<p>The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 km&sup2;. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. It separates the "Old World" from the "New World".</p><br>
<p>The Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. As one component of the interconnected global ocean, it is connected in the north to the Arctic Ocean, to the Pacific Ocean in the southwest, the Indian Ocean in the southeast, and the Southern Ocean in the south (other definitions describe the Atlantic as extending southward to Antarctica). The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean and the South Atlantic Ocean at about 8°N.</p><br>
<p>Scientific explorations of the Atlantic include the Challenger expedition, the German Meteor expedition, Columbia University&#39;s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the United States Navy Hydrographic Office.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The oldest known mentions of an "Atlantic" sea come from Stesichorus around mid-sixth century BC (Sch. A. R. 1. 211): Atlantikoi pelágei (Greek: Ἀτλαντικῷ πελάγει; English: the Atlantic sea; etym. Sea of Atlantis) and in The Histories of Herodotus around 450 BC (Hdt. 1.202.4): Atlantis thalassa (Greek: Ἀτλαντὶς θάλασσα; English: Sea of Atlantis or the Atlantis sea) where the name refers to "the sea beyond the pillars of Heracles" which is said to be part of the ocean that surrounds all land. Thus, on one hand, the name refers to Atlas, the Titan in Greek mythology, who supported the heavens and who later appeared as a frontispiece in Medieval maps and also lent his name to modern atlases. On the other hand, to early Greek sailors and in Ancient Greek mythological literature such as the Iliad and the Odyssey, this all-encompassing ocean was instead known as Oceanus, the gigantic river that encircled the world; in contrast to the enclosed seas well-known to the Greeks: the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.</p><br>
<p>In contrast, the term "Atlantic" originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of million years ago.</p><br>
<p>The term "Aethiopian Ocean", derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century.</p><br>
<h2>Extent and data</h2><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defined the limits of the oceans and seas in 1953, but some of these definitions have been revised since then and some are not used by various authorities, institutions, and countries, see for example the CIA World Factbook. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies.</p><br>
<p>The Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea. To the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe: the Strait of Gibraltar (where it connects with the Mediterranean Sea–one of its marginal seas–and, in turn, the Black Sea, both of which also touch upon Asia) and Africa.</p><br>
<p>In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean. The 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean.</p><br>
<p>The Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. These include the Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caribbean Sea, Chesapeake Bay, Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, part of the Drake Passage, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, almost all of the Scotia Sea, and other tributary water bodies. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific.</p><br>
<p>Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km&sup2; or 23.5% of the global ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23.3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km&sup2; and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3. The North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km&sup2; (11.5%) and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km&sup2; (11.1%). The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the Milwaukee Deep in the Puerto Rico Trench, is 8,486 m.</p><br>
<h2>Bathymetry</h2><br>
<p>The bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR). It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S.</p><br>
<h3>Mid-Atlantic Ridge</h3><br>
<p>The MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2,000 m along most of its length, but is interrupted by larger transform faults at two places: the Romanche Trench near the Equator and the Gibbs Fracture Zone at 53°N. The MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other.</p><br>
<p>The MAR rises 2 - above the surrounding ocean floor and its rift valley is the divergent boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates in the North Atlantic and the South American and African plates in the South Atlantic. The MAR produces basaltic volcanoes in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, and pillow lava on the ocean floor. The depth of water at the apex of the ridge is less than 2,700 m in most places, while the bottom of the ridge is three times as deep.</p><br>
<p>The MAR is intersected by two perpendicular ridges: the Azores–Gibraltar Transform Fault, the boundary between the Nubian and Eurasian plates, intersects the MAR at the Azores Triple Junction, on either side of the Azores microplate, near the 40°N. A much vaguer, nameless boundary, between the North American and South American plates, intersects the MAR near or just north of the Fifteen-Twenty Fracture Zone, approximately at 16°N.</p><br>
<p>In the 1870s, the Challenger expedition discovered parts of what is now known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, or:</p><br>
<p>The remainder of the ridge was discovered in the 1920s by the German Meteor expedition using echo-sounding equipment. The exploration of the MAR in the 1950s led to the general acceptance of seafloor spreading and plate tectonics.</p><br>
<p>Most of the MAR runs under water but where it reaches the surfaces it has produced volcanic islands. While nine of these have collectively been nominated a World Heritage Site for their geological value, four of them are considered of "Outstanding Universal Value" based on their cultural and natural criteria: Þingvellir, Iceland; Landscape of the Pico Island Vineyard Culture, Portugal; Gough and Inaccessible Islands, United Kingdom; and Brazilian Atlantic Islands: Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas Reserves, Brazil.</p><br>
<h3>Ocean floor</h3><br>
<p>Continental shelves in the Atlantic are wide off Newfoundland, southern-most South America, and north-eastern Europe.</p><br>
<p>In the western Atlantic carbonate platforms dominate large areas, for example the Blake Plateau and Bermuda Rise.</p><br>
<p>The Atlantic is surrounded by passive margins except at a few locations where active margins form deep trenches: the Puerto Rico Trench (8,414 m maximum depth) in the western Pacific and South Sandwich Trench (8,264 m) in the South Atlantic. There are numerous submarine canyons off north-eastern North America, western Europe, and north-western Africa. Some of these canyons extend along the continental rises and farther into the abyssal plains as deep-sea channels.</p><br>
<p>In 1922 a historic moment in cartography and oceanography occurred. The USS Stewart used a Navy Sonic Depth Finder to draw a continuous map across the bed of the Atlantic. This involved little guesswork because the idea of sonar is straight forward with pulses being sent from the vessel, which bounce off the ocean floor, then return to the vessel. The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat with occasional deeps, abyssal plains, trenches, seamounts, basins, plateaus, canyons, and some guyots. Various shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography with few deep channels cut across the continental rise.</p><br>
<p>The mean depth between 60°N and 60°S is 3,730 m, or close to the average for the global ocean, with a modal depth between 4,000 and.</p><br>
<p>In the South Atlantic the Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise form barriers to ocean currents.</p><br>
<p>The Laurentian Abyss is found off the eastern coast of Canada.</p><br>
<h2>Water characteristics</h2><br>
<p>Surface water temperatures, which vary with latitude, current systems, and season and reflect the latitudinal distribution of solar energy, range from below -2 &deg;C to over 30 &deg;C. Maximum temperatures occur north of the equator, and minimum values are found in the polar regions. In the middle latitudes, the area of maximum temperature variations, values may vary by 7 –.</p><br>
<p>From October to June the surface is usually covered with sea ice in the Labrador Sea, Denmark Strait, and Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>The Coriolis effect circulates North Atlantic water in a clockwise direction, whereas South Atlantic water circulates counter-clockwise. The south tides in the Atlantic Ocean are semi-diurnal; that is, two high tides occur during each 24 lunar hours. In latitudes above 40° North some east-west oscillation, known as the North Atlantic oscillation, occurs.</p><br>
<h3>Salinity</h3><br>
<p>On average, the Atlantic is the saltiest major ocean; surface water salinity in the open ocean ranges from 33 to 37 parts per thousand (3.3 – 3.7%) by mass and varies with latitude and season. Evaporation, precipitation, river inflow and sea ice melting influence surface salinity values. Although the lowest salinity values are just north of the equator (because of heavy tropical rainfall), in general the lowest values are in the high latitudes and along coasts where large rivers enter. Maximum salinity values occur at about 25° north and south, in subtropical regions with low rainfall and high evaporation.</p><br>
<p>The high surface salinity in the Atlantic, on which the Atlantic thermohaline circulation is dependent, is maintained by two processes: the Agulhas Leakage/Rings, which brings salty Indian Ocean waters into the South Atlantic, and the "Atmospheric Bridge", which evaporates subtropical Atlantic waters and exports it to the Pacific.</p><br>
<h3>Water masses</h3><br>
<p>The Atlantic Ocean consists of four major, upper water masses with distinct temperature and salinity. The Atlantic Subarctic Upper Water in the northern-most North Atlantic is the source for Subarctic Intermediate Water and North Atlantic Intermediate Water. North Atlantic Central Water can be divided into the Eastern and Western North Atlantic central Water since the western part is strongly affected by the Gulf Stream and therefore the upper layer is closer to underlying fresher subpolar intermediate water. The eastern water is saltier because of its proximity to Mediterranean Water. North Atlantic Central Water flows into South Atlantic Central Water at 15°N.</p><br>
<p>There are five intermediate waters: four low-salinity waters formed at subpolar latitudes and one high-salinity formed through evaporation. Arctic Intermediate Water, flows from north to become the source for North Atlantic Deep Water south of the Greenland-Scotland sill. These two intermediate waters have different salinity in the western and eastern basins. The wide range of salinities in the North Atlantic is caused by the asymmetry of the northern subtropical gyre and the large number of contributions from a wide range of sources: Labrador Sea, Norwegian-Greenland Sea, Mediterranean, and South Atlantic Intermediate Water.</p><br>
<p>The North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) is a complex of four water masses, two that form by deep convection in the open ocean — Classical and Upper Labrador Sea Water — and two that form from the inflow of dense water across the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland sill — Denmark Strait and Iceland-Scotland Overflow Water. Along its path across Earth the composition of the NADW is affected by other water masses, especially Antarctic Bottom Water and Mediterranean Overflow Water.</p><br>
<p>The NADW is fed by a flow of warm shallow water into the northern North Atlantic which is responsible for the anomalous warm climate in Europe. Changes in the formation of NADW have been linked to global climate changes in the past. Since man-made substances were introduced into the environment, the path of the NADW can be traced throughout its course by measuring tritium and radiocarbon from nuclear weapon tests in the 1960s and CFCs.</p><br>
<h3>Gyres</h3><br>
<p>The clockwise warm-water North Atlantic Gyre occupies the northern Atlantic, and the counter-clockwise warm-water South Atlantic Gyre appears in the southern Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>In the North Atlantic surface circulation is dominated by three inter-connected currents: the Gulf Stream which flows north-east from the North American coast at Cape Hatteras; the North Atlantic Current, a branch of the Gulf Stream which flows northward from the Grand Banks; and the Subpolar Front, an extension of the North Atlantic Current, a wide, vaguely defined region separating the subtropical gyre from the subpolar gyre. This system of currents transport warm water into the North Atlantic, without which temperatures in the North Atlantic and Europe would plunge dramatically.</p><br>
<p>North of the North Atlantic Gyre, the cyclonic North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre plays a key role in climate variability. It is governed by ocean currents from marginal seas and regional topography, rather than being steered by wind, both in the deep ocean and at sea level.</p><br>
<p>The subpolar gyre forms an important part of the global thermohaline circulation. Its eastern portion includes eddying branches of the North Atlantic Current which transport warm, saline waters from the subtropics to the north-eastern Atlantic. There this water is cooled during winter and forms return currents that merge along the eastern continental slope of Greenland where they form an intense (40–50 Sv) current which flows around the continental margins of the Labrador Sea. A third of this water become parts of the deep portion of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). The NADW, in its turn, feed the meridional overturning circulation (MOC), the northward heat transport of which is threatened by anthropogenic climate change. Large variations in the subpolar gyre on a decade-century scale, associated with the North Atlantic oscillation, are especially pronounced in Labrador Sea Water, the upper layers of the MOC.</p><br>
<p>The South Atlantic is dominated by the anti-cyclonic southern subtropical gyre. The South Atlantic Central Water originates in this gyre, while Antarctic Intermediate Water originates in the upper layers of the circumpolar region, near the Drake Passage and Falkland Islands. Both these currents receive some contribution from the Indian Ocean. On the African east coast the small cyclonic Angola Gyre lies embedded in the large subtropical gyre.</p><br>
<p>The southern subtropical gyre is partly masked by a wind-induced Ekman layer. The residence time of the gyre is 4.4–8.5 years. North Atlantic Deep Water flows southerward below the thermocline of the subtropical gyre.</p><br>
<h3>Sargasso Sea</h3><br>
<p>The Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic can be defined as the area where two species of Sargassum (S. fluitans and natans) float, an area 4,000 km wide and encircled by the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Drift, and North Equatorial Current. This population of seaweed probably originated from Tertiary ancestors on the European shores of the former Tethys Ocean and has, if so, maintained itself by vegetative growth, floating in the ocean for millions of years.</p><br>
<p>Other species endemic to the Sargasso Sea include the sargassum fish, a predator with algae-like appendages who hovers motionless among the Sargassum. Fossils of similar fishes have been found in fossil bays of the former Tethys Ocean, in what is now the Carpathian region, that were similar to the Sargasso Sea. It is possible that the population in the Sargasso Sea migrated to the Atlantic as the Tethys closed at the end of the Miocene around 17 Ma.</p><br>
<p>The origin of the Sargasso fauna and flora remained enigmatic for centuries. The fossils found in the Carpathians in the mid-20th century, often called the "quasi-Sargasso assemblage", finally showed that this assemblage originated in the Carpathian Basin from were it migrated over Sicily to the Central Atlantic where it evolved into modern species of the Sargasso Sea.</p><br>
<p>The location of the spawning ground for European eels remained unknown for decades. In the early 19th century it was discovered that the southern Sargasso Sea is the spawning ground for both the European and American eel and that the former migrate more than 5,000 km and the latter 2,000 km. Ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream transport eel larvae from the Sargasso Sea to foraging areas in North America, Europe, and Northern Africa. Recent but disputed research suggests that eels possibly use Earth&#39;s magnetic field to navigate through the ocean both as larvae and as adults.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Climate is influenced by the temperatures of the surface waters and water currents as well as winds. Because of the ocean&#39;s great capacity to store and release heat, maritime climates are more moderate and have less extreme seasonal variations than inland climates. Precipitation can be approximated from coastal weather data and air temperature from water temperatures.</p><br>
<p>The oceans are the major source of the atmospheric moisture that is obtained through evaporation. Climatic zones vary with latitude; the warmest zones stretch across the Atlantic north of the equator. The coldest zones are in high latitudes, with the coldest regions corresponding to the areas covered by sea ice. Ocean currents influence climate by transporting warm and cold waters to other regions. The winds that are cooled or warmed when blowing over these currents influence adjacent land areas.</p><br>
<p>The Gulf Stream and its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift is thought to have at least some influence on climate. For example, the Gulf Stream helps moderate winter temperatures along the coastline of southeastern North America, keeping it warmer in winter along the coast than inland areas. The Gulf Stream also keeps extreme temperatures from occurring on the Florida Peninsula. In the higher latitudes, the North Atlantic Drift, warms the atmosphere over the oceans, keeping the British Isles and north-western Europe mild and cloudy, and not severely cold in winter like other locations at the same high latitude. The cold water currents contribute to heavy fog off the coast of eastern Canada (the Grand Banks of Newfoundland area) and Africa&#39;s north-western coast. In general, winds transport moisture and air over land areas.</p><br>
<h3>Natural hazards</h3><br>
<p>Icebergs are common from February to August in the Davis Strait, Denmark Strait, and the northwestern Atlantic and have been spotted as far south as Bermuda and Madeira. Ships are subject to superstructure icing in the extreme north from October to May. Persistent fog can be a maritime hazard from May to September, as can hurricanes north of the equator (May to December).</p><br>
<p>The United States&#39; southeast coast, especially the Virginia and North Carolina coasts, has a long history of shipwrecks due to its many shoals and reefs.</p><br>
<p>The Bermuda Triangle is popularly believed to be the site of numerous aviation and shipping incidents because of unexplained and supposedly mysterious causes, but Coast Guard records do not support this belief.</p><br>
<p>Hurricanes are also a natural hazard in the Atlantic, but mainly in the northern part of the ocean, rarely tropical cyclones form in the southern parts. Hurricanes usually form annually between June and November.</p><br>
<h2>Plate tectonics</h2><br>
<h3>Central Atlantic</h3><br>
<p>The break-up of Pangaea began in the Central Atlantic, between North America and Northwest Africa, where rift basins opened during the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. This period also saw the first stages of the uplift of the Atlas Mountains. The exact timing is controversial with estimates ranging from 200 to 170 Ma.</p><br>
<p>The opening of the Atlantic Ocean coincided with the initial break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea, both of which were initiated by the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP), one of the most extensive and voluminous large igneous provinces in Earths history associated with the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, one of Earths major extinction events.</p><br>
<p>Theoliitic dikes, sills, and lava flows from the CAMP eruption at 200 Ma have been found in West Africa, eastern North America, and northern South America. The extent of the volcanism has been estimated to 4.5e6 km&sup2; of which 2.5e6 km&sup2; covered what is now northern and central Brazil.</p><br>
<p>The formation of the Central American Isthmus closed the Central American Seaway at the end of the Pliocene 2.8 Ma ago. The formation of the isthmus resulted in the migration and extinction of many land-living animals, known as the Great American Interchange, but the closure of the seaway resulted in a "Great American Schism" as it affected ocean currents, salinity, and temperatures in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Marine organisms on both sides of the isthmus became isolated and either diverged or went extinct.</p><br>
<h3></h3><br>
<p>Geologically the Northern Atlantic is the area delimited to the south by two conjugate margins, Newfoundland and Iberia, and to the north by the Arctic Eurasian Basin. The opening of the Northern Atlantic closely followed the margins of its predecessor, the Iapetus Ocean, and spread from the Central Atlantic in six stages: Iberia–Newfoundland, Porcupine–North America, Eurasia–Greenland, Eurasia–North America. Active and inactive spreading systems in this area are marked by the interaction with the Iceland hotspot.</p><br>
<h3>South Atlantic</h3><br>
<p>West Gondwana (South America and Africa) broke up in the Early Cretaceous to form the South Atlantic. The apparent fit between the coastlines of the two continents was noted on the first maps that included the South Atlantic and it was also the subject of the first computer-assisted plate tectonic reconstructions in 1965. This magnificent fit, however, has since then proven problematic and later reconstructions have introduced various deformation zones along the shorelines to accommodate the northward-propagating break-up.</p><br>
<p>Geologically the South Atlantic can be divided into four segments: Equatorial segment, from 10°N to the Romanche Fracture Zone (RFZ) Central segment, from RFZ to Florianopolis Fracture Zone (FFZ, north of Walvis Ridge and Rio Grande Rise); Southern segment, from FFZ to the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ); and Falkland segment, south of AFFZ.</p><br>
<p>In the southern segment the Early Cretaceous (133–130 Ma) intensive magmatism of the Paraná–Etendeka Large Igneous Province produced by the Tristan hotspot resulted in an estimated volume of 1.5e6 to 2.0e6 km3. It covered an area of 1.2e6 to 1.6e6 square kilometers in Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay and 0.8e5 km&sup2; in Africa. Dyke swarms in Brazil, Angola, eastern Paraguay, and Namibia, however, suggest the LIP originally covered a much larger area and also indicate failed rifts in all these areas. Associated offshore basaltic flows reach as far south as the Falkland Islands and South Africa. Traces of magmatism in both offshore and onshore basins in the central and southern segments have been dated to 147–49 Ma with two peaks between 143–121 Ma and 90–60 Ma.</p><br>
<p>In the Falkland segment rifting began with dextral movements between the Patagonia and Colorado sub-plates between the Early Jurassic (190 Ma) and the Early Cretaceous (126.7 Ma). Around 150 Ma sea-floor spreading propagated northward into the southern segment. No later than 130 Ma rifting had reached the Walvis Ridge–Rio Grande Rise.</p><br>
<p>In the central segment rifting started to break Africa in two by opening the Benue Trough around 118 Ma. Rifting in the central segment, however, coincided with the Cretaceous Normal Superchron (also known as the Cretaceous quiet period), a 40 Ma period without magnetic reversals, which makes it difficult to date sea-floor spreading in this segment.</p><br>
<p>The equatorial segment is the last phase of the break-up, but, because it is located on the Equator, magnetic anomalies cannot be used for dating. Various estimates date the propagation of sea-floor spreading in this segment to the period 120–96 Ma. This final stage, nevertheless, coincided with or resulted in the end of continental extension in Africa.</p><br>
<p>About 50 Ma the opening of the Drake Passage resulted from a change in the motions and separation rate of the South American and Antarctic plates. First small ocean basins opened and a shallow gateway appeared during the Middle Eocene. 34–30 Ma a deeper seaway developed, followed by an Eocene–Oligocene climatic deterioration and the growth of the Antarctic ice sheet.</p><br>
<h3>Closure of the Atlantic</h3><br>
<p>An embryonic subduction margin is potentially developing west of Gibraltar. The Gibraltar Arc in the western Mediterranean is migrating westward into the Central Atlantic where it joins the converging African and Eurasian plates. Together these three tectonic forces are slowly developing into a new subduction system in the eastern Atlantic Basin. Meanwhile, the Scotia Arc and Caribbean Plate in the western Atlantic Basin are eastward-propagating subduction systems that might, together with the Gibraltar system, represent the beginning of the closure of the Atlantic Ocean and the final stage of the Atlantic Wilson Cycle.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Human origin</h3><br>
<p>Humans evolved in Africa; first by diverging from other apes around 7 Ma; then developing stone tools around 2.6 Ma; to finally evolve as modern humans around 100 kya. The earliest evidences for the complex behavior associated with this behavioral modernity has been found in the Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) along the coast of South Africa. During the latest glacial stages the now-submerged plains of the Agulhas Bank were exposed above sea level, extending the South African coastline farther south by hundreds of kilometers. A small population of modern humans — probably fewer than a thousand reproducing individuals — survived glacial maxima by exploring the high diversity offered by these Palaeo-Agulhas plains. The GCFR is delimited to the north by the Cape Fold Belt and the limited space south of it resulted in the development of social networks out of which complex Stone Age technologies emerged. Human history thus begins on the coasts of South Africa where the Atlantic Benguela Upwelling and Indian Ocean Agulhas Current meet to produce an intertidal zone on which shellfish, fur seal, fishes and sea birds provided the necessary protein sources.</p><br>
<p>The African origin of this modern behaviour is evidenced by 70,000 years-old engravings from Blombos Cave, South Africa.</p><br>
<h3>Old World</h3><br>
<p>Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) studies indicate that 80–60,000 years ago a major demographic expansion within Africa, derived from a single, small population, coincided with the emergence of behavioral complexity and the rapid MIS 5–4 environmental changes. This group of people not only expanded over the whole of Africa, but also started to disperse out of Africa into Asia, Europe, and Australasia around 65,000 years ago and quickly replaced the archaic humans in these regions. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) 20,000 years ago humans had to abandon their initial settlements along the European North Atlantic coast and retreat to the Mediterranean. Following rapid climate changes at the end of the LGM this region was repopulated by Magdalenian culture. Other hunter-gatherers followed in waves interrupted by large-scale hazards such as the Laacher See volcanic eruption, the inundation of Doggerland (now the North Sea), and the formation of the Baltic Sea. The European coasts of the North Atlantic were permanently populated about 9–8.5 thousand years ago.</p><br>
<p>This human dispersal left abundant traces along the coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. 50 ka-old, deeply stratified shell middens found in Ysterfontein on the western coast of South Africa are associated with the Middle Stone Age (MSA). The MSA population was small and dispersed and the rate of their reproduction and exploitation was less intense than those of later generations. While their middens resemble 12–11 ka-old Late Stone Age (LSA) middens found on every inhabited continent, the 50–45 ka-old Enkapune Ya Muto in Kenya probably represents the oldest traces of the first modern humans to disperse out of Africa.</p><br>
<p>The same development can be seen in Europe. In La Riera Cave (23–13 ka) in Asturias, Spain, only some 26,600 molluscs were deposited over 10 ka. In contrast, 8–7 ka-old shell middens in Portugal, Denmark, and Brazil generated thousands of tons of debris and artefacts. The Ertebølle middens in Denmark, for example, accumulated 2,000 m&sup3; of shell deposits representing some 50 million molluscs over only a thousand years. This intensification in the exploitation of marine resources has been described as accompanied by new technologies — such as boats, harpoons, and fish-hooks — because many caves found in the Mediterranean and on the European Atlantic coast have increased quantities of marine shells in their upper levels and reduced quantities in their lower. The earliest exploitation, however, took place on the now submerged shelves, and most settlements now excavated were then located several kilometers from these shelves. The reduced quantities of shells in the lower levels can represent the few shells that were exported inland.</p><br>
<h3>New World</h3><br>
<p>During the LGM the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of northern North America while Beringia connected Siberia to Alaska. In 1973 late USA geoscientist Paul S. Martin proposed a "blitzkrieg" colonization of America by which Clovis hunters migrated into North America around 13,000 years ago in a single wave through an ice-free corridor in the ice sheet and "spread southward explosively, briefly attaining a density sufficiently large to overkill much of their prey." Others later proposed a "three-wave" migration over the Bering Land Bridge. These hypotheses remained the long-held view regarding the settlement of the Americas, a view challenged by more recent archaeological discoveries: the oldest archaeological sites in the Americas have been found in South America; sites in north-east Siberia report virtually no human presence there during the LGM; and most Clovis artefacts have been found in eastern North America along the Atlantic coast. Furthermore, colonisation models based on mtDNA, yDNA, and atDNA data respectively support neither the "blitzkrieg" nor the "three-wave" hypotheses but they also deliver mutually ambiguous results. Contradictory data from archaeology and genetics will most likely deliver future hypotheses that will, eventually, confirm each other. A proposed route across the Pacific to South America could explain early South American finds and another hypothesis proposes a northern path, through the Canadian Arctic and down the North American Atlantic coast.</p><br>
<p>Early settlements across the Atlantic have been suggested by alternative theories, ranging from purely hypothetical to mostly disputed, including the Solutrean hypothesis and some of the Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories.</p><br>
<p>The Norse settlement of the Faroe Islands and Iceland began during the 9th and 10th centuries. A settlement on Greenland was established before 1000 CE, but contact with it was lost in 1409 and it was finally abandoned during the early Little Ice Age. This setback was caused by a range of factors: an unsustainable economy resulted in erosion and denudation, while conflicts with the local Inuit resulted in the failure to adapt their Arctic technologies; a colder climate resulted in starvation; and the colony got economically marginalized as the Great Plague and Barbary pirates harvested its victims on Iceland in the 15th century.</p><br>
<p>Iceland was initially settled 865–930 CE following a warm period when winter temperatures hovered around 2 &deg;C which made farming favorable at high latitudes. This did not last, however, and temperatures quickly dropped; at 1080 CE summer temperatures had reached a maximum of 5 &deg;C. The Landnámabók (Book of Settlement) records disastrous famines during the first century of settlement — "men ate foxes and ravens" and "the old and helpless were killed and thrown over cliffs" — and by the early 1200s hay had to be abandoned for short-season crops such as barley.</p><br>
<h3>Atlantic World</h3><br>
<p>Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas in 1492 under Spanish flag. Six years later Vasco da Gama reached India under Portuguese flag, by navigating south around the Cape of Good Hope, thus proving that the Atlantic and Indian Oceans are connected. In 1500, in his voyage to India following Vasco da Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral reached Brazil, taken by the currents of the South Atlantic Gyre. Following these explorations, Spain and Portugal quickly conquered and colonized large territories in the New World and forced the Native American population into slavery in order to explore the vast quantities of silver and gold they found. Spain and Portugal monopolized this trade in order to keep other European nations out, but conflicting interests nevertheless led to a series of Spanish-Portuguese wars. A peace treaty mediated by the Pope divided the conquered territories into Spanish and Portuguese sectors while keeping other colonial powers away. England, France, and the Dutch Republic enviously watched the Spanish and Portuguese wealth grow and allied themselves with pirates such as Henry Mainwaring and Alexandre Exquemelin. They could explore the convoys leaving America because prevailing winds and currents made the transport of heavy metals slow and predictable.</p><br>
<p>In the American colonies depredation, disease, and slavery quickly reduced the indigenous American population to the extent that the Atlantic slave trade had to be introduced to replace them — a trade that became norm and an integral part of the colonization. Between the 15th century and 1888, when Brazil became the last part of America to end slave trade, an estimated ten million Africans were exported as slaves, most of them destined for agricultural labour. The slave trade was officially abolished in the British Empire and the United States in 1808, and slavery itself was abolished in the British Empire in 1838 and in the USA in 1865 after the Civil War.</p><br>
<p>From Columbus to the Industrial Revolution Trans-Atlantic trade, including colonialism and slavery, became crucial for Western Europe. For European countries with a direct access to the Atlantic (including Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain) 1500–1800 was a period of sustained growth during which these countries grew richer than those in Eastern Europe and Asia. Colonialism evolved as part of the Trans-Atlantic trade, but this trade also strengthened the position of merchant groups at the expense of monarchs. Growth was more rapid in non-absolutist countries, such as Britain and the Netherlands, and more limited in absolutist monarchies, such as Portugal, Spain, and France, where profit mostly or exclusively benefited the monarchy and its allies.</p><br>
<p>Trans-Atlantic trade also resulted in an increasing urbanization: in European countries facing the Atlantic urbanization grew from 8% in 1300, 10.1% in 1500, to 24.5% in 1850; in other European countries from 10% in 1300, 11.4% in 1500, to 17% in 1850. Likewise, GDP doubled in Atlantic countries but rose by only 30% in the rest of Europe. By end of the 17th century the volume of the Trans-Atlantic trade had surpassed that of the Mediterranean trade.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>The Atlantic has contributed significantly to the development and economy of surrounding countries. Besides major transatlantic transportation and communication routes, the Atlantic offers abundant petroleum deposits in the sedimentary rocks of the continental shelves.</p><br>
<p>The Atlantic harbors petroleum and gas fields, fish, marine mammals (seals and whales), sand and gravel aggregates, placer deposits, polymetallic nodules, and precious stones.</p><br>
<p>Gold deposits are a mile or two under water on the ocean floor, however the deposits are also encased in rock that must be mined through. Currently, there is no cost-effective way to mine or extract gold from the ocean to make a profit.</p><br>
<p>Various international treaties attempt to reduce pollution caused by environmental threats such as oil spills, marine debris, and the incineration of toxic wastes at sea.</p><br>
<h3>Fisheries</h3><br>
<p>The shelves of the Atlantic hosts one of the world&#39;s richest fishing resources. The most productive areas include the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, the Scotian Shelf, Georges Bank off Cape Cod, the Bahama Banks, the waters around Iceland, the Irish Sea, the Bay of Fundy, the Dogger Bank of the North Sea, and the Falkland Banks.</p><br>
<p>Fisheries have, however, undergone significant changes since the 1950s and global catches can now be divided into three groups of which only two are observed in the Atlantic: fisheries in the Eastern Central and South-West Atlantic oscillate around a globally stable value, the rest of the Atlantic is in overall decline following historical peaks. The third group, "continuously increasing trend since 1950", is only found in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.</p><br>
<p>In the North-East Atlantic total catches decreased between the mid-1970s and the 1990s and reached 8.7 million tons in 2013. Blue whiting reached a 2.4 million tons peak in 2004 but was down to 628,000 tons in 2013. Recovery plans for cod, sole, and plaice have reduced mortality in these species. Arctic cod reached its lowest levels in the 1960s–1980s but is now recovered. Arctic saithe and haddock are considered fully fished; Sand eel is overfished as was capelin which has now recovered to fully fished. Limited data makes the state of redfishes and deep-water species difficult to assess but most likely they remain vulnerable to overfishing. Stocks of northern shrimp and Norwegian lobster are in good condition. In the North-East Atlantic 21% of stocks are considered overfished.</p><br>
<p>In the North-West Atlantic landings have decreased from 4.2 million tons in the early 1970s to 1.9 million tons in 2013. During the 21th century some species have shown weak signs of recovery, including Greenland halibut, yellowtail flounder, Atlantic halibut, haddock, spiny dogfish, while other stocks shown no such signs, including cod, witch flounder, and redfish. Stocks of invertebrates, in contrast, remain at record levels of abundance. 31% of stocks are overfished in the North-west Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>In 1497 John Cabot became the first to explore mainland North America and one of his major discoveries was the abundant resources of Atlantic cod off Newfoundland. Referred to as "Newfoundland Currency" this discovery supplied mankind with some 200 million tons of fish over five centuries. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries new fisheries started to exploit haddock, mackerel, and lobster. From the 1950s to the 1970s the introduction of European and Asian distant-water fleets in the area dramatically increased the fishing capacity and number of exploited species. It also expanded the exploited areas from near-shore to the open sea and to great depths to include deep-water species such as redfish, Greenland halibut, witch flounder, and grenadiers. Overfishing in the area was recognised as early as the 1960s but, because this was occurring on international waters, it took until the late 1970s before any attempts to regulate was made. In the early 1990s this finally resulted in the collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery. The population of a number of deep-sea fishes also collapsed in the process, including American plaice, redfish, and Greenland halibut, together with flounder and grenadier.</p><br>
<p>In the Eastern Central Atlantic small pelagic fishes constitute about 50% of landings with sardine reaching 0.6–1.0 million tons per year. Pelagic fish stocks are considered fully fishes or overfished, with sardines south of Cape Bojador the notable exception. Almost half of stocks are fished at biologically unsustainable levels. Total catches have been fluctuating since the 1970s; reaching 3.9 million tons in 2013 or slightly less than the peak production in 2010.</p><br>
<p>In the Western Central Atlantic catches have been decreasing since 2000 and reached 1.3 million tons in 2013. The most important species in the area, Gulf menhaden, reached a million tons in the mid-1980s but only half a million tons in 2013 and is now considered fully fished. Round sardinella was an important species in the 1990s but is now considered overfished. Groupers and snappers are overfished and northern brown shrimp and American cupped oyster are considered fully fished approaching overfished. 44% of stocks are being fished at unsustainable levels.</p><br>
<p>In the South-East Atlantic catches have decreased from 3.3 million tons in the early 1970s to 1.3 million tons in 2013. Horse mackerel and hake are the most important species, together representing almost half of the landings. Off South Africa and Namibia deep-water hake and shallow-water Cape hake have recovered to sustainable levels since regulations were introduced in 2006 and the states of Southern African pilchard and anchovy have improved to fully fished in 2013.</p><br>
<p>In the South-West Atlantic a peak was reached in the mid-1980s and catches now fluctuate between 1.7 and 2.6 million tons. The most important species, the Argentine shortfin squid, which reached half a million tons in 2013 or half the peak value, is considered fully fished to overfished. Another important species was the Brazilian sardinella, with a production of 100,000 tons in 2013 it is now considered overfished. Half the stocks in this area are being fished at unsustainable levels: Whitehead’s round herring has not yet reached fully fished but Cunene horse mackerel is overfished. The sea snail perlemoen abalone is targeted by illegal fishing and remain overfished.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues</h2><br>
<p>Endangered marine species include the manatee, seals, sea lions, turtles, and whales. Drift net fishing can kill dolphins, albatrosses and other seabirds (petrels, auks), hastening the fish stock decline and contributing to international disputes. Municipal pollution comes from the eastern United States, southern Brazil, and eastern Argentina; oil pollution in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Maracaibo, Mediterranean Sea, and North Sea; and industrial waste and municipal sewage pollution in the Baltic Sea, North Sea, and Mediterranean Sea.</p><br>
<p>North Atlantic hurricane activity has increased over past decades because of increased sea surface temperature (SST) at tropical latitudes, changes that can be attributed to either the natural Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) or to anthropogenic climate change.</p><br>
<p>A 2005 report indicated that the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) slowed down by 30% between 1957 and 2004. If the AMO were responsible for SST variability, the AMOC would have increased in strength, which is apparently not the case. Furthermore, it is clear from statistical analyses of annual tropical cyclones that these changes do not display multidecadal cyclicity. Therefore, these changes in SST must be caused by human activities.</p><br>
<p>The ocean mixed layer plays an important role heat storage over seasonal and decadal time-scales, whereas deeper layers are affected over millennia and has a heat capacity about 50 times that of the mixed layer. This heat uptake provides a time-lag for climate change but it also results in a thermal expansion of the oceans which contribute to sea-level rise. 21st century global warming will probably result in an equilibrium sea-level rise five times greater than today, whilst melting of glaciers, including that of the Greenland ice-sheet, expected to have virtually no effect during the 21st century, will probably result in a sea-level rise of 3–6 m over a millennium.</p><br>
<p>On 7 June 2006, Floridas wildlife commission voted to take the manatee off the states endangered species list. Some environmentalists worry that this could erode safeguards for the popular sea creature.</p><br>
<p>Marine pollution is a generic term for the entry into the ocean of potentially hazardous chemicals or particles. The biggest culprits are rivers and with them many agriculture fertilizer chemicals as well as livestock and human waste. The excess of oxygen-depleting chemicals leads to hypoxia and the creation of a dead zone.</p><br>
<p>Marine debris, which is also known as marine litter, describes human-created waste floating in a body of water. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the center of gyres and coastlines, frequently washing aground where it is known as beach litter.</p><br>
<p>The Alps  are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km across eight Alpine countries : France, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn. Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,810 m is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres .</p><br>
<p>The altitude and size of the range affects the climate in Europe; in the mountains precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m, and plants such as Edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations. Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man, determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.</p><br>
<p>By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal famously crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks. In World War II, Adolf Hitler kept a base of operation in the Bavarian Alps throughout the war.</p><br>
<p>The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. The traditional culture of farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still exists in Alpine villages, although the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded greatly after World War II to become the dominant industry by the end of the century. The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. At present, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology and toponymy</h2><br>
<p>The English word Alps derives from the Latin Alpes (through French). Maurus Servius Honoratus, an ancient commentator of Virgil, says in his commentary (A. X 13) that all high mountains are called Alpes by Celts. The term may be common to Italo-Celtic, because the Celtic languages have terms for high mountains derived from alp.</p><br>
<p>This may be consistent with the theory that in Greek Alpes is a name of non-Indo-European origin (which is common for prominent mountains and mountain ranges in the Mediterranean region). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Latin Alpes might possibly derive from a pre-Indo-European word *alb "hill&quot "Albania" is a related derivation. Albania, a name not native to the region known as the country of Albania, has been used as a name for a number of mountainous areas across Europe. In Roman times, "Albania" was a name for the eastern Caucasus, while in the English languages "Albania" (or "Albany") was occasionally used as a name for Scotland, although many scholars point out this is more likely derived from the Latin albus, the color white.</p><br>
<p>In modern languages the term alp, alm, albe or alpe refers to a grazing pastures in the alpine regions below the glaciers, not the peaks. An alp refers to a high mountain pasture where cows are taken to be grazed during the summer months and where hay barns can be found, and the term "the Alps", referring to the mountains, is a misnomer. The term for the mountain peaks varies by nation and language: words such as Horn, Kogel, Kopf, Gipfel, Spitze, Stock, and Berg are used in German speaking regions; Mont, Pic, Tête, Pointe, Dent, Roche, and Aiguille in French speaking regions; and Monte, Picco, Corno, Punta, Pizzo, or Cima in Italian speaking regions.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Alps are a crescent shaped geographic feature of central Europe that ranges in a 800 km arc from east to west and is 200 km in width. The mean height of the mountain peaks is 2.5 km. In areas like Chiasso, Switzerland, and Allgäu, Bavaria, the demarcation between the mountain range and the flatlands are clear; in other places such as Geneva, the demarcation is less clear. The countries with the greatest alpine territory are Switzerland, France, Austria and Italy.</p><br>
<p>The highest portion of the range is divided by the glacial trough of the Rhône valley, with the Pennine Alps from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa on the southern side, and the Bernese Alps on the northern. The peaks in the easterly portion of the range, in Austria and Slovenia, are smaller than those in the central and western portions.</p><br>
<p>The variances in nomenclature in the region spanned by the Alps makes classification of the mountains and subregions difficult, but a general classification is that of the Eastern Alps and Western Alps with the divide between the two occurring in eastern Switzerland according to geologist Stefan Schmid, near the Splügen Pass.</p><br>
<p>The highest peaks of the Western Alps and Eastern Alps, respectively, are Mont Blanc, at 4,810 m and Piz Bernina at 4,049 m. The second-highest major peaks are Monte Rosa at 4,634 m and Ortler at 3,905 m, respectively</p><br>
<p>Series of lower mountain ranges run parallel to the main chain of the Alps, including the French Prealps in France and the Jura Mountains in Switzerland and France. The secondary chain of the Alps follows the watershed from the Mediterranean Sea to the Wienerwald, passing over many of the highest and most well-known peaks in the Alps. From the Colle di Cadibona to Col de Tende it runs westwards, before turning to the northwest and then, near the Colle della Maddalena, to the north. Upon reaching the Swiss border, the line of the main chain heads approximately east-northeast, a heading it follows until its end near Vienna.</p><br>
<h2>Passes</h2><br>
<p>The Alps have been crossed for war and commerce, and by pilgrims, students and tourists. Crossing routes by road, train or foot are known as passes, and usually consist of depressions in the mountains in which a valley leads from the plains and hilly pre-mountainous zones. In the medieval period hospices were established by religious orders at the summits of many of the main passes.</p><br>
<p>Crossing the Italian-Austrian border, the Brenner Pass separates the Ötztal Alps and Zillertal Alps and has been in use as a trading route since the 14th century. The lowest of the Alpine passes at 985 m, the Semmering crosses from Lower Austria to Styria; since the 12th century when a hospice was built there it has seen continuous use. A railroad with a tunnel 1 mi long was built along the route of the pass in the mid-19th century. With a summit of 2,469 m, the Great St. Bernard Pass is one of the highest in the Alps, crossing the Italian-Swiss border east of the Pennine Alps along the flanks of Mont Blanc. The pass was used by Napoleon Bonaparte to cross 40,000 troops in 1800.</p><br>
<p>The Mont Cenis pass has been a major commercial and military road between Western Europe and Italy. The pass was crossed by many troops on their way to the Italian peninsula. From Constantine I, Pepin the Short and Charlemagne to Henry IV, Napoléon and more recently the German Gebirgsjägers during World War II.</p><br>
<p>Now the pass has been supplanted by the Fréjus Road (opened 1980) and Rail Tunnel (opened 1871).</p><br>
<p>The Saint Gotthard Pass crosses from Central Switzerland to Ticino; in 1882 the 15 km long Saint Gotthard Railway Tunnel was opened connecting Lucerne in Switzerland, with Milan in Italy. 98 years later followed Gotthard Road Tunnel (16.9 km long) connecting the A2 motorway in Göschenen on the German-Swiss side with Airolo on the Italian-Swiss side, exactly like the railway tunnel. On 1 June 2016 the world&#39;s longest railway tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel was opened, which connects Erstfeld in canton of Uri with Bodio in canton of Ticino by two single tubes of 57.09 km. It is the first tunnel, which traverses the Alps on ground level. From 11 December 2016 it will be part of the official railway timetable for 2017 and be used hourly as standard way to ride between Basel/Luzern/Zurich and Bellinzona/Lugano/Milano.</p><br>
<p>The highest pass in the alps is the col de l&#39;Iseran in Savoy (France) at 2,770 m, followed by the Stelvio Pass in northern Italy at 2,756 m; the road was built in the 1820s.</p><br>
<h2>Orogeny and geology</h2><br>
<p>Important geological concepts were established as naturalists began studying the rock formations of the Alps in the 18th century. In the mid-19th century the now defunct theory of geosynclines was used to explain the presence of "folded" mountain chains but by the mid-20th century the theory of plate tectonics became widely accepted.</p><br>
<p>The formation of the Alps (the Alpine orogeny) was an episodic process that began about 300 million years ago. In the Paleozoic Era the Pangaean supercontinent consisted of a single tectonic plate; it broke into separate plates during the Mesozoic Era and the Tethys sea developed between Laurasia and Gondwana during the Jurassic Period. The Tethys was later squeezed between colliding plates causing the formation of mountain ranges called the Alpide belt, from Gibraltar through the Himalayas to Indonesia—a process that began at the end of the Mesozoic and continues into the present. The formation of the Alps was a segment of this orogenic process,</p><br>
<p>Under extreme compressive stresses and pressure, marine sedimentary rocks were uplifted, creating characteristic recumbent folds, or nappes, and thrust faults. As the rising peaks underwent erosion, a layer of marine flysch sediments was deposited in the foreland basin, and the sediments became involved in younger nappes (folds) as the orogeny progressed. Coarse sediments from the continual uplift and erosion were later deposited in foreland areas as molasse. The molasse regions in Switzerland and Bavaria were well-developed and saw further upthrusting of flysch.</p><br>
<p>The Alpine orogeny occurred in ongoing cycles through to the Paleogene causing differences in nappe structures, with a late-stage orogeny causing the development of the Jura Mountains. A series of tectonic events in the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods caused different paleogeographic regions. The Alps are subdivided by different lithology (rock composition) and nappe structure according to the orogenic events that affected them. The geological subdivision differentiates the Western, Eastern Alps and Southern Alps: the Helveticum in the north, the Penninicum and Austroalpine system in the centre and, south of the Periadriatic Seam, the Southern Alpine system.</p><br>
<p>According to geologist Stefan Schmid, because the Western Alps underwent a metamorphic event in the Cenozoic Era while the Austroalpine peaks underwent an event in the Cretaceous Period, the two areas show distinct differences in nappe formations. Flysch deposits in the Southern Alps of Lombardy probably occurred in the Cretaceous or later.</p><br>
<p>Peaks in France, Italy and Switzerland lie in the "Houillière zone", which consists of basement with sediments from the Mesozoic Era. High "massifs" with external sedimentary cover are more common in the Western Alps and were affected by Neogene Period thin-skinned thrusting whereas the Eastern Alps have comparatively few high peaked massifs.</p><br>
<p>In simple terms the structure of the Alps consists of layers of rock of European, African and oceanic (Tethyan) origin. The bottom nappe structure is of continental European origin, above which are stacked marine sediment nappes, topped off by nappes derived from the African plate. The Matterhorn is an example of the ongoing orogeny and shows evidence of great folding. The tip of the mountain consists of gneisses from the African plate; the base of the peak, below the glaciated area, consists of European basement rock. The sequence of Tethyan marine sediments and their oceanic basement is sandwiched between rock derived from the African and European plates.</p><br>
<p>The core regions of the Alpine orogenic belt have been folded and fractured in such a manner that erosion created the characteristic steep vertical peaks of the Swiss Alps that rise seemingly straight out of the foreland areas. Peaks such as Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, and high peaks in the Pennine Alps, the Briançonnais, and Hohe Tauern consist of layers of rock from the various orogenies including exposures of basement rock.</p><br>
<h2>"Four-thousanders" and ascents</h2><br>
<p>The Union Internationale des Associations d&#39;Alpinisme (UIAA) has defined a list of 82 "official" Alpine summits that reach at least 4,000 m. The list includes not only mountains, but also subpeaks with little prominence that are considered important mountaineering objectives. Below are listed the 22 "four-thousanders" with at least 500 m of prominence.</p><br>
<p>While Mont Blanc was first climbed in 1786, most of the Alpine four-thousanders were climbed during the second half of the 19th century; the ascent of the Matterhorn in 1865 marked the end of the golden age of alpinism. Karl Blodig (1859–1956) was among the first to successfully climb all the major 4,000 m peaks. He completed his series of ascents in 1911.</p><br>
<p>The first British Mont Blanc ascent was in 1788; the first female ascent in 1819. By the mid-1850s Swiss mountaineers had ascended most of the peaks and were eagerly sought as mountain guides. Edward Whymper reached the top of the Matterhorn in 1865 (after seven attempts), and in 1938 the last of the six great north faces of the Alps was climbed with the first ascent of the Eiger Nordwand (north face of the Eiger).</p><br>
<h2>Minerals</h2><br>
<p>The Alps are a source of minerals that have been mined for thousands of years. In the 8th to 6th centuries BC during the Hallstatt culture, Celtic tribes mined copper; later the Romans mined gold for coins in the Bad Gastein area. Erzberg in Styria furnishes high-quality iron ore for the steel industry. Crystals are found throughout much of the Alpine region such as cinnabar, amethyst, and quartz. The cinnabar deposits in Slovenia are a notable source of cinnabar pigments.</p><br>
<p>Alpine crystals have been studied and collected for hundreds of years, and began to be classified in the 18th century. Leonhard Euler studied the shapes of crystals, and by the 19th century crystal hunting was common in Alpine regions. David Friedrich Wiser amassed a collection of 8000 crystals that he studied and documented. In the 20th century Robert Parker wrote a well-known work about the rock crystals of the Swiss Alps; at the same period a commission was established to control and standardize the naming of Alpine minerals.</p><br>
<h2>Glaciers</h2><br>
<p>In the Miocene Epoch the mountains underwent severe erosion because of glaciation,</p><br>
<p>Agassiz studied glacier movement in the 1840s at the Unteraar Glacier where he found the glacier moved 100 m per year, more rapidly in the middle than at the edges. His work was continued by other scientists and now a permanent laboratory exists inside a glacier under the Jungfraujoch, devoted exclusively to the study of Alpine glaciers.</p><br>
<p>Glaciers pick up rocks and sediment with them as they flow. This causes erosion and the formation of valleys over time. The Inn valley is an example of a valley carved by glaciers during the ice ages with a typical terraced structure caused by erosion. Eroded rocks from the most recent ice age lie at the bottom of the valley while the top of the valley consists of erosion from earlier ice ages. Moraines, piles of rock picked up during the movement of the glacier, accumulate at edges, centre and the terminus of glaciers.</p><br>
<p>Alpine glaciers can be straight rivers of ice, long sweeping rivers, spread in a fan-like shape (Piedmont glaciers), and curtains of ice that hang from vertical slopes of the mountain peaks. The stress of the movement causes the ice to break and crack loudly, perhaps explaining why the mountains were believed to be home to dragons in the medieval period. The cracking creates unpredictable and dangerous crevasses, often invisible under new snowfall, which cause the greatest danger to mountaineers.</p><br>
<p>Glaciers end in ice caves (the Rhône Glacier), by trailing into a lake or river, or by shedding snowmelt on a meadow. Sometimes a piece of glacier will detach or break resulting in flooding, property damage and loss of life. In the 17th century about 2500 people were killed by an avalanche in a village on the French-Italian border; in the 19th century 120 homes in a village near Zermatt were destroyed by an avalanche.</p><br>
<p>High levels of precipitation cause the glaciers to descend to permafrost levels in some areas whereas in other, more arid regions, glaciers remain above about the 3,500 m level. The 1,817 km&sup2; of the Alps covered by glaciers in 1876 had shrunk to 1,342 km&sup2; by 1973, resulting in decreased river run-off levels. Forty percent of the glaciation in Austria has disappeared since 1850, and 30% of that in Switzerland.</p><br>
<h2>Rivers and lakes</h2><br>
<p>The Alps provide lowland Europe with drinking water, irrigation, and hydroelectric power. Although the area is only about 11 percent of the surface area of Europe, the Alps provide up to 90 percent of water to lowland Europe, particularly to arid areas and during the summer months. Cities such as Milan depend on 80 percent of water from Alpine runoff. Water from the rivers is used in over 500 hydroelectricity power plants, generating as much as 2900 GWh of electricity.</p><br>
<p>Major European rivers flow from Switzerland, such as the Rhine, the Rhône, the Inn, the Ticino and the Po, all of which have headwaters in the Alps and flow into neighbouring countries, finally emptying into the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea. Other rivers such as the Danube have major tributaries flowing into them that originate in the Alps. The Rhine originates in a 30 square kilometre area in Switzerland and represents almost 60 percent of water exported from the country.</p><br>
<p>The rivers form lakes, such as Lake Geneva, a crescent shaped lake crossing the Swiss border with Lausanne on the Swiss side and the town of Evian-les-Bains on the French side. In Germany, the medieval St. Bartholomew&#39;s chapel was built on the south side of the Königssee, accessible only by boat or by climbing over the abutting peaks.</p><br>
<p>Scientists have been studying the impact of climate change and water use. For example, each year more water is diverted from rivers for snowmaking in the ski resorts, the effect of which is yet unknown. Furthermore, the decrease of glaciated areas combined with a succession of winters with lower-than-expected precipitation may have a future impact on the rivers in the Alps as well as an effect on the water availability to the lowlands.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The Alps are a classic example of what happens when a temperate area at lower altitude gives way to higher-elevation terrain. Elevations around the world that have cold climates similar to those of the polar regions have been called Alpine. A rise from sea level into the upper regions of the atmosphere causes the temperature to decrease (see adiabatic lapse rate). The effect of mountain chains on prevailing winds is to carry warm air belonging to the lower region into an upper zone, where it expands in volume at the cost of a proportionate loss of temperature, often accompanied by precipitation in the form of snow or rain. The height of the Alps is sufficient to divide the weather patterns in Europe into a wet north and a dry south because moisture is sucked from the air as it flows over the high peaks.</p><br>
<p>The severe weather in the Alps has been studied since the 18th century; particularly the weather patterns such as the seasonal foehn wind. Numerous weather stations were placed in the mountains early in the early 20th century, providing continuous data for climatologists. Some of the valleys are quite arid such as the Aosta valley in Italy, the Maurienne in France, the Valais in Switzerland, and northern Tyrol.</p><br>
<p>The areas that are not arid and receive high precipitation experience periodic flooding from rapid snowmelt and runoff. The mean precipitation in the Alps ranges from a low of 2,600 mm per year to 3,600 mm per year, with the higher levels occurring at high altitudes. At altitudes between 1,000 and, snowfall begins in November and accumulates through to April or May when the melt begins. Snow lines vary from 2,400 to 3,000 m, above which the snow is permanent and the temperatures hover around the freezing point even July and August. High-water levels in streams and rivers peak in June and July when the snow is still melting at the higher altitudes.</p><br>
<p>The Alps are split into five climatic zones, each with different vegetation. The climate, plant life and animal life vary among the different sections or zones of the mountains. The lowest zone is the colline zone, which exists between 500 and, depending on the location. The montane zone extends from 800 to 1,700 m, followed by the sub-Alpine zone from 1,600 to 2,400 m. The Alpine zone, extending from tree line to snow line, is followed by the glacial zone, which covers the glaciated areas of the mountain. Climatic conditions show variances within the same zones; for example, weather conditions at the head of a mountain valley, extending directly from the peaks, are colder and more severe than those at the mouth of a valley which tend to be less severe and receive less snowfall.</p><br>
<p>Various models of climate change have been projected into the 22nd century for the Alps, with an expectation that a trend toward increased temperatures will have an effect on snowfall, snowpack, glaciation, and river runoff. Significant changes, of both natural and anthropogenic origins, have already been diagnosed from observations.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>Thirteen thousand species of plants have been identified in the Alpine regions. A natural vegetation limit with altitude is given by the presence of the chief deciduous trees—oak, beech, ash and sycamore maple. These do not reach exactly to the same elevation, nor are they often found growing together; but their upper limit corresponds accurately enough to the change from a temperate to a colder climate that is further proved by a change in the presence of wild herbaceous vegetation. This limit usually lies about 1,200 m above the sea on the north side of the Alps, but on the southern slopes it often rises to 1,500 m, sometimes even to 1,700 m.</p><br>
<p>Above the forestry, there is often a band of short pine trees (Pinus mugo), which is in turn superseded by Alpenrosen, dwarf shrubs, typically Rhododendron ferrugineum (on acid soils) or Rhododendron hirsutum (on alkaline soils). Although the Alpenrose prefers acidic soil, the plants are found throughout the region. Above the tree line is the area defined as "alpine" where in the alpine meadow plants are found that have adapted well to harsh conditions of cold temperatures, aridity, and high altitudes. The alpine area fluctuates greatly because of regional fluctuations in tree lines.</p><br>
<p>Alpine plants such as the Alpine gentian grow in abundance in areas such as the meadows above the Lauterbrunnental. Gentians are named after the Illyrian king Gentius, and 40 species of the early-spring blooming flower grow in the Alps, in a range of 1,500 to 2,400 m. Writing about the gentians in Switzerland D. H. Lawrence described them as "darkening the day-time, torch-like with the smoking blueness of Pluto&#39;s gloom." Gentians tend to "appear" repeatedly as the spring blooming takes place at progressively later dates, moving from the lower altitude to the higher altitude meadows where the snow melts much later than in the valleys. On the highest rocky ledges the spring flowers bloom in the summer.</p><br>
<p>At these higher altitudes, the plants tend to form isolated cushions. In the Alps, several species of flowering plants have been recorded above 4,000 m, including Ranunculus glacialis, Androsace alpina and Saxifraga biflora. Eritrichium nanum, commonly known as the King of the Alps, is the most elusive of the alpine flowers, growing on rocky ridges at 2,600 to 3,750 m. Perhaps the best known of the alpine plants is Edelweiss which grows in rocky areas and can be found at altitudes as low as 1,200 m and as high as 3,400 m.</p><br>
<p>The extreme and stressful climatic conditions give way to the growth of plant species with secondary metabolites important for medicinal purposes. Origanum vulgare, Prunella vulgaris, Solanum nigrum and Urtica dioica are some of the more useful medicinal species found in the Alps.</p><br>
<p>Human interference has nearly exterminated the trees in many areas, and, except for the beech forests of the Austrian Alps, forests of deciduous trees are rarely found after the extreme deforestation between the 17th and 19th centuries. The vegetation has changed since the second half of the 20th century, as the high alpine meadows cease to be harvested for hay or used for grazing which eventually might result in a regrowth of forest. In some areas the modern practice of building ski runs by mechanical means has destroyed the underlying tundra from which the plant life cannot recover during the non-skiing months, whereas areas that still practice a natural piste type of ski slope building preserve the fragile underlayers.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>The Alps are a habitat for 30,000 species of wildlife, ranging from the tiniest snow fleas to brown bears, many of which have made adaptations to the harsh cold conditions and high altitudes to the point that some only survive in specific micro-climates either directly above or below the snow line.</p><br>
<p>The largest mammal to live in the highest altitudes are the alpine ibex, which have been sighted as high as 3,000 m. The ibex live in caves and descend to eat the succulent alpine grasses. Classified as antelopes, chamois are smaller than ibex and found throughout the Alps, living above the tree line and are common in the entire alpine range. Areas of the eastern Alps are still home to brown bears. In Switzerland the canton of Bern was named for the bears but the last bear is recorded as having been killed in 1792 above Kleine Scheidegg by three hunters from Grindelwald.</p><br>
<p>Many rodents such as voles live underground. Marmots live almost exclusively above the tree line as high as 2,700 m. They hibernate in large groups to provide warmth, and can be found in all areas of the Alps, in large colonies they build beneath the alpine pastures.</p><br>
<p>Reptiles such as adders and vipers live up to the snow line; because they cannot bear the cold temperatures they hibernate underground and soak up the warmth on rocky ledges. The high-altitude Alpine salamanders have adapted to living above the snow line by giving birth to fully developed young rather than laying eggs. Brown trout can be found in the streams up to the snow line.</p><br>
<p>A number of species of moths live in the Alps, some of which are believed to have evolved in the same habitat up to 120 million years ago, long before the Alps were created. Blue moths can commonly be seen drinking from the snow melt; some species of blue moths fly as high as 1,800 m. The butterflies tend to be large, such as those from the swallowtail Parnassius family, with a habitat that ranges to 1,800 m. Twelve species of beetles have habitats up to the snow line; the most beautiful and formerly collected for its colours but now protected is Rosalia alpina. Spiders, such as the large wolf spider, live above the snow line and can be seen as high as 4,00 m. Scorpions can be found in the Italian Alps.</p><br>
<p>Some of the species of moths and insects show evidence of having been indigenous to the area from as long ago as the Alpine orogeny. In Emosson in Valais, Switzerland, dinosaur tracks were found in the 1970s, dating probably from the Triassic Period.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory to Christianity</h3><br>
<p>About 10,000 years ago, when the ice melted after the last glacial period, late Palaeolithic communities were established along the lake shores and in cave systems. Evidence of human habitation has been found in caves near Vercors, close to Grenoble; in Austria the Mondsee culture shows evidence of houses built on piles to keep them dry. Standing stones have been found in Alpine areas of France and Italy. The rock drawings in Valcamonica are more than 5000 years old; more than 200,000 drawings and etchings have been identified at the site.</p><br>
<p>In 1991 a mummy of a neolithic body, known as Ötzi the Iceman, was discovered by hikers on the Similaun glacier. His clothing and gear indicate that he lived in an alpine farming community, while the location and manner of his death – an arrowhead was discovered in his shoulder – suggests he was travelling from one place to another. Analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of Ötzi, has shown that he belongs to the K1 subclade which cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subclade. The new subclade has provisionally been named K1ö for Ötzi.</p><br>
<p>Celtic tribes settled in Switzerland between 1000 and 1500 BC. The Raetians lived in the eastern regions, while the west was occupied by the Helvetii and the Allobrogi settled in the Rhône valley and in Savoy. Among the many substances Celtic tribes mined was salt in areas such as Salzburg in Austria where evidence of the Hallstatt culture was found by a mine manager in the 19th century. By the 6th century BC the La Tène culture was well established in the region, and became known for high quality decorated weapons and jewellery. The Celts were the most widespread of the mountain tribes—they had warriors that were strong, tall and fair skinned, and skilled with iron weapons, which gave them an advantage in warfare.</p><br>
<p>During the Second Punic War in 218 BC, the Carthaginian general Hannibal probably crossed the Alps with an army numbering 38,000 infantry, 8,000 cavalry, and 37 war elephants. This was one of the most celebrated achievements of any military force in ancient warfare, although no evidence exists of the actual crossing or the place of crossing. The Romans, however, had built roads along the mountain passes, which continued to be used through the medieval period to cross the mountains and Roman road markers can still be found on the mountain passes.</p><br>
<p>The Roman expansion brought the defeat of the Allobrogi in 121 BC and during the Gallic Wars in 58 BC Julius Caesar overcame the Helvetii. The Rhaetians continued to resist but were eventually conquered when the Romans turned northward to the Danube valley in Austria and defeated the Brigantes. The Romans built settlements in the Alps; towns such as Aosta (named for Augustus) in Italy, Martigny and Lausanne in Switzerland, and Partenkirchen in Bavaria show remains of Roman baths, villas, arenas and temples. Much of the Alpine region was gradually settled by Germanic tribes, (Lombards, Alemanni, Bavarii, and Franks) from the 6th to the 13th centuries mixing with the local Celtic tribes.</p><br>
<h3>Christianity, feudalism, and Napoleonic wars</h3><br>
<p>Christianity was established in the region by the Romans, and saw the establishment of monasteries and churches in the high regions. The Frankish expansion of the Carolingian Empire and the Bavarian expansion in the eastern Alps introduced feudalism and the building of castles to support the growing number of dukedoms and kingdoms. Castello del Buonconsiglio in Trento, Italy, still has intricate frescoes, excellent examples of Gothic art, in a tower room. In Switzerland, Château de Chillon is preserved as an example of medieval architecture.</p><br>
<p>Much of the medieval period was a time of power struggles between competing dynasties such as the House of Savoy, the Visconti in northern Italy and the House of Habsburg in Austria and Slovenia. In 1291 to protect themselves from incursions by the Habsburgs, four cantons in the middle of Switzerland drew up a charter that is considered to be a declaration of independence from neighbouring kingdoms. After a series of battles fought in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, more cantons joined the confederacy and by the 16th century Switzerland was well-established as a separate state.</p><br>
<p>During the Napoleonic Wars in the late 18th century and early 19th century, Napoleon annexed territory formerly controlled by the Habsburgs and Savoys. In 1798 he established the Helvetic Republic in Switzerland; two years later he led an army across the St. Bernard pass and conquered almost all of the Alpine regions.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of Napoléon, many alpine countries developed heavy protections to prevent any new invasion. Thus, Savoy built a series of fortifications in the Maurienne valley in order to protect the major alpine passes, such as the col du Mont-Cenis that was even crossed by Charlemagne and his father to defeat the Lombards. The later indeed became very popular after the construction of a paved road ordered by Napoléon Bonaparte.</p><br>
<p>The Barrière de l&#39;Esseillon is a serie of forts with heavy batteries, built on a cliff with a perfect view on the valley, a gorge on one side and steep mountains on the other side.</p><br>
<p>In the 19th century, the monasteries built in the high Alps during the medieval period to shelter travellers and as places of pilgrimage, became tourist destinations. The Benedictines had built monasteries in Lucerne, Switzerland, and Oberammergau; the Cistercians in the Tyrol and at Lake Constance; and the Augustinians had abbeys in the Savoy and one in the centre of Interlaken, Switzerland. The Great St Bernard Hospice, built in the 9th or 10th centuries, at the summit of the Great Saint Bernard Pass was shelter for travellers and place for pilgrims since its inception; by the 19th century it became a tourist attraction with notable visitors such as author Charles Dickens and mountaineer Edward Whymper.</p><br>
<h3>Exploration</h3><br>
<p>Radiocarbon dated charcoal placed around 50,000 years ago was found in the Drachloch (Dragon&#39;s Hole) cave above the village of Vattis in the canton of St. Gallen, proving that the high peaks were visited by prehistoric people. Seven bear skulls from the cave may have been buried by the same prehistoric people. The peaks, however, were mostly ignored except for a few notable examples, and long left to the exclusive attention of the people of the adjoining valleys. The mountain peaks were seen as terrifying, the abode of dragons and demons, to the point that people blindfolded themselves to cross the Alpine passes. The glaciers remained a mystery and many still believed the highest areas to be inhabited by dragons.</p><br>
<p>Charles VII of France ordered his chamberlain to climb Mont Aiguille in 1356. The knight reached the summit of Rocciamelone where he left a bronze triptych of three crosses, a feat which he conducted with the use of ladders to traverse the ice. In 1492 Antoine de Ville climbed Mont Aiguille, without reaching the summit, an experience he described as "horrifying and terrifying." Leonardo da Vinci was fascinated by variations of light in the higher altitudes, and climbed a mountain—scholars are uncertain which one; some believe it may have been Monte Rosa. From his description of a "blue like that of a gentian" sky it is thought that he reached a significantly high altitude. In the 18th century four Chamonix men almost made the summit of Mont Blanc but were overcome by altitude sickness and snowblindness.</p><br>
<p>Conrad Gessner was the first naturalist to ascend the mountains in the 16th century, to study them, writing that in the mountains he found the "theatre of the Lord". By the 19th century more naturalists began to arrive to explore, study and conquer the high peaks. Two men who first explored the regions of ice and snow were Horace-Bénédict de Saussure (1740–1799) in the Pennine Alps, and the Benedictine monk of Disentis Placidus a Spescha (1752–1833). Born in Geneva, Saussure was enamoured with the mountains from an early age; he left a law career to become a naturalist and spent many years trekking through the Bernese Oberland, the Savoy, the Piedmont and Valais, studying the glaciers and the geology, as he became an early proponent of the theory of rock upheaval. Saussure, in 1787, was a member of the third ascent of Mont Blanc—today the summits of all the peaks have been climbed.</p><br>
<h3>The Romantics</h3><br>
<p>Albrecht von Haller&#39;s poem Die Alpen (1732) described the mountains as an area of mythical purity. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another writer who presented the Alps as a place of allure and beauty, in his novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761), Later the first wave of Romantics such as Goethe and Turner came to admire the scenery; Wordsworth visited the area in 1790, writing of his experiences in The Prelude (1799). Schiller later wrote the play William Tell (1804), which tells the story the legendary Swiss marksman William Tell as part of the greater Swiss struggle for independence from the Habsburg Empire in the early 14th century. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Alpine countries began to see an influx of poets, artists, and musicians, as visitors came to experience the sublime effects of monumental nature.</p><br>
<p>In 1816 Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary Shelley visited Geneva and all three were inspired by the scenery in their writings. During these visits Shelley wrote the poem "Mont Blanc", Byron wrote "The Prisoner of Chillon" and the dramatic poem Manfred, and Mary Shelley, who found the scenery overwhelming, conceived the idea for the novel Frankenstein in her villa on the shores of Lake Geneva in the midst of a thunderstorm. When Coleridge travelled to Chamonix, he declaimed, in defiance of Shelley, who had signed himself "Atheos" in the guestbook of the Hotel de Londres near Montenvers, "Who would be, who could be an atheist in this valley of wonders".</p><br>
<p>By the mid-19th century scientists began to arrive en masse to study the geology and ecology of the region.</p><br>
<h3>The Nazis</h3><br>
<p>Austrian-born Adolf Hitler had a lifelong romantic fascination with the Alps and by the 1930s established a home in the Obersalzberg region outside of Berchtesgaden. His first visit to the area was in 1923 and he maintained a strong tie there until the end of his life. At the end of World War II the US Army occupied Obersalzberg, to prevent Hitler from retreating with the Wehrmacht into the mountains.</p><br>
<p>By 1940 the Third Reich had occupied many of the Alpine countries. Austria underwent a political coup that made it part of the Third Reich; France had been invaded and Italy was a fascist regime. Switzerland was the only country to avoid invasion. The Swiss Confederation mobilized its troops—the country follows the doctrine of "armed neutrality" with all males required to have military training—a number that General Eisenhower estimated to be about 850,000. The Swiss commanders wired the infrastructure leading into the country with explosives, and threatened to destroy bridges, railway tunnels and roads across passes in the event of a Nazi invasion; and if there was an invasion the Swiss army would then have retreated to the heart of the mountain peaks, where conditions were harsher, and a military invasion would involve difficult and protracted battles.</p><br>
<p>German Ski troops were trained for the war, and battles were waged in mountainous areas such as the battle at Riva Ridge in Italy, where the American 10th Mountain Division encountered heavy resistance in February 1945. At the end of the war, a substantial amount of Nazi plunder was found stored in Austria, where Hitler had hoped to retreat as the war drew to a close. The salt mines surrounding the Altaussee area, where American troops found 75 kilos of gold coins stored in a single mine, were used to store looted art, jewels, and currency; vast quantities of looted art were found and returned to the owners.</p><br>
<h2>Alpine people and culture</h2><br>
<p>The population of the region is 14 million spread across eight countries.</p><br>
<p>Much of the Alpine culture is unchanged since the medieval period when skills that guaranteed survival in the mountain valleys and in the highest villages became mainstays, leading to strong traditions of carpentry, woodcarving, baking and pastry-making, and cheesemaking.</p><br>
<p>Farming had been a traditional occupation for centuries, although it became less dominant in the 20th century with the advent of tourism. Grazing and pasture land are limited because of the steep and rocky topography of the Alps. In mid-June cows are moved to the highest pastures close to the snowline, where they are watched by herdsmen who stay in the high altitudes often living in stone huts or wooden barns during the summers. Villagers celebrate the day the cows are herded up to the pastures and again when they return in mid-September. The Almabtrieb, Alpabzug, Alpabfahrt, Désalpes («coming down from the alps») is celebrated by decorating the cows with garlands and enormous cowbells while the farmers dress in traditional costumes.</p><br>
<p>Cheesemaking is an ancient tradition in most Alpine countries. A wheel of cheese from the Emmental in Switzerland can weigh up to 45 kg, and the Beaufort in Savoy can weight up to 70 kg. Owners of the cows traditionally receive from the cheesemakers a portion in relation to the proportion of the cows&#39; milk from the summer months in the high alps. Haymaking is an important farming activity in mountain villages which has become somewhat mechanized in recent years, although the slopes are so steep that usually scythes are necessary to cut the grass. Hay is normally brought in twice a year, often also on festival days. Alpine festivals vary from country to country and often include the display of local costumes such as dirndl and trachten, the playing of Alpenhorns, wrestling matches, some pagan traditions such as Walpurgis Night and, in many areas, Carnival is celebrated before Lent.</p><br>
<p>In the high villages people live in homes built according to medieval designs that withstand cold winters. The kitchen is separated from the living area (called the stube, the area of the home heated by a stove), and second-floor bedrooms benefit from rising heat. The typical Swiss chalet originated in the Bernese Oberland. Chalets often face south or downhill, and are built of solid wood, with a steeply gabled roof to allow accumulated snow to slide off easily. Stairs leading to upper levels are sometimes built on the outside, and balconies are sometimes enclosed.</p><br>
<p>Food is passed from the kitchen to the stube, where the dining room table is placed. Some meals are communal, such as fondue, where a pot is set in the middle of the table for each person to dip into. Other meals are still served in a traditional manner on carved wooden plates. Furniture has been traditionally elaborately carved and in many Alpine countries carpentry skills are passed from generation to generation.</p><br>
<p>Roofs are traditionally constructed from Alpine rocks such as pieces of schist, gneiss or slate. Such chalets are typically found in the higher parts of the valleys, as in the Maurienne valley in Savoy, where the amount of snow during the cold months is important. The inclination of the roof cannot exceed 40%, allowing the snow to stay on top, thereby functioning as insulation from the cold. In the lower areas where the forests are widespread, wooden tiles are traditionally used. Commonly made of Norway spruce, they are called "tavaillon".</p><br>
<p>The Alpine regions are multicultural and linguistically diverse. Dialects are common, and vary from valley to valley and region to region. In the Slavic Alps alone 19 dialects have been identified. Some of the French dialects spoken in the French, Swiss and Italian alps of Aosta Valley derive from Arpitan, while the southern part of the western range is related to Old Provençal; the German dialects derive from Germanic tribal languages. Romansh, spoken by two percent of the population in southeast Switzerland, is an ancient Rhaeto-Romanic language derived from Latin, remnants of ancient Celtic languages and perhaps Etruscan.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>The Alps are one of the more popular tourist destinations in the world with many resorts such Oberstdorf, in Bavaria, Saalbach in Austria, Davos in Switzerland, Chamonix in France, and Cortina d&#39;Ampezzo in Italy recording more than a million annual visitors. With over 120 million visitors a year, tourism is integral to the Alpine economy with much it coming from winter sports, although summer visitors are also an important component.</p><br>
<p>The tourism industry began in the early 19th century when foreigners visited the Alps, travelled to the bases of the mountains to enjoy the scenery, and stayed at the spa-resorts. Large hotels were built during the Belle Époque; cog-railways, built early in the 20th century, brought tourists to ever higher elevations, with the Jungfraubahn terminating at the Jungfraujoch, well above the eternal snow-line, after going through a tunnel in Eiger. During this period winter sports were slowly introduced: in 1882 the first figure skating championship was held in St. Moritz, and downhill skiing became a popular sport with English visitors early in the 20th century, as the first ski-lift was installed in 1908 above Grindelwald.</p><br>
<p>In the first half of the 20th century the Olympic Winter Games were held three times in Alpine venues: the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France; the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland; and the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. During World War II the winter games were cancelled but after that time the Winter Games have been held in St. Moritz (1948), Cortina d&#39;Ampezzo (1956), Innsbruck, Austria (1964 and 1976), Grenoble, France, (1968), Albertville, France, (1992), and Torino (2006). In 1930 the Lauberhorn Rennen (Lauberhorn Race), was run for the first time on the Lauberhorn above Wengen; the equally demanding Hahnenkamm was first run in the same year in Kitzbühl, Austria. Both races continue to be held each January on successive weekends. The Lauberhorn is the more strenuous downhill race at 4.5 km and poses danger to racers who reach 130 km/h within seconds of leaving the start gate.</p><br>
<p>During the post-World War I period ski-lifts were built in Swiss and Austrian towns to accommodate winter visitors, but summer tourism continued to be important; by the mid-20th century the popularity of downhill skiing increased greatly as it became more accessible and in the 1970s several new villages were built in France devoted almost exclusively to skiing, such as Les Menuires. Until this point Austria and Switzerland had been the traditional and more popular destinations for winter sports, but by the end of the 20th century and into the early 21st century, France, Italy and the Tyrol began to see increases in winter visitors. From 1980 to the present, ski-lifts have been modernized and snow-making machines installed at many resorts, leading to concerns regarding the loss of traditional Alpine culture and questions regarding sustainable development as the winter ski industry continues to develop quickly and the number of summer tourists decline.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The region is serviced by 4,200 km of roads used by 6 million vehicles. Train travel is well established in the Alps, with, for instance 120 km of track for every 1,000 km&sup2; in a country such as Switzerland. Most of Europe&#39;s highest railways are located there. On 2007 the new 34.57 km Lötschberg Base Tunnel has been opened, which circumvents the 100 years older Lötschberg Tunnel. With the opening of the 57.1 km Gotthard Base Tunnel on 1 June 2016 it bypasses the Gotthard Tunnel built in the 19th century and realizes the first flat route through the Alps.</p><br>
<p>Some high mountain villages, such as Avoriaz (in France), Chamois (in Italy), Wengen, and Zermatt (in Switzerland) are accessible only by cable car or cog-rail trains, and are car free. Other villages in the Alps are considering becoming car free zones or limiting the number of cars for reasons of sustainability of the fragile Alpine terrain.</p><br>
<p>The lower regions and larger towns of the Alps are well-served by motorways and main roads, but higher mountain passes and byroads, which are amongst the highest in Europe, can be treacherous even in summer due to steep slopes. Many passes are closed in winter. A number of airports around the Alps (and some within), as well as long-distance rail links from all neighbouring countries, afford large numbers of travellers easy access.</p><br>
<p>The Andes or Andean Mountains  are the longest continental mountain range in the world. They form a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. This range is about 7,000 km long, about 200 to 700 km wide , and of an average height of about 4,000 m. The Andes extend from north to south through seven South American countries: Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.</p><br>
<p>Along their length, the Andes are split into several ranges, which are separated by intermediate depressions. The Andes are the location of several high plateaus – some of which host major cities such as Quito, Bogotá, Arequipa, Medellín, Sucre, Mérida and La Paz. The Altiplano plateau is the world&#39;s second-highest after the Tibetan plateau. These ranges are in turn grouped into three major divisions based on climate: the Tropical Andes, the Dry Andes, and the Wet Andes.</p><br>
<p>The Andes are the worlds highest mountain range outside Asia. The highest mountain outside Asia, Mount Aconcagua, in Argentina, rises to an elevation of about 6,961 m above sea level. The peak of Chimborazo in the Ecuadorean Andes is farther from the Earths center than any other location on the Earths surface, due to the equatorial bulge resulting from the Earths rotation. The world&#39;s highest volcanoes are in the Andes, including Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border, which rises to 6,893 m.</p><br>
<p>The Andes are also part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western "backbone" of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The etymology of the word Andes has been debated. The majority consensus is that it derives from the Quechua word anti, which means "east" as in Antisuyu (Quechua for "east region"), one of the four regions of the Inca Empire.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Southern Andes (south of Llullaillaco) in Argentina and Chile</p><br>
<p>The Central Andes in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia</p><br>
<p>The Northern Andes (north of the Nudo de Pasto) in Venezuela and Colombia, which consist of three parallel ranges, the western, central, and eastern (the cordillera occidental, central, and oriental).</p><br>
<p>In the northern part of the Andes, the isolated Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta range is often considered to be part of the Andes. The term cordillera comes from the Spanish word "cordel", meaning "rope". The Andes range is about 200 km wide throughout its length, except in the Bolivian flexure where it is about 640 km wide. The Leeward Antilles islands Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, which lie in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, were thought to represent the submerged peaks of the extreme northern edge of the Andes range, but ongoing geological studies indicate that such a simplification does not do justice to the complex tectonic boundary between the South American and Caribbean plates.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Andes are a Mesozoic–Tertiary orogenic belt of mountains along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a zone of volcanic activity that encompasses the Pacific rim of the Americas as well as the Asia-Pacific region. The Andes are the result of plate tectonics processes, caused by the subduction of oceanic crust beneath the South American Plate. The main cause of the rise of the Andes is the compression of the western rim of the South American Plate due to the subduction of the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate. To the east, the Andes range is bounded by several sedimentary basins, such as Orinoco, Amazon Basin, Madre de Dios and Gran Chaco, that separate the Andes from the ancient cratons in eastern South America. In the south, the Andes share a long boundary with the former Patagonia Terrane. To the west, the Andes end at the Pacific Ocean, although the Peru-Chile trench can be considered their ultimate western limit. From a geographical approach, the Andes are considered to have their western boundaries marked by the appearance of coastal lowlands and a less rugged topography. The Andes Mountains also contain large quantities of iron ore located in many mountains within the range.</p><br>
<p>The Andean orogen has a series of bends or oroclines. The Bolivian Orocline is a seaward concave bending in the coast of South America and the Andes Mountains at about 18° S. At this point the orientation of the Andes turns from Northwest in Peru to South in Chile and Argentina. The Andean segment north and south of the orocline have been rotated 15° to 20° counter clockwise and clockwise respectively. The Bolivian Orocline area overlaps with the area of maximum width of the Altiplano Plateau and according to Isacks (1988) the orocline is related to crustal shortening. The specific point at 18° S where the coastline bends is known as the "Arica Elbow". Further south lies the Maipo Orocline or Maipo Transition Zone located between 30° S and 38°S with a break in trend at 33° S. Near the southern tip of the Andes lies the Patagonian orocline.</p><br>
<h3>Orogeny</h3><br>
<p>The western rim of the South American Plate has been the place of several pre-Andean orogenies since at least the late Proterozoic and early Paleozoic, when several terranes and microcontinents collided and amalgamated with the ancient cratons of eastern South America, by then the South American part of Gondwana.</p><br>
<p>The formation of the modern Andes began with the events of the Triassic when Pangaea began to break up that resulted in developing several rifts. The development continued through the Jurassic Period. It was during the Cretaceous Period that the Andes began to take their present form, by the uplifting, faulting and folding of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks of the ancient cratons to the east. The rise of the Andes has not been constant, where different regions have had different degrees of tectonic stress, uplift, and erosion.</p><br>
<p>Tectonic forces above the subduction zone along the entire west coast of South America where the Nazca Plate and a part of the Antarctic Plate are sliding beneath the South American Plate continue to produce an ongoing orogenic event resulting in minor to major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions to this day. In the extreme south a major transform fault separates Tierra del Fuego from the small Scotia Plate. Across the 1,000 km wide Drake Passage lie the mountains of the Antarctic Peninsula south of the Scotia Plate which appear to be a continuation of the Andes chain.</p><br>
<p>The regions immediately east of the Andes experience a series of changes resulting from the Andean orogeny. Parts of the Sunsás Orogen in Amazonian craton disappeared from the surface of earth being overridden by the Andes.</p><br>
<p>The Sierras de Córdoba, where the effects of the ancient Pampean orogeny can be observed, owe their modern uplift and relief to the Andean orogeny in the Tertiary. Further south in southern Patagonia the onset of the Andean orogeny caused the Magallanes Basin to evolve from being an extensional back-arc basin in the Mesozoic to being a compressional foreland basin in the Cenozoic.</p><br>
<h3>Volcanism</h3><br>
<p>The Andes range has many active volcanoes, which are distributed in four volcanic zones separated by areas of inactivity. The Andean volcanism is a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic zones that are separated from each other by volcanic gaps. The volcanoes of the belt are diverse in terms of activity style, products and morphology. While some differences can be explained by which volcanic zone a volcano belongs to, there are significant differences inside volcanic zones and even between neighbouring volcanoes. Despite being a type location for calc-alkalic and subduction volcanism, the Andean Volcanic Belt has a large range of volcano-tectonic settings, such as rift systems and extensional zones, transpressional faults, subduction of mid-ocean ridges and seamount chains apart from a large range of crustal thicknesses and magma ascent paths, and different amount of crustal assimilations.</p><br>
<h3>Ore deposits and evaporates</h3><br>
<p>The Andes Mountains host large ore and salt deposits and some of their eastern fold and thrust belt acts as traps for commercially exploitable amounts of hydrocarbons. In the forelands of the Atacama desert some of the largest porphyry copper mineralizations occurs making Chile and Peru the first and second largest exporters of copper in the world. Porphyry copper in the western slopes of the Andes has been generated by hydrothermal fluids (mostly water) during the cooling of plutons or volcanic systems. The porphyry mineralization further benefited from the dry climate that let them largely out of the disturbing actions of meteoric water. The dry climate in the central western Andes has also led to the creation of extensive saltpeter deposits which were extensively mined until the invention of synthetic nitrates. Yet another result of the dry climate are the salars of Atacama and Uyuni, the first one being the largest source of lithium today and the second the worlds largest reserve of the element. Early Mesozoic and Neogene plutonism in Bolivias Cordillera Central created the Bolivian tin belt as well as the famous, now depleted, deposits of Cerro Rico de Potosí.</p><br>
<h2>Climate and hydrology</h2><br>
<p>The climate in the Andes varies greatly depending on latitude, altitude, and proximity to the sea. Temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity decrease in higher elevations. The southern section is rainy and cool, the central section is dry. The northern Andes are typically rainy and warm, with an average temperature of 18 &deg;C in Colombia. The climate is known to change drastically in rather short distances. Rainforests exist just miles away from the snow-covered peak Cotopaxi. The mountains have a large effect on the temperatures of nearby areas. The snow line depends on the location. It is at between 4,500 and in the tropical Ecuadorian, Colombian, Venezuelan, and northern Peruvian Andes, rising to 4,800 - in the drier mountains of southern Peru south to northern Chile south to about 30°S, then descending to 4,500 m on Aconcagua at 32°S, 2,000 m at 40°S, 500 m at 50°S, and only 300 m in Tierra del Fuego at 55°S; from 50°S, several of the larger glaciers descend to sea level.</p><br>
<p>The Andes of Chile and Argentina can be divided in two climatic and glaciological zones; the Dry Andes and the Wet Andes. Since the Dry Andes extend from the latitudes of Atacama Desert to the area of Maule River, precipitation is more sporadic and there are strong temperature oscillations. The line of equilibrium may shift drastically over short periods of time, leaving a whole glacier in the ablation area or in the accumulation area.</p><br>
<p>In the high Andes of central Chile and Mendoza Province, rock glaciers are larger and more common than glaciers; this is due to the high exposure to solar radiation.</p><br>
<p>Though precipitation increases with the height, there are semiarid conditions in the nearly 7000 m towering highest mountains of the Andes. This dry steppe climate is considered to be typical of the subtropical position at 32–34° S. The valley bottoms have no woods, just dwarf scrub. The largest glaciers, as e.g. the Plomo glacier and the Horcones glaciers do not even reach 10 km in length and have an only insignificant ice thickness. At glacial times, however, c. 20 000 years ago, the glaciers were over ten times longer. On the east side of this section of the Mendozina Andes they flowed down to 2060 m and on the west side to c. 1220 m asl. The massifs of Cerro Aconcagua (6,961 m), Cerro Tupungato (6,550 m) and Nevado Juncal (6,110 m) are tens of kilometres away from each other and were connected by a joint ice stream network. The Andes&#39; dendritic glacier arms, i.e. components of valley glaciers, were up to 112.5 km long, over 1020, i.e. 1250 m thick and overspanned a vertical distance of 5150 altitude metres. The climatic glacier snowline (ELA) was lowered from currently 4600 m to 3200 m at glacial times.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>The Andean region cuts across several natural and floristic regions due to its extension from Caribbean Venezuela to cold, windy and wet Cape Horn passing through the hyperarid Atacama Desert. Rainforests and tropical dry forests used to encircle much of the northern Andes but are now greatly diminished, especially in the Chocó and inter-Andean valleys of Colombia. As a direct opposite of the humid Andean slopes are the relatively dry Andean slopes in most of western Peru, Chile and Argentina. Along with several Interandean Valles, they are typically dominated by deciduous woodland, shrub and xeric vegetation, reaching the extreme in the slopes near the virtually lifeless Atacama Desert.</p><br>
<p>About 30,000 species of vascular plants live in the Andes, with roughly half being endemic to the region, surpassing the diversity of any other hotspot. The small tree Cinchona pubescens, a source of quinine which is used to treat malaria, is found widely in the Andes as far south as Bolivia. Other important crops that originated from the Andes are tobacco and potatoes. The high-altitude Polylepis forests and woodlands are found in the Andean areas of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. These trees, by locals referred to as Queñua, Yagual and other names, can be found at altitudes of 4,500 m above sea level. It remains unclear if the patchy distribution of these forests and woodlands is natural, or the result of clearing which began during the Incan period. Regardless, in modern times the clearance has accelerated, and the trees are now considered to be highly endangered, with some believing that as little as 10% of the original woodland remains.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The Andes are rich in fauna: With almost 3,500 species, of which roughly 2/3 are endemic to the region, the Andes are the most important region in the world for amphibians.</p><br>
<p>The diversity of animals in the Andes is high, with almost 600 species of mammals (13% endemic), more than 1,700 species of birds (about 1/3 endemic), more than 600 species of reptile (about 45% endemic), and almost 400 species of fish (about 1/3 endemic).</p><br>
<p>The vicuña and guanaco can be found living in the Altiplano, while the closely related domesticated llama and alpaca are widely kept by locals as pack animals and for their meat and wool. The crepuscular (active during dawn and dusk) chinchillas, two threatened members of the rodent order, inhabit the Andes&#39; alpine regions. The Andean condor, the largest bird of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, occurs throughout much of the Andes but generally in very low densities. Other animals found in the relatively open habitats of the high Andes include the huemul, cougar, foxes in the genus Pseudalopex, and, for birds, certain species of tinamous (notably members of the genus Nothoprocta), Andean goose, giant coot, flamingos (mainly associated with hypersaline lakes), lesser rhea, Andean flicker, diademed sandpiper-plover, miners, sierra-finches and diuca-finches.</p><br>
<p>Lake Titicaca hosts several endemics, among them the highly endangered Titicaca flightless grebe A few species of hummingbirds, notably some hillstars, can be seen at altitudes above 4,000 m, but far higher diversities can be found at lower altitudes, especially in the humid Andean forests ("cloud forests") growing on slopes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and far northwestern Argentina. These forest-types, which includes the Yungas and parts of the Chocó, are very rich in flora and fauna, although few large mammals exist, exceptions being the threatened mountain tapir, spectacled bear and yellow-tailed woolly monkey.</p><br>
<p>Birds of humid Andean forests include mountain-toucans, quetzals and the Andean cock-of-the-rock, while mixed species flocks dominated by tanagers and furnariids commonly are seen – in contrast to several vocal but typically cryptic species of wrens, tapaculos and antpittas.</p><br>
<p>A number of species such as the royal cinclodes and white-browed tit-spinetail are associated with Polylepis, and consequently also threatened.</p><br>
<h2>Human activity</h2><br>
<p>The Andes Mountains form a north-south axis of cultural influences. A long series of cultural development culminated in the expansion of the Inca civilization and Inca Empire in the central Andes during the 15th century. The Incas formed this civilization through imperialistic militarism as well as careful and meticulous governmental management. The government sponsored the construction of aqueducts and roads in addition to preexisting installations. Some of these constructions are still in existence today.</p><br>
<p>Devastated by European diseases to which they had no immunity and civil wars, in 1532 the Incas were defeated by an alliance composed of tens of thousands of allies from nations they had subjugated (e.g. Huancas, Chachapoyas, Cañaris) and a small army of 180 Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro. One of the few Inca sites the Spanish never found in their conquest was Machu Picchu, which lay hidden on a peak on the eastern edge of the Andes where they descend to the Amazon. The main surviving languages of the Andean peoples are those of the Quechua and Aymara language families. Woodbine Parish and Joseph Barclay Pentland surveyed a large part of the Bolivian Andes from 1826 to 1827.</p><br>
<p>In modern times, the largest Andean cities are Bogotá, Colombia, with a population of about eight million, Santiago de Chile, and Medellin, Colombia. La Paz, Bolivia&#39;s seat of government is considered the highest capital city in the world.</p><br>
<h3>Transportation</h3><br>
<p>Several major cities are either in the Andes or in the foothills, among which are Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, Colombia; Quito, Ecuador; Mérida, Venezuela; La Paz, Bolivia; Santiago, Chile, and Lima or Cusco, Peru. These and most other cities and large towns are connected with asphalt-paved roads, while smaller towns are often connected by dirt roads, which may require a four-wheel-drive vehicle.</p><br>
<p>The rough terrain has historically put the costs of building highways and railroads that cross the Andes out of reach of most neighboring countries, even with modern civil engineering practices. For example, the main crossover of the Andes between Argentina and Chile is still accomplished through the Paso Internacional Los Libertadores. Only recently the ends of some highways that came rather close to one another from the east and the west have been connected. Much of the transportation of passengers is done via aircraft.</p><br>
<p>However, there is one railroad that connects Chile with Argentina via the Andes, and there are others that make the same connection via southern Bolivia. See railroad maps of that region.</p><br>
<p>There is one or more highways in Bolivia that cross the Andes. Some of these were built during a period of war between Bolivia and Paraguay, in order to transport Bolivian troops and their supplies to the war front in the lowlands of southeastern Bolivia and western Paraguay.</p><br>
<p>For decades, Chile claimed ownership of land on the eastern side of the Andes. However, these claims were given up in about 1870 during the War of the Pacific between Chile, the allied Bolivia and Peru, in a diplomatic deal to keep Argentina out of the war. The Chilean Army and Chilean Navy defeated the combined forces of Bolivia and Peru, and Chile took over Bolivia&#39;s only province on the Pacific Coast, some land from Peru that was returned to Peru decades later. Bolivia has been a completely landlocked country ever since. It mostly uses seaports in eastern Argentina and Uruguay for international trade because its diplomatic relations with Chile have been suspended since 1978.</p><br>
<p>Because of the tortuous terrain in places, villages and towns in the mountains—to which travel via motorized vehicles are of little use—are still located in the high Andes of Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Locally, the relatives of the camel, the llama, and the alpaca continue to carry out important uses as pack animals, but this use has generally diminished in modern times. Donkeys, mules, and horses are also useful.</p><br>
<h3>Agriculture</h3><br>
<p>The ancient peoples of the Andes such as the Incas have practiced irrigation techniques for over 6,000 years. Because of the mountain slopes, terracing has been a common practice. Terracing, however, was only extensively employed after Incan imperial expansions to fuel their expanding realm. The potato holds a very important role as an internally consumed staple crop. Maize was also an important crop for these people, and was used for the production of chicha, important to Andean native people. Currently, tobacco, cotton and coffee are the main export crops. Coca, despite eradication programmes in some countries, remains an important crop for legal local use in a mildly stimulating herbal tea, and, both controversially and illegally, for the production of cocaine.</p><br>
<h3>Irrigation</h3><br>
<p>In unirrigated land, pasture is the most common type of land use. In the rainy season (summer), part of the rangeland is used for cropping (mainly potatoes, barley, broad beans and wheat).</p><br>
<p>Irrigation is helpful in advancing the sowing data of the summer crops which guarantees an early yield in the period of food shortage. Also, by early sowing, maize can be cultivated higher up in the mountains (till 3800 m). In addition it makes cropping in the dry season (winter) possible and allows the cultivation of frost resistant vegetable crops like onion and carrot.</p><br>
<h3>Mining</h3><br>
<p>The Andes rose to fame for their mineral wealth during the Spanish conquest of South America. Although Andean Amerindian peoples crafted ceremonial jewelry of gold and other metals the mineralizations of the Andes were first mined in large scale after the Spanish arrival. Potosí in present-day Bolivia and Cerro de Pasco in Peru were one of the principal mines of the Spanish Empire in the New World. Río de la Plata and Argentina derive their names from the silver of Potosí.</p><br>
<p>Currently, mining in the Andes of Chile and Peru places these countries as the first and third major producers of copper in the world. Peru also contains the largest goldmine in the world: the Yanacocha. The Bolivian Andes produce principally tin although historically silver mining had a huge impact on the economy of 17th century Europe.</p><br>
<p>There is a long history of mining in the Andes, from the Spanish silver mines in Potosí in the 16th century to the vast current porphyry copper deposits of Chuquicamata and Escondida in Chile and Toquepala in Peru. Other metals including iron, gold and tin in addition to non-metallic resources are important.</p><br>
<h2>Peaks</h2><br>
<p>This list contains some of the major peaks in the Andes mountain range. The highest peak is Aconcagua of Argentina (see below).</p><br>
<h3>Argentina</h3><br>
<p>Aconcagua, 6,961 m</p><br>
<p>Cerro Bonete, 6,759 m</p><br>
<p>Galán, 5,912 m</p><br>
<p>Mercedario, 6,720 m</p><br>
<p>Pissis, 6,795 m</p><br>
<h3>Border between Argentina and Chile</h3><br>
<p>Cerro Bayo, 5,401 m</p><br>
<p>Cerro Fitz Roy, 3,375 m or 3,405 m, Patagonia, also known as Cerro Chaltén</p><br>
<p>Cerro Escorial, 5,447 m</p><br>
<p>Cordón del Azufre, 5,463 m</p><br>
<p>Falso Azufre, 5,890 m</p><br>
<p>Incahuasi, 6,620 m</p><br>
<p>Lastarria, 5,697 m</p><br>
<p>Llullaillaco, 6,739 m</p><br>
<p>Maipo, 5,264 m</p><br>
<p>Marmolejo, 6,110 m</p><br>
<p>Ojos del Salado, 6,893 m</p><br>
<p>Olca, 5,407 m</p><br>
<p>Sierra Nevada de Lagunas Bravas, 6,127 m</p><br>
<p>Socompa, 6,051 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado Tres Cruces, 6,749 m (south summit) (III Region)</p><br>
<p>Tronador, 3,491 m</p><br>
<p>Tupungato, 6,570 m</p><br>
<p>Nacimiento, 6,492 m</p><br>
<h3>Bolivia</h3><br>
<p>Janq&#39;u Uma, 6,427 m</p><br>
<p>Cabaraya, 5,860 m</p><br>
<p>Chacaltaya, 5,421 m</p><br>
<p>Wayna Potosí, 6,088 m</p><br>
<p>Illampu, 6,368 m</p><br>
<p>Illimani, 6,438 m</p><br>
<p>Laram Q&#39;awa, 5,520 m</p><br>
<p>Macizo de Pacuni, 5,400 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado Anallajsi, 5,750 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado Sajama, 6,542 m</p><br>
<p>Patilla Pata, 5,300 m</p><br>
<p>Tata Sabaya, 5,430 m</p><br>
<h3>Border between Bolivia and Chile</h3><br>
<p>Acotango, 6,052 m</p><br>
<p>Michincha, 5,305 m</p><br>
<p>Iru Phutunqu, 5,163 m</p><br>
<p>Licancabur, 5,920 m</p><br>
<p>Olca, 5,407 m</p><br>
<p>Parinacota, 6,348 m</p><br>
<p>Paruma, 5,420 m</p><br>
<p>Pomerape, 6,282 m</p><br>
<h3>Chile</h3><br>
<p>Monte San Valentin, 4,058 m</p><br>
<p>Cerro Paine Grande, 2,884 m</p><br>
<p>Cerro Macá, c.2,300 m</p><br>
<p>Monte Darwin, c.2,500 m</p><br>
<p>Volcan Hudson, c.1,900 m</p><br>
<p>Cerro Castillo Dynevor, c.1,100 m</p><br>
<p>Mount Tarn, c.825 m</p><br>
<p>Polleras, c.5,993 m</p><br>
<p>Acamarachi, c.6,046 m</p><br>
<h3>Colombia</h3><br>
<p>Pico Cristóbal Colón, 5,775 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado del Huila, 5,365 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado del Ruiz, 5,321 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado del Tolima, 5,205 m</p><br>
<p>Pico Pan de Azucar, 5,200 m</p><br>
<p>Ritacuba Negra, 5,320 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado del Cumbal, 4,764 m</p><br>
<p>Cerro Negro de Mayasquer, 4,445 m</p><br>
<p>Ritacuba Blanco, 5,410 m</p><br>
<p>Nevado del Quindío, 5,215 m</p><br>
<p>Purace, 4,655 m</p><br>
<p>Santa Isabel, 4,955 m</p><br>
<p>Doña Juana, 4,150 m</p><br>
<p>Galeras, 4,276 m</p><br>
<p>Azufral. 4,070 m</p><br>
<h3>Ecuador</h3><br>
<p>Antisana, 5,752 m</p><br>
<p>Cayambe, 5,790 m</p><br>
<p>Chimborazo, 6,268 m</p><br>
<p>Corazón, 4,790 m</p><br>
<p>Cotopaxi, 5,897 m</p><br>
<p>El Altar, 5,320 m</p><br>
<p>Illiniza, 5,248 m</p><br>
<p>Pichincha, 4,784 m</p><br>
<p>Quilotoa, 3,914 m</p><br>
<p>Reventador, 3,562 m</p><br>
<p>Sangay, 5,230 m</p><br>
<p>Tungurahua, 5,023 m</p><br>
<p>Titicaca, 5,035 m</p><br>
<h3>Peru</h3><br>
<p>Alpamayo, 5,947 m</p><br>
<p>Artesonraju, 6,025 m</p><br>
<p>Carnicero, 5,960 m</p><br>
<p>Chumpe, 6,106 m</p><br>
<p>Coropuna, 6,377 m</p><br>
<p>El Misti, 5,822 m</p><br>
<p>El Toro, 5,830 m</p><br>
<p>Huandoy, 6,395 m</p><br>
<p>Huascarán, 6,768 m</p><br>
<p>Jirishanca, 6,094 m</p><br>
<p>Pumasillo, 5,991 m</p><br>
<p>Rasac, 6,040 m</p><br>
<p>Rondoy, 5,870 m</p><br>
<p>Sarapo, 6,127 m</p><br>
<p>Salcantay, 6,271 m</p><br>
<p>Seria Norte, 5,860 m</p><br>
<p>Siula Grande, 6,344 m</p><br>
<p>Huaytapallana, 5,557 m</p><br>
<p>Yerupaja, 6,635 m</p><br>
<p>Yerupaja Chico, 6,089 m</p><br>
<h3>Venezuela</h3><br>
<p>Pico Bolívar, 5,007 m</p><br>
<p>Pico Humboldt, 4,940 m</p><br>
<p>Pico Bonpland, 4,880 m</p><br>
<p>Pico La Concha, 4,920 m</p><br>
<p>Pico Piedras Blancas, 4,740 m</p><br>
<p>Pico El Águila, 4,180 m</p><br>
<p>Pico El Toro 4,729 m</p><br>
<p>Pico El León 4,740 m</p><br>
<p>Pico Mucuñuque 4,609 m</p><br>
<p>Anazarbus  was an ancient Cilician city and bishopric, which remains a Latin Catholic titular see.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>It was situated in Anatolia in modern Turkey, in the present Çukurova (or classical Aleian plain) about 15 km west of the main stream of the present Ceyhan River (or classical Pyramus river) and near its tributary the Sempas Su.</p><br>
<p>A lofty isolated ridge formed its acropolis. Though some of the masonry in the ruins is certainly pre-Roman, the Sudas identification of it with Cyinda, famous as a treasure city in the wars of Eumenes of Cardia, cannot be accepted in the face of Strabos express location of Cyinda in western Cilicia.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>It was founded by Assyrians. Under the early Roman Empire the place was known as Caesarea, and was the Metropolis (capital) of Late Roman province Cilicia Secunda. It was the home of the poet Oppian.</p><br>
<p>Rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justin I after an earthquake in the 6th century, it became Justinopolis (525); but the old native name persisted, and when Thoros I, king of Lesser Armenia, made it his capital early in the 12th century, it was known as Anazarva.</p><br>
<h2>Remains</h2><br>
<p>Its great natural strength and situation, not far from the mouth of the Sis pass, and near the great road which debouched from the Cilician Gates, made Anazarbus play a considerable part in the struggles between the Byzantine Empire and the early Muslim invaders. It had been rebuilt by Harun al-Rashid in 796, refortified at great expense by the Hamdanid Sayf al-Dawla (mid-10th century) and again destroyed in 962 by Nikephoros II Phokas.</p><br>
<p>In late 1097 or early 1098 it was captured by the armies of the First Crusade and was incorporated into Bohemond&#39;s Principality of Antioch. The Crusaders are probably responsible for the construction of an impressive donjon atop the center of the outcrop. Most of the remaining fortifications, including the curtain walls, massive horse-shaped towers, undercrofts, cisterns, and free-standing structures date from the Armenian periods of occupation, which began with the arrival of the Rubenid Baron T‛oros I. The site briefly exchanged hands between the Greeks and Armenians, until it was formally part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Within the fortress are two Armenian chapels and the magnificent (but severely damaged) three-aisle church built by T‛oros I to celebrate his conquests. The church was once surrounded by a continuous, well-executed dedicatory inscription in Armenian.</p><br>
<p>The Mamluk Empire of Egypt finally destroyed the city in 1374.</p><br>
<p>The present wall of the lower city is of late construction. It encloses a mass of ruins conspicuous in which are a fine triumphal arch, the colonnades of two streets, a gymnasium, etc. A stadium and a theatre lie outside the walls to the south. The remains of the acropolis fortifications are very interesting, including roads and ditches hewn in the rock. There are no notable structures in the upper town. For picturesqueness the site is not equaled in Cilicia, and it is worthwhile to trace the three fine aqueducts to their sources. A necropolis on the escarpment to the south of the curtain wall can also be seen complete with signs of illegal modern excavations.</p><br>
<p>A visit in December 2002 showed that the three aqueducts mentioned above have been nearly completely destroyed. Only small, isolated sections are left standing with the largest portion lying in a pile of rubble that stretches the length of where the aqueducts once stood. A powerful earthquake that struck the area in 1945 is thought to be responsible for the destruction.</p><br>
<p>A modest Turkish farming village (Dilekkaya) lies to the southwest of the ancient city. A small outdoor museum with some of the artifacts collected in the area can be viewed for a small fee. Also nearby are some beautiful mosaics discovered in a farmers field. Inquire at the museum for a viewing.</p><br>
<p>Anazarbus/Anavarsa was one of a chain of Armenian fortifications stretching through Cilicia. The castle of Sis (modern Kozan, Adana) lies to the north while Tumlu Castle and Yilankale are to the south, and the fortresses of Amouda and Sarvandikar are to the east.</p><br>
<h2>Ecclesiastical history</h2><br>
<p>Anazarbus was the capital and so also from 553 (the date of the Second Council of Constantinople) the metropolitan see of the Late Roman province of Cilicia Secunda.</p><br>
<p>A 6th century Notitia Episcopatuum indicates that it had as suffragan sees Epiphania, Alexandria Minor, Irenopolis, Flavias, Castabala and Aegeae. Rhosus was also subject to Anazarbus, but after the 6th century was made exempt, and Mopsuestia was raised to the rank of autcephalous metropolitan see, though without suffragans.</p><br>
<p>It faded, but got two Catholic titular successor sees.</p><br>
<h3>Titular Latin see</h3><br>
<p>The archdiocese was nominally restored in the 18th century, when was established a Latin Catholic Metropolitan titular archbishopric of Anazarbus.</p><br>
<p>It is vacant, having had the following incumbents, generally of the highest (Metropolitan) rank, with an episcopal (lowest rank) exception :</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Giuseppe Maria Saporiti (1726.04.08 – 1743.12.02)</p><br>
