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6024ca85df3c7bce638f758b77252580 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ecole-des-Chartes | École des Chartes | École des Chartes
…was the founding of the École des Chartes (an institute for the training of French archivists) in Paris in 1821. During the next decades important collections of early-medieval French documents were printed in the Recueil des actes by a variety of eminent editors. But the greatest advances were made by…
…by the founding of the École des Chartes (School of Paleography) in 1821. More resistant to German influence than any other European country, it also produced Auguste Comte (1798–1857), the prophet of scientific laws in history.
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debf0581e584dcdd6be866a5c3f0a8e2 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ecorse | Ecorse | Ecorse
Ecorse, city, Wayne county, Michigan, U.S. It lies along the Detroit River and is one of several contiguous southern suburbs of Detroit known as downriver communities. Settled about 1795 on the site of a Native American camp and burial ground, it was called Grandport and developed in the early 20th century with the growth of the Ford Motor Company in nearby Dearborn. Its name was derived from the French name Rivière aux Écorses (“Tree-Bark River”), denoting a small stream along which Native Americans procured bark for canoes. A large steelmaking plant, built in Ecorse in 1929, produces auto parts and tools. The city’s economy went into decline along with the auto and steel industries in the 1970s and ’80s. In 1986 it became the first U.S. city to go bankrupt, but Ecorse was out of receivership by 1990. Anchored at Ecorse is the lake steamer Ste. Claire (built 1910), an excursion vessel that operated between Detroit and Bois Blanc (Boblo) Island in the Detroit River for 81 years; it was designated a national historical landmark in 1992. Inc. village, 1903; city, 1941. Pop. (2000) 11,229; (2010) 9,512.
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9eb89ca28743923908dae9cda9f058e7 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Edessa-Greece | Edessa | Edessa
Edessa, Modern Greek Édhessa, city and dímos (municipality), Central Macedonia (Modern Greek: Kendrikí Makedonía) periféreia (region), northern Greece. It is situated on a steep bluff above the valley of the Loudhiás Potamós (river). A swift, fragmented stream flowing through the city was known in ancient times as the Skirtos (“Leaper”) and since the Middle Ages as the Vódhas (Slavic voda, “water”) and now as the Edhessaíos Potamós. Its waterfalls are celebrated and attract numerous visitors. A prominent trading and agricultural centre, Edessa also manufactures carpets and textiles and is the seat of the metropolitan bishop of Edessa and Pella (Pélla).
The assumption that Edessa was the location of Aigai, the first capital of ancient Macedonia, was seriously challenged by the discovery in 1977 of royal tombs of Macedonian leaders at Verghina, southeast of Véroia, including one identified as that of Philip II. In Roman times Edessa was a stop on the Via Egnatia connecting the Adriatic Sea with the Aegean Sea, and a Roman or Byzantine bridge span of that highway survives in the city. Fought over by the Bulgarians, Byzantines, and Serbs, Edessa was taken by the Turks in the 15th century. In 1912 it passed to Greece. Pop. (2001) city, 18,493; municipality, 29,568; (2011) city 18,229; municipality, 28,814.
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d20d537f08862a04a39bcfaf6523114f | https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt/Manufacturing | Manufacturing of Egypt | Manufacturing of Egypt
During the 20th century, manufacturing grew to be one of the largest sectors of Egypt’s economy, accounting (along with mining) for roughly one-fourth of the GDP by the 21st century. Domestic manufactures were weak from the late 19th century until about 1930 because of free trade policies that favoured importing foreign products. Motivated by the need to increase national income, to diversify the economy, and to satisfy the aspirations of nascent nationalism, the government imposed a customs tariff on foreign goods in 1930 that promoted the development of Egyptian manufactures. The Bank of Egypt also extended loans to Egyptian entrepreneurs in the 1920s and ’30s to help stimulate Egyptian domestic production. A succession of companies were founded that engaged in printing, cotton ginning, transport, spinning and weaving (linen, silk, and cotton), vegetable oil extraction, and the manufacture of pharmaceuticals and rayon. Egypt was a major Allied base during World War II (1939–45) but was largely cut off from European imports; this situation further fueled the development of manufacturing, particularly of textile products.
Most large-scale manufacturing establishments were nationalized beginning in the 1950s, and emphasis was placed on developing heavy industry after a long-term trade and aid agreement was reached with the Soviet Union in 1964. Another aid agreement with the Soviets in 1970 provided for the expansion of an iron and steel complex at Ḥulwān and for the establishment of a number of power-based industries, including an aluminum complex that uses power generated by the High Dam. An ammonium nitrate plant was opened in 1971, based on gases generated in the coking unit of the steel mill at Ḥulwān. There is also a nitrate fertilizer plant at Aswān.
By the beginning of the 21st century, most large manufacturing enterprises were still owned or operated by the state, although the government had begun to sell substantial holdings to the private sector. Major manufactures included chemicals of all sorts (including pharmaceuticals), food products, textiles and garments, cement and other building materials, and paper products as well as derivatives of hydrocarbons (including fuel oil, gasoline, lubricants, jet fuel, and asphalt). Iron, steel, and automobiles were of growing importance to the Egyptian economy.
Modern banking activities date from the mid-19th century. The Bank of Egypt opened in 1858 and the Anglo-Egyptian Bank in 1864. The French bank Crédit Lyonnais began operations in Egypt in 1866, followed by the Ottoman Bank (1867) and then other French, Italian, and Greek banks. The National Bank of Egypt (1898) and the Agricultural Bank of Egypt (1902) were founded with British capital. The first purely Egyptian Bank was the Banque Misr (1920).
From its inception the National Bank of Egypt assumed the main functions of a central bank, a status that was confirmed by law in 1951. In 1957 all English and French banks and insurance companies were nationalized and taken over by various Egyptian joint-stock companies; thereafter, all shareholders, directors, and managers of those financial institutions were bound by law to be Egyptian citizens. Banque Misr, long responsible for controlling a number of industrial companies in addition to conducting ordinary banking business, was nationalized in 1960. As of 1961 the National Bank of Egypt—which had also been nationalized in 1960—was divided into a commercial bank that maintained the original name and the Central Bank of Egypt, which functioned as a central bank. Later that year, all remaining financial institutions were nationalized, and their operations were concentrated in five commercial banks, in addition to the central bank, the government-sponsored Public Organization for Agricultural Credits and Co-operatives, the Development Industrial Bank, and three mortgage banks. The national currency, the Egyptian pound (Arabic: ginīh), is issued by the central bank.
The government again reorganized the banking system in the early 1970s, merging some of the major banks and assigning special functions to each of the rest. Two new banks were created, and foreign banks were again permitted in the country as part of a program aimed at liberalizing the economy. Of particular interest were joint banking ventures between Egyptian and foreign banks. In 1980 Egypt’s first international bank since the revolution was opened and a national investment bank was established. Islamic banks have been set up in Egypt, paying dividends to their investors instead of interest, which is proscribed under Islamic law. In 1992 the stock exchanges at Cairo (1903) and Alexandria (1881), which had been closed since the early 1960s, were reopened, and in 1997 they were fully merged as the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange.
The supply of money has, in general, followed the development of the economy; the authorities have aimed at tolerable increases in the price level, although some prices soared during the 1970s and ’80s. Long pegged to the U.S. dollar, the pound was allowed to float in January 2003.
Egypt is a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since World War II the international liquidity of the Egyptian economy, including the Special Drawing Rights, added in 1970, has been depressed. In the late 1970s both internal and external debts rose, primarily because of large government subsidies to the private sector. In the 1980s and ’90s the government gradually introduced price increases on goods and services, effectively reducing (though not eliminating) subsidies for food and fuel. In 1991 Egypt signed an agreement with the IMF and the World Bank called the Economic Reform and Structural Adjustment Program, which reduced the fiscal deficit, removed consumer subsidies, eliminated price controls, liberalized trade, reformed labour laws, and privatized state-owned enterprises. Although the program strengthened Egypt’s economy during the 1990s, economic growth slowed in the early 21st century.
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4346cc2e89f67668722572c01c29985c | https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt/Rural-settlement | Rural settlement | Rural settlement
The settled Egyptian countryside, throughout the delta and the Nile valley to the High Dam, exhibits great homogeneity, although minor variations occur from north to south.
The typical rural settlement is a compact village surrounded by intensively cultivated fields. The villages range in population from 500 to more than 10,000. They are basically similar in physical appearance and design throughout the country, except for minor local variations in building materials, design, and decoration. Date palms, sycamore and eucalyptus trees, and Casuarina species are common features of the landscape. Until comparatively recently, the only source of drinking water was the Nile; consequently, many of the villages are built along the banks of its canals. Some of the oldest villages are situated on mounds—a relic of the days of basin irrigation and annual flooding.
In the delta the houses, one or two stories high, are built of mud bricks plastered with mud and straw; in the southern parts of the valley more stone is used. The houses are joined to one another in a continuous row. In a typical house the windows consist of a few small round or square openings, permitting scant air or light to enter. The roofs are flat and built of layers of dried date-palm leaves, with palm-wood rafters; corn (maize) and cotton stalks, as well as dung cakes used for fuel, are stored on them. For grain storage, small cone-shaped silos of plastered mud are built on the roof and are then sealed to prevent the ravages of insects and rodents. Rooftops are also a favourite sleeping place on hot summer nights.
The houses of the poorer peasants usually consist of a narrow passageway, a bedroom, and a courtyard; part of the courtyard may be used as an enclosure for farm animals. Furniture is sparse. Ovens are made of plastered mud and are built into the wall of the courtyard or inside the house. In the larger and more prosperous villages, houses are built of burnt bricks reinforced with concrete, are more spacious, and often house members of an extended family. Furniture, running water, bathroom installations, and electricity are additional signs of prosperity.
Typical features of the smaller Egyptian village, in both the delta and the valley, are a mosque or a church, a primary school, a decorated pigeon cote, service buildings belonging to the government, and a few shops. Most of the people in the smaller villages engage in agriculture. In the larger villages, there may be some professional and semiprofessional inhabitants as well as artisans, skilled workers, and shopkeepers. Outside the larger settlements, combined service units—consisting of modern buildings enclosing the social service unit, village cooperative, health unit, and school—are still sometimes found, although most of such government establishments had been disbanded by the early 21st century. Much of the rural community has turned to similar services offered by nongovernmental Islamic organizations.
Unless situated on a highway, villages are reached by unpaved dirt roads. Inside the villages the roads consist mainly of narrow, winding footpaths. All villages, however, have at least one motorable road.
The Western Desert oases are not compact villages but small, dispersed agglomerations surrounded by green patches of cultivation; they are often separated from each other by areas of sand. Al-Khārijah, for example, is the largest of five scattered villages. Traditionally, the houses in the oases were up to six stories high, made of packed mud, and clustered close together for defense. Modern houses are usually two stories high and farther apart.
Although for census purposes Egyptian towns are considered to be urban centres, some of them are actually overgrown villages, containing large numbers of fellahin and persons engaged in work relating to agriculture and rural enterprises. Some of the towns that acquired urban status in the second half of the 20th century continue to be largely rural, although their residents include government officials, people engaged in trade and commerce, industrial workers, technicians, and professional people. One characteristic of towns and, indeed, of the larger cities is their rural fringe. Towns and cities have grown at the expense of agricultural land, with urban dwellings and apartment buildings mushrooming haphazardly among the fields. There is little evidence of town or city planning or of adherence to building regulations; often mud village houses are embraced within the confines of a city.
Buildings in towns and smaller cities are usually two-storied houses or apartment blocks of four to six stories. The better ones are lime-washed, with flat roofs and numerous balconies; other houses and buildings are often of unpainted red brick and concrete.
Whereas most of the cities of Egypt do not have many distinctive features, some, such as Cairo, Alexandria, and Aswān, have special characteristics of their own. Cairo is a complex and crowded metropolis, with architecture representing more than a millennium of history. Greater Cairo (including Al-Jīzah and other suburban settlements) and Alexandria, together with the most important towns along the Suez Canal—Port Said, Ismailia, and Suez—are, like most other major urban centres worldwide, modern in appearance.
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fcc2118aadac8b8a4dac4bde2f1966c9 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt/Unrest-in-2011-January-25-Revolution | Unrest in 2011: January 25 Revolution | Unrest in 2011: January 25 Revolution
Days after a popular uprising in Tunisia, known as the Jasmine Revolution, forced Pres. Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali from power, protests against the Mubarak regime erupted on January 25, 2011. Thousands of protesters crowded into the main streets of downtown Cairo, chanting slogans against corruption, political repression, and poverty. The protests appeared to have been organized by networks of individuals communicating via social media, bypassing the leadership of Egypt’s established opposition groups. As protests continued, clashes between protesters grew more heated, resulting in mass arrests, injuries, and a few deaths. Protests erupted in other cities throughout the country, with especially violent clashes taking place in Suez and Alexandria. As the demonstrations progressed, Egypt’s established opposition groups increased their participation. On the third day of protests Mohamed ElBaradei, the leader of the opposition coalition National Association for Change, traveled to Cairo to participate in the demonstrations. The Muslim Brotherhood, the opposition group with the greatest popular support in Egypt, also announced that it would participate in demonstrations.
The protests reached a new level of violence on January 28, when thousands of demonstrators clashed with police following Friday prayers. Police attempted to control the protesters with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets. Many protesters were beaten, either by uniformed police or by plainclothes security forces. The government began to take emergency measures, declaring a curfew and cutting off Internet and telephone service in many locations. As protests continued into the evening, police stations and NDP buildings throughout the country were attacked or set on fire by demonstrators. In Cairo the NDP national headquarters was burned, and protesters fought running battles with security forces in the street. Egyptian army units were deployed in downtown Cairo to protect key locations and buildings.
Late in the evening Mubarak appeared on state television, addressing the country for the first time since the outbreak of protests. He indicated that he intended to remain president, but he announced that he had asked his cabinet to resign immediately. He also acknowledged the protesters’ grievances by pledging to advance social reforms in Egypt. Most protesters dismissed the announcement as a desperate bid by Mubarak to remain in power, and protests continued.
As the crisis progressed, Mubarak took steps to reinforce his ties with Egypt’s senior military leadership. In addition to appointing several senior military officers to his new cabinet, Mubarak appointed a vice president for the first time in his presidency, choosing Omar Suleiman, the director of the powerful Egyptian General Intelligence Service. However, the Egyptian military’s stance toward the protests and the Mubarak regime remained uncertain. Army units in downtown Cairo refrained from using force against the demonstrators, and in some cases soldiers and officers appeared to signal their solidarity with the crowds. On January 31 the army announced on state television that it would not use force against demonstrators. Under increasing pressure as demonstrations intensified, Mubarak appeared on Egyptian state television on February 1 and announced that he would not run in Egypt’s next presidential election, scheduled for September 2011.
Mubarak’s announcement was immediately followed by some of the most brutal violence since the protests began. A crowd of Mubarak supporters fought antigovernment demonstrators in Tahrir Square in Cairo, resulting in at least five deaths; an estimated 1,500 people were injured. It was widely suspected that many of the Mubarak supporters who participated in the fighting were members of the the regime’s plainclothes security force launching a coordinated attack on protesters. The army units stationed in the square struggled to separate Mubarak supporters and protesters, but fights continued to break out sporadically. Ahmed Shafiq, Egypt’s recently appointed prime minister, apologized for the violence that had taken place in Tahrir Square but denied that the actions of the Mubarak supporters had been directed by the government.
In early February members of the government, led by Suleiman, met with representatives of the opposition, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The government offered some concessions, including the release of political prisoners and increased media freedom. The offer was rejected by the opposition, which continued to demand that Mubarak leave office immediately. Protests continued in Egypt, although violence between security forces and protesters decreased. Thousands of protesters continued to occupy Tahrir Square, erecting tents to provide food and medical services. Egyptians from a number of industries, including doctors, textile workers, and transportation workers, engaged in strikes in solidarity with the protesters. Under continued pressure to step down immediately, Mubarak gave a televised speech on February 10. He promised to delegate some of his power to the vice president, amend the constitution to eliminate restrictions on who could run for president, and eventually lift the emergency law that had been in place since 1981. However, he refused to step down as president.
On February 11, as protesters frustrated by Mubarak’s refusal to step down assembled at locations around Cairo, including the presidential palace, it was announced that Mubarak and his family had departed the capital for Sharm al-Shaykh, a resort town on the Sinai Peninsula where he maintained a residence. The same day, the army issued a statement saying that as soon as protests in Egypt ended, the country’s emergency law would be lifted. That evening Suleiman appeared on state television to announce that Mubarak had stepped down as president, leaving the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, composed of Egypt’s highest-ranking military officers, to administer the country’s affairs. The announcement was met with jubilation among the crowds of protesters in Cairo.
Soon after Mubarak’s departure, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Egypt’s minister of defense, formally imposed martial law, suspending the constitution and dissolving the People’s Assembly and the Consultative Assembly. Mubarak’s cabinet was retained as a transitional body. The military government announced that it would continue to recognize treaties, including the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. Tantawi stated that the military would remain in power until new elections could be held, possibly within six months.
As the military worked to restore order in Egypt, clearing the protesters out of Tahrir Square and calling for a return to normal life, thousands of workers held new demonstrations and strikes to call for better pay and better working conditions. A group of Egyptian police rallied in Cairo to demand higher wages. Police demonstrators also sought to improve the public image of the police, damaged by the perception that they had used excessive force against protesters, saying that the harsh police response had been ordered by the ministry of the interior.
Following Mubarak’s departure, Egyptian authorities began to investigate alleged corruption and abuses of power by Mubarak and his inner circle. On February 21 the Egyptian prosecutor general requested the freezing of the Mubarak family’s foreign assets. Shortly afterward a travel ban was issued, aimed at preventing Mubarak, who remained secluded in his villa at Sharm al-Shaykh, from leaving the country. In addition, a number of high-level Mubarak-era officials, NDP leaders, and businessmen suspected of corruption were arrested or prohibited from traveling.
On February 26 the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces approved a draft of constitutional amendments limiting the powers of the president and making elections more open. On March 4 a popular referendum on the amendments was scheduled for March 19.
Demonstrators had taken to the streets once again on February 25, this time to protest the composition of the interim cabinet, which had been appointed by the military and sworn in on February 22. Although opponents of the Mubarak regime were included in the new cabinet, protesters were angered that Mubarak allies retained a number of key portfolios, including defense, interior, justice, and foreign affairs, and that Shafiq, a Mubarak appointee, remained prime minister. Demonstrators continued to assemble in Tahrir Square to demand that the Mubarak-era ministers resign and to push other reforms, including the release of political prisoners and the repeal of the emergency law. On March 3 the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced Shafiq’s resignation, a day after he gave a widely criticized interview on Egyptian television. He was replaced as prime minister by Essam Sharaf, a former minister of transportation who became a vocal critic of the Mubarak regime after resigning in 2005.
On March 5 hundreds of Egyptians stormed offices of the State Security Investigations (SSI) agency in several cities, including the agency’s headquarters in Cairo, following rumours that officers had begun destroying documents showing human rights violations. Inside the compound, which was not staffed, the crowd seized documents, including surveillance files for individual Egyptians and records of operations against dissidents and opposition groups. Shortly after the raids, images of some of the seized documents were posted on pro-democracy Internet sites. On March 6 protesters who had gathered at the interior ministry building in Cairo to call for reform of the security services were attacked by plainclothes security forces, the first time that such forces had clashed with crowds of protesters since Mubarak’s departure.
Prime Minister Sharaf’s new caretaker government was sworn in on March 7. In the new cabinet officials with fewer ties to the former regime replaced the Mubarak loyalists who had remained from the previous cabinet. On March 15 the ministry of the interior announced the dissolution of the SSI. The state news agency reported that it would be replaced with a new security service that would not commit human rights violations or interfere with Egyptians’ political liberties.
The constitutional referendum promised by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces took place on March 19. Constitutional changes that eased restrictions on candidacy in elections, set term limits for the president, and restricted the use of emergency laws were approved by 77 percent of Egyptian voters. Although the referendum passed by a wide margin, the main youth protest groups opposed it, saying that the changes did not go far enough and that a new constitution was needed instead. On March 30 the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a constitutional declaration, intended to serve as an interim constitution in place of the constitution that was suspended in February. The document outlined the transition to an elected government, incorporating selections from the previous constitution as well as the amendments that were approved in the March 19 referendum. However, the constitutional declaration came amid procedural confusion: prior to the referendum, it had been widely understood that if the amendments were approved, the suspended constitution would be amended and reinstated.
In spite of progress toward reform, new tensions emerged between Egyptian pro-democracy activists and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Protest leaders questioned the military’s commitment to democratic change and charged that the army, eager to reestablish order following Mubarak’s ouster, had begun adopting the repressive tactics of the former regime. In late February and throughout March, army troops repeatedly used force to clear protest sites, often beating and arresting demonstrators. Human rights groups reported that some demonstrators suffered torture and sexual abuse while being detained by the army and that many were hastily convicted and imprisoned by military tribunals. A ruling by the interim cabinet in late March banned demonstrations and strikes, drawing further criticism.
On April 9 the military cracked down on protesters who had assembled in Tahrir Square to call for an investigation into Mubarak’s alleged corruption and abuse of power. The assault left two protesters dead and dozens injured. Amid growing public anger, the interim government opened an investigation of Mubarak’s finances. Mubarak responded by releasing his first public statement since his ouster, an audio recording in which he denied accusations that he had used his office to accumulate a fortune worth billions of dollars, concealed in foreign bank accounts. On April 13 Egyptian investigators placed Mubarak and his sons, Alaa and Gamal, under arrest. Mubarak, who had suffered an apparent heart attack while awaiting questioning, was formally detained while hospitalized. On May 24 the Egyptian public prosecutor announced that Mubarak, Alaa, and Gamal would stand trial for having ordered the killing of protesters as well as for corruption and abuse of power.
(For additional coverage of the unrest in Egypt in 2011 and subsequent political change, see Egypt Uprising of 2011.)
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d83910fdc59712577858afc85d8d1136 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Einsiedeln | Einsiedeln | Einsiedeln
Einsiedeln, French Notre-Dame-des-Ermites, town, Schwyz canton, northeast-central Switzerland. It is located on the right bank of Alp Stream, northeast of Schwyz city. It developed around the Benedictine abbey, founded in 934. The abbey became a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in 1274 and belonged to Schwyz after 1386. Its wooden statue, the “Black Virgin” (which owes its name to the discoloration caused by the candles burned before it through the centuries), became a sacred object of European pilgrims from the 14th century. Huldrych Zwingli, the religious reformer, was the parish priest there from 1516 to 1518, and the Renaissance physician Paracelsus was born near the town. In addition to being the largest and most famous Swiss pilgrimage resort, Einsiedeln hosts a popularly attended Carnival parade each year. The town also is a winter sports centre and has printing, rubber, and furniture industries. The population is largely German-speaking and Roman Catholic. Pop. (2012 est.) 14,632.
