Chuvash (Чӑвашла, Čăvašla; IPA: [tɕəʋaʂˈla]) is a Turkic language spoken in central Russia, primarily in the Chuvash Republic and adjacent areas. It is the only surviving member of the Oghur branch of Turkic languages.

The writing system for the Chuvash language is based on the Cyrillic script, employing all of the letters used in the Russian alphabet, and adding four letters of its own: Ӑ, Ӗ, Ҫ and Ӳ.

Chuvash is the native language of the Chuvash people and an official language of Chuvashia. It is spoken by 1,640,000 persons in Russia and another 34,000 in other countries. 86% of ethnic Chuvash and 8% of the people of other ethnicities living in Chuvashia claimed knowledge of Chuvash language during the 2002 census. Despite that, and although Chuvash is taught at schools and sometimes used in the media, it is considered endangered, because Russian dominates in most spheres of life and few children learning the language are likely to become active users.

Chuvash is the most distinctive of the Turkic languages and cannot be understood by speakers of other Turkic tongues. Today, Chuvash is classified, alongside Khazar, Turkic Avar, Bulgar, and probably, Hunnic, as a member of the Oghuric branch of the Turkic language family. It is the only language of this family which is not extinct. The conclusion that Chuvash belongs to the Oghuric branch of Turkic arises from the reasoning that the vocabulary shows the language to belong to the r- and l- type which is typical for all languages of this branch. The rest of the Turkic languages (Common Turkic) are of the z- and š- type."

The Chuvash people (Chuvash: Чăвашсем; Russian: Чуваши) are a Turkic ethnic group, native to an area stretching from the Volga Region to Siberia. Most of them live in Republic of Chuvashia and surrounding areas, although Chuvash communities may be found throughout all Russia.

There is no universally accepted etymology of the word Chuvash. However, there are two main theories that try to explain it.

According to one theory, "Chuvash" is a Shaz-Turkic adaptation of Lir-Turkic Suvar, an ethnonym of people that are widely considered to be the ancestors of modern Chuvashes. Compare Lir-Turkic Chuvash: huran to Shaz-Turkic Tatar: qazan (cauldron).

Another theory suggests that the word "Chuvash" may be derived from Common Turkic jăvaš ("friendly", "peaceful") as opposed to şarmăs ("warlike").

There are rival schools of thought on the origin of Chuvash people. One is that they originated from a mixing between the Turkic Suar and Sabir tribes of Volga Bulgaria with local Mari tribes and also the Finno-Ugrian population of the Volga Basin. Another is that the Chuvash are a remainder of the pre-Volga Bulgar population of the Volga region, merged with Scythians, Volga Bulgars and Mari.

Black Eyes was a post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. that existed from August 2001 to March 2004, disbanding two months prior to the release of its second album, Cough. Its members included Dan Caldas, Jacob Long, Mike Kanin, Daniel Martin-McCormick and Hugh McElroy.

Prior to releasing the first album, Black Eyes released a 2 song 7" EP and a split EPof "Someone Has His Fingers Broken" entitled "Have Been Murdered Again." Black Eyes' eponymous debut album was released on April 15, 2003 through Dischord Records. Most tracks featured the band's trademark dual vocals, from bass guitarist Hugh McElroy and guitarist Daniel McCormick, as well as two full drum kits and the occasional horn blast or synth noise.

After extensive touring with Q and Not U, the band broke up just before its second album, Cough, was released on June 1, 2004, also through Dischord Records. For this batch of songs, the band incorporated frenzied brass instruments into its sound, pushing further into free-jazz territory.

Anna Orlova (born August 23, 1972 in Riga) is a retired Latvian luger who competed at six Winter Olympics between 1992 and 2010. She won the silver medal in the mixed team event at the 2003 FIL World Luge Championships in Sigulda, Latvia and finished fourth in the women's singles event at those same championships.

Orlova also won two medals in the mixed team event at the FIL European Luge Championships with a gold in 2010 and a bronze in 2006. She had her best individual finish in the European championships of sixth in 2010.

Her best finish at the Winter Olympics was seventh in the women's singles event at Turin in 2006. She came eleventh in the same event in 2010.

She is one of three Latvians to compete at at least six Olympic Games. The others are biathlete Ilmārs Bricis (also six Winter Olympics) and shooter Afanasijs Kuzmins (eight summer Olympics). She is the first athlete to compete in Luge at six Olympic Games (Italian Gerda Weissensteiner competed at four Olympics in Luge and two in Bobsleigh).