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Paris. Paris[a] is the capital and largest city of France, with an estimated population of 2,048,472 in January 2025[update][3] in an area of more than 105 km2 (41 sq mi). It is located in the centre of the Île-de-France region. Paris is the fourth-most populous city in the European Union. Nicknamed the City of Light, Paris has been one of the worlds major centres of finance, diplomacy, commerce, culture, fashion, and gastronomy since the 17th century. Paris is a major railway, highway, and air-transport hub served by three international airports: Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly Airport, and Beauvais–Tillé Airport. Paris has one of the most sustainable transportation systems[4] and is one of only two cities in the world that received the Sustainable Transport Award twice. Paris is known for its museums and architectural landmarks: the Musée dOrsay, Musée Marmottan Monet, and Musée de lOrangerie are noted for their collections of French Impressionist art. The Pompidou Centre, Musée National dArt Moderne, Musée Rodin and Musée Picasso are noted for their collections of modern and contemporary art.[citation needed] Part of the city along the Seine has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991[update]. Paris is home to several United Nations organisations, including UNESCO, as well as other international organisations such as the OECD, the OECD Development Centre, the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, the International Energy Agency, the International Federation for Human Rights, along with European bodies such as the European Space Agency, the European Banking Authority and the European Securities and Markets Authority. The city hosts different sporting events, such as the French Open, and is the home of the association football club Paris St-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français; it hosted the Summer Olympics three times.
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Palace. A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop.[1] The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences.[1] Most European languages have a version of the term (palats, palais, palazzo, palacio, etc.) and many use it to describe a broader range of buildings than English. In many parts of Europe, the equivalent term is also applied to large private houses in cities, especially of the aristocracy. It is also used for some large official buildings that have never had a residential function; for example in French-speaking countries Palais de Justice is the usual name of important courthouses. Many historic palaces such as parliaments, museums, hotels, or office buildings are now put to other uses. The word is also sometimes used to describe an elaborate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions[1] such as a movie palace. A palace is typically distinguished from a castle in that the latter is fortified or has the style of a fortification, whereas a palace does not. The word palace comes from Old French palais (imperial residence), from Latin Palātium, the name of one of the seven hills of Rome.[1] The original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power. At the same time, the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills, the Palatine remained a desirable residential area. Roman emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two laurel trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero with his Domus Aurea (the Golden House), enlarged the building and its grounds over and over until it took up the hilltop. The word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill.[citation needed]
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Dog. The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. The dog was the first species to be domesticated by humans, over 14,000 years ago and before the development of agriculture. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids. Dogs have been bred for desired behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color. They have the same number of bones (with the exception of the tail), powerful jaws that house around 42 teeth, and well-developed senses of smell, hearing, and sight. Compared to humans, dogs possess a superior sense of smell and hearing, but inferior visual acuity. Dogs perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, companionship, therapy, aiding disabled people, and assisting police and the military. Communication in dogs includes eye gaze, facial expression, vocalization, body posture (including movements of bodies and limbs), and gustatory communication (scents, pheromones, and taste). They mark their territories by urinating on them, which is more likely when entering a new environment. Over the millennia, dogs have uniquely adapted to human behavior; this adaptation includes being able to understand and communicate with humans. As such, the human–canine bond has been a topic of frequent study, and dogs influence on human society has given them the sobriquet of mans best friend. The global dog population is estimated at 700 million to 1 billion, distributed around the world. The dog is the most popular pet in the United States, present in 34–40% of households. Developed countries make up approximately 20% of the global dog population, while around 75% of dogs are estimated to be from developing countries, mainly in the form of feral and community dogs.
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Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower (東京タワー, Tōkyō Tawā; pronounced [toːkʲoː taɰᵝaː] ⓘ), also known as the Japan Radio Tower (日本電波塔, Nippon denpatō) is a communications and observation tower in the district of Shiba-koen in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, completed in 1958. At 332.9 m (1,092 ft), it was the tallest tower in Japan until the construction of Tokyo Skytree in 2012. It is a lattice tower inspired by the Eiffel Tower, and is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations. The towers main sources of income are tourism and antenna leasing. FootTown, a four-story building directly under the tower, houses museums, restaurants, and shops. Departing from there, guests can visit two observation decks. The two-story Main Deck (formerly known as the Main Observatory) is at 150 m (490 ft), while the smaller Top Deck (formerly known as the Special Observatory) reaches a height of 249.6 m (819 ft). The names were changed following renovation of the top deck in 2018.[4] The tower is repainted every five years, taking a year to complete the process. In 1961, transmission antennae were added. They are used for radio and television broadcasting and now broadcast signals for media outlets such as NHK, TBS Television, and Fuji Television. The height of the tower was not suitable for Japans planned terrestrial digital broadcasting planned for July 2011, and for the Tokyo area. A taller digital broadcasting tower, known as Tokyo Skytree, was completed on 29 February 2012. Tokyo Tower has become a prominent landmark and frequently appears in media set in Tokyo. A large broadcasting tower was needed in the Kantō region after NHK, Japans public broadcasting station, began television broadcasting in 1953. Private broadcasting companies began operating in the months following the construction of NHKs own transmission tower. This communications boom led the Japanese government to believe that transmission towers would soon be built all over Tokyo, eventually overrunning the city. The proposed solution was the construction of one large tower capable of transmitting to the entire region.[5] Furthermore, because of the countrys postwar boom in the 1950s, Japan was searching for a monument to symbolize its national recovery from World War II, as one of the countries most ravaged by the war.[6][7]
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Nishi-Shinjuku. Nishi-Shinjuku (西新宿; lit. West Shinjuku) is a neighborhood and skyscraper business district in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, Japan. The neighborhood is located west of Shinjuku Station and consists of 8 chōme (丁目), or Streets. The region was previously called Tsunohazu (角筈). Nishi-Shinjuku was Tokyos first major foray into building skyscrapers with the first appearing in the 1970s with Keio Plaza Inter-Continental. It is the location of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the headquarters of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Progress continues in Nishi-Shinjuku, which is heading away from the city centre and has the site of the proposed Nishi-Shinjuku 3-Chōme Redevelopment, with plans for what will be three of the four tallest buildings in Japan. The last scene of the 2003 film Lost in Translation was filmed at Chūō-dōri close to Shinjuku train station.[2] Livedoor has its headquarters in the Sumitomo Fudosan Nishishinjuku Building [ja] (住友不動産西新宿ビル, Sumitomo Fudōsan Nishi-Shinjuku Biru).[3] H.I.S. has its headquarters in the Shinjuku Oak Tower.[4] Seiko Epsons Tokyo Office is in the Shinjuku NS Building.[5] Capcoms Tokyo offices are located in the Shinjuku Mitsui Building[6] and Keihin Corporation is headquartered in the Shinjuku Nomura Building.[7] Taisei Corporation also has its headquarters in the district.[8]
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Mind sport. A mind sport is a game of skill based on intellectual ability. The first major use of the term was as a result of the Mind Sports Olympiad in 1997.[1] The phrase had been used prior to this event such as backgammon being described as a mind sport by Tony Buzan in 1996; Tony Buzan was also a co-founder of the Mind Sports Olympiad.[2] Bodies such as the World Memory Sports Council[3] use the term retrospectively. It is a term that became fixed from games trying to obtain equal status to sports. For example, from 2002 British Minister for Sport, Richard Caborn said: ...I believe we should have the same obligation to mental agility as we do to physical agility. Mind sports have to form UK national bodies and get together with the government to devise an acceptable amendment to the 1937 Act that clearly differentiates mind sports from parlour board games.[4][5]
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Dog. The dog (Canis familiaris or Canis lupus familiaris) is a domesticated descendant of the gray wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it was selectively bred from a population of wolves during the Late Pleistocene by hunter-gatherers. The dog was the first species to be domesticated by humans, over 14,000 years ago and before the development of agriculture. Due to their long association with humans, dogs have gained the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet that would be inadequate for other canids. Dogs have been bred for desired behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Dog breeds vary widely in shape, size, and color. They have the same number of bones (with the exception of the tail), powerful jaws that house around 42 teeth, and well-developed senses of smell, hearing, and sight. Compared to humans, dogs possess a superior sense of smell and hearing, but inferior visual acuity. Dogs perform many roles for humans, such as hunting, herding, pulling loads, protection, companionship, therapy, aiding disabled people, and assisting police and the military. Communication in dogs includes eye gaze, facial expression, vocalization, body posture (including movements of bodies and limbs), and gustatory communication (scents, pheromones, and taste). They mark their territories by urinating on them, which is more likely when entering a new environment. Over the millennia, dogs have uniquely adapted to human behavior; this adaptation includes being able to understand and communicate with humans. As such, the human–canine bond has been a topic of frequent study, and dogs influence on human society has given them the sobriquet of mans best friend. The global dog population is estimated at 700 million to 1 billion, distributed around the world. The dog is the most popular pet in the United States, present in 34–40% of households. Developed countries make up approximately 20% of the global dog population, while around 75% of dogs are estimated to be from developing countries, mainly in the form of feral and community dogs.
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Abstract strategy game. An abstract strategy game is a type of strategy game that has minimal or no narrative theme, an outcome determined only by player choice (with minimal or no randomness), and in which each player has perfect information about the game.[1][2] For example, Go is a pure abstract strategy game since it fulfills all three criteria; chess and related games are nearly so but feature a recognizable theme of ancient warfare; and Stratego is borderline since it is deterministic, loosely based on 19th-century Napoleonic warfare, and features concealed information. Combinatorial games have no randomizers such as dice, no simultaneous movement, nor hidden information. Some games that do have these elements are sometimes classified as abstract strategy games. (Games such as Continuo, Octiles, Cant Stop, and Sequence, could be considered abstract strategy games, despite having a luck or bluffing element.) A smaller category of abstract strategy games manages to incorporate hidden information without using any random elements; the best known example is Stratego. Traditional abstract strategy games are often treated as a separate game category, hence the term abstract games is often used for competitions that exclude them and can be thought of as referring to modern abstract strategy games. Two examples are the IAGO World Tour (2007–2010) and the Abstract Games World Championship held annually since 2008 as part of the Mind Sports Olympiad.[3] Some abstract strategy games have multiple starting positions of which it is required that one be randomly determined. For a game to be one of skill, a starting position needs to be chosen by impartial means. Some games, such as Arimaa and DVONN, have the players build the starting position in a separate initial phase which itself conforms strictly to combinatorial game principles. Most players, however, would consider that although one is then starting each game from a different position, the game itself contains no luck element. Indeed, Bobby Fischer promoted randomization of the starting position in chess in order to increase player dependence on thinking at the board.[4] As J. Mark Thompson wrote in his article Defining the Abstract, play is sometimes said to resemble a series of puzzles the players pose to each other:[5][6]
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Archipelago. An archipelago (/ˌɑːrkəˈpɛləɡoʊ/ ⓘ AR-kə-PEL-ə-goh),[1] sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the origin of the term), the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the Stockholm Archipelago, the Malay Archipelago (which includes the Indonesian and Philippine Archipelagos), the Lucayan (Bahamian) Archipelago, the Japanese archipelago, and the Hawaiian Archipelago. The word archipelago is derived from the Italian arcipelago, used as a proper name for the Aegean Sea, itself perhaps a deformation of the Greek Αιγαίον Πέλαγος.[2][3] Later, usage shifted to refer to the Aegean Islands (since the sea has a large number of islands). The erudite paretymology, deriving the word from Ancient Greek ἄρχι- (arkhi-, chief) and πέλαγος (pélagos, sea), proposed by Buondelmonti, can still be found.[4] Archipelagos may be found isolated in large amounts of water or neighboring a large land mass. For example, Scotland has more than 700 islands surrounding its mainland, which form an archipelago. Depending on their geological origin, islands forming archipelagos can be referred to as oceanic islands, continental fragments, or continental islands.[5]
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Hepburn romanization. Hepburn (Japanese: ヘボン式ローマ字, romanized: Hebon-shiki rōmaji, lit. Hepburn-style Roman letters) is the main system of romanization for the Japanese language. The system was originally published in 1867 by American Christian missionary and physician James Curtis Hepburn as the standard in the first edition of his Japanese–English dictionary. The system is distinct from other romanization methods in its use of English orthography to phonetically transcribe sounds: for example, the syllable [ɕi] (し) is written as shi and [tɕa] (ちゃ) is written as cha, reflecting their spellings in English (compare to si and tya in the more systematic Nihon-shiki and Kunrei-shiki systems). In 1886, Hepburn published the third edition of his dictionary, codifying a revised version of the system that is known today as traditional Hepburn. A version with additional revisions, known as modified Hepburn, was published in 1908. Although Kunrei-shiki romanization is the style favored by the Japanese government, Hepburn remains the most popular method of Japanese romanization. It is learned by most foreign students of the language, and is used within Japan for romanizing personal names, locations, and other information, such as train tables and road signs. Because the systems orthography is based on English phonology instead of a systematic transcription of the Japanese syllabary, individuals who do not speak Japanese and know English phonology will generally be more accurate when pronouncing unfamiliar words romanized in the Hepburn style compared to other systems.[1] In 1867, American Presbyterian missionary doctor James Curtis Hepburn published the first Japanese–English dictionary, in which he introduced a new system for the romanization of Japanese into Latin script.[2] He published a second edition in 1872 and a third edition in 1886, which introduced minor changes.[3] The third editions system had been adopted in the previous year by the Rōmaji-kai (羅馬字会, Romanization Club), a group of Japanese and foreign scholars who promoted a replacement of the Japanese script with a romanized system.[4]
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Ultra-prominent peak. An ultra-prominent peak, or ultra for short, is a mountain summit with a topographic prominence of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) or more; it is also called a P1500.[1] The prominence of a peak is the minimum height of climb to the summit on any route from a higher peak, or from sea level if there is no higher peak. There are approximately 1,500 such peaks on Earth.[2] Some well-known peaks, such as the Matterhorn and Eiger, are not ultras because they are connected to higher mountains by high cols and thus do not achieve enough topographic prominence. The term ultra originated with earth scientist Steve Fry, from his studies of the prominence of peaks in Washington in the 1980s. His original term was ultra major mountain, referring to peaks with at least 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) of prominence.[3] Currently, over 1,500 ultras have been identified above sea level: 654 in Asia, 357 in North America, 209 in South America, 119 in Europe (including 12 in the Caucasus), 84 in Africa, 54 in Oceania, and 39 in Antarctica.[2] Many of the worlds largest mountains are ultras, including Mount Everest, K2, Kanchenjunga, Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, and Mount Olympus. On the other hand, others such as the Eiger and the Matterhorn are not ultras. Many ultras lie in rarely visited and inhospitable parts of the world, including 39 in Greenland, the high points of the Arctic islands of Novaya Zemlya, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen, and many of the peaks of the Greater ranges of Asia. In British Columbia, some of the mountains listed do not even have generally recognized names.
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Physical Geography (journal). Physical Geography is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of physical geography. It was established in 1980 and is published by Taylor & Francis. It was originally published by Bellwether Publishing until the start of the 34th volume in 2013, when it moved to Taylor & Francis.[1] The editor-in-chief is Chris Houser (University of Windsor). According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 2.075.[2] This article about a journal on geography is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See tips for writing articles about academic journals. Further suggestions might be found on the articles talk page.
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Board game. A board game is a type of tabletop game[2][3] that involves small objects (game pieces) that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] potentially including other components, e.g. dice.[6] The earliest known uses of the term board game are between the 1840s and 1850s.[7][4][9] While game boards are a necessary and sufficient condition of this genre, card games that do not use a standard deck of cards, as well as games that use neither cards nor a game board, are often colloquially included, with some referring to this genre generally as table and board games or simply tabletop games.[2][3] Board games have been played, traveled, and evolved in most cultures and societies throughout history[11] Board games have been discovered in a number of archaeological sites. The oldest discovered gaming pieces were discovered in southwest Turkey, a set of elaborate sculptured stones in sets of four designed for a chess-like game, which were created during the Bronze Age around 5,000 years ago.[12][13] Numerous archaeological finds of game boards exist that date from as early as the Neolithic period including, as of 2024, a total of 14 Neolithic sites reporting 51 game boards, ranging from mid-7th millennium to early 8th millennium.[14][15][16][17] The Royal Game of Ur, estimated to have originated from around 4,600 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, an example of which was found in the royal tombs of ancient Mesopotamia (c. 2600 BC – c. 2400 BC),[18][19][20] is considered the oldest playable boardgame in the world, with well-defined games rules discovered written on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer in c. 177 BC – c. 176 BC.[21][15]
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East China Sea. The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as East Sea (Dōng Hǎi, simplified Chinese: 东海; traditional Chinese: 東海) due to direction, the name of East China Sea is otherwise designated as a formal name by International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and used internationally.[1] It covers an area of roughly 1,249,000 square kilometers (482,000 sq mi).[citation needed] The seas northern extension between Korean Peninsula and mainland China is the Yellow Sea, separated by an imaginary line between the southwestern tip of South Koreas Jeju Island and the eastern tip of Qidong at the Yangtze River estuary. The East China Sea is bounded in the east and southeast by the middle portion of the first island chain off the eastern Eurasian continental mainland, including the Japanese island of Kyushu and the Ryukyu Islands, and in the south by the island of Taiwan. It connects with the Sea of Japan in the northeast through the Korea Strait, the South China Sea in the southwest via the Taiwan Strait, and the Philippine Sea in the southeast via gaps between the various Ryukyu Islands (e.g. Tokara Strait and Miyako Strait). Most of the East China Sea is shallow, with almost three-fourths of it being less than 200 metres (660 ft) deep, its average depth being 350 metres (1,150 ft), while the maximum depth, reached in the Okinawa Trough, is 2,716 metres (8,911 ft).[2]
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Summit. A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term top (mountain top) is generally used only for a mountain peak that is located at some distance from the nearest point of higher elevation. For example, a big, massive rock next to the main summit of a mountain is not considered a summit. Summits near a higher peak, with some prominence or isolation, but not reaching a certain cutoff value for the quantities, are often considered subsummits (or subpeaks) of the higher peak, and are considered part of the same mountain. A pyramidal peak is an exaggerated form produced by ice erosion of a mountain top. For summits that are permanently covered in significant layers of ice, the height may be measured by the highest point of rock (rock height) or the highest point of permanent solid ice (snow height). The highest summit in the world is Mount Everest with a height of 8,848.86 m (29,031.7 ft) above sea level. The first official ascent was made by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary. They reached the mountains peak in 1953.[2][3] Whether a highest point is classified as a summit, a sub peak or a separate mountain is subjective. The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federations definition of a 4,000 m peak is that it has a prominence of 30 metres (98 ft) or more; it is a mountain summit if it has a prominence of at least 300 metres (980 ft).[4] Otherwise, it is a subpeak. Summit may also refer to the highest point along a line, trail, or route. In many parts of the Western United States, the term summit is used for the highest point along a road, highway, or railroad, more commonly referred to as a pass. For example, the highest point along Interstate 80 in California is referred to as Donner Summit and the highest point on Interstate 5 is Siskiyou Mountain Summit. This can lead to confusion as to whether a labeled summit is a pass or a peak.
