Jewish canons.

Rabbinic Judaism.

Rabbinic Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות רבנית) recognizes the twenty-four books of the Masoretic Text, commonly called the Tanakh (Hebrew: תַּנַ"ךְ) or Hebrew Bible. Evidence suggests that the process of canonization occurred between 200 BC and 200 AD, and a popular position is that the Torah was canonized c. 400 BC, the Prophets c. 200 BC, and the Writings c. 100 AD perhaps at a hypothetical Council of Jamnia—however, this position is increasingly criticised by modern scholars. According to Marc Zvi Brettler, the Jewish scriptures outside the Torah and the Prophets were fluid, different groups seeing authority in different books.  The book of Deuteronomy includes a prohibition against adding or subtracting (, ) which might apply to the book itself (i.e. a "closed book", a prohibition against future scribal editing) or to the instruction received by Moses on Mt. Sinai. The book of 2 Maccabees, itself not a part of the Jewish canon, describes Nehemiah (c. 400 BC) as having "founded a library and collected books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings" ().  The Book of Nehemiah suggests that the priest-scribe Ezra brought the Torah back from Babylon to Jerusalem and the Second Temple () around the same time period. Both I and II Maccabees suggest that Judas Maccabeus (c. 167 BC) likewise collected sacred books (,, ), indeed some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed by the Hasmonean dynasty. However, these primary sources do not suggest that the canon was at that time "closed"; moreover, it is not clear that these sacred books were identical to those that later became part of the canon.  The Great Assembly, also known as the Great Synagogue, was, according to Jewish tradition, an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the Biblical prophets to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism, marking a transition from an era of prophets to an era of Rabbis. They lived in a period of about two centuries ending c. 70 AD. Among the developments in Judaism that are attributed to them are the fixing of the Jewish Biblical canon, including the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Esther, and the Twelve Minor Prophets; the introduction of the triple classification of the oral Torah, dividing its study into the three branches of midrash, halakot, and aggadot; the introduction of the Feast of Purim; and the institution of the prayer known as the Shemoneh 'Esreh as well as the synagogal prayers, rituals, and benedictions.  In addition to the Tanakh, mainstream Rabbinic Judaism considers the Talmud (Hebrew: תַּלְמוּד ) to be another central, authoritative text. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs, and history. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 AD), the first written compendium of Judaism's oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 AD), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Tanakh. There are numerous citations of Sirach within the Talmud, even though the book was not ultimately accepted into the Hebrew canon.  The Talmud is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is often quoted in other rabbinic literature. Certain groups of Jews, such as the Karaites, do not accept the oral Law as it is codified in the Talmud and only consider the Tanakh to be authoritative.

Beta Israel.

Ethiopian Jews—also known as Beta Israel (Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል—"Bēta 'Isrā'ēl")—possess a canon of scripture that is distinct from Rabbinic Judaism. "Mäṣḥafä Kedus" (Holy Scriptures) is the name for the religious literature of these Jews, which is written primarily in Ge'ez. Their holiest book, the "Orit", consists of the Pentateuch, as well as Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. The rest of the Ethiopian Jewish canon is considered to be of secondary importance. It consists of the remainder of the Hebrew canon—with the possible exception of the Book of Lamentations—and various deuterocanonical books. These include Sirach, Judith, Tobit, 1 and 2 Esdras, 1 and 4 Baruch, the three books of Meqabyan, Jubilees, Enoch, the Testament of Abraham, the Testament of Isaac, and the Testament of Jacob. The latter three patriarchal testaments are distinct to this scriptural tradition.  A third tier of religious writings that are important to Ethiopian Jews, but are not considered to be part of the canon, include the following: "Nagara Muse" (The Conversation of Moses), "Mota Aaron" (Death of Aaron), "Mota Muse" (Death of Moses), "Te'ezaza Sanbat" (Precepts of Sabbath), "Arde'et" (Students), the Apocalypse of Gorgorios, "Mäṣḥafä Sa'atat" (Book of Hours), "Abba Elias" (Father Elija), "Mäṣḥafä Mäla'əkt" (Book of Angels), "Mäṣḥafä Kahan" (Book of Priests), "Dərsanä Abrəham Wäsara Bägabs" (Homily on Abraham and Sarah in Egypt), "Gadla Sosna" (The Acts of Susanna), and "Baqadāmi Gabra Egzi'abḥēr" (In the Beginning God Created).  In addition to these, "Zëna Ayhud" (the Ethiopic version of Josippon) and the sayings of various "fālasfā" (philosophers) are sources that are not necessarily considered holy, but nonetheless have great influence.

Samaritan canon.

Another version of the Torah, in the Samaritan alphabet, also exists. This text is associated with the Samaritans (Hebrew: שומרונים; Arabic: السامريون), a people of whom the Jewish Encyclopedia states: "Their history as a distinct community begins with the taking of Samaria by the Assyrians in 722 BC."  The Samaritan Pentateuch's relationship to the Masoretic Text is still disputed. Some differences are minor, such as the ages of different people mentioned in genealogy, while others are major, such as a commandment to be monogamous, which only appears in the Samaritan version. More importantly, the Samaritan text also diverges from the Masoretic in stating that Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Gerizim—not Mount Sinai—and that it is upon this mountain (Gerizim) that sacrifices to God should be made—not in Jerusalem. Scholars nonetheless consult the Samaritan version when trying to determine the meaning of text of the original Pentateuch, as well as to trace the development of text-families. Some scrolls among the Dead Sea scrolls have been identified as proto-Samaritan Pentateuch text-type. Comparisons have also been made between the Samaritan Torah and the Septuagint version.  Samaritans consider the Torah to be inspired scripture, but do not accept any other parts of the Bible—probably a position also held by the Sadducees. They did not expand their canon by adding any Samaritan compositions. There is a Samaritan Book of Joshua; however, this is a popular chronicle written in Arabic and is not considered to be scripture. Other non-canonical Samaritan religious texts include the Memar Markah (Teaching of Markah) and the Defter (Prayerbook)—both from the 4th century or later.  The people of the remnants of the Samaritans in modern-day Israel/Palestine retain their version of the Torah as fully and authoritatively canonical. They regard themselves as the true "guardians of the Law." This assertion is only re-enforced by the claim of the Samaritan community in Nablus (an area traditionally associated with the ancient city of Shechem) to possess the oldest existing copy of the Torah—one that they believe to have been penned by Abisha, a grandson of Aaron.

Christian canons.

Early Church.

Earliest Christian communities.

The Early Church used the Old Testament, namely the Septuagint (LXX) among Greek speakers, with a canon perhaps as found in the Bryennios List or Melito's canon. The Apostles did not otherwise leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead, the New Testament developed over time.  Writings attributed to the apostles circulated among the earliest Christian communities. The Pauline epistles were circulating in collected forms by the end of the 1st century AD. Justin Martyr, in the early 2nd century, mentions the "memoirs of the Apostles", which Christians (Greek: Χριστιανός) called "gospels", and which were considered to be authoritatively equal to the Old Testament.

Marcion's list.

Marcion of Sinope was the first Christian leader in recorded history (though later considered heretical) to propose and delineate a uniquely Christian canon (c. AD 140). This included 10 epistles from St. Paul, as well as a version of the Gospel of Luke, which today is known as the Gospel of Marcion. By doing this, he established a particular way of looking at religious texts that persists in Christian thought today.  After Marcion, Christians began to divide texts into those that aligned well with the "canon" (measuring stick) of accepted theological thought and those that promoted heresy. This played a major role in finalizing the structure of the collection of works called the Bible. It has been proposed that the initial impetus for the proto-orthodox Christian project of canonization flowed from opposition to the list produced by Marcion.

Apostolic Fathers.

A four-gospel canon (the "Tetramorph") was asserted by Irenaeus in the following quote: "It is not possible that the gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For, since there are four-quarters of the earth in which we live, and four universal winds, while the church is scattered throughout all the world, and the 'pillar and ground' of the church is the gospel and the spirit of life, it is fitting that she should have four pillars breathing out immortality on every side, and vivifying men afresh... Therefore the gospels are in accord with these things... For the living creatures are quadriform and the gospel is quadriform... These things being so, all who destroy the form of the gospel are vain, unlearned, and also audacious; those [I mean] who represent the aspects of the gospel as being either more in number than as aforesaid, or, on the other hand, fewer."  By the early 3rd century, Christian theologians like Origen of Alexandria may have been using—or at least were familiar with—the same 27 books found in modern New Testament editions, though there were still disputes over the canonicity of some of the writings (see also Antilegomena). Likewise by 200, the Muratorian fragment shows that there existed a set of Christian writings somewhat similar to what is now the New Testament, which included four gospels and argued against objections to them. Thus, while there was a good measure of debate in the Early Church over the New Testament canon, the major writings were accepted by almost all Christians by the middle of the 3rd century.

Eastern Church.

Alexandrian Fathers.

Origen of Alexandria (184/85–253/54), an early scholar involved in the codification of the Biblical canon, had a thorough education both in Christian theology and in pagan philosophy, but was posthumously condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 since some of his teachings were considered to be heresy. Origen's canon included all of the books in the current New Testament canon except for four books: James, 2nd Peter, and the 2nd and 3rd epistles of John.  He also included the Shepherd of Hermas which was later rejected. The religious scholar Bruce Metzger described Origen's efforts, saying "The process of canonization represented by Origen proceeded by way of selection, moving from many candidates for inclusion to fewer." This was one of the first major attempts at the compilation of certain books and letters as authoritative and inspired teaching for the Early Church at the time, although it is unclear whether Origen intended for his list to be authoritative itself.  In his Easter letter of 367, Patriarch Athanasius of Alexandria gave a list of exactly the same books that would become the New Testament–27 book–proto-canon, and used the phrase "being canonized" ("kanonizomena") in regard to them. Athanasius also included the Book of Baruch, as well as the Letter of Jeremiah, in his Old Testament canon. However, from this canon, he omitted the Book of Esther.

