The endowment effect.

Humans may be hardwired to be loss averse due to asymmetric evolutionary pressure on losses and gains: for an organism operating close to the edge of survival, the loss of a day's food could cause death, whereas the gain of an extra day's food would not cause an extra day of life (unless the food could be easily and effectively stored). Loss aversion was first proposed as an explanation for the endowment effect—the fact that people place a higher value on a good that they own than on an identical good that they do not own—by Kahneman, Knetsch, and Thaler (1990). Loss aversion and the endowment effect lead to a violation of the Coase theorem—that "the allocation of resources will be independent of the assignment of property rights when costless trades are possible" (p. 1326).  In several studies, the authors demonstrated that the endowment effect could be explained by loss aversion but not five alternatives: (1) transaction costs, (2) misunderstandings, (3) habitual bargaining behaviors, (4) income effects, or (5) trophy effects. In each experiment half of the subjects were randomly assigned a good and asked for the minimum amount they would be willing to sell it for while the other half of the subjects were given nothing and asked for the maximum amount they would be willing to spend to buy the good. Since the value of the good is fixed and individual valuation of the good varies from this fixed value only due to sampling variation, the supply and demand curves should be perfect mirrors of each other and thus half the goods should be traded. The authors also ruled out the explanation that lack of experience with trading would lead to the endowment effect by conducting repeated markets.  The first two alternative explanations—that under-trading was due to transaction costs or misunderstanding—were tested by comparing goods markets to induced-value markets under the same rules. If it was possible to trade to the optimal level in induced value markets, under the same rules, there should be no difference in goods markets.  The results showed drastic differences between induced-value markets and goods markets. The median prices of buyers and sellers in induced-value markets matched almost every time leading to near perfect market efficiency, but goods markets sellers had much higher selling prices than buyers' buying prices. This effect was consistent over trials, indicating that this was not due to inexperience with the procedure or the market. Since the transaction cost that could have been due to the procedure was equal in the induced-value and goods markets, transaction costs were eliminated as an explanation for the endowment effect.  The third alternative explanation was that people have habitual bargaining behaviors, such as overstating their minimum selling price or understating their maximum bargaining price, that may spill over from strategic interactions where these behaviors are useful to the laboratory setting where they are sub-optimal. An experiment was conducted to address this by having the clearing prices selected at random. Buyers who indicated a willingness-to-pay higher than the randomly drawn price got the good, and vice versa for those who indicated a lower WTP. Likewise, sellers who indicated a lower willingness-to-accept than the randomly drawn price sold the good and vice versa. This incentive compatible value elicitation method did not eliminate the endowment effect but did rule out habitual bargaining behavior as an alternative explanation.  Income effects were ruled out by giving one third of the participants mugs, one third chocolates, and one third neither mug nor chocolate. They were then given the option of trading the mug for the chocolate or vice versa and those with neither were asked to merely choose between mug and chocolate. Thus, wealth effects were controlled for those groups who received mugs and chocolate. The results showed that 86% of those starting with mugs chose mugs, 10% of those starting with chocolates chose mugs, and 56% of those with nothing chose mugs. This ruled out income effects as an explanation for the endowment effect. Also, since all participants in the group had the same good, it could not be considered a "trophy", eliminating the final alternative explanation.  Thus, the five alternative explanations were eliminated in the following ways:

Questions about its existence.

Recently, studies have questioned the existence of loss aversion. In several studies examining the effect of losses in decision making under risk and uncertainty no loss aversion was found. There are several explanations for these findings: one, is that loss aversion does not exist in small payoff magnitudes (called magnitude dependent loss aversion by Mukherjee et al.(2017); the other, is that the generality of the loss aversion pattern is lower than that thought previously. Finally, losses may have an effect on attention but not on the weighting of outcomes; as suggested, for instance, by the fact that losses lead to more autonomic arousal than gains even in the absence of loss aversion. This latter effect is sometimes known as Loss Attention.  Loss aversion may be more salient when people compete. Gill and Prowse (2012) provide experimental evidence that people are loss averse around reference points given by their expectations in a competitive environment with real effort.  David Gal (2006) argued that many of the phenomena commonly attributed to loss aversion, including the status quo bias, the endowment effect, and the preference for safe over risky options, are more parsimoniously explained by psychological inertia than by a loss/gain asymmetry. Gal and Rucker (2018) made similar arguments. Mkrva, Johnson, Gächter, and Herrmann (2019) cast doubt on these critiques, replicating loss aversion in five unique samples while also showing how the magnitude of loss aversion varies in theoretically predictable ways. A paper by John Staddon, citing Claude Bernard, pointed out that effects like loss aversion represent the average behavior of groups. There are many individual exceptions. To use these effects as something more than the results of an opinion poll means identifying the sources of variation, so that they can be demonstrated reliably in individual subjects.This is rarely even attempted.

Alternatives to loss aversion: Loss attention.

Loss attention refers to the tendency of individuals to allocate more attention to a task or situation when it involve losses than when it does not involve losses. What distinguishes loss attention from loss aversion is that it does not imply that losses are given more subjective weight (or utility) than gains. Moreover, under loss aversion losses have a "biasing" effect whereas under loss attention they can have a "debiasing" effect. Loss attention was proposed as a distinct regularity from loss aversion by Eldad Yechiam and Guy Hochman.  Specifically, the effect of losses is assumed to be on general attention rather than just visual or auditory attention. The loss attention account assumes that losses in a given task mainly increase the general attentional resource pool available for that task. The increase in attention is assumed to have an inverse-U shape effect on performance (following the so called Yerkes-Dodson law). The inverse U-shaped effect implies that the effect of losses on performance is most apparent in settings where task attention is low to begin with, for example in a monotonous vigilance task or when a concurrent task is more appealing. Indeed, it was found that the positive effect of losses on performance in a given task was more pronounced in a task performed concurrently with another task which was primary in its importance. Loss attention is consistent with several empirical findings in economics, finance, marketing, and decision making. Some of these effects have been previously attributed to loss aversion, but can explained by a mere attention asymmetry between gains and losses. An example is the performance advantage attributed to golf rounds where a player is under par (or in a disadvantage) compared to other rounds where a player is at an advantage. Clearly, the difference could be attributed to increased attention in the former type of rounds.  Recently, studies have suggested that loss aversion mostly occur for very large losses though the exact boundaries of the effect are unclear. On the other hand, loss attention was found even for small payoffs, such as $1. This suggests that loss attention may be more robust than loss aversion. Still, one might argue that loss aversion is more parsimonious than loss attention.  Additional phenomena explained by loss attention:  "Increased expected value maximization with losses" – It was found that individuals are more likely to select choice options with higher expected value (namely, mean outcome) in tasks where outcomes are framed as losses than when they are framed as gains. Yechiam and Hochman found that this effect occurred even when the alternative producing higher expected value was the one that included minor losses. Namely, a highly advantageous alternative producing minor losses was more attractive compared when it did not produce losses. Therefore, paradoxically, in their study minor losses led to more selection from the alternative generating them (refuting an explanation of this phenomenon based on loss aversion).  "Loss arousal" – Individuals were found to display greater Autonomic Nervous System activation following losses than following equivalent gains. For example, pupil diameter and heart rate were found to increase following both gains and losses, but the size of the increase was higher following losses. Importantly, this was found even for small losses and gains where individuals do not show loss aversion. Similarly, a positive effect of losses compared to equivalent gains was found on activation of midfrontal cortical networks 200 to 400 milliseconds after observing the outcome. This effect as well was found in the absence of loss aversion.  "Increased hot stove effect for losses" – The hot stove effect is the finding that individuals avoid a risky alternative when the available information is limited to the obtained payoffs. A relevant example (proposed by Mark Twain) is of a cat which jumped of a hot stove and will never do it again, even when the stove is cold and potentially contains food. Apparently, when a given option produces losses this increases the hot stove effect, a finding which is consistent with the notion that losses increase attention.  "The out of pocket phenomenon" – In financial decision making, it has been shown that people are more motivated when their incentives are to avoid losing personal resources, as opposed to gaining equivalent resources. Traditionally, this strong behavioral tendency was explained by loss aversion. However, it could also be explained simply as increased attention.  "The allure of minor disadvantages" – In marketing studies it has been demonstrated that products whose minor negative features are highlighted (in addition to positive features) are perceived as more attractive. Similarly, messages discussing both the advantages and disadvantages of a product were found to be more convincing than one-sided messages. Loss attention explains this as due to attentional competition between options, and increased attention following the highlighting of small negatives, which can increase the attractiveness of a product or a candidate either due to exposure or learning.