<p>Titular Bishop Isidro Alfonso Cavanillas (1753.04.09 – 1755.05.12)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Gerolamo Formagliari (1760.07.21 – 1781)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Romain-Frédéric Gallard (1839.02.21 – 1839.09.28)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Antoine Pierre Hassoun (1842.06.07 – 1846.08.02), as Coadjutor Archeparch of Istanbul of the Armenians (Turkey) (1842.06.07 – 1846.08.02), succeeded as Archeparch of Istanbul of the Armenians (Turkey) (1846.08.02 – 1866.09.14), later Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians (Lebanon) ( 1867.07.12 – 1881.06), created Cardinal-Priest of Ss. Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio e Protasio (1880.12.16 – 1884.02.28)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Giorgio Labella, Friars Minor (O.F.M.) (1847.06.04 – 1860.10.27)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Charles Petre Eyre (1868.12.03 – 1878.03.15)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop John Baptist Salpointe (1884.04.22 – 1885.08.18)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Michael Logue (1887.04.19 – 1887.12.03) (later Cardinal)*</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop François Laurencin (1888.06.01 – 1892.12.18)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Joaquín Larraín Gandarillas (1893.06.15 – 1897.09.26)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Raimondo Ingheo (1907.12.16 – 1911.07.08)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Cláudio José Gonçalves Ponce de Leon, Lazarists (C.M.) (1912.01.09 – 1924.05.26)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Raymund Netzhammer, Benedictine Order( O.S.B.) (1924.07.14 – 1945.09.18)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Michele Akras (1945.10.27 – 1947.02.05)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Heinrich Döring (ハインリヒ・デーリング), S.J. (1948.01.15 – 1951.12.17)</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Joseph-Marie Le Gouaze (1955.06.24 – 1964.07.31)</p><br>
<h3>Titular Armenian see</h3><br>
<p>In the 19th century, an Armenian Catholic titular bishopric of Anazarbus (of the Armenians) (Anazarbus degli Armeniin Curiate Italian) was established.</p><br>
<p>It was a suppressed in 1933, having had a single incumbent, of the intermediary (archiepiscopal) rank :</p><br>
<p>Titular Archbishop Avedis Arpiarian (1898.04.05 – 1911.08.27), previously Eparch of Kharput of the Armenians (1890.09.23 – 1898.04.05); later Eparch of Marasc of the Armenians (1911.08.27 – 1928.06.29), Auxiliary Eparch of the patriarchate Cilicia of the Armenians (Lebanon) (1928.06.29 – 1931.10.17), Armenian Catholic Patriarch of Cilicia (Lebanon) ( 1933.03.13 – 1937.10.26)</p><br>
<h2>Notable locals</h2><br>
<p>Pedanius Dioscorides (1st century) Greek physician, pharmacologist and botanist</p><br>
<p>St. Domnina of Anazarbus</p><br>
<p>St. Theodula of Anazarbus</p><br>
<p>The Aare or Aar is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland.</p><br>
<p>Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about 295 km,</p><br>
<p>There are more than 40 hydroelectric plants along the course of the Aare River.</p><br>
<p>The river&#39;s name dates to at least the La Tène period, and it is attested as Nantaror "Aare valley" in the Berne zinc tablet.</p><br>
<p>The name was Latinized as Arula/Arola/Araris.</p><br>
<h2>Course</h2><br>
<p>The Aare rises in the great Aargletschers (Aare Glaciers) of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Bern and west of the Grimsel Pass. The Oberaargletscher (Upper Aar Glacier) feeds the Oberaarsee, which also flows into the Grimselsee. The Aare leaves the Grimselsee just to the east to the Grimsel Hospiz, below the Grimsel Pass, and then flows northwest through the Haslital, forming on the way the magnificent Handegg Waterfall, 46 m, past Guttannen.</p><br>
<p>Right after Innertkirchen it is joined by its first major tributary, the Gamderwasser. Less than 1 km later the river carves through a limestone ridge in the Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht). It is here that the Aare proves itself to be more than just a river, as it attracts thousands of tourists annually to the causeways through the gorge. A little past Meiringen, near Brienz, the river expands into Lake Brienz. Near the west end of the lake it indirectly receives its first important tributary, the Lütschine, by the Lake of Brienz. It then runs across the swampy plain of the Bödeli (Swiss German diminutive for ground) between Interlaken and Unterseen before flowing into Lake Thun.</p><br>
<p>Near the west end of Lake Thun, the river indirectly receives the waters of the Kander, which has just been joined by the Simme, by the Lake of Thun. Lake Thun marks the head of navigation. On flowing out of the lake it passes through Thun, and then flows through the city of Bern, passing beneath eighteen bridges and around the steeply-flanked peninsula on which the Old City of Berne is located. The river soon changes its northwesterly flow for a due westerly direction, but after receiving the Saane or La Sarine it turns north until it nears Aarberg. There, in one of the major Swiss engineering feats of the 19th century, the Jura water correction, the river, which had previously rendered the countryside north of Bern a swampland through frequent flooding, was diverted by the Aare-Hagneck Canal into the Lac de Bienne. From the upper end of the lake, at Nidau, the river issues through the Nidau-Büren Canal, also called the Aare Canal, and then runs east to Büren. The lake absorbs huge amounts of eroded gravel and snowmelt that the river brings from the Alps, and the former swamps have become fruitful plains: they are known as the "vegetable garden of Switzerland".</p><br>
<p>From here the Aare flows northeast for a long distance, past the ambassador town Solothurn (below which the Grosse Emme flows in on the right), Aarburg (where it is joined by the Wigger), Olten, Aarau, near which is the junction with the Suhre, and Wildegg, where the Seetal Aabach falls in on the right. A short distance further, below Brugg it receives first the Reuss, its major tributary, and shortly afterwards the Limmat, its second strongest tributary. It now turns to north, and soon becomes itself a tributary of the Rhine, which it even surpasses in volume when the two rivers unite downsstreams from Koblenz (Switzerland), opposite Waldshut in Germany. The Rhine, in turn, empties into the North Sea after crossing into the Netherlands.</p><br>
<h2>Tributaries</h2><br>
<p>Limmat (after and northeast of Brugg, and northwest of Baden)</p><br>
<p>Reppisch</p><br>
<p>Sihl</p><br>
<p>*Alp</p><br>
<p>*Minster</p><br>
<p>Lake Zurich</p><br>
<p>*Linthkanal</p><br>
<p>**Lake Walen</p><br>
<p>***Linth</p><br>
<p>****Löntsch</p><br>
<p>****Sernf</p><br>
<p>****Flätschbach</p><br>
<p>***Seez</p><br>
<p>Reuss (after and northeast of Brugg, and northwest of Baden)</p><br>
<p>Lorze</p><br>
<p>Kleine Emme</p><br>
<p>Lake Lucerne</p><br>
<p>*Sarner Aa</p><br>
<p>*Engelberger Aa</p><br>
<p>*Muota</p><br>
<p>Schächen</p><br>
<p>Chärstelenbach</p><br>
<p>Göschener Reuss</p><br>
<p>Aabach (coming from Seetal, in Wildegg)</p><br>
<p>Bünz</p><br>
<p>Suhre (after and north of Aarau)</p><br>
<p>Wyna</p><br>
<p>Aabach (from the left in Aarau)</p><br>
<p>Stegbach</p><br>
<p>Dünnern (in Olten)</p><br>
<p>Wigger (right before Aarburg)</p><br>
<p>Murg (before, west of Murgenthal)</p><br>
<p>Rot (Roggwil)</p><br>
<p>Langete (Langenthal)</p><br>
<p>*Ursenbach (Kleindietwil)</p><br>
<p>*Rotbach (Huttwil)</p><br>
<p>(Grosse) Emme (after, east of Solothurn)</p><br>
<p>Lake of Bienne</p><br>
<p>La Suze (in Biel/Bienne, right next to the outflow)</p><br>
<p>Zihlkanal</p><br>
<p>*Lake of Neuchatel</p><br>
<p>**La Broye (flows through Lake Morat)</p><br>
<p>**Zihl/La Thielle</p><br>
<p>***L&#39;Orbe</p><br>
<p>***Le Talent</p><br>
<p>Saane/La Sarine (after, west of Wohlensee)</p><br>
<p>Sense</p><br>
<p>Gürbe (in Muri bei Bern)</p><br>
<p>Zulg (west of Steffisburg)</p><br>
<p>Lake Thun</p><br>
<p>Kander (west of Spiez)</p><br>
<p>*Simme</p><br>
<p>*Entschlige</p><br>
<p>Lake Brienz</p><br>
<p>Lütschine (at the end of Lake Brienz, right next to the outflow)</p><br>
<p>Gadmerwasser (right after, northwest of Innertkirchen)</p><br>
<h2>Reservoirs</h2><br>
<p>Lake Grimsel, 1,908 m</p><br>
<p>Lake Brienz,</p><br>
<p>Lake Thun, 558 m</p><br>
<p>Lake Wohlen, 481 m</p><br>
<p>Niederriedsee, 461 m</p><br>
<p>Lake Biel, 429 m</p><br>
<p>Klingnauer Stausee, 318 m</p><br>
<p>Abydos  is one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, and also of the eighth nome in Upper Egypt, of which it was the capital city. It is located about 11 km west of the Nile at latitude 26° 10 N, near the modern Egyptian towns of el-Araba el Madfuna and al-Balyana. In the ancient Egyptian language, the city was called Abdju . The English name Abydos comes from the Greek Ἄβυδος, a name borrowed by Greek geographers from the unrelated city of Abydos on the Hellespont.</p><br>
<p>Considered one of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt, the sacred city of Abydos was the site of many ancient temples, including Umm el-Qaab, a royal necropolis where early pharaohs were entombed. These tombs began to be seen as extremely significant burials and in later times it became desirable to be buried in the area, leading to the growth of the towns importance as a cult site.</p><br>
<p>Today, Abydos is notable for the memorial temple of Seti I, which contains an inscription from the nineteenth dynasty known to the modern world as the Abydos King List. It is a chronological list showing cartouches of most dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from Menes until Seti I&#39;s father, Ramesses I.</p><br>
<p>The Great Temple and most of the ancient town are buried under the modern buildings to the north of the Seti temple. Many of the original structures and the artifacts within them are considered irretrievable and lost; many may have been destroyed by the new construction.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Abydos was occupied by the rulers of the Predynastic period, whose town, temple and tombs have been found there. The temple and town continued to be rebuilt at intervals down to the times of the thirtieth dynasty, and the cemetery was used continuously.</p><br>
<p>The pharaohs of the first dynasty were buried in Abydos, including Narmer, who is regarded as founder of the first dynasty, and his successor, Aha. It was in this time period that the Abydos boats were constructed. Some pharaohs of the second dynasty were also buried in Abydos. The temple was renewed and enlarged by these pharaohs as well. Funerary enclosures, misinterpreted in modern times as great forts, were built on the desert behind the town by three kings of the second dynasty; the most complete is that of Khasekhemwy.</p><br>
<p>From the fifth dynasty, the deity Khentiamentiu, foremost of the Westerners, came to be seen as a manifestation of the dead pharaoh in the underworld. Pepi I (sixth dynasty) constructed a funerary chapel which evolved over the years into the Great Temple of Osiris, the ruins of which still exist within the town enclosure. Abydos became the centre of the worship of the Isis and Osiris cult.</p><br>
<p>During the First Intermediate Period, the principal deity of the area, Khentiamentiu, began to be seen as an aspect of Osiris, and the deities gradually merged and came to be regarded as one. Khentiamentiu&#39;s name became an epithet of Osiris. King Mentuhotep II was the first one building a royal chapel. In the twelfth dynasty a gigantic tomb was cut into the rock by Senusret III. Associated with this tomb was a cenotaph, a cult temple and a small town known as "Wah-Sut", that was used by the workers for these structures. Next to that cenotaph were buried at least two kings of the thirteenth dynasty (in tombs S9 and S10) and some rulers of the Second Intermediate Period, such as Senebkay. An indigenous line of kings, the Abydos Dynasty, may have ruled the region from Abydos at the time.</p><br>
<p>The building during the eighteenth dynasty began with a large chapel of Ahmose I. The Pyramid of Ahmose I was also constructed at Abydos—the only pyramid in the area; very little of it remains today.</p><br>
<p>Thutmose III built a far larger temple, about 130 x. He also made a processional way leading past the side of the temple to the cemetery beyond, featuring a great gateway of granite.</p><br>
<p>Seti I, in the nineteenth dynasty, founded a temple to the south of the town in honor of the ancestral pharaohs of the early dynasties; this was finished by Ramesses II, who also built a lesser temple of his own. Merneptah added the Osireion just to the north of the temple of Seti.</p><br>
<p>Ahmose II in the twenty-sixth dynasty rebuilt the temple again, and placed in it a large monolith shrine of red granite, finely wrought. The foundations of the successive temples were comprised within approximately 18 ft. depth of the ruins discovered in modern times; these needed the closest examination to discriminate the various buildings, and were recorded by more than 4,000 measurements and 1,000 levellings.</p><br>
<p>The latest building was a new temple of Nectanebo I, built in the thirtieth dynasty. From the Ptolemaic times of the Greek occupancy of Egypt, that began three hundred years before the Roman occupancy that followed, the structure began to decay and no later works are known.</p><br>
<h2>Cult centre</h2><br>
<p>From earliest times, Abydos was a cult centre, first of the local deity, Khentiamentiu, and from the end of the Old Kingdom, the rising cult of Osiris and Isis.</p><br>
<p>A tradition developed that the Early Dynastic cemetery was the burial place of Osiris and the tomb of Djer was reinterpreted as that of Osiris.</p><br>
<p>Decorations in tombs throughout Egypt, such as the one displayed to the right, record journeys to and from Abydos, as important pilgrimages made by individuals who were proud to have been able to make the vital trip.</p><br>
<h2>Major constructions</h2><br>
<h3>Great Osiris Temple</h3><br>
<p>Successively from the first dynasty to the twenty-sixth dynasty, nine or ten temples were built on one site at Abydos. The first was an enclosure, about 30 x, surrounded by a thin wall of unbaked bricks. Incorporating one wall of this first structure, the second temple of about 40 ft square was built within a wall about 10 ft thick. An outer temenos (enclosure) wall surrounded the grounds. This outer wall was thickened about the second or third dynasty. The old temple entirely vanished in the fourth dynasty, and a smaller building was erected behind it, enclosing a wide hearth of black ashes. Pottery models of offerings are found in these ashes and probably were the substitutes for live sacrifices decreed by Khufu (or Cheops) in his temple reforms.</p><br>
<p>At an undetermined date, a great clearance of temple offerings had been made and a modern discovery of a chamber into which they were gathered yielded the fine ivory carvings and the glazed figures and tiles that show the splendid work of the first dynasty. A vase of Menes with purple hieroglyphs inlaid into a green glaze and tiles with relief figures are the most important pieces found. The noble statuette of Cheops in ivory, found in the stone chamber of the temple, gives the only portrait of this great pharaoh.</p><br>
<p>The temple was rebuilt entirely on a larger scale by Pepi I in the sixth dynasty. He placed a great stone gateway to the temenos, an outer temenos wall and gateway, with a colonnade between the gates. His temple was about 40 x inside, with stone gateways front and back, showing that it was of the processional type. In the eleventh dynasty Mentuhotep I added a colonnade and altars. Soon after, Mentuhotep II entirely rebuilt the temple, laying a stone pavement over the area, about 45 ft square, and added subsidiary chambers. Soon thereafter in the twelfth dynasty, Senusret I laid massive foundations of stone over the pavement of his predecessor. A great temenos was laid out enclosing a much larger area and the new temple itself was about three times the earlier size.</p><br>
<h3>Temple of Seti I</h3><br>
<p>The temple of Seti I was built on entirely new ground half a mile to the south of the long series of temples just described. This surviving building is best known as the Great Temple of Abydos, being nearly complete and an impressive sight. A principal purpose of the temple was that of a memorial temple to the king Seti I, as well as reverence of the early pharaohs, which is incorporated within as part of the "Rite of the Ancestors". The long list of the pharaohs of the principal dynasties—recognized by Seti—are carved on a wall and known as the "Abydos King List" (showing the cartouche name of many dynastic pharaohs of Egypt from the first, Narmer or Menes, until his time)- with the exception of those noted above. There were significant names deliberately left out of the list. So rare as an almost complete list of pharaoh names, the Table of Abydos, re-discovered by William John Bankes, has been called the "Rosetta Stone" of Egyptian archaeology, analogous to the Rosetta Stone for Egyptian writing, beyond the Narmer Palette.</p><br>
<p>There also were seven chapels built for the worship of the pharaoh and principal deities, being the "state" deities Ptah, Re-Horakhty, and (centrally positioned) Amun-Re; the remaining three chapels are dedicated to the Abydos triad of Osiris, Isis and Horus. The rites recorded in the deity chapels represent the first complete form of the Daily Ritual, which was performed throughout temples daily in Egypt throughout the pharaonic period. At the back of the temple is an enigmatic structure known as the Osireion, which served as a cenotaph for Seti-Osiris, and is thought to be connected with the worship of Osiris as an "Osiris tomb". It is possible that from those chambers led out the great Hypogeum for the celebration of the Osiris mysteries, built by Merenptah. The temple was originally 550 ft long, but the forecourts are scarcely recognizable, and the part still in good condition is about</p><br>
<p>250 ft long and 350 ft wide, including the wing at the side. Magazines for food and offerings storage were built to either side of the forecourts, as well as a small palace for the king and his retinue, to the southeast of the first forecourt (Ghazouli, The Palace and Magazines Attached to the Temple of Sety I at Abydos and the Facade of This Temple. ASAE 58 (1959)).</p><br>
<p>Except for the list of pharaohs and a panegyric on Ramesses II, the subjects are not historical, but religious in nature, dedicated to the transformation of the king after his death. The temple reliefs are celebrated for their delicacy and artistic refinement, utilizing both the archaism of earlier dynasties with the vibrancy of late 18th Dynasty reliefs. The sculptures had been published mostly in hand copy, not facsimile, by Auguste Mariette in his Abydos, I. The temple has been partially recorded epigraphically by Amice Calverley and Myrtle Broome in their 4 volume publication of The Temple of King Sethos I at Abydos (1933–1958).</p><br>
<h3>Ramesses II temple</h3><br>
<p>The adjacent temple of Ramesses II was much smaller and simpler in plan; but it had a fine historical series of scenes around the outside that lauded his achievements, of which the lower parts remain. The outside of the temple was decorated with scenes of the Battle of Kadesh. His list of pharaohs, similar to that of Seti I, formerly stood here; but the fragments were removed by the French consul and sold to the British Museum.</p><br>
<h2>Tombs</h2><br>
<p>The Royal necropolis of the earliest dynasties were placed about a mile into the great desert plain, in a place now known as Umm el-Qa&#39;ab, The Mother of Pots, because of the shards remaining from all of the devotional objects left by religious pilgrims. The earliest burial is about 10 x inside, a pit lined with brick walls, and originally roofed with timber and matting. Others also built before Menes are 15 x. The probable tomb of Menes is of the latter size. Afterward the tombs increase in size and complexity. The tomb-pit is surrounded by chambers to hold offerings, the sepulchre being a great wooden chamber in the midst of the brick-lined pit. Rows of small pits, tombs for the servants of the pharaoh surround the royal chamber, many dozens of such burials being usual. Some of the offerings included sacrificed animals, such as the asses found in the tomb of Merneith. Evidence of human sacrifices exists in the early tombs, but this practice was changed into symbolic offerings later.</p><br>
<p>By the end of the second dynasty the type of tomb constructed changed to a long passage bordered with chambers on either side, the royal burial being in the middle of the length. The greatest of these tombs with its dependencies, covered a space of over 3,000 m&sup2, however it is possible for this to be several tombs which have met in the making of a tomb; the Egyptians had no means of mapping the positioning of the tombs. The contents of the tombs have been nearly destroyed by successive plunderers; but enough remained to show that rich jewellery was placed on the mummies, a profusion of vases of hard and valuable stones from the royal table service stood about the body, the store-rooms were filled with great jars of wine, perfumed ointments, and other supplies, and tablets of ivory and of ebony were engraved with a record of the yearly annals of the reigns. The seals of various officials, of which over 200 varieties have been found, give an insight into the public arrangements.</p><br>
<p>The cemetery of private persons began during the first dynasty with some pit-tombs in the town. It was extensive in the twelfth and thirteenth dynasties and contained many rich tombs. A large number of fine tombs were made in the eighteenth to twentieth dynasties, and members of later dynasties continued to bury their dead here until Roman times. Many hundreds of funeral steles were removed by Mariette&#39;s workmen, without any record of the burials being made. Later excavations have been recorded by Edward R. Ayrton, Abydos, iii. Maclver, El Amrah and Abydos; and Garstang, El Arabah.</p><br>
<h2>"Forts"</h2><br>
<p>Some of the tomb structures, referred to as "forts" by modern researchers, lay behind the town. Known as Shunet ez Zebib, it is about 450 x over all, and one still stands 30 ft high. It was built by Khasekhemwy, the last pharaoh of the second dynasty. Another structure nearly as large adjoined it, and probably is older than that of Khasekhemwy. A third "fort" of a squarer form is now occupied by a convent of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; its age cannot be ascertained.</p><br>
<h2>Hieroglyphs in the Temple of Seti I</h2><br>
<p>Some of the hieroglyphs carved over an arch on the site have been interpreted in esoteric and "ufological" circles as depicting modern technology.</p><br>
<p>The carvings are often thought to be a helicopter, a battle tank or submarine, and a fighter plane (some interpret this as a U.F.O.) However, these conjectures are largely based in pseudoarchaeology, and the picture often claimed as "evidence" has been retouched (see right).</p><br>
<p>Abydos  or Abydus, was an ancient and medieval city in Mysia in Asia Minor. It was located on the coast of the Hellespont.</p><br>
<p>In Greek mythology, Abydos is presented in the myth of Hero and Leander as the home of Leander. The city is also mentioned in Rodanthe and Dosikles, a novel written by Theodore Prodromos, a 12th-century writer, in which Dosikles kidnaps Rodanthe at Abydos.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Classical period</h3><br>
<p>Abydos is mentioned in the Iliad as a Trojan ally, and, according to Strabo, was occupied by Thracians after the Trojan War. Abydos was settled by Milesian colonists contemporaneously with the foundation of the cities of Priapos and Prokonnesos in c. 670 BC. Strabo related that Gyges, King of Lydia granted his consent to the Milesians to settle Abydos. but was occupied by the Persian Empire in 514. Darius I destroyed the city following his Scythian campaign in 512. In 480, at the onset of the Second Persian invasion of Greece, Xerxes I and the Persian army passed through Abydos on its march to Greece.</p><br>
<p>After the failed Persian invasion, Abydos became a member of the Delian League, Abydos was attacked by the Athenians in the winter of 409/408 BC, but was repelled by a Persian force led by Pharnabazus, satrap (governor) of Hellespontine Phrygia. Dercylidas held the office of harmost of Abydos until at least c. 407.</p><br>
<p>According to Aristotle, Abydos held an oligarchic constitution at this time. At the conclusion of the Corinthian War, under the terms of the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 BC, Abydos was annexed to the Persian Empire.</p><br>
<p>In c. 360, the city came under the control of the tyrant Iphiades. In 335, whilst Parmenion besieged the city of Pitane, Abydos was besieged by a Persian army led by Memnon of Rhodes, forcing Parmenion to abandon his siege of Pitane and march north to relieve Abydos. Alexander ferried across from Sestos to Abydos in 334 and travelled south to the city of Troy, after which he returned to Abydos. The following day, Alexander left Abydos and led his army north to Percote. Alexander later established a royal mint at Abydos, as well as at other cities in Asia Minor.</p><br>
<p>In 302, during the Fourth War of the Diadochi, Lysimachus, King of Thrace, crossed over into Anatolia and invaded the Kingdom of Antigonus I. Unlike the neighbouring cities of Parium and Lampsacus which surrendered, Abydos resisted Lysimachus and was besieged. Lysimachus was forced to abandon the siege, however, after the arrival of a relief force sent by Demetrius, son of King Antigonus I.</p><br>
<p>During the Second Macedonian War, Abydos was besieged by Philip V, King of Macedonia, in 200 BC, during which many of its citizens chose to commit suicide rather than surrender. Ultimately, the city was forced to surrender to Philip V due to a lack of reinforcements. The Macedonian occupation ended after the Peace of Flamininus at the end of the war in 196 BC. At this time, Abydos was substantially depopulated and partially ruined as a result of the Macedonian occupation. In the spring of 196 BC, Abydos was seized by Antiochus III, Megas Basileus of the Seleucid Empire, who refortified the city in 192/191 BC.</p><br>
<p>Under the Eastern Roman Empire, the city was administered by an komes ton Stenon (count of the straits) or an archon, and was the centre for customs collection at the southern entrance of the Sea of Marmara.</p><br>
<h3>Medieval period</h3><br>
<p>As a result of the administrative reforms of the 7th century, Abydos came to be administered as part of the theme of Opsikion. The office of kommerkiarios of Abydos is first attested in the mid-7th century, and was later sometimes combined with the office of paraphylax, the military governor of the fort, introduced in the 8th century, at which time the office of komes ton stenon is last mentioned.</p><br>
<p>After the 7th century AD, Abydos became a major seaport. Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, during his campaign against Constantinople, crossed over into Thrace at Abydos in July 717. In 801, Empress Irene reduced commercial tariffs collected at Abydos. The city later also became part of the theme of the Aegean Sea and was the seat of a tourmarches. In the early 11th century, Abydos became the seat of a separate command and the office of strategos (governor) of Abydos is first mentioned in 1004 with authority over the northern shore of the Hellespont and the islands of the Sea of Marmara.</p><br>
<p>Abydos was sacked by an Arab fleet led by Leo of Tripoli in 904 AD whilst en route to Constantinople. The revolt of Bardas Phokas was defeated by Emperor Basil II at the Battle of Abydos in 989 AD. In 992, the Venetians were granted reduced commercial tariffs at Abydos as a special privilege. Emperor Manuel I Komnenos repaired Abydos&#39; fortifications in the late 12th century.</p><br>
<p>By the 13th century AD, the crossing from Lampsacus to Kallipolis had become more common and largely replaced the crossing from Abydos to Sestos. During the Fourth Crusade, in 1204, the Venetians seized Abydos, and, following the Sack of Constantinople and the formation of the Latin Empire later that year, Emperor Baldwin granted the land between Abydos to Adramyttium to his brother Henry of Flanders. Henry of Flanders passed through Abydos on 11 November 1204 and continued his march to Adramyttium. Abydos was seized by the Empire of Nicaea, a successor state of the Eastern Roman Empire, during its offensive in 1206-1207, but was reconquered by the Latin Empire in 1212-1213. The city was later recovered by Emperor John III Vatatzes. Abydos fell to the Ottoman Turks in the early 14th century.</p><br>
<h2>Ecclesiastical history</h2><br>
<p>The bishopric of Abydus in the Roman province of Hellespontus appears in all the Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Patriarchate of Constantinople from the mid-7th century until the time of Andronicus III (1341), first as a suffragan of Cyzicus and then from 1084 as a metropolitan see without suffragans. The earliest bishop mentioned in extant documents is Marcianus, who signed the joint letter of the bishops of Hellespontus to Emperor Leo I the Thracian in 458, protesting about the murder of Proterius of Alexandria. A letter of Peter the Fuller (471–488) mentions a bishop of Abydus called Pamphilus. Ammonius signed the decretal letter of the Council of Constantinople in 518 against Severus of Antioch and others. Isidorus was at the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681), Ioannes at the Trullan Council (692), Theodorus at the Second Council of Nicaea (787). An unnamed bishop of Abydus was a counsellor of Emperor Nicephorus II in 969. Abydos remained a metropolitan see until the city fell to the Turks in the 14th century.</p><br>
<p>In c. 1220, during the Latin occupation, the dioceses of Abydos and Madytos were united and placed under direct Papal authority. No longer a residential bishopric, Abydus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<p>Amathus or Amathous  was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about 24 miles west of Larnaca and 6 miles east of Limassol. Its ancient cult sanctuary of Aphrodite was the second most important in Cyprus, her homeland, after Paphos.</p><br>
<p>Archaeological work has recently been continued at the site and many finds are exhibited in the Limassol Museum.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Pre-history and ancient era</h3><br>
<p>The pre-history of Amathus mixes myth and archaeology. Archaeology has detected human activity from the earliest Iron Age, BC.</p><br>
<p>The citys legendary founder was Cinyras, linked with the birth of Adonis, who called the city after his mother Amathous. According to a version of the Ariadne legend noted by Plutarch, Theseus abandoned Ariadne at Amathousa, where she died giving birth to her child and was buried in a sacred tomb. According to Plutarchs source, Amathousians called the sacred grove where her shrine was situated the Wood of Aphrodite Ariadne. More purely Hellenic myth would have Amathus settled instead by one of the sons of Heracles, thus accounting for the fact that he was worshiped there.</p><br>
<p>It was said in antiquity that the people of Amathus were autochthonous, or "Pelasgian". Their non-Greek language is confirmed on the site by Eteocypriot inscriptions in the Cypriot syllabary which alone in the Aegean world survived the Bronze Age collapse and continued to be used down to the 4th century BC.</p><br>
<p>Amathus was built on the coastal cliffs with a natural harbour and flourished at an early date, soon requiring several cemeteries. Greeks from Euboea left their pottery at Amathus from the 10th century BC. During the post-Phoenician era of the 8th century BC, a palace was erected and a port was also constructed, which served the trade with the Greeks and the Levantines. A special burial ground for infants, a tophet served the culture of the Phoenicians. For the Hellenes, high on the cliff a temple was built, which became a worship site devoted to Aphrodite, in her particular local presence as Aphrodite Amathusia along with a bearded male Aphrodite called Aphroditos. The excavators discovered the final stage of the Temple of Aphrodite, also known as Aphrodisias, which dates approximately to the 1st century BC. According to the legend, it was where festive Adonia took place, in which athletes competed in hunting wild boars during sport competitions; they also competed in dancing and singing, all to the honour of Adonis.</p><br>
<p>The earliest remains hitherto found on the site are tombs of the early Iron Age period of Graeco-Phoenician influences (1000-600 BC). Amathus is identified with Kartihadasti (Phoenician "New-Town") in the Cypriote tribute-list of Esarhaddon of Assyria (668 BC). It certainly maintained strong Phoenician sympathies, for it was its refusal to join the philhellene league of Onesilos of Salamis which provoked the revolt of Cyprus from Achaemenid Persia in 500-494 BC, when Amathus was besieged unsuccessfully and avenged itself by the capture and execution of Onesilos. Herodotus reports</p><br>
<p>Amathus was a rich and densely populated kingdom with a flourishing agriculture (grain and sheep) and copper mines situated very close to the northeast Kalavasos.</p><br>
<h3>Hellenistic Era</h3><br>
<p>About 385-380 BC, the philhellene Evagoras of Salamis was similarly opposed by Amathus, allied with Citium and Soli; and even after Alexander the city resisted annexation, and was bound over to give hostages to Seleucus. Its political importance was now ended but its temple of Adonis and Aphrodite Amathusia remained famous in Roman times. The epithet Amathusia in Roman poetry often means little more than "Cypriote," but attesting to the fame of the city.</p><br>
<p>From the 4th century BC the pedestals of two sculptures donated by the last Basileus of Amathous, Androkles, representing his two sons, Orestheus and Andragoras, have survived. Their inscriptions are in both Eteozypric and Greek languages.</p><br>
<p>The decline of Amathous is often measured by the Ptolemaic gifts to Argos, where Amathous donated only 40 drachmas in 170-160 BC, but Kition and Salamis gave 208, Kourion 172, and Paphos 100. However, this figure contradicts the archaeologic evidence of new buildings in this period including a balneion, a bath, a gymnasium, as well as fortifications of the Acropolis, including a new tower. However, the port of Paphos lost traffic compared to Amathous in the Ptolemaic period, an indication that Paphos as the capital of the island perhaps offered fewer drachmas than the other cities for different reasons, like Amathous.</p><br>
<h3>Roman Era</h3><br>
<p>In the Roman era Amathus became the capital of one of the four administrative regions of Cyprus.</p><br>
<p>A Roman temple was built in the 1st century AD on top of the Hellenistic predecessor. The temple facilities remained so important in Roman times that Amathusia was used as a synonym for Cypriot.</p><br>
<h3>Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages</h3><br>
<p>Later, in the 4th century AD, Amasus became the see of a Christian bishop and continued to flourish until the Byzantine period. Of its bishops, Heliodorus was at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and Alexander at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. In the late 6th century, Saint Ioannis Eleimonas (John the Charitable), protector of the Knights of St. John, was born in Amathus and after 614 sent Theodorus, bishop of Amathus, to Jerusalem to ransom some slaves.</p><br>
<p>Today, Amathus is a see of the Church of Cyprus and is also listed (under the name "Amathus in Cypro", to distinguish it from "Amathus in Transjordan") as a titular see by the Catholic Church, which however, in line with the practice adopted after the Second Vatican Council, has made no appointments to the bishopric since the death of the last Latin titular bishop in 1984.</p><br>
<p>Anastasius Sinaita, the famous 7th-century prolific monk of Saint Catherine&#39;s Monastery, was born here. It is thought that he left Cyprus after the 649 Arab conquest of the island, setting out for the Holy Land, and eventually becoming a monk on Sinai.</p><br>
<p>Amathus declined and was already almost deserted when Richard Plantagenet won Cyprus by a victory there over Isaac Comnenus in 1191. The tombs were plundered and the stones from the beautiful edifices were brought to Limassol to be used for new constructions. Much later, in 1869, a great number of blocks of stone from Amathus were used for the construction of the Suez Canal. A ruined Byzantine church marks its site.</p><br>
<h3>In modern times</h3><br>
<p>A new settlement close to Amathus but further inland, Agios Tychonas, is named after the bishop Saint Tychon of Amathus. The site of the ruins is within the borders of this village, though the expansion of the Limassol tourist area has threatened the ruins: it is speculated that some of the hotels are on top of the Amathus necropolis.</p><br>
<h2>The Site and Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The city had vanished, except for fragments of wall and of a great stone urn on the acropolis, dating from the 6th century BC of which a similar vessel was taken to the Musée du Louvre in 1867. It is 1.85 m tall and weighs 14 tons. It was made from a single piece of stone and has four curved handles carved with bulls. In the 1870s, Luigi Palma di Cesnola excavated the necropolis of Amathus, as elsewhere in Cyprus, enriching the early collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; some objects went to the British Museum. More modern archaeological joint Cypriote-French excavations started in 1980 and still continue. The Acropolis, the Temple of Aphrodite, the agora, the city’s walls, the basilica and the port have all been excavated.</p><br>
<p>Further archaeological objects found during the excavations are preserved at both the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the Limassol District Archaeological Museum.</p><br>
<p>In the agora there are marble columns decorated with spirals and a huge paved squares. On the coastal side of the city there is an Early Christian basilica with mosaic floors decorated with semi-precious stones. Further, near the terraced road leading to the Temple, situated on the top of the cliff, several houses built in a row dating to the Hellenistic period have been discovered. At the east and west extremes of the city the two acropoleis are situated where a number of tombs have been found, many of which are intact.</p><br>
<p>Two small sanctuaries, with terracotta votive offerings of Graeco-Phoenician age, lie not far off, but the location of the great shrines of Adonis and Aphrodite have not been identified (M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Kypros, i. ch.1).</p><br>
<p>Amphipolis  is best known for being a magnificent ancient Greek polis , and later a Roman city, whose impressive remains can still be seen.</p><br>
<p>It is famous in history for events such as the battle between the Spartans and Athenians in 422 BC, and also as the place where Alexander the Great prepared for campaigns leading to his invasion of Asia. Alexanders three finest admirals, Nearchus, Androsthenes and Laomedon, resided in this city and it is also the place where, after Alexanders death, his wife Roxane and their small son Alexander IV were exiled and later murdered.</p><br>
<p>Excavations in and around the city have revealed important buildings, ancient walls and tombs. At the nearby vast Kasta burial mound, an important ancient Macedonian tomb has recently been revealed. The unique and beautiful "Lion of Amphipolis" monument nearby is a popular destination for visitors.</p><br>
<p>It was located within the region of Edonis. It is today a municipality in the Serres regional unit of Greece. The seat of the municipality is Rodolivos.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Origins</h3><br>
<p>Throughout the 5th century BC, Athens sought to consolidate its control over Thrace, which was strategically important because of its primary materials (the gold and silver of the Pangaion hills and the dense forests essential for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens&#39; supply of grain from Scythia. After a first unsuccessful attempt at colonisation in 497 BC by the Milesian Tyrant Histiaeus, the Athenians founded a first colony at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine Ways’) in 465, but these first ten thousand colonists were massacred by the Thracians. A second attempt took place in 437 BC on the same site under the guidance of Hagnon, son of Nicias, which was successful. The city and its first walls date from this time.</p><br>
<p>The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, "around the city"), a name which is the subject of much debate about its etymology. Thucydides claims the name comes from the fact that the Strymon flows "around the city" on two sides; however a note in the Suda (also given in the lexicon of Photius) offers a different explanation apparently given by Marsyas, son of Periander: that a large proportion of the population lived "around the city". However, a more probable explanation is the one given by Julius Pollux: that the name indicates the vicinity of an isthmus.</p><br>
<p>Amphipolis became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of choice for their Spartan adversaries. The Athenian population remained very much in the minority in the city. For this reason Amphipolis remained an independent city and an ally of the Athenians, rather than a colony or member of the confederacy. However, in 424 BC the Spartan general Brasidas easily took control of the city.</p><br>
<p>A rescue expedition led by the Athenian general, and later historian, Thucydides had to settle for securing Eion and could not retake Amphipolis, a failure for which Thucydides was sentenced to exile. A new Athenian force under the command of Cleon failed once more in 422 BC during the Battle of Amphipolis at which both Cleon and Brasidas lost their lives. Brasidas survived long enough to hear of the defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as the founder of the city</p><br>
<p>and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices.</p><br>
<h3>Macedonian rule</h3><br>
<p>The city itself kept its independence until the reign of king Philip II (r. 359–336 BC) despite several Athenian attacks, notably because of the government of Callistratus of Aphidnae. In 357 BC, Philip succeeded where the Athenians had failed and conquered the city, thereby removing the obstacle which Amphipolis presented to Macedonian control over Thrace. According to the historian Theopompus, this conquest came to be the object of a secret accord between Athens and Philip II, who would return the city in exchange for the fortified town of Pydna, but the Macedonian king betrayed the accord, refusing to cede Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna as well.</p><br>
<p>The city was not immediately incorporated into the Macedonian kingdom, and for some time preserved its institutions and a certain degree of autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further east; however, Philip sent a number of Macedonian governors to Amphipolis, and in many respects the city was effectively "Macedonianized". Nomenclature, the calendar and the currency (the gold stater, created by Philip to capitalise on the gold reserves of the Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitan drachma) were all replaced by Macedonian equivalents. In the reign of Alexander the Great, Amphipolis was an important naval base, and the birthplace of three of the most famous Macedonian admirals: Nearchus, Androsthenes and Laomedon, whose burial place is most likely marked by the famous lion of Amphipolis.</p><br>
<p>The importance of the city in this period is shown by Alexander the Greats decision that it was one of the six cities at which large luxurious temples costing 1500 talents were built. Alexander prepared for campaigns here against Thrace in 335BC and the his army and fleet assembled near the port before the invasion of Asia. The port was also used as naval base during his campaigns in Asia. After Alexanders death, his wife Roxane and their small son Alexander IV were exiled by Cassander and later murdered here.</p><br>
<p>Throughout Macedonian sovereignty Amphipolis was a strong fortress of great strategic and economic importance, as shown by inscriptions. Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the Macedonian royal road (as testified by a border stone found between Philippi and Amphipolis giving the distance to the latter), and later on the Via Egnatia, the principal Roman road which crossed the southern Balkans. Apart from the ramparts of the lower town, the gymnasium and a set of well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the only artifacts from this period that remain visible. Though little is known of the layout of the town, modern knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better shape thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, including a military ordinance of Philip V and an ephebarchic law from the gymnasium.</p><br>
<h3>Conquest by the Romans</h3><br>
<p>After the final victory of Rome over Macedonia in a battle in 168 BC, Amphipolis became the capital one of the four mini-republics, or merides, which were created by the Romans out of the kingdom of the Antigonids which succeeded Alexander’s empire in Macedon. These merides were gradually incorporated into the Roman client state, and later province, of Thracia. According to the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles Paul and Silas passed through Amphipolis in the early 50s AD, on their journey between Philippi and Thessalonica; where hence they proselytized to the Greeks, including Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.</p><br>
<h3>Revival in Late Antiquity</h3><br>
<p>During the period of Late Antiquity, Amphipolis benefited from the increasing economic prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large number of Christian churches that were built. Significantly however, these churches were built within a restricted area of the town, sheltered by the walls of the acropolis. This has been taken as evidence that the large fortified perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, and that the population of the city had considerably diminished.</p><br>
<p>Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the churches constructed between the fifth and sixth centuries are impressive. Four basilicas adorned with rich mosaic floors and elaborate architectural sculptures (such as the ram-headed column capitals - see picture) have been excavated, as well as a church with a hexagonal central plan which evokes that of the basilica of St. Vitalis in Ravenna. It is difficult to find reasons for such municipal extravagance in such a small town. One possible explanation provided by the historian André Boulanger is that an increasing ‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy upper classes in the late Roman period to spend money on local gentrification projects (which he terms euergetism, from the Greek verb εύεργετέω; meaning I do good) was exploited by the local church to its advantage, which led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre and of the agricultural riches of the city’s territory. Amphipolis was also a diocese under the metropolitan see of Thessalonica - the Bishop of Amphipolis is first mentioned in 533. The bishopric is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<h3>Final decline of the city</h3><br>
<p>The Slavic invasions of the late 6th century gradually encroached on the back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants retreated to the area around the acropolis. The ramparts were maintained to a certain extent, thanks to materials plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the large unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by small houses and the workshops of artisans. Around the middle of the 7th century AD, a further reduction of the inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase in the fortification of the town, with the construction of a new rampart with pentagonal towers cutting through the middle of the remaining monuments. The acropolis, the Roman baths, and especially the episcopal basilica were crossed by this wall.</p><br>
<p>The city was probably abandoned in the eighth century, as the last bishop was attested in 787. Its inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of ancient Eion, port of Amphipolis, which had been rebuilt and refortified in the Byzantine period under the name “Chrysopolis”. This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, before being abandoned during the Ottoman period. The last recorded sign of activity in the region of Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower to the north in 1367 by the megas primikerios John and the stratopedarches Alexios to protect the land that they had given to the monastery of Pantokrator on Mount Athos.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The site was discovered and described by many travellers and archaeologists during the 19th century, including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), Leon Heuzey (1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). However, excavations did not truly begin until after the Second World War. The Greek Archaeological Society under D. Lazaridis excavated in 1972 and 1985, uncovering a necropolis, the city wall (see photograph), the basilicas, and the acropolis. Further excavations have since uncovered the river bridge, the gymnasium, Greek and Roman villas and numerous tombs etc.</p><br>
<p>Parts of the lion monument and tombs were discovered during World War I by Bulgarian and British troops whilst digging trenches in the area. In 1934, M. Feyel, of the École française d&#39;Athènes (EfA), led an epigraphical mission to the site and uncovered further remains of the lion monument (a reconstruction was given in the Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, a publication of the EfA which is available on line).</p><br>
<p>The silver ossuary containing the cremated remains of Brasidas and a gold crown (see image) was found in a tomb in pride of place under the Agora.</p><br>
<h3>The Tomb of Amphipolis</h3><br>
<p>In 2012 Greek archaeologists unearthed a large tomb within the Kasta Hill, the biggest burial mound in Greece, northeast of Amphipolis. The large size of the tumulus indicates the prominence of the burials made there. The perimeter wall of the tumulus is 497 meters long, and is made of limestone covered with marble.</p><br>
<p>The tomb comprises three chambers separated by walls. There are two sphinxes just outside the entrance to the tomb. Two of the columns supporting the roof in the first section are in the form of Caryatids, in the 4th century BC style. The excavation revealed a pebble mosaic showing the abduction of Persephone by Hades directly behind the Caryatids and in front of the Macedonian marble door leading to the "third" chamber. Hades&#39; chariot is drawn by two white horses and led to the underworld by Hermes. The mosaic verifies the Macedonian character of the tomb. As the head of one of the sphinxes was found inside the tomb behind the broken door, it is clear that there were intruders, probably in antiquity.</p><br>
<p>The identity of the burial remains unknown and the excavation is continuing. Dr. Katerina Peristeri, the archaeologist heading the excavation of the tomb, dates the tomb to the 4th Century BC, the period after the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC).</p><br>
<h2>Amphipolitans</h2><br>
<p>Demetrius of Amphipolis, student of Plato&#39;s</p><br>
<p>Zoilus (400–320 BC), grammarian, cynic philosopher</p><br>
<p>Pamphilus (painter), head of Sicyonian school and teacher of Apelles</p><br>
<p>Aetion, sculptor</p><br>
<p>Philippus of Amphipolis, historian</p><br>
<p>Nearchus, admiral</p><br>
<p>Erigyius, general</p><br>
<p>Damasias of Amphipolis 320 BC Stadion Olympics</p><br>
<p>Hermagoras of Amphipolis ( BC), stoic philosopher, follower of Persaeus</p><br>
<p>Apollodorus of Amphipolis, appointed joint military governor of Babylon and the other satrapies as far as Cilicia by Alexander the Great</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Amfipoli was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 4 former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Amfipoli</p><br>
<p>Kormista</p><br>
<p>Proti</p><br>
<p>Rodolivos</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 411.773 km, the municipal unit 152.088 km.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The fictional character Xena, of the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess, was depicted as being from the city of Amphipolis.</p><br>
<p>The Andaman Islands form an archipelago in the Bay of Bengal between India, to the west, and Myanmar, to the north and east. Most are part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Union Territory of India, while a small number in the north of the archipelago, including the Coco Islands, belong to Myanmar.</p><br>
<p>The Andaman Islands are home to the Sentinelese, who have had little contact with any other people.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Etymology</h3><br>
<p>The name of the Andaman Islands is ancient. A theory that became prevalent in the late 19th century is that it derives from Andoman, a form of Hanuman, the Sanskrit name of the Indian monkey god. Another Italian traveller, Niccolò de&#39; Conti, mentioned the islands and said that the name means "Island of Gold".</p><br>
<h3>Early inhabitants</h3><br>
<p>The Andaman islands have been inhabited for several thousand years, at the very least. The earliest archaeological evidence yet documented goes back some 2,200 years; however, the indications from genetic, cultural and isolation studies suggest that the islands may have been inhabited as early as the Middle Paleolithic. The indigenous Andamanese people appear to have lived on the islands in substantial isolation from that time until the 18th century CE.</p><br>
<p>The Andamans are theorised to be a key stepping stone in a great coastal migration of humans from Africa via the Arabian peninsula, along the coastal regions of the Indian mainland and towards Southeast Asia, Japan and Oceania.</p><br>
<h3>Chola empire</h3><br>
<p>From 800 to 1200 CE, the Tamil Chola dynasty created an empire that eventually extended from southeastern peninsular India to parts of Malaysia. Rajendra Chola I (1014 to 1042 CE) took over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and maintained them as a strategic naval base to launch a naval expedition against the Srivijaya empire (a Buddhist-Malay empire based on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia).</p><br>
<h3>British colonisation and penal colony</h3><br>
<p>In 1789, the Bengal Presidency established a naval base and penal colony on Chatham Island in the southeast bay of Great Andaman. The settlement is now known as Port Blair (after the Bombay Marine lieutenant Archibald Blair who founded it). After two years, the colony was moved to the northeast part of Great Andaman and was named Port Cornwallis after Admiral William Cornwallis. However, there was much disease and death in the penal colony and the government ceased operating it in May 1796.</p><br>
<p>In 1824, Port Cornwallis was the rendezvous of the fleet carrying the army to the First Burmese War. In the 1830s and 1840s, shipwrecked crews who landed on the Andamans were often attacked and killed by the natives and the islands had a reputation for cannibalism. The loss of the Runnymede and the Briton in 1844 during the same storm, while transporting goods and passengers between India and Australia, and the continuous attacks launched by the natives, which the survivors fought off, alarmed the British government. In 1855, the government proposed another settlement on the islands, including a convict establishment, but the Indian Rebellion of 1857 forced a delay in its construction. However, because the rebellion gave the British so many prisoners, it made the new Andaman settlement and prison urgently necessary. Construction began in November 1857 at Port Blair using inmates&#39; labour, avoiding the vicinity of a salt swamp that seemed to have been the source of many of the earlier problems at Port Cornwallis.</p><br>
<p>17 May 1859 was another major day for Andaman. The "Battle of Aberdeen" was fought between the Great Andamanese Tribe and the British. Today, a memorial stands in Andaman Water sports complex as a tribute to the people who lost their lives. Fearing foreign invasion and with help from an escaped convict from Cellular Jail, the great Andamanese tribe stormed the British post, but they were outnumbered and soon suffered heavy loss of life. Later, it was identified that an escaped convict named Doodnath had changed sides and informed the British about the tribe&#39;s plans. Today, the tribe has been reduced to some 50 people, with less than 50% of them adults. The government of Andaman Islands is making efforts to increase the headcount of this tribe.</p><br>
<p>In 1867, the ship Nineveh wrecked on the reef of North Sentinel Island. The 86 survivors reached the beach in the ship&#39;s boats. On the third day, they were attacked with iron-tipped spears by naked islanders. One person from the ship escaped in a boat and the others were later rescued by a British Royal Navy ship.</p><br>
<p>For some time, sickness and mortality were high, but swamp reclamation and extensive forest clearance continued. The Andaman colony became notorious with the murder of the Viceroy Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo, on a visit to the settlement (8 February 1872), by a Muslim convict, a Pathan from Afghanistan, Sher Ali. In the same year, the two island groups Andaman and Nicobar, were united under a chief commissioner residing at Port Blair.</p><br>
<p>From the time of its development in 1858 under the direction of James Pattison Walker, and in response to the mutiny and rebellion of the previous year, the settlement was first and foremost a repository for political prisoners. The Cellular Jail at Port Blair when completed in 1910 included 698 cells designed for solitary confinement; each cell measured 4.5 by with a single ventilation window 3 m above the floor. A notable prisoner there was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.</p><br>
<p>The Indians imprisoned here referred to the Island and its prison as Kala Pani ("black water"); a 1996 film set on the island took that term as its title Kaalapani. The number of prisoners who died in this camp is estimated to be in the thousands. Many more died of harsh treatment and the harsh living and working conditions in this camp.</p><br>
<p>The Viper Chain Gang Jail on Viper Island was reserved for troublemakers, and was also the site of hangings. In the 20th century, it became a convenient place to house prominent members of India&#39;s independence movement.</p><br>
<h4>Japanese occupation</h4><br>
<p>The Andaman and Nicobar islands were occupied by Japan during World War II. The islands were nominally put under the authority of the Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind (Provisional Government of Free India) headed by Subhas Chandra Bose, who visited the islands during the war, and renamed them as Shaheed (Martyr) & Swaraj (Self-rule). On 30 December 1943, during the Japanese occupation, Bose, who was allied with the Japanese, first raised the flag of Indian independence. General Loganathan, of the Indian National Army, was Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which had been annexed to the Provisional Government. According to Werner Gruhl: "Before leaving the islands, the Japanese rounded up and executed 750 innocents." After the end of the war the islands returned to British control before becoming part of the newly independent state of India.</p><br>
<p>At the close of World War II, the British government announced its intention to abolish the penal settlement. The government proposed to employ former inmates in an initiative to develop the island&#39;s fisheries, timber, and agricultural resources. In exchange, inmates would be granted return passage to the Indian mainland, or the right to settle on the islands. The penal colony was eventually closed on 15 August 1947 when India gained independence. It has since served as a museum to the independence movement.</p><br>
<h3>Recent history</h3><br>
<p>In April 1998, American photographer John S Callahan organised the first surfing project in the Andamans, starting from Phuket in Thailand with the assistance of Southeast Asia Liveaboards (SEAL), a UK owned dive charter company. With a crew of international professional surfers, they crossed the Andaman Sea on the yacht Crescent and cleared formalities in Port Blair. The group proceeded to Little Andaman Island, where they spent ten days surfing several spots for the first time, including Jarawa Point near Hut Bay and the long right reef point at the southwest tip of the island, named Kumari Point. The resulting article in Surfer Magazine, "Quest for Fire" by journalist Sam George, put the Andaman Islands on the surfing map for the first time. Footage of the waves of the Andaman Islands also appeared in the film Thicker than Water, shot by documentary filmmaker Jack Johnson, who later achieved worldwide fame as a popular musician. Callahan went on to make several more surfing projects in the Andamans, including a trip to the Nicobar Islands in 1999.</p><br>
<p>On 26 December 2004, the coast of the Andaman Islands was devastated by a 10 m high tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which is the longest recorded earthquake, lasting for between 500 and 600 seconds. Strong oral traditions in the area warned of the importance of moving inland after a quake and is credited with saving many lives. In the aftermath, more than 2,000 people were confirmed dead and more than 4,000 children were orphaned or had lost one parent. At least 40,000 residents were rendered homeless and were moved to relief camps. On 11 August 2009, a magnitude 7 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands, causing a tsunami warning to go into effect. On 30 March 2010, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck near the Andaman Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Andaman Archipelago is an oceanic continuation of the Burmese Arakan Yoma range in the North and of the Indonesian Archipelago in the South. It has 325 islands which cover an area of 6,408 km&sup2, with the Andaman Sea to the east between the islands and the coast of Burma. North Andaman Island is 285 km south of Burma, although a few smaller Burmese islands are closer, including the three Coco Islands.</p><br>
<p>The Ten Degree Channel separates the Andamans from the Nicobar Islands to the south. The highest point is located in North Andaman Island (Saddle Peak at 732 m).</p><br>
<p>The subsoil of the Andaman islands consists essentially of Late Jurassic to Early Eocene ophiolites and sedimentary rocks (argillaceous and algal limestones), deformed by numerous deep faults and thrusts with ultramafic igneous intrusions.</p><br>
<p>The climate is typical of tropical islands of similar latitude. It is always warm, but with sea-breezes. Rainfall is irregular, usually dry during the north-east, and very wet during the south-west, monsoons.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>The Middle Andamans harbour mostly moist deciduous forests. North Andamans is characterised by the wet evergreen type, with plenty of woody climbers.</p><br>
<p>The natural vegetation of the Andamans is tropical forest, with mangroves on the coast. The rainforests are similar in composition to those of the west coast of Burma. Most of the forests are evergreen, but there are areas of deciduous forest on North Andaman, Middle Andaman, Baratang and parts of South Andaman Island. The South Andaman forests have a profuse growth of epiphytic vegetation, mostly ferns and orchids.</p><br>
<p>The Andaman forests are largely unspoiled, despite logging and the demands of the fast-growing population driven by immigration from the Indian mainland. There are protected areas on Little Andaman, Narcondam, North Andaman and South Andaman, but these are mainly aimed at preserving the coast and the marine wildlife rather than the rainforests. Threats to wildlife come from introduced species including rats, dogs, cats and the elephants of Interview Island and North Andaman.</p><br>
<h3>Timber</h3><br>
<p>Andaman forests contain 200 or more timber producing species of trees, out of which about 30 varieties are considered to be commercial. Major commercial timber species are Gurjan (Dipterocarpus spp.) and Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides). The following ornamental woods are noted for their pronounced grain formation:</p><br>
<p>Marble Wood (Diospyros marmorata)</p><br>
<p>Padauk (Pterocarpus dalbergioides)</p><br>
<p>Silver Grey (a special formation of wood in white utkarsh)</p><br>
<p>Chooi (Sageraea elliptica)</p><br>
<p>Kokko (Albizzia lebbeck)</p><br>
<p>Padauk wood is sturdier than teak and is widely used for furniture making.</p><br>
<p>There are burr wood and buttress root formations in Andaman Padauk. The largest piece of buttress known from Andaman was a dining table of 13 x. The largest piece of burr wood was again a dining table for eight.</p><br>
<p>The holy Rudraksha (Elaeocarps sphaericus) and aromatic Dhoop resin trees also are found here.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>The Andaman Islands are home to a number of animals, many of them endemic.</p><br>
<h3>Mammals</h3><br>
<p>The island&#39;s endemic mammals include</p><br>
<p>Andaman spiny shrew (Crocidura hispida)</p><br>
<p>Andaman shrew (Crocidura andamanensis)</p><br>
<p>Jenkins&#39; shrew (Crocidura jenkinsi)</p><br>
<p>Andaman horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus cognatus)</p><br>
<p>Andaman rat (Rattus stoicus)</p><br>
<p>The banded pig (Sus scrofa vittatus), also known as the Andaman wild boar and once thought to be an endemic subspecies, is protected by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 (Sch I). The spotted deer (Axis axis), the Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) and the sambar (Rusa unicolor) were all introduced to the Andaman islands, though the sambar did not survive.</p><br>
<p>Interview Island (the largest wildlife sanctuary in the territory) in Middle Andaman holds a population of feral elephants, which were brought in for forest work by a timber company and released when the company went bankrupt. This population has been subject to research studies.</p><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>Endemic or near endemic birds include</p><br>
<p>Spilornis elgini, a serpent-eagle</p><br>
<p>Rallina canningi, a crake (endemic; data-deficient per IUCN 2000)</p><br>
<p>Columba palumboides, a wood-pigeon</p><br>
<p>Macropygia rufipennis, a cuckoo dove</p><br>
<p>Centropus andamanensis, a subspecies of brown coucal (endemic)</p><br>
<p>Otus balli, the scops owl</p><br>
<p>Ninox affinis, a hawk-owl</p><br>
<p>Rhyticeros narcondami, the Narcondam hornbill</p><br>
<p>Dryocopus hodgei, a woodpecker</p><br>
<p>Dicrurus andamanensis, a drongo</p><br>
<p>Dendrocitta bayleyii, a treepie</p><br>
<p>Sturnus erythropygius, the white-headed starling</p><br>
<p>Collocalia affinis, the plume-toed swiftlet</p><br>
<p>Aerodramus fuciphagus, the edible-nest swiftlet</p><br>
<p>The islands many caves, such as those at Chalis Ek are nesting grounds for the edible-nest swiftlet, whose nests are prized in China for birds nest soup.</p><br>
<h3>Reptiles and amphibians</h3><br>
<p>The islands also have a number of endemic reptiles, toads and frogs, such as the South Andaman krait (Bungarus andamanensis) and Andaman water monitor (Varanus salvator andamanensis).</p><br>
<p>There is a sanctuary 45 mi from Havelock Island for saltwater crocodiles. Over the past 25 years there have been 24 crocodile attacks with four fatalities, including the death of American tourist Lauren Failla. The government has been criticised for failing to inform tourists of the crocodile sanctuary and danger, while simultaneously promoting tourism. Crocodiles are not only found within the sanctuary, but throughout the island chain in varying densities. They are habitat restricted, so the population is stable but not large. Populations occur throughout available mangrove habitat on all major islands, including a few creeks on Havelock. The species uses the ocean as a means of travel between different rivers and estuaries, thus they are not as commonly observed in open ocean. It is best to avoid swimming near mangrove areas or the mouths of creeks; swimming in the open ocean should be safe, but it is best to have a spotter around.</p><br>
<h2>Religion</h2><br>
<p>Most of the tribal people in Andaman and Nicobar Islands believe in a religion that can be described as a form of monotheistic Animism. The tribal people of these islands believe that Paluga is the only deity and is responsible for everything happening on Earth.</p><br>
<p>The faith of the Andamanese teaches that Paluga resides on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands&#39; Saddle Peak (Andaman Islands). People try to avoid any action that might displease Paluga. People belonging to this religion believe in the presence of souls, ghosts, and spirits.</p><br>
<p>Interestingly, people of this religion put a lot of emphasis on dreams. They let dreams decide different courses of action in their lives.</p><br>
<p>Other religions practiced in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are, in order of size, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism and Baha&#39;i Faith.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<h3>Indigenous Andamanese</h3><br>
<p>Of the people who live in the Andaman Islands, a small minority of about 1,000 are the so-called Andamanese, the aboriginal inhabitants (adivasi) of the islands. By the 1850s when they first came into sustained contact by outside groups, there were estimated 7,000 Andamanese, divided into the following major groups:</p><br>
<p>Great Andamanese</p><br>
<p>Jarawa</p><br>
<p>Jangil (or Rutland Jarawa)</p><br>
<p>Onge</p><br>
<p>Sentinelese</p><br>
<p>As the numbers of settlers from the mainland increased (at first mostly prisoners and involuntary indentured labourers, later purposely recruited farmers), these indigenous people lost territory and numbers in the face of punitive expeditions by British troops, land encroachment and various epidemic diseases. Presently, there remain only approximately 400–450 indigenous Andamanese. The Jangil were soon extinct. The Great Andamanese were originally 10 distinct tribes with 5,000 people in total; most of the tribes are extinct, and the survivors, now just 52, speak mostly Hindi. The Onge are reduced to less than 100 people. Only the Jarawa and Sentinelese still maintain a steadfast independence and refuse most attempts at contact; their numbers are uncertain but estimated to be in the low hundreds.</p><br>
<h2>Government</h2><br>
<p>Port Blair is the chief community on the islands, and the administrative centre of the Union Territory. The Andaman Islands form a single administrative district within the Union Territory, the Andaman district (the Nicobar Islands were separated and established as the new Nicobar district in 1974).</p><br>
<h2>Cultural references</h2><br>
<p>The islands are prominently featured in Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes mystery, The Sign of the Four, as well as in M. M. Kayes Death in the Andamans. The magistrate in Lady Gregorys play Spreading the News had formerly served in the islands. Marianne Wiggins novel, John Dollar (1989), is set on one of the islands; the characters begin an expedition from Burma to celebrate King Georges birthday and after an earthquake and tsunami it becomes a grim survival story. A principal character in the book Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup is from the Andaman Islands. Kaalapani (Malayalam) and Sirai Chaalai (Tamil), a 1996 Indian film by Priyadarshan, depicts the Indian freedom struggle and the lives of prisoners in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair. Islands End is a 2011 novel by Padma Venkatraman about the training of an indigenous shaman.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The only commercial airport in the islands is Veer Savarkar International Airport in Port Blair, which has scheduled services to Kolkata, Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar. The airport is under the control of the Indian Navy. Previously, only daylight operations were allowed, but since the beginning of 2016 night flights have also operated. A small airstrip of approximately 1000 metres is located near the Eastern shore of North Andaman near Diglipur.</p><br>
<p>Due to the length of the routes and the small number of airlines flying to the islands, fares have traditionally been relatively expensive, although cheaper for locals than visitors. Fares are high during the peak seasons of spring and winter, although fares have decreased over time due to the expansion of the civil aviation industry in India.</p><br>
<p>The Cobble Hill Tunnel  of the Long Island Rail Road  is an abandoned railroad tunnel beneath Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, New York City. When open, it ran for about 2,517 ft between Columbia Street and Boerum Place. It is the oldest railway tunnel beneath a city street in North America that was fully devoted to rail.</p><br>
<h2>Construction and operation</h2><br>
<p>Originally built as an open cutting, construction began in May 1844, and opened for use on December 3, 1844, but was not completely finished until late Spring 1845. It was built mainly to satisfy public demand for creation of a grade-separated right of way for the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (later Long Island Rail Road) on its way to the South Ferry at the foot of Atlantic Street (later Atlantic Avenue), where passengers could catch ferries to Manhattan. The construction of the cutting also lowered the LIRR&#39;s grade through Cobble Hill. Around five years after opening the cutting was roofed over, converting it into a tunnel.</p><br>
<p>In exchange for building the cutting, the City of Brooklyn granted the B&J permission to operate its steam locomotives on Atlantic Street west of Fifth Avenue (then Parmentiers Garden/Gowanus Lane), all the way to Brooklyns South Ferry (the present location of Brooklyns Pier 7). Prior to the cutting being built, the LIRRs western terminus was Atlantic Street at Clinton Street. Train cars were hauled by teams of horses along Atlantic Street from Clinton Street to Parmentier&#39;s Garden, where steam locomotives were attached. While the cutting was being built, the railroad operated to a temporary terminal at Pacific Street and Henry Street.</p><br>
<p>The Cobble Hill Tunnel was part of the first rail link between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts. The railroad connected Lower Manhattan via the South Ferry to Greenport on the North Fork of Long Island, where a ferry connected to Stonington, Connecticut, where a rail link continued to Boston. This avoided some difficult construction of bridges over the rivers of southern Connecticut. In 1848, the New York and New Haven Railroad Line was completed through Connecticut, providing a direct, faster rail connection from New York City to Boston. The Cobble Hill Tunnel and the Long Island Railroad remained the primary means of access to most of central Long Island from Manhattan and New York City. As originally built, the cutting was 21 ft wide and 2,517 ft long. Once roofed over the interior height of the newly-created tunnel was 17 ft.</p><br>
<p>The ends of the tunnel were sealed in the fall of 1861. The similar Murray Hill Tunnel on the New York and Harlem Railroad was built as an open cut around 1836, roofed over around the 1850s, and is now in use for automobile traffic.</p><br>
<h2>Closure controversy</h2><br>
<p>In 1861, the New York State Legislature voted to ban railroad locomotives from within the limits of the City of Brooklyn. A tax assessment was ordered on all property owners along Atlantic Street (today Atlantic Avenue), to defray the costs of the closure. It was undisclosed at the time that New York State Governor John A. King was a major shareholder in the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad (later the Long Island Rail Road) and therefore had a conflict of interest and stood to benefit by the compensation payments to the railroad from the tax assessment.</p><br>
<h2>Dormancy</h2><br>
<p>Walt Whitman wrote of the tunnel:</p><br>
<p>The old tunnel, that used to lie there under ground, a passage of Acheron-like solemnity and darkness, now all closed and filled up, and soon to be utterly forgotten, with all its reminiscences; however, there will, for a few years yet be many dear ones, to not a few Brooklynites, New Yorkers, and promiscuous crowds besides. For it was here you started to go down the island, in summer. For years, it was confidently counted on that this spot, and the railroad of which it was the terminus, were going to prove the permanent seat of business and wealth that belong to such enterprises. But its glory, after enduring in great splendor for a season, has now vanished—at least its Long Island Railroad glory has. The tunnel: dark as the grave, cold, damp, and silent. How beautiful look earth and heaven again, as we emerge from the gloom! It might not be unprofitable, now and then, to send us mortals—the dissatisfied ones, at least, and thats a large proportion—into some tunnel of several days journey. Wed perhaps grumble less, afterward, at Gods handiwork.</p><br>
<p>In March 1916, the Bureau of Investigation suspected German terrorists were making bombs in the tunnel, and broke through the roof of the tunnel with jackhammers. They found nothing, installed an electric light, and resealed it. In the 1920s, it was rumored used for both mushroom growing and bootleg whiskey stills, even though there was no access into the main portion of the tunnel. It became an object of local folklore and legend. In 1936, the New York City Police Department unsuccessfully attempted to enter the tunnel, in order to look for the body of a hoodlum supposedly buried there. In 1941, it was rumored to have been inspected by the federal Works Progress Administration to determine its structural strength, but there is no evidence of this. A few years later, it was once again rumored to have been opened, this time by the FBI, in an unsuccessful search for spies; however, there is no evidence of this. During the late 1950s, it was sought by two rail historians, George Horn and Martin Schachne, but they did not gain access to the tunnel itself.</p><br>
<h2>Rediscovery</h2><br>
<p>Having fallen from public notice, the tunnel was rediscovered in 1980 by then 20-year-old Robert Diamond, The tunnel has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.</p><br>
<p>The History Channel series Cities of the Underworld ran a segment ("New York&#39;s Secret Societies") on the tunnel in Fall 2008. The TV show Treasure Hunters used it in an episode.</p><br>
<p>Aeclanum  was an ancient town of Samnium, southern Italy, c. 25 km east-southeast of Beneventum, on the Via Appia. It lies in Passo di Mirabella, near the modern Mirabella Eclano.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Aeclanum was on a promontory naturally defended, to some extent, by a steep slope on the south side down to the river Calore, while the north side lay open towards the crest of the ridge that carried what under the Roman Empire became the Via Appia. This led through Lacus Ampsanctus to Aquilonia and Venusia. Another route to Apulia, the Via Aurelia Aeclanensis diverged here, leading through modern Ariano to Herdoniae. The road from Aeclanum to Abellinum (mod. Avellino) may also follow an ancient line. Today there are ruins of the city walls, of an aqueduct, baths and an amphitheatre; nearly 400 inscriptions have also been discovered. Excavation has revealed a long history of pre-Roman settlement.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Aeclanum became the chief town of the Hirpini, after Beneventum had become a Roman colony. Sulla captured it in 89 BC by setting on fire the wooden breastwork by which it was defended, and sacked it. It quickly recovered, new fortifications were erected, and it became a municipium. Hadrian, who repaired the Via Appia from Beneventum to this point, made it a colonia. With the Lombard invasion of Italy it was annexed to the Duchy of Benevento, but was captured and destroyed by Byzantine Empire under Constans II in 663 and never recovered, being reduced to a small hamlet known as Quintodecimo, a name that referred to its distance of 15 miles from Benevento.</p><br>
<h2>Bishopric</h2><br>
<p>Aeclanum became a Christian episcopal see, whose best known bishop was Julian of Eclanum, who was consecrated by Pope Innocent I in about 417. He refused to sign the condemnation of Pelagianism issued by Pope Innocent&#39;s successor, Pope Zosimus, and carried on a war of writings against Augustine of Hippo. It has been thought that the diocese was united to that of Frequentium as early as the 5th century, but there is mention of Quintodecimo as a suffragan see of Benevento in 969 and 1058. From 1059 it was definitively united with Frequentium. No longer a residential bishopric, Aeclanum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<p>The Aegadian Islands   are a group of five small mountainous islands in the Mediterranean Sea off the northwest coast of Sicily, Italy, near the cities of Trapani and Marsala, with a total area of 37.45 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>The Island of Favignana (Aegusa), the largest, lies 16 km southwest of Trapani; Levanzo (Phorbantia) lies 13 km west; and Marettimo, the ancient Iera Nesos, 24 km west of Trapani, is now reckoned as a part of the group. There are also two minor islands, Formica and Maraone, lying between Levanzo and Sicily. For administrative purposes the archipelago constitutes the comune of Favignana in the Province of Trapani.</p><br>
<p>The overall population in 1987 was estimated at about 5,000. Winter frost is unknown and rainfall is low. The main occupation of the islanders is fishing, and the largest tuna fishery in Sicily is here.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>There is evidence of Neolithic and even Paleolithic paintings in caves on Levanzo, and to a lesser extent on Favignana.</p><br>
<p>The islands were the scene of the Battle of the Aegates Islands of 241 BC, in which the Carthaginian fleet was defeated by the Roman fleet led by C. Lutatius Catulus; the engagement ended the First Punic War. After the end of Western Roman power in the first millennium AD, the islands, to the extent that they were governed at all, were part of territories of Goths, Vandals, Saracens, before the Normans fortified Favignana in 1081.</p><br>
<p>The islands belonged to the Pallavicini-Rusconi family of Genoa until 1874, when the Florio family of Palermo bought them.</p><br>
<p>Aegina  is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, 27 km from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born on the island and became its king. During ancient times Aegina was a rival of Athens, the great sea power of the era.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<h3>Municipality</h3><br>
<p>The municipality of Aegina consists of the island of Aegina and a few offshore islets. It is part of the Islands regional unit, Attica region. The municipality is subdivided into the following five communities (population in 2011 in parentheses ):</p><br>
<p>Aegina (7253)</p><br>
<p>Kypseli (2124)</p><br>
<p>Mesagros (1361)</p><br>
<p>Perdika (823)</p><br>
<p>Vathy (1495)</p><br>
<p>The capital is the town of Aegina, situated at the northwestern end of the island. Due to its proximity to Athens, it is a popular vacation place during the summer months, with quite a few Athenians owning second houses on the island.</p><br>
<h3>Province</h3><br>
<p>The province of Aegina (Επαρχία Αίγινας) was one of the provinces of the Piraeus Prefecture. Its territory corresponded with that of the current municipalities Aegina and Agkistri. It was abolished in 2006.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Aegina is roughly triangular in shape, approximately 15 km from east to west and 10 km from north to south, with an area of 87.41 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>An extinct volcano constitutes two-thirds of Aegina. The northern and western sides consist of stony but fertile plains, which are well cultivated and produce luxuriant crops of grain, with some cotton, vines, almonds, olives and figs, but the most characteristic crop of Aegina today (2000s) is pistachio. Economically, the sponge fisheries are of notable importance. The southern volcanic part of the island is rugged and mountainous, and largely barren. Its highest rise is the conical Mount Oros (531 m) in the south, and the Panhellenian ridge stretches northward with narrow fertile valleys on either side.</p><br>
<p>The beaches are also a popular tourist attraction. Hydrofoil ferries from Piraeus take only forty minutes to reach Aegina; the regular ferry takes about an hour, with ticket prices for adults within the 4–15 euro range. There are regular bus services from Aegina town to destinations throughout the island such as Agia Marina. Portes is a fishing village on the east coast.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Earliest history (20th–7th centuries BC)</h3><br>
<p>Aegina, according to Herodotus, was a colony of Epidaurus, to which state it was originally subject. Its placement between Attica and the Peloponnesus made it a site of trade even earlier, and its earliest inhabitants allegedly came from Asia Minor. Minoan ceramics have been found in contexts of ca. 2000 BC. The famous Aegina Treasure, now in the British Museum is estimated to date between 1700 and 1500 BC. The discovery on the island of a number of gold ornaments belonging to the last period of Mycenaean art suggests that Mycenaean culture existed in Aegina for some generations after the Dorian conquest of Argos and Lacedaemon. It is probable that the island was not doricised before the 9th century BC.</p><br>
<p>One of the earliest historical facts is its membership in the Amphictyony or League of Calauria, attested around the 8th century BC. This ostensibly religious league included—besides Aegina—Athens, the Minyan (Boeotian) Orchomenos, Troezen, Hermione, Nauplia, and Prasiae. It was probably an organisation of city-states that were still Mycenaean, for the purpose of suppressing piracy in the Aegean that began as a result of the decay of the naval supremacy of the Mycenaean princes.</p><br>
<p>Aegina seems to have belonged to the Eretrian league during the Lelantine War; this, perhaps, may explain the war with Samos, a major member of the rival Chalcidian league during the reign of King Amphicrates (Herod. iii. 59), i.e. not later than the earlier half of the 7th century BC.</p><br>
<h3>Coinage and sea power (7th–5th centuries BC)</h3><br>
<p>Its early history reveals that the maritime importance of the island dates back to pre-Dorian times. It is usually stated on the authority of Ephorus, that Pheidon of Argos established a mint in Aegina, the first city-state to issue coins in Europe, the Aeginetic stater. One stamped stater (having the mark of some authority in the form of a picture or words) can be seen in the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris. It is an electrum stater of a turtle, an animal sacred to Aphrodite, struck at Aegina that dates from 700 BC. Therefore, it is thought that the Aeginetes, within 30 or 40 years of the invention of coinage in Asia Minor by the Ionian Greeks or the Lydians (c. 630 BC), might have been the ones to introduce coinage to the Western world. The fact that the Aeginetic standard of weights and measures (developed during the mid-7th century) was one of the two standards in general use in the Greek world (the other being the Euboic-Attic) is sufficient evidence of the early commercial importance of the island. The Aeginetic weight standard of about 12.3 grams was widely adopted in the Greek world during the 7th century BC. The Aeginetic stater was divided into three drachmae of 4.1 grams of silver. Staters depicting a sea-turtle were struck up to the end of the 5th century BC. Following the end of the Peloponnesian War, 404 BC, it was replaced by the land tortoise.</p><br>
<p>During the naval expansion of Aegina during the Archaic Period, Kydonia was an ideal maritime stop for Aegina&#39;s fleet on its way to other Mediterranean ports controlled by the emerging sea-power Aegina. During the next century Aegina was one of the three principal states trading at the emporium of Naucratis in Egypt, and it was the only Greek state near Europe that had a share in this factory. At the beginning of the 5th century BC it seems to have been an entrepôt of the Pontic grain trade, which, at a later date, became an Athenian monopoly.</p><br>
<p>Unlike the other commercial states of the 7th and 6th centuries BC, such as Corinth, Chalcis, Eretria and Miletus, Aegina did not found any colonies. The settlements to which Strabo refers (viii. 376) cannot be regarded as any real exceptions to this statement.</p><br>
<h3>Rivalry with Athens (5th century BC)</h3><br>
<p>The known history of Aegina is almost exclusively a history of its relations with the neighbouring state of Athens, which began to compete with the thalassocracy (sea power) of Aegina about the beginning of the sixth century BC. Solon passed laws limiting Aeginetan commerce in Attica. The legendary history of these relations, as recorded by Herodotus (v. 79–89; vi. 49–51, 73, 85–94), involves critical problems of some difficulty and interest. He traces the hostility of the two states back to a dispute about the images of the goddesses Damia and Auxesia, which the Aeginetes had carried off from Epidauros, their parent state.</p><br>
<p>The Epidaurians had been accustomed to make annual offerings to the Athenian deities Athena and Erechtheus in payment for the Athenian olive-wood of which the statues were made. Upon the refusal of the Aeginetes to continue these offerings, the Athenians endeavoured to carry away the images. Their design was frustrated miraculously – according to the Aeginetan version, the statues fell upon their knees – and only a single survivor returned to Athens. There he became victim to the fury of his comrades widows who pierced him with their brooch-pins. No date is assigned by Herodotus for this "old feud&quot recent writers, e.g. J. B. Bury and R. W. Macan, suggest the period between Solon and Peisistratus, circa 570 BC. It is possible that the whole episode is mythical. A critical analysis of the narrative seems to reveal little else than a series of aetiological traditions (explanatory of cults and customs), e.g. of the kneeling posture of the images of Damia and Auxesia, of the use of native ware instead of Athenian in their worship, and of the change in womens dress at Athens from the Dorian to the Ionian style.</p><br>
<p>The account which Herodotus gives of the hostilities between the two states during the early years of the 5th century BC is to the following effect. The Thebans, after the defeat by Athens about 507 BC, appealed to Aegina for assistance. The Aeginetans at first contented themselves with sending the images of the Aeacidae, the tutelary heroes of their island. Subsequently, however, they contracted an alliance, and ravaged the seaboard of Attica. The Athenians were preparing to make reprisals, in spite of the advice of the Delphic oracle that they should desist from attacking Aegina for thirty years, and content themselves meanwhile with dedicating a precinct to Aeacus, when their projects were interrupted by the Spartan intrigues for the restoration of Hippias.</p><br>
<p>In 491 BC Aegina was one of the states which gave the symbols of submission ("earth and water") to Achaemenid Persia. Athens at once appealed to Sparta to punish this act of medism, and Cleomenes I, one of the Spartan kings, crossed over to the island, to arrest those who were responsible for it. His attempt was at first unsuccessful; but, after the deposition of Demaratus, he visited the island a second time, accompanied by his new colleague Leotychides, seized ten of the leading citizens and deposited them at Athens as hostages.</p><br>
<p>After the death of Cleomenes and the refusal of the Athenians to restore the hostages to Leotychides, the Aeginetes retaliated by seizing a number of Athenians at a festival at Sunium. Thereupon the Athenians concerted a plot with Nicodromus, the leader of the democratic party in the island, for the betrayal of Aegina. He was to seize the old city, and they were to come to his aid on the same day with seventy vessels. The plot failed owing to the late arrival of the Athenian force, when Nicodromus had already fled the island. An engagement followed in which the Aeginetes were defeated. Subsequently, however, they succeeded in winning a victory over the Athenian fleet.</p><br>
<p>All the incidents subsequent to the appeal of Athens to Sparta are referred expressly by Herodotus to the interval between the sending of the heralds in 491 BC and the invasion of Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC (cf. Herod. vi. 49 with 94).</p><br>
<p>There are difficulties with this story, of which the following are the principal elements:</p><br>
<p>Herodotus nowhere states or implies that peace was concluded between the two states before 481 BC, nor does he distinguish between different wars during this period. Hence it would follow that the war lasted from soon after 507 BC until the congress at the Isthmus of Corinth in 481 BC</p><br>
<p>It is only for two years (BC 490 and 491) out of the twenty-five that any details are given. It is the more remarkable that no incidents are recorded in the period between the battles of Marathon and Salamis, since at the time of the Isthmian Congress the war was described as the most important one then being waged in Greece,</p><br>
<p>It is improbable that Athens would have sent twenty vessels to the aid of the Ionians in 499 BC if at the time it was at war with Aegina.</p><br>
<p>There is an incidental indication of time, which indicates the period after Marathon as the true date for the events which are referred by Herodotus to the year before Marathon, viz. the thirty years that were to elapse between the dedication of the precinct to Aeacus and the final victory of Athens.</p><br>
<p>As the final victory of Athens over Aegina was in 458 BC, the thirty years of the oracle would carry us back to the year 488 BC as the date of the dedication of the precinct and the beginning of hostilities. This inference is supported by the date of the building of the 200 triremes "for the war against Aegina" on the advice of Themistocles, which is given in the Constitution of Athens as 483–482 BC. It is probable, therefore, that Herodotus is in error both in tracing back the beginning of hostilities to an alliance between Thebes and Aegina (c. 507 BC) and in claiming the episode of Nicodromus occurred prior to the battle of Marathon.</p><br>
<p>Overtures were unquestionably made by Thebes for an alliance with Aegina c. 507 BC, but they came to nothing. The refusal of Aegina was in the diplomatic guise of "sending the Aeacidae." The real occasion of the beginning of the war was the refusal of Athens to restore the hostages some twenty years later. There was but one war, and it lasted from 488 to 481 BC. That Athens had the worst of it in this war is certain. Herodotus had no Athenian victories to record after the initial success, and the fact that Themistocles was able to carry his proposal to devote the surplus funds of the state to the building of so large a fleet seems to imply that the Athenians were themselves convinced that a supreme effort was necessary.</p><br>
<p>It may be noted, in confirmation of this opinion, that the naval supremacy of Aegina is assigned by the ancient writers on chronology to precisely this period, i.e. the years 490–480.</p><br>
<h3>Decline</h3><br>
<p>In the repulse of Xerxes I it is possible that the Aeginetes played a larger part than is conceded to them by Herodotus. The Athenian tradition, which he follows in the main, would naturally seek to obscure their services. It was to Aegina rather than Athens that the prize of valour at Salamis was awarded, and the destruction of the Persian fleet appears to have been as much the work of the Aeginetan contingent as of the Athenian (Herod. viii. 91). There are other indications, too, of the importance of the Aeginetan fleet in the Greek scheme of defence. In view of these considerations it becomes difficult to credit the number of the vessels that is assigned to them by Herodotus (30 as against 180 Athenian vessels, cf. Greek History, sect. Authorities). During the next twenty years the Philo-Laconian policy of Cimon secured Aegina, as a member of the Spartan league, from attack. The change in Athenian foreign policy, which was consequent upon the ostracism of Cimon in 461 BC, resulted in what is sometimes called the First Peloponnesian War, during which most of the fighting was experienced by Corinth and Aegina. The latter state was forced to surrender to Athens after a siege, and to accept the position of a subject-ally (c. 456 BC). The tribute was fixed at 30 talents.</p><br>
<p>By the terms of the Thirty Years&#39; Peace (445 BC) Athens promised to restore to Aegina her autonomy, but the clause remained ineffective. During the first winter of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC) Athens expelled the Aeginetans and established a cleruchy in their island. The exiles were settled by Sparta in Thyreatis, on the frontiers of Laconia and Argolis. Even in their new home they were not safe from Athenian rancour. A force commanded by Nicias landed in 424 BC, and killed most of them. At the end of the Peloponnesian War Lysander restored the scattered remnants of the old inhabitants to the island, which was used by the Spartans as a base for operations against Athens during the Corinthian War. Its greatness, however, was at an end. The part which it plays henceforward is insignificant.</p><br>
<p>It would be a mistake to attribute the demise of Aegina solely to the development of the Athenian navy. It is probable that the power of Aegina had steadily declined during the twenty years after Salamis, and that it had declined absolutely, as well as relatively to that of Athens. Commerce was the source of Aeginas greatness, and her trade, which seems to have been principally with the Levant, must have suffered seriously from the war with Persia. Aeginas medism in 491 is to be explained by its commercial relations with the Persian Empire. It was forced into patriotism in spite of itself, and the glory won by the battle of Salamis was paid for by the loss of its trade and the decay of its marine. The completeness of the ruin of so powerful a state is explained by the economic conditions of the island, the prosperity of which was based on slave-labour. It is impossible, indeed, to accept Aristotle&#39;s (cf. Athenaeus vi. 272) estimate of 470,000 as the number of the slave-population; it is clear, however, that the number must have been much greater than that of the free inhabitants. In this respect the history of Aegina does but anticipate the history of Greece as a whole.</p><br>
<p>The constitutional history of Aegina is unusually simple. So long as the island retained its independence the government was an oligarchy. There is no trace of heroic monarchy and no tradition of a tyrannis. The story of Nicodromus, while it proves the existence of a democratic party, suggests, at the same time, that it could count upon little support.</p><br>
<h3>Hellenistic period and Roman rule</h3><br>
<p>Aegina with the rest of Greece became dominated successively by the Macedonians (322–229 BC), the Achaeans (229–211 BC), Aetolians (211/10 BC), Attalus of Pergamum (210–133 BC) and the Romans (after 133 BC). A sign at the Archaeological Museum of Aegina is reported to say that a Jewish community is believed to have been established in Aegina "at the end of the second and during the third century AD" by Jews fleeing the barbarian invasions of the time in Greece. However, the first phases of those invasions began in the 4th century. Local Christian tradition has it that a Christian community was established there in the 1st century, having as its bishop Crispus, the ruler of the Corinthian synagogue, who became a Christian, and was baptised by Paul the Apostle. There are written records of participation by later bishops of Aegina, Gabriel and Thomas, in the Council of Constantinople (869) and the Council of Constantinople. The see was at first a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Corinth, but was later given the rank of archdiocese. No longer a residential bishopric, Aegina is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<h3>Byzantine period</h3><br>
<p>Aegina belonged to the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire after the division of the Roman Empire in 395. It remained Eastern Roman during the period of crisis of the 7th–8th centuries, when most of the Balkans and the Greek mainland were overrun by Slavic invasions. Indeed, according to the Chronicle of Monemvasia, the island served as a refuge for the Corinthians fleeing these incursions. The island flourished during the early 9th century, as evidenced by church construction activity, but suffered greatly from Arab raids originating from Crete. Various hagiographies record a large-scale raid ca. 830, that resulted in the flight of much of the population to the Greek mainland. During that time, some of the population sought refuge in the island&#39;s hinterland, establishing the settlement of Palaia Chora.</p><br>
<p>According to the 12th-century bishop of Athens, Michael Choniates, by his time the island had become a base for pirates. This is corroborated by Benedict of Peterborough&#39;s graphic account of Greece, as it was in 1191; he states that many of the islands were uninhabited for fear of pirates and that Aegina, along with Salamis and Makronisos, were their strongholds.</p><br>
<h3>Frankish rule after 1204</h3><br>
<p>After the dissolution and partition of the Byzantine Empire by the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Aegina was accorded to the Republic of Venice. In the event, it became controlled by the Duchy of Athens. The Catalan Company seized control of Athens, and with it Aegina, in 1317, and in 1425 the island became controlled by the Venetians, when Alioto Caopena, at that time ruler of Aegina, placed himself by treaty under the Republic&#39;s protection to escape the danger of a Turkish raid. The island must then have been fruitful, for one of the conditions by which Venice accorded him protection was that he should supply grain to Venetian colonies. He agreed to surrender the island to Venice if his family became extinct. Antonio II Acciaioli opposed the treaty for one of his adopted daughters had married the future lord of Aegina, Antonello Caopena.</p><br>
<h3>Venetians in Aegina (1451–1537)</h3><br>
<p>In 1451, Aegina became Venetian. The islanders welcomed Venetian rule; the claims of Antonellos uncle Arnà, who had lands in Argolis, were satisfied by a pension. A Venetian governor (rettore) was appointed, who was dependent on the authorities of Nauplia. After Arnàs death, his son Alioto renewed his claim to the island but was told that the republic was resolved to keep it. He and his family were pensioned and one of them aided in the defence of Aegina against the Turks in 1537, was captured with his family, and died in a Turkish dungeon.</p><br>
<p>In 1463 the Turco-Venetian war began, which was destined to cost the Venetians Negroponte (Euboea), the island of Lemnos, most of the Cyclades islands, Scudra and their colonies in the Morea. Peace was concluded in 1479. Venice still retained Aegina, Lepanto (Naupactus), Nauplia, Monemvasia, Modon, Navarino, Coron, and the islands Crete, Mykonos and Tinos. Aegina remained subject to Nauplia.</p><br>
<h4>Administration</h4><br>
<p>Aegina obtained money for its defences by reluctantly sacrificing its cherished relic, the head of St. George, which had been carried there from Livadia by the Catalans. In 1462, the Venetian Senate ordered the relic to be removed to St. Giorgio Maggiore in Venice and on 12 November, it was transported from Aegina by Vettore Cappello, the famous Venetian commander. In return, the Senate gave the Aeginetes 100 ducats apiece towards fortifying the island.</p><br>
<p>In 1519, the government was reformed. The system of having two rectors was found to result in frequent quarrels and the republic thenceforth sent out a single official styled Bailie and Captain, assisted by two councillors, who performed the duties of camerlengo by turns. The Bailie&#39;s authority extended over the rector of Aegina, whereas Kastri (opposite the island Hydra) was granted to two families, the Palaiologoi and the Alberti.</p><br>
<p>Society at Nauplia was divided into three classes: nobles, citizens and plebeians, and it was customary for nobles alone to possess the much-coveted local offices, such as the judge of the inferior court and inspector of weights and measures. The populace now demanded its share and the home government ordered that at least one of the three inspectors should be a non-noble.</p><br>
<p>Aegina had always been exposed to the raids of corsairs and had oppressive governors during these last 30 years of Venetian rule. Venetian nobles were not willing to go to this island. In 1533, three rectors of Aegina were punished for their acts of injustice and there is a graphic account of the reception given by the Aeginetans to the captain of Nauplia, who came to command an enquiry into the administration of these delinquents (vid. inscription over the entrance of St. George the Catholic in Paliachora). The rectors had spurned their ancient right to elect an islander to keep one key of the money-chest. They had also threatened to leave the island en masse with the commissioner, unless the captain avenged their wrongs. To spare the economy of the community, it was ordered that appeals from the governor&#39;s decision should be made on Crete, instead of in Venice. The republic was to pay a bakshish to the Turkish governor of the Morea and to the voivode who was stationed at the frontier of Thermisi (opposite Hydra). The fortifications too, were allowed to become decrepit and were inadequately guarded.</p><br>
<h4>16th century</h4><br>
<p>After the end of the Duchy of Athens and the principality of Achaia, the only Latin possessions left on the mainland of Greece were the papal city of Monemvasia, the fortress of Vonitsa, the Messenian stations Coron and Modon, Lepanto, Pteleon, Navarino, and the castles of Argos and Nauplia, to which the island of Aegina was subordinate.</p><br>
<p>In 1502/03, the new peace treaty left Venice with nothing but Cephalonia, Monemvasia and Nauplia, with their appurtenances in the Morea. And against the sack of Megara, it had to endure the temporary capture of the castle of Aegina by Kemal Reis and the abduction of 2000 inhabitants. This treaty was renewed in 1513 and 1521. All supplies of grain from Nauplia and Monemvasia had to be imported from Turkish possessions, while corsairs rendered dangerous all traffic by sea.</p><br>
<p>In 1537, sultan Suleiman declared war upon Venice and his admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa devastated much of the Ionian Islands, and in October invaded the island of Aegina. On the fourth day Palaiochora was captured, but the Latin church of St George was spared. Hayreddin Barbarossa had the adult male population massacred and took away 6000 surviving women and children as slaves. Then Barbarossa sailed to Naxos, whence he carried off an immense booty, compelling the Duke of Naxos to purchase his further independence by paying a tribute of 5000 ducats.</p><br>
<p>With the peace of 1540, Venice ceded Nauplia and Monemvasia. For nearly 150 years afterwards, Venice ruled no part of the mainland of Greece except Parga and Butrinto (subordinate politically to the Ionian Islands), but it still retained its insular dominions Cyprus, Crete, Tenos and six Ionian islands.</p><br>
<h3>First Ottoman period (1540–1687)</h3><br>
<p>The island was attacked and left desolate by Francesco Morosini during the Cretan War (1654).</p><br>
<h3>Second Venetian period (1687–1715)</h3><br>
<p>In 1684, the beginning of the Morean War between Venice and the Ottoman Empire resulted in the temporary reconquest of a large part of the country by the Republic. In 1687 the Venetian army arrived in Piraeus and captured Attica. The number of the Athenians at that time exceeded 6000, the Albanians from the villages of Attica excluded, whilst in 1674 the population of Aegina did not seem to exceed 3000 inhabitants, ⅔ of which were women. The Aeginetans had been reduced to poverty to pay their taxes. The most significant plague epidemic began in Attica during 1688, an occasion that caused the massive migration of Athenians toward the south; most of them settled in Aegina. In 1693 Morosini resumed command, but his only acts were to refortify the castle of Aegina, which he had demolished during the Cretan war in 1655, the cost of upkeep being paid as long as the war lasted by the Athenians, and to place it and Salamis under Malipiero as Governor. This caused the Athenians to send him a request for the renewal of Venetian protection and an offer of an annual tribute. He died in 1694 and Zeno was appointed at his place.</p><br>
<p>In 1699, thanks to English mediation, the war ended with the peace of Karlowitz by which Venice retained possession of the 7 Ionian islands as well as Butrinto and Parga, the Morea, Spinalonga and Suda, Tenos, Santa Maura and Aegina and ceased to pay a tribute for Zante, but which restored Lepanto to the Ottoman sultan. Cerigo and Aegina were united administratively since the peace with Morea, which not only paid all the expenses of administration but furnished a substantial balance for the naval defence of Venice, in which it was directly interested.</p><br>
<h3>Second Ottoman period (1715–1821)</h3><br>
<p>During the early part of the Ottoman–Venetian War of 1714–1718 the Ottoman Fleet commanded by Canum Hoca captured Aegina. Ottomans rule in Aegina and the Morea was resumed and confirmed by the Treaty of Passarowitz, and they retained control of the island with the exception of a brief Russian occupation Orlov Revolt (early 1770s), until the beginning of the Greek War of Independence in 1821.</p><br>
<h3>Greek Revolution</h3><br>
<p>During the Greek War of Independence, Aegina became an administrative centre for the Greek revolutionary authorities. Ioannis Kapodistrias was briefly established here.</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<p>Temple of Aphaea, dedicated to its namesake, a goddess who was later associated with Athena; the temple was part of a pre-Christian, equilateral holy triangle of temples including the Athenian Parthenon and the temple of Poseidon at Sounion.</p><br>
<p>Monastery of Agios Nectarios, dedicated to Saint Nectarios, a recent saint of the Greek Orthodox Church.</p><br>
<p>Ioannis Kapodistrias (1776–1831), the first administrator of free modern Greece, had a large building constructed; intended as a barracks, it was used subsequently as a museum, a library and a school. The museum was the first institution of its kind in Greece, but the collection was transferred to Athens in 1834. A statue in the principal square commemorates him.</p><br>
<p>Temple of Zeus Hellanios, near the village of Pachia Rachi, is a 13th-century Byzantine church, built on the ruins of the ancient temple to Zeus Hellanios, built in the 4th century BC. The staircase leading up to the church, some of the original walls, and loose stones from the earlier temple remain.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<h3>Mythology</h3><br>
<p>In Greek mythology, Aegina was a daughter of the river god Asopus and the nymph Metope. She bore at least two children: Menoetius by Actor, and Aeacus by the god Zeus. When Zeus abducted Aegina, he took her to Oenone, an island close to Attica. Here, Aegina gave birth to Aeacus, who would later become king of Oenone; thenceforth, the island&#39;s name was Aegina.</p><br>
<p>Aegina was the gathering place of Myrmidons; in Aegina they gathered and trained. Zeus needed an elite army and at first thought that Aegina, which at the time did not have any villagers, was a good place.</p><br>
<p>So he changed some ants (Μυρμύγκια, Myrmigia) into warriors who had 6 hands and wore black armour. Later, the Myrmidons, commanded by Achilles, were known as the most fearsome fighting unit in Greece.</p><br>
<h3>Famous Aeginetans</h3><br>
<p>Aeacus, the first king of Aegina according to mythology, in whose honour the Aeacea were celebrated</p><br>
<p>Smilis (6th century BC), sculptor</p><br>
<p>Onatas (5th century BC), sculptor</p><br>
<p>Ptolichus (5th century BC), sculptor</p><br>
<p>Philiscus of Aegina (4th century BC), Cynic philosopher</p><br>
<p>Cosmas II Atticus (12th century), Patriarch of Constantinople</p><br>
<p>Paul of Aegina (7th century), medical scholar and physician</p><br>
<p>Saint Athanasia of Aegina (9th century), abbess and saint</p><br>
<p>Nectarios of Aegina (1846–1920), bishop and saint</p><br>
<p>The influential Leoussi family originated on the isle of Aigina; their ancestry can be traced as far back as the 15th century.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<p>Abdera  was an ancient seaport town on the south coast of Spain, between Malaca  and Carthago Nova , in the district inhabited by the Bastuli.</p><br>
<p>It was founded by the Carthaginians as a trading station, and after a period of decline became under the Romans one of the more important towns in the province of Hispania Baetica. It was situated on a hill above the modern Adra.</p><br>
<p>Of its coins, the most ancient bear the Phoenician inscription abdrt with the head of Melkart and a tunny-fish; those of Tiberius (who seems to have made the place a colonia) show the chief temple of the town with two erect tunny fish in the form of columns. Earlier Roman coins were bilingual: Latin inscriptions on one side, stating the name of the emperor and the town and a Phoenician ethnic on the other side, simply stating the name of the town (&#39;bdrt).</p><br>
<p>Abdera  is a municipality and a former major Greek polis on the coast of Thrace. It lay 17 km east-northeast of the mouth of the Nestos River, almost directly opposite the island of Thasos. The site now lies in the Xanthi regional unit of Thrace, Greece. The municipality of Abdera  has 19,005 inhabitants . The seat of the municipality is the town Genisea.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Its mythical foundation was attributed to Heracles who founded the city on behalf of his fallen friend Abderus. The historical founding is traced back to a colony from Klazomenai. This historical founding was traditionally dated to 654 BC, which is unverified, although evidence in 7th century BC Greek pottery tends to support it. But its prosperity dates from 544 BC, when the majority of the people of Teos (including the poet Anacreon) migrated to Abdera to escape the Persian yoke (Herodotus i.168). The chief coin type, a griffon, is identical with that of Teos; the rich silver coinage is noted for the beauty and variety of its reverse types. Endnotes:</p><br>
<p>Mittheil. d. deutsch. Inst. Athens, xii. (1887), p. 161 (Regel)</p><br>
<p>Mém. de l&#39;Acad. des Inscriptions, xxxix. 211</p><br>
<p>K. F. Hermann, Ges. Abh. 90-111, 370 ff.</p><br>
<p>In 513 BC and 512 BC, the Persians conquered Abdera. In 496 BC, the Persians again conquered Abdera, this time under Darius I. It later became part of the Delian League and fought on the side of Athens in the Peloponnesian war.</p><br>
<p>Abdera was a wealthy city, the third richest in the League, due to its status as a prime port for trade with the interior of Thrace and the Odrysian kingdom.</p><br>
<p>A valuable prize, the city was repeatedly sacked: by the Triballi in 376 BC, Philip II of Macedon in 350 BC; later by Lysimachos of Thrace, the Seleucids, the Ptolemies, and again by the Macedonians. In 170 BC the Roman armies and those of Eumenes II of Pergamon besieged and sacked it.</p><br>
<p>The town seems to have declined in importance after the middle of the 4th century BC. Cicero ridicules the city as a byword for stupidity in his letters to Atticus, writing of a debate in the Senate, "Here was Abdera, but I wasn&#39;t silent" ("Hic, Abdera non tacente me"). Nevertheless, the city counted among its citizens the philosophers Democritus, Protagoras and Anaxarchus, historian and philosopher Hecataeus of Abdera, and the lyric poet Anacreon.</p><br>
<p>Abdera had flourished especially in ancient times mainly for two reasons: because of the large area of their territory and their highly strategic position. The city controlled two great road passages (one of Nestos river and other through the mountains north of Xanthi). Furthermore, from their ports passed the sea road, which from Troas led to the Thracian and then the Macedonian coast.</p><br>
<p>The ruins of the town may still be seen on Cape Balastra (40°561.02"N 24°5821.81"E); they cover seven small hills, and extend from an eastern to a western harbor; on the southwestern hills are the remains of the medieval settlement of Polystylon.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Abdera was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of three former municipalities that became municipal units: Abdera, Selero, and Vistonida.</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 352.047 km, the municipal unit 161.958 km. The municipal unit Abdera is subdivided into the communities Abdera, Mandra, Myrodato and Nea Kessani. The community Abdera consists of the settlements Abdera, Giona, Lefkippos, Pezoula and Skala.</p><br>
<h2>Landmarks</h2><br>
<p>Landmarks of Abdera include the Archaeological Museum of Abdera, and Agios Ioannis Beach (also Paralia Avdiron) near the village Lefkippos.</p><br>
<h2>Famous people</h2><br>
<p>Democritus</p><br>
<p>Protagoras</p><br>
<p>Hecateus</p><br>
<p>The Arabian Sea is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the northeast and east by the Indian Peninsula on the west by Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula, on the north by Pakistan and Iran and on the South by the Maldives. Historically the sea has been known by other names including the Erythraean Sea and the Persian Sea. Its total area is 3,862,000 km&sup2; and its maximum depth is 4,652 m. The Gulf of Aden is in the southwest, connecting the Arabian Sea to the Red Sea through the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Oman is in the northwest, connecting it to the Persian Gulf.</p><br>
<p>The Arabian Sea has been crossed by important marine trade routes since the third or second millennium BCE. Major seaports include Kandla Port, Okha Port, Mumbai Port, Nhava Sheva Port (Navi Mumbai), Mormugão Port (Goa), New Mangalore Port and Kochi Port in India, the Port of Karachi and the Gwadar Port in Pakistan, Chabahar Port in Iran and the Port of Salalah in Oman. The largest islands in the Arabian Sea include Socotra (Yemen), Masirah Island (Oman), Lakshadweep (India) and Astola Island (Pakistan).</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Arabian Sea&#39;s surface area is about 3,862,000 km&sup2;. The maximum width of the Sea is approximately 2,400 km, and its maximum depth is 4,652 m. The biggest river flowing into the Sea is the Indus River.</p><br>
<p>The Arabian Sea has two important branches — the Gulf of Aden in the southwest, connecting with the Red Sea through the strait of Bab-el-Mandeb; and the Gulf of Oman to the northwest, connecting with the Persian Gulf. There are also the gulfs of Khambhat, Kutch and, Mannar on the Indian Coast.</p><br>
<p>The countries with coastlines on the Arabian Sea are Somalia, Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, India and the Maldives. There are several large cities on the sea&#39;s coast including Male, Kavaratti, Cape Comorin (Kanyakumari), Colachel, Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod, Mangalore, Bhatkal, Karwar, Vasco, Panjim, Malvan, Ratnagiri, Alibag, Mumbai, Daman, Valsad, Surat, Bharuch, Khambhat, Bhavnagar, Diu, Somnath, Mangrol, Porbandar, Dwarka, Okha, Jamnagar, Kandla, Gandhidham, Mundra, Koteshwar, Keti Bandar, Karachi, Ormara, Pasni, Gwadar, Chabahar, Muscat, Duqm, Salalah, Al Ghaydah, Aden, Bargal, and Hafun.</p><br>
<h3>Limits</h3><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Arabian Sea as follows:</p><br>
<p>On the west: the eastern limit of the Gulf of Aden.</p><br>
<p>On the north: a line joining Ràs al Hadd, east point of the Arabian Peninsula (22°32N) and Ràs Jiyùni (61°43E) on the coast of Pakistan.</p><br>
<p>On the south: a line running from the southern extremity of Addu Atoll in the Maldives, to the eastern extremity of Ràs Hafun (the easternmost point of Africa, 10°26&#39;N).</p><br>
<p>On the east: the western limit of the Laccadive Sea a line running from Sadashivgad on the west coast of India (14&deg;48&prime;N latitude, 74&deg;07&prime;E longitude) to Cora Divh (13&deg;42&prime;N latitude, 72&deg;10&prime;E longitude) and thence down the west side of the Laccadive and Maldive archipelagos to the most southerly point of Addu Atoll in the Maldives.</p><br>
<h2>Alternative names</h2><br>
<p>The Arabian Sea historically and geographically has been referred to by many different names by Arab travellers and European geographers, that include Indian Sea, Persian Sea, Sindhu Sagar, Erythraean Sea, Sindh Sea, and Akhzar Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Trade routes</h2><br>
<p>The Arabian Sea has been an important marine trade route since the era of the coastal sailing vessels from possibly as early as the 3rd millennium BCE, certainly the late 2nd millennium BCE through the later days known as the Age of Sail. By the time of Julius Caesar, several well-established combined land-sea trade routes depended upon water transport through the Sea around the rough inland terrain features to its north.</p><br>
<p>These routes usually began in the Far East or down river from Madhya Pradesh with transshipment via historic Bharuch (Bharakuccha), traversed past the inhospitable coast of today&#39;s Iran then split around Hadhramaut into two streams north into the Gulf of Aden and thence into the Levant, or south into Alexandria via Red Sea ports such as Axum. Each major route involved transhipping to pack animal caravan, travel through desert country and risk of bandits and extortionate tolls by local potentiates.</p><br>
<p>This southern coastal route past the rough country in the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen and Oman today) was significant, and the Egyptian Pharaohs built several shallow canals to service the trade, one more or less along the route of today&#39;s Suez canal, and another from the Red Sea to the Nile River, both shallow works that were swallowed up by huge sand storms in antiquity. Later the kingdom of Axum arose in Ethiopia to rule a mercantile empire rooted in the trade with Europe via Alexandria.</p><br>
<h3>Major ports</h3><br>
<p>The Port of Karachi is Pakistan&#39;s largest and busiest seaport. It is located between the Karachi towns of Kiamari and Saddar.</p><br>
<p>The Gwadar Port is a warm-water, deep-sea port situated at Gwadar in Balochistan, Pakistan at the apex of the Arabian Sea and at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, about 460 km west of Karachi and approximately 75 km (47 mi) east of Pakistan&#39;s border with Iran. The port is located on the eastern bay of a natural hammerhead-shaped peninsula jutting out into the Arabian Sea from the coastline.</p><br>
<p>Port of Salalah in Salalah, Oman is also a major port in the area. The International Task Force often uses the port as a base. There is a significant number of warships of all nations coming in and out of the port, which makes it a very safe bubble. The port handled just under 3.5m teu in 2009.</p><br>
<p>Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai is the largest port in the Arabian Sea, and the largest container port in India.</p><br>
<p>Major Indian ports in the Arabian Sea are Mundra Port, Kandla Port, Nava Sheva, Kochi Port, Mumbai Port, and Mormugão.</p><br>
<h2>Islands</h2><br>
<p>There are several islands in the Arabian Sea, with the most important ones being Lakshadweep Islands (India), Socotra (Yemen), Masirah (Oman) and, Astola Island (Pakistan).</p><br>
<p>The Lakshadweep Islands (formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands) is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea region of Arabian Sea, 200 to 440 km (120 to 270 mi) off the south western coast of India. The archipelago is a Union Territory and is governed by the Union Government of India.</p><br>
<p>Lakshadweep comes from Lakshadwipa, which means "one hundred thousand islands" in Sanskrit. The islands form the smallest Union Territory of India: their total surface area is just 32 square kilometers (12 sq mi). The lagoon area covers about 4,200 square kilometers (1,600 sq mi), the territorial waters area 20,000 square kilometers (7,700 sq mi) and the exclusive economic zone area 400,000 square kilometers (150,000 sq mi).The islands are the northernmost of the Lakshadweep-Maldives-Chagos group of islands.</p><br>
<p>Astola Island, also known as Jezira Haft Talar in Balochi, or Island of the Seven Hills, is a small, uninhabited island in the northern tip of the Arabian Sea in Pakistan&#39;s territorial waters.</p><br>
<p>Socotra also spelled Soqotra is the largest island, being part of a small archipelago of four islands. It lies some 240 km east of the Horn of Africa and 380 km south of the Arabian Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Masirah is an island off the East coast of Oman.</p><br>
<p>Alexandria Troas  is the site of an ancient Greek city situated on the Aegean Sea near the northern tip of Turkey&#39;s western coast, a little south of Tenedos . It is located southeast of modern Dalyan, a village in the Ezine district of Çanakkale Province. The site sprawls over an estimated 400 hectare; among the few structures remaining today are a ruined bath, an odeon, a theatre, gymnasium complex and a recently uncovered stadion. The circuit of the old walls can still be traced.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Hellenistic</h3><br>