Eastern canons.

The Eastern Churches had, in general, a weaker feeling than those in the West for the necessity of making sharp delineations with regard to the canon. They were more conscious of the gradation of spiritual quality among the books that they accepted (for example, the classification of Eusebius, see also Antilegomena) and were less often disposed to assert that the books which they rejected possessed no spiritual quality at all. For example, the Trullan Synod of 691–692, which Pope Sergius I (in office 687–701) rejected (see also Pentarchy), endorsed the following lists of canonical writings: the Apostolic Canons (c. 385), the Synod of Laodicea (c. 363), the Third Synod of Carthage (c. 397), and the 39th Festal Letter of Athanasius (367). And yet, these lists do not agree. Similarly, the New Testament canons of the Syriac, Armenian, Georgian, Egyptian Coptic and Ethiopian Churches all have minor differences, yet five of these Churches are part of the same communion and hold the same theological beliefs. The Revelation of John is said to be one of the most uncertain books; it was not translated into Georgian until the 10th century, and it has never been included in the official lectionary of the Eastern Orthodox Church, whether in Byzantine or modern times.

Western Church.

Latin Fathers.

The first Council that accepted the present Catholic canon (the Canon of Trent of 1546) may have been the Synod of Hippo Regius, held in North Africa in 393. A brief summary of the acts was read at and accepted by the Council of Carthage (397) and also the Council of Carthage (419). These Councils took place under the authority of St. Augustine (354–430), who regarded the canon as already closed. Pope Damasus I's Council of Rome in 382 (if the "Decretum Gelasianum" is correctly associated with it) issued a biblical canon identical to that mentioned above. If not, the list is at least a 6th-century compilation. Likewise, Damasus' commissioning of the Latin Vulgate edition of the Bible, 383, proved instrumental in the fixation of the canon in the West.  In a letter ( 405) to Exsuperius of Toulouse, a Gallic bishop, Pope Innocent I mentioned the sacred books that were already received in the canon. When these bishops and Councils spoke on the matter, however, they were not defining something new, but instead "were ratifying what had already become the mind of the Church". Thus from the 4th century there existed unanimity in the West concerning the New Testament canon (as it is today, with the exception of the Book of Revelation). In the 5th century the East too, with a few exceptions, came to accept the Book of Revelation and thus came into harmony on the matter of the New Testament canon.  As the canon crystallised, non-canonical texts fell into relative disfavour and neglect.

Luther's canon.

Martin Luther (1483–1546) moved seven Old Testament books (Tobit, Judith, 1-2 Maccabees, Book of Wisdom, Sirach, and Baruch) into a section he called the Apocrypha. To refer to these books without calling them "apocrypha", the Catholic Church later referred to them as the Deuterocanonicals—while still accepting their full canonicity.  Luther removed the books of Hebrews, James, Jude and Revelation from the canon (partially because some were perceived to go against certain Protestant doctrines such as sola scriptura and sola fide), while defenders of Luther cite previous scholarly precedent and support as the justification for his marginalization of certain books, including 2 Maccabees However, Luther's smaller canon was not fully accepted in Protestantism, though apocryphal books are ordered last in the German-language Luther Bible to this day.

Canons of various Christian traditions.

Final dogmatic articulations of the canons were made at the Council of Trent of 1546 for Roman Catholicism, the Thirty-Nine Articles of 1563 for the Church of England, the Westminster Confession of Faith of 1647 for Calvinism, and the Synod of Jerusalem of 1672 for the Eastern Orthodox. Other traditions, while also having closed canons, may not be able to point to an exact year in which their canons were complete. The following tables reflect the current state of various Christian canons.

Old Testament.

All of the major Christian traditions accept the books of the Hebrew protocanon in its entirety as divinely inspired and authoritative, in various ways and degrees. Furthermore, all of these traditions, with the exception of the Protestants, add to this number various deuterocanonical books. However, in some Protestant Bibles—especially the English King James Bible and the Lutheran Bible—many of these deuterocanonical books are retained as part of the tradition in a section called the "Apocrypha".  Some books listed here, like the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs for the Armenian Apostolic Church, may have once been a vital part of a Biblical tradition, may even still hold a place of honor, but are no longer considered to be part of the Bible. Other books, like the Prayer of Manasseh for the Roman Catholic Church, may have been included in manuscripts, but never really attained a high level of importance within that particular tradition. The levels of traditional prominence for others, like Psalms 152–155 and the Psalms of Solomon of the Syriac churches, remain unclear.  In so far as the Oriental Orthodox Tewahedo canon is concerned, some points of clarity should be made. First, the books of Lamentations, Jeremiah, and Baruch, as well as the Letter of Jeremiah and 4 Baruch, are all considered canonical by the Orthodox Tewahedo Churches. However, it is not always clear as to how these writings are arranged or divided. In some lists, they may simply fall under the title "Jeremiah", while in others, they are divided in various ways into separate books. Moreover, the book of Proverbs is divided into two books—Messale (Prov. 1–24) and Tägsas (Prov. 25–31).  Additionally, while the books of Jubilees and Enoch are fairly well-known among western scholars, 1, 2, and 3 Meqabyan are not. The three books of Meqabyan are often called the "Ethiopian Maccabees", but are completely different in content from the books of Maccabees that are known or have been canonized in other traditions. Finally, the Book of Joseph ben Gurion, or Pseudo-Josephus, is a history of the Jewish people thought to be based upon the writings of Josephus. The Ethiopic version (Zëna Ayhud) has eight parts and is included in the Orthodox Tewahedo broader canon.

New Testament.

Among the various Christian denominations, the New Testament canon is a generally agreed-upon list of 27 books. However, the way in which those books are arranged may vary from tradition to tradition. For instance, in the Slavonic, Orthodox Tewahedo, Syriac, and Armenian traditions, the New Testament is ordered differently from what is considered to be the standard arrangement. Protestant Bibles in Russia and Ethiopia usually follow the local Orthodox order for the New Testament. The Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East both adhere to the Peshitta liturgical tradition, which historically excludes five books of the New Testament Antilegomena: 2 John, 3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, and Revelation. However, those books are included in certain Bibles of the modern Syriac traditions.  Other New Testament works that are generally considered apocryphal nonetheless appear in some Bibles and manuscripts. For instance, the Epistle to the Laodiceans was included in numerous Latin Vulgate manuscripts, in the eighteen German Bibles prior to Luther's translation, and also a number of early English Bibles, such as Gundulf's Bible and John Wycliffe's English translation—even as recently as 1728, William Whiston considered this epistle to be genuinely Pauline. Likewise, the Third Epistle to the Corinthians was once considered to be part of the Armenian Orthodox Bible, but is no longer printed in modern editions. Within the Syriac Orthodox tradition, the Third Epistle to the Corinthians also has a history of significance. Both Aphrahat and Ephraem of Syria held it in high regard and treated it as if it were canonical. However, it was left-out of the Peshitta and ultimately excluded from the canon altogether.  The Didache, The Shepherd of Hermas, and other writings attributed to the Apostolic Fathers, were once considered scriptural by various early Church fathers. They are still being honored in some traditions, though they are no longer considered to be canonical. However, certain canonical books within the Orthodox Tewahedo traditions find their origin in the writings of the Apostolic Fathers as well as the Ancient Church Orders. The Orthodox Tewahedo churches recognize these eight additional New Testament books in its broader canon. They are as follows: the four books of Sinodos, the two books of the Covenant, Ethiopic Clement, and the Ethiopic Didascalia.

Latter Day Saint canons.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) consists of several books that constitute its open scriptural canon, and include the following:  The Pearl of Great Price contains five sections: "Selections from the Book of Moses", "The Book of Abraham", "Joseph Smith–Matthew", "Joseph Smith–History" and "The Articles of Faith". The Book of Moses and Joseph Smith–Matthew are portions of the Book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew (respectively) from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. (The Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible is also known as the Inspired Version of the Bible.)  The manuscripts of the unfinished Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible (JST) state that "the Song of Solomon is not inspired scripture." However, it is still printed in every version of the King James Bible published by the church.  The Standard Works are printed and distributed by the LDS church in a single binding called a "Quadruple Combination" or a set of two books, with the Bible in one binding, and the other three books in a second binding called a "Triple Combination". Current editions of the Standard Works include a bible dictionary, photographs, maps and gazetteer, topical guide, index, footnotes, cross references, excerpts from the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible and other study aids.

Other Latter Day Saint sects.