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1554d7e62e90f80199dd101a4f6ffea1 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ejmiatsin | Ejmiatsin | Ejmiatsin
Ejmiatsin, also spelled Ejmiadzin, formerly Echmiadzin or (until 1945) Vagarshapat, city, west-central Armenia. It lies on the plain of the Aras River, 12 miles (20 km) west of Yerevan. Ejmiatsin is the seat of the supreme catholicos, or primate, of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Ejmiatsin originated in the 7th century bce as the town of Vardkesavan and was renamed Vagarshapat about 140 ce, when the Parthian king Vologases III made it his capital. Upon the conversion of Armenia to Christianity about 300 ce, Vagarshapat became the residence of the Armenian patriarch. In 344 the town ceased to be the Armenian capital, and in 453 the patriarchal seat was removed elsewhere, but in 1441 the catholicos Kirakos brought back the seat to Vagarshapat, which thereafter remained the home of the “catholicos of all Armenians.”
The monastery, founded in the 6th century ce and called Echmiadzin from the 10th century, consists of a complex of buildings surrounded by a brick wall 30 feet (10 metres) high; it includes a modern college and seminary. The present cathedral, on the site of the original church, goes back to the 7th century but was considerably restored after 1441. In the cathedral treasury is the hand (relic) of St. Gregory the Illuminator. The cathedral and churches in Ejmiatsin, along with nearby archaeological remains, were collectively named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000.
The city itself is the centre of a rich region of orchards and vineyards and manufactures plastics, wine, and canned food. Pop. (2008 est.) 57,300.
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b370bbb09458b4b11b5c11b4a2987607 | https://www.britannica.com/place/El-Escorial-library | El Escorial library | El Escorial library
El Escorial library, founded by Philip II, houses a rare collection of more than 4,700 manuscripts, many of them illuminated, and 40,000 printed books. Pop. (2005) 13,768.
The Escorial library in Madrid, erected in 1584, had been the first to do away with the medieval book bays, which were set at right angles to the light source, and to arrange its collection in cases lining the walls. The old practice of chaining books…
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86d86e5b921d8fb7d93561ced75a187e | https://www.britannica.com/place/el-Kantara-Bridge | El-Kantara Bridge | El-Kantara Bridge
…of the city by the el-Kantara Bridge, a modern 420-foot (130-metre) structure built on the site of earlier bridges. North and south of the city are, respectively, a suspension bridge and a viaduct.
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80dafc18e89ccadcfe112d1089a90828 | https://www.britannica.com/place/el-Kelaa-des-Srarhna-province-Morocco | El-Kelaa des Srarhna | El-Kelaa des Srarhna
El-Kelaa des Srarhna province is bounded by the provinces of Settat (north), Beni Mellal (northeast), Azilal (southeast), Marrakech (south), Safi (southwest), and el-Jadida (northwest). It comprises the most arid area of Morocco west of the Atlas Mountains. The western part of the province is a…
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7048621b8565d66c49020a380c52a67a | https://www.britannica.com/place/El-Monte-California-United-States | El Monte | El Monte
El Monte, city, Los Angeles county, California, U.S. El Monte lies 12 miles (20 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. Spanish missionaries and soldiers inhabited the area in the 18th and early 19th centuries and named the location for its meadows (an archaic sense of the Spanish word monte). The site, on the banks of the San Gabriel River, is considered the western terminus of the Old Spanish Trail (sometimes called the Santa Fe Trail, though it is unrelated to the trail of that name from Missouri to New Mexico). Early on, the area was merely a camping place for pioneers, but in 1849 a stage station was established there, and in 1852 the first dwellings (of adobe brick) and a schoolhouse were erected. A Southern Pacific Railroad depot was established there in 1873, spurring the development of local agriculture, with extensive fruit orchards and walnut fields. From 1919 to 1942 the city was home to Gay’s Lion Farm, which was established by former circus stars. The farm housed some 200 African lions (including Jackie, one of the lions that was used to introduce Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films), and many of the lions were used in motion pictures. The city is now a residential suburb of Los Angeles, with some light industry. El Monte’s population grew dramatically in the second half of the 20th century as the urban area surrounding Los Angeles expanded. El Monte is an ethnically diverse city; nearly three-fourths of the population is Hispanic, and nearly one-fifth is of Asian descent. Inc. 1912. Pop. (2000) 115,965; (2010) 113,475.
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90262b5aaebdc8cc574c6d0f4350102f | https://www.britannica.com/place/el-Oued | El-Oued | El-Oued
El-Oued, town, largest of the Souf Oases in northeastern Algeria. It lies in the northern Sahara some 50 miles (80 km) west of the border with Tunisia. Surrounded by the sand dunes of the Grand Erg Oriental, the Souf Oases extend for 25 miles (40 km) northwest to southeast. A river (oued) once flowed to the east, but it was swallowed by the encroaching sands.
The town sits in the midst of the oasis and has narrow winding streets with cube-shaped buildings of clay-stone topped by cupolas. The houses are clustered, creating the image of a “Town of a Thousand Domes,” so-called by the French writer-adventurer Isabella Eberhardt (1877–1904). The town’s fortress mosque and use of arcades and arches reflect both Moorish and Roman influence.
Date palm groves are grown in man-made funnel-shaped craters that are protected from the sand by woven palm walls and are close enough to groundwater to eliminate irrigation. A busy caravan centre, el-Oued exports high-quality dates and is known for its carpets and woven cloth. Its Museum of the Souf contains regional exhibits. Pop. (1998) 104,801; (2008) 134,487.
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0e7494dba5774aacccf2c861bfbc4177 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elektrostal | Elektrostal | Elektrostal
Elektrostal, formerly (until 1938) Zatishye, city, Moscow oblast (province), western Russia. It lies 36 miles (58 km) east of Moscow city. The name, meaning “electric steel,” derives from the high-quality-steel industry established there soon after the October Revolution in 1917. During World War II, parts of the heavy-machine-building industry were relocated there from Ukraine, and Elektrostal is now a centre for the production of metallurgical equipment. Pop. (2006 est.) 146,189.
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e30aaca08fca141c2ba6d9d63410af3f | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elis | Elis | Elis
Elis, also called Elea, modern Iliá, ancient Greek region and city-state in the northwestern corner of the Peloponnese, well known for its horse breeding and for the Olympic Games, which were allegedly founded there in 776 bc.
The region was bounded on the north by Achaea, on the east by Arcadia, and on the south by Messenia. Elis consisted of three districts from north to south: Hollow Elis, which occupied the basin of the Peneus River; Pisatis, occupying the north bank of the Alpheus River; and Triphylia, a hilly area stretching south from the Alpheus to the northern border of Messenia. Comparatively high rainfall produced good pasture and arable land in low-lying areas, and the region became noted for its horses, cattle, and flax.
The Olympic Games were celebrated every four years at the sanctuary of Olympia, on the north bank of the Alpheus River. The city of Elis, located in Hollow Elis, engaged in a long struggle with the Pisatians for control of the games until 572 bc, when the Eleans decisively subjugated the Pisatians. Having gained control of the entire region by 580, the city of Elis briefly joined Sparta in an anti-Persian alliance (479), then broke with Sparta, adopted a democratic constitution (c. 471), and became the administrative centre of a union of smaller townships. During the Peloponnesian War, Elis again allied with Sparta until 420, when it defected to the side of Athens. Sparta subsequently punished Elis for its defection by stripping it of Triphylia, and Elis’s attempts to recover the latter were repeatedly frustrated by Sparta and then by Arcadia. But by adroit diplomacy and by emphasizing the sanctity of the Olympic Games (and the neutrality of Elis as the games’ host), the city was able to retain its territory and in some sense even its independence after the Roman occupation of Greece (146 bc), only to disintegrate with the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The modern-day locality contains one of the finest archaeological sites in modern Greece, that of Olympia, scene of the games. The area is now part of Iliá nomos (department), and its principal towns are Pyrgos and Amalias.
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3c9362237040568e9ddfd174b42c8118 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elista | Elista | Elista
Elista, formerly (1944–57) Stepnoy, city, capital of Kalmykia republic, southwestern Russia. It was founded in 1865 and became a city in 1930. In 1944, when the Kalmyks were exiled by Joseph Stalin for their alleged collaboration with the Germans, the republic was dissolved and the city became known as Stepnoy (“Steppe”). The Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and the name Elista were restored in 1957. Agriculture employs the most workers, though Elista also has administrative, trade, and cultural services for its surrounding area. Kalmyk State University (1970) and teacher-training and medical colleges are located there. Pop. (2006 est.) 103,034.
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0c427ea98d894911d538711d2235081a | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elizabeth-City | Elizabeth City | Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City, city, seat (1799) of Pasquotank county, northeastern North Carolina, U.S. It lies on the Pasquotank River (an embayment of Albemarle Sound) at the southern end of Dismal Swamp Canal on the Intracoastal Waterway. Settlers had established a presence on the river in the 1660s, and the area was the scene of Culpeper’s Rebellion (1677–79). It was founded and incorporated as Redding in 1793 but was renamed Elizabethtown in 1794 and Elizabeth City in 1801, probably for Elizabeth, wife of Adam Tooley, the original landholder. Its excellent harbour was developed after the canal (completed 1828) stimulated trade with the West Indies. Union troops occupied the city (1862) during the American Civil War.
A port of entry, it ships local products and has lumberyards, shipyards, textile mills, and diversified industries. Elizabeth City State University, part of the University of North Carolina system, was founded in 1891, and the College of the Albemarle (1960) is also in the city. Nearby are U.S. Coast Guard installations, Kitty Hawk (near where the Wright brothers made their first flight, in 1903), and the Outer Banks (a rendezvous for wildfowl hunting on the Atlantic Flyway and for fishing). The Rockfish Rodeo is an annual fall event. The Museum of the Albemarle, a branch of the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, has exhibits on regional history. Halls Creek, near Elizabeth City, was the site of the first General Assembly of Carolina (1665). The Great Dismal Swamp lies to the north. Pop. (2000) 17,188; (2010) 18,683.
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5a59ba5afb4e238b99f1e371a5de0667 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elizabethton | Elizabethton | Elizabethton
Elizabethton, city, seat (1796) of Carter county, northeastern Tennessee, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Doe and Watauga rivers, in the southern Appalachian Mountains, about 105 miles (170 km) northeast of Knoxville and just east of Johnson City. Situated in the valley of the Watauga, it is one of the region’s oldest settlements, where a compact for self-government (the Watauga Association) was made in 1772. The community was named for the wife of Landon Carter, an early settler for whom the county was named, and was Tennessee’s first incorporated town. During the American Revolution, patriots marched from nearby Sycamore Shoals (now a state historic area) to the Battle of Kings Mountain (1780) in South Carolina. The arrival of the railroad in the 1880s brought industry to the area. During the early 20th century the city thrived on wood-related businesses and the manufacture of rayon.
The city’s modern manufactures include electronics, tools, asphalt, and windows. Milligan College (1866) is just to the southwest. Nearby Watauga and Boone lakes are impounded by Tennessee Valley Authority dams and provide recreational facilities. The northern portion of Cherokee National Forest surrounds Elizabethton on three sides, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail passes through it east of the city. Roan Mountain State Park is in the national forest southeast of Elizabethton. The Carter Mansion (1775–81) is the state’s oldest frame house. Festivals celebrating Native American culture, bluegrass music, and rhododendrons are held separately in June. Inc. 1799. Pop. (2000) 13,372; (2010) 14,176.
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9c9c118652b8d2998adb93a5753e4002 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elk-City-Oklahoma | Elk City | Elk City
Elk City, city, Beckham county, western Oklahoma, U.S., on Elk Creek. Laid out in 1901, the town was first called Busch after the St. Louis brewing family. It is now the service centre for an agricultural, oil, and livestock area and has industries that include oil refining, gas recycling, cotton-gin equipment, furniture manufacturing, and feed production. The Sandstone Creek Project, concerned with upstream flood control of the Washita River, is 5 miles (8 km) northwest, and the Washita National Wildlife Refuge and Foss Lake State Park are nearby. Old Town Museum at the city’s western edge is a replica of an early Western town. The National Route 66 Museum, celebrating the historic highway linking Chicago with Los Angeles, opened in 1998 and is a popular local attraction. Inc. 1907. Pop. (2000) 10,510; (2010) 11,693.
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dc7147c19b5045e854781d5e89dad044 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elkhart-Indiana | Elkhart | Elkhart
Elkhart, city, Elkhart county, northern Indiana, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the St. Joseph and Elkhart rivers, 15 miles (24 km) east of South Bend. Elkhart was laid out in 1832 at the junction of Indian trails and derives its name from an island at the confluence of the rivers that was known by the Potawatomi word for “elk’s heart,” which it was said to resemble in shape. The location there about 1870 of railway repair shops stimulated development of the town, which also became a division point for the New York Central Railroad. The manufacture of musical instruments began there in 1874 by Charles G. Conn, who at first produced rubber-rimmed cornet mouthpieces and after 1876 whole brass instruments; his company (now one of the world’s largest makers of wind instruments), followed by others, has made Elkhart a national centre of band-instrument manufacturing. The city’s pharmaceutical industry was established by Franklin Miles, who founded Miles Medical Company there in 1884. Other manufactures now include mobile homes and recreational vehicles, furniture, electrical components, and machinery. Elkhart is also an agricultural marketing centre (livestock, dairy products, corn [maize], soybeans, and grains). The Midwest Museum of American Art and the National New York Central Railroad Museum are located in the city. Elkhart county is home to a large Amish and Mennonite population. Inc. town, 1858; city, 1875. Pop. (2000) 51,874; Elkhart-Goshen Metro Area, 182,791; (2010) 50,949; Elkhart-Goshen Metro Area, 197,559.
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54d47f4ec124244a5731d34795929a03 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ellora-Caves | Ellora Caves | Ellora Caves
Ellora Caves, Ellora also spelled Elura, a series of 34 magnificent rock-cut temples in northwest-central Maharashtra state, western India. They are located near the village of Ellora, 19 miles (30 km) northwest of Aurangabad and 50 miles (80 km) southwest of the Ajanta Caves. Spread over a distance of 1.2 miles (2 km), the temples were cut from basaltic cliffs and have elaborate facades and interior walls. The Ellora complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
The 12 Buddhist caves (in the south) date from about 200 bce to 600 ce, the 17 Hindu temples (in the centre) date from about 500 to 900 ce, and the 5 Jain temples (in the north) date from about 800 to 1000. The Hindu caves are the most dramatic in design, and the Buddhist caves contain the simplest ornamentation. Ellora served as a group of monasteries (viharas) and temples (caityas); some of the caves include sleeping cells that were carved for itinerant monks.
The most remarkable of the cave temples is Kailasa (Kailasanatha; cave 16), named for the mountain in the Kailas Range of the Himalayas where the Hindu god Shiva resides. Unlike other temples at the site, which were first delved horizontally into the rock face, the Kailasa complex was excavated downward from a basaltic slope and is therefore largely exposed to sunlight. Construction of the temple in the 8th century, beginning in the reign of Krishna I (c. 756–773), involved the removal of 150,000 to 200,000 tons of solid rock. The complex measures some 164 feet (50 metres) long, 108 feet (33 metres) wide, and 100 feet (30 metres) high and has four levels, or stories. It contains elaborately carved monoliths and halls with stairs, doorways, windows, and numerous fixed sculptures. One of its better-known decorations is a scene of Vishnu transformed into a man-lion and battling a demon. Just beyond the entrance, in the main courtyard, is a monument to Shiva’s bull Nandi. Along the walls of the temple, at the second-story level, are life-size sculptures of elephants and other animals. Among the depictions within the halls is that of the 10-headed demon king Ravana shaking Kailasa mountain in a show of strength. Erotic and voluptuous representations of Hindu divinities and mythological figures also grace the temple. Some features have been damaged or destroyed over the centuries, such as a rock-hewn footbridge that once joined two upper-story thresholds.
The Vishvakarma cave (cave 10) has carvings of Hindu and Buddhist figures as well as a lively scene of dancing dwarfs. Notable among the Jain temples is cave 32, which includes fine carvings of lotus flowers and other elaborate ornaments. Each year the caves attract large crowds of religious pilgrims and tourists. The annual Ellora Festival of Classical Dance and Music is held there in the third week of March.
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3d4d0b3b9cc0ff67f84d21bd6cc2faeb | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ellsworth-Land | Ellsworth Land | Ellsworth Land
Ellsworth Land, formerly Ellsworth Highland, region in Antarctica at the base of the Antarctic Peninsula, between the Ronne Ice Shelf and the Bellingshausen Sea, east of Marie Byrd Land. It embraces several mountain ranges, including the Ellsworth Mountains, the tallest peak of which, Vinson Massif (16,050 feet [4,892 metres] above sea level), is the highest in Antarctica. The rugged ice-covered area was discovered in 1935 by the American explorer Lincoln Ellsworth and his pilot Herbert Hollick-Kenyon during their aerial crossing of the continent and was named for the explorer’s father. Claimed in part by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom, Ellsworth Land remains incompletely explored.
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6d11aef30fb0b86b40c83fc435fc07fb | https://www.britannica.com/place/Elmhurst-Illinois | Elmhurst | Elmhurst
Elmhurst, city, DuPage county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It is a suburb of Chicago, lying 16 miles (26 km) west of downtown. Potawatomi Indians were early inhabitants of the area. Settled in 1836, it was originally called Cottage Hill for the Hill Cottage, an inn built in 1843 midway between Chicago and the Fox Valley settlement. In 1869 it was renamed Elmhurst for the elm trees that had been planted along its streets. The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (now part of the Union Pacific Railroad system) arrived in 1849, providing access to Chicago for the community’s produce. Elmhurst remained a farming community until the 1930s, after which it developed as a residential suburb of Chicago. Food processing, the manufacture of industrial supplies, and financial and health care services contribute to the city’s economy. Elmhurst College (founded 1871), affiliated with the United Church of Christ, hosts an annual jazz festival that features both college-level and professional musicians. The Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art displays gems, minerals, and art objects. The city is also home to a symphony orchestra, an art museum, and two historical museums. Inc. village, 1882; city, 1910. Pop. (2000) 42,762; (2010) 44,121.
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540016b530940169f552c63b84015036 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ely-cathedral | Ely cathedral | Ely cathedral
1534) at Ely cathedral—show an extraordinary mixture of sculpture and tracery work more reminiscent, as an expression of taste, of Germany or Spain.
…the foundations of the present cathedral were laid by the first Norman abbot of Ely, Simeon (1081–94). The cathedral dominates both the town of Ely and the surrounding countryside. The nave, the western tower (215 feet [66 metres] high), and the transept are Norman.
…Stained Glass Museum in the cathedral at Ely displays panels of painted glass representing the development of the craft from the 14th century to the present. Area 251 square miles (651 square km). Pop. (2001) 73,214; (2011) 83,818.
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425e8e449a1f9c813f1983d5ac16691a | https://www.britannica.com/place/Emain-Macha | Emain Macha | Emain Macha
…at the site known as Navan Fort, served as the centre of a kingdom of Ulster extending to the Rivers Shannon and Boyne in the west and south. Also associated with that period is an ancient frontier earthwork, Black Pig’s Dyke. Following the decline of Ulster in the 4th century,…
Its political centre was at Emain Macha, or Navan Fort, near the present-day city of Armagh. The most successful Christian missionary in Ireland, the 5th-century Patrick, was predominantly based in the north and associated with its rulers. He established his ecclesiastical centre near Emain Macha, at Armagh, which is still…
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6eec0ed43334295b6f285d2905578187 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Emden-Germany | Emden | Emden
Emden, city, Lower Saxony Land (state), northwestern Germany. It lies near the Ems River estuary and the North Sea coast of Ostfriesland (East Frisia). Founded about 800, it developed as a port for trade with the Baltic countries. It became the capital of the county of Ostfriesland in the 15th century and received storage and customs rights, by which it dominated the Ems trade. During the 16th-century Dutch wars of independence, it gained much of Holland’s trade and became for a time the most important northwestern European port and a centre of Calvinism for Dutch refugees. Their return to the Netherlands and the development of a new course of the Ems farther from the town led to its decline in the 17th century. It passed to Prussia in 1744, to France in 1810–14, and to Hanover in 1815.
After the port was improved and connected to the Ruhr by the Dortmund-Ems Canal in 1899, Emden became the German seaport for Westphalia. Despite severe destruction of the city in World War II, the harbour installations escaped damage, and Emden became one of the busiest ports in Germany. Shipping, shipbuilding, automobile assembly, and the manufacture of construction products are economically important. The city is connected with the natural-gas pipeline from the North Sea Ekofisk field. Remains of ramparts from 1616 and of the late Gothic Great Church (1648) survived World War II. The Johannes à Lasco Library opened in 1995. The East Friesland Museum and the town armoury from the 16th and 17th centuries are also notable. Pop. (2003 est.) 51,445.
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7efffe65dc21d1861c723c678adff5c9 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Empire-of-Japan/Japan-under-U-S-occupation | Japan under U.S. occupation | Japan under U.S. occupation
During the war, the policies that would govern the occupation of Japan had been the subject of sharp debate in Washington. Although some advocated doing away with the influence of prewar Japanese moderates altogether, in the end a great deal was left to the initiative of the supreme commander. The Potsdam Declaration had pledged that postwar Japan would guarantee freedom of speech, religion, and thought and respect fundamental human rights. The Japanese government was to remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people.
On August 29, 1945, a document outlining the initial U.S. post-surrender policy for Japan was worked out by the Departments of State, War, and the Navy; this became the basic statement of principles. As its ultimate objective, it envisaged Japan as no longer a threat to the peace and security of the world, ruled by a responsible government which would respect the rights of other states and support the objectives of the charter of the United Nations. The U.S. did not wish to impose any form of rule that ran contrary to the freely expressed will of the Japanese people, but it was hoped that Japan would conform as closely as possible to principles of democratic self-government. Japan would be limited to the four main islands and such minor islands as were to be specified at a later date. The Soviets had laid claim to the Kuril Islands as a condition of their declaration of war; that transfer was formalized in 1951, and the entire Japanese population of the archipelago was forcibly repatriated. Japan was to be disarmed and demilitarized, with the influence of the militarists “totally eliminated” from political, economic, and social life. The Japanese people would be encouraged to develop a respect for individual liberties and human rights, and they would be given the opportunity to develop an economy adequate to meet the peacetime requirements of the population.