<p>According to Strabo, this site was first called Sigeia; including the once influential city of Neandreia. It did not receive its name until its name was changed by Lysimachus to Alexandria Troas, in 301 BC, in memory of Alexander III of Macedon (Pliny merely states, in his view, that the name changed from Antigonia to Alexandria). However, Pliny&#39;s view is not correct, because the city continued being called Alexandria Troas, and so is also stated in the 4th-5th c. AD Tabula Peutingeriana. As the chief port of north-west Asia Minor, the place prospered greatly in Roman times, becoming a "free and autonomous city" as early as 188 BC, and the existing remains sufficiently attest its former importance. In its heyday the city may have had a population of about 100,000. Strabo mentions that a Roman colony was created at the location in the reign of Augustus, named Colonia Alexandria Augusta Troas (called simply Troas during this period). Augustus, Hadrian and the rich grammarian Herodes Atticus contributed greatly to its embellishment; the aqueduct still preserved is due to the latter. Constantine considered making Troas the capital of the Roman Empire.</p><br>
<h3>Roman</h3><br>
<p>In Roman times, it was a significant port for travelling between Anatolia and Europe. Paul of Tarsus sailed for Europe for the first time from Alexandria Troas and returned there from Europe (it was there that the episode of the raising of Eutychus later occurred). Ignatius of Antioch also paused at this city before continuing to his martyrdom at Rome.</p><br>
<h3>Byzantine</h3><br>
<p>Several of its later bishops are known: Marinus in 325; Niconius in 344; Sylvanus at the beginning of the 5th century; Pionius in 451; Leo in 787; Peter, friend of the Patriarch Ignatius, and adversary to Michael, in the ninth century. In the 10th century Troas is given as a suffragan of Cyzicus and distinct from the famous Troy (Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte... Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum, 552; Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani, 64); it is not known when the city was destroyed and the diocese disappeared. The bishopric remains a titular see of the Catholic Church under the name Troas, vacant since 1971.</p><br>
<p>Troas is also a titular see of the Orthodox Church under the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Bishop Savas (Zembillas) of Troas served as hierarch from 2002 to 2011, and then became Metropolitan Savas (Zembillas) of Pittsburgh in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman</h3><br>
<p>Karasid Turkomans settled in the area of the Troad in the 14th century. Their beylik was conquered by the Ottomans in 1336. The ruins of Alexandria Troas came to be known among the Turks as Eski Stambul, the "Old City". The site&#39;s stones were much plundered for building material (for example Mehmed IV took columns to adorn his Yeni Valide Mosque in Istanbul). As of the mid-18th century the site served as "a lurking place for bandetti".</p><br>
<h3>Modern</h3><br>
<p>By 1911, the site had been overgrown with vallonea oaks and much plundered, but the circuit of the old walls could still be traced, and in several places they were fairly well preserved.</p><br>
<p>They had a circumference of about ten kilometres, and were fortified with towers at regular intervals.</p><br>
<p>Remains of an ancient bath and gymnasium complex can be found within this area; this building is locally known as Bal Saray (Honey Palace) and was originally endowed by Herodes Atticus in the year 135. Trajan built an aqueduct which can still be traced.</p><br>
<p>The harbour had two large basins, now almost choked with sand.</p><br>
<p>It is the subject of an early twenty-first century study by German archaeologists digging and surveying at the site.</p><br>
<p>Their excavation uncovered the remains of a large stadium dating to about 100 BC.</p><br>
<p>The Agra Canal is an important Indian irrigation work which starts from Okhla in Delhi. The Agra canal originates from Okhla barrage, downstream of Nizamuddin bridge. It opened in 1874..</p><br>
<p>In the beginning, it was available for navigation, in Delhi, erstwhile Gurgaon, Mathura and Agra Districts, and Bharatpur State. Later, navigation was stopped in 1904 and the canal has since then, been exclusively used for irrigation purposes only. At present the canal does not flow in district Gurgaon, but only in Faridabad, which was earlier a part of Gurgaon.</p><br>
<p>The Canal receives its water from the Yamuna River at Okhla, about 10 km to the south of New Delhi. The weir across the Yamuna was the first attempted in Upper India upon a foundation of fine sand; it is about 800-yard long, and rises seven-feet above the summer level of the river.</p><br>
<p>From Okhla the canal follows the high land between the Khari-Nadi and the Yamuna and finally joins the Banganga river about 20 miles below Agra. Navigable branches connect the canal with Mathura and Agra.</p><br>
<p>the canal irrigates about 1.5 lakh hectares in Agra, and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Faridabad in Haryana, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and also some parts of Delhi</p><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, enclosed by Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic countries, and the North and Central European Plain.</p><br>
<p>The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 10°E to 30°E longitude. A mediterranean sea of the Atlantic, with limited water exchange between the two bodies, the Baltic Sea drains through the Danish islands into the Kattegat by way of the straits of Øresund, the Great Belt, and the Little Belt. It includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Bay of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, and the Bay of Gdańsk.</p><br>
<p>The Baltic Proper is bordered on its northern edge, at the latitude 60°N, by the Åland islands and the Gulf of Bothnia, on its northeastern edge by the Gulf of Finland, on its eastern edge by the Gulf of Riga, and in the west by the Swedish part of the southern Scandinavian Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea is connected by artificial waterways to the White Sea via the White Sea Canal and to the German Bight of the North Sea via the Kiel Canal.</p><br>
<h2>Definitions</h2><br>
<p>Administration</p><br>
<p>The Helsinki Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area includes the Baltic Sea and the Kattegat, without calling Kattegat a part of the Baltic Sea, "For the purposes of this Convention the "Baltic Sea Area" shall be the Baltic Sea and the Entrance to the Baltic Sea, bounded by the parallel of the Skaw in the Skagerrak at 57°44.43&#39;N."</p><br>
<p>Traffic history</p><br>
<p>Historically, the Kingdom of Denmark collected Sound Dues from ships at the border between the ocean and the land-locked Baltic Sea. They were collected in the Øresund at Kronborg castle near Helsingør, in the Great Belt at Nyborg. In the Little Belt, the site of intake was moved to Fredericia, after that stronghold had been built. The narrowest part of Little Belt is the "Middelfart Sund" near Middelfart.</p><br>
<p>Oceanography</p><br>
<p>Geographers widely agree that the preferred physical border of the Baltic is a line drawn through the southern Danish islands, Drogden-Sill and Langeland. The Drogden Sill is situated north of Køge Bugt and connects Dragør in the south of Copenhagen to Malmö; it is used by the Øresund Bridge, including the Drogden Tunnel. By this definition, the Danish Straits are part of the entrance, but the Bay of Mecklenburg and the Bay of Kiel are parts of the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>Another usual border is the line between Falsterbo, Sweden and Stevns Klint, Denmark, as this is the southern border of Øresund. It&#39;s also the border between the shallow southern Øresund (with a typical depth of 5–10 meters only) and notably deeper water.</p><br>
<p>Hydrography and biology</p><br>
<p>Drogden Sill (depth of 7 m) sets a limit to Øresund and Darss Sill (depth of 18 m), and a limit to the Belt Sea. The shallow sills are obstacles to the flow of heavy salt water from the Kattegat into the basins around Bornholm and Gotland.</p><br>
<p>The Kattegat and the southwestern Baltic Sea are well oxygenated and have a rich biology. The remainder of the Sea is brackish, poor in oxygen and in species. Thus, statistically, the more of the entrance that is included in its definition, the healthier the Baltic appears; conversely, the more narrowly it is defined, the more endangered its biology appears.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>While Tacitus called it Mare Suebicum after the Germanic people of the Suebi, and Ptolemy Sarmatian Ocean after the Sarmatians, the first to name it the Baltic Sea (Mare Balticum) was the eleventh-century German chronicler Adam of Bremen. The origin of the latter name is speculative and it was adopted into Slavic and Finnic languages spoken around the sea, very likely due to the role of Medieval Latin in cartography. It might be connected to the Germanic word belt, a name used for two of the Danish straits, the Belts, while others claim it to be directly derived from the source of the Germanic word, Latin balteus "belt". Adam of Bremen himself compared the sea with a belt, stating that it is so named because it stretches through the land as a belt (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam).</p><br>
<p>He might also have been influenced by the name of a legendary island mentioned in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder. Pliny mentions an island named Baltia (or Balcia) with reference to accounts of Pytheas and Xenophon. It is possible that Pliny refers to an island named Basilia ("the royal") in On the Ocean by Pytheas. Baltia also might be derived from belt and mean "near belt of sea, strait."</p><br>
<p>Meanwhile, others have suggested that the name of the island originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhel meaning "white, fair". This root and its basic meaning were retained in both Lithuanian (as baltas) and Latvian (as balts). On this basis, a related hypothesis holds that the name originated from this Indo-European root via a Baltic language such as Lithuanian. Another explanation is that, while derived from the aforementioned root, the name of the sea is related to names for various forms of water and related substances in several European languages, that might have been originally associated with colors found in swamps (compare Proto-Slavic *bolto "swamp"). Yet another explanation is that the name originally meant "enclosed sea, bay" as opposed to open sea. Some Swedish historians believe the name derives from the god Baldr of Nordic mythology.</p><br>
<p>In the Middle Ages the sea was known by a variety of names. The name Baltic Sea became dominant only after 1600. Usage of Baltic and similar terms to denote the region east of the sea started only in 19th century.</p><br>
<h3>Name in other languages</h3><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea was known in ancient Latin language sources as Mare Suebicum or even Mare Germanicum. Older native names in languages that used to be spoken on the shores of the sea or near it usually indicate the geographical location of the sea (in Germanic languages), or its size in relation to smaller gulfs (in Old Latvian), or tribes associated with it (in Old Russian the sea was known as the Varanghian Sea). In modern languages it is known by the equivalents of "East Sea", "West Sea", or "Baltic Sea" in different languages:</p><br>
<p>"Baltic Sea" is used in English; in the Baltic languages Latvian (Baltijas jūra; in Old Latvian it was referred to as "the Big Sea", while the present day Gulf of Riga was referred to as "the Little Sea") and Lithuanian (Baltijos jūra); in Latin (Mare Balticum) and the Romance languages French (Mer Baltique), Italian (Mar Baltico), Portuguese (Mar Báltico), Romanian (Marea Baltică) and Spanish (Mar Báltico); in Greek (Βαλτική Θάλασσα Valtikí Thálassa); in Albanian (Deti Balltik); in Welsh (Môr Baltig); in the Slavic languages Polish (Morze Bałtyckie or Bałtyk), Czech (Baltské moře or Balt), Slovenian (Baltsko morje), Bulgarian (Балтийско море Baltijsko More), Kashubian (Bôłt), Macedonian (Балтичко Море Baltičko More), Ukrainian (Балтійське море Baltijs′ke More), Belarusian (Балтыйскае мора Baltyjskaje Mora), Russian (Балтийское море Baltiyskoye More) and Serbo-Croatian (Baltičko more / Балтичко море); in Hungarian (Balti-tenger).</p><br>
<p>In Germanic languages, except English, "East Sea" is used, as in Afrikaans (Oossee), Danish (Østersøen), Dutch (Oostzee), German (Ostsee), Icelandic and Faroese (Eystrasalt), Norwegian (Østersjøen), and Swedish (Östersjön). In Old English it was known as Ostsæ; also in Hungarian the former name was Keleti-tenger (due to German influence). In addition, Finnish, a Finnic language, has calqued the Swedish term as Itämeri "East Sea", disregarding the geography (the sea is west of Finland), though understandably since Finland was a part of Sweden from the Middle Ages until 1809.</p><br>
<p>In another Finnic language, Estonian, it is called the "West Sea" (Läänemeri), with the correct geography (the sea is west of Estonia).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Classical world</h3><br>
<p>At the time of the Roman Empire, the Baltic Sea was known as the Mare Suebicum or Mare Sarmaticum. Tacitus in his AD 98 Agricola and Germania described the Mare Suebicum, named for the Suebi tribe, during the spring months, as a brackish sea where the ice broke apart and chunks floated about. The Suebi eventually migrated southwest to reside for a while in the Rhineland area of modern Germany, where their name survives in the historic region known as Swabia. Jordanes called it the Germanic Sea in his work, the Getica.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages</h3><br>
<p>In the early Middle Ages, Norse (Scandinavian) merchants built a trade empire all around the Baltic. Later, the Norse fought for control of the Baltic against Wendish tribes dwelling on the southern shore. The Norse also used the rivers of Russia for trade routes, finding their way eventually to the Black Sea and southern Russia. This Norse-dominated period is referred to as the Viking Age.</p><br>
<p>Since the Viking age, the Scandinavians have referred to the Baltic Sea as Austmarr ("Eastern Lake"). "Eastern Sea", appears in the Heimskringla and Eystra salt appears in Sörla þáttr. Saxo Grammaticus recorded in Gesta Danorum an older name, Gandvik, -vik being Old Norse for "bay", which implies that the Vikings correctly regarded it as an inlet of the sea. Another form of the name, "Grandvik", attested in at least one English translation of Gesta Danorum, is likely to be a misspelling.)</p><br>
<p>In addition to fish the sea also provides amber, especially from its southern shores within today&#39;s borders of Poland, Russia and Lithuania. First mentions of amber deposits on the South coast of the Baltic Sea date back to the 12th century. The bordering countries have also traditionally exported lumber, wood tar, flax, hemp and furs by ship across the Baltic. Sweden had from early medieval times exported iron and silver mined there, while Poland had and still has extensive salt mines. Thus the Baltic Sea has long been crossed by much merchant shipping.</p><br>
<p>The lands on the Baltic&#39;s eastern shore were among the last in Europe to be converted to Christianity. This finally happened during the Northern Crusades: Finland in the twelfth century by Swedes, and what are now Estonia and Latvia in the early thirteenth century by Danes and Germans (Livonian Brothers of the Sword). The Teutonic Order gained control over parts of the southern and eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, where they set up their monastic state. Lithuania was the last European state to convert to Christianity.</p><br>
<h3>An arena of conflict</h3><br>
<p>In the period between the 8th and 14th centuries, there was much piracy in the Baltic from the coasts of Pomerania and Prussia, and the Victual Brothers even held Gotland.</p><br>
<p>Starting in the 11th century, the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic were settled by migrants mainly from Germany, a movement called the Ostsiedlung ("east settling"). Other settlers were from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Scotland. The Polabian Slavs were gradually assimilated by the Germans. Denmark gradually gained control over most of the Baltic coast, until she lost much of her possessions after being defeated in the 1227 Battle of Bornhöved.</p><br>
<p>In the 13th to 16th centuries, the strongest economic force in Northern Europe was the Hanseatic League, a federation of merchant cities around the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. In the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden fought wars for Dominium maris baltici ("Lordship over the Baltic Sea"). Eventually, it was Sweden that virtually encompassed the Baltic Sea. In Sweden the sea was then referred to as Mare Nostrum Balticum ("Our Baltic Sea"). The goal of Swedish warfare during the 17th century was to make the Baltic Sea an all-Swedish sea (Ett Svenskt innanhav), something that was accomplished except the rout between Riga in Latvia and Stettin in Pomerania. However, it was the Dutch who dominated Baltic trade in the seventeenth century.</p><br>
<p>In the eighteenth century, Russia and Prussia became the leading powers over the sea. Swedens defeat in the Great Northern War brought Russia to the eastern coast. Russia became and remained a dominating power in the Baltic. Russias Peter the Great saw the strategic importance of the Baltic and decided to found his new capital, Saint Petersburg, at the mouth of the Neva river at the east end of the Gulf of Finland. There was much trading not just within the Baltic region but also with the North Sea region, especially eastern England and the Netherlands: their fleets needed the Baltic timber, tar, flax and hemp.</p><br>
<p>During the Crimean War, a joint British and French fleet attacked the Russian fortresses in the Baltic. They bombarded Sveaborg, which guards Helsinki; and Kronstadt, which guards Saint Petersburg; and they destroyed Bomarsund in the Åland Islands. After the unification of Germany in 1871, the whole southern coast became German. World War I was partly fought in the Baltic Sea. After 1920 Poland was connected to the Baltic Sea by the Polish Corridor and enlarged the port of Gdynia in rivalry with the port of the Free City of Danzig.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, Germany reclaimed all of the southern and much of the eastern shore by occupying Poland and the Baltic states. In 1945, the Baltic Sea became a mass grave for retreating soldiers and refugees on torpedoed troop transports. The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff remains the worst maritime disaster in history, killing (very roughly) 9,000 people. In 2005, a Russian group of scientists found over five thousand airplane wrecks, sunken warships, and other material, mainly from World War II, on the bottom of the sea.</p><br>
<h3>Since World War II</h3><br>
<p>Since the end of World War II, various nations, including the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States, have disposed of chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea, raising concerns of environmental contamination. Even now fishermen accidentally retrieve some of these materials: the most recent available report from the Helsinki Commission notes that four small scale catches of chemical munitions representing approximately 105 kg of material were reported in 2005. This is a reduction from the 25 incidents representing 1,110 kg of material in 2003. Until now, the USA Government refuses to disclose the exact coordinates of the wreck sites. Rotting bottles leak Lost and other substances, thus slowly poisoning a substantial part of the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>After 1945, the German population was expelled from all areas east of the Oder-Neisse line, making room for displaced Poles and Russians. Poland gained most of the southern shore. The Soviet Union gained another access to the Baltic with the Kaliningrad Oblast. The Baltic states on the eastern shore were annexed by the Soviet Union. The Baltic then separated opposing military blocs: NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Had war broken out, the Polish navy was prepared to invade the Danish isles. This border status restricted trade and travel. It ended only after the collapse of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe in the late 1980s.</p><br>
<p>Since May 2004, with the accession of the Baltic states and Poland, the Baltic Sea has been almost entirely surrounded by countries of the European Union (EU). The only remaining non-EU shore areas are Russian: the Saint Petersburg area and the exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast.</p><br>
<p>Winter storms begin arriving in the region during October. These have caused numerous shipwrecks, and contributed to the extreme difficulties of rescuing passengers of the ferry M/S Estonia en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden, in September 1994, which claimed the lives of 852 people. Older, wood-based shipwrecks such as the Vasa tend to remain well-preserved, as the Baltic&#39;s cold and brackish water does not suit the shipworm.</p><br>
<h3>Storm floods</h3><br>
<p>Storm surge floodings are generally taken to occur when the water level is more than one metre above normal. In Warnemünde about 110 floods occurred from 1950 to 2000, an average of just over two per year.</p><br>
<p>Historic flood events were the All Saints&#39; Flood of 1304 and other floods in the years 1320, 1449, 1625, 1694, 1784 and 1825. Little is known of their extent. From 1872, there exist regular and reliable records of water levels in the Baltic Sea. The highest was the flood of 1872 when the water was an average of 2.43 m above sea level at Warnemünde and a maximum of 2.83 m above sea level in Warnemünde. In the last very heavy floods the average water levels reached 1.88 m above sea level in 1904, 1.89 m in 1913, 1.73 m in January 1954, 1.68 m on 2–4 November 1995 and 1.65 m on 21 February 2002.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<h3>Geophysical data</h3><br>
<p>An arm of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Baltic Sea is enclosed by Sweden and Denmark to the northwest, Finland to the northeast, the Baltic countries to the southeast, and the North European Plain to the southwest.</p><br>
<p>It is about 1,600 km long, an average of 193 km wide, and an average of 55 m deep. The maximum depth is 459 m which is on the Swedish side of the center. The surface area is about 349,644 km&sup2; and the volume is about 20,000 km3. The periphery amounts to about 8,000 km of coastline.</p><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish inland seas by area, and occupies a basin (a zungenbecken) formed by glacial erosion during the last few ice ages.</p><br>
<p>Physical characteristics of the Baltic Sea, its main sub-regions, and the transition zone to the Skagerrak/North Sea area</p><br>
<h3>Extent</h3><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Baltic Sea as follows:</p><br>
<h3>Subdivisions</h3><br>
<p>The northern part of the Baltic Sea is known as the Gulf of Bothnia, of which the northernmost part is the Bay of Bothnia or Bothnian Bay. The more rounded southern basin of the gulf is called Bothnian Sea and immediately to the south of it lies the Sea of Åland. The Gulf of Finland connects the Baltic Sea with Saint Petersburg. The Gulf of Riga lies between the Latvian capital city of Riga and the Estonian island of Saaremaa.</p><br>
<p>The Northern Baltic Sea lies between the Stockholm area, southwestern Finland and Estonia. The Western and Eastern Gotland Basins form the major parts of the Central Baltic Sea or Baltic proper. The Bornholm Basin is the area east of Bornholm, and the shallower Arkona Basin extends from Bornholm to the Danish isles of Falster and Zealand.</p><br>
<p>In the south, the Bay of Gdańsk lies east of the Hel Peninsula on the Polish coast and west of the Sambia Peninsula in Kaliningrad Oblast. The Bay of Pomerania lies north of the islands of Usedom and Wolin, east of Rügen. Between Falster and the German coast lie the Bay of Mecklenburg and Bay of Lübeck. The westernmost part of the Baltic Sea is the Bay of Kiel. The three Danish straits, the Great Belt, the Little Belt and The Sound (Öresund/Øresund), connect the Baltic Sea with the Kattegat and Skagerrak strait in the North Sea.</p><br>
<h3>The ice</h3><br>
<p>On the long-term average, the Baltic Sea is ice-covered at the annual maximum for about 45% of its surface area. The ice-covered area during such a typical winter includes the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Riga, the archipelago west of Estonia, the Stockholm archipelago, and the Archipelago Sea southwest of Finland. The remainder of the Baltic does not freeze during a normal winter, with the exception of sheltered bays and shallow lagoons such as the Curonian Lagoon. The ice reaches its maximum extent in February or March; typical ice thickness in the northernmost areas in the Bothnian Bay, the northern basin of the Gulf of Bothnia, is about 70 cm for landfast sea ice. The thickness decreases farther south.</p><br>
<p>Freezing begins in the northern extremities of Gulf of Bothnia typically in the middle of November, reaching the open waters of the Bothnian Bay in early January. The Bothnian Sea, the basin south of Kvarken, freezes on average in late February. The Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga freeze typically in late January. In 2011, the Gulf of Finland was completely frozen on 15 February.</p><br>
<p>The ice extent depends on whether the winter is mild, moderate, or severe. Severe winters can lead to ice formation around southern Sweden and even in the Danish straits. According to the 18th-century natural historian William Derham, during the severe winters of 1703 and 1708, the ice cover reached as far as the Danish straits. Frequently, parts of the Gulf of Bothnia and Gulf of Finland are frozen, in addition to coastal fringes in more southerly locations such as the Gulf of Riga. This description meant that the whole of the Baltic Sea was covered with ice.</p><br>
<p>It is known that since 1720, the Baltic Sea has frozen over entirely a total of 20 times. The most recent case was in early 1987, which was the most severe winter in Scandinavia since that date. The ice then covered 400,000 km&sup2;. During the winter of 2010–11, which was quite severe compared to those of the last decades, the maximum ice cover was 315,000 km&sup2, which was reached on 25 February 2011. The ice then extended from the north down to the northern tip of Gotland, with small ice-free areas on either side, and the east coast of the Baltic Sea was covered by an ice sheet about 25 to 100 km wide all the way to Gdańsk. This was brought about by a stagnant high-pressure area that lingered over central and northern Scandinavia from around 10 to 24 February. After this, strong southern winds pushed the ice further into the north, and much of the waters north of Gotland were again free of ice, which had then packed against the shores of southern Finland. The effects of the afore-mentioned high-pressure area did not reach the southern parts of the Baltic Sea, and thus the entire sea did not freeze over. However, floating ice was additionally observed near Świnoujście harbour in January 2010.</p><br>
<p>In recent years prior to 2011, the Bothnian Bay and the Bothnian Sea were frozen with solid ice near the Baltic coast and dense floating ice far from it. In 2008, there was almost no ice formation except for a short period in March.</p><br>
<p>During winter, fast ice, which is attached to the shoreline, develops first, rendering ports unusable without the services of icebreakers. Level ice, ice sludge, pancake ice, and rafter ice form in the more open regions. The gleaming expanse of ice is similar to the Arctic, with wind-driven pack ice and ridges up to 15 m. Offshore of the landfast ice, the ice remains very dynamic all year, and it is relatively easily moved around by winds and therefore forms pack ice, made up of large piles and ridges pushed against the landfast ice and shores.</p><br>
<p>In spring, the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia normally thaw in late April, with some ice ridges persisting until May in the eastern extremities of the Gulf of Finland. In the northernmost reaches of the Bothnian Bay, ice usually stays until late May; by early June it is practically always gone. However, in the famine year of 1867 remnants of ice were observed as late as July 17 near Uddskär. Even as far south as Øresund, remnants of ice have been observed in May; near Taarbaek on May 15, 1942 and near Copenhagen on May 11, 1771.</p><br>
<p>The ice cover is the main habitat for two large mammals, the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) and the Baltic ringed seal (Pusa hispida botnica), both of which feed underneath the ice and breed on its surface. Of these two seals, only the Baltic ringed seal suffers when there is not adequate ice in the Baltic Sea, as it feeds its young only while on ice. The grey seal is adapted to reproducing also with no ice in the sea. The sea ice also harbours several species of algae that live in the bottom and inside unfrozen brine pockets in the ice.</p><br>
<h3>Hydrography</h3><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea flows out through the Danish straits; however, the flow is complex. A surface layer of brackish water discharges 940 km3 per year into the North Sea. Due to the difference in salinity, by salinity permeation principle, a sub-surface layer of more saline water moving in the opposite direction brings in 475 km3 per year. It mixes very slowly with the upper waters, resulting in a salinity gradient from top to bottom, with most of the salt water remaining below 40 to 70 m deep. The general circulation is anti-clockwise: northwards along its eastern boundary, and south along the western one.</p><br>
<p>The difference between the outflow and the inflow comes entirely from fresh water. More than 250 streams drain a basin of about 1,600,000 km&sup2, contributing a volume of 660 km3 per year to the Baltic. They include the major rivers of north Europe, such as the Oder, the Vistula, the Neman, the Daugava and the Neva. Additional fresh water comes from the difference of precipitation less evaporation, which is positive.</p><br>
<p>An important source of salty water are infrequent inflows of North Sea water into the Baltic. Such inflows, important to the Baltic ecosystem because of the oxygen they transport into the Baltic deeps, used to happen on average every four to five years until the 1980s. In recent decades they have become less frequent. The latest four occurred in 1983, 1993, 2003 and 2014 suggesting a new inter-inflow period of about ten years.</p><br>
<p>The water level is generally far more dependent on the regional wind situation than on tidal effects. However, tidal currents occur in narrow passages in the western parts of the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>The significant wave height is generally much lower than that of the North Sea. Violent and sudden storms often sweep the surface, due to large transient temperature differences and a long reach of wind. Seasonal winds also cause small changes in sea level, of the order of 0.5 m.</p><br>
<h3>Salinity</h3><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea&#39;s salinity is much lower than that of ocean water (which averages 3.5%), as a result of abundant freshwater runoff from the surrounding land, combined with the shallowness of the sea itself; runoff contributes roughly one-fortieth its total volume per year, as the volume of the basin is about 21,000 km3 and yearly runoff is about 500 km3. The open surface waters of the central basin have salinity of 0.5% to 0.8%, which makes the basin border-line freshwater. Drinking the water as a means of survival would actually hydrate the body instead of dehydrating, as is the case with ocean water. At the semi-enclosed bays with major freshwater inflows, such as the head of Finnish Gulf with the Neva mouth and the head of the Bothnian Gulf with the close mouths of the Lule, Tornio and Kemi, the salinity is considerably lower. Below 40 to 70 m, the salinity is between 1.0% and 1.5% in the open Baltic Sea, and higher near the Danish Straits, but this is still less than half that of ocean water.</p><br>
<p>The flow of fresh water into the sea from approximately two hundred rivers and the introduction of salt from the South builds up a gradient of salinity in the Baltic Sea. Near the Danish straits the salinity is close to that of the Kattegat, but still not fully oceanic, because the saltiest water that passes the straits is already mixed with considerable amounts of outflow water. The salinity steadily decreases towards North and East. At the northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia the water is no longer salty and many fresh water species live in the sea. The salinity gradient is paralleled by a temperature gradient. These two factors limit many species of animals and plants to a relatively narrow region of the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>The most saline water is vertically stratified in the water column to the north, creating a barrier to the exchange of oxygen and nutrients, and fostering completely separate maritime environments.</p><br>
<h3>Major tributaries</h3><br>
<p>The rating of mean discharges differs from the ranking of hydrological lengths (from the most distant source to the sea) and the rating of the nominal lengths. Göta älv, a tributary of the Kattegat, is not listed, as due to the northward upper low-salinity-flow in the sea, its water hardly reaches the Baltic proper:</p><br>
<h3>Islands and archipelagoes</h3><br>
<p>Åland Islands (Finland, autonomous)</p><br>
<p>Archipelago Sea (Finland)</p><br>
<p>Pargas</p><br>
<p>Nagu</p><br>
<p>Korpo</p><br>
<p>Houtskär</p><br>
<p>Kustavi</p><br>
<p>Kimito</p><br>
<p>Blekinge archipelago (Sweden)</p><br>
<p>Bornholm, including Christiansø (Denmark)</p><br>
<p>Falster (Denmark)</p><br>
<p>Gotland (Sweden)</p><br>
<p>Hailuoto (Finland)</p><br>
<p>Kotlin (Russia)</p><br>
<p>Lolland (Denmark)</p><br>
<p>Kvarken archipelago, including Valsörarna (Finland)</p><br>
<p>Møn (Denmark)</p><br>
<p>Öland (Sweden)</p><br>
<p>Rügen (Germany)</p><br>
<p>Stockholm archipelago (Sweden)</p><br>
<p>Värmdön (Sweden)</p><br>
<p>Usedom or Uznam (split between Germany and Poland)</p><br>
<p>West Estonian archipelago (Estonia):</p><br>
<p>Hiiumaa</p><br>
<p>Muhu</p><br>
<p>Saaremaa</p><br>
<p>Vormsi</p><br>
<p>Wolin (Poland)</p><br>
<p>Zealand (Denmark)</p><br>
<h3>Coastal countries</h3><br>
<p>Countries that border on the sea:</p><br>
<p>Countries that are in the drainage basin but do not border on the sea:</p><br>
<p>The Baltic sea drainage basin is roughly four times the surface area of the sea itself. About 48% of the region is forested, with Sweden and Finland containing the majority of the forest, especially around the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.</p><br>
<p>About 20% of the land is used for agriculture and pasture, mainly in Poland and around the edge of the Baltic Proper, in Germany, Denmark and Sweden. About 17% of the basin is unused open land with another 8% of wetlands. Most of the latter are in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.</p><br>
<p>The rest of the land is heavily populated. About 85 million people live in the Baltic drainage basin, 15 million within 10 km of the coast and 29 million within 50 km of the coast. Around 22 million live in population centers of over 250,000. 90% of these are concentrated in the 10 km band around the coast. Of the nations containing all or part of the basin, Poland includes 45% of the 85 million, Russia 12%, Sweden 10% and the others less than 6% each.</p><br>
<h4>Cities</h4><br>
<p>The biggest coastal cities (by population):</p><br>
<p>Saint Petersburg (Russia) 4,700,000 (metropolitan area 6,000,000)</p><br>
<p>Stockholm (Sweden) 843,139 (metropolitan area 2,046,103)</p><br>
<p>Riga (Latvia) 696,567 (metropolitan area 842,000)</p><br>
<p>Helsinki (Finland) 605,022 (metropolitan area 1,358,901)</p><br>
<p>Gdańsk (Poland) 462,700 (metropolitan area 1,041,000)</p><br>
<p>Tallinn (Estonia) 435,245 (metropolitan area 542,983)</p><br>
<p>Kaliningrad (Russia) 431,500</p><br>
<p>Szczecin (Poland) 413,600 (metropolitan area 778,000)</p><br>
<p>Gdynia (Poland) 255,600 (metropolitan area 1,041,000)</p><br>
<p>Kiel (Germany) 242,000</p><br>
<p>Espoo (Finland) 257,195 (part of Helsinki metropolitan area)</p><br>
<p>Lübeck (Germany) 216,100</p><br>
<p>Rostock (Germany) 212,700</p><br>
<p>Klaipėda (Lithuania) 194,400</p><br>
<p>Oulu (Finland) 191,050</p><br>
<p>Turku (Finland) 180,350</p><br>
<p>Important ports:</p><br>
<p>Estonia:</p><br>
<p>Pärnu 44,568</p><br>
<p>Maardu 16,570</p><br>
<p>Sillamäe 16,567</p><br>
<p>Finland:</p><br>
<p>Pori 83,272</p><br>
<p>Kotka 54,887</p><br>
<p>Kokkola 46,809</p><br>
<p>Port of Naantali 18,789</p><br>
<p>Mariehamn 11,372</p><br>
<p>Hanko 9,270</p><br>
<p>Germany:</p><br>
<p>Stralsund 58,000</p><br>
<p>Greifswald 55,000</p><br>
<p>Wismar 44,000</p><br>
<p>Eckernförde 22,000</p><br>
<p>Neustadt in Holstein 16,000</p><br>
<p>Wolgast 12,000</p><br>
<p>Sassnitz 10,000</p><br>
<p>Latvia:</p><br>
<p>Liepāja 85,000</p><br>
<p>Ventspils 44,000</p><br>
<p>Lithuania:</p><br>
<p>Klaipėda 194,000</p><br>
<p>Palanga 15,000</p><br>
<p>Poland:</p><br>
<p>Kołobrzeg 44,800</p><br>
<p>Świnoujście 41,500</p><br>
<p>Police 34,284</p><br>
<p>Władysławowo 15,000</p><br>
<p>Darłowo 14,000</p><br>
<p>Russia:</p><br>
<p>Vyborg 79,962</p><br>
<p>Baltiysk 34,000</p><br>
<p>Sweden:</p><br>
<p>Norrköping 84,000</p><br>
<p>Gävle 69,000</p><br>
<p>Trelleborg 26,000</p><br>
<p>Karlshamn 19,000</p><br>
<p>Oxelösund 11,000</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea somewhat resembles a riverbed, with two tributaries, the Gulf of Finland and Gulf of Bothnia. Geological surveys show that before the Pleistocene, instead of the Baltic Sea, there was a wide plain around a great river paleontologists call the Eridanos. Several Pleistocene glacial episodes scooped out the river bed into the sea basin. By the time of the last, or Eemian Stage (MIS 5e), the Eemian Sea was in place. Instead of a true sea, the Baltic can even today also be understood as the common estuary of all rivers flowing into it.</p><br>
<p>From that time the waters underwent a geologic history summarized under the names listed below. Many of the stages are named after marine animals (e.g. the Littorina mollusk) that are clear markers of changing water temperatures and salinity.</p><br>
<p>The factors that determined the sea&#39;s characteristics were the submergence or emergence of the region due to the weight of ice and subsequent isostatic readjustment, and the connecting channels it found to the North Sea-Atlantic, either through the straits of Denmark or at what are now the large lakes of Sweden, and the White Sea-Arctic Sea.</p><br>
<p>Eemian Sea, 130,000–115,000 (years ago)</p><br>
<p>Baltic Ice Lake, 12,600–10,300</p><br>
<p>Yoldia Sea, 10,300–9500</p><br>
<p>Ancylus Lake, 9,500–8,000</p><br>
<p>Mastogloia Sea 8,000–7,500</p><br>
<p>Littorina Sea, 7,500–4,000</p><br>
<p>Post-Littorina Sea 4,000–present</p><br>
<p>The land is still emerging isostatically from its depressed state, which was caused by the weight of ice during the last glaciation. The phenomenon is known as post-glacial rebound. Consequently, the surface area and the depth of the sea are diminishing. The uplift is about eight millimetres per year on the Finnish coast of the northernmost Gulf of Bothnia. In the area, the former seabed is only gently sloping, leading to large areas of land being reclaimed in what are, geologically speaking, relatively short periods (decades and centuries).</p><br>
<h3>Anomalous object/formation</h3><br>
<p>The Baltic Sea anomaly is a 60-metre (200 ft) diameter circular rock-like formation on the floor of the northern Baltic Sea at the center of the Bothnian Sea, discovered by Peter Lindberg, Dennis Åsberg and their Swedish "Ocean X" diving team in June 2011. The team reported that the formation rests on a pillar and includes a structure similar in appearance to a staircase, leading to a dark hole.</p><br>
<p>According to Ocean X, the formation has an appearance of "rough granite", is round, 3 to 4 m thick and approximately 60 m in diameter, stands on an 8 m pillar-like feature, and is located at a depth of 85 to 90 m. There is also another smaller object not far away. The object is at the end of what resembles a 300 m "runway".</p><br>
<p>The Ocean X team has published one additional close-up sonar scan on their Web site and nine additional close-up sonar scans on their YouTube page that appear to show a 90-degree angle and other features of the object.</p><br>
<p>On their second expedition, they reported that they found something that looks like a staircase and a round black hole that goes directly into the structure.</p><br>
<h2>Biology</h2><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>The fauna of the Baltic sea is a mixture of marine and freshwater species. Among marine fishes are cod, herring, hake, plaice, flounder, shorthorn sculpin, stickleback and turbot, and examples of freshwater species include perch, pike, whitefish and roach.</p><br>
<p>There is a decrease in faunal species from the Belts to the Gulf of Bothnia. The decreasing salinity along this path causes restrictions in both physiology and habitats. The lack of tides has affected the marine species as compared with the Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>Since the Baltic Sea is so young there are only a few endemic species. The mostly asexually reproducing brown alga Fucus radicans seems to have evolved in the basin. Another endemic is the Copenhagen cockle parvicardium hauniense. However, several marine species have populations in the Baltic Sea adapted to the low salinity, such as the Baltic Sea herring which is smaller than the Atlantic herring.</p><br>
<p>A peculiar feature of the fauna is that it contains a number of glacial relict species, isolated populations of arctic species which have remained in the Baltic Sea since the last glaciation, such as the large isopod Saduria entomon, the Baltic subspecies of ringed seal, and the fourhorn sculpin. Some of these relicts are derived from glacial lakes, such as Monoporeia affinis, which is a main element in the benthic fauna of the low-salinity Bothnian Bay.</p><br>
<p>Cetaceans in Baltic Sea have been monitored by the ASCOBANS. Critically endangered populations of Atlantic white-sided dolphins and harbor porpoises inhabit the sea where white-colored porpoises have been recorded, and occasionally oceanic and out-of-range species such as minke whales, bottlenose dolphins, beluga whales, orcas, and beaked whales visit the waters. In recent years, very small, but with increasing rates, fin whalesJansson N. 2007.. Aftonbladet.</p><br>
<p>Retrieved on September 7, 2017 and humpback whales migrate into Baltic sea including mother and calf pair. Now extinct Atlantic grey whales (remains found from Gräsö along Bothnian Sea/southern Bothnian Gulf and Ystad) and eastern population of North Atlantic right whales that is facing functional extinction once migrated into Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>Strandings of Leatherback turtles have been recorded in Baltic Sea, too. Other notable megafauna include the basking sharks.</p><br>
<h3>Environmental status</h3><br>
<p>Satellite images taken in July 2010 revealed a massive algal bloom covering 377,000 km&sup2; in the Baltic Sea. The area of the bloom extended from Germany and Poland to Finland. Researchers of the phenomenon have indicated that algal blooms have occurred every summer for decades. Fertilizer runoff from surrounding agricultural land has exacerbated the problem and led to increased eutrophication.</p><br>
<p>Approximately 100,000 km&sup2; of the Baltic&#39;s seafloor (a quarter of its total area) is a variable dead zone. The more saline (and therefore denser) water remains on the bottom, isolating it from surface waters and the atmosphere. This leads to decreased oxygen concentrations within the zone. It is mainly bacteria that grow in it, digesting organic material and releasing hydrogen sulfide. Because of this large anaerobic zone, the seafloor ecology differs from that of the neighbouring Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>Plans to artificially oxygenate areas of the Baltic that have experienced eutrophication have been proposed by the University of Gothenburg and Inocean AB. The proposal intends to use wind-driven pumps to inject oxygen (air) into waters at, or around, 130m below sea level.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Construction of the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark (completed 1997) and the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel (completed 1999), linking Denmark with Sweden, provided a highway and railroad connection between Sweden and the Danish mainland (the Jutland Peninsula, precisely the Zealand). The undersea tunnel of the Øresund Bridge-Tunnel provides for navigation of large ships into and out of the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is the main trade route for export of Russian petroleum. Many of the countries neighboring the Baltic Sea have been concerned about this, since a major oil leak in a seagoing tanker would be disastrous for the Baltic—given the slow exchange of water. The tourism industry surrounding the Baltic Sea is naturally concerned about oil pollution.</p><br>
<p>Much shipbuilding is carried out in the shipyards around the Baltic Sea. The largest shipyards are at Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, Poland; Kiel, Germany; Karlskrona and Malmö, Sweden; Rauma, Turku, and Helsinki, Finland; Riga, Ventspils, and Liepāja, Latvia; Klaipėda, Lithuania; and Saint Petersburg, Russia.</p><br>
<p>There are several cargo and passenger ferries that operate on the Baltic Sea, such as Scandlines, Silja Line, Polferries, the Viking Line, Tallink, and Superfast Ferries.</p><br>
<h3>Tourism</h3><br>
<p>Piers</p><br>
<p>Ahlbeck (Usedom), Germany</p><br>
<p>Heiligendamm, Germany</p><br>
<p>Liepaja, Latvia</p><br>
<p>Klaipėda, Lithuania</p><br>
<p>Gdynia, Poland</p><br>
<p>Kołobrzeg, Poland</p><br>
<p>Misdroy, Poland</p><br>
<p>Sopot, Poland</p><br>
<p>Resort towns</p><br>
<p>Pärnu, Estonia</p><br>
<p>Hanko, Finland</p><br>
<p>Mariehamn, Finland</p><br>
<p>Ueckermünde, Germany</p><br>
<p>Travemünde, Germany</p><br>
<p>Jūrmala, Latvia</p><br>
<p>Nida, Lithuania</p><br>
<p>Palanga, Lithuania</p><br>
<p>Kamień Pomorski, Poland</p><br>
<p>Kołobrzeg, Poland</p><br>
<p>Sopot, Poland</p><br>
<p>Świnoujście, Poland</p><br>
<p>Ustka, Poland</p><br>
<p>Svetlogorsk, Russia</p><br>
<h2>The Helsinki Convention</h2><br>
<h3>1974 Convention</h3><br>
<p>For the first time ever, all the sources of pollution around an entire sea were made subject to a single convention, signed in 1974 by the then seven Baltic coastal states. The 1974 Convention entered into force on 3 May 1980.</p><br>
<h3>1992 Convention</h3><br>
<p>In the light of political changes and developments in international environmental and maritime law, a new convention was signed in 1992 by all the states bordering on the Baltic Sea, and the European Community. After ratification the Convention entered into force on 17 January 2000. The Convention covers the whole of the Baltic Sea area, including inland waters and the water of the sea itself, as well as the seabed. Measures are also taken in the whole catchment area of the Baltic Sea to reduce land-based pollution. The Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, 1992, entered into force on 17 January 2000.</p><br>
<p>The governing body of the Convention is the Helsinki Commission, also known as HELCOM, or Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission. The present contracting parties are Denmark, Estonia, the European Community, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.</p><br>
<p>The ratification instruments were deposited by the European Community, Germany, Latvia and Sweden in 1994, by Estonia and Finland in 1995, by Denmark in 1996, by Lithuania in 1997 and by Poland and Russia in November 1999.</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest  is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in south-west of Germany. It is bounded by the Rhine valley to the west and south. Its highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres . The region is roughly oblong in shape with a length of 160 km and breadth of up to 50 km.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Black Forest stretches from the High Rhine in the south to the Kraichgau in the north. In the west it is bounded by the Upper Rhine Plain (which, from a natural region perspective, also includes the low chain of foothills); in the east it transitions to the Gäu, Baar and hill country west of the Klettgau. The Black Forest is the highest part of the South German Scarplands and much of it is densely wooded, a fragment of the Hercynian Forest of Antiquity. It lies upon rocks of the crystalline basement and Bunter Sandstone, and its natural boundary with the surrounding landscapes is formed by the emergence of muschelkalk, which is absent from the Black Forest bedrock. Thanks to the fertility of the soil which is dependent on the underlying rock, this line is both a vegetation boundary as well as the border between the Altsiedelland ("old settlement land") and the Black Forest, which was not permanently settled until the High Middle Ages. From north to south the Black Forest extends for over 160 km, attaining a width of up to 50 kilometres in the south, and up to 30 kilometres in the north (50 x). Tectonically the range forms a lifted fault block, which rises prominently in the west from the Upper Rhine Plain, whilst seen from the east it has the appearance of a heavily forested plateau.</p><br>
<h3>Natural regions</h3><br>
<p>The natural regions of the Black Forest are separated by various features:</p><br>
<p>Geomorphologically, the main division is between the gentle eastern slopes with their mostly rounded hills and broad plateaux (so-called Danubian relief, especially prominent in the north and east on the Bunter Sandstone) and the deeply incised, steeply falling terrain in the west that drops into the Upper Rhine Graben; the so-called Valley Black Forest (Talschwarzwald) with its Rhenanian relief. It is here, in the west, where the highest mountains and the greatest local differences in height (of up to 1000 metres) are found. The valleys are often narrow and ravine-like; but rarely basin-shaped. The summits are rounded and there are also the remnants of plateaux and arête-like landforms.</p><br>
<p>Geologically the clearest division is also between east and west. Large areas of the eastern Black Forest, the lowest layer of the South German Scarplands composed of Bunter Sandstone, are covered by seemingly endless coniferous forest with their island clearings. The exposed basement in the west, predominantly made up of metamorphic rocks and granites, was, despite its rugged topography, easier to settle and appears much more open and inviting today with its varied meadow valleys.</p><br>
<p>The most common way of dividing the regions of the Black Forest is, however, from north to south. Until the 1930s, the Black Forest was divided into the Northern and Southern Black Forest, the boundary being the line of the lang. Later the Black Forest was divided into the heavily forested Northern Black Forest, the lower, central section, predominantly used for agriculture in the valleys, was the Central Black Forest and the much higher Southern Black Forest with its distinctive highland economy and ice age glacial relief. The term High Black Forest referred to the highest areas of the South and southern Central Black Forest.</p><br>
<p>The boundaries drawn were, however, quite varied. In 1931, Robert Gradmann called the Central Black Forest the catchment area of the Kinzig and in the west the section up to the lower Elz and Kinzig tributary of the Gutach. A pragmatic division, which is oriented not just on natural and cultural regions, uses the most important transverse valleys. Based on that, the Central Black Forest is bounded by the Kinzig in the north and the line from Dreisam to Gutach in the south, corresponding to the Bonndorf Graben zone and the course of the present day B 31.</p><br>
<p>In 1959, Rudolf Metz combined the earlier divisions and proposed a modified tripartite division himself, which combined natural and cultural regional approaches and was widely used. His Central Black Forest is bounded in the north by the watershed between the Acher and Rench and subsequently between the Murg and Kinzig or Forbach and Kinzig, in the south by the Bonndorf Graben zone, which restricts the Black Forest in the east as does the Freudenstadt Graben further north by its transition into the Northern Black Forest.</p><br>
<h4>Work of the Institute of Applied Geography</h4><br>
<p>The Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany published by the Federal Office of Regional Geography (Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde) since the early 1950s names the Black Forest as one of six tertiary level major landscape regions within the secondary level region of the South German Scarplands and, at the same time, one of nine new major landscape unit groups. It is divided into six so-called major units (level 4 landscapes). This division was refined and modified in several, successor publications (1:200,000 individual map sheets) up to 1967, each covering individual sections of the map. The mountain range was also divided into three regions. The northern boundary of the Central Black Forest in this classification runs south of the Rench Valley and the Kniebis to near Freudenstadt. Its southern boundary varied with each edition.</p><br>
<p>In 1998 the Baden-Württemberg State Department for Environmental Protection (today the Baden-Württemberg State Department for the Environment, Survey and Nature Conservation) published a reworked Natural Region Division of Baden-Württemberg. It is restricted to the level of the natural regional major units and has been used since for the state&#39;s administration of nature conservation:</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest Foothills (Schwarzwald-Randplatten, 150) geomorphologically form plateaux on the north and northeast periphery of the mountain range that descend to the Kraichgau in the north and the Heckengäu landscapes in the east. They are incised by valleys, especially those of the Nagold river system, into individual interfluves; a narrow northwestern finger extends to beyond the Enz near Neuenbürg and also borders the middle reaches of the Alb to the west as far as a point immediately above Ettlingen. To the southwest it is adjoined by the Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills (Grindenschwarzwald und Enzhöhen, 151), along the upper reaches of the Enz and Murg, forming the heart of the Northern Black Forest. The west of the Northern Black Forest is formed by the Northern Black Forest Valleys (Nördliche Talschwarzwald, 152) with the middle reaches of the Murg around Gernsbach, the middle course of the Oos to Baden-Baden, the middle reaches of the Bühlot above Bühls and the upper reaches of the Rench around Oppenau. Their exit valleys from the mountain range are all oriented towards the northwest.</p><br>
<p>The Central Black Forest (153) is mainly restricted to the catchment area of the River Kinzig above Offenburg as well as the Schutter and the low hills north of the Elz.</p><br>
<p>The Southeastern Black Forest (Südöstliche Schwarzwald, 154) consists mainly of the catchment areas of the upper reaches of the Danube headstreams, the Brigach and Breg as well as the left side valleys of the Wutach north of Neustadt – and thus draining from the northeast of the Southern Black Forest. To the south and west it is adjoined by the High Black Forest (Hochschwarzwald, 155) with the highest summits in the whole range around the Feldberg and the Belchen. Its eastern part, the Southern Black Forest Plateau, is oriented towards the Danube, but drained over the Wutach and the Alb into the Rhine. The southern crest of the Black Forest in the west is deeply incised by the Rhine into numerous ridges. Immediately right of the Wiese above Lörrach rises the relatively small Bunter Sandstone-Rotliegendes table of the Weintenau Uplands (Weitenauer Bergland) in the extreme southwest of the Black Forest; morphologically, geologically and climatically it is separate from the other parts of the Southern Black Forest and, in this classification, is also counted as part of the High Black Forest.</p><br>
<h3>Mountains</h3><br>
<p>At the Feldberg in the Southern Black Forest is the range&#39;s highest summit. Also in the same area are the Herzogenhorn and the Belchen.</p><br>
<p>In general the mountains of the Southern or High Black Forest are higher than those in the Northern Black Forest. The highest Black Forest peak north of the Freiburg–Höllental–Neustadt line is the Kandel. Like the highest point of the Northern Black Forest, the Hornisgrinde, or the Southern Black Forest lookout mountains, the Schauinsland and Blauen it lies near the western rim of the range.</p><br>
<h3>Rivers and lakes</h3><br>
<p>Rivers in the Black Forest include the Danube (which originates in the Black Forest as the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers), the Enz, the Kinzig, the Murg, the Nagold, the Neckar, the Rench, and the Wiese. The Black Forest occupies part of the continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin (drained by the Rhine) and the Black Sea drainage basin (drained by the Danube).</p><br>
<p>The longest Black Forest rivers are (length includes stretches outside the Black Forest):</p><br>
<p>Enz (105 km)</p><br>
<p>Kinzig (93 km)</p><br>
<p>Elz (90 km)</p><br>
<p>Wutach (91 km)</p><br>
<p>Nagold (90 km), hydrological main artery of the Nagold-Enz systems</p><br>
<p>Danube (86 km), headstreams:</p><br>
<p>Breg (46 km)</p><br>
<p>Brigach (40 km)</p><br>
<p>Murg (79 km)</p><br>
<p>Rench (57 km)</p><br>
<p>Schutter (56 km)</p><br>
<p>Wiese (55 km)</p><br>
<p>Acher (54 km)</p><br>
<p>Dreisam (incl. Rotbach 49 km)</p><br>
<p>Alb (incl. Menzenschwander Alb 43 km)</p><br>
<p>Glatt (37 km),</p><br>
<p>Möhlin (32 km)</p><br>
<p>Wolf (31 km)</p><br>
<p>Schiltach (30 km)</p><br>
<p>Wehra (incl. Rüttebach 28 km)</p><br>
<p>Oos (25 km)</p><br>
<p>Glasbach (18 km), hydrological main artery of the Neckar system</p><br>
<p>Important lakes of natural, glacial origin in the Black Forest include the Titisee, the Mummelsee and the Feldsee. Especially in the Northern Black Forest are a number of other, smaller tarns. Numerous reservoirs like the — formerly natural but much smaller — Schluchsee with the other lakes of the Schluchseewerk, the lang, the lang or the lang are used for electricity generation, flood protection or drinking water supply.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Black Forest consists of a cover of sandstone on top of a core of gneiss and granites. Formerly it shared tectonic evolution with the nearby Vosges Mountains. Later during the Middle Eocene a rifting period affected the area and caused formation of the Rhine Mummelsee are remains of this period.</p><br>
<h3>Basement</h3><br>
<p>The geological foundation of the Black Forest is formed by the crystalline bedrock of the Variscan basement. This is covered in the east and northeast by bunter sandstone slabs, the so-called platforms. On the western edge a descending, step-fault-like, foothill zone borders the Upper Rhine Graben consisting of rocks of the Triassic and Jurassic periods.</p><br>
<p>The dominant rocks of the basement are gneiss (ortho- and paragneisses, in the south also migmatites and diatexites, for example on the Schauinsland and Kandel). These gneisses were penetrated by a number of granitic bodies during the Carboniferous period. Among the bigger ones are the Triberg Granite and the Bärhalde Granite. In the south lies the zone of Badenweiler-Lenzkirch, in which Palaeozoic rocks have been preserved (volcanite and sedimentary rocks), which are interpreted as the intercalated remains of a microcontinental collision. Still further in the southeast (around Todtmoos) is a range of exotic inclusions: gabbro from Ehrsberg, serpentinites and pyroxenites near Todtmoos, norite near Horbach), which are possibly the remnants of an accretionary wedge from a continental collision. Also noteworthy are the basins in the rotliegendes, for example the Schramberg or the Baden-Baden Basin, with, in places thick, quartz-porphyry and tuff plates (exposed, for example, on the rock massif of Battert near Baden-Baden). Thick rotliegendes rock, covered by bunter, also occurs in the north of the Dinkelberg block (several hundred metres thick in the Basel geothermal borehole). Even further to the southeast, under the Jura, lies the North Swiss Permocarboniferous Basin.</p><br>
<h3>Uplift of the mountains</h3><br>
<p>Since the downfaulting of the Upper Rhine Graben during the Eocene epoch, the two shoulders on either side have been uplifted: the Black Forest to the east and the Vosges to the west. In the centre lies the Rotliegendes, but it has survived within the graben itself. During the Pliocene a pronounced, but uneven bulge occurred which especially affected the southern Black Forest, including the Feldberg. As a result, the upper surface of the basement in the northern part of the forest around the Hornisgrinde is considerably lower. In the central Black Forest, the tectonic syncline of the Kinzig and Murg emerged.</p><br>
<p>Geomorphologist Walther Penck (1888–1923) regarded the Black Forest as an uplifting geologic dome and modelled his theory of piedmonttreppen (piedmont benchlands) on it.</p><br>
<h3>Platform</h3><br>
<p>Above the crystalline basement of the Northern Black Forest and the adjacent parts of the Central Black Forest the bunter sandstone platforms rise in prominent steps. The most resistant surface strata on the stepped terrain of the grinden uplands and the heights around the upper reaches of the Enz, which have been heavily eroded by the tributaries of the Murg, is the silicified main conglomerate (Middle Bunter). To the east and north are the nappes of the Upper Bunter (platten sandstones and red clays). South of the Kinzig the bunter sandstone zone narrows to a fringe in the east of the mountain range.</p><br>
<h3>Ice age and topography</h3><br>
<p>It is considered proven that the Black Forest was heavily glaciated during the peak periods of at least the Riss and Mummelsee, Wildsee, Schurmsee, Glaswaldsee, Buhlbachsee, Nonnenmattweiher and Feldsee. The Titisee formed as glacial lake behind a glacial moraine.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Climatically the mountain range differs from its surrounding countryside in having lower temperatures and higher rainfall. The highlands of the Black Forest are characterized by regular rainfall throughout the year. However, temperatures do not fall evenly with increasing elevation, nor does the rainfall increase uniformly. Rather, the precipitation rises quickly even in the lower regions and is disproportionately heavy on the rainier western side of the mountains.</p><br>
<h3>Precipitation</h3><br>
<p>The wettest areas are the highlands around the Hornisgrinde in the north and around the Belchen and Feldberg in the south, where annual rainfall reaches 1,800-2,100 mm. Moisture-laden Atlantic westerlies dump about as much rain in the Northern Black Forest, despite its lower elevation, than in the higher area of the Southern Black Forest. There, the Vosges act as a rain shield in the face of the prevailing winds. On the exposed east side of the Central Black Forest, it is much drier again. Thus, the annual rainfall here is only about 750 l/m² in places.</p><br>
<h3>Temperature and sunshine</h3><br>
<p>Thermally, the higher elevations of the Black Forest are characterized by relatively small annual fluctuations and steamed extreme values. This is due to the frequent light winds and greater cloud cover in summer. During the winter months, frequent high pressure means that the summits are often bathed in sunshine, while the valleys disappear under a thick blanket of fog as a result of pockets of cold air (temperature inversion).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In ancient times, the Black Forest was known as Abnoba mons, after the Celtic deity, Abnoba. In Roman times (Late Antiquity), it was given the name Marciana Silva ("Marcynian Forest", from the Germanic word marka="border"). The Black Forest probably represented the border area of the Marcomanni ("border people") who were settled east of the Roman limes. They, in turn, were part of the Germanic tribe of Suebi, who subsequently gave their name to the historic state of Swabia. With the exception of Roman settlements on the perimeter (e.g. the baths in Badenweiler, and mines near Badenweiler and Sulzburg) and the construction of the Roman road of Kinzigtalstraße, the colonization of the Black Forest was not carried out by the Romans, but by the Alemanni. They settled and first colonized the valleys, crossing the old settlement boundary, the so-called "red sandstone border", for example, from the region of Baar. Soon afterwards, increasingly higher areas and adjacent forests were colonized, so that by the end of the 10th century, the first settlements could be found in the red (bunter) sandstone region. These include, for example, Rötenbach, which was first mentioned in 819.</p><br>
<p>Some of the uprisings (including the Bundschuh movement) that preceded the German Peasants&#39; War, originated in the 16th century from the Black Forest. Further peasant unrest, in the shape of the saltpetre uprisings, took place over the next two centuries in Hotzenwald.</p><br>
<p>Remnants of military fortifications dating from the 17th and 18th centuries can be found in the Black Forest, especially on the mountain passes. Examples include the multiple baroque fieldworks of Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden or individual defensive positions such as Alexander&#39;s Redoubt, the Röschenschanze and the Swedish Redoubt (Schwedenschanze).</p><br>
<p>Originally, the Black Forest was a mixed forest of deciduous trees and firs - see the history of the forest in Central Europe. At the higher elevations spruce also grew. In the middle of the 19th century, the Black Forest was almost completely deforested by intensive forestry and was subsequently replanted, mostly with spruce monocultures.</p><br>
<p>In 1990, extensive damage to the forest was caused by Hurricanes Vivian and Wiebke. On 26 December 1999, Hurricane Lothar raged across the Black Forest and caused even greater damage, especially to the spruce monocultures. As had happened following the 1990 storms, large quantities of fallen logs were kept in provisional wet storage areas for years. The effects of the storm are demonstrated by the Lothar Path, a forest educational and adventure trail at the nature centre in Ruhestein on a highland timber forest of about 10 hectares that was destroyed by a hurricane.</p><br>
<p>Several areas of storm damage, both large and small, were left to nature and have developed today into a natural mixed forest again.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Mining</h3><br>
<p>Mining developed in the Black Forest due to its ore deposits, which were often lode-shaped. The formation of these deposits (Schauinsland Pit: zinc, lead, about 700–1000 g silver/ton of lead; baryte, fluorite, less lead and zinc in the Kinzig valley; BiCoNi ores near Wittichen, uranium discovered in the Krunkelbach valley near Menzenschwand but never officially mined) often used to be linked to the intrusion of Carboniferous granite in the para- and orthogneisses. More recent research has revealed that most of these lode fillings are much younger (Triassic to Tertiary). Economic deposits of other minerals included: fluorite in the Northern Black Forest near Pforzheim, baryte in the central region near Freudenstadt, fluorite along with lead and silver near Wildschapbach, baryte and fluorite in the Rankach valley and near Ohlsbach, in the Southern Black Forest near Todtnau, Wieden and Urberg.</p><br>
<p>Small liquid magmatic deposits of nickel-magnetite gravel in norite were mined or prospected in the Hotzenwald forest near Horbach and Todtmoos. Strata-bound deposits include iron ores in the Dogger layer of the foothill zone and uranium near Müllenbach/Baden-Baden. Stone coal is only found near Berghaupten and Diersburg, but was always only of local importance.</p><br>
<p>Chronology: Stone Age mining of haematite (as red pigment) near Sulzburg. By the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. iron ore was being mined by the Celts in the Northern Black Forest (for example in Neuenbürg). Especially in the Middle Black Forest, but also in the south (for example in the Münster valley) ore mining was already probably taking place in Roman times (mining of silver and lead ore; evidence of this at Sulzburg and possibly Badenweiler). Until the High Middle Ages the High Black Forest was practically unsettled. In the course of inland colonisation in the Late High Middle Ages even the highlands were cultivated by settlers from the abbeys (St. Peters, St. Märgens). In the Late High Middle Ages (from about 1100) mining experienced another boom, especially around Todtnau, in the Münster and Suggen valleys and, later, on the Schauinsland too. It is believed that around 800–1,000 miners lived and worked in the Münster valley until the end of the Middle Ages. After the Plague, which afflicted the valley in 1516, the German Peasants War (1524–26) and the Thirty Years War, mining in the region declined until just a few pits remained.</p><br>
<p>An important mining area was the Kinzig valley and its side valleys. The small mining settlement of Wittichen near Schenkenzell in the upper Kinzig valley had many pits in which in baryte, cobalt and silver of many kinds were mined. A circular, geological footpath runs today past the old pits and tips.</p><br>
<p>Another boom began in the early 18th century after the loss of the Alsace to France. It lasted until the 19th century. May pits from this period may be visited today as show mines; for example the Teufelsgrund Pit (Münstertal), the Finstergrund Pit near Wieden, the Hoffnungsstollen ("Hope Gallery") at Todtmoos, the mine in the Schauinsland, the formerly especially silver-rich Wenzel Pit in Oberwolfach and Gr. Segen Gottes ("God&#39;s Great Blessing") in Haslach-Schnellingen.</p><br>
<p>Non-ferrous metal mining in the Black Forest continued until the middle of the 20th century near Wildschapbach and on the Schauinsland (to 1954); fluorite and baryte are still mined today at the Clara Pit in the Rankach valley in Oberwolfach. Iron ores of the Dogger formation was worked until the 1970s near Ringsheim and was smelted in Kehl.</p><br>
<p>Compared with the Harz and Ore Mountains the quantities of silver extracted in the Black Forest were rather modest and reached only about 10 per cent of that produced in the other silver-mining regions.</p><br>
<p>There are many show mines in the Black Forest. These include:</p><br>
<p>the Frischglück Pit near Neuenbürg, the Hella Glück Pit near Neubulach, the Silbergründle Pit near Seebach, the Himmlich Heer Pit near Hallwangen, the Heilige Drei Könige Pit near Freudenstadt, the Segen Gottes Pit near Haslach, the Wenzel Pit near Oberwolfach, the Caroline Pit near Sexau, the Suggental Silver Mine near Waldkirch, the Schauinsland Pit near Freiburg, the Teufelsgrund Pit near Münstertal, the Finstergrund Pit near Wieden and the Hoffnungsstollen Pit near Todtmoos.</p><br>
<h3>Forestry</h3><br>
<p>For several centuries logs from the Black Forest were rafted down the Enz, Kinzig, Murg, Nagold and Rhine rivers for use in the shipping industry, as construction timber and for other purposes. This branch of industry boomed in the 18th century and led to large-scale clearances. As most of the long, straight pine logs were transported downriver for shipbuilding in the Netherlands, they were referred to as "Dutchmen". The logs were used in the Netherlands, above all, as piles for house construction in the sandy and wet ground. Even today in Amsterdam large numbers of historic building are built on these posts and the reforestation of the Black Forest with spruce monocultures testifies to the destruction of the original mixed forest. With the expansion of the railway and road network as alternative transportation, rafting largely came to an end in the late 19th century.</p><br>
<p>Today, fir trees, especially those which are very tall and branchless to a great height, are shipped mainly to Japan. The global advertising impact of Expo 2000 fuelled a resurgence of timber exports. The importance of the timber resources of the Black Forest has also increased sharply recently due to the increasing demand for wood pellets for heating.</p><br>
<h3>Glass making, charcoal burning and potash mining</h3><br>
<p>The timber resources of the Black Forest provided the basis for other sectors of the economy that have now largely disappeared. Charcoal burners (Köhler) built their wood piles (Meiler) in the woods and produced charcoal which, like the products of the potash boilers - further processed inter alia for the glassmaking industry. The Black Forest supplied raw materials and energy for the manufacture of forest glass. This is evinced today by a number of glassblowing houses e.g. in the Hoellental in Todtnau and Wolfach and the Forest Glass Centre in Gersbach (Schopfheim), which is open to visitors.</p><br>
<h3>Precision engineering, clock and jewellery manufacture</h3><br>
<p>In the relatively inaccessible Black Forest valleys industrialization did not arrive until late in the day. In winter, many farmers made wooden cuckoo clocks to supplement their income. This developed in the 19th century into the precision engineering and watch industry, which boomed with the arrival of the railway in many of the Black Forest valleys. The initial disadvantage of their remote location, which led to the development of precision-engineered wooden handicrafts, became a competitive advantage because of their access to raw materials: timber from the forest and metal from the mines. As part of a structural support programme the Baden State Government founded the first clockmaking school in 1850 in Furtwangen to ensure that small artisans were given good training and thus better sales opportunities. Due to the increasing demand for mechanical devices, large companies such as Junghans and Kienzle became established. In the 20th century, the production of consumer electronics was developed by companies such as SABA, Dual and Becker. In the 1970s, the industry declined due to Far Eastern competition. Nevertheless, the Black Forest remains a centre for the metalworking industry and is home to many high-tech companies.</p><br>
<p>Since the start of industrialisation there have been numerous firms in Pforzheim that manufacture jewellery and work with precious metals and stones. There is also a goldsmith&#39;s school in Pforzheim.</p><br>
<h3>Hydropower</h3><br>
<p>Due to the large amounts of precipitation and elevation changes the Black Forest has significant hydropower potential. This was used until the 19th century especially for operating numerous mills, including sawmills and hammer mills and was one of the local factors in the industrialization of some Black Forest valleys.</p><br>
<p>Since the 20th century, the Black Forest has seen the large scale generation of electrical power using run-of-the-river power plants and pumped storage power stations. From 1914 to 1926, the Rudolf Fettweis Company was established in the Murg valley in the Northern Black Forest with the construction of the Schwarzenbach Dam. In 1932, the Schluchsee reservoir, with its new dam, became the upper basin of a pumped storage power plant. In 2013 the association of the Southern Black Forest&#39;s Schluchseewerk owned five power plants with 14 storage tanks. At the Hornberg Basin topographical conditions allow an average head of water of 625 m to drive the turbines before it flows into the Wehra Reservoir.</p><br>
<p>In the 21st century, in the wake of the Renewable Energy Sources Act, numerous smaller run-of-the-river power stations were re-opened or newly constructed.</p><br>
<h2>Political jurisdiction</h2><br>
<p>Administratively, the Black Forest belongs completely to the state of Baden-Württemberg and comprises the cities of Pforzheim, Baden-Baden and Freiburg as well as the following districts (Kreise). In the north: Enz, Rastatt and Calw; in the middle: Freudenstadt, Ortenaukreis and Rottweil; in the south: Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Lörrach and Waldshut.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism and transport</h2><br>
<p>The main industry of the Black Forest is tourism. Black Forest Tourism (Schwarzwald Tourismus) assesses that there are around 140,000 direct full-time jobs in the tourist sector and around 34.8 million tourist overnight stays in 2009.</p><br>
<p>In spring, summer and autumn an extensive network of hiking trails and mountain bike routes enable different groups of people to use the natural region. In winter, of course, it is the various types of winter sport that come to the fore. There are facilities for both downhill and Nordic skiing in many places.</p><br>
<h3>Tourist attractions</h3><br>
<p>The most heavily frequented tourist destinations and resorts in the Black Forest are the Titisee and the Schluchsee. Both lakes offer opportunities for water sports like diving and windsurfing. From Freiburg these lakes may be reached on the B 31 through the Höllental, via the Hirschsprung monument located at the narrowest point in the valley, and the Oswald Chapel below the Ravenna Gorge.</p><br>
<p>One oft-visited town is Baden-Baden with its thermal baths and festival hall. Other thermal baths are found in the spa resorts of Badenweiler, Bad Herrenalb, Bad Wildbad, Bad Krozingen, Bad Liebenzell and Bad Bellingen.</p><br>
<p>Other popular tourist destinations are the old imperial town of Gengenbach, the former county towns of Wolfach, Schiltach and Haslach im Kinzigtal (both on the German Timber-Frame Road) and the flower and wine village of Sasbachwalden at the foot of the Hornisgrinde. Picturesque old towns may be visited in Altensteig, Dornstetten, Freiburg im Breisgau, Gernsbach, Villingen and Zell am Harmersbach. Baiersbronn is a centre of gastronomic excellence, Freudenstadt is built around the largest market place in Germany. Gersbach&#39;s floral displays have won awards as the German Golden Village of 2004 and the European Golden Village of 2007.</p><br>
<p>Noted for their fine interiors are the former monastery of St. Blasien as well as the abbeys of Sankt Trudpert, St. Peter and St. Märgen.</p><br>
<p>Alpirsbach Abbey and the ruined Hirsau Abbey were built of red sandstone in the Hirsau style. Another idyllic rural edifice is Wittichen Abbey near Schenkenzell.</p><br>
<p>The Murg valley, the Kinzig valley, the Triberg Waterfalls and the Open Air Museum at Vogtsbauernhof are also very popular.</p><br>
<p>Lookout mountains include the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel and the Schauinsland in the Southern Black Forest; and the Hornisgrinde, the Schliffkopf, the Hohloh, the Merkur and the Teufelsmühle in the Northern Black Forest.</p><br>
<p>There are well known winter sports areas around the Feldberg, near Todtnau with its FIS downhill ski run of Fahler Loch and in Hinterzarten, a centre and talent forge for German ski jumpers. In the Northern Black Forest the winter sports areas are concentrated along the Black Forest High Road and on the ridge between the Murg and Enz rivers around Kaltenbronn.</p><br>
<p>The height differences in the mountains are used in many places for hang gliding and paragliding.</p><br>
<h3>Hiking trails</h3><br>
<p>The Black Forest has a great number of very varied trails; some of pan-regional significance. The European long-distance path E1 crosses the Black Forest following the routes of some of the local long-distance paths. Their framework is a network of long distance paths with main routes and side branches, many of which were laid out in the early 20th century by the Black Forest Club (Schwarzwaldverein). The best known of these is the challenging West Way (Westweg) with its many steep inclines. After 1950, circular walks were constructed to meet the changing demand, initially from the relatively dense railway network and, later, mainly from locally established hiking car parks. Currently, special, more experience-oriented themed paths are being laid out, such as the Dornstetten Barefoot Park (Barfußpark Dornstetten), the Park of All Senses (Park mit allen Sinnen) in Gutach (Black Forest Railway), as well as those designed to bring the walker more directly in contact with nature (e.g. the Schluchtensteig). Roads and wide forest tracks are thus less often used than hitherto.</p><br>
<p>There are numerous shorter paths suitable for day walks, as well as mountain biking and cross-country skiing trails. The total network of tracks amounts to around 23,000 km, and is maintained and overseen by volunteers of the Black Forest Club, which has around 90,000 members (figures from Bremke, 1999, p. 9).</p><br>
<p>West Way (Westweg) Pforzheim–Basel</p><br>
<p>Middle Way (Mittelweg) Pforzheim-Waldshut</p><br>
<p>East Way (Ostweg) Pforzheim-Schaffhausen</p><br>
<p>Rottweil-Lahr Trail (Querweg Rottweil-Lahr) (4 days)</p><br>
<p>Gengenbach-Alpirsbach Trail (Querweg Gengenbach-Alpirsbach) (2–3 days)</p><br>
<p>Hansjakob Way I (Hansjakobweg I, circular walk, 3 days)</p><br>
<p>Hansjakob Way II (circular walk, 4 days)</p><br>
<p>Murgleiter (5 days, premium trail)</p><br>
<p>Gernsbach Circular Walk (Gernsbacher Runde, 2–3 days, premium trail)</p><br>
<p>Schluchtensteig (long distance path, 5–6 days)</p><br>
<p>Baiersbronn Lake Trail (Baiersbronner Seensteig) (circular walk, 5 days)</p><br>
<p>Freiburg-Lake Constance Trail (Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee) (6–7 days)</p><br>
<p>Kandel Ridgway (Kandelhöhenweg), Oberkirch–Freiburg (5 days)</p><br>
<p>Two Valleys Trail (Zweitälersteig) (5 days)</p><br>
<p>Black Forest-Swabian Jura-Allgäu Way (Schwarzwald-Schwäbische-Alb-Allgäu-Weg), also Main Path (Hauptwanderweg) 5, runs for over 311 kilometres into the Allgäu</p><br>
<h3>Museums</h3><br>
<p>The Black Forest Open Air Museum at Vogtsbauernhof farm in Gutach has original Black Forest houses that offer insights into farming life of the 16th and 17th centuries. The buildings were dismantled at their original sites, the individual pieces numbered and then re-erected to exactly the same plan in the museum. The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen gives a comprehensive cross-section of the history of the watchmaking and clockmaking industries. From this early precision engineering a formerly important phonographic industry developed in the 20th century; the history of leisure electronics is presented in the German Phono Museum in St. Georgen. The Schüttesäge Museum in Schiltach has information and living history demonstrations covering the themes of lumbering and timber rafting in the Kinzig valley as well as tanning. The Black Forest Costume Museum in Haslach im Kinzigtal offers an overview of the traditional costume of the whole of the Black Forest and its peripheral regions. Also in Haslach is the Hansjakob Museum and the Hansjakob Archive with numerous works of the writer, priest, politician, historian and chronicler, Heinrich Hansjakob. The MiMa Mineralogy and Mathematics Museum in Oberwolfach houses minerals and mining exhibits from the whole of the Black Forest and links them to mathematical explanations.</p><br>
<h3>Road transport</h3><br>
<p>Several tourist routes run through the Black Forest. Well known holiday routes are the Black Forest High Road (B 500) and the German Clock Road.</p><br>
<p>Thanks to its winding country roads, the Black Forest is a popular destination for motorcyclists. This arm of tourism</p><br>
<p>is viewed as controversial due to the high number of accidents and the wide-ranging noise pollution and has been restricted through the introduction of speed limits and by placing certain roads out of bounds. For example, since 1984, motorcyclists have been banned from using the mountain racing route on the Schauinsland during summer weekends.</p><br>
<h3>Railway transport</h3><br>
<p>The whole of the Black Forest was once linked by the railway. In the eastern part of the Northern Black Forest by the Enz Valley Railway from Pforzheim to Bad Wildbad, by the Nagold Valley Railway from Pforzheim via Calw and Nagold to Horb am Neckar, by the Württemberg Black Forest Railway from Stuttgart to Calw and the Gäu Railway from Stuttgart to Freudenstadt or its present-day section from Eutingen to Freudenstadt.</p><br>
<p>Many railway lines run from the Rhine Plain up the valleys into the Black Forest: the Alb Valley Railway runs from Karlsruhe to Bad Herrenalb, the Murg Valley Railway from Rastatt to Freudenstadt, the Acher Valley Railway from Achern to Ottenhöfen im Schwarzwald and the Rench Valley Railway from Appenweier to Bad Griesbach. The Baden Black Forest Railway has linked Offenburg with Konstanz on Lake Constance since 1873, running via Hausach, Triberg, St. Georgen, Villingen and Donaueschingen. In Hausach the Kinzig Valley Railway branches off to Freudenstadt, in Denzlingen the Elz Valley Railway peels off towards Elzach, the Höllental Railway runs from Freiburg im Breisgau through the Höllental valley to Donaueschingen, the Münstertal Railway from Bad Krozingen to Münstertal, the Kander Valley Railway from Haltingen near Basel through the Kander valley to Kandern and the Wiesen Valley Railway from Basel to Zell im Wiesental.</p><br>
<p>The Three Lakes Railway branches off at the Titisee from the Höllental Railway and runs to the Windgfällweiher and the Schluchsee. The Wutach Valley Railway runs along the border between Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland, linking Waldshut-Tiengen with Immendingen on the Black Forest Railway.</p><br>
<p>Most of these routes are still busy today, whilst some are extremely popular heritage lines.</p><br>
<h3>Administration</h3><br>
<p>Since January 2006 the Black Forest Tourist organisation, Schwarzwald Tourismus, whose head office is in Freiburg, has been responsible for the administration of tourism in the 320 municipalities of the region. Hitherto there had been four separate tourist associations.</p><br>
<h3>Points of interest</h3><br>
<p>There are many historic towns in the Black Forest. Popular tourist destinations include Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Calw (the birth town of Hermann Hesse), Gengenbach, Staufen, Schiltach, Haslach and Altensteig. Other popular destinations include such mountains as the Feldberg, the Belchen, the Kandel, and the Schauinsland; the Titisee and Schluchsee lakes; the All Saints Waterfalls; the Triberg Waterfalls, not the highest, but the most famous waterfalls in Germany; and the gorge of the River Wutach.</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest Open Air Museum shows the life of 16th or 17th century farmers in the region, featuring a number of reconstructed Black Forest farms. The German Clock Museum in Furtwangen portrays the history of the clock industry and of watchmakers.</p><br>
<p>For drivers, the main route through the region is the fast A 5 (E35) motorway, but a variety of signposted scenic routes such as the Schwarzwaldhochstraße (60 km, Baden-Baden to Freudenstadt), Schwarzwald Tälerstraße (100 km, the Murg and Kinzig valleys) or Badische Weinstraße (Baden Wine Street, 160 km, a wine route from Baden-Baden to Weil am Rhein) offers calmer driving along high roads. The last is a picturesque trip starting in the south of the Black Forest going north and includes numerous old wineries and tiny villages. Another, more specialized route is the German Clock Route, a circular route which traces the horological history of the region.</p><br>
<p>Due to the rich mining history dating from medieval times (the Black Forest was one of the most important mining regions of Europe circa 1100) there are many mines re-opened to the public. Such mines may be visited in the Kinzig valley, the Suggental, the Muenster valley, and around Todtmoos.</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest was visited on several occasions by Count Otto von Bismarck during his years as Prussian and later German chancellor (1862–1890). Allegedly, he especially was interested in the Triberg Waterfalls. There is now a monument in Triberg dedicated to Bismarck, who apparently enjoyed the tranquility of the region as an escape from his day-to-day political duties in Berlin.</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest featured in the philosophical development of Martin Heidegger. Heidegger wrote and edited some of his philosophical works in a small hut in the Black Forest, and would receive visitors there for walks, including his former pupil Hannah Arendt. This hut features explicitly in his essay Building, Dwelling, Thinking. His walks in the Black Forest are supposed to have inspired the title of his collection of essays Holzewege, translated as Off The Beaten Track.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation areas</h2><br>
<p>The Black Forest National Park, established in 2014, was the first national park in Baden-Württemberg. It covers an area of 10,062 hectares and lies on the main crest of the Northern Black Forest between Baiersbronn and Baden-Baden.</p><br>
<p>There are two nature parks named after the Black Forest that cover the region: the Central/North Black Forest Nature Park (Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord) and the Southern Black Forest Nature Park (Naturpark Südschwarzwald). Their aim is to preserve the countryside as a cultural landscape, to market local produce more effectively and to make the area more suitable for tourism. The 370,000 ha Southern Black Forest Nature Park, which is the second largest in Germany, encloses the southern part of the Central Black Forest, the Southern Black Forest and adjacent areas. The Central/North Black Forest Nature Park covers 375,000 ha and is thus the largest in Germany. It begins in the southern part of the Central Black Forest, bordering on the Southern Black Forest Nature Park and covers the rest of the Black Forest to the north.</p><br>
<p>In addition there are numerous nature reserves, protected areas, forest reserves and bird reserves.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna</h2><br>
<p>In addition to the expected kinds of wildlife to be found in a European forest area, the following types of animals may be observed in the Black Forest.</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest cattle belong to the rare breed of Hinterwald cattle.</p><br>
<p>The giant earthworm Lumbricus badensis is found only in the Black Forest region.</p><br>
<p>Black Forest Horses are a breed of horse, previously indispensable for heavy field work.</p><br>
<p>In some regions of the Black Forest, the Western Capercaillie can be found.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>The Black Forest is mainly rural and comprises many scattered villages and a few large towns. Tradition and custom are celebrated in many places.</p><br>
<p>The forest is best known for its typical farmhouses with their sweeping half-hipped roofs, its Black Forest gâteaus, Black Forest ham, Black Forest gnomes, Kirschwasser and the cuckoo clock.</p><br>
<h3>Dialects</h3><br>
<p>The main dialects spoken in the Black Forest area are Alemannic and Swabian.</p><br>
<h3>Traditional costume</h3><br>
<p>Traditional costume or Trachten is still sometimes worn today, usually at festive occasions. The appearance of such costume varies from region to region, sometimes very markedly. One of the best known Black Forest costumes is that of the villages of Kirnbach, Reichenbach and Gutach im Kinzigtal with the characteristic Bollenhut headdress. Unmarried women wear the hats with red bobbles or Bollen, married women wear black. Engaged women sometimes wear a bridal crown before and on the day of their wedding, the so-called Schäppel, whose largest examples from the town of St. Georgen weigh up to 5 kilogrammes.</p><br>
<h3>Art</h3><br>
<p>Its rural beauty as well as the sense of tradition of its inhabitants had already attracted many artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries, whose works made the Black Forest famous the world over. Especially notable were Hans Thoma from Bernau and his fellow student, Rudolf Epp, who was sponsored by the Grand Duke of Baden, Frederick I. Both artists painted motifs from the Black Forest throughout their lives. The artist, J. Metzler, from Düsseldorf travelled through the Black Forest to paint his landscapes. The works of the Gutach artist colony around Wilhelm Hasemann were widely admire, their landscape and genre motifs capturing the character of the Black Forest. Like local author, Heinrich Hansjakob, they were part of a Baden folk costume movement.</p><br>
<h3>Crafts</h3><br>
<p>In the field of handicrafts, wood carving plays an important role, than not only produces folk art like the Longinus crosses, but also famous sculptors like Matthias Faller.</p><br>
<p>Wood-carving is a traditional cottage industry in the region and carved ornaments now are produced in substantial numbers as souvenirs for tourists. Cuckoo clocks are a popular example; they have been made in the region since the mid-18th century and much of their development occurred there.</p><br>
<p>In the past singing bird boxes were produced as well. It is believed in the late Middle Ages, mechanical roosters were first created in some clocks to crow the hours. These clocks may have preceded the Cuckoo Clock. Interestingly, new scientific evidence suggests a mechanized planetarium, created by Archimedes in Syracuse before the birth of Christ, may have sparked production of mechanical clocks in Europe. It is believed the ancient Greek knowledge of gearing came into Europe in the 13th century.</p><br>
<h3>Cuisine</h3><br>
<p>Black Forest ham originated from this region, and so, by name and reputation at least, did the Black Forest gâteau. It is also known as "Black Forest Cherry Cake" or "Black Forest Cake" and is made with chocolate cake, cream, sour cherries and Kirsch. The Black Forest variety of Flammkuchen is a Baden specialty made with ham, cheese and cream. Pfannkuchen, a crêpe or crêpe-like (Eierkuchen or Palatschinken) pastry, is also common.</p><br>
<p>The Black Forest is also known for its long tradition in gourmet cuisine. No fewer than 17 Michelin starred restaurants are located in the region, among them two restaurants with 3 stars (Restaurants Bareiss and Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn) as well as the only restaurant in Germany that has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 1966. At Schwarzwald Hotel Adler in Häusern, three generations of chefs from the same family have defended the award from the first year the Michelin Guide selected restaurants in Germany until today.</p><br>
<h3>Fasnet</h3><br>
<p>The German holiday of Fastnacht, or Fasnet, as it is known in the Black Forest region, occurs in the time leading up to Lent. On Fasnetmendig, or the Monday before Ash Wednesday, crowds of people line the streets, wearing wooden, mostly hand-carved masks. One prominent style of mask is called the Black Forest Style, originating from the Black Forest Region.</p><br>
<p>Baker Island is an uninhabited atoll located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean about 3,090 km southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbor is Howland Island, 42 mi to the north-northwest; both have been territories of the United States since 1857, though the United Kingdom considered them part of the British Empire between 1897 and 1936.</p><br>
<p>Located at 0&deg;11&prime;41&Prime;N latitude, 176&deg;28&prime;46&Prime;W longitude. the island covers 2.1 km&sup2, with 4.8 km of coastline. The climate is equatorial, with little rainfall, constant wind, and strong sunshine. The terrain is low-lying and sandy: a coral island surrounded by a narrow fringing reef with a depressed central area devoid of a lagoon with its highest point being 8 m above sea level.</p><br>
<p>The island now forms the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge and is an unincorporated and unorganized territory of the USA which vouches for its defense. It is visited annually by the USA Fish and Wildlife Service. For statistical purposes, Baker is grouped with the United States Minor Outlying Islands. Baker Island is also the last piece of land that experiences the New Year (earliest time zone).</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>A cemetery and rubble from earlier settlements are located near the middle of the west coast, where the boat landing area is located. There are no ports or harbors, with anchorage prohibited offshore. The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island can be a maritime hazard, so there is a day beacon near the old village site. Baker&#39;s abandoned World War II runway, 5,463 ft long, is completely covered with vegetation and is unserviceable.</p><br>
<p>The United States claims an exclusive economic zone of 200 nmi and territorial sea of 12 nmi around Baker Island.</p><br>
<p>During a 1935–1942 colonization attempt, the island was most likely on Hawaii time, which was then 10.5 hours behind UTC. Since it is uninhabited the island&#39;s time zone is unspecified, but it lies within a nautical time zone 12 hours behind UTC.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Baker was discovered in 1818 by Captain Elisha Folger of the Nantucket whaling ship Equator, who called the island "New Nantucket". In August 1825 Baker was sighted by Captain Obed Starbuck of the Loper, also a Nantucket whaler. The island is named for Michael Baker, who visited the island in 1834. Other references state that he visited in 1832, and again on August 14, 1839, in the whaler Gideon Howland, to bury an American seaman. Captain Baker claimed the island in 1855, then he sold his interest to a group who later formed the American Guano Company.</p><br>
<p>The United States took possession of the island in 1857, claiming it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Its guano deposits were mined by the American Guano Company from 1859 to 1878. As an example of the scale of the guano mining and its destination the following ship movements were reported in late 1868.</p><br>
<p>British ship Montebello, Capt Henderson, arrived Aug 17th 104 days from Liverpool, loaded 650 tons guano, departed for Liverpool 9th Sep.</p><br>
<p>American ship Eldorado, Capt Woodside, arrived Sept 14th from Honolulu, loaded 1550 tons guano, departed for Liverpool Oct 5th.</p><br>
<p>British bark Florence Chipman, Capt Smith, arrived Oct 13th from Rio, loaded 1400 tons guano, departed for Liverpool Nov 5th.</p><br>
<p>On February 27th 1869 the British ship Shaftsbury under Captain John Davies, which had arrived at Baker&#39;s Island on 5th February from Montevideo, was wrecked after being driven onto the reef by a sudden wind shift and squall from the North West, dragging her moorings with her. American ship Robin Hood was destroyed by fire while loading on 30th August 1869.</p><br>
<p>On 7 December 1886, the American Guano Company sold all its rights to the British firm John T. Arundel and Company, which made the island its headquarters for guano digging operations in the Pacific from 1886 to 1891. Arundel applied in 1897 to the British Colonial Office for a licence to work the island on the presumption that the USA had abandoned their claim. The United Kingdom then considered Baker Island as a British territory, while never formally annexing it. The United States raised the question at the beginning of the 1920s and after some diplomatic exchanges, they launched in 1935 the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project and issued on May 1936 Executive Order 7358 to clarify their sovereignty.</p><br>
<p>This short-lived attempt at colonization, via the American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project, begun when American colonists arrived aboard the USCGC Itasca, the same vessel that brought colonists to neighboring Howland Island, on April 3, 1935. They built a lighthouse and substantial dwellings, and they attempted to grow various plants. The settlement was named Meyerton, after Captain H.A. Meyer of the United States Army, who helped establish the camps in 1935. One sad-looking clump of coconut palms was jokingly called King-Doyle Park after two well-known citizens of Hawaii who visited on the Taney in 1938. This clump was the best on the island, planted near a water seep, but the dry climate and seabirds, eager for anything upon which to perch, did not give the trees or shrubs much of a chance to survive. King-Doyle Park was later adopted as a geographic name by the USGS. Its population was four American civilians, all of whom were evacuated in 1942 after Japanese air and naval attacks. During World War II it was occupied by the USA military.</p><br>
<h2>Airfield</h2><br>
<p>On August 11, 1943, a US Army defense force arrived on Baker Island as part of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. In September 1943 a 5,463 ft airfield was opened and was subsequently used as a staging base by Seventh Air Force B-24 Liberator bombers for attacks on Mili Atoll. The 45th Fighter Squadron operating P-40 fighters operated from the airfield from September 1 - November 27, 1943. By January 1, 1944 the airfield was abandoned.</p><br>
<h2>LORAN Station Baker</h2><br>
<p>LORAN radio navigation station Baker was a radio operations base in operation from September 1944 to July 1946. The station unit number was 91 and the radio call sign was NRN-1.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Baker has no natural fresh water sources. It is treeless, with sparse vegetation consisting of four kinds of grass, prostrate vines and low-growing shrubs. The island is primarily a nesting, roosting, and foraging habitat for seabirds, shorebirds, and marine wildlife.</p><br>
<p>Several varieties of shorebirds and other species inhabit the island and nearby waters, some considered endangered. The ruddy turnstone, bar-tailed godwit, sanderling and Pacific golden plover are considered species of least concern. The bristle-thighed curlew is considered vulnerable on the national conservation priority scheme. Green turtles and hawksbill turtles, both critically endangered, can be found along the reef.</p><br>
<p>Seabird species such as the lesser frigatebird, brown noddy and sooty tern use the island for nesting and roosting. The island is also believed to be a rest stop for arctic-breeding shorebirds.</p><br>
<h2>National Wildlife Refuge</h2><br>
<p>On June 27, 1974, Secretary of the Interior Rogers Morton created Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge which was expanded in 2009 to add submerged lands within 12 nmi of the island. The refuge now includes 531 acre of land and 410,184 acre of water. Baker, along with six other islands, was administered by the USA Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the Pacific Remote Islands National Wildlife Refuge Complex. In January 2009, that entity was redesignated the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by President George W. Bush.</p><br>
<p>Environmental challenges include abandoned military debris from World War II and illegal fishing offshore. Invasive exotics introduced by human activity, including cockroaches and coconut palms, have also displaced native wildlife. Feral cats, first introduced in 1937, were eradicated in 1965.</p><br>
<p>Public entry to the island is only by special use permit from the USA Fish and Wildlife Service and it is generally restricted to scientists and educators. Representatives from the agency visit the island on average once every two years, usually coordinating transportation with a NOAA vessel.</p><br>
<h2>Ruins and artifacts</h2><br>
<p>Debris from past human occupation is scattered throughout the island and in offshore waters. Most is from the USA military occupation of the island from 1942 to 1946. The most noticeable remnant is the 5,400 by airstrip. It is completely overgrown with vegetation and is unusable. In the northeast section, apparently the main camp area, are the remains of several buildings and heavy equipment. Five wooden antenna poles about 40 ft in height remain standing in the camp. Debris from several crashed airplanes and large equipment such as bulldozers is scattered around the island. Numerous bulldozer excavations containing the remnants of metal, fuel and water drums are scattered about the north central portion and northern edge of the island. The Navy reported the loss of 11 landing craft in the surf during World War II.</p><br>
<p>Bassas da India is an uninhabited, roughly circular French atoll that is part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Located in the southern Mozambique Channel, about halfway between Mozambique and Madagascar  and around 110 km northwest of Europa Island, the rim of the atoll averages around 100 m in width and encloses a shallow lagoon of depth no greater than 15 m. Overall, the atoll is about 10 km in diameter, rising steeply from the seabed 3000 m below to encircle an area  of 80 km². Its exclusive economic zone , 123,700 km² in size, is contiguous with that of Europa Island.</p><br>
<p>The atoll consists of ten barren rocky islets, with no vegetation, totalling 0.2 km² (.077 sq mi) in area. Those on the north and east sides are 2.1 to 3 m high, while those on the west and south sides are 1.2 m high. The reef, whose coastline measures 35.2 km, is completely covered by the sea from three hours before high tide to three hours afterward. The region is also subject to cyclones, making the atoll a long-time maritime hazard and the site of numerous shipwrecks.</p><br>
<p>Jaguar Seamount and Hall Tablemount lie, respectively, about 40 and 70 km further southwest.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Bassas da India was first recorded by Portuguese explorers in the early sixteenth century as the "&#39;Baixo da Judia" ("Jewess Shoals"). The Judia ("Jewess", for the ancestry of its owner Fernão de Loronha) was the Portuguese ship that discovered the feature by running aground on it in 1506. The name became "Bassas da India" due to transcription errors by cartographers. The Santiago broke up on the shoal in 1585.</p><br>
<p>It was rediscovered by the Europa in 1774, whence the name "Europa Rocks". The Malay was lost 27 July 1842 on the Europa Rocks.</p><br>
<p>In 1897, the shoal became a French possession, later being placed under the administration of a commissioner residing in Réunion in 1968. Madagascar became independent in 1960 and claims sovereignty over the shoal since 1972.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>Mooring at Bassas da India requires a permit from the French Government. Fishing without such a permit may result in the boat being expelled or even confiscated. http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do;jsessionid=9453DD60B82493F7FCE3C5E284809744.tpdjo15v_1?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000880593&dateTexte=19960708 5 July 1983 French Law</p><br>
<p>Several illegal tourism charters departing from Mozambique or South Africa have been seized since 2013 by the French navy.</p><br>
<p>The Bosphorus  or Bosporus  is a narrow, natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey. It forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. The world&#39;s narrowest strait used for international navigation, the Bosphorus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles, the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas.</p><br>
<p>Most of the shores of the strait are heavily settled, straddled by the city of Istanbul&#39;s metropolitan population of 17 million inhabitants extending inland from both coasts.</p><br>
<p>Together with the Dardanelles, the Bosphorus forms the Turkish Straits.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The original name of the channel comes from an Anglicisation of the Ancient Greek Βόσπορος (Bosporos), which was folk-etymologised as βοὸς πόρος, i.e. "cattle strait" (or "Ox-ford"there is a certain (Oxonian) tradition of equating the name "Oxford" with "Bosporus", see e.g. Wolstenholme Parr, Memoir on the propriety of the word Oxford,</p><br>
<p>Oxford,1820, esp. ), from the genitive of bous βοῦς "ox, cattle" + poros πόρος "passage", thus meaning "cattle-passage", or "cow passage". This is in reference to the mythological story of Io, who was transformed into a cow, and was subsequently condemned to wander the Earth until she crossed the Bosphorus, where she met the Titan Prometheus, who comforted her with the information that she would be restored to human form by Zeus and become the ancestress of the greatest of all heroes, Heracles (Hercules).</p><br>
<p>This folk etymology was canonized by Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound (v. 734f.), where Prometheus prophesies to Io that the strait would be named after her.</p><br>
<p>The site where Io supposedly went ashore was near Chrysopolis (present-day Üsküdar), and was named Bous "the Cow". The same site was also known as Damalis, as it was where the Athenian general Chares had erected a monument to his wife Damalis, which included a colossal statue of a cow (the name Damalis translating to "calf").</p><br>
<p>The spelling with -ph-, as Bosphorus, has no justification in the ancient Greek name, but it occurs as a variant in medieval Latin (as Bosphorus, and occasionally Bosforus, Bosferus), and in medieval Greek sometimes as Βόσφορος,</p><br>
<p>giving rise to the French form Bosphore, Spanish Bósforo and Russian Босфор.</p><br>
<p>The 12th century Greek scholar John Tzetzes calls it Damaliten Bosporon (after Damalis), but he also reports that in popular usage the strait was known as Prosphorion during his day, the name of the most ancient northern harbour of Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>Historically, the Bosphorus was also known as the "Strait of Constantinople", or the Thracian Bosphorus, in order to distinguish it from the Cimmerian Bosporus in Crimea. These are expressed in Herodotus&#39; Histories, 4.83; as Bosporus Thracius, Bosporus Thraciae, and Βόσπορος Θρᾴκιος, respectively. Other names by which the strait is referenced by Herodotus include Chalcedonian Bosporus (Bosporus Chalcedoniae, Bosporos tes Khalkedonies, Herodotus 4.87), or Mysian Bosporus (Bosporus Mysius).</p><br>
<p>The term eventually came to be used as common noun βόσπορος, meaning "a strait", and was also formerly applied to the Hellespont in Classical Greek by Aeschylus and Sophocles.</p><br>
<p>Presently, the waterway is officially referred to as simply "Bosphorus" (Boğaziçi), the "Strait of Istanbul", or "Istanbul Strait" (İstanbul Boğazı).</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>As a maritime waterway, the Bosphorus connects various seas along the Eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, the Near East, and Western Eurasia, and specifically connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The Marmara further connects to the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas via the Dardanelles. Thus, the Bosphorus allows maritime connections from the Black Sea all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean via Gibraltar, and the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal, making it a crucial international waterway, in particular for the passage of goods coming in from Russia.</p><br>
<p>A common mistake made by those who are unfamiliar with the locale is to assume the Bosphorus is a river, when it is, in fact, a narrow sea channel.</p><br>
<h3>Formation</h3><br>
<p>The exact scientific cause and date of the formation of the Bosphorus remain the subject of debate among geologists. One recent theory, dubbed The Black Sea deluge theory, which was launched by a study of the same name in 1997 by two scientists from Columbia University, postulates that the Bosphorus was formed around 5600 BC when the rising waters of the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Marmara breached through to the Black Sea, which at the time, according to the theory, was a low-lying body of fresh water.</p><br>
<p>Many geologists, however, claim that the strait is much older, even if relatively young on a geologic timescale.</p><br>
<p>From the perspective of ancient Greek mythology, it was said that colossal floating rocks known as the Symplegades, or Clashing Rocks, once occupied the hilltops on both sides of the Bosphorus, and destroyed any ship that attempted passage of the channel by rolling down the strait&#39;s hills and violently crushing all vessels between them. The Symplegades were defeated when the lyrical hero Jason obtained successful passage, whereupon the rocks became fixed, and Greek access to the Black Sea was opened.</p><br>
<h3>Present morphology</h3><br>
<p>The limits of the Bosphorus are defined as the connecting line between the lighthouses of Rumeli Feneri and Anadolu Feneri in the north, and between the Ahırkapı Feneri and the Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri in the south. Between these limits, the strait is 31 km long, with a width of 3,329 m at the northern entrance and 2,826 m at the southern entrance. Its maximum width is 3,420 m between Umuryeri and Büyükdere Limanı, and minimum width 700 m between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan.</p><br>
<p>The depth of the Bosphorus varies from 13 to 110 m in midstream with an average of 65 m. The deepest location is between Kandilli and Bebek with 110 m. The most shallow locations are off Kadıköy İnciburnu on the northward route with 18 m and off Aşiyan Point on the southward route with 13 m.</p><br>
<p>The Golden Horn is an estuary off the main strait that historically acted as a moat to protect Old Istanbul from attack, as well as providing a sheltered anchorage for the imperial navies of various empires until the 19th century, after which it became a historic neighborhood at the heart of the city, popular with tourists and locals alike.</p><br>
<h3>Newer explorations</h3><br>
<p>It had been known since before the 20th century that the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara flow into each other in a geographic example of "density flow", and in August 2010, a continuous underwater channel of suspension composition was discovered to flow along the floor of the Bosphorus, which would be the sixth largest river on Earth if it were to be on land. The study of the water and wind erosion of the straits relates to that of its formation. Sections of the shore have been reinforced with concrete or rubble and sections of the strait prone to deposition are periodically dredged.</p><br>
<p>The 2010 team of scientists, led by the University of Leeds, used a robotic "yellow submarine" to observe detailed flows within an "undersea river", scientifically referred to as a submarine channel, for the first time. Submarine channels are similar to land rivers, but they are formed by density currents—underwater flow mixtures of sand, mud and water that are denser than sea water and so sink and flow along the bottom. These channels are the main transport pathway for sediments to the deep sea where they form sedimentary deposits. These deposits ultimately hold not only untapped reserves of gas and oil, they also house important secrets—from clues on past climate change to the ways in which mountains were formed.</p><br>
<p>The team studied the detailed flow within these channels and findings included:</p><br>
<p>The central tenet of the Black Sea deluge hypothesis is that as the ocean rose 72.5 m at the end of the last Ice Age when the massive ice sheets melted, the sealed Bosphorus was overtopped in a spectacular flood that increased the then fresh water Black Sea Lake 50%, and drove people from the shores for many months. This was proven by undersea explorer Robert Ballard, who discovered settlements along the old shoreline; scientists dated the flood to 7500 BP or 5500 BC from fresh-salt water microflora. The peoples driven out by the constantly rising water, which must have been terrifying and inexplicable, spread to all corners of the Western world carrying the story of the Great Flood, how it probably entered most religions. As the waters surged, they scoured a network of sea-floor channels less resistant to denser suspended solids in liquid, which remains a very active layer today.</p><br>
<p>The first images of these submarine channels were obtained in 1999, showing them to be of great size during a NATO SACLANT Undersea Research project using jointly the NATO RV Alliance, and the Turkish Navy survey ship Çubuklu. In 2002, a survey was carried out on board the Ifremer RV Le Suroit for BlaSON project (Lericolais, et al., 2003) completed the multibeam mapping of this underwater channel fan-delta. A complete map was published in 2009 using these previous results with high quality mapping obtained in 2006 (by researchers at Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada who are project partners in this study.)</p><br>
<p>The team will use the data obtained to create innovative computer simulations that can be used to model how sediment flows through these channels. The models the team will produce will have broad applications, including inputting into the design of seafloor engineering by oil and gas companies.</p><br>
<p>The project was led by Dr. Jeff Peakall and Dr. Daniel Parsons at the University of Leeds, in collaboration with the University of Southampton, Memorial University (Newfoundland, Canada), and the Institute of Marine Sciences (Izmir, Turkey). The survey was run and coordinated from the Institute of Marine Sciences research ship, the R/V Koca Piri Reis.</p><br>
<p>The researchers estimate that the river, known as a submarine channel, would be the sixth largest river in the world if it were on land based on the amount of water flowing through it.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>As part of the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Bosphorus has always been of great importance from a commercial and military point of view, and remains strategically important today. It is a major sea access route for numerous countries, including Russia and Ukraine. Control over it has been an objective of a number of conflicts in modern history, notably the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), as well as of the attack of the Allied Powers on the Dardanelles during the 1915 Battle of Gallipoli in the course of World War I.</p><br>
<h3>Ancient Greek, Persian, Roman and Byzantine eras (pre-1453)</h3><br>
<p>The strategic importance of the Bosphorus dates back millennia. The Greek city-state of Athens in the 5th century BC, which was dependent on grain imports from Scythia, maintained critical alliances with cities which controlled the straits, such as the Megarian colony Byzantium.</p><br>
<p>Persian King Darius I the Great, in an attempt to subdue the Scythian horsemen who roamed across the north of the Black Sea, crossed through the Bosphorus, then marched towards the River Danube. His army crossed the Bosphorus over an enormous bridge made by connecting Achaemenid boats. This bridge essentially connected the farthest geographic tip of Asia to Europe, encompassing at least some 1,000 metres of open water if not more. Years later, a similar boat bridge would be constructed by Xerxes I on the Dardanelles (Hellespont) strait, during his invasion of Greece.</p><br>
<p>The Byzantines called the Bosphorus "Stenon" and most important toponyms of it Bosporios Akra, Argyropolis, St. Mamas, St. Phokas, Hestiai or Michaelion, Phoneus, Anaplous or Sosthenion in European side and Hieron tower, Eirenaion, Anthemiou, Sophianai, Bithynian Chryspolis in Asian side in this era</p><br>
<p>The strategic significance of the strait was one of the factors in the decision of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great to found there in AD 330 his new capital, Constantinople, which came to be known as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. The phrase "swim the Bosphorus" or "crossing the Bosphorus" was, and is still used to indicate religious conversion to the Eastern Orthodox Church.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman era (1453–1922)</h3><br>
<p>On 29 May 1453, the then-emergent Ottoman Empire conquered the city of Constantinople following a lengthy campaign wherein the Ottomans constructed fortifications on each side of the strait, the Anadoluhisarı (1393) and the Rumelihisarı (1451), in preparation for not only the primary battle but to assert long-term control over the Bosphorus and surrounding waterways. The final 53-day campaign, which resulted in Ottoman victory, constituted an important turn in world history. Together with Christopher Columbus&#39;s first voyage to the Americas in 1492, the 1453 conquest of Constantinople is commonly noted as among the events that brought an end to the Middle Ages and marked the transition to the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery.</p><br>
<p>The event also marked the end of the Byzantines —the final remnants of the Roman Empire— and the transfer of the control of the Bosphorus into Ottoman hands, who made Constantinople their new capital, and from where they expanded their empire in the centuries that followed.</p><br>
<p>At its peak between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Ottoman Empire had used the strategic importance of the Bosphorus to expand their regional ambitions and to wrest control of the entire Black Sea area, which they regarded as an "Ottoman lake", on which Russian warships were prohibited.</p><br>
<p>Subsequently, several international treaties have governed vessels using the waters. Under the Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi of 8 July 1833, the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits were to be closed on Russian demand to naval vessels of other powers. By the terms of the London Straits Convention concluded on 13 July 1841, between the Great Powers of Europe — Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Austria and Prussia — the "ancient rule" of the Ottoman Empire was re-established by closing the Turkish Straits to any and all warships, barring those of the Sultan&#39;s allies during wartime. It thus benefited British naval power at the expense of Russian, as the latter lacked direct access for its navy to the Mediterranean.</p><br>
<p>Following the First World War, the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres demilitarized the strait and made it an international territory under the control of the League of Nations.</p><br>
<h3>Turkish republican era (1923–present)</h3><br>
<p>This was amended under the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which restored the straits to Turkish territory—but allowed all foreign warships and commercial shipping to traverse the straits freely. Turkey eventually rejected the terms of that treaty, and subsequently Turkey remilitarised the straits area. The reversion was formalised under the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits of 20 July 1936. That convention, which is still in force, treats the straits as an international shipping lane save that Turkey retains the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea states.</p><br>
<p>Turkey was neutral in the Second World War until February 1945, and the straits were closed to the warships of belligerent nations during this time, although some German auxiliary vessels were permitted to transit. In diplomatic conferences, Soviet representatives had made known their interest in Turkish concession of Soviet naval bases on the straits. This, as well as Stalins demands for the restitution of the Turkish provinces of Kars, Artvin and Ardahan to the Soviet Union (which were lost by Turkey in the Russo–Turkish War of 1877–1878, but were regained with the Treaty of Kars in 1921), were considerations in Turkeys decision to abandon neutrality in foreign affairs. Turkey declared war against Germany in February 1945, but did not engage in offensive actions.</p><br>
<p>Turkey joined NATO in 1952, thus affording its straits even more strategic importance as a commercial and military waterway.</p><br>
<p>During the early 21st century, the Turkish Straits have become particularly important for the oil industry. Russian oil, from ports such as Novorossyisk, is exported by tankers primarily to western Europe and the USA via the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles straits. In 2011 Turkey planned a 50 km canal through Silivri as a second waterway, reducing risk in the Bosphorus.</p><br>
<h2>Crossings</h2><br>
<h3>Maritime</h3><br>
<p>The waters of the Bosphorus are traversed by numerous passenger and vehicular ferries daily, as well as recreational and fishing boats ranging from dinghies to yachts owned by both public and private entities.</p><br>
<p>The strait also experiences significant amounts of international commercial shipping traffic by freighters and tankers. Between its northern limits at Rumeli Feneri and Anadolu Feneri and its southern ones at Ahırkapı Feneri and Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri, there are numerous dangerous points for large-scale maritime traffic that require sharp turns and management of visual obstructions. Famously, the stretch between Kandilli Point and Aşiyan requires a 45-degree course alteration in a location where the currents can reach 7 to 8 kn. To the south, at Yeniköy, the necessary course alteration is 80 degrees. Compounding these difficult changes in trajectory, the rear and forward sight lines at Kandilli and Yeniköy are also completely blocked prior to and during the course alteration, making it impossible for ships approaching from the opposite direction to see around these bends. The risks posed by geography are further multiplied by the heavy ferry traffic across the strait, linking the European and Asian sides of the city. As such, all the dangers and obstacles characteristic of narrow waterways are present and acute in this critical sea lane.</p><br>
<p>In 2011, the Turkish Government discussed creating a large-scale canal project roughly 80 km long that runs north-south through the western edges of Istanbul Province as a second waterway between the Black Sea and the Marmara, intended to reduce risk in the Bosphorus. This Kanal İstanbul project currently continues to be debated.</p><br>
<h3>Land</h3><br>