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Geomorphology. Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek γῆ (gê) earth μορφή (morphḗ) form and λόγος (lógos) study)[2] is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features generated by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or near Earths surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do, to understand landform and terrain history and dynamics and to predict changes through a combination of field observations, physical experiments and numerical modeling. Geomorphologists work within disciplines such as physical geography, geology, geodesy, engineering geology, archaeology, climatology, and geotechnical engineering. This broad base of interests contributes to many research styles and interests within the field. Earths surface is modified by a combination of surface processes that shape landscapes, and geologic processes that cause tectonic uplift and subsidence, and shape the coastal geography. Surface processes comprise the action of water, wind, ice, wildfire, and life on the surface of the Earth, along with chemical reactions that form soils and alter material properties, the stability and rate of change of topography under the force of gravity, and other factors, such as (in the very recent past) human alteration of the landscape. Many of these factors are strongly mediated by climate. Geologic processes include the uplift of mountain ranges, the growth of volcanoes, isostatic changes in land surface elevation (sometimes in response to surface processes), and the formation of deep sedimentary basins where the surface of the Earth drops and is filled with material eroded from other parts of the landscape. The Earths surface and its topography therefore are an intersection of climatic, hydrologic, and biologic action with geologic processes, or alternatively stated, the intersection of the Earths lithosphere with its hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The broad-scale topographies of the Earth illustrate this intersection of surface and subsurface action. Mountain belts are uplifted due to geologic processes. Denudation of these high uplifted regions produces sediment that is transported and deposited elsewhere within the landscape or off the coast.[3] On progressively smaller scales, similar ideas apply, where individual landforms evolve in response to the balance of additive processes (uplift and deposition) and subtractive processes (subsidence and erosion). Often, these processes directly affect each other: ice sheets, water, and sediment are all loads that change topography through flexural isostasy. Topography can modify the local climate, for example through orographic precipitation, which in turn modifies the topography by changing the hydrologic regime in which it evolves. Many geomorphologists are particularly interested in the potential for feedbacks between climate and tectonics, mediated by geomorphic processes.[4] In addition to these broad-scale questions, geomorphologists address issues that are more specific or more local. Glacial geomorphologists investigate glacial deposits such as moraines, eskers, and proglacial lakes, as well as glacial erosional features, to build chronologies of both small glaciers and large ice sheets and understand their motions and effects upon the landscape. Fluvial geomorphologists focus on rivers, how they transport sediment, migrate across the landscape, cut into bedrock, respond to environmental and tectonic changes, and interact with humans. Soils geomorphologists investigate soil profiles and chemistry to learn about the history of a particular landscape and understand how climate, biota, and rock interact. Other geomorphologists study how hillslopes form and change. Still others investigate the relationships between ecology and geomorphology. Because geomorphology is defined to comprise everything related to the surface of the Earth and its modification, it is a broad field with many facets. Geomorphologists use a wide range of techniques in their work. These may include fieldwork and field data collection, the interpretation of remotely sensed data, geochemical analyses, and the numerical modelling of the physics of landscapes. Geomorphologists may rely on geochronology, using dating methods to measure the rate of changes to the surface.[5][6] Terrain measurement techniques are vital to quantitatively describe the form of the Earths surface, and include differential GPS, remotely sensed digital terrain models and laser scanning, to quantify, study, and to generate illustrations and maps.[7]
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Sea of Okhotsk. The Sea of Okhotsk[a] is a marginal sea of the northwestern Pacific Ocean.[1] It is located between Russias Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, Japans island of Hokkaido on the south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and north. Its northeast corner is the Shelikhov Gulf. The sea is named for the port of Okhotsk, itself named for the Okhota River.[2] The Sea of Okhotsk covers an area of 1,583,000 square kilometres (611,000 sq mi), with a mean depth of 859 metres (2,818 ft) and a maximum depth of 3,372 metres (11,063 ft).[3][4] It is connected to the Sea of Japan on either side of Sakhalin: on the west through the Sakhalin Gulf and the Gulf of Tartary; on the south through the La Pérouse Strait. In winter, navigation on the Sea of Okhotsk is impeded by ice floes.[5] Ice floes form due to the large amount of freshwater from the Amur River, lowering the salinity of upper levels, often raising the freezing point of the sea surface. The distribution and thickness of ice floes depends on many factors: the location, the time of year, water currents, and the sea temperatures.[6] Cold air from Siberia forms sea ice in the northwestern Sea of Okhotsk.[7] As the ice forms, it expels salt into the deeper layers. This heavy water flows east toward the Pacific, carrying oxygen and nutrients, supporting abundant sea life. The Sea of Okhotsk has warmed in some places by as much as 3°C (5.4°F) since preindustrial times, three times faster than the global mean. Warming inhibits the formation of sea ice and also drives fish populations north. The salmon catch on the northern Japanese coast has fallen 70% in the last 15 years, while the Russian chum salmon catch has quadrupled.[8] With the exception of Hokkaido, one of the Japanese home islands, the sea is surrounded on all sides by territory administered by the Russian Federation. South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were administered by Japan until 1945. Japan claims the southern Kuril Islands and refers to them as Northern Territories.[9]
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Chocolate Hills. The Chocolate Hills (Cebuano: Mga Bungtod sa Tsokolate, Filipino: Mga Tsokolateng Burol, or Mga Burol na Tsokolate) are a geological formation in the Philippine province of Bohol.[1] There is a minimum of 1,260 hills and possibly up to 1,776, spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers (20 sq mi).[2] They are covered in green grass that turns a chocolate-brown during the dry season, hence the name. The Chocolate Hills are featured on the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attractions in the province.[3] The site is on the Philippine Tourism Authoritys list of tourist destinations in the Philippines,[4] and it has been declared the countrys third national geological monument, as well as being proposed for inclusion in UNESCOs World Heritage List.[4] The Chocolate Hills form a rolling terrain of haycock-shaped hills—mounds of a generally conical and almost symmetrical shape.[5] With an estimated 1,268 to 1,776 individual mounds, these dome-shaped hills are actually made of grass-covered limestone. The domes vary in size from 30 to 50 meters (98 to 164 ft) high, with the largest being 120 meters (390 ft) in height.[6] One of Bohols best-known tourist attractions, these unique hills are scattered by the hundreds throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan, and Sagbayan.[7] During the dry season, the grass-covered hills dry up and turn chocolate-brown.[4] The vegetation is dominated by grass species such as Imperata cylindrica and Saccharum spontaneum. Several Compositae and ferns also grow on them. In between the hills, the flatlands are cultivated with rice and other cash crops. However, the natural vegetation on the Chocolate Hills is threatened by quarrying activities.[8]
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Hirohito (disambiguation). Hirohito (1901–1989) posthumously Emperor Shōwa of Japan; reigned 1926 to 1989. Hirohito may also refer to:
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Geography. Geography (from Ancient Greek γεωγραφία geōgraphía; combining gê Earth and gráphō write, literally Earth writing) is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth.[1][2] Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding of Earth and its human and natural complexities—not merely where objects are, but also how they have changed and come to be. While geography is specific to Earth, many concepts can be applied more broadly to other celestial bodies in the field of planetary science.[3] Geography has been called a bridge between natural science and social science disciplines.[4] Origins of many of the concepts in geography can be traced to Greek Eratosthenes of Cyrene, who may have coined the term geographia (c. 276 BC – c. 195/194 BC).[5] The first recorded use of the word γεωγραφία was as the title of a book by Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemy (100 – 170 AD).[1] This work created the so-called Ptolemaic tradition of geography, which included Ptolemaic cartographic theory.[6] However, the concepts of geography (such as cartography) date back to the earliest attempts to understand the world spatially, with the earliest example of an attempted world map dating to the 9th century BCE in ancient Babylon.[7] The history of geography as a discipline spans cultures and millennia, being independently developed by multiple groups, and cross-pollinated by trade between these groups. The core concepts of geography consistent between all approaches are a focus on space, place, time, and scale.[8][9][10][11][12][13] Today, geography is an extremely broad discipline with multiple approaches and modalities. There have been multiple attempts to organize the discipline, including the four traditions of geography, and into branches.[14][4][15] Techniques employed can generally be broken down into quantitative[16] and qualitative[17] approaches, with many studies taking mixed-methods approaches.[18] Common techniques include cartography, remote sensing, interviews, and surveying. Geography is a systematic study of the Earth (other celestial bodies are specified, such as geography of Mars, or given another name, such as areography in the case of Mars, or selenography in the case of the Moon, or planetography for the general case), its features, and phenomena that take place on it.[19][20][21] For something to fall into the domain of geography, it generally needs some sort of spatial component that can be placed on a map, such as coordinates, place names, or addresses. This has led to geography being associated with cartography and place names. Although many geographers are trained in toponymy and cartology, this is not their main preoccupation. Geographers study the Earths spatial and temporal distribution of phenomena, processes, and features as well as the interaction of humans and their environment.[22] Because space and place affect a variety of topics, such as economics, health, climate, plants, and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary. The interdisciplinary nature of the geographical approach depends on an attentiveness to the relationship between physical and human phenomena and their spatial patterns.[23][24] While narrowing down geography to a few key concepts is extremely challenging, and subject to tremendous debate within the discipline, several sources have approached the topic.[25] The 1st edition of the book Key Concepts in Geography broke down this into chapters focusing on Space, Place, Time, Scale, and Landscape.[26] The 2nd edition of the book expanded on these key concepts by adding Environmental systems, Social Systems, Nature, Globalization, Development, and Risk, demonstrating how challenging narrowing the field can be.[25] Another approach used extensively in teaching geography are the Five themes of geography established by Guidelines for Geographic Education: Elementary and Secondary Schools, published jointly by the National Council for Geographic Education and the Association of American Geographers in 1984.[27][28] These themes are Location, place, relationships within places (often summarized as Human-Environment Interaction), movement, and regions.[28][29] The five themes of geography have shaped how American education approaches the topic in the years since.[28][29]
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Terrain. Terrain (from Latin terra earth), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientation of terrain features. Terrain affects surface water flow and distribution. Over a large area, it can affect weather and climate patterns. Bathymetry is the study of underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The understanding of terrain is critical for many reasons: Relief (or local relief) refers specifically to the quantitative measurement of vertical elevation change in a landscape. It is the difference between maximum and minimum elevations within a given area, usually of limited extent.[5] A relief can be described qualitatively, such as a low relief or high relief plain or upland. The relief of a landscape can change with the size of the area over which it is measured, making the definition of the scale over which it is measured very important. Because it is related to the slope of surfaces within the area of interest and to the gradient of any streams present, the relief of a landscape is a useful metric in the study of the Earths surface. Relief energy, which may be defined inter alia as the maximum height range in a regular grid,[6] is essentially an indication of the ruggedness or relative height of the terrain. Geomorphology is the long term study of the formation of terrain or topography.[7] Terrain is formed by concurrent processes operating on the underlying geological structures over geological time: Tectonic processes such as orogenies and uplifts cause land to be elevated, whereas erosional and weathering processes wear the land away by smoothing and reducing topographic features.[8] The relationship of erosion and tectonics rarely (if ever) reaches equilibrium.[9][10][11] These processes are also codependent, however the full range of their interactions is still a topic of debate.[12][13][14]
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Outline of geography. The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to geography: Geography – study of Earth and its people.[1] As the bridge between the human and physical sciences, geography is divided into two main branches: Other branches include: Regional geography – study of world regions. Attention is paid to unique characteristics of a particular region such as its natural elements, human elements, and regionalization which covers the techniques of delineating space into regions. Regional geography breaks down into the study of specific regions.