Power to carry out these objectives was given to Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP). By agreement of the U.S., British, and Soviet foreign ministers, a Far Eastern Commission representing all the Pacific allies was established for the formulation of policies and review of MacArthur’s actions, but whatever recommendations and directives ensued would reach him through normal military channels. An Allied council for Japan, representing the Soviet Union, China, the British Commonwealth, and the supreme commander, sat in Tokyo to furnish on-the-spot advice and consultation. The supreme commander was to consult this council before issuing orders, the exigencies of the situation permitting, but the final decision was his. In practice, SCAP paid the Allied council little heed and acted swiftly to forestall Far Eastern Commission directives. As a result, he was little hampered by outside interference, and the occupation was thus largely a U.S. affair. SCAP became a large organization of several thousand persons, including both the headquarters staff of the Pacific campaigns and personnel who provided the technical, administrative, and bureaucratic staffs. MacArthur worked through the Japanese government and made his wishes known by directives or more discreet suggestions. He had to be consulted on all major decisions of policy or politics and thus functioned somewhat in the manner of the genro of an earlier day.
The efforts at democratizing Japanese society seemed successively radical and cautious, and they were criticized as doctrinaire and half-hearted by turn. The spirit of reform gave way to an emphasis on rebuilding and resuming production, as external factors sparked concern about excessive social and political change. It is evident that the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War altered the U.S. view of Japan’s role in international affairs and increased the desirability of speeding Japan’s economic recovery. The SCAP attitude toward communism, labour, and deconcentration underwent decided changes. However, historians largely agreed that the measures taken by SCAP created an open political environment in which new forces could and did rise. Such trends proved successful and lasting in areas where occupation measures had coincided with trends toward change long present, though suppressed, within Japanese society.
The early months of the occupation saw SCAP move swiftly to remove the principal supports of the militarist state under which Japan had gone to war. The armed forces were demobilized, State Shintō was disestablished, and nationalist organizations were abolished and their members barred from holding important posts. Other purges removed from active roles all individuals prominent in wartime organizations and politics, including commissioned officers of the armed services; this was later extended to include all high executives of the principal industrial firms. In Tokyo the International Military Tribunal for the Far East tried Tōjō and other leaders for war crimes, sentencing 7 to death, 16 to life imprisonment, and 2 to shorter terms. Millions of Japanese were repatriated from the former colonies and from Southeast Asia.
The Home Ministry, which had controlled wartime Japan through its appointive governors and national police, was abolished, and the Education Ministry was deprived of its sweeping powers to control compulsory education. Since central control and military influence were being dismantled by a military government which needed centralized powers in order to be effective, the occupation’s role was often a contradictory one. In the course of issuing instructions to the Japanese government to make certain that changes were being carried out, SCAP ensured the survival of that government as one intimately concerned with the pattern of local events in all parts of the country. In many cases, factors of geography and economic rationality reinforced the logic of centralization, and some of the moves toward decentralization were soon modified or reversed.
The new political structure of Japan centred on a new democratic constitution. The indirect rule, unseen cliques, and shadowy nature of the real power behind the facade of imperial rule made the Meiji Constitution clearly inadequate, and SCAP informed Japanese leaders that constitutional reform should receive first attention. The veterans of earlier decades of parliamentary government proved unable to grasp or accept the kind of reform that was intended. Between October 1945 and February 1946 a cabinet committee headed by Matsumoto Jōji prepared revisions to the Meiji Constitution. However, when the resulting draft was submitted to SCAP, it proved to contain few and superficial changes. MacArthur’s government section rushed a new draft to completion in six days. This document was then submitted to the Japanese government as the basis for further Japanese deliberations. Despite the misgivings of conservative statesmen, it was approved by the emperor and submitted for amendment to the first postwar Diet, which had been elected in April 1946—the first Japanese elections in which women voted. The constitution, slightly modified, went into effect on May 3, 1947.
Its preface stated in ringing tones the intention of the Japanese people to ensure peaceful cooperation with all nations and the blessings of liberty for themselves and their descendants. The constitution included a 31-article bill of rights. Perhaps most notable of these was Article 9, which renounced war as a “sovereign right of the nation” and pledged that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.” The emperor, who had renounced his claim to divinity on January 1, 1946, was described as the “symbol of the state and of the unity of the people, deriving his position from the will of the people with whom resides sovereign power.” The prewar Meiji Constitution had described him as “sacred and inviolable.” The constitution provided for a bicameral Diet, with the greatest power vested in a House of Representatives whose members served for four-year terms. The old peerage was dissolved, and the House of Peers was replaced by a House of Councilors whose members served six-year terms. The prime minister was to be chosen by the Diet from among its members, and an independent judiciary, as in the U.S., had the right of judicial review.
The new constitution thus reversed the Meiji pattern that had placed all sovereignty in the imperial institution, from which power could be drawn by imperial household officials, military officers, and the privy council as well as by the prime minister. With the removal of the military service heads, the privy council, and the peers and with a clearly nonpolitical role specified for the emperor, authority lay solely with the elected Diet, which selected the executive from its ranks. For the first time in modern Japan, the nature and role of the executive were clearly defined. Parallel changes made prefectural governors and other local officials elective so that the government could be responsive to the popular will.
The 1947 constitution was drawn up hastily, and subsequent research by Japanese scholars led to the suspicion that SCAP had rushed to head off the recommendations of the Far Eastern Commission. Despite this, the constitution worked well, and it gained widespread support in Japan. Because its implementation coincided with the purge of most of the leaders of prewar and wartime Japan, conditions were favourable for the development of new ideas and methods.
By the time the Treaty of Peace with Japan went into effect in 1952, elements of the political pattern had already changed, and subsequent governments showed their ability to modify by administrative actions a constitution that remained unchanged. Decentralization in some fields had proven expensive and inefficient. The police, for instance, while less centralized than in Home Ministry days, had returned to a substantially national organization. Despite the announced goals of local decentralization, changing patterns of communications and administration had shown the logic of incorporating many small units of administration into larger units, a trend particularly marked in the countryside where villages and towns merged to form a more rational tax structure. Article 9 of the constitution was compromised by the decision taken by SCAP to form a “police reserve” of 75,000 men during the Korean War. This body, renamed the Self-Defense Force in 1954, came to number roughly 250,000 in the 21st century.
Nevertheless, the basic principles of the 1947 constitution enjoyed support among all factions in Japanese politics. Executive leadership was a chief asset of the new institutions. With the abolition of competing forces that had beset the premiers of the 1930s, the postwar prime ministers found themselves in charge of the administration and, with rearmament, the armed forces as well. Thus, responsible leadership gradually replaced the ambiguous claims of imperial rule of earlier days.
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d291ebd254f65d25d35c1f2ccf3702b9 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Empire-of-Japan/Social-and-economic-changes | Social and economic changes | Social and economic changes
The development of industry drove many social and intellectual changes. After the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the government utilized the Chinese indemnity to subsidize the development of the Yawata Iron and Steel Works, which were established in 1897 and began production in 1901. Yawata significantly expanded Japan’s heavy industry sector, but it depended on China for its ores. The growing textile and other consumer goods industries expanded both to meet Japanese needs and to earn the capital required for the import of raw materials. Heavy industry was encouraged by government-controlled banks, and strategic industries such as steel and railways were in government hands. Most new growth was in the private sector, however, although it remained somewhat concentrated in the hands of the zaibatsu financial and industrial giants.
The industrial labour force numbered about 400,000 workers in 1895. Police action restricted the growth of labour unions, and socialist movements were quickly repressed. In 1903 the Heimin Shimbun (“Commoner’s Newspaper”) published The Communist Manifesto and opposed the Russo-Japanese War in the name of the workers of Russia and Japan before it was forced to cease publication. The Christian pacifist Uchimura Kanzo joined in these antiwar protests but later parted company with the socialists. The labour and socialist movements gained in strength after World War I, but they had many handicaps. Leadership usually had little real contact with the workers because of police repression. The challenge of organizing across the vast industrial empires of Mitsui and Mitsubishi also kept the labour movement from making headway. The increasing confidence and power of management, which came to influence and at times control the political parties, were in marked contrast to the slow progress of the labour movement. The Katō government of 1924–26 was sometimes referred to as a “Mitsubishi cabinet” because of its close relations to that company’s interests and families. In 1928 a revision of the law passed under Katō made it a capital crime to agitate against private property or Japanese “national essence” (kokutai).
In the countryside, farm villages provided the bulk of the labourers for the new industries, and rural women were to be found in many of the textile plants. The early decades of the 20th century were not years of agricultural prosperity, however. Increased tenancy resulted in the growth of tenant organizations, and government efforts to encourage voluntary reform measures brought only a 1924 law for mediation of disputes between tenants and landlords. This made little real impact. The financial panic of 1927 aggravated rural conditions and indebtedness, and the collapse of the U.S. silk market in 1929 spelled disaster for the farmers and workers alike.
The most-lasting social changes were those found in the great metropolitan centres where the growing labour force and the new middle class “salary” groups were concentrated. The Tokyo-Yokohama area was devastated by a great earthquake in September 1923, and its reconstruction as a modern metropolis symbolized the growth and orientation of the urban society. Japanese popular culture during and after World War I drew from international sources, most conspicuously the United States. Western music and sports achieved inroads, and the rising standards of living produced the need for better access to higher education. Women shared in the changes, and the participation of women in the workforce gave rise to a feminist movement. While the gains achieved were halting at best, the Japanese family system was undergoing dramatic changes.
The educated class grew in size, embracing beliefs ranging from Western-style democracy to the new radicalism of the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, the foundation for these new currents of liberalism was unstable. Universal manhood suffrage was achieved, but political expression was checked by the Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu (“Special Higher Police”), or Tokkô, a police force which was established to prevent the spread of “dangerous thoughts.” Economically, the urban classes were dependent upon the continuance of the favourable trade patterns of the 1920s. When the Great Depression at the end of the decade wrecked Japan’s foreign markets, many were prepared to listen to charges that party politicians had imperiled Japan while enriching themselves.
The idea that military conquest could solve Japan’s economic problems was not new, but the hardships of the Great Depression gave it increased prominence. One of the key arguments advanced to support aggressive militarism was that it posed a solution to the problem of surplus population. Japan’s population had grown from 30 million at the time of the Meiji Restoration to almost 65 million in 1930. Each year the problem grew worse; the imports of needed foodstuffs increased, while Western tariffs limited exports. It was also argued that discrimination was a barrier to Japanese emigration to many areas. The so-called Gentlemen’s Agreement with U.S. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded in removing legal barriers in California, but bias and prejudice continued. Japanese were barred from Australia altogether. Efforts made by Japan and China to secure a racial equality clause in the League of Nations covenant were frustrated by Western statesmen who feared the anger of their constituents. With economic avenues closed, militarists argued that force was Japan’s only option.
The armed services distrusted the political parties and opposed several international agreements which the civilian governments accepted. The Washington Conference limited Japan’s naval strength, and in 1930 the government of Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi accepted the London Naval Conference limitations on cruiser strength. The Katō government reduced the size of the army by four divisions. Many service leaders also bridled under the moderation that Foreign Minister Shidehara showed during the Nationalist Party’s Northern Expedition in 1926–27, and they would have preferred that Japan be much more militarily assertive in China. Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi reversed Shidehara’s policy by intervening in Shandong in 1927 and 1928, but Tanaka was forced out in 1929 and replaced by Hamaguchi, under whom Shidehara resumed control of the foreign office. It seemed to many in the military that such inconsistency had earned Japan the enmity of China without gaining any obvious advantage.
Many military leaders resented the restrictions that the civilian governments placed upon them, and, because they had direct access to the throne and possessed the ability to break a cabinet by refusing their cooperation, their power was considerable. Such views were not held by all or even most of the high command; many politically savvy senior officers approved of party government, and navy leaders tended to be more discreet. However, enough army officers embraced this position that it became a possible focus for dissatisfaction among other groups in Japanese society. The image of the frugal, selfless samurai was peculiarly useful as a contrast to the stock characterization of the selfish party politician.
These internal clashes were exploited by groups of civilian ultranationalists who opposed parliamentary government on principle. Since Meiji times, there had been a number of rightist organizations dedicated to Japanese cultural purity and external military expansion. They sought to preserve what they believed to be unique in the Japanese spirit and therefore fought against excessive Westernization. There were many such organizations, the most important of which drew inspiration from the ultranationalist Tōyama Mitsuru. Most of the organizations were opposed to political parties and big business as well as Westernization, and, by allying with rightist forces, civilian and military, they alternately terrorized and intimidated their presumed opponents.
Junior officers in the armed services were a receptive audience for the far right theorists, and they would prove to be the strongest force against parliamentary government. Many of them were animated by goals that were national socialist in character. Kita Ikki, a former socialist who had embraced nationalism and militarism, wrote in An Outline Plan for the Reorganization of Japan that the Meiji Constitution should be set aside in favour of a revolutionary regime. Ikki’s military government would nationalize many forms of property, place limits on wealth, end party rule, and assume the leadership role in a revolution that would sweep Asia. Kita helped persuade a number of young officers to take part in the violence of the 1930s, and in large measure their plots were designed to create a disorder so great that military government would follow. Once this had been achieved, they thought, the army would know what to do next.
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629a32691c9f667d7fb4249b2b6143b0 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Encamp | Encamp | Encamp
Encamp, village, Andorra, on a headstream of the Valira River. Its agricultural economy is supplemented by tourism, especially skiing. Encamp has a broadcasting transmitter of Radio Andorra. Above the village is Engolasters Lake, accessible by cable car. There are facilities for generating hydroelectric power. In the locality is Pessons Peak (9,400 feet [2,865 metres]). Pop. (2006 est.) 8,531.
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9762b59d437de89f06e266e9c3026906 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Enewetak | Enewetak | Enewetak
Enewetak, also spelled Eniwetok, atoll, northwestern end of the Ralik chain, Republic of the Marshall Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. Circular in shape (50 miles [80 km] in circumference), it comprises 40 islets around a lagoon 23 miles (37 km) in diameter. During World War II it was captured from the Japanese by U.S. forces (February 1944), and its fine anchorage was made into a naval base. Its inhabitants were evacuated to other atolls after it was designated, with Bikini atoll, a testing ground for atomic weapons. Tests were held in 1948, 1951, 1952, 1954, and 1956. In 1980, after the island’s contaminated topsoil was removed, Enewetak was declared decontaminated, and its people were given an opportunity to return. Their first crops grown were found to be too badly contaminated, and, as at Bikini atoll, the people had to be removed again. Pop. (1999) 853; (2011) 664.
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f0291978c1c26037a0f6d25761e238b4 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Enfield-Connecticut | Enfield | Enfield
Enfield, town (township), Hartford county, northern Connecticut, U.S., on the Connecticut River at the Massachusetts border. It includes the industrial subdivisions of Thompsonville and Hazardville. The area was settled by a group from Salem, Massachusetts, in 1680 and was named for Enfield, England. A surveyor’s error in 1642 placed it in Massachusetts, where in 1683 it became a town. After a long boundary dispute, Enfield was annexed to Connecticut in 1749, but it was not until 1804 that the boundary was finally established. The carpet industry, begun by Orrin Thompson about 1828 at Thompsonville and expanded by a series of mergers, was the economic mainstay until the last mills closed in 1971. The gunpowder industry, developed by Colonel A.G. Hazard (1833), was another early enterprise. Asnuntuck Community College was opened (1972) in Enfield. Area 34 square miles (87 square km). Pop. (2000) 45,212; (2010) 44,654.
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5523471c4a6e84150515f872a1ac24a8 | https://www.britannica.com/place/English-Channel/Economic-aspects | Economic aspects | Economic aspects
Connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, the respective waters of which are rich in warm- and cold-water plankton, the English Channel is favoured from the latter with cod, herring, and whiting and from the former with hake, pilchard, and mullet. The traditional fishing industry declined in the 20th century with the development of deep-sea fishing, the exhaustion of resources, and the advent of pollution problems, but coastal fishing remains important in Brittany.
A good climate, sandy beaches, and an attractive coast have encouraged the growth of tourism on both sides of the channel, starting with the fashionable resorts of the late 18th century. The English ports of Portsmouth and Plymouth have declined from their former levels of naval and commercial activity. Cherbourg on the Contentin Peninsula has changed little in character, but Southampton and Le Havre have lost passenger traffic while gaining tremendous container and oil-refining capacity and also experiencing a general commercial growth. Both England and France use channel waters for cooling nuclear-powered generating stations, while the tidal-power generating station on the Rance River (in Brittany), utilizing a tidal range of 35 feet and more, is a unique feature.
The English Channel is a major route for passenger and freight traffic. Crossings are provided by ferry and air services. Hundreds of watercraft traverse the Strait of Dover daily, and this frequency, as well as the increase in ship size and speed, has led to the introduction of sophisticated navigational safeguard systems, including radar tracking of all ships in the strait.
The idea of a channel tunnel was first conceived in 1802, and in the late 19th century such a tunnel was actually initiated and then abandoned. In 1957 the idea was revived, and in 1973 Britain and France decided to carry out the project (the “Chunnel”) jointly. Work was begun, only to be canceled early in 1975, but in 1978 the matter of a channel crossing was again raised, this time by the British and French national railways and the European Communities. Construction resumed in 1987 on twin single-track railway tunnels and a central service tunnel for ventilation, maintenance, and emergency evacuation, and by 1990 the service tunnel had been completed. The Eurotunnel (as it came to be called) connects the road and rail networks of Britain and the Continent by carrying both rail freight and automobiles. The terminals are located at Folkestone in England and Calais in France.
From earliest times, depending on historical factors, the English Channel served as a route for, and a barrier to, invaders of Britain from the Continent. Early Stone Age people crossed the Strait of Dover; later invaders crossed the western end of the channel, trading the copper, tin, and lead they found in Devon and Cornwall, and successive Bronze and Iron Age invaders followed the same route. Julius Caesar’s invasion of 55 bce again favoured the Dover route in the east, while William the Conqueror in 1066 crossed from Normandy to Hastings. With Britain’s later loss of Normandy, the channel again became a defensive line. In the 20th century its strategic role was critical during the two world wars, particularly during the Allied invasion of France in 1944.
Scholars adduced reasons for the English Channel’s existence as early as the 17th century, but detailed scientific study awaited the first official hydrographic surveys (French coast, 1829; English coast, 1847). The geologic map of the seabed based on borings made in 1866 was the world’s first of its kind. Further studies were associated with early plans for a channel tunnel, and modern surveys done since World War II have made the channel seabed one of the most intensively studied seafloors in the world.
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0bdc046f8c1ff64d8e0ad264c1d1f344 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ennedi | Ennedi | Ennedi
Ennedi, plateau region, northeastern Chad, central Africa, centred around the town of Fada. The terrain is primarily arid desert, with sandstone peaks rising to 4,756 ft (1,450 m). Wild game is abundant. The region has a sparse population of semi-nomads, chiefly Muslims who speak the Dazaga dialect. They live in permanent villages during the rainy months of July, August, and September but disperse for the dry season. Their herds include camels, horses, donkeys, sheep, and goats. Dates, wheat, millet, and barley grow in the oases. Because the area was considered ungovernable, following Chad’s independence in 1960 it remained under French military administration until 1965, when the French withdrew at Chad’s request.
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85b372c5148e13d07210759a3ae719bb | https://www.britannica.com/place/Enniskillen | Enniskillen | Enniskillen
Enniskillen, also spelled Inniskilling, Irish Inis Ceithleann, town, Fermanagh and Omagh district, southwestern Northern Ireland. Situated on Cethlin’s Island, it was a strategic crossing point of Lough Erne and an ancient stronghold of the Maguires of Fermanagh. Incorporated by the English king James I, it defeated a force sent by James II in 1689 and gained a reputation as a Protestant stronghold. Long a garrison town, it gave its name to the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, both famous regiments of the British army. Enniskillen functions as an agricultural market; other activities include bacon curing and hosiery manufacture. On nearby Devenish Island are the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey, a 6th-century foundation of St. Molaise. Oscar Wilde, the late 19th-century poet and dramatist, was a student at the Royal School, founded in 1618. Pop. (2001) 13,560; (2011) 13,790.
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c09b4771eb09b07e32a60bc4173fdd8f | https://www.britannica.com/place/Envigado | Envigado | Envigado
Envigado, city, Antioquia departamento, northwestern Colombia. It is situated near the Porce River, between the Occidental and Central ranges of the Andes Mountains, at an elevation of 5,085 feet (1,550 m) above sea level. Formerly a commercial and manufacturing centre for a fertile agricultural and pastoral area, Envigado is now part of the industrial complex centring on the department capital of Medellín, 6 miles (10 km) north by highway. Its principal industry is textile manufacturing. Pop. (2007 est.) 174,828.
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7472629672bcfc36b02ebfeb493ca012 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Eolie-Islands | Eolie Islands | Eolie Islands
Eolie Islands, Italian Isole Eolie, Latin Insulae Aeoliae, also called Aeolian Islands or Lipari Islands, volcanic island group in the Tyrrhenian Sea (of the Mediterranean) off the north coast of Sicily, Italy. The group, with a total land area of 34 square miles (88 square km), consists of seven major islands and several islets lying in a general “Y” shape. The base of the Y is formed by the westernmost island, Alicudi, the northern tip by Stromboli, and the southern tip by Vulcano. The other major islands are Lipari, Salina, Filicudi, and Panarea.
The islands represent the summits of a submerged mountain chain rising to 3,156 feet (962 metres) on Salina. Seismic and volcanic activity has been known since ancient times, and the Greeks believed the islands to be the home of Aeolus, king of the winds, whence their name. Vulcano and Stromboli are active, and there are fumaroles on Lipari and Panarea.
Excavations in the 20th century established an uninterrupted archaeological record from the Neolithic Period (New Stone Age; 7000–3000 bce). Obsidian, the islands’ principal export in prehistoric times, has been detected as far east as Crete. Panarea has remains of a Bronze Age village (dating from 3000 bce). The Greeks established themselves in the islands early in the 6th century bce. Later there was a Carthaginian naval station, until the Romans took over in 252 bce. In Roman times, as in the Fascist era prior to World War II in the 20th century, the islands served as a place of banishment for political prisoners. In early medieval times they were conquered by the Saracens, who were expelled by the Normans in the 11th century. The Eolie Islands frequently changed hands between the Angevins of Naples and the Sicilian kings in the 14th century. Alfonso V of Aragon annexed them to Naples, but Ferdinand II of Aragon finally united them to Sicily in the late 15th century.