<p>Two suspension bridges and a cable-stayed bridge cross the Bosphorus. The first of these, the 15th July Martyrs Bridge, is 1,074 m long and was completed in 1973. The second, named Fatih Sultan Mehmet (Bosphorus II) Bridge, is 1,090 m long, and was completed in 1988 about 5 km north of the first bridge. The first Bosphorus Bridge forms part of the O1 Motorway, while the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge forms part of the Trans-European Motorway. The third, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge, is 2,164 m long and was completed in 2016. It is located near the northern end of the Bosphorus, between the villages of Garipçe on the European side and Poyrazköy on the Asian side, as part of the "Northern Marmara Motorway", integrated with the existing Black Sea Coastal Highway, and allowing transit traffic to bypass city traffic.</p><br>
<h3>Submarine</h3><br>
<p>The Marmaray project, featuring a 13.7 km long undersea railway tunnel, opened on 29 October 2013. Approximately 1,400 m of the tunnel runs under the strait, at a depth of about 55 m.</p><br>
<p>An undersea water supply tunnel with a length of 5,551 m,</p><br>
<p>The Eurasia Tunnel is an undersea highway tunnel, crossing the Bosphorus for vehicular traffic, between Kazlıçeşme and Göztepe, for which construction began in February 2011, was opened on 20 December 2016.</p><br>
<h2>Sightseeing</h2><br>
<p>The Bosphorus has 620 waterfront houses (yalı) built during the Ottoman period along the straits European and Asian shorelines. Ottoman palaces such as the Topkapı Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, Yıldız Palace, Çırağan Palace, Feriye Palaces, Beylerbeyi Palace, Küçüksu Palace, Ihlamur Palace, Hatice Sultan Palace, Adile Sultan Palace and Khedive Palace are within its view. Buildings and landmarks within view include the Hagia Sophia, Hagia Irene, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Yeni Mosque, Kılıç Ali Pasha Mosque, Nusretiye Mosque, Dolmabahçe Mosque, Ortaköy Mosque, Üsküdar Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Yeni Valide Mosque, Maidens Tower, Galata Tower, Rumelian Castle, Anatolian Castle, Yoros Castle, Selimiye Barracks, Sakıp Sabancı Museum, Sadberk Hanım Museum, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Borusan Museum of Contemporary Art, Tophane-i Amire Museum, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Galatasaray University, Boğaziçi University, Robert College, Kabataş High School, Kuleli Military High School.</p><br>
<p>Two points in Istanbul have most of the public ferries that traverse the strait: from Eminönü (ferries dock at the Boğaz İskelesi pier) on the historic peninsula of Istanbul to Anadolu Kavağı near the Black Sea, zigzagging and calling briefly multiple times at the Rumelian and Anatolian sides of the city. At central piers shorter, regular ride in one of the public ferries cross.</p><br>
<p>Private ferries operate between Üsküdar and Beşiktaş or Kabataş in the city. The few well-known geographic hazards are multiplied by ferry traffic across the strait, linking the European and Asian sides of the city, particularly for the largest ships.</p><br>
<p>The catamaran seabuses offer high-speed commuter services between the European and Asian shores of the Bosphorus, but they stop at fewer ports and piers in comparison to the public ferries. Both the public ferries and the seabuses also provide commuter services between the Bosphorus and the Prince Islands in the Sea of Marmara.</p><br>
<p>There are also tourist rides available in various places along the coasts of the Bosphorus. The prices vary according to the type of the ride, and some feature loud popular music for the duration of the trip.</p><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>The Berlin Wall  was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic , starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall cut off  West Berlin from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area  that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc portrayed the Wall as protecting its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.</p><br>
<p>GDR authorities officially referred to the Berlin Wall as the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart (Antifaschistischer Schutzwall), by implication equating the NATO countries (and West Germany in particular) with fascists. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame", a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt in reference to the Wall&#39;s restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB), which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize physically the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.</p><br>
<p>Before the Wall&#39;s erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin; from which they could then travel to West Germany and to other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989 the Wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin.</p><br>
<p>In 1989 a series of revolutions in nearby Eastern Bloc countries—Poland and Hungary in particular—caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Wall. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall; the governments later used industrial equipment to remove most of what was left. Contrary to popular belief, the Wall&#39;s actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and continued until 1992. The "fall of the Berlin Wall" paved the way for German reunification, which formally took place on 3 October 1990.</p><br>
<h2>Background</h2><br>
<h3>Post-war Germany</h3><br>
<p>After the end of World War II in Europe, what remained of pre-war Germany west of the Oder-Neisse line was divided into four occupation zones (as per the Potsdam Agreement), each one controlled by one of the four occupying Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. The capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the city&#39;s location, which was fully within the Soviet zone.</p><br>
<p>Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the other occupying powers. These included the Soviets&#39; refusal to agree to reconstruction plans making post-war Germany self-sufficient and to a detailed accounting of the industrial plants, goods and infrastructure already removed by the Soviets. France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Benelux countries later met to combine the non-Soviet zones of the country into one zone for reconstruction and to approve the extension of the Marshall Plan.</p><br>
<h3>Eastern Bloc and the Berlin airlift</h3><br>
<p>Following World War II, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin headed a group of nations on his Western border, the Eastern Bloc, that then included Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, which he wished to maintain alongside a weakened Soviet-controlled Germany. As early as 1945, Stalin revealed to German communist leaders that he expected to slowly undermine the British position within the British occupation zone, that the United States would withdraw within a year or two, and that nothing would then stand in the way of a united communist Germany within the bloc.</p><br>
<p>The major task of the ruling communist party in the Soviet zone was to channel Soviet orders down to both the administrative apparatus and the other bloc parties, which in turn would be presented as internal measures. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone. If statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and (for persons outside public attention) punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death.</p><br>
<p>Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a compulsory part of school curricula, sending professors and students fleeing to the West. The East Germans created an elaborate political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance, including Soviet SMERSH secret police.</p><br>
<p>In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries began a massive "airlift", supplying West Berlin with food and other supplies. The Soviets mounted a public relations campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, while 300,000 Berliners demonstrated for the international airlift to continue. In May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin.</p><br>
<p>The German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was declared on 7 October 1949. By a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control.</p><br>
<p>East Germany differed from West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany), which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy ("Soziale Marktwirtschaft" in German) and a democratic parliamentary government. Continual economic growth starting in the 1950s fuelled a 20-year "economic miracle" ("Wirtschaftswunder"). As West Germany&#39;s economy grew, and its standard of living steadily improved, many East Germans wanted to move to West Germany.</p><br>
<h3>Emigration westward in the early 1950s</h3><br>
<p>After the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, the majority of those living in the newly acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to independence and wanted the Soviets to leave. Taking advantage of the zonal border between occupied zones in Germany, the number of GDR citizens moving to West Germany totaled 187,000 in 1950; 165,000 in 1951; 182,000 in 1952; and 331,000 in 1953. One reason for the sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization, given the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953. 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953.</p><br>
<h2>Erection of the inner German border</h2><br>
<p>By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement, restricting emigration, was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, including East Germany. The restrictions presented a quandary for some Eastern Bloc states, which had been more economically advanced and open than the Soviet Union, such that crossing borders seemed more natural—especially where no prior border existed between East and West Germany.</p><br>
<p>Up until 1952, the demarcation lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places. On 1 April 1952, East German leaders met the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in Moscow; during the discussions Stalin&#39;s foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov proposed that the East Germans should "introduce a system of passes for visits of West Berlin residents to the territory of East Berlin free movement of Western agents" in the GDR. Stalin agreed, calling the situation "intolerable". He advised the East Germans to build up their border defenses, telling them that "The demarcation line between East and West Germany should be considered a border—and not just any border, but a dangerous one... The Germans will guard the line of defence with their lives."</p><br>
<p>Consequently, the inner German border between the two German states was closed, and a barbed-wire fence erected. The border between the Western and Eastern sectors of Berlin, however, remained open, although traffic between the Soviet and the Western sectors was somewhat restricted. This resulted in Berlin becoming a magnet for East Germans desperate to escape life in the GDR, and also a flashpoint for tension between the United States and the Soviet Union.</p><br>
<p>In 1955, the Soviets gave East Germany authority over civilian movement in Berlin, passing control to a regime not recognized in the West. Initially, East Germany granted "visits" to allow its residents access to West Germany. However, following the defection of large numbers of East Germans under this regime, the new East German state legally restricted virtually all travel to the West in 1956. Soviet East German ambassador Mikhail Pervukhin observed that "the presence in Berlin of an open and essentially uncontrolled border between the socialist and capitalist worlds unwittingly prompts the population to make a comparison between both parts of the city, which unfortunately does not always turn out in favour of Democratic Berlin."</p><br>
<h3>Berlin emigration loophole</h3><br>
<p>With the closing of the inner German border officially in 1952, the border in Berlin remained considerably more accessible then because it was administered by all four occupying powers. Accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West. On 11 December 1957, East Germany introduced a new passport law that reduced the overall number of refugees leaving Eastern Germany.</p><br>
<p>It had the unintended result of drastically increasing the percentage of those leaving through West Berlin from 60% to well over 90% by the end of 1958. The Berlin sector border was essentially a "loophole" through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape. The 3.5 million East Germans who had left by 1961 totalled approximately 20% of the entire East German population.</p><br>
<p>An important reason that the West Berlin border was not closed earlier was that doing so would cut off much of the railway traffic in East Germany. Construction of a new railway bypassing West Berlin, the Berlin outer ring, commenced in 1951. Following the completion of the railway in 1961, closing the border became a more practical proposition.</p><br>
<h3>Brain drain</h3><br>
<p>The emigrants tended to be young and well-educated, leading to the "brain drain" feared by officials in East Germany. Andropov reported that, while the East German leadership stated that they were leaving for economic reasons, testimony from refugees indicated that the reasons were more political than material. He stated "the flight of the intelligentsia has reached a particularly critical phase."</p><br>
<p>An East German SED propaganda booklet published in 1955 dramatically described the serious nature of flight from the republic:</p><br>
<p>By 1960, the combination of World War II and the massive emigration westward left East Germany with only 61% of its population of working age, compared to 70.5% before the war. The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals: engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers. The direct cost of manpower losses to East Germany (and corresponding gain to the West) has been estimated at $7 billion to $9 billion, with East German party leader Walter Ulbricht later claiming that West Germany owed him $17 billion in compensation, including reparations as well as manpower losses.</p><br>
<p>The exodus of emigrants from East Germany presented two minor potential benefits: an easy opportunity to smuggle East German secret agents to West Germany, and a reduction in the number of citizens hostile to the communist regime. Neither of these advantages, however, proved particularly useful.</p><br>
<h2>Construction begins, 1961</h2><br>
<p>On 15 June 1961, First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party and GDR State Council chairman Walter Ulbricht stated in an international press conference, "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It was the first time the colloquial term Mauer (wall) had been used in this context.</p><br>
<p>The transcript of a telephone call between Nikita Khrushchev and Ulbricht on 1 August in the same year, suggests that the initiative for the construction of the Wall came from Khrushchev. However, other sources suggest that Khrushchev had initially been wary about building a wall, fearing negative Western reaction. What is beyond dispute, though, is that Ulbricht had pushed for a border closure for quite some time, arguing that East Germany&#39;s very existence was at stake.</p><br>
<p>Khrushchev had been emboldened by US President John F. Kennedy&#39;s tacit indication that the US would not actively oppose this action in the Soviet sector of Berlin. On Saturday, 12 August 1961, the leaders of the GDR attended a garden party at a government guesthouse in Döllnsee, in a wooded area to the north of East Berlin. There Ulbricht signed the order to close the border and erect a wall.</p><br>
<p>At midnight, the police and units of the East German army began to close the border and, by Sunday morning, 13 August, the border with West Berlin was closed. East German troops and workers had begun to tear up streets running alongside the border to make them impassable to most vehicles and to install barbed wire entanglements and fences along the 156 km around the three western sectors, and the 43 km that divided West and East Berlin. The date of 13 August became commonly referred to as Barbed Wire Sunday in Germany.</p><br>
<p>The barrier was built inside East Berlin or East German territory to ensure that it did not encroach on West Berlin at any point. Generally, the Wall was only slightly inside East Berlin, but in a few places it was some distance from the legal border, most notably at Potsdamer Bahnhof and the Lenné Triangle that is now much of the Potsdamer Platz development.</p><br>
<p>Later, the initial barrier was built up into the Wall proper, the first concrete elements and large blocks being put in place on 17 August. During the construction of the Wall, National Peoples Army (NVA) and Combat Groups of the Working Class (KdA) soldiers stood in front of it with orders to shoot anyone who attempted to defect. Additionally, chain fences, walls, minefields and other obstacles were installed along the length of East Germanys western border with West Germany proper. A huge no man&#39;s land was cleared to provide a clear line of fire at fleeing refugees.</p><br>
<h3>Immediate effects</h3><br>
<p>With the closing of the East-West sector boundary in Berlin, the vast majority of East Germans could no longer travel or emigrate to West Germany. Berlin soon went from being the easiest place to make an unauthorized crossing between East and West Germany to being the most difficult. Many families were split, while East Berliners employed in the West were cut off from their jobs. West Berlin became an isolated exclave in a hostile land. West Berliners demonstrated against the Wall, led by their Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) Willy Brandt, who strongly criticized the United States for failing to respond. Allied intelligence agencies had hypothesized about a wall to stop the flood of refugees, but the main candidate for its location was around the perimeter of the city. In 1961, Secretary of State Dean Rusk proclaimed, "The Wall certainly ought not to be a permanent feature of the European landscape. I see no reason why the Soviet Union should think it is—it is to their advantage in any way to leave there that monument to communist failure."</p><br>
<p>United States and UK sources had expected the Soviet sector to be sealed off from West Berlin, but were surprised by how long the East Germans took for such a move. They considered the Wall as an end to concerns about a GDR/Soviet retaking or capture of the whole of Berlin; the Wall would presumably have been an unnecessary project if such plans were afloat. Thus they concluded that the possibility of a Soviet military conflict over Berlin had decreased.</p><br>
<p>The East German government claimed that the Wall was an "anti-fascist protective rampart" ("antifaschistischer Schutzwall") intended to dissuade aggression from the West. Another official justification was the activities of Western agents in Eastern Europe. The Eastern German government also claimed that West Berliners were buying out state-subsidized goods in East Berlin. East Germans and others greeted such statements with skepticism, as most of the time, the border was only closed for citizens of East Germany traveling to the West, but not for residents of West Berlin travelling to the East. The construction of the Wall had caused considerable hardship to families divided by it. Most people believed that the Wall was mainly a means of preventing the citizens of East Germany from entering or fleeing to West Berlin.</p><br>
<h3>Secondary response</h3><br>
<p>The National Security Agency was the only American intelligence agency that was aware that East Germany was to take action to deal with the brain drain problem. On 9 August 1961, the NSA intercepted an advance warning information of the Socialist Unity Party&#39;s plan to close the intra-Berlin border between East and West Berlin completely for foot traffic. The interagency intelligence Berlin Watch Committee assessed that this intercept "might be the first step in a plan to close the border."</p><br>
<p>In response to the erection of the Berlin Wall, a retired general, Lucius D. Clay, was appointed by Kennedy as his special advisor and sent to Berlin with ambassadorial rank. Clay had been the Military Governor of the US Zone of Occupation in Germany during the period of the Berlin Blockade and had ordered the first measures in what became the Berlin Airlift. He was immensely popular with the residents of West Berlin, and his appointment was an unambiguous sign that Kennedy would not compromise on the status of West Berlin. Clay and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson arrived at Tempelhof Airport on the afternoon of Saturday, 19 August 1961.</p><br>
<p>They arrived in a city defended by three Allied brigades—one each from the UK, the US, and France (the Forces Françaises à Berlin). On 16 August, Kennedy had given the order for them to be reinforced. Early on 19 August, the 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry (commanded by Colonel Glover S. Johns Jr.) was alerted.</p><br>
<p>On Sunday morning, USA troops marched from West Germany through East Germany, bound for West Berlin. Lead elements—arranged in a column of 491 vehicles and trailers carrying 1,500 men, divided into five march units—left the Helmstedt-Marienborn checkpoint at 06:34. At Marienborn, the Soviet checkpoint next to Helmstedt on the West German-East German border, US personnel were counted by guards. The column was 160 km long, and covered 177 km from Marienborn to Berlin in full battle gear. East German police watched from beside trees next to the autobahn all the way along.</p><br>
<p>The front of the convoy arrived at the outskirts of Berlin just before noon, to be met by Clay and Johnson, before parading through the streets of Berlin in front of a large crowd. At 04:00 on 21 August, Lyndon Johnson left West Berlin in the hands of General Frederick O. Hartel and his brigade of 4,224 officers and men. Every three months for the next three and a half years, a new American battalion was rotated into West Berlin; each traveled by autobahn to demonstrate Allied rights.</p><br>
<p>The creation of the Wall had important implications for both German states. By stemming the exodus of people from East Germany, the East German government was able to reassert its control over the country: in spite of discontent with the Wall, economic problems caused by dual currency and the black market were largely eliminated. The economy in the GDR began to grow. But, the Wall proved a public relations disaster for the communist bloc as a whole. Western powers portrayed it as a symbol of communist tyranny, particularly after East German border guards shot and killed would-be defectors. Such fatalities were later treated as acts of murder by the reunified Germany.</p><br>
<h2>Structure and adjacent areas</h2><br>
<h3>Layout and modifications</h3><br>
<p>The Berlin Wall was more than 140 km long. In June 1962, a second, parallel fence was built some 100 m farther into East German territory. The houses contained between the fences were razed and the inhabitants relocated, thus establishing what later became known as the death strip. The death strip was covered with raked sand or gravel, rendering footprints easy to notice, easing the detection of trespassers and also enabling officers to see which guards had neglected their task; it offered no cover; and, most importantly, it offered clear fields of fire for the Wall guards. About 45.1 kilometres of the wall are at the centre strips of Berlin, and 112.7 kilometres crossing through the Berlin outer circle. 63.8 km of the frontier were in built, 32 km in wooded and 22.65 km in open terrain and 37.95 km of the boundary lay in or on rivers, lakes and canals. Most of them were dismantled beginning with the wall peckers as souvenirs from 11 November 1989, then dismantling the metal mesh fence along the death strip all the way until 22 December 1989. Observation towers began to be dismantled all the way till April 1990. Dismantling of the wall is shown at the below mentioned section (Demolition. Some of them were sold for scrap including the anti-tank wall, normal walls were sent to storage area in the southern part of Germany till it was auctioned and collected (List of Berlin Wall segments).</p><br>
<p>Through the years, the Berlin Wall evolved through four versions:</p><br>
<p>Wire fence and concrete block wall (1961)</p><br>
<p>Improved wire fence (1962–1965)</p><br>
<p>Improved concrete wall (1965–1975)</p><br>
<p>Grenzmauer 75 (Border Wall 75) (1975–1989)</p><br>
<p>The "fourth-generation Wall", known officially as "Stützwandelement UL 12.11" (retaining wall element UL 12.11), was the final and most sophisticated version of the Wall. Begun in 1975 and completed about 1980, it was constructed from 45,000 separate sections of reinforced concrete, each 3.6 m high and 1.2 m wide, and cost DDM16,155,000 or about US$3,638,000. The concrete provisions added to this version of the Wall were done to prevent escapees from driving their cars through the barricades. At strategic points, the Wall was constructed to a somewhat weaker standard, so that East German and Soviet armored vehicles could easily break through in the event of war.</p><br>
<p>The top of the wall was lined with a smooth pipe, intended to make it more difficult to scale. The Wall was reinforced by mesh fencing, signal fencing, anti-vehicle trenches, barbed wire, dogs on long lines, "beds of nails" (also known as "Stalin&#39;s Carpet") under balconies hanging over the "death strip", over 116 watchtowers, and 20 bunkers with hundreds of guards. This version of the Wall is the one most commonly seen in photographs, and surviving fragments of the Wall in Berlin and elsewhere around the world are generally pieces of the fourth-generation Wall. The layout came to resemble the inner German border in most technical aspects, except that the Berlin Wall had no landmines nor spring-guns. Maintenance was performed on the outside of the wall by personnel who accessed the area outside it either via ladders or via hidden doors within the wall. These doors could not be opened by a single person, needing two separate keys in two separate keyholes to unlock.</p><br>
<p>As was the case with the inner German border, an unfortified strip of Eastern territory was left outside the wall. This outer strip was used by workers to paint over graffiti and perform other maintenance on the outside of the wall Unlike the inner German border, however, the outer strip was usually no more than four meters wide, and, in photos from the era, the exact location of the actual border in many places appears to have been unmarked. Also in contrast with the inner German border, little interest was shown by East German law enforcement in keeping outsiders off the outer strip; even sidewalks of West Berlin streets ran inside it.</p><br>
<p>Despite the East German government&#39;s general policy of benign neglect, vandals were not unknown to have been pursued in the outer strip, and even arrested. In 1986, defector and political activist Wolfram Hasch and four other defectors were standing inside the outer strip defacing the wall when East German personnel emerged from one of the hidden doors to apprehend them. All but Hasch escaped back into the West. Hasch himself was arrested, dragged through the door into the death strip, and later convicted of illegally crossing the de jure border outside the wall. Noted graffiti artist Thierry Noir has reported having often been perused there by East German soldiers. While some graffiti artists were chased off the outer strip, others, such as Keith Haring, were seemingly tolerated.</p><br>
<h3>Surrounding municipalities</h3><br>
<p>Besides the sector-sector boundary within Berlin itself, the Wall also separated West Berlin from the present-day state of Brandenburg. The following present-day municipalities, listed in counter-clockwise direction, share a border with former West Berlin:</p><br>
<p>Oberhavel: Mühlenbecker Land, Glienicke/Nordbahn, Hohen Neuendorf, Hennigsdorf</p><br>
<p>Havelland: Schönwalde-Glien, Falkensee, Dallgow-Döberitz</p><br>
<p>Potsdam (urban district)</p><br>
<p>Potsdam-Mittelmark: Stahnsdorf, Kleinmachnow, Teltow</p><br>
<p>Teltow-Fläming: Großbeeren, Blankenfelde-Mahlow</p><br>
<p>Dahme-Spreewald: Schönefeld</p><br>
<h2>Official crossings and usage</h2><br>
<p>There were nine border crossings between East and West Berlin. These allowed visits by West Berliners, other West Germans, Western foreigners and Allied personnel into East Berlin, as well as visits by GDR citizens and citizens of other socialist countries into West Berlin, provided that they held the necessary permits. These crossings were restricted according to which nationality was allowed to use it (East Germans, West Germans, West Berliners, other countries). The most famous was the vehicle and pedestrian checkpoint at the corner of Friedrichstraße and Zimmerstraße, also known as Checkpoint Charlie, which was restricted to Allied personnel and foreigners.</p><br>
<p>Several other border crossings existed between West Berlin and surrounding East Germany. These could be used for transit between West Germany and West Berlin, for visits by West Berliners into East Germany, for transit into countries neighbouring East Germany (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Denmark), and for visits by East Germans into West Berlin carrying a permit. After the 1972 agreements, new crossings were opened to allow West Berlin waste to be transported into East German dumps, as well as some crossings for access to West Berlin&#39;s exclaves (see Steinstücken).</p><br>
<p>Four autobahns connected West Berlin to West Germany, the most famous being the Berlin-Helmstedt autobahn, which entered East German territory between the towns of Helmstedt and Marienborn (Checkpoint Alpha), and which entered West Berlin at Dreilinden (Checkpoint Bravo for the Allied forces) in southwestern Berlin. Access to West Berlin was also possible by railway (four routes) and by boat for commercial shipping via canals and rivers.</p><br>
<p>Non-German Westerners could cross the border at Friedrichstraße station in East Berlin and at Checkpoint Charlie. When the Wall was erected, Berlin&#39;s complex public transit networks, the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, were divided with it. Some lines were cut in half; many stations were shut down. Three western lines traveled through brief sections of East Berlin territory, passing through eastern stations (called Geisterbahnhöfe, or ghost stations) without stopping. Both the eastern and western networks converged at Friedrichstraße, which became a major crossing point for those (mostly Westerners) with permission to cross.</p><br>
<h3>Crossing</h3><br>
<p>West Germans and citizens of other Western countries could generally visit East Germany, often after applying for a visa at an East German embassy several weeks in advance. Visas for day trips restricted to East Berlin were issued without previous application in a simplified procedure at the border crossing. However, East German authorities could refuse entry permits without stating a reason. In the 1980s, visitors from the western part of the city who wanted to visit the eastern part had to exchange at least DM 25 into East German currency at the poor exchange rate of 1:1. It was forbidden to export East German currency from the East, but money not spent could be left at the border for possible future visits. Tourists crossing from the west had to also pay for a visa, which cost DM 5; West Berliners did not have to pay this.</p><br>
<p>West Berliners initially could not visit East Berlin or East Germany at all – all crossing points were closed to them between 26 August 1961 and 17 December 1963. In 1963, negotiations between East and West resulted in a limited possibility for visits during the Christmas season that year (Passierscheinregelung). Similar, very limited arrangements were made in 1964, 1965 and 1966.</p><br>
<p>In 1971, with the Four Power Agreement on Berlin, agreements were reached that allowed West Berliners to apply for visas to enter East Berlin and East Germany regularly, comparable to the regulations already in force for West Germans. However, East German authorities could still refuse entry permits.</p><br>
<p>East Berliners and East Germans could not, at first, travel to West Berlin or West Germany at all. This regulation remained in force essentially until the fall of the Wall, but over the years several exceptions to these rules were introduced, the most significant being:</p><br>
<p>Elderly pensioners could travel to the West starting in 1965</p><br>
<p>Visits of relatives for important family matters</p><br>
<p>People who had to travel to the West for professional reasons (for example, artists, truck drivers, musicians, writers, etc.)</p><br>
<p>For each of these exceptions, GDR citizens had to apply for individual approval, which was never guaranteed. In addition, even if travel was approved, GDR travellers could exchange only a very small amount of East German Marks into Deutsche Marks (DM), thus limiting the financial resources available for them to travel to the West. This led to the West German practice of granting a small amount of DM annually (Begrüßungsgeld, or welcome money) to GDR citizens visiting West Germany and West Berlin to help alleviate this situation.</p><br>
<p>Citizens of other East European countries were in general subject to the same prohibition of visiting Western countries as East Germans, though the applicable exception (if any) varied from country to country.</p><br>
<p>Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces could enter and exit East Berlin without submitting to East German passport controls, purchasing a visa or being required to exchange money. Likewise, Soviet military patrols could enter and exit West Berlin. This was a requirement of the post-war Four Powers Agreements. A particular area of concern for the Western Allies involved official dealings with East German authorities when crossing the border, since Allied policy did not recognize the authority of the GDR to regulate Allied military traffic to and from West Berlin, as well as the Allied presence within Greater Berlin, including entry into, exit from, and presence within East Berlin.</p><br>
<p>The Allies held that only the Soviet Union, and not the GDR, had authority to regulate Allied personnel in such cases. For this reason, elaborate procedures were established to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when engaged in travel through the GDR and when in East Berlin. Special rules applied to travel by Western Allied military personnel assigned to the Military Liaison Missions accredited to the commander of Soviet forces in East Germany, located in Potsdam.</p><br>
<p>Allied personnel were restricted by policy when travelling by land to the following routes:</p><br>
<p>Road: the Helmstedt-Berlin autobahn (A2) (checkpoints Alpha and Bravo respectively). Soviet military personnel manned these checkpoints and processed Allied personnel for travel between the two points. Military personnel were required to be in uniform when traveling in this manner.</p><br>
<p>Rail: Western Allied military personnel and civilian officials of the Allied forces were forbidden to use commercial train service between West Germany and West Berlin, because of GDR passport and customs controls when using them. Instead, the Allied forces operated a series of official (duty) trains that traveled between their respective duty stations in West Germany and West Berlin. When transiting the GDR, the trains would follow the route between Helmstedt and Griebnitzsee, just outside West Berlin. In addition to persons traveling on official business, authorized personnel could also use the duty trains for personal travel on a space-available basis. The trains traveled only at night, and as with transit by car, Soviet military personnel handled the processing of duty train travelers.</p><br>
<p>Checkpoint Charlie (as a pedestrian or riding in a vehicle)</p><br>
<p>As with military personnel, special procedures applied to travel by diplomatic personnel of the Western Allies accredited to their respective embassies in the GDR. This was intended to prevent inadvertent recognition of East German authority when crossing between East and West Berlin, which could jeopardize the overall Allied position governing the freedom of movement by Allied forces personnel within all Berlin.</p><br>
<p>Ordinary citizens of the Western Allied powers, not formally affiliated with the Allied forces, were authorized to use all designated transit routes through East Germany to and from West Berlin. Regarding travel to East Berlin, such persons could also use the Friedrichstraße train station to enter and exit the city, in addition to Checkpoint Charlie. In these instances, such travelers, unlike Allied personnel, had to submit to East German border controls.</p><br>
<h3>Defection attempts</h3><br>
<p>During the years of the Wall, around 5,000 people successfully defected to West Berlin. The number of people who died trying to cross the Wall, or as a result of the Walls existence, has been disputed. The most vocal claims by Alexandra Hildebrandt, Director of the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and widow of the Museums founder, estimated the death toll to be well above 200. A historic research group at the Center for Contemporary Historical Research (ZZF) in Potsdam has confirmed 136 deaths. Prior official figures listed 98 as being killed.</p><br>
<p>The East German government issued shooting orders (Schießbefehl) to border guards dealing with defectors, though such orders are not the same as "shoot to kill" orders. GDR officials denied issuing the latter. In an October 1973 order later discovered by researchers, guards were instructed that people attempting to cross the Wall were criminals and needed to be shot: "Do not hesitate to use your firearm, not even when the border is breached in the company of women and children, which is a tactic the traitors have often used".</p><br>
<p>Early successful escapes involved people jumping the initial barbed wire or leaping out of apartment windows along the line, but these ended as the Wall was fortified. East German authorities no longer permitted apartments near the Wall to be occupied, and any building near the Wall had its windows boarded and later bricked up. On 15 August 1961, Conrad Schumann was the first East German border guard to escape by jumping the barbed wire to West Berlin.</p><br>
<p>On 22 August 1961, Ida Siekmann was the first casualty at the Berlin Wall: she died after she jumped out of her third floor apartment at 48 Bernauer Strasse. The first person to be shot and killed while trying to cross to West Berlin was Günter Litfin, a twenty-four-year-old tailor. He attempted to swim across the Spree Canal to West Germany on 24 August 1961, the same day that East German police had received shoot-to-kill orders to prevent anyone from escaping.</p><br>
<p>Another dramatic escape was carried out on April 1963 by Wolfgang Engels, a 19-year-old civilian employee of the Nationale Volksarmee. Engels stole a Soviet armored personnel carrier from a base where he was deployed and drove it right into the Wall. He was fired at and seriously wounded by border guards. But a West German policeman intervened, firing his weapon at the East German border guards. The policeman removed Engels from the vehicle, which had become entangled in the barbed wire.</p><br>
<p>East Germans successfully defected by a variety of methods: digging long tunnels under the Wall, waiting for favorable winds and taking a hot air balloon, sliding along aerial wires, flying ultralights and, in one instance, simply driving a sports car at full speed through the basic, initial fortifications. When a metal beam was placed at checkpoints to prevent this kind of defection, up to four people (two in the front seats and possibly two in the boot) drove under the bar in a sports car that had been modified to allow the roof and windscreen to come away when it made contact with the beam. They lay flat and kept driving forward. The East Germans then built zig-zagging roads at checkpoints. The sewer system predated the Wall, and some people escaped through the sewers, in a number of cases with assistance from the Unternehmen Reisebüro.</p><br>
<p>An airborne escape was made by Thomas Krüger, who landed a Zlin Z 42M light aircraft of the Gesellschaft für Sport und Technik, an East German youth military training organization, at RAF Gatow. His aircraft, registration DDR-WOH, was dismantled and returned to the East Germans by road, complete with humorous slogans painted on it by RAF airmen, such as "Wish you were here" and "Come back soon". DDR-WOH is still flying today, but under the registration D-EWOH.</p><br>
<p>If an escapee was wounded in a crossing attempt and lay on the death strip, no matter how close they were to the Western wall, Westerners could not intervene for fear of triggering engaging fire from the Grepos, the East Berlin border guards. The guards often let fugitives bleed to death in the middle of this ground, as in the most notorious failed attempt, that of Peter Fechter (aged 18). He was shot and bled to death, in full view of the Western media, on 17 August 1962. Fechter&#39;s death created negative publicity worldwide that led the leaders of East Berlin to place more restrictions on shooting in public places, and provide medical care for possible "would-be escapers". The last person to be shot and killed while trying to cross the border was Chris Gueffroy on 6 February 1989, while the final person to die in an escape attempt was Winfried Freudenberg who was killed when his homemade natural gas-filled balloon crashed on 8 March 1989.</p><br>
<p>The Wall gave rise to a widespread sense of desperation and oppression in East Berlin, as expressed in the private thoughts of one resident, who confided to her diary "Our lives have lost their spirit…we can do nothing to stop them."</p><br>
<h2>Concerts by Western artists and growing anti-Wall sentiment</h2><br>
<h3>David Bowie, 1987</h3><br>
<p>On 6 June 1987, David Bowie, who earlier for several years lived and recorded in West Berlin, played a concert close to the Wall. This was attended by thousands of Eastern concertgoers across the Wall, followed by violent rioting in East Berlin. According to Tobias Ruther, these protests in East Berlin were the first in the sequence of riots that led to those of November 1989.</p><br>
<p>Although other factors were probably more influential in the fall of the Wall, on his death, the German Foreign Office tweeted "Good-bye, David Bowie. You are now among #Heroes. Thank you for helping to bring down the #wall."</p><br>
<h3>Bruce Springsteen, 1988</h3><br>
<p>On 19 July 1988, 16 months before the Wall came down, Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, played Rocking the Wall, a live concert in East Berlin, which was attended by 300,000 in person and broadcast delayed on television. Springsteen spoke to the crowd in German, saying: "Im not here for or against any government. Ive come to play rock n roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down". East Germany and its FDJ youth organization were worried they were losing an entire generation. They hoped that by letting Springsteen in, they could improve their sentiment among East Germans. However, this strategy of "one step backwards, two steps forwards" backfired and the concert only made East Germans hungrier for more of the freedoms that Springsteen epitomized. While John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan delivered their famous speeches from the safety of West Berlin, Springsteen&#39;s speaking out against the Wall in the middle of East Berlin added to the euphoria.</p><br>
<h3>David Hasselhoff, 1989</h3><br>
<p>On 31 December 1989, American TV actor and pop music singer David Hasselhoff was the headlining performer for the Freedom Tour Live concert, which was attended by over 500,000 people on both sides of the Wall. The live concert footage was directed by music video director Thomas Mignone and aired on broadcast television station Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen ZDF throughout Europe. During shooting film crew personnel pulled people up from both sides to stand and celebrate on top of the wall. Hasselhoff sang his Number One hit song "Looking For Freedom" on a platform at the end of a twenty-meter steel crane that swung above and over the Wall adjacent to the Brandenburg Gate.</p><br>
<h2>"Ich bin ein Berliner" and "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this Wall."</h2><br>
<p>On 26 June 1963, 22 months after the erection of the Berlin Wall, USA President John F. Kennedy visited West Berlin. Speaking from a platform erected on the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg for an audience of 450,000 he declared in his Ich bin ein Berliner speech the support of the United States for West Germany and the people of West Berlin in particular:</p><br>
<p>The message was aimed as much at the Soviets as it was at Berliners and was a clear statement of USA policy in the wake of the construction of the Berlin Wall. The speech is considered one of Kennedy&#39;s best, both a notable moment of the Cold War and a high point of the New Frontier. It was a great morale boost for West Berliners, who lived in an exclave deep inside East Germany and feared a possible East German occupation.</p><br>
<p>In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the 750th anniversary of Berlin on 12 June 1987, USA President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear down the Wall as a symbol of increasing freedom in the Eastern Bloc:</p><br>
<h2>Fall of the Berlin Wall</h2><br>
<p>In June 1989 the Hungarian government began dismantling the electrified fence along its border with Austria (with Western TV crews present), and then, in September, more than 13,000 East German tourists escaped through Hungary to Austria. This set up a chain of events. The Hungarians prevented many more East Germans from crossing the border and returned them to Budapest. These East Germans flooded the West German embassy and refused to return to East Germany.</p><br>
<p>The East German government responded by disallowing any further travel to Hungary, but allowed those already there to return to East Germany. The protest demonstrations grew considerably by early November. The movement neared its height on 4 November, when half a million people gathered to demand political change, at the Alexanderplatz demonstration, East Berlin&#39;s large public square and transportation hub.</p><br>
<p>The longtime leader of East Germany, Erich Honecker, resigned on 18 October 1989 and was replaced by Egon Krenz that day. Honecker had predicted in January of that year that the Wall would stand for 50 or 100 more years if the conditions that had caused its construction did not change.</p><br>
<p>The wave of refugees leaving East Germany for the West kept increasing. By early November refugees were finding their way to Hungary via Czechoslovakia, or via the West German Embassy in Prague. This was tolerated by the new Krenz government, because of long-standing agreements with the communist Czechoslovak government, allowing free travel across their common border. However this movement of people grew so large it caused difficulties for both countries. To ease the difficulties, the politburo led by Krenz decided on 9 November to allow refugees to exit directly through crossing points between East Germany and West Germany, including between East and West Berlin. Later the same day, the ministerial administration modified the proposal to include private, round-trip, travel. The new regulations were to take effect the next day.</p><br>
<p>Günter Schabowski, the party boss in East Berlin and the spokesman for the SED Politburo, had the task of announcing the new regulations. However, he had not been involved in the discussions about the new regulations and had not been fully updated. Shortly before a press conference on 9 November, he was handed a note announcing the changes, but given no further instructions on how to handle the information. These regulations had only been completed a few hours earlier and were to take effect the following day, so as to allow time to inform the border guards. But this starting time delay was not communicated to Schabowski.</p><br>
<p>At the end of the press conference, Schabowski read out loud the note he had been given. One of the reporters, ANSAs Riccardo Ehrman, asked when the regulations would take effect. After a few seconds hesitation, Schabowski assumed it would be the same day based on the wording of the note and replied, "As far as I know, it takes effect immediately, without delay". After further questions from journalists, he confirmed that the regulations included the border crossings through the Wall into West Berlin, which he had not mentioned until then.</p><br>
<p>Excerpts from Schabowskis press conference were the lead story on West Germanys two main news programs that night—at 7:17 p.m. on ZDFs heute and at 8 p.m. on ARDs Tagesschau. This, of course, meant that the news was broadcast to nearly all of East Germany as well. Later that night, on ARD&#39;s Tagesthemen, anchorman Hanns Joachim Friedrichs proclaimed, "This 9 November is a historic day. The GDR has announced that, starting immediately, its borders are open to everyone. The gates in the Wall stand open wide."</p><br>
<p>After hearing the broadcast, East Germans began gathering at the Wall, at the six checkpoints between East and West Berlin, demanding that border guards immediately open the gates. The surprised and overwhelmed guards made many hectic telephone calls to their superiors about the problem. At first, they were ordered to find the "more aggressive" people gathered at the gates and stamp their passports with a special stamp that barred them from returning to East Germany—in effect, revoking their citizenship. However, this still left thousands of people demanding to be let through "as Schabowski said we can".</p><br>
<p>It soon became clear that no one among the East German authorities would take personal responsibility for issuing orders to use lethal force, so the vastly outnumbered soldiers had no way to hold back the huge crowd of East German citizens. Finally, at 10:45 p.m., Harald Jäger, the commander of the Bornholmer Straße border crossing yielded, allowing for the guards to open the checkpoints and allowing people through with little or no identity checking. As the Ossis swarmed through, they were greeted by Wessis waiting with flowers and champagne amid wild rejoicing. Soon afterward, a crowd of West Berliners jumped on top of the Wall, and were soon joined by East German youngsters. They danced together to celebrate their new freedom.</p><br>
<p>Another border crossing to the south may have been opened earlier. An account by Heinz Schäfer indicates that he also acted independently and ordered the opening of the gate at Waltersdorf-Rudow a couple of hours earlier. This may explain reports of East Berliners appearing in West Berlin earlier than the opening of the Bornholmer Straße border crossing.</p><br>
<h3>Demolition</h3><br>
<p>The fall of the Berlin Wall (Mauerfall) began the evening of 9 November 1989 and continued over the following days and weeks, with people nicknamed Mauerspechte (wall woodpeckers) using various tools to chip off souvenirs, demolishing lengthy parts in the process, and creating several unofficial border crossings.</p><br>
<p>Television coverage of citizens demolishing sections of the Wall on 9 November was soon followed by the East German regime announcing ten new border crossings, including the historically significant locations of Potsdamer Platz, Glienicker Brücke, and Bernauer Straße. Crowds gathered on both sides of the historic crossings waiting for hours to cheer the bulldozers that tore down portions of the Wall to reconnect the divided roads. While the Wall officially remained guarded at a decreasing intensity, new border crossings continued for some time, including the Brandenburg Gate on 22 December 1989. Initially the East German military attempted repairing damage done by the "Wall peckers&quot gradually these attempts ceased, and guards became more lax, tolerating the increasing demolitions and "unauthorized" border crossing through the holes.</p><br>
<p>West Germans and West Berliners were allowed visa-free travel starting 23 December. Until then, they could only visit East Germany and East Berlin under restrictive conditions that involved application for a visa several days or weeks in advance and obligatory exchange of at least 25 DM per day of their planned stay, all of which hindered spontaneous visits. Thus, in the weeks between 9 November and 23 December, East Germans could actually travel more freely than Westerners.</p><br>
<p>On 13 June 1990, the East German military officially began dismantling the Wall, beginning in Bernauer Straße and around the Mitte district. From there, demolition continued through Prenzlauer Berg/Gesundbrunnen, Helligensee and throughout the city of Berlin until that December. Various military units dismantled the Berlin/Brandenberg border wall, completing the job in November 1991. Virtually every road that was severed by the Berlin Wall (that links from West Berlin to East Berlin) was reconstructed and reopened by 1 August 1990.</p><br>
<p>On 1 July, the day East Germany adopted the West German currency, all de jure border controls ceased, although the inter-German border had become meaningless for some time before that.</p><br>
<p>The fall of the Wall marked the first critical step towards German reunification, which formally concluded a mere 339 days later on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of East Germany and the official reunification of the German state along the democratic lines of the West German Basic Law.</p><br>
<h3>Opposition</h3><br>
<p>In some European capitals at the time, there was a deep anxiety over prospects for a reunified Germany. In September 1989, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pleaded with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev not to let the Berlin Wall fall and confided that she wanted the Soviet leader to do what he could to stop it.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of the Berlin Wall, French President François Mitterrand warned Thatcher that a unified Germany could make more ground than Adolf Hitler ever had and that Europe would have to bear the consequences.</p><br>
<h3>Celebrations</h3><br>
<p>On 21 November 1989, Crosby, Stills & Nash performed the song "Chippin Away" from Graham Nashs 1986 solo album Innocent Eyes in front of the Brandenburg Gate.</p><br>
<p>On 25 December 1989, Leonard Bernstein gave a concert in Berlin celebrating the end of the Wall, including Beethovens 9th symphony (Ode to Joy) with the word "Joy" (Freude) changed to "Freedom" (Freiheit) in the lyrics sung. The poet Schiller may have originally written "Freedom" and changed it to "Joy" out of fear. The orchestra and choir were drawn from both East and West Germany, as well as the United Kingdom, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States. On New Years Eve 1989, David Hasselhoff performed his song "Looking for Freedom" while standing atop the partly demolished wall.</p><br>
<p>Roger Waters performed the Pink Floyd album The Wall just north of Potsdamer Platz on 21 July 1990, with guests including Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Bryan Adams, Sinéad O&#39;Connor, Cyndi Lauper, Thomas Dolby, Joni Mitchell, Marianne Faithfull, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Van Morrison.</p><br>
<p>Over the years, there has been a repeated controversial debate as to whether 9 November would make a suitable German national holiday, often initiated by former members of political opposition in East Germany, such as Werner Schulz. Besides being the emotional apogee of East Germany&#39;s peaceful revolution, 9 November is also the date of the 1918 abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and declaration of the Weimar Republic, the first German republic. However, 9 November is also the anniversary of the execution of Robert Blum in following the 1848 Vienna revolts, the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch and the infamous Kristallnacht pogroms of the Nazis in 1938. Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel criticized the first euphoria, noting that "they forgot that 9 November has already entered into history—51 years earlier it marked the Kristallnacht." As reunification was not official and complete until 3 October, that day was finally chosen as German Unity Day.</p><br>
<h3>20th anniversary celebrations</h3><br>
<p>On 9 November 2009, Berlin celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with a "Festival of Freedom" with dignitaries from around the world in attendance for an evening celebration around the Brandenburg Gate. A high point was when over 1,000 colourfully designed foam domino tiles, each over 8 ft tall, that were stacked along the former route of the Wall in the city center were toppled in stages, converging in front of the Brandenburg Gate.</p><br>
<p>A Berlin Twitter Wall was set up to allow Twitter users to post messages commemorating the 20th anniversary. The Chinese government quickly shut down access to the Twitter Wall after masses of Chinese users began using it to protest the Great Firewall of China.</p><br>
<p>In the United States, the German Embassy coordinated a public diplomacy campaign with the motto "Freedom Without Walls", to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The campaign was focused on promoting awareness of the fall of the Berlin Wall among current college students. Students at over 30 universities participated in "Freedom Without Walls" events in late 2009. First place winner of the Freedom Without Walls Speaking Contest Robert Cannon received a free trip to Berlin for 2010.</p><br>
<p>An international project called Mauerreise (Journey of the Wall) took place in various countries. Twenty symbolic Wall bricks were sent from Berlin starting in May 2009, with the destinations being Korea, Cyprus, Yemen, and other places where everyday life is characterised by division and border experience. In these places, the bricks will become a blank canvas for artists, intellectuals and young people to tackle the "wall" phenomenon.</p><br>
<p>To commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Twinity reconstructed a true-to-scale section of the Wall in virtual Berlin. The MTV Europe Music Awards, on 5 November, had U2 and Tokio Hotel perform songs dedicated to, and about the Berlin Wall. U2 performed at the Brandenburg Gate, and Tokio Hotel performed "World Behind My Wall".</p><br>
<p>Palestinians in the town of Kalandia, West Bank pulled down parts of the Israeli West Bank barrier, in a demonstration marking the 20th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall.</p><br>
<p>The International Spy Museum in Washington DC hosted a Trabant car rally where 20 Trabants gathered in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rides were raffled every half-hour and a Trabant crashed through a Berlin Wall mock up. The Trabant was the East German people&#39;s car that many used to leave DDR after the collapse.</p><br>
<p>The Allied Museum in the Dahlem district of Berlin hosted a number of events to mark the Twentieth Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall. The museum held a Special Exhibition entitled "Wall Patrol – The Western Powers and the Berlin Wall 1961–1990" which focused on the daily patrols deployed by the Western powers to observe the situation along the Berlin Wall and the fortifications on the GDR border. A sheet of "Americans in Berlin" Commemorative Cinderella stamps designed by T.H.E. Hill, the author of Voices Under Berlin, was presented to the Museum by David Guerra, Berlin veteran and webmaster of the site www.berlinbrigade.com. The stamps splendidly illustrate that even twenty years on, veterans of service in Berlin still regard their service there as one of the high points of their lives.</p><br>
<h2>Legacy</h2><br>
<p>Little is left of the Wall at its original site, which was destroyed almost in its entirety. Three long sections are still standing: an 80 m piece of the first (westernmost) wall at the Topography of Terror, site of the former Gestapo headquarters, halfway between Checkpoint Charlie and Potsdamer Platz; a longer section of the second (easternmost) wall along the Spree River near the Oberbaumbrücke, nicknamed East Side Gallery; and a third section that is partly reconstructed, in the north at Bernauer Straße, which was turned into a memorial in 1999. Other isolated fragments, lampposts, other elements, and a few watchtowers also remain in various parts of the city.</p><br>
<p>The former leadership in the Schlesischen Busch in the vicinity of the Puschkinallee—the listed, twelve-meter high watchtower stands in a piece of the wall strip, which has been turned into a park, near the Lohmühleninsel</p><br>
<p>The former "Kieler Eck" (Kieler Eck) on Kieler Strasse in Mitte, close to the Berlin-Spandau Schifffahrtskanal—the tower is protected as a historic monument and now surrounded on three sides by new buildings. It houses a memorial site named after the Wallopfer Günter Litfin, who was shot at Humboldthafen in August 1961. The memorial site, which is run by the initiative of his brother Jürgen Liftin, can be viewed after registration.</p><br>
<p>The former management office at Nieder Neuendorf, in the district of Hennigsdorf of the same name—here is the permanent exhibition on the history of the border installations between the two German states.</p><br>
<p>The former management station at Bergfelde, today the district of Hohen Neuendorf—The tower is located in an already reforested area of the border strip and is used together with surrounding terrain as a nature protection tower by the Deutschen Waldjugend.</p><br>
<p>The only one of the much slimmer observation towers (BT-11) in the Erna-Berger-Strasse also in Mitte—however, was moved by a few meters for construction work and is no longer in the original location; There is an exhibition about the wall in the area of the Potsdamer Platz in planning.</p><br>
<p>Nothing still accurately represents the Wall&#39;s original appearance better than a very short stretch at Bernauer Straße associated with the Berlin Wall Documentation Center. Other remnants are badly damaged by souvenir seekers. Fragments of the Wall were taken and some were sold around the world. Appearing both with and without certificates of authenticity, these fragments are now a staple on the online auction service eBay as well as German souvenir shops. Today, the eastern side is covered in graffiti that did not exist while the Wall was guarded by the armed soldiers of East Germany. Previously, graffiti appeared only on the western side. Along some tourist areas of the city centre, the city government has marked the location of the former Wall by a row of cobblestones in the street. In most places only the "first" wall is marked, except near Potsdamer Platz where the stretch of both walls is marked, giving visitors an impression of the dimension of the barrier system.</p><br>
<p>After the fall of Berlin Wall, there were initiatives that they want to preserve the death strip walkways and redevelop it into a hiking and cycling area, known as Berliner Mauerweg. It is part of the initiative by Berlin Senate since 2005.</p><br>
<h3>Cultural differences</h3><br>
<p>For many years after reunification, people in Germany talked about cultural differences between East and West Germans (colloquially Ossis and Wessis), sometimes described as Mauer im Kopf (The wall in the head). A September 2004 poll found that 25 percent of West Germans and 12 percent of East Germans wished that East and West should be separated again by a "Wall". A poll taken in October 2009 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall indicated, however, that only about a tenth of the population was still unhappy with the unification (8 percent in the East; 12 percent in the West). Although differences are still perceived between East and West, Germans make similar distinctions between North and South.</p><br>
<p>A 2011 poll conducted by Russia&#39;s VTsIOM, found that more than half of all Russians do not know who built the Berlin Wall. Ten percent of people surveyed thought Berlin residents built it themselves. Six percent said Western powers built it and four percent thought it was a "bilateral initiative" of the Soviet Union and the West. Fifty-eight percent said they did not know who built it, with just 24 percent correctly naming the Soviet Union and its then-communist ally East Germany.</p><br>
<h3>Wall segments around the world</h3><br>
<p>Not all segments of the Wall were ground up as the Wall was being torn down. Many segments have been given to various institutions around the world. They can be found, for instance, in presidential and historical museums, lobbies of hotels and corporations, at universities and government buildings, and in public spaces around the world.</p><br>
<h3>50th anniversary commemoration</h3><br>
<p>On 13 August 2011, Germany marked the 50th anniversary of East Germany beginning the erection of the Berlin Wall. Chancellor Angela Merkel joined with President Christian Wulff and Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit at the Bernauer Straße memorial park to remember lives and liberty. Speeches extolled freedom and a minute of silence at noon honored those who died trying to flee to the West. "It is our shared responsibility to keep the memory alive and to pass it on to the coming generations as a reminder to stand up for freedom and democracy to ensure that such injustice may never happen again," entreated Mayor Wowereit. "It has been shown once again: Freedom is invincible at the end. No wall can permanently withstand the desire for freedom", proclaimed President Wulff."</p><br>
<h2>Related media</h2><br>
<p>Documentary films specifically about the Berlin Wall:</p><br>
<p>The Tunnel, a NBC News Special documentary film broadcast in December 1962</p><br>
<p>The Road to the Wall, a 1962 documentary film</p><br>
<p>Something to Do with the Wall, 1991 documentary about the fall of the Berlin Wall by Ross McElwee and Marilyn Levine, originally conceived as a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of its construction.</p><br>
<p>Fictional films featuring the Berlin Wall have included:</p><br>
<p>The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1965 – Cold War classic set on both sides of The Wall, from the book by John le Carré, directed by Martin Ritt</p><br>
<p>The Boy and the Ball and the Hole in the Wall, Spanish-Mexican co-production, 1965</p><br>
<p>Funeral in Berlin, 1966 – Spy movie starring Michael Caine, directed by Guy Hamilton</p><br>
<p>Casino Royale, 1967 – featuring a segment centred on a house apparently bisected by the Wall.</p><br>
<p>The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, 1968 – Cold War spy farce about an Olympic athlete who defects. Director George Marshall</p><br>
<p>Berlin Tunnel 21, 1981 – A made-for-TV movie about a former American officer leading an attempt to build a tunnel underneath The Wall as a rescue route.</p><br>
<p>The Soldier, 1982 – A renegade KGB team put nuclear weapons in Saudi Arabia to force America to make the Israelis pull out of the West Bank or the bomb will make 50% of the world&#39;s oil radioactive for decades. The title character of the movie has a team break into a missile silo in Smith Center, Kansas to obtain independent launch capability, then he and an Israeli security agent drive an automobile from West Germany over the Berlin Wall into East Germany where he informs the KGB agents that if the nuke goes off in Saudi Arabia, his team in Kansas will nuke Moscow.</p><br>
<p>The Innocent, 1993 – About the joint CIA/MI6 operation to build a tunnel under East Berlin in the 1950s. Directed by John Schlesinger</p><br>
<p>The Tunnel, 2001 – Dramatization of a collaborative tunnel under the Wall. Film by Roland Suso Richter</p><br>
<p>In the 2015 film Bridge of Spies, Frederic Pryor, an American economics graduate student, visits his German girlfriend in East Berlin just as the Berlin Wall is being built. He tries to bring her back into West Berlin, but is stopped by Stasi agents and arrested as a spy.</p><br>
<p>Some novels specifically about the Berlin Wall:</p><br>
<p>John le Carré, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1963 – Classic Cold War spy fiction</p><br>
<p>Len Deighton, Berlin Game, 1983 – Classic Cold War spy fiction</p><br>
<p>T.H.E. Hill, The Day Before the Berlin Wall: Could We Have Stopped It? – An Alternate History of Cold War Espionage, 2010 – based on a legend told in Berlin in the 1970s</p><br>
<p>John Marks, The Wall, 1999 NYT Review – an American spy defects to the East just hours before the Wall falls</p><br>
<p>Marcia Preston, West of the Wall (published as Trudy&#39;s Promise in North America), 2008 – Left behind in East Berlin, the heroine waits for news of her husband after he makes his escape over the Berlin Wall</p><br>
<p>Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper, 1984 (German: Der Mauerspringer, 1982) – the Wall plays a central role in this novel set in Berlin of the 1980s</p><br>
<p>Music related to the Berlin Wall</p><br>
<p>"Holidays in the Sun", a song by the English punk rock band The Sex Pistols prominently mentions the Wall, specifically singer Johnny Rotten&#39;s fantasy of digging a tunnel under it.</p><br>
<p>David Bowie&#39;s "Heroes" was inspired by the image of a couple kissing at the Berlin Wall (in reality, the couple was his producer Tony Visconti and backup singer Antonia Maaß). The song (which, along with the album of the same name, were recorded in Berlin), makes lyrical references to the kissing couple, and to the "Wall of Shame" ("the shame was on the other side"). Upon his death, the German Foreign Office paid homage to Bowie on Twitter,: see also above</p><br>
<p>, a 1984 song by Dutch pop band, about the differences between East and West Berlin during the period of the Berlin Wall.</p><br>
<p>"Chippin Away", a song by Tom Fedora, as performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash on the Berlin Wall appeared on Graham Nashs 1986 solo album Innocent Eyes.</p><br>
<p>The music video for Liza Fox&#39;s song "Free" (2013) contain video clips of the fall of the Berlin Wall.</p><br>
<p>Art related to the Berlin Wall</p><br>
<p>In the year 1982 the West-German artist created about 500 artworks along the former border strip around West-Berlin as part of his work series "Border Injuries". On one of his actions he even tore down a large part of the Wall, installed a prepared foil of 3x2m in it and finished the painting there before the border soldiers on patrol could detect him. This performance was even recorded on video. His actions are well-documented both in newspapers from that time and in recent scientific publications.</p><br>
<p>Video games related to the Berlin Wall</p><br>
<p>The "First Strike" downloadable content pack for 2010s Call of Duty: Black Ops includes a multiplayer map that takes place at the Berlin Wall ("Berlin Wall")</p><br>
<p>The introductory video to the Rise and Fall expansion for Civilization VI depicts a woman striking the wall with a sledgehammer.</p><br>
<p>The British Isles are a group of islands off the north-western coast of continental Europe that consist of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. Situated in the North Atlantic, the islands have a total area of approximately 315,159 km, and a combined population of just under 70 million. Two sovereign states are located on the islands: the Republic of Ireland  and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The British Isles also include three Crown Dependencies: the Isle of Man and, by tradition, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the Channel Islands, although the latter are not physically a part of the archipelago.</p><br>
<p>The oldest rocks in the group are in the north west of Scotland, Ireland and North Wales and are 2,700 million years old. During the Silurian period the north-western regions collided with the south-east, which had been part of a separate continental landmass. The topography of the islands is modest in scale by global standards. Ben Nevis rises to an elevation of only 1,344 m, and Lough Neagh, which is notably larger than other lakes on the isles, covers 151 square miles. The climate is temperate marine, with mild winters and warm summers. The North Atlantic Drift brings significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for the latitude. This led to a landscape which was long dominated by temperate rainforest, although human activity has since cleared the vast majority of forest cover. The region was re-inhabited after the last glacial period of Quaternary glaciation, by 12,000 BC, when Great Britain was still part of a peninsula of the European continent. Ireland, which became an island by 12,000 BC, was not inhabited until after 8000 BC. Great Britain became an island by 5600 BC.</p><br>
<p>Hiberni (Ireland), Pictish (northern Britain) and Britons (southern Britain) tribes, all speaking Insular Celtic, inhabited the islands at the beginning of the 1st millennium AD. Much of Brittonic-controlled Britain was conquered by the Roman Empire from AD 43. The first Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in the 5th century and eventually dominated the bulk of what is now England. Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements and political change—particularly in England. The subsequent Norman conquest of England in 1066 and the later Angevin partial conquest of Ireland from 1169 led to the imposition of a new Norman ruling elite across much of Britain and parts of Ireland. By the Late Middle Ages, Great Britain was separated into the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, while control in Ireland fluxed between Gaelic kingdoms, Hiberno-Norman lords and the English-dominated Lordship of Ireland, soon restricted only to The Pale. The 1603 Union of the Crowns, Acts of Union 1707 and Acts of Union 1800 attempted to consolidate Britain and Ireland into a single political unit, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining as Crown Dependencies. The expansion of the British Empire and migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in the distribution of the islands&#39; population and culture throughout the world and a rapid de-population of Ireland in the second half of the 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with six counties remaining in the UK as Northern Ireland.</p><br>
<p>The term British Isles is controversial in Ireland, The Government of Ireland does not recognise or use the term and its embassy in London discourages its use. As a result, Britain and Ireland is used as an alternative description, and Atlantic Archipelago has had limited use among a minority in academia, while British Isles is still commonly employed. Within them, they are also sometimes referred to as these islands.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The earliest known references to the islands as a group appeared in the writings of sea-farers from the ancient Greek colony of Massalia. The original records have been lost; however, later writings, e.g. Avienuss Ora maritima, that quoted from the Massaliote Periplus (6th century BC) and from Pytheass On the Ocean (circa 325–320 BC) have survived. In the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus has Prettanikē nēsos,Diodorus Siculus&#39; Bibliotheca Historica Book V. Chapter XXI. Section 1</p><br>
<p>at the Perseus Project. "the British Island", and Prettanoi,Diodorus Siculus&#39; Bibliotheca Historica Book V. Chapter XXI. Section 2</p><br>
<p>at the Perseus Project. "the Britons". Strabo used Βρεττανική (Brettanike), and Marcian of Heraclea, in his Periplus maris exteri, used αἱ Πρεττανικαί νῆσοι (the Prettanic Isles) to refer to the islands. Historians today, though not in absolute agreement, largely agree that these Greek and Latin names were probably drawn from native Celtic-language names for the archipelago. Along these lines, the inhabitants of the islands were called the Πρεττανοί (Priteni or Pretani).</p><br>
<p>The Greco-Egyptian scientist Claudius Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania) in his work Almagest (147–148 AD). In his later work, Geography (c. 150 AD), he gave these islands the names Alwion, Iwernia, and Mona (the Isle of Man), suggesting these may have been names of the individual islands not known to him at the time of writing Almagest. The name Albion appears to have fallen out of use sometime after the Roman conquest of Great Britain, after which Britain became the more commonplace name for the island called Great Britain.</p><br>
<p>The earliest known use of the phrase Brytish Iles in the English language is dated 1577 in a work by John Dee. Today, this name is seen by some as carrying imperialist overtones although it is still commonly used. Other names used to describe the islands include the Anglo-Celtic Isles, Atlantic archipelago, British-Irish Isles,John Oakland, 2003, Routledge: London</p><br>
<p>British-Irish Isles, the (geography) see British Isles</p><br>
<p>British Isles, the (geography) A geographical (not political or consitutional) term for Engliand, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland), together with all offshore islands. A more accurate (and politically acceptable) term today is the British-Irish Isles. Britain and Ireland, UK and Ireland, and British Isles and Ireland. Owing to political and national associations with the word British, the Government of Ireland does not use the term British Isles Nonetheless, British Isles is still the most widely accepted term for the archipelago.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The British Isles lie at the juncture of several regions with past episodes of tectonic mountain building. These orogenic belts form a complex geology that records a huge and varied span of Earth&#39;s history. Of particular note was the Caledonian Orogeny during the Ordovician Period, c. 488–444 Ma and early Silurian period, when the craton Baltica collided with the terrane Avalonia to form the mountains and hills in northern Britain and Ireland. Baltica formed roughly the northwestern half of Ireland and Scotland. Further collisions caused the Variscan orogeny in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods, forming the hills of Munster, southwest England, and southern Wales. Over the last 500 million years the land that forms the islands has drifted northwest from around 30°S, crossing the equator around 370 million years ago to reach its present northern latitude.</p><br>
<p>The islands have been shaped by numerous glaciations during the Quaternary Period, the most recent being the Devensian. As this ended, the central Irish Sea was deglaciated and the English Channel flooded, with sea levels rising to current levels some 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, leaving the British Isles in their current form. Whether or not there was a land bridge between Great Britain and Ireland at this time is somewhat disputed, though there was certainly a single ice sheet covering the entire sea.</p><br>
<p>The west coasts of Ireland and Scotland that directly face the Atlantic Ocean are generally characterised by long peninsulas, and headlands and bays; the internal and eastern coasts are "smoother".</p><br>
<p>There are about 136 permanently inhabited islands in the group, the largest two being Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is to the east and covers 83,700 square miles. Ireland is to the west and covers 32,590 square miles. The largest of the other islands are to be found in the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland to the north, Anglesey and the Isle of Man between Great Britain and Ireland, and the Channel Islands near the coast of France.</p><br>
<p>The islands are at relatively low altitudes, with central Ireland and southern Great Britain particularly low-lying: the lowest point in the islands is the North Slob in County Wexford, Ireland, with an elevation of -3.0 m. The Scottish Highlands in the northern part of Great Britain are mountainous, with Ben Nevis being the highest point on the islands at 1,343 m. Other mountainous areas include Wales and parts of Ireland, however only seven peaks in these areas reach above 1,000 m. Lakes on the islands are generally not large, although Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland is an exception, covering 150 square miles. The largest freshwater body in Great Britain (by area) is Loch Lomond at 27.5 square miles, and Loch Ness, by volume whilst Loch Morar is the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 1,017 ft. There are a number of major rivers within the British Isles. The longest is the Shannon in Ireland at 224 mi. The river Severn at 220 mi is the longest in Great Britain.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The climate is mild, moist and changeable with abundant rainfall and a lack of temperature extremes. It is defined as a temperate oceanic climate, or Cfb on the Köppen climate classification system, a classification it shares with most of northwest Europe. The country receives generally cool summers and mild winters. The North Atlantic Drift ("Gulf Stream"), which flows from the Gulf of Mexico, brings with it significant moisture and raises temperatures 11 °C (20 °F) above the global average for the islands&#39; latitudes. Winters are cool and wet, with summers mild and also wet. Most Atlantic depressions pass to the north of the islands, combined with the general westerly circulation and interactions with the landmass, this imposes an east-west variation in climate.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The islands enjoy a mild climate and varied soils, giving rise to a diverse pattern of vegetation. Animal and plant life is similar to that of the northwestern European mainland. There are however, fewer numbers of species, with Ireland having even less. All native flora and fauna in Ireland is made up of species that migrated from elsewhere in Europe, and Great Britain in particular. The only window when this could have occurred was between the end of the last Ice Age (about 12,000 years ago) and when the land bridge connecting the two islands was flooded by sea (about 8,000 years ago).</p><br>
<p>As with most of Europe, prehistoric Britain and Ireland were covered with forest and swamp. Clearing began around 6000 BC and accelerated in medieval times. Despite this, Britain retained its primeval forests longer than most of Europe due to a small population and later development of trade and industry, and wood shortages were not a problem until the 17th century. By the 18th century, most of Britain&#39;s forests were consumed for shipbuilding or manufacturing charcoal and the nation was forced to import lumber from Scandinavia, North America, and the Baltic. Most forest land in Ireland is maintained by state forestation programmes. Almost all land outside urban areas is farmland. However, relatively large areas of forest remain in east and north Scotland and in southeast England. Oak, elm, ash and beech are amongst the most common trees in England. In Scotland, pine and birch are most common. Natural forests in Ireland are mainly oak, ash, wych elm, birch and pine. Beech and lime, though not native to Ireland, are also common there. Farmland hosts a variety of semi-natural vegetation of grasses and flowering plants. Woods, hedgerows, mountain slopes and marshes host heather, wild grasses, gorse and bracken.</p><br>
<p>Many larger animals, such as wolf, bear and the European elk are today extinct. However, some species such as red deer are protected. Other small mammals, such as rabbits, foxes, badgers, hares, hedgehogs, and stoats, are very common and the European beaver has been reintroduced in parts of Scotland. Wild boar have also been reintroduced to parts of southern England, following escapes from boar farms and illegal releases. Many rivers contain otters and seals are common on coasts. Over 200 species of bird reside permanently and another 200 migrate. Common types are the common chaffinch, common blackbird, house sparrow and common starling; all small birds. Large birds are declining in number, except for those kept for game such as pheasant, partridge, and red grouse. Fish are abundant in the rivers and lakes, in particular salmon, trout, perch and pike. Sea fish include dogfish, cod, sole, pollock and bass, as well as mussels, crab and oysters along the coast. There are more than 21,000 species of insects.</p><br>
<p>Few species of reptiles or amphibians are found in Great Britain or Ireland. Only three snakes are native to Great Britain: the common European adder, the grass snake and the smooth snake; none are native to Ireland. In general, Great Britain has slightly more variation and native wild life, with weasels, polecats, wildcats, most shrews, moles, water voles, roe deer and common toads also being absent from Ireland. This pattern is also true for birds and insects. Notable exceptions include the Kerry slug and certain species of woodlouse native to Ireland but not Great Britain.</p><br>
<p>Domestic animals include the Connemara pony, Shetland pony, English Mastiff, Irish wolfhound and many varieties of cattle and sheep.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>The demographics of the British Isles today are characterised by a generally high density of population in England, which accounts for almost 80% of the total population of the islands. In elsewhere on Great Britain and on Ireland, high density of population is limited to areas around, or close to, a few large cities. The largest urban area by far is the Greater London Urban Area with 9 million inhabitants. Other major population centres include the Greater Manchester Urban Area (2.4 million), West Midlands conurbation (2.4 million) and West Yorkshire Urban Area (1.6 million) in England, Greater Glasgow (1.2 million) in Scotland and Greater Dublin Area (1.8 million) in Ireland.</p><br>
<p>The population of England rose rapidly during the 19th and 20th centuries, whereas the populations of Scotland and Wales showed little increase during the 20th century, the population of Scotland remaining unchanged since 1951. Ireland for most of its history comprised a population proportionate to its land area (about one third of the total population). However, since the Great Irish Famine, the population of Ireland has fallen to less than one tenth of the population of the British Isles. The famine, which caused a century-long population decline, drastically reduced the Irish population and permanently altered the demographic make-up of the British Isles. On a global scale, this disaster led to the creation of an Irish diaspora that numbers fifteen times the current population of the island.</p><br>
<p>The linguistic heritage of the British Isles is rich, with twelve languages from six groups across four branches of the Indo-European family. The Insular Celtic languages of the Goidelic sub-group (Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic) and the Brittonic sub-group (Cornish, Welsh and Breton, spoken in north-western France) are the only remaining Celtic languages—the last of their continental relations becoming extinct before the 7th century. The Norman languages of Guernésiais, Jèrriais and Sarkese spoken in the Channel Islands are similar to French. A cant, called Shelta, is spoken by Irish Travellers, often as a means to conceal meaning from those outside the group. However, English, sometimes in the form of Scots, is the dominant language, with few monoglots remaining in the other languages of the region. The Norn language of Orkney and Shetland became extinct around 1880.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>At the end of the last ice age, what are now the British Isles were joined to the European mainland as a mass of land extending north west from the modern-day northern coastline of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Ice covered almost all of what is now Scotland, most of Ireland and Wales, and the hills of northern England. From 14,000 to 10,000 years ago, as the ice melted, sea levels rose separating Ireland from Great Britain and also creating the Isle of Man. About two to four millennia later, Great Britain became separated from the mainland. Britain probably became repopulated with people before the ice age ended and certainly before it became separated from the mainland. It is likely that Ireland became settled by sea after it had already become an island.</p><br>
<p>At the time of the Roman Empire, about two thousand years ago, various tribes, which spoke Celtic dialects of the Insular Celtic group, were inhabiting the islands. The Romans expanded their civilisation to control southern Great Britain but were impeded in advancing any further, building Hadrian&#39;s Wall to mark the northern frontier of their empire in 122 AD. At that time, Ireland was populated by a people known as Hiberni, the northern third or so of Great Britain by a people known as Picts and the southern two thirds by Britons. Anglo-Saxons arrived as Roman power waned in the 5th century AD. Initially, their arrival seems to have been at the invitation of the Britons as mercenaries to repulse incursions by the Hiberni and Picts. In time, Anglo-Saxon demands on the British became so great that they came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain, though recent genetic evidence suggests Britons still formed the bulk of the population. This dominance creating what is now England and leaving culturally British enclaves only in the north of what is now England, in Cornwall and what is now known as Wales. Ireland had been unaffected by the Romans except, significantly, for being Christianised—traditionally by the Romano-Briton, Saint Patrick. As Europe, including Britain, descended into turmoil following the collapse of Roman civilisation, an era known as the Dark Ages, Ireland entered a golden age and responded with missions (first to Great Britain and then to the continent), the founding of monasteries and universities. These were later joined by Anglo-Saxon missions of a similar nature.</p><br>
<p>Viking invasions began in the 9th century, followed by more permanent settlements, particularly along the east coast of Ireland, the west coast of modern-day Scotland and the Isle of Man. Though the Vikings were eventually neutralised in Ireland, their influence remained in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford. England, however, was slowly conquered around the turn of the first millennium AD, and eventually became a feudal possession of Denmark. The relations between the descendants of Vikings in England and counterparts in Normandy, in northern France, lay at the heart of a series of events that led to the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The remnants of the Duchy of Normandy, which conquered England, remain associated to the English Crown as the Channel Islands to this day. A century later, the marriage of the future Henry II of England to Eleanor of Aquitaine created the Angevin Empire, partially under the French Crown. At the invitation of Diarmait Mac Murchada, a provincial king, and under the authority of Pope Adrian IV (the only Englishman to be elected pope), the Angevins invaded Ireland in 1169. Though initially intended to be kept as an independent kingdom, the failure of the Irish High King to ensure the terms of the Treaty of Windsor led Henry II, as King of England, to rule as effective monarch under the title of Lord of Ireland. This title was granted to his younger son, but when Henry&#39;s heir unexpectedly died, the title of King of England and Lord of Ireland became entwined in one person.</p><br>
<p>By the Late Middle Ages, Great Britain was separated into the Kingdoms of England and Scotland. Power in Ireland fluxed between Gaelic kingdoms, Hiberno-Norman lords and the English-dominated Lordship of Ireland. A similar situation existed in the Principality of Wales, which was slowly being annexed into the Kingdom of England by a series of laws. During the course of the 15th century, the Crown of England would assert a claim to the Crown of France, thereby also releasing the King of England as from being vassal of the King of France. In 1534, King Henry VIII, at first having been a strong defender of Roman Catholicism in the face of the Reformation, separated from the Roman Church after failing to secure a divorce from the Pope. His response was to place the King of England as "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England", thereby removing the authority of the Pope from the affairs of the English Church. Ireland, which had been held by the King of England as Lord of Ireland, but which strictly speaking had been a feudal possession of the Pope since the Norman invasion was declared a separate kingdom in personal union with England.</p><br>
<p>Scotland, meanwhile had remained an independent Kingdom. In 1603, that changed when the King of Scotland inherited the Crown of England, and consequently the Crown of Ireland also. The subsequent 17th century was one of political upheaval, religious division and war. English colonialism in Ireland of the 16th century was extended by large-scale Scottish and English colonies in Ulster. Religious division heightened and the king in England came into conflict with parliament over his tolerance towards Catholicism. The resulting English Civil War or War of the Three Kingdoms led to a revolutionary republic in England. Ireland, largely Catholic was mainly loyal to the king. Following defeat to the parliaments army, large scale land distributions from loyalist Irish nobility to English commoners in the service of the parliamentary army created a new Ascendancy class which obliterated the remnants of Old English (Hiberno-Norman) and Gaelic Irish nobility in Ireland. The new ruling class was Protestant and English, whilst the populace was largely Catholic and Irish. This theme would influence Irish politics for centuries to come. When the monarchy was restored in England, the king found it politically impossible to restore the lands of former land-owners in Ireland. The "Glorious Revolution" of 1688 repeated similar themes: a Catholic king pushing for religious tolerance in opposition to a Protestant parliament in England. The king&#39;s army was defeated at the Battle of the Boyne and at the militarily crucial Battle of Aughrim in Ireland. Resistance held out, eventually forcing the guarantee of religious tolerance in the Treaty of Limerick. However, the terms were never honoured and a new monarchy was installed.</p><br>
<p>The Kingdoms of England and Scotland were unified in 1707 creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. Following an attempted republican revolution in Ireland in 1798, the Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were unified in 1801, creating the United Kingdom. The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands remaining outside of the United Kingdom but with their ultimate good governance being the responsibility of the British Crown (effectively the British government). Although, the colonies of North America that would become the United States of America were lost by the start of the 19th century, the British Empire expanded rapidly elsewhere. A century later it would cover one third of the globe. Poverty in the United Kingdom remained desperate, however, and industrialisation in England led to terrible condition for the working classes. Mass migrations following the Irish Famine and Highland Clearances resulted in the distribution of the islands&#39; population and culture throughout the world and a rapid de-population of Ireland in the second half of the 19th century. Most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom after the Irish War of Independence and the subsequent Anglo-Irish Treaty (1919–1922), with the six counties that formed Northern Ireland remaining as an autonomous region of the UK.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>There are two sovereign states in the isles: Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Ireland, sometimes called the Republic of Ireland, governs five sixths of the island of Ireland, with the remainder of the island forming Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, usually shortened to simply the United Kingdom, which governs the remainder of the archipelago with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The Isle of Man and the two states of the Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, are known as the Crown Dependencies. They exercise constitutional rights of self-government and judicial independence; responsibility for international representation rests largely upon the UK (in consultation with the respective governments); and responsibility for defence is reserved by the UK. The United Kingdom is made up of four constituent parts: England, Scotland and Wales, forming Great Britain, and Northern Ireland in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Of these, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have "devolved" governments, meaning that each has its own parliament or assembly and is self-governing with respect to certain areas set down by law. For judicial purposes, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England and Wales (the latter being one entity) form separate legal jurisdiction, with there being no single law for the UK as a whole.</p><br>
<p>Ireland, the United Kingdom and the three Crown Dependencies are all parliamentary democracies, with their own separate parliaments. All parts of the United Kingdom return members to parliament in London. In addition to this, voters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland return members to a parliament in Edinburgh and to assemblies in Cardiff and Belfast respectively. Governance in the norm is by majority rule, however, Northern Ireland uses a system of power sharing whereby unionists and nationalists share executive posts proportionately and where the assent of both groups are required for the Northern Ireland Assembly to make certain decisions. (In the context of Northern Ireland, unionists are those who want Northern Ireland to remain a part of the United Kingdom and nationalists are those who want Northern Ireland to join with the rest of Ireland.) The British monarch is the head of state of the United Kingdom, while in the Republic of Ireland the head of state is the President of Ireland.</p><br>
<p>Ireland and the United Kingdom are both part of the European Union (EU). The Crown Dependencies are not a part of the EU, but do participate in certain aspects that were negotiated as a part of the UK&#39;s accession to the EU. Neither the United Kingdom or Ireland are part of the Schengen area, that allow passport-free travel between EU members states. However, since the partition of Ireland, an informal free-travel area had existed across the region. This area required formal recognition in 1997 during the course of negotiations for the Amsterdam Treaty of the European Union, and is now known as the Common Travel Area.</p><br>
<p>Reciprocal arrangements allow British and Irish citizens full voting rights in the two states. Exceptions to this are presidential elections and constitutional referendums in the Republic of Ireland, for which there is no comparable franchise in the other states. In the United Kingdom, these pre-date European Union law, and in both jurisdictions go further than that required by European Union law. Other EU nationals may only vote in local and European Parliament elections while resident in either the UK or Ireland. In 2008, a UK Ministry of Justice report investigating how to strengthen the British sense of citizenship proposed to end this arrangement, arguing that "the right to vote is one of the hallmarks of the political status of citizens; it is not a means of expressing closeness between countries".</p><br>
<p>In addition, some civil bodies are organised throughout the islands as a whole—for example the Samaritans, which is deliberately organised without regard to national boundaries on the basis that a service which is not political or religious should not recognise sectarian or political divisions. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity that operates a lifeboat service, is also organised throughout the islands as a whole, covering the waters of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands.</p><br>
<p>The Northern Ireland Peace Process has led to a number of unusual arrangements between the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom. For example, citizens of Northern Ireland are entitled to the choice of Irish or British citizenship or both and the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom consult on matters not devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. The Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland also meet as the North/South Ministerial Council to develop policies common across the island of Ireland. These arrangements were made following the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.</p><br>
<h3>British–Irish Council</h3><br>
<p>Another body established under the Good Friday Agreement, the British–Irish Council, is made up of all of the states and territories of the British Isles. The British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly (Tionól Pharlaiminteach na Breataine agus na hÉireann) predates the British–Irish Council and was established in 1990. Originally it comprised 25 members of the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament, and 25 members of the parliament of the United Kingdom, with the purpose of building mutual understanding between members of both legislatures. Since then the role and scope of the body has been expanded to include representatives from the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the States of Jersey, the States of Guernsey and the High Court of Tynwald (Isle of Man).</p><br>
<p>The Council does not have executive powers, but meets biannually to discuss issues of mutual importance. Similarly, the Parliamentary Assembly has no legislative powers but investigates and collects witness evidence from the public on matters of mutual concern to its members. Reports on its findings are presented to the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom. During the February 2008 meeting of the British–Irish Council, it was agreed to set up a standing secretariat that would serve as a permanent civil service for the Council. Leading on from developments in the British–Irish Council, the chair of the British–Irish Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, Niall Blaney, has suggested that the body should shadow the British–Irish Council&#39;s work.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>The United Kingdom and Ireland have separate media, although British television, newspapers and magazines are widely available in Ireland, giving people in Ireland a high level of familiarity with cultural matters in the United Kingdom. Irish newspapers are also available in the UK, and Irish state and private television is widely available in Northern Ireland. Certain reality TV shows have embraced the whole of the islands, for example The X Factor, seasons 3, 4 and 7 of which featured auditions in Dublin and were open to Irish voters, whilst the show previously known as Britains Next Top Model became Britain and Irelands Next Top Model in 2011. A few cultural events are organised for the island group as a whole. For example, the Costa Book Awards are awarded to authors resident in the UK or Ireland. The Mercury Music Prize is handed out every year to the best album from a British or Irish musician or group.</p><br>
<p>Many globally popular sports had modern rules codified in the British Isles, including golf, association football, cricket, rugby, snooker and darts, as well as many minor sports such as croquet, bowls, pitch and putt, water polo and handball. A number of sports are popular throughout the British Isles, the most prominent of which is association football. While this is organised separately in different national associations, leagues and national teams, even within the UK, it is a common passion in all parts of the islands. Rugby union is also widely enjoyed across the islands with four national teams from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The British and Irish Lions is a team chosen from each national team and undertakes tours of the southern hemisphere rugby playing nations every four years. Ireland play as a united team, represented by players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic. These national rugby teams play each other each year for the Triple Crown as part of the Six Nations Championship. Also, since 2001, the professional club teams of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy compete against each other in the Pro14.</p><br>
<p>The Ryder Cup in golf was originally played between a United States team and a team representing Great Britain and Ireland. From 1979 onwards this was expanded to include the whole of Europe.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>London Heathrow Airport is Europe&#39;s busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic and the Dublin-London route was once the busiest air route in Europe, and it remains the busiest route out of Heathrow. The English Channel and the southern North Sea are the busiest seaways in the world. The Channel Tunnel, opened in 1994, links Great Britain to France and is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world.</p><br>
<p>The idea of building a tunnel under the Irish Sea has been raised since 1895, when it was first investigated. Several potential Irish Sea tunnel projects have been proposed, most recently the Tusker Tunnel between the ports of Rosslare and Fishguard proposed by The Institute of Engineers of Ireland in 2004. A rail tunnel was proposed in 1997 on a different route, between Dublin and Holyhead, by British engineering firm Symonds. Either tunnel, at 50 mi, would be by far the longest in the world, and would cost an estimated £15 billion or €20 billion. A proposal in 2007, estimated the cost of building a bridge from County Antrim in Northern Ireland to Galloway in Scotland at £3.5bn (€5bn).</p><br>
<p>Bornholm  is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of the westernmost part of Poland. The main industries on the island include, dairy farming, and arts and crafts such as glass production and pottery using locally worked clay. Tourism is important during the summer. There is an especially large number of Denmark&#39;s round churches on the island. The total area according to www.noegletal.dk  was 588.36 km&sup2; . Population was 39,627 .</p><br>
<p>The island is called solskinsøen (Sunshine Island) because of its weather and klippeøen (Rock Island) because of its geology, which consists of granite, except along the southern coast. The heat from the summer is stored in the rock formations and the weather is quite warm until October. As a result of the climate, a local variety of the common fig, known as Bornholms Diamond, can grow locally on the island. The islands topography consists of dramatic rock formations in the north (unlike the rest of Denmark, which is mostly gentle rolling hills) sloping down towards pine and deciduous forests (greatly affected by storms in the 1950s), farmland in the middle and sandy beaches in the south.</p><br>
<p>Strategically located in the Baltic Sea, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries, usually it had been ruled by Denmark, but also by Lübeck, Germany and Sweden. The ruin of Hammershus, at the northwestern tip of the island, is the largest medieval fortress in northern Europe, testament to the importance of its location.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm Regional Municipality, established January 2003 by the merger of Bornholm County with 5 municipalities, covers the entire island. Bornholm was one of the three last Danish municipalities ((singular) kommune; kommuner (plural)) not belonging to a county — the others were Copenhagen and Frederiksberg. On 1 January 2007, the municipality lost its short-lived (2003 until 2006) county status and became part of the Capital Region of Denmark.</p><br>
<p>The municipality&#39;s educational needs are served by the Bornholms Erhvervsskole, the main educational institute on the island.</p><br>
<p>The island is situated between 54°5911" and 55°1730" northern latitude and 14°45 and 15°11 eastern longitude.</p><br>
<p>Directly west of Bornholm across the Baltic Sea mostly on the island of Sjælland are several municipalities of Region Sjælland: Stevns, Faxe, Næstved (the part that used to be the municipality of Fladså) and Vordingborg, including Møn, which is around 135 km across the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>It typically takes 3 hours for passengers and freight (ferry :2 hours; driving :1 hour) to travel between Rønne and Copenhagen via Ystad in Sweden. There is a ferry departure mostly reserved for freight of goods between Rønne and Køge. If there is capacity on a departure, "normal" passengers can come aboard. There are also ferry routes to Sassnitz and Świnoujście. Between Bornholm Airport and Copenhagen Airport by airplane it is 25 minutes.</p><br>
<p>The Ertholmene archipelago is located 18 km to the northeast of Bornholm. These islands, which do not belong to a municipality or region, are administered by the Danish Ministry of Defence.</p><br>
<h2>Language</h2><br>
<p>Many inhabitants speak the Bornholmsk dialect, which is officially a dialect of Danish. Bornholmsk retains three grammatical genders, like Icelandic and most dialects of Norwegian, but unlike standard Danish. Its phonology includes archaisms (unstressed and internal, where other dialects have and ) and innovations ( for before and after front-tongue vowels). This makes the dialect difficult to understand for some Danish speakers. However, Swedish speakers often consider Bornholmian to be easier to understand than standard Danish. The intonation resembles the Scanian dialect spoken in nearby Scania, the southernmost province of Sweden.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>the white cross.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm Regional Municipality is the local authority (Danish, kommune) covering the entire island. It is the result of a merger of the five former (1 April 1970 until 2002) municipalities on the island (Allinge-Gudhjem, Hasle, Nexø, Rønne and Aakirkeby) and the former Bornholm County. Bornholm Regional Municipality was also a county in its own right during its first four years from 1 January 2003 until 31 December 2006. From 1 January 2007 all counties were abolished, and Bornholm became part of Region Hovedstaden whose main responsibility is the health service. The municipality still retains its name Bornholm Regional Municipality. The island had 22 municipalities until March 1970, of which 6 were market towns and 16 parishes. In addition to supervising parish municipalities, which was the responsibility of the counties in all of Denmark, the market town municipalities of Bornholm were supervised by Bornholm County as well and not by the Interior Ministry as was the case in the rest of Denmark. The seat of the municipal council is the island&#39;s main town, Rønne. The voters decided to merge the county with the municipalities in a referendum May 29, 2001, effective from January 1, 2003. On the ballot was written the question, "Do you want the six municipal entities of Bornholm to be joined to form one municipal entity as of 1 January 2003?" 73.9% of those voting ticked off the box "Ja" (English, Yes) on the ballot. The lowest percentage for the merger was in Nexø municipality, whose mayor, Annelise Molin, a Social Democrat, spoke out against the merger. It was required that each municipality had more "Yes" votes than "No" votes. Otherwise the merger would have to be abandoned altogether. The six municipal entities had 122 councillors (of which county clls were 15) and the new regional municipality would have 27 councillors from the start. They will be reduced to 23 from 1 January 2018 (election November 2017). The merger was approved in a law by the Folketing 19 March 2002, transferring the tasks of the abolished county and old municipalities to the new Bornholm Regional Municipality. The first regional mayor was Thomas Thors, a physician and member of the Social Democrats and previously mayor of Rønne Municipality. Bjarne Kristiansen, representing the local Borgerlisten political party, served as mayor from January 1, 2006 until 2009. From January 1, 2010 the mayor has been Winni Grosbøll, a high school teacher and a member of the Social Democrats (Socialdemokratiet) political party.</p><br>
<p>Ferry services connect Rønne to Świnoujście (Poland), Sassnitz (Germany), Køge, 45 km by road (34 km as the crow flies) south of Copenhagen, Denmark; the destination to Køge replaced the nighttime route directly to and from Copenhagen (for both cargo and passengers) from 1 October 2004; and catamaran services to Ystad (Sweden). Simrishamn (Sweden) has a ferry connection during the summer. There are also regular catamaran services between Nexø and the Polish ports of Kołobrzeg, Łeba and Ustka. There are direct bus connections Ystad-Copenhagen, coordinated with the catamaran. There are also flights from Bornholm Airport to Copenhagen and other locations.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm Regional Municipality was not merged with other municipalities on 1 January 2007 in the nationwide Municipal Reform of 2007.</p><br>
<h2>Towns and villages</h2><br>
<p>The larger towns on the island are located on the coast and have harbours. There is however one exception, centrally placed Aakirkeby, which was also the name of the municipality from 1970 until 2002, which also included the harbor, Boderne, 5 km to the south. The largest town is Rønne, the seat, in the southwest. The other main towns (clockwise round the island) are Hasle, Allinge-Sandvig, Gudhjem, Svaneke and Nexø. Monday morning 22 September 2014 it was documented by Folkeregistret in the municipality that the number of people living in the municipality that day were 39,922, the lowest number in over 100 years.</p><br>
<p>The town of Rønne after the merger of the island&#39;s administrative entities 1 January 2003 reached a low point of 13568 inhabitants 1 January 2014. 15957 people in 1965 (date unknown;number not registerbased) lived in the two parishes that would become Rønne municipality from 1 April 1970. In the table, numbers for Rønne are for the parish of Rønne, Rønne Sogn, alone. Year unknown. It does not include Knudsker Sogn, which was also a part of Rønne Municipality. Other localities (with approximate populations, not updated) include Aarsballe (86), Arnager (151), Olsker (67), Rutsker (64), Rø (181), Stenseby (?) and Vang (92).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In Old Norse the island was known as Borgundarholm, and in ancient Danish especially the island&#39;s name was Borghand or Borghund; these names were related to Old Norse borg "height" and bjarg/berg "mountain, rock", as it is an island that rises high from the sea. Other names known for the island include Burgendaland (9th century), Hulmo / Holmus (Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum), Burgundehulm (1145), and Borghandæholm (14th century). The Old English translation of Orosius uses the form Burgenda land. Some scholars believe that the Burgundians are named after Bornholm; the Burgundians were Germanic peoples who moved west when the Western Roman Empire collapsed and occupied and named Burgundy in France.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark when the nation united out of a series of petty chiefdoms. It was originally administratively part of the province of Scania and was administered by the Scanian Law after this was codified in the 13th century. Control over the island evolved into a long-raging dispute between the See of Lund and the Danish crown culminating in several battles. The first fortress on the island was Gamleborg which was replaced by Lilleborg, built by the king in 1150. In 1149, the king accepted the transfer of three of the islands four herreder (districts) to the archbishop. In 1250, the archbishop constructed his own fortress, Hammershus. A campaign launched from it in 1259 conquered the remaining part of the island including Lilleborg. The islands status remained a matter of dispute for an additional 200 years.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm was pawned to Lübeck for 50 years starting in 1525. Its first militia, Bornholms Milits, was formed in 1624.</p><br>
<p>Swedish forces conquered the island in 1645, but returned the island to Denmark in the following peace settlement. After the war in 1658, Denmark ceded the island to Sweden under the Treaty of Roskilde along with the rest of the Skåneland, Bohuslän and Trøndelag, and it was occupied by Swedish forces.</p><br>
<p>A revolt broke out the same year, culminating in Villum Clausen&#39;s shooting of the Swedish commander Johan Printzensköld on 8 December 1658. Following the revolt, a deputation of islanders presented the island as a gift to King Frederick III on the condition that the island would never be ceded again. This status was confirmed in the Treaty of Copenhagen in 1660.</p><br>
<p>Swedes, notably from Småland and Scania, emigrated to the island during the 19th century, seeking work and better conditions. Most of the migrants did not remain.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm also attracted many famous artists at the beginning of the 20th century, forming a group now known as the Bornholm school of painters. In addition to Oluf Høst, they include Karl Isaksson (1878–1922), from Sweden, and the Danes Edvard Weie (1879-1943), Olaf Rude (1886–1957), Niels Lergaard (1893–1982), and Kræsten Iversen (1886–1955).</p><br>
<h3>German occupation (1940–1945)</h3><br>
<p>Bornholm, as a part of Denmark, was captured by Germany on 10 April 1940, and served as a lookout post and listening station during the war, as it was a part of the Eastern Front. The island&#39;s perfect central position in the Baltic Sea meant that it was an important "natural fortress" between Germany and Sweden, effectively keeping submarines and destroyers away from Nazi-occupied waters. Several concrete coastal installations were built during the war, and several coastal batteries had tremendous range. However, none of them were ever used, and only a single test shot was fired during the occupation. These remnants of Nazi rule have since fallen into disrepair and are mostly regarded today as historical curiosities. Many tourists visit the ruins each year, however, providing supplemental income to the tourist industry.</p><br>
<p>On 22 August 1943 a V-1 flying bomb (numbered V83, probably launched from a Heinkel He 111) crashed on Bornholm during a test – the warhead was a dummy made of concrete. This was photographed or sketched by the Danish Naval Officer-in-Charge on Bornholm, Lieutenant Commander Hasager Christiansen. This was the first sign British Intelligence saw of Germany&#39;s aspirations to develop flying bombs and rockets which were to become known as V-1 and V-2.</p><br>
<h3>Soviet occupation (1945–1946)</h3><br>
<p>Bornholm was heavily bombarded by the Soviet Air Force in May 1945. German garrison commander, German Navy Captain Gerhard von Kamptz (1902-1998), refused to surrender to the Soviets, as his orders were to surrender to the Western Allies. The Germans sent several telegrams to Copenhagen requesting that at least one British soldier should be transferred to Bornholm, so that the Germans could surrender to the western allied forces instead of the Soviets. When von Kamptz failed to provide a written capitulation as demanded by the Soviet commanders, Soviet aircraft relentlessly bombed and destroyed more than 800 civilian houses in Rønne and Nexø and seriously damaged roughly 3,000 more on 7–8 May 1945.</p><br>
<p>During the Soviet bombing of the two main towns on 7 and 8 May, Danish radio was not allowed to broadcast the news because it was thought it would spoil the liberation festivities in Denmark. On 9 May Soviet troops landed on the island, and after a short fight, the German garrison (about 12,000 strong) surrendered. Soviet forces left the island on 5 April 1946.</p><br>
<p>In the mid 1940s Donald (descendant of Ben Sayers) and Mavis Sayers arrived in Bornholm on a boat from Copenhagen. On their arrival they were greeted by a band and were paraded into the town centre. They were celebrated by the locals as the first English people to visit Bornholm since the end of the war and were treated like royalty during their stay. Following their stay they were frequently invited back as they were seen as a symbol of the restoration of Bornholm.</p><br>
<p>After the evacuation of their forces from Bornholm, the Soviets took the position that the stationing of foreign troops on Bornholm would be considered a declaration of war against the Soviet Union, and that Denmark should keep troops on it at all times to protect it from such foreign aggression. This policy remained in force after NATO was formed, with Denmark as a founding member. The Soviets accepted the stationing there of Danish troops, which were part of NATO but viewed as militarily inferior elements of the alliance, but they strongly objected to the presence of other NATO troops on Bornholm, in particular of US troops.</p><br>
<h2>Sights and landmarks</h2><br>
<p>On the surface of Bornholm older geological formations can be seen better than in the rest of Denmark. Stubbeløkken - which is still operating (Danish i drift) - and Klippeløkken granite quarries in Knudsker parish just east of central Rønne - and statistically a part of the town - are among the few remaining quarries of what was once many active quarries on the island. The islands varied geography and seascapes attract visitors to its many beauty spots from the Hammeren promontory in the northwest to the Almindingen forest in the centre and the Dueodde beaches in the southeast. Of special interest are the rocky sea cliffs at Jons Kapel and Helligdomsklipperne, the varied topography of Paradisbakkerne and rift valleys such as Ekkodalen and Døndalen. Bornholms numerous windmills include the post mill of Egeby and the well-kept Dutch mill at Aarsdale. The lighthouse at Dueodde is Denmark&#39;s tallest, while Hammeren Lighthouse stands at a height of 85 m above sea level and Rønne Lighthouse rises over the waterfront.</p><br>
<p>Examples of roads that have (very) steep climbs and descents are: (inland) Simblegårdsvej in Klemensker, which begins by the village inn Klemens Kro, and Slamrebjergvej just outside Nexø extending northward from the main road from Rønne. Along the coast there are several steep roads, which is also the case in some parts of Denmark as a whole, for instance in and around Vejle.</p><br>
<p>The island hosts examples of 19th- and early-20th-century architecture, and about 300 wooden houses in Rønne and Nexø, donated by Sweden after World War II, when the island was repairing damage caused by the war.</p><br>
<p>The island is home to 15 medieval churches, four of which are round churches with unique artwork and architecture. The ancient site of Rispebjerg has remains of sun temples from the Neolithic and earthworks from the Iron Age.</p><br>
<p>There are 14 European bison near Åkirkeby, attracting 100,000 visitors a year.</p><br>
<h2>Famous people</h2><br>
<h3>pre 1900</h3><br>
<p>Peder Olsen Walløe (1716 – 1793) Dano-Norwegian Arctic explorer, explored the former Norse settlements on Greenland</p><br>
<p>Peter Schousboe (1766 in Rønne – 1832) botanist and Danish consul general in Tangier</p><br>
<p>Peter Ludvig Panum (1820 in Rønne – 1885) physiologist and pathologist</p><br>
<p>Johan Peter Andreas Anker (1838 in Knudsker Sogn – 1876) military officer.</p><br>
<p>Peder Henrik Kristian Zahrtmann (1843 in Rønne – 1917) painter, favoured naturalism and realism</p><br>
<p>Michael Ancher (1849 in Rutsker – 1927) realist artist, painted fishermen in Skagen</p><br>
<p>Mathias Bidstrup (1852 in Rønne – 1929) architect of many buildings on Bornholm, schools, churches (including Gudhjem Church), urban and rural stations and the post office in Rønne</p><br>
<p>Janus Laurentius Ridter (1854 in Aakirkeby) – 1921) painter and illustrator of topographical watercolours</p><br>
<p>M.P. Möller (1854 in Østermarie – 1937), a pipe-organ builder and manufacturer, moved to the USA in 1872.</p><br>
<p>Vilhelm Herold (1865 in Hasle – 1937) operatic tenor, voice teacher, and theatre director</p><br>
<p>Martin Andersen Nexø (1869 – 1954) socialist writer, moved to the island aged 8 and took his last name after the city of Nexø</p><br>
<p>Vilhelm Grønbech (1873 in Allinge – 1948) cultural historian and professor of the history of religion at the University of Copenhagen</p><br>
<p>Oluf Høst (1884 in Svaneke – 1966) Expressionist painter, the only native member of the Bornholm school of painters</p><br>
<h3>post 1900</h3><br>
<p>Else Højgaard (1906–1979) ballerina and an actress of stage and screen, noted for her fiery temperament and edgy intensity</p><br>
<p>Gustaf Munch-Petersen (1912 – 1938) writer and painter. He moved to Bornholm in 1935</p><br>
<p>Gertrud Vasegaard (1913–2007), a ceramist remembered for her stoneware, in 1933 she moved to Bornholm whence her family originated and opened a studio in Gudhjem.</p><br>
<p>Dr. Lilli Nielsen (1926 in Rønne - 2013) psychologist, taught blind children and those with multiple disabilities</p><br>
<p>Mogens Glistrup (1926 – 2008) controversial politician, lawyer and tax protester</p><br>
<p>Tulla Blomberg Ranslet (born 1928) Norwegian painter, moved to Bornholm in 1955</p><br>
<p>Flemming Kofod-Svendsen (born 1944 in Aakirkeby) an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church and a politician</p><br>
<p>Ursula Munch-Petersen (born 1937 in Rønne) ceramist</p><br>
<p>Bente Hammer (born 1950) textile artist and fashion designer, moved to Bornholm in 1987, opened a workshop and boutique</p><br>
<p>Pia Ranslet (born 1956 in Allinge) painter and sculptor.</p><br>
<p>Klaus Bondam (born 1963 in Aakirkeby) actor and politician</p><br>
<p>Sofie Stougaard (born 1966 in Svaneke) actress</p><br>
<p>Engelina Andrina Larsen (born 1978) singer and songwriter</p><br>