In nonhuman subjects.

In 2005, experiments were conducted on the ability of capuchin monkeys to use money. After several months of training, the monkeys began showing behavior considered to reflect understanding of the concept of a medium of exchange. They exhibited the same propensity to avoid perceived losses demonstrated by human subjects and investors. While a subsequent study suggested that the 2005 results were not indicative of loss aversion because of timing differences in the presentation of gains and losses to the monkeys, a follow-up 2008 study by Laksminaryanan, Chen and Santos ruled out this alternative explanation.

Expectation-based.

Expectation-based loss aversion is a phenomenon in behavioral economics. When the expectations of an individual fail to match reality, they lose an amount of utility from the lack of experiencing fulfillment of these expectations. Analytical framework by Botond Kőszegi and Matthew Rabin provides a methodology through which such behavior can be classified and even predicted. An individual's most recent expectations influences loss aversion in outcomes outside the status quo; a shopper intending to buy a pair of shoes on sale experiences loss aversion when the pair she had intended to buy is no longer available.  Subsequent research performed by Johannes Abeler, Armin Falk, Lorenz Goette, and David Huffman in conjunction with the Institute of Labor Economics used the framework of Kőszegi and Rabin to prove that people experience expectation-based loss aversion at multiple thresholds. The study evinced that reference points of people causes a tendency to avoid expectations going unmet. Participants were asked to participate in an iterative money-making task given the possibilities that they would receive either an accumulated sum for each round of "work", or a predetermined amount of money. With a 50% chance of receiving the "fair" compensation, participants were more likely to quit the experiment as this amount approached the fixed payment. They chose to stop when the values were equal as no matter which random result they received, their expectations would be matched. Participants were reluctant to work for more than the fixed payment as there was an equal chance their expected compensation would not be met.

Within education.

Loss aversion experimentation has most recently been applied within an educational setting in an effort to improve achievement within the U.S. Recent results from Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 ranked the US ranks #31 in math and #17 in Reading. In this latest experiment, Fryer et al. posits framing merit pay in terms of a loss in order to be most effective. This study was performed in the city of Chicago Heights within nine K-8 urban schools, which included 3,200 students. 150 out of 160 eligible teachers participated and were assigned to one of four treatment groups or a control group. Teachers in the incentive groups received rewards based on their students' end of the year performance on the ThinkLink Predictive Assessment and K-2 students took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) in March. The control group followed the traditional merit pay process of receiving "bonus pay" at the end of the year based on student performance on standardized exams. However, the experimental groups received a lump sum given at beginning of the year, that would have to be paid back. The bonus was equivalent to approximately 8% of the average teacher salary in Chicago Heights, approximately $8,000.  Methodology—"Gain" and "Loss" teachers received identical net payments for a given level of performance. The only difference is the timing and framing of the rewards. An advance on the payment and the re framing of the incentive as avoidance of a loss, the researchers observed treatment effects in excess of 0.20 and some as high as 0.398 standard deviations. According to the authors, 'this suggests that there may be significant potential for exploiting loss aversion in the pursuit of both optimal public policy and the pursuit of profits'.  Utilizing loss aversion, specifically within the realm of education, has gotten much notoriety in blogs and mainstream media.  The Washington Post discussed merit pay in a 2012 article and specifically the study conducted by Fryer et al. The article discusses the positive results of the experiment and estimates the testing gains of those of the "loss" group are associated with an increase in lifetime earnings of between $37,180 and $77,740. They also comment on the fact that it didn't matter much whether the pay was tied to the performance of a given teacher or to the team to which that teacher was assigned. They state that "a merit pay regime need not pit teachers in a given school against each other to get results".  Science Daily specifically covers the Fryer study stating that the study showed that "students gained as much as a 10 percentile increase in their scores compared to students with similar backgrounds -- if their teacher received a bonus at the beginning of the year, with conditions attached." It also explains how there was no gain for students when teachers were offered the bonus at the end of the school year.  Thomas Amadio, superintendent of Chicago Heights Elementary School District 170, where the experiment was conducted, is quoted in this article stating "the study shows the value of merit pay as an encouragement for better teacher performance".  Education weekly also weighs in and discusses utilizing loss aversion within education, specifically merit pay. The article states there are "few noteworthy limitations to the study, particularly relative to scope and sample size; further, the outcome measure was a 'low-stakes' diagnostic assessment, not the state test—it's unclear if findings would look the same if the test was used for accountability purposes. Still Fryer et al. have added an interesting tumbling element to the merit-pay routine".  The Sun Times interviewed John List, Chairman of the University of Chicagos' department of economics. He stated "It's a deeply ingrained behavioral trait... that all human beings have—this underlying phenomenon that 'I really, really dislike losses, and I will do all I can to avoid losing something'." The article also speaks to only one other study to enhance performance in a work environment. The only prior field study of a "loss aversion" payment plan, they said, "occurred in Nanjing, China, where it improved productivity among factory workers who made and inspected DVD players and other consumer electronics". The article also covers a reaction by Barnett Berry, president of the Center for Teaching Quality, who stated "the study seems to suggest that districts pay 'teachers working with children and adolescents' in the same way 'Chinese factory workers' were paid for 'producing widgets'. I think this suggests a dire lack of understanding of the complexities of teaching."  There has also been other criticism of the notion of loss aversion as an explanation of greater effects. Indeed, all of the noted findings in education can be explained simply by the additional attention to a task when it includes losses (i.e., loss attention), independently of the weighting to gains and losses.  Larry Ferlazzo in his blog questioned what kind of positive classroom culture a "loss aversion" strategy would create with students, and what kind of effect a similar plan with teachers would have on school culture. He states that "the usual kind of teacher merit pay is bad enough, but a threatened 'take-away' strategy might even be more offensive".

Neural aspect of loss aversion.