Pumice is exported from the islands, and the principal agricultural product is a heavy malmsey-type wine from Lipari. There are alum quarries on Vulcano. Lipari, the chief town of the islands, is the seat of a bishop and of the important Aeolian archaeological museum; much of the remaining population is concentrated in the three towns on Lipari. Stromboli’s continuously active volcano is a noted tourist attraction. There is regular steamer service to Milazzo, Messina, and Naples and in summer a hydrofoil service to Palermo.
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c174778a80ccbfe5f85a5aa827a0f11e | https://www.britannica.com/place/Eridu | Eridu | Eridu
Eridu, ancient Sumerian city south of modern Ur (Tall al-Muqayyar), Iraq. Eridu was revered as the oldest city in Sumer according to the king lists, and its patron god was Enki (Ea), “lord of the sweet waters that flow under the earth.” The site, located at a mound called Abū Shahrayn, was excavated principally between 1946 and 1949 by the Iraq Antiquities Department; it proved to be one of the most important of the prehistoric urban centres in southern Babylonia. Founded on sand dunes probably in the 5th millennium bc, it fully illustrated the sequence of the preliterate Ubaid civilization, with its long succession of superimposed temples portraying the growth and development of an elaborate mud-brick architecture.
The city continued to be occupied to about 600 bc but was less important in historic periods.
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c91b63ddcb8f1da70d4e7837f4ea1e7f | https://www.britannica.com/place/Erode | Erode | Erode
Erode, city, northern Tamil Nadu state, southern India. It lies on the Kaveri (Cauvery) River, roughly equidistant from Salem (northeast) and Tiruppur (southwest).
Temple inscriptions indicate the prominent role played by the town as early as the 10th century ce. Its name is associated with a Chola temple (907–1279) and means “wet skull.” Though Erode was successively destroyed by Maratha, Mysore Muslim, and British armies, the surrounding fertile soils assisted in the city’s quick recovery each time as an agricultural trade centre.
Erode is a railway hub and is the junction for the Pykara and Mettur hydroelectric schemes. Industries include cotton ginning and the manufacture of transport equipment. The city has industrial schools and several colleges affiliated with the University of Madras in Chennai (Madras). Pop. (2001) city, 150,541; urban agglom., 389,906; (2011) city, 157,101; urban agglom., 521,891.
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13c153708ef4cbbe7bb021c8513b4051 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Erzurum | Erzurum | Erzurum
Erzurum, city, eastern Turkey. It lies 6,400 feet (1,950 metres) above sea level in a fertile plain surrounded by high mountains. On a caravan route from Anatolia to Iran, Erzurum has been a major commercial and military centre since antiquity and is now a major rail station on the route between Ankara and Iran.
Although its foundation was probably much earlier, Erzurum achieved real importance as Theodosiopolis, a 5th-century-ce Byzantine fortress that fell to the Arabs in 653. Thereafter it was disputed among the Byzantines, Arabs, and Armenians until taken by the Seljuq Turks in 1071; it prospered in the early 13th century under Seljuq sultans. The Arabs and the Turks called it Arzan al-Rūm, or Arz al-Rūm (“Land of the Romans”), from which its present name is derived. It came under Ottoman control in 1515. The city was occupied by Russian forces in 1829, 1878, and 1916–18. It was in Erzurum, in July 1919, that Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk) presided over the first Turkish nationalist congress, leading to the establishment of the Turkish republic.
The city is important as a centre for trade in livestock, but it has little industry other than a sugar beet factory; local craftsmen still excel in metalwork and saddlery. Historically important buildings include Seljuq theological colleges (1253 and 1308), the Great Mosque (12th century), and royal mausoleums (12th and 13th centuries). There is a local archaeological museum. Erzurum is the seat of Atatürk University (1957). The city has a large Kurdish population. The surrounding region is drained by the Karasu River, a headstream of the Euphrates, and the Aras and Çoruh rivers. Agricultural products include wheat, barley, millet, sugar beets, and vegetables. Pop. (2000) 361,235; (2013 est.) 384,399.
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2d1d08483fab286ea1eafd6198a6200b | https://www.britannica.com/place/Esbjerg | Esbjerg | Esbjerg
Esbjerg, city, southwestern Jutland, Denmark, opposite Fanø island on the North Sea. Founded in 1868, after the loss of North Slesvig (Schleswig) to Germany, to provide a new export outlet for Jutland’s agricultural produce, it grew rapidly after the harbour was completed in 1874 and was chartered in 1899. Esbjerg is Denmark’s largest fishing port with 6 miles (10 km) of quay as well as shipbuilding facilities. In addition to fish products, large quantities of meat and dairy products are exported, chiefly to Great Britain. The city has teachers’, technical, and commercial colleges; the University of Southern Denmark; the National Marine and Fishery School; and a small airport. On the northwestern outskirts are the graves of nearly 300 Allied airmen shot down over Denmark during World War II. Pop. (2008 est.) city, 70,880; mun., 114,244.
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e5a0a363bd614905bf24a52d7e1e3659 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Escondido | Escondido | Escondido
Escondido, city, San Diego county, southern California, U.S. It is situated about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of San Diego and 18 miles (29 km) inland. The area was the site of Spanish exploration, and in 1843 it became part of the Rancho Rincón del Diablo land grant made to Juan Bautista Alvarado. The town was laid out in 1886 and named Escondido (Spanish: “Hidden”) because of its secluded valley site. It became a processing and shipping point for fruits (especially avocados and grapes), wines, cereals, and dairy produce. After World War II light industry developed, and the city’s population grew rapidly as Escondido emerged as a bedroom community of San Diego.
Just southeast of the city, San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park marks the site of the bloodiest battle (1846) in California history, when the Californian forces of General Andrés Pico met U.S. Army troops under Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny. Also southeast of the city is San Diego Wild Animal Park, an extension of the San Diego Zoo and a popular tourist attraction. The Palomar Observatory is 20 miles (30 km) northeast of Escondido in Cleveland National Forest. Recreational areas include Dixon Lake and nearby Lake Wohlford. Inc. 1888. Pop. (2000) 133,559; (2010) 143,911.
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6c3fb3092b87e8dc3804edb7a25e1ba8 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Escravos-River | Escravos River | Escravos River
Escravos River, distributary of the Niger River in the western Niger delta, southern Nigeria. Its 35-mile (56-kilometre) westerly course traverses zones of mangrove swamps and coastal sand ridges before entering the Bight of Benin of the Gulf of Guinea. There are no ports on the river, but the Escravos is linked by a maze of interconnected waterways to the Forcados, Warri, Benin, and Ethiope rivers. By 1960, although the natural passageway over the Escravos Bar at the ocean exit was only 12 feet (4 m) deep, the river had already supplanted the Forcados as the main approach to the Delta ports: Warri, Burutu, Sapele, Koko, and Forcados. Since the completion in 1964 of the Escravos Bar Project, the Escravos has provided the only route for oceangoing vessels to those ports. There is also a petroleum-shipping station serving a submarine oil field 11 miles (18 km) offshore from the mouth.
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67cda3cd05a6dc1f020da5d6c52880b4 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Essex-Anglo-Saxon-kingdom-England | Essex | Essex
Essex, one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England; i.e., that of the East Saxons. An area of early settlement, it probably originally included the territory of the modern county of Middlesex; London was its chief town. Archaeological discoveries suggest that many of the new settlers were continental Saxons. Essex sometimes had joint kings, and from 664 they were subject to the rulers of the midland kingdom of Mercia. From 825 Essex was controlled by Wessex, first as a subkingdom ruled by sons of the Wessex kings and then from 860 without separate existence. By the treaty made between King Alfred the Great and the Danish king Guthrum in 878, the latter acquired Essex, but it was won back by the Wessex dynasty early in the 10th century and was thereafter ruled by ealdormen, in origin royal household officials. Essex had been slow to accept Christianity wholeheartedly; an important missionary there was the Northumbrian Cedd (died 664), whose church at Bradwell-on-Sea still survives.
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2fd788c3892201e1b429745c5a87db69 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Estes-Park | Estes Park | Estes Park
Estes Park, town, Larimer county, north-central Colorado, U.S. The original town site lies in a large natural meadow (locally called a park) surrounded by a mixed coniferous-deciduous forest. It is situated in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, at an elevation of 7,522 feet (2,293 metres), on the Big Thompson River. It is the eastern entrance and headquarters of Rocky Mountain National Park, and Roosevelt National Forest adjoins the town on the north, east, and south. Named for Joel Estes, the first settler (1859), the town is a centre of tourism and a year-round resort. It is also the engineering headquarters for the Colorado–Big Thompson Project that diverts water for irrigation and power generation. Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous highway in the United States, extends west from Estes Park across the Continental Divide and then south to Grand Lake. An aerial tramway ascends Prospect Mountain, providing passengers with a superb view of the Divide. The Hidden Valley Ski Area is nearby. Inc. 1917. Pop. (2000) 5,413; (2010) 5,858.
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17b4f398f253c476efd5a73bd4fbb19a | https://www.britannica.com/place/Estonia/Independence-lost | Independence lost | Independence lost
The fate of Estonia was decided by the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact of August 1939 between Nazi Germany and the U.S.S.R. On September 28 the Soviet government imposed on Estonia a treaty of mutual assistance that conceded to the Soviet Union several Estonian military bases, which were occupied forthwith. A broadly based nonpolitical government under Juri Uluots was appointed, but on June 16, 1940, a Soviet ultimatum demanded a new Estonian government, “able and willing to secure the honest application of the Soviet-Estonia mutual assistance treaty.” The following day, Soviet forces occupied the whole country. On July 21 the Chamber of Deputies was presented with a resolution to join the U.S.S.R.; it was unanimously adopted the next day in spite of being contrary to constitutional procedure. On August 6 the Moscow Supreme Soviet incorporated Estonia into the U.S.S.R. as one of its constituent republics. Meanwhile, Päts, Laidoner, and many other political leaders were arrested and deported to the U.S.S.R. In the first 12 months of Soviet occupation, more than 60,000 persons were killed or deported; more than 10,000 were removed in a mass deportation during the night of June 13–14, 1941.
On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the U.S.S.R. Large areas of Estonia were freed from Soviet forces by improvised Estonian units before the German army reached Estonia. For three years Estonia was under German occupation, becoming part of the Ostland province. By February 1944, however, the Russians were back on the Narva front. About 30,000 Estonians escaped by sea to Sweden and 33,000 to Germany; many thousands perished at sea. On Sept. 22, 1944, Soviet troops took Tallinn.
The first postwar decade was a particularly difficult period of repression and Russification. The efforts of the regime to restructure the country in a Soviet mold rendered national political and cultural life virtually impossible. Mass deportations occurred in several waves, most significantly in 1949 during the campaign to collectivize agriculture. It has been estimated that as many as 80,000 Estonians were deported between 1945 and 1953. Massive immigration from Russia and other parts of the U.S.S.R. decreased the indigenous proportion of the population. Before the war ethnic Estonians made up almost 90 percent of the population. By 1990 the proportion had sunk to about 60 percent. The ruling Communist Party was disproportionately immigrant in character. A large-scale purge in 1950–51 left virtually no native Estonian officials in the highest positions. The situation changed somewhat in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but by the late 1980s the ruling elite was still heavily immigrant.
The Soviet liberalization campaign of the late 1980s provided an opportunity for a national renaissance. In April 1988 an opposition Popular Front emerged. On June 16 the incumbent first party secretary, Karl Vaino, an immigrant, was dismissed. In the fall of 1988 the Popular Front pushed his successor, Vaino Väljas, to guide a resolution on sovereignty through the legislature. In the face of Soviet protests and warnings, Estonian law took precedence over Soviet legislation.
Proponents of independence won a clear victory in the March 1990 elections. On March 30, 1990, the Estonian legislature declared a transitional phase to independence. Independence was declared formally in August 1991 and was recognized by the Soviet Union the following month.
In June 1992 a new constitution was adopted, and in September legislative and presidential elections were held, with Lennart Meri, who was supported by the Isamaa (Fatherland) alliance, elected president. Among the key issues for independent Estonia were the rights of those residents of the republic who had immigrated after the Soviet annexation of Estonia in 1940. These nonethnic Estonians (mostly ethnic Russians) were required to apply for citizenship, with naturalization requirements including proficiency in the Estonian language. Relations between Russia and Estonia were strained over this issue and over the continued presence in Estonia of Russian troops, which finally left the country in August 1994.
Despite allegations of corruption and abuse of power by some top officials, by the end of the 1990s Estonia had developed a stable democracy. Although affected by the Russian financial crisis of 1998, Estonia’s economy was fairly robust throughout much of the late 1990s, and it strengthened even more in the opening years of the 21st century. In 2006 Toomas Hendrik Ilves became president. Ruled from 2005 to 2014 by a coalition led by the Estonian Reform Party and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, the government responded to the challenges of the European financial crisis with an austerity program that kept the country’s economy strong enough for Estonia to join the euro zone in 2011. Ansip, his personal popularity slipping, stepped down in February 2014. He was succeeded as prime minister by Taavi Rõivas, who formed a coalition government with the centre-left Social Democratic Party. In foreign affairs, the country sought to improve its often tense relations with Russia and reoriented itself toward the West. In 1999 Estonia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in 2004 it became a full member of both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).
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53ed6cbcd11e609fcc53d22e5132c5b8 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Estrela-Mountains | Estrela Mountains | Estrela Mountains
Estrela Mountains, Portuguese Serra da Estrela (“Star Mountain Range”), highest mountains in continental Portugal. The range lies in the north-central part of the country, between the basins of the Tagus and Mondego rivers. The western continuation of the Central Sierras (Sistema Central) of Spain, the range runs about 40 miles (65 km) from northeast to southwest and is between 10 and 15 miles (16 and 24 km) wide. On the highest peak, Torre (Alto da Torre), which rises to 6,539 feet (1,993 metres), a tower (torre) has been constructed. With an annual rainfall of more than 90 inches (2,300 mm) above 4,000 feet (about 1,200 metres), the range is one of Portugal’s chief pastoral districts, the seasonal herding of sheep and goats still being practiced there. The Serra cheese is the mountains’ most famous product. The large Serra sheepdogs are an admired breed. Designated a natural park, the range attracts walkers in the summer months and skiers and snowboarders to the snowy slopes below Torre in winter.
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082e7f3291cf3de3b47e551612b3663e | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia/Ethnic-groups-and-languages | Ethnic groups and languages | Ethnic groups and languages
Ethiopians are ethnically diverse, with the most important differences on the basis of linguistic categorization. Ethiopia is a mosaic of about 100 languages that can be classified into four groups. The vast majority of languages belong to the Semitic, Cushitic, or Omotic groups, all part of the Afro-Asiatic language family. A small number of languages belong to a fourth group, Nilotic, which is part of the Nilo-Saharan language family.
The Semitic languages are spoken primarily in the northern and central parts of the country; they include Geʿez, Tigrinya, Amharic, Gurage, and Hareri. Geʿez, the ancient language of the Aksumite empire, is used today only for religious writings and worship in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Tigrinya is native to the northeastern part of the country. Amharic is one of the country’s principal languages and is native to the central and northwestern areas. Gurage and Hareri are spoken by relatively few people in the south and east.
The most prominent Cushitic languages are Oromo, Somali, and Afar. Oromo is native to the western, southwestern, southern, and eastern areas of the country. Somali is dominant among inhabitants of the Ogaden and Hawd, while Afar is most common in the Denakil Plain.
The Omotic languages, chief among which is Walaita, are not widespread, being spoken mostly in the densely populated areas of the extreme southwest. The Nilotic language group is native to the Western Lowlands, with Kunama speakers being dominant.
Under the constitution, all Ethiopian languages enjoy official state recognition. However, Amharic is the “working language” of the federal government; together with Oromo, it is one of the two most widely spoken languages in the country. In the 1990s ethnolinguistic differences were used as the basis for restructuring Ethiopia’s administrative divisions.
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405e5e0194b419ccb3e36fb02d588c2b | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia/Religion | Religion of Ethiopia | Religion of Ethiopia
Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (called Tewahdo in Ethiopia) is one of the oldest organized Christian bodies in the world. The church has long enjoyed a dominant role in the culture and politics of Ethiopia, having served as the official religion of the ruling elite until the demise of the monarchy in 1974. It also has served as the repository of Ethiopia’s literary tradition and its visual arts. The core area of Christianity is in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, but its influence is felt in the entire country. More than two-fifths of Ethiopians follow the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. An additional one-fifth adhere to other Christian faiths, the vast majority of which are Protestant.
Islam was introduced in the 7th century and is now practiced by about one-third of Ethiopians. It is most important in the outlying regions, particularly in the Eastern Lowlands, but there are local concentrations throughout the country. Traditionally, the status of Islam has been far from equal with that of Christianity. However, Haile Selassie I (reigned 1930–74) gave audiences to Muslim leaders and made overtures in response to their concerns, and under the Derg regime (1974–91) even more was done to give at least symbolic parity to the two faiths. Nevertheless, the perception of Ethiopia as “an island of Christianity in a sea of Islam” has continued to prevail among both highland Ethiopians and foreigners. There are some concerns among highlanders that fundamentalist Muslim movements in the region and in neighbouring countries may galvanize sentiments for a greater role of Islam in Ethiopia.
A small fraction of Ethiopians are animists who worship a variety of African deities. The majority of these traditionalists are speakers of Nilotic languages, such as the Kunama, and are located in the Western Lowlands.
Judaism has long been practiced in the vicinity of the ancient city of Gonder. Most of the Ethiopian Jews—who call themselves Beta Israel—have relocated to Israel (see Researcher’s Note: Beta Israel migration to Israel, 1980–92).
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5a92a220bf7ac2e97052795b1745c1b7 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia/Socialist-Ethiopia-1974-91 | Socialist Ethiopia (1974–91) | Socialist Ethiopia (1974–91)
The Derg borrowed its ideology from competing Marxist parties, all of which arose from the student movement. One of them, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), believed so strongly in civilian rule that it undertook urban guerrilla war against the military rulers, and anarchy ensued in the following years.
In February 1977 Mengistu (now a lieutenant colonel) survived a battle between his supporters and those of rivals on the PMAC. Andom and several other members were killed, and Mengistu seized complete power as chairman and head of state. A series of EPRP attacks against Derg members and their supporters, known as the White Terror, was countered by Mengistu’s Red Terror, a bloody campaign that crushed armed opponents among the EPRP and other groups, as well as members of the civilian populace. As a result of the campaign, which continued into 1978, thousands of Ethiopia’s best-educated and idealistic young people were killed or exiled; in all, as many as 100,000 people were killed, and thousands more were tortured or imprisoned.
Meanwhile, in May and June 1977, Somalia’s army advanced into the Ogaden. The U.S.S.R. labeled Somalia the aggressor and diverted arms shipments to Ethiopia, where Soviet and allied troops trained and armed a People’s Militia, provided fighting men, and reequipped the army. Unable to entice the United States into resupplying its troops and faced with renewed Ethiopian military vigor, Somalia withdrew in early 1978. Mengistu quickly shifted troops to Eritrea, where by year’s end the Eritrean nationalists had been pushed back into mountainous terrain around Nakʾfa.
Mengistu sought to transform Ethiopia into a command state led by a disciplined and loyal party that would control all organs of authority. To this end a land-reform proclamation of 1975 transferred ownership of all land to the state and provided allotments of no more than 25 acres (10 hectares) to individual peasants who farmed the land themselves. Extensive nationalization of industry, banking, insurance, large-scale trade, and urban land and extra dwellings completed the reforms and wiped out the economic base of the old ruling class. To implement the reforms, adjudicate disputes, and administer local affairs, peasants’ associations were organized in the countryside and precinct organizations (kebele) in the towns. In 1984 the Workers’ Party of Ethiopia was formed, with Mengistu as secretary-general, and in 1987 a new parliament inaugurated the People’s Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with Mengistu as president.
Despite initial expectations, farmers failed to generate the high yields expected from the land reform, for there was little incentive for them to do so. Moreover, their plots were tiny, rendering the legal limit of 25 acres irrelevant. Holdings varied according to the country’s different regions, but overall probably averaged not much more than 3.7 acres (1.5 hectares). In order to feed Ethiopia’s cities and the army, the government tried to force the peasants’ associations to deliver grain at below-market prices, a measure that alienated the peasants and did nothing to stimulate production. Meanwhile, drought intensified yearly from 1980, building to a climax in 1984, when the small rains were scanty and the main rains failed altogether. Famine ensued, government controls limiting the mobility with which peasants had responded to previous shortfalls. Ideological suspicions precluded the West from responding to alarms that the Ethiopian government put forward in the spring of 1984 following the small rains, and its own preoccupation with celebrating its 10th anniversary and founding the Workers’ Party led the government to cover up the developing famine in the Fall of that same year. With one-sixth of Ethiopia’s people at risk of starvation, Western countries made available enough surplus grain to end the crisis by mid-1985. Donors were not so forthcoming for a mammoth population-resettlement program that proposed to move people from the drought-prone and crowded north to the west and south, where supposedly surplus lands were available. The Mengistu regime handled the shift callously and did not have the necessary resources to provide proper housing, tools, medical treatment, or food for the 600,000 farming families it moved. Resources were also lacking for a related villagization program, which had the putative aim of concentrating scattered populations into villages where they might receive modern services. As late as 1990 most villages lacked the promised amenities, in part because of resource-draining civil strife in the north.
By 1985–86 the government was embattled throughout most of Eritrea and Tigray, but Mengistu simply stepped up recruitment and asked the U.S.S.R. for more arms. In December 1987 the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) broke through the Ethiopian lines before Nakʾfa and waged increasingly successful war with weapons captured from demoralized government troops. In early 1988 the EPLF began to coordinate its attacks with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which had long been fighting for the autonomy of Tigray and for the reconstitution of Ethiopia on the basis of ethnically autonomous regions. The Soviets refused to ship more arms, and in February 1989 a series of defeats and a worsening lack of weaponry forced the government to evacuate Tigray. The TPLF then organized the largely Amhara Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement. Together, these two groups formed the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), and their forces easily advanced into Gonder and Welo provinces. The following year the EPLF occupied Massawa; this broke the Ethiopian stranglehold on supplies entering the country and demonstrated that the government no longer ruled in Tigray and Eritrea. Shortly thereafter, when the TPLF cut the Addis Ababa–Gonder road and put Gojam at risk, Mengistu announced the end of many of the regime’s most unpopular socialist measures.
The peasants immediately abandoned their new villages for their old homesteads, dismantled cooperatives, and redistributed land and capital goods. They ejected or ignored party and government functionaries, in several cases killing recalcitrant administrators. The regime was thus weakened in the countryside—not least in southern Ethiopia, where the long-dormant Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) became active. By May 1991, with EPRDF forces controlling Tigray, Welo, Gonder, Gojam, and about half of Shewa, it was obvious that the army did not have sufficient morale, manpower, weapons, munitions, and leadership to stop the rebels’ advance on Addis Ababa. Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe, and on May 28 the EPRDF took power.
