$PATH and startup sequence

[exits funnel <exitsfunnel yahoo com>]

Hello,

I'm trying to determine where exactly $PATH is set. 
I've read the bash man page which was informative but
doesn't quite answer my question.  When I add an 'echo
$PATH' to the beginning of /etc/profile and than start
a login shell I can see that PATH is already non null.
 So where is it set?  Generally, I guess I'm looking
for a detailed explanation of the linux startup
sequence.  If anyone could provide a link to a
reference that would be great!

-exits

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