In earlier studies, both bidirectional mesolimbic responses of activation for gains and deactivation for losses (or vica versa) and gain or loss-specific responses have been seen. While reward anticipation is associated with ventral striatum activation, negative outcome anticipation engages the amygdala. However, only some studies have shown involvement of amygdala during negative outcome anticipation but not others which has led to some inconsistencies. It has later been proven that inconsistencies may only have been due to methodological issues including the utilisation of different tasks and stimuli, coupled with ranges of potential gains or losses sampled from either payoff matrices rather than parametric designs, and most of the data are reported in groups, therefore ignoring the variability amongst individuals. Thus later studies rather than focusing on subjects in groups, focus more on individual differences in the neural bases by jointly looking at behavioural analyses and neuroimaging.  Neuroimaging studies on loss aversion involves measuring brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate whether individual variability in loss aversion were reflected in differences in brain activity through bidirectional or gain or loss specific responses, as well as multivariate source-based morphometry (SBM) to investigate a structural network of loss aversion and univariate voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify specific functional regions within this network.  Brain activity in a right ventral striatum cluster increases particularly when anticipating gains. This involves the ventral caudate nucleus, pallidum, putamen, bilateral orbitofrontal cortex, superior frontal and middle gyri, posterior cingulate cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and parts of the dorsomedial thalamus connecting to temporal and prefrontal cortex. There is a significant correlation between degree of loss aversion and strength of activity in both the frontomedial cortex and the ventral striatum. This is shown by the slope of brain activity deactivation for increasing losses being significantly greater than the slope of activation for increasing gains in the appetitive system involving the ventral striatum in the network of reward-based behavioural learning. On the other hand, when anticipating loss, the central and basal nuclei of amygdala, right posterior insula extending into the supramarginal gyrus mediate the output to other structures involved in the expression of fear and anxiety, such as the right parietal operculum and supramarginal gyrus. Consistent with gain anticipation, the slope of the activation for increasing losses was significantly greater than the slope of the deactivation for increasing gains.  Multiple neural mechanisms are recruited while making choices, showing functional and structural individual variability. Biased anticipation of negative outcomes leading to loss aversion involves specific somatosensory and limbic structures. fMRI test measuring neural responses in striatal, limbic and somatosensory brain regions help track individual differences in loss aversion. Its limbic component involved the amygdala (associated with negative emotion and plays a role in the expression of fear) and putamen in the right hemisphere. The somatosensory component included the middle cingulate cortex, as well as the posterior insula and rolandic operculum bilaterally. The latter cluster partially overlaps with the right hemispheric one displaying the loss-oriented bidirectional response previously described, but, unlike that region, it mostly involved the posterior insula bilaterally. All these structures play a critical role in detecting threats and prepare the organism for appropriate action, with the connections between amygdala nuclei and the striatum controlling the avoidance of aversive events. There are functional differences between the right and left amygdala. Overall, the role of amygdala in loss anticipation suggested that loss aversion may reflect a Pavlovian conditioned approach-avoidance response. Hence, there is a direct link between individual differences in the structural properties of this network and the actual consequences of its associated behavioral defense responses.  The neural activity involved in the processing of aversive experience and stimuli is not just a result of a temporary fearful overreaction prompted by choice-related information, but rather a stable component of one's own preference function, reflecting a specific pattern of neural activity encoded in the functional and structural construction of a limbic-somatosensory neural system anticipating heightened aversive state of the brain. Even when no choice is required, individual differences in the intrinsic responsiveness of this interoceptive system reflect the impact of anticipated negative effects on evaluative processes, leading preference for avoiding losses rather than acquiring greater but riskier gains.  Individual differences in loss aversion are related to variables such as age, gender, and genetic factors affecting thalamic norepinephrine transmission, as well as neural structure and activities. Outcome anticipation and ensuing loss aversion involve multiple neural systems, showing functional and structural individual variability directly related to the actual outcomes of choices.  In a study, adolescents and adults are found to be similarly loss-averse on behavioural level but they demonstrated different underlying neural responses to the process of rejecting gambles. Although adolescents rejected the same proportion of trials as adults, adolescents displayed greater caudate and frontal pole activation than adults to achieve this. These findings suggest a difference in neural development during the avoidance of risk. It is possible that adding affectively arousing factors (e.g. peer influences) may overwhelm the reward-sensitive regions of the adolescent decision making system leading to risk-seeking behaviour. On the other hand, although men and women did not differ on their behavioural task performance, men showed greater neural activation than women in various areas during the task. Loss of striatal dopamine neurons is associated with reduced risk-taking behaviour. Acute administration of D2 dopamine agonists may cause an increase in risky choices in humans. This suggests dopamine acting on stratum and possibly other mesolimbic structures can modulate loss aversion by reducing loss prediction signalling.

In cognitive psychology, decision theory, and behavioral economics, loss aversion refers to people's tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains: it is better to not lose $5 than to find $5. The principle is very prominent in the domain of economics. What distinguishes loss aversion from risk aversion is that the utility of a monetary payoff depends on what was previously experienced or was expected to happen. Some studies have suggested that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains. Loss aversion was first identified by Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman.

L'aversion à la perte est une notion issue de l'économie comportementale, elle est un biais comportemental qui fait que les humains attachent plus d'importance à une perte qu'à un gain du même montant.


Origins.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a Jordanian Jihadist who traveled to Afghanistan to fight in the Soviet–Afghan War, but arrived after the departure of the Soviet troops and soon returned to his homeland. He eventually returned to Afghanistan, where he ran an Islamic militant training camp near Herat.  A report released by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in mid-2014 describes al-Zarqawi, with Jordanian and other Sunni Jihadist militants, as starting JTJ in 1999 in Afghanistan with its training camp in Herat, and with "a small amount of seed money" from bin Laden "which continued until 9/11".

Ideology and motivation.

Al-Zarqawi's interpretation of Islamic takfir—accusing other Muslims of heresy and thereby justifying his killing—was extreme, which caused friction between him and bin Laden. On his first meeting with bin Laden in 1999, al-Zarqawi reportedly declared: "Shiites should be executed".  Al-Zarqawi's political motives included what he considered the British Mandate for Palestine as a "gift to the Jews so they can rape the land and humiliate our people", the United Nation's support for American "oppressors of Iraq", and the "humiliation [of] our [Muslim] nation".

History.

In Jordan (1999–2001).

Al-Zarqawi started JTJ with the intention of overthrowing the 'apostate' Kingdom of Jordan, which he considered to be un-Islamic. After toppling Jordan's monarchy, presumably he would turn to the rest of the Levant.  For these purposes he developed numerous contacts and affiliates in several countries. His network may have been involved in the late 1999 plot to bomb the Millennium celebrations in the United States and Jordan.

In Jordan and Iraq (2001–2002).

Following the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan, al-Zarqawi moved to Iraq, where he reportedly received medical treatment in Baghdad for an injured leg.  Al-Zarqawi was in Baghdad from May until late November 2002, when he traveled to Iran and northeastern Iraq. The United States 2006 Senate Report on Pre-war Intelligence on Iraq concluded: "Postwar information indicates that Saddam Hussein attempted, unsuccessfully, to locate and capture al-Zarqawi and that the regime did not have a relationship with, harbor, or turn a blind eye toward al-Zarqawi."  Al-Zarqawi and his operatives are held responsible by the United States for the assassination of US diplomat Laurence Foley in Jordan in October 2002.

Involvement in the Iraq War (2003–2004).

Following the US invasion of Iraq and the ensuing insurgency, Jama'at became a decentralized militant network fighting against the coalition forces and their Iraqi allies. Jama'at included a growing number of foreign fighters and a considerable Iraqi membership, including remnants of Ansar al-Islam.  Many foreign fighters arriving in Iraq were not initially associated with Jama'at, but once they were in the country they became dependent on al-Zarqawi's local contacts.  Jama'at's tactics included suicide bombings, often using car bombs, kidnappings, the planting of improvised explosive devices, attacks using rocket-propelled grenades, small arms and mortars, and beheading Iraqi and foreign hostages and distributing video recordings of these acts on the Internet.  The group targeted Iraqi security forces and those assisting the occupation, Iraqi interim officials, Iraqi Shia and Kurdish political and religious figures and institutions, Shia civilians, foreign civilian contractors, United Nations and humanitarian workers, and also Sunni Muslim civilians.

Pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda.

On 17 October 2004, al-Zarqawi pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, and the group became known as Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (commonly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq). Al-Zarqawi died in a US targeted airstrike in June 2006.

Activities.

Attacks.

After the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the establishment of a governing Provisional Authority, an insurgency quickly emerged. Dozens of insurgent attacks were claimed by, or attributed to, JTJ in the following months:

Inciting sectarian violence.

Alleged sectarian attacks by the organization included the Imam Ali Mosque bombing in 2003 and the 2004 Day of Ashura bombings (Ashoura massacre) and Karbala and Najaf bombings in 2004. These were precursors to a more widespread campaign of sectarian violence after the organization transitioned to become al-Qaida in Iraq, with Al-Zarqawi purportedly declaring an all-out war on Shias,<ref name="NYTimes09/15"></ref> while claiming responsibility for the Shia mosque bombings.  The Turkish translator Aytullah Gezmen was also abducted by Jama'at, but released after "repenting."

U.S. fighting Jama'at.

In September 2004, the U.S. conducted many airstrikes targeting Al-Zarqawi, calling the hunt for Al-Zarqawi its "highest priority".

Legacy.

The group pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network in a letter in October 2004 and changed its name to "Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn".  That same month, the group, now popularly referred to as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), kidnapped and killed Japanese citizen Shosei Koda. In November, al-Zarqawi's network was the main target of the US Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, but its leadership managed to escape the American siege and subsequent storming of the city.  The Lebanese-Palestinian militant group Fatah al-Islam, which was defeated by Lebanese government forces during the 2007 Lebanon conflict, was linked to AQI and led by al-Zarqawi's former companion who had fought alongside him in Iraq.  The group may have been linked to the little-known group called "Tawhid and Jihad in Syria", and may have influenced the Palestinian resistance group in Gaza called Tawhid and Jihad Brigades.

External links.

Damn

Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (), which may be abbreviated as JTJ or Jama'at, was a militant Jihadist group. It was founded in Jordan in 1999 and was led by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the entirety of its existence. During the Iraqi insurgency (2003–11), the group became a decentralized network with foreign fighters and a considerable Iraqi membership.