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Planetary-mass object. A planetary-mass object (PMO), planemo,[2] or planetary body (sometimes referred to as a world) is, by geophysical definition of celestial objects, any celestial object massive enough to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, but not enough to sustain core fusion like a star.[3][4] The purpose of this term is to classify together a broader range of celestial objects than planet, since many objects similar in geophysical terms do not conform to conventional expectations for a planet. Planetary-mass objects can be quite diverse in origin and location. They include planets, dwarf planets, planetary-mass satellites and free-floating planets, which may have been ejected from a system (rogue planets) or formed through cloud-collapse rather than accretion (sub-brown dwarfs). While the term technically includes exoplanets and other objects, it is often used for objects with an uncertain nature or objects that do not fit in one specific class. Cases in which the term is often used: The three largest satellites Ganymede, Titan, and Callisto are of similar size or larger than the planet Mercury; these and four more – Io, the Moon, Europa, and Triton – are larger and more massive than the largest and most massive dwarf planets, Pluto and Eris. Another dozen smaller satellites are large enough to have become round at some point in their history through their own gravity, tidal heating from their parent planets, or both. In particular, Titan has a thick atmosphere and stable bodies of liquid on its surface, like Earth (though for Titan the liquid is methane rather than water). Proponents of the geophysical definition of planets argue that location should not matter and that only geophysical attributes should be taken into account in the definition of a planet. The term satellite planet is sometimes used for planet-sized satellites.[11] A dwarf planet is a planetary-mass object that is neither a true planet nor a natural satellite; it is in direct orbit of a star, and is massive enough for its gravity to compress it into a hydrostatically equilibrious shape (usually a spheroid), but has not cleared the neighborhood of other material around its orbit. Planetary scientist and New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, who proposed the term dwarf planet, has argued that location should not matter and that only geophysical attributes should be taken into account, and that dwarf planets are thus a subtype of planet. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) accepted the term (rather than the more neutral planetoid) but decided to classify dwarf planets as a separate category of object.[12]
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Sarandë. Sarandë (Albanian: [saˈɾandə]; Albanian definite form: Saranda; Greek: Άγιοι Σαράντα) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterranean Sea. Stretching along the Albanian Ionian Sea Coast, Sarandë has a Mediterranean climate with over 300 sunny days a year. In ancient times, the city was known as Onchesmus or Onchesmos, and was a port-town of Chaonia in ancient Epirus. It owes its modern name to the nearby Byzantine monastery of the Forty Saints by which it became known from the High Middle Ages. Sarandë today is known for its deep blue Mediterranean waters. Near Sarandë are the remains of the ancient city of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In recent years, Sarandë has seen a steady increase in tourists, many of them coming by cruise ships. Visitors are attracted by the natural environment of Sarandë and its archaeological sites. Sarandë is inhabited by a majority of ethnic Albanians, and also has a minority Greek community and as such has been considered one of the two centers of the Greek minority in Albania.[2][3] Sarandë was named after the Byzantine monastery of the Agioi Saranda Forty Saints in Greek, that is, the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.[4] Under Ottoman rule, the town in the Turkish language became known as Aya Sarandi and then Sarandoz. Owing to Venetian influence in the region, it often appeared under its Italian name Santi Quaranta on Western maps.[5] This usage continued even after the establishment of the Principality of Albania, owing to the first Italian occupation of the region. During the Italian occupation of Albania in World War II, Benito Mussolini changed the name to Porto Edda, in honor of his eldest daughter.[6][7] Following the restoration of Albanian independence, the city reverted to its Albanian name Saranda.[8]
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History of geography. The History of geography includes many histories of geography which have differed over time and between different cultural and political groups. In more recent developments, geography has become a distinct academic discipline. Geography derives from the Greek γεωγραφία – geographia,[1] literally Earth-writing, that is, description or writing about the Earth. The first person to use the word geography was Eratosthenes (276–194 BC). However, there is evidence for recognizable practices of geography, such as cartography, prior to the use of the term. The known world of Ancient Egypt saw the Nile as the center, and the world as based upon the river. Various oasis were known to the east and west, and were considered locations of various gods (e.g. Siwa, for Amon). To the South lay the Kushitic region, known as far as the 4th cataract. Punt was a region south along the shores of the Red Sea. Various Asiatic peoples were known as Retenu, Kanaan, Que, Harranu, or Khatti (Hittites). At various times especially in the Late Bronze Age Egyptians had diplomatic and trade relationships with Babylonia and Elam. The Mediterranean was called the Great Green and was believed to be part of a world encircling ocean. Europe was unknown although may have become part of the Egyptian world view in Phoenician times. To the west of Asia lay the realms of Keftiu, possibly Crete, and Mycenae (thought to be part of a chain of islands, that joined Cyprus, Crete, Sicily and later perhaps Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearics to Africa).[2] The oldest known world maps date back to ancient Babylon from the 9th century BC.[3] The best known Babylonian world map, however, is the Imago Mundi of 600 BC.[4] The map as reconstructed by Eckhard Unger shows Babylon on the Euphrates, surrounded by a circular landmass showing Assyria, Urartu[5] and several cities, in turn surrounded by a bitter river (Oceanus), with seven islands arranged around it so as to form a seven-pointed star. The accompanying text mentions seven outer regions beyond the encircling ocean. The descriptions of five of them have survived.[6] In contrast to the Imago Mundi, an earlier Babylonian world map dating back to the 9th century BC depicted Babylon as being further north from the center of the world, though it is not certain what that center was supposed to represent.[3]
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Landscape. A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.[1] A landscape includes the physical elements of geophysically defined landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of land use, buildings, and structures, and transitory elements such as lighting and weather conditions. Combining both their physical origins and the cultural overlay of human presence, often created over millennia, landscapes reflect a living synthesis of people and place that is vital to local and national identity. The character of a landscape helps define the self-image of the people who inhabit it and a sense of place that differentiates one region from other regions. It is the dynamic backdrop to peoples lives. Landscape can be as varied as farmland, a landscape park or wilderness. The Earth has a vast range of landscapes including the icy landscapes of polar regions, mountainous landscapes, vast arid desert landscapes, islands, and coastal landscapes, densely forested or wooded landscapes including past boreal forests and tropical rainforests and agricultural landscapes of temperate and tropical regions. The activity of modifying the visible features of an area of land is referred to as landscaping. There are several definitions of what constitutes a landscape, depending on context.[2] In common usage however, a landscape refers either to all the visible features of an area of land (usually rural), often considered in terms of aesthetic appeal, or to a pictorial representation of an area of countryside, specifically within the genre of landscape painting. When people deliberately improve the aesthetic appearance of a piece of land—by changing contours and vegetation, etc.—it is said to have been landscaped,[1] though the result may not constitute a landscape according to some definitions. Color landscapes blend artificial elements like buildings, roads, and pavements with natural features such as mountains, forests, plants, sky, and rivers. These compositions of distant and near views can significantly impact peoples emotions. As urbanization rapidly advances, urban color landscape design has become essential for cities to differentiate and symbolize their unique character and atmosphere. However, this transformation has created challenges. First, the traditional color landscapes in some cities have been heavily influenced by natural geography, climate, local materials, ethnic culture, religion, and socioeconomic factors. Second, the growing problem of color pollution - through bright, solid-colored buildings, billboards, and lighting clusters - adversely affects people physically and psychologically. Third, homogenization of colors between cities is causing a loss of cultural identity, as many modern buildings share similar palettes, diluting local characteristics. Researchers have proposed more unified cityscape approaches to address these color landscape issues and help cities preserve their distinctive identities and create vibrant, emotionally engaging urban environments.[3] The word landscape (landscipe or landscaef) arrived in England—and therefore into the English language—after the fifth century, following the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons; these terms referred to a system of human-made spaces on the land. The term landscape emerged around the turn of the sixteenth century to denote a painting whose primary subject matter was natural scenery.[4] Land (a word from Germanic origin) may be taken in its sense of something to which people belong (as in England being the land of the English).[5] The suffix -scape is equivalent to the more common English suffix -ship.[5] The roots of -ship are etymologically akin to Old English sceppan or scyppan, meaning to shape. The suffix -schaft is related to the verb schaffen, so that -ship and shape are also etymologically linked. The modern form of the word, with its connotations of scenery, appeared in the late sixteenth century when the term landschap was introduced by Dutch painters who used it to refer to paintings of inland natural or rural scenery. The word landscape, first recorded in 1598, was borrowed from a Dutch painters term.[6] The popular conception of the landscape that is reflected in dictionaries conveys both a particular and a general meaning, the particular referring to an area of the Earths surface and the general being that which can be seen by an observer. An example of this second usage can be found as early as 1662 in the Book of Common Prayer:
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Vlorë County. Vlorë County (Albanian pronunciation: [vlɔɽ(ə)]; Albanian: Qarku i Vlorës) is one of the 12 counties of Albania with the city of Vlorë being the county capital. The county spans 2,706 square kilometres (1,045 sq mi) and has a total population of 146,681 people as of 2023.[2] It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastër, as well as the Adriatic and Ionian Sea. Greece borders Vlorë to the south. Vlorë is geographically a very mountainous county. The county stretches along the Adriatic Sea and especially the Ionian Sea, forming the Albanian Riviera. The county has a coastline of 244 kilometres (152 mi).[3] The coasts on the west can be very steep and rocky with green panoramic vistas and high mountains in the hinterland, including the Ceraunian Mountains. The highest natural point is Çikë, at 2,044 metres (6,706 ft). The northwest of the county is mostly located on the peninsula of Karaburun, with a rough relief, steep cliffs, bays and rocky beaches. With about than 146,000 inhabitants in 2023, Vlorë is the seventh most populous county within Albania, and the third most populous within the Southern Region. Albanians constitute the ethnic majority of the county, including the capital. Greeks, Aromanians, and a few Roma also are present in the ethnic composition of the county. The port city of Vlorë is the capital of Vlorë County. It is where the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed on November 28, 1912. Sarandë is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera, situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea in the central Mediterranean, about 14 km (8.7 mi) east of the north end of the Greek island of Corfu. The Butrint National Park, Llogara National Park and Karaburun Sazan National Marine Park are located in Vlorë County. The ancient city of Butrint is an archeological site in Vlorë County, some 14 kilometres south of Sarandë. It is located on a hill overlooking the Vivari Channel and is part of the Butrint National Park. During Roman antiquity, the city of Vlorë, the homonymous county capital, was known as Aulón (Ancient Greek: Αυλών, Latin: Aulona, meaning channel or glen in Greek, and possibly a translation of another indigenous name).[4][5] The city was mentioned for the first time by Ptolemy (2nd century CE) among the towns of the Illyrian Taulantii.[6]
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Aoyama, Tokyo. Aoyama (青山) is a neighborhood in Tokyo, located in the northwest portion of Minato Ward. The area is known for its international fashion houses, cafes and restaurants. Kita-Aoyama (北青山; North Aoyama) refers to the area on the north side of Aoyama-dori (Aoyama Street) between the Akasaka Palace and Aoyama Gakuin University, while Minami-Aoyama (南青山; South Aoyama) refers to the area to the south of Aoyama-dori and extends to the northern edge of Roppongi, Azabu and Hiroo. During the Edo period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama is derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa shogunate and held his mansion in the area. Today, along with Shibuya and Harajuku, Omotesandō is one of the most popular entertainment and shopping areas for young people in Tokyo. It is well known for its fashion houses, restaurants, and shopping. Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium is located in the north part of Aoyama. The Minato City Board of Education operates public elementary and junior high schools. Kita-Aoyama and Minami-Aoyama are zoned to different school districts.[2] 35°40′19″N 139°43′23″E / 35.672°N 139.723°E / 35.672; 139.723
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Land. Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earths surface and includes all continents and islands. Earths land surface is almost entirely covered by regolith, a layer of rock, soil, and minerals that forms the outer part of the crust. Land plays an important role in Earths climate system, being involved in the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and water cycle. One-third of land is covered in trees, another third is used for agriculture, and one-tenth is covered in permanent snow and glaciers. The remainder consists of desert, savannah, and prairie. Land terrain varies greatly, consisting of mountains, deserts, plains, plateaus, glaciers, and other landforms. In physical geology, the land is divided into two major categories: Mountain ranges and relatively flat interiors called cratons. Both form over millions of years through plate tectonics. Streams – a major part of Earths water cycle – shape the landscape, carve rocks, transport sediments, and replenish groundwater. At high elevations or latitudes, snow is compacted and recrystallized over hundreds or thousands of years to form glaciers, which can be so heavy that they warp the Earths crust. About 30 percent of land has a dry climate, due to losing more water through evaporation than it gains from precipitation. Since warm air rises, this generates winds, though Earths rotation and uneven sun distribution also play a part. Land is commonly defined as the solid, dry surface of Earth. It can also refer to the collective natural resources that the land holds, including rivers, lakes, and the biosphere. Human manipulation of the land, including agriculture and architecture, can also be considered part of land. Land is formed from the continental crust, the layer of rock on which soil, groundwater, and human and animal activity sits. Though modern terrestrial plants and animals evolved from aquatic creatures, Earths first cellular life likely originated on land. Survival on land relies on fresh water from rivers, streams, lakes, and glaciers, which constitute only three percent of the water on Earth. The vast majority of human activity throughout history has occurred in habitable land areas supporting agriculture and various natural resources. In recent decades, scientists and policymakers have emphasized the need to manage land and its biosphere more sustainably, through measures such as restoring degraded soil, preserving biodiversity, protecting endangered species, and addressing climate change.
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Emperor Taishō. Yoshihito (嘉仁; [a] 31 August 1879 – 25 December 1926), posthumously honored as Emperor Taishō (大正天皇, Taishō Tennō)[b], was the 123rd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 1912 until his death in 1926. His reign, known as the Taishō era[c], was characterized by a liberal and democratic shift in domestic political power, known as Taishō Democracy. Yoshihito also oversaw Japans participation in the First World War from 1914 to 1918, the Spanish flu pandemic, and the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923. Born to Emperor Meiji and his concubine Yanagiwara Naruko, Yoshihito was proclaimed crown prince and heir apparent in 1888, his two older siblings having died in infancy. He suffered various health problems as a child, including meningitis soon after his birth. In 1900, he married Sadako Kujō, a member of the Kujō family of the Fujiwara clan; the couple had four sons. In 1912, Yoshihito became emperor upon the death of his father, but as he suffered from neurological issues for much of his life, he played only a limited role in politics and undertook no official duties from 1919. His declining health led to appointment of his eldest son, Crown Prince Hirohito, as regent in 1921, and Hirohito succeeded him as emperor when he died in 1926. Prince Yoshihito was born at the Tōgū Palace in Akasaka, Tokyo to Emperor Meiji and Yanagiwara Naruko, a concubine with the official title of gon-no-tenji (imperial concubine). As was common practice at the time, Emperor Meijis consort, Empress Shōken, was officially regarded as his mother. He received the personal name of Yoshihito Shinnō and the title Haru-no-miya from the Emperor on 6 September 1879. His two older siblings had died in infancy, and he too was born sickly.[2] Prince Yoshihito contracted cerebral meningitis within three weeks of his birth.[3] As was the practice at the time, Prince Yoshihito was entrusted to the care of his great-grandfather, Marquess Nakayama Tadayasu, in whose house he lived from infancy until the age of seven. Prince Nakayama had also raised Taishōs father, the Emperor Meiji, as a child.[4]
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Dymaxion map. The Dymaxion map projection, also called the Fuller projection, is a kind of polyhedral map projection of the Earths surface onto the unfolded net of an icosahedron. The resulting map is heavily interrupted in order to reduce shape and size distortion compared to other world maps, but the interruptions are chosen to lie in the ocean. The projection was invented by Buckminster Fuller. In 1943, Fuller proposed a projection onto a cuboctahedron, which he called the Dymaxion World, using the name Dymaxion which he also applied to several of his other inventions. In 1954, Fuller and cartographer Shoji Sadao produced an updated Dymaxion map, the Airocean World Map, based on an icosahedron with a few of the triangular faces cut to avoid breaks in landmasses. The Dymaxion projection is intended for representations of the entire Earth. The March 1, 1943, edition of Life magazine included a photographic essay titled Life Presents R. Buckminster Fullers Dymaxion World, illustrating a projection onto a cuboctahedron, including several examples of possible arrangements of the square and triangular pieces, and a pull-out section of one-sided magazine pages with the map faces printed on them, intended to be cut out and glued to card stock to make a three-dimensional cuboctahedron or its two-dimensional net.[1] Fuller applied for a patent in the United States in February 1944 for the cuboctahedron projection, which was issued in January 1946.[2] In 1954, Fuller and cartographer Shoji Sadao produced a new map onto an icosahedron instead of the cuboctahedron. It depicts Earths continents as one island, or nearly contiguous land masses. References today to the Fuller projection or Dymaxion usually indicate this version.
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Takanawa Residence. The Takanawa Imperial Residence (高輪皇族邸, Takanawa Kōzokutei) is an Imperial residence in Tokyo. From 1931 to 2004, it was the residence of Nobuhito, Prince Takamatsu, and his spouse, Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu. On 31 March 2020, the Emperor Emeritus Akihito and the Empress Emerita Michiko moved in. The official name of the residence was then changed to Sento Karigosho (仙洞仮御所; litt. Temporary Emeritus Imperial Palace). The residence was the site of the secondary Edo residence of the Hosokawa clan. In 1891, it was chosen to be the residence of Masako, Princess Tsune and Fusako, Princess Kane, two daughters of Emperor Meiji. Hirohito resided there as the Crown Prince between 1913 and 1924. It became the residence of his younger brother Nobuhito in 1931, and a building in Tudor style and a Japanese style building were built. They survived the war, but part of the grounds were confiscated. On those grounds were built the Takamatsu Junior high school and public residences. The western style building was dismantled in 1972, and a new reinforced concrete residence was built in its place. Nobuhitos widow Kikuko resided there until her death in 2004, after which the residence was unused. The Takanawa residence was chosen as a temporary palace for Akihito and Michiko during the refurbishment of the Akasaka Palace (current Togu palace), which will be their Sentō Imperial Palace (仙洞御所; litt. Emeritus Imperial Palace).[1] It became the Sentō Karigosho (仙洞仮御所; litt. Temporary Emeritus Imperial Palace) when they moved in on March 31, 2020.[2]
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Landmass. A landmass, or land mass, is a large region or area of land that is in one piece and not noticeably broken up by oceans.[1][2] The term is often used to refer to lands surrounded by an ocean or sea, such as a continent or a large island.[3][4] In the field of geology, a landmass is a defined section of continental crust extending above sea level.[5] Continents are often thought of as distinct landmasses and may include any islands that are part of the associated continental shelf. When multiple continents form a single contiguous land connection, the connected continents may be viewed as a single landmass. Earths largest landmasses are (starting with largest):[6][7][8] Continental landmasses are not usually classified as islands despite being completely surrounded by water.[Note 1] However, because the definition of continent varies between geographers, the Americas are sometimes defined as two separate continents while mainland Australia is sometimes defined as an island as well as a continent. Nevertheless, for the purposes of this list, mainland Australia along with the other major landmasses have been listed as continental landmasses for comparison. The figures are approximations and are for the four major continental landmasses only.[Note 2] 126 countries6 de facto states 22 countriesFrench Guiana
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Sesshō and Kampaku. In Japan, Sesshō (摂政) was a regent who was named to act on behalf of either a child emperor before his coming of age, or an empress regnant. The Kampaku (関白) was theoretically a sort of chief advisor for the Emperor, but was in practice the title of both first secretary and regent who assisted an adult Emperor. The duties of the Sesshō and Kampaku were to convey to the Emperor the policies formulated by the Sadaijin (左大臣, Minister of the Left) and other senior officials of the Daijō-kan (太政官, Council of State), and to convey the Emperors decisions to them. As regents of the Emperor, the Sesshō and Kampaku sometimes made decisions on behalf of the Emperor, but their positions were not defined by law and they had no specific political authority. The two titles were collectively known as sekkan (摂関), and the families that exclusively held the titles were called sekkan-ke (sekkan family).[1] During the Heian period (794–1185), from the middle of the 9th century, the Fujiwara clan began to marry off their daughters to the Emperor and assume the positions of Sesshō and Kampaku, thereby excluding other clans from the political centre and increasing their political power. From the 10th century, the Fujiwara clan monopolized the Sesshō and Kampaku, and at the end of the 10th century, around the time of Fujiwara no Michinaga and Fujiwara no Yorimichi, the power of the Fujiwara clan reached its zenith. In the mid-11th century, Emperor Go-Sanjo ran his own government, and the next Emperor, Shirakawa, abdicated to become Cloistered Emperor, beginning the cloistered rule. From then on, the cloistered rule of Cloistered Emperor took root, and the de facto Fujiwara regime, which used the positions of Sesshō and Kampaku, was over, and the Sesshō and Kampaku lost their real political power and became mere names.[1][2][3] During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), when the warrior class seized power and the Kamakura shogunate was established, the Fujiwara were divided into Five regent houses (五摂家, Go-sekke): the Konoe, Kujō, Nijō, Ichijo, and Takatsukasa families. From then on, these five families served as Sesshō and Kampaku on a rotating basis.[4] Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the first person in history to become a Kampaku who was not a noble by birth; his nephew Toyotomi Hidetsugu also became a Kampaku. Hideyoshi obtained this title, the highest position in the aristocracy, by being adopted into the Konoe family and formally becoming an aristocrat. A retired Kampaku was called Taikō (太閤), which came to commonly refer to Toyotomi Hideyoshi.[5][6] Both sesshō and kampaku were styled as denka or tenga (殿下) in historical pronunciation; translated as (Imperial) Highness, as were Imperial princes and princesses.
