Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as described in the New Testament. Its adherents, known as Christians, believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and savior of all people, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Depending on the specific denomination of Christianity, practices may include baptism, prayer, confirmation, burial rites, marriage rites and the religious education of children. Most denominations hold regular group worship services. Christianity developed during the 1st century CE as a Jewish Christian sect of Second Temple Judaism, it soon attracted Gentile God-fearers, which lead to a departure from Jewish customs, the establishment of Christianity as an independent religion. During the first centuries of its existence Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, to Ethiopia and some parts of Asia. Constantine the Great decriminalized it via the Edict of Milan; the First Council of Nicaea established a uniform set of beliefs across the Roman Empire.
By 380, the Roman Empire designated Christianity as the state religion. The period of the first seven ecumenical councils is sometimes referred to as the Great Church, the united full communion of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, before their schisms. Oriental Orthodoxy split after the Council of Chalcedon over differences in Christology; the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church separated in the East–West Schism over the authority of the Pope. In 1521, Protestants split from the Catholic Church in the Protestant Reformation over Papal primacy, the nature of salvation, other ecclesiological and theological disputes. Following the Age of Discovery, Christianity was spread into the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, the rest of the world via missionary work and colonization. There are 2.3 billion Christians in the world, or 31.4% of the global population. Today, the four largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy.
Christianity and Christian ethics have played a prominent role in the development of Western civilization around Europe during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. In the New Testament, the names by which the disciples were known among themselves were "brethren", "the faithful", "elect", "saints" and "believers". Early Jewish Christians referred to themselves as'The Way' coming from Isaiah 40:3, "prepare the way of the Lord." According to Acts 11:26, the term "Christian" was first used in reference to Jesus's disciples in the city of Antioch, meaning "followers of Christ," by the non-Jewish inhabitants of Antioch. The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD. While Christians worldwide share basic convcitions, there are differences of interpretations and opinions of the Bible and sacred traditions on which Christianity is based. Concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds, they began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith.
The Apostles' Creed is the most accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is used by a number of Christian denominations for both liturgical and catechetical purposes, most visibly by liturgical churches of Western Christian tradition, including the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism and Western Rite Orthodoxy, it is used by Presbyterians and Congregationalists. This particular creed was developed between the 9th centuries, its central doctrines are those of God the Creator. Each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period; the creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Its main points include: Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Holy Spirit The death, descent into hell and ascension of Christ The holiness of the Church and the communion of saints Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful; the Nicene Creed was formulated in response to Arianism, at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431.
The Chalcedonian Definition, or Creed of Chalcedon, developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox churches, taught Christ "to be acknowledged in two natures, unchangeably, inseparably": one divine and one human, that both natures, while perfect in themselves, are also united into one person. The Athanasian Creed, received in the Western Church as having the same status as the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, Trinity in Unity. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith while agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. Most Baptists do not use creeds "in that they have not sought to establish binding
Altiplano
The Altiplano, Andean Plateau or Bolivian Plateau, in west-central South America, is the area where the Andes are the widest. It is the most extensive area of high plateau on Earth outside Tibet; the bulk of the Altiplano lies in Bolivia, but its northern parts lie in Peru, its southern parts lie in Chile and Argentina. The plateau hosts several cities of these four nations, including El Alto, La Paz and Puno; the northeastern Altiplano is more humid than the southwestern area. The latter area has salt flats, due to its aridity. At the Bolivia -- Peru border lies the largest lake in South America. South of that in Bolivia was Lake Poopó, declared dried up and defunct as of December 2015, it is unclear. The Altiplano was the site of several pre-Columbian cultures, including the Chiripa and the Inca Empire. Spain conquered the region in the 16th century. Major economic activities in the Altiplano include mining and vicuña herding, services in the cities. There is some international tourism; the Altiplano is an area of inland drainage lying in the central Andes, occupying parts of northern Chile and Argentina, western Bolivia and southern Peru.
Its height averages about 3,750 meters less than that of the Tibetan Plateau. Unlike conditions in Tibet, the Altiplano is dominated by massive active volcanoes of the Central Volcanic Zone to the west, such as Ampato, Parinacota, Paruma and Licancabur, the Cordillera Real in the north east with Illampu, Huayna Potosí, Janq'u Uma and Illimani; the Atacama Desert, one of the driest areas on the planet, lies to the southwest of the Altiplano. The Altiplano is noted for hypoxic air caused by high elevation. At various times during the Pleistocene epoch, both the southern and northern Altiplano were covered by vast pluvial lakes. Remnants are Lake Titicaca, straddling the Peru–Bolivia border, Poopó, a salt lake that extends south of Oruro, Bolivia. Salar de Uyuni, locally known as Salar de Tunupa, Salar de Coipasa are two large dry salt flats formed after the Altiplano paleolakes dried out; the term Altiplano is sometimes used to identify the altitude zone and the type of climate that prevails within it: it is colder than that of the tierra fría but not as cold as that of the tierra helada.
