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Shcha or Shta (Щ, щ) is a letter of the Cyrillic alphabet, representing the consonant /ʃʲ/, /ʃʧ/, /ʃʲʧʲ/ in Russian, and the consonant /ʃt/ in Bulgarian. Originally, this letter was a ligature of sha and te (Ш + Т = Щ), with the descender in the middle of the sha, and is descended from the Glagolitic letter Shta: 
This letter is the most troublesome for transliteration. In English language, it is typically transliterated Shch or č (with a háček). In German, it requires 7 letters: "schtsch", thus giving rise to a popular joke about a Russian tsarina of German origin that she managed to make 8 mistakes in a two-letter word, "Щи" (a kind of Russian vegetable soup).
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