1997, i.e., retaining the Currency Board, practicing sound financial policies, accelerating privatisation, and pursuing structural reforms. Economic forecasts for 2005 and 2006 predict continued growth in the Bulgarian economy. The annual year-on-year GDP growth for 2005 and 2006 is expected to total 5,3% and 6,0%, respectively. Industrial output for 2005 is forecast to rise by 11,9% year-on-year, and for 2006 - by 15,2% year-on-year. Unemployment for 2005 is projected at 11,5% and for 2006 - at under 10%. On April 25, 2005 Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Accession with the European Union and is set to join the bloc in 2007.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Bulgaria According to the 2001 census, Bulgaria's population is mainly ethnic Bulgarian (83.9%), with two sizable minorities in the form of Turks (9.4%) and Roma (4.7%). Of the remaining 2.0%, 0.9% are distributed among some forty smaller minorities, the most numerous of which are the Armenians, Russians, Vlachs, Crimean Tatars, Karakachans, Macedonian Slavs and Jews; the people who have not declared their ethnicity are 1.1% of the total population. 84.8% of the Bulgarian population speak Bulgarian, a member of the Slavic languages, as mother-language. Bulgarian is the only official language, but other languages are spoken, corresponding closely to ethnic breakdown. Most Bulgarians (82.6%) are at least nominally a member of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the national Eastern Orthodox church. Other religious denominations include Islam (12.2%), Roman Catholicism (0.6%), various Protestant denominations (0.5%), with other denominations, atheists and undeclared numbering ca. 4.1%.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Bulgaria
- List of famous Bulgarians
- Bulgarian customs
- Music of Bulgaria
- Bulgarian dances
- Bulgarian cuisine

Religion

Most citizens of Bulgaria are at least nominally members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church founded in 870 AD (autocephalous since 927). The Bulgarian Orthodox Church is the independent national church of Bulgaria like the other national branches of Eastern Orthodoxy and is considered an inseparable element of Bulgarian national consciousness. The church has been abolished, or rather reduced to a subordinate position within the Greek Orthodox Church, twice during the periods of Byzantine (1018-1185) and Ottoman (1396-1878) domination but has been revived every time as a symbol of Bulgarian statehood. In 2001, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church had a total of 6,552,000 members in Bulgaria (82.6% of the population). However many younger people raised during the 45 years of communist rule are not religious even though they formally may be members of the church. communist Despite the dominant position of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in Bulgarian cultural life, a number of Bulgarian citizens belong to other religious denominations, most notably Islam, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Islam came to Bulgaria at the end of the 14th century after the conquest of the country by the Ottomans. It gradually gained ascendancy throughout the 15th and 16th centuries by introduction of Turkish colonists and (usually forceful) conversion of Bulgarians and at the time of the Liberation (1878) not less than 40% of the population of the country was Muslim. The percentage has been greatly reduced since then, mostly due to emigration. In 2001, there were 967,000 Muslims in Bulgaria (12.2% of the population). In the 16th and the 17th century missionaries from Rome converted the Bulgarian Paulicians in the districts of Plovdiv and Svishtov to Roman Catholicism. Their descendants form nowadays the bulk of Bulgarian Catholics whose number stood at 44,000 in 2001. Protestantism was introduced in Bulgaria by missionaries from the United States in 1857. Missionary work continued throughout the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. In 2001, there were some 42,000 Protestants in Bulgaria.
- Bulgarian Orthodox Church
- Roman Catholicism in Bulgaria
- Protestantism in Bulgaria
- Islam in Bulgaria
- Judaism

National parks

Bulgaria has over 10 major national parks and many reservation areas.
- [http://www.centralbalkannationalpark.org/en/ Central Balkan National Park]
- Golden Sands National Park
- [http://www.pirin-np.com/English/pirin-np_E.htm Pirin National Park]
- [http://www.rhodope.net/ Rhodope National Park]
- [http://www.rilanationalpark.org/en/ Rila National Park]
- Roussenski Lom National Park
- Sinite Kamani National Park
- Shoumen Plateau National Park
- [http://www.staraplanina.org/index.php Stara Planina (Balkan Mountains)]
- [http://www.discoverstrandja.com/index.htm Strandja National Park]
- [http://www.picturesofbulgaria.com/article/vitosha_national_park.html Vitosha National Park]
- Vratchansky Balkan National Park