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EDO. Edo or EDO may refer to:
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Yedda. Yedda was an Israeli community-driven question-and-answer (Q&A) web service best known for its early commercial use of semantic search and vector-based similarity to match user questions with relevant answers and experts. Founded in late 2005 and launched publicly in early 2006, the platform grew through syndication partnerships before being acquired by AOL in November 2007. Yedda remained a wholly owned subsidiary and its technology was relaunched globally in 2010 under the brand AOL Answers, which for a period generated the highest volume of organic search traffic of any AOL property.[1] Yedda was created in 2005 by Avichay Nissenbaum (CEO), Yaniv Golan (CTO), Osher Frimerman (VP R&D), Eran Sandler and Daniel Verhovsky.[2] The founders raised roughly US$2.5 million in seed funding and soft-launched the Q&A site in late 2006.[3] Rather than rely solely on its own domain, Yedda licensed embeddable Q&A widgets to other publishers. By late 2007 more than 50 partner sites—including ePals and The Job Network—contributed about 90 % of Yedda’s total traffic.[4] On 11 November 2007 AOL announced it would acquire Yedda for an undisclosed (widely reported “multi-million”) amount.[4][5] The deal marked AOL’s **fifth Israeli acquisition**, following Mirabilis (ICQ), Relegence, Quigo and others.[6] AOL retained Yedda’s Tel Aviv R&D centre and the full founding team as a wholly owned, independently managed subsidiary.[2] In August 2010 AOL relaunched the platform as AOL Answers.[7] User accounts and historical content were migrated, while the new brand was promoted across AOL portals. Analysts noted that although revenue per page was modest, the long-tail Q&A pages brought millions of search-driven visits, briefly making AOL Answers the company’s largest organic-traffic generator.[1]
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Danish Realm. The Danish Realm,[g] officially the Kingdom of Denmark,[i] or simply Denmark,[j] is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territory. It consists of metropolitan Denmark (sometimes called Denmark proper)[k]—the kingdoms territory in continental Europe and its proximate islands—and the realms two autonomous (but not sovereign) regions: the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America.[17] The relationship between the three parts of the kingdom is known as rigsfællesskabet (the unity of the realm,[l] which has also been translated into the Danish Commonwealth or the United Kingdom of Denmark). The Kingdom of Denmark is not a federation, but a concept encompassing the three autonomous legal systems of Denmark,[citation needed] the Faroe Islands and Greenland, united under its monarch. The Kingdom of Denmark is a unitary sovereign state. It has Arctic territorial claims in the Arctic Ocean: various sites near the North Pole (Lomonosov Ridge, Gakkel Ridge, and the Alpha-Mendeleev Ridge complex). The Kingdom of Denmark constitutionally encompasses the realm or the country, but the Faroe Islands and Greenland have an extended degree of autonomy to govern their relations. The Faroe Islands and Greenland have been under the Crown of Denmark since 1397 (de facto) when the Kalmar Union was ratified, and part of the Danish Realm since 1814 (de jure). Due to their separate historical and cultural identities, these parts of the realm now have an extensive degree of self-government and have assumed legislative and administrative responsibility in a substantial number of fields.[21] Legal matters in the country or realm are subject to the Constitution of the Realm of Denmark.[22] It stipulates that it applies for all parts of the Kingdom of Denmark and that legislative, executive and judicial powers are the responsibility of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Denmark (Danish: Folketing), the Government of Denmark and the Supreme Court of Denmark. The Faroe Islands were granted home rule via an independence referendum in 1946, and Greenland obtained this in a 1979 referendum. In 2005, the Faroes received a self-government arrangement, and in 2009 Greenland received self rule, which left the government of Denmark with little influence over the matters of internal affairs that are devolved to the local governments of Greenland and the Faroe Islands.[citation needed]
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Yeddo, Indiana. Yeddo is an unincorporated community in Millcreek Township, Fountain County, Indiana. Yeddo had a post office between 1881 and 1964.[3] Its name commemorates Yeddo, now known as Tokyo.[4] This Fountain County, Indiana location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Benin City. Benin City serves as the capital and largest metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in southern Nigeria.[3] It ranks as the fourth-most populous city in Nigeria, according to the 2006 national census, preceded by Lagos, Kano, and Ibadan.[2] Benin City is located in close proximity to the Benin River, situated approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the north, whilst its eastern perimeter lies 320 kilometres (200 mi) from Lagos via the arterial road network.[4] The citys municipal boundaries converge with those of several prominent neighbouring towns in southern Nigeria, notably Agbor, Oghara, and Ekpoma.[citation needed] Benin City boasts an exceptionally fertile agricultural landscape and serves as the epicentre of Nigerias thriving rubber industry.[5] Additionally, the production of palm oil constitutes a substantial sector, further underscoring the citys prominence in Nigerias agricultural economy.[6] The city of Benin served as the paramount settlement of the Edo Kingdom of Benin, a pre-colonial polity that flourished from the 13th to the 19th centuries. During its final centuries, the kingdom maintained significant trade relations with Portugal, prior to being captured, sacked, and razed in 1897 by a British punitive expedition. This expedition resulted in the looting of numerous bronze sculptures from the Benin City palace, collectively referred to as the Benin Bronzes. Subsequent to their punitive victory, the British gradually colonized the area, eventually incorporating the region into Colonial Nigeria.[7]
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Folding screen. A folding screen, also known as pingfeng (Chinese: 屏風; pinyin: píngfēng), is a type of free-standing furniture consisting of several frames or panels, which are often connected by hinges or by other means. They have practical and decorative uses, and can be made in a variety of designs with different kinds of materials. Folding screens originated from ancient China, eventually spreading to the rest of East Asia, and were popular amongst Europeans. Screens date back to China during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BCE).[1][2] These were initially one-panel screens in contrast to folding screens.[3] Folding screens were invented during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE).[4] Depictions of those folding screens have been found in Han-era tombs, such as one in Zhucheng, Shandong Province.[1] A folding screen was often decorated with beautiful art; major themes included mythology, scenes of palace life, and nature. It is often associated with intrigue and romance in Chinese literature, for example, a young lady in love could take a curious peek hidden from behind a folding screen.[1][2] An example of such a thematic occurrence of the folding screen is in the classical novel Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin.[5] The folding screen was a recurring element in Tang literature.[6] The Tang poet Li He (790–816) wrote the Song of the Screen (屛風曲), describing a folding screen of a newly-wed couple.[6] The folding screen surrounded the bed of the young couple, its twelve panels were adorned with butterflies alighted on China pink flowers (an allusion to lovers), and had silver hinges resembling glass coins.[6] Folding screens were originally made from wooden panels and painted on lacquered surfaces, eventually folding screens made from paper or silk became popular too.[3] Even though folding screens were known to have been used since antiquity, it became rapidly popular during the Tang dynasty (618–907).[7] During the Tang dynasty, folding screens were considered ideal ornaments for many painters to display their paintings and calligraphy on.[2][3] Many artists painted on paper or silk and applied it onto the folding screen.[2] There were two distinct artistic folding screens mentioned in historical literature of the era. One of it was known as the huaping (Chinese: 畫屛; lit. painted folding screen) and the other was known as the shuping (Chinese: 書屛; lit. calligraphed folding screen).[3][7] It was not uncommon for people to commission folding screens from artists, such as from Tang-era painter Cao Ba or Song-era painter Guo Xi.[2] The landscape paintings on folding screens reached its height during the Song dynasty (960–1279).[1] The lacquer techniques for the Coromandel screens, which is known as kuancai (款彩 incised colors), emerged during the late Ming dynasty (1368-1644)[8] and was applied to folding screens to create dark screens incised, painted, and inlaid with art of mother-of-pearl, ivory, or other materials.[9] The byeongpung (Korean: 병풍; Folding screen) became significant during the period of Unified Silla (668–935).[10] The most common uses for byeongpung were as decoration, as room dividers, or to block wind caused by draft from the Ondol heated floors which were common across Korea.[11] Commonly depicted on Korean folding screens were paintings of landscapes as well as flowers and artistic renditions of calligraphy. Prominent byeongpung screens known as irworobongdo were important elements in the throne room of some Joseon kings, placed immediately behind the throne. Several examples of irworobongdo can be seen across palaces in Korea such as at Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace and Changgyeonggung.
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Hiroshige Sekō. Hiroshige Seko (世耕 弘成, Sekō Hiroshige; born 9 November 1962) is a Japanese politician serving as a Member of the House of Councillors since 1998. He previously served as Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party in the House of Councillors, and was the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry from August 2016 to September 2019 under Shinzo Abe. As Minister, he played a crucial role for announcing the export restrictions against South Korea in 2019. A native of Wakayama Prefecture, he graduated from Waseda University and received a masters degree in corporate communications from Boston University. On 4 April 2024, Seko resigned from the LDP after he was reprimanded along with 38 other party members for their involvement in the 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal.[1] In the 2024 election, Seko ran as an independent candidate in the Wakayama 2nd district of the House of Representatives,[2] and defeated the LDP candidate Nobuyasu Nikai, son of former cabinet minister Toshihiro Nikai. Seko has been described as one of the core members of the Abe Faction of the LDP.[2]
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Albania. Albania,[b] officially the Republic of Albania,[c] is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, North Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south. With an area of 28,748 km2 (11,100 sq mi), it has a varied range of climatic, geological, hydrological and morphological conditions. Albanias landscapes range from rugged snow-capped mountains in the Albanian Alps and the Korab, Skanderbeg, Pindus and Ceraunian Mountains, to fertile lowland plains extending from the Adriatic and Ionian seacoasts. Tirana is the capital and largest city in the country, followed by Durrës, Vlorë, and Shkodër. Albania was inhabited by several Illyrian tribes, among them the Ardiaei, Bylliones, Dassaretii, Enchele, and Taulantians, with the Chaonians settled in the southwest. Several colonies were founded by the Ancient Greeks along the Albanian coast, most notably Apollonia. The Illyrians were the dominant power in Albania before the rise of Macedon.[8] Following the Illyrian Wars, Albania was integrated into the Roman Empire and remained in the Byzantine Empire after its partition. During the Middle Ages, several Albanian principalities emerged, most notably the Principality of Arbanon, Kingdom of Albania, Principality of Albania and Albania Veneta. In the 15th century, Albania became a center of resistance against Ottoman expansion under the leadership of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, whose military campaigns repelled Ottoman advances for over two decades. Although incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, Albania retained distinct cultural and social identities throughout four centuries of foreign rule, culminating in the Albanian Renaissance in the 19th century. Albania declared independence in 1912, followed by a turbulent 20th century marked by monarchy, foreign occupation during both World Wars, and a repressive communist regime under Enver Hoxha.[9] Since its independence in 1912, Albania has undergone diverse political evolution, transitioning from a monarchy to a communist regime before becoming a sovereign parliamentary constitutional republic. Governed by a constitution prioritising the separation of powers, the countrys political structure includes a parliament, a ceremonial president, a functional prime minister and a hierarchy of courts. Albania is a developing country with an upper-middle income economy driven by the service sector, with manufacturing and tourism, which attracted over 11 million visitors in 2024, also playing significant roles.[10] After the dissolution of its communist system the country shifted from centralised planning to an open market economy. Albanian citizens have universal health care access and free primary and secondary education. The country is an official candidate for membership in the European Union and has been negotiating accession since 2022.
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Albanian language. Albanian (endonym: shqip [ʃcip] ⓘ, gjuha shqipe [ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ] ⓘ, or arbërisht [aɾbəˈɾiʃt]) is an Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan group.[9] It is the native language of the Albanian people. Standard Albanian is the official language of Albania and Kosovo, and a co-official language in North Macedonia and Montenegro, where it is the primary language of significant Albanian minority communities. Albanian is recognized as a minority language in Italy, Croatia, Romania, and Serbia. It is also spoken in Greece and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europe and Oceania.[2][10] Albanian is estimated to have as many as 7.5 million native speakers.[1][2] Albanian and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrations in the region.[11][12] Albanian in antiquity is often thought to have been an Illyrian language for obvious geographic and historical reasons,[13][14][15][16][17][18] or otherwise an unmentioned Balkan Indo-European language that was closely related to Illyrian and Messapic.[19][20][21][22] The Indo-European subfamily that gave rise to Albanian is called Albanoid in reference to a specific ethnolinguistically pertinent and historically compact language group.[23] Whether descendants or sisters of what was called Illyrian by classical sources, Albanian and Messapic, on the basis of shared features and innovations, are grouped together in a common branch in the current phylogenetic classification of the Indo-European language family.[24][19][23][21][22] The first written mention of Albanian was in 1284 in a witness testimony from the Republic of Ragusa, while a letter written by Dominican Friar Gulielmus Adea in 1332 mentions the Albanians using the Latin alphabet in their writings. The oldest surviving attestation of modern Albanian is from 1462.[25] The two main Albanian dialect groups (or varieties), Gheg and Tosk, are primarily distinguished by phonological differences and are mutually intelligible in their standard varieties,[26][27] with Gheg spoken to the north and Tosk spoken to the south of the Shkumbin river.[28] Their characteristics[29][30] in the treatment of both native words and loanwords provide evidence that the split into the northern and the southern dialects occurred after Christianisation of the region (4th century AD),[31][32] and most likely not later than the 6th century AD,[33][34][35] hence possibly occupying roughly their present area divided by the Shkumbin river since the Post-Roman and Pre-Slavic period, straddling the Jireček Line.[36][37] Centuries-old communities speaking Albanian dialects can be found scattered in Greece (the Arvanites and some communities in Epirus, Western Macedonia and Western Thrace),[38] Croatia (the Arbanasi), Italy (the Arbëreshë)[39] as well as in Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.[40] The Malsia e Madhe Gheg Albanian[41][42] and two varieties of the Tosk dialect, Arvanitika in Greece and Arbëresh in southern Italy, have preserved archaic elements of the language.[43] Ethnic Albanians constitute a large diaspora, with many having long assimilated in different cultures and communities. Consequently, Albanian-speakers do not correspond to the total ethnic Albanian population, as many ethnic Albanians may identify as Albanian but are unable to speak the language.[44][45][46]
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Taxonomy (biology). In biology, taxonomy (from Ancient Greek τάξις (taxis) arrangement and -νομία (-nomia) method) is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa (singular: taxon), and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum (division is sometimes used in botany in place of phylum), class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, having developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms. With advances in the theory, data and analytical technology of biological systematics, the Linnaean system has transformed into a system of modern biological classification intended to reflect the evolutionary relationships among organisms, both living and extinct. The exact definition of taxonomy varies from source to source, but the core of the discipline remains: the conception, naming, and classification of groups of organisms.[1] As points of reference, recent definitions of taxonomy are presented below: The varied definitions either place taxonomy as a sub-area of systematics (definition 2), invert that relationship (definition 6), or appear to consider the two terms synonymous. There is some disagreement as to whether biological nomenclature is considered a part of taxonomy (definitions 1 and 2), or a part of systematics outside taxonomy.[8][9] For example, definition 6 is paired with the following definition of systematics that places nomenclature outside taxonomy:[6]
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Hiroshige III. Utagawa Hiroshige III (三代目 歌川 広重, Sandaime Utagawa Hiroshige; 1842 or 1843 – March 28, 1894) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist who was a student of Utagawa Hiroshige. He was also referred to as Andō Tokubei (安藤徳兵). Born Gotō Torakichi (後藤寅吉), he was given the artistic name Shigemasa. In 1867, after Hiroshige II, a fellow pupil of the original Hiroshige, divorced the masters daughter Otatsu, Gotō married her and initially took on the name Hiroshige II as well, but by 1869 he began calling himself Hiroshige III.[1] Hiroshige III worked in the same artistic style as his master, but did not achieve anywhere near the same level of success. From The most beautiful place in Tokyo (東京名所第一の勝景, Tōkyō meisho dai ichi no shōkei) This Japanese artist–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Hiroshige II. Hiroshige II (二代目 歌川広重, Ni-daime Utagawa Hiroshige; 1826 – 17 September 1869) was a Japanese designer of ukiyo-e art. He inherited the name Hiroshige II following the death in 1858 of his master Hiroshige, whose daughter he married. In 1865 he moved from Edo to Yokohama after dissolving his marriage and began using the name Kisai Risshō (喜斎立祥; alternate pronunciation: Ryūshō). His work so resembles that of his master that scholars have often confused them. Born Suzuki Chinpei (鈴木鎮平) in 1826, it is said that he was born to a fireman, as was his master Hiroshige to whom he became apprenticed under the name Shigenobu at an unknown age. His earliest known work is the illustrations for a book called Twenty-four Paragons of Japan and China from 1849.[1] Hiroshige II produced a large number of commissioned work in the 1850s in the style of the elder Hiroshige, and often signed his work Ichiryūsai mon (student of Ichiryūsai, another art name of Hiroshige Is), and from c. 1853 to 1858 simply as Ichiryūsai. In 1858, he married Hiroshige Is daughter Otatsu after the masters death and inherited the Hiroshige name, as well as the names Ichiryūsai and Ryūsai.[1] The artist moved from Edo to Yokohama in 1865 after dissolving his marriage and began using the name Kisai Risshō (喜斎立祥; alternate pronunciation: Ryūshō). During this decade he produced a number of collaborative print series, particularly with Kunisada, who had earlier worked with Hiroshige I. In his final years he turned mainly to decorating works intended for export, such as tea chests, kites, and lanterns.[1] On 17 September 1869 he died at the age of 44.[1] Hiroshige I took on few students; Hiroshige II was the most successful of these. His works have often been confounded with those of his master, which they resemble closely in style, subject, and signature. Early Western scholars did not even recognize him as a separate artist.[1]
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Hiroshige Koyama. Hiroshige Koyama (1937–2016) was a Japanese botanist and specialist of Asteraceae.[1][2] Koyamacalia, a genus of East Asian plants in the groundsel tribe Senecioneae,[3][4] was named for Koyama. It is listed as a synonym of Parasenecio.[5] This article about a botanist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Hiroshige Yanagimoto. Hiroshige Yanagimoto (柳本 啓成, Yanagimoto Hiroshige; born October 15, 1972) is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Yanagimoto was born in Higashiosaka on October 15, 1972. After graduating from high school, he joined Mazda (later Sanfrecce Hiroshima) in 1991. He played as regular player at right side-back. The club won the 2nd place at 1994 J1 League, 1995 and 1996 Emperors Cup. In 1999, he moved to his local club Gamba Osaka. He moved to rival team, Cerezo Osaka in 2003. The club won the 2nd place at 2003 Emperors Cup. He retired end of 2006 season. In January 1995, Yanagimoto was selected for the Japan national team for the 1995 King Fahd Cup. At this competition, on January 8, he debuted against Argentina. After debut, he became a regular player at right side-back. In 1996, he played in all matches included 1996 Asian Cup. However at 1998 World Cup qualification in March 1997, he got hurt and subsequently dropped from the national team. He had played 30 games for Japan until 1997.[1] [1] Yanagimoto married Japanese actress, Atsuko Okamoto, in July 2005, but divorced in July 2017.[2]
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Animal. Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms comprising the biological kingdom Animalia (/ˌænɪˈmeɪliə/[4]). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Animals form a clade, meaning that they arose from a single common ancestor. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described, of which around 1.05 million are insects, over 85,000 are molluscs, and around 65,000 are vertebrates. It has been estimated there are as many as 7.77 million animal species on Earth. Animal body lengths range from 8.5 μm (0.00033 in) to 33.6 m (110 ft). They have complex ecologies and interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology, and the study of animal behaviour is known as ethology. The animal kingdom is divided into five major clades, namely Porifera, Ctenophora, Placozoa, Cnidaria and Bilateria. Most living animal species belong to the clade Bilateria, a highly proliferative clade whose members have a bilaterally symmetric and significantly cephalised body plan, and the vast majority of bilaterians belong to two large clades: the protostomes, which includes organisms such as arthropods, molluscs, flatworms, annelids and nematodes; and the deuterostomes, which include echinoderms, hemichordates and chordates, the latter of which contains the vertebrates. The much smaller basal phylum Xenacoelomorpha have an uncertain position within Bilateria. Animals first appeared in the fossil record in the late Cryogenian period and diversified in the subsequent Ediacaran period in what is known as the Avalon explosion. Earlier evidence of animals is still controversial; the sponge-like organism Otavia has been dated back to the Tonian period at the start of the Neoproterozoic, but its identity as an animal is heavily contested.[5] Nearly all modern animal phyla first appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, which began around 539 million years ago (Mya), and most classes during the Ordovician radiation 485.4 Mya. Common to all living animals, 6,331 groups of genes have been identified that may have arisen from a single common ancestor that lived about 650 Mya during the Cryogenian period. Historically, Aristotle divided animals into those with blood and those without. Carl Linnaeus created the first hierarchical biological classification for animals in 1758 with his Systema Naturae, which Jean-Baptiste Lamarck expanded into 14 phyla by 1809. In 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into the multicellular Metazoa (now synonymous with Animalia) and the Protozoa, single-celled organisms no longer considered animals. In modern times, the biological classification of animals relies on advanced techniques, such as molecular phylogenetics, which are effective at demonstrating the evolutionary relationships between taxa.