The new government, led by a Tigrayan, the EPRDF chairman Meles Zenawi, claimed that it would democratize Ethiopia through recognition of the country’s ethnic heterogeneity. No longer would Ethiopia be maintained by force; rather, it would be a voluntary federation of its many peoples. To this end the EPRDF and other political groups, including the OLF, agreed to the creation of a transitional government that would engineer a new constitution and elections, to a national charter that recognized an ethnic division of political power, and to the right of nationalities to secede from Ethiopian—thus paving the way for Eritrea’s legal independence, which was official on May 24, 1993.
The new regime began to lay the foundations for Ethiopia’s first federal administrative structure, the component units consisting of ostensibly ethnically homogeneous regions. There was little lessening of control from the centre, however, as the ruling parties of the regional governments intimately affiliated politically and ideologically with the EPRDF. Many of the country’s elite feared that the regime was weakening the country’s unity. The Amhara, identified by the EPRDF as colonizers and unaccustomed to thinking of themselves as but one of the country’s many different ethnic groups, were particularly affronted by the apparent fragmentation of the country. The government fought back by denouncing Amhara leaders as antidemocratic chauvinists and by muzzling the press through the application of a new law, which, ironically, primarily served to end decades of systematic censorship under previous regimes but also established media regulations and penalties. In the provinces the government did not bother to maintain even the guise of freedom: there the suppression of anti-EPRDF forces, especially the OLF, was so blatant as to be noticed by the members of an international team sent to observe hastily called regional elections in June 1992. The OLF left the government over the conduct of these elections and has been in increasingly armed opposition ever since.
Throughout 1992–93 the transitional government worked with donor governments and the World Bank to forge a structural-adjustment program. This program devalued the Ethiopian currency, sharply reduced government intervention in the economy, dictated redundancies in the civil service, and made it easier for foreign companies to invest in Ethiopia and repatriate their profits. However, the government refused to denationalize land, and foreign investment was slow to return. The economy grew modestly but experienced no structural transformations. Yet another famine, stemming from a lack of national integration and the stifling overregulation of business, and again accompanied by drought, was signaled in 1994. Millions of Ethiopians were put at risk, largely in the north and east. The government called upon the international donor community for help, but, by failing to find measures to stimulate agricultural production, Ethiopia remained unable to finance its own development and to create the surplus needed to relieve its own population. Meanwhile, population growth had reduced the size of the average Ethiopian farm to under 2.5 acres (1 hectare).
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d89a6326cb1c1ad9aa97ce19d4d53ae5 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia/The-Zagwe-and-Solomonic-dynasties | The Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties | The Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties
As Christian shipping disappeared from the Red Sea, Aksum’s towns lost their vitality. The Aksumite state turned southward, conquering adjacent grain-rich highlands. Monastic establishments moved even farther to the south; for example, a major church was founded near Lake Hayk in the 9th century. Over time, one of the subject peoples, the Agau, learned Geʿez, became Christian, and assimilated their Aksumite oppressors to the point that Agau princes were able to transfer the seat of the empire southward to their own region of Lasta. Thus, the Zagwe dynasty appeared in Ethiopia. Later ecclesiastical texts accused this dynasty of not having been of pure “Solomonic” stock (i.e., not descended from the union of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba), but it was in the religious plane that the Zagwe nonetheless distinguished themselves. At the Zagwe capital of Roha (modern-day Lalibela), Emperor Lalibela (reigned c. 1185–1225) directed the hewing of 11 churches out of living rock—a stupendous monument to Christianity, which he and the other Zagwes fostered along with the Ethiopianization of the countryside.
However, Zagwe hegemony was never complete, and opposition continued among the Semitic-speaking elite of Tigray, to the north, and the newly emergent Amhara people, to the south. The opposition increasingly focused on questions of “Solomonic” legitimacy. In 1270 a leading nobleman of the province of Shewa, Yekuno Amlak, rebelled. He was supported by an influential faction of monastic churchmen, who condoned his regicide of Emperor Yitbarek and legitimated his descent from Solomon. The genealogy of the new Solomonic dynasty was published in the early 14th century in the Kebra negast (“Glory of the Kings”), a collection of legends that related the birth of Menilek I, associated Ethiopia with the Judeo-Christian tradition, and provided a basis for Ethiopian national unity through the Solomonic dynasty, Semitic culture, and the Amharic language. Well-armed ideologically, the Ethiopian state was prepared for a struggle impending in its eastern and southern provinces, where Christianity was meeting increasing resistance from the forces of Islam.
Islamic preaching had converted many of the people living on the peripheries of Ethiopian rule. In the late 13th century, various Muslim sultanates on Ethiopia’s southern border fell under the hegemony of Ifat, located on the eastern Shewan Plateau and in the Awash valley. The Ethiopian emperor Amda Tseyon proved a vigorous campaigner, waging wars in all directions—to the Red Sea in the north, unincorporated areas in the south and eastward against the Muslim state of Ifat. He established strategic garrisons to consolidate the newly conquered regions, creating a system of gults, or fiefs, in which the holders of a gult were paid tribute by the gult’s inhabitants. His heavy taxation of exports, especially of gold, ivory, and slaves that were transshipped from Ifat to Arabia, met with resistance. Amda Tseyon and his successors replied with brutal pacification campaigns that carried Solomonic power into the Awash valley and even as far as Seylac (Zeila) on the Gulf of Aden.
Aggrandizement into non-Christian areas was accompanied by internal reform and consolidation of the Christian state. As heads of the church, the Solomonic monarchs actively participated in the development of religious culture and discipline by building and beautifying churches, repressing “pagan” practices, and promoting the composition of theological and doctrinal works. Nevertheless, the relations between church and state were marked by conflict as well as cooperation. The rise of the Shewan Solomonics had been preceded by a revival of monasticism in the Amhara areas, and the monks had an uneasy relationship with the new dynasty. The bolder ones among them condemned the dynasty’s practice of polygyny, and not until the late 14th century was the conflict resolved, the royal court winning over the monks with rich grants of land. Other conflicts also arose. The monk Ewostatewos (c. 1273–1352) preached isolation from corrupting state influences and a return to biblical teachings—including observance of the Judaic Sabbath on Saturday in addition to the Sunday observance, an idea apparently already widely diffused in Ethiopia. The great emperor Zara Yaqob (Zara Yakob; reigned 1434–68) conceded the latter point in 1450 at the Council of Debre Mitmaq, but he also initiated severe reforms in the church, eliminating abuses by strong measures and executing the leaders of heretical sects. Zara Yaqob also conducted an unsuccessful military campaign against the Beta Israel, a group of Agau-speaking Jews who practiced a non-Talmudic form of Judaism.
Zara Yaqob valued national unity above all and feared Muslim encirclement. In 1445 he dealt Ifat such a crushing military defeat that hegemony over the Muslim states passed to the sultans of Adal, in the vicinity of Harer. About 1520 the leadership of Adal was assumed by Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ghāzī, a Muslim reformer who became known as Sahib al-Fath (“the Conqueror”) to the Muslims and Aḥmad Grāñ (“Ahmad the Left-Handed”) to the Christians. Aḥmad drilled his men in modern Ottoman tactics and led them on a jihad, or holy war, against Ethiopia, quickly taking areas on the periphery of Solomonic rule. In 1528 Emperor Lebna Denegel was defeated at the battle of Shimbra Kure, and the Muslims pushed northward into the central highlands, destroying settlements, churches, and monasteries. In 1541 the Portuguese, whose interests in the Red Sea were imperiled by Muslim power, sent 400 musketeers to train the Ethiopian army in European tactics. Emperor Galawdewos (reigned 1540–59) opted for a hit-and-run strategy and on February 21, 1543, caught Aḥmad in the open near Lake Tana and killed him in action. The Muslim army broke, leaving the field and north-central Ethiopia to the Christians.
Meanwhile, population pressures had mounted among the Oromo, a pastoral people who inhabited the upper basin of the Genalē (Jubba) River in what is now southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya. Oromo society was based upon an “age-set” system known as gada, in which all males born into an eight-year generation moved together through all the stages of life. The warrior classes (luba) raided and rustled in order to prove themselves, and in the 16th century they began to undertake long-distance expeditions, availing themselves of the collapse of the frontier defenses of both the Christian and Muslim states. By 1600 the Oromo had spread so widely in Ethiopia that Emperor Sarsa Dengel (reigned 1563–97) limited his government to what are now Eritrea, the northern regions of Tigray and Gonder, and parts of Gojam, Shewa, and Welo, areas that included the bulk of the Christian Semitic-speaking agriculturalists. Meanwhile, the church had barely revived following the destruction and mass apostasy of the jihad era, when it found itself facing a different kind of threat from Roman Catholicism.
Following close upon the Portuguese musketeers were missionaries who, sent by the Jesuit founder St. Ignatius of Loyola, sought to convert Ethiopia to the Western church. The most successful of these was the Jesuit Pedro Páez; his personal authority and eminent qualities were such that Emperor Susenyos (reigned 1607–32) was persuaded to accept the doctrine of the dual nature of Christ and to notify the pope of his submission. This apostasy was joined by many in the royal court but met with violent resistance from the provincial nobles, the church, and the people at large. Susenyos was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Fasilides (reigned 1632–67).
Fasilides established a new capital at Gonder, a trading centre north of Lake Tana that connected the interior to the coast. At its height about 1700, the city supported the arts and educational, religious, and social institutions as well as Beta Israel craftspeople, Muslim traders, and a large population of farmers, day labourers, students, and soldiers. Fasilides was succeeded by his son, Yohannes, and then by a grandson, Iyasu the Great. The court sponsored secular and religious construction, manuscript writing and copying, the verbal arts, and painting. A second wave of cultural productivity followed, in the middle decades of the 18th century under the sponsorship of Empress Mentewwab (reigned 1730–69), a remarkable woman who ruled jointly with her son and grandson. However, ethnic, regional, and religious factionalism undermined the kingdom and led in 1769 to its collapse. The Zamana Masafent (“Age of the Princes”; 1769–1855), an era of feudal anarchy, had commenced.
For most Ethiopians, life during the Age of the Princes was difficult. Power had shifted from the central court to the courts of regional princes, and they vied with one another in battle. There were no significant changes in the social order, but the oppression of the farming population increased as armies traversed the highlands, ruining the countryside and plundering the harvests of farmers. Nevertheless, significant developments were taking place in the south.
Agricultural development in the Gībē River basin led to the formation of Oromo states to the southwest of Shewa; the Gonga people developed their own states in the Kefa highlands on the west bank of the Omo River; and a line that claimed Solomonic descent established a formidable regional kingdom in northern Shewa. Shewa prospered in the growing trade of the Gībē states, and Shewa’s self-proclaimed king, Sahle Selassie (reigned 1813–47), and his successors expanded southward; by 1840 they controlled most of Shewa to the Awash River and enjoyed suzerainty as far south as Guragē.
To the north, Kassa Hailu was in the process of ending the Age of the Princes. After serving as a mercenary in Gojam, Kassa returned to his native Qwara on the extreme edge of the western highlands, where he prospered as a highwayman and built a good small army. By 1847 he had monopolized the lowlands’ revenues from trade and smuggling, forcing Gonder’s leading magnates to integrate him into the establishment. Finally, in April 1853 at Takusa, Kassa defeated Ras (Prince) Ali, the last of a succession of the Oromo lords who had played a central role in the Age of the Princes. After defeating the ruler of northern Ethiopia, Kassa was crowned Emperor Tewodros II on February 11, 1855. Later that year he marched south and forced the submission of Shewa. His consolidation of power over the formerly separate states established the modern Ethiopian country.
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c46df10f6c79b1ff60f7e0f681fe73b5 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Europa-Peaks | Europa Peaks | Europa Peaks
…the south, with the glaciated Europa Peaks established as a national park. Valleys run north to south, but Leitariegos Pass is the only easily accessible pass into the neighbouring region of Castile-León. Annual precipitation is high, exceeding 40 inches (1,000 mm). The climate is oceanic, with relatively even precipitation throughout…
…gigantic limestone mountains of the Europa Peaks, which include Torrecerredo (8,688 feet [2,648 metres]) and the Labra Peak (6,620 feet [2,018 metres]). The main ridge continues westward, usually less than 60 miles (100 km) wide but with elevations of 5,000 to 7,000 feet (1,500 to 2,000 metres). Most of the…
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411d73c9c8f1d9cd8e149542b5f72a85 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe/Animal-life | Animal life | Animal life
With animals as with plants, the earlier Pleistocene range and variety has been much reduced by the expansion of human settlement. Wild fauna has been long in retreat since Upper Paleolithic times (beginning about 40,000 years ago), when, as cave drawings portray, small human groups held their own against such big game as aurochs and mammoths, now extinct, and also against such survivors as bison, horses, and boars. Hares, swans, and geese were also hunted, and salmon, trout, and pike were fished. Humans were, inevitably, the successful competitor for land use. By prolonged effort, settlers won the land for crops and for domesticated animals, and they hunted animals, especially for furs. As population mounted in industrializing Europe, humans no less inevitably destroyed, or changed drastically, the wild vegetation cover and the animal life. With difficulty, and largely on human sufferance, animals have nevertheless survived in association with contemporary vegetation zones.
In the tundra some reindeer (caribou), both wild and domesticated, are well equipped to withstand the cold. Their spoon-shaped hooves are useful for finding food in rough ground. Their herds migrate southward in winter and eat lichens and plants as well as flesh, notably that of lemmings and voles. Arctic foxes, bears, ermines, partridge, and snowy owls may appear in the tundra, where, in the short summer, seabirds, river fish, and migrant birds (swans, ducks, and snipes) vitalize a harsh environment, then made almost intolerable by swarms of biting midges.
In the boreal forests the richness of animal and bird life, which had persisted throughout much of historical times, now has been greatly reduced. Among large surviving mammals are elks (moose), reindeer, roe deer, and brown bears. Lynx have been exterminated, but not wolves, foxes, martens, badgers, polecats, and white weasels. Sables, which are much hunted for their valuable fur, only just survive in the northeastern forests of European Russia. Rodents in the forests include squirrels, white Arctic hares, and (in the mixed forests) gray hares and beavers. Among birds are black grouse, snipes, hazel hens, white partridge, woodpeckers, and crossbills, all of which assume protective colouring and are specially adapted to be able to find their food in a woodland environment. Owls, blackbirds, tomtits, and bullfinches may be seen in the forests and geese, ducks, and lapwings in meadow areas.
In Mediterranean Europe, remnants of mountain woodland harbour wild goats, wild sheep—such as the small mouflon of Corsica and Sardinia—wildcats, and wild boars. Snakes, including vipers, and lizards and turtles are familiar reptiles, but birds are few.
The steppe zones now lack large animals, and the saiga (a hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae) has disappeared. Numerous rodents, including marmots, jerboas, hamsters, and field mice, have increased in numbers to become pests, now that nearly all the steppes are under cultivation. Equally plentiful birds include bustards—which can fly as well as run—quail, gray partridge, and larks. Many take on yellowish gray or brown protective colouring to match the dried-up grass. Eagles, falcons, hawks, and kites are the birds of prey; water and marsh birds—especially cranes, bitterns, and herons—also make their homes in the steppes. Different kinds of grasshoppers and beetles are insect pests.
The animals of the semidesert areas to the north and northwest of the Caspian Sea also show affiliations with the fauna of the grass steppe and the desert between which they live. Saigas survive there, as do rodent sand marmots and desert jerboas and, as beasts of prey, sand badgers. There are many reptiles—lizards, snakes (cobras and steppe boas), and tortoises. The Pander’s ground jay and the saxaul sparrow, the latter named for the desert tree, also live there, while scorpions and black widow spiders are arthropods dangerous to humans and camels.
Livestock are selectively bred and raised with some regard to the physical character of their environment as well as to market demands and government decisions. In the far north, herds of reindeer provide meat, milk, pelts, wool, and bone to the Sami people. In the rough hilly scrubland of Mediterranean Europe, sheep, goats, donkeys, mules, and asses are common. The horse, which in its long history has drawn chariots, carried mounted knights, and hauled plows, wagons, artillery, stagecoaches, canal boats, and urban trams, is now raised more for racing, riding, ceremonial uses, and the hunting of fox and stag but is still used for farm work, especially in eastern Europe. Distribution maps of animals kept on farms show how widely they enter into agriculture: sheep have a special concentration in Great Britain and the Balkan countries, and cattle have a small place in southern Europe, while pigs are relatively numerous in the north, especially in the highly populated areas of Germany, Denmark, and the Low Countries.
The European environment, once not so unequally shared by animals and people, has, with the march of civilization, been subjected to human attempts. Land development, hunting for sport or to protect crops, the pollution of seas and fresh waters, and the contamination of cropland have reduced many animal species, though strong efforts have been made to preserve those threatened with extinction, in such refuges where they still live.
Nature reserves have been established in many European countries, with international support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and the WWF. Seabirds find safe homes, for example, in the Lofoten Islands of Norway and the Farne Islands of northeastern England. The snowy owl, which feeds on lemmings, is seen in Lapland, the rare great bustard in the Austrian Burgenland, and the musk ox in Svalbard. Père David’s deer, which had become extinct in China, its native home, was introduced in 1898 at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, England, where it now flourishes. Nearly half the bird species of Europe, including the egret and the imperial eagle, are represented in Coto Doñana National Park, within a setting of wild vegetation in the Las Marismas region of the Guadalquivir estuary in southwestern Spain; there too the Iberian lynx survives. In Poland and Belarus, national parks within the Belovezhskaya Forest contain deer, wild boars, elks (moose), bears, lynx, wolves, eagle owls, black storks, and European bison (wisents). Italy has its renowned Gran Paradiso National Park in the Valle d’Aosta, which preserved from extinction the Alpine ibex; Austria has a bird refuge in Neusiedler Lake, which is a breeding site of white egrets; and the huge Black Sea delta of the Danube is largely left to wildlife. Golden eagles, Alpine marmots, and chamois are to be seen in the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden, Germany. The beautiful wild horses of the Camargue nature reserve (France), the wild ponies of the New Forest (England), and the Barbary macaques (Gibraltar) continue undiminished in popular interest.
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e0024e61ccba7668325b26313634606a | https://www.britannica.com/place/Europe/Climate | Climate of Europe | Climate of Europe
As Francis Bacon, the great English Renaissance man of letters, aptly observed, “Every wind has its weather.” It is air mass circulation that provides the main key to Europe’s climate, the more so since masses of Atlantic Ocean origin can pass freely through the lowlands, except in the case of the Caledonian mountains of Norway. Polar air masses derived from areas close to Iceland and tropical masses from the Azores bring, respectively, very different conditions of temperature and humidity and produce different climatic effects as they move eastward. Continental air masses from eastern Europe have equally easy access westward. The almost continuous belt of mountains trending west-east across Europe also impedes the interchange of tropical and polar air masses.
Patterns of some permanence controlling air mass circulation are created by belts of air pressure over five areas. They are the Icelandic low, over the North Atlantic; the Azores high, a high-pressure ridge; the (winter) Mediterranean low; the Siberian high, centred over Central Asia in winter but extending westward; and the Asiatic low, a low-pressure summertime system over southwestern Asia. Given those pressure conditions, westerly winds prevail in northwestern Europe, becoming especially strong in winter. The winter westerlies, often from the southwest, bring in warm tropical air; in summer, by contrast, they veer to the northwest and bring in cooler Arctic or subarctic air. In Mediterranean Europe the rain-bearing westerlies chiefly affect the western areas, but only in winter. In winter the eastern Mediterranean basin experiences bitter easterly and northeasterly winds derived from the Siberian high. Those winds’ occasional projection westward explains unusually cold winters in western and central Europe, while exceptionally warm winters in that region result from the sustained flow of tropical maritime air masses. In summer the Azores high moves 5°–10° of latitude northward and extends farther eastward, preventing the entry of cyclonic storms into the resultantly dry Mediterranean region. The eastern basin, however, experiences the hot and dry north and northeast summer winds called etesian by the ancient Greeks. In summer too, the Siberian high gives place to a low-pressure system extending westward, so that westerly air masses can penetrate deeply through the continent, making summer generally a wet season.
It is because of the interplay of so many different air masses that Europe experiences highly changeable weather. Winters get sharply colder eastward, but summer temperatures relate fairly closely to latitude. Northwestern Europe, including Iceland, enjoys some amelioration because of warm Gulf Stream waters of the Atlantic, which, for example, keep the Russian port of Murmansk open throughout the year.
Four regional European climatic types can be loosely distinguished. However, each is characterized by much local, topographically related variation. The climate in mountainous regions, for instance, is partly determined by elevation, and a variety of climatic types may be “stacked” vertically upon a mountain. Further, the great cities of Europe—because of the scale and grouping of their buildings, their industrial activities, and the layout of their roads—create distinct local climates, including urban “heat islands” (city centres that are warmer than outlying areas) and pollution problems.
Characterizing western areas heavily exposed to Atlantic air masses, the maritime type of climate—given the latitudinal stretch of those lands—exhibits sharp temperature ranges. Thus, the January and July annual averages of Reykjavík, Iceland, are about 32 °F (0 °C) and 53 °F (12 °C) respectively, and those of Coruña, Spain, are about 50 °F (10 °C) and 64 °F (18 °C). Precipitation is always adequate—indeed, abundant on high ground—and falls year-round. The greatest amount of precipitation occurs in autumn or early winter. Summers range from warm to hot depending on latitude and elevation, and the weather is changeable everywhere. The maritime climate extends across Svalbard, Iceland, the Faroes, Great Britain and Ireland, Norway, southern Sweden, western France, the Low Countries, northern Germany, and northwestern Spain.
The central European, or transitional, type of climate results from the interaction of both maritime and continental air masses and is found at the core of Europe, south and east of the maritime type, west of the much larger continental type, and north of the Mediterranean type. That rugged region has colder winters, with substantial mountain snowfalls, and warmer summers, especially in the lowlands. Precipitation is adequate to abundant, with a summer maximum. The region embraces central Sweden, southern Finland, the Oslo Basin of Norway, eastern France, southwestern Germany, and much of central and southeastern Europe. The range between winter and summer temperatures increases eastward, while the precipitation can exceed 80 inches (2,000 mm) in the mountains, with snow often lying permanently around high peaks. The Danubian region has only modest rainfall (about 24 inches [600 mm] per year at Budapest), but the Dinaric Alps experience heavy cyclonic winter, as well as summer, rain.