<p>Nicolai Nørregaard (born 1979 in Svaneke) chef and restaurateur</p><br>
<p>Aura Dione (born 1985) pop singer and songwriter</p><br>
<h3>sport</h3><br>
<p>Hans Colberg (1921 in Klemensker – 2007) football player, over 200 pro appearances</p><br>
<p>Julie Houmann (born in Rønne 1979) badminton player</p><br>
<p>Lisbet Jakobsen (born 1987 in Nexø) rower</p><br>
<p>Magnus Cort Nielsen (born 1993) professional road bicycle racer</p><br>
<p>Mathias Christiansen (born 1994) badminton player</p><br>
<p>Amir Hadžiahmetović (born 1997 in Nexø) professional footballer</p><br>
<h2>Electricity supply</h2><br>
<p>Bornholm is connected to the Swedish electricity grid by a submarine 60 kV AC cable, which is among the longest AC cables in Europe. This cable is capable of delivering all the electrical energy consumed on Bornholm. However Bornholm also generates its own electricity at small thermal power plants and especially wind turbines.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm is also home to a large internationally funded demonstration project to test the viability of novel energy market mechanisms to regulate energy networks with a high prevalence of renewables (such as wind turbines and photovoltaics). 50% of the project is EU-funded, with the remainder coming mainly from large corporations. See for more.</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<p>22 September 2014 population numbers showed fewer than 40,000 inhabitants on the island for the first time in over 100 years. The Folkeregister in the municipality could document 39,922 inhabitants in the municipality on that date.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Bornholm has an oceanic climate relatively similar to southern Sweden and mainland Denmark, whose summer highs and winter lows are heavily moderated by its maritime and isolated position. Even though heat is rare, the climate is sunny during summers and rainfall is generally sparse for a climate of this type. The winter (November–December) 2010 - (January–April) 2011 was exceptionally extreme with snow depth reaching at least 146 cm, 2 inches short of 5 feet (snowdrifts 6 meters, almost 20 feet) the highest in Northern Europe. Military had to assist. The DMI estimated the weight of snow to be 100 million ton. 2013 was a cold year, with only June, July, and August being warm.</p><br>
<h2>Sports</h2><br>
<p>Bornholm&#39;s geography as an island and moderate climate makes Bornholm an ideal location for sailing and other water-based sports.</p><br>
<p>Bornholm has also become an internationally recognised venue for match racing, a sailing sport where two identical (or one design) supplied racing yachts are raced in one-on-one dogfights on the water. The Danish Open event was held in Bornholm in September 2010 at the port town of Rønne on the Western coast of Bornholm. The racing yachts used for the Danish Open event are Danish-designed DS37 racing yachts. These highly manoeuvrable and versatile boats are also used in the Match Cup Sweden event.</p><br>
<p>The five-day Danish Open is a key event in the World Match Racing Tour calendar which is one of only 3 events awarded special event status by the International Sailing Federation. The Tour is the worlds leading professional match racing&#39; series and features a nine-event calendar which crosses three continents during the series.</p><br>
<p>Points accrued during the Danish Open contribute directly to the World Match Racing Tour championship with the winner of the season finale at the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia claiming the ultimate match racing title ISAF World Match Racing Champion.</p><br>
<p>Unlike other sailing sports, match racing is suited to locations like Bornholm, because it takes place in close proximity to the shore which provides spectacular heat-of-the-action viewing for the on-shore audience.</p><br>
<p>There are two small stadiums: Nexø Stadion, in Nexø, where NB Bornholm association football club play; and the slightly larger multi-use stadium Rønne Stadion Nord in Rønne, which serves the Bornholm national football team, multi-section club most well known for athletics IK Viking, and several local football clubs. The DBU Bornholm is the local branch governing football on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Religion</h2><br>
<p>Various Christian denominations have become established on the island, most during the 19th century.</p><br>
<p>Folkekirken (State church) (1536)</p><br>
<p>Baptist church (1843)</p><br>
<p>The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) (1850)</p><br>
<p>Methodist church (1895)</p><br>
<p>Jehovah&#39;s Witnesses (1897)</p><br>
<p>Roman Catholic Church (ca 1150)</p><br>
<h2>Cultural references</h2><br>
<p>The Academy Award-winning 1987 Bille August film Pelle the Conqueror, an adaptation of Martin Andersen Nexø&#39;s four volume novel by the same name, is set and was shot on the island.</p><br>
<p>A considerable part of the Second World War spy thriller Hornet Flight by Ken Follett takes place on Bornholm, depicting the island under German occupation.</p><br>
<p>The metalhead teen themed Megaheavy by the Danish filmmaker Fenar Ahmad is set on Bornholm in the 1980s. It won the Grand Prix at the 2010 Odense Film Festival.</p><br>
<p>During the Viking Age, Birka , on the island of Björkö  in present-day Sweden, was an important trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as Central and Eastern Europe and the Orient. Björkö is located in Lake Mälaren, 30 kilometers west of contemporary Stockholm, in the municipality of Ekerö. The archaeological sites of Birka and Hovgården, on the neighbouring island of Adelsö, make up an archaeological complex which illustrates the elaborate trading networks of Viking Scandinavia and their influence on the subsequent history of Europe. Generally regarded as Sweden&#39;s oldest town, Birka  has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993.</p><br>
<p>A silver ring from a Viking-era grave in Birka is the first ring with Arabic inscription from that era found in Scandinavia.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Established in the middle of the 8th century and thus being one of the earliest urban settlements in Scandinavia, Birka was the Baltic link in the river and portage route through Ladoga (Aldeigja) and Novgorod (Holmsgard) to the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Califate. Birka was also important as the site of the first known Christian congregation in Sweden, founded in 831 by Saint Ansgar.</p><br>
<p>Sources are mainly archaeological remains. No texts survive from this area, though the written text Vita Ansgari ("The life of Ansgar") by Rimbert (c. 865) describes the missionary work of Ansgar around 830 at Birka, and Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church) by Adam of Bremen in 1075 describes the archbishop Unni, who died at Birka in 936. St Ansgar&#39;s work was the first attempt to convert the inhabitants from the Norse religion to Christianity, and it was unsuccessful.</p><br>
<p>Both Rimbert and Adam were German clergymen writing in Latin. There are no known Norse sources mentioning the name of the settlement, or even the settlement itself, and the original Norse name of Birka is unknown. Birca is the Latinised form given in the sources and Birka its contemporary, unhistorical Swedish form. The Latin name is probably derived from an Old Norse word "birk" which probably meant a market place. Related to this was the Bjärköa law (bjärköarätt) which regulated the life on market places in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Both terms in different forms are very common in Scandinavian place names still today leading to speculation that all references to Birca especially by Adam of Bremen were not about the same location.</p><br>
<p>Both publications are silent on Bircas size, layout and appearance. Based on Rimberts account, Birca was significant because it had a port and it was the place for the regional ting. Adam only mentions the port, but otherwise Birca seems to have been significant to him because it had been the bridgehead of Ansgar&#39;s Christian mission and because archbishop Unni had been buried there.</p><br>
<p>Vita Ansgari and Gesta are sometimes ambiguous, which has caused some controversy as to whether Birca and the Björkö settlement were the same location. Many other locations have been suggested through the years. However, Björkö is the only location that can show remains of a town of Birca&#39;s significance, which is why the vast majority of scholars regard Björkö as the location of Birca.</p><br>
<p>Birka was abandoned during the later half of the 10th century. Based on the coin finds, the city seems to have silenced around 960. Roughly around the same time, the nearby settlement of Sigtuna supplanted Birka as the main trading centre in the Mälaren area. The reasons for Birka&#39;s decline are disputed. A contributing factor may have been the post-glacial rebound, which lowered the water level of Mälaren changing it from an arm of the sea into a lake and cut Birka off from the nearest (southern) access to the Baltic Sea. The Baltic island of Gotland was also in a better strategic position for Russian-Byzantine trade, and was gaining eminence as a mercantile stronghold. Historian Neil Kent has speculated that the area may have been the victim of an enemy assault.</p><br>
<p>The Varangian trade stations in Russia suffered a serious decline at roughly the same date.</p><br>
<h2>Rimbert's Birka</h2><br>
<p>In Vita Ansgari ("The life of Ansgar") monk and later archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen Rimbert gives the first known description of Birka. The town was the center of Catholic missionary activities in the 9th century Sweden. Rimbert&#39;s interests were in the Christian faith, not so much in the Swedish geopolicy, so his descriptions of Birka remain approximate at best.</p><br>
<h3>Bridgehead of Christian missionaries</h3><br>
<p>This is how it all started in 829:</p><br>
<p>Ansgar was already experienced in the missionary work in Denmark, and set forth to Sweden. Rimbert describes the trip very generally:</p><br>
<p>Rimbert does not say where Ansgar sailed off or where he landed. Noteworthy is just his note about several "seas" that they had to cross to get to Birka from the place they had landed to. Since Rimbert mentions them to have crossed the seas by ship "where it was possible" they clearly had the alternative of going around them as well, meaning that the seas were probably the numerous lakes in southern Sweden. When Ansgar again travelled to Birka from Germany about 852, it went easier:</p><br>
<p>This might mean that he sailed off from Hamburg or Bremen instead of some port in Baltic Sea, since the later account by Adam of Bremen gives the distance of Scania and Birka to be only 5 days at sea.</p><br>
<h3>King in Birka</h3><br>
<p>Several Swedish kings of the 9th century, Björn, Anund and Olof, are all mentioned in Vita to have spent time in Birka. None of them is however said to have had his residence there, as the Swedish king and his retinue periodically moved between the Husbys, parts of the network of royal estates called Uppsala öd.</p><br>
<p>King Björn met Ansgar in Birka when he arrived there in 829 (Chapter XI). Later king Olof met him there as well during his last trip in 852 (Chapter XXVI).</p><br>
<h3>Church in Birka</h3><br>
<p>Ansgar&#39;s missionary work resulted in first churches to be built in Sweden. Talking about Herigar, the prefect of Birka:</p><br>
<p>Herigar&#39;s church was not far from the place where tings were held:</p><br>
<p>Another church was also built in Sweden, however location is left open:</p><br>
<p>The exiled Swedish King Anund Uppsale confirms that either one of the churches was in Birka itself when he ponders if Birka should be plundered:</p><br>
<h3>Fortress in Birka?</h3><br>
<p>Danes attacked Birka, accompanied with the deposed king Anund, which caused great distress in the town.</p><br>
<p>As the neighbouring "city" is not mentioned in any other context than during the Danish attack as a place where people took refuge, it probably meant a nearby fortress. Eventually Danes left, sparing Birka from destruction.</p><br>
<h3>Ting in Birka</h3><br>
<p>When Ansgar asked if King Olof would permit him to establish the Christian religion in the kingdom during his second visit in 852, the king said to him:</p><br>
<p>Tings were huge open-air events, which required plenty of space. The more important ting that king Olof talked about was probably the Ting of all Swedes, which was held at the end of February in Uppsala, during the Disting. The king was obliged to obey the common decisions made at this ting, and the most powerful man at this assembly was not the king, but the lawspeaker of Tiundaland. Locally important tings were the Westrogothic Ting of all Geats in Skara and the Ostrogothic Lionga ting in the vicinity of today&#39;s Linköping.</p><br>
<h2>Adam of Bremen's Birka</h2><br>
<p>In Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum (Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church), Adam of Bremen mentions Birka many times, and the book is the main source of information on the city. After its initial release in 1075/6, Gesta was complemented with supplementary Scholias until the death of Adam in the 1080s. Birca is described as an existing city in the original version, but then as destroyed in Scholia 138.</p><br>
<p>One of Adams main sources had been the German bishop Adalvard the Younger of Sigtuna and later of Skara as hinted in Scholia 119. He was also very familiar with Rimberts work. Adam himself never visited Birka.</p><br>
<h3>Birka's location and port</h3><br>
<p>Adam described Birka as a Geatish port town and had gathered many details about it.</p><br>
<p>Having described Västergötland and Skara, Adam writes:</p><br>
<p>Noteworthy in the following statement is the usage of the term "not far" (non longe) which was also used to describe the distance between Birka and the Uppsala temple:</p><br>
<p>Adam also had travel instructions from Skåne to Sigtuna:</p><br>
<p>"Telgas" is not mentioned anywhere else, and it remains as speculative as Birka. The most popular identification among many telge names in Sweden is Södertälje. Scholia 121 of IV 20 tells also:</p><br>
<p>The following definition remains even more mysterious:</p><br>
<p>Since it is physically impossible for any Swedish town to face Jumne, the latter being situated along River Oder, Adam&#39;s statement is probably a misunderstanding. No place having a similar name to Birka is known to have situated on the opposite shore of Oder, so it may be possible that something similar to Jumne was located opposite to Birka.</p><br>
<h3>Bishop in Birka</h3><br>
<p>Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen that oversaw the missionary work in Scandinavia until 1103, had appointed bishops to Sweden at least from 1014 onwards, the first see being in Skara. Several bishops were appointed for Sweden in 1060s, one also for Birka.</p><br>
<p>Scholia 94 appends this as follows:</p><br>
<p>Furthermore, the following was said about John&#39;s location after talking about Birka:</p><br>
<p>John seems to have been situated in Birka in order to prepare for the missionary work among the many heathen people that flooded to Birca from around the Baltic coasts. This was a logical continuation to Birka&#39;s position as the first missionary town in Sweden. Noteworthy here is that the biggest islands in the Baltic Sea, Öland and Gotland, were part of the diocese of Linköping in the Middle Ages, covering also Östergötland and eastern Småland.</p><br>
<h3>Location of Unni's tomb</h3><br>
<p>Scholia 122 of IV 20 locates the tomb of Hamburg&#39;s archbishop Unni in Birka:</p><br>
<p>According to Gesta, Unni had died in 936 (I 64).</p><br>
<h3>Birka's destruction</h3><br>
<p>After having consistently described Birka as an existing city, Scholia 138 of IV 29 describes Birka&#39;s sudden demise. Talking about Adalvard the Younger, the bishop of Sigtuna and later that of Skara, Adam or a later copyist has written:</p><br>
<p>The remark does not make it clear if Adalvard found the city destroyed or if that had happened after his visit and the later remark was just to warn the future pilgrims not to go there anymore in vain. As Adalvard was back in Bremen already by 1069 and is mentioned as one of Adams sources of information, it would have been expected that word about Birkas destruction had reached also Adam before he published his work half a decade later.</p><br>
<h2>Björkö archaeological site</h2><br>
<p>The exact location of Birca was also lost during the centuries, leading to speculation from Swedish historians. However, the island of Björkö was first claimed to have been Birka already about 1450 in the so-called "Chronicle of Sweden" (Prosaiska krönikan):</p><br>
<p>In search of Birka, National Antiquarian Johan Hadorph was the first to attempt excavations on Björkö in the late 17th century.</p><br>
<p>In the late 19th century, Hjalmar Stolpe, an entomologist by education, arrived on Björkö to study fossilized insects found in amber on the island. Stolpe found very large amounts of amber on the island, which is unusual since amber is not normally found in lake Mälaren. Stolpe speculated that the island may have been an important trading post, prompting him to conduct a series of archeological excavations between 1871-95. The excavations soon indicated that a major settlement had been located on the island and eventually Stolpe spent two decades excavating the island. After Björkö came to be identified with ancient Birka, it has been assumed that the original name of Birka was simply Bierkø (sometimes spelt Bjärkö), an earlier form of Björkö.</p><br>
<p>Ownership of Björkö is today mainly in private hands, and used for farming. The settlement site, however is an archaeological site, and a museum has been built nearby for exhibition of finds (mostly replicas), models and reconstructions. It is a popular site to visit during the summer times. The complete collection of archaeological finds from the excavations on Björkö are held by The Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, and many of the artefacts are on display there.</p><br>
<p>The archaeological remains are located in the north part of Björkö and span an area of about 7 hectares (17 acres). The remains are both burial-sites and buildings, and in the south part of this area, there is also a hill fort called "Borgen" ("The Fortress"). The construction technique of the buildings is still unknown, but the main material was wood. An adjacent island holds the remains of Hovgården, an estate which housed the King&#39;s retinue during visits.</p><br>
<p>Approximately 700 people lived at Birka when it was at its largest, and about 3,000 graves have been found. Its administrative center was supposedly located outside of the settlement itself, on the nearby island of Adelsö.</p><br>
<p>The most recent large excavation was undertaken between 1990-95 in a region of dark earth, believed to be the site of the main settlement. Björkö is today mainly agricultural, and shipping lines carry tourists to the island, where a museum showcases a view of life during the Viking era.</p><br>
<p>Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, near the village of Crathie, 6.2 mi west of Ballater and 6.8 mi east of Braemar.</p><br>
<p>Balmoral has been one of the residences for members of the British Royal Family since 1852, when the estate and its original castle were purchased privately by Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. They remain as the private property of the royal family and are not the property of the Crown.</p><br>
<p>Soon after the estate was purchased by the royal family, the existing house was found to be too small and the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned. The architect was William Smith of Aberdeen, although his designs were amended by Prince Albert.</p><br>
<p>The castle is an example of Scots Baronial architecture, and is classified by Historic Scotland as a category A listed building. The new castle was completed in 1856 and the old castle demolished shortly thereafter.</p><br>
<p>The Balmoral Estate has been added to by successive members of the royal family, and now covers an area of approximately 50,000 acre. It is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>King Robert II of Scotland (1316–1390) had a hunting lodge in the area. Historical records also indicate that a house at Balmoral was built by Sir William Drummond in 1390. The estate is recorded in 1451 as "Bouchmorale", and later was tenanted by Alexander Gordon, second son of the 1st Earl of Huntly. A tower house was built on the estate by the Gordons.</p><br>
<p>In 1662 the estate passed to Charles Farquharson of Inverey, brother of John Farquharson, the "Black Colonel". The Farquharsons were Jacobite sympathisers, and James Farquharson of Balmoral was involved in both the 1715 and 1745 rebellions. He was wounded at the Battle of Falkirk in 1746. The Farquharson estates were forfeit, and passed to the Farquharsons of Auchendryne. In 1798, James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife, acquired Balmoral and leased the castle. Sir Robert Gordon, a younger brother of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, acquired the lease in 1830. He made major alterations to the original castle at Balmoral, including baronial-style extensions that were designed by John Smith of Aberdeen.</p><br>
<h3>Royal acquisition</h3><br>
<p>Queen Victoria and Prince Albert first visited Scotland in 1842, five years after her accession to the throne and two years after their marriage. During this first visit they stayed at Edinburgh, and at Taymouth Castle in Perthshire, the home of the Marquess of Breadalbane. They returned in 1844 to stay at Blair Castle and, in 1847, when they rented Ardverikie by Loch Laggan. During the latter trip they encountered weather that was extremely rainy, which led Sir James Clark, the queen&#39;s doctor, to recommend Deeside instead, for its more healthy climate.</p><br>
<p>Sir Robert Gordon died in 1847 and his lease on Balmoral reverted to Lord Aberdeen. In February 1848 an arrangement was made—that Prince Albert would acquire the remaining part of the lease on Balmoral, together with its furniture and staff—without having seen the property first.</p><br>
<p>The royal couple arrived for their first visit on 8 September 1848. Victoria found the house "small but pretty", and recorded in her diary that: "All seemed to breathe freedom and peace, and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils". The surrounding hilly landscape reminded them of Thuringia, Albert&#39;s homeland in Germany.</p><br>
<p>Quickly, the house was confirmed to be too small and, in 1848, John and William Smith were commissioned to design new offices, cottages, and other ancillary buildings. Improvements to the woodlands, gardens, and estate buildings also were being made, with the assistance of the landscape gardener, James Beattie, and possibly by the painter, James Giles.</p><br>
<p>Major additions to the old house were considered in 1849, but by then negotiations were under way to purchase the estate from the trustees of the deceased Earl Fife. After seeing a corrugated iron cottage at the Great Exhibition of 1851, Prince Albert ordered a pre-fabricated iron building for Balmoral from E. T. Bellhouse & Co., to serve as a temporary ballroom and dining room. It was in use by 1 October 1851, and would serve as a ballroom until 1856.</p><br>
<p>The sale was completed in June 1852, the price being £32,000, and Prince Albert formally took possession that autumn. The neighbouring estate of Birkhall was bought at the same time, and the lease on Abergeldie Castle secured as well. To mark the occasion, the Purchase Cairn was erected in the hills overlooking the castle, the first of many.</p><br>
<h3>Construction of the new house</h3><br>
<p>The growing family of Victoria and Albert, the need for additional staff, and the quarters required for visiting friends and official visitors such as cabinet members, however, meant that extension of the existing structure would not be sufficient and that a larger house needed to be built. In early 1852, this was commissioned from William Smith. The son of John Smith (who designed the 1830 alterations of the original castle), William Smith was city architect of Aberdeen from 1852. On learning of the commission, William Burn sought an interview with the prince, apparently to complain that Smith previously had plagiarised his work, however, Burn was unsuccessful in depriving Smith of the appointment. William Smith&#39;s designs were amended by Prince Albert, who took a close interest in details such as turrets and windows.</p><br>
<p>Construction began during summer 1853, on a site some 100 yd northwest of the original building that was considered to have a better vista. Another reason for consideration was, that whilst construction was ongoing, the family would still be able to use the old house. Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone on 28 September 1853, during her annual autumn visit. By the autumn of 1855, the royal apartments were ready for occupancy, although the tower was still under construction and the servants had to be lodged in the old house. By coincidence, shortly after their arrival at the estate that autumn, news circulated about the fall of Sevastopol, ending the Crimean War, resulting in wild celebrations by royalty and locals alike. While visiting the estate shortly thereafter, Prince Frederick of Prussia asked for the hand of Princess Victoria.</p><br>
<p>The new house was completed in 1856, and the old castle subsequently was demolished. By autumn 1857, a new bridge across the Dee, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel linking Crathie and Balmoral was finished.</p><br>
<p>Balmoral Castle is built from granite quarried at Invergelder on the estate, It consists of two main blocks, each arranged around a courtyard. The southwestern block contains the main rooms, while the northeastern contains the service wings. At the southeast is an 80 ft tall clock tower topped with turrets, Being similar in style to the demolished castle of the 1830s, the architecture of the new house is considered to be somewhat dated for its time when contrasted with the richer forms of Scots Baronial being developed by William Burn and others during the 1850s. As an exercise in Scots Baronial, it sometimes is described as being too ordered, pedantic, and even, Germanic—as a consequence of Prince Albert&#39;s influence on the design.</p><br>
<p>The purchase of a Scottish estate by Victoria and Albert and their adoption of a Scottish architectural style, however, was very influential for the ongoing revival of Highland culture. They decorated Balmoral with tartans and attended highland games at Braemar. Queen Victoria expressed an affinity for Scotland, even professing herself to be a Jacobite. Added to the work of Sir Walter Scott, this became a major factor in promoting the adoption of Highland culture by Lowland Scots. Historian Michael Lynch comments that "the Scottishness of Balmoral helped to give the monarchy a truly British dimension for the first time".</p><br>
<h3>Victoria and Albert at Balmoral</h3><br>
<p>Even before the completion of the new house, the pattern of the life of the royal couple in the Highlands was soon established. Victoria took long walks of up to four hours daily and Albert spent many days hunting deer and game. In 1849, diarist Charles Greville described their life at Balmoral as resembling that of gentry rather than royalty. Victoria began a policy of commissioning artists to record Balmoral, its surroundings, and its staff. Over the years, numerous painters were employed at Balmoral, including Edwin and Charles Landseer, Carl Haag, William Wyld, and William Henry Fisk. The royal couple took great interest in their staff. They established a lending library.</p><br>
<p>During the 1850s, new plantations were established near the house and exotic conifers were planted on the grounds. Prince Albert had an active role in these improvements, overseeing the design of parterres, the diversion of the main road north of the river via a new bridge, and plans for farm buildings.</p><br>
<p>Following Albert&#39;s death, Victoria spent increasing periods at Balmoral, staying for as long as four months a year during early summer and autumn. Few further changes were made to the grounds, with the exception of some alterations to mountain paths, the erection of various cairns and monuments, and the addition of some cottages (Karim Cottage and Baile na Coille) built for senior staff. It was during this period that Victoria began to depend on her servant, John Brown. He was a local ghillie from Crathie, who became one of her closest companions during her long mourning.</p><br>
<p>In 1887, Balmoral Castle was the birthplace of Victoria Eugenie, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She was born to Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter of Victoria and Albert. Victoria Eugenie would become the queen of Spain.</p><br>
<p>In September 1896, Victoria welcomed Emperor Nicholas II of Russia and Empress Alexandra to Balmoral. Four years later Victoria made her last visit to the estate, three months before her death on 22 January 1901.</p><br>
<h3>After Victoria</h3><br>
<p>After Victoria&#39;s death, the royal family continued to use Balmoral during annual autumn visits. George V had substantial improvements made during the 1910s and 1920s, including formal gardens to the south of the castle.</p><br>
<p>During the Second World War, royal visits to Balmoral ceased. In addition, due to the enmity with Germany, Danzig Shiel, a lodge built by Victoria in Ballochbuie was renamed Garbh Allt Shiel and the "King of Prussia&#39;s Fountain" was removed from the grounds.</p><br>
<p>Since the 1950s, Prince Philip has added herbaceous borders and a water garden. During the 1980s new staff buildings were built close to the castle.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>Though called a castle, Balmorals primary function is that of a country house. It is a "typical and rather ordinary" country house from the Victorian period. The tower and "pepper pot turrets" are characteristic features of the residences Scottish Baronial style. The seven-storey tower is an architectural feature borrowed from medieval defensive tower houses. The "pepper pot turrets" were influenced by the style of 16th-century French châteaux. Other features of the Scottish Baronial style are the crow-stepped gables, dormer windows, and battlemented porte-cochère.</p><br>
<h2>Ownership</h2><br>
<p>Balmoral is a private property and, unlike the monarch&#39;s official residences, is not the property of the Crown. It originally was purchased personally by Prince Albert, rather than the queen, meaning that no revenues from the estate go to Parliament or to the public purse, as otherwise in accord with the Civil List Act 1760 would be the case for property owned outright by the monarch.</p><br>
<p>Along with Sandringham House in Norfolk, ownership of Balmoral was inherited by Edward VIII on his accession in 1936. When he abdicated later the same year, however, he retained ownership of them. A financial settlement was devised, under which Balmoral and Sandringham were purchased by Edward&#39;s brother and successor to the Crown, George VI.</p><br>
<p>Currently, the estate is still owned outright by the monarch, but, by Trustees under Deeds of Nomination and Appointment, it is managed by a trust.</p><br>
<h2>The estate</h2><br>
<h3>Current extent and operation</h3><br>
<p>Balmoral Estate is within the Cairngorms National Park and is partly within the Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area. The 50,000 acre estate contains a wide variety of landscapes, from the Dee river valley to open mountains. There are seven Munros (hills in Scotland over 3,000 ft) within the estate, the highest being Lochnagar at 3,789 ft. This mountain was the setting for a childrens story, The Old Man of Lochnagar, told originally by Prince Charles to his younger brothers, Andrew and Edward. The story was published in 1980, with royalties accruing to The Princes Trust.</p><br>
<p>The estate extends to Loch Muick in the southeast where an old boat house and the Royal Bothy (hunting lodge) now named Glas-allt-Shiel, built by Victoria, are located.</p><br>
<p>The working estate includes grouse moors, forestry, and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, and ponies. It also offers access to the public for fishing (paid) and hiking during certain seasons.</p><br>
<p>Approximately 8,000 acres of the estate are covered by trees, with almost 3,000 acres used for forestry that yields nearly 10,000 tonnes of wood per year. Ballochbuie Forest, one of the largest remaining areas of old Caledonian pine growth in Scotland, consists of approximately 3,000 acres. It is managed with only minimal or no intervention. The principal mammal on the estate is the red deer with a population of 2,000 to 2,500 head.</p><br>
<p>The areas of Lochnagar and Ballochbuie were designated in 1998 by the Secretary of State for Scotland as Special Protection Areas (SPA) under the European Union (EU) Birds Directive.</p><br>
<p>Bird species inhabiting the moorlands include red grouse, black grouse, ptarmigan, and the capercaillie. Ballochbuie also is protected as a Special Area of Conservation by the EU Habitats Directive, as "one of the largest remaining continuous areas of native Caledonian Forest". In addition, there are four sites of special scientific interest on the estate.</p><br>
<p>The royal family employs approximately 50 full-time and 50–100 part-time staff to maintain the working estate. A malt whisky distillery located on the Balmoral Estate produces the Royal Lochnagar Single Malt whisky.</p><br>
<p>There are approximately 150 buildings on the estate, including Birkhall, formerly home to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and used now by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall for their summer holidays. Craigowan Lodge is used regularly by the family and friends of the royal family and also has been used while Balmoral Castle was being prepared for a royal visit. Six smaller buildings on the estate are let as holiday cottages.</p><br>
<h3>Public access to gardens and castle grounds</h3><br>
<p>In 1931, the castle gardens were opened to the public for the first time and they now are open daily between April and the end of July, after which Queen Elizabeth arrives for her annual stay. The ballroom is the only room in the castle that may be viewed by the public.</p><br>
<h3>Craigowan Lodge</h3><br>
<p>Craigowan Lodge is a seven-bedroom stone house approximately a mile from the main castle in Balmoral. More rustic than the castle, the lodge was often the home of Charles and Diana when they visited. Currently, it is used as quarters for important guests.</p><br>
<p>In the obituary of Michael Andreevich Romanoff, the highest-ranking member of the Russian imperial family at the time of his death in 2008, it was noted that his family spent most of World War II at Craigowan Lodge.</p><br>
<p>The lodge has been in the news periodically since 2005, because Queen Elizabeth often spends the first few days of her summer holiday there. During each weekend of the summer the castle is a lucrative source of income from visiting tourists. Sometimes, the Queen arrives at Balmoral before the tourist visiting season is over.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Queen Elizabeth was in residence at Balmoral at the time of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. Her private discussions with then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, were dramatised in the Stephen Frears film, The Queen (2006). The 1997 film Mrs Brown also was based on events at Balmoral. In both films, however, substitute locations were used: Blairquhan Castle in The Queen; and Duns Castle in Mrs Brown.</p><br>
<h3>Banknote illustration</h3><br>
<p>Since 1987 an illustration of the castle has been featured on the reverse side of £100 notes issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland.</p><br>
<p>Ben Nevis  is the highest mountain in the British Isles, located in Scotland. Standing at 1,344.527 m above sea level, it is located at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands, close to the town of Fort William.</p><br>
<p>The mountain is a popular destination, attracting an estimated 100,000 ascents a year, around three-quarters of which use the Pony Track from Glen Nevis.</p><br>
<p>The 700 m cliffs of the north face are among the highest in Scotland, providing classic scrambles and rock climbs of all difficulties for climbers and mountaineers. They are also the principal locations in Scotland for ice climbing.</p><br>
<p>The summit, which is the collapsed dome of an ancient volcano, features the ruins of an observatory which was continuously staffed between 1883 and 1904. The meteorological data collected during this period are still important for understanding Scottish mountain weather. C. T. R. Wilson was inspired to invent the cloud chamber after a period spent working at the observatory.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>"Ben Nevis" is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic name "Beinn Nibheis". "Beinn" is the most common Gaelic word for "mountain", "Nibheis" is variously understood, though the word is commonly translated as "malicious" or "venomous". An alternative interpretation is that "Beinn Nibheis" derives from "beinn nèamh-bhathais", from "nèamh" "heavens, clouds" and "bathais" "top of a man&#39;s head". One translation would therefore be "the mountain with its head in the clouds", though "mountain of Heaven" is also frequently given.</p><br>
<p>As is common for many Scottish mountains, it is known both to locals and visitors as simply "the Ben".</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Ben Nevis forms a massif with its neighbour to the northeast, Càrn Mòr Dearg, to which it is linked by the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête. Both mountains are among the nine in Scotland over 4,000 ft; Aonach Beag and Aonach Mòr are also on the Nevis massif.</p><br>
<p>The western and southern flanks of Ben Nevis rise 1,200 m in about 2 km from the floor of Glen Nevis – the longest and steepest hill slope in Britain – with the result that the mountain presents an aspect of massive bulk on this side. To the north, by contrast, cliffs drop some 600 m to Coire Leis (pronounced Koruh Laysh.) A descent of 200 meters from this corrie leads to the Charles Inglis Clark Memorial Hut (known as the CIC Hut), a private mountain hut located at 680 m above sea level, owned by the Scottish Mountaineering Club and used as a base for the many climbing routes on the mountains north face. The hut is situated just above the confluence of Allt a Mhuilinn and Allt Coire na Ciste.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the main 1,345 m summit, Ben Nevis has two subsidiary "tops" listed in Munros Tables, both of which are called Càrn Dearg ("red hill"). The higher of these, at 1,221 m, is situated to the northwest, and is often mistaken for Ben Nevis itself in views from the Fort William area. The other Càrn Dearg (1,020 m) juts out into Glen Nevis on the mountains southwestern side. A lower hill, Meall an t-Suidhe (711 m), is located further west, forming a saddle with Ben Nevis which contains a small loch, Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe. The popular tourist path from Glen Nevis skirts the side of this hill before ascending Ben Nevis&#39;s broad western flank.</p><br>
<h3>Geology</h3><br>
<p>Ben Nevis is all that remains of a Devonian volcano that met a cataclysmic end in the Carboniferous period around 350 million years ago. Evidence near the summit shows light-coloured granite (which had cooled in subterranean chambers several kilometres beneath the surface) lies among dark basaltic lavas (that only form on the surface). The two lying side-by-side is evidence the huge volcano collapsed in on itself creating an explosion comparable to Thera (2nd millennium BC) or Krakatoa (1883).</p><br>
<p>The mountain is now all that remains of the imploded inner dome of the volcano.</p><br>
<p>Its form has been extensively shaped by glaciation.</p><br>
<p>Research has shown igneous rock from the Devonian period (around 400 million years ago) intrudes into the surrounding metamorphic schists; the intrusions take the form of a series of concentric ring dikes. The innermost of these, known as the Inner Granite, constitutes the southern bulk of the mountain above Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe, and also the neighbouring ridge of Càrn Mòr Dearg; Meall an t-Suidhe forms part of the Outer Granite, which is redder in colour. The summit dome itself, together with the steep northern cliffs, is composed of andesite and basaltic lavas.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Ben Nevis has a highland (alpine) maritime (oceanic) Polar climate (ET climate in Köppens classification). Ben Neviss altitude, maritime location and topography frequently lead to cool and cloudy weather conditions, which can pose a danger to ill-equipped walkers. According to the observations carried out at the summit observatory from 1883–1904, fog was present on the summit for almost 80% of the time between November and January, and 55% of the time in May and June. The average winter temperature was around -5 &deg;C, In an average year the summit sees 261 gales, and receives 4,350 mm of rainfall, compared to only 2,050 mm in nearby Fort William, 840 mm in Inverness and 580 mm in London. Rainfall on Ben Nevis is about twice as high in the winter as it is in the spring and summer. Snow can be found on the mountain almost all year round, particularly in the gullies of the north face – with the higher reaches of Observatory Gully holding snow until September most years and sometimes until the new snows of the following season.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first recorded ascent of Ben Nevis was made on 17 August 1771 by James Robertson, an Edinburgh botanist, who was in the region to collect botanical specimens. Another early ascent was in 1774 by John Williams, who provided the first account of the mountain&#39;s geological structure. John Keats climbed the mountain in 1818, comparing the ascent to "mounting ten St. Pauls without the convenience of a staircase". The following year William MacGillivray, who was later to become a distinguished naturalist, reached the summit only to find "fragments of earthen and glass ware, chicken bones, corks, and bits of paper". It was not until 1847 that Ben Nevis was confirmed by the Ordnance Survey as the highest mountain in Britain and Ireland, ahead of its rival Ben Macdhui.</p><br>
<p>The summit observatory was built in the summer of 1883, and would remain in operation for 21 years. The first path to the summit was built at the same time as the observatory and was designed to allow ponies to carry up supplies, with a maximum gradient of one in five. The opening of the path and the observatory made the ascent of the Ben increasingly popular, all the more so after the arrival of the West Highland Railway in Fort William in 1894. Around this time the first of several proposals was made for a rack railway to the summit, none of which came to fruition.</p><br>
<p>In 2000, the Ben Nevis Estate, comprising all of the south side of the mountain including the summit, was bought by the Scottish conservation charity the John Muir Trust.</p><br>
<h2>Ascent routes</h2><br>
<p>The 1883 Pony Track to the summit (also known as the Ben Path, the Mountain Path or the Tourist Route) remains the simplest and most popular route of ascent. It begins at Achintee on the east side of Glen Nevis about 2 km from Fort William town centre, at around 20 metres above sea level. Bridges from the Visitor Centre and the youth hostel now allow access from the west side of Glen Nevis. The path climbs steeply to the saddle by Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe (colloquially known as the Halfway Lake) at 570 m, then ascends the remaining 700 metres up the stony west flank of Ben Nevis in a series of zig-zags. The path is regularly maintained but running water, uneven rocks and loose scree make it hazardous and slippery in places. Thanks to the zig-zags, the path is not unusually steep apart from in the initial stages, but inexperienced walkers should be aware that the descent is relatively arduous and wearing on the knees.</p><br>
<p>A route popular with experienced hillwalkers starts at Torlundy, a few miles north-east of Fort William on the A82 road, and follows the path alongside the Allt a&#39; Mhuilinn. It can also be reached from Glen Nevis by following the Pony Track as far as Lochan Meall an t-Suidhe, then descending slightly to the CIC Hut. The route then ascends Càrn Mòr Dearg and continues along the Càrn Mòr Dearg Arête ("CMD Arête") before climbing steeply to the summit of Ben Nevis. This route involves a total of 1,500 metres of ascent and requires modest scrambling ability and a head for heights. In common with other approaches on this side of the mountain, it has the advantage of giving an extensive view of the cliffs of the north face, which are hidden from the Pony Track.</p><br>
<p>It is also possible to climb Ben Nevis from the Nevis Gorge car park at Steal at the head of the road up Glen Nevis, either by the south-east ridge or via the summit of Càrn Dearg (south-west). These routes require mild scrambling, are shorter and steeper than the Pony Track, and tend only to be used by experienced hill walkers.</p><br>
<h2>Summit</h2><br>
<p>The summit of Ben Nevis comprises a large stony plateau of about 40 hectare. The highest point is marked with a large, solidly built cairn atop which sits an Ordnance Survey trig point. The summit is the highest ground for over 400 mi, before the Scandinavian Mountains in western Norway are reached, which contain many peaks higher than Ben Nevis. The summit is much higher than the Faroe Islands as well as the rest of the British Isles.</p><br>
<p>The ruined walls of the observatory are a prominent feature on the summit. An emergency shelter has been built on top of the observatory tower for the benefit of those caught out by bad weather. Although the base of the tower is slightly lower than the true summit of the mountain, the roof of the shelter overtops the trig point by several feet, making it the highest man-made structure in the UK. A war memorial to the dead of World War II is located next to the observatory.</p><br>
<p>On 17 May 2006, a piano that had been buried under one of the cairns on the peak was uncovered by the John Muir Trust, which owns much of the mountain. The piano is believed to have been carried up for charity by removal men from Dundee over 20 years earlier.</p><br>
<p>The view from the UK&#39;s highest point is extensive. Under ideal conditions, it can extend to over 190 km, including such mountains as the Torridon Hills, Morven in Caithness, Lochnagar, Ben Lomond, Barra Head and to Knocklayd in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.</p><br>
<h3>Observatory</h3><br>
<p>A meteorological observatory on the summit was first proposed by the Scottish Meteorological Society (SMS) in the late 1870s, at a time when similar observatories were being built around the world to study the weather at high altitude. The building was manned full-time until 1904, when it was closed due to inadequate government funding. The twenty years worth of readings still provide the most comprehensive set of data on mountain weather in Great Britain.</p><br>
<p>In September 1894, C. T. R. Wilson was employed at the observatory for a couple of weeks as temporary relief for one of the permanent staff. During this period, he witnessed a Brocken spectre and glory, caused by the sun casting a shadow on a cloud below the observer. He subsequently tried to reproduce these phenomena in the laboratory, resulting in his invention of the cloud chamber, used to detect ionising radiation.</p><br>
<p>Marjory Roy, a member of the Scottish Meteorological Society is the author of the book The Ben Nevis Weathermen, which is in print and available from SMC or from the West Highland Museum in Fort William. This tells the story of the funding, building and operating of the Ben Nevis Observatory in Fort William, Scotland.</p><br>
<h2>Navigation and safety</h2><br>
<p>Ben Nevis&#39;s popularity, climate and complex topography contribute to a high number of mountain rescue incidents. In 1999, for example, there were 41 rescues and four fatalities on the mountain. Some accidents arise over difficulties in navigating to or from the summit, especially in poor visibility. The problem stems from the fact that the summit plateau is roughly kidney-shaped and surrounded by cliffs on three sides; the danger is particularly accentuated when the main path is obscured by snow. Two precise compass bearings taken in succession are necessary to navigate from the summit cairn to the west flank, from where a descent can be made on the Pony Track in relative safety.</p><br>
<p>In the late 1990s, Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team erected two posts on the summit plateau to assist walkers attempting the descent in foggy conditions. These posts were subsequently cut down by climbers, sparking controversy in mountaineering circles on the ethics of such additions. Critics argued that cairns and posts are an unnecessary man-made intrusion into the natural landscape, which create a false sense of security and could lessen mountaineers&#39; sense of responsibility for their own safety. Supporters of navigational aids pointed to the high number of accidents that occurred on the mountain (between 1990 and 1995 alone there were 13 fatalities, although eight of these were due to falls while rock climbing rather than navigational error), the long tradition of placing such aids on the summit, and the potentially life-saving role they could play. A series of solidly-constructed cairns currently (September 2009) marks the upper reaches of the Pony Track.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing on Ben Nevis</h2><br>
<p>The north face of Ben Nevis is riven with buttresses, ridges, towers and pinnacles, and contains many classic scrambles and rock climbs. It is of major importance for British winter climbing, with many of its routes holding snow often until late April. It was one of the first places in Scotland to receive the attention of serious mountaineers, with an ascent of Tower Ridge in 1892 the earliest documented climbing expedition on the Ben. (It was not climbed from bottom to top for another two years). The Scottish Mountaineering Club&#39;s Charles Inglis Clark hut was built below the north face in Coire Leis in 1929. Because of its remote location, it is said to be the only genuine alpine hut in Britain. It remains popular with climbers, especially in winter.</p><br>
<p>Tower Ridge is the longest of the north faces four main ridges, with around 600 metres of ascent. It is not technically demanding (its grade is Difficult), and most pitches can be tackled unroped by competent climbers, but it is committing and very exposed. Between the Tower and Observatory Ridges are the Tower and Gardyloo Gullies; the latter takes its name from the cry of "garde à leau" (French for "watch out for the water") formerly used in Scottish cities as a warning when householders threw their slops (and worse) out of a tenement window into the street. The gullys top wall was the refuse pit for the now-disused summit observatory. rock problem, the Man-trap&#39;, can be avoided on either side.</p><br>
<p>The north face contains dozens of graded rock climbs along its entire length, with particular concentrations on the Càrn Dearg Buttress (below the Munro top of Càrn Dearg NW) and around the North-east Buttress and Observatory Ridge. Classic rock routes include Rubicon Wall on Observatory Buttress (Severe) – whose second ascent in 1937, when it was considered the hardest route on the mountain, is described by W. H. Murray in Mountaineering in Scotland – and, on Càrn Dearg, Centurion and The Bullroar (both HVS), Torro (E2), and Titans Wall (E3), these four described in the SMCs guide as among "the best climbs of their class in Scotland".</p><br>
<p>Many seminal lines were recorded before the First World War by pioneering Scottish climbers like J N Collie, Willie Naismith, Harold Raeburn, and William and Jane Inglis Clark. Other classic routes were put up by G. Graham Macphee, Dr James H. B. Bell and others between the Wars; these include Bells Long Climb&#39;, at 1,400 ft reputedly the longest sustained climb on the British mainland. In summer 1943 conscientious objector Brian Kellett made a phenomenal seventy-four repeat climbs and seventeen first ascents including fourteen solos, returning in 1944 to add fifteen more new lines, eleven solo, including his eponymous HVS on Gardyloo buttress. Much more recently, an extreme and as-yet ungraded climb on Echo Wall was completed by Dave MacLeod in 2008 after two years of preparation.</p><br>
<p>The north face is also one of Scotland&#39;s foremost venues for winter mountaineering and ice climbing, and holds snow until quite late in the year; in a good year, routes may remain in winter condition until mid-spring. Most of the possible rock routes are also suitable as winter climbs, including the four main ridges; Tower Ridge, for example, is grade IV on the Scottish winter grading system, having been upgraded in 2009 by the Scottish Mountaineering Club after requests by the local Mountain Rescue Team, there being numerous benightments and incidents every winter season. Probably the most popular ice climb on Ben Nevis is The Curtain (IV,5) on the left side of the Càrn Dearg Buttress. At the top end of the scale, Centurion in winter is a grade VIII,8 face climb.</p><br>
<p>In February 1960 James R. Marshall and Robin Clark Smith recorded six major new ice routes in only eight days including Orion Direct (V,5 400m); this winter version of Bells Long Climb was "the climax of a magnificent weeks climbing by Smith and Marshall, and the highpoint of the step-cutting era."</p><br>
<h2>Ben Nevis Race</h2><br>
<p>The history of hill running on Ben Nevis dates back to 1895. William Swan, a barber from Fort William, made the first recorded timed ascent up the mountain on or around 27 September of that year, when he ran from the old post office in Fort William to the summit and back in 2 hours 41 minutes.</p><br>
<p>The following years saw several improvements on Swans record, but the first competitive race was held on 3 June 1898 under Scottish Amateur Athletic Association rules. Ten competitors ran the course, which started at the Lochiel Arms Hotel in Banavie and was thus longer than the route from Fort William; the winner was 21-year-old Hugh Kennedy, a gamekeeper at Tor Castle, who finished (coincidentally with Swans original run) in 2 hours 41 minutes.</p><br>
<p>Regular races were organised until 1903, when two events were held; these were the last for 24 years, perhaps due to the closure of the summit observatory the following year. The first was from Achintee, at the foot of the Pony Track, and finished at the summit; It was won in just over an hour by Ewen MacKenzie, the observatory roadman. The second race ran from new Fort William post office, and MacKenzie lowered the record to 2 hours 10 minutes, a record he held for 34 years.</p><br>
<p>The Ben Nevis Race has been run in its current form since 1937. It now takes place on the first Saturday in September every year, with a maximum of 500 competitors taking part. It starts and finishes at the Claggan Park football ground on the outskirts of Fort William, and is 14 km long with 1,340 m of ascent. Due to the seriousness of the mountain environment, entry is restricted to those who have completed three hill races, and runners must carry waterproofs, a hat, gloves and a whistle; anyone who has not reached the summit after two hours is turned back. As of 2010 the records have stood unbroken since 1984, when Kenny Stuart and Pauline Haworth of Keswick Athletic Club won the mens and the womens races with times of 1:25:34 and 1:43:25 respectively.</p><br>
<h2>Snowsport on The Ben</h2><br>
<p>Ben Nevis is becoming popular with ski mountaineers and boarders. The Red Burn (Allt Coire na h-Urcaire) just to the North of the tourist path gives the easiest descent, but most if not all of the easier gullies on the North Face have been skied, as has the slope once adorned by the abseil poles into Coire Leis. No 4 gully is probably the most skied. Although Tower scoop makes it a no-fall zone, Tower Gully is becoming popular, especially in May and June when there is spring snow.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental issues and Nevis Landscape Partnership</h2><br>
<p>Ben Nevis&#39;s popularity and high-profile have led to concerns in recent decades over the impact of humans on the fragile mountain environment. These concerns contributed to the creation of The, a five-year programme which aims to protect, enhance and future-proof Ben Nevis by delivering nineteen ambitious environmental projects between 2014 and 2019. The Nevis Landscape Partnership is supported by five partner organisations (John Muir Trust, Forestry Commission Scotland, The Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage & The Nevis Partnership) and has been made possible by Heritage Lottery Funding.</p><br>
<p>Now in project year three (March 2016 – March 2017), there have been significant positive changes implemented by Nevis Landscape Partnership and their projects, most significantly the upgrades to the. Work to upgrade the mountain track started in November 2015 after two contracts were awarded to McGowan Ltd. & Cairngorm Wilderness Contracts. Both contractors immediately started bagging stone from high up Ben Nevis to be brought down to by helicopter to replace crumbling steps and stabilise eroding parts of the path. The project will eventually upgrade 3.5 km of the mountain track from the starting point at Achintee all the way up to John&#39;s Wall; this year the maintenance was focused on a difficult middle section which was most in need of attention. After six months of hard work and battling with the weather, the contractors have now upgraded 1 km of the mountain track which is roughly 30% of the overall maintenance this project will carry out. The next contracted works will resume towards the end of September, after the Ben Nevis Race, for stage two of the project.</p><br>
<p>Volunteer effort has already been a huge help and will continue to be a large contributing factor to the overall upgrade of the mountain track. Nevis Landscape Partnership are working closely with National Trust for Scotland to run which will focus on much-needed maintenance on the first section of the Ben Nevis footpath and allow outdoor enthusiasts to actively be a part of maintaining and protecting the United Kingdom&#39;s highest mountain for this generation and many more to come.</p><br>
<h2>Ben Nevis Distillery</h2><br>
<p>The Ben Nevis Distillery is a single malt whisky distillery at the foot of the mountain, located by Victoria Bridge to the north of Fort William. Founded in 1825 by John McDonald (known as "Long John"), it is one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland, and is a popular visitor attraction in Fort William. The water used to make the whisky comes from the Allt a Mhuilinn, the stream that flows from Ben Neviss northern corrie. "Ben Nevis" 80/- organic ale is, by contrast, brewed in Bridge of Allan near Stirling.</p><br>
<h2>Other uses</h2><br>
<p>Ben Nevis was the name of a White Star Line packet ship which in 1854 carried the group of immigrants who were to become the Wends of Texas. At least another eight vessels have carried the name since then.</p><br>
<p>A mountain in Svalbard is also named Ben Nevis, after the Scottish peak. It is 922 metres high, and located south of the head of Raudfjorden, Albert I Land, in the northwestern part of the island of Spitsbergen.</p><br>
<p>A comic strip character, Wee Ben Nevis, about a Scottish Highlands boarding school student with superhuman strength and his antics were featured in the British comic The Beano from 1974 to 1977, was named after the mountain.</p><br>
<p>Hung Fa Chai, a 489-metre hill in Northeast New Territories of Hong Kong was marked as Ben Nevis on historical colonial maps.</p><br>
<p>The Banda Islands  are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about 140 km south of Seram Island and about 2,000 km east of Java, and constitute an administrative district  within the Central Maluku Regency in the Indonesian province of Maluku. The main town and administrative centre is Bandanaira, located on the island of the same name. They rise out of 4 to 6 km deep ocean and have a total land area of approximately 45.6 km&sup2;. They had a population of 18,544 at the 2010 Census. Until the mid-19th century the Banda Islands were the world&#39;s only source of the spices nutmeg and mace, produced from the nutmeg tree. The islands are also popular destinations for scuba diving and snorkeling.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Pre-European history</h3><br>
<p>The first documented human presence in the Banda Islands comes from a rockshelter site on Pulau Ay that was in use at least 8,000 years ago.</p><br>
<p>Before the arrival of Europeans, Banda had an oligarchic form of government led by orang kaya (rich men) and the Bandanese had an active and independent role in trade throughout the archipelago. Banda was the world&#39;s only source of nutmeg and mace, spices used as flavourings, medicines, and preserving agents that were at the time highly valued in European markets. They were sold by Arab traders to the Venetians for exorbitant prices. The traders did not divulge the exact location of their source and no European was able to deduce their location.</p><br>
<p>The first written accounts of Banda are in Suma Oriental, a book written by the Portuguese apothecary Tomé Pires who was based in Malacca from 1512 to 1515 but visited Banda several times. On his first visit, he interviewed the Portuguese and the far more knowledgeable Malay sailors in Malacca. He estimated the early sixteenth century population to be 2500–3000. He reported the Bandanese as being part of an Indonesia-wide trading network and the only native Malukan long-range traders taking cargo to Malacca, although shipments from Banda were also being made by Javanese traders.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the production of nutmeg and mace, Banda maintained significant entrepôt trade; goods that moved through Banda included cloves from Ternate and Tidore in the north, bird-of-paradise feathers from the Aru Islands and western New Guinea, massoi bark for traditional medicines and salves. In exchange, Banda predominantly received rice and cloth; namely light cotton batik from Java, calicoes from India and ikat from the Lesser Sundas. In 1603, an average quality sarong-sized cloth traded for eighteen kilograms of nutmeg. Some of these textiles were then on-sold, ending up in Halmahera and New Guinea. Coarser ikat from the Lesser Sundas was traded for sago from the Kei Islands, Aru and Seram.</p><br>
<h3>Portuguese</h3><br>
<p>In August 1511 on behalf of the king of Portugal, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca, which at the time was the hub of Asian trade. In November of that year, after having secured Malacca and learning of the Bandas location, Albuquerque sent an expedition of three ships led by his good friend António de Abreu to find them. Malay pilots, either recruited or forcibly conscripted, guided them via Java, the Lesser Sundas and Ambon to Banda, arriving in early 1512. The first Europeans to reach the Bandas, the expedition remained in Banda for about one month, purchasing and filling their ships with Bandas nutmeg and mace, and with cloves in which Banda had a thriving entrepôt trade. D&#39;Abreu sailed through Ambon and Seram while his second in command Francisco Serrão went ahead towards the Maluku islands, was shipwrecked and ended up in Ternate. Distracted by hostilities elsewhere in the archipelago, such as Ambon and Ternate, the Portuguese did not return until 1529; a Portuguese trader Captain Garcia Henriques landed troops in the Bandas. Five of the Banda islands were within gunshot of each other and he realised that a fort on the main island Neira would give him full control of the group. The Bandanese were, however, hostile to such a plan, and their warlike antics were both costly and tiresome to Garcia whose men were attacked when they attempted to build a fort. From then on, the Portuguese were infrequent visitors to the islands preferring to buy their nutmeg from traders in Malacca.</p><br>
<p>Unlike other eastern Indonesian islands, such as Ambon, Solor, Ternate and Morotai, the Bandanese displayed no enthusiasm for Christianity or the Europeans who brought it in the sixteenth century, and no serious attempt was made to Christianise the Bandanese. Maintaining their independence, the Bandanese never allowed the Portuguese to build a fort or a permanent post in the islands. Ironically though, it was this lack of ports which brought the Dutch to trade at Banda instead of the clove islands of Ternate and Tidore.</p><br>
<h3>Dutch Control</h3><br>
<p>The Dutch followed the Portuguese to Banda but were to have a much more dominating and lasting presence. Dutch-Bandanese relations were mutually resentful from the outset, with Holland’s first merchants complaining of Bandanese reneging on agreed deliveries and price, and cheating on quantity and quality. For the Bandanese, on the other hand, although they welcomed another competitor purchaser for their spices, the items of trade offered by the Dutch—heavy woolens, and damasks, unwanted manufactured goods, for example—were usually unsuitable in comparison to traditional trade products. The Javanese, Arab and Indian, and Portuguese traders for example brought indispensable items along with steel knives, copper, medicines and prized Chinese porcelain.</p><br>
<p>As much as the Dutch disliked dealing with the Bandanese, the trade was a highly profitable one with spices selling for 300 times the purchase price in Banda. This amply justified the expense and risk in shipping them to Europe. The allure of such profits saw an increasing number of Dutch expeditions; it was soon seen that in trade with the East Indies, competition from each would eat into all their profits. Thus the competitors united to form the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) (the ‘Dutch East Indies Company) in 1602.</p><br>
<p>Until the early seventeenth century the Bandas were ruled by a group of leading citizens, the orang kaya (literally rich men); each of these was head of a district. At the time nutmeg was one of the "fine spices" kept expensive in Europe by disciplined manipulation of the market, but a desirable commodity for Dutch traders in the ports of India as well; economic historian Fernand Braudel notes that India consumed twice as much as Europe. A number of Banda’s orang kaya were persuaded by the Dutch to sign a treaty granting the Dutch a monopoly on spice purchases. Even though the Bandanese had little understanding of the significance of the treaty known as The Eternal Compact, or that not all Bandanese leaders had signed, it would later be used to justify Dutch troops being brought in to defend their monopoly.</p><br>
<p>In April 1609, Admiral Pieter Willemsz. Verhoeff arrived at Banda Neira with a request by Maurice, Prince of Orange to build a fort on the island (the eventual Fort Nassau). The Bandanese were not excited about this idea. On May 22, before building of the fort had started, the orang kaya called a meeting with the Dutch admiral, purportedly to negotiate prices. Instead, they led Verhoeff and two high-ranked men into an ambush and decapitated them and subsequently killed 46 of the Dutch visitors. Jan Pietersz Coen, who was a lower-ranked merchant on the expedition, managed to escape, but the traumatic event likely influenced his future attitude towards the Bandanese.</p><br>
<h3>English-Dutch rivalry</h3><br>
<p>While Portuguese and Spanish activity in the region had weakened, the English had built fortified trading posts on tiny Ai and Run islands, ten to twenty kilometres from the main Banda Islands. With the English paying higher prices, they were significantly undermining Dutch aims for a monopoly. As Anglo-Dutch tensions increased in 1611 the Dutch built the larger and more strategic Fort Belgica above Fort Nassau.</p><br>
<p>In 1615, the Dutch invaded Ai with 900 men whereupon the English retreated to Run where they regrouped. Japanese mercenaries served in the Dutch forces. That same night, the English launched a surprise counter-attack on Ai, retaking the island and killing 200 Dutchmen. A year later, a much stronger Dutch force attacked Ai. This time the defenders were able to hold off the attack with cannon fire, but after a month of siege they ran out of ammunition. The Dutch slaughtered the defenders, and afterwards strengthened the fort, renaming it Fort Revenge.</p><br>
<h3>Massacre of the Bandanese</h3><br>
<p>Newly appointed VOC governor-general Jan Pieterszoon Coen set about enforcing Dutch monopoly over the Banda’s spice trade. In 1621 well-armed soldiers were landed on Bandaneira Island and within a few days they had also occupied neighbouring and larger Lontar. The orang kaya were forced at gunpoint to sign an unfeasibly arduous treaty, one that was in fact impossible to keep, thus providing Coen an excuse to use superior Dutch force against the Bandanese. The butchering and beheadings were carried out by the Japanese for the Dutch.</p><br>
<p>The islanders were also tortured by the Dutch. The Bandanese chiefs were tortured by the Dutch and Japanese.</p><br>
<p>The Dutch carved 68 parcels out of the islands after the enslavement and slaughter of the natives.</p><br>
<p>The population of the Banda Islands prior to Dutch conquest is generally estimated to have been around 13,000–15,000 people, some of whom were Malay and Javanese traders, as well as Chinese and Arabs. The actual numbers of Bandanese who were killed, forcibly expelled or fled the islands in 1621 remain uncertain. But readings of historical sources suggest around one thousand Bandanese likely survived in the islands, and were spread throughout the nutmeg groves as forced labourers. The Dutch subsequently re-settled the islands with imported slaves, convicts and indentured labourers (to work the nutmeg plantations), as well as immigrants from elsewhere in Indonesia. Most survivors fled as refugees to the islands of their trading partners, in particular Keffing and Guli Guli in the Seram Laut chain and Kei Besar. Shipments of surviving Bandanese were also sent to Batavia (Jakarta) to work as slaves in developing the city and its fortress. Some 530 of these individuals were later returned to the islands because of their much-needed expertise in nutmeg cultivation (something sorely lacking among newly arrived Dutch settlers).</p><br>
<p>Whereas up until this point the Dutch presence had been simply as traders, that was sometimes treaty-based, the Banda conquest marked the start of the first overt colonial rule in Indonesia, albeit under the auspices of the VOC.</p><br>
<h3>VOC Monopoly</h3><br>
<p>Having nearly eradicated the islands&#39; native population, Coen divided the productive land of approximately half a million nutmeg trees into sixty-eight 1.2-hectare perken. These land parcels were then handed to Dutch planters known as perkeniers of which 34 were on Lontar, 31 on Ai and 3 on Neira. With few Bandanese left to work them, slaves from elsewhere were brought in. Now enjoying control of the nutmeg production, the VOC paid the perkeniers 1/122nd of the Dutch market price for nutmeg; however, the perkeniers still profited immensely building substantial villas with opulent imported European decorations.</p><br>
<p>The outlying island of Run was harder for the VOC to control and they exterminated all nutmeg trees there. The production and export of nutmeg was a VOC monopoly for almost two hundred years. Fort Belgica, one of many forts built by the Dutch East India Company, is one of the largest remaining European forts in Indonesia.</p><br>
<h3>English-Dutch rivalry continues</h3><br>
<p>Though not physically present at the Banda Islands, the English claimed the small island of Run until 1667 when, under the Treaty of Breda (1667), the Dutch and English agreed to maintain the colonial status quo and relinquish their respective claims.</p><br>
<p>In 1810, the Kingdom of Holland was a vassal of Napoleonic France and hence in conflict with Britain. The French and British were each seeking to control lucrative Indian Ocean trade routes. On 10 May 1810, a squadron consisting of the 36-gun frigate HMS Caroline, formerly French frigate HMS Piedmontaise, 18-gun sloop HMS Barracouta, and the 12-gun transport HMS Mandarin left Madras with money, supplies and troops to support the garrison at Amboyna, recently captured from the Dutch. The frigates and sloop carried a hundred officers and men of the Madras European Regiment, while the Mandarin carried supplies. The squadron was commanded by Captain Christopher Cole, with Captain Charles Foote on the Piedmontaise and Captain Richard Kenah aboard the Barracouta. After departing from Madras, Cole informed Foote and Kenah of Cole&#39;s plan to capture the Bandas; Foote and Kenah agreed. In Singapore, Captain Spencer informed Cole that over 700 regular Dutch troops may be located in the Bandas.</p><br>
<p>The squadron took a circuitous route to avoid alerting the Dutch. On 9 August 1810, the British appeared at Banda Neira. They quickly stormed the island and attacked Belgica Castle at sunrise. The battle was over within hours, with the Dutch surrendering Fort Nassau – after some subterfuge – and within days the remainder of the Banda Islands. After the Dutch surrender, Captain Charles Foote (of the Piedmontaise) was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Banda Islands. This action was a prelude to Britain&#39;s invasion of Java in 1811.</p><br>
<p>Before the Dutch retook control of the islands, the British removed many nutmeg trees and transplanted them to Ceylon and other British colonies. The competition largely destroyed the value of the Banda Islands to the Dutch.</p><br>
<h3>Recent history</h3><br>
<p>In the late 1990s, violence between Christians and Muslims and between indigenous locals and transmigrants spilled over from intercommunal conflict in Ambon. The disturbance and resulting deaths damaged the previously prosperous tourism industry.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>There are seven inhabited islands and several that are uninhabited. The inhabited islands are:</p><br>
<p>Main group:</p><br>
<p>Banda Neira, or Naira, the island with the administrative capital and a small airfield (as well as accommodation for visitors). Present on Banda Neira is Fort Belgica, one of the largest remaining Dutch forts that are still intact in Indonesia.</p><br>
<p>Banda Api, an active volcano (Gunung Api)with a peak of about 650 m</p><br>
<p>Banda Besar is the largest island (Indonesian besar, big), 12 km long and 3 km wide. It has three main settlements, Lonthoir, Selamon and Waer.</p><br>
<p>Some distance to the west:</p><br>
<p>Pulau Ai or Pulau Ay</p><br>
<p>Pulau Run, further west again. In the 17th century, this island was involved in an exchange between the British and the Dutch; it was exchanged for the island of Manhattan in New York.</p><br>
<p>To the east:</p><br>
<p>Pulau Pisang (Banana Island), also known as Syahrir.</p><br>
<p>To the southeast:</p><br>
<p>Pulau Hatta, formerly Rosengain or Rozengain</p><br>
<p>Others, possibly small and/or uninhabited, are:</p><br>
<p>Nailaka, a short distance northeast of Pulau Run</p><br>
<p>Batu Kapal</p><br>
<p>Manuk, an active volcano</p><br>
<p>Pulau Keraka or Pulau Karaka (Crab Island)</p><br>
<p>Manukang</p><br>
<p>Hatta Reef</p><br>
<p>The islands are part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests ecoregion.</p><br>
<h2>Bandanese culture</h2><br>
<p>Most of the present-day inhabitants of the Banda Islands are descended from migrants and plantation labourers from various parts of Indonesia, as well as from indigenous Bandanese. They have inherited aspects of pre-colonial ritual practices in the Bandas that are highly valued and still performed, giving them a distinct and very local cultural identity.</p><br>
<p>In addition, Bandanese speak a distinct dialect of Malay language which has several features distinguishing it from Ambonese Malay, the better-known and more widespread dialect that forms a lingua franca in central and southeast Maluku. Bandanese Malay is famous in the region for its unique, lilting accent, but it also has a number of locally identifying words in its lexicon, many of them borrowings or loanwords from Dutch.</p><br>
<p>Examples :</p><br>
<p>fork: forok (Dutch vork)</p><br>
<p>ant: mir (Dutch mier)</p><br>
<p>spoon: lepe (Dutch lepel)</p><br>
<p>difficult: lastek (Dutch lastig)</p><br>
<p>floor: plur (Dutch vloer)</p><br>
<p>porch: stup (Dutch stoep)</p><br>
<p>Banda Malay shares many Portuguese loanwords with Ambonese Malay not appearing in the national language, Indonesian. But it has comparatively fewer, and they differ in pronunciation.</p><br>
<p>Examples :</p><br>
<p>turtle: tetaruga (Banda Malay); totoruga (Ambonese Malay) (from Portuguese tartaruga)</p><br>
<p>throat: gargontong (Banda Malay); gargangtang (Ambonese Malay) (from Portuguese garganta)</p><br>
<p>Finally, and most noticeably, Banda Malay uses some distinct pronouns. The most immediately distinguishing is that of the second person singular familiar form of address: pané.</p><br>
<p>The descendants of some of the Bandanese who fled Dutch conquest in the seventeenth century live in the Kai Islands (Kepulauan Kei) to the east of the Banda group, where a version of the original Banda language is still spoken in the villages of Banda Eli and Banda Elat on Kai Besar Island. While long integrated into Kei Island society, residents of these settlements continue to value the historical origins of their ancestors.</p><br>
<p>The Territory of Christmas Island is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. Christmas Island is located in the Indian Ocean, around 350 km south of Java and Sumatra and around 1,550 km north-west of the closest point on the Australian mainland. It has an area of 135 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>Christmas Island has a population of just over 2,000 residents, the majority of whom live in settlements on the northern tip of the island. The main settlement is Flying Fish Cove. Around two-thirds of the island&#39;s population are Malaysian Chinese, with significant numbers of Malays and white Australians as well as smaller numbers of Malaysian Indians and Eurasians. Several languages are in use, including English, Malay, and various Chinese dialects, while Buddhism is the primary religion, practised by three-quarters of the population.</p><br>
<p>The first European to sight the island was Richard Rowe of the Thomas in 1615. The island was later named on Christmas Day (25 December) 1643 by Captain William Mynors, but only settled in the late 19th century. Its geographic isolation and history of minimal human disturbance has led to a high level of endemism among its flora and fauna, which is of interest to scientists and naturalists. The majority (63 percent) of the island is included in the Christmas Island National Park, which features several areas of primary monsoonal forest. Phosphate, deposited originally as guano, has been mined on the island since 1899.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Located at 10&deg;30&prime;S latitude, 105&deg;40&prime;E longitude, the island is about 19 km in greatest length and 14.5 km in breadth. The total land area is 135 km&sup2, with 138.9 km of coastline. The island is the flat summit of an underwater mountain more than 4,500 m high, which rises from about 4,200 m below the sea and only about 300 m above it. The mountain was originally a volcano, and some basalt is exposed in places such as The Dales and Dolly Beach, but most of the surface rock is limestone accumulated from coral growth. The karst terrain supports numerous anchialine caves. The summit of this mountain peak is formed by a succession of tertiary limestones ranging from the Eocene or Oligocene up to recent reef deposits, with intercalations of volcanic rock in the older beds.</p><br>
<p>Steep cliffs along much of the coast rise abruptly to a central plateau. Elevation ranges from sea level to 361 m at Murray Hill. The island is mainly tropical rainforest, 63% of which is national park land. The narrow fringing reef surrounding the island poses a maritime hazard.</p><br>
<p>Christmas Island lies 2,600 km northwest of Perth, Western Australia, 350 km south of Indonesia, 975 km ENE of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and 2,748 km west of Darwin, Northern Territory. Its closest point to the Australian mainland is 1,560 km from the town of Exmouth, Western Australia.</p><br>
<h3>Beaches</h3><br>
<p>Christmas Island has 80 kilometres of shoreline but only small parts of the shoreline are easily accessible. The islands perimeter is embodied by sharp cliff faces, making many of the islands beaches difficult to get to. Some of the easily accessible beaches include Flying Fish Cove (main beach), Lily Beach, Ethel Beach, and Isabel Beach, while the more difficult beaches to access include Greta Beach, Dolly Beach, Winifred Beach, Merrial Beach, and West White Beach, which all require a vehicle with four wheel drive and a difficult walk through dense rainforest.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Christmas Island is located towards the southern edge of the equatorial region. Climate is tropical and temperatures vary little throughout the year. The highest temperature is usually around 29 &deg;C in March and April, while the lowest temperature is 23 &deg;C and occurs in August. There is a dry season from July to November with only occasional showers. The wet season is between November and May, and includes monsoons, with downpours of rain at random times of the day. Tropical cyclones also occur in the wet season, bringing very strong winds, rain and enormous seas.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>First visits by Europeans, 1643</h3><br>
<p>Captain William Mynors of the Royal Mary, an English East India Company vessel, named the island when he sailed past it on Christmas Day, in 1643. The island was included on English and Dutch navigation charts as early as the beginning of the 17th century, but it was not until 1666 that a map published by Dutch cartographer Pieter Goos included the island. Goos labelled the island "Mony" or "Moni", the meaning of which is unclear.</p><br>
<p>English navigator William Dampier, aboard the English ship Cygnet, made the earliest recorded visit to the sea around the island in March 1688. He found it uninhabited. Dampier gave an account of the visit which can be found in his Voyages. Dampier was trying to reach Cocos from New Holland. His ship was pulled off course in an easterly direction, arriving at Christmas Island twenty-eight days later. Dampier landed at the Dales (on the west coast). Two of his crewmen became the first Europeans to set foot on Christmas Island.</p><br>
<p>Captain Daniel Beeckman of the Eagle passed the island on 5 April 1714, chronicled in his 1718 book, A Voyage to and from the Island of Borneo, in the East-Indies.</p><br>
<h3>Exploration and annexation</h3><br>
<p>The first attempt at exploring the island was in 1857 by the crew of the Amethyst. They tried to reach the summit of the island, but found the cliffs impassable.</p><br>
<p>During the 1872–76 Challenger expedition to Indonesia, naturalist John Murray carried out extensive surveys.</p><br>
<p>In 1886, Captain John Maclear of, having discovered an anchorage in a bay that he named "Flying Fish Cove", landed a party and made a small collection of the flora and fauna. In the next year, Pelham Aldrich, on board HMS Egeria, visited it for ten days, accompanied by J. J. Lister, who gathered a larger biological and mineralogical collection.</p><br>
<p>Among the rocks then obtained and submitted to Murray for examination were many of nearly pure phosphate of lime. This discovery led to annexation of the island by the British Crown on 6 June 1888.</p><br>
<h3>Settlement and exploitation</h3><br>
<p>Soon afterwards, a small settlement was established in Flying Fish Cove by G. Clunies Ross, the owner of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands (some 900 km to the south west) to collect timber and supplies for the growing industry on Cocos.</p><br>
<p>Phosphate mining began in 1899 using indentured workers from Singapore, Malaya, and China. John Davis Murray, a mechanical engineer and recent graduate of Purdue University, was sent to supervise the operation on behalf of the Phosphate Mining and Shipping Company. Murray was known as the "King of Christmas Island" until 1910, when he married and settled in London.</p><br>
<p>The island was administered jointly by the British Phosphate commissioners and district officers from the United Kingdom Colonial Office through the Straits Settlements, and later the Crown Colony of Singapore. Hunt (2011) provides a detailed history of Chinese indentured labour on the island during those years. In 1922, scientists attempted unsuccessfully to view a solar eclipse from the island to test Einstein&#39;s Theory of Relativity.</p><br>
<h3>Japanese invasion</h3><br>
<p>From the outbreak of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II in December 1941, Christmas Island was a target for Japanese occupation because of its rich phosphate deposits. The first attack was carried out on 20 January 1942, by the Japanese submarine I-59, which torpedoed a Norwegian freighter, the Eidsvold. The vessel drifted and eventually sank off West White Beach. Most of the European and Asian staff and their families were evacuated to Perth. In late February and early March 1942, there were two aerial bombing raids. Shelling from a Japanese naval group on 7 March led the district officer to hoist the white flag. But after the Japanese naval group sailed away, the British officer raised the Union flag once more. During the night of 10–11 March, a mutiny of the Indian troops, abetted by Sikh policemen, led to the killing of the five British soldiers and the imprisonment of the remaining 21 Europeans. At dawn on 31 March 1942, a dozen Japanese bombers launched the attack, destroying the radio station. The same day, a Japanese fleet of nine vessels arrived, and the island was surrendered. About 850 men of the Japanese 21st and 24th Special Base Forces and 102nd Construction Unit came ashore at Flying Fish Cove and occupied the island. They rounded up the workforce, most of whom had fled to the jungle. Sabotaged equipment was repaired and preparations were made to resume the mining and export of phosphate. Only 20 men from the 21st Special Base Force were left as a garrison.</p><br>
<p>Isolated acts of sabotage and the torpedoing of the Nissei Maru at the wharf on 17 November 1942 meant that only small amounts of phosphate were exported to Japan during the occupation. In November 1943, over 60% of the island&#39;s population was evacuated to Surabayan prison camps, leaving a total population of just under 500 Chinese and Malays and 15 Japanese to survive as best they could. In October 1945, re-occupied Christmas Island.</p><br>
<p>After the war, seven mutineers were traced and prosecuted by the Military Court in Singapore. In 1947, five of them were sentenced to death. However, following representations made by the newly independent government of India, their sentences were reduced to penal servitude for life.</p><br>
<h3>Transfer to Australia</h3><br>
<p>At Australias request, the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty to Australia, with a M$20 million payment from the Australian government to Singapore as compensation for the loss of earnings from the phosphate revenue. The United Kingdom’s Christmas Island Act was given royal assent on 14 May 1958, enabling Britain to transfer authority over Christmas Island from Singapore to Australia by an order-in-council. Australias Christmas Island Act was passed in September 1958 and the island was officially placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 October 1958.</p><br>
<p>Under Commonwealth Cabinet Decision 1573 of 9 September 1958, D. E. Nickels was appointed the first official representative of the new territory. In a media statement on 5 August 1960, the minister for territories, Paul Hasluck, said, among other things, that, "His extensive knowledge of the Malay language and the customs of the Asian people... has proved invaluable in the inauguration of Australian administration... During his two years on the island he had faced unavoidable difficulties... and constantly sought to advance the islands interests." John William Stokes succeeded him and served from 1 October 1960, to 12 June 1966. On his departure he was lauded by all sectors of the island community. In 1968, the official secretary was re-titled an administrator and, since 1997, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands together are called the Australian Indian Ocean Territories and share a single administrator resident on Christmas Island. Recollections of the islands history and lifestyle, and lists and timetables of the island&#39;s leaders and events since its settlement are at the World Statesmen site and in Neale (1988), Bosman (1993), Hunt (2011) and Stokes (2012).</p><br>
<p>The settlement of Silver City was built in the 1970s, with aluminium-clad houses that were supposed to be cyclone-proof. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami centred off the western shore of Sumatra in Indonesia, resulted in no reported casualties, but some swimmers were swept some 150 m out to sea for a time before being swept back in.</p><br>
<h2>Refugee and immigration detention</h2><br>
<p>The Howard government operated the "Pacific Solution" from 2001-2007, excising Christmas Island from Australia&#39;s migration zone so that asylum seekers on the island could not apply for refugee status. Asylum seekers were relocated from Christmas Island to Manus Island and Nauru. In 2006, an immigration detention centre, containing approximately 800 beds, was constructed on the island for the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Originally estimated to cost million, the final cost was over $400 million.</p><br>
<p>In 2007, the Rudd government decommissioned Manus Regional Processing Centre and Nauru detention centre; processing would then occur on Christmas Island itself.</p><br>
<p>In December 2010, 48 asylum-seekers died just off the coast of the island in what became known as the Christmas Island boat disaster when the boat they were on, hit rocks off Flying Fish Cove, and then smashed against nearby cliffs.</p><br>
<p>In the case Plaintiff M61/2010E v Commonwealth of Australia, the High Court of Australia ruled, in a 7–0 joint judgment, that asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island were entitled to the protections of the Migration Act. Accordingly, the Commonwealth was obliged to afford asylum seekers a minimum of procedural fairness when assessing their claims.</p><br>
<p>As of 20 June 2013, after the interception of four boats in six days, carrying 350 people, the Immigration Department stated that there were 2,960 "irregular maritime arrivals" being held in the island&#39;s five detention facilities, which exceeded not only the "regular operating capacity" of 1,094 people, but also the "contingency capacity" of 2,724.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>As of the 2011 Australian census, the estimated resident population is 2,072. This does not include the highly variable population at the Immigration Detention Centre.</p><br>
<p>The ethnic composition is 65% Chinese, 20% Malay, 10% European and 5% Indian and Eurasian. A 2011 report by the Australian government estimated that religions practised on Christmas Island include Buddhism 75%, Christianity 12%, Islam 10%, and other 3%. This includes Traditional Chinese religions like Taoism and Confucianism, as well as the Baha&#39;i Faith.</p><br>
<h2>Government</h2><br>
<p>Christmas Island is a non-self-governing territory of Australia, currently administered by the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. Administration was carried out by the Attorney-General&#39;s Department until 14 September 2010, and prior to this by the Department of Transport and Regional Services before 29 November 2007. The legal system is under the authority of the Governor-General of Australia and Australian law. An administrator appointed by the Governor-General represents the monarch and Australia.</p><br>
<p>The Australian government provides services through the Christmas Island Administration and the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development. Under the federal government&#39;s Territories Law Reform Act 1992, which came into force on 1 July 1992, Western Australian laws are applied to Christmas Island "so far as they are capable of applying in the territory&quot non-application or partial application of such laws is at the discretion of the federal government. The act also gives Western Australian courts judicial power over Christmas Island. Christmas Island remains constitutionally distinct from Western Australia, however; the power of the state to legislate for the territory is delegated by the federal government. The kind of services typically provided by a state government elsewhere in Australia are provided by departments of the Western Australian government, and by contractors, with the costs met by the federal government. A unicameral Shire of Christmas Island with nine seats provides local government services and is elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Elections are held every two years, with four or five of the members standing for election.</p><br>
<p>Christmas Island residents who are Australian citizens also vote in federal elections. Christmas Island residents are represented in the House of Representatives by the Division of Lingiari in the Northern Territory and in the Senate by Northern Territory senators.</p><br>
<p>In early 1986, the Christmas Island Assembly held a design competition for an island flag; the winning design was adopted as the informal flag of the territory for over a decade, and in 2002 it was made the official flag of Christmas Island.</p><br>
<h3>Economy</h3><br>
<p>Phosphate mining had been the only significant economic activity, but in December 1987 the Australian government closed the mine. In 1991, the mine was reopened by a consortium which included many of the former mine workers as shareholders. With the support of the government, the $34 million Christmas Island Casino and Resort opened in 1993, but was closed in 1998., the resort has re-opened without the casino.</p><br>
<p>The Australian government in 2001 agreed to support the creation of a commercial spaceport on the island, however this has not yet been constructed, and appears that it will not proceed. The Howard government built a temporary immigration detention centre on the island in 2001 and planned to replace it with a larger, modern facility at North West Point until Howard&#39;s defeat in the 2007 elections.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>The culture of Christmas Island is unique, for people of many different ethnicities inhabit the area. The majority of residents are Chinese, but Europeans and Malays reside there as well with small Indian and Eurasian communities too. The main languages of Christmas Island are English and Chinese. Dress is usually modest, and tourists should keep a wrap, such as a sarong or pareo, on hand to cover shorts, bathing suits, and tank tops. It is common to remove shoes when entering a house and to also avoid touching anyone&#39;s head.</p><br>
<p>Religious beliefs are diverse, but people are very tolerant of each others religions. The religions practised include Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Islam, and Christianity. There is a Mosque in Flying Fish Cove. With all of these religions, there are many religious festivals, such as Spring Festival, Hari Raya, Christmas and Easter. Additionally, there is a Baháí centre on the island</p><br>
<h3>Attractions</h3><br>
<p>Christmas Island is well known for its biological diversity. There are many rare species of animals and plants on the island, making nature-walking a popular activity. Along with the diversity of species, many different types of caves exist, such as plateau caves, coastal caves, raised coastal caves and alcoves, sea caves, fissure caves, collapse caves and basalt caves; most of these are near the sea and have been formed by the action of water. Altogether, there are 46 caves on the island, with Lost Lake Cave, Daniel Roux Cave and Full Frontal Cave being the most well-known. The many freshwater springs include Hosnies Spring Ramsar, which also has a mangrove stand. The Dales is a rainforest in the western part of the island and consists of seven deep valleys, all of which were formed by spring streams. Hugh&#39;s Dale waterfall is part of this area and is a popular attraction. The annual breeding migration of the red crabs is a popular event. Fishing is another common activity. There are many distinctive species of fish in the oceans surrounding Christmas Island. Snorkeling and swimming in the ocean are two other activities that are extremely popular. Walking trails are also very popular, for there are many beautiful trails surrounded by extravagant flora and fauna. 63% of the island is national park making it one of the main attractions to experience when visiting.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Christmas Island was uninhabited until the late 19th century, allowing many species to evolve without human interference. Two-thirds of the island has been declared a National Park, which is managed by the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage through Parks Australia. Christmas Island has always been known for its unique species, both of flora and fauna.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The dense rainforest has grown in the deep soils of the plateau and on the terraces. The forests are dominated by 25 tree species. Ferns, orchids and vines grow on the branches in the humid atmosphere beneath the canopy. The 135 plant species include at least 18 that are found nowhere else. The rainforest is in great condition despite the mining activities over the last 100 years. Areas that have been damaged by mining are now a part of an ongoing rehabilitation project. The island is small and covers 135 square kilometres of land which 63% of that land has been declared National Park.</p><br>
<p>Christmas Island&#39;s endemic plants include the trees Arenga listeri, Pandanus elatus and Dendrocnide peltata var. murrayana; the shrubs Abutilon listeri, Colubrina pedunculata, Grewia insularis and Pandanus christmatensis; the vines Hoya aldrichii and Zehneria alba; the herbs Asystasia alba, Dicliptera maclearii and Peperomia rossii; the grass Ischaemum nativitatis; the fern Asplenium listeri; and the orchids Brachypeza archytas, Flickingeria nativitatis, Phreatia listeri and Zeuxine exilis.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Two species of native rats, the Maclear&#39;s and bulldog rats, have become extinct since the island was settled, while the Javan rusa has been introduced. The endemic Christmas Island shrew has not been seen since the mid-1980s and may be already extinct, while the Christmas Island pipistrelle (a small bat) is critically endangered and probably also extinct.</p><br>
<p>The Christmas Island flying fox, an important pollinator and rainforest seed-disperser, is also in decline and under increasing pressure from land clearing and introduced pest species. The flying fox&#39;s low rate of re-production (one pup each year) and high infant mortality rate makes it especially vulnerable. Flying foxes are an `umbrella` species helping forests regenerate and other species survive in stressed environments.</p><br>
<p>The land crabs and seabirds are the most noticeable fauna on the island. Christmas Island has been identified by BirdLife International as both an Endemic Bird Area and an Important Bird Area because it supports five endemic species and five subspecies as well as over 1% of the world populations of five other seabirds.</p><br>
<p>Twenty terrestrial and intertidal species of crab have been described here, of which thirteen are regarded as true land crabs, being dependent on the ocean only for larval development. Robber crabs, known elsewhere as coconut crabs, also exist in large numbers on the island. The annual red crab mass migration (around 100 million animals) to the sea to spawn has been called one of the wonders of the natural world. This takes place each year around November – after the start of the wet season and in synchronisation with the cycle of the moon. Once at the ocean, the mothers release the embryos where they can survive and grow until they are able to live on land.</p><br>
<p>The island is a focal point for seabirds of various species. Eight species or subspecies of seabirds nest on it. The most numerous is the red-footed booby, which nests in colonies, using trees on many parts of the shore terrace. The widespread brown booby nests on the ground near the edge of the seacliff and inland cliffs. Abbott&#39;s booby (listed as endangered) nests on tall emergent trees of the western, northern and southern plateau rainforest, the only remaining nesting habitat for this bird in the world. Another endangered and endemic bird, the Christmas frigatebird, has nesting areas on the northeastern shore terraces. The more widespread great frigatebirds nest in semi-deciduous trees on the shore terrace, with the greatest concentrations being in the North West and South Point areas. The common noddy and two species of bosun or tropicbirds, with their brilliant gold or silver plumage and distinctive streamer tail feathers, also nest on the island.</p><br>
<p>Of the ten native land birds and shorebirds, seven are endemic species or subspecies. This includes the Christmas thrush and the Christmas imperial pigeon. Some 86 migrant bird species have been recorded as visitors to the island.</p><br>
<p>Six species of butterfly are known to occur on Christmas Island. These are the Christmas swallowtail (Papilio memnon), striped albatross (Appias olferna), Christmas emperor (Polyura andrewsi), king cerulean (Jamides bochus), lesser grass-blue (Zizina otis), and Papuan grass-yellow (Eurema blanda).</p><br>
<h2>Media</h2><br>
<p>Christmas Island has access to a range of modern communication services.</p><br>
<p>Radio broadcasts from Australia include ABC Radio National, ABC Kimberley, Triple J and Red FM. All services are provided by satellite links from the mainland. Broadband internet became available to subscribers in urban areas in mid-2005 through the local internet service provider, CIIA (formerly dotCX).</p><br>
<p>Christmas Island, due to its close proximity to Australia&#39;s northern neighbours, falls within many of the satellite footprints throughout the region. This results in ideal conditions for receiving various Asian broadcasts, which locals sometimes prefer to those emanating from Western Australia. Additionally, ionospheric conditions are conducive to terrestrial radio transmissions, from HF through VHF and sometimes into UHF. The island plays home to a small array of radio equipment that spans a good chunk of the usable spectrum. A variety of government owned and operated antenna systems are employed on the island to take advantage of this.</p><br>
<h3>Television</h3><br>
<p>Free-to-air digital television stations from Australia are broadcast in the same time zone as Perth, and are broadcast from three separate locations:</p><br>
<p>Cable television from Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States commenced in January 2013.</p><br>
<h3>Telecommunications</h3><br>
<p>Telephone services are provided by Telstra and are a part of the Australian network with the same prefix as Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory (08). A GSM mobile telephone system powered by 900 MHz replaced the old analogue network in February 2005.</p><br>
<h3>Postage stamps</h3><br>
<p>A postal agency was opened on the island in 1901 and sold stamps of the Strait Settlements.</p><br>
<p>After the Japanese occupation (1942–45), postage stamps of the British Military Administration in Malaya were in use, then stamps of Singapore.</p><br>
<p>In 1958, the island received its own postage stamps after being put under Australian custody. It had a large philatelic and postal independence, managed first by the Phosphate Commission (1958–1969) and then by the islands administration (1969–93). This ended on 2 March 1993 when Australia Post became the islands postal operator; Christmas Island stamps may be used in Australia and Australian stamps may be used on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>A container port exists at Flying Fish Cove with an uncompleted alternative container-unloading point to the east of the island at Norris Point, intended for use during the December-to-March "swell season" of rough seas.</p><br>
<p>The 18-km standard gauge Christmas Island Phosphate Co.&#39;s Railway from Flying Fish Cove to the phosphate mine was constructed in 1914. It was closed in December 1987, when the Australian government closed the mine, and since has been recovered as scrap, leaving only earthworks in places.</p><br>
<p>Virgin Australia Regional Airlines provides two weekly flights to Christmas Island Airport from Perth, Western Australia, and ad hoc charter flight from/to Jakarta organised by the Christmas Island Travel Exchange.</p><br>
<p>There is a recreation centre at Phosphate Hill operated by South Australian-based CASA Leisure Pty Ltd. There is also a taxi service. The road network covers most of the island and is of generally good quality, although four-wheel drive vehicles are needed to reach some of the more distant parts of the rainforest or the more isolated beaches on the rough dirt roads.</p><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>The island-operated crèche is in the Recreation Centre. Christmas Island District High School, catering to students in grades P-12, is run by the Western Australian Education Department. There are no universities on Christmas Island.</p><br>
<p>The island has one public library.</p><br>
<p>Clipperton Island  is an uninhabited 6 km&sup2; coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central America. It is a minor overseas territory of France.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The atoll is 1,080 km south-west of Mexico, 2,424 km west of Nicaragua, 2,545 km west of Costa Rica and 2,260 km north-west of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, at 10&deg;18&prime;N latitude, 109&deg;13&prime;W longitude.</p><br>
<p>It is an uninhabited overseas minor territory of France, under direct authority of the Minister of Overseas France.</p><br>
<p>It is low-lying and largely barren, with some scattered grasses and a few clumps of coconut palms (Cocos nucifera). A small volcanic outcrop rising to 29 m on its south-east side is referred to as "Clipperton Rock". The presence of this rock means that technically Clipperton is not an atoll but an island with a barrier reef.</p><br>
<p>The atoll has been occupied at various times by guano miners, would-be settlers or military personnel, mostly from Mexico, which claimed it until international arbitration awarded it to France in 1931.</p><br>
<p>Clipperton has had no permanent inhabitants since 1945. It is visited on occasion by fishermen, French Navy patrols, scientific researchers, film crews, and shipwreck survivors. It has become a popular site for transmissions by ham radio operators.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<h3>Location, lagoon and climate</h3><br>
<p>Clipperton is about 945 km south-east of Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Archipelago, which is the nearest land. Its ring-shaped atoll completely encloses a stagnant freshwater lagoon, and is 12 km in circumference. The rim averages 150 m in width, reaching 400 m in the west and narrows to 45 m in the north-east, where sea waves occasionally spill over into the lagoon. Land elevations average 2 m, though Clipperton Rock, a barren 29 m volcanic outcrop in the south-east, is considerably higher and is the highest point. The surrounding reef is exposed at low tide.</p><br>
<p>The lagoon is devoid of fish, and contains some deep basins with depths of 43 and, including a spot known as Trou-Sans-Fond, or "the bottomless hole", with acidic water at its base. The water is described as being almost fresh at the surface, and highly eutrophic. Seaweed beds cover approximately 45 percent of the lagoon&#39;s surface.</p><br>
<p>While some sources have rated the lagoon water as non-potable, testimony from the crew of the tuna clipper M/V Monarch, stranded for 23 days in 1962 after their boat sank, indicates otherwise. Their report reveals that the lagoon water, while not tasting very good, was drinkable, though "muddy and dirty". Several of the castaways drank it, with no apparent ill effects.</p><br>
<p>Survivors of an ill-fated Mexican military colony in 1917 (see below) indicated that they were dependent upon rain for their water supply, catching it in old boats they used for this purpose. Aside from the lagoon and water caught from rain, no other freshwater sources are known to exist.</p><br>
<p>It has a tropical oceanic climate, with average temperatures of 20 –. The rainy season occurs from May to October, when it is subject to tropical storms and hurricanes. Surrounding ocean waters are warm, pushed by equatorial and counter-equatorial currents. It has no known natural resources (its guano having been depleted early in the 20th century). Although 115 species of fish have been identified in nearby waters the only economic activity in the area is tuna fishing.</p><br>
<h3>Flora and fauna</h3><br>
<p>When Snodgrass and Heller visited in 1898, they reported that "no land plant is native to the island". Historical accounts from 1711, 1825 and 1839 show a low grassy or suffrutescent (partially woody) flora (Sachet, 1962). Coconut palms were introduced in the 1890s and a few still survive. Introduction of pigs by guano miners at the beginning of the 20th century reduced the crab population, which in turn allowed grassland to gradually cover about 80 percent of the land surface (Sachet, 1962). The elimination of these pigs in 1958 — as the result of a personal project by Kenneth E. Stager, — has caused most of this vegetation to disappear as millions of land crabs (Johngarthia planata) have returned.&#39; The result is virtually a sandy desert, with only 674 palms counted by Christian Jost during the "Passion 2001" French mission, and five islets in the lagoon with grass that the terrestrial crabs cannot reach.</p><br>
<p>During Sachet&#39;s visit in 1958, the vegetation was found to consist of a sparse cover of spiny grass and low thickets, a creeping plant (Ipomoea sp.), and stands of coconut palm. This low-lying herbaceous flora seems to be pioneer in nature, and most of it is believed to be composed of recently introduced species. Sachet suspected that Heliotropium curassavicum and possibly Portulaca oleracea were native (Sachet 1962).</p><br>
<p>On the north-west side the most abundant species are Cenchrus echinatus, Sida rhombifolia, and Corchorus aestuans. These plants compose a shrub cover up to 30 cm in height and are intermixed with Eclipta, Phyllanthus, and Solanum, as well as a taller plant, Brassica juncea. A unique feature is the vegetation is arranged in parallel rows of species. Dense rows of taller species alternate with lower, more open vegetation. This was assumed to be a result of the phosphate mining method of trench-digging.</p><br>
<p>The only land animals known to exist are two species of reptiles (Gehyra insulensis and Emoia cyanura), bright-orange land crabs (Johngarthia planata, also known as the Clipperton Crab, although it is also found on other islands in the eastern Pacific), birds, and rats; the last of which probably arrived from large fishing boats that were wrecked on the island in 1999 and 2000. Bird species include white terns, masked boobies, sooty terns, brown boobies, brown noddies, black noddies, greater frigates, coots, martins, cuckoos and yellow warblers. Ducks have been reported in the lagoon. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International because of the large breeding colony of masked boobies, with 110,000 individual birds recorded. The lagoon harbours millions of isopods, which swimmers claim can deliver a painful sting.</p><br>
<p>A 2005 report by the NOAA&#39;s Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, California, USA indicates that the increased rat presence has led to a decline in both crab and bird populations, causing a corresponding increase in both vegetation and coconut palms. This report urgently recommended eradication of rats so that vegetation might be reduced and the island might return to its "pre-human" state.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Discovery and early claims</h3><br>
<p>The island was discovered on Good Friday, 3 April 1711 by Frenchmen Martin de Chassiron and Michel Du Bocage, commanding the French ships La Princesse and La Découverte. It was given the name Île de la Passion (Passion Island). They drew up the first map and claimed the island for France. The first scientific expedition took place in 1725 under Frenchman M. Bocage, who lived on the island for several months. In 1858 France formally laid claim.</p><br>
<p>The current name comes from John Clipperton, an English pirate and privateer who fought the Spanish during the early 18th century, and who is said to have passed by the island. Some sources say he used it as a base for his raids on shipping, but there is no documentary evidence.</p><br>
<p>Other claimants included the United States, whose American Guano Mining Company claimed it under the Guano Islands Act of 1856; Mexico also claimed it due to activities undertaken there as early as 1848–1849. On 17 November 1858 Emperor Napoleon III annexed it as part of the French colony of Tahiti. This did not settle the ownership question. On 24 November 1897, French naval authorities found three Americans working for the American Guano Company, who had raised the American flag. USA authorities denounced their act, assuring the French that they did not intend to assert American sovereignty.</p><br>
<p>Mexico reasserted its claim late in the 19th century, and on 13 December 1897 sent the gunboat La Demócrata to occupy and annex it. A colony was established, and a series of military governors was posted, the last one being Ramón Arnaud (1906–1916). France insisted on its ownership, and a lengthy diplomatic correspondence between the two nations led to the conclusion of a treaty on March 2, 1909, to seek the arbitration of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, with each nation promising to abide by his determination. His decision was not rendered until 1931.</p><br>
<h3>Guano mining, Mexican colony, and evacuation of 1917</h3><br>
<p>The British Pacific Island Company acquired the rights to guano deposits in 1906 and built a mining settlement in conjunction with the Mexican government. That same year, a lighthouse was erected under the orders of President Porfirio Díaz. By 1914 around 100 people&mdash;men, women, and children&mdash;were living there, resupplied every two months by a ship from Acapulco. With the escalation of fighting in the Mexican Revolution, the regular resupply visits ceased and the inhabitants were left to their own devices.</p><br>
<p>By 1917 all but one of the male inhabitants had died. Many had perished from scurvy, while others (including Captain Arnaud) died during an attempt to sail after a passing ship to fetch help. Lighthouse keeper Victoriano Álvarez was the last man on the island, together with 15 women and children. Álvarez proclaimed himself "king" and began an orgy of rape and murder, before being killed by Tirza Rendon, who was the recipient of his unwanted attention. Almost immediately after Álvarez&#39;s death four women and seven children, the last survivors, were picked up by the US Navy gunship on 18 July 1917. No more attempts were made to colonize it, though it was briefly occupied during the 1930s and 1940s.</p><br>
<p>The story of the Mexican colony has been the subject of several novels, including Ivo Mansmanns Clipperton, Schicksale auf einer vergessenen Insel ("Clipperton, Destinies on a Forgotten Island") in German, Colombian writer Laura Restrepos La Isla de la Pasión ("Passion Island") in Spanish, and Ana Garcia Bergua&#39;s Isla de Bobos ("Booby Island"), also in Spanish.</p><br>
<h3>Final arbitration of ownership</h3><br>
<p>Mexico and France signed a compromise in 1909, agreeing to submit the dispute over sovereignty over Clipperton Island to binding arbitration by King Victor Emanuel of Italy. In 1931 Victor Emanuel issued his arbitral decision in the Clipperton Island Case, declaring Clipperton to be a French possession. The French rebuilt the lighthouse and settled a military outpost, which remained for seven years before being abandoned.</p><br>
<h3>Post-World War II developments</h3><br>
<p>The island was abandoned by the end of World War II after being briefly occupied by the US from 1944–45. Since then it has been visited by sport fishermen, patrols of the French Navy, and by Mexican tuna and shark fishermen. There have been infrequent scientific and amateur radio expeditions, and in 1978 Jacques-Yves Cousteau visited with his team of divers and a survivor from the 1917 evacuation to film a television special called Clipperton: The Island that Time Forgot.</p><br>
<p>It was visited by ornithologist Ken Stager of the Los Angeles County Museum in 1958. Appalled at the depredations visited by feral pigs upon the islands brown booby and masked booby colonies (reduced to 500 and 150 birds, respectively), Stager procured a shotgun and killed all 58 pigs. By 2003, the booby colonies had 25,000 brown boobies and 112,000 masked boobies, the worlds second-largest brown booby colony and its largest masked booby colony.</p><br>
<p>When the independence of Algeria in 1962 threatened French nuclear testing sites in the African nation, the French Ministry of Defence considered Clipperton Island as a possible replacement. This was eventually ruled out due to the hostile climate and remote location. The French explored reopening the lagoon and developing a harbour for trade and tourism during the 1970s but this idea was abandoned. An automatic weather installation was completed on 7 April 1980, with data collected by this station being transmitted by satellite to Brittany.</p><br>
<p>In 1981, the Academy of Sciences for Overseas Territories recommended that the island have its own economic infrastructure, with an airstrip and a fishing port in the lagoon. This would mean opening up the lagoon by creating a passage in the atoll rim. For this purpose, an agreement was signed with the French government, represented by the High Commissioner for French Polynesia, whereby the island became French state property.</p><br>
<p>In 1986 a meeting took place regarding the establishment of a permanent base for fishing, between the high commissioner of French Polynesia, representing the state, and the survey firm for the development and exploitation of the island (SEDEIC). Taking into account the economic constraints, the distance from markets, and the small size of the atoll, nothing apart from preliminary studies were undertaken. All plans for development were abandoned.</p><br>
<h3>Castaways</h3><br>
<p>In early 1962 the island provided a home to nine crewmen of the sunken tuna clipper MV Monarch, stranded for 23 days from 6 February to 1 March. They reported that the lagoon water was drinkable, though they preferred to drink water from the coconuts they found. Unable to use any of the dilapidated buildings, they constructed a crude shelter from cement bags and tin salvaged from Quonset huts built by the American military 20 years earlier.</p><br>
<p>Wood from the huts was used for firewood, and fish caught off the fringing reef combined with some potatoes and onions they had saved from their sinking vessel to augment the meagre supply of coconuts. The crewmen reported that they tried eating bird&#39;s eggs, but found them to be rancid, and they decided after trying to cook a "little black bird" that it did not have enough meat to make the effort worthwhile. Pigs had been eradicated, though the crewmen reported seeing their skeletons around the atoll. The crewmen were eventually discovered by another fishing boat and rescued by the United States Navy destroyer USS Robison.</p><br>
<p>In 1988, five Mexican fishermen became lost at sea after a storm during their trip along the coast of Costa Rica. They drifted within sight of the island but were unable to reach it. Steven Longbaugh and David Heritage, two American deckhands from a fishing boat based in California, were stranded for three weeks in 1998. They were rescued after rebuilding a survival radio and using distress flares to signal for help.</p><br>
<h3>21st century</h3><br>
<p>The Mexican and French oceanographic expedition SURPACLIP (UNAM Mexico and UNC Nouméa) made extensive studies in 1997. In 2001, French geographer Christian Jost extended the 1997 studies through his French "Passion 2001" expedition, explaining the evolution of the ecosystem, and releasing several papers, a video film, and a website. In 2003 Lance Milbrand stayed for 41 days on a National Geographic Society expedition, recording his adventure in video, photos, and a written diary (see links below).</p><br>
<p>In 2005, the ecosystem was extensively studied for four months by a scientific mission organized by Jean-Louis Étienne, which made a complete inventory of mineral, plant, and animal species, studied algae as deep as 100 m (330 ft) below sea level, and examined the effects of pollution. A 2008 expedition from the University of Washington&#39;s School of Oceanography collected sediment cores from the lagoon to study climate change over the last millennium.</p><br>
<p>On 21 February 2007, administration was transferred from the High Commissioner of the Republic in French Polynesia to the Minister of Overseas France.</p><br>
<p>In 2007 a recreational scuba diving expedition explored the reefs surrounding Clipperton, and compared the marine life with the reports of the Connie Limbaugh (Scripps) expeditions in 1956 and 1958. Recreational scuba diving expeditions are now made every spring.</p><br>
<p>During the night of 10 February 2010, the Sichem Osprey, a Maltese chemical tanker, ran aground on its way from the Panama Canal to South Korea. The 170 m ship contained xylene, a clear, flammable volatile liquid. All 19 crew members were reported safe, and the vessel reported no leaks. The vessel was refloated on March 6 and returned to service.</p><br>
<p>In mid-March 2012, the crew from The Clipperton Project noted the widespread presence of refuse, particularly on the northeast shore and around the Rock. Debris including plastic bottles and containers create a potentially harmful environment to its flora and fauna. This trash is common to only two beaches (North East and South West) and the rest of the island is fairly clean. Other refuse has been left over after the occupation by the Americans in 1944–45, the French in 1966–69 and the 2008 scientific expedition.</p><br>
<h3>Amateur radio DX-peditions</h3><br>
<p>The island has long been an attractive destination for amateur radio groups, due to its remoteness, difficulty of landing, permit requirements, romantic history, and interesting environment. While some radio operation was done ancillary to other expeditions, major DX-peditions include FO0XB (1978), FO0XX (1985), FO0CI (1992), FO0AAA (2000), and TX5C (2008).</p><br>
<p>One DX-pedition was the Cordell Expedition in March 2013 using the callsign TX5K, organized and led by Robert Schmieder. The project combined radio operations with selected scientific investigations. The team of 24 radio operators made more than 114,000 contacts, breaking the previous record of 75,000. The activity included extensive operation on 6 metres, including EME (Earth–Moon–Earth communication or moonbounce) contacts. A notable accomplishment was the use of DXA, a real-time satellite-based online graphic radio log web page that allowed anyone anywhere with a browser to see the radio activity. Scientific work carried out during the expedition included the first collection and identification of foraminifera, and extensive aerial imaging of the island using kite-borne cameras. The team included two scientists from the French-Polynesian University of Tahiti and a TV crew from the French documentary television series Thalassa.</p><br>
<p>An April 2015 DXpedition using callsign TX5P was conducted by Alain Duchauchoy, F6BFH, concurrent with the Passion 2015 scientific expedition to Clipperton Island, and engaging in research of Mexican use of the island during the early 1900s.</p><br>
<p>The Coral Sea Islands Territory is an external territory of Australia which comprises a group of small and mostly uninhabited tropical islands and reefs in the Coral Sea, northeast of Queensland, Australia. The only inhabited island is Willis Island. The territory covers 780,000 km², most of which is ocean, extending east and south from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef, and includes Heralds Beacon Island, Osprey Reef, the Willis Group, and fifteen other reef/island groups. Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory.</p><br>
<h2>History and status</h2><br>
<p>The Coral Sea Islands were first charted in 1803. In the 1870s and 1880s the islands were mined for guano but the absence of a reliable supply of fresh water prevented long-term habitation. The Coral Sea Islands became an Australian external territory in 1969 by the Coral Sea Islands Act (prior to that, the area was considered part of Queensland) and extended in 1997 to include Elizabeth Reef and Middleton Reef nearly 800 km further south, already in the Tasman Sea.</p><br>
<p>The two latter reefs are much closer to Lord Howe Island, New South Wales, (about 150 km) than to the southernmost island of the rest of the territory, Cato Island. The islands, cays and reefs of the Great Barrier Reef are not part of the territory, belonging to Queensland instead. The outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef is the boundary between Queensland and the Coral Sea Islands Territory.</p><br>