Tawhid wal Djihad ("Unicité et Djihad") est une organisation salafiste djihadiste, souvent considérée comme terroriste. Fondée par Abou Moussab al-Zarqaoui, elle fait partie d'Al-Qaida en Irak à partir de décembre 2004, al-Zarqaoui étant devenu le chef d'Al-Qaida en Irak jusqu'à sa mort en juin 2006.


Biography.

Jacob Bekenstein was born in Mexico City to Joseph and Esther ("née" Vladaslavotsky), Polish Jews who immigrated to Mexico. He moved to the United States during his early life, gaining U.S. citizenship in 1968. He was also a citizen of Israel.  Bekenstein attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, now known as the New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, obtaining both an undergraduate degree and a Master of Science degree in 1969. He went on to receive a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Princeton University, working under the direction of John Archibald Wheeler, in 1972.  Bekenstein had three children with his wife, Bilha. All three children, Yehonadav, Uriya and Rivka Bekenstein, became scientists. In 2018, Yehonadav joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technion as an assistant professor. Bekenstein was known as a religious man and a believer, being quoted as saying: "I look at the world as a product of God, He set very specific laws and we delight in discovering them through scientific work."

Scientific career.

By 1972, Bekenstein had published three influential papers about the black hole stellar phenomenon, postulating the no-hair theorem and presenting a theory on black hole thermodynamics. In the years to come, Bekenstein continued his exploration of black holes, publishing papers on their entropy and quantum mass.  Bekenstein was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin from 1972 to 1974. He then immigrated to Israel to lecture and teach at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba. In 1978, he became a full professor and in 1983, head of the astrophysics department.  In 1990, he became a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and was appointed head of its theoretical physics department three years later. He was elected to the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1997. He was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 2009 and 2010.  In addition to lectures and residencies around the world, Bekenstein continued to serve as Polak professor of theoretical physics at the Hebrew University until his death at the age of 68, in Helsinki, Finland. He died unexpectedly on August 16, 2015, just months after receiving the American Physical Society's Einstein Prize "for his ground-breaking work on black hole entropy, which launched the field of black hole thermodynamics and transformed the long effort to unify quantum mechanics and gravitation".

Contributions to physics.

In 1972, Bekenstein was the first to suggest that black holes should have a well-defined entropy. He wrote that a black hole's entropy was proportional to the area of its (the black hole's) event horizon. Bekenstein also formulated the generalized second law of thermodynamics, black hole thermodynamics, for systems including black holes. Both contributions were affirmed when Stephen Hawking (and, independently, Zeldovich and others) proposed the existence of Hawking radiation two years later. Hawking had initially opposed Bekenstein's idea on the grounds that a black hole could not radiate energy and therefore could not have entropy. However, in 1974, Hawking performed a lengthy calculation that convinced him that particles can indeed be emitted from black holes. Today this is known as Hawking radiation. Bekenstein's doctoral adviser, John Archibald Wheeler, also worked with him to develop the no-hair theorem, a reference to Wheeler's saying that "black holes have no hair," in the early 1970s. Bekenstein's suggestion was proven unstable, but it was influential in the development of the field.  Based on his black-hole thermodynamics work, Bekenstein also demonstrated the Bekenstein bound: there is a maximum to the amount of information that can potentially be stored in a given finite region of space which has a finite amount of energy (which is similar to the holographic principle).  In 1982, Bekenstein developed a rigorous framework to generalize the laws of electromagnetism to handle inconstant physical constants. His framework replaces the fine-structure constant by a scalar field. However, this framework for changing constants did not incorporate gravity.  In 2004, Bekenstein boosted Mordehai Milgrom's theory of Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) by developing a relativistic version. It is known as TeVeS for Tensor/Vector/Scalar and it introduces three different fields in space time to replace the one gravitational field.

Jacob David Bekenstein (; May 1, 1947 – August 16, 2015) was a Mexican-born Israeli-American theoretical physicist who made fundamental contributions to the foundation of black hole thermodynamics and to other aspects of the connections between information and gravitation.

Jacob David Bekenstein, né le à Mexico (Mexique) et mort le à Helsinki (Finlande), est un physicien israélo-mexicain. Il est le premier à suggérer que les trous noirs ont une entropie et une température, il est donc le précurseur de la thermodynamique des trous noirs. Il a également abordé divers aspects des liens entre gravitation et information.


Biography.

Personal life.

Born in Barham, New South Wales, Rogers grew up in Canberra, and now lives in Mendrisio, Switzerland with his Italian wife and three daughters.

Early career.

Rogers was part of the Australian Institute of Sport, which led him to move to Europe at age 16 as an amateur. He started as a track racer under coach Charlie Walsh. Rogers won the world time-trial championship in 2003, 2004 and 2005. He came second in 2003 but became champion after the winner, David Millar, was disqualified for doping. Rogers received his rainbow jersey and gold medal on the day of the 2004 championship, thereby receiving two gold medals on the same day.  In the 2003 Tour de France, Rogers helped Richard Virenque win his sixth mountains classification. He was the last rider left to help in Virenque's day-long escape and stage win.  Rogers finished fourth in the road time trial at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. In May 2011 US cyclist Tyler Hamilton returned his gold medal for this event after admitting to doping during his cycling career, and in August 2012 the International Olympic Committee formally stripped Hamilton of his victory, resulting in Rogers being awarded the bronze medal. In September 2015, he received the Olympic medal in a ceremony at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

T Mobile (2006–2010).

Rogers joined for the 2006 season, and finished 9th overall in the 2006 Tour de France.  On 15 July, Rogers withdrew on the 8th stage of the 2007 Tour after breaking a collar bone in a crash descending the Cormet de Roselend. He continued until the doctor arrived from attending fellow Australian Stuart O'Grady, who ended up stretchered to hospital.  It was after this that Rogers contracted mononucleosis (glandular fever), which caused a dip in his racing form for some time. By late 2009 he had returned to form and began to have significant racing success, with, the successor to T-Mobile. In 2010, as leader of his team, he won the Tour of Andalucia, and then the Tour of California (the first non-American to do so).  In an interview during the 2006 season, Rogers disclosed that he had received training advice by Dr Ferrari for several months during 2006.  After a disappointing 2010 Tour de France (37th overall), Rogers announced he would concentrate in future on shorter races (e.g. one week in length) as he was no longer suited to the longer tours.

Team Sky (2011–2012).

In October 2010 it was announced that he would leave and join British based for the 2011 racing season. However he suffered a relapse of his mononucleosis early in the season and was unable to defend his 2010 Tour of California title. Rogers returned to fitness towards the end of the season.  Rogers began the 2012 season with third place in the Australian National Time Trial Championships, and led Team Sky at the Tour Down Under, where he finished 4th in the general classification. In March, Rogers finished third at the Critérium International; he placed second to's Cadel Evans in the individual time trial around Porto-Vecchio, and finished eighth on the final stage, the summit finish of the "". After finishing fifth in April's Tour de Romandie, Rogers won May's Bayern-Rundfahrt stage race in Germany, winning Stage 2 and the time trial Stage 4 in the process, his first victories whilst riding for Sky. Rogers then rode the Critérium du Dauphiné, helping leader Bradley Wiggins win the race, whilst finishing second overall himself after a strong ride in the time trial. Rogers was selected in the Sky squad for the Tour de France, as one of Wiggins' key domestiques. He suffered a crash towards the end of Stage 1, but was able to make it back to the peloton. Rogers played a key team role in the rest of the race, setting the tempo on mountains and notably bringing back a long range attack by Cadel Evans on Stage 11, as Sky ultimately achieved a 1–2 finish in the GC with Wiggins and Chris Froome.  Rogers left Sky to join in 2012 following a new Sky policy requiring all riders to sign to confirm they have no history of doping although he denied leaving for that reason.

Team Saxo-Tinkoff (2013–2016).