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Tenno, Trentino. Tenno (Tén in local dialect) is a comune (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Trento. Tenno borders the following municipalities: Comano Terme, Fiavè, Arco, Ledro and Riva del Garda. Its neighborhood of Canale is one of I Borghi più belli dItalia (The most beautiful villages of Italy).[3] Tenno contains the waterfalls of Cascate del Varone. Tenno hosts an yearly summer festival called Quarta dAgosto (Fourth of August) which is celebrated the fourth Sunday of August, in Cologna. This Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Tennō, Akita. Tennō (天王町, Tennō-machi) was a town located in Minamiakita District, Akita Prefecture, Japan. In 2003, the town had an estimated population of 22,115 and a density of 532.76 persons per km2. The total area was 41.51 km2. On March 22, 2005, Tennō, along with the towns of Iitagawa and Shōwa (all from Minamiakita District), merged to create the city of Katagami.[1] This Akita Prefecture location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Lepidoptera. Aglossata Glossata Heterobathmiina Zeugloptera Lepidoptera (/ˌlɛpɪˈdɒptərə/ LEP-ih-DOP-tər-ə) or lepidopterans is an order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organisms,[1][2] making it the second largest insect order (behind Coleoptera) with 126 families[3] and 46 superfamilies,[1] and one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world.[4] Lepidopteran species are characterized by more than three derived features. The most apparent is the presence of scales that cover the bodies, large triangular wings, and a proboscis for siphoning nectars. The scales are modified, flattened hairs, and give butterflies and moths their wide variety of colors and patterns. Almost all species have some form of membranous wings, except for a few that have reduced wings or are wingless. Mating and the laying of eggs is normally performed near or on host plants for the larvae. Like most other insects, butterflies and moths are holometabolous, meaning they undergo complete metamorphosis. The larvae are commonly called caterpillars, and are completely different from their adult moth or butterfly forms, having a cylindrical body with a well-developed head, mandible mouth parts, three pairs of thoracic legs and from none up to five pairs of prolegs. As they grow, these larvae change in appearance, going through a series of stages called instars. Once fully matured, the larva develops into a pupa. A few butterflies and many moth species spin a silk casing or cocoon for protection prior to pupating, while others do not, instead going underground.[4] A butterfly pupa, called a chrysalis, has a hard skin, usually with no cocoon. Once the pupa has completed its metamorphosis, a sexually mature adult emerges. Lepidopterans first appeared in fossil record in the Triassic-Jurassic boundary and have coevolved with flowering plants since the angiosperm boom in the Middle/Late Cretaceous. They show many variations of the basic body structure that have evolved to gain advantages in lifestyle and distribution. Recent estimates suggest the order may have more species than earlier thought,[5] and is among the five most species-rich orders (each with over 100,000 species) along with Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps and sawflies) and Hemiptera (cicadas, aphids and other true bugs).[4] They have, over millions of years, evolved a wide range of wing patterns and coloration ranging from drab moths akin to the related order Trichoptera, to the brightly colored and complex-patterned butterflies.[3] Accordingly, this is the most recognized and popular of insect orders with many people involved in the observation, study, collection, rearing of, and commerce in these insects. A person who collects or studies this order is referred to as a lepidopterist.
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Dark Sector. Dark Sector, stylized as darkSector, is a 2008 third-person shooter video game developed by Digital Extremes for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows. The game is set in the fictional Eastern Bloc country of Lasria, and centers on protagonist Hayden Tenno (voiced by Michael Rosenbaum), a morally ambivalent CIA clean-up man.[2] While trying to intercept a rogue agent named Robert Mezner, Haydens right arm is infected with the fictional Technocyte virus, which gives him the ability to grow a three-pronged Glaive at will. Dark Sector received mixed reviews for its visual design, originality of action and weapon-based gameplay. Many critics have compared the game to Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War, for their similar style of play and story. Digital Extremes would revisit the setting elements and themes of Dark Sector in their later release, Warframe. Gameplay of Dark Sector revolves around the use of the Glaive, a tri-blade throwing weapon similar to a boomerang which returns to Hayden after each throw. The Glaive can be used for long-distance combat, solving environmental puzzles, and picking up in-game items. When in close proximity to an enemy, context-sensitive actions may appear, allowing the player to execute enemies with finishers. Enemies hold onto Hayden while attacking, and the player must rapidly press a randomly prompted button to break free.
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Hydrology (disambiguation). Hydrology is the scientific study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets. Hydrology may also refer to:
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Insect. Insects (from Latin insectum) are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and a pair of antennae. Insects are the most diverse group of animals, with more than a million described species; they represent more than half of all animal species. The insect nervous system consists of a brain and a ventral nerve cord. Most insects reproduce by laying eggs. Insects breathe air through a system of paired openings along their sides, connected to small tubes that take air directly to the tissues. The blood therefore does not carry oxygen; it is only partly contained in vessels, and some circulates in an open hemocoel. Insect vision is mainly through their compound eyes, with additional small ocelli. Many insects can hear, using tympanal organs, which may be on the legs or other parts of the body. Their sense of smell is via receptors, usually on the antennae and the mouthparts. Nearly all insects hatch from eggs. Insect growth is constrained by the inelastic exoskeleton, so development involves a series of molts. The immature stages often differ from the adults in structure, habit, and habitat. Groups that undergo four-stage metamorphosis often have a nearly immobile pupa. Insects that undergo three-stage metamorphosis lack a pupa, developing through a series of increasingly adult-like nymphal stages. The higher level relationship of the insects is unclear. Fossilized insects of enormous size have been found from the Paleozoic Era, including giant dragonfly-like insects with wingspans of 55 to 70 cm (22 to 28 in). The most diverse insect groups appear to have coevolved with flowering plants. Adult insects typically move about by walking and flying; some can swim. Insects are the only invertebrates that can achieve sustained powered flight; insect flight evolved just once. Many insects are at least partly aquatic, and have larvae with gills; in some species, the adults too are aquatic. Some species, such as water striders, can walk on the surface of water. Insects are mostly solitary, but some, such as bees, ants and termites, are social and live in large, well-organized colonies. Others, such as earwigs, provide maternal care, guarding their eggs and young. Insects can communicate with each other in a variety of ways. Male moths can sense the pheromones of female moths over great distances. Other species communicate with sounds: crickets stridulate, or rub their wings together, to attract a mate and repel other males. Lampyrid beetles communicate with light.
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-logy. -logy is a suffix in the English language, used with words originally adapted from Ancient Greek ending in -λογία (-logía).[1] The earliest English examples were anglicizations of the French -logie, which was in turn inherited from the Latin -logia.[2] The suffix became productive in English from the 18th century, allowing the formation of new terms with no Latin or Greek precedent. The English suffix has two separate main senses, reflecting two sources of the -λογία suffix in Greek:[3] Philology is an exception: while its meaning is closer to the first sense, the etymology of the word is similar to the second sense.[8] In English names for fields of study, the suffix -logy is most frequently found preceded by the euphonic connective vowel o so that the word ends in -ology.[9] In these Greek words, the root is always a noun and -o- is the combining vowel for all declensions of Greek nouns. However, when new names for fields of study are coined in modern English, the formations ending in -logy almost always add an -o-, except when the root word ends in an l or a vowel, as in these exceptions:[10] analogy, dekalogy, disanalogy, genealogy, genethlialogy, hexalogy; herbalogy (a variant of herbology), mammalogy, mineralogy, paralogy, petralogy (a variant of petrology); elogy; heptalogy; antilogy, festilogy; trilogy, tetralogy, pentalogy; palillogy, pyroballogy; dyslogy; eulogy; and brachylogy.[7] Linguists sometimes jokingly refer to haplology as haplogy (subjecting the word haplology to the process of haplology itself).
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Arthropod. For fossil groups, see text Arthropods (/ˈɑːrθrəˌpɒd/ AR-thrə-pod)[3][4] are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (metameric) segments, and paired jointed appendages. In order to keep growing, they must go through stages of moulting, a process by which they shed their exoskeleton to reveal a new one. They form an extremely diverse group of up to ten million species. Haemolymph is the analogue of blood for most arthropods. An arthropod has an open circulatory system, with a body cavity called a haemocoel through which haemolymph circulates to the interior organs. Like their exteriors, the internal organs of arthropods are generally built of repeated segments. They have ladder-like nervous systems, with paired ventral nerve cords running through all segments and forming paired ganglia in each segment. Their heads are formed by fusion of varying numbers of segments, and their brains are formed by fusion of the ganglia of these segments and encircle the esophagus. The respiratory and excretory systems of arthropods vary, depending as much on their environment as on the subphylum to which they belong. Arthropods use combinations of compound eyes and pigment-pit ocelli for vision. In most species, the ocelli can only detect the direction from which light is coming, and the compound eyes are the main source of information; however, in spiders, the main eyes are ocelli that can form images and, in a few cases, can swivel to track prey. Arthropods also have a wide range of chemical and mechanical sensors, mostly based on modifications of the many bristles known as setae that project through their cuticles. Similarly, their reproduction and development are varied; all terrestrial species use internal fertilization, but this is sometimes by indirect transfer of the sperm via an appendage or the ground, rather than by direct injection. Aquatic species use either internal or external fertilization. Almost all arthropods lay eggs, with many species giving birth to live young after the eggs have hatched inside the mother; but a few are genuinely viviparous, such as aphids. Arthropod hatchlings vary from miniature adults to grubs and caterpillars that lack jointed limbs and eventually undergo a total metamorphosis to produce the adult form. The level of maternal care for hatchlings varies from nonexistent to the prolonged care provided by social insects.
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Warframe. Warframe is a free-to-play action role-playing third-person shooter multiplayer online game developed and published by Digital Extremes. First released for Windows in March 2013, it was later ported to PlayStation 4 in November 2013, Xbox One in September 2014, Nintendo Switch in November 2018, PlayStation 5 in November 2020, Xbox Series X/S in April 2021, and iOS in February 2024. Support for cross-platform play was released in 2022. Cross-platform save began in December 2023,[1] rolling out in waves to different groups of players before becoming fully available to all players in January 2024. A port for Android is in development.[2] In Warframe, players control members of the Tenno, a caste of ancient warriors who have awoken from centuries of suspended animation far into Earths future to find themselves at war with different factions in the Origin System. The Tenno use their powered Warframes, along with a variety of weapons and abilities, to complete missions. While many of the games missions use procedurally generated levels, it also includes large open world areas similar to other massively multiplayer online games, as well as some story-specific missions with fixed level design. The game includes elements of shooting and melee games, parkour, and role-playing to allow players to advance their Tenno with improved gear. The game features both player versus environment and player versus player elements. It is supported by microtransactions, allowing players to purchase in-game items with money, while also offering the option to earn them at no cost through grinding. The concept for Warframe originated in 2000 when Digital Extremes began work on a new game titled Dark Sector. At the time, the company had been successful in supporting other developers and publishers but wanted to develop its own game in-house. Dark Sector suffered several delays and was eventually released in 2008, incorporating some of the initial framework but differing significantly from the original plan. By 2012, in the wake of the success of free-to-play games, the developers took their earlier Dark Sector ideas and art assets and incorporated them into a new project, their self-published Warframe. Initially, the growth of Warframe was slow, hindered by moderate critical reviews and low player counts. However, since its release, the game has experienced significant growth. It is one of Digital Extremes most successful titles, reaching nearly 50 million registered players by 2019.[3]
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Kuiper quadrangle. The Kuiper quadrangle, located in a heavily cratered region of Mercury, includes the young, 55-km-diameter crater Kuiper (11° S., 31.5° ), which has the highest albedo recorded on the planet,[1] and the small crater Hun Kal (0.6° S., 20.0° ), which is the principal reference point for Mercurian longitude (Davies and Batson, 1975). Impact craters and basins, their numerous secondary craters, and heavily to lightly cratered plains are the characteristic landforms of the region. At least six multiringed basins ranging from 150 km to 440 km in diameter are present. Inasmuch as multiringed basins occur widely on that part of Mercury photographed by Mariner 10, as well as on the Moon and Mars, they offer a potentially valuable basis for comparison between these planetary bodies. Beethoven quadrangle is to the west of Kuiper quadrangle, and Derain quadrangle is to the east. Victoria quadrangle is to the north, and Discovery quadrangle is to the south. The MESSENGER spacecraft orbited Mercury from 2011 to 2015 and mapped the planet in its entirety at much higher resolution and in more wavelengths of light than Mariner 10. It obtained topographic, reflectance, magnetic, gravitational, and other types of geophysical data from orbit in addition to the photography. Note that much of the following discussion is based on information from Mariner 10, and while it is broadly correct, certain details are incorrect due to the superior MESSENGER information. Basic information about the planetary surface of the Kuiper quadrangle is provided by three sequences of high-quality photographs designated Mercury I, II, and III, obtained during the incoming phases of three encounters of the Mariner 10 spacecraft with Mercury. Mercury I includes 75 whole-frame photographs of the Kuiper quadrangle; Mercury II, 13 whole-frame photographs; and Mercury III, 70 quarter-frame photographs. The photographs include 19 stereopairs in the southern part of the quadrangle.[2] The most distant of the photographs was taken at an altitude of 89,879 km, the closest at an altitude of 7,546 km. Resolution, therefore, varies widely but ranges from about 1.5 to 2.0 km over most of the area. A wide range (more than 50 deg) of both viewing and solar illumination angles precludes a high degree of mapping consistency. The easternmost 10° of the quadrangle is beyond the evening terminator. A low angle of solar illumination and a high viewing angle make possible discrimination of topographic detail near the terminator. Higher angles of solar illumination and lower viewing angles make it increasingly difficult to discern topographic variations to the west. Many geologic units cannot be specifically identified because of unfavourable viewing geometry west of approximately 55 deg. Thus, mapping reliability decreases westward.
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Yakusha-e. Yakusha-e (役者絵), often referred to as actor prints in English, are Japanese woodblock prints or, rarely, paintings, of kabuki actors, particularly those done in the ukiyo-e style popular through the Edo period (1603–1867) and into the beginnings of the 20th century. Most strictly, the term yakusha-e refers solely to portraits of individual artists (or sometimes pairs, as seen in this work by Sharaku). However, prints of kabuki scenes and of other elements of the world of the theater are very closely related, and were more often than not produced and sold alongside portraits. Ukiyo-e images were almost exclusively images of urban life; the vast majority that were not landscapes were devoted to depicting courtesans, sumo, or kabuki. Realistic detail, inscriptions, the availability of playbills from the period, and a number of other resources have allowed many prints to be analyzed and identified in great detail. Scholars have been able to identify the subjects of many prints down to not only the play, roles, and actors portrayed, but often the theater, year, month, and even day of the month. Over the course of the Edo period, as ukiyo-e as a whole developed and changed as a genre, yakusha-e went through a number of changes as well. Many prints, particularly earlier ones, depict actors generically, and very plainly, showing in a sense their true natures as actors merely playing at roles. Many other prints, meanwhile, take something of the opposite tack; they show kabuki actors and scenes very elaborately, intentionally obscuring the distinction between a play and the actual events it seeks to evoke.