<p>The territory is a possession or external territory of Australia, administered from Canberra by the Attorney-General&#39;s Department (before 29 November 2007 administration was carried out by the Department of Transport and Regional Services). Defence is the responsibility of Australia, and the territory is visited regularly by the Royal Australian Navy.</p><br>
<p>Australia maintains automatic weather stations on many of the isles and reefs, and claims a 200 nmi exclusive fishing zone. There is no economic activity (except for a significant but as yet unquantified charter fishing and diving industry), and only a staff of three or four people to run the meteorological station on Willis Island (South Islet), established in 1921. In November 2011, the Australian government announced that a 989,842 km&sup2; protected area was planned in the Coral Sea.</p><br>
<p>As applicable, the laws of the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) apply on the Coral Sea Islands. The territory&#39;s FIPS 10-4 code is CR, whereas ISO 3166 includes it in Australia (AU).</p><br>
<h3>Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands</h3><br>
<p>In 2004, gay activists declared the Coral Sea Islands Territory Independent from Australia.</p><br>
<p>The independence of the kingdom is based on Australia being guilty of "unjust enrichment", because of the government’s plan to amend the marriage act so as to prevent homosexual couples who were married overseas to have their relationship recognised. The law of “Unjust Enrichment” states: “If something is unjustly taken compensation must be made.”</p><br>
<p>The gay activists believe that the change in the marriage law has taken from homosexual people the right to be treated equally, “whether it be marriage, superannuation, hospital visits, adoption or IVF treatments”. Instead of financial compensation, the activists have chosen “territorial compensation” by establishing an independent gay state on a scattering of tropical islands in the Coral Sea.</p><br>
<p>The initiative for the founding of a gay kingdom was taken during the Brisbane Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival. The Coral Sea Islands were chosen because of a provision of international law that states “Oppressed people of overseas territories have a right to self government and self determination”. For a long time these islands were administered as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, but from the 1960s they were administered from Australia by the Department of the Environment, Sport and Territories as an overseas external territory of the Commonwealth of Australia.</p><br>
<p>The activists also presume that neither the United Kingdom nor Australia has any rights to the Coral Sea Islands, because neither government has provided to the gay government any recording of anyone proclaiming the Coral Sea Islands as part of the British/Australian Crown.</p><br>
<p>The Gay and Lesbian Kingdom raised the gay rainbow pride flag on Cato Island on 14 June 2004 and declared the territory an independent gay and lesbian state. A memorial plaque on the north eastern tip of Cato Island commemorates this historic event and reads:</p><br>
<p>"On the 14th day of June 2004, at this highest point in the Coral Sea, Emperor Dale Parker Anderson raised the gay rainbow flag and claimed the islands of the Coral Sea in his name as homeland for the gay and lesbian peoples of the world. God Save our King!" The Kingdom then declared war on Australia to force the Australian Government to recognise its independence.</p><br>
<p>On 28 February 2017, Liberal Senator Eric Abetz objected to the rainbow flag being displayed in the Department of Finance and other Australian Government buildings on the grounds that government departments should take a neutral stand on political debates such as same sex marriage. He concluded his comments with an incidental observation by identifying:</p><br>
<p>Cormann agreed, affirming that "We will make sure that there are no flags of hostile nations anywhere in any government building".</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>There are about 30 separate reefs and atolls, twelve being wholly submerged or drying only during low tide, and 18 others with a total of about 51 islets and cays (18 alone on the atoll Lihou Reef), some of which are vegetated. The atolls exhibit a wide range of size, from a few kilometres in diameter to perhaps the second largest atoll in the world by total area (including lagoon): Lihou Reef, with a lagoon size of 100 x and an area of 2,500 km&sup2, which compares to a combined land area of the 18 individual islets of only 0.91 km&sup2;. The islands are all very low.</p><br>
<p>The Willis Islets are important nesting areas for birds and turtles but contain negligible natural resources. They comprise less than 3 km&sup2; of land. There is no port or harbour, only offshore anchorage.</p><br>
<p>Most of the atolls fall into two groups, while Mellish Reef to the east, and Middleton Reef and Elizabeth Reef to the south are grouped separately:</p><br>
<h3>Northwestern Group</h3><br>
<p>Osprey Reef (submerged atoll roughly oval in shape, measuring 25 by, covering around 195 km&sup2, with lagoon up to 30 m deep)</p><br>
<p>Shark Reef (small elongated submerged reef 15 km south of Osprey Reef, with a minimum depth of 7.8 m)</p><br>
<p>Bougainville Reef (small submerged atoll, 2.5 by, area 8 km&sup2; with lagoon, dries at half tide)</p><br>
<p>East Holmes Reef (submerged atoll, about 14 by, area 125 km&sup2; with lagoon)</p><br>
<p>West Holmes Reef (submerged atoll 6 km east of East Holmes Reef, about 18 by, area 125 km&sup2; with lagoon that is open on the West side, two small cays)</p><br>
<p>Flora Reef (small submerged atoll, 5 by 4 km, about 12 km&sup2;)</p><br>
<p>Diane Bank (sunken atoll, depths of less than 10 m over an area of 65 by 25 km, or 1,300 km&sup2, along the northern edge 3 m deep, with Sand Cay in the Northwest, 3 m high)</p><br>
<p>North Moore Reef (small submerged atoll, 4 by 3 km, area 8 km&sup2; including lagoon that is open on the Northwest side)</p><br>
<p>South Moore Reef (small submerged reef 5 km South of North Moore Reef)</p><br>
<p>Willis Islets (sunken atoll, bank 45 by 19 km, bank area more than 500 km&sup2, 3 islets on the Northwestern side: North Cay, Mid Islet almost 8 m high, South Islet or Willis Island 10 m high)</p><br>
<p>Magdelaine Cays & Coringa Islets (one large, partially sunken atoll structure, almost 90 by 30 km, bank area about 1,500 km&sup2;), 2 islets of the Magdelaine Cays in the North: North West Islet (area approximately 0.2 km&sup2;) and South East Cay (area 0.37 km&sup2;); 2 islets of the Coringa Islets 50 to 60 km further Southwest: Southwest Islet or Coringa Islet (area 0.173 km), and Chilcott Islet (area 0.163 km)</p><br>
<p>Herald Cays, Northeast Cay (encircled by a reef of 3 by 3 km, total area 6 km, land area 0.34 km)</p><br>
<p>Herald Cays, Southwest Cay (4 km Southwest of Northeast Cay, encircled by a reef of 2 by 2 km, total area 3 km, land area 0.188 km)</p><br>
<p>Lihou Reef and Cays (largest atoll in the coral sea, with a size of 2500 km, land area 0.91 km)</p><br>
<p>Diamond Islets & Tregosse Reefs (large, partially sunken atoll, 100 by 52 km, area of the bank over 3000 km, with 4 islets and 2 small submerged reefs in the Northeast and Southeast: West Diamond Islet, Central Diamond Islet, East Diamond Islet on the Northeastern rim of the former atoll, and South Diamond Islet, East Tregosse Reef and West Tregosse Reef on the Southern rim)</p><br>
<p>North Flinders Reef (large atoll, 34 by 23 km, area 600 km, with 2 islets, Flinders Cay being the larger one with a length of 200 m and a height of 3 m)</p><br>
<p>South Flinders Reef (atoll, 15 by 5 km, 60 km)</p><br>
<p>Herald&#39;s Surprise (small submerged reef North of Flinders Reefs, 3 by 2 km)</p><br>
<p>Dart Reef (small submerged reef Northwest of Flinders Reefs, 3 by 3 km, area 6 km including small lagoon that is open to the North)</p><br>
<p>Malay Reef (small submerged reef, not clearly defined, no breakers, difficult to see)</p><br>
<p>Abington Reef (submerged reef, nearly awash, 4 by 2.5 km, area 7 km)</p><br>
<p>Marion Reef (large circular atoll formation that is composed of three main units located on the Eastern side: Marion, Long and Wansfell; and a number of smaller reefs on the west. The formation sits atop a submarine feature known as the Marion Plateau which is separated from the larger Coral Sea Plateau to the north by the Townsville Trough. Three small sand cays are located on the eastern side of Marion Reef: Paget Cay, on Long Reef, Carola Cay, south of Long Reef, and Brodie Cay, on Wansfell Reef.</p><br>
<p>The atolls of the Northwestern Group, except Osprey Reef and Shark Reef in the north, and Marion Reef in the south, are located on the Coral Sea Plateau (Queensland Plateau), a contiguous area of depths less than 1000 m.</p><br>
<p>Flinders Reefs (North and South), Herald&#39;s Surprise and Dart Reef form a cluster of reefs of 66 by 26 km.</p><br>
<p>Magdelaine Cays, Coringa Islets and Herald Cays are part of the 8856 km Coringa-Herald National Nature Reserve, created on 16 August 1982 and located around 400 km east of Cairns and 220 to 320 km from the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef. The 6 islets of the nature reserve have areas from 0.16 to 0.37 km, for a total of 1.24 km.</p><br>
<p>Lihou Reef was declared a Nature Reserve on 16 August 1982, with an area of 8440 km.</p><br>
<p>The Nature Reserves were created to protect wildlife in the respective areas of the territory; together they form the Coral Sea Reserves Ramsar Site.</p><br>
<h3>Mellish Reef</h3><br>
<p>Mellish Reef, being about 300 km to the east of the Northwestern Group, thus the most distant from the Australian continent of all the reefs and atolls of the Coral Sea Islands Territory, is not considered to be part of any group. It has the outline of a boomerang-shaped platform around 10 km in length and 3 km across, area 25 km. The surrounding reefs, which enclose a narrow lagoon, are completely submerged at high tide. Near the centre of the lagoon is the only permanent land of the reef - Heralds-Beacon Islet. The island is a small cay measuring 600 m by 120 m, area 57,000 m2, only rising a few ms above the high-water mark.</p><br>
<h3>Southeasterly Group</h3><br>
<p>Frederick Reefs: The reefs form a semi-enclosed lagoon, known as Anchorage Sound, with an opening on the North side. The complex measures about 10 by 4 km, with an area of 30 km. On the southern side of the reef lies Observatory Cay, the only permanently dry land, although there are a few of others cays that can be awash at high tide.</p><br>
<p>Kenn Reefs, submerged atoll of about 15 by 8 km, area 40 km, islet Observatory Cay in the Southeast, 2 m high</p><br>
<p>Saumarez Reefs, southernmost reefs to be located on the Coral Sea Shelf; three main reefs and numerous smaller reefs that form a large crescent-shaped formation open to the northwest, about 27 by 14 km, area less than 300 km. There are two sand cays: North East Cay and South West Cay.</p><br>
<p>Wreck Reefs: atoll 25 by 5 km, area 75 km, open on the North. Islets found on the reefs include Bird Islet, West Islet and Porpoise Cay.</p><br>
<p>Cato Reef: Cato bank 21 by 13 km, area 200 km of depths less than 17 m; Cato Reef encircles an area of 3.3 by 1.8 km, area 5 km including lagoon; Cato Island, in the West of the lagoon, 650 by 300 m, area 0.15 km, 6 m high. Close to the Southeast corner of Cato bank is Hutchison Rock, with 1 m depth over. Cato Island is the highest point in the Territory and a camp site on the Island called Heaven is the home of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands.</p><br>
<h3>Extreme South</h3><br>
<p>Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, together with reefs around Lord Howe Island (New South Wales) 150 km to the south, are regarded as the southernmost coral reefs in the world. Their location, where tropical and temperate ocean currents meet, contributes to an unusually diverse assemblage of marine species. These mostly submerged atolls which dry only during low tide were added to the territory only in 1989. They are located on the Lord Howe Rise in the Tasman Sea which joins the Coral Sea in the south. Already on 23 December 1987, they were protected as the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, which has an area of 1880 km.</p><br>
<p>Middleton Reef, atoll about 8.9 by 6.3 km, area 37 km including lagoon, one islet: The Sound, 100 by 70 m (area 5,000 m), highest point close to the Northern end 1.5 m. At low tides much of the reef flat is exposed.</p><br>
<p>Elizabeth Reef, atoll about 8.2 by 5.5 km, area 51 km including lagoon, one islet: Elizabeth island (Elizabeth cay), no vegetation, 600 m by 400 m (area 0.2 km), highest point 0.8 m. At low tides much of the reef flat is exposed.</p><br>
<h3>Overview of islets and cays</h3><br>
<h2>Man-made structures</h2><br>
<p>Automatic, unmanned weather stations are located on the following reefs or atolls:</p><br>
<p>Bougainville Reef</p><br>
<p>Cato Island</p><br>
<p>Flinders Reef (Flinders Coral Cay)</p><br>
<p>Frederick Reef</p><br>
<p>Holmes Reef</p><br>
<p>Lihou Reef (Turtle Islet)</p><br>
<p>Marion Reef</p><br>
<p>Moore Reef</p><br>
<p>Lighthouses are located on following reefs or islands:</p><br>
<p>Bougainville Reef</p><br>
<p>East Diamond Islet</p><br>
<p>Frederick Reefs</p><br>
<p>Lihou Reef</p><br>
<p>Saumarez Reef</p><br>
<p>Willis Island, the only inhabited island, has a number of structures.</p><br>
<p>Cyprus is an island in the Eastern Basin of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean  and the world&#39;s 81st largest island by area. It is located south of Asia Minor, the Anatolian peninsula of the Asian  mainland , so it may be included in Western Asia or the Middle East: Cyprus is close to Southern Europe, and Northern Africa, and has had lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, Byzantine, Turkish, and Western European influence.</p><br>
<p>The island is dominated by two mountain ranges, the Troodos Mountains and the Kyrenia Mountains or Pentadaktylos, and the central plain, the Mesaoria, between them. The Troodos Mountains cover most of the southern and western portions of the island and account for roughly half its area. The narrow Kyrenia Range extends along the northern coastline. It is not as high as the Troodos Mountains, and it occupies substantially less area. The two mountain ranges run generally parallel to the Taurus Mountains on the Turkish mainland, the outlines of which are visible from northern Cyprus. Coastal lowlands, varying in width, surround the island.</p><br>
<p>Geopolitically, the island is divided into four segments. The Republic of Cyprus, the only internationally recognized government, occupies the southern 60% of the island, and has been a member state of the European Union since 1 May 2004. The "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus", is diplomatically recognized only by Turkey, occupies the northern one-third of the island, around 36%of the territory. The United Nations-controlled Green Line is a buffer zone that separates the two and it is about 4%. Lastly, two areas—Akrotiri and Dhekelia—remain under British sovereignty for military purposes, collectively forming the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA). The SBAs are located on the southern coast of the island and together encompass 254 km, or 2.8% of the island.</p><br>
<h2>Terrain</h2><br>
<p>The rugged Troodos Mountains, whose principal range stretches from Pomos Point in the northwest almost to Larnaca Bay on the east, are the single most conspicuous feature of the landscape. Intensive uplifting and folding in the formative period left the area highly fragmented, so that subordinate ranges and spurs veer off at many angles, their slopes incised by steep-sided valleys. In the southwest, the mountains descend in a series of stepped foothills to the coastal plain.</p><br>
<p>While the Troodos Mountains are a massif formed of molten igneous rock, the Kyrenia Range is a narrow limestone ridge that rises suddenly from the plains. Its easternmost extension becomes a series of foothills on the Karpass Peninsula. That peninsula points toward Asia Minor, to which Cyprus belongs geologically.</p><br>
<p>Even the highest peaks of the Kyrenia Range are hardly more than half the height of the great dome of the Troodos massif, Mount Olympus (1,952 m), but their seemingly inaccessible, jagged slopes make them considerably more spectacular. British writer Lawrence Durrell, in Bitter Lemons, wrote of the Troodos as "an unlovely jumble of crags and heavyweight rocks" and of the Kyrenia Range as belonging to "the world of Gothic Europe, its lofty crags studded with crusader castles."</p><br>
<p>Rich copper deposits were discovered in antiquity on the slopes of the Troodos. The massive sulfide deposits formed as a part of an ophiolite complex at a spreading center under the Mediterranean Sea which was tectonically uplifted during the Pleistocene and emplaced in its current location.</p><br>
<h2>Drainage</h2><br>
<p>In much of the island, access to a year-round supply of water is difficult. This is traditionally attributed to deforestation which damaged the islands drainage system through erosion, but Grove and Rackham question this view. A network of winter rivers rises in the Troodos Mountains and flows out from them in all directions. The Yialias River and the Pedhieos River flow eastward across the Mesaoria into Famagusta Bay; the Serraghis River flows northwest through the Morphou plain. All of the islands rivers, however, are dry in the summer. An extensive system of dams and waterways has been constructed to bring water to farming areas.</p><br>
<p>The Mesaoria is the agricultural heartland of the island, but its productiveness for wheat and barley depends very much on winter rainfall; other crops are grown under irrigation. Little evidence remains that this broad, central plain, open to the sea at either end, was once covered with rich forests whose timber was coveted by ancient conquerors for their sailing vessels. The now-divided capital of the island, Nicosia, lies in the middle of this central plain.</p><br>
<h2>Natural vegetation</h2><br>
<p>Despite its small size, Cyprus has a variety of natural vegetation. This includes forests of conifers and broadleaved trees such as Pinus brutia, cedar, cypresses and oaks. Ancient authors write that most of Cyprus, even Messaoria, was heavily forested, and there are still considerable forests on the Troodos and Kyrenia ranges, and locally at lower altitudes. About 17% of the whole island is classified as woodland. Where there is no forest, tall shrub communities of golden oak (Quercus alnifolia), strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachne), terebinth (Pistacia terebinthus), olive (Olea europaea), kermes oak (Quercus coccifera) and styrax (Styrax officinalis) are found, but such maquis is uncommon. Over most of the island untilled ground bears a grazed covering of garrigue, largely composed of low bushes of Cistus, Genista sphacelata, Calycotoime villosa, Lithospermum hispidulum, Phaganalon rupestre and, locally, Pistacia lentiscus. Where grazing is excessive this covering is soon reduced, and an impoverished batha remains, consisting principally of Thymus capitatus, Sarcopoterium spinosum, and a few stunted herbs.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The Mediterranean climate, warm and rather dry, with rainfall mainly between November and March, favors agriculture. In general, the island experiences mild wet winters and dry hot summers. Variations in temperature and rainfall are governed by altitude and, to a lesser extent, distance from the coast. Hot, dry summers from mid-May to mid-September and rainy, rather changeable winters from November to mid-March are separated by short autumn and spring seasons.</p><br>
<h2>Area and boundaries</h2><br>
<p>Area:</p><br>
<p>total:</p><br>
<p>9,251 km² (of which 5,896 km² are under the control of the Republic of Cyprus and of which 3,355 km² are under the administration of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus)</p><br>
<p>land:</p><br>
<p>9,241 km²</p><br>
<p>water:</p><br>
<p>10 km²</p><br>
<p>Land boundaries:</p><br>
<p>0 km</p><br>
<p>Coastline:</p><br>
<p>648 km</p><br>
<p>Maritime claims:</p><br>
<p>territorial sea:</p><br>
<p>12 nmi</p><br>
<p>continental shelf:</p><br>
<p>200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation</p><br>
<p>Elevation extremes:</p><br>
<p>lowest point:</p><br>
<p>Mediterranean Sea 0 m</p><br>
<p>highest point:</p><br>
<p>Olympus 1,952 m</p><br>
<h2>Resource and land use</h2><br>
<p>Natural resources:</p><br>
<p>copper, pyrites, asbestos, gypsum, timber, salt, marble, clay earth pigment</p><br>
<p>Land use:</p><br>
<p>arable land:</p><br>
<p>9.90%</p><br>
<p>permanent crops:</p><br>
<p>3.24%</p><br>
<p>other:</p><br>
<p>86.86% (2012)</p><br>
<p>Irrigated land:</p><br>
<p>457.9 km² (2007)</p><br>
<p>Total renewable water resources:</p><br>
<p>0.78 km (2011)</p><br>
<p>Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):</p><br>
<p>total:</p><br>
<p>0.18 km/yr (10%/3%/86%)</p><br>
<p>per capital:</p><br>
<p>164.7 m/yr (2009)</p><br>
<h2>Environmental concerns</h2><br>
<p>Natural hazards:</p><br>
<p>moderate earthquake activity; droughts</p><br>
<p>Environment – current issues:</p><br>
<p>water resource problems (no natural reservoir catchments, seasonal disparity in rainfall, sea water intrusion to island&#39;s largest aquifer, increased salination in the north); water pollution from sewage and industrial wastes; coastal degradation; loss of wildlife habitats from urbanization.</p><br>
<p>Environment – international agreements:</p><br>
<p>party to:</p><br>
<p>Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands</p><br>
<p>signed, but not ratified: none</p><br>
<p>The Channel Islands  are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, consisting of Jersey, the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and some smaller islands. They are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy and, although they are not part of the United Kingdom, it is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands. The Crown dependencies are not members of the Commonwealth of Nations or of the European Union. They have a total population of about, and the bailiwicks capitals, Saint Helier and Saint Peter Port, have populations of 33,500 and 16,488, respectively. The total area of the islands is 198 km.</p><br>
<p>The two bailiwicks have been administered separately since the late 13th century; each has its own independent laws, elections, and representative bodies (although in modern times, politicians from the islands&#39; legislatures are in regular contact). Any institution common to both is the exception rather than the rule. The Bailiwick of Guernsey is divided into three jurisdictions – Guernsey, Alderney and Sark – each with its own legislature.</p><br>
<p>The term "Channel Islands" began to be used around 1830, possibly first by the Royal Navy as a collective name for the islands.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The two major islands are Jersey and Guernsey. They make up 99% of the population and 92% of the area.</p><br>
<p>The permanently inhabited islands of the Channel Islands and their population and area are:</p><br>
<p>Jersey 100,080 (118 km)</p><br>
<p>Guernsey 63,026 (65 km)</p><br>
<p>Alderney 2,000 (8 km)</p><br>
<p>Sark 600 (5 km)</p><br>
<p>Herm 60 (2 km)</p><br>
<p>Jethou 3 (0.2 km)</p><br>
<p>Brecqhou (Brechou) (0.3 km)</p><br>
<p>There are also several uninhabited islets. Four are part of the Bailiwick of Jersey:</p><br>
<p>The Minquiers</p><br>
<p>Écréhous</p><br>
<p>Les Dirouilles</p><br>
<p>Les Pierres de Lecq (the Paternosters)</p><br>
<p>These lie off Alderney:</p><br>
<p>Burhou</p><br>
<p>Casquets</p><br>
<p>Ortac</p><br>
<p>Renonquet</p><br>
<p>These lie off Guernsey:</p><br>
<p>Crevichon</p><br>
<p>Grande Amfroque</p><br>
<p>Les Houmets</p><br>
<p>Lihou (occupied for part of the year)</p><br>
<p>(See also List of islands of the Bailiwick of Guernsey)</p><br>
<p>In general the larger islands have the -ey suffix, and the smaller ones have the -hou suffix; these are believed to be from the Old Norse ey and holmr, respectively which means island and islet.</p><br>
<p>The Chausey Islands south of Jersey are not generally included in the geographical definition of the Channel Islands but are occasionally described in English as French Channel Islands in view of their French jurisdiction. They were historically linked to the Duchy of Normandy, but they are part of the French territory along with continental Normandy, and not part of the British Isles or of the Channel Islands in a political sense. They are an incorporated part of the commune of Granville (Manche). While they are popular with visitors from France, Channel Islanders rarely visit them as there are no direct transport links from the other islands.</p><br>
<p>In official Jersey French, the islands are called Îles de la Manche, while in France, the term Îles Anglo-normandes (Anglo-Norman isles) is used to refer to the British Channel Islands in contrast to other islands in the Channel. Chausey is referred to as an Île normande (as opposed to anglo-normande). Îles Normandes and Archipel Normand have also, historically, been used in Channel Island French to refer to the islands as a whole.</p><br>
<p>The very large tidal variation provides an environmentally rich inter-tidal zone around the islands, and some islands such as Burhou, the Écréhous, and the Minquiers have been designated Ramsar sites.</p><br>
<p>The waters around the islands include the following:</p><br>
<p>The Swinge (between Alderney and Burhou)</p><br>
<p>The Little Swinge (between Burhou and Les Nannels)</p><br>
<p>La Déroute (between Jersey and Sark, and Jersey and the Cotentin)</p><br>
<p>Le Raz Blanchard, or Race of Alderney (between Alderney and the Cotentin)</p><br>
<p>The Great Russel (between Sark, Jéthou and Herm)</p><br>
<p>The Little Russel (between Guernsey, Herm and Jéthou)</p><br>
<p>Souachehouais (between Le Rigdon and L&#39;Étacq, Jersey)</p><br>
<p>Le Gouliot (between Sark and Brecqhou)</p><br>
<p>La Percée (between Herm and Jéthou)</p><br>
<p>The highest point in the islands is Les Platons in Jersey at 143 metres (469 ft) above sea level. The lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean (sea level).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>The earliest evidence of human occupation of the Channel Islands has been dated to 250,000 years ago when they were attached to the landmass of continental Europe. The islands became detached by rising sea levels in the Neolithic period. The numerous dolmens and other archaeological sites extant and recorded in history demonstrate the existence of a population large enough and organised enough to undertake constructions of considerable size and sophistication, such as the burial mound at La Hougue Bie in Jersey or the statue menhirs of Guernsey.</p><br>
<h3>From the Iron Age</h3><br>
<p>Hoards of Armorican coins have been excavated, providing evidence of trade and contact in the Iron Age period. Evidence for Roman settlement is sparse, although evidently the islands were visited by Roman officials and traders. The Roman name for the Channel Islands was I. Lenuri (Lenur Islands) and is included in the Peutinger Table The traditional Latin names used for the islands (Caesarea for Jersey, Sarnia for Guernsey, Riduna for Alderney) derive (possibly mistakenly) from the Antonine Itinerary. Gallo-Roman culture was adopted to an unknown extent in the islands.</p><br>
<p>In the sixth century, Christian missionaries visited the islands. Samson of Dol, Helier, Marculf and Magloire are among saints associated with the islands. In the sixth century, they were already included in the diocese of Coutances where they remained until reformation.</p><br>
<p>The islands were inhabited by Britons, who also inhabited Wales, south west England and nearby Brittany having moved away from invading Anglo-Saxons. From the beginning of the ninth century, Norse raiders appeared on the coasts. Norse settlement succeeded initial attacks, and it is from this period that many place names of Norse origin appear, including the modern names of the islands.</p><br>
<h3>From the Duchy of Normandy</h3><br>
<p>In 933, the islands were granted to William I Longsword by Raoul King of Western Francia and annexed to the Duchy of Normandy. In 1066, William II of Normandy invaded and conquered England, becoming William I of England, also known as William the Conqueror. In the period 1204–1214, King John lost the Angevin lands in northern France, including mainland Normandy, to King Philip II of France, but managed to retain control of the Channel Islands. In 1259, his successor, Henry III of England, by the Treaty of Paris, officially surrendered his claim and title to the Duchy of Normandy, while the King of France gave up claim to the Channel Islands, which was based upon his position as feudal overlord of the Duke of Normandy. Since then, the Channel Islands have been governed as possessions of the Crown and were never absorbed into the Kingdom of England and its successor kingdoms of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.</p><br>
<p>The islands were invaded by the French in 1338, who held some territory until 1345. Edward III of England granted a Charter in July 1341 to Jersey, Guernsey, Sark and Alderney, confirming their customs and laws to secure allegiance to the English Crown. Owain Lawgoch, a mercenary leader of a Free Company in the service of the French Crown, attacked Jersey and Guernsey in 1372, and in 1373 Bertrand du Guesclin besieged Mont Orgueil. The young King Richard II of England reconfirmed in 1378 the Charter rights granted by his grandfather, followed in 1394 with a second Charter granting, because of great loyalty shown to the Crown, exemption for ever, from English tolls, customs and duties. Jersey was occupied by the French in 1461 as part of an exchange of helping the Lancastrians fight against the Yorkists during The War of the Roses. It was retaken by the Yorkists in 1468. In 1483 a Papal bull decreed that the islands would be neutral during time of war. This privilege of neutrality enabled islanders to trade with both France and England and was respected until 1689 when it was abolished by Order in Council following the Glorious Revolution in Great Britain.</p><br>
<p>Various attempts to transfer the islands from the diocese of Coutances (to Nantes (1400), Salisbury (1496), and Winchester (1499)) had little effect until an Order in Council of 1569 brought the islands formally into the diocese of Winchester. Control by the bishop of Winchester was ineffectual as the islands had turned overwhelmingly Calvinist and the episcopacy was not restored until 1620 in Jersey and 1663 in Guernsey.</p><br>
<p>Sark in the 16th century was uninhabited until colonised from Jersey in the 1560s. The grant of seigneurship from Elizabeth I of England in 1565 forms the basis of Sark&#39;s constitution today.</p><br>
<h3>From the seventeenth century</h3><br>
<p>During the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, Jersey held out strongly for the Royalist cause, providing refuge for Charles, Prince of Wales in 1646 and 1649–1650, while the more strongly Presbyterian Guernsey more generally favoured the parliamentary cause (although Castle Cornet was held by Royalists and did not surrender until October 1651.</p><br>
<p>The islands acquired commercial and political interests in the North American colonies. Islanders became involved with the Newfoundland fisheries in the seventeenth century. In recognition for all the help given to him during his exile in Jersey in the 1640s, Charles II gave George Carteret, Bailiff and governor, a large grant of land in the American colonies, which he promptly named New Jersey, now part of the United States of America. Sir Edmund Andros of Guernsey was an early colonial governor in North America, and head of the short-lived Dominion of New England.</p><br>
<p>In the late eighteenth century, the Islands were dubbed "the French Isles". Wealthy French émigrés fleeing the Revolution sought residency in the islands. Many of the town domiciles existing today were built in that time. In Saint Peter Port, a large part of the harbour had been built by 1865.</p><br>
<h3>20th century</h3><br>
<h4>World War II</h4><br>
<p>The islands were the only British territory to be occupied by the German Army during World War II.</p><br>
<p>The British Government demilitarised the islands in June 1940, and the lieutenant-governors were withdrawn on 21 June, leaving the insular administrations to continue government as best they could under impending military occupation.</p><br>
<p>Before German troops landed, between 30 June and 4 July 1940, evacuation took place. Many young men had already left to join the Allied armed forces, as volunteers. 6,600 out of 50,000 left Jersey while 17,000 out of 42,000 left Guernsey. Thousands of children were evacuated with their schools to England and Scotland.</p><br>
<p>The population of Sark largely remained where they were</p><br>
<p>The Royal Navy blockaded the islands from time to time, particularly following the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. There was considerable hunger and privation during the five years of German occupation, particularly in the final months when the population was close to starvation. Intense negotiations resulted in some humanitarian aid being sent via the Red Cross, leading to the arrival of Red Cross parcels in the supply ship SS Vega in December 1944.</p><br>
<p>The German occupation of 1940–45 was harsh: over 2,000 Islanders were deported by the Germans, some Jews were sent to concentration camps; Partisan resistance and retribution, accusations of collaboration, and slave labour also occurred. Many Spaniards, initially refugees from the Spanish Civil War, were brought to the islands to build fortifications. Many land mines were laid, with 65,718 land mines laid in Jersey alone.</p><br>
<p>There was no resistance movement in the Channel Islands on the scale of that in mainland France. This has been ascribed to a range of factors including the physical separation of the Islands, the density of troops (up to one German for every two Islanders), the small size of the Islands precluding any hiding places for resistance groups, and the absence of the Gestapo from the occupying forces. Moreover, much of the population of military age had joined the British Army already.</p><br>
<p>The end of the occupation came after VE-Day on 8 May 1945, Jersey and Guernsey being liberated on 9 May. The German garrison in Alderney was left until 16 May, and it was one of the last of the Nazi German remnants to surrender. The first evacuees returned on the first sailing from Great Britain on 23 June, but the people of Alderney were unable to start returning until December 1945. Many of the evacuees who returned home had difficulty reconnecting with their families after five years of separation.</p><br>
<h4>Post-1945</h4><br>
<p>Following the liberation of 1945, reconstruction led to a transformation of the economies of the islands, attracting immigration and developing tourism. The legislatures were reformed and non-party governments embarked on social programmes, aided by the incomes from offshore finance, which grew rapidly from the 1960s. The islands decided not to join the European Economic Community when the UK joined, and remain outside. Since the 1990s declining profitability of agriculture and tourism has challenged the governments of the islands.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>The Channel Islands fall into two separate self-governing bailiwicks, the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey. Both are British Crown dependencies, and neither is part of the United Kingdom. They have been part of the Duchy of Normandy since the tenth century, and Queen Elizabeth II is often referred to by her traditional and conventional title of Duke of Normandy. However, pursuant to the Treaty of Paris (1259), she governs in her right as The Queen (the "Crown in right of Jersey", and the "Crown in right of the république of the Bailiwick of Guernsey"), and not as the Duke. This notwithstanding, it is a matter of local pride for monarchists to treat the situation otherwise: the Loyal Toast at formal dinners is to The Queen, our Duke, rather than to Her Majesty, The Queen as in the UK.</p><br>
<p>A bailiwick is a territory administered by a bailiff. Although the words derive from a common root (bail=to give charge of) there is a vast difference between the meaning of the word bailiff (English) and Bailiff (CI). (The former is a court-appointed private debt-collector authorised to collect judgment debts, while the latter is the most important citizen within his Bailiwick.) The Bailiff in each bailiwick is the civil head, presiding officer of the States, and also head of the judiciary.</p><br>
<p>In the early part of the twenty-first century, the existence of governmental offices such as the bailiffs which incorporate multiple roles straddling the different branches of Government came under increased scrutiny for their apparent contravention of the doctrine of separation of powers—most notably in the Guernsey case of McGonnell -v- United Kingdom (2000) 30 EHRR 289, which following final judgement at the European Court of Human Rights became part of the impetus for much recent constitutional change, particularly the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (2005 c.4) in the UK itself, including the separation of the roles of the Lord Chancellor, the abolition of the House of Lords judicial role, and its replacement by the UK Supreme Court. The Islands&#39; bailiffs, however, still retain their historic roles.</p><br>
<p>The systems of government in the Islands date from Norman times, which accounts for the names of the legislatures, the States, derived from the Norman États or estates (i.e. the Crown, the Church, and the people). The States have evolved over the centuries into democratic parliaments.</p><br>
<p>The UK Parliament has power to legislate for the Islands, but Acts of Parliament do not extend to the Islands automatically. Usually, the Act gives power to extend the application of the Act to the Islands by an Order in Council, after consultation. For the most part the Islands legislate for themselves. Each island has its own primary legislature, known as the States of Guernsey and the States of Jersey, with Chief Pleas in Sark and the States of Alderney – the Channel Islands are not represented in the UK Parliament. Laws passed by the States are given Royal Assent by The Queen in Council, to whom the islands&#39; governments are responsible.</p><br>
<p>The islands are not part of the European Union and, thus, were not a party to the 2016 referendum on the EU membership, but are part of the Customs Territory of the European Community by virtue of Protocol Three to the Treaty on European Union. In September 2010, a Channel Islands Brussels Office was set up jointly by the two Bailiwicks to develop the Channel Islands influence with the EU, to advise the Channel Islands governments on European matters, and to promote economic links with the EU.</p><br>
<p>Both bailiwicks are members of the British–Irish Council, and Jèrriais and Guernésiais are recognised regional languages of the Isles.</p><br>
<p>The legal courts are separate; separate courts of appeal have been in place since 1961. Among the legal heritage from Norman law is the Clameur de Haro. The basis of the legal systems of both Bailiwicks is Norman customary law (Coutume) rather than the English Common Law, although elements of the latter have become established over time.</p><br>
<p>Islanders are full British citizens, and therefore European citizens. Any British citizen who applies for a passport in Jersey or Guernsey receives a passport bearing the words "British Islands, Bailiwick of Jersey" or "British Islands, Bailiwick of Guernsey". Under the provisions of Protocol Three, Channel Islanders who do not have a close connection with the UK (no parent or grandparent from the UK, and have never been resident in the UK for a five-year period) do not automatically benefit from the EU provisions on free movement within the EU, and their passports receive an endorsement to that effect. This affects only a minority of islanders.</p><br>
<p>Under the UK Interpretation Act 1978, the Channel Islands are deemed to be part of the British Islands, not to be confused with the British Isles. For the purposes of the British Nationality Act 1981, the “British Islands” include the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, taken together, unless the context otherwise requires.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Tourism is the major industry in the smaller islands (with some agriculture). However, Jersey and Guernsey have, since the 1960s, become major offshore financial centres on the scale of the Cayman Islands or Bermuda. Guernseys horticultural and greenhouse activities have been more significant than in Jersey, and Guernsey has maintained light industry as a higher proportion of its economy than Jersey. Jerseys economy since the 1980s has been substantially more reliant on finance. Both islands are now heavily dependent on the finance industry, this along with a high cost of living has resulted in a general widening between the rich and poor.</p><br>
<p>Both bailiwicks issue their own banknotes and coins, which circulate freely in all the islands alongside UK coinage and Bank of England and Scottish banknotes. There are many exports, largely consisting of crafted goods and farmed produce.</p><br>
<h2>Transport and communications</h2><br>
<h3>Post</h3><br>
<p>Since 1969, Jersey and Guernsey have operated postal administrations independently of the UKs Royal Mail, with their own postage stamps, which can be used for postage only in their respective Bailiwicks. UK stamps are no longer valid, but mail to the islands, and to the Isle of Man, is charged at UK inland rates. It was not until the early 1990s that the islands joined the UKs postcode system, Jersey postcodes using the initials JE and Guernsey GY.</p><br>
<h3>Transport</h3><br>
<h4>Road</h4><br>
<p>Each of the three largest islands has a distinct vehicle registration scheme:</p><br>
<p>Guernsey (GBG): a number of up to five digits</p><br>
<p>Jersey (GBJ): J followed by up to six digits (JSY vanity plates are also issued)</p><br>
<p>Alderney (GBA): AY followed by up to five digits (four digits are the most that have been used, as redundant numbers are re-issued).</p><br>
<p>In Sark, where most motor traffic is prohibited, the few vehicles – nearly all tractors – do not display plates. Bicycles display tax discs.</p><br>
<h4>Sea</h4><br>
<p>In the 1960s, names used for the cross-Channel ferries plying the mail route between the islands and Weymouth, Dorset, were taken from the popular Latin names for the islands: Caesarea (Jersey), Sarnia (Guernsey) and Riduna (Alderney). Fifty years later, the ferry route between the Channel Islands and the UK is operated by Condor Ferries from both St Helier, Jersey and St Peter Port, Guernsey, using high-speed catamaran fast craft to Poole in the UK. A regular passenger ferry service on the Commodore Clipper goes from both Channel Island ports to Portsmouth daily, and carries both passengers and freight.</p><br>
<p>Ferry services to Normandy are operated by Manche Îles Express, and services between Jersey and Saint Malo are operated by Compagnie Corsaire and Condor Ferries.</p><br>
<p>The Isle of Sark Shipping Company operates small ferries to Sark.</p><br>
<p>On 20 August 2013, Huelin-Renouf, which had operated a "lift-on lift-off" container service for 80 years between the Port of Southampton and the Port of Jersey, ceased trading. Senator Alan Maclean, a Jersey politician had previously tried to save the 90-odd jobs furnished by the company to no avail. On 20 September, it was announced that Channel Island Lines would continue this service, and would purchase the MV Huelin Dispatch from Associated British Ports who in turn had purchased them from the receiver in the bankruptcy. The new operator was to be funded by Rockayne Limited, a closely held association of Jersey businesspeople.</p><br>
<h4>Air</h4><br>
<p>There are three airports in the Channel Islands; Alderney Airport, Guernsey Airport and Jersey Airport, which are directly connected to each other by services operated by Blue Islands and Aurigny.</p><br>
<h4>Rail</h4><br>
<p>Historically there have been railway networks on Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney, but all of the lines on Jersey and Guernsey have been closed and dismantled. Today there are three working railways in the Channel Islands, of which the Alderney Railway is the only one providing a regular timetabled passenger service. The other two are a gauge miniature railway, also on Alderney, and the heritage steam railway operated on Jersey as part of the Pallot Heritage Steam Museum.</p><br>
<h3>Media</h3><br>
<p>Regional television and radio broadcasts are available in the islands. These services are provided by BBC Radio Jersey, BBC Radio Guernsey, BBC Channel Islands, ITV Channel Television, Island FM, and Channel 103. Jubilee Hospital Radio provided Guernsey hospitals with a radio service, Radio Lions serves Jersey hospitals. broadcasts two music services online, through Apple & Android apps and on.</p><br>
<p>Television programmes are broadcast from the Frémont Point transmitting station. A local television service was called Channel Islands Live started transmitting in early 2016, from the studios at Dorset Street, St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands.</p><br>
<p>There are several local newspapers including the Guernsey Press and the Jersey Evening Post and magazines.</p><br>
<h3>Telephone</h3><br>
<p>Jersey always operated its own telephone services independently of Britain&#39;s national system, Guernsey established its own telephone service in 1968. Both islands still form part of the British telephone numbering plan, but Ofcom on the mainlines does not have responsibility for telecommunications regulatory and licensing issues on the islands. It is responsible for wireless telegraphy licensing throughout the islands, and by agreement, for broadcasting regulation in the two large islands only.</p><br>
<h3>Internet</h3><br>
<p>Modern broadband speeds are available in all the islands, including VDSL for home and business. Providers include Sure and JT.</p><br>
<p>The two Bailiwicks each have their own internet domain.GG (Guernsey, Alderney, Sark) and.JE (Jersey), which are managed by channelisles.net.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>The Norman language predominated in the islands until the nineteenth century, when increasing influence from English-speaking settlers and easier transport links led to Anglicisation. There are four main dialects/languages of Norman in the islands, Auregnais (Alderney, extinct in late twentieth century), Dgèrnésiais (Guernsey), Jèrriais (Jersey) and Sercquiais (Sark, an offshoot of Jèrriais).</p><br>
<p>Victor Hugo spent many years in exile, first in Jersey and then in Guernsey, where he finished Les Misérables. Guernsey is the setting of Hugos later novel, Les Travailleurs de la Mer (The Toilers of the Sea). A "Guernsey-man" also makes an appearance in chapter 91 of Herman Melvilles Moby-Dick.</p><br>
<p>The annual "Muratti", the inter-island football match, is considered the sporting event of the year, although, due to broadcast coverage, it no longer attracts the crowds of spectators, travelling between the islands, that it did during the twentieth century.</p><br>
<p>Cricket is popular in the Channel Islands. The Jersey cricket team and the Guernsey cricket team are both Associate members of the International Cricket Council. The teams have played each other in the Inter-insular match since 1957. In 2001 and 2002, the Channel Islands entered a team into the MCCA Knockout Trophy, the one-day tournament of the Minor counties of English and Welsh cricket.</p><br>
<p>Channel Island sportsmen and women compete in the Commonwealth Games for their respective islands and the islands have also been enthusiastic supporters of the Island Games. Shooting is a popular sport, in which islanders have won Commonwealth medals.</p><br>
<p>Guernseys traditional colour for sporting and other purposes is green and Jerseys is red.</p><br>
<p>The main islanders have traditional animal nicknames:</p><br>
<p>Guernsey: les ânes ("donkeys" in French and Norman): the steepness of St Peter Port streets required beasts of burden, but Guernsey people also claim it is a symbol of their strength of characterwhich Jersey people traditionally interpret as stubbornness.</p><br>
<p>Jersey: les crapauds ("toads" in French and Jèrriais): Jersey has toads and snakes, which Guernsey lacks.</p><br>
<p>Sark: les corbins ("crows" in Sercquiais, Dgèrnésiais and Jèrriais, les corbeaux in French): crows could be seen from the sea on the island&#39;s coast.</p><br>
<p>Alderney: les lapins ("rabbits" in French and Auregnais): the island is noted for its warrens.</p><br>
<h3>Faith and religious history</h3><br>
<p>Christianity was brought to the islands around the sixth century; according to tradition, Jersey was evangelised by St Helier, Guernsey by St Samson of Dol, and the smaller islands were occupied at various times by monastic communities representing strands of Celtic Christianity. At the Reformation, the islands turned Calvinist under the influence of an influx of French-language pamphlets published in Geneva. Anglicanism was imposed in the seventeenth century, but the Non-Conformist tendency re-emerged with a strong adoption of Methodism. The presence of long-term Catholic communities from France and seasonal workers from Brittany and Normandy added to the mix of denominations. In late twentieth Century, a strong Roman Catholic presence re-emerged with the many Portuguese workers (both from Mainland Portugal and the Island of Madeira) coming to live in the islands, and more recently Polish Roman Catholics and other Eastern Europe worshipers. Today, more evangelical churches have been established. Services are held in a number of languages.</p><br>
<p>39% of the population are non-religious.</p><br>
<h2>Other islands in the English Channel</h2><br>
<p>There are other islands in the English Channel which are not part of the Channel Islands. Among these are the French islands Bréhat, Île de Batz, Chausey, Tatihou and Îles Saint-Marcouf. The Isle of Wight, which is part of England, is between the Channel and the Solent.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople  was the capital city of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine , and also of the brief Latin , and the later Ottoman  empires. It was reinaugurated in 324 AD from ancient Byzantium as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Emperor Constantine the Great, after whom it was named, and dedicated on 11 May 330 AD.</p><br>
<p>From the mid-5th century to the early 13th century, Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe and it was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times as the home of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and as the guardian of Christendom&#39;s holiest relics such as the Crown of Thorns and the True Cross. After the final loss of its provinces in the early 15th century, the Byzantine Empire was reduced to just Constantinople and its environs, along with Morea in Greece, and the city eventually fell to the Ottomans after a month-long siege in 1453.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople was famed for its massive and complex defences. Although besieged on numerous occasions by various peoples, the defences of Constantinople proved invulnerable for nearly nine hundred years before the city was taken in 1204 by the Crusader armies of the Fourth Crusade, and after it was liberated in 1261 by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos, a second and final time in 1453 when it was conquered by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. The first wall of the city was erected by Constantine I, and surrounded the city on both land and sea fronts. Later, in the 5th century, the Praetorian Prefect Anthemius under the child emperor Theodosius II undertook the construction of the Theodosian Walls, which consisted of a double wall lying about 2 km to the west of the first wall and a moat with palisades in front. This formidable complex of defences was one of the most sophisticated of Antiquity. The city was built intentionally to rival Rome, and it was claimed that several elevations within its walls matched the seven hills of Rome. Because it was located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara the land area that needed defensive walls was reduced, and this helped it to present an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes, and towers, the result of the prosperity that was engendered by its being the gateway between two continents (Europe and Asia) and two seas (the Mediterranean and the Black Sea).</p><br>
<p>The city was also famed for its architectural masterpieces, such as the Greek Orthodox cathedral of Hagia Sophia, which served as the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the sacred Imperial Palace where the Emperors lived, the Galata Tower, the Hippodrome, the Golden Gate of the Land Walls, and the opulent aristocratic palaces lining the arcaded avenues and squares. The University of Constantinople was founded in the fifth century and contained numerous artistic and literary treasures before it was sacked in 1204 and 1453, including its vast Imperial Library which contained the remnants of the Library of Alexandria and had over 100,000 volumes of ancient texts.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople never truly recovered from the devastation of the Fourth Crusade and the decades of misrule by the Latins. Although the city partially recovered in the early years after the restoration under the Palaiologos dynasty, the advent of the Ottomans and the subsequent loss of the Imperial territories until it became an enclave inside the fledgling Ottoman Empire rendered the city severely depopulated when it fell to the Ottoman Turks, whereafter it replaced Edirne (Adrianople) as the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.</p><br>
<h2>Names</h2><br>
<h3>Before Constantinople</h3><br>
<p>According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, the first known name of a settlement on the site of Constantinople was Lygos,</p><br>
<p>a settlement of likely Thracian origin founded between the 13th and 11th century BC. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium (Βυζάντιον, Byzántion) in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus.</p><br>
<p>The origins of the name of Byzantion, more commonly known by the later Latin Byzantium, are not entirely clear, though some suggest it is of Thraco-Illyrian origin. The founding myth of the city has it told that the settlement was named after the leader of the Megarian colonists, Byzas. The later Byzantines of Constantinople themselves would maintain that the city was named in honour of two men, Byzas and Antes, though this was more likely just a play on the word Byzantion.</p><br>
<p>The city was briefly renamed Augusta Antonina in the early 3rd century by the Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211), having razed the city to the ground in 196 AD for supporting a rival contender in the civil war and rebuilt, in honour of his son Antoninus, the later Emperor Caracalla. The name appears to have been quickly forgotten and abandoned, and the city reverted to Byzantium/Byzantion after either the assassination of Caracalla in 217 or, at the latest, the fall of the Severan dynasty in 235.</p><br>
<h3>Names of Constantinople</h3><br>
<p>Byzantium took on the name of Konstantinoupolis ("city of Constantine", Constantinople) after its re-foundation under Roman emperor Constantine I, who transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium in 330 AD and designated his new capital officially as Nova Roma (Νέα Ῥώμη) New Rome. During this time, the city was also called Second Rome, Eastern Rome, and Roma Constantinopolitana. As the city became the sole remaining capital of the Roman Empire after the fall of the West, and its wealth, population, and influence grew, the city also came to have a multitude of nicknames.</p><br>
<p>As the largest and wealthiest city in Europe during the 4th–13th centuries and a centre of culture and education of the Mediterranean basin, Constantinople came to be known by prestigious titles such as Basileuousa (Queen of Cities) and Megalopolis (the Great City) and was, in colloquial speech, commonly referred to as just Polis (η πόλη) the City by Constantinopolitans and provincial Byzantines alike.</p><br>
<p>In the language of other peoples, Constantinople was referred to just as reverently. The medieval Vikings, who had contacts with the empire through their expansion in eastern Europe (Varangians) used the Old Norse name Miklagarðr (from mikill big and garðr city), and later Miklagard and Miklagarth. In Arabic, the city was sometimes called Rūmiyyat al-kubra (Great City of the Romans) and in Persian as Takht-e Rum (Throne of the Romans).</p><br>
<p>In East and South Slavic languages, including in medieval Russia, Constantinople was referred to as Tsargrad (Царьград) or Carigrad, City of the Caesar (Emperor), from the Slavonic words tsar (Caesar or King) and grad (city). This was presumably a calque on a Greek phrase such as Βασιλέως Πόλις (Vasileos Polis), the city of the emperor.</p><br>
<h3>Modern names of the city</h3><br>
<p>The modern Turkish name for the city, İstanbul, derives from the Greek phrase eis tin polin (εἰς τὴν πόλιν), meaning "into the city" or "to the city". This name was used in Turkish alongside Kostantiniyye, the more formal adaptation of the original Constantinople, during the period of Ottoman rule, while western languages mostly continued to refer to the city as Constantinople until the early 20th century. In 1928, the Turkish alphabet was changed from Arabic script to Latin script. After that, as part of the 1920s Turkification movement, Turkey started to urge other countries to use Turkish names for Turkish cities, instead of other transliterations to Latin script that had been used in the Ottoman times. In time the city came to be known as Istanbul and its variations in most world languages.</p><br>
<p>The name "Constantinople" is still used by members of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the title of one of their most important leaders, the Orthodox patriarch based in the city, referred to as "His Most Divine All-Holiness the Archbishop of Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch." In Greece today, the city is still called Konstantinoúpolis/Konstantinoúpoli (Κωνσταντινούπολη/Κωνσταντινούπολις) or simply just "the City" (Η Πόλη / Η Πόλις).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>c. 657 BC–324 AD: Byzantium and earlier settlements</h3><br>
<p>Constantinople was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I (272–337 AD) in 324 on the site of an already-existing city, Byzantium, which was settled in the early days of Greek colonial expansion, in around 657 BC, by colonists of the city-state of Megara. This is the first major settlement that would develop on the site of later Constantinople, but the first known settlements was that of Lygos, referred to in Pliny&#39;s Natural Histories, Apart from this, little is known about this initial settlement, except that it was abandoned by the time the Megarian colonists settled the site anew. The site, according to the founding myth of the city, was abandoned by the time Greek settlers from the city-state of Megara founded Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον, Byzántion) in around 657 BC, across from the town of Chalcedon on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus.</p><br>
<p>The city maintained independence as a city-state until it was annexed by Darius I in 512 BC into the Persian Empire, who saw the site as the optimal location to construct a pontoon bridge crossing into Europe as Byzantium was situated at the narrowest point in the Bosphorus strait. Persian rule lasted until 478 BC when as part of the Greek counterattack to the Second Persian Invasion of Greece, a Greek army led by the Spartan general Pausanias captured the city which remained an independent, yet subordinate, city under the Athenians, and later to the Spartans after 411 BC. A farsighted treaty with the emergent power of Rome in c.150 BC which stipulated tribute in exchange for independent status allowed it to enter Roman rule unscathed. This treaty would pay dividends retrospectively as Byzantium would maintain this independent status, and prosper under peace and stability in the Pax Romana, for nearly three centuries until the late 2nd century AD.</p><br>
<p>Byzantium was never a major influential city-state like that of Athens, Corinth, and Sparta, but the city enjoyed relative peace and steady growth as a prosperous trading city lent by its remarkable position. The site lay astride the land route from Europe to Asia and the seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and had in the Golden Horn an excellent and spacious harbour. Already then, in Greek and early Roman times, Byzantium was famous for its strategic geographic position that made it difficult to besiege and capture, and its position at the crossroads of the Asiatic-European trade route over land and as the gateway between the Mediterranean and Black Seas made it too valuable a settlement to abandon, as Emperor Septimius Severus later realized when he razed the city to the ground for supporting Pescennius Niger&#39;s claimancy. It was a move greatly criticized by the contemporary consul and historian Cassius Dio who said that Severus had destroyed "a strong Roman outpost and a base of operations against the barbarians from Pontus and Asia". He would later rebuild Byzantium towards the end of his reign, in which it would be briefly renamed Augusta Antonina, fortifying it with a new city wall in his name, the Severan Wall.</p><br>
<h3>324–337: Foundation of Constantinople</h3><br>
<p>Constantine had altogether more colourful plans. Having restored the unity of the Empire, and, being in the course of major governmental reforms as well as of sponsoring the consolidation of the Christian church, he was well aware that Rome was an unsatisfactory capital. Rome was too far from the frontiers, and hence from the armies and the imperial courts, and it offered an undesirable playground for disaffected politicians. Yet it had been the capital of the state for over a thousand years, and it might have seemed unthinkable to suggest that the capital be moved to a different location. Nevertheless, Constantine identified the site of Byzantium as the right place: a place where an emperor could sit, readily defended, with easy access to the Danube or the Euphrates frontiers, his court supplied from the rich gardens and sophisticated workshops of Roman Asia, his treasuries filled by the wealthiest provinces of the Empire.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople was built over 6 years, and consecrated on 11 May 330. Constantine divided the expanded city, like Rome, into 14 regions, and ornamented it with public works worthy of an imperial metropolis. Yet, at first, Constantine&#39;s new Rome did not have all the dignities of old Rome. It possessed a proconsul, rather than an urban prefect. It had no praetors, tribunes, or quaestors. Although it did have senators, they held the title clarus, not clarissimus, like those of Rome. It also lacked the panoply of other administrative offices regulating the food supply, police, statues, temples, sewers, aqueducts, or other public works. The new programme of building was carried out in great haste: columns, marbles, doors, and tiles were taken wholesale from the temples of the empire and moved to the new city. In similar fashion, many of the greatest works of Greek and Roman art were soon to be seen in its squares and streets. The emperor stimulated private building by promising householders gifts of land from the imperial estates in Asiana and Pontica and on 18 May 332 he announced that, as in Rome, free distributions of food would be made to the citizens. At the time, the amount is said to have been 80,000 rations a day, doled out from 117 distribution points around the city.</p><br>
<p>Constantine laid out a new square at the centre of old Byzantium, naming it the Augustaeum. The new senate-house (or Curia) was housed in a basilica on the east side. On the south side of the great square was erected the Great Palace of the Emperor with its imposing entrance, the Chalke, and its ceremonial suite known as the Palace of Daphne. Nearby was the vast Hippodrome for chariot-races, seating over 80,000 spectators, and the famed Baths of Zeuxippus. At the western entrance to the Augustaeum was the Milion, a vaulted monument from which distances were measured across the Eastern Roman Empire.</p><br>
<p>From the Augustaeum led a great street, the Mese (Greek: Μέση lit. "Middle "), lined with colonnades. As it descended the First Hill of the city and climbed the Second Hill, it passed on the left the Praetorium or law-court. Then it passed through the oval Forum of Constantine where there was a second Senate-house and a high column with a statue of Constantine himself in the guise of Helios, crowned with a halo of seven rays and looking toward the rising sun. From there, the Mese passed on and through the Forum Tauri and then the Forum Bovis, and finally up the Seventh Hill (or Xerolophus) and through to the Golden Gate in the Constantinian Wall. After the construction of the Theodosian Walls in the early 5th century, it was extended to the new Golden Gate, reaching a total length of seven Roman miles.</p><br>
<h3>337–529: Constantinople during the Migration Period</h3><br>
<p>The importance of Constantinople increased, but it was gradual. From the death of Constantine in 337 to the accession of Theodosius I, emperors had been resident only in the years 337-8, 347–51, 358–61, 368–69. Its status as a capital was recognized by the appointment of the first known Urban Prefect of the City Honoratus, who held office from 11 December 359 until 361. The urban prefects had concurrent jurisdiction over three provinces each in the adjacent dioceses of Thrace (in which the city was located), Pontus and Asia comparable to the 100-mile extraordinary jurisdiction of the prefect of Rome. The emperor Valens, who hated the city and spent only one year there, nevertheless built the Palace of Hebdomon on the shore of the Propontis near the Golden Gate, probably for use when reviewing troops. All the emperors up to Zeno and Basiliscus were crowned and acclaimed at the Hebdomon. Theodosius I founded the Church of John the Baptist to house the skull of the saint (today preserved at the Topkapı Palace), put up a memorial pillar to himself in the Forum of Taurus, and turned the ruined temple of Aphrodite into a coach house for the Praetorian Prefect; Arcadius built a new forum named after himself on the Mese, near the walls of Constantine.</p><br>
<p>After the shock of the Battle of Adrianople in 378, in which the emperor Valens with the flower of the Roman armies was destroyed by the Visigoths within a few days&#39; march, the city looked to its defences, and in 413–414 Theodosius II built the 18-metre (60-foot)-tall triple-wall fortifications, which were not to be breached until the coming of gunpowder. Theodosius also founded a University near the Forum of Taurus, on 27 February 425.</p><br>
<p>Uldin, a prince of the Huns, appeared on the Danube about this time and advanced into Thrace, but he was deserted by many of his followers, who joined with the Romans in driving their king back north of the river. Subsequent to this, new walls were built to defend the city and the fleet on the Danube improved.</p><br>
<p>After the barbarians overran the Western Roman Empire, Constantinople became the indisputable capital city of the Roman Empire. Emperors were no longer peripatetic between various court capitals and palaces. They remained in their palace in the Great City and sent generals to command their armies. The wealth of the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia flowed into Constantinople.</p><br>
<h3>527–565: Constantinople in the Age of Justinian</h3><br>
<p>The emperor Justinian I (527–565) was known for his successes in war, for his legal reforms and for his public works. It was from Constantinople that his expedition for the reconquest of the former Diocese of Africa set sail on or about 21 June 533. Before their departure, the ship of the commander Belisarius was anchored in front of the Imperial palace, and the Patriarch offered prayers for the success of the enterprise. After the victory, in 534, the Temple treasure of Jerusalem, looted by the Romans in 70 AD and taken to Carthage by the Vandals after their sack of Rome in 455, was brought to Constantinople and deposited for a time, perhaps in the Church of St. Polyeuctus, before being returned to Jerusalem in either the Church of the Resurrection or the New Church.</p><br>
<p>Chariot-racing had been important in Rome for centuries. In Constantinople, the hippodrome became over time increasingly a place of political significance. It was where (as a shadow of the popular elections of old Rome) the people by acclamation showed their approval of a new emperor, and also where they openly criticized the government, or clamoured for the removal of unpopular ministers. In the time of Justinian, public order in Constantinople became a critical political issue.</p><br>
<p>Throughout the late Roman and early Byzantine periods, Christianity was resolving fundamental questions of identity, and the dispute between the orthodox and the monophysites became the cause of serious disorder, expressed through allegiance to the horse-racing parties of the Blues and the Greens. The partisans of the Blues and the Greens were said to affect untrimmed facial hair, head hair shaved at the front and grown long at the back, and wide-sleeved tunics tight at the wrist; and to form gangs to engage in night-time muggings and street violence. At last these disorders took the form of a major rebellion of 532, known as the "Nika" riots (from the battle-cry of "Victory!" of those involved).</p><br>
<p>Fires started by the Nika rioters consumed Constantines basilica of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), the citys principal church, which lay to the north of the Augustaeum. Justinian commissioned Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus to replace it with a new and incomparable Hagia Sophia. This was the great cathedral of the Orthodox Church, whose dome was said to be held aloft by God alone, and which was directly connected to the palace so that the imperial family could attend services without passing through the streets. The dedication took place on 26 December 537 in the presence of the emperor, who exclaimed, "O Solomon, I have outdone thee!" Hagia Sophia was served by 600 people including 80 priests, and cost 20,000 pounds of gold to build.</p><br>
<p>Justinian also had Anthemius and Isidore demolish and replace the original Church of the Holy Apostles built by Constantine with a new church under the same dedication. This was designed in the form of an equal-armed cross with five domes, and ornamented with beautiful mosaics. This church was to remain the burial place of the Emperors from Constantine himself until the 11th century. When the city fell to the Turks in 1453, the church was demolished to make room for the tomb of Mehmet II the Conqueror. Justinian was also concerned with other aspects of the city&#39;s built environment, legislating against the abuse of laws prohibiting building within 100 ft of the sea front, in order to protect the view.</p><br>
<p>During Justinian Is reign, the citys population reached about 500,000 people. However, the social fabric of Constantinople was also damaged by the onset of the Plague of Justinian between 541–542 AD. It killed perhaps 40% of the city&#39;s inhabitants.</p><br>
<h3>Survival, 565–717: Constantinople during the Byzantine Dark Ages</h3><br>
<p>In the early 7th century, the Avars and later the Bulgars overwhelmed much of the Balkans, threatening Constantinople with attack from the west. Simultaneously, the Persian Sassanids overwhelmed the Prefecture of the East and penetrated deep into Anatolia. Heraclius, son of the exarch of Africa, set sail for the city and assumed the purple. He found the military situation so dire that he is said to have contemplated withdrawing the imperial capital to Carthage, but relented after the people of Constantinople begged him to stay. The citizens lost their right to free grain in 618 when Heraclius realised that the city could no longer be supplied from Egypt as a result of the Persian wars: the population fell substantially as a result.</p><br>
<p>While the city withstood a siege by the Sassanids and Avars in 626, Heraclius campaigned deep into Persian territory and briefly restored the status quo in 628, when the Persians surrendered all their conquests. However, further sieges followed the Arab conquests, first from 674 to 678 and then in 717 to 718. The Theodosian Walls kept the city impregnable from the land, while a newly discovered incendiary substance known as Greek Fire allowed the Byzantine navy to destroy the Arab fleets and keep the city supplied. In the second siege, the second ruler of Bulgaria, Khan Tervel, rendered decisive help. He was called Saviour of Europe.</p><br>
<h3>717–1025: Constantinople during the Macedonian Renaissance</h3><br>
<p>In the 730s Leo III carried out extensive repairs of the Theodosian walls, which had been damaged by frequent and violent attacks; this work was financed by a special tax on all the subjects of the Empire.</p><br>
<p>Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus (died 842), acted as regent during the minority of her son Michael III, who was said to have been introduced to dissolute habits by her brother Bardas. When Michael assumed power in 856, he became known for excessive drunkenness, appeared in the hippodrome as a charioteer and burlesqued the religious processions of the clergy. He removed Theodora from the Great Palace to the Carian Palace and later to the monastery of Gastria, but, after the death of Bardas, she was released to live in the palace of St Mamas; she also had a rural residence at the Anthemian Palace, where Michael was assassinated in 867.</p><br>
<p>In 860, an attack was made on the city by a new principality set up a few years earlier at Kiev by Askold and Dir, two Varangian chiefs: Two hundred small vessels passed through the Bosporus and plundered the monasteries and other properties on the suburban Prince&#39;s Islands. Oryphas, the admiral of the Byzantine fleet, alerted the emperor Michael, who promptly put the invaders to flight; but the suddenness and savagery of the onslaught made a deep impression on the citizens.</p><br>
<p>In 980, the emperor Basil II received an unusual gift from Prince Vladimir of Kiev: 6,000 Varangian warriors, which Basil formed into a new bodyguard known as the Varangian Guard. They were known for their ferocity, honour, and loyalty. It is said that, in 1038, they were dispersed in winter quarters in the Thracesian theme when one of their number attempted to violate a countrywoman, but in the struggle she seized his sword and killed him; instead of taking revenge, however, his comrades applauded her conduct, compensated her with all his possessions, and exposed his body without burial as if he had committed suicide. However, following the death of an Emperor, they became known also for plunder in the Imperial palaces. Later in the 11th Century the Varangian Guard became dominated by Anglo-Saxons who preferred this way of life to subjugation by the new Norman kings of England.</p><br>
<p>The Book of the Eparch, which dates to the 10th century, gives a detailed picture of the city&#39;s commercial life and its organization at that time. The corporations in which the tradesmen of Constantinople were organised were supervised by the Eparch, who regulated such matters as production, prices, import, and export. Each guild had its own monopoly, and tradesmen might not belong to more than one. It is an impressive testament to the strength of tradition how little these arrangements had changed since the office, then known by the Latin version of its title, had been set up in 330 to mirror the urban prefecture of Rome.</p><br>
<p>In the 9th and 10th centuries, Constantinople had a population of between 500,000 and 800,000.</p><br>
<h4>Iconoclast controversy in Constantinople</h4><br>
<p>In the 8th and 9th centuries, the iconoclast movement caused serious political unrest throughout the Empire. The emperor Leo III issued a decree in 726 against images, and ordered the destruction of a statue of Christ over one of the doors of the Chalke, an act that was fiercely resisted by the citizens. Constantine V convoked a church council in 754, which condemned the worship of images, after which many treasures were broken, burned, or painted over with depictions of trees, birds or animals: One source refers to the church of the Holy Virgin at Blachernae as having been transformed into a "fruit store and aviary". Following the death of her son Leo IV in 780, the empress Irene restored the veneration of images through the agency of the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.</p><br>
<p>The iconoclast controversy returned in the early 9th century, only to be resolved once more in 843 during the regency of Empress Theodora, who restored the icons. These controversies contributed to the deterioration of relations between the Western and the Eastern Churches.</p><br>
<h3>1025–1081: Constantinople after Basil II</h3><br>
<p>In the late 11th century catastrophe struck with the unexpected and calamitous defeat of the imperial armies at the Battle of Manzikert in Armenia in 1071. The Emperor Romanus Diogenes was captured. The peace terms demanded by Alp Arslan, sultan of the Seljuk Turks, were not excessive, and Romanus accepted them. On his release, however, Romanus found that enemies had placed their own candidate on the throne in his absence; he surrendered to them and suffered death by torture, and the new ruler, Michael VII Ducas, refused to honour the treaty. In response, the Turks began to move into Anatolia in 1073. The collapse of the old defensive system meant that they met no opposition, and the empire&#39;s resources were distracted and squandered in a series of civil wars. Thousands of Turkoman tribesmen crossed the unguarded frontier and moved into Anatolia. By 1080, a huge area had been lost to the Empire, and the Turks were within striking distance of Constantinople.</p><br>
<h3>1081–1185: Constantinople under the Comneni</h3><br>
<p>Under the Comnenian dynasty (1081–1185), Byzantium staged a remarkable recovery. In 1090–91, the nomadic Pechenegs reached the walls of Constantinople, where Emperor Alexius I with the aid of the Kipchaks annihilated their army. In response to a call for aid from Alexius, the First Crusade assembled at Constantinople in 1096, but declining to put itself under Byzantine command set out for Jerusalem on its own account. John II built the monastery of the Pantocrator (Almighty) with a hospital for the poor of 50 beds.</p><br>
<p>With the restoration of firm central government, the empire became fabulously wealthy. The population was rising (estimates for Constantinople in the 12th century vary from some 100,000 to 500,000), and towns and cities across the realm flourished. Meanwhile, the volume of money in circulation dramatically increased. This was reflected in Constantinople by the construction of the Blachernae palace, the creation of brilliant new works of art, and general prosperity at this time: an increase in trade, made possible by the growth of the Italian city-states, may have helped the growth of the economy. It is certain that the Venetians and others were active traders in Constantinople, making a living out of shipping goods between the Crusader Kingdoms of Outremer and the West, while also trading extensively with Byzantium and Egypt. The Venetians had factories on the north side of the Golden Horn, and large numbers of westerners were present in the city throughout the 12th century. Toward the end of Manuel I Komnenos&#39;s reign, the number of foreigners in the city reached about 60,000–80,000 people out of a total population of about 400,000 people. In 1171, Constantinople also contained a small community of 2,500 Jews. In 1182, all Latin (Western European) inhabitants of Constantinople were massacred.</p><br>
<p>In artistic terms, the 12th century was a very productive period. There was a revival in the mosaic art, for example: Mosaics became more realistic and vivid, with an increased emphasis on depicting three-dimensional forms. There was an increased demand for art, with more people having access to the necessary wealth to commission and pay for such work. According to N.H. Baynes (Byzantium, An Introduction to East Roman Civilization):</p><br>
<h3>1185–1261: Constantinople during the Imperial Exile</h3><br>
<p>On 25 July 1197, Constantinople was struck by a severe fire which burned the Latin Quarter and the area around the Gate of the Droungarios (Odun Kapısı) on the Golden Horn. Nevertheless, the destruction wrought by the 1197 fire paled in comparison with that brought by the Crusaders. In the course of a plot between Philip of Swabia, Boniface of Montferrat and the Doge of Venice, the Fourth Crusade was, despite papal excommunication, diverted in 1203 against Constantinople, ostensibly promoting the claims of Alexius, son of the deposed emperor Isaac. The reigning emperor Alexius III had made no preparation. The Crusaders occupied Galata, broke the defensive chain protecting the Golden Horn and entered the harbour, where on 27 July they breached the sea walls: Alexius III fled. But the new Alexius IV found the Treasury inadequate, and was unable to make good the rewards he had promised to his western allies. Tension between the citizens and the Latin soldiers increased. In January 1204, the protovestiarius Alexius Murzuphlus provoked a riot, it is presumed, to intimidate Alexius IV, but whose only result was the destruction of the great statue of Athena, the work of Phidias, which stood in the principal forum facing west.</p><br>
<p>In February, the people rose again: Alexius IV was imprisoned and executed, and Murzuphlus took the purple as Alexius V. He made some attempt to repair the walls and organise the citizenry, but there had been no opportunity to bring in troops from the provinces and the guards were demoralised by the revolution. An attack by the Crusaders on 6 April failed, but a second from the Golden Horn on 12 April succeeded, and the invaders poured in. Alexius V fled. The Senate met in Hagia Sophia and offered the crown to Theodore Lascaris, who had married into the Angelid family, but it was too late. He came out with the Patriarch to the Golden Milestone before the Great Palace and addressed the Varangian Guard. Then the two of them slipped away with many of the nobility and embarked for Asia. By the next day the Doge and the leading Franks were installed in the Great Palace, and the city was given over to pillage for three days.</p><br>
<p>Sir Steven Runciman, historian of the Crusades, wrote that the sack of Constantinople is “unparalleled in history”.</p><br>
<p>For the next half-century, Constantinople was the seat of the Latin Empire. Under the rulers of the Latin Empire, the city declined, both in population and the condition of its buildings. Alice-Mary Talbot cites an estimated population for Constantinople of 400,000 inhabitants; after the destruction wrought by the Crusaders on the city, about one third were homeless, and numerous courtiers, nobility, and higher clergy, followed various leading personages into exile. "As a result Constantinople became seriously depopulated," Talbot concludes.</p><br>
<p>The Latins took over at least 20 churches and 13 monasteries, most prominently the Hagia Sophia, which became the cathedral of the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople. It is to these that E.H. Swift attributed the construction of a series of flying buttresses to shore up the walls of the church, which had been weakened over the centuries by earthquake tremors. However, this act of maintenance is an exception: for the most part, the Latin occupiers were too few to maintain all of the buildings, either secular and sacred, and many became targets for vandalism or dismantling. Bronze and lead were removed from the roofs of abandoned buildings and melted down and sold to provide money to the chronically under-funded Empire for defense and to support the court; Deno John Geanokoplos writes that "it may well be that a division is suggested here: Latin laymen stripped secular buildings, ecclesiastics, the churches." Buildings were not the only targets of officials looking to raise funds for the impoverished Latin Empire: the monumental sculptures which adorned the Hippodrome and fora of the city were pulled down and melted for coinage. "Among the masterpieces destroyed, writes Talbot, "were a Herakles attributed to the fourth-century B.C. sculptor Lysippos, and monumental figures of Hera, Paris, and Helen."</p><br>
<p>The Nicaean emperor John III Vatatzes reportedly saved several churches from being dismantled for their valuable building materials; by sending money to the Latins "to buy them off" (exonesamenos), he prevented the destruction of several churches. According to Talbot, these included the churches of Blachernae, Rouphinianai, and St. Michael at Anaplous. He also granted funds for the restoration of the Church of the Holy Apostles, which had been seriously damaged in an earthquake.</p><br>
<p>The Byzantine nobility scattered, many going to Nicaea, where Theodore Lascaris set up an imperial court, or to Epirus, where Theodore Angelus did the same; others fled to Trebizond, where one of the Comneni had already with Georgian support established an independent seat of empire. Nicaea and Epirus both vied for the imperial title, and tried to recover Constantinople. In 1261, Constantinople was captured from its last Latin ruler, Baldwin II, by the forces of the Nicaean emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.</p><br>
<h3>1261–1453: Palaiologan Era and the Fall of Constantinople</h3><br>
<p>Although Constantinople was retaken by Michael VIII Palaiologos, the Empire had lost many of its key economic resources, and struggled to survive. The palace of Blachernae in the north-west of the city became the main Imperial residence, with the old Great Palace on the shores of the Bosporus going into decline. When Michael VIII captured the city, its population was 35,000 people, but, by the end of his reign, he had succeeded in increasing the population to about 70,000 people. The Emperor achieved this by summoning former residents who had fled the city when the crusaders captured it, and by relocating Greeks from the recently reconquered Peloponnese to the capital. In 1347, the Black Death spread to Constantinople. In 1453, when the Ottoman Turks captured the city, it contained approximately 50,000 people.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Empire on 29 May 1453. The Ottomans were commanded by 22-year-old Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. The conquest of Constantinople followed a seven-week siege that had begun on 6 April 1453.</p><br>
<h3>1453–1922: Ottoman Kostantiniyye</h3><br>
<p>The Christian Orthodox city of Constantinople was now under Ottoman control. When Mehmed II finally entered Constantinople through what is now known as the Topkapi Gate, he immediately rode his horse to the Hagia Sophia, where he ordered his soldiers to stop hacking at the marbles and be satisfied with the booty and captives; as for all the buildings, they belonged to him. He ordered that an imam meet him there in order to chant the adhan thus transforming the Orthodox cathedral into a Muslim mosque, solidifying Islamic rule in Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>Mehmed’s main concern with Constantinople had to do with rebuilding the city’s defenses and population. Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, and building a new palace. Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle the city; he demanded that five thousand households needed to be transferred to Constantinople by September. From all over the Islamic empire, prisoners of war and deported people were sent to the city: these people were called "Sürgün" in Turkish (σουργούνιδες). Two centuries later, Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi gave a list of groups introduced into the city with their respective origins. Even today, many quarters of Istanbul, such as Aksaray, Çarşamba, bear the names of the places of origin of their inhabitants. However, many people escaped again from the city, and there were several outbreaks of plague, so that in 1459 Mehmet allowed the deported Greeks to come back to the city.</p><br>
<h2>Importance</h2><br>
<h3>Culture</h3><br>
<p>Constantinople was the largest and richest urban center in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea during the late Eastern Roman Empire, mostly as a result of its strategic position commanding the trade routes between the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. It would remain the capital of the eastern, Greek-speaking empire for over a thousand years. At its peak, roughly corresponding to the Middle Ages, it was the richest and largest European city, exerting a powerful cultural pull and dominating economic life in the Mediterranean. Visitors and merchants were especially struck by the beautiful monasteries and churches of the city, in particular, Hagia Sophia, or the Church of Holy Wisdom: A Russian 14th-century traveler, Stephen of Novgorod, wrote, "As for Hagia Sophia, the human mind can neither tell it nor make description of it."</p><br>
<p>It was especially important for preserving in its libraries manuscripts of Greek and Latin authors throughout a period when instability and disorder caused their mass-destruction in western Europe and north Africa: On the city&#39;s fall, thousands of these were brought by refugees to Italy, and played a key part in stimulating the Renaissance, and the transition to the modern world. The cumulative influence of the city on the west, over the many centuries of its existence, is incalculable. In terms of technology, art and culture, as well as sheer size, Constantinople was without parallel anywhere in Europe for a thousand years.</p><br>
<p>Armenians, Syrians, Slavs and Georgians were part of the Byzantine social hierarchy.</p><br>
<h3>International status</h3><br>
<p>The city provided a defence for the eastern provinces of the old Roman Empire against the barbarian invasions of the 5th century. The 18-meter-tall walls built by Theodosius II were, in essence, impregnable to the barbarians coming from south of the Danube river, who found easier targets to the west rather than the richer provinces to the east in Asia. From the 5th century, the city was also protected by the Anastasian Wall, a 60-kilometer chain of walls across the Thracian peninsula. Many scholars argue that these sophisticated fortifications allowed the east to develop relatively unmolested while Ancient Rome and the west collapsed.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople&#39;s fame was such that it was described even in contemporary Chinese histories, the Old and New Book of Tang, which mentioned its massive walls and gates as well as a purported clepsydra mounted with a golden statue of a man. The Chinese histories even related how the city had been besieged in the 7th century by Muawiyah I and how he exacted tribute in a peace settlement.</p><br>
<h3>Architecture</h3><br>
<p>The Byzantine Empire used Roman and Greek architectural models and styles to create its own unique type of architecture. The influence of Byzantine architecture and art can be seen in the copies taken from it throughout Europe. Particular examples include St Mark&#39;s Basilica in Venice, the basilicas of Ravenna, and many churches throughout the Slavic East. Also, alone in Europe until the 13th-century Italian florin, the Empire continued to produce sound gold coinage, the solidus of Diocletian becoming the bezant prized throughout the Middle Ages. Its city walls were much imitated (for example, see Caernarfon Castle) and its urban infrastructure was moreover a marvel throughout the Middle Ages, keeping alive the art, skill and technical expertise of the Roman Empire. In the Ottoman period Islamic architecture and symbolism were used.</p><br>
<h3>Religion</h3><br>
<p>Constantine&#39;s foundation gave prestige to the Bishop of Constantinople, who eventually came to be known as the Ecumenical Patriarch, and made it a prime center of Christianity alongside Rome. This contributed to cultural and theological differences between Eastern and Western Christianity eventually leading to the Great Schism that divided Western Catholicism from Eastern Orthodoxy from 1054 onwards. Constantinople is also of great religious importance to Islam, as the conquest of Constantinople is one of the signs of the End time in Islam.</p><br>
<h3>Popular culture</h3><br>
<p>Constantinople appears as a city of wondrous majesty, beauty, remoteness, and nostalgia in William Butler Yeats&#39; 1928 poem "Sailing to Byzantium."</p><br>
<p>Constantinople, as seen under the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II, makes several on-screen appearances in the television miniseries "Attila" as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.</p><br>
<p>Finnish author Mika Waltari wrote one of his most-acclaimed historical novels, Johannes Angelos (published in English by name "The Dark Angel") on the fall of Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius, also wrote Count Belisarius, a historical novel about Belisarius. Graves set much of the novel in the Constantinople of Justinian I.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople provides the setting of much of the action in Umberto Eco&#39;s 2000 novel Baudolino.</p><br>
<p>The name Constantinople was made easy to spell thanks to a novelty song, "C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E," written by Harry Carlton and performed by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, in the 1920s.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople&#39;s change of name was the theme for a song made famous by The Four Lads and later covered by They Might Be Giants and many others, titled "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)."</p><br>
<p>"Constantinople" was one of the "big words" the Father knows toward the end of Dr. Seuss&#39;s book, Hop on Pop. (The other was Timbuktu.)</p><br>
<p>"Constantinople" was also the title of the opening edit of The Residents&#39; EP Duck Stab!, released in 1978.</p><br>
<p>Queen&#39;s Roger Meddows Taylor included the track "Interlude in Constantinople" on Side 2 of his debut album Fun in Space.</p><br>
<p>A Montreal-based folk/classical/fusion band calls itself "Constantinople."</p><br>
<p>Constantinople under Justinian is the scene of the book A Flame in Byzantium by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, released in 1987.</p><br>
<p>"Constantinople" is the title of a song by The Decemberists.</p><br>
<p>Stephen Lawhead&#39;s novel Byzantium (1996) is set in 9th-century Constantinople.</p><br>
<p>Folk Metal band Turisas makes multiple references to Constantinople in their song "Miklagard Overture," referring to it as "Konstantinopolis," "Tsargrad," and "Miklagard."</p><br>
<p>Constantinople makes an appearance in the MMORPG game Silkroad as a major capital, along with a major Chinese capital.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople makes an appearance in the "Rome Total War" expansion "Barbarian Invasion" belonging to the Eastern Roman Empire. It would reappear in the same role for the spiritual sequel, Total War: Attila.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople also makes an appearance in "Medieval Total War." It is a starting province and city of the Byzantines.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople makes an appearance in the game "Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings" in the fifth scenario of the Barbarossa campaign and again in the third scenario of the Attila the Hun campaign in the expansion pack "Age of Empires II: The Conquerors Expansion."</p><br>
<p>Constantinople is the main setting of the game "Assassins Creed: Revelations," the fourth major title in the best-selling "Assassins Creed" series.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople is also a setting of the Vampire: The Dark Ages role playing game by White Wolf.</p><br>
<p>Constantinople is one of the territories featured in the Board Game Diplomacy. It is one of the default territories of Turkey.</p><br>
<p>Çatalhöyük  was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC. In July 2012, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<p>Çatalhöyük is located overlooking the Konya Plain, southeast of the present-day city of Konya (ancient Iconium) in Turkey, approximately 140 km (87 mi) from the twin-coned volcano of Mount Hasan. The eastern settlement forms a mound which would have risen about 20 m (66 ft) above the plain at the time of the latest Neolithic occupation. There is also a smaller settlement mound to the west and a Byzantine settlement a few hundred meters to the east. The prehistoric mound settlements were abandoned before the Bronze Age. A channel of the Çarşamba River once flowed between the two mounds, and the settlement was built on alluvial clay which may have been favourable for early agriculture.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The site was first excavated by James Mellaart in 1958. He later led a team which excavated there for four seasons between 1961 and 1965. These excavations revealed this section of Anatolia as a centre of advanced culture in the Neolithic period. Excavation revealed 18 successive layers of buildings signifying various stages of the settlement and eras of history. The bottom layer of buildings signifies as early as 7500 BC while the top layer is of 5600 BC.</p><br>
<p>Mellaart was banned from Turkey for his involvement in the Dorak affair in which he published drawings of supposedly important Bronze Age artifacts that later went missing. After this scandal, the site lay idle until 1993, when investigations began under the leadership of Ian Hodder, then at the University of Cambridge. These investigations are among the most ambitious excavation projects currently in progress according to, among others, Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn. In addition to extensive use of archaeological science, psychological and artistic interpretations of the symbolism of the wall paintings have been employed. Hodder, a former student of Mellaart, chose the site as the first "real world" test of his then-controversial theory of post-processual archaeology.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>Çatalhöyük was composed entirely of domestic buildings, with no obvious public buildings. While some of the larger ones have rather ornate murals, the purpose of some rooms remains unclear.</p><br>
<p>The population of the eastern mound has been estimated to be, at maximum, 10,000 people, but the population likely varied over the community’s history. An average population of between 5,000 and 7,000 is a reasonable estimate. The sites were set up as large numbers of buildings clustered together. Households looked to their neighbors for help, trade, and possible marriage for their children. The inhabitants lived in mudbrick houses that were crammed together in an aggregate structure. No footpaths or streets were used between the dwellings, which were clustered in a honeycomb-like maze. Most were accessed by holes in the ceiling, with doors reached by ladders and stairs. The rooftops were effectively streets. The ceiling openings also served as the only source of ventilation, allowing smoke from the houses&#39; open hearths and ovens to escape.</p><br>
<p>Houses had plaster interiors characterized by squared-off timber ladders or steep stairs. These were usually on the south wall of the room, as were cooking hearths and ovens. The main rooms contained raised platforms that may have been used for a range of domestic activities. Typical houses contained two rooms for everyday activity, such as cooking and crafting. All interior walls and platforms were plastered to a smooth finish. Ancillary rooms were used as storage, and were accessed through low openings from main rooms.</p><br>
<p>All rooms were kept scrupulously clean. Archaeologists identified very little rubbish in the buildings, finding middens outside the ruins, with sewage and food waste, as well as significant amounts of wood ash. In good weather, many daily activities may also have taken place on the rooftops, which may have formed a plaza. In later periods, large communal ovens appear to have been built on these rooftops. Over time, houses were renewed by partial demolition and rebuilding on a foundation of rubble, which was how the mound was gradually built up. As many as eighteen levels of settlement have been uncovered.</p><br>
<p>As a part of ritual life, the people of Çatalhöyük buried their dead within the village. Human remains have been found in pits beneath the floors and, especially, beneath hearths, the platforms within the main rooms, and under beds. Bodies were tightly flexed before burial and were often placed in baskets or wound and wrapped in reed mats. Disarticulated bones in some graves suggest that bodies may have been exposed in the open air for a time before the bones were gathered and buried. In some cases, graves were disturbed, and the individual’s head removed from the skeleton. These heads may have been used in rituals, as some were found in other areas of the community. In a womans grave spinning whorls were recovered and in a mans grave, stone axes. Some skulls were plastered and painted with ochre to recreate faces, a custom more characteristic of Neolithic sites in Syria and at Neolithic Jericho than at sites closer by.</p><br>
<p>Vivid murals and figurines are found throughout the settlement, on interior and exterior walls. Distinctive clay figurines of women, notably the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük, have been found in the upper levels of the site. Although no identifiable temples have been found, the graves, murals, and figurines suggest that the people of Çatalhöyük had a religion rich in symbols. Rooms with concentrations of these items may have been shrines or public meeting areas. Predominant images include men with erect phalluses, hunting scenes, red images of the now extinct aurochs (wild cattle) and stags, and vultures swooping down on headless figures. Relief figures are carved on walls, such as of lionesses facing one another.</p><br>
<p>Heads of animals, especially of cattle, were mounted on walls. A painting of the village, with the twin mountain peaks of Hasan Dağ in the background, is frequently cited as the world&#39;s oldest map and the first landscape painting. However, some archaeologists question this interpretation. Stephanie Meece, for example, argues that it is more likely a painting of a leopard skin instead of a volcano, and a decorative geometric design instead of a map.</p><br>
<p>Çatalhöyük had no apparent social classes, as no houses with distinctive features (belonging to royalty or religious hierarchy, for example) have been found so far. The most recent investigations also reveal little social distinction based on gender, with men and women receiving equivalent nutrition and seeming to have equal social status, as typically found in Paleolithic cultures. Children observed domestic areas. They learned how to perform rituals and how to build or repair houses by watching the adults make statues, beads and other objects.</p><br>
<p>Çatalhöyük&#39;s spatial layout may be due to the close kin relations exhibited amongst the people. It can be seen, in the layout, that the people were "divided into two groups who lived on opposite sides of the town, separated by a gully." Furthermore, because no nearby towns were found from which marriage partners could be drawn, "this spatial separation must have marked two intermarrying kinship groups." This would help explain how a settlement so early on would become so large.</p><br>
<p>In upper levels of the site, it becomes apparent that the people of Çatalhöyük were gaining skills in agriculture and the domestication of animals. Female figurines have been found within bins used for storage of cereals, such as wheat and barley, and the figurines are presumed to be of a deity protecting the grain. Peas were also grown, and almonds, pistachios, and fruit were harvested from trees in the surrounding hills. Sheep were domesticated and evidence suggests the beginning of cattle domestication as well. However, hunting continued to be a major source of food for the community. Pottery and obsidian tools appear to have been major industries; obsidian tools were probably both used and also traded for items such as Mediterranean sea shells and flint from Syria.</p><br>
<h2>Religion</h2><br>
<p>A striking feature of Çatalhöyük are its female figurines. Mellaart, the original excavator, argued that these well-formed, carefully made figurines, carved and molded from marble, blue and brown limestone, schist, calcite, basalt, alabaster, and clay, represented a female deity. Although a male deity existed as well, "statues of a female deity far outnumber those of the male deity, who moreover, does not appear to be represented at all after Level VI". To date, eighteen levels have been identified. These artfully-hewn figurines were found primarily in areas Mellaart believed to be shrines. The stately goddess seated on a throne flanked by two female lions (illustration) was found in a grain bin, which Mellaart suggests might have been a means of ensuring the harvest or protecting the food supply. In later cultures, similar depictions are seen of Cybele, a mountain goddess.</p><br>
<p>Whereas Mellaart excavated nearly two hundred buildings in four seasons, the current excavator, Ian Hodder, spent an entire season excavating one building alone. Hodder and his team, in 2004 and 2005, began to believe that the patterns suggested by Mellaart were false. They found one similar figurine, but the vast majority did not imitate the Mother Goddess style that Mellaart suggested. Instead of a Mother Goddess culture, Hodder points out that the site gives little indication of a matriarchy or patriarchy.</p><br>
<p>In an article in the Turkish Daily News, Hodder is reported as denying that Çatalhöyük was a matriarchal society and quoted as saying "When we look at what they eat and drink and at their social statues, we see that men and women had the same social status. There was a balance of power. Another example is the skulls found. If one&#39;s social status was of high importance in Çatalhöyük, the body and head were separated after death. The number of female and male skulls found during the excavations is almost equal." In another article in the Hurriyet Daily News Hodder is reported to say "We have learned that men and women were equally approached".</p><br>
<p>In a report in September 2009 on the discovery of around 2000 figurines Hodder is quoted as saying:</p><br>
<p>Çatalhöyük was excavated in the 1960s in a methodical way, but not using the full range of natural science techniques that are available to us today. Sir James Mellaart who excavated the site in the 1960s came up with all sorts of ideas about the way the site was organised and how it was lived in and so on... We’ve now started working there since the mid 1990s and come up with very different ideas about the site. One of the most obvious examples of that is that Çatalhöyük is perhaps best known for the idea of the mother goddess. But our work more recently has tended to show that in fact there is very little evidence of a mother goddess and very little evidence of some sort of female-based matriarchy. That’s just one of the many myths that the modern scientific work is undermining.</p><br>
<p>Professor Lynn Meskell explained that while the original excavations had found only 200 figures, the new excavations had uncovered 2,000 figurines of which most were animals, with less than 5% of the figurines women.</p><br>
<p>Estonian folklorist Uku Masing has suggested as early as in 1976, that Çatalhöyük was probably a hunting and gathering religion and the Mother Goddess figurine did not represent a female deity. He implied that perhaps a longer period of time was needed in order to develop symbols for agricultural rites. His theory was developed in the paper "Some remarks on the mythology of the people of Catal Hüyük".</p><br>
<h2>Archaeological project support</h2><br>
<p>The current archaeological investigations at Çatalhöyük are supported by the following institutions and organizations:</p><br>
<p>Selçuk University</p><br>
<p>British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara</p><br>
<p>Institute of Archaeology, University College London</p><br>
<p>Cardiff University</p><br>
<p>Stanford University</p><br>
<p>World Monuments Fund</p><br>
<p>Turkish Cultural Foundation</p><br>
<p>Istanbul University</p><br>
<p>University of California, Berkeley</p><br>
<p>Polish Heritage Council</p><br>
<p>Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań</p><br>
<p>University at Buffalo</p><br>
<p>Global Heritage Fund</p><br>
<p>Yapi Kredi</p><br>
<p>Boeing</p><br>
<p>Shell</p><br>
<p>Merko</p><br>
<p>Thames Water</p><br>
<p>National Geographic Society</p><br>
<p>American Embassy in Ankara</p><br>
<p>University of York</p><br>
<p>University of Reading</p><br>
<p>Corcovado, meaning "hunchback" in Portuguese, is a mountain in central Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 710-metre  granite peak is located in the Tijuca Forest, a national park. It is sometimes confused with nearby Sugarloaf Mountain.</p><br>
<p>Corcovado hill lies just west of the city center but is wholly within the city limits and visible from great distances. It is known worldwide for the 38-metre (125 ft) statue of Jesus atop its peak, entitled Cristo Redentor or "Christ the Redeemer".</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>The peak and statue can be accessed via a narrow road, by the 3.8 kilometre (2.4 mi) Corcovado Rack Railway, which was opened in 1884 and refurbished in 1980, or by the walking trail on the south side of the mountain that starts from Parque Lage. The railway uses three electrically powered trains, with a passenger capacity of 540 passengers per hour. The rail trip takes approximately 20 minutes and departs every 20 minutes. Due to its limited passenger capacity, the wait to board at the entry station can take several hours. The year-round schedule is 8:30 to 18:30.</p><br>
<p>From the train terminus and road, the observation deck at the foot of the statue is reached by 223 steps, or by elevators and escalators. Among the most popular year-round tourist attractions in Rio, the Corcovado railway, access roads, and statue platform are commonly crowded.</p><br>
<h2>Attractions</h2><br>
<p>The most popular attraction of Corcovado mountain is the statue and viewing platform at its peak, drawing over 300,000 visitors per year. From the peaks platform the panoramic view includes downtown Rio, Sugarloaf Mountain, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (lake), Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Estádio do Maracanã (Maracanã Stadium), and several of Rios favelas. Cloud cover is common in Rio and the view from the platform is often obscured. Sunny days are recommended for optimal viewing.</p><br>
<p>Notable past visitors to the mountain peak include Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II, Alberto Santos-Dumont, German Sueiro Vazquez, Albert Einstein, Diana, Princess of Wales, and General Sherman, among others. An additional attraction of the mountain is rock climbing. The south face had 54 climbing routes in 1992. The easiest way starts from Park Lage.</p><br>
<p>The Corcovado is also a symbol of the Brazilian culture.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The peak of Corcovado is a big granite dome, which describes a generally vertical rocky formation. It is claimed to be the highest such formation in Brazil, the second highest being Pedra Agulha, situated near to the town of Pancas in Espírito Santo.</p><br>
<p>Carthage  was the centre or capital city of the ancient Carthaginian civilization, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now the Tunis Governorate in Tunisia.</p><br>
<p>The city developed from a Phoenician colony into the capital of an empire dominating the Mediterranean during the first millennium BC. The legendary Queen Dido is regarded as the founder of the city, though her historicity has been questioned. According to accounts by Timaeus of Tauromenium, she purchased from a local tribe the amount of land that could be covered by an oxhide. Cutting the skin into strips, she laid out her claim and founded an empire that would become, through the Punic Wars, the only existential threat to the Roman Empire until the coming of the Vandals several centuries later.</p><br>
<p>The ancient city was destroyed by the Roman Republic in the Third Punic War in 146 BC then re-developed as Roman Carthage, which became the major city of the Roman Empire in the province of Africa. The Roman city was again occupied by the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb, in 698. The site remained uninhabited, the regional power shifting to the Medina of Tunis in the medieval period, until the early 20th century, when it began to develop into a coastal suburb of Tunis, incorporated as Carthage municipality in 1919.</p><br>
<p>The archaeological site was first surveyed in 1830, by Danish consul Christian Tuxen Falbe. Excavations were performed in the second half of the 19th century by</p><br>
<p>Charles Ernest Beulé and by Alfred Louis Delattre. The Carthage National Museum was founded in 1875 by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie.</p><br>
<p>Excavations performed by French archaeologists in the 1920s attracted an extraordinary amount of attention because of the evidence they produced for child sacrifice, in Greco-Roman and Biblical tradition associated with the Canaanite god Baal Hammon. The open-air Carthage Paleo-Christian Museum has exhibits excavated under the auspices of UNESCO from 1975 to 1984.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The name Carthage /ˈkarθɪdʒ/ is the Early Modern anglicisation of French Carthage /kaʁ.taʒ/, from Latin Carthāgō (cf. Greek Karkhēdōn (Καρχηδών) and Etruscan *Carθaza) from the Punic qrt-ḥdšt ( "new city", implying it was a "new Tyre". The Latin adjective pūnicus, meaning "Phoenician", is reflected in English in some borrowings from Latin—notably the Punic Wars and the Punic language.</p><br>
<p>The Modern Standard Arabic form قرطاج is an adoption of French Carthage, replacing an older local toponym reported as Cartagenna that directly continued the Latin name.</p><br>
<h2>Topography</h2><br>
<p>Carthage was built on a promontory with sea inlets to the north and the south. The citys location made it master of the Mediterraneans maritime trade. All ships crossing the sea had to pass between Sicily and the coast of Tunisia, where Carthage was built, affording it great power and influence. Two large, artificial harbors were built within the city, one for harboring the city&#39;s massive navy of 220 warships and the other for mercantile trade. A walled tower overlooked both harbors. The city had massive walls, 23 mi in length, longer than the walls of comparable cities. Most of the walls were located on the shore, thus could be less impressive, as Carthaginian control of the sea made attack from that direction difficult. The 2.5 to 3 mi of wall on the isthmus to the west were truly massive and were never penetrated. The city had a huge necropolis or burial ground, religious area, market places, council house, towers, and a theater, and was divided into four equally sized residential areas with the same layout. Roughly in the middle of the city stood a high citadel called the Byrsa.</p><br>
<p>Carthage was one of the largest cities of the Hellenistic period and was among the largest cities in preindustrial history. Whereas by AD 14, Rome had at least 750,000 inhabitants and in the following century may have reached 1 million, the cities of Alexandria and Antioch numbered only a few hundred thousand or less. According to the not always reliable history of Herodian, Carthage rivaled Alexandria for second place in the Roman empire.</p><br>
<p>On top of Byrsa hill, the location of the Roman Forum, a residential area from the last century of existence (early second century BCE.) of the Punic city was excavated by the French archaeologist Serge Lancel. The neighborhood, with its houses, shops, and private spaces, is significant for what it reveals about daily life there over 2100 years ago.</p><br>
<p>The remains have been preserved under embankments, the substructures of the later Roman forum, whose foundation piles dot the district. The housing blocks are separated by a grid of straight streets about 6 m wide, with a roadway consisting of clay; in situ stairs compensate for the slope of the hill. Construction of this type presupposes organization and political will, and has inspired the name of the neighborhood, "Hannibal district", referring to the legendary Punic general or sufet (consul) at the beginning of the second century BCE.</p><br>
<p>The habitat is typical, even stereotypical. The street was often used as a storefront/shopfront; cisterns were installed in basements to collect water for domestic use, and a long corridor on the right side of each residence led to a courtyard containing a sump, around which various other elements may be found. In some places, the ground is covered with mosaics called punica pavement, sometimes using a characteristic red mortar.</p><br>
<p>The merchant harbor at Carthage was developed, after settlement of the nearby Punic town of Utica. Eventually the surrounding countryside was brought into the orbit of the Punic urban centres, first commercially, then politically. Direct management over cultivation of neighbouring lands by Punic owners followed. A 28-volume work on agriculture written in Punic by Mago, a retired army general (c. 300), was translated into Latin and later into Greek. The original and both translations have been lost; however, some of Magos text has survived in other Latin works. Olive trees (e.g., grafting), fruit trees (pomegranate, almond, fig, date palm), viniculture, bees, cattle, sheep, poultry, implements, and farm management were among the ancient topics which Mago discussed. As well, Mago addresses the wine-makers art (here a type of sherry).</p><br>
<p>In Punic farming society, according to Mago, the small estate owners were the chief producers. They were, two modern historians write, not absent landlords. Rather, the likely reader of Mago was "the master of a relatively modest estate, from which, by great personal exertion, he extracted the maximum yield." Mago counselled the rural landowner, for the sake of their own utilitarian interests, to treat carefully and well their managers and farm workers, or their overseers and slaves. Yet elsewhere these writers suggest that rural land ownership provided also a new power base among the city&#39;s nobility, for those resident in their country villas. By many, farming was viewed as an alternative endeavour to an urban business. Another modern historian opines that more often it was the urban merchant of Carthage who owned rural farming land to some profit, and also to retire there during the heat of summer. It may seem that Mago anticipated such an opinion, and instead issued this contrary advice (as quoted by the Roman writer Columella):</p><br>
<p>"The man who acquires an estate must sell his house, lest he prefer to live in the town rather than in the country. Anyone who prefers to live in a town has no need of an estate in the country." "One who has bought land should sell his town house, so that he will have no desire to worship the household gods of the city rather than those of the country; the man who takes greater delight in his city residence will have no need of a country estate."</p><br>
<p>The issues involved in rural land management also reveal underlying features of Punic society, its structure and stratification. The hired workers might be considered rural proletariat, drawn from the local Berbers. Whether or not there remained Berber landowners next to Punic-run farms is unclear. Some Berbers became sharecroppers. Slaves acquired for farm work were often prisoners of war. In lands outside Punic political control, independent Berbers cultivated grain and raised horses on their lands. Yet within the Punic domain that surrounded the city-state of Carthage, there were ethnic divisions in addition to the usual quasi feudal distinctions between lord and peasant, or master and serf. This inherent instability in the countryside drew the unwanted attention of potential invaders. Yet for long periods Carthage was able to manage these social difficulties.</p><br>
<p>The many amphorae with Punic markings subsequently found about ancient Mediterranean coastal settlements testify to Carthaginian trade in locally made olive oil and wine. Carthages agricultural production was held in high regard by the ancients, and rivaled that of Rome—they were once competitors, e.g., over their olive harvests. Under Roman rule, however, grain production ( and barley) for export increased dramatically in Africa; yet these later fell with the rise in Roman Egypts grain exports. Thereafter olive groves and vineyards were re-established around Carthage. Visitors to the several growing regions that surrounded the city wrote admiringly of the lush green gardens, orchards, fields, irrigation channels, hedgerows (as boundaries), as well as the many prosperous farming towns located across the rural landscape.</p><br>
<p>Accordingly, the Greek author and compiler Diodorus Siculus (fl. 1st century BCE), who enjoyed access to ancient writings later lost, and on which he based most of his writings, described agricultural land near the city of Carthage circa 310 BC:</p><br>
<p>"It was divided into market gardens and orchards of all sorts of fruit trees, with many streams of water flowing in channels irrigating every part. There were country homes everywhere, lavishly built and covered with stucco.... Part of the land was planted with vines, part with olives and other productive trees. Beyond these, cattle and sheep were pastured on the plains, and there were meadows with grazing horses."</p><br>
<p>The Chora (farm lands of Carthage) encompassed a limited area: the north coastal tell, the lower Bagradas river valley (inland from Utica), Cape Bon, and the adjacent sahel on the east coast. Punic culture here achieved the introduction of agricultural sciences first developed for lands of the eastern Mediterranean, and their adaptation to local African conditions.</p><br>
<p>The urban landscape of Carthage is known in part from ancient authors, augmented by modern digs and surveys conducted by archeologists. The "first urban nucleus" dating to the seventh century, in area about ten hectares (or four acres), was apparently located on low-lying lands along the coast (north of the later harbors). As confirmed by archaeological excavations, Carthage was a "creation ex nihilo", built on virgin land, and situated at the end of a peninsula (per the ancient coastline). Here among "mud brick walls and beaten clay floors" (recently uncovered) were also found extensive cemeteries, which yielded evocative grave goods like clay masks. "Thanks to this burial archaeology we know more about archaic Carthage than about any other contemporary city in the western Mediterranean." Already in the eighth century, fabric dyeing operations had been established, evident from crushed shells of murex (from which the Phoenician purple was derived). Nonetheless, only a "meager picture" of the cultural life of the earliest pioneers in the city can be conjectured, and not much about housing, monuments or defenses. The Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BC) imagined early Carthage, when his legendary character Aeneas had arrived there:</p><br>
<p>"Aeneas found, where lately huts had been,</p><br>
<p>marvelous buildings, gateways, cobbled ways,</p><br>
<p>and din of wagons. There the Tyrians</p><br>
<p>were hard at work: laying courses for walls,</p><br>
<p>rolling up stones to build the citadel,</p><br>
<p>while others picked out building sites and plowed</p><br>
<p>a boundary furrow. Laws were being enacted,</p><br>
<p>magistrates and a sacred senate chosen.</p><br>
<p>Here men were dredging harbors, there they laid</p><br>
<p>the deep foundations of a theatre,</p><br>
<p>and quarried massive pillars...."</p><br>
<p>The two inner harbours were located in the southeast; one being commercial, and the other for war. Their definite functions are not entirely known, probably for the construction, outfitting, or repair of ships, perhaps also loading and unloading cargo. Larger anchorages existed to the north and south of the city. North and west of the cothon were located several industrial areas, e.g., metalworking and pottery (e.g., for amphora), which could serve both inner harbours, and ships anchored to the south of the city.</p><br>
<p>About the Byrsa, the citadel area to the north, considering its importance our knowledge of it is patchy. Its prominent heights were the scene of fierce combat during the fiery destruction of the city in 146 BC. The Byrsa was the reported site of the Temple of Eshmun (the healing god), at the top of a stairway of sixty steps. A temple of Tanit (the citys queen goddess) was likely situated on the slope of the lesser Byrsa&#39; immediately to the east, which runs down toward the sea. Also situated on the Byrsa were luxury homes.</p><br>
<p>South of the citadel, near the cothon (the inner harbours) was the tophet, a special and very old cemetery, which when begun lay outside the city&#39;s boundaries. Here the Salammbô was located, the Sanctuary of Tanit, not a temple but an enclosure for placing stone stelae. These were mostly short and upright, carved for funeral purposes. Evidence from here may indicate the occurrence of child sacrifice. Probably the tophet burial fields were "dedicated at an early date, perhaps by the first settlers."</p><br>