Scientists classify the latter as commencing at an elevation of 4,500 meters. Alternate names used in place of altiplano in this context páramos. In extentum, the climate is cool and humid to semi-arid and arid, with mean annual temperatures that vary from 3 °C near the western mountain range to 12 °C near Lake Titicaca; the diurnal cycle of temperature is wide, with maximum temperatures in the order of 12 to 24 °C and the minimum in the order of -20 to 10 °C. The coldest temperatures occur in the southwestern portion of the Altiplano during the months of June and July, which correspond to the austral winter; the seasonal cycle of rainfall is marked, with the rainy season concentrated between December and March. The rest of the year tends to be dry, cool and sunny. Snowfall may happen between April and September to the north, but it is not common. Several mechanisms have been put forth for the formation of the Altiplano plateau; such weaknesses would cause the partition of tectonic deformation and uplift into the eastern and western cordillera, leaving the necessary space for the formation of the altiplano basin.
Magmatic processes rooted in the asthenosphere might have contributed to uplift of the plateau Climate has controlled the spatial distribution of erosion and sediment deposition, controlling the lubrication along the subducting Nazca Plate and hence influencing the transmission of tectonic forces into South America. Climate determined the formation of internal drainage and sediment trapping within the Andes blocking tectonic deformation in the central area between the two cordilleras, expelling deformation towards the flanks of the orogen Convective removal of the dense lower lithosphere beneath the Altiplano caused that region to isostatically'float' higher Qulla Uros Quechua Aymara Lake Tauca Gran Chaco Guatemalan Highlands Mexican Plateau Puna de Atacama Yungas Photo Gallery: Argentinian Puna Water resources of Chilean Altiplano Steinmetz, George. "Altiplano - Where Bolivia meets the sky". National Geographic Magazine
Monogamy
Monogamy is a form of relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime — alternately, only one partner at any one time — as compared to non-monogamy. The term is applied to the social behavior of some animals, referring to the state of having only one mate at any one time; the word monogamy derives from the Greek μονός, γάμος, gamos. The term "monogamy" may be referring depending upon context. There are four overlapping definitions. Marital monogamy refers to marriages of only two people. Social monogamy refers to two partners living together, having sex with each other, cooperating in acquiring basic resources such as shelter and money. Sexual monogamy refers to two partners remaining sexually exclusive with each other and having no outside sex partners. Genetic monogamy refers to sexually monogamous relationships with genetic evidence of paternity. For instance, biological anthropologists, behavioral ecologists use monogamy in the sense of sexual, if not genetic, exclusivity.
When cultural or social anthropologists and other social scientists use the term monogamy, the meaning is social or marital monogamy. Marital monogamy may be further distinguished between: classical monogamy, "a single relationship between people who marry as virgins, remain sexually exclusive their entire lives, become celibate upon the death of the partner" serial monogamy, marriage with only one other person at a time, in contrast to bigamy or polygamy. However, this does not take into account the relative population of each of the societies studied, the actual practice of polygamy in a tolerant society may be low, with the majority of aspirant polygamists practicing monogamous marriage. Divorce and remarriage can thus result in "serial monogamy", i.e. multiple marriages but only one legal spouse at a time. This can be interpreted as a form of plural mating, as are those societies dominated by female-headed families in the Caribbean and Brazil where there is frequent rotation of unmarried partners.
In all, these account for 16 to 24% of the "monogamous" category. The prevalence of sexual monogamy can be estimated as the percentage of married people who do not engage in extramarital sex; the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample describes the amount of extramarital sex by men and women in over 50 pre-industrial cultures. The amount of extramarital sex by men is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 29 cultures, "occasional" in 6 cultures, "uncommon" in 10 cultures; the amount of extramarital sex by women is described as "universal" in 6 cultures, "moderate" in 23 cultures, "occasional" in 9 cultures, "uncommon" in 15 cultures. These findings support the claim that the reported amount of extramarital sex differs across cultures and across genders. Surveys conducted in non-Western nations found cultural and gender differences in extramarital sex. A study of sexual behavior in Thailand, Tanzania and Côte d'Ivoire suggests about 16–34% of men engage in extramarital sex while a much smaller percentage of women engage in extramarital sex.