Additional Resources


- [http://www.bulgariannationalparks.org/en/ Bulgarian National Parks]
- [http://www.greenbalkans.org/index_en.html Green Balkans]

Miscellaneous topics


- The Ten Lies of Macedonism]
- [[Communications in Bulgaria]]
- [[Foreign relations of Bulgaria
- Military of Bulgaria
- Public holidays in Bulgaria
- Reporters without borders world-wide press freedom index 2004: ranked 36 out of 167 countries
- Tourism in Bulgaria
- Transportation in Bulgaria
- Bulgarian law Much of the material in these articles comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

Further reading


- A Concise History of Bulgaria RJ Crampton
- Beyond Hitler's Grasp: The Heroic Rescue of Bulgaria's Jews Michael Bar-Zohar
- Blue Guide: Bulgaria James Pettifer
- Crown of Thorns : The Reign of King Boris III of Bulgaria, 1918-1943 Stephane Groueff
- The Fragility of Goodness: Why Bulgaria's Jews Survived the Holocaust Tzvetan Todorov
- Lonely Planet World Guide: Bulgaria Paul Greenway
- Music of Bulgaria Timothy Rice
- The Rough Guide To Bulgaria Jonathan Bousfield
- Voices from the Gulag: Life and Death in Communist Bulgaria Tzvetan Todorov
- The Iron Fist-inside the Bulgarian secret archives Alexenia Dimitrova

External links

Official


- [http://www.government.bg/fce/index.shtml?s=001&p=0023 Council of Ministers] - Official Governmental Site
- [http://www.bulgaria.bg/EN/default.htm Diplomatic missions of Republic of Bulgaria abroad] - Diplomatic missions of Republic of Bulgaria abroad
- [http://www.eypbulgaria.org/ European Youth Parliament - Bulgaria]
- [http://www.president.bg/en/index.php President.bg] - Official Presidential Site
- [http://www.parliament.bg/?lng=en Narodno Sabranie] - Official Parliamentary Site
- [http://www.minfin.government.bg/?language=english Ministry of Finance of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.mvr.bg/en/ Ministry of Interior of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.mtc.government.bg/indexe.htm Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.culture.government.bg/index.html?l=en Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.mi.government.bg/eng/ Ministry of Economy of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.doe.bg/cgi-bin/i.pl?l=2 Ministry of Energy and Energy Resources of Bulgaria]
- [http://www2.moew.government.bg/index_e.html Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.mfa.government.bg/index.php?newlang=eng Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.mod.bg/en/index.html Ministry of Defense of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_English/ National Radio] - Official Radio Site

English language Bulgarian media


- [http://www.questbulgaria.com Quest Bulgaria Magazine (monthly)]
- [http://www.bnr.bg/en/ Radio Bulgaria – the world service of the Bulgarian National Radio]
- [http://news.dnevnik.bg Dnevnik]
- [http://www.focus-fen.net Focus English News]
- [http://novinite.com/ Sofia News Agency]
- [http://www.standartnews.com Standart (daily)]
- [http://www.sofiaecho.com The Sofia Echo (weekly)]

Other


- [http://www.expatfocus.com/expatriate-bulgaria Expat Focus guide to Bulgaria]
- [http://www.bulgarian-villa.com Bulgarian Building Projects]
- [http://get.info.bg Bulgaria Info Site - regions, maps, FAQ]
- [http://www.kirildouhalov.net Art, history and music of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.picturesofbulgaria.com Pictures of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.pbase.com/ngruev/bulgaria/ More Pictures of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.greatestcities.com/Europe/Bulgaria.html Map, Info and Pictures of Bulgaria and Cities]
- [http://www.balcanica.org/history/maps.html Historical maps of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.bulgarianmonastery.com Bulgarian Monasteries]
- [http://www.blackseaestates.net/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=5&tabid=12, Picture Gallery of Bulgaria]
- [http://www.bulgarianfinearts.com Paintings by Bulgarian authors]
- [http://www.worldwide-tax.com/bulgaria/indexbulgaria.asp Bulgaria economy and business indicators] Bulgaria key Data on Taxes and Income Tax. ---- Volga Bulgaria is also a historic state that existed in 10-14th centuries around the confluence of Volga and Kama. Category:Republics Category:Black Sea countries roa-rup:Vurgarii zh-min-nan:Bulgariya ko:불가리아 ms:Bulgaria ja:ブルガリア simple:Bulgaria th:ประเทศบัลแกเรีย fiu-vro:Bulgaaria