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Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese: 歌川 国芳, [ɯtaɡawa kɯɲiꜜjoɕi]; 1 January 1798[1] – 14 April 1861) was one of the last great masters of the Japanese ukiyo-e style of woodblock prints and painting.[2] He was a member of the Utagawa school.[3] The range of Kuniyoshis subjects included many genres: landscapes, women, Kabuki actors, cats, and mythical animals. He is known for depictions of the battles of legendary samurai heroes.[4] His artwork incorporated aspects of Western representation in landscape painting and caricature.[2] Kuniyoshi was born on 1 January 1798, the son of a silk-dyer, Yanagiya Kichiyemon,[5] originally named Yoshisaburō. Apparently he assisted his fathers business as a pattern designer, and some have suggested that this experience influenced his rich use of color and textile patterns in prints. It is said that Kuniyoshi was impressed, at an early age of seven or eight, by ukiyo-e warrior prints, and by pictures of artisans and commoners (as depicted in craftsmen manuals), and it is possible these influenced his own later prints. Yoshisaburō proved his drawing talents at age 12, quickly attracting the attention of the famous ukiyo-e print master Utagawa Toyokuni.[3] He was officially admitted to Toyokunis studio in 1811, and became one of his chief pupils. He remained an apprentice until 1814, at which time he was given the name Kuniyoshi and set out as an independent artist. During this year he produced his first published work, the illustrations for the kusazōshi gōkan Gobuji Chūshingura, a parody of the original Chūshingura story. Between 1815 and 1817 he created a number of book illustrations for yomihon, kokkeibon, gōkan and hanashibon, and printed his stand-alone full color prints of warriors and kabuki actors. Despite his promising debut, the young Kuniyoshi failed to produce many works between 1818 and 1827, probably due to a lack of commissions from publishers, and the competition of other artists within the Utagawa school (Utagawa-ryū).[3] However, during this time he did produce pictures of beautiful women (bijin-ga) and experimented with large textile patterns and light-and-shadow effects found in Western art, although his attempts showed more imitation than real understanding of these principles.
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Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek (Ἑλληνῐκή, Hellēnikḗ; [hellɛːnikɛ́ː])[1] includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (c. 1400–1200 BC), Dark Ages (c. 1200–800 BC), the Archaic or Homeric period (c. 800–500 BC), and the Classical period (c. 500–300 BC).[2] Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a standard subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical periods of the language, which are the best-attested periods and considered most typical of Ancient Greek. From the Hellenistic period (c. 300 BC), Ancient Greek was followed by Koine Greek, which is regarded as a separate historical stage, though its earliest form closely resembles Attic Greek, and its latest form approaches Medieval Greek, and Koine may be classified as Ancient Greek in a wider sense – being an ancient rather than medieval form of Greek, though over the centuries increasingly resembling Medieval and Modern Greek.
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Water cycle. The water cycle (or hydrologic cycle or hydrological cycle) is a biogeochemical cycle that involves the continuous movement of water on, above and below the surface of the Earth across different reservoirs. The mass of water on Earth remains fairly constant over time.[2] However, the partitioning of the water into the major reservoirs of ice, fresh water, salt water and atmospheric water is variable and depends on climatic variables. The water moves from one reservoir to another, such as from river to ocean, or from the ocean to the atmosphere due to a variety of physical and chemical processes. The processes that drive these movements, or fluxes, are evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, sublimation, infiltration, surface runoff, and subsurface flow. In doing so, the water goes through different phases: liquid, solid (ice) and vapor. The ocean plays a key role in the water cycle as it is the source of 86% of global evaporation.[3] The water cycle is driven by energy exchanges in the form of heat transfers between different phases. The energy released or absorbed during a phase change can result in temperature changes.[4] Heat is absorbed as water transitions from the liquid to the vapor phase through evaporation. This heat is also known as the latent heat of vaporization.[5] Conversely, when water condenses or melts from solid ice it releases energy and heat. On a global scale, water plays a critical role in transferring heat from the tropics to the poles via ocean circulation.[6] The evaporative phase of the cycle also acts as a purification process by separating water molecules from salts and other particles that are present in its liquid phase.[7] The condensation phase in the atmosphere replenishes the land with freshwater. The flow of liquid water transports minerals across the globe. It also reshapes the geological features of the Earth, through processes of weathering, erosion, and deposition. The water cycle is also essential for the maintenance of most life and ecosystems on the planet. Human actions are greatly affecting the water cycle. Activities such as deforestation, urbanization, and the extraction of groundwater are altering natural landscapes (land use changes) all have an effect on the water cycle.[8]: 1153 On top of this, climate change is leading to an intensification of the water cycle. Research has shown that global warming is causing shifts in precipitation patterns, increased frequency of extreme weather events, and changes in the timing and intensity of rainfall.[9]: 85 These water cycle changes affect ecosystems, water availability, agriculture, and human societies.
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Utagawa Kunisada II. Utagawa Kunisada II (歌川国貞, 1823 – 20 July 1880) was a Japanese ukiyo-e print designer, one of three to take the name Utagawa Kunisada. He headed the Utagawa school.[1] Little is known of Kunisada IIs early life. A pupil of Utagawa Kunisada I, he signed much of his early work Kunimasa III. His earliest known prints date to 1844. Kunisada I adopted him in 1846 after he married the masters daughter Osuzu. He took the name Kunisada II c. 1850–51, about the time he inherited the house of Kunisada I. He changed his name once more following his masters death, to Toyokuni III. However, since there were three artists called Toyokuni before him, Kunisada II is now often known as Toyokuni IV.[1] Kunisada II worked in the style of his master, but never achieved the same level of success. His prints include over 40 series, mostly of actors (yakusha-e), as well portraits of beauties, illustrations of scenes from literature, erotica, and other subjects. He illustrated nearly 200 books.[1] One of his most celebrated actor series, The Tale of the Eight Dog Heroes (Hakkendun inu no sōshi no uchi), dating from 1852, is drawn from Kyokutei Bakins epic novel, The Satomi Clan and the Eight Dogs (Nansō Satomi hakkenden), written from 1814 to 1842 and published in 106 volumes.[1] Kunisada IIs productivity waned in the Meiji period (1868–1912), and he appears to have stopped making prints after 1874. He died on 20 July 1880 and was buried at Banshōin Kōunji. His Buddhist posthumous name is Sankōin Hōkokujutei Shinji. Students of his include Kunisada III (1848–1920).[1]
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Greenland. in the Kingdom of Denmark (light green) Greenland[d] is an autonomous territory[e] in the Kingdom of Denmark.[14][15] It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. It shares a small 1.2 km border with Canada on Hans Island. Citizens of Greenland are full citizens of Denmark and of the European Union. Greenland is one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union and is part of the Council of Europe.[16] It is the worlds largest island,[f] and lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenlands Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast, is the worlds northernmost undisputed point of land[g]—Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. The capital and largest city is Nuuk.[16] Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on aid from Denmark, amounting to nearly half of the territorys total public revenue. Though a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with the European kingdoms of Norway and Denmark for more than a millennium, beginning in 986.[18] Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by circumpolar peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada.[19][20] Norsemen from Norway settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century (having previously settled Iceland), and their descendants lived in Greenland for 400 years until disappearing in the late 15th century. The 13th century saw the arrival of Inuit. From the late 15th century, the Portuguese attempted to find the northern route to Asia, which ultimately led to the earliest cartographic depiction of its coastline. In the 17th century, Dano-Norwegian explorers reached Greenland again, finding their earlier settlement extinct and reestablishing a permanent Scandinavian presence on the island. When Denmark and Norway separated in 1814, Greenland was transferred from the Norwegian to the Danish crown. The 1953 Constitution of Denmark ended Greenlands status as a colony, integrating it fully into the Danish state. In the 1979 Greenlandic home rule referendum, Denmark granted home rule to Greenland. In the 2008 Greenlandic self-government referendum, Greenlanders voted for the Self-Government Act, which transferred more power from the Danish government to the local Naalakkersuisut (Greenlandic government).[21] Under this structure, Greenland gradually assumed responsibility for a number of governmental services and areas of competence. The Danish government retains control of citizenship, monetary policy, security policies, and foreign affairs. With the melting of the ice due to global warming, its abundance of mineral wealth, and its strategic position between Eurasia, North America and the Arctic zone, Greenland holds strategic importance for the Kingdom of Denmark, NATO, and the EU.
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Emperor of Japan. Naruhito Fumihito
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MESSENGER. MESSENGER was a NASA robotic space probe that orbited the planet Mercury between 2011 and 2015, studying Mercurys chemical composition, geology, and magnetic field.[9][10] The name is a backronym for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging, and a reference to the messenger god Mercury from Roman mythology. MESSENGER was launched aboard a Delta II rocket in August 2004. Its path involved a complex series of flybys – the spacecraft flew by Earth once, Venus twice, and Mercury itself three times, allowing it to decelerate relative to Mercury using minimal fuel. During its first flyby of Mercury in January 2008, MESSENGER became the second mission, after Mariner 10 in 1975, to reach Mercury.[11][12][13] MESSENGER entered orbit around Mercury on March 18, 2011, becoming the first spacecraft to do so.[9] It successfully completed its primary mission in 2012.[2] Following two mission extensions, the spacecraft used the last of its maneuvering propellant to deorbit, impacting the surface of Mercury on April 30, 2015.[14] MESSENGERs formal data collection mission began on April 4, 2011.[15] The primary mission was completed on March 17, 2012, having collected close to 100,000 images.[16] MESSENGER achieved 100% mapping of Mercury on March 6, 2013, and completed its first year-long extended mission on March 17, 2013.[2] The probes second extended mission lasted for over two years, but as its low orbit degraded, it required reboosts to avoid impact. It conducted its final reboost burns on October 24, 2014, and January 21, 2015, before crashing into Mercury on April 30, 2015.[17][18][19]
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Hiroshige. Utagawa Hiroshige[a] (歌川 広重) or Andō Hiroshige[b] (安藤 広重), born Andō Tokutarō (安藤 徳太郎; 1797 – 12 October 1858), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition. Hiroshige is best known for his horizontal-format landscape series The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō and for his vertical-format landscape series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo. The subjects of his work were atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose typical focus was on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japans Edo period (1603–1868). The popular series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai was a strong influence on Hiroshiges choice of subject, though Hiroshiges approach was more poetic and ambient than Hokusais bolder, more formal prints. Subtle use of color was essential in Hiroshiges prints, often printed with multiple impressions in the same area and with extensive use of bokashi (color gradation), both of which were rather labor-intensive techniques. For scholars and collectors, Hiroshiges death marked the beginning of a rapid decline in the ukiyo-e genre, especially in the face of the westernization that followed the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Hiroshiges work came to have a marked influence on western European painting towards the close of the 19th century as a part of the trend in Japonism. Western European artists, such as Manet and Monet, collected and closely studied Hiroshiges compositions: Vincent van Gogh, for instance, painted copies of some Hiroshige prints. Hiroshige was born in 1797 in the Yayosu Quay section of the Yaesu area in Edo (modern Tokyo).[4] He was of a samurai background,[4] and is the great-grandson of Tanaka Tokuemon, who held a position of power under the Tsugaru clan in the northern province of Mutsu. Hiroshiges grandfather, Mitsuemon, was an archery instructor who worked under the name Sairyūken. Hiroshiges father, Genemon, was adopted into the family of Andō Jūemon, whom he succeeded as fire warden for the Yayosu Quay area.[4]
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Fine Wind, Clear Morning. Fine Wind, Clear Morning (Japanese: 凱風快晴, Hepburn: Gaifū kaisei; literally South Wind, Clear Sky)[a], also known as Red Fuji (赤富士, Akafuji),[3] is a woodblock print by Japanese artist Hokusai (1760–1849), part of his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji series, dating from c. 1830 to 1832.[4] The work has been described as one of the simplest and at the same time one of the most outstanding of all Japanese prints.[4] In early autumn when, as the title describes, the wind is southerly and the sky is clear, the rising sun can turn Mount Fuji red. Hokusai captures this moment with compositional abstraction but meteorological specificity, especially when compared to the rest of the series. The three shades of deepening blue of the sky mirror the three hues of the mountain. The lingering remnants of snow at the peak of the mountain and dark shadows encompassing the forest at its base place it very precisely in time.[5] Mount Fujis solidly symmetrical shape on the right half of the image is balanced by the delicate clouds to the left, for a striking composition. There is however no specific location name unlike his other works, so the location from where the view was taken is a mystery. The earliest impressions appear faded when compared to the versions usually seen, but are closer to Hokusais original conception. They are known as Pink Fuji prints and are very rare. The early prints have a deliberately uneven blue sky, which increases the skys brightness and gives movement to the clouds. The peak is brought forward with a halo of Prussian blue. Subsequent prints have a strong, even blue tone, and the printer added a new block, overprinting the white clouds on the horizon with light blue. Later prints also typically employ a strong benigara (Bengal red) pigment, which has given the painting its common name of Red Fuji. The green block color was re-cut, lowering the meeting point between forest and mountain slope.[6][7] An alternative impression of the print was made with a completely different color-scheme. In this version, the clouds are only just visible in the upper portion. The sky is mostly rendered in a flat pale blue with a thin strip of grey at the top, and a graduated strip of Prussian blue along the horizon which extends up the slope of the mountain.[4]
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Emperor Kinmei. Emperor Kinmei (欽明天皇, Kinmei-tennō; 509–571) was the 29th emperor of Japan,[1] according to the traditional order of succession.[2][3] His reign is said to have spanned the years from 539 to 571. Most historians support either the view that Kinmei is the first historically verifiable Japanese emperor or the view that Yuryaku (the 21st) is.[4][3][5] Kinmeis contemporary title would not have been tennō, as most historians believe this title was not introduced until the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. Rather, it was presumably Sumeramikoto or Amenoshita Shiroshimesu Ōkimi (治天下大王), meaning the great king who rules all under heaven. Alternatively, Kinmei might have been referred to as ヤマト大王/大君 or the Great King of Yamato. Because of several chronological discrepancies in the account of Emperor Kinmei in the Nihon Shoki, some believe that he was actually ruling a rival court to that of Emperors Ankan and Senka. Nevertheless, according to the traditional account, it was not until the death of Emperor Kinmeis older brother Emperor Senka that he gained the throne. According to this account, Emperor Senka died in 539 at the age of 73;[6] and succession passed to the third son of Emperor Keitai. This Imperial Prince was the next youngest brother of Emperor Senka. He would come to be known as Emperor Kinmei. He established his court at Shikishima no Kanazashi Palace (磯城嶋金刺宮) in Yamato.[7] The Emperors chief counselors were:
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Nihon Shoki. The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀) or Nihongi (日本紀), sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan. The Nihon Shoki was finished in 720 under the editorial supervision of Prince Toneri with the assistance of Ō no Yasumaro and presented to Empress Genshō.[1] The book is also a reflection of Chinese influence on Japanese civilization.[2] In Japan, the Sinicized court wanted written history that could be compared with the annals of the Chinese.[2] The Nihon Shoki begins with the Japanese creation myth, explaining the origin of the world and the first seven generations of divine beings (starting with Kuninotokotachi), and goes on with a number of myths as does the Kojiki, but continues its account through to events of the 8th century. It is believed to record accurately the latter reigns of Emperor Tenji, Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō. The Nihon Shoki focuses on the merits of the virtuous rulers as well as the errors of the bad rulers. It describes episodes from mythological eras and diplomatic contacts with other countries. The Nihon Shoki was written in classical Chinese, as was common for official documents at that time. The Kojiki, on the other hand, is written in a combination of Chinese and phonetic transcription of Japanese (primarily for names and songs). The Nihon Shoki also contains numerous transliteration notes telling the reader how words were pronounced in Japanese. Collectively, the stories in this book and the Kojiki are referred to as the Kiki stories.[3] The tale of Urashima Tarō is developed from the brief mention in Nihon Shoki (Emperor Yūryaku Year 22) that a certain child of Urashima visited Horaisan and saw wonders. The later tale has plainly incorporated elements from the famous anecdote of Luck of the Sea and Luck of the Mountains (Hoderi and Hoori) found in Nihon Shoki. The later developed Urashima tale contains the Rip Van Winkle motif, so some may consider it an early example of fictional time travel.[4] The first translation was completed by William George Aston in 1896 (English).[5]
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Hokusai (crater). Hokusai is a rayed impact crater on Mercury, which was discovered in 1991 by ground-based radar observations conducted at Goldstone Observatory.[2] The crater was initially known as feature B. Its appearance was so dissimilar to other impact craters that it was once thought to be a shield volcano. However, improved radar images by the Arecibo Observatory obtained later in 2000–2005 clearly showed that feature B is an impact crater with an extensive ray system. The bright appearance of rays in the radio images indicates that the crater is geologically young; fresh impact ejecta has a rough surface, which leads to strong scattering of radio waves.[2] Hokusai is named after Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), a Japanese artist and printmaker of the Edo period.[3][1] The name Hokusai was suggested by radar astronomer John K. Harmon.[4] The crater has a diameter of about 100 km; the rays extend for thousands kilometers, covering much of the northern hemisphere.[5] Hokusai is the fourth-largest crater of the Kuiperian system on Mercury. The largest is Bartók crater.[6] Hokusai is one of 110 peak ring basins on Mercury.[7]
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Corcyra (disambiguation). Corcyra is Latin for Corfu, a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. Corcyra or Korkyra may also refer to:
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Anno Domini. The terms Anno Domini (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used when designating years in the Gregorian and Julian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means in the year of the Lord[1] but is often presented using our Lord instead of the Lord,[2][3] taken from the full original phrase anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi, which translates to in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ. The form BC is specific to English, and equivalent abbreviations are used in other languages: the Latin form, rarely used in English, is ante Christum natum (ACN) or ante Christum (AC). This calendar era takes as its epoch the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus. Years AD are counted forward since that epoch and years BC are counted backward from the epoch. There is no year zero in this scheme; thus the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in 525 by the Eastern Roman monk Dionysius Exiguus but was not widely used until the 9th century.[4][5] Modern scholars believe that the actual date of birth of Jesus was about 5 BC.[6][7][8][9] Terminology that is viewed by some as being more neutral and inclusive of non-Christian people is to call this the Common Era (abbreviated as CE), with the preceding years referred to as Before the Common Era (BCE). Astronomical year numbering and ISO 8601 do not use words or abbreviations related to Christianity, but use the same numbers for AD years (but not for BC years since the astronomical year 0 is 1 BC). Traditionally, English follows Latin usage by placing the AD abbreviation before the year number, though it is also found after the year.[10] In contrast, BC is always placed after the year number (for example: 70 BC but AD 70), which preserves syntactic order. The abbreviation AD is also widely used after the number of a century or millennium, as in fourth century AD or second millennium AD (although conservative usage formerly rejected such expressions).[11] Since BC is the English abbreviation for Before Christ, it is sometimes incorrectly concluded that AD means After Death (i.e., after the death of Jesus), which would mean that the approximately 33 years commonly associated with the life of Jesus would be included in neither the BC nor the AD time scales.[12]
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Ionian Islands (region). The Ionian Islands Region (/aɪˈoʊniən/ eye-OH-nee-ən; Greek: Περιφέρεια Ιονίων Νήσων, romanized: Periféria Ioníon Níson, [periˈferia ioˈnion ˈnison]) is the smallest by area of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece located in the Ionian Sea. It comprises all the Ionian Islands except Kythera, which, although historically part of the island group, was separated and integrated to the Attica Region. The population of the Ionian Islands in 2011 was 207,855, decreased by 1.5% compared to the population in 2001.[4] Nevertheless, the region remains the third by population density with 90.1/km2 nationwide, well above the national of 81.96/km2. The most populous of the major islands is Corfu with a population of 104,371, followed by Zante (40,759), Cephalonia (35,801), Leucas (23,693) and Ithaca (3,231). In 2001, the foreign-born population was 19,360 or 9.3%, the majority of which was concentrated in Corfu and Zante. Most of them originate from Albania (13,536). The fertility rate for 2011 according to Eurostat was 1.35 live births per woman.[5] The regional gross domestic product for 2010 was 4,029 million euros. The GDP per capita for the same year was 18,440 euros per capita which was lower than the national median of 20,481. However, the GDP per capita of Cephalonia and Zante, 23,275 and 24,616 respectively, was much higher than the national figure.[6] Additionally, unemployment for 2012 was 14.7, the lowest among all Greek regions, and much lower compared to the national unemployment of 24.2.[7] The region is a popular tourist destination. The airports of Corfu, Zante and Cephalonia were in the top ten in Greece by number of international arrivals, with 1,386,289 international arrivals for 2012, with Corfu being the sixth airport by number of arrivals nationwide, while Zante and Cephalonia also being in the top ten. Cephalonia Airport had the biggest increase nationwide by 13.11% compared to 2011, while Corfu had an increase of 6.31%.[8][9] The region was established in the 1987 administrative reform, comprising the prefectures of Corfu, Kefalonia and Ithaca, Lefkada and Zakynthos.