<p>Between the sea-filled cothon for shipping and the Byrsa heights lay the agora, the city-state&#39;s central marketplace for business and commerce. The agora was also an area of public squares and plazas, where the people might formally assemble, or gather for festivals. It was the site of religious shrines, and the location of whatever were the major municipal buildings of Carthage. Here beat the heart of civic life. In this district of the Carthage, more probably, the ruling suffets presided, the council of elders convened, the tribunal of the 104 met, and justice was dispensed at trials in the open air.</p><br>
<p>Early residential districts wrapped around the Byrsa from the south to the north east. Houses usually were whitewashed and blank to the street, but within were courtyards open to the sky. In these neighborhoods multistory construction later became common, some up to six stories tall according to an ancient Greek author. Several architecutural floorplans of homes have been revealed by recent excavations, as well as the general layout of several city blocks. Stone stairs were set in the streets, and drainage was planned, e.g., in the form of soakways leaching into the sandy soil. Along the Byrsa&#39;s southern slope were located not only fine old homes, but also many of the earliest grave-sites, juxtaposed in small areas, interspersed with daily life.</p><br>
<p>Artisan workshops were located in the city at sites north and west of the harbours. The location of three metal workshops (implied from iron slag and other vestiges of such activity) were found adjacent to the naval and commercial harbours, and another two were further up the hill toward the Byrsa citadel. Sites of pottery kilns have been identified, between the agora and the harbours, and further north. Earthenware often used Greek models. A fuller&#39;s shop for preparing woolen cloth (shrink and thicken) was evidently situated further to the west and south, then by the edge of the city. Carthage also produced objects of rare refinement. During the 4th and 3rd centuries, the sculptures of the sarcophagi became works of art. "Bronze engraving and stone-carving reached their zenith."</p><br>
<p>The elevation of the land at the promontory on the seashore to the north-east (now called Sidi Bou Saïd), was twice as high above sea level as that at the Byrsa (100 m and 50 m). In between runs a ridge, several times reaching 50 m; it continues northwestward along the seashore, and forms the edge of a plateau-like area between the Byrsa and the sea. Newer urban developments lay here in these northern districts.</p><br>
<p>Surrounding Carthage were walls "of great strength" said in places to rise above 13 m, being nearly 10 m thick, according to ancient authors. To the west, three parallel walls were built. The walls altogether ran for about 33 km to encircle the city. The heights of the Byrsa were additionally fortified; this area being the last to succumb to the Romans in 146 BC. Originally the Romans had landed their army on the strip of land extending southward from the city.</p><br>
<h2>Ancient history</h2><br>
<p>Greek cities contested with Carthage for the Western Mediterranean culminating in the Sicilian Wars and the Pyrrhic War over Sicily, while the Romans fought three wars against Carthage, known as the Punic Wars.</p><br>
<h3>Punic Republic</h3><br>
<p>The Carthaginian republic was one of the longest-lived and largest states in the ancient Mediterranean. Reports relay several wars with Syracuse and finally, Rome, which eventually resulted in the defeat and destruction of Carthage in the Third Punic War. The Carthaginians were Phoenician settlers originating in the Mediterranean coast of the Near East. They spoke Canaanite, a Semitic language, and followed a local variety of the ancient Canaanite religion.</p><br>
<p>The fall of Carthage came at the end of the Third Punic War in 146 BC at the Battle of Carthage. Despite initial devastating Roman naval losses and Rome&#39;s recovery from the brink of defeat after the terror of a 15-year occupation of much of Italy by Hannibal, the end of the series of wars resulted in the end of Carthaginian power and the complete destruction of the city by Scipio Aemilianus. The Romans pulled the Phoenician warships out into the harbor and burned them before the city, and went from house to house, capturing and enslaving the people. About 50,000 Carthaginians were sold into slavery. The city was set ablaze and razed to the ground, leaving only ruins and rubble. After the fall of Carthage, Rome annexed the majority of the Carthaginian colonies, including other North African locations such as Volubilis, Lixus, Chellah, and Mogador.</p><br>
<p>The legend that the city was sown with salt remains widely accepted despite a lack of evidence among ancient historical accounts; According to R.T. Ridley, the earliest such claim is attributable to B.L. Hallwards chapter in Cambridge Ancient History, published in 1930. Ridley contended that Hallwards claim may have gained traction due to historical evidence of other salted-earth instances such as Abimelechs salting of Shechem in Judges 9:45. B.H. Warmington admitted he had repeated Hallwards error, but posited that the legend precedes 1930 and inspired repetitions of the practice. He also suggested that it is useful to understand how subsequent historical narratives have been framed and that the symbolic value of the legend is so great and enduring that it mitigates a deficiency of concrete evidence.</p><br>
<p>Starting in the 19th century, various texts claim that after defeating the city of Carthage in the Third Punic War (146 BC), the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus Africanus ordered the city be sacked, forced its surviving inhabitants into slavery, plowed it over and sowed it with salt. However, no ancient sources exist documenting the salting itself. The element of salting is therefore probably a later invention modeled on the Biblical story of Shechem. The ritual of symbolically drawing a plow over the site of a city is mentioned in ancient sources, but not in reference to Carthage specifically. When Pope Boniface VIII destroyed Palestrina in 1299, he issued a papal bull that it be plowed "following the old example of Carthage in Africa" and also salted. "I have run the plough over it, like the ancient Carthage of Africa, and I have had salt sown upon it...."</p><br>
<h3>Roman Carthage</h3><br>
<p>When Carthage fell, its nearby rival Utica, a Roman ally, was made capital of the region and replaced Carthage as the leading center of Punic trade and leadership. It had the advantageous position of being situated on the outlet of the Medjerda River, Tunisia&#39;s only river that flowed all year long. However, grain cultivation in the Tunisian mountains caused large amounts of silt to erode into the river. This silt accumulated in the harbor until it became useless, and Rome was forced to rebuild Carthage.</p><br>
<p>By 122 BC, Gaius Gracchus founded a short-lived colony, called Colonia Iunonia, after the Latin name for the Punic goddess Tanit, Iuno Caelestis. The purpose was to obtain arable lands for impoverished farmers. The Senate abolished the colony some time later, to undermine Gracchus&#39; power.</p><br>
<p>After this ill-fated attempt, a new city of Carthage was built on the same land by Julius Caesar in the period from 49 to 44 BC, and by the first century, it had grown to be the second-largest city in the western half of the Roman Empire, with a peak population of 500,000. It was the center of the province of Africa, which was a major breadbasket of the Empire. Among its major monuments was an amphitheater.</p><br>
<p>Carthage also became a center of early Christianity (see Carthage (episcopal see)). In the first of a string of rather poorly reported councils at Carthage a few years later, no fewer than 70 bishops attended. Tertullian later broke with the mainstream that was increasingly represented in the West by the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, but a more serious rift among Christians was the Donatist controversy, which Augustine of Hippo spent much time and parchment arguing against. At the Council of Carthage (397), the biblical canon for the western Church was confirmed.</p><br>
<p>The political fallout from the deep disaffection of African Christians is supposedly a crucial factor in the ease with which Carthage and the other centers were captured in the fifth century by Genseric, king of the Vandals, who defeated the Roman general Bonifacius and made the city the capital of the Vandal Kingdom. Genseric was considered a heretic, too, an Arian, and though Arians commonly despised Catholic Christians, a mere promise of toleration might have caused the city&#39;s population to accept him.</p><br>
<p>After a failed attempt to recapture the city in the fifth century, the Eastern Roman Empire finally subdued the Vandals in the Vandalic War in 533–534. Thereafter, the city became the seat of the praetorian prefecture of Africa, which was made into an exarchate during the emperor Maurice&#39;s reign, as was Ravenna on the Italian Peninsula. These two exarchates were the western bulwarks of the Byzantine Empire, all that remained of its power in the West. In the early seventh century Heraclius the Elder, the exarch of Carthage, overthrew the Byzantine emperor Phocas, whereupon his son Heraclius succeeded to the imperial throne.</p><br>
<h3>Islamic period</h3><br>
<p>The Roman Exarchate of Africa was not able to withstand the seventh-century Muslim conquest of the Maghreb. The Umayyad Caliphate under Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 686 sent a force led by Zuhayr ibn Qais, who won a battle over the Romans and Berbers led by King Kusaila of the Kingdom of Altava on the plain of Kairouan, but he could not follow that up. In 695, Hasan ibn al-Numan captured Carthage and advanced into the Atlas Mountains. An imperial fleet arrived and retook Carthage, but in 698, Hasan ibn al-Numan returned and defeated Emperor Tiberios III at the 698 Battle of Carthage. Roman imperial forces withdrew from all of Africa except Ceuta. Roman Carthage was destroyed—its walls torn down, its water supply cut off, and its harbors made unusable.</p><br>
<p>The destruction of the Exarchate of Africa marked a permanent end to the Byzantine Empire&#39;s influence in the region.</p><br>
<p>The Medina of Tunis, originally a Berber settlement, was established as the new regional center under the Umayyad Caliphate in the early 8th century. Under the Aghlabids, the people of Tunis revolted numerous times, but the city profited from economic improvements and quickly became the second most important in the kingdom. It was briefly the national capital, from the end of the reign of Ibrahim II in 902, until 909, when the Shi&#39;ite Berbers took over Ifriqiya and founded the Fatimid Caliphate.</p><br>
<p>Carthage remained a residential see until the high medieval period, mentioned in</p><br>
<p>two letters of Pope Leo IX dated 1053, written in reply to consultations regarding a conflict between the bishops of Carthage and Gummi.</p><br>
<p>In each of the two letters, Pope Leo declares that, after the Bishop of Rome, the first archbishop and chief metropolitan of the whole of Africa is the bishop of Carthage.</p><br>
<p>Later, an archbishop of Carthage named Cyriacus was imprisoned by the Arab rulers because of an accusation by some Christians. Pope Gregory VII wrote him a letter of consolation, repeating the hopeful assurances of the primacy of the Church of Carthage, "whether the Church of Carthage should still lie desolate or rise again in glory".</p><br>
<p>By 1076, Cyriacus was set free, but there was only one other bishop in the province. These are the last of whom there is mention in that period of the history of the see.</p><br>
<h2>Modern history</h2><br>
<p>Carthage is some 15 km east-northeast of Tunis; the settlements nearest to Carthage were the town of Sidi Bou Said to the north and the village of Le Kram to the south.</p><br>
<p>Sidi Bou Saint was a village which had grown around the tomb of the eponymous sufi saint (d. 1231), which had been developed into a town under Ottoman rule in the 18th century. Le Kram was developed in the late 19th century under French administration as a settlement close to the port of La Goulette.</p><br>
<p>In 1881, Tunisia became a French protectorate, and in the same year Charles Lavigerie, who was archbishop of Algiers, became apostolic administrator of the vicariate of Tunis. In the following year, Lavigerie became a cardinal. He "saw himself as the reviver of the ancient Christian Church of Africa, the Church of Cyprian of Carthage", and, on 10 November 1884, was successful in his great ambition of having the metropolitan see of Carthage restored, with himself as its first archbishop. In line with the declaration of Pope Leo IX in 1053, Pope Leo XIII acknowledged the revived Archdiocese of Carthage as the primatial see of Africa and Lavigerie as primate.</p><br>
<p>In 1964, the episcopal see of Carthage had to be de-established again, in a compromise reached with the government of Habib Bourguiba, which permitted the Catholic Church in Tunisia to retain legal personality and representation by the prelate nullius of Tunis.</p><br>
<p>The Acropolium of Carthage (Saint Louis Cathedral of Carthage) was erected on Byrsa hill in 1884.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeological site</h3><br>
<p>The Danish consul Christian Tuxen Falbe conducted a first survey of the topography of the archaeological site (published in 1833).</p><br>
<p>Antiquarian interest was intensified following the publication of Flaubert&#39;s Salammbô in 1858. Charles Ernest Beulé performed some preliminary excavations of Roman remains on Byrsa hill in 1860. A more systematic survey of both Punic and Roman-era remains is due to Alfred Louis Delattre, who was sent to Tunis by cardinal Charles Lavigerie in 1875 on both an apostolic and an archaeological mission.</p><br>
<p>Audollent (1901, ) cites Delattre and Lavigerie to the effect that in the 1880s, locals still knew the area of the ancient city under the name of Cartagenna (i.e. reflecting the Latin n-stem Carthāgine).</p><br>
<p>Auguste Audollent divides the area of Roman Carthage into four quarters, Cartagenna, Dermèche, Byrsa and La Malga. Cartagenna and Dermèche correspond with the lower city, including the site of Punic Carthage; Byrsa is associated with the upper city, which in Punic times was a walled citadel above the harbour; and La Malga is linked with the more remote parts of the upper city in Roman times.</p><br>
<p>French-led excavations at Carthage began in 1921, and from 1923 reported finds of a large quantity of urns containing a mixture of animal and children&#39;s bones. René Dussaud identified a 4th-century BC stela found in Carthage as depicting a child sacrifice.</p><br>
<p>A temple at Amman (1400–1250 BC) excavated and reported upon by J.B. Hennessy in 1966, shows the possibility of bestial and human sacrifice by fire. While evidence of child sacrifice in Canaan was the object of academic disagreement, with some scholars arguing that merely childrens cemeteries had been unearthed in Carthage, the mixture of childrens with animal bones as well as associated epigraphic evidence involving mention of mlk led to a consensus that, at least in Carthage, child sacrifice was indeed common practice.</p><br>
<p>In 2016, an ancient Carthaginian individual, who was excavated from a Punic tomb in Byrsa Hill, was found to belong to the rare U5b2c1 maternal haplogroup. The Young Man of Byrsa specimen dates from the late 6th century BCE, and his lineage is believed to represent early gene flow from Iberia to the Maghreb.</p><br>
<h3>Commune</h3><br>
<p>In 1920, the first seaplane base was built on the Lake of Tunis for the seaplanes of Compagnie Aéronavale. The Tunis Airfield opened in 1938, serving around 5,800 passengers annually on the Paris-Tunis route.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, the airport was used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force as a headquarters and command control base for the Italian Campaign of 1943.</p><br>
<p>Construction on the Tunis-Carthage Airport, which was fully funded by France, began in 1944, and in 1948 the airport become the main hub for Tunisair.</p><br>
<p>In the 1950s the Lycée Français de Carthage was established to serve French families in Carthage. In 1961 it was given to the Tunisian government as part of the Independence of Tunisia, so the nearby Collège Maurice Cailloux in La Marsa, previously an annex of the Lycée Français de Carthage, was renamed to the Lycée Français de La Marsa and began serving the lycée level. It is currently the Lycée Gustave Flaubert.</p><br>
<p>After Tunisian independence in 1956, the Tunis conurbation gradually extended around the airport, and Carthage (قرطاج Qarṭāj) is now a suburb of Tunis, covering the area between Sidi Bou Said and Le Kram.</p><br>
<p>Its population as of January 2013 was estimated at 21,276,</p><br>
<p>mostly attracting the more wealthy residents. If Carthage is not the capital, it tends to be the political pole, a « place of emblematic power » according to Sophie Bessis, leaving to Tunis the economic and administrative roles. The Carthage Palace (the Tunisian presidential palace) is located in the coast.</p><br>
<p>The suburb has six train stations of the TGM line between Le Kram and Sidi Bou Said:</p><br>
<p>Carthage Salammbo (named for Salambo, the fictional daughter of Hamilcar), Carthage Byrsa (named for Byrsa hill), Carthage Dermech (Dermèche), Carthage Hannibal (named for Hannibal), Carthage Présidence (named for the Presidential Palace) and Carthage Amilcar (named for Hamilcar).</p><br>
<p>--&gt</p><br>
<h2>Trade and business</h2><br>
<p>The merchants of Carthage were in part heirs of the Mediterranean trade developed by Phoenicia, and so also heirs of the rivalry with Greek merchants. Business activity was accordingly both stimulated and challenged. Cyprus had been an early site of such commercial contests. The Phoenicians then had ventured into the western Mediterranean, founding trading posts, including Utica and Carthage. The Greeks followed, entering the western seas where the commercial rivalry continued. Eventually it would lead, especially in Sicily, to several centuries of intermittent war. Although Greek-made merchandise was generally considered superior in design, Carthage also produced trade goods in abundance. That Carthage came to function as a manufacturing colossus was shown during the Third Punic War with Rome. Carthage, which had previously disarmed, then was made to face the fatal Roman siege. The city "suddenly organised the manufacture of arms" with great skill and effectiveness. According to Strabo (63 BC – AD 21) in his Geographica:</p><br>
<p>" each day produced one hundred and forty finished shields, three hundred swords, five hundred spears, and one thousand missiles for the catapults.... Furthermore, built one hundred and twenty decked ships in two months... for old timber had been stored away in readiness, and a large number of skilled workmen, maintained at public expense."</p><br>
<p>The textiles industry in Carthage probably started in private homes, but the existence of professional weavers indicates that a sort of factory system later developed. Products included embroidery, carpets, and use of the purple murex dye (for which the Carthaginian isle of Djerba was famous). Metalworkers developed specialized skills, i.e., making various weapons for the armed forces, as well as domestic articles, such as knives, forks, scissors, mirrors, and razors (all articles found in tombs). Artwork in metals included vases and lamps in bronze, also bowls, and plates. Other products came from such crafts as the potters, the glassmakers, and the goldsmiths. Inscriptions on votive stele indicate that many were not slaves but free citizens.</p><br>
<p>Phoenician and Punic merchant ventures were often run as a family enterprise, putting to work its members and its subordinate clients. Such family-run businesses might perform a variety of tasks: (a) own and maintain the ships, providing the captain and crew; (b) do the negotiations overseas, either by barter or buy and sell, of (i) their own manufactured commodities and trade goods, and (ii) native products (metals, foodstuffs, etc.) to carry and trade elsewhere; and (c) send their agents to stay at distant outposts in order to make lasting local contacts, and later to establish a warehouse of shipped goods for exchange, and eventually perhaps a settlement. Over generations, such activity might result in the creation of a wide-ranging network of trading operations. Ancillary would be the growth of reciprocity between different family firms, foreign and domestic.</p><br>
<p>State protection was extended to its sea traders by the Phoenician city of Tyre and later likewise by the daughter city-state of Carthage. Stéphane Gsell, the well-regarded French historian of ancient North Africa, summarized the major principles guiding the civic rulers of Carthage with regard to its policies for trade and commerce:</p><br>
<p>(1) to open and maintain markets for its merchants, whether by entering into direct contact with foreign peoples using either treaty negotiations or naval power, or by providing security for isolated trading stations</p><br>
<p>(2) the reservation of markets exclusively for the merchants of Carthage, or where competition could not be eliminated, to regulate trade by state-sponsored agreements with its commercial rivals</p><br>
<p>(3) suppression of piracy, and promotion of Carthage&#39;s ability to freely navigate the seas.</p><br>
<p>Both the Phoenicians and the Cathaginians were well known in antiquity for their secrecy in general, and especially pertaining to commercial contacts and trade routes. Both cultures excelled in commercial dealings. Strabo (63BC-AD21) the Greek geographer wrote that before its fall (in 146 BC) Carthage enjoyed a population of 700,000, and directed an alliance of 300 cities. The Greek historian Polybius (c.203–120) referred to Carthage as "the wealthiest city in the world".</p><br>
<h2>Constitution of state</h2><br>
<p>A "suffet" (possibly two) was elected by the citizens, and held office with no military power for a one-year term. Carthaginian generals marshalled mercenary armies and were separately elected. From about 550 to 450 the Magonid family monopolized the top military position; later the Barcid family acted similarly. Eventually it came to be that, after a war, the commanding general had to testify justifying his actions before a court of 104 judges.</p><br>
<p>Aristotle (384–322) discusses Carthage in his work, Politica; he begins: "The Carthaginians are also considered to have an excellent form of government." He briefly describes the city as a "mixed constitution", a political arrangement with cohabiting elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, i.e., a king (Gk: basileus), a council of elders (Gk: gerusia), and the people (Gk: demos). Later Polybius of Megalopolis (c.204–122, Greek) in his Histories would describe the Roman Republic in more detail as a mixed constitution in which the Consuls were the monarchy, the Senate the aristocracy, and the Assemblies the democracy.</p><br>
<p>Evidently Carthage also had an institution of elders who advised the Suffets, similar to a Greek gerusia or the Roman Senate. We do not have a Punic name for this body. At times its members would travel with an army general on campaign. Members also formed permanent committees. The institution had several hundred members drawn from the wealthiest class who held office for life. Vacancies were probably filled by recruitment from among the elite, i.e., by co-option. From among its members were selected the 104 Judges mentioned above. Later the 104 would come to evaluate not only army generals but other office holders as well. Aristotle regarded the 104 as most important; he compared it to the ephorate of Sparta with regard to control over security. In Hannibal&#39;s time, such a Judge held office for life. At some stage there also came to be independent self-perpetuating boards of five who filled vacancies and supervised (non-military) government administration.</p><br>
<p>Popular assemblies also existed at Carthage. When deadlocked the Suffets and the quasi-senatorial institution of elders might request the assembly to vote; also, assembly votes were requested in very crucial matters in order to achieve political consensus and popular coherence. The assembly members had no legal wealth or birth qualification. How its members were selected is unknown, e.g., whether by festival group or urban ward or another method.</p><br>
<p>The Greeks were favourably impressed by the constitution of Carthage; Aristotle had a separate study of it made which unfortunately is lost. In his Politica he states: "The government of Carthage is oligarchical, but they successfully escape the evils of oligarchy by enriching one portion of the people after another by sending them to their colonies." "heir policy is to send some to their dependent towns, where they grow rich." Yet Aristotle continues, "f any misfortune occurred, and the bulk of the subjects revolted, there would be no way of restoring peace by legal means." Aristotle remarked also:</p><br>
<p>"Many of the Carthaginian institutions are excellent. The superiority of their constitution is proved by the fact that the common people remain loyal to the constitution; the Carthaginians have never had any rebellion worth speaking of, and have never been under the rule of a tyrant."</p><br>
<p>Here one may remember that the city-state of Carthage, who citizens were mainly Libyphoenicians (of Phoenician ancestry born in Africa), dominated and exploited an agricultural countryside composed mainly of native Berber sharecroppers and farmworkers, whose affiliations to Carthage were open to divergent possibilities. Beyond these more settled Berbers and the Punic farming towns and rural manors, lived the independent Berber tribes, who were mostly pastoralists.</p><br>
<p>In the brief, uneven review of government at Carthage found in his Politica Aristotle mentions several faults. Thus, "that the same person should hold many offices, which is a favorite practice among the Carthaginians." Aristotle disapproves, mentioning the flute-player and the shoemaker. Also, that "magistrates should be chosen not only for their merit but for their wealth." Aristotle&#39;s opinion is that focus on pursuit of wealth will lead to oligarchy and its evils.</p><br>
<p>"urely it is a bad thing that the greatest offices... should be bought. The law which allows this abuse makes wealth of more account than virtue, and the whole state becomes avaricious. For, whenever the chiefs of the state deem anything honorable, the other citizens are sure to follow their example; and, where virtue has not the first place, their aristocracy cannot be firmly established."</p><br>
<p>In Carthage the people seemed politically satisfied and submissive, according to the historian Warmington. They in their assemblies only rarely exercised the few opportunities given them to assent to state decisions. Popular influence over government appears not to have been an issue at Carthage. Being a commercial republic fielding a mercenary army, the people were not conscripted for military service, an experience which can foster the feel for popular political action. But perhaps this misunderstands the society; perhaps the people, whose values were based on small-group loyalty, felt themselves sufficiently connected to their city&#39;s leadership by the very integrity of the person-to-person linkage within their social fabric. Carthage was very stable; there were few openings for tyrants. Only after defeat by Rome devastated Punic imperial ambitions did the people of Carthage seem to question their governance and to show interest in political reform.</p><br>
<p>In 196, following the Second Punic War (218–201), Hannibal Barca, still greatly admired as a Barcid military leader, was elected suffet. When his reforms were blocked by a financial official about to become a judge for life, Hannibal rallied the populace against the 104 judges. He proposed a one-year term for the 104, as part of a major civic overhaul. Additionally, the reform included a restructuring of the city&#39;s revenues, and the fostering of trade and agriculture. The changes rather quickly resulted in a noticeable increase in prosperity. Yet his incorrigible political opponents cravenly went to Rome, to charge Hannibal with conspiracy, namely, plotting war against Rome in league with Antiochus the Hellenic ruler of Syria. Although the Roman Scipio Africanus resisted such manoeuvre, eventually intervention by Rome forced Hannibal to leave Carthage. Thus, corrupt city officials efficiently blocked Hannibal Barca in his efforts to reform the government of Carthage.</p><br>
<p>Mago (6th century) was King of Carthage; the head of state, war leader, and religious figurehead. His family was considered to possess a sacred quality. Mago&#39;s office was somewhat similar to that of a pharaoh, but although kept in a family it was not hereditary, it was limited by legal consent. Picard, accordingly, believes that the council of elders and the popular assembly are late institutions. Carthage was founded by the king of Tyre who had a royal monopoly on this trading venture. Thus it was the royal authority stemming from this traditional source of power that the King of Carthage possessed. Later, as other Phoenician ship companies entered the trading region, and so associated with the city-state, the King of Carthage had to keep order among a rich variety of powerful merchants in their negotiations among themselves and over risky commerce across the Mediterranean. Under these circumstance, the office of king began to be transformed. Yet it was not until the aristocrats of Carthage became wealthy owners of agricultural lands in Africa that a council of elders was institutionalized at Carthage.</p><br>
<h2>Contemporary sources</h2><br>
<p>Most ancient literature concerning Carthage comes from Greek and Roman sources as Carthage&#39;s own documents were destroyed by the Romans. Apart from inscriptions, hardly any Punic literature has survived, and none in its own language and script. A brief catalogue would include:</p><br>
<p>three short treaties with Rome (Latin translations)</p><br>
<p>several pages of Hanno the Navigator&#39;s log-book concerning his fifth century maritime exploration of the Atlantic coast of west Africa (Greek translation)</p><br>
<p>fragments quoted from Mago&#39;s fourth/third century 28-volume treatise on agriculture (Latin translations)</p><br>
<p>the Roman playwright Plautus (c. 250 – 184) in his Poenulus incorporates a few fictional speeches delivered in Punic, whose written lines are transcribed into Latin letters phonetically</p><br>
<p>the thousands of inscriptions made in Punic script, thousands, but many extremely short, e.g., a dedication to a deity with the personal name(s) of the devotee(s).</p><br>
<p>"rom the Greek author Plutarch we learn of the sacred books in Punic safeguarded by the city&#39;s temples. Few Punic texts survive, however." Once "the City Archives, the Annals, and the scribal lists of suffets" existed, but evidently these were destroyed in the horrific fires during the Roman capture of the city in 146 BC.</p><br>
<p>Yet some Punic books (Latin: libri punici) from the libraries of Carthage reportedly did survive the fires. These works were apparently given by Roman authorities to the newly augmented Berber rulers. Over a century after the fall of Carthage, the Roman politician-turned-author Gaius Sallustius Crispus or Sallust (86–34) reported his having seen volumes written in Punic, which books were said to be once possessed by the Berber king, Hiempsal II (r. 88–81). By way of Berber informants and Punic translators, Sallust had used these surviving books to write his brief sketch of Berber affairs.</p><br>
<p>Probably some of Hiempsal IIs libri punici, that had escaped the fires that consumed Carthage in 146 BC, wound up later in the large royal library of his grandson Juba II (r.25 BC-AD 24). Juba II not only was a Berber king, and husband of Cleopatras daughter, but also a scholar and author in Greek of no less than nine works. He wrote for the Mediterranean-wide audience then enjoying classical literature. The libri punici inherited from his grandfather surely became useful to him when composing his Libyka, a work on North Africa written in Greek. Unfortunately, only fragments of Libyka survive, mostly from quotations made by other ancient authors. It may have been Juba II who discovered the five-centuries-old log book of Hanno the Navigator, called the Periplus, among library documents saved from fallen Carthage.</p><br>
<p>In the end, however, most Punic writings that survived the destruction of Carthage "did not escape the immense wreckage in which so many of Antiquity&#39;s literary works perished." Accordingly, the long and continuous interactions between Punic citizens of Carthage and the Berber communities that surrounded the city have no local historian. Their political arrangements and periodic crises, their economic and work life, the cultural ties and social relations established and nourished (infrequently as kin), are not known to us directly from ancient Punic authors in written accounts. Neither side has left us their stories about life in Punic-era Carthage.</p><br>
<p>Regarding Phoenician writings, few remain and these seldom refer to Carthage. The more ancient and most informative are cuneiform tablets, ca. 1600–1185, from ancient Ugarit, located to the north of Phoenicia on the Syrian coast; it was a Canaanite city politically affiliated with the Hittites. The clay tablets tell of myths, epics, rituals, medical and administrative matters, and also correspondence. The highly valued works of Sanchuniathon, an ancient priest of Beirut, who reportedly wrote on Phoenician religion and the origins of civilization, are themselves completely lost, but some little content endures twice removed. Sanchuniathon was said to have lived in the 11th century, which is considered doubtful. Much later a Phoenician History by Philo of Byblos (64–141) reportedly existed, written in Greek, but only fragments of this work survive. An explanation proffered for why so few Phoenician works endured: early on (11th century) archives and records began to be kept on papyrus, which does not long survive in a moist coastal climate. Also, both Phoenicians and Carthaginians were well known for their secrecy.</p><br>
<p>Thus, of their ancient writings we have little of major interest left to us by Carthage, or by Phoenicia the country of origin of the city founders. "Of the various Phoenician and Punic compositions alluded to by the ancient classical authors, not a single work or even fragment has survived in its original idiom." "Indeed, not a single Phoenician manuscript has survived in the original or in translation." We cannot therefore access directly the line of thought or the contour of their worldview as expressed in their own words, in their own voice. Ironically, it was the Phoenicians who "invented or at least perfected and transmitted a form of writing that has influenced dozens of cultures including our own."</p><br>
<p>As noted, the celebrated ancient books on agriculture written by Mago of Carthage survives only via quotations in Latin from several later Roman works.</p><br>
<p>Crete  is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th-largest island in the world and the fifth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus and Corsica. Crete and a number of surrounding islands and islets constitute the region of Crete , one of the 13 top-level administrative units of Greece. The capital and the largest city is Heraklion., the region had a population of 623,065.</p><br>
<p>Crete forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece, while retaining its own local cultural traits (such as its own poetry and music). It was once the centre of the Minoan civilization (c. 2700–1420 BC), which is currently regarded as the earliest recorded civilization in Europe.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The island is first referred to as Kaptara in texts from the Syrian city of Mari dating from the 18th century BC, repeated later in Neo-Assyrian records and the Bible (Caphtor). It was also known in ancient Egyptian as Keftiu, strongly suggesting a similar Minoan name for the island.</p><br>
<p>The current name of Crete is thought to be first attested in Mycenaean Greek texts written in Linear B, through the words 𐀐𐀩𐀳, ke-re-te (*Krētes; later Greek: Κρῆτες, plural of Κρής), and 𐀐𐀩𐀯𐀍, ke-re-si-jo (*Krēsijos; later Greek: Κρήσιος), "Cretan". In Ancient Greek, the name Crete (Κρήτη) first appears in Homer&#39;s Odyssey. Its etymology is unknown. One proposal derives it from a hypothetical Luvian word *kursatta (cf. kursawar "island", kursattar "cutting, sliver"). In Latin, it became Creta.</p><br>
<p>The original Arabic name of Crete was Iqrīṭiš (اقريطش &lt; (της) Κρήτης), but after the Emirate of Crete&#39;s establishment of its new capital at ربض الخندق Rabḍ al-Ḫandaq (modern Iraklion), both the city and the island became known as Χάνδαξ (Khandhax) or Χάνδακας (Khandhakas), which gave Latin and Venetian Candia, from which were derived French Candie and English Candy or Candia. Under Ottoman rule, in Ottoman Turkish, Crete was called Girit (كريت).</p><br>
<h2>Physical geography</h2><br>
<p>Crete is the largest island in Greece and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located in the southern part of the Aegean Sea separating the Aegean from the Libyan Sea.</p><br>
<h3>Island morphology</h3><br>
<p>The island has an elongated shape: it spans 260 km from east to west, is 60 km at its widest point, and narrows to as little as 12 km (close to Ierapetra). Crete covers an area of 8,336 km&sup2, with a coastline of 1,046 km; to the north, it broaches the Sea of Crete (Greek: Κρητικό Πέλαγος); to the south, the Libyan Sea (Greek: Λιβυκό Πέλαγος); in the west, the Myrtoan Sea, and toward the east the Karpathian Sea. It lies approximately 160 km south of the Greek mainland.</p><br>
<h3>Mountains and valleys</h3><br>
<p>Crete is mountainous, and its character is defined by a high mountain range crossing from west to east, formed by three different groups of mountains:</p><br>
<p>The White Mountains or Lefka Ori 2,454 m</p><br>
<p>The Idi Range (Psiloritis 35.18&deg;N latitude, 24.82&deg;E longitude 2,456 m</p><br>
<p>Kedros 1,777 m</p><br>
<p>The Dikti Mountains 2,148 m</p><br>
<p>Thripti 1,489 m</p><br>
<p>These mountains lavished Crete with valleys, such as Amari valley, fertile plateaus, such as Lasithi plateau, Omalos and Nidha; caves, such as Gourgouthakas, Diktaion, and Idaion (the birthplace of the ancient Greek god Zeus); and a number of gorges.</p><br>
<h3>Gorges, rivers and lakes</h3><br>
<p>The island has a number of gorges, such as the Samariá Gorge, Imbros Gorge, Kourtaliotiko Gorge, Ha Gorge, Platania Gorge, the Gorge of the Dead (at Kato Zakros, Sitia) and Richtis Gorge and (Richtis) waterfall at Exo Mouliana in Sitia.</p><br>
<p>The rivers of Crete include the Ieropotamos River, the Koiliaris, the Anapodiaris, the Almiros, the Giofyros, and Megas Potamos. There are only two freshwater lakes in Crete: Lake Kournas and Lake Agia, which are both in Chania regional unit. Lake Voulismeni at the coast, at Aghios Nikolaos, was formerly a freshwater lake but is now connected to the sea, in Lasithi. Lakes that were created by dams also exist in Crete. There are three: the lake of Aposelemis dam, the lake of Potamos dam, and the lake of Mpramiana dam.</p><br>
<h3>Surrounding islands</h3><br>
<p>A large number of islands, islets, and rocks hug the coast of Crete. Many are visited by tourists, some are only visited by archaeologists and biologists. Some are environmentally protected. A small sample of the islands include:</p><br>
<p>Gramvousa (Kissamos, Chania) the pirate island opposite the Balo lagoon</p><br>
<p>Elafonisi (Chania), which commemorates a shipwreck and an Ottoman massacre</p><br>
<p>Chrysi island (Ierapetra, Lasithi), which hosts the largest natural Lebanon cedar forest in Europe</p><br>
<p>Paximadia island (Agia Galini, Rethymno) where the god Apollo and the goddess Artemis were born</p><br>
<p>The Venetian fort and leper colony at Spinalonga opposite the beach and shallow waters of Elounda (Agios Nikolaos, Lasithi)</p><br>
<p>Dionysades islands which are in an environmentally protected region together the Palm Beach Forest of Vai in the municipality of Sitia, Lasithi</p><br>
<p>Off the south coast, the island of Gavdos is located 26 nmi south of Hora Sfakion and is the southernmost point of Europe.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Crete straddles two climatic zones, the Mediterranean and the North African, mainly falling within the former. As such, the climate in Crete is primarily Mediterranean. The atmosphere can be quite humid, depending on the proximity to the sea, while winter is fairly mild. Snowfall is common on the mountains between November and May, but rare in the low-lying areas. While some mountain tops are snow-capped for most of the year, near the coast snow only stays on the ground for a few minutes or hours. However, a truly exceptional cold snap swept the island in February 2004, during which period the whole island was blanketed with snow. During the Cretan summer, average temperatures reach the high 20s-low 30s Celsius (mid 80s to mid 90s Fahrenheit), with maxima touching the upper 30s-mid 40s.</p><br>
<p>The south coast, including the Mesara Plain and Asterousia Mountains, falls in the North African climatic zone, and thus enjoys significantly more sunny days and high temperatures throughout the year. There, date palms bear fruit, and swallows remain year-round rather than migrate to Africa. The fertile region around Ierapetra, on the southeastern corner of the island, is renowned for its exceptional year-round agricultural production, with all kinds of summer vegetables and fruit produced in greenhouses throughout the winter.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Crete is the most populous island in Greece with a population of more than 600,000 people. Approximately 42% live in Crete&#39;s main cities and towns whilst 45% live in rural areas.</p><br>
<h3>Administration</h3><br>
<p>Crete with its nearby islands form the Crete Region (Περιφέρεια Κρήτης, Periféria Krítis), one of the 13 regions of Greece which were established in the 1987 administrative reform. With the 2010 Kallikratis plan, the powers and authority of the regions were redefined and extended. The region is based at Heraklion and is divided into four regional units (pre-Kallikratis prefectures). From west to east these are: Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, and Lasithi. These are further subdivided into 24 municipalities.</p><br>
<p>The region&#39;s governor is, since 1 January 2011, Stavros Arnaoutakis, who was elected in the November 2010 local administration elections for the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.</p><br>
<h3>Cities</h3><br>
<p>Heraklion is the largest city and capital of Crete. The principal cities are:</p><br>
<p>Heraklion (Iraklion or Candia) (173,993 inhabitants)</p><br>
<p>Chania (Haniá) (108,642 inhabitants)</p><br>
<p>Rethymno (34,300 inhabitants)</p><br>
<p>Ierapetra (23,707 inhabitants)</p><br>
<p>Agios Nikolaos (19,462 inhabitants)</p><br>
<p>Sitia (14,338 inhabitants)</p><br>
<h3>Economy</h3><br>
<p>Further information: Economy of Greece</p><br>
<p>The economy of Crete is predominantly based on services and tourism. However, agriculture also plays an important role and Crete is one of the few Greek islands that can support itself independently without a tourism industry. The economy began to change visibly during the 1970s as tourism gained in importance. Although an emphasis remains on agriculture and stock breeding, because of the climate and terrain of the island, there has been a drop in manufacturing, and an observable expansion in its service industries (mainly tourism-related). All three sectors of the Cretan economy (agriculture/farming, processing-packaging, services), are directly connected and interdependent. The island has a per capita income much higher than the Greek average, whereas unemployment is at approximately 4%, one-sixth of that of the country overall.</p><br>
<p>As in many regions of Greece, viticulture and olive groves are significant; oranges and citrons are also cultivated. Until recently there were restrictions on the import of bananas to Greece, therefore bananas were grown on the island, predominantly in greenhouses. Dairy products are important to the local economy and there are a number of speciality cheeses such as mizithra, anthotyros, and kefalotyri.</p><br>
<h3>Transport infrastructure</h3><br>
<p>The island has three significant airports, Nikos Kazantzakis at Heraklion, the Daskalogiannis airport at Chania and a smaller one in Sitia. The first two serve international routes, acting as the main gateways to the island for travellers. There is a long-standing plan to replace Heraklion airport with a completely new airport at Kastelli, where there is presently an air force base.</p><br>
<p>The island is well served by ferries, mostly from Athens, by ferry companies such as Minoan Lines and ANEK Lines.</p><br>
<p>Although the road network leads almost everywhere, there is a lack of modern highways, although this is gradually changing with the completion of the northern coastal spine highway.</p><br>
<p>Also, during the 1930s there was a narrow-gauge industrial railway in Heraklion, from Giofyros in the west side of the city to the port. There are now no railway lines on Crete. The government is planning the construction of a line from Chania to Heraklion via Rethymno.</p><br>
<h3>Development</h3><br>
<p>Newspapers have reported that the Ministry of Mercantile Marine is ready to support the agreement between Greece, South Korea, Dubai Ports World and China for the construction of a large international container port and free trade zone in southern Crete near Tympaki; the plan is to expropriate 850 ha of land. The port would handle 2 million containers per year, but the project has not been universally welcomed because of its environmental, economic and cultural impact. As of January 2013, the project has still not been confirmed, although there is mounting pressure to approve it, arising from Greece&#39;s difficult economic situation.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Hominids settled in Crete at least 130,000 years ago. In the later Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, under the Minoans, Crete had a highly developed, literate civilization. It has been ruled by various ancient Greek entities, the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Emirate of Crete, the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. After a brief period of autonomy (1897–1913) under a provisional Cretan government, it joined the Kingdom of Greece. It was occupied by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.</p><br>
<h3>Prehistoric Crete</h3><br>
<p>The first human settlement in Crete dates before 130,000 years ago, during the Paleolithic age. Settlements dating to the aceramic Neolithic in the 7th millennium BC, used cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs as well as domesticated cereals and legumes; ancient Knossos was the site of one of these major Neolithic (then later Minoan) sites. Other neolithic settlements include those at Kephala, Magasa, and Trapeza.</p><br>
<h3>Minoan civilization</h3><br>
<p>Crete was the centre of Europe&#39;s first advanced civilisation, the Minoan (c. 2700–1420 BC). This civilization wrote in the undeciphered script known as Linear A. Early Cretan history is replete with legends such as those of King Minos, Theseus and the Minotaur, passed on orally via poets such as Homer. The volcanic eruption of Thera may have been the cause of the downfall of the Minoan civilization.</p><br>
<h3>Mycenean civilization</h3><br>
<p>In 1420 BC, the Minoan civilization was overrun by the Mycenean civilization from mainland Greece. The oldest samples of writing in the Greek language, as identified by Michael Ventris, is the Linear B archive from Knossos, dated approximately to 1425–1375 BC.</p><br>
<h3>Archaic and Classical period</h3><br>
<p>After the Bronze Age collapse, Crete was settled by new waves of Greeks from the mainland. A number of city states developed in the Archaic period. There was very limited contact with mainland Greece, and Greek historiography shows little interest in Crete, so that there are very few literary sources.</p><br>
<p>During the 6th to 4th centuries BC, Crete was comparatively free from warfare. The Gortyn code (5th century BC) is evidence for how codified civil law established a balance between aristocratic power and civil rights.</p><br>
<p>In the late 4th century BC, the aristocratic order began to collapse due to endemic infighting among the elite, and Crete&#39;s economy was weakened by prolonged wars between city states. During the 3rd century BC, Gortyn, Kydonia (Chania), Lyttos and Polyrrhenia challenged the primacy of ancient Knossos.</p><br>
<p>While the cities continued to prey upon one another, they invited into their feuds mainland powers like Macedon and its rivals Rhodes and Ptolemaic Egypt. In 220 BC the island was tormented by a war between two opposing coalitions of cities. As a result, the Macedonian king Philip V gained hegemony over Crete which lasted to the end of the Cretan War (205–200 BC), when the Rhodians opposed the rise of Macedon and the Romans started to interfere in Cretan affairs.</p><br>
<p>In the 2nd century BC Ierapytna (Ierapetra) gained supremacy on eastern Crete.</p><br>
<h3>Roman rule</h3><br>
<p>Crete was involved in the Mithridatic Wars, initially repelling an attack by Roman general Marcus Antonius Creticus in 71 BC. Nevertheless, a ferocious three-year campaign soon followed under Quintus Caecilius Metellus, equipped with three legions and Crete was finally conquered by Rome in 69 BC, earning for Metellus the title "Creticus". Gortyn was made capital of the island, and Crete became a Roman province, along with Cyrenaica that was called Creta et Cyrenaica. When Diocletian redivided the Empire, Crete was placed, along with Cyrene, under the diocese of Moesia, and later by Constantine I to the diocese of Macedonia.</p><br>
<h3>Byzantine Empire – first period</h3><br>
<p>Crete was separated from Cyrenaica c. 297. It remained a province within the eastern half of the Roman Empire, usually referred to as the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire after the establishment of a second capital in Constantinople by Constantine in 330 AD. Crete was subjected to an attack by Vandals in 467, the great earthquakes of 365 and 415, a raid by Slavs in 623, Arab raids in 654 and the 670s, and again in the 8th century. Circa 732, the Emperor Leo III the Isaurian transferred the island from the jurisdiction of the Pope to that of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.</p><br>
<h3>Arab rule</h3><br>
<p>In the 820s, after 900 years as a Roman, and then Eastern Roman (Byzantine) island, Crete was captured by Andalusian Muladis led by Abu Hafs, who established the Emirate of Crete. The Byzantines launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842 and 843 under Theoktistos. Further Byzantine campaigns in 911 and 949 failed. In 960/1, Nikephoros Phokas&#39; campaign completely restored Crete to the Byzantine Empire, after a century and a half of predominantly Arab control.</p><br>
<h3>Byzantine Empire – second period</h3><br>
<p>In 961, Nikephoros Phokas returned the island to Byzantine rule after expelling the Arabs. In 1204, the Fourth Crusade seized and sacked the imperial capital of Constantinople. Crete was initially granted to leading Crusader Boniface of Montferrat in the partition of spoils that followed. However, Boniface sold his claim to the Republic of Venice, whose forces made up the majority of the Crusade. Venice&#39;s rival the Republic of Genoa immediately seized the island and it was not until 1212 that Venice secured Crete as a colony.</p><br>
<h3>Venetian rule</h3><br>
<p>From 1212, during Venice&#39;s rule, which lasted more than four centuries, a Renaissance swept through the island as is evident from the plethora of artistic works dating to that period. Known as The Cretan School or Post-Byzantine Art, it is among the last flowerings of the artistic traditions of the fallen empire. The most notable representatives of this Cretan renaissance were the painter El Greco and the writers Nicholas Kalliakis (1645–1707), Georgios Kalafatis (professor) (c. 1652–1720), Andreas Musalus (c. 1665–1721) and Vitsentzos Kornaros.</p><br>
<p>Under the rule of the Catholic Venetians, the city of Candia was reputed to be the best fortified city of the Eastern Mediterranean. The three main forts were located at Gramvousa, Spinalonga, and Fortezza at Rethymnon. Other fortifications include the Kazarma fortress at Sitia. In 1492, Jews expelled from Spain settled on the island. In 1574–77, Crete was under the rule of Giacomo Foscarini as Proveditor General, Sindace and Inquistor. According to Starrs 1942 article, the rule of Giacomo Foscarini was a dark age for Jews and Greeks. Under his rule, non-Catholics had to pay high taxes with no allowances. In 1627, there were 800 Jews in the city of Candia, about seven percent of the citys population. Marco Foscarini was the Doge of Venice during this time period.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman rule</h3><br>
<p>The Ottomans conquered Crete in 1669, after the siege of Candia. Many Greek Cretans fled to other regions of the Republic of Venice after the Ottoman–Venetian Wars, some even prospering such as the family of Simone Stratigo (c. 1733 – c. 1824) who migrated to Dalmatia from Crete in 1669. Islamic presence on the island, aside from the interlude of the Arab occupation, was cemented by the Ottoman conquest. Most Cretan Muslims were local Greek converts who spoke Cretan Greek, but in the island&#39;s 19th-century political context they came to be viewed by the Christian population as Turks. Contemporary estimates vary, but on the eve of the Greek War of Independence, as much as 45% of the population of the island may have been Muslim. A number of Sufi orders were widespread throughout the island, the Bektashi order being the most prevalent, possessing at least five tekkes. Many among them were crypto-Christians who converted back to Christianity in subsequent years, while many Cretan Turks fled Crete because of the unrest, settling in Turkey, Rhodes, Syria, Libya and elsewhere. By 1900, 11% of the population was Muslim. Those remaining were relocated in 1924 Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.</p><br>
<p>During Easter of 1770, a notable revolt against Ottoman rule, in Crete, was started by Daskalogiannis, a shipowner from Sfakia who was promised support by Orlov&#39;s fleet which never arrived. Daskalogiannis eventually surrendered to the Ottoman authorities. Today, the airport at Chania is named after him.</p><br>
<p>Crete was left out of the modern Greek state by the London Protocol of 1830, and soon it was yielded to Egypt by the Ottoman sultan. Egyptian rule was short-lived and sovereignty was returned to the Ottoman Empire by the Convention of London on 3 July 1840.</p><br>
<p>Heraklion was surrounded by high walls and bastions and extended westward and southward by the 17th century. The most opulent area of the city was the northeastern quadrant where all the elite were gathered together. The city had received another name under the rule of the Ottomans, "the deserted city". The urban policy that the Ottoman applied to Candia was a two-pronged approach. The first was the religious endowments. It made the Ottoman elite contribute to building and rehabilitating the ruined city. The other method was to boost the population and the urban revenue by selling off urban properties. According to Molly Greene (2001) there were numerous records of real-estate transactions during the Ottoman rule. In the deserted city, minorities received equal rights in purchasing property. Christians and Jews were also able to buy and sell in the real-estate market.</p><br>
<p>The Cretan Revolt of 1866–1869 or Great Cretan Revolution (Greek: Κρητική Επανάσταση του 1866) was a three-year uprising against Ottoman rule, the third and largest in a series of revolts between the end of the Greek War of Independence in 1830 and the establishment of the independent Cretan State in 1898. A particular event which caused strong reactions among the liberal circles of western Europe was the Holocaust of Arkadi. The event occurred in November 1866, as a large Ottoman force besieged the Arkadi Monastery, which served as the headquarters of the rebellion. In addition to its 259 defenders, over 700 women and children had taken refuge in the monastery. After a few days of hard fighting, the Ottomans broke into the monastery. At that point, the abbot of the monastery set fire to the gunpowder stored in the monastery&#39;s vaults, causing the death of most of the rebels and the women and children sheltered there.</p><br>
<h3>Cretan State 1898–1908</h3><br>
<p>Following the repeated uprisings by the Cretan people, who wanted to join Greece in 1841, 1858, 1889, 1895 and 1897, the Great Powers decided to restore order by governing the island temporarily through a committee of four admirals.</p><br>
<p>On 25 August 1898, a Turkish mob massacred hundreds of Cretan Greeks, the British Consul and 17 British soldiers. As a result, the Turkish forces were expelled from the island by the Great Powers in November 1898, and an autonomous Cretan State was founded, under Ottoman suzerainty, symbolized by the white star in the red quadrant of the flag. It was garrisoned by an international military force, and its High Commissioner was Prince George of Greece, who took charge on 9 December 1898.</p><br>
<p>Prince George was replaced as High Commissioner by Alexandros Zaimis in 1906, and in 1908, taking advantage of domestic turmoil in Turkey as well as the timing of Zaimis&#39;s vacation away from the island, the Cretan deputies unilaterally declared union with Greece. However, this was not recognised internationally until 1 December 1913.</p><br>
<h3>Second World War</h3><br>
<p>During World War II, the island was the scene of the famous Battle of Crete in May 1941. The initial 11-day battle was bloody and left more than 11,000 soldiers and civilians killed or wounded. As a result of the fierce resistance from Allied forces and Cretan locals, Adolf Hitler forbade further large-scale paratroop operations. During the initial and subsequent occupation, German firing squads routinely executed male civilians in reprisal for the death of German soldiers; civilians were rounded up randomly in local villages for the mass killings, such as at the Massacre of Kondomari and the Viannos massacres. Two German generals were later tried and executed for their roles in the killing of 3,000 of the island&#39;s inhabitants.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism</h2><br>
<p>Crete is one of the most popular holiday destinations in Greece. 15% of all arrivals in Greece come through the city of Heraklion (port and airport), while charter journeys to Heraklion last year made up 20% of all charter flights in Greece. Overall, more than two million tourists visited Crete last year, and this increase in tourism is reflected on the number of hotel beds, rising by 53% in the period between 1986 and 1991, when the rest of Greece saw increases of only 25%.</p><br>
<p>Today, the islands tourism infrastructure caters to all tastes, including a very wide range of accommodation; the islands facilities take in large luxury hotels with their complete facilities, swimming pools, sports and recreation, smaller family-owned apartments, camping facilities and others. Visitors reach the island via two international airports in Heraklion and Chania and a smaller airport in Sitia (international charter and domestic flights starting May 2012) or by boat to the main ports of Heraklion, Chania, Rethimno, Agios Nikolaos and Sitia.</p><br>
<p>Popular tourist attractions include the archaeological sites of the Minoan civilisation, the Venetian old city and port of Chania, the Venetian castle at Rethymno, the gorge of Samaria, the islands of Chrysi, Elafonisi, Gramvousa, Spinalonga and the Palm Beach of Vai, which is the largest natural palm forest in Europe.</p><br>
<h3>Transportation</h3><br>
<p>Crete has an extensive bus system with regular services across the north of the island and from north to south. There are two regional bus stations in Heraklion. Bus routes and timetables can be found on KTEL website.</p><br>
<h3>Holiday homes and immigration</h3><br>
<p>Crete&#39;s mild climate attracts interest from northern Europeans who want a holiday home or residence on the island. EU citizens have the right to freely buy property and reside with little formality. A growing number of real estate companies cater to mainly British immigrants, followed by German, Dutch, Scandinavian and other European nationalities wishing to own a home in Crete. The British immigrants are concentrated in the western regional units of Chania and Rethymno and to a lesser extent in Heraklion and Lasithi.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeological sites and museums</h3><br>
<p>There is a large number of archaeological sites which include the Minoan sites of Knossos, Malia (not to be confused with the town of the same name), Petras, and Phaistos, the classical site of Gortys, and the diverse archaeology of the island of Koufonisi which includes Minoan, Roman, and World War II ruins. The latter, however, has restricted access for the last few years due to conservation concerns so it is best to check before heading to a port.</p><br>
<p>There are a number of museums throughout Crete. The Heraklion Archaeological Museum displays most of the archaeological finds of the Minoan era and was reopened in 2014.</p><br>
<h2>Fauna and flora</h2><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Crete is isolated from mainland Europe, Asia, and Africa, and this is reflected in the diversity of the fauna and flora. As a result, the fauna and flora of Crete have many clues to the evolution of species. There are no animals that are dangerous to humans on the island of Crete in contrast to other parts of Greece. Indeed, the ancient Greeks attributed the lack of large mammals such as bears, wolves, jackals, and poisonous snakes, to the labour of Hercules (who took a live Cretan bull to the Peloponnese). Hercules wanted to honor the birthplace of Zeus by removing all "harmful" and "poisonous" animals from Crete. Later, Cretans believed that the island was cleared of dangerous creatures by the Apostle Paul, who lived on the island of Crete for two years, with his exorcisms and blessings. There is a Natural History Museum operating under the direction of the University of Crete and two aquariums – Aquaworld in Hersonissos and Cretaquarium in Gournes, displaying sea creatures common in Cretan waters.</p><br>
<h4>Prehistoric fauna</h4><br>
<p>Dwarf elephants, dwarf hippopotamus, dwarf deer, and giant flightless owls were native to Pleistocene Crete.</p><br>
<h4>Mammals</h4><br>
<p>Mammals of Crete include the vulnerable kri-kri, Capra aegagrus cretica that can be seen in the national park of the Samaria Gorge and on Thodorou, Dia and Agioi Pantes (islets off the north coast), the Cretan wildcat and the Cretan spiny mouse. Other terrestrial mammals include subspecies of the Cretan marten, the Cretan weasel, the Cretan badger, the long-eared hedgehog, the edible dormouse and the Cretan shrew, an endemic mammal of Greece, which is threatened with extinction.</p><br>
<p>Bat species include: Blasiuss horseshoe bat, the lesser horseshoe bat, the greater horseshoe bat, the lesser mouse-eared bat, Geoffroys bat, the whiskered bat, Kuhls pipistrelle, the common pipistrelle, Savis pipistrelle, the serotine bat, the long-eared bat, Schreibers&#39; bat and the European free-tailed bat.</p><br>
<h4>Birds</h4><br>
<p>A large variety of birds includes eagles (can be seen in Lasithi), swallows (throughout Crete in the summer and all the year in the south of the island), pelicans (along the coast), and cranes (including Gavdos and Gavdopoula). The Cretan mountains and gorges are refuges for the endangered lammergeier vulture. Bird species include: the golden eagle, Bonellis eagle, the bearded vulture or lammergeier, the griffon vulture, Eleanoras falcon, peregrine falcon, lanner falcon, European kestrel, tawny owl, little owl, hooded crow, alpine chough, red-billed chough, and the hoopoe.</p><br>
<h4>Reptiles and amphibians</h4><br>
<p>Tortoises can be seen throughout the island. Snakes can be found hiding under rocks. Toads and frogs reveal themselves when it rains.</p><br>
<p>Reptiles include the aegean wall lizard, balkan green lizard, Chamaeleo chamaeleon, ocellated skink, snake-eyed skink, moorish gecko, turkish gecko, Kotschy&#39;s gecko, spur-thighed tortoise, and the stripe-necked terrapin.</p><br>
<p>There are four species of snake on the island and these are not dangerous to humans. The four species include the leopard snake (locally known as Ochendra), the Balkan whip snake (locally called Dendrogallia), the dice snake (called Nerofido in Greek), and the only venomous snake is the nocturnal cat snake which has evolved to deliver a weak venom at the back of its mouth to paralyse geckos and small lizards, and is not dangerous to humans.</p><br>
<p>Turtles include the green turtle and the loggerhead turtle which are both endangered species.</p><br>
<p>Amphibians include the green toad, American toad, common tree frog, and the Cretan marsh frog.</p><br>
<h4>Arthropods</h4><br>
<p>Crete has an unusual variety of insects. Cicadas, known locally as Tzitzikia, make a distinctive repetitive tzi tzi that becomes louder and more frequent on hot summer days. Butterfly species include the swallowtail butterfly. Moth species include the hummingbird moth. There are several species of scorpion such as Euscorpius carpathicus whose venom is generally no more potent than a mosquito bite.</p><br>
<h4>Crustaceans and molluscs</h4><br>
<p>River crabs include the semi-terrestrial potamon potamios crab. Edible snails are widespread and can cluster in the hundreds waiting for rainfall to reinvigorate them.</p><br>
<h4>Sealife</h4><br>
<p>Apart from terrestrial mammals, the seas around Crete are rich in large marine mammals, a fact unknown to most Greeks at present, although reported since ancient times. Indeed, the Minoan frescoes depicting dolphins in Queen&#39;s Megaron at Knossos indicate that Minoans were well aware of and celebrated these creatures. Apart from the famous endangered Mediterranean monk seal, which lives in almost all the coasts of the country, Greece hosts whales, sperm whales, dolphins and porpoises. These are either permanent residents of the Mediterranean or just occasional visitors. The area south of Crete, known as the Greek Abyss, hosts many of them. Squid and octopus can be found along the coast and sea turtles and hammerhead sharks swim in the sea around the coast. The Cretaquarium and the Aquaworld Aquarium, are two of only three aquariums in the whole of Greece. They are located in Gournes and Hersonissos respectively. Examples of the local sealife can be seen there.</p><br>
<p>Some of the fish that can be seen in the waters around Crete include: scorpion fish, dusky grouper, east Atlantic peacock wrasse, five-spotted wrasse, weever fish, common stingray, brown ray, mediterranean black goby, pearly razorfish, star-gazer, painted comber, damselfish, and the flying gurnard.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>Common wildflowers include: camomile, daisy, gladiolus, hyacinth, iris, poppy, cyclamen and tulip, among others. There are more than 200 different species of wild orchid on the island and this includes 14 varieties of Ophrys Cretica. Crete has a rich variety of indigenous herbs including common sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano. Rare herbs include the endemic Cretan dittany. and ironwort, Sideritis syriaca, known as Malotira (Μαλοτήρα). Varieties of cactus include the edible prickly pear. Common trees on the island include the chestnut, cypress, oak, olive tree, pine, plane, and tamarisk. Trees tend to be taller to the west of the island where water is more abundant.</p><br>
<h3>Environmentally protected areas</h3><br>
<p>There are a number of environmentally protected areas. One such area is located at the island of Elafonisi on the coast of southwestern Crete. Also, the palm forest of Vai in eastern Crete and the Dionysades (both in the municipality of Sitia, Lasithi), have diverse animal and plant life. Vai has a palm beach and is the largest natural palm forest in Europe. The island of Chrysi, 15 km south of Ierapetra, has the largest naturally grown Juniperus macrocarpa forest in Europe. Samaria Gorge is a World Biosphere Reserve and Richtis Gorge is protected for its landscape diversity.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>Crete has a rich mythology mostly connected with the ancient Greek Gods but also connected with the Minoan civilization.</p><br>
<p>According to Greek Mythology, The Diktaean Cave at Mount Dikti was the birthplace of the god Zeus. The Paximadia islands were the birthplace of the goddess Artemis and the god Apollo. Their mother, the goddess Leto, was worshipped at Phaistos. The goddess Athena bathed in Lake Voulismeni. The ancient Greek god Zeus launched a lightning bolt at a giant lizard that was threatening Crete. The lizard immediately turned to stone and became the island of Dia. The island can be seen from Knossos and it has the shape of a giant lizard. The islets of Lefkai were the result of a musical contest between the Sirens and the Muses. The Muses were so anguished to have lost that they plucked the feathers from the wings of their rivals; the Sirens turned white and fell into the sea at Aptera ("featherless") where they formed the islands in the bay that were called Lefkai (the islands of Souda and Leon). Hercules, in one of his labors, took the Cretan bull to the Peloponnese. Europa and Zeus made love at Gortys and conceived the kings of Crete, Rhadamanthys, Sarpedon, and Minos.</p><br>
<p>The labyrinth of the Palace of Knossos was the setting for the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur in which the Minotaur was slain by Theseus. Icarus and Daedalus were captives of King Minos and crafted wings to escape. After his death King Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades, while Rhadamanthys became the ruler of the Elysian fields.</p><br>
<h2>Culture</h2><br>
<p>Crete has its own distinctive Mantinades poetry. The island is known for its Mantinades-based music (typically performed with the Cretan lyra and the laouto) and has many indigenous dances, the most noted of which is the Pentozali.</p><br>
<p>Cretan authors have made important contributions to Greek Literature throughout the modern period; major names include Vikentios Kornaros, creator of the 17th-century epic romance Erotokritos (Greek Ερωτόκριτος), and, in the 20th century, Nikos Kazantzakis. In the Renaissance, Crete was the home of the Cretan School of icon painting, which influenced El Greco and through him subsequent European painting.</p><br>
<p>Crete is also famous for its traditional cuisine. The nutritional value of the Cretan cuisine was discovered by the American epidemiologist Ancel Keys in the 1960, being later often mentioned by epidemiologists as one of the best examples of the Mediterranean diet.</p><br>
<p>Cretans are fiercely proud of their island and customs, and men often don elements of traditional dress in everyday life: knee-high black riding boots (stivania), vráka breeches tucked into the boots at the knee, black shirt and black headdress consisting of a fishnet-weave kerchief worn wrapped around the head or draped on the shoulders (sariki). Men often grow large mustaches as a mark of masculinity.</p><br>
<p>Cretan society is well known for notorious family and clan vendettas which persist on the island to date. Cretans also have a tradition of keeping firearms at home, a tradition lasting from the era of resistance against the Ottoman Empire. Nearly every rural household on Crete has at least one unregistered gun. Guns are subject to strict regulation from the Greek government, and in recent years a great deal of effort to control firearms in Crete has been undertaken by the Greek police.</p><br>
<h3>Sports</h3><br>
<p>Crete has many football clubs playing in the local leagues. During the 2011–12 season, OFI Crete, which plays at Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium (Iraklion), and Ergotelis F.C., which plays at the Pankritio Stadium (Iraklion) were both members of the Greek Superleague. During the 2012–13 season, OFI Crete, which plays at Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium (Iraklion), and Platanias F.C., which plays at the Perivolia Municipal Stadium, near Chania, are both members of the Greek Superleague.</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Notable people from Crete include:</p><br>
<p>Nikos Kazantzakis, author, born in Heraklion</p><br>
<p>Odysseas Elytis, poet, awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1979, born in Heraklion</p><br>
<p>Vitsentzos Kornaros, Renaissance author from Sitia, who lived in Heraklion (then Candia)</p><br>
<p>Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco), Renaissance artist, born in Fodele</p><br>
<p>Nikos Xilouris, famous composer and singer.</p><br>
<p>Psarantonis, Cretan folk singer and Cretan lyra player and brother of Nikos Xilouris.</p><br>
<p>Nana Mouskouri, singer, born in Chania</p><br>
<p>Eleftherios Venizelos, former Greek Prime Minister, born in Chania Prefecture</p><br>
<p>Daskalogiannis, leader of the Orlov Revolt in Crete in 1770</p><br>
<p>Michalis Kourmoulis, leader of the Greek War of Independence from Messara.</p><br>
<p>Eleni Daniilidou, tennis player, born in Chania</p><br>
<p>Louis Tikas, Greek-American labor union leader</p><br>
<p>Nick Dandolos, a.k.a. Nick the Greek, professional gambler and high roller</p><br>
<p>Joseph Sifakis, a computer scientist, laureate of the 2007 Turing Award, born in Heraklion in 1946</p><br>
<p>Constantinos Daskalakis, Associate Professor at MIT&#39;s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department.</p><br>
<p>George Karniadakis, Professor of Applied Mathematics at Brown University; also Research Scientist at MIT</p><br>
<p>John Aniston (Giannis Anastasakis), Greek-American actor, father of Jennifer Aniston</p><br>
<p>George Psychoundakis, a shepherd, a war hero and an author.</p><br>
<p>The island had a Muslim community until 1923. They all left with the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.</p><br>
<p>Ahmed Resmî Efendi: 18th-century Ottoman statesman, diplomat and author (notably of two sefâretnâme). Turkeys first ever ambassador in Berlin (during Frederick the Greats reign). He was born into a Muslim family of Greek descent in the Cretan town of Rethymno in the year 1700.</p><br>
<p>Giritli Ali Aziz Efendi: Turkey&#39;s third ambassador in Berlin and arguably the first Turkish author to have written in novelistic form.</p><br>
<p>Al-Husayn I ibn Ali at-Turki – founder of the Husainid Dynasty, which ruled Tunisia until 1957.</p><br>
<p>Salacıoğlu (1750 Hanya – 1825 Kandiye): One of the most important 18th-century poets of Turkish folk literature.</p><br>
<p>Giritli Sırrı Pasha: Ottoman administrator, Leyla Saz&#39;s husband and a notable man of letters in his own right.</p><br>
<p>Vedat Tek: Representative figure of the First National Architecture Movement in Turkish architecture, son of Leyla Saz and Giritli Sırrı Pasha.</p><br>
<p>Paul Mulla (alias Mollazade Mehmed Ali): born Muslim, converted to Christianity and becoming a Roman Catholic bishop and author.</p><br>
<p>Tahmiscizade Mehmed Macid: Memorialst</p><br>
<p>Rahmizâde Bahaeddin Bediz: The first Turkish photographer by profession. The thousands of photographs he took, based as of 1895 successively in Crete, İzmir, İstanbul and Ankara (as Head of the Photography Department of Turkish Historical Society), have immense historical value.</p><br>
<p>Salih Zeki: Turkish photographer in Chania</p><br>
<p>Ali Nayip Zade: Associate of Eleftherios Venizelos, Prefect of Drama and Kavala, Adrianople, and Lasithi.</p><br>
<p>Ismail Fazil Pasha: (1856–1921) descended from the rooted Cebecioğlu family of Söke who had settled in Crete. He has been the first Minister of Public Works in the government of Grand National Assembly in 1920. He was the father of Ali Fuad and Mehmed Ali.</p><br>
<p>Mehmet Atıf Ateşdağlı: (1876–1947) Turkish officer.</p><br>
<p>Mustafa Ertuğrul Aker: (1892–1961) Turkish officer who sank HMS Ben-my-Chree.</p><br>
<p>Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, alias Halikarnas Balıkçısı (The Fisherman of Halicarnassus), writer, although born in Crete and has often let himself be cited as Cretan, descends from a family of Ottoman aristocracy with roots in Afyonkarahisar. His father had been an Ottoman High Commissioner in Crete and later ambassador in Athens. *Likewise, as stated above, Mustafa Naili Pasha was Albanian/Egyptian.</p><br>
<p>Bülent Arınç (born. 25 May 1948) has been a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey since 2009. He is of Cretan Muslim heritage with his ancestors arriving to Turkey as Cretan refugees during the time of Sultan Abdul Hamid II and is fluent in Cretan Greek. Arınç is a proponent of wanting to reconvert the Hagia Sophia into a mosque, which has caused diplomatic protestations from Greece.</p><br>
<p>The Cyclades  are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around  the sacred island of Delos. The largest island of the Cyclades is Naxos.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The significant Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Cycladic culture is best known for its schematic, flat idols carved out of the islands&#39; pure white marble centuries before the great Middle Bronze Age Minoan civilization arose in Crete to the south. (These figures have been looted from burials to satisfy a thriving Cycladic antiquities market since the early 20th century.)</p><br>
<p>A distinctive Neolithic culture amalgamating Anatolian and mainland Greek elements arose in the western Aegean before 4000 BCE, based on emmer and wild-type barley, sheep and goats, pigs, and tuna that were apparently speared from small boats (Rutter). Excavated sites include Saliagos and Kephala (on Kea) with signs of copperworking, Each of the small Cycladic islands could support no more than a few thousand people, though Late Cycladic boat models show that fifty oarsmen could be assembled from the scattered communities (Rutter), and when the highly organized palace-culture of Crete arose, the islands faded into insignificance, with the exception of Delos, which retained its archaic reputation as a sanctuary throughout antiquity and until the emergence of Christianity.</p><br>
<h3>Archaeology</h3><br>
<p>The first archaeological excavations of the 1880s were followed by systematic work by the British School at Athens and by Christos Tsountas, who investigated burial sites on several islands in 1898–1899 and coined the term "Cycladic civilization". Interest lagged, then picked up in the mid-20th century, as collectors competed for the modern-looking figures that seemed so similar to sculpture by Jean Arp or Constantin Brâncuși. Sites were looted and a brisk trade in forgeries arose. The context for many of these Cycladic figurines has been mostly destroyed and their meaning may never be completely understood. Another intriguing and mysterious object is that of the Cycladic frying pans. More accurate archaeology has revealed the broad outlines of a farming and seafaring culture that had immigrated from Anatolia c. 5000 BCE. Early Cycladic culture evolved in three phases, between c. 3300 – 2000 BCE, when it was increasingly swamped in the rising influence of Minoan Crete. The culture of mainland Greece contemporary with Cycladic culture is known as the Helladic period.</p><br>
<p>In recent decades the Cyclades have become popular with European and other tourists, and as a result there have been problems with erosion, pollution, and water shortages.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Cyclades comprise about 220 islands, the major ones being Amorgos, Anafi, Andros, Antiparos, Delos, Ios, Kea, Kimolos, Kythnos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Folegandros, Serifos, Sifnos, Sikinos, Syros, Tinos, and Thira or Santoríni. There are also many minor islands including Donousa, Eschati, Gyaros, Irakleia, Koufonisia, Makronisos and Schoinousa. The name "Cyclades" refers to the islands forming a circle ("circular islands") around the sacred island of Delos. Most of the smaller islands are uninhabited.</p><br>
<p>Ermoupoli on Syros is the chief town and administrative center of the former prefecture.</p><br>
<p>The islands are peaks of a submerged mountainous terrain, with the exception of two volcanic islands, Milos and Santorini. The climate is generally dry and mild, but with the exception of Naxos the soil is not very fertile; agricultural produce includes wine, fruit, wheat, olive oil, and tobacco. Cooler temperatures are in higher elevations and mainly do not receive wintry weather.</p><br>
<p>The Cyclades are bounded to the south by the Sea of Crete.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>The Cyclades Prefecture (Νομός Κυκλάδων) was one of the prefectures of Greece. As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the prefecture was abolished, and its territory was divided into nine regional units of the South Aegean region:</p><br>
<p>Andros</p><br>
<p>Kea-Kythnos</p><br>
<p>Milos</p><br>
<p>Mykonos</p><br>
<p>Naxos</p><br>
<p>Paros</p><br>
<p>Thira</p><br>
<p>Syros</p><br>
<p>Tinos</p><br>
<h3>Municipalities and communities</h3><br>
<p>The prefecture was subdivided into the following municipalities and communities. These have been reorganised at the 2011 Kallikratis reform as well.</p><br>
<h3>Provinces</h3><br>
<p>Province of Amorgos: Amorgos</p><br>
<p>Province of Andros: Andros</p><br>
<p>Province of Kea: Ioulis</p><br>
<p>Province of Milos: Milos</p><br>
<p>Province of Naxos: Naxos</p><br>
<p>Province of Paros: Paroikia</p><br>
<p>Province of Syros: Ermoupoli</p><br>
<p>Province of Tinos: Tinos</p><br>
<p>Province of Thira: Thira</p><br>
<p>Note: Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.</p><br>
<h2>Cuisine</h2><br>
<p>Local specialities of the Cyclades include:</p><br>
<p>Brantada</p><br>
<p>Fava santorinis (made from Lathyrus clymenum)</p><br>
<p>Fourtalia (Andros)</p><br>
<p>Kalasouna (Naxos)</p><br>
<p>Kalogeros (Naxos)</p><br>
<p>Kakavia (soup)</p><br>
<p>Ladopita</p><br>
<p>Louza, similar to the Cypriot lountza</p><br>
<p>Mastelo (Sifnos)</p><br>
<p>Strapatsada</p><br>
<p>Lazarakia (dessert)</p><br>
<p>Melopita (dessert)</p><br>
<h2>Communications</h2><br>
<h3>Telephone</h3><br>
<p>22810: Syros, including Kythnos, Serifos and Syros islands</p><br>
<p>22820: Andros</p><br>
<p>22830: Tinos</p><br>
<p>22840: Paros and Sifnos islands</p><br>
<p>22850: Amorgos and Naxos islands</p><br>
<p>22860: Folegandros, Ios, Santorini and Sikinos islands</p><br>
<p>22870: Kimolos and Milos</p><br>
<p>22880: Kea Island</p><br>
<p>22890: Mykonos</p><br>
<p>Corinth  is an ancient city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, which is located in in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. It is the capital of Corinthia.</p><br>
<p>It was founded as Nea Korinthos or New Corinth (Νέα Κόρινθος) in 1858 after an earthquake destroyed the existing settlement of Corinth, which had developed in and around the site of ancient Corinth.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Located about 78 km west of Athens, Corinth is surrounded by the coastal townlets of (clockwise) Lechaio, Isthmia, Kechries, and the inland townlets of Examilia and the archaeological site and village of ancient Corinth. Natural features around the city include the narrow coastal plain of Vocha, the Corinthian Gulf, the Isthmus of Corinth cut by its canal, the Saronic Gulf, the Oneia Mountains, and the monolithic rock of Acrocorinth, where the medieval acropolis was built.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Corinth derives its name from Ancient Corinth, a city-state of antiquity.The site was occupied from before 3000 BC. But historical sources about the city concerns the early 8th century BC, when Corinth began to develop as a commercial center.Between the 8th and 7th centuries Bacchiad family ruled Corinth. During 657 and 550 the city was ruled as tyrants by Periander, the son of Cypselus who overthrown the Bacchiad family.</p><br>
<p>In about 550 BC an oligarchical government seized the power.</p><br>
<p>As a Roman colony in 44 BC, Corinth flourished and became the administrative capital of the Roman province of Achaea.</p><br>
<p>In 1858, the old city, now known as Archaia Korinthos (Αρχαία Κόρινθος), located 3 km SW of the modern city, was totally destroyed by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. Nea Korinthos or New Corinth was then built a few kilometers away on the coast of the Gulf of Corinth. A magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 1928 devastated the new city, which was then rebuilt on the same site. It was rebuilt again after a great fire in 1933.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>The Municipality of Corinth (Δήμος Κορινθίων) had a population of 58,192 according to the 2011 census, the second most populous municipality in the Peloponnese Region after Kalamata. The municipal unit of Corinth had 38,132 inhabitants, of which Corinth itself had 30,176 inhabitants, placing it in third place behind Kalamata and Tripoli among the cities of the Peloponnese Region.</p><br>
<p>The municipal unit of Corinth (Δημοτική ενότητα Κορινθίων) includes apart from Corinth proper the town of Archaia Korinthos (2,198 inhabitants in 2011), the town of Examilia (2,905 inhabitants), and the smaller settlements of Xylokeriza (1,316 inhabitants) and Solomos (817 inhabitants).</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<h3>Industry</h3><br>
<p>Corinth is a major industrial hub at a national level. Corinth Refineries are one of the largest oil refining Industrial complex in Europe. Copper cables, petroleum products, leather, medical equipment, marble, gypsum, ceramic tiles, salt, mineral water and beverages, meat products, and gums are produced nearby., a period of deindustrialization has commenced as a large pipework complex, a textile factory and a meat packing facility diminished their operations.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<h3>Roads</h3><br>
<p>Corinth is a major road hub. The A7 toll motorway for Tripoli and Kalamata, (and Sparta via A71 toll), branches off the A8/European route E94 toll motorway from Athens at Corinth. Corinth is the main entry point to the Peloponnesian peninsula, the southernmost area of continental Greece.</p><br>
<h3>Bus</h3><br>
<p>KTEL provides intercity bus service in the peninsula and to Athens via the Isthmos station southeast of the city center. Local bus service is also available.</p><br>
<h3>Railways</h3><br>
<p>The city has been connected to the Proastiakos, the Athens suburban rail network, since 2005, when the new Corinth railway station was completed.</p><br>
<h3>Port</h3><br>
<p>The port of Corinth, located north of the city centre and close to the northwest entrance of the Corinth Canal, at 37 56.0’ N / 22 56.0’ E, serves the local needs of industry and agriculture. It is mainly a cargo exporting facility.</p><br>
<p>It is an artificial harbour (depth approximately 9 m, protected by a concrete mole (length approximately 930 metres, width 100 metres, mole surface 93,000 m2). A new pier finished in the late 1980s doubled the capacity of the port. The reinforced mole protects anchored vessels from strong northern winds.</p><br>
<p>Within the port operates a customs office facility and a Hellenic Coast Guard post. Sea traffic is limited to trade in the export of local produce, mainly citrus fruits, grapes, marble, aggregates and some domestic imports. The port operates as a contingency facility for general cargo ships, bulk carriers and ROROs, in case of strikes at Piraeus port.</p><br>
<h4>Ferries</h4><br>
<p>There was formerly a ferry link to Catania, Sicily and Genoa in Italy.</p><br>
<h3>Canal</h3><br>
<p>The Corinth Canal, carrying ship traffic between the western Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea, is about 4 km east of the city, cutting through the Isthmus of Corinth that connects the Peloponnesian peninsula to the Greek mainland, thus effectively making the former an island. The builders dug the canal through the Isthmus at sea level; no locks are employed. It is 6.4 km in length and only 21.3 m wide at its base, making it impassable for most modern ships. It now has little economic importance.</p><br>
<p>The canal was mooted in classical times and an abortive effort was made to build it in the 1st century AD. Construction started in 1881 but was hampered by geological and financial problems that bankrupted the original builders. It was completed in 1893, but due to the canal&#39;s narrowness, navigational problems and periodic closures to repair landslips from its steep walls, it failed to attract the level of traffic anticipated by its operators. It is now used mainly for tourist traffic.</p><br>
<h2>Sport</h2><br>
<p>The citys association football team is Korinthos F.C. (Π.Α.E. Κόρινθος), established in 1999 after the merger of Pankorinthian Football Club (Παγκορινθιακός) and Corinth Football Club (Κόρινθος). During the 2006–2007 season, the team played in the Greek Fourth Divisions Regional Group 7. The team went undefeated that season and it earned the top spot. This granted the team a promotion to the Gamma Ethnikí (Third Division) for the 2007–2008 season. For the 2008–2009 season, Korinthos F.C. competed in the Gamma Ethniki (Third Division) southern grouping.</p><br>
<h2>Twin towns/sister cities</h2><br>
<p>Corinth is twinned with:</p><br>
<p>Syracuse, Sicily</p><br>
<p>Jagodina, Serbia</p><br>
<p>Corinth, Mississippi</p><br>
<p>Abilene, Texas, United States</p><br>
<p>Corinth, Vermont, United States</p><br>
<h2>Notable people</h2><br>
<p>Costas Soukoulis (1951–), Professor of Physics at Iowa State University</p><br>
<p>Demetrius the Cynic (1st century AD), philosopher</p><br>
<p>George Kollias (1977–), drummer for US technical death metal band Nile.</p><br>
<p>Ioannis Papadiamantopoulos (1766–1826), revolutionary leader during the Greek War of Independence.</p><br>
<p>Irene Papas, Greek actress</p><br>
<p>Paul the Apostle, Saul of Tarsus, Jewish missionary, lived and worked here for several years around 45 AD</p><br>
<p>Macarius (1731–1805), Metropolitan bishop of Corinth</p><br>
<p>Anastasios Bakasetas (1993–), Greek footballer</p><br>
<p>Evangelos Ikonomou (1987–), Greek footballer</p><br>
<p>Panagiotis Tzanavaras (1964–), Greek footballer and football manager</p><br>
<p>Nikolaos Zafeiriou (1871–1947), Greek artillery officer</p><br>
<p>Konstantinos Triantafyllopoulos (1993–) Greek footballer</p><br>
<p>Panagis Tsaldaris (1868–1936), Greek politician and prime minister of Greece</p><br>
<h2>Other locations named after Corinth</h2><br>
<p>Due to its ancient history and the presence of St. Paul the Apostle in Corinth some locations all over the world have been named Corinth.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean Sea  is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and south west, to the north by the Greater Antilles starting with Cuba, to the east by the Lesser Antilles, and to the south by the north coast of South America.</p><br>
<p>The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the numerous islands of the West Indies, and adjacent coasts, are collectively known as the Caribbean. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about. The sea&#39;s deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays: the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria and Gulf of Honduras.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean Sea has the world&#39;s second biggest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs 1,000 km along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The name "Caribbean" derives from the Caribs, one of the region&#39;s dominant Native American groups at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. After the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the Spanish term Antillas applied to the lands; stemming from this, "Sea of the Antilles" became a common alternative name for "Caribbean Sea" in various European languages. During the first century of development, Spanish dominance in the region remained undisputed.</p><br>
<p>From the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region identified the "South Sea" (the Pacific Ocean, to the south of the isthmus of Panama) as opposed to the "North Sea" (the Caribbean Sea, to the north of the same isthmus).</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean Sea had been unknown to the populations of Eurasia until 1492, when Christopher Columbus sailed into Caribbean waters on a quest to find a sea route to Asia. At that time the Western Hemisphere in general was unknown to Europeans. Following the discovery of the islands by Columbus, the area was quickly colonised by several Western cultures (initially Spain, then later England, the Dutch Republic, France, Courland and Denmark). Following the colonisation of the Caribbean islands, the Caribbean Sea became a busy area for European-based marine trading and transport, and this commerce eventually attracted pirates such as Samuel Bellamy and Blackbeard. (See Piracy in the Caribbean)</p><br>
<p>Due to the abundance of sunshine, year-round tropical temperatures moderated by the almost constant trade winds and the great variety of scenic destinations to visit, during the second half of the 20th century and on into the 21st the Caribbean Sea became a popular place for tourism.</p><br>
<p>the area is home to 22 island territories and borders 12 continental countries.</p><br>
<h2>Extent</h2><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Caribbean Sea as follows:</p><br>
<p>Note that, although Barbados is an island on the same continental shelf, it is considered to be in the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Caribbean Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea largely situated on the Caribbean Plate. The Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages. The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to the north east of Trinidad and Tobago off the coast of Venezuela. This arc was formed by the collision of the South American Plate with the Caribbean Plate and includes active and extinct volcanoes such as Mount Pelee, the Quill (volcano) on Sint Eustatius in the Caribbean Netherlands and Morne Trois Pitons on Dominica. The larger islands in the northern part of the sea Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico lie on an older island arc.</p><br>
<p>The geological age of the Caribbean Sea is estimated to be between 160 and 180 million years and was formed by a horizontal fracture that split the supercontinent called Pangea in the Mesozoic Era. It is assumed the proto-caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period. In the early Carboniferous movement of Gondwana to the north and its convergence with the Euramerica basin decreased in size. The next stage of the Caribbean Sea&#39;s formation began in the Triassic. Powerful rifting led to the formation of narrow troughs, stretching from modern Newfoundland to the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico which formed siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. In the early Jurassic due to powerful marine transgression, water broke into the present area of the Gulf of Mexico creating a vast shallow pool. The emergence of deep basins in the Caribbean occurred during the Middle Jurassic rifting. The emergence of these basins marked the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean and contributed to the destruction of Pangaea at the end of the late Jurassic. During the Cretaceous the Caribbean acquired the shape close to that seen today. In the early Paleogene due to Marine regression the Caribbean became separated from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean by the land of Cuba and Haiti. The Caribbean remained like this for most of the Cenozoic until the Holocene when rising water levels of the oceans restored communication with the Atlantic Ocean.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean&#39;s floor is composed of sub-oceanic sediments of deep red clay in the deep basins and troughs. On continental slopes and ridges calcareous silts are found. Clay minerals likely having been deposited by the mainland river Orinoco and the Magdalena River. Deposits on the bottom of the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico have a thickness of about. Upper sedimentary layers relate to the period from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic (250 million years ago to present) and the lower layers from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean sea floor is divided into five basins separated from each other by underwater ridges and mountain ranges. Atlantic Ocean water enters the Caribbean through the Anegada Passage lying between the Lesser Antilles and Virgin Islands and the Windward Passage located between Cuba and Haiti. The Yucatán Channel between Mexico and Cuba links the Gulf of Mexico with the Caribbean. The deepest points of the sea lie in Cayman Trough with depths reaching approximately. Despite this, the Caribbean Sea is considered a relatively shallow sea in comparison to other bodies of water., Grand Cayman</p><br>
<p>The pressure of the South American Plate to the east of the Caribbean causes the region of the Lesser Antilles to have high volcanic activity. There was a very serious eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902 which caused many casualties.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean sea floor is also home to two oceanic trenches: the Cayman Trench and Puerto Rico Trench, which put the area at a high risk of earthquakes. Underwater earthquakes pose a threat of generating tsunamis which could have a devastating effect on the Caribbean islands. Scientific data reveals that over the last 500 years the area has seen a dozen earthquakes above 7.5 magnitude. Most recently, a 7.1 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010.</p><br>
<p>List of islands in the Caribbean</p><br>
<h2>Oceanography</h2><br>
<p>The hydrology of the sea has a high level of homogeneity. Annual variations in monthly average water temperatures at the surface do not exceed. Over the past fifty years the Caribbean has gone through three stages: cooling until 1974; a cold phase with peaks during 1974–1976 and 1984–1986 then; a warming phase with an increase in temperature of per year. Virtually all temperature extremes were associated with the phenomena of El Niño and La Niña. The salinity of seawater is about 3.6% and its density is. The surface water colour is blue-green to green.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean&#39;s depth in its wider basins and deep water temperatures are similar to those of the Atlantic. Atlantic deep water is thought to spill into the Caribbean and contribute to the general deep water of its sea. The surface water (30 feet; 100 m) acts as an extension of the northern Atlantic as the Guiana Current and part of the North Equatorial Current enter the sea on the east. On the western side of the sea the trade winds influence a northerly current which causes an upwelling and a rich fishery near Yucatán.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>The Caribbean is home to about 9% of the worlds coral reefs covering about 50,000 km&sup2, most of which are located off the Caribbean Islands and the Central American coast. Among them stands out the Belize Barrier Reef with an area of which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It forms part of the Great Mayan Reef also known as the MBRS and being over in length is the worlds second longest. It runs along the Caribbean coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras.</p><br>
<p>During the past ten years, unusually warm Caribbean waters have been increasingly threatening Caribbean coral reefs. Coral reefs support some of the most diverse marine habitats in the world, but they are fragile ecosystems. When tropical waters become unusually warm for extended periods of time, microscopic plants called zooxanthellae, which are symbiotic partners living within the coral polyp tissues, die off. These plants provide food for the corals, and give them their color. The result of the death and dispersal of these tiny plants is called coral bleaching, and can lead to the devastation of large areas of reef. Over 42% of corals are completely bleached and 95% are experiencing some type of whitening. Historically the Caribbean is thought to contain 14% of the world&#39;s coral reefs.</p><br>
<p>The habitats supported by the reefs are critical to such tourist activities as fishing and diving, and provide an annual economic value to Caribbean nations of US$3.1–4.6 billion. Continued destruction of the reefs could severely damage the region&#39;s economy. A Protocol of the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region came in effect in 1986 to protect the various endangered marine life of the Caribbean through forbidding human activities that would advance the continued destruction of such marine life in various areas. Currently this protocol has been ratified by 15 countries. NOAA Fisheries:</p><br>
<p>Office of Protected Resources. URL accessed on April 30, 2006. Also, several charitable organisations have been formed to preserve the Caribbean marine life, such as Caribbean Conservation Corporation which seeks to study and protect sea turtles while educating others about them.</p><br>
<p>In connection with the foregoing, the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, conducted a regional study, funded by the Department of Technical Cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in which specialists from 11 Latin American countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Dominican Republic, Venezuela plus Jamaica) participated. The findings indicate that heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, and lead, have been identified in the coastal zone of the Caribbean Sea. Analysis of toxic metals and hydrocarbons is based on the investigation of coastal sediments that have accumulated less than 50 meters deep during the last hundred and fifty years. The project results were presented in Vienna in the forum "Water Matters", and the 2011 General Conference of said multilateral organization.</p><br>
<h2>Weather</h2><br>
<p>The Caribbean weather is influenced by the Gulf Stream and Humboldt Current ocean currents. The tropical location of the sea helps the water to maintain a warm temperature ranging from the low of 21 - by the season.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean is a focal area for many hurricanes within the Western Hemisphere. A series of low pressure systems develop off the West coast of Africa and make their way across the Atlantic Ocean. While most of these systems do not become tropical storms, some do. The tropical storms can develop into Atlantic hurricanes, often in the low pressure areas of the eastern Caribbean. The Caribbean hurricane season as a whole lasts from June through November, with the majority of hurricanes occurring during August and September. On average around 9 tropical storms form each year, with 5 reaching hurricane strength. According to the National Hurricane Center 385 hurricanes occurred in the Caribbean between 1494 and 1900.</p><br>
<p>Every year hurricanes represent a potential threat to the islands of the Caribbean, due to the extremely destructive nature of these powerful weather systems. Coral reefs can easily be damaged by violent wave action, and can be destroyed when a hurricane dumps sand or mud onto a reef. When this happens, the coral organisms are smothered and the reef dies and ultimately breaks apart.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The region has a high level of biodiversity and many species are endemic to the Caribbean.</p><br>
<h3>Vegetation</h3><br>
<p>The vegetation of the region is mostly tropical but differences in topography, soil and climatic conditions increase species diversity. Where there are porous limestone terraced islands these are generally poor in nutrients. It is estimated that 13,000 species of plants grow in the Caribbean of which 6,500 are endemic. For example, guaiac wood (Guaiacum officinale), the flower of which is the national flower of Jamaica and the Bayahibe rose (Pereskia quisqueyana) which is the national flower of the Dominican Republic and the ceiba which is the national tree of both Puerto Rico and Guatemala. The mahogany is the national tree of the Dominican Republic and Belize. The caimito (Chrysophyllum cainito) grows throughout the Caribbean. In coastal zones there are coconut palms and in lagoons and estuaries are found thick areas of black mangrove and red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle).</p><br>
<p>In shallow water flora and fauna is concentrated around coral reefs where there is little variation in water temperature, purity and salinity. Leeward side of lagoons provide areas of growth for sea grasses. Turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) is common in the Caribbean as is manatee grass (Syringodium filiforme) which can grow together as well as in fields of single species at depths up to. Another type shoal grass (Halodule wrightii) grows on sand and mud surfaces at depths of up to. In brackish water of harbours and estuaries at depths less than widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima) grows. Representatives of three species belonging to the genus Halophila, (Halophila baillonii, Halophila engelmannii and Halophila decipiens) are found at depths of up to except for Halophila engelmani which does not grow below and is confined to the Bahamas, Florida, the Greater Antilles and the western part of the Caribbean. Halophila baillonii has been found only in the Lesser Antilles.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>Marine biota in the region have representatives of both the Indian and Pacific oceans which were caught in the Caribbean before the emergence of the Isthmus of Panama four million years ago. In the Caribbean Sea there are around 1,000 documented species of fish, including sharks (bull shark, tiger shark, silky shark and Caribbean reef shark), flying fish, giant oceanic manta ray, angel fish, spotfin butterflyfish, parrotfish, Atlantic Goliath grouper, tarpon and moray eels. Throughout the Caribbean there is industrial catching of lobster and sardines (off the coast of Yucatán Peninsula).</p><br>
<p>There are 90 species of mammals in the Caribbean including sperm whales, humpback whales and dolphins. The island of Jamaica is home to seals and manatees. The Caribbean monk seal which lived in the Caribbean is considered extinct. The solenodon is endangered.</p><br>
<p>There are 500 species of reptiles (94% of which are endemic). Islands are inhabited by some endemic species such as rock iguanas and American crocodile. The blue iguana, endemic to the island of Grand Cayman, is endangered. The green iguana is invasive to Grand Cayman. The Mona ground iguana which inhabits the island of Mona, Puerto Rico, is endangered. The rhinoceros iguana from the island of Hispaniola which is shared between Haiti and the Dominican Republic is also endangered. The region has several types of sea turtle (loggerhead, green turtle, hawksbill, leatherback turtle, Atlantic ridley and olive ridley). Some species are threatened with extinction. Their populations have been greatly reduced since the 17th century – the number of green turtles has declined from 91 million to 300,000 and hawksbill turtles from 11 million to less than 30,000 by 2006.</p><br>
<p>All 170 species of amphibians that live in the region are endemic. The habitats of almost all members of the toad family, poison dart frogs, tree frogs and leptodactylidae (a type of frog) are limited to only one island. The Golden coqui is in serious threat of extinction.</p><br>
<p>In the Caribbean 600 species of birds have been recorded of which 163 are endemic such as the tody, Fernandina&#39;s flicker and palmchat. The American yellow warbler is found in many areas as is the green heron. Of the endemic species 48 are threatened with extinction including the Puerto Rican amazon, yellow-breasted crake and the Zapata wren. According to Birdlife International in 2006 in Cuba 29 species of bird are in danger of extinction and two species officially extinct. The black-fronted piping guan is endangered as is the plain pigeon. The Antilles along with Central America lie in the flight path of migrating birds from North America so the size of populations is subject to seasonal fluctuations. In the forests are found parrots, bananaquit and toucans. Over the open sea can be seen frigatebirds and tropicbirds.</p><br>
<h2>Economy and human activity</h2><br>
<p>The Caribbean region has seen a significant increase in human activity since the colonisation period. The sea is one of the largest oil production areas in the world, producing approximately 170 million per year. The area also generates a large fishing industry for the surrounding countries, accounting for 500,000 t of fish a year.</p><br>
<p>Human activity in the area also accounts for a significant amount of pollution, The Pan American Health Organization estimated in 1993 that only about 10% of the sewage from the Central American and Caribbean Island countries is properly treated before being released into the sea.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean region supports a large tourism industry. The Caribbean Tourism Organization calculates that about 12 million people a year visit the area, including (in 1991–1992) about 8 million cruise ship tourists. Tourism based upon scuba diving and snorkeling on coral reefs of many Caribbean islands makes a major contribution to their economies.</p><br>
<h2>Popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The Caribbean is the setting for countless literary efforts often related to piracy acts and swashbuckling. One memorable work of pulp fiction has in its title a geographic feature unique in its way to the islands: Fear Cay, the eleventh Doc Savage adventure by Lester Dent. Many James Bond adventures were set there. All of the action of the Monkey Island series videogames takes place within the Caribbean Sea area. It is also well known as the location of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, featuring Port Royal. Less swashbuckling, but not lacking in man-against-the-sea exploits, is Peter Matthiessen&#39;s Far Tortuga (1975), which chronicles the adventures of a turtling crew in the late 1960s.</p><br>
<p>The video game series Assassins Creed features the Caribbean as an important place in its timeline. For example, Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag, along with its Freedom Cry DLC, entirely takes place in the Caribbean Sea, while some events also occur in the Caribbean in Assassin&#39;s Creed III to stop further British expeditions during the American Revolutionary War.</p><br>
<p>Dominica is an island in the Caribbean Sea, located about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe  and Martinique . Its coordinates are 15 25 N, 61 20 W. It is known as "The Nature Island of the Caribbean" due to its spectacular, lush, and varied flora and fauna, which is protected by an extensive natural park system. It is the fourth largest island in the Eastern Caribbean with a population of people mainly from African descent.</p><br>
<p>The lowest point in the country is at sea level along the coast, and the highest is Morne Diablotins (1,447 m). The extreme southwestern coast of the island includes a large collapsed submarine caldera. Portions of the exposed rim of this caldera form the southwestern tip of the island at Scott&#39;s Head. Natural resources include farming, hydropower and timber.</p><br>
<p>Geographically, Dominica is distinctive in many ways. The country has one of the most rugged landscapes in the Caribbean, covered by a largely unexploited, multi-layered rain forest. It is also among the Earth&#39;s most rain-drenched lands, and the water runoff forms cascading rivers and natural pools. The island, home to rare species of wildlife, is considered by many as a beautiful, unspoiled tropical preserve. According to a popular West Indian belief, Dominica is the only New World territory that Columbus would still recognize.</p><br>
<p>Dominica is the largest and most northerly of the Windward Islands. The island faces the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Caribbean Sea to the west. Its nearest neighbors are the French islands of Guadeloupe, some 48 km north, and Martinique, about 40 km south. Oblong-shaped and slightly smaller than New York City, Dominica is 750 km&sup2; in area, 47 km in length, and 29 km in width. Roseau, the nation&#39;s capital and major port, is favorably situated on the sheltered, southwestern coast.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The island&#39;s climate is tropical, moderated by northeast trade winds and heavy rainfall.</p><br>
<p>Dominica has a tropical rainforest climate and some areas bordering on a tropical monsoon climate with characteristically warm temperatures and heavy rainfall. Excessive heat and humidity are tempered somewhat by a steady flow of the northeast trade winds, which periodically develop into hurricanes during the Northern Hemisphere&#39;s summer. The steep interior slopes also alter temperatures and winds. Because of the moderating effects of the surrounding ocean temperature ranges are slight. Average daytime temperatures generally vary from 26 &deg;C in January to 32 &deg;C in June. Diurnal ranges are usually no greater than 3 &deg;C in most places, but temperatures dipping to 13 &deg;C on the highest peaks are not uncommon.</p><br>
<p>Most of the island&#39;s ample supply of water is brought by the trade winds. Although amounts vary with the location, rain is possible throughout the year, with the greatest monthly totals recorded from June through October. Average yearly rainfall along the windward east coast frequently exceeds 5,000 mm, and exposed mountainsides receive up to 9,000 mm, among the highest accumulations in the Caribbean and the world. Totals on the leeward west coast, however, are only about 1,800 mm per year. Humidities are closely tied to rainfall patterns, with the highest values occurring on windward slopes and the lowest in sheltered areas. Relative humidity readings between 70 percent and 90 percent have been recorded in Roseau.</p><br>
<p>Hurricanes and severe winds, most likely to occur during the wettest months, occasionally are devastating. The most recent hurricanes of note were David and maria and Frederic in August 1979 and Allen in August 1980. The 1979 hurricanes caused over 40 deaths, 2,500 injuries, and extensive destruction of housing and crops. Many agricultural commodities were destroyed during the 1980 storm, and about 25 percent of the banana crop was destroyed by strong winds in 1984.</p><br>
<p>Dominica is especially vulnerable to hurricanes as the island is located in what is referred to as the hurricane region. In 1979, Dominica was hit directly by Category 5 Hurricane David, causing widespread and extreme damage. On August 17, 2007, Hurricane Dean, a Category 1 at the time, hit the island. A mother and her seven-year-old son died when a landslide caused by the heavy rains fell onto their house. In another incident two people were injured when a tree fell on their house. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit estimated that 100 to 125 homes were damaged, and that the agriculture sector was extensively damaged, in particular the banana crop.</p><br>
<p>Below is the climate data for Roseau, the capital city located on the western side of Dominica partially shielded from the trade winds by the mountains.</p><br>
<h2>Bays</h2><br>
<p>Bays are as follows from the northern tip of the island in a clockwise direction:</p><br>
<p>Agoucha Bay</p><br>
<p>Sandwich Bay</p><br>
<p>Grand Baptiste Bay</p><br>
<p>Petit Bapitiste Bay</p><br>
<p>La Taille Bay Rough Bay</p><br>
<p>Marigot Bay</p><br>
<p>Walker&#39;s Rest Bay</p><br>
<p>Sophia Bay</p><br>
<p>Londonderry Bay</p><br>
<p>Mango Hole Bay</p><br>
<p>Middle Bay</p><br>
<p>Panto Hole Bay</p><br>
<p>Petite Soufriere Bay</p><br>
<p>Soufriere Bay</p><br>
<p>Woodbridge Bay</p><br>
<p>Prince Rupert Bay</p><br>
<p>Douglas Bay</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Dominica was the last island to be formed in the Caribbean. The island was created by volcanic action about 26 mya. It lies upon two opposing tectonic plates. This explains why an island a bit bigger than Martha&#39;s Vineyard has mountains approaching 5,000 ft.</p><br>
<p>Geologically, Dominica is part of the rugged Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. The country&#39;s central spine, a northwest-southeast axis of steep volcanic slopes and deep gorges, generally varies in elevation from 300 to 1400 m above sea level. Several east-west trending mountain spurs extend to the narrow coastal plain, which is studded with sea cliffs and has level stretches no wider than 2,000 m. The highest peak is Morne Diablotins, at 1,447 m; Morne Trois Pitons, with an elevation of 1,423 m, lies farther south and is the site of the national park.</p><br>
<p>The interior features rugged mountains of volcanic origin. Volcanism is still quite evident on the island, the most popular examples being Dominicas Boiling Lake and "valley of desolation." The boiling lake (the worlds second largest) is within a crater and is fed by a waterfall - the boiling is believed to be caused by the heat of a magma chamber beneath the lake. The valley of desolation is a sulfurous valley of volcanic vents and hot springs that inhibits significant plant growth - in stark contrast to the surrounding rain forest. Technically dormant today, this caldera last erupted in 1880. The area that exploded on 4 January 1880 was reported to be "fully nine square miles".</p><br>
<p>Dominica&#39;s rugged surface is marked by its volcanic past. Rock formations are mainly volcanic andesite and rhyolite, with fallen boulders and sharp-edged protrusions peppering slope bases. The light- to dark-hued clayey and sandy soils, derived from the rocks and decomposed vegetation, are generally fertile and porous. Only a few interior valleys and coastal strips are flat enough for soil accumulations of consequence, however. Although scores of mostly mild seismic shocks were recorded in 1986, volcanic eruptions ceased thousands of years ago. Sulfuric springs and steam vents, largely concentrated in the central and southern parts of the island, remain active, however. One of the largest springs, Boiling Lake, is located in the national park.</p><br>
<p>Dominica is water-rich with swift-flowing highland streams, which cascade into deep gorges and form natural pools and crater lakes. The streams are not navigable, but many are sources of hydroelectric power. Trafalgar Falls, located near the national park, is one of the most spectacular sites on the island. The falls has two twin waterfalls known as the mother and father. The falls form a natural pool where the natives and tourist come to enjoy a nice cool bath. The principal rivers flowing westward into the Caribbean are the Layou and the Roseau, and the major one emptying eastward into the Atlantic is the Toulaman. The largest crater lake, called Boeri, is located in the national park. There are 83 "significant" waterways on the island out of a total of 365 rills and brooks.</p><br>
<h3>Natural history</h3><br>
<p>There are 172 species of birds, including four species of hummingbird, broad-winged hawks, yellow-crowned night herons, and the brown trembler. Some plants and animals thought to be extinct on surrounding islands can still be found in Dominica&#39;s forests.</p><br>
<p>The sisserou parrot is Dominica&#39;s national bird and is indigenous to its mountain forests.</p><br>
<p>The Caribbean Sea offshore of the island of Dominica is home to many cetaceans. Most notably a small group of sperm whales live in this area year round. These are shy animals, but there is a good chance of seeing them if you go out on a calm day. Other cetaceans commonly seen in the area include pilot whale, Frasers dolphin, pantropical spotted dolphin and bottlenose dolphin. Less commonly seen animals include Cuviers beaked whale, false killer whale, pygmy sperm whale, dwarf sperm whale, Rissos dolphin, common dolphin, humpback whale and Brydes whale. This makes Dominica a destination for tourists interested in whale-watching.</p><br>
<h2>Statistics</h2><br>
<p>Map references:</p><br>
<p>Central America and the Caribbean</p><br>
<p>Area:</p><br>
<p>total:</p><br>
<p>751 km</p><br>
<p>land:</p><br>
<p>751 km</p><br>
<p>Coastline:</p><br>
<p>148 km</p><br>
<p>Maritime claims:</p><br>
<p>territorial sea:</p><br>
<p>12 nmi</p><br>
<p>contiguous zone:</p><br>
<p>24 nmi</p><br>
<p>exclusive economic zone:</p><br>
<p>200 nmi</p><br>
<p>Land use:</p><br>
<p>arable land:</p><br>
<p>permanent crops:</p><br>
<p>other:</p><br>
<p>68% (2012 est.)</p><br>
<p>Irrigated land:</p><br>
<p>NA km</p><br>
<p>Total renewable water resources:</p><br>
<p>Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):</p><br>
<p>total: 0.02 km/yr</p><br>
<p>per capita: 244.1 m/yr (2004)</p><br>
<p>Natural hazards:</p><br>
<p>Flash floods are a constant threat; destructive hurricanes can be expected during the late summer months</p><br>
<p>Environment - current issues:</p><br>
<p>Environment - international agreements:</p><br>
<p>Party to:</p><br>
<p>Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Whaling</p><br>
<h2>Footnotes</h2><br>
<p>Diego Garcia is an atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of 60 small islands comprising the Chagos Archipelago. It was settled by the French in the 1790s and was transferred to British rule after the Napoleonic Wars. It was one of the "Dependencies" of the British Colony of Mauritius until it was detached for inclusion in the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory  in 1965. Between 1968 and 1973, the population was forcibly removed by the United Kingdom and the United States  through intimidation of locals and denying the return of any who left the island. Many were deported to Mauritius and Seychelles, following which the United States built a large naval and military base on Diego Garcia, which has been in continuous operation ever since., Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island of the BIOT; the population is composed of military personnel and supporting contractors.</p><br>
<p>On 23 June 2017, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) voted in favour of referring the territorial dispute between Mauritius and the UK to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in order to clarify the legal status of the Chagos Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean. The motion was approved by a majority vote with 94 voting for and 15 against.</p><br>
<p>The atoll is located 3,535 km east of Tanzania&#39;s coast, 1,796 km south-southwest of the southern tip of India (at Kanyakumari) and 4,723 km west-northwest of the west coast of Australia (at Cape Range National Park, Western Australia). Diego Garcia lies at the southernmost tip of the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge, a vast submarine mountain range, top of coral reefs, atolls, and islands comprising Lakshadweep, The Maldives, and the Chagos Archipelago. Local time is UTC+6 year-round (DST is not observed).</p><br>
<p>It is one of two critical US bases in the Asia Pacific region, along with Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, Pacific Ocean.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Before discovery</h3><br>
<p>According to Southern Maldivian oral tradition, traders and fishermen were occasionally lost at sea and got stranded on one of the islands of the Chagos. Eventually, they were rescued and brought back home. However, the different atolls of the Chagos have no individual names in the Maldivian oral tradition.</p><br>
<p>Nothing is known of pre-European contact history of Diego Garcia. Speculations include visits during the Austronesian diaspora around 700 AD, as some say the old Maldivian name for the islands originated from Malagasy. Arabs, who reached Lakshadweep and Maldives around 900 AD, may have visited the Chagos.</p><br>
<h3>European discovery</h3><br>
<p>The uninhabited islands are asserted to have been discovered by the Portuguese navigator, explorer, and diplomat Pedro Mascarenhas in 1512, first named as Dom Garcia, in honour of his patron, Dom Garcia de Noronha when he was detached from the Portuguese India Armadas during his voyage of 1512–1513, but little corroborative evidence exists for this. Another Portuguese expedition with a Spanish explorer of Andalusian origin, Diego García de Moguer, rediscovered the island in 1544 and named it after himself. Garcia de Moguer died the same year on the return trip to Portugal in the Indian Ocean, off the South African coast. The misnomer "Diego" could have been made unwittingly by the British ever since, as they copied the Portuguese maps. It is assumed that the island was named after one of its first two discoverers—the one by the name of Garcia, the other with name Diego. Also, a cacography of the saying Deo Gracias ("Thank God") is eligible for the attribution of the atoll. Although the Cantino planisphere (1504) and the Ruysch map (1507) clearly delineate the Maldive Islands, giving them the same names, they do not show any islands to the south which can be identified as the Chagos archipelago.</p><br>