In May, Rogers was the runner-up to Tejay van Garderen in the Tour of California. In July Rogers rode the Tour de France in support of Alberto Contador and finished in 16th place. In October he won the Japan Cup one-day race. In December it was announced that he had tested positive for clenbuterol at the latter race. He was suspended from cycling pending further investigation. On 23 April 2014 the UCI announced he would be cleared of any wrongdoing, no further action would be taken and that Rogers would be free to race again. The UCI accepted that there was a significant probability that the clenbuterol came from contaminated meat consumed while Rogers was competing in China, where the drug is often consumed by animals in slaughterhouses to exhibit better performance in farm sporting events.  He returned to racing just in time to ride the 2014 Giro d'Italia. Throughout much of the race, he rode in support of Rafał Majka. He won his first ever Grand Tour individual stage on the eleventh stage and also won the penultimate stage summit finish at the Monte Zoncolan.  On 22 July 2014, Rogers won his first stage of the Tour de France. It was the 16th day on the longest stage (237.5 km) from Carcassonne to Bagnères-de-Luchon with a time of 6 hours, 7 minutes, 10 seconds. He attacked Cyril Gautier at the bottom of the descent of the Port de Balès with 5 km to cover to win in solo fashion.

Michael ('Mick') Rogers (born 20 December 1979) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer who competed professionally between 1999 and 2016, for the,,, and teams. He is a three-time World Time Trial Champion, winning consecutively in 2003 (after David Millar was stripped for doping), 2004 and 2005, and won Grand Tour stages at the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.

Michael Rogers (né le à Barham), est un coureur cycliste australien, professionnel entre et 2016. Remarquable rouleur à ses débuts, il a remporté trois fois consécutivement le titre de champion du monde du contre-la-montre entre 2003 et 2005. Se consacrant progressivement aux courses par étapes, il a notamment remporté le Tour d'Allemagne en 2003 et le Tour de Californie en 2010, et a terminé du Tour de Suisse en 2005 et du Tour de Catalogne en 2007, du Tour de France en 2006 et du Tour d'Italie en 2009. Sa carrière a été marquée par plusieurs blessures et maladies. Il met un terme à sa carrière en avril 2016, en raison de problèmes cardiaques.


Founding.

The founder of Great Lavra, Athanasius, began the construction of the buildings in 963, according to the will of his friend and Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas who funded the project. Nikephoros had promised Athanasius that he would soon become a monk of Great Lavra but the circumstances and his death canceled those plans. However, a permanent imperial grant, which was doubled by John I Tzimiskes, allowed the integration of the buildings. The emperors gave also the Great Lavra many other lands of property including the island of Saint Eustratius and the Monastery of Saint Andreas in Thessaloniki. This led to the growth of the monks from 80 to 120.

Later history.

The building project, according to the biography of Athanasius the Athonite (11th century), began with the protective wall and continued to the church and cells. After Athanasius' death, the monastery continued its operation normally. The emperors favored its development and during the 11th century there were 700 monks, while smaller monasteries had been ceded to Great Lavra. In the 14th century the monastery suffered, like all the other monasteries of Mount Athos, from Spaniards from the crown of Aragon and other pirates. The result of the crisis was the formation of a peculiar way of monasticism, the Idiorrhythmic Way, despite the objections of the official Church and the emperors. In 1574, the Patriarch of Alexandria, Sylvester, helped and the monastery operated again under cenobitic monasticism, but soon the peculiar monasticism was again introduced. In 1655, the Patriarch Dionysios III, who also became a monk, donated his personal fortune for the return to the cenobitic life but again these attempts were insufficient and the peculiar monasticism remained until the 20th century (1914), when there were new attempts for the return to the cenobitic life but without results. Since 1980 the monastery has been cenobitic.

Buildings.

The main church (Katholikon) was found by Athanasius who lost his life together with 6 other workers when one of the domes fell during the construction. The architectural style of the temple is characterized by the two large areas of the chorus and the prayer. This style was then consecrated and was copied by the other monasteries. The frescoes were made in 1535 by the great painter Theophanis. However, the narthex was painted in 1854.  North of the narthex ("liti"), there is the chapel of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in which there is the grave of Athanasius. South of the "liti", there is the chapel of Saint Nicholas, painted by Franco Cantellano, in 1560. The trapeza opposite the central entrance has a shape of cross and is the biggest on Mount Athos. Its interior is full of frescoes, painted by Theophanis or his school.

Art treasures.

The library of the monastery is located behind the main church. It contains 2,116 Greek manuscripts and 165 codices. Among them uncial manuscripts of the New Testament: Codex Coislinianus, Codex Athous Lavrensis, Uncial 049, Uncial 0167, and minuscules 1073, 1505, 2524, 1519. There are also over 20,000 printed books, and about 100 manuscripts in other languages. The collection is one of the richest collections of Greek manuscripts in the world.  The vestry is behind the main church. Some of the most important artifacts are a manuscript of a gospel with a golden cover which is a gift from Nikephoros II Phokas and the list (Kouvaras) of the monks since Athanasius. There are also 2,500 icons which cover the whole history of hagiography of the second millennium.

The Monastery of Great Lavra () is the first monastery built on Mount Athos. It is located on the southeastern foot of the Mount at an elevation of. The founding of the monastery in AD 963 by Athanasius the Athonite marks the beginning of the organized monastic life at Mount Athos. At the location of the monastery, there was one of the ancient cities of the Athos peninsula, perhaps Akrothooi, from which the sarcophagi of the monastery that are in the oil storage house come. The history of the monastery is the most complete compared to the history of the other monasteries, because its historical archives were preserved almost intact. It is possible that the study of these archives may contribute to the completion of the knowledge of the history of other monasteries, whose archives were partially or completely lost.

Le monastère de la Grande Laure (en grec : Μονή Μεγίστης Λαύρας, "Moní Meyístis Lávras") ou Grande Laure de saint Athanase est le plus grand et le plus ancien des vingt monastères orthodoxes de la République monastique du Mont-Athos dont il occupe la première place dans le classement hiérarchique.


History.

Újpest FC was founded in 1885. At that time Újpest did not belong to Budapest. Újpest played their first Nemzeti Bajnokság I match in the 1905 Nemzeti Bajnokság I season. In the 1910–11 season they were relegated. Újpest won their first Hungarian league title in the 1929–30 season.  At international level Újpest's most successful period was in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup they were eliminated in the final by Newcastle United. In the 1973–74 European Cup they reached the semi-finals and were eliminated by Bayern München.

Crest and colours.

On 3 July 2017, Újpest FC announced that they changed their crest.

Manufacturers and shirt sponsors.

The following table shows in detail Újpest FC kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors by year: Current sponsorships: Joma, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Acquaworld Budapest, Ramada Resort Budapest, Puebla ticket, Karzol Trans, Szókép Nyomdaipari Kft., Lamborghini

Stadium.

Újpest's home stadium is Szusza Ferenc Stadion, which has been their home since the opening on 17 September 1922. It was known as Megyeri úti stadium until it was named after the club's legendary player, Ferenc Szusza in October 2003. After the renovations which took place in 2000 and 2001 the ground can hold 13,501 spectators.

Ownership.

On 3 December 2008, it was revealed by BBC Sport that the Premier League club Wolverhampton are considering an alliance with Újpest. Jez Moxey, the Chief executive officer of Wolves said that "We have had some initial discussions in Budapest with the officials of Ujpest. We touched on the issues of loaning players, academies and sharing of best practice on and off the field."  Újpest approached Roland Duchâtelet to become the owner of the club. Although Roland refused the club's offer, he suggested his son to be the proprietor of Újpest. Roland Duchâtelet is the owner of the FC Carl Zeiss Jena and former owner of the Standard Liège, AD Alcorcón and Charlton Athletic F.C.  On 19 October 2011, Roderick Duchâtelet, former director of Germinal Beerschot, bought 95% of the shares of the City Budapest Zrt.  Roderick Duchâtelet said that he indtends to bring back the glory of the 1970s.  On 27 October 2011, Csaba Bartha, managing director of Újpest FC, confirmed that the club received 150 million Hungarian forint from Roderick Duchâtelet.

Supporters.

Supporters of Újpest are mainly from the fourth district of Budapest, the eponymous Újpest. Due to the success in the 1970s, the club gained supporters from all over Budapest and the country.  On May 4, 2007, Újpest were deprived of three points in the 2006–07 Hungarian League season due to racist chanting during their home match against Debrecen. Újpest's official, Szilárd Dányi said "I would ask all of our supporters to think about all factors when they appraise the situation and try to create an atmosphere at matches so that this never happens again. I discussed the topic with the owner and we decided to accept the decision."  Gábor Szerencsi (student at NKE)

Rivalries.