Studies in Nigeria have found around 47–53% of men and to 18–36% of women engage in extramarital sex. A 1999 survey of married and cohabiting couples in Zimbabwe reports that 38% of men and 13% of women engaged in extra-couple sexual relationships within the last 12 months. Many surveys asking about extramarital sex in the United States have relied on convenience samples: surveys given to whoever happens to be available. Convenience samples do not reflect the population of the United States as a whole, which can cause serious biases in survey results, it should not be surprising, that surveys of extramarital sex in the United States have produced differing results. These studies reported that 12–26% of married women and 15–43% of married men engaged in extramarital sex; the only way to get scientifically reliable estimates of extramarital sex is to use nationally representative samples. Three studies have used nationally representative samples; these studies found that about 10 -- 15 % of 20 -- 25 % of men engage in extramarital sex.
Research by Colleen Hoffon of 566 homosexual male couples from the San Francisco Bay Area found that 45% had monogamous relationships. However, the Human Rights Campaign has stated, based on a Rockway Institute report, that "GLBT young people… want to spend their adult life in a long-term relationship raising children." Over 80% of the homosexuals surveyed expected to be in a monogamous relationship after age 30. The incidence of genetic monogamy may be estimated from rates of extrapair paternity. Extrapair paternity is when offspring raised by a monogamous pair come from the female mating with another male. Rates of extrapair paternity have not been extensively studied in people. Many reports of extrapair paternity are little more than quotes based on hearsay and unpublished findings. Simmons, Firman and Peters reviewed 11 published studies of extra-pair paternity from various locations in the United States, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and among the native Yanomami Indians of Amazon forest in South America.
The rates of extrapair paternity ranged from 0.03% to 11.8% although most of the locations had low percentages of extrapair paternity. The median rate of ext
Chicha
In South and Central America, chicha is a fermented or non-fermented beverage derived from grains, maize, or fruit. Chicha includes corn beer, known as chicha de jora, non-alcoholic beverages such as chicha morada. Archaeobotanists have found evidence for chicha made from maize, the fruit of Schinus molle and Prosopis pods. Chichas can be made from quinoa, kañiwa, manioc root, palm fruit, Oxalis tuberosa, chañar or various other fruits. While chicha is most associated with maize, the word is used in the Andes for any homemade fermented drink, many unfermented drinks. Many different maize landraces, grains or fruits have been and can be used to make chicha in different regions; the way in which chicha is made and defined is to change depending on the region. The exact origin of the word chicha is debated. One belief is that the word chicha is of Taino origin and became a generic term used by the Spanish to define any and all fermented beverages brewed by indigenous peoples in the Americas, it is possible that one of the first uses of the term chicha was from a group of people who lived in Colombia and Panama, the Kuna.
However, according to the Real Academia Española and other authors, the word chicha comes from the Kuna word chichab, or "chiab" which means maize. According to Don Luis G. Iza it comes from the Nahuatl word chichiatl, which means "fermented water"; these etymologies are not mutually exclusive. The common Spanish expression Ni chicha ni limonada is equivalent to the English "neither fish nor fowl". Thus, it is used when something is not placed into a category. Chicha de jora is a corn beer prepared by germinating maize, extracting the malt sugars, boiling the wort, fermenting it in large vessels, traditionally huge earthenware vats, for several days; the brewer makes chicha in large amounts and uses many of these clay vats to do so. These vats break down and can only be used a few times; the brewers can arrange their vessels with fires in the middle, to reduce heat loss. The process for making chicha is the same as the process for the production of malted barley beer, it is traditionally made with a type of malted corn from the Andes.
The specific type or combination of corn used in the making of chicha de jora shows where it was made. Some add other adjuncts to give it consistency. During the boiling process, the chicha is aerated so as to prevent overboiling. Chancaca, a hard form of sugar, helps with the fermentation process. Other ways of making chicha include having people chew the corn spit it into water and letting the mixture ferment for a few weeks. After the milling of the corn and the brewing of the drink, the chicha is sieved. Traditionally, it is sieved through a large cloth; this is to separate the corn from the desired chicha. In some cultures, instead of germinating the maize to release the starches therein, the maize is ground, moistened in the chicha maker's mouth, formed into small balls, which are flattened and laid out to dry. Occurring ptyalin enzymes in the maker's saliva catalyses the breakdown of starch in the maize into maltose; this process of chewing grains or other starches was used in the production of alcoholic beverages in pre-modern cultures around the world, for example, sake in Japan.