Canons of various Latter Day Saint denominations diverge from the LDS Standard Works. Some accept only portions of the Standard Works. For instance, the Bickertonite sect does not consider the Pearl of Great Price or Doctrines and Covenants to be scriptural. Rather, they believe that the New Testament scriptures contain a true description of the church as established by Jesus Christ, and that both the King James Bible and Book of Mormon are the inspired word of God. Some denominations accept earlier versions of the Standard Works or work to develop corrected translations. Others have purportedly received additional revelation.  The Community of Christ points to Jesus Christ as the living Word of God, and it affirms the Bible, along with the Book of Mormon, as well as its own regularly appended version of Doctrines and Covenants as scripture for the church. While it publishes a version of the Joseph Smith Translation—which includes material from the Book of Moses—the Community of Christ also accepts the use of other translations of the Bible, such as the standard King James Version and the New Revised Standard Version.  Like the aforementioned Bickertonites, the Church of Christ (Temple Lot) rejects the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, as well as the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, preferring to use only the King James Bible and the Book of Mormon as doctrinal standards. The Book of Commandments is accepted as being superior to the Doctrine and Covenants as a compendium of Joseph Smith's early revelations, but is not accorded the same status as the Bible or Book of Mormon.  The Word of the Lord and The Word of the Lord Brought to Mankind by an Angel are two related books considered to be scriptural by certain (Fettingite) factions that separated from the Temple Lot church. Both books contain revelations allegedly given to former Church of Christ (Temple Lot) Apostle Otto Fetting by an angelic being who claimed to be John the Baptist. The latter title (120 messages) contains the entirety of the former's material (30 msgs.) with additional revelations (90 msgs.) purportedly given to William A. Draves by this same being, after Fetting's death. Neither are accepted by the larger Temple Lot body of believers.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite) considers the Bible (when correctly translated), the Book of Mormon, and editions of the Doctrine and Covenants published prior to Joseph Smith's death (which contained the Lectures on Faith) to be inspired scripture. They also hold the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible to be inspired, but do not believe modern publications of the text are accurate. Other portions of The Pearl of Great Price, however, are not considered to be scriptural—though are not necessarily fully rejected either. The Book of Jasher was consistently used by both Joseph Smith and James Strang, but as with other Latter Day Saint denominations and sects, there is no official stance on its authenticity, and it is not considered canonical.  An additional work called The Book of the Law of the Lord is also accepted as inspired scripture by the Strangites. They likewise hold as scriptural several prophecies, visions, revelations, and translations printed by James Strang, and published in the "Revelations of James J. Strang". Among other things, this text contains his purported "Letter of Appointment" from Joseph Smith and his translation of the Voree plates.  The Church of Jesus Christ (Cutlerite) accepts the following as scripture: the Inspired Version of the Bible (including the Book of Moses and Joseph Smith–Matthew), the Book of Mormon, and the 1844 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants (including the Lectures on Faith). However, the revelation on tithing (section 107 in the 1844 edition; 119 in modern LDS editions) is emphatically rejected by members of this church, as it is not believed to be given by Joseph Smith. The Book of Abraham is rejected as scripture, as are the other portions of the Pearl of Great Price that do not appear in the Inspired Version of the Bible.  Many Latter Day Saint denominations have also either adopted the Articles of Faith or at least view them as a statement of basic theology. (They are considered scriptural by the larger LDS church and are included in The Pearl of Great Price.) At times, the Articles have been adapted to fit the respective belief systems of various faith communities.

A biblical canon or canon of scripture is a set of texts (or "books") which a particular religious community regards as authoritative scripture. The English word "canon" comes from the Greek κανών, meaning "rule" or "measuring stick". Christians became the first to use the term in reference to scripture, but Eugene Ulrich regards the idea as Jewish.

Le canon biblique (du grec ancien κανών, "kanôn" signifiant « canne, roseau » et « règle ») désigne l'ensemble des textes considérés comme sacrés ayant conduit, sur plusieurs siècles, à l'établissement de la Bible, suivant principalement les rites juifs et chrétiens.


History.

Radiocarbon dating estimate Aztatlán colonization of the western Mexican coast – including parts of Sinaloa, Nayarit and Jalisco – as occurring as early as 900 AD, with some evidence suggesting it might have been as early as 520 AD. Encountered on the western coast by the Spanish invaders in 1500, the cultures were descended from these original Aztatlán settlements and other Classic-stage cultures who had merged with them.  Hernán Cortés was the first known European to enter into the area now known as Nayarit, which he claimed for Spain as part of Nueva Galicia. Under Nuño de Guzman, Spaniards took the region with considerable brutality, causing the indigenous inhabitants to revolt, in what was later referred to as the Mixtón War. After almost two centuries of resistance, the last independent Cora communities were incorporated into Spanish administration by force in 1722. Then followed intense missionary efforts by Jesuits to convert the indigenous.  In the colonial period, the port of San Blas was one of the most important trade ports on the American Pacific coast. Galleons transporting goods from Manila, the Philippines arrived here before the rise of the port of Acapulco. Today, the town still boasts colonial architecture from its heyday, such as the "aduana" (customs office), the "contaduria" (accounting offices) and the fortress that protected the port against pirates.  In Nayarit, the struggle for independence from Spain was initiated by the priest José María Mercado, who conquered Tepic and San Blas before being defeated and executed by Spanish royalists. In 1824, in the first constitution of the Mexican republic, Nayarit was a part of Jalisco state. In the mid 1800s Comanche Indians from faraway Texas and Oklahoma attacked Tepic causing widespread destruction. During the second half of the 19th century, Nayarit was one of the most turbulent territories in Mexico. The population was in open revolt, demanding access to land. Nayarit was one of the last territories admitted as a state of the Mexican federation, which occurred on May 1, 1917.

Geography.

Nayarit covers, making it one of the smaller states in Mexico. Nayarit is located between latitude lines 23°05' north and 20°36' south and longitude lines 103°43' east and 105°46' west. Its terrain is broken up by the western ends of the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains. Its highest mountains are: San Juan, Sanguangüey, El Ceboruco, Cumbre de Pajaritos and Picachos. Nayarit has two volcanoes, Ceboruco and Sangangüey. In the northeast are broad, tropical plains watered by the Río Grande de Santiago, a continuation of the Lerma River. The main state rivers are the Río Grande de Santiago, San Pedro, Acaponeta, Ameca and Las Cañas. The Río Grande de Santiago is the largest river in Nayarit. The Santiago and its tributaries are of major importance for agricultural irrigation. The Ameca and the Las Cañas lie on the border between Nayarit and the states of Jalisco and Sinaloa, respectively. Notable lagoons in Nayarit include Santa María del Oro, San Pedro Lagunillas and Agua Brava.

Municipalities.

Nayarit – as with all states of Mexico – is geographically divided into municipalities "(municipios)", creating twenty municipalities in Nayarit:

Environment.

Nayarit contains hundreds of miles of rain forest in the sierra. Its wildlife includes hundreds of bird species including the lilac-crowned amazon ("Amazona finschi") and Mexican woodnymph ("Thalurania ridgwayi"). There are also 119 registered species of mammals, including white-tailed deer ("Odocoileus virginianus"), collared peccary ("Pecari tajacu"), caymans, armadillos and wild felines such as jaguarundi ("Puma yagouarundi") and ocelot ("Felis pardalis") and many more. Unfortunately, most of the rain forest has been exploited, especially around the region of Santa María del Oro. The conservation and protection of the rain forest and wildlife of Nayarit is an issue of crucial importance.  The Islas Marías were designated as the Islas Marías Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2010.

Demographics.

Nayarit is Mexico's twenty-ninth most populous state. According to the census of 2010, the state had a population of 1,084,979 and its population density was 39/km.

Indigenous groups.

Nayarit is the home to four indigenous groups: the Wixaritari (Huichol), the Naayeri (Cora), the Odam (Tepehuan) and the Nahuatl-speaking Mexicaneros. The indigenous groups mostly inhabit the Nayar highlands, but are also frequently encountered in Tepic and on the Pacific coast, where they have also established colonies. They are known for their crafts and artwork which they sell. About five percent of the state population speaks an indigenous language.

Economy.

Nayarit is predominantly an agricultural state, and produces a large variety of crops such as beans, sorghum, sugar cane, maize, tobacco, rice, chiles, peanuts, melons, tomatoes, coffee, mangoes, bananas, and avocados. In addition to these crops, livestock and fishing are also central to the local economy. Approximately six percent of the land in Nayarit is pasture land, with the most common livestock being cattle, horses, pigs, goats, and sheep. Nayarit has 289 kilometers of coastline, which provides an abundance of fish and shellfish, including bass, snapper, sharks, and oysters. There are over 75 cooperatives related to the fishing industry alone in Nayarit. Much of the food produced in Nayarit is exported to the larger urban areas surrounding Mexico City and Guadalajara, and much of the agricultural labor is performed by migrant laborers. Although mining exists in Nayarit, it is mostly of non-metallic substances such as limestone or kaolin.  Beginning in the late 90's, Nayarit has become known as a producer of specialty Arabica coffee, regarded for its fine taste and high density beans grown in the volcanic soils of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Nayarit coffee is exported all over the world, including to the UK and Australia via the Grupo Terruño Nayarita farmers cooperative.  In recent years, Nayarit has worked to build its tourism sector, marketing the "Riviera Nayarita" as a safe, beautiful destination served by Puerto Vallarta International Airport. Popular resort towns include Bucerius, Punta de Mita, La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, San Blas, Santiago Ixcuintla, Sayulita and Tecuala. However, some residents in these and other towns are concerned that the growth in the tourism industry might have harmful impacts on the community. Timeshare scams with links to the local Nayarite Mafia are quite common.

Media.

Newspapers of Nayarit include: "El Periódico en que Nayarit Opina Día a Día", "El Semanario que refleja qué hay en Nayarit", "Matutino Gráfico", "Meridiano de Nayarit", and "Realidades."

Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit (), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its capital city is Tepic.

Le Nayarit est un État du Mexique situé sur la côte pacifique, à l’ouest du pays. L'État est divisé en 20 municipalités dont Tepic, la capitale, Acaponeta, San Blas, Tecuala,, ainsi que l'île de Mexcaltitán.


Geography and environment.