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Literal translation. Literal translation, direct translation, or word-for-word translation, or word-by-word translation, or word-to-word translation is the translation of a text done by translating each word separately without analysing how the words are used together in a phrase or sentence.[1][2] In translation theory, another term for literal translation is metaphrase (as opposed to paraphrase for an analogous translation). It is to be distinguished from an interpretation (done, for example, by an interpreter).[3] Literal translation leads to mistranslation of idioms, which can be a serious problem for machine translation.[4] The term literal translation often appeared in the titles of 19th-century English translations of the classical Bible and other texts.[5]
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Edo. Edo (Japanese: 江戸, lit. bay-entrance or estuary), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo.[2] Edo, formerly a jōkamachi (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the de facto capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate. Edo grew to become one of the largest cities in the world under the Tokugawa. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Meiji government renamed Edo to Tokyo (東京, Eastern Capital) and relocated the Emperor from the historic capital of Kyoto to the city. The era of Tokugawa rule in Japan from 1603 to 1868 is known as the Edo period. Before the 10th century, there is no mention of Edo in historical records, but for a few settlements in the area. That name for the area first appears in the Azuma Kagami chronicles, which have probably been used since the second half of the Heian period. Edos development started in the late 11th century with a branch of the Kanmu-Taira clan (桓武平氏) called the Chichibu clan (秩父氏) coming from the banks of the then-Iruma River, present-day upstream of the Arakawa river. A descendant of the head of the Chichibu clan settled in the area and took the name Edo Shigetsugu (江戸重継), likely based on the name used for the place, and founded the Edo clan. Shigetsugu built a fortified residence, probably around the edge of the Musashino Terrace, that would become Edo castle. Shigetsugus son, Edo Shigenaga (江戸重長), took the Tairas side against Minamoto no Yoritomo in 1180 but eventually surrendered to Minamoto and became a gokenin for the Kamakura shogunate. At the fall of the shogunate in the 14th century, the Edo clan took the side of the Southern Court, and its influence declined during the Muromachi period. In 1456, a vassal of the Ōgigayatsu branch of the Uesugi clan started to build a castle on the former fortified residence of the Edo clan and took the name Ōta Dōkan. Dōkan lived in the castle until his assassination in 1486. Under Dōkan, with good water connections to Kamakura, Odawara and other parts of Kanto and the country, Edo expanded as a jōkamachi, with the castle bordering a cove (now Hibiya Park) opening into Edo Bay, and the town developing along the Hirakawa River running into the cove, and on Edomaeto (江戸前島), the stretch of land on the eastern side of the cove (now roughly where Tokyo Station is). Some priests and scholars fleeing Kyoto after the Ōnin War came to Edo during that period.
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Impact crater. An impact crater is a depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse,[2] impact craters typically have raised rims and floors that are lower in elevation than the surrounding terrain.[3] Impact craters are typically circular, though they can be elliptical in shape or even irregular due to events such as landslides. Impact craters range in size from microscopic craters seen on lunar rocks returned by the Apollo Program[4] to simple bowl-shaped depressions and vast, complex, multi-ringed impact basins. Meteor Crater is a well-known example of a small impact crater on Earth.[5] Impact craters are the dominant geographic features on many solid Solar System objects including the Moon, Mercury, Callisto, Ganymede, and most small moons and asteroids. On other planets and moons that experience more active surface geological processes, such as Earth, Venus, Europa, Io, Titan, and Triton, visible impact craters are less common because they become eroded, buried, or transformed by tectonic and volcanic processes over time. Where such processes have destroyed most of the original crater topography, the terms impact structure or astrobleme are more commonly used. In early literature, before the significance of impact cratering was widely recognised, the terms cryptoexplosion or cryptovolcanic structure were often used to describe what are now recognised as impact-related features on Earth.[6] The cratering records of very old surfaces, such as Mercury, the Moon, and the southern highlands of Mars, record a period of intense early bombardment in the inner Solar System around 3.9 billion years ago. The rate of crater production on Earth has since been considerably lower, but it is appreciable nonetheless. Earth experiences, on average, from one to three impacts large enough to produce a 20-kilometre-diameter (12 mi) crater every million years.[7][8] This indicates that there should be far more relatively young craters on the planet than have been discovered so far. The cratering rate in the inner solar system fluctuates as a consequence of collisions in the asteroid belt that create a family of fragments that are often sent cascading into the inner solar system.[9] Formed in a collision 80 million years ago, the Baptistina family of asteroids is thought to have caused a large spike in the impact rate. The rate of impact cratering in the outer Solar System could be different from the inner Solar System.[10] Although Earths active surface processes quickly destroy the impact record, about 190 terrestrial impact craters have been identified.[11] These range in diameter from a few tens of meters up to about 300 km (190 mi), and they range in age from recent times (e.g. the Sikhote-Alin craters in Russia whose creation was witnessed in 1947) to more than two billion years, though most are less than 500 million years old because geological processes tend to obliterate older craters. They are also selectively found in the stable interior regions of continents.[12] Few undersea craters have been discovered because of the difficulty of surveying the sea floor, the rapid rate of change of the ocean bottom, and the subduction of the ocean floor into Earths interior by processes of plate tectonics.
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Corfu (disambiguation). Corfu (Greek: Κέρκυρα, Kerkyra) is a major island in Greece. Corfu, Kerkyra, Korkyra or Corcyra may also refer to:
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Great Wave (disambiguation). The Great Wave usually refers to The Great Wave off Kanagawa (神奈川沖浪裏), a 19th-Century Japanese woodblock print by Hokusai. Great Wave or The Great Wave may also refer to:
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Mercury (planet). Mercury is the first planet from the Sun and the smallest in the Solar System. It is a rocky planet with a trace atmosphere and a surface gravity slightly higher than that of Mars. The surface of Mercury is similar to Earths Moon, being heavily cratered, with an expansive rupes system generated from thrust faults, and bright ray systems, formed by ejecta. Its largest crater, Caloris Planitia, has a diameter of 1,550 km (960 mi), which is about one-third the diameter of the planet (4,880 km or 3,030 mi). Being the most inferior orbiting planet, it always appears close to the sun in Earths sky, either as a morning star or an evening star.” It is also the planet with the highest delta-v needed to travel to and from all other planets of the Solar System. Mercurys sidereal year (88.0 Earth days) and sidereal day (58.65 Earth days) are in a 3:2 ratio, in a spin–orbit resonance. Consequently, one solar day (sunrise to sunrise) on Mercury lasts for around 176 Earth days: twice the planets sidereal year. This means that one side of Mercury will remain in sunlight for one Mercurian year of 88 Earth days; while during the next orbit, that side will be in darkness all the time until the next sunrise after another 88 Earth days. Above the planets surface is an extremely tenuous exosphere and a faint magnetic field that is strong enough to deflect solar winds. Combined with its high orbital eccentricity, the planets surface has widely varying sunlight intensity and temperature, with the equatorial regions ranging from −170 °C (−270 °F) at night to 420 °C (790 °F) during sunlight. Due to its very small axial tilt, the planets poles are permanently shadowed. This strongly suggests that water ice could be present in the craters. Like the other planets in the Solar System, Mercury formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. There are many competing hypotheses about Mercurys origins and development, some of which incorporate collision with planetesimals and rock vaporization; as of the early 2020s, many broad details of Mercurys geological history are still under investigation or pending data from space probes. Its mantle is highly homogeneous, which suggests that Mercury had a magma ocean early in its history, like the Moon. According to current models, Mercury may have a solid silicate crust and mantle overlaying a solid outer core, a deeper liquid core layer, and a solid inner core. Mercury is expected to be destroyed, along with Venus, and possibly the Earth and the Moon, when the Sun becomes a Red Giant in approximately seven or eight billion years[20]. Mercury is a classical planet that has been observed and recognized throughout history as a planet (or wandering star). In English, it is named after the ancient Roman god Mercurius (Mercury), god of commerce and communication, and the messenger of the gods. The first successful flyby of Mercury was conducted by Mariner 10 in 1974, and it has since been visited and explored by the MESSENGER and BepiColombo orbiters.
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Regions of Greece. The regions of Greece (Greek: περιφέρειες, romanized: periféreies) are the countrys thirteen second-level administrative entities, counting decentralized administrations of Greece as first-level. Regions are divided into regional units, known as prefectures until 2011. The current regions were established in July 1986 (the presidential decree officially establishing them was signed in 1987), by decision of the interior minister, Menios Koutsogiorgas, as second-level administrative entities, complementing the prefectures (Law 1622/1986).[1] Before 1986, there was a traditional division into broad historical–geographical regions (γεωγραφικά διαμερίσματα), which, however, was often arbitrary; not all of the pre-1986 traditional historical-geographic regions had official administrative bodies. Although the post-1986 regions were mostly based on the earlier divisions, they are usually smaller and, in a few cases, do not overlap with the traditional definitions: for instance, the region of Western Greece, which had no previous analogue, comprises territory belonging to the Peloponnese peninsula and the traditional region of Central Greece. As part of a decentralization process inspired by Interior Minister Alekos Papadopoulos, they were accorded more powers in the 1997 Kapodistrias reform of local and regional government. They were transformed into fully separate entities by the 2010 Kallikratis Plan (Law 3852/2010), which entered into effect on 1 January 2011. In the 2011 changes, the government-appointed general secretary (γενικός γραμματέας) was replaced with a popularly elected regional governor (περιφερειάρχης) and a regional council (περιφερειακό συμβούλιο) with five-year terms. Many powers of the prefectures, which were also abolished or reformed into regional units, were transferred to the region level. The regional organs of the central government were in turn replaced by seven decentralized administrations, which group from one to three regions under a government-appointed general secretary. Bordering the region of Central Macedonia there is one autonomous region, Mount Athos (Agion Oros, or Holy Mountain), an autonomous monastic community under Greek sovereignty. It is located on the easternmost of the three large peninsulas jutting into the Aegean from the Chalkidiki peninsula.
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Scotland. – in Europe (green & dark grey)– in the United Kingdom (green) Scotland[e] is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdoms land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjacent islands, principally in the archipelagos of the Hebrides and the Northern Isles. In 2022, the countrys population was about 5.4 million.[10] Its capital city is Edinburgh, whilst Glasgow is the largest city and the most populous of the cities of Scotland. To the south-east, Scotland has its only land border, which is 96 miles (154 km) long and shared with England; the country is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, the North Sea to the north-east and east, and the Irish Sea to the south. The legislature, the Scottish Parliament, elects 129 MSPs to represent 73 constituencies across the country.[11] The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government, headed by the first minister who chairs the cabinet and responsible for government policy and international engagement.[12][13] The Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the 9th century. In 1603, James VI succeeded to the thrones of England and Ireland, forming a personal union of the three kingdoms. On 1 May 1707, Scotland and England combined to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain,[14][15] with the Parliament of Scotland subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain. In 1999, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, and has devolved authority over many areas of domestic policy.[16] The country has its own distinct legal system, education system and religious history, which have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity.[17] Scottish English and Scots are the most widely spoken languages in the country, existing on a dialect continuum with each other.[18] Scottish Gaelic speakers can be found all over Scotland, but the language is largely spoken natively by communities within the Hebrides;[19] Gaelic speakers now constitute less than 2% of the total population, though state-sponsored revitalisation attempts have led to a growing community of second language speakers.[20] The mainland of Scotland is broadly divided into three regions: the Highlands, a mountainous region in the north and north-west; the Lowlands, a flatter plain across the centre of the country; and the Southern Uplands, a hilly region along the southern border. The Highlands are the most mountainous region of the British Isles and contain its highest peak, Ben Nevis, at 4,413 feet (1,345 m).[10] The region also contains many lakes, called lochs; the term is also applied to the many saltwater inlets along the countrys deeply indented western coastline. The geography of the many islands is varied. Some, such as Mull and Skye, are noted for their mountainous terrain, while the likes of Tiree and Coll are much flatter.
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Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Japanese: 富嶽三十六景, Hepburn: Fugaku Sanjūrokkei) is a series of landscape prints by the Japanese ukiyo-e artist Hokusai (1760–1849). The series depicts Mount Fuji from different locations and in various seasons and weather conditions. The immediate success of the publication led to another ten prints being added to the series. The series was produced from c. 1830 to 1832, when Hokusai was in his seventies and at the height of his career, and published by Nishimura Yohachi.[1][2] Among the prints are three of Hokusais most famous: The Great Wave off Kanagawa, Fine Wind, Clear Morning, and Thunderstorm Beneath the Summit.[1] The lesser-known Kajikazawa in Kai Province is also considered one of the series best works.[3] The Thirty-six Views has been described as the artists indisputable colour-print masterpiece.[2] Mount Fuji is a popular subject for Japanese art due to its cultural and religious significance. This belief can be traced to The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, where a goddess deposits the elixir of life on the peak. As the historian Henry Smith[4] explains, Thus from an early time, Mt. Fuji was seen as the source of the secret of immortality, a tradition that was at the heart of Hokusais own obsession with the mountain.[5] Each image was made through a process whereby Hokusais drawing on paper was glued to a woodblock to guide the carving. The original design is therefore lost in the process. The block was then covered with ink and applied to paper to create the image (see Woodblock printing in Japan for further details). The complexity of Hokusais images includes the wide range of colors he used, which required the use of a separate block for each color appearing in the image.