Chicha prepared in this manner is known as chicha de muko. Chicha morada is a non-fermented chicha made from ears of purple maize, which are boiled with pineapple rind and cloves; this gives a strong, purple-colored liquid, mixed with sugar and lemon. This beverage is taken as a refreshment, but in recent years many health benefits of purple corn have been found. Chicha morada is common in Bolivian and Peruvian cultures and is drunk as an accompaniment to food. Women are most associated with the production of chicha. Men and children are still involved with the process of making chicha, but women control the production and distribution. For many women in Andean society and selling chicha is a key part of their identity because it provides a substantial amount of political power and leverage. Chicha de jora has been consumed in communities throughout in the Andes for millennia; the Inca used chicha for ritual purposes and consumed it in vast quantities during religious festivals. Mills in which it was made were found at Machu Picchu.
During the Inca Empire women were taught the techniques of brewing chicha in Aqlla Wasi. In recent years, traditionally prepared chicha is becoming rare. Only in a small number of towns and villages in Bolivia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, it is still prepared, it is still popular throughout southern Peru, sold in every small town and the residential neighborhoods of the larger cities. Sold in'chicherias' consisting of an unused room or a corner of the patio of a home, these unlicensed businesses can provide a significant boost to a family's income, they are identified by a bamboo pole sticking out the open door, adorned with flags, ribbons or colored plastic bags. Sold in large caporal glasses to be drunk on location, or by liter if taken home, chicha is sold straight from the earthenware chomba where it was brewed. On the Northern coast of Peru it is served in a dried gourd known as a Poto while in the Peruvian Andes it is served in a qero. Qeros are traditionally made from wood with intricate designs carved on the o
Nation state
A nation state is a state in which the great majority shares the same culture and is conscious of it. The nation state is an ideal. According to one definition, "a nation state is a sovereign state of which most of its subjects are united by factors which defined a nation such as language or common descent." It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may include a diaspora or refugees who live outside the nation-state. In a more general sense, a nation-state is a large, politically sovereign country or administrative territory. A nation-state may be contrasted with: A multinational state. A city-state, both smaller than a "nation" in the sense of "large sovereign country" and which may or may not be dominated by all or part of a single "nation" in the sense of a common ethnicity. An empire, composed of many countries and nations under a single monarch or ruling state government. A confederation, a league of sovereign states, which might or might not include nation-states.
A federated state which may or may not be a nation-state, and, only self-governing within a larger federation. This article discusses the more specific definition of a nation-state, as a sovereign country dominated by a particular ethnicity; the relationship between a nation and a state can be complex. The presence of a state can encourage ethnogenesis, a group with a pre-existing ethnic identity can influence the drawing of territorial boundaries or argue for political legitimacy; this definition of a "nation-state" is not universally accepted. "All attempts to develop terminological consensus around "nation" resulted in failure", concludes academic Valery Tishkov. Walker Connor discusses the impressions surrounding the characters of "nation", " state", "nation state", "nationalism". Connor, who gave the term "ethnonationalism" wide currency discusses the tendency to confuse nation and state and the treatment of all states as if nation states. In Globalization and Belonging, Sheila L. Crouche discusses "The Definitional Dilemma".
The origins and early history of nation states are disputed. A major theoretical question is: "Which came first, the nation or the nation state?" Scholars such as Steven Weber, David Woodward, Jeremy Black have advanced the hypothesis that the nation state did not arise out of political ingenuity or an unknown undetermined source, nor was it an accident of history or political invention. It was with technological advances that the nation state arose. For others, the nation existed first nationalist movements arose for sovereignty, the nation state was created to meet that demand; some "modernization theories" of nationalism see it as a product of government policies to unify and modernize an existing state. Most theories see the nation state as a 19th-century European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy and mass media. However, historians note the early emergence of a unified state and identity in Portugal and the Dutch Republic. In France, Eric Hobsbawm argues, the French state preceded the formation of the French people.
Hobsbawm considers that the state made the French nation, not French nationalism, which emerged at the end of the 19th century, the time of the Dreyfus Affair. At the time of the 1789 French Revolution, only half of the French people spoke some French, 12–13% spoke the version of it, to be found in literature and in educational facilities, according to Hobsbawm. During the Italian unification, the number of people speaking the Italian language was lower; the French state promoted the replacement of various regional dialects and languages by a centralised French language. The introduction of conscription and the Third Republic's 1880s laws on public instruction, facilitated the creation of a national identity, under this theory; some nation states, such as Germany and Italy, came into existence at least as a result of political campaigns by nationalists, during the 19th century. In both cases, the territory was divided among other states, some of them small; the sense of common identity was at first a cultural movement, such as in the Völkisch movement in German-speaking states, which acquired a political significance.