The state is located in the southeast of Mexico, bordering the states of Campeche, Chiapas, and Veracruz, with the Gulf of Mexico to the north and the country of Guatemala to the south and east. The state covers, which is 1.3% of Mexico's total. The northwestern portion is on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico with the south and east as part of the mountain chain that extends into northern Chiapas. It is divided into seventeen municipalities. There are 36 communities designated as urban, with about 3,000 smaller towns and villages. 185 are classified as "regional development centers". Tabasco has seventeen municipalities: Balancán, Cárdenas, Centla, Centro (Villahermosa), Comalcalco, Cunduacán, Emiliano Zapata, Huimanguillo, Jalapa, Jalpa de Méndez, Jonuta, Macuspana, Nacajuca, Paraíso, Tacotalpa, Teapa and Tenosique.  In 1994, the state was officially divided into two regions and five sub-regions for socioeconomic development and geographic documentation. The two major regions are called the Grijalva and the Usumacinta. The Grijalva Region is named after the river on which most of the municipalities here are dependent. It is the smaller of the two regions with a territory of or 48.94% of the state's territory; however, it contains most of Tabasco's urban population as well as of its socioeconomic and political activity. It is divided into three sub-regions called Chontalpa, Centro and Sierra; it includes the municipalities of Huimanguillo, Cárdenas, Comalcalco, Cunduacán, Paraíso, Jalpa de Méndez, Nacajuca, Centro, Jalapa, Teapa and Tacotalpa. The Usumacinta Region is named after the main river on which the Centla, Jonuta, Emiliano Zapata, Balancán and Tenosique municipalities depend. It is divided into the Pantanos and Ríos subregions, which are both more rural than the Grijalva Region.  The environment of the state consists of extensive low-lying floodplains, mountains and valleys. Most of the territory is covered with tropical rainforest and wetlands. There are also areas with savanna, beaches and mangrove forests. Much of the rainforest has suffered degradation due to over logging and conversion of territory into farmland. The east is formed by low humid plains formed by sediment deposited by a number of rivers. In the Chontalpa zone and in parts of the municipalities of Cental and Jonuta, there are swampy depressions extremely vulnerable to flooding from both riverflow and from excessive rainfall. In the south there are some elevations which are part of the central mesa of Chiapas. The most important of these is El Madrigal, La Campana, La Corona, Pomaná, Coconá, Mono Pelado and El Tortuguero. However, most hills in the state do not exceed above sea level.  Tabasco has of shoreline, of estuaries, lakes and numerous rivers and streams. Major rivers include the Mezcalapa, Pichucalco, Chacamax, Usumacinta, San Pedro y San Pablo and Tonalá. Almost all of the river system of the state belongs to the Usumacinta River-based, the largest in Mexico and the Grijalva River basin, the second largest. These basins encompass numerous rivers and streams which all eventually flow into the Gulf of Mexico. The only rivers

History.

Pre-Columbian period.

The origin of the name Tabasco is not definitively known, with a number of theories debated among linguists. The name appears in the chronicles of Bernal Díaz del Castillo during the conquest era, who mentions a river named after local ruler Tabscoob. Other possible etymology is that it comes from a Mayan phrase meaning "our lord of the eight tigers". Another states that it is from Nahuatl with two possible derivations: one meaning "place that has a lord" and the other "place where the land is moist". The state seal is that which was granted in 1598 to the town

Colonial era.

In the early 16th century, the main ethnicities of Tabasco were the Mayas-Chontals, the Zoques, and the Popolocas, living in small villages with the Mayan language dominating. The first contact with the Spanish came in 1518 when an expedition headed by Captain Juan de Grijalva disembarked at the mouth of the river that now bears his name. Hernán Cortés came the following year and fought the natives here at the Battle of Centla. As conqueror, Cortés received twenty female slaves, one of

Independence and 19th century.

The first insurgent during the Mexican War of Independence in the state was José María Jiménez, who declared the state's independence in 1815. However, Jiménez was soon jailed and local authorities proclaimed allegiance to the Crown. At the end of the war in 1821, Tabasco became of the first fourteen states under the 1824 Constitution. The first state constitution was ratified in 1825. In 1883, the state was divided into seventeen municipalities.  The struggle between Liberals, who wanted a federal government, and Conservatives, who wanted a centralized government, played out in Tabasco with various skirmishes between Ruiz de la Peña leading the Liberals and Marcelino Margalli for the Conservatives. In

Mexican Revolution to the present.

Anti-Díaz sentiment began in the decade of 1900 with efforts to keep Bandala from being re-elected. The first vocal opponent to the Díaz regime in Tabasco was local journalist Domingo Borrego. In Huimangullo, Chontalpa, the first "Club Anti reelection Melchor Ocampo" was formed to oppose the government but it was disbanded quickly. By 1909, there were a number of large protests in the state which led to the formation of the Gutierrista Party, headed by Ignacio Gutierrez Gomes along with two brothers. These and others in the state joined forces politically with Francisco I. Madero and a new Club Anti-reelecionista was formed in Huimanguillo. These efforts succeeded in defeating Bandala and replacing him with Policarpo Valenzuela, calming the situation in the state for a short while. After Madero was assassinated, the politics of the state fractured, with various factions vying for the governor's position leading to insurrection and frequent government changes who were allied with the various armies vying for power nationally.

Economy.

The state accounts for 3.4% of Mexico's national GDP. Although the recent oil boom has helped to bring the state out of complete poverty, there are still areas in which this is a serious problem. In the city areas coverage of running water, sewerage and electricity is over ninety percent; however, in the rural areas, running water is about forty percent, sewerage under seventy percent and electricity under 85%. The state has about 150,000 families or about half a million people living in poverty, mostly due to lack of employment according to Sedesol. Most of the state's poor are concentrated in the Jonuta, Tacotalpa, Centla and Humanguillo municipalities as these lack any major industry.  The heavy rainfall in the state does not lend itself well to annual crops and frequent flooding is a problem as well. Despite this, there is significant production of corn, sorghum and beans. Most of the commercially important crops are perennials, such as cacao, coconut, oranges, bananas and sugar cane. There is also important pasture, both natural and seeded. The state has extensive areas of natural grasslands. Due to the climate, the Zebu breed of cattle does best and is mostly raised for meat. Cattle

Tourism.

Tourism in the state is organized into various routes. The Centro or Villahermosa Route is centered on the state capital with its museums and historic buildings. These include the Cultural Center of Villahermosa, Regional Anthropology Museum, Tomás Garrido Canabal Park, the Yumka’ Ecological Reserve, The Paseo Tabasco Malecon Tourist Corridor, the Papagayo Interactive Museum and the Tabasco Cathedral.  The Cacao Route consists of various cacao haciendas, where guides give lessons on how the plant is cultivated and the cacao bean is harvested, then processed into chocolate. It also includes a visit to the Comalcalco archeological site. The Cacao Route focuses on the municipalities of Nacajuca, Jalpa de Méndez, Comalcalco and Paraíso. In Nacajuca, located on the river of the same name, the main attractions are its boardwalk area, handcrafts and surrounding Chontal villages such as Tucta, Mazateupa, Oxiacaque, Tecoluta and Guatacalca, where many customs and the Chontal language are preserved. In Jalpa de Méndez, the main attractions are its gourd handcrafts, the San Remo cigar factory, the La Encantada Turtle Farm and the Pomposú Juliva Wetlands on the Mezcalapa River. In Comalcalco, attractions include the Comalcalco archeological site, cacao haciendas such as La Luz with its Cacao Museum, Jesús María, La Chonita and Cholula. Paraíso is a small port with beaches and some resort facilities.  The River Route is based in the interior portion of the state, between the Grijalva and Usumacinta Rivers. This is an ecotourism route with

Demographics.

Tabasco's population has been growing rapidly: between 1990 and 2005 the population grew from 1,501,744 to 1,989,969. Tabasco's population is mostly young, with an average age of 19 years and over 38% of the population is under 15 years of age.  The state's population is more rural than the national average: 57% lives in urban areas, in contrast to 78% of

Culture.

Traditional masculine dress consists of a white shirt and pants, with black boots or shoes, black belt, a hat in a style called "chontal" and a red handkerchief around the neck. This dress is based on an older style of dress called "traje choco" which was made of cotton cloth called manta used to work in the fields. Traditional feminine dress consists of a wide skirt trimmed with a ruffle. Under the skirt is a slip designed to fluff the skirt and make the waist look smaller. The blouse is white with an embroidered band in bright colors, often with flower and/or animal designs. It has short sleeves ending in a square form in the lower part. The woman often carried a small handkerchief and a shawl called a rebozo in bright colors, often complementing the skirt. The shoes are black.  The state has a number of unique traditional dances due to its relative isolation from the rest of the country. These include "El Gigante" of Nacajuca performed on 14 August. "Baila Viejo" is performed in Tucta and Guaytalpa in the municipality of Nacajuca as well as the Atasta de Serra in Villahermosa. "El Pochó" is of pre Hispanic origin and performed during Carnival in Tenosique. "Los Blanquitos" is also performed in Tenosique and symbolizes the struggle of black slaves during the colonial period. "El Caballito Blanco" depicts the struggles of the indigenous against the Spanish at the Battle of Centla. "El Zapateo" is said to be derived from the fandango, brought to the area by a conquistador called Ortíz de Séquito. It is considered to be the regional dance of the state.  Traditional music has its origins in the Olmec period with other indigenous influences such as those of the Maya, Mexicas and Nahuas. It is based on flute and percussion, including drums made of tortoise

Archaeology.

La Venta was the most important civic-religious center of the Olmec civilization, the first major culture of Mesoamerica. The site shows a number of the characteristics of Olmec culture, including depictions of jaguars, colossal heads and images of figures of rotund children. The site dates back to about 1000 BC and declined around 400 AD, replaced in importance by San Lorenzo. The museum associated with La Venta is in Villahermosa proper called Parque Museo de la Venta. It contain thirty three major pieces from the site and includes displays about Olmec customs, government, astronomy and writing. This park was created in the 1950s by writer Carlos Pellicer to protect the most important pieces of the archeological site. There are also exhibits on the flora and fauna of the area.  Comalcalco is a Maya archeological site near the modern city of the same name, on a bank of the Mezcalapa River. While it is not the only Mayan city whose monumental architecture is of adobe brick instead of stone, it is the only one which has had extensive reconstruction, open to the public. The Mayas here used adobe because of the lack of building stone in the area, instead using the abundant clay and lime extracted from shells. The Mayan city developed between 800 and 1100 AD, contemporary with Palenque and Yaxchilan. The name

Education.