The continental type of climate dominates a giant share of Europe, covering northern Ukraine, eastern Belarus, Russia, most of Finland, and northern Sweden. Winters—much colder and longer, with greater snow cover, than in western Europe—are coldest in the northeast, and summers are hottest in the southeast; the January to July mean temperatures range approximately from 50 to 70 °F (10 to 21 °C). Summer is the period of maximum rain, which is less abundant than in the west; in both the north and southeast of the East European Plain, precipitation reaches only between 10 and 20 inches (250 and 500 mm) annually. In parts of the south, the unreliability of rainfall combines with its relative scarcity to raise a serious aridity problem.
The subtropical Mediterranean climate characterizes the coastlands of southern Europe, being modified inland (for example, in the Meseta Central, the Apennines, and the North Italian Plain) in response to elevation and aspect. The main features of that climatic region are mild and wet winters, hot and dry summers, and clear skies for much of the year, but marked regional variations occur between the lands of the western and the more southerly eastern basins of the Mediterranean; the former are affected more strongly by maritime air mass intrusions. Rainfall in southern Europe is significantly reduced in areas lying in the lee of rain-bearing westerlies; Rome has an annual mean of roughly 26 inches (660 mm), but Athens has only about 16 inches (400 mm).
The local and regional effects of climate on the weathering, erosion, and transport of rocks clearly contribute much to the European landscape, and the length and warmth of the growing season, the amount and seasonal range of rainfall, and the incidence of frost affect the distribution of vegetation. Wild vegetation in its turn provides different habitats for animal life. Climate is also an important factor in the making of soils, and regional climatic variations help determine where crops are grown commercially. The winter freeze in northern and eastern Europe is another aspect of climate, and the spring thaw, by creating floods, impedes transport and harasses farmers. The snow cover of the more continental regions is useful to people, however, for it stores water for the fields and provides snow for winter sports and recreation.
In sum, in only a modest proportion of Europe does climate somewhat restrict human occupation and land use. Those areas include regions of high elevation and relief, such as the subarctic highlands of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Iceland, the Arctic areas along the White Sea of northern Russia, and the arid areas of interior Spain.
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e12d78c7c015fcd805c7e1f04bdf0a48 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Evanston-Illinois | Evanston | Evanston
Evanston, city, Cook county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It lies on Lake Michigan, 13 miles (21 km) north of downtown Chicago. Illinois and later Potawatomi Indians were early inhabitants of the area. French explorers passed through the area in the 17th century and called it Grosse Pointe. In a series of treaties between 1795 and 1833, the Potawatomi ceded their lands to the United States. American settlement began in 1836 when Major Edward H. Mulford, a jewelry dealer from New York, built a tavern at the site. In 1850 the community was renamed Ridgeville. A group of Chicago businessmen purchased property along the lakeshore for Northwestern University in 1853 under a special state charter of 1851. The city grew up around the university and was renamed (1857) for physician John Evans, one of Northwestern’s founders. An amendment in Northwestern’s charter prohibited the sale of alcoholic beverages in Evanston from 1853 until 1972. The city annexed adjoining North Evanston in 1874 and South Evanston in 1892. The university has expanded on landfill.
Evanston is noted as an educational and religious centre. Northwestern University’s massive Technological Institute building, among the world’s biggest academic structures, was completed in 1942. The second assembly of the World Council of Churches was held in the city in 1954. Other institutions of higher education in Evanston include Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (1853), a United Methodist graduate theological school, and Seabury-Western Theological Seminary (Episcopal; 1933).
Evanston is primarily a residential suburb, with a racially and economically diverse population. Education and health care are primary factors in the city’s economy. Evanston was home to The Toy Tinkers, the company that invented the popular Tinkertoys construction set. The city is headquarters for a number of national organizations, including the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, Rotary International, and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), and several national boards and agencies of the United Methodist Church. The home (1865) of Frances Willard, an early advocate of the WCTU, was designated a national historic landmark in 1965. The Evanston Historical Society is housed in the former home (1894) of Charles G. Dawes, who served as vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929. The Cradle, a nonsectarian adoption home, was founded in Evanston in 1923. Grosse Point Lighthouse, built in 1873, includes a museum and nature centre. The city also has a symphony orchestra and several theatre groups. Annual events include Fountain Square Arts Festival and First Night Evanston, the largest New Year’s Eve arts festival in Illinois. Inc. town, 1863; city, 1892. Pop. (2000) 74,239; (2010) 74,486.
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47921c77ac327ec8f9cbe17c84b3bc69 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Evanston-Wyoming | Evanston | Evanston
Evanston, city, seat (1870) of Uinta county, southwest Wyoming, U.S., on the Bear River. Founded in 1869 by the Union Pacific Railroad, it was named for railroad surveyor James A. Evans. Like the city of Rock Springs, Evanston was one of the Wyoming cities that had a relatively high population of Chinese immigrants as a result of the labour used in the mines and to build the railroads.
The city is a railroad division point and trade centre for an agricultural and an oil and gas area. Evanston is the site of the annual Uinta County Fair. Documents and artifacts relating to the city’s history are housed in the Uinta County Museum. The High Uintas Wilderness Area is nearby. Inc. 1888. Pop. (2000) 11,587; (2010) 12,359.
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203ba00a601543ee3d6bb608d491f825 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Evry | Évry | Évry
Évry, new town (French ville nouvelle), département of Essonne, Île-de-France région in north-central France. Évry is approximately 17 miles (27 km) southeast of Paris and is one of several new towns developed outside the capital since 1965. Évry is linked to Paris by highway and railway. The new town encompasses the commune of Évry, formerly Évry-Petit-Bourg, and the communes of Bondoufle, Courcouronnes, and Lisses. Évry is a centre for a wide range of business services. It has a university and a large central retailing and leisure complex. Various industrial estates and office parks were developed as an integral part of the new town. Industries include food processing, printing, and the manufacture of machinery and electronics. Research-based activities have also been established in Évry, particularly in the biotechnology and space fields. Pop. (1999) 49,437; (2014 est.) 53,699.
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beaec8d2ee113a85e95c812c039a8f8c | https://www.britannica.com/place/Exposition-Internationale-des-Arts-Decoratifs-et-Industriels-Modernes | Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes | Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes
…name was derived from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, where the style was first exhibited. Art Deco design represented modernism turned into fashion. Its products included both individually crafted luxury items and mass-produced wares, but, in either case, the intention was…
…Soviet Pavilion at the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. His pavilion, built of wood and glass, was hailed by the French press as one of the most innovative architectural works of the 20th century.
The Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, held in Paris in 1925, made the architectural and design style known as Art Deco highly popular for the next 15 years. The British Empire Exhibition in Wembley (1924–25), the Exposition Coloniale Internationale in Paris (1931), and…
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38e299e963b2ffed3544820056bec7c2 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Eyjafjallajokull-volcano | Eyjafjallajökull volcano | Eyjafjallajökull volcano
Eyjafjallajökull volcano, also called Eyjafjallajökull, Eyjafjalla volcano, Eyjafjöll, or Eyjafjalla Glacier volcano, subglacial volcano, southern Iceland, lying within the country’s East Volcanic Zone. Its name is derived from an Icelandic phrase meaning “the island’s mountain glacier,” and the volcano itself lies beneath Eyjafjallajökull (Eyjafjalla Glacier). Its highest point rises to 5,466 feet (1,666 metres) above sea level.
Records kept since Iceland was settled show that Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in 920, 1612 or 1613, and 1821–23. The latter eruption continued intermittently for nearly 14 months. In these three cases the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano occurred simultaneously with or was shortly followed by the eruption of Katla, a volcano located some 15.5 miles (25 km) to the east.
The Eyjafjallajökull eruption sequence of 2010, which lasted from January until May of that year, began with the onset of clusters of small earthquakes, and by early March the earthquake activity had increased in intensity and frequency. On March 21, fountains of lava began exiting through a 0.3-mile- (500-metre-) long vent in the ice-free Fimmvörduháls Pass, which separates the Eyjafjallajökull glacier from the larger glacier Mýrdalsjökull to the east. On April 14, lava from new fissures surfaced beneath the crater of the glacier-covered summit. The heat from the lava quickly melted and vaporized the glacier ice above. Mud, ice, and meltwater running off the volcano swelled local rivers and streams, especially the Markarfljót glacial river west of the volcano, which flooded farmland and damaged roads. Expanding gases from the rapid vaporization of ice started a series of moderate phreatomagmatic explosions (which result from the contact of water and magma) that sent a plume of steam and ash almost 7 miles (11 km) into the atmosphere. The plume was driven southeast, across the North Atlantic Ocean to northern Europe, by the prevailing winds. Fearing the damage to commercial aircraft and potential loss of life that could result from flying through the ash cloud, many European countries closed their national airspace and grounded flights for several days.
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3c5b68783305d05bb121fbd307d1043b | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fagaras-Mountains | Făgăraş Mountains | Făgăraş Mountains
Făgăraş Mountains, Romanian Munƫii Făgăraş, mountain range, the highest section of the Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathian Mountains), south-central Romania. Their steep northern face rises above 8,000 feet (2,450 m) and overlooks the Făgăraş Depression, through which flows the Olt River over a gentler gradient south to the Carpathian foothills. The mountains are heavily glaciated, with lakes, fretted peaks, and morainic deposits. The Olt breach defines the western end, the Bran Pass the eastern. Moldoveanu (8,346 feet [2,544 m]) and Negoiu (8,317 feet [2,535 m]) are the highest peaks. On the northern face many short streams fall precipitously into the Olt; on the southern face rise several rivers, the major one being the Argeş. The 30-mile- (48-kilometre-) long range is relatively isolated and inaccessible in comparison with the rest of the Transylvanian Alps.
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2ec15703fbe7245b9a460e60342259cb | https://www.britannica.com/place/Falcon-state-Venezuela | Falcón | Falcón
Falcón, estado (state), northwestern Venezuela. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, west by the Gulf of Venezuela, northwest by Zulia state, and south by Lara and Yaracuy states. It includes the Paraguaná Peninsula.
The coastal region was first explored and mapped in 1499 by Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci, who were part of the expedition led by Alonso de Ojeda. The state was named after Juan Crisóstomo Falcón, onetime president of Venezuela (1863–68.) Consisting primarily of coastal lowlands and northern Andean outliers, the territory is dry and agriculturally poor.
Fishing is as an important economic activity. Farming is generally restricted to river valleys and mountain terraces; crops such as corn (maize), coconuts, onions, sorghum, potatoes, bananas, melons, sugarcane, and coffee are grown. Goat raising is widespread, but the higher elevations have been denuded by overgrazing and deforestation. In contrast, the Paraguaná Peninsula and the area around the state capital, Coro, have experienced rapid industrialization and growth, and huge oil refineries–most notably those at Amuay and Cardón—are situated on the southwestern shore of the peninsula. A large portion of Venezuela’s oil output is refined in Falcón and then exported by tanker. Northern Falcón, including the peninsula, is well served by highways. In 1993 Coro was designated as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO. Area 9,575 square miles (24,800 square km). Pop. (2001) 763,188; (2011) 902,847.
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5ea941212485950bf180556c28f01326 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Faleme-River | Falémé River | Falémé River
Falémé River, river in western Africa, rising in the uplands of northern Guinea, east of the Fouta Djallon massif, and flowing roughly north-northeast to enter Mali. It then turns northwest to form the Mali–Senegal border for the rest of its course to the Sénégal River, except for a slight detour across a corner of western Senegal. It is approximately 250 miles (400 km) long and, although interrupted by rapids, is partially navigable from July to September. Its basin has a high rainfall, and there is some alluvial gold along its valley. The major towns along the river are Satadougou (Mali) and Kidira (Senegal).
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fe9eda2c0fa353098b4c4c099d741e96 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Falkirk-council-area-Scotland | Falkirk | Falkirk
Falkirk, council area, east-central Scotland, encompassing a mostly low-lying area extending inland from the south bank of the River Forth estuary. It lies about midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Most of the council area lies within the historic county of Stirlingshire, but its eastern portion, around Bo’ness, belongs to the historic county of West Lothian. The council area has an urban core, but it includes rural agricultural areas in the north and south. Grangemouth, on the estuary, is the site of Scotland’s main container port and petrochemical complex. Bo’ness, once an important seaport, is a small manufacturing town. Other industries in the council area include food processing, papermaking, and bookbinding. The industrial town of Falkirk is the administrative centre and the site of the Kelpies (2013), a pair of gigantic equine sculptures that loom over the Forth and Clyde Canal in Helix Park. Tourists also are drawn to the area to visit the Falkirk Wheel (2002), a unique rotating boat lift that connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, providing a water link between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Area 115 square miles (297 square km). Pop. (2001) 145,191; (2011) 155,990.
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4559fb8e91b390ff0aefcbae2a132c8c | https://www.britannica.com/place/Falkland-Current | Falkland Current | Falkland Current
Falkland Current, branch of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Southern Hemisphere, flowing northward in the South Atlantic Ocean along the east coast of Argentina to about latitude 30° to 40° S, where it is deflected eastward after meeting the southward-flowing Brazil Current. Characterized by cold temperatures varying from 41° to 66° F (5° to 19° C), the current has a relatively low salinity averaging about 33.5 parts per thousand. Icebergs originating in the Weddell Sea are carried by the Falkland Current approximately as far north as latitude 35° S.
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880436e94a9764df5798b8f7cb4f33b0 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Faridabad | Faridabad | Faridabad
Faridabad, city, southeastern Haryana state, northwestern India. It lies just west of the Yamuna River and adjoins the Delhi national capital territory to the north.
Faridabad was founded in 1607 by Shaikh Farīd, treasurer for the Mughal emperor Jahāngīr, to protect the high road between Delhi and Agra. It was constituted a municipality in 1867. A project for Pakistani refugee resettlement and light industrial development was initiated in the city in 1950.
Faridabad is a local market for wheat, sugarcane, and cotton. Its manufactures include machine tools, tractors, motorcycles, steel tubes, textiles, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. It is connected by road and rail with Delhi and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh; southeast). The city has grown dramatically in size, its population more than doubling between 1991 and 2011.
Faridabad has several colleges including Aggarwal College, the Career Institute of Technology and Management, Jawaharlal Nehru Government Post Graduate College, Mohta Institute of Management, and the National Institute of Financial Management. The area surrounding Faridabad comprises part of the southern Punjab Plain. Agriculture and industry are both economically important; jowar (grain sorghum) and bajra (pearl millet) are grown. Pop. (2001) 1,055,938; (2011) 1,414,050.
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1364aa7e31684645968b40d5dc43b1a4 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Farne-Islands | Farne Islands | Farne Islands
Farne Islands, group of islets and reefs lying 1.5 to 6 miles (2.5 to 10 km) off the North Sea coast of Great Britain in the unitary authority and historic county of Northumberland, England. The islands are composed of resistant dolerite (lava) rocks. The largest of these islands, House (Inner Farne), spans 16 acres (6.5 hectares) and has precipitous cliffs reaching up to 80 feet (24 metres) in height. The lighthouse on Longstone island was the home of Grace Darling, Victorian heroine of sea-rescue fame; the modern lighthouse, however, is on House. The Farne Islands are preserved as a seabird and seal sanctuary by the National Trust.
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521008e2676efe286922f90256943390 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fatima | Fátima | Fátima
Fátima, village and sanctuary, central Portugal. It is located on the tableland of Cova da Iria, 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Leiria.
Fátima was named for a 12th-century Moorish princess, and since 1917 it has been one of the greatest Marian shrines in the world, visited by thousands of pilgrims annually. On May 13, 1917, and in each subsequent month until October of that year, three young peasant children, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, reportedly saw a woman who identified herself as the Lady of the Rosary. On October 13, a crowd (generally estimated at about 70,000) gathered at Fátima witnessed a “miraculous solar phenomenon” immediately after the lady had appeared to the children. After initial opposition, the bishop of Leiria on October 13, 1930, accepted the children’s visions as the appearance of the Virgin Mary; in the same year, papal indulgences were granted to pilgrims. The content of the devotion includes frequent recitation of the rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The first national pilgrimage to Fátima took place in 1927, and the basilica was begun in 1928 and consecrated in 1953. With a tower 213 feet (65 metres) high, surmounted by a large bronze crown and a crystal cross, it is flanked by hospitals and retreat houses and faces a vast square in which is the little Chapel of the Apparitions. Numerous cures have been reported, though publicity has not been sought. On the 50th anniversary of the first vision, May 13, 1967, a crowd of pilgrims, estimated to number one million, gathered at Fátima to hear Pope Paul VI say mass and pray for peace.
At the end of the 20th century, there was growing speculation concerning the three messages the Virgin Mary was said to have revealed to the peasant children in 1917. Though two of the messages had been disclosed in the 1940s—commonly interpreted as the prediction of the end of World War I and the start of World War II and the rise and fall of communism—the third had been kept secret by the Vatican, giving rise to numerous theories. In May 2000 it was finally announced that the third message was the Virgin Mary’s vision of the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II. The news came during a beatification ceremony for Francisco and Jacinta Marto. Pop. (2001) 7,756; (2011 est.) 7,710.
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253cffc56a30ff64665bfda05de36bbf | https://www.britannica.com/place/Faya | Faya | Faya
Faya, formerly Largeau, oasis town located in northern Chad, north-central Africa. It lies in the Sahara at the northern tip of the Bodélé geographic depression, 490 miles (790 km) northeast of the capital, N’Djamena.
Originally called Faya, the town was renamed Largeau following the capture in 1913 of Borkou by the French army officer Colonel Étienne Largeau; the original name was restored in the 1970s. Date palm production in Faya was the focus of a development project in the 1970s. The town has an airport as well as a small electric power plant. Pop. (2010 est.) 11,000.
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27367bd3cdcefa96b19b48bdb3a39596 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fayetteville-Arkansas | Fayetteville | Fayetteville
Fayetteville, city, seat of Washington county, northwestern Arkansas, U.S., in the Ozarks on the White River, adjacent to Springdale (north). No settlement existed there when the site, on the Overland Mail Route, was chosen as the county seat in 1828. The community, first named Washington Court House, was renamed for Fayetteville, Tennessee, in 1829.
It was incorporated in 1836 and received a city charter in 1859 (abolished by the legislature in 1867); reincorporated as a town in 1870, it again became a city in 1906. Fayetteville suffered severely during the American Civil War. The battles of Pea Ridge (March 7–8, 1862) and Prairie Grove (December 7, 1862) were fought nearby. After the Battle of Fayetteville (April 18, 1863) the town was occupied by the Union army until the end of the war.
The city now is in an agricultural and resort area, with farm-based industries, food processing, aluminum products, tools, and clothing important to the economy. Fayetteville acquired a reputation as a centre of education through its early schools, especially Sophia Sawyer’s Fayetteville Female Seminary (1839) and Arkansas College (1852; destroyed during the Civil War), the state’s first degree-granting college. The University of Arkansas was founded there in 1871 as Arkansas Industrial University. The Arkansas Air Museum is located at Drake Field, and approximately 15 miles (24 km) to the south is the western portion of Ozark National Forest. Pop. (2000) 58,047; Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metro Area, 347,045; (2010) 73,580; Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metro Area, 463,204.
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7bdaf72275f221d3dd8723ab4c16fd50 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Federation-of-Malaya | Federation of Malaya | Federation of Malaya
Malaya’s independence was delayed until 1957 by a communist campaign of terror, quelled by both a sophisticated antiguerrilla campaign and a serious effort to win what the British General Sir Gerald Templer called “the hearts and minds of the Malayan people.”
…Union and later from the Federation of Malaya, mainly because it was thought that Singapore’s predominantly Chinese population would be an ethnic obstacle to common citizenship. As a separate crown colony (from 1946), Singapore made constitutional progress despite the communist insurrection in Malaya. Elected ministers and a Legislative Assembly with…
British commanders in Malaya also performed ineffectually in the early phases of the communist insurgency that began in 1948. Eventually, however, they realized that the support of the rural natives was vital to their goal of eliminating the entire guerrilla apparatus. Once they had achieved a reasonable civil-military…
…creation in 1948 of the Federation of Malaya, which unified the territories but provided special guarantees of Malay rights, including the position of the sultans. These developments alarmed the more radical and impoverished sectors of the Chinese community. In 1948 the Communist Party of Malaya—a mostly Chinese movement formed in…
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5819c94c6912f46b22f87118ada02bde | https://www.britannica.com/place/Feldkirch | Feldkirch | Feldkirch
Feldkirch, town, western Austria. It lies along the Ill River, near the Liechtenstein border, about 48 miles (77 km) east-southeast of Zürich, Switzerland. First mentioned as Veldkirichae (Veldkirichum) in 830, the settlement belonged to the counts of Montfort from 1190 until it was sold to Austria in 1375. It was chartered in 1218. Schattenburg castle, the Montforts’ seat, houses a local museum. Other historic buildings include the Gothic parish church of Sankt Nikolaus (1478), the town hall (1493), and Sankt Johannes’ Church (1218). The most important of the many old town gates and towers is the Katzenturm (1491–1507). Feldkirch is known for its schools, notably the former Stella Matutina, a Jesuit college founded in 1648. Among the industries of the town are textile mills and breweries. Summer and winter sports facilities attract many tourists. Feldkirch also serves as a market and service centre for the extensive rural environs. Pop. (2006) 29,855.
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0d3c749de9780fd9c0073cff740804b9 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fergus-Falls | Fergus Falls | Fergus Falls
Fergus Falls, city, seat (1872) of Otter Tail county, west-central Minnesota, U.S. It lies along the Otter Tail River in a lake area, about 115 miles (185 km) northwest of St. Cloud and about 25 miles (40 km) east of the Minnesota–North Dakota border. The city was claimed in 1857 by Joseph Whitford, named for James Fergus, financial backer of Whitford’s expedition, and laid out in 1870. It became a trading centre, and early growth was based on the milling of lumber, flour, and wool, using the river’s waterpower. The city is the synodic headquarters of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America and is the site of a Lutheran seminary. Fergus Falls lies in a fertile agricultural region; dairying, livestock raising, and the production of corn (maize), hay, wheat, oats, and other grains are important. Baked goods and wood products are also produced. Tourism, particularly centred around the county’s more than 1,000 lakes, is an important industry, and the city is a regional health care centre. Maplewood and Glendalough state parks are nearby. The city is home to a community and technical college campus. Inc. village, 1872; city, 1881. Pop. (2000) 13,471; (2010) 13,138.
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07ded103f32c2220f45f2e6d09eca4eb | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fergusson-Island | Fergusson Island | Fergusson Island
Fergusson Island, largest of the D’Entrecasteaux Islands, Papua New Guinea, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The island lies 30 miles (50 km) across Ward Hunt Strait from the southeastern tip of New Guinea, in the Solomon Sea. It is separated from Goodenough Island (northwest) by Moresby Strait and from Normanby Island (southeast) by Dawson Strait. The volcanic island, measuring 40 by 30 miles (65 by 48 km), has an area of 519 square miles (1,345 square km).