1721

Events


- Pope Innocent XIII becomes pope
- Johann Sebastian Bach composes the Brandenburg Concertos
- April 4 - Robert Walpole becomes the first prime minister of Britain
- September 10 - Treaty of Nystad is signed, bringing an end to the Great Northern War
- November 2 - Peter I is proclaimed Emperor of All the Russias

Ongoing Events


- Great Northern War (1700-1721)

Births


- January 10 - Johann Philipp Baratier, German scholar (d. 1740)
- February 3 - Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, Prussian general (d. 1773)
- February 21 - John McKinly, American physician and President of Delaware (d. 1796)
- March 19 - Tobias Smollett, Scottish physician and author (d. 1771)
- April 3 - Roger Sherman, American signer of the Declaration of Independence (d. 1793)
- April 11 - David Zeisberger, Moravian missionary (d. 1808)
- April 15 - Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, English military leader (d. 1765)
- April 19 - Roger Sherman, signer of the American Declaration of Independence (d. 1803)
- July 9 - Johann Nikolaus Götz, German poet (d. 1781)
- July 14 - John Douglas, Scottish Anglican bishop and man of letters (d. 1807)
- August 4 - Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, English politician (d. 1803)
- August 31 - George Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (d. 1775)
- September 14 - Eliphalet Dyer, American statesman and judge (d. 1807)
- October 19 - Joseph de Guignes, French orientalist (d. 1800)
- November 9 - Mark Akenside, English poet and physician (d. 1770)
- November 22 - Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, Swiss-born cartographer and Canadian statesman (d. 1824)
- December 6 - James Elphinston, Scottish philologist (d. 1809)
- December 6 - Guillaume-Chrétien de Lamoignon de Malesherbes, French statesman (d. 1794)
- December 27 - François Hemsterhuis, Dutch philosopher (d. 1790)
- December 29 - Marquise de Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV of France (d. 1764)

Deaths


- February 16 - James Craggs the Younger, English politician (b. 1686)
- February 24 - John Sheffield, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Normanby, English statesman and poet (b. 1648)
- March 16 - James Craggs the Elder, English politician (b. 1657)
- March 19 - Pope Clement XI (b. 1649)
- April 14 - Michel Chamillart, French statesman (b. 1652)
- July 8 - Elihu Yale, American benefactor of Yale University (b. 1649)
- July 18 - Antoine Watteau, French painter (b. 1684)
- August 3 - Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-born woodcarver (b. 1648)
- August 13 - Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer (b. 1665)
- September 8 - Michael Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1686)
- September 11 - Rudolf Jakob Camerarius, German botanist and physician (b. 1665)
- September 18 - Matthew Prior, British poet and diplomat (b. 1664)
- September 20 - Thomas Doggett, Irish actor
- October 11 - Edward Colston, English merchant and philanthropist (b. 1636)
- December 13 - Alexander Selkirk, Scottish sailor (b. 1676)
- December 17 - Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, English statesman (b. 1650)
- Henri Arnaud, French pastor and leader of the Waldenses (b. 1641)
- Thomas Doggett, Irish actor Category:1721 ko:1721년 ms:1721

Emperor

:This article is about Emperor in the meaning of "monarch", for all other uses, see: Emperor (disambiguation) An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the feminine form and can either be the wife of an emperor or a woman being an imperial monarch herself. Emperors are generally recognised to be above kings in honour and rank. Emperor Akihito of Japan is the world's only reigning emperor.

Distinction between Emperor and other types of monarch

Both kings and emperors are monarchs. There is no single rule to distinguish the one from the other: several factors, like interpretations of historians, the size and characteristics of the governed realm, and the title(s) chosen by the monarch play a part in distinguishing the one from the other. General characteristics indicating that a monarch is to be considered an emperor rather than a king include:
- The monarch chose a title that usually translates as "emperor" in English, and/or is accepted as the equivalent of "emperor" in international diplomatic relations;
- The monarch rules over other monarchs, without stripping monarchy-related titles from these subjects ("vassals" or non-sovereign monarchs);
- The monarch assumes divine or other high-ranked religious characteristics (see: imperial cult,