The state's population growth has put pressure on the educational system with about forty percent of its population school age. The average schooling in Tabasco has climbed from 2.7 years in 1970 to 6.7 years in 1995. In the same time period, the level percentage of the population which was illiterate fell from 25.7% to 11%. Today, the average schooling is 8.6 years or the third year of middle school, which is the national average.  As of the 2008/2009 school year, the state has 4,910 primary and middle school. Primary and middle school education is ranked next to last of all federal entities. It

Communications and transportation.

Media.

The state has thirty-three radio stations and thirteen television stations, nine of which are repeaters for programs from Mexico City. The two local stations are Televisión

Transport.

The state has of federal, state and rural roads. The most important highways in the state are the Coatzacoalcos-Villahermosa, Tuxtla Gutiérrez-Villahermosa, Escárcega-Villahermosa and Cd. Del Carmen-Frontera-Villahermosa. There are

Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco (), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in the southeast of the country, bordering the states of Campeche to the northeast, Veracruz to the west, and Chiapas to the south and the Petén department of Guatemala to the southeast. It has a coastline to the north with the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the state is covered in rainforest as, unlike most other areas of Mexico, it has plentiful rainfall year-round. For this reason, it is also covered in small lakes, wetlands and rivers. The state is subject to major flooding events, with the last occurring in 2007, which affected eighty percent of the state. The state is also home to La Venta, the major site of the Olmec civilization, considered to be the origin of later Mesoamerican cultures. Even though it produces significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas, poverty is still a concern.

L'État de Tabasco est un État situé dans le sud-est du Mexique, sur le golfe du Mexique. Entouré par les États de Veracruz, de Chiapas et de Campeche, ainsi que par le Guatemala, il est peuplé de 2,238 millions d'habitants, et a une superficie de. L'État est divisé en 17 municipalités, sa capitale est Villahermosa.


History.

Prehistory.

Archaeological evidence points to this area being one of the longest continuous habitations in the Indian peninsula. In Attirampakkam, archaeologists from the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education excavated ancient stone tools which suggests that a humanlike population existed in the Tamil Nadu region somewhere around 1,000 years before homo sapiens arrived from Africa. In Adichanallur, from Tirunelveli, archaeologists from

Indus valley script between 2000 and 1500 BCE.

A Neolithic stone celt (a hand-held axe) with the Indus script on it was discovered at Sembian-Kandiyur near Mayiladuthurai in Tamil Nadu. According to epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan, this was the first datable artefact bearing the Indus script to be found in Tamil Nadu. According to Mahadevan, the find was evidence of the use of the Harappan language, and therefore that the "Neolithic people of the Tamil country spoke a Harappan language". The date of the celt was estimated at between 1500 BCE and 2000 BCE. Though this finding remains contested, like the claim of historian Michel Danino who rubbishes the theory of the latter’s southward migration in a paper he presented at

Sangam period (500 BCE – 300 CE).

The early history of the people and rulers of Tamil Nadu is a topic in Tamil literary sources known as Sangam literature. Numismatic, archaeological and literary sources

Middle Kingdoms (600–1300 CE).

During the 4th to 8th centuries, Tamil Nadu saw the rise of the Pallava dynasty under Mahendravarman I and his son "Mamalla" Narasimhavarman I. The Pallavas ruled parts of South India with Kanchipuram as their capital. Tamil architecture reached its peak during Pallava rule. Narasimhavarman II built the Shore Temple which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Much later, the Pallavas were replaced by the Chola dynasty as the dominant kingdom in the 9th century and they in turn were replaced

Chola Empire.

During the 9th century, the Chola dynasty was once again revived by Vijayalaya Chola, who established Thanjavur as Chola's new capital by conquering central Tamil Nadu from Mutharaiyar and the Pandya king Varagunavarman II. Aditya I and his son Parantaka I expanded the kingdom to the northern parts of Tamil Nadu by defeating the last Pallava king, Aparajitavarman. Parantaka Chola II expanded the Chola empire into what is now interior Andhra Pradesh and coastal Karnataka, while under the great Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola, the Cholas rose to a notable power in southeast Asia. Now the Chola Empire stretched as far as Bengal and Sri Lanka. At its peak, the empire spanned almost. Rajaraja Chola conquered all of peninsular South India and parts of Sri Lanka. Rajendra Chola's navy went even further, occupying coasts from Burma (now ) to Vietnam, the

Vijayanagar and Nayak period (1336–1646).

The Muslim invasions of southern India triggered the establishment of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire with Vijayanagara in modern Karnataka as its capital. The Vijayanagara empire eventually conquered the entire Tamil country by c. 1370 and ruled for almost two centuries until its defeat in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 by a confederacy of Deccan sultanates. Subsequently, as the Vijayanagara

Power struggles of the 18th century (1688–1802).

By the early 18th century, the political scene in Tamil Nadu saw a major change-over and was under the control of many minor rulers aspiring to be independent. The fall of the Vijayanagara empire and the Chandragiri Nayakas gave the sultanate of Golconda a chance to expand into the Tamil heartland. When the sultanate was incorporated into the Mughal Empire in 1688, the northern part of current-day Tamil Nadu was administrated by the Nawab of the Carnatic, who had his seat in Arcot from 1715 onward. Meanwhile, to the south, the fall of the Thanjavur Nayaks led to a short-lived

Princely state of Pudukkottai (1680–1948 CE).

The Pudukkottai Thondaimans rose to power over the Pudukkottai area by the end of the 17th Century. The

Vellore Mutiny and Indian Rebellion (1801–1947 CE).

At the beginning of the 19th century, the British firmly established governance over the entirety of Tamil Nadu. The Vellore mutiny on 10 July 1806 was the first instance of a large-scale mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company, predating the Indian Rebellion of 1857 by half a century. The revolt, which took place in Vellore, was brief, lasting one full day, but brutal as mutineers broke into the Vellore fort and killed or wounded 200 British troops, before they were subdued by reinforcements from nearby Arcot. The British

Post-Independence (1947–present).

When India became independent in 1947, Madras presidency became Madras State, comprising present-day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh up to Ganjam

Geography.

Tamil Nadu covers an area of, and is the tenth-largest state in India. The bordering states are Kerala to the west, Karnataka to the north-west and Andhra Pradesh to the north. To the east is the Bay of Bengal and the state encircles the union territory of Puducherry. The southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula is Kanyakumari which is the meeting point of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean.  The western, southern, and the northwestern parts are hilly and rich in vegetation. The Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats meet at the Nilgiri Hills. The Western Ghats traverse the entire western border with Kerala, effectively blocking much of the rain-bearing clouds of the south-west monsoon from entering the state. The eastern parts are fertile coastal plains and the northern parts are a mix of hills and plains. The central and the south-central regions are arid plains and receive less rainfall than the other regions.  Tamil Nadu has the country's third-longest coastline at about. Tamil Nadu's coastline bore the brunt of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami when it hit India, which caused 7,793 direct deaths in the state. Tamil Nadu falls mostly in a region of low seismic hazard with the exception of the western border areas that lie in a low to moderate hazard zone; as per the 2002 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) map, Tamil Nadu falls in Zones II and III. Historically, parts of this region have experienced seismic activity in the M5.0 range.

Climate.

Tamil Nadu is mostly dependent on monsoon rains and thereby is prone to droughts when the monsoons fail. The climate of the state ranges from dry sub-humid to semi-arid. The state has two distinct periods of rainfall:  The annual rainfall of the state

Flora and fauna.

There are about 2,000 species of wildlife that are native to Tamil Nadu. Protected areas provide safe habitat for large mammals including elephants, tigers, leopards, wild dogs, sloth bears, gaurs, lion-tailed macaques, Nilgiri langurs, Nilgiri tahrs, grizzled giant squirrels and sambar deer, resident and migratory birds such as cormorants, darters, herons, egrets, open-billed storks, spoonbills and white ibises, little grebes, Indian moorhen, black-winged stilts, a few migratory ducks and occasionally grey pelicans, marine species such as the dugongs, turtles, dolphins, "Balanoglossus" and a wide variety of fish and insects.  Indian Angiosperm diversity comprises 17,672 species with Tamil Nadu leading

National and state parks.

Tamil Nadu has a wide range of biomes extending east from the South Western Ghats montane rain forests in the Western Ghats through the South Deccan Plateau dry deciduous forests and Deccan thorn scrub forests to tropical dry broadleaf forests and then to the beaches, estuaries, salt marshes, mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs of the Bay of Bengal. The state has a range of flora and fauna with many species and habitats. To protect this diversity of wildlife there are Protected areas of Tamil Nadu as

Governance and administration.