Rising to 6,801 feet (2,073 metres) near Wadalei in the northeast, Fergusson Island is drained by numerous short streams. Although the central volcanic peak is extinct, there are signs of its former activity, including geysers and fumaroles. Seymour Bay is located on the west coast, Sebutuia Bay on the east, and Hughes Bay on the north. The principal settlements, Salamo and Mapamoiwa, are on the southern coast. Gold deposits at Wapolu on the north coast were worked briefly in the mid-1990s.
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9715891966dbd1b7752be8a5057f8a4f | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fermanagh-and-Omagh | Fermanagh and Omagh | Fermanagh and Omagh
Fermanagh and Omagh, district, southwestern Northern Ireland. It is bounded to the north and northwest by the Derry City and Strabane district, to the east by the Mid Ulster district, and to the southeast, south, and northwest by the republic of Ireland. Administrative offices for the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council are located in Enniskillen and Omagh. Fermanagh and Omagh was created in 2015 by the merger of the Fermanagh and Omagh districts. Pop. (2011) 113,161.
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adef5a366298c1371c1eb1861d0f6ebf | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fernandina-Beach | Fernandina Beach | Fernandina Beach
Fernandina Beach, city, seat (1824) of Nassau county, extreme northeastern Florida, U.S. It is situated on Amelia Island (one of the Sea Islands), just south of the Georgia border and near the mouth of the St. Marys River, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Jacksonville.
The site was occupied by Timucua Indians when the French attempted settlement in the 16th century. Spaniards built a fort and a mission (c. 1686), which were destroyed by Governor James Moore of Carolina in 1702 when the British occupied Amelia Island. The town of Fernandina was named for either Don Domingo Fernandez, an 18th-century landowner, or King Ferdinand II of Spain (Aragon). The British took possession of the town in 1763, and large numbers of loyalists settled there during the American Revolution; most loyalists left in 1783 when Florida was ceded back to Spain. After becoming a free port (1807), the settlement thrived as a haven for smugglers, pirates, and slave traders. In 1817 Sir Gregor MacGregor, a Scottish military adventurer who wanted to liberate Florida from Spain, briefly held it captive. The pirate Luis Aury claimed the island for Mexico that same year, but it was soon taken over by the United States and held “in trust” for Spain. The United States took formal possession of Amelia Island in 1821 and built Fort Clinch (begun 1847) at its northern tip. The fort was seized by Confederate troops in 1861 at the beginning of the American Civil War and became a centre for blockade-running until its capture by Union forces in 1862. In the late 19th century Fernandina became a centre for tourism and shipping. Fernandina was consolidated with the nearby town of Fernandina Beach in 1951, taking the latter’s name.
The city’s economy is still based on tourism; pulp and paper milling and fishing (especially shrimp) are also important. Fernandina Beach is the state’s northern entry point to the Intracoastal Waterway. Fort Clinch State Park preserves the 19th-century fort and is a popular recreation area. The city has a large historic district containing dozens of restored homes and commercial buildings, and the Amelia Island Museum of History provides an oral history of the area. Fernandina Beach hosts the annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival held in May. Inc. town, 1824; city, 1951. Pop. (2000) 10,549; (2010) 11,487.
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3a6c7d309bb0bf104b3088de784affcc | https://www.britannica.com/place/Ferrol | Ferrol | Ferrol
Ferrol, Spanish El Ferrol, port city, A Coruña provincia (province), in the northern section of the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Galicia, in extreme northwestern Spain. It is located on the Ferrol Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. Named for a farol (lighthouse) that marked the entrance to its harbour, the then fishing village of Ferrol was chosen in 1726 by King Philip V as the site for a naval base. Ferdinand VI set up (1746–59) shipbuilding yards there; between 1769 and 1774 Charles III added the royal naval arsenal and erected fortifications. After 1939 the city’s name became El Ferrol del Caudillo because it was the birthplace of Gen. Francisco Franco, who had become caudillo (leader) of Spain; in the 1980s, however, the longer name was abolished.
Now one of the principal Spanish naval stations, Ferrol’s natural harbour, protected from the sea by rocky hills, is one of the largest in Spain. It did not develop commercially, however, because of competition from A Coruña, 12 miles (19 km) to the southwest by sea, and because it had no railway until 1904. The port had shipbuilding yards, which were replaced by a large arsenal basin, with workshops and foundries, and a naval academy and several dry docks. Exports are minimal, and imports are mostly materials for use in the metal industry. Nearby are the Atlantic submarine base La Graña and the notable 10th-century Chamorro church surrounded by Celtic megalithic ruins. Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 75,181.
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f914feb46438d30e89fa2d4b0d40e384 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Firuzabad | Fīrūzābād | Fīrūzābād
Fīrūzābād, ancient Gūr, town situated about 55 miles (88 km) south of Shīrāz, in the Fars region of south-central Iran. The town is said to have been founded by the Sāsānian king Ardashīr I (ad 224–241) in commemoration of his victory over the Parthian king Artabanus. The Sāsānian town was circular in plan and had a high tower topped by a fire altar in the centre. The ruined palace of Ardashīr I in the town is the oldest extant example of Sāsānian architecture. The name of the town was changed in the middle of the 10th century because the citizens felt that gūr (Persian: “grave”) had unpleasant connotations. Pop. (2006) 59,306.
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5fc50066eb71935a559c3938b8136311 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fitchburg | Fitchburg | Fitchburg
Fitchburg, city, Worcester county, north-central Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along the Mohawk Trail scenic highway and a branch of the Nashua River, just northwest of Leominster and about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Boston. The site was first settled in 1740; originally known as Turkey Hills, it was later named for John Fitch, who did much to secure the incorporation of the town in 1764. The river furnished power for early textile mills, and the opening of the Boston-Fitchburg stage line stimulated the growth of the town. The arrival in the 1840s of the Boston and Fitchburg and of the Vermont and Massachusetts railroads spurred industrial development. Services (utilities, health care, education, and business services) now account for the largest share of employment, followed by manufacturing and trade. Fitchburg’s manufactures include machinery, paper and metal products, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and textiles. Fitchburg State College was established in 1894 as the State Normal School. Area parks include Audubon, Flat Rock, and Coolidge. Inc. city, 1872. Pop. (2000) 39,102; (2010) 40,318.
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eb94215da87f488be442932d4d3acf07 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Florence-Arizona | Florence | Florence
Florence, town, seat (1875) of Pinal county, central Arizona, U.S., 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Phoenix. It lies on the Gila River in a farming area (mainly cotton) that is irrigated by means of the Ashurst-Hayden Diversion Dam. One of the oldest white settlements in the state, Florence was founded in 1866 and named for the sister of Governor Richard McCormick. The community developed as a copper-mining trade centre and stage stop. Many early adobe buildings still stand, including the home (1866) of Levi Ruggles, an Indian agent and the town’s first settler. Ruggles’s home also housed the first land office (1873) in the Gadsden Purchase territory. Nearby are Indian ruins and natural desert gardens. Arizona’s largest penitentiary sits on the eastern outskirts of the town. Inc. 1908. Pop. (2000) 17,054; (2010) 25,536.
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c162bac3b981fee03f1c776a1be5e93f | https://www.britannica.com/place/Florence-South-Carolina | Florence | Florence
Florence, city, seat (1889) of Florence county, northeastern South Carolina, U.S. Established in the 1850s as a rail junction and transfer point for the Wilmington and Manchester, the Northwestern, and the Cheraw and Darlington railroads, it was called Wilds for a judge in the town but later renamed (c. 1859) for the daughter of William Wallace Harlee, head of the Wilmington and Manchester line.
The city developed as a retail and wholesale distribution centre, balanced between railroads, industry, and agriculture. Manufactures include polyester film, X-ray apparatuses, fabricated steel, welding equipment, stoves, auto parts, furniture, clothing, and paper. The main crops are tobacco and cotton. Florence is the site of Florence-Darlington Technical College (1963), Francis Marion University (1970), Clemson University–Pee Dee Research and Education Center (agriculture), and a U.S. Department of Agriculture regional laboratory. Nearby is a national cemetery with the graves of Union soldiers who died while imprisoned at the Florence Stockade during the Civil War. The one-room school in which Henry Timrod, poet laureate of the Confederacy, taught is in the city’s Timrod Park. The Florence Museum exhibits Asian, primitive, and Native American art, as well as historical items. Inc. 1890. Pop. (2000) 30,248; Florence Metro Area, 193,155; (2010) 37,056; Florence Metro Area, 205,566.
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b8c113e42f3682950154834d973ae262 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Florence/History | History of Florence | History of Florence
Florentia (“The Flourishing Town”) was founded in 59 bce as a colony for soldiers of the armies of Rome and was laid out as a rectangular garrison town (castrum) below the hilltop Etruscan town of Faesulae. Its streets formed a pattern of rectangular blocks, with a central forum, a temple to Mars, an amphitheatre, and public baths. By the 3rd century ce Florence was a provincial capital of the Roman Empire and a prosperous commercial centre. During the early medieval centuries, Florence was occupied chiefly by outsiders: first by Ostrogoths in the 5th century, then by Byzantines in the 6th century, and eventually by Langobards, or Lombards. From the late 10th century onward, Florence prospered, and, under the rule of Countess Matilda of Tuscany (1069–1115), it became the leading city in Tuscany.
In 1293 Florence adopted a constitution called the Ordinances of Justice, which barred both the nobility and labourers from political power. It also provided for frequent changes of office to ensure that no group or individual could get control of the state; thus, the nine priors who constituted the Signoria (the governmental body) were each elected for a mere two months. As a result, Florentines developed a keen interest in their politics and became a community of civil servants available for public life, but the lack of continuity often provoked factional intrigues and alliances.
During the 12th and 13th centuries the economic and political power of the city grew steadily. The rise of the Florentine woolen cloth industry and of banking provided a basis of capital. Then the resolution in 1266 of a bitter strife between two internal factions oriented respectively toward papal (Guelf) and imperial (Ghibelline) protection resulted in victory for a group of Guelf merchant families in the city (as well as the exile in 1302 of Florence’s greatest poet, Dante Alighieri). They took over papal banking monopolies from rivals in nearby Siena and became tax collectors for the pope throughout Europe. From such a foundation, Florentine families, led by the Bardi and the Peruzzi, came to dominate both banking and international merchant business. Locally, Florence also added neighbouring cities to its sphere of influence and obliged rival powers—Pisa, Siena, Pistoia, and Arezzo—to become its allies.
With a balance between its leading merchant families, Florence was now ruled by its guilds, divided into seven major guilds and a number of minor ones. The city’s podesta, or chief magistrate and police chief, could be selected only from the major guilds. Political parties grew up along the issues of aggressive expansion and preservation of peace; the former policy was embraced by the Blacks (Neri; the rich merchants), the latter by the Whites (Bianchi; the lesser citizens).
Just before the middle of the 14th century, Florence had become a metropolis of about 90,000 people, making it one of the great cities of Europe (alongside Paris, Venice, Milan, and Naples). However, in the summer of 1348 the Black Death struck, reducing the population by half. The city’s ordeal during this period has been vividly portrayed by the chronicler Matteo Villani and by the writer Giovanni Boccaccio in the preface to his stories of the Decameron. The bankruptcies of the Bardi and the Peruzzi a few years before the Black Death had already shaken the city’s prosperity, and it never fully recovered from these double disasters. Famine and renewed bouts of the plague continued throughout the 14th century, sparking unrest among the politically unrepresented population. In 1378 a proletarian rebellion of the cloth workers, the Revolt of the Ciompi, was put down by an alliance of merchants, manufacturers, and artisans. The economy of the city remained depressed, and the rivalry of adjoining polities, first Milan and then Naples, only intensified the threats to Florence’s prosperity in the early 15th century. One of the few successes was the conquest of Pisa in 1406, making Florence a maritime power at last. Partly in self-defense, Florence became a major territorial power alongside Venice, Milan, and Naples.
During this period of adversity, the power of the guilds and their domination of the city were on the wane; as a result, successful merchants and bankers, chiefly Cosimo de’ Medici and Giovanni Rucellai in the 15th century, were able to shape civic politics and culture through a system of oligarchy and patronage. They underwrote the accomplishments that are now singled out with the term “Renaissance,” and their palaces came to dominate the city as fully as the church buildings in which they established their family chapels.
Cosimo de’ Medici (Cosimo the Elder) became the leading citizen in Florence after his return in 1434 from a year of exile. He achieved this position by virtue of his great wealth (the result of the largest banking network in Europe) and an extensive network of patronage obligations. While he never accepted public office, his faction dominated the city. He lived an increasingly opulent life, as is apparent in the ostentation of the Medici Palace and the patronage of churches such as San Lorenzo and the monastery of St. Mark, with its frescoes by Fra Angelico. Investment in culture, including the patronage of artists and architects and the purchase of books and manuscripts, became a fundamental expression of the Medici’s aristocratic way of life; it was continued by Cosimo’s son, Piero, and his grandson, Lorenzo (dubbed “the Magnificent”). In all but name, Florence was now ruled by a Medici prince, whose position resembled that of the tyrants in other Italian cities such as Milan, Ferrara, Mantua, and Urbino.
Stability was briefly threatened in 1478 by the brutal but abortive Pazzi conspiracy seeking to end the Medici rule. In 1494, shortly after the death of Lorenzo, French armies under King Charles VIII invaded Italy. They were backed against the Medici by the popular party in Florence, which (with French help) succeeded in exiling the Medici and declaring Florence a republic. The consequence, however, was the loss of political autonomy to the larger conflicts of Italian peninsular struggles. Republican Florence was led briefly by a fiery Dominican preacher, Girolamo Savonarola, who boldly condemned the luxury and urbane culture of his predecessors. His strict rule came to an end in 1498, but with it closed a phase of Florentine greatness.
The Medici returned to Florence in triumph in 1512 behind the papal and Spanish armies, reasserting power in a clear and ruthless manner. (Such an unambiguous pursuit of power by leaders at this time was given codification in 1513 by Niccolò Machiavelli in his treatise The Prince.) In addition, the younger son of Lorenzo was elected Pope Leo X; his pontificate (1513–21) was noteworthy for its cultivation of the arts, especially his employment of Raphael. Leo was shortly followed by another Medici pope, Clement VII (1523–34). However, in 1527 the riotous Spanish army of Emperor Charles V overran Rome, and, during this moment of weakness, republicans again expelled the Medici from Florence, only to be punished in 1530 when pope and emperor were reconciled. Then in 1536 the statesman and historian Francesco Guicciardini began to compose his History of Italy, with its ideal vision of the era of Lorenzo the Magnificent and its pessimism concerning more recent events. In 1537 Charles V installed Cosimo de’ Medici (Cosimo I) as official duke of Florence (grand duke of Tuscany after 1569). Cosimo and his wife, Eleonora of Toledo, patronized the arts and undertook vast building programs, such as the construction of the Uffizi, the renovation of the Palazzo Vecchio, and the reconstruction of the Pitti Palace.
With the rise of Cosimo I to titled nobility and to absolute rule in Florence, the political and cultural vitality of the city had all but ebbed, prompting a modern scholar to refer to the succeeding era as the “forgotten centuries.” Florence’s dukes had become minor players in the broader European balance of great powers, and they linked themselves chiefly with the noble houses of France. Marital alliances of Medici family members with members of the French nobility include those of Catherine de’ Médici, queen of Henry II and later regent of France; Grand Duke Ferdinand I, who married Christine of Lorraine; and Marie de Médicis, who married King Henry IV of France. The city generally declined under prolonged Medici rule, a process that was marked only by the extended reign of Cosimo III (1670–1723) and the end of the family with the death of his son, Gian Gastone.
After the rule of the Medici, Florence was governed from outside, as Francis Stephen of Lorraine, the husband of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, became the grand duke of Tuscany. Following a Napoleonic interlude, Leopold II of Habsburg was the last outside ruler (1824–59). He eventually abdicated in favour of the new Italian king, Victor Emmanuel. Soon after, Florence annexed itself to the new Kingdom of Italy, serving as its capital during the period 1865–70.
From the late 18th to the mid-20th century, a large Anglo-American colony was an integral part of the Florentine scene. The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who is buried in Piazzale Donatello, the small English cemetery, noted that the city was “cheap, tranquil, cheerful and beautiful.” The Horne Museum, near Santa Croce, and the Stibbert Museum, in the north, are examples of houses and collections left by foreigners to their adopted city.
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f241a4210fbc8e12503c4dfa109a227c | https://www.britannica.com/place/Flores-Indonesia | Flores | Flores
Flores, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands in Nusa Tenggara Timur (East Nusa Tenggara) provinsi (province), Indonesia. The last major island in the chain, which extends eastward from Java, it is long and narrow, 5,500 square miles (14,250 square km) in area, and has numerous inlets and bays. The island’s name is derived from the Portuguese designation for the island’s eastern Cape Kopondai—Cabo de Flores (“Cape of Flowers”)—named for the flamboyants (Poinciana regia) found in profusion there. Flores is largely mountainous, especially in the west, where Mandasawu Peak reaches 7,900 feet (2,400 metres). Several active volcanoes are in the centre and east. Near Ende, historically the main city and once a mission centre, is Mount Kelimutu, the “mountain of the three coloured lakes.” In May 1974 a volcanic eruption on nearby Mount Iya caused one of the lakes—the blue-white one—to change to a reddish colour, similar to the other two. The island’s interior has been little explored. The rivers are unnavigable. Most of the vegetation consists of either tropical deciduous forest or savanna, and the western end was formerly a haunt of a giant lizard.
The indigenous people are mainly of mixed Malay-Papuan ancestry, more Malay in the west, more Papuan elsewhere, making the island a transitional area. Coastal settlers reflect immigration from many areas: there are Bimanese, Sumbanese, Sumbawanese, Buginese, Makasarese, Solorese, Minangkabau, and Javanese-Chinese at different sites on the coast of Flores. Although there are Muslims, primarily in coastal areas around Manggarai and Ende, and Christians, descendants of people converted by the Portuguese in the 16th century, the majority of the population still practice traditional animist religions. In the west, houses are built on terraces, often on piles; neat and regular in arrangement and surrounded by a bamboo hedge, they are divided into separate rooms for different families, with a sleeping passage for unmarried men and strangers. In the east, houses are smaller and inhabited by only one family, while in Ende they are square, roomy, and well built. Land generally is owned communally by the tribe, and the headman has great power.
Agriculture is mainly by shifting cultivation; sticks are used to turn over the soil. The chief food crop is corn (maize), with commercial production of coconuts in coastal regions and of coffee in the hills. Frequent burning for field plots and for hunting, together with the semiarid climate, have reduced genuine forests to only a small area, the remainder being scrub and savanna. Most of the farmland on Flores is in temporary fields, with a much smaller portion in permanent wet rice fields. Most inhabitants are chronically underfed.
Flores was once tributary to the princes of Celebes (Sulawesi); though their power was broken by the Dutch in 1667, the latter did not firmly establish civil government on the island until 1909. A fair-weather road (still more heavily utilized by horsedrawn carts than by motor vehicles) was completed in 1926 and traverses the island in a west-east direction; there is airline service to Ende on the southern coast and to Maumere on the northern coast.
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eea5c59d558ffda381e444b517457f12 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Flores-Sea | Flores Sea | Flores Sea
Flores Sea, Bahasa Indonesia Laut Flores, portion of the western South Pacific Ocean, bounded on the north by the island of Celebes (Sulawesi) and on the south by the Lesser Sunda Islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Occupying a total surface area of 93,000 square miles (240,000 square km), it opens northwest through Makassar Strait to the Celebes Sea, west to the Java Sea, and east to the Banda Sea. Teluk (gulf of) Bone cuts deeply into the Celebes coast. The sea’s basin is divided into four physiographic areas. In the west is a broad plateau at a general depth of 1,650 feet (500 metres); submarine mounts rise from this bank and are often capped by coral atolls. In the south is the Flores Basin (just north of the island of Flores), where the sea plunges to its greatest depth, 16,860 feet (5,140 metres). To the north of this trough, two ridges (the western reaching above water as Selayar Island) flank a shallower trough (maximum 11,060 feet [3,370 metres]) that stretches to the island of Celebes. The last region, south of Teluk Bone, is on the east, bordering the Banda Sea. In the winter, surface currents trend southwest only to reverse themselves during the summer.
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b0433f3ee2d8a53dba31983dcae86678 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Florida | Florida | Florida
Florida, constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted as the 27th state in 1845. Florida is the most populous of the southeastern states and the second most populous Southern state after Texas. The capital is Tallahassee, located in the northwestern panhandle.
Geographic location has been the key factor in Florida’s long and colourful development, and it helps explain the striking contemporary character of the state. The greater part of Florida lies on a peninsula that protrudes southeastward from the North American continent, separating the waters of the Atlantic Ocean from those of the Gulf of Mexico and pointing toward Cuba and the Caribbean Sea beyond. Florida shares a land border with only two other states, both along its northern boundary: Georgia (east) and Alabama (west). The nearest foreign territory is the island of Bimini in the Bahamas, some 50 miles (80 km) to the east of the state’s southern tip. Florida is the southernmost of the 48 conterminous United States, its northernmost point lying about 100 miles (160 km) farther south than California’s southern border. The Florida Keys, a crescent of islands that forms the state’s southernmost portion, extend to within about 75 miles (120 km) of the Tropic of Cancer. Florida’s marine shoreline totals more than 8,400 miles (13,500 km), including some 5,100 miles (8,200 km) along the gulf; among U.S. states, only Alaska has a longer coastline.
The state lies close to both the geographic and population centres of the Western Hemisphere, in a position that not only commands one entrance to the Gulf of Mexico but also overlooks a strategic crossroads between North and South America and historic routes to the European and Mediterranean worlds. The Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed there in 1513, named the territory La Florida (meaning “The Flower” in Spanish), and claimed it for Spain. Florida played a prominent role in the historic struggles of European powers to control the Americas and the Caribbean. St. Augustine, founded in 1565 on Florida’s northeastern coast, is the oldest European settlement within what were to become the boundaries of the continental United States.
The climate and scenery of the “Sunshine State” have long attracted enormous numbers of visitors. Tourism has surpassed agriculture and manufacturing as the main component of Florida’s economy, and the prospect of employment in the state’s rapidly growing service sector has simultaneously drawn many immigrants, mostly from Latin America. Consequently, Florida has regularly ranked among the states with the fastest-growing immigrant population. Area 65,757 square miles (170,311 square km). Population (2010) 18,801,310; (2019 est.) 21,477,737.
