Let X be an object. Denote by X² the product X × X. If U is a subset of X² we denote by p, q: U --> X the maps induced by the projections X² --> X. 

Remark 4.1. Recall that an equavlence relation on a set X is a subset U of X² satisfying the following conditions: (1) (a, a) ÎU for any a in X. 
(2) If (a, b) Î U then (b, a) Î U. 
(3) If (a, b), (b, c) Î U, then (a, c) Î U. 
(a) If U is an equavelence relation on X, we denote by X/U the quotient set of X under U, and q: X --> X/U the canonical surjective map. Then U = X × _X/U X. 
(b) A subset U of X² is an equivalence relation iff U = X × _T X for a map t: X --> T (we may assume t is surjective). 
(c) Any intersection of equivalence relations is an equivalence. 

Definition 4.2. (a) An equavelence relation on X is called a congruence if it is a closed subset of X². 
(b) A subset U of X² is called an effective congruence on X if there is a (surjective) morphism t: X --> T such that U = X × _T X. 

Proposition 4.3. An effective congruence is a congruence. 

Proof. If t: X --> T is a morphism then X × _T X is a closed subset of X² by (3.6), which is also an equavelence relation on X by (4.1.c). 

Example 4.3.1. If X is a set in Set, a subset U of X² is a congruence iff it is an equivalence relation on X . 

Proposition 4.4. An equivalence relation u, v: U --> X is an effective congruence on X iff there is a structure on the quotient X/U such that q: X --> X/U is a morphism. 

Proof. Since U = X × _X/U X by (4.1.a), if q is a morphism then U is an effective congruence. Conversely, assume U = X × _T X for a morphism t: X --> T, then X/U = t(X) by (4.1) and X --> t(X) is a morphism by (2.5). 

Proposition 4.5. Any intersection of congruences is a congruence. 

Proof. This follows from the fact that the classes of equavelnce relations and closed subsets are closed under intersections. 

Proposition 4.6. Any intersection of effective congruences is an effective congruence. 

Proof. For any equivalence relation u, v: U --> X let q: X --> X/U be the quotient map. Let g: X/U --> G be the generic extensiion of q. Then gq: X --> G is a morphism. Let C(U) = X × _G X. Then C(U) is an effective congruence. We show that C(U) is the smallest effective congruence containing U. Suppose V is another effective congruence on X containing U. The quotient map p: X --> X/V factors through q: X --> X/U by a map t: X/U --> X/V. Then by the property of the generic extention g there is a unique morphism s: G --> X/V such that t = sg. Thus p = tq =sgq, which shows that V contains C(U). 
Next consider the intersection U of a set {U_i} of effective congruences on X. We have C(U) Í C(U_i) = U_i for any U_i. It follows that C(U) is contained in the intersection of {U_i}, which is U. This shows that U is an effective congruence. 

Definition 4.7. An algebraic variety is an algebraic category such that any congruence is effective.