The governor is the constitutional head of the state while the Chief Minister is the head of the government and the head of the council of ministers. The Chief Justice of the Madras High Court is the head of the judiciary. The present Governor, Chief Minister and the Chief Justice are Banwarilal Purohit, Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Amreshwar Pratap Sahi respectively. Administratively the state is divided into 38 districts. Chennai, the capital of the state is the fourth largest urban agglomeration in India and is also one of the major metropolitan cities of India. The state comprises 39 Lok Sabha constituencies and 234 Legislative Assembly constituencies.  Tamil Nadu had a bicameral legislature until 1986, when it was replaced with a unicameral legislature, like most other states in India. The term length of the government is five years. The present government is headed by Edappadi K. Palaniswami, after the demise of former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. The Tamil Nadu legislative assembly is housed at the Fort St. George in Chennai. The state had come under the president's rule on four occasions – first from 1976 to 1977, next for a short period in 1980, then from 1988 to 1989 and the latest in 1991.  Tamil Nadu has been a pioneering state of E-Governance initiatives in India. A large part of the government records like land ownership records are digitised and all major offices of the state government like Urban Local Bodies – all the corporations and municipal office activities – revenue collection, land registration offices, and transport offices have been computerised. Tamil Nadu is one of the states where law and order has been maintained largely successfully. The Tamil Nadu Police Force is over 140 years old. It is the fifth-largest state police force in India (as of 2015, total police force of TN is 1,11,448) and has the highest proportion of women police personnel in the country (total women police personnel of TN is 13,842 which is about 12.42%) to specifically handled violence against women in Tamil Nadu. In 2003, the state had a total police population ratio of 1:668, higher than the national average of 1:717.

Administrative subdivisions.

Tamil Nadu is divided in to four major divisions as per the ancient Tamil kings namely Pallava Nadu division, Chera Nadu division, Chola Nadu division and Pandya Nadu division and the four divisions are further subdivided into 38 districts, which are listed below. A district is administered by a District Collector who is mostly an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) member, appointed by State Government. Districts are further divided into 226 Taluks

Demand for new districts.

Due to increased population and for administrative purposes, there is an increase in demands for new districts.  Kongunadu Makkal Desia Katchi general secretary E. R. Eswaran reiterated his demand for creation of new districts splitting Coimbatore and Erode. Eswaran argued that both these districts had a large number of factories.  Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts should be bifurcated into two and create a new district with Pollachi as headquarters. Similarly, Erode district should be bifurcated with the new district having Gobichettypalayam as headquarters.  Another demand is

Cities and towns.

The state capital of Chennai, is the most populous city in the state with more than

Politics.

Pre-Independence.

Prior to Indian independence, Tamil Nadu was under British colonial rule as part of the Madras Presidency. The main party in Tamil Nadu at that time was the Indian National Congress (INC). Regional parties have dominated state politics since 1916. One of the earliest regional parties, the South Indian Welfare Association, a forerunner to Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu, was started in 1916. The

Post-Independence.

C. N. Annadurai left the party Dravida Kazhagam to form the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). The DMK decided to enter politics in 1956. After the demise of C. N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi became the

Demographics.

Tamil Nadu is the seventh most populous state in India. 48.4 percent of the state's population lives in urban areas, the third-highest percentage among large states in India. The state has registered the lowest fertility rate in India in the year 2005–06 with 1.7 children born for each woman, lower than required for population sustainability.  At the 2011 India census, Tamil Nadu had a population of 72,147,030. The sex ratio of the state is 995 with 36,137,975 males and 36,009,055 females. There are a total of 23,166,721 households. The total children under the age of 6 is 7,423,832. A total of 14,438,445 people constituting 20.01 per cent of the total population belonged to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 794,697 people constituting 1.10 per cent of the population belonged to Scheduled tribes (ST).  The state has 51,837,507 literates, making the literacy rate 80.33 per cent. There are a total of 27,878,282 workers, comprising 4,738,819 cultivators, 6,062,786 agricultural labourers, 1,261,059 in house hold industries, 11,695,119 other workers, 4,120,499 marginal workers, 377,220 marginal cultivators, 2,574,844 marginal agricultural labourers, 238,702 marginal workers in household industries and 929,733 other marginal workers.  India has a human development index calculated as 0.619, while the corresponding figure for Tamil Nadu is 0.736, placing it among the top states in the country. The life expectancy at birth for males is 65.2 years and for females it is 67.6 years. However, it has a high level of poverty, especially in rural areas. In 2004–2005, the poverty line was set at 351.86/month for rural areas and 547.42/month for urban areas. Poverty in the state dropped from 51.7 percent in 1983 to 21.1 percent in 2001 For the period 2004–2005, the Trend in Incidence of Poverty in the state was 22.5 percent compared with the national figure of 27.5 percent. The World Bank is currently assisting the state in reducing poverty, high drop-out and low completion of secondary schools continue to hinder the quality of training in the population. Other problems include class, gender, inter-district, and urban-rural disparities. Based on URP – Consumption for the period 2004–2005, the percentage of the state's population below the poverty line was 27.5 percent. The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative ranks Tamil Nadu to have a Multidimensional Poverty Index of 0.141, which is in the level of Ghana among the developing countries. Corruption is a major problem in the state with Transparency International ranking it the second most corrupt among the states of India.

Education.

Tamil Nadu is one of the most literate states in India. Tamil Nadu has performed reasonably well in terms of literacy growth during the decade 2001–2011. A survey conducted by the industry body Assocham ranks Tamil Nadu top among Indian states with about 100 percent gross enrolment ratio (GER) in primary and upper primary education. One of the basic limitations for improvement in education in the state is the rate of absence of teachers in public schools, which at 21.4 percent is significant. The analysis of primary school education in the state by Pratham shows a low drop-off rate

Culture.

Tamil Nadu has a long tradition of venerable culture. Tamil Nadu is known for its rich tradition of literature, art, music and dance which continue to flourish today. Tamil Nadu is a land most known for its monumental ancient Hindu temples and classical form of dance Bharata Natyam. Unique cultural features like Bharatanatyam (dance), Tanjore painting, and Tamil architecture were developed and continue to be practised in Tamil Nadu.

Literature.

Tamil written literature has existed for over 2,000 years. The earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is roughly dated from ca. 300 BC – AD 300. It is one of the oldest Indian literature amongst all others. The earliest epigraphic records found on rock edicts and "hero stones" date from around the 3rd century BC.  Most early Tamil literary works are in verse form, with prose not becoming more common until later periods. The Sangam literature collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous. Sangam literature is primarily secular, dealing with everyday themes in a Tamilakam context. The Sangam literature also deals with human relations and emotions. The available literature from this period was categorised and compiled in

Festivals and traditions.

Pongal, also called "Tamizhar Thirunaal" (festival of Tamils) or Makara Sankranti elsewhere in India, a four-day harvest festival is one of the most widely celebrated festivals throughout Tamil Nadu. The Tamil language saying "Thai Pirandhal Vazhi Pirakkum" – literally meaning, the birth of the month of Thai will pave way for new opportunities – is often quoted with reference to this festival. The first day, Bhogi Pongal is celebrated by throwing away and destroying old clothes and materials by setting them on fire to mark the end of the old and emergence of the new. The second day, Surya Pongal is the main day which falls on the first day of the tenth Tamil month of Thai (14 January or 15 January in the western calendar). On the third day, Maattu Pongal is meant to offer thanks to the cattle, as they provide milk and are used to plough the lands. Jallikattu, a bull-taming contest, marks the main event of this day. Alanganallur is famous for its Jallikattu

Music.

In terms of modern cine-music, Ilaiyaraaja was a prominent composer of film music in Tamil cinema during the late 1970s and 1980s. His work highlighted Tamil folk lyricism and introduced broader

Film industry.

Tamil Nadu is also home to the Tamil film industry nicknamed as "Kollywood", which released the most number of films in India in 2013. The term "Kollywood" is a portmanteau of Kodambakkam and Hollywood. Tamil cinema is one of the largest industries of film production in India. In Tamil Nadu, cinema ticket prices are regulated by the government. Single screen theatres may charge a maximum of 50, while theaters with more than three screens may

Television industry.

There are more than 30 television channels of various genres in Tamil. DD Podhigai, Doordarshan's Tamil language regional channel was launched on 14 April 1993. The first private Tamil channel, Sun TV was founded in 1993 by Kalanidhi Maran. In Tamil Nadu, the television industry is influenced by politics and majority of the channels are owned by politicians or people

Cuisine.

Thoothukudi is the place of origin of the Thoothukudi macaroon, Tirunelveli is known for its wheat Halva, Salem is renowned for its unique mangoes,

Economy.

For the year 2014–15 Tamil Nadu's GSDP was, and growth was 14.86. It ranks third in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals (cumulative 1991–2002) of 225.826 billion ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra and Delhi constituting 9.12 per cent of the total FDI in the country. The per capita income in 2007–2008 for the state was 72,993 ranking third among states with a population over 10 million and has steadily been above the national average. According to the 2011 Census, Tamil Nadu is the most urbanised state in India (49 percent), accounting for 9.6 percent of the urban population while only comprising 6 percent of India's total population. Services contributes to 45 percent of the economic activity in the state, followed by manufacturing at 34 percent and agriculture at 21 percent. The government is the major investor in the state with 51 percent of total investments, followed by private Indian investors at 29.9 percent and foreign private investors at 14.9 percent. Tamil Nadu has a network of about 113 industrial parks and estates offering developed plots with supporting infrastructure. According to the publications of the Tamil Nadu government, the Gross State Domestic Product at Constant Prices (The base year 2004–2005) for the year 2011–2012 is, an increase of 9.39 percent over the previous year. The per capita income at the current price is 72,993.  Tamil Nadu has six Nationalised Home Banks which originated in this state; Two government-sector banks Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank in Chennai, and four private-sector banks City Union Bank in Kumbakonam, Karur Vysya Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank in Karur, and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited in Tuticorin.

Agriculture.

Tamil Nadu has historically been an agricultural state and is a leading producer of agricultural products in India. In 2008, Tamil Nadu was India's fifth biggest producer of rice. The total cultivated area in the state was 5.60 million hectares in 2009–10. The Cauvery delta region is known as the "Rice Bowl of Tamil Nadu". In terms of production, Tamil Nadu accounts for 10 percent in fruits and 6 percent in vegetables, in India. Annual food grains production in the year 2007–08 was 10035,000 mt.  The state is the largest producer of bananas, turmeric, flowers, tapioca, the second largest producer of mango, natural rubber, coconut, groundnut and the third largest producer of coffee, sapota, Tea and sugarcane. Tamil Nadu's sugarcane yield per hectare is the highest in India. The state has 17,000

Textiles and leather.