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History of Japan. The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago.[1] The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD. Around the 3rd century BC, the Yayoi people from the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization.[2] Because they had an agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and ultimately overwhelmed the Jōmon people, natives of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter-gatherers.[3] Between the 4th and 9th centuries, Japans many kingdoms and tribes were gradually unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor of Japan. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to this day, albeit in an almost entirely ceremonial role. In 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto), marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from this time and onwards was a mix of native Shinto practices and Buddhism. Over the following centuries, the power of the imperial house decreased, passing first to great clans of civilian aristocrats — most notably the Fujiwara — and then to the military clans and their armies of samurai. The Minamoto clan under Minamoto no Yoritomo emerged victorious from the Genpei War of 1180–85, defeating their rival military clan, the Taira. After seizing power, Yoritomo set up his capital in Kamakura and took the title of shōgun. In 1274 and 1281, the Kamakura shogunate withstood two Mongol invasions, but in 1333 it was toppled by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in the Muromachi period. During this period, regional warlords called daimyō grew in power at the expense of the shōgun. Eventually, Japan descended into a period of civil war. Over the course of the late 16th century, Japan was reunified under the leadership of the prominent daimyō Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Toyotomis death in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power and was appointed shōgun by the emperor. The Tokugawa shogunate, which governed from Edo (modern Tokyo), presided over a prosperous and peaceful era known as the Edo period (1600–1868). The Tokugawa shogunate imposed a strict class system on Japanese society and cut off almost all contact with the outside world. Portugal and Japan came into contact in 1543, when the Portuguese became the first Europeans to reach Japan by landing in the southern archipelago. They had a significant impact on Japan, even in this initial limited interaction, introducing firearms to Japanese warfare. The American Perry Expedition in 1853–54 ended Japans seclusion; this contributed to the fall of the shogunate and the return of power to the emperor during the Boshin War in 1868. The new national leadership of the following Meiji era (1868–1912) transformed the isolated feudal island country into an empire that closely followed Western models and became a great power. Although democracy developed and modern civilian culture prospered during the Taishō period (1912–1926), Japans powerful military had great autonomy and overruled Japans civilian leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. The Japanese military invaded Manchuria in 1931, and from 1937 the conflict escalated into a prolonged war with China. Japans attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 led to war with the United States and its allies. During this period, Japan committed various war crimes in the Asia-Pacific ranging from forced sexual slavery, human experimentation and large scale killings and massacres. Japans forces soon became overextended, but the military held out in spite of Allied air attacks that inflicted severe damage on population centers. Emperor Hirohito announced Japans surrender on 15 August 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
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O mark. O mark is the name of the circle symbol ◯.[citation needed] It is often used in East Asia to express affirmation. Its use is similar to that of the checkmark (✓) in the Western world. Its opposite is the X mark (✗ or ×). The symbols names and meanings vary across cultures. In Japanese it is called marujirushi (丸印) or maru (丸) and expresses affirmation. In Korean it is called gongpyo (공표; 空標; lit. zero mark) and expresses affirmation. Japan interprets the symbol as an affirmation. Japan employs a number of related symbols (◎ ○ △ ×) in a system that expresses degrees of affirmation. A bullseye ◎ (nijūmaru; 二重丸) is often used for excellent, the circle is a plain affirmation, the triangle △ (sankaku; 三角) means so-so or partially applicable, and the × expresses disagreement. This system is widely known in Japan, and thus often used without explanation. Ad-hoc adjustments are usually explained. The hanamaru (花丸, flower O mark) is a variant of the O mark. It is typically drawn as a spiral surrounded by rounded flower petals, suggesting a flower. It is frequently used in praising or complimenting children, and the motif often appears in childrens characters and logos. The hanamaru is frequently written on tests if a student has achieved full marks or an otherwise outstanding result. It is sometimes used in place of an O mark in grading written response problems if a students answer is especially good. Some teachers add rotations to the spiral for exceptional answers.
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Vexillological symbol. Vexillological symbols are used by vexillologists to indicate certain characteristics of flags, such as where they are used, who uses them, and what they look like. The symbols were created by vexillologist Whitney Smith and then adopted by the International Federation of Vexillological Associations (FIAV) in the early 1970s.[1] Vexillologist Željko Heimer added the symbols for normal and historical in the early 1990s.[2] Vexillological symbols describe information on a flags recognition status and design. The usage symbols are based on a grid of two rows representing use on land and use on water, and three columns representing private use, public use, and military use. Each circle in the grid indicates the flag has one or more of the following six basic usages: Flown by private citizens on land Flown by the government on land
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Body water. In physiology, body water is the water content of an animal body that is contained in the tissues, the blood, the bones and elsewhere. The percentages of body water contained in various fluid compartments add up to total body water (TBW). This water makes up a significant fraction of the human body, both by weight and by volume. Ensuring the right amount of body water is part of fluid balance, an aspect of homeostasis. By weight, the average adult human is approximately 60% water, and the average child is approximately 65% water.[2][3] There can be considerable variation in body water percentage based on a number of factors like age, health, water intake, weight, and sex. In a large study of adults of all ages and both sexes, the adult human body averaged ~65% water. However, this varied substantially by age, sex, and adiposity (amount of fat in body composition). The figure for water fraction by weight in this sample was found to be 58 ±8% water for males and 48 ±6% for females.[4] The body water constitutes as much as 75% of the body weight of a newborn infant, whereas some obese people are as little as 45% water by weight.[5] This is due to how fat tissue does not retain water as well as lean tissue. These statistical averages will vary with factors such as type of population, age of people sampled, number of people sampled, and methodology. So there is not, and cannot be, a figure that is exactly the same for all people, for this or any other physiological measure. Most animal body water is contained in various body fluids. These include intracellular fluid, extracellular fluid, plasma, interstitial fluid, and transcellular fluid.[6] Water is also contained inside organs, in gastrointestinal, cerebrospinal, peritoneal, and ocular fluids. Adipose tissue contains about 10% water while for muscle tissue its about 75%.[7][8] In Netters Atlas of Human Physiology (2002), body water is broken down into the following compartments:[6] An individual’s total body water can be determined using flowing-afterglow mass spectrometry (FA-MS) to measure the abundance of deuterium in breath samples. A known dose of deuterated water (heavy water, D2O) is ingested and allowed to equilibrate within the body water. Then, the FA-MS instrument measures the ratio D:H of deuterium to hydrogen in the water vapour in exhaled breath. The total body water is then accurately measured from the increase in breath deuterium content in relation to the volume of D2O ingested.
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Body of water (disambiguation). Body of water is an accumulation of water on the surface of a planet. Body of water may also refer to:
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Aubach (Wiehl). The Aubach is an orographically left tributary of the River Wiehl in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.[1] The Aubach rises north of Wendershagen, at the Heckenweiher, approximately 414 metres (1,358 ft) above sea level. It initially flows in a north-westerly direction. Not far from Erdingen, the Aubach merges with the Mohrenbach, which is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long, then turns to the north-east. In the Pfänderwiese, another tributary, flows from the left into the Aubach. Further to the north, the Aubach reaches the Aubachtal. The right source stream, also called Schönbach, is about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long. It rises in Schönbach, on Rhineland-Palatinate territory, at approximately 395 metres (1,296 ft) above sea level. It continues in a north-easterly direction until the Aubach reaches Wildbergerhütte. There, it unites with the approximately 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) long Wildberger stream. It rises in Wildberg to about 382 metres (1,253 ft) m above sea level, and is additionally fed by the roughly 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) long Langenbach. The Aubach river then turns north-west and reaches the centre of Wildbergerhütte, along the pond dam. At about 311 metres (1,020 ft) above sea level, the Aubach flows into the Wiehl, after about 3.2 kilometres (2.0 mi) (4.2 kilometres (2.6 mi) with Möhrenbach) to the sports field in Wildbergerhütte. The vegetation on the banks of the Aubach River changes along its course. The upper course of the Aubach valley is characterised by dense, shady forests, under which only a sparse layer of herbs flourishes. The middle course is characterised by Alder and Willow species, but also neophytes such as the Reynoutria japonica can be found. Wild herbaceous plants can also be found on the banks of the Aubach River, such as Anemone sylvestris or Ficaria verna. On 3 May 2001, torrential rainfall led to flooding, referred to as the flood of the century. Between 16 and 20 oclock, 110 litres of precipitation per square metre fell. The monthly average in NRW is only 100 litres.
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State flag. In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state (and can also be referred as a government flag and likely interchangeable with a national flag in certain scenarios), or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division).[1] A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occasionally a completely different design) specifically designated and restricted by law or custom (theoretically or actually) to use by a countrys government or its agencies. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as government flags. In many countries the state flag and the civil flag (as flown by the general public) are identical, but in other countries, notably those in Latin America, central Europe, and Scandinavia, the state flag is a more complex version of the national flag, often featuring the national coat of arms or some other emblem as part of the design. Scandinavian countries also use swallowtailed state flags, to further differentiate them from civil flags.[1] In addition, some countries have state ensigns, separate flags for use by non-military government ships such as guard vessels. For example, government ships in the United Kingdom fly the Blue Ensign.[2] State flags should not be confused with the national flag as used by military organizations; these are referred to as war flags and naval ensigns.[3] In Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, and some other federalized countries, the term state flag can have a different usage, as it frequently refers to an official flag of any of the individual states or territorial subdivisions that make up the nation.[4]
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RMS Empress of Japan. RMS Empress of Japan may refer to the following ships:
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History of Japan. The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38–39,000 years ago.[1] The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inventions were introduced from Asia. During this period, the first known written reference to Japan was recorded in the Chinese Book of Han in the first century AD. Around the 3rd century BC, the Yayoi people from the continent immigrated to the Japanese archipelago and introduced iron technology and agricultural civilization.[2] Because they had an agricultural civilization, the population of the Yayoi began to grow rapidly and ultimately overwhelmed the Jōmon people, natives of the Japanese archipelago who were hunter-gatherers.[3] Between the 4th and 9th centuries, Japans many kingdoms and tribes were gradually unified under a centralized government, nominally controlled by the Emperor of Japan. The imperial dynasty established at this time continues to this day, albeit in an almost entirely ceremonial role. In 794, a new imperial capital was established at Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto), marking the beginning of the Heian period, which lasted until 1185. The Heian period is considered a golden age of classical Japanese culture. Japanese religious life from this time and onwards was a mix of native Shinto practices and Buddhism. Over the following centuries, the power of the imperial house decreased, passing first to great clans of civilian aristocrats — most notably the Fujiwara — and then to the military clans and their armies of samurai. The Minamoto clan under Minamoto no Yoritomo emerged victorious from the Genpei War of 1180–85, defeating their rival military clan, the Taira. After seizing power, Yoritomo set up his capital in Kamakura and took the title of shōgun. In 1274 and 1281, the Kamakura shogunate withstood two Mongol invasions, but in 1333 it was toppled by a rival claimant to the shogunate, ushering in the Muromachi period. During this period, regional warlords called daimyō grew in power at the expense of the shōgun. Eventually, Japan descended into a period of civil war. Over the course of the late 16th century, Japan was reunified under the leadership of the prominent daimyō Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. After Toyotomis death in 1598, Tokugawa Ieyasu came to power and was appointed shōgun by the emperor. The Tokugawa shogunate, which governed from Edo (modern Tokyo), presided over a prosperous and peaceful era known as the Edo period (1600–1868). The Tokugawa shogunate imposed a strict class system on Japanese society and cut off almost all contact with the outside world. Portugal and Japan came into contact in 1543, when the Portuguese became the first Europeans to reach Japan by landing in the southern archipelago. They had a significant impact on Japan, even in this initial limited interaction, introducing firearms to Japanese warfare. The American Perry Expedition in 1853–54 ended Japans seclusion; this contributed to the fall of the shogunate and the return of power to the emperor during the Boshin War in 1868. The new national leadership of the following Meiji era (1868–1912) transformed the isolated feudal island country into an empire that closely followed Western models and became a great power. Although democracy developed and modern civilian culture prospered during the Taishō period (1912–1926), Japans powerful military had great autonomy and overruled Japans civilian leaders in the 1920s and 1930s. The Japanese military invaded Manchuria in 1931, and from 1937 the conflict escalated into a prolonged war with China. Japans attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 led to war with the United States and its allies. During this period, Japan committed various war crimes in the Asia-Pacific ranging from forced sexual slavery, human experimentation and large scale killings and massacres. Japans forces soon became overextended, but the military held out in spite of Allied air attacks that inflicted severe damage on population centers. Emperor Hirohito announced Japans surrender on 15 August 1945, following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.
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Civil flag. A civil flag is a version of the national flag that is flown by civilians on nongovernmental installations or craft. The use of civil flags was more common in the past to denote buildings or ships not crewed by the military.[1] In some countries, the civil flag is the same as the state flag but without the coat of arms,[1] such as in the case of the flags of Peru[2] or Serbia.[3] In others, it is an alteration of the war flag. In Scandinavia, state and war flags can be double and triple-tailed variants of the Nordic Cross flag. Many countries, particularly those with a British heritage, still have distinctive civil flags (technically civil ensigns) for use at sea, many based on the Red Ensign. This flag-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Hiroshima Bay. Hiroshima Bay (広島湾, Hiroshima-wan) is a bay in the Inland Sea, Japan.[1] Administratively, the bay is divided between Hiroshima and Yamaguchi Prefectures. The bays shore is a Ria. Its surface area is about 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi), with a mean depth of 25 metres (82 ft). Jaco Pastorius once threw his Bass of Doom (Fender Jazz Bass) into the Hiroshima Bay. This article about a location in Yamaguchi Prefecture is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This Hiroshima Prefecture location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Itsukushima (disambiguation). Itsukushima is an island in the western part of the Inland Sea of Japan, located in the northwest of Hiroshima Bay. Itsukushima may also refer to:
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Japanese honorifics. The Japanese language makes use of a system of honorific speech, called keishō (敬称), which includes honorific suffixes and prefixes when talking to, or referring to others in a conversation. Suffixes are often gender-specific at the end of names, while prefixes are attached to the beginning of many nouns. Honorific suffixes also indicate the speakers level, their relationship, and are often used alongside other components of Japanese honorific speech.[1] Honorific suffixes are generally used when referring to the person someone is talking to or third persons, and are not used when referring to oneself. The omission of suffixes indicates that the speaker has known the addressee for a while, or that the listener joined the company or school at the same time or later. The most common honorifics include: San (さん), sometimes pronounced han (はん) in Kansai dialect, is the most commonplace honorific and is a title of respect typically used between equals of any age. Although the closest analog in English are the honorifics Mr., Miss, Ms., or Mrs., -san is almost universally added to a persons name; -san can be used in formal and informal contexts, regardless of the persons gender.[2] It is also commonly used to convert common nouns into proper ones, as discussed below.
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Greece. – in Europe (light green & dark grey)– in the European Union (light green) Greece,[c] officially the Hellenic Republic,[d] is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of the mainland, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Sea of Crete and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean basin, spanning thousands of islands and nine traditional geographic regions. It has a population of over 10 million. Athens is the nations capital and largest city, followed by Thessaloniki and Patras. Greece is considered the cradle of Western civilisation and the birthplace of democracy, Western philosophy, Western literature, historiography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, theatre, and the Olympic Games. The Ancient Greeks were organised into independent city-states, or poleis (singular polis), that spanned the Mediterranean and Black seas. Philip II of Macedon united most of present-day Greece in the fourth century BC, with his son Alexander the Great conquering much of the known ancient world from the Near East to northwestern India. The subsequent Hellenistic period saw the height of Greek culture and influence in antiquity. Greece was annexed by Rome in the second century BC and became an integral part of the Roman Empire and its continuation, the Byzantine Empire, where Greek culture and language were dominant. The Greek Orthodox Church, which emerged in the first century AD, helped shape modern Greek identity and transmitted Greek traditions to the wider Orthodox world. After the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Greece was fragmented into several polities, with most Greek lands coming under Ottoman control by the mid-15th century. Following a protracted war of independence in 1821, Greece emerged as a modern nation state in 1830. The Kingdom of Greece pursued territorial expansion during the Balkan Wars (1912–1913) and World War I (1914–1918), until its defeat in the Greco-Turkish War in 1922. A short-lived republic was established in 1924 but faced civil strife and the challenge of resettling refugees from Turkey, culminating in a royalist dictatorship in 1936. Greece endured military occupation during World War II, a subsequent civil war, and prolonged political instability, leading to a military dictatorship in 1967. The country began transitioning to democracy in 1974, leading to the current parliamentary republic.
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Empress Masako. The EmperorThe Empress The Emperor EmeritusThe Empress Emerita Masako (雅子; born Masako Owada (小和田雅子, Owada Masako); 9 December 1963) is the Empress of Japan as the wife of Emperor Naruhito. Born in Minato, Tokyo, Masako was educated at Belmont High School in Massachusetts, United States, before attending Harvard College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree with the distinction of magna cum laude in economics.[1] She also studied law at the University of Tokyo and international relations at Balliol College, Oxford. After completing her studies, she worked for Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat.
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Adventure Story (1961 TV play). Adventure Story is a British television play, based on the stage play by Terence Rattigan, and tells the story of Alexander the Great and his conquest of Persia.[1] It featured Sean Connery in his first starring role[2] and was praised at the time for its acting.[3] A contemporary critic in The Times wrote of Connerys performance, certain inflexions and swift deliberations of gesture at times made one feel that the part had found the young Olivier it needs, and wrote that Rudolph Cartiers production, had the freedom of spaciousness to which this producer has accustomed us, and all the acting was on a big scale, to match Mr Clifford Hatchs settings.[1] and more recently, reviewing it on DVD, Screenplaystv wrote, the first half and more of the drama plays like a slightly ludicrous historical pageant, and only towards the end does it begin to explore something more ambitious and ambivalent...Sean Connery is most definitely the reason to watch it now,...there is a lavish quality to the staging (which even stretches to three real horses at one point), and the sumptuous costumes are shown to advantage in the fine print on the DVD.[1]
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