Újpest are in rivalry with several teams from Budapest including Ferencváros, MTK Budapest, Budapest Honvéd and several provincial clubs such as Debrecen and Diósgyőr. Since Újpest have been the third most successful club of the Hungarian Football history by winning 20 Hungarian League titles and 9 Hungarian Cup titles and the most successful Hungarian club in the European football competitions in the 1970s every club in the Hungarian League wants to defeat them. The rivalry with Ferencváros dates back to 1930s when Újpest won their first Hungarian League title. Since then the fixture between the two teams attracts the most spectators in the dometistic league. The matches between the two team often ends in violence which causes big trouble for the Hungarian football. The proposal of personal registration was refused by both clubs.

Újpest Football Club () is a Hungarian professional football club, based in Újpest, Budapest, that competes in Nemzeti Bajnokság I.

L'Újpest Football Club est un club de football hongrois basé à Budapest, section du club omnisports Újpesti Torna Egylet. L'actionnaire majoritaire du club est Roderick Duchâtelet, fils de Roland Duchâtelet, ancien président du Standard de Liège.


History.

Vasas first entered the Nemzeti Bajnokság I in the 1916–17 season. Since then the club have managed to win seven titles. The club's most successful period has been between 1957 and 1966. During this period they won the Hungarian league five times.

Crest and colours.

Manufacturers and shirt sponsors.

The following table shows in detail Vasas SC kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors by year:

Stadium.

Vasas played their home matches in the Illovszky Rudolf Stadion located in the 13th district of Budapest between 1960 and 2016. The stadium capacity was 9,000. The last match was played between Vasas SS and Videoton FC in the 2016–17 Nemzeti Bajnokság I on 29 October 2016. As part of the Hungarian Football Stadium Reconstruction Program, the stadium was demolished in 2016 and a brand new stadium was built in its place. On 5 July 2019 the new stadium was opened. The first match was played by Vasas SC and FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda which was won by the hosts 2–0. On 11 July 2019 the first international match was played between Budapest Honvéd FC and FK Žalgiris in the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase. The match was won by the hosts 3–1.

Ownership.

On 4 January 2017 it was announced that János Jámbor bought 99% of the shares of the Vasas FC.

Twin teams.

On 18 May 2016 a cooperation was announced between Vasas Kubala Akadémia and Eredivisie club SBV Vitesse. According to the cooperation, the two club have a common showcase, take part in a common conference and education. Gerry Hamstra said that it is very important for the Dutch club to initiate new cooperations in this region.

Trivia.

János Kádár, HSWP First Secretary and Hungarian leader from 1956 until 1988, was a supporter of Vasas. A working-class man, Kádár had played in the team when young and was its president for a short period in the mid-1950s (when, after being released from prison, Kádár was party secretary in Budapest 13th district, where the team is based). During the 1960s, it was not uncommon to see Kádár in the crowd during Vasas games. Unlike some of his Eastern Europe counterparts, though, Kádár did not use his position to favor his team, nor did he allow Hungarian officials to interfere in football as it was common in other bloc countries.

Vasas SC () is one of Hungary's major sports clubs. Most of its facilities are situated in Budapest's 13th district in the north of the town. Members of the "Hungarian Union of Iron Workers" founded the club as "Vas-és Fémmunkások Sport Clubja", the "Sport Club of Iron and Metal Workers", on 16 March 1911. The club colours are red and blue.

Le Budapesti Vasas SC est un club omnisports hongrois basé à Budapest. Cet article concerne la section football. Pour la section water-polo, voir Vasas Sport Club (water-polo). Pour la section handball féminin, voir Vasas SC (handball).


History.

The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited, probably briefly, by humans 200,000 years ago during the Aveley interglacial as evidenced by a Middle Paleolithic Acheulean hand axe found near Hopton.  Further occupation came with the Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic periods of the Stone Age when Mesolithic hunter gatherers roamed the hilly tundra. Evidence of these nomadic tribes has been found in limestone caves located on the Nottinghamshire border. Deposits left in the caves date the occupancy at around 12,000 to 7,000 BCE. Burial mounds of Neolithic settlers are also situated throughout the county. These chambered tombs were designed for collective burial and are mostly located in the central Derbyshire region. There are tombs at Minninglow and Five Wells that date back to between 2000 and 2500 BCE. Three miles west of Youlgreave lies the Neolithic henge monument of Arbor Low, which has been dated to 2500 BCE.  It is not until the Bronze Age that real signs of agriculture and settlement are found in the county. In the moors of the Peak District signs of clearance, arable fields and hut circles were discovered after archaeological investigation. However this area and another settlement at Swarkestone are all that have been found.  During the Roman invasion the invaders were attracted to Derbyshire because of the lead ore in the limestone hills of the area. They settled throughout the county with forts built near Brough in the Hope Valley and near Glossop. Later they settled around Buxton, famed for its warm springs, and set up a fort near modern-day Derby in an area now known as Little Chester.  Several kings of Mercia are buried in the Repton area.  Following the Norman Conquest, much of the county was subject to the forest laws. To the northwest was the Forest of High Peak under the custodianship of William Peverel and his descendants. The rest of the county was bestowed upon Henry de Ferrers, a part of it becoming Duffield Frith. In time the whole area was given to the Duchy of Lancaster. Meanwhile, the Forest of East Derbyshire covered the whole county to the east of the River Derwent from the reign of Henry II to that of Edward I.

Geography.

Most of Derbyshire consists of rolling hills and uplands, with the southern Pennines extending from the north of Derby throughout the Peak District and into the north of the county, reaching the county's highest point at Kinder Scout. The south and east of the county are generally lower around the valley of the River Trent, the Coal Measures, and the areas of clay and sandstones between the Peak District and the south west of the county. The main rivers in the county are the River Derwent and the River Dove which both join the River Trent in the south. The River Derwent rises in the moorland of Bleaklow and flows throughout the Peak District and county for the majority of its course, while the River Dove rises in Axe Edge Moor and forms a boundary between Derbyshire and Staffordshire for most of its length.

Landscape character.

The varied landscapes within Derbyshire have been formed mainly as a consequence of the underlying geology, but also by the way the land has been managed and shaped by human activity. The county contains 11 discrete landscape types, known as National Character Areas, which have been described in detail by Natural England and further refined, mapped and described by Derbyshire County Council and the Peak District National Park.  The 11 National Character Areas found within Derbyshire are:

Geology.

From a geological perspective, Derbyshire's solid geology can be split into two very different halves. The oldest rocks occur in the northern, more upland half of the county, and are mostly of Carboniferous age, comprising limestones, gritstones, sandstones and shales. In its north-east corner to the east of Bolsover there are also Magnesian Limestone rocks of Permian age. In contrast, the southern and more lowland half of Derbyshire contains much softer rocks, mainly mudstones and sandstones of Permo-Triassic age, which create gentler, more rolling landscapes with few rock outcrops. Across both regions can be found drift deposits of Quaternary age – mainly terrace and river gravel deposits and boulder clays. Landslip features are found on unstable layers of sandstones and shales, with Mam Tor and Alport Castles being the most well-known. Cemented screes and tufa deposits occur very rarely in the limestone dales and rivers, whilst cave systems have been created naturally in the limestone since Pleistocene times. The recent discovery of a system near Castleton, named Titan, is now known to have the deepest shaft and biggest chamber of any cave in Britain.  The oldest rocks are Lower Carboniferous limestones of Dinantian age, which form the core of the White Peak within the Peak District National Park. Because northern Derbyshire is effectively an uplifted dome of rock layers which have subsequently eroded back to expose older rocks in the centre of that dome, these are encircled by progressively younger limestone rocks until they in turn give way on three sides to Upper Carboniferous shales, gritstones and sandstones of Namurian age.  Younger still are the sandstones, shales and coal deposits found on the eastern flank of Derbyshire, forming the Coal Measures, which are of Westphalian age. All these rock layers disappear south of a line drawn between Ashbourne and Derby under layers of clays and sandstones (Mercia Mudstone Group and Sherwood Sandstones) of Permo-Triassic age. Small amounts of carboniferous limestones, gritstones and coal measures reappear in the far south of Derbyshire from Ticknall (limestone) to Swadlincote (coal measures). Some areas of the White Peak exhibit contemporaneous basalt flows (e.g. Ravens Tor at Millers Dale), as well as subsequent dolerite sill intrusion at a much later stage (e.g.near Tideswell Dale), whilst mineralisation of the carboniferous limestone in a subsequent period created extensive lead and fluorite deposits which have formed a significant part of Derbyshire's economy, as did coal mining. Lead mining has been important here since Roman Times. The much more recent river gravels of the Trent valley remain a significant extractive industry today in south Derbyshire, as does the mining of limestone rock in central and northern parts of the county. Coarse sandstones were once extensively quarried both for local building materials and for the production of gritstone grinding wheels for use in mills, and both former industries have left their mark on the Derbyshire landscape.

