A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast meaning one headsail in front of the mast, one mainsail aft of the mast. This is called a fore-and-aft rig, can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sails fore and aft, or as a gaff-rig with triangular foresails and a gaff rigged mainsail. Sailboats can be classified according to type of rig, so a sailboat may be a sloop, cutter, yawl, or schooner. A sloop has only one headsail, although an exception is the Friendship sloop, gaff-rigged with a bowsprit and multiple headsails. If the vessel has two or more headsails, the term cutter may be used if the mast is stepped further towards the back of the boat; the name originates from the Dutch sloep, related to the Old English slūpan, to glide. In naval terminology, "sloop-of-war" refers to the purpose of the craft, rather than to the specific size or sail-plan, thus a sloop should not be confused with a sloop-of-war. After the cat rig which has only a single sail, the Bermuda rig is the simplest sailing rig configurations.

It is the most popular yacht rigging because it is easier to sail with a smaller crew or single-handed, it is cheaper since it has less hardware than more complex rigs, it sails well into the wind. A limitation is that when a boat gets over 45 feet in length, the sails become so large that they are difficult to handle, although modern technology is helping with this; the headsail can be fractional-rigged. On a masthead-rigged sloop, the forestay attaches at the top of the mast. On a fractional-rigged sloop, the forestay attaches to the mast at a point below the top. A sloop may use a spar that projects forward from the bow. Mast aft rig, a single mast rig with a mast further back than a sloop or cutter Chialoup, an historical type of sloop produced in the East Indies. Bermuda Fitted Dinghy: a scaled-down sloop used for racing in Bermuda. Hope: an example of a traditional sail-powered oyster-dredging sloop

Marble Township is a township in Lincoln County, United States. The population was 195 at the 2000 census. Marble Township was named for the boulders dotting its landscape, which despite the name, are composed of limestone not marble. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 36.5 square miles, of which 36.5 square miles of it is land and 0.1 square miles of it is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 195 people, 72 households, 59 families residing in the township; the population density was 5.3 people per square mile. There were 80 housing units at an average density of 2.2/sq mi. The racial makeup of the township was 1.03 % Native American. There were 72 households out of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.0% were married couples living together, 2.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 16.7% were non-families. 16.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.

The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.03. In the township, the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 22.1% from 45 to 64, 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 124.2 males. The median income for a household in the township was $35,208, the median income for a family was $38,000. Males had a median income of $21,563 versus $15,625 for females; the per capita income for the township was $14,089. About 9.7% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including none of those under the age of eighteen and 31.3% of those sixty five or over

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is an appointment in the Cabinet of Sri Lanka, responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy of the Government of Sri Lanka. The post was first created in 1947 as Minister of External Affairs and Defence, in 1978 the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence separated into two ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. Prior to the separation of the post the Minister of External Affairs and Defence was held by the Prime Minister since 1947, with a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs, an elected parliamentarian and was the de facto foreign minister. Parties United National Party Sri Lanka Freedom Party Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry of External Affairs and Defence Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka 54th Independence Anniversary, Colonial rule to independence, by Aryadasa Ratnasinghe Sri Lankan Foreign Ministers