Tamil Nadu is one of the leading states in the textile sector and it houses the country's largest spinning industry accounting for almost 80 per cent of the total installed capacity in India. When it comes to yarn production, the State contributes 40 per cent of the total production in the country. There are 2,614 Hand Processing Units (25 per cent of total units in the country) and 985 Power Processing Units (40 per cent of total units in the country)

Automobiles.

Tamil Nadu has seen major investments in the automobile industry over many decades manufacturing cars, railway coaches, battle-tanks, tractors, motorcycles, automobile spare parts and accessories, tyres and heavy vehicles. Chennai is known as the "Detroit of India." Major global

Heavy industries and engineering.

Tamil Nadu is one of the highly industrialised states in India. Over 11% of the S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Tamil Nadu.  The state government owns Tamil Nadu Newsprint and

Electronics and software.

Electronics manufacturing is a growing industry in Tamil Nadu, with many international companies like Nokia, Flex, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson, Foxconn, Samsung, Cisco, Moser Baer, Lenovo, Dell, Sanmina-SCI, Bosch, Texas Instruments having chosen Chennai as their South Asian manufacturing hub. Products manufactured include circuit boards and cellular phone handsets.  Tamil Nadu is the second largest software exporter by value in India. Software exports from Tamil Nadu grew from 76 billion ($1.6 billion) in 2003–04 to 207 billion {$5 billion} by 2006–07 according to

Infrastructure.

Transport.

Road.

Tamil Nadu has a transportation system that connects all parts of the state. Tamil Nadu is served by an extensive road network, providing links between urban centres, agricultural market-places and rural areas. There are 29 national highways in the state, covering a total distance of. The state is also a terminus for the Golden Quadrilateral project, that connects Indian metropolises like (New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata). The state has a total road length of, of which are maintained by the Highways Department. This is nearly 2.5 times higher than the density of all-India road network. The

Rail.

Tamil Nadu has a well-developed rail network as part of Southern Railway. Headquartered at Chennai, the Southern Railway network extends over a large area of India's southern peninsula, covering the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, a small portion of Karnataka and a small portion of Andhra Pradesh. Express trains connect the state capital Chennai with Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata. Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station is the gateway for trains towards the north whereas Chennai Egmore serves as the gateway for the south. Tamil Nadu has a total railway track length of and there are 532 railway stations in the state. The network connects the state with most major cities in India. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (part of the Mountain Railways of India) is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site connecting Ooty on the hills and Mettupalayam in the foothills which is in turn connected to Coimbatore. The centenary old Pamban Bridge over sea

Airports.

Tamil Nadu has four international airports, namely Chennai International Airport, Coimbatore International Airport, Tiruchirapalli International Airport and Madurai International Airport.It is has the largest number of International Airports along with Kerala. Salem Airport, Thoothukudi Airport and Vellore Airport are the domestic airports.

Seaports.

Tamil Nadu has three major seaports located at Chennai, Ennore and Thoothukudi, as well as seven other minor ports including Cuddalore and Nagapattinam. Chennai Port is an artificial

Spaceport.

In Tamil Nadu, the Government of India is to set up a new Rocket launch pad near Kulasekharapatnam in Thoothukudi district for which the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has begun work. The location was selected because of its nearness to the equator like the Sriharikota spaceport in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

Communication.

Tamil Nadu has four mobile service providers including BSNL, Airtel, JIO and Vodafone Idea. BSNL provides 2G & 3G mobile internet connections and all other three operators provide 2G, 3G & 4G Mobile broadband connections across Tamil Nadu. Airtel Broadband, Act Broadband BSNL, Hathway and

Energy.

Tamil Nadu has the third largest installed power generation capacity in the country. The Kalpakkam Nuclear Power Plant, Ennore Thermal Plant, Neyveli Lignite Power Plant, many hydroelectric plants including Mettur Dam, hundreds of windmills and the Narimanam Natural Gas Plants are major sources of Tamil Nadu's electricity. The state generates a significant proportion of its power needs from renewable sources with wind power installed capacity at over 7154 MW, accounting for 38 percent of total installed wind power in India. It is presently adding the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant to its energy grid, which on completion would be the largest atomic power plant in the country with 2000MW installed capacity.

Sports.

Kabbadi, also known as Sadugudu, is recognised as the state game in Tamil Nadu. The traditional sports of Tamil Nadu include Silambam, a Tamil martial arts played with a long bamboo staff, cockfight, Jallikattu, a bull taming sport famous on festival occasions, ox-wagon racing known as Rekkala, kite flying also known as Pattam viduthal, Goli, the game with marbles, Aadu Puli, the "goat and tiger" game and Kabaddi also known as Sadugudu. Most of these traditional sports are associated with festivals of land like Thai Pongal and mostly played in rural areas. S. Ilavazhagi carrom world champion from 2002–2016  The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai is an international cricket ground with a capacity of 50,000 and houses the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, Sadagoppan Ramesh, Laxmipathy Balaji, Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin, Vijay Shankar, Murali Karthik, Washington Sundar, Subramaniam Badrinath, Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik are some prominent cricketers from Tamil Nadu. The MRF Pace Foundation in Chennai is a popular fast bowling academy for pace bowlers all over the world. Cricket contests between local clubs, franchises and teams are popular in the state. Chennai Super Kings represent the city of Chennai in the Indian Premier League, a popular Twenty20 league. The Super Kings are the most successful team in the league with three IPL titles at par with Mumbai Indians and two CLT20 titles.Tennis is also

Tourism.

The tourism industry of Tamil Nadu is the largest in India, with an annual growth rate of 16 percent. Tourism in Tamil Nadu is promoted by Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC), a government of Tamil Nadu undertaking. According to Ministry of Tourism statistics, 4.68 million foreign (20.1% share of the country) and 333.5 million domestic tourists (23.3% share of the country) visited the state in 2015 making it the most visited state in India both domestic and foreign tourists. The state boasts some of the grand Hindu temples built-in Dravidian architecture. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Brihadishwara Temple in Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple in Darasuram (Great Chola Temples) and the Shore Temple along with the collection of other monuments in Mamallapuram which have been declared as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Tamil Nadu () is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian subcontinent and is bordered by the union territory of Puducherry and the South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is bounded by the Eastern Ghats on the north, by the Nilgiri Mountains, the Meghamalai Hills, and Kerala on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait on the southeast, and by the Indian Ocean on the south. The state shares a maritime border with the nation of Sri Lanka.

Le Tamil Nadu (, ) est un État d'Inde du Sud. Il compte environ 72 millions d'habitants pour un peu plus de. La densité moyenne est forte, mais la croissance démographique est inférieure à la moyenne indienne. Le Tamil Nadu est plus riche et plus urbanisé que la moyenne nationale. La capitale de l'État est Chennai (autrefois appelée Madras).


Background.

The Standard Model of particle physics provides a uniform framework for understanding the electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions. An interaction occurs when two particles (typically but not necessarily half-integer spin fermions) exchange integer-spin, force-carrying bosons. The fermions involved in such exchanges can be either elementary (e.g. electrons or quarks) or composite (e.g. protons or neutrons), although at the deepest levels, all weak interactions ultimately are between elementary particles.  In the weak interaction, fermions can exchange three types of force carriers, namely W, W, and Z bosons. The masses of these bosons are far greater than the mass of a proton or neutron, which is consistent with the short range of the weak force. In fact, the force is termed "weak" because its field strength over a given distance is typically several orders of magnitude less than that of the strong nuclear force or electromagnetic force.  Quarks, which make up composite particles like neutrons and protons, come in six "flavours" – up, down, strange, charm, top and bottom – which give those composite particles their properties. The weak interaction is unique in that it allows quarks to swap their flavour for another. The swapping of those properties is mediated by the force carrier bosons. For example, during beta minus decay, a down quark within a neutron is changed into an up quark, thus converting the neutron to a proton and resulting in the emission of an electron and an electron antineutrino.  The weak interaction is the only fundamental interaction that breaks parity-symmetry, and similarly, the only one to break charge parity symmetry.  Other important examples of phenomena involving the weak interaction include beta decay, and the fusion of hydrogen into helium that powers the Sun's thermonuclear process. Most fermions decay by a weak interaction over time. Such decay makes radiocarbon dating possible, as carbon-14 decays through the weak interaction to nitrogen-14. It can also create radioluminescence, commonly used in tritium illumination, and in the related field of betavoltaics.  During the quark epoch of the early universe, the electroweak force separated into the electromagnetic and weak forces.

History.

In 1933, Enrico Fermi proposed the first theory of the weak interaction, known as Fermi's interaction. He suggested that beta decay could be explained by a four-fermion interaction, involving a contact force with no range.  However, it is better described as a non-contact force field having a finite range, albeit very short. In 1968, Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg unified the electromagnetic force and the weak interaction by showing them to be two aspects of a single force, now termed the electroweak force.  The existence of the W and Z bosons was not directly confirmed until 1983.

Properties.