Florida is a geologically young, low-lying plain, mostly less than 100 feet (30 metres) above sea level. The highest point is near the Alabama border in Walton county, a mere 345 feet (105 metres) above sea level. Sedimentary deposits of sand and limestone cover most of the state, with areas of peat and muck marking locations where freshwater bodies once stood. The contemporary topography has been largely molded by running water, waves, ocean currents, winds, changes in sea level, and the wearing away of limestone rocks by solution. These forces have produced enough variation in the state’s surface to permit classification into seven basic physiographic regions: the coastal lowlands, the Lake Okeechobee–Everglades basin, the Kissimmee lowlands, the Marianna lowlands, the central highlands, the Tallahassee hills, and the western highlands, though these divisions are scarcely apparent to the naked eye.
The coastal lowlands occupy roughly three-fourths of the surface and vary in width from about 10 to 100 miles (16 to 160 km). Generally, the region is exceedingly flat and is often less than 25 feet (8 metres) above sea level. Much of the area is swampy, and in the eastern part of the state numerous former beach ridges parallel one another. Offshore barrier bars (beaches) rim much of the region and account for most of Florida’s finest beaches.
The Lake Okeechobee–Everglades basin and the Kissimmee lowlands are actually subdivisions of the coastal lowlands, but their uniqueness justifies separate designations. The former is 150 miles (240 km) long and 50 miles (80 km) wide and is technically a shallow, slow-moving river (the Everglades is often called a “river of grass”). The northern portion has been modified with canals, dikes, and pumping stations and is Florida’s principal zone of sugarcane production. The southern portion retains much of its pre-European flavour and is protected within the confines of Everglades National Park. The Kissimmee lowlands are about the size of the Lake Okeechobee–Everglades basin and include the broad valley of the Kissimmee River, the major source for water flowing southward to Lake Okeechobee. Much of this region is a flat grassland dominated by pastures and cattle ranches.
The Marianna lowlands constitute a small region in the northwestern panhandle, bounded on the east by the Apalachicola River and on the west by the Choctawhatchee River. The region is heavily eroded and has numerous sinkholes and caves.
The Marianna lowlands separate the Tallahassee hills, to the east, from the western highlands, which extend to the Alabama border on the west. Both of these regions are about the same size (40 by 100 miles [65 by 160 km]), and both are ancient upland plains that have been dissected by streams. Together, they form a beautiful undulating terrain that is the most important zone for the production of field crops in Florida.
The central highlands lie between the Suwannee River, on the eastern side of the Tallahassee hills, and the St. Johns River, which separates the highlands from the eastern coastal lowlands. The region extends southward from the Georgia border to the area of Arcadia and Sebring, a distance of some 400 miles (640 km); its width varies from 50 to 75 miles (80 to 120 km). The land is rolling and dotted with thousands of lakes, and the central and southern portions of the region contain most of Florida’s citrus acreage.
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7000424d069cf9de76ae09f04d60dc37 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Florida-Southern-College | Florida Southern College | Florida Southern College
…the campus and buildings of Florida Southern College at Lakeland (1940–49) were begun, and the V.C. Morris Shop (1948) in San Francisco was executed. Among Wright’s many late designs, executed and unexecuted, two major works stand out: the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Marin County government centre…
…and Polk Community College, and Florida Southern College (1885), whose campus has the world’s largest single-site concentration of buildings designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
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2a87302c12dead48fb950ecfca7ac78b | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fond-du-Lac | Fond du Lac | Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac, city, seat (1844) of Fond du Lac county, east-central Wisconsin, U.S. It lies on the Fond du Lac River, at the southern end of Lake Winnebago, about 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Milwaukee. Ho-Chunk Nation (Winnebago) Indians were early inhabitants of the area. The city originated in 1785 as a French trading post, named for its location at the “bottom of the lake.” It was laid out in 1835 and settled the following year, and it attracted many German immigrants. The economy was originally based on lumbering and grain milling but is now diversified and depends primarily on dairy farming and manufacturing (machine tools, agricultural equipment, automotive parts, and outboard motors and other marine equipment). St. Paul’s Cathedral contains an excellent collection of wood carvings from Oberammergau, Germany. Galloway House and Village is a 30-room mansion (1880) surrounded by some two dozen historic buildings. The city is the seat of Marian University (1936) and the two-year University of Wisconsin–Fond du Lac (1968). Southwest of the city is Horicon Marsh, a 50-square-mile (130-square-km) wetland wildlife refuge known for its abundant bird life. Inc. village, 1847; city, 1852. Pop. (2000) 42,203; Fond du Lac Metro Area, 97,296; (2010) 43,021; Fond du Lac Metro Area, 101,633.
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08e7571d8c56a26a5fea03797c110cb7 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fontevrault-lAbbaye | Fontevrault-l'Abbaye | Fontevrault-l'Abbaye
Fontevrault-l’Abbaye, also spelled Fontevraud, village near Saumur, Maine-et-Loire département, Pays de la Loire région, western France. It lies near the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers and is surrounded by fields and woods.
Fontevrault-l’Abbaye is the site of the great abbey of Notre-Dame de Fontevrault, which, housing both monks and nuns, was founded in 1099 or 1101 by the Breton hermit Robert d’Abrissel; it was a triple monastery with five separate buildings. The abbey church and three of the monastery’s buildings are still standing.
The order of Fontevrault was inspired by the Benedictine Rule, but the abbess was in complete control. The nuns came mostly from the highest families; and in the 12th century there were three dependent houses belonging to the order in England, several in Spain, and about 100 elsewhere in France.
In 1792 the abbey was suppressed as a religious community. Under Napoleon the buildings were turned into a prison, which was closed down only in 1963, when restoration work was undertaken.
The abbey church and other buildings, including a 12th-century double octagonal kitchen and 16th-century cloisters, are open to the public. In the abbey church, recumbent statues mark the burial places of Henry II of England; his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine; and their son Richard I the Lion-Heart. Pop. (2006 est.) 1,497.
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f06e74eb90a12bafed942e81b9824229 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Benton | Fort Benton | Fort Benton
Fort Benton, city, seat (1865) of Chouteau county, north-central Montana, U.S., on the Missouri River. A well-known American Fur Company outpost, it was founded (1846) as Fort Lewis by Major Alexander Culbertson and was renamed in 1850 for Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. As the head of steamboat river navigation on the Missouri River, it became a boomtown as gold seekers and cattlemen, on their way west, used it as a supply point. With the building of the railroads, its importance as a transit point diminished. Cattle, sheep, and wheat are the economic mainstays of the modern city, and tourism is of increasing importance. Ruins of the old fort, preserved as a national historic landmark, are along the riverfront. The reconstruction of a replica of the fort was underway, with the help of the Blackfeet Nation, at the turn of the 21st century. A large collection of manuscripts and archives relating to the history of Fort Benton and the settlement of the northern Great Plains is housed in Fort Benton’s Schwinden Library and Archives. Inc. 1883. Pop. (2000) 1,594; (2010) 1,464.
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a356a710694649977e2481de803240c8 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Collins | Fort Collins | Fort Collins
Fort Collins, city, seat (1868) of Larimer county, northern Colorado, U.S. It lies along the Cache la Poudre River (the state’s “Trout Route”), in the eastern foothills of the Front Range, at an elevation of 5,004 feet (1,525 metres), 55 miles (89 km) north of Denver. The community developed after 1864 around a military outpost named for its commander, Lieutenant William O. Collins of Fort Laramie, Wyoming. The outpost was abandoned in 1872, but the settlement remained and, promoted by a town development company, grew with the arrival of the railroad and a highly successful sugar beet industry based on local irrigation and stimulated by a land-grant college (now Colorado State University) established there in 1870.
The contemporary city has large lamb-feeding operations and agricultural and quarry-based industries supplemented by tourism and light and high-technology manufactures. The Fort Collins Museum (founded as Pioneer Museum in 1941) preserves in its courtyard the first settler’s cabin and two other historic structures, and it houses mementos of the fort. A portion of the original city centre, including the Avery House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Fort Collins is the headquarters of the Roosevelt National Forest, a few miles west; the Pawnee National Grassland is to the east. Inc. 1883. Pop. (2000) 118,652; Fort Collins–Loveland Metro Area 251,494; (2010) 143,986; Fort Collins–Loveland Metro Area, 299,630.
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951342594339ba483dcfdc24a005a0fd | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Dodge | Fort Dodge | Fort Dodge
Fort Dodge, city, seat (1856) of Webster county, north-central Iowa, U.S. It is situated on both sides of the Des Moines River at its juncture with Lizard Creek, about 90 miles (145 km) northwest of Des Moines. It originated around Fort Clarke, which was established in 1850 to protect settlers from the Sioux, and was renamed the following year for Henry Dodge, U.S. senator from Wisconsin who had fought in the Black Hawk War and other conflicts with Native Americans. When the fort was abandoned in 1853, Major William Williams bought the land and buildings and laid out the town the next year. The community developed as a market-processing centre for the surrounding farmlands and for the area’s large gypsum deposits; gypsum quarried near Fort Dodge was used for a statue that was purported to be a petrified prehistoric man in the celebrated Cardiff Giant hoax.
The manufacture of gypsum products remains important, as does the production of farm machinery, veterinary pharmaceuticals, and chemical fertilizers. Transportation (trucking) is also a major component of the economy. The city’s Fort Museum includes a replica of Fort Williams (a stockade built near the Minnesota border in 1862) and of a frontier village. Fort Dodge is home to the main campus of Iowa Central Community College (1966) and the Blanden Memorial Art Museum. Nearby are Dolliver Memorial State Park (south), Brushy Creek State Recreation Area (southeast), and Kalsow Prairie (west), the latter containing a tract of virgin prairie. Inc. city, 1869. Pop. (2000) 25,136; (2010) 25,206.
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7c7a2b40d007455237d92ece486c2891 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Jesus | Fort Jesus | Fort Jesus
It is the site of Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese (1593–95) and now a museum. There are Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals. A Hindu temple built in 1952 has a gilded dome. Mombasa’s many historical and cultural attractions have made it a popular tourist destination.
…set about building their great Fort Jesus at Mombasa. In the following year it was occupied by a garrison of 100 men.
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6a8c98c72d2523fd7cd45bcd1834d237 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Kent | Fort Kent | Fort Kent
Fort Kent, town, Aroostook county, northern Maine, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the St. John and Fish rivers, 50 miles (80 km) north-northwest of Presque Isle, and includes the communities of Fort Kent and Fort Kent Mills. The town is a port of entry linked by international bridge to Clair, New Brunswick, Canada. Settled in 1825 by French Acadian refugees, it was incorporated in 1869 and took its name from Fort Kent, a blockhouse built in 1839. The community developed as a potato-processing, farming, and lumbering centre. It is the terminus of U.S. Highway 1 from Key West, Florida, and is a gateway to the wilderness watershed areas of northern Maine; it has hunting, fishing, canoeing, and skiing facilities. The University of Maine at Fort Kent originated in 1878 as a teacher-training school. Area 54 square miles (140 square km). Pop. (2000) 4,233; (2010) 4,097.
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a73a2f428e107786a5c70e8a04808c65 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Morgan-Colorado-United-States | Fort Morgan | Fort Morgan
Fort Morgan, city, seat (1889) of Morgan county, northeastern Colorado, U.S., on a low plateau overlooking the South Platte River, 70 miles (113 km) northeast of Denver at an elevation of 4,240 feet (1,292 metres). The site, on the Overland Trail, was originally occupied by a fort (established in 1864 and named for an American Civil War colonel, Christopher A. Morgan). The fort was abandoned in 1868, but the adjacent settlement prospered and developed as a processing and shipping centre for local produce including livestock, dairy products, sugar beets, potatoes, beans, corn (maize), alfalfa, and small grain. After 1950, oil was exploited in the nearby Denver-Julesburg Oil Basin, and refineries became economically significant. Local manufactures include hand tools, irrigation pipes, and concrete products. Morgan Community College was founded in 1967. Pawnee National Grassland is to the north. Inc. town, 1887; city, 1908. Pop. (2000) 11,034; (2010) 11,315.
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39b78c0b6a0d2d1ae11fb20063c3f30e | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Pulaski | Fort Pulaski | Fort Pulaski
…the need for coastal defense, Fort Pulaski (named for the U.S. colonial army officer Kazimierz Pulaski) was built (1829–47). Following its completion, the fort remained ungarrisoned until it was seized by Confederate troops in January 1861, just before the outbreak of the American Civil War. It was bombarded and captured…
…by rifled Union artillery of Fort Pulaski, a supposedly impregnable Confederate fortification defending Savannah, Georgia, marked the beginning of a new chapter in the design of permanent fortifications.
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b8dcdf23fe3b3f288b45e91b15bed9f5 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Riley | Fort Riley | Fort Riley
Fort Riley, near Junction City, was established in 1853 and was also a military outpost. In the 20th century, it became an important infantry-training centre, the home of the famous 1st Infantry Division (“the Big Red One”). McConnell Air Force Base at Wichita is a…
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310c827b229566525603a5c658ed5701 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Saint-Angelo | Fort Saint Angelo | Fort Saint Angelo
…fortifications remain, including the historic Fort St. Angelo (870; renovated and extended 1530). The Palace of the Inquisitors and most of the 16th-century auberges (lodges of the Hospitallers) also survive. Pop. (2007 est.) 2,657.
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cf1401fd97f3b80c97da9edfc5dbdec7 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fort-Sumter | Fort Sumter | Fort Sumter
…1860, and the capture of Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, by Confederates (April 12–14, 1861) precipitated the American Civil War. The city was blockaded by Union land and sea forces from July 10, 1863, to February 18, 1865, the siege ending only when General William Tecumseh Sherman’s advance forced the…
…1861, rebels opened fire on Fort Sumter, at the entrance to the harbour of Charleston, South Carolina. Curiously, this first encounter of what would be the bloodiest war in the history of the United States claimed no victims. After a 34-hour bombardment, Maj. Robert Anderson surrendered his command of about…
…reinforcements (January 1861) sent to Fort Sumter at Charleston, South Carolina. However, when the federal supply ship was fired upon by shore batteries, it turned back. The call for a second relief mission came too late for Buchanan to act. As the crisis deepened, he seemed impatient for his time…
… that he planned to resupply Fort Sumter, the Federal outpost in the harbour of Charleston, South Carolina, the newly formed government of the secessionist Confederate States of America demanded the fort’s surrender. Maj. Robert Anderson, Fort Sumter’s commander, responded, “I have
Robert Anderson in Fort Sumter, South Carolina—then one of the few military installations in the South still in Federal hands—had to be promptly supplied or withdrawn. After agonized consultation with his cabinet, Lincoln determined that supplies must be sent even if doing so provoked the Confederates into firing…
…United States Army began building Fort Sumter on an artificial island at the entrance to Charleston Harbor in 1829. The fort was named for Thomas Sumter, a general who had won key victories against the British in the Carolinas during the American Revolution. The fort was still under construction during…
…National Monument, historic site preserving Fort Sumter, location of the first engagement of the American Civil War (April 12, 1861). Fort Sumter was designed as part of the defensive system protecting Charleston, South Carolina. Its origin stemmed partly from the 1812 war with Great Britain, which had highlighted how vulnerable…
…South, focused in particular upon Fort Sumter, in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina. This fort, still under construction, was garrisoned by U.S. troops under Major Robert Anderson. The Confederacy claimed it and, from other harbour fortifications, threatened it. Foreseeing trouble, Lincoln, while still in Springfield, confidentially requested Winfield Scott, general in…
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d252559cc5045b0285a5c482f37792d1 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fouta | Fouta | Fouta
Fouta, also called Futa, or Fouta-toro, semidesert region flanking the middle course of the Sénégal River and lying north of the Ferlo region, in northern Senegal. The banks of the Sénégal River are well-watered and fertile in the Fouta region, yet the thin, sandy clay of the region’s interior plains is infertile and porous. Water is found near the surface in only a few shallow depressions. This region was historically the site of several Fulani states. (See Fulani empire.) Many of the Fulani (Fulbe) and Mauri (Maure) people who inhabit the region have switched from nomadic to sedentary lifestyles. Irrigation, long practiced in Fouta, was enhanced by Sénégal River irrigation projects in the late 20th century.
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1247a49032d4c5c67c587c7b36f99ce8 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Fra-Mauro | Fra Mauro | Fra Mauro
Fra Mauro, crater on the Moon that appears to be heavily eroded; it was named for a 15th-century Italian monk and mapmaker. About 80 km (50 miles) in diameter, Fra Mauro lies at about 6° S, 17° W, in the Nubium Basin (Mare Nubium) impact structure.
The name is also applied to the extensive surrounding region, called the Fra Mauro Formation, which lunar scientists interpret to be material ejected from the impact that formed the giant Imbrium Basin (Mare Imbrium) to the north—the largest impact basin (mare) on the Moon’s near side. A broad, shallow valley within the formation about 50 km (30 miles) north of Fra Mauro crater served as the site of the Apollo 14 manned lunar landing in February 1971. On two separate Moon walks, Apollo astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell collected samples of what was believed to be ejected rock; in later radiometric analysis on Earth, this material was found to have been thermally shocked about 3.9 billion years ago, presumably by the cataclysmic event that created Imbrium.
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c31cdca38f65871b9b309066ef446ff8 | https://www.britannica.com/place/Framingham | Framingham | Framingham
Framingham, town (township), Middlesex county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S. It lies along the Sudbury River, about 20 miles (32 km) west of Boston. Settled in 1650, it was incorporated in 1700 and derived its name from Framlingham, Suffolk, England. Framingham Center, just north of the downtown area, was the original village. Framingham’s industrial development dates from 1835, with the utilization of local waterpower and the advent of the railroad. Textile mills and carpet production were important during the 19th century. The local economy is now dependent on services (health care, education, business services, and research), trade, and light manufacturing (including office products). Framingham State College was founded in 1839 at Lexington and relocated in 1853. Major recreational areas include Cochituate State Park, the reservoirs on the Sudbury River, Callahan State Park (1970), and Garden in the Woods, with its landscaped fields of wildflowers. Area 26 square miles (67 square km). Pop. (2000) 66,910; Cambridge-Newton-Framingham Metro Division, 1,465,396; (2010) 68,318; Cambridge-Newton-Framingham Metro Division, 1,503,085.
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24da8ab70b821ccfe513b1b30d115057 | https://www.britannica.com/place/France/Institutions | Institutions of France | Institutions of France
The institutions of government underwent great changes under the Frankish monarchs. Kingship was the basic institution in the Merovingian realm. Since Clovis’s reign, the power of the king had extended not only over a tribe or tribes but also over a territory inhabited by Germans of divergent backgrounds and by Gallo-Romans as well. The king exercised power within legal limitations, which, when violated, led to efforts to reestablish political equilibrium by means of civil war, assassination, and an appeal to God and the saints. Royal power was dynastic and patrimonial. The Frankish kings successfully eliminated the Germanic practice of the magnates electing the king (the Frankish king was content to present himself to the magnates who acclaimed him) and accepted the hereditary principle as a personal right. The kings partitioned the kingdom at each succession. Royal power also had a sacred aspect; under the Merovingians the external sign of this was long hair.
The nature of the Frankish monarchy was profoundly changed during the Carolingian epoch. When Pippin III usurped the office of king, he had himself consecrated first by the bishops of his realm (possibly including Boniface) in 751 and then by the pope in 754. This rite, originated by the biblical kings of Israel, had already been adopted by the Visigoths; it gave Christian legitimacy to royal authority because it reinforced the religious character of the monarchy and signified the king’s receipt of special grace from God. The king was permitted to reign and was given a stature above that of the common level because of this grace. Acclamation by the magnates became a pledge of obeisance to a king whom God had invested with power.
To this new royal status Charlemagne, who had been called rex et sacerdos (Latin: “king and priest”) in the 790s, added the title of emperor, which had not been held by a ruler in the West since 476. Although, according to his biographer, Charlemagne was surprised by the ceremony on Christmas Day in 800, he must surely have known of the coronation. Indeed, during the previous decade his advisers, especially Alcuin, had developed the idea that Charlemagne was a worthy successor to Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Among the clerical ranks that formed the entourage of the new emperor, the revival of the empire was regarded as a magistracy conferred by God in the interests of Western Christianity and the church; imperial authority was considered a kind of priesthood, and its bearer was obligated to lead and protect the faithful. This idea reached fruition under Louis the Pious, who understood his role as that of a Christian emperor and dispensed with the royal designations that his father included in his official title. He also redefined Carolingian relations with the pope, who crowned Louis in 816 and whose role became central in the act of coronation. Later Carolingians were deemed emperors only after coronation by the pope, and, as a result of the divisions of the empire, the emperor’s most important duty was defense of the pope.
By the time of Clovis, the ancient Germanic assembly of freemen participated only in the conduct of local affairs and was consigned largely to a military role. Within each kingdom, the king’s court, of Roman imperial origin but adapted and modified by the Frankish sovereigns, encompassed domestic services (treasury, provisioning, stables, clergy), a bureau of accounts, and a military force. The court was presided over by three men—the seneschal, the count of the palace, and, foremost, the mayor of the palace, who also presided over the king’s estates. They traveled with the king, who, while having various privileged places of residence, did not live at a fixed capital. Only under Charlemagne did this pattern begin to change; while not abandoning the itinerant life, Charlemagne nonetheless wished to make Aachen the centre of his state. It was there that he constructed a vast palace, which was based upon a late imperial Roman model and of which only the Palatine Chapel remains.
Except in the north, which was divided into districts called pagi (singular pagus), the Merovingians continued to use the city (the Roman civitas) as the principal administrative division. A count, installed in each pagus and city (urbs), delegated financial, military, and judicial authority. Groups of counts were occasionally placed under the authority of a duke, whose responsibilities were primarily military.
The Carolingians contented themselves with refining their administrative system to strengthen royal control and to solve the problems posed by a large empire. The kingdom’s cohesion was augmented by an oath of fidelity, which Charlemagne exacted from every freeman (789, 793, 802), and by the publication of legislation—the capitularies—that regulated the administration and exploitation of the kingdom. In the marches, local governments were established.
To improve government further, the episcopate (the body of bishops) was given a central role in the administration, and a new class of judges (scabini) was created. Charlemagne extended the use of the missi dominici—i.e., envoys who also served as liaisons between the central government and local agents and who were responsible for keeping the latter in line. To strengthen his control over the population, Charlemagne attempted to develop intermediary bodies; he tried to use both vassalage and immunity as means of government—in the first instance by creating royal vassals and giving them public offices and in the second by controlling protected institutions such as monasteries and the Jewish community.
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