Green belts.

As well as the protections afforded to the Peak District area with national and local policies, there are several green belts within the county which aim to preserve the landscape surrounding main urban areas. There are four such areas, the first three being portions of much larger green belts that extend outside the county and surround large conurbations:

Ecology.

Because of its central location in England, and its altitude range from 27 metres in the south to 636 metres in the north, Derbyshire contains many species at the edge of their UK distribution ranges. Some species with a predominantly northern British distribution are at the southern limit of their range, whilst others with a more southern distribution are at their northern limit in Derbyshire. As climate change progresses, a number of sensitive species are now being seen to be either expanding or contracting their range as a result. For the purposes of protecting and recording the county's most important habitats, Derbyshire has been split into two regions, each with its own Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), based around National Character Areas. The Peak District BAP includes all of Derbyshire's uplands of the Dark Peak, South-West Peak and White Peak, including area of limestone beyond the national park boundary. The remaining areas are monitored and recorded in the Lowland Derbyshire Biodiversity Action Plan, which subdivides the landscape into eight smaller Action Areas.  The Derbyshire Biological Records Centre was formerly based at Derby Museum & Art Gallery, but since 2011 has been managed by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. Two of Englands 48 Local Nature Partnerships (LNP) also cover Derbyshire; these are the Peak District LNP and the Lowland Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire LNP.

Botany.

Since 2002, the county flower for Derbyshire has been Jacob's-ladder ("Polemonium caeruleum"), a relatively rare species, and very characteristic of certain limestone dales in the White Peak. Derbyshire is known to have contained 1,919 separate taxa of vascular plants (including species, hybrids and micro-species) since modern recording began, of which 1,133 are known to be either native or archaeophyte, the remainder being non-native species. These comprise 336 established species, 433 casuals and 17 unassigned. It is known that 34 species of plants once native here have been lost from Derbyshire (i.e. become locally extinct) since modern plant recording began in the 17th century. Derbyshire contains two endemic vascular plants, found nowhere else in the world: "Rubus durescens", occurring in central Derbyshire, and Derby hawkweed ("Hieracium naviense"), still known only from Winnats Pass. One endemic species of moss, Derbyshire Feather Moss, occurs in one small 3-metre patch in just one Derbyshire limestone dale, its sole world location intentionally kept confidential.  The distribution and status of vascular plants in Derbyshire have been recorded over the last 120 years in a series of four major botanical works, each by different authors between 1889 and 2015, but all entitled "The Flora of Derbyshire". Plant recording is mainly undertaken locally by volunteers from the Derbyshire Flora Group, and by staff at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and the Peak District National Park.  The Dark Peak is characterised by heathlands, bogs, gritstone edges and acid grasslands containing relatively few species, with plants such as heather ("Calluna vulgaris"), crowberry ("Empetrum nigrum"), bilberry ("Vaccinium myrtillus") and hare's-tail cotton grass ("Eriophorum vaginatum") being dominant on the high moors. The dales of the White Peak are known for habitats such as calcareous grassland, ash woodlands and rock outcrops in all of which a much greater richness of lime-loving species occurs than elsewhere in the county. These include various orchids (such as early purple orchid ("Orchis mascula"), dark-red helleborine ("Epipactis atrorubens") and fly orchid ("Ophrys insectifera")), common rockrose ("Helianthemum nummularium"), spring cinquefoil ("Helianthemum nummularium") and grass of parnassus ("Parnassia palustris"). Specialised communities of plants occur on former lead workings, where typical metallophyte species include spring sandwort ("Minuartia verna"), alpine penny-cress ("Thlaspi caerulescens") (both known locally in Derbyshire as Leadwort), as well as mountain pansy ("Viola lutea") and moonwort ("Botrychium lunaria").  As at 2015, Derbyshire contains 304 vascular plant species now designate as either of international, national or local conservation concern because of their rarity or recent declines, and are collectively listed as Derbyshire Red Data plants. Work on recording and publishing a bryophyte flora for Derbyshire is still ongoing; as at 2012 a total of 518 bryophyte species had been recorded for the county.  Botanical recording in the UK predominantly uses the unchanging vice-county boundary system, which results in a slightly different map of Derbyshire from the modern geographic county.

Zoology.

A number of specialist organisations protect, promote and monitor records of individual animal groups across Derbyshire. The main ones are Derbyshire Ornithological Society; Derbyshire Mammal Group; Derbyshire Bat Group, Derbyshire Amphibian and Reptile Group, and the Derbyshire & Nottingham Entomological Society. All maintain databases of wildlife sightings, whilst some such as the Derbyshire Ornithological Society provide alerts of rare sightings on their websites or social media pages, and also publish major works describing the status and distribution of species.

Economy.

Derbyshire has a mixture of a rural economy in the west, with a former coal mining economy in the northeast (Bolsover district), the Erewash Valley around Ilkeston and in the south around Swadlincote. The rural landscape varies from arable farmland in the flat lands to the south of Derby, to upland pasture and moorland in the high gritstone uplands of the southern Pennines.  Derbyshire is rich in natural mineral resources such as lead, iron, coal, and limestone, which have been exploited over a long period—lead, for example, has been mined since Roman times. The limestone outcrops in the central area led to the establishment of large quarries to supply the industries of the surrounding towns with lime for building and steelmaking, and latterly in the 20th century cement manufacture. The industrial revolution also increased demand for building stone, and in the late 19th and early 20th century the railways' arrival led to a large number of stone quarries being established. This industry has left its mark on the countryside but is still a major industry: a lot of the stone is supplied as crushed stone for road building and concrete manufacture, and is moved by rail. Derbyshire's relative remoteness in the late 18th century and an abundance of fast-flowing streams led to a proliferation of the use of hydropower at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, following the mills pioneered by Richard Arkwright. Derbyshire has been said to be the home of the Industrial Revolution, and part of the Derwent Valley has been given World Heritage status in acknowledgement of this historic importance.  Nationally famous companies in Derbyshire include Rolls Royce, one of the world's leading aerospace companies, based since before World War I in Derby, Thorntons just south of Alfreton and Toyota, who have one of the UK's largest car manufacturing plants at Burnaston. Ashbourne Water used to be bottled in Buxton by Nestlé Waters UK until 2006 and Buxton Water still is.

Governance.

The county is divided into eleven constituencies for the election of members of parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. As of December 2019, nine constituencies are represented by Conservative MPs, whilst the remaining two are represented by Labour MPs.  Derbyshire has a three-tier local government since the local government reorganisation in 1974. It has a county council based in Matlock and eight district councils and since 1997, a unitary authority area of the City of Derby. Derby remains part of Derbyshire only for ceremonial purposes.  Derbyshire has become fractionally smaller during government reorganisation over the years. The Sheffield suburbs Woodseats, Beauchief, Handsworth, Woodhouse, Norton, Mosborough, Totley, Bradway and Dore were previously parts of the county, but were lost to Sheffield between 1900 and 1933, and Mosborough transferred in 1967. Marple Bridge was transferred to the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in Greater Manchester. However, Derbyshire gained part of the Longdendale valley and Tintwistle from Cheshire in 1974. The current area of the geographic/ceremonial county of Derbyshire is only 4.7 square kilometres less than it was over 100 years ago.  At the third tier are the parish councils, which do not cover all areas. The eight district councils in Derbyshire and the unitary authority of Derby are shown in the map above.  These district councils are responsible for local planning and building control, local roads, council housing, environmental health, markets and fairs, refuse collection and recycling, cemeteries and crematoria, leisure services, parks, and tourism. Education, social services, libraries, main roads, public transport, policing and fire services, Trading Standards, waste disposal and strategic planning are the responsibility of the County Council. Although Derbyshire is in the East Midlands, some parts, such as High Peak (which incorporated former areas of Cheshire after boundary changes in 1974), are closer to the northern cities of Manchester and Sheffield and these parts do receive services which are more affiliated with northern England; for example, the North West Ambulance Service, Granada Television and United Utilities serve the High Peak and some NHS Trusts within this region are governed by the Greater Manchester Health Authority. Outside the main city of Derby, the largest town in the county is Chesterfield.