The electrically charged weak interaction is unique in a number of respects:  Due to their large mass (approximately 90 GeV/c) these carrier particles, called the W and Z bosons, are short-lived with a lifetime of under 10 seconds. The weak interaction has a coupling constant (an indicator of interaction strength) of between 10 and 10, compared to the strong interaction's coupling constant of 1 and the electromagnetic coupling constant of about 10; consequently the weak interaction is ‘weak’ in terms of strength. The weak interaction has a very short effective range (around 10 to 10 m). At distances around 10 meters, the weak interaction has a strength of a similar magnitude to the electromagnetic force, but this starts to decrease exponentially with increasing distance. Scaled up by just one and a half orders of magnitude, at distances of around 3×10 m, the weak interaction becomes 10,000 times weaker.  The weak interaction affects all the fermions of the Standard Model, as well as the Higgs boson; neutrinos interact only through gravity and the weak interaction. The weak interaction does not produce bound states nor does it involve binding energy – something that gravity does on an astronomical scale, that the electromagnetic force does at the atomic level, and that the strong nuclear force does inside nuclei.  Its most noticeable effect is due to its first unique feature: The charged weak interaction causes flavour change. For example, a neutron is heavier than a proton (its partner nucleon), and can decay into a proton by changing the flavour (type) of one of its two "down" quarks to an "up" quark. Neither the strong interaction nor electromagnetism permit flavour-changing, so this proceeds by weak decay; without weak decay, quark properties such as strangeness and charm (associated with the Strange quarks and charm quarks, respectively) would also be conserved across all interactions.  All mesons are unstable because of weak decay. In the process known as beta decay, a "down" quark in the neutron can change into an "up" quark by emitting a virtual boson which is then converted into an electron and an electron antineutrino. Another example is the electron capture, a common variant of radioactive decay, wherein a proton and an electron within an atom interact, and are changed to a neutron (an up quark is changed to a down quark) and an electron neutrino is emitted.  Due to the large masses of the W bosons, particle transformations or decays (e.g., flavour change) that depend on the weak interaction typically occur much slower than transformations or decays that depend only on the strong or electromagnetic forces. For example, a neutral pion decays electromagnetically, and so has a life of only about 10 seconds. In contrast, a charged pion can only decay through the weak interaction, and so lives about 10 seconds, or a hundred million times longer than a neutral pion. A particularly extreme example is the weak-force decay of a free neutron, which takes about 15 minutes.

Weak isospin and weak hypercharge.

All particles have a property called "weak isospin" (symbol ), which serves as an additive quantum number that restricts how the particle can behave in the weak interaction. Weak isospin plays the same role in the weak interaction as does electric charge in electromagnetism, and color charge in the strong interaction. All left-handed fermions have a weak isospin value of either or ; all right-handed fermions have 0 isospin. For example, the up quark has a of and the down quark. A quark never decays through the weak interaction into a quark of the same : Quarks with a of only decay into quarks with a of and vice versa. In any given interaction, weak isospin is conserved: The sum of the weak isospin numbers of the particles entering the interaction equals the sum of the weak isospin numbers of the particles exiting that interaction. For example, a (left-handed), with a weak isospin of +1 normally decays into a (with = ) and a (as a right-handed antiparticle, ).  For the development of the electroweak theory, another property, weak hypercharge, was created. It depends on a particle's electrical charge and weak isospin, and is defined by:  where is the weak hypercharge of a given type of particle, is its electrical charge (in elementary charge units) and is its weak isospin. Whereas some particles have a weak isospin of zero, all known spin particles have a non-zero weak hypercharge. Weak hypercharge is the generator of the U(1) component of the electroweak gauge group.

Interaction types.

There are two types of weak interaction (called "vertices"). The first type is called the "charged-current interaction" because it is mediated by particles that carry an electric charge (the or bosons). It is responsible for the beta decay phenomenon. The second type is called the "neutral-current interaction" because it is mediated by a neutral particle, the boson. It is responsible for the (rare) deflection of neutrinos. The two types of interaction follow different selection rules.

Charged-current interaction.

In one type of charged current interaction, a charged lepton (such as an electron or a muon, having a charge of −1) can absorb a boson (a particle with a charge of +1) and be thereby converted into a corresponding neutrino (with a charge of 0), where the type ("flavour") of neutrino (electron, muon or tau) is the same as the type of lepton in the interaction, for example: Similarly, a down-type quark ("d" with a charge of −) can be converted into an up-type quark ("u", with a charge of +), by emitting a boson or by absorbing a boson. More precisely, the down-type quark becomes a quantum superposition of up-type quarks: that is to say, it has a possibility of becoming any one of the three up-type quarks, with the probabilities given in the CKM matrix tables. Conversely, an up-type quark can emit a boson, or absorb a boson, and thereby be converted into a down-type quark, for example:  The W boson is unstable so will rapidly decay, with a very short lifetime. For example:  Decay of a W boson to other products can happen, with varying probabilities.  In the so-called beta decay of a neutron (see picture, above), a down quark within the neutron emits a virtual boson and is thereby converted into an up quark, converting the neutron into a proton. Because of the energy involved in the process (i.e., the mass difference between the down quark and the up quark), the boson can only be converted into an electron and an electron-antineutrino. At the quark level, the process can be represented as:

Neutral-current interaction.

In neutral current interactions, a quark or a lepton (e.g., an electron or a muon) emits or absorbs a neutral Z boson. For example:  Like the bosons, the boson also decays rapidly, for example:  Unlike the charged-current interaction, whose selection rules are strictly limited by chirality, electric charge, and / or weak isospin, the neutral-current interaction can cause any two fermions in the standard model to deflect: Either particles and anti-particles of any electric charge, and both left- and right-chirality, although the strength of the interaction differs.

Electroweak theory.

The Standard Model of particle physics describes the electromagnetic interaction and the weak interaction as two different aspects of a single electroweak interaction. This theory was developed around 1968 by Sheldon Glashow, Abdus Salam and Steven Weinberg, and they were awarded the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. The Higgs mechanism provides an explanation for the presence of three massive gauge bosons (,,, the three carriers of the weak interaction) and the massless photon ("γ", the carrier of the electromagnetic interaction).  According to the electroweak theory, at very high energies, the universe has four components of the Higgs field whose interactions are carried by four massless gauge bosons – each similar to the photon – forming a complex scalar Higgs field doublet. However, at low energies, this gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken down to the U(1) symmetry of electromagnetism, since one of the Higgs fields acquires a vacuum expectation value. This symmetry-breaking would be expected to produce three massless bosons, but instead they become integrated by the other three fields and acquire mass through the Higgs mechanism. These three boson integrations produce the, and bosons of the weak interaction. The fourth gauge boson is the photon of electromagnetism, and remains massless.  This theory has made a number of predictions, including a prediction of the masses of the Z and W-bosons before their discovery and detection in 1983.  On 4 July 2012, the CMS and the ATLAS experimental teams at the Large Hadron Collider independently announced that they had confirmed the formal discovery of a previously unknown boson of mass between 125–127 GeV/"c", whose behaviour so far was "consistent with" a Higgs boson, while adding a cautious note that further data and analysis were needed before positively identifying the new boson as being a Higgs boson of some type. By 14 March 2013, a Higgs boson was tentatively confirmed to exist.  If the electroweak symmetry breaking scale were lowered, the unbroken SU(2) interaction would eventually become confining. Alternative models where SU(2) becomes confining above that scale are quantitatively similar to the Standard Model at lower energies, but dramatically different above symmetry breaking.

Violation of symmetry.

The laws of nature were long thought to remain the same under mirror reflection. The results of an experiment viewed via a mirror were expected to be identical to the results of a mirror-reflected copy of the experimental apparatus. This so-called law of parity conservation was known to be respected by classical gravitation, electromagnetism and the strong interaction; it was assumed to be a universal law. However, in the mid-1950s Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee suggested that the weak interaction might violate this law. Chien Shiung Wu and collaborators in 1957 discovered that the weak interaction violates parity, earning Yang and Lee the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physics.  Although the weak interaction was once described by Fermi's theory, the discovery of parity violation and renormalization theory suggested that a new approach was needed. In 1957, Robert Marshak and George Sudarshan and, somewhat later, Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann proposed a V−A (vector minus axial vector or left-handed) Lagrangian for weak interactions. In this theory, the weak interaction acts only on left-handed particles (and right-handed antiparticles). Since the mirror reflection of a left-handed particle is right-handed, this explains the maximal violation of parity. The V−A theory was developed before the discovery of the Z boson, so it did not include the right-handed fields that enter in the neutral current interaction.  However, this theory allowed a compound symmetry CP to be conserved. CP combines parity P (switching left to right) with charge conjugation C (switching particles with antiparticles). Physicists were again surprised when in 1964, James Cronin and Val Fitch provided clear evidence in kaon decays that CP symmetry could be broken too, winning them the 1980 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 1973, Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Maskawa showed that CP violation in the weak interaction required more than two generations of particles, effectively predicting the existence of a then unknown third generation. This discovery earned them half of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics.  Unlike parity violation, CP violation occurs only in limited circumstances. Despite its rarity, it is widely believed to be the reason that there is much more matter than antimatter in the universe, and thus forms one of Andrei Sakharov's three conditions for baryogenesis.

In nuclear physics and particle physics, the weak interaction, which is also often called the weak force or weak nuclear force, is the mechanism of interaction between subatomic particles that is responsible for the radioactive decay of atoms. The weak interaction participates in nuclear fission, and the theory describing it in terms of both its behaviour and effects is sometimes called quantum flavourdynamics (QFD). However, the term QFD is rarely used, because the weak force is better understood in terms of electroweak theory (EWT).

L'interaction faible (aussi appelée force faible et parfois force nucléaire faible) est l'une des quatre interactions fondamentales de la nature, les trois autres étant les interactions électromagnétique, forte et gravitationnelle. Elle est responsable de la désintégration radioactive de particules subatomiques et est à l'origine de la fusion nucléaire dans les étoiles. Elle affecte toutes les catégories de fermions connues, à commencer par les électrons, les quarks et les neutrinos.