In these cases, the nationalist sentiment and the nationalist movement precede the unification of the German and Italian nation states. Historians Hans Kohn, Liah Greenfeld, Philip White and others have classified nations such as Germany or Italy, where cultural unification preceded state unification, as ethnic nations or ethnic nationalities. However, "state-driven" national unifications, such as in France, England or China, are more to flourish in multiethnic societies, producing a traditional national heritage of civic nations, or territory-based nationalities; some authors deconstruct the distinction between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism because of the ambi
Shamanism
Shamanism is a practice that involves a practitioner reaching altered states of consciousness in order to perceive and interact with what they believe to be a spirit world and channel these transcendental energies into this world. A shaman is someone, regarded as having access to, influence in, the world of benevolent and malevolent spirits, who enters into a trance state during a ritual, practices divination and healing; the word "shaman" originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia. According to ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen, "the word is attested in all of the Tungusic idioms" such as Negidal, Udehe/Orochi, Ilcha, Orok and Ulcha, "nothing seems to contradict the assumption that the meaning'shaman' derives from Proto-Tungusic" and may have roots that extend back in time at least two millennia; the term was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552. The term "shamanism" was first applied by Western anthropologists as outside observers of the ancient religion of the Turks and Mongols, as well as those of the neighbouring Tungusic- and Samoyedic-speaking peoples.
Upon observing more religious traditions across the world, some Western anthropologists began to use the term in a broad sense. The term was used to describe unrelated magico-religious practices found within the ethnic religions of other parts of Asia, Africa and completely unrelated parts of the Americas, as they believed these practices to be similar to one another. Mircea Eliade writes, "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, the least hazardous, will be: shamanism ='technique of religious ecstasy'." Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul. Alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness; the shaman enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community. Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements.
The shaman operates within the spiritual world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment. Beliefs and practices that have been categorized this way as "shamanic" have attracted the interest of scholars from a wide variety of disciplines, including anthropologists, historians, religious studies scholars and psychologists. Hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. In the 20th century, many Westerners involved in the counter-cultural movement have created modern magico-religious practices influenced by their ideas of indigenous religions from across the world, creating what has been termed neoshamanism or the neoshamanic movement, it has affected the development of many neopagan practices, as well as faced a backlash and accusations of cultural appropriation and misrepresentation when outside observers have tried to represent cultures to which they do not belong.
The word shamanism derives from the Manchu-Tungus word šaman, meaning'one who knows'. The word "shaman" may have originated from the Evenki word šamán, most from the southwestern dialect spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples; the Tungusic term was subsequently adopted by Russians interacting with the indigenous peoples in Siberia. It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum; the word was brought to Western Europe in the late 17th century by the Dutch traveler Nicolaes Witsen, who reported his stay and journeys among the Tungusic- and Samoyedic-speaking indigenous peoples of Siberia in his book Noord en Oost Tataryen. Adam Brand, a merchant from Lübeck, published in 1698 his account of a Russian embassy to China; the etymology of the Evenki word is sometimes connected to a Tungus root ša- "to know". This has been questioned on linguistic grounds: "The possibility cannot be rejected, but neither should it be accepted without reservation since the assumed derivational relationship is phonologically irregular."
Other scholars assert that the word comes directly from the Manchu language, as such would be the only used English word, a loan from this language. However, Mircea Eliade noted that the Sanskrit word śramaṇa, designating a wandering monastic or holy figure, has spread to many Central Asian languages along with Buddhism and could be the ultimate origin of the Tungusic word; this proposal has been critiqued since 1917. Ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen regards it as an "anachronism" and an "impossibility", nothing more than a "far-fetched etymology."21st-century anthropologist and archeologist Silvia Tomaskova argues that by the mid-1600s, many Europeans applied the Arabic term shaitan to the non-Christian practices and beliefs of indigenous peoples beyond the Ural Mountains. She suggests that shaman may have entered the various Tungus dialects as a corruption of this term, been told to Christian missionaries, explorers and colonial administrators with whom the people had increasing contact for centuries.