Education.

The Derbyshire school system is comprehensive with no selective schools. The independent sector includes Repton School, Ockbrook School, Trent College and The Elms School.

Settlements.

There are several towns in the county with Derby being the largest and most populous. At the time of the 2011 census, a population of 770,600 lived in the county with 248,752 (32%) living in Derby. The table below shows all towns with over 10,000 inhabitants.

Historic areas.

Some settlements which were historically part of the county now fall under the counties of Greater Manchester, Leicestershire, South Yorkshire, and Staffordshire:

Sport.

Derbyshire has one Football League team, Derby County, who play in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The next highest-placed team is Chesterfield, who participate in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. There are also many non-league teams playing throughout the county, most notably Alfreton Town, who play in the National League North. The county is currently home to the world's oldest football club, Sheffield F.C., who play in Dronfield in north-east Derbyshire. Glossop was the smallest town in the country to have a football team in the top tier of English football, Glossop North End. Derbyshire also has a cricket team based at the County Cricket Ground. Derbyshire County Cricket Club currently play in Division Two of the County Championship. There are also rugby league clubs based in the north of the county, the North Derbyshire Chargers and in Derby (Derby City RLFC). The county has numerous rugby union clubs, including Derby, Matlock, Ilkeston, Ashbourne, Bakewell and Amber Valley.  The county is a popular area for a variety of recreational sports such as rock climbing, hill walking, hang gliding, caving, sailing on its many reservoirs, and cycling along the many miles of disused rail tracks that have been turned into cycle trails, such as the Monsal Trail and High Peak Trail.  The town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire is known for its Royal Shrovetide Football, described as a "Medieval football game", played annually on Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.  Derbyshire is also host to one of the only community Muggle quidditch teams in the country, known as Derby Union Quidditch Club. The Club recruits players from the age of 16 upwards from all over Derby, and have representatives from most local sixth forms and the University of Derby. The team has competed against both the Leeds Griffins and the Leicester Lovegoods in the past and is part of the vibrant UK quidditch scene. It is also an official International Quidditch Association team.

Local attractions.

The county of Derbyshire has many attractions for both tourists and local people. The county offers Peak District scenery such as Mam Tor and Kinder Scout, and more metropolitan attractions such as Bakewell, Buxton and Derby. Local places of interest include Bolsover Castle, Castleton, Chatsworth House, National Tramway Museum at Crich, Peak Rail steam railway, Midland Railway steam railway, Dovedale, Haddon Hall, the Heights of Abraham and Matlock Bath.  In the north of the county, three large reservoirs, Howden, Derwent and Ladybower, were built during the early part of the 20th century to supply the rapidly growing populations of Sheffield, Derby and Leicester with drinking water. The moorland catchment area around these is part of the Peak District National Park and is extensively used for leisure pursuits such as walking and cycling.  There are many properties and lands in the care of the National Trust that are open to the public, such as Calke Abbey, Hardwick Hall, High Peak Estate, Ilam Park, Kedleston Hall, Longshaw Estate near Hathersage, and Sudbury Hall on the Staffordshire border.  Notable gardens in Derbyshire include the formal gardens in the 17th–18th-century French style at Melbourne Hall south of Derby, the listed garden at Renishaw Hall near Eckington, Lea Rhododendron Gardens near Matlock, the Royal Horticultural Society recommended Bluebell Arboretum near Swadlincote, and the extensive gardens at Chatsworth House.

County emblems.

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Jacob's-ladder as the county flower.  In September 2006, a proposal for a county flag was introduced, largely on the initiative of BBC Radio Derby. The flag consists of a white-bordered dark green cross encompassing a golden Tudor rose (an historical symbol of the county) all set in a blue field. The blue field represents the many waters of the county, its rivers and reservoirs, while the cross is green to mark the great areas of countryside. The flag was subsequently registered with the Flag Institute as the flag of Derbyshire in September 2008.  In 2015, BBC Radio Derby commissioned a Derbyshire anthem, entitled "Our Derbyshire", including lyrics suggested by its listeners. It received its first performance on 17 September 2015 at Derby Cathedral.

Demographics.

In 1801 the population was 147,481 According to the UK Census 2001 there were 956,301 people spread out over the county's 254,615 hectares. This was estimated to have risen to 990,400 in 2006.  The county's population grew by 3.0% from 1991 to 2001 which is around 21,100 people. This figure is higher than the national average of 2.65% but lower than the East Midlands average of 4.0%. The county as a whole has an average population density of 2.9 people per hectare making it less densely populated than England as a whole. The density varies considerably throughout the county with the lowest being in the region of Derbyshire Dales at 0.88, and highest outside of the main cities in the region of Erewash which has 10.04 people per hectare.

In literature and popular culture.

In Jane Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice", Pemberley—the country home of Fitzwilliam Darcy—is situated in Derbyshire. In that novel, Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is named as one of the estates Elizabeth Bennet visits before arriving at Pemberley. In the 2005 film adaptation of the novel, Chatsworth House itself represents Pemberley. In one scene characters discuss visits to Matlock and Dovedale.  Sir Walter Scott's 1823 novel "Peveril of the Peak" is partly set in Derbyshire.  The events of Tom Stoppard's play "Arcadia" take place in the fictional country house of Sidley Park in Derbyshire.  Alfreton is mentioned in the novel "Sons and Lovers" by D. H. Lawrence, when a character gets a train to Alfreton and walks to Crich to see a lover.  George Eliot's novel "Adam Bede" is set in a fictional town based on Wirksworth.  Georgette Heyer's detective/romance novel "The Toll-Gate" is set in 1817 around a fictional toll-gate in Derbyshire.  The 1969 film "Women in Love" by Ken Russell had various scenes filmed in and around Elvaston Castle, most notably the Greco-Roman wrestling scene, which was filmed in the castle's Great Hall.  The 1986 film "Lady Jane" by Trevor Nunn, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes, has scenes filmed at Haddon Hall.  The 1987 film "The Princess Bride" by Rob Reiner, starring Robin Wright and Cary Elwes, was partly filmed in Derbyshire. It included scenes at Haddon Hall and in the White Peak and Dark Peak.  The 1988 film "The Lair of the White Worm" by Ken Russell, starring Hugh Grant, was filmed in Derbyshire. The opening title sequence is of Thor's Cave in the Manifold valley.  The 1993–2002 TV series "Peak Practice" was set in Crich and Fritchley, except for the twelfth and final series, and originally starred Kevin Whately and Amanda Burton. In 2003 an unrelated and less successful medical TV drama, "Sweet Medicine", was mostly filmed in the historic market town of Wirksworth.  Other Derbyshire locations in which British TV scenes have been filmed include:

Derbyshire () is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire, containing the southern extremity of the Pennine range of hills which extend into the north of the county. The county contains part of the National Forest, and borders on Greater Manchester to the northwest, West Yorkshire to the north, South Yorkshire to the northeast, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the southeast, Staffordshire to the west and southwest and Cheshire also to the west. Kinder Scout, at 636 metres (2,087 ft), is the highest point in the county, whilst Trent Meadows, where the River Trent leaves Derbyshire, is its lowest point at 27 metres (89 ft). The River Derwent is the county's longest river at 66 miles (106 km), and runs roughly north to south through the county. In 2003 the Ordnance Survey placed Church Flatts Farm at Coton in the Elms (near Swadlincote) as the furthest point from the sea in Great Britain.

Le Derbyshire est un comté rattaché à la région des Midlands de l'Est, en Angleterre. Réputé pour ses paysages attrayants, il comprend la plus grande partie du parc national de Peak District, la chaîne des Pennines dans sa partie nord et une partie de la forêt nationale. Alors que 13 villes dépassent les à habitants, il existe une grande quantité de terres agricoles peu peuplées : 75 % de la population habite 25 % du territoire. Il a des frontières avec le comté métropolitain du Grand-Manchester, le Yorkshire de l'Ouest, le Yorkshire du Sud, le Nottinghamshire, le Leicestershire, le Staffordshire et le Cheshire.