<p>The Sebastian Cabot map (Antwerp 1544) shows a number of islands to the south which may be the Mascarene Islands. The first map which identifies and names "Los Chagos" (in about the right position) is that of Pierre Desceliers (Dieppe 1550), although Diego Garcia is not named. An island called "Don Garcia" appears on the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of Abraham Ortelius (Antwerp 1570), together with "Dos Compagnos", slightly to the north. It may be the case that "Don Garcia" was named after Garcia de Noronha, although no evidence exists to support this. The island is also labelled "Don Garcia" on Mercator&#39;s Nova et Aucta Orbis Terrae Descriptio ad Usum Navigatium Emendate (Duisburg 1569). However, on the Vera Totius Expeditionis Nauticae Description of Jodocus Hondius (London 1589), "Don Garcia" mysteriously changes its name to "I. de Dio Gratia", while the "I. de Chagues" appears close by.</p><br>
<p>The first map to delineate the island under its present name, Diego Garcia, is the World Map of Edward Wright (London 1599), possibly as a result of misreading Dio (or simply "D.") as Diego, and Gratia as Garcia. The Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica of Hendrik Hondius II (Antwerp 1630) repeats Wright&#39;s use of the name, which is then proliferated on all subsequent Dutch maps of the period, and to the present day.</p><br>
<h3>Settlement of the island</h3><br>
<p>Diego Garcia and the rest of the Chagos islands were uninhabited until the late 18th century. In 1778, the French Governor of Mauritius granted Monsieur Dupuit de la Faye the island of Diego Garcia, and evidence exists of temporary French visits to collect coconuts and fish. Several Frenchmen living in "a dozen huts" abandoned Diego Garcia when the British East India Company attempted to establish a settlement there in April 1786. Following the departure of the British, the French colony of Mauritius began marooning lepers on Diego Garcia, and in 1793, the French established a coconut plantation using slave labour, which also exported cordage made from coconut fibre, and sea cucumbers, known as a delicacy in the Orient.</p><br>
<p>Diego Garcia became a colony of the United Kingdom after the Napoleonic Wars as part of the Treaty of Paris (1814), and from 1814 to 1965, it was administered from Mauritius. On Diego Garcia, the main plantations were located at East Point, the main settlement on the eastern rim of the atoll; Minni Minni, 4.5 km north of East Point, and Pointe Marianne, on the western rim, all located on the lagoon side of the atoll rim. The workers lived at these locations, and at villages scattered around the island.</p><br>
<p>From 1881 until 1888, Diego Garcia was the location of two coaling stations for steamships crossing the Indian Ocean.</p><br>
<p>In 1882, the French-financed, Mauritian-based Société Huilière de Diego et de Peros (the "Oilmaking Company of Diego and Peros"), consolidated all the plantations in the Chagos under its control.</p><br>
<h3>20th century</h3><br>
<p>In 1914, the island was visited by the German light cruiser SMS Emden halfway through its commerce-raiding cruise during the first months of World War I.</p><br>
<p>In 1942, the British opened RAF Station Diego Garcia and established an advanced flying boat unit at the East Point Plantation, staffed and equipped by No 205 and No 240 Squadrons, then stationed on Ceylon. Both Catalina and Sunderland aircraft were flown during the course of World War II in search of Japanese and German submarines and surface raiders. At Cannon Point, two 6-inch naval guns were installed by a Royal Marines detachment. In February 1942, the mission was to protect the small Royal Navy base and Royal Air Force station located on the island from Japanese attack. They were later manned by Mauritian and Indian Coastal Artillery troops. Following the conclusion of hostilities, the station was closed on 30 April 1946.</p><br>
<p>In 1962, the Chagos Agalega Company of the British colony of Seychelles purchased the Société Huilière de Diego et Peros and moved company headquarters to Seychelles.</p><br>
<p>In the early 1960s, the UK was withdrawing its military presence from the Indian Ocean, not including the airfield at RAF Gan to the north of Diego Garcia in the Maldives (which remained open until 1976), and agreed to permit the United States to establish a naval communication station on one of its island territories there. The United States requested an unpopulated island belonging to the UK to avoid political difficulties with newly independent countries, and ultimately the UK and United States agreed that Diego Garcia was a suitable location.</p><br>
<h3>Purchase by the United Kingdom</h3><br>
<p>To accomplish the UK-USA mutual defence strategy, in November 1965, the UK purchased the Chagos Archipelago, which includes Diego Garcia, from the then self-governing colony of Mauritius for £3 million to create the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), with the intent of ultimately closing the plantations to provide the uninhabited British territory from which the United States would conduct its military activities in the region.</p><br>
<p>In April 1966, the British government bought the entire assets of the Chagos Agalega Company in the BIOT for £600,000 and administered them as a government enterprise while awaiting United States funding of the proposed facilities, with an interim objective of paying for the administrative expenses of the new territory. However, the plantations, both under their previous private ownership and under government administration, proved consistently unprofitable due to the introduction of new oils and lubricants in the international marketplace, and the establishment of vast coconut plantations in the East Indies and the Philippines.</p><br>
<p>On 30 December 1966, the United States and the UK executed an agreement through an Exchange of Notes which permits the United States to use the BIOT for defence purposes for 50 years until December 2016, followed by a 20-year extension (to 2036) as long as neither party gives notice of termination in a two-year window (December 2014 – December 2016) and the UK may decide on what additional terms to extend the agreement. No monetary payment was made from the United States to the UK as part of this agreement or any subsequent amendment. Rather, the United Kingdom received a US$14-million discount from the United States on the acquisition of submarine-launched ballistic missile system Polaris missiles per a now-declassified addendum to the 1966 agreement.</p><br>
<h3>Arrival of the US Navy</h3><br>
<p>To the United States, Diego Garcia was a prime territory for setting up a foreign military base. According to Stuart Barber—a civilian working for the US Navy at the Pentagon—Diego Garcia was located far away from any potential threats, it was low in a native population and it was an island that was not sought after by other countries as it lacked economic interest. To Barber, Diego Garcia and other acquired islands would play a key role in maintaining US dominance. Here Barber designed the strategic island concept, where the US would obtain as many less populated islands as possible for military purposes. According to Barber, this was the only way to ensure security for a foreign base. Diego Garcia is often referred to as "Fantasy Island" for its secludedness.</p><br>
<p>The key component in obtaining Diego Garcia was the lack of native persons on the island. Uninhabited until the late 18th century, Diego Garcia had no indigenous population. Its only inhabitants were European overseers who managed the coconut plantations for their absentee landowners and contract workers mostly of African, Indian, and Malay ancestry, known as Chagossians, who had lived and worked on the plantations for several generations. Prior to setting up a military base, the United States government was informed by the British government—which owned the island—that Diego Garcia had a population of only hundreds. This was, in fact, proven false; the Chagossians numbered over 1,000.</p><br>
<p>Regardless of population numbers, the Chagossians had to be removed from the island before the base could be constructed. In 1968, the first tactics were implemented to decrease the population of Diego Garcia. Those who left the island—either for vacation or medical purposes—were not allowed to return, and those who stayed could obtain only restricted food and medical supplies. This tactic was in hope that those that stayed would leave "willingly". One of the tactics used was that of the killings of Chagossian pets. Dogs were carried into sheds where they were gassed in front of their owners.</p><br>
<p>In March 1971, United States Naval construction battalions, (Seabees), arrived on Diego Garcia to begin the construction of the communications station and an airfield. To satisfy the terms of an agreement between the UK and the United States for an uninhabited island, the plantation on Diego Garcia was closed in October of that year. The plantation workers and their families were relocated to the plantations on Peros Bahnos and Salomon atolls to the northwest. The by-then-independent Mauritian government refused to accept the islanders without payment, and in 1974, the UK gave the Mauritian government an additional £650,000 to resettle the islanders. Those who still remained on the island of Diego Garcia between 1971 and 1973 were forced onto cargo ships that were heading to Mauritius and the Seychelles.</p><br>
<p>By 1973, construction of the Naval Communications Station (NAVCOMMSTA) was completed. In the early 1970s, setbacks to United States military capabilities in the region including the fall of Saigon, victory of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, the closure of the Peshawar Air Station listening post in Pakistan and Kagnew Station in Eritrea, the Mayaguez incident, and the build-up of Soviet naval presence in Aden and a Soviet airbase at Berbera, Somalia, caused the United States to request, and the UK to approve, permission to build a fleet anchorage and enlarged airfield on Diego Garcia, and the Seabees doubled the number of workers constructing these facilities.</p><br>
<p>Following the fall of the Shah of Iran and the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979–1980, the West became concerned with ensuring the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States received permission for a $400-million expansion of the military facilities on Diego Garcia consisting of two parallel 12,000 ft runways, expansive parking aprons for heavy bombers, 20 new anchorages in the lagoon, a deep-water pier, port facilities for the largest naval vessels in the American or British fleet, aircraft hangars, maintenance buildings and an air terminal, a 1,340,000 barrels fuel storage area, and billeting and messing facilities for thousands of sailors and support personnel.</p><br>
<h3>Chagos Marine Protected Area</h3><br>
<p>On 1 April 2010, the Chagos Marine Protected Area (MPA) was declared to cover the waters around the Chagos Archipelago. However, Mauritius objected, stating this was contrary to its legal rights, and on 18 March 2015, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that the Chagos Marine Protected Area was illegal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as Mauritius had legally binding rights to fish in the waters surrounding the Chagos Archipelago, to an eventual return of the Chagos Archipelago, and to the preservation of any minerals or oil discovered in or near the Chagos Archipelago prior to its return.</p><br>
<h2>Inhabitants</h2><br>
<p>Diego Garcia had no permanent inhabitants when discovered by the Spanish explorer Diego García de Moguer in the 16th century, then in the service of Portugal, and this remained the case until it was settled as a French colony in 1793.</p><br>
<h3>French settlement</h3><br>
<p>Most inhabitants of Diego Garcia through the period 1793–1971 were plantation workers, but also included Franco-Mauritian managers, Indo-Mauritian administrators, Mauritian and Seychellois contract employees, and in the late 19th century, Chinese and Somali employees.</p><br>
<p>A distinct Creole culture called the Ilois, which means "islanders" in French Creole, evolved from these workers. The Ilois, now called Chagos Islanders or Chagossians since the late-1990s, were descended primarily from slaves brought to the island from Madagascar by the French between 1793 and 1810, and Malay slaves from the slave market on Pulo Nyas, an island off the northwest coast of Sumatra, from around 1820 until the slave trade ended following the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. The Ilois also evolved a French-based Creole dialect now called Chagossian Creole.</p><br>
<p>Throughout their recorded history, the plantations of the Chagos Archipelago had a population of approximately 1,000 individuals, about two-thirds of whom lived on Diego Garcia. A peak population of 1,142 on all islands was recorded in 1953.</p><br>
<p>The primary industry throughout the island&#39;s colonial period consisted of coconut plantations producing copra and/or coconut oil, until closure of the plantations and relocation of the inhabitants in October 1971. For a brief period in the 1880s, it served as a coaling station for steamships transiting the Indian Ocean from the Suez Canal to Australia.</p><br>
<h3>Deportation of 1971</h3><br>
<p>All the inhabitants of Diego Garcia were relocated to other islands in the Chagos Archipelago or to Mauritius or Seychelles by 1971 to satisfy the requirements of a UK/United States Exchange of Notes signed in 1966 to depopulate the island when the United States constructed a base upon it. No current agreement exists on how many of the evacuees met the criteria to be an Ilois, and thus be an indigenous person at the time of their removal, but the UK and Mauritian governments agreed in 1972 that 426 families, numbering 1,151 individuals, were due compensation payments as exiled Ilois. The total number of people certified as Ilois by the Mauritian Government&#39;s Ilois Trust Fund Board in 1982 was 1,579.</p><br>
<p>15 years after the last deportation, the Chagossians received a small amount of compensation from the British, totalling $6,000 per person; some Chagossians received nothing. This relocation decision remains in litigation. Today, Chagossians remain highly impoverished and are living as "marginalized" outsiders on the island of Mauritius and the Seychelles.</p><br>
<h3>After 1971</h3><br>
<p>Between 1971 and 2001, the only residents on Diego Garcia were UK and United States military personnel and civilian employees of those countries. These included contract employees from the Philippines and Mauritius, including some Ilois. During combat operations from the atoll against Afghanistan (2001–2006) and Iraq (2003–2006), a number of allied militaries were based on the island including Australian, Japanese, and the Republic of Korea. According to David Vine, "Today, at any given time, 3,000 to 5,000 USA troops and civilian support staff live on the island." The inhabitants today do not rely on the island and the surrounding waters for sustenance. Although some recreational fishing for consumption is permitted, all other food is shipped in by sea or air.</p><br>
<p>In 2004, US Navy recruitment literature described Diego Garcia as being one of the world&#39;s best-kept secrets, boasting great recreational facilities, exquisite natural beauty, and outstanding living conditions.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>Diego Garcia is the only inhabited island in the British Indian Ocean Territory, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, usually abbreviated as "BIOT". The Government of the BIOT consists of a commissioner appointed by the Queen. The commissioner is assisted by an administrator and small staff, and is based in London and is resident in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.</p><br>
<p>Originally colonised by the French, Diego Garcia was ceded, along with the rest of the Chagos Archipelago, to the United Kingdom in the Treaty of Paris (1814) at the conclusion of a portion of the Napoleonic Wars. The BIOT administration was moved to Seychelles following the independence of Mauritius in 1968 until the independence of Seychelles in 1976, and to a desk in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London since.</p><br>
<h3>Military administration</h3><br>
<p>UK represents the territory internationally. A local government as normally envisioned does not exist. Rather, the administration is represented in the territory by the officer commanding British Forces on Diego Garcia, the "Brit rep". Laws and regulations are promulgated by the commissioner and enforced in the BIOT by Brit rep.</p><br>
<p>Of major concern to the BIOT administration is the relationship with the United States military forces resident on Diego Garcia. An annual meeting called "The Pol-Mil Talks" (for "political-military") of all concerned is held at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London to resolve pertinent issues. These resolutions are formalised by an "Exchange of Notes", or, since 2001, an "Exchange of Letters".</p><br>
<p>Neither the US nor the UK recognises Diego Garcia as being subject to the African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty, which lists BIOT as covered by the treaty. It is not publicly known whether nuclear weapons have ever been stored on the island. Noam Chomsky and Peter Sand claim the US and UK stance is blocking the full implementation of the treaty.</p><br>
<h3>Transnational political issues</h3><br>
<p>There are two transnational political issues which affect Diego Garcia and the BIOT, through the British government.</p><br>
<p>First, the island nation of Mauritius claims the Chagos Archipelago (which is coterminous with the BIOT), including Diego Garcia. A subsidiary issue is the Mauritian opposition to the UK Government&#39;s declaration of 1 April 2010 that the BIOT is a marine protected area with fishing and extractive industry (including oil and gas exploration) prohibited.</p><br>
<p>Second, the issue of compensation and repatriation of the former inhabitants, exiled since 1973, continues in litigation and as of August 2010 had been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights by a group of former residents. Some groups allege that Diego Garcia and its territorial waters out to 3 nmi have been restricted from public access without permission of the BIOT Government since 1971.</p><br>
<h3>Prison site allegations</h3><br>
<p>In 2015, US Secretary of State Colin Powell&#39;s former chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, said Diego Garcia was used by the CIA for "nefarious activities". He said that he had heard from three US intelligence sources that Diego Garcia was used as "a transit site where people were temporarily housed, let us say, and interrogated from time to time" and, "What I heard was more along the lines of using it as a transit location when perhaps other places were full or other places were deemed too dangerous or insecure, or unavailable at the moment".</p><br>
<p>In June 2004, the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw stated that United States authorities had repeatedly assured him that no detainees had passed in transit through Diego Garcia or were disembarked there.</p><br>
<p>Diego Garcia was first rumoured to have been one of the locations of the CIA&#39;s black sites in 2005. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is one of the "high-value detainees" suspected to have been held in Diego Garcia.</p><br>
<p>In October 2007, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the British Parliament announced that it would launch an investigation of continued allegations of a prison camp on Diego Garcia, which it claimed were twice confirmed by comments made by retired United States Army General Barry McCaffrey. On 31 July 2008, an unnamed former White House official alleged that the United States had imprisoned and interrogated at least one suspect on Diego Garcia during 2002 and possibly 2003.</p><br>
<p>Manfred Nowak, one of five of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, says that credible evidence exists supporting allegations that ships serving as black sites have used Diego Garcia as a base. The human rights group Reprieve alleges that United States-operated ships moored outside the territorial waters of Diego Garcia were used to incarcerate and torture detainees.</p><br>
<p>On December 9, 2014, the United States Senate Intelligence Committee published a 600-page unclassified summary of its 6,700 page secret report on the CIA&#39;s abuse of its secret prisoners.</p><br>
<p>David Jones, writing in the Daily Mail, expressed surprise that Diego Garcia went entirely unmentioned on every page of the unclassified summary, and speculated that pressure from UK security agencies caused the portions of the report that covered CIA prisoner facilities on the island to remain classified.</p><br>
<h3>Rendition flight refuelling admission</h3><br>
<p>Several groups claim that the military base on Diego Garcia has been used by the United States government for transport of prisoners involved in the controversial extraordinary rendition program, an allegation formally reported to the Council of Europe in June 2007. On 21 February 2008, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband admitted that two United States extraordinary rendition flights refuelled on Diego Garcia in 2002. No reference was made to whether prisoners were on board the aircraft at the time.</p><br>
<h3>WikiLeaks CableGate disclosures (2010)</h3><br>
<p>According to Wikileaks CableGate documents (reference ID ""), in a calculated move planned in 2009, the UK proposed that the BIOT become a "marine reserve" with the aim of preventing the former inhabitants from returning to their lands. A summary of the diplomatic cable is as follows:</p><br>
<p>Additionally, Diego Garcia was used as a storage section for US cluster bombs as a way of avoiding UK parliamentary oversight.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>No species of plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, molluscs, crustaceans, or mammals are endemic on Diego Garcia or in the surrounding waters. Several endemic fish and aquatic invertebrates are present, though. All plants, wildlife, and aquatic species are protected to one degree or another. In addition, much of the lagoon waters are protected wetlands as a designated Ramsar site, and large parts of the island are nature preserves.</p><br>
<p>In 2004, the UK applied for, and received, Ramsar site wetlands conservation status for the lagoon and other waters of Diego Garcia.</p><br>
<h3>Geography</h3><br>
<p>Diego Garcia is the largest land mass in the Chagos Archipelago (which includes Peros Banhos, the Salomon Islands, the Three Brothers, the Egmont Islands, and the Great Chagos Bank), being an atoll occupying approximately 174 km&sup2, of which 27.19 km&sup2; is dry land. The continuous portion of the atoll rim stretches 64 km from one end to the other, enclosing a lagoon 21 km long and up to 11 km wide, with a 6 km pass opening at the north. Three small islands are located in the pass.</p><br>
<p>The island consists of the largest continuous dryland rim of all atolls in the world. The dryland rim varies in width from a few hundred metres to 2.4 km. Typical of coral atolls, it has a maximum elevation on some dunes on the ocean side of the rim of 9 m (30 ft) above mean low water. The rim nearly encloses a lagoon about 19 km long and up to 8 km wide. The atoll forms a nearly complete rim of land around a lagoon, enclosing 90% of its perimeter, with an opening only in the north. The main island is the largest of about 60 islands which form the Chagos Archipelago. Besides the main island, three small islets are at the mouth of the lagoon: West Island (3.4 hectare), Middle Island (6 hectare) and East Island (11.75 hectare). A fourth, Anniversary Island, 1 km (1,100 yards) southwest of Middle Island, appears as just a sand bar on satellite images. Both Middle Island and Anniversary Island are part of the Spur Reef complex.</p><br>
<p>The total area of the atoll is about 170 km&sup2;. The lagoon area is roughly 120 km&sup2; with depths ranging down to about 25 m. The total land area (excluding peripheral reefs) is around 30 km&sup2;. The coral reef surrounding the seaward side of the atoll is generally broad, flat, and shallow around 1 m below mean sea level in most locations and varying from 100 to 200 m in width. This fringing seaward reef shelf comprises an area around 35.2 km&sup2;. At the outer edge of the reef shelf, the bottom slopes very steeply into deep water, at some locations dropping to more than 450 m within 1 km of the shore.</p><br>
<p>In the lagoon, numerous coral heads present hazards to navigation. The shallow reef shelf surrounding the island on the ocean side offers no ocean-side anchorage. The channel and anchorage areas in the northern half of the lagoon are dredged, along with the pre-1971 ship turning basin. Significant saltwater wetlands called barachois exist in the southern half of the lagoon. These small lagoons off of the main lagoon are filled with seawater at high tide and dry at low tide. Scientific expeditions in 1996 and 2006 described the lagoon and surrounding waters of Diego Garcia, along with the rest of the Chagos Archipelago, as "exceptionally unpolluted" and "pristine".</p><br>
<p>Diego Garcia is frequently subject to earthquakes caused by tectonic plate movement along the Carlsberg Ridge located just to the west of the island. One was recorded in 1812; one measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale hit on November 30, 1983, at 23:46 local time and lasted 72 seconds, resulting in minor damage including wave damage to a 50-m stretch of the southern end of the island, and another on December 2, 2002, an earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale struck the island at 12:21 am.</p><br>
<p>In December 2004, a tsunami generated near Indonesia caused minor shoreline erosion on Barton Point (the northeast point of the atoll of Diego Garcia).</p><br>
<h3>Oceanography</h3><br>
<p>Diego Garcia lies within the influence of the South Equatorial current year-round. The surface currents of the Indian Ocean also have a monsoonal regimen associated with the Asian Monsoonal wind regimen. Sea surface temperatures are in the range of 80 – year-round.</p><br>
<h3>Fresh water supply</h3><br>
<p>Diego Garcia is the above-water rim of a coral atoll composed of Holocene coral rubble and sand to the depth of about 36 m, overlaying Pleistocene limestone deposited at the then-sea level on top of a seamount rising about 1,800 m from the floor of the Indian Ocean. The Holocene sediments are porous and completely saturated with sea water. Any rain falling on the above-water rim quickly percolates through the surface sand and encounters the salt water underneath. Diego Garcia is of sufficient width to minimise tidal fluctuations in the aquifer, and the rainfall (in excess of 102.5 inches/260 cm per year on average) is sufficient in amount and periodicity for the fresh water to form a series of convex, freshwater, Ghyben-Herzberg lenses floating on the heavier salt water in the saturated sediments.</p><br>
<p>The horizontal structure of each lens is influenced by variations in the type and porosity of the subsurface deposits, which on Diego Garcia are minor. At depth, the lens is globular; near the surface, it generally conforms to the shape of the island. When a Ghyben-Herzberg lens is fully formed, its floating nature will push a freshwater head above mean sea level, and if the island is wide enough, the depth of the lens below mean sea level will be 40 times the height of the water table above sea level. On Diego Garcia, this equates to a maximum depth of 20 m. However, the actual size and depth of each lens is dependent on the width and shape of the island at that point, the permeability of the aquifer, and the equilibrium between recharging rainfall and losses to evaporation to the atmosphere, transpiration by plants, tidal advection, and human use.</p><br>
<p>In the plantation period, shallow wells, supplemented by rainwater collected in cisterns, provided sufficient water for the pastoral lifestyle of the small population. On Diego Garcia today, the military base uses over 100 shallow "horizontal" wells to produce over 560,000 l per day from the "Cantonment" lens on the northwest arm of the island—sufficient water for western-style usage for a population of 3,500. This 3.7 km lens holds an estimated 19 million m of fresh water and has an average daily recharge from rainfall over 10,000 m, of which 40% remains in the lens and 60% is lost through evapotranspiration.</p><br>
<p>Extracting fresh water from a lens for human consumption requires careful calculation of the sustainable yield of the lens by season because each lens is susceptible to corruption by saltwater intrusion caused by overuse or drought. In addition, overwash by tsunamis and tropical storms has corrupted lenses in the Maldives and several Pacific islands. Vertical wells can cause salt upconing into the lens, and overextraction will reduce freshwater pressure resulting in lateral intrusion by seawater. Because the porosity of the surface soil results in virtually zero runoff, lenses are easily polluted by fecal waste, burials, and chemical spills. Corruption of a lens can take years to "flush out" and reform, depending on the ratio of recharge to losses.</p><br>
<p>A few natural depressions on the atoll rim capture the abundant rainfall to form areas of freshwater wetlands. Two are of significance to island wildlife and to recharge their respective freshwater lenses. One of these is centred on the northwest point of the atoll; another is found near the Point Marianne Cemetery on the southeast end of the airfield. Other, smaller freshwater wetlands are found along the east side of the runway, and in the vicinity of the receiver antenna field on the northwest arm of the atoll.</p><br>
<p>Also, several man-made freshwater ponds resulted from excavations made during construction of the airfield and road on the western half of the atoll rim. These fill from rainfall and from extending into the Ghyben-Herzberg lenses found on this island.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>All precipitation falls as rain, characterised by air mass-type showers. Annual rainfall averages 2,213 mm, with the heaviest precipitation from May to December. February is the driest month with 18 mm of rain, and August the wettest month, averaging 298 mm of rain.</p><br>
<p>The surrounding sea surface temperature is the primary climatic control, and temperatures are generally uniform throughout the year, with an average maximum of 30 &deg;C by day during March and April, and 29 &deg;C in July through September. Diurnal variation is roughly 3 -, falling to the low 27 &deg;C by night. Humidity is high throughout the year. The almost constant breeze keeps conditions reasonably comfortable.</p><br>
<p>From December through March, winds are generally westerly around 6 kn. During April and May, winds are light and variable, ultimately backing to an east-southeasterly direction. From June through September, the influence of the Southeast trades is felt, with speeds of 10–15 knots. During October and November, winds again go through a period of light and variable conditions veering to a westerly direction with the onset of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.</p><br>
<p>Thunderstorm activity is generally noticed during the afternoon and evenings during the summer months (December through March) and when the Intertropical Convergence Zone is in the vicinity of the island.</p><br>
<p>Diego Garcia is at minimum risk from tropical cyclones due to its proximity to the equator where the coriolis parameter required to organise circulation of the upper atmosphere is minimal. Low-intensity storms have hit the island, including one in 1901, which blew over 1,500 coconut trees; one on September 16, 1944, which caused the wreck of a Royal Air Force PBY Catalina; one in September 1990 which demolished the tent city then being constructed for United States Air Force bomber crews during Operation Desert Storm; and one on July 22, 2007, when winds exceeded 60 kn and over 250 mm of rain fell in 24 hours.</p><br>
<p>The island was somewhat affected by the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Service personnel on the western arm of the island reported only a minor increase in wave activity. The island was protected to a large degree by its favourable ocean topography. About 80 km east of the atoll lies the 650-km-long (400-mile) Chagos Trench, an underwater canyon plunging more than 4,900 m. The depth of the trench and its grade to the atolls slope and shelf shore makes it more difficult for substantial tsunami waves to build before passing the atoll from the east. In addition, near-shore coral reefs and an algal platform may have dissipated much of the waves impact. A biological survey conducted in early 2005 indicated erosional effects of the tsunami wave on Diego Garcia and other islands of the Chagos Archipelago. One 200 to 300 m stretch of shoreline was found to have been breached by the tsunami wave, representing about 10% of the eastern arm. A biological survey by the Chagos Conservation Trust reported that the resulting inundation additionally washed away shoreline shrubs and small to medium-sized coconut palms.</p><br>
<h3>Vegetation</h3><br>
<p>The first botanical observations of the island were made by Hume in 1883, when the coconut plantations had been in operation for a full century. Subsequent studies and collections during the plantation era were made in 1885, 1905, 1939, and 1967. Thus, very little of the nature of the precontact vegetation is known.</p><br>
<p>The 1967 survey, published by the Smithsonian is used as the most authoritative baseline for more recent research. These studies indicate the vegetation of the island may be changing rapidly. For example, J. M. W. Topp collected data annually between 1993 and 2003 and found that on the average three new plant species arrived each year, mainly on Diego Garcia. His research added fully a third more species to Stoddart. Topp and Martin Hamilton of Kew Gardens compiled the most recent checklist of vegetation in 2009.</p><br>
<p>In 1967, Stoddart described the land area of Diego Garcia as having a littoral hedge of Scaevola taccada, while inland, Cocos nucifera (coconut) was the most dominant tree, covering most of the island. The substory was either managed and park-like, with understory less than 0.5 m in height, or consisted of what he called "Cocos Bon-Dieu" –&#32;an intermediate story of juvenile trees and a luxuriant ground layer of self-sown seedlings –&#32;causing those areas to be relatively impenetrable.</p><br>
<p>Also, areas of remnant tropical hardwood forest are at the sites of the plantation-era villages, as well as Casuarina equisetifolia (iron wood pines) woodlands.</p><br>
<p>In 1997, the United States Navy contracted a vegetation survey that identified about 280 species of terrestrial vascular plants on Diego Garcia. None of these was endemic, and another survey in 2005 identified just 36 species as "native", meaning arriving without the assistance of humans, and found elsewhere in the world. No terrestrial plant species are of any conservation-related concern at present.</p><br>
<p>Of the 36 native vascular plants on Diego Garcia, 12 are trees, five are shrubs, seven are dicotyledon herbs, three are grasses, four are vines, and five are ferns.</p><br>
<p>The 12 tree species are: Barringtonia asiatica (fish-poison tree), Calophyllum inophyllum (Alexandrian laurel), Cocos nucifera, Cordia subcordata, Guettarda speciosa, Intsia bijuga, Hernandia sonora, Morinda citrifolia, Neisosperma oppositifolium, Pisonia grandis, Terminalia catappa, and Heliotropium foertherianum. Another three tree species are common, and may be native, but they may also have been introduced by humans: Casuarina equisetifolia, Hibiscus tiliaceus, and Pipturus argenteus.</p><br>
<p>The five native shrubs are: Caesalpinia bonduc, Pemphis acidula, Premna serratifolia, Scaevola taccada (often mispronounced "Scaveola"), and Suriana maritima.</p><br>
<p>Also, 134 species of plants are classified as "weedy" or "naturalised alien species", being those unintentionally introduced by man, or intentionally introduced as ornamentals or crop plants which have now "gone native", including 32 new species recorded since 1995, indicating a very rapid rate of introduction. The remainder of the species list consists of cultivated food or ornamental species, grown in restricted environments such as a planter&#39;s pot.</p><br>
<p>In 2004, 10 plant communities were recognized on the atoll rim:</p><br>
<p>Calophyllum forest, dominated by Calophyllum inophyllum, with trunks that can grow in excess of 2 m in diameter: This forest often contains other species such as Hernandia sonora, Cocos nucifera, and Guettarda speciosa with a Premna obtusifolia edge. When found on the beaches, Calophyllum often extends over the lagoon water and supports nesting red-footed boobies, as does Barringtonia asiatica found mostly on the eastern arm of the atoll.</p><br>
<p>Cocos forest, essentially monotypic (Cocos bon Dieu), with the understory consisting of coconut seedlings</p><br>
<p>Cocos-Hernandia forest, dominated by two canopy species—C. nucifera and H. sonora</p><br>
<p>Cocos-Guettarda forest, dominated by the canopy species C. nucifera and G. speciosa: The understory consists of a mix of Neisosperma oppositifolium, with Scaevola taccada and Tournefortia argentea on the beach edge.</p><br>
<p>Hernandia forest, dominated at the canopy level by H. sonora: The most representative areas of this forest type are on the eastern, undeveloped part of the atoll. Calophyllum inophyllum and C. nucifera are often present. Understory species in this forest are often Morinda citrifolia, Cocos seedlings, and Asplenium nidus (bird&#39;s nest fern), and occasionally, N. oppositifolium and G. speciosa.</p><br>
<p>Premna shrubland, occurring generally between marshy areas and forested areas: The most conspicuous vegetation is primarily P. obtusifolia, with Casuarina equisetifolia and Scaevola taccada on the margins. The dense groundcover consists of species such as Fimbristylis cymosa, Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory) and Triumfetta procumbens. Premna shrubland appears mostly adjacent to the developed areas of the atoll, particularly in the well fields.</p><br>
<p>Littoral scrub lines almost the entire seashore and lagoon shore of the island. It is dominated by S. taccada, but it also contains scattered coconut trees, G. speciosa and Pisonia grandis. On the seaward side, it also contains Tournefortia argentea and Suriana maritima. On the lagoon side, it may also contain Lepturus repens, Triumfetta procumbens and Cyperus ligularis. Large pockets of Barringtonia asiatica are also on the eastern edge of the lagoon.</p><br>
<p>Maintained areas of grasses and sedges routinely mowed: Aerial photographs of the island clearly display large areas of grasslands and park-like savanna upon which the United States military has constructed large outdoor facilities such as antenna fields and the airport.</p><br>
<p>Mixed native forest, with no dominant canopy species</p><br>
<p>Marshes are divided into three different types: cattail (Typha domingensis), wetland, and mixed species. Cattail marshes contained almost entirely cattails. These areas are often man-made reservoirs or drainages that have been almost entirely monotypic. Wetlands were based upon vegetation that occurred in the area with fresh water. Mixed-species marshes were highly variable and usually had no standing water.</p><br>
<h3>Wildlife</h3><br>
<p>All the terrestrial and aquatic fauna of Diego Garcia are protected, with the exception of certain game fish, rats, and cats; hefty fines are levied against violators.</p><br>
<h4>Crustaceans</h4><br>
<p>The island is a haven for several types of crustacean; "warrior crabs" (Cardisoma carnifex) overrun the jungle at night. The extremely large 4 kg coconut crab or robber crab (Birgus latro) is found here in large numbers. Because of the protections provided the species on this atoll, and the isolation of the east rim of the atoll, the species is recorded in greater densities there than anywhere else in its range (339 crabs/ha).</p><br>
<h4>Mammals</h4><br>
<p>No mammal species are native on Diego Garcia, with no record of bats. Other than rats (Rattus rattus), all "wild" mammal species are feral descendants of domesticated species. During the plantation era, Diego Garcia was home to large herds of Sicilian donkeys (Equus asinus), dozens of horses (Equus caballus), hundreds of dogs (Canis familiaris), and house cats (Felis catus). In 1971, the BIOT Commissioner ordered the extermination of feral dogs following the departure of the last plantation workers, and the program continued through 1975, when the last feral dog was observed and shot. Donkeys, which numbered over 400 in 1972, were down to just 20 individuals in 2005. The last horse was observed in 1995, and by 2005, just two cats were thought to have survived an island-wide eradication program.</p><br>
<h4>Native birds</h4><br>
<p>The total bird list for the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia, consists of 91 species, with large breeding populations of 16 species. Although no birds are endemic, internationally important seabird colonies exist. Diego Garcia&#39;s seabird community includes thriving populations of species which are rapidly declining in other parts of the Indian Ocean. Large nesting colonies of brown noddies (Anous stolidous), bridled terns (Sterna anaethetus), the lesser noddy (Anous tenuirostris), red-footed booby (Sula sula) and lesser frigate birds (Fregata ariel), exist on Diego Garcia.</p><br>
<p>Other nesting native birds include red-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon rubricauda), wedge-tailed shearwaters (Puffinus pacificus), Audubon&#39;s shearwater (Puffinus iherminierii), black-naped terns (Sterna sumatrana), white (or fairy) terns (Gygis alba), striated herons (Butorides striatus), and white-breasted waterhens (Amaurornis phoenicurus). The 680-hectare Barton Point Nature Reserve was identified as an Important Bird Area for its large breeding colony of red-footed boobies.</p><br>
<h4>Introduced birds</h4><br>
<p>The island hosts introduced bird species from many regions, including cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis), Indian barred ground dove, also called the zebra dove (Geopelia striata), turtle dove (Nesoenas picturata), Indian mynah (Acridotheres tristis), Madagascar fody (Foudia madagascariensis), and chickens (Gallus gallus).</p><br>
<h4>Terrestrial reptiles and freshwater amphibians</h4><br>
<p>Currently, three lizards and one toad are known to inhabit Diego Garcia, and possibly one snake. All are believed to have been introduced by human activity. The house gecko (Hemidactylus frenatus), the mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus lugubris), the garden lizard (an agamid) (Calotes versicolor), and the cane toad (Bufo marinus). A viable population of a type of blind snake from the family Typhlopidae may be present, probably the brahminy blind snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus). This snake feeds on the larvae, eggs, and pupae of ants and termites, and is about the size of a large earthworm.</p><br>
<h4>Sea turtles</h4><br>
<p>Diego Garcia provides suitable foraging and nesting habitat for both the hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Juvenile hawksbills are quite common in the lagoon and at Barachois Sylvane (also known as Turtle Cove) in the southern part of the lagoon. Adult hawksbills and greens are common in the surrounding seas and nest regularly on the ocean-side beaches of the atoll. Hawksbills have been observed nesting during June and July, and from November to March. Greens are have been observed nesting in every month; the average female lays three clutches per season, each having an average clutch size of 113 eggs. Diurnal nesting is common in both species. An estimated 300–700 hawksbills and 400–800 greens nest in the Chagos.</p><br>
<h4>Endangered species</h4><br>
<p>Four reptiles and six cetaceans are endangered and may or may not be found on or around Diego Garcia:.</p><br>
<p>Hawksbill turtle (Eretmocheyls imbricata) – known; leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) – possible; green turtle (Chelonia mydas) – &#39;known; olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys oliveacea) – possible; sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) – possible; sei whale (Balaeonoptera borealis) – possible</p><br>
<p>finback whale (Balaeonoptera physalus) – possible; Bryde&#39;s whale (Balaeonoptera edeni) – possible; blue whale (Balaeonoptera musculus) – possible; humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) – possible; southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) – possible</p><br>
<h2>United Kingdom military activities</h2><br>
<p>British Forces British Indian Ocean Territories (BFBIOT) is the official name for the British Armed Forces deployment at the Permanent Joint Operating Base (PJOB) on Diego Garcia, in the British Indian Ocean Territory. While the naval and airbase facilities on Diego Garcia are leased to the United States, in practice, it operates as a joint UK-US base, with the United Kingdom retaining full and continual access. Diego Garcia is strategically located, offering access to East Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. The base serves as a staging area for the buildup or resupply of military forces prior to an operation. There are approximately 40-50 British military personnel posted on Diego Garcia, most of them from Naval Party 1002 (NP1002). NP1002 forms the island&#39;s civil administration.</p><br>
<h2>United States military activities</h2><br>
<p>During the Cold War era, following the British withdrawal from East of Suez, the United States was keen to establish a military base in the Indian Ocean to counter Soviet influence in the region and protect the sea-lanes for oil transportation from the Middle East. The United States saw the atoll as the "Malta of the Indian Ocean" equidistant from all points. The value has been proven many times, with the island providing an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" for the United States during the Iranian revolution, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In the contemporary era, the atoll continues to play a key role in America’s approach to the Indian Ocean as a flexible forward hub that can facilitate a range of regional strategies.</p><br>
<p>The United States military facilities on Diego Garcia have been known informally as Camp Justice and, after renaming in July 2006, as Camp Thunder Cove. Formally, the base is known as Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia (the US activity) or Permanent Joint Operating Base (PJOB) Diego Garcia (the UK&#39;s term).</p><br>
<p>United States military activities in Diego Garcia have caused friction between India and the United States in the past. Various political parties in India repeatedly called for the military base to be dismantled, as they saw the United States naval presence in Diego Garcia as a hindrance to peace in the Indian Ocean. In recent years, relations between India and the United States have improved dramatically. Diego Garcia was the site of several naval exercises between the United States and Indian navies held between 2001 and 2004.</p><br>
<h3>Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia</h3><br>
<p>Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia provides Base Operating Services to tenant commands located on the island. The command&#39;s mission is "To provide logistic support to operational forces forward deployed to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf AORs in support of national policy objectives."</p><br>
<h3>United States Air Force units based on Diego Garcia</h3><br>
<p>36 MSG, Pacific Air Force</p><br>
<p>Det 1, 715th AMOG, Air Mobility Command</p><br>
<p>AFSPC Det 1, 21st Space Operations Squadron, an AFSCN control facility, Air Force Space Command</p><br>
<p>AFSPC Det 2, a GEODSS facility, Air Force Space Command</p><br>
<h3>United States pre-positioned vessels</h3><br>
<p>The atoll shelters the ships of the United States Marine Pre-positioning Squadron Two. These ships carry equipment and supplies to support a major armed force with tanks, armoured personnel carriers, munitions, fuel, spare parts and even a mobile field hospital. This equipment was used during the Persian Gulf War, when the squadron transported equipment to Saudi Arabia.</p><br>
<p>The ship composition of MPSRON TWO is dynamic. During August 2010 it was composed of the following:</p><br>
<p>MV Capt. Steven L. Bennett (T-AK-4296)</p><br>
<p>USNS SGT William R. Button (T-AK-3012),</p><br>
<p>MV SSG Edward A. Carter, Jr. (T-AK-4544),</p><br>
<p>MV Maj. Bernard F. Fisher (T-AK-4396)</p><br>
<p>USNS Lawrence H. Gianella (T-AOT-1125)</p><br>
<p>USNS SGT Matej Kocak (T-AK-3005),</p><br>
<p>USNS 1st LT Baldomero Lopez (T-AK-3010),</p><br>
<p>MV LTC John U. D. Page</p><br>
<p>USNS GYSGT Fred W. Stockham (T-AK-3017)</p><br>
<p>Five of these vessels carry supplies for the US Marine Corps sufficient to support a Marine Air-Ground Task Force for 30 days: USNS Button, USNS Kocak, USNS Lopez, USNS Stockham, and USNS Fisher.</p><br>
<p>Prior to 2001, COMPSRON 2 consisted of up to 20 ships, including four Combat Force Ships which provided rapid-response delivery of equipment to ground troops in the United States Army. Three are Lighter aboard ships (LASH) which carry barges called Lighters that contain Army ammunition to be ferried ashore: MV American Cormorant, SS Green Harbour, (LASH), SS Green Valley, (LASH), MV Jeb Stuart, (LASH). There were Logistics Vessels to service the rapid delivery requirements of the United States Air Force, United States Navy and Defense Logistics Agency. These included container ships for Air Force munitions, missiles and spare parts; a 500-bed hospital ship, and floating storage and offloading units assigned to Military Sealift Command supporting the Defense Logistics Agency, and an offshore petroleum discharge system (OPDS) tanker. Examples of ships are MV Buffalo Soldier, MV Green Ridge, pre-position tanker USNS Henry J. Kaiser, and tanker USNS Potomac (T-AO-181).</p><br>
<h3>HF global station</h3><br>
<p>The United States Air Force operates a High Frequency Global Communications System transceiver site located on the south end of the atoll near the GEODSS station. The transceiver is operated remotely from Joint Base Andrews and locally maintained by NCTS FE personnel.</p><br>
<h3>Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Far East Detachment Diego Garcia</h3><br>
<p>Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station Far East Detachment Diego Garcia operates a detachment in Diego Garcia. This detachment provides base telephone communications, provides base network services (Local Network Services Center), pier connectivity services, an AN/GSC-39C SHF satellite terminal, operates the Hydroacoustic Data Acquisition System, and performs on-site maintenance for the remotely operated Air Force HF-GCS terminal.</p><br>
<h3>Naval Security Group Detachment Diego Garcia</h3><br>
<p>Naval Security Group detachment Diego Garcia was disestablished on September 30, 2005. Remaining essential operations were transferred to a contractor. The large AN/AX-16 High Frequency Radio direction finding Circularly Disposed Antenna Array has been demolished, but the four satellite antenna radomes around the site remain.</p><br>
<h2>ETOPS emergency landing site</h2><br>
<p>Diego Garcia may be identified as an ETOPS (Extended Range Twin Engine Operations) emergency landing site (en route alternate) for flight planning purposes of commercial airliners. This allows twin-engine commercial aircraft (such as the Airbus A330, Boeing 767 or Boeing 777) to make theoretical nonstop flights between city pairs such as Perth and Dubai (9,013.61 km), Hong Kong and Johannesburg (10,658 km) or Singapore and São Paulo (15,985.41 km), all while maintaining a suitable diversion airport within 180 minutes&#39; flying time with one engine inoperable.</p><br>
<h2>Space Shuttle</h2><br>
<p>The island was one of 33 emergency landing sites worldwide for the NASA Space Shuttle. None of these facilities were ever used throughout the life of the shuttle program.</p><br>
<h2>Cargo service</h2><br>
<p>All consumable food and equipment are brought to Diego Garcia by sea or air, and all non-biodegradable waste is shipped off the island as well. From 1971 to 1973, United States Navy LSTs provided this service. Beginning in 1973, civilian ships were contracted to provide these services. From 2004 to 2009, the US-flagged container ship MV Baffin Strait, often referred to as the "DGAR shuttle," delivered 250 containers every month from Singapore to Diego Garcia. The ship delivered more than 200,000 tons of cargo to the island each year." On the return trip to Singapore, it carried recyclable metals.</p><br>
<p>In 2004, TransAtlantic Lines outbid Sealift Incorporated for the transport contract between Singapore and Diego Garcia. The route had previously been serviced by Sealift Inc.s MV Sagamore, manned by members of American Maritime Officers and Seafarers International Union. TransAtlantic Lines reportedly won the contract by approximately 10 percent, representing a price difference of about US$2.7 million. The Baffin Straits charter ran from January 10, 2005, to September 30, 2008, at a daily rate of US$12,550.</p><br>
<p>Europa Island  is a 28 km&sup2; low-lying tropical atoll in the Mozambique Channel, about a third of the way from southern Madagascar to southern Mozambique. The island had never been inhabited until 1820, when the French family Rosier moved to it. The island officially became a possession of France in 1897.</p><br>
<p>The island, garrisoned by a detachment from Réunion, has a weather station and is visited by scientists. Though uninhabited, it is part of the "Scattered Islands" of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands administrative region.</p><br>
<p>Europa Island was the setting of a 1968 episode of "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau", partly focusing on the breeding habits of the green sea turtle.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Europa is 6 km in diameter, with a maximum altitude of 6 m, and has 22.2 km of coastline. It is surrounded by coral beaches and a fringing reef and encloses a mangrove lagoon of around 9 km&sup2; and open to the sea on one side.</p><br>
<p>There are no ports or harbours but anchorage is possible offshore. Its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), contiguous with that of Bassas da India, is 127,300 km&sup2;. The airstrip is 1,500 m metres long.</p><br>
<h3>Ecology</h3><br>
<p>The island is a nature reserve. Its vegetation consists of dry forest, scrub, euphorbia, the mangrove swamp, and the remains of a sisal plantation. It is one of the world&#39;s largest nesting sites for green sea turtles. It is also home to goats introduced by settlers in the late 18th century.</p><br>
<p>The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports a large and diverse population of breeding seabirds and other waterbirds. It is the only known breeding site outside Aldabra and Madagascar for Malagasy pond herons. Seabirds include the second largest colony in the western Indian Ocean of great frigatebirds (with up to 1100 pairs), Audubon&#39;s shearwaters (up to 100 pairs, probably of the subspecies Puffinus lherminieri bailloni previously considered endemic to the Mascarene Islands), dimorphic egrets and Caspian terns.</p><br>
<p>The island is also home to an endemic subspecies of white-tailed tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus europae). There are three species of landbirds present, one of which is an endemic subspecies of the Malagasy white-eye (Zosterops maderaspatanus voeltzkowi). Additionally, the island is also home to its own species of hissing cockroach.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>Climate is affected by the Agulhas Current with water temperatures usually above 30 °C, southeast trade winds during the (austral) winter and occasional cyclones.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>While the island has probably been sighted by navigators since at least the 16th century, it takes its name from the British ship Europa, which visited it in December 1774. Ruins and graves on Europa island attest to several attempts at settlement from the 1860s to the 1920s. For example, the French Rosiers family moved to the island in 1860, but subsequently abandoned it.</p><br>
<p>Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the United States as the nation&#39;s busiest immigrant inspection station for over 60 years from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965 and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.</p><br>
<p>It was long considered part of New York, but a 1998 United States Supreme Court decision found that most of the island is in New Jersey. The south side of the island, home to the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is closed to the general public and the object of restoration efforts spearheaded by Save Ellis Island.</p><br>
<h2>Geography and access</h2><br>
<p>Ellis Island is located in Upper New York Bay, east of Liberty State Park and north of Liberty Island, in Jersey City, New Jersey, with a small section that is part of New York City. Largely created through land reclamation, the island has a land area of 27.5 acre, most of which is part of New Jersey. The 2.74 acre natural island and contiguous areas comprise the 3.3 acre that are part of New York.</p><br>
<p>The entire island has been owned and administered by the federal government of the United States since 1808 and has been operated by the National Park Service since 1965.</p><br>
<p>Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the island is guarded by patrols of the United States Park Police Marine Patrol Unit. Public access is by ferry from either Communipaw Terminal in Liberty State Park or from the Battery at the southern tip of Manhattan. The ferry operator, Hornblower Cruises and Events, also provides service to the nearby Statue of Liberty. A bridge built for transporting materials and personnel during restoration projects connects Ellis Island with Liberty State Park but is not open to the public. Proposals made in 1995 to use it or replace it with a new bridge for pedestrians were opposed by the city of New York and the private ferry operator at that time.</p><br>
<p>Much of the island, including the entire south side, has been closed to the general public since 1954. The renovated area on the north side was again closed to the public after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The island was re-opened to the public and the museum partially re-opened on October 28, 2013, after major renovations.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<p>Originally much of the west shore of Upper New York Bay consisted of large tidal flats which hosted vast oyster banks, a major source of food for the Lenape population who lived in the area prior to the arrival of Dutch settlers. There were several islands which were not completely submerged at high tide. Three of them (later to be known as Liberty Island, Black Tom Island and Ellis Island) were given the name Oyster Islands by the settlers of New Netherland, the first European colony in the region. The oyster beds remained a major source of food for nearly three centuries. Landfilling to build the railyards of the Lehigh Valley Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey eventually obliterated the oyster beds, engulfed one island, and brought the shoreline much closer to the others. During the colonial period, Little Oyster Island was known as Dyres, then Bucking Island. In the 1760s, after some pirates were hanged from one of the islands scrubby trees, it became known as Gibbet Island. It was acquired by Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker and merchant possibly from Wales, around the time of the American Revolution. In 1785, he unsuccessfully attempted to sell the island:</p><br>
<p>The State of New York leased the island in 1794 and started to fortify it in 1795. Ownership was in question and legislation was passed for acquisition by condemnation in 1807 and then ceded to the United States in 1808. Shortly thereafter the War Department established a circular stone 14-gun battery, a mortar battery (possibly of six mortars), magazine, and barracks. This was part of what was later called the second system of USA fortifications. From 1808 until 1814 it was a federal arsenal. The fort was initially called Crown Fort, but by the end of the War of 1812 the battery was named Fort Gibson, after Colonel James Gibson of the 4th Regiment of Riflemen, killed in the Siege of Fort Erie during the war. Parts of the wall foundations of the fort were uncovered while excavating for the Immigrant Wall of Honor, and they are preserved with an interpretive plaque. The island remained a military post for nearly 80 years before it was selected to be a federal immigration station.</p><br>
<h2>Immigrant inspection station</h2><br>
<p>In the 35 years before Ellis Island opened, more than eight million immigrants arriving in New York City had been processed by officials at Castle Garden Immigration Depot in Lower Manhattan, just across the bay. The federal government assumed control of immigration on April 18, 1890, and Congress appropriated $75,000 to construct Americas first federal immigration station on Ellis Island. Artesian wells were dug, and fill material was hauled in from incoming ships ballast and from construction of New York City&#39;s subway tunnels, which doubled the size of Ellis Island to over six acres. While the building was under construction, the Barge Office nearby at the Battery was used for immigrant processing.</p><br>
<p>The first station was a three-story-tall structure with outbuildings, built of Georgia pine, containing all of the amenities that were thought to be necessary. It opened with fanfare on January 1, 1892. Three large ships landed on the first day, and 700 immigrants passed over the docks. Almost 450,000 immigrants were processed at the station during its first year. On June 15, 1897, a fire of unknown origin, possibly caused by faulty wiring, turned the wooden structures on Ellis Island into ashes. No loss of life was reported, but most of the immigration records dating back to 1855 were destroyed. About 1.5 million immigrants had been processed at the first building during its five years of use. Plans were immediately made to build a new, fireproof immigration station on Ellis Island. During the construction period, passenger arrivals were again processed at the Barge Office. Edward Lippincott Tilton and William A. Boring won the 1897 competition to design the first phase, including the Main Building (1897–1900), Kitchen and Laundry Building (1900–01), Main Powerhouse (1900–01), and the Main Hospital Building (1900–01).</p><br>
<p>The present main structure was designed in French Renaissance Revival style and built of red brick with limestone trim. After it opened on December 17, 1900, the facilities proved barely able to handle the flood of immigrants that arrived in the years before World War I. Writer Louis Adamic came to America from Slovenia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1913 and described the night he and many other immigrants slept on bunk beds in a huge hall. Lacking a warm blanket, the young man "shivered, sleepless, all night, listening to snores" and dreams "in perhaps a dozen different languages". The facility was so large that the dining room could seat 1,000 people. It is reported that the island’s first immigrant to be processed through was a teenager named Annie Moore from County Cork in Ireland.</p><br>
<p>After its opening, Ellis Island was again expanded, and additional structures were built. By the time it closed on November 12, 1954, 12 million immigrants had been processed by the USA Bureau of Immigration. Others would have used one of the other terminals along the North River (Hudson River) at that time. At first, the majority of immigrants arriving through the station were Northern and Western Europeans (Germany, Ireland, Britain, and the Scandinavian countries). Eventually, these groups of peoples slowed in the rates that they were coming in, and immigrants came in from Southern and Eastern Europe, including Jews. Many reasons these immigrants came to the United States included escaping political and economic oppression, as well as persecution, destitution, and violence. Other groups of peoples being processed through the station were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Slovaks, Greeks, Syrians, Turks, and Armenians.</p><br>
<h3>Primary inspection</h3><br>
<p>Between 1905 and 1914, an average of one million immigrants per year arrived in the United States. Immigration officials reviewed about 5,000 immigrants per day during peak times at Ellis Island. Two-thirds of those individuals emigrated from eastern, southern and central Europe. The peak year for immigration at Ellis Island was 1907, with 1,004,756 immigrants processed. The all-time daily high occurred on April 17, 1907, when 11,747 immigrants arrived. After the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed, which greatly restricted immigration and allowed processing at overseas embassies, the only immigrants to pass through the station were those who had problems with their immigration paperwork, displaced persons, and war refugees. Today, over 100 million Americans — about one-third to 40% of the population of the United States — can trace their ancestry to immigrants who first arrived in America at Ellis Island before dispersing to points all over the country.</p><br>
<p>Generally, those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island. Arrivals were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money carried. It was important to the American government that the new arrivals could support themselves and have money to get started. The average the government wanted the immigrants to have was between 18 and 25 dollars ($600 in 2015 adjusted for inflation). Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island&#39;s hospital facilities for long periods of time. More than 3,000 would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers were rejected because they were considered "likely to become a public charge." About 2% were denied admission to the USA and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as having a chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity. Ellis Island was sometimes known as "The Island of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island" because of those 2% who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage. The Kissing Post is a wooden column outside the Registry Room, where new arrivals were greeted by their relatives and friends, typically with tears, hugs, and kisses.</p><br>
<p>During World War I, the German sabotage of the Black Tom Wharf ammunition depot damaged buildings on Ellis Island. The repairs included the current barrel-vaulted ceiling of the Main Hall.</p><br>
<h3>Medical inspections</h3><br>
<p>To support the activities of the United States Bureau of Immigration, the United States Public Health Service operated an extensive medical service at the immigrant station, called USA Marine Hospital Number 43, more widely known as the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. It was the largest marine hospital in the nation. The medical division, which was active in the hospital wards, the Barge Office at the Battery and the Main Building, was staffed by uniformed military surgeons. They are best known for the role they played during the line inspection, in which they employed unusual techniques such as the use of the buttonhook to examine immigrants for signs of eye diseases (particularly, trachoma) and the use of a chalk mark code. Symbols were chalked on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants following the six-second medical examination. The doctors would look at the immigrants as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area to the Great Hall. Immigrants&#39; behavior would be studied for difficulties in getting up the staircase. Some immigrants supposedly entered the country by surreptitiously wiping the chalk marks off, or by turning their clothes inside out.</p><br>
<p>The symbols used were:</p><br>
<p>B – Back</p><br>
<p>C – Conjunctivitis</p><br>
<p>TC – Trachoma</p><br>
<p>E – Eyes</p><br>
<p>F – Face</p><br>
<p>FT – Feet</p><br>
<p>G – Goiter</p><br>
<p>H – Heart</p><br>
<p>K – Hernia</p><br>
<p>L – Lameness</p><br>
<p>N – Neck</p><br>
<p>P – Physical and Lungs</p><br>
<p>PG – Pregnancy</p><br>
<p>S – Senility</p><br>
<p>SC – Scalp (Favus)</p><br>
<p>X – Suspected Mental defect</p><br>
<p>ⓧ – Definite signs of Mental defect</p><br>
<p>Some other symbols or marks were used by USA Immigrant Inspectors when interrogating immigrants in the Registry Room to determine whether to admit or detain them, including:</p><br>
<p>SI – Special Inquiry</p><br>
<p>IV – Immigrant Visa</p><br>
<p>LPC – Likely or Liable to become a Public Charge</p><br>
<p>Med. Cert. – Medical certificate issued</p><br>
<h3>Eugenic influence</h3><br>
<p>Many of the people immigrating to America hailed from Europe, with Eastern Europe and Southern European immigrants being the primary groups. During this time period, eugenic ideals gained broad popularity and made heavy impact on immigration to the United States by way of exclusion of disabled and "morally defective" people.</p><br>
<p>Eugenicists of the late 19th and early 20th century held the belief that reproductive selection should be carried out by the state as a collective decision. For many eugenicists, this was considered a patriotic duty as they held an interest in creating a greater national race. Henry Fairfield Osborn&#39;s opening words to the New York Evening Journal in 1911 were, "As a biologist as well as a patriot...," on the subject on advocating for tighter inspections of immigrants of the United States.</p><br>
<p>Eugenic selection occurred on two distinguishable levels:</p><br>
<p>State/Local levels which handles institutionalization and sterilization of those considered defective as well as the education of the public, marriage laws, and social pressures such as fitter family and better baby contests.</p><br>
<p>Immigration control, the screening of immigrants for defects, was notably supported by Harry Laughlin, superintendent of the Eugenics Record Office from 1910 to 1939, who stated that this was where the "federal government must cooperate."</p><br>
<p>At the time, it was a broadly popular idea that immigration policies had ought to be based off eugenics principles in order to help create a "superior race" in America. To do this, defective persons needed to be screened by immigration officials and denied entry on the basis of their disability.</p><br>
<p>Types of defects screened for included:</p><br>
<p>Physical: people who had hereditary or acquired physical disability. These included sickness and disease, deformity, lack of limbs, being abnormally tall or short, feminization, and so forth.</p><br>
<p>Mental: people who showed signs or history of mental illness and intellectual disability. These included "feeblemindedness", "imbecility", depression, and other illnesses that stemmed from the brain such as epilepsy and cerebral palsy.</p><br>
<p>Moral: people who had moral defects at the time were, but not limited to: homosexuals and those of illicit sexuality, criminals, impoverished, and other groups associated with degeneracy that deviated from the considered norm or American society at the time.</p><br>
<p>The people with moral or mental disability were of higher concern to officials and under the law, mandatorily excluded from immigrating to the United States. Persons with physical disability were under higher inspection and could be turned way on the basis of their disability. Much of this came in part of the eugenicist belief that defects were hereditary, especially those of the moral and mental nature those these were often outwardly signified by physical deformity as well.</p><br>
<p>In 1898, a Chicago surgeon named Eugene S. Talbot (Eugene Solomon) wrote "crime is hereditary, a tendency which is, in most cases, associated with bodily defects." Likewise, George Lydston, a medicine and criminal anthropology professor, argued further in 1906 that people with "defective physique" were not just criminally associated but that defectiveness was a primary factor "in the causation of crime."</p><br>
<p>Between 1891 and 1930, Ellis Island reviewed over 25 million attempted immigrations. Of this 25 million, 700,000 were given certificates of disability or disease and of these 79,000 were barred from entry. Approximately 4.4% of immigrants between 1909 and 1930 were classified as disabled or diseased per with 11% being deported when this number spiked to 8.0% in the years of 1918-1919. One percent of immigrants were deported yearly due to medical causes.</p><br>
<h3>Detention and deportation station</h3><br>
<p>With the passing of the Immigrant Quota Act of 1921, the number of immigrants being allowed into the United States declined greatly. The passing of the bill ended the era of mass immigration. After 1924, Ellis Island became primarily a detention and deportation processing station.</p><br>
<p>During and immediately following World War II, Ellis Island was used to hold German merchant mariners and "enemy aliens"—Axis nationals detained for fear of spying, sabotage, and other fifth column activity. In December 1941, Ellis Island held 279 Japanese, 248 Germans, and 81 Italians removed from the East Coast. Unlike other wartime immigration detention stations, Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility and was used to hold foreign nationals throughout the war. A total of 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be ultimately detained at Ellis Island. It was also a processing center for returning sick or wounded USA soldiers, and a Coast Guard training base. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants per year during this time, but many fewer than the hundreds of thousands per year who arrived before the war. After the war, immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels.</p><br>
<p>The Internal Security Act of 1950 barred members of communist or fascist organizations from immigrating to the United States. Ellis Island saw detention peak at 1,500, but by 1952, after changes to immigration law and policies, only 30 detainees remained.</p><br>
<p>One of the last detainees was the Aceh separatist Hasan di Tiro who, while a student in New York in 1953, declared himself the "foreign minister" of the rebellious Darul Islam movement. Due to this action, he was immediately stripped of his Indonesian citizenship, causing him to be imprisoned for a few months on Ellis Island as "an illegal alien."</p><br>
<h3>Staff</h3><br>
<p>The station&#39;s commissioners were:</p><br>
<p>1890–1893 Colonel John B. Weber (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1893–1897 Dr. Joseph H. Senner (Democrat)</p><br>
<p>1898–1902 Thomas Fitchie (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1902–1905 William Williams (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1905–1909 Robert Watchorn (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1909–1913 William Williams (Republican), 2nd term</p><br>
<p>1914–1919 Dr. Frederic C. Howe (Democrat)</p><br>
<p>1920–1921 Frederick A. Wallis (Democrat)</p><br>
<p>1921–1923 Robert E. Tod (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1923–1926 Henry C. Curran (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1926–1931 Benjamin M. Day (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1931–1934 Edward Corsi (Republican)</p><br>
<p>1934–1940 Rudolph Reimer (Democrat)</p><br>
<p>1940–1942 Byron H. Uhl (actual title: district director)</p><br>
<p>1942–1949 W. Frank Watkins (district director)</p><br>
<p>1949–1954 Edward J. Shaughnessy (district director)</p><br>
<p>Other notable officials at Ellis Island included James R. O&#39;Beirne (assistant commissioner, 1890–93), Edward F. McSweeney (assistant commissioner, 1893-1902), Joseph E. Murray (assistant commissioner, 1902–09), Byron Uhl (assistant commissioner, 1909-1940), Dr. George W. Stoner (chief surgeon), Augustus Frederick Sherman (chief clerk), Dr. Victor Heiser (surgeon) (surgeon), Dr. Thomas W. Salmon (surgeon), Dr. Howard Knox (surgeon), Antonio Frabasilis (interpreter), Peter Mikolainis (interpreter), Maud Mosher (matron), Fiorello H. La Guardia (interpreter), Samuel Hays, (special immigrant inspector)Roman Dobler (immigrant inspector), Philip Cowen (immigrant inspector) and Philip Forman (immigrant inspector, 1930s; chief of detention, deportation and parole, 1940s, 1950s)</p><br>
<p>Prominent amongst the missionaries and immigrant aid workers were Rev. Michael J. Henry and Rev. Anthony J. Grogan (Irish Catholic), Rev. Gaspare Moretto (Italian Catholic), Alma E. Mathews (Methodist), Rev. Georg Doring (German Lutheran), Rev. Joseph LEtauche (Polish Catholic), Rev. Reuben Breed (Episcopal), Michael Lodsin (Baptist), Brigadier Thomas Johnson (Salvation Army), Ludmila K. Foxlee (YWCA), Athena Marmaroff (Womans Christian Temperance Union), Alexander Harkavy (HIAS), and Cecilia Greenstone and Cecilia Razovsky (National Council of Jewish Women).</p><br>
<h3>Records</h3><br>
<p>A myth persists that government officials on Ellis Island compelled immigrants to take new names against their wishes. In fact, no historical records bear this out. Immigration inspectors used the passenger lists given to them by the steamship companies to process each foreigner. These were the sole immigration records for entering the country and were prepared not by the USA Bureau of Immigration but by steamship companies such as the Cunard Line, the White Star Line, the North German Lloyd Line, the Hamburg-Amerika Line, the Italian Steam Navigation Company, the Red Star Line, the Holland America Line, and the Austro-American Line. The Americanization of many immigrant families&#39; surnames was for the most part adopted by the family after the immigration process, or by the second or third generation of the family after some assimilation into American culture. However, many last names were altered slightly because of the disparity between English and other languages in the pronunciation of certain letters of the alphabet.</p><br>
<h3>Notable immigrants</h3><br>
<p>The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was Annie Moore, a 17-year-old girl from Cork, Ireland, who arrived on the ship Nevada on January 1, 1892. She and her two brothers were coming to America to meet their parents, who had moved to New York two years prior. She received a greeting from officials and a $10 gold coin. It was the largest sum of money she had ever owned.</p><br>
<p>The last person to pass through Ellis Island was Norwegian merchant seaman Arne Peterssen in 1954.</p><br>
<h2>Immigration museum</h2><br>
<p>The wooden structure built in 1892 to house the immigration station burned down after five years. The station&#39;s new Main Building, which now houses the Immigration Museum, was opened in 1900.</p><br>
<p>Architects Edward Lippincott Tilton and William Alciphron Boring received a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition for the buildings design and constructed the building at a cost of $1.5 million. The architecture competition was the second under the Tarsney Act, which had permitted private architects rather than government architects in the Treasury Departments Office of the Supervising Architect to design federal buildings.</p><br>
<p>After the immigration station closed in November 1954, the buildings fell into disrepair and were abandoned. Attempts at redeveloping the site were unsuccessful until its landmark status was established. On October 15, 1965, Ellis Island was proclaimed a part of Statue of Liberty National Monument. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.</p><br>
<p>Boston-based architectural firm Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc, together with the New York architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle, designed the restoration and adaptive use of the Beaux-Arts Main Building, one of the most symbolically important structures in American history. A construction budget of $150 million was required for this significant restoration. This money was raised by a campaign organized by the political fundraiser Wyatt A. Stewart. The building reopened on September 10, 1990. Exhibits include Hearing Room, Peak Immigration Years, the Peopling of America, Restoring a Landmark, Silent Voices, Treasures from Home, and Ellis Island Chronicles. There are also three theaters used for film and live performances.</p><br>
<p>On May 20, 2015, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum was officially renamed the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, coinciding with the opening of the new Peopling of America galleries. The expansion tells the entire story of American immigration, including before and after the Ellis Island era. The Peopling of America Center was designed by ESI Design and fabricated by Hadley Exhibits, Inc. The architectural design was done by Highland Associates, with construction executed by Phelps Construction Group.</p><br>
<p>The Wall of Honor outside of the main building contains a partial list of immigrants processed on the island. Inclusion on the list is made possible by a donation to support the facility. In 2008 the museums library was officially named the Bob Hope Memorial Library in honor of one the stations most famous immigrants.</p><br>
<p>The Ellis Island Medal of Honor is awarded annually at ceremonies on the island.</p><br>
<h3>South side of the island</h3><br>
<p>The south side of the island, home to the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is closed to the general public and the object of restoration efforts spearheaded by Save Ellis Island.</p><br>
<p>Many of the facilities at Ellis Island were abandoned and remain unrenovated. The entire south side, called by some the "sad side" of the island, is off limits to the general public. The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital operated here from early 1902 to 1930. The foundation Save Ellis Island is spearheading preservation efforts. The New Ferry Building, built in the Art Deco style to replace an earlier one, was renovated in 2008, but remains only partially accessible to the general public.</p><br>
<p>As part of the National Park Service&#39;s Centennial Initiative, the south side of the island was to be the target of a project to restore the 28 buildings that have not yet been rehabilitated.</p><br>
<h2>State sovereignty dispute</h2><br>
<p>The circumstances which led to an exclave of New York being located within New Jersey began in the colonial era, after the British takeover of New Netherland in 1664. An unusual clause in the colonial land grant outlined the territory that the proprietors of New Jersey would receive as being "westward of Long Island, and Manhitas Island and bounded on the east part by the main sea, and part by Hudsons river", rather than at the rivers midpoint, as was common in other colonial charters.</p><br>
<p>Attempts were made as early as 1804 to resolve the status of the state line. The City of New York claimed the right to regulate trade on all the waters. This was contested in Gibbons v. Ogden (22 USA 1) (1824), which decided that the regulation of interstate commerce fell under the authority of the federal government, thus influencing competition in the newly developing steam ferry service in New York Harbor.</p><br>
<p>In 1830, New Jersey planned to bring suit to clarify the border, but the case was never heard. The matter was resolved with a compact between the states, ratified by USA Congress in 1834, which set the boundary line between them as the middle of the Hudson River and New York Harbor. This was later confirmed by the USA Supreme Court in other cases which also expounded on the compact.</p><br>
<p>The federal government, which had bought the island in 1808, began expanding the island by land fill, to accommodate the immigration station opened in 1892. Land filling continued in stages until 1934.</p><br>
<p>Nine-tenths of the current area is artificial island that did not exist at the time of the interstate compact. New Jersey contended that the new extensions were part of New Jersey, since they were outside New Yorks border and were in fact within New Jerseys border. In 1956, after the 1954 closing of the USA immigration station, the then Mayor of Jersey City, Bernard J. Berry, commandeered a USA Coast Guard cutter and led a contingent of New Jersey officials on an expedition to claim the island. In 1997, the state filed suit to establish its jurisdiction, leading New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to remark dramatically that his father, an Italian who immigrated through Ellis Island, never intended to go to New Jersey. The border was redrawn using information based on studies using geographic information science.</p><br>
<p>The dispute eventually reached the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in New Jersey v. New York, that New Jersey had jurisdiction over all portions of the island created after the original compact was approved (effectively, more than 80% of the island&#39;s present land). This caused several immediate instances of confusion: some buildings, for instance, fell into the territory of both states. New Jersey and New York soon agreed to share jurisdiction of the island. It remains wholly a federal property, however, and these legal decisions do not result in either state taking any fiscal or physical responsibility for the maintenance, preservation, or improvement of any of the historic properties.</p><br>
<p>The ruling had no effect on the status of Liberty Island, 4.17 acre of which was created by land reclamation.</p><br>
<p>For New York State tax purposes, it is assessed as Manhattan Block 1, Lot 201. Since 1998, it also has a tax number assigned by the state of New Jersey.</p><br>
<h2>Renovations and plans</h2><br>
<p>Frank Lloyd Wright designed a key plan for the island that included housing, hotels, and large domes along the edges. The co-curator of the traveling exhibit, "Never Built New York" in which it is included told AM New York, "Its pretty remarkable but at the same time its a little bit horrifying that they could have gotten rid of Ellis Island."</p><br>
<p>In 1982 the National Parks Department embarked on an 8-year renovation. During that time, David Simonton was part of The Ellis Island Project: Documentation/Interpretation and captured stunning, black and white photos giving insight into immigrants lives. Photographer Stephen Wilkess series Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom (2006) captured the abandoned south side of Ellis Island.</p><br>
<h2>Emergency services</h2><br>
<p>Emergency services on Ellis Island are provided by the following emergency divisions of the National Park Service:</p><br>
<p>Police services and security are provided for the island by the United States Park Police.</p><br>
<p>Fire suppression/protection is provided by the National Park Service&#39;s Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Division of Safety and Emergency Management Statue of Liberty Fire Brigade which consists of a crew of federal NPS firefighters who are trained and certified as Structural Firefighter I, Structural Firefighter II or Wildland Firefighters. The crew also provides fire suppression response to nearby Liberty Island. Since the nearest other National Park Service Engine Company is located in Fort Hancock in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, the Statue of Liberty Fire Brigade maintains a mutual aid agreement with the Jersey City Fire Department and the New York City Fire Department for mutual aid assistance on Ellis Island should it be required. The Statue of Liberty/ Ellis Island Division of Safety & Emergency Management staffs the fire brigade. The fire brigade is led by a Fire Captain (crew leader), two Lieutenants and has six collateral duty firefighters.</p><br>
<p>Emergency Medical Services are provided by National Park Services Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Division of Safety and Emergency Management, which consists of a team of full-time NPS Emergency Medical Technicians and Certified First Responders. Patient transportation is coordinated with Jersey City Medical Center ambulances, but emergency response and patient care falls solely upon the National Park Service Emergency Medical Technicians.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>Ellis Island has been a source of inspiration or used as a subject in popular culture. Its imagery or representation has been employed in literature (including novels, short stories and poetry), in song, musical composition, dance, theatre, including vaudeville, burlesque, musical comedy, revue, legitimate theatre, motion pictures (silent and sound), newsreels, and in radio and television.</p><br>
<p>Early films, including those from the silent era, which feature the station include Traffic in Souls (1913), How The Jews Care for Their Poor (educational film, 1914) The Yellow Passport (1916), My Boy (1921), Frank Capras The Strong Man (1926), We Americans (1928), The Mating Call (1928), This is Heaven (1929), Paddy ODay (1935), Ellis Island (1936), Gateway (1938), Exile Express (1939), I, Jane Doe (1948), and Gambling House (1951). In The Godfather Part II, Vito Corleone immigrates via Ellis Island as a boy. The opening scene of The Brother From Another Planet is set there. The island is visited by the characters in the 2005 romantic comedy, Hitch, and is the setting for the climactic battle in X-Men.</p><br>
<p>Over the decades, Ellis Island was also widely referenced or remarked on in books, such as Mrs &#39;Arris Goes to New York (1960) by Paul Gallico, and in popular films such as Cafe Metropole (1937) and With a Song in My Heart (1952).</p><br>
<p>Some films have focused on the immigrant experience, such as the 1984 TV miniseries Ellis Island. The IMAX 3D movie incorporates both modern footage and historical photographs of Ellis Island. The 2006 Italian movie The Golden Door, directed by Emanuele Crialese, takes place largely on Ellis Island. Forgotten Ellis Island, a film and book, focuses on the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. The Immigrant is a 2013 American drama film directed by James Gray, starring Marion Cotillard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Jeremy Renner.</p><br>
<p>Ellis Island as a port of entry is described in detail in Mottel the Cantor&#39;s Son by Sholom Aleichem.</p><br>
<p>Ellis Island: The Dream of America is a work for actors and orchestra with projected images by Peter Boyer, composed in 2001-02. The song "The New Ground - Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears", on the 2010 album Songs from the Heart by the group Celtic Woman, is about Annie Moore and Ellis Island.</p><br>
<p>The USPS issued a 32¢ stamp on February 3, 1998 as part of the Celebrate the Century stamp sheet series.</p><br>
<p>The island is accessible in the Spider-Man 2 video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox by attaching to passing helicopters.</p><br>
<p>Irish band The Corrs have a song called "Ellis Island", inspired by the island on their album White Light.</p><br>
<p>The 1997 children&#39;s novel The Orphan of Ellis Island concerns a contemporary child who becomes separated from his group on a school trip to the island.</p><br>
<p>Ellis Island was also featured in the 2014 Film "Winter&#39;s Tale". It is also the central theme for the party the Ellis sisters throw in the 2015 film "Sisters".</p><br>
<p>Ellis, a short, premiered in November 2015.</p><br>
<p>Ephesus  was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC.</p><br>
<p>The city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Among many other monumental buildings are the Library of Celsus, and a theatre capable of holding 25,000 spectators.</p><br>
<p>Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th century Christian Councils (see Council of Ephesus).</p><br>
<p>The city was destroyed by the Goths in 263, and although rebuilt, the city&#39;s importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD.</p><br>
<p>The ruins of Ephesus are a favourite international and local tourist attraction, partly owing to their easy access from Adnan Menderes Airport or from the cruise ship port of Kuşadası, some 30 km to the South.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Neolithic age</h3><br>
<p>The area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age (about 6000 BC), as was revealed by excavations at the nearby höyük (artificial mounds known as tells) of Arvalya and Cukurici.</p><br>
<h3>Bronze Age</h3><br>
<p>Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at Ayasuluk Hill. According to Hittite sources, the capital of the Kingdom of Arzawa (another independent state in Western and Southern Anatolia/Asia Minor) was Apasa (or Abasa). Some scholars suggest that this is the later Greek Ephesus. In 1954, a burial ground from the Mycenaean era (1500–1400 BC) with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the Achaioi (as they were called by Homer) settled in Asia Minor during the 14th and 13th centuries BC. Scholars believe that Ephesus was founded on the settlement of Apasa (or Abasa), a Bronze Age city noted in 14th century BC Hittite sources as being under the rule of the Ahhiyawans, most probably the name of the Achaeans used in Hittite sources.</p><br>
<h3>Period of Greek migrations</h3><br>
<p>Ephesus was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on a hill (now known as the Ayasuluk Hill), three kilometers (3 km) from the centre of ancient Ephesus (as attested by excavations at the Seljuk castle during the 1990s). The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Androklos, who had to leave his country after the death of his father, King Kodros. According to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality ("A fish and a boar will show you the way"). Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and united his people with the remainder. He was a successful warrior, and as a king he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper. He died in a battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of Priene, another city of the Ionian League. Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, dating from the 2nd century. Later, Greek historians such as Pausanias, Strabo and Herodotos and the poet Kallinos reassigned the city&#39;s mythological foundation to Ephos, queen of the Amazons.</p><br>
<p>The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus. The many-breasted "Lady of Ephesus", identified with Artemis, was venerated in the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the largest building of the ancient world according to Pausanias (4.31.8). Pausanias mentions that the temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caystrus, before the arrival of the Ionians. Of this structure, scarcely a trace remains.</p><br>
<h3>Archaic period</h3><br>
<p>About 650 BC, Ephesus was attacked by the Cimmerians who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. After the Cimmerians had been driven away, the city was ruled by a series of tyrants. Following a revolt by the people, Ephesus was ruled by a council. The city prospered again under a new rule, producing a number of important historical figures such as the elegiac poet Callinus and the iambic poet Hipponax, the philosopher Heraclitus, the great painter Parrhasius and later the grammarian Zenodotos and physicians Soranus and Rufus.</p><br>
<p>About 560 BC, Ephesus was conquered by the Lydians under king Croesus, who, though a harsh ruler, treated the inhabitants with respect and even became the main contributor to the reconstruction of the temple of Artemis. His signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple (now on display in the British Museum). Croesus made the populations of the different settlements around Ephesus regroup (synoikismos) in the vicinity of the Temple of Artemis, enlarging the city.</p><br>
<p>Later in the same century, the Lydians under Croesus invaded Persia. The Ionians refused a peace offer from Cyrus the Great, siding with the Lydians instead. After the Persians defeated Croesus, the Ionians offered to make peace, but Cyrus insisted that they surrender and become part of the empire. They were defeated by the Persian army commander Harpagos in 547 BC. The Persians then incorporated the Greek cities of Asia Minor into the Achaemenid Empire. Those cities were then ruled by satraps.</p><br>
<p>Ephesus has intrigued archaeologists because for the Archaic Period there is no definite location for the settlement. There are numerous sites to suggest the movement of a settlement between the Bronze Age and the Roman period, but the silting up of the natural harbours as well as the movement of the Kayster River meant that the location never remained the same.</p><br>
<h3>Classical period</h3><br>
<p>Ephesus continued to prosper, but when taxes were raised under Cambyses II and Darius, the Ephesians participated in the Ionian Revolt against Persian rule in the Battle of Ephesus (498 BC), an event which instigated the Greco-Persian wars. In 479 BC, the Ionians, together with Athens, were able to oust the Persians from the shores of Asia Minor. In 478 BC, the Ionian cities with Athens entered into the Delian League against the Persians. Ephesus did not contribute ships but gave financial support.</p><br>
<p>During the Peloponnesian War, Ephesus was first allied to Athens but in a later phase, called the Decelean War, or the Ionian War, sided with Sparta, which also had received the support of the Persians. As a result, rule over the cities of Ionia was ceded again to Persia.</p><br>
<p>These wars did not greatly affect daily life in Ephesus. The Ephesians were surprisingly modern in their social relations: they allowed strangers to integrate and education was valued. In later times, Pliny the Elder mentioned having seen at Ephesus a representation of the goddess Diana by Timarata, the daughter of a painter.</p><br>
<p>In 356 BC the temple of Artemis was burnt down, according to legend, by a lunatic called Herostratus. The inhabitants of Ephesus at once set about restoring the temple and even planned a larger and grander one than the original.</p><br>
<h3>Hellenistic period</h3><br>
<p>When Alexander the Great defeated the Persian forces at the Battle of Granicus in 334 BC, the Greek cities of Asia Minor were liberated. The pro-Persian tyrant Syrpax and his family were stoned to death, and Alexander was greeted warmly when he entered Ephesus in triumph. When Alexander saw that the temple of Artemis was not yet finished, he proposed to finance it and have his name inscribed on the front. But the inhabitants of Ephesus demurred, claiming that it was not fitting for one god to build a temple to another. After Alexanders death in 323 BC, Ephesus in 290 BC came under the rule of one of Alexanders generals, Lysimachus.</p><br>
<p>As the river Cayster (Grk. name Κάϋστρος) silted up the old harbour, the resulting marshes caused malaria and many deaths among the inhabitants. Lysimachus forced the people to move from the ancient settlement around the temple of Artemis to the present site two kilometres (2 km) away, when as a last resort the king flooded the old city by blocking the sewers. The new settlement was officially called Arsinoea (Ἀρσινόεια or Ἀρσινοΐα) after the king&#39;s second wife, Arsinoe II of Egypt. After Lysimachus had destroyed the nearby cities of Lebedos and Colophon in 292 BC, he relocated their inhabitants to the new city.</p><br>
<p>Ephesus revolted after the treacherous death of Agathocles, giving the Hellenistic king of Syria and Mesopotamia Seleucus I Nicator an opportunity for removing and killing Lysimachus, his last rival, at the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. After the death of Lysimachus the town again was named Ephesus.</p><br>
<p>Thus Ephesus became part of the Seleucid Empire. After the murder of king Antiochus II Theos and his Egyptian wife, pharaoh Ptolemy III invaded the Seleucid Empire and the Egyptian fleet swept the coast of Asia Minor. Ephesus came under Egyptian rule between 263 and 197 BC.</p><br>
<p>The Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great tried to regain the Greek cities of Asia Minor and recaptured Ephesus in 196 BC but he then came into conflict with Rome. After a series of battles, he was defeated by Scipio Asiaticus at the Battle of Magnesia in 190 BC. As a result of the subsequent Treaty of Apamea, Ephesus came under the rule of Eumenes II, the Attalid king of Pergamon, (ruled 197–159 BC). When his grandson Attalus III died in 133 BC without male children of his own, he left his kingdom to the Roman Republic, on condition that the city of Pergamon is kept free and autonomous.</p><br>
<h3>Roman period</h3><br>
<p>Ephesus, as part of the kingdom of Pergamon, became a subject of the Roman Republic in 129BC after the revolt of Eumenes III was suppressed.</p><br>
<p>The city felt Roman influence at once; taxes rose considerably, and the treasures of the city were systematically plundered. Hence in 88 BC Ephesus welcomed Archelaus, a general of Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, when he conquered Asia (the Roman name for western Asia Minor). From Ephesus Mithridates ordered every Roman citizen in the province to be killed which led to the Asiatic Vespers, the slaughter of 80,000 Roman citizens in Asia, or any person who spoke with a Latin accent. Many had lived in Ephesus, and statues and monument of Roman citizens in Ephesus were also destroyed. But when they saw how badly the people of Chios had been treated by Zenobius, a general of Mithridates, they refused entry to his army. Zenobius was invited into the city to visit Philopoemen, the father of Monime, the favourite wife of Mithridates, and the overseer of Ephesus. As the people expected nothing good of him, they threw him into prison and murdered him. Mithridates took revenge and inflicted terrible punishments. However, the Greek cities were given freedom and several substantial rights. Ephesus became, for a short time, self-governing. When Mithridates was defeated in the First Mithridatic War by the Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Ephesus came back under Roman rule in 86 BC. Sulla imposed a huge indemnity, along with five years of back taxes, which left Asian cities heavily in debt for a long time to come.</p><br>
<p>King Ptolemy XII Auletes of Egypt retired to Ephesus in 57 BC, passing his time in the sanctuary of the temple of Artemis when he failed to get restoration of his throne from the Roman senate.</p><br>
<p>Mark Antony was welcomed by Ephesus for periods when he was proconsul and in 33 BC with Cleopatra when he gathered his fleet of 800 ships before the battle of Actium with Octavius.</p><br>
<p>When Augustus became emperor in 27 BC, the most important change was when he made Ephesus the capital of proconsular Asia (which covered western Asia Minor) instead of Pergamum. Ephesus then entered an era of prosperity, becoming both the seat of the governor and a major centre of commerce. According to Strabo, it was second in importance and size only to Rome.</p><br>
<p>The city and temple were destroyed by the Goths in 263 AD. This marked the decline of the city&#39;s splendour. However emperor Constantine the Great rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths.</p><br>
<h4>The Roman Population</h4><br>
<p>Until recently the population of Ephesus in Roman times was estimated to number up to 225,000 people. More recent scholarship regards these estimates as unrealistic. Such a large estimate would require population densities only possible in modern times, or extensive settlement outside the city walls. This would have been impossible at Ephesus because of the mountain ranges, coastline and quarries which surrounded the city.</p><br>
<p>The wall of Lysimachus has been estimated to enclose an area of 415 hectare. Not all of this area was inhabited due to public buildings and spaces in the centre and the steep slope of the Bülbül Dağı mountain, which was enclosed by the wall. Jerome Murphy-O&#39;Connor uses an estimate of 345 hectare for the inhabited land. Using an average population density of 400 to 500 per hectare, he calculates that Ephesus would have had a population between 138,000 and 172,500, with a preference for the higher figure. J. W. Hanson estimates the inhabited space to be smaller at 224 hectare. He argues that population densities of 150 or 250 people per hectare are more realistic, which gives a range of 33,600 to 56,000 inhabitants. Even with these much lower population estimates, Ephesus was one of the largest cities of Roman Asia Minor, ranking it as the largest city after Sardis and Alexandria Troas.</p><br>
<h3>Byzantine era (395–1308 AD)</h3><br>
<p>Ephesus remained the most important city of the Byzantine Empire in Asia after Constantinople in the 5th and 6th centuries. Emperor Flavius Arcadius raised the level of the street between the theatre and the harbour. The basilica of St. John was built during the reign of emperor Justinian I in the 6th century.</p><br>
<p>The city was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD.</p><br>
<p>The importance of the city as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the river (today, Küçük Menderes) despite repeated dredging during the city&#39;s history. (Today, the harbour is 5 kilometres inland). The loss of its harbour caused Ephesus to lose its access to the Aegean Sea, which was important for trade. People started leaving the lowland of the city for the surrounding hills. The ruins of the temples were used as building blocks for new homes. Marble sculptures were ground to powder to make lime for plaster.</p><br>
<p>Sackings by the Arabs first in the year 654–655 by caliph Muawiyah I, and later in 700 and 716 hastened the decline further.</p><br>
<p>When the Seljuk Turks conquered Ephesus in 1090, it was a small village. The Byzantines resumed control in 1097 and changed the name of the town to Hagios Theologos. They kept control of the region until 1308. Crusaders passing through were surprised that there was only a small village, called Ayasalouk, where they had expected a bustling city with a large seaport. Even the temple of Artemis was completely forgotten by the local population. The Crusaders of the Second Crusade fought the Seljuks just outside the town in December 1147.</p><br>
<h3>Ottoman era</h3><br>
<p>The town surrendered, on 24 October 1304, to Sasa Bey, a Turkish warlord of the Menteşoğulları principality. Nevertheless, contrary to the terms of the surrender the Turks pillaged the church of Saint John and deported most of the local population to Thyrea, Greece when a revolt seemed probable. During these events many of the remaining inhabitants were massacred.</p><br>
<p>Shortly afterwards, Ephesus was ceded to the Aydinid principality that stationed a powerful navy in the harbour of Ayasuluğ (the present-day Selçuk, next to Ephesus). Ayasoluk became an important harbour, from which the navy organised raids to the surrounding regions.</p><br>
<p>The town knew again a short period of prosperity during the 14th century under these new Seljuk rulers. They added important architectural works such as the İsa Bey Mosque, caravansaries and Turkish bathhouses (hamam).</p><br>
<p>Ephesians were incorporated as vassals into the Ottoman Empire for the first time in 1390. The Central Asian warlord Tamerlane defeated the Ottomans in Anatolia in 1402, and the Ottoman sultan Bayezid I died in captivity. The region was restored to the Anatolian beyliks. After a period of unrest, the region was again incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1425.</p><br>
<p>Ephesus was completely abandoned by the 15th century. Nearby Ayasuluğ was renamed Selçuk in 1914.</p><br>
<h2>Ephesus and Christianity</h2><br>
<p>Ephesus was an important centre for Early Christianity from the AD 50s. From AD 52–54, the apostle Paul lived in Ephesus, working with the congregation and apparently organizing missionary activity into the hinterlands. Initially, according to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul attended the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus, but after three months he became frustrated with the stubbornness or hardness of heart of some of the Jews, and moved his base to the school of Tyrannus. The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary reminds readers that the unbelief of "some" (τινες) implies that "others, probably a large number, believed" and therefore there must have been a community of Jewish Christians in Ephesus. Paul introduced about twelve men to the baptism with the Holy Spirit who had previously only experienced the baptism of John the Baptist, and later became embroiled in a dispute with some artisans whose livelihood depended on selling statuettes of Artemis (links=no) in the Temple of Artemis. Between 53 and 57 AD Paul wrote the letter 1 Corinthians from Ephesus (possibly from the Paul tower near the harbour, where he was imprisoned for a short time). Later, Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians while he was in prison in Rome (around 62 AD).</p><br>
<p>Roman Asia was associated with John, one of the chief apostles, and the Gospel of John might have been written in Ephesus, c 90–100. Ephesus was one of the seven cities addressed in the Book of Revelation, indicating that the church at Ephesus was strong.</p><br>
<p>Two decades later, the church at Ephesus was still important enough to be addressed by a letter written by Bishop Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians in the early 2nd century AD, that begins with, "Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fullness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory" (Letter to the Ephesians). The church at Ephesus had given their support for Ignatius, who was taken to Rome for execution.</p><br>
<p>A legend, which was first mentioned by Epiphanius of Salamis in the 4th century AD, purported that Mary may have spent the last years of her life in Ephesus. The Ephesians derived the argument from John&#39;s presence in the city, and Jesus’ instructions to John to take care of Mary after his death. Epiphanius, however, was keen to point out that, while the Bible says John was leaving for Asia, it does not say specifically that Mary went with him. He later stated that she was buried in Jerusalem. Since the 19th century, The House of the Virgin Mary, about 7 km from Selçuk, has been considered to have been the last home of Mary, mother of Jesus in the Roman Catholic tradition, based on the visions of Sister Anne Catherine Emmerich. It is a popular place of Catholic pilgrimage which has been visited by three recent popes.</p><br>
<p>The Church of Mary near the harbour of Ephesus was the setting for the Third Ecumenical Council in 431, which resulted in the condemnation of Nestorius. A Second Council of Ephesus was held in 449, but its controversial acts were never approved by the Catholics. It came to be called the Robber Council of Ephesus or Robber Synod of Latrocinium by its opponents.</p><br>
<h2>Main sites</h2><br>
<p>Ephesus is one of the largest Roman archaeological sites in the eastern Mediterranean. The visible ruins still give some idea of the city&#39;s original splendour, and the names associated with the ruins are evocative of its former life. The theatre dominates the view down Harbour Street, which leads to the silted-up harbour.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, once stood 418 by 239 with over 100 marble pillars each 56&#39; high. The temple earned the city the title "Servant of the Goddess". Pliny tells us that the magnificent structure took 120 years to build but is now represented only by one inconspicuous column, revealed during an archaeological excavation by the British Museum in the 1870s. Some fragments of the frieze (which are insufficient to suggest the form of the original) and other small finds were removed – some to London and some to the Archaeological Museum, Istanbul</p><br>
<p>The Library of Celsus, the façade of which has been carefully reconstructed from original pieces, was originally built c. 125 AD in memory of Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus, an Ancient Greek who served as governor of Roman Asia (105–107) in the Roman Empire. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth and is buried in a sarcophagus beneath it. The library was mostly built by his son Gaius Julius Aquila and once held nearly 12,000 scrolls. Designed with an exaggerated entrance — so as to enhance its perceived size, speculate many historians — the building faces east so that the reading rooms could make best use of the morning light.</p><br>
<p>At an estimated 25,000 seating capacity, the theatre is believed to be the largest in the ancient world.</p><br>
<p>This open-air theatre was used initially for drama, but during later Roman times gladiatorial combats were also held on its stage; the first archaeological evidence of a gladiator graveyard was found in May 2007.</p><br>
<p>There were two agoras, one for commercial and one for state business.</p><br>
<p>Ephesus also had several major bath complexes, built at various times while the city was under Roman rule.</p><br>
<p>The city had one of the most advanced aqueduct systems in the ancient world, with at least six aqueducts of various sizes supplying different areas of the city. They fed a number of water mills, one of which has been identified as a sawmill for marble.</p><br>
<p>The Odeon was a small roofed theatre constructed by Vedius Antonius and his wife around 150 AD. It was a small salon for plays and concerts, seating about 1,500 people. There were 22 stairs in the theatre. The upper part of the theatre was decorated with red granite pillars in the Corinthian style. The entrances were at both sides of the stage and reached by a few steps.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of Hadrian dates from the 2nd century but underwent repairs in the 4th century and has been reerected from the surviving architectural fragments. The reliefs in the upper sections are casts, the originals now being exhibited in the Ephesus Archaeological Museum. A number of figures are depicted in the reliefs, including the emperor Theodosius I with his wife and eldest son. The temple was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 20 million lira banknote of 2001–2005 and of the 20 new lira banknote of 2005–2009.</p><br>
<p>The Temple of the Sebastoi (sometimes called the Temple of Domitian), dedicated to the Flavian dynasty, was one of the largest temples in the city. It was erected on a pseudodipteral plan with 8 × 13 columns. The temple and its statue are some of the few remains connected with Domitian.</p><br>
<p>The Tomb/Fountain of Pollio was erected in 97 AD in honour of C. Sextilius Pollio, who constructed the Marnas aqueduct, by Offilius Proculus. It has a concave façade.</p><br>
<p>A part of the site, Basilica of St. John, was built in the 6th century AD, under emperor Justinian I, over the supposed site of the apostle&#39;s tomb. It is now surrounded by Selçuk.</p><br>
<h2>Seven Sleepers</h2><br>
<p>Ephesus is believed to be the city of the Seven Sleepers. The story of the Seven Sleepers, who are considered saints by Catholics and Orthodox Christians and whose story is also mentioned in the Qur&#39;an, tells that they were persecuted because of their monotheistic belief in God and that they slept in a cave near Ephesus for centuries.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The history of archaeological research in Ephesus stretches back to 1863, when British architect John Turtle Wood, sponsored by the British Museum, began to search for the Artemision. In 1869 he discovered the pavement of the temple, but since further expected discoveries were not made the excavations stopped in 1874. In 1895 German archaeologist Otto Benndorf, financed by a 10,000 guilder donation made by Austrian Karl Mautner Ritter von Markhof, resumed excavations. In 1898 Benndorf founded the Austrian Archaeological Institute, which plays a leading role in Ephesus today.</p><br>
<p>Finds from the site are exhibited notably in the Ephesos Museum in Vienna, the Ephesus Archaeological Museum in Selçuk and in the British Museum.</p><br>
<h2>Notable persons</h2><br>
<p>Heraclitus (c. 535 – c. 475 BC), Presocratic philosopher</p><br>
<p>Hipponax (6th Century BC), poet</p><br>
<p>Zeuxis (5th century BC), painter</p><br>
<p>Parrhasius (5th century BC), painter</p><br>
<p>Zenodotus (fl. 280 BC), grammarian and literary critic, first librarian of the Library of Alexandria</p><br>
<p>Agasias (2nd century BC), Greek sculptors</p><br>
<p>Menander (early 2nd century BC), historian</p><br>
<p>Artemidorus Ephesius (c. 100 BC), geographer</p><br>
<p>Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus (ca. 45 – before ca. 120), founder of the Celsus library</p><br>
<p>Rufus (1st century AD), physician</p><br>
<p>Soranus of Ephesus (1st-2nd century AD), physician</p><br>
<p>Artemidorus (2nd century AD), diviner and author</p><br>
<p>Xenophon (2nd-3rd Century AD), novelist</p><br>
<p>Maximus (4th Century AD), Neoplatonic philosopher</p><br>
<p>Manuel Philes (c. 1275 – 1345), Byzantine poet</p><br>
<p>Elba  is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, 10 km from the coastal town of Piombino. Elba is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago. Elba is also part of the Arcipelago Toscano National Park, and the third largest island in Italy, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 50 km east of the French island of Corsica.</p><br>
<p>The island is part of the province of Livorno and is divided into eight municipalities, with a total population of about 30,000 inhabitants, which increases considerably during the summer. The municipalities are Portoferraio, which is also the islands principal town, along with Campo nellElba, Capoliveri, Marciana, Marciana Marina, Porto Azzurro, Rio Marina, and Rio nell&#39;Elba.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Elba is the largest remaining stretch of land from the ancient tract that once connected the Italian peninsula to Corsica. The northern coast faces the Ligurian Sea, the eastern coast the Piombino Channel, the southern coast the Tyrrhenian Sea, and the Corsica Channel divides the western tip of the island from neighbouring Corsica.</p><br>
<p>The island itself is made up of slices of rocks which once formed part of the ancient Tethyan seafloor. These rocks have been through at least two orogenies, the Alpine orogeny and the Apennine orogeny. The second of these two events was associated with subduction of the Tethyan oceanic crust underneath Italy and the obduction of parts of the ancient seafloor onto the continents. Later extension within the stretched inner part of the Apennine mountains caused adiabatic melting and the intrusion of the Mount Capanne and the La Serra-Porto Azzuro granitoids. These igneous bodies brought with them skarn fluids which dissolved and replaced some of the carbonate units, precipitating iron-rich minerals in their place. One of the iron-rich minerals, ilvaite, was first identified on the island and takes its name from the Latin word for Elba. More recently, high-angle faults formed within the tectonic pile, allowing for the migration of iron-rich fluids through the crust. The deposits left behind by these fluids formed the island&#39;s rich seams of iron ore.</p><br>
<p>The terrain is quite varied, and is thus divided into several areas based on geomorphology. The mountainous and most recent part of the island can be found to the west, the centre of which is dominated by Mount Capanne (1,018 m), also called the "roof of the Tuscan Archipelago". The mountain is home to many animal species including the mouflon and wild boar, two species that flourish despite the continuous influx of tourists. The central part of the island is a mostly flat section with the width being reduced to just four kilometres (4 km). It is where the major centres can be found: Portoferraio, Campo nell&#39;Elba. To the east is the oldest part of the island, formed over 3 million years ago. In the hilly area, dominated by Monte Calamita, are the deposits of iron that made Elba famous.</p><br>
<h3>Hydrography</h3><br>
<p>Rivers rarely exceed 3 km in length, and it is common for the shorter ones to dry up during the summer. The largest rivers, sorted by length, are:</p><br>
<p>Fosso San Francesco 6.5 km</p><br>
<p>Fosso Barion, 5.1 km</p><br>
<p>Fosso Redinoce, 2 km</p><br>
<p>Between Poggio and Marciana, at the foot of Mount Capanne, is a spring called Fonte Napoleone, known for its quality.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>The climate of the island is predominantly Mediterranean, except for Mount Capanne, where winters tend to be moderately cold. Precipitation is concentrated in autumn and comprises a normal rainfall. The island lies in the rain shadow of the large and mountainous island of Corsica, so precipitation totals are somewhat reduced from the mainland (most of the island receives less than 750 mm (30 inches) annually). Snowfall in winter is rare in the lowlands, and melts quickly. The table below shows the average temperatures for the islands by month.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was originally inhabited by Ligures Ilvates who gave it the ancient name Ilva. It was well known from very ancient times for its iron resources and its valued mines. The Greeks called it Aethalia (Αιθαλία, "fume") after the fumes of the furnaces for the production of metal. Apollonius of Rhodes mentioned it briefly in his epic poem Argonautica describing that the Argonauts would have rested here during their travels and signs of their visit were still visible in the poet&#39;s day, including skin-coloured pebbles that they dried their hands on, and large stones which they used at discus. The text, however, may be unsound and Strabo (5.2.6) presented a slightly different account: "because the scrapings, which the Argonauts formed when they used their strigils, became congealed, the pebbles on the shore remain variegated still to this day."</p><br>
<p>The island was invaded by the Etruscans and later (after 480 BC) by the Romans. In the middle ages, it was invaded by the Ostrogoths and the Lombards. Then it became a possession of the Republic of Pisa. After the battle of Meloria the Republic of Genova took possession of Elba, but in 1292 it was regained by Pisa.</p><br>
<p>The island was retained for two centuries by the Appiani, Lords of Piombino when Pisa was sold by them to the Visconti of Milan in 1399.</p><br>
<p>In 1544, the Barbary pirates from North Africa devastated Elba and the coasts of Tuscany. In 1546, part of the island was handed over to Cosimo I de&#39; Medici, who fortified Portoferraio and renamed it "Cosmopoli", while the rest of the island was returned to the Appiani in 1577. In 1596, Philip II of Spain captured Porto Azzurro and had two fortresses built there.</p><br>
<p>A part of Elba including Porto Longone came into the power of the Kingdom of Naples (through the State of the Presidi). In 1736 the whole of Elba with the principality of Piombino passed under the jurisdiction of Kingdom of Naples.</p><br>
<p>In 1796, after the occupation of Livorno by the French Republican troops, the British landed on the Island of Elba with the pretext of protecting the 4000 French royalists, who two years earlier had found asylum in Portoferraio.</p><br>
<p>In 1801 the Peace of Luneville gave Elba to the Kingdom of Etruria, and in 1802, by the Peace of Amiens, it was transferred to France.</p><br>
<p>Following the Treaty of Fontainebleau, French Emperor Napoleon I was exiled to Elba after his forced abdication in 1814, and he arrived at Portoferraio on 30 May 1814. He was allowed to keep a personal guard of six hundred men. He was nominally sovereign of Elba, although the nearby sea was patrolled by the French and British navies. During the months that Napoleon stayed on the island, he carried out a series of economic and social reforms to improve the quality of life, partly to pass the time and partly out of a genuine concern for the well-being of the islanders. The restored Bourbons quickly reneged on the payments promised to Napoleon by Fontainebleau, however, and he was forced to make economies, raise taxation, and even attempt forced corvées. Napoleon stayed on Elba for 300 days. Hearing that the Congress of Vienna planned to remove him further from Europe and that the more popular and reformist Duke of Orleans was planning to replace his relatives, ruining any chance of Napoleon&#39;s popular recall, the former emperor escaped on a ship under British colors to France on 26 February 1815, for the Hundred Days. After his defeat at Waterloo, he was subsequently exiled again, this time to the barren and isolated South Atlantic island of Saint Helena.</p><br>
<p>At the Congress of Vienna, the island was restored to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1860, it became part of the new unified Kingdom of Italy.</p><br>
<p>Elba was liberated from the Germans by the French 1 Corps d&#39;Armée on 17 June 1944 in Opération Brassard. Faulty intelligence and strong defences made the battle more difficult than expected.</p><br>
<p>BOAC Flight 781 crashed near Elba in 1954.</p><br>
<p>More recently, the island has become famed for its wine, and it is today a noted tourist destination.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>The island is connected to the mainland via the four ferry companies, Toremar, Moby Lines, Blunavy and Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries, all offering routes between Piombino and Portoferraio, the capital located in the north, Cavo, Rio Marina and Porto Azzurro, on the east coast of the island.</p><br>
<p>There is an airport on the island, Marina di Campo Airport. It is served by SkyWork Airlines and Silver Air with flights to the Italian mainland and Switzerland</p><br>
<h3>Cycling</h3><br>
<p>The island has a network of trails for road racers looking for more technical routes for their training, trails and dirt roads for bikers to have fun on, and accessible routes for families with children who need safe and relaxing routes. On the road from Rio nell&#39;Elba going to Porto Azzurro is the “Fonte di Coppi”. Towards the end of his career Fausto Coppi, the “campionissimo”, came here to train on the roads of Elba. He still retained a celebrity status but was no longer at the peak of his career that ended with his death a few years later. The plaque on the fountain reads: "1960–2010, here the champion quenched his thirst, since fifty years on the run".</p><br>