Ethnolinguists did not develop as a discipline nor achieve contact with these communities until the late 19th century, may have mistakenly "read backward" in time for the origin of this word. A shamaness is somet
Tobacco
Tobacco is a product prepared from the leaves of the tobacco plant by curing them. The plant is part of the genus Nicotiana and of the Solanaceae family. While more than 70 species of tobacco are known, the chief commercial crop is N. tabacum. The more potent variant N. rustica is used around the world. Tobacco contains the alkaloid nicotine, a stimulant, harmala alkaloids. Dried tobacco leaves are used for smoking in cigarettes, pipe tobacco, flavored shisha tobacco, they can be consumed as snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco and snus. Tobacco use is a risk factor for many diseases. In 2008, the World Health Organization named tobacco as the world's single greatest preventable cause of death; the English word "tobacco" originates from the Spanish and Portuguese word "tabaco". The precise origin of this word is disputed, but it is thought to have derived at least in part, from Taino, the Arawakan language of the Caribbean. In Taino, it was said to mean either a roll of tobacco leaves or to tabago, a kind of L-shaped pipe used for sniffing tobacco smoke.
However coincidentally, similar words in Spanish and Italian were used from 1410 to define medicinal herbs believed to have originated from the Arabic طُبّاق ṭubbāq, a word dating to the 9th century, as a name for various herbs. Tobacco has long been used in the Americas, with some cultivation sites in Mexico dating back to 1400–1000 BC. Many Native American tribes have traditionally used tobacco. Eastern North American tribes carried tobacco in pouches as a accepted trade item, as well as smoking it, both and ceremonially, such as to seal a peace treaty or trade agreement. In some populations, tobacco is seen as a gift from the Creator, with the ceremonial tobacco smoke carrying one's thoughts and prayers to the Creator. Following the arrival of the Europeans to the Americas, tobacco became popular as a trade item. Hernández de Boncalo, Spanish chronicler of the Indies, was the first European to bring tobacco seeds to the Old World in 1559 following orders of King Philip II of Spain; these seeds were planted in the outskirts of Toledo, more in an area known as "Los Cigarrales" named after the continuous plagues of cicadas.
Before the development of the lighter Virginia and white burley strains of tobacco, the smoke was too harsh to be inhaled. Small quantities were smoked at a time, using a pipe like the midwakh or kiseru or smoking newly invented waterpipes such as the bong or the hookah. Tobacco became so popular that the English colony of Jamestown used it as currency and began exporting it as a cash crop; the alleged benefits of tobacco account for its considerable success. The astronomer Thomas Harriot, who accompanied Sir Richard Grenville on his 1585 expedition to Roanoke Island, explains that the plant "openeth all the pores and passages of the body" so that the natives’ "bodies are notably preserved in health, know not many grievous diseases, wherewithal we in England are times afflicted." Tobacco smoking and snuffing became a major industry in Europe and its colonies by 1700. Tobacco has been a major cash crop in Cuba and in other parts of the Caribbean since the 18th century. Cuban cigars are world-famous.
In the late 19th century, cigarettes became popular. James Bonsack created a machine that automated cigarette production; this increase in production allowed tremendous growth in the tobacco industry until the health revelations of the late-20th century. Following the scientific revelations of the mid-20th century, tobacco became condemned as a health hazard, became encompassed as a cause for cancer, as well as other respiratory and circulatory diseases. In the United States, this led to the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, which settled the lawsuit in exchange for a combination of yearly payments to the states and voluntary restrictions on advertising and marketing of tobacco products. In the 1970s, Brown & Williamson cross-bred a strain of tobacco to produce Y1; this strain of tobacco contained an unusually high amount of nicotine, nearly doubling its content from 3.2-3.5% to 6.5%. In the 1990s, this prompted the Food and Drug Administration to use this strain as evidence that tobacco companies were intentionally manipulating the nicotine content of cigarettes.
In 2003, in response to growth of tobacco use in developing countries, the World Health Organization rallied 168 countries to sign the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The convention is designed to push for effective legislation and its enforcement in all countries to reduce the harmful effects of tobacco; this led to the development of tobacco cessation products. Many species of tobacco are in the genus of herbs Nicotiana, it is part of the nightshade family indigenous to North and South America, south west Africa, the South Pacific. Most nightshades contain varying amounts of a powerful neurotoxin to insects. However, tobaccos tend to contain a much higher concentration of nicotine than the others. Unlike many other Solanaceae species, they do not contain tropane alkaloids, which are poisonous to humans and other animals. Despite containing enough nicotine and other compounds such as germacrene and anabasine and other piperidine alkaloids to deter most herbivores, a number of such animals have evolved
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Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). 